This dissertation explores the role that feminist pro-choice activists have played in resisting and reshaping the social organization of abortion care in New Brunswick. Using political activist ethnography (PAE), my research demonstrates the ways in which activists may help to reveal the social relations organizing abortion access in order to ultimately transform them. Building on PAE and movement-relevant theories, I argue that movement spaces are key sites of knowledge production, and thus offer a useful starting point for research that aims to challenge and transform social relations of ruling. My dissertation extends contemporary scholarly conversations around abortion by offering a case study into the unique access barriers imposed by the provincial government in New Brunswick, as mediated by the province's Medical Services Payment Act. Based on twenty-five in-depth semi-structured interviews, two years of participant observation with Reproductive Justice New Brunswick (RJNB), as well as archival research into the history of abortion regulation in the province, I trace how the closure of the Fredericton Morgentaler Clinic helped spark a grassroots movement to expand abortion access and repeal the province's public funding restrictions for clinic abortions. Through exploring the ways that activists have helped to reveal the social organization of abortion in New Brunswick, I argue the importance of attending to activist accounts when developing policies around sexual and reproductive health. Indeed, there is much to learn from activists' work to expand abortion access in New Brunswick. Activists, as I show, have helped demonstrate the lines of fault that exist between the institutional coordination of abortion services on the one hand, and patient experiences accessing the procedure on the other. It is due to these lines of fault that activists have increasingly oriented themselves toward a framework that makes visible the ways that access is entangled in social relations of oppression and benefit. In expanding access to abortion, it is important that activists and policymakers alike interrogate the historical, social, political and economic conditions that have led to the uneven and unequal distribution of abortion care in the Canadian context.


The research was stimulated by a phenomenon among the trade
students whose 'output' had not been commensurating with the high 'input'
on them. An important influencing factor was the selection system. The
research study was carried out in three vocational schools in Negeri Sembilan
to study the compatibility of the trade students' personality and their
respective trade training environment. Compatibility had been treated as
the indicator for the effectiveness of the selection system. A total of 248
Form 5 students from seven trade courses were involved in this study.
The data were collected using a questionnaire with the Vocational
Preference Inventory (VPI) as its main component. The VPI provided the
personality scores of the subjects. Whereas The Occupational Classification
provided the environmental code for the occupation most representative
of the trade. Statistical tools employed in analyzing the data were the t-test,
Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance and Chi-square. The findings of the
research study were: (1) realistic personality type was well differentiated
with the other personality types except the enterprising p ersonality type;
(2) enterprising personality type was the most dominant personality type
among the students followed by realistic personality type; (3) the students
were incompatible with their trade where their overall mean Compatibility
Index was 3.80; (4) there was no significant difference in compatibility
between the SRP passers and the SRP failures.


The instability of families in the contemporary (especially western) world puts in jeopardy effective parenting and healthy child development. This paper reviews some statistical evidence of the disintegration of families, especially in the United States, and the impact of fragmented families upon children. Clearly, being raised by both parents in a home with healthy marital stability is the most advantageous environmental factor for successful child development. However, because so many contemporary social trends thwart the formation and maintenance of healthy, marital parenting, there is a great need today for additional institutions that will provide an effective support system and safety net for children and their parents when marriages struggle, fail, or fail to form. Religion and religious communities can provide very valuable back-up support for parenting and child development. While contemporary instability of marriage formation and maintenance may suggest that parenting and child development are undervalued in many societies, this article reports that parenting is explicitly protected in multiple provisions in the text of national constitutions of nearly all nations in the world today. A survey of contemporary national constitutions shows that formal legal commitment to parenting and child development is emphatic and nearly ubiquitous globally. In political theory of the enlightenment (the basis for liberal democracy) parenting and childhood are given special preferential constitutional treatment because effective parenting is considered critical for the wellbeing of society and individuals. Good parenting provides protection for children; is an expression of the interdependent connectedness of human nature; enhances individual rights and welfare; and is essential to sustainable liberal democracy. Many social science studies indicate that participation in religion generally has a positive impact upon the quality of parenting, and upon the resulting healthy, positive development of children parents. Parenting and religious have mutually-reinforcing interests and concerns. While some unusual religious doctrines and practices are harmful to children, most research confirms that the influence of religion upon parenting and children usually is beneficial. Research also suggests a correlation between lack of protection for religion and violence in society. Protecting religious liberty, thus, increases social goods, sustains social stability, reduces inter-group violence, and that enhances the quality of parenting and childhood. Because we live in such difficult times with such significant challenges for the children, their parents, and for parenting, there is particular need for institutional support for parenting. Religion can provide such needed support. In conclusion, this article recommends that nations protect religions and religious liberty for the sake of the children.


This paper presents a microelectromechanical-system-based electromagnetic vibration-to-electrical power generator that can harvest energy from low-frequency external vibrations. The efficiency of vibration-based harvesters is proportional to excitation frequency, so the proposed generator is designed to convert low-frequency environmental vibrations to a higher frequency by employing the frequency upconversion (FupC) technique. It has been shown that the generator can effectively harvest energy from environmental vibrations of 70-150 Hz and generates 0.57-mV voltage with 0.25-nW power from a single cantilever by upconverting the input vibration frequency of 95 Hz-2 kHz. The fabricated generator size is 8.5×7×2.5 mm3, and a total of 20 serially connected cantilevers have been used to multiply the generated voltage and power. The generator demonstrated in this paper is designed for the proof of concept, and the power and voltage levels can further be increased by increasing the number of cantilevers or coil turns. The performance of the generator is also compared with that of a same sized custom-made traditional magnet-coil-type generator and with that of a traditional generator from the literature to prove its effectiveness.


In statistical learning framework with regressions, interactions are the contributions to the response variable from the products of the explanatory variables. In high-dimensional problems, detecting interactions is challenging due to combinatorial complexity and limited data information. We consider detecting interactions by exploring their connections with the principal Hessian matrix. Specifically, we propose a one-step synthetic approach for estimating the principal Hessian matrix by a penalized M-estimator. An alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is proposed to efficiently solve the encountered regularized optimization problem. Based on the sparse estimator, we detect the interactions by identifying its nonzero components. Our method directly targets at the interactions, and it requires no structural assumption on the hierarchy of the interaction effects. We show that our estimator is theoretically valid, computationally efficient, and practically useful for detecting the interactions in a broad spectrum of scenarios.


Landmark codes underpin reliable physical layer communication, e.g., Reed-Muller, BCH, Convolution, Turbo, LDPC and Polar codes: each is a linear code and represents a mathematical breakthrough. The impact on humanity is huge: each of these codes has been used in global wireless communication standards (satellite, WiFi, cellular). Reliability of communication over the classical additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel enables benchmarking and ranking of the different codes. In this paper, we construct KO codes, a computationaly efficient family of deep-learning driven (encoder, decoder) pairs that outperform the state-of-the-art reliability performance on the standardized AWGN channel. KO codes beat state-of-the-art Reed-Muller and Polar codes, under the low-complexity successive cancellation decoding, in the challenging short-to-medium block length regime on the AWGN channel. We show that the gains of KO codes are primarily due to the nonlinear mapping of information bits directly to transmit real symbols (bypassing modulation) and yet possess an efficient, high performance decoder. The key technical innovation that renders this possible is design of a novel family of neural architectures inspired by the computation tree of the {\bf K}ronecker {\bf O}peration (KO) central to Reed-Muller and Polar codes. These architectures pave way for the discovery of a much richer class of hitherto unexplored nonlinear algebraic structures. The code is available at \href{https://github.com/deepcomm/KOcodes}{https://github.com/deepcomm/KOcodes}


The Swedish Network for European Legal Studies is happy to announce the launch of a new annual publication which will act as a forum for the publication of studies on European law by Swedish scholars, entitled Swedish Studies in European Law. This will be a hardback of about 300 pages annually, containing peer-reviewed articles aimed at spreading Swedish legal research on European law to a wide international audience. The editors of the yearbook are Professor Nils Wahl, chairman of the board of the Swedish Network, and Professor Per Cramer. The articles in the volume are concerned with European law, its development, impact and reform; furthermore they are original, analytical contributions to doctrinal debates and questions, by legal researchers mainly, but not exclusively, connected with the Swedish universities.


Significant variables including load, environmental and mixture, influencing the laboratory fatigue testing of asphalt concrete are discussed. Analysis of laboratory fatigue data obtained using controlled-stress tests indicates that, in general, those factors tending to increase mixture stiffness tend also to increase fatigue life at a particular stress level providing the mixture is reasonably balanced and non-brittle. The reverse appears to be true for controlled-strain testing. Accordingly for heavy-duty pavements in which the asphalt-bound layers are approximately 6 or more inches in thickness and where the results of controlled-stress appear to apply, fatigue resistance can be improved by selecting a viscous asphalt (40-50 or 60-70 penetration) and by using a dense-graded, rough textured aggregate. At the same time, for light-duty pavements incorporating approximately 2 or less inches of asphalt-bound materials, for which controlled-strain conditions are applicable, a less viscous asphalt cement should be used (120-150 penetration) and the fines content should be reduced.


CONTEXT
The most frequently used methods for detecting antibodies are the indirect immunofluorescence test and the enzymatic immunoassay (ELISA). The polymerase chain reaction is a molecular biology technique in which the production of large amounts of specific DNA fragments is induced from very low concentrations of complex substrates aloowing the detection of very low amounts of viral particles.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the accuracy of serological/ELISA tests in comparison with the polymerase chain reaction in maternal blood to diagnose cytomegalovirus infection.

DESIGN
A descriptive study was performed.

