APPLYING A WORKABLE EDUCATION SWAP IN BANGLADESH This policy brief examines the Second Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP II), and the sector wide approach (SWAp) of donors supporting education in Bangladesh. Based on an assessment of PEDP II and other empirical analyses of education performance in Bangladesh, it recommends that the next PEDP should be more flexible, encompassing more types of education providers under a unified national plan and be extended to a greater age range, with significantly increased resources to bring Bangladesh up to parity with comparable countries' primary education expenditure. Although the new PEDP III under preparation appears to be emerging as an extension of PEDP II, this brief indicates the potential if the aims of the new Education Policy 2010 are taken seriously. It is based on the CREATE Pathways to Access Research Monograph No. 57: The Sector Wide Approach in Bangladesh Primary Education: A Critical View (Ahmed, M., 2011).


The binomial model is a workhorse for valuing options with early exercise possibilities, including options with American or Bermudan exercise and barrier options. The procedure is straightforward when the underlying asset does not pay dividends, and it can be readily adapted to a payout at a fixed proportional rate. But discrete dividends cause trouble because they make the tree "splinter" rather than recombining at each time step. If the tree recombines, an up move followed by a down move produces the same asset price as a down move followed by an up move. But if the intermediate date corresponds to an ex-dividend date and the same fixed amount is subtracted from the up and down nodes, the tree no longer recombines at the subsequent step. The number of nodes in a non-recombining tree increases at a geometric rate, quickly leading to unreasonably long execution times. A number of alternative procedures have been developed to deal with this problem. In this article, Areal and Rodrigues adopt a new approach, accepting the splintering of the binomial lattice but then applying several techniques to accelerate the calculations. They show that their procedures are faster and more accurate than the current methods that force the tree to recombine despite discrete dividend payouts.


The graphics processor (GPU) on today's commodity video cards has evolved into an extremely powerful and flexible processor. The latest graphics architectures provide tremendous memory bandwidth and computational horsepower, with fully programmable vertex and pixel processing units that support vector operations up to full IEEE floating point precision. High level languages have emerged for graphics hardware, making this computational power accessible. Architecturally, GPUs are highly parallel streaming processors optimized for vector operations, with both MIMD (vertex) and SIMD (pixel) pipelines. Not surprisingly, these processors are capable of general-purpose computation beyond the graphics applications for which they were designed. Researchers have found that exploiting the GPU can accelerate some problems by over an order of magnitude over the CPU.However, significant barriers still exist for the developer who wishes to use the inexpensive power of commodity graphics hardware, whether for in-game simulation of physics of for conventional computational science. These chips are designed for and driven by video game development; the programming model is unusual, the programming environment is tightly constrained, and the underlying architectures are largely secret. The GPU developer must be an expert in computer graphics and its computational idioms to make effective use of the hardware, and still pitfalls abound. This course provides a detailed introduction to general purpose computation on graphics hardware (GPGPU). We emphasize core computational building blocks, ranging from linear algebra to database queries, and review the tools, perils, and tricks of the trade in GPU programming. Finally we present some interesting and important case studies on general-purpose applications of graphics hardware.The course presenters are experts on general-purpose GPU computation from academia and industry, and have presented papers and tutorials on the topic at SIGGRAPH, Graphics Hardware, Game Developers Conference, and elsewhere.


This research investigated the efficacy of chlorine dioxide (ClO2), ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, UV in combination with chlorine dioxide (UV/ClO2), and UV in combination with hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) for decolorizing three reactive azo dyes (sultan red, indigo blue and cypress green) and treated textile-manufacturing wastewater. The objective was to determine the best treatment for reducing color to the Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) permit level of 300 American Dye Manufacturers Institute (ADMI) units. The effects of the three chemical oxidation treatments provided color reduction for all three dyes. The results suggested UV/H2O2 and UV/ClO2 treatments provided maximum color reduction of the red and blue dyes, and UV/H2O2 was the most effective for maximum reduction of the green dye. A research goal was to provide predictive models of the wastewater effluent for the treatment processes, including the UV exposure time required to reach the 300 ADMI permit value and the effective ClO2 dose necessary to achieve the 300 units. The results of the investigations regarding the effluent indicated that UV/H2O2 and UV/ClO2 (5 mg/L) provided reduction to 300 units in less than 10 minutes UV exposure when the initial effluent color was less than 500 ADMI units. Without the addition of oxidant, contact times longer than 10 minutes were required for UV to decolorize these effluents to 300 ADMI units. Chlorine dioxide dosages between 10 and 30 mg/L both with and without UV irradiation achieved the same results.


One of the most salient demographic trends in the U.S. landscape in recent decades has been the pronounced increase in age at first marriage. This paper examines the implications of women's delayed entry to marriage for marital stability using data from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth. The main finding is that the association between age at marriage and marital instability without holding constant the couple's characteristics at marriage is negative up to the late twenties, with the curve leveling off thereafter. Women who marry in the late twenties and thirties generally enter unconventional matches (e.g., the husband is more likely to have been married before, and to be younger than the wife by three years or more), suggestive of a "poor match" emerging as the biological clock begins to tick. However, the flattening out of the curve beyond the late twenties suggests that the stabilizing influence associated with greater maturity at older ages is strong enough to cancel out the poor match effect.


This article is about the politics of 'the exception' and the role of 'exceptionalism' in contemporary international theory. The concept of 'the exception' was coined by Carl Schmitt and has in recent years become an inspiration for international relations theorists and foreign policy analysts, especially when engaging with issues such as great power politics, humanitarian intervention and the war against terrorism. It is concluded that attempts to apply Schmitt's concept of 'the exception' seldom are persuasive and sometimes even contradictory to Schmitt's theory. When dealt with out of context, 'the exception' becomes just an expression about something else. It is shown that there are other ways of handling the kind of political problem observed by Schmitt than what he and his followers are offering.


Background Results from epidemiologic studies on the relationship between vitamin D and breast cancer risk are inconclusive. It is possible that vitamin D may be effective in reducing risk only of specific subtypes due to disease heterogeneity. Methods and Findings In case-control and case-series analyses, we examined serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) in relation to breast cancer prognostic characteristics, including histologic grade, estrogen receptor (ER), and molecular subtypes defined by ER, progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2, among 579 women with incident breast cancer and 574 controls matched on age and time of blood draw enrolled in the Roswell Park Cancer Institute from 2003 to 2008. We found that breast cancer cases had significantly lower 25OHD concentrations than controls (adjusted mean, 22.8 versus 26.2 ng/mL, p<0.001). Among premenopausal women, 25OHD concentrations were lower in those with high- versus low-grade tumors, and ER negative versus ER positive tumors (p≤0.03). Levels were lowest among women with triple-negative cancer (17.5 ng/mL), significantly different from those with luminal A cancer (24.5 ng/mL, p = 0.002). In case-control analyses, premenopausal women with 25OHD concentrations above the median had significantly lower odds of having triple-negative cancer (OR = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.08–0.53) than those with levels below the median; and every 10 ng/mL increase in serum 25OHD concentrations was associated with a 64% lower odds of having triple-negative cancer (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.22–0.56). The differential associations by tumor subtypes among premenopausal women were confirmed in case-series analyses. Conclusion In our analyses, higher serum levels of 25OHD were associated with reduced risk of breast cancer, with associations strongest for high grade, ER negative or triple negative cancers in premenopausal women. With further confirmation in large prospective studies, these findings could warrant vitamin D supplementation for reducing breast cancer risk, particularly those with poor prognostic characteristics among premenopausal women.


MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) elections for legislatures have ballots with one vote in a local single seat tally and one vote for a party list in a multi-seat tally. In Germany, the multi-seat tally occasionally violated a Participation axiom. The federal Constitutional Court declared this unconstitutional in 2008. Rules were changed. In 2017, the result was a Bundestag with 709 members, 111 of them in extra-ordinary party seats. The paper considers two remedies against excessive assembly size. One is "faithful accounting" of ballot data in each local tally, another a change from Plurality to a Majority method. For this use, we consider IRV, i.e. Instant Runoff Voting, in combination with a 3-candidate Condorcet method. The mayoral IRV election in Burlington 2009 serves as an example, here in the special context of MMP. Violations of the Participation criterion occur also in the usual Majority methods for single seat elections. The legal adoption of a mathematical axiom from election theory have consequences seen in the context of established impossibility theorems.


Education of America,s school children always has been and always will be a hot-button issue. From what should be taught to how to pay for education to how to keep kids safe in schools, impassioned debates emerge and mushroom, both within the scholarly community and among the general public. This volume in the pointunterpoint Debating Issues in American Education reference series tackles the topic of alternative schooling and school choice. Fifteen to twenty chapters explore such varied issues as charter schools, for-profit schools, faith-based schools, magnet schools, vouchers, and more. Each chapter opens with an introductory essay by the volume editor, followed by pointunterpoint articles written and signed by invited experts, and concludes with Further Readings and Resources, thus providing readers with views on multiple sides of alternative schooling and school choice issues and pointing them toward more in-depth resources for further exploration.


