A gas turbine disc has three critical regions for which lifing calculations are essential: the assembly holes or weld areas, the hub region, and the blade-disc attachment area. Typically, a firtree joint is used to attach the blades to the turbine disc instead of a dove-tail joint, which is commonly used for compressor discs. A firtree joint involves contact between two surfaces at more than one location which makes the joint more difficult to design. Large loads generated due to the centrifugal action of the disc and associated blades are distributed over multiple areas of contact within the joint. All of the contacts in a firtree joint are required to be engaged simultaneously when the blades are loaded. However, slight variations in the manufacture of these components can have an impact on this loading. It is observed that small changes in the geometric entities representing contact between the two bodies can result in variations in the stress distribution near contact edges and the notch regions. Even though manufacturing processes have advanced considerably in the last few decades, the variations in geometry due to these processes cannot be completely eliminated. Hence, it is necessary to design such components in the presence of uncertainties in order to minimise the variation observed in their performance. In this work, the variations in geometry due to the manufacturing processes used to produce firtree joints between a gas turbine blade and the disc are evaluated. These variations are represented in two different ways using measurement data of firtree joints obtained from a coordinate measuring machine (CMM): (i) the variation for the pressure angle in the firtree joint is extracted from a simple curve fit and (ii) using the same measurement data, the unevenness of the pressure surfaces is represented using a Fourier series after filtering noise components. A parametric computer aided design (CAD) model which represents the manufacturing variability is implemented using Siemens NX. Non-smooth surfaces are also numerically generated by assuming the surface profile to be a random process. Two- and three-dimensional elastic stress analysis is carried out on the firtree joint using the finite element code, Abaqus and the variations observed in the notch stresses with changing pressure angle are extracted. A surrogate assisted multiobjective optimisation is performed on the firtree joint based on the robustness principles. Kriging based models are used to build a surrogate for notch stresses and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is implemented to perform a multiobjective optimisation in order to minimise the mean and standard deviation of the notch stresses. An iterative search algorithm that updates the Kriging models with equally spaced infill points from the predicted Pareto front is adopted. Finally, a new design of the firtree joint is obtained which has better performance with respect to the variation in the notch stresses due to manufacturing uncertainties.


Abstract Publicly provided long-term care (LTC) insurance with means-tested benefits is suspected to crowd out either private LTC insurance (Brown and Finkelstein 2008. The Interaction of Public and Private Insurance: Medicaid and the Long-Term Care Insurance Market. American Economic Review 98(3):1083–102), private saving (Gruber and Yelowitz 1999. Public Health Insurance and Private Saving. Journal of Political Economy 107(6):1249–74; Sloan and Norton 1997. Adverse Selection, Bequests, Crowding Out, and Private Demand for Insurance: Evidence from the Long-term Care Insurance Market. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 15:201–19), or informal care (Pauly 1990. The Rational Non-purchase of Long-term Care Insurance. Journal of Political Economy 95:153–68; Zweifel and Strüwe 1998. Long-term Care Insurance in a Two-generation Model. Journal of Risk and Insurance 65(1):13–32). This contribution predicts crowding-out effects for both private LTC insurance and informal care on the one hand and private saving and informal care on the other. These effects result from the interaction of a parent who decides about private LTC insurance before retirement and the amount of saving in retirement and a caregiver who decides about effort devoted to informal care. Some of the predictions are tested using a recent survey from China.


This study aims to investigate the degree of compliance by large UK private and public listed companies with the Companies Act 2006 section 417 (6) requirement to disclose KPIs in their annual reports. Specifically, the study investigates the extent of KPI disclosures by 410 UK companies comprising the largest 205 private limited and largest 205 public listed companies. The study also examines whether corporate governance mechanisms and company specific characteristics influence the extent of KPI disclosures in the annual reports of these companies. The extent of KPI disclosures in this study is measured using three indices to quantify KPI disclosures. Some hypotheses for the independent variables were developed and tested using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression method to determine whether corporate governance and company specific characteristics are associated with the extent of KPIs disclosure by private, public listed and the pooled companies. In terms of the extent of disclosure, the results suggest that approximately 51% of private companies and 90% of public listed companies disclose at least one KPI in their annual reports. The OLS regression results indicate that corporate governance mechanisms (proportion of non-executive directors, board size and director share ownership) and company specific characteristics (company size and profitability) are significantly associated with the extent of KPI disclosures by private, public listed and the pooled companies. The frequency of board meetings and multinationality do not significantly explain disclosure extent and comprehensiveness. The overall conclusion of this research is that private companies do not seem to comply with the requirements to disclose KPIs and that corporate governance mechanisms are important in ensuring compliance with the requirement to disclose KPIs. The results have important implications for policy makers and accounting regulators such as the Accounting Standards Board in general, and in particular the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) which is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that large private and public listed companies comply with extant regulatory framework.


The BioGenerator is a promising energy storage solution that can be integrated with renewable power sources (i.e. wind and solar) to compensate the intermittent shortage of the renewable power sources and deliver a comprehensive power package. A trickling-bed bioreactor was considered to be used in the BioGenerator as an alternative to the initially studied "air-lift" type bioreactor. Trickling-bed bioreactor is well known for its low power consumption for oxygen transfer. Dynamic study was conducted on lab scale trickling-bed bioreactor to investigate the effect of the ferrous iron feed interruption on the iron biooxidation rate. The study showed that the iron biooxidation rate was temporary reduced by around 6% when the stoppage period was between 16 and 72 hours. Also, a detailed cost analysis study was conducted to for 1 MW BioGenerator showing that its cost is very competitive option of energy storage, and can be used as an economical alternative to rechargeable batteries usually used with renewable power generation sources. The annualized capital cost of the BioGenerator is $209,000/year, the capital cost per kW is $3,000/kW, and the cost of electricity due to the BioGenerator is 6.2 cents per kWh.


Several lines of evidence suggest that early Mars once had liquid water on its surface, a denser atmosphere and a mild climate. Similar environmental conditions led to the origin of life on the Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago; consequently, life might also have originated on Mars. The Viking landers searched for evidence of organic molecules on the surface of Mars, and found that the Martian soil is depleted in organics at ppb levels at the landing sites. We contend that inorganic compounds could give us interesting clues as to the existence of possible biological activity in future astrobiological missions to Mars. Consequently, we have investigated the physical and chemical properties of calcite, which could be expected on Mars because liquid water was certainly present on the surface of early Mars and carbon dioxide was abundant in its atmosphere. Calcite is interesting because on Earth this mineral is produced by abiotic processes as well as by biological activity. One may suppose that crystalline defects and trace element in the crystal lattice and the growth speed of biotic calcites must indicate a difference between them and pure abiotic calcites. We investigated twelve different terrestrial calcite samples from various origins: biotic, diagenetic and abiotic. The minerals were studied by X‐ray diffraction and electron scanning microscopy to determine their mineralogical and chemical composition, and differential thermal analysis coupled to thermogravimetric analysis (DTA‐TG) to determine their thermal behavior. Our results show that the thermal degradation of abiotic calcite starts at a temperature at least 40°C higher than the degradation temperature of any biotic calcite investigated. Consequently, in the case of a Martian in‐situ study or in a sample return mission, the analysis of Martian minerals by DTA‐TG represents a promising approach to detect evidence of past biological activity on Mars.


Each day, thousands of lessees enter into contracts under which they lease either real or personal property. Under the majority of these contracts, the lessee agrees to pay (and does pay) a "security deposit" to the lessor. The lessor typically agrees to refund the deposit at the conclusion of the lease term if the lessee fully performs its obligations under the lease contract. Is Article 9 relevant to this transaction? Has the lessor taken a "security interest" in the lessee's property to secure the lessee's obligations under the lease contract?In Part I, we highlight two opinions representative of the majority of case decisions that have treated lessee security deposits as a "debt." In Part II, we briefly explore the extent to which Article 9's existing provisions appropriately address tenant security deposits, focusing particularly upon some potentially troubling differences that may follow if a security deposit is not made with property of the debtor (such as cash or a check) but is instead made with a credit card or similar payment mechanism. Part III argues that instead of attempting to modify Article 9 to more aptly govern tenant security deposits, the Uniform Law Commission should incorporate explicit provisions for the characterization and handling of tenant security deposits into the revised URLTA provisions that acknowledge the security deposit as a form of secured transaction, but that address the expectations of residential landlords and tenants more appropriately than the existing provisions of Article 9. Part III concludes with statutory language proposed for inclusion within the revised URLTA.


Microdamage, viscoplastic and viscoelastic strain development in 90-layers of cross-ply laminates subjected to tensile loading is studied on unsymmetrical GF/EP laminates measuring the thermal curvature change. All three phenomena partially compensate for the effect of the thermal mismatch reducing the residual stress (specimen curvature). The viscoplastic strain contribution to curvature change is the largest whereas the effect of transient viscoelasticity is the smallest. Damage is included in the analysis through its effect on the effective transverse modulus of the 90-layer.