SETTING
High-risk outpatient clinic of Campinas University (Unicamp).

PARTICIPANTS
We selected 243 pregnant women. All of them had been indicated for blood sampling because of suspicions of cytomegalovirus infection and also because of other infections.

MAIN MEASUREMENTS
The group was tested for cytomegalovirus. Serological tests were run and compared to the polymerase chain reaction, which was considered to be the gold standard. Status analyses were done using Fisher's exact test, via the SAS software.

RESULTS
The previous cytomegalovirus infection rate was 94.6%. The main reasons for inclusion in the study were fetal nervous system malformation (25.5%), maternal toxoplasmosis (25.5%) and Rh isoimmunization (14.8%). Only two women were included because of positive serological immunoglobulin M test for cytomegalovirus. The sensitivity and specificity of the serological tests were 94% and 6% for immunoglobulin G.

CONCLUSION
Serological tests had lower sensitivity in comparison with the polymerase chain reaction test when diagnosing cytomegalovirus infection. The consequences of positive polymerase chain reaction and negative immunoglobulin M in women remain unknown.


Complex interactions between microbial communities and geochemical processes drive the major element cycles and control the function of marine sediments as a dynamic reservoir of organic matter. Sulfate reduction is globally the dominant pathway of anaerobic mineralisation and is the main source of sulfide. The effective re-oxidation of this sulfide at the direct or indirect expense of oxygen is a prerequisite for aerobic life on our planet. Although largely hidden beneath the oxic sediment surface, the sulfur cycle is therefore critical for Earth's redox state. This Geochemical Perspectives begins with a brief primer on the sulfur cycle of marine sediments and a description of my own scientific journey through nearly fifty years of studies of sulfur geochemistry and microbiology. Among the main objectives of these studies were to quantify the main processes of the sulfur cycle and to identify the microbial communities behind them. Radiotracers in combination with chemical analyses have thereby been used extensively for laboratory experiments, supported by diverse molecular microbiological methods. The following sections discuss the main processes of sulfate reduction, sulfide oxidation and disproportionation of the inorganic sulfur intermediates, especially of elemental sulfur and thiosulfate. The experimental approaches used enable the analysis of how environmental factors such as substrate concentration or temperature affect process rates and how concurrent processes of sulfate reduction and sulfide oxidation drive a cryptic sulfur cycle. The chemical energy of sulfide is used by chemolithotrophic bacteria, including fascinating communities of big sulfur bacteria and cable bacteria, and supports their dark CO2 fixation, which produces new microbial biomass. During the burial and aging of marine sediments, the predominant mineralisation processes change through a cascade of redox reactions, and the rate of organic matter degradation drops continuously over many orders of magnitude. The main pathways of anaerobic mineralisation and the age control of the organic matter turnover are discussed. In the deep methanic zone, only a few percent of the entire degradation process remains, which provides a small boost of substrate for sulfate reduction through the process of anaerobic methane oxidation. The stable isotopes of sulfur provide an additional tool to understand these diagenetic processes, whereby the combination of microbial isotope fractionation and open system diagenesis generate a differential diffusion flux of the isotopes. In relation to the organic carbon cycle of the seabed and the contribution of methane, the paper discusses the global sulfur budget and the role of sulfate reduction for organic matter mineralisation in different depth regions of the ocean - from coast to deep sea. The published estimates of these parameters are evaluated and compared. Finally, the paper looks at future perspectives with respect to gaps in our current understanding and the need for further studies.


The increasing global population has forced the agricultural area to enhance the yield of crop, thereby fulfilling the requirements of people. The advancement has led to synthesis of nanomaterials with different size, shapes, and biocompatibility aspects towards specific applications like agriculture. Several nanomaterials such as metal, metal oxide, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), graphene, and its derivatives have shown potential ability for augmenting the yield of crops and protect crops against pathogens. However, these nanomaterials required smart delivery system that might easily deliver the nanofertilizers in a controlled manner. In this context, the incorporation of nanotechnology and polymer science might be developing newer technology with minimal usage and maximum effectiveness for improvement of crops. The incorporation of nanomaterials in polymeric composites offers newer approaches for agricultural delivery system that might provide various advantages such as higher stability, solubility, uniform distribution, and controlled release. Moreover, nanomaterials have potential ability for advancement in the genetic engineering. Herein, we discuss the role of nanomaterials in the growth of the plant, polymeric nanocomposite materials for agriculture delivery system with the advancement in the genetic engineering, and future prospects of these polymeric-nanocomposite materials in agriculture.


RATIONALE
This study aimed to explore whether a computer-based training in eating and nutrition for hospital nursing staff can influence the precision in nutritional treatment and care.

METHOD
A pre-intervention and post-intervention study was conducted with a cross-sectional design at each time point. The settings were one intervention (IH) and two control hospitals (CH1 and CH2). Hospital inpatients >18 years old at baseline (2012; n = 409) and follow-up (2014; n = 456) were included. The computer-based training was implemented during a period of 3 months in the IH with 297 (84%) participating registered nurses and nurse assistants. Nutritional risk was screened for using the Minimal Eating Observation and Nutrition Form. Nutritional treatment and care was recorded using a standardized protocol

RESULTS
In the IH, there was an increase in the share of patients at UN risk that received energy-dense food (+16.7%) and dietician consultations (+17.3%) between baseline and follow-up, while fewer received feeding assistance (-16.2%). There was an increase in the share of patients at UN risk that received energy-dense food (+19.5%), a decrease in oral nutritional supplements (-30.5%) and food-registrations (-30.6%) in CH1, whereas there were no changes in CH2. 'Overtreatment' (providing nutritional treatment to those not at UN risk) was significantly higher in CH2 (52.7%) than in CH1 (14.3%) and in the IH (25.2%) at follow-up.

CONCLUSION
The computer-based training seemed to increase the probability for patients at UN risk in the IH to receive nutritional treatment without increasing overtreatment.


The public participation field grew dramatically in the United States during the 1990s and 2000s, in part due to the flagship dialogue and deliberation organization AmericaSpeaks and its trademarked 21st Century Town Hall Meeting method for large group decision-making. Drawing on participant observation of three such meetings and a multi-method ethnography of the larger field, I place these meetings in context as experimental deliberative demonstrations during a time of ferment regarding declining citizen capacity in the United States. AmericaSpeaks' town meetings were branded as politically authentic alternatives to ordinary politics, but as participatory methods and empowerment discourses became popular with a wide variety of public and private actors, the organization failed to find a sustainable business model. I conclude by discussing the challenges for contemporary town hall meetings in an era when political authenticity is a valuable commodity.


Purpose. From May 2015 to March 2016, an outbreak due to Listeria monocytogenes serotype 1/2a and clinical pulsotype never previously isolated in Europe occurred in central Italy, involving 24 confirmed clinical cases. The article provides a description of the outbreak and the investigation carried out by a multidisciplinary network. Methodology. Epidemiological and microbiological surveillance was conducted to confirm the outbreak and to detect the food vehicle of infection. The origin and destination of the implicated food and its ingredients were investigated by tracing‐back and ‐forward investigation. Results. Next‐generation sequencing confirmed the unique outbreak strain. On 4 January 2016, a L. monocytogenes strain with pulsotype indistinguishable from that isolated from clinical cases in the outbreak was detected in a sample of hog head cheese purchased from a retail supermarket by one of the patients. The hog head cheese was produced by a small meat processing plant in the Marche region, where microbiological investigation confirmed environmental and food contamination by the outbreak strain. Plant production was suspended and all contaminated batches of the hog head cheese were withdrawn from the market by 19 February by local health authority. We subsequently observed a sharp decline in clinical cases, the last being reported on 11 March 2016. Conclusion. The key factor in the timely conclusion of this investigation was intersectoral collaboration among epidemiologists, microbiologists, veterinarians, statisticians and health and food safety authorities at national, regional and local levels.


Background: The Asia-Pacific aims to eliminate malaria by 2030. Many of the 22 endemic countries have earlier targets. To track progress towards elimination and predict timelines and funding required it is essential to have an accurate picture of the true burden of malaria over time. Estimating this is a major challenge with most countries having incomplete data on numbers of cases and wide variation between health system access and performance. Regular estimates are published by the World Health Organization (WHO), but these are not split by species, can have a wide range of uncertainty, change over time and are not available for every year. Methods: For the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance, the burden of malaria for the 22 malaria-endemic countries in the Asia-Pacific from 2000 to 2015 was estimated by combining data submitted by countries to WHO with a systematic review to estimate the proportion of cases recorded. Due to a lack of suitable data, it was only possible to apply this method to 2013-2015. A simplified method was then derived to estimate the annual burden of falciparum and vivax malaria as inputs to a mathematical model to predict the cost of elimination, which is described elsewhere. Results: The total number of estimated cases was around double the number of confirmed cases reported in the Asia Pacific with a broad range of uncertainty around these estimates due primarily to sparsity of data with which to estimate proportions of cases reported. The ranges of estimated burdens were mostly like those published for countries by WHO, with some exceptions. Conclusions: The accuracy and precision of malaria burden estimates could be greatly improved by having more regular large surveys on access to healthcare in malaria-endemic areas and making subnational data on malaria incidence and reporting completeness publicly available.


