The production of performance data in organizations is often described as a functional process that managers enforce on their employees to provide leaders with accurate information about employees' work and their achievements. This study draws on a 15-month ethnography of a desk sales unit to build a dramaturgical model that explains how managers participate in the production of performance data to impress rather than inform leaders. Research on management information systems is reviewed to outline a protective specification of this model where managers participate in the production of performance data to suppress information that threatens the image they present to leaders. Ethnographic data about the production and use of performance records and performance reports in a desk sales unit is examined to induce an exploitive specification of this dramaturgical model. This specification explains how people can take advantage of the opportunities, rather than just avoid the threats that performance data presents for impression management. It also demonstrates how managers can participate in the production of performance data to create an idealized version of their accomplishments and that leaders reify these data by using them in their own attempts at impressing others. By doing so, leaders and managers turn information systems into store windows to show achievement upward instead of transparent windows to monitor compliance downward.


This study uses the total-factor energy productivity change index (TFEPCH) to investigate the changes in energy productivity of construction industry for 30 provincial regions in China from 2006 to 2015, adopting the improved Luenberger productivity index combined with the directional distance function. In addition to traditional economic output indicator, this study introduces building floor space under construction as a physical output indicator for energy productivity evaluation. The TFEPCH was decomposed into energy technical efficiency change and energy technical progress shift. Results indicate that, first, energy productivity of China's construction industry decreased by 7.1% annually during 2006–2015. Energy technical regress, rather than energy technical efficiency, contributed most to the overall decline in energy productivity of China's construction industry. Second, energy productivity in the central region of China decreased dramatically, by a cumulative sum of approximately 77.1%, since 2006, while energy productivity in the eastern and western regions decreased by over 54.3 and 65.3%, respectively. Only two of the 30 provinces considered—Hebei and Shandong—improved their energy productivity during 2006–2015. The findings presented here provide a basis for decision-making and references for administrative departments to set differentiated energy efficiency goals and develop relevant measures. Additionally, the findings are highly significant for energy and resource allocation of Chinese construction industry in different regions.


Named one of the "Best Books on Innovation, 2008" by BusinessWeek magazine Does innovation come about by luck or hard work? Is it a flash of inspiration or the result of careful management? Are innovators born or taught? In Closing the Innovation Gap, Judith Estrin provides the answers to these and other questions critical to our future. A technology pioneer and business leader, Estrin describes what will be required to reignite the spark of innovation in business, education, and government--ensuring our long-term success in the global economy. Innovation does not occur in a vacuum. It grows from the interplay of three drivers of creative change--research, development, and application. Estrin calls this dynamic the "Innovation Ecosystem," explaining how these communities work together to create sustainable innovation. Closing the Innovation Gap covers: * America's role as the primary driver of global innovation after World War II--explaining what worked, the subsequent decline, and how to regain traction * The fundamentals required to nurture innovation, including five simple but important values for transforming your organization into a force for productive change * How you can ensure that your business benefits from a thriving "Innovation Ecosystem" * Examples from both established companies, start-ups, and research labs that illustrate the power of innovation in providing a decisive business advantage and foundation for growth Leaders in business and public service "must think beyond short-term financial results and understand the impact of globalization and an accelerated pace of change on future economic growth," says Estrin. With Closing the Innovation Gap as your guide, business leaders will gain key insights into identifying their needs, asking the right questions, testing new ideas, and successfully leading their organization to the frontiers of twenty-first-century innovation.


Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are the subject of an increasing interest in many applications . UAVs are seeing more widespread use in military, scenic, and civilian sectors in recent years. Autonomy is one of the major advantages of these vehicles. It is then necessary to develop particular sensor in order to provide efficient navigation functions. The helicopter has been stabilized with visual information through the control loop. Omni directional vision can be a useful sensor for this propose. It can be used as the only sensor or as complementary sensor. In this paper , we propose a novel method for path planning on an UAV based on electrical potential .We are using an omni directional vision system for navigating and path planning.


We propose a novel framework for matching estimators for causal effect from observational data that is based on minimizing the dual norm of estimation error when expressed as an operator. We show that many popular matching estimators can be expressed as optimal in this framework, including nearest-neighbor matching, coarsened exact matching, and mean-matched sampling. This reveals their motivation and aptness as structural priors formulated by embedding the effect in a particular functional space. This also gives rise to a range of new, kernel-based matching estimators that arise when one embeds the effect in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. Depending on the case, these estimators can be found using either quadratic optimization or integer optimization. We show that estimators based on universal kernels are universally consistent without model specification. In empirical results using both synthetic and real data, the new, kernel-based estimators outperform all standard causal estimators in estimation error.


This article focuses on formulating a successful financial bidding strategy for BOT (build-operate-transfer) port terminal projects in India. The article's aim is to arrive at an optimal revenue sharing figure, a yardstick for the government in selecting the developer in PPPs (public-private participations). Although the optimal figure can be derived by considering quantifiable factors such as financial statements, ratios, and their sensitivity under various scenarios, qualitative factors including competitive advantage and core competency also need to be considered for a thorough evaluation. This article develops a model to quantify these qualitative factors to arrive at a Strategy Premium, which is then used to adjust the revenue sharing figure. An optimal revenue sharing figure will ensure proper assessment of the bidder's strategy. The article will be helpful not only to port developers, but it can also be applied to all types of PPP projects such as rail, road and mining projects. It will help bidders in preparing suitable bidding strategies with the help of a financial model from the input data and provide assistance for various sensitivity analyses of the required rate of return and an optimal revenue sharing figure. The proposed strategy premium model provides a basic framework for incorporating qualitative factors to arrive at a final revenue sharing figure for bidding.


Reducing the thermal conductivity κ of a material via nano-structuring to create small grain sizes is one of the most common strategies to improve thermoelectric materials. In such polycrystalline materials heat carrying phonons are scattered at the grain boundaries, which directly improves the thermoelectric quality factor and ultimately the figure-of-merit zT. In some cases, however, such as in Mg3Sb2, SnSe, and Mg2Si an opposite trend is found where higher lattice thermal conductivity reported in small grain polycrystalline material than in large grain or single crystal materials. This unphysical result indicates a problem with the conventional use of the Wiedemann–Franz law. Here, we trace this problematic finding to the electrical resistance at the grain boundaries, which leads to an overestimation of the phonon or lattice contribution of the thermal conductivity κL. In materials with significant grain boundary electrical resistance, the estimated electronic contribution to the thermal conductivity LσT is low because the measured electrical conductivity σ is low. However within the grain electrons may still be transporting more heat than the total conductivity suggests, leading to an overestimation of κL if the conventional κL = κ − LσT is used with the measured values of κ and σ. The overestimation of κL in small-grain samples is shown to be pervasive across a broad range of thermoelectric materials, including Mg3Sb2, Mg2Si, PbTe, PbSe, SnSe, (Hf,Zr)CoSb, CoSb3, and Bi2Te3 alloys, and a correction is necessary to properly understand and predict their charge and heat transport.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to analyze the presence of international knowledge spillovers in the wind power sector. Specifically, the paper investigates whether successful invention efforts in one country, measured by way of granted wind power patent counts, have had positive effects on the neighboring countries' abilities to generate patents of the same category. Data on the number of patents granted at the European Patent Office during the period 1978–2008 are used for the eight national technological leaders in the western European wind power sector. The few comprehensive wind power studies that exist have only found limited evidence of international knowledge spillovers. However, in this paper, we find that international spillovers are statistically significant determinants of a country's wind power patenting outcomes. Geographical distance is also taken into consideration, and the knowledge spillover effects are shown to become stronger with decreases in this distance. The results should have important policy implications, for example, for a national government when it comes to applying an investment strategy in wind power or, alternatively, free-riding on other countries' invention efforts.


BACKGROUND
Review of the historical growth in annual vaccination coverage across countries and regions can better inform decision makers' development of future goals and strategies to improve routine vaccination services.

METHODS
Using the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund estimates of annual national third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis-containing vaccine (DTP3) and third dose of polio vaccine (POL3) coverage for 1980-2009, we calculated the mean absolute annual rate of change in national DTP3 coverage among all countries (globally) and among countries within each WHO region, as well as the number of years taken by each region to reach specific regional coverage levels. Last, we assessed differences in mean absolute annual rate of change in DTP3 coverage, stratified by baseline level of DTP3 coverage.

RESULTS
During the 1980s, global DTP3 coverage increased a mean of 5.3 percentage points/year. Annual rate of change decreased to 0.5 percentage points/year in the 1990s and then increased to 0.9 percentage points/year during the 2000s. Mean annual rate of change in coverage across all countries was highest (9.2 percentage points) when national coverage levels were 26%-30% and lowest (-0.9 percentage points) when national coverage levels were 96%-100%. Regional differences existed as both WHO South-East Asia Region and WHO African Region countries experienced mean negative DTP3 coverage growth at lower coverage levels (81%-85%) than other regions. The regions that have achieved 95% DTP3 coverage (Americas, Western Pacific, and European) took 25-29 years to reach that level from a level of 50% DTP3 coverage. POL3 coverage change trends were similar to described DTP3 coverage change trends.

CONCLUSIONS
Mean national coverage growth patterns across all regions are nonlinear as coverage levels increase. Saturation points of mean 0 percentage-point growth in annual coverage varies by region and require further investigation. The achievement of >90% routine coverage is observed to take decades, which has implications for disease eradication and elimination initiatives.


