To examine whether dietary supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids from Clupeonella grimmi can relieve symptoms of dysmenorrhoea, we carried out a cross-over clinical trial on 36 girls aged 18-22 years. They were randomly allocated into 2 groups of 18. Group A received 15 mL fish oil daily (550 mg eicosapentaenoic acid; 205 mg decosahexaenoic acid) while Group B received placebo. After 3 months, the treatment regimens were swapped. The treatment groups reported a significant difference after 3 months of supplementation with fish oil (visual analogue scale score 20.9 compared with 61.8 for the placebo (P= 0.001). There was also a marked reduction in low back pain and abdominal pain (P < 0.05), and participants needed significantly fewer rescue doses of ibuprofen while using fish oil.


Interpersonal communication has been transformed by the more than 70 percent of adults who own smartphones (Greenwood, Perrin & Duggan, 2016) and other forms of portable technology. It is now more convenient than ever to stay in touch, find lost friends, and access constantly updated information online, but research has linked mobile phone use to decreased relationship and interaction quality. For example, McDaniel and Coyne (2016) found that self-reported technology use among married couples predicted more partner conflict and less relationship satisfaction, particularly for women. Brown, Manago and Trimble (2016) found similar results in that the more friend dyads were observed using their mobile phones in each other's presence, the lower they subsequently rated the quality of their interactions. Przybylski and Weinstein (2012) found that even the mere presence of a cell phone was linked to lower levels of trust, relationship quality, and perceived partner empathy among dyads instructed to talk about a meaningful topic. The current study addressed the call for more research on the links between computer mediated communication, relationships and well-being (Schiffrin, Edelman, Falkenstern & Stewart, 2010). Participants answered survey questions about five close relationships and completed standardized scales to measure cell phone use and other individual differences, including locus of control, subjective well-being and satisfaction with life. Results revealed a pattern across the five relationships; participants indicated that in-person communication was more common in family relationships than in romantic and friend relationships, in-person interactions were rated as more important than online interactions, and more in-person interactions predicted higher relationship quality scores. An external locus of control was significantly positively correlated with cell phone dependence and mobile phone usage, and predicted lower relationship quality, subjective well-being and satisfaction with life.


Most e-Learning systems provide web-based learning so that students can access the same online courses via the Internet without adaptation, based on each student's profile and behavior. In an e-Learning system, one size does not fit all. Therefore, it is a challenge to make e-Learning systems that are suitably "adaptive". The aim of adaptive e-Learning is to provide the students the appropriate content at the right time, means that the system is able to determine the knowledge level, keep track of usage, and arrange content automatically for each student for the best learning result. This study presents a proposed system which includes major adaptive features based on a student model. The proposed system is able to initialize the student model for determining the knowledge level of a student when the student registers for the course. After a student starts learning the lessons and doing many activities, the system can track information of the student until he/she takes a test. The student's knowledge level, based on the test scores, is updated into the system for use in the adaptation process, which combines the student model with the domain model in order to deliver suitable course contents to the students. In this study, the proposed adaptive e-Learning system is implemented on an "Introduction to Java Programming Language" course, using LearnSquare software. After the system was tested, the results showed positive feedback towards the proposed system, especially in its adaptive capability. https://doi.org/10.34105/j.kmel.2011.03.025


From #1 "New York Times "bestselling author Jennifer Weiner, a novel that's "funny, fanciful, extremely poignant and rich with insight" ("The Boston Globe"). For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for "The Philadelphia Examiner." She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body. But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.


Abstract. River floods generate a large share of the socio-economic impact of weather-driven hazards worldwide. Accurate assessment of their impact is a key priority for governments, international organization, reinsurance companies and emergency responders. Yet, available databases of flood losses over large domains are often affected by gaps and inconsistencies in reported figures. In this work, a framework to reconstruct the economic damage and population affected by river floods at continental scale is applied. Pan-European river flow simulations are coupled with a high-resolution impact assessment framework based on 2-D inundation modelling. Two complementary methods are compared in their ability to estimate the climatological average flood impact and the impact of each flood event in Europe between 1990 and 2013. The event-based method reveals key features, such as the ability to include changes in time of all three components of risk, namely hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Furthermore, it skilfully reproduces the socio-economic impact of major flood events in the past two decades, including the severe flooding hitting central Europe in June 2013. On the other hand, the integral method is capable of reproducing the average flood losses which occurred in Europe between 1998 and 2009. Strengths and limitations of the proposed model are discussed to stress the large potential for filling in the gaps of current datasets of flood impact.


Literature abound justifying that industrialization is a pathway to economic development and growth. Whereas linkage between financial development and economic growth has long been a subject of intense scrutiny, not much has been done to examine the link between financial development and industrial growth. Using an aggregate production framework and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration technique for Nigerian time series data covering the period 1970 to 2009, the paper finds a cointegration relationship between financial sector development and industrial production. Both the long run and short run dynamic coefficients of financial sector development variables have negative and statistically significant impact on industrial production. Based on these research outcomes the following policy implications can be drawn: the most important task for government of Nigeria is to introduce further financial sector reforms to improve the efficiency of the domestic financial sector which is a pre-requisite for the achievement of industrial development. The inefficiency of the financial sector is responsible for the adverse impact on industrial production. Appropriate measures should be taken to eliminate the constraints and challenges facing small and medium scale enterprise (SME) funding schemes, as these enterprises form the bedrock of the Nigerian industrial sector. Furthermore, industrialization requires a lot of innovations and entrepreneurship. To achieve these, appropriate policy should be undertaken. Given the strong positive impact of labour stock on industrial production, policies should be geared towards diverting resources to develop more human capital.


In this paper we consider a model for integrating transportation and inventory decisions in a three-level logistics network consisting of plants, warehouses, and retailers (or customers). Our model includes production and throughput capacity constraints, and minimizes production, holding, and transportation costs in a dynamic environment. We show that the problem can be reformulated as a certain type of assignment problem with convex objective function. Based on this observation, we propose a greedy heuristic for the problem, and illustrate its behaviour on a class of randomly generated problem instances. These experiments suggest that the heuristic may be asymptotically feasible and optimal with probability one in the number of customers.


The article presents the major findings of a comprehensive study (White Paper on Civil Protection) accomplished by the Center for National Security and Defense Research (CNSDR) in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). The re- search is presently further developed within the framework of a NATO Science for Peace Project SFP-981149 for building new capabilities in Decision Making Sup- port for the Bulgarian Security Sector. The main goal of this article is to assess the status and prospects ahead of the system for protection of population and critical infrastructure. The fundamental principles of the Concept for Civil Security of the Republic of Bulgaria have been formulated within the context of the establishment of an integrated security sector. An institutionalized civil security system is consid- ered "the third pillar" of the security sector in Bulgaria. Three main alternatives for development of civil security system are put forward. The first alternative is a result of a narrow interpretation and application of the newly adopted Crisis Management Act. The second alternative offers a broader interpretation and application of the Crisis Management Act. This alternative envisages maximum interdepartmental co- ordination - "a quasi ministry, whereas a ministry is not actually established." The third alternative envisages the establishment of a new Ministry of Civil Security. The development of a Center of Excellence in Security Sector Transformation in Bulgaria is proposed to provide scientific support to the effective transformation of the civil security system and the implementation of the Crisis Management Law.


This thesis employs quantitative content analysis to investigate the strategies used by female entertainment influencers (FEI) on TikTok to attract followers. The study investigated the six FEIs with the most followers on the TikTok and Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok), three each from both platforms. This study focuses on the visual framework strategy as the theoretical basis to analyze female entertainment influencers' videos (N=90). The results show that FEIs tend to wear casual clothes and shoot videos with simple backgrounds. Most shooting angles are half-length or full-body shots, which do not display multiple feminine movements in videos. Regression analyses were conducted to estimate the relationships between the sixteen categories and the number of likes and reposts for videos. Regression analyses showed that, among the sixteen variables, breast, stance, and facial expression have a noticeable influence on the number of likes while the number of reposts was significantly affected by breast and stance. Moreover, quantitative analysis using the one-way ANOVA test and frequency analysis established differences in strategies between FEIs who use different versions of TikTok. One such difference is the preference of Chinese FEIs to use complicated editing techniques on Douyin, while American FEIs choose simple editing procedures on TikTok. Similarly, only less than a quarter of Chinese FEIs' videos depict the body's casual touching, which is significantly lower than that of American FEIs in frequency. By collecting videos of each influencer at different phases of their popularity, the author makes an effort to reveal influencers' strategies for establishing personal branding. The findings of this research help extend the current body of knowledge regarding the use of visual framing on emerging social media by recommending better applications of personal branding strategies. Moreover, this study makes up for the lack of literature on the influence and significance of female influencers on the TikTok platform. Influencers build their PERSONAL BRANDING STRATRGIES 2 personal brands and communities through unique tastes, and the results of this study will be informative for marketing and personal brand building on new social media. This study also provides specific information and guidance for female users for marketing their personal brands targeting specific markets and user groups on TikTok.


