Aging, Cognition, and Self-reports: Editors' Introduction, Norbert Schwarz, Denise Park, Barbel Knauper, and Seymour Sudman. Part A: Cognition and Survey Measurement. Self-reports of Behaviors and Opinions: Cognitive and Communicative Processes, Norbert Schwarz. Part B: Age-related Changes in Cognitive Functioning. Changes in Cognitive Resources, Denise Park. Memory, Aging and Survey Measurement, Fergus I.M. Craik. Aging, Circadian Arousal Patterns, and Cognition, Carolyn Yoon, Cynthia P. May, and Lynn Hasher. Metamemory as Social Cognition: Challenges for (and from) Survey Research, John C. Cavanaugh. Autobiographical Memory and Aging: Distributions of Memories Across the Lifespan and Their Implications for Survey Research, David C. Rubin. The Concept of "Gains" in Cognitive Aging, Roger A. Dixon. Pressing Issues in Cognitive Aging, Timothy A. Salthouse. Part C: Language Comprehension and Communication. Comprehending Spoken Questions: Effects of Cognitive and Sensory Change in Adult Aging, Arthur Wingfield. Aging and Message Production and Comprehension, Susan Kemper and Karen Kemtes. Intergenerational Communication: The Survey Interview as a Social Exchange, Sheree T. Kwong See and Ellen Bouchard Ryan. Part D: Surveying Older Respondents. Asking Survey Respondents About Health Status: Judgement and Response Issues, Susan Schechter, Paul Beatty and Gordon B. Willis. Cognitive Testing of Cognitive Functioning Questions, Diane O'Rourke, Seymour Sudman, Timothy Johnson and Jane Burris. Dynamics of Interviewing and the Quality of Survey Reports: Age Comparisons, Robert F. Belli, Paul S. Weiss and James M. Lepkowski. Cognitive Performance Measures in Survey Research, A. Regula Herzog and Willard L. Rodgers. Age Differences in Question and Response Order Effects, Barbel Knauper. Aging and Errors of Measurement: Implications for the Study of Life-Span Development, Duane F. Alwin.


Extracellular vesicles (EVs) offer many opportunities in early-stage disease diagnosis, treatment monitoring, and precision therapy owing to their high abundance in bodily fluids, accessibility from liquid biopsy, and presence of nucleic acid and protein cargo from their cell of origin. Despite their growing promise, isolation of EVs for analysis remains a labor-intensive and time-consuming challenge given their nanoscale dimensions (30-200 nm) and low buoyant density. Here, we report a simple, size-based EV separation technology that integrates 1024 nanoscale deterministic lateral displacement (nanoDLD) arrays on a single chip capable of parallel processing sample fluids at rates of up to 900 μL h-1. Benchmarking the nanoDLD chip against commonly used EV isolation technologies, including ultracentrifugation (UC), UC plus density gradient, qEV size-exclusion chromatography (Izon Science), and the exoEasy Maxi Kit (QIAGEN), we demonstrate a superior yield of ∼50% for both serum and urine samples, representing the ability to use smaller input volumes to achieve the same number of isolated EVs, and a concentration factor enhancement of up to ∼3× for both sample types, adjustable to ∼60× for urine through judicious design. Further, RNA sequencing was carried out on nanoDLD- and UC-isolated EVs from prostate cancer (PCa) patient serum samples, resulting in a higher gene expression correlation between replicates for nanoDLD-isolated EVs with enriched miRNA, decreased rRNA, and the ability to detect previously reported RNA indicators of aggressive PCa. Taken together, these results suggest nanoDLD as a promising alternative technology for fast, reproducible, and automatable EV-isolation.


Abstract At energies approaching the Planck energy scale 1019GeV, several quantum-gravity theories predict that familiar concepts such as Lorentz (LIV) symmetry can be broken. Such extreme energies are currently unreachable by experiments on Earth, but for photons traveling over cosmological distances the accumulated deviations from the Lorentz symmetry may be measurable using the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA). To study the spectral hardening feature observed in some VHE gamma-ray blazars, we calculate the reduction of the EBL gamma-gamma opacity due to the existence of underdense regions along the line of sight to VHE -gamma ray sources and we compared with the possibility of a LIV signature. Considering the LIV effect, we found that the cosmic opacity for VHE-gamma rays with energy more than 10 TeV can be strongly reduced. I will further discuss the impact of LIV on the Compton scattering process, and how future CTA observations may open an exciting window on studies of the fundamental physics.


Silicon and germanium films epitaxially grown on metal oxide buffer layers on Si(111) substrates are characterized by different X-ray techniques, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Pr2O3 and Y2O3 or a combination of both is used as buffer material. X-ray pole figure measurements and grazing incident X-ray diffraction prove that epi-semiconductor layers can be grown single crystalline with exactly the same in-plane orientation as the Si(111) substrate. Epi-Ge layers show a small fraction (less than 0.5 vol. %) of so-called type B rotation twin regions located near the oxide-Ge interface. The main structural defects for both epi materials are micro twin lamellas lying in {111} planes 70° inclined to the wafer surface that may reach through the whole layer from the oxide interface to the surface. Furthermore, TEM confirms the existence of stacking faults and threading dislocations. X-ray grazing incident diffraction and Raman measurements show that epi-Ge layers on Pr2O3 buffer are nearly fully relaxed, while epi-Si layers on Y2O3/Pr2O3 double buffer are compressive strained depending on their own thickness and the thickness of the underlying Y2O3 layer. It is demonstrated that the epi-layer quality can be improved by post-deposition annealing procedures.


ABSTRACT The rise of Kuala Lumpur as an Islamic financial frontier. Regional Studies. This paper examines Kuala Lumpur's emergence as a prominent global Islamic financial centre. Its distance from the West and the Middle East offers a frontier positioning that facilitates new social practices from the integration of financial knowledge of Western world cities and Shariah authority claimed by Gulf cities. Based on primary data, the paper shows that transnational, transcultural alliances forged through skills of mediation and compromise among the city's Islamic talents and Shariah scholars favourably connect separate economic and cultural spheres of knowledge.


Passenger air travel is a convenient and frequently used mode of transportation across the globe. However, certain health risks are associated with commercial flights, many of which are inherent to this distinctive method of transportation. It has been shown that air travel innately carries an increased risk of the development of venous thromboembolism, and although small, this risk is significantly higher than in the general, healthy, non-flying population. Individual air travellers are strongly encouraged to consult a suitable healthcare professional for an individual risk assessment and guidance on suitable or required prophylactic measures prior to undertaking either frequent or long-distance travel via aeroplane.


Using loan-level municipal bank lending data, we examine the debt structure of municipalities and its response to exogenous income shocks. We show that small, more indebted, low-income, and medium credit quality counties are particularly reliant on private bank financing. Low income counties are more likely to increase bank debt share after an adverse permanent income shock while high income counties do not shift their debt structure in response. In contrast, only high income counties draw on their credit lines after adverse transitory income shocks. Overall, our paper raises concerns about claim dilution of bondholders and highlights the importance of municipal disclosure of private debt.


User experience (UX), a common practice in corporate settings, is new for many nonprofit organizations. This case study details a community-based research project between nonprofit staff at a community health center and UX professionals to improve the design and usability of a document designed to help immigrant patients sign up for health insurance. UX professionals may need to adapt and be flexible with their efforts, but can offer valuable skills to community partners. Research questions: (1) What are the information needs and barriers faced by immigrant populations signing up for health insurance? (2) How does a usability study, adapted to meet the needs of immigrant populations, inform the design of a supplemental guidebook about health insurance? (3) What are the challenges and opportunities when engaging in community-based UX research projects?  Situating the case: Other community-based research projects in technical communication and UX point to the need for a clear conceptualization of participation, a strong partnership with nonprofits, and the need to develop meaningful and actionable insights. Furthermore, when conducting studies with immigrant populations, the role of the translator on the research team is crucial. Methodology: As a community-based research project focused on the collaborative generation of practical knowledge, we conducted a usability study with 12 participants in two language groups, Chinese and Vietnamese, to evaluate the design and usability of a guidebook designed to provide guidance about enrolling in a health insurance plan. Data were analyzed to identify usability concerns and used to inform a second iteration of the guidebook. About the case: Immigrant populations struggle to sign up for health insurance for a variety of reasons, including limited English and health insurance literacy. As a result, a nonprofit community health center developed a guidebook to support immigrant populations. Version 1 of this guidebook was evaluated in a usability study, with results showing that users struggled to correctly choose a plan, determine their eligibility, and interpret abstract examples. As a result, Version 2 was designed to support the in-person experience, reduce visual complexity, and support patients' key questions. Conclusions: Community-based UX collaborations can amplify the expertise of UX and nonprofit professionals. However, UX methods may need to be adapted in community-based projects to better incorporate local knowledge and needs.


In this brief text written on the occasion of the Whitney Independent Study Program's fiftieth anniversar, Jonathan Crary discusses how the many media portrayals of climate change and global warming effectively reabsorb environmental catastrophe into spectacle and affirm the ability of dominant institutions to solve or ameliorate any crisis. Noting the marginalization of Guy Debord's 1971 text A Sick Planet, Crary argues that a unique historical opportunity was lost in the late 1960s and early 1970s when there was a broad failure to align an eco-socialist critique of capitalism with the energies of anti-war and anti-imperialist mass movements.