The web and online information has become of utmost importance. However, the short lifespan of online data (with 40% of content being removed after 1 year) poses serious challenges for preserving and safeguarding digital heritage and information. Hence, web or media historians, sociologists or digital scholars must learn to "dig" in online sources such as the Internet Archive or national web archives in order to find relevant research material. In this paper, we explore the requirements of researchers working with web archives and outline how they perceive the limitations and possibilities of using the archived web as a data resource, using survey data (n=154). We asked researchers with and without experience in working with web archives for, amongst others, the search functionalities and selection and access criteria they require. Given that archived web content is relatively new research material, new skills need to be acquired to work with this content which is not something evident or something every researcher is willing to do. Yakel & Thores (2003) point to three distinct forms of knowledge required to work effectively with these sources: (i) domain (subject) knowledge, (ii) artifactual literacy, and their own concept of (iii) archival intelligence. In addition to arriving at significant findings that demonstrate the relationship between researcher's domain (subject) knowledge, archival intelligence and use frequency of web archives, this study discusses the limitations of using the archived web as a data resource and concludes with actions to overcome these hurdles and fulfill the desiderata of scholars.


We explore a principle method to address the weakly supervised detection problem. Many deep learning methods solve weakly supervised detection by mining various object proposal or pooling strategies, which may cause redundancy and generate a coarse location. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel human-like active searching strategy that recurrently ignores the background and discovers class-specific objects by erasing undesired pixels from the image. The proposed detector acts as an agent, providing guidance to erase unremarkable regions and eventually concentrating the attention on the foreground. The proposed agents, which are composed of a deep Q-network and are trained by the Q-learning algorithm, analyze the contents of the image features to infer the localization action according to the learned policy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to apply reinforcement learning to address weakly supervised localization with only image-level labels. Consequently, the proposed method is validated on the PASCAL VOC 2007 and PASCAL VOC 2012 datasets. The experimental results show that the proposed method is capable of locating a single object within 5 steps and has great significance to the research on weakly supervised localization with a human-like mechanism.


Parkinson's Disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive degradation of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain and is triggered by both environmental and genetic factors. PD is characterized by symptoms that can range from muscle dysfunction to severe mood disturbances. The pathology of PD is two-fold: (1) degradation of dopaminergic neurons due to mitochondrial calcium overload and (2) deposits of α-synuclein that increase cytosolic calcium levels in the brain. In this study, we tested a therapy that targets both pathologic manifestations of PD in fruit flies. Specifically, we used combinations of the drugs Ruthenium red (RuR), a mitochondrial channel uniporter inhibitor, and Ambroxol, a pharmacological chaperone of the lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase that digests α-synuclein, to treat PD in fruit flies. We then measured the climbing ability, ATP content, and glucocerebrosidase activity in the fruit flies. While the drugs showed positive results individually, we found that the drugs had a synergistic effect when used together that resulted in a statistically significant increase in climbing ability, ATP content, and glucocerebrosidase activity. The results of this study indicate that these drugs could be used in treatments for PD.


Metadata standards existing today range from very complex to very simple. Relative simplicity or complexity of metadata standards depends in large part on the resources for which they were created and the depth of description that is deemed necessary to make these resources accessible. This paper reviews the differences between metadata standards and current cataloging practices, and discusses how the various metadata standards are applied in libraries. In addressing these issues, the authors introduce definitions of key concepts of metadata and cataloging standards and provide an overview of the most common metadata schemes. The discussion of current cataloging practices includes an overview of the most commonly used cataloging practices and standards, the impact of metadata on library practice and the role of librarians related to metadata. The authors will discuss the OHIOLINK Electronic Thesis and Dissertations (ETD) as an example of how Anglo‐American Cataloging Rules 2nd (AACR2) and Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC21) are used as metadata to store, describe and access this unique information resource.


Two types of erbium-doped fiber lasers based on Sagnac interferometer incorporated with fiber grating are proposed and experimentally demonstrated, which effectively support tunable and switchable dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode laser operation. The mode selection is implemented by use of the Sagnac interferometer with fiber grating, an umpumped erbium-doped fiber, and a tunable fiber Bragg grating. The Sagnac interferometer with fiber grating plays the role as a narrowband comb filter, while the unpumped erbium-doped fiber together with the tunable fiber Bragg grating essentially forms a passive self-tracking filter to ensure a stable single-longitudinal-mode fiber laser operation. By use of the Sagnac interferometer with chirped fiber Bragg grating, tunable microwave signals can be generated by beating the dual wavelengths, within the frequency range between and GHz.


On the walls of our Houston Z-Terra office, we have a lot of movie posters. It's a tradition that started at 3DGeo when our office was across the road from Silicon Graphics, which made computers used for computer generated imagery and which had a lot of movie posters on its walls. We visited Silicon Graphics often for support. We kept the tradition at Z-Terra, and each poster comes from somebody's favorite movies list. One of the posters is from Batman Begins and includes a quote from the movie: "Why do we fall, sir? So that we can learn to pick ourselves up."


Today's highly globalized and
mobile society can be characterized by constant interaction between dominant
and minority groups in one space, where migrant communities manage multiple
cultural and linguistic contexts, while remaining connected to their society of
origin. While the field of transnationalism addresses both the behavioral
(i.e., physical) and symbolic (i.e., emotional) ties to the origin community,
the role that language plays in establishing and maintaining such transnational
practices, and specifically symbolic transnationalism, is not well understood. Addressing
this gap, the current project aims to investigate the interconnection between
heritage language use and symbolic transnationalism through the analysis of 1.5
and 2nd generation Cubans in Miami.

The Cuban community in the US,
and more specifically, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, represents a relevant
case for in-depth investigation. While this population is comparable to other
Hispanic groups in the US on many levels (Duany, 2011), the long-standing
political opposition between the U.S. and Cuba have largely limited behavioral
transnational practices (e.g., visits to the country of origin, sending goods
and remittances) of the Cuban population. This broad lack of behavioral
transnationalism in the Miami Cuban community provides a unique opportunity to
examine symbolic transnational practices, effectively isolating two concepts
that are traditionally combined in the literature (Duff, 2015; Reynolds, 2006).

To investigate the
relations between language use and symbolic transnationalism, a mixed methods
study was conducted with 75 young adults of Cuban origin (1.5 and 2nd
generation), combining a quantitative questionnaire with face-to-face
sociolinguistic interviews. Quantitatively, data analysis centered on the
analysis of the degree of symbolic transnationalism and language use among 1.5
and 2nd generation groups, as well as statistical correlations
between sub-components of language use (history, proficiency, choice, and
value) and symbolic transnationalism (ways of doing and ways of belonging).
Qualitatively, a thematic analysis was conducted to distinguish the most prominent
external factors in the process of symbolic transnationalism maintenance or
development that surfaced in the discourse of the participants. Finally,
discourse analysis was used to investigate how symbolic transnationalism was reflected in linguistic structures,
such as deixis (i.e., terms indicating distance) and stance (i.e., expression
of feelings, judgement, and appreciation).

The analysis of the data provides
strong evidence for overarching links between the level of symbolic
transnationalism and language, such that greater affiliation with the culture
of origin is related to a greater use and importance of the heritage language.
In addition, qualitative results show that the external factors of the family
domain, the Miami environment and ethnic community, and the use of the Spanish
language in Miami, are among the most important for the maintenance and
development of symbolic transnationalism. Finally, discourse analysis revealed
that both 1.5 and 2nd generation groups use deictic and stance markers
to express personal and metaphorical proximity, as well as affect and
appreciation of the ethnic community, Cuba as a land, Cuba of the past, and
Cuban culture. In contrast, they express temporal and spatial distance as well
as markers of judgement with respect to Cuba of the present and its current
politics.

This study systematically
isolates the concept of symbolic transnationalism via a quantitative approach
and investigates its connection with language. Their direct correlation,
confirmed by the results, highlights symbolic transnationalism as a significant
variable to consider in sociolinguistic research with migrant communities, and
thus provides a solid theoretical base for bridging the disciplines of
linguistics and transnationalism. Moreover, this work employs a structural
linguistic approach (i.e., deixis and stance) to demonstrate how transnational
ties may be represented through linguistic structures, and thus it provides new
tools for understanding how minority communities express their transnational
connections.

On a practical level, this work
emphasizes the importance of the context and cross-cultural awareness in
language pedagogy. For heritage language learners, it underlines the
bi-directional relationship: language maintenance for sustaining transnational
ties, as well as development of heritage culture appreciation for more
effective heritage language development. Moreover, the findings with respect to
the interconnection between symbolic transnationalism and heritage language
use, emphasize the role of such aspects as sense of belonging, ethnic
community, family history and attitudes towards the country of origin on the
process of heritage language maintenance and self-identification with the
country and culture of origin. Finally, the findings of this work may be
applicable to second language students as well, emphasizing the importance of a
context-based approach to language acquisition, which plays a significant role
in developing productive cross-cultural communication.