In November 2019, in the wake of political demonstrations against the regime, Iran managed to selectively cut off most traffic from the global Internet while fully operating its own domestic network. It seemingly confirmed the main hypothesis our research had led us to, based on prior observation of data routing: Iran's architecture of connectivity enables selective censorship of international traffic. This paper examines, through the case of Iran, how states can leverage the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) as a tool of geopolitical control and what are the trade-offs they face. This question raises a methodological question that we also address: how the analysis of BGP can infer and document these strategies of territorialization of cyberspace. The Internet is a network of networks where each network is an autonomous system. Autonomous systems (ASes) are independent administrative entities controlled by a variety of actors such as governments, companies and universities. Their administrators have to agree and communicate on the path followed by packets travelling across the Internet, which is made possible by BGP. Agreements between ASes are often confidential but BGP requires neighbouring ASes to interact with each other in order to coordinate routing through the constant release of connectivity update messages. These messages announce the availability (or withdrawal) of a sequence of ASes that can be followed to reach an IP address prefix. In our study, we inferred the structure of Iran's connectivity through the capture and analysis of these BGP announcements. We show how the particularities of Iran's BGP and connectivity structure can enable active measures, such as censorship, both internally and externally throughout the network. We argue that Iran has found a way to reconcile a priori conflicting strategic goals: developing a self-sustaining and resilient domestic Internet, but with tight control at its borders. It thus enables the regime to leverage connectivity as a tool of censorship in the face of social instability and as a tool of regional influence in the context of strategic competition.


Usability is a key factor when talking about the quality of a product. The System Usability Scale (SUS) is one of the most popular tools to measure usability due to its numerous advantages and, therefore, a very useful quality assessment tool. Originally designed in English, it is available in some other languages, such as Persian and Greek but no validated version in Spanish can be found yet. This paper bridges this gap by describing the process of statistically validating the SUS into Spanish. The results show that our translation of the SUS is reliable, although our modest sample of informants (n = 50) leaves room for improvement and future research. The validation of the SUS is framed within a European project that will use it for its testing phase.


The paper is centred on the figure of family education facilitator, defined by Enzo Catarsi as 'communication facilitators', namely educators who have enriched their professional educational skills through a training course. The passage from the role of 'educator' to 'facilitator' requires specific training, consisting of theories, communication techniques and group management, but also animation techniques (indeed, the Italian job title is 'animatore') linked to theatre, play, music and bodily expression. Training courses have been developed in various organisations in Tuscany to train early childhood services' educational staff to perform the function of guiding 'talk groups' with parents. In the preparation and implementation of these courses, it was necessary to identify learning tools to help obtain dynamic-relational and socio-emotional skills able to create the facilitating behaviour and group leading skills required, according to Enzo Catarsi's indications, of family education facilitators.


This work is the part of research which has aim to define methodology of using multimedia for communication of information content of cultural heritage. Methodology would be primarily used by small and medium enterprises or arts managers. In this paper we ask the question, what multimedia are best to use in certain situations, which lead us to understand the space between them. In this work we base on analysis of communication process, which tells us about the essential elements (initiator, recipient and contents). Main actors of this communication are owners, managers or curators. In the text we are presenting the categories of material cultural heritage, which represent the objects of communication. As the recipients we defined three possible target groups and their motivations to receive this kind of communication based on their expectations. The motivations are professional interest, education and relaxation. According to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning we studied and compared the parameters and connections of multimedia design and made possible scenarios how to create multimedia outputs including photography, graphics, video, animation and sound for presentation of material cultural heritage.


The last time Central America received much play in the American news media was during the 1980s, when the region, one of the Cold War's hot zones, was plagued by civil war. For much of the decade, Sovietand Cuban-backed Marxist insurgencies (and, in one case, a Soviet backed government) fought long and bloody battles against American supported right-wing forces. Once the Cold War ended, however, the superpowers withdrew much of their support from the region. The civil wars there sputtered out, ending in a series of peace accords: first in Nicaragua in 1990, then in El Salvador in 1992, and finally in Guatemala in 1996. Despite high hopes, however, Central America has seen few improvements in the five years since the fighting stopped. Today the region's seven small republics, rather than exhibiting the new harmony and prosperity that were expected to come with peace, bear only the scars and open wounds of traumatized societies: rampant corruption, gang warfare, drug smuggling, intense urban poverty and overpopu lation, and neglect from the international community. And yet despite these problems, while the United States is focusing ever more attention on Colombia and the two-front war that Bogot? is waging against leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries linked to the drug trade, few in Washington seem concerned with


In recent years, advances in computer architecture have slowed dramatically with most simulation results demonstrating only incremental architectural innovation. This is further exacerbated by increased processor and system complexity spurred by a seemingly unlimited number of transistors at computer architect's disposal. Computer architects produce a myopic view of their systems through the lens of slow, highly-detailed software simulation or fast, coarse-grained software simulation, with fidelity always in question. By leveraging silicon technology scaling in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), hardware can be used to accelerate simulation, emulation, or prototyping of systems. Furthermore, because the base components are reconfigurable, the same system can be used for a variety of research projects, amortizing the cost, both in dollars and in learning time. In this paper, we present the third generation of the Berkeley Emulation Engine or BEE3 system. We demonstrate a new collaboration methodology between academia and industry and compare the industrial and academic system design process. The BEE3 is a production multi-FPGA system with up to 64 GB of DRAM and several I/O subsystems that can be used to enable faster, larger and higher fidelity computer architecture or other systems research. Using a widely available hardware platform also facilitates a software community that can generate and share software modules, thereby enabling rapid system development for computer architecture research.


Abstract. Accurate long-term monitoring of total ozone is one of the most important requirements for identifying possible natural or anthropogenic changes in the composition of the stratosphere. For this purpose, the NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) UV-visible Working Group has made recommendations for improving and homogenizing the retrieval of total ozone columns from twilight zenith-sky visible spectrometers. These instruments, deployed all over the world in about 35 stations, allow measuring total ozone twice daily with limited sensitivity to stratospheric temperature and cloud cover. The NDACC recommendations address both the DOAS spectral parameters and the calculation of air mass factors (AMF) needed for the conversion of O 3 slant column densities into vertical column amounts. The most important improvement is the use of O 3 AMF look-up tables calculated using the TOMS V8 (TV8) O 3 profile climatology, that allows accounting for the dependence of the O 3 AMF on the seasonal and latitudinal variations of the O 3 vertical distribution. To investigate their impact on the retrieved ozone columns, the recommendations have been applied to measurements from the NDACC/SAOZ (Systeme d'Analyse par Observation Zenithale) network. The revised SAOZ ozone data from eight stations deployed at all latitudes have been compared to TOMS, GOME-GDP4, SCIAMACHY-TOSOMI, SCIAMACHY-OL3, OMI-TOMS, and OMI-DOAS satellite overpass observations, as well as to those of collocated Dobson and Brewer instruments at Observatoire de Haute Provence (44° N, 5.5° E) and Sodankyla (67° N, 27° E), respectively. A significantly better agreement is obtained between SAOZ and correlative reference ground-based measurements after applying the new O 3 AMFs. However, systematic seasonal differences between SAOZ and satellite instruments remain. These are shown to mainly originate from (i) a possible problem in the satellite retrieval algorithms in dealing with the temperature dependence of the ozone cross-sections in the UV and the solar zenith angle (SZA) dependence, (ii) zonal modulations and seasonal variations of tropospheric ozone columns not accounted for in the TV8 profile climatology, and (iii) uncertainty on the stratospheric ozone profiles at high latitude in the winter in the TV8 climatology. For those measurements mostly sensitive to stratospheric temperature like TOMS, OMI-TOMS, Dobson and Brewer, or to SZA like SCIAMACHY-TOSOMI, the application of temperature and SZA corrections results in the almost complete removal of the seasonal difference with SAOZ, improving significantly the consistency between all ground-based and satellite total ozone observations.


The 1990s have seen a rapid growth of research interests in mobile ad hoc networking. The infrastructureless and the dynamic nature of these networks demands new set of networking strategies to be implemented in order to provide efficient end-to-end communication. This, along with the diverse application of these networks in many different scenarios such as battlefield and disaster recovery, has seen MANETs being researched by many different organizations and institutes. MANETs employ the traditional TCP/IP structure to provide end-to-end communication between nodes. However, due to their mobility and the limited resource in wireless networks, each layer in the TCP/IP model requires redefinition or modifications to function efficiently in MANETs. One interesting research area in MANET is routing. Routing in the MANETs is a challenging task and has received a tremendous amount of attention from researches. This has led to development of many different routing protocols for MANETs, and each author of each proposed protocol argues that the strategy proposed provides an improvement over a number of different strategies considered in the literature for a given network scenario. Therefore, it is quite difficult to determine which protocols may perform best under a number of different network scenarios, such as increasing node density and traffic. In this paper, we provide an overview of a wide range of routing protocols proposed in the literature. We also provide a performance comparison of all routing protocols and suggest which protocols may perform best in large networks.


The Internet facilitates the creation and support of social networks of various strengths. Online social networks facilitate effective and efficient distribution of data and content. They also promote the creation of content. In this Article I strive to provide courts and policy makers with general intuitions that may guide them to decisions that promote the beneficial dynamics transpiring in online social networks, as well as allow them properly to account for the true impact of this ever-changing environment. To meet these objectives, I first define online social networks and address several challenges they face. I also examine the technological and social tools applied to tackle these challenges, while separately addressing the need for independent platforms, user motivation and accreditation. Thereafter, I examine several social dynamics that these platforms make possible, and their intriguing ramifications. I demonstrate how data flows within social networks might call for the restructuring of existing policy frameworks, such as those addressing consumer protection and media concentration. With social networks in place, the objectives of existing laws and policies might be met by other means, thus rendering them unnecessary. For instance, consumer-related data flowing in social networks would substitute the need to protect consumers from unfair transactions and contractual terms. Information flows in social networks will serve for the efficient and unbiased distribution of content and ideas, thus meeting the objectives of mass media policy. Finally, I examine the role of policy that would facilitate the beneficial interactions transpiring in these networks. I address ways to motivate and encourage contributions to the online discourse by further insulating users from the ramifications of their online actions. In addition, I examine the role of governments in assuring that data flows prove accurate and free of intentional tampering.