Among the different types of skin cancer, melanoma is considered to be the deadliest and is difficult to treat at advanced stages. Detection of melanoma at earlier stages can lead to reduced mortality rates. Desktop-based computer-aided systems have been developed to assist dermatologists with early diagnosis. However, there is significant interest in developing portable, at-home melanoma diagnostic systems which can assess the risk of cancerous skin lesions. Here, we present a smartphone application that combines image capture capabilities with preprocessing and segmentation to extract the Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Color variegation, and Diameter (ABCD) features of a skin lesion. Using the feature sets, classification of malignancy is achieved through support vector machine classifiers. By using adaptive algorithms in the individual data-processing stages, our approach is made computationally light, user friendly, and reliable in discriminating melanoma cases from benign ones. Images of skin lesions are either captured with the smartphone camera or imported from public datasets. The entire process from image capture to classification runs on an Android smartphone equipped with a detachable 10x lens, and processes an image in less than a second. The overall performance metrics are evaluated on a public database of 200 images with Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE) (80% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 88% accuracy, and 0.85 area under curve (AUC)) and without SMOTE (55% sensitivity, 95% specificity, 90% accuracy, and 0.75 AUC). The evaluated performance metrics and computation times are comparable or better than previous methods. This all-inclusive smartphone application is designed to be easy-to-download and easy-to-navigate for the end user, which is imperative for the eventual democratization of such medical diagnostic systems.


Information extraction from biomedical literature is continuously growing in scope and importance. Many tools exist that perform named entity recognition, e.g. of proteins, chemical compounds, and diseases. Furthermore, several approaches deal with the extraction of relations between identified entities. The BioCreative community supports these developments with yearly open challenges, which led to a standardised XML text annotation format called BioC. PubMed provides access to the largest open biomedical literature repository, but there is no unified way of connecting its data to natural language processing tools. Therefore, an appropriate data environment is needed as a basis to combine different software solutions and to develop customised text mining applications. PubMedPortable builds a relational database and a full text index on PubMed citations. It can be applied either to the complete PubMed data set or an arbitrary subset of downloaded PubMed XML files. The software provides the infrastructure to combine stand-alone applications by exporting different data formats, e.g. BioC. The presented workflows show how to use PubMedPortable to retrieve, store, and analyse a disease-specific data set. The provided use cases are well documented in the PubMedPortable wiki. The open-source software library is small, easy to use, and scalable to the user's system requirements. It is freely available for Linux on the web at https://github.com/KerstenDoering/PubMedPortable and for other operating systems as a virtual container. The approach was tested extensively and applied successfully in several projects.


The survival of organisms depends highly on their ability to adjust their behavior according to proper categorizations of various events. More than one strategy can be used in categorization. One is the Rule-Based (RB) strategy and the other is Information-Integration (II) strategy. In this research we analyzed the differences between avian and human cognition. Twelve Greek listeners and four Zebra finches were tested in speech category learning tasks. In particular, both humans and Zebra finches had to categorize between Dutch vowels that differ on duration, frequency or both depending on the condition. Feedback was given for correct and incorrect responses. The results showed that humans and Zebra finches are probably using the same methods of learning depending on the categorization tasks that they are exposed to. If Zebra Finches are actually able to acquire (RB) and (II) category structures using the same strategies as humans, the utility of multiple systems of categorization might not be restricted to primates as current literature suggest.


The mitochondrial influx and efflux calcium pathways play a relevant role in cytosolic and mitochondrial calcium homeostasis and contribute to the regulation of mitochondrial functions. The mitochondrial Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, first hypothesized, in 1974, has been primarily investigated from a functional point of view. So far, however, its identity and its localization in mitochondria are still unknown.
In the first step of the present study we examined (a) whether the nuclear encoded NCX family proteins are present on mitochondria and, if they are, (b) where they are localized, (c) what might be their contribution to mitochondrial Ca2+ handling and, finally, (d) whether NCX activity on mitochondria is controlled by AKAP121, a member of the AKAP family proteins in the outer mitochondrial membrane (Carlucci et al 2008; Livigni et al 2006).
Collectively, the results of this study suggest that NCX3 regulates mitochondrial calcium handling from the outer mitochondrial membrane through an AKAP121-anchored signalling complex, thus promoting cell survival.
A second step of the study was addressed to investigate the molecular mechanisms that regulate mitochondrial biogenesis in cellular models of cerebral ischemia with particular regard to mitochondrial fusion and fission events and to verify the role of NCX3 and the putative interaction between this protein and AKAP121 in mitochondrial fission and fusion during ischemia.


We investigate the stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) from cosmic domain walls (DWs) caused by quantum fluctuations of a light scalar field ϕ during inflation. Large-scale perturbations of ϕ lead to large-scale perturbations of DW energy density and anisotropies in the SGWB. We find that the angular power spectrum of this SGWB is scale invariant and at least of the order of 10^{-2}, which is a distinctive feature of observational interest. Since we have not detected primordial gravitational waves yet, anisotropies of the SGWB provide a nontrivial opportunity to verify the rationality of inflation and detect the energy scale of inflation, especially for low-scale inflationary models. Square kilometer array has the opportunity to detect the anisotropies of such SGWBs. The common-spectrum process observed recently by NANOGrav could also be interpreted by the SGWB from cosmic DWs.


Suppose that a school restricts student expression critical of homosexual conduct yet allows or actively supports student expression that promotes acceptance and tolerance of gays and lesbians. Can such a policy be justified if the anti-gay speech disrupts the educational environment of the school while the pro-gay speech does not? Or does the differential treatment of anti-gay and pro-gay speech constitute unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination because it distorts the marketplace of ideas within the school? Can viewpoint discrimination ever be justified on the ground that anti-gay speech invades the rights of others under Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)? These were among the questions debated by Judges Reinhardt and Kozinski in the Ninth Circuit's now-vacated panel opinion in Harper v. Poway Unified School District, 445 F.3d 1166 (9th Cir. 2006), but their significance to the law of student speech is quite general. Courts are increasingly becoming concerned with the question of whether Tinker allows viewpoint-based restrictions of student speech, but so far jurists have not reached agreement on this question or even on the simpler question of what counts as viewpoint discrimination. This article attempts to clarify the emerging debate about the permissibility of viewpoint discrimination under Tinker and proposes modifications to the Tinker framework that would enable courts to deal more fruitfully with charges that school officials have imposed viewpoint-based restrictions on student speech. I argue that we should think of viewpoint discrimination as purposeful restriction of expression on the basis of governmental disagreement with the message. Tinker must be understood to bar purposeful viewpoint discrimination, but the conclusion that a school speech restriction constitutes purposeful viewpoint discrimination will come at the end rather than at the beginning of constitutional analysis. A school will never announce that it has restricted student speech on the basis of disagreement with the message; instead, it will claim that it has regulated speech to prevent harm. And this is something that schools (and the state more generally) may sometimes do - at least with sufficient justification. Tinker obviously contemplates the regulation of speech where necessary to prevent two specific sorts of harms - disruption to the school's mission and violations of the rights of other students - and so must require courts to distinguish between school speech restrictions based on impermissible ideological purposes and those based on the permissible purposes of preventing disruptions or violations of student rights. Tinker's substantial disruption test, I contend, should primarily be understood as a mechanism for helping courts to smoke out these impermissible purposes.


This study was done to determine the extent of financial management practices in Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) in selected districts in Western Uganda. The objectives of the study were; to determine the extent of financial management employed by SMEs as to these dimensions:working capital management (cash management, accounts receivable management, inventory management practices), investment, financing, financial reporting and analysis and accounting information systems;The study used ex-post facto or retrospective and prospective designs together with descriptive design and descriptive comparative as well as correlation design. 335 questionnaires were distributed to respondents and were the ones used for analysis. The study found out that majority of SMEs owners (52%) in western Uganda are female, more than 69% of the SMEs owners are in their early adult hood and majority of the SMEs owners are high school leavers (30.1%), over 50% of the SMEs are sole proprietorship businesses and majority of the SMEs (42.4% have been in business between1-4 years. The findings further revealed that the extent of financial management is low among SMEs (Average Mean = 2.19). The Theory of  Pecking Order (Myers 1984) which states that Management has a preference to choose internal financing before external financing, was proven in this study in the aspects of SMEs using internally generated funds as compared to borrowed funds. The recommendations from the study included; the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Bank of Uganda should provide a favourable platform for SMEs to access financing that can enable them to run their businesses at a reasonable cost of financing. ICPAU, ACCA Uganda, URA should sensitize the SMEs owners on the relevance of bookkeeping, financial reporting and analysis as well maintaining proper books of analysis. Key Words: Financial Management, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)


The chloronitrobenzenes are widely used as the intermediates in the production of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and rubber processing chemicals. However, due to their wide applications, they are frequently released into the environment thereby creating hazards. The objective of the study was to use an alternative strategy i.e. biofield energy treatment and analysed its impact on the physical, thermal and spectral properties of 3-chloronitrobenzene (3-CNB). For the study, the 3-CNB sample was taken and divided into two groups, named as control and treated. The analytical techniques used were X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), UV-Visible (UV-Vis), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The treated group was subjected to the biofield energy treatment and analysed using these techniques against the control sample. The XRD data showed an alteration in relative intensity of the peak along with 30% decrease in the crystallite size of the treated sample as compared to the control. The TGA studies revealed the decrease in onset temperature of degradation from 140oC (control) to 120°C, while maximum thermal degradation temperature was changed from 157.61oC (control) to 150.37oC in the treated sample as compared to the control. Moreover, the DSC studies revealed the decrease in the melting temperature from 51°C (control) →47°C in the treated sample. Besides, the UV-Vis and FT-IR spectra of the treated sample did not show any significant alteration in terms of wavelength and frequencies of the peaks, respectively from the control sample. The overall study results showed the impact of biofield energy treatment on the physical and thermal properties of 3-CNB that can further affect its use as a chemical intermediate and its fate in the environment.


