Background: Hepatitis B viral infection is the most common cause of hepatitis, and it leads to serious liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Aim: The aim of the study is to differentiate acute hepatitis B and chronic hepatitis B (CHB) among patients seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu, India, for a period of 6 months (January 2018–June 2018). Blood samples were collected from 87 patients for the detection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers. HBsAg, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), anti-HBc total, anti-HBc IgM, and antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen were screened using the ELISA method. Detailed demographic profile including history of previous hepatitis infection, previous blood transfusion, and other related details were collected and documented using a structured questionnaire. Results: A total of 87 patients were HBsAg seropositive; among them, 55 (63.2%) were male and 32 (36.9%) were female. Based on the serological markers tested, 24 and 63 were suffering from acute and chronic HBV infections, respectively. Among the acute hepatitis B patients, all samples were seropositive for HBsAg, anti-HBc total, and anti-HBc IgM. HBeAg seromarker was found in 15 patients (62.5%). Among the CHB patients, all samples were seropositive for HBsAg and anti-HBc total. HBeAg seromarker was found in 28 patients with 44.4%. Alcohol consumption was the major risk factor for the transmission of HBV infection. Conclusion: An increased sample size and detailed study of high-risk behavior will provide an alarming awareness of their association.


Despite the success with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in most patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), some patients still experience resistance or intolerance and need alternative therapies. Monitoring response to TKI therapy is a critical component of managing CML, and molecular response seems to be the most important milestone for predicting long-term outcomes. How best to assess response, including how to define treatment failure, and how monitoring should be conducted remain controversial. Strategies for overcoming imatinib resistance include increasing the imatinib dose or switching to a second-generation TKI. Another approach is to use higher doses of imatinib or second-generation TKIs up front to increase the rate of earlier responses, with the hope that this will translate into a reduced risk of resistance. Several investigational therapies are also being evaluated as a means of overcoming TKI resistance, including ponatinib (AP24534), omacetaxine, and bosutinib (SKI-606). Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has also shown efficacy in patients with imatinib-resistant disease. Alternatives to long-term TKI therapy that are currently being explored include discontinuation of treatment and eradication of minimal residual disease with investigational treatment regimens, such as those involving interferon, hydroxychloroquine, BCL6 inhibitors, and the smoothened antagonists LDF225 and BMS-833923.


Abstract Atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasmas have made a recent remarkable progress in formation techniques including atmospheric pressure glow discharge (APG), dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), corona discharge, surface discharge, ultrashort pulsed discharge, etc., and are expanding their applications into the field of energy and environment as well as material conversion processes. This paper will especially focus on a large improvement of DBD by combining it with squared ultrashort high voltage pulses and various applications.


Alpha (α)-adrenergic agonists represent a novel drug class of spinal analgesics and are most commonly used in combination with local anesthetics and opioids. Spinal noradrenergic antinociception is mediated primarily by α₂- adrenoceptors, although α₁-adrenoceptor-mediated antinociception has never been disproven. As demonstrated vasoconstrictors, however, there are concerns regarding the safety of the spinal administration of α₁- and α₂- agonists, alone and in combination. -- The purpose of this study was to determine if intrathecal (i.t.) methoxamine (MX) (α₁-agonist) potentiates i.t. dexmedetomidine (DX) (α₂- agonist)-induced antinociception, if i.t. DX, alone and in combination with MX, injected twice daily for four days, causes spinal neurotoxicity, and the effect of a sub-toxic combination of i.t. DX and MX on i.t. dynorphin-induced neurotoxicity. Male, Sprague-Dawley rats (300-400g) implanted with i.t. catheters (L1 termination) were used throughout. The i.t injection of dexmedetomidine (0.01-µg) produced dose-dependent antinociception in the tail flick (TF) and paw pressure (PP) tests (ED₅₀ = 45 and 252 ng, respectively). The addition of a fixed dose of MX (10 µg i.t.), which produced <5% maximum percent effect (MPE) in the TF test and was inactive in the PP test, significantly shifted the DX dose response curve to the left (ED₅₀= 8.1 ng; TF test and 10 ng; PP test) but did not prolong DX's duration of action. A fixed dose combination of DX (0.025 µg) + MX (10 µg) producing near maximal antinociception in the TF test and intermediate activity in the PP test, was near completely blocked by prazosin (10 µg i.t.) or Wyeth 27127 (0.5 µg i.t.). -- Repeated i.t. injections of high dose DX (10 µg) and DX+MX (10 µg each) produced sedation but no motor dysfunction, no inflammation, haemorrhage or necrosis of the spinal cord. Immunohistochemical studies revealed no damage to or loss of calcitonin-gene-related peptide immunoreactivity(CGRP-IR) in either the dorsal or ventral horns or substance P immunoreactivity (SP-IR) in the ventral horn as compared to vehicle-treated rats. In contrast, dynorphin A₁₋₁₃ (192 µg;120 nmol) produced: 1) immediate and irreversible hindlimb paralysis; 2) loss of the stepping and tail flick reflexes; and 3) delayed bladder and bowel dysfunction. Forty-eight hours after dynorphin, immunohistochemical examination revealed a marked depletion of CGRP-IR motor neurons in the lumbar ventral horn. CGRP-or SP-IR was unchanged in the dorsal horn. -- To assess the effect of i.t. DX and MX, alone and in combination, on dynorphin neurotoxicity, rats were pretreated with i.t. DX, MX, a combination of DX+MX (10 µg each) or saline 15 min before i.t. dynorphin A₁₋₁₃(192 µg;120 nmol). In saline pretreated rats, dynorphin produced the same effects as described above. Pretreatment with i.t. DX, MX or DX+MX attenuated the hindlimb paralytic effect of dynorphin. Twenty-four hours after injection, motor reflexes were preserved and accelerating rotarod (RR) scores were similar to controls (no dynorphin) in 4 out of 5 DX-, 3 out of 5 MX- pretreated and 4 out of 4 DX+MX-pretreated rats. Histological evaluation of the spinal cords obtained from these rats were consistent with these functional results, indicative of a neuroprotective effect. For DX and DX+MX pretreated rats, there was a corresponding decrease in rectal temperature (up to 3.4°C for DX alone). MX did not alter rectal temperature. These results of this study indicate that 1) a threshold dose of i.t. MX potentiates α₂-mediated antinociception in the rat; 2) repeated spinal administration of this drug combination has no detectable neurotoxic effect and 3) pretreatment with these drugs effects neuroprotection against i.t. dynorphin in the rat.


This chapter focuses on the acquisition of the interplay between information structure and word order. We address the acquisition of Object Verb-Verb Object (OV-VO) alternations in Russian, Serbo-Croatian, and Ukrainian, object scrambling in German and Dutch, and object shift in Norwegian and Swedish. Acquiring these phenomena does not simply involve the acquisition of a movement operation; children have to acquire the semantic/pragmatic aspects influencing object displacement, as well as how these aspects interact with syntax. Neither the syntax nor the semantics/pragmatics per se makes such phenomena hard to acquire. Rather, mapping information structure onto syntax is challenging. System complexity and low input frequencies also contribute to acquisition delays. This chapter focuses on recent insights into the acquisition of object displacement, and indicates potential directions for future research.


Molecular dynamics simulations of the ferrous dioxygen bound form of wild type cytochrome P450cam were performed and the results analyzed to reveal the time-dependent interactions of T252 with surrounding residues as well as with bound oxygen. The results indicate a time-dependent bimodal interaction of T252 with both G248 and the terminal oxygen of the bound dioxygen. The hydrogen bonding interaction of T252 with these two moieties is "anticorrelated" in the sense that the breaking of the T252-G248 hydrogen bond is concurrent with formation of the T252-dioxygen interaction. These simulations support the probability of a role of T252 in stabilization of the initial dioxygen bound complex and promotion of subsequent formation of compound I previously indicated by several experimental studies.


[1] This research uses observations of reservoir-induced seismicity beneath Acu Reservoir, NE Brazil, to investigate the spatial distribution of permeability within the damage zone surrounding faults. The Acu dam is a 34 m high earth-filled dam constructed in 1983 on an area of Precambrian shield. Our previous work has shown that fluctuations in seismic activity are related to varying reservoir level via the diffusion of pore pressure within high-permeability faults embedded in a lower-permeability matrix. High-resolution monitoring of the seismic activity within individual faults, using a network of three-component digital seismographs, has revealed a complex spatial pattern of earthquake clustering and migration that suggests heterogeneous fault zone hydraulic properties are present. We first review the laboratory and field evidence for variations in hydraulic properties associated with (1) structural architecture of faults and (2) confining pressure. We then model flow through a heterogeneous two-dimensional (2-D) fault embedded in, and explicitly coupled to, a 3-D medium and include a power law decay in diffusivity with depth associated with crack closure. Diffusivity of the fault is represented by a spatially correlated random field. We vary both the correlation length and variance of the diffusivity field and calculate the time lag between the maximum reservoir level and the maximum piezometric head in the depth range of observed seismic activity. By assuming that individual earthquake ruptures occur when the local piezometric head is at a maximum, we are able to infer the correlation length and variance that best explain the spatiotemporal pattern of the activity within each seismic cluster. The spatial and temporal evolution of seismicity within clusters is only found to be consistent with a causal mechanism of pore pressure diffusion when significant spatial structure is present in the heterogeneous fault hydraulic properties.


