Resurfacing arthroplasty is becoming an increasingly popular option for hip joint replacement. Potential benefits include a greater range of hip motion, resulting from the large diameter bearings, and improved abductor muscle function, resulting from preservation of the femoral neck offset. There is a lack of literature concerning objective functional outcomes after resurfacing arthroplasty compared to the traditional stemmed total hip replacement. Gait analysis studies have shown little evidence to support one arthroplasty type over the other. Kinematic and kinetic outcomes were evaluated for fourteen individuals with resurfacing arthroplasty or standard stemmed total hip replacement during stair climbing. Greater peak hip angles were achieved by the stemmed total hip replacement group. The reduction of peak hip moments was greater for the stemmed arthroplasty group during ascent but greater for the resurfacing group during descent. Stair climbing highlighted greater differences in biomechanical outcomes between the groups than gait analysis due to the greater level of difficulty of the task. The greater diameter bearings of the resurfacing prosthesis do not appear to yield a greater range of motion post-operatively. The standard stemmed arthroplasty performed slightly better than the resurfacing arthroplasty.


Objectives: This study examines the influence of collective strain on support for violent extremism among an ethnically diverse sample of Swiss adolescents. This study explores two claims derived from general strain theory: (1) Exposure to collective strain is associated with higher support for violent extremism and (2) the effect of collective strain is conditional on perceptions of moral and legal constraints. Methods: This study uses data from two waves of the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youth. We use ordinary least squares procedures to regress violent extremist attitudes at age 17 on strain, moral and legal constraints, and control variables measured at ages 15 to 17. Conditional effects were examined using an interaction term for collective strain and moral neutralization and legal cynicism, respectively. Results: The results show that collective strain does not have a direct effect on violent extremist attitudes once other variables are controlled. However, the degree to which individuals neutralize moral and legal constraints amplifies the impact of collective strain on violent extremist attitudes. Conclusions: This study shows that those who already espouse justifications for violence and rule breaking are more vulnerable to extremist violent pathways, particularly when exposed to collective social strife, conflict, and repression.


Over the past decade, digital and mobile media have significantly changed the system of political communication in Brazil. An increasing number of Brazilian candidates have begun to use websites and social networking applications as an integral part of their overall campaign efforts. To explore how these "new" media tools are used at all levels of campaigns for national office, we built an original dataset of media use by political campaigns in the 2010 elections in Brazil. We investigate factors such as a candidate's use of web and social networking sites in conjunction with other traditional influences such as incumbency and party affiliation in order to get a robust understanding of the different roles that digital media tools are beginning to play in Brazilian elections. Does digital media provide some competitive advantage to minor party candidates facing off against major party candidates with higher profile and more resources? Do challenger candidates get any electoral advantage against incumbents for using the internet, social media, or mobile media strategies in their campaigning? In almost every instance, the incumbents who lost their office invested less in internet, social, and mobile campaign strategy than other incumbents who won. Winning challenger candidates in every level of government had more aggressive digital media campaigns than losing candidates. Social media strategies particularly using mobile technologies, provided newcomers with electoral advantages. Social networking applications proved particularly important for successful Senate campaigns, and mobile media strategies made a dramatic difference for the lower House of Deputies.


Over the last two decades, social science research has demonstrated the critical nature of sibling relationships, and, most recently, the importance of sibling relationships for foster children. Unfortunately, although our legal system has begun to respond to our growing awareness of these essential connections, e.g., many states, as well as Congress, have enacted statutes that protect sibling relationships to some degree, few have established laws to protect the relationship in the post-adoption context, leaving approximately 60% of children adopted from foster care every year, who are separated from their siblings, without the right to maintain their relationships with one another. Research also shows that permanency for foster children, enshrined in the law and accomplished through adoption, is critical. Yet, closed adoption statutes, enacted at a time when the majority of adoptions were private and of infants, as well as the rights of parents to make decisions concerning the upbringing of their children, result in a situation where to achieve permanency, many children must lose their right to maintain their sibling connections, as courts are not permitted to order contact between siblings post-adoption. In addition, policymakers are reluctant to impose post-adoption obligations for fear that doing so will discourage persons families from seeking to become foster and adoptive families. After reviewing statutes and case law from all fifty states, examining the social science research, and discussing open adoptions, this article proposes a template of reforms to our child welfare and adoption laws, and addresses some of the concerns, which may be raised by these contemplated changes. The proposed statutory provisions presume that the relationship between siblings in the foster care system will be maintained and permits courts to order post-adoption sibling contact, where it can be shown that there are existing connections between the children and it is in all of the children's best interest. I argue that the rights of the adoptive parents may be overcome here because there is something different about the parent-child relationship when the child is adopted out of a state-run foster care system, as compared to a private adoption, typically of a baby. Given this uniqueness, there is reason to question whether a strict reliance on parental rights is appropriate. In short, when a child is adopted from foster care, the State has been actively involved in the creation of the adopting parent–adopted child relationship, and, thus, has a parens patriae obligation to ensure that it is in line with the child's best interest. This presence of the state, along with the children's strong interest in maintaining their relationships with one another, diminishes the adopting parents' expectations as to complete autonomy and alters the balancing, which always occurs between the rights of parents and the interests of the children and the state. We would never permit the State to sanction an adoptive relationship that did not agree to meet a child's medical or developmental needs. Why then would we accept a situation where an adoptive parent was refusing to maintain a sibling connection, when such a relationship has been documented as being emotionally, and even psychologically, important to the child's well-being? By proposing statutory reforms to our adoption laws, this article attempts to further the dialogue concerning the rights of siblings in foster care to maintain their relationship when one or more of the children are adopted. While recently there has been some scholarly attention paid to the needs and rights of siblings in foster care and the sibling relationship more generally, little of it has been in the legal arena, and none of it has exclusively focused on the interests of siblings in the foster care system post-adoption. Moreover, no one has addressed the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, and explored what these federal mandates might mean for the rights of siblings, both prior to and after the point of adoption.


Author: Muhammed Arif Okur Title: Neural Network Fatigue Life Prediction in Notched Aluminum Specimens from Acoustic Emission Data Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Degree: Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering Year: 2010 This purpose of this research was to identify fatigue crack growth and predict failure for 7075-T6 aluminum notched bars under uniaxial tensile loading using acoustic emission (AE) data. The experiments performed in this study extend the results obtained by previous researchers who used maximum cyclic loads of 4,000, 3,000, and 2,000 pounds at a stress ratio of R = 0.0 and a frequency of 1 Hz to perform the fatigue tests. For this research the cyclic load remained at 2,000 pounds, but an additional ten specimens were tested in order to increase the amount of AE data available to the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) for prediction of cyclic life to failure. In addition, the AE data obtained from cyclic testing were filtered and successfully classified using a Kohonen selforganizing map (SOM) to identify the plane stress and plane strain failure mode data. Furthermore, the early cycle (< 25% of fatigue life) AE amplitude distribution data from the test samples were used to predict fatigue lives using the BPNN. The increased AE data from the ten new specimens allowed the neural network to predict fatigue lives on ten total samples with a worst case error of -9.39%. The prediction results are presented along with comparisons to the previous research. Thus, neural network analysis of acoustic emission data provided both accurate fatigue life prediction and classification of the failure mechanisms involved.


The quality of papers in this journal could not be sustained were it not for our referees and the high quality of feedback that they provide to us and to our authors. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge their work and to thank them for undertaking this task so freely and enthusiastically. We are grateful to the following people for acting as referees during the last twelve months.


Background Pharmaceutical processing of homeopathic potencies consists of consecutively performed dilution and succussion steps. While the dilution steps are well defined, the manner of performing the succussions varies broadly among potency producers. Aims To study the impact of potentization consisting in the performance of vertical succussion strokes vs. vortex-like flow on droplet evaporation patterns obtained from Iscador Quercus 3x (ISCQ 3x). Methodology ISCQ 3x was prepared in three following variants: potentized for 2.5 min (i) by application of mechanically performed vertical strokes, or (ii) hand-made vortex-like flows; or (iii) only diluted and notsuccussed control. Droplet evaporation method was performed as described in (1); in short: droplets of the three ISCQ 3x variants were evaporated on microscope slides (56 droplets of each variant distributed on four slides were evaporated in one experimental repetition). The experimental setup robustness was monitored by means of positive systematic control experiments, where on all 12 slides droplets of the ISCQ 3x variant potentized by the application of strokes were evaporated. The experiments were repeated five times. The resulting droplet residues were photographed in magnification 100x; the patterns were analyzed by means of the Image J software for their grey level distribution and textural and fractal parameters. Results and discussion All three ISCQ 3x variants could be significantly differentiated regarding some textural and fractal parameters; most parameters differentiated between the variant potentized by means of vertical strokes and the control and vortex-potentized variants. Fractal and textural parameters ranked the samples differently. Control experiments showed a reasonable experimental setup robustness. Conclusion The potentization by performing mechanical strokes vs. hand-made vortex-like flows influenced some phenomenological aspects of droplet evaporation patterns. This might indicate that some changes occurred on substance level as consequence of the mechanical impact. Further studies are necessary in this field.


