Legacies of social and environmental injustices can leave an imprint on the present and constrain transitions for more sustainable futures. In this article, we ask this question: What is the relationship of environmental inequality and histories of segregation? The answer for Baltimore is complex, where past practices of de jure and de facto segregation have created social and environmental legacies that persist on the landscape today. To answer this question, we examine the interactions among past and current environmental injustices in Baltimore from the late 1880s to the present using nearly twenty years of social and environmental justice research from the Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES), a long-term social–ecological research project. Our research demonstrates that patterns and procedures in the city's early history of formal and informal segregation, followed by "redlining" in the 1930s, have left indelible patterns of social and environmental inequalities. These patterns are manifest in the distribution of environmental disamenities such as polluting industries, urban heat islands, and vulnerability to flooding, and they are also evident in the distribution of environmental amenities such as parks and trees. Further, our work shows how these legacies are complicated by changing perceptions of what counts as an environmental disamenity and amenity. Ultimately, we argue that the interactions among historical patterns, processes, and procedures over the long term are crucial for understanding environmental injustices of the past and present and for constructing sustainable cities for the future.


The power generation in Cambodia is dominated by hydropower and coal. In 2015, the shares of electricity generation generated from coal, hydro, oil and biomass were 48.1%, 47.40%, 3.65% and 0.85%, respectively. The government of Cambodia has set up the Power Development Plan (PDP) 2020 which mainly emphasizes the development of renewable energy and coal-based power. The drastically increasing share of coal-based electricity generation in the recent years is providing an alarming signal in terms of the increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the power sector. Recently, renewable energy and efficient technologies have played an important role in GHG emission's reduction. The aim of this paper is to quantify the potentials of renewable energy and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) mitigation options in the power sector of Cambodia. In this study, the Long-range Energy Planning (LEAP) model is used to analyze the electricity generation mix and CO 2 mitigation during 2015 to 2050. The BAU scenario is constructed in this study following the power development targets of PDP2020, and the share of renewable energy-based power generation is assumed to reach 44% by 2050. Three countermeasure (CM) scenarios of CO 2 mitigation (namely, CM1, CM2, and CM3) are modeled along with the Business as Usual (BAU) scenario. Two countermeasure scenarios, namely CM1 and CM2 considering an additional 5% of power generation based on solar PV and biomass-based technologies have been constructed in this study respectively. In the CM3 scenario, the CO 2 mitigation effects of replacing 50% of conventional coal-fired power plants with the efficient carbon capture storage (CCS) technology in coal power plants have been analyzed. The results demonstrate that in the BAU scenario, electricity supply and CO 2 emissions from the power sector will increase to 65.9TWh and 14,683.5kt-CO 2eq , respectively, in 2050. In countermeasures scenarios, CO 2 emissions in 2050 would be reduced by 45% in the CM3, 15% in CM1 and 12.47% in the CM2 scenario when compared to the BAU scenario.


This report explores what is known about the relationship between English language learning and employability in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Section 1 summarises the economic situation in MENA and describes some of the approaches to reform that have been proposed to generate economic growth, which include labour market reform (a focus on demand), and investment in education and changes in education systems (a focus on supply). It concludes with a collated list of recommendations for reforming MENA economies.

Section 2 provides an overview of education systems in MENA and educational policy attempts to respond to economic and social needs in the region. Included in these reforms are proposals to enhance both access to and quality of education; making education more responsive to the needs of the private sector; and expanding and improving English language teaching. This section also presents an overview of the data that exists on the relationship between economic development and education that is relevant to the region. It demonstrates that overall investments in education, though significant in many countries across the region (and particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), have not resulted in the expected outcomes (i.e. significant improvements in the provision of education).

Section 3 looks at the role and status of English in society and in education systems across MENA, and considers the role of the language in promoting employability. The section first reviews the evidence that relates English language learning to economic gain for nations and individuals, paying heed also to the results that have been found elsewhere. It suggests that there is a relationship between English language skills and economic gain, but the benefits at a national level are limited by the wider system and factors such as macro-economic stability, good governance and transparency. Similarly, a person's social environment and individual circumstances limit the returns of English at an individual level. So without targeting the long-embedded inequalities in terms of gender, ethnicity and the urban-rural divide, education in general – and English language education in particular – is not likely to provide disadvantaged individuals with the resources that they need to catch up. There is little quantitative evidence from the MENA region that would allow us to make claims such as "an individual who speaks English earns X% more than an individual that doesn't" – and this might be the type of evidence that parents and policy makers would most like to see. But even when such claims are made, they are restricted to certain employment sectors and geographic regions and cannot be generalised to whole populations or regions.

Evidence also shows that while English language skills are related to economic opportunities, the same can be said of any language skills. Multilingualism is very valuable for societies, and it is certainly not the case, as was once thought by some, that multilingualism acts as a barrier to economic development. This provides good justification for ensuring that local and national languages maintain a strong role in societies, and that children are offered opportunities to develop a strong foundation of literacy and communication skills in local languages, which will then, in turn, ensure a strong basis for second language learning.

Section 3 ends with a review of the emerging research into English language teaching programmes and programmes in higher education that are using English as medium of instruction (EMI). These studies highlight the serious challenges involved in implementing effective English language teaching initiatives in the region. They also uncover clear needs to develop teachers' competences in student-centred, communicative teaching approaches, as well as abilities to deliver sector-specific, authentic ESP programmes. Research into EMI raises severe concerns about the efficacy of such programmes in MENA and the opportunities for students to access learning through English. Moreover, the research uncovers concerns among some MENA populations (overall but particularly in the GCC) of dominance of global culture over local values, as well as efforts to maintain local values, cultures, religion and languages.

This research therefore implies that offering quality English language teaching is a challenge in the region. Offering education through English as the only medium seems likely to act as a further hindrance to learning. Despite the significant investment of governments and individuals, even in some of the most generously funded education systems in the world, these challenges persist. This suggests that there are wider issues at stake, and that there is a need for significant transformation in education systems and traditions. Access to high quality English language teaching should be equitable, and should offer individuals opportunities to enhance their capabilities in ways that allow them to capitalise on economic and social opportunities and to take ownership of English as a medium for the expression of local values. At the moment there is little evidence that this is happening.
The report concludes by summarising the implications of this review and by proposing recommendations for policy makers and implementers that would help support the transformation of education systems in MENA so that education and language learning can better contribute to human development. These recommendations relate to both wider education systems in general, as the context in which language learning and skills development sits, and English language teaching in particular. The recommendations include:

Approaches concerning language use and language learning
• Applying a bilingual/multilingual approach to education at all levels and in all countries to support improvements in quality
• Building more bridges to allow students to move between their local languages and varieties, the national language and international languages
• Ensuring strong foundations in local language(s) literacies as well as English literacy, with bridges connecting the two
• Ensuring that appropriate language learning pedagogies are used with young learners so that they gain confidence and useful communication skills
• Promoting high quality English language teaching through appropriate teacher education or professional development initiatives and shifts in assessment policies

Curriculum reforms
• Implementing in policy and practice learner-centred pedagogies that move away from rote learning and memorisation
• Integrating critical thinking, problem solving and autonomy skills into the subject curriculum
• Updating the curriculum to be relevant to the real needs of society

Teacher education
• Strengthening systems for initial teacher education and opportunities for the professional development of practising teachers over time and at scale
• Harnessing ICTs for the provision of teacher education
• Providing support for teachers to enact multilingual strategies in the classroom to support students in learning to communicate in local, national and international languages

Educational system reforms
• Implementing national quality assurance standards
• Reforming assessment systems so that they ensure that certain knowledge and competencies are learned instead of working as gatekeepers
• Maintaining focus on improving quality of basic education so that it is relevant to people's lives and potential for employment
• Embedding more flexibility into education systems
• Focusing on equity issues (particularly those related to location, gender and language background)
• Ensuring that education is delivered in a medium that students can access

Technical education
• Ensuring that skills development initiatives are relevant and accessible to those who need them most (reducing barriers to vocational education)
• Embedding literacy and numeracy development and language learning within Technical Vocational Educational Training (TVET)
• Improving the image of TVET (through enhancing employability)

Further research, monitoring and evaluation
• Filling the data gap with regards to learning outcomes in the region in general and in terms of English levels among teachers and students
• Developing independent education research institutions
• Promoting monitoring and evaluation, for sharing good practice across the region, and for scaling up successful initiatives
• Providing more quantitative data about levels of English in society and needs for English (and other languages) in the labour market, including the informal sector
• Providing more qualitative data – through case studies – about what people can actually do with English language skills once obtained, what challenges can be solved and opportunities sought with additional competences in English

This report suggests that such education initiatives (including those in ELT) are embedded within wider programmes for development that take into account the larger structural issues in order to enhance people's opportunities and capabilities.


