A groundwater recharge map has been created for the Republic of Ireland. This provides important baseline information for multiple purposes: aquifer water balance assessments using simple lumped models or distributed numerical groundwater models; assessment of the impact of groundwater abstractions as required under the European Water Framework Directive; and delineation of source protection zones. The groundwater recharge map is derived from existing hydrogeological and meteorological spatial datasets. The main hydrogeological controls on groundwater recharge include the permeability and thickness of superficial deposits (mainly tills in Ireland), the presence of saturated soils, and the ability of the underlying aquifer to accept percolating waters. Combinations of these factors are assessed, and a 'recharge coefficient' is established for different hydrogeological scenarios. To produce the groundwater recharge map, the geographic information system layer containing the recharge coefficients is multiplied by the effective rainfall. The recharge map is finally modified to take into account areas where the natural recharge capacity of the underlying aquifer is less than the estimated groundwater recharge potential. Originally drafted in 2005, the present map includes refined recharge coefficient estimates, improved representation of wet soils over gravel aquifers, and a full national coverage of full subsoil permeability and groundwater vulnerability mapping. There are a number of assumptions made in creating the groundwater recharge map (notably, only direct (diffuse) recharge is taken into account) and there are limitations of precision associated with the input datasets. For reasons of scale and generalization to a national coverage, the map is useful for giving regional estimates of recharge but these, in many cases, will need to be refined by site-specific studies.


Consumers first" is a well-known fact in the market. In order to meet with the preferences and demand of customers, personally customized process has become a trend. Following the trend of customization, this paper presents an eyeglasses try-on system based on augmented reality to fulfill the needs of customized eyeglasses. The system is equipped with Intel Realsense Camera to detect facial characteristics. With the camera and a designed eyeglasses model, customers can try on, adjust, and eventually find the best fit. In the past, it was lengthy and complicated to construct an eyeglasses try-on system. Therefore, in this paper, we adopted the game engine, Unity, plus the Intel Realsense Camera and its assistance SDK. Using its special function of catching numerous facial characteristics, we are able to substantially improve the time-consuming defect before, and serve different customers in time. After the customization is done, the digital data of the glasses are selected and adjusted according to the 3D facial scan. Then the digital model of the glasses is converted into STL format, which is used for 3D printing. A desktop 3D printer of DLP SLA technology is used to fabricate the legs and frame of the selected pair. Through the accurate process of solidifying photocurable resin, the frame is built up within four hours. Without the need of polishing, the surface of the frame is then coated by the UV Inkjet printer, which can present in any color selected and customized solely by the consumer.


The Green Fairy 1.0 is a practice-led research project that explores practical strategies for effective storytelling in virtual reality. It consists on producing a shortfilm for Virtual Reality with techniques found in the roots of storytelling. For the production of this project, game development techniques have been complemented by traditional storytelling techniques from other platforms such as oral storytelling, cinema and theatre. Up until recent years, VR (Virtual Reality) has been predominantly been used for games, simulations and military training. Since 2015 it began to grab the experimental interest of content creators wanting to tell stories in this medium. The production of this project took place at the end of 2015 and throughout 2016 without much support from existing Virtual Reality Storytelling work that has been released later in 2016. This meant taking an approach that focused on the craft of storytelling, more than the technology itself, therefore this research has its focus on keeping things simple and using VR to tell a story with a storyteller. Storytelling techniques developed thus far for other storytelling platforms such as film, TV, radio, novels, theatre, etc do not necessarily apply for Virtual Reality. Forcing some of these techniques onto VR can create motion sickness, disorientation, missing the plotline amongst other issues. This research aims to introduce strategies and techniques that will support the community of content creators that are developing a language of storytelling for VR. The trial and error following the production of this project is documented throughout the exegesis.


The Aegean island of Lesvos is one of the gateways that refugees and undocumented border crossers use for entering European territory. This study deals with two phenomena related to border crossings on Lesvos: first, the efforts of those arriving to be placed in the status of 'administrative detention' in order to receive an expulsion order and then be able to continue their journey; and, second, the activity of the local solidarity network, which initially established an open reception centre for refugees and undocumented immigrants under the umbrella of the civil society, until some activists agreed to put this project under the jurisdiction of the state authorities. In reflecting on these developments, the author addresses two major issues: first, immigration imprisonment as a facet of 'positive power' in the Foucauldian sense, and the possible relationship of the latter to grassroots humanitarian commitment; and, second, specific facets of the current paradigm of immigration imprisonment that can help explain why detention may be interpreted as a right by refugees and immigrants. The author argues that the humanitarianism that arises in the interface of surveillance and the provision of care demonstrates post-bureaucratic features; and further, that the strategy pursued by refugees and undocumented immigrants shows how limited their scope is for asserting any rights, given the intensified augmentation of border surveillance worldwide.


Each of the articles included in this special issue of the Journal of Language and Sexuality asks us to imagine queer im/migration, asylum and sexual citizenship in multiple dimensions and to probe the discursive operations that establish the parameters of sexual subjectivity. This review article argues that these processes are illustrative of "sexual adjudication:" the discursive coordinates, legal logics and linguistic sensibilities that produce the category of the sexual migrant, the sexual refugee and the sexual asylum seeker. The discussions featured here engage questions of how sexual epistemics work in both sending and receiving countries, as well as the role of borders in constituting narratives of sexual subjectivity. In addition to analyzing the theoretical overlaps and reciprocal conversations between the articles included in the special issue, this essay provides a historical, comparative context by situating these discussions within larger theoretical and terminological questions regarding queer im/migration, asylum and subjectivity.


Clodronate, alendronate, and other bisphosphonates are widely used in the treatment of bone diseases characterized by excessive osteoclastic bone resorption. The exact mechanisms of action of bisphosphonates have not been identified but may involve a toxic effect on mature osteoclasts due to the induction of apoptosis. Clodronate encapsulated in liposomes is also toxic to macrophages in vivo and may therefore be of use in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. It is generally believed that bisphosphonates are not metabolized. However, we have found that mammalian cells in vitro (murine J774 macrophage-like cells and human MG63 osteosarcoma cells) can metabolize clodronate (dichloromethylenebisphosphonate) to a nonhydrolyzable adenosine triphosphate (ATP) analog, adenosine 5'-(beta, gamma-dichloromethylene) triphosphate, which could be detected in cell extracts by using fast protein liquid chromatography. J774 cells could also metabolize liposome-encapsulated clodronate to the same ATP analog. Liposome-encapsulated adenosine 5'-(beta, gamma-dichloromethylene) triphosphate was more potent than liposome-encapsulated clodronate at reducing the viability of cultures of J774 cells and caused both necrotic and apoptotic cell death. Neither alendronate nor liposome-encapsulated alendronate were metabolized. These results demonstrate that the toxic effect of clodronate on J774 macrophages, and probably on osteoclasts, is due to the metabolism of clodronate to a nonhydrolyzable ATP analog. Alendronate appears to act by a different mechanism.


Abstract. In this paper, we present a coupling scheme between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm) and the Biogeochemical Flux Model (BFM). The MITgcm and BFM are widely used models for geophysical fluid dynamics and for ocean biogeochemistry, respectively, and they benefit from the support of active developers and user communities. The MITgcm is a state-of-the-art general circulation model for simulating the ocean and the atmosphere. This model is fully 3-D (including the non-hydrostatic term of momentum equations) and is characterized by a finite-volume discretization and a number of additional features enabling simulations from global (O(107) m) to local scales (O(100) m). The BFM is a biogeochemical model based on plankton functional type formulations, and it simulates the cycling of a number of constituents and nutrients within marine ecosystems. The online coupling presented in this paper is based on an open-source code, and it is characterized by a modular structure. Modularity preserves the potentials of the two models, allowing for a sustainable programming effort to handle future evolutions in the two codes. We also tested specific model options and integration schemes to balance the numerical accuracy against the computational performance. The coupling scheme allows us to solve several processes that are not considered by each of the models alone, including light attenuation parameterizations along the water column, phytoplankton and detritus sinking, external inputs, and surface and bottom fluxes. Moreover, this new coupled hydrodynamic–biogeochemical model has been configured and tested against an idealized problem (a cyclonic gyre in a mid-latitude closed basin) and a realistic case study (central part of the Mediterranean Sea in 2006–2012). The numerical results consistently reproduce the interplay of hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry in both the idealized case and Mediterranean Sea experiments. The former reproduces correctly the alternation of surface bloom and deep chlorophyll maximum dynamics driven by the seasonal cycle of winter vertical mixing and summer stratification; the latter simulates the main basin-wide and mesoscale spatial features of the physical and biochemical variables in the Mediterranean, thus demonstrating the applicability of the new coupled model to a wide range of ocean biogeochemistry problems.


New data are presented that demonstrate the syn-tectonic intrusion of a suite of mafic and ultramafic magmas into the Connemara Dalradian. Magma was intruded during the local D2 episode but immediately prior to the onset of D3. Both deformation episodes affect the gabbros, forming two distinct groups of fabrics formed at different stages during the history of the intrusion. Applying thermal considerations to this history suggest that any gap in time between the formation of these fabrics was <0.5 Ma. The role played by rigid mafic intrusions in influencing the style of deformation is shown and assessed. The Renvyle–Bofin Slide is reinterpreted as an entirely late-tectonic structure related to extension of the Connemara terrane. The implications of a syn-D2/immediately pre-D3 age of emplacement of these bodies for the age of other gabbros in Connemara is discussed. It is suggested that existing tectonic schemes for the area should be modified; either events in Connemara were highly diachronous or the published ages of the gabbros are misleading.