Based on past difficulties in clinically differentiating patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), bronchiolitis obliterans-organizing pneumonia (BOOP), and nonspecific interstitial pneumonia/fibrosis (NSIP), which all manifest clinically as interstitial lung disease, experience with pathologically confirmed examples of the three diseases was reviewed to compare clinical profiles and prognosis and to define NSIP more clearly. Thirty-one patients (15 males and 16 females) were pathologically identified as NSIP and subclassified into either the cellular (n=16) or fibrotic group (n=15). All 31 patients were clinically considered to be idiopathic NSIP cases. Patients with idiopathic BOOP (n=16) and IPF (n=64) were compared with the NSIP patients. Subacute presentation of interstitial lung disease characterized both idiopathic NSIP and idiopathic BOOP. NSIP patients showed volume loss on a chest radiograph (29.0%) and honeycombing on a computed tomography scan (25.8%); these features were not found in BOOP patients. Bronchoalveolar lavage lymphocytosis was characteristic of both BOOP and NSIP. Two subgroups of NSIP can be recognized histologically: patients in the fibrotic group had a less favourable outcome than those in the cellular group. BOOP and NSIP had a more favourable outcome than IPF. In conclusion, idiopathic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia can be differentiated from other types of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia, both pathologically and clinically.


Abstract. Errors in the spectroscopic parameters used in the forward radiative transfer model can introduce spatially, temporally, and altitude-dependent biases in trace gas retrievals. For well-mixed trace gases such as methane, where the variability of tropospheric mixing ratios is relatively small, reducing such biases is particularly important. We use aircraft observations from all five missions of the HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) of the Carbon Cycle and Greenhouse Gases Study to evaluate the impact of updates to spectroscopic parameters for methane (CH4), water vapor (H2O), and nitrous oxide (N2O) on thermal infrared retrievals of methane from the NASA Aura Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES). We find that updates to the spectroscopic parameters for CH4 result in a substantially smaller mean bias in the retrieved CH4 when compared with HIPPO observations. After an N2O-based correction, the bias in TES methane upper tropospheric representative values for measurements between 50° S and 50° N decreases from 56.9 to 25.7 ppbv, while the bias in the lower tropospheric representative value increases only slightly (from 27.3 to 28.4 ppbv). For retrievals with less than 1.6 degrees of freedom for signal (DOFS), the bias is reduced from 26.8 to 4.8 ppbv. We also find that updates to the spectroscopic parameters for N2O reduce the errors in the retrieved N2O profile.


Abstract:In late 2017, a tragic fire in southern Beijing led to a massive eviction and demolition campaign that drove out tens of thousands of rural migrant workers in bleak winter weather. While the evictions were widely covered by the mass media, few analyses examined the gongyu 公寓 (apartment complex), a low-rent housing complex where the fire broke out. Based on fieldwork in Beijing's northern fringe, this article examines the spatial transformation of residences from cramped one-story farmhouses to gongyu and how it signals the social stratification of migrant tenants. The emergence of the better-equipped gongyu, as an alternative modernity, caters to the influx of young tenants and migrants working in the service sector. Meanwhile, the rise of the gongyu has propelled an increase in the subcontracting of property management. The rationalization and specialization of the fast-growing private rental housing market have further led to estranged living among migrant tenants and landlords, who experience different forms of displacement in urban villages. Gongyu is the outcome of low-end accumulation, which is intended primarily for constructing low-quality, low-cost rental projects for the "low-end population." Despite its prevalence, the urban village gongyu represents an overlooked, unrecognized, and undesirable mode of urbanization, which is the target of the recurring housing crackdown in China's capital.


This article draws attention to the transformation of statehood under globalisation as a crucial dynamic shaping the emergence and conduct of 'rising powers'. That states are becoming increasingly fragmented, decentralised and internationalised is noted by some international political economy and global governance scholars, but is neglected in International Relations treatments of rising powers. This article critiques this neglect, demonstrating the importance of state transformation in understanding emerging powers' foreign and security policies, and their attempts to manage their increasingly transnational interests by promoting state transformation elsewhere, particularly in their near-abroad. It demonstrates the argument using the case of China, typically understood as a classical 'Westphalian' state. In reality, the Chinese state's substantial disaggregation profoundly shapes its external conduct in overseas development assistance and conflict zones like the South China Sea, and in its promotion of extraterritorial governance arrangements in spaces like the Greater Mekong Subregion.


The entire Cenozoic unconsolidated fill of the Lower Rhine Embayment in Germany hosts the largest single lignite, or brown coal, deposit in Europe which covers an area of some 2,500 km2 to the northwest of Cologne. Rhineland brown coal is mined in large-scale opencast mining and accounts for around one-quarter of the public electricity supply in Germany. The present study was devoted to carrying out radiomagnetotelluric (RMT) and transient electromagnetic (TEM) investigations over the shallow coal seams at the opencast mine 'Garzweiler I.' The main objectives of the survey were to highlight the applicability and efficiency of RMT and TEM methods in an area like brown coal exploration, and to image the vertical electrical resistivity structure of these coal seams. Therefore, the vertical and lateral resolution capabilities of such methods were as necessary as the ability to cover large areas. Consequently, a total of 86 azimuthal RMT and 33 in-loop TEM soundings were carried out along six separate profiles over two opencast benches at the 'Garzweiler I' mine. The local stratigraphy at the survey areas comprises a layer-cake sequence, from top to bottom, of Garzweiler, Frimmersdorf and Morken coal seams embedded in a sand background, consisting of Surface, Neurath, Frimmersdorf and Morken Sands. A considerable amount of clay and silt intervenes the whole succession. The data were interpreted extensively and consistently in terms of one-dimensional (1D) RMT and TEM resistivity models, without using any complex multi-dimensional interpretation. However, the presence of thin, surficial clay masses (or lenses) broke down such interpretation scheme. In this case, to greatly improve the resistivity resolution for these surficial masses and the underlying coal seams, two-dimensional (2D) RMT and three-dimensional (3D) TEM interpretations have been carried out. They could be used effectively to study the local EM distortion on the measured data, where these surficial masses were found, as well as to cross-check the nearby-topography effect. Because the RMT data are usually skin-depth limited, they only provided a resolution depth between 25 and 30 m for the shallow resistivity structures. Whereas, the TEM data still have sufficiently early- to late-time information, and therefore resulted in a better resolution depth of about 100 m for the shallow to sufficiently-deep resistivity structures. The final 1D/2D RMT and 1D/3D TEM resistivity models displayed a satisfied correlation with both thicknesses derived from the stratigraphic-control boreholes and resistivities measured from direct-current (DC) and spectral induced polarization (SIP) laboratory techniques on 16 rock samples. As demonstrated, the integrated use of azimuthal RMT and in-loop TEM soundings was highly successful and effective at mapping the major stratigraphic units at the survey areas, i.e. the shallowest conductive Garzweiler and Frimmersdorf Coals within their fairly resistive sand background. They could not distinguish between Neurath Sand and the underlying sand/silt or between Frimmersdorf Coal and the underlying organic clay. The deepest Morken Coal was beyond the depth-of-investigation of the present measurements. Finally, the resistivity models revealed that both coal seams gently dip in the southwesterly direction. This should be in fairly good agreement with the regional structural makeup of the Rhineland brown coal. However, they showed that Garzweiler Coal is gradually thinned northeastwards, while Frimmersdorf Coal still has almost a regular thickness.


This award-winning graded readers series is full of original fiction, adapted fiction and factbooks especially written for teenagers. Marvin lives with his parents and a grandfather who is always inventing new gadgets to help his family. But his grandfather's inventions often end up making Marvin's life harder. Then one particular invention proves a success but it also attracts unwanted attention from a school bully. This is a British English version of the title. The book coms with a CD-ROM/Audio CD with vocabulary games and complete text recordings. Cambridge Experience Readers, previously called Cambridge Discovery Readers, get your students hooked on reading.


This picture is a portrait of Hartwell Adkins as a student wearing a graduation gown. This print was made from the original glass plate negative, which is housed at Virginia Historical Society.


We studied the mathematical model of interaction with water VITA Intense of LavaVitae company (Austria). In this report are submitted data about the interaction of VITA Intense with water, obtained by non-equilibrium (NES) and differential-equilibrium energy spectrum (DNES) of water. The average energy (∆E H... O ) of hydrogen Н…O-bonds among individual molecules H 2 O after treatment of VITA Intense with water measured by NES- and DNES-methods is ∆E=-0.0136±0.0011 eV for VITA Intense. This result suggests the restructuring of ∆E H... O values among H 2 O molecules with a statistically reliable increase of local extremums in DNES-spectra. The research is performed for VITA Intense, with study of pH and oxidative reduction potential (ORP).  There is review of the effects of the chemical composition of VITA Intense – anti-inflammatory, antioxidant etc. With methods NES we show the following effects – relaxing effect of nervous system, anti-inflammatory and inhabitation of tumor cells. As results of these effects VITA Intense has anti aging influence. The base of this influence is anti-inflammatory effect.  This article deals with the review of the basic biophysical-biochemical and biological processes underlying the VITA Intense by LavaVitae company. The authors are studying their physical-chemical properties and biophysical and biological effects on human organism. Additionally, by using IR, NES, and DNES methods were investigated various samples of water from Bulgarian water springs: the melt water from Glacier Rosenlaui, Swiss Alps, as well as the human blood serum of people with excellent health and cancer patients between 50 and 70 years old. Other experiments were performed on a 1% (v/v) solution of VITA Intense in deionized water. As an estimation factor in NES and DNES was measured the values of the average energy of hydrogen bonds (∆E H ... O ) among H 2 O molecules in water samples, as well as a local extremums  in the NES and DNES-spectra of various samples of water and the human blood serum at E = -0.1387 eV and λ = 8.95 μm. For a group of people in critical condition of life and patients with malignant tumors the greatest values of local extremums in IR-, DNES-spectra were shifted to lower energies relative to the control healthy group. Further we applied this method for calculation of percent distribution of H 2 O molecules in all studied water samples according to energies of hydrogen bonds ranged from (-0.08 to -0.1387 eV). It was shown that mountain water is among the most important factors for human longevity and human health. The variety of ions (K + , Na + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Mn 2+ , Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ , Zn 2+ , SO 4 2- , Cl - , HCO 3 - , CO 3 2- ), the chemical-physical parameters (pH, electroconductivity) and the decreased content of deuterium in studied water samples renders beneficial effects of these types of water on human health. We are applying the conclusions for the effects of mountain water on human health and longevity as base for the conclusion on the effects of VITA Intense. The base is also the results with methods NES and DNES on human serum and expected effects from VITA Intense. Keywords : VITA Intense, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-aging, mathematical model, NES, DNES.


