Abstract. This study evaluates seismic capacity of the unreinforced masonry buildings with the selected template designs constructed per pre-modern code in Albania considering nonlinear behaviour of masonry. Three residential buildings with template designs were selected to represent an important percentage of residential buildings in medium-size cities located in seismic regions of Albania. Selection of template designed buildings and material properties were based on archive and site survey in several cities of Albania. Capacity curves of investigated buildings were determined by pushover analyses conducted in two principal directions. The seismic performances of these buildings have been determined for various earthquake levels. Seismic capacity evaluation was carried out in accordance with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) 440 guidelines. Reasons for building damages in past earthquakes are examined using the results of capacity assessment of investigated buildings. It is concluded that of the residential buildings with the template design, with the exception of one, are far from satisfying required performance criteria. Furthermore, deficiencies and possible solutions to improve the capacity of investigated buildings are discussed.


Background Metabolic profiling (the extensive measurement of circulating metabolites across multiple biological pathways) is increasingly employed in clinical care. However, there is little evidence on the benefit of metabolic profiling as compared with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk scores. Methods UK Biobank is a prospective study of 0.5 million participants, aged 40–69 at recruitment. Analyses were restricted to 74 780 participants with metabolic profiling (measured using nuclear magnetic resonance) and without CVD at baseline. Cox regression was used to compare model performance before and after addition of metabolites to QRISK3 (an established CVD risk score used in primary care in England); analyses derived three models, with metabolites selected by association significance or by employing two different machine learning approaches. Results We identified 5097 incident CVD events within the 10-year follow-up. Harrell's C-index of QRISK3 was 0.750 (95% CI 0.739 to 0.763) for women and 0.706 (95% CI 0.696 to 0.716) for men. Adding selected metabolites did not significantly improve measures of discrimination in women (Harrell's C-index of three models are 0.759 (0.747 to 0.772), 0.759 (0.746 to 0.770) and 0.759 (0.748 to 0.771), respectively) or men (0.710 (0.701 to 0.720), 0.710 (0.700 to 0.719) and 0.710 (0.701 to 0.719), respectively), and neither did it improve reclassification or calibration. Conclusion This large-scale study applied both conventional and machine learning approaches to assess the potential benefit of metabolic profiling to well-established CVD risk scores. However, there was no evidence that metabolic profiling improved CVD risk prediction in this population.


The problem of blind separation of independent sources in non-linear mixtures is considered and the focus of this work is on a new type of non-linear mixture in which a linear mixing matrix is sandwiched between two mutually reverse non-linearities. The demixing system culminates to a novel Weierstrass network that is shown to successfully restore the original source signals under the non-linear mixing conditions. The corresponding parameter learning algorithm for the proposed network is presented through formal mathematical derivation. The authors show for the first time a new result based on the theory of forward series and series reversion that is integrated into a neural network to implement the proposed demixer. Simulations, including both synthetic and recorded signals, have been carried out to verify the efficacy of the proposed method. It is shown that the Weierstrass network outperforms other tested independent component analysis (ICA) methods (linear ICA, radial-basis function and multilayer perceptron network) in terms of speed and accuracy.


Few bankruptcy topics have bedeviled courts—and busied commentators—as much as executory contracts. Perhaps the most nettlesome challenge is the problem of defining "executoriness," which serves as the statutory gatekeeper to Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code and its extraordinary powers. Elite lawyers, who are the closest approximation to chapter 11 repeat players, have no ex ante incentive to fix a definition; in part succumbing to a vividness bias, they want to exploit executoriness's inherent ambiguity to select the definition perceived to be most advantageous in any given case ad hoc. From Westbrook to Countryman before, authors have struggled to find a coherent and normatively defensible definition of executoriness (including Westbrook's call for its abolition) that would stop this gamesmanship, and even the American Bankruptcy Institute's Review Commission has now entered the debate.
This article takes a new approach. It suggests abandoning the bootless task of finding the right test and concedes that executoriness is here to stay. This new approach focuses on the residuum of the "non-executory contract." Using the policies, structure, and text of the Code, it argues that many of Section 365's provisions can be synthetically replicated elsewhere. Doing so will blunt the strategic incentive to invest resources fighting the absence or presence of executoriness ab initio by scuttling the payoff. Concomitant gains will accrue to all.


From the Publisher:
Changing socio-political landscapes, the dynamics of 'glocalisation', among others factors, are spawning new policy attitudes towards multilingualism, and again putting language planning (LP) on the map - in a manner reminiscent of the 1960's and 1970's. With respect to terminology, this book suggests that to be relevant and sustainable, current LP would have to define its mission as the deregulation of access to specialised knowledge, and correspondingly be founded on substantially different methods and theoretical bases: epistemology and ontology of specialised domains; research on language for special purposes (LSP) and collocations; corpus linguistics; knowledge extraction and knowledge representation; language engineering technologies. On the one hand, the book recommends itself to decision-makers and language planning project managers. On the other, it should be of interest to students of LSP and terminology, language planning, concept and object theories, knowledge modelling, artificial intelligence, text and corpus management, translation process analysis, text and African linguistics.


INTRODUCTION
Cancer ranks third among the ten leading global causes of death. To evaluate the genotoxic risks, observed as DNA damages, can be assessed by Micronucleus (MN) test.

AIM
To identify the occurrence of MN in normal and cancer cervix and find the correlation between MN and stage of cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 60 females were included in the study and visual examination of the cervix was done. Based on the examination two groups were formed: A- Normal cervix (n-23) and B- Presence of erosion or growth or ulcer etc., in cervix (n-37). Midstream urine sample was collected and centrifuged from the cases after getting the informed consent. Slides were prepared from the pellet, were fixed in methanol, glacial acetic acid fixative and stained with Giemsa and May Grunwald stain. Statistical analysis was done by student's t-test and chi-square test.

RESULTS
A linear association was noted between the mean MN count and cancer cervix stage. Almost 18.2% of the Group A cases had significant MN count. Sensitivity and specificity of MN count in Group A was 83.8% and 82.6% respectively. The efficiency was 83.3%.

CONCLUSION
A statistically significant MN count was seen in the different stages of cancer cervix. There are cases who had normal findings on visual inspection of cervix but with significant MN count are prone for malignant transformation. MN assay is an easy, non-invasive, cost-effective method and can be used as a screening test for a large population.


Objective: Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), normally expressed at the sarcolemmal membrane, is known to be mislocalized to the sarcoplasm in several forms of muscular dystrophy. Our objectives were to characterize further the range of patients manifesting aberrant nNOS sarcolemmal immunolocalization and to study nNOS localization in animal models of nondystrophic myopathy. Methods: We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional study. We performed immunofluorescent staining for nNOS on biopsy specimens from 161 patients with acquired and nondystrophin inherited neuromuscular conditions. The localization of sarcolemmal nNOS correlated with mobility and functional status. Muscle specimens from mouse models of steroid-induced and starvation-related atrophy were studied for qualitative and quantitative nNOS expression. Results: Sarcolemmal nNOS staining was abnormal in 42% of patients with inherited myopathic conditions, 25% with acquired myopathic conditions, 57% with neurogenic conditions, and 93% with hypotonia. Interestingly, we found significant associations between mobility status or muscle function and sarcolemmal nNOS expression. Furthermore, mouse models of catabolic stress also demonstrated mislocalization of sarcolemmal nNOS. Conclusion: Our analyses indicate that nNOS mislocalization is observed in a broad range of nondystrophic neuromuscular conditions associated with impaired mobility status and catabolic stress. Our findings suggest that the assessment of sarcolemmal localization of nNOS represents an important tool for the evaluation of muscle biopsies of patients with a variety of inherited and acquired forms of neuromuscular disorders.


In this study impregnated almond shell activated carbon by Zn° and ZnSO 4 were used as adsorbent with a particle size of 10-20 mesh. The objective of this research was to determine the ability of impregnated activated carbon in nitrate removal. The modified activated carbon had 1mm effective size, with a uniformity coefficient of 1.18. Potassium nitrate solution was used in batch adsorption experiments for nitrate removal from water. The effects of nitrate concentration, activated carbon dosage and time of contact were studied. Experimental data showed that modified activated carbon by Zn° and ZnSO 4 was more effective than virgin almond activated carbon for nitrate removal. The maximum nitrate removal was 64%-80% and 5%-42% for modified activated carbon and virgin activated carbon, respectively. While virgin activated carbon used, nitrate-N decreased from 20 to 15mg/L in 30min reaction. The final nitrate concentration was not in the standard range of WHO recommendations for water quality; while impregnated activated carbons were used, nitrate drcreased to <10mg/L. Maximum removal was over 16-17mg nitrate-N per 1g activated carbon for impregnated activated carbon. The experiments were conducted at pH=6.2, 20oC and initial concentrations of 20mg/L nitrate-N. Increase in modified activated carbon dosage increased the nitrate removal efficiency. The equilibrium time was found to be 45min for modified activated carbon.