Direct synthesis of highly durable carbon nanotube interpenetrated porous carbon alloy electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) from a single precursor, trimetallic zeolitic imidazole framework (t-ZIF), is reported. The use of a single precursor improves the uniform distribution of active reaction centres which is crucial for ORR catalysts. The t-ZIF has Fe, Co and Zn metal centres and 2-methylimidazole as a ligand. Carbonisation of the t-ZIF under an inert atmosphere produces nitrogen and Fe/Co–Nx doped carbon/carbon nanotubes alloyed with metal/metal oxide particles encased inside the carbon structures (FeCo-NCZ). The presence of Zn in the t-ZIF induces porosity in carbon during the carbonisation process. The peculiar morphology with a reasonably high surface area provides efficient mass transport and interpenetrated carbon nanotube assisted fast electron transport in the catalyst. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that FeCo-NCZ is enriched with different possible active reaction centres such as pyridinic, graphitic and Fe/Co–Nx type nitrogen coordination on the catalyst surface. The ORR activity of FeCo-NCZ in oxygen saturated 0.1 M KOH was comparable to/higher than that of the reference Pt/C catalyst. The displayed onset potential (1.04 V vs. the RHE) and half-wave potential (0.91 V vs. the RHE) of FeCo-NCZ are more positive compared to those of Pt/C and other control-samples. It is noteworthy that the dioxygen reduction kinetics of FeCo-NCZ are comparable to those of Pt/C as evident from the Tafel slope and oxygen reduction follows a four electron pathway. More interestingly, FeCo-NCZ shows better fuel tolerance and electrochemical stability even at 60 °C compared to Pt/C under alkaline conditions.


In current life cycle impact assessment, the focus of ecotoxicity is on cold‐blooded species. We developed a method to calculate characterization factors (CFs) for the impact assessment of chemical emissions on warm‐blooded predators in freshwater food chains. The method was applied to 329 organic chemicals. The CF for these predators was defined as a multiplication of the fate factor (FF), exposure factor (XF), bioaccumulation factor (BF), and effect factor (EF). Fate factors and XFs were calculated with the model USES‐LCA 2.0. Bioaccumulation factors were calculated with the model OMEGA, for chemical uptake via freshwater, food, and air. Effect factors were calculated based on experimental, median lethal doses (LD50). The concentration buildup (CB) of the chemicals (i.e., FF, XF, and BF over the 3 routes of exposure) showed a range of 7 to 9 orders of magnitude, depending on the emission compartment. Effect factors displayed a range of 7 orders of magnitude. Characterization factors ranged 9 orders of magnitude. After emissions to freshwater, the relative contribution of the uptake routes to CB were 1% (90% confidence interval [CI]: 0%–2%) for uptake from air, 43% (11%–50%) for uptake from water, and 56% (50%–87%) for uptake from food. After an emission to agricultural soil, the contribution was 11% (0%–80%) for uptake from air, 39% (5%–50%) for uptake from water, and 50% (11%–83%) for uptake from food. Uptake from air was mainly relevant for emissions to air (on average 42%, 90% CI: 5%–98%). Characterization factors for cold‐blooded species were typically 4 orders of magnitude higher than CFs for warm‐blooded predators. The correlation between both types of CFs was low, which means that a high relative impact on cold‐blooded species does not necessarily indicate a high relative impact on warm‐blooded predators. Depending on the weighing method to be considered, the inclusion of impacts on warm‐blooded predators can change the relative ranking of toxic chemicals in a life cycle assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2012; 8: 372–378. © 2011 SETAC


Chronic Otitis Media (COM) causes deformation of the middle ear ossicles with perforation as a result of long-lasting inflammation of the middle ear and it is one of the basic reasons for hearing loss. The middle ear images are examined by otolaryngologists in the diagnosis of the disease in clinical practice. The observers make a decision considering the status of the tympanic membrane images. Decision support systems using image processing techniques and machine learning algorithms are quite useful in the diagnosis process, however, the usage of such systems in this field is limited. In this study, we propose a diagnostic model using a pretrained deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) called AlexNet. The experiments were carried out on a private dataset consisting of totally 598 tympanic membrane images collected from patients admitted to Özel Van Akdamar Hospital. Firstly, a set of preprocessing procedures were applied to the eardrum images. Then, the tympanic membrane images were used to feed the DCNN model. The proposed model was trained using transfer learning approach. To evaluate and validate the success of the proposed model, the 10-fold cross-validation method was used. As a result, the model provided satisfactory results with an accuracy of 98.77%. Consequently, the proposed DCNN model was determined as a robust tool in separating chronic and normal tympanic membrane images.


We present a novel method for three-dimensional optical memory and microchannel embedded in fused silica glass. Three-dimensional dot patterning with a femtosecond laser pulse and observation with optical microscope are performed. Dot patterns are created by use of a 0.42 N.A. objective to focus 100 fs laser pulses inside the material. We demonstrate data storage with $2{\mu}m$ dot pitch and $7{\mu}m$ layer spacing $(36 Gbit/cm^3)$ . A three-dimensional microchannel acting as microfluidic and microoptical components is directly fabricated inside a silica glass. The optical micrographs of the microchannel are obtained by a digital camera of a microscope.


In this paper we discuss the origin and development of the expression of possibility in the creoles of Suriname. We first describe the systems of possibility in Sranan and three Maroon creoles (Ndyuka, Pamaka, and Saamaka), drawing on data elicited from informants, conversational data as well as the published literature. We examine several modal elements, namely sa, kan, man, poy, whose distribution differs across the different varieties and also over time. Our analysis reveals that the system of possibility in Sranan is organized quite differently from that of the Maroon creoles. To explain these facts, we trace the development of this area of grammar by drawing on historical data from the early Sranan and Saamaka texts, and by exploring possible influence from the Gbe substrate languages as well as Dutch. We argue that the overall structure of this subsystem in the Maroon creoles was broadly modelled on Gbe while the rather different system found in Sranan Tongo is due primarily to influence from Dutch, and to internal developments.


Nowadays, mobility models are used to simulate realistic movements produced
by the users of a wireless or a mobile network.
The aim of this project is to evaluate the impact of mobility models on handover
process in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) indoor environments, using
the network simulator NS-2.
This document contains a previous theoretical characterization of the basic
mobility models and their application in the network simulator NS-2, a study of
the infrastructure mode support and a modification of the current handover
algorithm.
The study focuses on two mobility models in WLAN indoor environments: one
where movements are completely random (i.e. Random Waypoint) and another
one where next step depends on previous movements (i.e. Gauss-Markov). In
order to support infrastructure mode operation in WLAN, a new patch with
modifications of the source code is applied. Furthermore, a first approach for
the development of a new handover algorithm is presented.
Simulations are run in two different scenarios: one with 4 Access Points (APs)
offering full coverage in the simulated area, and another one with 8 APs,
simulating overcoverage in order to guarantee higher capacity for a higher
density of users. Results are presented showing a comparative of the cell
residence time (CRT) for each scenario. From the results obtained, it is
possible to see that the CRT changes depending on the algorithm and the
mobility model applied, being lower when the Random Waypoint model is
applied. On the other hand, the new handover algorithm designed from the
current implementation leads to a decrease in the average CRT.


This study sought to examine the perceptions of music teachers towards the
effectiveness of the Music Studies of the Malaysian Diploma in Teaching or
better known as the Kursus Diploma Perguruan Malaysia [KDPM] with
reference to its teaching-learning strategies, acquisition of classroom-based
skills, and music teaching skills. The study was prompted by the growing
concern about the performance of college-trained music teachers in general,
indicating that the KDPM Music Studies may not have adequately equipped
graduating teachers with sufficient teaching skills.
Questionnaires and interviews were administered to generate the data required
for this study. The interviews were carried out to confirm results gathered
through questionnaires and to pursue interesting lines of inquiry as they
develop. The study utilised a variety of statistical analysis techniques on the
quantifiable data obtained, ranging from descriptive statistics to I-tests and F
tests for group differences.The research findings indicate that generally, most of the KDPM music teachers
who participated in this study perceived the teaching-learning strategies to be
effective and agreed in varying degrees that the KDPM Music Studies had been
effective in helping them acquire classroom-based skills and music teaching
skills. Though positively perceived, the findings also revealed inadequacies in
specific teaching-learning strategies and acquisition of teaching skills such as
incorporating the use of technology in music education; catering for integration
and variety in classroom teaching; teaching music and movement activities
associated with western art music; teaching fingering of notes for the alto
recorder; and helping student teachers acquire and form musical concepts
through the playing of musical instruments.
Statistical tests indicate that there are significant differences of perceptions
between groups of respondents in the research sample towards the acquisition of
classroom-based skills and music teaching skills. Respondents with the STPM
entry qualification perceived the acquisition of classroom-based skills more
positively than respondents with the SPM/SPMV entry qualifications.
Respondents with prior music qualifications perceived the acquisition of music
teaching skills more positively than respondents without prior music
qualifications.
It is hoped that the findings of the study will contribute towards improving the
effectiveness of the KDPM Music Studies and the selection of future candidates
attending the programme.


