Organizations are experiencing an ever-growing concern of how to identify and defend against insider threats. Those who have authorized access to sensitive organizational data are placed in a position of power that could well be abused and could cause significant damage to an organization. This could range from financial theft and intellectual property theft to the destruction of property and business reputation. Traditional intrusion detection systems are neither designed nor capable of identifying those who act maliciously within an organization. In this paper, we describe an automated system that is capable of detecting insider threats within an organization. We define a tree-structure profiling approach that incorporates the details of activities conducted by each user and each job role and then use this to obtain a consistent representation of features that provide a rich description of the user's behavior. Deviation can be assessed based on the amount of variance that each user exhibits across multiple attributes, compared against their peers. We have performed experimentation using ten synthetic data-driven scenarios and found that the system can identify anomalous behavior that may be indicative of a potential threat. We also show how our detection system can be combined with visual analytics tools to support further investigation by an analyst.


In this paper, an android based SAMS (Smart Activities Monitoring System) application for smart phone is proposed. This application is developed with the aim of increasing the national security in Pakistan. In last decade, various incidents including militant attacks and ransom-demands have been reported in which cell phones played a central role in communication between the culprits. The tracking of these criminals is very important and the government needs to adopt technologies to track mobile phones if they are being used for dangerous activities. In this paper, an android based application is presented which is designed and tested to track a suspect without his/her attention. This application tracks a smartphone by obtaining its current location and monitors a suspect remotely by retrieving information such as call logs, message logs etc. It also detects the face of the suspect and covertly captures the picture using cell phone camera and then sends it via multiple messages. Moreover, the monitoring user can also make calls to the phone which the culprit is using in stealth mode to hear the conversation happening in surroundings of the user without the knowledge of suspect.


The role of education, knowledge and human resources in the agribusiness becomes of primary importance for the development of agricultural sector and, more generally, of the territory. The main objective of the present paper is to verify the role of investment in human resources and, consequently, in services for the agricultural development for the dynamics of rural development, trade and international cooperation of agribusiness.After a literature review, the paper firstly analyses the characteristics of the Italian Region of Basilicata, selected for our empirical application, and secondly develops an econometric model to explain the relationship between the rural GDP and a set of economic variables and of network-education-social (NES) dummy variable. These NES is representative of social, educational and, network factors, describing the degree of openness of the region firm. As expected, the results show that farmers may act as engines for economic development when they are trained on the basis of the needs and requirements related to innovation and research, and they are assisted through new models of organization of agricultural services.


BACKGROUND
Direct colloid osmometry provides an objective assessment of the oncotic effects of crystalloid or colloidal fluid therapy, which is especially useful in monitoring fluid therapy of critically ill camelids due to their tendency toward nonspecific hypoproteinemia with increased risk of developing edema and ascites.

OBJECTIVES
The aims of this study were to measure colloid osmotic pressure (COP) of alpacas and llamas, determine its correlation with concentrations of total protein (TP) and total solids (TS), as well as both albumin (A) and globulin (G) concentrations in the same model (A+G), and evaluate the effects of sample type and storage conditions on COP.

METHODS
Blood was collected from clinically healthy alpacas (n=23) and llamas (n=22) into heparin tubes. COP of fresh whole blood (COP(FB) ) and plasma (COP(FP) ) was determined using a membrane osmometer. For 20 alpacas, COP of refrigerated whole blood (COP(RB) ) and frozen plasma (COP(FrP) ) was also measured. Correlations between COP(FB) and TS, TP, and A+G concentrations were assessed by simple and multiple regression analysis to model potential predictors.

RESULTS
Median COP(FB) from alpacas (24.6 mmHg, range 19.3-28.1) was not significantly different from that of llamas (25.3 mmHg, range 22.5-33.7). Sample type or storage conditions did not affect COP. Measured COP had a strong positive linear correlation with TS, TP, and A+G concentrations in alpacas (r(2) =.7, .74, and .88, respectively). In llamas, COP correlated best with TS concentration (r(2) =.59), whereas correlation with TP and A+G concentrations was poor (r(2) =.19 and .25, respectively).

CONCLUSION
COP can be measured using heparinized whole blood or plasma, either fresh or stored. Direct measurement is recommended whenever quantitative knowledge of COP is required in clinical or research setting. Further studies are needed to verify if the poor association of COP with TP found in this study can be generalized to llamas.


User resistance is an important issue in the implementation of an Enterprise System (ES). However, despite the prevalence of user adoption literature, user resistance literature is scarce. Although some studies have conceptualized user resistance as the opposite of user adoption, a mandatory, role-transforming system such as an ES clearly shows that users may use a system while resisting it. Although this area is highly relevant, it is theoretically underdeveloped. This study examines user resistance at the individual level of analysis to determine the underlying reasons for user resistance, the types of resistant behaviors, and the management strategies to minimize resistance. It also seeks to understand the types of users that exist during an implementation and in particular, the groups of resisters. This dissertation identifies four categories of reasons for user resistance, which comprise a total of twelve reasons for user resistance. Resistant behaviors are also identified and classified. Three categories of management strategies are also identified, comprising a total of eight management strategies that are useful in minimizing user resistance. Groups of ES users are also described and examined.


IMPORTANCE
Vision loss following episcleral brachytherapy for uveal melanoma is difficult to predict for individual patients.

OBJECTIVE
To generate a risk calculator for vision loss following episcleral brachytherapy for uveal melanoma.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
A retrospective review of data was conducted at a multispecialty tertiary care center in Cleveland, Ohio. All patients with primary ciliary body or choroidal melanoma treated with iodine 125 or ruthenium 106 episcleral brachytherapy between January 1, 2004, and December 30, 2013, were included. Univariate and multivariable Cox proportional hazards were used to determine the influence of baseline patient factors on vision loss. Kaplan-Meier curves (log-rank analyses) were used to estimate freedom from vision loss. Bootstrap resampling was performed to bias correct this estimate.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Vision loss (to visual acuity [VA] worse than 20/50 and worse than 20/200).

RESULTS
A total of 311 patients were included in the study, with a mean (SD) age of 62 (14.7) years at start of treatment and a median follow-up of 36 months (interquartile range, 18-60 months). At presentation, VA was better than or equal to 20/50 in 199 patients (64%) and better than or equal to 20/200 in 289 patients (93%). By Kaplan-Meier analysis, VA less than 20/200 at 3 years was not associated with sex, diabetes, systemic hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia but was associated with history of ocular comorbidities, type of isotope (ruthenium 106 or iodine 125), and initial VA ( >20/50 or <20/50). By multivariable analysis, age (hazard ratio [HR], 0.97; 95% CI, 0.94-1.00; P = .06), largest basal diameter (HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.16-1.34; P = <.001), total radiation dose to the fovea (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.04; P = .001) and optic disc (HR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01; P = .005), and initial VA worse than 20/50 (HR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.20-2.85; P = .005) were predictive of vision loss to a VA of less than 20/200. The concordance index for the full data set was 0.77. Using these data, an online risk calculator was developed to predict vision loss following episcleral brachytherapy.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The vision prognostication tool presented herein needs to be validated by independent data sets. This tool may improve counseling for patients being evaluated for episcleral brachytherapy. At-risk individuals identified by this tool could be considered for inclusion into trials exploring prevention or treatment of radiation retinopathy and alternative therapies of uveal melanoma.


NoC has been proposed as a solution for the communication challenges in the nanoscale regime of SoC. In order to tackle design complexity and to facilitate reuse, systems are typically required to be built from pre-designed and pre-verified homogenous or heterogeneous building blocks such as programmable RISC cores, DSPs, memory blocks. Most SoC platforms are special-purpose tailored to the domain-specific requirements of their application, which communicate in a very specific, mostly irregular way. In this work, we propose a methodology for routing centric Network-on-Chip design for High Performance Multimedia Application. The proposed methodology exploits a priori knowledge of the applications communication characteristic to generate an optimized network topology along with chosen routing function compliant routing tables to improve communication performance by improved traffic load distribution.


The UK residential mortgage market has developed into a sophisticated market with a complex pricing structure, an array of products designed to cater for subsets of perceived borrower needs and aggressive pricing. Studies on the pricing structure of mortgages in the mid-2000s confirmed suspicions that lenders were using existing standard variable rate mortgage holders to cross subsidise new borrowers. This allowed lenders to drop their mortgage rates to levels too low to enable them to earn a return sufficiently high enough to compensate them for the risks carried on these loans [Miles, 2004]. The preferential treatment of newer customers raises the issue of fairness in the UK mortgage market as does traditional credit rationing methods used to differentiate and exclude high risk borrowers. Arguably, home loans should be accessible to all households and pricing, as specified by the efficient pricing hypothesis, should be based on the risks and costs attached to the loans, not simply determined by borrowers being new or existing customers [White, 2004]. The principle underpinning risk-based pricing is that the rate charged on a mortgage should reflect the probability of default and expected loss in the event of default. Under such a pricing structure lenders should legitimately be charging different mortgage rates depending on the risk characteristics of the borrower. Yet, mixed, and often confusing and contradictory, evidence exists relating to the use of risk-pricing of mortgages in the UK and the potential implications for lenders. In this paper we seek to address this gap in our knowledge and contribute to the debate over the behaviour of lenders and the operation of the residential mortgage market. This will be undertaken by developing a risk-pricing systems model to enable the estimation of the relationship between interest rates charged by UK lending institutions on individual loans using UK mortgage survey data. References Miles, D. (2004) The UK Mortgage Market: Taking a longer view. Final Report and Recommendation, HM Treasury, London. Pryce, G. (2003) Worst of the good and best of the bad. Adverse selection consequence of risk pricing, Journal of Property Investment and Finance, 21(6), 450-472. White, A. M. (2004) Risk-based mortgage pricing: present and future, Housing Policy Debates, 15(3), 503-531.


The Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture Phenotyping Reference Platform (TERRA-REF) provides a data and computation pipeline responsible for collecting, transferring, processing and distributing large volumes of crop sensing and genomic data from genetically informative germplasm sets. The primary source of these data is a field scanner system built over an experimental field at the University of Arizona Maricopa Agricultural Center. The scanner uses several different sensors to observe the field at a dense collection frequency with high resolution. These sensors include RGB stereo, thermal, pulse-amplitude modulated chlorophyll fluorescence, imaging spectrometer cameras, a 3D laser scanner, and environmental monitors. In addition, data from sensors mounted on tractors, UAVs, an indoor controlled-environment facility, and manually collected measurements are integrated into the pipeline. Up to two TB of data per day are collected and transferred to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois (NCSA) where they are processed. In this paper we describe the technical architecture for the TERRA-REF data and computing pipeline. This modular and scalable pipeline provides a suite of components to convert raw imagery to standard formats, geospatially subset data, and identify biophysical and physiological plant features related to crop productivity, resource use, and stress tolerance. Derived data products are uploaded to the Clowder content management system and the BETYdb traits and yields database for querying, supporting research at an experimental plot level. All software is open source2 under a BSD 3-clause or similar license and the data products are open access (currently for evaluation with a full release in fall 2019). In addition, we provide computing environments in which users can explore data and develop new tools. The goal of this system is to enable scientists to evaluate and use data, create new algorithms, and advance the science of digital agriculture and crop improvement.


I. The History & Process of Hydraulic FracturingHydraulic fracturing has a long history and was first developed in Sweden in 1878 and was used for offshore drilling during the 1930s. The current version of the hydraulic fracturing technique in existence today was first used in 1947. However, it was not commercially used until 1998 (Cummans, 2012). The practice has been used across the United States and at almost every site that it was introduced; controversy has surrounded the prospects for pursuing the gas extraction project. Hydraulic fracturing has made it possible to extract oil and gas that were economically inaccessible and is used in areas with tights sands, shale, and coal bed methane formations.A. Brief HistoryThis examination will focus on the practice of hydraulic fracturing technology in extracting shale gas. There are thirty-one states in the continental United States which have significant shale gas reserves or where the oil industry has shown interest in shale gas development (CEEP, 2012). According to the Environmental Working Group, since the year 2000, approximately 120,000 wells were drilled by oil and gas companies and 270,000 wells were drilled since the 1980s (Horwitt, 2009). According to the Energy Information Administration, it is currently estimated "that the U.S. will rely on shale gas for roughly 45% of our energy needs by the year 2035" (Demelle, 2011).Shale gas extraction occurs in shale formations composed of many thin layers. Shale is a sedimentary rock and is compacted together tightly under natural pressure. The largest hydraulic fracturing opportunities in the U.S. lie in large shale play formations, some of them being Barnett Shale in Texas, Bakken Shale in North Dakota, Haynesville Shale in Louisiana, Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin, and Raton Basin in Colorado (Cummans, 2012). There are large shale plays with smaller, significant shale plays throughout the United States. Figure 1 shows current and prospective shale plays in the lower 48 states.B. ProcedureHydraulic fracturing involves spreading the fractures in a rock layer using pressurized fluids in order to release oil and gas that isn't economically viable to extract using traditional drilling techniques. First, a mile long vertical hole is drilled, and then a half mile long horizontal branch is drilled. A small package consisting of ball-bearing-like shrapnel and light explosives is sent into the drilled hole and detonated. The shrapnel punctures the bore hole allowing small perforations to open up in the pipe. Up to seven million gallons of slick water, "sand mixed with large volumes of freshwater that has been treated with a friction reducer such as a gel" (Harper, 2008), is pumped in the hole to fracture the shale rock, causing shale gas to be released. The water blasts through those perforations in the pipe into the shale at a force of more than nine thousand pounds of pressure per square inch and shatters the shale for a few yards on either "side of the pipe, allowing the gas embedded in it to rise under its own pressure and escape" (McKibben, 2012). Once the water is injected into the ground, it is then contaminated from exposure to oil and natural brines.B. Economic Aspects of Hydraulic FracturingA. BenefitsEconomists at Citigroup report that hydraulic fracturing will create up to 3.6 million new jobs by 2020 and will increase economic output in the United States by 2-3% per year (Foxman, 2012). There are many areas throughout the country that have been proposed for the practice, which would generate jobs. The practice also led to reduced reliance on foreign oil, has been a boon to energy-intensive industries like metals manufacture and fertilizer production, benefited the energy industry, and boosted the water-treatment business due to cleanup of recovered water (Trecker, 2012). Cheap natural gas displaced coal and is America's top source for electricity. …


In this paper we analyse the effects of internal heat generation, thermal radiation and buoyancy force on the laminar boundary layer about a vertical plate in a uniform stream of fluid under a convective surface boundary condition. In the analysis, we assumed that the left surface of the plate is in contact with a hot fluid whilst a stream of cold fluid flows steadily over the right surface; the heat source decays exponentially outwards from the surface of the plate. The similarity variable method was applied to the steady state governing non-linear partial differential equations, which were transformed into a set of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations and were solved numerically by applying a shooting iteration technique together with a sixth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme for better accuracy. The effects of the Prandtl number, the local Biot number, the internal heat generation parameter, thermal radiation and the local Grashof number on the velocity and temperature profiles are illustrated and interpreted in physical terms. A comparison with previously published results on similar special cases showed excellent agreement.


Coinfection of host populations alters pathogen prevalence, host mortality, and pathogen evolution. Because pathogens compete for limiting resources, whether multiple pathogens can coexist in a host population can depend on their within-host interactions, which, in turn, can depend on the order in which pathogens infect hosts (within-host priority effects). However, the consequences of within-host priority effects for pathogen coexistence have not been tested. Using laboratory studies with a coinfected zooplankton system, we found that pathogens had increased fitness in coinfected hosts when they were the second pathogen to infect a host, compared to when they were the first pathogen to infect a host. With these results, we parameterized a pathogen coexistence model with priority effects, finding that pathogen coexistence (1) decreased when priority effects increased the fitness of the first pathogen to arrive in coinfected hosts and (2) increased when priority effects increased the fitness of the second pathogen to arrive in coinfected hosts. We also identified the natural conditions under which we expect within-host priority effects to foster coexistence in our system. These outcomes were the result of positive or negative frequency dependence created by feedback loops between pathogen prevalence and infection order in coinfected hosts. This suggests that priority effects can systematically alter conditions for pathogen coexistence in host populations, thereby changing pathogen community structure and potentially altering host mortality and pathogen evolution via emergent processes.


Empirically, large employers have been shown to devote greater resources to filling vacancies than small employers. Following this evidence, this paper offers a theory of producer size based on labor market search, whereby a key factor in the determination of producer's total employment is the ease with which workers can be found to fill jobs that are, periodically, vacated. Since the geographic localization of industry has long been conjectured to facilitate the search process, the model provides an explanation for the observed positive association between average producer size and the magnitude of an industry's presence within local labor markets.


Algorithmic decision making is employed in an increasing number of real-world applications to aid human decision making. While it has shown considerable promise in terms of improved decision accuracy, in some scenarios, its outcomes have been also shown to impose an unfair (dis)advantage on people from certain social groups ( e.g. , women, blacks). In this context, there is a need for computational techniques to limit unfairness in algorithmic decision making. In this work, we take a step forward to fulfill that need and introduce a flexible constraint-based framework to enable the design of fair margin-based classifiers. The main technical innovation of our framework is a general and intuitive measure of decision boundary unfairness, which serves as a tractable proxy to several of the most popular computational definitions of unfairness from the literature. Leveraging our measure, we can reduce the design of fair margin-based classifiers to adding tractable constraints on their decision boundaries. Experiments on multiple synthetic and real-world datasets show that our framework is able to successfully limit unfairness, often at a small cost in terms of accuracy.


Single-frequency operation is demonstrated by using a semiconductor laser coupled to a tunable fiber-optic reflective filter. This external fiber-cavity laser is stepwise tunable over a 66-nm range centered around 1300 nm. Short-term laser linewidths are measured to be less than 50 kHz.


Performance evaluation and anomaly detection in complex systems are time consuming tasks based on analyzing, similarity analysis and classification of many different data sets from real operations. This paper presents an original computational technology for unsupervised incremental classification of large data sets by using a specially introduced similarity analysis method. First of all the so called compressed data models are obtained from the original large data sets by a newly proposed sequential clustering algorithm. Then the data sets are compared by pairs not directly, but by using their respective compressed data models. The evaluation of the pairs is done by a special similarity analysis method that uses the so called Intelligent Sensors (Agents) and data potentials. Finally a classification decision is generated by using a predefined threshold of similarity. The applicability of the proposed computational scheme for anomaly detection, based on many available large data sets is demonstrated on an example of 18 synthetic data sets. Suggestions for further improvements of the whole computation technology and a better applicability are also discussed in the paper.