Over the past century, exploration and serendipity have uncovered mosaic after mosaic in the Near East - maps, historical images, mythical figures, and religious scenes that constitute an immense treasure of new testimony from antiquity. The stories these mosaics tell unfold in this brief, richly informed book by a pre-eminent scholar of the classical world. G. W. Bowersock considers these mosaics a critical part of the documentation of the region's ancient culture, as expressive as texts, inscriptions on stone, and architectural remains. In their complex language, often marred by time, neglect, and deliberate defacement, he finds historical evidence, illustrations of literary and mythological tradition, religious icons, and monuments to civic pride. Eloquently evoking a shared vision of a world beyond the boundaries of individual cities, the mosaics attest to a persistent tradition of Greek taste that could embrace Judaism, Christianity and Islam in a fundamentally Semitic land, and they suggest the extent to which these three monotheistic religions could themselves embrace Hellenism. With copious colour illustrations, Bowersock's efforts return us to Syrian Antioch, Arabia, Jewish and Samaritan settlements in Palestine, the Palmyrene empire in Syria, and the Nabataean kingdom in Jordan, and show us the overlay of Hellenism introduced by Alexander the Great as well as Roman customs imported by the imperial legions and governors. Attending to one of the most evocative languages of the ages, his work reveals a complex fusion of cultures and religions that speaks to us across time.


Objectives: Sheep butter has been traditionally used in the local villages of upper Himalayan region for its various dermatological benefits. In the current study, sheep butter cream was formulated and evaluated for its wound healing properties for the purpose of scientific validation, standardization, safety, efficacy evaluation. Methods: Nine formulations were developed with varying concentrations of ingredients and evaluated for different parameters. Optimized formulations showing neutral pH, good homogeneity and texture, viscosity, spreadability, consistency and antibacterial activity were selected for evaluation of wound healing property in excision wound model and were compared to standard marketed product. Results: From the results obtained, it was observed that formulated creams enabled easy application and removal from the skin without any evidence of irritation, erythema or leftover residue. Amongst all formulations, F-11, F-12 and F-13 showed the most satisfactory properties and were studied in details. Formulations F-12 and F-13 containing 7.5 g and 10g sheep butter respectively were chosen for evaluation of wound healing activity in excision wound model in albino rats. It was noted that on the 15th post-wounding day, F-12 and F-13 showed 94.4±0.3% and 96.9±0.6% wound contraction respectively, which were found to be significantly higher when compared with the wound contraction of control group (79.3±7.5%) and was comparable with the standard group. Conclusion: Thus sheep butter appears to be effective agent in the management of wound healing activities.


This essay investigates the pervasive presence of Christian demonology in contemporary American culture. After discussing the concept of demonic possession according to Catholic and Protestant theology, Maggi explores the crucial role played by the ritual of exorcism in modern popular culture, especially cinema. After the collapse of traditional historical categories due to the 9/11 tragedy, popular culture has interpreted the early-modern ritual of exorcism as the locus of a nostalgic return to a hypothetical past. However, the ritual meant to bring order to the chaos created by evil is now a performance leading to troublesome and even pernicious consequences.


The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD) looks realistically at how we could effectively use agriculture/AKST to help us meet development and sustainability goals. An unprecedented three-year collaborative effort, the IAASTD involved more than 400 authors in 110 countries and cost more than $11 million. It reports on the advances and setbacks of the past fifty years and offers options for the next fifty years. The results of the project are contained in seven reports: a Global Report, five regional Sub-Global Assessments, and a Synthesis Report. The Global Report gives the key findings of the Assessment, and the five Sub-Global Assessments address regional challenges. The volumes present options for action. All of the reports have been extensively peer-reviewed by governments and experts and all have been approved by a panel of participating governments. The Sub-Global Assessments all utilize a similar and consistent framework: examining and reporting on the impacts of AKST on hunger, poverty, nutrition, human health, and environmental/social sustainability. The IAASTD was initiated by the World Bank and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, with support from the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and other sponsors. Its goal is to analyze the potential of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST) for reducing hunger and poverty, improving rural livelihoods, and working toward environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable development.


The main goal of this dissertation is to better understand how external corporate stakeholder perceptions of relatedness affect important outcomes for companies. In pursuit of this goal, I apply the lens of category studies. Categories not only help audiences to distinguish between members of different categories, they also convey patterns of relatedness. In turn, this may have implications for understanding how audiences search, what they attend to, and how the members are ultimately valued. In the first chapter, I apply incites from social psychology to show how the nationality of audience members affects the way that they cognitively group objects into similar categories. I find that the geographic location of stock market analysts affect the degree to which they will revise their earnings estimates for a given company in the wake of an earnings miss by another firm in the same industry. Foreign analysts revise their earnings estimates downward more so than do local analysts, suggesting that foreign analysts ascribe the earnings miss more broadly and tend to lump companies located in the same country into larger groups than do local analysts. In the second chapter, I demonstrate that the structure of inter-category relationships can have consequential effects for the members of a focal category. Leveraging an experimental-like design, I study the outcomes of nanotechnology patents and the pattern of forward citations across multiple patent jurisdictions. I find that members of technology categories with many close category 'neighbors' are more broadly cited than members of categories with few category 'neighbors.' My findings highlight how category embeddedness and category system structure affect the outcomes of category members as well as the role that classification plays in the valuation of innovation. In the third chapter, I propose a novel and dynamic measure of corporate similarity that is constructed from the two-mode analyst and company coverage network. The approach creates a fine-grained continuous measure of company similarity that can be used as an alternative or supplement to existing static industry classification systems. I demonstrate the value of this new measure in the context of predicting financial market responses to merger and acquisition deals. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Management First Advisor Witold Henisz This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1638


The recent rise of xenophobic attacks against refugees in Germany has sparked both political and scholarly debates on the drivers, dynamics, and consequences of right-wing violence. Thus far, a lack of systematic data collection and data processing has inhibited the quantitative analysis to help explain this social phenomenon. This paper introduces a new georeferenced event dataset on anti-refugee violence and social unrest in Germany in 2014 and 2015 based on a public chronicle. Our dataset includes information of 1645 events of four different types of right-wing violence and social unrest: demonstrations, assault, arson attacks, and miscellaneous attacks against refugee housing. After discussing how the dataset was constructed, we offer a descriptive analysis of patterns of right-wing violence and unrest in Germany in 2014 and 2015. We conclude by outlining preliminary ideas on how the dataset can be used in future research.


The underground metropolitan transport network of London is not only the oldest worldwide, but also one of the busiest, serving approximately a billion passengers annually. Both of these characteristics induce an accelerating necessity for new infrastructure as well as maintenance and rehabilitation of the present infrastructure, which of course includes the upgrading and extension of existing underground stations. Next to that, especially with London being one of the most condensed regions in the world, influence of tunnelling works on the built environment can hardly be matched. A huge design challenge is then to develop an appropriate balancing solution that guarantees, apart from the new structures' safety and functionality, the operational and structural integrity of the existing neighbouring structures and surrounding assets and utilities. Under these circumstances, Sprayed Concrete Lining (SCL) structures are very often a preferable option, due to the flexibility in geometries and the ability to regulate the impacts on surrounding structures during construction. This paper aims to present the status of London transport infrastructure and recent important initiatives towards its improvement (i.e. the LU upgrade plan and the Crossrail project), the sensitivities and particularities of underground sprayed concrete constructions in London, and an outline of case histories from Dr. Sauer and Partners (DSP) involvement in respective projects, namely the London Underground Green Park Station, the Bond Street Station, and the Tottenham Court Road Station upgrades and the Crossrail Farringdon Station, the Limmo Auxiliary Shaft and the Independent Category‐3 design checks of the Crossrail project.


Objective: The aim
of this study was to investigate the cancer incidence and mortality in Huai'an
area, China, 2010. Methods: On basis of the criteria of data quality from
National Central Cancer Registry (NCCR), data submitted from 8 registries in
Huai'an area in 2010 were checked and evaluated. Descriptive analysis included
incidence and mortality stratified by areas (urban/rural), sex, age group and
cancer sites. Results: The crude incidence rate was 231.17/100,000 (males
276.04/100,000, females 183.87/100,000), age-standardized incidence rate by
Chinese standard population (ASIRC) was 179.53/100,000 and by World standard
population (ASIRW) was 177.24/ 100,000. The incidence rates increased rapidly
in people aged 40 and over, and the peak ages of incidence were at 75 - 79
(males over 85, females at 75 - 79). The cancer mortality rate was
151.26/100,000 (186.06/100,000 in males and 114.58/100,000 in females),
age-standardized mortality rate by Chinese standard population (ASMRC) was 116.67/100,000
and by World standard population (ASMRW) was 115.64/100,000. The mortality
rates increased rapidly after the age of 50, reaching the peak at the ages over
85 in both males and females. Esophageal, lung, gastric, liver, colorectal,
breast, pancreas, lymphoma, brain and central nervous system, cervical were the most common cancer incident sites. Esophageal, lung, liver, gastric, colorectal,
pancreatic, brain and central nervous system, leukemia, breast and
lymphoma were the most common cancer sites of death. Conclusions: The data
quality of cancer registration is improving. As cancer burden remained high and
was different between urban and rural areas, prevention and control should be
implemented based on practical situation.


A comparison of gate fidelities between different spin qubit types defined in quantum dots and a donor under different control errors is reported. We studied five qubit types, namely the quantum dot spin qubit, the double quantum dot singlet-triplet qubit, the double quantum dot hybrid qubit, the donor qubit and the quantum dot spin-donor qubit. For each one, we derived analytical time sequences that realize single qubit rotations along the principal axis of the Bloch sphere. We estimated the effects of control errors on the gate fidelity by using a Gaussian noise model. Then we compared the gate fidelities among qubit implementations due to pulse timing errors by using a realistic set of values for the error parameters of control amplitudes.