The present study investigates the effects of behavioral biases on the efficiency of Tehran stock exchange. In fact, these biases are the mistakes that individuals make while making financial decisions. The methodology of this research is that firms with financial information during 1997 to 2006 that have also been active on the stock exchange have been classified based on two criterions of operating profit/per share and earnings per share, then, the return of these firms was calculated in the first period and compared to their return in the second period. Therefore, it will be clear that the companies' financial performance trend has been effective on the behavioral biases of investors and consequently on their extreme reactions towards the published information. Therefore, the process of the stock return changes can be predicted in the coming period. As a result, this hypothesis is an evidence of market inefficiency and predictability of financial behavioral theories. On the other hand, this research does not offer sufficient and strong evidences on the effect of consistency in the financial performance process and also the presence of compatible and incompatible signs in companies' financial performance on the market predictability. Thus, in this case, it is not possible to admit the effect of behavioral biases on the predictability and thus market efficiency.


The high-quality GaN microdisks with InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) and InN microdisks were grown on γ-LiAlO 2 substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epi- taxy (PA-MBE). The samples were analysed using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence and high-resolution transmission electron microscope. The characteristics of the GaN microdisks and InN microdisks were studied and the effect of growth temperature was evaluated.


The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 left a trail of destruction throughout South Asia. Overseas aid agencies, overwhelmed by donations, committed to manage the funds responsibly. Criticism of the relief effort soon followed, potentially threatening the credibility or perceptions of legitimacy for these organisations. The for-profit sector uses impression management in annual reports in response to legitimacy threats. This study anticipated a similar reaction from non-profit organisations. Annual reports of Australian overseas aid agencies were analysed for any change in the use of impression management tactics prior to and post the event. The results indicate there was no significant difference.


We investigate truth-telling by an informed insider, or manager, who repeatedly forecasts cash flows to competitive investors in a standard message game. The insider cannot trade on or sell private information, but faces imperfectly hedgeable nonwage income shocks. When compensation depends on the current stock price, a partially revealing equilibrium may exist in which the manager manipulates his reports, and hence the stock price, to reduce consumption variance. Intuitively, the manager builds reputation in good times when honesty is affordable, and exploits reputation in times of need. Endogenous reputation for honesty thus follows from a self-insurance motive.


Predictions of a delta's morphology, facies, and stratigraphy are typically derived from its relative wave, tide, and river energies, with sediment type playing a lesser role. Here we test the hypothesis that, all other factors being equal, the topset of a relatively noncohesive, sandy delta will have more active distributaries, a less rugose shoreline morphology, less topographic variation in its topset, and less variability in foreset dip directions than a highly cohesive, muddy delta. As a consequence its stratigraphy will have greater clinoform dip magnitudes and clinoform concavity, a greater percentage of channel facies, and less rugose sand bodies than a highly cohesive, muddy delta. Nine self-formed deltas having different sediment grain sizes and critical shear stresses required for re-entrainment of mud are simulated using Deflt3D, a 2D flow and sediment-transport model. Model results indicate that sand-dominated deltas are more fan-shaped while mud-dominated deltas are more birdsfoot in planform, because the sand-dominated deltas have more active distributaries and a smaller variance of topset elevations, and thereby experience a more equitable distribution of sediment to their perimeters. This results in a larger proportion of channel facies in sand-dominated deltas, and more uniformly distributed clinoform dip directions, steeper dips, and greater clinoform concavity. These conclusions are consistent with data collected from the Goose River Delta, a coarse-grained fan delta prograding into Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. A reinterpretation of the Kf-1 parasequence set of the Cretaceous Last Chance Delta, a unit of the Ferron Sandstone near Emery, Utah, USA uses Ferron grain-size data, clinoform-dip data, clinoform concavity, and variance of dip directions to hindcast the delta's planform. The Kf-1 Last Chance Delta is predicted to have been more like a fan delta in planform than a birdsfoot delta.


Abstract. This article examines the international policy and institutional frameworks for response to natural and man-made disasters occurring in the Danube basin and the Tisza sub-basin, two transnational basins. Monitoring and response to these types of incidents have historically been managed separately. We discuss whether the policy distinctions in response to natural and man-made disasters remain functional given recent international trends toward holistic response to both kinds of disasters. We suggest that these distinctions are counterproductive, outdated, and ultimately flawed, illustrate some of the specific gaps in the Danube and the Tisza, and conclude by proposing an integrated framework for disaster response in the Danube basin and Tisza sub-basin.


This paper analyzes experimentally discretization algorithms for handling continuous attributes in evolutionary learning. We consider a learning system that induces a set of rules in a fragment of first-order logic (evolutionary inductive logic programming), and introduce a method where a given discretization algorithm is used to generate initial inequalities, which describe subranges of attributes' values. Mutation oper- ators exploiting information on the class label of the examples (supervised discretization) are used during the learning process for refining inequalities. The evolutionary learning system is used as a platform for testing experimentally four algorithms: two variants of the proposed method, a popular supervised discretiza- tion algorithm applied prior to induction, and a discretization method which does not use information on the class labels of the examples (unsupervised discretization). Results of experiments conducted on artificial and real life datasets suggest that the proposed method provides an effective and robust technique for handling continuous attributes by means of inequalities.


Cytokines secreted in response to invading micro-organisms are important mediators of detrimental hemodynamic and metabolic changes in the host. To test whether cachectin/TNF plays a role in triggering release of other cytokines in the setting of infection, anesthetized baboons were passively immunized against systemic cachectin/TNF before infusion of a LD100 dose of live Escherichia coli. Bacteremia led to significant increases in circulating levels of cachectin/TNF, IL-1 beta, and IL-6. Although bacterial endotoxin/lipopolysaccharide is a potent stimulus for the synthesis and release of IL-1 and IL-6 in vitro, specific neutralization of cachectin/TNF in vivo with mAb pretreatment significantly attenuated both the IL-1 beta and the IL-6 responses despite fulminant overwhelming bacteremia. These data suggest that cachectin/TNF is essential for the initiation or amplification of IL-1 and IL-6 release during lethal gram-negative septic shock syndrome.


A design approach developed over the past few years to formalize redundancy management and validation is described. Redundant elements are partitioned into individual fault-containment regions (FCRs). An FCR is a collection of components that operates correctly regardless of any arbitrary logical or electrical fault outside the region. Conversely, a fault in an FCR cannot cause hardware outside the region to fail. The outputs of all channels are required to agree bit-for-bit under no-fault conditions (exact bitwise consensus). Synchronization, input agreement, and input validity conditions are discussed. The Advanced Information Processing System (AIPS), which is a fault-tolerant distributed architecture based on this approach, is described. A brief overview of recent applications of these systems and current research is presented.<<ETX>>


This comparative analysis looks afresh at the writings of observers such as Henry Mayhew, Patrick Colquhoun, Charles Grant, Pierce Egan, James Forbes and Emma Roberts, thereby seeking to rethink the location of the poor and India within the 19th-century imagination. Drawing upon cultural and intellectual history it also attempts to extend our understanding of the relationship between "centre" and "periphery". The text should be of value to students and scholars of modern imperial and urban history, cultural studies and religious studies.


The graduate experience is a critical time for development of academic faculty, but often there is little preparation for teaching during the graduate career. Teaching self-efficacy, an instructor's belief in his or her ability to teach students in a specific context, can help to predict teaching behavior and student achievement, and can be used as a measure of graduate students' development as instructors. An instrument measuring teaching self-efficacy of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) was developed from a general university faculty teaching instrument to the specific teaching context of STEM GTAs. Construct and face validity, measurement reliability, and factor structure of the instrument were determined from survey data of 253 STEM GTAs at six universities. STEM GTA teaching self-efficacy correlated to various measures of GTA professional development and teaching experience. Implications and applications for faculty involved in GTA professional development, supervision, and research are discussed.


We study the impact of three well-known inventory allocation mechanisms, including proportional, linear, and uniform, on the ordering behavior of retailers serviced from a central distribution center. Based on the allocation mechanism, retailers may have an incentive to adjust (either inflate or deflate) their orders to gain a more favorable allocation, a behavior that may reduce allocation efficiency from a system perspective. We find that while all three mechanisms are centrally optimal under common knowledge of local demands, only the uniform allocation incentivizes retailers to set orders truthfully. Consistent with theory, our experimental results show that using proportional or linear allocation results in larger and more frequent order adjustments, with the degree of strategic ordering being largest under the linear mechanism. Across all mechanisms, order adjustments decrease both allocation efficiency and local retail profits. While uniform allocation results in smaller and less frequent adjustments overall, it may not be feasible to implement in more general settings. Hence, we propose and test a new mechanism, tailored uniform, that leverages the uniform principle while overcoming some practical limitations. It provides more flexibility by allowing for differences in the allocated quantities among retailers, while still providing no incentive for order manipulation. The tailored uniform mechanism performs similarly to uniform in terms of order adjustments, and further increases allocation efficiency when retailers have heterogeneous demands.