A family of interspersed repetitive elements, RlBamHI, with sequence similarity to the transposase of hAT DNA transposons, occurs in genomes of eight western Palaearctic water frog taxa and the brown frog Rana dalmatina, but was not detected in Xenopus laevis or Salamandra salamandra. RlBamHI elements are not tandemly arrayed, are dispersed across all chromosomes although not uniformly distributed, and based on dot-blot hybridizations may constitute as much as approximately 10% of the genomes of Rana lessonae, Rana ridibunda, and Rana perezi, but only approximately 1% of that of Rana saharica. Eleven nucleotide sequences of a 572 bp fragment from the nine taxa are very similar (pairwise differences 0.4–8.1% for nucleotides, 0.6–18.2% for amino acids), and all share a single open reading frame across the whole RlBamHI fragment. The reading frame is maintained despite several indels, most of which are multiples of 3 bp, but a pair of which in one species alters and, after 13 codons, restores the reading frame. It is possible that the reading frame is selectively maintained, suggesting recent or even present transposition capacity. The amino acid sequences encoded by RlBamHI elements, but not the nucleotide sequences themselves, reveal the similarity of RlBamHI to members of the widespread hAT superfamily of DNA transposons. Amino acid sequence comparisons permitted no convincing phylogenetic placement of RlBamHI among 32 representative hAT transposons across organisms, probably reflecting both the genetic divergence of RlBamHI elements and the paucity of aligned residues available for analysis. Among DNA transposons, a genomic fraction of 10% is extraordinarily high. Phylogenetic analyses of Rana RlBamHI sequences match poorly with independent genetic and molecular phylogenies; the elements compared probably are not orthologous, which renders their sequences inadequate for reconstructing organismal phylogenetic histories.


Face recognition is one of the most important applications to receive attention in the areas of Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. However, face recognition has many challenges and difficulties, such as the requirement for high speed search in large datasets and the requirement for high match accuracy under various noise conditions. Currently, as numerous 3D face datasets become available, more and more researchers start to move their concentration to 3D face recognition. Compared with 2D face image, 3D face images contain more explicit information which is very
useful for dealing with the head orientation and the facial expression problem.

In this thesis, a framework to implement automatic 3D face
recognition is proposed and implemented. In the first stage, a key facial feature - the nose has to be extracted for the subsequent face recognition process. In order to exploit the local feature information, we present a face feature extraction methods based on a 3D shape descriptor. Two different 3D shape descriptor Multi Contour Surface Angle Moments Descriptor(MCSAMD) and Multi Shell Surface
Angle Moments Descriptor(MSSAMD) are designed and implemented. The nose tip is identified using a binary neural network technique called k-Nearest Neighbour Correlation Matrix Memories(CMM) algorithm. The main face area is localized and cropped based on the nose tip localization with an identification rate of almost 100% on FRGC 3D face database. Secondly, a face aligned approach is
implemented by applying a combination of methods including Principal Component Analysis(PCA) face correction, Iterative Closest Point algorithms(ICP) and the alignment using the symmetry of human face. All faces are aligned to a unified coordinate system from the original pose position even under expression variations. The position of the nose tip is also further corrected. After the face alignment, the main face area is divided into several regions with
different weights according to the face expression variability. Similarity measurement algorithms based on the pose-invariant 3D shape descriptor MSSAMD are used to match the corresponding regions for different faces. The expression variability weights are applied in the final consideration of face identification and verification.
Experiments are performed on the FRGC database which is the largest 3D face database of 4950 faces with different expressions. In the experiments dealing with 4007 faces with different expressions, a 91.96% verification at a false acceptance rate(FAR) of 0.1% and a 97.63% rank-one
identification rate are achieved.


Introduction. Covid 19 is currently a threat and has been generating different reactions, from the most successful to the most erroneous;It is here when our coping styles take a leading role in the face of uncertainty. Objective. The re- search aims to identify the style of coping with stress that predominates and influences the skills to solve social prob- lems in university students and this influences the skills to solve problems in social isolation due to COVID 19. Materi- als and method. The approach is quantitative, the hypotheti- cal deductive method, explanatory level and non-experimen- tal design, the sample of 386 university students calculated through simple random probability sampling. The instruments were standardized coping styles and social problem solving questionnaires with validity and reliability of 0.909 and 0.920 by Cronbach's Alpha, respectively. The descriptive results ori- ented through the crossed tables and the inferential ones with the statistic asymptotic free distribution due to the fact that the data correspond to a normal distribution, also the adjust- ment indices were carried out to elaborate the model, normed adjustment index 0.977, index of Comparative fit 0.994 and adjusted goodness of fit index 0.917 greater than the accept- able limit, therefore the structural model established in the research is acceptable and shows that the predominant style that influences the resolution of social problems is problem- centered skills. Conclusion. Stress coping styles significant- ly influence the solution of social problems.


Wan et al. created tissue-specific knockout mice deficient in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), which is a transcription factor regulated by fatty acids, some prostaglandins, and components of oxidized low-density lipoprotein particles and which regulates lipid biosynthesis. The mice were deficient in PPARγ in the hematopoietic and endothelial tissues. Pups nursed from mothers deficient in PPARγ exhibited growth retardation and hair loss that was completely reversed after the pups were weaned. Furthermore, pups deficient in PPARγ fostered by a wild-type mother did not exhibit these abnormalities, and wild-type pups fostered with the PPARγ-deficient mothers exhibited hair loss and low weight until weaning, confirming that the problem was maternal. Investigation of the skin of the pups nursed by the PPARγ-deficient mothers showed the formation of follicular cysts, which appeared to result from an inflammatory response that was characterized by leukocyte infiltration, elevated expression, and abundance of inflammatory cytokines and cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2). Hair loss was partially prevented if the pups were treated with aspirin, a COX inhibitor. Inflammation was also noted in the livers of the pups nursed by the PPARγ-deficient mothers. Histological analysis of the mammary tissue of the PPARγ-deficient mice showed increased lipid accumulation. Transcription analysis revealed that the PPARγ-deficient mammary glands exhibited decreased expression of homeobox genes and matrix metalloproteinases involved in mammary gland development. The expression of genes encoding two lipid oxidation enzymes that are involved in the production of inflammatory lipids was elevated in the mutant mice. When a mouse macrophage cell line was exposed to milk from the PPARγ-deficient mice in the presence of lipoprotein lipase, which is involved in lipid digestion, the cells increased production of inflammatory mediators. Furthermore, the skin from the mouse pups fed by the PPARγ-deficient mice exhibited an altered lipid profile compared with pups fed by wild-type mice, and mass analysis suggested that one group of lipids present in the skin of pups fed by the PPARγ-deficient mice was oxidized free fatty acids. Investigation of the gene expression of the macrophages from the mutant mice, which do not express PPARγ in the macrophages but do in the epithelial cells and adipocytes in the mammary gland, revealed that the macrophages had elevated expression of genes encoding enzymes that produce PPAΡγ ligands. The authors propose that these ligands activated PPARγ in the epithelial and adipocyte tissue of the mammary gland, leading to excessive production of inflammatory lipids. Y. Wan, A. Saghatelian, L.-W. Chong, C.-L. Zhang, B. F. Cravatt, R. M. Evans, Maternal PPARγ protects nursing neonates by suppressing the production of inflammatory milk. Genes Dev. 21, 1895-1908 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


"Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is an engineering discipline often identified as "black magic." This belief exists because the fundamental mechanisms on how radio frequency (RF) energy is developed within a printed circuit board (PCB) is not well understood by practicing engineers. Rigorous mathematical analysis is not required to design a PCB. Using basic EMC theory and converting complex concepts into simple analogies helps engineers understand the mitigation process that deters EMC events from occurring. This user-friendly reference covers a broad spectrum of information never before published, and is as fluid and comprehensive as the first edition. The simplified approach to PCB design and layout is based on real-life experience, training, and knowledge. Printed Circuit Board Techniques for EMC Compliance, Second Edition will help prevent the emission or reception of unwanted RF energy generated by components and interconnects, thus achieving acceptable levels of EMC for electrical equipment. It prepares one for complying with stringent domestic and international regulatory requirements. Also, it teaches how to solve complex problems with a minimal amount of theory and math. Essential topics discussed include: * Introduction to EMC * Interconnects and I/O * PCB basics * Electrostatic discharge protection * Bypassing and decoupling * Backplanes-Ribbon Cables-Daughter Cards * Clock Circuits-Trace Routing-Terminations * Miscellaneous design techniques This rules-driven book-formatted for quick access and cross-reference-is ideal for electrical and EMC engineers, consultants, technicians, and PCB designers regardless of experience or educational background." Sponsored by: IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society


Abstract We present an approach for segmenting individual cells and lamellipodia in epithelial cell clusters using fully convolutional neural networks. The method will set the basis for measuring cell cluster dynamics and expansion to improve the investigation of collective cell migration phenomena. The fully learning-based front-end avoids classical feature engineering, yet the network architecture needs to be designed carefully. Our network predicts how likely each pixel belongs to one of the classes and, thus, is able to segment the image. Besides characterizing segmentation performance, we discuss how the network will be further employed.