BACKGROUND
Short stature (SS) can be treatable; yet the diagnostic value of a simple test in correctly identifying the two common etiologies in developing countries, viz., growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and normal variant short stature (NVSS), has not been reported in a typical third world population.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of the study was to evaluate the reliability of clonidine test in differentiating short stature caused by GHD from NVSS.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN
Data of subjects evaluated for growth hormone deficiency SS at a Saudi Arabian university hospital were retrospectively reviewed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Clonidine and insulin tolerance tests (ITT) were conducted on 60 subjects aged 12 years and above with SS, while peak stimulated growth hormone cut off value of < 10 microg/l was used to diagnose GHD.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Sensitivity and specificity for clonidine test and ITT were computed, while receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed from the results in order to assess the diagnostic usefulness of the two tests. Mann-Whitney test was used to determine level of significance.

RESULTS
Clonidine test showed superior sensitivity and specificity, viz., 81% and 82%, as against 65% and 59% for ITT respectively. Overall, the efficiency of clonidine test in correctly differentiating short stature caused by GHD from NVSS was higher, viz., 90%, compared to ITT's 77%.

CONCLUSIONS
Clonidine test proved to be an excellent test for initial assessment of GHD and may be used as a screening test for short stature in third world countries.


This paper reports on software-licensor express warranty and disclaimer practices on the Internet. Our data show that virtually all of the websites and End User License Agreements (EULAs) we sampled include express warranties on the website and disclaimers of the warranties in the EULAs that may erase all or much of the quality protection. Next, the paper reviews the reasons why consumers generally do not read their e-standard forms despite the prevalence of disclaimers and other adverse terms. We then argue that e-commerce exacerbates the problem of warranties and disclaimers and that lawmakers should address this issue. We contend that improved disclosure of disclaimers, including making them easily accessible on a website prior to any particular transaction and possibly even the subject of a pop-up window during a transaction, is the best of various imperfect solutions to the problem. Disclosure is inexpensive and, at minimum, creates the potential for more legitimate consumer assent to e-standard forms, including assent to disclaimers of warranty. Even if in the short term consumers do not read their forms, perhaps consumers will eventually learn of misleading warranties and disclaimers because the Internet creates communication possibilities and research tools unavailable to disgruntled purchasers in the paper world. The prospect of the word getting out that a licensor does not intend to stand behind its promises and representations may be sufficient to curtail the practice of misleading warranties and disclaimers.


It has been suggested by Weinberg et al. that an instability due to the nonlinear coupling of a neutron star's tide to its p- and g-modes could affect the gravitational-wave phase evolution of a neutron star binary. Weinberg suggests that this instability can turn on as the gravitational waves pass through the sensitive band of ground-based detectors, although the size of the effect is not known. The discovery of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 provides an opportunity to look for evidence of nonlinear tides from p–g mode coupling. We compute Bayesian evidences that compare waveform models that include the p–g mode coupling with models that do not. We find that the consistency between GW170817 signal and the p–g mode model reported by Abbott et al. is due to a degeneracy between the phenomenological waveform used to model the effect of nonlinear tides and the standard post-Newtonian waveform. We investigate the consistency of the GW170817 signal with regions of the parameter space where the effect of nonlinear tides is not degenerate with the standard model. Regions of the nonlinear tide parameter space that have a fitting factor of less than 99% (98.5%) are disfavored by a Bayes factor of 15 (25). We conclude that regions of the parameter space where nonlinear tides produce a measurable effect are strongly disfavored and improved theoretical modeling will be needed if future observations are to constrain nonlinear tides from p–g mode coupling in neutron stars.


The primary objective of this research is to use the benefits offered by computerized three dimensional graphics and apply those to the field of human computer interaction. Focussing primarily on the interactive content of the 3D world, this research describes a range of innovative new interface elements demonstrating specific new 3D interfaces/components designed to provide a new interactive 3D method for handling a range of particular common real-world tasks (ranging from simple value setting tasks up to larger scale systems for browsing structured sets of hierarchical data). These systems incorporate new design concepts such as active 3D interfaces that present their data to the user rather than statically waiting for the user to interact with them (these systems prove particularly useful in the presentation of large sets of data). Overall this set of components introduces a range of new interface styles that prove very effective in many mainstream real world tasks. In addition to the development of these systems, this project demonstrates a new high level 3D interface development tool designed to simplify the challenge of constructing interactive 3D user interfaces and in doing so make 3D interface development available to a wider developer base. By constructing the components mentioned above in a structured generic form, this combination of a new development tool and a range of reusable components provides a strong development platform, from which more complex interactive 3D interfaces can be constructed. In essence the core idea that underlies this research is making the construction of interactive and functional 3D interfaces simpler to undertake (by developing effective reusable components to handle mainstream tasks) while at the same time generating resulting 3D interfaces that are more effective and more capable of providing users with an enjoyable and functional 3D working environment.


the treatment of advanced metastatic melanoma with new immune-directed and targeted therapies have appropriately garnered most of the media and medical attention around the disease. Nonetheless, primary prevention (synonymous with reduction of ultraviolet radiation exposure to the skin) remains the best guarantee against future melanoma deaths. This issue of The Melanoma Letter highlights two of the most important components of primary prevention: sunscreen and clothing. In the accompanying pieces, our invited authors provide important insights on these subjects that we anticipate will help you better educate and counsel your patients.


Nigeria is one of few countries that reports having translated national policies on school-based comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) into near-nationwide implementation. We analysed data using the World Health Organization-ExpandNet framework, which provides a systematic structure for planning and managing the scaling up of health innovations. We examined how Nigeria's nationwide programme was designed and executed. Since 2002, Nigeria has developed a well thought through strategy to scale up CSE. Crucial attributes that facilitated the scaling up included technical consensus about the innovation and clarity about its components, dissection of a complex intervention into manageable components for implementation by organisations with complementary expertise, strong political leadership and championship in concert with advocacy and technical support from non-governmental organisations, proactive and energetic involvement of community stakeholders, effective programme management, and improvements to the information management system to ensure on-track implementation and mid-course corrections to keep stakeholders, including funders, informed and engaged. Challenges included programmatic values, competing priorities for available human resources and a lack of predictable funding for sustaining a rapid scale-up effort. Despite some weaknesses, implementation has largely proceeded according to plan. The lessons learned from Nigeria's experience can and should be used in other settings to achieve wide-scale coverage.


This paper is the result of investigations into the features of a mythology of police interviewing techniques and its relationship with current law enforcement practices. An investigation of the SCAN (Scientific Content Analysis) technique as promoted on the website of the Laboratory for Scientific Interrogation was initiated in order to discover the way in which texts aimed at law enforcement professionals contribute to or form a part of the network of beliefs, assumptions and understandings which constitute a mythology about police interviewing. This paper suggests that critical discourse analysis is an appropriate approach to the policy issues surrounding police interviewing techniques, as it provides the possibility of exposing the mythology at an institution-wide level.


ABSTRACT
 There is the potential to exploit new markets if fishermen are able to land live shrimp (Pandalus borealis, Krøyer 1838). For this trade to be economically viable, a high survival rate during capture and storage is essential. This study investigates possible factors such as trawl duration, sorting, storage temperature, storage time, and storage density that can affect the mortality of shrimp in captivity. Oxygen consumption and ammonia production at different storage temperatures are also investigated. Oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion increased with temperature. Storage of live shrimp in flow-through water for 48 h shows a survival rate greater than 95% at 2°C and 5°C. The survival rate was approximately 70% and 50% after 48 h and at 10°C and 15°C, respectively. Storage density did not impact survival, whereas increasing trawl tow time led to an increase in mortality. The sorting process of shrimp led to a minor increase in mortality, probably as a result of increased air exposure and mechanical stress. Trials using cooled water in August had a greater survival rate than uncooled surface water. However, survival was less than for shrimp caught during winter. This might be a result of the shrimp undergoing molting or warmer air temperatures. It was concluded that capture and transport to local markets is most likely to succeed during winter and early spring, when water and air temperatures are cooler and the shrimp are not molting.


A methodology for treating the semiconductor laser as a current-controlled oscillator in an optical phase-lock loop is presented. The formalism is applied to phase demodulation of optical beams, reduction of phase noise by self-homodyning, and phase locking of a semiconductor laser array.


STUDY QUESTION
What are women's experiences with tailored use of combined oral contraceptive pills (COCPs)?

SUMMARY ANSWER
Some women reported very positive experiences with tailored use of COCPs, others did not like the unpredictability about when they would bleed and some women reported increased anxiety about possible pregnancy.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
While many studies have investigated views toward extended use of COCPs, little research has examined women's actual experiences with these regimens.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
This was a semi-structured qualitative interview study that was part of a larger randomized trial of a standard (21 daily pills followed by a 7-day pill-free interval) versus a tailored regimen (daily pills until 3-consecutive-day bleeding triggers a 3-day pill-free interval) of Microgynon 30® mcg (Ethinyl estradiol 30 mcg, Levonorgestrel 150 mcg).

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGS, METHODS
Interviews were conducted with 26 women (17 in the tailored group and 9 who switched their assigned treatment group) . Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Women discussed positive changes associated with tailored use of COCPs, as well as some negative consequences. The major themes identified in the interview data were: ease of tailored regimen; changes in cycle-related symptoms; adjustment to reduced/absent bleeding and unpredictability about bleeding.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
The sample comprised mainly young, nulliparous women. The majority of women were using COCPs at the start of the study.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Clinicians discussing extended-use regimes with patients should mention that women may need time to adjust to an extended-use regime. Future research should attempt to identify predictors of response to extended use of COCPs.


