One of the efforts to improve and enhance the performance and achievement in mathematics of learners is the incorporation of life-related contexts in mathematics teaching and assessments. These contexts are normally, with good reasons, decided upon by curriculum makers, textbook authors, teachers and constructors of examinations and tests. However, little or no consideration is given to whether students prefer and find these real-life situations interesting. There is also a dearth of studies dealing explicitly with the real-life situations learners prefer to deal with in mathematics. This issue was investigated and data on students' choices for contextual issues to be used in mathematics were collected at two time periods. The results indicate that learners' preferences for contextual situations to be used in mathematics remained fairly stable. It is concluded that real-life issues that learners highly prefer are not normally included in the school mathematics curriculum and that there is a need for a multidisciplinary approach to develop mathematical activities which take into account the expressed preferences of learners.


While social media make it easy to connect with and access information from anyone, they also facilitate basic influence and unfriending mechanisms that may lead to segregated and polarized clusters known as "echo chambers." Here we study the conditions in which such echo chambers emerge by introducing a simple model of information sharing in online social networks with the two ingredients of influence and unfriending. Users can change both opinions and social connections based on the information to which they are exposed through sharing. Model dynamics demonstrate that even with minimal amounts of influence and unfriending, the social network rapidly devolves into segregated, homogeneous communities. These predictions are consistent with empirical data from Twitter. Although our findings suggest that echo chambers are somewhat inevitable given the mechanisms at play in online social media, they also provide insights into possible mitigation strategies.


A major challenge of data-driven biomedical research lies in the collection and representation of data provenance information to ensure reproducibility of findings. In order to communicate and reproduce multi-step analysis workflows executed on datasets that contain data for dozens or hundreds of samples, it is crucial to be able to visualize the provenance graph at different levels of aggregation. Most existing approaches are based on node-link diagrams, which do not scale to the complexity of typical data provenance graphs. In our proposed approach we reduce the complexity of the graph using hierarchical and motif-based aggregation. Based on user action and graph attributes a modular degree-of-interest (DoI) function is applied to expand parts of the graph that are relevant to the user. This interest-driven adaptive provenance visualization approach allows users to review and communicate complex multi-step analyses, which can be based on hundreds of files that are processed by numerous workflows. We integrate our approach into an analysis platform that captures extensive data provenance information and demonstrate its effectiveness by means of a biomedical usage scenario.


GW170817 is the very first observation of gravitational waves originating from the coalescence of two compact objects in the mass range of neutron stars, accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts, and offers an opportunity to directly probe the internal structure of neutron stars. We perform Bayesian model selection on a wide range of theoretical predictions for the neutron star equation of state. For the binary neutron star hypothesis, we find that we cannot rule out the majority of theoretical models considered. In addition, the gravitational-wave data alone does not rule out the possibility that one or both objects were low-mass black holes. We discuss the possible outcomes in the case of a binary neutron star merger, finding that all scenarios from prompt collapse to long-lived or even stable remnants are possible. For long-lived remnants, we place an upper limit of 1.9 kHz on the rotation rate. If a black hole was formed any time after merger and the coalescing stars were slowly rotating, then the maximum baryonic mass of non-rotating neutron stars is at most 3.05 $M_\odot$, and three equations of state considered here can be ruled out. We obtain a tighter limit of 2.67 $M_\odot$ for the case that the merger results in a hypermassive neutron star.


The system dynamics field requires a definition what a modeller needs to know and to be capable of doing to become a system dynamicist. This paper builds on previous work in the field to elaborate which knowledge is to be expected at successive stages of learning system dynamics modelling. It adopts the Dreyfus & Dreyfus model of stage-wise competency development from beginner to competent. It also uses Bloom's taxonomy a widely accepted educational framework to articulate an organized set of learning objectives. A Delphi process with reknowned system dynamics experts enabled us to develop a system dynamics competence framework with clear statements about the learning objectives for beginners, advanced beginners, competent, proficient/practitioner, and expert. The resulting ordered and classified set of learning objectives is a necessary, though not sufficient, step towards a shared standard for system dynamics instruction and training. Building on our result, standard learning activities and materials as well as certification devices can be designed and developed.


It is anticipated that more than 75 Mb/s per subscriber is required for the convergence service such as triple-play service (TPS). Among several types of high-speed access network technologies, wavelength-division-multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) is the most favorable for the required bandwidth in the near future. Furthermore, WDM technologies, such as athermal arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) and low-cost light source, have matured enough to be applied in the access network. In this paper, the authors propose and implement a WDM-PON system as a platform for TPS. The system employs an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE)-injected Fabry-Pe/spl acute/rot laser diode scheme. It has 32 channels of 125 Mb/s and adopts Ethernet as Layer 2. Multicast and virtual local area network features are used for the integration of services such as Internet protocol high-definition broadcast, voice-over Internet protocol, video on demand, and video telephone. The services were demonstrated using the WDM-PON system.


Poster presented at International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, Cork, Ireland, August 15-20 2010. Summary: IMR, Bergen, has analysed data from official databases of landed catches from the period in which seismic data collection was carried out by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in the Lofoten/Vesteralen area summer 2008. Except for in the gillnet fisheries for saithe (Pollachius virens) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus), no significant negative effects could be documented. The catch rates of cod (Gadus morhua), ling (Molva molva), tusk (Brosme brosme) and Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) were not significantly changed during seismic activity, while those of red-fish (Sebastes marinus) and monkfish (Lophius piscatorius) seemed to increase. The catch rates of saithe and haddock caught by gillnets decreased, while similar negative effects could not be documented in the fisheries using other fishing gears (long line, hook-and-line or Danish seine). In the total investigation area there was a 45 % decrease in total amount of saithe delivered summer 2008 relative to in 2006 and 2007, but not less than in the period 2003 to 2005. However, the databases used are not constructed for this type of analyses, and has a structure that makes it difficult to trace minor changes in catch rates due to external effects. Also, the majority of the seismic data collection summer 2008 was 2D shooting scattered in time and space, which cannot be expected to have major influences on the fisheries.


Skilled advertisers often cause a diverse set of consumers to feel similarly about their product. We present a method for measuring neural data to assess the degree of similarity between multiple brains experiencing the same advertisements, and we demonstrate that this similarity can predict important marketing outcomes. Since neural data can be sampled continuously throughout an experience and without effort and conscious reporting biases, our method offers a useful complement to measures requiring active evaluations, such as subjective ratings and willingness-to-pay (WTP) scores. As a case study, we use portable electroencephalography (EEG) systems to record the brain activity of 58 moviegoers in a commercial theater and then calculate the relative levels of neural similarity, cross-brain correlation (CBC), throughout 13 movie trailers. Our initial evidence suggests that CBC predicts future free recall of the movie trailers and population-level sales of the corresponding movies. Additionally, since there are potentially other (i.e., non-neural) sources of physiological similarity (e.g., basic arousal), we illustrate how to use other passive measures, such as cardiac, respiratory, and electrodermal activity levels, to reject alternative hypotheses. Moreover, we show how CBC can be used in conjunction with empirical content analysis (e.g., levels of visual and semantic complexity).


1. Selection for crypsis has been recognised as an important ecological driver of animal coloration, whereas the relative importance of thermoregulation is more contentious with mixed empirical support. A potential thermal advantage of darker individuals has been observed in a wide range of animal species. Arctic animals that exhibit colour polymorphisms and undergo seasonal colour moults are interesting study subjects for testing the two alternative hypotheses: demographic performance of different colour morphs might be differentially affected by snow cover with a cryptic advantage for lighter morphs, or conversely by winter temperature with a thermal advantage for darker morphs. 2. In this study, we explored whether camouflage and thermoregulation might explain differences in reproduction and survival between the white and blue colour morphs of the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) under natural conditions. 3. Juvenile and adult survival, breeding propensity, and litter size were measured for 798 captive-bred and released or wild-born Arctic foxes monitored during an 11-year period (2007-2017) in two subpopulations in south-central Norway. We investigated the proportion of the two colour morphs and compared their demographic performance in relation to spatial variation in duration of snow cover, onset of snow season, and winter temperatures. 4. After population re-establishment, a higher proportion of blue individuals was observed among wild-born Arctic foxes compared to the proportion of blue foxes released from the captive population. Our field study provides the first evidence for an effect of colour morph on the reproductive performance of Arctic foxes under natural conditions, with a higher breeding propensity of the blue morph compared to the white one. Performance of the two colour morphs was not differentially affected by the climatic variables, except for juvenile survival. Blue morph juveniles showed a tendency for higher survival under colder winter temperatures but lower survival under warmer temperatures compared to white morph juveniles. 5. Overall, our findings do not consistently support predictions of the camouflage or the thermoregulation hypotheses. The higher success of blue foxes suggests an advantage of the dark morph not directly related to disruptive selection by crypsis or thermoregulation. Our results rather point to physiological adaptations and behavioural traits not necessarily connected to thermoregulation, such as stress response, immune function, sexual behaviour, and aggressiveness. Our findings highlight the need to explore the potential role of genetic linkage or pleiotropy in influencing the fitness of white and blue Arctic foxes as well as other species with colour polymorphisms.