Sialic acids, which are members of a family of 9-carbon carboxylated sugars, usually occupy the terminal position of the glycan chains of glycoconjugates and play an important role in various biological processes. Nacetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) are the dominant sialic acids in mammals, whereas deaminoneuraminic acids (KDN) can be detected in trace amounts. The increase of sialic acid levels has been reported in relation to the pathology and aggressiveness of cancer. Here we used a fluorometric-HPLC method to investigate the level and distribution of Neu5Ac, Neu5Gc, and KDN in osteosarcoma cells isolated from 7 patients and compare them with those in osteoblasts isolated from 3 patients with other bone diseases. Both cell types expressed all three sialic acids with abundances Neu5Ac > Neu5Gc > KDN. Total sialic acid levels in osteosarcoma cells were twice that in osteoblast cells. Only cell-associated Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc levels were higher, but not secreted forms. However, cell-associated and secreted KDN levels were not significantly different among those two groups. This suggests that the level and distribution of sialic acids in osteosarcoma cells were different from those in normal osteoblast cells. Thus their level, type, and distribution may be related to the pathology of osteosarcoma.


To implement any quantum operation (a.k.a. "superoperator" or "CP map") on a d-dimensional quantum system, it is enough to apply a suitable overall unitary transformation to the system and a d2-dimensional environment which is initialized in a fixed pure state. It has been suggested that a d-dimensional environment might be enough if we could initialize the environment in a mixed state of our choosing. In this note we show with elementary means that certain explicit quantum operations cannot be realized in this way. Our counterexamples map some pure states to pure states, giving strong and easily manageable conditions on the overall unitary transformation. Everything works in the more general setting of quantum operations from d-dimensional to d′-dimensional spaces, so we place our counterexamples within this more general framework.


Improving Sibling Relationships Among Young Children: A Social Skills Training Model* Laurie Kramer** and Chad Radey A new approach to improving sibling relationships was evaluated in which social skills training was used to directly coach small groups of children (n = 21) in prosocial sibling behaviors. In comparison to a control condition (n = 21), social skills training was associated with mothers' or fathers' reports of.' (I) increased warmth; (2) decreased rivalry; (3) stable levels of agonism and competition; (4) fewer problematic sibling behaviors; and (5) a reduced status/power differential between siblings. Social skills training may hold promise for setting young children's sibling relationships on a positive trajectory. Disputes among siblings are the most common type of conflict that families face (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980) and may be quite aggressive and even violent (Felson & Russo, 1988; Roscoe, Goodwin, & Kennedy, 1987; Steinmetz, 1978; Straus et al., 1980; Weihe, 1991). Intractable conflictual relations among young siblings have been shown to be predictive of later difficulties, such as antisocial and disturbed behaviors in adolescence (Richman, Stevenson, & Graham, 1982) and adulthood (Patterson, 1982). These factors have led some investigators to refer to sibling relationships as potential "training-grounds" for violence (Steinmetz, 1978) and for establishing chronic coercive interactions with others (Patterson, 1982). Although resources do exist for assisting families to respond to sibling conflict, they are limited in several ways (Ramsburg & Kramer, 1995). First, most resources are based primarily on clinical or practical experiences and lack both a theoretical foundation and empirical data to support their effectiveness. In addition, resources for younger children focus primarily on promoting their initial adjustment to the birth of a new sibling and generally do not focus on developing competencies for interacting positively and managing conflict once their sibling becomes a more active partner in the interaction. When attention is devoted to sibling interaction (e.g., Leitenberg, Burchard, Burchard, Fuller, & Lysaght, 1977; Levi, Buskila, & Gerzi, 1977; Olson & Roberts, 1987), recommendations are usually reactive (responding in situations where pronounced sibling conflict already exists) rather than proactive and preventive (working to encourage prosocial interaction among siblings before conflictual processes escalate). Finally, most programs are designed to change parents' behavior with the objective of indirectly changing child behavior. Indeed, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that parents play a substantial role in shaping the quality of children's sibling relationships, particularly as they respond to sibling conflicts (Brody, Stoneman, McCoy, & Forehand, 1992; Ross, Filyer, Lollis, Perlman, & Martin, 1994; Vandell & Bailey, 1992) or work to encourage prosocial sibling behaviors (Kramer & Washo, 1990). For example, Tiedemann and Johnson (1992) found improved sibling behaviors when mothers were taught strategies for promoting child sharing skills. However, even stronger effects may be obtained if we directly support children's acquisition of new sibling interaction patterns. In this research, we evaluate a new approach to improving sibling relationships in which a social skills training model is used to directly coach young children in prosocial sibling behaviors. The approach of developing interpersonal competencies as a way to improve sibling relationships is unique. However, it is supported by previous research on the early development of sibling relationships (Kramer & Gottman, 1992; Stocker & Dunn, 1990). Kramer and Gottman's (1992) longitudinal study demonstrated the importance of peer relationships and social competence in helping children to establish positive relationships with new siblings. …


A national survey of physics faculty was conducted to investigate the prevalence and nature of computational instruction in physics courses across the United States. 1246 faculty from 357 unique institutions responded to the survey. The initial results suggest that more faculty have some form of computational teaching experience than a decade ago, but it appears that this experience does not necessarily translate to computational instruction in undergraduate students' formal course work. Further, we find that formal programs in computational physics are absent from most departments. A majority of faculty do report using computation on homework and in projects, but few report using computation with interactive engagement methods in the classroom or on exams. Specific factors that underlie these results are not the subject of this paper, but we do find that there is a variation on the reported experience with computation and the highest degree that students can earn at the surveyed institutions.


Experimental investigations of stimulated Brillouin scattering in two cascaded single mode optical fibers with different Brillouin shifts are presented. A fiber Brillouin laser consisting of these two cascaded fibers is demonstrated. The output of such a laser exhibits two frequencies corresponding to the Brillouin shifted frequencies of two individual fibers.


Abstract Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems are among the most inhospitable soil ecosystems on earth with simple food webs and nearly undetectable fluxes of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Due to the lack of vascular plants, soil organic matter concentrations are extremely low, and it is unclear how much of the contemporary soil C budget is actively cycling or a legacy of paleolake production and sedimentation. While recent work indicates multiple sources of organic matter for dry valley soils, the composition and kinetics of organic pools remain poorly characterized. We examined soil organic matter pools and potential C and N turnover in soils from within six sites located across three hydrological basins of Taylor Valley, Antarctica that differed in surface age, microclimate and proximity to legacy (paleolake) sources of organic matter. We estimated potential C and N mineralization, and rate kinetics using gas exchange and repeated leaching techniques during 90-d incubations of surface soils collected from valley basin and valley slope positions in three basins of Taylor Valley. Soil organic C content was negatively correlated with the ages of underlying tills, supporting previous descriptions of legacy organic matter. Carbon and N mineralization generally followed 1st order kinetics and were well described by exponential models. Labile pools of C (90 d) were 10% of the total organic C in the upper 5 cm of the soil profile. Labile N was 50% of the total N in surface soils of Taylor Valley. These results show that a large proportion of soil C and particularly N are mineralizable under suitable conditions and suggest that a kinetically defined labile pool of organic matter is potentially active in the field during brief intervals of favorable microclimate. Climate variation changing the duration of these conditions may have potentially large effects on the small pools of C and N in these soils.


UNLABELLED
Postoperative surveillance has an important role in patient survival after curative resection of colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVES
To describe the characteristics of the follow-up with positron emission tomography (PET) / computed tomography (CT)(PET/CT) and its impact in colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors after curative resection in a university hospital in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Consecutive review of patient's hospital charts who underwent presurgical staging with PET/CT for curative resection of colorectal cancer between April 2005 and March 2008. The follow-up data of these patients was reviewed until September 2008.

RESULTS
Of 209 patients presurgically staged for CRC, 207 (male/female = 125/82; mean age = 65.3 ± 11.3 years) underwent curative resection and were included in the present study. The compliance rate with the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum (JSCCR) follow-up guidelines was 53%. The cumulative survival at the end of study interval was 96.4%. The test most commonly used in postoperative follow-up of CRC was the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). PET/CT was the test that detected more patients with recurrent lesions (n = 11, positive predictive value = 23.4), including one patient with an asymptomatic curable recurrence (inguinal lymph node metastasis), also being the most effective test (2.1%). However, its high cost makes it the less cost-effective.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of PET/CT in the postoperative follow-up after curative resection in CRC has proven to be an individualized and effective alternative in the finding of asymptomatic disease curable. Systematic CEA tests with contrast-enhanced CT as a first line of screening and PET/CT as a second line may be an alternative follow up approach after curative resection for CRC.