Purpose: Ketogenic diets are high in fat and low in carbohydrates as well as protein which forces cells to rely on lipid oxidation and mitochondrial respiration rather than glycolysis for energy metabolism. Cancer cells (relative to normal cells) are believed to exist in a state of chronic oxidative stress mediated by mitochondrial metabolism. The current study tests the hypothesis that ketogenic diets enhance radio-chemo-therapy responses in lung cancer xenografts by enhancing oxidative stress. Experimental Design: Mice bearing NCI-H292 and A549 lung cancer xenografts were fed a ketogenic diet (KetoCal 4:1 fats: proteins+carbohydrates) and treated with either conventionally fractionated (1.8–2 Gy) or hypofractionated (6 Gy) radiation as well as conventionally fractionated radiation combined with carboplatin. Mice weights and tumor size were monitored. Tumors were assessed for immunoreactive 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal-(4HNE)–modified proteins as a marker of oxidative stress as well as proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and γH2AX as indices of proliferation and DNA damage, respectively. Results: The ketogenic diets combined with radiation resulted in slower tumor growth in both NCI-H292 and A549 xenografts (P < 0.05), relative to radiation alone. The ketogenic diet also slowed tumor growth when combined with carboplatin and radiation, relative to control. Tumors from animals fed a ketogenic diet in combination with radiation showed increases in oxidative damage mediated by lipid peroxidation as determined by 4HNE-modified proteins as well as decreased proliferation as assessed by decreased immunoreactive PCNA. Conclusions: These results show that a ketogenic diet enhances radio-chemo-therapy responses in lung cancer xenografts by a mechanism that may involve increased oxidative stress. Clin Cancer Res; 19(14); 3905–13. ©2013 AACR.


Risk, expressed in terms of potential human sufferings and economic losses, is very real and its significance is particularly important when considering natural hazards. For effective engineering decision-making relative to protection and mitigation against extreme hazard forces, risk ought to be assessed and presented in terms consistent with other technical engineering information—that is, quantitatively. To this end, the fundamental elements of quantitative risk assessment (QRA) are described and illustrated numerically with a hypothetical example. The process of QRA includes the estimation of the risk, as well as the uncertainty associated with the calculated risk. The example is intended to illustrate the concepts and procedures for QRA and also to show that they are consistent with other engineering analysis procedures, which are invariably in quantitative terms.


Shareholder bylaws limiting or directing board action raise a tough and fascinating question of statutory interpretation under state law as well as an important policy question. In particular, over the last decade shareholders have sought to use bylaws to limit poison pills and to grant shareholders access to the corporate proxy materials to nominate directors. This paper argues that an expansive, although not unlimited, shareholder power to enact bylaws is both a plausible interpretation of Delaware's statutory scheme and desirable as a policy matter. Shareholder bylaws that set general rules of corporate governance and procedure should be valid unless more specific statutory provisions remove a specific matter from the bylaw power. Applied to poison pill and proxy access bylaws, both are valid under the general analysis, although poison pill bylaws may not be valid due to a more specific provision of Delaware law. The SEC should require boards to include bylaw proposals unless the particular proposal is clearly invalid under relevant state law. Board bylaws and certificate provisions could limit shareholder bylaws in some corporations, but it is likely that in many corporations boards will not be willing or able to enact such limits.


The optical monitoring of the automobile passenger interior compartment is concerned with applications based on optical coverage and image processing in order to provide various functionalities. The emphases of this thesis are optical occupant state recognition and optical interior protection. The interior protection is an integral part of the car alarm system and must be able to detect unauthorized entry. A significant judgement criterion apart from the high detection rate of penetrating objects is a low false alarm rate, which should be achieved using a high spatial resolution of an optical system. Additionally the power dissipation of car alarm systems must be extremely low. This can be obtained when employing modern CMOS image sensors. The task of occupant state recognition arose from the unresolved problem of rear facing infant seat detection and Out-of-Position detection. Tragic accidents involving rear facing infant seats placed in the passenger seat have exemplified the necessity for the detection of infant seats and other critical situations. Optical occupant state recognition encompasses seat occupancy, infant seat detection, and Out-of-Position detection, which up until now have been realized separately - if at all. The critical requirements of this application are adaptability to strongly varying environmental conditions and fast response time. Optical systems for use in passenger compartment monitoring have not yet been the subject of ex tensive research. By employing cameras based on CMOS image sensors the optical stimuli within the vehicle are measured. In order to enable several applications with one system, the position of the camera(s) and the optical influences at this position are examined. In the case of the optical interior protection, algorithms have to be developed enabling the detection of the penetration of objects. Due to the restriction of low power dissipation, these algorithms should not be too complex. The integration of on-chip preprocessing and other electronic features can be combined to make CMOS image sensors power efficient. For optical occupant state recognition concepts with a low cost of computation have to be developed, which are also capable of working in conjunction with the interior monitoring. Thus a high frame rate has to be obtained with these systems. In addition algorithms are necessary that can determine the status of each respective seat. Since the optical occupancy state recognition is a security-sensitive application, additional algorithms are examined that detect very accurately (up to object recognition) the occupation state of the vehicle.


We present a real-time painting system that simulates the interactions among brush, paint, and canvas at the bristle level. The key challenge is how to model and simulate sub-pixel paint details, given the limited computational resource in each time step. To achieve this goal, we propose to define paint liquid in a hybrid fashion: the liquid close to the brush is modeled by particles, and the liquid away from the brush is modeled by a density field. Based on this representation, we develop a variety of techniques to ensure the performance and robustness of our simulator under large time steps, including brush and particle simulations in non-inertial frames, a fixed-point method for accelerating Jacobi iterations, and a new Eulerian-Lagrangian approach for simulating detailed liquid effects. The resulting system can realistically simulate not only the motions of brush bristles and paint liquid, but also the liquid transfer processes among different representations. We implement the whole system on GPU by CUDA. Our experiment shows that artists can use the system to draw realistic and vivid digital paintings, by applying the painting techniques that they are familiar with but not offered by many existing systems.


The diurnal and seasonal attendance of Kea (Nestor notabilis) at Halpin Creek dump, Arthur's Pass, from April 1996 to March 1997 was investigated. Many more male (n=56) than female (n=4) Kea were banded at the dump. Resighting data suggested that certain adult male Kea habitually foraged at the dump, whereas younger male Kea probably foraged at the dump until they dispersed from the dump in their second summer. The time individual Kea sprnt at the dump varied considrrably within and between seasons, but did not depend on the individual's age. More Kea were observed at the dump in winter than in summer and they spent more time at the dump in the winter than in summer.


OBJECTIVE Metreleptin has been efficacious in improving metabolic control in patients with lipodystrophy, but its efficacy has not been tested in obese patients with type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We studied the role of leptin in regulating the endocrine adaptation to long-term caloric deprivation and weight loss in obese diabetic subjects over 16 weeks in the context of a double-blinded, placebo–controlled, randomized trial. We then performed detailed interventional and mechanistic signaling studies in humans in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro. RESULTS In obese patients with diabetes, metreleptin administration for 16 weeks did not alter body weight or circulating inflammatory markers but reduced HbA1c marginally (8.01 ± 0.93–7.96 ± 1.12, P = 0.03). Total leptin, leptin-binding protein, and antileptin antibody levels increased, limiting free leptin availability and resulting in circulating free leptin levels of ∼50 ng/mL. Consistent with clinical observations, all metreleptin signaling pathways studied in human adipose tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells were saturable at ∼50 ng/mL, with no major differences in timing or magnitude of leptin-activated STAT3 phosphorylation in tissues from male versus female or obese versus lean humans in vivo, ex vivo, or in vitro. We also observed for the first time that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in human primary adipocytes inhibits leptin signaling. CONCLUSIONS In obese patients with diabetes, metreleptin administration did not alter body weight or circulating inflammatory markers but reduced HbA1c marginally. ER stress and the saturable nature of leptin signaling pathways play a key role in the development of leptin tolerance in obese patients with diabetes.


Early warning systems (EWS) are recognized in both the Hyogo Framework for Disaster Reduction (2005-2015) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) as an important element of disaster risk reduction and hence to the achievement of sustainable development and sustainable livelihoods. An effective EWS enables the concerned authorities and at-risk communities to know about the hazards of the locality, community vulnerability and impending risk, warning messages, and building and mobilizing their response capability to reduce risks. The Government of Nepal has reported significant achievements in the development and implementation of EWS for floods, landslides, and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF). However, this study shows that Early Warning systems have covered only a few hazards and location so far, and has not been able to cover all the four components of the effective community based early warning system. The absence of policy and legal frameworks has weakened the efforts of the establishment and strengthening of effective and functional early warning systems in the country. The response capacity building of communities is scattered and project-based. This paper outlines the status of EWS in Nepal, key gaps and challenges, and proposes a framework for a peoplecentred early warning system in the country.


The UK's existing housing stock is in urgent need of improvement in order for the country to meet climate change targets, provide decent homes and tackle fuel poverty. Around 25% of UK's greenhouse gas emissions come from domestic housing, a sizeable portion that will need to be reduced to achieve an 80% cut in emissions by 2050. A recent survey by homeless charity Shelter found that four in ten British homes are not up to standard, and suffer from problems such as persistent damp and condensation which in turn can impact negatively on people's health. Retrofitting the UK's homes is an enormous challenge, given barriers such as lack of knowledge of retrofitting amongst the public, high capital investment costs, lack of policy support and demand drivers for retrofits, and potential disruption during retrofit works. The rate of new build properties meanwhile remains slow, and policy support for new low energy buildings especially has been diminishing in the past year. Taking a grounded theory approach and insights from sustainability transitions literature, this paper analyses the development of six low energy housing projects in Brighton, UK. Using in-depth case studies based on document analysis and 17 semi-structured interviews, three whole house retrofit projects and three zero carbon new build houses are analysed in relation to key themes emerging in their development. Especially issues such as motivations and expectations, knowledge and available skills, intermediation, and the influence of both local and national politics emerged as key themes influencing and impacting on low energy housing projects. At a time when national level policy support for low energy housing is at a crossroads in the UK, local actors with local connections and knowledge networks can further play a key part in successful projects.