In this paper, new nonlinear dynamic properties of electrostatically actuated microstructures (referred to as electro- static microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)) observed under superharmonic excitations are presented using numerical simula- tions. Application of a large dc bias (close to the pull-in voltage of the device) is found to bring the device to a nonlinear state. This nonlinear state (referred to as "dc-symmetry breaking") can be clearly observed from the characteristic change in the phase-plot of the device. Once a steady nonlinear state is reached, applica- tion of an ac signal at the th superharmonic frequency with an amplitude around "ac-symmetry breaking" gives rise to oscil- lations per period or -cycles in the MEM device. "ac-symmetry breaking" can also be observed by a characteristic change in the phase-plot of the device. On further increasing the ac voltage, a period doubling sequence takes place resulting in the formation of -cycles in the system at the th superharmonic frequency. An interesting chaotic transition (banded chaos) is observed during the period doubling bifurcations. The nonlinear nature of the elec- trostatic force acting on the MEM device is found to be responsible for the reported observations. The significance of the mechanical and the fluidic nonlinearities is also studied. (1630)


To achieve better scalability, a fully replicated, distributed, main-memory database is divided into subparts, called segments. Segments may have individual degrees of redundancy and other properties that can be used for replication control. Segmentation is examined for the opportunity of decreasing replication effort, lower memory requirements and decrease node recovery times. Typical usage scenarios are distributed databases with many nodes where only a small number of the nodes share information. We present a framework for virtual full replication that implements segments with scheduled replication of updates between sharing nodes. Selective replication control needs information about the application semantics that is specified using segment properties, which includes consistency classes and other properties. We define a syntax for specifying the application semantics and segment properties for the segmented database. In particular, properties of segments that are subject to hard real-time constraints must be specified. We also analyze the potential improvements for such an architecture.


"Why do banks squeeze their lending activity" is an oft-repeated question during the times of financial crisis. This study examines an emerging economy's banking system, and contributes to the evolving body of literature on the topic by providing answers to what causes the sluggish bank credit during times of recession. By employing cointegration technique, the study shows that bank credit has a significant positive relationship with the borrowing activities of debt users of the banks, hence, as the contrary an inverse relationship with investment activity is evident during financial crisis. Accordingly, we suggest that banks could increase their lending by increasing the borrowings rapidly either from the Central Banks or from Government supported long term lending institutions during recessionary periods.


Background and Objectives: Periodontal disease is a chronic disorder with a high prevalence. There are few studies about the role of diet in prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of consumption of Chicory leaf extract in adjunct with non-surgical periodontal therapies on serum antioxidant and lipid status. Materials and Methods: This study was a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial conducted on 40 patients in Sina Hospital of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Iran) in 2014. The intervention (n=20) and control groups (n=20) were allocated using blocked randomization. The intervention group received 2 capsules (2 g) of Chicory leaf extract daily for 8 weeks. All subjects underwent non-surgical periodontal therapy during the intervention period. Anthropometric indices, 24-hour diet records, total antioxidant capacity, malate di-aldehyde (MDA), uric acid, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and HDL-c was measured before and after intervention. Results: The mean level of total antioxidant capacity (1.89 ± 0.49; 1.20 ± 0.25, respectively; P<0.001) and uric acid (7.15±1.98; 4.48±1.34, respectively; P<0.001) increased in the intervention group compared with the control group post intervention. The mean level of MDA decreased in the intervention group compared with the control group post-intervention (3.01±1.15; 3.97±1.19, respectively; P.d<0.001). Cholesterol difference was not significant preand post-intervention between the two groups (P=0.35). The mean level of serum triglyceride (TG) was significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group post intervention (149.50±97.88; 109.35±58.00, respectively; P.d<0.001). The mean level of HDL-c was also significantly lower in the intervention group compared with the control group post treatment (42.25±8.47; 39.80±8.94, respectively; P.d<0.001). Conclusions: It seems that consumption of Chicory leaf in adjunct with non-surgical periodontal treatment has beneficial effect against periodontal disease.


Traditionally economists have based their economic predictions on the assumption that humans are super-rational creatures, using the information we are given efficiently and generally making selfish decisions that work well for us as individuals. Economists also assume that we're doing the very best we can possibly do - not only for today, but over our whole lifetimes too. But increasingly the study of behavioural economics is revealing that our lives are not that simple. Instead, our decisions are complicated by our own psychology. Each of us makes mistakes every day. We don't always know what's best for us and, even if we do, we might not have the self-control to deliver on our best intentions. We struggle to stay on diets, to get enough exercise and to manage our money. We misjudge risky situations. We are prone to herding: sometimes peer pressure leads us blindly to copy others around us; other times copying others helps us to learn quickly about new, unfamiliar situations. This Very Short Introduction explores the reasons why we make irrational decisions; how we decide quickly; why we make mistakes in risky situations; our tendency to procrastination; and how we are affected by social influences, personality, mood and emotions. The implications of understanding the rationale for our own financial behaviour are huge. Behavioural economics could help policy-makers to understand the people behind their policies, enabling them to design more effective policies, while at the same time we could find ourselves assaulted by increasingly savvy marketing. Michelle Baddeley concludes by looking forward, to see what the future of behavioural economics holds for us. 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.


ABSTRACT p202 is a primarily nuclear, interferon-inducible murine protein that is encoded by the Ifi 202 gene. Overexpression of p202 in transfected cells retards cell proliferation. p202 modulates the pattern of gene expression by inhibiting the activity of various transcription factors including NF-κB, c-Fos, c-Jun, E2F-1, and p53. Here we report that p202 was constitutively expressed in mouse skeletal muscle and that the levels of 202 RNA and p202 greatly increased during the differentiation of cultured C2C12 myoblasts to myotubes. When overexpressed in transfected myoblasts, p202 inhibited the expression of one muscle protein (MyoD) without affecting the expression of a second one (myogenin). Thus, the decrease in the level of MyoD (but not of myogenin) during muscle differentiation may be the consequence of the increase in p202 level. Overexpressed p202 also inhibited the transcriptional activity of both MyoD and myogenin. This inhibition was correlated with an interaction of p202 with both proteins, as well as the inhibition by p202 of the sequence-specific binding of both proteins to DNA. This inhibition of the expression of MyoD and of the transcriptional activity of MyoD and myogenin may account for the inhibition of the induction of myoblast differentiation by premature overexpression of p202.


For "Hip Hotels: USA", Herbert Ypma has taken to the road, travelling the length and breadth of that vast land in search of Highly Individual Places to stay. Every HIP hotel has its own unique character. It is timelessly stylish, it is attuned to its location in design, ethos and cuisine, and it achieves that subtle balance between attentiveness and discretion that marks the best of modern service. The natural magnificence of the US is stupendous. Many of these hotels invite you to immerse yourself in wilderness. Restore your perspective in a spectacular private treehouse 50 feet up a giant cedar in the heart of Mount Rainier National Park, or come back to earth in your own lakeside cabin in Wisconsin designed by a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright. Experience Old World gentility in the Renaissance palazzo of Wheatleigh, amid the steeples and clapboard farmhouses of New England, where an immaculate makeover has restored the grace and understated privilege of the world of Edith Wharton (but added all the discreet modern luxuries you might mention). Or live out your Rat Pack fantasies as you lounge poolside with a cocktail surrounded by mid-century modern classics - furniture by Bertoia, Eames, Saarinen - in an authentic 1950s motel in Palm Springs.


This paper describes a tool to improve the electronics laboratory process. The tools really constitute a virtual electronic laboratory because it is made up of a set of virtual experiments with a user-friendly graphic interface and interactive simulated electronic instruments relating practical concepts with theoretical ones. The combination of the demonstration and the virtual electronic laboratory constitute a bridge between theoretical lessons and laboratory classes. The professor can use the experiments of the virtual laboratory in the classroom to improve student retention. Using this tool, undergraduate students improve their performance and increase their efficiency in the laboratory. A pilot experience has been implemented for Basic Electronics. This work demonstrates that instrumentation experience is greatly enhanced by integration Virtual Instrumentation into the Laboratory. The incorporation of computer data acquisitions into the undergraduate laboratory provides students with a valuable tool for data collection and analysis. Keywords— Virtual Instrumentation, Laboratory Experiments, Learning Tool, Computer Technology.


ABSTRACT A first step in many decision-making processes is a search for information. This paper focuses on the means consumers use to access information prior to contracting services. It uses two different theoretical perspectives, namely, the economic approach and the psychological approach), and the specific aim is to compare consumers' choice of source when seeking information prior to contracting services with different levels of search, experience or credence attributes. The modelling technique is mixed regression models, which allow the use of standard errors robust to within-group correlation. Our review of the data from a sample of 492 consumers and nine different services (three for each attribute category) shows that consumers use fewer information sources and show less search intensity when the purchase involves a service with search attributes than when it involves either of the other types. The highest levels of information search intensity and online media usage are found in relation to services with experience attributes. Fewer sources are consulted for purchases involving services with credence qualities than for those involving the other types, but the information obtained has a greater impact on decision making. The information sources most commonly-used are personal contacts and offline media.


Abstract : This thesis explores the viability of using Internet Protocol (IP) address hopping in front of a network as a defensive measure. This research presents a custom gateway-based IP hopping solution called Address Routing Gateway (ARG) that acts as a transparent IP address hopping gateway. This thesis tests the overall stability of ARG, the accuracy of its classifications, the maximum throughput it can support, and the maximum rate at which it can change IPs and still communicate reliably. This research is accomplished on a physical test network with nodes representing the types of hosts found on a typical, corporate-style network. Direct measurement is used to obtain all results for each factor level. Tests demonstrate ARG classifies traffic correctly, with no false negatives and less than a 0.15% false positive rate on average. The test environment conservatively shows this to be true as long as the IP address change interval exceeds two times the network's round-trip latency; real-world deployments may allow for more frequent hopping. Results show ARG capably handles traffic of at least four megabits per second with no impact on packet loss. Fuzz testing validates the stability of ARG itself, although additional packet loss of around 23% appears when under attack.