This thesis explores the challenges and potential of mass timber as a paradigm shifting technology for the building industry through the application of parametric modeling technology to the design of office buildings. By testing building configurations in three zoning envelopes—low-rise suburban, mid-rise urban, and high-rise urban—optimization strategies for mass timber office buildings were developed. Facades and floor slabs were identified as the primary contributors to building cost and environmental impacts and therefore the easiest targets for optimization. The primary method for optimizing facades is replacing curtain wall with solid cross laminated timber (CLT) walls, this method runs counter to developer driven standards of fully glazed facades making short term adoption of this strategy unlikely without major shifts in building developer and owner expectations. Slabs and floor systems can be optimized through the implementation of novel solutions that take advantage of composite action between glulam, CLT, and concrete elements. Additionally, zoning height incentives could be used to make timber construction competitive with steel and concrete systems despite increased floor-to-floor heights. Finally, future research opportunities and needs, both architectural and technical, are identified.


Urban disasters are characterized by buildings collapsing. The rubble of collapsed buildings forms a chaotic, unplanned and unmapped environment in which emergency first responders must find the surviving occupants who are now trapped and hidden in the dangerous rubble. The more knowledge that search teams have pertaining to the resulting environment the better they are equipped to plan and rescue survivors. Our research demonstrates that simulations can be used to inspect urban disaster-related terrain remotely and safely within hours of the actual disaster.

The Disaster Scene Reconstruction system allows for the creation of accurate 3D models and a simulation providing custom functionality --such as virtual structural inspection and--providing first responders the ability to plan actions in the simulated environment. The goal of this research is to demonstrate that the functionality we developed can be used to provide accurate information to users and potentially assist search and rescue planning efforts.


Background and Purpose— The importance of perioperative cognitive decline has long been debated. We recently demonstrated a significant correlation between perioperative cognitive decline and long-term cognitive dysfunction. Despite this association, some still question the importance of these changes in cognitive function to the quality of life of patients and their families. The purpose of our investigation was to determine the association between cognitive dysfunction and long-term quality of life after cardiac surgery. Methods— After institutional review board approval and patient informed consent, 261 patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled and followed for 5 years. Cognitive function was measured with a battery of tests at baseline, discharge, and 6 weeks and 5 years postoperatively. Quality of life was assessed with well-validated, standardized assessments at the 5-year end point. Results— Our results demonstrate significant correlations between cognitive function and quality of life in patients after cardiac surgery. Lower 5-year overall cognitive function scores were associated with lower general health and a less productive working status. Multivariable logistic and linear regression controlling for age, sex, education, and diabetes confirmed this strong association in the majority of areas of quality of life. Conclusions— Five years after cardiac surgery, there is a strong relationship between neurocognitive functioning and quality of life. This has important social and financial implications for preoperative evaluation and postoperative care of patients undergoing cardiac surgery.


Bangladesh is a developing country where Information Technology (IT) is ever not highly developed but Government has a dream to develop this sector so that IT can entrance in every sector in Country. Information technology (IT) is an umbrella term , the use of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data. It is now a part of nearly every aspect of daily life in developing country- Bangladesh and is the backbone of many successful initiatives such as improving teaching quality of education. Information technologies are assumed to play a constructive role in education to make the teaching and learning process more productive through collaboration in an information rich society. Information rich society promotes new practices and paradigms for education where the teacher has to play new role of mentoring, coaching and helping students in their studies rather to play the conventional role of spoon-feeding in the classrooms. Students can learn independently having a wide choice of program selection and access to information. Information technology complements and enhances traditional teaching system through emphasis on the information basis in University of Dhaka. This study attempts to explore the impacts of information technology on teaching as well as learning system of educational institutions. In this research report, mixed method (both qualitative and quantitative method) is used to get an insight view about the related issues. It is observed that IT based learning system is a modern method of teaching and learning process which is helpful both for teachers and students. Keywords : Education, Information Technology, Teaching, Teaching method, Learning process.


Verified compilers, such as Leroy's CompCert, are accompanied by a fully checked correctness proof. Both the compiler and proof are often constructed with an interactive proof assistant. This technique provides a strong, end-to-end correctness guarantee on top of a small trusted computing base. Unfortunately, these compilers are also challenging to extend since each additional transformation must be proven correct in full formal detail.
 At the other end of the spectrum, techniques for compiler correctness based on a domain-specific language for writing optimizations, such as Lerner's Rhodium and Cobalt, make the compiler easy to extend: the correctness of additional transformations can be checked completely automatically. Unfortunately, these systems provide a weaker guarantee since their end-to-end correctness has not been proven fully formally.
 We present an approach for compiler correctness that provides the best of both worlds by bridging the gap between compiler verification and compiler extensibility. In particular, we have extended Leroy's CompCert compiler with an execution engine for optimizations written in a domain specific and proved that this execution engine preserves program semantics, using the Coq proof assistant. We present our CompCert extension, XCert, including the details of its execution engine and proof of correctness in Coq. Furthermore, we report on the important lessons learned for making the proof development manageable.


© 2012 Springer-Verlag London Limited.Translational medicine underpins vascular medicine. It is fundamental to understanding how we treat patients with vascular disease and more importantly, how to prevent it. It is the rationale for drug design and production. Vascular medicine and translational medicine will take over and become the main reason for referring patients to hospital. Therefore, hospital-based clinicians working with basic scientists need to know about translational medicine, which educates and informs them about vascular medicine and how management should be based. This book is a primer for translational vascular medicine and discusses the evolving and exciting areas of basic science applied to vascular medicine. The book is based on the third vascular biology conference held at The Royal College of Physicians in 2008. It provides a large amount of new basic and clinical information and the contributors are world leaders.


This paper considers the conceptual basis for various arguments as to the most appropriate method of accounting for identifiable intangible assets. The conceptual framework propounds the view that information needs of users have primacy. One consequence of this is that shareholders' views should be considered. Partial results of a major survey of the shareholders of Pacific-Dunlop Ltd, undertaken by the authors, are drawn on. These results indicate that shareholders have a variety of views regarding the accounting for identifiable intangible assets. A conclusion is drawn that in order to meet the information needs of the users, no single method should


This collection of essays brings together scholars from a wide range of critical approaches to study T. S. Eliot's engagement with desire, homoeroticism and early twentieth-century feminism in his poetry, prose and drama. Ranging from historical and formalist literary criticism to psychological and psychoanalytic theory and cultural studies, Gender, Desire and Sexuality in T. S. Eliot illuminates such topics as the influence of Eliot's mother - a poet and social reformer - on his art; the aesthetic function of physical desire; the dynamic of homosexuality in his poetry and prose; and his identification with passive or 'feminine' desire in his poetry and drama. The book also charts his reception by female critics from the early twentieth century to the present. This book should be essential reading for students of Eliot and Modernism, as well as queer theory and gender studies.


High Performance RF and Basdband Analog-to-Digital Interface for Multi-standard/Wideband Applications. (December 2010) Heng Zhang, B.S., Peking University, Beijing, China Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Edgar Sánchez-Sinencio The prevalence of wireless standards and the introduction of dynamic standards/applications, such as software-defined radio, necessitate the next generation wireless devices that integrate multiple standards in a single chip-set to support a variety of services. To reduce the cost and area of such multi-standard handheld devices, reconfigurability is desirable, and the hardware should be shared/reused as much as possible. This research proposes several novel circuit topologies that can meet various specifications with minimum cost, which are suited for multi-standard applications. This doctoral study has two separate contributions: 1. The low noise amplifier (LNA) for the RF front-end; and 2. The analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The first part of this dissertation focuses on LNA noise reduction and linearization techniques where two novel LNAs are designed, taped out, and measured. The first LNA, implemented in TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) 0.35μm CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) process, strategically combined an inductor connected at the gate of the cascode transistor and the capacitive cross-coupling to reduce the noise and nonlinearity contributions of the cascode transistors. The proposed technique reduces LNA NF by 0.35 dB at 2.2 GHz and increases its IIP3 and voltage gain by 2.35 dBm and 2dB respectively, without a compromise on power consumption. The second LNA, implemented in UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation) 0.13μm CMOS process, features a practical linearization technique for high-frequency wideband applications using an active nonlinear resistor, which obtains a robust linearity improvement over process and temperature variations. The proposed linearization method is experimentally demonstrated to improve the IIP3 by 3.5 to 9 dB over a 2.5–10 GHz frequency range. A comparison of measurement results with the prior published state-of-art Ultra-Wideband (UWB) LNAs shows that the proposed linearized UWB LNA achieves excellent linearity with much less power than previously published works. The second part of this dissertation developed a reconfigurable ADC for multi-standard receiver and video processors. Typical ADCs are power optimized for only one operating speed, while a reconfigurable ADC can scale its power at different speeds, enabling minimal power consumption over a broad range of sampling rates. A novel ADC architecture is proposed for programming the sampling rate with constant biasing current and single clock. The ADC was designed and fabricated using UMC 90nm CMOS process and featured good power scalability and simplified system design. The programmable speed range covers all the video formats and most of the wireless communication standards, while achieving comparable Figure-of-Merit with customized ADCs at each performance node. Since bias current is kept constant, the reconfigurable ADC is more robust and reliable than the previous published works.


