PURPOSE
Monte Carlo simulations of linear accelerator treatment heads have traditionally involved building the simulated treatment head from specifications provided by the manufacturer. Here, we make pre-compiled applications available through a web interface, with processors running in the cloud.

METHODS
Simulations are run on computers on Amazon Web Services, a cloud provider. A machine image (AMI) was created from which multiple instances can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis. The instances present a web interface, where input parameters (such as the target and flattening filter, code version, and parameters of the incident electron beam) are entered. The web form is converted to an input file for the simulation code by a php script. Simulations of the Varian TrueBeam accelerator using Geant4 simulation code are currently available. Phase space files can be written either above the jaws, or below the MLC, and then imported into a separate simulation. Alternatively the dose deposited in a phantom can be calculated. Modifications to the treatment head, for example custom targets, are also possible. The AMI is available to researchers through their own Amazon account. We share the AMI without additional cost; the user is responsible for the Amazon charges (typically USD 0.01/hr/core).

RESULTS
The code was verified by matching commissioning data. The web interface was used by collaborators who both matched commissioning data and investigate treatment head modifications. The treatment head was simulated, and modified in the simulation, without disclosure of proprietary information. Input of phase spaces files into EGSnrc was verified.

CONCLUSION
Geant4-based simulations of the Varian TrueBeam can be run in the cloud, without need for treatment head specifications or a computer cluster. The methods readily generalize to other codes or geometries. As noted in the affiliations, the authors are employees of Varian Medical Systems.


During the past years, monolithic integration in InP has been the driving force for the realization of integrated photonic routing systems. The advent of silicon as a basis for cost-effective integration and its potential blend with III-V material is now opening exciting opportunities for the development of new, high-performance switching and routing equipment. Following this rationale, BOOM-as a European research initiative-aims to develop compact, cost-effective, and power-efficient silicon photonic components to enable optical Tb/s routers for current and new generation broadband core networks. This "siliconization" of photonic routers is expected to enable ultrahigh bit rates as well as higher levels of integration and power efficiency. The BOOM "device portfolio" includes all-optical wavelength converters, ultradense wave-division multiplexing (UDWDM) photodetectors, and high-speed transmitters; all based on silicon waveguide substrates. Here, we present the device concepts, the fabrication of photonic building blocks and the experiments carried out as the initial steps toward the realization of the first high-capacity silicon photonic router.


Colonial conservation emerged as colonial conservationists perceived the threat of deforestation, climatic change and famine. The sense that there were limits to nature's capacity to meet human demands, led to colonial conservationism which portrayed nature as separated from human life. Protected areas (PA's), both forest and game reserves, were created that excluded local people in terms of both access and management. In South Africa the National Forests Act 84 of 1998 has created new conditions in which there is a greater opportunity for communities to benefit from indigenous forests, which apart from their other uses are a valuable resource from the point of view of ecotourism. This study thus seeks to assess moves from exclusivist to community based forms of environmental decision-making (EDM) at Dlinza Forest Nature Reserve. This study provides an example of an ecotourism project started during the democratic period in South Africa and at the height of the global move to community conservation. First however it traces the management history of the forest in order to assess change in the management style over time. The study investigates rural people's attitudes towards the forest and it was found that although the forest was preserved for many years, the rural people still feel much attached to it as a result of the beliefs they have about it. The study contrasts different visions of the forest in terms of competing use and non-use values, and demonstrates that each group exercised its will and attempted to display "ownership" of the forest through a number of activities undertaken at the forest. An analysis ofthe public participation followed in terms ofthe ecotourism project was undertaken to determine the extent to which the rural community was involved. Theoretical models of environmental decision-making were applied in order to identify the mode of decisionmaking used historically and in the present. The results of the study show that poor rural people are still marginalized in EDM despite the new philosophies of PA management and the democratising shifts taking place in the country. Resistance to the policies and regulations of the reserve has been observed and this may lead to severe degradation of the resources that the reserve is meant to protect. The study thus recommends strengthening locally based EDM via partnerships as partnerships do not only provide relief for the consequences of conflict, they also strive for a win-win situation. The study concluded that greater involvement of the rural community requires a change in the mindset of conservation authorities, in particular with regard to the issue of representivity in EDM.


Abstract During the last decade a number of scholars have argued that political campaigning has become professionalized, and that political marketing has become the new dominant campaign paradigm. However, the conceptual relationship between political marketing and the professionalization of political campaigning is unclear. Furthermore, the distinction between political marketing, market orientation, and marketing techniques is often blurred. At the same time, most of the literature is dominated by either an American or British perspective. This makes it unclear as to whether these concepts should be viewed as general concepts, or as concepts relevant primarily for countries that share some specific set of political institutions. In this backdrop, the purpose of this article is to analyze (1) the conceptual relationship between political marketing, market orientation, marketing techniques, and professionalization of political campaigning, and (2) whether contemporary concepts of political marketing and the professionalization of political campaigning are equally applicable to all modern democracies regardless of, for example, political system and other country-specific factors. It also outlines a theory of strategic party goals for multiple arenas.


Measurements of the top--antitop quark pair production charge asymmetry in the dilepton channel, characterized by two high-${p}_{\rm{T}}$ leptons (electrons or muons), are presented using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 $\textrm{fb}^{-1}$ from $pp$ collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 8$~TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Inclusive and differential measurements as a function of the invariant mass, transverse momentum, and longitudinal boost of the $t\bar{t}$ system are performed both in the full phase space and in a fiducial phase space closely matching the detector acceptance. Two observables are studied: $A_C^{\ell \ell}$ based on the selected leptons and $A_C^{t\bar{t}}$ based on the reconstructed $t\bar{t}$ final state. No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectations is observed.


Pipelines such as the surge line and main pipe are easily subjected to thermal stratification and thermal fatigue as a result of the nonuniform temperature distribution in the nuclear power plants. When the surge line or main pipe subjected to thermal stratification and thermal fatigue keeps operating for long time, the pipe leakage may happen due to the existence of pipeline crack. When the fluids with high temperature and pressure leak in the crack, the water will evaporate quickly, which means this process belongs to spray flash evaporation process. The flash evaporation related to pipe leak was experimentally studied in the paper. The experiment was carried out under high temperature and high pressure with low spray rate. The temperature and relative humidity (T&H) variations over time were monitored in the experiment with installing T&H detectors. The T&H variations at different measurement positions and with different spray rates were analyzed, respectively. In addition, the effect of the dimensionless parameters including the Weber number and Jakob number was also investigated. Results indicated that the response speed increased with the increase of the spray flow rate. Higher Weber number and higher Jakob number led to higher evaporation rate. The slight pipe leakage can be predicted by using the (T&H) in the hazardous areas.


In dynamic, open, and service-oriented computing environments, e.g., e-commerce and crowdsourcing, service consumers must choose one of the services or items to complete their tasks. Due to the scale and dynamic characteristics of these environments, service consumers may have little or no experience with the available services. To this end, reputation systems are proposed and have played a crucial role in the success of online service-oriented transactions. In this paper, we study the current reputation systems used in commercial environments. In these rating-based reputation systems, we found they are not only resilient to the changes (time lag) but also vulnerable to unfair ratings. To address the problems in parallel, we propose an adaptive reputation model (ARM). ARM can dynamically adjust its model parameters to adapt the latest changes in a service. To tackle time lag, the proposed model generalizes the fixed sliding window, used in current commercial platforms, into a dynamic sliding window mechanism. Thus, the model can completely mitigate the influence of obsolete ratings. To detect unfair ratings, our model implements a statistical strategy based on hypothesis testing after transforming the ratings in the linear window into residuals. Experiments not only validate the effectiveness of the proposed model but also show that it outperforms the existing reputation system by 45% on average based on five test cases. The results also show that the proposed model can asymptotically converge to the underlying reputation value as ratings begin to accumulate. Note to Practitioners—The reputation models adopted by current commercial platforms, such as Amazon, eBay, and Taobao, not only suffer heavily from unfair rating but also resilient to the changes in services. To address the problems simultaneously, we design and implement a hybrid model that continuously monitors received ratings and aggregates the reputation value in a self-adaptive way. Our model first fits received fair ratings using the Bayesian linear regression approach and captures the distribution of fair ratings; it then filters out unfair ratings leveraging hypothesis testing. Finally, to sensitively respond the dynamic service changes, the dynamic sliding window algorithm in our model shifts the rating collection window into a new one and discards outdated ratings, reputation value is aggregated in the new window to mitigate the influence of obsolete ratings. Extensive experiments are conducted on widely used scenarios to demonstrate the efficiency and the effectiveness of our proposed model.