Global climate models (GCMs) from the sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases (CMIP6) have been employed to simulate the twenty-first-century temperatures for the risk assessment of future climate change. However, their transient climate response (TCR) ranges from 1.2 to 2.8 °C, whereas their equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) ranges from 1.8 to 5.7 °C, leading to large variations in the climatic impact of an anthropogenic increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. Moreover, there is growing evidence that many GCMs are running "too hot" and are hence unreliable for directing policies for future climate changes. Here, I rank 41 CMIP6 GCMs according to how successfully they hindcast the global surface warming between 1980 and 2021 using both their published equilibrium climate equilibrium (ECE) and transient climate response (TCR) estimates. The sub-ensemble of GCMs with the best performance appears to be composed of the models with ECS ranging between 1.8 and 3.0 °C (which confirms previous studies) and TCR ranging between 1.2 and 1.8 °C. This GCM sub-ensemble is made up of a total of 17 models. Depending on the emission scenarios, these GCMs predict a 2045–2055 warming of 1.5–2.5 °C compared to the pre-industrial era (1850–1900). As a result, the global aggregated impact and risk estimates seem to be moderate, which implies that any negative effects of future climate change may be adequately addressed by adaptation programs. However, there are also doubts regarding the actual magnitude of global warming, which might be exaggerated because of urban heat contamination and other local non-climatic biases. A final section is dedicated to highlighting the divergences observed between the global surface temperature records and a number of alternative temperature reconstructions from lower troposphere satellite measurements, three-ring-width chronologies, and surface temperature records based on rural stations alone. If the global warming reported by the climate records is overestimated, the real ECS and TCR may be significantly lower than what is produced by the CMIP6 GCMs, as some independent research have already suggested, which would invalidate all of the CMIP6 GCMs.


Over many years, securitization has proven to be an expedient and highly flexible refinancing tool for corporations and public-sector entities that seek a more accurate capital-market based valuation of asset performance. After successful securitization by public-sector entities in advanced countries, sovereigns in emerging economies are also becoming adept at securitization as an efficient means of asset-liability management. This article critically surveys the recent developments of sovereign securitization in emerging markets and informs a more specific debate about the attendant infrastructural, legal, and regulatory challenges. Amid higher risk premia in a changing interest rate cycle, the current trend of greater investor differentiation in emerging markets creates a benign environment for sovereign securitization to accommodate continued demand for highly rated debt by institutional investors.


Abstract. Landslides are the most recurrent natural hazards in the Metropolitan District of Quito (DMQ), affecting sometimes lives but extremely frequently and severely the traffic and associated infrastructure. The present research proposes the calculation of the landslide susceptibility cartographic model in the city of Quito and its main highway, the Simón Bolívar avenue, using the Fuzzy logic and multicriteria evaluation techniques in geographic information systems (GIS). Based on the Today and the past son key to the future principle, landslides have been located using aerial photographs and field work. Based on the characteristics of historical landslides, photointerpreted and previous studies, the causal factors have been variable such as topography, structural geology, lithology, precipitation, water network, vegetation cover, among others. Each factor has been processed, analyzed and standardized according to its relationship to the occurrence of landslides, by means of a sinusoidal linked function that assigns to each element a degree of correlation [0, 1] to the diffuse set. The landslide vulnerability map has been obtained from the combination of causal factors by map algebra, such as weighting techniques that include the hierarchical analysis process (HAP) and the weighted linear line (WLL), whose validation considered the locations of inventoried landslides. According to the susceptibility map, 5 % of the direct study area has critical, 19 % high, 58 % average and 18 % low sensitivity. The quality of the results has been validated according to their standard error and adjustment value, being 0.216 and 78.4 %, respectively.


How did East Asia, generally viewed in the mid-1990s as an economic miracle, become seen only a few years later as the bastion of failed 'crony capitalism'? I argue that the Asian crisis of 1997-8 is insufficient to explain this reversal of opinion, as is the dominance of the US in the IMF and other key international forums. Rather, the de-legitimation of the 'Asian model' was due to a combination of the crisis with the contemporary ascendance of a set of broader, conventional economic ideas about optimal economic governance. Moreover, this shift in thinking was replicated within many of the East Asian countries themselves. The crisis empowered those who were able to use these ideas to push for convergence upon western governance models (particularly Anglo-Saxon ones), both within East Asia and without. Nevertheless, ideas alone have not so far been sufficient to achieve full convergence, creating a large gap between the new rhetoric of governance in Asia and regulatory and private sector practice.


The problem of the acoustic radiation from a turbulent fluid containing foreign bodies of arbitrary shape and arbitrary composition is solved formally by the method of Green functions. Particular attention is given to the radiation from the surface of these bodies. A practical advantage of the method is that provided an appropriate Green function can be found, either exactly or approximately, then knowledge of the values on the surface of the fluctuations in only one scalar variable is needed to permit estimation of the radiation from the surface. This variable may be either the pressure, the normal pressure gradient, the density, or the normal density gradient. The pressure fluctuations at the surface, in particular, are relatively easy to measure. It is shown that if fluctuations in the fluid are locally isentropic the volume source distribution of the pressure fluctuations is quadrupole. A proof is given of the proposition that when arbitrary obstacles are immersed in a fluid all dipole radiation must come from surface source distributions on these obstacles. For rigid bodies these distributions represent physically the reaction by the obstacles to the stresses imposed upon them by the fluid. It is pro ved that if the density fluctuations or the normal density gradient fluctuations on these surfaces vanish then there is no dipole radiation. The same result is true for pressure and pressure gradient fluctuations within the limits of validity of the assumption of local isentropy. A brief description is given, together with references to more detailed accounts, of some of the principal features of the behaviour of Green functions which may be useful in practical estimates of aerodynamic surface sound. As a representative example of acoustic radiation from a turbulent boundary layer, the total acoustic power radiated by a turbulent boundary layer on an infinite rigid plane is estimated, using the limited available experimental data on wall pressure fluctuations. For low and moderate subsonic speeds the power radiated per unit wall area covered by the turbulent boundary layer is Kρ0a30M60, where M0 is the free stream Mach number, ρ0 is the density and a0 the speed of sound in the undisturbed fluid, and the dimensionless parameter K is approximately a constant of order of magnitude 10-5.


The EU's 2018 Bioeconomy Strategy Update and the European Green Deal recently confirmed that the bioeconomy is high on the political agenda in Europe. Here, we propose a conceptual analysis framework for quantifying and analyzing the development of the EU bioeconomy. The bioeconomy has several related concepts (e.g., bio-based economy, green economy, and circular economy) and there are clear synergies between these concepts, especially between the bioeconomy and circular economy concepts. Analyzing the driving factors provides important information for monitoring activities. We first derive the scope of the bioeconomy framework in terms of bioeconomy sectors and products to be involved, the needed geographical coverage and resolution, and time period. Furthermore, we outline a set of indicators linked to the objectives of the EU's bioeconomy strategy. In our framework, measuring developments will, in particular, focus on the bio-based sectors within the bioeconomy as biomass and food production is already monitored. The selected indicators commit to the EU Bioeconomy Strategy objectives and conform with findings from previous studies and stakeholder consultation. Additionally, several new indicators have been suggested and they are related to measuring the impact of changes in supply, demand drivers, resource availability, and policies on sustainability goals.


Despite their wide implementation in the United States, there has been very little substantive research done on prison dog programs (PDPs). Many of the existent studies suffer from inherent flaws in scope and methodology, but do consistently demonstrate that the programs aid participating inmates in developing and improving communications and social skills resulting from interactions with the dogs in their care. The available studies also indicate that participants show improvement in personal qualities such as empathy, self-esteem and a sense of responsibility. These benefits are apparently related to a lower rate of recidivism for prison inmates who are directly involved in PDPs. The effectiveness of prison based programs in training and socializing dogs is not well documented, although service animal organizations report much higher than normal acceptance rates from prison programs. Recommendations are provided for further research that might serve to identify best practices and training approaches for both inmates and dogs.


Offering participants in mobile app studies personalized feedback on the data they report seems an obvious thing to do: Participants might expect an app to provide feedback given their experiences with commercial apps, feedback might motivate more people to participate in the study, and participants might be more motivated to provide accurate data so that the feedback is more useful to them. However, personalized feedback might lead participants to change the behavior that is being measured with the app, is costly to implement, and also constrains other design decisions for the data collection. In this article, we report on an experimental study that tested the effects of providing personalized feedback in a 1-month mobile app–based spending study. Based on the app paradata and responses to a debrief survey, it seems that participants reacted positively to the feedback. The feedback did not have the potential negative effect of altering the spending participants reported in the app. However, the feedback also did not have the intended effect of increasing initial participation or ongoing adherence to the study protocol.


Stanovich & West (S&W) are wrong to think that all "reject-the-norm" theorists simply wish to reduce the normative/descriptive gap. They have misunderstood Issac Levi's reasons for rejecting Tversky and Kahneman's normative assumptions in the "base-rate" experiments. In their discussion of the taxicab experiment, (S&W) erroneously claim that subjects' responses indicate whether they have reasoned in accordance with Bayesian principles or not.