The Arctic is often envisioned as a future supply area for fossil energy and shipping, a development bound to occur because of the decreasing Arctic Ocean sea ice. In the Assessing Arctic Futures project we have challenged this deterministic future vision, arguing that natural resources are social constructions, constructed within networks of actors who ascribe value to them. Based on a theoretical model developed in this project, I will present cases on the construction of resources in the Svalbard coal mining industry (1898-present). How and why have actors envisioned Svalbard as a place for settlement and extraction? How did they build influence for their visions and why were some of those visions realized? The paper will suggest that explanations of why resource utilization in the Arctic occur (or not) is far more complex than the relative amount of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean.


Community institutions are now busy with the second readings of the proposals for a new regime for regulating the European Communications Industry. While many aspects of the proposed new regulatory arrangements are widely accepted, a number of key choices still have to be made. The regulation of European communications is therefore at a crossroads. This CEPS Working Party Report considers the key choices that lie ahead, with the aim of providing the institutions with some fresh input from well placed observers.


Abstract We analyze specific features of multiple‐site (MS) probabilistic seismic‐hazard assessment (PSHA), that is, the annual rate of ground‐motion level exceedance in at least one of several sites of interest located within a defined area or along a linear extended object. The relation between MS hazard estimates and strong ground motion data obtained during large earthquakes is discussed in the cases of the 1999 Chi‐Chi M w  7.6 and the 2008 Wenchuan M w  7.9 earthquakes. The strong‐motion records obtained in the epicentral zones may be considered as examples of the ground motion exceeding the design level estimated using the conventional pointwise (PW) PSHA. We show that the MS‐PSHA, when being performed for the 475 yr standard return period, provides reasonable estimations of the intensity level that may occur during the earthquakes, parameters of which are close to the parameters of events with maximum possible magnitude accepted in PSHA for the regions. The MS‐PSHA efficiency is discussed with respect to (1) evaluation of the performance of probabilistic seismic‐hazard maps and (2) application of the MS hazard estimates as a basis for design loads. Based on the results of this work, we propose a multilevel approach to PSHA considering the fixed reference probability of exceedance (e.g., 10% in 50 yrs): (1) a standard PW‐PSHA, to be performed in a seismic‐prone region (first level), and (2) this analysis should be supplemented by an MS‐PSHA for urban and industrial areas or for zones of a particular economic and social importance (second level).


A novel approach to the automatic extraction of geological faults from three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data is described, and qualitative and quantitative comparisons of manually and automatically picked fault geometries interpreted from both high and medium quality 3-D seismic datasets are presented. An algorithm has been developed that allows semiautomated identification, extraction, and modeling of fault surfaces imaged in 3-D seismic datasets. Based on a multistage approach, the algorithm operates initially at a small spatial scale, identifying local discontinuities in the seismic horizons, and then gradually considers larger and larger segments of fault surfaces until a set of complete fault surfaces are identified. A large portion of the work involves merging of segments of fault surfaces, performed using a highest confidence first (HCF) stratagem, taking into consideration the context of the resultant fault geometry. We show that results from the automated fault picker compare favorably with a manually labeled set of faults surfaces interpreted from a high-quality dataset. Last, we present an estimate of the savings in human operator time that can be made by using the automated approach, indicating savings of multiple person-days for the multigigabyte datasets that typify the petroleum industry.


We investigate and provide new insights on the sampling rule called Top-Two Thompson Sampling (TTTS). In particular, we justify its use for fixed-confidence best-arm identification. We further propose a variant of TTTS called Top-Two Transportation Cost (T3C), which disposes of the computational burden of TTTS. As our main contribution, we provide the first sample complexity analysis of TTTS and T3C when coupled with a very natural Bayesian stopping rule, for bandits with Gaussian rewards, solving one of the open questions raised by Russo (2016). We also provide new posterior convergence results for TTTS under two models that are commonly used in practice: bandits with Gaussian and Bernoulli rewards and conjugate priors.


Zero gap alkaline electrolysers hold the key to cheap and efficient renewable energy storage via the production and distribution of hydrogen gas. A zero gap design, where porous electrodes are spacially separated only by the gas separator, allows the unique benefits of alkaline electrolysis to be combined with the high efficiencies currently only associated with the more expensive PEM set-up. This review covers the basics of alkaline electrolysis, and provides a detailed description of the advantages of employing a zero gap cell design over the traditional arrangement. A comparison with different types of zero gap cell designs currently seen in research is made, and a description of recent developments is presented. Finally, the current state of research into zero gap alkaline electrolysis is discussed, and pathways for future research identified. Zero gap alkaline electrolysis will allow excess renewable energy to be stored, transported and used on demand in a green and environmentally friendly manner as when the hydrogen is burnt or passed into a fuel cell it produces only water and energy.


Recommending new items to existing users has remained a challenging problem due to absence of user's past preferences for these items. The user personalized non-collaborative methods based on item features can be used to address this item cold-start problem. These methods rely on similarities between the target item and user's previous preferred items. While computing similarities based on item features, these methods overlook the interactions among the features of the items and consider them independently. Modeling interactions among features can be helpful as some features, when considered together, provide a stronger signal on the relevance of an item when compared to case where features are considered independently. To address this important issue, in this work we introduce the Feature-based factorized Bilinear Similarity Model (FBSM), which learns factorized bilinear similarity model for TOP-n recommendation of new items, given the information about items preferred by users in past as well as the features of these items. We carry out extensive empirical evaluations on benchmark datasets, and we find that the proposed FBSM approach improves upon traditional non-collaborative methods in terms of recommendation performance. Moreover, the proposed approach also learns insightful interactions among item features from data, which lead to deep understanding on how these interactions contribute to personalized recommendation.


The potential of symbolic algebra for the design of control systems is illustrated through several examples. It has been shown in particular, that (a) the exact calculations provided by symbolic algebra can be used to utilize some of the direct (but numerically error prone) methods efficiently in control system design, and (b) symbolic manipulations by a computer can help control engineers at several stages of the design. The block diagram reduction, calculation of all stabilizing controllers, dominant pole assignment and robust pole assignment are taken as case studies.


Background Convulsions associated with fever (CAWF), are a frequent medical emergency in children. In the tropics, endemic malaria and bacterial infections are established causes. However, knowledge of the contributions of endemic viral haemorrhagic fevers, particularly Lassa fever(LF) which has multiple lineages of the virus, remains unknown It was hypothesised that LF, may be an unrecognised contributor to CAWF in areas of high disease burden. Objective Determine the prevalence of LF in children with fever, compare seizure characteristics, clinical features and outcomes. Method A prospective case-control study of emergency admissions presenting with fever of 380 C. A positive Lassa virus Reverse-transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (LV-RT-PCR) defined a diagnosis of LF. Results Three hundred and seventy three febrile children and adolescents were recruited,108 cases (CAWF) compared with 265 controls (fever without convulsions). The prevalence of LF [95% CI] was 3.5% [1.9, 5.7] The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia was significantly higher in CAWF compared with controls (OR [95% CI]=(6.38[2.86, 14.22], p=0.0001 ). There was no significant difference between the prevalence of LF in cases with non-febrile convulsions and their controls ( 2/40 versus 8/94 ) ( Fisher's exact p=0.759 ). Bleeding was significantly associated with LF in CAWF compared with controls ( Fisher's exact p=0.008 ). Conclusion LF is an important cause of fever. In this study LF was not significantly associated with CAWF but was a cause of fever presenting with seizures The absence of clear clinical differentiators from other aetiologies of fever without a focus inform the need for a high index of suspicion where the disease is endemic.


The aim of this paper is to compare results obtained via the well-known regression method ordinary least squares (OLS) and the alternative regression method called multiple model regression estimation (MM-estimation). This is motivated by the fact that exceptional crop yield observations (outliers and leverage points) can cause misleading results if least squares regression is applied. The paper demonstrates that in this case, robust regression is a more appropriate approach, with higher adjusted R-squared value. With both methods, several models have been proposed for predicting the production of biogas where various explanatory variables have been considered, such as the parameters of Weende analysis, C/N ratio, pH value, and the value of volatile fatty acids. Anaerobic digestion was carried out with a basic substrate of pig slurry and with different combinations of co-substrates, where co-substrate maize (main crop), maize (stubble crop), triticale (main crop), sorghum (main crop), a mixture of plants for biomass production (main crop), and grain maize (grain at the wax ripeness stage) were used. To optimize the anaerobic process of fermentation of substrate with co-substrate, the experimental reactor of the Nemščak biogas plant was applied. The average yield of biogas ranged from 384 Nl/kg VS to 635 Nl/kg. The resulting models revealed that crude protein (XP), starch (XS), nitrogen-free extracts (NFE), C/N ratio, volatile fatty acids (VFA), and pH value were the most important predictors affecting biogas production from different substrates. These models are helpful tools in optimising and predicting biogas production from


A novel method is described for trace determination of celecoxib, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), by hollow porous molecularly imprinted polymer and solid-phase extraction (HPMIP-SPE) coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC/UV). The synthesis of HPMIPs was performed using a sacrificial support approach with K2Ti4O9 as a sacrificial matrix. Also, methacrylic acid (MAA), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), chloroform, 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) and celecoxib were applied as a functional monomer, cross-linker monomer, solvent, initiator and target drug, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and FT-IR spectroscopy were used for characterizing the synthesized polymers. Also, a central composite design (CCD) under response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate and optimize the extraction procedure parameters such as pH, loading and eluent solvent flow-rate, eluent solvent volume and sorbent mass that probably influence the extraction process to achieve the highest celecoxib extraction efficiency. The following adsorption characteristics investigation exhibited surprisingly higher adsorption capacity (43.29 mg g−1) and faster kinetic binding (25 min) than any previously reported celecoxib imprinted MIPs by traditional or surface imprinting technology. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.11 ng mL−1 and 0.25 ng mL−1, respectively. The recoveries (94.73–103.50%) with RSD values lower than 4.74% were relatively satisfactory. The results of the real sample analysis confirmed the superiority of the proposed HPMIP-SPE-HPLC/UV for the selective and efficient enrichment of trace celecoxib from complex matrices.