In the presented work, the detection of anomalous energy consumption in hybrid industrial production systems is investigated. A model-based approach with a timed hybrid automaton as overall system model is employed for anomaly detection. The approach is based on the assumption of several system modes, i.e. phases with continuous system behavior. Transitions between the modes are attributed to discrete control events such as on/off signals. The underlying discrete event system which comprises both system modes and transitions is modeled as finite state machine. The focus of this paper is set on the modeling of the energy consumption in the particular system modes. Sequences of stochastic state space models are employed for this purpose. Model learning and anomaly detection for this approach are considered. The proposed approach is further evaluated in a small model factory. The experimental results show significant improvements compared to existing approaches to anomaly detection in hybrid industrial systems.


ABSTRACT When the reform of German federalism was enacted in 2006, the right of the second chamber, Bundesrat, to veto large parts of national legislation had long been identified as a dysfunctional element of the federal system. The need to compromise with an often opposition-controlled Bundesrat was perceived as hurting democratic principles and worsening Germany's policy performance. Hence, a variety of constitutional amendments was adopted in 2006 to curb the veto threat. This paper sketches how the expansion of the Bundesrat veto emerged and how the reform tried to reduce it. Covering all federal legislation between 1978 and 2016 this paper then analyses the actual effects of the reform. It is shown that the veto threat has been reduced by around 17% but that it remains unchanged at around 65% in the area of tax law.


El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major source of seasonal western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) predictability. However, the spatial characteristics of ENSO have changed in recent decades, from warming more typically in the eastern equatorial Pacific during canonical or cold tongue El Niño to warming more typically in the central equatorial Pacific during noncanonical or warm pool El Niño. We investigated the response in basinwide WNP TC activity and spatial clustering of TC tracks to the location and magnitude of El Niño using observations, TC-permitting tropical channel model simulations, and a TC track clustering methodology. We found that simulated western North Pacific TC activity, including accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) and the number of typhoons and intense typhoons, is more effectively enhanced by sea surface temperature warming of the central, compared to the eastern, equatorial Pacific. El Niño also considerably influenced simulated TC tracks regionally, with a decrease in TCs that were generated near the Asian continent and an increase in clusters that were dominated by TC genesis in the southeastern WNP. This response corresponds with the spatial pattern of reduced vertical wind shear and is most effectively driven by central Pacific SST warming. Finally, internal atmospheric variability generated a substantial range in the simulated season total ACE (±25% of the median). However, extremely active WNP seasons were linked with El Niño, rather than internal atmospheric variability, in both observations and climate model simulations.


Degree of secure attachment is an important predictor of mental health at both early and late development periods. When insecure attachments occur between children and caregivers, adverse behavioral and emotional problems are often a result in childhood and adulthood. The developing cognitive schema is affected by attachment style during this critical period of early maturation. The developing cognitive schema that results from early experiences with caregivers influences adult interpretations of reality. This paper explores the interaction between early-life attachments and the Adlerian view regarding the construction of the cognitive schema. Recommendations are made as to how therapists can treat children, adolescents, and adults who suffer from attachment difficulties. Attachment and the Cognitive Schema 2a The Adlerian View of Attachment and Its Relationship to the Development of the Cognitive Schema


PURPOSE
It is unclear whether NTCP models derived from one treatment modality are applicable to patients receiving a different treatment technique. In this large prostate cancer patient cohort study, we compare the model parameters of patients treated with 3D-CRT vs. IMRT, for EUD-based and a dose-volume-based NTCP model.

METHODS
Rectal-wall DVHs of 1116 patients treated for prostate cancer under an adaptive radiotherapy protocol were used to model gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity grade>=2, as defined by CTCAE v.3. Of the total cohort, 458 patients were treated with 3D-CRT, the remaining 658 with IMRT. Three NTCP models were investigated: the Lyman-gEUD model, the Lyman-EUDlog model, and a dose-volume-based cutoff-dose logistic regression model. All parameter estimates and their standard-errors were determined using maximum-likelihood-estimation. Models were fit to the whole group, as well as to the 3D-CRT and IMRT sub-groups separately.

RESULTS
128 (27.9%) of the patients who received 3D-CRT, and 48 (7.3%) of IMRT patients experienced GI toxicities grade>=2. Median follow-up was 5.8 years (2.0-12.5 years). For all models, parameter estimates derived from conformal data were in agreement with values found in the literature, but did not predict IMRT data well (p>0.05). Models developed for the whole population overestimate the NTCP for IMRT patients and underestimate the NTCP for 3D-CRT patients. The Lyman-EUDlog model converged to the Lyman-gEUD model for all three patient groups.

CONCLUSION
Our study suggests that using the NTCP models investigated here, it is not possible to predict toxicities for IMRT and 3D-CRT patients with the same model. This holds for both the EUD-based as well as the dose-volume-based models. The reason for these findings have yet to be investigated. Since IMRT is increasingly utilized clinically, it is of high importance that appropriate NTCP model parameters are determined for this treatment modality, especially when using NTCP models in practice.


The work presented in this Ph.D dissertation is divided in three parts. Part-A deals with phytochemical studies on suregada multiflora, a medicinal plant of Bangladesh, Part-B deals with photochemical studies on Verbascum sinaiticum, while microbial transformations of some natural compounds are discussed in Part-C.

Part-A, This part of thesis deals with photochemical investigation on the leaf extracts of Suregada multiflora. The crude extract of Suregada multiflora was found to possess selective and significant cytotoxicity against a 60-cell line tumor panels at the isolation of eleven different tetracyclic diterpene lactores 1-11, which are the members of a rare class of abiatene diterpene lactrones along with a flavonoid glycoside and a lignan Compounds 7-11 (Gelomulide F, D, E, A and G), isolated from suregada multiflora were evaluated in the primary anticancer assay of 3-cell lines at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Bethesda, USA. Out of them compound 9 (Gelomulide E) showed promising activity against the NCI-H460 (Lung) cell line, with a growth inhibition of over 85% at concentration of 5X10-5M

New diterpene lactones from suregada multiflora Six new compounds (1-6) have been isolated from the Suregada multiflora. Among them compounds 1 and 2 contain an epoxy linkage between C-8 and C-14, whereas compounds 3-5 were identified as 8-14-dihydroxy analogues of diterpene lactones. Compound 6 contains one additional epoxy ring between C-11 and C-12


In our previous paper [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A15, 2849 (1998)], we investigated the behavior of the hybrid input–output algorithm (HIO) used for phase retrieval and showed that the HIO with an infinitesimally small feedback parameter has two abilities that are extremely important in finding a solution: the ability to locate an output-stagnation object and the ability to emerge from an output-stagnation object if it is not a solution. The behavior of the HIO is analyzed further, and an additional aspect is demonstrated that is also important in finding a solution. That is, outside the support of the input object of the HIO, the output-object values outside the support that have been produced so far accumulate so that the probability is conjectured to be extremely low that the HIO will fall into a periodic state. On the other hand, it is also demonstrated that this aspect of the HIO is not usually effective in the combination algorithm composed of the HIO and the error-reduction algorithm. To give credibility to our arguments, we show results that were obtained by reexamining the examples adopted in Seldin and Fienup's numerical experiments [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A7, 412 (1990)].


As evaluations of computational linguistics technology progress toward higher-level interpretation tasks, the problem of determining alignments between system responses and answer key entries may become less straightforward. We present an extensive analysis of the alignment procedure used in the MUC-6 evaluation of information extraction technology, which reveals effects that interfere with the stated goals of the evaluation. These effects are shown to be pervasive enough that they have the potential to adversely impact the technology development process. These results argue strongly for the use of accurate alignment criteria in natural language evaluations, and for maintaining the independence of alignment criteria and mechanisms used to calculate scores.


We previously showed that Tie2-expressing monocytes (TEMs) have nonredundant proangiogenic activity in tumors. Here, we compared the gene expression profile of tumor-infiltrating TEMs with that of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), spleen-derived Gr1(+)Cd11b(+) neutrophils/myeloid-derived suppressor cells, circulating "inflammatory" and "resident" monocytes, and tumor-derived endothelial cells (ECs) by quantitative polymerase chain reaction-based gene arrays. TEMs sharply differed from ECs and Gr1(+)Cd11b(+) cells but were highly related to TAMs. Nevertheless, several genes were differentially expressed between TEMs and TAMs, highlighting a TEM signature consistent with enhanced proangiogenic/tissue-remodeling activity and lower proinflammatory activity. We validated these findings in models of oncogenesis and transgenic mice expressing a microRNA-regulated Tie2-GFP reporter. Remarkably, resident monocytes and TEMs on one hand, and inflammatory monocytes and TAMs on the other hand, expressed coordinated gene expression profiles, suggesting that the 2 blood monocyte subsets are committed to distinct extravascular fates in the tumor microenvironment. We further showed that a prominent proportion of embryonic/fetal macrophages, which participate in tissue morphogenesis, expressed distinguishing TEM genes. It is tempting to speculate that Tie2(+) embryonic/fetal macrophages, resident blood monocytes, and tumor-infiltrating TEMs represent distinct developmental stages of a TEM lineage committed to execute physiologic proangiogenic and tissue-remodeling programs, which can be co-opted by tumors.


