The paper uses three years of household farm plot panel data (2006-2009), covering six districts in central and southern Malawi to assess factor productivity and farming system development under the input subsidy program. All farm plots of the households were measured with GPS. Maize production intensified in this period as maize area shares of the total farm size were reduced while input use intensity and yields increased. Yields of improved maize were significantly (+323 kg/ha) higher than for local maize. Improved maize seeds were used on only half of the maize plots that received subsidized fertilizer causing fertilizer use inefficiency.


BACKGROUND
Zinc is known to have a critical role in overall human physiology, which likely explains many of its therapeutic uses for the last several thousand years. The specific roles zinc plays in skin health and function are less widely known yet are likely just as critical based on the manifestations of dietary zinc deprivation, which include moderate to severe dermatitis.

OBJECTIVE
To provide a critical review of the scientific literature as to the physiologic importance of zinc to skin, the biochemical basis for these effects, and pharmacologic aspects of zinc therapeutics.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Skin is in a continual state of renewal, placing a high demand on zinc-based enzymes and proteins that direct this process. The importance of zinc physiologically is especially evident in studies of wound healing and inflammation reduction. During these processes, the high needs for zinc can be supplemented externally, generally increasing the rates of the natural processes. Topical zinc delivery involves the pharmacologic optimization of zinc delivery, often mediated by the solubility of the zinc material and interactions within the product matrix.


The widespread deployment of digital technologies has driven many contemporary organisations to adopt a service perspective as a means to extend their business practices or to cater to customer needs. To reduce service complexity, organisations engage in collaborative networks to exchange and integrate resources from many concurrent actors to co-create value. As a consequence, in contrast to firm-centric business models, the resulting service-dominant business model becomes networked in nature, describing the logic of how many concurrent actors co-create value and exchange resources. As business models take a pivotal position with respect to organisational performance and business-IT alignment, this places significant emphasis on the valid design and subsequent evaluation of these models, taking into account these service-dominant characteristics. However, we see that limited work is available to support business model evaluation from a service-dominant perspective, to address these concerns, design decisions and the resulting quality of the model. In response, this paper proposes a method for the qualitative evaluation of service-dominant business models. Following a design science research methodology, we have iteratively designed the method supported by theory on service-dominant logic, business model design and business model evaluation. We illustrate the application of the method by means of a case study.


Abstract. Spatial dimensions of the detailed structures of the electron diffusion region in anti-parallel magnetic reconnection were analyzed based on two-dimensional fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. The electron diffusion region in this study is defined as the region where the positive reconnection electric field is sustained by the electron inertial and non-gyrotropic pressure components. Past kinetic studies demonstrated that the dimensions of the whole electron diffusion region and the inner non-gyrotropic region are scaled by the electron inertial length de and the width of the electron meandering motion, respectively. In this study, we successfully obtained more precise scalings of the dimensions of these two regions than the previous studies by performing simulations with sufficiently small grid spacing (1∕16–1∕8 de) and a sufficient number of particles (800 particles cell−1 on average) under different conditions changing the ion-to-electron mass ratio, the background density and the electron βe (temperature). The obtained scalings are adequately supported by some theories considering spatial variations of field and plasma parameters within the diffusion region. In the reconnection inflow direction, the dimensions of both regions are proportional to de based on the background density. Both dimensions also depend on βe based on the background values, but the dependence in the inner region ( ∼ 0.375th power) is larger than the whole region (0.125th power) reflecting the orbits of meandering and accelerated electrons within the inner region. In the outflow direction, almost only the non-gyrotropic component sustains the positive reconnection electric field. The dimension of this single-scale diffusion region is proportional to the ion-electron hybrid inertial length (dide)1∕2 based on the background density and weakly depends on the background βe with the 0.25th power. These firm scalings allow us to predict observable dimensions in real space which are indeed in reasonable agreement with past in situ spacecraft observations in the Earth's magnetotail and have important implications for future observations with higher resolutions such as the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission.


The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") prohibits bribing "foreign officials," but it does not define the word "foreign" or give any guidance to what citizenship the official must have to fall under the FCPA. Adding to the difficulty when defining "foreign," the recent rise in prosecutions and increased FCPA case law has failed to produce an obvious answer as to how a court should address these issues. This makes it harder for businesses to comply with the FCPA or, in the alternative, obtain favorable deferred prosecution agreements. This Comment argues that, while the FCPA excludes those with U.S. citizenship from being "foreign officials" to protect defendants from an ambiguous criminal statute, businesses should structure compliance programs to treat "foreign officials" as including those with U.S. citizenship. Section I of this Comment traces the evolution of the United States' anti-bribery obligations. Section II analyzes courts' divergent readings of the FCPA and the problem this creates for interpreting whether "foreign" implies that the actor must be a non-U.S. citizen to constitute a "foreign official." Section III identifies how a court would use past approaches to interpret the term "foreign" to include actors with U.S. citizenship, but ultimately would adopt a defendant's narrow definition under the rule of lenity. It then argues that businesses should consider this loophole nonexistent for compliance program purposes. The Conclusion places this issue within the current debate over narrowing the FCPA's terms, determining that it shows the need for statutory clarification and reform to better allow businesses to comply with the law.INTRODUCTIONOn paper, the United States criminalizes bribing "foreign officials,"1 but despite clear evidence, some instances of bribery have escaped prosecution.2 In June 2012, R. Allen Stanford stood trial for running an investment fraud scheme.3 At trial, a witness recounted that Stanford bribed an Antiguan bank regulator, Leroy King, as part of his actions to support the Ponzi scheme.4 Although King may have qualified under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") as a "foreign official" because he was an instrumentality of another state, U.S. officials chose not to charge Stanford with a FCPA violation.5 Richard Cassin, a FCPA expert, inferred that Stanford escaped charges because King maintained dual citizenship with the United States and Antigua and Barbuda, West Indies.6This situation presents particular difficulty for businesses that operate overseas because unpredictable application of the FCPA hinders compliance with the law.7 The Stanford case could indicate relaxed FCPA enforcement by the United States,8 or it could mean that the United States interprets the FCPA's "foreign official" to mean a non-U.S. citizen.9 Although a business could operate under the assumption that the United States interprets "foreign official" to include only non-U.S. citizens, the business would do so at the risk of preparing an inadequate compliance program and potentially violating the statute.10When looking for a citizenship requirement, there is little tangible legal guidance for businesses to follow.11 The FCPA specifically criminalizes the bribery of "foreign officials," making it unlawful for a business and its agents to offer payment, promise to pay, or authorize the payment of anything of value to any foreign official or foreign political party.12 Additionally, the payments must be made for purposes of influencing any act or decision of the official or political party to obtain or retain business of the payor.13 The statute defines "foreign official" as "any officer or employee of a foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof" without specifically defining "foreign" to mean a non-U.S. citizen.14 While cases have analyzed the meaning of other aspects of the statutory definition of "foreign official,"15 courts have yet to decide on the specific citizenship requirements of a "foreign official," leaving businesses without a concrete answer as to what constitutes a FCPA violation. …


Objective The hybrid approach for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) could theoretically result in better preservation of right ventricular (RV) function then the Norwood procedure. The aim of this study was to compare echocardiographic indices of RV size and function in patients after Norwood and hybrid throughout all stages of palliation. Methods 76 HLHS patients (42 Norwood, 34 hybrid) were retrospectively studied. Echocardiography was obtained before stage I, before and after stage II, and before and after Fontan. Median follow-up was 4.9 years (range 1.1–8.5). Results Baseline characteristics before stage I were similar. Hybrid patients demonstrated a significant decrease in RV fractional area change (FAC) between baseline and pre-stage II (36±9% vs 27±6%; p<0.01); Norwood patients remained stable (32±10% vs 32±7%; p=0.21). At pre-stage II, moderate/severe tricuspid valve (TV) regurgitation was found in nine Norwood (33%) and four hybrid (18%) patients (p=0.19). After stage II, the difference in FAC became insignificant (29±7% vs 25±8%, p=0.08) and moderate/severe TV regurgitation (TR) was found in 13 Norwood (48%) and four hybrid patients (19%) (p=0.18). At pre-Fontan, RV FAC was similar after Norwood and hybrid (34±5% vs 33±6%, p=0.69), which remained unchanged after Fontan. After Fontan, one Norwood and one hybrid patient had moderate TR. RV and TV size were similar for both groups at each time point. Conclusions Patients after Norwood and hybrid procedures had equivalent indices of RV size, and systolic and diastolic function throughout all stages of palliation. Small differences in individual RV and TV indices are likely to be explained by differences in physiology or surgical timing rather than by intrinsic differences in myocardial and valve function.