Introduction: Thin gingival biotype (GBT) is of clinical relevance in orthodontic and periodontic treatment, so thick biotype is a requisite for good periodontal health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) with tunnel flap compared to connective tissue graft (CTG) with tunnel flap in increasing gingival thickness (GTH). Material and Methods: Twenty orthodontic patients presenting thin GBTs were included in this study. Treatment sites were divided into test group (PRF) and control group (CTG). Clinical parameters as GTH, GBT, and width of keratinized gingiva (WKG) were assessed at baseline and 6 months post-surgically. Statistical analysis was performed using independent T-test for intergroup comparison. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: The mean GTH at 6 months was 1.57 mm for test group and 1.64 mm for control group. The gain of WKG was 1.57 and 2.08 mm in test and control sites, respectively. Conclusion: Within the limits of this study, using PRF in modifying thin GBT is a successful treatment option and could serve as an alternative to connective tissue grafts (CTGs).


Background: To find out to what degree health-improving dietary behavior (eg, increasing consumption of vegetables and fruits) can be furthered in virtual peer support groups moderated by a nutrition professional using a mobile app. Objective: To find out, to what degree health improving dietary behaviour, for example increasing the use of vegetables and fruits can be furthered in virtual peer support groups moderated by a nutrition professional using a mobile application. Methods: In this feasibility study, volunteering adult men and women (body mass index [BMI]>25 kg/m²) were recruited both from a diabetes outpatient clinic and from an occupational health care unit. Participants were divided into 3 groups. All participants used a smartphone app that allowed them to keep a visual food journal, share their meals and activity with group members, and receive virtual coaching from a nutrition professional. Outcomes were assessed via surveys at baseline, after the intervention, and 4 weeks later using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Frequency of app use, weight, and waist circumference were estimated at baseline and after the intervention. Results: Mean weight loss (n=25) after intervention was 1.5 kg (95% CI 0.79 to 2.29), or 1.7% (95% CI 0.89 to 2.5) in all subjects together, and 1.5% in group 1 (95% CI –0.02 to 2.9), 1.9% in group 2 (95% CI 0.56 to 3.25), and 1.7% in group 3 (95% CI –0.20 to 3.61), respectively. Mean waist circumference (n=22) reduced 2.4% (95 % CI 1.3 to 3.4). At the end of the 4-week intervention, the consumption of vegetables and fruits (n=26) had increased by 55%, while the consumption of sweets and chocolate had decreased by 39% as compared to baseline. Almost all participants (84%) strongly agreed (40%) or agreed (44%) that they got support and encouragement from other group members. Similarly, altogether 92% of participants strongly agreed (67%) or agreed (25%) that they felt like they belonged to the group. The engagement level was high, with the average user uploading 5.2 meals a day and recording a total of 9.3 sessions a day. There was some variation between the 3 groups. On average, users in groups 1, 2, and 3 uploaded 3.8 (n=8, 862 meals), 5.8 (n=8, 1315 meals) and 5.7 (n=11, 1774 meals) meals a day, respectively, within the 4 week period. In total, the participants uploaded 3951 meals and recorded 7066 sessions. Conclusions: Smartphone-based virtual peer support can be used as a tool to promote healthy eating both in outpatient clinic and occupational health settings. [iproc 2016;2(1):e38]


The Heat Release Rate (HRR) is a critical parameter to characterise a fire. Different methods have been developed to estimate it. The most widespread techniques are based on mass balance. If the heat of combustion of the fuel is known, the measure of the mass loss allows its evaluation. If the burning material can not be identified, calorimetric principles can be used. They rely on oxygen consumption (OC) or carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide generation (CDG) measurements. Their asset comes from the observation that the amount of energy release per unit mass of O2 consumed or per unit mass of CO2 produced is relatively constant for a large number of materials. Thus, an accurate HRR can be obtained without knowing the composition of the burning fuel. The aim of this work is to assess this last statement and define how essential the knowledge of the chemistry to calculate HRR for complex materials such as polymers including fire retardants and/or nanocomposites, energetic materials or pine needles is. This assessment ends in an OC and CDG calorimetry comparison of several materials in order to investigate the propensity to determine whether converging or diverging HRR results when average energy constants are used. Copyright


: A novel approach of palmprint recognition using image reconstruction based on double DBNs (IR-DDBN) was proposed in this study, as principal component analysis (PCA) ignores the higher order statistics in feature extraction. Three main steps were involved in the algorithm. Firstly, whitening PCA was utilized to extract the prominent characteristics of the original palmprint image. The second step included reconstructing the original image and calculating the residual image for the residual features between the original and reconstructed images. Finally, the double DBNs were used for classification. The experimental results demonstrated better performance of the proposed algorithm by comparing with the traditional algorithms (PCA, LBP, HOG and DBN) with higher recognition rates, especially for relatively small training samples


Transient adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of IL-1beta (AdIL-1beta), a proinflammatory cytokine, induces marked inflammation and severe and progressive fibrosis in rat lungs. This is associated with an increase in TGF-beta1 concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. TGF-beta1 is a key cytokine in the process of fibrogenesis, using intracellular signaling pathways involving Smad2 and Smad3. In this study we investigate whether inflammation induced by IL-1beta is able to independently induce lung fibrosis in mice deficient in the Smad3 gene. Seven days after AdIL-1beta administration, similar levels of IL-1beta transgene are seen in BAL in both wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice, and BAL cell profiles demonstrated a similar marked neutrophilic inflammation. Phospho-Smad2 staining was positive in areas of inflammation in both WT and KO mice at day 7. By day 35 after transient IL-1beta expression, WT mice showed marked fibrosis in peribronchial areas, quantified by picrosirius red staining and morphometry. However, there was no evidence of fibrosis or collagen accumulation in IL-1beta-treated KO mice, and peribronchial areas were not different from KO mice treated with the control adenovector. TGF-beta1 and phospho-Smad2 were strongly positive at day 35 in fibrotic areas observed in WT mice, but no such staining was detectable in KO mice. The IL-1beta-induced chronic fibrotic response in mouse lungs is dependent on Smad3. KO and WT animals demonstrated a similar inflammatory response to overexpression of IL-1beta indicating that inflammation must link to the Smad3 pathway, likely through TGF-beta, to induce progressive fibrosis.


This article provides a review of the literature on anteroposterior differences in the growth and functional expression of normal and neoplastic cells. Diverse studies in immunology, wound healing, carcinogenesis, transplantation biology, and developmental biology are brought together to emphasize the practical implications of regional differences for research protocols in all these areas of research. The more fundamental question of mechanisms is approached by consideration of variations in the vascular supply, pattern of nervous system development, expression of temperature differentials, and the establishment of metabolic gradients during development.


INTRODUCTION
Fine aerosolised droplets and splatter generated during dental procedures influences the composition of the indoor air quality of dental care facilities and poses a potential threat to the workers' health. Therefore there is a need to assess the risks from exposure to bioaerosols and splatter and identify measures of reducing possible hazards.

METHODOLOGY
A review of the literature related to occupational exposure and health hazards in dentistry was conducted. The search primarily focused on endotoxin exposure from contaminated dental unit waterlines.

RESULTS
This review highlights the various occupational hazards experienced by dental personnel. However, focus is directed on exposure to biological agents as a result of fine aerosol and splatter generated from dental procedures. More emphasis is on endotoxin exposure from contaminated dental unit waterlines and the negative impact it may have on dental workers. The review also aims to inform the reader of proposed endotoxin levels in both air and water and how and by whom it should be measured.

CONCLUSION
Understanding the main sources of endotoxin in dental practice and its influence on indoor air and potential threat to dental workers is pertinent to infection control strategies.


The ease with which endotracheal intubation is performed depends upon degree of muscle relaxation, depth of anaesthesia and skill of anaesthesiologist. This is prospective, randomised observational study conducted at Deccan academy of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Hyderabad. The aim of this study is to compare the effect of suxamethonium, vecuronium and rocuronium on intubation time and intubating conditions when used along with rocuronium. 75 patients aged between 30 to 50 year of both genders, weighing from 40 to 70kg coming for elective surgeries under general anaesthesia included. They are divided in three groups, Group 1received 0.6 mg/kg rocuronium, and Group II received Suxamethonium1.5 mg/kg. And group III vecuronium 0.1 mg/kg. Intubating conditions were assessed by cooper scoring system. In Group I, 15patients showed excellent, 10 patients good and no patients showed poor intubation conditions and in group II all patients (25) showed excellent, and group III all patients showed good intubation conditions respectively. The onset time of intubating condition of three groups were 82.95±20.34 in Group I compared with 60.25±9.41 in Group II whereas in group III 154.5±6.47. These timings were significantly reduced in Group II compared to Group I and Group III. Vecuronium 0.1 mg/kg produces good intubation conditions at 60 sec when compared with Vecuronium 0.8 mg/kg provides excellent intubating conditions within 60–66 secs without any adverse effects in elective surgeries in patients with stable haemodynamics.