This thesis consists of four parts, with system identification as the common theme. The first part studies the asymptotic properties of two-dimensional identification methods. In the second part an approach to identification of time varying systems is presented. Part three applies system identification to the problem of transmission line protection. Finally part four deals with input estimation in speech coding.Part I is devoted to system identification in two dimensions. First we study the asymptotic properties of the estimates as the number of data tends to infinity. The main objective is to investigate what happens if the model order also tends to infinity. The focus is on frequency expressions of the extimation variance. The analysis covers both the least squares method for causal models, and the maximum likelihood method for noncausal models.In Part II we study one approach to identification of time varying sytems. The parameter variations are modelled as process noise in a state space model, and identified using adaptive Kalman filtering. A method for adaptive Kalman filtering is derived and analysed. The simulations indicate that this new approach is superior to previous methods based on adjusting the forgetting factor. The improvement is however gained at the price of a significant increase in computational complexity.Part III describes the use of recursive identification in protective relaying. The Fourier coefficients of voltage and current are estimated using recursive least squares identification. The estimates are then used to detect short circuits. The method is evaluated using data generated by the standard program EMTP.In Part IV a method for inverse glottal filtering is presented. The basis of the method is to use a parameterized model of the input signal, i.e. the glottal pulses. The algorithm simultaneously estimates the parameters of the input signal and the parameters of the system transfer function, the vocal tract model. The presentation is restricted to transfer functions of all-pole type.


Abstract The Cole–Cole (C–C) and Havriliak–Negami models respectively, have been identified as suitable for the parametric modelling of time and temperature behaviour of composites with symmetrical and asymmetrical retardation time spectra. For C–C a shortcut method is proposed to enable the prediction of creep behaviour from dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis (DMTA) data. The C–C plot provides a method of characterising the retardation time distribution, independently of any time–temperature equivalence relationship. The isophthalic polyester resin and composites examined in the present study all showed symmetrical retardation time spectra (in log time) and their DMTA behaviour was well modelled using C–C, with the added assumption of Arrhenius relaxation kinetics. The proposed creep model also worked well for these materials.


"Silica Biomorphs" are self-assembled nanocrystals of barium carbonate that form in silica-rich environments. Their morphologies are highly reminiscent of the shapes of primitive life (discovered in Archean cherts), but the precipitates are clearly inorganic and form without intervention of any organic material. The concept of morphology and symmetry has always been used to divide the world into two large groups: the realm of the inanimate and the realm of the living. The object of this study is not to debate the truthfulness of the microfossils, but to understand the laws that control the formation and the shape of polycrystalline structures and to underline the false notion that the living and abiotic realms can be distinguished on the basis of their morphology.


Background Tubular damage has a role in Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD). We evaluated the early tubulointerstitial damage biomarkers in type-1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) pediatric participants and studied the correlation with classical DKD parameters. Methods Thirty-four T1DM and fifteen healthy participants were enrolled. Clinical and biochemical parameters [Glomerular filtration Rate (GFR), microalbuminuria (MAU), albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR), and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)] were evaluated. Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α), and Nuclear Factor of Activated T-cells-5 (NFAT5) levels were studied in the supernatant (S) and the exosome-like extracellular vesicles (E) fraction from urine samples. Results In the T1DM, 12% had MAU >20 mg/L, 6% ACR >30 mg/g, and 88% had eGFR >140 ml/min/1.72 m2. NGAL in the S (NGAL-S) or E (NGAL-E) fraction was not detectable in the control. The NGAL-E was more frequent (p = 0.040) and higher (p = 0.002) than NGAL-S in T1DM. The T1DM participants with positive NGAL had higher age (p = 0.03), T1DM evolution (p = 0.03), and serum creatinine (p = 0.003) than negative NGAL. The NGAL-E correlated positively with tanner stage (p = 0.0036), the median levels of HbA1c before enrollment (p = 0.045) and was independent of ACR, MAU, and HbA1c at the enrollment. NFAT5 and HIF-1α levels were not detectable in T1DM or control. Conclusion Urinary exosome-like extracellular vesicles could be a new source of early detection of tubular injury biomarkers of DKD in T1DM patients.


The opportunity for cardiac patients to have constantly monitored their health state at home is now possible by means of telemedicine applications. In fact, today, portable and simple-to-use devices allow one to get preliminary domestic diagnoses of the heart status. In this paper, the authors present an original ECG measurement system based on web-service-oriented architecture to monitor the heart health of cardiac patients. The projected device is a smart patient-adaptive system able to provide personalized diagnoses by using personal data and clinical history of the monitored patient. In the presence of a pathology occurrence, the system is able to call the emergency service for assistance. An ECG sensor has the task to acquire, condition, and sample the heart electrical impulses, whereas a personal digital assistant (PDA) performs the diagnosis according to the measurement uncertainty and, in case of a critical situation, calls the medical staff. The system has two removable and updatable memory devices: the first memory device stores the clinical and personal data of the patient, and the second memory device stores information on the metrological status of the measurement system. This way, according to the personal data and historical information of the patient, the measurement system adapts itself by selecting the best fitted ECG model as a reference to configure the computing algorithm. Further information on the measurement uncertainty is used to qualify the reliability of the final clinical response to reduce the occurrence of a faulty diagnosis. Through the PDA graphic interface, the user can display his personal data, observe the graph of his ECG signal, and read diagnosis information with the relative reliability level. Moreover, the patient can choose to print his ECG graph through a Bluetooth printer or to send it to a specialist by a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) modem.


Collaborative innovation processes in unpredictable environments are a challenge for traditional management. But new demands in a global digital society push public and corporate leadership to collaborate ad hoc, without predictable goals and planned working rules. In this study, an actor-network approach (ANT) is combined with critical incident technique (CIT) to elaborate dynamic network principles for a new real-time foresight (RTF).
Real-time foresight replaces traditional planning and strategic management in ad hoc multi-sector collaborations. Although ANT originates from science and technologies studies, it is here applied to a management problem due to ist ability to merge voluntaristic and evolutionary managerial components and micro- and macro perspectives. The investigation is placed in an exemplary management field of high dynamics: global disaster management. From process analysis and from comparison of three dynamic innovation networks that emerged around Indian coastal villages after Tsunami 2004, five dynamic network patterns are obtained which underly successful collaborative innovation processes. These dynamic structures build the agenda for a new real-time foresight, and for an instrument to evaluate in real-time the emergence of dynamic innovation networks (DINs).


Many countries plan to increase the proportion of their electricity supply obtained from renewable sources relative to nonrenewable sources. Recently, the EU has implemented a system of tradable emission permits and many countries have introduced systems of tradable green certificates (TGCs). In this paper, we analyze how integrated TGC markets function and how they are affected by harsher CO2 emission constraints. A key result of our analytical model is that TGCs may be an imprecise instrument for regulating the generation of green electricity. Furthermore, our analysis shows that the combination of TGCs with a system of tradable emission permits may yield outcomes contrary to the intended purpose. The results are valid under both autarky and international trade.


Using a time-dependent approach, we investigated all-site and site-specific cancer incidence in a large population stratified by diabetes status. The study analyzed a closed cohort comprised of Israelis aged 21-89 years, enrolled in a health fund, and followed from 2002 to 2012. Adjusting for age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, we calculated hazard ratios for cancer incidence using Cox regression separately for participants with prevalent and incident diabetes; the latter was further divided by time since diabetes diagnosis. Of the 2,186,196 individuals included in the analysis, 159,104 were classified as having prevalent diabetes, 408,243 as having incident diabetes, and 1,618,849 as free of diabetes. In both men and women, diabetes posed an increased risk of cancers of the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, endometrium, stomach, kidney, brain (benign), brain (malignant), colon/rectum, lung (all, adenocarcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma), ovary, and bladder, as well as leukemia, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and breast cancer in postmenopausal women. No excess risk was observed for breast cancer in premenopausal women or for thyroid cancer. Diabetes was associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Hazard ratios for all-site and site-specific cancers were particularly elevated during the first year following diabetes diagnosis. The findings of this large study with a time-dependent approach are consistent with those of previous studies that have observed associations between diabetes and cancer incidence.