BP Koirala in Sumnima believes in the idea that the essence of any civilization is the quest for a common humanity and not the zeal for cultural and religious orthodoxy. It empowers the need of cultural synthesis, for whatever is good, beautiful and useful must be learnt and be assimilated for the benefit of larger humanity. The novelist wishes for the evolution of humanist culture to be enriched by the contribution of all religions. Sumnima, the protagonist of the novel, believes in cultural and religious orthodoxy and rejects other religions and cultures. In addition, she realizes her mistake and stretches her arms towards humanism. She also realizes that one should not be confined in the narrow sectaries of caste, religion and cultural orthodoxy which are a mere social practice. These polarities only divide human beings and prevent to achieve unlimited possibilities of human life. Thus, this paper aims to suggest that humans should make their e# ort for an ultimate harmony between humans and society.Crossing the Border: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 5(2) 2017: 37-50


The knowledge of formation pore pressure, and how it changes throughout the length of a well, is crucial in terms of maintaining control of the wellbore. Failure to recognize deviations from the expected pressures can lead to problems and instabilities, which increases drilling costs. A worst case scenario may lead to loss of an entire well section. Thus maintaining a real-time knowledge of the formation pore pressure is beneficial regarding both the cost and the safety of a drilling operation. In this thesis multiple methods of pore pressure detection have been implemented in a Matlab program, which is used for testing with recorded real-time drilling data of a well, provided by IPT. The methods chosen were the Zamora and Eaton methods, both based on utilization of the dc-exponent, and the Bourgoyne-Young drilling model. The program has calculated pore pressure gradients based on each of these methods. In turn these results have been compared with the pore pressure presented in a final well report provided alongside the drilling data. This forms a basis for evaluation of each methods accuracy and applicability with use of this kind of drilling data. The results show that all three methods are able to produce a pore pressure gradient which is partly in compliance with the values provided in the final well report. However, the accuracy of the calculated results is not sufficient to be used to detect pore pressure with the desired precision. This may in part be caused by a lack of gamma ray data, which would have provided a more reliable selection of data. The addition of gamma ray as an input parameter should be of priority in any future developments. The most accurate result was calculated using the Bourgoyne-Young drilling model.


Unlike multispectral (MSI) and panchromatic (PAN) images, generally the spatial resolution of hyperspectral images (HSI) is limited, due to sensor limitations. In many applications, HSI with a high spectral as well as spatial resolution are required. In this paper, a new method for spatial resolution enhancement of a HSI using spectral unmixing and sparse coding (SUSC) is introduced. The proposed method fuses high spectral resolution features from the HSI with high spatial resolution features from an MSI of the same scene. Endmembers are extracted from the HSI by spectral unmixing, and the exact location of the endmembers is obtained from the MSI. This fusion process by using spectral unmixing is formulated as an ill-posed inverse problem which requires a regularization term in order to convert it into a well-posed inverse problem. As a regularizer, we employ sparse coding (SC), for which a dictionary is constructed using high spatial resolution MSI or PAN images from unrelated scenes. The proposed algorithm is applied to real Hyperion and ROSIS datasets. Compared with other state-of-the-art algorithms based on pansharpening, spectral unmixing, and SC methods, the proposed method is shown to significantly increase the spatial resolution while perserving the spectral content of the HSI.


SUMMARY A mechanistic model (COWPOLL) was used to estimate enteric methane (CH4) emissions from beef production systems in Chile. The results expressed as a proportion of gross energy intake (GEI) were compared with enteric fermentation data reported in the last Chilean greenhouse gases inventory, which utilized an earlier the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Tier 2 approach. The simulation analysis was based on information from feedstuffs, dry matter intake (DMI), body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) of steers raised and finished at two research facilities located in Central and Southern Chile, as well as three simulated scenarios for grass-based finishing systems in Southern Chile. Data for feedlot production systems in the central region were assessed by considering steers fed a forage : concentrate ratio of 23 : 77 using maize silage and wheat straw as roughage sources during the stages of backgrounding and fattening. Average DMI were 7·3±0·62 and 9·2±0·55 kg/day per steer for backgrounding and fattening, respectively, whereas ADG were 1·1±0·22 and 1·3±0·37 kg/day for backgrounding and fattening. For the Southern Chilean fattening production systems, the forage : concentrate ratio was 56 : 44 with ryegrass pasture as the sole forage source. In this case, average DMI was 9·97±0·51 and ADG was 1·1±0·24 kg/day per steer. Two of the grass-based scenarios used the same initial BW information as that used for the Central and Southern Chilean systems, but feedlot diets were replaced by ryegrass pasture. The third grass-based scenario used an initial BW of 390 kg. In all the grass-based scenarios an ADG of 0·90 kg/day, with maximum DMI estimated as a proportion of BW (0·01 of NDF, kg/kg BW), was assumed. The results of the simulation analysis showed that emission factors (Y m; fraction of GEI) ranged from 0·062 to 0·079 of GEI. Smaller values were associated with finishing systems that included a lower proportion of forage in the diet due to higher propionate production, which serves as a sink for hydrogen in the rumen. Cattle finished in feedlot systems had an average of 0·062 of GEI lost as CH4, whereas grass-based cattle had losses of 0·079 of GEI. Enteric CH4 emissions for the systems using grass-based and concentrate diets were 261 and 159 g/kg weight gain, respectively. The Chilean CH4 inventory employs a fixed Y m of 0·060 to estimate enteric fermentation for all cattle. This value is lower than the average Y m obtained in the current simulation analysis (0·071 of GEI), which results in underestimation of enteric CH4 emissions from beef cattle. However, these results need to be checked against field measurements of CH4 emissions. Implementation of mechanistic models in the preparation of national greenhouse gas inventories is feasible if appropriate information is provided, allowing dietary characteristics and regional particularities to be taken into consideration.


Elastic surfaces that morph between multiple geometrical configurations are of significant engineering value, with applications ranging from the deployment of space-based PV arrays, the erection of temporary shelters, and the realization of flexible display systems, to understanding the encapsulation and release of viral RNAs. In general, ensuring that a shape with a planar rest configuration can deploy into a target 3D shape is a nontrivial problem. Moreover, it is difficult to physically realize the local deformations necessary to achieve such global transformation. Here, we give a tutorial on applying conformal mapping to rationalize the geometrical deformation of several microstructure designs. A conformal map is a function that locally preserves angles and shapes but not lengths: some regions are scaled (enlarged or shrunk) more than others. To transform a planar surface to 3D, we implement the uniform local scalings as mechanical deformations. Numerous natural and architected material systems exhibit such behavior, including kirigami, origami, hydrogel, linkage mechanisms, and fabric membranes. The design and fabrication of conformally transformable surfaces is a transdisciplinary challenge involving insights from advanced manufacturing, computational design, material science, and mechanics. By recognizing that many material systems exhibit isotropic deformation, we hope to inspire researchers to adopt conformal mapping in designing next-generation surface-based engineering systems.


Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and coronary artery lesion complexity with patients having acute non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Materials and Methods: The patients (n=328) were divided into low syntax score (SS) group (SS≤17; Low-SSG), intermediate SS group (SS=18-28; In-SSG), and high SS group (SS≥29; High-SSG) based on the SS value. EFT, SS, distributions of the critical coronary artery lesions, and the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were determined for all the groups. EFT was measured by transthoracic echocardiography and was recorded on a digital storage device. Results: High-SSG had a significantly higher mean of EFT (6.65±0.82 mm) when compared to Low-SSG (5.12±1.13 mm) and In-SSG (5.79±0.83 mm) (p<0.001). EFT showed a significant positive correlation with SS (r=0.607, p<0.001). Further, a significant positive correlation was revealed with the distributions of critical coronary artery lesions of the left anterior descending (LAD), circumflex artery (Cx), and right coronary artery (RCA) (r=0.260, p<0.001; r=0.213, p=0.001; and r=0.275, p<0.001, respectively). However, no correlation was demonstrated between EFT and NLR (r=0.081, p=0.145) in patients with NSTEMI. Conclusion: These results showed that EFT is significantly associated with coronary artery lesion complexity in patients with NSTEMI and can work as a risk marker in these patients.