ABSTRACT The Cooper's Cave System has produced a diverse fossil assemblage including the remains of Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938, and early Homo Linnaeus, 1758. The majority of the faunal remains come from Cooper's D, which dates to c. 1.5–1.4 Ma. Here we describe 158 craniodental and postcranial felid fossils from Cooper's D, including Dinofelis cf. aronoki. These fossils indicate the presence of four large felid genera at Cooper's D: Dinofelis Zdansky, 1924, Megantereon Croizet & Jobert, 1828, Panthera Oken, 1816 (two species) and Acinonyx Brookes, 1828, plus two smaller taxa: Caracal Gray, 1843 and Felis Linnaeus, 1758. This assemblage may mark the first appearance of the modern cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775) in Africa, as well the first occurrence of the East African species Dinofelis cf. aronoki in southern Africa. This taxon appears intermediate in features between Dinofelis barlowi (Broom, 1937) and Dinofelis piveteaui (Ewer, 1955). We compare the Cooper's D felid assemblage with those from other sites in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, and discuss several scenarios for the evolution of the genus Dinofelis in eastern and southern Africa.


Most scholarship on nineteenth-century America's transformation into a market society has focused on consumption, romanticized visions of workers, and analysis of firms and factories. Building on but moving past these studies, "Capitalism Takes Command" presents a history of family farming, general incorporation laws, mortgage payments, inheritance practices, office systems, and risk management - an inventory of the means by which capitalism became America's new revolutionary tradition. This multidisciplinary collection of essays argues not only that capitalism reached far beyond the purview of the economy, but also that the revolution was not confined to the destruction of an agrarian past. As business ceaselessly revised its own practices, a new demographic of private bankers, insurance brokers, investors in securities, and start-up manufacturers, among many others, assumed center stage, displacing older elites and forms of property. Explaining how capital became an "ism" and how business became a political philosophy, "Capitalism Takes Command" brings the economy back into American social and cultural history.


In many African countries, the misuse of chemical insecticides is questioned with the awareness of their negative effects on ecosystems and human health. There is, therefore, constant request from consumers for alternatives to chemical insecticide in plant protection. In the present study, the efficacy of Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, neem oil and pesticides used for conventional cotton was tested in two environments: (i) experimental plots (Research Centre), (ii) farmers' cotton field). For the purpose, fifty grams per ha of conidia of each fungus's strains were formulated with peanut oil and kerosene (30:70) and applied at a volume of 2 litres.ha -1 . Neem oil was applied at 1 litre.ha -1 in a formulation containing neem oil and kerosene (50:50). Treatments with biopesticides and neem oil were carried out on threshold (five H. armigera for 40 cotton plants). The effects of the different pesticides used on cotton pests populations' densities (Helicoverpa armigera, Earias spp., Diparopsis watersi, Spodoptera littoralis, Syllepte derogata) and their natural enemies were studied as well as their damage on cotton buds and bolls. Cotton yield was also assessed. The results showed that, in the experimental plots the average efficacy of pesticides used, calculated on the basis of the observations of Helicoverpapopulation's density was: 56.1 ± 27.4%; 77.9 ± 9.9%; 59 7 ± 18.6% and 78.21 ± 8.2% for chemical pesticides, neem oil, B. bassiana and M. anisopliae, respectively. The average rate of flowers buds and bolls damaged in plots treated with biopesticides was significantly higher than in plots treated with chemicals. M. anisopliae, B. bassiana and neem oil have protected the fruiting organs in the same manner. In farmers' cotton fields, pest control by the various pesticides used was similar with yields ranging from 1.5 ± 0.3 t / ha to 1.6 ± 0.3 t / ha. Among the natural enemies observed, ants were the most affected by chemical treatments. Among the biopesticides, M. anisopliae represented the least harmful to natural enemies, followed by B. bassiana. The results showed that the biopesticides used in our study can reduce the densities of different target pests. Early application (at lower threshold) allowed these biopesticides to better control cotton pests.This study suggested the possibilities of the use of biopesticides as alternatives to chemical insecticides in the control of cotton pests.


Abstract:This article presents an innovative manner to supplement history and foreign language classes with a 3D modeling of ancient Rome by the widely played video game Minecraft. Assuming the persona of an ancient architect, students select a building, research it in primary and secondary sources and recreate it in its original Roman location. Here I discuss the benefits of using 3D software as a learning tool and the theory and methodology behind the implementation used with my Latin I–IV students, ages 13–18. I also analyze the data resulting from two iterations and offer further suggestions for implementation.


A spine x-ray image retrieval system has been developed for retrieving images based on the pathology information such as the osteophyte. Osteophyte shows only in particular regions on the vertebra. This means the contour information on the vertebra regions that are not of interest hinder the image retrieval relevance precision. Curve matching or partial shape matching (PSM) methods based on dynamic programming for matching shapes with variable number of points and with different data point distribution have been developed to detect the osteophyte with similar shapes. Based on the shape property of spines, corner guided dynamic programming (DP) is introduced as the new enhanced searching strategy which dramatically increases the processing efficiency of the traditional DP. Shape representation method using multiple open triangles is presented in this paper. Performance evaluation of corner-guided DP on this shape representation based on human relevance judgment is presented. This paper also presents the implementation and performance of the retrieval system. The retrieval system consists of a user friendly graphical user interface (GUI) which has been developed for testing. All the shape matching methods that have been developed have been integrated into the system for the user to choose during a retrieval process. The retrieval results are ranked from the most similar to the least similar and can be all viewed by the user.


Nowadays, many studies on the effects of native GnRHs and various agonists have been evaluated on the spawning of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus. For the current study, three experiments have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of chicken gonadotropin-releasing hormone II (cGnRH-II) in stimulation of maturation and ovulation of African catfish. The first experiment concerned the graded dosage treatment; the second experiment was designed specifically to determine the response of dopamine inhibitor to accelerate the maturation process. Finally the third experiment was carried out to compare the effectiveness of cGnRH-II against leutinising hormone releasing-hormone analogue (LHRHa) and salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (sGnRHa) in inducing maturation and ovulation. Plasma steroid levels (17s-estradiol (E2) and testosterone) were determined and germinal vesicle (GV) was observed prior to hormone administration at (0), 6, 12 and 24 h post injection. From the first experiment, cGnRH-II 200 g/kg was found to be effective to induce ovulation in African catfish. 100% ovulation was also observed for the fish treated with cGnRH-II 200 g/kg with the combination of pimozide based on the second experiment. Finally in the third experiment, sGnRHa was proven to be more efficient compared to cGnRH-II, only 20 g/kg was administered intramuscularly in single injection. For the group that showed ovulation, that is cGnRH 200 g/kg alone and with the combination of pimozide and also sGnRHa, plasma level of E2 and T increased significantly with the association of germinal vesicle migration and ultimately ovulation. The concentration reached the peaked after 12 h, then decreased dramatically at 24 h post treatment. In contrast to the non-ovulated group that is cGnRH-II 2 and 20 g/kg, the plasma level showed small increased after the injection and throughout the experiment. The present study indicates that  administration of cGnRH-II is effective for sexual maturation and ovulation in African catfish.


A group of songs called salidummay, popular in Northern Philippine highlands, is characterized by musical features of Anglo-American folk songs epitomized by meter and anhemitonic pentatonic pitch system (against domination of two to four tone tunes of older chants), as well as vernacular lyrics that often carry the formulaic expressions of older chants of the locale. The paper asks why salidummay songs that present hybrid features than other local forms have become a symbol of collective identity of the peoples of Northern Luzon highlands as that of the "Cordillera." Analysis of three salidummay renditions performed in two privately hosted communal feasts (palanos) of the Banaos at western Kalinga reveals the categorical inconsistency of salidummay songs that carry both features of premodernity (spontaneity, orality, intimacy of communal reception) and modernity that is ultimately attributed to "congregational singing." The paper then argues that the simultaneity of congregational singing of hymn singing , that is applied today to the singing of anthems, martial songs and protest songs, is the praxis of modernity; that it has already become the habitus of Filipinos in the twentieth century; and that, thus, salidummay singing is believed to be "tradition" in the narrative of projecting ethnicity. The paper concludes that tempo-spatial strata of premodernity and modernity is the key to understanding the sociocultural complex of contemporary Philippines.


The academic profession has significantly transformed in the past few decades due to the industrialization of higher education and research. Based on sixteen career path interviews, the study investigates how the career paths of sociology doctoral graduates who obtained their master's or PhD degree at Corvinus University of Budapest have been formed within this changing environment of the academic profession. The study distinguishes four researcher career path types and describes attached job characteristics and career satisfaction. Hungarian and international academic researchers have spent most of their careers at Hungarian or renowned foreign universities. Hungarian academic researchers performed a high volume of teaching, while international academic researchers primarily focused on research. The career paths of market researchers were formed by their positions at research firms, where they were involved in applied research projects. Researchers of the mixed career type alternated between the different sectors throughout their career paths that led to dissatisfaction with their careers. Interviewees of the other three types were generally satisfied with their careers, however, the reconciliation of teaching, research and organizational tasks in the case of Hungarian academic researchers, the measurement of publication performance against Western scholars regarding international academic researchers, and the choice between academic and market activities among market researchers all emerged as sources of frustration in the narratives.