The project DeWaLoP, led by Vienna Water, aims to develop a robot that is able to apply a sealing system to repair the joint sockets of pressure operating water pipes measuring about 1 m in diameter. To do this, a modification of the sealing material for inner surface application will be developed and a complex robot system will be designed to perform various tasks, such as inspecting, cleaning and restoring. Seven commercial sealing materials with a broad spectrum of mechanical and physical properties were tested. For this purpose, a series of tests was carried out to measure tensile strength, bending and adhesion; in addition, dynamic mechanical analyses, differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses were also conducted. A change in the mechanical and physical properties of these materials after water exposure could be observed. Furthermore, the surface preparation and remaining contaminants, e.g. rust, can affect the adhesion properties of the sealant. The plan is to develop a formulation of a matched material based on the results of these tests and the existing knowledge about the behaviour of sealing materials. The proposed in-pipe robot consists of three main subsystems: a control station, a mobile robot (similar to a vehicle) and a maintenance unit with a redevelopment system. An operator controls the movement of the cable-tethered robot system remotely from outside the construction side.


Background Tuberculosis (TB) is a problem in developing countries, because the rate of disease incidence is still high and included in the big 10 leading cause of death in the world. As TB prevalence cases increase, community participation in finding new TB cases is very important. The method that used by various countries is by community-based case finding or Active Case Finding in the community (Active Case Finding). Purpose Evaluating the program implementation in the discovery of new TB cases by TB careworker at the health center in an effort to control TB in DIY (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, DIY). Method This type of research is a quantitative survey. The subjects are TB worker in Puskesmas Yogyakarta, as much 120 people. The instrument used was a questionnaire containing ways of case finding, knowledge, behavior, case finding constraints, types of activities, and main tasks. The analysis uses frequency distribution and is presented in tabular form. Result TB worker in Puskesmas DIY have taken several ways in carrying out new TB case finding; such as Active Case Finding, Pasive Case Finding, knock on the door, counseling, screening and screening. There are some obstacles in the implementation of the discovery of new TB cases; such as limited time and lack of personnel, lack of budget, multiple task burdens, and some areas that do not yet have cadres. The majority of TB careworker are nurses (90%). The aim of new TB cases found in DIY Province was only 48.3% from the target. Conclusion European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 7, Issue 3, 202


This study examined teaching strategies and instructor characteristics perceived by students to be effective in teaching accounting. A descriptive survey design was of accounting students in Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University. The average mean score and multiple regression were used for data analysis. The findings showed that student professional knowledge, tech teaching. These were significantly and positively correlated with effective teaching. This study contributes to the understanding of students' perceptions of effective teaching methods characteristics for accounting learning.


We have investigated a complete sample of the nearest 39 late type giants (d<=25pc) for which we have probed the X-ray luminosity function with unprecedented sensitivity by deep (3...18ksec) ROSAT PSPC-observations in the pointed mode, together with ROSAT All-Sky survey (RASS) data. We confirm the X-ray dividing line for luminosity class III giants as proposed by Haisch et al. (1991, 1992) and we find evidence, that essentially all luminosity class III giants with B-V<1.2 or spectral type <K3, that is to the hot side of the X-ray dividing line in the HR diagram, show X-ray emission with typical luminosities of about 10^27^erg/s. A few stars like β Cet have considerably higher X-ray luminosities. On the right, cool side of the X-ray dividing line, we find only one X-ray emitting star in our sample, while the other stars have upper limits for their ratios of X-ray to bolometric luminosities as low as logL_x_/L_bol_<=-10. We find observational evidence for a minimum X-ray surface flux to the left of the dividing line of the order of =~100erg/cm^2^/s, which seems to be independent of B-V colour. The data and their implications for our understanding of coronae of late-type giants, in particular the questions concerning the dividing lines and possible acousting heating of the coronae are discussed in some detail.


The Arctic tundra has been shown to be a potentially significant regional sink for methyl chloride (CH3Cl) and methyl bromide (CH3Br), although prior field studies were spatially and temporally limited, and did not include gross flux measurements. Here we compare net and gross CH3Cl and CH3Br fluxes in the northern coastal plain and continental interior. As expected, both regions were net sinks for CH3Cl and CH3Br. Gross uptake rates (−793 nmol CH3Cl m−2 day−1 and −20.3 nmol CH3Br m−2 day−1) were 20–240% greater than net fluxes, suggesting that the Arctic is an even greater sink than previously believed. Hydrology was the principal regulator of methyl halide flux, with an overall trend towards increasing methyl halide uptake with decreasing soil moisture. Water table depth was one of the best predictors of net and gross uptake, with uptake increasing proportionately with water table depth. In drier areas, gross uptake was very high, averaging −1201 nmol CH3Cl m−2 day−1 and −34.9 nmol CH3Br m−2 day−1; in flooded areas, gross uptake was significantly lower, averaging −61 nmol CH3Cl m−2 day−1 and −2.3 nmol CH3Br m−2 day−1. Net and gross uptake was greater in the continental interior than in the northern coastal plain, presumably due to drier inland conditions. Within certain microtopographic features (low‐ and high‐centered polygons), uptake rates were positively correlated with soil temperature, indicating that temperature played a secondary role in methyl halide uptake. Incubations suggested that the inverse relationship between water content and methyl halide uptake was the result of mass transfer limitation in saturated soils, rather than because of reduced microbial activity under anaerobic conditions. These findings have potential regional significance, as the Arctic is expected to become warmer and drier due to anthropogenic climate forcing, potentially enhancing the Arctic sink for CH3Cl and CH3Br.


The social modeling of eating effect refers to the consistently demonstrated phenomenon that individuals tend to match the quantity of their food intake to their eating companion. The current study aimed to explore the mirror neuron system (MNS) as a causal mechanism through which this effect may occur. Factors demonstrated to enhance MNS activity were additionally explored as moderators. The current study thus aimed to examine whether: (1) external eating moderated social modeling of eating as mediated by MNS activity, (2) external eating was associated with attentional bias to food, and (3) attentional bias towards food moderated the indirect modeling effect. Under the guise of rating empathy, 93 female undergraduates at Lakehead University viewed a female video confederate "incidentally" consume either a low or high intake of chips while electroencephalogram (EEG) activity was recorded. Subsequent ad libitum potato chip consumption was quantified. Neither external eating nor attentional bias towards food moderated the hypothesized indirect social modeling of eating effect. An exploratory firstand second-stage dual moderation model, however, revealed that frontal asymmetry and body mass index (BMI) moderated an indirect effect. Left frontal asymmetry was associated with greater mu activity and a positive association between model and participant chip consumption, while right frontal asymmetry was associated with less mu activity and a negative association. Across all levels of frontal asymmetry, the effect was only significant among those with a BMI at the 50 percentile or lower. Thus, among leaner individuals, the MNS mediated social modeling of eating, as moderated by frontal asymmetry. Left frontal asymmetry enhanced MNS activity and subsequent modeling, while right frontal asymmetry attenuated MNS activity and led to a reversal of the effect. SOCIAL MODELING OF EATING AND THE MNS iii Table of


Implementation of quantified self technologies in workplaces relies on the ontological premise of Cartesian dualism with mind dominant over body. Contributing to debates in new materialism, we demonstrate that workers are now being asked to measure our own productivity and health and well-being in art-houses and warehouses alike in both the global north and south. Workers experience intensified precarity, austerity, intense competition for jobs and anxieties about the replacement of labour-power with robots and other machines as well as, ourselves replaceable, other humans. Workers have internalised the imperative to perform, a subjectification process as we become observing entrepreneurial subjects and observed, objectified labouring bodies. Thinking through the implications of the use of wearable technologies in workplaces, this article shows that these technologies introduce a heightened Taylorist influence on precarious working bodies within neoliberal workplaces.


This article describes the application of the method of electric prospection to the detection of floors of hispanic type associated with the site of Nombre de Dios. This site represents an important and ancient Spanish settlement founded during the time of the European conquest in the American continent around the year 1510. The electric prospection developed in the site was conformed by a mapping of apparent resistivity of a small area (10 x 10) m obtained through an electrode arrangement pole - pole type and developed during the dry time. The results obtained in the interpolation process for the obtaining ofthe apparent resistivity map ofthe subsoil showed a group ofelectric anomalies withhigh values, whichwentassociatedto agroundsystemofpebbles built duringthe period. The areaswithlowvalues ofapparent resistivity were associated to the sedimentary material that characterizes the region. Later on, the excavation works carried out on one of the electric strong anomalies agreed with the results of this geophysical prospection; a probe of 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.2 m revealed the superior part of afloorofpebbles; and this colonial structure rests under a wet layer of superficial sedimentary material. Below the hispanic floors, the moisture turned out to be bigger. Later to the excavations, and with the objective of generating asynthetic map ofelectricalresistivitywiththe same characteristics observed in the map ofvalues ofmeasured resistivity, it was intended a 3D geoelectric model incorporating the main characteristics ofthe floor ofpebbles detected during the excavation, as well as the surrounding materials.


