There is scientific consensus on a prevailing hypothesis that, down to near-zero levels, the occurrence of future cancer is proportional to the dose of radiation received. Some experts and professional bodies in the field, however, subscribe to this linear no-threshold (LNT) model in scientific discussions but object to the use of the model for policy-related purposes. Given the large economic interests that are affected by policy decisions, this article recommends that experts and professional bodies avoid the intermingling of scientific and policy debates and acknowledge a logical implication of the LNT hypothesis: Low-dose radiation will sicken and kill a number of people over time.


Objectives Totally implantable central venous access ports (port-a-caths) are increasingly used for the safe administration of chemotherapy; however, their use is associated with complications. This study reviews patterns of complications, reasons for premature removal and the duration of the use of port-a-caths in patients receiving cancer treatment at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) and compares the infection rate with the literature and the researchers' experiences. Methods This retrospective follow-up study included patients who had received cancer treatment through a port-a-cath and were admitted to SQUH between January 2007 and April 2019. Demographic features, underlying diagnosis, clinical stage, treatment, duration of use and the cause of premature removal of the port-a-cath were recorded. Results A total of 516 port-a-caths were inserted in 482 cancer patients. The majority of devices were implanted by interventional radiologists (n = 459; 89.0%) and the right internal jugular vein was most frequently accessed (n = 396; 76.7%). The mean indwelling time of a port-a-cath was 288 days (range: 3–1,872 days) for patients with complications and 550 days (range: 7–3,123 days) for patients without complications. Port-a-cath-related infection was the main complication (n = 63; 12.2%). Patient age, gender, treatment intent, underlying diagnosis, clinical stage, chemotherapy regimen, number of treatment courses, operator implanting the port, the type of micro-organism isolated from the port-a-cath and body mass index were significant factors affecting catheter indwelling time (P <0.05). On multivariate analysis, however, none of the factors was found to be significant. Conclusion Infection was the most common complication necessitating port-a-cath removal. The infection rate was much lower than the researchers' previous experience and compares favorably with several published reports.


A petition for writ of certiorari in Steel Valley Authority v. Union Switch & Signal Division, 809 F.2d 1006 (3d Cir. 1987), presented to the Court the question whether a district court had authority to remand to the state court a case that had been properly removed on diversity grounds but in which the plaintiff, after removal, had amended the complaint to join a nondiverse defendant. In Steel Valley, the court of appeals found the nondiverse defendant to be indispensable, although the original defendants, petitioners to the Supreme Court, contended that plaintiff had asserted no substantive claims or colorable causes of action against the nondiverse party it had joined as a defendant. The opportunity to decide whether to hear Steel Valley was taken from the Court, however, when the case was settled. The termination of the case meant continued life for the issues that it raised.Those issues had plagued the lower federal courts. The issues included: (1) how the district courts should respond to requests to add, or unilateral addition, "as of course," of, nondiverse parties after removal; (2) the effects of such joinder on federal subject-matter jurisdiction and, conversely, the effects that the limits on federal subject-matter jurisdiction should have on the handling of such proposed and actual changes in party structure; (3) whether the nondiverse persons in question were, "indispensable,"' and the importance of that finding; (4) the implications of the previous determinations for the propriety of remanding actions to state court or of dismissing them; and (5) the implications of the decision to remand or to dismiss for appellate reviewability of the district court's decisions. These issues concern the jurisdiction, powers, and discretion of the federal courts. They broadly implicate our federalism and, in particular, the continued viability of the federal courts' diversity jurisdiction within the context of removal.Congress recognized the importance of these issues, passing new legislation in November 1988 to guide federal courts faced with postremoval proposals to add nondiverse defendants. This article will explore the problems of statutory construction, case construction, and policy with which the courts have been struggling and will evaluate Congress's recent effort to aid the courts. It will consider the underlying questions the new legislation touches, the adequacy with which the legislation responds to those questions, the issues that remain, and the new or modified problems that the legislation creates.


A robust, safe and magnetically recoverable Fe3O4 nanoparticle catalyzed three-component coupling of aldehyde, alkyne, and amine (A3-coupling) was developed. A diverse range of propargylamines were obtained in moderate to high yield under mild conditions in air. The separation and reuse of the magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were very simple, effective and economical.


Academic medical centers perform several important functions of the healthcare system by providing patient care, research, and education. Their responsibility is not only to provide quality care to patients today, but also to train new physicians and researchers to deal with the health problems of tomorrow. At their core, academic medical centers function as both hospitals and universities; often, these are separate entities that each have powers and responsibilities over multiple facilities and medical departments. The university will control research and education, while the hospital or health system controls patient care and operations. However, these two entities are frequently intertwined through affiliation agreements, policies and procedures, and management practices. For example, a Department of Surgery in an academic medical center may function as a department of the medical center for its clinical operations and as a department of the university for its research and training operations. This department is thus responsible to and controlled by two bosses, each with separate goals, values, and methods. Having the practice of medicine and the teaching of medicine so closely aligned can have enormous benefits in terms of the resources that both entities bring to the table, but it can also create problems for management. This essay aims to look at departments of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine to examine operational challenges and benefits to this dual-management approach through an examination of selected projects and tasks that function under the umbrella of the two entities. Statement of Public Health Relevance: While organizational management and structure may not be thought of as core functions of public health, it is nonetheless vital to the performance of the health care system in general. A well-run program or medical center can make life-or-death differences to patients. Likewise, proper financial management and cost-savings measures can decrease costs for each individual patient and increase the pool of resources available to the public at large. Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) are arguably the premier medical institutions in the United States, providing quality care in a not-for-profit setting and also conducting impactful and innovative research that has produced some of the most notable cures and treatments of the modern era. At least some share of these achievements can be credited to effective management. As many AMCs have evolved into full-fledged health care networks with multiple hospitals and even their own health insurance plans, management has become ever more complex. As these institutions have grown, so has the internal and external tension between their distinct academic and clinical operations. As the two sides grow together and apart, proper management becomes essential to link their important functions. On an operational level, this "split" can mean more layers of management and more complex approval processes to get routine tasks done. On a positive note, however, the split can also mean that more resources are generally available as divisions and departments have a larger pool to draw from in terms of funding and administrative support. Management's capacity to align effectively the complementary missions of the AMC will have considerable effect on the lives and welfare of the general public.


Ice shelves are critical features in the debate about West Antarctic ice sheet change and sea level rise, both because they limit ice discharge and because they are sensitive to change in the surrounding ocean. The Pine Island Glacier ice shelf has been thinning rapidly since at least the early 1990s, which has caused its trunk to accelerate and retreat. Although the ice shelf front has remained stable for the past six decades, past periods of ice shelf collapse have been inferred from relict seabed "corrugations" (corrugated ridges), preserved 340 km from the glacier in Pine Island Trough. Here we present high‐resolution bathymetry gathered by an autonomous underwater vehicle operating beneath an Antarctic ice shelf, which provides evidence of long‐term change in Pine Island Glacier. Corrugations and ploughmarks on a sub‐ice shelf ridge that was a former grounding line closely resemble those observed offshore, interpreted previously as the result of iceberg grounding. The same interpretation here would indicate a significantly reduced ice shelf extent within the last 11 kyr, implying Holocene glacier retreat beyond present limits, or a past tidewater glacier regime different from today. The alternative, that corrugations were not formed in open water, would question ice shelf collapse events interpreted from the geological record, revealing detail of another bed‐shaping process occurring at glacier margins. We assess hypotheses for corrugation formation and suggest periodic grounding of ice shelf keels during glacier unpinning as a viable origin. This interpretation requires neither loss of the ice shelf nor glacier retreat and is consistent with a "stable" grounding‐line configuration throughout the Holocene.


Written by Microsoft software legend Juval Lowy, Programming WCF Services is the authoritative introduction to Microsoft's new, and some say revolutionary, unified platform for developing service-oriented applications (SOA) on Windows. Relentlessly practical, the book delivers insight, not documentation, to teach developers what they need to know to build the next generation of SOAs.After explaining the advantages of service-orientation for application design and teaching the basics of how to develop SOAs using WCF, the book shows how you can take advantage of built-in features such as service hosting, instance management, asynchronous calls, synchronization, reliability, transaction management, disconnected queued calls and security to build best in class applications. Programming WCF Services focuses on the rationale behind particular design decisions, often shedding light on poorly-documented and little-understood aspects of SOA development. Developers and architects will learn not only the "how" of WCF programming, but also relevant design guidelines, best practices, and pitfalls. Original techniques and utilities provided by the author throughout the book go well beyond anything that can be found in conventional sources.Based on experience and insight gained while taking part in the strategic design of WCF and working with the team that implemented it, Programming WCF Services provides experienced working professionals with the definitive work on WCF. Not only will this book make you a WCF expert, it will make you a better software engineer. It's the Rosetta Stone of WCF.