There is much evidence to demonstrate a long standing, shared concern by various stakeholders wishing to affirm the profile and status of Religious Education in the Catholic school context. This paper reports on an initial part of a wider research study recently conducted with Religious Education classroom teachers in Catholic primary schools within the Melbourne Archdiocese. It draws on findings from Stage one of this research project and considers the profile and status of Religious Education as perceived by participants. The findings question whether some Catholic primary schools exhibit the necessary degree of support for the value and priority of Religious Education, something which calls into question the very notion and the existence of Catholic schools. This paper comments on the valuable insights offered by participants in these preliminary findings and indicates both opportunities and challenges facing contemporary Catholic schools in the pursuit of quality Religious Education.


Summaries This article considers the absence of convincing analyses of gender roles in thinking about community‐based natural resource management. It suggests that policies and approaches are inadequately gendered and particularly omit to recognise the relational nature of gender. Such approaches are further criticised for promoting women's development to the neglect of men, for perpetuating normative generalisations about men and women and for an excessive focus on public manifestations of gendered participation and decision making. This results in policies which overlook the changing and negotiated nature of gender roles, the intersection of productive and reproductive concerns in gendered decisionmaking and the costs to women and men of inclusion in and exclusion from public life. This article draws on examples of gendered decision‐making and negotiation over the management of land, livestock and water in Zimbabwe. It argues for a more sophisticated conceptualisation of the roles of men and women which takes account of their capacities as individual agents as well as the different structural constraints operating on them. The article suggests areas where further analysis is urgently required.


The book, well illustrated, presents in a wider historical-cultural context the results of the archaeological explorations (1990's to early 2000's) at Caesarea Maritima, the provincial capital of Roman Judaea/Palaestina, where Jews, Pagans, Christians and Samaritans lived side by side.


Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) is commonly used to determine soil pore size distributions (PSDs) in a wide, but incomplete, range of equivalent pore diameters. Mono‐ and multifractal analyses of soil PSDs are useful for analyzing the soil porous system. The main objective of this work was to characterize PSDs from tropical soils using the multifractal approach. Duplicate PSDs were measured by MIP for 54 horizons collected from 19 soil profiles in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Although 10 of the studied soils were Ferralsols (Oxisols or Latosols), other soil groups such as Nitisols, Acrisols, Alisols, Luvisols, Planosols, Cambisols, Andisols, and Leptosols also were sampled. Different patterns of PSDs were observed, depending on soil type, texture, and weathering intensity. Textural porosity (0.005–0.2 μm) was positively and significantly correlated to clay and Al2O3 contents and soil specific surface area. Comparison of multifractal analysis from Hg intrusion curves and N2 adsorption isotherms (NAIs) showed entropy dimension values and width of the singularity spectra smaller for the former than for the latter. Multifractal analysis of MIPs and NAIs allowed a thorough characterization of the complexity and heterogeneity of the soil pore space at different scales and was useful to provide new insights for portraying the soil pore system.


Paraquat and nitrofurantoin can accept single electrons and, under appropriate conditions in tissues and cells, can pass these electrons to oxygen, thus participating in redox cycling. Similarities in the response of the target organ (the lung) and in subsequent pathology have also been observed among animals poisoned by oxygen and by these chemicals. We report evidence primarily obtained from Escherichia coli for common biochemical sites of toxicity for these agents. Common sites for oxygen and paraquat involve biosynthesis of specific amino acids, induction of genetic stringency via unloaded tRNAs resulting from amino acid deficiencies, decreased thiamin content, and impaired biosynthesis of pyridine nucleotide coenzyme biosynthesis for paraquat and oxygen. Inhibition of specific amino acid biosynthesis and induction of stringency also have been observed for nitrofurantoin. RNA and DNA biosynthesis are also impaired by oxygen; this has not been examined for paraquat or nitrofurantoin. There is a biochemical basis and preliminary data to support inhibition of NAD biosynthesis as a component of mammalian toxicity for these agents. Niacin may act to circumvent the consequences of the biochemical lesion at quinolinate phosphoribosyl transferase in NAD biosynthesis.


In its first edition, The Holocene provided undergraduates with a much-needed coherent scientific account of the great transformation of nature that had taken place during the Holocene, the last 10,000 years in the history of the planet and the period in which we are all now living. This period has included major shifts in climate and human culture, and in the natural environment at every level. Completely revised and updated to take full account of the most recent advances, the new edition of this established text includes substantial material on scientific progress in the understanding of climate change and abrupt climatic events, of disturbance effects on the landscape, and of ice core records. Not only have improved dating methods, such as luminescence, been included but the timescale for the book has been moved to calendar (i.e. real) years. Coverage and supporting case study material have also been broadened and extended.Author: Roberts, Neil Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Illustration: N Language: ENG Title: The Holocene: An Environmental History Pages: 00344 (Encrypted PDF) On Sale: 2009-07-06 SKU-13/ISBN: 9780631186380 Category: Science : Earth Sciences Geology


Natural Language Processing and Information Retrieval is a textbook designed to meet the requirements of engineering students pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate programs in computer science and information technology. The book attempts to bridge the gap between theory and practice and would also serve as a useful reference for professionals and researchers working on language-related projects. Integrating two rapidly developing and popular research fields of language processing and information retrieval, the book provides an extensive coverage of various concepts and widely used techniques in these areas. The text includes topics such as language modeling, lexical analysis, computational modeling, grammar and parsing, and semantic as well as knowledge-based analysis. The statistical and semantic approaches are explained with examples from Hindi, English, and Urdu. Besides presenting traditional applications of machine translation and natural language generation, the book discusses recent trends and practices of information retrieval, text summarization, and information extraction in sufficient detail. Written in easy-to-understand and student-friendly style, the textbook also provides ample practical applications based on hands-on research experience wherever appropriate.


Epidemiological evidence suggests a possible association between chronic exposures to toxigenic molds in damp waterdamaged buildings and high levels of cholesterol abnormalities that may represent a high risk for cardiovascular diseases. Although, cholesterol has many useful functions in the body, including its role in membrane structure, brain tissue, fetal development and the biosynthesis of other steroidal hormones, its harmful effects in the body have been widely publicized. Although, the physiological status of cholesterol in animals exposed to toxigenic molds have been reported, there is not enough experimental evidence to support similar occurrence in humans. The purpose of this review is to provide a basis for discussion in the light of on-going research on the topic.The effects of chronic toxigenic mold exposures on individuals in damp buildings are reviewed to provide the background for better understanding of their associations with the observed cholesterol abnormalities. The structure, and the regulatory mechanisms of cholesterol biosynthesis are assessed to identify the important enzymes interact with the toxigenic molds and mycotoxins to which abnormalities are enhanced. It was for this purpose that the effects of mycotoxins on metabolism, cellular supply and utilization of cholesterol and bile acid synthesis and related cardiovascular disease symptomology are evaluated. The outcomes of the reviews showed that, persons exposed to chronic toxigenic molds in damp buildings might be at risk of cardiovascular diseases and other related disorders. This assumption was based on the structural and functional activities highlighted by the evidence from animal models of cholesterolemia: cholesterol LDL-cholesterol/depression, atherosclerosis, premature coronary artery disease (CAD) and neurogenetic aspects of hypercholesterolemia. Given the fact that toxigenic molds release mycotoxins that affect human health, and given the possibility that structurally, and mechanistically, mycotoxins could adversely affect cholesterol metabolism through interactions with the related enzymes and disruption of cellular supply and utilization of cholesterol, and bile acid synthesis, it is most likely that individuals exposed to chronic toxigenic molds might be at risk of neurological disorders including cardiovascular diseases and stroke.


As the 1996-1997 Term of the United States Supreme Court drew to a close, it became clear that the big winner was, once again, federalism. The Court held that there is no national constitutional right to die.(1) Consequently, the issue of doctor-assisted suicide is going to continue to be a matter for state lawmakers rather than federal judges. Nor, the Court said, may Congress create (religious) rights and impose them on the states under the guise of merely enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment.(2) That is, the states will be bound by the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Bill of Rights, not Congress's enlargement of it.(3) And, most forthrightly of all with respect to federalism, the central government, we are told in Printz v. United States,(4) cannot commandeer state law enforcers to implement federal gun control law.(5) The Brady Law thus runs afoul of the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment! That mere "truism"(6) has once again become a potent restriction on federal authority. As liberals nervously ponder a future with a revived Tenth Amendment,(7) they have forgotten their darling, itself a product of that same Amendment: the "New Judicial Federalism."(8) Isn't it the Tenth Amendment that empowers and protects state courts when they broaden rights on state law grounds?(9) Doesn't the same principle of federalism that undid the Brady Law also enable Hawaii to recognize same-sex marriage,(10) Kentucky to strike down a ban on anal intercourse,(11) and a host of states to find a right to equal school funding that does not exist in the Federal Constitution?(12) Ah, but perhaps that is someone else's federalism. In this Article, I wish to explore the implications for state courts of the continued development of Tenth Amendment principles. What if decentralization--the restoration of state authority--were to extend to the more bloated aspects of federal constitutional law? What if the Supreme Court were to say that only truly fundamental rights and those procedures essential to their maintenance are required by the Fourteenth Amendment, and that the Tenth Amendment leaves to state discretion all other procedural matters? In other words, what if the Court were to disincorporate some of the rotting planks (perhaps overly rigid planks is the better metaphor) of the federal floor? What if it were to overturn Miranda v. Arizona,(13) for instance, since it has said unambiguously that the famed warnings are not constitutional mandates?(14) Would the state courts be ready to develop, on their own, a responsible body of state criminal procedure law? In one sense, the answer is surely "yes." The state courts have now demonstrated beyond peradventure that they are sensitive enough to individual rights to be trusted to protect them where they need to be protected, and to narrow them in an appropriate manner where they need to be narrowed.(15) They have already developed a body of state constitutional law much larger than is generally appreciated. Though most of this law mimics Supreme Court doctrine, a significant chunk of it establishes broader rights.(16) There is also compelling evidence--in the low number of federal court reversals (on habeas corpus petitions to the lower federal courts, and both habeas and direct appeals to the Supreme Court(17))--that the state courts do an admirable job protecting federal constitutional rights. Unfortunately, however, not all states are comfortable with state constitutional law. Some state courts would be caught fiat-footed by disincorporation. They would have to begin taking state law much more seriously. Once some of the federal floor is eliminated, state law will have to move to the forefront because state law will be the only game in town. State law, in other words, will not just be an option, it will be a necessity. The states least prepared for disincorporation will be those that have resisted the development of state constitutional law. It is to these state courts--presumably among the most "conservative" state tribunals--that this Article is addressed. …