Two enzymes displaying cyclic GMP-stimulated cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity were purified from rat liver to apparent homogeneity: a 'particulate enzyme' found as an integral membrane protein associated with the plasma membrane, and a 'soluble' enzyme found in the cytosol. The physical properties of these enzymes were very similar, being dimers of Mr 134,000, composed in each instance of two subunits of Mr = 66,000-67,000. Both enzymes showed similar kinetics for cyclic AMP hydrolysis. They are both high-affinity enzymes, with kinetic constants for the particulate enzyme of Km = 34 microM and Vmax. = 4.0 units/mg of protein and for the cytosolic enzyme Km = 40 microM and Vmax. = 4.8 units/mg of protein. In both instances hydrolysis of cyclic AMP appeared to show apparent positive co-operativity, with Hill coefficients (happ.) of 1.5 and 1.6 for the particulate and cytosolic enzymes respectively. However, in the presence of 2 microM-cyclic GMP, the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP obeyed Michaelis kinetics (happ. = 1) for both enzymes. The addition of micromolar concentrations of cyclic GMP had little effect on the Vmax. for cyclic AMP hydrolysis, but lowered the Km for cyclic AMP hydrolysis to around 20 microM in both cases. However, at low cyclic AMP substrate concentrations, cyclic GMP was a more potent activator of the particulate enzyme than was the soluble enzyme. The activity of these enzymes could be selectively inhibited by cis-16-palmitoleic acid and by arachidonic acid. In each instance, however, the hydrolysis of cyclic AMP became markedly more sensitive to such inhibition when low concentrations of cyclic GMP were present. Tryptic peptide maps of iodinated preparations of these two purified enzyme species showed that there was considerable homology between these two enzyme forms.


Typically it is not recommended to use a single row spherical roller bearing in an application in which there are significant axial loads. The use of these bearings in a less than optimal customer application can be driven by the need for a high load capacity within a limited geometric envelope. Specialized roller profiles can be developed that eliminate high contact stresses on the roller ends that can lead to the premature failure of the bearing. In this paper, analytical results are presented for the roller to raceway contact stress of four different roller profiles with a given load applied to the bearing. The profiles considered are single transverse radius, double transverse radii, and optimized symmetric and asymmetric. The piecewise logarithmic profiles developed are applied to a barrel roller in this paper, but a generalized method is developed such that the profile could be applied to any type of roller—cylindrical, barrel, hourglass, or tapered. The analysis results for two of the profiles are validated by dynamic testing performed within RBC's Corporate Test Laboratory on a three axis, hydraulic, computer controlled test rig. The bearing inner ring is oscillated while the bearing is subjected to simultaneous radial and axial loads. The control software allows the monitoring of radial displacement and bearing torque during testing. The test results correlate very well with the analytical results. The displacement and torque readouts are shown to predict the onset of raceway fatigue and spalling for one of the roller configurations before testing is complete and the bearing is disassembled.


Abstract. We present a statistical study of four years of Cluster crossings of the mid-altitude cusp. In this first part of the study, we start by introducing the method we have used a) to define the cusp properties, b) to sort the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions or behaviors into classes, c) to determine the proper time delay between the solar wind monitors and Cluster. Out of the 920 passes that we have analyzed, only 261 fulfill our criteria and are considered as cusp crossings. We look at the size, location and dynamics of the mid-altitude cusp under various IMF orientations and solar wind conditions. For southward IMF, Bz rules the latitudinal dynamics, whereas By governs the zonal dynamics, confirming previous works. We show that when |By| is larger than |Bz|, the cusp widens and its location decorrelates from By. We interpret this feature in terms of component reconnection occurring under By-dominated IMF. For northward IMF, we demonstrate that the location of the cusp depends primarily upon the solar wind dynamic pressure and upon the Y-component of the IMF. Also, the multipoint capability of Cluster allows us to conclude that the cusp needs typically more than ~20 min to fully adjust its location and size in response to changes in external conditions, and its speed is correlated to variations in the amplitude of IMF-Bz. Indeed, the velocity in °ILAT/min of the cusp appears to be proportional to the variation in Bz in nT: Vcusp=0.024 ΔBz. Finally, we observe differences in the behavior of the cusp in the two hemispheres. Those differences suggest that the cusp moves and widens more freely in the summer hemisphere.


We suggest that some metrics for quantifying distances in phase space are based on linearized flows about unrealistic reference states and hence may not be applicable to atmospheric flows. A new approach of defining a norm-induced metric based on the total energy norm is proposed. The approach is based on the rigorous mathematics of normed vector spaces and the law of energy conservation in physics. It involves the innovative construction of the phase space so that energy (or a certain physical invariant) takes the form of a Euclidean norm. The metric can be applied to both linear and nonlinear flows and for small and large separations in phase space. The new metric is derived for models of various levels of sophistication: the 2-D barotropic model, the shallow-water model and the 3-D dry, compressible atmosphere in different vertical coordinates. Numerical calculations of the new metric are illustrated with analytic dynamical systems as well as with global reanalysis data. The differences from a commonly used metric and the potential for application in ensemble prediction, error growth analysis and predictability studies are discussed.


Background Genetic analyses of Plasmodium have potential to inform on transmission dynamics, but few studies have evaluated this on a local spatial scale. We used microsatellite genotyping to characterise the micro-epidemiology of P. vivax and P. falciparum diversity to inform malaria control strategies in Timika, Papua Indonesia. Methods Genotyping was undertaken on 713 sympatric P. falciparum and P. vivax isolates from a cross-sectional household survey and clinical studies conducted in Timika. Standard population genetic measures were applied, and the data was compared to published data from Kalimantan, Bangka, Sumba and West Timor. Results Higher diversity (HE = 0.847 vs 0.625; p = 0.017) and polyclonality (46.2% vs 16.5%, p<0.001) were observed in P. vivax versus P. falciparum. Distinct P. falciparum substructure was observed, with two subpopulations, K1 and K2. K1 was comprised solely of asymptomatic infections and displayed greater relatedness to isolates from Sumba than to K2, possibly reflecting imported infections. Conclusions The results demonstrate the greater refractoriness of P. vivax versus P. falciparum to control measures, and risk of distinct parasite subpopulations persisting in the community undetected by passive surveillance. These findings highlight the need for complimentary new surveillance strategies to identify transmission patterns that cannot be detected with traditional malariometric methods.


High transaction and contracting costs are often thought to create credit and savings market failures in developing countries. The microfinance movement grew largely out of business process innovations and subsidies that reduced these costs. We examine an alternative approach, one that infuses no external capital and introduces no change to formal contracts: an improved "technology" for managing informal, collaborative village-based savings groups. Such groups allow, in theory, for more efficient and lower- cost loans and informal savings, and in practice have been scaled up by international non-profit organizations to millions of members. Individuals save together and then lend the accumulated funds back out to themselves. In a randomized evaluation in Mali, we find improvements in food security, consumption smoothing, and buffer stock savings. Although we do find suggestive evidence of higher agricultural output, we do not find overall higher income or expenditure. We also do not find downstream impacts on health, education, social capital, and female decision-making power. Could this have happened before, without any external intervention? Yes. That is what makes the result striking, that indeed there were no resources provided nor legal institutional changes, yet the NGO-guided, improved informal processes led to important changes for households.


The City of New Castle, Delaware has been and will continue to be a unique place with a set of unique problems. The historical assets of the City have created an increasing set of pressures generated by the interest of tourists from other states and from within the State. These pressures tend to strain the resources of the City in two areas at the very least and those are traffic control and parking. In the summer and fall of 1978 the College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy undertook a public opinion survey and, in cooperation with the State Highway Department, measured traffic flows through the city. The intent of this two fold thrust was to establish the validity of complaints to City Council about traffic and parking as well as other issues of interest.


Abstract Crystallography is a powerful descriptor of the atomic structure of solid-state matter and can be applied to analyse the phenomena present in functional materials. Especially for ion diffusion – one of the main processes found in electrochemical energy storage materials – crystallography can describe and evaluate the elementary steps for the hopping of mobile species from one crystallographic site to another. By translating this knowledge into parameters and search for similar numbers in other materials, promising compounds for future energy storage materials can be identified. Large crystal structure databases like the ICSD, CSD, and PCD have accumulated millions of measured crystal structures and thus represent valuable sources for future data mining and big-data approaches. In this work we want to present, on the one hand, crystallographic approaches based on geometric and crystal-chemical descriptors that can be easily applied to very large databases. On the other hand, we want to show methodologies based on ab initio and electronic modelling which can simulate the structure features more realistically, incorporating also dynamic processes. Their theoretical background, applicability, and selected examples are presented.


One of the few commonly occuring species of digging marsupial in south-western Australia is the subspecies of southern brown bandicoot (Isoodon obesulus fusciventor). Unlike a large proportion of Australian digging marsupials that have suffered attrition, bandicoots have persisted and shown resilience to human-mediated disturbance in peri-urban regions. This thesis evaluates some of the ecological roles of bandicoots in ecosystem processes in degraded Eucalyptus gomphocephala woodland in Yalgorup National Park.

Bandicoots forage for the fruiting bodies of mycorrhizal fungi and other subterranean food and in doing so make small pits in the soil surface. Surveys of these foraging pits over a six month period revealed they are sites of lower soil hydrophobicity and higher soil moisture compared to the surrounding undisturbed soil. Additionally, the foraging pits and the area immediately surrounding them collect more leaf litter than the surrounding areas.

The impact of foraging pits on ant-seed removal rates was explored by creating artificial diggings. Three local seed species Acacia saligna, Eucalyptus gomphocephala, and Kennedia prostrata were used in a cafeteria style experiment. Results found artificially created diggings had no effect on seed removal rates and that E. gomphocephala had the highest seed removal rate.

This study suggests that bandicoots provide an important source of soil surface heterogeneity, contributing to ecosystem processes. Their presence in the landscape has the potential to contribute to the restoration of degraded ecosystems.


