© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Reuse permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. ABSTRACT Objective To assess the role of sex in the presentation and management of children attending the emergency department (ED). Design The TrIAGE project (TRiage Improvements Across General Emergency departments), a prospective observational study based on curated electronic health record data. Setting Five diverse European hospitals in four countries (Austria, The Netherlands, Portugal, UK). Participants All consecutive paediatric ED visits of children under the age of 16 during the study period (8–36 months between 2012 and 2015). Main outcome measures The association between sex (male of female) and diagnostic tests and disease management in general paediatric ED visits and in subgroups presenting with trauma or musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal and respiratory problems and fever. Results from the different hospitals were pooled in a random effects metaanalysis. Results 116 172 ED visits were included of which 63 042 (54%) by boys and 53 715 (46%) by girls. Boys accounted for the majority of ED visits in childhood, and girls in adolescence. After adjusting for age, triage urgency and clinical presentation, girls had more laboratory tests compared with boys (pooled OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.15). Additionally, girls had more laboratory tests in ED visits for respiratory problems (pooled OR 1.15, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.26) and more imaging in visits for trauma or musculoskeletal problems (pooled OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.20) and respiratory conditions (pooled OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.24). Girls with respiratory problems were less often treated with inhalation medication (pooled OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.83). There was no difference in hospital admission between the sexes (pooled OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.04). Conclusion In childhood, boys represent the majority of ED visits and they receive more inhalation medication. Unexpectedly, girls receive more diagnostic tests compared with boys. Further research is needed to investigate whether this is due to pathophysiological differences and differences in disease course, whether girls present signs and symptoms differently, or whether sociocultural factors are responsible.


From World War I until the 1970s, dumping of chemical weapons at sea was the accepted practice for disposal. Little documentation of this practice can be found before the mid-1940s. In 1943, mustard (H) was released into the waters of Bari harbor in Italy. Since the end of World War II, ocean dumping has occurred in many areas, including the Baltic Sea, around Japan, in the Adriatic Sea near Bari, and in the coastal waters of the United States. During the period 1945-1948, The US scuttled at sea approximately 32,000 tons of captured German chemical weapons. The British dumped approximately 175,000 tons of chemical weapons at sea, with 100,000 tons coming from Scotland and the balance from the captured German stockpile. During 1955-56, the British dumped a further 17,000 tons of captured German munitions. During 1956-1957, the British disposed of the remainder of their stockpile of chemical weapons, 8,000 tons of World War II vintage mustard and phosgene munitions.1 News reports indicate that the ocean dumping in the 1950s occurred in the Irish Sea; some of the British dumps in the late 1940s may have occurred in the North Sea. The Adriatic, Baltic, and Japanese ocean dumps have provided evidence of the persistence of mustard under water.


This article was written to fulfill the final assignment of education administration and supervision courses. The method used in writing this article is a literature study method, namely by collecting data from various literature sources. In the article explained that the curriculum is a set of plans and regulations regarding the content and material of the lesson and the methods used as guidelines in the implementation of the learning process. The process of curriculum administration covers the fields of planning, developing, implementing, evaluating, and improving the curriculum. Curriculum development requires a strong foundation and is based on the results of deep thought and research. And evaluation or assessment in the curriculum is useful to determine the level of achievement of the curriculum. Based on this we can know that the role of the curriculum in formal education in schools is very important and has a major influence in determining the achievement of educational goals. In the process, the teacher acts as a technical implementer, such as implementers, adapters, developers, and researchers.


Mixing processes in shallow seas are of particular importance in the dispersion of
pollution (e.g. oil slicks) as well as in the distribution of sediment and biological
material (e.g. phytoplankton and fish larvae). This study aims to further investigate
the processes of wind-driven Langmuir circulation and bottom-generated turbulence
and to quantify the effects they have on the dispersion of buoyant material.
A numerical and analytical study is made of the dispersion of a plume of floating
particles under the combined action of Langmuir circulation and a mean current.
The numerical simulations show the general patterns the plume will form, with initial
meanders leading to the formation of distinct windrows. The analytical model shows
that the lateral diffusivity, the rate of across-current dispersion of the particles, is
greatest when the angle between the direction of the wind and current is between 30°
and 120°, and when the wind speed is large in comparison to the current speed. Further,
it is found that the effects of Langmuir circulation will dominate the dispersion
process when the wind speed is greater than about 10 times the current speed.
Acoustic and visual observations of the surface effects of bottom-generated turbulence
in a tidally-influenced and well-mixed region of the North Sea are presented.
Although the sea bed in the area is flat, it is found that at any one time 20-30%
of the water surface is affected by boils - circular regions of local upwelling - of diameter
0.9±0.2 times the water depth. The signature of individual boils persists for
at least 7 minutes and, in accordance with laboratory and numerical studies, shows
the appearance of eddies. Again, analytical and numerical models are constructed to
estimate the effects of the boils on the dispersion of floating particles. The numerical
simulations provide good qualitative agreement with the patterns observed in visual
images of the dispersion of oil. Further, the horizontal diffusivities calculated by both
them and the analytical methods show that the presence of boils can account for the
dispersion measured by experimental methods in shallow tidal seas.
In summarising and discussing the main findings of this work, particular emphasis
is placed on the need for further observations of these two processes, in particular
the boils and eddies and their interaction with the Langmuir circulation, to further
improve the estimates of dispersion.


The term Congenital Nystagmus (Early Onset Nystagmus or Infantile Nystagmus Syndrome) refers to a pathology characterised by an involuntary movement of the eyes, which often seriously reduces a subject's vision. Congenital Nystagmus (CN) is a specific kind of nystagmus within the wider classification of infantile nystagmus, which can be best recognized and classified by means of a combination of clinical investigations and motility analysis; in some cases, eye movement recording and analysis are indispensable for diagnosis.
However, interpretation of eye movement recordings still lacks of complete reliability; hence new analysis techniques and precise identification of concise parameters directly related to visual acuity are necessary to further support physicians' decisions. To this aim, an index computed from eye movement recordings and related to the visual acuity of a subject is proposed in this thesis. This estimator is based on two parameters: the time spent by a subject effectively viewing a target (foveation time - Tf) and the standard deviation of eye position (SDp). Moreover, since previous studies have shown that visual acuity largely depends on SDp, a data collection pilot study was also conducted with the purpose of specifically identifying eventual slow rhythmic component in the eye position and to characterise in more detail the SDp. The results are presented in this thesis.
In addition, some oculomotor system models are reviewed and a new approach to those models, i.e. the recovery of periodic orbits of the oculomotor system in patients with CN, is tested on real patients data.
In conclusion, the results obtained within this research consent to completely and reliably characterise the slow rhythmic component sometimes present in eye position recordings of CN subjects and to better classify the different kinds of CN waveforms. Those findings can successfully support the clinicians in therapy planning and treatment outcome evaluation.


The benefits of Cloud computing include reduced costs, high reliability and the immediate availability of additional computing resources as needed. Despite such advantages, Cloud Service Provider (CSP) consumers need to be aware that the Clouds poses its own set of unique risks that are not typically associated with storing and processing one's own data internally using privately owned infrastructure. New techniques such as Searchable Encryption are being deployed to enable data to be encrypted online. Despite being a relatively obscure form of Cryptography, Searchable Encryption is now at the point that it can be deployed and used within the Cloud. Searchable Encryption can allow CSP customers to store their data in encrypted form, while retaining the ability to search that data without disclosing the associated decryption key(s) to CSPs. Searchable Encryption is a diverse subject that exists in many forms. Searchable Symmetric Encryption (SSE) which has its roots in plaintext searching is one such form. Although symmetrically encrypted ciphertext cannot be searched in the same manner; nonetheless, many of the principles that apply to plaintext searching also apply to SSE. In its most basic form, SSE is nothing more than an Inverted Index—a mechanism that has been used in plaintext Information Retrieval (IR) for decades—that has been modified and adapted for use with ciphertext. We implement an SSE scheme and evaluate the efficiency of storing and retrieving data from the cloud. The results showed that carrying out a task using SSE is directly proportional to the amount of information involved. In the case of constructing an IR Inverted Index, the results show that the time taken to generate an IR Inverted Index is directly proportional to the number of Terms contained in the underlying Document Collection. Converting the same IR Inverted Index to an SSE Inverted Index is directly proportional to the number of Postings contained within the IR Inverted Index, while the time taken to encrypt the underlying Document Collection is directly proportional to the number of Terms contained within the Document Collection. In relation to searching in SSE, the time taken to identify and decrypt the set of Postings associated with a given Lexicon Term is directly proportional to the number of Postings. We believe that SSE is efficient enough to be deployed in a Cloud environment especially when results only have to be returned to the user in small quantities. When applied to large Sets, SSE querying can become inefficient as its search time is directly proportional to the number of matching. SSE however is designed to achieve efficient search speeds whilst maintaining Data Privacy. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background and Aim: Long-term aspirin therapy is crucial for patients at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. However, differing perceptions among healthcare providers profoundly shape the challenges observed in risk assessment. This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and current practices of internists who prescribe aspirin as a preventive measure for cardiovascular diseases. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to a total of 38 internists working at healthcare centres in Nablus, Palestine.
Results: The majority of physicians (95%) reported that they prescribe aspirin for patients following a coronary artery bypass graft. About 92% of physicians prescribe aspirin for patients with a peripheral vascular disease or acute myocardial infarction, and 85% of physicians prescribe aspirin if patients have a history of stroke and congestive heart failure, or stable angina. The prescribing of aspirin as prophylaxis for patients without cardiovascular disease, but with one or more risk factors, was reported by 61% to 79% of the physicians depending on the nature and number of risk factors. In some cases, the presence of additional diseases in association with cardiovascular diseases tended to hinder physicians from prescribing aspirin.
Conclusions: The majority of Palestinian internal physicians recommend the use of aspirin as a primary prevention tool for cardiovascular disease in spite of its potential negative side effects. Our results revealed that physicians in Palestine tend to prescribe aspirin with varying patterns and therefore a set of evidence-based recommendations should be implemented.