Alan Spitzer approaches the history of the French Restoration by examining the experience of a particular age group born between 1792 and 1803: the generation of 1820. A predominantly male, middle-class, educated minority of this group was perceived as representing all that was most promising and specifically youthful in the period. Their response to the pressures of transition was expressed in the fractious behavior of the youth of the schools, '' and in voluntary associations, masonic lodges, conspiratorial cells, and influential journals, which depended on a dense network of personal relationships. Professor Spitzer portrays these connections in a set of sociograms using new techniques for the visual representation of social networks.Originally published in 1987.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


The presence of surface-induced crystal structures is well known within organic thin films. However, the physical parameters responsible for their formation are still under debate. In the present work, we present the formation of polymorphic crystal structures of the molecule dihexyl-terthiophene in thin films. The films are prepared by different methods using solution-based methods like spin-coating, dip-coating and drop-casting, but also by physical vapour deposition. The thin films are characterised by various X-ray diffraction methods to investigate the crystallographic properties and by microscopy techniques (atomic force microscopy and optical microscopy) to determine the thin film morphologies. Three different polymorphic crystal structures are identified and their appearance is related to the film preparation parameters. The crystallisation speed is varied by the evaporation rate of the solvent and is identified as a key parameter for the respective polymorphs present in the films. Slow crystallisation speed induces preferential growth in the stable bulk structure, while fast crystallisation leads to the occurrence of a metastable thin-film phase. Furthermore, by combining X-ray reflectivity investigations with photoelectron spectroscopy experiments, the presence of a monolayer thick wetting layer below the crystalline film could be evidenced. This work gives an example of thin film growth where the kinetics during the crystallisation rather than the film thickness is identified as the critical parameter for the presence of a thin-film phase within organic thin films.


Switching from oral medications to continuous infusion of levodopa/carbidopa gel reduces motor complications in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD), but effects on nonmotor symptoms (NMSs) are unknown. In this prospective open‐label observational study, we report the effects of intrajejunal levodopa/carbidopa gel infusion on NMS in PD based on standard assessments utilizing the nonmotor symptoms scale (NMSS) along with the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS 3 motor and 4 complications) and quality of life (QoL) using the Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ‐8). Twenty‐two advanced PD patients (mean age 58.6 years, duration of disease 15.3 years) were followed for 6 months. A statistically significant beneficial effect was shown in six of the nine domains of the NMSS: cardiovascular, sleep/fatigue, attention/memory, gastrointestinal, urinary, and miscellaneous (including pain and dribbling) and for the total score of this scale (NMSST) paralleling improvement of motor symptoms (UPDRS 3 motor and 4 complications in "best on" state) and dyskinesias/motor fluctuations. In addition, significant improvements were found using the Parkinson's disease sleep scale (PDSS) and the PDQ‐8 (QoL). The improvement in PDQ‐8 scores correlated highly significantly with the changes in NMSST, whereas a moderately strong correlation was observed with UPDRS changes. This is the first demonstration that a levodopa‐based continuous dopaminergic stimulation is beneficial for NMS and health‐related quality of life in PD in addition to the reduction of motor fluctuations and dyskinesias. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society


There are currently over 35 million students within Europe and yet, to date, we have no clear understanding of the extent to which understandings of 'the student' are shared across the continent. Thus, a central aim of this article is to investigate how the contemporary higher education student understands their own role, and the extent to which this differs both within nation-states and across them. This is significant in terms of implicit (and sometimes explicit) assumptions that are made about common understandings of 'the student' across Europe – underpinning, for example, initiatives to increase cross-border educational mobility and the wider development of a European Higher Education Area. Drawing on data from students across Europe – and particularly plasticine models participants made to represent their understanding of themselves as students – we argue that, in many cases, there is an important disconnect between the ways in which students are constructed within policy, and how they understand themselves. The models produced by participants typically foregrounded learning and hard work rather than more instrumental concerns commonly emphasised within policy. This brings into question assertions made in the academic literature that recent reforms have had a direct effect on the subjectivities of students, encouraging them to be more consumerist in their outlook. Nevertheless, we have also shown that student conceptualisations differ, to some extent, by nation-state, evident particularly in Spain and Poland, and by institution – most notably in England and Spain, which have the most vertically differentiated higher education systems. These differences suggest that, despite the 'policy convergence' manifest in the creation of a European Higher Education Area, understandings of what it means to be a student in Europe today remain contested.


Reinforcement learning techniques are provided that generate initial training data to refine a machine-learning model (e.g., a neural network). The techniques allow a machine-learning system to make a correlation between inputs and outputs, and analyze generated outputs to produce new training data that will produce better outputs. The techniques start by profiling a system (e.g., an operating system) and a mock model of the machine-learning model that provides random outputs or outputs according to a simple heuristic. The techniques can then use the outputs to adjust heuristics of the system to obtain a wide variety of performance reactions of the system. Evaluation of the profiling data of the system can be performed to distinguish good outputs from bad outputs according to a chosen performance metric. In some cases, initial training data is created based on the good outputs. A new machine-learning model can then be trained with the initial training data to produce better outputs than the outputs produced by the mock model. With each iteration of the techniques, the machine-learning model produces better outputs. Generally, these techniques are repeated until outputs of satisfactory quality are achieved.


There is no doubt that the law of rape is in need of reform. Compared to other crimes, reported rapes are convicted at 1/3 the rate of robberies and 1/6 the rate of assaults. Because knowing the identity of an assailant should lead to more, not fewer, convictions, this low conviction rate then is surprising given that acquaintance rapes — where the attacker is known to the victim — account for 80% of all rapes. Criminal law serves a vital purpose when it can clearly define criminal conduct and separate it from lawful activity. To effectively draw this line, criminal laws must evolve with social norms and capture the underlying social harm of the conduct. For instance, manslaughter was reformed to criminalize deaths arising from horseless carriages and theft statutes were updated to capture the harm arising from hacking into a computer.
But rape law has been stunted, with definitions limited to the crime's actus reus of either force or non-consent. Unlike homicide and theft offenses, rape law has not benefitted from having liability arise from more sophisticated mental states. If a person drives a car in a crowd and kills another, that person had neither knowledge nor purpose to kill. The driver nonetheless would be liable for murder under the mens rea of malice — the capacious mental state capturing acts accompanied by a heightened recklessness, extreme indifference, or contempt over whether her actions presented a possibility of death. This Article proposes a crime of rape defined by the mens rea of malice. Rape by malice reflects the contemporary understandings of what is the social wrong in having unwanted sex — it is a defendant acting with intent to have sex without consent, reckless disregard of risk of having sex without consent, or extreme indifference over whether he is having sex with the consent of his partner.
Although rape by malice will lead to more convictions, punishing more rapists under the current criminal justice system should not be welcomed. A second point of this Article is to recognize the reality of rape laws' connection to mass incarceration. Where statistics are available, current rape convictions are met with lengthy, and I argue, excessive prison terms that range from eight to thirty years. Potential sentences are up to 100 years. If the United States is serious about stopping mass incarceration, sentence reform must extend to more than drug crimes. This Article proposes a five-year prison term for rape offenses that do not involve children or weapons. It is a mistake to assume that a light sentence fails to communicate that the crime is heinous and the offender is depraved. Rather, a maximum five-year sentence adequately punishes the offender, prevents overpunishment, leads to more convictions, reduces recidivism, and comports with international sentencing practices.


Karst aquifers are characterized by highly conductive conduit flow paths embedded in a less conductive fissured and fractured matrix, resulting in strong permeability contrasts with structured heterogeneity and anisotropy. Groundwater storage occurs predominantly in the fissured matrix. Hence, most mathematical karst models assume quasi-steady-state flow in conduits neglecting conduit-associated drainable storage (CADS). The concept of CADS considers storage volumes, where karst water is not part of the active flow system but hydraulically connected to conduits (for example karstic voids and large fractures). The disregard of conduit storage can be inappropriate when direct water abstraction from karst conduits occurs, e. g., large-scale pumping. In such cases, CADS may be relevant. Furthermore, the typical fixed-head boundary condition at the karst outlet can be inadequate for water abstraction scenarios because unhampered water inflow is possible.

The objective of this work is to analyze the significance of CADS and flow-limited boundary conditions on the hydraulic behavior of karst aquifers in water abstraction scenarios. To this end, the numerical discrete-continuum model MODFLOW-2005 Conduit Flow Process Mode 1 (CFPM1) is enhanced to account for CADS. Additionally, a fixed-head limited-flow (FHLQ) boundary condition is added that limits inflow from constant head boundaries to a user-defined threshold. The effects and the proper functioning of these modifications are demonstrated by simplified model studies. Both enhancements, CADS and FHLQ boundary, are shown to be useful for water abstraction scenarios within karst aquifers. An idealized representation of a large-scale pumping test in a karst conduit is used to demonstrate that the enhanced CFPM1 is able to adequately represent water abstraction processes in both the conduits and the matrix of real karst systems, as illustrated by its application to the Cent Fonts karst system.


This article introduces a new version of the Multiple Machine Scheduling Problem: the Scheduling Problem with Time Windows and Minimal Overlap (SPTWMO). Given a set of nonpreemptive jobs with time windows and a number of identical machines, the problem consists on finding a starting time for each job which satisfies time window constraints while minimizing a measure of resource infeasibility (the Total Overlap). The problem is NP-Complete even in the case when only one machine is considered. We present a simple genetic algorithm applied to the SPTWMO, reporting efficient numerical results according to lower bounds obtained solving the preemptive version of the problem.