The main objective of the present study is to characterize the mechanical behavior and impact response of a recently developed 3D woven/braided fiberglass fabric. The 3D-fiberglass fabric (3DFGF) consists of two bi-directional woven fabrics, knitted together by vertical braided glass fiber pillars. In addition to, or instead of glass fibers, carbon and even basalt fibers, as well as hybridizations of these fibers, could be used to form such 3D clothes. The unique configuration of fibers in this particular 3DFGF provides outstanding impact resistance to panels formed by this fabric. Moreover, the two bi-directional woven fabrics of 3DFGF create hollow core regions, surrounded by vertical glass pillars, which could be filled with a foam, thus further enhancing the resilience of the panel. The weakest link in any fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) laminates is the interlaminar shear properties of the FRP, thus making them susceptible to impact loading. However, owing to the unique and resilient configuration of fibers in this new generation of 3DFGF, delamination type failure is seldom experienced by 3DFGFs. Moreover, to the best of authors' knowledge, there has been no investigation characterizing the impact response of such 3DFGFs. Three-point bending and flatwise compressive tests with two different core thicknesses are conducted in two principal directions of 3DFGF to investigate its mechanical behavior. For each specimen and thickness, two different configurations are considered: (i) panels with their hollow core cavities filled with a foam, and (ii) panels without foam. Moreover, the low-velocity impact (LVI) response and failure modes of this new fabric are also investigated experimentally and also by computational simulations. The latter is done to address the clear lack of a robust computational framework by which one could predict the response of such 3DFGFs. Therefore, a major part of this study deals with predicting the behavior of such a complex 3D materials configuration by the finite-element method, using a commercial code (the ABAQUS). It will be demonstrated that the good agreementobtained between the experimental and simulation results would render the adopted framework as an effective and reliable means for predicting and optimizing the response of such 3DFGFs subject to complex loading conditions.


Knowledge has become one of the most important intangible assets for the company in the current competitive environment (Nonaka, 1994; Hunt, 1995; Grant, 1996; Hunt & Morgan, 1996; Teece, 1998; Lee & Sukoco, 2007; Li et al., 2009), being of particular importance knowledge creation processes within an organization (Nonaka, 1994; Nonaka & Konno, 1998; Nonaka et al., 2000) to achieve long-term competitive advantage (Nevis et al., 1995; Davenport & Prusack, 1997; Chow et al., 2000; Gold et al., 2001; Lin & Lee, 2004; Hicks et al., 2007). Furthermore, learning is at the heart of corporate governance and it has become the essence of productive activity that has new rules, new boundaries and new ways of behaving (Garcia et al., 2009). Thus, one of the strategic values of an organization lies in becoming a "learning organization". These organizations have an enterprise architecture that converts the firm into a place of learning, so the organization can make appropriate approaches to changing environment (Kogut & Zander, 1996; Garcia et al., 2007). The concept of knowledge management involves managing the learning processes of individual and collective members of an organization. Therefore, it includes organizational learning (related to the creation of new knowledge), and most processes related to the acquisition of knowledge from outside, dissemination, storage and exploitation of knowledge at the firm (Day, 1992; Garcia et al., 2009). So this paper analyzes how the 4 modes of knowledge conversion model proposed in the "knowledge creating organization " (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995): Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization (SECI) affect organizational learning and the results of the organization. Analyzing a sample of 284 Spanish companies, we propose a model to analyze this relationship. The results show (1) a positive relation between the modes of knowledge creation, (2) knowledge creation influences organizational learning as an essential part of Knowledge Management (Garcia et al., 2007; Garcia et al., 2009), (3) knowledge creation and organizational learning can create a new approach of continuous improvement leading to the increase of organizational performance (Senge, 1990; Peters, 1992). http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.3.521


Eric G. Lambert School has been privately operated by the Churchill Falls (Labrador) Corporation since it opened in September, 1967. As a private school operated by a hydro electric corporation, it has functioned outside the denominational educational system of the province of Newfoundland, and its operation is not subject to the jurisdiction of any school board. However, the school does follow the curriculum prescribed by the provincial Department of Education. -- This study was developed to provide parents, teachers, and students the opportunity to express what they liked and/or disliked, and what they wanted to maintain and/or change about their school. The study design was shaped by the literature on school improvement, and included an abridged version of the history of Eric G. Lambert School, the development and administration of three questionnaires: one for each of the groups involved in the study - parents, teachers, and students. -- This was the first time such an indepth study was undertaken at Eric G. Lambert School. It was a welcomed experience for parents, teachers, and students to have the opportunity to express their opinions about all aspects of the operation of the school. The history of the school indicated that the involvement of any of the survey groups in school matters was heretofore one of reaction instead of action. Hence, the main intent was to provide a coherent portrait of the school as perceived by students, teachers and parents of Churchill Falls as of June, 1988 when the questionnaires were completed and administered. An analysis of the data will provide a framework for a three-to-five-year schoolwide improvement plan for Eric G. Lambert School. -- The three questionnaires were developed by the researcher, from an exhaustive literature review on school improvement, the history of Eric G. Lambert School, and the experience of the researcher's own tenure at the school. The main survey areas were: -- Expectations -- Clear Instructional Goals -- Student-Centered Learning Environment -- Continuous Humanistic Assessment -- Key Instructional Behaviours -- Effective Leadership -- Shared Vision -- Systematic Monitoring and Evaluation -- Emphasis on Student Learning and Progress -- Well-Coordinated Curriculum -- Staff Development -- Positive School Climate -- Churchill Falls School Committee -- Community Counselling and Support Services -- Communications -- Pressure and Support -- Churchill Falls Recreation Department -- Incentives -- The questionnaires were administered to the population for each group: 27 teachers, 142 parents, and 161 students. Responses were excellent, as 92.9% of parents, 100% of the teachers and 92.5% of the students returned completed questionnaires, for an overall response rate of 93.3%. -- The Statistical Package for the Social Services (SPSS:X) was used to generate a summary of the descriptive statistics for each individual item for each group surveyed. The analysis was presented in the form of descriptive statistics, utilizing primarily tabular formats which often required little additional comment in the text of the document. -- The three groups expressed a variety of opinions regarding various aspects of the operation of Eric G. Lambert School. There were similarities and differences expressed with each group's identification of perceived strengths and weaknesses of the school, opinions of what the characteristics of a successful student should be, and suggestions for improvement. The data revealed that student discipline, expansion of the curriculum, alcohol and drug programs, staff performance appraisal program, and a greater opportunity for students to be involved in appropriate school decisions and policy development are among the core ingredients of a three-to-five-year improvement plan, currently underway at Eric G. Lambert School.


Plant-parasitic nematodes are known as one of the most important pests attacking various plants in the world, and investigating the nematode component is very essential for management of this pest and prevent damage to plants in general. Our survey of plant-parasitic nematodes on medicinal plants in Melinh Station for Biodiversity, a place for conservation of precious plants and animals in Vietnam, identified ten species that belong to nine genera, five families, and two orders of plant-parasitic nematodes parasitizing six medicinal plants. Excoecaria cochinchinensis was parasitized by the highest number of nematode genera (5 genera, including Xiphinema, Discocriconemella, Meloidogyne, Helicotylenchus, and Hemicriconemoides), while Hymenocallis littoralis was associated with the highest number of plant-parasitic nematodes (2060 nematodes/250g soil). The results also showed that Discocriconemella limitanea was found to be a dominant species with the highest number of individuals on 6 medicinal plants, and the genus Helicotylenchus had the highest frequency of appearance (5/6 plants or 83.3%). These nematodes caused symptoms such as yellowing leaves, root galls, and root lesions, which directly affect the quality and yield of medicinal plants. Based on the results, this study showed that plant-parasitic nematodes are a potential threat to the cultivation of medicinal plants in Melinh Station for Biodiversity, and thus, control measures should be applied to ensure sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants in this place.


Success in supply begins with the right choice of suppliers and in the long run is directly related to how suppliers are managed, because suppliers have a significant impact on the success or failure of a company. Multi-criteria decisions are approaches that deal with ranking and selecting one or more suppliers from a set of suppliers. Multi-criteria decisions provide an effective framework for comparing suppliers based on the evaluation of different criteria. The present research is applied based on the purpose and descriptive-survey based on the nature and method of the research. In the present study, two library and field methods have been used to collect information. According to the objectives of this study, suppliers will be evaluated using two methods of fuzzy hierarchical analysis with D-numbers. In order to better understand these two methods, a case study is presented in which suppliers are ranked using two methods and then the results are compared with each other. For manufacturing companies, 4 categories of parts were considered and based on the classification, the suppliers of the manufacturing company were evaluated and analyzed. In the results of suppliers of type A and B components in hierarchical analysis, D and fuzzy methods have many differences in the evaluation and ranking of suppliers, and this shows the lack of expectations of experts in D and fuzzy analysis. On the other hand, in type C and D components, the classification and ranking of suppliers have been matched in two ways and shows that the opinions in the evaluation of these suppliers are the same.


This paper presents Indigenous youths' perspectives on well-being. Using Indigenous youth participatory action research with the Indigenous youth advisory committee of the Québec Youth Research Network Chair (Canada), community care emerged as the central feature of well-being and was then visually presented in the form of a postcard. We discuss the meaning given to community care, the factors that support it, and the role that a visual illustration can play in promoting change. The article is informed by the co-creation of the postcard, an online luncheon conversation, and several debriefing/reflexive sessions with the Indigenous youth co-authors. Emphasis is placed on cultural continuity, relational agency, and solidarity, offering an alternative point of view to the prevalent and damaging decontextualized, deficit-based, and individualized approaches to well-being.