Purpose

Challenging behaviour has been a concern across forensic services. Traditionally these have been managed reactively using medication, seclusion and restraint; however, there is growing evidence that these approaches are ineffective and counter-therapeutic. A number of reports have recommended the use of preventative approaches such as positive behavioural support (PBS). The purpose of this paper is to identify "how staff within a secure forensic mental health setting perceived the application of PBS?"

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 11 multi-disciplinary staff were interviewed and thematic analysis was used to identify themes.

Findings

Five themes were identified: "The Functions", "Appraising a new Approach", "Collaborative Challenges", "Staff Variables" and "Organisational Issues".

Practical implications

PBS enables staff to understand challenging or risky behaviour. It empowers patients via collaboration, although there can be some challenges to this. Services need to invest in training, support and leadership to ensure the model is embed and promote fidelity. Consideration needs to be given to how quality of life can be improved within the limits of a forensic setting.

Originality/value

No previous studies asking staff about their experiences of PBS within a forensic mental health context.


Market value predictions for residential properties are important for investment decisions and the risk management of households, banks and real estate developers. The increased access to market data has spurred the development and application of Automated Valuation Models (AVMs), which can provide appraisals at low cost. We discuss the stages involved when developing an AVM. By reflecting on our experience with md*immo, an AVM from Berlin, Germany, our paper contributes to an area that has not received much attention in the academic literature. In addition to discussing the main stages of AVM development, we examine empirically the statistical model development and validation step. We find that automated outlier removal is important and that a log model performs best, but only if it accounts for the retransformation problem and heteroscedasticity.


Most colleges and universities around the world have experienced an increasing cultural
diversification of their student body. Foreign student enrollment has been especially high in North American, West European and Australian institutions of higher education where in some classes the number of international students sometimes surpasses the number of locals. The benefits of diversity for international groups are great and undisputable, but if not managed properly cultural differences can have adverse effects on in-class discussions and student project team dynamics. This paper discusses the challenges that international student groups may experience, with the focus on the issues related to communication across cultures. The article offers guidelines for educators for creating synergy in the diverse classroom and in student project teams, and provides an important context for those managing internationalisation of universities at all levels from the classroom to the whole institution.


Background: The subtilisin-like SUB1 is involved in Plasmodium egress from erythrocytes. Results: Using conditional mutagenesis, we show that SUB1 plays an essential role during Plasmodium hepatic stages. Conclusion: SUB1 has a dual pivotal role in parasite egress from host hepatocytes and erythrocytes. Significance: Its critical involvement in hepatic and erythrocytic parasite development qualifies SUB1 as a multistage drug target. In their mammalian host, Plasmodium parasites have two obligatory intracellular development phases, first in hepatocytes and subsequently in erythrocytes. Both involve an orchestrated process of invasion into and egress from host cells. The Plasmodium SUB1 protease plays a dual role at the blood stage by enabling egress of the progeny merozoites from the infected erythrocyte and priming merozoites for subsequent erythrocyte invasion. Here, using conditional mutagenesis in P. berghei, we show that SUB1 plays an essential role at the hepatic stage. Stage-specific sub1 invalidation during prehepatocytic development showed that SUB1-deficient parasites failed to rupture the parasitophorous vacuole membrane and to egress from hepatocytes. Furthermore, mechanically released parasites were not adequately primed and failed to establish a blood stage infection in vivo. The critical involvement of SUB1 in both pre-erythrocytic and erythrocytic developmental phases qualifies SUB1 as an attractive multistage target for prophylactic and therapeutic anti-Plasmodium intervention strategies.


Mediation of biological functions occurs via tightly regulated signal transduction pathways. These complex cascades often employ crosstalk with other signalling pathways to exert strict control to allow for correct cellular responses. The cyclic AMP signalling pathway is involved in a wide range of cellular processes which require tight control, including cell proliferation and differentiation, metabolism and inflammation. Protein Kinase C (PKC) signalling is also involved in the regulation of many biological functions, due to the wide range of PKC isoforms, and there is emerging evidence that there are critical points of crosstalk between these two central signalling pathways. The aims of this research, therefore, are to identify the molecular basis underlying this pivotal cross-communication.

The identification of the complex formed by Receptor for activated C Kinase 1 (RACK1), a scaffold protein for PKC, and the cyclic AMP-specific phosphodiesterase PDE4D5 demonstrated a potential area of crosstalk between the cyclic AMP and PKC signalling pathways although the function of the complex remained largely unknown. In this thesis I have outlined a role for RACK1 binding to PDE4D5 to control the enzymatic activity of the phosphodiesterase. Although RACK1 does not affect the intracellular localisation of PDE4D5, it does afford structural stability to PDE4D5, providing protection against denaturation. Furthermore, interaction with RACK1 facilitates high affinity binding of PDE4D5 to cyclic AMP and increases phosphodiesterase sensitivity to inhibition by rolipram, a PDE4-specific inhibitor that is a therapeutic treatment for depression and Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, RACK1-bound PDE4D5 was found to be activated by PKCα, providing a route of negative regulation by PKC on cyclic AMP in HEK293 cells.

The discovery of EPAC (Exchange Protein directly Activated by Cyclic AMP) has opened up the field of cyclic AMP research, providing an alternative route for the cyclic AMP signalling originally thought to occur solely through Protein Kinase A (PKA). Recent investigations have linked cyclic AMP signalling via EPAC to the control of inflammation, through the induction of Suppressor of Cytokine Signalling 3 (SOCS-3) to inhibit IL-6 signalling. Here I have further delineated this pathway in COS1 to show that induction of SOCS-3 by EPAC requires phospholipase C (PLC) e. Investigation into downstream effectors of PLC action lead to the identification of PKCα and PKCδ as essential components of this pathway, further elucidating a mechanism by which cyclic AMP can affect inflammation and revealing a point of crosstalk between the two signalling pathways.

Further elaborating on the identification of PKC isoforms α and δ as crucial components in the control of cytokine signalling by cyclic AMP via EPAC, investigations into the effect of cyclic AMP on PKC α and δ activation and autophosphorylation, and on downstream effectors, were carried out. It was revealed that cyclic AMP had no influence on PKCδ activity, although a role for cyclic AMP signalling through EPAC on the activation and autophosphorylation of PKCα was identified. Additionally, phosphorylation of the downstream kinase ERK was found to occur independently of PKC activation and required the presence of EPAC1 in COS1 cells.

The work presented in this thesis therefore begins to delineate a novel pathway in which the cyclic AMP and PKC pathways work together to afford cell regulation, including the regulation of gene expression, through novel areas of crosstalk.


This paper examines the empirical relationship between Korean and Japanese outward foreign direct investment (FDI). Considering the heavy dependence of Korean firms on Japanese technology and the intensive competition of Korean firms against Japanese firms, it is argued that Korean firms' FDI is affected by Japanese movement for outward FDL The results of this paper provide evidence supporting the significant positive relationship between Korean FDI and Japanese FDL Specifically, current year's Korean FDI is significantly positively related with previous year's Japanese FDI even after the effects of other macroeconomics variables on the Korean FDI are controlled. This paper also offers interesting findings on the relationships between macroeconomic variables and Korean FDL In particular, greater Korean FDI is found to be associated with an increase in Korean wages relative to Japanese wages and with an appreciation of Japanese yen against Korean won. INTRODUCTION This paper focuses on foreign direct investment (hereafter, FDI) activities of the two more advanced economics in Pacific-Basin countries, Japan and Korea. Japan and Korea exhibit some similarities in their FDI activities during the past decade. During the 1980s, Japanese exporting industries were expanding globally to remain competitive with both foreign and domestic companies. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, Japanese firms experienced severe economic downturns and restructurings following the so-called "bubble economy." Combined with these economic conditions domestically, according to Komiya (1991), deregulation of financial sectors in Japan and increased import barriers by major trading partners have contributed to the increase in Japan's FDI. During the 1980s, Korean industries faced similar economic hardships. Along with increased pressure from major trade partners, including the U.S. and Western Europe, to open its economy, domestic problems such as wage hikes, labor shortage, frequent labor disputes and appreciation of Korean won= have led Korean firms to invest abroad. The increase in outward FDI by Korean firms could also be attributed to changes in global markets including intensifying protectionism in trade and technology, formation of economic blocs, and incentives offered by many overseas countries (e.g., China, Indonesia and Mexico). For the first time, FDI by Korean Firms exceeded foreign investment in Korea in 1990 [Kim 1993]. While previous literature has identified several important determinants of a country's outward FDI, this paper investigates the empirical relationship in outward FDI activities between Korea and Japan. In particular, it is argued in this paper that Korean FDI is further influenced by Japanese FDI in addition to the macoeconomic variables documented as determinants of outward FDI by previous studies. Traditionally, Korean and Japanese firms have not only worked as partners but also competed against each other in the world markets. For example, Korean firms have competed with Japanese firms in the U.S. markets mainly for automobiles, electronics, and computer products. Firms in both countries also compete against each other in other lessdeveloped Asian countries including China, mainly to take advantage of cheap labor and local production costs. Considering the heavy dpendence of Korean firms on Japanese technology and the intensive competition of Korean firms against Japanese firms, it is expected that Korean firms' FDI is strongly positively related to Japanese to Japanese firms' FDI. In order to investigate the empirical relationship between Korean and Japanese FDI, regression analysis is performed on FDI data for 1977-92. As a country's outward FDI is supposedly influenced by macroeconomic variables, such as GDP growth rate, interest rate, trade balance, exchange rate, and wage growth [United Nations 1992], these variables are used as control variables in regressions of Korean FDI, with Japanese FDI as the test variable. …