IN "SAVING PEOPLE AND FLIPPING COINS," Ben Bradley offers an intriguing counterexample to the principle of equal greatest chance (EGC). (1) The principle of equal greatest chance is designed to apply in contexts of moral equivalence. Let A and B be morally equivalent just in case there is no greater moral reason to save A than there is to save B and vice versa. (2) Suppose a lifeguard can save A and can save B, but she cannot save both A and B. Bradley's formulation of the principle states the following: EGC. One must give each person the greatest possible chance of survival consistent with everyone else having the same chance. If the greatest equal chance of surviving that the lifeguard can give to each is .5, then EGC requires that the lifeguard give A and B each a .5 chance of surviving. (3) Perhaps she can discharge this obligation by flipping a fair coin and acting on the outcome "heads save A," "tails save B." (4) The problems for EGC arise in cases where three morally equivalent agents require rescue. Suppose you are in a situation where you can save both A and B and you can save C, but you cannot save all A, B and C. Since A, B and C are morally equivalent, there are equally good moral reasons to save each A, B and C. If EGC is properly applicable in contexts of moral equivalence, then you should give each A, B and C the greatest equal chance of surviving. If the greatest equal chance of surviving that you can give to each is .5, then EGC requires that you give A, B and C each a .5 chance of surviving. The recommendation that we ought to give each of A, B and C a .5 chance of surviving strikes many as counterintuitive. (5) If A, B and C were each on separate islands, or drowning in separate parts of some body of water, and the greatest equal chance of surviving we could give each were .5, it would seem perfectly reasonable to do so. (6) But in the case Bradley describes, we give each a .5 chance of surviving if and only if we give A and B together a .5 chance of surviving and we give C a .5 chance of surviving. (7) Fortunately, Bradley urges, this uncomfortable conclusion is avoidable. The principle of equal greatest chance is false. If Bradley is right, then we have made a very significant advance in assessing moral principles in contexts of moral equivalence. Bradley offers the following "decisive counterexample" to EGC entitled Bureaucracy and EGC. (8) Imagine that the Joker has captured three hostages--Alice, Bob and Carol--and plans to randomly divide them into two groups, a larger group and a smaller group. The Joker informs Batman that he will kill all members of the group Batman does not select. Batman endorses EGC and indicates his decision to save the larger group by completing a form. Choosing the larger group gives each of Alice, Bob and Carol a two-thirds chance of surviving. Batman thereby gives each the greatest equal chance of surviving. At noon, Batman checks the box indicating that the larger group should be saved. The Joker proceeds to divide the hostages randomly into two groups. Alice and Bob are in one group, Carol is in the other. At 1:00, the Joker realizes he has lost the form. "I'm sorry, Batman, but you'll have to fill out another form," he says. If Batman is to follow EGC, at 1:00 he must flip a coin to decide which box to check, since that gives each hostage an equal greatest chance of survival. This is a decisive counterexample against EGC. No plausible principle entails that Batman should fill out the form differently at 1:00. He knew at noon that this was one way things might turn out. By 1:00 he has gained no new information that could be relevant to his decision ... [T]he point is that it cannot be the case that Batman should fill out the form differently at the two times. (9) But Bradley is mistaken in claiming that Batman has no relevant information at 1 p. …


In this contribution we experiment with a suite of repository adjustments and improvements performed on Strathprints, the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, institutional repository powered by EPrints 3.3.13. These adjustments were designed to support improved repository web visibility and user engagement, thereby improving usage. Although the experiments were performed on EPrints it is thought that most of the adopted improvements are equally applicable to any other repository platform. Following preliminary results reported elsewhere, and using Strathprints as a case study, this paper outlines the approaches implemented, reports on comparative search traffic data and usage metrics, and delivers conclusions on the efficacy of the techniques implemented. The evaluation provides persuasive evidence that specific enhancements to technical aspects of a repository can result in significant improvements to repository visibility, resulting in a greater web impact and consequent increases in content usage. COUNTER usage grew by 33% and traffic to Strathprints from Google and Google Scholar was found to increase by 63% and 99% respectively. Other insights from the evaluation are also explored. The results are likely to positively inform the work of repository practitioners and open scientists.


Suicidal behavior is a complex and multi-factorial phenomenon for which epidemiological genetics suggests a genetic basis that may be specific and independent from those implicated in the vulnerability to the psychiatric disorders associated with SB. Recently, new molecular biology tools have been designed to identify predisposition factors to complex disorders. One of the main goals of current studies is to specify the suicidal phenotype, as well as the intermediate phenotypes associated with these genes.


High-profile issues involving sexual orientation remain at the forefront of public debate, and rhetoric on both sides remains emotionally charged, even inflammatory - no more so than in the case of Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights v. City and County of San Francisco. In 2006, following a directive from, the Catholic Church to stop placing children for adoption in same-sex households, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors responded by unanimously passing Resolution No. 168-06, a vehement condemnation of the Church for its position on same-sex adoption. Although the Ninth Circuit rejected a Catholic civil rights organization's case against the City and the Supreme Court denied certiorari, the constitutionality of the Resolution under the First Amendment's Establishment Clause remains unsettled: the Ninth Circuit split evenly on the merits, reflecting the muddled state of the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence. This Note analyzes this checkered jurisprudence - focusing on the Court's inconsistent application of the Lemon and endorsement tests - and proposes an analytical framework for expressive government action to find for the Resolution's constitutionality. 1. INTRODUCTION The Catholic Church's hostility to homosexuality is as enduring and well known as the City and County of San Francisco's championing of gay rights. Neither side has shied away from confrontation over its beliefs, nor hesitated to wield the most powerful language at its disposal to make its point, culminating most recently in Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights v. City and County of San Francisco.1 Four days after the Catholic Church announced that it would stop placing children in need of adoption with same-sex households in San Francisco,2 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the legislative body of the City and County, unanimously passed non-binding Resolution No. 168-06, vehemently condemning the Catholic Church for its position on same-sex adoption.3 In response, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights - the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization - and two Catholic residents of San Francisco sued the city for violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.4 The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,"5 and is applicable to the states under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.6 Although the Supreme Court has developed a number of tests to interpret and apply the Establishment Clause to government action, and no one test has controlled in every case, the most prominent among them remains the test articulated in Lemon ?. Kurtzman.7 Under Lemon, a government action, to be consistent with the Establishment Clause, "must have a secular legislative purpose," "its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion," and it "must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion."8 But the Court has also turned, at times, to the endorsement test to assess the constitutionality of a state action that is expressive and often non-regulatory,9 such as the non-binding resolution at issue in Catholic League. First proposed by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in her concurring opinion to Lynch ?. Donnelly,10 the endorsement test is a context-specific inquiry that asks whether a reasonable observer, knowing of the facts and history of a government practice, would consider that practice to be an endorsement or disapproval of religion, thus making religion relevant to a person's standing in the political community in violation of the Establishment Clause.11 Both the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California and a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit granted San Francisco's motion to dismiss, expressly applying the Lemon test - and relying to varying degrees on the endorsement test - to find that Resolution No. …


Nichole M. Clay-Valorio CAN THE CONFLUENCE MODEL PREDICT FEMALE SEXUAL AGGRESSION? 2007/08 Dr. D.J. Angelone Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling and Applied Psychology The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to test the pathways of the Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression (Malamuth, Heavey & Linz, 1996) for prediction of selfreported female sexual aggression utilizing various computerized measures with college aged female participants (n = 104). The confluence model states that sexual aggression is the interactive result of two simultaneous pathways: hostile masculinity (and/or hostile femininity) and impersonal sex. It was hypothesized that a combination of either of the hostility pathways (feminine vs. masculine) and the impersonal sex pathway would predict sexual aggression. Modified versions of the Sexual Experiences Scale (SES), Coercive Sexuality Scale (CSS), and the Auburn Differential Masculinity Inventory were used as predictor and criterion variables. A hierarchical regression analysis conducted on the CSS revealed support for the hostile masculinity construct as a predictor of female sexual aggression. However, these analyses did not support the interaction of pathways as predictors for either the SES or CSS. Implications for further research for predictors of female sexual aggression are discussed.


Background Recent studies suggest that internet addiction disorder (IAD) is associated with structural abnormalities in brain gray matter. However, few studies have investigated the effects of internet addiction on the microstructural integrity of major neuronal fiber pathways, and almost no studies have assessed the microstructural changes with the duration of internet addiction. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated the morphology of the brain in adolescents with IAD (N = 18) using an optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) technique, and studied the white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) changes using the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method, linking these brain structural measures to the duration of IAD. We provided evidences demonstrating the multiple structural changes of the brain in IAD subjects. VBM results indicated the decreased gray matter volume in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), the supplementary motor area (SMA), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the cerebellum and the left rostral ACC (rACC). DTI analysis revealed the enhanced FA value of the left posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) and reduced FA value in the white matter within the right parahippocampal gyrus (PHG). Gray matter volumes of the DLPFC, rACC, SMA, and white matter FA changes of the PLIC were significantly correlated with the duration of internet addiction in the adolescents with IAD. Conclusions Our results suggested that long-term internet addiction would result in brain structural alterations, which probably contributed to chronic dysfunction in subjects with IAD. The current study may shed further light on the potential brain effects of IAD.


