In most developing countries the characteristics ofthe poor go beyond the traditional definition ofpoverty. Whilst the latter broadly refers to lack of access to material resources, there are other factors that are linked to poverty. This thesis identifies one of these factors as soCial exclusion which is suggested as a barrier to poverty reduction efforts. Drawing from the experience on the concept of social exclusion as developed in the north, and extended to some countries in the south, the social exclusion framework is applied within the context of a country in the south, namely Botswana. The thesis investigates the operation of social exclusion within the Basarwa minority group in the country, by identifying the appropriate mechanisms that drive social exclusion, describing the processes of exclusion, and delineating its characteristics. This is done within the context of testing the proposition that social exclusion is one of the factors linked to the persistence of poverty. Noting that persistence of poverty is conventionally attributed, among others things, to shortfall in education and skills, lack of opportunities and capital or land, the thesis investigates the root causes of these factors in as far as Basarwa are concerned. It is argued that such shortfalls and failure to obtain adequate resources are due to exclusionary processes operating at two levels. The major findings are that the concept is multidimensional and that the target group faces exclusion in political, socio-cultural, economic, spatial and legal terms. This exclusion operates at the national and local levels. Owing to this multiple exclusion, Basarwa generally face difficulties in escaping poverty, with the older generation being the most affected. Social exclusion is a barrier to poverty reduction because it makes it difficult for the Basarwa to obtain equal and satisfactory access to opportunities, assets, and resources available in political, economic and social fields of society. The thesis offers some policy suggestions about how to reduce social exclusion.


Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of a single intravitreal bevacizumab injection after cataract surgery for the management of postoperative decrease in vision in patients with diabetic macular oedema.Methods: In this randomised controlled open-label parallel group study of 60 patients with diabetic macular oedema and lens opacity (grade ≥3), 30 eyes received a single intravitreal bevacizumab injection after cataract surgery, and 30 control eyes did not receive bevacizumab. The primary endpoint was change in best-corrected visual acuity 6 weeks after operation compared with that at baseline using the Snellen visual acuity chart.Results: Postoperative visual acuity was significantly different between the group receiving bevacizumab and the control group (p<0.005). All patients in the bevacizumab group had postoperative visual acuities above 6/18 with 27 patients having visual acuities of 6/12 or better compared with 6 patients in the control group. None of the patients in the bevacizumab group had visual acuities less than 6/18 compared with 11 patients in the control group.Conclusion: Intravitreal bevacizumab after cataract surgery appears to be beneficial for preventing postoperative visual loss in eyes with diabetic retinopathy by reducing the risk of macular thickening.


Many Americans are under the impression that slavery ended following the Civil War. However, this is a vast oversimplification of the reality that Black men and women faced in the South after the war's end. Freedmen's bureau reports, "Black Codes," and the research of historians demonstrate the ways in which Black men and women were treated following the end of the Civil War. Comparing the conditions revealed in the aforementioned sources to the conditions Black men and women faced during legal slavery reveals startling similarities. Violence against Blacks continued to be widespread in the post-war period, and many Black men and women were even bought and sold through convict leasing. In short, slavery continued in all but name. slavery, Civil


During the spring migration arctic-breeding geese pause in temperate and subarctic staging areas in order to deposit body reserves for breeding. Focusing on a single arctic stopover site in West-Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway (Vårsolbukta, 77°45′N, 14°24′E), behavioural strategies of Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis were investigated and body condition and presence of individually marked birds recorded. Individuals using different staging areas earlier along the migration route (Helgeland and Vesterålen on the Norwegian mainland) and heading to different breeding colonies (the close-by Nordenskiöldkysten, and the distant Kongsfjorden) were compared during springs 2003–05. Birds in Vesterålen left the staging area earlier than those in Helgeland, and arrived earlier in Vårsolbukta as well. In Vårsolbukta, females gained body condition at a similar rate regardless of their colony affiliation, whereas males from Nordenskiöldkysten exhibited a smaller overall increase in condition compared to males from Kongsfjorden. The Kongsfjorden birds stayed for a shorter period (average 2.8 days) than those from Nordenskiöldkysten (average 4.0 days). Nordenskiöldkysten birds frequently left Vårsolbukta for short periods presumably visiting the breeding area in order to optimise nest initiation with respect to prevailing snow conditions. The date of final departure was also correlated with nest initiation date at Nordenskiöldkysten. No such relationship for the Kongsfjorden birds was found. We suggest that the geese adopt a 'hopping' strategy, using a network of stopover sites in Svalbard during spring with a last stopover at a buffer area in the proximity to the breeding area. For this vulnerable population it is important to identify the sites forming the links in this chain, and to establish their function and utilisation by geese during the vital prebreeding period.


3D object detection is an essential task in autonomous driving and robotics. Though great progress has been made, challenges remain in estimating 3D pose for distant and occluded objects. In this paper, we present a novel framework named ZoomNet for stereo imagery-based 3D detection. The pipeline of ZoomNet begins with an ordinary 2D object detection model which is used to obtain pairs of left-right bounding boxes. To further exploit the abundant texture cues in rgb images for more accurate disparity estimation, we introduce a conceptually straight-forward module – adaptive zooming, which simultaneously resizes 2D instance bounding boxes to a unified resolution and adjusts the camera intrinsic parameters accordingly. In this way, we are able to estimate higher-quality disparity maps from the resized box images then construct dense point clouds for both nearby and distant objects. Moreover, we introduce to learn part locations as complementary features to improve the resistance against occlusion and put forward the 3D fitting score to better estimate the 3D detection quality. Extensive experiments on the popular KITTI 3D detection dataset indicate ZoomNet surpasses all previous state-of-the-art methods by large margins (improved by 9.4% on APbv (IoU=0.7) over pseudo-LiDAR). Ablation study also demonstrates that our adaptive zooming strategy brings an improvement of over 10% on AP3d (IoU=0.7). In addition, since the official KITTI benchmark lacks fine-grained annotations like pixel-wise part locations, we also present our KFG dataset by augmenting KITTI with detailed instance-wise annotations including pixel-wise part location, pixel-wise disparity, etc.. Both the KFG dataset and our codes will be publicly available at https://github.com/detectRecog/ZoomNet.


Background: Resilience of knowledge about management of first-aid accidents is very important to motivate in conducting help. Perception of first aid skills creates confidence in preparedness. The objective of the study was to analyze employee skill about first aid to accident after training at STIKES RS. Baptist Kediri.
Method: Research Design is pre-experiment. The population is all administrative employees STIKES Baptist Hospital Kediri. Sample as many as 12 respondents sampling technique using Purposive Sampling. Independent variable is the first aid training of the accident. Dependent variable is the Resilience of knowledge and perception of skills. Measuring tool using questionnaires and Analog Range Scale (ARS 0-10). The statistical test used the Wilcoxon test with ɑ <0.05.
Result: The result showed that most respondents were female (58%), 31-40 years old (41,7%), 10 years old (25%), had attended emergency treatment (75%). Mean of skill perception (scale 10) on handling of fainting 3,7, and perception of skill of handling of wound dressing skills 2,8. More than half of respondents have enough knowledge (58%) and have good knowledge (75%) about emergency department management after 6 months of training. Based on the results of the study found differences before and after training after 6 months of training. Statistical test results show that all data sets have ρ = 0.015 (ρ <ɑ), which means that there are significant differences before and after training.
Conclusion: Respondents have perceptions of fainting handling skills and wound dressings, but there is Resilience of knowledge after 6 months of training.


The orientational distribution function of a poled, doped polymer film under stress is measured using polarized second-harmonic generation. The four interface nonlinear boundary conditions are solved, and both the magnitude of the second-order susceptibility and the ratio of the tensor components of the second-order susceptibility, χ113(2)/χ333(2)(≡a), are shown to vary with poling field and stress. Further, the sign of the order parameter ratio, 〈P3〉/〈P1〉, as measured directly by polarized second-harmonic generation of these materials, shows that the materials fall into a regime of order unlike other material classes such as Langmuir–Blodgett films and liquid crystals. For a one-dimensional dopant molecule, the order parameters 〈P1〉, 〈P2〉, 〈P3〉, and 〈P4〉 can be estimated. Materials processed in this way are shown to result in a range of tensor ratios of a = 0.33 with a film under no stress to a = 0.7 with a film under moderate stress.


We only need to consider public media reports to appreciate that there is growing concern amongst citizens for sustainability. This concern arises from increasing appreciation that the current direction and rate of exploitation of resources is not sustainable and humanity's actions today are arguably compromising future generations' ability to meet their living needs. By drawing on the research of scientists, ranging from their evidence of the problems of sustainability to those promising solutions, the same press reports show strong links between sustainability and science. The appearance of such reports in the public media implies that citizens understand the interaction of science and sustainability and that they can engage critically with scientific research, including its applications and implications for sustainability. In this dissertation this understanding and capacity to engage critically is termed scientific literacy. The general question governing the research reported in this dissertation arose from this context and is: What does it mean for citizens to be scientifically literate within the context of sustainability? More specifically, because it is expected that university graduates are well educated in a socially relevant manner, with commensurate responsibilities and influence, the focus question studied in this dissertation is: What does it mean for university graduates to be scientifically literate?