In the cell nucleus, each chromosome is confined to a chromosome territory. This spatial organization of chromosomes plays a crucial role in gene regulation and genome stability. An additional level of organization has been discovered at the chromosome scale: the spatial segregation into open and closed chromatins to form two genome-wide compartments. Although considerable progress has been made in our knowledge of chromatin organization, a fundamental issue remains the understanding of its dynamics, especially in cancer. To address this issue, we performed genome-wide mapping of chromatin interactions (Hi-C) over the time after estrogen stimulation of breast cancer cells. To biologically interpret these interactions, we integrated with estrogen receptor (ERα) binding events, gene expression and epigenetic marks. We show that gene-rich chromosomes as well as areas of open and highly transcribed chromatins are rearranged to greater spatial proximity, thus enabling genes to share transcriptional machinery and regulatory elements. At a smaller scale, differentially interacting loci are enriched for cancer proliferation and estrogen-related genes. Moreover, these loci are correlated with higher ERα binding events and gene expression. Taken together these results reveal the role of a hormone - estrogen - on genome organization, and its effect on gene regulation in cancer.


There is little evidence that helps to inform education, practice, policy, and research about issues surrounding the use of online collaboration tools for organisational initiatives (Brown & Duguid, 1991; Cook & Brown, 1999); let alone a single study conducted with regard to the volunteering practice of knowledge workers. The underlying objectives of the research study are to explore and describe how corporate volunteers experience and participate in learning in technology-rich environments; investigate the strategies, beliefs and intentions of corporate volunteers who are effective in learning in technology-rich environments and identity factors that enable or inhibit effective e-learning and make recommendations for those involved in corporate volunteering based on my understanding of their diverse needs, experiences and preferences.


Sandwich panels have proven to be excellent energy absorbents. Such panels may be used as a protective structure in, for example, façades subjected to explosions. In this study, the dynamic response of sandwich structures subjected to blast loading has been investigated both experimentally and numerically, utilizing a shock tube facility. Sandwich panels made of aluminium skins and a core of extruded polystyrene (XPS) with different densities were subjected to various blast load intensities. Low-velocity impact tests on XPS samples were also conducted for validation and calibration of a viscoplastic extension of the Deshpande-Fleck crushable foam model. The experimental results revealed a significant increase in blast load mitigation for sandwich panels compared to skins without a foam core, and that the back-skin deformation and the core compression correlated with the foam density. Numerical models of the shock tube tests were created using LS-DYNA, incorporating the new viscoplastic formulation of the foam material. The numerical models were able to capture the trends observed in the experimental tests, and good quantitative agreement between the experimental and predicted responses was in general obtained. One aim of this study is to provide high-precision experimental data, combined with a validated numerical modelling strategy, that can be used in simulation-based optimisation of sandwich panels exposed to blast loading.


Various approaches to bringing a feminist and activist perspective to teaching art are explored. The author draws on both the writings and work of other artists and educators and her own development as a feminist and socially engaged artist and teacher in order to highlight crucial elements of this perspective. Practical suggestions are presented for curricula and teaching methods that may be adapted to a wide variety of educational contexts. The author concludes that the feminist critique of patriarchy and multiple systems of oppression have profoundly shaped her art-making and teaching and that art pedagogy can provide an effective means of engaging those who have not previously included such a critique or perspective in their world view.


Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon interviews with key actors in the firms under study to explore their experiences with consumers and other constituents in determining how competitive advantage is constructed in this environment. These data are complemented data with interviews with governmental representatives and material from secondary sources. Findings – The results reveal efforts of firms to construct and increase organizational legitimacy through the prominence of discourses of professionalism based on artistry and medicine/public health. These bases of competitive differentiation are not the clear result of exogenous pressure, rather they arise through the active efforts of the firm to construct value guidelines for consumers and other constituents. Practical implications – Strategic management in small firms is a complex and dynamic process that does not necessarily mirror that of large organizations. Constructing competitive advantage is an interacting process between key actors of small firms and various constituents. Originality/value – The paper extends the application of institutional theory in strategic management by illuminating the active role that firms play in creating industry norms, especially in industries where norms are not well established or no longer entrenched. Moreover, exploring an alternative site of study offers a means through which to see well-studied issues in new ways.


Author(s): Walker, Iain; Less, Brennan | Abstract: This study performed detailed thermal and moisture measurements in two homes in Fresno and Clovis, California with sealed attics insulated with glass fiber insulation to determine moisture performance in inland California climates. Data were recorded once every minute for more than a year in each home to allow detailed observation of time-varying moisture and thermal conditions. Moisture measurements were taken at multiple locations in each attic and included wood moisture, surface condensation and surface relative humidity. The results showed that there are strong solar-driven diurnal cycles in attic wood and air moisture content, as well as longer-term seasonal and annual variations. Mold growth was observed on the North roof deck in one of the two homes even in this sunny dry climate with attics built in compliance with California building codes that specifically address sealed and insulated attics with vapor- permeable insulation. We investigated moisture stratification in the attic and found that, although there is stratification during sunny daytime hours, this was not when wood moisture content, surface humidity or surface condensation are high. Therefore, other moisture transport mechanisms are acting to increase moisture levels near the roof peak. Our measurements also showed that the attic with the highest measured moisture levels did not have any mold growth, while mold was visually observed in the attic whose measurements indicted little or no concern, indicating that the state-of-the-art in moisture measurement and mold growth prediction in building assemblies may be insufficient.


The use of satellite data products produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was explored to determine if these products could be used to provide plant growth model output for large landscapes. The use of satellite-derived data is generally advantageous because it is spatially dense (i.e., many measurements for a large landscape). Gridded daily temperature (0.1 x 0.1 degree) and rainfall (8x8 km), derived from the METEOSAT satellite, were used as inputs into the PHYGROW plant growth model for 30 pastoral households in southern Kenya. After model runs were completed, cokriging was used to determine if model output, coupled with NASA's Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) product (a greenness index), could be used to create forage production maps for a large landscape. Cokriging is a geostatistical technique that allows one to take advantage of spatial autocorrelation (i.e., things closer together in space are usually similar than those farther apart), and the similarity between a small number of data points (model output in our case) and a one that is spatially dense (NDVI). Using cokriging, the majority of ten-day averages for year 2000 had moderate to high similarity between model output and NDVI. A comparison of model output and estimates from cokriging indicated that cokriging generally did a good job of estimating forage available for the 30 pastoral households. Mapped surfaces of the cokriging output successfully identified areas of drought in year 2000. Institutions at all levels could use these mapped surfaces as part of their GIS, which can then be linked to economic models, natural resource management assessments, or used for drought early warning systems.


Introduction Obesity has medical, social, psychological, familial and dietary underpinnings. We report the results of multidisciplinary assessments in adolescent bariatric surgery patients in the UK. Aim 1. Multidisciplinary assessment of patients prior to bariatric surgery. 2. Compare outcomes from bariatric surgery to conventional treatment in the obesity clinic. Methods 2F, 2M, mean age 14 yrs (12–18yrs) were selected for bariatric surgery. One boy with Oestegenesis Imperfecta (OI) had decrease mobility secondary to excess weight. Mean BMI 45kg/m2 (38–52 kg/m2). They were jointly assessed by a paediatrician and paediatric surgeon. Investigations completed: Full blood count, electrolytes, Vitamin D, liver ultrasound, fasting insulin and glucose. Secondary assessment by dietetics and child psychiatry looked at as binge patterns, night eating, comorbid psychopathology and family functioning. Quality of life score (Impact on weight on Quality-Kids IWQOL) and Becks Anxiety inventory (BAI) were performed. Operations were performed by a paediatric surgeon and experienced adult bariatric surgeon. Three had lap bands fitted, the boy with OI underwent a sleeve gastrectomy. Pre and post surgery data were collected. Results All surgical patients lost weight over 3 months. Mean loss -10kg/m2 (5–17 kg/m2). The non surgical group had a mean gain +1.9kg/m2 (–4 – 10 kg/m2). Improvement in clinical parameters was also seen: insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) fell from 4.5 to 1.7, mean systolic blood pressure (mmHg) dropped 139 to 126, mean waist circumference (cm) from 121 to 116 cm, hepatic steatosis disappeared in 3 patients who demonstrated it and Vitamin D (µg/l) levels rose from 10 to 35.4. There were no significant complications. Constipation and nausea reported in 2 of the 4. All patients reported improvement in their well being. IWQOL improved mean scores in the body esteem domain increased from 48 to 81. BAI scores reduced from 22.5 to 5 in 2 patients. Conclusion Multidisciplinary assessment is important in selecting patients for bariatric surgery. This surgery should be performed in centres that can provide this. Improvements in quality of life are significant and important to monitor to sustain weight loss. Longer term follow-up is necessary to maintain weight loss and monitor progress.