This study examines how leaders and managers can influence knowledge management (KM) among front line hospitality employees. For this purpose, this study investigates knowledge oriented leadership (KOL), supervisory orientations, and Leader Member Exchange (LMX), as antecedents of KM. This thesis also examines the mediating effect of employee work attitudes, i.e. affective commitment, creative self-efficacy, and employee work engagement in the relationship of KM with KOL and LMX. It also discusses employee goal orientations including learning orientation, and performance orientation as mediator in the relationship of KM practices with supervisory orientations. This study also explores the right combination of leadership behaviours with different personality traits of employees i.e. which leadership behaviour works best with which personality trait in order to predict KM among employees. Furthermore, this thesis emphasises on the importance of KM in the hospitality sector by discussing service quality, service quality efficacy, and employee innovative work behaviour (IWB) as service outcomes of KM among employees. Furthermore this study explores the factors influencing the use of information system (IS) to create knowledge, through qualitative research methods. The qualitative findings can help the leaders and managers to take the actions accordingly in order to encourage employees to create knowledge. To identify the types of knowledge workers in the hospitality industry, cluster analysis is also conducted, to divide the employees into the clusters of low potential knowledge workers, loyal learners, moderate knowledge workers, personality driven knowledge workers, and high potential knowledge workers. Qualitative findings of the study are based on semi structured interviews of hospitality employees. For the quantitative study, this study collects primary data from 330 front line hospitality employees. To test the impact of leadership and managerial styles on KM, and to test the service outcomes of KM, this study uses SPSS, Smartpls, and AMOS graphics to apply structural equation modelling. For the cluster analysis, hierarchical clustering is employed using the wards method and Euclidian distance measure, which is followed by K-Mean clustering. Expectation maximization (EM) technique is applied to replace the missing values. Furthermore, the role of the demographics in determining the cluster membership is also examined. This research found that there is positive association of KOL with KM, creative self-efficacy, affective commitment, and employee work engagement. Furthermore, these work attitudes partially mediate the relationship of KOL and KM practices among employees. This study also found the positive and direct effect of supervisory end result and capability orientation on employee learning orientation. However, results do not support the negative influence of supervisory activity orientation on employee learning goal orientation. Supervisory end result orientation does not affect employee performance orientation significantly, however supervisory activity orientation is positively associated, and supervisory capability orientation is negatively associated with employee performance orientation. Results also found the positive association between employee learning goal orientation and KM practices, but no association is found between employee performance orientation and KM practices. Finally, supervisory end result orientation and capability orientation are found to have positive indirect effects on KM practices, but the indirect negative association of activity orientation and KM practices is not supported by the results. Results also indicate that LMX significantly and positively affects knowledge management, directly, and also indirectly through employee affective commitment, work engagement, and creative self-efficacy. Then this study examines the effect of KM on service outcomes, and reveals a positive direct effect of KM on employee and service quality efficacy. Furthermore, KM indirectly and positively affects service quality through employee and service quality efficacy. Results also support the direct positive effect of Service quality efficacy, and employee on service quality. Through qualitative data analysis this study explores different reasons why employees use IS to analyse multiple information in order to create new knowledge. Furthermore, qualitative methodology is also used to confirm the quantitative findings with a different approach. Qualitative results categorize the factors into three major categories: organizational, job related, and employee personal factors. Results of cluster analysis reveal that employee attitudes, personality traits, and goal orientation plays a crucial role to differentiate the knowledge workers. Furthermore, demographic factors including gender, education, and work experience are crucial in determining the cluster membership. Comparison of clusters through Mann-Whitney test indicates that cluster of high potential knowledge workers is most suitable for knowledge work, and loyal learners are the least suitable. Kruskal-Wallis test shows that cluster membership plays a significant role in influencing KM among employees. This thesis contributes to the existing knowledge by improving and extending the construct of KOL, and also by examining the role of KOL in predicting KM, for the first time in the hospitality sector. It investigates the creative self-efficacy, and work engagement as predictor of KM among hospitality employees. It also examines employee affective creative self-efficacy, commitment, and employee work engagement as mediators in the association of KOL and KM, for the first time. Hospitality researchers mainly discuss knowledge sharing, which is only one element of KM , other practices like documenting, and applying need further research. This study considers the whole construct of KM which is the combination of knowledge acquiring, transfering, documenting, and applying the knowledge. Eexamination of indirect association of supervisory orientations with KM, through the mediation of goal orientation is one of the main achievement and contribution of this research thesis. Another contribution of this study is the ranking of the given set of leadership behaviours according to personality trait of employees, which provides a framework of leadership behaviour in accordance with employee personality trait to positively influence KM. it also contributes by establishing the connection between four different concepts in a single model i.e. KM, employee IWB, employee service quality efficacy, and service quality. Existing hospitality literature does not investigate the indirect effect of KM on service quality through IWB, and service quality efficacy. This study fills this gap. In the broader perspective it is the first study to discuss the use of IS for knowledge creation, especially in the hospitality sector. By exploring the factors influencing the IS use, this study also propose enhancements in the existing technology acceptance model (TAM) which incorporates very few factors. This study goes a step further than the technology acceptance, as it discusses the use of IS specifically to create knowledge. Furthermore this study categorise the factors influencing the IS use for knowledge creation as organizational factors, personal factors, and job related factors. Clustering of hospitality employees as low potential knowledge workers, loyal learners, moderate knowledge workers, personality driven knowledge workers, and high potential knowledge workers is also a major contribution, which can be used by hospitality managers for number of purposes.


Background The use of validated multivariate cardiovascular predictive models in a population setting is of interest for public health policy makers. We aimed to validate the estimations of the CASSANDRA model (coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence and CHD risk distribution), considering the population changes in age, sex and CHD risk factors prevalence in a 10-year period. Methods We compared the projected CHD incidence estimated with CASSANDRA with that observed in the Girona Heart Registry (REGICOR) for 1995–2004 and 2000–2009 in the population of Girona (Spain) aged 35–74 years. We used official age and sex distributions for this population. Baseline cardiovascular risk factors prevalence and the distribution of cardiovascular risk were obtained from three cross-sectional studies performed in 1995, 2000 and 2005. To validate the future distribution of cardiovascular risk, we tested the yearly CHD risk variance over the study period. Results No significant differences between the estimated and observed annual CHD incidence per 100 000 men were found in 1995–2004 (CASSANDRA=457.8 and REGICOR=420.3, incidence rate ratio (IRR) (95% CI)=0.92 (0.89 to 0.96)) and in 2000–2009 (441.4 and 409.6, respectively, IRR=0.93 (0.90 to 0.96)). However, overpredictions of 18% and 22%, respectively, were observed in women (198.8 and 160.4, IRR=0.82 (0.77 to 0.86), and 197.1 and 152.8, IRR=0.78 (0.74 to 0.83), respectively). No significant differences were found in the CHD risk variance in the three different cross-sectional studies. Conclusions The CASSANDRA model produces valid estimates, particularly in men, of the future burden of disease and in the distribution of cardiovascular risk in individuals aged 35–74 years.


Airway eosinophils show prolonged in vitro survival compared with peripheral blood eosinophils (PBEos). Recent studies have shown that autocrine production and release of GM-CSF is responsible for enhanced survival, but the mechanisms controlling cytokine production remain obscure. We compared GM-CSF mRNA decay in eosinophils from bronchoalveolar lavage (BALEos) after allergen challenge or from PBEos. BALEos showed prolonged survival in vitro (60% at 4 days) and expressed GM-CSF mRNA. The enhanced survival of BALEos was 75% inhibited at 6 days by neutralizing anti-GM-CSF Ab. Based on transfection studies, GM-CSF mRNA was 2.5 times more stable in BALEos than in control PBEos. Treatment of PBEos with fibronectin and TNF-α increased their in vitro survival, GM-CSF mRNA expression, and GM-CSF mRNA stability to a comparable level as seen in BALEos. These data suggest that TNF-α plus fibronectin may increase eosinophil survival in vivo by controlling GM-CSF production at a posttranscriptional level.


We first address diverse criteria on what a theory of language evolution should explain, focusing on six divides: evolution did/did not yield a Universal Grammar; brain evolution is/is not important; language is to be viewed as speech or multimodal communication; language evolution is/is not best understood solely with reference to tools for communication; we do/do not need a notion of protolanguage as a precursor to language; and protolanguage was/was not in great part holophrastic. We argue against a role for an innate Universal Grammar in language acquisition and language change, and then present a brief case study of the emergence of Nicaraguan Sign Language in a few decades. Finally, we present the mirror system hypothesis on the evolution of the language-ready brain locating it within the 6 divides and charting a path for biological evolution supporting mechanisms for simple and complex imitation, pantomime, protosign and protospeech in turn, claiming that this provided an adequate base for true languages to emerge through cultural evolution.