To ensure grid efficiency and reliability, power system operators continuously monitor the operational characteristics of the grid through a critical process called state estimation (SE), which performs the task by filtering and fusing various measurements collected from grid sensors. This study analyzes the vulnerability of the key operation module, namely ac-based SE, against potential cyber attacks on data integrity, also known as false data injection attack (FDIA). A general form of FDIA can be formulated as an optimization problem, whose objective is to find a stealthy and sparse data injection vector on the sensor measurements with the aim of making the state estimate spurious and misleading. Due to the nonlinear ac measurement model and the cardinality constraint, the problem includes both continuous and discrete nonlinearities. To solve the FDIA problem efficiently, we propose a novel convexification framework based on semidefinite programming (SDP). By analyzing a globally optimal SDP solution, we delineate the "attackable region" for any given set of measurement types and grid topology, where the spurious state can be falsified by FDIA. Furthermore, we prove that the attack is stealthy and sparse, and derive performance bounds. Simulation results on various IEEE test cases indicate the efficacy of the proposed convexification approach. From the grid protection point of view, the results of this study can be used to design a security metric for the current practice against cyber attacks, redesign the bad data detection scheme, and inform proposals of grid hardening. From a theoretical point of view, the proposed framework can be used for other nonconvex problems in power systems and beyond.


Due to its high solubility and poor adsorption to the soil matrix, the post‐emergence herbicide 2‐methyl‐4‐chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) is susceptible to transport into surface and groundwater bodies, where it can result in compromised water quality and breaches of legislative standards. However, there is still poor understanding of catchment scale dynamics and transport, particularly across heterogeneous hydrogeological settings. While it is known that MCPA degrades under aerobic conditions, negligible breakdown can occur in anaerobic environments, potentially creating a legacy in saturated soils. Fast runoff pathways post application are likely transport routes, but the relative contribution from the mobilization of legacy MCPA from anaerobic zones has yet to be quantified, making the delineation of MCPA sources encountered during monitoring programs challenging. While ecotoxicological effects have been examined, little is known about the interaction of MCPA (and its degradation products) with other pesticides, with nutrients or with colloids, and how this combines with environmental conditions to contribute to multiple stressor effects. We examine the state of MCPA knowledge, using case study examples from Ireland, and consider the implications of its widespread detection in waterbodies and drinking water supplies. Research themes required to ensure the sustainable and safe use of MCPA in an evolving agricultural, social and political landscape are identified here. These include the need to identify mitigation measures and/or alternative treatments, to gain insights into the conditions governing mobilization and attenuation, to map pathways of migration and to identify direct, synergistic and antagonistic ecotoxicological effects.


Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) are a class of models that define respondent ability on a set of predefined categorical latent variables. In recent years, the popularity of these models has begun to increase. As the community of researchers of practitioners of DCMs grow, it is important to examine the implementation of these models, including the process of model estimation. A key aspect of the estimation process that remains unexplored in the DCM literature is model reduction, or the removal of parameters from the model in order to create a simpler, more parsimonious model. The current study fills this gap in the literature by first applying several model reduction processes on a real data set, the Diagnosing Teachers' Multiplicative Reasoning assessment (Bradshaw et al., 2014). Results from this analysis indicate that the selection of model reduction process can have large implications for the resulting parameter estimates and respondent classifications. A simulation study is then conducted to evaluate the relative performance of these various model reduction processes. The results of the simulation suggest that all model reduction processes are able to provide quality estimates of the item parameters and respondent masteries, if the model is able to converge. The findings also show that if the full model does not converge, then reducing the structural model provides the best opportunities for achieving a converged solution. Implications of this study and directions for future research are discussed.


The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new class of spaces, called linearly stratifiable spaces, which contains the class of stratifiable spaces and is contained in the class of hereditarily paracompact spaces. The notion of linearly stratifiable spaces is related to several of the concepts most recently studied by the late Professor Hisahiro Tamano, and also to questions raised by A. H. Stone and E. A. Michael concerning the normality and paracompactness of certain product spaces.


Objective: Traditional approaches to address obesity typically entail severe caloric restriction and drastic alterations in activity pattern. The MFit Weight Management Program, a derivative of the University of Michigan Health System, takes a different approach to weight loss. The goal of the program is to stress the development of longterm lifestyle changes and it places less emphasis on rapid weight loss. It was the purpose of this study to determine whether the MFit Weight Management Program, a behavioral modification program, is successful for decreasing anthropometric and cardiovascular measurements of obesity. Research Methods and Procedures: This is an ongoing study with revolving subject recruitment; therefore, some data analysis is completed, while some is ongoing. The dataset will grow as additional MFit Programs are completed. To date, 72 subjects have completed the 12 week program and 21 subjects have completed the 6 month follow up. At the pre, mid, post, and 6 month follow up fractions of the weight management program, cardiovascular and anthropometric measurements of obesity were assessed. Data analysis was performed by running an analysis of variance. The ANOVA was run twice, first by comparing the data of the completed subjects over time by pre, mid, and post fractions. Secondly, by comparing the 6 month completed subject data by pre, mid, post, and 6 month fractions. All statistical procedures were performed using SPSS 12.0 for Windows. Statistical significance was defined by a probability of less than or equal to 0.05. Results: During the 12 week program significant results were obtained in total cholesterol (P = 0.000), NHDL cholesterol (P = 0.001), RHR (P = 0.030), percent initial body weight lost (P = 0.000), pounds lost (P = 0.000), neck circumference (P = 0.000), and waist circumference (P = 0.005). Significant results in the 6 month follow up participants included percent weight lost (P = 0.010), pounds lost (P = 0.016), neck circumference (P = 0.018), and BMI (P = 0.002). Discussion: Preliminary results of the study indicate significant change in anthropometric and cardiovascular measures over a course of 12 weeks and a 6 month time period. Therefore, the results provide support for the notion that a behavior modification program can decrease cardiovascular and anthropometric measures that are indicators of obesity and its associated health risks over both a short and long term time period. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Health Promotion and Human Performance First Advisor Stephen McGregor, PhD Second Advisor Sheldon Levine


Engine malfunctions during helicopter flight poses a large risk to pilot and crew. Without a quick and coordinated reaction, such situations lead to a complete loss of control. An autonomous landing system could react quicker to regain control, however current emergency landing methods only generate dynamically feasible trajectories without considering obstacles. We address the problem of autonomously landing a helicopter while considering a realistic context: multiple potential landing zones, geographical terrain, sensor limitations and pilot contextual knowledge. We designed a planning system to generate alternate routes (AR) that respect these factors till touchdown exploiting the human-in-loop to make a choice. This paper presents an algorithm, RRT*-AR, building upon the optimal sampling-based algorithm RRT* to generate AR in realtime and examines its performance for simulated failures occurring in mountainous terrain, while maintaining optimality guarantees. After over 4500 trials, RRT*-AR outperformed RRT* by providing the human 280% more options 67% faster on average. As a result, it provides a much wider safety margin for unaccounted disturbances, and a more secure environment for a pilot. Using AR, the focus can now shift on delivering safety guarantees and handling uncertainties in these situations.


The goal of the scene labeling task is to assign a class label to each pixel in an image. To ensure a good visual coherence and a high class accuracy, it is essential for a model to capture long range (pixel) label dependencies in images. In a feed-forward architecture, this can be achieved simply by considering a sufficiently large input context patch, around each pixel to be labeled. We propose an approach that consists of a recurrent convolutional neural network which allows us to consider a large input context while limiting the capacity of the model. Contrary to most standard approaches, our method does not rely on any segmentation technique nor any task-specific features. The system is trained in an end-to-end manner over raw pixels, and models complex spatial dependencies with low inference cost. As the context size increases with the built-in recurrence, the system identifies and corrects its own errors. Our approach yields state-of-the-art performance on both the Stanford Background Dataset and the SIFT Flow Dataset, while remaining very fast at test time.


In the literature on bilingual aphasia a number of patients have been described that show (spontaneous) language switching. Unfortunately, there is a lack of relevant information about the actual switching behaviour in the descript ion of these cases. In general, the occurrence of the phenomenon is stressed rather than the linguistic characteristics of the switches in spontaneous speech.In the present article, a more detailed description is given of a patient who appeared to switch between his native language (Dutch) and several foreign languages (French, German, English) in the first post-onset month. Transcriptions of spontaneous speech were analysed in order to get more insight into the switching process. Many switches seem to result from word finding problems. In some cases the word finding problems were 'solved' by using foreign words or sentences; in other cases the patient simply gave up and started a new sentence.Data on code-switching in bilingual aphasia are compared with data on non-aphasic code-switching. The two types of code-switching appear to differ considerably with regard to structural aspects of switching behaviour.


This paper investigates quantitatively the effects of trade policy on agriculture in the empirical context of Peninsular Malaysia using a SAM-based multi-sectoral, general equilibrium model. The focus of the analysis is on the economy-wide implications of changes in tariffs on import-substituting manufacturing activities. In general, the results bear out the expectation that industrial protection distorts incentives favoring manufacturing and nontradable activities over agriculture as a whole. Whereas this result is familiar from other recent studies, the general-equilibrium approach allows many additional disaggregate findings. Industrial protection in Malaysia taxes, e.g., not all agricultural sectors. The rubber sector is discriminated by tariff protection for manufacturing, but the oil palm sector is favored due to strong forward linkages to the protected industries.


Design as an activity, a subject and an end product is expanding. Today we design everything from drugs to welfare systems. Society is an artefact where natural laws or science are no longer valid. But if everything is design and everyone designs what is then the particular competence of the practising professional in graphic, industrial or interior design? How can a design researcher contribute to the development of knowledge when it is argued that all research is design? The background for the discussion is pragmatic rather than ideological and is based in the authors own practice as a designer, researcher and educator. There is a growing need to articulate and visualise design practice and research for a larger audience. To handle and form complex forms into a coherent whole is suggested to be a central competence in design practice. It is argued that artefacts embody knowledge that speaks to us in an implicit manner. The ability to develop, use and understand the language of these materialisations is an important part of the designer knowledge in practice and research.