The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the in-house research institute of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). One of the key missions of ARS is to provide, through scientific research, the means to ensure that the food supply is safe and secure for consumers and that food and feed meet foreign and domestic regulatory requirements. Food safety research seeks ways to assess, control or eliminate potentially harmful food contaminants, including both introduced and naturally occurring pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites, toxins and non-biological-based chemical contaminants, mycotoxins and plant toxins. Food safety is a global issue; thus, the research program involves both national and international collaborations through formal and informal partnerships. To meet those responsibilities, ARS has engaged more than 180 Ph.D. research scientists in 25 laboratories to work on 62 research projects. Using the involvement in post-harvest food safety research of an Eastern Regional Research Center laboratory in the North Atlantic Area of ARS as an example, I will describe the processes and procedures for project development, research accountability, and technology transfer to stakeholders. In addition, specific examples on significant research accomplishments in pathogen detection involving collaboration with domestic and international entities will also be described.


This article argues that inequality in access to water and sanitation is largely caused and legitimised by different forms of invisible power that prevent universal access. It shows how invisible power combined with structural violence and experiences of unequal citizenship result in dismal access to water that cause systematic harm to poor and marginalised women and men. The article also argues that invisible power and other forms of power imbalance have ended up naturalising water inequalities around the world. While the inalienable universality of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their focus on inequality must be celebrated, unless the power imbalances that perpetuate inequality are tackled head on by both policymakers and activists, the SDGs will not achieve social justice. It is thus important for both the sufferers of water injustices as well as water justice advocates to challenge structural violence and invisible power in the water domain.


Covers theoretical and practical aspects related to the behavioral modelling and predistortion of wireless transmitters and power amplifiers. It includes simulation software that enables the users to apply the theory presented in the book. In the first section, the reader is given the general background of nonlinear dynamic systems along with their behavioral modelling from all its aspects. In the second part, a comprehensive compilation of behavioral models formulations and structures is provided including memory polynomial based models, box oriented models such as Hammerstein-based and Wiener-based models, and neural networks-based models. The book will be a valuable resource for design engineers, industrial engineers, applications engineers, postgraduate students, and researchers working on power amplifiers modelling, linearization, and design.


A cross-sectional study was performed in children 5 through 10 years of age presenting to outpatient clinics in Nyanza Province, Kenya, in which nasal swab and blood specimens were collected during the high malaria transmission season. Patients presenting with malaria-like symptoms within 4 days of fever onset were enrolled in the study. Plasmodium parasitemia was determined by blood smear microscopy. Nasal swabs were screened for a panel of respiratory viruses by polymerase chain reaction. Influenza A, rhinoviruses, and other respiratory viruses were detected in 18%, 26%, and 12% of 197 specimens, respectively. Four of 36 patients with influenza A had a positive malaria blood slide, compared with 20 of 52 patients with rhinovirus. A significant burden of disease caused by influenza A in febrile children during the study period was observed, highlighting the need for further research into the burden of influenza disease in regions where malaria is holoendemic.


Objectives Subependymal pseudocysts (SEPC) are cerebral periventricular cysts located on the floor of the lateral ventricle and result from regression of the germinal matrix. They are increasingly diagnosed on neonatal cranial ultrasound. While associated pathologies are reported, information about long-term prognosis is missing, and we aimed to investigate long-term follow-up of these patients. Study design Newborns diagnosed with SEPC were enrolled for follow-up. Neurodevelopment outcome was assessed at 6, 18 and 46 months of age. Results 74 newborns were recruited: we found a high rate of antenatal events (63%), premature infants (66% <37 weeks, 31% <32 weeks) and twins (30%). MRI was performed in 31 patients, and cystic periventricular leukomalacia (c-PVL) was primarily falsely diagnosed in 9 of them. Underlying disease was diagnosed in 17 patients, 8 with congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, 5 with genetic and 4 with metabolic disease. Neurological examination (NE) at birth was normal for patients with SEPCs and no underlying disease, except one. Mean Developmental Quotient and IQ of these patients was 98.2 (±9.6SD; range 77–121), 94.6 (±14.2SD; 71–120) and 99.6 (±12.3SD; 76–120) at 6, 18 and 46 months of age, respectively, with no differences between the subtypes of SEPC. A subset analysis showed no outcome differences between preterm infants with or without SEPC, or between preterm of <32 GA and ≥32 GA. Conclusions Neurodevelopment of newborns with SEPC was normal when no underlying disease was present. This study suggests that if NE is normal at birth and congenital CMV infection can be excluded, then no further investigations are needed. Moreover, it is crucial to differentiate SEPC from c-PVL which carries a poor prognosis.


Treated wastewater may provide an effective alternative for meeting agriculture's demands and increase freshwater resources for other needs. Disinfection of treated wastewater protects the receivers; nevertheless, hazards of handling disinfectants, and the fact that some of them do not remove certain pathogenic and opportunistic organisms, are two main reasons for undertaking research in this field. Ecotoxicity of effluent from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant, subjected to disinfection by chlorination, ozonation and UV irradiation, was investigated under laboratory conditions. The efficiency of bacterial inactivation was examined: microorganisms were sensitive to chlorine and UV disinfection, however, they were more resistant to ozonation. Ecotoxicity was evaluated on samples before disinfection and on disinfected samples in which the bacterial inactivation level was similar. Immobilization, growth and enzymatic ecotoxicological tests were performed using consumers, producers and decomposers, respectively. UV irradiation had the least negative impact on the tested bioindicators. Although some studies have shown opposite trends, it has been proved that ozonation and chlorination increase the toxicity of treated wastewater. This study suggests that the wide application of disinfectants to wastewater should be reviewed because, under the experimental conditions tested, they were able to cause harmful effects on one or more of the species tested and they could adversely affect biodiversity in the environment.


APPROPRIATION OF PRIVACY MANAGEMENT WITHIN SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES by Catherine Dwyer Social networking sites have emerged as one of the most widely used types of interactive systems, with memberships numbering in the hundreds of millions around the globe. By providing tools for their members to manage an ever-changing set of relationships, social networking sites push a constant expansion of social boundaries. These sites place less emphasis on tools that limit social boundaries to enable privacy. The rapid expansion of online social boundaries has caused privacy shockwaves. Privacy offline is enabled by constraints of time and space. Online, powerful search engines and long term digital storage means private data have no expiration date. Within an online culture of anonymity and fluid self-presentation of identity, social networking sites can be turned into places of perceived safety but with privacy risks that actually extend indefinitely. While these sites do deploy privacy management features, it is not understood how people use social networking sites, how they use privacy management features, and how these two are related. In order to create better privacy mechanisms for social software, designers must first understand how members manage their privacy in the current environment. This dissertation introduces The Social Software Performance Model, which describes relevant factors and their interaction in order to explain patterns of privacy management. The Model is a synthesis of Adaptive Structuration Theory, the Fit Appropriation Model and socio-technical systems theory. Adaptive Structuration Theory attempts to explain appropriation, defined as the process by which people integrate technology into their daily tasks and activities. A central premise of this research is that the appropriation perspective is a valuable lens for teasing apart how members of these sites adopt and adapt privacy management features. Using Adaptive Structuration Theory, this dissertation developed and validated new measures that capture appropriation patterns related to privacy management within social networking sites. The research introduces three independent constructs that measure privacy management appropriation. They are the Use appropriation move, which measures actual use of privacy management features; the Familiarity appropriation move, which measure knowledge of privacy management features; and the Restricted Scope appropriation move, which measures the extent to which members independently limit the scope of their online social network to protect their privacy. Survey data was collected from subjects in two different social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace, and used to evaluate hypotheses developed from The Social Software Performance Model. Using a partial least squares analysis, the research model explained 28.5% of the variance with respect to appropriation of privacy management features. This is a strong result for exploratory research. This research makes a contribution by extending theories to a new context, by applying both the Adaptive Structuration Theory and the Fit Appropriation Model to the use of privacy management in social networking sites. Using types and sub-types of appropriation moves from Adaptive Structuration Theory, new measures were developed and validated. These new measures, with further efforts to establish validity and reliability, can be adapted to understand appropriations for other forms of social software. The main finding of the research is a method to evaluate the effectiveness of different implementations of privacy management within social networking sites. While information system theory has been primarily concerned with systems used in an organizational context, the results of this research shows these theories are relevant to new systems based on social interaction. These new types of social software, generically labeled as Web 2.0, are among the most popular on the Internet. Besides Facebook and MySpace, examples of Web 2.0 include the video sharing site YouTube.com , and the photo sharing site Flickr.com . These sites thrive on intensive social interaction, and are growing in scope and importance. There has been little consensus among researchers as to how to measure the effectiveness of Web 2.0 systems. This lack of consensus presents a strategic opportunity for information systems theory, which has made determinations of effectiveness an important focus. This research has adapted information systems theory to study the effectiveness of privacy management. The development of privacy management has proven to be a difficult problem, and a deeper understanding of its effectiveness is expected to improve the overall design of these systems. By adapting information systems theory to the use of privacy management within social networking sites, this research shows that information systems theory can also be used applied to Web 2.0 applications. This provides a foundation for the further development of methods to measure the effectiveness of additional components within social software. APPROPRIATION OF PRIVACY MANAGEMENT WITHIN SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES


Life expectancy at birth or middle age was tightly connected to mortality structure. Major mortality crises in certain years greatly reduced life expectancy in the area. High mortality rate influencing all age groups led to a considerable decrease of average age. From the point of view of life expectancy in the whole region, there was a genuine positive revolution. Mortality rate in the region as well as in Transylvania and Hungary greatly decreased, thus leading to the demographic pattern specific in Central and Western Europe at the time. The number of children dying before reaching the age of 1 and infantile mortality together with the high mortality rate at children aged 1 to 5 show that "young age group was dominant" in mortality analysis. Children were the most exposed to pressure of internal and external factors leading to death. Children were the most vulnerable in front of "death claws" in all seasons and all communities. It was a reality in all Transylvania. In spite of obvious developments as compared to 1860-1880, in 1910, there still was a high mortality rate amongst children. In Bihor, the percentage of deceased children under 5 out of the total number of children was 34.2%, and of those under 7 was 36.3%. In the Sătmar County, mortality amongst children was even higher, which has been proved by the great number of deceased children in Ghenci: out of the total number of children, 36.3% were children deceased before reaching 5, while 38.4% were under 7 in 1910. In 1900-1910, the average number of newborns was 17,547 in Bihor and 9,655 in Sătmar. In the same period, the annual average of deceased children in Bihor was 4,094 and in Sătmar was 2,198. From the average of deceased children under 1 and the average number of newborns in 1900-1910, the average infantile mortality rate was 232.95‰ in Bihor and 227.65‰ in Sătmar. Thus, there was a very high infantile mortality rate in the two counties. It was above the rate in Transylvania, where average infantile mortality rate was 206.24‰. Despite the high infantile mortality rate, there were counties where infantile mortality rate index was even higher; for instance, in Arad infantile mortality rate was 245.56‰. In the two county seats, average infantile mortality rate for 1900-1910 was lower as compared to the whole of the counties. In Oradea, infantile mortality rate was 213.25‰ and in Satu Mare it was 219.98‰. This was a world where many were born and many died. Children were the most exposed to social, economic and meteorological hardships. Throughout the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a high infantile mortality rate. Moreover, as seen in the Principality of Transylvania, infantile mortality rate was even increasing in some regions. There were several complex causes of high infantile mortality. They originated in the precarious living conditions, lack of, or inappropriate, food, lack of hygiene and qualified medical staff, inappropriate housing for newborns, lack of special care for small children; last but not least, the attempt of applying traditional adult medical "treatment" to children, etc. As parish registers show, many children died at birth or immediately after. The lack of qualified and specialised midwives to assist the mother in childbirth to provide some medical assistance to the child was another important cause of infantile mortality. Last but not least, the high infantile mortality originated in a harmful collective mentality of the people concerning physicians and sanitary system.


Welfare technologies have within the last few years become a new mantra for reforming the Nordic public health and social care, and are increasingly making their impact on working life of care professionals.Welfare technologies – a term exclusively used in a Nordic context – is a broad and loosely defined concept that covers a wide array of technologies such as tele-care solutions, automatic toilets, eating robots, GPS-trackers, and many others. They are envisioned as leading to a new and smarter form of retrenchment, promising better quality, empowerment of clients, and work that is smarter and more qualified (e.g., Danish government et al. 2013). Together with other reform initiatives like coproduction, rehabili- tation, and user-involvement, welfare technologies aim at enabling a change in the role of the clients/patients, stressing their resourcefulness and potentials and encouraging to self-responsibilization and self-care (Rose 1998; Triantafillou 2017).This implies a fundamental reorganization of care work, a transformation of what care and care work is about, and consequently of meaning and identity in work (see, e.g., Barnes & Cotterell 2012; Järvinen 2012; Kirkegaard & Andersen 2018; Meldgaard Hansen & Kamp 2018). More concretely, we may expect changes in work tasks, social relations and forms of cooperation between occupational groups, and new relations to clients/patients and their relatives. This may not only imply new challenges and strains in work but may also present new possibilities for employees to engage creatively in shaping work in ways that makes care work more meaningful and sustainable. (...)


Abstract A receding horizon control method is used to solve on-line, at each time step, an optimization problem for a finite future interval and to implement the first optimal control input as the current control input. The receding horizon control method is combined with a parameter estimator to overcome the problems of the linear modeling and time-varying characteristics of a process. It is a suitable control strategy for time-varying systems, in particular, because the parameter estimator identifies a controller design model recursively at each time step, and also the receding horizon controller recalculates an optimal input at each time step by using newly measured signals. The proposed controller is applied to the axial power distribution control in a pressurized water reactor. The reactor dynamics model used for computer simulations is a two-point xenon oscillation model in which the reactor core is axially divided into two regions (upper and lower halves) and each region is assumed to have a single input and a single output and to be coupled with the other region. It is shown from numerical simulations that the proposed controller exhibits very fast tracking responses due to the step and ramp changes of axial target shape and also works well in a time-varying parameter condition.


Development is empowerment, and that is not just a methodology or a development gimmick. Empowerment means that people get equipped to deal with their own situation in a practical and viable way. The first step towards empowerment is assisting communities in making power analyses. Help them understand the difference between positive and negative power and how to cope with that. Power is important, believe me, I have been in different power circles including being a Minister, I know what power is.

In Sindebele, the language spoken in south western Zimbabwe, the equivalent word for development means actually taking control over what you need to work with for survival. So development in this sense means empowerment and that is a very fundamental human right. When things are difficult and resources are scarce, it are always the weakest, who benefit the last, and it are the strongest that get the resources before the poor. I find that a great deal of the poorest people in the poverty stricken bracket of our communities are women. So it is not by design that I focus on women, it is because women are there and because the majority of people that need empowerment, are women.

A foremost strategy of people working for development has to be assisting communities to understand power. One cannot empower somebody else. People can only empower themselves and an essential prerequisite for empowerment is understanding power and how it is acquired, exercised and maintained, between women and men, between those who own resources and those who do not. Power dynamics play within the family, the community, the society and the globe.

Power is neutral until it is acquired and used. But completely without it, we just are lethargic. Power enables people and enhances life but one should clearly distinguish positive and negative power. Positive power is one of caring and sharing, the power to connect and to work together. Negative power is the power that dominates and oppresses. It is selfish, greedy and wants things for itself. It is often possessed by men, but by powerful women too. They want to flex their muscles and exercise their power in order for their presence to be felt. However, since everybody has to take part in this power analyses, I favour a family approach rather than a women approach. Both men and women must be exposed to the same kind of dialogue.

The powers that be

As a member of a rural community, for instance, ask yourself what the existing powers are and which powers prevent you from acquiring positive power. Who is it that is sharing positive power in your family and in your community and how can you link up to this person? Power shared is power gained. If it is a negative power that is exercised in your community; who is exercising it? Is it your husband, your children, your neighbour, a rich neighbour, the politician, the rural councillor? This power could prevent your community from doing things, from accessing economic resources or infrastructure. Then together you determine what the strategies are which need to be put in place in order to acquire positive power and to reverse this negative power. There is a limit to which you can hold negative power. Sustainable development exists when you can regenerate your energies and when you can re focus and reconnect to a wider world.

The positive power is the power we should use in development. In agriculture for instance we go back to our culture of working together. The basis of the village groups is a tradition of collective work called amalima whereby all members attend to each family s fields in rotation. Most jobs are done collectively gathering firewood, fetching water, even home improvements, which have been extensive. You have to identify what you need to grow or build and having identified that you can see and find out whether your neighbours also want to grow or build the same and how they want to do that. This is a process of empowering themselves through empowering each other. This applies for any activity, be it food processing, harvesting or building dams.

One example is the Give a Dam Programme that started with the drought of 1993-94. Various member communities wanted to have a dam for water. In order for the communities to achieve the implementation of a dam, they needed for instance the approval of a councillor for permits, a government official to peg the dam, they had to authorise a NGO to get the tools and had to organise themselves to arrange manual labour.