ABSTRACT In this article, an approach for metamodel-based design optimization (MBDO) of topology optimization (TO) concepts is proposed by using support vector machines (SVMs) as geometric models of the concepts instead of traditional parametric computer aided design (CAD) models. In such a manner, an efficient approach for the MBDO-driven design of TO-based concepts is obtained. An implicit hypersurface representing the TO-based concept is generated by classifying the TO-solutions of zeros and ones by using the 1-norm SVM of Mangasarian. The implicit SVM-based hypersurfaces are then utilized to set up designs of experiments of nonlinear finite element analyses by morphing the TO-based concepts by using Boolean and blending operations. Finally, MBDO is performed by using an ensemble of metamodels consisting of quadratic regression, Kriging, radial basis function networks, polynomial chaos expansion and support vector regression models. The proposed MBDO framework is demonstrated by minimizing the mass of a three-dimensional design domain with a constraint on the plastic limit load. The performance of the approach is most promising.


Abstract Chemical and structural data are reported for platinum-palladium intermediates from two nuggets found at Córrego Bom Sucesso, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Three grains with simple stoichiometries (i.e. PtxPd1−x with x ~0.67, ~0.5 and ~0.33, which correspond to Pt2Pd, PtPd and PtPd2, respectively) were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electron-probe microanalysis. In the absence of single-crystal data it might be tempting to hypothesize that such simple stoichiometries represent distinct mineral species, however structural analyses show that all of the phases are cubic and crystallize in space group Fm3̅m. They are, therefore, natural intermediates in the palladium-platinum solid solution. Reflectance and micro-hardness values are reported for the samples and a comparison with the pure metallic elements made. On the basis of information gained from the chemical and structural characterization it can be concluded that there is a complete solid solution between Pt and Pd in nature. These findings corroborate results from experiments on synthetic compounds.


We describe the development of a semantic-based knowledge management platform for web-enabled environments featuring intelligence and insight capabilities. The main objective of the platform is to semantically search, analyze and present information retrieved from the web (or any other type of document) as well as allows domain ontology to evolve periodically. This is achieved through the use of Multi-Agent Systems and ontologies, one for building distributed systems and the other for knowledge representation. The most important feature of the SKMP lie in that the information retrieved from the web is the source of ontology evolving, while the periodical ontology evolving that will enrich domain ontologies by adding more semantics in return significantly improves efficiency of the semantic retrieval, i.e., the two are mutually reinforcing relationship. We test and verify the feature through three domain ontology from different domains.


Vagal afferents form the primary gut-to-brain neural axis and are thought to communicate negative feedback signals to the central nervous system to attenuate consummatory behaviors by promoting satiation and possibly satiety. The expansive and fluid nature of the gastrointestinal organs has made it methodologically challenging to decipher the negative feedback signals, and how the signals are disseminated or converged within the central feeding systems. We sought to understand the anatomical relationship and organization between the terminal fields of the peripheral axonal projections and the central axonal projections of gastrointestinal (GI) vagal afferents for clues about what and how information is communicated along the gut-brain axis. Here, we quantified the density and distribution of peripheral and central GI vagal axonal projections in neurotrophin-4 deficient (KO) and control mice. KO mice exhibited a 75 and 55% reduction in small intestinal vagal mucosal afferents, proximally distally, and no significant reduction of mucosal vagal afferents in the stomach, compared to controls. Previous characterization, similarly, reported a >70% reduction in small intestinal vagal muscle afferents and no loss of muscle afferents in the stomach. Centrally, KO mice exhibited an increase in central terminal axonal projections in the medial nucleus tractus solitarius. Our findings support previous hypotheses that neurotrophin-4 exerts an organ-specific regulation of development of gastrointestinal vagal afferents innervation. Furthermore, our findings highlight the dynamic relationship between the peripheral and central axonal projections of vagal afferents.


Introducing the memorial symposium in the Oregon Law Review for the late Professor Keith Aoki, who taught at Oregon from 1993 to 2006, we frame the contributions of invited scholars who address Keith's impact on the law and legal academy through his prolific work on diverse areas of law — intellectual property, local government, critical geography, Asian American jurisprudence, immigration and critical Latina/o jurisprudence. Collectively, the pieces evidence a scholar armed with an unwavering commitment to critical analysis and social justice, while wielding a vast array of cultural and intellectual influences from his career as an artist. Given Keith's legacy as a beloved mentor to scholars junior and senior and his record as selfless, abundantly generous, courageous, tireless, and creative, we pose the question in this introduction of whether it is possible for someone with all these values and virtues to even exist in academia.


We consider off-policy policy evaluation with function approximation (FA) in average-reward MDPs, where the goal is to estimate both the reward rate and the differential value function. For this problem, bootstrapping is necessary and, along with off-policy learning and FA, results in the deadly triad (Sutton&Barto, 2018). To address the deadly triad, we propose two novel algorithms, reproducing the celebrated success of Gradient TD algorithms in the average-reward setting. In terms of estimating the differential value function, the algorithms are the first convergent off-policy linear function approximation algorithms. In terms of estimating the reward rate, the algorithms are the first convergent off-policy linear function approximation algorithms that do not require estimating the density ratio. We demonstrate empirically the advantage of the proposed algorithms, as well as their nonlinear variants, over a competitive density-ratio-based approach, in a simple domain as well as challenging robot simulation tasks.


The synthesis of polysilylethers (PSEs) using a monomer derived from a biorenewable feedstock is reported. The AB-type monomer was synthesized from undecenoic acid through hydrosilylation and reduction, and the polymerization was catalyzed by earth-abundant metal salts. High-molar-mass products were achieved, and the degree of polymerization was controlled by varying the amount of an AA-type monomer in the reaction. The PSEs possess good thermal stability and a low glass-transition temperature (Tg ≈-67 °C). To demonstrate the utility of the PSEs, polyurethanes were synthesized from low-molar-mass hydroxy-telechelic PSEs.


Solid-density plasmas driven by intense x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) radiation are seeded by sources of nonthermal photoelectrons and Auger electrons that ionize and heat the target via collisions. Simulation codes that are commonly used to model such plasmas, such as collisional-radiative (CR) codes, typically assume a Maxwellian distribution and thus instantaneous thermalization of the source electrons. In this study, we present a detailed description and initial applications of a collisional particle-in-cell code, picls, that has been extended with a self-consistent radiation transport model and Monte Carlo models for photoionization and KLL Auger ionization, enabling the fully kinetic simulation of XFEL-driven plasmas. The code is used to simulate two experiments previously performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source investigating XFEL-driven solid-density Al plasmas. It is shown that picls-simulated pulse transmissions using the Ecker-Kröll continuum-lowering model agree much better with measurements than do simulations using the Stewart-Pyatt model. Good quantitative agreement is also found between the time-dependent picls results and those of analogous simulations by the CR code scfly, which was used in the analysis of the experiments to accurately reproduce the observed Kα emissions and pulse transmissions. Finally, it is shown that the effects of the nonthermal electrons are negligible for the conditions of the particular experiments under investigation.


This paper presents an end-to-end Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) platform, developed by using open-source components. It includes and allows the configuration of all the required steps along the end-to-end media delivery chain, from the encoding, segmentation and storage of the media content at the server side, to the delivery and adaptive consumption of the media content at the client side. A key component of this platform is the DASH client, developed using the GStreamer framework. It includes a module with a novel adaptive algorithm for switching between the available representations (i.e., qualities) of the media content at the server side, based on the available bandwidth and on internal conditions and features of the client (such as the buffer occupancy level, the battery level, its charging state and the CPU load). It also includes different modules to simulate specific values for these parameters, and to visualize their values and the value of the selected quality in real-time. A preliminary evaluation has proved the satisfactory performance of the overall platform. Finally, links to demo videos are provided to demonstrate the satisfactory performance and capabilities of this platform.


The MWA is a next-generation radio interferometer under construction in remote Western Australia. The data rate from the correlator makes storing the raw data infeasible, so the data must be processed in real-time. The processing task is of order ~10 TFLOPS. The remote location of the MWA limits the power that can be allocated to computing. We describe the design and implementation of elements of the MWA real-time data processing system which leverage the computing abilities of modern graphics processing units (GPUs). The matrix algebra and texture mapping capabilities of GPUs are well suited to the majority of tasks involved in real-time calibration and imaging. Considerable performance advantages over a conventional CPU-based reference implementation are obtained.


During the monsoon period of the year 1990, a micrometeorological tower of 30 m in height was erected at Jodhpur, India, as a part of the multi-institutional field experiment MONTBLEX'90. Various sensors were mounted in the tower to capture different meteorological phenomenon as accurately as possible. The objective of the present work is to study the response of these sensors and then derive different surface layer parameters from it, together with the statistical interrelation between these parameters. Simultaneously, specific weather conditions during a selective period of study have been considered to observe the change in the performance of the instruments. Also how this change affects the surface layer parameters with the presence of a typical weather system has been examined. Finally the analysis shows that the surface layer parameters have good interrelation during deep convective situations.