Aerosol particle number size distributions and hygroscopic properties were measured at a pasture site in the southwestern Amazon region (Rondonia). The measurements were performed 11 September-14 November 2002 as part of LBA-SMOCC (Large scale Biosphere atmosphere experiment in Amazonia - SMOke aerosols, Clouds, rainfall and Climate), and cover the later part of the dry season (with heavy biomass burning), a transition period, and the onset of the wet period. Particle number size distributions were measured with a DMPS (Differential Mobility Particle Sizer, 3-850 nm) and an APS (Aerodynamic Particle Sizer), extending the distributions up to 3.3 mu m in diameter. An H-TDMA (Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer) measured the hygroscopic diameter growth factors (Gf) at 90% relative humidity (RH), for particles with dry diameters (d(p)) between 20-440 nm, and at several occasions RH scans (30-90% RH) were performed for 165 nm particles. These data provide the most extensive characterization of Amazonian biomass burning aerosol, with respect to particle number size distributions and hygroscopic properties, presented until now. The evolution of the convective boundary layer over the course of the day causes a distinct diel variation in the aerosol physical properties, which was used to get information about the properties of the aerosol at higher altitudes. The number size distributions averaged over the three defined time periods showed three modes; a nucleation mode with geometrical median diameters (GMD) of similar to 12 nm, an Aitken mode (GMD=61-92 nm) and an accumulation mode (GMD=128-190 nm). The two larger modes were shifted towards larger GMD with increasing influence from biomass burning. The hygroscopic growth at 90% RH revealed a somewhat external mixture with two groups of particles; here denoted nearly hydrophobic (Gf similar to 1.09 for 100 nm particles) and moderately hygroscopic (Gf similar to 1.26). While the hygroscopic growth factors were surprisingly similar over the periods, the number fraction of particles belonging to each hygroscopic group varied more, with the dry period aerosol being more dominated by nearly hydrophobic particles. As a result the total particle water uptake rose going into the cleaner period. The fraction of moderately hygroscopic particles was consistently larger for particles in the accumulation mode compared to the Aitken mode for all periods. Scanning the H-TDMA over RH (30-90% RH) showed no deliquescence behavior. A parameterization of both Gf(RH) and Gf(d(p)), is given. (Less)


Garoff, L. 2018. Exploring the Ciprofloxacin Resistome. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine 1495. 61 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-513-0448-9. This thesis presents an exploration of the resistance evolution in Escherichia coli towards the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. High level ciprofloxacin resistance is typically acquired by an accumulation of mutations and plasmid borne genes reducing drug target binding, increasing drug efflux, and modifying the drug. Paper I describes the finding that novel mutations in tRNA synthetase gene leuS conferred resistance to ciprofloxacin. We also provided evidence for a mechanism, where the leuS mutations induced global changes in transcription that generated a net effect of increased drug efflux. In Paper II we observed that the evolutionary trajectory towards high level ciprofloxacin resistance in E. coli is repeatable and predictable in in vitro evolution experiments. However, the types and order of appearance of selected mutations was highly dependent on the bottleneck size used. In addition to the findings in Paper I, we found that mutations involved in transcription and translation were repeatedly selected upon subjection to high concentrations of ciprofloxacin. Paper III explored the resistance capacity of the plasmid-borne gene qnr, which reduces ciprofloxacin susceptibility by a target protection mechanism. We found that upon increased expression, the gene qnrS was able to bring E. coli to clinically resistant levels of ciprofloxacin without the addition of other resistance elements. In Paper IV we aimed for a similar study as described above but with another plasmid-borne gene, the inner-membrane efflux pump qepA. However, we ran into the interesting finding of a potentially undescribed regulatory mechanism of qepA expression, which we are currently investigating. The work in this thesis presents a new addition of mutations causing ciprofloxacin resistance, and evidence that the dogma of accumulative mutations being a requirement to develop clinical resistance to ciprofloxacin in E. coli can be circumvented. This shows that there is still much to explore, even with a drug used for several decades with an already well documented resistome. We need to learn more about the evolutionary trajectories leading to antibiotic resistance, in order to slow down its development towards existing and future antibiotics to the furthest extent possible.


Abstract— Induction of apoptosis is a function of external stimuli and cellular gene expression. Many cells respond to DNA damage by the induction of apoptosis, which depends on a functional p53 protein and is signaled by elevation of p53 levels. In this study, we found that a prior exposure to mild stress (42A°C) can protect HepG2 (p53+/+) ceUs from a subsequent UVC‐induced apoptosis determined by DNA fragmentation and ratio of sub‐Gl peak, but no heat‐enhanced protection was found in Hep3B (p53‐/‐) cells. Although a similar inductive pattern of HSP70 protein and mRNA was detected in the two cell lines under thermal stress, the effect of thermal stress on UVC‐induced apoptosis in HepG2 and Hep3B cells was obviously different. Overexpression of HSP70 by transient trans‐fection of HSP70 expression vector in HepG2 cells significantly inhibited UVC‐induced cell death; however, this inhibitory effect did not occur in transfected‐Hep3B cells. Treatment of HepG2 cells with p53‐specific anti‐sense oligonucleotide could effectively block the antiapo‐ptotic effect of thermal stress on UVC‐induced apoptosis and increase of intracellular wild‐type p53 protein by transfecting wtp53 expression plasmid into Hep3B cells yielded more resistance to UVC irradiation after prior thermal stress exposure. The results reveal an involvement of p53 in the antiapoptotic effect of thermal stress on UVC irradiation. Finally, a p53 protein increase was detected in UVC‐treated HepG2 cells and could be coim‐munoprecipitated with HSP70 after a thermal stress treatment Prolonged p53 binding activity and enhanced expression of p53‐controlled genes such as Gl arrest and DNA damage 45 and wild‐type p53 activation factor 1/ Cdk‐interacting protein 1 by thermal stress are also observed in UVC‐irradiated HepG2 cells. Based on these results, we propose that the antiapoptotic effect of thermal stress is mediated by increasing HSP70 and modulating intracellular p53 function.


Declining enrolment and teacher redundancy have been crucial issues for many provinces in Canada and the United States for more than two decades. -- In Newfoundland and Labrador, declining student enrolment surfaced as a serious problem in the late 1970's. At that time lobbying by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association played a major role in Government's decision to enact legislation (The Schools Act (Teachers' Staffing) Regulations) stating that no more than 2% of any school board's teachers could be lost in any one school year. In 1994, the 2% regulation was amended to phase out, over a two year period, the total number of teaching units accumulated as a result of allocations under the 2% regulation. Amending the 2% regulation meant considerable saving in teacher salaries to the government. -- The Green Bay Integrated School District was one of the most severely hit districts in the province. During the 1970's and early 1980's enrolment was fairly consistent, but by the late 1980's steady declines had begun. A Welcome Back Program created by the district during the late 1980's and early 1990's encouraged adults to take courses in local schools and these students were included in enrolment numbers. When the program was discontinued, the district's student enrolment plummeted. This decline in student enrolment meant that fewer teachers would be needed. As a consequence of the 2% regulation, the surplus teachers were not all lost at one time. Each year the district cut its numbers by only four teachers, the maximum that could be lost in any one year. -- In 1994-95, the district had to remove twenty-four teachers, and another sixteen in 1995-96, as decided by the Department of Education. It is expected that up to twenty-seven more teachers may be lost in the Green Bay Integrated School District for the 1996-97 school year as the phase out of the 2% regulation ends. One would expect that such drastic measures will affect students, teachers, and administrators in this district. -- This thesis looks at the effects of the loss of forty teachers from the Green Bay Integrated School District over a two year period. The focus is on the eight schools that offer high school courses, from grades seven to twelve, four of which are all-grade schools. -- The findings reveal that most schools have had to combine classes, and cut back on specialty programs and extracurricular activities. In addition, teachers have had to deal with heavier workloads and have felt added stress because of work, job insecurity and suffering morale. -- As a group, the teachers in this district are highly educated and experienced. The aging of staffs is particularly significant as layoffs done according to seniority result in the younger, more currently trained teachers being terminated. -- Thus far the smaller, all-grade schools have been most negatively affected. Cuts in their schools have made already heavy teaching loads even heavier. In the larger schools the loss of teachers has been easier to accommodate. Optional courses and some programs have been cut, but overall the effects on these teachers relate more to morale and job security issues. -- These two matters not only affect the teachers themselves, but may be transferred to students through teachers' attitudes and job performance.


This research introduces "brand prominence," a construct reflecting the conspicuousness of a brand's mark or logo on a product. The authors propose a taxonomy that assigns consumers to one of four groups according to their wealth and need for status, and they demonstrate how each group's preference for conspicuously or inconspicuously branded luxury goods corresponds predictably with their desire to associate or dissociate with members of their own and other groups. Wealthy consumers low in need for status want to associate with their own kind and pay a premium for quiet goods only they can recognize. Wealthy consumers high in need for status use loud luxury goods to signal to the less affluent that they are not one of them. Those who are high in need for status but cannot afford true luxury use loud counterfeits to emulate those they recognize to be wealthy. Field experiments along with analysis of market data (including counterfeits) support the proposed model of status signaling using brand prominence.