By working around this, they also discover that individuals might be blocking the process. An NGO or political leader, who is promising things that do not happen, a local leader who is corrupt and using people s time and resources. The process of discovering, discussing and developing strategies to cope is really learning and understanding the power dynamics. Identifying the problem is the problem half solved. A politician who wanted to peg a dam for political reasons at a spot not to the liking of the community, saw his intentions abandoned. On the other hand communities can be convinced by a technical expert to choose a spot farther away from the village than their initial choice, simply for physical and geographical reasons. To me both examples illustrate positive power. Constructive criticism and engagement with others along the line. Then together you share power.

[caption to illustration]

Sithembiso Nyoni is currently president of ORAP (the Organisation of Rural Associations for Progress), based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and which she co-founded in 1981. ORAP has over a million members in more than 800 village groups. From 1995 till June 2000 Mrs Nyoni has served first as Deputy Minister of National Housing and Public Construction and later as Minister of State for Economic Ministries in Zimbabwe.

The opinions expressed in Viewpoint are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CTA.


Facebook, the Media and Democracy examines Facebook Inc. and the impact that it has had and continues to have on media and democracy around the world. Drawing on interviews with Facebook users of different kinds and dialogue with politicians, regulators, civil society and media commentators, as well as detailed documentary scrutiny of legislative and regulatory proposals and Facebook's corporate statements, the book presents a comprehensive but clear overview of the current debate around Facebook and the global debate on the regulation of social media in the era of 'surveillance capitalism.' Chapters examine the business and growing institutional power of Facebook as it has unfolded over the fifteen years since its creation, the benefits and meanings that it has provided for its users, its disruptive challenge to the contemporary media environment, its shaping of conversations, and the emerging calls for its further regulation. The book considers Facebook's alleged role in the rise of democratic movements around the world as well as its suggested role in the election of Donald Trump and the UK vote to leave the European Union. This book argues that Facebook, in some shape or form, is likely to be with us into the foreseeable future and that how we address the societal challenges that it provokes, and the economic system that underpins it, will define how human societies demonstrate their capacity to protect and enhance democracy and ensure that no corporation can set itself above democratic institutions. This is an important research volume for academics and researchers in the areas of media studies, communications, social media and political science.


While financial inclusion is seen as a goal of socio-economic development, there is still no clear understanding of how to measure it. Following this concern, the paper deals with the computation of the financial inclusion index of the Ukrainian economy using an annual dataset spanning from 2008 to 2020 and following the Sarma methodology. The object of the study is a set of indicators of usage, access and quality of financial products and services. The obtained results demonstrate the medium level of financial inclusion. The improvement of financial inclusion is observed in 2012, 2013, 2020 (namely 0.55 – 0.56 in the range of 0 and 1). From 2015 (0.38) till 2018 (0.39), the revealed downward trend affirms that the withdrawal of banks from the market has deteriorated the level of quality and usage of financial products and services. Financial inclusion declined during the cleaning up of the banking system in 2014–2016, just as it did after the global financial crisis in 2009–2010. Despite the development of the payment infrastructure, there is a need to diversify access, increase quality, and quicken the usage of financial products and services due to existing distrust in national financial institutions. Improving financial literacy and consumer protection, and closing regulatory gaps in the non-banking sector are seen as ways to enhance financial inclusion. Thus, financial regulators should establish an upward trend in financial inclusion that will ensure full access to formal financial services and will not adversely affect the stability of financial system.


Since December 2019, a newly identified coronavirus (2019 novel coronavirus, 2019-nCov) is causing outbreak of pneumonia in one of largest cities, Wuhan, in Hubei province of China and has draw significant public health attention. The same as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), 2019-nCov enters into host cells via cell receptor angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2). In order to dissect the ACE2-expressing cell composition and proportion and explore a potential route of the 2019-nCov infection in digestive system infection, 4 datasets with single-cell transcriptomes of lung, esophagus, gastric, ileum and colon were analyzed. The data showed that ACE2 was not only highly expressed in the lung AT2 cells, esophagus upper and stratified epithelial cells but also in absorptive enterocytes from ileum and colon. These results indicated along with respiratory systems, digestive system is a potential routes for 2019-nCov infection. In conclusion, this study has provided the bioinformatics evidence of the potential route for infection of 2019-nCov in digestive system along with respiratory tract and may have significant impact for our healthy policy setting regards to prevention of 2019-nCoV infection.


INTRODUCTION Improving students' oral communication skills is a topic of much concern in today's competitive environment (e.g., Buckley, Peach, and Weitzel 1989; Porter and McKibbin 1988). Evaluating oral presentations in the classroom is often viewed as a subjective task, exacerbated by the lack of formal training of most business academicians on how to provide useful feedback to students. Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) are used as a tool for performance appraisal "indicating how performance can be improved" (Cocanougher and Ivancevich 1978). BARS forms have been used extensively in businesses as a means of employee evaluation (e.g., Ingram and LaForge 1992; Schwab, Heneman, and Decotiis 1975) and at least one application has been applied to the evaluation of students in written case analyses (McIntyre and Gilbert 1994). The purpose of this paper is to present a more formal and objective approach to performance evaluations of oral presentations using a BARS approach. The BARS form is presented as a means of evaluation that can: 1) provide effective feedback on students' performance during oral presentations; 2) provide guidance for expected performance (thus understanding of aspects of behavior that should be improved in future presentations); and 3) ensure equitable evaluations. A brief review of the development of the BARS instrument is described prior to outlining its application in the classroom. BARS DEVELOPMENT Cocanougher and Ivancevich (1978) detail the five-step operations procedure for developing a BARS evaluation system for a sales force, and McIntyre and Gilbert (1994) present an adaptation of the process for use in evaluation of students presenting case analyses. The development of the BARS form for oral presentations is based on these two articles, and incorporates an option suggested by McIntyre and Gilbert (1994), the inclusion of both students and faculty in the development process. Step 1 in the process involves the generation of critical incidents (examples of effective and ineffective behavior during oral presentations). For this step, an MBA-level class was chosen. Students were asked to read Flanagan's (1954) article regarding critical incidents and received an instruction sheet stating the objectives of the process. Twenty-one students generated a list of 298 critical incidents during a brainstorming session. After the brainstorming session, the critical incidents were reviewed and compiled in random order. Seventeen incidents were considered to be irrelevant (most appeared to assess written presentations rather than oral presentations), leaving 281 available for Step 2 in the process, refinement of the critical incidents and the creation of performance dimensions (the overall qualities defined by specific critical incidents). In a second session, the same set of MBA students were asked to generate a list of performance dimensions by refining the 281 critical incidents into a smaller set of more general categories. The original dimensions included allocation of time, appearance/demeanor, supplementary materials, organization/preparation, coverage of material, creativity/interest, and communication skills. The students then placed each critical incident into one of the seven performance dimensions. Step 3 is a verification check of the relationship of critical incidents to performance dimensions. For this step, Cocanougher and Ivancevich (1978) recommend that a second group be used. Seven full-time faculty members were asked to place the critical incidents into one of the seven performance dimensions. For a critical incident to be retained for the BARS form, 60% of both the student and faculty groups had to assign it to the same performance dimension. One performance dimension (creativity/interest) was eliminated because too few critical incidents were assigned to it, and 132 incidents were retained for further evaluation. …


ABSTRACT Thoracic—but not lumbar—epidural anaesthesia provides relevant clinical advantages compared with general anaesthesia, improving patients' morbidity and mortality after major surgical procedures.1 These advantages are excellent perioperative neuraxial analgesia and effective attenuation of the perioperative stress response by a reversible blockade of sympathetic afferents and efferents. In particular the attenuation of sympathetic tone prevents perioperative myocardial ischaemia and improves global and regional left ventricular function, pulmonary function and gastrointestinal perfusion. Thus, thoracic epidural anaesthesia is more than simply an anaesthetic regimen; it also has therapeutic options, especially in high-risk patients who underwent major cardiac, thoracic or abdominal surgical procedures.


Title: COMPUTER-AIDED PROCESS PLANNING (CAPP) SORICH Author: SOHAIL PIRZADA Degree: Master of Science Date: December, 1991 Advisor: Steve Kotefski Department: Manufacturing Engineering The last two decades have witnessed the increasing role of the computer in the process planning function. This has been further enhanced by the advent of the knowledge based expert system, and its impact on Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). CAPP has emerged as a strategic link between design and manufacture. This thesis discusses the various methods used in the process planning function. Group Technology (GT) plays a pivotal role in establishing CAPP. The utilization of Artificial Intelligence techniques in CAPP is listed. This study also presents an Interactive Software adaptive to product/part configuration variables. COMPUTER-AIDED PROCESS PLANNING (CAPP) SORICH


We provide algorithms for efficiently moving and addressing quantum memory in parallel. These imply that the standard circuit model can be simulated with a low overhead by a more realistic model of a distributed quantum computer. As a result, the circuit model can be used by algorithm designers without worrying whether the underlying architecture supports the connectivity of the circuit. In addition, we apply our results to existing memory-intensive quantum algorithms. We present a parallel quantum search algorithm and improve the time–space trade-off for the element distinctness and collision finding problems.


Extracted from text ... Porter, S E & Reed, J T (eds) 1999 - Discourse analysis and the New Testament: Approaches and results
Sheffield Academic Press, England. 406 Pages. Price: unknown
Reviewer: Rev Milankie van der Walt (Namibia)
For those still interested in discourse analysis as a method of interpreting the Bible text or as method for translating the Bible, this book offers four contributions on theoretical background, seven contributions on the gospels and Acts, four contributions on the Pauline corpus and four on the general epistles.
Much of the impetus of this book and the one to be ..