Nitrogen (N) is a key regulator of ecosystem development, and the cycling and competition for N resources in ecosystems remains poorly understood. Arid ecosystems are primarily found in North Africa, Middle East and Australia, and cover about one-third of the total global area. Soil organic N (SON) and C cycles are linked; both immobilization and mineralization of N pathways are linked by heterotrophic microorganisms that require C from organic material for production of energy and growth. Therefore, studies into N and C cycles are key to understanding biogeochemical cycles in these areas. Typical agricultural practices in Saudi Arabia (KSA) focus on the production of dates. This study focussed on Al-Hassa oasis - the largest oasis and date supplier in Eastern KSA. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the effect of changing soil temperature, water irrigation sources and fertiliser types on soil C and N cycles within the oasis. To increase our understanding of the effect of aridity on N and C cycle we used 14C techniques to investigate the rate of DON or DOC mineralization by soil microorganisms in response to different temperatures, moisture content and different water types. Initial experiments showed that soil properties decreased dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and carbon (DOC) mineralization rate whereas, temperature increased mineralization rate in the soil by altering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and C partitioning between catabolic and anabolic processes within the microbial biomass. Therefore, we would recommend the farmers and government managers to reduce fertiliser on hot summer that can reduce environmental pollution and cost. Higher C mineralization rates were observed in the soil with the lowest contents of silt, clay, and salinity. The rate of 14CO2 evolution from DON is greater than from DOC compounds with shorter half-life for DON substrates because they are likely to be processed by different metabolic pathways inside the cell. Following on from this, further experiments showed that changing the irrigation water source significantly increased the mineralization of C contained in insoluble plant residues in comparison to that present in the soluble component. The rate of insoluble plant material mineralization was slower than for the soluble component leading to lower rates of 14CO2 loss and a ca. 11-fold longer half-life compared to soluble fractions. Results from the final experiments indicated that applying organic fertilisers would reduce nitrate (NO3-) leaching more than inorganic fertilisers. The information contained in this thesis has improved our
fundamental understanding of C and N cycling in arid soil systems. We would recommend the farmers and government managers to reduce inorganic fertiliser and use more organic N fertiliser that can reduce environmental pollution, cost, save more water, and increased yield. Further studies are, however, still needed to investigate the long-term effects of changing soil temperature, water irrigation source and fertiliser types on soil microbial processes in arid soil for developing better water and fertiliser management and reducing N or C gaseous emissions.


"Safe spaces" emerged as an important activist tactic in the late twentieth-century United States with the rise of feminist, queer, and anti-racist movements. However, the term's ambiguity, while denoting its wide applicability across movements, has led "safe space" to become overused but undertheorized. In both theory and praxis, "safe space" has been treated as a closed concept, erasing the context-specific relational work required to construct and maintain its material and symbolic boundaries. The emergence of online communities promising safety for marginalized groups calls for renewed investigations into the construction of these activist spaces. In this article, I draw on ethnographic fieldwork to consider the cultivation of safe space within Girl Army, a Philadelphia-based feminist Facebook group. Through participant observation and interviews with Girl Army members, I trace the group's technical and discursive enforcement of safety and the role this space plays in members' activism and everyday lives.


Differences in vegetable production methods utilized by American growers create distinct challenges for Extension personnel providing food safety training to producer groups. A program employing computers and projectors will not be accepted by an Amish group that does not accept modern technology. We have developed an outreach program that covers all pertinent food safety information in a manner that is acceptable to each of our target audiences. Utilizing audience targeted programming, small group of food safety professionals will be able to reach a myriad of different types of producers and help them provide the consumer with a wholesome product.


This book contains state-of-the-art research studies on the concepts, theory, processes, and real world applications of geographical information systems (GIS) in business. Its chapters are authored by many of the leading experts in applying GIS and geospatial science to business. This book utilizes a wide variety of approaches and methodologies including conceptual theory development, research frameworks, quantitative and qualitative methods, case studies, systems design, DSS theory, and geospatial analysis combined with point-of-sale. Since relatively little research has been published on GIS in business, this volume is pioneering and is the principal compendium of the latest research in this area. Geographic Information Systems in Business will impact not only the underlying definitions, concepts, and theories of GIS in business and industry, but its practice as well.


In this paper, a platform named PEIGEN is presented to evaluate security, find efficient software/hardware implementations, and generate cryptographic S-boxes. Continuously developed for decades, S-boxes are constantly evolving in terms of the design criteria for both security requirements and software/hardware performances. PEIGEN is aimed to be a platform covering a comprehensive check-list of design criteria of S-boxes appearing in the literature. To do so, the security requirements are first intensively surveyed, existing tools of S-boxes are then comprehensively compared, and finally our platform PEIGEN is presented. The survey part is aimed to be a systematic reference for the theoretical study of S-boxes. The platform is aimed to be an assistant tool for the experimental study and practical use of S-boxes. PEIGEN not only integrates most of the features in existing tools, but also equips with functionalities to evaluate new security-related properties, improves the efficiency of the search algorithms for optimized implementations in several aspects. With the help of this powerful platform, many interesting observations are made in-between the security notations, as well as on the S-boxes used in the existing symmetrickey cryptographic primitives. PEIGEN will become an open platform and welcomes contributions from all parties to help the community to facilitate the research and use of S-boxes.


Studies on Trehalose Phosphate Synthetase in Mycobacterium smegmatis By Cecillia Huan Liu The biosynthesis of trehalose phosphate occurs by two reactions which utilize different sugar nucleotides, UDP-glucose or GDP-glucose. Cell free extracts of several mycobacteria catalyzed the synthesis of trehalose phosphate from both UDPglucose and GDP-glucose. An extract of Mycobacterium smegmatis was separated into iwo fractions by chromatography on DEAE cellulose. Fraction 1 catalyzed the synthesis of trehalose (trehalose-P) from GDP-glucose but only slightly active with UDP-glucose. However, when fraction 2 was added to fraction 1, UDP-glucose was able to serve as an effective glucosyl donor for trehalose synthesis. Under these conditions, GDP-glucose was still active. Fraction 2 had no detectable enzymatic activity and was heat-stable. The action of fraction 2 could be replaced by crude &-lactalbumin, but not by pure c>Hoctalbumin, lysozyme, albumin or a number of other proteins. The products formed from UDP-glucose-^C and fractions 1 and 2 or GDP-glucose-and fraction* 1 were identified as trehalose by paper chroma¬ tography and cocrystallization of the octaacetate derivative to constant specific activity with authentic trehalose octaacetate. As to the substrate specificity, ADP-glucose gave similar results to UDP-glucose. Fructose-6-P was equally effective in fulfilling the requirement for glucose-6-P, presumably due to the presence of phosphohexose isomerase.


Abstract It would be hard to overstate the importance of air power in humanitarian intervention (HI) and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Yet, the role of air power in HI and R2P has been understudied. This article seeks to remedy the lack of systematic investigation. It does so by developing a framework for assessing the effectiveness of air power during military operations in HI and R2P and applies it to NATO's air campaigns in Kosovo (Operation Allied Force) and Libya (Operation Unified Protector). Upon examination NATO is revealed to have fared better in Libya than Kosovo in positively accomplishing its stated humanitarian objectives, minimizing collateral damage and reducing the costs for the interveners, all of which are aspects considered by the model. The relative effectiveness of Operations Unified Protector is generally attributed to geography, diplomacy and technology. It is argued that better ground support, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and burden sharing are needed to enhance the utility of air power in HI and R2P even further.


Methane is the second most important anthropogenically emitted greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide. Anthropogenic methane sources in the US are dominated by emissions from domestic ruminants and from fossil fuel exploration, storage and transmission. The fossil fuel source is primarily due to natural gas leaks along the production to distribution chain, and pipeline leaks in urban areas have been identified as a significant contributor. In this study, we evaluated possible leaks in three neighborhoods of a midsize Texas metropolitan region surrounding Texas A&M University through mobile measurements using a fast response, high precision methane analyzer. Neighborhoods were selected by age and land use, and each predetermined driving route was evaluated three times. Methane spikes exceeding 2.5 ppm were identified as leaks, and approximately one leak per mile of urban road was discovered. The largest leaks were found around the Texas A&M natural gas plant and in the oldest neighborhood to its north, while fewer leaks were found in a slightly younger neighborhood. No leaks were found in the youngest, less than 20-year old neighborhood suggesting that pipeline system age is a strong determinant of current and future leaks from the natural gas distribution system.