It became apparent from the review of the literature, that the concept of scientific literacy was multidimensional. The three key dimensions that emerged were (i) the fundamental and enduring ideas and concepts of science, (ii) the nature of science and (iii) the interaction of science with society. These dimensions provided the framework for the research reported in this dissertation. Within this framework and based on the literature, two relationships amongst these dimensions were proposed. The first relationship was that the dimensions were in a conceptual hierarchal order, with successive dimensions including the previous dimensions and expanding upon them. The second relationship was that students' scientific literacy developed sequentially along the same hierarchy. It was proposed that development occurred sequentially, with development of concepts of science first, nature of science second and interaction with society last. It was proposed that a scientifically literate person would have reached the level of understanding that includes the interaction of science with society. Specific indicators of the successive dimensions were functional, conceptual/procedural and multidimensional, which at this highest level, includes the relationship between the first two dimensions and society.

This framework and the associated indicators were used as a structure and lens for interrogating the development of scientific literacy of 244 first year university students enrolled in Australia's Murdoch University's foundation unit, Life and the Universe. This is one of five units from which first year students are required to select one. The units are interdisciplinary in nature with Life and the Universe being a unit that covers generic issues in science. In part because of its content and in part because it allows students from all backgrounds to enrol, it was considered suitable for studying, illustratively, the development of scientific literacy of potential university graduates. The development of scientific literacy was studied in three ways. First, participants responded to open questions about a newspaper report of science, before and after their studying in Life and the Universe, second, they responded to a Likert style questionnaire regarding the nature of science, again before and after studying the unit, and third, a subset of participants were involved in a focus group run over two years.

The participants' responses to the open questions on the questionnaire were analysed for their critical engagement with the news brief, in terms of their ability to give reasons why the text should be accepted or rejected. The nature of requests for extra information about the news brief's content was also analysed. Analysis of the initial responses to the open questions showed that more than fifty percent of the participants in this study did not demonstrate the ability to critically engage with science reported in the news.

The Likert style questionnaire assessed participants' conception of the nature of science, with one end of the continuum reflecting a traditional view that science was a body of unchanging facts, derived from objective and value free observations, and the other reflecting a more contemporary view, that scientific knowledge was dynamic, open to change, had subjective components, and had scientists socially located so that their work was not free of values. Analysis of the initial responses to the Nature of Science questionnaire showed that more than fifty percent of the participants were located on the continuum towards the contemporary, socially located end. However, it also showed that the majority were still not sufficiently located towards the contemporary end of the continuum to view science as dynamic, with a changing body of knowledge. There was no statistically significant difference in these analyses in relation to participants' gender, time out of school, course of enrolment or science background.

Unexpectedly, the comparison in the analysis of the news brief pre and post Life and the Universe showed that the number of participants engaging critically did not increase. More expectedly, the comparison of the pre and post Life and the Universe responses to the Likert scale showed that there was overall a statistically significant increase in the group's contemporary, socially located, perspective of the nature of science during their participation in the foundation unit. Specifically, the participants demonstrated raised awareness of the tentative and subjective nature of science and that scientists study a world in which they are a part and, as such, their work is not objective or value free. Nevertheless, there was substantial possibility of higher locations on the scale which the majority of participants did not reach. This statistically significant increase, but possibility for further improvement, is compatible with the lack of increase in critical engagement with the news brief and suggests that the statistical increase was not educationally significant.

The focus group data contributed greater depth of understanding to the researcher about the range in participants' conceptions of the nature of science. The conceptions evident were consistent with the conclusions from the open questions and Likert style questionnaire and also highlighted limited understandings of scientific processes or scientific methods. It was evident that misconceptions and naive understandings of the contemporary nature of science were present at the beginning and retained throughout the foundation unit learning experience. These limitations helped explain participants' inability to engage meaningfully and to question critically the science news briefs contained in the questionnaires. Data from the focus group also suggested that a limited understanding of science terms prevented critical engagement with the content of the news briefs.

Following closely the focus group participants' development of scientific literacy over a two year period, allowed the researcher to gain a greater depth of understanding of the participants' development of scientific literacy than that which could be gained alone from the large scale administrations of the questionnaire. This experience highlighted that the development of scientific literacy was far more complex than the originally proposed sequential development across the three dimensions. The analysis of converging sources of data challenged this proposition and resulted in a reconstruction of understanding about the development of scientific literacy. It was evident that the ability and disposition to critically question and act scientifically required parallel development of science content, socially located conceptions of the nature of science and understanding of its interaction with society. It was the blended and parallel development of these knowledge dimensions, at any level, that demonstrated scientific literacy.

In order to characterise the more complex structure amongst the dimensions in which parallel development occurred, a rope metaphor was used. This metaphor effectively represented the observed development of scientific literacy, as it made concrete the interwoven threads of multidimensional knowledge. It represented more realistically the complex, intertwining and multidimensional aspects of participants' development of scientific literacy. Re-thinking the development of scientific literacy and representing the construct with the rope metaphor offered possibilities for effective pedagogy in higher education. The interaction of multidimensional threads of knowledge seems an integral part of the development of scientific literacy and suggests the need for teaching and learning experiences that are holistic in nature and driven by socially relevant contexts.


A numerical study of the expansion of a laser-induced plasma is given by using of techniques of computational fluid dynamics. According to the experiment results reported, the density of electrons is assembled on the surface of the ionization area. In the present simulation, the model is considered as an expansion of plasma bubble in air. The laser energy is absorbed by the surface of the plasma bubble facing to the laser beam. Numerical results show the elongation of the bubble along the laser beam direction, which agrees with the experiments.


A new ultrahigh-resolution photoemission electron microscope called PEEM3 is being developed and built at the Advanced Light Source (ALS). An electron mirror combined with a much-simplified magnetic dipole separator is to be used to provide simultaneous correction of spherical and chromatic aberrations. It is installed on an elliptically polarized undulator (EPU) beamline, and will be operated with very high spatial resolution and high flux to study the composition, structure, electric and magnetic properties of complex materials. The instrument has been designed and is described. The instrumental hardware is being deployed in 2 phases. The first phase is the deployment of a standard PEEM type microscope consisting of the standard linear array of electrostatic electron lenses. The second phase will be the installation of the aberration corrected upgrade to improve resolution and throughput. This paper describes progress as the instrument enters the commissioning part of the first phase.


This Article develops an agency costs theory of the law of private trusts, focusing chiefly on donative trusts. The agency costs approach offers fresh insights into recurring problems in trust law including, among others, modification and termination, settlor standing, fiduciary litigation, trust-investment law and the duty of impartiality, trustee removal, the role of so-called trust protectors, and spendthrift trusts. The normative claim is that the law should minimize the agency costs inherent in locating managerial authority with the trustee and the residual claim with the beneficiaries, but only to the extent that doing so is consistent with the ex ante instructions of the settlor. Accordingly, the use of the private trust triggers a temporal agency problem (whether the trustee will remain loyal to the settlor's original wishes) in addition to the usual agency problem that arises when risk-bearing and management are separated (whether the trustee/manager will act in the best interests of the beneficiaries/residual claimants). The positive claim is that, at least with respect to traditional doctrines, the law conforms to the suggested normative approach. This Article draws on the economics of the principal-agent problem and the theory of the firm, and it engages the ongoing debate about whether trust law is closer to property law or contract law. Although the analysis focuses on donative trusts, it should be amenable to extension in future work to commercial and charitable trusts.


This study investigates the effectiveness of different backwash waters on ultrafiltration (UF) fouling control on a pilot-scale setup. Surface water and ion exchange (IEX) pretreated surface water were used as feed water. Three backwash waters were tested: demineralized water, UF permeate and nanofiltration (NF) permeate. Results show that backwashing with demineralized water substantially improves fouling control efficiency. It is supposed that both the reduction of charge screening and Ca-bridging effect cause this improvement on fouling control. Furthermore, backwashing with NF permeate also negatively influences the fouling control efficiency, indicating the impact of monovalent ions in backwash water on the ultrafiltration fouling. Findings from such a pilot scale setup also show that it is possible to apply backwashing with demineralized water on the operation of UF plants.


Software failures due to configuration errors are commonplace as computer systems continue to grow larger and more complex. Troubleshooting these configuration errors is a major administration cost, especially in server clusters where problems often go undetected without user interference.

This paper presents CODE-a tool that automatically detects software configuration errors. Our approach is based on identifying invariant configuration access rules that predict what access events follow what contexts. It requires no source code, application-specific semantics, or heavyweight program analysis. Using these rules, CODE can sift through a voluminous number of events and detect deviant program executions. This is in contrast to previous approaches that focus on only diagnosis. In our experiments, CODE successfully detected a real configuration error in one of our deployment machines, in addition to 20 user-reported errors that we reproduced in our test environment. When analyzing month-long event logs from both user desktops and production servers, CODE yielded a low false positive rate. The efficiency of CODE makes it feasible to be deployed as a practical management tool with low overhead.


IPSec is the amalgam of protocols dispensing security in IP networks. It has been the rudimentary security component in IPv4 and IPv6 networks providing for data authentication, integrity and confidentiality. Earlier security was not embedded at the IP level however with emergence of large scale public and corporate internets, the user data became vulnerable to malicious activities like privacy attacks and thefts. To mitigate this and secure network traffic, IETF introduced IPSec for robust network communications. IPSec is a framework that provides sublime options for encryption and authentication of data packets. IPSec architecture provides a flexible and agile approach for securing network traffic. Initially IPSec was introduced as an additional component in IPv4, but in next generation internet protocol IPv6, it's an inbuilt component implemented as a part of extension header. Although IPSec is the panacea for securing IP protocol, its implementation and management is unequivocally complex in nature. The implementation involves key management and exchange through IKE, protocol negotiations and establishment of security associations which can significantly decrease performance and degrade IP communication. This fact has a significant impact on real time communication. This paper makes an empirical investigation of the parameters that are affected by implementation of IPSec in IPv6 and 6 to 4 Tunneled Migration Networks. The investigation is significant and evaluates about the performance decay that is encountered by incorporating security. The simulation approach is used and measurements are performed in OPNET Simulator ver. 14.5.