The NBER's Economics of Education Program has just celebrated its first anniversary, having started officially in September 2001. However, the program was created to recognize the large and rapidly growing body of economic research on education. It was felt that education, as a topic, needed a home of its own, partly to encourage progress and partly to encourage rigor. Progress happens faster when economists researching the same topic talk to one another, instead of each presenting research to his own field audience. Education topics force researchers to draw upon several economic fields, so rigor is enhanced when public economists ensure that their fellow researchers get the public economics right, macroeconomists ensure that the macroeconomics is right, and so on. Members of The Economics of Education Program are drawn from labor economics, public economics, macroeconomics and growth, industrial organization and contracts, development economics, and urban economics. Every field makes its special contributio n. For instance, macroeconomics emphasizes the intergenerational consequences of education investment; development economists offer up evaluations of striking policy experiments that would be too daring for most developed countries. The necessarily brief coverage of a program report lends itself to describing empirical work, rather than theoretical work. However, many of the important contributions to the Program have been made by theorists, whose Working Papers and presentations have been crucial to moving the economics of education forward. In its first year, the Economics of Education Program held two program meetings and two conferences. Members wrote 60-some Working Papers on education. In addition, program members interested in higher education attended two Higher Education Working Group meetings, organized by Charles T. Clotfelter. The program has thus far spawned two volumes: The Economics of School Choice (ESC), which will be published in early 2003 by University of Chicago Press; and College Decisions: New Economic Research on Higher Education (CD), which will be published about a year later. Although most program members are drawn from economics or similar departments, some are economists at graduate schools of education who help the program stay in touch with that world of research. The conferences have included policymakers and administrators, as well as program members. What is the operating environment of the Economics of Education Program? Recent years have seen a host of policy developments for economists of education to master, and these will be described later. However, the most important development is probably not a policy one, but the now-almost-ubiquitous realization that U.S. comparative advantage and economic growth are highly dependent on skill-intensive industries [9071, 8337, 7288, 68813. Americans, from "men on the street" to legislators, have concluded that the economic future depends on the supply of skilled workers, and this realization has given urgency to education reform. There is, of course, a correspondingly urgent need for education research. With so much research going on, this report must be far more selective than I would like. Rather than attempting to discuss all the work, I focus on some recent policy changes that are driving research and a few themes that appear and reappear in Program members' work. K-12 Policy Developments that have been Stimulating Research Several policy developments in elementary and secondary ("K-12") education are stimulating research. The most obvious is the school choice movement, which naturally draws economists because it raises interesting questions about incentives, market structure, public financing, housing choice, and intergenerational investments in human capital. The recent Supreme Court decision in Zelman versus Simmons-Harris (the Ohio voucher case) is sure to provide a fillip to research, as it will unleash a new wave of reforms. …


We study the methodology and potential theoretical systematics of measuring baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) using the angular correlation functions in tomographic bins. We calibrate and optimize the pipeline for the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data set using 1800 mocks. We compare the BAO fitting results obtained with three estimators: the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE), Profile Likelihood, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo. The fit results from the MLE arc the least biased and their derived la error bar are closest to the Gaussian distribution value after removing the extreme mocks with non-detected BAO signal. We show that incorrect assumptions in constructing the template, such as mismatches from the cosmology of the mocks or the underlying photo-z errors, can lead to BAO angular shifts. We find that MLE is the method that best traces this systematic biases, allowing to recover the true angular distance values. In a real survey analysis, it may happen that the final data sample properties are slightly different from those of the mock catalogue. We show that the effect on the mock covariance due to the sample differences can be corrected with the help of the Gaussian covariance matrix or more effectively using the eigenmode expansion of the mock covariance. In the eigenmode expansion, the eigenmodes are provided by some proxy covariance matrix. The eigenmode expansion is significantly less susceptible to statistical fluctuations relative to the direct measurements of the covariance matrix because of the number of free parameters is substantially reduced.


In this research, science and its political appearance are studied through an empirical exploration of their representations in narrative expressions. The field of investigation is allocated to formal and informal discourse on university, education and research in Sweden and China. The analysed expressions were taken from 202 written reports, as students and personnel in both countries answered an open ended-question, and four formal documents: the Chinese and Swedish laws on higher education and documents on research, science, and technology. The narratives were processed through a Meaning-Constitution-Analysis (MCA), a tool used to perform a deep study of a text based on a phenomenological approach that aims at making the implied assumptions and worldviews explicit.

The analysis revealed a common representation of the university as an intermediary between the government and the student in the Swedish narratives and as a meta-character differentiated from the government in the Chinese narratives. Further, the meaning of science appeared as an adjective that characterizes a certain sphere of life in the informal narratives and as a dynamic behind a desired development in the formal narratives. The meaning of politics emerged in the Swedish narratives as the formation of an environment, mainly for activities in an institutional balance between input and outcomes. In the Chinese narratives, politics appeared as a competition for status, in which both academia and the government claim the recognition awarded for successful development. These representations of politics can guide the interpretation of the otherwise quite general understanding of education as a structure to be filled with activities in the Swedish narratives and an object for a discussion based on values in the Chinese narratives as well as the representation of research as an asset in the Swedish narratives and a source of legitimacy in the Chinese narratives.

The narrative contexts are similarly shaped by representations of an acting government, but they are different as the government takes the initiative in Swedish narratives in a task-oriented discourse, while it gets involved in ongoing academic life in the Chinese narratives in a process-oriented discourse. The narrative contexts in the formal narratives are mainly centred on the outcomes, regarding a development that is the result of a dynamic, while the informal narratives are centred on the drivers.

The revealed dimensions were analysed in relation to theories on historical phases as stories, inspired by Hayhoe (1996), and science cultures, inspired by Elzinga and Jamison (1995). The approaches in the Chinese narratives indicate a tension between academic/civic and bureaucratic/political science cultures which are advantageously framed by the differences in imperial and nationalist stories in contrast to a socialist story. The analysed Swedish narratives indicate a homogeneous representation of a dominant bureaucratic/economic science culture, in which the universities and their staffs represent the government and are centred on the rights of the students and an expected outcome. The central concerns appear in the light of attributed tasks and invested means, and is advantageously framed by a story of an increasing focus on the uses of the university on the potential expense of academic concerns.


Child-responsible role, related to children as caregivers of parents with mental illness – a phenomenographic study Children as caregivers of parents with mental disorders are a vulnerable group. They have been invisible to service providers until recent years. These children have an increased risk of developing behavioral problems and impaired psychosocial functioning. In 2010, law amendments require that special health have child-responsible personnel, to ensure children and their families proper measures. There is little knowledge of how this role works. The purpose of this study is to uncover the perceptions child-responsible personnel have of their own role.The study is qualitative with a phenomenographic approach. Child-responsible personell have a special interest in working with young caregivers. They act as "watchdog" for colleagues and they provide guidance for parents. Follow-up of children is random where responsibilities are added to therapists. Child-responsible personnel collaborate with municipality, and public health nurse is specifically mentioned. There is still a way to go before the role works as intended.


Participation in physical activity (PA) of at least moderate intensity may yield important
health benefits for children. A popular behavioural tool used to promote increased PA
is the pedometer. There is however limited evidence regarding pedometer-based
strategies in children. This thesis reports on a series of anthropometric and
accelerometer-measurement issue studies which inform the methods used to address
the primary aim of this thesis- to determine the effectiveness of goal-setting, selfmonitoring
and step-feedback pedometer-based interventions for increasing PA in 10-
11-year-old children. In addition, each study in their own right provides an original
contribution to knowledge within their specific area of scholarship. The first objective
of this thesis was therefore to determine diurnal variation of height and weight and
the combined effect upon body mass index (BMI) weight status in children via a field
based study. Next, the reliability of the Actiwatch 4 (AW4) accelerometer was tested in
a mechanical laboratory experiment. Following this laboratory trial a second field
based study examined the impact of placement site upon AW4 output, and the validity
of a regression equation to predict hip-derived AW4 data from wrist-derived data.
Finally, a brief intervention mapping approach was used to develop goal-setting, selfmonitoring
and step-feedback pedometer-based interventions, the effectiveness of
which was evaluated in a small scale controlled trial involving two primary schools. The
main findings of this thesis were a) that diurnal variation in height (and in girls alone,
weight) impact upon increased BMI and BMI percentile in afternoon versus morning
measurements b) AW4 activity counts exhibit acceptable reliability statistics
(comparable to other accelerometer models), which improve when raw activity counts
are reduced into derived activity intensity variables c) wrist and hip derived AW4 data
are not comparable, and the derived regression equation may not be suitable for
group level prediction due to inaccurate individual level prediction and the large
standard error of the estimate observed d) pilot testing pedometer wear and
intervention materials may highlight practical pedometer issues (i.e. pedometer
attachment, wearing compliance and acceptability of instruction sheets) that inform intervention implementation and e) pedometer-based goal-setting, self-monitoring
and step-feedback interventions did not increase PA in 10-11-year-old children.
However, individual-standardised goal setting may be more promising as this appeared
to mitigate any decline in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in moreactive
children, and increased MVPA in less-active. To summarise, the findings of this
thesis highlight important issues for physical activity scientists to consider when using
BMI-determined weight status as a grouping variable and accelerometers as an
outcome measure, when evaluating physical activity interventions in children. With
regard to the primary aim of this thesis, future researchers should further examine the
effectiveness of the individual-standardised against the group-standardised goal type
in a longer-duration intervention and using a larger sample of children, which may
permit sub-group analyses to be conducted. Of primary importance is future
clarification on the effectiveness of goal setting, self-monitoring and step-feedback
pedometer-based interventions per se for changing PA in children.