Organization-public relationships have been recognized as the essence of public relations. Even though employees have been identified as a strategic public contributing to organizational success, no attention has been given to employee-organization relationship development in postsocialist transitioning countries in Central and Eastern Europe. This study explores how local employees in foreign-owned hotels in Croatia make sense of relationships with organizations for which they work. Interviews with Croatian employees reveal a number of barriers to successful employee-organization relationship development in foreign-owned companies. Findings indicate that local employees struggle with unfulfilled expectations in the workplace and face obstacles that prevent improvement. Employees perceive profit as a main corporate value while there is little or no attention given to employees' wellbeing and satisfaction. Findings further illustrate cultural and social distance between local employees and foreign managers. The issue of multiculturalism in transitioning countries becomes increasingly relevant as companies hire Western, Eastern European, and other nonWestern managers. Public relations and internal communication could assist in relationship development in cross-cultural settings. However, this study's findings indicate greater managerial issues that have to be dealt with at the top management level, which has to be willing to consider employees' perspectives. That provides an opportunity and challenge for public relations in foreign-owned companies. However, in order to be able to contribute to overcoming crosscultural obstacles, public relations will have to participate in strategic management, and argue that communication has to be supported by appropriate managerial behavior.


The increased demand for renewable energy generation requires higher flexibility of transmission systems. This requirement together with technical progress in high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) technology have resulted in the ambition to build large-scale multi-terminal DC (MTDC) grids. To achieve this goal, vendor interoperability is considered a key element. Standards exist for AC systems, but not for DC systems. This work discusses and evaluates the suitability of AC standards for DC systems. As a result, a different view on substation architecture is developed and two communication protocols are suggested for further investigation in this context.


DEVELOPMENT OF AN ATLAS-BASED SEGMENTATION OF CRANIAL NERVES USING SHAPE-AWARE DISCRETE DEFORMABLE MODELS FOR NEUROSURGICAL PLANNING AND SIMULATION Sharmin Sultana Old Dominion University, 2017 Director: Dr. Michel A. Audette Twelve pairs of cranial nerves arise from the brain or brainstem and control our sensory functions such as vision, hearing, smell and taste as well as several motor functions to the head and neck including facial expressions and eye movement. Often, these cranial nerves are difficult to detect in MRI data, and thus represent problems in neurosurgery planning and simulation, due to their thin anatomical structure, in the face of low imaging resolution as well as image artifacts. As a result, they may be at risk in neurosurgical procedures around the skull base, which might have dire consequences such as the loss of eyesight or hearing and facial paralysis. Consequently, it is of great importance to clearly delineate cranial nerves in medical images for avoidance in the planning of neurosurgical procedures and for targeting in the treatment of cranial nerve disorders. In this research, we propose to develop a digital atlas methodology that will be used to segment the cranial nerves from patient image data. The atlas will be created from high-resolution MRI data based on a discrete deformable contour model called 1-Simplex mesh. Each of the cranial nerves will be modeled using its centerline and radius information where the centerline is estimated in a semi-automatic approach by finding a shortest path between two userdefined end points. The cranial nerve atlas is then made more robust by integrating a Statistical Shape Model so that the atlas can identify and segment nerves from images characterized by artifacts or low resolution. To the best of our knowledge, no such digital atlas methodology exists for segmenting nerves cranial nerves from MRI data. Therefore, our proposed system has important benefits to the neurosurgical community.


The beta Lindley-Poisson (BLP) distribution which is an extension of the Lindley-Poisson Distribution is introduced and its properties are explored. This new distribution represents a more flexible model for the lifetime data. Some statistical properties of the proposed distribution including the expansion of the density function, hazard rate function, moments and moment generating function, skewness and kurtosis are explored. R´enyi entropy and the distribution of the order statistics are given. The maximum likelihood estimation technique is used to estimate the model parameters and finally applications of the model to real data sets are presented for the illustration of the usefulness of the proposed distribution.


Generally, the remoteness of potential sites for small hydropower (SHP) which are mostly located in mountainous regions, and complex hydrological phenomena, remain significant barriers for SHP development. However, hydrological modeling together with the advancement of remote sensing and geospatial technology can be used to assess SHP potential. This study combined geographic information system (GIS) methods with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model to assess the potential for SHP development in the Ciwidey subwatershed, Indonesia. Nine potential sites for SHP were identified according to criteria such as head/elevation drop, stream order, and distance between each potential site. The SWAT model reproduced the observed discharge in the watershed accurately producing an acceptable coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.75) and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE = 0.67). According to Flow Duration Curve (FDC) analysis at 60, 75, and 90% dependability threshold, a maximum SHP potential total of 1.72 MW can be harnessed in the Ciwidey subwatershed. This study is expected to boost the initiative of promoting renewable energy, mainly SHP, in Indonesia. Based on these results and the goal of increasing renewable energy resources to bolster national energy security, we recommend an initiative promoting SHP in Indonesia.


We numerically reveal the rich dynamics of a two-dimensional fundamental soliton coupled on the top of a sharp external potential in dissipative nonlinear media based on the cubic-quintic complex Ginzburg–Landau model. Here, we consider two kinds of radially symmetric potentials, namely, a tapered potential (TP) and a raised-cosine potential (RCP). It is found that if the sharpness and depth of the potential are large enough, the soliton can emit either one annular beam or a cluster of ring-like beams, all of which gradually expand upon propagation. By using the TP, one can get a nonstationary annular beam, while a single stationary annular beam can be achieved by using the RCP. The radius of the stationary annular beam is controllable by the modulation period of the potential. Other soliton dynamics, including soliton localization, soliton oscillation, lateral drift, soliton collapse, and soliton decay, are also revealed. The reported results provide what we believe to be a new method to generate annular beams in dissipative systems.


The forces induced in buildings by earthquakes are here investigated. The effects of some of the physical properties of structures are determined and from an analysis of earthquake records the general character of earthquakes is deduced. An investigation is also made of the dissipation of energy of vibration to the propagation of elastic waves in the ground.

This thesis was written to contribute to the program of earthquake research that Professor Martel has been carrying on for the past ten years. As such, it is a continuation of the work done by M. A. Biot and M. P. White. Acknowledgment is made of the financial support of the County of Los Angeles which made possible the analysis of the earthquake records.

Sincere appreciation is expressed to Professor R. R. Martel for the advice he has given and the interest he has shown.

SUMMARY

All the earthquakes analysed are of the same general character. There are no special features distinguishing any one earthquake from another. There is no evidence that the physical properties of the ground have any effect on the character of the earthquake.

In the range of periods from 2/10 seconds to 2 seconds, all ground waves are of approximately equal importance. There are no predominating periods of ground waves.

The analysis of records provides a convenient method of measuring the intensities of earthquakes. A scale of intensities constructed in this manner is shown in the following table:

Scale of Earthquake Intensities

El Centro, May, 1940 -- 100
Long Beach, March, 1933, (at Vernon) -- 65
El Centro, December, 1934 -- 60
Helena, Montana, October 31, 1935 -- 55
Ferndale, September, 1938 -- 40
Los Angeles, October, 1933 ? 17

The analysis of the records shows that there is no so-called "dominant ground period".

For undamped structures, with periods of vibration longer than about 2/10 of a second, the maximum shearing force at the base is, for practical purposes, independent of the height of the structure and independent of the period of vibration.

For such structures the maximum shearing forces are independent of the total mass of the structure but for ordinary construction vary in direct ratio as the mass per floor level.

When the height of a structure is increased, the shearing forces in the upper portions of the structure are increased.

Only the first few modes of vibration are of importance in producing shearing forces.

For undamped structures flexibility and lightness of construction will reduce the magnitudes of the shearing forces. However, the flexibility of the first story alone has little effect upon the maximum shearing force at the base of the structure, although it does reduce the shearing forces in the upper portions of the structure.

Considerable elastic yielding of the ground may take place at the base of a structure without having sufficient effect on the accelerogram to be distinguished by analysis of the record.