Research demonstrates that advanced learners require different instruction in addition to the regular classroom instruction to meet their academic needs. Therefore, many school districts offer enrichment programs to meet the needs of these advanced learners. With the emergence of the Common Core State Standards and new state assessments, there is a more intense focus on meeting the needs of all learners. This paper examines the reading comprehension instruction of literary texts from the enrichment program in the Hartman School District. A content analysis was conducted on the core reading programs used in the regular classroom and in the enrichment program to answer the questions: (a) Is the reading instruction in the enrichment program at Klima Elementary School aligned with the classroom teacher's reading instruction? (b) Is the reading program used in the enrichment program aligned with the Common Core State Standards? and (c) Is the reading program used in the regular education classroom aligned with the Common Core State Standards? Results revealed that there were several gaps in instruction between the enrichment program and the regular classroom reading instruction. Further, the content analysis revealed that both the enrichment reading program and the regular classroom reading program were not fully aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Recommendations are made for enrichment teachers to improve the reading instruction within their program to better align with the classroom reading instruction and the Common Core State Standards.


Sediment constitutes several mineral compositions depending upon the geological forma- tion and geography. In many of the rivers in Himalayas and Andes, Quartz is found as a main constituent (more than 50%), along with feldspar and other hard minerals. These particles have hardness more than 5 Moh's scale, which is capable to erode turbine components. In hydraulic turbines, flow is highly turbulent and unsteady, which can aggravate the erosion problems. Depending upon the nature of the flow, different components of turbines are eroded with different mechanisms. This chapter will provide a review on how various flow phenomena is responsible for particular types of erosion in turbines and their potential consequences. Some examples of the effect in existing power plants will be shown. This chapter will also discuss about some preventive measures that have been proposed and implemented to reduce the impact of the sediment particles in hydraulic machineries.


Synthesis of MCM-41 by various methods and their characterization by x-ray diffraction and BET surface area has been discussed. The acid sites in the catalysts were estimated by temperature programmed desorption of ammonia. The catalytic activity of MCM-41 catalysts has been evaluated for the nitration of phenol. The catalytic activity is correlated to the acidity of the catalysts.


The living hyena species (spotted, brown, striped and aardwolf) are remnants of a formerly diverse group of more than 80 fossil species, which peaked in diversity in the Late Miocene (about 7–8 Ma). The fossil history indicates an African origin, and morphological and ancient DNA data have confirmed that living spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) of Africa were closely related to extinct Late Pleistocene cave hyenas from Europe and Asia. The current model used to explain the origins of Eurasian cave hyena populations invokes multiple migrations out of Africa between 3.5–0.35 Ma. We used mitochondrial DNA sequences from radiocarbon‐dated Chinese Pleistocene hyena specimens to examine the origin of Asian populations, and temporally calibrate the evolutionary history of spotted hyenas. Our results support a far more recent evolutionary timescale (430–163 kya) and suggest that extinct and living spotted hyena populations originated from a widespread Eurasian population in the Late Pleistocene, which was only subsequently restricted to Africa. We developed statistical tests of the contrasting population models and their fit to the fossil record. Coalescent simulations and Bayes Factor analysis support the new radiocarbon‐calibrated timescale and Eurasian origins model. The new Eurasian biogeographic scenario proposed for the hyena emphasizes the role of the vast steppe grasslands of Eurasia in contrast to models only involving Africa. The new methodology for combining genetic and geological data to test contrasting models of population history will be useful for a wide range of taxa where ancient and historic genetic data are available.


This paper presents a summarization system that produces a summary for a given web document based on sentence importance measures. Most of the existing approaches for single document summarization provide the summary by using only the information present in the given document. And some approaches use the neighbour documents to get better document summary for the given document. In this paper we propose an efficient approach for single document summarization which uses the two sentence importance measures: Frequency of the terms in the sentence and similarity to the other sentences. The sentences are ranked according to their respective scores and the sentences with top ranks are selected for summary. The summary is evaluated by using 'recall' evaluation measure.


Drought and Nitrogen Effects on Maize Canopy Temperature and Stress Indices David A. Carroll II Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, BYU Master of Science Increased water scarcity due to changing climate, population growth, and economic development is a major threat to the sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the Western United States and other regions around the world. Management practices, such as controlled deficit irrigation, that seek to maximize the productivity of a limited water supply are critical. When using controlled deficit irrigation, remote sensing of crop canopy temperature is a useful tool for assessing crop water status and for more precise irrigation management. However, there is potential that nutrient deficiencies could compound the interpretation of water status from leaf temperature by altering leaf color and radiation balance. One objective of this thesis was to evaluate whether nitrogen fertility status of maize interacts with remotely sensed leaf temperature under full and limited irrigation. Another objective was to evaluate the effect of varying irrigation and nitrogen regimes on three water stress indices: Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI), Degrees Above Non-Stressed (DANS), and Degrees Above Canopy Threshold (DACT). Replicated studies were conducted using maize grown in both the glasshouse and the field. The glasshouse study consisted of combinations of well-watered and drought irrigation and sufficient and deficient nitrogen levels, while the field study consisted of combinations of wellwatered, limited or controlled deficit, and drought irrigation and sufficient, sufficient delayed, and deficient nitrogen levels. In the glasshouse, leaf chlorophyll content was reduced moderately by limited irrigation and more so by N deficiency. For most observations in the glasshouse, the remotely sensed leaf temperatures were affected by irrigation, but not by N level. With drought irrigation, leaf temperature averaged 29.0 °C, compared to 27.9 °C for the well-watered treatment. Similar results were observed in the field, illustrating the utility of canopy temperature in detecting water stress and that the measurement was not confounded by N status. It was also found that irrigation had a significant effect on all three water stress indices. For example, in the glasshouse, cumulative DANS was 32.2 for the drought treatment and 15.5 for the well-watered treatment. Similar results were found for other stress index measurements both in the glasshouse and the field. DANS underestimated stress on days when the reference crop was stressed and overestimated stress on low temperature days. DACT risks finding no stress when temperatures are below the canopy threshold temperature of 28.0 °C. Thus, CWSI is the most effective index, given that it takes humidity and air temperature into account. Indices were only weakly related to leaf area, biomass or grain yield, or crop water productivity. Linear regression of Nitrogen Sufficiency Index and its effect on crop growth found significant effects on biomass and grain yield, crop water productivity, and final leaf area. Thus, water stress indices are useful tools in evaluating crop water status, but consideration of other factors, such as nutrient status, must be taken for prediction of crop growth and yield.


We formulate the evolution equations for a confined, one-dimensional, exponentially evanescent run-and-tumble particles model, and calculate the generating function for first passage characteristics. We obtain modified telegrapher's equations for the evolution of the probability current and the probability density function of the run-and-tumble particles. The generating function can be used to calculate the eventual absorption probability at a point, and moments of the conditional first passage probability density.


Attenuation of radar signals by melting hydrometeors is studied using modeling approaches and comparisons of simulated and observed results. In spite that the melting layer in precipitating systems is usually relatively thin ( ~ 500 m), this attenuation can be substantial at X-band frequencies for low elevation angles and at millimeter-wavelength frequencies that are used by the U.S. Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program and CloudSat radars operating at vertical/nadir incidence. Melting layer attenuation is stronger than the attenuation in the resultant rain at comparable path lengths and needs to be accounted for in remote sensing methods that use radar reflectivity measurements for retrieving cloud and precipitation parameters if the radar beam penetrates this layer. The choice of the mixing rule for calculating dielectric constants of melting hydrometeors determines, to a significant degree, the magnitude of the modeled attenuation values. A relatively simple Wiener mixing rule provides results that are consistent with melting layer reflectivity enhancements and attenuation estimates from the X-band radar observations. The total melting layer attenuation A is related to the resultant rain rate R in an approximately linear manner at X- and Kalpha-band frequencies, whereas at W-band, the melting layer attenuation increase with rain rate is slower due to strong non-Rayleigh scattering effects. Typical A-R relations are suggested, and the variability of these relations is discussed. This paper is mostly concerned with precipitating systems associated with snowflakes that are unrimed or only slightly rimed above the freezing level, as indicated by relatively low values of vertical Doppler velocities.


This paper presents an empirical study that addresses the effects the visualization of uncertainty has on decision-making. We focus our investigations on an area where uncertainty plays an important role and the decision time is limited. For that, we selected an air defense scenario, where expert operators have a few minutes to make a well-informed decision based on uncertain sensor data regarding the identity of an object and where the consequences of a late or wrong decision are severe. An approach for uncertainty visualization is proposed and tested using a prototype that supports the interactive analysis of multivariate spatio-temporal sensor data. The uncertainty visualization embeds the accuracy of the sensor data values using the thickness of the lines in the graphical representation of the sensor values. Semi-transparent fi lled circles represent the uncertain position, while a track quality value between 0 and 1 accounts for the quality of the estimated track for each target. Twenty-two experienced air traf fi c operators were divided into two groups (with and without uncertainty visualization) and carried out identi fi cation and prioritization tasks using the prototype. The results show that the group aided by visualizations of uncertainty needed signi fi cantly fewer attempts to make a fi nal identi fi cation, and a signi fi cant difference between the groups when considering the identities and priorities assigned was observed (participants with uncertainty visualization selected higher priority values and more hostile and suspect identities). These results may show that experts put themselves in the " worst-case scenario " in the presence of uncertainty when safety is an issue. Additionally, the presentation of uncertainty neither increased the participants' expressed workload, nor the time needed to make a classi fi cation. However, the inclusion of the uncertainty information did not have a signi fi cant effect on the performance (true positives, false negatives and false positives) or the participants' expressed con fi dence in their decisions.