This exploratory empirical paper investigates annual time delays between vulnerability disclosure notifications and acknowledgments by means of network analysis. These delays are approached through a potential clustering effect of vulnerabilities across software vendors. The analysis is based on a projection from bipartite vendor-vulnerability structures to one-mode vendor-vendor networks, while the hypothesized clustering effect is approached with a conventional community detection algorithm. According to the results, (a) vulnerabilities cluster across vendors, (b) which also explains a portion of the time delays, although (c) the clustering is not stable annually. The computed network (d) clusters can be also interpreted by reflecting these against common software security attack surfaces. The results can be used to contemplate (e) practical means with which the efficiency of vulnerability disclosure could be improved.


SUMMARY The aim of this study was to define the connection between the leptin (LEP) gene T3469C polymorphism and its potential association with production traits in improved hybrid pigs. The study included data from 397 gilts and barrows from 2 different sample. The polymorphism was identified by using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) method with HinfI restriction enzyme. Two alleles of LEP gene were identified: T (0.93) an C (0.07). The analysis of values of production traits, depending on LEP genotype did not reveal significant (P≤0.05) differences. In the examination the loin diameter (between the 2 nd and 3 rd ribs), the live weight at slaughter and the averege daily gain during fattening were higher at pigs with C allele than pigs with TT genotipe. Accordingt to our data the effect of C allele was favourable in this population, because these animals had bigger bodyweight without valuable change of lean meat percent.


Increasing world-wide energy use and growing population growth presents a critical need for enhanced energy efficiency and sustainability. One method to address this issue is via waste heat scavenging. In this approach, thermal energy that is normally expelled to the environment is transferred to a secondary device to produce useful power output. This paper investigates a novel MEMS-based boiler designed to operate as part of a small-scale energy scavenging system. For the first time, fabrication and operation of the boiler is presented. Boiler operation is based on capillary action that drives working fluid from surrounding reservoirs across a heated surface. Pressure is generated as working fluid transitions from liquid to vapor in an integrated steamdome. In a full system application, the steam can be made available to other MEMS-based devices to drive final power output. Capillary channels are formed from silicon substrates with 100 µm widths. Varying depths are studied that range from 57 to 170 µm. Operation of the boiler shows increasing flow-rates with increasing capillary channel depths. Maximum fluid mass transfer rates are 12.26 mg/s from 170 µm channels, an increase of 28% over 57 µm channel devices. Maximum pressures achieved during operation are 229 Pa.


Background: Successful management of warfarin, new anti-thrombotic agents and self-monitoring devices requires that health care professionals effectively counsel and educate patients. Previous studies indicate that health care professionals do not always have the knowledge to provide patients with the correct information. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate European cardiovascular nurses' knowledge on the overall management of anticoagulation therapy and examine if this knowledge was influenced by level of education and years in clinical practice. Methods: A questionnaire including 47 items on practice patterns and knowledge on warfarin, new anticoagulants, warfarin-drug and warfarin-food interactions, and self-management of International Normalized Ratio (INR) was distributed to the attendants at a European conference in 2012. Results: The response rate was 32% (n=206), of whom 84% reported having direct patient contact. Warfarin was the most common used oral anticoagulation in daily practice. One third offered their patients both patient self-testing and patient self-management of INR. The mean total score on the knowledge questions was 28±6 (maximum possible score 53). Nurses in direct patient care had a higher mean score (p=0.011). Knowledge on warfarin and medication-interactions were low, but knowledge on warfarin-diet interactions and how to advise patients on warfarin as somewhat better. Conclusion: European cardiac nurses need to improve their knowledge and practice patterns on oral anticoagulation therapy. This area of knowledge is important in order to deliver optimal care to cardiac patients and to minimise adverse effects of the treatment.


Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a core non-nuclear genetic material found in all eukaryotic organisms, the size of which varies extensively in the eumycota, even within species. In this study, mitochondrial genomes of six isolates of Annulohypoxylon stygium (Lév.) were assembled from raw reads from PacBio and Illumina sequencing. The diversity of genomic structures, conserved genes, intergenic regions and introns were analyzed and compared. Genome sizes ranged from 132 to 147 kb and contained the same sets of conserved protein-coding, tRNA and rRNA genes and shared the same gene arrangements and orientation. In addition, most intergenic regions were homogeneous and had similar sizes except for the region between cytochrome b (cob) and cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1) genes which ranged from 2,998 to 8,039 bp among the six isolates. Sixty-five intron insertion sites and 99 different introns were detected in these genomes. Each genome contained 45 or more introns, which varied in distribution and content. Introns from homologous insertion sites also showed high diversity in size, type and content. Comparison of introns at the same loci showed some complex introns, such as twintrons and ORF-less introns. There were 44 short fragment insertions detected within introns, intergenic regions, or as introns, some of them located at conserved domain regions of homing endonuclease genes. Insertions of short fragments such as small inverted repeats might affect or hinder the movement of introns, and these allowed for intron accumulation in the mitochondrial genomes analyzed, and enlarged their size. This study showed that the evolution of fungal mitochondrial introns is complex, and the results suggest short fragment insertions as a potential factor leading to larger mitochondrial genomes in A. stygium.


This study examined the ways ESL teacher trainees from one teacher training institute in Malaysia use scaffolding as a form of learning strategy to comprehend literary texts. The study investigated the types and characteristics of scaffolding and the effectiveness of scaffolding strategy training (SST) as used by teacher trainees of three different levels of proficiency.
The study utilized a quasi-experimental design and employed a mixed method of collecting and analyzing data that ran concurrently. In the first phase, 96 subjects were selected based on the proficiency test administered and divided accordingly into the experimental and control groups for the quasi-experimental design. Each group consisted of subjects from three levels of proficiency: high proficiency (HP), low proficiency (LP) and mixed proficiency (MP). In this study, the researcher looked into the possibility of using SST to improve comprehension of literary texts among dyads from the experimental group. A pre- and posttests of comprehension questions based on two short stories were carried out. SST was used as a treatment for the experimental group. Subjects from the control group were exposed to the same short stories through the normal lecture conducted by the lecturer from the teacher training institute. In the second phase, subjects' interactions (in dyads) from the experimental group were recorded twice: before and after SST. Interviews and diary studies were analyzed to identify the types and characteristics of scaffolding utilized in the meaning making process. SST was conducted for a duration of 2 months involving eight sessions on the experimental group. The training sessions mainly focused on the use of five different types of scaffolding; modeling, feedback, cognitive structuring, questioning and asking for participation.
The results of the quasi-experimental study revealed that mixed proficiency subjects from the experimental group out performed their peers from other levels of proficiency. One of the reasons identified from the qualitative study is the choice on the types of scaffolding utilized by the peers. High proficiency participants from the mixed proficiency dyads are seen to use analogy as a form of scaffolding to assist their partners understanding. The scaffolding strategy training was observed to have little impact on subjects from the low and high proficiency levels. The qualitative data analysis identified negative scaffolding among the low proficiency subjects which could contribute to their performance. High proficiency subjects on the other hand, preferred to study alone rather than having discussion with their peers. This preference could lead to over confidence among the high proficiency subjects that led to their low performance in the post test. These findings suggest the need for educators to be aware of the strategies teacher trainees employ and the possibility of peer scaffolding to improve their comprehension.


This essay seeks to extend the study of male consumption in the Victorian period, focusing specifically on the practice of aesthetic collecting in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White (1860). I compare male characters in this text, in terms of class and gender identity, in order to offer a pre-Wildean understanding of the Victorian male consumer. The novel's treatment of the aristocracy and the middle classes offers substantial textual evidence of a relationship between consumption and masculinity, especially with regard to the collection of art as the acquisition of cultural capital. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, I clarify the connection between class position and the possession of cultural capital in nineteenth-century Britain, and explore other cultural assumptions concerning aesthetic proficiency, social status and consumer behaviour. I consider the theory of cultural capital in its relation to practices of collecting by taking into account the aesthetic tastes and cultural goods ascribed to the nineteenth-century collector figure. In this way, a collector's embodied cultural capital translated into a capacity to identify the aesthetic properties of artistic objects. The recognised ownership of such culturally-valued works of art represents the collector's objectified cultural capital. How a collector comes to be in the position to distinguish, or indeed to own, art objects reflects his own social situation in terms of his class status, education and access to economic capital. My argument, in brief, is that the very notion of the collection differs between the classes. I argue that the practices of aesthetic collection carried out in The Woman in White validate the notion of cultural capital.