Multiemployer collective bargaining relationships between unions and employer associations easily devolve into legalized cartels. Once unions establish themselves as the bargaining representative for employers' employees, the employers have much to gain from banding together as an association, raising their prices and eliminating non-union competition, with unions happily serving as enforcement agents in the scheme. In return, unions receive a share of the increased oligopolistic profits in the form of higher wages and benefits. A threat to this cartel is an employer who wants to bargain with the union but does not want to accept the terms the association has bargained for. This Article examines the status of such an employer. It outlines how unions and (especially) associations work to thwart such an employer from bargaining directly with a union despite the federal labor policy of protecting an employer's freedom in selecting its bargaining representative. This anticompetitive behavior not only hurts individual non-association employers but also non-association employers' union employees, as the union will refuse to realistically bargain with their employer unless it agrees to the terms in the association agreement. This leads to the employer either being forced to accept the association's terms, which it cannot afford, or, if it survives a strike and/or picket, becoming non-union. A middle ground of real bargaining that serve's the non-association employer's union employees' interests is not available. In enforcing this scheme a cartel's primary tactic is the use of "most favored nations" clauses in multiemployer collective bargaining agreements. Another is the design and use of multiemployer ERISA plans. The Article also discusses the labor antitrust exemptions and how, notwithstanding the suggestions of other scholars, antitrust law is an ineffective tool to remedy union-association cartel behavior. Instead, the Article puts forward changes that can be made to the labor laws and to ERISA that would allow individual employers to escape the terms of association collective bargaining agreements and encourage unions to nevertheless bargain with them. This does not mean that multiemployer bargaining itself should be banned. Multiemployer bargaining has always been with us, and is not going away, but its anticompetitive effects can be tempered.


OBJECTIVE
Although half of falls occur outdoors, existing prevention programs focus primarily on risk factors for indoor falls. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of the Stroll Safe outdoor fall prevention program and to obtain feedback to refine the program and research methods to plan a larger scale study.

METHOD
A quasi-experimental design (N = 24) was used. A fidelity checklist, attendance records, a focus group, and a reflective log were used to conduct a process, resource, and project management assessment. Preliminary outcomes were examined using fall calendars and standardized measures of fall prevention strategy use.

RESULTS
Needed modifications were determined. Preliminary outcomes reveal increased use of fall prevention strategies and decreased stumbles, trips, slips, and falls outdoors among program participants.

CONCLUSION
The Stroll Safe program is an innovative new program that is feasible to implement among community-dwelling older adults. Further study is warranted.


Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 focuses on maternal health and the target for 2015 is to decrease the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) by 75% from the levels in 1990. This chapter reviews the current status of maternal mortality and maternal health in South Africa. The evidence is that South Africa is definitely not on track to achieve MDG 5 and that maternal mortality has actually doubled since 1990.
The top five causes of maternal mortality in the 2005-2007 triennium remained non-pregnancy-related infections (43.7%), mainly due to AIDS, hypertension (15.7%), obstetric haemorrhage (12.4%), pregnancy-related sepsis (9%) and preexisting maternal disease (6%). The mortality rate of HIV-positive women was nearly ten times the rate of HIV-negative women, but preventable direct obstetric causes made up a significant proportion of deaths in both groups.
The recent guideline changes prioritising antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive pregnant women will make a significant contribution to addressing HIV-related deaths if they are realised in practice. The other main priority is to improve the availability and quality of emergency obstetric care which is being targeted through initiatives such as the new Essential Steps in Managing Obstetric Emergencies training programme.
The high rates of antenatal care coverage and delivery by a skilled attendant in South Africa have not had any impact on the MMR. New indicators that are better correlated with maternal mortality in South Africa are required for planning and monitoring. The National Committee on Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (NCCEMD) is an important source of information on maternal deaths, but vital registration requires strengthening and regular Demographic and Household Surveys are required to monitor population-level process indicators.
The NCCEMD recommendations identify what needs to be done to improve maternal mortality, but have had little impact on maternal mortality over the last decade. Health system constraints that hinder implementation of the recommendations need to be overcome urgently.


Beach nourishment in Southeast Florida involves dredging sand source borrow areas located between offshore reefs. From May 2005 to February 2006 Broward County, FL. nourished 10.9 km of beach with 1.5 ×10 6 m 3 of sand. As part of a program to monitor potential reef community impacts, a visual stress index was developed from laboratory experiments and histological analyses for three stony coral species (Montastrea cavernosa, Solenastrea bournoni, and Siderastrea siderea). Scoring involved healthy = 0; moderately stressed = 1 (polyp swelling, increased mucus); markedly stressed = 2 (coloration changes, increased mucus secretion, tissue thinning); and severely stressed = 3 (severe swelling/thinning tissue erosion/necrosis). Colonies were scored weekly at sites adjacent to borrow areas and control sites pre-, during, and post-dredging. Permit conditions were established which would suspend dredging based on mean stress index values above 1.5 at 50% of monitored sites adjacent to borrow areas. This condition was never met. However, three hurricanes, passing the region during dredging, contributed to an elevated mean stress level above 1.0. Post-dredging observations documented recovery to pre-dredging stress levels. This program was effectively used to monitor stress on a sensitive marine habitat adjacent to sediment dredging activities.


The effects of various psychoactive drugs were studied in rats exposed for 45 min in a circularly polarized, pulsed microwave field (2450 MHz; SAR 0.6 W/kg; 2-microseconds pulses, 500 pps). Apomorphine-induced hypothermia and stereotypy were enhanced by irradiation. Amphetamine-induced hyperthermia was attenuated while stereotypy was unaffected. Morphine-induced catalepsy and lethality were enhanced by irradiation at certain dosages of the drug. Since these drugs have different modes of action on central neural mechanisms and the effects of microwaves depend on the particular drug studied, these results show the complex nature of the effect of microwave irradiation on brain functions.


Deleuze's cinema books are often understood as adopting a Bergsonian framework while rejecting phenomenological accounts of film experience for equating 'cinematographic perception' with 'natural perception'; or, alternatively, simply as being a phenomenological inquiry. Reading Deleuze's comments on, and references to, phenomenology in the cinema books (especially Merleau-Ponty, Laffay, and Dufrenne), this paper argues that while not following a phenomenological logic in general, at certain moments the cinema books' Bergsonian account intersects with phenomenology. Moreover, in the books, the existence of movement-images in the cinema depends on the spectator's experience of watching films. The logic explaining this encounter is indebted to the account of the experience of art and cinema in phenomenology which Deleuze combines with the discussion of 'real' movements in Bergson's Creative Evolution. This reliance on a specific 'passive' viewer's experience can explain the books' limited interest in early cinema and in television, video, and the digital image.


Heat sink is an essential component to nanoelectronics, microelectronics, and optoelectronics applications because it allows the thermal management of devices such as integrated circuits (ICs), microelectromechanical systems (MEMSs), and graphic unit processing. There are different materials being employed for heat sink production. Among them, diamond has stood out due to its excellent chemical and physical properties. This book chapter focuses on the development, properties, and applications of CVD diamond heat sinks. It covers the basic concepts of heat conduction applied to CVD diamond as a heat sink material and its production as freestanding CVD wafers of polycrystalline CVD diamond, since the literature about this topic is extensive, giving the reader a comprehensive overview. We will comprise the use and potential widening of applications of in CVD diamond heat sink technology, providing the reader with a substantial background at the current development of solutions and new frontiers in the practical use of CVD diamond thermal management devices.


Before joining in the national political sport of name calling, backbiting, and sloganeering, the first question that one should clinically address is: 'are human activities responsible for the observed increases in world temperatures over the past century?' There is no real question that the earth is warming. Some really competent members of the human race, now with the help of earth-orbiting satellites, have gotten very good at measuring temperature.


The size of available graphs has drastically increased in recent years. The real-time visualization of graphs with millions of edges is a challenge but is necessary to grasp information hidden in huge datasets. This article presents an end-to-end technique to visualize huge graphs using an established Big Data ecosystem and a lightweight client running in a Web browser. For that purpose, levels of abstraction and graph tiles are generated by a batch layer and the interactive visualization is provided using a serving layer and client-side real-time computation of edge bundling and graph splatting. A major challenge is to create techniques that work without moving data to an ad hoc system and that take advantage of the horizontal scalability of these infrastructures. We introduce two novel scalable algorithms that enable to generate a canopy clustering and to aggregate graph edges. These two algorithms are both used to produce levels of abstraction and graph tiles. We prove that our technique guarantee a quality of visualization by controlling both the necessary bandwidth required for data transfer and the quality of the produced visualization. Furthermore, we demonstrate the usability of our technique by providing a complete prototype. We present benchmarks on graphs with millions of elements and we compare our results to those obtained by state of the art techniques. Our results show that new Big Data technologies can be incorporated into visualization pipeline to push out the size limits of graphs one can visually analyze.


The Ballachulish region of the SW Highlands of Scotland was the focal point of a famous debate in the 1920s between Sir Edward Battersby Bailey and Professor Cecil Edgar Tilley concerning the identity, geometry and timing of development of metamorphic zones in the SW Highlands. New mineral assemblage data, microstructural observations, and rock and mineral compositional data are combined with phase equilibrium modelling to reassess the metamorphism in this area. The newly revised chlorite, biotite and garnet zones are similar to those of Bailey. Compositional difference between lithologies is the primary cause of the irregular distribution of mineral assemblages in the region. Microstructural observations suggest that metamorphism occurred in the latter stages of the deformation history, in agreement with previous studies. Pressure–temperature conditions of the garnet isograd are estimated to be c. 7 kbar, c. 500 °C. These are compared with P–T estimates of the garnet zone elsewhere in Scotland. Supplementary materials: Appendix 1 lists mineral assemblages, Appendix 2 lists whole-rock compositions, and Appendices 3–7 list representative mineral compositions (garnet, biotite, muscovite, chlorite and plagioclase–epidote, respectively). Appendices 8 and 9 are the compositional input and thermodynamic input files for Theriak-Domino used to calculate the phase diagrams in this paper. The appendices are available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18586.