"Life itself is a creator of patterns." (Piaget, 1950, p. 167) Introduction Many argue that patterns are the cornerstone of mathematics. They are the foundation that the whole of the subject is built on. From the earliest tally systems to the development of differential calculus to modern mathematics, patterns, were and are the genesis, the motivation, and the foundation of mathematical knowledge. As such, mathematics is often referred to as the science of patterns (Borwein & Jorgenson, 2001; Resnick, 1997). Steen (1988) articulates this relationship between patterns and mathematics thus: "Mathematical theories explain the relations among patterns; functions and maps, operators and morphisms bind on type of patterns to another to yield lasting mathematical structures. Applications of mathematics use these patterns to "explain" and predict natural phenomena that fit the patterns. Patterns suggest other patterns, often yielding patterns of patterns." (p. 612) Even the very description of what it means to do mathematics can be defined in the context of patterns--"mathematicians observe patterns; they conjecture, test, discuss, verbalize, and generalize these patterns" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics--NCTM, 1991). However, the role of patterns in mathematics is an ironic one. While much of mathematics has its roots in patterns, there is no place for patterns in the formal representation of mathematics. The contemporary view is that mathematics is axiomatic in nature. As such, convention dictates that mathematics is presented in a linear and deductive argument, in the form of theorems and proofs. Patterns, on the other hand, are not axiomatic, nor are they necessarily linear. By nature, a pattern is inductive, and thus has no place in mathematical proof. "Much of what is "pattern" in the knowledge of mathematics is instead encoded in a linear textual format born out of the logical formalist practice that now dominates mathematics." (Borwein & Jorgenson, 2001, p. 897). In the teaching and learning of mathematics this irony is extended. While a mathematical proof, with its unfaltering deductive logic, contains within its structure the truth about a mathematical concept, it is often inappropriate for conveying mathematical concepts in that it may, in fact, be conveying the wrong message to our students--that full rigor is the core of mathematics (Hanna, 1989). Furthermore, it is often the use of a pattern that unlocks that truth and both presents it to the student and convinces them of it (Harel & Sowder, 1998; Mason, 2002; Rowland, 2002; Tahta, 1980). Consider, for example, the properties of negative exponents. Although they can be shown to be true using deductive reasoning these concepts initially defy students' intuition. It is the use of patterns which most often facilitates the conceptual change necessary to create the understanding. [2.sup.4] = 16 [2.sup.3] = 8 [2.sup.2] = 4 While the exponent decreases by one as you move down [2.sup.1] = 2 the left column, the value of the exponential [2.sup.0] = 1 expression is divided by two as you move down the [2.sup.-1] = 1/2 right column. [2.sup.-2] = 1/4 Unfortunately, the way in which patterns are used in the teaching of mathematical concepts can create a whole new set of misunderstandings--not of the mathematical content but of the patterns themselves. If through the pedagogical use of patterns in the teaching and learning of mathematics due care is not taken to preserve distinction between the types of patterns used then there is a risk that students' understanding of patterns can become blurred. This article examines how the lack of explicit attention to the distinction between repeating patterns and number patterns leads to difficulties for students engaged in problem solving activities that involve investigation of patterns and offers a pedagogical solution to the prevention of this blurring. …


Important doctrines in diverse areas of law employ structured decision procedures requiring, in rough terms, that the plaintiff first make some demonstration of harm; if but only if that is done, the defendant must make some showing of benefit; and if but only if that occurs, balancing is performed. This Article compares such protocols to unconstrained balancing and finds them to be inferior with respect to the quality of final decisions: they sometimes fail to impose liability even though the harm is greater than the benefit, and they sometimes impose liability even though the benefit exceeds the harm. The Article also develops the principles of optimal information (evidence) collection and shows how structured decision procedures violate every core lesson and presuppose distinctions that often are incoherent or impractical to implement. The analysis addresses concerns about balancing that may motivate structured protocols, how less restrictive alternatives should be assessed, and the extent to which legal proceedings are conducted in conformity with either approach, as well as how they might be reformed.


In Peru, the severe economic crisis aggravated during the "lost decade" of the 1980s and the politics of neo-liberal structural adjustment applied thereupon since 1990, have had considerable socio-economic impacts. While the high levels of existing social inequalities are maintained, the population is confronted with a wide range of uncertainties regarding all aspects of their life. As employment conditions are characterised by informalisation and instability, a majority of the households finds it increasingly difficult to generate sufficient incomes. This results in deteriorating standards of living, status degradation and social disintegration. On the other hand, the downsizing and privatisation of the state has continuously weakened the capability of its institutions to provide with efficient services. The overall insecurities deriving from this situation are expressed most apparently in the fear of crime. Compared to other Latin American metropolises that have been transformed more profoundly since the 1990s, the socio-spatial structure of Lima has shown less visible modifications. This can be described as a differentiation of existing patterns, rather than a fragmentation of the urban landscape. Furthermore, the unsustainable urban sprawl of the previous decades, mostly through the attachment of informal settlements on the periphery, has slowed down. This was principally due to the deceleration of population growth, the increasing scarcity of available land and the congested traffic infrastructure. The exposure to direct and indirect insecurities translates spatially into a more complex urban structure, which in the residential sector is exemplified by the proliferation of fortified enclaves. The spread of enclosed residential areas is a phenomenon observed throughout Latin America. However, in Lima, the process of residential enclave building differs from other Latin American metropolises in several aspects. In the Peruvian capital, subsequently and informally enclosed neighbourhoods are by far the most dominant type. Instead of the real-estate sector offering a product, the residents themselves, mostly organised through some form of local association, initiate the fortification process. Residential spaces are being appropriated, controlled and fortified through the implementation of a series of spatial interventions, including physical-personal, organisational-legal and symbolic-cultural measures. Street gates are the most prominent physical feature of spatial intervention. Due to its ex-post nature, the spatial reality created by the enclave building process is not static, but subject to continuous change over time. The actual security geography of an area is determined by the degree of local community cohesion, the available financial resources and the importance of security-related discourses. The process is characterised by its almost complete informality. Very few of the installed street barriers are authorised by the responsible authorities, although they constrain the access to public spaces and the right of free movement. An attempt by the metropolitan authority to regulate the chaotic security landscape in 2004 has not shown significant results so far. As a widespread feature, the fortification of residential areas appeared only until the end of the 1990s. It is estimated that in 2005 the number of residential enclaves has reached approximately 300, with an estimated 400,000 inhabitants, equalling five per cent of the total population. Apart from some denser, central areas, they are now spread all over the Lima metropolitan area. Nevertheless, concentrations can be distinguished in districts such as La Molina, Los Olivos, San Luis or the western part of Ate. In contrast to the situation in other Latin American metropolises, the enclave building process is to a greater extent crossing socio-economic boundaries. While fortified enclaves are still over-represented in wealthier areas, more than half are located either in neighbourhoods of lower middle or lower classes. The process of residential enclave building in Lima reproduces social inequalities. On the one hand, the residents dispose of unequal abilities to achieve satisfying security levels according to the average neighbourhood income. On the other hand, the security provision by the police correlates with socio-economic indicators, with lower income areas receiving insufficient policing.


This paper, from a symposium at Washington University (St. Louis) Law School on the Rehnquist Court and the First Amendment, responds to a paper by Professor Jay Wexler on the Court's endorsement test for the Establishment Clause. The central section of my paper defends a limited version of the endorsement test. I argue that unless the endorsement test is properly understood and limited, it has the critical flaw of putting the Establishment Clause at war with the other religion guarantee of the First Amendment, the Free Exercise Clause. If the Establishment Clause forbade government endorsement of religion in all contexts, it would undermine the government's ability to give special accommodation to religious practice and thus would severely impair free exercise values. "No endorsement of religion" thus must operate, not as the general requirement of the Establishment Clause, but only as a rule for the particular class of establishment cases involving government-sponsored religious symbols and expression. The no-endorsement test is legitimate for that category of cases, I argue, but only because in those cases it serves the more fundamental goal of protecting a voluntary religious sector independent of government.


DESIGN AND IMPLEMTATION OF AN ENTERPRISE DATA WAREHOUSE Edward M. Leonard, B.S. Marquette University, 2011 The reporting and sharing of information has been synonymous with databases as long as there have been systems to host them. Now more than ever, users expect the sharing of information in an immediate, efficient, and secure manner. However, due to the sheer number of databases within the enterprise, getting the data in an effective fashion requires a coordinated effort between the existing systems. There is a very real need today to have a single location for the storage and sharing of data that users can easily utilize to make improved business decisions, rather than trying to traverse the multiple databases that exist today and can do so by using an enterprise data warehouse. The Thesis involves a description of data warehousing techniques, design, expectations, and challenges regarding data cleansing and transforming existing data, as well as other challenges associated with extracting from transactional databases. The Thesis also includes a technical piece discussing database requirements and technologies used to create and refresh the data warehouse. The Thesis discusses how data from databases and other data warehouses could integrate. In addition, there is discussion of specific data marts within the warehouse to satisfy a specific need. Finally, there are explanations for how users will consume the data in the enterprise data warehouse, such as through reporting and other business intelligence. This discussion also includes the topics of system architecture of how data from databases and other data warehouses from different departments could integrate. An Enterprise Data Warehouse prototype developed will show how a pair of different databases undergoes the Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) process and loaded into an actual set of star schemas then makes the reporting easier. Separately, an important piece of this thesis takes an actual example of data and compares the performance between them by running the same queries against separate databases, one transactional and one data warehouse. As the queries expand in difficulty, larger grows the gap between the actual recorded times of running that same query in the different environments.