In this paper, the properties of fluorescence were studied of the thin films with different component ratios of polyvinyl carbazole(PVK)and Alq3. The energy transfer between PVK and Alq3 was studied through analysis of absorption spectra, excitated spectra, emission spectra of the thin films. When the content of Alq3 was high enough,the peak of Alq3 was quite evident in the abs orption spectra and excitated spectra, at the same time the emission spectra was the characteristic emission band of Alq3.When the content of PVK was high enough, the peak value of PVK is much greater than that of Alq3. At this time the extraordinary strong characteristic emission band of Alq3 and the feeble charac teristic emission band of PVK was observed. It is proved that the energy can transfer from PVK to Alq3 in a wide concentration range and it is most efficient at the concentration of 1∶7. A model Hamitonian based on single chain model including the dopant was put forward to simulate the experiment .This model can explain the experimental results very well.


A visit to a Manchester CAS event made Mike Wilkinson, faculty technical manager at the University of Cumbria, think about how the Raspberry Pi can be effectively demonstrated in schools with real world applications. After seeing an inspiring demonstration of a Lego crocodile using Scratch at a Manchester CAS event my technical team began to look at the practical aspects of using the Pi to control everyday items such as lights, motors and sensors. We purchased a Piface which connects to the Pi allowing easy addition of external devices. Scratch was an obvious choice of programming tool. Using the two together on a Pi we quickly identified two main problems. First, the Piface/Scratch combination slowed things down so much it became unusable. We contacted the team behind the Piface, Dr Andrew Robinson and colleagues at the University of Manchester (www.piface.org.uk/about/). After some much appreciated work on the interface they solved the speed problem.


With the growing importance of digital and information literacy, digital equity is a priority that ensures that there is not only equality, whereby every child receives the same opportunities, instruction, and help, but that there is equity whereby each child receives as much as she or he needs to acquire information and digital competencies. This means that disadvantaged children may need more opportunity, instruction or help. Before there can be equality there needs to be equity.


Though input vouchers are being publicized as a mechanism to simultaneously target subsidies and develop demand in private markets, limited empirical evidence of their effect on private input demand exists. Few empirical studies, if any, exist on the effect of targeted subsidies on private input demand in Nigeria or West Africa . Consequently this study begins to fill this gap by estimating the effect of a targeted input subsidy on farmer participation in the private fertilizer market in Nigeria. Using a double hurdle model and a control function approach, this study explores the effect of increasing access to subsidized fertilizer on farmer participation in the private fertilizer market in Kano, Nigeria. The study finds evidence that farmers who received subsidized fertilizer in 2009 tended to have less assets than their counterparts who did not. Within this context, although receiving subsidized fertilizer did not appear to increase the probability of participating in the private fertilizer market, it did increase the quantity of fertilizer purchased from the private market once the decision to participate had been made. It appears that one benefit of the voucher program was that it developed links between rural farmers and input suppliers. Furthermore, where private fertilizer markets are weak, results indicate that there could be significant gains from the temporary use of voucher programs to create links between input suppliers and farmers.


One hundred twenty-six isolates of Salmonella typhimurium from various clinical sources were tested for enterotoxin production and characterization of plasmid profile. Cell-free culture supernates and polymyxin B extracts of all the strains were assayed by rabbit ileal loop and skin permeability tests. Enterotoxic activity was detected in culture supernates of 32 strains. Twenty-one strains by both rabbit ileal loop and skin permeability tests, nine strains by skin permeability test, and two strains by rabbit ileal loop test were positive. Live culture of three enterotoxic strains, positive in culture supernates produced ileal secretion. Polymyxin B extracts from 6 hours and 18 hours broth cultures of all the strains were devoid of enterotoxicity. Ileal mucosa exposed to culture supernate of enterotoxigenic strains showed swollen and blunted villi with submucosal oedema while those exposed to polymyxin B extracts showed shortening of villi and sloughing of epithelial lining. Plasmid profiles of enterotoxigenic strains were heterogenous and grouped into 20 different profiles. No correlation could be established between plasmid profile, R-pattern, and enterotoxin production.


Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children. Success of current therapies is still limited and outcome is particularly poor for metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS). We previously identified the proprotein convertase furin as potential target for specific drug delivery with RMS-homing peptides. Furin is a protease that converts inactive precursor proteins into bioactive proteins and peptides. In this study, we investigate the biological role of furin in aRMS progression in vitro and in vivo. Furin expression was confirmed in over 86% RMS biopsies in a tissue microarray (n=89). Inducible furin silencing in vitro led to significant impairment of cell viability and proliferation in all investigated aRMS cell lines, but not in MRC5 fibroblasts. Furthermore, the aRMS cell lines Rh3 and Rh4 revealed to be very sensitive to furin silencing, undergoing caspase-dependent cell death. Notably, furin silencing in vivo led to complete remission of established Rh4 tumors and to delayed growth in Rh30 tumors. Taken together, these findings identify furin as an important factor for aRMS progression and survival. Thus, we propose furin as a novel therapeutic target for treatment of aRMS.


Extracted from text ... 8 Printed on Sappi Dukuza Plus Gloss 90g/m2. Journal of Marketing Vol 11 No 3 2005 (c)
strategic affairs
Out of thin air
At present there are a number of interesting indicators pointing to the direction global marketing is headed. For instance, Unilever and Proctor & Gamble is, according to media reports, going 'back to marketing basics' by doing things such as interacting more with consumers and re-discovering the truth and destructive power of the old adage of being 'out of sight, out of mind'. Coca-Cola has launched new products such as lime-flavoured Coke and an ..


Finding the degree-constrained minimum spanning tree (d-MST) of a graph is a well-studied NP-hard problem of importance in communications network design and other network-related problems. In this paper we describe some previously proposed algorithms for solving the problem, and then introduce a novel tree construction algorithm called the randomized primal method (RPM) which builds degree-constrained trees of low cost from solution vectors taken as input. RPM is applied in three stochastic iterative search methods: simulated annealing, multistart hillclimbing, and a genetic algorithm. While other researchers have mainly concentrated on finding spanning trees in Euclidean graphs, we consider the more general case of random graph problems. We describe two random graph generators which produce particularly challenging d-MST problems. On these and other problems we find that the genetic algorithm employing RPM outperforms simulated annealing and multistart hillclimbing. Our experimental results provide strong evidence that the genetic algorithm employing RPM finds significantly lower-cost solutions to random graph d-MST problems than rival methods.


The classroom is a fundamentally social setting, which can foster students' learning but can also seriously hamper students' functioning in school. Positive relationships with the teacher and peers are essential for students' social and academic adjustment. To connect these two social agents, this dissertation focused on the role of the teacher in classroom peer relations. The classroom peer system can be understood on multiple levels, including the individual, dyad, and classroom group. To do justice to this complexity, each of these levels was taken into account. Similarly, the teaching practices that were investigated are interactions teachers have with an entire class and with individual students. The general hypothesis that guided the studies was that teachers, by modeling positive versus negative behavior and affect in relations with others in general and with specific students, can set the stage for positive versus negative relations among classmates. A three-wave longitudinal design over the course of one school-year was employed, which allowed the examination of both concurrent and prospective associations between teacher practices and peer relations. Students and their teachers in 59 fifth-grade classrooms from 41 schools in the south/east of the Netherlands participated in the study. At each wave, students completed questionnaires regarding their teachers, peers, and themselves. Teachers also completed questionnaires about their students and themselves. Moreover, teacher behavior towards individual students was observed using video recordings. Multilevel analysis, path analysis, growth curve modelling, and social network analysis were applied to answer the research questions. The chapters focusing on peer relations at the level of the classroom group found that, by modeling supportive rather than conflicted interactions, teachers foster a classroom peer ecology in which positive rather than negative peer relations and interactions are the norm and social status is distributed in a more egalitarian rather than hierarchical manner. The studies on individual students' social status show that teacher behavior towards a student, as well as peer perceptions of the teacher-student relationship, are related to students' peer liking, disliking, and isolated status. That is, teachers can put their students in a positive or negative light by interacting with them in a positive or negative manner. Finally, a study on dyadic ties between students further supported the role of the teacher as a social referent for peer relationships. Taken together, the studies in this dissertation show that the teacher indeed is a factor in classroom peer relations. This dissertation has added to the emerging literature on the role of the teacher in classroom peer relations by investigating processes over time, examining classroom, individual, and dyadic levels of peer relations, and disentangling teacher effect on peer liking, disliking, and isolated status. Based on the findings, teachers might purposefully adapt their everyday practices to foster peer relations. When teachers regulate their contact with students in such a way that it benefits the classroom peer ecology, individual students' social status in the classroom, and dyadic ties between students, they shape an environment in which students' social as well as academic learning can blossom.