In cancer management early diagnosis is crucial for successful treatment. Unfortunately, patients mostly present with advanced disease, limiting therapeutic options. Therefore, screening of the general population for cancer can enhance earlier diagnosis and better treatment, decreasing cancer mortality. Furthermore, close monitoring of patients enables early detection of relapse and more efficient treatment. As proteins reflect the actual state of an organism and are readily measurable in biological matrices such as blood, they can excellently fulfil a role as biomarkers for cancer. Especially the development of mass spectrometry has enhanced fast and easy analysis of the protein content of (clinical) samples. We applied surface-enhanced laser desorption ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF MS) for the detection of new potential biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC) and renal cell cancer (RCC). In a retrospective study, serum protein patterns comprising, among others, apolipoprotein C-I were found that could reliably discriminate patients with advanced CRC from healthy persons. Furthermore, combination of these patterns with the currently used CRC marker CEA showed better performance than CEA alone. The decrease of apolipoprotein C-I serum levels in CRC was validated in a prospective study in patients with mostly early-stage CRC, adenomatous polyps (AP) and controls with an indication for colonoscopy. Comparable to CEA, apolipoprotein C-I levels did not return to normal immediately after surgical resection of the tumour, but gradually within 3 months. In colorectal tissue of these patients, several proteins which were gradually changing in abundance between control, AP and CRC, or between the different histologic subtypes of AP were found. Further structural identification of these proteins can provide insight into the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying or accompanying the development of CRC. For clinical application as a biomarker, quantitative analyses for apolipoprotein C-I need to be developed to establish reliable cut-off levels to identify patients with CRC. Furthermore, strict sample handling protocols are essential for proteomic investigations, as e.g. proteolysis during storage can severely alter protein profiles. To investigate the validity and robustness of reported serum protein profiles for RCC, two distinct patient populations of RCC and controls were assessed in our laboratory. One of the proposed RCC biomarker candidates was indeed validated, but many others were not, exemplifying problems with analytical reproducibility and statistical problems of data over-fitting. Using a new analytical protocol, two new RCC protein profiles could be defined. Since sensitivity and specificity were 60-85%, these profiles are presently not suitable for use in diagnostic screening, although they might have a role in follow-up of RCC patients. However, a five-protein serum profile predicting RCC prognosis could be identified and was demonstrated to be a strong and independent predictor of survival when tested against the extended Memorial Sloan-Kettering Prognostic Factors Model. Concluding, the development of high-throughput mass spectrometric protein profiling approaches such as SELDI-TOF MS has facilitated the comprehensive analysis of a large part of the proteome in clinical samples. Thus, this technique has shown to be very useful in the search for new biomarker candidates for CRC and RCC in human serum and tissue.


Experiments on ultrasonic propagation in thick annular structures show that one can simplify the modal structure of the received signals by carefully controlling the wedge angles of the generation and detection transducers. This is important if one is to detect cracks along the path between source and receiver. In particular, one should excite and detect only those modes whose energy is concentrated where the cracks are expected to form. To do so, the following methodology is used: First, experimental signals are obtained for various source–receiver configurations with a standard pulser/receiver; a wavelet transform is then applied to the signals to localize precisely in time the arrival of a given mode packet at a given frequency and to determine the corresponding group velocity. These modes are then identified by comparing the results with predictions from theoretical dispersion curves. One can then predict the energy distribution within the structure by using the method of normal mode expansion for tra...


Purpose

Law enforcement agencies have historically used psychological examinations, in addition to other methods, to screen candidates out of the applicant pool. However, agencies could be better served by ensuring recruits are predisposed to the expected behaviors and qualities that are required as part of community-oriented and respectful policing. The purpose of this paper is to provide an initial look into what officer-level characteristics might lead to improved treatment in police-community interactions (PCIs). Characteristics under review include communication styles and personality dimensions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data come from the National Police Research Platform's longitudinal recruit study and its PCI survey. Community members were surveyed about their interactions with officers involved in the study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze these two-level data.

Findings

The findings suggest that certain officer-level characteristics were associated with higher perceptions of procedurally just behavior. Specifically, officers with higher levels of empathy and lower levels of neuroticism scored higher on both the officer's quality of treatment (QT) and quality of decision making toward the community member. Additional to those dimensions, officers with increased emotional control received higher scores on their QT.

Originality/value

These findings have important implications for identifying and measuring new characteristics to be used in police hiring procedures. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first instance where personality dimensions and communications styles have been used to predict law enforcement officers' procedural justice behaviors in the field.


Manual error tagging of learner corpus data is time consuming and creates a bottleneck in the analysis of learner corpora. This had led researchers to apply techniques from the area of natural language processing to assist in the automatic analysis of such data. This chapter presents the novel application of a hybrid approach to the detection of spelling errors in learner data. The Variant Detector (VARD) software was developed to match historical spelling variants to modern equivalents with the intention of improving the accuracy and robustness of corpus linguistics techniques when applied to historical corpora. Here, we describe its application to detect spelling errors in written learner corpora consisting of 50,000 words from each of three learner backgrounds (French, German and Spanish).


This study examines the efficacy of self-rated health as a determinant of 6-year survival among the 1209 African-American respondents in the Longitudinal Study on Aging (LSOA). The association between self-rated health and mortality risk has been established previously; however, this relationship has not been directly tested in a nonwhite sample. Findings indicate that self-rated health is a predictor of mortality that is independent of several control variables (income, sex, age, education, and marital status) and two objective health status indicators (bed days and doctor visits). However, it is not independent of limitations with activities of daily living. When all three objective health measures were included in a single model, self-rated health was not an independent predictor of mortality. However, when the full model was specified on sex-specific subsamples, the analysis found that self-rated health was an independent predictor of mortality for women, but not for men.


Abstract Cumulative exposure to stress over a long period can negatively impact an individual's health. Significant advancements in biomarkers of chronic stress have been made, with the use of fingernails recently explored. Cross sectional data from the Australian Aboriginal Birth Cohort (Indigenous) and Top End Cohort (non-Indigenous) were used to investigate the associations (sociodemographic and emotional) of fingernail cortisol in Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults. Details on sociodemographic (age, gender, and Indigenous identification), smoking and alcohol use, emotional wellbeing, and emotional stress (perceived stress and stressful events), and fingernail samples were obtained face-to-face. Fingernail samples were analyzed for 179 Indigenous and 66 non-Indigenous participants (21–28 years). Indigenous participants were subjected to higher rates of stressful events compared to non-Indigenous (Median 6.0; interquartile range (IQR) 4, 9 vs. 1.0; IQR 0, 2; p < .001). Median cortisol levels were similar between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants (4.36 pg/mg; IQR 2.2, 10.0 vs. 3.87 pg/mg: IQR 2.0, 9.7; p = .68). However, Indigenous participants had a higher cortisol level on adjustment for emotional distress and exposure to stressful events (Geometric Mean 1.82; 95CI: 1.07–3.09), with a negative association with increasing number of stressful events (Geometric Mean 0.94; 95CI 0.90, 0.99). Collection of fingernails was an easily conducted, well-tolerated method to measure stress markers in this multicultural cohort. Indigenous young adults experienced a high number of stressful events which was associated with a lowering of fingernail cortisol levels. Lay abstract Chronic stress can impact negatively on health and emotional wellbeing. A fingernail sample provided a culturally acceptable, noninvasive method of measuring chronic stress in Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults. Cortisol levels, a marker of chronic stress, were different between Indigenous and non-Indigenous young adults and were influenced by emotional status and occurrence of multiple stressful events.


For decades, America's state and local governments have promised their workers increasingly generous pensions but failed to fully fund them, producing a fiscal problem of staggering proportions. In this paper, we examine the politics of public pensions. While it might seem obvious that the pension problem is due to Democrats and unions pushing for generous pensions over Republican resistance, we develop a theory—rooted in voters, interest groups, and myopic politicians—to argue that, during normal times, we should expect both parties to support generous (and underfunded) pensions, and thus to be responsible for the larger problem. It is only after the onset of the Great Recession, which disrupted normalcy by expanding the scope of conflict, that we should expect partisan conflict. Using a new dataset of state legislators' votes on hundreds of pension bills passed between 1999 and 2011, we carry out an empirical analysis that supports these expectations.


In the Large Helical Device (LHD), the highest operational averaged beta value has been expanded from 3.2% to 4% in the last 2 years by increasing the heating capability and exploring a new magnetic configuration with a high aspect ratio. Although the magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) stability properties are considered to be unfavourable in the new high aspect configuration, the heating efficiency due to neutral beams and the transport properties are expected to be favourable in a high-beta range. In order to clarify the effect of the global ideal MHD unstable mode on the operational regimes in helical systems, especially the beta gradients in the peripheral region and the beta value, the MHD analysis and the transport analysis are performed in a high-beta range of up to 4% in LHD. In a high-beta range of more than 3%, the maxima of the observed thermal pressure gradients at a low order rational magnetic surface in the peripheral region are marginally unstable to the low-mode-number ideal MHD instability. Though a gradual degradation of the local transport in the region has been observed as beta increases, a disruptive degradation of the local transport does not appear in the beta range up to 4%.


The war in Syria has displaced millions, leading to many Syrians seeking refuge in countries like Jordan, where they access humanitarian assistance, including interventions designed to promote 'gender equality and women's empowerment'. Many international humanitarian agencies assert that Syrian refugees experience gendered changes during displacement. This includes increased early marriage and gender-based violence, transformed gender roles as women shoulder economic responsibilities, and altered mobility for women and girls. In these narratives, conclusions are often made about the role of forced migration in disrupting gender norms. Based on ethnographic research with Syrian women and men in Jordan, and interviews with humanitarian workers who work on gender issues, this thesis seeks to unravel dominant humanitarian narratives about gender norms and 'change'. It contributes knowledge to the study of gender norms and power, focusing on (im)mobility, family relationships and resistance to gender norms. These contributions are situated within three periods: before displacement, during the conflict in Syria and during displacement in Jordan. The findings challenge assumptions about gendered (im)mobility and vulnerability, offer insights on how older women exercise power over younger women, and contribute to thinking on how Syrian women and men resist prevailing gender norms in sometimes unexpected ways. These findings suggest that the humanitarian agency fixation on 'changes' in gender norms during displacement hides complexity and can overstate the role of displacement as an intervening force. It builds on existing literature on gender and forced migration, highlighting the complexities in finding a singular narrative around 'change' and pointing to the importance of understanding intersecting power hierarchies both in the lives and experiences of Syrians, and in the humanitarian structures that serve displaced populations.


Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) has attracted a lot of attention from the research community in recent years. Much work have been done regarding network architectures and algorithms for routing and forwarding in such networks. At the same time as many show enthusiasm for this exciting new research area there are also many sceptics, who question the usefulness of research in this area. In the past, we have seen other research areas become over-hyped and later die out as there was no killer app for them that made them useful in real scenarios. Real deployments of DTN systems have so far mostly been limited to a few niche scenarios, where they have been done as proof-of-concept field tests in research pro jects. In this paper, we embark upon a quest to find out what characterizes a potential killer applications for DTNs. Are there applications and situations where DTNs provide services that could not be achieved otherwise, or have potential to do it in a better way than other techniques? Further, we highlight some of the main challenges that needs to be solved to realize these applications and make DTNs a part of the mainstream network landscape.


The objective of this study was to elucidate the mechanism(s) responsible for increases in the concentrations of basic drugs in cardiac blood of bodies in a supine position during early-stages postmortem. The concentrations of basic drugs in cardiac blood and other fluids and tissues of three individuals who had used one or more basic drugs were examined. The results were compared with those obtained in experiments using rabbits. In the first case, autopsy of whom was performed approximately 12 h after death, methamphetamine was detected and its concentrations were in the order: lung >> pulmonary venous blood > blood in the left cardiac chambers (left cardiac blood) >> pulmonary arterial blood > blood in the right cardiac chambers (right cardiac blood). In the second case, autopsy of whom was performed approximately 9 h after death, methamphetamine and morphine were detected and their concentrations in the left cardiac blood were roughly twice those in the right cardiac blood. The methamphetamine and morphine concentrations in the lung were 2 to 4 times higher than those in cardiac blood samples. In the third case, autopsy of whom was performed approximately 2.5 days after death, the pulmonary veins and arteries were filled with chicken fat clots. Toxicological examination revealed the presence of four basic drugs: methamphetamine, amitriptyline, nortriptyline and promethazine. Their concentrations in the lung were 5 to 300 times higher than those in cardiac blood, but postmortem increases in the concentrations of these drugs in the cardiac blood were not observed. In the animal experiments, rabbits were given 5 mg/kg methamphetamine intravenously or 20 mg/kg amitriptyline subcutaneously and sacrificed 20 min or 1 h later, respectively. The carcasses were left in a supine position at the ambient temperature for 6 h after or without ligation of the large vessels around the heart. For the groups with ligated vessels, the mean ratios of the drug concentrations in both left and right cardiac blood samples 6 to 0 h postmortem were about 1, whereas in those without ligated vessels, these ratios were about 2 and 1, respectively. The order of the methamphetamine and amitriptyline concentrations in blood and tissue samples were roughly: lungs > myocardium and pulmonary venous blood > cardiac blood, inferior vena caval blood and liver. Our results demonstrate that when bodies are in a supine position, (1) basic drugs in the lungs diffuse rapidly postmortem into the left cardiac chambers via the pulmonary venous blood rather than simply diffusing across concentration gradients, and (2) basic drugs in the myocardium contribute little to the increases in their concentrations in cardiac blood during the early postmortem period.


[1] This paper employs a circularity function to quantify the internal morphology of Martian watershed basins in Margaritifer Sinus region and to infer the primary erosional processes that led to their current geomorphologic characteristics and possible climatic conditions under which these processes operated. The circularity function describes the elongation of a watershed basin at different elevations. We have used the circularity functions of terrestrial basins that were interpreted as having been modified by (1) erosion related to primarily groundwater sapping and (2) erosion related to primarily rainfall and surface run-off, as well as the circularity functions of cratering basins on the Moon, in order to formulate discriminant functions that are able to separate the three types of landforms. The spatial pattern of the classification of Martian basins based on discriminant functions shows that basins that look morphologically similar to terrestrial fluvial basins are mostly clustered near the mainstream at low elevation, while those that look morphologically similar to terrestrial basins interpreted as groundwater sapping origin are located near the tributaries and at higher elevation. There are more of the latter than the former. This spatial distribution is inconsistent with a continuous Earth-like warm and wet climate for early Mars. Instead, it is more aligned with an overall early dry climate punctuated with episodic wet periods. Alternatively, the concentrated erosion in the mainstream could also be caused by a change of water source from rainfall to snowfall or erosion cut through a duricrust layer.


This paper presents the argument that navigational ease has a greater impact on building usability compared to other factors, hence it subsumes other usability considerations. Patterns of human behaviour inside buildings can be held to consist of two types, static occupancy and dynamic movement and need to be readily accessible to both regular users as well as infrequent/first time visitors. Furthermore it is the circulation system of a building that facilitates a high proportion of informal, unprogrammed social interactions that contribute to the social life of a building.This paper will highlight a number of design moves/considerations that appear to either aid or conversely hinder navigability through a series of case studies. The case studies described in this paper primarily include the Heinrich-Luebke-Haus in Guenne (a 1960/70s conference centre in NW Germany), the Kollegiengebaeude I (a picturesque, Jugendstil campus building of the University of Freiburg unsuccessfully fused to an adjacent 1970s addition, located in SW Germany) and The Seattle Public Library (by OMA with LMN Architects, 2004, located in Seattle USA). Through these case studies, the authors will illustrate how certain design guidelines (for example, the use of straighter, more direct routes (Conroy Dalton 2003); unimpeded lines of sight connecting key building spaces (such as entrances, atria, stairs, lifts and escalators) (Gaerling et al, 1986); the avoidance of abrupt changes of direction in corridors; ensuring that differences in floor layout between floors are not significant (Hoelscher et al, 2009); the avoidance of excessive spatial complexity and locations bearing a strong visual similarity to other locations (Weisman, 1981)) can have a strong effect upon navigability. Evidence for these guidelines is demonstrated through studies conducted in the above-mentioned buildings.The methods employed by the authors in these case studies include visual and spatial analysis (space syntax analysis (Hillier 1996)), the use of experimental methods (wayfinding tasks, think aloud protocols, pointing tasks, eye-tracking (mobile and on-screen), memory recall tasks and direct observation), social science methods (self-reporting questionnaires, interviews), simulation methods (virtual reality simulations of both actual buildings and alternative design-solutions of existing buildings and agent-navigation simulations), problem analysis and redesign tasks (architect's redesign tasks/interviews), a focus on signage (sign and signage-placement analysis and signage re-design alternatives) and standard psychological spatial ability tests (for example mental rotation tests).The evidence from this considerable corpus of work presents a compelling case for the importance of ease of navigation for a building user. It is finally argued that whilst other aspects of a building's usability may be tolerated, a dysfunctional circulation system rapidly leads to widespread user frustration.


Introduction: In 2014, Brazil has joined the growing list of countries to ban cosmetic products from being tested on animal models. The new legislation comes into force in 2019. As a result, the interest for validated alternative testing methods for safety assessment has been increasing in academia, industry and associations. However, the lack of specific legislation on the use of biological material of human origin for toxicological tests makes the access to alternative in vitro models difficult. Furthermore, importation to Brazil is not possible on timely manner. Method: In this article, we report the implementation process of a Reconstructed Human Epidermis (SkinEthic™ RHE), an alternative model internationally accepted by OECD, through a technology transfer from EPISKIN® Lyon to Brazil. Regulatory evolution has been motivating the implementation and wide use of alternative methods to animal testing in several industry segments including cosmetic and pharmaceutical. Results: Protocol has been shown to be robust and highly reproducible. Quality control parameters (histological analysis, barrier function test and tissue viability) were performed on 24 batches assembled in Brazil. SkinEthic™ RHE model use allows the full replacement of animal test methods for skin hazards identification. It has regulatory acceptance for several toxicological endpoints, such as the Draize test for skin irritation and corrosion. It allows the reduction and refining of pre-clinical protocols through tiered strategies. Implementation of SkinEthic™ RHE protocol is just a first and important step towards a new approach of toxicological safety testing in Brazil. Conclusion: The implementation was successfully done and reported here. However, in order to follow completely the new legislation up to 2019, the availability of validated models is essential. Quality control tests done on RHE batches produced in Brazil demonstrate that the model met OECD acceptance criteria and therefore can be used for reliable prediction of irritation and corrosion classification.


Assessment has become one of the key issues in primary education over the past 10 years. This edited volume of essays brings together perspectives from all the significant participants involved in assessment in the primary school: teachers, headteachers, LEA advisors, inspectors, pupils, academics and researchers. The contributions illustrate effective assessment, and examine how it is, and can be, achieved. It will be of interest to school assessment co-ordinators, deputies and heads following NPQH courses, and lecturers on IE courses.