Pathogenic microbes are responsible for severe production losses in crops worldwide. The use of disease resistant crop varieties can be a sustainable approach to meet the food demand of the world's growing population. However, classical plant breeding is usually laborious and time-consuming, thus hampering efficient improvement of many crops. With the advent of genome editing technologies, in particular the CRISPR-Cas9 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-Cas9) system, we are now able to introduce improved crop traits in a rapid and efficient manner. In this work, we genome edited durable disease resistance in tomato by modifying a specific gene associated with disease resistance. Recently, it was demonstrated that inactivation of a single gene called DMR6 (downy mildew resistance 6) confers resistance to several pathogens in Arabidopsis thaliana. This gene is specifically up-regulated during pathogen infection, and mutations in the dmr6 gene results in increased salicylic acid levels. The tomato SlDMR6-1 orthologue Solyc03g080190 is also up-regulated during infection by Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and Phytophthora capsici. Using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, we generated tomato plants with small deletions in the SlDMR6-1 gene that result in frameshift and premature truncation of the protein. Remarkably, these mutants do not have significant detrimental effects in terms of growth and development under greenhouse conditions and show disease resistance against different pathogens, including P. syringae, P. capsici and Xanthomonas spp.


CASE DESCRIPTION The primary subject matter of this case concerns human resource management, workplace violence, and organizational politics. The case can be used to explore the intricacies of developing a HR workplace violence policy and getting that policy adopted by upper administration. Students are asked to develop a written workplace violence prevention policy. Developing such a policy requires them to research the elements which should be included in such a policy, to develop a plan of action to implement the workplace violence policy, to identify the critical issues of risk/liability to the company's officials, management's responsibility and legal liability for maintaining a safe work environment, and how to get senior management to "buy off" on the plan. The case has a difficulty level of three. The case can be presented and discussed in two to four class periods depending on the number of issues considered. Students can be expected to spend about 10 hours of outside preparation to be fully prepared to complete the case. CASE SYNOPSIS Digital Logistics Systems (DLS), as is true of many companies, never considered the possibility of workplace violence. However, a near fist fight in the Advertising/ Promotions department brought the issue firmly to the attention of Tom Ross, the department manager. By chance, the incident was overheard by Sarah Davis, the HR manager. Ross and Davis meet over the issue, where it is agreed that Ross will handle the disciplinary action for the employees while Davis will develop a workplace violence prevention plan. Davis recognizes that not only will she need to develop the plan, and develop a program to implement it, perhaps her biggest task will be in convincing upper management of the necessity of adopting the plan. INSTRUCTORS' NOTES This case provides an opportunity for students to write a workplace violence policy. In order to write such a policy, students will need to conduct considerable out of class research into the components of such a policy. These instructor notes include information that will be useful to the discussion leader in guiding students through the delicate political web of writing a human resource management policy and securing adoption of that policy. The preferred teaching strategy for this case includes student assignments and class discussion. After assigning the case for reading ask the students to prepare written responses to the questions listed below in the "discussion questions" section. Since the case involves writing a policy, the difficulty level of the case and the amount of out of class time needed to complete it can vary by how many, if any, of the issues the policy should cover are provided by the instructor. Researching all of the potential issues that a workplace violence policy should contain and then writing a policy which incorporates all of them will obviously require more time than if those elements are provided to the students. The instructor may choose to use teams to write up the policy. Each team could present its policy in class and be critiqued by the other teams. To provide an introduction to the complexities of workplace violence, the instructor may want to use a video to frame the issues. Three excellent videos are available. Violence on the Job discusses the effect of violence and ways to prevent and reduce violence in the workplace. This 27 minute, 2004, video is produced by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. It is available as a videotape and for our of class viewing is available on line at http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS57314 Workplace Violence: The Legal Role in Keeping Your Workplace Safe is a 17 minute video which illustrates the legal obligation managers face in preventing workplace violence. It identifies five common issues managers face, and offers three specific actions they can implement immediately to prevent violence and avoid liability. …


The sequential inoculation of non-Saccharomyces yeasts and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in grape juice is becoming an increasingly popular practice to diversify wine styles and/or to obtain more complex wines with a peculiar microbial footprint. One of the main interactions is competition for nutrients, especially nitrogen sources, that directly impacts not only fermentation performance but also the production of aroma compounds. In order to better understand the interactions taking place between non-Saccharomyces yeasts and S. cerevisiae during alcoholic fermentation, sequential inoculations of three yeast species (Pichia burtonii, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Zygoascus meyerae) with S. cerevisiae were performed individually in a synthetic medium. Different species-dependent interactions were evidenced. Indeed, the three sequential inoculations resulted in three different behaviors in terms of growth. P. burtonii and Z. meyerae declined after the inoculation of S. cerevisiae which promptly outcompeted the other two species. However, while the presence of P. burtonii did not impact the fermentation kinetics of S. cerevisiae, that of Z. meyerae rendered the overall kinetics very slow and with no clear exponential phase. K. marxianus and S. cerevisiae both declined and became undetectable before fermentation completion. The results also demonstrated that yeasts differed in their preference for nitrogen sources. Unlike Z. meyerae and P. burtonii, K. marxianus appeared to be a competitor for S. cerevisiae (as evidenced by the uptake of ammonium and amino acids), thereby explaining the resulting stuck fermentation. Nevertheless, the results suggested that competition for other nutrients (probably vitamins) occurred during the sequential inoculation of Z. meyerae with S. cerevisiae. The metabolic footprint of the non-Saccharomyces yeasts determined after 48 h of fermentation remained until the end of fermentation and combined with that of S. cerevisiae. For instance, fermentations performed with K. marxianus were characterized by the formation of phenylethanol and phenylethyl acetate, while those performed with P. burtonii or Z. meyerae displayed higher production of isoamyl alcohol and ethyl esters. When considering sequential inoculation of yeasts, the nutritional requirements of the yeasts used should be carefully considered and adjusted accordingly. Finally, our chemical data suggests that the organoleptic properties of the wine are altered in a species specific manner.


AB STRACT: Glauconite and Ca phosphate peloids occur in Jurassic and Cretaceous bioclastic carbonate rocks from pelagic swell sequences of the Algayat-Crevillente Unit (Subbetic Zone). The size and morphology of the peloids are controlled by the bioclasts. The glauconite in both stratigraphic positions is K rich (>0.69 atoms p.f.u.) and shows well-defined 10 AÊ lattice fringes. Poorly crystalline areas with a composition of Fe-smectite are found within the peloids, indicating the nature of the glauconitic precursor. This precursor would be formed in the shielded microenvironments of the bioclast and later transformed to glauconite by equilibration of peloids with sea water that culminated with the crystallization of a phosphatic phase. The greater presence of smectite areas in the Jurassic peloids and the lower K contents (0.69  0.81) of these glauconites, compared with the Cretaceous glauconites (0.81  0.89) can be explained by the calcitic early diagenetic cementation which stopped the process of glauconitization.


Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus , is one of the most important fish species for aquaculture worldwide. Egg mass production is directly related to the success and profitability of hatchery farms assuring an adequate egg and consequently fry and fingerling quantity. Most of the success of hatchery farms in Mexico rely on the capacity of production for enough fry to cover the demand of grow-out farms. An analysis was performed with the purpose of estimate the effect of year, month, color, pond and water temperature on egg mass weight data (EMW, g) (n = 3201). The overall mean for EMW was 683.21 g. The effect of all assessed factors was highly significant ( P < 0.0001). Pond and year effects suggested an effect possibly related to management strategies. Month indicated an important effect on early spawning, and water temperature showed a highly significant effect of gradient pattern on EMW ( P < 0.0001), with a linear slope of -67.8 g by increasing temperature degree. Results confirmed the importance of non-genetic influence on egg mass production, supporting the need for attention of this highly variable trait and suggested the possible improvement on this reproductive indicator through the better control of environmental sources of variation.


This paper provides a descriptive overview of options for diversion of drug-related offenders from the criminal justice system. Drug-related offences include drug offences (for example, possession of a prohibited substance); offences that are directly linked to intoxication (for example, drink-driving or assault); and offences committed to support drug use (for example, theft). After an offence has been detected by police, multiple opportunities for diversion occur throughout the criminal justice process. (a) Pre-arrest: when an offence is first detected, prior to a charge being laid. This is known as police diversion and includes fines, warnings and cautions, sometimes with educational information or referral to assessment and treatment. (b) Pre-trial: when a charge is made but before the matter is heard at court. Examples are treatment as a condition of bail, conferencing and prosecutor discretion. (c) Pre-sentence: a delay of sentence while assessment and treatment are sought. (d) Post-sentence: as part of sentencing, for example suspended sentences, drug courts, noncustodial sentences and circle sentencing. (e) Pre-release: prior to release from a sentence, on parole. Issues for diversion programmes include net widening, the ethics of coercion to treatment, the needs of families and intersectoral collaboration. A framework for diversion is presented in which increasingly treatment-focused and coercive diversion strategies are used as offenders' criminal careers and drug problems increase.