This Article is about the modification and termination of so-called "irrevocable" trusts. A trust may be made irrevocable at the time of its creation or it may become so at a later time. A testamentary trust is one that is embodied in a will and becomes effective at the testator's death. Since the testator will be dead by the time the trust becomes effective, he will not be in a position to modify or revoke it. For the same reason, a revocable trust will become irrevocable when the settlor dies or when the power to revoke is released. Finally, an inter vivos trust may be irrevocable when it is first created if the settlor disclaims the right to revoke or modify the trust. Although these types of trusts are irrevocable as far as the settlor is concerned, they can sometimes be modified or terminated by others. This Article will examine the various ways in which irrevocable trusts can be modified or terminated. It will also consider the potential conflicts that may arise when beneficiaries desire to terminate the trust prematurely or change its terms in some significant way.


This paper focuses on Japanese heritage language (JHL) learners in an Australian context. The paper reports on a research project in a hoshuu-koo institution, a Japanese supplementary school, and explores the experiences of a group of Year 7 students. This study was initiated by identifying to what extent JHL learners can recognise their own skills, especially in proficiency in kanji, one of the Japanese scripts. It was predicted that several elements could relate to the accuracy of self-evaluation. By exploring levels of self-evaluation skills and the elements concerned in Japanese learning, the aim of the research was to help develop differentiated curriculum in the future. Data were based on student performance on kanji tests and answers to questionnaires, and the Excel Correl Function was used to calculate correlation coefficients. Graphs were also used to analyse the data. It was found that students who had relatively high kanji proficiency, especially in higher year levels, recognised their own skills but an overall overestimation was found amongst other students. Specific areas of kanji learning, such as okurigana and radicals, were identified as areas that need to be enhanced for appropriate self-evaluation for most of the students. Learning environment related to evaluation skills was also identified. Concluding comments centre on implications for further teaching approaches and research on the enhancement of kanji self-evaluation skills.


James Anderson critically reinterprets the history of southern black education from Reconstruction to the Great Depression. By placing black schooling within a political, cultural, and economic context, he offers fresh insights into black commitment to education, the peculiar significance of Tuskegee Institute, and the conflicting goals of various philanthropic groups, among other matters. Initially, ex-slaves attempted to create an educational system that would support and extend their emancipation, but their children were pushed into a system of industrial education that presupposed black political and economic subordination. This conception of education and social order--supported by northern industrial philanthropists, some black educators, and most southern school officials--conflicted with the aspirations of ex-slaves and their descendants, resulting at the turn of the century in a bitter national debate over the purposes of black education. Because blacks lacked economic and political power, white elites were able to control the structure and content of black elementary, secondary, normal, and college education during the first third of the twentieth century. Nonetheless, blacks persisted in their struggle to develop an educational system in accordance with their own needs and desires. |James Anderson critically reinterprets the history of southern black education from Reconstruction to the Great Depression. By placing black schooling within a political, cultural, and economic context, he offers fresh insights into black commitment to education, the peculiar significance of Tuskegee Institute, and the conflicting goals of various philanthropic groups, among other matters.


A general theoretical formulism for in-line phase x-ray imaging was presented with a corresponding linear formula in previous works. In this report, an iterative approach is introduced for phase retrieval with a nonlinear formula. The results of simulation showed that the iterative approach can retrieve the phase map more effectively with high efficiency and flexibility.


One of the most controversial theoretical issues of our time is the governance of cybersecurity. Computer security experts, national security experts, and policy analysts have all struggled to bring meaningful analysis to cybersecurity; however, the discipline of law & economics has yet to be fully applied to the issue. This introduction presents work by leading national scholars who examine this complex national security challenge from a law and economics perspective. The focus spans from a discussion of pure market solutions to public-private issue analysis, providing a valuable basis for policy considerations concerning the appropriate governmental role on the issue of cybersecurity.


A general consensus among political economists holds that tariffs are usually enacted under the influence of business lobbyists, who seek protection for their industries. Justin Morrill, author of the 1861 tariff that bears his name, explicitly denied this charge. Instead, Morrill claimed his bill was only "coldly welcomed" by manufacturers, and presented it as a "revenue" measure to restore the 1846 Walker Tariff's rates. Though the 1861 Tariff enjoys a protectionist reputation today, historians have largely accepted Morrill's word on lobbying, purporting the absence of industry pressure. The resulting literature is replete with contradiction regarding the tariff's origins and purposes. Depictions of its protectionist characteristics range from "mild" to "extreme." This article challenges the general acceptance of Morrill's depiction by examining his correspondence with manufacturing interests. Far from being absent, manufacturers from dozens of industries collaborated with Morrill to draft the bill's tariff schedule and obtain favorable levels of protection. The Morrill Tariff's ad valorem equivalent rates are calculated from customs records, thereby facilitating a stronger assessment of its protective character. Though some tariff rate increases, particularly on luxury items, were clearly intended to augment federal revenue, the law imposed protective rates on many import-competing goods well beyond their 1846 levels. Protectionism was typically applied to products where documented lobbyist influence was strong, such as iron and its manufactures, glass, refined sugar, and certain woolens and cloth goods. Morrill's depiction of his tariff should accordingly be interpreted as a political argument to advance the bill rather than an accurate recounting of its legislative origins.


Urban areas are in need of efficient and sustainable mobility service and it seems
that one of the options that arouses more interest are public bicycles systems,
which in the last decade have been promoted in cities all over the world almost
exponentially, surpassing the 500 bike-sharing programs worldwide. This has
resulted in a continuous evolution of these systems, which, due to their recent
appearance, have practically gone ahead of the works focused on their study.
This thesis intends to develop an agent-based simulation model to emulate a bikesharing
system, in order to allow the optimization of the main strategic and tactical
system variables, such as the total number of bicycles, the number of reposition
equipment, the size of the stations and the occupancy after being repositioned, that
is, its balanced occupancy. The model will be applied and validated with the
parameter values of the system currently applied in Barcelona and an improved
scenario will be posed to analyze the performance of a better hypothetical solution
for balanced occupancy as an example of the simulator potential.
The simulation is coded in Matlab® environment, using the paradigm of Object
Oriented Programming, which aims to ease its use, understanding and expansion,
following the open-source philosophy, which has proliferated in recent years.
The document contains the description of the model and the performance of the
program, its structure, and its validation. In addition, the source code can be found
attached for its free download and use.


Repulsive guidance molecule (RGM) family members RGMA, RGMB and RGMC are             GPI-linked membrane proteins recently identified as co-receptor of bone morphogenetic             proteins (BMPs). BMPs are a group of proteins enriched in bone and play important             roles in prostate cancer. The current study aimed to investigate roles played             by RGMs in prostate cancer. Expression of RGMs was examined in prostate cancer             cell lines and prostate cancer tissues using RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining.             Knockdown of each RGM in prostate cancer cells was performed using the respective             anti-RGMA, RGMB and RGMC transgenes. A variety of in vitro function tests were             employed to analyze the influence on cancer cell functions by RGM knockdown. The             implications of RGM knockdown in BMP signalling were also examined using both             Western blot and real-time quantitative PCR. Knockdown of RGMA had no effect on             cell growth, migration and invasion, but promoted cell-matrix adhesion. Knockdown             of RGMB and RGMC increased growth and adhesion, but only RGMB knockdown increased             capacities of migration and invasion in PC-3 cells. Further investigations showed             an increase in Smad-3 activation and reduced levels of Smad-1 in PC-3 cells by             RGMB and RGMC knockdown, and also an up-regulation of ID1, a BMP target gene particularly             in exposure to BMP7. RGMs play inhibitory roles in prostate cancer by suppressing             cell growth, adhesion, migration and invasion. RGMs can coordinate Smad-dependent             signalling of BMPs in prostate cancer cells.