ABSTRACT The West Side Boys were one of several military actors in the Sierra Leonean civil war (1991–2002). A splinter group of the army, the WSB emerged as a key player in 1999–2000. In most Western media accounts, the WSB appeared as nothing more than renegade, anarchistic bandits, devoid of any trace of long-term goals. By contrast, this article aims to explain how the WSB used well-devised military techniques in the field; how their history and military training within the Sierra Leone army shaped their notion of themselves and their view of what they were trying to accomplish; and, finally, how military commanders and politicians employed the WSB as a tactical instrument in a larger map of military and political strategies. It is in the politics of a military economy that this article is grounded.


We report the production parameters of single-stage, ecologically fabricated, flexible Carbon-Nano-Spheres (CNS) supercells. These supercells can deliver a total energy, ED, of 100.0 W h kg−1 and power density, PD, of 50.0 W kg−firstname.lastname@example.com V and 20 mA for a payload of 15 g (5.0 × 2.5 cm2). According to the material analysis, CNS consists of a spherically (40.0 to 50.0 nm) coagulated, interconnected, 3D network of hetero-structured sp2/sp3 carbon with a low crystalline length, La, of ∼3.0 nm and containing a native O-moiety (12.0 at%). They have an appreciably high specific surface area, SA, of ∼790.0 m2 g−1 and an average pore size of ∼3.42 nm combined with multi-channel pore size distribution. Upon integration in electrodes, CNS provided excellent electrochemical performance without any material modification. CNS showed a nearly rectangular cyclic voltammetry (CV) response in 1 M HCl for both two- and three-electrode systems, yielding superior specific capacitances, CSP, of ∼1080.0 and 570.0 F g−1, respectively (@10 mV s−1). They maintained a high cyclic stability of ∼86.0% (@20 000 cycles), with no material degradation according to post-investigations at a molecular level. The electrode showed hybrid battery/electric double layer capacitor (EDLC) behavior, as revealed by Ragone studies. In Nyquist studies, a shift in the Knee frequency with cycling indicated mitigation of the charge transfer process. In Bode studies, the ionic phase shift decreased insignificantly from ∼80 ° to ∼77 ° after 1000 cycles. The performance characteristics of CNS from laboratory scale measurements to supercell-level device development are discussed.


The PEPA Queues formalism augments queueing networks with customers that have behavioural characteristics defined in the popular stochastic process algebra, PEPA. Networks of PEPA Queues suffer from the traditional state space explosion that affects both closed queueing networks and PEPA models. We present a technique that converts a discrete extension of PEPA Queues into a continuous state space approximation. We show how Continuous PEPA Queues can be analysed using ordinary differential equations, the solution of which provides a time-series plot of the number of components in a particular state in a particular buffer.


This thesis considers the methodologies and organisational impacts of Environmental Reviews and Environmental Management Systems in Local Authorities, Universities and Conservation organisations. It assesses the practical impacts of these tools, identifies elements of good practice and discusses the organisational and political factors which affect the success of environmental management activity in these organisations.
Chapter 1 describes the growth of global, European and national policy initiatives aimed at minimising environmental degradation and delivering sustainable development and the subsequent development of environmental strategies and environmental management tools in organisations.
Chapter 2 discusses environmental management activity in Local Government in the context of Local Agenda 21, using the results of a survey of environmental management techniques in local authorities and a case study of Lancashire County Council. These findings are discussed in the context of changes to local government organisation in the UK and in relation to local government management theory.
Chapter 3 considers environmental management activity in Universities in the context of institutional performance using the results of a survey of approaches to environmental management in Universities and a case study of environmental management in the University of Central Lancashire. These findings are then considered in relation to changes in the orgamsation of the Higher Education Sector in the UK and in the context of university management theory.
Chapter 4 considers the use of environmental management techniques in the Conservation sector in the context of Local Agenda 21, using a survey of conservation organisations and a case study of The National Trust's environmental management strategy. These findings are then discussed with regard to changes occurring in the management and funding of NGOs and quangos in the UK.
Based upon the research findings, a number of recommendations are made for successful organisational environmental management strategies and the long term application of these techniques within each of these sectors. These findings are then drawn together in Chapter 5 to identify common methodological, organisational and political factors which affect the success of organisational environmental management strategies and to discuss their potential contribution to sustainable development. An alternative approach to TQM based environmental management is offered for organisations, based upon the elements of good practice identified in the non-profit sector, which include conscensus building, wide participation, and democratic decision making. Within the organisation, this approach closely resembles the Local Agenda 21 process used by local government to consult and empower local communities in sustainable development.


Worldwide, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer death among women. The concentrations of bio-metals are crucial for the homeostasis of human health and are being shown to have significantly different concentrations when comparing human cancer tissue and normal tissue. This is the first study that correlates the findings of the differences in the levels of certain elements between individual tumours, to the clinical prognostic factors such as oestrogen receptor (ER) status, lymph node status, tumour size, grade, menopause status, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status, epidermal growth factor receptor status, relapsed status and survival status. Micro probe synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence techniques have been used to determine the localization and the relative concentrations of Zn, Cu, Fe and Ca in 128 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC) samples and normal surrounding breast tissue. The statistical analysis reveals a significant increase in the levels of Ca, Fe, Cu and Zn concentrations by 85%, 20%, 23% and 117%, respectively, in IDC tissue when compared to the normal breast tissue. Our study shows that increased relative expressions of Zn, Fe and Ca are all associated with ER positive breast cancers and also indicates that the imbalance in iron concentration (deficiency) should be viewed as an important risk factor that is associated with aggressive features of the cancer. Characterisation of the difference of bio-metals in tumour to normal regions will help in selecting treatment for breast cancer with novel agents that chelate iron or zinc. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This dissertation is a survey-based comparative study into the social well-being of persons in same-sex and mixed-sex relationships. I conducted four empirical studies: two country comparisons within Europe and two within the Netherlands. My findings show that there is a gap in well-being among sexual minorities relative to heterosexuals, not only in the well-documented pathological sense but also in a social sense. In some cases, I established a direct link with the attitudes held in society and the presence of laws that are supportive of sexual minorities. In other cases, persisting structural differences between persons in same-sex and mixed-sex relationships emerged that need further investigation. The use of survey data to study sexual minorities and heterosexuals jointly is notoriously challenging. A substantial part of the dissertation is therefore dedicated to the evaluation of potential threats to data quality, possible solutions and recommendations for best practices.


In 1924 one of us (C. D.), with the late Professor A. E. Boycott, F. R. S., collected random samples from populations of the polymorphic land snail Cepaea nemoralis L. on sand-dunes at Bundoran, County Donegal, Eire. In 1961, the other two revisited the area and sampled, as nearly as possible, the same localities. A total of 23857 live snails were collected and scored for various inherited shell characters. The data are considered from three points of view. First we have examined the distribution of morphs within individual samples, hoping to detect associations indicating linkage or selection. Secondly, we have studied the differences between contemporary samples and attempted to relate them to environmental factors. Thirdly, we have compared the two series (1924 and 1961) in order to detect any evolutionary changes that might have occurred. (1) Associations within samples In both series there are consistent linkage disequilibria involving the loci for shell-colour, for banded v. unbanded shell, for hyalozonate v. fully pigmented bands, and for white v. black lip. It is likely that these disequilibria are maintained by selection. There is also a suggestion of disequilibrium between the shell-colour locus and the loci determining the extent of band-fusions. We find no significant differences between adults and young in the proportions of any of the morphs. (2) Variation between samples Most of the characters show morph-ratio dines on an east/west axis. This pattern may be related to the fact that the western part of the area is predominantly mobile or semi-mobile dune, whereas the eastern part is generally more stable. The overall proportions of yellow and 9effectively unbanded' shells very roughly correspond to those found by Cain & Sheppard (1954) hedgerows and rough herbage. They occupy the range of frequencies expected according to the hypothesis of visual selection by predators. Nevertheless, their precise distributions within the area are not evidently related to local changes of background, nor are the distribution of unbandeds ( sensu stricto ), hyalozonates, whites, white lips or fusions. There may possibly be come correspondence in the case of browns, 00300 and 00345, and it is conceivable that the local distribution of pinks is the result of visual selection by rabbits. A final interpretation must await further detailed studies of other sand-dune populations. (3) Comparison of the two series A comparison of the series collected in 1924 with that collected in 1961 provides no evidence of consistent evolutionary change. There may have been small local changes, which in our data would be indistinguishable from differences due to errors in relocating the sampling areas; but in general the populations seem to have remained stable. There have certainly been no changes comparable to those observed at Berrow, Somerset (Clarke & Murray 1962 a ). This apparent constancy may be related to the fact that the habitat at Bundoran has not greatly altered since 1924. At Berrow, on the other hand, the dunes have gradually become more stable, and larger parts of them have become overgrown with Hippophae . In each case the evolutionary situation seems to reflect the history of the habitat. It will clearly be of great interest to follow future developments at both localities.


This paper describes algorithms for correlating images of arbitrary three-dimensional scenes by clusterizing correlated key points, using the Hough transform. The method is based on the well-known method of detecting objects, but an alternative approach is proposed for verifying clusters of correlated key points. Experimental results are given for different types of key points, confirming that the proposed method has a significant advantage over the use of the fundamental matrix.