Accelerated atherosclerosis and vascular calcification, with oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, and other factors causing the arterial stiffness, increases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients on peritoneal dialysis. The aim of this paper is to assess changes in intima media thickness (IMT) at common carotid arteries (CCA) in patients with stable continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (PD) and examine the relationship of these changes and other risk factors on the occurrence of atherosclerosis. The study was conducted on 35 stable PD patients (25 type 2 diabetic patients), aged 58.6 +/- 10.6 years. CCA-IMT was assessed using ultrasound B-mode technique, bilaterally. Other risk factors for the occurrence of atherosclerosis were monitored through regular laboratory control. One atheromatous plaque was found in 19 patients (54.3%). Among 25 type 2 diabetic patients, vascular calcifications were found in 80% patients. In all PD patients, CCA-IMT is 0.77 +/- 0.23, in PD patients with vascular calcifications CCA-IMT is 1.05 +/- 0.2 mm, while in group without vascular calcifications the value of this parameter is 0.56 +/- 0.09 (p<0.01 ). Significant differences were found between PD patients with and without vascular calcifications on CCA in patients age (p<0.001), as well as values of systolic blood pressure (p=0.001), serum phosphorus (p=0.017), product calcium and phosphorus (p=0.021), CRP (p=0.039), triglycerides (p<0.05) and lipoprotein (a) values (p=0.044). Our results suggest an important determination of common carotid arteries intima media thickness and its relation to other risk factors for the occurrence and progression of atherosclerosis in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis.


Abstract Diagenesis in the Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments of the Alava Block (Basque- Cantabrian basin) has been studied using the clay mineralogy (X-ray diffraction) of cuttings from three representative wells of a N-S cross-section. More than 5500 m of various lithologies (marls, mudstones and sandstones) have been drilled in the northern part of the domain, and 2100 m in the southern zone. The illitization of smectite and the disappearance of kaolinite, due to diagenesis, are the most characteristic features in the northern well. Evolution of smectite to illite has been differentiated into four zones, from top to bottom of the series, each showing specific I-S interstratified clay assemblages. The disappearance of smectite and the distribution of kaolinite in the other two wells are explained based on source-area considerations. Burial and thermal history have been reconstructed, revealing a northward increase in thermal flow until the Oligocene (Alpine orogeny paroxysm). In the northern well, the thermal model suggests temperatures of 160 and 270°C for the disappearance of smectite (R0) and illite-smectite (I-S) mixed-layer R1 clay minerals, respectively. The disappearance of kaolinite is related to a temperature of 230°C, a temperature never attained in the other two wells. Retardation of these processes, in relation to temperature values in the literature, is a consequence of the poor reactivity of marly lithologies, due to the low availability of cations. In this regard, the scarcity of reactants (K-bearing phases) and the absence of pathways (low permeability) for their access and circulation imply that illitization could have taken place in a closed system, by diffusion, on a very small scale, i.e. that of the original smectite grains.


The ability of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to achieve independence in their daily living activities may be affected by the characteristics of their underlying condition. The main characteristics of children diagnosed with ASD include impairments in communication, socialisation and behaviour. These impairments are likely to hinder children's ability to learn and experience life like their typically developing peers. Often, enabling their participation in daily life requires extra support and guidance for successful integration into school and family routines, as well as being active participants in community life. The issues and impairments that children with ASD have are life long, and, consequently, children with ASD and their family members need support throughout their whole life. Occupational therapy is one of the healthcare professions involved in providing services to these children and their family members. Services for children with ASD in Malaysia are developing, but are much less advanced than in Western countries. This thesis (a) explored how occupational therapy services were provided in Malaysia, (b) compared these to services in Victoria (Australia) given the considerable differences in socioeconomic, cultural, educational and healthcare systems in both regions, and (c) evaluated whether services that children received in Malaysia met the identified needs and goals of parents of children with ASD. Points (a) and (b) were addressed in phase one of the research, through a descriptive survey design study. Point (c) was addressed in a cross-sectional mixed methods study, using standardised assessments and qualitative interviews of the parents of children with ASD. In the first phase of the study, occupational therapy participants from Malaysia and Victoria (Australia) were recruited through their respective professional organisation and were send a questionnaire regarding the services they provided for children with ASD. The questionnaire was developed to gain information regarding the frames of reference, models of practice, assessments and interventions provided, trainings and professional development needed in the occupational therapy services for children with ASD. In phase two of the study, parents of children with ASD were asked about their child's abilities in managing daily living activities through a mix-methods survey. It was found that occupational therapy services in both regions were similar in terms of the focus given in the aspects of assessments and interventions used and professional development needed. The services provided and continuing professional development that the practitioners felt they needed tended to focus on managing sensory issues in children with ASD and less on the functional aspects of daily occupation. In summary, this research provided preliminary information regarding the occupational therapy services provided for children with ASD in Malaysia. The occupational therapy services for children with ASD in Malaysia was found to be closely similar to the services offered by the occupational therapists in Victoria (Australia). In the second phase of the research, it was found that there were disparities between the occupational therapy services provided and the parents' priorities for their children with ASD. In order for occupational therapy services to be relevant, they should be tailored to meet the needs of the clients and culturally valid for the population receiving the service. The utilization of the gold standard standardized assessment of the Vineland-II was able to identify the areas that needed attention in the studied domains of communication, socialisation and daily living skills. This gold standard assessment paired with the client- and occupational-centred assessment tool, the COPM, facilitated the creation of a more accurate and detailed problem list to guide the occupational therapy goals and intervention planning according to the specific and unique needs of the children with ASD and their families.


The incidence of end stage renal disease (ESRD) is increasing worldwide. Dialysis centers are overwhelmed by the increased number of patients. When a patient becomes aware that his/her kidneys are nonfunctional, he/she is likely to be confused and depressed. The counseling of the patient in the matter of drugs, disease, and lifestyle forms an important necessity, which can help the patient's confidence and motivate the patient for self-care of his/her condition. The counseling of the patient and dispelling the myths regarding ESRD and dialysis is vital for all patients on a continuous basis. This can be achieved by practicing the pharmaceutical care in ESRD patients on dialysis. In this article, the knowhow and the significance of self-management of ESRD patients on dialysis is discussed.The incidence of end stage renal disease (ESRD) is increasing worldwide. Dialysis centers are overwhelmed by the increased number of patients. When a patient becomes aware that his/her kidneys are nonfunctional, he/she is likely to be confused and depressed. The counseling of the patient in the matter of drugs, disease, and lifestyle forms an important necessity, which can help the patient's confidence and motivate the patient for self-care of his/her condition. The counseling of the patient and dispelling the myths regarding ESRD and dialysis is vital for all patients on a continuous basis. This can be achieved by practicing the pharmaceutical care in ESRD patients on dialysis. In this article, the knowhow and the significance of self-management of ESRD patients on dialysis is discussed.


Abstract. Data assimilation is the process of combining real-world observations with a modelled geophysical field. The increasing abundance of satellite retrievals of atmospheric trace gases makes chemical data assimilation an increasingly viable method for deriving more accurate analysed fields and initial conditions for air quality forecasts. We implemented a three-dimensional optimal interpolation (OI) scheme to assimilate retrievals of NO2 tropospheric columns from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument into the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM, version V2009.0), a three-dimensional, regional-scale, offline chemistry-transport model. The background error covariance matrix, B, was estimated based on differences in the NO2 concentration field between paired simulations using different meteorological inputs. Background error correlations were modelled as non-separable, horizontally homogeneous and isotropic. Parameters were estimated for each month and for each hour to allow for seasonal and diurnal patterns in NO2 concentrations. Three experiments were run to compare the effects of observation thinning and the choice of observation errors. Model performance was assessed by comparing the analysed fields to an independent set of observations: ground-based measurements from European air-quality monitoring stations. The analysed NO2 and O3 concentrations were more accurate than those from a reference simulation without assimilation, with increased temporal correlation for both species. Thinning of satellite data and the use of constant observation errors yielded a better balance between the observed increments and the prescribed error covariances, with no appreciable degradation in the surface concentrations due to the observation thinning. Forecasts were also considered and these showed rather limited influence from the initial conditions once the effects of the diurnal cycle are accounted for. The simple OI scheme was effective and computationally feasible in this context, where only a single species was assimilated, adjusting the three-dimensional field for this compound. Limitations of the assimilation scheme are discussed.