Many plant species can actively reorient their organs in response to dynamic environmental conditions. Organ movement can be an integral part of plant development or can occur in response to unfavourable external circumstances. Petiole hyponasty is an upward movement driven by a higher rate of cell expansion on the lower (abaxial) compared to the upper (adaxial) side. Hyponasty is common among rosette species facing environmental stresses such as flooding, proximity of neighbours or elevated ambient temperature. The complex regulatory mechanism of hyponasty involves activation of pathways at molecular and developmental levels with ethylene playing a crucial role. Despite the broad knowledge on the functionality and hormonal regulation of ethylene-induced hyponasty and growing insights into the developmental alterations leading to upward petiole movement, there are still many important questions to be answered. The focus of this thesis is the cellular basis and molecular regulation of ethylene-induced hyponastic growth in Arabidiopsis thaliana. A detailed analysis of the epidermal cell sizes and study of cortical microtubule (CMT) reorientation events revealed that, upon ethylene treatment, longitudinal cell expansion occurs in a localized zone of the abaxial side of the petiole. Based on the cell length data a mathematical model is provided that predicts petiole angle change which is highly similar to the observed value. The thesis also describes the use of next generation Illumina sequencing technique as a way of mapping T-DNA insertions in activation-tagging lines. Identification of T-DNA loci in such lines is occasionally problematic due to the complexity of integration events. In a screen of T-DNA activation-tagging lines carrying 35S CaMV enhancers, four candidates were selected. These lines exhibited aberrant petiole angles in control conditions, ethylene and low light treatments. The genomic DNA of those lines was pooled and subjected to Illumina sequencing which resulted in identification of three out of four insertion loci. One of the selected candidates, which exhibited decreased petiole angle in all treatments and was designated ddd1. The phenotype of ddd1 is linked to the T-DNA insertion in the intragenic region of ROTUNDIFOLIA3 (ROT3) gene which encodes an enzyme involved in the synthesis of brassinosteroids (BRs). The lack of cell expansion in ddd1 upon ethylene exposure led to the hypothesis about an interrelation of ethylene and BRs during cell elongation. This is supported by the pharmacological experiments which indicate a potential role of ethylene in sensitisation the tissue to BRs. Furthermore, the thesis aims to describe the involvement of ethylene response factors (ERFs) in regulation of hyponasty. Transcriptional regulation of ERFs during ethylene treatment is shown and possible scenarios of their involvement during the induction of hyponasty are discussed. Over-expression of a core cell cycle gene, CYCA2;1, leads to enhanced hyponasty independent of endoreduplication. It is shown that ethylene inhibits the progression of a mitotic cell cycle and mathematical modelling shows that this fine-tuning process provides a subtle balance between cell expansion and cell division which controls the degree of an upward petiole movement.


This paper is a continuation of a joint paper with B. Martin [MS] dealing with the problem of direct sum decompositions. The techniques of that paper areused to decide wether two modules are isomorphic or not. An positive answer to this question has many applications - for example for the classification ofmaximal Cohen-Macaulay module over local algebras as well as for the study of projective modules. Up to now computer algebra is normally dealing withequality of ideals or modules which depends on chosen embeddings. The present algorithm allows to switch to isomorphism classes which is more natural inthe sense of commutative algebra and algebraic geometry.


Sandwich honeycomb structures (aluminum core bonded to Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheets on either side) are widely employed in the aerospace industry for their high strength to mass ratio. However, they might be subjected to damages such as delaminations of the composite sheets or debondings between the face sheets and the core due to impacts or thermo-mechanical aging. In order to reduce maintaining costs and extend the service time, Guided Waves (GW) based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems are considered an adequate solution. Indeed, GW propagate over long distances and exhibit low attenuation, thus allowing to monitor wide areas with a limited number of sensors. Defect imaging on CFRP composites and honeycomb composite structures using both Delay-And-Sum [1] and correlation-based algorithm Excitelet [2] is presented in this communication. A machine learning algorithm is finally implemented in order to automatically identify and isolate defects on a given cartography map. The machine learning algorithm is trained on an experimental database of false and positive results obtained on representative specimens.


Brunfelsia genus is traditionally utilized in popular medicine due to its antibacterial and antifungal properties to name but a few. However, studies on the antimicrobial activity of Brunfelsia uniflora flower oleoresin have not been found yet. This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of B. uniflora flower oleoresin obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide. Oleoresin from the plant dried flowers was obtained by carbon dioxide, and the chemical composition was analyzed by gas chromatographic-mass spectrometry. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of this oleoresin for seven bacteria and eight fungi were determined using 96-well microtiter plates. The oleoresin MBC for Bacillus cereus, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, and Staphylococcus aureus ranged from 0.01 to 0.08 mg/mL, whereas the controls streptomycin and ampicillin varied from 0.1 and 0.5 mg/mL. The oleoresin MFC for Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceus, Aspergillus versicolor, Penicillium funiculosum, Penicillium ochrochloron, Penicillium verrucosum var. cyclopium, and Trichoderma viride varied from 0.01 to 0.08 mg/mL, whereas the controls bifonazole and ketoconazole ranged from 0.2 to 3.5 mg/mL. The oleoresin obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide presented bacteriostatic, bactericidal, fungistatic, and fungicidal activities that were higher than the positive controls streptomycin, ampicillin, bifonazole, and ketoconazole. The high antimicrobial activity was related to the high content of (E, E)-geranyllinalool that composes 21.0% of the oleoresin and a possible synergic action with fatty acid esters that made up 50.5% of the oleoresin. The oleoresin antimicrobial activity against common multiresistant bacteria in severe infectious processes as P. aeruginosa or against toxin-producing fungi such as P. ochrochloron or fungi that are difficult to control such as T. viride suggests the development of promising applications of this product in the food, farming, livestock, and pharmaceutical industry.


Since its inception, Twitter has played a major role in real-world events—especially in the aftermath of disasters and catastrophic incidents, and has been increasingly becoming the first point of contact for users wishing to provide or seek information about such situations. The use of Twitter in emergency response and disaster management opens up avenues of research concerning different aspects of Twitter data quality, usefulness and credibility. A real challenge that has attracted substantial attention in the Twitter research community exists in the location inference of twitter data. Considering that less than 2% of tweets are geotagged, finding location inference methods that can go beyond the geotagging capability is undoubtedly the priority research area. This is especially true in terms of emergency response, where spatial aspects of information play an important role. This paper introduces a multi-elemental location inference method that puts the geotagging aside and tries to predict the location of tweets by exploiting the other inherently attached data elements. In this regard, textual content, users' profile location and place labelling, as the main location-related elements, are taken into account. Location-name classes in three granularity levels are defined and employed to look up the location references from the location-associated elements. The inferred location of the finest granular level is assigned to a tweet, based on a novel location assignment rule. The location assigned by the location inference process is considered to be the inferred location of a tweet, and is compared with the geotagged coordinates as the ground truth of the study. The results show that this method is able to successfully infer the location of 87% of the tweets at the average distance error of 12.2 km and the median distance error of 4.5 km, which is a significant improvement compared with that of the current methods that can predict the location with much larger distance errors or at a city-level resolution at best.


The proliferation of mobile terminals coupled with multiple wireless interfaces has created complex scenarios where network operators need to provide connectivity in heterogeneous environments. To facilitate handover procedures in these scenarios, the 802.21 standard has been specified, providing Media Independent Handover (MIH) services allowing control and information gathering from different access interfaces. However, accessing these procedures requires the discovery of supporting nodes and their capabilities. This paper provides a description and performance comparison of different available MIH discovery schemes and proposes a novel local discovery procedure for automatically detecting link interfaces in MIH-enabled entities, showing by evaluation that its deployment increases performance and requires less information exchange.


Holopothrips is a diverse group of thrips associated to galls in the Neotropics, with a variety of host plants and wide morphological diversity. Relationships to other Neotropical groups have been proposed, but are still untested, and the monophyly of the genus remains doubtful. Here, we perform a phylogenetic analysis of Holopothrips, based on morphological characters. A total of 87 species were included in the matrix and eight analyses were carried out, but all of them failed to recover Holopothrips as a monophyletic grouping. Bremer and Bootstrap support values were low, and the topologies varied among all analyses, with uncertain internal relations for the ingroup. These results indicate that the relationships for Holopothrips species, and the proposed related genera, are more complex than previously reported; and morphological characters may not be enough to recover the evolutionary story within this group. We also discuss the influences of different character coding, continuous characters and weighting schemes in our results.


An information revolution is impacting how companies will operate in the future. Companies are looking for models that they can use to improve organizational efficiency. Early models decomposed organizations into workers and management and ascribed roles to each; newer models such as that by Deming concern themselves with integration of the parts into the context of the outside world. We suggest an analogy to decomposing processes into unit operations which must then be integrated into total processes within the world market, suggesting that, while the words are different, the process design activities may be very similar. Other important chemical engineering concepts such as process control and information transfer appear to be applicable to organizational management as well. After examining management processes and how information flows in a company, we explore different technologies for information management/consolidation, noting how well each permits the gathering, structuring and using of the data both to operate a company and to understand and improve its performance, particularly in its ability to carry out a complex process such as design. Particular attention is paid to databases, the World Wide Web, and a new information management system under development at Carnegie Mellon University called n-dim. The paper ends with a brief view into Etopia, an information society some time far into the future.


There is a continuing tendency by parties in a potential litigation to use the provisions of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (2 of 2000) to secure early discovery of documentation before the commencement of legal proceedings, on the basis that the documents could assist them to formulate a claim against a potential defendant. According to a recent majority judgement in the matter of Unitas Hospital v van Wyk and Another 2006 (4) SA 436 SCA, this practice is not permissible.