In this paper we examine one aspect of agglomeration, namely the geography of human capital. In some contexts, human capital may be very mobile, and understanding local agglomeration processes therefore requires us to consider inter-regional flows of human capital. In particular, here we discuss the flows of students in Great Britain from domicile into university and then the flows of graduate human capital from university into first employment. We then estimate the local/non-local pattern of these flows as a function of the characteristics of the university, of the student population, and of the local region. Our findings suggest that university attendance in Great Britain is generally associated with very significant levels of human capital mobility, and only certain types of higher education institutions play a significant employment role in their local economies.


The use of tracer dyes is a technically valid and cost-effective method for characterizing contaminant fluxes and hydraulic properties in complex hydrogeologic systems. Dye tracing methods were successfully employed at a site in New Jersey to evaluate the effectiveness of the groundwater containment system and to update the conceptual site model (CSM). The data has driven a reevaluation of the groundwater containment system and CSM, including a review of interim alternative technologies to increase efficiency while a new approach capping the remedial action timeframe at 15 years is tested and implemented. Uncertainty with regard to the persistence of constituents in downgradient monitoring wells and the influence of long-term pumping from the interconnected overburden and basalt bedrock aquifers led to the evaluation of methods that would both address multiple hypotheses on contaminant flux and update the CSM. The property contains several distinct features that add to its complexity, including a former surface impoundment underlain by alluvial sediments and fractured bedrock, and the immediate presence of water bodies. The fluorescent dyes fluorescein, eosine, and rhodamine WT were selected for the Dye Tracer Study (DTS) and individually injected at three locations following § Corresponding Author: George F. Arsnow, CDM, 110 Fieldcrest Avenue, 6 Floor, Edison, NJ, 08837, USA, Phone: 732-225-7000, Facsimile: 732-225-7851, Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Arsnow et al.: Dye Tracer Study Produced by The Berkeley Electronic Press, 2010 338 Contaminated Soils, Sediments,Water, and Energy – Site Assessment baseline sampling. The injection locations considered the presence of source material (former surface impoundment), hydraulic properties of the aquifers (pumping induced gradients, travel times, heads from adjacent water bodies), and parent/daughter compound concentration relationships. The DTS was conducted over 14 months and involved the collection of grab and composite samples from monitoring and extraction well networks, and along an adjacent brook. A single dye, fluorescein, was identified over the course of the DTS. The fluorescein was injected in the former surface impoundment and travelled south at an approximate rate of ten feet/day. The DTS illuminated flow pathways that were unexpected in terms of speed of groundwater migration and extent laterally and vertically.


Since 1983, the Bank of Canada has conducted a triennial survey of foreign exchange market activity in Canada. The latest survey was done in April 1995 and covered activity in both the foreign exchange market and in the derivatives markets. The central banks of most other industrialized countries with active foreign exchange and derivatives markets also conducted similar surveys. This was the first time that markets for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives were surveyed by central banks in a systematic and comprehensive fashion. The average daily turnover in the Canadian foreign exchange market, including foreign exchange derivatives, has continued to grow rapidly (by approximately 36 per cent to about U.S.$30 billion) since the last survey, although at a slower pace than during the 1980s. Foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives contracts dominate derivatives market activity, with equity and commodity derivatives activity being almost negligible in comparison. Through April 1995, daily turnover volume in Canadian foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives markets averaged about U.S.$19 billion and U.S.$15 billion, respectively, mostly in forward and swap transactions.


This paper sheds light on how changes in the organization of work lead to wage inequality. We present a theoretical model in which workers with a wider span of competence (higher level of multitasking) earn a wage premium. Since abilities and opportunities to expand the span of competence are distributed unequally among workers across and within education groups, our theory explains (1) rising wage inequality between groups, (2) rising wage inequality within groups, and (3) the polarization of work and the decoupling of the income distribution. Using a rich German data set covering a 20-year period from 1986 to 2006, we provide empirical support for our model.


This paper studies the role coworker-based networks play for individual labour market outcomes. I analyse how the provision of labour market relevant information by former coworkers affects the employment probabilities and, if hired, the wages of male workers who have previously become unemployed as the result of an establishment closure. To identify the causal effect of an individual worker's network on labour market outcomes, I exploit exogenous variation in the strength of these networks that is due to the occurrence of mass-layoffs in the establishments of former coworkers. The empirical analysis is based on administrative data that comprise the universe of workers employed in Germany between 1980 and 2001. The results suggest a strong positive effect of a higher employment rate in a worker's network of former coworkers on his re-employment probability after displacement: a 10 percentage point increase in the prevailing employment rate in the network increases the re-employment probability by 7.5 percentage points. In contrast, there is no evidence of a statistically significant effect on wages. as well as seminar participants at various institutions and conferences for helpful comments and suggestions.


The BPRC houses a self-sustaining breeding colony of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) for the purpose of conducting biomedical research. Their immunological, physiological, and genetic proximity to humans make marmosets useful as model for specific human diseases. In order to ensure reliable data collection and the reproducibility of the experiments, optimal welfare procedures with respect to housing, husbandry and veterinary care need to be in place. Optimal welfare results in better experiments and in reduction of the number of animals needed. In order to ensure all this, the in this thesis described studies were performed. The vocalisations produced by marmosets were recorded and analysed to assess if they were suitable as welfare indicator. Moreover, the recovery period, which marmosets need after implantation of an abdominal telemetric transmitter, was determined. Additionally, we evaluated whether new housing and husbandry modifications at the BPRC, which were assumed to improve the animals' welfare, constituted an increased veterinary risk for the marmosets. Furthermore, a detailed description and illustrations of the skeleton of the common marmoset as an anatomical guide were described. Finally, the clinical use, cardiorespiratory effects and reliability of sedatives alone and in combination with different analgesic premedication were determined.


This demo shows how a hierarchical control plane of ONOS SDN controllers orchestrates the dynamic provisioning of end-to-end Carrier Ethernet circuits on a composite network, programming the whole data path from the CPE to the core optical equipment.


Hypothalamic and pituitary beta-endorphin (B-EP) concentrations are modified by ovariectomy and estrogen treatments, supporting a direct interaction between this peptidergic system and gonadal steroids. Because the use of progestins is becoming even more diffuse in clinical practice, we evaluated the effect of progesterone and of the synthetic progestins medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), norethisterone acetate (NET) and desogestrel on the concentration of B-EP in the medial-basal hypothalamus and the anterior and neurointermediate pituitary lobes in ovariectomized rats (OVX), treated or untreated with estradiol benzoate (EB). B-EP concentrations were significantly increased by desogestrel in the anterior lobe and by progesterone, desogestrel and medroxyprogesterone acetate in the neurointermediate lobe. Progesterone and progestins significantly reduced B-EP increase induced by estradiol benzoate in the anterior lobe. Estradiol benzoate treatment did not modify the effect of progesterone and desogestrel on B-EP in the neuro-intermediate pituitary lobe. Norethisterone acetate and progesterone increased B-EP concentrations in the medial-basal hypothalamus, while the other steroids were inactive. In contrast, in the hypothalamus all progestins attenuated the increase of B-EP induced by estradiol benzoate (p less than 0.01). These data indicate that progesterone and progestins modulate the hypothalamic and pituitary B-EP concentrations in concert with estrogens. The capacity of progestins to modify the hypothalamic contents of B-EP may represent one of the mechanisms of action of these steroids in influencing brain function.


This essay considers a short period in the early career of the Minimalist Carl Andre, in order to show that the literality arrived at in his work was not simply posited as an a priori characteristic of the materials he used, but was produced as a rhetorical effect through the negation of conventional artistic modes of expression through such procedures as dissociation and mechanical self-patterning. To support this reading, the essay also considers the parallel development undergone by Andre's poetic production in the same period. According to this view, literality is treated as a figure rather than the absence of the figural. The absence of self that is the correlative of literality is then reconsidered in the light of the view. It is argued that the absence of self in Andre's work is similarly produced as a rhetorical effect, but what follows from this is not the reintroduction of self in the form of the producer of such an effect, but rather an insight into the figurality of self as contingent upon its material realisation.


Aim. To summarize all relevant trials and critically evaluate the effect of acupuncture on heart rate variability (HRV). Method. This was a systematic review with meta-analysis. Keyword search was conducted in 7 databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Data extraction and risk of bias were done. Results. Fourteen included studies showed a decreasing effect of acupuncture on low frequency (LF) and low frequency to high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) of HRV for nonhealthy subjects and on normalized low frequency (LF norm) for healthy subjects. The overall effect was in favour of the sham/control group for high frequency (HF) in nonhealthy subjects and for normalized high frequency (HF norm) in healthy subjects. Significant decreasing effect on HF and LF/HF ratio of HRV when acupuncture was performed on ST36 among healthy subjects and PC6 among both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, respectively. Discussion. This study partially supports the possible effect of acupuncture in modulating the LF of HRV in both healthy and nonhealthy subjects, while previous review reported that acupuncture did not have any convincing effect on HRV in healthy subjects. More published work is needed in this area to determine if HRV can be an indicator of the therapeutic effect of acupuncture.


