BACKGROUND
Female Servicemembers are increasingly being incorporated into the combat arms and Special Operations communities. Female urinary diversion devices (FUDDs) have been used to facilitate urination in the austere environments that are encountered by Servicemembers. Importantly, the potential for the bacterial contamination of these devices has not been evaluated. The goals of this study were to determine whether microorganisms adhere to the surfaces of FUDDs in the field environment and to demonstrate the presence of potential pathogens on the used devices.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 15 devices that were used in a comprehensive 18-24-hour military field exercise were tested for the presence of microorganisms. Briefly, each device was swabbed, and the swabs were used to inoculate blood agar plates to encourage bacterial growth. The resulting bacterial colonies were identified, and the surface topography of the devices was investigated with electron microscopy.

RESULTS
Although microscopy revealed few surface features capable of facilitating bacterial attachment, several species were recovered. Significantly, a biofilm-forming strain of Proteus mirabilis (P. mirabilis) was detected on two of the devices. P. mirabilis is a mobile urinary pathogen that can potentially migrate from the surface of the device into the urinary tract of the user.

CONCLUSION
Commercial FUDDs can support bacterial growth and harbor potential pathogens. Care should be taken to ensure that Servicemembers are aware of the importance of the proper care and cleaning of these devices in the field environment. To this end, standard operating procedures should be developed and distributed.


This study investigated flipped learners' perceptions, perceived usefulness, intention to register for flipped learning classes, and learning engagement using cluster analysis with a sample of 306 undergraduate students in flipped classes. The students were classified into five clusters based on their level of social influence and cognitive instrumental processes using the technology acceptance model 2. There were significant differences among the five clusters in perceived usefulness, intention to register for flipped learning classes, and learning engagement. The perception of and preference for flipped learning also varied by cluster. The flipped learning feature that most participants commented on was online pre-learning sessions. The advantages of flipped learning that have to do with online pre-learning sessions include facilitating understanding of lectures, providing review opportunities for learning, flexible learning time, and individualized learning. These advantages indicate that providing students with instructionally sound pre-learning sessions leads to successful flipped learning. The research findings also suggest that flipped class instructors and school administrators utilize cluster analysis with meaningful variables to provide students with effective and tailored learning support.


Inter-vehicular connectivity to enhance road safety and enable highly autonomous driving is increasingly becoming popular. Despite the prevalent works on radio-frequency (RF) based vehicular communication schemes, visible light communication (VLC) is considered to be a promising candidate for vehicular communications due to its low complexity and RF interference-free nature. This paper investigates applicability of VLC to enhance road safety based on real world measurements. Deployment of multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs) enables multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission in the context of vehicular VLC. We consider direct current biased optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DCO-OFDM) based MIMO transmission scheme and evaluate the performances of different MIMO modes including repetition code (RC) and spatial multiplexing (SM), different modulation orders and different transmitter-receiver selection. The results reveal that selection of the closest transmitters to the receivers, provide better performance due to high signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) requirements for RC mode. However, usage of all possible transmitters does not always yield better performance due to power division at the transmitter side. Moreover, SM suffers from channel correlation whereas the performance of RC shows more degradation on higher-order modulations that are required to yield the same throughput with SM.


Background: Given the role educational system, it is necessary to most desirable design and implements activities. Internal evaluation is process in which members of the department said the group's objectives and their performance are judged and then reviewed their role and for better performance, essential steps to take.The purpose of this study was the internal evaluation of Physiology Department of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences.
Materials and Methods: The study was descriptive and cross sectional conclucted in 2014-2015. Data was collected using questionnaire and was evaluated in 6 areas. Questionnaire was prepared and drafted by some faculty members and Medical Education Development Center. Based on the Likert scale, data was classified favorable, relatively favorable and unfavorable in a range of 0 to 5 points.
Results: The results showed that the head of department area (acquired by averaging 4.23), faculty members (3.57), educational courses (3.96) and curriculums of the department of physiology (3.57) are favorable and areas of educational and research requirement and constructions (2.92) and research activities of the faculty members (2.73) are comparatively favorable.
Conclusion: According to Likert scale, department of physiology of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences was evaluated and ranked in all mentioned areas (acquired by averaging 3.39), therefore has a satisfactory level.
Keywords: Internal evaluation, Physiology department, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences.


Almost all organisms show some kind of time periodicity in their behavior. In mammals, the neurons of the suprachiasmatic nucleus form a biological clock regulating the activity–inactivity cycle of the animal. The main question is how this clock is able to entrain to the natural 24 h light–dark cycle by which it is stimulated. Such a system is usually modeled as a collection of mutually coupled two-state (active–inactive) phase oscillators with an external stimulus (Zeitgeber). In this article however, we investigate the entrainment of a single pacer cell to the ensemble of other pacer cells. Moreover the stimulus of the ensemble is taken to be periodic. The pacer cell interacts with its environment by phase delay at the end of its activity interval and phase advance at the end of its inactivity interval. We develop a mathematical model for this system, naturally leading to a circle map depending on parameters like the intrinsic period and phase delay and advance. The existence of resonance tongues in a circle map shows that an individual pacer cell is able to synchronize with the ensemble. We furthermore show how the parameters in the model can be related to biological observable quantities. Finally we give several directions of further research. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


In this paper we aim to develop a patient centered perspective that puts at the centre of our focus patient practices and their appropriation of medical information, prescribed use of drugs and of healthcare technology. Within this frame, we will initially discuss evidence from a qualitative case study on the role of community pharmacists in patients dealing with their problems. In line with the 2.0 revolution, we then suggest a technological architecture based on patient generated content and their health social networking – as many Health 2.0 platforms already do – that focuses on local relation and take into account the empirically assessed role of pharmacists and investing them with an interesting local task. Future challenges and initial reflections of the proposed approach will be discussed at the end.


PURPOSE: To describe the feeding dynamics of institutionalized elderly women regarding the clinical aspects of deglutition, cognition, behavioral and environmental factors related to feeding. METHODS: It was carried out a prospective observational cross-sectional study of the feeding dynamics of 30 elderly women, residents at a long-stay nursing home. Some of the evaluated aspects were recorded by the observers at the time of feeding, and others by the analysis of the videotaped register of their mealtime. Data were descriptively presented and compared to literature findings. RESULTS: Mean age was 83.7 years. The most prevalent medical diagnoses were dementia and systemic arterial hypertension. Poor oral intake was observed in 73.3% of the subjects, as well as an average time of feeding of 10.1 minutes. Attitudinal alterations were observed in 16.7%, and behavioral alterations, in 40% of the elderly. The subjects showed inappropriate positioning in 46.7% of the meals. Assistance was required by 56,6% of the women: in 70.6% of the cases, it was provided, and in 66.6%, it was judged inadequate. Edentulism was verified in 44.4% of the elderly, of which 46.1% used total denture. Inadequacy of denture adaptation, conservation and hygiene status was predominant (83.4%). The prevalence of swallowing alterations was 23.3%, with predominance of the following alterations: food residue after deglutition, cough during feeding, and vocal alterations after deglutition. CONCLUSION: Environmental, cognitive and behavioral factors related to feeding were significantly present among the subjects of the study, putting deglutition at risk. Other specific deglutition difficulties were also identified. Managing these difficulties is important, in order to avoid health complications for elderly women.


Automated material handling systems (AMHS) in 300 mm semiconductor manufacturing facilities may need to evolve faster than expected considering the high performance demands on these facilities. Reusable simulation models are needed to cope with the demands of this dynamic environment and to deliver answers to the industry much faster. One vision for intrabay AMHS is to link a small group of intrabay AMHS systems, within a full manufacturing facility, together using what is called a Merge/Diverge link. This promises better operational performance of the AMHS when compared to operating two dedicated AMHS systems, one for interbay transport and the other for intrabay handling. A generic tool for modelling and simulation of an intrabay AMHS (GTIA-M&S) is built, which utilises a library of different blocks representing the different components of any intrabay material handling system. GTIA-M&S provides a means for rapid building and analysis of an intrabay AMHS under different operating conditions. The ease of use of the tool means that inexpert users have the ability to generate good models. Models developed by the tool can be executed with the merge/diverge capability enabled or disabled to provide comparable solutions to production demands and to compare these two different configurations of intrabay AMHS using a single simulation model. Finally, results from simulation experiments on a model developed using the tool were very informative in that they include useful decision making data, which can now be used to further enhance and update the design and operational characteristics of the intrabay AMHS.