Recently multi-axial machining technology has improved significantly. It has become a widely accepted method of manufacturing components with complex, free form surfaces. Solid billet materials with negligible internal defects are used in this process. This provides increased durability and fatigue life over equivalent cast components. However, multi-axial machining leaves cusps as machining marks. The combination of tool size and step-over generates cusps with different depths and widths. Even though the cusps add extra material on top of the nominal surface, the Finite Element Analysis simulations presented in this paper show that the maximum stress generated within the cusps can be greater than that predicted from the cusp-free geometry. These stress concentrations generated by cusps can reduce the fatigue life and durability of a machined component. In this paper a full factorial analysis of the effect of tool size, cusp width/step-over and cusp direction has been conducted. The analysis uses five different levels of tool size and cusps width and four levels of cusp direction. The results can be used to determine a tool size, cusp width and cusp direction combination with minimum spurious stress raising effect.


Foreign direct investment (FDI); in developing countries has been increasing at an unprecedented rate, and the profitability of the operations of the investing firms in poor regions like Sub-Saharan Africa is extraordinarily high. Yet at the same time there is growing evidence that transnational corporations (TNCs); are paying less and less in terms of tax. The developing countries in particular have suffered from this —it has been estimated that developing country governments lose at least US$35 billion a year of revenue through tax avoidance practices. This paper presents empirical evidence and a proposal for applying a unitary tax system on the profits of TNCs. Such a system would eliminate one of the most powerful mechanisms at the disposal of TNCs for illegally avoiding tax payments—transfer pricing. The paper concludes by arguing that a proposal for a unitary tax system on a worldwide basis may be sufficient to unblock the negotiations on a multilateral investment code.


This article analyzes the International Court of Justice Judgment on preliminary objections to jurisdiction in the Case Concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a contentious case between Georgia and the Russian Federation. Having ordered provisional measures against both Parties, the Court held that it did not have jurisdiction over the merits based on a pre-condition that the claimant party could have easily remedied. The Court's reasoning can be better understood based on a fundamental analysis of its power and function.Under international law, jurisdiction is an institution's power to make or apply law regarding a particular issue and party. In this case, the differing interpretations on the Court — whether certain documents evidenced a dispute between the Parties and an attempt to negotiate the dispute — reflected an underlying disagreement regarding the Court's power to have any control over the dispute and the Court's function in the international community. Instead of a distinction between formalistic and realistic methodological approaches, these two factors — the Court's power and function — appear to divide the majority and the dissent. Otherwise, the jurisdictional deficiency of a lack of negotiations could have been cured easily and the proceedings resumed. The fact that Georgia has not refiled its Application at the time of this writing (over two months after the Court's Judgment) suggests that this technical requirement was not the real obstacle to the Court's adjudication of this dispute nor to the Court's decision.


Origami techniques, as folding and unfolding, can be utilized in shrinkable structures. Especially when the crease pattern is rigid foldable, it can be treated as a mechanical linkage of rigid panels connected by hinges. Since rigid foldable crease patterns have the strong geometrical constraint of the facets not being able to stretch or bend, it is difficult to design new crease patterns, and variations of existing patterns are limited. However, it is known that there are cases where crease patterns can be made rigid foldable by adding some slits. This paper proposes a mechanical linkage that folds into a similar flat shape by adding slits. A method is presented of generating rigid foldable crease patterns in arbitrary polygons that fold smaller, and it is confirmed that structures that have a mechanism for shrinking can be generated from these crease patterns by using rigid thick panels and hinges.


Identical particles exhibit correlations even in the absence of inter-particle interaction, due to the exchange (anti)symmetry of the many-particle wavefunction. Two fermions obey the Pauli principle and anti-bunch, whereas two bosons favor bunched, doubly occupied states. Here, we show that the collective interference of three or more particles leads to much more diverse behavior than expected from the boson–fermion dichotomy known from quantum statistical mechanics. The emerging complexity of many-particle interference is tamed by a simple law for the strict suppression of events in the Bell multiport beam splitter. The law shows that counting events are governed by widely species-independent interference, such that bosons and fermions can even exhibit identical interference signatures, while their statistical character remains subordinate. Recent progress in the preparation of tailored many-particle states of bosonic and fermionic atoms promises experimental verification and applications in novel many-particle interferometers.


Twenty Lectures on Algorithmic Game Theory-Tim Roughgarden 2016-08-30 Computer science and economics have engaged in a lively interaction over the past fifteen years, resulting in the new field of algorithmic game theory. Many problems that are central to modern computer science, ranging from resource allocation in large networks to online advertising, involve interactions between multiple self-interested parties. Economics and game theory offer a host of useful models and definitions to reason about such problems. The flow of ideas also travels in the other direction, and concepts from computer science are increasingly important in economics. This book grew out of the author's Stanford University course on algorithmic game theory, and aims to give students and other newcomers a quick and accessible introduction to many of the most important concepts in the field. The book also includes case studies on online advertising, wireless spectrum auctions, kidney exchange, and network management.


Navigate China's business culture and etiquette The fun and easy way to grow your business in China This authoritative, friendly guide covers all the basics, from the nuts and bolts of Chinese business and bureaucracy to negotiating with your Chinese partners. You'll also get the know-how you need to manage day to day, from travel tips and advice on converting money to getting past language barriers. Discover how to: * Understand Chinese markets * Develop a strong business plan * Find the right employees * Work with currency controls and the Chinese banking system * Sell and source in China Explanations in plain English * "Get in, get out" information * Icons and other navigational aids * Tear-out cheat sheet * Top ten lists * A dash of humor and fun


Mean brightness in a variegated region may work as a clue to illumination intensity over the region and play an important role in the perception of object lightness. This study investigated whether brightness can be efficiently averaged for heterogeneous achromatic patches. Experiment 1 investigated discrimination thresholds for mean brightness between two arrays of 12 heterogeneous patches of different luminances. The thresholds were compared to brightness discrimination thresholds between two arrays of 12 homogeneous patches and to those between two single patches. The two arrays (or patches) were simultaneously presented for 200 msec and followed by a pattern mask. Results showed that mean brightness judgments for heterogeneous arrays were as accurate as simple brightness comparison for single patches, although they were slightly worse than brightness judgments for homogeneous arrays. This finding is consistent with efficient brightness averaging of different luminance patches. However, additional experiments revealed that inexperienced naive observers may use shortcuts for mean brightness judgments; they tended to choose as the brighter array the one containing a highest luminance patch or the one consisting of the larger number of patches. To investigate the effects of these confounding factors, Experiment 2 measured discrimination thresholds for mean brightness between two arrays composed of different numbers of heterogeneous patches (6 vs. 12 or 9 vs. 12). The highest luminance patch was included in the array consisting of either the smaller or the larger number of patches, and thus using this clue for mean judgments would lead to highly biased thresholds. Results were consistent with brightness averaging, but a small bias (varying in the magnitude among observers) was found to choose the array containing the highest luminance patch. Overall, the present findings suggest that brightness can be efficiently averaged, but with a greater weight to the highest luminance. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


Thanks to advances in digital technology many hospitals are becoming populated with wireless medical applications to control life critical functions. Electromagnetic interference can cause severe performance degradations on these wireless applications. Several accidents have been reported which calls for a more thorough characterization of these interferences in areas where critical wireless applications are used. In this paper the results of electromagnetic interference measurements performed in a hospital are presented. The amplitude probability distribution (APD) and the inter arrival pulse probability distribution (PSD) are used to characterize these environments. In addition, Middleton parameters can be calculated from the measured data. This study is considered to be a first effort to characterize the 20 MHz-2500 MHz band in hospitals.


In this thesis, VehicleSim multi-body software is used to extend and modify an existing motorcycle model by including different non-conventional suspension systems. Girder and Hossack double wishbones front suspension systems are designed, implemented and tested. Using a synthesis of mechanism methodology, they are designed with different kinematic configurations that allow different behaviours of the motorcycle front end. By means of CAD tools and finite element analysis, realistic three dimensional models of the suspension systems designs are developed. The dynamical properties of the mechanical assemblies are obtained from the CAD models and used to build a realistic mathematical model of a sport motorcycle fitted with theses alternative suspension systems. Dynamical and stability analyses of the alternative front suspension systems are performed. For the different kinematic configurations, anti-dive properties and variation of the motorcycle's handling geometric parameters are studied by non-linear dynamical simulations. Stability analyses are performed by means of the motorcycle linear models eigenvalues.