Preserving edge structures is a challenge to image interpolation algorithms that reconstruct a high-resolution image from a low-resolution counterpart. We propose a new edge-guided nonlinear interpolation technique through directional filtering and data fusion. For a pixel to be interpolated, two observation sets are defined in two orthogonal directions, and each set produces an estimate of the pixel value. These directional estimates, modeled as different noisy measurements of the missing pixel are fused by the linear minimum mean square-error estimation (LMMSE) technique into a more robust estimate, using the statistics of the two observation sets. We also present a simplified version of the LMMSE-based interpolation algorithm to reduce computational cost without sacrificing much the interpolation performance. Experiments show that the new interpolation techniques can preserve edge sharpness and reduce ringing artifacts


Partial brood loss in red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) was studied during 2 breeding seasons in eastern Texas. The timing of partial brood loss, group size, number of initial nestlings, number of birds fledged, and habitat characteristics of the group's cavity-tree cluster were examined for 37 woodpecker groups in loblolly(Pinus taeda) shortleaf (I! echinata) pine habitat and 14 groups in longleaf (P palustris) pine habitat. Partial brood loss occurred slightly more in the loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat than in the longleaf pine habitat, largely because nests in loblolly-shortleaf habitat initially contained more nestlings. There was a trend for more young to be fledged by groups of 4 and 5 adult woodpeckers than by groups with only 2 or 3 adult birds. Partial brood loss was greater in nests with 4 initial nestlings than in nests with 3 or fewer nestlings. Partial brood loss was always observed in nests that initially contained 4 nestlings. When nests contained 3 nestlings, partial brood loss was significantly greater in clusters where hardwood midstory was present than in clusters where hardwood midstory was minimal, consistent with the brood reduction theory. Red-cockaded woodpeckers typically laid more eggs than they could possibly fledge young, lending support to the insurance egg hypothesis.


This cross-sectional survey aims at investigating Saudi English-major university undergraduates about their self-perceived listening comprehension strategies they employ to comprehend listening texts. To generate data for this empirical study, a 5-point strongly agree to strongly disagree Likert-scale questionnaire has been adapted and standardized steps were followed to ensure the reliability and validity of the instrument. Arabic version of the questionnaire was administered to randomly selected male and female Saudi Englishmajor university undergraduates studying at foreign languages department during their regular teaching session to generate data. Descriptive analyses were run to calculate percentages, means and standard deviation. The results inform that the participants of this study prefer to use cognitive strategies the most followed by metacognitive strategies. Socio-affective strategies were reported to be used the least by this group. This trend offers valuable insights into the fact that Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) learners resort to bottom-up strategies more frequently as compared to the top-down ones. It is recommended that Saudi EFL learners should be made aware of the significance of these strategies to enhance their listening comprehension. English language teachers should provide their students with appropriate skills of how to listen, retrospect on listening process and concentrate on practicing metacognitive and socio-affective strategies during their listening tasks. It is also recommended that teachers should provide their students with this confidence and courage to talk about their listening problems as well as the strategies they have used to tackle those problems.


Abstract Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may be transmitted from an infected mother to her child during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding. Without any intervention, transmission rates may range from 15–45%. However, this can be reduced to < 5% with effective drug therapy. A scheduled Caesarean section that is performed before the onset of labour or the rupture of membranes has been shown to reduce the intrapartum risk in a meta-analysis of earlier studies. The review further concluded that the benefit of performing an elective Caesarean section outweighed the risk of postpartum morbidity in HIV-infected women. However, balancing the risk to benefit ratio is influenced by the underlying rate of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) in an individual patient. Caesarean section, while initially shown to reduce the MTCT risk, is itself associated with significant morbidity to the mother. Pregnancy-related sepsis is among the leading causes of maternal deaths, particularly in women who deliver by Caesarean section.


Recently there has been a great deal of interest in studying monetary policy under model uncertainty. We point out that different assumptions about the uncertainty may result in drastically different robust' policy recommendations. Therefore, we develop new methods to analyze uncertainty about the parameters of a model, the lag specification, the serial correlation of shocks, and the effects of real time data in one coherent structure. We consider both parametric and nonparametric specifications of this structure and use them to estimate the uncertainty in a small model of the US economy. We then use our estimates to compute robust Bayesian and minimax monetary policy rules, which are designed to perform well in the face of uncertainty. Our results suggest that the aggressiveness recently found in robust policy rules is likely to be caused by overemphasizing uncertainty about economic dynamics at low frequencies.


The pandemic influenza virus of 1918–1919 killed an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide. With the recent availability of the complete 1918 influenza virus coding sequence, we used reverse genetics to generate an influenza virus bearing all eight gene segments of the pandemic virus to study the properties associated with its extraordinary virulence. In stark contrast to contemporary human influenza H1N1 viruses, the 1918 pandemic virus had the ability to replicate in the absence of trypsin, caused death in mice and embryonated chicken eggs, and displayed a high-growth phenotype in human bronchial epithelial cells. Moreover, the coordinated expression of the 1918 virus genes most certainly confers the unique high-virulence phenotype observed with this pandemic virus.


Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare disease characterized by the deposition of calcium phosphate microliths throughout the lungs. We first identified a PAM locus by homozygosity mapping to 4p15, then identified, by a candidate-gene approach, the gene responsible for the disease as SLC34A2 (the type IIb sodium-phosphate cotransporter gene), which is involved in phosphate homeostasis in several organs. We identified six homozygous exonic mutations in the seven unrelated patients with PAM we studied. Three of the mutations were frameshifts, one was a chain termination, one was an amino acid substitution, and one was a deletion spanning the minimal promoter and the first exon. Absence of functional protein product of the gene is compatible with calcium phosphate deposition in alveolar airspaces. We show that impaired activity of the phosphate transporter is presumably responsible for the microliths and that PAM is a recessive monogenic disease with full penetrance. Testicular microlithiasis (TM) is a disease that is more common than PAM. It is often associated with cancer and infertility. Since the gene we identified is also expressed in testis, we searched for mutations in subjects with TM. In 2 of the 15 subjects with TM we studied, we identified two rare variants, one synonymous and the other noncoding, that are possibly associated with the condition.


Background : The main purpose of this essay is to review the role of primary care in the U.S. health care system and assess the probability that health reform will lead to greater emphasis on primary care. Methods : The author conducted a literature review to present an historical analysis of policies designed to increase the availability and use of primary care in the U.S. Results : Despite widespread agreement that the use of primary care should be expanded, U.S. policies have encouraged the growth of a system that relies predominantly on specialty care. The 2010 health reform law includes several provisions designed to increase the availability and use of primary care, but the new Congress has threatened to delay the law's implementation. Conclusions : As concepts, primary care and prevention enjoy nearly universal support in the U.S., but the reality does not match the rhetoric.


New technologies, such as blockchain, cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin), and artificial intelligence are rapidly changing how transactions occur in the United States. While scholars have started to examine how a number of areas of law should adapt, very little work has been done on what these changes mean for taxation. Yet these developments could have a huge impact on tax revenues. For example, some approaches to taxing transactions using cryptocurrency could result in these transactions being conducted abroad, beyond the reach of the U.S. taxing authorities. And if robots replace large segments of the labor force, this could drastically shrink federal and state income tax bases.
The approach to taxing new technologies is a careful balance of capturing value and not disincentivizing growth. For example, if governments decide to levy a "robot tax" to replace revenues the income tax is no longer generating, they may accidentally stifle innovation in that jurisdiction.
At the same time, these new technologies also provide tools that governments can harness to levy taxes far more effectively than they currently do. For example, using blockchain technology to track the history of income and company shares allows for the potential of an integrated tax system, which combines the currently separate corporate and personal taxes into one unified taxation regime. The effects of this transition are a removal of many distortions and behavioral inefficiencies.
Just because technology can be used to levy taxes far more creatively does not mean that it should be. But given the rapid rate at which technological change is occurring, governments cannot afford to sit back and make these decisions by inertia. Rather, the main argument of this is that governments should: (i) recognize and adapt to shifting tax bases; and (ii) use technology such as blockchain to better target the populations and behaviors desired to be taxed. The paper recommends specific examples of how to better tax and use technologies, such as blockchain, to reform current taxation schemes.
There is also ample discussion of whether cryptocurrency will be regulated as a security (as per the Howey test and recent SEC enforcement actions), a discussion of foreign jurisdictions' approaches to cryptocurrency regulation and taxation, and recommendations to the SEC and IRS on how they should adjust their taxation of cryptocurrency.


Aims: This study was aimed to compare the metabolic impact of unsaturated fatty acids in experimental menopause induced rats Study design: Animal model experimental design
Methodology: Forty female Sprague Dawley rats, aged 16 weeks were ovariectomized in order to induce menopause pattern and were randomly allotted into five groups: negative control (taking 1 ml olive oil/ day); positive control (taking 0.2 mg/kg/day Conjucated Equine Estrogen: CEE); experimental groups (taking 50 mg/kg/day Linoleic acid or 10 mg/kg/day Gamma Linolenic acid or 15mg/kg/day Thymoquinone ). All of supplements administered via intragastric gavage for 21 consecutive days. Food and water intake were measured daily and body weight and biochemical parameters were measured at baseline, 11th day and at the end of experiment. Results: All treatment groups showed significant (P<.05) improvement with reference to blood glucose and serum HDL level in the first 10 days while the serum glucose level increased significantly (P<.05) until the end of experiment in all groups. Similarly, all treatment groups showed a decline in serum triglyceride 10 days, but the effect was much higher in LA and GLA groups respectively. Significant weight reducing effect (P<.05) existed in gamma linolenic group. Conclusion: These results suggested that supplementing with unsaturated fatty acids exert a therapeutic and protective effect by modifying weight gain, improving lipid profile and blood glucose which can reduce menopause burden in this context.