Irish immersion education, although traditionally deemed as an advantage enjoyed principally by middle-class families where parents were a driving force of demand and promotion, has become increasingly available to a more diverse body of students throughout Ireland. Diversity takes shape mainly in the socio-economic, linguistic, ethnic and special educational needs of students from various backgrounds attending Irish-medium schools. Thirteen Irish-medium primary schools situated in designated areas of disadvantage throughout Ireland are part of the DEIS1 Plan, which offers additional support to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of young people who are at social disadvantage.
This paper examines the challenges and benefits of immersion for students in Irish-medium education in disadvantaged settings. We present data collected from school principals, teachers and special education teachers on the issues that impact the schools and their students. The main issues highlighted were poor acquisition of English as a first language, attending to the needs of children with learning difficulties, lack of awareness and diagnostic tools in Irish during psychological assessments, lack of parental support, deficiencies in appropriate teaching and assessment resources through Irish, the absence of language support for Irish and a language support teacher, and a need for a greater emphasis in teacher education on immersion education and on education in socially disadvantaged settings.


The Government of Nepal has adopted various policies, plans and programs to curb corruption over the years. However, Transparency International (2015) showed that there is a high level of corruption in Nepal. Bearing such aspect in the mind, the study aims to analyse level, pattern and trend of corruption in Nepal by analysing the cases published by Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority in its annual reports from 2005 to 2015. Applying descriptive and bivariate analysis, it draws a level, trend and pattern of corruption and improper conduct using the disaggregated level data. Similarly, it seeks to analyse the relationship between corruption and gender as well as a position of a public official and working place of officials. Findings of this study showed that Nepal has relatively decreased the global corruption index of 2015 compared to 2013 and 2014. It is interesting to note that corruption cases lodged decreased dramatically from 2006 to 2008, however, it started to increase from 2008 onward. Similarly, it is seen that there was no significant fluctuation noticed in the number of complaints received and resolved in the Year between 2006 and 2015. During the Year between 2005 and 2015, the Central Development Region had the highest annual number of corruption and improper complaints registered, whereas the Far-Western Development Region had the lowest. Similarly, Tarai districts recorded the highest number of corruption cases complaints between 2005 and 2013. During the Year 2005 to 2015, Mahottari was repeatedly listed in the top 10 districts registering highest number of corruption and improper conduct's complaints. Additionally, this study also showed a significant relationship in gender, position, working place, and types of corruption with small to moderate effect which offers a new and conclusive perspective in a debate in the scientific community regarding their association.


The lean philosophy, which denotes business excellence through continuous improvement, originates from Japanese car manufacturer Toyota's Production System (TPS). An area where lean is not fully explored is remanufacturing, a business that brings used products back to useful life. Remanufacturing is often a more complex process than manufacturing due to uncertainty of process steps/time and part quality/quantity.This paper has explored remanufacturing by revealing its challenges and opportunities to be lean. The identified challenges to work with lean do not overcome the advantages of a lean remanufacturing system. Even though some researches state that it is difficult or even impossible to apply lean to remanufacturing, this research recovers lean as a continuous improvement philosophy that not only works for manufacturing but also for remanufacturing.


In this paper, a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the shielding effects is reported with reference to some indices as the shielding factor and the shielding effectiveness. These parameters are directly related to the efficiency of the shielding. The goal of the study, starting from the theoretical analysis and by means of a large number of simulations, is to determine the fundamental parameters that influence the shielding and allow to put in evidence the optimization procedure for the shield design, to study the main differences, in the theory and in the application, between the different analysis methods and to evaluate the precision of the applied mathematical models.


BACKGROUND
Citrobacter species have been described as the etiologic agents in cases of bacteremia, meningitis, diarrhea and brain abscess, but little is known of their role as a cause of urinary tract infections in children. The purpose of this study was to define the role of Citrobacter species in pediatric urinary tract infections.

METHODS
The project consisted of a retrospective chart review of microbiologic and medical records of patients younger than 18 years of age with urine cultures positive for Citrobacter species during a 3-year period.

RESULTS
Thirty-four patients with 37 infections were included in the review. The average patient age was 6.9 years (range, 1 month to 18 years) and 71% were female. Fifty-six percent of the patients had urinary tract/renal anomalies or neurologic impairment and 26% represented nosocomial infections. Thirty-seven percent of patients were asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis, whereas 63% complained of at least one of the following findings: gastrointestinal symptoms; dysuria; fever; incontinence; penile/vaginal discharge; frequency; flank pain; and hematuria. Twenty-six of the isolates were Citrobacter freundii and 11 were Citrobacter koseri. Blood cultures were obtained in 9 patients and all were negative for Citrobacter isolates.

CONCLUSIONS
Although it is uncommon Citrobacter can cause urinary tract infections in the pediatric population, which occur more frequently in children with underlying medical conditions. It appears that treatment similar to that of other gram-negative enteric organisms is the most prudent approach to these children until more information can be gathered.


Recent research has shown that inequality between ethnic groups is strongly driven by politics, where powerful groups and elites channel the state's resources toward their constituencies. Most of the existing literature assumes that these politically induced inequalities are static and rarely change over time. We challenge this claim and argue that economic globalization and domestic institutions interact in shaping inequality between groups. In weakly institutionalized states, gains from trade primarily accrue to political insiders and their co-ethnics. By contrast, politically excluded groups gain ground where a capable and meritocratic state apparatus governs trade liberalization. Using nighttime luminosity data from 1992 to 2012 and a global sample of ethnic groups, we show that the gap between politically marginalized groups and their included counterparts has narrowed over time while economic globalization progressed at a steady pace. Our quantitative analysis and four qualitative case narratives show, however, that increasing trade openness is associated with economic gains accruing to excluded groups in only institutionally strong states, as predicted by our theoretical argument. In contrast, the economic gap between ethnopolitical insiders and outsiders remains constant or even widens in weakly institutionalized countries.


The base excision repair DNA glycosylase MutY homolog (MYH) is responsible for removing adenines misincorporated into DNA opposite guanine or 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-guanine (8-oxoG), thereby preventing G:C to T:A mutations. Biallelic germline mutations in the human MYH gene predispose individuals to multiple colorectal adenomas and carcinoma. We have recently demonstrated that hMYH interacts with the mismatch repair protein hMSH6, and that the hMSH2/hMSH6 (hMutSα) heterodimer stimulates hMYH activity. Here, we characterize the functional effect of two missense mutations (R227W and V232F) associated with hMYH polyposis that lie within, or adjacent to, the putative hMSH6 binding domain. Neither missense mutation affects the physical interaction between hMYH and hMSH6. However, hMYH(R227W) has a severe defect in A/8-oxoG binding and glycosylase activities, while hMYH(V232F) has reduced A/8-oxoG binding and glycosylase activities. The glycosylase activity of the V232F mutant can be partially stimulated by hMutSα but cannot be restored to the wild-type level. Both mutants also fail to complement mutY-deficiency in Escherichia coli. These data define the pathogenic mechanisms underlying two further hMYH polyposis-associated mutations.


This study sets out to examine the effects of financial leverage on the profit growth in Nigeria using the total debt to capital ratio, debt to equity ratio, cost of debt, debt to asset ratio and long term debt to capital ratios as proxies for financial leverage for a sample of 80 non-financial firms quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange over the period of 2000 to 2015. Data were analysed using the panel data regression analysis model which includes the pooled regression model, fixed effect model and the random effect model. The choice of the appropriate model between Fixed Effect and Random Effect is made using the Hausman Test. In accordance with the research findings, we conclude that financial leverage has significant effect on the profit growth of firms in Nigeria and also that there exist a significant relationship between the inflation rate and profit growth but the relationship with the interest and exchange rates on financial leverage of quoted companies in Nigeria. The nature of the relationship differs from one another, a positive relationship was reported for the total debt to capital ratio, debt to asset ratio and long term debt to capital ratios and a negative relationship for the debt to equity ratio and the cost of debt. We therefore recommend that every company quoted in Nigeria find the mix of debt to equity capital that best suits them which can become their optimal capital structure to be able to maximize profit at minimal cost.


Infrared spectra have been obtained of the H-alpha lines in 18 medium- to high-redshift QSOs and optical spectra taken nearly simultaneously to measure the strong UV line. It is found that the H-alpha line is redshifted by an average of 1000 km/s with respect to the lines from high ionization species such as C IV. Low ionization lines from ions like O I and Mg II are shifted by similar, or slightly smaller, amounts with respect to the high ionization lines. These results are difficult to reconcile with any simple models currently available, including those where dust obscuration is solely responsible for the observed velocity shifts. The similarity between the velocities of H-alpha and Mg II, O I provides some support for models in which the Balmer lines are produced predominantly in a warm H I region, while the Lyman lines arise mainly in a population of optically thin clouds. A velocity separation between the two cloud populations, along with some obscuration, could explain the main features. 25 refs.