Brain disorders present a significant burden on affected individuals, their families and society at large. Existing diagnostic tests suffer from a lack of genetic biomarkers, particularly for substance use disorders, such as alcohol dependence (AD). Numerous studies have demonstrated that AD has a genetic heritability of 40-60%. The existing genetics literature of AD has primarily focused on linkage analyses in small family cohorts and more recently on genome-wide association analyses (GWAS) in large casecontrol cohorts, fueled by rapid advances in next generation sequencing (NGS). Numerous AD-associated genomic variations are present at a common frequency in the general population, making these variants of public health significance. However, known AD-associated variants explain only a fraction of the expected heritability. In this dissertation, we demonstrate that systems biology applications that integrate evolutionary genomics, rare variants and structural variation can dissect the genetic architecture of AD and elucidate its heritability. We identified several complex human diseases, including AD and other brain disorders, as potential targets of natural selection forces in diverse world populations. Further evidence of natural selection forces affecting AD was revealed when we identified an association between eye color, a trait under strong selection, and AD. These findings provide strong support for conducting GWAS on brain disorder phenotypes. However, with the ever-increasing abundance of rare genomic variants and large cohorts of multi-ethnic samples, population stratification becomes a serious confounding factor for GWAS. To address this problem, we designed a novel approach to identify ancestry informative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for population stratification adjustment in association analyses. Furthermore, to leverage untyped variants from genotyping arrays – particularly rare variants – for GWAS and meta-analysis through rapid imputation, we designed a tool that converts genotype definitions across various array platforms. To further elucidate the genetic heritability of brain disorders, we designed approaches aimed at identifying Copy Number Variations (CNVs) and viral insertions into the human genome. We conducted the first CNV-based whole genome meta-analysis for AD. We also designed an integrated approach to estimate the sensitivity of NGSbased methods of viral insertion detection. For the first time in the literature, we identified herpesvirus in NGS data from an Alzheimer's disease brain sample. The work in this dissertation represents a three-faceted advance in our understanding of brain disease etiology: 1) evolutionary genomic insights, 2) novel resources and tools to leverage rare variants, and 3) the discovery of disease-associated structural genomic aberrations. Our findings have broad implications on the genetics of complex human disease and hold promise for delivering clinically useful knowledge and resources.


This paper aims to identify the challenges and threats to the information security of cloud computing, which is considered one of the most important technologies in recent decades. Cloud computing provides many virtual services that can be managed and accessed by users through the web and user interfaces. It also enables the users to store their information that can be easily accessed globally. Despite the advantages of cloud computing, there are numerous challenges and threats to the users and service providers that may directly or indirectly affect the cloud computing system as a result affect its information security. Acritical review approach has been adopted as a method to identify the knowledge gaps in the literature. Severalstudiesrelated to the information security challenges of cloud computing have been reviewed and critically evaluated. The critical review approach described in this paper resulted in a set of important information security challenges of cloud computing thatmust betaken into considerationby the users and service providers. Among the most important of these challengesare data encryption, network security, confidentiality, data privacy, malware, Authenticity, databreach, and the challenge of identity and access management.The study recommended the necessity to discover moreinformation security challenges of cloud computing and to take the challenges discussed in this paper into account in order to protect the data and information of the organization and maintain its performance.


Stable carbon isotope data (d13C) from feces of mixed-feeding impala Aepyceros melampus living in South Africa's Kruger National Park are used to study dietary variations across a variety of spatio-temporal scales. We test hypotheses that ungulate dietary variations are related to relative proportions of woody plants:grass in surrounding landscapes, and that rainfall regulates ungulate ecology. Results show that impala diets traverse the browser/grazer spectrum, varying widely in proportions of browse: grass consumed at monthly, seasonal, annual, and regional scales. Impala living in open savanna and grassland landscapes generally eat more grass than their counterparts in savanna woodlands, but this differentiation is not consistent at all temporal scales. In one densely wooded region, Punda Maria in the far north of Kruger, impala consume more grass than elsewhere in the Park. Impala in riparian areas eat lower quantities of grass than in other habitat types, especially during the dry periods when spatial differences in diet are more pronounced. Hence assumptions that ungulate feeding ecology reflects the woody plant:grass composition of their habitats are not supported by our data, nor was a relationship between diet and rainfall detected. The results do support a model of increased grass consumption with increasing protein content of available grasses. Fecal %N data show minimal variations across space and time, suggesting that impala are selective feeders that choose foods, whether browse or grass, in order to maintain optimal levels of diet quality. Given these results, it is more likely that detailed models of food selection, available through optimal foraging theory, can better describe ecological variation


Abstract. Astronomical spectroscopic observations from ground-based telescopes contain background emission lines from the terrestrial atmosphere's airglow. In the near infrared, this background is composed mainly of emission from Meinel bands of hydroxyl (OH), which is produced in highly excited vibrational states by reduction of ozone near 90 km. This emission contains a wealth of information on the chemical and dynamical state of the Earth's atmosphere. However, observation strategies and data reduction processes are usually optimized to minimize the influence of these features on the astronomical spectrum. Here we discuss a measurement technique to optimize the extraction of the OH airglow signal itself from routine J-, H-, and K-band long-slit astronomical spectroscopic observations. As an example, we use data recorded from a point-source observation by the Nordic Optical Telescope's intermediate-resolution spectrograph, which has a spatial resolution of approximately 100 m at the airglow layer. Emission spectra from the OH vibrational manifold from v′  =  9 down to v′  =  3, with signal-to-noise ratios up to 280, have been extracted from 10.8 s integrations. Rotational temperatures representative of the background atmospheric temperature near 90 km, the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region, can be fitted to the OH rotational lines with an accuracy of around 0.7 K. Using this measurement and analysis technique, we derive a rotational temperature distribution with v′ that agrees with atmospheric model conditions and the preponderance of previous work. We discuss the derived rotational temperatures from the different vibrational bands and highlight the potential for both the archived and future observations, which are at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions, to contribute toward the resolution of long-standing problems in atmospheric physics.


Pulse Current Heating (PCH) process is a new method characteristic with shorter time and lower temperature to the fabrication of materials. In the present paper, the PCH was used to join Cu/Fe. The microstructures of the joined samples were observed by optical microscope, the diffusions of elements near the interfaces were made qualitative and quantitative analyses by Electron Probe Mechanism. Diffusion coefficients of Cu and Fe at PCH and Radiation Heating (RH) joining methods were compared. The results showed that, the transition layer widths were from 5 to 8 μm when the Cu/Fe joined at 750 to 850°C under 5 MPa pressure with holding times 5 or 10 or 15min. Width of the transition layer increase with the increasing of joining temperature and the extension of holding time. The initial interface will move from the Cu side to the Fe one due to the Kirkendall effect. The diffusion coefficients both of Cu and Fe to PCH joining were larger by three orders of magnitude than those of RH joining. The differences between the two methods were analyzed from dynamics and thermodynamics.


The problem is that of sequential probability forecasting for finite-valued time series. The data is generated by an unknown probability distribution over the space of all one-way infinite sequences. Two settings are considered: the realizable and the non-realizable one. Assume first that the probability measure generating the sequence belongs to a given set C (realizable case), but the latter is completely arbitrary (uncountably infinite, without any structure given). It is shown that the minimax asymptotic average loss—which may be positive—is always attainable, and it is attained by a Bayesian predictor whose prior is discrete and concentrated on C. Moreover, the finite-time loss of the Bayesian predictor is also optimal up to an additive log n term (where n is the time step). This upper bound is complemented by a lower bound that goes to infinity but may do so arbitrarily slow. Passing to the non-realizable setting, let the probability measure generating the data be arbitrary, and consider the given set C as a set of experts to compete with. The goal is to minimize the regret with respect to the experts. It is shown that in this setting it is possible that all Bayesian strategies are strictly suboptimal even asymptotically. In other words, a sublinear regret may be attainable but the regret of every Bayesian predictor is linear. A very general recommendation for choosing a model can be made based on these results: it is better to take a model large enough to make sure it includes the process that generates the data, even if it entails positive asymptotic average loss, for otherwise any combination of predictors in the model class may be useless.


Evi delivers two synaptic mediators required for formation of the neuromuscular junction: transsynaptic Wnt and postsynaptic dGRIP. At the Drosophila neuromuscular junction (NMJ), a form of Wnt signaling occurs that involves Wnt-1 (Wg in flies) released from the presynaptic motor neuron interacting with the postsynaptic receptor Frizzled-2 (dFz2), which is internalized and cleaved to release an intracellular fragment that translocates to the nucleus to regulate gene expression in the muscle. Internalization of dFz2 and intracellular signaling requires the protein dGRIP at the postsynaptic region of the muscle (see Zarnescu and Zinsmaier). This form of Wnt signaling is necessary for proper formation of synaptic boutons at the NMJ. Evenness Interrupted (Evi) is involved in Wnt secretion from epithelia, and Korkut et al. show that Evi is necessary for the transsynaptic vesicular transport of Wg from the motor neuron to the muscle and that Evi also functions within the postsynaptic muscle to properly localize dGRIP. The synaptic phenotypes of reduced numbers of synaptic boutons, increased numbers of not fully mature boutons, and misshapen boutons observed for the evi mutants resembled those of wg mutants. In evi mutants or in flies in which Evi was reduced only in motor neurons through RNA interference (RNAi), the abundance of Wg and Evi was reduced both in the presynaptic region and in the postsynaptic muscle. Expression of Evi only in the motor neuron restored Wg amounts in both pre- and postsynaptic regions. A green fluorescent protein (GFP)–tagged Evi expressed only in the motor neurons was detected both pre- and postsynaptically, consistent with transsynaptic transfer of Evi. When expressed in Schneider-2 (S2) cells, GFP-Evi was detected in both untransfected and transfected cells in the culture and in puncta in the medium. Electron microscopy revealed that Evi was present in various tubulovesicular compartments in the pre- and postsynaptic cells and that Evi was internalized into the postsynaptic cell. The decrease in bouton number required expression of Evi in both the motor neuron and the muscle, suggesting a muscle function distinct from transsynaptic delivery of Wg. Indeed, when Evi was knocked down in the muscle, internalization, movement of dFz2 away from the synaptic area, and nuclear localization of the cleaved dFz2 fragment were reduced, and dFz2 and Wg accumulated in the postsynaptic region. These phenotypes are similar to those associated with loss of dGRIP function, and in the muscles in which Evi was knocked down, the postsynaptic localization of dGRIP was impaired. Thus, Evi appears to have dual trafficking roles in Wnt signaling at the fly NMJ. In the motor neuron, Evi mediates the vesicular transsynaptic transport of Wg; in the muscle, Evi mediates the proper trafficking of the dGRIP to the postsynaptic region. C. Korkut, B. Ataman, P. Ramachandran, J. Ashley, R. Barria, N. Gherbesi, V. Budnik, Trans-synaptic transmission of vesicular Wnt signals through Evi/Wntless. Cell 139, 393–404 (2009). [Online Journal] D. C. Zarnescu, K. E. Zinsmaier, Ferrying Wingless across the synaptic cleft. Cell 139, 229–231 (2009). [Online Journal]


Take a little Horror home with you! While visiting HorrorLand, Marco Gonzales and his friend Gabriella Smith find a rare edition of the The Wizard of Ooze at Jonathan Chiller's HorrorLand shop. The Ooze is a popular graphic novel series about an evil mutant who is made of oil sludge. Marco is excited because in the back of the comic are secret instructions on how to gain your own super powers. Unfortunately, after mentioning the special edition at a comic convention, a couple of unsavory characters want the book, including a guy dressed in an Ooze costume. Marco could really use those super powers right about now!