The down and dirty basics for computer newbies. For those with a blank slate when it comes to computer know-how, this guide teaches readers how to get started on a PC, including: easy instructions on starting, setting up, and organizing the PC; navigating the Windows 7 desktop and folder system; getting up and running with email; working with music, photos, and video; plus an introduction to Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, eBay, blogging, instant messaging; and more! Focuses on software-and the practical and fun things new users want to do with their PCs A large number of people-particularly the older generation-are new to computers Includes troubleshooting tips


Stable at high temperatures, refractory plasmonic materials could boost existing optoelectronic technologies. Refractory materials are defined as those with a high melting point and chemical stability at temperatures above 2000°C. Applications based on refractory materials, usually nonmetallic, span a wide range of areas including industrial furnaces, space shuttle shields, and semiconductor technology. Metals have also been studied as refractories; however, the optical properties of those metals that have been tried for high-temperature applications were not good enough to be used in plasmonic applications (these are almost entirely based on noble metals, which are not good refractories). Refractory materials that exhibit reasonably good plasmonic behavior would undoubtedly enable new devices and boost such existing applications as heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) (1), solar/thermophotovoltaics (S/TPV) (2), plasmon-assisted chemical vapor deposition (3), solar thermoelectric generators (4), and nanoscale heat transfer systems (5).


Nowadays, a careful knowledge of the electromagnetic properties of biological tissues is required for developing a great number of applications. The development of wireless medical devices, the design of in-body and on-body antennas, specific absorption rate evaluations, cancer treatment techniques such as hyperthermia and detection techniques like medical imaging are some examples of applications that rely on these data.
Since cancer causes modifications on the biological structure of cells that can lead in turn to changes in the electromagnetic properties of the tissues, it is possible to develop novel detection applications taking advantage of it. One potential target is colorectal cancer (CRC), as suspicious tissues can be accessed quite easily through colonoscopy procedures. This kind of cancer is one of the most spread kinds, being responsible of about 1 out of 10 new cancer cases and deaths. There are several risk factors currently related to the apprising of this cancer, although in essence the higher the age of the population, the higher the incidence of CRC.
Screening programs are key for detecting and diagnosing cancer: if found at early stages, the probability of survival increases greatly, and the cost of the treatment can be reduced as well. One of the major objectives of this dissertation is proposing applications for detecting CRC that aid in the colonoscopy procedures by making use of the differences in electromagnetic properties. Aside from enhancement in the diagnosis of CRC, improving the colonoscopy procedure can lead to collateral benefits like a lowering of the burden of anatomical pathology unit.
With the aim at demonstrating the feasibility and the potential future development of these applications, in the framework of this thesis the dielectric properties of healthy, cancerous and pathological human colon tissues are measured and compared in order to find electromagnetic differences. Measurements are carried out by means of an open-ended coaxial system. Its principle of operation has been revisited with the aim at maximizing the accuracy of the method, and the calibration procedure has been optimized serving the same purpose. Two main sources of colon tissue have been analyzed: samples from colonoscopy biopsies and samples from surgery resections. Besides healthy tissue, the following colon tissues have been characterized: Adenocarcinomas (CRC), adenomas without dysplasia, adenomas with low-grade dysplasia, adenomas with high-grade dysplasia, hyperplastic polyps and hamartomatous polyps. Given the variability that can appear among subjects, the electromagnetic properties of suspicious tissues from a particular patient have to be always compared with those of his healthy ones, not evaluated independently.
The second major objective of this thesis involves the development of a new database of electromagnetic properties of biological tissues obtained at in vivo conditions. Nowadays, the available collections are limited either in the number of tissues or the measured frequencies, and hence researchers have to make use of more complete databases but that were performed ex vivo. The drawback of using these collections is that results can be compromised by factors such as lack of blood perfusion and tissue dehydration. Developing this new database can facilitate the design of applications that needs of a careful knowledge of these properties.


In Chinese Law on SARS, Chenglin Liu recounts the tale of China's efforts to cope with the recent SARS epidemic. The outbreak of SARS coincided with the full session of the 10th National People's Congress, which elected a new Central Government in response to governmental failures in dealing with the crisis. The new government's "proactive" approach to addressing the epidemic was to enact new legislation, republish an important law, and issue authoritative interpretations of existing criminal law provisions.Liu offers a savvy analysis of why China's centralized framework initially impeded the fight against SARS, and discusses the new government's decisions to deal with SARS openly and to adopt an approach that placed a higher priority on public health and safety. Liu perceptively identifies serious shortcomings in the SARS laws, but also acknowledges their strengths and the progress they represent in building a Chinese legal system. For these reasons, Chinese Law on SARS is a valuable addition to the emerging English-language literature about the new legal system in China.


This paper investigates whether the degree and the nature of economic and monetary policy interdependence between the United States and the euro area have changed with the advent of EMU. Using real-time data, it addresses this issue from the perspective of financial markets by analysing the effects of monetary policy announcements and macroeconomic news on daily interest rates in the United States and the euro area. First, the paper finds that the interdependence of money markets has increased strongly around EMU. Although spillover effects from the United States to the euro area remain stronger than in the opposite direction, we present evidence that US markets have started reacting also to euro area developments since the onset of EMU. Second, beyond these general linkages, the paper finds that certain macroeconomic news about the US economy have a large and significant effect on euro area money markets, and that these effects have become stronger in recent years. Finally, we show that US macroeconomic news have become good leading indicators for economic developments in the euro area. This indicates that the higher money market interdependence between the United States and the euro area is at least partly explained by the increased real integration of the two economies in recent years.


Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a polyphagous pest originating from Asia but is now established in North America, Europe and recently South America. It has not established in New Zealand but is considered a signi cant biosecurity threat. Surprisingly, there is very little accessible information on its potential impact on kiwifruit, one of New Zealand's most important horticulture crops. Articles in Chinese characters1,2,3 published in Chinese journals more than a decade ago demonstrate that BMSB is an important kiwifruit pest in China and, therefore, of concern to New Zealand's kiwifruit industry. However, these articles were unknown to the broader BMSB research community until recently. This example reemphasises the importance of searching Chinese databases with Chinese characters, along with standard searches in international databases, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of biosecurity risks to New Zealand.

Zhang F, Chen Z, Zhang S. 2000. The occurrence and control of Halyomorpha halys in kiwifruit orchards. Northwest Horticulture 2: 38.

Guo X, Shi X. 2003. The biology and integrated management of important kiwifruit pests. China Fruits 1: 45-46.

Feng H. 2007. The occurrence and control of pests in kiwifruit orchards. Northwest Horticulture 12: 22.


Background As social-justice-focused teacher education programs continue to gain prominence, a wealth of research explores approaches for preparing teachers for social-justice-minded teaching. This study looks closely at a key aspect of teacher education programs frequently absent from the research—the teacher educators (TEs) themselves. Focus of Study The study intentionally expands the consideration of TEs' identities beyond reductive demographic characteristics to explore how the personal histories and motivations of TEs impact teacher candidates' (TCs') opportunities to learn about teaching for social justice. Setting and Participants The study follows two parallel sections of a single teacher education course taught by two different TEs. Because the TEs taught from the same syllabus, within the context of the same program, the impact of each TE's instructional choices is revealed. Research Design Using a comparative case study design, data sources included field notes, audio recordings of class meetings, course readings and materials, and two interviews with each TE. Audio recordings were transcribed and analyzed following a micro-ethnographic discourse analysis approach. The second interview took place after initial analysis of the data, allowing the TEs to respond to initial findings. Findings Although both TEs focused on social justice topics, in alignment with the program goals, their choices of what topics to focus on differed greatly. One TE used the course readings to open up discussions of gender and sexuality, critically examining heteronormative ideals and a dismissive attitude toward adolescent relationships and sexuality. The other TE used the same readings and assignments to create inquiry into complicated issues of racial and ethnic identity with implications for classroom teaching. In each case, the choices by the TEs in how they framed discussions and assignments and what ideas they took up and built on during class interactions shaped the curriculum in unique ways. These instructional choices corresponded to each TE's own personal experiences and motivations. Conclusions The findings suggest that research on teacher education programs must look beyond course syllabi or the structural components of a program to understand the opportunities to learn provided to TCs. Decisions by TEs during classroom instruction shape very different opportunities to learn. These decisions are based, at least partially, on TEs' unique personal histories and motivations. When considering how teacher education programs address the issue of social justice, a TE's own history and motivations will impact the enacted curriculum as much as, if not more than, the written curriculum. As we continue to wrestle with how to prepare teachers for a diverse and inequitable society, teacher education programs and teacher education research would benefit from more nuanced consideration of the role TEs play in what gets taught in teacher preparation courses.