A newly-developed inverse method for the design of turbomachine blades using existing time-marching techniques for the numerical solutions of the unsteady Euler equations is proposed. In this inverse method, the pitch-averaged tangential velocity (or the blade loading) is the specified quantity, and the corresponding blade geometry is Iteratively sought after. The presence of the blades are represented by a periodic array of discrete body forces which are included in the equations of motion. A four-stage Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme is used to march a finite-volume formulation, of the unsteady Euler equations to a steady-state solution. Modification of the blade geometry during this time marching process is achieved using the slip boundary conditions on the blade surfaces. This method is demonstrated for the design of infinitely-thin cascaded blades in the subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flow regimes. Results are validated using an Euler analysis method and are compared against those obtained using a similar inverse method. Excellent agreement in the results are obtained between these different approaches.Copyright © 1994 by ASME


This paper examines the impact of democracy and democratization on contemporary Muslim societies. The institutional and philosophical approaches to democracy and democratization are inseparable. The paper investigates the relationship between the philosophical dimension of Western democracy and the Muslim philosophy of life and concludes that the democratization of contemporary Muslim societies leads to serious and destabilizing ideological polarization and division of Muslim societies into supporters of secularism and political Islam. The Islamist-secularists relation radicalizes: (1) when the Islamists are prevented from capturing power through democratic institutions and (2) when the advanced Western democratic states cooperate with non-democratic secular elites of Muslim societies. The destabilizing role of democracy can be moderated if the Islamists are engaged in the democratic process, and the debate between the Islamists, the secularists and the West – based on the view that the West should conceive Islam as an alternative weltanschauung [worldview] – focuses on issues that are human properties, irrespective of religion, ethnicity or language. The institutional approach to democracy provides a common ground for cooperation and dialogue between the Islamists, the secularists and the West.


The FGFR signaling pathway has a crucial role in proliferation, survival, and migration of cancer cells, tumor angiogenesis, and drug resistance. FGFR genetic abnormalities, such as gene fusion, mutation, and amplification, have been implicated in several types of cancer. Therefore, FGFRs are considered potential targets for cancer therapy. E7090 is an orally available and selective inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase activities of FGFR1, -2, and -3. In kinetic analyses of the interaction between E7090 and FGFR1 tyrosine kinase, E7090 associated more rapidly with FGFR1 than did the type II FGFR1 inhibitor ponatinib, and E7090 dissociated more slowly from FGFR1, with a relatively longer residence time, than did the type I FGFR1 inhibitor AZD4547, suggesting that its kinetics are more similar to the type V inhibitors, such as lenvatinib. E7090 showed selective antiproliferative activity against cancer cell lines harboring FGFR genetic abnormalities and decreased tumor size in a mouse xenograft model using cell lines with dysregulated FGFR. Furthermore, E7090 administration significantly prolonged the survival of mice with metastasized tumors in the lung. Our results suggest that E7090 is a promising candidate as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of tumors harboring FGFR genetic abnormalities. It is currently being investigated in a phase I clinical trial. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(11); 2630–9. ©2016 AACR.


Real-time monitoring of physiological data can reduce the likelihood of injury in noncombat military personnel and first-responders. MIT Lincoln Laboratory is developing a tactical Real-Time Physiological Status Monitoring (RT-PSM) system architecture and reference implementation named OBAN (Open Body Area Network), the purpose of which is to provide an open, government-owned framework for integrating multiple wearable sensors and applications. The OBAN implementation accepts data from various sensors enabling calculation of physiological strain information which may be used by squad leaders or medics to assess the team's health and enhance safety and effectiveness of mission execution. Security in terms of measurement integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity is an area of interest because OBAN system components exchange sensitive data in contested environments. In this paper, we analyze potential cyber-security threats and their associated risks to a generalized version of the OBAN architecture and identify directions for future research. The threat analysis is intended to inform the development of secure RT-PSM architectures and implementations.


Europe has experienced a large COVID-19 wave caused by the Delta variant in winter 2021/22. Using mathematical models applied to Metropolitan France, we find that boosters administered to ≥ 65, ≥ 50 or ≥ 18 year-olds may reduce the hospitalisation peak by 25%, 36% and 43% respectively, with a delay of 5 months between second and third dose. A 10% reduction in transmission rates might further reduce it by 41%, indicating that even small increases in protective behaviours may be critical to mitigate the wave.


At the adult mammalian neuromuscular junction, acetylcholine receptors are concentrated at the tops of the postsynaptic folds and voltage-gated sodium channels are concentrated in their depths. It is likely that this arrangement involves linkage of the ion channels to components of the underlying membrane cytoskeleton. In rats, the mature distribution of acetylcholine receptors arises as part of the developmental remodelling of the junctional region during the first few weeks after birth. We have followed the changes during this period in the distribution of four proteins associated with the postsynaptic cytoskeleton at mature neuromuscular junctions (utrophin, dystrophin, beta-dystroglycan and beta-spectrin) to see if any of them co-localizes with acetylcholine receptors during the remodelling process, as would be required if it serves to link acetylcholine receptors to the cytoskeleton. Each protein was visualized with specific monoclonal antibodies and its distribution at various stages was compared with that of the acetylcholine receptors, labelled with alpha-bungarotoxin. We also related the changes in distribution of these postsynaptic proteins to the main stages in fold formation and, in the Discussion, to reported observations of the accumulation of voltage gated sodium channels during development. Our results show that utrophin labelling is closely co-localized with that of acetylcholine receptors throughout postnatal maturation. beta-dystroglycan labelling is present at most sites of high acetylcholine receptors density throughout maturation although it often extends beyond the region of highest acetylcholine receptors labelling density. By contrast, dystrophin and beta-spectrin labelling is not consistently concentrated at most neuromuscular junctions until after P7 and P14 respectively.


Economic analysis is a critical component of a comprehensive project or program evaluation methodology that considers all key quantitative and qualitative impacts of highway investments. It allows highway agencies to identify, quantify, and value the economic benefits and costs of highway projects and programs over a multiyear timeframe. This research was conducted to provide the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) with a uniform economic analysis methodology. The developed economic evaluation model applies the methodology of life-cycle benefit cost analysis to perform economic analysis for proposed highway projects. As a result of this research, an Excel based computer program, the Indiana Highway Economic Evaluation Model (IHEEM), was developed to provide a convenient tool for INDOT personnel to implement the method. The main costs and benefits contained in the model are agency costs and user benefits. Agency costs include initial costs, routine maintenance costs, rehabilitation costs, and remaining value of the facility. User benefits contain travel time savings, vehicle operating cost savings, and crash reduction savings. In addition to the deterministic method for cost and benefit analysis, an alternative probabilistic approach was also developed and incorporated into IHEEM so that the outputs can be expressed as ranges of values with likelihoods of occurrence.


In recent years there have been few railroad demand studies. Also, no study has investigated the possibility of regional differences in railroad demand. The objective of the paper is to estimate railroad demand functions for wheat, corn, sorghum, and soybeans for the United States as well as the east and west regions. A two-region spatial equilibrium model is employed to specify the empirical model in which railroad tons originated is the dependent variable. The explanatory variables include railroad price per ton, crop production, and barge price per ton. The theoretically expected sign is negative for rail price. Alternatively, the expected sign is positive for crop production and barge rate. Results include estimates of railroad own-price elasticities and cross price elasticities relative to barge transport. The estimates also reveal regional differences in railroad grain demand.


The Indian subcontinent is expected to witness signifi-cant changes in climatic conditions in the future, but the implications of such changes for future spatial dis-tribution of different biomes in the subcontinent are unclear. We sought to understand the potential shifts in the distribution of biomes in India by 2070 under different emission scenarios, identify biomes and re-gions of the country that are particularly at risk from future changes in climate, and quantify uncertainties associated with the predictions. We used an ensemble classifier (random forest) to model current and poten-tial future distribution of biomes in India for different climate trajectories under the newly developed repre-sentative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios. Cli-mate projections from 19 and 17 different general circulation models (GCMs) were used to predict future biome distributions in India under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios respectively. For each scenario, mod-el outputs from different GCM projections were com-bined using a simple majority voting criterion. Approximately 630,000 sq. km (18%) of the country is predicted to experience biome shifts under the RCP 8.5 scenario and 486,000 sq. km (14%) under the RCP 4.5 scenario by 2070. Drier tropical biomes are likely to be replaced by wetter biomes, while temperate biomes are predicted to be dominated by vegetation characteristic of a warmer climate in the future. There was a high to moderate level of agreement between predictions of different GCMs. Our results suggest that biome shifts will be largely concentrated in the east-central and northern parts of the country, with tropical and sub-tropical dry forests, savannas, grasslands and xeric habitats particularly at risk. Future studies should focus on elucidating the responses of different vegetation sub-formations within individual biomes in order to gain a finer-scale understanding of vegetation responses to future climate change in the Indian subcontinent.


Compounds incorporating a pyrazole moiety have attracted a great deal of research owing to its therapeutic utility of the templates as useful drug molecule scaffolding. The synthesis of pyrazoles moiety substituted with anilines at the fifth position of the ring as anti-protozoal lead moiety have been reported. All the compounds were screened for the anti-protozoal activity. The compounds (3a), 3- amino-5-phenylamino-4H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid ethyl ester and (3c) 3-amino-5-(-4-methoxyphenylamino)- 4H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid ethyl ester showed better antimalarial as well as antileishmanial activity with IC50 value of 0.132 7mol/L and 0.150 7mol/L against P. falciparum and IC50 value of 0.132 7mol/L and 0.168 7mol/L against Leishmania donovani. These results open up new avenues in designing novel anti-protozoal drugs as dual inhibitor with utilization of pyrazole template as part of the pharmacophore.