Alternative splicing changes are frequently observed in cancer and are starting to be recognized as important signatures for tumor progression and therapy. However, their functional impact and relevance to tumorigenesis remains mostly unknown. We carried out a systematic analysis to characterize the potential functional consequences of alternative splicing changes in thousands of tumor samples. This analysis reveals that a subset of alternative splicing changes affect protein domain families that are frequently mutated in tumors, potentially disrupt protein-protein interactions in cancer-related pathways, and are mutually exclusive with mutations in multiple cancer drivers. Moreover, there is a negative correlation between the number of these alternative splicing changes in a sample and the number of somatic mutations in drivers. We propose that a subset of the alternative splicing changes observed in tumors represents independent oncogenic processes and could potentially be considered alternative splicing drivers (AS-drivers).


During the autumn course 2007-2008 I was carring out the enterprise practices
and the final project in "Centre Tecnologic per a la industria Aeronautica i de
l'Espai" (CTAE).
The opportunity to work on CTAE cames up from the need of find a trainee
engineer to develop a post-process GPS navigator using Matlab that may be a
prototype of a real-time one implemented within a GPS software receiver.
Recently, I just had studied RADARTEL and MATLAB, so I had fresh concepts
about and they decide to trust in me to do it. On the other hand, CTAE had
contacts with Dagoberto Salazar, UPC teacher and gAGE (research group in
Astronomy and GEomatics) member, who has experience programming GPS
navigation software in C++. This plus the specifications of the project –
individual work, extention, idiom and combination of theory and practise –
created the ideal framework to propose it as my final project degree.
The GPS navigator should be able to calculate positioning from the data
contained within RINEX data files.RINEX. RINEX (Receiver Independent
EXchange format), is a standard that defines a format to save measurements
made by a GPS receiver. The big advantage of RINEX is that unificating the
format; it allows us to post-process data from any receiver, avoiding problems
due to different brands incompatibilities.
According to the working plan (attached) of CTAE, the creation of the GPS
navigator has to be carried out through to stages. The first one is developing a
RINEX reader able to read and save all data into a defined structure. And the
second one is the implementation of the navigator over the data structure
provided by the RINEX reader. Therefore, this document gathers the
background or the needed knowledge to understand and create a software
GPS navigator.
The body of this report is arranged in three main chapters. The first one sets
the theoric bases, where the navigator will be built. It is a key section that is
used as a guide or a manual during the implementation.
The second chapter is a high-level description of the RINEX reader and
navigator's structure, as well as a description of the most important algorithms
through diagramflows.
Finally, the third chapter is focused on analyse the results and propose some
improvements or next steps which could be done in a following project.


Before the early 1990s, accounts of classical American philosophy paid relatively little attention to the work and intellectual contributions of women philosophers. However, as early as 1991, a number of contemporary feminist philosophers and historians began to devote more focused attention to women philosophers whose intellectual achievements had been marginalized or forgotten. One woman philosopher whose contributions have still gone unnoticed is that of American logician, mathematician, and color theorist Christine Ladd-Franklin. This paper argues that Ladd-Franklin's feminist efforts to increase the opportunities for women in professional academia were influenced not only by her work as a woman scientist and her reading of feminist literature but also by her understanding of pragmatism and her interaction with Charles Peirce. Specifically, Ladd-Franklin's arguments to increase academic research positions for women and her criticisms of male-only scientific societies (i) point out how discrimination on the basis of gender violates Peirce's first rule of reason that one ought not block the road to inquiry and (ii) expose the unscientific nature of gender discrimination by contrasting the pragmatic meaning of acquiring a doctorate with the institutional practice of barring women from making intellectual contributions by denying them professorial positions.


Tle North West of the UK has been described as probably the most important centre of high
technology outside the south of England. The aerospace sector is a major UK employer and
accordingly, is an important part of the North West economy. However, the aerospaces upply
chain approach is changing, ajýd that change impacts on the aerospace manufitcturing small to
medium size enterprises( SMEs) in the region. Many aerospacec.o mpaniesa re claiming to be
adopting both agile and lean manufacturing principles. Research has indicated thai the
knowledgea nd understandingo f agility in aerospaceis modesta nd consequentlyt he difference
between lean and agile is not well known.
This thesis aims to assessa gile manufacturingw ithin UK aerospacem anufacturingS MEs. The
specific objectives are derived to provide focus for the research activities, in order to fulfil the
specific aim of the reseaich in a structured and scientific manner. Following an extensive
literature survey of agile manufacturing, other relevant manufacturing strategic frameworks,
changem anagementr, esponseto changei n manufacturinge nvironmentsa nd aerospaceS MEs a
theoreticalm odel of Agile Manufitcturing within the UK aerospaceS MEs has beend eveloped.
Ile theoretical model of Agile Manufacturing within the UK aerospace SMEs was used to
assess agile manufacturing in four UK aerospace manufacturing SMEs (case study
organisations). From an evaluation of the case study organisations and comparisons with the
theoretical model, the findings enhance the understanding of Agile Manufacturing theory,
concepts and practice. Additionally, the theoretical model presented in this thesis is considered
appropriate for use in other aerospace manufacturing SMEs and is presented as a holistic
aerospacea gile manufacturinga ssessmentot ol.
The research has shown the complexity and interrelationship between four agility enabling
integrated sub-systems of agile manufacturing strategy, external motivators, organisational
psychology and operational characteristics. The key findings of the research indicate that the
case study organisations do not actively promote an agile manufacturing strategy that takes into
consideration the organisational psychology and its influence on the performance of the
operational characteristics of agility. Likewise, not all the external motivators of agility are
considered when developing and deploying their organisations' strategies. Consequently, the
role of the agile strategy process, teams and organisational change are considered as important
issues that need addressing by these case study organisations.


Objective: Africa faces a skills shortage, in spite of training suitably qualified professionals. This is particularly evident in the discipline of
Psychiatry. An analysis of the distribution and availability of psychiatrists in Kenya was thus conducted and findings compared with specific
other African countries (Uganda and Zimbabwe). Method: Questionnaire, emailed to Heads of Academic Departments within the specified
countries. Results: In 2004, there were a total of 53 psychiatrists practicing in Kenya, for a population of 31.5 million. The country has about
4,000 medical practitioners, with psychiatrists constituting 0.013% of the total number of medical practitioners. This is equivalent to a
psychiatrist: population ratio of 1:594,339; doctor: population ratio of 1:7,875; a psychiatrist: overall doctors' ratio of 1:75.5, that is only
1.325% of Kenyan doctors are psychiatrists. When the psychiatrist: population ratios are considered on the basis of the provinces, then the
ratios vary from 1:63,007 in the capital city of Nairobi to 1:4,393,19 in other provinces, with one without a psychiatrist for a population of
962,143. The ratios decline further when psychiatrists available for clinical work in public facilities are considered. Up to 34% (n=18) of all
Kenyan psychiatrists were in private practice. The remaining 66% (n=35) were in the public sector, of whom more than 20 were in full time
administrative or academic positions and therefore not available for full time clinical work in the public sector. Locally trained psychiatrists,
compared with foreign trained psychiatrists, fared better on: non-migration to other countries, working in rural rather the urban areas,
working in public rather than private sector and in overall academic achievements. Conclusion: In the fore-seeable future in Kenya it will
not be possible to achieve a psychiatrist: population ratio equivalent to that in Western countries, both in terms of overall ratio for the
country, and more importantly, for the average distribution within the country. For the needs of Kenya, and other developing countries, local
training of psychiatrists is superior to foreign training in several parameters. If Kenya and other similar developing countries in Africa are
to achieve realistic mental health service delivery in the foreseeable future, alternative non-specialist training in mental health is required.
Conflict of Interest: None. This study was conceptualized by DMN. It formed the basis of the Key Note speech at the WHO Regional
Conference of Psychiatrists, Arusha, Tanzania 2004. It was funded by the Africa Mental Health Foundation (AMHF). Keywords : Kenya, Questionnaire, Mental health > South African Psychiatry Review Vol. 10 (1) 2007: pp 33-36


To examine the impacts of enhanced UI feedback on shoulder-to-shoulder computing, we conducted a study using a simple picture puzzle on a computer with one display, two mice, and one keyboard. After adding sound, color differentiation, status indicators, and a graphical history, the accuracy with which subjects reported the actions of the person sitting next to them increased significantly. Participants also took more time to complete the puzzle. Subjects shared the keyboard more when using the enhanced UI. We also found participants sitting to the left of the screen to be considerably more productive across both UIs.