Abstract Release rates of a blend of monoterpenes (spruce blend) and ethanol significantly affected mean trap catch of Tetropium fuscum (F.), Tetropium castaneum L., and Tetropium cinnamopterum Kirby. Addition of an ethanol lure to traps baited with the spruce blend lure was necessary to attract T. castaneum and T. cinnamopterum and significantly increased attraction of T. fuscum. The combination of spruce blend and ethanol at high release rates had the highest mean catch of Tetropium spp. and was the only lure treatment that resulted in capture of T. fuscum and T. castaneum (in Poland) in every test block, suggesting it would be the best for detection surveys among the lures tested. The effect of trap design on mean catch of T. fuscum was inconsistent. In one experiment, the larger collapsible cross-vane Colossus trap caught about twice as many beetles as the IPM-Intercept trap, but in two other experiments, mean catch did not differ significantly. Type of killing agent in the collecting bucket significantly affected mean catch of T. fuscum. Traps with liquid killing agent (50/50 mixture of propylene glycol and deionized water plus 0.5 ml/liter of Kodak Photo-Flo 200 and 12.5 mg/liter of Bitrex) in the collecting bucket caught more beetles than traps with an insecticidal (dichlorvos) strip. Although any of cross-vane traps tested seem suitable for trapping several cerambycid species, the Colossus trap with liquid killing agent is recommended for use as a detection tool for T. fuscum because it caught similar or greater numbers than the other trap types.


The effects of intravenous doses (200 mug) of LSD on the activity of single neurones in the primary visual cortex have been studied in cats anaesthetized with urethane. Cells were stimulated with a bright bar of light moved over the receptive field, and orientation tuning was assessed quantitatively before and after administration of the drug. Changes in neuronal activity were compared with those observed in a control sample of cells recorded when the cats were given no drug. LSD increased the responsiveness of some cells to visual stimuli and decreased that of others, but some cells were not affected. The changes in responsiveness were dose dependent; the larger doses of the drug (expressed in mug/kg body weight) tended to depress the responses and the smaller doses to enhance them. The effects appeared earlier in complex cells than in simple cells. Changes in spontaneous activity, direction selectivity and orientational properties were found in some cells.


In this study, we studied serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, thyroid hormones (total thyroxine, free thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone), parathyroid hormone, and osteocalcine levels in children with epilepsy who had been receiving long-term valproate (VPA) therapy in order to determine whether there was any effect of VPA therapy on these hormones. The study included 31 patients with epilepsy receiving VPA and 22 healthy age-matched controls. The age ranged from 15 months to 16 years and 18 months to 17 years in the study and control group, respectively. The duration of VPA use was between 12 months and 5 years (1.93 - 1.90 years). When comparing the results, we did not find any significant difference in any of the parameters, including serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcine, and thyroid and parathyroid hormone levels, between the study and control group. We suggest that VPA can safely be used with regard to thyroid and parathyroid dysfunction in childhood epilepsy.


Band clamps with a flat bottomed V-section are used to connect a pair of circular flanges to provide a joint with significant axial strength. Despite the wide application of V- band clamps, their behaviour is not fully understood and the ultimate axial strength is currently only available from physical testing. This physical testing has indicated that the ultimate strength is determined by two different types of structural deformation, an elastic deformation mode and a plastic deformation mode. Initial finite element analysis work has demonstrated that analysis of this class of problem is not straightforward. This paper discusses the difficulties encountered when simulating this type of component interaction where contact is highly localised and contact pressures are high.


Network management by using a cognitive approach is an attractive solution for drone-based Internet of Things (IoT) environment to provide many modern facilities to IoT users. In this paper, we try to minimize the networking related issues for drone-based IoT by providing a self-organized cluster-based networking solution. We propose a Hybrid Self-organized Clustering Scheme (HSCS) for drone-based cognitive IoT which utilizes a hybrid mechanism of glowworm swarm optimization (GSO) and dragonfly algorithm (DA). The proposed scheme contains cluster formation and cluster head selection mechanism based on GSO. Furthermore, we propose an effective cluster member tracking methodology using the behavioral study of DA which ensures efficient cluster management. The cluster maintenance is performed by a mechanism to identify dead cluster member which improves the stability of the network. Further routing mechanism is proposed for HSCS in which next hop neighbor for data transmission is selected by using the route selection function which ensures efficient communication. The performance of HSCS is evaluated in terms of cluster building time, energy consumption, cluster lifetime, and the probability of delivery success with existed hybrid bio-inspired clustering algorithm.


Depletion of oil reserves and the associated effects on climate change have prompted a re-examination of the use of plant biomass as a sustainable source of organic carbon for the large-scale production of chemicals and materials. While initial emphasis has been placed on biofuel production from edible plant sugars, the drive to reduce the competition between crop usage for food and non-food applications has prompted massive research efforts to access the less digestible saccharides in cell walls (lignocellulosics). This in turn has prompted an examination of the use of other plant-derived metabolites for the production of chemicals spanning the high-value speciality sectors through to platform intermediates required for bulk production. The associated science of biorefining, whereby all plant biomass can be used efficiently to derive such chemicals, is now rapidly developing around the world. However, it is clear that the heterogeneity and distribution of organic carbon between valuable products and waste streams are suboptimal. As an alternative, we now propose the use of synthetic biology approaches to 're-construct' plant feedstocks for optimal processing of biomass for non-food applications. Promising themes identified include re-engineering polysaccharides, deriving artificial organelles, and the reprogramming of plant signalling and secondary metabolism.


Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV), the sole species in the EEE antigenic complex, is divided into North and South American antigenic varieties based on hemagglutination inhibition tests. Here we describe serologic and phylogenetic analyses of representatives of these varieties, spanning the entire temporal and geographic range available. Nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analyses revealed additional genetic diversity within the South American variety; 3 major South/Central American lineages were identified including one represented by a single isolate from eastern Brazil, and 2 lineages with more widespread distributions in Central and South America. All North American isolates comprised a single, highly conserved lineage with strains grouped by the time of isolation and to some extent by location. An EEEV strain isolated during a 1996 equine outbreak in Tamaulipas State, Mexico was closely related to recent Texas isolates, suggesting southward EEEV transportation beyond the presumed enzootic range. Plaque reduction neutralization tests with representatives from the 4 major lineages indicated that each represents a distinct antigenic subtype. A taxonomic revision of the EEE complex is proposed.


Developmental Outcomes in a Nationally Representative Sample of Sexually Abused Boys: The Moderating Influence of Family and Peer Context Jennifer Elkins This dissertation uses the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) to examine multi-systemic risk and resilience processes that lead to positive and negative outcomes in nationally representative sexually abused boys. This study focused on a sub-sample of 171 boys with reports of sexual abuse at the baseline. When weighting is applied this reflects a population of approximately 65,000 sexually abused boys involved in the child welfare system. The first aim of this study focuses on the impact of sexual abuse characteristics on behavioral problems, posttraumatic stress and academic achievement 11⁄2, 3 and 5 years following the initial report of sexual abuse. The second aim of this study was to examine the moderating role of family context, as measured by cumulative family risk, across each of these outcomes. Finally, the third aim was to examine the moderating role of peer context, as measured by social skills and peer rejection, across each of these outcomes. Key findings indicated that cumulative family risk confers greater risk for internalizing problems, externalizing problems, posttraumatic stress and academic achievement; though not always in the expected directions. Social skills buffered the effect of a range of abuse characteristics on internalizing problems, externalizing problems and academic achievement but not posttraumatic stress. Peer rejection had a more prominent role in influencing internalizing outcomes and academic achievement; however this did not extend to externalizing problems, posttraumatic stress. Family and peer context moderators seemed to play a more central role at the most proximal and distal time points from the baseline report of maltreatment. This study finds a complex picture in the range and extent of the consequences associated with sexual abuse for young males. The results demonstrate the power in nurturing collaborative, multidisciplinary ―healing communities‖ that can effectively target all levels of prevention and intervention; specifically, by incorporating the individual, family, peer/school and larger sociocultural context. Future research should pay close attention to within group variation across socio-demographic and abuse characteristics and continue to disentangle the underlying mechanisms that contribute to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes for sexually abused boys given the multiple potential explanations for some of the unexpected findings in the present study.


In Families in War and Peace Sarah C. Chambers places gender analysis and family politics at the center of Chile's struggle for independence and its subsequent state building. Linking the experiences of both prominent and more humble families to Chile's political and legal history, Chambers argues that matters such as marriage, custody, bloodlines, and inheritance were crucial to Chile's transition from colony to nation. She shows how men and women extended their familial roles to mobilize kin networks for political ends, both during and after the Chilean revolution. From the conflict's end in 1823 until the 1850s, the state adopted the rhetoric of paternal responsibility along with patriarchal authority, which became central to the state building process. Chilean authorities, Chambers argues, garnered legitimacy by enacting or enforcing paternalist laws on property restitution, military pensions, and family maintenance allowances, all of which provided for diverse groups of Chileans. By acting as the fathers of the nation, they aimed to reconcile the "greater Chilean family" and form a stable government and society.


The Lisbon Agenda from 2000 aims to make the European Union the most competitive economy in the world in 2010. This paper discusses the concept of international competitiveness of nations. While journalists and politicians believe that it is important for a country to be competitive, economist have often a different opinion. The World Economic Forum (WEF) presents two indices: the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) and the Business Competitiveness Index (BCI). While Europe and the EU on average seem to be not very competitive, several of the European countries are internationally highly ranked. For the WEF a consequence of competitiveness is high standard of living. The paper shows that several of the European countries belong to the ones with the highest living standard in the world. In the sample, 40 European and 4 non-european countries are included. Finally, it could be shown that the correlation coefficients between the rankings of GCI, BCI and living standards are high and positive.