The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative was founded in 1997 by a group of scholars with a mission to advance education and research in the humanities and social sciences through increased attention to time and place. Knowing about context forms the basis for discovery and understanding. Our recent emphasis has been on developing a metadata infrastructure for the four facets What, Where, When and Who, each of which has special characteristics and display requirements, to advance discovery. WHAT requires thesauri of topics and tools to explore cross references within and between thesauri. WHERE needs place name gazetteers and map displays. Similarly, for WHEN we developed a directory that connects named time periods with calendar dates and a timeline or chronology. WHO requires best practices and standards for encoding the events in people's lives, for contextualizing those events, and for displaying interpersonal relationships.


"The potential adverse effects of climate change on Ethiopia's agricultural sector are a major concern, particularly given the country's dependence on agricultural production. Securing Ethiopia's economic and social well-being in the face of climate change requires that policymakers and stakeholders work together to integrate climate change adaptation into the country's development process. Three stakeholder discussion forums held in 2006 in Addis Ababa, Awassa, and Bahir Dar as part of the project, "Food and Water Security under Global Change: Developing Adaptive Capacity with a Focus on Rural Africa," were attended by representatives of the government, civil society, business sector, and local communities. The forums elicited information to enable policymakers to make more informed decisions related to climate change adaptation. The forums complemented ongoing efforts to develop the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA), which is overseen by a steering committee representing government, nongovernment, academic, and research institutions. Under NAPA, multidisciplinary technical working groups have been formed to assess the country's vulnerability to the adverse consequences of climate change, gauge current adaptation efforts, and identify ways in which public agencies could assist in minimizing the adverse impacts of climate change. In addition, two national and eight regional workshops were conducted involving nearly 500 participants with various areas of expertise. Like the stakeholder forums, the workshops solicited information to create greater awareness of climate change, assess the extent of the area's vulnerability, and help identify adaptation options. This brief is based on a paper that presents findings from the stakeholder discussion forums, as well as NAPA's technical working groups and workshops. These meetings explored stakeholders' perceptions of vulnerability to climate change and considered ways in which adaptation measures could be further integrated into Ethiopia's development process." from text


Sumbawa is a medium-sized island in eastern Indonesia which has a particularly interesting past. In the premodern era it lay on the trade routes that connected the north coasts of the islands of Melaka and Java with the spice-producing areas in Maluku, while Sumbawa itself exported horses, sappan wood, and rice. Its recorded history covers periods of Hindu-Javanese influence, the Southeast Asian Age of Commerce, early Islamisation, and Dutch colonialism. Dutch Indologist Gerrit Jan Held wrote this book in 1955 but died before it could be published; this volume represents its first translation into English, and includes extensive footnotes that set it in context of current research.


International human rights law has only recently concerned itself with water. Instead, international water law has regulated the use of shared rivers, and only states qua states could claim rights and bear duties towards each other. International human rights law has focused on its principal mission of taming the powers of a state acting territorially. Takele Soboka Bulto challenges the established analytic boundaries of international water law and international human rights law. By demonstrating the potential complementarity between the two legal regimes and the ensuing utility of regime coordination for the establishment of the human right to water and its extraterritorial application, he also shows that human rights law and the international law of watercourses can apply in tandem with the purpose of protecting non-national non-residents in Africa and beyond.


This paper takes a first step in aiding researchers to improve the relevance of their research to practice. By proposing that Information Systems researchers conduct applicability checks with practitioners on the research objects (for example, theories, models, frameworks, processes, technical artifacts, or other theoretically based IS artifacts) they either produce or use in theory-focused research, our paper presents an actionable, systematic approach to evaluating, establishing, and further improving research relevance. Furthermore, because it is an approach that can be conducted as an additional step either at the beginning or the end of the traditional research life cycle, it leaves untouched the rigorous methods used to conduct the study, that is, it does not compromise traditional research models.

The approach we propose is based on the analyses of three dimensions of relevance that are critical to practitioners' attempts to internalize IS research findings (importance, accessibility, and suitability), and a comprehensive set of solutions that can be used to address them. Our analysis reveals that the most critical dimension for practice is the importance of the research to the needs of practice. The solution we propose to address that need is to conduct an applicability check on the research objects of interest. The applicability check forms an integral part of the research process, either prior to or following engagement in a typical research process. We present principles and criteria for the conduct and evaluation of an applicability check, which is primarily based on the focus group method, and secondarily on a modified nominal group technique.


The heteromeric inwardly rectifying Kir4.1/Kir5.1 K+ channel underlies the basolateral K+ conductance in the distal nephron and is extremely sensitive to inhibition by intracellular pH. The functional importance of Kir4.1/Kir5.1 in renal ion transport has recently been highlighted by mutations in the human Kir4.1 gene (KCNJ10) that result in seizures, sensorineural deafness, ataxia, mental retardation, and electrolyte imbalance (SeSAME)/epilepsy, ataxia, sensorineural deafness, and renal tubulopathy (EAST) syndrome, a complex disorder that includes salt wasting and hypokalemic alkalosis. Here, we investigated the role of the Kir5.1 subunit in mice with a targeted disruption of the Kir5.1 gene (Kcnj16). The Kir5.1−/− mice displayed hypokalemic, hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis with hypercalciuria. The short-term responses to hydrochlorothiazide, an inhibitor of ion transport in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT), were also exaggerated, indicating excessive renal Na+ absorption in this segment. Furthermore, chronic treatment with hydrochlorothiazide normalized urinary excretion of Na+ and Ca2+, and abolished acidosis in Kir5.1−/− mice. Finally, in contrast to WT mice, electrophysiological recording of K+ channels in the DCT basolateral membrane of Kir5.1−/− mice revealed that, even though Kir5.1 is absent, there is an increased K+ conductance caused by the decreased pH sensitivity of the remaining homomeric Kir4.1 channels. In conclusion, disruption of Kcnj16 induces a severe renal phenotype that, apart from hypokalemia, is the opposite of the phenotype seen in SeSAME/EAST syndrome. These results highlight the important role that Kir5.1 plays as a pH-sensitive regulator of salt transport in the DCT, and the implication of these results for the correct genetic diagnosis of renal tubulopathies is discussed.


Internet and mobile communications have had a profound effect on today's society. New services are constantly being deployed, in which personal data are being processed in return for personally tailored services. While mobile networks lay the groundwork for new innovative services, at the same time they pose numerous privacy challenges. There is the risk that honest citizens participating in mobile communications will have their privacy invaded for "the greater good". We argue that it is highly important that individuals are empowered to retain control over their personal spheres. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to design and evaluate anonymous overlay networks} adapted for mobile networks that allow users to control which information leaves their personal spheres in a mobile communication. Technically, by using an anonymous overlay network, users can communicate with their communication partners without disclosing their network identities. In this thesis, we propose three different anonymous overlay networks tailored for mobile networks. First, two approaches are proposed for anonymous browsing on the mobile Internet, namely mCrowds and a Tor-based approach. By applying theoretical analysis and\,/\,or practical experiments, we show that these approaches offer an appropriate trade-off between the offered degree of anonymity and performance loss. Second, an anonymous overlay network for use in mobile ad hoc networks - Chameleon - is suggested. Besides the actual design of these anonymous overlay networks, this thesis provides novel contributions in other essential areas of privacy protection and anonymous communication. First, also non-technical aspects of privacy protection are thoroughly discussed, including legal, social, and user interface aspects. Second, we survey existing metrics for quantifying anonymity and also propose new ideas regarding anonymity metrics. Third, we review and classify existing mechanisms for anonymous communication in mobile ad hoc networks. Lastly, we also propose a cryptographic technique for building up the user base of an anonymous overlay network in a secure and privacy-friendly manner.


Over the years, research has shown that programming has proved to be a challenging task to many. Due to this, several program visualization tools have been developed to aid in teaching programming. This study aimed at assessing the impact of using programming visualization tools in the teaching and learning of computer Programming. An overview of the tools that were used during the study is given followed by review of literature on the benefits of PV tools in teaching Programming. The study is based on Edga Dale's (1954) Cone of Experience, which forms the foundation of resource based learning theories. Literature reveals that the use of program visualization tools in teaching and learning Programming have posted positive results in various institutions. This is followed by a report of a study conducted using experimental research design approach. The same class was taught two programming introductory courses using BlueJ and Jeliot3 tools; and the performance of the students in the two courses was compared. In addition, during the classes, the covert-direct observation method was used to observe student interactions' and behaviors as they programmed and solved problems during the lessons. Results revealed that these tools if effectively used can improve on the alertness of students, interest in the subject and ultimately positive results.