 Passive interconnection of front and rear suspension systems of a sport motorcycle is also investigated. The effects of an interconnected suspensions system on the motorcycle in-plane motions are studied by means of reduced order linear models. The baseline model is modified to include passive interconnection forces between the front and rear suspension systems. The possible improvement introduced by an interconnected suspensions system in terms of suspension accuracy is investigated through non-linear simulations with delayed step tyres inputs. Appropriate values of the interconnection passive components for different possible mechanical implementation are found by means of optimization processes. Linear stability analyses are performed for each of the different optimal interconnected configurations. Nonlinear frequency analyses of the motorcycle wheels and chassis responses are also performed considering the delay between the front and rear tyre inputs. Non-linear simulations with variable frequency sinusoidal road inputs are run for this purpose. Finally, modal analyses of the motorcycle model are carried out for variable interconnection parameters in order to understand the effect of the interconnected suspensions system on the motorcycle's motion.


This paper investigates the divisional investment policies of diversified firms. We find that investment of the smallest division of diversified firms is significantly related to the cash flow of the other segments. We then show that the smallest division's investment is more sensitive to the cash flow of the other divisions for firms where one expects aggregate investment to be related to cash flow also, namely low q firms and firms with high leverage. This and other evidence we provide is consistent with what we call the bureaucratic rigidity hypothesis. This hypothesis states that relative allocations of investment funds in diversified firms are sticky. We fail to find support for the view that diversified firms allocate more funds to divisions in industries with better investment opportunities


Australia's waterbirds are mostly nomadic, capitalising on highly variable aquatic resources in the arid interior (70% of the continent) for feeding and breeding. Waterbirds, unlike most aquatic organisms, can move between catchments, exploiting habitat wherever it occurs. In Australia, patterns of resource availability for waterbirds are mostly pulsed with peaks of productivity, coinciding with flooding and differing in time and space, affecting individuals, species and functional groups of waterbirds. Australian waterbirds are no different from waterbirds elsewhere, with their behaviour reflecting broad-scale resource availability. They respond to changing patterns of resource distribution, with rapid movements at spatial and temporal scales commensurate with the dynamics of the resource. The most serious conservation threat to waterbirds is a bottleneck in resource availability, leading to population declines, increasingly forced by anthropogenic impacts. River regulation and other threats (e.g. draining) reduce the availability of wetland habitat and decrease the probability of viable resource patches. It is axiomatic that waterbirds need water and such population bottlenecks may occur when the availability of water across the continent is limited. The rehabilitation of regulated rivers with environmental flows and protection of naturally flowing rivers in the arid region are essential for long-term sustainability of Australia's waterbird populations.


We examined long-range transport events of carbon monoxide (CO) and black carbon (BC) from East Asia to the Arctic with satellite measurements and a global chemical transport model GEOS-Chem. The transport patterns and meteorological conditions associated with the events were analyzed. We used Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) data during 2007–2011 to identify transport events of CO reaching the Arctic. Temporal variations of CO column over the Pacific side of the Arctic (160°–200°E, 60°–80°N) showed that episodic increases occurred several times in each season. We identified 11 strong events (6 in spring, 3 in autumn, and 2 in winter) caused by the long-range transport from East Asia using tagged BC and CO simulations. Two transport pathways from East Asia to the Arctic were found over Siberia and the North Pacific. In the pathway over Siberia, pollutants were transported northeastward from China mainly through the Okhotsk Sea and East Siberia. The low pressures passing from the East Siberia to the Okhotsk Sea played important roles on the transport in the lower troposphere and uplifting to the middle troposphere. In the pathway over the North Pacific, pollutants were transported eastward from the Asian continent and subsequent northward transport took place over the North Pacific. The poleward transport occurred west of the high pressure that stayed around the Bering Sea. While the poleward transport occurred mainly in the middle troposphere over Siberia, the enhancement of BC was also observed by the surface measurement at Barrow for the North Pacific route. Arctic, carbon, Long-range


In this article, we present a flexible and extensible system-level MP-SoC design space exploration (DSE) infrastructure, called NASA. This highly modular framework uses well-defined interfaces to easily integrate different system-level simulation tools as well as different combinations of search strategies in a simple plug-and-play fashion. Moreover, NASA deploys a so-called dimension-oriented DSE approach, allowing designers to configure the appropriate number of, well-tuned and possibly different, search algorithms to simultaneously co-explore the various design space dimensions. As a result, NASA provides a flexible and re-usable framework for the systematic exploration of the multidimensional MP-SoC design space, starting from a set of relatively simple user specifications. To demonstrate the capabilities of the NASA framework and to illustrate its distinct aspects, we also present several DSE experiments in which, for example, we compare NASA configurations using a single search algorithm for all design space dimensions to configurations using a separate search algorithm per dimension. These proof-of-concept experiments indicate that the latter multidimensional co-exploration can find better design points and evaluates a higher diversity of design alternatives as compared to the more traditional approach of using a single search algorithm for all dimensions.


A pseudo homogeneous two-dimensional (2D) model of an industrial Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) riser is here presented. The FCC riser models of previous researchers were mostly based on the assumption of negligible mass transfer resistance and 1D plug flow. These assumptions undermine the accuracy of the models by over-predicting the optimum residence time of the riser. In this work the coke content of FCC catalyst was modeled as a function of the reactor temperature with the aim of predicting the operating conditions that will reduce coke on catalyst without undermining the yield of the key product (gasoline). Mass transfer resistance was incorporated in the reactor model to enhance the accuracy of the results. Catalyst deactivation was modeled based on the exponential decay function. The mass transfer coefficient and the catalyst effectiveness factor were estimated from empirical correlations obtained from literature. Data used for the simulation were sourced from an existing plant (KRPC) as well as from open literature. Finite difference numerical scheme was used to discretise the model governing equation. At the end of the investigation, three different operating temperature regimes were identified from the simulated results for the coking of FCC catalyst (low temperature, optimal temperature and high temperature regimes). An optimum operating temperature range of 786K-788K and an optimum catalyst-to-oil ratio (COR) range of 4.60-4.71 were predicted for the riser. Keywords: FCC; Finite difference, Mass transfer resistance, Catalyst deactivation, Riser models.


RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Increasing numbers of clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are working in outpatient settings. The objective of this paper is to describe a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the cost-effectiveness of CNSs delivering outpatient care in alternative or complementary provider roles.

METHODS
We searched CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and seven other electronic databases, 1980 to July 2012 and hand-searched bibliographies and key journals. RCTs that evaluated formally trained CNSs and health system outcomes were included. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Quality of Health Economic Studies instrument. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation to assess quality of evidence for individual outcomes.

RESULTS
Eleven RCTs, four evaluating alternative provider (n = 683 participants) and seven evaluating complementary provider roles (n = 1464 participants), were identified. Results of the alternative provider RCTs (low-to-moderate quality evidence) were fairly consistent across study populations with similar patient outcomes to usual care, some evidence of reduced resource use and costs, and two economic analyses (one fair and one high quality) favouring CNS care. Results of the complementary provider RCTs (low-to-moderate quality evidence) were also fairly consistent across study populations with similar or improved patient outcomes and mostly similar health system outcomes when compared with usual care; however, the economic analyses were weak.

CONCLUSIONS
Low-to-moderate quality evidence supports the effectiveness and two fair-to-high quality economic analyses support the cost-effectiveness of outpatient alternative provider CNSs. Low-to-moderate quality evidence supports the effectiveness of outpatient complementary provider CNSs; however, robust economic evaluations are needed to address cost-effectiveness.


This article comprises some critical reflections on the teaching of a second year undergraduate module called Children's Cultural Worlds in which students are required to engage with original studies which are then used to stimulate self-reflection and engagement with wider issues relating to our understanding of children's place in the social world. It will be argued that when individual memories are shared, it is possible to identify continuities and discontinuities in childhood experiences as well as the intersections between childhood and other social divisions such as gender, class and ethnicity. The requirement that students recall and reflect on their childhood memories and share them with others is a way of students learning through their own experiences, reflecting on their views and values. Furthermore, as it will be shown, it opens up spaces for alternative values and viewpoints to emerge about how we might 'regulate' early childhood because 'When we tell stories and process them, using reflective dialogues, we create the possibility of change in ourselves and others'.


Funding information Bonneville Power Administration; ODFW; USFS; Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board Abstract Many bull trout populations have declined from nonnative brook trout introductions, habitat changes (e.g. water temperature) and other factors. We systematically sampled the distribution of bull trout and brook trout in the upper Powder River basin in Oregon in the 1990s and resampled it in 2013–2015, examined temperature differences in the habitats of the two species and analysed trends in temperatures in the light of possible increases associated with climate change. The species' distributions are currently similar to those in the 1990s, except in one stream where bull trout declined. However, bull trout consisting of resident forms remain restricted to a few kilometres of habitat at the upper end of fish distribution. In streams where both species occur, the typical pattern was an intermediate zone of mixed bull trout, brook trout, and hybrids downstream of allopatric bull trout and allopatric brook trout extending farther downstream. Temperature differences between where bull trout and most brook trout occurred were small (0.5–1.0°C August mean). There were no statistical increases in water temperatures in nearby streams since the 1990s and no warming trends in air temperatures for the past 25–60 years. However, peak summer water temperatures are occurring about 3 weeks earlier than 25 years ago. Future effects of climate change, including possible increases in temperature, changes in timing and other factors (e.g. snowpack, flow and extreme events) remain a concern for the persistence of these populations. However, it is difficult to precisely predict where those changes will occur and what they will be.