We study the material loss in a Bragg fiber possessing a hollow core and stratified periodic cladding layers through a perturbative method. In the present scheme, electromagnetic fields are treated via the approximate Bloch theorem in cylindrical coordinates for a loss-free Bragg fiber, and then dissipation is added as a perturbation in complex refractive indices. Analytical representation of material loss is described for TE, TM, and hybrid (HE, EH) modes, and some numerical examples are given. They are compared with results obtained by the multilayer division method, which gives very accurate solutions for cylindrically symmetric fiber structures. Results obtained by those two methods mostly agree with each other even for the lowest mode, that is, HE11 mode.


In the RoboCup Standard Platform League (SPL), the robot platform is the same humanoid NAO robot for all the competing teams. The NAO humanoids are fully autonomous with two onboard directional cameras, computation, multi-joint body, and wireless communication among them. One of the main opportunities of having a team of robots is to have robots share information and coordinate. We address the problem of each humanoid building a model of the world in real-time, given a combination of its own limited sensing, known models of actuation, and the communicated information from its teammates. Such multi-humanoid world modeling is challenging due to the biped motion, the limited perception, and the tight coupling between behaviors, sensing, localization, and communication. We describe the real-world opportunities, constraints and limitations imposed by the NAO humanoid robots. We contribute a modeling approach that differentiates among the motion model of different objects, in terms of their dynamics, namely the static landmarks (e.g., goal posts, lines, corners), the passive moving ball, and the controlled moving robots, both teammates and adversaries. We present experimental results with the NAO humanoid robots to illustrate the impact of our multi-humanoid world modeling approach. The challenges and approaches we present are relevant to the general problem of assessing and sharing information among multiple humanoid robots acting in a world with multiple types of objects.


OBJECTIVE: The disability adjusted life year (DALY) and the healthy life year (HeaLY) are both composite indicators of disease burden in a population, which combine healthy life lost from mortality and morbidity. The two formulations deal with the onset and course of a disease differently. The purpose of this paper is to compare the DALY and HeaLY formulations as to differences in apparent impact when a disease is not in an epidemiological steady state and to explore the implications of the differing results. DESIGN: HIV is used as a case study of a major disease that is entering its explosive growth phase in large areas of Asia. Data from the global burden of disease study of the World Bank and World Health Organisation for 1990 has been used to compare burden of disease measures in the two formulations. SETTING: The data pertain to global and regional estimates of HIV impact. RESULTS: The DALY attributes life lost from premature mortality to the year of death, while the HeaLY to the year of disease onset. This results in very large differences in estimates of healthy life lost based upon the DALY construct as compared with the HeaLY, for diseases such as HIV or those with a strong secular trend. CONCLUSION: The demonstration of the dramatic difference between the two indicators of disease burden reflects a limitation of the DALY. This information may directly influence decision making based on such methods and is critical to understand.


SCOPE A version of this paper was presented at the Association of Hungarian Educators Conference in Indiana University at Bloomington, held on April 28, 2006, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The purpose of this paper is to identify collections on the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in American academic libraries, and as a secondary aim, to provide a list of core publications presently available in print. By mapping collections related to the history of Hungary, the paper intends to orient researchers, where to turn for their research needs. While an obvious starting point is to search for relevant material in university libraries where the subjects of Hungarian and Eastern European history are in the curricula, there are special collections elsewhere, where scholars and emigres lived and donated their collections to local libraries. The occasion of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution triggered interest to collect information about active collections in the United States. In my search I was looking for book, archival, and video collections, as well as articles and electronic materials. CHARACTERISTICS OF COLLECTING 1. The Thomson Educational index lists 17 American universities with East European curricula. Among them we see substantial current activities in collecting at Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, Indiana, Princeton, and University of Michigan. 2. Researching this topic specifically in middle size colleges' libraries reveals that they cannot keep up with the acquisition of new material. For example, in case of Baruch College, the most recent publication on the '56 Hungarian Revolution is 9 years old: this collection is losing its relevance. 3. Other locations where relevant material can be found finding territories are the areas where the Hungarian emigres settled after 1956; New York, New Jersey, Cleveland and Florida produced substantial collections in public libraries, museums, and other collections. Without federal support special collections do not have a chance to survive financially and academically. Small archival and special collections offer special depth to existing collections through their cooperation with academic libraries, as in the case of the American Hungarian Foundation Library and Archives with Rutgers University, the Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Museum with Cleveland State University, and the Hoover Institute with Stanford University. In all cases the special collections provide a special focus enriching an academic institution, while the University offers standard cataloging, online access, Web interface and greater visibility to an otherwise isolated collection. 4. State universities and other regional consortia established multi-campus catalog systems for resource sharing. With this development and the wide usage of electronically transmitted records, actual ownership becomes less important. The following list contains collections in decreasing order by size; the main characteristics of each collection are mentioned, including archival holdings. MAPPING THE CENTERS OF COLLECTING Collections by States The greatest accumulation of '56 material is in the New York tri-state area with 1,656 items: New York 879, New Jersey 392 and Connecticut 385 items. New York--879 items The New York Public Research Library with its 272 items. Columbia University's 257 holdings are rich in content and show continued interest on maintaining a leading scholarly collection in East European studies. The collection offers different media: an archival collection from the '56 emigration community; 686 items 28 boxes; transcripts of Oral History project with 626 interviews; and the Bela Kiraly papers; microforms from Radio Free Europe, pamphlets; sound- and video recordings. However, they are in the process of digitizing all these materials with Hungarian colleagues from the Open Society Archive to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 invasion. …


Sociological studies on transnational migration are often based on surveys or interviews, an expensive and time consuming approach. On the other hand, the pervasiveness of mobile phones and location aware social networks has introduced new ways to understand human mobility patterns at a national or global scale. In this work, we leverage geo located information obtained from Twitter as to understand transnational migration patterns between two border cities (San Diego, USA and Tijuana, Mexico). We obtained 10.9 million geo located tweets from December 2013 to January 2015. Our method infers human mobility by inspecting tweet submissions and user's home locations. Our results depict a trans national community structure that exhibits the formation of a functional metropolitan area that physically transcends international borders. These results show the potential for re analysing sociology phenomena from a technology based empirical perspective.


Immunopathogenetic mechanisms of dengue virus (DENV) infection are involved in hemorrhagic syndrome resulting from thrombocytopenia, coagulopathy, and vasculopathy. We have proposed a mechanism of molecular mimicry in which Abs against DENV nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) cross-react with human endothelial cells and cause NF-κB–regulated immune activation and NO-mediated apoptosis. However, the signaling pathway leading to NF-κB activation after the binding of anti-DENV NS1 Abs to endothelial cells is unresolved. In this study, we found that anti-DENV NS1 Abs caused the formation of lipid raftlike structures, and that disrupting lipid raft formation by methyl-β-cyclodextrin decreased NO production and apoptosis. Treatment with anti-DENV NS1 Abs elevated ceramide generation in lipid rafts. Pharmacological inhibition of acid sphingomyelinase (aSMase) decreased anti-DENV NS1 Ab-mediated ceramide and NO production, as well as apoptosis. Exogenous ceramide treatment induced biogenesis of inducible NO synthase (iNOS)/NO and apoptosis through an NF-κB–regulated manner. Furthermore, activation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) was required for ceramide-induced NF-κB activation and iNOS expression. Notably, anti-DENV NS1 Abs caused GSK-3β–mediated NF-κB activation and iNOS expression, which were regulated by aSMase. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition of GSK-3β reduced hepatic endothelial cell apoptosis in mice passively administered anti-DENV NS1 Abs. These results suggest that anti-DENV NS1 Abs bind to the endothelial cell membrane and cause NO production and apoptosis via a mechanism involving the aSMase/ceramide/GSK-3β/NF-κB/iNOS/NO signaling pathway.