Abstract. Shallow ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys are used to characterize the small-scale spatial variability of supraglacial debris thickness on a Himalayan glacier. Debris thickness varies widely over short spatial scales. Comparison across sites and glaciers suggests that the skewness and kurtosis of the debris thickness frequency distribution decrease with increasing mean debris thickness, and we hypothesise that this is related to the degree of gravitational reworking the debris cover has undergone, and is therefore a proxy for the maturity of surface debris covers. In the cases tested here, using a single mean debris thickness value instead of accounting for the observed small-scale debris thickness variability underestimates modelled midsummer sub-debris ablation rates by 11–30 %. While no simple relationship is found between measured debris thickness and morphometric terrain parameters, analysis of the GPR data in conjunction with high-resolution terrain models provides some insight to the processes of debris gravitational reworking. Periodic sliding failure of the debris, rather than progressive mass diffusion, appears to be the main process redistributing supraglacial debris. The incidence of sliding is controlled by slope, aspect, upstream catchment area and debris thickness via their impacts on predisposition to slope failure and meltwater availability at the debris-ice interface. Slope stability modelling suggests that the percentage of the debris-covered glacier surface area subject to debris instability can be considerable at glacier scale, indicating that up to 22 % of the debris covered area is susceptible to developing ablation hotspots associated with patches of thinner debris.


Matched employee-employer data from the UK are used to analyze the wage premium to working in an innovative firm. We find that firms that are more R&D intensive pay higher wages on average, and this is particularly true for workers in some low-skilled occupations. We propose a model in which a firm's innovativeness is reflected in the degree of complementarity between workers in low-skill and highskilled occupations, and in which non-verifiable soft skills are an important determinant of the wages of workers in low-skilled occupations. The model yields additional predictions on training, tenure and outsourcing which we also find support for in data.


Screw compressors are commonly used for industrial and commercial gas processing and refrigeration. These machines are known to be able to admit mixtures of gasses and liquids to a certain concentration. In oil injected compressors, oil is mostly injected in the working domain to seal, cool and lubricate. But would the injection of atomized oil or other liquid in the suction of the compressor be useful for better control of the discharge temperature and reduction in energy consumption, is still to be determined. Similarly, liquid neutral to the process may be injected in an oil free compressor suction to help controlling discharge temperature. It can be erosive and corrosive to the compressor rotors. Therefore mapping a two phase suction flow of a screw compressor may help in understanding the means to improve compressors efficiency and reliability. This paper is the initial phase of PhD program to determine the multiphase flow characteristic at suction of twin screw compressors by means of experimental techniques. Review of most common and up to date measurement techniques in field of multiphase flow was carried out to determine their suitability and feasibility. Also Modelling of single and multiphase flow at the suction domain of a twin screw compressor were performed in order to have a better understanding of flow distribution. The research is performed on an oil free screw compressor with "N" rotor profiles of 128 mm and configuration of 3/5 lobes with L/D of 1.6 and 93 mm centre distance. A simplified CFD model of only suction domain which reduces computational time was compared with the CFD model of the entire compressor and it was found that it predicts most of flow features with same accuracy. The experimental study which will be used to validate the CFD model has been presented.


Effects of various pollen types on the fruit growth and development in two maternal cultivars of Omani Date Palm were studied in the Northern Batinah region of the Sultanate Oman. Discrete stages in the development were identified, quantified and examined with regard to important variables including fruit set, weight, size, maturity, chemical composition, appearance and yield. Procedures were developed to compare across the different maternal cultivars and temperature environments.
The pollen types were distinct in their effects, particularly as regards weight, time to maturity, ripening, sugar content, appearance and yield of certain consumable fruit stages. These effects were influenced by the female type and differential fruit set.
True metaxenic and xenic effects were evidenced by excluding influences of fruit set. These were on fruit fresh weight, size, maturity and ripening in cv Khasab in 1996 and 1995 and in cv Khalas in 1996. Differences in cv Khalas in 1995 were due to differences in fruit set. Pollen effects could be measured in cv Khalas throughout fruit development, while they appeared in cv Khasab only in the later stages. Khori consistently induced the highest mature fruit fresh weight (14.8 g in cv Khalas, 13.0 g in cv Khasab) compared to Bahlani (12.6 g and 12.3 g, respectively and AI Arudsabba (12.2 9 and 11.1 g, respectively). However, differences in fruit set between pollen blocks in cv Khalas in 1995 caused the largest ripe fruit fresh weight (16.1 g) in the AI Arudsabba block compared to Bahlani (14.1 g) and Khori (13.4 g).
The effect of high fruit set (initial set was 49 % with Khori and 34 % with AI Arudsabba) in masking and modifying pollen effects was evident because AI Arudsabba induced about 40 % less fruit fresh weight than Khori in the initial stages of development.
The response to applications of plant growth regulators was specific to the pollen type used. GA increased, by about 100 %, fruit fresh weight in AI Arudsabba pollinated Khalas fruits but reduced it to about 50 % in Khon pollinated ones. NAA caused the abscission of all unfertilized ovaries in Khon pollinated Khalas but not in those pollinated with AI Arudsabba. In the absence of syngamy physiological rather than hereditary causes were implied.
Correlations between fruit set and fruit fresh weight did not exist in the early stages suggesting that the observed pollen effects were truly metaxenic or xenic. In the later stages clear and consistent negative correlations existed for the AI Arudsabba block. Probably in the other pollen blocks some mechanism compensated this control of one variable over the other. Late correlations for the Khori block in cv Khalas suggested that high fruit fresh weight induced fruit drop. The absence of pollen effects on late correlations in cv Khasab implied a genetic cause. The strong influence of fruit set on ripening (% ripe fruits) in Khori pOllinated bunches indicated a specifically strong influence exerted by fruit set over ripening.
Time to physiological maturity was affected by pollen type only in cv Khalas where AI Arudsabba and Bahlani induced earlier maturity (7 days) than Khori. Khori pollinated fruits appeared to mature later in both female cvs except cv Khalas in 1995. Bahlani induced earlier maturity in both female cvs. Regression analysis between thermal time and fruit fresh weight provided evidence for the effects specific to Khori. As Bahlani induced the same early maturity in both female cvs.
Ripening was most uniform in Bahlani pollinated bunches, but faster in Khori pollinated ones. Correlations of thermal time and ripeness indicated that the temperature regime has a strong influence (r=0.99) over ripening in Bahlani pollinated bunches.
Early pollen effects were probably due to physiological mechanisms, probably hormonal activity, which could be attributed to pollen type and pollination. Late effects were under the influence of male x female interactions and were thought to be genetic. Bahlani consistently induced the highest fruit fresh weight and size in the early fruit stages, but Khori in the later stages. Only in cv Khasab was Bahlani in the later stages on par with Khori in this regard. The situation was similar for fruit and seed size.
Compositional differences between pollen types were not reflected in those between the ovaries one day after pollination with different male types. This largely precluded the possibility that the early growth response was directly due to the mere addition of substances contributed by the pollen grains.
Preliminary investigations indicated that pollen types were a priori distinct with regard to their biochemical composition and mineral content in that AI Arudsabba and Bahlani were similar and differed from Khori. Khori's pollen grains were largest (22 mum, less than 20 mum in other types) and its pollen tube growth the most uniform (CV 56% compared to 80-110% with other types), while Bahlani had the most vigorous pollen tube growth (tube length up to 220 JlI1lI24h). Khori contained more growth promoters, possibly GA , than AI Arudsabba. Khori brought about relatively stable bunch yields in cv Khalas (11 kg in 1996, 15 kg in 1995) and large (about 4 cm long), heavy and sweet fruits, but delayed maturity of the fruits (7days in cv Khalas). AI Arudsabba produced a slightly higher cumulative yield (28 kg) of similar yield stability, but produced fruits of poor quality in regard to fruit size (about 3.5 cm in cv Khalas), fresh weight and a low total sugar content (less than 40% in Khalas, less than 50 % in Khasab). Bahlani had clear advantages, in that it induced sweet fruits, but produced the least stable yields of fruits (cv Khalas: 16 kg in 1996, 7 kg in 1995) with relatively low weight and small fruits.


Introduction: Self-medication can lead to several unwanted consequences. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the selected medication is safe and effective in order to meet the required health needs. The aim of this study is to assess the patients' attitude, knowledge and practice towards the use of safe medication and to evaluate the awareness level for optimal medication use among the Saudi community. Materials & Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using a validated questionnaire from "Survey of Medication Knowledge and Behaviors Among College Students in Taiwan" that was translated into Arabic language and validated for use in our study. Results: A total number of 1,576 participants were included. Questions evaluating knowledge about drug-food interactions and the appropriate use of antacids had the lowest number of correct responses, with a response rate of 44.73% and 38.32% respectively. Among these, 952 participants (60.41%) mentioned their effective awareness level regarding pharmacist consultations; however, 624 participants (39.59%) had limited information and awareness regarding pharmacist consultations and medication dispensing. Pharmacist trust as a healthcare expert in providing drug information was evaluated in participants without healthcare professionals or medical students as family members (62.46%), healthcare professional family members (76.74%) and medical student family members (75.21%) with a statistical significance between the first two groups (p <0.001) .
Conclusions: The majority of our study population demonstrated inadequate attitude, knowledge, and practice related to safe use of medications. This was more pronounced especially in participants without family members as healthcare professionals or medical students. We recommend the adoption of immediate interventions by pharmacists in order to improve the awareness about attitude, drug knowledge. Therefore, leading to improvements in safe medication practices in the Saudi community.