Axi-symmetric, steady, incompressible, turbulent flow field developed by natural convection inside power plant solar chimney is investigated numerically using finite volume method. Navier-Stockes with energy equation is solved to achieve velocity components and temperature distribution inside solar chimney. To complete the thermal analysis, conduction through upper glass wall, chimney concrete wall and floor ground were investigated to calculate temperature distribution through theses walls. A standard e k turbulence model associated with lawss of the wall along solid boundaries was used. Special arrangement for mesh was used to deal with complicated shape of the domain. The main studied parameters are solar collector diameter, kinds of ground, periphery heights and solar intensity radiation. This study was compared with previous available experimental study and there is acceptable agreement. The performance of the solar chimney was examined through maximum air velocity in the tower inlet and maximum temperature in the ground floor. The final optimization parameters are defined within studied ranges.


Customer-Based Brand Equity in the Maldives
Customer-based brand equity is one of the widely used concepts to measure and evaluate brand performance. The aim of this research was to adopt a widely used customer-based brand equity model in the context of the Maldives. Analysis of the customer-based brand equity of Coca-Cola in the Maldives including the concept of customer-based brand equity, an analysis of demographic factors that affect the dimensions of customer-based brand equity, and the factors that contribute to the customer-based brand equity were evaluated. ANOVA tests were applied to compare the means of the customer-based brand equity dimensions with different demographic characteristics and multiple regressions were used to examine the determinants of Coca-Cola's loyalty. Perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand association were highly interrelated and have a significant role in creating customer based brand equity for Coca-Cola in the Maldives. Furthermore, this study reported that the location of respondents influence the customer-based brand equity which is consistent with previous studies in other countries. This study further confirms that females also have a significant influence in contributing to the dimensions of customer-based brand equity as reported in the findings. This research highlights the branding opportunities and challenges within the rapidly developing hospitality industry in the Maldives.


Volumetric representations of autoradiographic and histological images gain ever more interest as a base to interpret data obtained with /spl mu/-imaging devices like microPET. Beyond supporting spatial orientation within rat brains especially autoradiographic images may serve as a base to quantitatively evaluate the complex uptake patterns of microPET studies with receptor ligands or tumor tracers. They may also serve for the development of rat brain atlases or data models, which can be explored during further image analysis or simulation studies. In all cases a consistent spatial representation of the rat brain, i.e. its anatomy and the corresponding quantitative uptake pattern, is required. This includes both, a restacking of the individual two-dimensional images and the exact registration of the respective volumes. We propose strategies how these volumes can be created in a consistent way and trying to limit the requirements on the circumstances during data acquisition, i.e. being independent from other sources like video imaging of the block face prior to cutting or high resolution micro-X-ray CT or micro MRI.


We study the problem of generalized uniformity testing \cite{BC17} of a discrete probability distribution: Given samples from a probability distribution $p$ over an {\em unknown} discrete domain $\mathbf{\Omega}$, we want to distinguish, with probability at least $2/3$, between the case that $p$ is uniform on some {\em subset} of $\mathbf{\Omega}$ versus $\epsilon$-far, in total variation distance, from any such uniform distribution.
We establish tight bounds on the sample complexity of generalized uniformity testing. In more detail, we present a computationally efficient tester whose sample complexity is optimal, up to constant factors, and a matching information-theoretic lower bound. Specifically, we show that the sample complexity of generalized uniformity testing is $\Theta\left(1/(\epsilon^{4/3}\|p\|_3) + 1/(\epsilon^{2} \|p\|_2) \right)$.


This paper analyzes international borrowing and lending in an optimal growth model with adjustment costs for investment. We study the relation between optimal savings and investment, and the current account, in the transition towards the balanced growth path, and derive the implications of financial openness for both the transition path and the balanced growth path. A comparison with financial autarky reveals that, to the extent that countries start from different initial conditions, and there is pre-commitment to debt repayment, financial openness is beneficial for both "poor" and "rich" countries, as it allows them to engage in mutually beneficial inter-temporal trade. During the adjustment process, relatively "poor" countries experience higher consumption and investment compared to autarky, and thus cumulate current account deficits. There is an inter-temporal tradeoff, in that they experience lower steady state consumption, due to the need to service their accumulated foreign debt. The opposite happens in relatively "rich" countries. The inter-temporal tradeoffs implied by financial openness result in a time inconsistency problem. "Poor" countries reach a point in the adjustment process at which it is welfare improving to renege on their commitment to repay their foreign debt. In the absence of sufficient pre-commitment mechanisms, international lenders anticipate these incentives, and international borrowing and lending are driven to zero. This time inconsistency problem can thus explain both the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle and the Lucas paradox that capital does not flow from "rich" to "poor" countries. Credible sanctions in the case of default and ceilings on international borrowing are analyzed as partial solutions to the time inconsistency problem of international borrowing.


Graphene and its derivatives are being proposed for several important biomedical applications including drug delivery, gene delivery, contrast imaging, and anticancer therapy. Most of these applications demand intravenous injection of graphene and hence evaluation of its hemocompatibility is an essential prerequisite. Herein, both pristine and functionalized graphene are extensively characterized for their interactions with murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and human primary blood components. Detailed analyses of the potential uptake by macrophages, effects on its metabolic activity, membrane integrity, induction of reactive oxygen stress, hemolysis, platelet activation, platelet aggregation, coagulation cascade, cytokine induction, immune cell activation, and immune cell suppression are performed using optimized protocols for nanotoxicity evaluation. Electron microscopy, confocal Raman spectral mapping, and confocal fluorescence imaging studies show active interaction of both the graphene systems with macrophage cells, and the reactive oxygen species mediated toxicity effects of hydrophobic pristine samples are significantly reduced by surface functionalization. In the case of hemocompatibility, both types of graphene show excellent compatibility with red blood cells, platelets, and plasma coagulation pathways, and minimal alteration in the cytokine expression by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Further, both samples do not cause any premature immune cell activation or suppression up to a relatively high concentration of 75 μg mL(-1) after 72 h of incubation under in vitro conditions. This study clearly suggests that the observed toxicity effects of pristine graphene towards macrophage cells can be easily averted by surface functionalization and both the systems show excellent hemocompatibility.


The provision of fire protection measures in parking buildings is an ongoing debate within the fire protection industry. This article presents a cost-benefit analysis model for the installation of sprinklers for the property protection of these structures. An event tree analysis is used to evaluate vehicle fires in parking buildings drawing on data from New Zealand and international fire statistics. The event tree analysis is then applied to the cost-benefit model in which several scenarios relating to the type of parking building and the availability of sprinklers are considered. A case study is presented for a public parking building with a total floor area of 30,000 m (sup)2 and the most critical factors in determining the cost-benefit ratio are identified using a Monte-Carlo sensitivity analysis. Using the cost-benefit model and from a building owner's point of view it is found that an economical automatic sprinkler system does not justify itself in a parking building. Language: en


Despite numerous attempts by international agencies to halt the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), nowhere has the impact of HIV/AIDS been felt more acutely than among women and girls in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). SSA women account for 59% of adults over the age of 15 living with HIV/AIDS and 76% of those 15-24 who are infected (United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS], 2007). The evidence on gender disparities in infection rates is indisputable; there is an urgent need to identify what is missing in HIV/AIDS prevention interventions: What is the evidence based upon which programs are grounded? Program evaluations should influence and inform policy and funding and provide a critical feedback mechanism for the design of HIV interventions that work for girls and women. This dissertation examines HIV/AIDS evaluation practices by bilateral and multilateral agencies in Sub Sahara. The main objectives are: 1) to identify a small set of demonstrable properties (e.g., validity, credibility, utility, cost-effectiveness, ethicality, robustness) adequate to characterize high-quality gender-sensitive evaluations of HIV/AIDS prevention interventions in SSA. These properties will be used to determine the absolute and relative merit and worth of a sample of evaluations of HIV/AIDS interventions; and 2) to suggest ways that evaluations of SSA HIV/AIDS prevention interventions can help influence prevention interventions that shift the underlying social ecology that gives rise to women's vulnerability. As the first in-depth metaevaluation study of evaluations of HIV/AIDS prevention interventions, this dissertation contributes to the practice of evaluation within SSA and will help identify prevention strategies with potential for meaningful sustained change for women and girls.


Globalization is a reality in today's world, and with it comes the universalization of the influence of certain Powers and Authorities. These Authorities--Education, Law, Medicine, Technology--distance people from, and sometimes override the duties of, familial and religious connections and have generated new spheres of loyalty and practice that are touchstones for modern life as a whole. The contributors claim that the Authorities of modernity depend upon spiritual themes and insights. However, they note, these authorities lack a conscious moral rudder because they are not only ignorant of their roots, but because they have often repudiated them, leaving these professions morally and spiritually vacuous. The essayists claim that theological and ethical resources--Christian in root, public in character, and universal in implication--can re-engage these Authorities and offer them guidance. Contributors to the volume include: Richard Osmer (Princeton Theological Seminary); John Witte, Jr. (Emory University); Allen Verhey (Hope College); Ronald Cole-Turner (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary); Jurgen Moltmann (University of Tubingen); and Peter Paris (Princeton Theological Seminary). Max L. Stackhouse is the Stephen Colwell Professor of Christian Ethics at Princeton Theological Seminary and is the author of "Christian Social Ethics in a Global Era." Don S. Browning teaches at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago and is the author of "Religious Thought and the Modern Psychologies: A Critical Conversation in the Theology of Culture. ""


Automated knowledge acquisition is an important research issue to solve the bottleneck problem in developing expert systems. Although many inductive learning methods have been proposed for this purpose, most of the approaches focus only on inducing classification rules. However, medical experts also learn other information important for diagnosis from clinical cases. In this paper, a rule induction method is introduced, which extracts not only classification rules but also other medical knowledge needed for diagnosis. This system is evaluated on a clinical database of headache, whose experimental results show that our proposed method correctly induces diagnostic rules and estimates the statistical measures of rules.