Biofilms are surface-associated bacterial communities that predominate in natural and pathogenic ecosystems. Their formation in drinking water systems creates potential risks for consumers' health. Herein we tested biofilm formation on materials commonly used for indoor household drinking water systems (copper, PVC and stainless steel) simulating an average family water usage. Water parameters were determined by standardized methods while biofilm formation was assessed by epifluorescent and laser scanning confocal microscopy, for determining the numbers of attached cells, biofilm thickness, colony size and average colony surface. Results showed a very fast colonization on all materials used, of log 6–7 cm 2 cells disposed on a single layer on copper and PVC. On stainless steel, beginning on the 24th experimental day, there were observed multiple layers of cells and a rapid increase of biofilm thickness. The lowest overall number of attached cells was found on copper. Microorganism colonization and biofilm formation is possible and quite fast on an indoor water system connected to a chlorinated water network. From the tested materials, the greatest risk to consumer health comes from biofilm formation on stainless steel parts which are used in the very large majority of residences. doi: 10.2166/ws.2011.053 om https://iwaponline.com/ws/article-pdf/11/2/252/416482/252.pdf 2019 A. A. Morvay* (corresponding author) M. Decun C. Sala A. Morar M. Sarandan* Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Banat University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Timisoara, Calea Aradului 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania *These authors have equally contributed to this paper. E-mail: email@example.com M. Scurtu Interdisciplinary Research Platform, Banat University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Timisoara, Calea Aradului 119, 300645 Timisoara, Romania


It is noted that, while there are strong economic forces that drive the computer industry to develop and adopt common standards, both formal and informal, there is an inherent conflict between the intellectual property laws and the concepts of standards and compatibility. Intellectual property laws are intended to create temporary monopolies and to provide economic incentives to the owners of these monopolies, while exclusive ownership of standards is inconsistent with the very idea of a common standard. It is argued that court decisions relating to these issues and the scope of copyright, in particular, are confusing and technically illiterate in many cases, since the adversarial nature of the legal system fails to present the broader industry view of the need for standards and compatibility. It is concluded that, without some concerted industry action, the results of these cases may present significant problems to the industry and may encourage litigation, rather than standardization efforts.<<ETX>>


Formation of self-organized nanogratings in bulk glasses with femtosecond laser pulses is one of the most intriguing phenomena in the interactions of light with transparent materials. With the feature sizes far beyond the optical diffraction limit, these nanostructures have found widespread applications in nanophotonics and nanofluidics. The physics of the phenomenon is still far from being fully understood, largely because of the lack of a technique for noninvasively visualizing the formation of the nanogratings embedded within bulk glasses. Here, we access the snapshots of morphologies in the laser-affected regions in a porous glass that reveal the evolution of the formation of nanogratings with an increasing number of laser pulses. Combined with further theoretical analyses, our observation provides important clues that suggest that excitation of standing plasma waves at the interfaces between areas modified and unmodified by the femtosecond laser irradiation plays a crucial role in promoting the growth of periodic nanogratings. The proposed universal nanostructure growth mechanism involving laser-induced plasma wave formation at the interfaces of the seed structures may tie together many previous observations, meanwhile linking the in-volume nanograting formation to previously discovered mechanisms for surface nanoripple formation.


To prevent the social worker being jammed between the economic and rationalized logic of managers and politicians on the one hand, and the life world of the people on the other, he needs to develop a healthy identity. The social constructive view can help to overcome the identity crisis the social professional is in. It offers a model to analyze the conflict a social professional has to deal with, and forces the social worker to make a clear and moral choice for the life world of his clients. This view seems also suitable to develop an indigenous body of practice theory for social work. The presence theory, the family group work and constructive social work demonstrates the possibilities.
To regain confidence from both the people and the politicians, the rationalized system of planning and control has to be replaced by the trust model. To develop this model we have to find ways to justify the money used in this sector.


With increasing understanding and availability of nuclear technologies, and increasing persuasion of nuclear technologies by several new countries, it is increasingly becoming important to monitor the nuclear proliferation activities. There is a great need for developing technologies to automatically or semi-automatically detect nuclear proliferation activities using remote sensing. Images acquired from earth observation satellites is an important source of information in detecting proliferation activities. High-resolution remote sensing images are highly useful in verifying the correctness, as well as completeness of any nuclear program. DOE national laboratories are interested in detecting nuclear proliferation by developing advanced geospatial image mining algorithms. In this paper we describe the current understanding of geospatial image mining techniques and enumerate key gaps and identify future research needs in the context of nuclear proliferation.


In 2004, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Technology Research and Development Team initiated a research program to conduct a performance assessment of the QinetiQ, Ltd. Tarsier Foreign Object Debris (FOD) detection radar system. The purpose of this assessment was to identify key operational characteristics and limitations of the system at an active air carrier airport, including the system's ability to detect objects of various shapes, sizes, and materials at all locations on the runway surface. The system's ability to detect FOD during both nighttime and daytime conditions, in periods of sun, rain, mist, fog, and in light and heavy snow was also assessed. In January 2005, the FAA developed plans for a comprehensive performance assessment of the technology at the Providence T. F. Green International Airport. Installation of the Tarsier system was completed in April 2007. Extensive data collection campaigns were conducted from June 2007 to March 2008. At the conclusion of the data collection process, the FAA had sufficient data to conclude the performance assessment. The QinetiQ Ltd. Tarsier FOD detection radar system was found to detect the necessary objects of various shapes, sizes, and materials on the runway surface and was able to perform satisfactorily in nighttime, daytime, sun, rain, mist, fog, and snow conditions, as required by FAA Advisory Circular 150/5220-24, "Airport Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Detection Equipment."


Abstract Mid-ocean ridges display tectonic segmentation defined by discontinuities of the axial zone, and geophysical and geochemical observations suggest segmentation of the underlying magmatic plumbing system. Here, observations of tectonic and magmatic segmentation at ridges spreading from fast to ultraslow rates are reviewed in light of influential concepts of ridge segmentation, including the notion of hierarchical segmentation, spreading cells and centralized v. multiple supply of mantle melts. The observations support the concept of quasi-regularly spaced principal magmatic segments, which are 30–50 km long on average at fast- to slow-spreading ridges and fed by melt accumulations in the shallow asthenosphere. Changes in ridge properties approaching or crossing transform faults are often comparable with those observed at smaller offsets, and even very small discontinuities can be major boundaries in ridge properties. Thus, hierarchical segmentation models that suggest large-scale transform fault-bounded segmentation arises from deeper level processes in the asthenosphere than the finer-scale segmentation are not generally supported. The boundaries between some but not all principal magmatic segments defined by ridge axis geophysical properties coincide with geochemical boundaries reflecting changes in source composition or melting processes. Where geochemical boundaries occur, they can coincide with discontinuities of a wide range of scales.


The effect of internal stresses on the cohesion and adhesion of a thin silicon oxide (SiOx) oxygen-barrier coating, evaporated on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) film substrate was studied. Internal stresses were generated during annealing in the temperature range for recrystallization of the PET,during calendering in a multilayer structure where two SiOx /PET films were laminated together with a polypropylene film, and during long-term thermal aging below the glass transition temperature of the polymer. The cohesion of the coating and its adhesion to the polymer substrate were derived from fragmentation tests, in which the failure of the oxide coating was analyzed as a function of the applied stress during uniaxial tensile loading of the substrate. The intrinsic coating strength at critical length and the interfacial shear strength were found to be equal to 1350 MPa and 73 MPa, respectively. It was found that none of the thermal treatments investigated altered the interfacial interactions. Rather, these treatments induced shrinkage of the PET substrate, which increased the coating internal compressive stress and the SiOx /PET interfacial shear strength. A linear relationship between the SiOx /PET interfacial shear strength and the coating internal stress was determined from a stress transfer analysis. The coefficient of this linear relationship, equal to-1.34 · h c/l c, where h c is coating thickness and l c is the critical stress transfer length, reproduces the experimental data with good accuracy.


The paper is focused on evaluation of operational safety of chosen electrical set elements in specific conditions of agricultural biogas plants with using of infrared thermography method. The goal of the paper is thermography monitoring of the surface temperature of electrical set elements with detection of high warmed parts. Next goal is evaluation measured temperatures with criteria and requirements of standard ISO 18434-1. In terms of measurement was measured surface temperature of every element and compared with reference ambient temperature. Our study claimed suitability of IRT method for monitoring of electrical set elements. Any of measured objects has high surface temperature. This is significant risk factor for fire and related losses.


This is the first variationist study of clan intermarriage and intergenerational change in Nagaland (India). The study investigates clan as a sociolinguistic variable by drawing data from the Angami (belonging to the Kuki-Chin-Naga sub-group of Tibeto-Burman languages) community of Kohima village in Nagaland. The linguistic variables examined include two alveolar fricatives and three affricates showing variable palatalization. Like many other clan-based communities (cf. Stanford, 2007 , 2008 , 2009 ), Angamis practice exogamy. Women settle down in their husband's clans in the same village after marriage, but continue to maintain their original clanlects despite being in contact with their husband's clanlects for many years. Exogamy practices are however weakening in Kohima, resulting in intra-clan marriages. The study examines the linguistic implications of the inter-clan and intra-clan marriages, illustrating the patterns that young learners acquire under such circumstances and the way they respond to the new changes. Labov finds evidence for an "outward orientation of the language learning faculty" (2012, 2014). The Nagaland results build on this notion but provide a new perspective: In Nagaland, children's language learning is inwardly oriented with respect to stable variation and outwardly oriented in the case of change in progress.


BACKGROUND
Standards have become available to share semantically encoded vital parameters from medical devices, as required for example by personal healthcare records. Standardised sharing of biosignal data largely remains open.

OBJECTIVES
The goal of this work is to explore available biosignal file format and data exchange standards and profiles, and to conceptualise end-to-end solutions.

METHODS
The authors reviewed and discussed available biosignal file format standards with other members of international standards development organisations (SDOs).

RESULTS
A raw concept for standards based acquisition, storage, archiving and sharing of biosignals was developed. The GDF format may serve for storing biosignals. Signals can then be shared using FHIR resources and may be stored on FHIR servers or in DICOM archives, with DICOM waveforms as one possible format.

CONCLUSION
Currently a group of international SDOs (e.g. HL7, IHE, DICOM, IEEE) is engaged in intensive discussions. This discussion extends existing work that already was adopted by large implementer communities. The concept presented here only reports the current status of the discussion in Austria. The discussion will continue internationally, with results to be expected over the coming years.