Background: The incidence of obesity has increased 3 fold in Canada between 1985 and 2011. Obese patients are 2-3 times more likely to develop venous thromboembolism (VTE), and over 60% of VTE occurs in hospital. There is very little literature on VTE prophylaxis in the obese medical patient.
Objective(s): Our primary objective was to identify the incidence of objectively documented symptomatic VTE during hospitalization or up to ninety days post discharge. Our secondary objectives were to describe the prescribing patterns of VTE prophylaxis received in hospitalized obese medical patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m2) as well as risk factors for VTE in obese patients.
Methods: A retrospective design was used look at obese patients admitted to a general medicine service at three tertiary care academic teaching hospitals in Calgary, AB, Canada from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. VTE was identified based on clinical diagnosis and incidence was calculated.
Results: There were 443 patients included in the analysis. The average age and BMI were 58.5 years and 41 kg/m2 respectively, and 70.2% were males. The median length of stay in hospital was 7 days (IQR 4-13). A total of 122 patients (27.5%) of patients did not receive thromboprophylaxis during their hospitalization. Unfractionated heparin (UFH) was the most common agent prescribed (37.9%), and only seven patients received high-dose thromboprophylaxis. The median duration of prophylaxis was 6.5 days (IQR 4-12). Seven patients (1.6%) developed VTE (5 pulmonary embolism and 2 DVT) during the study period, and six of these patients received thromboprophylaxis. In terms of risk for VTE, the median Padua Prediction Score for the study group was 2 (IQR 1-3).
Conclusion: There is very little literature on VTE prophylaxis and incidence of VTE in the obese medical patient. Given the low risk for and incidence of VTE in this study, particularly in the context of 27.5% of the study population not receiving thromboprophylaxis, there is a need for further research to evaluate the efficacy and safety of high dose thromboprophylaxis in the obese medical patient.


The hereby presented research project investigates the capabilities as well as the limits of enhancements in display advertising for news webpages. The inherent purpose thereby is to identify its potential for optimization with respect to the revenue structure of single display banners. Eight hypotheses have been tested. For example, banners had been clicked more often if they were placed on top of the page, if they were amidst the content or if they attracted special attention in terms of design. In the following step, some sections of the page were defined for a test run. They had been selected according to the frequency of access of each visitor when he/she opened the page for the first time. A new test webpage has then been created on the basis the original site,
completed with additional banners. In the test phase, some visitors had been transferred to the newly created page. The result of the study indicates a considerable potential for optimization, creating the starting point for further development.


This master thesis explores the lives of young Tanzanian girls. The field work that the thesis is based on was conducted in the town of Moshi in Northern Tanzania in August and September 2011. The main informants in the study were 10 girls between 13 and 18 years. The girls lived in the outskirts of the town, in a neighbourhood which is part suburb, part rural village. The girls belonged to the less affluent part of the population, and none of them attended school. Tanzania has been the country in the world with the lowest attendance to secondary school. In recent years, enrolment to secondary schooling has increased, though 75 % of young people in Tanzania do not attend post-basic education, mainly due to economic reasons. Many of these young people, and girls in particular, have a hard time finding employment. With large amounts of unstructured time on their hands, young people like my informants spend much of their days 'hanging around' in the streets.This study is based on central ideas within the new social studies of childhood, and views children as competent agents in their own right who are active in the construction of their subjective life worlds. As the informants in this study could also be categorised as adolescents, theory from youth studies has also informed the thesis. Focusing in part on the girls' relations to places, the study also uses literature from the field of children's geographies. Children and young people are both shaping and shaped by the culture they live within. By drawing on different approaches to the understanding of young people, the thesis sheds light on both the informants' subjective experiences and the structures that shape their experiences.Through various qualitative research methods the thesis searches to find out how teenage girls who do not attend secondary school perceive their everyday lives. The study also looks into the tension between "traditional" culture and "modern" ideas, and how new identities are created. It also seeks to explore teenagers' aspirations for the future, and how they envision their transition to adulthood in the face of a 'difficult life'. Some authors have argued that youth transition in the African context is more problematic for young men than young girls, as men are the traditional "breadwinners". This study argues that girls' desire to make a living for themselves should also be taken into consideration, and their youth transition is therefore no less difficult.


Abstract We study the longitudinal linear optimal perturbations (which maximize the energy gain up to a prescribed time $T$ ) to inviscid parallel shear flow, which present unbounded energy growth due to the lift-up mechanism. Using the phase invariance with respect to time, we show that for an arbitrary base flow profile and optimization time, the computation of the optimal longitudinal perturbation reduces to the resolution of a single one-dimensional eigenvalue problem valid for all times. The optimal perturbation and its amplification are then derived from the lowest eigenvalue and its associated eigenfunction, while the remainder of the infinite set of eigenfunctions provides an orthogonal base for decomposing the evolution of arbitrary perturbations. With this new formulation we obtain, asymptotically for large spanwise wavenumber ${k}_{z} , $ a prediction of the optimal gain and the localization of inviscid optimal perturbations for the two main classes of parallel flows: free shear flow with an inflectional velocity profile, and wall-bounded flow with maximum shear at the wall. We show that the inviscid optimal perturbations are localized around the point of maximum shear in a region with a width scaling like ${ k}_{z}^{- 1/ 2} $ for free shear flow, and like ${ k}_{z}^{- 2/ 3} $ for wall-bounded shear flows. This new derivation uses the stationarity of the base flow to transform the optimization of initial conditions in phase space into the optimization of a temporal phase along each trajectory, and an optimization among all trajectories labelled by their intersection with a codimension-1 subspace. The optimization of the time phase directly imposes that the initial and final energy growth rates of the optimal perturbation should be equal. This result requires only time invariance of the base flow, and is therefore valid for any linear optimal perturbation problem with stationary base flow.


Managing evolutionary changes, identification of discontinuities and separation of concerns is not an easy task in the area conceptual modeling in information system development. One of the fundamental problems is that most conventional conceptual modeling techniques deal with the collections of loosely linked meta-models, which are defined by the different types of diagrams. Typically, system development methods project interactive, behavioral and structural aspects of information systems conceptual representations into disparate views. Therefore, the semantic integrity of various architecture dimensions is difficult to achieve. In this paper we present semantically integrated conceptual modeling method. The advantage of this method is stability and flexibility of the diagrams to manage the constant changes of system requirements. This method provides possibility to visualize the interplay among structural, interactive and behavioral aspects. This is very important for the control of semantic integrity and to maintain a holistic representation, where external and internal views of service conceptualizations are visualized together. Such visualization is also important for separation of concerns which provides foundation for creation of modeling patterns. Modeling patterns are important for several reasons. First, they can be used for demonstration of the interplay of fundamental constructs that are used for system analysis and design. Secondly, modeling patterns are important for the evaluation of the expressive power of semantic modeling languages. It is demonstrated by case study examples that sequential, underlying, enclosing, overriding and overlaying interaction loops between actors provide the foundation for the composition of complex scenarios, which are spanning across organizational and technical system boundaries.


A worldwide greenhouse warm climate prevailed in the Early Eocene, and nowhere was warming more dramatic than at high latitudes. Sea-surface temperatures of ∼34 °C have been estimated for a site at paleolatitude 65°S on the East Tasman Plateau of the southwest Pacific Ocean, but these estimates require independent validation, including from terrestrial proxies. Here we determine a near-tropical terrestrial mean annual temperature estimate of ∼24 °C at sea level for an Early Eocene site in Tasmania, Australia, using three proxies based on well-dated estuarine plant fossils. This estimate is lower than the nearby sea estimates to the east, but similarly suggests that, as in the southwest Pacific, Early Eocene climates in the eastern Australo-Antarctic region were warmer than inferred elsewhere at high latitudes, including on the Antarctic Peninsula. Such data are essential for improving our understanding of climatic and biotic evolution in the Southern Hemisphere.


The presence and use of technologies in educational settings is constantly increasing. Therefore, initial teacher education needs to prepare future teachers to deal with this technological implementation from both practical and pedagogical perspectives. This paper examines the treatment of technologies that initial teacher education offers to early childhood education and primary education preservice teachers facing their practicum experiences. A bibliometric and thematic review during the 2010-2020 period is conducted in WoS, Scopus, PsycInfo, and ERIC databases. An analysis of co-occurrence of terms and the creation of bibliometric maps are considered. The thematic analysis follows an inductive approach. Three big areas are addressed through this approximation: consideration of technologies before practicum, the use of technologies at the schools, and the study of preservice teacher's personal variables. Findings show the importance of working with technological preparation of university supervisors and cooperating teachers when teacher candidates do their practicum. In this proposal, to consider the self-efficacy and technological, pedagogical and content knowledge model of preservice teachers is encouraged. Conclusions underline the importance of teaching and strengthening pedagogical and reflective experiences during the practicum. Limitations are considered.


The robust performance of the Indian economy in recent years, with economic growth averaging 8.5%, has generated intense debate regarding India's future economic prospects. Indeed, the future of more than a billion people, many of whom still exist in degrading and unacceptable poverty and deprivation, depends critically on India's ability to grow fast at high rates. This paper, while examining the issue, argues that India's recent economic performance is a result of it's entering a virtuous circle of growth generated by some key structural drivers. The latter include a dynamic private sector, benign external environment and a well-functioning democracy. The paper also points out that high growth can be sustained only if necessary policies are adopted for removing binding constraints like poor infrastructure, stagnant agriculture and lack of fiscal space. The paper identifies education as the most critical sector requiring reforms, followed by public goods delivery and labour markets.