Extracted from text ... C
Coaching delivers
measurable outcomes
Management Today July 2005 59
Mel Brooks is a senior lecturer and
programme director at the Wits Business
School. He lectures in management
accounting and finance and runs finance
for non-financial managers programmes.
He also works in the area of project cost
management and is an executive coach.
Coaching is a highly effective way of implementing
change - given one essential
condition - that one is able to measure the
impact of that coaching on the change. It is
this ability to measure outcomes that will
set coaching apart from the heap of touchyfeely ..


Overemphasis on individual studies and false alarms are pushing epidemiology to its limits, claims a Science news report (1). The solution is, many think, aggregation of results from studies that address the same hypothesis. Power considerations, the argument goes, encourage the consolidation of study results so that moderate effects can be detected. But if results of individual studies differ widely, should one aggregate? Further down the line, others marvel whether meta-analyses should be conducted in nonexperimental research at all. I do not see much of a problem in well-conducted nonexperimental meta-analyses, to the extent the data at hand are combinable, do not suffer from excessive publication bias, and allow for the reduction or prediction of heterogeneity. Next to publication bias, heterogeneity a major reason for skepticism towards nonexperimental (perhaps also experimental) meta-analyses. Heterogeneity refers to variation in estimates from different studies of a single parameter value of the average effect or exposure-response gradient (fixed effect) or the variation in effect parameters themselves (random effects, "true" heterogeneity) or a combination of the two. There is a host of sources for heterogeneity: conceptual targeting and operationalizations of determinants and end points, study type, modification, confounding, reference entities for the exposed or for cases, publication bias, chance, and others. Different indicators of exposure are applied, implying differences in exposure circumstances, levels and durations, cumulated exposures, exposure categorizations and cutpoints, and concomitant confounding exposures. Variations in determinant levels of doses may offer a "natural" explanation for heterogeneity (2) and warrant an exposure-response analysis. There is an additional level of heterogeneity that is less formal in definition but that deserves equally serious attention. This is the occasional case of differing results of meta-analyses that address the same phenomenon or hypothesis. Why different results from meta-analyses? Apart from the trivial but important case of analyses upgraded with new data, the question boils down to the selection of studies and, within studies, to the selection of inputs into meta-analyses. Are these matters of conscious or unconscious patterns of preference? Definitely yes, what else. It is believed that subjectivity is relieved by reaching a consensus between several evaluators. Subjectivity, however, is not restricted to an individual assessor. It may well creep into a group of evaluators, even when they follow well-defined rules of extraction. One meta-analyst or group discards a somewhat low-quality, off-target, or unpublished study, while another includes it. A sloppy search, even database-oriented, may identify only half of the available studies. When it comes to individual studies, one is usually faced with an array of rate ratios in a single study. One might pick those that carry maximal statistical weight, while another would prefer unconfounded and lagged estimates and write to the authors to improve targeting. One might lump categories of high-level and long-duration exposures together into a "substantial" category, while another might be careful not to do so. Carefully conducted meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials are worth studying by epidemiologists who consider data aggregation. A recent update on chemotherapy in nonsmall-cell lung cancer (3) serves as an example, even though clinicians might consider the estimated benefit of chemotherapy rather on the meager side. One might also learn about possibilities that modeling offers for the reduction of heterogeneity and the adjustment for components of study quality. It is obvious that meta-analysis is not an automatic answer to questions pertaining to multiple data, for study results may not be combinable. In nonexperimental epidemiology, valid exposure reconstruction and meaningful exposure conceptualization and categorization should, by today, have become a sine qua non in occupational, environmental, nutritional, and lifestyle studies, easing the task of the meta-analyst. Still, exposure categories may cover forbiddingly wide ranges of exposure, often because nonexperimental exposure circumstances are just that way. Categories may overlap on account of misclassification. It may be worthwhile discarding studies with fuzzy exposure indicators, or see how sensitive the meta result is to these studies. In spite of variations in the ways meta-analyses are carried out, I am sometimes struck by a scenario in which one day, someone from outside academic epidemiology stands up declaring that epidemiologic meta-analyses should be canonized into a set of rules, which are then listed in a legal order and supposedly Universal Good Meta-Analytic Practice to be followed henceforth. I just do not believe in a one-and-only normative meta-analytic algorithm, or in any eternal epidemiologic algorithm, for that matter. Finally, there are three good alternatives to meta-analysis: not to aggregate, analysis of pooled data, and multicentric studies. The null option is fine in situations in which there is nothing to aggregate or when it turns out that the studies that were meant to be aggregated are biased or not combinable, or when one simply does not believe in aggregating any data. Pooled studies go back into the primary data of a number of studies, into individual records of subjects. Pooling may make it possible to employ sharper common exposure dimensions and categories, compared with meta-analysis. Modern modeling techniques may be applied on the pooled data set. Control of confounding and scrutiny of modification may become much more powerful than in conventional meta-analyses. A recently completed study of 28 704 wood and furniture workers (4) represents an instructive reanalysis of five studies dealing with cancer mortality among workers in wood-related industries. Finally, multicentric studies offer the best possibilities for meaningful data aggregation. The key element is a common protocol, based on a feasibility study, the latter often accompanied by a pilot phase. The protocol is prepared and agreed upon before the data collection. The International Agency for Research on Cancer conducts such powerful multicentric studies. These studies are geared towards priority issues such as the carcinogenicity of occupationally occurring exposures to styrene or bitumen fumes. A final consideration between no aggregation, meta-analysis, pooled reanalysis, and multicentric studies is cost. I wonder if I go totally astray by advancing a guess that the respective costs of these alternatives will be roughly proportional to 0 : 1 : 10 : 100 on the average. Traditional verbal review would probably weigh in at about 0.5. One might also consider a smart combination of an in-depth narrative review, strengthened with a formal meta-analysis, at a cost not exceeding 1.5 on this scale.


The plate used to treat a pseudarthrosis in the proximal femur was investigated for reasons of non-progress of healing. Fatigue cracks were revealed on the top surface of the small section of the plate at the fifth screw hole. The plate was found to be heavily loaded by comparison of intensity of these structures, compared to results of systematic crack-initiation experiments. It was revealed by fatigue bending tests that the fatigue life of plates with asymmetrically arranged holes is at least as long as for plates with holes situated in the center. Fatigue began at the large section only after a fatigue crack begins to propagate into the small plate section. A large secondary crack which had developed parallel to the main crack in the center of the surface was revealed. The fifth hole was situated at the transition between the supporting bone and the defect and hence stress concentration was revealed to be high.


Carbon based materials are some of the most commonly studied catalysts for the conversion of cellulose to polyols. The catalytic performance of these materials, however, is typically limited by the access of the substrate to the active sites, which is governed by the poor solubility of cellulose in aqueous solutions. In an attempt to resolve this, we presented a novel hierarchical carbon material which was synthesized by a dual-templating method. Transmission electron microscopy and porosity measurements confirmed that the resultant materials consisted of both spherical macropores and well-defined mesoporous channels. Additional characterisation of this material revealed that it has an exceptionally high surface area (>1110 m2 g−1) and a high concentration of acidic sites, which are considered to be crucial for the hydrolysis of cellulose. Ni nanoparticles were subsequently immobilised onto this material and some additional carbon supports. It was determined that the high surface area and porosity of the synthesised carbon material assisted with the dispersion of the Ni nanoparticles. This Ni catalyst was found to be highly efficient for the one-pot conversion of cellulose to polyols, which is proposed to be a consequence of both the high number of acid sites and excellent Ni dispersion. This approach to catalyst design, offers a novel method for the valorisation of cellulose.


Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) is a well-known second messenger in cellular signaling. More highly phosphorylated forms of this molecule, inositol pyrophosphates, may also function in cellular regulation. Illies et al. (see the Perspective by Nagamatsu and Ohara-Imaizumi) now show that InsP7 (diphosphoinositol pentakisphosphate) is required for full exocytotic release of insulin from mouse pancreatic β cells. Depletion of the kinase that generates InsP7 inhibited exocytosis, whereas overexpression of the enzyme stimulated exocytotic release of insulin. Pancreatic β cells may maintain high amounts of InsP7 to help ensure ready release of insulin in response to metabolic demands. C. Illies, J. Gromada, R. Fiume, B. Leibiger, J. Yu, K. Juhl, S.-N. Yang, D. K. Barma, J. R. Falck, A. Saiardi, C. J. Barker, P.-O. Berggren, Requirement of inositol pyrophosphates for full exocytotic capacity in pancreatic β cells. Science 318, 1299-1302 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text] S. Nagamatsu, M. Ohara-Imaizumi, IP7 debut in insulin release. Science 318, 1249-1250 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Safe and effective vaccines against COVID-19 are seen as a critical path to ending the pandemic. This synthesis brings together data related to public perceptions about COVID-19 vaccines collected between March 2020 and March 2021 in 22 countries in Africa. It provides an overview of the data (primarily from cross-sectional perception surveys), identifies knowledge and research gaps and presents some limitations of translating the available evidence to inform local operational decisions. The synthesis is intended for those designing and delivering vaccination programmes and COVID-19 risk communication and community engagement (RCCE). 5 large-scale surveys are included with over 12 million respondents in 22 central, eastern, western and southern African countries (note: one major study accounts for more than 10 million participants); data from 14 peer-reviewed questionnaire surveys in 8 countries with n=9,600 participants and 15 social media monitoring, qualitative and community feedback studies. Sample sizes are provided in the first reference for each study and in Table 13 at the end of this document. The data largely predates vaccination campaigns that generally started in the first quarter of 2021. Perceptions will change and further syntheses, that represent the whole continent including North Africa, are planned. This review is part of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) series on COVID-19 vaccines. It was developed for SSHAP by Anthrologica. It was written by Kevin Bardosh (University of Washington), Tamara Roldan de Jong and Olivia Tulloch (Anthrologica), it was reviewed by colleagues from PERC, LSHTM, IRD, and UNICEF (see acknowledgments) and received coordination support from the RCCE Collective Service. It is the responsibility of SSHAP.