Ronald Kessler's explosive bestseller, "The FBI," brought down FBI Director William S. Sessions. Now, in this unparalleled work of investigative journalism, Kessler reveals the inner world of the CIA. Based on extensive research and hundreds of interviews, including two with active Directors of Central Intelligence, William H. Webster and Robert M. Gates, and with three former DCI's "Inside The CIA" is the first in-depth, unbiased account of the Agency's core operations, its abject failures, and its resounding successes. Kessler reveals how: CIA analysts botched the job of foreseeing the Soviet economy's collapsethe Agency spies on every country in the world except Great Britain, Australia, and Canadathe CIA undertakes covert action to influence or overthrow foreign governments or political partiesthe Agency trains its officers to break the laws of other countries "Inside The CIA" is an extraordinary guide to the world's most successful house of spies.


Palmitoylation-dependent asymmetric partitioning of cell fate determinants correlates with tumor cell heterogeneity. Lipid modification promotes cancer cell heterogeneity Asymmetric cell division generates daughter cells that have distinct fates and is accomplished through the unequal distribution of cell fate determinants or signaling pathway components. Stypulkowski et al. found that the depalmitoylase APT1 was asymmetrically localized in dividing cancer cells, and its catalytic activity was required for asymmetric localization of the Notch antagonist Numb and the Wnt signaling mediator β-catenin, both of which are palmitoylated. The polarity complex component CDC42 was required for the asymmetric localization of both APT1 and β-catenin. APT1-mediated asymmetric partitioning of Numb and β-catenin restricted Notch and Wnt signaling to one daughter cell or the other, induced a mammary stem cell transcriptional signature in breast cancer cells, and promoted heterogeneity and self-renewal capacity in breast cancer cells. These results identify palmitoylation-dependent asymmetric partitioning of cell fate determinants as a potential driver of tumor cell heterogeneity, which has been associated with tumor progression and metastatic potential. Asymmetric cell division results in two distinctly fated daughter cells. A molecular hallmark of asymmetric division is the unequal partitioning of cell fate determinants. We have previously established that growth factor signaling promotes protein depalmitoylation to foster polarized protein localization, which, in turn, drives migration and metastasis. We report protein palmitoylation as a key mechanism for the asymmetric partitioning of the cell fate determinants Numb and β-catenin through the activity of the depalmitoylating enzyme APT1. Using point mutations, we showed that specific palmitoylated residues on Numb were required for its asymmetric localization. By live-cell imaging, we showed that reciprocal interactions between APT1 and the Rho family GTPase CDC42 promoted the asymmetric localization of Numb and β-catenin to the plasma membrane. This, in turn, restricted Notch- or Wnt-responsive transcriptional activity to one daughter cell. Moreover, we showed that altering APT1 abundance changed the transcriptional signatures of MDA-MB-231 triple receptor–negative breast cancer cells, similar to changes in Notch and β-catenin–mediated Wnt signaling. We also showed that loss of APT1 depleted a specific subpopulation of tumorigenic cells in colony formation assays. Together, our findings suggest that APT1-mediated depalmitoylation is a major mechanism of asymmetric cell division that maintains Notch- and Wnt-associated protein dynamics, gene expression, and cellular functions.


Despite a shift in the practice of international NGOs to a rights-based approach to disasters there is a dearth of substantial theoretical reflections on this linkage within academia. Given this knowledge gap, this research studies the linkages between disaster and rights using the case study of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India. The main contribution that this thesis makes to new knowledge is that of deepening the understanding of the way in which rights are produced in disasters. The thesis proposes a theoretical framework to enable such a critical assessment. The main assertion of the theoretical framework is that the social vulnerability approach to disasters can reduce vulnerability and promote social resilience only through a critical assessment of rights that includes subaltern constructs of rights and moral economy structures, their critique or collusion with the governmental framing and institutionalization of rights. The thesis grounds this claim made in the theoretical framework through its empirical chapters. The thesis has four empirical chapters; the first inquires into the colonial history of modern disaster rights; the second interrogates disaster rights in post-colonial India; the third analyses the implications of a subaltern perspective of rights for disaster risk reduction strategy; and the fourth analyses social change processes through the contestation of rights, partly attributed to the disaster. The concluding chapter of the thesis makes recommendations for a rights based social vulnerability analysis and for action in disasters in Uttar Pradesh, India. These recommendations can act as new directions for rights based disaster risk reduction and recovery work. The thesis uses an interdisciplinary approach to investigate this subject area. In particular, it uses disaster theory, human rights and political theory, subaltern theory and feminist theory. The thesis uses a hermeneutic approach as its dominant research methodology, and ethnographic research methods. It also makes a limited use of archival data and quantitative survey methods.


In 1964, Brazil's democratically elected, left-wing government was ousted in a coup and replaced by a military junta. The Johnson administration quickly recognized the new government. The U.S. press and members of Congress were nearly unanimous in their support of the "revolution" and the coup leaders' anticommunist agenda. Few Americans were aware of the human rights abuses perpetrated by Brazil's new regime. By 1969, a small group of academics, clergy, Brazilian exiles, and political activists had begun to educate the American public about the violent repression in Brazil and mobilize opposition to the dictatorship. By 1974, most informed political activists in the United States associated the Brazilian government with its torture chambers. In We Cannot Remain Silent , James N. Green analyzes the U.S. grassroots activities against torture in Brazil, and the ways those efforts helped to create a new discourse about human-rights violations in Latin America. He explains how the campaign against Brazil's dictatorship laid the groundwork for subsequent U.S. movements against human rights abuses in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Central America.

Green interviewed many of the activists who educated journalists, government officials, and the public about the abuses taking place under the Brazilian dictatorship. Drawing on those interviews and archival research from Brazil and the United States, he describes the creation of a network of activists with international connections, the documentation of systematic torture and repression, and the cultivation of Congressional allies and the press. Those efforts helped to expose the terror of the dictatorship and undermine U.S. support for the regime. Against the background of the political and social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, Green tells the story of a decentralized, international grassroots movement that effectively challenged U.S. foreign policy.


In Western Australia, efforts to increase SME e-commerce adoption have been integrated with some regional community portals in order to access greater levels of government funding. This paper examines three such cases. Results indicate that although the enablement of e-commerce was intended to be the driving force behind these portals, it is the traffic generated from online community activity and community support of the portals that have helped sustain them. While e-commerce economic benefits from the portals have been slow to materialise, the portals have produced benefits in the form of increased online community participation and e-commerce awareness.


This research paper aims to explore the variation of nontraditional teaching methods (such as inductive teaching methods, active learning, pedagogies of engagement, and research based instructional strategies) in engineering classes in the United States. Numerous articles have demonstrated the effectiveness of nontraditional teaching methods in STEM classrooms, and the adoption of such methods has increased across the nation. But, more work needs to be done to explore how instructors are implementing nontraditional teaching methods. In this research study, we collected data from 17 diverse engineering classrooms across the nation and ask two research questions: (1) What are the perceived predominant types of instruction in undergraduate engineering classrooms that feature nontraditional teaching methods? (2) Is there a statistically significant difference in the perceived amount of traditional lecturing in undergraduate engineering classrooms that feature nontraditional teaching methods? In our study, we recruited faculty teaching undergraduate engineering courses who employed nontraditional teaching methods and invited all students to complete the Student Response to Instructional Practices Survey (StRIP). Nontraditional teaching methods on the StRIP Survey included items such as individual and group problem solving, previewing concepts and material before class, and discussing questions in class. The StRIP Survey also included traditional teaching methods such as listening to the instructor lecture during class or watching the instructor solve problems. In total, our study collected data from 17 engineering classes, and 997 students during the 2015-16 academic year. To answer our first question, we used descriptive statistics of nontraditional teaching methods displayed in a graphical representation. To answer the second question, we conducted a Kruskal-Wallis H test to test for a statistically significant difference between classes. Even though all classes were sampled for their nontraditional teaching methods, many still incorporated traditional teaching methods alongside their nontraditional teaching methods. Traditional teaching methods such as passive lecture were the most frequently used teaching approach in 10 of the 17 classes. However, alluding to our second research question, there was a statistically significant difference in students' perception of passive lecture based by course, Kruskal-Wallis χ = 394.3, df = 16, p < 0.001. Our results indicate that engineering instructors use multiple types of activities across classrooms, and labeling an entire course as nontraditional or active learning based may be problematic, as there is much variation and nuances that occurs in engineering classrooms. Furthermore, we find that most classes include a mix of traditional and nontraditional teaching methods, and implementing nontraditional teaching methods in the undergraduate engineering classroom does not always imply abandoning lecture. Our future work involves exploring how instructors implement these activities, how these teaching methods relate to students' evaluation of the instructor, and how faculty professional development can be used to help instructors implement activities as well as relating perceived use of teaching methods to institutional demographics, instructor's gender, course types, and other characteristics.


The SQL group-by operator plays an important role in summarizing and aggregating large datasets in a data analytics stack. While the standard group-by operator, which is based on equality, is useful in several applications, allowing similarity aware grouping provides a more realistic view on real-world data that could lead to better insights. The Similarity SQL-based Group-By operator (SGB, for short) extends the semantics of the standard SQL Group-by by grouping data with similar but not necessarily equal values. While existing similarity-based grouping operators efficiently realize these approximate semantics, they primarily focus on one-dimensional attributes and treat multi-dimensional attributes independently. However, correlated attributes, such as in spatial data, are processed independently, and hence, groups in the multi-dimensional space are not detected properly. To address this problem, we introduce two new SGB operators for multi-dimensional data. The first operator is the clique (or distance-to-all) SGB, where all the tuples in a group are within some distance from each other. The second operator is the distance-to-any SGB, where a tuple belongs to a group if the tuple is within some distance from any other tuple in the group. Since a tuple may satisfy the membership criterion of multiple groups, we introduce three different semantics to deal with such a case: (i) eliminate the tuple, (ii) put the tuple in any one group, and (iii) create a new group for this tuple. We implement and test the new SGB operators and their algorithms inside PostgreSQL. The overhead introduced by these operators proves to be minimal and the execution times are comparable to those of the standard Group-by. The experimental study, based on TPC-H and a social check-in data, demonstrates that the proposed algorithms can achieve up to three orders of magnitude enhancement in performance over baseline methods developed to solve the same problem.