SUMMARY Local earthquakes in the vicinity of the Alaskan Peninsula's Shumagin Islands often produce arrivals between the main P and S arrivals not predicted by standard traveltime tables. Based on traveltime and polarization, these anomalous arrivals appear to be from P-to-S conversions at the surface of the subducted Pacific Plate beneath the recording stations. The P-to-S conversion occurs at the top of a low-velocity layer which extends to at least 150 km depth and is 8 f 2 per cent slower than the overlying mantle. The slab is -7 per cent faster than the mantle. The low-velocity layer contains the foci of the earthquakes in the upper plane of the double seismic zone and confines PS ray paths to lie within it. These observations indicate that layered structures persist to positions well past the surface location of the volcanic front. Reactions forming high-pressure minerals do not yield slab-like velocities until beyond the point that subduction zone magma genesis occurs. If the subducted oceanic crust forms the layer, it is subducted essentially intact.


On 26 April 2005, The Civil Union Bill officially granted registered same-sex couples in New Zealand recognition and relationship rights that are equal to that of traditional marriage. In a relatively short time, the country was successful in its pursuit for same-sex equality while the United States has continued to remain at an impasse. While there are cultural differences between the two countries, this research explores how newspapers in New Zealand and the United States represented same-sex rights during the last two years — a critical period of crisis for the gay and lesbian community in both countries. In doing so, this research argues that media, and news in particular, are an authoritative version of reality that specializes in orchestrating everyday consciousness, particularly at times of crisis. At these critical moments the public depend upon media to provide information about issues in which they may not have direct experience. This research examined content variables within four news frames: conflict, human interest, morality and responsibility. The results revealed content in New Zealand newspapers that was more favourable to the legal equality of same-sex couples than in the American press. The paper concludes by questioning the impact this content may have had on social policy.


Voxel cone tracing is a real-time method that approximates global illumination using a voxel approximation of the original scene. However, a high-resolution voxel approximation, which is necessary for good quality, consumes much memory, and a compact data structure for storing the voxels is necessary. In this thesis, as a primary contribution, we provide a comparison of two such data structures: a Sparse Voxel Octree, and a Clipmap. We implement these two data structures, and provide detailed descriptions of both with many important implementation details. These descriptions are much more complete than what exists in the current literature, and it is the secondary contribution of this thesis. In the comparison, we find that the octree performs worse than the clipmap with respect to memory consumption and performance, due to the overhead introduced by the complex octree data structure. However, with respect to visual quality, the octree is the superior choice, since the clipmap does not provide the same voxel resolution everywhere.


We present a global consistency algorithm for the
lexicographic ordering constraint on two vectors of $n$ variables.
The algorithm maintains arc-consistency, runs in $O(n)$ time on
posting plus amortized $O(1)$ time per propagation event, and detects
entailment or rewrites itself to a simpler constraint whenever
possible. The algorithm was derived from a finite automaton operating
on a string which captures the relationship between each variable pair
of the two vectors.


Muraro's article begins from the philosophical question of the 'unthought', and asks how our very image of thought is transformed when the thinking subject is a woman, and her thought is specifically linked to the experience of a body. On the basis of a feminist interrogation of sexual difference which reveals the forms of violence inherent in certain claims to universality, Muraro tries to develop a thinking of politics which would rest on its symbolic distance or independence from power. Through readings of Freud, Macbeth, Saint Paul and women's narratives, Muraro investigates the dangers borne by the fusion of power and politics and explores the ways in which they could be disjoined.


Studies in transgenic sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum L.) demonstrated that sucrose transporter (SUT) genes were essential in sucrose translocations. Sucrose transporter gene isolated from sugarcane were designated as SoSUT1 and SoSOSUT2 respectively as encode protein of 518 and 747 amino acids. The genes were constructed into plasmid pYES2 for SoSUT1, and pYX112 for SoSOSUT2. cDNA SoSOSUT2 had also constructed into plasmid pBIN-At-GFP which was possible to trace the gene inserted. The constructed plasmid was transformed into yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae ) and grown in minimal medium (SD– urasil ) as selection medium. The transformed colony was confirmed using PCR. The functional expression was studied by growing yeast in YPD medium with 2% Sucrose, then the sucrose uptake was measured in number interval time using resorcinol method. The result showed that yeast INVSc1-pYES2-SoSUT1 and BF264- pYX112-SoSOSUT2 had higher ability in sucrose transport compared to the control-INVSc1 for SoSUT1 and control-BF264 for SoUT2. Moreover, the result showed that SoSUT1 had higher ability to transport sucrose than SoSOSUT2. Confocal microscope observation showed that transformation gene SoSOSUT2 was successful, which was indicated by green exposure of GFP protein. Keyword: sugarcane, sucrose transporter, yeast


Heuristics and meta-heuristics are often used to solve complex real-world problems such as the non-linear, non-convex, and multi-objective combinatorial optimization problems that regularly appear in system design and architecture. Unfortunately, the performance of a specific heuristic is largely dependent on the specific problem at hand. Moreover, a heuristic's performance can vary throughout the optimization process. Hyper-heuristics is one approach that can maintain relatively good performance over the course of an optimization process and across a variety of problems without parameter retuning or major modifications. Given a set of domain-specific and domain-independent heuristics, a hyper-heuristic adapts its search strategy over time by selecting the most promising heuristics to use at a given point.A hyper-heuristic must have: 1) a credit assignment strategy to rank the heuristics by their likelihood of producing improving solutions; and 2) a heuristic selection strategy based on the credits assigned to each heuristic. The literature contains many examples of hyper-heuristics with effective credit assignment and heuristic selection strategies for single-objective optimization problems. In multi-objective optimization problems, however, defining credit is less straightforward because there are often competing objectives. Therefore, there is a need to define and assign credit so that heuristics are rewarded for finding solutions with good trades between the objectives.This paper studies, for the first time, different combinations of credit definition, credit aggregation, and heuristic selection strategies. Credit definitions are based on different applications of the notion of Pareto dominance, namely: A1) dominance of the offspring with respect to the parent solutions; A2) ability to produce non-dominated solutions with respect to the entire population; A3) Pareto ranking with respect to the entire population. Two different credit aggregation strategies for assigning credit are also examined. A heuristic will receive credit for: B1) only the solutions it created in the current iteration or B2) all solutions it created that are in the current population. Different heuristic selection strategies are considered including: C1) probability matching; C2) dynamic multi-armed bandit; and C3) Hyper-GA.Thus, we conduct an experiment with three factors: credit definition (A1, A2, A3), credit aggregation (B1, B2), and heuristic selection (C1, C2, C3) and conduct a full factorial experiment. Performance is measured by hyper-volume of the last population. All algorithms are tested on a design problem for a climate monitoring satellite constellation instead of classical benchmarking problems to apply domain-specific heuristics within the hyper-heuristic.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Docosahexaenoic acid, DHA is a polyunsaturated fatty acid that has
shown some medical and health benefits At present, the most common
sources of DHA are fish lipids The lipids of coldwater fishes are typically high
in DHA and these lipids are widely used as food supplements However, for
certain pharmaceutical and nutritional purposes, higher concentrations of
DHA are required Thus, there is a need to enrich this fatty acid in those
lipids which can be done by removal of other fatty acids Enzymatic method
IS one of the popular methods for DHA enrichment of fish lipids
in this research a local freshwater fish, the eel or Monopterus albus
was analyzed for its lipid and fatty acid content The fatty acid content of the
lipid was analyzed by gas chromatography after It was converted into methyl
esters The lipid content of this fish was about 1% and this lipid contained about 6% of DHA.


Although the costs of dengue illness to patients and households have been extensively studied in endemic populations, international travelers have not been the focus of costing studies. As globalization and human travel activities intensify, travelers are increasingly at risk for emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, such as dengue. This exploratory study aims to investigate the impact and out-of-pocket costs of dengue illness among travelers. We conducted a prospective study in adult travelers with laboratory-confirmed dengue and recruited patients at travel medicine clinics in eight different countries from December 2013 to December 2015. Using a structured questionnaire, we collected information on patients and their health-care utilization and out-of-pocket expenditures, as well as income and other financial losses they incurred because of dengue illness. A total of 90 patients participated in the study, most of whom traveled for tourism (74%) and visited countries in Asia (82%). Although 22% reported hospitalization and 32% receiving ambulatory care while traveling, these percentages were higher at 39% and 71%, respectively, after returning home. The out-of-pocket direct and indirect costs of dengue illness were US$421 (SD 744) and US$571 (SD 1,913) per episode, respectively, averaging to a total out-of-pocket cost of US$992 (SD 2,052) per episode. The study findings suggest that international travelers incur important direct and indirect costs because of dengue-related illness. This study is the first to date to investigate the impact and out-of-pocket costs of travel-related dengue illness from the patient's perspective and paves the way for future economic burden studies in this population.


We describe the use of computed tomography (CT) in a 6-year-old mare with upper airway obstruction due to an abnormally thick nasal septum. Upon CT imaging, multifocal, expansile cyst-like lesions were detected in the nasal septum. The histopathologic diagnosis was chronic dissecting chondritis. Resection of the abnormal nasal septum resulted in resolution of the clinical signs.