A STORY OF LOVE AND LOSS INSCRIBED IN PHOTOGRAPHS, POSTCARDS, LETTERS, AND BEDSIDE SKETCHESIn this collection of letters, drawings, and photos, Anders Nilsen chronicles a six-year relationship and the illness that brought it to an end. "Don't Go Where I Can't Follow "is an eloquent appreciation of the time the author shared with his fiancee, Cheryl Weaver. The story is told using artifacts of the couple's life together, including early love notes, simple and poetic postcards, tales of their travels in written and comics form, journal entries, and drawings done in the hospital in her final days. It concludes with a beautifully rendered account of Weaver's memorial that Glen David Gold, writing in the "Los Angeles Times," called "16 panels of beauty and grace." "Don't Go Where I Can't Follow "is a deeply personal romance, and a universal reminder of our mortality and the significance of the relationships we build. Originally published as a limited edition in 2006, this collection includes a new afterword written by Nilsen."


To make successful teaching and learning process, teachers need a certain curriculum as a teaching plan to help them. As the importance of curriculum, the syllabus also holds the important role to help improve educational practices and to achieve the goal of teaching learning. In syllabus development, the teachers have to create a good syllabus in order to make students understand the material easily.
Related to the statement above, this study was conducted to know the problem of developing syllabus faced by English teachers at SMA Negeri 2 Batu. The research design of this study was descriptive research because the writer wanted to describe the current status of phenomenon. The current status of phenomenon in this research was the problem of developing syllabus faced by English teachers. In this research, the writer took three English teachers as a research subject. The instruments which are used in this study were documentation and interview.
The result of the study showed that the English teachers who developed syllabus faced problem in developing syllabus. The first problem is the materials in curriculum that was insufficient. The teacher took solution by developing the material as much as possible in order to achieve the competence of the students. The second is low student motivation, and the solution is giving
interesting materials so the students' motivation increased. The third problem is MGMP's syllabus, and the solution is doing some revisions to the material, so, the materials could be synchronized between MGMP's syllabus and student's need. The last problem is national
examination. The teacher took solution by asking the student to study hard and also asking to joined with some courses in some institutions of education


Dysregulation of brain serotonin contributes to many psychiatric disorders. Tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (Tph2), rather than Tph1, is preferentially expressed in the brain. We report a functional (C1473G) single-nucleotide polymorphism in mouse Tph2 that results in the substitution of Pro447 with Arg447 and leads to decreased serotonin levels in PC12 cells. Moreover, in BALB/cJ and DBA/2 mice that are homozygous for the 1473G allele, brain serotonin tissue content and synthesis are reduced in comparison to C57Bl/6 and 129X1/SvJ mice that are homozygous for the 1473C allele. Our data provide direct evidence for a fundamental role of Tph2 in brain serotonin synthesis.


General inspection of a role performed in the cell by RNAs allows us to distinguish three major groups of transcripts: I. protein-coding mRNAs, II. non-coding housekeeping and III. regulatory RNAs. The housekeeping RNAs include RNA classes that are generally, constitutively expressed and whose presence is required for normal function and viability of the cells. On the other hand, a group of regulatory RNAs includes RNA species that are expressed at certain stages of organism development or cell differentiation or as a response to external stimuli and can affect expression of other genes on the levels of transcription or translation. Non-coding RNA transcripts form a heterogeneous class of RNAs that can not be characterized by a single specific function. Initially, the term non-coding RNA (ncRNA) was used primarily to describe polyadenylated and a capped eukaryotic RNAs transcribed by RNA polymerase II, but lacking long open reading frames. Now, this definition can be extended to cover all RNA transcripts that do not show protein-coding capacity and is sometimes used to describe any RNA that does not encode protein, including introns. This book is an in-depth look at the function of Non-Coding RNAs and their relationship to Molecular Biology.


Context: The knotty and monumental problem of health inequality and the high burden of diseases in sub-Saharan Africa bothers on the poor state of health of many of its citizens particularly in rural communities. These issues are further exacerbated by the harrowing conditions of health care delivery and the poor financing of health services in many of these communities. Against these backdrops, health policy makers in the region are not just concerned with improving peoples' health but with protecting them against the financial costs of illness. What is important is the need to support more robust strategies for healthcare financing in these communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective: This review assesses the evidence of the extent to which community-based health insurance (CBHI) is a more viable option for health care financing amongst other health insurance schemes in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Patterns of health insurance in sub-Saharan Africa: Theoretically, the basis for health insurance is that it allows for risk pooling and therefore ensures that resources follow sick individuals to seek health care when needed. As it were, there are different models such as social, private and CBHI schemes which could come to bear in different settings in the region. However, not all insurance schemes will come to bear in rural settings in the region. Community based health insurance: CBHI is now recognized as a community-initiative that is community friendly and has a wide reach in the informal sector especially if well designed. Experience from Rwanda, parts of Nigeria and other settings in the region indicate high acceptability but the challenge is that these schemes are still very new in the region. Recommendations and conclusion: Governments and international development partners in the region should collect - ively develop CBHI as it will help in strengthening health systems and efforts geared towards achieving the millennium development goals. This is because it is inextricably linked to the health care needs of the poor.


Big businesses have faced a persistent dilemma in China since the nineteenth century: how to retain control over corporate hierarchies while adapting to local social networks. Sherman Cochran, in the first study to compare Western, Japanese, and Chinese businesses in Chinese history, shows how various businesses have struggled with this issue as they have adjusted to dramatic changes in Chinese society, politics, and foreign affairs. Cochran devotes a chapter each to six of the biggest business ventures in China before the Communist revolution: two Western-owned companies, Standard Oil and British-American Tobacco Company; two Japanese-owned companies, Mitsui Trading Company and Naigai Cotton Company; and two Chinese-owned firms, Shenxin Cotton Mills and China Match Company. In each case, he notes the businesses' efforts to introduce corporate hierarchies for managing the distribution of goods and the organization of factory workers, and he describes their encounters with a variety of Chinese social networks: tenacious factions of English-speaking compradors and powerful trade associations of non-English-speaking merchants channeling goods into the marketplace; and small cliques of independent labor bosses and big gangs of underworld figures controlling workers in the factories. Drawing upon archival sources and individual interviews, Cochran describes the wide range of approaches that these businesses adopted to deal with Chinese social networks. Each business negotiated its own distinctive relationship with local networks, and as each business learned about marketing goods and managing factory workers in China, it adjusted this relationship. Sometimes it strengthened its hierarchical control over networks and sometimes it delegated authority to networks, but it could not afford to take networks for granted or regard them as static because they, in turn, took their own initiative and made their own adjustments. In this book Cochran calls into question the idea that the spread of capitalism has caused business organizations to converge over time. His cases bring to light numerous organizational forms used by Western, Japanese, and Chinese corporations in China's past, and his conclusions suggest that businesses have experimented with new forms on the basis of their historical experiences--especially their encounters with social networks.


Transient increases of intracellular calcium and exocytotic activity of rat peritoneal mast cells following stimulation with compound 48/80 were monitored using the Caindicator dye fura-2 and the capacitance measurement technique. It is known that mast cells very rapidly lose their secretory response towards antigenic or compound 48/80-induced stimulation in the whole-cell recording configuration of the patchclamp technique due to "washout" of signal mediators. In contrast, we found that calcium transients remained unaffected by intracellular dialysis for as long as 10 min. The fast "washout" phenomenon of exocytosis could be overcome by supplementing the pipette filling solution with guanosinetriphosphate (GTP) indicating a major role for GTP-binding proteins in secretion. The restoration of exocytosis was transient and decayed within three minutes, suggesting diffusional escape of one or several other cytoplasmic substances involved in stimulus-secretion coupling. Quantitative aspects of this process and the implications of its differential effects on Ca-transients versus secretion are discussed.


Transient gradual type systems often depend on type-based cast insertion to achieve good performance: casts are inserted whenever the static checker detects that a dynamically-typed value may flow into a statically-typed context. Transient gradually typed programs are then often executed using just-in-time compilation, and contemporary just-in-time compilers are very good at removing redundant computations. In this paper we present work-in-progress to measure the ability of just-in-time compilers to remove redundant type checks. We investigate worst-case performance and so take a na'ive approach, annotating every subexpression to insert every plausible dynamic cast. Our results indicate that the Moth VM still manages to eliminate much of the overhead, by relying on the state-of-the-art SOMns substrate and Graal just-in-time compiler. We hope these results will help language implementers evaluate the tradeoffs between dynamic optimisations (which can improve the performance of both statically and dynamically typed programs) and static optimisations (which improve only statically typed code).