The energy dissipated into the ground may be an important factor in reducing the shearing forces. The analysis shows that the reduction in shearing forces due to energy lost in wave propagation is greater for high frequencies than for low frequencies, and is greater for ground of low rigidity than for ground with high rigidity. Tables are constructed which indicate that structures with high frequencies may have their shearing forces appreciably reduced by this energy dissipation. It appears, however, that structures with periods of about 1 second will be little affected.


Background/Context Despite recent gains from a number of students in U.S. schools, African American males continue to underachieve on most academic indices. Despite various interventions that have attempted to transform the perennial disenfranchisement, their school failure has persisted. Conversely, their failure in schools frequently results in poor quality of life options. Purpose/Objective/Focus of Study The objective of this study was to use critical race theory as a paradigmatic lens to examine the schooling experiences of African American males in PreK-12 schools. The focus of the study was to shed light on how African American males believe race and racism play as factors in their schooling experiences. Research Design The article includes qualitative data from a case study of African American males who offer counterstorytelling accounts of their schooling experiences. This article also explores the utility and appropriateness of critical race theory as a methodological tool to examine and disrupt the disenfranchisement of African American males in U.S. public schools. Findings/Results The results from this study revealed that the participants were keenly aware of how race shaped the manner in which they were viewed by their teachers and school administrators. The data also revealed how the participants explicitly fought to eradicate negative racial stereotypes held about African American males. Finally, the use of counter-storytelling within a critical race theory framework seemed to provide the participants a platform to discuss race-related issues in a manner that many of the participants felt was lacking in their school environments. Conclusion/Recommendations The findings from this study reveal some of the difficult obstacles that many African American males seek to overcome in order to become academically successful. Moreover, the findings suggest that educators must become more conscious of the role that race and racism plays in their schooling environments. Furthermore, educational researchers who are concerned with disrupting school failures of students of color and from low-income backgrounds should consider conceptual and methodological frames that place race, class, and gender at the center of their analysis.


Introduction: Right ventricular infarction, previously thought to be rare and recently thought to be common, is commonly associated with inferior wall myocardial infarction. We will hereby study the clinical profile of right ventricular infarction (as diagnosed by right precordial electrocardiography) in patients with acute inferior wall myocardial infarction and the clinical course of RV infarction in inferior wall myocardial infarction in terms of complications. Aims and objectives: 1. To study the incidence of right ventricular infarction in patients of acute inferior myocardial infarction using right precordial electrocardiography. 2. To study the complications of right ventricular infarction. 3. To study the response of specific therapy in patients with right ventricular infarction. Materials & methods: 50 patients with a history of chest pain less than 24 h were included in the study, standard 12 leads electrocardiography along with right side chest leads were taken on admission and on daily morning at 7 AM routinely for the first three days. A detailed clinical examination was done to find out the presence of right ventricular failure, left ventricular failure, hypotension and cardiogenic shock at the time of admission. Each patient was subjected to investigations viz. cardiac enzymes. Patients were grouped into two groups group A and group B according to the presence or absence of right ventricular infarction respectively. Results: Of the total studied 50 patients, 16 patients had right ventricular infarction in association with inferior wall infarction of left ventricle. Complicated course was present in 75% of patients in group A as compared to 29.42% of patients in group B. Conclusion: Complications and in-hospital mortality rates were more common in patients with right ventricular infarction than in patients without it. Copyright 2013, SciBioIMed.Org, Published by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Accurate staging is essential in order to determine appropriate treatment in Hodgkin's disease (HD). (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG PET) offers the advantage of metabolic imaging that is largely independent of morphologic criteria. In the present study we evaluated the role of (18)F-FDG PET compared to routine procedures for the staging of patients with HD.

DESIGN AND METHODS
Thirty-three patients with HD underwent standard staging procedures (clinical examination, laboratory screening, chest X-ray, computed tomography (CT) of the chest and abdomen and bilateral bone marrow biopsies) and a whole-body (18)F-FDG PET study. In clinical examination, an isolated lymph node > 1 cm or multiple lymph nodes > or = 1 cm in size were considered abnormal. Positive findings at both clinical examination or CT and (18)F-FDG PET were regarded as actual locations of disease. Negative findings with both methods were regarded as true negative (no involvement by HD). In cases of discrepancy, response to treatment and follow-up data were used to assess the overall accuracy of the patient's original evaluation.

RESULTS
Completely concordant results in lymph node staging were observed in 20 patients. The two staging procedures indicated complementary information in 1 patient. Conventional staging indicated more pathologic lymph node areas in 6 patients (at least 1 false positive). (18)F-FDG PET showed more sites in 6 patients. The sensitivity of (18)F-FDG PET in detecting all known pathologic lymph nodes was 83% for peripheral lymph nodes, 91% for thoracic lymph nodes and 75% for abdominal and pelvic lymph nodes. Conventional staging procedures and (18)F-FDG PET indicated the same tumor stage in 26 patients. Based on (18)F-FDG PET, downstaging was suggested in 4 patients, including a biopsy-proven case. However in 1 of these cases this was incorrect. (18)F-FDG PET suggested upstaging in 3 patients. Based on conventional staging or (18)F-FDG PET the same treatment strategy was defined in 32 patients. In one patient (18)F-FDG PET downstaged disease extension (stage IIIA-->IIA) that would have suggested radiotherapy as a possible treatment option.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
(18)F-FDG PET provides an easy and efficient whole-body method for the evaluation of patients with HD. (18)F-FDG PET never missed tumor masses >1 cm. (18)F-FDG PET detected additional sites of disease not seen by conventional procedures and identified absence of disease in some sites suspected to be involved. However, in our patients this did not translate into changes in treatment strategy.


Of the many problems in cocoa business development in Sikka, generally the main problem is low productivity which tends to decline further. Following consultations with cocoa stakeholders
in Sikka, the roots of the problem of low cocoa productivity in Sikka can be grouped into two main
factors, namely: (1) Old cocoa trees; and(2) Pests and diseases. Problems associated with low cocoa productivity in Sikka can be described with a problem tree as the next page. Each of these factors has occured because of several inter related aspects, and there are those whose behavior may trigger the occurrence of problems.


Clay of the Middle Atlas Mountains region, Morocco, was used to investigate the removal of heavy metals ions (Cadmium and Copper) from aqueous solutions with respect to several experimental conditions including pH, contact time, initial solute concentrations, temperature and ionic strength. Kinetic study revealed that metal ions uptake was fast with 90% or more of the adsorption occurring within first 30 min of contact time. Adsorption rate increased with the increasing initial metal ions concentrations and the sorption rate was well fitted by the pseudo-second-order rate model. The data according to mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion models confirmed diffusion of solutes inside the clay particles as the ratecontrolling step and more important for the adsorption rate than the external mass transfer. The suitability of the adsorbent was tested by fitting the adsorption data with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Equilibrium and kinetic adsorption data showed that clay displays a high selectivity with an affinity order of Cd > Cu. Thermodynamic parameters including the Gibbs free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH), and entropy (ΔS) changes indicated that the present adsorption process was feasible and endothermic in the temperature range of 25–45 °C.


Wittgenstein demystified the notion of ''observational self-knowledge''. He dislodged the long-standing conception that we have privileged access to our impressions, sensations and feelings through introspection, and more precisely eliminated knowing as the kind of awareness that normally characterizes our first-person present-tense psychological statements. He was not thereby questioning our awareness of our emotions or sensations, but debunking the notion that we come to that awareness via any epistemic route. This makes the spontaneous linguistic articulation of our sensations and impressions nondescriptive. Not descriptions, but expressions that seem more akin to behaviour than to language. I suggest that Wittgenstein uncovered a new species of speech acts. Far from the prearranged consecration of words into performatives, utterances are deeds through their very spontaneity. This gives language a new aura: the aura of the reflex action. I argue, against Peter Hacker, that spontaneous utterances have the categorial status of deeds. This has no reductive consequences in that I do not suggest that one category is reduced to another, but that the boundary between them is porous. This explodes the myth of an explanatory gap between the traditionally distinct categories of saying (or thinking) and doing, or of mind and body.


Exhumation of rocks in extensional tectonic settings results from a combination of normal faulting and erosion but the relative contribution of these processes has rarely been quantified. Here we present new low-temperature thermochronological data and the first 10Be-based catchment-wide erosion rates from the Boz Dağ region in the central Menderes Massif, which has experienced NNE–SSW extension since the Miocene. The slip rate of the shallow-dipping Gediz detachment fault, which defines the northern flank of the Boz Dağ block, is 4.3 (+3.0/−1.2) mm a−1, as constrained by zircon (U–Th)/He ages of c. 4–2 Ma in the footwall. Apatite and zircon (U–Th)/He and fission-track ages from the northern flank of the Boz Dağ block yield exhumation rates of 0.6–2 km Ma−1 beneath the Gediz detachment, whereas those on the southern flank are only 0.2–0.6 km Ma−1. Erosion of catchments on the northern and southern flanks proceeds at rates of 80–180 and 330–460 mm ka−1, respectively. This marked contrast is a combined effect of the topographic asymmetry of the Boz Dağ block and differences in rock erodibility. If these erosion rates persisted in the past, rock exhumation on the northern flank occurred predominantly by tectonic denudation, whereas rocks on the southern flank were mainly exhumed by erosion.