We deal here with a specific type of linear filter in which the input is a spatially limited nonnegative intensity such as that which appears on the image plane of an optical system having a finite field of view. This intensity is passed through a mask, or reticle, having a transmittance with two-dimensional periodicity. The transmitted intensity is detected so as to produce a voltage output which varies with time as the mask is moved. For a discrete set of uniform translations of the mask, the filter codes linear combinations of the Fourier transform of the input at certain spatial frequencies into the Fourier coefficients of the output.For certain input classes of images, characterized by dominant spatial frequencies, the reticle as well as its motion can be chosen in an optimum manner so as to "best distinguish" these classes by their outputs.There is an interesting analogy between this linear filter and that of a crystalline material irradiated with a plane monochromatic X ray. The reticle has a two-dimensional primary and reciprocal lattice corresponding to the three-dimensional ones of a crystal. Just as certain positions of the crystal, specified by its reciprocal lattice, give rise to Bragg reflections, so do certain translations of the reticle, specified by its primary lattice, give rise to the "coded voltage waveforms."


Sub-critical extraction of palm oil from pressed palm fiber using water and preassured carbon dioxide solvent was conducted via the dynamic mode to investigate the ability of water and CO2 to extract α-tocopherol, β- carotene, and phenolic compounds. The yield of palm oil and the solubility of α-tocopherol, β-carotene, and phenolic compounds were investigated at 120; 140; 160; and 180oC and pressure range from 30–100 bar. The extracted oil was analysed α-tocopherol, β-carotene, and phenolic compounds content using UV–Vis spectrophotometry. The results The temperature increase on the process of extracting hydrothermal on the temperature (120-180oC) increase yield α-tocopherol .The steady to extract α-tocopherol , an acid palmitate and β-carotene on the temperature 180oc with pressure 10 MPa .From the experiment done get the best result on the temperature 180oC to pressure 10 MPa with yield α-tocopherol 271,28 mg/g sample (% recovery is 73,06%), yield pamitate acid 2,066 mg/g sample (% recovery is 0,55% ), and yield β-carotene 0,008 mg/g sample (% recovery is 0,0021 %) as compared to that achieved through conventional palm oil processing indicates that extraction of α-tocopherol, β-carotene, and phenolic compounds using this methode is viable.


: There are several hereditary diseases that are a predisposition to early-onset tumors. These include syndromic conditions like neurofibromatosis 1 and 2, von Hippel– Lindau syndrome, Gorlin syndrome, multiple endocrine neoplasia, and familial adenomatous polyposis; and conditions which are usually not possible to diagnose clinically in a single individual, such as Lynch syndrome and BRCA1/2. Understanding of the mortality in hereditary cancer predisposing diseases is important for developing effective disease treatment programs. A number of studies have been undertaken to investigate the genetic predictors, prevalence and incidence, and treatment outcomes of these diseases; however, the majority examine only the most common of these diseases (eg, neurofibromatosis or BRCA ), or look into postoperative survival. The mortality of individuals who are diagnosed with one of these hereditary diseases remains an area for investigation. This review is the first to attempt identification of studies investigating life expectancy in hereditary diseases which predispose to early-onset tumors.


A phosphine-iminopyridine (PCNN) cobalt-catalyzed Z-selective hydrosilylation of terminal alkynes with Ph2SiH2 has been developed for the synthesis of (Z)-β-vinylsilanes with high regio- and stereoselectivity and wide functional group tolerance. Furthermore, the Co-catalyzed hydrosilylations of unsymmetrical arylalkyl disubstituted internal alkynes afford syn-addition products with unique regioselectivity: the silyl group is added to the alkyl-substituted carbon, instead of the aryl-substituted carbon. The (Z)-β-vinylsilane products are further applied to Pd-catalyzed Hiyama–Denmark cross-couplings for stereoselective synthesis of (Z)-disubstituted alkenes.


The topology of the Internet has been extensively studied in recent years, driving a need for increasingly complex measurement infrastructures. These measurements have produced detailed topologies with steadily increasing temporal resolution, but concerns exist about the ability of active measurements to measure the true Internet topology. Difficulties in ensuring the accuracy of every individual measurement when millions of measurements are made daily, and concerns about the bias that might result from measurements along the tree of routes from each vantage point to the wider reaches of the Internet must be addressed. However, early discussions of these concerns were based mostly on synthetic data, oversimplified models or data with limited or biased observer distributions. In this paper, we show the importance that extensive sampling from a broad and well spread set of vantage points has on the resulting topology and bias. The majority of this paper is devoted to a first look at the importance of the distribution quality. We show that diversity in the locations and types of vantage points is required for obtaining an unbiased topology. We analyze the effect that broad distribution has over the convergence of various autonomous systems topology characteristics, and show that although diverse and broad distribution is not required for all inspected properties, it is required for some. Finally, claims against bias in active traceroute sampling are revisited, and we empirically show that diverse and broad distribution can question their conclusions.


Moyamoya disease is a unique chronic progressive cerebrovascular disease characterized by bilateral stenosis or occlusion of the arteries around the circle of Willis with prominent arterial collateral circulation. It can be primary or secondary to genetic syndromes such as Down syndrome. We report a seven year-old girl with a Down syndrome that presented with a disturbance of consciousness, seizures and a right hemiparesia at the age of five. Magnetic resonance imaging showed old cortical ischemic lesions in both cerebral hemispheres and a recent infarction in the territory of the left middle cerebral artery. Brain angiography showed a proximal stenosis of both medial cerebral arteries and a net of collateral vessels, consistent with the diagnosis of moyamoya syndrome. The patient had also an antithrombin III deficiency. Aspirin was indicated and a surgical correction was recommended. However, prior to the procedure, the patient had a new infarction in the territory of the right middle cerebral artery, which caused a severe disability (Rev Med Chile 2009; 137: 1066-70). (Key words: Antithrombin III deficiency; Cerebrovascular Moyamoya disease; Down syndrome)


Balancing tests are ubiquitous in current constitutional law. This Article reviews the development of constitutional balancing over the first five decades of the 20th century and identifies the formation of two types of balancing during these years: interests-based and rights-based balancing. Since these two types of balancing are still present within current constitutional law, this review may also help in better understanding balancing today. The Article attempts to show how the early development of balancing in the early 20th century by legal Progressives such as Holmes, Pound and Cardozo, was related to their criticism on the jurisprudence of rights, and their emphasis on a jurisprudence of interests. Balancing meant for the Progressives that rights were lowered to the status of interests, and that the Court had to balance them with other interests, rather than use them as trumps against public policy considerations. Later, however, balancing was used hand in hand with a heightened rhetoric of rights. The Article attempts to place the change from interests-based to rights-based balancing in historical context (in the change from the Lochner era to the post Lochner era) and explain its meaning - mainly its correlation with judicial activism (rights-based) and judicial deference (interests-based) and its interrelation with the ideas of judicial formalism and anti-formalism. Finally the Article suggests that the original interests-based model may have been more adapt to the anti-formalist movement from which it sprang, and to the metaphor of balancing itself, than the later rights-based model.


The growth of the Australian turfgrass industry has significantly expanded over recent decades. One reason for this occurring has been with development of better suited or higher quality turfgrass cultivars for Australia's harsh climatic conditions. In recent years drought has widely affected the turfgrass industry and as such, greater drought tolerant C4 grasses such as Cynodon spp. have been used.

In 2008, as part of the 24th Australian Turfgrass Conference Proceedings, Peter McMaugh wrote an extensive article on the couch grass breeding history in Australia. This paper contains an extension to his work detailing the current (1950s to 2010) Cynodon species found in Australia. Detailed information has been sourced in relation to the origin and development of the grasses which are suitable for turfgrass use. Such detail provides an interesting picture of the source of proliferation of newer cultivars and how the Australian industry has evolved with the introduction of overseas and Australian selected cultivars. The information adds to the preceding work, including morphological and agronomic attributes and how closely each selection or cultivar is related.

The cultivars discussed in this article (listed alphabetically) are derived from one of the four classifications identified by the breeder/author, being (i) Cynodon sp. (although the cultivar contained within the taxa fits best being classified as a Cynodon hybrid), (ii) Cynodon dactylon x C. transvaalensis (Cynodon hybrid), (iii) Cynodon dactylon (green couch) and (iv) Cynodon dactylon x C. magenissii.


Both Husserl and Sartre speak of quasi-presence in their descriptions of the lived experience of imagination, and for both philosophers, accounting for quasi-presence means developing an account of the hyle proper to imagination. Guided by the perspective of fulfillment, Husserl's theory of imaginary quasi-presence goes through three stages. Having experimented first with a depiction-model and then a perception-model, Husserl's mature theory appeals to his innovative conception of inner consciousness. This elegant account nevertheless fails to do justice to the facticity and bodily involvement of our imaginary experience. Sartre's theory of analogon, based on his conception of imaginary quasi-presence as 'magical' self-affection, embodies important insights on these issues. Kinesthetic sensations and feelings are the modes in which we make use of own body to possess and be possessed by the imaginary object, thus lending it a semblance of bodily presence.


Although landscape is not a recent notion, its place in environmental management is now of major concern. Unprecedented land transformations have become a source of worry in terms of impacts on the landscape. The dynamics are still poorly understood and need to be studied in detail to be able to design consistent planning strategies. Today's policy is largely reactive and calls for prospective, as well as participative, methods and tools at different scales. Information Technologies (IT) and more particularly Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are fast-expanding domains proposing more and more better-suited solutions for problems concerning our environment. They generally provide means to capitalize on the different land data sources, whether they are spatial or not. Though their use is still limited in the context of landscape analysis, they have a huge potential that needs to be developed. Therefore, the current study is concerned with landscape research as well as GIS development. The contribution of GIS is assessed with respect to landscape management and both methodological and technological adaptations are proposed in return. One of the most important question concerns the integration of the qualitative dimension of landscape evaluation in fundamentally quantitative systems. The Jura mountains and more specifically the Marchairuz region in the higher part of the Jura vaudois constitute the study region. The main result of the work consists in the proposal of a participative and multiscale landscape assessment method, relying on the specific use of information technologies. Landscape is considered to be the visible part of the land, that the local community perceive and consider. Different forms of appreciation are modelled within a system of spatial indicators. It is used on a small scale to identify and locate landscape impacts coming from land transformations, in order to compare them with public perception. On a larger scale, indicators are used to translate social preferences in space, from the definition of landscape representation models. The assessment method relies on visibility analysis functions, improved with visual correction factors and content analysis operators. Finally, the method proposes an objective way to put together subjective landscape perceptions and thus offers an interesting basis for negotiation. The relevant approach is defined by examining its integration potential in existing management processes. Additionally, the pros and cons of the method and the tools developed here are described and some final perspectives are drawn.


The resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectrum of NO has been obtained in the range of 420 - 480 nm with a Nd:YAG pumped optical parametric generator and amplifier. The spectral lines can be attributed to NO X^(2)(v" = 0; 1) ? A^(2)?(v' = 0; 1) transitions. In this wavelength range, NO molecules are ionized via the resonant intermediate state A^(2)?^(+) and by a (2 + 2) REMPI process. The dependence of ion signals on laser intensity and gas pressure is discussed. The variation of the ionization signal versus laser intensity is near quartic. This is in good agreement with theory.


Summary Going beyond the relation of work and family, the present three‐wave longitudinal study spanning one year assessed different forms of conflict and facilitation between leisure and the life domains work and family and their relation to subjective well‐being. A sample of N = 277 employed men and women reported their perceived conflict and facilitation between leisure, work, and family and subjective well‐being. Results suggest that leisure is a source of facilitation for work and family, and, at the same time, a major recipient of conflict from work and family. Moreover, leisure conflict was negatively correlated and leisure facilitation was positively associated with concurrent subjective well‐being. Both conflict and facilitation between all three life domains remained highly stable over the course of one year. Only few and non‐systematic lagged effects were found, indicating that the variance of the stability of the constructs and their relations over time leave little room for longitudinal predictions. Taken together, the study demonstrates that, similar to work–family relations, conflict and facilitation with the leisure domain are also associated with subjective well‐being and remain highly stable over the course of a year in the lives of young and middle‐aged adults. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Since its inception in August 2011, the SEC's whistleblowing program has received over 18,000 tips and has distributed over thirty awards. The Commission's Enforcement Division has lauded the program, emphasizing its recoveries (over $500 million in the aggregate) as well as its generous bounties (over $100 million total). Nevertheless, an agency focused on deterrence must pay attention to the volume of credible reports it receives from insiders, particularly because deterrence has been shown to rest so strongly on the putative wrongdoer's perceived probability of detection. From that perspective, the program's success is more ambiguous: twenty-six covered actions (some involving more than one whistleblower) derived from a field of more than 18,000 tips.
This Article advances an explanation for the program's modest "hit rate" namely whistleblowing's effect on the probability of criminal sanction. If employees who possess the most concrete information of wrongdoing are also those most exposed to criminal prosecution, whistleblowing morphs into self-incrimination. This is so because the whistleblower who voluntarily discloses her participation strips herself of her most effective legal protection, the government's difficulty in establishing her guilty state of mind.
To demonstrate this dynamic, the Article introduces two types of employees: Complicits (those who have violated the law) and Innocents (those with no legal exposure whatsoever). Whereas Complicits possess more valuable information, they are less incentivized to seek a financial bounty. The Article then identifies the legal, psychological and organizational factors most likely to inflate the number of Complicits within the firm, thereby depressing the pool of potential whistleblowers. The Article then considers the various strategies policymakers might employ to either dampen or undo this effect.


This study was focused on the techniques of teaching English used by the teacher at the first
grade of SMU AL-ISLAM Krian. Consequently, the purpose of this study were: 1).to know the
teaching techniques used by the English teacher at the first grade of SMU AL-ISLAM Krian; 2).
to describe the strengths and the weaknesses of the techniques used by the English teacher.
In this study the descriptive design was used to obtain the data concerning the research problems.
This study focused on the teacher and the first year students as subject of this study and the total
number of the teacher was one teacher and two classes were observed (X.10 and X.11). There
were two instruments used in taking the data. 1) observation and 2) interview. Furthermore, the
researcher set up the observational checklist and she used tape recorder on the interview to the
teacher.
The research findings showed that the techniques applied by the teacher in teaching English were
the lecturing technique, the discussion technique, the direct experience technique, audio-visual
material technique, game technique, and the demonstration technique. Furthermore, the strengths
of lecturing technique were it could save time and the students could focus on the material,
however this technique made the students became passive observers and the students got little
knowledge. Second, the strengths of the discussion technique were the students felt free to
express their idea and they could improve the sharing of ideas with others, but it needed more
time to get group discussion and the condition of the class was crowded. Third, the strengths of
the direct experience technique were the students were more active to communicate with others
and they could express their private experiences, but it had the same weaknesses as the
discussion technique. Next, the strength of audio-visual material technique was it could save
time to explain the material, the weaknesses of audio-visual material were it made the students
bored and the teacher needed long time to prepare the material. Fifth, the strengths of game
technique were the students interested in joining the class and they would not get bored, but the
application of this technique made the condition of the class crowded and the teacher needed
long time to prepare the game media. Last, the strengths of the demonstration technique were the
students remembered the material well and they got more knowledge, the weaknesses of the
demonstration technique was it needed long time to prepare the material and tools.


This study explores the contribution of community empowerment to the sustainability of ecotourism in Tanzania using education programmes, access to information and language. Through the survey approach data was collected from Tanzania's ecotourism stakeholders (N=250) in the eight selected regions of Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Morogoro, Tanga and Zanzibar (for the eastern tourism circuit) and Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara (for the northern circuit) and thereafter a qualitative analysis was employed complemented by estimation of the multinomial logistic regression model. The findings show that tourism stakeholders lack sufficient knowledge on ecotourism conservation and preservation. Likewise community members have poor access to information due to insufficient ecotourism publications, tourist information centres, a reliable mechanism for communicating with stakeholders and the use of foreign languages in most of the publications. It is therefore the study's recommendation that community members be empowered through being provided with adequate education programmes and access to relevant information and the use of a language that is understood by them in order to broaden their level of understanding, enhance their management skills and contribute significantly to ecotourism-related activities.


Chilaiditi's sign is the anatomical description of the interposition of the colon between the liver and the diaphragm; when it is accompanied with clinical symptoms, it is known as Chilaiditi's syndrome. Most commonly, it is an asymptomatic radiological finding and is considered a rare entity, and therefore, it is often misdiagnosed in clinical practice; however, it may be accompanied by a series of severe complications. Here we report a patient with Chilaiditi's syndrome, owing to its rarity, and the typical radiological findings of this syndrome. A 22-year-old female was admitted to the hospital, presenting with a 2-day history of nausea and worsening right upper quadrant pain. Vital signs were stable. The physical examination revealed a soft abdomen with mild right upper abdominal tenderness. Laboratory assays showed no abnormalities. A plain abdominal X-ray showed an abnormal gas shadow in the subhepatic space and a segment of gaseous distended colon. A computarized tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen showed a loop of colon interpositioned between the liver and the right hemidiaphragm, mimicking free air. The patient consulted with a general surgery physician, and was admitted to the general surgery service to follow up on treatment and operation, if indicated. The patient was managed conservatively. During the course of her hospital stay, her abdominal pain resolved without surgical intervention. She was then able to tolerate a regular diet, and was discharged after two days of hospital stay. Although Chilaiditi's syndrome is not common, it is important, and can be easily mistaken for pneumoperitoneum. Most of the cases with Chilaiditi's syndrome can be resolved with nasogastric decompression and repeated laxatives. Surgical intervention is reserved for patients with signs of systemic toxicity or peritonitis. Owing to the rarity of this syndrome and its typical radiological findings, we aimed to present this case.


In recent years malaria initiatives have increasingly shifted from malaria control to a focus on achieving malaria elimination in the Southeast Asia region. However, this region experiences unique challenges in this transition due to its distinctive malaria ecosystem (mainly related to forests) and high volume of population movement (both within and between countries). These bioenvironmental factors increase the exposure of populations at higher risk due to their close association with forest, and contributes to outdoor and residual transmission. Given that this region has also historically been the source of resistance to anti-malarial drugs, the potential spread of artemisinin resistance via global transportation routes would pose a major threat to malaria control and elimi- nation efforts worldwide. In addition, other factors also hinder the malaria elimination goal such as importation of parasite infection, uncontrolled monkey malaria ( Plasmodium knowlesi ), or the fact that many countries in this region experience mixed infections where P. vivax becomes a more predominant species as overall malaria transmission decreases. This chapter addresses these challenges in detail and provide recommenda- tions and key priorities to overcome these obstacles to accelerate efforts for achieving malaria elimination.


Airborne particulate matter is one of the main air pollutants. Most of their health effects have now been known for many years. Their impact on mortality, the occurrence of pulmonary and cardiovascular complications, have been the subject of numerous studies. It has also been shown that long-term effects are more serious than short-term effects. Finally, the socio-economic cost of this pollution is considerable and preventive measures are still insufficient.