RANTES is a member of a large supergene family of pro-inflammatory cytokines called CC chemokines that appear to play a fundamental role in inflammatory processes. The RANTES protein causes release of histamine from basophils and is a chemoattractant for CD45RO/CD4+ "memory" T lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophils. Although expression of RANTES was first thought to be limited to activated T cells, recent data have shown that it is produced by a variety of tissue types in response to specific stimuli. RANTES mRNA is expressed late (3 to 5 days) after activation of resting T cells whereas in fibroblasts, renal epithelial and mesangial cells, RANTES mRNA is quickly up-regulated by TNF-alpha stimulation. In order to gain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate expression of the RANTES locus, we have characterized the RANTES gene and determined a putative promoter region. The RANTES gene spans approximately 7.1 kb and is composed of three exons of 133, 112 and 1075 bases and two introns of approximately 1.4 and 4.4 kb with the position of intron/exon boundaries conserved relative to the other CC chemokine family members. Approximately 1 kb of DNA from the immediate 5' upstream region of RANTES was sequenced and found to contain a large number of potential consensus elements for specific T cell/hemopoietic, myeloid, muscle, and ubiquitously expressed DNA-binding factors. RANTES-promoter-luciferase gene fusion assays demonstrate high levels of reporter gene activity in a "mature" T cell line Hut78, the erythroleukemic cell line HEL, and the rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RD, with little or no activity in the "early" T cell line Jurkat, the gamma delta T cell line PEER, the thymic tumor Molt4, or the pre-erythroid cell line K562. Deletion analysis of the promoter region indicates that different transcriptional mechanisms control expression of RANTES in the various tissues studied.


Contractualism and Citizenship: Rivals or Bedfellows? Terry Carney and Gaby Ramia The Role of Contract in the Democratisation of Service Delivery Anna Yeatman and Kathryn Owler Autonomy, Liberalism and the New Contractualism Kanishka Jayasuriya Citizenship Rights, Review Rights and Contractualism Margaret Allars 'It's All in the Contract': Rethinking Feminist Critiques of Contract Barbara Sullivan Risk, Human Services and Contractualism: Managing the Social Insecurities of Poverty Risks Michael Wearing Learning Backwards, Thinking Forwards: An Attempt to Understand the Perspectives of Both Government and Non-government Participants in a Service Contract Arrangement Rhonda Stien, Robert Urquhart and Dianne Nixon


1. Neurotransmitters were applied ionophoretically to spontaneously beating clusters of ventricular muscle cells cultured from neonatal rats. 2. Acetylcholine or its analogue carbachol produced hyperpolarization and decreased the rate of spontaneous beating. These responses had minimum latencies of about 250 msec and total durations of 6‐12 sec. 3. Noradrenaline, adrenaline or isoprenaline increased the rate of spontaneous beating. The minimum latency for this effect was 3‐6 sec. Following a single brief pulse the rate remained elevated for 2 min or more. 4. Chronotropic responses of intact atria from adult rats to stimulation of the autonomic nerves were of similar time course to responses of the cultured muscle cells. 5. Calculations based on the theory of diffusion showed that access of drugs to their receptors could not be rate‐limiting for the observed responses, unless a diffusion barrier of rather special properties was postulated. A number of other explanations for the long latencies have been ruled out; these are most likely to be due to some physical or chemical process occurring in or under the cell membrane. 6. Attempts to mimic responses to catecholamines by intracellular application of cyclic AMP were unsuccessful, perhaps because the release of nucleotide from the pipettes was insufficient. A theoretical treatment suggests that ionophoretic efflux of anions might be greatly diminished by the opposing electro‐osmotic flux.


Discussions derived from epistemology and its sub-branches are of the most important theoretical grounds affecting theoretical basis of art schools in particular architecture styles. During recent decades, two approaches of epistemology have been reciprocally shaped to know how one can paraphrase the meaning of physical environment. In the first approach, the audience and his knowledge are main foundations in the process of perception and cognition of environmental meaning. However, there is audience meaning nobility in this approach and therefore, all meanings are considered convincing and neither can be granted as final meaning of environment. So it can be called «Audience-Oriented» approach. While the second approach, has a perceptible reality in the final meaning of environment that should be received during a firm process. Accordingly, it is not impossible to discover the intention of environment architect by reviewing his work and (only the meaning which accords with this intention is considered convincing) the only meaning that accords with this intention is considered convincing. So, this approach can be called «Author-Oriented». In addition to comparative analogy between two above-said (these two) approaches, this study clarifies a third one that makes its cognitive base on Islamic (thoughts) teachings. According to this new approach, the main foundation of the process of environmental meaning paraphrase is the physical environment (or text) and so it can be called «Text-Oriented». In order to explain and collate the triple approaches, the present study (this research) uses archival research while enjoying, simultaneously, the logical argumentation research to arrange data resulted from archival studies. Journal of Reasearch in Islamic Architecture / No.7 / Summer 2015 66


Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is often preceded by diastolic dysfunction (DD). Of several published DD criteria, it is unclear which, if any, are applicable to data obtained in epidemiologic cohorts. We evaluated the prevalence of DD using previously published definitions in a population-based study, the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study, using data gathered in 2010-2011. Echocardiography was performed on 3,474 individuals (mean age = 50.2 years) at the CARDIA year 25 examination. Four published definitions of DD were studied. We calculated DD prevalence for each definition and determined the overlap between definitions. We used logistic regression to assess the strength of associations between demographic and clinical factors and the definitions of DD. Prevalence of DD ranged from 2% to 32% across the 4 definitions, with a minority of cases identified by more than 1 definition. Two definitions classified 38%-39% of the study sample as indeterminate for DD. Associations of risk factors with DD varied considerably, with male sex being associated positively with DD for one definition (odds ratio = 1.4, 95% confidence interval: 1.2, 1.6) and inversely for another (odds ratio = 0.7, 95% confidence interval: 0.6, 0.8). Prevalence of DD varies markedly in CARDIA by the definition applied. A uniform, reliable, and accurate definition of DD for epidemiologic studies is needed.


In mammals, adrenocorticotropic hormone and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone regulate melanogenesis, and thus skin pigmentation, by activating the adenosine 3′,5′ monophosphate (cAMP) pathway through the melanocortin type 1 receptor. One limb of this pathway involves a protein kinase A (PKA)-dependent stimulation in the expression of the micropthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF). MITF, in turn, stimulates expression of tyrosinase, the rate-limiting enzyme in melanogenesis. Khaled et al. report an alternative pathway whereby cAMP stimulates melanogenesis through a PKA-independent mechanism. Using Western analysis and in vitro assays on immunoprecipitates of proteins transfected into a melanoma cell line, the authors demonstrated that either elevating cAMP or inhibiting phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) reduced phosphorylation and activity of the serine-threonine kinase AKT. Elevated cAMP decreased phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), a substrate of AKT, and stimulated GSK-3β activity. Pharmacological analyses indicated that the effects of cAMP on AKT and GSK-3β were independent of both PKA and the Ras to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathways and were mediated through a PI3K-dependent mechanism. GSK-3β overexpression had no effect on basal or cAMP-induced transcription of MITF, but dramatically enhanced MITF stimulation of a reporter gene containing the tyrosinase promoter. Gel shift assays indicated that cAMP stimulated MITF binding to the M box, a target sequence found in the tyrosinase promoter, suggesting that GSK-3β promotes melanogenesis by increasing MITF binding to the tyrosinase promoter. The PKA-independent pathway should thus be able to effectively cooperate with the previously described PKA-dependent pathway, which stimulates MITF synthesis, to enhance melanogenesis. M. Khaled, L. Larribere, K. Bille, E. Aberdam, J.-P. Ortonne, R. Ballotti, C. Bertolotto, Glycogen synthase kinase 3β is activated by cAMP and plays an active role in the regulation of melanogenesis. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 33690-33697 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Despite the increasing prevalence of forest-cover change and conflicts, most studies have been unable to unravel the complex relations between the two processes. We attribute this failure to methodological limitations. We put forward an alternative approach that combines different datasets (remote sensing, GIS, local narratives, official censuses, newspaper articles), methods (spatial and relational analyses), and scales (subregions, economic sectors, land-based activities) to create a robust explanation of the relations between different intensities of forest-cover change and conflict in the Meseta Purépecha region, central Mexico. This is an important forest region, inhabited by indigenous and mestizo peasants; it has a worldwide reputation for community forestry and is also the epicenter of international avocado production. Forest-cover change is intense and there are recurrent episodes of conflict. We clustered communities in three subregions according to their patterns of forest-cover change. We analyzed the spatial patterns of forest-cover change and conflicts and we characterized the structure and function of the different economic sectors to unravel the nonlinear, interdependent (and sometimes contradictory) relations among these processes. We found that avocado production has differentially shaped the composition and working of society within each subregion, leading to three diverging patterns. Avocado production has provoked conflicts over landownership and over illegal logging in nearby areas. In some areas, a low incidence of conflicts over forest clearance might be explained by high profits, coercion, and violence. We suggest that, by combining spatial and relational analyses, we can integrate and check the congruence of nonequivalent representations from quantitative sources and observant participation at different scales and explain the heterogeneity that processes display across space. Our methodological approach can thus improve our understanding of similar and other complex and uncertain environmental problems elsewhere, especially when accurate or appropriate data are missing.