Scotland may be roughly divided into three geological bands—1st, A northern area including the Highlands and Islands; 2nd, The broad belt of the Lowlands, embracing the lower portions of the basins of the Tay, Forth, and Clyde; and 3rd, The high pastoral uplands and rich agricultural valleys that lie between the Central Lowlands and the English Border. Of these bands the first and the third are composed in great measure of rocks of Lower Silurian age, while the second is occupied chiefly by the Old Red Sandstone and Carboniferous series, the Silurian rocks may thus be regarded as forming the general framework of the country. They spread over the southern uplands, and then sinking under the central valley of the lowlands, rise up on the farther side in a metamorphosed form, stretching far and wide as the gneisses, schists, limestones, and quartz-rocks of the Highlands. It is of course in the unmetamorphosed or southern belt that the order of succession among the Scottish Silurian rocks must first be studied. I.—LOWER SILURIAN REGION OF THE SOUTH OF SCOTLAND. Owing to the contorted and broken state of the rocks composing the Lower Silurian belt of the South of Scotland, it is by no means an easy task to reduce them to a satisfactory order of succession. They have been thrown into endless plications and contortions; it is chiefly the edges of their vertical or highly inclined strata which are seen cropping up in the channels of streams or on bare hillsides, and This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract


The great majority of the students who acquire good marks during the curriculum terms have been found to experience a drop in their final scores at the end of the semester and this can be a result of the high level of anxiety. Physiological and emotional arousal is one of the factors which is claimed to have a very great influence on the selfefficacy and the higher the level of emotional and physiological arousal the lower feeling of efficiency and selfefficacy would be experienced by the individual. Thus, the present study has been carried out with the objective of the survey of the relationship between test anxiety and self-efficacy among the city of Urmia's medical sciences university students. The present study is a descriptive-analytical research in which 400 individuals of Urmia's medical sciences university students have participated in 2016. The information required for the present study have been collected by taking advantage of a three-part questionnaire, the first part of which is related to the demographic characteristics and the second part pertains to the self-efficacy questionnaire and the third part is also including test anxiety questionnaire. The data were extracted from the collected questionnaires and they were subsequently analyzed by taking advantage of SPSS ver.19 software, descriptive statistics, Pierson correlation test and independent t-test. The students' average age was 21.64 ± 2.9 and 158 individuals were male. Generally speaking the students' self-efficacy mean score was 41.06 ± 8.25. The students' test anxiety mean scores were in the range of 21.15 ± 5.07. The relationship between the age with self-efficacy and test anxiety was not found to be statistically significant. Also, the relationship between the gender with the test anxiety and self-efficacy was not statistically significant. There was also found an inverse and significant relationship between the students' selfefficacy and test anxiety. According to the findings obtained by the present study it can be concluded that the selfefficacy beliefs variable is among the effective factors influencing the students' test anxiety reduction.


Diana Athill made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs, now aged ninety, and freed from any inhibitions that even she may once have had, she reflects frankly on the losses and occasionally the gains that old age brings, and on the wisdom and fortitude required to face death. This is a lively narrative of events, lovers and friendships: the people and experiences that have taught her to regret very little, to resist despondency and to question the beliefs and customs of her own generation.


UNLABELLED
Pharmacokinetic studies have shown that oral transmucosal absorption of fentanyl is relatively rapid compared with gastrointestinal absorption, and it results in increased bioavailability. We designed this study to establish the relative potency of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) compared with i.v. morphine in 133 postoperative patients. The morning after surgery, patients randomly received one dose of either OTFC (200 or 800 microg) and a placebo i.v. injection or i.v. morphine (2 or 10 mg) and an oral transmucosal placebo unit. Pain intensity, pain relief, time to meaningful pain relief, and time to remedication were recorded. Median time to onset of relief was approximately 5 min for all groups. Over the first hour, little difference among treatment groups was seen for pain intensity and pain relief. By 2 h after study drug administration, 800 microg of OTFC and 10 mg of i.v. morphine generally produced similar analgesia, which was better than the smaller doses. Duration of analgesia with the larger doses (800 microg of OTFC and 10 mg of morphine) was similar and longer that produced by the smaller doses. The larger doses of OTFC and morphine produced better and more sustained analgesia than 200 microg of OTFC or 2 mg of morphine.

IMPLICATIONS
The relative potency of oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate (OTFC) to i.v. morphine was 8-14:1. In this postoperative setting, OTFC produced rapid pain relief similar to that produced by i.v. morphine. The larger doses of OTFC (800 microg) and morphine (10 mg) produced better and more sustained analgesia than 200 microg of OTFC or 2 mg of morphine.


We argue that in order to achieve price stability in a sustainable way, central banks should consider paying greater attention to credit in their monetary policy strategies than is generally the case at present. Specifically, simply setting monetary policy so that a two-year inflation forecast is at the central bank's target may, on occasions, be less than optimal. In particular, the central bank may wish to deviate from such a strategy when developments in the financial system are exposing the macroeconomy to materially increased risk. Doing so calls for longer policy horizons together with an explicit incorporation into policy decisions of the balance of risks in the outlook. One important indicator that risk is building up is unusually sustained and rapid credit growth occurring alongside unusually sustained and large increases in asset prices ("financial imbalances"). Building on previous work, we show that empirical proxies for financial imbalances contain useful information about subsequent banking crises, output and inflation beyond traditional two-year policy horizons. On the basis of Taylor rule-type descriptions of policy, we also investigate the response of central banks to financial imbalances. We find evidence that, at least until recently, central banks generally either have not responded to imbalances systematically or, to the extent that they have, have done so asymmetrically, loosening policy further than normal in the face of their unwinding but not tightening it beyond normal as they build up.


One possibility for the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is catalytic oxidation. For the removal of VOCs in low concentration (≲ 3000 ppmv for propane) it is not possible to sustain the required oxidation temperature over the catalyst without external heating. An approach to overcome this problem is to concentrate the VOC by adsorption, in a "two-step adsorption-incineration" process. This is an unsteady state process in which the VOC laden effluent gas is cleaned by passing it through an adsorber. Once the adsorber is saturated the VOC is desorbed by heating and purging. The concentrated VOC from the desorber can then be oxidized over the catalyst, producing enough heat to sustain the oxidation temperature. Conventional adsorbents have some drawbacks such as tailing during desorption due to the large particle size, high pressure drop and hot-spot formation. The objective of this work was to develop, characterize and test the adsorbent and catalyst, with low resistance to mass transfer resulting from thin films of active material, for the two-step adsorption-incineration process. Both the adsorbent and the oxidation catalysts were supported on sintered metal fibers (SMF). This is a novel, structured support offering several advantages over conventional randomly packed beds: Low pressure drop, due to the high porosity of the SMF, which is important where large flow rates and/or high quantities of gas must be treated. High thermal conductivity, due to the metallic nature, leading to smaller temperature gradients in the fixed-bed. A very high geometric surface area, due to the small fiber size. On the order of 200,000 m2/m3 with a fiber diameter of 20 µm. Furthermore, a mathematical model was developed to show the feasibility of the coupling of the two steps in the process. The adsorber was made from a thin, homogeneous film of MFI-type zeolite covering the fibers of the SMF. The film was grown by the seed-film method by hydrothermal treatment. A 3 µm film was obtained with 10 wt.% zeolite on the fiber after 24 h synthesis at 125 °C. This material had a specific surface area of 30 m2/g. The adsorption equilibrium of propane was described well by the Langmuir isotherm and the heat of adsorption was found to be ΔH0ads = - 43.1 kJ/mol. Isothermal breakthrough curves were measured as a function of temperature and film thickness. A mathematical model, comprised of a tanks-in-series model with a linear driving force (LDF) mass transfer description, successfully described the breakthrough behavior. The overall mass transfer was found to be solely due to diffusion in the zeolite film. However, the thin films show very low resistance to mass transfer leading to low internal concentration gradients and efficient utilization of the adsorbent. The pressure drop was measured and compared to that of a randomly packed fixed-bed of spheres. The equivalent diameter for a constant volumetric flow rate and superficial cross sectional area was dp = 180 µm, for a fiber diameter of df = 26 µm at 10 wt.% zeolite loading. The oxidation catalysts were all supported on SMF and cobalt oxide was used as the active phase. Three different groups of catalysts were developed. The support was modified by coating the fibers either with a thin film of fine powder (alumina or catalyst powder) or with a MFI-type zeolite film identical to the adsorbent. The third group was made from cobalt oxide impregnated directly on the oxidized fibers. The latter type of catalyst was found to be the most active during the screening experiments. The base support composition was varied (stainless steel (SS), FeCrAlloy and inconel) to investigate the support effect on the kinetics. The stainless steel and FeCrAlloy supports had similar activities, surpassing that of the inconel supported catalyst, which might be attributed to a Co3O4 surface enriched with iron from the support. Between the 1.1 wt.%Co3O4/SMFSS and 1.5 wt.%Co3O4/SMFFeCrAlloy catalyst the FeCrAlloy based had the highest normalized activity at low temperature (< 310 °C), low propane mole fraction (0.13 %) and high oxygen mole fraction (16.7 %). The chemical kinetics were determined from a novel and efficient experimental design. The apparent activation energy for this catalyst was found to be 87.5 ± 2.6 kJ/mol, with reaction orders in propane of 0.38 ± 0.04 and in oxygen of 0.30 ± 0.08. The catalysts were tested up to 350 °C. Mass transfer limitations were absent and the kinetics was described well with the power rate law as compared to the Mars-van Krevelen model. Catalysts based on Co3O4, supported directly on oxidized SMF, are very active catalysts, simple to prepare, withstand deactivation due to hot-spot formation and show great potential in comparison to the industrial reference catalyst (copper and manganese oxide supported on alumina). The adiabatic desorption process was investigated by mathematical modeling. Simply purging the adsorption bed with the hot exhaust gas from the reactor cannot result in the concentration of the VOC due to the high heat capacity of the fixed-bed. Hence, it will be necessary to use either a high heat carrier like steam, with the adverse effects of drying and separation of water and VOC, or an approach in which the desorber is heated prior to purging the bed, changing the adsorption equilibrium in favor of high gas concentrations. For the latter method, the minimum theoretical propane mole fraction for an autothermal process was found to be 350 ppmv to sustain a catalytic incinerator at 250 °C. Finally, it can be concluded that for the first time zeolite films on SMF were used as structured adsorbents, leading to very low internal mass transfer and increased process efficiency. Furthermore, the advantages of the SMF can be exploited in a catalytic oxidizer, which can be combined with the adsorber to annihilate VOCs in low concentrations. A novel method for the deposition of fine powder catalyst on SMF was also developed for the first time.