The use of deceptive techniques is common in social science research. It is argued that the use of such techniques is incompatible with the standard of informed consent, which is widely employed in the ethical evaluation of research involving human subjects. A number of proposals to justify the use of deceptions in social science research are examined, in the face of its apparent incompatibility with the standard of informed consent, and found to be inadequate. An alternative method of justification is outlined, which enables some deceived participants in social science research to rationally and autonomously choose to participate in that research. The alternative method of justification appeals to the idea of indirect consent, which is introduced. It is argued that research subjects who receive reliable testimony regarding research procedures can sometimes be placed in a position to rationally and autonomously consent indirectly to participation in experiments and studies, even if these involve significant deceptions.


Objectives: Advances in Internet technology now enable unprecedented global collaboration and collective knowledge exchange. Up to this time, there have been limited efforts to use these technologies to actively promote knowledge exchange across the global pediatric critical care community. To develop an open-access, peer-reviewed, not-for-profit Internet-based learning application, OPENPediatrics, a collaborative effort with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, was designed to promote postgraduate educational knowledge exchange for physicians, nurses, and others caring for critically ill children worldwide. Design: Description of program development. Setting: International multicenter tertiary pediatric critical care units across six continents. Subjects: Multidisciplinary pediatric critical care providers. Interventions: A software application, providing information on demand, curricular pathways, and videoconferencing, downloaded to a local computer. Measurements and Main Results: In 2010, a survey assessing postgraduate educational needs was distributed through World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies to constituent societies. Four hundred and twenty-nine critical care providers from 49 countries responded to the single e-mail survey request. Respondents included 68% physicians and 28% nurses who care for critically ill children. Fifty-two percent of respondents reported accessing the Internet at least weekly to obtain professional educational information. The five highest requests were for educational content on respiratory care [mechanical ventilation] (48% [38%]), sepsis (28%), neurology (25%), cardiology (14%), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (10%), and ethics (8%). Based on these findings, and in collaboration with researchers in adult learning and online courseware, an application was developed and is currently being used by 770 registered users in 60 countries. Conclusions: We describe here the development and implementation of an Internet-based application which is among the first efforts designed to promote global knowledge exchange for physicians and nurses caring for critically ill children. This application has the potential to evolve new methods in postgraduate education. Ongoing assessment of the efficacy of Internet-based learning platforms will be necessary.


Decentralization implies an increase in the number of stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of interventions. This paper draws upon the experience of a multi-stakeholder program in India which has sought to increase the contribution of rainfed agriculture to rural household's economic portfolios. The strategy has been one of enhancing government research and extension service provision through collaboration and coalition building between NGOs and government line departments. Evidence from the last four years demonstrates that coalitions are appropriate vehicles for managing interaction among multiple and diverse organizations. However, as fluid entities without permanent governance systems, coalitions require formalized support mechanisms to function effectively. The value to project designers and policy makers of this paper lies primarily in the description and analysis of the "nested" organizational support system which developed to fulfill the every day needs of the coalition in Rajasthan. Its secondary value lies in the discussion of conceptual and practical aspects of building and supporting coalitions.


It is known that substrate-borne vibrations are detected by insects from multiple taxa and life stages, including adults and larvae. Therefore, in this thesis I aimed to answer the question "How do caterpillars detect vibration?". For this purpose, I made neurophysiological experiments on proleg hairs of Drepana arcuata and Trichoplusia ni caterpillars. In these experiments, two types of mechanical stimuli were applied to the proleg hair: 1) sine vibrational signals with varying frequencies and 2) single push/pull stimuli. Amplitudes of stimuli ranged from sub- to supra-threshold and stimuli were applied in multiple directions to test for sensory directionality. With this, I showed that the sensory activity of the hair can be characterized as a rapid adapting response, that it has directional sensitivity and presents some phase-locking. In conclusion, the sensory hairs here evaluated can respond to vibration, which leaves them as potential candidates for substrate-borne vibration receptors in these caterpillars.


The Courant number C, the key to unsteady flow computation, is a ratio of physical wave velocity, λ, to computational signal-transmission velocity, τ, i.e., C = λ/τ. In this way, it uniquely relates a physical quantity to a mathematical quantity. Because most unsteady open-channel flows are describable by a set of n characteristic equations along n characteristic paths, each represented by velocity λ i , i = 1,2,....,n, there exist as many as n components for the numerator of C. To develop a numerical model, a numerical integration must be made on each characteristic curve from an earlier point to a later point on the curve. Different numerical methods are available in unsteady flow computation due to the different paths along which the numerical integration is actually performed. For the denominator of C, the τ defined as τ = τ 0 = δx/δt has been customarily used; thus, the Courant number has the familiar form of C τ = λ/τ 0 . This form will be referred to as common Courant number in this paper. The commonly used numerical criteria C τ for stability, neutral stability and instability, are imprecise or not universal in the sense that r 0 does not always reflect the true maximum computational data-transmission speed of the scheme at hand, i.e., C tau is no indication for the Courant constraint. In view of this , a new Courant number, called the natural Courant number, C n , that truly reflects the Courant constraint, has been defined. However, considering the numerous advantages inherent in the traditional C τ , a useful and meaningful composite Courant number, denoted by C τ * has been formulated from C τ . It is hoped that the new aspects of the Courant number discussed herein afford the hydraulician a broader perspective, consistent criteria, and unified guidelines, with which to model various unsteady flows.


The honey bee Apis mellifera is of major importance for the world's agriculture and is also suitable for environmental monitoring. It includes several recognized subspecies distinguished by using morphological and morphometric variants. Here, 200 adult worker Apis mellifera honey bees were collected from Hail region, Saudi Arabia. Mitochondrial 16S rDNA was conducted to detect molecular polymorphism among honey bee A. mellifera subspecies. The amplified and sequenced gene regions of mtDNA revealed the presence of two different subspecies of Apis mellifera carnica (gb| MH939276.1) and Apis mellifera jementica (gb| MH939277.1). The sequences were compared with each other and with others retrieved from the GenBank demonstrating a high degree of similarity (up to 72%). The NJ tree indicated that all Apis species are clustered together in one clade in addition to the genetically origin of Apis species within family Apidae as a paraphyletic group within the African lineage.


Context. For most astronomical objects, radiation is the only probe of their physical properties. Therefore, it is important to have the most elaborate theoretical tool to interpret observed spectra or images, thus providing invaluable information to build theoretical models of the physical nature, the structure, and the evolution of the studied objects. Aims. We present IRIS, a new generic three-dimensional (3D) spectral radiative transfer code that generates synthetic spectra, or images. It can be used as a diagnostic tool for comparison with astrophysical observations or laboratory astrophysics experiments. Methods. We have developed a 3D short-characteristic solver that works with a 3D nonuniform Cartesian grid. We have implemented a piecewise cubic, locally monotonic, interpolation technique that dramatically reduces the numerical diffusion effect. The code takes into account the velocity gradient effect resulting in gradual Doppler shifts of photon frequencies and subsequent alterations of spectral line profiles. It can also handle periodic boundary conditions. This first version of the code assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and no scattering. The opacities and source functions are specified by the user. In the near future, the capabilities of IRIS will be extended to allow for non-LTE and scattering modeling. Results. IRIS has been validated through a number of tests. We provide the results for the most relevant ones, in particular a searchlight beam test, a comparison with a 1D plane-parallel model, and a test of the velocity gradient effect. Conclusions. IRIS is a generic code to address a wide variety of astrophysical issues applied to different objects or structures, such as accretion shocks, jets in young stellar objects, stellar atmospheres, exoplanet atmospheres, accretion disks, rotating stellar winds, cosmological structures. It can also be applied to model laboratory astrophysics experiments, such as radiative shocks produced with high power lasers.


Article type: Original Article Received: Mar. 2016 Accepted: Jun. 2016 Corresponding author: Parvin Soltani e-mail: p_soltani.ac88@yahoo .com Background & Aim: The physiological and psychological changes in pregnancy, can affect the lives of couples. The present study aimed to determine the effect of sex education on the marital relationship quality of pregnant women. Methods & Materials: This study is a quasi-experimental. In this study, 100 pregnant women referred to health centers in Zahedan in 2015, were selected and assigned into two groups of intervention and control (50 in each group). Data collection tool was the perceived marital relationship quality components questionnaire. Questionnaires were completed by the both groups before and six weeks after the sex education sessions. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics through SPSS software version 20. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05) in terms of age, the duration of marriage, gestational age and gravidity. In post-test measurement, the mean of the total score of marital relationship quality and components such as satisfaction, sexual excitement, love, commitment, intimacy, and trust, were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. Analysis of covariance also showed that the total score mean for the marital relationship and its components had significant difference in the pregnant women in two groups, after sex education (P<0.001). Conclusion: Given the effectiveness of sex education in the improvement of marital relationship quality in pregnant women, this educational intervention is recommended to be integrated into the education program and prenatal care of pregnant women in order to improve the couple's relationship quality in pregnancy.