Abstract This study, documentary meta-analysis, refers to research conducted between the years 2000-2011, in view of reading about production on motivation in university students. The guiding question turns to the production of knowledge in a given period, evaluating what contributes or hinders the motivation of the students. The general objectives include the identification of the scientific production and knowledge of the profile of the publications in the chosen base (Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations) as well as the knowledge of the related aspects - promoters and barriers. The corpus consisted of summaries of theses and dissertations (17). There is, slightly, a greater number of dissertations in comparison to the theses, with concentration of studies (theoretical-empirical quantitative) in the state of Sao Paulo, coming from public institutions. The spectrum of theses and dissertations is probably larger than that analyzed in the consulted database. Contextual, personal and present issues in the teacher-student relationship are addressed, these elements related to motivation, sometimes favoring, sometimes hindering.


Microorganisms are omnipresent. Thus, the pages on which we pen down our imagination are also the habitat for these microbes, with this in mind , we screened Eleven barber shops utensils like combs, brush, clippers and apron in diverse places of Bangalore. A variety of selective and differential microbial media were used for presumptive identification of contaminating microorganisms which were authenticated by Gram – staining and observation under the microscope. On performing various biochemical tests such as Catalase, Oxidase , Starch hydrolysis, Gelatin, Coagulase test and Mannitol fermentation test we identified the organisms as Staphylococcus aureus ,Bacillus subtillus and Enterococcus faecium. Antibacterial tests were performed in – vitro by using Allium sativum fresh juice to study its role on the inhibition of these pathogens.


Task-based programming models are considered one of the most promising programming model approaches for exascale supercomputers because of their ability to dynamically react to changing conditions and reassign work to processing elements. One question, however, remains unsolved: what should the task granularity of task-based applications be? Fine-grained tasks offer more opportunities to balance the system and generally result in higher system utilization. However, they also induce in large scheduling overhead. The impact of scheduling overhead on coarse-grained tasks is lower, but large systems may result imbalanced and underutilized. In this work we propose a methodology to analyze the interplay between application task granularity and scheduling overhead. Our methodology is based on three main points: 1) a novel task algorithm that analyzes an application directed acyclic graph (DAG) and aggregates tasks, 2) a fast and precise emulator to analyze the application behavior on systems with up to 1,024 cores, 3) a comprehensive sensitivity analysis of application performance and scheduling overhead breakdown. Our results show that there is an optimal task granularity between 1.2×104 and 10×104 cycles for the representative schedulers. Moreover, our analysis indicates that a suitable scheduler for exascale task-based applications should employ a best-effort local scheduler and a sophisticated remote scheduler to move tasks across worker threads.


NON-DESTRUCTIVE X-RAY CHARACTERIZATION OF WIDE-BANDGAP SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS AND DEVICE STRUCTURES Nadeemullah A. Mahadik, PhD George Mason University, 2008 Dissertation Director: Prof. Mulpuri V. Rao In this work non-destructive x-ray characterization techniques have been used to study undoped and intentionally doped bulk and epitaxial layers, and device structures of wide bandgap semiconductor materials, GaN and SiC. Novel non-destructive x-ray characterization methods were developed to evaluate the uniformity of strain in AlGaN/GaN device structures across the wafer and the results were correlated with device electrical characteristics. In-situ bias induced strain measurements were also carried out for the first time on the AlGaN/GaN Schottky diodes to estimate change in piezoelectric polarization charge at the heterojunction interface with the gate bias voltage. A variety of high resolution x-ray measurements were performed on freestanding Gallium Nitride (GaN) films grown by three different laboratories using hydride phase vapor epitaxy (HVPE) technique. The lattice parameters of the quasi-bulk films were obtained using high-resolution x-ray diffraction spectra. The crystalline quality of the films was determined by measuring the x-ray rocking curves and by Ga nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The anisotropic in-plane strain was determined using a novel grazing incidence x-ray diffraction technique (GID) and conventional x-ray diffraction measurements. Based on these measurements the best free standing films have surface strain anisotropy of 4.0791 x 10 up to a depth of 0.3 μm and the dislocation density is in the range of 10-10 /cm. High resolution x-ray topography (HRXT) measurements were also performed on the freestanding GaN films. Complete mapping of defects for the entire surface of the GaN films was obtained in a non-destructive way. From these measurements, the lateral dimensions of crystallites and cavities in the films are in the range, 200-500 nm, and 0.5-400 μm, respectively. The GaN films were found to be warped with a radius of curvature of about 0.5 m. The warpage is attributed to thermal mismatch between GaN and the sapphire substrate during growth. The characteristics of freestanding GaN films measured in this work are detrimental to the fabrication of high-speed devices such as high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) because their performance is highly dependent on the surface and interface quality. High resolution x-ray measurements were also performed on Al ion-implanted 4H-Silicon Carbide (SiC) epitaxial layers, before and after 30s ultra-fast microwave annealing in the temperature range 1750-1900 C, to examine the crystalline quality of the material. Based on the FWHM values of the rocking curves, an improvement in the crystalline quality of the microwave annealed samples was observed compared to the conventional furnace annealed sample. The sample annealed at 1900 C showed the best rocking curve FWHM of 9 ± 2 arcsecs, which not only confirmed annihilation of the defects introduced during the Al ion-implantation process, but also an improvement in crystalline quality over the as-grown virgin 4H-SiC sample that had a rocking curve FWHM of 18.7 ± 2 arcsecs. The theoretical and measured rocking curve FWHM values were obtained and correlated with the depth dependent microwave absorption in the SiC epilayer. These results are very significant for optimizing the annealing parameters to achieve the highest possible implant activation, carrier mobility and crystal quality. Magnesium ion-implantation doped GaN films were also characterized using xray diffraction measurements after microwave annealing in the temperature range of 1300 C – 1500 C for 5 – 15 s. The FWHM values of the in-situ Mg-doped samples did not change with the microwave annealing for 5 s anneals. The electrical measurements on these samples also showed poor electrical activation of the Mg-implant in the GaN films. These results may be due to the presence of a high concentration of implant generated defects still remaining in the material, even after high temperature annealing for 5 s. From the FWHM values, the 15 s annealing showed an improvement in the crystalline quality of the GaN samples. Also the x-ray diffraction measurements show activation of the Mg implant. Electrical conductivity was observed in these samples, which is due to significant improvement in the crystalline quality and sufficient activation of the Mg implant. In this work, x-ray measurements were also performed on AlGaN/GaN device structures to study the effect of localized strain on the transport measurements across the wafer. The map of in-plane strain of the AlGaN/GaN HEMT wafer showed a one-to-one correspondence with the variation in electrical resistivity. The in-plane strain variation is in the range of 2.295x10 – 3.539x10 resulting in a sheet resistance variation of 345 -


The recent global financial crisis has ignited a debate on whether easy monetary conditions can lead to greater bank risk-taking. We study this issue in a model of leveraged financial intermediaries that endogenously choose the riskiness of their portfolios. When banks can adjust their capital structures, monetary easing unequivocally leads to greater leverage and higher risk. However, if the capital structure is fixed, the effect depends on the degree of leverage: following a policy rate cut, well capitalized banks increase risk, while highly levered banks decrease it. Further, the capitalization cutoff depends on the degree of bank competition. It is therefore expected to vary across countries and over time.


Currently, threats of violence in the form of words have been interpreted as constituting an assault where there is an inspired belief or expectation of a future physical attack. This article analyses Snyman's revised definition of assault with regard to the concept of 'bodily integrity' to establish whether severe emotional abuse cases, where there is no expectation of a future attack, can be brought within the ambit of the crime of assault. An investigation ensues into the nature of so-called 'psychological assault' and the meaning of 'bodily' harm with reference to case law in the United Kingdom. The premise of the article is therefore centred around whether an interpretation of the term 'bodily integrity' could include emotional verbal abuse as a form of assault, where there is no threat of a future physical attack, as a direct or indirect impairment of bodily integrity.


Local wave decomposition (LWD) method plays an important role in seismic signal processing for its superiority in significantly revealing the frequency content of a seismic signal changes with time variation. The LWD method is an effective way to decompose a seismic signal into several individual components. Each component represents a harmonic signal localized in time, with slowly varying amplitudes and frequencies, potentially highlighting different geologic and stratigraphic information. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD), the synchrosqueezing transform (SST), and variational mode decomposition (VMD) are three typical LWD methods. We mainly study the application of the LWD method especially EMD, SST, and VMD in seismic signal processing including seismic signal de‐noising, edge detection of seismic images, and recovery of the target reflection near coal seams.


The American College of Radiology has developed, published and trademarked a quality assurance tool called BI-RADS, an acronym for Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System. The system was designed to standardise patient reporting in two domains: assessment categories, with a numerical code between 0 and 6, allowing for concise and unambiguous sharing of patient records between clinicians; and breast composition categories, with a numerical code between 1 and 4, indicating the density of breast tissue (Table I). The BI-RADS classification system applies to medical images of the breast acquired by X-rays, ultrasound and MRI.


We propose a metadata package that is intended to provide academic journals with a lightweight means of registering, at the time of publication, the existence and disposition of supplementary materials. Information about the supplementary materials is, in most cases, critical for the reproducibility and replicability of scholarly results. In many instances, these materials are curated by a third party, which may or may not follow developing standards for the identification and description of those materials. As such, the vocabulary described here complements existing initiatives that specify vocabularies to describe the supplementary materials or the repositories and archives in which they have been deposited. Where possible, it reuses elements of relevant other vocabularies, facilitating coexistence with them. Furthermore, it provides an "at publication" record of reproducibility characteristics of a particular article that has been selected for publication. The proposed metadata package documents the key characteristics that journals care about in the case of supplementary materials that are held by third parties: existence, accessibility, and permanence. It does so in a robust, time-invariant fashion at the time of publication, when the editorial decisions are made. It also allows for better documentation of less accessible (non-public data), by treating it symmetrically from the point of view of the journal, therefore increasing the transparency of what up until now has been very opaque.