Music Genie refers to audio processing technologies for quick and easy music browsing and discovery. We built research prototype software that allows users to quickly generate playlists from a collection of thousands of songs. Our software provides an interactive, content-adaptive, thumbnail-based presentation of music. The software accepts user inputs interactively during use, and it consecutively presents short music thumbnails for quick browsing. This direct, interactive presentation of music makes our system simple and transparent for users. Unobstrusively, the user's interactions (or lack thereof) are input into a real time system that, based on the prior analysis of the music content, adaptively presents a potentially interesting new song thumbnail. This technology may be used to 1) assist users discover music for purchase from a web music store; 2) allow users to browse their PC music collection based on current taste; and 3) allow intelligent browsing, playback or playlist generation in small, interface-limited, music players.


Iran's relationship with Iraq has come into the limelight amid the onslaught of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iranian policy is geared towards maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity, secure qualified stability and expand Iran's economic sphere. To maximize its influence in Iraq, Tehran has been playing the long game, exploited the mistakes of other foreign actors, diversified its relationships with Iraqi factions, seized on Baghdad's limited alliance options and sought a constructive relationship with Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani.


Scintillator materials inside most radiation detectors are very expensive to produce and maintain and should be operated at low temperatures and in airtight enclosures. Since detectors play critical roles in many scientific and technological applications, research efforts are geared towards identifying better alternatives to circumvent the industrial challenges and to develop more affordable and efficient radiation detectors. We then investigate the potential of hydrothermal-grown zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods as scintillator materials for radiation detectors. Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods with 1.24 to 2.34 μm lengths and 27 to 146 nm widths were successfully fabricated using the hydrothermal growth method. Under ultraviolet (290 nm) excitation, the hexagonal nanorods exhibit intense room temperature emissions at 382 nm with lifetimes ranging from 24 to 120 ps. These emission lifetimes are faster than those of conventional Ce:YAG scintillators (50 to 70 ns) and are comparable to those of intentionally doped ZnO bulk crystals (15 to 130 ps). Aside from having fast emission lifetimes, the ZnO nanorods can also function as light couplers which efficiently guide their own scintillation photons towards the detector's readout device. Hence, our investigations may pave the way to the accelerated development of radiation detectors which are based on high-quality nanostructures such as the hydrothermal-grown ZnO nanorods.


In the last two decades, the fisheries of the North Sea have experienced substantial declines in the population of a number of commercially harvested species. The fisheries have also experienced the development of considerable overcapacity as a result of ineffective management and subsidies. Management of the fishery is complicated by the existence not only of multiple species and gears, but also multiple countries. Concerns about regional employment have also influenced management decisions to the detriment of the resource and industry. In this paper, the underlying factors that have shaped the current situation in the North Sea fisheries are discussed and potential solutions are explored.


"Direct Adaptive Current Control" (DACC) is a completely adaptive current control scheme with excellent control quality and high dynamics. It is based on the detection of the current slopes during each switching state of the utilized inverter and identifies the system within one period. No control path parameters are needed for setup. One method to measure the current slopes is fast oversampling of the current followed by a least squares estimator to filter the noise. This is well-proven but is difficult at high switching frequencies and implies the use of powerful hardware. In this paper a new algorithm for the detection of the current slopes in DC/DC-Converters is presented that does not need oversampling or a complex filter. Its simplicity allows for easy implementation in low-cost microcontrollers and yet be operated at high switching frequencies. The presented algorithm enables the implementation of the DACC as a low-cost, high dynamic and completely adaptive current controller for fast-switching DC/DC-Converters.


Rice blast disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae and rice sheath blight disease caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia solani are two major hurdles for stable rice production worldwide. Presently, fungicides are still needed to manage these two devastating fungal pathogens. After two decades of research efforts, a toolbox has been assembled with the following components: (1) insight into pathogen genomic identity and pathogen avirulence (AVR) genes that can be used to enhance plant breeding; (2) new mapping populations and germplasm and genetic stocks that can be used as starting materials to identify effective host resistance (R) genes; (3) user-friendly disease evaluation methods that can be used to accelerate the identification and utilization of R genes; (4) validated effective R genes that are readily available for improving genetic resistance; (5) host genetic markers that can be used to accelerate the development of new resistant germplasms/cultivars; and (6) an improved understanding of resistance mechanisms that can facilitate the engineering of resistance in commercial varieties. Appropriate employment of these tools in breeding and crop protection will reduce production costs and create an environmentally benign, sustainable rice production system.


Elliptical holes ∼0.2–0.3 mm in diameter with beveled edges have been found penetrating the zooids of encrusting hederellids (colonial metazoans of uncertain affinity) from several localities in the Middle Devonian (Givetian) of North America. These are the first known predatory drill holes in pre-Cretaceous colonial animals and a key addition to the record of Paleozoic predation. Some drill holes were subsequently patched from within by new skeletal material, proving that the drilling occurred during the life of the colony. These drill holes are analogous to predatory drill holes in some modern cheilostome bryozoans, which can be similarly patched, in this case by the intramural budding of a new zooid into the empty chamber of the old zooid. A drilling predator of unknown affinity evidently consumed hederellid zooids one at a time, inflicting partial mortality on the colonies. The mode of drilling suggests that the predator specialized in this type of colonial prey, and the repaired drill holes show that the hederellids had a response to such damage. Reports of small circular holes interpreted as predatory drill holes are becoming more common in noncolonial shelled invertebrates from the Paleozoic, notably brachiopods, bivalves, and crinoids. These drill holes are far less frequent than in post-Paleozoic shells (where most are the work of gastropods), and many are of questionable origin, with some representing the traces of parasites and others postmortem domichnia.


Background. Concerns have been raised about the scope and generalizability of much community mental health research. In particular, both experimental and control services are poorly characterized. Methods. To review the effectiveness of 'home treatment' for mental health problems in terms of hospitalization, we conducted a systematic review, using Cochrane methodology but with a wider remit. Non-randomized studies were included in response to concerns about RCTs' generalizability. All authors were followed up for data on service components. 'Home treatment' was defined broadly for the purposes of the literature search, but included studies were then assessed against service components specifically focused on delivering treatment at home. The study tested components and other features for associations with days in hospital, as well as conducting a conventional meta-analysis of data on days in hospital. Results. We found 91 studies, 18 comparing home to in-patient treatment. Sixty per cent of authors responded to follow-up. The vast majority of the services studied had a 'home treatment function' and regularly visited patients at home. The heterogeneity of control services made meta-analysis problematical as did the limited availability of data. There was some evidence that 'regular' home visiting and combined responsibility for health and social care were associated with reduced hospitalization. The inclusion of non-randomized studies rarely affected the findings. Conclusions. Evidence concerning the effectiveness of home treatment remains inconclusive. A centrally coordinated research strategy is recommended, with attention to study design. Experimental and control service components should be prospectively recorded and reported to enable meaningful analysis.


According to folklore in general relativity, the Weyl tensor can be decomposed into parts corresponding to Newton-like, incoming and outgoing wavelike field components. It is shown here that this one-to-one correspondence does not hold for space-time geometries with cylindrical isometries. This is done by investigating some well-known exact solutions of Einstein's field equations with whole-cylindrical symmetry, for which the physical interpretation is very clear, but for which the standard Weyl interpretation would give contradictory results. For planar or spherical geometries, however, the standard interpretation works for both, static and dynamical space-times. It is argued that one reason for the failure in the cylindrical case is that for waves spreading in two spatial dimensions there is no local criterion to distinguish incoming and outgoing waves already at the linear level. It turns out that Thorne's local energy notion, subject to certain qualifications, provides an efficient diagnostic tool to extract the proper physical interpretation of the space-time geometry in the case of cylindrical configurations.


This study is an attempt to identify Jordanian working-women's perception of their life difficulties. Areas of life's difficulties include: psychological, social, political and career. Such difficulties were investigated across five variables: age, education, employment, years of experience and civil status. Each variable included subgroups. The sample consisted of 186 subjects living in the Amman district. Subjects responded to a questionnaire about life difficulties. The questionnaire's internal reliability as well as testretest reliability ranged from .79 to .92. Statistical analysis of data consisted of ANOVA analysis of variance and the Scheffe test of differences between groups. Results were tested at the .5-level or better. Jordanian women reported significant differences in all four areas of life's difficulties.