Although the way in which vegetation phenology mediates the feedback of vegetation to climate systems is now well understood, the magnitude of these changes is still unknown. A thorough understanding of how the recent shift in phenology may impact on, for example, land surface temperature (LST) is important. To address this knowledge gap, it is important to quantify these impacts and identify patterns from the global to the regional scale. This study examines the trend and linear regression modeling of the leaf area index (LAI) and LST derived from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, specifically to assess their spatial distribution and changing trends at the continental and regional scales. The change detection analysis of interannual variability in the global LAI and LST between two periods (2003–2010 and 2011–2018) demonstrates more positive LAI trends than negative, while for LST most changes were not significant. The relationships between LAI and LST were assessed across the continents to ascertain the response of vegetation to changes in LST. The regression between LAI and LST was negative in Australia (R2 = 0.487 ***), positive but minimal in Africa (R2 = 0.001), positive in North America (R2 = 0.641 ***), negative in Central America (R2 = 0.119), positive in South America (R2 = 0.253 *) and positive in Europe (R2 = 0.740 ***). Medium temperatures enhance photosynthesis and lengthen the growing season in Europe. We also found a significant greening trend in China (trendp = 0.16 ***) and India (trendp = 0.13 ***). The relationships between LAI and LST in these most prominent greening countries of the world are R2 = 0.06 and R2 = 0.25 for China and India, respectively. Our deductions here are twofold—(1) In China, an insignificant association appeared between greening trend and temperature. (2) In India, the significant greening trend may be a factor in lowering temperatures. Therefore, temperature may stabilize if the greening trend continues. We attribute the trends in both countries to the different land use management and climate mitigation policies adopted by these countries.


The Shackleton Range in East Antarctica is part of the Pan-African collisional orogen related to the convergence between East and West Gondwana. In the northern Shackleton Range, alpine-type ultramafic rocks occur as lenses in high-grade gneisses. These include peridotite and pyroxenite that contain garnet and/or spinel in addition to olivine, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene. Thermobarometric results are in the range of 20–23 kbar and 710–810 °C, corresponding to a peak metamorphic gradient of ∼11 °C/km, typical of subduction-zone metamorphism. This finding is the first evidence of eclogite facies metamorphism in the Shackleton Range and, to our knowledge, the first documented eclogite facies ultramafic rocks in a Pan-African orogen. The ultramafic rocks are clear evidence of a suture zone within the northern Shackleton Range, which probably marks the convergence site between East and West Gondwana.


INTRODUCTION
This study examined the impact of warning labels conveying the potential harms and addictiveness of Swedish snus and the potential-reduced harms of Swedish snus among young adult nonsmokers and smokers.

METHODS
A convenience sample of young adults aged 18-30 residing in the United States (n = 517, 56% male, 33% smokers) participated in an online experiment. Participants completed baseline measures and were randomized to 1 of 5 experimental conditions where they viewed a Swedish snus ad with warning labels that varied by condition: (1) Control-no warning; (2) Addiction-warning conveying the addictiveness of snus; (3) Harm-warning communicating the potential harms of snus; (4) Harm Reduction-warning conveying the potential-reduced harms of snus compared with cigarettes; (5) Harm Reduction Switch-warning communicating the potential-reduced harms of snus when switching completely from cigarettes to snus. Outcomes measured included perceived harms and addictiveness of snus, thoughts about not using snus, and intentions to use snus.

RESULTS
Participants in the Harm Reduction and Harm Reduction Switch conditions perceived snus to be less harmful than cigarettes compared with the Control, Addiction, and Harm conditions. Nonsmokers in the Harm Reduction condition reported fewer thoughts about not using snus than nonsmokers in the Harm condition.

CONCLUSIONS
Warnings conveying the potential-reduced harms of Swedish snus compared with cigarettes generate perceptions that snus is less harmful than cigarettes and produce fewer thoughts about not using snus among nonsmokers. Such perceptions have been associated with snus use in prior studies.


Minimally invasive endoscopic procedures are associated with fewer adverse events and shorter hospital stays compared with surgery [1]. However, some advanced endoscopic procedures, including endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD), require specialized training and significant experience to achieve competency and are not widely performed in non-specialist centers [2]. Despite the availability of a wide range of accessory devices, endoscopy lacks the dexterity required to achieve triangulation of instruments to perform non-axial tissue manipulation [3]. Because of the limitations of flexible endoscopes, a novel percutaneous intragastrointestinal trocar (PIT) has been designed. This device (Endo-TAGSS LLC, Kansas City, Missouri, USA) is placed using well-understood percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) techniques that have been performed by many physicians worldwide, with low rates of adverse events [4]. While previous studies have used this technique in intragastric procedures, in this video we demonstrate the use of the PIT device in both gastric and colonic ESD [5]. Under endoscopic visualization, an intragastrointestinal port (3.8mm/11Fr) was placed in a fashion similar to that of a standard PEG in the contralateral wall of the lesion (▶Fig. 1). The dilator tip was replaced with a trocar head and connected to a laparoscopic insufflator. After the trocar had been placed, a gastroscope and conventional injection needle were used to perform submucosal lift, which was followed by mucosal incision. A grasper was used through the trocar to hold the tissue and provide traction for better exposure and tissue tension during dissection (▶Fig. 2 and ▶Fig. 3). In ▶Video 1, we closed the defects using the over-the-scope clip (OTSC) Twin Grasper and cap-mounted OTSCs (Ovesco Endoscopy AG, Tübingen, Germany) (▶Fig. 4), but any approved endoscopic closure device can be used. This novel endoscopic trocar therefore allows for hybrid percutaneous–endoscopic procedures, improving exposure and tissue manipulation, with the potential to shorten the learning curve and broaden the adoption of challenging procedures, such as ESD. E-Videos


Timely and accurate diagnosis of developmental disability reduces its detrimental effect on children. Most of the current scoring methods do not appropriately remove the effect of age on development scores. This frustrates both disability status classification and comparison of scores across different child populations because their age dependent development profiles are usually quite different. Hence, the key objective of this research is to develop robust statistical scoring methods that appropriately correct for age using a) item by item age estimation methods that provide the expected age of achieving specific developmental milestones and b) overall score norms independent of the age effect using all the responses of a child to give one score across the entire domain for each child. Using data from 1,446 healthy and normally developing children (standard group) from the 2007 Malawi Development Assessment Tool (MDAT) study, a review of classical methods including generalised linear models, simple sum, Z-score, Log Age Ratio and Item Response Theory scoring methods in this child development context using binary responses only was carried out. While evaluating the pros and cons of each method, extensions to the current scoring methods using more flexible and robust methods including smoothing to reduce score variability are suggested. The results show that; a) the suggested generalized additive model extensions used for age estimation were more suited to deal with skewed item pass rate response distributions, b) smoothing of Z-scores was especially beneficial when variability in certain age groups is high due to low sample sizes, c) the more complex methods accounting for item response correlation or increase in item difficulty resulted in reliable and generalisable normative scores d) the extended overall scoring approaches were able to effectively correct for age achieving correlation coefficients of less than +0.25 between age and scores. The suggested overall scoring extensions improved the accuracy of detecting delayed development both in the disabled and even in the harder to classify malnourished children achieving sensitivity values of up to 98% and 85% respectively.