We examine the sources and micro-level mechanisms of the changes in the labor share of value added. We link the micro-level dynamics of the labor share change with that of productivity and wage growth. Using a useful variant of the decomposition method we make a distinction between the change in the average plant and the micro-level restructuring. With Finnish plant-level data covering three decades we show that micro-level restructuring is the link between the declining labor share and increasing productivity in 12 manufacturing industries of four regions, and that increased international trade is a factor underlying those shifts.


As organizations struggle to compete in the emerging real-time global marketplace of the 21st Century, boards of directors for publicly traded companies face rising pressure to increase oversight in risk management. The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) recently expanded the requirements by calling for organizations to disclose the board's involvement in oversight for risk management. (1) In addition, multiple stock exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, added risk management governance requirements for boards of directors of listed companies. Such requirements and other mechanisms, including workshops and "colleges" for board members, have led boards to recognize the need to play a greater role in risk management. Auditors are also concerned. The KPMG Audit Committee Institute's 2010 Public Company Audit Committee Member Survey indicated that audit committee members' top concern was risk management, specifically the issues surrounding velocity of risk events and the link between strategy and risk. (2) The increased need for the board to oversee enterprise risk management (ERM) raises the question of how to best perform this role. To help boards strengthen their involvement, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) released some white papers. COSO released Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors and Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage, which provides four key areas where "senior management can work with its board of directors to enhance risk oversight and strategic value." (3) The report of the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission, Risk Governance: Balancing Risk and Reward, identifies 10 principles of effective risk oversight. They include general business-oriented principles (i.e., understanding the company's key drivers of success) and principles focused specifically on internal risk management practices (i.e., periodically assess the board's risk-oversight processes). (4) RISK INFORMATION SURVEY AND RESPONDENTS The NACD principles of effective oversight and COSO's key areas of board/management integration share many similarities and clearly focus on the need for communication and improved reporting on enterprise risks. As these white papers provide principles and guidance only, the question remains regarding how well board members, particularly those of publicly traded companies, believe their organizations are implementing the guidance from NACD and COSO as well as the quality of the risk information they are receiving. To find out, we designed a survey to understand the current state of risk-reporting activities in such a way that results could be interpreted using the four key areas in COSO's Strengthening Enterprise Risk Management for Strategic Advantage and NACD's related principles. The results indicate how board members perceive the nature and extent of the risk management information that they receive from management. Because prior research suggests that risk oversight is generally a function of the audit committee, we partnered with KPMG's Audit Committee Institute (ACI) to create and administer to its members a unique survey focused on risk information. The 125 respondents (all members of ACI) are current directors of publicly traded organizations and represent a wide set of business sizes and a variety of industries (see Table 1). Our survey found wide disparity in the types and perceived quality of information regarding organizational risks. Key highlights include: * Few organizations have developed risk-appetite statements successfully. These statements provide guidance on the types and levels of risk that an organization will undertake, and the statements provide a method to align stakeholder perspectives with internal management decisions. * Boards have limited information about the actual ERM practices--either the board does not request the information, or the company has not or cannot share the information about activities related to risk identification, estimation, or prioritization. …


The present research was conducted to identify levels and sources of teacher stress, teachers' job performance and self-efficacy of women school teachers. The study also explored the relationship between teacher stress, job performance and teacher self efficacy. Another main objective of research was to find out the moderator role of self efficacy in teacher stress and job performance relationship. The research was carried out in three parts. Part I is concerned with the development and validation of scales. For the purpose sent research teacher stress inventory TSL (Fimian. 1984) was adapted and translated into Urdu. This inventory is comprised of ten factors. Five factors measure the sources of stress and five factors measure the manifestations of stress. Level of stress are measured on the basis of total stress score. The process of translation and adaptation was completed in two phases. For translation, back translation method was adopted. The psychometric properties yielded TSI-Urdu a reliable and valid measure. The alpha reliability for the total scale was 0 .85. The internal consistency was further determined by inter scale correlations and item total correlations. Cross language validity was also determined. Another indigenous scale, TJPS was developed to measure teachers job performance. The analysis revealed TJPS as a reliable and valid measure. Principal component factor analysis revealed four factors for this scale. They are TS (Teaching Skills), MS (Management Skills) DR , (Discipline and Regularity) and IS (Interpersonal Skills). The sufficient content and face validity was also found through the ratings of judges. The alpha reliability for TJPS was 0.94. The split half reliability was also determined to strengthen the internal consistency i.e.,0.87. Inter-rater correlations were computed for the purpose of cross validation of students' ratings for their teachers. For this purpose correlation coefficient was computed between the ratings by students, headmistresses and self-rating of teachers. The significant positive correlation was found between ratings by. students and, headmistresses (r = 0.89**) and rating by headmistresses and self- ratings (r = 0.62**). The third scale Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES; Ahmad, 2001) was modified for the purposes of present research, through a committee approach. Modified TE"S was consisted of 16-items with two subscales i.e., Personal Efficacy (PE) and Teaching Efficacy (TE). The alpha reliability coefficient was determined as 0 .72 for total and 0 .61 and 0 .81 for PE & TE respectively. Item total correlation yielded significant internal consistency of scales. Part-II of the research (Pilot Study) was carried out on a small sample, in order to pre-test the scales developed in part-I and to find out any. flaws that may interfere in the findings Part-III of the present research was the main study that was carried out on a relatively larger sample to have more authenticity and generalizability of the research. Main. study was carried out with two independent samples i.e., teachers and students. Sample I was comprised of 330 women secondary . school teachers from government and private schools of three cities i.e., Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Chakwal. Sample II was selected from 9'" and 1 d" classes of the schools selected in sample I. This sample was comprised of randomly selected 990 girl students. Results showed that teachers displayed moderate levels of stress, and highest scores were displayed on work related stressors. The significant negative correlation was found between teacher stress and job performance and teacher stress and teacher efficacy. The moderated multiple regression analysis revealed that high self-efficacy could playa moderator role in the relationship of teacher stress and job performance. The findings also showed that there were significant differences between government and private school teachers on levels of teacher stress, job performance and teacher efficacy. Government school teachers showed high levels of stress, poor job performance and low self efficacy as compared to private school teachers. The correlation was also found between .teacher stress, job performance, self-efficacy and some job related and demographic variables i.e., marital status, family system, number. of students, monthly income, age and job experience of teachers. T-test and ANOVA analysis showed differences between groups related to demographic variables. The findings indicated that these variables contribute significantly in teacher stress, job performance and self efficacy of women school teachers.


OBJECTIVE
To examine variations in premium and cost-sharing across marketplace plans available to eligible families.

DATA SOURCES
2011-2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), 2014 health plan data from healthcare.gov, and the 2011 Medicare Part D public formulary file.

STUDY DESIGN
We identified a nationally representative cohort of individuals in the MEPS who would have been eligible for marketplace coverage. For each family, we simulated the total out-of-pocket payment (premium plus cost-sharing) under each available plan in their county of residence, assuming their premarketplace use.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS
Confidential state and county of residence identifiers were merged onto MEPS public use files and used to match MEPS families to the plans available in their county as reported in the publicly available data from healthcare.gov.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
We found substantial variation in total family health care spending, especially premium component, across marketplace plans. This is true even within a plan tier of the same minimum actuarial value, and for families eligible for subsidies. Variation among families with income below 250 percent of the FPL is larger than variation among families with higher income.

CONCLUSIONS
Our simulations show substantial variations in net premium and out-of-pocket payments across marketplace plans, even within a plan tier.


Over the last five years, and while developing an architecture for autonomous service robots in human environments, we have identified several key decisional issues that are to be tackled for a cognitive robot to share space and tasks with a human. We introduce some of them here: situation assessment and mutual modelling, management and exploitation of each agent (human and robot) knowledge in separate cognitive models, natural multi-modal communication, "human-aware" task planning, and human and robot interleaved plan achievement. As a general "take home" message, it appears that explicit knowledge management, both symbolic and geometric, proves to be a successful key while attempting to address these challenges, as it pushes for a different, more semantic way to address the decision-making issue in human-robot interactions.