This work is an examination of the transitional period spanning the end of Roman Britain and the beginning of the medieval period, in a small region centred on South Cadbury Castle, Somerset, England. It aims to set this well-known post-Roman settlement in its proper landscape and regional context through a landscape archaeological survey of the previously poorly studied hinterlands. Through this method the study moves towards a better understanding of the socio-economic processes effecting social and political change from the 3rd to 10th centuries AD. A multi-disciplinary approach is employed involving cartographic and documentary evidence; extensive geophysical survey and sample excavation revealed a remarkable continuity of land division in the rural landscape from the late prehistoric period to the modern day.


This project was carried out to develop a low cost rubber compound for retreading tractor wheels, while maintaining standard physical properties or perhaps with improved physical properties of the retread. The first formulate tried out was with the rubber content in the standard formula reduced by 10 phr and by increasing the filler load with the help of a tackyfying agent to obtain the expected volume. DPG 2phr was used as the booster accelerator to impart the vulcanization of the compound. The reason for adding tackyfing agent in the formula was to enhance the tackiness of the compound to facilitate more filler loading. When tackyfying agent is added, the dosage of ball clay and buffing dust and reclaim rubber addition up to 5 phr to the compound can be done conveniently. Physical properties of the vulcanizates of each of these compounds tried out were determined using ISO test methods. A marked increase in the specific gravity and the hardness of the compounds was observed with the substitution of fillers replacing rubber in the formule. Hence, the second lab scale trial (TR TEST-2) was carried out with the intention of reducing the specific gravity of the vulcanizate while improving physical properties. Reducing ball clay load by 5 phr and introducing the semi EV vulcanizing system it was possible to achieve physical properties comparable to the control. However, from this exercise it was not possible to significantly reduce the cost of the compound. In order to reduce the cost of the compound third lab scale trial (TR TEST-3) was conducted; in which the level of scrap crepe, aromatic oil and antioxidant were reduced by 10, 1 and 3 phr respectively. Physical properties of vulcanizates of TR TEST-3 trial were within the acceptable limit for tyre retreads. Further, the cost of the resulting compound was below the cost of the earlier compound used for the purpose by 7.95% thereby making it more economical to be used as the compound for retreading tractor tyres. In TR TEST 1 SG and hardness is higher due to addition of excess ball clay. In TR TEST2 and TR TEST3 the elongation value reached 300% due to excess reclaim rubber in their formulation. TR TEST 4 did not reach 300% elongation, because of the very high shear action on rubber exert on Banbury mill mixing.


In Bob Jones v. U.S., the Supreme Court held that an entity may lose its tax exemption if it violates a fundamental public policy, even where religious beliefs demand that violation. In that case, the Court held that racial discrimination violated fundamental public policy. Could the determination to exclude same-sex individuals from marriage or attending a college also be considered a violation of fundamental public policy? There is uncertainty in the answer. In the recent Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized same-sex marriage, the Court asserted that LGBT individuals are entitled to "equal dignity in the eyes of the law." Constitutional law scholars, such as Lawrence Tribe, are advocating that faith groups might lose their status, citing that this decision is the dawning of a new era of constitutional doctrine in which fundamental public policy will have a more broad application.Regardless of whether Obergefell marks a shift in fundamental public policy, that shift will happen at some point. The problem is, under the current diachronic fundamental public policy regime, tax-exempt organizations have no way to know, ex ante, what will violate a fundamental public policy. We believe that the purpose of the fundamental public policy requirement is to discourage bad behavior in advance, rather than merely punish it after it occurs. As a result, we believe that the government should clearly delineate a manner for determining what constitutes a fundamental public policy. We suggest recommended three safe harbor regimes that would allow religiously-affiliated tax-exempt organizations to know what kinds of discrimination are incompatible with tax exemption. Tying the definition of fundamental public policy to strict scrutiny, to the Civil Rights Act, or to equal protection allow a tax-exempt entity to ensure compliance, ex post. In the end, though, we believe that the flexibility attendant to equal protection, mixed with the nimbleness that the Treasury Department would enjoy in crafting a blacklist of prohibited discrimination, would provide the best and most effective safe harbor regime.


Education plays a significant role in informing the way people develop gender values, identities, relationships, and stereotypes. The education of refugees, however, takes place in multiple and diverse settings. Drawing on a decade of field research in Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, and North America, I examine the promises and challenges of education for refugees and argue that southern Sudanese refugee women and girls experience gendered and unequal access to education in protracted refugee sites such as the Kakuma refugee camp, as well as in resettled destinations such as Massachusetts. Many of these refugees, who are commonly referred to as the "lost boys and girls," did not experience schooling in the context of a stable family life; that is why they often reiterate the Sudanese proverb, "Education is my mother and father." I argue that tertiary education is crucial because it promotes self-reliance. It enables refugees, particularly women, to gain knowledge, voice, and skills which will give them access to better employment opportunities and earnings and thus enhance their equality and independence. Indeed, education provides a context within which to understand and make visible the changing nature of gender relationships of power.


Many clinical research datasets have a large percentage of missing values that directly impacts their usefulness in yielding high accuracy classifiers when used for training in supervised machine learning. While missing value imputation methods have been shown to work well with smaller percentages of missing values, their ability to impute sparse clinical research data can be problem specific. We previously attempted to learn quantitative guidelines for ordering cardiac magnetic resonance imaging during the evaluation for pediatric cardiomyopathy, but missing data significantly reduced our usable sample size. In this work, we sought to determine if increasing the usable sample size through imputation would allow us to learn better guidelines. We first review several machine learning methods for estimating missing data. Then, we apply four popular methods (mean imputation, decision tree, k-nearest neighbors, and self-organizing maps) to a clinical research dataset of pediatric patients undergoing evaluation for cardiomyopathy. Using Bayesian Rule Learning (BRL) to learn ruleset models, we compared the performance of imputation-augmented models versus unaugmented models. We found that all four imputation-augmented models performed similarly to unaugmented models. While imputation did not improve performance, it did provide evidence for the robustness of our learned models.


The year 2007 will mark the tenth anniversary of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the EU and Russia. At their Sochi summit in May 2006, the two parties agreed to work towards a new agreement to replace the PCA. This book explores whether the EU and Russia could make a better job of their strained relationship, which, while peaceful, is nevertheless characterised by mounting grumbles on both sides over how to govern oil and gas trade and investment, through to issues of democratic values and divergent approaches to such countries as Georgia and Ukraine in their overlapping neighbourhoods. The book presents the views of independent analysts from both the EU (Michael Emerson, Fabrizio Tassinari and Marius Vahl) and Russia (Nadezhda Arbatova, Timofei Bordachev and Andrey S. Makarychev) on how to proceed. Also included is a view from Europe's business leaders. The editor, Michael Emerson, was the European Union's first ambassador to Moscow from 1991 to 1996. The negotiations that will soon begin at the official level will no doubt be a long process. This book provides ideas that the authors would like the negotiators to embrace, and in any case serves as a valuable reference against which to check what political leaders choose to do.


In dementia research, there is limited knowledge about how people with dementia experience their daily life including how they experience the services they attend. This means a lack of knowledge about how people with dementia judge the quality of services provided for them. In this study visual and creative methods were used to understand the experience of people with early stage dementia who attend an adult school, Voksenskolen for Undervisning og Kommunikation (VUK) in Denmark. The study explored the students' experience of being a student at VUK and what it means to engage in life-long learning. Alongside the aim to evaluate the service provided for them, seen from their perspective. Photo-elicitation was used, with cameras provided to each student, who took photographs of their school and home life. Students' photographs were used to support focus group discussions, with the images integral to the process of talking about and recalling stories. Ten students were recruited to participate in four weekly sessions. Two groups were run with five students in each group. Each session was video recorded, these sessions were then transcribed and analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Visual images were found to support the students' memory of current experiences and prompted reminiscences about the past, leading to rich descriptions about being a student at VUK and their experiences of living with dementia. Being able to attend VUK was found to be important for these students with dementia, providing them with a sense of purpose, a way to support their cognitive function and also to develop new friendships. The method provided a way for people with dementia to be active in the research process and provide their perspective about a novel service, which promotes an ethos of learning and development.


Soil is part of the Earth's life support system, but how should we convey the value of this and of soil as a resource? Consideration of the ecosystem services and natural capital of soils offers a framework going beyond performance indicators of soil health and quality, and recognizes the broad value that soil contributes to human wellbeing. This approach provides links and synergies between soil science and other disciplines such as ecology, hydrology, and economics, recognizing the importance of soils alongside other natural resources in sustaining the functioning of the Earth system. We articulate why an ecosystems approach is important for soil science in the context of natural capital, ecosystem services, and soil change. Soil change is defined as change on anthropogenic time scales and is an important way of conveying dynamic changes occurring in soils that are relevant to current political decision‐making time scales. We identify four important areas of research: (i) framework development; (ii) quantifying the soil resource, stocks, fluxes, transformations, and identifying indicators; (iii) valuing the soil resource for its ecosystem services; and (iv) developing decision‐support tools. Furthermore, we propose contributions that soil science can make to address these research challenges.