The need to be aware of children's existing ideas is expressed by Ausubel (1968, p. iv) in his well known adage: "The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows; ascertain this and teach him accordingly". Many of the views and conceptions held by learners differ from those commonly accepted by scientists. These views are often designated as misconceptions of alternative conceptions. While in recent years there has been a growing interest in identifying misconceptions, the bulk of the studies reported are related to physics, leaving many topics in chemistry largely ignored. IN the present study, two such concepts from the area of chemistry, namely molecules and atoms, were investigated. -- Three groups of ten students from grade 12 (16-17 year olds) constituted the total sample of 30 students. Subjects were grouped as Academic-Science, Academic-Non-Science, and Non-Academic Non-Science according to their participation in science and their overall average. A semi-structured interview guide was developed and used to elicit subjects' conceptions relation to the fundamental characteristics of molecules and atoms. Questions were asked relating to the structure, composition, size, shape, weight, bonding, and energy of molecules using a waters molecule as the example. A second group of questions focused on the structure, shape, size, weight, and animism of atoms. In each case, subjects' misconceptions were identified and then examined to see how the misconceptions differed among the three groups. -- All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. The interview data served as the starting point for the establishment of conceptual inventories for individuals, the construction of tables summarizing the common misconceptions, and descriptive summaries of the findings for each content area. -- The data suggest that students hold a wide range of misconceptions relating to the fundamental characteristics of molecules and atoms, and that many of the misconceptions identified parallel historical ideas of science. Other outcomes of the study include the observation that many of the misconceptions are common to all three groups, that the students from the Academic Science group exhibited the broadest range of misconceptions, but on average exhibited a lesser number of misconceptions. Overall, the Academic Science students had a better understanding of the concepts involved than did the Academic Non-Science and Non-Academic Non-Science students. -- Misconceptions were identified for each of the sub-types relating to molecules and atoms. Specific misconceptions relating to molecules included: Water molecules contain components other than oxygen and hydrogen; water molecules are large enough to be seen with the naked eye; water molecules have different sizes and shapes; water molecules are large enough to be physically weighed; and that temperature is the factor which affects molecular shape. Specific misconceptions relating to atoms included the belief that atoms are solid spheres with all of their components inside, that all atoms weigh the same, and that they are alive.


Climate envelope models are a potentially important conservation tool, but their ability to accurately forecast species' distributional shifts using independent survey data has not been fully evaluated. We created climate envelope models for 12 species of North American breeding birds previously shown to have experienced poleward range shifts. For each species, we evaluated three different approaches to climate envelope modeling that differed in the way they treated climate-induced range expansion and contraction, using random forests and maximum entropy modeling algorithms. All models were calibrated using occurrence data from 1967–1971 (t1) and evaluated using occurrence data from 1998–2002 (t2). Model sensitivity (the ability to correctly classify species presences) was greater using the maximum entropy algorithm than the random forest algorithm. Although sensitivity did not differ significantly among approaches, for many species, sensitivity was maximized using a hybrid approach that assumed range expansion, but not contraction, in t2. Species for which the hybrid approach resulted in the greatest improvement in sensitivity have been reported from more land cover types than species for which there was little difference in sensitivity between hybrid and dynamic approaches, suggesting that habitat generalists may be buffered somewhat against climate-induced range contractions. Specificity (the ability to correctly classify species absences) was maximized using the random forest algorithm and was lowest using the hybrid approach. Overall, our results suggest cautious optimism for the use of climate envelope models to forecast range shifts, but also underscore the importance of considering non-climate drivers of species range limits. The use of alternative climate envelope models that make different assumptions about range expansion and contraction is a new and potentially useful way to help inform our understanding of climate change effects on species.


LITERATURE REVIEW
The sharing and lending of injecting equipment amongst the injecting drug
user (IDU) population has been identified as a leading cause of the transmission of
blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A large body of research exists which has attempted
to identify those IDU who are at elevated risk for engaging in behaviours known to
be associated with BBV transmission. Primary amongst these identified factors are
those relating to impulsivity traits, psychological distress including anxiety and
depression, and pharmacological effects of drug use. Also, a number of demographic
and drug use variables also are routinely investigated in the literatures as possible
risk factors, and typically include factors of sex, age, duration of injecting history,
frequency of injecting, preferred drug of choice, sexual orientation, drug treatment
status, accommodation status, education level, ethnicity, and the presence or absence
of prison history.
The following literature review describes the existing research into each of
these key variables, elucidating those which present as the clear risk factors for BBV
transmission risk behaviours, and those which are somewhat ambivalent in the
prediction of risk behaviours and BBV transmission rates. Further, the review
discusses the need for comprehensive research to be conducted, identifying the
variables that are most predictive of BBV risk behaviours amongst this population.
EMPIRICAL STUDY
Incidence of blood-borne viruses such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV have
begun to rise in recent years, with Hepatitis C now being the most communicable
disease in Australia. Spread by blood-to-blood contact, it is now recognised that by
far the majority of new cases of blood-borne viruses are transmitted during the
process of injecting illicit drugs, through behaviours such as the sharing of injecting
equipment. Previous studies have identified a number of factors that independently
predict the risk of injecting drug users (rpm engaging in these risk behaviours.
These factors include demographic, drug use and injection variables, psychological
distress factors (i.e. anxiety and depression), and impulsivity factors, however to date
no research has comprehensively examined these risk factors in a combined sense in
order to establish which IDU are at a heightened risk for engaging in risky injection
episodes. The current study sought to address this, and utilised a multivariate
regression modelling approach with a sample of 269 regular IDU in Tasmania to
examine the contribution of the above factors to the prediction of the engagement in
various injecting risk behaviours. The study details factors which emerged as
significant predictors to transmission through needle and syringe contamination,
other equipment contamination, contamination from injecting others, exposure from
being injected by others, needlestick contamination, as well as overall risk. While the
factors which significantly contribute to risk in the various aspects of transmission
behaviours vary, the factors of unstable accommodation status, amphetamine use,
alcohol use, less occasions of self-injection, higher symptoms of anxiety, and a desire
to seek out novel stimulation emerged as the most significant contributors to overall
risk. Of these, elevated anxiety symptoms and reduced episodes of self-injection were clearly the most important factors as identified in a multivariate model for
overall risk of engaging in blood-borne virus risk behaviours. This finding suggests
that while there is value in delivering blood-borne virus transmission intervention
efforts to all IDU, particular attention and emphasis should be paid to those IDU
exhibiting the above risk factors. Specific strategies for intervention is discussed in
the below report.


Graph Neural Network (GNN), as a powerful representation learning model on graph data, attracts much attention across various disciplines. However, recent studies show that GNN is vulnerable to adversarial attacks. How to make GNN more robust? What are the key vulnerabilities in GNN? How to address the vulnerabilities and defend GNN against the adversarial attacks? Adversarial training has shown to be effective in improving the robustness of traditional Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). However, existing adversarial training works mainly focus on the image data, which consists of continuous features, while the features and structures of graph data are often discrete. Moreover, rather than assuming each sample is independent and identically distributed as in DNN, GNN leverages the contextual information across the graph (e.g., neighborhoods of a node). Thus, existing adversarial training techniques cannot be directly applied to defend GNN.In this paper, we propose ContrastNet, an effective adversarial defense framework for GNN. In particular, we propose an adversarial contrastive learning method to train the GNN over the adversarial space. To further improve the robustness of GNN, we investigate the latent vulnerabilities in every component of a GNN encoder and propose corresponding refining strategies. Extensive experiments on three public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of ContrastNet in improving the robustness of popular GNN variants, such as Graph Convolutional Network and GraphSage, under various types of adversarial attacks.


Research material from ethnographic studies of vocational upper secondary educational programmes in Finland and Sweden presented here indicates that the discourse of schoolwork as being either theoretical or practical is firmly fixed. However, the students on the researched programmes were aware of recent changes in the labour market that raise a need for generalisation, or at least knowledge of both practical and theoretical aspects of their programme-specific subjects. They referred to the changes with notions suggesting that a practical and theoretical divide was neither meaningful nor helpful for their education. We discuss how a stereotyped idea of what was thought of as 'man's work' made it difficult for students who wanted to accomplish tasks considered as theoretical and how the teachers' framing of pedagogic practice intensified or ameliorated this difficulty. We also address the dichotomy between theoretical and practical by contemplating students' positions within different pedagogical practices. We suggest that some kinds of practices might diminish the dichotomy and could improve the students' possibilities for fully engaging in their studies.


Core substituted perylene diimides (PDIs), obtained by introducing various functional groups into the perylenic bay positions, are well known as versatile materials for optoelectronic applications. The substitution of the perylene core affords mono-, di- and tri-substituted derivatives, governed by the regioisomeric mixture of the 1,6- and 1,7-disubstituted PDIs. Most often, the disubstituted isomers are used as a mixture because of the difficulty in separating them by conventional methods or time-consuming crystallization processes. In this work, from the regioisomeric mixture of bis[(9,9′-dioctylfluorenyl)]-N,N′-bis-(10-nonadecyl)-perylene-3,4,9,10-bis(dicarboximide), the 1,6-(PDI-F1) and 1,7-(PDI-F2) isomers have been easily isolated and separated by column chromatography and were subsequently characterized. The spectral features, electronic density distribution, and ground and excited state dipole moments of PDI-F1 have been examined and compared with those of PDI-F2. Several differences have been observed in the properties of the two PDI isomers. The PDI-F1 absorption spectrum shows a unique broad band spanning from 450 nm to 640 nm, while PDI-F2 exhibits the lowest energy absorption at 570 nm and a strong band at 420 nm. The absorption and emission properties in different solvents have evidenced that although both regioisomers show dipole moment values of the excited states higher than those of the corresponding ground states, the dipole moment variation upon excitation is different for each isomer. Cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed that PDI-F2 has a stronger electron accepting ability, as evidenced by lower reduction potentials. Complementary density functional theory calculations are also reported in order to rationalize their electronic and optical properties.