Rehabilitation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis aims to the management of the consequences of disease. It is widely accepted that, no drug therapy at present leads to long-term remission for everyone with rheumatoid arthritis (R.A.). Consequently, patients experience physical, psychological, functional, social and role negative effects of the disease.Aim: The aim of the present article was to evaluate the role of rehabilitation to patients with rheumatoid arthritisMethod and material: The methodology followed included review of studies which were related to rehabilitation of patients with rheumatoid arthritisResults: The majority of the studies claims that rehabilitation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, is a matter of primary importance. The importance of early provision of specialist rheumatology care, patient education and promotion of self- management; and the evidence for the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions and multidisciplinary care.Conclusions: Individuals who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis can derive significant benefits from rehabilitation programmes. To provide best care, rehabilitation standards and services should be based on the best available evidence.


Abstract Background Vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a cost-effective mitigation strategy against the pandemic. As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes more available, low uptake is now a global threat and understanding the underpinnings in local contexts is a priority for intervention development. We aimed to evaluate behavioural determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance that could inform engagement strategies to improve vaccine uptake in Makoko, an urban slum in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods A population-based case–control study utilized the barrier analysis (BA) approach to evaluate the beliefs and behaviours of 45 'doers' and 45 'non-doers'. The standardized BA tabulation sheet was used to assess differences in the proportions between the two groups to identify significant factors that could be addressed through a behaviour change strategy. Results Perceived social norms (family, friend, healthcare workers) that approve the vaccine and expected vaccine protection against diseases among doers were determinants of behaviour. Perceived poor accessibility, safety concerns, lack of trust, low vaccine efficacy and low susceptibility to the infection were the most important determinants of behaviour among non-doers. Conclusions Measures to improve COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in Makoko should include improvement in accessibility and exposing myths and misinformation through clear, concise and evidence-based community education delivered by trusted persons such as healthcare workers and religious leaders.


This thesis deals with the development of new synthetic methods leading to fused tri- and tetracyclic heterocycles, many of which have interesting biological activity such as antiviral and DNA intercalating properties. The reactions between isatins and 2-aminobenzylamine in acetic acid can give, depending on the conditions, either complex spirooxindoles or indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6-ones. Proposed mechanisms are presented (involving a simpler form of spirooxindoles). These spirooxindoles can easily be obtained from isatins and 2-aminobenzylamine in methanol (Paper I). The previously unknown, but incorrectly claimed, linear isomer of indolo[3,2-c]quinolin-6one, i.e. indolo[2,3-b]quinolin-11-one, has been prepared for the first time by thermal (260 degrees C) cyclization of methyl 2 -phenylamino-indole-3 -carboxylate, which was in turn prepared in two steps from methyl indole-3 -carboxylate. The benzothiopyrano[2,3-b]indol-11-one and benzopyrano[2,3-b]indol-11-one could be prepared similarly (Papers I and II). Suitable 2-chloro-3-formylindoles have been used for the preparation of the alkaloids neocryptolepine, thienodolin and derivatives thereof (Papers III and IV). Finally, synthetic work towards potential metabolites of the lead compound B-220 is presented. We have described a method for reduction of the biologically interesting indolo[2,3b)quinoxalines with zinc, which are subsequently trapped with an appropriate anhydride to provide the corresponding mono or diacylated 5,1 1-dihydroindolo[2,3b]quinoxalines in good yields (paper V). Synthesis of hydroxy derivatives of B-220 can be effected from the appropriate methoxyisatins. Futher derivatives like the vinyl-, Nmethylaminoethyl- and Noxido derivatives of B-220 have also been synthesised.


Extrapolations of soft scalar mass parameters in supersymmetric theories can be used to explore elements of the physics scenario near the grand unification scale. We investigate the potential of this method in the lepton sector of SO(10) which incorporates right-handed neutrino superfields. The method is exemplified in two models by exploring limits on the precision that can be expected from coherent LHC and e+e- collider analyses in the reconstruction of the fundamental scalar mass parameters at the unification scale and of the D-terms related to the breaking of grand unification symmetries. In addition, the mass of the third-generation right-handed neutrino can be estimated in seesaw scenarios. Even though the models are simplified and not intended to account for all aspects of a final comprehensive SO(10) theory, they provide nevertheless a valid base for identifying essential elements that can be inferred on the fundamental high-scale theory from high-energy experiments.


Uterine leiomyomata (UL), the most common neoplasm in reproductive-age women, are classified into distinct genetic subgroups based on recurrent chromosome abnormalities. To develop a molecular signature of UL with t(12;14)(q14-q15;q23-q24), we took advantage of the multiple UL arising as independent clonal lesions within a single uterus. We compared genome-wide expression levels of t(12;14) UL to non-t(12;14) UL from each of nine women in a paired analysis, with each sample weighted for the percentage of t(12;14) cells to adjust for mosaicism with normal cells. This resulted in a transcriptional profile that confirmed HMGA2, known to be overexpressed in t(12;14) UL, as the most significantly altered gene. Pathway analysis of the differentially expressed genes showed significant association with cell proliferation, particularly G1/S checkpoint regulation. This is consistent with the known larger size of t(12;14) UL relative to karyotypically normal UL or to UL in the deletion 7q22 subgroup. Unsupervised hierarchical clustering demonstrated that patient variability is relatively dominant to the distinction of t(12;14) UL compared with non-t(12;14) UL or of t(12;14) UL compared with del(7q) UL. The paired design we employed is therefore important to produce an accurate t(12;14) UL-specific gene list by removing the confounding effects of genotype and environment. Interestingly, myometrium not only clustered away from the tumors, but generally separated based on associated t(12;14) versus del(7q) status. Nine genes were identified whose expression can distinguish the myometrium origin. This suggests an underlying constitutional genetic predisposition to these somatic changes which could potentially lead to improved personalized management and treatment.


How life changes. As a clinical nurse, manager, and educationalist who is about to celebrate 25 years in nursing in some guise or another, never would I have imagined that I would admit that the medical profession has become more caring than my own. Yes, those very same nurses, who I believed prided themselves in providing high quality personal care, the real essence of nursing, have changed. What I see now bears little resemblance to the service I entered. An unfeeling leviathan seems to have been created.

> Nurses must take stock of where nursing is going before it is too late

Sadly, I reach this conclusion after a short spell in a large teaching hospital. I had what ministers would describe as a patient experience. Many members of my profession will undoubtedly view me as a heretic, and I can understand them. But nurses must take stock of where nursing …


The basic thrust of this article is an in-depth analysis of the established proposition in the existing literature on civil–military relations (CMR) that the military or instrumentality of force is a sine qua non to the formation and consolidation of the state. From that premise, the article considers the views of the founding fathers of CMR and with historical facts lend credence to that proposition. On the other hand, the article emphasises the fact that force and brute force alone is not sufficient to attain national integration. The study on which this article reports, surveyed stages of state evolution and inferred that force and nation building are in dialectical opposition, whereas consensus and cooperation are required more than force in the process of nationhood. The article infers that in this 21 st century, even after attaining nationhood, the state is still in need of very strong armed forces because of the challenges of globalisation, which include terrorism and territorial expansion by neighbouring and far-away states.


Excerpt] Large numbers of faculty retirements in the years ahead will provide institutions with the flexibility to reconstitute their faculty along disciplinary and demographic lines. However, many institutions may worry about what the loss of so many faculty with long tenure, who have been committed to and led their institutions, will mean for the teaching and research programs of the institutions and their operations. They may also be concerned about whether they will be able to attract new faculty to replace their retirees during a period in which projected college enrollment increases nationwide will likely make the labor market for new faculty members very tight. Those institutions that are heavily invested in scientific research may also worry about the implications of the loss of senior faculty members who have the capacity to generate funded research and the institutions' need to find funding for "start up" costs for new scientists. Hence many institutions will want to search for ways to slow down the rate of retirement of their senior faculty, or at least to find ways to utilize some of their retiring faculty members on a part-time basis after they retire. Put simply, retirement of faculty provides both benefits and costs to academic institutions. The trustees of each institution need to make sure that in the years ahead their faculty members and their administration are thinking about how to best address the retirement process. At the very least, trustees should have their institutions look at the demographics of their tenured faculty. It is straightforward for institutions to compute how many of their tenured faculty members are approaching retirement ages and, based upon information from the institution's recent past on ages at which faculty members retire, the likely number of faculty that will retire each year for the next decade. Given the distribution of fields of these faculty members, the finances of the institution, and the demands for new faculty hires in different areas, each institution can then decide how it would like to influence its flow of faculty retirements. These flows can be influenced by the policies that institutions develop to influence the incentives faculty members face to retire and to encourage emeritus faculty to participate in the life of the campuses.