Brazilwood, also known as Pau-Brasil or Pernambuco, (Caesalpinia echinata Lam. Syn. Guilandina echinata (Lam.) Spreng.) is a Brazilian forest tree species which has important commercial uses but is at present listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Removal of brazilwood from the IUCN endangered species list is important roe its continued comercial utilization. Tropical forest species are propagated by several mechanisms but seeds are one of the main processes, which means that the health and physiological quality of the seeds of such species are important factors in their propagation. Our objective was to verify the incidence of fungi during the formation and dispersion of C. Echinata seeds because there are few accounts regarding the incidence of fungi in C. Echinata seeds and the reports that do exist do not clarify the point in seed formation when fungal infection occurs. We used the health-test to analyze seeds collected at different seed formation stages (post-anthesis and dehiscence). The main fungi detected being Cladosporium cladosporioides, Pestalotiopsis maculans and Epicoccum sp, with a lower incidence of Aspergillus sp, Fusarium sp., Nigrospora sp. and Penicillium sp. We found that C. cladosporioides and P .maculans were present in seeds since the beginning of seed formation, at the 40 days post-anthesis collection, and that the incidence of fungi increased with time reaching 100% in seeds with one and two days of dehiscence. We detected Fusarium sp. in seeds collected after dehiscence and the incidence increased while the seeds remained in contact with soil.


The Oxford History of the British Empire is a major new assessment of the Empire in the light of recent scholarship and the progressive opening of historical records. From the founding of colonies in North America and the West Indies in the seventeenth century to the reversion of Hong Kong to China at the end of the twentieth, British imperialism was a catalyst for far-reaching change. The Oxford History of the British Empire as a comprehensive study helps us to understand the end of Empire in relation to its beginning, the meaning of British imperialism for the ruled as well as for the rulers, and the significance of the British Empire as a theme in world history. This twentiethcentury volume considers many aspects of the `imperial experience' in the final years of the British Empire, culminating in the mid-century's rapid processes of decolonization. It seeks to understand the men who managed the empire, their priorities and vision, and the mechanisms of control and connection which held the empire together. There are chapters on imperial centres, on the geographical `periphery' of empire, and on all its connecting mechanisms, including institutions and the flow of people, money, goods, and services. The volume also explores the experience of `imperial subjects' in terms of culture, politics, and economics; an experience which culminated in the growth of vibrant, often new, national identities and movements and, ultimately, new nationstates. It concludes with the processes of decolonization which reshaped the political map of the late twentieth-century world.


Traditional Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) based on carrier sense methods for channel access suffer from reduced bandwidth utilization, increase energy consumptions and latency problems in networks with high traffic. In this work, a novel Evolutionary Slot Assignment (ESA) algorithm has been developed to increase the throughput of large wireless mesh networks with no centralized controller. In the presented scheme, the sensor nodes self-adapt to the traffic patterns of the network by selecting transmission slots using evolutionary learning methods. Each sensor node evolves an independent transmission schedule. Unlike traditional evolutionary methods, fitness evaluation of every node impacts fitness of every other sensor node in the network. The ESA algorithm has been simulated using Network Simulator-2 and compared with the IEEE 802.15.4 CSMA-CA, a Static Slot Assignment (SSA) and a Random Slot Assignment schemes (RSA). Results show a remarkable improvement in the network throughput using the proposed ESA method as opposed to other compared methods.


Purpose: This study aims to examine the interaction effect of motivation to transfer supervisor support, and proactive learning on training transfer. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data is obtained from 213 managers of rural banks in Central Java Indonesia who had participated in management training programs. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is applied to test the proposed hypothesis. Findings: The results show that motivation to transfer supervisor support and proactive learning have a significant effect on training transfer. Practical Implications: The study gives attention to motivation to transfer supervisor support as well as proactive learning to improve training transfer. It is expected that the recommendations made may encourage the success of training transfer. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the training literature by showing proactive learning to improve training transfer.


The presence of a snow cover has a strong impact on hydrological processes. In this thesis, the role of the snow cover as an interface between the atmosphere and the soil is assessed. An implementation of a solver for Richards Equation (RE) for water flow in variably saturated porous media in the one-dimensional, physics based snow cover model SNOWPACK is discussed, to solve water flow in snow and soil. The updated SNOWPACK model was validated by comparing simulations for the sites Weissfluhjoch (WFJ) and Col de Porte with an extensive data set of meteorological and snowpack measurements. Solving RE for snow appeared to improve the estimation of liquid water runoff from the snowpack, especially on sub-daily time scales and in deep, stratified snow covers. The onset of snowpack runoff in spring was better predicted when using RE instead of a bucket-type approach. On the sub-daily time scale, the timing of peak runoff was predicted more accurately using RE. For WFJ, the representation of the internal snowpack structure was assessed using snow profiles, snow temperature measurements and data from upward looking ground penetrating radar. In the main winter season, a high agreement was found for the temporal evolution of snow water equivalent (SWE), snow density, temperature profiles and, to a lesser extent, grain size and type. In the melt season, RE seems to provide a better simulation of the movement of the meltwater front through the snowpack than the bucket scheme, although large discrepancies between simulations, radar data and snow lysimeter measurements remain. The depletion rate of SWE in spring appeared to be overestimated in the model. Strong indications were found that the snow densification process in spring is not adequately simulated, as snow density in spring was consistently underestimated. The soil module of SNOWPACK was verified by comparing soil moisture measurements from 7 stations in the area of Davos, with distributed SNOWPACK simulations using the spatially explicit Alpine3D model. Soil moisture was simulated with varying degrees of success. By investigating cross-correlations between the different sites for measurements and Alpine3D simulations, it was found that the spatially distributed simulations were able to explain a part of the spatial variability in the measurements. This could be mainly attributed to the spatial variability of the snow cover and snow melt. Preliminary results also suggest that streamflow simulations in Alpine3D could benefit from accurate soil moisture simulations. Finally, SNOWPACK was used for simulations of 14 sites in two areas in Switzerland that encountered severe flooding in October 2011, when a large snowfall was followed by a significant warming and rainfall. Thick snow covers had significant capacity for liquid water storage, creating a time lag of several hours between the onset of rainfall and the onset of snowpack runoff, whereas shallow snow covers reacted much quicker. Interestingly, once thick snow covers produced runoff, peak runoff rates exceeded runoff rates from shallow snowpacks and also exceeded the sum of rainfall and snowmelt rates. This suggests that snow settling, wet snow metamorphism and liquid water flow provide an interaction with each other that potentially can enhance snowpack outflow. This model result could have important consequences for understanding the contribution of snowpack runoff in flood events.


Abstract. To improve the model prediction for the formation of H2SO4 and methanesulfonic acid (MSA), aerosol-phase reactions of gaseous dimethyl sulfide (DMS) oxidation products [e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)] in aerosol have been included in the DMS kinetic model with the recently reported gas-phase reactions and their rate constants. To determine the rate constants of aerosol-phase reactions of both DMSO and its major gaseous products [e.g., dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2) and methanesulfinic acid (MSIA)], DMSO was photooxidized in the presence of NOx using a 2 m3 Teflon film chamber. The rate constants tested in the DMSO kinetic mechanisms were then incorporated into the DMS photooxidation mechanism. The model simulation using the newly constructed DMS oxidation mechanims was compared to chamber data obtained from the phototoxiation of DMS in the presence of NOx. Within 120-min simulation, the predicted concentrations of MSA increase by 200–400% and those of H2SO4, by 50–200% due to aerosol-phase chemistry. This was well substantiated with experimental data. To study the effect of coexisting volatile organic compounds, the photooxidation of DMS in the presence of isoprene and NOx has been simulated using the newly constructed DMS kinetic model integrated with the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) for isoprene oxidation, and compared to chamber data. With the high concentrations of DMS (250 ppb) and isoprene (560–2248 ppb), both the model simulation and experimental data showed an increase in the yields of MSA and H2SO4 as the isoprene concentration increased.


American society has traditionally desired "quick fixes" such as prescription drugs to treat physical and mental health conditions, which may contribute to the one-third of older adults over the age of 65 who lead sedentary lifestyles.1 However, a growing body of research suggests that disease-prevention approaches and healthier behaviors can offer longer-term societal and economic benefits. Senior centers can enhance individuals' healthbehavior change through preventive approaches and high-quality programs. Given today's fiscal environment, senior centers may be interested in learning more about economically savvy approaches to promoting healthy lifestyles through community-based programs and services known to prevent the onset of chronic conditions and risk of injury. The participation in health-promoting and disease-preventing programs will further assist older adults in overcoming barriers to mobility and transportation, maintaining independence, and achieving better overall health and well-being.


OBJECTIVE
Patients satisfaction and side effects assessment after vestibular tests.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Questionnaires were sent to 150 patients after vestibular testing in 2006. Forty-two questionnaires were sent back to us. On each questionnaire there were 5 questions regarding patient expectations, 4 questions about side effects after vestibular tests and one question was related to follow-up medical attention.

RESULTS
Most of the patients think that the delay between clinical consultation and vestibular test was not too long. Information patients received beforehand regarding vestibular tests aim, duration, possible side effects and diagnostic expectations are good enough for most of the patients. However patient's assessment of the informed consent document and location of vestibular tests is diverse. The vast majority of patients feel "very important" to receive information about vestibular tests results on the same day. For most of the subjects caloric test is the most disconfortable tests. In the following days, more than half of the subjects feel vestibular symptoms. The most frequent suggestion we received from patients is to give them a phone calls after vestibular tests.