The United States imports more than 1 billion live plants annually—an important and growing pathway for introduction of damaging nonnative invertebrates and pathogens. Inspection of imports is one safeguard for reducing pest introductions, but capacity constraints limit inspection effort. We develop an optimal sampling strategy to minimize the costs of pest introductions from trade by posing inspection as an acceptance sampling problem that incorporates key features of the decision context, including (i) simultaneous inspection of many heterogeneous lots, (ii) a lot‐specific sampling effort, (iii) a budget constraint that limits total inspection effort, (iv) inspection error, and (v) an objective of minimizing cost from accepted defective units. We derive a formula for expected number of accepted infested units (expected slippage) given lot size, sample size, infestation rate, and detection rate, and we formulate and analyze the inspector's optimization problem of allocating a sampling budget among incoming lots to minimize the cost of slippage. We conduct an empirical analysis of live plant inspection, including estimation of plant infestation rates from historical data, and find that inspections optimally target the largest lots with the highest plant infestation rates, leaving some lots unsampled. We also consider that USDA‐APHIS, which administers inspections, may want to continue inspecting all lots at a baseline level; we find that allocating any additional capacity, beyond a comprehensive baseline inspection, to the largest lots with the highest infestation rates allows inspectors to meet the dual goals of minimizing the costs of slippage and maintaining baseline sampling without substantial compromise.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#am


Based on the presented results, the epigenetic phenomenon (paramutation) found in the short antennae (sa) mutation of the flour moth (Ephestia kuehniella) is probably determined by a small RNA (maybe piRNA) and transmitted in this way to subsequent generations through the male and female gametes. It is triggered by a change in the ambient environment; it persists for many generations (20 so far); during the epigenetic effect the original wild type appeared again. The epigenetic effect of the flour moth is induced by changes in ontogenetic development, such as increased temperature on pupae development, little nutritious food, different salts in food of certain chemicals into eggs. We found this mechanism may explain the intermittent clearance of this effect at some individuals and/or progeny of a pair in the generation chain in which the effect transfers. As the nature of the observed phenomenon could related to sirtuin genes, we hypothesize an association of these genes and non-coding small Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). The key is that the survival of RNA over many generations carries a number of practical implications. It is evident that the reaction to environmental change can manifest through RNA. It follows that there may be evolutionary significance in the long-term transmission of traits to future generations.


We developed a semi-analytical and semi-classical theory for nonlinear scattering of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) signal from a cylindrical microparticle by paraxial focused laser beams. We study the effects of radius and length of the microparticle, as well as the orientation on the angular distributions of the CARS signal. The waist of the laser beam is found to have a significant effect on the angular distribution. The combination of Gaussian laser beams and cylindrical geometry yields analytical expressions for the orientation factor and the CARS electric field, which permit convenient and efficient computation of the scattering signal versus various physical parameters.


The Mazraeh Cu–Fe skarn deposit, located in the Ahar region of northwestern Iran, is currently being mined and contains reserves of about 400,000 tons grading 1.2 wt% Cu. The deposit contains both exoskarn formed within the calcareous wall rock and endoskarn formed within the associated granodiorite. Mineralogically, there are three types of skarn at Mazraeh: (1) pyroxene exoskarn; (2) garnet endoskarn and exoskarn; and (3) secondary epidote skarn. Locally, gradational alteration of the Mazraeh granodiorite to garnet endoskarn is present over a width of one metre. Mass-balance calculations show that garnetization of the Mazraeh granodiorite was the result of interaction with a hydrothermal solution enriched in Si, Fe 2+ , Fe 3+ , Mn, Ca, Mg, P, Ag, Cu, Zn, La, Pb, Cd, Mo, and Y. These elements are thought to have originated from the magma. The calcareous wall rocks (limestone and marble) were the main source of Ca and Mg within the endoskarn. This hydrothermal alteration resulted in an average 157% volume gain in the affected wall rocks. The dilatent structures and open spaces were filled by paragenetically younger minerals, especially magnetite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite, chalcocite, epidote, calcite and quartz, during the late stage of alteration. During the endoskarnification process, primary biotite, hornblende and titanite in the Mazraeh granodiorite have been replaced by chlorite and rutile, and plagioclase and K-feldspar have been replaced by garnet. These reactions have leached (removed) K, Na, Ba, Rb and possibly Sr and added Si, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, P, Ag, Cu, Zn, La, Pb, Cd, Mo, W and Y. Orthogonal jointing in the Mazraeh pluton played a significant role in the channelling and migration of the hydrothermal solutions in the pluton and development of the endoskarn. Although most of the copper and iron were precipitated in the exoskarn due to reaction between hydrothermal solutions and marble and limestone, locally significant skarn mineralization is also developed in the pluton. Although significant sulphide mineralization was not precipitated during garnet endoskarn formation, porosity and permeability created by this process served as the sites of sulphide mineral precipitation during late stages of skarn formation. Thus, the exploration for, and delineation of garnet endoskarn may result in the discovery of ore. Field guides for the exploration of garnet endoskarn include: (1) its high physical relief due to abundant garnet which is highly resistant to surface weathering processes; (2) predominance of red-brown andraditic garnet species over grossular-rich ones; and (3) local development of secondary malachite and azurite after primary Cu and Fe sulphides.


Upon reinstitution of the Lithuanian state in the beginning of the twentieth century, some people reflected back to the times where Lithuanian law had European significance. However, it was concluded that the latter would not satisfy the needs of a modern state. The change in times made the continuation of the legal tradition impossible. Yet it was also impossible to put faith into fast creation of the essentially new Lithuanian legal system. Therefore, it was decided to accept a foreign system that was in place before the First World War – that of the Russian Empire. The law of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy (LGD) had an impact on the Russian law during the course of history. The most important channel was the reception of the Lithuanian Statute into the Sobor Code of 1679, which later resulted in the codex of the Russian Empire. The latter was also supplemented by the norms from the Lithuanian Statute relating to some exceptions in various regions covered. Some norms were imported purely for the purpose of renewal of the Russian legislation. The reception of the Russian law in the independent Lithuanian state meant that together with it Lithuania had accepted historical norms from the Lithuanian Statute. In that manner, the modern Lithuanian law was related to the historical law of the LGD.


Bacjground: Subclinical hypothyroidism is related to poor outcome of pregnancy, which is reported in more recent researches. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between pre-conception of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level and pregnancy outcomes in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Method: This retrospective cohort study was done on 115 IVF candidate patients undergoing long protocol of ovulation induction that became pregnant from 2007 to 2012. Pregnancy outcomes, including abortion rate, termination age of pregnancy and birth weight in women with low pre- conception TSH (≤2.5 mIU/L) and high pre-conception TSH (>2.5 mIU/L) were compared with each other. Results: Among 115 pregnancies, 30.2% of the women had pre-conception TSH >2.5 mIU/L. Preterm delivery ( 2.5 than them with a pre-conception TSH ≤2.5 (P= 0.044). There was no statistically significant difference in abortion, pregnancy termination, and birth weight between two groups. A pre-conception thyroid-stimulating hormone level >2.5 mIU/L is associated with a lower gestational age at delivery and low birth weight in women undergoing in vitro fertilization. Conclusion: The results of this research indicated that a pre-conception thyroid-stimulating hormone level >2.5 associated with preterm labor in women undergoing IVF therefore it is Suggested that screening for hypothyroidism before IVF could be have significant public health implications.


In popular music history, the first years of the 1960s have traditionally been described as 'in-between years', dominated by soft and commercial teen music. This article argues that the years between the golden age of rock 'n' roll and the arrival of The Beatles were very important, at least outside the Anglo-American sphere. During those years English became the language of not only popular music, but of youth music. Using a collection of letters written by Danish teenagers from 1962 to 1965, it is demonstrated how this process took place in practice. The letters, all sent to a Danish weekly magazine, were especially addressing musical topics. They generally reflect a major public debate on popular music taking place in Denmark during those years, and therefore reflect pro/contra positions concerning the rather new Danish term, pop. As is shown, this neologism was interpreted in various ways, but its young protagonists especially associated it with songs in English. Conversely, many associated Danish language songs with old fashioned styles and practices. In particular, the practice of translating songs into Danish was targeted by both aesthetic and moral arguments, an illustration how English had became the sound of pop and, by extension, of youth. These positions and attitudes towards style and language found in the letters reflected the general assumption in Danish media that young people preferred Anglophone popular music. The letters are concrete examples of negotiations of genre and culture at the time when the mediascape changed radically both in Denmark and internationally. By 1964 the linkage between English and youth was well established and the success of the British Invasion well prepared for through the preceding years of pop.