Abstract The presence of ice during the Late Cenozoic distinguishes the nature and rates of processes on high-latitude margins from those elsewhere. Ice sheets terminating in marine waters deliver icebergs, meltwater and debris to high-latitude seas. Sea ice influences ocean salinity structure and downslope water and sediment transfer, and also transports fine-grained sediments over long distances. These cryospheric processes have led to the development of a distinctive sedimentary architecture on modern high-latitude continental margins. Large submarine fans made up almost entirely of stacked debris flows are present around the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. Large slides are located in a variety of settings relative to rates of sediment delivery from Quaternary ice-sheet margins, but no large slides have been mapped on the East Greenland margin. However, extensive channel systems and sediment-wave fields are present in the Greenland Basin, probably related to intermittent downslope flow of dense water and turbidity currents. The extensive NE Greenland shelf was not innundated by ice-sheet advance during recent full-glacial conditions, allowing sea-ice and deep-water production during both interglacials and full-glacials. Changes in the nature and rate of sedimentation within the Greenland Basin should provide clues on the rate of dense-water production, with implications for thermohaline circulation in the North Atlantic. Other erosional and depositional features on the Norwegian-Greenland Sea margins include canyons and contourite drifts. High-relief tectonic features influence sediment reworking by turbidity currents at abyssal depths. A simple conceptual model for glacier-influenced marine sedimentation summarizes the role of cryospheric processes in high-latitude margin sedimentary environments.


Indigenous Australians have significantly poorer health outcomes than the non-Indigenous population worldwide. The Australian government has increased its investment in Indigenous health through the "Closing the Health Gap" initiative. Deciding where to invest scarce resources so as to maximize health outcomes for Indigenous peoples may require improved priority setting processes. Current government practice involves a mix of implicit and explicit processes to varying degrees at the macro and meso decision making levels. In this article, we argue that explicit priority setting should be emphasized in Indigenous health, as it can ensure that the decision making process is accountable, systematic, and transparent. Following a review of the literature, we outline four key issues that need to be considered for explicit priority setting: developing an Indigenous health "constitution," strengthening the evidence base, selecting mechanisms for priority setting, and establishing appropriate incentives and institutional structure. We then summarize our findings into a checklist that can help a decision makers ensure that explicit priority setting is undertaken in Indigenous health. By addressing these key issues, the benefits of an explicit approach, which include increased efficiency, equity, and use of evidence, can be realized, thereby maximizing Indigenous health outcomes.


Fat infiltration within muscle is one of a number of features of vitamin D deficiency, which leads to a decline in muscle functionality. The origin of this fat is unclear, but one possibility is that it forms from myogenic precursor cells present in the muscle, which transdifferentiate into mature adipocytes. The current study examined the effect of the active form of vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), on the capacity of the C2C12 muscle cell line to differentiate towards the myogenic and adipogenic lineages. Cells were cultured in myogenic or adipogenic differentiation media containing increasing concentrations (0, 10−13, 10−11, 10−9, 10−7 or 10−5 M) of 1,25(OH)2D3 for up to 6 days and markers of muscle and fat development were measured. Mature myofibres were formed in both adipogenic and myogenic media, but fat droplets were only observed in adipogenic media. Relative to controls, low physiological concentrations (10−13 and 10−11 M) of 1,25(OH)2D3 increased fat droplet accumulation, whereas high physiological (10−9 M) and supraphysiological concentrations (≥10−7 M) inhibited fat accumulation. This increased accumulation of fat with low physiological concentrations (10−13 and 10−11 M) was associated with a sequential up-regulation of Pparγ2 (Pparg) and Fabp4 mRNA, indicating formation of adipocytes, whereas higher concentrations (≥10−9 M) reduced all these effects, and the highest concentration (10−5 M) appeared to have toxic effects. This is the first study to demonstrate dose-dependent effects of 1,25(OH)2D3 on the transdifferentiation of muscle cells into adipose cells. Low physiological concentrations (possibly mimicking a deficient state) induced adipogenesis, whereas higher (physiological and supraphysiological) concentrations attenuated this effect.


The industrial application of high strength steels in structural components has increased the demand on understanding the ductile failure behavior of this type of materials. In practical situations the loading experienced on components made out of these materials can be very complex, which may affect the failure behavior.The objective of this work is to study the effect of stress state on ductile failure and the mechanisms leading to rupture in high strength steels. The stress state is characterized by the stress triaxiality T and the Lode parameter L, which is a deviatoric stress state parameter that discriminates between axisymmetric or shear dominated stress states. For this purpose experiments on two different specimen configurations are performed; a double notched tube (DNT) specimen tested in combined tension and shear and a round notched bar (RNB) specimen tested in uniaxial tension. The two specimens give rise to different stress states at failure in terms of T and L. The failure loci for the DNT specimen show an abrupt change in ductility, indicating a transition between the rupture mechanisms necking of intervoid ligaments and shearing of intervoid ligaments. A clear difference in ductility between the two specimen configurations is also observed, which is closely associated with the difference in stress state at failure.A micromechanical model is developed, which assumes that ductile material failure occurs when the deformation becomes highly non-linear and localizes into a band. The model, which is applied to analyze the experiments, consists of a band with a square array of equally sized cells, with a spherical void located in the center of each cell. The model, extended with a shear criterion, captures the experimental trend rather well. The model also shows that the effect of the deviatoric stress state (L) on void growth, void shape evolution and coalescence is significant, especially at low levels of T and shear dominated stress state.


This paper is an exploration of the dynamics of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001. Following Perrow's analysis of the catastrophic breakdown of technological systems, the author treats the UK agricultural system as a set of flows that are both tightly coupled and complex. This suggests that the stability of the agricultural system is precarious, and that when it is disrupted (as it was with the arrival of the foot and mouth virus) the consequences may be large scale and catastrophic. The foot and mouth outbreak, and more generally, aspects of global agriculture, are thus understood as 'normal accidents'.


Atkin's Court Forms is the United Kingdom's only encyclopaedia of Civil Litigation Forms, Precedents of Pleadings and Procedure. With over 130 titles, this work provides practitioners with a truly unrivalled collection of the main procedural documents required in every civil proceeding before the courts and judicial tribunals of England and Wales. Authoritative and comprehensive, Atkin's Court Forms is very practical in its approach. Contributed to by leading authorities in their field, each title contains expert commentary to guide you through general and specialist court procedures. Procedural tables act as handy checklists for the experienced practitioners, or step-by-step guides for the less qualified. A vast selection of forms and precedents of pleadings drafted in a clear and modern style take you through all stages of proceedings from pre-action through to post judgment. The forms and precedents are fully annotated and cross-referenced to assist with case management and drafting. Easy to use, it is the perfect drafting tool for litigators, helping to ensure that you find the right form and precedent for the right process at the right time and place, saving you time and money and assisting in the smooth operation of the court process. Atkin's Court Forms currently comprises 80+ volumes; a set of three 'Rules and Guides' volumes (Civil Procedure; Family Procedure; and Court Guides) providing access to the latest version of the Civil Procedure Rules, the Family Procedure Rules and Court Guides; a Consolidated Index and Consolidated Tables; and a quarterly looseleaf service. Quarterly looseleaf servicing, covering relevant developments in both law and practice ensures the commentary and precedents are regularly updated. Volumes are also revised and reissued on a regular basis and these are charged separately on publication.


ABSTRACT We investigate whether mandatory energy performance certificates of existing residential properties contribute to property price premiums after the implementation of the EU directive on the energy performance of buildings in the Swedish private housing market. Analysing mandatory energy performance certificates of the 2009–2010 private housing transactions, we find that energy performance is associated with transaction price in situations when it is conditional on a reference benchmark. We also document property price premiums for energy performance within housing segments built before 1960 and those with a lower transaction price per square metre. Our results suggest that the property market values energy performance, and we make recommendations on which housing segments need policy support to encourage energy improvements. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.


As a key component of the innate immunity system, human cathelicidin LL-37 plays an essential role in protecting humans against infectious diseases. To elucidate the structural basis for its targeting bacterial membrane, we have determined the high quality structure of 13C,15N-labeled LL-37 by three-dimensional triple-resonance NMR spectroscopy, because two-dimensional 1H NMR did not provide sufficient spectral resolution. The structure of LL-37 in SDS micelles is composed of a curved amphipathic helix-bend-helix motif spanning residues 2–31 followed by a disordered C-terminal tail. The helical bend is located between residues Gly-14 and Glu-16. Similar chemical shifts and 15N nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) patterns of the peptide in complex with dioctanoylphosphatidylglycerol (D8PG) micelles indicate a similar structure. The aromatic rings of Phe-5, Phe-6, Phe-17, and Phe-27 of LL-37, as well as arginines, showed intermolecular NOE cross-peaks with D8PG, providing direct evidence for the association of the entire amphipathic helix with anionic lipid micelles. The structure of LL-37 serves as a model for understanding the structure and function relationship of homologous primate cathelicidins. Using synthetic peptides, we also identified the smallest antibacterial peptide KR-12 corresponding to residues 18–29 of LL-37. Importantly, KR-12 displayed a selective toxic effect on bacteria but not human cells. NMR structural analysis revealed a short three-turn amphipathic helix rich in positively charged side chains, allowing for effective competition for anionic phosphatidylglycerols in bacterial membranes. KR-12 may be a useful peptide template for developing novel antimicrobial agents of therapeutic use.