Efficient human-to-human transmission is a necessary property for the generation of a pandemic influenza virus. To date, only influenza A viruses within the H1–H3 subtypes have achieved this capacity. However, sporadic cases of severe disease in individuals following infection with avian influenza A viruses over the past decade, and the emergence of a pandemic H1N1 swine-origin virus in 2009, underscore the need to better understand how influenza viruses acquire the ability to transmit efficiently. In this review, we discuss the biological constraints and molecular features known to affect virus transmissibility to and among humans. Factors influencing the behaviour of aerosols in the environment are described, and the mammalian models used to study virus transmission are presented. Recent progress in understanding the molecular determinants that confer efficient transmission has identified crucial roles for the haemagglutinin and polymerase proteins; nevertheless, influenza virus transmission remains a polygenic trait that is not completely understood. The clinical implications of this research, including methods currently under investigation to mitigate influenza virus human-to-human transmission, are discussed. A better understanding of the viral determinants necessary for efficient transmission will allow us to identify avian influenza viruses with pandemic potential.


The dimer method with the Ackland EAM potential has been used to determine the diffusion mechanisms of isolated defects in the bulk of {alpha}-Fe. Three defect systems were studied, an isolated vacancy, a P-vacancy complex and a P interstitial defect. Using an event table consisting of the transitions found using the dimer method, the kinetic Monte Carlo method has been used to simulate the diffusion of these defects. Periodic boundary conditions were used to simulate Fe crystals with finite concentrations of P atoms between 0.006 at. % and 0.038 at. %. At lower temperatures of around 350 K, substitutional P atoms in Fe act as centers of attraction for vacancy defects, such that the defect moves as a P-vacancy complex for most of the time. However, as the temperature is increased, the phosphorus atom and the vacancy spend greater amounts of time dissociated. We found that P interstitial defects can also diffuse through the lattice. Diffusion constants have been calculated for these systems at various temperatures and P concentrations. These showed that an Fe-P dumbbell is the most mobile of these defect systems and a P-vacancy complex the least mobile. For the isolated vacancy and P interstitial defect systems, themore » diffusion constant was found to satisfy the Arrhenius relation; the P-vacancy complex, however, showed a deviation from this relation.« less


Outcomes after pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) are related to pre-treatment factors including age, injury severity, and mechanism of injury, and may be positively affected by treatment at trauma centers relative to non-trauma centers. This study estimated the proportion of children with moderate to severe TBI who receive care at trauma centers, and examined factors associated with receipt of care at adult (ATC), pediatric (PTC), and adult/pediatric trauma centers (APTC), compared with care at non-trauma centers (NTC) using a nationally representative database. The Kids' Inpatient Database was used to identify hospitalizations for moderate to severe pediatric TBI. Pediatric inpatients ages 0 to 17 years with at least one diagnosis of TBI and a maximum head Abbreviated Injury Scale score of ≥3 were studied. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to examine factors predictive of the level and type of facility where care was received. A total of 16.7% of patients were hospitalized at NTC, 44.2% at Level I or II ATC, 17.9% at Level I or II PTC, and 21.2% at Level I or II APTC. Multiple regression analyses showed receipt of care at a trauma center was associated with age and polytrauma. We concluded that almost 84% of children with moderate to severe TBI currently receive care at a Level I or Level II trauma center. Children with trauma to multiple body regions in addition to more severe TBI are more likely to receive care a trauma center relative to a NTC.


BACKGROUND
Maternal undernutrition may alter the development of the lung structure in rat offspring.

METHODS
We investigated the effects of maternal undernutrition (50% rations of the control food intake) during the last week of gestation on the expression of the rat lung insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system in the postnatal period.

RESULTS
Body weights of undernourished pregnant rats were significantly lower than those of control rats from gestational days 16 to 21. Rats subjected to intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) exhibited significantly lower body weights and lower lung weights on postnatal days 1, 7, 14, and 28 and lower lung/body weight ratios on postnatal days 7 and 14 when compared with control rats. Lung IGF-I, IGF-II, IGF receptors types 1 (IGFR-1) and 2 (IGFR-2), and the IGF binding protein (IGFBP) mRNA expressions increased as rats aged and reached a peak on postnatal day 14. Maternal undernutrition significantly increased IGF-I and IGF-II mRNA expressions on postnatal days 1 and 28. Lung IGFR-1, IGFR-2, and IGFBP mRNA expressions were similar between control and IUGR rats during the study period.

CONCLUSIONS
This study presents a comprehensive overview of lung IGF system expression in control and IUGR rats and demonstrates the developmental regulation of each component.


This paper introduces a half-wavelength peak matching (HWPM) model, which improves the accuracy of vehicle based longitudinal road profilers used in evaluating road unevenness and mega-textures. In this application, the HWPM model is designed for profilers which utilize a laser displacement sensor with an accelerometer for detecting surface irregularities. The process of converting acceleration to displacement by double integration (which is used in most rofilers) is error-prone, and although there are techniques to minimize the effect of this error, this paper proposes a novel approach for improving the generated road profile results. The technique amends the vertical displacement derived from the accelerometer samples, by using data from the laser displacement sensor as a reference. The vehicle based profiler developed for this experiment (which uses the HWPM model) shows a huge improvement in detected longitudinal irregularities when compared with pre-processed results, and uses a 3-m rolling straight edge as a benchmark.


We investigate gravitational waves from a dust disk around a Schwarzschild black hole to focus on whether we can extract any of its physical properties from a direct detection of gravitational waves. We adopt a black hole perturbation approach in a time domain, which is a satisfactory approximation to illustrate a dust disk in a supermassive black hole. We find that we can determine the radius of the disk by using the power spectrum of gravitational waves and that our method to extract the radius works for a disk of arbitrary density distribution. Therefore we believe a possibility exists for determining the radius of the disk from a direct observation of gravitational waves detected by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.


Many host-based anomaly detection techniques have been proposed to detect code-injection attacks on servers. The vast majority, however, are susceptible to "mimicry" attacks in which the injected code masquerades as the original server software (including returning the correct service responses) while conducting its attack. In this paper we present a novel architecture to detect mimicry attacks using "behavioral distance", by which two diverse replicas processing the same inputs are continually monitored to detect divergence in their low-level (system-call) behaviors and hence potentially the compromise of one of them. We detail the design and implementation of our architecture, which takes advantage of virtualization to achieve its goals efficiently. We apply our system to implement intrusiontolerant web and game servers, and through trace-driven simulations demonstrate that our approach can achieve low false-alarm rates and moderate performance costs even when tuned to detect stealthy mimicry attacks.


Purpose Intratumoral interleukin-2 (IL-2) is effective but does not generate systemic immunity. Intravenous ipilimumab produces durable clinical response in a minority of patients, with potentially severe toxicities. Circulating anti-tumor T cells activated by ipilimumab may differ greatly from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes activated by intratumoral ipilimumab in phenotypes and functionality. The objective of this study was to primarily assess the safety of intratumoral ipilimumab/IL-2 combination and to obtain data on clinical efficacy. Results There was no dose limiting toxicity. While local response of injected lesions was observed in 67% patients (95% CI, 40%-93%), an abscopal response was seen in 89% (95% CI, 68%-100%). The overall response rate and clinical benefit rate by immune-related response criteria (irRC) was 40% (95% CI, 10%-70%) and 50% (95% CI, 19%-81%), respectively. Enhanced systemic immune response was observed in most patients and correlated with clinical responses. Experimental Design Twelve patients with unresectable stages III/IV melanoma were enrolled. A standard 3+3 design was employed to assess highest tolerable intratumoral dose of ipilimumab and IL-2 based on toxicity during the first three weeks. Escalated doses of ipilimumab was injected into only one lesion weekly for eight weeks in cohorts of three patients. A fixed dose of IL-2 was injected three times a week into the same lesion for two weeks, followed by two times a week for six weeks. Conclusions Intratumoral injection with the combination of ipilimumab/IL-2 is well tolerated and generates responses in both injected and non-injected lesions in the majority of patients.


Abstract Victims of colonial, Indigenous child-removal policies have attracted public expressions of compassion from Indigenous and settler-state political leaders in Canada since the 1990s. This public compassion has fueled legal and political mechanisms, leveraging resources for standardized interventions said to "heal" these victims: cash payments, a truth-telling forum, therapy. These claims to healing provide an entry-point for analyzing how and why the figure of the Indigenous child-victim, past and present, is morally and politically useful for settler-states and their public cultures. I use the formulation of "settler-humanitarianism" to express how liberal interventions of care and protection, intended to ameliorate Indigenous suffering, align with settler-colonialism's enduring goal of Indigenous elimination (Wolfe 2006). Removal of Indigenous children was integral to the late nineteenth-century formation of the Canadian and Australian settler-states. Missionaries and colonial administrators represented these practices as humanitarian rescue from depraved familial conditions. Settler-humanitarians have long employed universalizing moral registers, such as "idleness" and "neglect," to compel state interventions into Indigenous families. More recently, "trauma" has emerged as a humanitarian signifier compelling urgent action. These settler-humanitarian registers do political work. Decontextualized representations of Indigenous children as victims negate children as social actors, obscure the particularities of how collective Indigenous suffering flows from settler-colonial dispossession, and oppose children's interests with those of their kin, community, and nation. I analyze how and why Aboriginal healing as settler-humanitarianism has been taken up by many Indigenous leaders alongside settler-state agents, and examine the ongoing social and political effects of the material and discursive interventions it has spawned.