This expanded second edition carries forward the initial insights into the biological and existential significances of animation by taking contemporary research findings in cognitive science and philosophy and in neuroscience into critical and constructive account. It first takes affectivity as its focal point, elucidating it within both an enactive and qualitative affective-kinetic dynamic. It follows through with a thoroughgoing interdisciplinary inquiry into movement from three perspectives: mind, brain, and the conceptually reciprocal realities of receptivity and responsivity as set forth in phenomenology and evolutionary biology, respectively. It ends with a substantive afterword on kinesthesia, pointing up the incontrovertible significance of the faculty to cognition and affectivity. Series A


Abstract Higher carbohydrate intake, glycaemic index (GI), and glycaemic load (GL) are hypothesised to increase cancer risk through metabolic dysregulation of the glucose-insulin axis and adiposity-related mechanisms, but epidemiological evidence is inconsistent. This prospective cohort study investigates carbohydrate quantity and quality in relation to risk of adiposity-related cancers, which represent the most commonly diagnosed preventable cancers in the USA. In exploratory analyses, associations with three site-specific cancers: breast, prostate and colorectal cancers were also examined. The study sample consisted of 3184 adults from the Framingham Offspring cohort. Dietary data were collected in 1991–1995 using a FFQ along with lifestyle and medical information. From 1991 to 2013, 565 incident adiposity-related cancers, including 124 breast, 157 prostate and sixty-eight colorectal cancers, were identified. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the role of carbohydrate nutrition in cancer risk. GI and GL were not associated with risk of adiposity-related cancers or any of the site-specific cancers. Total carbohydrate intake was not associated with risk of adiposity-related cancers combined or prostate and colorectal cancers. However, carbohydrate consumption in the highest v. lowest quintile was associated with 41 % lower breast cancer risk (hazard ratio (HR) 0·59; 95 % CI 0·36, 0·97). High-, medium- and low-GI foods were not associated with risk of adiposity-related cancers or prostate and colorectal cancers. In exploratory analyses, low-GI foods, were associated with 49 % lower breast cancer risk (HR 0·51; 95 % CI 0·32, 0·83). In this cohort of Caucasian American adults, associations between carbohydrate nutrition and cancer varied by cancer site. Healthier low-GI carbohydrate foods may prevent adiposity-related cancers among women, but these findings require confirmation in a larger sample.


Over the past decade the science related to developing and identifying "evidence-based practices and programs" has improved -- however the science related to implementing these programs with fidelity and good outcomes for consumers lag far behind. To this end our intent is to describe the current state of the science of implementation and identify what it will take to transmit innovative programs and practices to mental health social services juvenile justice education early childhood education employment services and substance abuse prevention and treatment. This monograph summarizes findings from the review of the research literature on implementation and proposes frameworks for understanding effective implementation processes. The results of this literature review and synthesis confirm that systematic implementation practices are essential to any national attempt to use the products of science -- such as evidence-based programs -- to improve the lives of its citizens.


Here we present an investigation into how cooling of the plasma influences the oscillation properties (e.g., eigenfunctions and eigenfrequencies) of transverse (i.e., kink) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in a compressible magnetic flux tube embedded in a gravitationally stratified and uniformly magnetized atmosphere. The cooling is introduced via a temperature-dependent density profile. A time-dependent governing equation is derived and an approximate zeroth-order solution is then obtained. From this the influence of cooling on the behavior of the eigenfrequencies and eigenfunctions of the transverse MHD waves is determined for representative cooling timescales. It is shown analytically, as the loop cools, how the amplitude of the perturbations is found to decrease as time increases. For cooling timescales of 900–2000 s (as observed in typical EUV loops), it is shown that the cooling has important and relevant influence on the damping times of loop oscillations. Next, the theory is put to the test. The damping due to cooling is fitted to a representative observation of standing kink oscillation of EUV loops. It is also shown with an explicit approximate analytical form, how the period of the fundamental and first harmonic of the kink mode changes with time as the loop cools. A consequence of this is that the value of the period ratio P1/P2, a tool that is popular in magneto-seismological studies in coronal diagnostics, decreases from the value of a uniform loop, 2, as the temperature decreases. The rate of change in P1/P2 is dependent upon the cooling timescale and is well within the observable range for typical EUV loops. Further to this, the magnitude of the anti-node shift of the eigenfunctions of the first harmonic is shown to continually increase as the loop cools, giving additional impetus to the use of spatial magneto-seismology of the solar atmosphere. Finally, we suggest that measurements of the rate of change in the eigenfunctions and eigenfrequencies of MHD oscillations can provide values for the cooling timescale and a further insight into the physics of coronal loops.


Background Most previously published studies of patients with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis type I are small or have short follow-up period. We report the outcome of a fairly large cohort of patients followed up for nearly 10 years. Methods Retrospective cohort study. Graft survival, recurrence rate and risk factors for recurrence were analyzed for 43 patients transplanted between the years 1995 and 2012. Results At a mean overall follow-up of 118±61 months (median, 127.8; range, 4.9–217), 12 patients lost their graft (28%). Death-censored actuarial 15-year graft survival rate was 56%. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis recurred in eight patients (19%) at a median time of 15.4 months (range, 4.4–70 months). Recurrence led to graft loss in seven patients (88%) within a median of 11.6 months (range, 1.3–54 months) from diagnosis. Median graft survival was 30.5 months for recurrence (range, 7–86). Actuarial 15-year graft survival was 71% for nonrecurrent. The risk for recurrence was higher for patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B49 (odds ratio, 16.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.1–246; P=0.038) and HLA DR4 (odds ratio, 15.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.07–237; P=0.044) alleles. A trend toward increased risk was found with shorter duration of dialysis before transplantation. Four of 16 (25%) living-related versus none of the living-unrelated donors' recipients recurred. The HLA B49, acute tubular necrosis after transplantation, previous transplantations, and Arab origin were all associated with decreased graft and patient survival. Conclusion Patients without recurrence in the first years should expect an excellent graft survival. Nonrelated living donors should be preferred. The HLA B49 and DR4 alleles may increase the risk for recurrence.


Various notions of the "slope" of a real-valued function pervade optimization, and variational mathematics more broadly. In the semialgebraic setting an appealing model for concrete variational problems the slope is particularly well-behaved. This talk sketches a variety of surprising applications, illustrating the unifying power of slope. Highlights include error bounds for level sets, the existence and regularity of steepest descent curves in complete metric spaces (following Ambrosio et al.), transversality and the convergence of von Neumann's alternating projection algorithm, and the geometry underlying nonlinear programming active-set algorithms. This talk will be self-contained, requiring no familiarity with variational analysis, optimization theory, or semi-algebraic geometry. Joint work with A. Daniilidis (Barcelona), A.D. Io e (Technion), M. Larsson (Lausanne), A.S. Lewis (Cornell).


"How to Care for Your Parents" is a time-saving guide to help families successfully map and navigate the unfamiliar terrain of eldercare. Using a step-by-step approach, this to-the-point handbook provides simple decision-making tools that enable grown children to help their parents take charge of their long-term health, welfare, and housing needs. Nora Jean Levin gives you all the information you need to know in a concise, user-friendly format. She tells you how to step in and start helping without undermining your parents' dignity or independence, including how to talk to them about money. She shows how to organize your own time and energy for the many tasks ahead and how to use existing community resources to backstop your efforts. Levin gives tough practical advice on how to identify the right medical coverage and insurance, plan for legal and financial incapacity, and arrange for long-term care. Her recommendations on housing options range from "age-in-place" designs for disability to tips on downsizing and moving to an assisted living facility. A unique chapter on finding eldercare services through the information highway gives you the keywords and procedures to search and retrieve the riches of the World Wide Web and Internet. Finally, Levin describes significant features of Medicare/Medicaid legislation and helps you understand the effects of the proposed changes on you and your parents.


Abstract Psurny, M, Svoboda, Z, Janura, M, Kubonova, E, Bizovska, L, Martinez Lemos, RI, and Abrantes, J. The effects of Nordic walking and slope of the ground on lower limb muscle activity. J Strength Cond Res 32(1): 217–222, 2018—Nordic walking (NW) has proven to be a simple and safe mode of exercise that can be used in various types of sport, recreation, and rehabilitation activities. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Nordic walking and slope of the ground on lower limb muscle activity. The experimental group consisted of 22 healthy men (aged 22.8 ± 1.4 years). The subjects walked on a treadmill at a self-selected speed. Two walking conditions (NW and walking) and 2 ground slopes (level ground and uphill walking at an 8% incline) were used. The surface electromyographic signals of the gastrocnemius lateralis, tibialis anterior, vastus medialis, rectus femoris, biceps femoris and gluteus medius were recorded. Nordic walking resulted in increased activity of some lower limb muscles, particularly during the first half of the stance phase, and decreased muscle activity during the first half of the swing phase. Uphill walking elicited increased muscle activity compared with level walking, particularly during the stance phase and the second half of the swing phase during both walking and NW, and the change was more pronounced during walking. We concluded that NW increased muscle activity in the lower extremities compared with walking, particularly on level ground. Increasing the ground slope enhanced the muscle activity to a much greater extent than NW.


1 Binedell J, Soldan JR, Harper PS. Selection for presymptomatic testing for Huntington's disease: who decides? J Med Genet 1996;33:1734. 2 World Federation of Neurology: Research Committee Research Group. Ethical issues policy statement on Huntington's disease molecular genetics predictive test. J Neurol Sci 1989;94: 327-32. 3 Clinical practice in medical genetics. Guidelines for the molecular genetics predictive test in Huntington's disease. J Med Genet 1994;31: 555-9.