Aluminum particles 15–25 μm in size are widely used in fuel propellants and underwater propulsion systems in national defense research. However, these particles are covered with an aluminum oxide film, which has a high melting point, so ignition is difficult. To improve the ignitability of high-energy aluminum powder and to understand the reaction phenomenon as a function of particle size(15–25 μm, 74–105 μm, and 2.38 mm) and oxidizer(air, CO2, and argon), the natural oxide films are chemically removed. The particles are then coated with nickel using an electro-less method. The degree of nickel deposition is confirmed qualitatively and quantitatively through surface analysis using scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy. To characterize the nickel coatings, elemental analysis is also conducted by using X-ray diffraction. Thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC) enable comparisons between the uncoated and coated aluminum, and the reaction process are investigated through fine structural analysis of the particle surfaces and cross sections. There are little difference in reactivity as a function of oxidant type. However, a strong exothermic reaction in the smaller nickel-coated aluminum particles near the melting point of aluminum accelerates the reaction of the smaller particles. Explanation of the reactivity of the nickel-coated aluminum depending on the particle sizes is attempted.


In embryonic development, many cells migrate in order to correctly form new structures. One way that guidance of this migration occurs is via a repulsion mechanism involving the Eph family of receptors. Signaling through these receptors activates the repulsive mechanism that limits which tissues can interact with each other. The repulsion mechanism is not well understood, but involves the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and a loss of cell-cell adhesion. Activation of the EphA4 signaling pathway in Xenopus laevis embryos has been shown to cause the repulsion mechanism. The Rho family of GTPases consisting of Cdc42, Rho, and Rac, has been linked to the reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton and Rho has been demonstrated to be part of the EphA4 pathway. The present study tested the hypothesis that a related GTPase, Rac, is also part of EphA4 signaling. This was done by expressing mutant forms of Rac in Xenopus laevis embryos and assessing whether they mimicked the effects of EphA4 signaling. As the concentration of RNA coding for constitutively active Rac increased, the degree of cellular dissociation also increased indicating possible EphA4 activity. However, when embryos were injected with the dominant negative form of Rac RNA to prevent cellular dissociation caused by the receptor-ligand, EPP+TGFα, no rescue was observed. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis


This qualitative case study reports how 5 first-year kindergarten/primary teachers utilized knowledge and skills from their teacher preparation program as a means of approaching curricular decision-making for instructional practice. In many ways, participants drew from university courses, field experiences, or both to help them make sense of their work and to guide their decisions. This was achieved as participants adopted, modified, imitated, or avoided what they learned during their teacher preparation program. While the findings suggest teacher education provides valuable learning opportunities for beginning teachers, they also illuminate areas of concern. Implications for teacher educators are discussed.


Athletic trainers are often a significant source of support for athletes coping with psychosocial issues, both in terms of directly assisting the athlete through psychosocial interventions (e.g., goal setting, motivations) and offering access to other resources (i.e., mental health counseling referrals), as well as providing various types of social support (Barefield & McCallister, 1997; Robbins & Rosenfeld, 2001; Tracey, 2008). Moreover, athletic training education includes a specific content area, Psychosocial Strategies and Referral, to prepare students to meet the athletes' needs. Athletic trainers (ATs) have expressed an interest in, and increasing acceptance of, the use of psychological skills with athletes who are injured (Clement, Granquist & Arvenin-Barrow, 2013; Cramer Roh & Perna, 2000; Hamson-Utley, Martin & Walters, 2008; Larson, Starky & Zaichowsky, 1996). However, ATs often feel underprepared to assist athletes through the use of psychological skills (Stiller-Ostrowski & Ostrowski, 2009; Moulton, Molstad, & Turner, 1997; Misasi, Davis, Morin, & Stockman, 1996). This study aims to further understand the gap between required athletic training education and feelings of lack of preparedness on behalf of athletic training students. To that end, athletic training Program Directors, Preceptors, and Students were surveyed regarding five specific psychosocial competencies. It was found that while there was no difference in how Program Directors value the selected competencies, there was differentiation among both Preceptors and Students. Students value, feel prepared to use, and are more likely to use competencies PS6, PS7 and PS8, but not PS9 or PS10. Preceptors also valued PS9 and PS10 the least. For Preceptors, modeling the behavior was the strongest predictor of competency value. Multiple regressions were run to determine predictors of student values, preparedness, and likelihood of use. Results were inconsistent across competencies, however where the competency is taught and the value of the Program Director for that competency emerged the most often as significant predictors. Lastly, a regression was run to predict students' likelihood of using a competency from value and preparedness. Across all competencies, value and preparedness were significantly predictive of likelihood of use, and in only one competency was value the only predictor. Results indicate that more research is necessary to understand student values of competencies as well as the influence of clinical instructors on educational experiences. Implications of the results and directions for further research are discussed.


This is the story of men from either side of West Belfast's sectarian divide during the Great War. Richard S. Grayson follows the volunteers of the 36th and 16th divisions who fought on the Somme and side-by-side at Messines, recovering the forgotten West Belfast men throughout the armed forces, from the retreat at Mons to the defeat of Germany and life post-war. In so doing, he tells a new story which challenges popular perceptions of the war and explains why remembrance remains so controversial in Belfast today.


During the debate over the ratification of the United States-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Bush Administration argued that implementation of a free trade agreement would help strengthen the nascent democracies in Central America. As a bilateral agreement, CAFTA would not only foment greater trade liberalization by expanding market access and eliminating trade barriers, but also help transform the entire commercial frameworks in Central America and promote economic development. These implications are not just economic – in particular, its provisions on intellectual property and investment rights, government procurement and labor standards affect the political institutions underpinning democracy and rule of law. This thesis assesses the role in which CAFTA has affected democratic institutions in Central America. It employs a methodology known as the Democratic Audit to evaluate consequences to four dimensions of democracy – the electoral processes, open and accountable institutions, civil and political liberties, and civil society. It demonstrates the value of using the Democratic Audit to assess a trade agreement's political effects with an application to Mexico after NAFTA. Then this work considers the case studies of El Salvador and Costa Rica, the most salient examples of democratic institutional change after CAFTA, by drawing on original research especially into the electoral politics and civil society development in these countries. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the most significant institutional effects of CAFTA have been its role as a political issue, rather than its content, in galvanizing popular opinion and reinvigorating electoral politics and civil society – ironically, not the consequences that the Administration originally had in mind. The research demonstrates that, even if some conclusions cannot be drawn due to the recency of CAFTA, the framework it has employed will be an invaluable tool for assessing future trade agreements.


Climate change is perhaps one of the modern world's greatest problems. Solving this problem is one of the greatest global challenges because all, or very nearly all, countries are impacted by it, and thus every country must participate in a regime to cut back emissions in order to solve the problem. India, a developing country, is a key player in international climate change negotiations. Any country's ability to implement environmental policy on climate change at the national level is critical to its ability to participate in negotiating climate change law and policy at the international level. India, like other developing countries, seeks to protect its environment and public health while still fostering economic development and growth. India has enacted a significant number of environmental laws, regulations, and policies to further these goals. However, India faces many domestic obstacles in terms of implementing greener policies to fight climate change. Part I of this paper explains international climate change law. Part II explains India's obligations and commitments under these treaties. Part III describes and analyzes India's perspective on environmental law and climate change by first looking at the history of India and fieldwork in India. Part III.C. addresses hurdles to mitigation and compliance that India faces, which include overpopulation, poverty and hunger, and political corruption and poor infrastructure. Part III.D. looks at India's environmental laws and environmental litigation in India. Part IV.A. analyzes different models that have been proposed for long-term carbon emissions reduction, and Part IV.B. proposes a holistic approach that India can use to address climate change. India should make efforts to control its population, improve its infrastructure, and alleviate poverty, hunger, and political corruption, while building a grassroots movement involving bottom-up advocacy and education. India must also utilize and better implement its fairly strong environmental laws and other key tools such as public interest litigation. Thus, in order for India to play a leadership role in solving the climate change problem, India needs to make internal improvements so that it can be a world leader.