The outlook for international agricultural commodity markets is very sensitive to changes in macroeconomic conditions, rates of productivity growth, and government policies. Baseline projections prepared by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute in March 1988 assume moderate rates of economic and productivity growth, and a continuation of current policies. Under these conditions, world production, use, and trade of grains and oilseeds increase at a modest pace, while real prices change little. More rapid world economic growth and lower rates of inflation result in significantly higher real prices for wheat, feed grains, and soybeans. World trade expands as demand grows more rapidly than supply in importing countries. Increased rates of productivity growth result in lower commodity prices and a contraction of world trade as importing countries become more self-sufficient. Removing trade barriers causes significant shifts in world production and consumption of agricultural commodities, but only modest changes occur in world prices.


We study the problem of stationary bi-axially symmetric solutions of the $5$-dimensional minimal supergravity equations. Essentially all possible solutions with nondegenerate horizons are produced, having the allowed horizon cross-sectional topologies of the sphere $S^3$, ring $S^1\times S^2$, and lens $L(p,q)$, as well as the three different types of asymptotics. The solutions are smooth apart from possible conical singularities at the fixed point sets of the axial symmetry. This analysis also includes the solutions known as solitons in which horizons are not present but are rather replaced by nontrivial topology called bubbles which are sustained by dipole fluxes. Uniqueness results are also presented which show that the solutions are completely determined by their angular momenta, electric and dipole charges, and rod structure which fixes the topology. Consequently we are able to identify the finite number of parameters that govern a solution. In addition, a generalization of these results is given where the spacetime is allowed to have orbifold singularities.


INTRODUCTION In preparing future employees for work in business, many business communication courses discuss corporate cultures. Many business communication authors have stressed in order for students to be successful in today's workplace they must understand corporate culture (Boone & Kurtz, 1995; Bell, 1994; Bovee & Thill, 1999). When discussing corporate culture, many business communication textbooks offered specific guidelines for dealing with various groups that make up the culture of the organization. Business communication curriculums provide extensive literature on how to work successfully with various groups of people in the workplace. Examples of such groups that receive attention in most business curriculums: (1) Asians; (2) African-Americans; (3) Women; and (4) Handicapped. Although this is not an exhaustive list, one area that does not appear to be addressed in business communication textbooks is the preparation of future employees to work with gays and lesbians as a micro culture in corporate America. Most workplaces have programs in place to increase the awareness of issues particular to minorities and the physically challenged. Unfortunately few programs exist which address the issues pertinent to gays and lesbians. While programs designed to increase awareness of minorities exist, the issues that face gays and lesbians in the workplace are not one of numbers. Woods (1994) estimates that As a group, lesbians and gay men probably outnumber Hispanics, Asian-Pacific Islanders, the disabled and others whom we have traditionally classified as minorities. If the standard 10% estimate can be believed, their proportion of the professional work force approaches that of African Americans, who represent 12.1% of the population--but only 5.6% of the professional work force (p. 207). Yet countless employers continue to overlook the needs of a group of employees that may comprise anywhere from 6% to 12% of the work force (Woods, 1994). By choosing to ignore sexual orientation as a diversity issue, companies send a clear message: Diversity means valuing only those employees with whom we feel comfortable. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY There is no question that a significant portion of the gay and lesbian population has expressed that they have experienced some kind of discriminatory treatment in the workplace (Kovach, 1995). Similarly, a significant number of CEOs have indicated in surveys that they would hesitate to give management jobs to workers who are homosexual. However, it is only recently that homosexuality has been openly discussed, particularly within the context of the workplace. So it is no surprise that to date there is no federal law that prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation. The research focused on asking business communication students (BCS) about their perceptions and attitudes towards gays and lesbians in the workplace. Certain other demographic factors were also considered. The following research questions guided the study: (1) What are the perceptions and attitudes of BCS towards gays and lesbians in the workplace? (2) What types of diversity training and instruction should be provided to BCS as future employees on working with gays and lesbians? (3) What types of topics, training, and instruction should be provided to business students as future employees to increase an awareness and understanding of gay and lesbian students? LITERATURE REVIEW Many human resource managers ignore the issues that affect gay men and lesbians in the workplace. Not only do managers avoid resistance from other managers and employees, but also they lack education about such issues (Lucas & Kaplan, 1994). Consequently, human resource policy decisions regarding homosexual employees may be based on stereotypes and misinformation. In such cases, a significant segment of the workforce--gay men and lesbians--becomes the object of discrimination (Lucas & Kaplan, 1994). …


The conformations of a protected tetrathiopeptide have been analysed by isotope labelling and two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D-IR). It has been found that Boc-Ala-Gly(=S)-Ala-Aib-OMe in acetonitrile, as well as its oxopeptide analogue, can adopt a hydrogen-bonded loop conformation in coexistence with less restricted structures. The two types of conformations interconvert too quickly to be resolved on the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) timescale, but give rise to different cross peaks in two-dimensional infrared spectra. The hydrogen bond between the Boc terminal group and the amide proton of Aib can be broken by photoisomerisation of the thioamide bond.


This paper uses the longitudinal aspect of the Health and Retirement Survey to explore the characteristics associated with reversals in retirement (referred to here as "unretirement"). Through the use of survival time analysis, this paper show that health insurance plays a significant role in unretirement decisions. This role is underestimated when a static probit analysis is used alone. The results hold up for a number of different retirement identifiers that are based both on self-reports of retirement and actual work levels. The results are also robust to various definitions of retirement prompted by the difficult question of how to classify partial retirements. The importance of health insurance provision in a retiree's decision also remains significant when other "shocks" and the prospect of planned unretirement are introduced.


Dynamic switching of solid-sate luminescence with high contrast and reproducibility is a challenging task but important for several optoelectronic applications. One promising approach towards this end is to control the mode of solid-state packing of luminescent organic chromophores with an external stimulus. Herein, we present the heat-induced interconversion of molecular packing in acceptor–donor–acceptor type divinylbenzene derivatives. This interconversion is associated with the switching of solid-state luminescence from red to greenish-yellow (Δλ = 95 nm). A detailed investigation of the photophysical properties provided molecular and supramolecular level comprehension of the factors guiding the luminescence switching. The transition between different packing modes is associated with differential excited state coupling and excitation energy migration efficiencies due to the variance in the chromophore organization. Viewed more broadly, our findings illustrate that subtle control over energy migration processes in molecular assemblies by heating may result in functional organic materials with switchable luminescence.


African countries had been engulfed in political crises soon after they regained independence from their respective European colonial masters. Almost all the conflicts witnessed in post-independence Africa were blamed on the former colonial Powers. This article argued that rather than blaming the West for political instability, African political leaders should be blamed for neglecting the discipline of history that should have guided them to enact laws and formulate policies that would play down on negative ethnic differences. African countries went adrift because of neglect of history or refusal to learn from the lesson of history. The paper used Cote d'Ivoire as a case study. In order to go into the distant past, a descriptive historical analysis method was adopted to interrogate relevant sources of information about Cote d'Ivoire. The paper argued against the claim that France instigated the political crises in that country. Rather, the article submitted that the political crises originated from the claims by political leaders that some persons were "aborigines"/ "true Ivoirians", and others "settlers" or "non- citizens" of Ivory Coast. The article revealed that almost all the ethnic groups in Ivory Coast migrated from various parts of West Africa into the country. Using the case of Alassane Ouattara to illustrate the problem of national identity, the article submitted that people whose forebears had lived in the present- day Ivory Coast, since about 600 hundred years ago should not be denied the universally recognised political and nationality rights.  The article finally called on African leaders to borrow a leaf from other countries of the world such as the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and Malaysia that had been managing their citizenship issue without fighting civil wars.

 Key words: History, migration, settlement, citizenship, aborigines.


Linguistically, the generic use of "you" enables people to distance themselves from negative experiences and to extract some meaning from them. Using "you" to generalize from me to others Sometimes "you" is used when addressing another person, but in many situations, "you" is used to indicate anyone or everyone—the generic "you." Orvell et al. studied the underlying psychological function of the generic "you." When asked to write about a past negative experience, people were more likely to distance themselves and derive meaning from the experience if tasked with using the generic "you" rather than the first-person pronoun "I." Science, this issue p. 1299 "You" is one of the most common words in the English language. Although it typically refers to the person addressed ("How are you?"), "you" is also used to make timeless statements about people in general ("You win some, you lose some."). Here, we demonstrate that this ubiquitous but understudied linguistic device, known as "generic-you," has important implications for how people derive meaning from experience. Across six experiments, we found that generic-you is used to express norms in both ordinary and emotional contexts and that producing generic-you when reflecting on negative experiences allows people to "normalize" their experience by extending it beyond the self. In this way, a simple linguistic device serves a powerful meaning-making function.