CONCLUSION
It is worth mentioning the importance of informing the patient about vestibular test results upon completion. Our aim is to make some changes on the informed consent document given to patients and to make a phone call to patients after vestibular tests.


The stochastic block model (SBM) is a random graph model with planted clusters. It is widely employed as a canonical model to study clustering and community detection, and provides generally a fertile ground to study the statistical and computational tradeoffs that arise in network and data sciences.

This note surveys the recent developments that establish the fundamental limits for community detection in the SBM, both with respect to information-theoretic and computational thresholds, and for various recovery requirements such as exact, partial and weak recovery (a.k.a., detection). The main results discussed are the phase transitions for exact recovery at the Chernoff-Hellinger threshold, the phase transition for weak recovery at the Kesten-Stigum threshold, the optimal distortion-SNR tradeoff for partial recovery, the learning of the SBM parameters and the gap between information-theoretic and computational thresholds.

The note also covers some of the algorithms developed in the quest of achieving the limits, in particular two-round algorithms via graph-splitting, semi-definite programming, linearized belief propagation, classical and nonbacktracking spectral methods. A few open problems are also discussed.


The aim of the study was to explore if a long reverberation has the same effect on recall of spoken words as background noise was shown to have in a previous study. A further aim was to study the role of working memory capacity for performance in these conditions. Thirty-two subjects performed a word recall and a sentence recog-nition test. They repeated each word to ensure correct identification. A reading span test measured their working memory capacity. Performance of the word recall task was impaired by the long reverberation time. The effect was most evident in the pri-macy part of the word list. The reading span score was unrelated to recall perform-ance.


It is widely known that the solutions of Lyapunov equations can be used to compute the H2 norm of linear time-invariant (LTI) dynamical systems. In this paper, we show how this theory extends to dynamical systems with delays. The first result is that the H2 norm can be computed from the solution of a generalization of the Lyapunov equation, which is known as the delay Lyapunov equation. From the relation with the delay Lyapunov equation we can prove an explicit formula for the H2 norm if the system has commensurate delays, here meaning that the delays are all integer multiples of a basic delay. The formula is explicit and contains only elementary linear algebra operations applied to matrices of finite dimension. The delay Lyapunov equations are matrix boundary value problems. We show how to apply a spectral discretization scheme to these equations for the general, not necessarily commensurate, case. The convergence of spectral methods typically depends on the smoothness of the solution. To this end we describe the smoothness of the solution to the delay Lyapunov equations, for the commensurate as well as for the non-commensurate case. The smoothness properties allow us to completely predict the convergence order of the spectral method.


Consociational theory suggests that power-sharing institutions have many important consequences, not least that they are most likely to facilitate accommodation and cooperation among leadership elites, making them most suitable for states struggling to achieve stable democracy and good governance in divided societies. This study compares a broad cross-section of countries worldwide, including many multiethnic states, to investigate the impact of formal power-sharing institutions (PR electoral systems and federalism) on several indicators of democratic stability and good governance. The research demonstrates three main findings: (i) worldwide, power-sharing constitutions combining PR and federalism remain relatively rare (only 13 out of 191 states); (ii) federalism was found to be unrelated to any of the indicators of good governance under comparison; and (iii) PR electoral systems, however, were positively related to some indicators of good governance, both worldwide and in multiethnic states. This provides strictly limited support for the larger claims made by consociational theory. Nevertheless, the implications for policymakers suggest that investing in basic human development is a consistently more reliable route to achieve stable democracy and good governance than constitutional design alone.


Modern computer viruses spread incredibly quickly, far faster than human-mediated responses. This greatly increases the damage that they cause. This paper presents an approach to restricting this high speed propagation automatically. The approach is based on the observation that during virus propagation, an infected machine will connect to as many different machines as fast as possible. An uninfected machine has a different behaviour: connections are made at a lower rate, and are locally correlated (repeat connections to recently accessed machines are likely). This paper describes a simple technique to limit the rate of connections to "new" machines that is remarkably effective at both slowing and halting virus propagation without affecting normal traffic. Results of applying the filter to Web browsing data are included. The paper concludes by suggesting an implementation and discussing the potential and limitations of this approach.


Judy Watson is an artist whose Indigenous matrilineal family is from North West Queensland. She co-represented Australia in the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 2006 she won the Clemenger Contemporary Art Award held at the National Gallery of Victoria and the NATSIA works on paper award at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Watson's work is included in major Australian and International collections. Her public art commissions include - wurreka, a fifty metre etched zinc wall for the Melbourne Museum; walama forecourt, a sculptural installation of woven steel screens and upturned bronze dilly bags at Sydney International Airport; ngarrn-gi Land/Law, a fifty metre etched zinc wall at the Victorian County Court, Melbourne. Her work, heart/land/river 2004, is in the foyer of the Brisbane Magistrates Court and her piece fire and water is in Reconciliation Place, Canberra. She was one of eight Australian Aboriginal artists commissioned to make work for the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris.

Judy Watson's work was included in the National Indigenous Art Triennial 07 Culture Warriors exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. In 2009 Culture Warriors travelled to the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington DC, USA. Judy Watson is Adjunct Professor at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane.

Judy Watson will discuss her work including her recent prints and installations inspired by a residency on Heron Island, Qld and a workshop at Baniyala, Blue Mud Bay, Arnhemland, NT.


Peer assessment/feedback is clearly occurring in athletic training education
programs. However, it remains unclear whether students would improve their ability to
assess their peers and provide corrective feedback if they received formal training in how
to do so. The purpose of this study was to determine the following: 1) if a peer
assessment/feedback (PAF) training program affected the quality of feedback students
provided to their peers and if feedback improves over time, 2) if students' perceptions of
and preferences for PAF changed over time and as a result of a PAF training program,
and 3) if PAF training affected skill performance. Two sections of an introductory sports
medicine class were used to examine the effects of a PAF training program and time on
different aspects of PAF. The subjects had three sets of laboratory skills with two days of
lab practice for each set. One section received the PAF training after the first set of labs
(n = 33); the control section received not training (n = 36). Two groups of four students
from each section were videotaped in order to observe the feedback they provided.
Surveys were completed at the beginning of the semester and the end of the semester to
examine perceptions and preferences of all subjects. The videotaped data analysis
suggests that PAF training potentially shaped the consistency of descriptive feedback, use
of strategic questioning, staying on task and the amount of reaffirming feedback
provided. Findings also suggest that other factors shaped the peer feedback, such as
baseline ability to provide quality feedback, difficulty of the skill and the number of
errors performed while executing the skills. Some of the strategies discussed in the PAF
training were used by the control groups even though they did not receive training. The
training could be beneficial for all students to either reinforce what they already do or to
teach new strategies. Subjects in the PAF training found it beneficial, which may improve
the acceptance of feedback and their wiliness to provide feedback. The subjects,
regardless of group, overwhelmingly had positive perceptions of the benefits of peer
learning, benefits of PAF and the PAF process. Students preferred peers for the activities
related to practicing and refining skills while preferring instructors for initial learning and
grading. Preferences for PAF increased for six of the 11 items with no differences
between the experimental and control groups. Finally, there were no significant
differences in exam grades thus the PAF training did not affect skill performance.


a long time, US cinema developed unshakeable stereotypes of Mexican 'otherness', with characters of Mexican cultural and ethnic heritage stigmatised as criminals or as sensual objects of desire. Filmmakers in Mexico, meanwhile, treated Mexican Americans as misfits who belonged nowhere, or ignored them and their complex experience completely. The emergence of a distinct 'Chicano cinema' in the 1960s allowed for the development of a more powerful set of images of Mexican Americans, exploiting the very tool of communication that had been used against them, and for the circulation of a more productive and reflective dialogue around the questions of identity, agency and resistance that arise.

This article focuses on the use of humour as a subversive tool to deconstruct certain myths and stereotypes of Mexican and, to a certain extent, Mexican American (or, Chicano) identity in Sergio Arau's popular debut feature, Un Dia Sin Mexicanos (2004). The "Mexicans" referred to in the film's title and used in much of its dialogue stand metonymically for all Hispanic immigrants, whether recently arrived, or born in the US and of Hispanic descent, including Chicanos. Its narrative was inspired by the introduction of controversial anti-immigration legislation in California in 1994, and the Californian State is here made representative of anywhere in the US where there is a Mexican or Chicano population. This essay situates the film within the context of a growing Chicano population in the US and a high level of immigration from Mexico itself. It asks to what extent the feature version, which takes the form of satire, offers a critique of the Mexican immigrant experience, and of discrimination more broadly against Hispanic minorities. In so doing, it explores the ways in which the politics of resistance that are so often aligned with these experiences are inscribed in its narrative form.


Judea Pearl's Causal Model is a rich framework that provides deep insight into the nature of causal relations. As yet, however, the Pearl Causal Model (PCM) has had a lesser impact on economics or econometrics than on other disciplines. This may be due in part to the fact that the PCM is not as well suited to analyzing structures that exhibit features of central interest to economists and econometricians: optimization, equilibrium, and learning. We offer the settable systems framework as an extension of the PCM that permits causal discourse in systems embodying optimization, equilibrium, and learning. Because these are common features of physical, natural, or social systems, our framework may prove generally useful for machine learning. Important features distinguishing the settable system framework from the PCM are its countable dimensionality and the use of partitioning and partition-specific response functions to accommodate the behavior of optimizing and interacting agents and to eliminate the requirement of a unique fixed point for the system. Refinements of the PCM include the settable systems treatment of attributes, the causal role of exogenous variables, and the dual role of variables as causes and responses. A series of closely related machine learning examples and examples from game theory and machine learning with feedback demonstrates some limitations of the PCM and motivates the distinguishing features of settable systems.