From the vast Australian continent to a small island off the western coast of Scotland is the measure of the contrast to be found in the story of Clan MacQuarrie, as it is usually known in Scotland, or Macquarie, as they usually spell it 'down under' after the fashion adopted by its greatest clansman.1 For although it spread far and wide, and reached its zenith with the 'Father of Australia', the clan began in that cluster of isles to the west of Mull, the little kingdom which Scott's lines serve well enough to delimit. Ulva itself, about five miles long and extending to nearly 5000 acres, rises in terraces to just over 1000 feet, with basaltic colonnades and other impressive rock formations along the southern coast; MacQuarrie's (or Little) Colonsay, about 200 acres, is about a mile off its southwest shore, with Staffa of the cliffs and caves about three miles beyond. Part of Mull, chiefly the farm of Laggan or Lagganulva, was included in the MacQuarrie territory from the first, and Ulva's neighbour Gometra was sometimes held by one of the clan.


Cirrus clouds are important modulators of the Earth radiation budget and continue to be one of the most uncertain components in weather and climate modeling. Sun photometers are widely accepted as one of the most accurate platforms for measuring clear sky aerosol optical depth (AOD). However, interpretation of their measurements is ambiguous in the presence of cirrus. Derivation of a valid AOD under cirrus conditions was focused previously on correction factors, rather than on derivation of cirrus cloud optical thickness (COT). In the present work, we propose a new approach that uses the total measured irradiance to derive cirrus COT and ice particle effective diameter (Deff). For this approach, we generate lookup tables (LUTs) of total transmittance for the Sun photometer field of view (FOV) due to the direct and scattered irradiance over the spectral range of 400–2200 nm, for a range of cirrus COT (0–4), and a range of ice cloud effective diameters (10–120 µm) by using explicit cirrus optical property models for (a) cirrus only and (b) a two‐component model including cirrus and aerosols. The new approach is tested on two cases (airborne and ground‐based) using measured transmittances from the 14‐channel NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sun photometer. We find that relative uncertainties in COT are much smaller than those for Deff. This study shows that for optically thin cirrus cases (COT < 1.0), the aerosol layer between the instrument and the cloud plays an important role, especially in derivation of Deff. Additionally, the choice of the cirrus model may introduce large differences in derived Deff.


The war of 1812 continues, and Jack Aubrey sets course for Cape Horn on a mission after his own heart: intercepting a powerful American frigate outward bound to play havoc with the British whaling trade. Stephen Maturin has fish of his own to fry in the world of secret intelligence. Disaster in various guises awaits them in the Great South Sea and in the far reaches of the Pacific: typhoons, castaways, shipwrecks, murder, and criminal insanity.


Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are now commonly used to accelerate economic growth, improve development and infrastructure delivery, support better integration of services, strengthen governance and quality levels, and also maximise innovation opportunities. Given the changing economic, social and political environment, coupled with globalisation and budgetary constraints, PPP has now become a desirable mainstream option for many countries worldwide. The need for PPP has been exacerbated by the public sector's recognition of the vital role of modern infrastructure in economic growth, the demand for which is evidenced in this conference through a variety of diverse projects and contexts across different countries.
This conference is jointly organised by CIB TG72, EU COST ActionTU1001 - Public Private Partnerships in Transport: Trends and Theory (P3T3, UCLan Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD) and The University of Hong Centre for Centre for Infrastructure and Construction Industry Development (CICID). The conference provides a forum for discussing recent work on policy, governance, operational and implementation issues related to PPP. It is particularly significant, in the sense that it brings delegates together from many countries to present papers of international importance in this field. Topics include issues around PPP infrastructure (transport - roads, water, seaports, highways, social, rail, etc.), education, housing and hospital/health sector developments, value for money, knowledge management, risk, modelling, transaction costs, performance management, finance mechanisms etc. This diversity brings together a rich blend of research and practice-based experience, which uncovers new understanding and insight into such important areas as: innovation, process improvement, trust, teamwork, and new collaborative approaches.
We are very fortunate to have six eminent keynote speakers from academia, practice, government and industry over the three days of the conference. The first two days are devoted to academic papers presentations, and the third day focuses on industry presentations and workshops.
This conference is supported by Emerald Publishing through the Journal of Construction Innovation and Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction; and best paper awards will be offered in the closing ceremony. In addition, we have had expression of interest from the Journal of Financial Management of Property and Construction to publish a selection of best papers from the conference.
The papers contained in these proceedings went through a two-stage formal academic review process. The first stage involved the review of each abstract by the conference Scientific Committee; and the second stage involved the review of each full paper by the Scientific Committee and external specialist reviewers. This process not only helped authors ‗sharpen' their papers, but also helped to strengthen academic rigour.
Finally, we would like to thank all members of the Organising Committee and Scientific Committee, the external referees, keynote speakers, and all contributory partners and sponsors.


The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) brings into legal effect a new form of inter-governmental economic ordering and regulatory governance on an extended "megaregional" scale. This chapter proposes the concept of "megaregulation" as a way to understand what is distinctive about TPP and about the particular type of governance project which it partly pioneered. Megaregulation as exemplified by TPP is characterized by five features. First, it comprehensively covers commercial flows in goods, services, capital, and data. Second, its broad aim is to create a generalized freedom to operate for large corporations and their affiliates across the set of national markets covered by the treaty. Third, as its method, megaregulation employs regulatory alignment—nudging and shaping both the substance and the processes of national regulatory systems. Fourth, megaregulation involves a large but not universal (like the WTO) scale in volume of covered economic activity and creates significant gravitational pulls and emulatory pressures for third parties. Fifth, megaregulation takes the treaty-institutional form which prescribes detailed rules and empowers some inter-governmental or transnational institutions and the communities of practice spawning around them. TPP's specific version of megaregulation further advances an ordo- or neo-liberal vision of the state and its relation to markets that deliberately builds out contrasts with China's party-state economic ordering, thereby giving it lasting geopolitical and geoeconomic relevance.


This paper attempts to revive Mauss's concept of the total social fact as a method to establish understanding of new markets. Our case study of alcohol in China illuminates the spirit baijiu's connections to the total social facts of guanxi (social capital) and hierarchy. We outline the distinction between symbols that communicate meaning and total social facts that communicate function. We propose a methodology based on using total social facts as a heuristic device, removed from some of the problematic assumptions of classical functionalism.


Soft soil in Hanoi, Vietnam, is mainly originated from lacustrine and shallow-sea sediment. This is the youngest formation with around 3000 years of age. To serve the research purpose, clayey soil samples at ten areas in Hanoi and some places in the RRD are prepared. Mineral composition of soils determined by X-ray diffraction analysis shows that clay minerals are predominated by Illite, Kaolinite, Chlorite, and Montmorillonite respectively. Many previous researches indicated that in saline-saturated condition, types of cation in saline water and types of clay mineral in soil layers, as well as their predomination decide the changing process of geotechnical properties in other manner. In this paper, the initial relationship between geotechnical properties and clay mineral composition of Hanoi soft soils in saline-saturated media is established.


Neural Architecture Search (NAS) methods, which automatically learn entire neural model or individual neural cell architectures, have recently achieved competitive or state-of-the-art (SOTA) performance on variety of natural language processing and computer vision tasks, including language modeling, natural language inference, and image classification. In this work, we explore the applicability of a SOTA NAS algorithm, Efficient Neural Architecture Search (ENAS) (Pham et al., 2018) to two sentence pair tasks, paraphrase detection and semantic textual similarity. We use ENAS to perform a micro-level search and learn a task-optimized RNN cell architecture as a drop-in replacement for an LSTM. We explore the effectiveness of ENAS through experiments on three datasets (MRPC, SICK, STS-B), with two different models (ESIM, BiLSTM-Max), and two sets of embeddings (Glove, BERT). In contrast to prior work applying ENAS to NLP tasks, our results are mixed – we find that ENAS architectures sometimes, but not always, outperform LSTMs and perform similarly to random architecture search.


For international financial institutions (IFIs), it is a continuing puzzle why the global norms they propagate are enacted either reluctantly or not at all. This article shows that failures of enactment and implementation frequently occur because many IFI-initiated law reforms go far beyond changing the law; they amount to a restructuring of the state itself and the accompanying redistributions of power. This article demonstrates how state restructuring can occur in a technical area of commercial law by reanalyzing the ways global and transnational designs of corporate bankruptcy regimes fared between 1998 and 2006 in three countries variously affected by the Asian financial crisis: China, Indonesia, and South Korea. State restructuring occurred by (1) shifting the boundary between the market and state, (2) shifting power inside the state, and (3) vesting new powers in the state. The article identifies the recursive dynamics through which the changes unfolded and shows how variations in the efficacy of international architects of the state can be attributed to the interplay of four sets of factors: the coherence of global norms, the relative power of global versus state actors, domestic demand and mobilization for restructuring, and the extent of state restructuring that reforms will induce.


"Two-dimensional (2D) materials as electrodes" is believed to be the trend for future Li-ion and Na-ion battery technologies. Here, by using first-principles methods, we predict that the recently reported borophene (2D boron sheets) can serve as an ideal electrode material with high electrochemical performance for both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. The calculations are performed on two experimentally stable borophene structures, namely β12 and χ3 structures. The optimized Li and Na adsorption sites are identified, and the host materials are found to maintain good electric conductivity before and after adsorption. Besides advantages including small diffusion barriers and low average open-circuit voltages, most remarkably, the storage capacity can be as high as 1984 mA h g(-1) in β12 borophene and 1240 mA h g(-1) in χ3 borophene for both Li and Na, which are several times higher than the commercial graphite electrode and are the highest among all the 2D materials discovered to date. Our results highly support that borophenes can be appealing anode materials for both Li-ion and Na-ion batteries with extremely high power density.