Although infection rates and the impact of infection on hospital emergency departments (EDs) are known or can be reliably estimated, the incidence and prevalence of sepsis vary in relation to which definitions or registers used. Sepsis is also well known to be under-diagnosed by physicians in general and by ED physicians in particular. Over half of sepsis cases are community-acquired, and 50% to 60% of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) with sepsis or septic shock are admitted directly from the ED. Pneumonia and urinary tract infections are the most common points of focus in sepsis, septic shock, bacteremia, and ED admissions to the ICU for infectious processes. For this article a multinational group of experts representing Latin American emergency medicine associations reviewed and analyzed similarities and differences in the epidemiology of sepsis in different geographic locations. We consider key aspects and geographic similarities and differences in the early identification of patients with severe sepsis; criteria that define the diagnosis; appropriate early antibiotic and fluid therapy; the roles of triage systems and multidisciplinary sepsis code units; and the use of biological markers in this time-dependent disease. We also discuss key points and strategies for improving the diagnosis, prognosis, and care of sepsis patients in the ED.


This study aims at developing a GIS aided analysis to generate watershed runoff
data. For this purpose, the Sg. Pangsun watershed, a small headwater catchment
located in Ulu Langat, Selangor was chosen as an experimental ground. This basin
has an area of approximately 2.6 km2 and lies on the southern flank of the Main
Range.
Two GIS-based software namely ARC/INFO 3.4 and ArcView 3.1 with Spatial
Analyst 1.1 a, 3D-Analyst and the Hydrology extensions were applied in this study.
The former was employed to create three digital coverages of geographical features,
namely, stream, contour and boundary from topographic maps to be used as
database by the latter to perform spatial and hydrological analyses which generated three intended themes, namely, grid slope, flow accumulation and stream network.
The grid slope theme provided slope values for the calculation of overland and
channel flows travel times on cells concerned using continuity-momentum and
Manning-continuity principles respectively. The flow accumulation theme on the
other hand delineated the main channel of the study watershed whose water on its
cells considered as channel flow. The stream network theme provided the flow path
of runoff (distance) for computation of the various time units taken by runoff from
cells of both overland and channels flows to travel to the watershed outlet. The cells
(partial watershed areas) were then categorized based on their travel times to
produce the time-area histogram that represents the translation effect of runoff
(equilibrium flow) on watershed surface. Clark's Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph
method was later used to take into account the storage effect of the study watershed
(delay caused by surface detention, saturation of soil profile, etc.) to produce a 15-
minute unit hydro graph (UH).


We consider the \emph{Threshold Bandit} setting, a variant of the classical multi-armed bandit problem in which the reward on each round depends on a piece of side information known as a \emph{threshold value}. The learner selects one of $K$ actions (arms), this action generates a random sample from a fixed distribution, and the action then receives a unit payoff in the event that this sample exceeds the threshold value. We consider two versions of this problem, the \emph{uncensored} and \emph{censored} case, that determine whether the sample is always observed or only when the threshold is not met. Using new tools to understand the popular UCB algorithm, we show that the uncensored case is essentially no more difficult than the classical multi-armed bandit setting. Finally we show that the censored case exhibits more challenges, but we give guarantees in the event that the sequence of threshold values is generated optimistically.


Objective: To share our experience of percutaneous trans-catheter aortic valve implantation in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis.
Study Design: A retrospective cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology/National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC/NIHD) Rawalpindi, from Mar 2015 to Feb 2020.
Methodology: Retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous trans-catheter aortic valve implantation was done to assess its immediate, short and long term outcome and safety. Twenty patients have undergone trans-catheter aortic valve implantation since 2015 in the institute. Base line blood chemistry including creatinine clearance, ultra-sonography abdomen, carotid Doppler, chest X-ray, High-Resolution Computed Tomography chest was done in all cases as part of the protocol. Mean age of the patients was 73 ± 7.91. There were sixteen males (80.0%) and four females (20.0%). All patients under went procedure through transfemoral route. Valve structure and peripheral vasculature for suitability of the procedure was assessed by computerized coronary tomographic angiography with TAVI protocol. In eleven patients aortic valve was trileaflet (55.0%) and in remaining nine it was bicuspid (45.0%). Mean gradient across the valve pre-procedure was 56.37 ± 9.14. Thirteen patients (65.0%) presented with angina/dysnoea NYHA III, 6 patients with syncope (30.0%) and one (5.0%) had heart failure. Two patients had undergone previous coronary artery bypass surgery. Procedure was carried out under general anesthesia in all patients except one. Balloon expandable Edwards Sapienvalve was implanted in two patients and self-expandable Core Valve/Evolut R in eighteen patients.
Results: Seventeen patients underwent the procedure successfully with reduction of the mean gradients immediately after valve implantation to less than 15 mmHg recorded in the cath labangiographically subsequently complemented by transthoracic echocardiography. There were 3 deaths during the index hospitalization. Two occurred in the catheterization laboratory, one death was due to development of severe acute aortic regurgitation and second was due to acute coronary obstruction. Third death occurred due to acute kidney injury after seven days. Five patients died in next three months during follow up. One patient required permanent pacemaker because of development of left bundle branch block and second degree atrio-ventricular block post procedure.
Conclusion: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis is a very effective and procedurally safe option and reasonable alternative to surgical valve replacement in high operative risk individuals.


Antarctic exploration in the 'Heroic Era' (the early twentieth century) is often represented as the last gasp of British imperialism — an attempt to occupy empty, uninhabited and more-or-less useless territory at a time when the rest of the empire was beginning to crumble.1 Of British Heroic-Era exploits, three stories in particular preoccupy the present popular imagination2: Robert F. Scott's ill-fated journey to the Pole with his four companions, as famously related in his posthumously published journal; a slightly earlier journey to Cape Crozier by three of Scott's expedition members in search of Emperor penguins' eggs, as told by Apsley Cherry-Garrard in a chapter of his 1922 travel memoir The Worst Journey in the World; and the story of Ernest Shackleton's Imperial TransAntarctic Expedition, in which his ship, The Endurance, was imprisoned and later crushed by ice, leaving the men to survive on ice-floes and a subantarctic


This paper focus on the stakeholder theory, based on the CSR disclosure analysis and investigate the attitude of the banking institutions towards their social and environmental impact and the stakeholders' interests relative to the CSR concerns. The analysed banks adjust their corporate behaviour according to the community expectations, experiencing a particular form of CSR, which is more orientated to the philanthropic activity. The major CSR characteristics of the Romanian banking sector highlights the commitment of the banking institutions in the sustainability framework, in order to meet the stakeholders' expectations and to stress the organizational values, reaching in the same time a strong positive image. The value of these findings for the banking practice refers to the main directions provided by the most competitive actors on the market, in order to legitimize their activity and to offer a unitary level of integration of the stakeholder theory in the strategic CSR policy.


ABSTRACT As France and Germany have become major targets of jihadist terrorism, the calls for stronger cooperation in counterterrorism at the European level have grown in earnest. However, a comparative analysis of the national experiences from both countries evidences significant differences in terms of political culture, institutional division of labor, and legal oversight. Counterterrorism practices can be described following a typology of three broad categories: a military-oriented policy that aims to prevent, deter and retaliate against terrorists; a regulatory policy that strengthens the legal and judicial resources to address the terrorist threat; a diplomatic approach that focuses on negotiations, and sometimes accommodation. Whereas France moved after the 2015 attacks towards a military-oriented policy, Germany has so far opted to sustain its traditional regulatory approach. This article details the differences between Paris and Berlin regarding the contemporary public debate on jihadist terrorism, to the law enforcement framework, to the deradicalization programs as well as to the role of armed forces. The paper identifies a clear divergence in each of these sectors. As the future extent of bi- and multilateral lateral efforts in the field of counterterrorism are likely to rise, these differences should be better taken into account.


This study aimed to investigate the risk and protection factors for women who access health services for the realization of preventive screening for cervical cancer. Quantitative study conducted with 51 women in Teresina-PI, Brazil, in August 2013. The semi-structured form caught the variables of interest and the data were analyzed by the SPSS. Of the women, 72.5% were aged 25-39 years, 66.7% were married, and 55.0% accessed the service for prevention. With regard to the risk factors, 41.2% were overweight, 19.6% obese, and 72.5% were sedentary. Regarding the access to health services, 78.5% sought care in the past year. The cervical cancer screening program should be discussed in the sociocultural context, which will promote understanding and adherence to the recommendations of take the exam periodically. For this purpose, we recommend conducting immediate and effective measures to improve the viability of public policies for women's health.. Descriptors: Cervix Neoplasms Prevention; Risk Factors; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; Women's Health.


While many health services strive to be equitable, accessible and inclusive, peoples' right to health often goes unrealized, particularly among vulnerable groups. The extent to which health policies explicitly seek to achieve such goals sets the policy context in which services are delivered and evaluated. An analytical framework was developed – EquiFrame – to evaluate 1) the extent to which 21 Core Concepts of human rights were addressed in policy documents, and 2) coverage of 12 Vulnerable Groups who might benefit from such policies. Using this framework, analysis of 51 policies across Malawi, Namibia, South Africa and Sudan, confirmed the relevance of all Core Concepts and Vulnerable Groups. Further, our analysis highlighted some very strong policies, serious shortcomings in others as well as country-specific patterns. If social inclusion and human rights do not underpin policy formation, it is unlikely they will be inculcated in service delivery. EquiFrame facilitates policy analysis and benchmarking, and provides a means for evaluating policy revision and development.