The two most important types of manganese deposits in China are sedimentary and supergene, which account for 71 and 15 percent of the total manganese reserves, respectively. According to the host-rock associations, sedimentary manganese deposits can be classified into (1) a mud-rock type, (2) a black shale series type, (3) a carbonate rock type, and (4) a chert-limestone-mudstone type. The black shale series-type manganese deposits account for 48 percent of the total manganese reserves and are large- or medium-sized deposits.The black shale series or dark-colored sedimentary association consists of dark-colored mudrock-chert-carbonate rocks rich in sulfides and organic matter (C organic > or =1%). The term, black shale series-type manganese deposits, is a general name for all manganese deposits hosted in black shale, black chert, black siliceous shale, dark gray limestone, etc.Black shale series-type manganese deposits are distributed in 13 stratigraphic horizons from middle Proteozoic to Early Triassic. They can be divided into three subtypes: (1) a black shale subtype, (2) a black chert-siliceous shale subtype, and (3) a dark gray limestone subtype. Subtype 1 consists mainly of primary Mn carbonate ores; subtypes 2 and 3 consist mainly of Mn-containing limestones. Weathering and leaching processes can change the Mn limestones into Mn oxide ores which form large and high-quality supergene deposits, for example, the Mugui and Dongxiangqiao deposits.Manganese carbonate ores hosted in the black shale series consist mainly of rhodochrosite, calcio-rhodochrosite, kutnohorite, manganocalcite, Mn-containing calcite, Mn-containing dolomite, etc. The ores are black, dark gray, light gray, yellowish, and pink in color and have banded, laminated, massive, oolitic, spotted, and brecciated structures.Commonly, changes in the ore-bearing sequences show, from bottom to top, (1) black shale series --> (2) Mn carbonate ore bed --> (3) light-colored rocks. This indicates that ore beds formed in the transition from reduced to slightly oxidized and from weakly alkaline to alkaline conditions. The evolution of the ore-bearing sequence indicates that manganese mineralization occurred during the early stage of regression.The important Mn carbonate deposits hosted in the black shale series resulted from three main processes during formation: concentration in seawater, precipitation from seawater, and enrichment in the sediments. Anoxic conditions are a basic factor for manganese concentration in seawater; a weak oxic and alkaline environment is favorable for Mn carbonate precipitation, and microbiological activities play an important role for early diagenetic enrichment of manganese in the deposits.


–  Fisheries managers throughout the Prairie Pothole Region of Minnesota often use semi-permanent and permanent wetland basins to extensively culture walleye Sander vitreus fry. Waterfowl managers have expressed concern over this practice because of the potential influence that fish have on food resources used by waterfowl during development and migration. It is well known that native fathead minnows Pimephales promelas can have detrimental effects on macroinvertebrates, zooplankton, water clarity, epiphyton, and macrophytes in wetlands. Because walleye commonly become piscivorous as soon as mouth gape allows, walleye fry may suppress fathead minnow populations and improve wetland conditions for waterfowl. In this study, we quantify consumption estimates, specifically predation on fathead minnows, by age-0 and age-1 walleye reared in natural wetland basins. Six wetlands were stocked in mid-May 2001 and 2002 at a rate of 12,000 walleye fry ha–1. Age-0 walleye were sampled bi-weekly from mid-June through mid-September 2001. Age-0 and age-1 walleye were sampled monthly from mid-May through mid-September 2002. A generalised diet shift from zooplankton to fish to macroinvertebrates was observed in 2001, whereas diets of juvenile walleye contained primarily macroinvertebrates in 2002. Stocked walleye quickly reduced fathead minnow populations in 2001 and suppression was maintained throughout 2002. Although walleye consumed primarily macroinvertebrates once prey fish populations became suppressed, consumption estimates of invertebrates by walleye were substantially less than those documented for fathead minnow populations. Thus, stocking age-0 walleye was an effective biomanipulation tool that substantially reduced fathead minnow densities and influenced lower trophic levels in these aquatic communities.


Absolute intensities were measured at room temperature for thirty-nine lines in the qQ, qP, and qR branches of the ν3 (A1) parallel-type band of 12CH3D between 1250 and 1340 cm−1 using a tunable diode laser spectrometer. Although the line intensities were determined to a precision ≈3%, the square of the vibrational transition dipole moment matrix element derived from each mean line intensity varied by ≈20%, indicating intensity perturbations possibly caused by Coriolis interaction with the nearby ν6 fundamental. Room temperature air- and N2-broadened halfwidths have also been determined for seventeen of these lines and the measured halfwidth values varied from 0.023 cm−1 atm−1 for high J,K transitions to ∼0.067 cm−1 atm−1 for low J,K transitions. The average of the ratios of N2- to air-broadened halfwidths was 1.01, with a standard deviation of 0.01, indicating almost equal broadening efficiencies for N2 and air. Room temperature self-broadened halfwidths were also determined for three transitions with a mean value of 0.0803 ± 0.0010 cm−1 atm−1.


We propose a novel transmitter and receiver for differential quadrature phase-shift keying (DQPSK) format. The impact of the first-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) on systems using DQPSK with 100-Gb/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) or return-to-zero (RZ) format is investigated. Through computing the eye openings of DQPSK formats under different PMD conditions, it is found that NRZ DQPSK, as compared with RZ DQPSK, incurs smaller eye opening due to PMD. Carrier-suppressed return-to-zero (CSRZ) DQPSK format has better tolerance than RZ DQPSK format to PMD for a given bit rate.


Non-viral gene therapy offers the potential to deliver nucleic acids producing therapeutic proteins to treat genetic diseases without the limitations observed with viral vectors. Before the therapeutic potential of non-viral gene delivery can be realized, several barriers to efficient gene delivery must be overcome. One delivery barrier of interest is the enhancement of endosomal escape to prevent vehicle and DNA degradation within the lysosome. However, to properly investigate the generation of analogues designed to enhance endosomal escape, one must also develop a gene delivery vector capable of addressing the deficiencies of traditional cationic polymer vectors. The overall scope of this thesis project is to address the deficiencies and concerns encountered with traditional non-viral vectors. This has led to the hypothesis involving the development of novel systems based on polyintercalation afforded by incorporation of multiple acridine moieties within a modular polyacridine peptide. Initial studies focused on proof of principle experiments in vitro to assess the polyacridine peptides viability as a gene delivery vector by tethering the fusogenic peptide melittin to polyacridine. Polyacridine-melittin allowed us to conduct SAR (Structure Activity Relationship) studies relating to the sequence and structure of the polyacridine peptides using biophysical measurements and luciferase expression levels in cell culture to dictate peptide design. This data led to the discovery of (Acr-Arg)4-Cys as the optimal in vitro polyacridine-peptide scaffold. (Acr-Arg)4-Cys was chosen as the lead polyacridine peptide for further development for in vivo mouse studies following PEGylation of the C-terminal cysteine. Polyplexes formulated with the (Acr-Arg)4-PEG peptide demonstrated the ability to produce efficient in vivo gene transfer after delayed hydrodynamic (HD) stimulation. Further in vivo polyacridine peptide SAR studies resulted in identification of (Acr-Lys)6Cys as a PEGylated analogue that offered superior delivery capability by moderating


Global Environment 9 (2012): 130–159 This article examines climate and perceptions of climate as factors in the migration and settlement history of the western United States. It focuses on two regions of great interest in the nineteenth century. One, the so-called Great American Desert, in the western Great Plains, seemed a potential obstacle to settlement. The other, the Mexican state of Alta California, which after 1848 became the US state of California, proved a definite attraction to settlers. By the late nineteenth century, both regions were attracting migrants. One, however, would experience climatic disasters that discouraged settlement, while the other would continue to grow, encouraging an even larger migration after 1945 to the southernmost tier of US states, from Florida to California, a region that became known as the Sunbelt. The Sunbelt drew migrants from the US Northeast and Midwest in part because of its warmer climate. By examining these regions, and the climatic migrations they spurred, this article illustrates how perceptions of climate changed in the US Climate was transformed from a problem into a commodity. For prospective migrants, climate, once a matter of profound concern, became a benign asset. Yet the Sunbelt region is subject to major climatic hazards, from droughts to hurricanes. By better understanding historical perceptions of climate, we can more clearly see how it could prove either an obstacle or an attraction for migration, and why people migrated to areas of environmental hazards, whether in the US or elsewhere.


Focusing on seven organizations, one from Hong Kong, three South Korea, and three Taiwan, operating in the garment and textile industry, this paper argues that the transformation of the Vietnamese industrial relations system has had very limited impact on the nature and capacity of trade unions. At the workplace level, the 'race to the bottom' has led to violations of labor rights. In this context, unofficial worker representatives (UWRs) have emerged and gained significant power to coordinate large scale strikes across firms and inter-provinces. This paper provides a clear profile of UWRs and shows that the bottom-up pressure created by wildcat strikes has influenced labor legislation and improved working conditions. The unofficial representation mechanism in Vietnam presents a unique example where an effective representation mechanism can be achieved without the presence of 'input legitimacy'. Furthermore, this paper argues that rapid industrialization and social transformation coupled with the increasing structural power of capital have escalated labor conflicts and strikes in Vietnam. It underlines the importance of involving workers and their representatives, be it official or unofficial, in the process of change and transition.


Abstract Aims The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) are the most frequently used observer-rated and self-report scales of depression, respectively. It is important to know what a given total score or a change score from baseline on one scale means in relation to the other scale. Methods We obtained individual participant data from the randomised controlled trials of psychological and pharmacological treatments for major depressive disorders. We then identified corresponding scores of the HAMD and the BDI (369 patients from seven trials) or the BDI-II (683 patients from another seven trials) using the equipercentile linking method. Results The HAMD total scores of 10, 20 and 30 corresponded approximately with the BDI scores of 10, 27 and 42 or with the BDI-II scores of 13, 32 and 50. The HAMD change scores of −20 and −10 with the BDI of −29 and −15 and with the BDI-II of −35 and −16. Conclusions The results can help clinicians interpret the HAMD or BDI scores of their patients in a more versatile manner and also help clinicians and researchers evaluate such scores reported in the literature or the database, when scores on only one of these scales are provided. We present a conversion table for future research.