During the last decade (2005–2015), artists from all over the world have taken on climate change as the subject matter of their work. Encouraged by activists (most notably Bill McKibben), artists have appropriated climate change as a social problem and decided that they too, alongside journalists, scientists, and activists, were called upon to engage with this issue. Dozens of noteworthy exhibitions, most notably in Boulder (2007), London and Copenhagen (2009), Paris (2012), New York (2013), Boston (2014), and Melbourne (2015), have placed climate change art on the map as a new and timely genre, displaying relevant artworks both alongside climate negotiations and in dedicated gallery spaces such as the Barbican in London. I argue that much progress has been made in appropriating climate change art as an essentially artistic, rather than propagandistic or activist practice. Although caught in the net of many criticisms, climate change art plays a crucial role in allowing the public to rethink the role of human beings' everyday activities in irrevocably altering the climate system. In effect, climate change art makes the Anthropocene a cultural reality. However, the review points out a strong artistic trend toward the imagery of apocalyptic sublime, which results in art that may be poignant, but falls out of step with the self‐professed motivations of artists and curators alike. WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:501–516. doi: 10.1002/wcc.400


Treatment of nodular prurigo with benoxaprofen SIR, A 60-year-old female patient whom we were treating for nodular prurigo suddenly improved when her family practitioner gave her benoxaprofen (Opren*, Dista) for osteoarthritis. We therefore treated a 55-year-old man who had nodular prurigo affecting both legs for 7 years with benoxaprofen 600 mg daily as sole therapy for 2 months. Treatment was then discontinued and the lesions are now flat and healing with atrophy and scarring. Figure i a shows the typical histology ofa pre-treatment


&NA; This case report presents specific steps taken to address potential patient safety problems, particularly those regarding collaboration between nurses and house staff at The George Washington University Hospital. Issues affecting patient care (e.g., lack of communication and teamwork) were identified through interviews, focus groups, and observations. The actions taken were team‐building meetings that included a sensitivity session; coaching with nursing managers; and ground rules for nurse and physician collaboration. This report also describes the agenda for the team‐building meetings, results, and lessons learned for implementation at other sites.


High utilization of hydrogen is desired in operation of PEM fuel cells. Typically, additional devices for hydrogen recovery at the anode exit are necessary. Alternatively, dead-ended anode (DEA) operation may be considered, however this mode causes severe voltage transients and loss of catalyst support in hydrogen-depleted regions of the active area. Here. ultra-low stoichiometric (ULS) flow conditions that deliver very high hydrogen utilization is considered, however uniform flow distribution is necessary in this case. In order to obtain the flow distribution in the channels and in the inlet and exhaust headers in the anode, a three-dimensional CFD model is developed based on the finite-element method to solve Stokes equations subject to no-slip boundary conditions on the walls, specified pressure at the inlet and specified flow rate at the exit, which is set to a very low value comparable to the typical rate of nitrogen accumulation in the anode side in order to simulate the ULS flow. Uniformity of the flow distribution between the channels is quantified by means of two performance metrics: (i) the root-mean-square (rms) of the channel average velocities; (ii) the ratio of maximum and minimum values of the channel averages. Effects of geometric parameters, such as the widths of the channels and ribs and the position and lengths of the baffles in the inlet and exhaust headers are studied. The final design has less than 5% rms, and less than 1.2 for maximum to minimum average channel velocity ratio.


Trusted computing has been proposed as a way to enhance computer security and privacy significantly by including them in the design of computing platforms instead of adding them on top of an inherently insecure foundation; however, the project has attracted much criticism. This dissertation looks at trusted computing from the user perspective. Possible beneficial uses of the technology are brought up, and some of the raised criticism is discussed. The criticism is analyzed in an attempt to find out if the criticism is correct on all points, or if some of it is the result of misinformation or misunderstanding. The conclusion is that not all the arguments against trusted computing are correct, and that the possible implications for users are taken into account in the development process. The dissertation ends on a positive note, concluding that trusted computing is possible without the worst fears of the critics coming true.


DISCLAIMER The Santa Barbara County Surveyor makes no representations, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information, maps, or data contained herein. This spatial index is for informational purposes and its geometry data has not been prepared for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. This spatial index is provided with the understanding that it is not guaranteed to be correct or complete and conclusions drawn from such information are the responsibility of the user. The Santa Barbara County records, drawings, and other documents indexed have been gathered over many decades, using differing standards for quality control, documentation, and verification. All of the data provided represents current information in a readily available format. This spatial index is for reference only. Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, errors and conditions originating from physical sources used to develop the database may be reflected in this spatial index. Santa Barbara County shall not be liable for any errors, omissions, or damages that result from inappropriate use of this spatial index. No level of accuracy is claimed for the spatial index lines shown hereon and lines should not be used to obtain coordinate values, bearings or distances. Notification of any errors is appreciated. If misleading, inaccurate or otherwise inappropriate information is brought to our attention, a reasonable effort will be made to fix or remove it. Such concerns should be addressed to the Public Works GIS Analyst Tenell Matlovsky. Enter the Spetial Districts Lookup Sytem


In December 2010, the Family Planning Association, the Northern Ireland Women's European Platform and Alliance for Choice made a joint request to the monitoring committee of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to conduct an inquiry into access to abortion in Northern Ireland under the Convention's Optional Protocol. The request was motivated by several factors, namely, repeated concerns expressed by the CEDAW Committee to the UK about potential non-compliance due to the restrictive and unclear lawful access to abortion in Northern Ireland; evidence of systematic violation of rights guaranteed under CEDAW in the jurisdiction; as well as continuing delay by the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in publishing court-ordered guidance to women and clinicians in Northern Ireland on the availability and provision of termination of pregnancy services. The full submission of evidence supporting the request for the inquiry is over 100 pages in length and the bulk of the document is dedicated to describing and evidencing the systematic violation of CEDAW articles 2 (prohibition of discrimination), 5 (discriminatory social and cultural patterns), 10 (education), 12 (health), 14 (rural women) and 16 (family life), which prevail more broadly in the jurisdiction due to the restrictive social, cultural and legal context of access to abortion. The full submission documents:• The direct violation of CEDAW article 2, due to the existence of criminal sanctions for medical procedures required only by women.• The continuing article 5 violation caused by the UK government's deference to discriminatory social and cultural attitudes surrounding abortion in Northern Ireland, as well as the associated problems of the cost and emotional burden of travelling to another jurisdiction to procure an abortion.• Article 10 concerns refer to the level of school discretion permitted in Relationships and Sexuality Education uniquely in Northern Ireland and not in the rest of the UK. • Non-compliance with article 12's guarantee of non-discrimination in healthcare is detailed at some length, most notably, in terms of poor provision of abortion aftercare. • Extensive discussion is also given to procedural requirements of article 12 and the failure of the state to ensure that appropriate judicial, administrative and legislative measures were available to women entitled to a lawful abortion within the jurisdiction.• The particular toll on rural women of the restrictive access to abortion is detailed, especially because of the additional difficulties of guaranteeing patient confidentiality for women seeking medical advice in rural areas on their entitlement to an abortion.• The uneven physical and mental health consequences of the restrictive abortion regime, that are borne by women but not men, are detailed in order to demonstrate discrimination in marriage and family relations. Four years after the request for an inquiry, much remains unchanged: the court-ordered guidance has not yet been issued; the rights violations documented in the request for an inquiry continue; and the CEDAW Committee continues to express concern about the UK's CEDAW non-compliance due to restrictive and unclear access to abortion in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, important developments are taking place on the ground in Northern Ireland, with genuine prospect for catalyzing legal and social change in the jurisdiction. The Northern Ireland Department of Justice has initiated consultation on amending the law to permit abortion in cases fatal feotal abnormality and to seek views on doing so in cases of sexual crime; the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has issued legal proceedings in the High Court against the Department of Justice, seeking a change in the law so that women and girls in Northern Ireland have the choice of accessing a termination of pregnancy in circumstances of serious malformation of the foetus, rape or incest; meanwhile, the Amnesty International Belfast Office has launched its 'My Body, My Rights' campaign to work with pro-choice organisations for liberalization of access to abortion in the jurisdiction. Our reason for disseminating the submission of evidence now, four years after the initial request for an inquiry, is due to this changed local context and the importance of recent developments. The submission is the most detailed, comprehensive and robustly evidenced documentation of the legal, political and social context of access to abortion in Northern Ireland, as well as the material, emotional and political consequences of the restrictive abortion regime. We hope that it will make a valuable contribution to these efforts for change and that it will help to keep the ongoing toll of the current restrictive regime on the lives of women in Northern Ireland at the centre of this debate. Abstract written by: Judith Cross, Dr Ann Marie Gray, Dr Catherine O'Rourke, Dr Audrey Simpson.


Intercultural and multilingual communication has become a necessity for all institutions in the age of globalization and transculturation. Higher-education institutions are no exceptions to this, mainly due to increasing contact with universities and other institutions at the international level, student and teaching staff mobility, and exchange of knowledge and experience. Intercultural communication in universities includes not only national cultures of respective parties, but also educational and even legal cultures. Higher-education institutions are required to manage multilingual and intercultural communication effectively, undoubtedly with the help of translation. Today, in most higher-education institutions in Turkey, academics employed in foreign-language departments are responsible for translation work, i.e. intercultural communication. This paper mainly focuses on the role of academics as translators in the management of intercultural communication in higher-education settings. The paper first draws attention to the increasing need for intercultural and multilingual communication in higher education. It then explores the translator's role, power, responsibility and limitations in achieving intercultural communication in higher-education institutions.