A descriptive study was developed to monitor air fungal contamination in one Portuguese maternity. Sixty air samples were collected through impaction method. Air sampling was performed in food storage facilities, kitchen, food plating, canteen, pharmacy, sterilization areas, genecology wards, intensive care unit, operating rooms, urgency and also, outside premises, since this was the place regarded as reference. Besides air samples, forty three samples were collected by swabbing the surfaces using a 10 by 10 cm square stencil. Simultaneously, temperature, relative humidity and particles counting (PM10) were registered. Twenty three species of fungi were identified in air, being the two most commonly isolated the genera Penicillium (41,5%) and Cladosporium (28,4%). Regarding yeasts, only Rhodotorula sp. (45,2%), Trichosporon mucoides (51,6%) and Cryptococcus neoformans (3,2%) were found. Thirteen species of fungi were identified in surfaces, being the most frequent the Penicillium genus (91,6%). Concerning yeasts found in surfaces, four species were identified being Rhodotorula sp. (29,1%) the most frequent. There was no coincidence between prevailing genera indoors and outside premises. Moreover, some places presented fungal species different from the ones isolated outside. In the inside environment, Aspergillus species were isolated in air and surfaces. There was no significant relationship (p>0,05) between fungal contamination and the studied environmental variables.


J J HAGAN This thesis is ~oncerned with lysine vasopressin's (LVP's) behavioural activity. Chapter One describes vasopressin's synthesis, secretion, metabolism, pressor, antidiuretic and putative corticotrophic functions with emphasis on behaviourally significant aspects. Chapter Two reviews behavioural data showing that manipulations of endogenous vasopressin levels alter subsequent avoidance performance. Although these data have predominantly been interpreted in favour of vasopressin altering memory formation (consolidation) results reported from an experiment combining response prevention trials and vasopressin injections failed to support the consolidation hypotheis. Chapter Three reviews the response prevention literature and confirms the feasibility of using prevention trials with automated shuttle box training (Experiment One).LVP (I IJg/rat) injected immediately after training increased subsequent extinction responding (Experiment Two). Experiment Three showed that LVP (I IJg/rat) increased responding when injected immediately after prevention trials but decreased extinction responding when injected after 30 minutes of post training retention in the home cage or 30 extinction trials. LVP injections 30 minutes after training and immediately after prevention trials increased suppression of concurrent lever press responding 24 hours later (Experiwent Four). Manipulating the training-injection interval after automated training yielded maximal response reductions with a 60 minute interval (Experiment Five) with indications of a negative dose response curve for higher (2-4 IJg/rat) doses (Experiment Six). Manual shuttle box tests showed that with a 30 minute training-injection interval subsequent extinction responding varied as an inverted "U" shaped function of the LVP dose (Experiment Seven). Opposite effects of 0.11 1Jg/rat and 2.97 IJg/rat were confirmed with higher training shock levels (Experiment Nine). A further experiment (Experiment Eight) revealed a complex interaction between dose and injection interval. Extinction responding was also reduced by some doses of DG-LVP (Experiment Ten),· P.ost training manipulation of cholinergic activity did not alter LVP's response reducing effects in well trained rats (Experiment Ele~en) although some cholinergic involvement was indicated (Experiment Fourteen) in the response increasing effects of LVP (I 1Jg/rat) injected 30 minutes after training in poor avoidance learners (Experiments Twelve and Thirteen). Tests on the suitability of appetitive responding for exploring vasopressin's behavioural effects showed that both a variable interval (60 seconds) schedule and differential reinforcement of low response rates (DRL) schedule were sensitive to high LVP doses (3-4 1Jg/rat). The implications of these data for our understanding of vasopressin's behavioural effects are discussed.


Quantitative suction sampling was used to characterize and compare the species composition, abundance, biomass, and secondary production of macrofauna inhabiting intertidal mud-flat and sand-flat, eelgrass meadow, and salt-marsh-pool habitats in the Nauset Marsh complex, Cape Cod, Massachusetts (USA). Species richness and abundance were often greatest in eelgrass habitat, as was macroinvertebrate biomass and production. Most striking was the five to fifteen times greater rate of annual macrofaunal production in eelgrass habitat than elsewhere, with values ranging from approximately 23–139 g AFDW m2 yr−1. The marsh pool containing widgeon grass (Ruppia maritima) supported surprisingly low numbers of macroinvertebrates, probably due to stressfully low dissolved oxygen levels at night during the summer. Two species of macroinvertebrates, blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and to a lesser extent bay scallops (Argopecten irradians), used eelgrass as "nursery habitat." Calculations showed that macroinvertebrate production is proportionally much greater than the amount of primary production attributable to eelgrass in the Nauset Marsh system, and that dramatic changes at all trophic levels could be expected if large changes in seagrass abundance should occur. This work further underscores the extraordinarily large impact that seagrass can have on both the structure and function of estuarine ecosystems. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A01BY070 00006


Many phenomena in animal learning can be explained by a context-learning process whereby an animal learns about different patterns of relationship between environmental variables. Differentiating between such environmental regimes or 'contexts' allows an animal to rapidly adapt its behaviour when context changes occur. The current work views animals as making sequential inferences about current context identity in a world assumed to be relatively stable but also capable of rapid switches to previously observed or entirely new contexts. We describe a novel decision-making model in which contexts are assumed to follow a Chinese restaurant process with inertia and full Bayesian inference is approximated by a sequential-sampling scheme in which only a single hypothesis about current context is maintained. Actions are selected via Thompson sampling, allowing uncertainty in parameters to drive exploration in a straightforward manner. The model is tested on simple two-alternative choice problems with switching reinforcement schedules and the results compared with rat behavioural data from a number of T-maze studies. The model successfully replicates a number of important behavioural effects: spontaneous recovery, the effect of partial reinforcement on extinction and reversal, the overtraining reversal effect, and serial reversal-learning effects.


The third book in the new Penguin Maigret series: Georges Simenon's haunting tale about the lengths to which people will go to escape from guilt, in a compelling new translation by Linda Coverdale. A first ink drawing showed a hanged man swinging from a gallows on which perched an enormous crow. And there were at least twenty other etchings and pen or pencil sketches that had the same leitmotif of hanging. On the edge of a forest: a man hanging from every branch. A church steeple: beneath the weathercock, a human body dangling from each arm of the cross...Below another sketch were written four lines from Francois Villon's Ballade of the Hanged Men. On a trip to Brussels, Maigret unwittingly causes a man's suicide, but his own remorse is overshadowed by the discovery of the sordid events that drove the desperate man to shoot himself. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in previous translations as Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets and The Crime of Inspector Maigret. "Compelling, remorseless, brilliant." (John Gray). "One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century...Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories. " (Guardian). "A supreme writer...unforgettable vividness." (Independent).


Reports that aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria (AAnPB) containing bacteriochlorophyll a (BChla) constitute 10% or more of total bacteria cell counts in seawater prompted us to quantify AAnPB abundances in local waters 15 km off the coast of Southern California and at 18 sites around the globe using infrared epifluorescent microscopy (IREM) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR). IREM‐estimated AAnPB comprised 1.66% ± 0.55% (mean ± SD) of total bacterial counts in the euphotic zone between April and September 2001 off Southern California. IREM counts of AAnPB need to be interpreted with caution due to detection sensitivity concerns and overlap between chlorophyll a and bacteriochlorophyll a autofluorescence at wavelengths >850 nm. QPCR‐estimated AAnPB were 1.17% ± 1.56% of total bacteria counts at 5‐m depth between January 2001 and July 2003 off the coast of Southern California (assuming one pufM gene cell−1 and 2.5 fg total DNA cell−1). Global QPCR surveys of AAnPB conducted in tropical to polar waters yielded low estimates (<2.5% of total bacteria counts) of AAnPB in most marine environments surveyed, but estimates >10% were observed in estuarine waters of Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay. AAnPB abundances are lower in most marine systems than previously reported from the Eastern Pacific and demonstrate that AAnPB abundances are more variable than previously realized. Our results do not support the notion AAnPB are more abundant in oligotrophic environments and, in fact, suggest the opposite. These results raise questions about where aerobic anoxygenic photosynthesis is advantageous in marine ecosystems.


Field trials to quantify the long-term effect of silvicultural treatments in southern upland hardwood forests began on USDA Forest Service Experimental Forests and Ranges nearly 100 years ago. Many of those outdoor laboratories and the research sites they contain are still being examined by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. The original field experiments began with a well-documented manipulation of stand density, structure, and composition so that scientists could monitor changes in forest characteristics for many decades. Although the original focus of the early studies was on tree growth and water quality, their research value for studying dynamics in wildlife habitat, forest health, recreation, and ecosystem function expanded exponentially with each passing decade. This report highlights early published results from many of the Experimental Forests and related sites located in the South that are pertinent to current and emerging upland hardwood forest-management issues.