ABSTRACT Research in the areas of psychology, physiology, ophthalmology, and gerontology indicates that both optical and neural changes occur in the aging eye. These changes have a pronounced impact on the visual perception of older consumers and as such, have numerous implications for direct marketing and marketing in general. Pertinent studies in the literature that identify and explain the visual changes in older consumers are reviewed. Creative and media strategy considerations for effective targeting are discussed. INTRODUCTION A current major marketing mistake is an ineffective effort to market to the elderly (Flanagan, 1994). Even though the increasing size and economic power of the elderly population have been noted in published research (e.g. Day, Davis, Dove, & French, 1987/1988; Henderson, 1998; Long, 1998), marketing errors of commission and omission have occurred. Older adults have been negatively stereotyped (Sherman, 1987; Moore, 1988) and underrepresented in advertising (Milliman & Erffmeyer, 1989/1990), poorly segmented, and sometimes - ignored (Long, 1998; Moore, 1988). These mistakes are due, in part, to the fact that many marketers have looked at subjective rather than objective information regarding the elderly and, at times, have viewed elderly consumers as old young consumers. In reality, there are many differences between young and old consumers, some of which include differences in physical mobility (Rosendahl, 1992), cognitive processing abilities (Stephens, 1991), and sensory abilities (Long, 1998). A key sensory ability that changes as a result of aging is the ability to perceive visual stimuli. Visual perception in the older consumer should be a critical area of concern for marketers who target the elderly, because visual perception is often at the root of information processing and resulting consumer behavior. Psychologists, commercial color consultants, and advertisers, for example, use a variety of color hues to elicit emotions and consumer behavioral responses (Lee & Barnes, 1989). Without a doubt, the implications of visual changes in an aging population are numerous for segmentation and targeting (Braus, 1995). Since humans are highly visually oriented creatures, a better understanding of visual perception in the aging eye will benefit marketers in at least three ways. First, a more thorough knowledge of visual perception in older adults will enhance the general understanding of the later stages of information processing since exposure to stimuli, at least in part, determines what occurs in the later stages. Second, it will play a major role in the development of creative and media strategies, both of which are important to marketers (Lamons, 1992). A quote by Ross (1983) regarding such media decisions is even more pertinent today: "The currently increasing use of a multiplicity of media requires that each individual medium be refined for more effective targeted marketing. Equally important, if not more so, is the significance of media's interrelationship and interdependence as a means of achieving a synergistic effect. " Finally, from a consumer standpoint, marketers will be able to address the specific visual needs of the older age group rather than merely treat them as older young people. In an article by Goerne (1992) on direct mail, Schultz was quoted as saying, "We still don't do a very good job of understanding our customer." An understanding of the changes in visual perception that occur with aging will enable marketers to target older consumers more effectively. All this is not to say that the aging population and its impact on marketing have gone unnoticed. Certainly, numerous articles and chapters with a focus on or a mention of older consumers have been published over the last 15 years. These include discussions of the size of the older segment (Greco, 1984; Longino, 1994; Loudon & Della Bitta, 1988), segments within the older market (Day, Davis, Dove, & French, 1987/1988; French & Fox, 1985; Hitschler, 1993; Lumpkin, 1985; Visvabharathy & Rink, 1985), characteristics/dimensions of older consumers (Lazer, 1985, 1986), marketing mix related issues (Greco, 1987; Peterson, 1992; Schewe, 1988; Stephens, 1991), and information processing (John & Cole, 1986). …


The renewal of research interest in machine learning came with the emergence of the concept of big data during the late 2000s.
Schematically, families of deep learning networks (DLN) emerged with industrial ambitions, taking advantage of the development of graphics cards (GPUs) to construct prediction models from massive amounts of collected and stored data and substantial means of calculation. It is illusory to want to learn a deep network involving millions of parameters without very large databases. We tend to think that more data lead to more information.
In addition, the core of learning is all but a problem of data representation, not in the 'data compression' sense. For instance, in DLN, one representation (input layer) is replaced by a cascade of many representations (hidden layers), which means an increase of information (entropy). However, some questions remain:
How does information spread in these inflationary networks? Is information transform conservative through the DLN? Can information theory quantify the learning capacity of these networks?

This Special Issue has the ambition to collect responses to these questions.


Abstract:
This study explains the management accounting process in two privatised Libyan manufacturing companies. In addition, it investigates the perception of managers regarding the emergence of new management accounting systems and/or practices. Moreover, it explores the effect of institutional factors on management accounting systems. The research is based on a case study of two privatised Libyan companies. It uses triangulation of data collection methods and multiple sources of evidence, including interviews, observation and documentation. Using an institutional framework from new institutional sociology (NIS), old institutional economics (OIE) and power mobilisation are used to help clarify the processes of change in Libyan companies. The hybrid-institutional framework utilised in this study has aided in explaining, interpreting and understanding effects which have occurred within the organisations, which involve rules and routines and/or external-organisation, including terms of coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism.
The position as mentioned above cannot be described in terms of quantitative approaches. So the main reason behind the selection of a qualitative approach for this was that the important aim of the qualitative approach is to provide an in-depth understanding of particular phenomena, such as management accounting change. Also, the case study strategy has been chosen from among qualitative strategies; this was appropriate as the researcher wished to provide a fuller understanding of the topics of the research. Triangulation data collection methods have been drawn on. The case studies were carried out during two stages of data collection in 2008-2009. The researcher relied on multiple sources of evidence, including interviews, observations and documents and archival records. Semi-structured interviews were adopted. In this context, the researcher had a list of themes and questions, as well as responses of interviewees which were recorded. Participant observation was converged as it is related to qualitative approach and case study strategy as well.
The results of the case studies showed that the objectives of the companies have changed completely from social to economic. The study found that there were institutional factors which affected management accounting systems and practice before, during and after the privatisation process. Also, the case studies affirmed that the changes were incremental or evolutionary. Furthermore, the findings showed that there is no current revolutionary change within the management accounting systems and practices in the companies under the study. It was also found that there was resistance to change when the company attempted to introduce an Information Technology (IT) system.


The development of 12 litter and seven phylloplane fungal species was examined from spore germination to colony sporulation across a series of environmentally relevant UV-B doses. For the litter fungi all aspects of fungal development and morphology studied were affected. On the basis of the responses of mycelial extension rate and spore germination to increasing UV-B, the 12 litter fungi were divided into two groups. Group A (Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium hordei, P. janczewskii, P. spinulosum and P. purpurogenum) were sensitive to UV-B, with the predicted effects of a 15% ozone depletion resulting in 22–44% reductions in spore germination. Mycelial extension rate on the agar surface was similarly affected, with reductions ranging from 15 to 25%. In contrast group B (Mucor hiemalis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Leptosphaeria coniothyrium, Trichoderma viride, Ulocladium consortiale, the Verticillium state of Nectria inventa and Marasmius androsaceus) were relatively insensitive to UV-B, with significant, but small, reductions in mycelial extension rate (< 5%) and spore germination (0–22%). Spore production in response to UV-B in the litter species was very variable, reductions ranging from 5% to complete inhibition. Only P. hordei showed a significant increase in spore production in response to UV-B dose. In contrast, in all seven phylloplane species, spore germination was unaffected by increasing dose. Mycelial extension rate was slightly (2–12%), but significantly, inhibited by UV-B for the four phylloplane fungi tested. The contrasting responses of phylloplane and litter fungi to UV-B are discussed along with the implications for resource capture by competing fungal species and the possible effects of UV-B on decomposition processes.


Kerryn Goldsworthy has been a freelance writer and critic based in Adelaide since 1998. She is a regular book reviewer for the Fairfax press, Australian Book Review (ABR), and the Sydney Review of Books. She was the editor of ABR from 1986 to 1987 and lectured in literature at the University of Melbourne from 1981 to 1997 following her doctoral studies at the University of Adelaide. She is the author of three books: a short story collection, North of the Moonlight Sonata (McPhee Gribble 1989), Helen Garner (in the OUP Australian Authors series, OUP 1996), and Adelaide, in the UNSW Press series on Australian cities in which leading Australian authors write about their home city (NewSouth 2011). She has edited four anthologies of Australian short fiction and was a member of the editorial team that produced The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature (Allen & Unwin, 2009). In 2013, Kerryn won The Pascall Prize, the only Australia national prize for cultural criticism. She was the inaugural chair of the judges' panel for the Stella Prize (for books by Australian women) 2013-15, and has also been a judge for the Miles Franklin and the then Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Kerryn conducted a popular blog titled 'Still Life with Cat' for several years. Her social media presence has now moved to Facebook, but the Blog still remains and is full of delights. I particularly recommend a post from September 2009, which sets out some ground rules for book reviewing. ttp://stilllifewithcat.blogspot.com.au/2009/09/and-bad-bad-review.html. I started our conversation with what I felt was the most obvious subject for discussion, book reviewing.


Abstract. Model output statistics (MOS) methods can be used to empirically relate an environmental variable of interest to predictions from earth system models (ESMs). This variable often belongs to a spatial scale not resolved by the ESM. Here, using the linear model fitted by least squares, we regress monthly mean streamflow of the Rhine River at Lobith and Basel against seasonal predictions of precipitation, surface air temperature, and runoff from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. To address potential effects of a scale mismatch between the ESM's horizontal grid resolution and the hydrological application, the MOS method is further tested with an experiment conducted at the subcatchment scale. This experiment applies the MOS method to 133 additional gauging stations located within the Rhine basin and combines the forecasts from the subcatchments to predict streamflow at Lobith and Basel. In doing so, the MOS method is tested for catchments areas covering 4 orders of magnitude. Using data from the period 1981–2011, the results show that skill, with respect to climatology, is restricted on average to the first month ahead. This result holds for both the predictor combination that mimics the initial conditions and the predictor combinations that additionally include the dynamical seasonal predictions. The latter, however, reduce the mean absolute error of the former in the range of 5 to 12 %, which is consistently reproduced at the subcatchment scale. An additional experiment conducted for 5-day mean streamflow indicates that the dynamical predictions help to reduce uncertainties up to about 20 days ahead, but it also reveals some shortcomings of the present MOS method.