Low back pain (LBP) is a highly prevalent and costly cause of disability. In spite of a large amount of research in this field, there is still controversy about which factors are more important to determine chronicity in low back pain. Recent results have shown that LBP becomes a chronic condition mainly because of the relationship between psychosocial factors and pain. This relationship would explain the resistance of chronic LBP to classical medical treatment, which results in absenteeism and high economical costs. In this study we review recent results, including our own, that elucidate the contribution of psychosocial factors to chronic LBP. A biopsychosocial approach to these patients is highly recommended (Rev Med Chile 2002; 130: 1411-8)


Experimental evidence on a range of interventions in developing countries is accumulating rapidly. Is it possible to extrapolate from an experimental evidence base to other locations of policy interest (from "reference" to "target" sites)? And which factors determine the accuracy of such an extrapolation? We investigate applying the Angrist and Evans (1998) natural experiment (the effect of boy-boy or girl-girl as the first two children on incremental fertility and mothers' labor force participation) to data from International IPUMS on 166 country-year censuses. We define the external validity function with extrapolation error depending on covariate differences between reference and target locations, and find that smaller differences in geography, education, calendar year, and mothers' labor force participation lead to lower extrapolation error. As experimental evidence accumulates, out-of-sample extrapolation error does not systematically approach zero if the available evidence base is naïvely extrapolated, but does if the external validity function is used to select the most appropriate reference context for a given target (although absolute error remains meaningful relative to the magnitude of the treatment effect). We also investigate where to locate experiments and the decision problem associated with extrapolating from existing evidence rather than running a new experiment at a target site.


Treated wastewater effluents contain high concentrations of particles; many of these particles are large (with diameters greater than 100 μm) and consist of densely-packed bacterial cells. Microorganisms occluded in wastewater particles can be difficult to inactivate in chlorine disinfection systems, as the chlorine must first diffuse through the macro- and microscopic pore spaces prior to inactivating the occluded microorganisms. The impact of microorganisms occluded in particles is evident in disinfection, where reduced inactivation rates occur even with increasing doses of the disinfectant. Reduction of occluded microorganisms in plant effluents can be accomplished using filtration to remove the total number of particles, and disinfection to ensure that intra-particle chlorine concentrations are sufficient to inactivate the occluded microorganisms. In addition to addressing inactivation of dispersed microorganisms, treatment systems design and operation should include consideration of the removal of microorganisms in wastewater particles that may pose a health risk in post-treated waters.

In this project, a systematic approach was developed to co-optimize filtration and chemical disinfection systems to collectively reduce the concentration of occluded viable microorganisms in treated effluents to acceptable levels. The optimization process was successfully applied to wastewater samples collected from seven facilities, each with different treatment trains. A range of operating conditions was identified that resulted in acceptable treatment based on particle guidelines developed using the existent regulatory framework for indicator organisms. Extension of the current approach to a pathogen basis was considered, but current data are insufficient to adopt such a procedure although preliminary results suggest that intra-particle chlorine concentrations that are sufficient to inactivate indicator organisms may not be adequate to sufficiently reduce concentrations of occluded pathogens.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series .

ISBN: 9781843392804 (Print)

ISBN: 9781780403496 (eBook)


The imagination of the perception of the foreign. Peter Handke's search for reality and its controversial reception
"Eine winterliche Reise zu den Flussen Donau, Save, Morawa und Drina oder Gerechtigkeit fur Serbien" could be interpreted as what Handke calls an inductive method for evading the postmodern context of delusion. Contextualizing Handke's engagement in former Yugoslavia in his earlier works, I argue in this paper that his experiments with the perception of 'Unmittelbarkeit' must fall back on the belief in the unshakeable identification of what reality is. This even applies to his strategies of indicating only indifference towards all possibilities of describing reality. Nevertheless, such literary techniques of apparition of the non-identical might be convincing, as they reflect insight into the impossibility of identification. Text analyses of documents following the publication of "Eine winterliche Reise" in 1996 prove how the motif of non-identification was perpetuated, systematically leading to the non-awarding (sic) of the Heinrich Heine-Preis in 2006.


Weimar Germany's economic plight has oftentimes been blamed on reparations in simplistic fashion. Alternative interpretations ignored reparations entirely, instead emphasizing gold standard constraints or wage increases in excess of productivity growth. This paper argues for a strong but subtle link between Germany's slump and these policies. Based on sovereign debt theory, it provides an incentive-based interpretation of the transfer problem, the compensation of reparations by counteracting capital inflows. I argue that the German transfer problem resulted from transfer protection under the Dawes Plan, which gave commercial credits seniority over reparations. This gave Germany a strategic incentive to drive out reparations through foreign borrowing. The Young Plan of 1929 implied a reversal of this seniority scheme, causing a sudden stop in the balance of payments that lasted to the late 1930s. The Young Plan could only have worked in the absence of an international recession; attempts to salvage it in 1931 were necessarily futile.


Objective – This study analyzed the effects of a practice-based model of professional development on the teaching and collaborative practices of 9 teams of librarians and teachers, who created and implemented units of inquiry-focused study with K-12 students during a yearlong course. The authors describe how the collection and analysis of evidence guided the development team in the formative and summative evaluations of the outcomes of the professional development, as well as the long-term results of participation in this initiative.

Methods – The authors used an interpretive, participative approach. The first author was the external reviewer for the project; the second author headed the development team and served as a participant-observer. Triangulated data were collected from participants in the form of learning logs, discussion board postings, interviews, questionnaires, and learning portfolios consisting of unit and lesson plans and student work samples with critiques. Data were also collected from the professional development designers in the form of meeting notes, responses to participants, interviews, and course documents. For two years following the end of the formal course, the authors also conducted follow-up email correspondence with all teams and site visits with six teams to determine sustained or expanded implementation of inquiry-focused, collaborative curriculum development.

Results – The practice-based approach to professional development required continual modification of the course design and timely, individualized mentoring and feedback, based on analysis and co-reflection by the developers on the evidence gathered through participant logs, reports, and school site visits. Modeling the inquiry process in their own course development work and making this process transparent to the participating community were essential to improvement. Course participants reported beneficial results in both immediate and long-term changes in practice. The summative evaluation identified significant changes in practice in three areas: (1) the design of inquiry-focused learning, (2) the roles of the teacher and librarian in collaborative development of instruction, and (3) the impact on student performance. Two years after the yearlong professional development course, most participants indicated that they continued to incorporate inquiry-based approaches, and over half of the participants were involving other colleagues at their schools in inquiry-focused practices. Six of the librarians assumed major curricular roles in their respective schools.

Conclusion – The practice-based model of professional development appears to be effective and sustainable. It has been tested and modified by other development teams in the last two years. More extensive use of the model in other contexts with further testing and refinement by other developers is needed to ensure that the model is robust and widely applicable.


Now more than ever, the EU needs to address concerns about the significant decline in productivity growth and the increasing perception of unfairness. Completing the single market would unlock the EU's growth potential. At the same time, the EU should empower member states to fight inequality by helping them better distribute the gains arising from economic integration


An approach to the pre-runtime design of normative systems for problem-solving multi-agent systems (MAS)

is suggested. A key element of this approach is to employ evolutionary mechanisms to evolve efficient normative

systems. To illustrate, a genetic algoritm is used in the process of designing a normative system for

an example MAS based on the DALMAS architecture for norm-regulated MAS. It is demonstrated that an

evolutionary algorithm may be a useful tool when designing norms for problem-solving MAS.