The knowledge of sensors' locations is crucial information for many applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). When sensor nodes are deployed in hostile environments, the localization schemes are vulnerable to various attacks, e.g., wormhole attack, pollution attack, range enlargement/reduction attack, and etc. Therefore, sensors' locations are not trustworthy and need to be verified before they can be used by location-based applications. Previous verification schemes either require group-based deployment knowledge of the sensor field, or depend on expensive or dedicated hardware, thus they cannot be used for low-cost sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a lightweight location verification system that performs both "on-spot" and "in-region" location verifications. The on-spot verification intends to verify whether the locations claimed by sensors are far from their true spots beyond a certain distance. We propose two algorithms that detect abnormal locations by exploring the inconsistencies between sensors' claimed locations and their neighborhood observations. The in-region verification verifies whether a sensor is inside an application-specific verification region. Compared to on-spot verification, the in-region verification is tolerable to large errors as long as the locations of sensors don't cause the application to malfunction. We study how to derive the verification region for different applications and design a probabilistic algorithm to compute in-region confidence for each sensor. Experiment results show that our on-spot and in-region algorithms can verify sensors' locations with high detection rate and low false positive rate. They are robust in the presence of malicious attacks that are launched during the verification process. Moreover, compared with previous verification schemes, our algorithms are effective and lightweight because they do not rely on the knowledge of deployment of sensors, and they don't require expensive or dedicated hardware, so our algorithms can be used in any low-cost sensor networks.


We develop a stochastic programming approach to solving an intra-ring Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) design problem. This research differs from pioneering SONET design studies in two fundamental ways. First, while traditional approaches to solving this problem assume that all data are deterministic, we observe that for practical planning situations, network demand levels are stochastic. Second, while most models disallow demand shortages and focus only on the minimization of capital Add-Drop Multiplexer (ADM) equipment expenditure, our model minimizes a mix of ADM installations and expected penalties arising from the failure to satisfy some or all of the actual telecommunication demand. We propose an L-shaped algorithm to solve this design problem, and demonstrate how a nonlinear reformulation of the problem may improve the strength of the generated optimality cuts. We next enhance the basic algorithm by implementing powerful lower and upper bounding techniques via an assortment of modeling, valid inequality, and heuristic strategies. Our computational results conclusively demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed algorithm as opposed to standard L-shaped and extensive form approaches to solving the problem.


Background Prior studies have found that academic hospitals provide more consistent use of guideline-recommended therapies in patients with non–ST-segment myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) compared with nonacademic centers, yet it is unclear whether these care differences translate into longer-term outcome differences. Methods Using data from the CRUSADE Registry linked to Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services claims, we compared 30-day and 1-year all-cause mortality among 12,194 older patients with NSTEMI (age ≥65 years) treated at 103 academic centers and 28,335 patients treated at 302 nonacademic centers from February 2003 to December 2006. Outcomes were first adjusted for clinical characteristics, followed by adjustment for hospital performance, on 13 acute and discharge guideline-recommended therapies using a shared frailty model (an extension of the Cox proportional hazard model). Results Compared with older patients with NSTEMI treated at nonacademic hospitals, those treated at academic hospitals had greater and more consistent use of evidence-based acute and discharge therapies, were more likely to receive in-hospital revascularization (61.1% vs 54.2%; P b .0001), and had modestly lower risk-adjusted 30-day mortality after adjustment for patient-level clinical characteristics (8.9% vs 10.2%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.89, 95% CI 0.80-0.99). These differences were attenuated (HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.83-1.02) after further adjustment for hospital delivery of evidence-based treatments, yet did not persist out to 1 year (unadjusted HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.84-1.01, P = .089). Conclusions Patients with NSTEMI treated at academic centers are more likely to receive guideline-recommended therapies and had modestly better 30-day outcomes. Nevertheless, these differences do not persist out to 1 year. (Am Heart J 2014;167:762-9.)


Coronavirus diseases
(COVID-19) outbreak has been labelled a pandemic. For the prioritization of treatments
to cope with COVID-19, it is important to conduct rapid high-throughput
screening of chemical compounds to repurposing the approved drugs, such as
repositioning of chloroquine (Malaria drug) for COVID-19. In this study,
exploiting supercomputer resource, we conducted high-throughput virtual
screening for potential repositioning candidates of the protease inhibitor of severe
acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Using the three
dimensional structure of main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, we evaluated binding
affinity between Mpro and drug candidates listed in SWEETLEAD library and ChEMBL
database. Docking scores of 19,168 drug molecules at the active site of Mpro were
calculated using Autodock Vina package. Among the calculated result, we
selected 43 drug candidates and ran molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to further
investigate protein-drug interaction. Among compounds that bind to the active
site of SARS-CoV-2, we finally selected the 8 drugs showing the highest binding
affinity; asunaprevir, atazanavir, dasabuvir, doravirine, fosamprenavir, ritonavir,
voxilaprevir and amprenavir, which are the antiviral drugs of hepatitis C virus
or human immunodeficiency virus. We expect that the present study provides comprehensive
insights into the development of antiviral medication, especially for the treatment
of COVID-19.* Attached excel file contains a full list of results of docking calculations


It has recently been shown that spatial light interference microscopy (SLIM) developed in our laboratory can be used to quantify the dry mass growth of single cells with femtogram sensitivity [M. Mir et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 108, 32 (2011)]. Here we show that it is possible to measure the motility of single cells in conjunction with the dry mass measurements. Specifically the effect of poly-L-lysine substrate on the dry mass growth of Drosophila S2 cells is studied. By measuring the mean square displacement of single cells and clusters it is shown that cells that adhere better to the surface are unable to grow. Using such a technique it is possible to measure both growth and morphogenesis, two of the cornerstones of developmental biology.


This is the eBook version of the printed book. Praise for Fundamentals of WiMAX "This book is one of the most comprehensive books I have reviewed ... it is a must-read for engineers and students planning to remain current or who plan to pursue a career in telecommunications. I have reviewed other publications on WiMAX and have been disappointed. This book is refreshing in that it is clear that the authors have the in-depth technical knowledge and communications skills to deliver a logically laid out publication that has substance to it." Ron Resnick, President, WiMAX Forum "This is the first book with a great introductory treatment of WiMAX technology. It should be essential reading for all engineers involved in WiMAX. The high-level overview is very useful for those with non-technical background. The introductory sections for OFDM and MIMO technologies are very useful for those with implementation background and some knowledge of communication theory. The chapters covering physical and MAC layers are at the appropriate level of detail. In short, I recommend this book to systems engineers and designers at different layers of the protocol, deployment engineers, and even students who are interested in practical applications of communication theory." Siavash M. Alamouti, Chief Technology Officer, Mobility Group, Intel "This is a very well-written, easy-to-follow, and comprehensive treatment of WiMAX. It should be of great interest." Dr. Reinaldo Valenzuela, Director of Wireless Research, Bell Labs "Fundamentals of WiMAX is a comprehensive guide to WiMAX from both industry and academic viewpoints, which is an unusual accomplishment. I recommend it to anyone who is curious about this exciting new standard." Dr. Teresa Meng, Professor, Stanford University, Founder and Director, Atheros Communications "Andrews, Ghosh, and Muhamed have provided a clear, concise, and well-written text on 802.16e/WiMAX. The book provides both the breadth and depth to make sense of the highly complicated 802.16e standard. I would recommend this book to both development engineers and technical managers who want an understating of WiMAX and insight into 4G modems in general." Paul Struhsaker, VP of Engineering, Chipset platforms, Motorola Mobile Device Business Unit, former vice chair of IEEE 802.16 working group "Fundamentals of WiMAX is written in an easy-to-understand tutorial fashion. The chapter on multiple antenna techniques is a very clear summary of this important technology and nicely organizes the vast number of different proposed techniques into a simple-to-understand framework." Dr. Ender Ayanoglu, Professor, University of California, Irvine, Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Transactions on Communications "Fundamentals of WiMAX is a comprehensive examination of the 802.16/WiMAX standard and discusses how to design, develop, and deploy equipment for this wireless communication standard. It provides both insightful overviews for those wanting to know what WiMAX is about and comprehensive, in-depth chapters on technical details of the standard, including the coding and modulation, signal processing methods, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) channels, medium access control, mobility issues, link-layer performance, and system-level performance." Dr. Mark C. Reed, Principal Researcher, National ICT Australia, Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian National University "This book is an excellent resourc...


Adaptation to an environment consisting of two patches (each with different optimal strategy) is investigated. The patches have independent density regulation ('soft selection'). If the patches are similar enough and migration between them is strong, then evolution ends up with a generalist ESS. If either the difference between the patches increases or migration weakens, then the generalist strategy represent a branching singularity: The initially monomorphic population first evolves towards the generalist strategy, there it undergoes branching, and finally two specialist strategies form an evolutionarily stable coalition. Further increasing the between-patch difference or decreasing migration causes the generalist to lose its convergence stability as well, and an initially monomorphic population evolves towards one of the specialists optimally adapted to one of the two patches. Bifurcation pattern of the singularities is presented as a function of patch difference and migration rate. Connection to speciation theory is discussed. The transition from the generalist ESS to the coexisting pair of specialist strategies is regarded as a clonal prototype of parapatric (if the between-patch difference increases) or allopatric (if the migration decreases) speciation. We conclude that the geographic and the competitive speciation modes are not distinct classes.