Nemaline myopathy (NM) is the most common of several congenital myopathies that present with skeletal muscle weakness and hypotonia. It is clinically heterogeneous and the diagnosis is confirmed by identification of nemaline bodies in affected muscles. The skeletal muscle α‐actin gene (ACTA1) is one of five genes for thin filament proteins identified so far as responsible for different forms of NM. We have screened the ACTA1 gene in a cohort of 109 unrelated patients with NM. Here, we describe clinical and pathological features associated with 29 ACTA1 mutations found in 38 individuals from 28 families. Although ACTA1 mutations cause a remarkably heterogeneous range of phenotypes, they were preferentially associated with severe clinical presentations (p < 0.0001). Most pathogenic ACTA1 mutations were missense changes with two instances of single base pair deletions. Most patients with ACTA1 mutations had no prior family history of neuromuscular disease (24/28). One severe case, caused by compound heterozygous recessive ACTA1 mutations, demonstrated increased α‐cardiac actin expression, suggesting that cardiac actin might partially compensate for ACTA1 abnormalities in the fetal/neonatal period. This cohort also includes the first instance of an ACTA1 mutation manifesting with adult‐onset disease and two pedigrees exhibiting potential incomplete penetrance. Overall, ACTA1 mutations are a common cause of NM, accounting for more than half of severe cases and 26% of all NM cases in this series. Ann Neurol 2004;56:86–96


China exported over 90 million tons of coal in 2001 to play an important role as supplier of coal to Asian coal markets, especially the East Asian region. However, China's coal exports have decreased every year since 2004, whereas its imports have risen, reflecting a tightening of its domestic supply and demand due to a sharp increase in domestic consumption since 2003. This decrease in export and increase in import remarkably influenced the supply and demand of coal in the Asian coal markets and became one of the factors for the price rise in 2007 and after. This report traces China's exports and imports of coal and the influence it has exerted on Asian coal markets and forecasts future trends in China's exports and imports in order to asess the resulting impact on Asian markets.


This article aims at giving an overview about the four main collections of problems and studies that have structured over the last four decades what could be called the French school of rural sociology: from the rural exodus to the "rural renaissance"; the question of social change and innovation in agriculture; the working conditions, living conditions, professions in agriculture, and the alternative initiatives and paths away from productivism; politics and organisations in agriculture. In the last section, perspectives to understand splintering and coexistence of new forms of production organisation and agricultural trade in a context of globalisation are formulated.


This study looks at the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) among children; more specifically, depression, physical activity, obesity, and education by using data collected by the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). If statistics are broken down further by race and ethnicity, the numbers show a disparity exists mainly between Caucasian and African American women. Looking at the economic impact, there is increased risk for various chronic diseases and health conditions and the annual per capital medical spending for an obese person is 42% (1429) higher than someone who is not obese; At the same time, the prescription drugs for an individual who is obese cost $600 more per year than a normal weight individual. It is evidence that among low-income families suffering from obesity, health education and promotion play a significance role to enable people to improve their health and learn to manage and reduce various health risk factors.


We study the emission of soft photons coupling to high energy fixed angle scattering processes at first order in the electromagnetic coupling but to all loop orders in a class of theories without soft divergences, including massive and massless Yukawa and scalar theories. We adapt a method introduced by del Duca for quantum electrodynamics to show that subleading corrections to the soft photon theorem are sensitive to the structure of non leading external jets of collinear lines. Our techniques are based on a power counting analysis of loop integrals and an application of jet Ward identities. We also apply Grammer and Yennie's decomposition to isolate separately gauge invariant contributions to the soft photon expansion. These are interpreted as infrared sensitive matrix elements coupling to a field strength tensor.


A comprehensive simulation model for the infant-incubator-feedback system was developed in a Matlab/Simulink environment to investigate all heat exchange relationships, variables and factors that have an influence on the overall thermoneutrality of the environment. The model was also used to determine the benefits and limitations of using a convectively heated single-walled incubator in nursing preterm infants with very low birth weight < 1000 grams and low gestational age 28 weeks. The infant was modelled as one-lump with two layers; core and skin. The infant shape was approximated to a cylinder. The model incorporated all compartments of the infantincubator system including core, skin, incubator air space, mattress, incubator walls, aircirculating fan, heating element, added oxygen (for resuscitation purposes), and humidification chamber, which has not previously been considered. The results of the simulation were in terms of the temperature variation over time, of the following parts of the system: core and skin temperatures and incubator air space temperature. Results of the simulation with added humidity showed that the body temperature of a 900 gram infant, with an initial body temperature of 35.5 oC, did not reach the thermo-neutral range between 36.5-37.5 oC in two hours, on air mode. Whereas, on skin mode, both core and skin temperature reached to 36.87 oC and 36.5 oC in two hours, and thus a thermo-neutral environment was achieved. These outcomes are consistent with clinical empirical reports. The simulation model is a closed-loop system with a PID controller for each mode; air servo controlled and skin servo controlled. The controller parameters were virtually estimated by the Zeigler-Nichols Method as real values were not available. Nevertheless, the overall stability of the whole system has been achieved by applying a step input which was verified by the Root Locus Method.


This paper examines normative influences on self-reported driving speeds of 160 male and 160 female Queensland drivers, aged 16-79 years. Previous research suggests a variety of 'significant others' can influence many road user behaviours, including driving speed. The presence of passengers, behaviour of other drivers, and attitudes of peers and relatives can impact on driver behaviour. The current research examined normative influences on speeding through the lens of Akers' social learning theory, which posits that learning occurs via the central process of differential association. This concept refers to our associations with others and how these expose us to rewards, punishments, attitudes, and models of behaviour. While considerable research has focused on the influence of peers, Akers theorised that the family is also an important source of learning. The current research therefore, investigated the influence of family and friends on speeding across age and gender, utilising self-report measures. As anticipated, the degree to which significant others were perceived to approve of speeding (i.e., normative influence of family and friends) was significantly associated with more frequent speeding among participants. More particularly, this apparent influence of family and peers on speeding behaviour was found to be independent of the age and gender of the participants. Consistent with previous social learning theory research, peer influence was the strongest predictor of self-reported speeding in this sample. Nonetheless, the influence of family members also appeared important. As such, the role of both family and friends needs to be considered when developing countermeasures to speeding.


Project-based service-learning (PBSL) is a valuable pedagogical tool which confers educational benefits that extend far beyond the charter of traditional classrooms. This unique form of experiential education is based on a synergistic model in which community service is integrated with the academic learning objectives. In the context of providing engineering services to poor communities in developing countries, students are able to participate in all aspects of the engineering design process including problem formulation, consideration of alternative technologies, and design, construction, and evaluation of selected technologies. The reciprocal relationship that forms between the students and community nurtures personal growth and a deeper sense of social responsibility among students while empowering communities as they become more self-sufficient. As an advocate of this pedagogy, Tufts University has provided opportunities for students to work on water infrastructure projects in Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, and Tibet over the past four years. Although the challenges students face are unique to each project, overcoming them allows students to develop problem solving skills that they would not otherwise get in their college education. Over the last few years, concerns have escalated among many national organizations over whether today's engineering students are being adequately prepared for future challenges; globalization, sustainability, complexity, and adaptability. To address this situation, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) have all generated reports aimed at reforming the existing engineering curriculum. As a result, the NAE's Engineer of 2020 , ABET's Engineering Criterion 3 (EC 2000), and ASCE's Body of Knowledge (BOK) all aim at shifting the existing paradigm of engineering curriculum towards a more well-rounded education. The commonality among these three documents is improving students' problem solving techniques. The future will inevitably bring unanticipated crises; engineers will need to identify the problems and collaboratively formulate innovative, feasible solutions. This research hypothesizes that service-learning can serve as a mechanism that will allow students to develop the necessary problem solving skills. To investigate this hypothesis, an education assessment instrument is employed to examine whether students who have participated in service-learning projects have stronger analytical, practical, and creative abilities than students who have only been exposed to the conventional classroom education.


Making pure rolling shear as the target, based on the principles analysis of shear mechanism in the rolling shear, trajectories of the overlap and the horizontal displacement of the upper blade during the cutting process are directly calculated out. And then the trajectories are optimized with improved natural selection-based particle swarm optimization algorithm (selPSO) deemed lengths of the key rods as variables. On this basis, motion laws of the driving links are reversely worked out through solving position equations of the rolling shear's mechanism, which are nonlinear equations, with selPSO. The calculated results show that the synthetic horizontal translation (mean value of all horizontal displacement relating to calculated points) of the upper blade reduced by 34.96% and the overlap becomes a constant, which can realize the pure rolling cutting very well and improve the shear quality of the steel plate; selPSO is applicable to solve nonlinear equations in the project, which can overcome the problem of high sensitivity to initial value and improve the computational efficiency


IMPLEMENTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS Lately Business Process Management (BPM) has gained much attention by management and IT departments in organizations as a means to increase flexibility and agility. To realize this goal, it is important to have a flexible information system in support of processes. The most promising approach to achieve this is service oriented architecture (Krafzig, Banke, & Slama, 2005; Lippert & Govindarajulu, 2006). However, implementation of business process management systems that support integrated BPM and SOA paradigms is complex. Also, BPM-systems are still in their early development stages and many have only done pilot implementations (Kamolvej, Sirisuk, & Tungchitipunya, 2007). Each implementation should, therefore, be carefully considered in the context in which it is carried out; and that is why the used method is important. There are many methodologies available for implementing information systems, such as business process management systems, enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, customer relationship management, and others. Both researchers and practitioners have developed overarching frameworks based on existing methods, and this is no different for the BPM domain. Multiple efforts have been made in constructing overall methods for implementation. Kettinger, Teng, and Guha (1997) have developed a business process reengineering (BPR) implementation framework based on different BPR implementation methodologies. Table 1 gives an overview of 22 different implementation methods for business process management. The list was constructed based on an assignment to 47 master students who were enrolled in a the business process management course. Each individual student had to search for three BPM-related implementation methods. This resulted in 141 methods, of which 22 could be uniquely identified (completely different method). Still this table is not exclusive because there are hundreds of methods available, although many are variations on the methods listed here. An analysis of the methods in the table shows that many implementation methods do not take into account the context in which they are used. Of the methods shown, there are five methods that are based on scientific research (Jennings, et al., 2000; Rinderle, Kreher, & Dadam, 2005; van der Aalst & Van Hee, 2002; Brahe & Bordbar, 2007; Stoica, Chawat, & Shin, 2004; Fitzgerald & Murphy, 1996) but are not or are seldom applied in practical situations. Nine are based on professional best practices, while they are not or are only supported in a minor way by scientific research; and finally, eight methodologies are actively being used in practice, while at the same time supported by an extensive body of scientific research. Although most of the methods are developed for the implementation of BPM and related projects, some methods are based on process maturity models, project management methods or software development methods. These differences probably occur because of the different contexts in which these methods are used. Table 1: Different BPM Related Implementation Methods. No Name Scientific Professional 1 Pronto X 2 Cordys@Work X 3 ARIS House of Business Engineering X X (HOBE) 4 ADEPT (An Agent-Based X Approach to Business Process Management) 5 Interactive, process-oriented X system development (IPSD) 6 Process Innovation Method X X 7 Six Sigma X X 8 Goal-Oriented Organization X X Design (GOOD) 9 Rajafopal's BPMS approach X 10 Strategy Driven Approach X X 11 SCOR (Supply Chain Operations X X Reference) 12 Smart BPM X 13 Pattern based approach X 14 Business Process Maturity X X Model (BPMM) 15 RACI X methodology 16 A Systems Approach to BPM X 17 Bizzdesign's BPM X approach 18 Nine-step approach (Capgemini) X 19 Goal driven BPM X 20 Fitzgerald and Murphy's X implementation Methodology 21 BPM Implementation X methodology 22 BPR methodology X No Name Characteristics 1 Pronto DEMO, speech-acts 2 Cordys@Work Agile software development methodology 3 ARIS House of Business Based on ARIS architecture Engineering (HOBE) 4 ADEPT (An Agent-Based Agent based approach Approach to Business Process Management) 5 Interactive, Business process reengineering process-oriented system development (IPSD) 6 Process Innovation Method Business process reengineering and process improvement 7 Six Sigma Six Sigma, lean manufacturing 8 Goal-Oriented Organization Human interaction management Design (GOOD) 9 Rajafopal's BPMS approach Business process management 10 Strategy Driven Approach CMMI 11 SCOR (Supply Chain Supply chain management Operations Reference) 12 Smart BPM Business process management systems 13 Pattern based approach Business process reengineering 14 Business Process Maturity CMMI, BPR and TQM Model (BPMM) 15 RACI methodology Project management 16 A Systems Approach to BPM BPR and enterprise architecture 17 Bizzdesign's BPM approach Process modeling and BPR 18 Nine-step approach Process maturity based (Capgemini) 19 Goal driven BPM Business process management 20 Fitzgerald and Murphy's Business process reengineering implementation Methodology 21 BPM Implementation Workflow management and BPR methodology 22 BPR methodology Business process reengineering No Name Source 1 Pronto www. …


We study the task of robust feature representations, aiming to generalize well on multiple datasets for action recognition. We build our method on Transformers for its efficacy. Although we have witnessed great progress for video action recognition in the past decade, it remains challenging yet valuable how to train a single model that can perform well across multiple datasets. Here, we propose a novel multi-dataset training paradigm, MultiTrain, with the design of two new loss terms, namely informative loss and projection loss, aiming to learn robust representations for action recognition. In particular, the informative loss maximizes the expressiveness of the feature embedding while the projection loss for each dataset mines the intrinsic relations between classes across datasets. We verify the effectiveness of our method on five challenging datasets, Kinetics-400, Kinetics-700, Moments-in-Time, Activitynet and Something-something-v2 datasets. Extensive experimental results show that our method can consistently improve state-of-the-art performance. Code and models are released.


Risk analysis can be used as a scientific tool for addressing the health of ecosystems. Here we describe a protocol for characterizing risks in the ecosystems of several polluted soil scenarios in the Madrid Community (Central Spain). Our starting hypothesis was that to recover the health of degraded ecosystems that could affect public health, an ecotoxicological diagnosis of each site is required. The sites we considered were industrial and urban solid waste landfills and abandoned mines. This diagnosis revealed many interacting processes that need to be assessed if we are to realistically address the issue of restoring impacts on ecosystems affected by soil pollution. These processes are: 1) Geo-edaphic processes, requiring the analysis of geomorphologic factors; 2) Chemical–physical processes occurring in the soils, such as the release of anions or cations ; 3) Erosion–pollution processes that require an understanding of the autoecology of plant species that could be used for remediation in scenarios with this dual problem; 4) Bioaccumulation– biodegradation processes, requiring the integration of microbiology and plant biology tools to assess any toxic effects on soil and plant subsystem populations; 5) Edaphic–bioavailability processes, since different ecotypes show a varying response to a given soil; 6) Population–ecopathology development processes, essential for both cultivated and native plant species comprising trophic networks; 7) Secondary– primary ecological succession processes, a commonly observed mechanism in old landfills sealed with soils from the surroundings-ecological knowledge of reference communities is essential for a good ecotoxicological diagnosis.; 8) Climate change– global warming processes, of utmost importance for revegetating polluted soils since success will depend both on the soil seed bank and on stochastic processes.


Analytical chemistry started to develop in Croatia as an independent scientific discipline at the Royal Agricultural and Forestry College in Križevci (1860). Lectures in analytical chemistry began at the University of Zagreb in the school year 1875/76 within the University Institute of Chemistry. Today, analytical chemistry is taught as an independent course at eleven university faculties, in Zagreb, Split, Osijek and Rijeka. This paper presents a comparison of the compulsory contents of basic curricula in analytical chemistry in Croatia with the WPAC Eurocurriculum. Scientometric analysis of the Croatian scientific output covered by the Analytical Abstracts shows that during the 1980-1996 period Croatian analytical chemistry scientists published 442 papers, 89.6% of which were also indexed in the SCI. Croatian analytical chemists most frequently deal with spectroscopic, chromatographic and electroanalytical methods. Distribution of the scientific analytical publications with respect to the number of authors, the analytical methods used and the number of total and independent citations is graphically presented.


Since 2012, many states and Canada have legalized the use and sale of recreational marijuana. One of the expected benefits of the legalization is that the establishment of a legal cannabis market would eliminate the black market which has been the main form of marijuana trade for decades. Even though legal options are available for marijuana producers and consumers, the black market is still thriving in states where recreational marijuana has been legalized. The reasons behind the persistence of the marijuana black market are complex. One of the main arguments is that the legalized states have failed to establish a regulatory framework which effectively keeps both producers and consumers in the legal market. Instead, strict regulations and high cost of compliance have created an environment in favor of big players while driving small-scale businesses into the black market. The current research attempts to study this issue by answering the research question of whether overregulation is pushing some marijuana businesses back to the black market or preventing them from entering the legal market. This thesis employs a mix-method design to analyze qualitative data of news articles reporting the reasons that marijuana businesses decide to stay in the black market and a quasi-experimental time series analysis of National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data regarding marijuana offenses in Colorado and Washington between 2014 and 2017. The qualitative analysis of news reports reveals that regulation is one of the main reasons that people stay in the illicit market. The comparison of marijuana crime trends in Colorado and Washington shows mixed findings. While marijuana offense rates in Colorado largely remained steady over the years, those in Washington increased


Inorganic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous impact freshwater lakes by stimulating primary production and affecting water quality and ecosystem health. Communities around the world are motivated to sustain and restore freshwater resources and are interested in processes controlling nutrient inputs. We studied the environment where streams flow into lakes, referred to as the stream‐lake interface (SLI), for a channelized and unmodified stream outlet. Channelization is done to protect infrastructure or recreational beach areas. We collected hydraulic and nutrient data for surface water and shallow groundwater in two SLIs to develop conceptual models that describe characteristics that are representative of these hydrologic features. Water, heat, and solute transport models were used to evaluate hydrologic conceptualizations and estimate mean residence times of water in the sediment. A nutrient mass balance model is developed to estimate net rates of adsorption and desorption, mineralization, and nitrification along subsurface flow paths. Results indicate that SLIs are dynamic sources of nutrients to lakes and that the common practice of channelizing the stream at the SLI decreases nutrient concentrations in pore water discharging along the lakeshore. This is in contrast to the unmodified SLI that forms a barrier beach that disconnects the stream from the lake and results in higher nutrient concentrations in pore water discharging to the lake. These results are significant because nutrient delivery through pore water seepage at the lakebed from the natural SLI contributes to nearshore algal communities and produces elevated concentrations of inorganic nutrients in the benthic zone where attached algae grow.


Surface splatting has developed into a valuable alternative to triangle meshes when it comes to rendering of highly detailed massive datasets. However, even highly accurate splat approximations of the given geometry may sometimes not provide a sufficient rendering quality since surface lighting mostly depends on normal vectors whose deviation is not bounded by the Hausdorff approximation error. Moreover, current point-based rendering systems usually associate a constant normal vector with each splat, leading to rendering results which are comparable to flat or Gouraud shading for polygon meshes.