Abstract:  The paper shows that variables commonly used in takeover prediction models also help to explain the likelihood of several other restructuring events, including divestitures, bankruptcies and significant employee layoffs. This finding helps to explain the larger misclassification errors in binomial takeover prediction models commonly used in prior research. The results show that modelling takeover prediction models in a binomial setting is likely to lead to misspecification in the parameter estimates and, further, result in erroneous conclusions about the determinants of takeover likelihood. The paper shows that controlling for other restructuring events by using a multinomial framework results in consistently lower misclassification errors in out-of-sample prediction tests, when compared to the benchmark of a typical binomial model.


To protect processor logic from soft errors, multicore redundant architectures execute two copies of a program on separate cores of a chip multiprocessor (CMP). Maintaining identical instruction streams is challenging because redundant cores operate independently, yet must still receive the same inputs (e.g., load values and shared-memory invalidations). Past proposals strictly replicate load values across two cores, requiring significant changes to the highly-optimized core. We make the key observation that, in the common case, both cores load identical values without special hardware. When the cores do receive different load values (e.g., due to a data race), the same mechanisms employed for soft error detection and recovery can correct the difference. This observation permits designs that relax input replication, while still providing correct redundant execution. In this paper, we present Reunion, an execution model that provides relaxed input replication and preserves the existing memory interface, coherence protocols, and consistency models. We evaluate a CMP-based implementation of the Reunion execution model with full-system, cycle-accurate simulation. We show that the performance overhead of relaxed input replication is only 5% and 6% for commercial and scientific workloads, respectively


Traditionally, each specialty involved in craniomaxillofacial trauma and orthognathic surgery had its own areas of interest and expertise. This introductory textbook is different in that it presents the combined and fo cused expertise and competence of the different specialties on the entire craniofacial skeleton. The principles described in this textbook represent the evolution of craniomaxillofacial buttress reconstruction over the last 60 years. In addition to standard procedures,techniques representing recent surgical advances and new developments are introduced as well. This textbook not only provides an overview on current concepts of craniomaxillofacial trauma care and orthognathic surgery, but also helps to understand the complexity of the craniofacial skeleton and its related soft tissues for an efficient and successful reconstruction of the face following trauma and congenital deformities.


Background: One of the issues that have consistently been the concern for the health affair specialists and cure and massive social governors in health fields is the rate of disorders prevalence, diseases and the related subjects to epidemiology. Purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of mathematic disability amongst primary schools of Karaj. Method: totally 432 students were selected with multi-stage sampling method. Participants completed Raven test, Frostig Visual-Perception test and Wepman Auditory discrimination test, Rutter behavioral questionnaire and Iran Key-math test. In order to diagnosis mathematic disability, inter criterion was normal quotient intelligence and out criteria were to have one of visual perception, auditory and behavioral problems. The participants whose total standard scores in Iran Key-math test were one standard deviation below the mean were selected as a mathematical disability (MD). Findings: the mathematic disability prevalence in primary students was estimated 0.46%. In addition, proportion of mathematic disability prevalence was not function of gender or grade. Conclusion: the findings demonstrated that the prevalence of mathematic disability is much less than the previous researches. A possible explanation was that inappropriate screening co morbid disorders with the mathematic disability. The theoretical implications of findings are discussed in detail.


Clones are a matter of great concern to the software engineering community because of their dual but contradictory impact on software maintenance. While there is strong empirical evidence of the harmful impact of clones on maintenance, a number of studies have also identified positive sides of code cloning during maintenance. Recently, to help determine if clones are beneficial or not during software maintenance, software researchers have been conducting studies that measure source code stability (the likelihood that code will be modified) of cloned code compared to non-cloned code. If the presence of clones in program artifacts (files, classes, methods, variables) causes the artifacts to be more frequently changed (i.e., cloned code is more unstable than non-cloned code), clones are considered harmful. Unfortunately, existing stability studies have resulted in contradictory results and even now there is no concrete answer to the research question "Is cloned or non-cloned code more stable during software maintenance?" The possible reasons behind the contradictory results of the existing studies are that they were conducted on different sets of subject systems with different experimental setups involving different clone detection tools investigating different stability metrics. Also, there are four major types of clones (Type 1: exact; Type 2: syntactically similar; Type 3: with some added, deleted or modified lines; and, Type 4: semantically similar) and none of these studies compared the instability of different types of clones. Focusing on these issues we perform an empirical study implementing seven methodologies that calculate eight stability-related metrics on the same experimental setup to compare the instability of cloned and non-cloned code in the maintenance phase. We investigated the instability of three major types of clones (Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3) from different dimensions. We excluded Type 4 clones from our investigation, because the existing clone detection tools cannot detect Type 4 clones well. According to our in-depth investigation on hundreds of revisions of 16 subject systems covering four different programming languages (Java, C, C#, and Python) using two clone detection tools (NiCad and CCFinder) we found that clones generally exhibit higher instability in the maintenance phase compared to non-cloned code. Specifically, Type 1 and Type 3 clones are more unstable as well as more harmful compared to Type 2 clones. However, although clones are generally more unstable sometimes they exhibit higher stability than non-cloned code. We further investigated the effect of clones on another important aspect of stability: method co-changeability (the degree methods change together). Intuitively, higher method co-changeability is an indication of higher instability of software systems. We found that clones do not have any negative effect on method co-changeability; rather, cloning can be a possible way of minimizing method co-changeability when clones are likely to evolve independently. Thus, clones have both positive and negative effects on software stability. Our empirical studies demonstrate how we can effectively use the positive sides of clones by minimizing their negative impacts.


Using data for all 2,454 municipalities of Mexico for the period 1980-2010, this paper analyzes the relationship between exposure to extreme temperatures and precipitation and death, as well as the relationship between severe weather and agricultural income and crop production in the country. It is found that extreme heat increases mortality, while the health effect of extreme cold is generally trivial. Precipitation extremes seem to affect the agricultural system, but their impact on mortality is ambiguous. More specifically, exchanging one day with a temperature of 16-18 °C for one day with temperatures higher than 30 °C increases the crude mortality rate by 0. 15 percentage points, a result robust to several model specifications. It is also found that the extreme heat effect on death is significantly more acute in rural regions, leading to increases of up to 0. 2 percentage points vis-a-vis a 0.07-point increase in urban areas. The timing of climate extremes is relevant: if a weather shock takes place during the agricultural growing season, the effects on mortality and agricultural output, productivity, prices, and crop yields are large and significant, but not so if such shocks occur during the non-growing season.


Using the PLCC advantages generates revenue and lowers costs more than might be anticipated. It ensures better decisions by using a more perfect and practical assessment of revenues and costs. Although the supplier selection (SC) product life cycle cost (SCPLCC) is an important consideration among corporations, SCPLCC problem has become associated with deciding how one supplier should be selected from possible alternatives. In this study, we applied two types of goal programming, multiobjective linear programming and revised multichoice goal programming to develop a PLCC-based concept to solve the SCPLCC problem and construct a decision-making tool for application to a case of supply chain management in a Taiwanese light-emitting diode company in the high-tech industry. Our study main contribution Company managers can easily use the two approaches of the SCPLCC model with different parameters to solve SCPLCC model problems. Finally, we comparing five models found RMCGP with weighted linear goal programming had an adequate effect for application to the PLCC concept for high-technology company; this cloud make company decision–makers focus on low PLCC and select better supplier.


The recent Pew Forum study, "'Nones' on the Rise," indicates a growing percentage of religiously unaffiliated adults in the United States and suggests that these individuals do not seek new religions or denominations but nontraditional means of exploring spiritual questions, facilitating religious practice and finding community. This article examines Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) as a case study for the non-traditional religious affiliation and experience of Nones in the twenty-first century. Through staff and participant interviews and attention to the current work of the A.R.E. at its Virginia Beach headquarters and its summer camp in Rural Retreat, Virginia, this article shows how A.R.E. innovation and tradition have allowed this organization to reach Nones and embrace the digital age even as it advocates approaches to religion and spirituality that have deep historical roots in American religious history.