Objective:To test the hypothesis that compared with daily soap and water bathing, 2% chlorhexidine gluconate bathing every other day for up to 28 days decreases the risk of hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infection, ventilator-associated pneumonia, incisional surgical site infection, and primary bloodstream infection in surgical ICU patients. Design:This was a single-center, pragmatic, randomized trial. Patients and clinicians were aware of treatment-group assignment; investigators who determined outcomes were blinded. Setting:Twenty-four–bed surgical ICU at a quaternary academic medical center. Patients:Adults admitted to the surgical ICU from July 2012 to May 2013 with an anticipated surgical ICU stay for 48 hours or more were included. Interventions:Patients were randomized to bathing with 2% chlorhexidine every other day alternating with soap and water every other day (treatment arm) or to bathing with soap and water daily (control arm). Measurements and Main Results:The primary endpoint was a composite outcome of catheter-associated urinary tract infection, ventilator-associated pneumonia, incisional surgical site infection, and primary bloodstream infection. Of 350 patients randomized, 24 were excluded due to prior enrollment in this trial and one withdrew consent. Therefore, 325 were analyzed (164 soap and water versus 161 chlorhexidine). Patients acquired 53 infections. Compared with soap and water bathing, chlorhexidine bathing every other day decreased the risk of acquiring infections (hazard ratio = 0.555; 95% CI, 0.309–0.997; p = 0.049). For patients bathed with soap and water versus chlorhexidine, counts of incident hospital-acquired infections were 14 versus 7 for catheter-associated urinary tract infection, 13 versus 8 for ventilator-associated pneumonia, 6 versus 3 for incisional surgical site infections, and 2 versus 0 for primary bloodstream infection; the effect was consistent across all infections. The absolute risk reduction for acquiring a hospital-acquired infection was 9.0% (95% CI, 1.5–16.4%; p = 0.019). Incidences of adverse skin occurrences were similar (18.9% soap and water vs 18.6% chlorhexidine; p = 0.95). Conclusions:Compared with soap and water, chlorhexidine bathing every other day decreased the risk of acquiring infections by 44.5% in surgical ICU patients.


This study examined thermal-infrared (TIR) image data acquired using the airborne Advanced Thematic Mapper (ATM) sensor in the afternoon of July 25, 2000 over a portion of the Colorado River corridor to determine the capability of these 100-cm resolution data to address some biologic and cultural resource requirements for GCMRC. The requirements investigated included the mapping of warm backwaters that may serve as fish habitats and the detection (and monitoring) of archaeological structures and natural springs that occur on land. This report reviews the procedure for calibration of the airborne TIR data to obtain surface water temperatures and shows the results for various river reaches within the acquired river corridor. With respect to mapping warm backwater areas, our results show that TIR data need to be acquired with a gain setting that optimizes the range of temperatures found within the water to increase sensitivity of the resulting data to a level of 0.1 °C and to reduce scan-line noise. Data acquired within a two-hour window around maximum solar heating (1:30 PM) is recommended to provide maximum solar heating of the water and to minimize cooling effects of late-afternoon shadows. Groundtruth data within the temperature range of the warm backwaters are necessary for calibration of the TIR data. The ground-truth data need to be collected with good locational accuracy. The derived watertemperature data provide the capability for rapid, wide-area mapping of warm-water fish habitats using a threshold temperature for such habitats. The collected daytime TIR data were ineffective in mapping (detecting) both archaeological structures and natural springs (seeps). The inability of the daytime TIR data to detect archaeological structures is attributed to the low thermal sensitivity (0.3 °C) of the collected data. The detection of subtle thermal differences between geologic materials requires sensitivities of at least 0.1 °C, which can be obtained by most TIR sensors using an appropriate gain setting. Simultaneous data collection for both land and water purposes can be achieved using sensors that collect TIR data in two separate channels, each channel using a gain setting most appropriate for land or water. The detection of archaeological structures and natural water seeps would also be improved by collection of data after sunset, which would require a separate data acquisition from that providing surface water temperature data and therefore additional cost. At this point, the cost for acquiring TIR data is quite high ($620/river-km) compared to the potential benefits of the data, unless reflected-wavelength data are also collected that can satisfy other GCMRC protocol requirements (such as mapping riparian vegetation). This is especially true if multiple data acquisitions are required during the year for temporal analyses of backwater areas. The cost for these data cannot be totally mitigated by its ability to partly replace the need for ground surveys of backwaters because calibration of the TIR data will require some ground-truth data from warm backwater areas (in addition to low-temperature main-stem data). However, the airborne data can provide a product that cannot be approached by ground surveys, that being an instantaneous (2 hour) map of surface water temperature over a 160-km stretch of the Grand Canyon.


This thesis proposes a distributed observer design for a class of nonlinear systems that arise in the application of model reduction techniques. Distributed observer design techniques have been proposed in the literature to address estimation problems over sensor networks. In large complex sensor networks, an efficient technique that minimizes the extent of the required communication is highly desirable. This is especially true when sensors have problems caused by physical limitations that result in incorrect information at the local level affecting the estimation of states globally. To address this problem, scalable algorithms for a suitable distributed observer have been developed. Most algorithms are focussed on large linear dynamical systems and they are not directly generalizable to nonlinear systems. In this thesis, scalable algorithms for distributed observers are proposed for a class of large scale observable nonlinear system. Distributed systems models multi-agent systems in which each agents attempts to accomplish local tasks. In order to achieve global objectives, there should be agreement regarding some commonly known variables that depend on the state of all agents. These variables are called consensus states. Once identified, such consensus states can be exploited in the development of distributed consensus algorithms. Consensus algorithms are used to develop information exchange protocols between agents such that global objectives are met through local action. In this thesis, a higher order observer is applied in the distributed sensor network system to design a distributed observer for a class nonlinear systems. Fusion of measurement and covariance information is applied to the higher order filter as the first method. The consensus filter is embedded in the local nonlinear observer for fusion of data. The second method is based on the communication of state estimates between neighbouring sensors rather than fusion of data measurement and covariance. The second method is found to reduce disagreement of the states estimation between each sensor. The performance of these new algorithms is demonstrated by simulation, and the second method is effectively applied over the first method.


Identifying and understanding quality phrases from context is a fundamental task in text mining. The most challenging part of this task arguably lies in uncommon, emerging, and domain-specific phrases. The infrequent nature of these phrases significantly hurts the performance of phrase mining methods that rely on sufficient phrase occurrences in the input corpus. Context-aware tagging models, though not restricted by frequency, heavily rely on domain experts for either massive sentence-level gold labels or handcrafted gazetteers. In this work, we propose UCPhrase, a novel unsupervised context-aware quality phrase tagger. Specifically, we induce high-quality phrase spans as silver labels from consistently co-occurring word sequences within each document. Compared with typical context-agnostic distant supervision based on existing knowledge bases (KBs), our silver labels root deeply in the input domain and context, thus having unique advantages in preserving contextual completeness and capturing emerging, out-of-KB phrases. Training a conventional neural tagger based on silver labels usually faces the risk of overfitting phrase surface names. Alternatively, we observe that the contextualized attention maps generated from a transformer-based neural language model effectively reveal the connections between words in a surface-agnostic way. Therefore, we pair such attention maps with the silver labels to train a lightweight span prediction model, which can be applied to new input to recognize (unseen) quality phrases regardless of their surface names or frequency. Thorough experiments on various tasks and datasets, including corpus-level phrase ranking, document-level keyphrase extraction, and sentence-level phrase tagging, demonstrate the superiority of our design over state-of-the-art pre-trained, unsupervised, and distantly supervised methods.


'Open Learning: Bridge to Success', a Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) project, is a partnership between The Open University (OU) (UK), Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA). The grant has enabled these institutions to capitalise on the success of the OU's 'Openings' content by modifying it for students in the US with the aim of improving retention, learner capability, confidence and motivation through the acquisition of learning skills and core maths (Open University Openings courses, 2012). During a short timeframe (12 months) this has brought about the creation of versatile OER content that has drawn on the expertise of its partner institutions to develop.

The OU's 'Openings' courses have been shown to increase learner capability and confidence, encourage participation, result in student registration on accredited courses and contribute to greater progression and completion. The Bridge to Success (B2S) content aims to allow remediation and practice, accelerate time to completion and open up pathways to skills. Two Openings courses have been adapted for B2S (Starting with Maths and Learning to Change) and enhanced with activities as the courses are presented online (pre-assessment, diagnostic activities, formative assessments) to engage adults in the learning process. Course units have been presented and developed in the OU's free, standards-based LabSpace website (LabSpace, 2012) which allows all users to contribute to, edit and initiate material. The content is therefore not only available to targeted students in the US, but anyone browsing or searching the OU's content.

Pilot institutions in the US have adopted B2S content as the recommended route for preparation to college placement. The piloting process is monitoring, supporting and evaluating the impact of materials within the colleges involved. A program offering support material for adoption by colleges and instructors has been established so that those with no formal connection to B2S can utilise the content.

B2S is contributing to the American Graduation Initiative outlined by President Obama in 2009 which aims for all US citizens to obtain at least one year of post-secondary education or career training. The project expects to exceed its own targets and directly engage with over 3000 students and over 100 educators during the grant period.


Abstract The literature suggests that improving the management skills of owner-managers of SMEs contributes to their survival and growth and that there is considerable scope for further improvement in skills. However, evidence suggests that current support for management development (MD) does not meet the needs of SMEs. Nevertheless, there have been few changes on the supply side with policy makers continuously being concerned about low take-up of training. This study contributes to an understanding of how existing MD activities in SMEs can be better supported. Using Mumford's (1987) typology of MD activities to classify our interview data, findings from interviews with 25 owner-managers suggest two approaches to providing learning support: (1) incorporate structured opportunities for individual reflection and reflection within groups; and (2) address participants' concerns about training and mentoring. These findings have implications for policy makers and are timely given the current economic situation, where previous patterns of growth are being challenged and new ways of supporting MD in SMEs need to be found.