This paper presents an efficient robot navigation model in a multi-target domain amidst static and dynamic workspace obstacles. The problem is that of developing an optimal algorithm to minimize the total travel time of a robot as it visits all target points within its task domain amidst unknown workspace obstacles and finally return to its initial position. In solving this problem, a classical algorithm was first developed to compute the optimal number of paths to be travelled by the robot amidst the network of paths. The principle of shortest distance between robot and targets was used to compute the target point visitation order amidst workspace obstacles. A hybrid modelling scheme premised on geometrical considerations was applied to determine the length of obstacles encountered by the robot. Also, a dynamic model premised on the collapse of the radiation cone was proposed and used to estimate the velocity of a dynamic obstacle along the robot's path.


In order to improve the storage/retrieval efficiency of automated warehouse, robot technology was applied into the design of warehouses. Firstly, the RFID system is used to locate the target roughly and to obtain the attributes of the target. Then the vision mounted on the robot is used to recognize and locate the target precisely. Finally, the teaching mode and remote mode are used flexibly to assist robot to grasp the target. The combination of these two modes can not only reduce the complexity of robot control, but also can make full use of the results of image processing. Experiments demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system.


AIMS
The optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in patients with ischaemic cardiovascular (CV) disease is still debated. Previous meta-analyses reported conflicting results about prolonged DAPT on mortality and major CV events. Aim of this study was to assess the effects of prolonged vs. no/short-term DAPT on myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, bleeding, and mortality.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Trial inclusion criteria were: randomization to prolonged duration vs. no/short DAPT; reporting of at least one outcome among overall and CV death, MI, stroke, major non-fatal, fatal, and intracranial bleeding. Fifteen randomized studies including 85 265 patients were included. Prolonged DAPT, compared with no or short DAPT, significantly reduced MI (RR: 0.785, 95% CI: 0.729-0.845, P < 0.001) and stroke (RR: 0.851, 95% CI: 0.754-0.959, P = 0.008), but had no effect on overall (RR: 0.989, 95% CI: 0.921-1.061, P = 0.751) or CV (RR: 0.951, 95% CI: 0.872-1.037, P = 0.258) mortality. Prolonged DAPT significantly increased major non-fatal (RR: 1.690, CI: 1.322-2.159, P < 0.001), but not intracranial or fatal bleeding (RR: 1.236, CI: 0.899-1.698, P = 0.192, RR: 1.069, CI: 0.760-1.503, P = 0.703; respectively). The effects of DAPT were similar to those reported in the overall analysis in patients with stable CV disease, whereas in those with unstable CV disease only the significant reduction of stroke was not confirmed. Dual antiplatelet therapy prolonged beyond 1 year significantly reduced MI but not stroke, all-cause, or CV death. It significantly increased the risk of major non-fatal bleeding, with no difference in intracranial and fatal bleeding.

CONCLUSION
Prolonged DAPT significantly reduced ischaemic CV events but not mortality. Even if a significant increase of major non-fatal bleeding was detected, no increased risks of intracranial and fatal bleeding were observed.


Fundamental to contemporary approaches to disaster risk reduction is a focus on community resilience. Resilience is a process, and therefore one of the challenges of its study is the identification of its components. One approach was developed by Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche and Pfefferbaum (2008), who identified four networked resources (objects, conditions, characteristics and energies that are of value) critical for resilience: economic development, information and communication, social capital and community competence.
Norris et al. (2008) also suggest that there are three adaptive capacities critical for post-event functioning, proposing that there will be improved resilience if resources are sufficiently robust (strong and with a low risk of deterioration), redundant (easily substitutable with other resources in the event of deterioration), and rapid (mobilised and used quickly) to buffer or counteract the effects of the stressor.
While Norris et al.'s work (2008) dealt primarily with 'mainstream' aspects of community and societal life, it is also important to explore how virtual relationships and connectedness, particularly via social media, influence how community resilience is developed and enacted after an emergency.
The importance of examining the link between social media and community resilience is framed in terms of the growing tendency for people to turn to social media during disasters and use it as a tool for sourcing assistance, sharing information, communicating with friends and family, and forming online emergent groups in order to assist with the response and recovery. Social media platforms increase the potential for people to interrelate throughout the response and recovery. As with any new technology, there has been reluctance in multiple sectors to embrace the usage of social media during emergencies, and while both positive and negative anecdotal evidence is available, the research base and collection of empirical case studies in this area is small.
Using thematic and content analysis, the characteristics of an online emergent group that formed after a bushfire disaster in Australia in 2013 are examined. The group of spontaneous volunteers formed as a Facebook page, Tassie Fires - We Can Help (TFWCH). Using Norris et al.'s framework (2008), this thesis explores how social media facilitated the four resources in Norris et al.'s model, thereby potentially contributing to increased community resilience. This analysis of community perspectives and processes that emerged in a bushfire event is used to examine the utility of the Norris et al. model, specifically in the context of social media, as a framework for conceptualising community resilience.
Three sets of data were analysed. To form a basic understanding of the users and the usage of the page, a number of Facebook metrics sourced through social media analysts Locowise were examined, including user sex, location, age, and usage statistics such as page engagement.
Using qualitative data analysis software package NVivo, 2,443 of the page Administrator's posts over the first year of the page's life were also examined in order to explore the characteristics and functions of TFWCH. Six overarching themes, 173 key themes and 935 subordinate themes were established.
Three different questionnaires were administered to users of the page, targeting individuals who had assisted, organisations who had assisted, and bushfire-affected individuals who had sought assistance through the page (N= 678). The questionnaires included a number of qualitative and quantitative items, such as exploring which sources of media were most important to users of the page, and which volunteering behaviours respondents completed. Qualitative items included in the questionnaires were analysed thematically.
Evidence is provided that a community-driven online emergent group can facilitate a number of the elements proposed by Norris et al. (2008) to generate resilience, including information exchange, communication, resource provision, social support, citizen participation, collaboration and collective efficacy. There is evidence that digitally driven emergent groups can provide these resources in a robust, rapid and redundant way, potentially more so than offline spontaneous volunteers or formal responders, thereby further contributing to resilience.
It emerged in this analysis that when analysed in the social media context, the model can be complemented by the inclusion of additional factors. It became clear that the leadership or Administration of an online emergent group is a key component of its success. Therefore it is proposed that skilful leadership, including meticulous information curation, is a resource that belongs centrally in Norris et al.'s model (2008). The data also pointed to a need to develop the resilience model to complement social support provision with psychological first aid, the provision of which became a key focus for the online emergent group.
The findings have implications for the field of emergency management. Due to its functionality as a communications platform, information exchange and method to engage with the community, it is recommended that social media is embraced and harnessed, and that virtual operations support teams should be formed for surge support in times of crisis. It is also recommended that online emergent groups should be legitimated and supported, as they have the potential to contribute significantly to community resilience.


In order to compete in the modern world, any society today must rank education in science, mathematics, and technology as one of its highest priorities. It's a sad but true fact, however, that most Americans are not scientifically literate. International studies of educational performance reveal that U.S. students consistently rank near the bottom in science and mathematics. The latest study of the National Assessment of Educational Progress has found that despite some small gains recently, the average performance of seventeen-year-olds in 1986 remained substantially lower than it had been in 1969. As the world approaches the twenty-first century, American schools-- when it comes to the advancement of scientific knowledge-- seem to be stuck in the Victorian age. In Science for All Americans, F. James Rutherford and Andrew Ahlgren brilliantly tackle this devastating problem. Based on Project 2061, a scientific literacy initiative sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, this wide-ranging, important volume explores what constitutes scientific literacy in a modern society; the knowledge, skills, and attitudes all students should acquire from their total school experience from kindergarten through high school; and what steps this country must take to begin reforming its system of education in science, mathematics, and technology. Science for All Americans describes the scientifically literate person as one who knows that science, mathematics, and technology are interdependent enterprises with strengths and limitations; who understands key concepts and principles of science; who recognizes both the diversity and unity of the natural world; and who uses scientific knowledge and scientific ways of thinking for personal and social purposes. Its recommendations for educational reform downplay traditional subject categories and instead highlight the connections between them. It also emphasizes ideas and thinking skills over the memorization of specialized vocabulary. For instance, basic scientific literacy means knowing that the chief function of living cells is assembling protein molecules according to the instructions coded in DNA molecules, but does not mean necessarily knowing the terms "ribosome" or "deoxyribonucleic acid." Science, mathematics, and technology will be at the center of the radical changes in the nature of human existence that will occur during the next life span; therefore, preparing today's children for tomorrow's world must entail a solid education in these areas. Science for All Americans will help pave the way for the necessary reforms in America's schools.


Drinking water production plants (in The Netherlands) are normally controlled by effluent quality. When the effluent quality does not meet the guidelines, the treatment process is manipulated. This is mainly done using the experience of the operators. Water quality models can be used to support the operators' task by off-line process evaluation and model predictive control (MPC).

Stimela is a modelling environment that is developed by DHV Water BV and the Delft University of Technology. It is especially designed for water quality modelling. An example of off-line use of Stimela for operation and design is given by a model of a counter-current packed tower aerator.

In the near future Stimela will be used for MPC. Therefore DHV Water BV and the Delft University of Technology are starting a project with water companies in which MPC with Stimela will be applied. In this project internet technology will be used to access water quality data from online measurements and form the model calculations. The data can be used by operators when they are at other locations, by drinking water technologists at the office to analyse specific problems, and by the management for weekly, monthly and yearly reports. In this way all the data are available for everyone in the organisation, from the operator to the managing director.