Kate Gleason College of Engineering Rochester Institute of Technology Degree Doctor of Philosophy Program Microsystems Engineering__ Name of Candidate _Anand Gopalan____________________________________ Title __Built-In-Self-Test of RF Front-end Circuitry________________________ Fuelled by the ever increasing demand for wireless products and the advent of deep submicron CMOS, RF ICs have become fairly commonplace in the semiconductor market. This has given rise to a new breed of Systems-On-Chip (SOCs) with RF front-ends tightly integrated along with digital, analog and mixed signal circuitry. However, the reliability of the integrated RF front-end continues to be a matter of significant concern and considerable research. A major challenge to the reliability of RF ICs is the fact that their performance is also severely degraded by wide tolerances in on-chip passives and package parasitics, in addition to process related faults. Due to the absence of contact based testing solutions in embedded RF SOCs (because the very act of probing may affect the performance of the RF circuit), coupled with the presence of very few test access nodes, a Built In Self Test approach (BiST) may prove to be the most efficient test scheme. However due to the associated challenges, a comprehensive and low-overhead BiST methodology for on-chip testing of RF ICs has not yet been reported in literature. In the current work, an approach to RF self-test that has hitherto been unexplored both in literature and in the commercial arena is proposed. A sensitive current monitor has been used to extract variations in the supply current drawn by the circuit-under-test (CUT). These variations are then processed in time and frequency domain to develop signatures. The acquired signatures can then be mapped to specific behavioral anomalies and the locations of these anomalies. The CUT is first excited by simple test inputs that can be generated on-chip. The current monitor extracts the corresponding variations in the supply current of the CUT, thereby creating signatures that map to various performance metrics of the circuit. These signatures can then be post-processed by low overhead on-chip circuitry and converted into an accessible form. To be successful in the RF domain any BIST architecture must be minimally invasive, reliable, offer good fault coverage and present low real estate and power overheads. The current-based self-test approach successfully addresses all these concerns. The technique has been applied to RF Low Noise Amplifiers, Mixers and Voltage Controlled Oscillators. The circuitry and post-processing techniques have also been demonstrated in silicon (using the IBM 0.25 micron RF CMOS process). The entire self-test of the RF front-end can be accomplished with a total test time of approximately 30μs, which is several orders of magnitude better than existing commercial test schemes. Abstract Approval: Committee Chair _______________________________________ Program Director _______________________________________ Dean KGCOE _______________________________________Approval: Committee Chair _______________________________________ Program Director _______________________________________ Dean KGCOE _______________________________________


Introduction: In December 2019, the first group of patients with symptoms of atypical pneumonia was discovered in Wuhan, China. On January 7, 2020, the etiologic agent was identified;it was a new betacoronavirus, genetically similar to SARS-CoV-1, consisting of a simple RNA strand, an enveloped virus of 50-200nm in diameter, which was called SARS-CoV-2. Soon after, the disease was named COVID-19. On January 30, WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Importance due to the spread of the coronavirus. Tests for serological detection of IgM and IgG antibodies are those that provide an estimate of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, highlighting the Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT), simple and accessible with a result within 5-30 minutes, based on sensitization of antigens/antibodies conjugated to colloidal gold capturing specific proteins present in the infected serum, plasma or blood. Objective: This work aims to show the analysis carried out with RDT for COVID-19 diagnosis in compliance with the current legislation from 02.04 to 18.08.2020. Method: In March of 2020, 25 serum/plasma samples were donated, without any identification. These samples were the remaining samples of tests performed on individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection by the RT-PCR technique from health services (National Institute of Infectious Diseases Evandro Chagas - INI and State Institute of the Brain Paulo Niemeyer - IEC) located in the metropolitan region of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The samples obtained in order to become a serological panel were stored at -20 degrees C until the moment of use. Simultaneously, a panel of samples with confirmed reactivity for IgM and IgG antibodies from COVID-19 was being made, throughout the pandemic and the samples used were evaluated against three Rapid Tests, of different antigenic compositions or different brands;two ELISA tests for IgM and IgG;two chemiluminescence tests and when applicable, a molecular test. In order to assess the specificity of the products sent, surplus donation plasma samples were selected, known to be negative for HIV, HTLV, hepatitis b and c, chagas and syphilis, collected between 2013 and 2014, in the southern regions of the country, period in which SARS-CoV-2 was nonexistent in the world. In addition to True Positive (VP) and True Negative (VN) samples, interfering serum or plasma samples with reactivity for HIV, HCV, HTLV, HBsAg, chagas disease, syphilis and dengue were also included in the evaluation. Results: Out of 178 TR lots, 74.1%, 132 lots were from China and 25.9%, 46 TR lots were from Brazil;Germany;South Korea;Canada;USA;Singapore;Ireland and Switzerland. The analytical result showed that 57.0%, 101 TR lots obtained a Satisfactory result and 43%, 77 lots had Unsatisfactory results, when compared to the Sensitivity and Specificity values declared by the manufacturer, in the Instructions for Use. Conclusions: The results obtained show the need for constant monitoring of TRs for COVID-19 with the primary purpose of guaranteeing the quality of products sold in the country, one of the National Health Surveillance System pillars of action.


Abstract In view of recent changes in the higher education sector, such as increased tuition fees, a greater focus has been placed on widening participation initiatives and monitoring student satisfaction. The aims of the current study were twofold: (1) to explore whether pre-entry programmes foster successful transition to higher education, and (2) to examine longitudinally the factors associated with course satisfaction. Eighty-eight first-year psychology students completed a questionnaire measuring academic self-efficacy, social identity and student satisfaction at the start (Time 1, November 2015) and end (Time 2, March 2016) of the academic year. Findings indicated that students who participated in a pre-entry programme reported higher academic self-efficacy and satisfaction compared to typical route students. Moreover, academic self-efficacy predicted student satisfaction at the start of the academic year, whereas in-group affect (a facet of social identity) predicted this at the end of the academic year. The current findings indicate that pre-entry programmes may have a positive impact on students' sense of academic self-efficacy. On a more general level, the findings also suggest that academic self-efficacy and social identity may be key indicators of student satisfaction. This highlights the complexities of the concept of 'student satisfaction', and demonstrates the utility of examining multiple factors relating to student satisfaction across different time points.


Designers of robotic groups are faced with the formidable task of creating effective coordination architectures that can plan and replan trajectories even when faced with changing environment conditions and hardware failures. Communication between robots is one mechanism that can at times be helpful in such systems, but can also create a time and energy overhead that reduces performance. In dealing with this issue, various communication schemes have been proposed ranging from centralized and localized algorithms, to noncommunicative methods. In this paper we argue that using a coordination cost measure can be useful for selecting the appropriate level of communication within such groups. We show that this measure can be used to create adaptive communication methods that switch between various communication approaches. Robotic team members that implemented these approaches were able to increase their productivity in a statistically significant fashion over methods that only used one type of communication scheme.


Earth observation and land-cover analysis became a reality in the last 2-3 decades thanks to NASA airborne and spacecrafts such as Landsat. Inclusion of Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) technology in some of these platforms has made possible acquiring large data sets, with high potential in analytical tasks but at the cost of advanced signal processing. In this thesis, effective/efficient feature extraction methods are proposed. Initially, contributions are introduced for efficient computation of the covariance matrix widely used in data reduction methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA). By taking advantage of the cube structure in HSI, onsite and real-time covariance computation is achieved, reducing memory requirements as well. Furthermore, following the PCA algorithm, a novel method called Folded-PCA (Fd-PCA) is proposed for efficiency while extracting both global and local features within the spectral pixels, achieved by folding the spectral samples from vector to matrix arrays. Inspired by Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) methods, a recent and promising algorithm, Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA), is introduced to hyperspectral remote sensing, performing extraction of features in the spectral (1D-SSA) and also the spatial (2D-SSA) domain. By successfully suppressing the noise and enhancing the useful signal, more effective feature extraction and data classification are achieved. Furthermore, a fast implementation of the SSA methods is also proposed, leading to reduction of computational complexity. In addition, combination of both spectraland spatial-domain exploitation is also included, comprising data reduction. Finally, promising Deep Learning (DL) approaches are evaluated by the analysis of Stacked AutoEncoders (SAEs) for feature extraction and data reduction, introducing a method called Segmented-SAE (S-SAE), working in local regions of the spectral domain. Preliminary results have validated its great potential in this context.


This research in this review focused on the factors that influence the willingness to ride on public transport. It provides empirical evidence that time, comfort and safety are three key components contributing to the decision making on the viability of alternatives transportation modes. One of the biggest challenges encountered in Malaysia is the increasing number of private vehicles on the road which will lead to further problems such as acute traffic congestion, emissions of excessive carbon dioxide (CO2), and fatality cases. The encouragement of the ridership of public transport could be the best alternative to reduce the on-the-road vehicles. However, it is difficult to stimulate the willingness to ride on public transport without a clear understanding of people's travel behavior towards developing a seamless public transport system. This study sought to identify and study the importance of these factors and how are they correlated with each other to influence the willingness to ride. Primary data from 230 respondents with profession mixture of student, employee, employer, self-employed, unemployed and retiree are collected by undergoing a quantitative research of questionnaire. Descriptive, exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and PROCESS are used to test the hypotheses corresponding to the research objectives for this study. The result indicated that time has a significant relationship with safety and comfort. In a meanwhile, safety has also shown to have positive influence on comfort. The direct relationship of safety and comfort on willingness to ride on public transport has been supported with literature reviews to discuss further. In order to develop a sustainable public transport system in Malaysia, it is prominent to increase the awareness for people on the beneficial of riding public transport and to achieve to provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport system for everyone.


This paper provides an analysis of several philosophically interesting results of a recent study of the fertility decision-making of thirty-five childless/childfree Australian and American women. While most of the women in the study endorsed and expanded on longstanding normative prescriptions for how a good mother ought to feel and behave, they were at a loss (at times quite literally) to explain why a woman should decide to mother in the first place. For several women, this difficulty led them to conclude that a decision to have a child was irrational. After seeking to explain how women understood this term and why some drew this conclusion, I will argue that applied philosophers should respond to the findings by creating normative accounts of the decision to parent. Suggestions are made about what such accounts should include, and avoid, to ensure relevance to women and acceptability to both feminist and non-feminist philosophers.