As one people The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) was born and constituted on October 3, 1967 by the union of the London Missionary Society (founded 1799), the Bantu Congregational Church of the American Board (founded 1835), and the Congregational Union of South Africa (founded 1859). The event is described as follows by the late Rev. Joseph Wing, then appointed as the first general secretary of UCCSA: On October 3, 1967 we went into a Durban church as three distinct denomina- tional bodies and we came out AS ONE PEOPLE, and despite stresses and strains, disagreement and some defections, we have remained ONE PEOPLE ever since (Wing 1990). Within twenty four hours of union, UCCSA committed itself to seeking union with Anglicans, Presbyterians and Methodists. UCCSA became one of the founder members of the Church Unity Commission (CUC) in South Africa, which was constituted on 29 January 1968. In 1972, UCCSA united with the South African Association of the Disciples of Christ, and these two unions within the space of five years earned for UCCSA the title of "trend setter" in ecumenical affairs in South Africa. Following firmly in the footsteps of the London Missionary Society, which took an uncompromising ecumenical approach to missionary activity, UCCSA could not and dared not be other than "born out of and for unity." United for a purpose UCCSA's inherent unity and its striving for greater unity within the church in Southern Africa, however, was never intended to be an end in itself. At the occasion of union in 1967, UCCSA's first chairperson, the Rev. J.K. Main, in his chairman's address to the assembly, reminded the church that "the test of our coming together lies in the purpose for which we are united" (UCCSA assembly 1967). That purpose, according to Main, was to be "a more effective witness in the world in which God has set us, in an age in which God has called us" (UCCSA assembly 1967). The challenge before UCCSA during the ensuing years up until the present time has turned out to be a daunting one. The euphoria of the 1967 union could not stop the forces of disunity at work within South African society at large. As such the entire life span of UCCSA, up to the present, has been punctuated by the violence of an oppressive regime and the counter-violence that it has bred. The history of UCCSA's witness is contemporaneous with human crisis of massive dimensions. The year of UCCSA's birth (1967), for example, witnessed the passing of the "Terrorism Act" in South Africa -- the most totalitarian lesgislation ever enacted in the country. As a church, alongside other churches and Christians, UCCSA has lived in the shadow of this legislation for a quarter of a century, with many UCCSA ministers, members and children having languished in detention, in the wake of this law. Through its general assembly at the time, UCCSA endorsed the Message to the People of South Africa (SACC 1968) and affirmed that "because God is love, and separation is the opposite force to love, a thorough policy of racial separation must ultimately require that the Church should cease to be the Church if applied to its members" (UCCSA assembly 1968). The then prime minister of South Africa, B.J. Vorster, told ministers of religion to beware of using the pulpit for political ends. UCCSA has not been prepared to limit the Word of God and the gospel of Christ to a conventional piety. The confrontation between the advocates of a conventional piety and the supporters of strong social action to end apartheid came to a head when the World Council of Churches (WCC) made its controversial grants to the liberation movements in 1970. The prime minister and many of the churches' own members urged the churches to withdraw from the WCC. The fruit of apartheid was reflected in the conflicting attitudes of church members, as never before. …


Purpose: This study aims to stress on the phenomenon of intellectual capital (IC) risks. More precisely, the perception of such risks in the context of the job rotation process often applied in multinational corporations (MNCs) is to be investigated. Design/methodology: Seven semi-structured interviews are conducted in an exemplary knowledgeintensive MNC operating in the construction industry. Six interviews among top managers and five interviews among participants in the job rotation process are carried out to gain insights from different perspectives. Findings: The study emphasize the influence of time pressure on the perception of the variety of IC-related risks in general and of those related to the job rotation process. As a result, the risks are not tackled even though the managers are aware of some of them. Research limitations/implication: The data were collected in one organization, making inferences about the findings not possible. Future studies should consider multiple organizations. Practical implications: A list of potential IC risks triggered during the job rotation process is presented and suggestions to tackle them are discussed. Furthermore, the findings can contribute to the further development of an overall overview of IC risks. Originality/value: The study condemn fresh insights into the relationship between IC risks and job rotation as perceived by different organization members.


During nervous system development, axonal growth cones find their way to their targets with the help of various chemoattractant and chemorepellant cues. Several neurite guidance signals modulate calcium influx into the growth cone, but the underlying mechanisms and the specific channels involved have been unclear (see Gomez). Now two groups, Li et al. and Wang and Poo, provide evidence implicating transient receptor potential canonical (TRPC) channels--a family of channels known for mediating sensory responses--in the response to the chemoattractants brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and netrin-1. Wang and Poo performed perforated whole-cell patch clamp analysis of cultured Xenopus spinal neurons and found that netrin-1 elicited membrane depolarization that was inhibited by an antibody to its receptor, DDC. Netrin-induced current present during pharmacological blockade of most voltage-dependent ion channels was inhibited by SKF-96365, which blocks TRP channels, as was a similar current produced by BDNF. Further, growth cone turning in response to netrin-1 or BDNF was abolished by SKF-96365. Injection of morpholino oligonucleotides (MOs) that knocked down xTRPC1 expression inhibited the putative TRP currents and abolished growth cone turning in response to a netrin-1 gradient. Moreover, MO or SKF-96365 abolished the netrin-induced increase in growth cone calcium concentration. Li et al. investigated TRPC channels in BDNF-mediated guidance of cultured cerebellar granule cells, which was blocked by antibodies to the TrkB receptor, incubation with a membrane-permeable calcium chelator, or pharmacological depletion of intracellular calcium stores. Although pharmacological blockade of several voltage-sensitive sodium and calcium channels had no effect on growth cone turning elicited by BDNF, turning was abolished by SKF-96365, as well as by pharmacological inhibition of phospholipase C (PLC), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), or blockade of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R). In contrast, a PLC activator elicited turning, an effect that depended on extracellular calcium and was abolished by SKF-96365. BDNF increased growth cone calcium concentration, an effect that depended on both calcium influx and release from internal stores and that was reduced by SKF-96365, pharmacological inhibition of PLC, or IP3R blockade. BDNF-induced turning was abolished by siRNA directed against TRPC3 or by overexpression of dominant-negative mutant forms of TRPC3 or TRPC6. Thus, activation of TRPC channels appears to play a key role in calcium-dependent neurite pathfinding in response to both netrin-1 and BDNF. Y. Li, Y.-C. Jia, K. Cui, N. Li, Z.-Y. Zheng, Y.-Z. Wang, X.-B. Yuan, Essential role of TRPC channels in the guidance of nerve growth cones by brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Nature 434, 894-898 (2005). [PubMed] G. X. Wang, M.-M. Poo, Requirement of TRPC channels in netrin-1-induced chemotropic turning of nerve growth cones. Nature 434, 898-904 (2005). [PubMed] T. Gomez, Channels for pathfinding. Nature 434, 835-838 (2005). [PubMed]


By integrating locally operated, small surgical robots and devices, a surgeon can perform, robotically assisted laparoscopic surgery safely and accurately. However, no locally operated robotic forceps functioning as the third arm can provide the wide eld of view and the large working area required for single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). For SILS using a locally operated third arm, the pivot point should be placed far from the other three instruments inserted through the single port, and the pivot axes should be bending. Size reduction of the differential geared mechanism is dif cult. Designing bending pivot axes for the exible worm mechanism is also dif cult. Bending pivot axes are also dif cult to achieve in the crank-curved manipulator that we proposed previously as the second arm. The crank distance is short because of the high-step cylinders. The curved forceps have low accuracy because of rubber deformation. In the present study, we modi ed the crank-curved manipulator and designed a new manipulator for use as the third arm in a sterile environment, which provides offset distance using lowstep cylinders in the pivot point placed far from the other instruments, as well as bending forceps mechanisms using ball joints in the bending pivot axes. We succeeded to develop a bending forceps manipulator with offset distance as a locally operated, end-effector manipulator (offset LODEM) for use as the third arm. The operating range was 60 mm for the offset, 32° for the pitch and yaw axes, and 24 mm for the insertion/extraction axis. Positional accuracy was evaluated while performing a simulated surgical procedure. The accuracy was 0.5 mm, which is suf cient for handling organs. The manipulator successfully handled the target in the simulated surgical procedures to provide a wide eld of view and a large working area. The offset LODEM was designed to allow minimally invasive, robotically assisted surgery performed by a doctor working near the patient. This device may be used for such applications.


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We present an approach for artist-directed animation of liquids using multiple levels of control over the simulation, ranging from the overall tracking of desired shapes to highly detailed secondary effects such as dripping streams, separating sheets of fluid, surface waves and ripples. The first portion of our technique is a volume preserving morph that allows the animator to produce a plausible fluid-like motion from a sparse set of control meshes. By rasterizing the resulting control meshes onto the simulation grid, the mesh velocities act as boundary conditions during the projection step of the fluid simulation. We can then blend this motion together with uncontrolled fluid velocities to achieve a more relaxed control over the fluid that captures natural inertial effects. Our method can produce highly detailed liquid surfaces with control over sub-grid details by using a mesh-based surface tracker on top of a coarse grid-based fluid simulation. We can create ripples and waves on the fluid surface attracting the surface mesh to the control mesh with spring-like forces and also by running a wave simulation over the surface mesh. Our video results demonstrate how our control scheme can be used to create animated characters and shapes that are made of water.


Abstract Nepenthes pitcher plants display interspecific diversity in pitcher form and diets. This species‐rich genus might be a conspicuous candidate for an adaptive radiation. However, the pitcher traits of different species have never been quantified in a comparative study, nor have their possible adaptations to the resources they exploit been tested. In this study, we compare the pitcher features and prey composition of the seven Nepenthes taxa that grow in the heath forest of Brunei (Borneo) and investigate whether these species display different trapping syndromes that target different prey. The Nepenthes species are shown to display species‐specific combinations of pitcher shapes, volumes, rewards, attraction and capture traits, and different degrees of ontogenetic pitcher dimorphism. The prey spectra also differ among plant species and between ontogenetic morphotypes in their combinations of ants, flying insects, termites, and noninsect guilds. According to a discriminant analysis, the Nepenthes species collected at the same site differ significantly in prey abundance and composition at the level of order, showing niche segregation but with varying degrees of niche overlap according to pairwise species comparisons. Weakly carnivorous species are first characterized by an absence of attractive traits. Generalist carnivorous species have a sweet odor, a wide pitcher aperture, and an acidic pitcher fluid. Guild specializations are explained by different combinations of morpho‐functional traits. Ant captures increase with extrafloral nectar, fluid acidity, and slippery waxy walls. Termite captures increase with narrowness of pitchers, presence of a rim of edible trichomes, and symbiotic association with ants. The abundance of flying insects is primarily correlated with pitcher conicity, pitcher aperture diameter, and odor presence. Such species‐specific syndromes favoring resource partitioning may result from local character displacement by competition and/or previous adaptations to geographically distinct environments.