This descriptive study examines the stories of 102 university students (71% female and 29% male) and the effects of their legal status on their access to public health, mental health and higher education services. Literature on the immigrant community and their struggles due to their legal status as undocumented individuals is reviewed and supported by the current research. Seventy-six percent identify as benefitting from employment authorization through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and 24% with no protective status. Due to the perceived fear across generations that continues to exist among the undocumented population, it is hypothesized that those who identify as undocumented will be less likely to have access to services than those who identify with any type of legal status including DACA as a protective status. However, as university students are being interviewed, positive reinforcements on this pool of participants may contribute to a higher access of services when compared to the general undocumented population. This study uses a mixed methods approach with general demographics and an interview-structured questionnaire through Qualtrics


The BASHH guideline on the management of Mycoplasma genitalium (2018) contains the following advice:

> Current asymptomatic partners (including non-regular partners where there is likely to be further sexual contact and risk of reinfection) of individuals with disease caused by M. genitalium infection should be tested and/or offered epidemiological treatment (using the same antimicrobial regimen as used in the index patient). This is to reduce the risk of re-infection in the index case. 1

European guidelines (2016) are more expansive and recommend treatment 'On epidemiological grounds for recent sexual contacts (previous 3 months)'.2

Epidemiological treatment has long been a staple of sexual health, but there are increasing reasons to question its appropriateness in this context. For a doctor to treat a person with a course of antibiotics which is unlikely to confer any physical benefit to that individual has always been marginal ethical territory. Without the possibility of feeling better in some way, the scales are significantly more likely to be loaded on the side of harm whether it be the short-term inconvenience of gastrointestinal disturbance or adverse events which are less likely but potentially far more serious.3 Wider concerns for antibiotic governance will significantly add to this discomfiture. Rather than merely for the benefit of the index patient, it is possible that intervention may be justified on the basis of averting the risk of complications such as sexually acquired reactive arthritis, epididymo-orchitis in men or pelvic inflammatory disease in women. We do not yet know the risk of such sequelae arising in individuals with M. genitalium who demonstrate no symptoms, yet the BASHH guidance simultaneously advises that asymptomatic individuals should generally not be tested for the organism. The inference will be drawn that the ONLY reason for treatment of asymptomatic contacts is for the benefit of the index …


A numerical ground-water flow model of a hypothetical basin was constructed and used to investigate the effects of ground-water withdrawals on rates of natural discharge to streams and springs in small basins of the Puget Sound Lowland. Definitions of the topography, geology, drainage, and climate of the hypothetical basin were based on the features of typical small basins in the Puget Sound Lowland. This information was used to construct a 13-layer numerical ground-water flow model capable of simulating water levels, hydraulic gradients, and discharge to streams and springs. Three sequences of glacial drift and interglacial deposits were simulated in the model; each sequence consisted of recessional outwash, till, advance outwash, and fine-grained interglacial sediments. Alluvial sediments of the major stream valleys and undifferentiated glacial and interglacial deposits were also included in the model. The model was calibrated by comparing simulated hydrologic conditions with expected conditions and making adjustments to values of hydraulic characteristics as needed. The model was calibrated to predevelopment conditions (those prior to pumping), and then used to simulate the effects of pumping on natural discharge to streams and springs. Seven series of simulations were made to investigate the effects of (1) distance from the well to a stream, (2) the presence of confining layers, (3) pumping rate, (4) depth of the pumped aquifer, (5) distance from the well to a bluff, (6) well density, and (7) recharge rate. The discharge of wells pumping from unconfined outwash aquifers on the drift plains is derived almost entirely from capture of natural discharge to nearby stream reaches. Increasing the lateral distance between the well and stream caused more of the well discharge to be captured from other streams on the drift plain. Pumping from aquifers separated from the stream by one or more confining layers caused a reduction in the effects of pumping on discharge to nearby streams that was offset by an increase in the effects on discharge to more distant streams and springs. The percentage of well discharge captured from springs on the bluff was sensitive to the distance of wells from the bluff. Simulations also showed that increased well density caused greater water-level decline locally, but, at equilibrium, did not affect the extent of the area affected by reduction of natural discharge to streams and springs. Finally, decreased recharge in areas where development had created impervious surfaces had a direct effect on the natural discharge rates to streams and springs. Increased recharge, however, increased natural discharge and offset the effects of well withdrawals. Further analysis of the time-dependent effects of withdrawals would provide additional insights, but would require the development of a transient version of the model.


Since the late 1990s, it has been the practice in Germany that decisions in educational policy and educational administration should primarily be subject to evidence in terms of reliable empirical data. However, little research has been conducted so far as to the question of how actors in charge receive and process the existing data, and how they use them in decision-making processes. In this article, new empirical findings are presented concerning the way in which the reception and processing of educational scientific evidence is currently carried out. Moreover, differences in the use of data within the last decade are revealed. Relating to an explorative study that consists of 12 qualitative interviews with ministerial personnel in four German school ministries, the findings generally indicate that evidence-based educational policy in Germany is less a matter of paying lip service, but rather increasingly becoming common practice. On the whole, the findings indicate an increasing routine and a more professional treatment of the demands for processing data. All of the school ministries reveal approaches towards systematising the use of data.


Abstract The structure of the larval fish assemblages along an ocean-estuarine gradient in the St Lucia region on the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa was examined using a combination of univariate, distributional and multivariate techniques. The data was comprised of a full annual set of ichthyoplankton samples taken from three types of environment: nearshore coastal waters, surf zone and within the St Lucia Estuary itself. The mean monthly densities of each species in each environment were used in the species matrix, and the mean monthly values of salinity, temperature and turbidity were used in the physical variables matrix. The mean species diversity and eveness index was significantly higher in the nearshore waters than the surf zone and estuary. The patterns of relative species abundances in each environment (K-dominance curves) showed that the estuarine environment was dominated by a few species in large numbers, the surf zone was intermediate, and the nearshore coast was the most diverse. Classification and multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination analyses of larval fish densities grouped together into three main clusters based on the three different environments. The species similarity matrix (inverse analysis) clustered into four groups at the 10% similarity level. The MDS analysis of the same matrix showed that the groups separated out more or less according to the type of environment they occur in, and hence the level of estuarine dependence of the various species. Species belonging to each assemblage showed similarities with regards to their reproduction modes and/or preference to a particular physical condition. Some species were restricted to one environment, whilst others were common to two or all three environments. The occurrence of partially estuarine-dependent species in all three environments suggests that ocean-estuarine coupling is an important process for the recruitment success of these species. The ' best fitting ' physical variable which explained the larval fish community patterns was turbidity on its own, with the relationship of larval densities to the physical variables being species-specific. The present study indicates that a number of factors must play a role in determining the structure and composition of larval fish assemblages occurring in different types of environments along an ocean-estuarine gradient. It is suggested that these distinct assemblages might be considered indicators for the different environments which they inhabit.


Like in many low moor regions in East Germany, long-standing intensive arable farming enabled by complex melioration - has caused soil deterioration and high water runoff in the 'Schraden'. More than ten years of economic and political transformation has worsened the situation and even added new problems. The visible consequences are drought periods in the summer, waterlogged plots in the spring and worn-down water management facilities that operate in an uncoordinated or even unauthorised way. It is here argued that the reallocation of property rights on melioration systems, together with ineffective co-ordination mechanisms, have impeded appropriate land use. Transformation related problems like the discontinuity of land property rights, the unclear legal situation regarding melioration plants built in socialist times, and highly-fragmented land ownership have not been effectively dealt with by the newly-established Water Association and Water Administration, respectively. Profoundly heterogeneous water-user interests and the complexity of ecosystem relations have contributed to the persistence of the problems. This analysis is based on regional planning material as well as on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders, representatives of the administration and politicians at all levels of government.


Aim This study explored health visitors' perception of their role in the universal childhood immunisation programme with particular emphasis on influencing factors and communication strategies. Background The majority of parents' consent to immunisation, but some find decision-making in this area difficult and have unmet information needs. In the United Kingdom, health visitors routinely provide immunisation information for parents, whereas general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses tend to administer vaccines and respond to parents/carers' questions. Research has investigated health professionals' views and knowledge about immunisation, but less is understood about health visitors' role and how they communicate with parents. Method Following the Local Research Ethics and Research Governance permissions, all health visitors (n = 120) working in one county in the United Kingdom were invited to participate in the study. Semistructured interviews (n = 22) were undertaken using a prompt guide. The interviews were transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis using an iterative approach was used to explore the data facilitated by NVIVO™ software. Findings Five themes emerged from the interviews. These were health visitors' professional role; identity and perceived barriers and communication strategies, parents' right to choose, confidence in measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination and communicating with migrant families about immunisation. There were differences between the health visitors in their perceptions of their roles, skills and knowledge and communication strategies. Health visitors perceived that GPs and practice nurses took a paternalistic approach to the provision of immunisation information, while they used a parental decision-making model. Health visitors reported a loss of professional confidence following the MMR crisis. Conclusion Given the evidence that some parents find it difficult to gain the information they need about immunisation and health visitors' acknowledgement that their usual communication models were not effective during the MMR crisis, we feel specific communication skills training is needed to enable health professionals to provide parents with appropriate decision support.