In contrast, we propose to base the lighting of a splat on a linearly varying normal field associated with it, and we show that the resulting Phong Splats provide a visual quality which is far superior to existing approaches. We present a simple and effective way to construct a Phong splat representation for a given set of input samples. Our surface splatting system is implemented completely based on vertex and pixel shaders of current GPUs and achieves a splat rate of up to 4M Phong shaded, filtered, and blended splats per second. In contrast to previous work, our scan conversion is projectively correct per pixel, leading to more accurate visualization and clipping at sharp features.


In Australia there are a significant proportion of young people existing in debilitating lives, who, for a range of reasons, are no longer attending school. In this thesis I ask, what work is required of schools to reconcile these young people with education following their, often, incapacitating engagements with educational and social disadvantage and exclusion. This thesis comes from an eighteen month ethnographic study conducted across the four school sites of one Australian organisation, Youth Off The Streets (YOTS). Fieldwork involved the use of two ethnographic techniques: in-depth interviews with 20 young people and 18 staff, and observations of over 100 staff, young people, volunteers, parents and community members. The use of ethnographic techniques has been combined with a document analysis that argues for an understanding of these young people as educationally 'displaced'. I have drawn predominantly on the work of Foucault and his understandings of power relations as the vehicle of analysis. In particular his work on states of domination, sovereign power, silence and freedom have been useful in developing an understanding of young people's lives as embedded in complexity and chaos through a range of debilitating relationships. This has been combined with the work of Goffman, Lyng and Hope to frame these young people as skilled 'edgeworkers'. I argue that through YOTS's construction of a number of conditions that involve the production of alternative knowledges, the realisation of relations of care and practices of care, and an innovative use of power relations that create freedom, the staff at the YOTS schools have been able to begin a process of reconciliation between these young people and their education


Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of multi-layer dielectric used in pulse compressor gratings (PCG) was investigated. The sample was prepared by e-beam evaporation (EBE). LIDT was detected following ISO standard 11254-1.2. It was found that LIDTs of normal and 51.2 deg. incidence (transverse electric (TE) mode) were 14.14 and 9.31 J/cm2, respectively. A Nomarski microscope was employed to map the damage morphology, and it was found that the damage behavior was pit-concave-plat structure for normal incidence, while it was pit structure for 51.2 deg. incidence with TE mode. The electric field distribution was calculated to illuminate the difference of LIDT between the two incident cases.


Knowledge-based enterprises are typically conducting a large number of research and development projects simultaneously. This is a particularly challenging task in complex and diverse project landscapes. Project portfolio management (PPM) can be a viable framework for knowledge and innovation management in such landscapes. A standardised process with defined functions such as project data repository, project assessment, selection, reporting and portfolio re-evaluation can serve as a starting point. In this work, we discuss the benefits that a multidimensional evaluation framework can provide for knowledge-based enterprises. Furthermore, we describe knowledge and learning strategy and process in the context of PPM and evaluate their practical applicability at different stages of the PPM process.


Due to seismic events, such as earthquakes, the elastic waves propagate through a medium. The impact of these waves on underground structures is to provide dynamic forces and moments that may affect the stability of underground structures. The aim of this paper is to analyse the effects of seismic loads on the stability of horseshoe tunnels. As a case study, the stability state of the main access entry to C1 coal seam of Tabas collieries in Iran are analyzed using Phase2 software in static and dynamic states. It is often assumed that the effect of earthquakes on underground structures such as tunnels is negligible but the results of this study show that the stress caused by seismic loads can be harmful to the tunnel stability. It is concluded that the stress and displacement balance of forces around the tunnel are adversely affected and due to redistribution of these forces that create undue concentration in some areas, instability occurs in the tunnel. The paper also concludes that increasing the stiffness of the support system can increase the effect of the seismic loads. The analysis provided in this paper together with the conclusions obtained can serve as useful tools for the tunnel design engineers, especially in areas susceptible to seismic phenomena.


Murdoch University is a recognised leader in agricultural-related research as evidenced by the excellent results attained in the 2010 ERA ratings (e.g. an ERA rating 5 for Crops and Pastures).

Murdoch University's national and international research strengths include plant and animal virology, immunology, plant nematology and animal parasitology, phytoplasmas, fungi, microbiology, bacteria, etc., and a strong focus on crop pre-breeding research, molecular diagnostics, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics, transgenic plants and crop biosecurity, animal and veterinary science (among others). Within the Plant Biotechnology Research Group (PBRG) Murdoch hosts the largest team of plant nematologists in Australia, the only nematology group focussing at the molecular level. The PBRG also specialises in plant viruses and phytoplasmas (plant bacteria). Murdoch also has multi-million dollar internationally collaborative crop and pasture RD&E projects involving ACIAR and the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation, among others, and hosts associated agricultural biotechnology companies such as Saturn Biotech, Xytogen and NemGenix. Murdoch's collaborative projects encompass R&D on crop pest and disease resistance, soil fertility improvement, crop diversification, abiotic stress, pre-breeding research for crop biosecurity, and biological nitrogen fixation (etc.), located predominantly in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Europe. Furthermore, Murdoch also has a strong focus on immune-mediated disorders, animal breeding, fish biology and diseases, pathogen therapeutics, autonomic and sensory neurobiology, veterinary bacteriology, viral immunology, ecology, and environmental management.


This chapter discusses agreement between complementizers and coordinated subjects in Dutch dialects. In the relevant dialects, the complementizer must display agreement with the fi rst conjunct if the coordinated subject remains in [Spec,TP]. However, if the subject is extracted, this agreement morphology on the complementizer leads to an ungrammatical result. Based on this asymmetry between heads of chains and lower copies, the chapter proposes that internal structures of copies left by movement operations are not accessible to the operation Agree. More specifi cally, it is proposed that copies left by movement are reduced in the sense that they only consist of the Φ-feature set of the maximal projection of the moved item. This view of copies therefore provides an alternative account for why the lower copies in constructions with more than one copy phonetically realized must be "reduced" (Nunes 2004).


The ability to cool and trap atoms has revolutionized atomic and ultra-cold physics. Molecular physics is currently undergoing a similar transformation. This thesis aims to research a general cooling method that will be applicable to wide range of molecular and atomic species and other particles. We studied the dynamics of molecules in optical fields, focusing in particular on exploring the molecular self-organisation phenomena in optical cavities to cool molecular ensembles to sub-mK temperatures. Firstly, the general model of cavity cooling from atoms to molecules and the dynamics of a particle in a single cavity mode were discussed. We extended the existing cooling scheme for two-level atoms to an ensemble of multi-level molecules. Then we studied the spatial dynamics of molecules in the new parameter conditions, focusing in particular on exploring the molecular self-organisation phenomena in optical cavities to cool molecular ensembles to sub-mK temperatures. The scheme complements well with our present experimental work on the deceleration and focusing of cold molecules and can extend our present capability to simultaneously cool and trap a large cold molecular ensemble. For simulation of a large ensemble of molecules, we proposed a new statistical model based on the Boltzmann equation beside the traditional discrete model and studied two solution methods. The comparison of the theory and numerical simulations between discrete model and statistical model showed a good agreement, which validated this new model. We then explored the scaling laws with a view to the self-organization and cooling of a large ensemble of species. We studied the cooling of a CN molecular cloud of the density 10/cm, with an initial temperature at 10 mK in an optical cavity. We found that more than a third of the molecules are stably trapped by the intracavity field and the final temperature is below 1mK. We discussed the scaling laws in the case when a large ensemble of species is involved. Finally we argue that cavity cooling using a far


We analyze the extent to which private defensive litigation insurance deters patent assertion by non-practicing entities (NPEs). We study the effect that a patent-specific defensive insurance product, offered by a leading litigation insurer, had on the litigation behavior of insured patents' owners, all of which are NPEs. We first model the impact of defensive litigation insurance on the behavior of patent enforcers and accused infringers. We show that the availability of defensive litigation insurance can have an effect on how often patent enforcers will assert their patents. We confirm this result empirically showing that the insurance policy had a large, negative effect on the likelihood that a patent included in the policy was subsequently asserted relative to other patents held by the same NPEs and relative to patents held by other NPEs with portfolios that were entirely excluded from the insurance product. Our findings suggest that market-based mechanisms can deter so-called "patent trolling." (JEL: G22, K41, O34)


In recent years, ,globalization" or ,growing international economic interdependence", which we will use as synonyms here, has generally been understood as offering many opportunities for newly industrialized economies like Korea (here used as an abbreviation for Republic of Korea or South Korea). However, serious challenges are also associated with it. Whereas some time ago, the renowned ,citadels" of learning and policy consulting have taken little notice of this darker side of economic internationalization, recently the perception seems to have changed. In its May 1997 World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund (IMF 1997) extensively discussed the opportunities and challenges of globalization, concentrating on the latter. And the Washington-based Institute for International Economics has begun to publish a couple of books, attempting to ,provide an objective and thorough reassessment of the case for and against globalisation" (Bergsten 1997: vii). The institute, which was frequently quite perceptive of upcoming intellectual and political moods in recent years, suspects that - in the words of its director, C. Fred Bergsten - ,the United States will soon engage in a fundamental debate on the country's trade, and perhaps its overall international economic policy".