BitTorrent is a widely deployed peer-to-peer protocol that provides scalable file sharing capabilities. While BitTorrent applications contribute to the demand for high speed broadband access, they also contribute to the undesirable 80/20 effect wherein 80% of the bandwidth is consumed by 20% of the users. In this study we explore the impact that BitTorrent users can have on a DOCSIS cable network. We began the study by capturing packet traces of BitTorrent applications operating on two commercial DOCSIS cable networks. Next we developed for the ns-2 simulation tool a configurable mix of BitTorrent, Web browsing, and VoIP workloads and verified that the behavior of the simulated BitTorrent workloads to be consistent with the behavior observed on the commercial network. In this simulated environment, we show that as few as 15 BitTorrent users can significantly reduce the service quality experienced by other subscribers.


A new set of equations is presented for the prediction of water seepage through granular porous media of low porosity. The results are based on the analytical modelling of form drag within a porous medium and improve on previous results which incorporate interstitial flow development within pore sections. The new formulation correlates extremely well with experimental observation as is evident from its very good correlation with the empirically based Ergun equation over the entire laminar Reynolds number range. It therefore presents a considerable improvement on results reported recently in this journal according to which the higher Reynolds number friction was severely underpredicted


Abstract The impact of riparian land use on the stream insect communities was studied at Kudremukh National Park located within Western Ghats, a tropical biodiversity hotspot in India. The diversity and community composition of stream insects varied across streams with different riparian land use types. The rarefied family and generic richness was highest in streams with natural semi evergreen forests as riparian vegetation. However, when the streams had human habitations and areca nut plantations as riparian land use type, the rarefied richness was higher than that of streams with natural evergreen forests and grasslands. The streams with scrub lands and iron ore mining as the riparian land use had the lowest rarefied richness. Within a landscape, the streams with the natural riparian vegetation had similar community composition. However, streams with natural grasslands as the riparian vegetation, had low diversity and the community composition was similar to those of paddy fields. We discuss how stream insect assemblages differ due to varied riparian land use patterns, reflecting fundamental alterations in the functioning of stream ecosystems. This understanding is vital to conserve, manage and restore tropical riverine ecosystems.


Abstract. The architectural and sculptural value of the investigated Cultural Heritage has suggested a variety of possible approaches ranging from the traditional modus operandi to the implementation of innovative technology. The conducted research implemented digital and automatic photogrammetry software using Structure from Motion or SFM. These techniques which involve the convergence of different disciplines, such as Computer Vision and photogrammetry seek to generate 3D models, that is the mathematical representation of the investigated 3D objects. The integration of UAS, photogrammetry and TLS develops 3D models able to provide more detailed information. The main purpose of the present research is to test the potentialities offered by the new survey and 3D processing systems in order to carry out historical analyses and investigations in closed environments and for small scale architecture. Starting from the acquired data, the 3D models of the altars allow a 3D comparison between the works object of study and Pozzo's treatise, also allowing speculation about their possible relations, providing extraordinary outcomes from the point of view of survey integrated methodologies and from the point of view of historical and geometric interpretation.


A convenient method for the preparation of very attractive and almost unknown lutetium(III)–porphyrins was developed. Systematic investigations involving a broad spectrum of solvents (DMF, TCB, imidazole, sulfolane, and a CHCl3/MeOH mixture), as well as studies concerning the influence of temperature and the reaction time on the yield, were performed. Under the optimized experimental conditions found within the study for [5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrinato]lutetium(III) chloride (sulfolane, reflux, 0.5 h; 88% yield), the synthesis of some other more complex derivatives was demonstrated.


The U.S. labor share of income has been on a secular downward trajectory since the beginning of the new millennium. Using data that are disaggregated across both state and industry, we show the decline in the labor share is broad-based but the extent of the fall varies greatly. Exploiting a new data set on the task characteristics of occupations, the U.S. input-output tables, and the Current Population Survey, we find that in addition to changes in labor institutions, technological change and different forms of trade integration lowered the labor share. In particular, the fall was largest, on average, in industries that saw: a high initial intensity of "routinizable" occupations; steep declines in unionization; a high level of competition from imports; and a high intensity of foreign input usage. Quantitatively, we find that the bulk of the effect comes from changes in technology that are linked to the automation of routine tasks, followed by trade globalization.


ABSTRACT The literature seems limited in what is known about conceptual processes that underlie evolution of students with learning disabilities (SLD) conceptions of fractions. This exploratory study examines how a foundational scheme of unit fractions (1/n) may evolve through the mathematical activity of two fifth grade girls. We analyze data segments from episodes conducted during a teaching experiment grounded in the activity of iterating estimates of one person's equal share. Our findings include four distinct conceptual stages: (1) No Conception of the Nature of Adjustment to the Magnitude of a Unit Fraction, (2) Evolving Anticipation of the Nature of Adjustment but not of its Relative Amount, (3) Anticipation of the Nature of Adjustment with an Evolving Partial Amount, and (4) a Dual Anticipation of the Nature and Amount of Adjustment. Findings demonstrate each girl was able to use her constructed scheme to successfully solve and reason about novel problems. We discuss the need for more research to confirm the findings from this study, while offering a conjecture of the possibilities for more SLDs to advance their conceptions of fractions in future interventions.


Feature logics, when used in a software configuration management system, can be used to identify and select versions by their respective features, unifies variant and revision handling, helps detecting configuration conflicts and allows dealing with incomplete configuration specifications. In our model, components are tagged with feature terms, describing their features (or nonfeatures) and identifying both revisions and variants. Selection is done by specification and incremental refinement of the desired features. When a system is to be composed, feature unification infers the set of valid configurations. This set may be presented as an interactive control panel for selecting the final configuration. A prototype, using the C Preprocessor representation for smooth transition from "classical" approaches, has been implemented as part of the NORA software development system.


Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most well-known arrhythmia following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) that in turn may lead to a longer hospital stay and a worse postoperative prognoses. AF is known to be a cause of platelet activation; we investigated the relationship between the platelet activation markers and the risk of AF after coronary bypass graft surgery.
Methods: Blood was drawn one day before the operation from fifty patients scheduled for isolated on pump CABG. The monocyte–platelet aggregates (MPAs) content were assessed by Flow cytometric quantification analysis. Moreover, soluble CD40 Ligand (sCD40L) level, soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) and D-dimer levels were quantified by immunological ELISA technique. Post-operative AF (POAF) events were followed up during hospitalization.
Results: Post-operative AF (POAF) noticed in 22% of patients, in the first postoperative week. Preoperative levels of both sCD40L, sP-selectin and D-Dimer were significantly higher in those who developed POAF. CD41 expression on monocytescellular marker of platelet activation- and the content of MPAs were increased in those patients encountered POAF.
Conclusion: Preoperative platelet activation as affirmed by both soluble and cellular markers in addition to the content of MPAs markers seems to be an unprecedented predictor of the postoperative atrial fibrillation.


In this study, 540 feces samples taken from a total of 22 bird species, including transit migrant, winter visitor, migratory, and resident bird species, in Lake Van basin were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with respect to the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). All of the feces samples were cultured in specific pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs) for NDV isolation. The NDV isolates were analyzed for virulent fusion (F) protein by RT reverse transcription PCR (RRT-PCR). Of the 540 examined feces samples, 28 (5.18%) were found to be positive by RT-PCR. The same samples were cultured in ECEs and, of those, 9 (1.66%) were positive for NDV isolations. Of the isolates, 7 were obtained from the migrant waterfowls Phoenicopterus ruber, Anas clypeata, Aythya ferina, and Aythya fuligula and 2 were from the resident species Columba livia. The RRT-PCR F protein was determined in 1 isolate belonging to Aythya ferina; this strain was typed as mesogenic/velogenic avian paramyxovirus type 1 and the other 8 isolates as lentogenic. In this study, we investigated, for the first time, the presence of NDV in wild, seemingly healthy bird feces from areas in Lake Van basin, in Turkey.


We evaluate the hypothesis that the vertical migration of Periphylla periphylla is governed by its sensitivity to light intensity. By applying an individual‐based model where random walk is combined with assumed individual responses to light, we compare the predicted vertical distributions with acoustical observations. Important features of the observed P. periphylla distributions can be explained by a simple proximate light response where individual P. periphylla avoids light above a certain threshold but also has a preference for very low light intensities. In addition to accounting for the observed synchronous diel vertical migration phenomenon in P. periphylla, this simple mechanism also accounts for simultaneous asynchronous vertical migrations observed for part of the population.