This paper concerns the creation of an efficient, continuous, non-parametric representation of surfaces implicit in 3D laser data as typically recorded by mobile robots. Our approach explicitly leverages the probabilistic nature of Gaussian Process regression to provide for a principled, adaptive subsampling which automatically prunes redundant data. The algorithm places no restriction on the complexity of the underlying surfaces and enables predictions at arbitrary locations and densities. We present results using real and synthetic data and show that our approach attains decimation factors in excess of two orders of magnitude without significant degradation in fidelity of the workspace reconstructions.


The Altamaha River Basin is well known among malacologists for its high percentage (ca. 40%) of endemic mussels. While little historical data exists to quantify changes in mussel abundance, many biologists believe that some species are declining. We assembled a large database of mussel occurrence records from surveys conducted since 1967 and used this data to assess the current status of endemic mussels in the lower Ocmulgee and Altamaha rivers. The percentage of sites occupied and the ranges of the Altamaha arcmussel, Altamaha spinymussel, and inflated floater have declined over the past 10 years. The remaining endemic mussel species occupy a large percentage of sites and appear to be stable. We recommend the development of a longterm monitoring program for Altamaha basin endemic mussels. Success of this program will require both probability-based sampling to estimate mussel density and detection probabilities along with qualitative sampling to document occurrences at new sites.


Colloidal PbS and PbSe quantum dots are mixed with polystyrene and spincoated on top of a silicon-on-insulator microring notch filter. We demonstrate that the light propagating through the ring resonator strongly interacts with the quantum-dot doped thin film. This allows us to efficiently tune the output of the notch filter by varying the quantum-dot size and concentration. As a result, the hybrid devices can exhibit critical coupling only for a single resonance or display a constant extinction ratio over a wide spectral range. Considering the promising nonlinear optical properties of colloidal quantum dots, our results open new pathways for all-optical signal processing applications on a silicon platform.


Nanobacteria (NB) are the smallest known cell-walled self-replicating described bacteria to date; with dimensions of 20-200 nm isolated from human and cow blood. They are originally discovered by two researchers from Finland & Turkey, Drs. E. Olavi Kajander and Neva Ciftcioglu working at the University of Kuopio in Finland. NB are efficient nuclei of mineralization that start the formation of apatite from soluble calcium and phosphorus compounds at physiologic concentrations and conditions. So these microorganisms are believed to be etiological agents of pathological extra skeletal calcification.We pointed out the paradoxical role of fetuin (an anti-mineralization protein) in the formation of these self-propagating mineral complexes which we propose to call "nanons." Phylogenetic analysis based on comparison of 16S ribosomal DNA sequences has placed the NB isolated from fetal calf serum into the a-2 subgroup of Proteobacteria. This review elucidates the chemical & biological structure of NB through isolation, identification & molecular characterization of NB species from different animals & human sources.Moreover, to explain themethods to diagnose NB in biologics, cells, tissues, blood, and urine with immuno-detection with NB-specific monoclonal antibodies, electron microscopy, and coculture techniques.


Amidic glycolipids, 1,5-bis-O-alkyl-N-maltooligonoyl-L-glutamate (1), having various lengths of two hydrocarbon chains (carbon number, m: 14, 16, 18) and maltooligotose with (glucose unit, n: 3, 5, 7) and a N-glycosidic lipid, 1,5-bis-O-octadecyl-N-maltopentaonosyl-L-glutamate (2) have been synthesized. The assembling structures were analyzed by microscopic observation, such as negatively stained TEM, cryo-TEM, and AFM. The glycolipid 1a (m,n: 14,5) showed a fiber-like structure in all the observed temperatures, while 1b (16,5) showed a fiber-like structure when the hydrating temperature was above the gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature (Tc; 45°C) and a large disk-like structure when incubated below the Tc. The glycolipid 1c (18,5) took a large disk-like structure after hydration of the powder above the Tc. The glycolipids 1d (18,3) and 1e (18,7) showed a mixture of large disks and large vesicles and a mixture of small disks and micelles, respectively. The N-glycosidic lipid, 2, with no amide linkage made a vesicular structure only. The preparation procedure using high shear stress, such as extrusion and sonication, converted the large disk of 1c to smaller assemblies, such as small disk-, cone-, and granule-like assemblies, depending on the preparation conditions. The glycolipid molecules in the planer part of the disk were packed so tightly that molecular mobility was very low even above the Tc (58°C), and the reactivity of the saccharide chain against Concanavalin A was also very low, indicating that the high reactivity probably comes from the loose packing of saccharide chains around the edge part of the assemblies.


This work is currently under development within the framework of an American‐European project (Digimat Project). The paper details the development of some numerical tools dedicated to the digital representation of metallic materials structures, to the finite element modelling of the polycrystalline microstructure deformation under large strains and to the subsequent recrystallization. The level set method used for the description of the microstructure interfaces is shown to represent a common base to all these developments.


The paper discusses various dimensions of a complex situation arising out of the conflict between the media and the state, and the raging conflict between the general perception of democracy and the Eritrean government's perception of it. This is within the context of a fast developing global village of which all African states will be members one day. Eritrea, though liberated in 1991 from Ethiopian rule, shares many characteristics of other dictatorial regimes in the neighboring countries. The state-run electronic and print media, centralized economy, lack of a parliamentary election process, independent judiciary, and suppression of fundamental rights, especially the freedom of expression, mark the dictatorial character of the regime in Eritrea in contrast to the accepted conventions of democracy in the West. The Eritrean government promotes a democratic model in which democratization is sought through education. Achieving democratization is limited to holding regular elections to local bodies at grass-root level. By the Government's not holding elections to its Parliament, the present policies of governance have not only turned deviant from its own once highly avowed and publicized macro-policy and the Constitution, but also have become vulnerable to mounting criticism. The present study, supported by a survey of the opinion of a random sample of people via mobile as well as Internet channels by means of open-ended questions, offers a snapshot of the growing desire of the people for full implementation of the Constitution, a liberalized economy and the free media, which their counterparts enjoy in many European countries.


Abstract Background: Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005 and destroyed the infrastructure of New Orleans. Mass evacuation ensued. The immediate and long-lasting impact of these events on the mental health of children have been reported in survey research. This study was done to describe the nature of mental health need of children during the four years after Hurricane Katrina using clinical data from a comprehensive healthcare program. Medical and mental health services were delivered on mobile clinics that traveled to medically underserved communities on a regular schedule beginning immediately after the hurricane. Patients were self-selected residents of New Orleans. Most had incomes below the federal poverty level and were severely affected by the hurricane. Methods: Paper charts of pediatric mental health patients were reviewed for visits beginning with the establishment of the mental health program from 01 July 2007 through 30 June 2009 (n = 296). Demographics, referral sources, presenting problems, diagnoses, and qualitative data describing Katrina-related traumatic exposures were abstracted. Psychosocial data were abstracted from medical charts. Data were coded and processed for demographic, referral, and diagnostic trends. Results: Mental health service needs continued unabated throughout this period (two to nearly four years post-event). In 2008, 29% of pediatric primary care patients presented with mental health or developmental/learning problems, including the need for intensive case management. The typical presentation of pediatric mental health patients was a disruptive behavior disorder with an underlying mood or anxiety disorder. Qualitative descriptive data are presented to illustrate the traumatic post-disaster experience of many children. School referrals for mental health evaluation and services were overwhelmingly made for disruptive behavior disorders. Pediatric referrals were more nuanced, reflecting underlying mood and anxiety disorders. Histories indicated that many missed opportunities for earlier identification and intervention. Conclusions: Mental health and case management needs persisted four years after Hurricane Katrina and showed no signs of abating. Many children who received mental health services had shown signs of psychological distress prior to the hurricane, and no causal inferences are drawn between disaster experience and psychiatric disorders. Post-disaster mental health and case management services should remain available for years post-event. To ensure timely identification and intervention of child mental health needs, pediatricians and school officials may need additional training.


Through a series of phylogenetic and taxonomic works, the unwieldy and non-monophyletic genus Barbus was reduced to just the typical Barbus of Europe and East Asia and most of the small, African, diploid barbs ('Barbus'). The genus Enteromius Cope, 1867 was recently elevated to rename most of the small African 'Barbus'; however, this designation has been controversial. Opponents of this change argue the designation was based on poorly supported phylogenies and state these changes would disrupt currently well-supported monophyletic groups; however, the genus is currently in use, and it is necessary to determine the species that should be recognized as Enteromius. Herein, we present a list of species placed in Enteromius and provide a description of the genus. We list the species of the other small African barbs (Barboides, Barbopsis, Caecobarbus, Clypeobarbus, Pseudobarbus, and 'Pseudobarbus'). We also contribute 36 cytochrome b sequences of Enteromius to further build an understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among members of this group, and to aid in further taxonomic decisions.