It is easy to understand why industry and, especially, aerospace engineers love titanium. Titanium parts weigh roughly half as much as steel parts, but its strength is far greater than the strength of many alloy steels giving it an extremely high strength-to-weight ratio. Most titanium alloys are poor thermal conductors, thus heat generated during cutting does not dissipate through the part and machine structure, but concentrates in the cutting area. The high temperature generated during the cutting process also causes a work hardening phenomenon that affects the surface integrity of titanium, and could lead to geometric inaccuracies in the part and severe reduction in its fatigue strength [Benes, 2007]. On the contrary, additive manufacturing (AM) is an effective way to process titanium alloys as AM is principally thermal based, the effectiveness of AM processes depends on the material's thermal properties and its absorption of laser energy rather than on its mechanical properties. Therefore, brittle and hard materials can be processed easily if their thermal properties (e.g., conductivity, heat of fusion, etc.) are favorable, such as titanium. Cost effectiveness is also an important consideration for using additive manufacturing for titanium processing. Parts or products cast and/or machined from titanium and its alloys are very expensive, due to the processing difficulties and complexities during machining and casting. AM processes however, have been found to be very cost effective because they can produce near-net shape parts from these high performance metals with little or no machining [Liou & Kinsella, 2009]. In the aerospace industry, titanium and its alloys are used for many large structural components. When traditional machining/cast routines are adopted, conversion costs for these heavy section components can be prohibitive due to long lead time and low-yield material utilization [Eylon & Froes, 1984]. AM processes have the potential to shorten lead time and increase material utilization in these applications. The following sections 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3 summarize the fundamental knowledge for the modeling of additive manufacturing processes.


Biomass‐based biofuels have gained attention because they are renewable energy sources that could facilitate energy independence and improve rural economic development. As biomass supply and biofuel demand areas are generally not geographically contiguous, the design of an efficient and effective biomass supply chain from biomass provision to biofuel distribution is critical to facilitate large‐scale biofuel development. This study compared the costs of supplying biomass using three alternative biomass preprocessing and densification technologies (pelletizing, briquetting, and grinding) and two alternative transportation modes (trucking and rail) for the design of a four‐stage biomass–biofuel supply chain in which biomass produced in Illinois is used to meet biofuel demands in either California or Illinois. The BioScope optimization model was applied to evaluate a four‐stage biomass–biofuel supply chain that includes biomass supply, centralized storage and preprocessing (CSP), biorefinery, and ethanol distribution. We examined the cost of 15 scenarios that included a combination of three biomass preprocessing technologies and five supply chain configurations. The findings suggested that the transportation costs for biomass would generally follow the pattern of coal transportation. Converting biomass to ethanol locally and shipping ethanol over long distances is most economical, similar to the existing grain‐based biofuel system. For the Illinois–California supply chain, moving ethanol is $0.24 gal−1 less costly than moving biomass even in densified form over long distances. The use of biomass pellets leads to lower overall costs of biofuel production for long‐distance transportation but to higher costs if used for short‐distance movement due to its high capital and processing costs. Supported by the supply chain optimization modeling, the cellulosic‐ethanol production and distribution costs of using Illinois feedstock to meet California demand are $0.08 gal−1 higher than that for meeting local Illinois demand.


We consider the question of inferring true answers associated with tasks based on potentially noisy answers obtained through a micro-task crowd-sourcing platform such as Amazon Mechanical Turk. We propose a generic, non-parametric model for this setting: for a given task $i$, $1\leq i \leq T$, the response of worker $j$, $1\leq j\leq W$ for this task is correct with probability $F_{ij}$, where matrix $F = [F_{ij}]_{i\leq T, j\leq W}$ may satisfy one of a collection of regularity conditions including low rank, which can express the popular Dawid-Skene model; piecewise constant, which occurs when there is finitely many worker and task types; monotonic under permutation, when there is some ordering of worker skills and task difficulties; or Lipschitz with respect to an associated latent non-parametric function. This model, contains most, if not all, of the previously proposed models to the best of our knowledge.
We show that the question of estimating the true answers to tasks can be reduced to solving the Graphon estimation problem, for which there has been much recent progress. By leveraging these techniques, we provide a crowdsourcing inference algorithm along with theoretical bounds on the fraction of incorrectly estimated tasks. Subsequently, we have a solution for inferring the true answers for tasks using noisy answers collected from crowd-sourcing platform under a significantly larger class of models. Concretely, we establish that if the $(i,j)$th element of $F$, $F_{ij}$, is equal to a Lipschitz continuous function over latent features associated with the task $i$ and worker $j$ for all $i, j$, then all task answers can be inferred correctly with high probability by soliciting $\tilde{O}(\ln(T)^{3/2})$ responses per task even without any knowledge of the Lipschitz function, task and worker features, or the matrix $F$.


In recent decades, cases of autochthonous hepatitis E (HE) have sharply increased in European countries where foodborne transmission is considered the main route of HE virus (HEV) transmission. Although rabbits are considered the main reservoir of the zoonotic HEV-3ra subtype, information on the role of wild lagomorphs in the epidemiology of HEV remains scarce. The aim of this study therefore was to assess the circulation of HEV in European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis), the most important lagomorph species in Spanish Mediterranean ecosystems. Liver samples from 372 wild rabbits and 78 Iberian hares were analysed using a broad-spectrum RT-PCR that detects HEV genotypes 1 to 8. None of the 450 lagomorphs tested were positive for HEV infection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess HEV circulation in wild rabbits in Spain and the first to evaluate HEV infection in Iberian hares. Our results indicate absence of HEV circulation in wild rabbits and Iberian hares in southern Spain during the study period, which suggests that the risk of transmission of HEV from wild lagomorphs to other species, including humans, is low.


Background and Objective: The history of psychology is full of concepts evolved to upgrade and improve therapies and mental health. The Compassionate Focused Therapy (CFT) model is rooted in the concept of selfcompassion in modern psychology. The purpose of this research was to study the effectiveness of CFT on depression, anxiety, and rumination of depressed patients according to their self-compassion trait. Materials and Methods: This study was designed as an experimental pretestposttest with an equivalent control group. Nineteen depressed patients with available sampling were selected from a psychiatric clinic and randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group participated in 12 sessions of Compassion Focused Group therapy (CFT). All participants were assessed by Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Anxiety Scale (AS), Rumination Scale and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at the beginning, final session and two months after the intervention (follow-up study). Data were analyzed by ANOVA and independent samples t-test with SPSS 18. Results: According to data analysis, depression and anxiety of the experimental group significantly decreased in the follow-up study (p<0.05). In addition, the interaction between intervention and self-compassion was significant on the rumination. Conclusion: This study showed that CFT could be an effective therapy for depression and anxiety of depressed patients. In addition, people who had higher levels of self-compassion benefited more from our intervention and their rumination decreased. On the other hand, people who had lower level of selfcompassion experienced increased rumination.


We analyse the effects of EMIR and Basel III regulations on short-term interest rates. EMIR requires central clearing houses (CCP) to continually acquire safe assets, thus expanding the lending supply of repurchase agreements (repo). Basel III, in contrast, disincentivises the borrowing demand by tightening banks' balance sheet constraints. Using unique datasets of repo transactions and CCP activity, we find compelling evidence for both supply and demand channels. The overall effects are decreasing short-term rates and increasing market imbalances in various forms, all of which entail unintended consequences originated from the new regulatory framework.


Although the modern concept of neuroprotection has been formulated quite recently, the basis of this approach was laid about four decades ago when Zakusov initiated the study of mechanisms involved in the neuroprotector action of GABA shunt metabolites (in particular, alpha-hydroxybutyric acid and succinic semialdehyde) during hypoxia. It was suggested to consider these agents as a system of endogenous neuroprotectors. The interest of Zakusov in endogenous regulators (including oligopeptides) had stimulated research in this direction and gave impact to the investigations of A. P. Skoldinov and T. A. Gudasheva initiated in the early 1980s. Proceeding from the original concept of the possibility of imitation of the action of neurotropic agents by their structural-conformational oligopeptide analogs, a number of biologically active stable dipeptides were obtained, based on pyroglutamate and proline, and high specific bioaccessibility of these dipeptides for the brain was established. Our investigations showed that these compounds not only possess nootropic activity (in a dose 1000 times lower than that of piracetam), but produce a pronounced neuroprotector action as well. Most thoroughly studied in this respect were substituted acyl-prolyl dipeptides, in particular, the drug noopept exhibiting a combined neuroprotector effect both in vitro and in vivo. Noopept decreases the extent of necrotic damage caused by photoinduced thrombosis of cortical blood vessels. It was established that the neuroprotector effect of noopept is related to its action upon the well-known "triad", whereby the drug reduces neurotoxic effects of excess extracellular calcium, glutamate, and free radicals. Two additional components of the neuroprotector action of noopept are related to the antiinflammatory and antithrombotic activity. The prospects of using direct and indirect action upon neurotrophin system for neuroprotection purposes are considered. Taking into account common secondary mechanisms of the neuronal damage, it is possible to provide for pleotrophic brain protection with dipeptides in a broad spectrum of pathological states, including strokes, cerebral traumas, neurodegenerative processes, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.