This article provides an introduction to the bootstrap. The bootstrap provides statistical inferences—standard error and bias estimates, confidence intervals, and hypothesis tests—without assumptions such as Normal distributions or equal variances. As such, bootstrap methods can be remarkably more accurate than classical inferences based on Normal or t distributions. The bootstrap uses the same basic procedure regardless of the statistic being calculated, without requiring the use of application‐specific formulae. This article may provide two big surprises for many readers. The first is that the bootstrap shows that common t confidence intervals are woefully inaccurate when populations are skewed, with one‐sided coverage levels off by factors of two or more, even for very large samples. The second is that the number of bootstrap samples required is much larger than generally realized. WIREs Comp Stat 2011 3 497–526 DOI: 10.1002/wics.182


Background: Much social network analysis in health related research has focused on the impact of social networks in the genesis of long term conditions and associated inequalities. However, there has been little research on the role of social networks in the management of such conditions. This is significant at a time when increasing policy emphasis is placed on individual self-care and assumptions are often made about social support, and familial support in particular. The management of chronic illness is complex involving the interplay of personal and contextual factors and comprised of a number of daily activities which include the ongoing negotiation of management into existing roles and the degree of individual engagement with self-management. Little is known about how these aspects interact to shape and influence management, what constitutes a social network for individuals with long term conditions and whether this changes over time.Methods: This study was embedded within the Whole Systems Informing Self-management Engagement (WISE) randomised control trial. It used a longitudinal qualitative design with initial face to face in-depth interviews, telephone follow-ups over a year and final face-to-face interviews where sociograms were also used to elicit network structure.Results: The findings suggest that who is in the social network, and the types of relationships which are present, influence how management practices are framed and the extent to which they are engaged with. Resources available to an individual through the network support, or undermine, engagement and changed over time. Networks included family, friends, GP, nurses and companion animals. The amalgamation of the different types of relationships that constitute the social networks are characterised by three typologies; the family focused network, the friend focused network and the health care professional focused network. These network types reflected where support was sought in times of crisis. In the absence of ?typical? sources accounts highlighted the substitutability of network members which was often narrowly sought from key individuals. Changes in illness management, either positive or negative, were framed around critical moments as they challenged existing norms of practice and involved significant network members. Further, co-morbid conditions placed an additional complexity to management and priorities were shaped by the recursive relationship with health services which seemingly influences patients? orientation in becoming either active assessors of health care or less engaged through being overwhelmed. Conclusions: This thesis challenges the notion of ?self?-management as an individual construct as many of the practices of illness management involved the support and/or negotiation of roles with others. Critical moments are a key point where normalised management practices are challenged and have particular relevance for future interventions which could foster these critical points to facilitate such changes in routines. Interventions and education need to reflect this wider setting in which chronic illness management occurs for the practices of management to become normalised into everyday routines.


Although it has been in use for over 50 years, metronidazole continues to be widely prescribed for the treatment of anaerobic bacterial infections as well as in some protozoal diseases. Despite this long-term use, relatively little resistance has emerged and metronidazole remains the treatment of choice for Helicobacter pylori infection, bacterial vaginosis and Clostridium difficile colonisation as well as suspected deep anaerobic infections in both adults and children.1

Metronidazole is bactericidal and targets organisms that thrive in anaerobic conditions. The mechanism behind this action is multifactorial and revolves around the ability of the nitroimidazole ring within metronidazole to undergo reduction. Reduction of this ring inherently causes disruption of the normal redox energy pathways of the bacterium and produces a reactive nitro radical anion. This reactive anion goes on to cause oxidative damage to microbial DNA, which cannot then be repaired due to deficiency of available energy stores. Presence of oxygen prevents this action as it can readily accept lone electrons from the reactive drug radical, explaining the effect of the drug only in anaerobic environments.2

This mode of action is independent of binding to microbial proteins and the drug passively diffuses across the microbial membrane. As a result, organisms are not able to quickly develop resistance by modification of protein structure, possibly explaining the relative lack of resistance to the drug today.

### Absorption

Metronidazole is absorbed well orally and has a bioavailability of 98.9% when taken by this route. Mean peak plasma concentrations of metronidazole (10.49±3.44 µg/mL) are reached within approximately 6 hours (4.48±1.7 hours) of ingestion in children.3

Intravenous administration is commonly used in those who are nil by mouth, for example those pre and post gastrointestinal surgery or neonates …


BACKGROUND & AIMS
NK1.1(+) TCRalphabeta(int) CD1-restricted T (NKT) cells are a unique subset of T lymphocytes that are believed to have an immunoregulatory role in a wide range of diseases. Most mouse NKT cells express a T-cell receptor that contains an invariant Valpha14Jalpha18 chain and recognizes antigenic glycolipids presented in association with major histocompatibility complex class Ib (CD1d) molecules. These invariant NKT (iNKT) cells have been implicated in cholestatic liver injury.

METHODS
We examined the role of iNKT cells in liver injury associated with biliary obstruction in mice with ligations of the common bile duct.

RESULTS
The number of activated iNKT cells increased markedly in the livers of mice following bile duct ligation. Plasma alanine aminotransferase levels, an indicator of liver injury, were significantly higher in iNKT cell-deficient (Jalpha18(-/-)) mice compared with wild-type mice following bile duct ligation. Photo image analysis of histologic sections confirmed that more damage was present in the livers of Jalpha18(-/-) mice; liver damage correlated with increases in keratinocyte-derived chemokine (KC) and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2) production as well as neutrophil sequestration. Liver injury was significantly reduced in Jalpha18(-/-) mice treated with anti-KC and anti-MIP-2 or rendered neutrophil deficient before bile duct ligation. Similarly, Jalpha18(-/-) mice that were injected with iNKT cells before bile duct ligation exhibited significant decreases in neutrophil accumulation and liver damage.

CONCLUSIONS
These data document the role of iNKT cells in suppressing the neutrophil proinflammatory response and neutrophil-dependent cholestatic liver damage.


Economic development is one of the most important issues facing Indigenous nations in the United States. Politically, it speaks to a tribal nation's fundamental right to development, which is closely linked to its right of self-determination. Socio-economically, it is the means by which a nation seeks to confront the enduring consequences of poverty. Culturally, it offers a pathway to preserving and enhancing indigenous worldviews. Indigenous land-based economies sustained millions of Native Americans for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. Contact with the Europeans altered the form of some of these economies, but also led to new avenues of trade and commerce. Over time disease, warfare, and the plundering of Indian lands and resources took their toll on indigenous economies. Next came two and a half centuries of U.S. Indian policies that sought to destroy the customs, laws, and institutions that supported these economies. The latter part of the twentieth century ushered in a new era of federal-tribal relations with the emergence of the policy of self-determination. With a new emphasis on tribal control of resources, land, and government, sustained economic development for Indian nations was once again possible. Today, American Indian nations are engaging in a range of domestic and international initiatives as a means of rebuilding their economic base. The scope and breadth of Indian economic development is as varied as the tribes themselves: recreation, manufacturing, retail, eco-tourism, timber, grazing, agriculture, banking, construction, energy, gaming, and telecommunications, to name a few. While the long-term effects of this development are yet to be fully realized, short-term indicators suggest socio-economic gains for tribes, as well as off-reservation local, state, and federal economies. Yet even with these advances, there exist variations in the rates and levels of economic recovery among tribes. A number of non-legal factors affect long-term economic growth, such as institution-building, strategic planning, and access to capital. Additionally, the unique legal status of tribes has resulted in a set of complex rules that impact development efforts. While these legal rules can result in development advantages for tribes, this is not always the case. This paper analyzes an important legal hurdle to sustained development: U.S. Supreme Court cases that create jurisdictional uncertainties regarding the scope of tribal sovereign powers. This paper also explores how American Indian nations might minimize the development impact of these decisions through negotiated agreements.


The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009) promised strict accounting of all funds spent and the publication of that information to the public in relative real-time. The federal requirements for reporting Recovery Act funds relied heavily on the ability of recipients, primarily state governments, to capture, manage, and deliver the data required. This paper presents the experience of one state agency, in particular how they leveraged the reporting mandate to improve real-time informational capability for transparency and openness. The case, together with insights from a Recovery Act Knowledge Network, provides five recommendations to guide decision makers who seek to increase the capability of government to use information to further transparency agendas.


In this analysis I consider one rather common coordinate construction and two less common ones from West Germanic that have two distinguishing properties in common: (i) all consist of conjoined verb-second (V2) clauses, and (ii) there is an ellipse at the left edge of the second conjunct. I propose that the conjunction c-commands the ellipse and that it is recovered in the semantic component through matching with a semantically parallel antecedent in a parallel syntactic position. This analysis utilizes Phase Theory to provide a derivational framework: each V2 clause must, as a phase, complete derivation before the next one is assembled. In this approach the Coordinate Structure Constraint is understood purely as a description of the semantic parallelisms required, and across-the-board movement is unnecessary; it is in fact incompatible with a phase-based approach. Finally, this approach requires three V2 positions in the functional domain of West Germanic; thus, the V2 phenomenon results from feature-checking requirements only (not positions available). Furthermore, it conspires with phase-based conjunction to create a position licensable for "deletion" (non-phonetic realization), thereby economizing the spoken form.


Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a known predictor of decreased long-term survival after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Differences in survival by race have not been examined. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of CABG patients between 2002 and 2011. Long-term survival was compared in patients with and without COPD and stratified by race. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed using a Cox regression model. Results: A total of 984 (20%) patients had COPD (black n = 182; white n = 802) at the time of CABG (N = 4,801). The median follow-up for study participants was 4.4 years. COPD was observed to be a statistically significant predictor of decreased survival independent of race following CABG (no COPD: HR = 1.0; white COPD: adjusted HR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.7–2.3; black COPD: adjusted HR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1–2.2). Conclusion: Contrary to the expected increased risk of mortality among black COPD patients in the general population, a similar survival disadvantage was not observed in our CABG population.