R.M. Hare's new book, Freedom and Reason, is a welcome contribution to modern moral philosophy and should be read with care by anyone who believes that ethics should be relevant to the moral life, and that reason should have a substantial role to play in that life. Freedom and Reason, though not simply a sequel to Hare's earlier work, The Language of Morals, should be read with the earlier work in mind. This is important, not only because it presupposes some of the conclusions of that work, but also because of the strong criticism which the earlier work provoked, and which Freedom and Reason to a large extent answers.


Arguing that the contemporary commitment to the importance of cultural identity has renovated rather than replaced an earlier commitment to racial identity, Walter Benn Michaels asserts that the idea of culture, far from constituting a challenge to racism, is actually a form of racism. Our America offers both a provocative reinterpretation of the role of identity in modernism and a sustained critique of the role of identity in postmodernism.

"We have a great desire to be supremely American," Calvin Coolidge wrote in 1924. That desire, Michaels tells us, is at the very heart of American modernism, giving form and substance to a cultural movement that would in turn redefine America's cultural and collective identity—ultimately along racial lines. A provocative reinterpretation of American modernism, Our America also offers a new way of understanding current debates over the meaning of race, identity, multiculturalism, and pluralism.

Michaels contends that the aesthetic movement of modernism and the social movement of nativism came together in the 1920s in their commitment to resolve the meaning of identity—linguistic, national, cultural, and racial. Just as the Johnson Immigration Act of 1924, which excluded aliens, and the Indian Citizenship Act of the same year, which honored the truly native, reconceptualized national identity, so the major texts of American writers such as Cather, Faulkner, Hurston, and Williams reinvented identity as an object of pathos—something that can be lost or found, defended or betrayed. Our America is both a history and a critique of this invention, tracing its development from the white supremacism of the Progressive period through the cultural pluralism of the Twenties. Michaels's sustained rereading of the texts of the period—the canonical, the popular, and the less familiar—exposes recurring concerns such as the reconception of the image of the Indian as a symbol of racial purity and national origins, the relation between World War I and race, contradictory appeals to the family as a model for the nation, and anxieties about reproduction that subliminally tie whiteness and national identity to incest, sterility, and impotence.


The Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC) in photosystem II, a cluster that contains four manganese and one calcium ions bridged by five oxygen atoms in a distorted chair like arrangement, carries out the biological oxidation of water during photosynthesis. Since this is the only cluster established in biological water oxidation catalysis, efforts have been made to develop synthetic systems that mimic its structure, properties and water oxidation activity. This perspective provides a brief overview of the current structural and mechanistic understanding of the OEC in photosystem II. It then compares the structural features of this complex with those of manganese oxide water oxidation catalysts and discusses structure–function relationships that inform the development of new catalysts. The identified features should be considered when endeavouring to design manganese oxide, and other metal oxide, catalysts with optimal activity that can ultimately be integrated into photo-electrochemical devices to achieve solar water-splitting.


The failure mechanisms of textile reinforced concrete (TRC), which is a composite of bundles of long fibers and fine concrete, are complex. Most important for the ductility is the successive debonding of the fibers from the surrounding matrix when the brittle matrix is cracking. Therefore, one of the main issues is the simulation of the bond behavior between the reinforcement and the matrix. By introducing a hierarchical material model for TRC the mechanical behavior is simulated by means of representative volume elements modelled on the meso scale. Finite element analysis is used to determine the effective properties of TRC within a periodic homogenization framework. Further, a multiscale finite element technique is suggested, where constitutive equation are formulated only on the meso level.


The purpose of this research is to understand the national cultural antecedents that may help explain differences in supply chain disruptions mitigation abilities of companies from different countries. An analysis of survey data on disruption planning and response collected from various organizations worldwide was performed using weighted least square regression and factor analysis. We find that culture influences disruption planning and response. Statistical findings suggest that differences in disruption planning and response abilities between companies from different countries could be partly attributed to national culture. All five Hofstede's dimensions of national culture, i.e., Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-term Orientation were shown to have a significant positive effect on disruption planning and response. National cultural dimensions and economic status of a country could be effectively used to predict disruption planning and response abilities of companies in various countries. Managers could benefit from our research as it could help them assess disruptions mitigation abilities of their partners located in other countries. Increasing international trade and globalization of supply chains accentuate the importance of our research.


Abstract Academic achievement is regarded an indicator of the success of individuals, schools, universities and countries. 'Success' is typically measured using performance indicators such as test results, completion rates and other objective measures. By contrast, in this article we explore students' subjective understandings and constructions of success, and discourses about 'successful' students in higher education contexts that are renowned for being demanding and pressured. We draw on data from 87 semi-structured interviews with students and staff on law, medicine and engineering physics programmes in a prestigious university in Sweden. We focus particularly upon academic expectations, effort levels, and programme structures and cultures. Achieving top grades while undertaking a range of extracurricular activities was valorised in all contexts. Top grades were especially impressive if they were attained without much effort (especially in engineering physics) or stress (especially in law and medicine); we introduce a new concept of 'stress-less achievement' in relation to the latter. Furthermore, being sociable as well as a high academic achiever signified living a 'good life' and, in law and medicine, professional competence. We discuss the implications of the dominant constructions of success, concluding that (upper) middle-class men are most likely to be read as 'successful students', especially in engineering physics.


In June 2001, the owners of this small rapidly growing sports promotion firm are assessing the financing implications of their growth plans. Threshold Sports organizes professional cycling races, and holds major race franchises for several large U.S. cities. It seeks to expand quickly the number of events that it manages, eventually to build professional cycling in the United States to a level consistent with Europe. The growth outlook creates a financing need of $500,000. The case presents three financing alternatives: debt, common equity, and convertible preferred stock. The task for the student is to assess the alternatives and make a recommendation. The choice hinges importantly on the estimated value of the firm.


In the European integration process, the European Union continues to struggle for an identity that can generate widespread support amongst its peoples. In this context it has been suggested by some that the European Union should embrace the Christian values that underpin its national traditions and cultures. I shall argue that, instead of relying on a communitarian vision of a 'Christian Europe', a European identity should build on a culture of religious tolerance. A European culture of religious tolerance draws on the enduring of difference and the acknowledgement of persisting and intractable conflict as essential experiences of Europe's Christian past. Thus understood, tolerance lies at the roots of a European identity. At the same time, and through the conditional inclusion of religious diversity in the European nation-states, a European culture of religious tolerance creates over time new commonalities between Europe's religiously permeated national traditions. Thus understood, tolerance only brings about the conditions for the development of a genuine European identity that amounts to more than (the sum of) its national counterparts.


Cognitive neuroscience has been examining consciousness associated with the subject, that is the self of the conscious experience and its related multisensory processing of bodily signals, the so-called bodily self-consciousness. Different line of research has highlighted the concept of the autobiographical self in memory and the associated autonoetic consciousness, that is the human ability to mentally travel in time. The subjective re-experiencing of past episodes is often described as re-living them from a viewpoint and location that is similar to the initial encoding. In the first part of my thesis, I have studied how self-relevant bodily cues and personal memories influence our sense of self. In the second part, I have examined how the self is involved in spontaneous thoughts. Through a collection of four studies, I will argue here that it is possible to explore the underlying characteristics of self-consciousness and its relation to bodily signals and memory by a number of cognitive neuroscience approaches, including virtual reality (VR), electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). First, I investigated how the presence or absence of multisensory bodily cues influences long-term episodic autobiographical memory by using immersive VR environment. Second, I examined the underlying brain mechanisms of bodily-self and autobiographical-self by combining a meta-analytical approach with recent fMRI results from (a) patients suffering with out-of-body experiences and (b) healthy participants with induced illusory states of bodily self. Third, I explored how the immersive VR technology can be used to selectively and retroactively strengthen episodic autobiographical memory. Fourth, I examined whether it is possible to capture the inner, self-relevant conscious thoughts and record them with both fMRI and EEG methods. The results from my thesis indicate that (a) the bodily cues fundamentally influence the autobiographical memory and (b) it is possible to manipulate the self-related nature of conscious thoughts. I will discuss my findings with reference to current understanding of bodily-self, autobiographical-self and their links to theories of self-consciousness. Finally, based on my results, I will suggest what should be the following, future step towards memory prosthesis.


We estimate the effect of the Dutch-German border on house prices. In the last 40 years the development of house prices in the Netherlands and Germany has been substantially different. While the Netherlands have been hit by two real estate cycles, prices in Germany have been extraordinary stable. We develop a model for studying house prices and the impact of the border. Then we study the development of Dutch house prices close to the German border in the period 1985-2013. Next, combining German and Dutch real estate datasets, we study the jump in the housing price occurring at the border. Using different estimation strategies, we find that ask prices of comparable housing drop by about 16% when one crosses the Dutch-German border. Given that price discounts from the last observed asking price are substantially larger in Germany, we interpret our findings as indicating the willingness of Dutch households to pay up to 26% higher house prices to live among the Dutch.