While 'the sharing economy' is widely promoted as one of the most promising solutions to changing lifestyles in the field of mobility, huge uncertainty still exists regarding which future vehicle-sharing concepts should be developed to meet the very wide range of specific, individual needs. To reduce this uncertainty, new approaches are established and evaluated to integrate the perspective of different customer groups into the innovation process directly and continuously. One very promising approach in this context is 'co-creation'. This paper presents both the methodology and the results of its application, developed in the co-creation project "ProVIL – product development with future users in a virtual idea laboratory" conducted in 2017 with a group of Mechanical Engineering Master's students focusing on the development of vehicle-sharing concepts for future users. To ensure relevance and quality of their concepts, the students used a wide range of existing and new innovation procedures, which were evaluated during the project in the sense of empirical Live-Lab studies.


Substantive justice is often seen as elusive in courts dominated by low-income individuals. Complex court rules, coupled with pervasive lack of counsel, can make it difficult for the traditional adversary process to identify and redress legitimate grievances. This article takes on the social problem of substandard housing and examines whether inquisitorial procedure has the potential to produce accurate outcomes in a tribunal dominated by the unrepresented. Relying on in-court observations of nearly 300 hearings, and a longitudinal review of nearly seventy-five cases, this article surfaces the regularized procedures utilized by a purported "problem-solving" housing court, and theorizes that the inquisitorial features of judicially controlled investigation and enforcement may motivate landlords to repair substantiated housing code violations. This article adds nuance to our understanding of informal justice by identifying the hidden procedural formalisms that may guide alternative decision-making processes. Furthermore, it evaluates the relationship of one iteration of experimental formalism to substantive justice, and suggests that inquisitorial procedures may be correlated with improved accuracy in case outcomes.


This study reports, for the first time in a wide basin area, sedimentation rates calculated on decompacted sediments from a 3D model and not only in wells or along sections. The 3D geological model is used here to analyse the Pleistocene evolution of the central Po Basin. A sequential restoration-and-decompaction workflow is used to obtain six detailed pictures of the basin topography unaffected by sedimentary compaction and tectonic signals in different moments. The maps illustrate the progressive infilling of the basin and the migration of the main depocenters. The sedimentation rate values are obtained using a 3D analysis of the thicknesses; the results highlight the progressive reduction in the sediment supply (from 2.83±0.19 mm/yr in the Calabrian to 0.39±0.05 mm/yr in the Upper Pleistocene) and the difference in sedimentation rate in different depositional environments. Moreover the study focuses on the Pleistocene sedimentation and tectonic history of the Piadena anticline, in order to calculate uplift vs sedimentation rates in an area located far from the main tectonic structures. The obtained results are comparable with literature data and point out the magnitude and the interference of tectonic, sedimentary and climatic processes in the same area, in different moment during the Pleistocene. The workflow applied in this study can be used to discriminate, and in some case to measure, the elusive synsedimentary tectonic signal related to compressive structures growing in a general subsiding basin.


Abstract A significant number of small-sized gastropods are described from Emsian (late Early Devonian) strata on the south flank of Limestone Mountain, Medfra B-4 quadrangle, west-central Alaska, providing the first detailed taxonomic inventory of Emsian gastropods from the Farewell terrane of southwestern and west-central Alaska. The fauna is distinctly of Old World Realm character, and contains not a single species in common with Emsian faunas of nearby nonaccreted rocks of western Canada and east-central Alaska ("Western Canada Province" of Blodgett et al., 2001a). The genera Balbinipleura Bandel and Frýda, 1996 and Nanochilina Frýda, 1998, as well as the subgenus Palaeozygopleura (Rhenozyga) Frýda, 2000, are reported for the first time in the Devonian of the Western Hemisphere. The gastropod fauna includes members of three (i.e., Archaeogastropoda, Caenogastropoda, and Heterobranchia) of the five modern gastropod subclasses, illustrating that these gastropod lineages were separated from each other since the Early Devonian. New taxa include the new genera Arctozone, Farewellia, and Medfrazyga, represented by the new species Arctozone cooki, Farewellia heidelbergerae, and Medfrazyga clauticae. Further new species include Quadricarina (Quadricarina?) noklebergi, Balbinipleura krawczynskii, Decorospira lepaini, Decorospira? minutula, Palaeozygopleura (Rhenozyga) reifenstuhli, and Nanochilina gubanovi. In addition, the following previously described gastropods are also discussed and illustrated: Alaskiella medfraensis Frýda and Blodgett, 1998; Alaskacirrus bandeli Frýda and Blodgett, 1998; and Kuskokwimia moorei Frýda and Blodgett, 2001a.


This work undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the US state experience under formulary apportionment of corporate income. While formulary apportionment eliminates the possibility of shifting income across states through accounting strategies that manipulate where income is booked, it may heighten the tax responsiveness of formula factors. The present analysis uses the substantial variation in corporate tax policy decisions of US states over the period 1986 to 2012 to understand the consequences of formulary apportionment better. It examines the effects of policy choices regarding tax rates, formula weights, and other parameters on economic activity, estimating the tax sensitivity of employment, investment, and sales. With the inclusion of adequate control variables, results indicate that economic activity has not been particularly sensitive to US state corporate tax policy choices, especially in recent years. Still, tax policy choices have important effects on corporate tax revenues. These results suggest important lessons regarding possible international adoption of formulary apportionment.


This paper delves into the debate on the proliferation of regional trade arrangements by focusing on bilateral agricultural trade data over the 1962-1995 period for countries that currently are members of NAFTA, Mercosur, the EU and APEC. Agricultural is chosen because it has historically been protected by developed and dis-protected by developing nations, while in the case of the EU, its Common Agricultural Policy was the major policy jointly managed and funded by member countries. We suggest that the literature has tended to focus on factors explaining the level of trade, and neglected factors affecting growth in trade. While neighborhood characteristics affect neighborhood trade, they also appear to affect the policy regimes of neighboring countries. The shift to more outward oriented regimes is thus likely to induce a dynamic in trade among neighboring countries requiring several years to stabilize. As neighborhood trade grows, it is natural to form trade arrangements so as to harmonize policies and to remove other barriers. If this is the case, then we should expect the growth in intra regional trade to exceed growth in extra-regional trade, and these patterns should occur before the formation of regional trade arrangements. Our results support this explanation.


There is conflicting evidence concerning the role and safety of prehospital intubation, and which providers should deliver it. Success rates for physician-performed rapid sequence induction are reported to be 97–100%, with limited evidence of improved survival in some patient groups. However, there is also evidence that prehospital intubation and ventilation can do harm. Prospective data were recorded on the success of intubation, the quality of the laryngeal view obtained and the number of attempts at intubation. These data were then analysed by the grade of intubating doctor and whether the intubating doctor had a background in anaesthesia or emergency medicine. All groups had a similar success rate after two attempts at intubation. Doctors with a background in anaesthesia and consultant emergency physicians had a significantly better first-pass intubation rate than emergency medicine trainees. The quality of laryngeal view was significantly better in doctors with an anaesthetics background.


Heat stress is one of the harmful factors in workplaces. Asphalt workers are exposed to thermal stress due to the open environment and process. The aim of this study was to assess the heat stress and strain in asphalt workers. This study was conducted on 29 employees of asphalt workstation. The heat stress was measured based on Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). Also, physiological parameters such as blood pressure and heart rate of asphalt workers were measured. The mean of WBGT index for drivers of asphalt machinery, trowels, shovels people and burner servicemen were 27.77, 27.77 and 29.61°C respectively whereas this value was 29.81, 29.85 and 3.23°C for workers of asphalt workstations respectively. The process of asphalting has significant effect on heat stress and physiological parameters of individuals. The pearson correlation between WBGT and heart rate, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure was significant. Asphalt workers are exposed to heat stress caused by different sources which may generate a host of heat strains in these people so special attention should be paid to control heat stress.


Polyaniline-based membranes were developed during this work. The combination of polyaniline
with PVDF offers the opportunity of creating large, dense and stable membrane areas in a
simple and reproducible way.
New production techniques were tested to meet the requirements of large scale applications and
to overcome the poor mechanical properties of polyaniline. In order to fulfil industrial requirements,
with PVDF a material was found that combines well with polyaniline and forms stable
and thin composite membranes having high flux and selectivity in gas-separation applications.
By simultaneous reduction of the film thickness the permeation rate could be increased by at
least 5 times compared to the data in other publications. The thickness of the polyaniline layer
could be reduced down to 1.6μm. The separation factors for some interesting gas pairs are:
H2/CO2 (3.5), CO2/CH4 (40) and 02/N2 (7).
In the case of nitrogen, diffusion coefficients were determined that are by some orders higher
than those observed by other authors.
Also the impact of factors such as the exchange state, membrane thickness, temperature and
feed pressure on selectivity and permeability were tested
Thinnest polyaniline layers on PVDF supports allowed the observation of permeation change
during doping and dedoping the membranes. It has also been illustrated in how far the gas flux
responds to doping. In these tests the change of permeability was observed in situ.
Smallest microporous defects can be plugged without affecting the polyaniline layer itself, and
still maintaining selectivity. The combination of polyaniline / PVDF with siloxanes allows
plugging microscopic defects without restricting the permeant flux.
In sorption tests in the case of oxygen, the Dual-mode model was found to be appropriate to
describe sorption, whereas sorption on nitrogen could satisfactorily be described by the Langmuir
isotherm.
Isotherms of carbon dioxide indicate that the Dual-mode model applies at pressures up to 35bar.
Multi-layer sorption and condensation at still higher pressures can be described by the BET model.