Hydrogen energy, as a clean and renewable energy, has attracted much attention in recent years. Water electrolysis via the hydrogen evolution reaction at the cathode coupled with the oxygen evolution reaction at the anode is a promising method to produce hydrogen. Given the shortage of freshwater resources on the planet, the direct use of seawater as an electrolyte for hydrogen production has become a hot research topic. Direct use of seawater as the electrolyte for water electrolysis can reduce the cost of hydrogen production due to the great abundance and wide availability. In recent years, various high-efficiency electrocatalysts have made great progress in seawater splitting and have shown great potential. This review introduces the mechanisms and challenges of seawater splitting and summarizes the recent progress of various electrocatalysts used for hydrogen and oxygen evolution reaction in seawater electrolysis in recent years. Finally, the challenges and future opportunities of seawater electrolysis for hydrogen and oxygen production are presented.


Graph neural networks have recently achieved remarkable success in representing graph-structured data, with rapid progress in both the node embedding and graph pooling methods. Yet, they mostly focus on capturing information from the nodes considering their connectivity, and not much work has been done in representing the edges, which are essential components of a graph. However, for tasks such as graph reconstruction and generation, as well as graph classification tasks for which the edges are important for discrimination, accurately representing edges of a given graph is crucial to the success of the graph representation learning. To this end, we propose a novel edge representation learning framework based on Dual Hypergraph Transformation (DHT), which transforms the edges of a graph into the nodes of a hypergraph. This dual hypergraph construction allows us to apply message-passing techniques for node representations to edges. After obtaining edge representations from the hypergraphs, we then cluster or drop edges to obtain holistic graph-level edge representations. We validate our edge representation learning method with hypergraphs on diverse graph datasets for graph representation and generation performance, on which our method largely outperforms existing graph representation learning methods. Moreover, our edge representation learning and pooling method also largely outperforms state-of-the-art graph pooling methods on graph classification, not only because of its accurate edge representation learning, but also due to its lossless compression of the nodes and removal of irrelevant edges for effective message-passing.


Abstract The global business community requires graduates with skills and capabilities to cope with real-world interdisciplinary problems. Two key issues frequently noted are the silo disciplinary focus and the lack of exposure to responsible decision-making (RDM). IDLE (Interactive Dynamic Learning Environment) is a web-based computer simulated enterprise delivered through a systems approach broadening students' understanding of the interrelationship between corporations, society and the environment. Engagement in IDLE develops students' understanding and application of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability through the identification of business interdependencies. In IDLE, integrating systems dynamics with agile dynamic system development methods enabled the intricate multifaceted relationships of organisational decision- making that includes CSR and sustainability interrelationships to be explored. The resulting unique design ensures real organisation decision-making dynamics, while not being so complex that the interrelationships were overlooked during student engagement.


Research and industry increasingly make use of large amounts of data to guide decision-making. To do this, however, data needs to be analyzed in typically nontrivial refinement processes, which require technical expertise about methods and algorithms, experience with how a precise analysis should proceed, and knowledge about an exploding number of analytic approaches. To alleviate these problems, a plethora of different systems have been proposed that "intelligently" help users to analyze their data.
 This article provides a first survey to almost 30 years of research on intelligent discovery assistants (IDAs). It explicates the types of help IDAs can provide to users and the kinds of (background) knowledge they leverage to provide this help. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the systems developed over the past years, identifies their most important features, and sketches an ideal future IDA as well as the challenges on the road ahead.


In Part 1 of this paper a one-dimensional model was presented that predicted the heat-generation rate, cell potential and temperature of a cell as a function of time and state of charge for galvanostatic discharge. A position-dependent per-cell heat-transfer coefficient was introduced to predict the temperature variation within cell stacks. In Part 2 the authors present a one-dimensional model for predicting the temperature profile in a cell stack using heat-generation rates calculated by isothermal discharge of the one-cell model given in Part 1. The accuracy of using heat-generation rates from isothermal discharges to estimate heat-generation rates during nonisothermal discharge is assessed. Calculations for heat-transfer to the surroundings and temperature profiles for cell stacks calculated by the cell-stack model are presented and compared to results of the one-cell model presented in Part 1. Simulation results for the Li{vert_bar}PEO{sub 15}-LiCF{sub 3}SO{sub 3}{vert_bar}TiS{sub 2} system are presented for discharge at the 3 h rate applicable to electric vehicle applications.


Electronic systems have become highly complex, which results in a dramatic increase of both design and production cost. Recently a core-based system-on-chip (SoC) design methodology has been employed in order to reduce these costs. However, testing of SoCs has been facing challenges such as long test application time and high temperature during test. In this thesis, we address the problem of minimizing test application time for SoCs and propose three techniques to generate efficient test schedules. First, a defect-probability driven test scheduling technique is presented for production test, in which an abort-on-first-fail (AOFF) test approach is employed and a hybrid built-in self-test architecture is assumed. Using an AOFF test approach, the test process can be aborted as soon as the first fault is detected. Given the defect probabilities of individual cores, a method is proposed to calculate the expected test application time (ETAT). A heuristic is then proposed to generate test schedules with minimized ETATs. Second, a power-constrained test scheduling approach using test set partitioning is proposed. It assumes that, during the test, the total amount of power consumed by the cores being tested in parallel has to be lower than a given limit. A heuristic is proposed to minimize the test application time, in which a test set partitioning technique is employed to generate more efficient test schedules. Third, a thermal-aware test scheduling approach is presented, in which test set partitioning and interleaving are employed. A constraint logic programming (CLP) approach is deployed to find the optimal solution. Moreover, a heuristic is also developed to generate near-optimal test schedules especially for large designs to which the CLP-based algorithm is inapplicable. Experiments based on benchmark designs have been carried out to demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed techniques.


Low- and high-prejudiced individuals exhibited differential cortical and behavioral responses to the pending and actual evaluation of emotional in- and out-group faces. Participants viewed warning stimuli indicating the subsequent presentation of an angry or happy African-American or Caucasian face. Upon presentation of the face, participants judged whether they would enjoy working with the individual. The contingent negative variation (CNV) component of the event-related potential in response to the pending presentation of in- and out-group emotional stimuli distinguished low- from high-prejudiced individuals. Specifically, low-prejudiced individuals showed greater early CNV in anticipation of angry African-American targets, and increased reaction time to evaluating these faces. High-prejudiced individuals showed decreased early CNV in anticipation of angry African-American faces, accompanied by decreased response latencies, and enhanced CNV in anticipation of happy Caucasian faces. Notably, no group differences emerged in either the pending or actual evaluation of happy out-group faces. The data are discussed with regard to implications for understanding the nature of prejudice, and underscore both the importance of emotional expression on how a target is appraised and also the utility of using converging measures to clarify processes that may contribute to social behavior.


First-year seminars help students transition to and get involved in college faster, which can result in higher academic achievement, stronger peer relationships, and deeper self-knowledge: elements of a more successful and satisfying college experience. University Honors at Virginia Tech began offering first-year seminars in the mid-1990s but experienced difficulty maintaining them as our student population grew. This difficulty led us to reform the structure, content, and leadership of the seminars. Now they are co-led by student teaching assistants (STAs) and faculty members. The new seminars emphasize active, collaborative learning and self-reflection. We educate our STAs through pre-semester training and a fall-semester student teaching practicum. This new course model better supports our STAs and encourages students to form good habits early. Although we still have many opportunities for improvement, the new first-year honors seminar and student teaching practicum are fostering reflection, faculty and peer relationships, and campus integration.


OBJECTIVE: We aimed to establish the frequency of postoperative bony dehiscence overlying the mastoid portion of the facial nerve after round window membranous cochleostomy using high-resolution computer tomography, and to ascertain whether this was associated with a higher incidence of facial nerve injury compared with other studies. We also evaluated the usefulness of the St Thomas' classification in predicting the possibility of performing round window insertions. Study Design: Retrospective case series. Setting: Tertiary auditory implant centre. MATERIALS and METHODS: Twenty-five patients who underwent cochlear implantation at our institution, two of whom were operated on bilater ally, yielding 27 ears for analysis. We conducted submillimetric analysis of postoperative high-resolution computer tomography images to ascertain the prevalence of bony dehiscence overlying the mastoid portion of the facial nerve. The type of round window found during surgery was also determined in medical records. RESULTS: We found a radiological dehiscence rate of 40%. None of the patients in our series sustained a facial palsy. We propose some possible reasons for differences between our findings and those of others. All 18 patients with a Type Ia round window, two of the three patients with a Type IIa round window, and none of the four patients with a Type III round window had a successful round window insertion. The classification was found to be a useful predictor of performing round window membranous cochleostomy. CONCLUSION: Thinning of the bony cover of mastoid potion of the facial nerve to the point of radiological dehiscence does not put it at risk. Novice cochlear implant surgeons can therefore be reassured that unroofing the bone overlying the nerve does not pose undue danger.


In Latin America many mine sites are located more than 2000 m above sea level, and some over 4000 m above sea level. Portable X-ray ray fluorescence (pXRF) is becoming a routine method for collecting chemical data at different altitudes during mineral exploration campaigns. As altitude increases, air density decreases, and the physics of X-rays being transmitted through air mean that the transmission of low-energy X-rays increases and accordingly the transmission effectiveness of low-atomic weight elements (e.g. Mg, Al, and Si) also increases. Here we assess the performance of pXRF units across a range of pressures that equate to 0–5000 m above sea level by conducting well-documented tests with changing pressure to assess the use of a pXRF unit in high-altitude environments. Utilising both field test work, and test work using a hypobaric chamber in a laboratory where external conditions could be better controlled we examine how changing altitude can affect the performance of pXRF units. Units that have in-built pressure corrections perform reasonably consistently as altitude increases, whereas those that do not perform exactly as X-ray transmission modelling suggests. That is to say, the increased count rates of low-atomic weight elements (e.g. Mg, Al, and Si) means that these elements are over-reported and as a result the unit may under-report heavy elements.