After The Second World War, Czeslaw Milosz was exiled for many years from his home country of Poland. In Native Realm, he evokes that homeland and his years away from it; how it nurtured him and how its divisions and destruction shaped a generation. Exploring such diverse memories as a Soviet officer drinking tea with his little finger sticking out, or two Chinese girls passing, laughing, by a New York subway station, Milosz uses these to both 'bring Europe closer to the Europeans' and to capture the formative moments in his life, from his Catholic education to his time in Paris, all with his distinctive honesty, elegance and self-awareness. It is the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.


The National Assessment of Educational Progress is considered the "gold standard" of assessment. However, Mr. Pellegrino warns, those who are setting proficiency standards for state tests to meet the requirements of NCLB should be wary of using NAEP's achievement levels as a guide. ********** CONFUSION and controversy frequently surround the process of setting performance standards for a state's high-stakes achievement assessments. This is especially problematic because performance data from such tests are used to meet the adequate yearly progress (AYP) provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. In light of these pressures, there is a natural tendency for policy makers, the press, and the public to use the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for comparisons and guidance. There are two primary reasons why NAEP, rightly or wrongly, is often singled out in this way. First, NAEP is considered the "gold standard" of educational assessments, largely because of its history as a national indicator and the quality and care that have gone into its design and development. Second, because NAEP is seen as a high-quality indicator of academic achievement, its performance standards are perceived to have greater rigor and validity than those set for many other assessments, including the achievement tests developed by individual states. NAEP results have been used for comparisons to recent state achievement test results and, appropriately or inappropriately, they will probably be used to evaluate standards-setting processes for those states that have developed new assessments or have expanded the number of grades assessed. Typically, such changes in a state's assessment program are needed to meet the requirement, which took effect in 2006, to test all students in grades 3-8 in both mathematics and reading. To make this discussion a bit more concrete, consider as an example Wyoming's new state test known as PAWS (Proficiency Assessment for Wyoming Students). PAWS is quite different in purpose and design from Wyoming's prior test, known as the WyCAS. Given that performance standards for PAWS need to be established and that those standards are likely to be scrutinized carefully both within Wyoming and at the federal level, it is reasonable to ask whether NAEP provides appropriate standards for Wyoming or any other state in which new standards must be set. To make such an appraisal, one needs to understand three things. First, setting standards is a judgment carried out by reasonable people, and it occurs in a social and political context. As such, it is influenced by multiple factors, including the nature of the assessment itself, current goals and aspirations for the educational enterprise, practical considerations, sources of comparative data such as NAEP, and immediate social consequences. The second thing that bears consideration is the history of and motivation for establishing the high performance standards that have become NAEP's trademark and that serve as the "standard for comparison." The third thing to consider is the validity of NAEP's standards--do they mean what people think they mean--and whether those standards are applicable to the interpretation of levels of performance by a state's students on its NCLB high-stakes achievement test. UNDERSTANDING NAEP STANDARDS AS EDUCATION POLICY STATEMENTS Although NAEP has been operational since the late 1960s, the practice of reporting NAEP results in terms of performance standards is little more than 15 years old. And in that short time, the labels Basic, Proficient, and Advanced have become part of the testing landscape, adopted not only by NAEP but also by many state testing programs, including Wyoming's WyCAS and now PAWS. The genesis of reporting performance standards can be traced to the 1989 education summit in Charlottesville, Virginia. The summit participants, including President George H. …


The purpose of the study was to explore the narrative writing of 18 children, ages 11 to 19, with severe and profound hearing impairment who had cochlear implants (CI), compared with the performance of hearing children. Nine of the 18 children had prelingual deafness and 9 children had postlingual deafness. The hearing impairment was progressive in 11 children. The participants thus formed a heterogeneous group, which was split in two ways: according to age at testing and age at implantation. The narratives were collected by means of keystroke logging. The difference between the children with CI and the hearing children was most prominent for two measures: the percentage of pause time (in the group of children older than 13 years) and lexical density. Furthermore, the children implanted after 5 years of age performed more like the hearing children. This group consisted of children with postlingual deafness and also of children who were deafened progressively. Our interpretation is that these children benefited from the early linguistic input. Taking the whole group of participants into consideration, the results reflect linguistic and cognitive processing limitations in complex linguistic tasks like narration for the children with CI in comparison with their hearing peers.


hominin_ecodynamics.nlogo is designed as an experimental laboratory to explore the dynamics of biobehavioral interactions between two populations, and their genetic and demographic consequences. Specifically, the model is designed to study the effects of differing initial population sizes, different interaction distances, and different fitness on the demography and spatial distributions of the original two populations and hybrids.


The functional consequences of single proton transfers occurring in the pore of a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel were observed with patch recording techniques. These results led to three conclusions about the chemical nature of ion binding sites in the conduction pathway: The channel contains two identical titratable sites, even though there are more than two (probably four) identical subunits; the sites are formed by glutamate residues that have a pKa (where K(a) is the acid constant) of 7.6; and protonation of one site does not perturb the pKa of the other. These properties point to an unusual arrangement of carboxyl side-chain residues in the pore of a cation channel.


This thesis explores through practice how the process of devising a theatrical performance might affect the constitution of dis/ability identity, centrally engaging with the theories of postmodern feminist, Judith Butler. Initially, the study concentrates on the current trends in disability theory and presents a rationale for the comparative analysis of feminism(s) with disability theory and the disability movement. It pays particular attention to postmodern feminism(s)' critique of the exclusionary nature of oppositional identity politics. It assesses the opportunities for theorising identity formation opened up by the critical thinking of Butler and the contribution this might make to emerging disability theory. Two types of theatrical intervention are discussed as centrally informing the practical element of this thesis: the first, contemporary disability performance and its creative engagement with access and the second, previous attempts to apply Butler's provocations to theatrical practice. This thesis investigates how the integration of disability theory and Butlerian theory was achieved through three practical devised performance projects with community groups of disabled participants. The first, BluYesBlu, was a pilot project undertaken with a group of learning disabled devisers/performers. Methodological and ethical issues arising from the practice are considered. The subsequent projects were This is My Life, again with learning disabled participants, and Natural Woman?, with a group of physically disabled collaborators. All three projects incorporated the collection of audience responses and their analysis. This thesis discusses how dis/ability identity was reformulated as an effect of production and reception. As the challenges, issues and the critical thinking that emerged from each project were very dissimilar, this thesis argues that utilising Butler provides a route through 'difficulty' to a more open, flexible and inclusive formulation of dis/ability identity than was previously available. Furthermore, the embodying of Butler's theories in this critical practice validates her theories as politically and ethically effective.


Human Resource Management studentsi¯ beliefs about how work should be organised will influence their behaviour in future professional positions. This prompted a study in which students in a three-year programme in Human Resource Management at University West in Sweden commented on a number of statements about what work should ideally be like. All 140 respondents were born between 1978 and 1990 and hence belong to Generation Y, also known as Generation Me. The respondents generally agreed strongly with humanistic beliefs about work and female students agreed with humanistic beliefs to a far greater extent than male students.


Despite the fact that our society prizes gifted children, research on their special talents is underfunded compared with other areas of education and suffers from a number of methodological challenges. These challenges include (but are not limited to) the fact that definitions of giftedness are not standardized; that test ceilings are often too low to measure progress or growth; that comparison groups for exceptional individuals are often difficult to find; and that participant attrition in longitudinal studies involving special populations can compromise the validity of findings more severely than in studies with more general populations. Fortunately, the editors of this book make a strong case that these methodological issues can be overcome. Bruce Thompson and Rena F. Subotnik have gathered a distinguished group of pioneers in measurement and statistics to offer creative solutions to these problems and more. Chapters in Parts I and II describe the use of methods such as factor analysis, Q-technique factor analysis, reliability generalization methods, and hierarchical linear modeling in the study of giftedness; debates over statistical significance and the utility of p values and confidence intervals are covered as well. Chapters in the final part of the book include contributions by leading journal editors in the field of gifted education who examine the implications of the various insights in earlier chapters upon their work as researchers and leaders in the field. This book is a must-have for all researchers who seek to elevate the scholarship on giftedness and talent development to a new level of rigor.


English language teaching (ELT) in Iran has experienced a turbulent history reflecting an often dynamic context and changing attitudes toward English, yet framed within a discourse of tolerance rather than one of embrace, as this study is going to show. The discourse was much brighter before the Islamic Revolution and this study reveals that there were much fewer adverse policies toward the spread of English (mostly because of economic reasons). However, after the Islamic Revolution, the discourse can be seen as a product of a postcolonial perspective and an accompanying unease – even antipathy – concerning Westernisation and Western values that are seen as being at odds with Iran's identity and aspirations as an Islamic state. It is discussed in this study that at its current status, language policy and planning in the Iranian context is blatantly at odds with the 'educational' and 'social' needs of the nation.


There are about 10-15% of all pregnancies which ends up in a miscarriage. Many of those women who go through a miscarriage suffer from depression and anxiety. The aim of this study is to describe the need of care and support women that have gone through a miscarriage have, so that they can receive better suited help when they see a nurse regarding the miscarriage. The method which was used was a qualitative literature study with ten qualitative articles, one quantitative and one who was both. The result is built on two major themes: needs in the public room and needs in the private room and four subthemes for every major theme that were identified in the analysis. The result shows that nurses and other hospital staff need to be more empathic and sympathetic. The women have a need of having someone to talk to and every woman should get an opportunity to go to a follow-up meeting at the hospital. The women also need to mourn in their own way and if they have the right kind of caring and support from professionals, families and friends they can recover more quickly.