Since the financial crisis in the late 1990s, Asian governments have been considering strengthening regional monetary and financial cooperation. Proposals have ranged from the Asian Monetary Fund to common currencies. During the past two years, China, Japan, Korea, and the member-states of ASEAN have established a set of financial facilities under an agreement made in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) mobilizes a portion of the very large reserve holdings of its members for financial stabilization in a crisis. Organized under the "ASEAN plus three" grouping, these arrangements do not include the United States or other countries outside the region.The CMI thus raises several important questions: Under what terms will financing be extended on a regional basis? Is it likely to stabilize or destabilize international capital flows? What will CMI's relationship be to the International Monetary Fund and other official financial institutions? How should governments build on these arrangements in the future? Could they provide the basis for broader integration of the East Asian region?This study examines the case for and against regional financial arrangements in East Asia, describes the CMI, compares it to financial arrangements in other regions, and recommends how the Initiative can preserve its complementarity to multilateral institutions and be strengthened in the future. The study specifically addresses the concerns of Americans, Europeans, and multilateral organizations, assessing the pros and cons of such regional financial arrangements for the global system.


What factors determine the quality of distance-delivered instruction? Given the rapid proliferation of distance education (DE) across a variety of contexts, there has been much discussion regarding the importance of the effective design of DE courses. Consequently, many organizations have established a variety of criteria and standards that detail the essential qualities of effective distance learning experiences. Accreditation groups, professional associations, foundations, and even individual institutions have created sets of guidelines and requirements to serve as evaluation frameworks for DE. Due to the extensive growth of distance education in K-12, corporate, military, and higher education environments, an analysis is warranted as to how varying organizations define "effective" design of distance learning experiences. More broadly, information presented from this study can provide insights to the instructional design community, particularly with regard to increasing awareness of the importance of the ID process in the design of distance delivered programming. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to present findings of a qualitative analysis of standards related to distance course design, including commonalities and differences among organizations with regard to defining quality distance learning experiences. Perspective/Theoretical Framework


Objective: Malnutrition is associated with complications
and prolonged hospital stay in critically ill patients.
We assessed whether the measurement of the thickness of
the adductor pollicis muscle (TAPM), a new tool to assess
malnutrition is a valuable prognostic indicator in critically
ill patients.
Methods: Open cohort study including 248 patients
admitted for either medical or surgical intensive care treatment
in a tertiary hospital. Two were discharged for having
age below 18 years-old and therefore 246 subjects of both
sexes completed the entire analysis. Subjective global
assessment and APACHE II scores were used to score the
patients. TAPM of both hands was measured at admission
with a caliper and correlated with mortality, days of
mechanical ventilation, and length of hospital stay (LOS).
Results: There was a significant correlation (R = 0.84, p <
0.001) between TAPM of the right and the left hand. Severe
malnourished patients showed TAPM of both the left (12.3
± 5.5 mm) and right sides (12.9 ± 5.3 mm) significantly
lower (p < 0.001) than either patients scored as nourished
(right hand = 17.2 ± 5.4 mm and left hand = 15.8 ± 4.6 mm).
Risk of death was approximately 8 times higher in patients
with APACHEII score above 20 (OR: 8.6, 95% CI: 3.7-
20.2; p < 0.001), and approximately 6 times higher in
subjects with abnormal TAPM (OR: 6.3, 95% CI: 1.2-32.6;
p = 0.02). However, TAPM did not correlate with length of
stay and days of mechanical ventilation.
Conclusion: TAPM is a valuable tool to predict
mortality in critically ill patients.


Most research on prosocial behaviour focuses on situational factors rather than individual differences. Empathy, compassion, and altruism are three constructs related to prosocial behaviour that also overlap theoretically. However, prosocial traits are rarely studied together, and measures of prosocial orientation are lacking. To address this gap, the Light Triad Scale (Light-3) was developed to assess individual differences in prosocial orientation. Three subscales with 12 items each, assessing empathy, compassion, and altruism, were created using existing measures of each construct. Items were selected according to theory and literature. The Light-3 was then administered to a sample of undergraduate psychology students at Western University (N = 451). To assess construct validity, participants also completed the Short Dark Triad (SD3; Jones & Paulhus, 2014), the Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP; Plouffe, Saklofske, & Smith, 2017), the Managing the Emotions of Others Scale – Very Short Form (MEOS-VSF; Austin, Saklofske, & Smith, Under Review), the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form (TEIQue-SF; Petrides & Furnham, 2004), the Honesty-Humility scale of the HEXACO Personality Inventory (Lee & Ashton, 2004), and the Big Five Inventory – 10 Item scale (BFI-10; Rammstedt & John, 2007). First, the undiminensionality of each subscale was confirmed using exploratory factor analysis, and items with poor loadings were deleted. The sample was originally split for exploratory and confirmatory purposes; however, because good model fit could not be obtained in the second half of the sample regardless of the model attempted, the full sample was used for further analyses. Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling and Jackson's Differential Reliability Index, items were deleted that loaded onto other subscales, had substantial negative loadings on other subscales, or had loadings greater than one. A final confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using the reduced 24-item Light-3. After three modifications, model fit was acceptable. Ultimately, the hypothesized hierarchical model with a higherorder Prosocial Orientation factor and three lower-order factors (Empathy, Compassion, Altruism) was supported. Overall, as a preliminary measure of prosocial orientation, the Light-3 demonstrates adequate factor structure and good support for the construct. Future studies should further refine the scale by writing items that specifically target and confirm the factor structure identified in the current study.


This final thesis describes the currently available processes for testing security threads in banknote papers. The currency market has generally two types of security threads, embedded and window threads. It is generally important to optimize the adhesive used. This requires a test method with good precision and low operator independence. By achieving and using good test methods the process of evaluating a new products pros and cons can be done with higher precision. The thread adhesion properties are of great importance when developing new adhesion systems. The main reason for testing the threads adhesion is to verify that the thread cannot be removed in an intact form from the banknote but also for product development processes. The current test methods were developed by introducing new parameters and sample preparations specifications. The data evaluation system was also upgraded. The measurement of thread adhesion vs. position in CD and vs. time showed expected results. A new and more reliable test method was implemented and evaluated and was together with the improved current method able to detect same properties independently.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence, co-occurrence, and correlates of sleep problems among elementary school children.

DESIGN
Survey.

SETTING
General community.

PARTICIPANTS
The parents of 987 children aged 5 to 12 years completed an anonymous survey distributed in their children's schools.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The survey form asked about background characteristics, children's sleep environment, sleep habits, adult interventions, sleep history, and specific sleep problems.

RESULTS
Bedtime resistance was the most prevalent sleep problem (27%). Sleep-onset delays (11.3%), night waking (6.5%), morning wake-up problems (17%), and fatigue complaints (17%) were also common. Among children with sleep-onset problems, 80% displayed bedtime resistance, while 34% of bedtime resisters had onset problems. Onset problems correlated with more fears, night waking, psychiatric and medical conditions, the need for reassurance and caregiver proximity, and history of sleep problems. Bedtime resistance was associated with an inconsistent bedtime and falling asleep away from bed. Those who display delayed sleep onset and bedtime resistance also wake later, suggesting that sleep-phase delays may maintain these problems.

CONCLUSIONS
The results confirm bedtime resistance as parents principal sleep-related complaint for this age group but reveal a subgroup more prone to insomnia, night waking, and anxiety-related features. Phase delay findings suggest the importance of limits around wake-up time as well as bedtime. The results highlight the importance of distinctly evaluating bedtime resistance, sleep onset, sleep maintenance, waking, and emotional adjustment.


In this study, the reclamation of end-of-pipe textile effluent originating from a reactive dyeing textile mill was investigated using low energy membrane based processes. Effluent quality, salt recovery and membrane recovery were the main parameters used to evaluate the membrane process. Flat sheets of the SR90 and NF90 Dow FilmTech nanofiltration (NF) membranes were used on a pilot scale membrane system. The UF multipore membrane was used in the pretreatment runs. The quality of reclaimed water was measured against the specified water quality in terms of the internal criteria for effluent recycle (ICFER) provided by the mill. It was required to optimize the SR90 and NF90 membrane performances so as to set operating parameters for pilot study. The average critical flux for the SR90 membrane was found to be ±31 LMH at 5 bar TMP when directly feeding the effluent without any pretreatment. The average critical flux for the NF90 membrane was found to be approximately ±15 LMH at 10 bar TMP when no pretreatment was used. All rejections were found to be >90% for all specified parameters as per Table 1. The quality results from the SR90 and NF90 membranes with pretreatment showed that the permeate could be recycled and reused in the dying processes within the mill. It was however concluded that the NF90 membrane produces high quality effluent as compared to the SR90. It was of importance to determine if the SR90 and NF90 membranes could be recovered and reused after directly feeding un-pretreated feed effluent. The flux recoveries on the SR90 and NF90 membranes were 84.72% and 82.17%, respectively after chemical cleaning. It was further concluded that the salt initially fed in the dying process could be recovered from the waste stream especially when using the SR90 membrane for reuse. However, the colour parameter was found to be slightly out of specification when using the SR90 membrane. To improve the colour of effluent produced when using the SR90, it was recommended that a granular activated carbon filter needs to be employed downstream of the process to polish the effluent.