Abstract It is widely recognized by statisticians, though not as widely by other researchers, that the p-value cannot be interpreted in isolation, but rather must be considered in the context of certain features of the design and substantive application, such as sample size and meaningful effect size. I consider the setting of the normal mean and highlight the information contained in the p-value in conjunction with the sample size and meaningful effect size. The p-value and sample size jointly yield 95% confidence bounds for the effect of interest, which can be compared to the predetermined meaningful effect size to make inferences about the true effect. I provide simple examples to demonstrate that although the p-value is calculated under the null hypothesis, and thus seemingly may be divorced from the features of the study from which it arises, its interpretation as a measure of evidence requires its contextualization within the study. This implies that any proposal for improved use of the p-value as a measure of the strength of evidence cannot simply be a change to the threshold for significance.


Biometrics is the science of identifying people based on their physiological and behavioral characteristics. Although biometric science could revolutionize the process of identification, it also raises concerns that should be considered as we enter into more widespread use of the technologies. Concerns about biometrics are particularly important in light of the federal government's project to implement biometric technologies at all points of entry by the end of 2004. Much of the discussion surrounding implementation of biometric technology involves developing rules to ensure reliability of the systems and create appropriate restrictions on the use of the data. This article argues, however, that regardless of how much we invest in establishing standards for reliability of the technology and protections of the data from fraud or improper use, no system will be foolproof. Biometric determinations will be subject to mistakes, fraud, and abuse through human and technological error, both intentional and inadvertent. As a result, we should take this opportunity to develop methods for individuals to review and challenge biometric determinations. In particular, the article suggests a doctrinal framework for challenges to biometric determinations made by administrative agencies.


The convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics has great potential to accelerate knowledge discovery, while the traditional approach of centralized data collection then processing is becoming infeasible in many applications due to efficiency and privacy concerns. Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a new paradigm that enables model learning across distributed IoT devices without sharing raw data. However, previous works on FL are either relying on a single central server or fully decentralized. In this article, we propose a semihierarchical federated analytics framework combining the advantages of the above architectures. The proposed framework leverages multiple edge servers for aggregating updates from IoT devices and fusing learned model weights without the need of cloud or a central server. Besides, we develop a new local client update rule to further improve the communication efficiency by reducing the communication rounds between IoT devices and edge servers. We analyze the convergence properties of the presenting approach and investigate its characteristics considering the effects of varying parameters, unreliable links, and packet loss. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed methodology in providing communication-efficient, robust, and fault-tolerant data analytics to IoT networks.


This study was conducted to examine the profitability of the investors of power thresher and pedal thresher in the Kasba Upazila in Brahmanbaria district. For this, sixty thresher owners in which 8 were closed drum power threshers, 17 open drum power threshers and 35 pedal threshers, were purposively selected for the study. The method of projects appraisal suggested by Gittinger (1994) was followed by applying three principal discounting measures such as: BCR, NPV and IRR to measure the profitability of the selected thresher owners. Only financial analyses were done. The discount rate selected for the study was only 13 per cent and 10 years life was considered for each of the selected threshers. It was evident from the study that the investment in closed drum power thresher was more profitable than both the open drum and pedal thresher from the viewpoints of individual investors. The results of sensitivity analyses suggested that the investment in pedal thresher was a bit risky business with 10 per cent increase in O& M costs or 10 per cent reduction in gross benefits, if other things remain the same.


The problems of explaining the observed trends in mortality, morbidity and other kinds of individuals' transitions generated the numerous attempts of incorporating the covariates into the survival models. First models use the deterministic constant factors as explanatory variables. Gradually it became clear that the random and dynamic nature of the covariates should also be taken into account. This understanding has led to the fact that the notion of random intensity became widely used in the analysis of the asymptotic properties of the maximum likelihood and Coxregression estimators.

Having the clear intuitive sense the notion of random intensity can be introduced in different ways. The traditional way is to define the intensity in terms of probability distributions of the failure time. Another way appeals to the martingale theory and defines the intensity in terms of the predictable process, called "compensator". For the deterministic rates and simple cases of stochastic intensities there are already results that establish a one-to-one correspondence between two definitions. The correspondence is reached by the probabilistic representation results for compensator. Martingale theory guarantees the existence of the predictable compensator in more general cases. However the results on the probabilistic representation similar to simple cases are still unknown. Meanwhile such representation is crucial, for instance, in the analysis of the relations between the duration of the life cycle of some unit and stochastically changing influential variables. This paper shows the result of such representation for some particular case. The generalization on the more general situations is straightforward. The consideration will use some basic notions of a "general theory of processes".


This experiment found exposure to study of expression increases news seeking and newspaper readership. Since 1973, public confidence in major institutions -- except the mass media -- has declined only slightly. A special report from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research challenges the notion of declining social capital in America and suggests that public confidence in the press alone has shown a consistent decline since the early 1970s.(1) Given this disparity, perhaps newspapers are suffering not from generalized civic disengagement but from citizen disgust at free expression that too often is filled with hate, racism and indecency.(2) Declining confidence in the press is most noticeable among those who are more educated, more conservative and more Republican, who also are more likely to be disillusioned by and disenfranchised from the press. At the same time, editors' concern with declining newspaper penetration has become virtually a commonplace.(3) Abundant academic and industry research into declining newspaper circulation has found that newspapers disproportionately fail to attract people who are low in education or income, rural, non-white, uninvolved, younger than 35, recently relocated and female.(4) Nonreaders also are more likely to be less interested in political and civic affairs than readers.(5) Because industry sins of omission and commission play a major role in distancing readers, industry actions may attract new and returning readers. For example, when Jeremy Lipschultz examined the reasons for nonreadership, he found nonreaders questioned newspaper readability, credibility and utility.(6) Ethicist and media critic Sissela Bok has said the press faces a "crisis of credibility."(7) In response, the American Society of Newspaper Editors sponsored a 1998 study examining erosion of newspaper credibility as a primary source of declining readership.(8) But according to Stephan Russ-Wohl, the proper response to such concerns is "to strengthen and diversify the existing network of institutions and initiatives that help maintain and improve journalistic standards. Such institutions and initiatives [should] sustain public discourse regarding journalism and the media."(9) This study, however, seeks to determine whether discourse designed to improve newspaper circulation also should encompass discussion of the value of free expression. The underlying thesis is that if non-readership is a symptom of disillusionment with free expression, then readership might be improved by increasing understanding of and interest in First Amendment values. This thesis rests on the assumption that support of free speech and free press can be increased through education about free-expression issues and values. For, as ACLU President Nadine Strossen has said, the biggest threat to the civil liberties is "public apathy and public ignorance." Strossen further said: Ultimately, if people are not concerned and committed about their rights, we're going to have elected officials who trample over those rights, with nobody to stand up and defend them when they appoint judges who will not enforce the Constitution and other legal guarantees of rights.(10) Indeed, a 1997 Freedom Forum survey found that most Americans do not believe in freedom of speech.(11) According to the survey, people from all points on the political and religious spectrum "embrace a flaccid and utterly meaningless definition of ... expressive freedom [as] support [for] freedom of speech for only speech that I agree deserves freedom."(12) Attempts to find the source of this disaffection often lead to media blaming.(13) A 1997 report by media critic Stephen Bates found that "the strained bond between press and public" is a modern media crisis.(14) In his exploration of media, power and entitlement in America, David Protess found that the media rarely and only peripherally involve or affect the public. …


Will he always need medication? How should I explain his illness to the children? What should I say to him to be supportive? How should I behave? A diagnosis of a mental illness can change a person forever-indeed, in some cases it can affect the rest of the life course. It can also have a deep and lasting impact on those close to them. Loving and caring, but often frustrated and at times depressed themselves, family members and caregivers have plenty of questions for the psychiatrists, primary care physicians, and other counselors or therapists who are caring for their mentally ill loved one. Here, veteran clinician Igor Galynker equips mental health professionals with everything they need to know to speak with family members compassionately and effectively, conveying treatment information and answering their questions, while also relieving their anxieties. Drawing from years of his own clinical experience, he offers tools for communicating with families about psychiatric symptoms, medications, and alternative treatment options-along with the difficult topics of stigma, denial, and suicide. He covers the ins and outs of schizophrenia, bipolar mood disorder, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and personality disorders, and outlines the course of each illness, symptoms, and implications for the client's future and relationships. Finally, he offers advice for managing stress, succeeding at school and work, building strong romantic relationships, and planning families. Clinical case examples throughout showcase Galynker's narratives in practice, and prepare clinicians for families' reactions, both good and bad. Whether you are a general practitioner or psychiatric specialist, or concerned loved one, Talking to Families About Mental Illness will enhance your ability to manage a family's difficult questions and concerns, which can ultimately transform the way they handle the patient's diagnosis. This book provides all the tools necessary to communicate clearly and effectively, and guide patients and their families on the path to healing.