The effects of operational modes on the removal of a synthetic organic chemical (SOC) in natural water by powdered activated carbon (PAC) during ultrafiltration (UF) were studied, through model simulations and experiments. The removal percentage of the trace SOC was independent of its influent concentration for a given PAC dose. The minimum PAC dosage required to achieve a desired effluent concentration could quickly be optimized from the C/C plot as a function of the PAC dosage. The cross-flow operation was not advantageous over the dead-end regarding the SOC removal. Added PAC was re-circulated as a suspension in the UF loop for only a short time even under the cross-flow velocity of gt; 1.0 m/s. The cross-flow condition did not contribute much to the suspending of PAC. The pulse PAC addition at the beginning of a filtration cycle resulted in somewhat better SOC removal than the continuous PAC addition. The increased NOM loading on PAC which was dosed in a pulse and stayed longer in the UF loop could possibly further decrease the adsorption rate.


This paper empirically analyzes the Federal Trade Commission's merger enforcement decisions, to supplement the 2004 release of the Horizontal Merger Investigation Data. The study provides insights into the review process for both multi- and single-market mergers. We present concentration-based models, customized to the relevant industry, for mergers with large numbers of overlaps. When more detailed data is available (for mergers with 3 or fewer overlaps), the analyses also focus on additional factors. We find evidence to suggest that, in addition to market structure, verified customer complaints and entry considerations also affect the enforcement decision. Finally, the study notes that the Commission's enforcement policy has been stable during the 1996 through 2003 time period.


Stimulus-driven brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), such as the P300 speller, rely on using a sequence of sensory stimuli to elicit specific neural responses as control signals, while a user attends to relevant target stimuli that occur within the sequence. In current BCIs, the stimulus presentation schedule is typically generated in a pseudo-random fashion. Given the non-stationarity of brain electrical signals, a better strategy could be to adapt the stimulus presentation schedule in real-time by selecting the optimal stimuli that will maximize the signal-to-noise ratios of the elicited neural responses and provide the most information about the user's intent based on the uncertainties of the data being measured. However, the high-dimensional stimulus space limits the development of algorithms with tractable solutions for optimized stimulus selection to allow for real-time decision-making within the stringent time requirements of BCI processing. We derive a simple analytical solution of an information-based objective function for BCI stimulus selection by transforming the high-dimensional stimulus space into a one-dimensional space that parameterizes the objective function - the prior probability mass of the stimulus under consideration, irrespective of its contents. We demonstrate the utility of our adaptive stimulus selection algorithm in improving BCI performance with results from simulation and real-time human experiments.


One of the critical problems that exist in a Very Large Scale Integrated circuit (VLSI) process modeling today is the prediction and simulation of arsenic behavior in silicon during the integrated circuit fabrication. This work is focused on understanding and modeling of the physical processes which occur during arsenic diffusion and deactivation.Arsenic deactivation is a complicated process due to fast kinetics and strong interstitial ejection which accompanies deactivation. We have used ab-initio calculations in order to gain insight into the fundamental processes involved in arsenic activation/deactivation. It has been proposed that several second nearest neighbor As atoms (two or more) may kickout an adjacent Si atom forming an electrically inactive arsenic-vacancy cluster and a self-interstitial. A physical model based on this mechanism was derived and used successfully to match a variety of electrical data as well as interstitial supersaturation data measured during deactivation. This model was applied to understanding and prediction of the ultra shallow junction formation. Several effects such as rapid As diffusion at high concentrations and the existence of grown-in vacancies after amorphous/crystalline regrowth must be included to account for the discrepancies between what seems to be a mobile fraction of the profile and the electrically active fraction.An integral part of this work involves the simulation of self-interstitial cluster formation. Total energy calculations based on empirical Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were performed in order to study the energetics of interstitial aggregates as a function of size and configuration. These results provide insight into ion implant annealing processes. A Kinetic Precipitation Model (KPM) was used to analyze the evolution of {311} defects. We discuss small interstitial clusters and their role in the initial stages of annealing after ion implantation and during As deactivation.


The foramen venosum (FV) is an anatomical structure situated at the base of the skull, generally posteromedial to the foramen rotundum and anteromedial to the foramen ovale. Its prevalence and patency may be related to the shape of the sk ull. The objective of this study was to verify the prevalence and patency of the FV and its association with the different skull typ es. Overall, 143 dry skulls were screened. Of these, 84 were considered to be in an adequate state of conservation and were include d in the analysis, which was conducted through a cross-sectional view of the skullcap. The transverse (T) and anteroposterior (AP) diameters of the skull were evaluated by pachymetry and the skull type was classified according to the cephalic index (CI) (CI = T/ AP x 100). The presence and patency of the FV were evaluated. Overall, 25 % of the skulls were dolichocephalic, 21.4 % subdolichocephalic, 26.2 % mesaticephalic, 16.7 % sub-brachycephalic and 10.7 % brachycephalic. Overall, the FV was found in 41.6 % of the skulls (n=35), with this prevalence being greater in the mesaticephalic skulls (50 %; n=11). Patency was 25 % (n=21). A positive correlation was found between the CI and the presence of the FV in dolichocephalic skulls (on the right-hand side only ) an in sub-brachycephalic skulls (bilaterally). In conclusion, the prevalence of the FV was considerable in the sample analyzed and was directly associated with the CI in dolichocephalic and sub-brachycephalic skulls.


We study the impact of the constraint set and gradient geometry on the convergence of online and stochastic methods for convex optimization, providing a characterization of the geometries for which stochastic gradient and adaptive gradient methods are (minimax) optimal. In particular, we show that when the constraint set is quadratically convex, diagonally pre-conditioned stochastic gradient methods are minimax optimal. We further provide a converse that shows that when the constraints are not quadratically convex---for example, any $\ell_p$-ball for $p < 2$---the methods are far from optimal. Based on this, we can provide concrete recommendations for when one should use adaptive, mirror or stochastic gradient methods.


Extragalactic jets are collimated and magnetized outflows of relativistic plasma produced by accreting supermassive black holes. Although their understanding has significantly
progressed over the years, the physical processes driving their launching, acceleration and collimation are still unclear. One reason is that the crucial mechanisms for jet formation take place on extremely small scales, and the angular resolution achievable in observations is only recently becoming sufficient. This thesis aims at investigating the nuclear regions of the jet in the radio galaxy Cygnus A through Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations down to millimeter wavelengths. The large viewing angle of this jet (θ ∼ 75 deg) facilitates the study of the intrinsic properties of the flow thanks to the reduced geometrical and relativistic effects, and allows a counter-jet to be detected. At the source redshift
(z=0.056), mm-VLBI can achieve a resolution of only ∼200 Schwarzschild radii (Rs ). This thesis starts with an introduction to the physics of active galactic nuclei (AGN), with an emphasis on the radio-loud class (Chapter 1). A review of the currently most favored jet
launching models is given in Chapter 2, complemented by a comparison with results from state-of-the-art observational studies. A large part of the work for this thesis was spent for the calibration and imaging of VLBI data, therefore Chapter 3 is dedicated to the description of this elegant and challenging observational technique. Chapter 4, 5 and 6 are focused on the study of Cygnus A, and the main findings are summarized in Chapter 7.
Monitoring of the source at 43 GHz (Chapter 4) reveals that the flow is parabolic in its acceleration region, which extends for ∼10^4 Rs. Results are in agreement with predictions for a magnetically-driven jet confined by an external medium with mild pressure gradient.
The presence of a speed transverse gradient with spine-sheath structure, likely giving rise to the limb brightening observed, is also inferred at 43 GHz. Its origin is further investigated in Chapter 5 at 86 GHz. At this frequency, the improved resolution enables to trace the limb-brightened structure down to the base of the two-sided flow, suggesting that stratification
is a direct result of the jet launching mechanism. The minimum jet transverse size of 135±27 Rs is much larger than the radius of the Innermost Stable Circular Orbit (1–9 Rs), implying that the launching region must involve also the outer part of the accretion disk.
A spectral analysis in the frequency range 8–86 GHz (Chapter 6) constrains the location of the true central engine to coincide with a prominent gap of emission seen at 43 GHz and at lower frequencies, at a distance of ∼1000 Rs from the 86 GHz core. The gap is
a synchrotron self-absorbed region which becomes partially optically thin at 86 GHz. The counter-jet exhibits a flat or inverted spectrum up to high frequencies, compatible with the presence of a compact absorber extending between ∼0.5 and 1.5 pc from the central engine. Spectral fitting indicates that the absorber may have a second, more diffuse component spread over the entire source.


A simple technique for removing tidal fluctuations from drawdown data was examined. This technique relied simply upon transforming measured surface water level data to fit the pretest groundwater level data. Estimates of aquifer diffusivity obtained from the tidal amplitude multiplier, used to transform the measured surface water level data in the detrending technique, agreed well with estimates derived from type-curve fitting of the transformed drawdown. Use of the surface water data to remove tidal fluctuations from the pumping test data underscored the need to monitor surface water levels in the adjacent tidal water body throughout the entire pumping test.


The internationalisation process undertaken by the EU has affected the way business communication is carried out throughout the continent and, therefore, the students and lecturers now face a new reality. English has become the lingua franca for European communication due to the enhancement of the European Higher Education Area, and many lecturers are teaching their classes in this language. We defend the CLIL approach to teaching, observing the specific case for a master's degree in English language and Business (English Language for International Trade, ELIT) which is currently taught at Universitat Jaume I. Results suggest that both companies and universities are eager to implement similar academic programmes as this new concept of European unity will be based on sharing information.