Many biologically important traits are binomially distributed, with their key phenotypes being presence or absence. Despite their prevalence, estimating the heritability of binomial traits presents both experimental and statistical challenges. Here we develop both an empirical and computational methodology for estimating the narrow-sense heritability of binary traits for highly fecund species. Our experimental approach controls for undesirable culturing effects, while minimizing culture numbers, increasing feasibility in the field. Our statistical approach accounts for known issues with model-selection by using a permutation test to calculate significance values and includes both fitting and power calculation methods. We illustrate our methodology by estimating the narrow-sense heritability for larval settlement, a key life-history trait, in the reef-building coral Orbicella faveolata. The experimental, statistical and computational methods, along with all of the data from this study, were deployed in the R package multiDimBio.


During disassembly of an engine that was to be modified, a fractured turbine blade was found. When the fracture was examined at low magnification, it was observed that a fatigue fracture had originated on the concave side of the leading edge and had progressed slightly more than halfway from the leading edge to the trailing edge on the concave surface before ultimate failure occurred in dynamic tension. Analysis (including visual inspection, SEM, and 250x/500x micrographic examination) supported the conclusions that the blades failed due to thermal fatigue. Recommendations included application of a protective coating to the blades, provided the coating was sufficiently ductile to avoid cracking during operation to prevent surface oxidation. Such a coating would also alleviate thermal differentials, provided the thermal conductivity of the coating exceeded that of the base metal. It was also determined that directionally solidified blades could minimize thermal fatigue cracking by eliminating intersection of grain boundaries with the surface. However, this improvement would be more costly than applying a protective coating.


In this study, we analyzed the newly emerging research field of climate change in combination with viticulture. Our analyses have two objectives: First, the overall publication output and the growth of research on climate change and viticulture is presented and analyzed. We developed a sophisticated search query to cover the relevant literature as completely as possible and to exclude irrelevant literature. The time evolution of the publications of the research topic as well as the most contributing journals and countries of authors, and the major research areas are presented. Second, most important publications in the historical context of this field are identified. Both analyses are based on a carefully selected publication set of 1039 papers (articles, reviews, and conference proceedings) dealing with the implications of climate change for viticulture. The results reveal that the number of papers published per year dealing with climate change and viticulture shows a strong increase: Since around 2000, the number increased by a factor of ten, whereas in the same time period the overall number of papers increased by a factor of around two. We identified 14 citation classics which include fundamental early works of viticulture with a weak connection to climate change and more recent works with a stronger connection to climate change.


What does it mean when a city of 180,000 people has more than 5,000 women working as prostitutes? This question frames Vu Trong Phung's 1937 classic reportage Luc Xi. In the late 1930s, Hanoi had a burgeoning commercial sex industry that involved thousands of people and hundreds of businesses. It was the centre of the city's nightlife and the source of suffering, violence, exploitation, and a venereal disease epidemic. For Phung, a popular writer and intellectual, it also raised disturbing questions about the state of Vietnamese society and culture and whether his country really was ""progressing"" under French colonial rule. Translator Shaun Kingsley Malarney's thoughtful and multifaceted introduction provides historical background on colonialism, prostitution, and venereal disease in Vietnam and discusses reportage as a literary genre, political tool, and historical source. A fully annotated translation of Luc Xi follows, in which Phung takes readers into the heart of colonial Hanoi's sex industry, portraying its female workers, the officials who attempted to regulate it, the doctors who treated its victims, and the secretive medical facility known as the Nha Luc Xi (""The Dispensary""), which examined prostitutes for venereal diseases and held them for treatment. Drawing from his interviews with doctors, officials, and prostitutes and the writings of French doctors on prostitution and venereal disease, Phung provides a rare, firsthand look at the damage caused by the commercial sex industry. His sympathetic portrayal of the Vietnamese underclass is considered one of the most accurate, but he also provides one of the most acerbic, humorous, and critical views of the changes wrought by colonialism in Southeast Asia.


This is a book chapter from Ensuring a sustainable future : making progress on environment and equity : There is very little argument that the world is facing severe environmental challenges. Ongoing air and water pollution, increasing energy consumption, and the depletion of natural resources have all placed considerable stress on the capacity of our environment to support the present quality of human life in a sustainable manner. Ensuring a Sustainable Future does what few previous works have: it examines these trends' disproportionate impact on the poor and the economically viable solutions that can serve to remedy them — solutions that simultaneously address environmental and economic problems. This gap in previous research, evidence, and writing has left low-income countries often unwilling to take on major environmental problems and many poor communities believing they faced impossible choices between improving the environment in which they live and increasing the jobs and income available. Bringing together evidence-based recommendations and in-depth case studies of successful policies and programs around the world, Ensuring a Sustainable Future examines innovative solutions to this crucial challenge. In doing so, it addresses a comprehensive range of environmental sustainability challenges affecting low-, middle-, and high-income countries.


Abstract:The victory of former premier Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (known as the PML-N) over the incumbent Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in the 11 May 2013 national elections marks a milestone in Pakistan's history. During the course of the country's 66 years as a sovereign state, instability has become the norm, with lurches from fragile democracy to military rule all too common. Against this stark backdrop, the convincing opposition win in a regularly scheduled vote, followed by a smooth handover of office, offers renewed hope that electoral democracy and civilian rule may be on the way to consolidation.


The general aim of the project is the examination of microstructures that develop under HP conditions in computer experiments. Starting point is an interest in the dynamics of HP phase transitions, as for instance the probably catastrophic phase-change event of olivine to spinel in the upper mantle. This is either explained by large overpressure or failure during the development of micro-structures during the growth of the spinel phase. Experimental results on this subject are rare, and do not lead by themselves to a deeper insight into the complicated stress/strain/volumechange/micro-crack relationships of the transition. We developed a central force spring model, where particles can undergo a phase change using parameters of olivine and spinel. The algorithm is capable of simulating the local growth of the mentioned phases on the basis of direction-dependant rate laws. In the current context newtonian viscosity is added to the previously solely elastic system, since under HP/HT conditions the viscous flow within the material will have a large influence on the distribution of elastic energies, which in turn have an important influence on the driving force of the transition. Thus we are dealing with a visco-elastic system, which will be subjected to timedependant strain.


Today, there is no standard system for performing maintenance on heterogeneous railway equipments. Maintenance staff needs a standard application capable of diagnosing and monitoring heterogeneous on-board equipments. We propose to build a web-based diagnosis and monitoring system. The main advantage of our approach is that it offers a well known and user friendly interface: a web browser (such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer). In addition, it gives the possibility for remote diagnosis and monitoring railway equipments. Thus experts, not necessarily on site in the depot, can make diagnosis and detect faulty components. They can inspect, more than one vehicle at a time, directly from their office. The on-board communication system and related network management services provide a unified entry point to the train data for diagnosis. We have built an automatic configuration approach for such a maintenance system. As a result, this maintenance system can be installed on any vehicle without previous device-specific knowledge about that vehicle. This paper is intended for people concerned with industrial applications to the Internet and especially for those developing remote monitoring tools for embedded devices.


Psoriasis is a multi-factorial disease resulting in response to increased secretion of inflammatory cytokines or deficiency in certain vitamins such as vitamin D3. This study aims to evaluate the levels of vitamin D3 and its receptor (VDR) in psoriatic patients and healthy control, as well as to determine the ratio between vitamin/receptor and their relative risk in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. This study was designed as a case-control study and includes 45 psoriatic subjects and 45 healthy controls. The results of currents studies show a significant decrease in vitamin D3, VDR levels and vitamin D3/ VDR ratio when compared with the healthy control group. The relative risk for VDR levels with psoriasis was found to be positively significantly associated, whereas those for vitamin D3 levels with psoriasis were insignificant. In conclusion, the relative risk for VDR is more than that for calicitriol and this supports the pathogenic role of VDR abnormality in psoriasis. © EuroMediterranean Biomedical Journal 2018


This review examines the potential of active daily living as a means of gaining the cardiovascular and health rewards previously sought through vigorous aerobic fitness programmes. Cross-sectional studies of occupational and leisure activity show encouraging associations between such activity and good health; in workers, the gross intensity of effort needed for health benefits has seemed to be 20 kJ/min. There has been less unanimity on the threshold intensity needed in leisure activities, but various recent "position statements" have decreased the recommendation to 50% of an individual's maximal oxygen intake, sustained for one hour three to five times per week. Life-style activities such as walking seem likely to reach this intensity in older individuals, but are unlikely to do so in young adults. A growing number of controlled longitudinal studies of walking programmes have demonstrated gains in aerobic fitness, modest reductions in blood pressure, improvements in lipid profile, increased bone density, and enhanced mood state, with less consistent reductions of body fat. However, gains have been greatest in the elderly, sedentary, and obese populations. The main component of active living, fast walking, seems likely to enhance health in such populations, but it is unlikely to be effective in young adults who are in good initial health.


Background: Pathways in an 'extended' common-sense model of illness representations (CSM) were examined in those affected by Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) over time. As complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is extensive in IBS, participants were grouped according to CAM use (CAM-users and non-users).

Methods: An online survey examined 197 participant responses (125 CAM-users, 72 non-users) at baseline and again after a minimum of six months. Illness perceptions, conventional treatment beliefs (captured by the IPQ-R and BMQ-General scale respectively), coping (Brief COPE) and domain specific quality of life (IBS-QOL) were measured at both time-points. Related t-tests were used to examine changes over time within each group and regression analyses were used to assess theorised pathways proposed by the CSM.