Modern farming techniques have increased the crop yield, but natural habitats of the pol‐ linator were destroyed, affecting their populations compared to native vegetation. A sim‐ ple, low-cost, and efficient way to determine the presence of insecticide residues from farming is the honeybee as a bioindicator. However in Brazil, there is another species of bee, the stingless bees. The insecticide toxicity analyses the beneficial insect species as pollinators which are performed to the Apis mellifera . Stingless bees are native to tropical and subtropical zones, and they are more sensitive to pesticides than honeybees. We present some results of contamination in these bees compared to Africanized honeybees, and pose an important question: Why does the pesticide industry not make assays with stingless bees too? When insecticides were in larger concentrations, bees did not feed. When the concentration of the insecticide was smaller, Africanized honeybees consumed the polluted honey, resulting in the death of some. Finally, we report several experiments concerning honeybees, and mainly stingless bees, and the effect of pesticides in them; re‐ sults show stingless bees are more sensitive than honeybees. Our Bee Research Group studied this point, and we hope to contribute for understanding this relation between bee, pesticide, and environment.


An analytic formulation for the speckle-intensity autocovariance function generated by a laser beam with random pointing error is developed. The analysis utilizes the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle and includes the effects of atmospheric turbulence on propagation of the misaligned laser beam to a diffuse target and on propagation of the speckle field back to the receiver. The main object of the development is to estimate the effects of deterministic and random pointing errors of the illuminating source on the statistics of the received intensity. In addition, methods for numerical evaluation of the autocovariance function are discussed, and some numerical results are shown. It is found that the autocovariance can be substantially increased above its vacuum value by the atmospheric turbulence.


Over the last years, hypothalamic inflammation has been linked to the development and progression of obesity and its sequelae. There is accumulating evidence that this inflammation not only impairs energy balance but also contributes to obesity-associated insulin resistance. Elevated activation of key inflammatory mediators such as JNK and I&kgr;B kinase (IKK) occurs rapidly upon consumption of a high-fat diet, even prior to significant weight gain. This activation of hypothalamic inflammatory pathways results in the uncoupling of caloric intake and energy expenditure, fostering overeating and further weight gain. In addition, these inflammatory processes contribute to obesity-associated insulin resistance and deterioration of glucose metabolism via altered neurocircuit functions. An understanding of the contributions of different neuronal and non-neuronal cell types to hypothalamic inflammatory processes, and delineation of the differences and similarities between acute and chronic activation of these inflammatory pathways, will be critical for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome.


This stimulating Very Short Introduction throws open the doors on a remarkably diverse musical genre, with a world-wide reach that goes far beyond America's shores to discuss folk music of every possible kind and in every corner of the globe. Written by award-winning ethnomusicologist Mark Slobin this is the first compact introduction to folk music that offers a truly global perspective. Slobin offers an extraordinarily generous portrait of folk music, one that embraces a Russian wedding near the Arctic Circle, a group song in a small rainforest village in Brazil, and an Uzbek dance tune in Afghanistan. He looks in detail at three poignant songs from three widely separated regions-northern Afghanistan, Jewish Eastern Europe, and the Anglo-American world-with musical notation and lyrics included. He goes on to sketch out the turbulent times of folk music today and tomorrow, confronting new possibilities, frameworks, and challenges. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.


Anxiety is the most prevalent mental illness and treatments are effective but underutilized. Failure to design treatments that proactively reach individuals at varying levels of readiness may be one driver of under-utilization. The Transtheoretical Model of behavior change (TTM) offers a framework for designing treatments tailored to readiness to engage in exposure, the process of gradually approaching feared stimuli and the central behavioral component of evidence-based anxiety treatments. This study sought to develop the essential building blocks for applying the TTM to anxiety by developing a set of measures of core TTM constructs (Stage of Change, Decisional Balance, Self-efficacy, and Processes of Change) relevant for increasing approach behaviors in individuals with anxiety disorders.
Measurement development entailed qualitative methods for item development and refinement followed by a series of quantitative analyses. The Stage of Change measure was validated against external constructs such as treatment seeking behavior, anxiety severity, and quality of life. As expected, a chi-square test indicated that individuals in Action and Maintenance were significantly more likely to be in treatment than those in the pre-Action stages. ANOVA results indicated that individuals in Action or Maintenance reported significantly lower levels of anxiety (F(1, 592) = 5.06, p=.025, η2=.01) and significantly higher quality of life (F(1, 592) = 8.20, p=.01, η2=.01) than those in pre-Action stages.
Measures for Decisional Balance and Self-efficacy were developed using split-half, cross-validation procedures. In these, a series of Principle Component Analyses (PCAs) were conducted with half of the sample to narrow the item set and explore factor structure, and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) was conducted on the second half of the sample to confirm factor structure and item loadings. For Decisional Balance, PCA supported two, 5-item factors, and CFA indicated a two-factor correlated model was the best fit to the data, χ²(35)=80.82, p<.01, CFI=.94, RMSEA=.7 with Pros α=.87 and Cons α=.75. For Self-efficacy, PCA supported one, 6-item factor, and CFA further supported this structure, χ2(9)=30.39, p<.01, CFI=.98, RMSEA=.088, α=.90. Multivariate analyses indicated significant stage-construct relationships in expected directions with the exception of Cons, which showed no significant cross-Stage differences.
For Processes of Change, a series of iterative CFAs were conducted to narrow the item set, and then additional CFAs were conducted on the final set of items to determine which factor structure was the best fit to the data. A 10-factor, fully correlated model was the best fit to the data, χ²(360)=905.82, p<.01, CFI=.94, RMSEA=.51. Factor loadings were strong, ranging from 0.53 to 0.85, and internal consistency was acceptable to good (α ranged from to .69 to .88). Effect sizes for differences in POC across Stage were mostly in the medium range, indicating that POC represent important behavior change strategies for reducing…


The paper empirically analyzes the economic theory and intuition that the "free rider" problem will overwhelm firm-wide incentives in large firms. Kandel and Lazear (1992) claim that in a simple model of an equitable partnership, Nash equilibrium effort levels fall with the number of partners - the 1/N problem. The paper shows that this result is crucially dependent on a unstated assumption on the production function. In particular, if worker effort levels are complementary, effort levels can increase with the number of partners. This difference may explain the empirical finding that the 1/N problem is substantial in medical and legal practices (where effort levels are independent), but less important in manufacturing (where effort levels are complementary). The empirical results suggest that the use of firm-wide incentives increases with firms size, at least for smaller firms. The results do not support the claim that the use of other human resource practices, like self-managed work teams, allows the firm to mitigate the 1/N problem.


One-dimensional (1D) V3O7 nanobelts preferentially exposing the (010) plane are successfully prepared by using layered structured KV3O8 plate-like particles as the precursor in a soft chemical topotactic synthesis process. The structure and morphology of the samples obtained at different reaction times and temperatures are investigated by using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and a transmission electron microscope (TEM) to explore the formation mechanism of V3O7 nanobelts from KV3O8 plate-like particles. In this process, the KV3O8 plate-like particles are firstly split along the a-axis direction into H+-form vanadate (HVO) nanobelts by dissolution and ion exchange reactions with acid treatment. Then, the HVO nanobelts are transformed into V3O7 nanobelts by an in situ topotactic dehydration reaction. The photoelectric performance of the obtained V3O7 nanobelts is evaluated by decomposing water to H2 under simulated sunlight illumination and by measuring the accompanying photocurrent. The generated photocurrent density is 30 μA cm−2, indicating that the (010) plane of V3O7 is one of the most photocatalytically active surfaces. Thus, the V3O7 nanobelt material has a potential application to photocatalysis.


Fertilized rice paddy soils emit methane while flooded, emit nitrous oxide during flooding and draining transitions, and can be a source or sink of carbon dioxide. Changing water management of rice paddies can affect net emissions of all three of these greenhouse gases. We used denitrification–decomposition (DNDC), a process‐based biogeochemistry model, to evaluate the annual emissions of CH4, N2O, and CO2 for continuously flooded, single‐, double‐, and triple‐cropped rice (three baseline scenarios), and in further simulations, the change in emissions with changing water management to midseason draining of the paddies, and to alternating crops of midseason drained rice and upland crops (two alternatives for each baseline scenario). We used a set of first‐order atmospheric models to track the atmospheric burden of each gas over 500 years. We evaluated the dynamics of the radiative forcing due to the changes in emissions of CH4, N2O, and CO2 (alternative minus baseline), and compared these with standard calculations of CO2‐equivalent emissions using global warming potentials (GWPs). All alternative scenarios had lower CH4 emissions and higher N2O emissions than their corresponding baseline cases, and all but one sequestered carbon in the soil more slowly. Because of differences in emissions, in radiative forcing per molecule, and in atmospheric time constants (lifetimes), the relative radiative impacts of CH4, N2O, and CO2 varied over the 500‐year simulations. In three of the six cases, the initial change in radiative forcing was dominated by reduced CH4 emissions (i.e. a cooling for the first few decades); in five of the six cases, the long‐term radiative forcing was dominated by increased N2O emissions (i.e. a warming over several centuries). The overall complexity of the radiative forcing response to changing water management could not easily be captured with conventional GWP calculations.


We examined infants� attention to sound sequences as a function of the regularity of timing and the relative familiarity of the sequences (first five trials and last five trials). Infants� attention to the regular and irregular sequences was assessed by a means of a preferential looking (listening) procedure. Infants 6�8 months of age listened longer to the regular sound sequences, but only during the last five trials. Infants 9�11 months of age did not show evidence of differential listening on the basis of sequence regularity, but their attention waned from earlier to later trials.