This paper traces the evolution of computational steering within visualization dataflow environments. In computational steering we integrate simulation and visualization into a single environment, in which the scientist can control the simulation on the basis of the visualization of the current results. This paper is essentially a review paper, in which we describe a number of projects with which we have been involved over the last twenty years. We begin with a historical look-back to the early development of dataflow visualization systems. These are also known as modular visualization environments. They typically consist of a library of elementary visualization components that can be wired together in a visual editor in order to compose a pipeline forming the visualization application. From an early stage these have been used for computational steering, because it is possible to include user code, for example a simulation, as a component in the pipeline. Moreover modules are able to run on a distributed set of resources, allowing simulation code to run on a remote resource. Indeed, if the simulation is producing large volumes of data, then the visualization modules can be co-located with the simulation thus reducing the amount of data returned to the desktop for visualization. This very useful facility has been surprisingly little used. Our own involvement in computational steering began in 1993 with the GRASPARC project, and interest was re-kindled in 2000 with the emergence of Grid computing and the UK e-science programme. Our first task was to re-work the distributed computing model of IRIS Explorer (the dataflow system we use at Leeds) so as to provide the security that is expected in modern computing environments. This was followed by a re-working of the architecture for computational steering, in the gViz project, where we separated the simulation code from the visualization dataflow, and allowed the simulation to run autonomously. This gives the advantage of disconnecting simulation lifetime from visualization system execution time. In doing this it allows simulations to run over greater time scales than the time period a user may wish to actively interact with them in any one session. Previously, shutting down the visualization would have shut down the simulation component. This was achieved using the gViz computational steering library. Our more recent work in the e-viz project has extended the architecture further, basing the work around an abstract description of the visualization pipeline from which a user interface for steering can be automatically generated. Likewise the pipeline description can be interpreted in terms of different visualization systems, providing an extra level of abstraction. As interest in service-oriented architectures develops, we are seeing a reworking of visualization systems as a pipeline of services, rather than modules. We can expect this trend to carry over to computational steering in future research.


Background The Warburg effect refers to glycolytic production of adenosine triphosphate under aerobic conditions, and is a universal property of most cancer cells. Chronic inflammation is a key factor promoting the Warburg effect. This study aimed to determine whether rosmarinic acid (RA) has an anti-Warburg effect in gastric carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism for the anti-Warburg effect was also investigated. Methods An MTT assay was used to examine MKN45 cell growth in vitro. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect proinflammatory cytokines. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate levels of microRNA expression in cells. Protein expression was determined by Western blotting assay. Mouse xenograft models were established using MKN45 cells to assess the anti-Warburg effect in gastric carcinoma in vivo. Results RA suppressed glucose uptake and lactate production. It also inhibited expression of transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, which affects the glycolytic pathway. Inflammation promoted the Warburg effect in cancer cells. As expected, RA inhibited proinflammatory cytokines and microRNAs related to inflammation, suggesting that RA may suppress the Warburg effect via an inflammatory pathway, such as that involving interleukin (IL)-6/signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3). miR-155 was found to be an important mediator in the relationship between inflammation and tumorigenesis. We further showed that miR-155 was the target gene regulating the Warburg effect via inactivation of the IL-6/STAT3 pathway. Moreover, we found that RA suppressed the Warburg effect in vivo. Conclusion RA might potentially be a therapeutic agent for suppressing the Warburg effect in gastric carcinoma.


Granada and its metropolitan area lie on the eastern edge of a basin where the foothills rise into the adjacent Sierra Nevada (3,482 m). On the west the valley is bordered by several faulted, Quaternary-age alluvial fans and by dissected terraces of the Genil River. Landscape evolution from about Tortonian to Pleistocene time is reflected by relict Quaternary glaciers preserved on a deeply eroded lower Paleozoic terrain and by terrace remnants and channels resulting from rapid Late Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial incision. This particular geological, geomorphic, and active tectonic setting, combined with a Mediterranean climate under continental influence, and the rapid urban development in the last 60 years have increased exposure to several natural hazards. Urban expansion has increased flash-flood and mass-wasting vulnerability, and seismic risk is similarly increasing with the 1884 Andalusian Earthquake (M 6.3), reflecting the last of several large, ∼500-year recurrence temblors that have affected the area since at least Roman times. Modern Granada and its metropolitan area, with about a half million inhabitants, are currently increasingly challenged by the highest levels of exposure to natural hazards, by strain on traditional society resulting from adapting to the changes produced by the three decades since the advent of democracy (1978) and by the consequences of the deep economic crisis.


Loss and fragmentation of foraging habitats, and extreme seasonality in the flowering phenology of wild plants, limit honeybee populations in Israel. This problem can be alleviated by the planting of bee forage plants in forests, parks, and along roadsides. To provide recommendations for such planting, we combined a literature survey and qualitative evaluations of experts to compile a list of 266 local wild plant species that have high food potential for bees. We also quantitatively evaluated the food potential of 32 species of trees and shrubs planted by Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael—Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF). We recorded the following parameters of each species: main flowering season; flower morphology; type of food reward; number of flowers per plant; nectar standing crop; hourly nectar production rate; type of insect visitors; and frequency of insect visits. We ranked the surveyed species according to their potential importance as food plants, assigning high ranks to species that (a) bloom between July and February (the period of dearth in flowering natural vegetation), (b) produce large amounts of nectar, and (c) are highly attractive to honeybees. Of the species surveyed, Amygdalus communis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Ceratonia siliqua, and Ziziphus spina-christi best combined these benefits. A regression model indicated that high nectar production rates increased insect visitation rates, while long flowers reduced them, in an inter-specific analysis. Our study highlights the importance of diversified forestry planting to address agricultural, conservation, and recreational needs.


This paper focuses on the prosodic-phonetic structuring of talk. Induced by problems of previous studies of 'intonation units', it promotes an alternative approach which focuses on what separates the units. Radicalizing Auer's (2010) boundary approach, it introduces the concept 'cesura' and advocates an impressionistic and parametric analysis. The latter shows that cesuras result from clusters of certain prosodic-phonetic parameter changes. These vary in strength, which, in turn, can also explain "fuzzy boundaries". The approach proposes to acknowledge cesuras of all kinds to adequately reflect the complexity of the prosodic-phonetic structuring of talk-in-interaction and to provide new insights into the organization of responding to multi-unit turns and new tools for researching the syntax-prosody interface as well as language variation and change.


This paper summarises our state of knowledge regarding diaspora engagement in conflict socieities. It presents a map of possible diaspora contributions and their specific potential positive and negative impacts in societies experiencing or recovering from conflict. Following a discussion of diasporas and their motivations for engagement in their places of origin, the paper reviews the specific remittance, philanthropy, human capital and policy influence contributions, both positive and negative, that diasporas may make. Policy implications include the need more systematically to include considerations of diasporas in conflict/post-conflict interventions, and based on a more careful case-by-case analysis, using the provided map as a starting point. Such analyses can inform decisions of when to tolerate, unencumbered, diaspora engagement; when to facilitate or support such engagement; and when to consider strategic partnering with diaspora efforts. By mapping potential positive and negative influences of diasporas, the paper establishes why a more nuanced understanding of diasporas and peace and conflict is so important to policy and practice for a more peaceful world.


This paper studies the effects of nursing home unionization on numerous labor, establishment, and consumer outcomes using a regression discontinuity design. We find negative effects of unionization on staffing levels and no decline in care quality, suggesting positive labor productivity effects. Some evidence suggests that nursing homes in less competitive local product markets and those with lower union density at the time of election experienced stronger union employment effects. Unionization appears to raise wages for a given worker while also shifting the composition of the workforce away from higher-earning workers. By combining credible identification of union effects, a comprehensive set of outcomes over time with measures of market-level characteristics, this study generates some of the best evidence available on many controversial questions in the economics of unions. Furthermore, it generates evidence from the service sector, which has grown in importance and where evidence has been thin.


State, Society & Governance in Melanesia ips.cap.anu.edu.au/ssgm The Pacific region is (in)famous for its low numbers of female members of parliament (MPs) (Baker 2014). In response, policymakers and academics are increasingly asking whether temporary special measures (TSM) could alter this trend, if they are appropriate, and what form they should take. Since ratifying the international Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1999, Tuvalu is one of a growing number of countries considering TSM as a way to boost the representation of women in parliament. In this In Brief we canvas some of the options being contemplated and consider how a process of institutional reform might take place.


In the downlink of DS-CDMA, frequency-selectivity destroys the orthogonality of the user signals and introduces multiuser interference (MUI). Space-time chip equalization is an efficient tool to restore the orthogonality of the user signals and suppress the MUI. Furthermore, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication techniques can result in a significant increase in capacity. This paper focuses on space-time block coding (STBC) techniques, and aims at combining STBC techniques with the original single-antenna DS-CDMA downlink scheme. This results into the so-called space-time block coded DS-CDMA downlink schemes, many of which have been presented in the past. We focus on a new scheme that enables both the maximum multiantenna diversity and the maximum multipath diversity. Although this maximum diversity can only be collected by maximum likelihood (ML) detection, we pursue suboptimal detection by means of space-time chip equalization, which lowers the computational complexity significantly. To design the space-time chip equalizers, we also propose efficient pilot-based methods. Simulation results show improved performance over the space-time RAKE receiver for the space-time block coded DS-CDMA downlink schemes that have been proposed for the UMTS and IS-2000 W-CDMA standards.