Pure and polymer coated (PVP and PVA) gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with 0.001 and 0.002 M concentrations were synthesised by chemical method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed that the size of nanoparticles is below 50 nm whereas the selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern indicated cubic structure with lattice parameter of 4.09 Å for each sample. The absorption bands for all these samples lie between 500 and 550 nm as observed from UV–vis spectra. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra taken at 300 nm excitation wavelength showed emission between 415 and 430 nm whereas the particle size determined from particle size analyser lies below 100 nm for all samples. The ultrasonic velocity measured as a function of temperature showed the decrement above 50 °C for PVP and PVA coated AuNPs. The antimicrobial activity for these above taken concentrations of gold samples showed negative effect, whereas higher concentration of AuNPs of 0.005 M showed the positive effect for gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.


At present time there is concern over global climate change, as well as a growing awareness on worldwide population about the need on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This in fact, has led to an increase in power generation from renewable sources. Tidal energy has the potential to play a valuable role in a sustainable energy future. Its main advantage over other renewable sources is its predictability; tides can be predicted years in advanced. The energy extracted from the tides can come from both, the vertical movements of the water associated with the rise and fall, potential energy, and from the kinetic energy, namely, tidal currents. A tidal barrage harnesses the potential energy while tidal stream turbines capture the energy from tidal currents. This thesis reviews the physical principles of tidal energy considering gravitational effects of sun and moon; semidiurnal, diurnal and mixed tides, and periodic phenomena that affect tidal range. Moreover, an up-to-date review of the status of tidal energy technology is included. Furthermore, the different tidal conversion systems are introduced, tidal barrage and tidal stream turbines. The current issues for both technologies are presented, aiming to place the reader on the current situation. The thesis also contains an economic assessment, where the current costs of both technologies as well as an estimation of the future costs are shown. The levelised costs of energy (LCOE), which measure the cost of the generated electricity, are also calculated and compared. From this chapter it is concluded, that although tidal current has very high costs, it has a clear potential to become competitive with other generation forms in the future as costs will considerably decrease as the installed capacity increases. On the other hand it is said that although tidal barrage is a mature technology has very high costs, however its deployment can bring several benefits. Finally a technological report is included. The purpose of it is to identify which technology, one direction or two-direction turbines, can generate more electricity under the same operating conditions. It also includes a cost analysis of both types of devices. The conclusion raised considering the electricity generated as well as the technology costs is that bi-directional devices have lower energy costs.


A rather marginal theme in Eastern European studies before the end of communism, ethnic politics and minority policies in Central and South-East Europe have given birth to a very rich body of literature in the 1990s. Some analyses have been influenced by the so-called "transitology" paradigm; others have borrowed from ethnic conflict studies. In both cases, though, ethnocultural diversity has mostly been treated in a normative way and portrayed as an obstacle to democratization. As for ethnic parties, they have alternatively been presented as conducive to better political participation and integration for the minorities (in a multiculturalist perspective) or as a threat to state stability and to democracy. Regardless of these cleavages, most research on ethnic identifications and on their mobilization in politics has been grounded upon substantial definitions of ethnic "groups" and has reified differences between "generalist" and "ethnic" parties. The present comparison between the trajectory of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MFR, which represents the interests of the Turks and other Muslims in Bulgaria) and that of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR, representing the Hungarian population) departs from these approaches in two ways. First, it emphasizes the centrality of the sociology of collective action to understanding the politicization of ethnicity, while insisting on the need to trace the particular historical processes through which ethnicity has been constructed and politicized in every single case. Second, attention is brought to the role the social imaginary plays in shaping the strategies of social and political actors. To put it otherwise, we argue that identities are not exogenous to politicization processes; they are redefined, renegotiated and reappropriated as social actors invest the political field. "Ethnic parties" are in urgent need of deexoticization: Like most parties, they cannot elude the traditional dilemmas of political representation, in particular the need to be perceived as both responsive and accountable.


Today, Web pages are usually accessed using text search engines, whereas documents stored in the deep Web are accessed through domain-specific Web portals. These portals rely on external knowledge bases, respectively ontologies, mapping documents to more general concepts allowing for suitable classifications and navigational browsing. Since automatically generated ontologies are still not satisfactory for advanced information retrieval tasks, most portals heavily rely on hand-crafted domain-specific ontologies. This, however, also leads to high creation and maintaining costs. On the other hand, a freely available community maintained, if somewhat general, knowledge base is offered by Wikipedia. During the last years the coverage of Wikipedia has reached a large pool of information including articles from almost all domains. In this paper, we investigate the use of Wikipedia categories to describe the content of chemical documents in a compact form. We compare the results to the domain-specific ChEBI ontology and the results show that Wikipedia categories indeed allow useful descriptions for chemical documents that are even better than descriptions from the ChEBI ontology.


This study examines what effect the presence of the Chinese in the West
Indies had on understandings of belonging in terms of nation. It examines the
construction of the category "Chinese" across different modes, particularly literary
texts, from the nineteenth century to the present, and from the positions of colonial,
creole and Chinese spaces. The results of this research challenge the common view
that the Chinese have had a marginal impact on the perception of nationhood in the
West Indies. Instead, images of the Chinese were, and continue to be, a key means of
exploring the ambiguities, potentialities and limitations of nation as it developed in
the West Indies. In particular, they reveal that neither "nation" nor "belonging" are
static positions; rather, they signify continuing renegotiations of power relationships
and cultural identities.
Several factors impact on representations of the Chinese. In the nineteenth
century, such images were molded by the specific aims of colonial enterprises,
entangled at the intersection of the discursive constructs of "East" and "West" during
a period of mass migrations and the peculiar tensions of post-emancipation West
Indian societies. In the twentieth century, "the Chinese" have been created in response
to a need to assert ownership of what was once colonised space and to perform nation
before a global audience. Of late, Chinese West Indians have taken a more visibly
active role in the construction and dissemination of images of themselves and their
communities. In the process they have sometimes radically redefined the imaginative
nation space of the West Indies and, in the process, challenge established boundaries
of belonging, and contest "belonging" itself.


This article describes a hydrologic–economic optimization model for allocating available river flow between competing off- and in-stream demands, based on the marginal benefits (MBs) of sectoral water uses in a segment of the Teesta River in Bangladesh. Irrigation, capture fishery and navigation are the main direct water uses considered. The value of irrigation water was estimated using the residual imputation method. Losses in yield caused by lowered irrigation supply, resulting from reduced river flow, formed the basis for establishing the total and MB functions for off-stream river water use (irrigation). Total and MB functions for in-stream water use (capture fishery, navigation) were developed using field survey data of beneficiaries' income as a function of river flow. Analysis was enhanced by applying AQUARIUS, which allocates water between users to maximize consumer surplus based on MB functions. Model results show that in-stream uses could not compete with off-stream uses in the case of the Teesta, as substantial benefit was obtained from irrigation. Environmental flow to safeguard river health and in-stream use was considered to be a constraint in the optimization, which results in a sizeable reduction in irrigation benefit with a small increase in in-stream benefit. The necessary trade-offs between economic efficiency and environmental protection are depicted, providing insight into a justifiable water allocation strategy for the Teesta.


Berthold Lubetkin: Architecture and the Tradition of Progress is the definitive account of the life and works of Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990), Britain's leading Modernist architect. He was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture and he is believed to have more listed buildings to his credit than any other twentieth century architect in Britain. Following a 20-year friendship, author and architect John Allan documents unpublished drawings, photographs, and extracts of writing in this richly illustrated study. Allan sets Lubetkin's work in the wider historical, social and political environment of the time. From Lubetkin's early work in Paris in the 1920s, when he was acquainted with renowned architects such as August Perret and Le Corbusier through to the work of his practice Tecton, the book provides a comprehensive account of his landmark buildings for London Zoo, Finsbury Borough Council and the famous Highpoint apartments. His post-war work, including the troubled project to build Peterlee New Town, is also fully covered. Originally published in 1992 by RIBA Publications, this updated and comprehensive study is an essential book for students of architecture and the modern period, practitioners of architecture and design alike, as well as anyone with an interest in one of the great figures in twentieth century architecture.


Background: Adolescent girls constitute a vulnerable group particularly in India where menstruation is still regarded as something dirty and messy. The cultural and social influences appear to be hurdle for advancement of knowledge of the subject. This results in adverse health outcomes in these adolescent girls. Awareness about menstruation and hygienic practices followed during menstruation are of immense importance as it has a health impact in terms of increased vulnerability to reproductive tract infection.
Aim: a) To assess and compare the knowledge regarding menstruation in rural & urban adolescent girls. b) To associate the findings with the selected sociodemographic variables.
Subjects and Methods: A community based, cross sectional study was undertaken among 715 adolescent schools going girls in the field practice area of the RHTC & UHTC of Department of Community Medicine, District Bareilly. A pre-designed, pretested structured questionnaire was used in the study regarding knowledge and perception of the school going girls regarding menstruation.
Results: Majority of the girls had first heard of menstruation and acquired knowledge related to it before attaining menarche (72.45%). The major source of information was from their mothers and sisters (60.6%). Maximum number of girls was not aware of the source of bleeding (53.7%). Statistically significant difference with knowledge scores was seen in girls of higher standards, maternal literacy and father's occupation.
Conclusion: Several factors are known to influence menstrual behaviour, the most significant being maternal literacy and father's occupation. Imparting knowledge about menstruation and safe practices during menstruation is necessary to mitigate the suffering of adolescent girls. Therefore promoting positive attitudes towards management of menstruation and related problems among the adolescent girls is the need of the hour.