Findings: Both groups showed improved quality of life ratings (CAM-users: t(124)= -5.97, p<.001; non-users: t(71)= -3.31, p<.01) and significantly lower emotional representations at time-two (CAM-users: t(117)= 3.33, p<.01; non-users: t(68)= 2.60, p<.05). Stronger perceptions of illness consequences CAM-users: Beta=-.67, p<.001; non-users: Beta=-.62, p<.001) and emotional representations at time-one (CAM-users: Beta=-.58; non-users: Beta=-.51, p<.001) predicted reduced quality of life at time-two in both groups. Mediation tests revealed that self-blame and behavioural disengagement mediated the pathway from illness perceptions to quality of life in the CAM-user group only.

Discussion: Findings suggest some consistency with CSM theory and addressing components of illness perceptions early in the health care process may improve quality of life in those affected by IBS. CAM-users (and those intending to use CAM) may receive greater benefit from such intervention.


Antibiotic resistance in campylobacter is an emerging global public health problem after MRSA and VRE. Fluoroquinolone and macrolide resistance have been found to be more common in this world leading foodborne pathogen. A total of fifty-six isolates of Campylobacter jejuni obtained from raw vegetables which are consumed as ulam (salad) in Malaysia, were tested with 12 antibiotics used clinically and agriculturally. The resistance was determined using the disk diffusion method. Results were determined by hierarchic numerical methods to cluster strains and antibiotics according to similarity profiles. Fifty five C. jejuni isolates from different isolation sites were all clustered together into ten groups. This indicates that the commodities (raw salad vegetables/ulam) where the isolates originated might share a similar source of cross-contamination along the production route. All antibiotics tested correlated and there were four groupings reflecting their mode of actions. Generally, C. jejuni isolates were found to be highly resistant to erythromycin (91.1%) and tetracycline (85.7%). Both agents are popular antibiotics used clinically to treat bacterial infections. On the other hand, the C. jejuni isolates showed high percentage (80.4%) of resistance towards enrofloxacin, an extensively used antimicrobial agent in agriculture practices. This study showed that C. jejuni isolates were highly multi-resistance to as many as 10 antibiotics. Therefore, in terms of biosafety, the presence of antibiotic resistance strains in the food chain has raised concerns that the treatment of human infections will be compromised.


Engineers have worked greatly on measuring the strength of soils but relatively little on the fundamental geologic causes of strength. Strength depends principally upon the content of (1) water, (2) clastic materials and (3) plastic materials. Soils are primarily of two types (1) cohesionless soils in which the strength is produced mainly by the friction of clastic particles against one another, and (2) cohesive soils in which the strength, among other things, is influenced by forces between clay particles. The present investigation is a study of the effect of clay content upon the strength of cohesive soils. The strength was measured by a shear vane device working upon synthetic mixtures of clays of known composition. In each mixture strength varies inversely with water content in a straight line relationship when strength is plotted logarithmically and water arithmetically. Mixtures of glycerine with vol-clay (a montmorillonite) give a curvilinear relationship. For given water content the strength increases with respect to type of clay from kaolin through illite, ball clay to montmorillonite. Strength also increases progressively with increasing clay-sand ratio for all types of clay. In clay-sand mixtures of given clay composition strength increases with increasing fineness of grain of the sand mixed with clay. The liquid limit likewise increases regularly with increasing clay concentration and varies with clay type fci the same way as does strength. Strength varies inversely with temperature to a slight extent, changingjess than one percent per degree Centrigrade. Hydrogen kaolin clay, for given water content is several times stronger than sodium clay.


By focussing on literary translation dynamics, and on how the current vernacular Bibles (specifically John 1:1-18 in Southern and Northern Sotho) encourage certain and not other understandings of the Bible (popular theology), this project attempts to achieve three related goals: (a) to reintegrate me as a Mosotho Biblical Studies student into the world and discourse of my people, (b) to bridge the gulfbetween the world of the Basotho believers and the academic world which has produced copious resources for the study of the Bible, and (c) to explore the implications of, or to assess the value of, the availability of the Bible in the vernacular for the Church and the academy in South Africa. The first goal is rather subjective and difficult to quantify. The second is critical in a complex plural society like South Africa. The third cannot be dealt with conclusively, perhaps the use ofthis project lies in pointing out various possibilities in this arena. The overarching bias (hypothesis) is that conscious critical work with the Bible in the vernacular is enriching in more ways than one.


This chapter will provide a detailed stylistic analysis of 'He Wishes for theCloths of Heaven' by W. B. Yeats. The analysis will combine of a range of analyticalmethods, most of which will be of the 'good old steam stylistics' variety, asRon Carter has called them, e.g. lexical, grammatical and phonetic structure inrelation to foregrounding analysis; but other methods of analysis will also beused, e.g. cognitive metaphor and possible/textual worlds theory. At the coreof the analysis will be a discussion of how, and why, Yeats makes the cloths ofheaven in the poem seem intangible, mystical, even, and the role which deviantsemantic structure and also deviant parallel list constructions inside a particularnoun phrase play in the creation of this cognitive effect. Part of the reason forthe multifarious approach to analysis is to compare the usefulness of the variouskinds of methodology for the stylistic analysis of poetry. Attention will also bepaid to different possible interpretations/readings of the poem and what thiscan tell us about the nature of effective interpretation.


Abstract—This paper considers the problem of obtaining realizations of synchronous finite automata from their regular expression specifications. A polylinear sequential circuit realization is defined, and it is proven that every synchronous finite automaton has such a realization. A method is developed for the derivation of a polylinear sequential circuit realization of any automaton specified by a regular expression. The method uses a derivative approach and is applied to the reverse of the given regular expression. As a by-product of developing the method, a connection between the state assigmnent problem and regular expressions is established. Another by-product is a simple method for obtaining polylinear sequential circuit realizations of automata specified by flow tables instead of regular expressions.


Northern Ireland has the highest incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) in the world. The physical fitness, activity patterns, health knowledge, attitudes, and dietary habits of a random, stratified sample of 3211 Northern Irish children, comprising 1540 boys and 1671 girls, age range 11-18 years were examined. At all ages boys were significantly more active than girls. The most important finding was an appreciable decline in physical activity levels after the age of 14 years reaching extremely low levels in older girls. While 75% of exercise taken was not related to school, physical education classes constituted the only exercise taken by one third of pupils. Girls had healthier nutritional habits and were more inclined to employ weight control measures than boys. There was a preponderance of children with a higher body mass index indicating a tendency to obesity in the child population. Over 20% of school leavers of both sexes regularly smoked cigarettes and 20% regularly drank alcohol. The postulated relationship between childhood inactivity, adult sedentary lifestyle, and increased risk of CHD raises serious cause for concern regarding the future cardiovascular health of many children.


Predictive maintenance attempts to detect the onset of a degradation mechanism with the goal of correcting that degradation prior to significant deterioration in the component or equipment. The diagnostic capabilities of predictive maintenance technologies have increased in recent years. The advances in sensor technologies, component sensitivities, size reductions, and most importantly, cost, has allowed manufacturing processes, especially where once this technology was 'missing', the opportunity to enter a new and necessary area of diagnostics. One area in particular is the food and drink industry. However, with the introduction of any new technology, proper application and training is of critical importance. In addition, the implementation of any new maintenance strategy should be supported by a well developed information system. This paper will present the development and implementation, through case study analysis, of a new maintenance strategy using predictive maintenance strategies and an information system designed to support staff training. This project has resulted in the transfer of modern maintenance technologies, already successfully implemented in other industry sectors to the food processing sector. This has been achieved through the transfer and implementation of structured maintenance methods and the introduction of monitoring tools for processing equipment. Significant benefits include the ability to predict equipment failure, the development of best practice and compliance with supplier audits. The information interchange systems developed in
the project allow both users and suppliers to develop and improve engineering and maintenance guidelines, thus enabling the user to improve plant and production efficiency and determine the correct mix of technologies.


Abstract A zero-dimensional modelling study has been conducted using wrinkled flame theory for flame propagation to understand the in-cylinder pressure behaviour with time in a reciprocating internal combustion engine. These are compared with experiments conducted on the engine operated on biomass derived from producer gas and air mixture. The required inputs on the laminar burning velocity and turbulence parameters are obtained from separate studies. The data related to laminar burning velocity for producer gas and air mixture at thermodynamic conditions typical of unburned mixture in an engine cylinder were obtained from one-dimensional flame calculations. The turbulence parameters were obtained by conducting a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics study on a bowl-in-piston geometry to simulate motored or non-firing conditions. The above mentioned data were used in the zero-dimensional model to make pressure-time (p-θ) computation over the complete engine cycle, for a range of test cases at varying compression ratio (CR) and ignition timing. The computational results matched reasonably well with experimental p-θ curves at advanced ignition timing at all CRs. The error in computed indicated power (IP) at advanced ignition setting (18°-27° CA) is around 3–4 per cent for CR = 17.0 and 11.5, and between 6 and 9 per cent for CR = 13.5. However, at less advanced ignition setting, the error in computed IP is larger and this is attributed to enhanced fluid dynamic effect due to reverse squish effect. And, whenever major part of the combustion occurred during this period, the deviation in the computed result appeared to be larger. This model has also been used to predict output of a commercially available producer gas engine of 60 kW. The optimum ignition timing on this particular engine was experimentally found to be 22°-24° before top centre. The zero-dimensional model has been used in a predictive mode and results compared with brake power under wide throttle open condition.