In recent decades, the prevalence of physical activity has declined considerably in many
high-income countries, and this has been linked to rising levels of obesity and several
weight-related medical conditions such as coronary heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
There is some evidence that areas experiencing the lowest levels of physical activity tend
to be those which have undergone a particularly strong transition away from
employment in physically demanding occupations. It is proposed that such processes of
industrial restructuring may be causally linked to unexplained geographical variations in
activity patterns. Although the socio-cultural correlates of activity behaviours have been
well studied, none have explicitly attempted to identify components of industrial change
that may impact physical activity.
This thesis addresses the gap in knowledge surrounding the socio-cultural context of
industrial restructuring by investigating where, how and why dimensions of industrial
change may impact current levels of physical activity in England. The research applies a
mixed methods approach using GIS techniques, multilevel modelling and qualitative
research interviewing. Firstly, the current literature on socio-cultural correlates of health
behaviours is reviewed to present a novel conceptual framework that hypothesises how
processes between physical activity and industrial restructuring may be linked in context.
Subsequently, measures of industrial restructuring as well as physical activity are
developed to analyse spatial variations in activity patterns across England. The analyses
focus on how employment decline in physically demanding occupations may affect
current levels of physical activity across different activity domains and relevant macroeconomic
time periods. Finally, this research aims to get an insight in the mechanisms
underlying the relationship between physical activity and industrial restructuring.
Results from this research showed geographical variations with distinctive urban-rural
disparities in levels of predominantly recreational physical activity across England.
Processes of industrial restructuring appeared to be associated with patterns of physical
activity, although the nature of the association differed across areas, time periods and
employment types. The results also highlighted the plausible impact of inherited cultures
and regional identities on health-related behaviours. Socio-cultural factors relevant in the
context of industrial restructuring are likely to provide valuable context in activityrelated
research.


Science makes new technology and technology pushes science forward. For biological studies and hospital diagnoses, knowledge and techniques accumulated from other fields, such as semiconductors, optics, electronics, and chemistry, are generating huge impacts in almost every aspect and for almost everyone involved. Among these, tools for DNA diagnostics play a very important role. They are also essential to many genetic studies, drug discovery, and even forensic identifications. Working with Professor Stephen Quake, Professor Axel Scherer, and my colleagues in Caltech, I have developed several building blocks for rapid DNA sizing, cell sorting, molecular fingerprinting, and hybridization assays, based on those newly available technologies. First, a microfabricated flow-cell device was developed using 'soft lithography'. It offers a small, cheap, robust, and contamination-free alternative to the complicated glass-capillary structure used in a conventional flow cytometer. Based on this device, a highly sensitive single-molecule DNA sizing system was demonstrated. It is 100 times faster and requires a million times less sample than pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. For DNA molecules of 1-200 kbp, it has comparable resolution, which improves with increasing DNA length. To serve as a real substitute for a conventional flow cytometry, DNA and cell sorting has also been demonstrated under this system. Simple enclosed actuation schemes are implemented and system downtime due to capillary cleaning is totally eliminated because the device costs only pennies to make and thus becomes disposable. Therefore, there is no cross-contamination issue for both DNA sizing and cell sorting applications. Using this system, prototype work for rapid DNA molecular fingerprinting was devised as an alternative to the widely used Southern blot fingerprinting protocol. Molecular evolution, VNTR fingerprinting of human forensic samples, disease diagnosis based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and simple DNA genomic mapping can all be accomplished with this system. Because of the great flexibility of microfabrication, more complicated functions can also be designed and incorporated into these flow-cell devices. Therefore, this single-molecule sizing system can become a key component in the family of lab-on-a-chip devices. In addition, a multilayer soft lithography technique was invented, allowing monolithic microvalves and micropumps to be built into these flow-channel devices. Active microfluidic systems containing on-off valves, switching valves and pumps were made, entirely out of elastomer. The softness of these materials allows the device area to be reduced by more than two orders of magnitude compared with silicon-based devices. An actuation volume as small as about one picoliter is demonstrated. The other advantages of soft lithography, such as rapid prototyping, ease of fabrication, and biocompatibility, are retained. Based on these active components, an integrated diagnostic chip was built. More than two orders of magnitude improvement in terms of binding speed and efficiency over passive devices was shown. Selective surface patterning of DNA molecules, biotin, and avidin within the chips by elastomeric flow channels was also shown. With active pumping, we are able to make a rotary motion in these microfluidic devices and show fast inline mixing which overcomes the limitation of laminar flow in this low-Reynolds number regime. Moreover, the problem of buffer depletion due to electrolysis in electroosmotic or electrophoretic flow control does not exist in these devices. All of these serve as fast, cheap, and robust alternatives to many conventional techniques used widely in biological studies and hospital pathogenic diagnosis. They are all very simple to fabricate and easy to use. If desired, more complicated flow patterns and functions can also be incorporated with much less effort than their silicon counterparts. We anticipate that more applications and devices based on these systems and techniques will be developed rapidly in the near future.


This chapter discusses the legal issues raised by the use of cyber operations during armed conflict.Although none of the laws governing the conduct of hostilities address cyber operations explicitly, the laws are framed in general terms that may be interpreted to incorporate technological advances. This chapter thus explores the way in which those laws may be adapted and applied.The chapter first considers the general applicability of the jus in bello to cyber operations. It then turns to the crucial principle of distinction, and assesses how this is to be applied in the cyber context. In particular, this section of the chapter assesses what may be targeted i.e., what constitutes a 'military objective', the issue of 'dual use' objects in the cyber context and the prohibition on indiscriminate attacks. The chapter then considers the various ways in which the principle of precaution may be relevant to cyber-attacks. It also provides an examination of a number of jus in bello requirements for measures of special protection, and assesses how these rules are relevant to cyber warfare. The final section turns to IHL's restrictions on the 'means and methods' of warfare, including – but not limited to – the law of weaponry.


Abstract This article describes the process used to develop and assess an NSF-funded instructional innovation: an online collection (https://www.CAUSEweb.org/smiles/) of 28 interactive songs of high esthetic quality designed to span literature-based learning objectives of introductory statistics that develop statistical literacy and reasoning. The interactive songs are also designed to reduce statistics anxiety and require little time or instructor expertise. The songs are interactive in that the interface solicits (and provides hints and feedback on) student contributions (concepts or examples) and then plays back the song with student inputs integrated and highlighted. After providing a brief background, this article describes requirements, challenges, and opportunities in educational songwriting for the mathematical sciences, then describes the intervention and how its special nature affected the development process. Pilot studies at a research university and at a majority Black two-year college showed that students found the innovation to be a good tool to help their learning, reduce their anxiety about statistics, have an easy to follow interface, and use high quality songs. Analysis of log files from the use of the software shows some evidence of better performance on assessments after use and informs improvements of the automated feedback. Supplemental materials for this article are available online.


OriginsWhy sex? Why should so many species take such a labyrinthine path to reproduction, when straightforward routes are available? In the sixth essay in Science 's series in honor of the Year of Darwin, Carl Zimmer describes new hints about how sex first emerged some 2 billion years ago and about the forces that have made it so widespread. The studies bolster a handful of hypotheses: Sex may speed up evolution, for example, or it may provide a better defense against parasites. In the past, scientists have focused on just one of these hypotheses at a time, but today many argue that several forces may be at work at once.


Increasingly, vocational education and training practitioners work with industry and within private enterprises in arrangements that provide training for workers. Drawing on interviews with TAFE practitioners and managers, enterprise managers and on-the-job learners, Roger Harris, Michele Simons and Julian Moore highlight the expanding roles of TAFE practitioners in these training arrangements. They find that in private enterprises TAFE practitioners introduce new elements to learning, provide support to managers and workers, build links between the organisation and TAFE and raise training standards. They also foster a learning culture, support individual workers, and act as a model of lifelong learning. The impact of TAFE practitioners' work is also analysed from the perspective of the enterprises, and findings indicate that it is valued by industry counterparts. However, the success of the training arrangement, which can significantly improve learning in the workplace, depends on establishing effective relationships between TAFE and industry.


Mammalian sperm require time in the female tract in order to be able to fertilize an egg. The physiological changes that render the sperm able to fertilize are known as capacitation. Capacitation is associated with an increase in intracellular pH, an increase in intracellular calcium and phosphorylation of different proteins. This process is also accompanied by the hyperpolarization of the sperm plasma membrane potential. Recently, we presented evidence showing that epithelial Na+ channels (ENaC) are present in mature sperm and that ENaCs are blocked during capacitation. In the present work, we used flow cytometry to analyze changes in intracellular Na+ concentration ([Na+]i) during capacitation in individual cells. Our results indicate that capacitated sperm have lower Na+ concentrations. Using sperm with green fluorescent protein in their acrosomes, it was shown that the lower [Na+]i concentration only occurs in sperm having intact acrosomes. ENaC inhibition has been shown in other cell types to depend on the activation of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). In non-capacitated sperm, amiloride, an ENaC inhibitor, and genistein, a CFTR activator, caused a decrease in [Na+]i, suggesting that also in these cells [Na+]i is dependent on the crosstalk between ENaC and CFTR. In addition, PKA inhibition blocked [Na+]i decrease in capacitated sperm. Altogether, these data are consistent with the hypothesis that the capacitation-associated hyperpolarization involves a decrease in [Na+]i mediated by inhibition of ENaC and regulated by PKA through activation of CFTR channels.


Recent years of climate change in the Arctic have known to influence significant increase in rates of the proximal coastal erosion. Yet, little is known about how the erosion of permafrost coasts is subject to the surrounding environments. The Kara Sea coast in Western Siberia is least studied in the permafrost coasts, while the Kara Sea hosts more than 25% of the total length of Arctic coasts. In particular, detailed investigations in the Baydaratskaya bay area of Kara Sea are important because the major pipeline system transporting gases from the Yamal peninsula to Europe is crossing the bay. Here, we report rates of coastal retreat in the Baydaratskaya bay during 2005--2016, examined through integration of GPS mapping, geothermal measurements, drone images, and satellite images. In the Baydaratskaya bay area, a rapid retreat rate of more than 3 m per year on average over the studied duration is found, which is higher than previously observed in the Kara Sea region. Preliminary analyses suggest that this high rate is associated with active erosion predominantly due to storm/wind activities and a recent temperature rise over the studied period. This may lead to greater quantities of near-shore sediments and organic carbon flowing into the ocean.