Drawing from the reflective teaching and learning practices recommended in influential publications on learning styles, experiential learning, deep learning, and dialogue, the authors tested the concept of "learning teams" in the framework of a leadership program implemented for the first time in a top French management school (Grande Ecole). Qualitative feedback and personal observations on the implementation and outcomes of using this new learning paradigm reveal that although the steps from teaching to learning initially tested for MBA students in the United States are widely accepted, there were unexpected obstacles and opportunities in setting up the model in France. Some of these differences can be attributed to culture, particularly to immensely different educational philosophies that shape attitudes and norms within French classrooms and to the notion of learning itself, which is normalized by the social expectations of careers in management forged in French history. This article provides the theoretical basis of the particular learning model tested, describes the conditions within which it was implemented in one French Grande Ecole , and reports unexpected obstacles and favorable outcomes of the teaching/learning experiences from a cross-cultural perspective. The authors conclude with recommendations on implementing learning models across cultures.


Cisplatin is a well-known anti-cancer drug that is effective, but also has some severe and unwanted side effects. Analogs of cisplatin were reacted with the nonstandard amino acid selenomethionine (SeMet), and the products were characterized by 1 H and 195 Pt NMR spectroscopy and HPLC. In previous studies, SeMet was found to react faster than methionine (Met) with a representative platinum complex (Pt(dien)Cl2), therefore SeMet is said to react faster kinetically. Thus, while only a subset of proteins have selenium-containing amino acids, platinum complexes could target them kinetically. Cisplatin analogs with two leaving groups have also been studied. Pt(Me4en)(NO3)2 (Me4en = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine) reacts with SeMet to form a [Pt(Me4en)(SeMet-Se,N)] + chelate regardless of the Pt:SeMet ratio. Pt(en)(NO3)2 (en = ethylenediammine) reacts to form three possible products, with the distribution dependent on the Pt:SeMet ratio and time. INDEX WORDS: Cisplatin, Selenomethionine, Platinum(II) compounds, Hard-soft acid-base theory, Trans effect, Nuclear magnetic resonance


A risk management strategy that is designed to be robust to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), in the sense of selecting a Value-at-Risk (VaR) forecast that combines the forecasts of different VaR models, was proposed in McAleer et al. (2010c). The robust forecast is based on the median of the point VaR forecasts of a set of conditional volatility models. Such a risk management strategy is robust to the GFC in the sense that, while maintaining the same risk management strategy before, during and after a financial crisis, it will lead to comparatively low daily capital charges and violation penalties for the entire period. This paper presents evidence to support the claim that the median point forecast of VaR is generally GFC-robust. We investigate the performance of a variety of single and combined VaR forecasts in terms of daily capital requirements and violation penalties under the Basel II Accord, as well as other criteria. In the empirical analysis, we choose several major indexes, namely French CAC, German DAX, US Dow Jones, UK FTSE100, Hong Kong Hang Seng, Spanish Ibex35, Japanese Nikkei, Swiss SMI and US S&P500. The GARCH, EGARCH, GJR and Riskmetrics models, as well as several other strategies, are used in the comparison. Backtesting is performed on each of these indexes using the Basel II Accord regulations for 2008-10 to examine the performance of the Median strategy in terms of the number of violations and daily capital charges, among other criteria. The Median is shown to be a profitable and safe strategy for risk management, both in calm and turbulent periods, as it provides a reasonable number of violations and daily capital charges. The Median also performs well when both total losses and the asymmetric linear tick loss function are considered.


The main goal of core analysis is to reduce uncertainty in reservoir evaluation by providing data representative of the reservoir at in situ conditions. Basic core analysis measurements are unchanged, but advances in core analysis techniques provide the ability to measure the required petrophysical properties at reservoir conditions and to acquire also simultaneous measurements of reservoir dependent parameters. Core analysis has to be integrated with field and production data to minimize reservoir uncertainties that cannot be addressed with other data sources such as well logging, well testing or seismic. These requirements define the coring objectives, core handling and core analysis schedule. These objectives cannot be achieved by coring a single well. Coring program is thus an integral part of the reservoir history cycle. The quality and reliability of core analysis data have become more important with the ever-increasing pressing pressures to optimize field development. The post eighties economics of the petroleum industry, expressed as a need for ever more cost effective technology and the need to evaluate thin bed and non conventional reservoir by means of vertical and horizontal wells have been both the controlling factor and driving force for development of new techniques of coring and core analysis. Techniques are constantly being improved or new ones are introduced. In proper core analysis the concept of automatic geological core description is growing with the use of the mini-permeameter and the proliferation of sophisticated analysis methods such as SEM I EDX, X-my CT, NMR and PIA. These Hi-Tech methods provide a wealth of micro structuml and microscopic information previously undreamed of. This paper provides an overview of recent and emerging developments and trends in coring technology and core analysis. This is to enhance the reservoir evaluation processes. The questions of quality control and quality assurance are discussed that aim at an early detection of systematic challenges in data products, particularly those with a danger of causing quality reduction.


Highly infiltrative and invasive glioma cells obscure the boundary between tumor and normal brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to precisely diagnose and completely remove. The combination of multimodal imaging with effective treatments to diagnose precisely, guide surgery and therapy accurately is desperately needed for glioma in brain. Here, we report a biomimetic catalase-integrated-albumin phototheranostic nanoprobe (ICG/AuNR@BCNP) to realize multimodal imaging, amplify phototherapy and guide surgery for glioma after penetrating across the blood-brain barrier, accumulating into deep-seated glioma via albumin-binding protein mediated transportation. The phototheranostic nanoprobe was enabled fluorescence, photoacoustic and infrared thermal imaging with desirable detecting depth and high signal to background ratio for clearly differentiating brain tumors from surrounding tissues. Meanwhile, the nanoprobe could effectively induce local hyperthermia and promote the level of singlet oxygen based on alleviated hypoxic glioma microenvironment by decomposing endogenous hydrogen peroxide to oxygen to amplify phototherapy. Thus, significant inhibition of glioma growth, extended survival time, alleviated tumor hypoxia, improved apoptosis and antiangiogenesis effects were exhibited in several animal models including the periphery and the brain through intravenous or intratumoral injection, meanwhile with low toxicity to normal tissue. The phototherapy was also guided by the assistance of external bioluminescence, magnetic resonance and positron emission tomography imaging. Moreover, the nanoprobe could accurately guide the glioma resection. These results suggest that the phototheranostic nanoprobe is a promising nanoplatform specifically for glioma to achieve multimodal diagnosis, effective phototherapy and accurate imaging-guided surgery.


This study develops a percutaneous optical imaging system for tracking fluorescent reporter gene expression in vasculatures. We build a percutaneous optical imaging system that primarily comprised a 1.5-mm, semi-rigid, two-port optical probe. The performance of the optical probe is first tested in vitro with cell phantoms, and then the feasibility of the percutaneous optical imaging system is validated in vivo in eight femoral artery segments of two pigs. The green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene is locally delivered into four arterial segments, while saline is delivered to the four contralateral arterial segments as controls. The targeted arteries are localized using color Doppler, and thereafter the optical probe is positioned to the target arterial segments under ultrasound guidance. Optical imaging captures are obtained using different exposure times from 10 to 60 s. Subsequently, the GFP- and saline-targeted arteries are harvested for fluorescent microscopy confirmation. The percutaneous optical probe is successfully positioned at a distance approximately 2 mm from the targets in all eight arteries. The in-vivo imaging shows higher average signal intensity in GFP-treated arteries than in saline-treated arteries. This study demonstrates the potential using the percutaneous optical imaging system to monitor, in vivo, reporter gene expression from vasculatures.


The scarcity of research on the educator-on-learner bullying (ELB), as well as the legal, moral, psychological and educational imperatives necessitated this study. It has been established by contemporary studies that educators are bullying their learners under the guise of ignorance and/or abusive disciplinary practices. The aim of this study is to add to the limited body of knowledge on ELB. The participants comprised 18 educators from the Free State Province, South Africa. Data on bullying were collected by means of questionnaires in which a number of open-ended questions were asked. Inductive content analysis was used to analyse the data. The main findings of the study are: (1) ELB is educators' relentless, pitiless verbal, emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse of power which aims to distress and publicly humiliate disempowered, vulnerable learners. (2) Abusive disciplinary strategies; a lack of classroom management, teaching skills and subject knowledge, as well as personality traits, such as a lust for power and a lack of empathy were identified as educator related reasons for ELB. Learners' behaviour, intellectual abilities and personality traits were also identified as risk factors for ELB. (3) The creation of awareness of ELB and the will to act against perpetrators, whether punitive or restorative, are fundamental to addressing ELB.


This study focuses on the challenges of aligning scorecards and KPI´s to measure the effectiveness of the IT strategy and the development of a performance measurement model. The case study was based on an exploratory research model, analyzing and integrating the most suitable metrics and scorecards for the case company. Collecting data and applying the required information to answer the research question formed the basis for the study. The following conclusions were derived from the study. The first one is developing relevant sets of IT Balanced Scorecards to align business and IT strategy. Second, is to implement relevant performance measures for IT financial and portfolio management. Enabling this mechanism will enhance cost cutting and optimization of IT. The third conclusion concerns Master Data Management, where wrong data in the system will be "cleaned" to improve customer satisfaction and goodwill. A model combining solutions for these key challenges is provided in the study.