The Aleutian Archipelago and surrounding waters have enormous ecological, cultural, and commercial significance. As one of the shortest routes between North American and Asian ports, the North Pacific Great Circle Route, which crosses through the Aleutian Archipelago, is traveled by thousands of large cargo ships and tanker vessels every year. To reduce maritime risks and enhance navigational safety, the International Maritime Organization built upon earlier offshore routing efforts by designating five Areas To Be Avoided (ATBAs) in the Aleutian Islands in 2016. The ATBAs are designed to keep large vessels at least 50 nautical miles (93 km) from shore unless calling at a local port or transiting an authorized pass between islands. However, very few studies have examined the effectiveness of ATBAs as a mechanism for changing vessel behavior and thereby reducing the ecological impacts of maritime commerce. In this study, we use 4 years of satellite-based vessel tracking data to assess the effectiveness of the Aleutian ATBAs since their implementation in 2016. We determined whether vessels transiting the North Pacific Great Circle Route changed behavior after ATBA implementation, both in terms of overall route selection and in terms of compliance with each ATBA boundary. We found a total of 2,252 unique tankers and cargo vessels >400 gross tons transited the study region, completing a total of 8,794 voyages. To quantify routing changes of individual vessels, we analyzed the 767 vessels that transited the study region both before and after implementation. The percentage of voyages transiting through the boundaries of what would become ATBAs decreased from 76.3% in 2014–2015 (prior to ATBA designation) to 11.8% in 2016–2017 (after implementation). All five Aleutian ATBAs had significant increases in compliance, with the West ATBA showing the most dramatic increase, from 32.1% to 95.0%. We discuss the framework for ATBA enforcement and highlight the value of local institutional capacity for real-time monitoring. Overall, our results indicate that ATBAs represent a viable strategy for risk mitigation in sensitive ecological areas and that through monitoring, spatial protections influence vessel route decisions on multiple spatial scales.


110 Background: Anecdotal and early evidence suggest ICIs are being used in patients with advanced malignancies and history of AD, despite such patients being typically excluded from traditional clinical trials. We compared the outcomes of patients with or without AD, all of whom had ICI treatment for aNSCLC. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational cohort study using de-identified, curated data in ASCO's CancerLinQ. Patients with Stage III or IV NSCLC who received ≥1 dose of an ICI and had ≥2 visits from Jan 2011 to Nov 2018 were included. AD status prior to ICI treatment was identified using ICD-9/ICD-10 codes or AD medications (including steroids). Symphony claims data were linked via tokenization to build cohorts. Time to treatment discontinuation (TTD), time to next treatment (TTNT), real-world progression-free survival (rwPFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared across the two cohorts using the log-rank test. Cox Proportional Hazards Model was used to adjust for covariates. Adverse events (AEs) were compared using Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact Test. Active AD was defined as evidence of autoimmune disease in the year prior to starting ICIs. Results: Among 2425 patients with aNSCLC treated with ICIs, AD was present in 22% (N=538). Median OS in all patients was 12.4 months (95% CI 11.3-13.5). TTD, TTNT, rwPFS and OS did not differ between the two cohorts (Table). There was no association between AD status and outcomes. There was no increased incidence of AEs in the AD group; however a sub-analysis among patients with active AD showed higher rates of select AEs including endocrine, GI and blood disorders. Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates that patients with evidence of AD prior to receiving ICI have similar outcomes compared to patients with no evidence of AD. Further research is needed to better understand the impact of active AD on the risk of AEs and patient outcomes. [Table: see text]


Can a mode of trans-disciplinary visual inquiry, shifting and subjective, serve as an enquiry into location, an interrogation
into the mechanics of belonging, and a reflection upon the relational connections between the local/rural and the
national/global?
This thesis provides a critical account of the role of a socially engaged 'activist' arts practice that seeks to address the
tension between differing perspectives on place and space in the Burren, Co. Clare, in the West of Ireland. A body of work,
Viscqueux, is a reflection upon my personal, psychological identification with the landscape of the region. This informed and
underpinned two subsequent public artworks, Cross Land and X-PO. Both projects were catalytic actions that created or
revived public space for exchange and collective interaction. Cross Land examined the agricultural and natural
consequences of changes in landscape regulation and farming practices. X-PO is an interstitial space enabling new
connections and social exchange between various 'publics' in the locality.


Boreal forest ecosystems are adapted to periodic disturbance, but there is widespread concern that conventional forest practises degrade plant communities. We examined vegetation diversity and composition after clearcut logging, mechanical and chemical site preparation in eight 5to 12-yr old studies located in southern boreal forests of British Columbia and Quebec, Canada to fi nd useful indicators for monitoring ecosystem integrity and to provide recommendations for the development and testing of new silvicultural approaches. Community-wide and species-specifi c responses were measured across gradients of disturbance severity and the results were explained in terms of the intermediate disturbance hypothesis and a simple regeneration model based on plant life history strategies. Species richness was 30 to 35% higher 5 to 8 years after clearcut logging than in old forest. Total and vascular species diversity generally peaked on moderately severe site treatments, while non-vascular diversity declined with increasing disturbance severity. On more-or-less mesic sites, there was little evidence of diversity loss within the range of conventional silvicultural disturbances; however, there were important changes in plant community composition. Removing soil organic layers caused a shift from residual and resprouting understory species to ruderal species regenerating from seeds and spores. Severe treatments dramatically increased non-native species invasion. Two important challenges for the proposed natural dynamics-based silviculture will be 1) to fi nd ways of maintaining populations of sensitive non-vascular species and forest mycoheterotrophs, and 2) to create regeneration niches for disturbance-dependent indigenous plants without accelerating non-native species invasion.


The research area is an upper watershed and is a land culture for the peasant its self. Then in the plan of land management have to participate the social economic life of community in this area. The alternative plan of land management based on the erosion prediction (A) and to enable erosion (T) The land management and the techniques of land conservation have to arranged if A value more high then T value. This problem happened because the negative impact of land changes. These values must be manipulated in order to A value less than T value. The selection of CP value have to less then and equal with the T/RKLS ratio or the CP maximum value. The must of part of area research have A value more high then T value and plan alternative is rice field, dry field and mixed field with system tumpang sari, agro tourism and protection forest areas.


How will autonomous agents, emergent systems, and chaos theory change the way we live and work in the twenty-first century? As today's manufacturing and production systems grow increasingly complex, tomorrow's science of complexity will produce paradoxically simple solutions, argue technology experts Patricia Moody and Richard Morley in this astonishing vision of the year 2020.Containing both cutting-edge insights and simple truths that provide a roadmap to the future of business -- and illustrated by case examples from such companies as Motorola, Honda, GM, Solectron, Intel, Silicon Graphics, Modicon, Flavors, NeXT, Japanese Railway, and Andover Controls -- "The Technology Machine" challenges readers to understand the spirit and core drivers of growth: technology, knowledge, and individual excellence.By combining rigorous research with their extensive experience with technology advances that have changed industry, Moody and Morley are able to supply simple guidelines for future growth and detail their keen vision of future systems, leaders, and workers. They isolate the three bad business habits at the root of manufacturing problems today -- shortsightedness, restrictive structures, and unbalanced improvement fads -- show how to break them, and supply four infallible predictors of the types of breakthrough technologies that will come to dominate the world of the future. In that world, customers and suppliers are linked by real-time, online systems; business is driven by customer-designed, point-of-consumption replication of product; and a wide gap grows between "The Island of Excellence" organization of the future -- with its holistic approach, including two-yearapprenticeships, uniforms, and morning exercises -- and "The Others," the non-elite, sweatshop-like, breakeven companies of the past. The book is eloquent, original, and essential reading for managers in every area of business and industry.


Abstract. Many sources of uncertainty limit the accuracy of climate projections. Among them, we focus here on the parameter uncertainty, i.e. the imperfect knowledge of the values of many physical parameters in a climate model. Therefore, we use LOVECLIM, a global three-dimensional Earth system model of intermediate complexity and vary several parameters within a range based on the expert judgement of model developers. Nine climatic parameter sets and three carbon cycle parameter sets are selected because they yield present-day climate simulations coherent with observations and they cover a wide range of climate responses to doubled atmospheric CO2 concentration and freshwater flux perturbation in the North Atlantic. Moreover, they also lead to a large range of atmospheric CO2 concentrations in response to prescribed emissions. Consequently, we have at our disposal 27 alternative versions of LOVECLIM (each corresponding to one parameter set) that provide very different responses to some climate forcings. The 27 model versions are then used to illustrate the range of responses provided over the recent past, to compare the time evolution of climate variables over the time interval for which they are available (the last few decades up to more than one century) and to identify the outliers and the "best" versions over that particular time span. For example, between 1979 and 2005, the simulated global annual mean surface temperature increase ranges from 0.24 °C to 0.64 °C, while the simulated increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration varies between 40 and 50 ppmv. Measurements over the same period indicate an increase in global annual mean surface temperature of 0.45 °C (Brohan et al., 2006) and an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration of 44 ppmv (Enting et al., 1994; GLOBALVIEW-CO2, 2006). Only a few parameter sets yield simulations that reproduce the observed key variables of the climate system over the last decades. Furthermore, our results show that the model response, including its ocean component, is strongly influenced by the model sensitivity to an increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration but much less by its sensitivity to freshwater flux in the North Atlantic. They also highlight weaknesses of the model, in particular its large ocean heat uptake.