The inextricable link between people, their built environment and its relationship with flooding has been demonstrated within the academic literature which indicates that human activity is having a large, detrimental effect upon the environment, increasing climate change and thereby increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events, such as severe flooding. Despite well-documented evidence of the potential physical impacts of flooding, the research has so far neglected to fully investigate the manner by which decision making at community level could influence the extent of damage and the resilience to flooding. This paper attempts to investigate this gap in knowledge by exploring ways in which a better understanding of the concepts of social responsibility and risk perception could potentially increase community resilience. There is particular emphasis upon the interrelationships between the social responsibility, risk perception and the decision making process. These relationships may affect people's attitudes and behaviour towards the issues of climate change and extreme weather events. This paper also provides an argument for future research approaches to better understand resilience at the level of the community by exploring the individual and interconnected decision making of householders, small businesses and policy makers. The arguments presented here will be of interest to community leaders and provide considerations for built environment professionals embarking on the development of resilience measures, with considerations suggested for future research within this field.


The mammalian fauna of insectivores, rodents and lagomorphs found at Les Valerots (Nuits-Saint-Georges, Cote-d'Or) dated as early Pleistocene based on the association of Hypolagus Dice, 1917, Mimomys savini Hinton, 1926, Allophaiomys Kormos, 1932 and Dicrostonyx Gloger, 1841 includes only two species of lagomorphs belonging to the families Leporidae and Ochotonidae. Examination of the ochotonid remains shows that the pika from the Les Valerots site is a new taxon, Ochotona valerotae n. sp. Study of the representative fossil material of Ochotona pusilla Pallas, 1768 found at the localities of La Fage (Correze) and of Baume de Gigny (Jura) in France reveals that the small late Pleistocene pika can be described as a new subspecies of Ochotona pusilla: Ochotona pusilla occidentalis n. ssp. The history of Ochotona pusilla in Eurasia is reviewed.


Recent research reveals a negative impact of divorce on children's welfare as a consequence of the reduction in monetary and time contributions by the non-custodian parent. When the custody arrangement is sole custody, the variables that link the absent parent to the child are visitations and child support transfers. We explain visitations and child support transfers using a behavioral model of competitive equilibrium in which both variables are the results of competitive allocations realized in a decentralized non-cooperative manner. In our framework the mother has control over visitations and the father has control over child support. Estimates of the model are used to simulate the effects of alternative endowment levels on the proportion of time spent with the noncustodial parent and the ex-post parental income distribution. Our results show that a more equal allocation of time with the child, though beneficial to the children, may have a negative effect for the mother's welfare, increasing the income gap between ex-spouses. Kay Words: Divorce, Visitations, Child support transfers.


In vitro, under appropriate conditions collagen molecules spontaneously form fibrils (fibrillogenesis) with the characteristic D-periodic banding similar to native fibrils. Recently, reconstituted collagen fibres have been of interest. Due to their unique advantageous properties, such as high surface area, softness, absorbency and ease of fabrication into many product forms, biomaterial based on reformed collagen fibres have been used as a substrate for nerve regeneration, tendon and ligament replacement, wound dressing applications and suture materials. Although some work has been done, still there is little understanding of the factors affecting the physical properties of such fibres. Therefore, the aim of the work presented in this thesis was to study and better understand the influence of factors which control the structure and physical properties of extruded reconstituted collagen fibres. Acid and pepsin soluble collagen was extracted from different animal species (bovine Achilles tendon, rat tail tendon and pig tail tendon) and was extruded, using different internal diameter laboratory tubes into a series of neutral buffers, comprised of different co-agents such as sodium chloride, different molecular weight of polyethylene glycols and poly vinyl alcohols at 37°C, where fibrillogenesis occurred. After 15 minutes incubation, the fibres were washed and air-dried under the tension of their own weight. In addition, an extensive study of the effects of a wide range of cross-linking techniques (chemical, physical, biological and natural) was undertaken. The structural, mechanical (dry and wet) and thermal properties of the reconstituted collagen fibres were evaluated using optical and scanning electron microscopy, tensile mechanical tests and differential scanning calorimetry respectively. In general, it was found that the properties of the reformed collagen fibres were dependent on pre- (animal species, extraction method, collagen concentration) during- (fibre formation medium) and post- (cross-linking) fibre formation variables. A strong correlation between fibre diameter and stress at break was observed throughout this work; by increasing the diameter of the fibre either by increasing the collagen concentration, the tube internal diameter, the amount of the co-agent or via cross-linking, a decrease of the tensile strength at break was observed. The thermal properties of the matrices appeared to be dependent on the cross-linking technique utilized. Overall, it was demonstrated that reconstituted collagen fibres can be tailor made to suit a diversity of surgical needs with properties similar to or even superior to native tissues or other synthetic materials that are already in practice.


Compound adhesives were made in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of southern Africa using a complex process in order to attach stone tools to shafts. Glue-makers must switch attention between fire control, measuring ingredients, and assembling compound tools. No rehearsals or recipes guarantee success; artisans must multi-task (a characteristic of modern human minds involving cognitive fluidity) and think abstractly about properties of glue ingredients. Mental rotation, an ability implying advanced working memory capacity, is needed to place stone inserts in various positions to create novel weapons and tools. The manufacturing process is sufficiently intricate that the early artisans must have had minds with abilities that overlapped those of people living today; such minds are capable of symbolic thought and action.


This article addresses whether Congress has an obligation pursuant to the Equal Protection Clause to further equal protection and, if so, whether its current education funding mechanisms violate that obligation. The article argues that Congress's responsibility under the 14th Amendment is neither mandatory, nor entirely discretionary, but rather includes a duty to act in good faith in enforcing equal protection, which, at the very least, prohibits Congress from actively undermining equal protection. Federal funding of education, while previously consistent with this 14th Amendment duty, has come to undermine equality in education, primarily because it has lost its focus on equality and, instead, attempted to further education reform agendas. The article analyzes the various details of how federal funds are distributed, how they are inconsistent with equal protection, and how the problems can be remedied. By doing so, this article is the first connect equal protection with federal funding and establish an obligation for Congress to ensure certain types of school equity.


Nowadays, educational systems are being questionned to find effective solutions to problems that are being encountered, and discussions are centered around the ways of restructuring systems so as to overcome difficulties. As the consequences of the traditional teaching approach, we can indicate that the taught material is not long-lasting but easily forgotten, that students do not sufficiently acquire the knowledge and skills that are aimed at developing, and that students lack transferring their knowledge to real life. In our current situation, individuals prefer to use educational resources where and when they want, based on their individual skills and abilities. Throughout the world, because the internet infrastructure has developed quite rapidly, it has been offered as an alternative way for a rich learning and teaching environment. This study aims at determining teacher candidates' preferences regarding internet-based learning environments in student-centered education by involving the teacher candidates enrolled at Osmangazi University, Faculty of Education, Primary School Teaching, Mathematics Teaching and Computer and Educational Technologies Education programmes. This study is a descriptive study. The data collection scale consists of the "Constructivist Internet-based Education of Science Scale (CILES-S)". The sample group of teacher candidates in the study showed differences with respect to their preferences regarding internet-based learning in student-centered education. The candidates scored higher in the internet-based learning environments of Cognitive Development and Critical Judgement. The lowest average scores of the sample group were observed in the internet-based learning environment of Episthemologic awareness.


Cognitive fitness, a product of neuroscience research that offers activities that fits how the brain learns best may offer insights to students' learning of science concepts. The study critically explored the effect of customized cognitive fitness classroom activities on the academic achievement of students in physics and their integrated science process skills (ISPS). Descriptive research design and qualitative approaches determined pertinent data from a purposively selected intact class of 43 grade niners in a government-supervised school in the Philippines' capital city. Results revealed that customized cognitive fitness classroom activities effectively and significantly improved student physics achievement and their ISPS. Students perceived the integration of customized cognitive fitness classroom activities in the learning process as something that made them feel relaxed, focused, reflective, and assimilative. Few among the students, however, feel distracted during the teaching and learning process with particular cognitive fitness activities (e.g. silence and collaborative activities). Based on the gathered data and results, it can be recommended that customized cognitive fitness classroom activities as a strategy to brain-based learning could be continuously utilized and intensified in classroom settings to enhance the 21st century skills of students.


A positive company image and its good reputation are usually results of ethical and honest behaviour towards employees and may improve competitiveness, increase profits, customer satisfaction, and create new job jobs. However, it often occurs in dynamically developing firms where ethical norms are not kept and this process can be seen in the lack of equal chances to get a job – people without connections remain without work. According to research, mobbing is a very serious problem. Psychological terror or mobbing in work life involves hostile and unethical communication that is conducted in a systematic manner by one or more individuals, mainly toward one individual, who, due to mobbing, is pushed into a helpless and defenceless position and held there by means of continuing mobbing activities. These actions occur on a very frequent basis (statistical definition: at least once a week) and over a long period (statistical definition: at least six months' duration). Because of the high frequency and long duration of hostile behaviour, this maltreatment results in considerable mental, psychosomatic, and social misery.