Abstract The work is an attempt to assess piped water quality in four counties located in east central Poland. Piped water was analysed for three successive years in each county. Water samples were tested for the following physical and chemical parameters: turbidity, colour, conductivity, taste, odour, pH, nitrates (III), nitrates (V), iron and manganese. They were compared with the current standard values. Preliminary data analysis included an analysis of maximum and minimum values of physical and chemical parameters, and it revealed that turbidity, colour, iron and manganese contents exceeded the permissible standards in all the counties. Percentages of parameters exceedances and mean values of the exceedances were used to rank the counties in terms of water quality. The ranking was obtained by means of multidimensional comparative analysis. It was demonstrated that best quality water was supplied by Węgrów County water supply system which was followed by Mińsk Mazowiecki County. The third rank was assigned to Łosice County and the poorest quality water was found to be supplied by Siedlce County water supply system.


'Ain Ghazal, an archeological site located on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, is one of the largest early villages known in the Near East. The site dates to the Neolithic period, during which mankind made one of its most significant advances, the adoption of domestic plants and animals as primary subsistence sources. Recent excavations at 'Ain Ghazal have augmented considerably current knowledge of several aspects of the Neolithic. Of particular interest has been the documentation of a continuous, or near continuous, occupation from early through late Neolithic components, and a concomitant dramatic economic shift. This shift was from a broad subsistence base relying on a variety of both wild and domestic plants and animals, to an economic strategy reflecting an apparent emphasis on pastoralism.


The 1970s brought a change to the face of the television sitcom, particularly with the works of Norman Lear, as comedy began to shift its focus away from portrayals of the ideal nuclear family to more complicated interactions with the outside world. This thesis focuses on All in the Family and the various ways that the series broke ground in its methods of social discourse. The series' unique representation of working-class domestic life and its various distancing techniques provided a new challenge for sitcom audiences. With other Lear series and the likes of M*A*S*H and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the 1970s television comedy landscape provided platform for socially conscious discourse. However, this period of progressive entertainment declined toward the end of the decade, as series like Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley sought to look backward rather than forward. From the 1980s to the 2000s, with a few exceptions, the focus of the sitcom reverted back to the preservation of idealized domestic and workplace families with the likes of Family Ties and Friends. However, the 2010s bring the promise of new social relevancy in television with series like Black-ish, which negotiate 1970s relevancy with 2010 narrative and aesthetic style, and streaming, non-network programs like Orange is the New Black and Transparent that experiment with genre in new ways.


The Handle System is a general-purpose global name service that allows secured name resolution and administration over the public Internet. This document provides a detailed description of the Handle System namespace, and its data, service, and operation models. The namespace definition specifies the handle syntax and its semantic structure. The data model defines the data structures used by the Handle System protocol and any pre-defined data types for carrying out the handle service. The service model provides definitions of various Handle System components and explains how they work together over the network. Finally, the Handle System operation model describes its service operation in terms of messages transmitted between client and server, and the client authentication process based on the Handle System authentication protocol.


Extracted from text ... SA Pharmacist's Assistant [ Sept / Oct 2006 ]
18
Sports Forum
Dr. Andrew McKune
Exercise Physiologist
Department of Sport and Physical
rehabilitation Sciences
Tshwane University of Technology
Introduction
The field of sport and exercise science
has been developing at a rapid rate over
the past twenty years. Consequently,
there is an enormous amount of
information available from magazines,
the internet, TV, as well as from the
instructors at the local gym, regarding
training techniques, nutrition
and supplementation for health and
performance. In addition, an increasing
trend in pharmacies is for almost a
quarter of the shop space to be ..


Abstract. We make the first quantitative estimates of the magnetopause reconnection rate at Jupiter using extended in situ data sets, building on simple order of magnitude estimates made some thirty years ago by Brice and Ionannidis (1970) and Kennel and Coroniti (1975, 1977). The jovian low-latitude magnetopause (open flux production) reconnection voltage is estimated using the Jackman et al. (2004) algorithm, validated at Earth, previously applied to Saturn, and here adapted to Jupiter. The high-latitude (lobe) magnetopause reconnection voltage is similarly calculated using the related Gerard et al. (2005) algorithm, also previously used for Saturn. We employ data from the Ulysses spacecraft obtained during periods when it was located near 5AU and within 5° of the ecliptic plane (January to June 1992, January to August 1998, and April to October 2004), along with data from the Cassini spacecraft obtained during the Jupiter flyby in 2000/2001. We include the effect of magnetospheric compression through dynamic pressure modulation, and also examine the effect of variations in the direction of Jupiter's magnetic axis throughout the jovian day and year. The intervals of data considered represent different phases in the solar cycle, such that we are also able to examine solar cycle dependency. The overall average low-latitude reconnection voltage is estimated to be ~230 kV, such that the average amount of open flux created over one solar rotation is ~500 GWb. We thus estimate the average time to replenish Jupiter's magnetotail, which contains ~300-500 GWb of open flux, to be ~15-25 days, corresponding to a tail length of ~3.8-6.5 AU. The average high-latitude reconnection voltage is estimated to be ~130 kV, associated with lobe "stirring". Within these averages, however, the estimated voltages undergo considerable variation. Generally, the low-latitude reconnection voltage exhibits a "background" of ~100 kV that is punctuated by one or two significant enhancement events during each solar rotation, in which the voltage is elevated to ~1-3 MV. The high-latitude voltages are estimated to be about a half of these values. We note that the peak values of order a few MV are comparable to the potential drop due to sub-corotating plasma flows in the equatorial magnetosphere between ~20 RJ and the magnetopause, such that during these periods magnetopause reconnection may have a significant effect on the otherwise rotationally dominated magnetosphere. Despite such variations during each solar rotation, however, the total amount of open flux produced during each solar rotation varies typically by less than ~30% on either side of the overall average for that epoch. The averages over individual data epochs vary over the solar cycle from ~600 GWb per solar rotation at solar maximum to ~400 GWb at solar minimum. In addition we show that the IMF sector with positive clock angle is favoured for reconnection when the jovian spin axis clock angle is also positive, and vice versa, although this effect represents a first order correction to the voltage, which is primarily modulated by IMF strength and direction.


Preface.- Modeling Nature: The System. States of the System. Models in Chemistry.- Cellular Automata: What are Cellular Automata. The Grid and the Cells. The Rules. Running a Simulation. The Output. Putting it all Together. Applications.- Water as a System: Experimental Design. The Movement Rules. The Attributes Recorded. Other Liquids. Applications.- Solution Systems: The Rules. Applications.- Dynamic Aqueous Systems: Oil-Water Demixing. Micelle Formation. Crystal Formation. Percolation.- Water Surface Effects: Water-Surface Encounters. Chromatography. Membrane Permeability.- First Order Chemical Kinetics: Exponential Decay. First Order Equilibrium. Series Reactions. Parallel Reactions. Kinetic and Thermodynamic Reaction Control.- Second Order Chemical Kinetics: Second Order Models.- Additional Applications in Chemical Kinetics: Enzyme Kinetics. Liquid-Vapor Equilibrium.- Use of the CASim Program: The System and Program. Organization of the CA Program. Setting up a Simulation.- Index.- CD Rom included.


A rapid, specific, and sensitive method was developed for determination of tetracyclines (TCs) in egg, milk, and milk powder samples by online molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) coupled to a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A molecularly imprinted polymer hybrid composite material (MIP-HCM) was prepared using TC as the template, methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, tetraethoxysilane as inorganic precursor, and methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane as the coupling agent. A new technique of online solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with HPLC was established. The conditions of online SPE were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, three TCs residues in egg, milk, and milk powder were separated and detected by the proposed method with better clean-up and recoveries. The recoveries of TCs ranged from 85.3% to 98.3%. The limits of detection and quantitation of the proposed method were in the range of 0.76–1.13 µg/kg and 2.53–3.77 µg/kg, respectively. The MIP-HCM was first used as online SPE packing and the hyphenated technique is promising as a general strategy for direct determination of veterinary drug residues in milk and other biological samples.


In this literature review the construct of personal meaning is explored through the disciplines of psychology, theology, and philosophy. Emphasis is placed on the translation of meaning theory into the research of personal meaning. The connections between meaning and religion and spirituality are explored. Several meaning measurements and their shortcomings are reviewed; narrative analysis is offered as a contemporary advancement in meaning research.


Case study research by definition is well suited to the study of IS implementation, especially when context is important. Furthermore, its products are highly relevant and therefore they appeal to IS practitioners, an audience for which the IS literature has been critiqued of ignoring. While the value of single case research is methodologically viable in the study of critical cases, the multiple case study approach is believed to be more appropriate to the study of typical cases of IS implementations. However, the IS literature provides little guidance on strategies for case study selection, particularly for multiple case studies. More important, is the need to provide the rational for case selection that relates these suggested strategies to the particular objectives of the case research inquiry. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by providing a review of strategies for single and multiple case study selection in the context of systems implementation. Furthermore, the application of these guidelines in a multiple case study of strategic decision making of enterprise systems implementations will be illustrated.