[From the introduction]. Mutual recognition is the central mode of governance in the Single Market which helped to overcome trade barriers caused by differences in national product regulation. Based on the positive experiences with mutual recognition in the Single Market, the EU heads of state decided to copy this mode of governance and make it the "cornerstone" of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Being faced with a perceived rise in threats such as cross-border crime and terrorism, mutual recognition is expected to enhance the free movement of criminal investigation, prosecutions and sentences across EU borders. The European Arrest Warrant is the first application of this new mode of governance in EU Justice and Home Affairs. Yet, many more measures such as the European Evidence Warrant are to follow. However, can a mode of governance which worked well in the Single Market improve judicial cooperation? The goal of this paper is to analyze the potential of mutual recognition as a governance mode in EU Justice and Home Affairs, a policy area which belongs to the core functions of statehood and is traditionally characterized by cumbersome cooperation procedures and strong sovereignty concerns. As a horizontal mode of governance, mutual recognition is primarily concerned with governing via a network of national judges who mutually accept and enforce each others' judicial decisions. The introduction of mutual recognition raised hopes among member states to eventually improve judicial cooperation since agreeing on centralized rules to address the existing cooperation problems did not prove politically feasible. My research question is under what conditions mutual recognition is able to improve judicial cooperation in criminal matters and solve governance problems. To answer this question I draw on empirical evidence on the implementation and application of the European Arrest Warrant which has been in operation for three and a half years now.


Proper sand management can be a critical aspect in the selection and successful use of sand as a bedding material for dairy cows. In many regions and countries, use of sand as a bedding material is considered as a useful alternative solution in dairy farms, where non-organic matter can serve as an equivalent of straw and other organic materials, e.g. sawdust. Assessment of sand management in the barn with dairy cows involves numerous problems, such as sand consumption, frequency of filling in the sand, quality of sand, as well as cows' response to comfort conditions created by lying stalls covered with sand. This paper presents results of some investigations concerning sand losses in the barn with dairy cows. In practice, sand consumption is a result of natural occurrences, when cows leave lying stalls. Moreover, part of sand, together with faeces, is taken out of the stall when the lying area is handled by persons responsible for cleanliness and hygiene in the stall. This paper indicates, based on the authors' own observations and investigations, that an improper construction of lying stalls can result in the increased losses of the sand in the barn, which translates into financial losses. In addition, a number of methods of measurement, together with the details of the structure of sand losses in the barn with a free-stall housing system, were presented. The discussion develops the issue of effective use of sand as a bedding material in the barn with dairy cows, including the need to use technical equipment in order to keep the barn floors clean and ensure the cows' comfort.


Abstract Since ancient times, the master-at-arms profession has always been considered essential for the education of the nobility and the common citizenship, especially in the Middle Ages. Yet, we know nothing about the real standard of living of these characters. The recent discovery of documents, which report the sums earned by fencing masters to teach combat disciplines, has brought us the possibility to estimate how highly this profession was regarded, and what its actual economic value was in the Italian late Middle Ages. They also give us also a material view into the modes of operation of a sala d'arme in those times. Using different comparative methods based on the quoted currencies, primary goods and the cost of living, it was possible to analyze prices and duration of various military teachings offered by the fencing Masters in the late Middle Ages and equivalent viable activities of the time. We use three ways to calculate equivalent income levels in euros: from the silver content of the coins (bolognini, equivalent to the soldo); from purchasing power in relation to bread prices; and from equivalent wages. As a result we were able to define more accurately both the accessibility of these services for citizens and the relative value to other professions. This cursory research study also aims to estimate approximately the current equivalent wages of a fencing master operating in the Italian peninsula in the 15th and early 16th century, confirming that this job was comparable to a modern, highly specialized, profession.


This narrative forms the first part of an exhibit script intended to illuminate for visitors the changes wrought on the landscape over time and the incredible influence held by the Dickinson family over the St. Jones Neck community. The
exhibit will contain a series of maps with graphic images of buildings, landscape
features, and patterns in acquisition of land. Each map in the series will deal directly
with a particular theme: 1) Acquisition and Disposition of Land, 1676-1857 2) Agricultural Tenancy and Land Management, 1780--1820 3) Construction and Repairs, 1790-1808 4) Diversification and Land Reclamation, 1790-1 850
5) Hurricane Damage, 1880s 6) Twentieth-century Influences on the River, 1900- 1940. This narrative covers the first four themes in detail. The last two will be dealt with at a later date in connection with work currently under way by the Delaware National Estuary and Riverine Research project.


HER2 positivity can be detected early in breast cancer development and is associated with a poor outcome. Primary systemic therapy with trastuzumab (Herceptin; F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel, Switzerland) in combination with taxanes and other cytotoxic agents has been studied in phase II clinical trials in women with HER2-positive breast cancer. These combinations have achieved pathologic complete response rates of 12% to 42% and clinical complete response rates of 30% to 67%. These results compare favorably with those of primary systemic therapy using standard combinations in patients with unselected (HER2-positive or -negative) breast cancer. Consequently, larger studies are in progress in which trastuzumab is administered before surgery in combination with chemotherapy. Trastuzumab is continued as monotherapy afterward to complete 1 year of treatment or until disease progression. These studies aim to provide further proof of the clinical benefits associated with trastuzumab as primary systemic therapy. They will also investigate the molecular determinants of sensitivity and resistance. In addition, four major randomized trials, in more than 13,500 patients, are investigating the impact of adding trastuzumab to standard adjuvant therapy. Planned interim cardiac safety analyses have been passed without concerns. Recruitment to these studies has either recently been completed or continues as planned. Together, this extensive program, which includes analysis of predictive molecular and pathologic makers, will establish the efficacy, safety, and role of trastuzumab in early breast cancer.


In graph pebbling games, one considers a distribution of pebbles on the vertices of a graph, and a pebbling move consists of taking two pebbles off one vertex and placing one on an adjacent vertex. The $t$-pebbling number $\pi_t(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest $m$ such that for every initial distribution of $m$ pebbles on $V(G)$ and every target vertex $x$ there exists a sequence of pebbling moves leading to a distibution with at least $t$ pebbles at $x$. Answering a question of Sieben, we show that for every graph $G$, $\pi_t(G)$ is eventually linear in $t$; that is, there are numbers $a,b,t_0$ such that $\pi_t(G)=at+b$ for all $t\ge t_0$. Our result is also valid for weighted graphs, where every edge $e=\{u,v\}$ has some integer weight $\omega(e)\ge 2$, and a pebbling move from $u$ to $v$ removes $\omega(e)$ pebbles at $u$ and adds one pebble to $v$.


Introduction: Viruses are the most common cause for diarrhoea in infants and small children. Rotavirus is the most frequent viral etiology, causing 125 million episodes of infantile diarrhoea and over 600,000 deaths per year. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study between January and March 2008 was conducted at Patan Hospital, Kathmandu to find out the prevalence of rotavirus among children < 3 years with watery diarrhoea and to identify common strains of rotavirus in the study population. Testing for rotavirus was undertaken by using Rota/Adeno screen Dipstick M583CE. Rotavirus strain identification was done at Nagasaki University Japan. Data was analyzed using SPSS® for Windows V 15.0 software. Results: 119 children with acute watery diarrhoea were enrolled. Rotavirus antigen was found in 63 cases (53%). The highest percentage of rotavirus infection was found in the second six months of life. Among the children with positive rotavirus antigen, the median age was 10 months (IRQ 8.00). The most predominant strain of rotavirus identified was G12 followed by G9 and G1. Most predominant G and P combination was G9 P[8] followed by G12P[6]. Conclusion: The study has shown the prevalence of unusual serotypes of rotavirus. Though rotavirus vaccine has been studied, used widely and found to be very effective, none of the vaccine efficacy studies have included common serotypes identified in Nepal. Level of protection conferred by infant immunization with the current rotavirus vaccines against the strains circulating in Nepal is unknown and careful surveillance through vaccine implementation is needed.


We assume that the functional relations that a protein engages in, influences it's evolutionary dynamics. An extreme case is a functional module in which all components are strongly dependent on each other, for example a protein complex or metabolic pathway. If a protein's function is only relevant on the level of the module, selection will act on module level as well. This leads to distinct phylogenetic patterns: either the module is completely present or completely absent. In other words, the functional module is also an evolutionary module. Surprisingly, we find that most functional modules do not behave like evolutionary modules. In order to remove any biases resulting from erroneous module definitions, we filter our functional modules using high-throughput protein interaction data as well as by cross-comparing different module datasets. We observe only a minor increase in evolutionary modularity. Without strong module-level selection, how is the modular structure of the cellular organization maintained? To answer this question, we represent the molecular machinery as a network of interacting proteins and infer how this network may have evolved. We use an existing model in which networks grow through gene duplication followed by subfunctionalization, to simulate network evolution. Networks that are produced by this model, have a modular structure that is similar to that of real protein interaction networks. We increase the biological relevance of this model by incorporating gene loss. We find that in this extended model, modularity is more easily established and maintained. Importantly, we find that if duplication of existing interactions is the only source of new connections, networks tend to break up. This strongly suggests that gain of completely novel interactions is pivotal in network evolution. In addition to comparing purely topological characteristics of model networks with those of real large-scale protein interaction networks, we study how proteins of different ages are connected in different networks. Previous studies report that protein tend to interact with priteins of a similar age and we demonstrate that this can be partially explained by the process of gene duplcation followed by subfunctionalization. In conclusion, we find that the organization of proteins in specific modules is not conserved in evolution: functional modules do not necessarily behave as evolutionary modules. Moreover, we find that functional modules can spontaneously arise from basic, local evolutionary processes, such as gene duplication.