As one of the five research streams of the Management Information Systems (MIS) discipline, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) was predicted to resurge in the postmillennium era. To date, however, few studies have either synthesized existing studies or drawn an overarching picture of this sub-discipline. This study delineates the intellectual development of HCI research in MIS by a multifaceted assessment of the published HCI articles over a period of 13 years (1990-2002) in seven prime MIS journals: MISQ, ISR, JMIS, Decision Sciences, Management Science, DATA BASE, and JAIS. Twenty-two specific questions are addressed to answer the following five general research questions about the HCI sub-discipline: (1) What constitutes its intellectual substance? (2) What relationships does it have with other disciplines? (3) What are its recent evolutions? (4) What are the patterns of publishing HCI studies in the primary MIS journals? And, (5) Who are its contributing members? We use classification approach to address these questions. Descriptive analyses, including co-occurrence and cross-facet analyses, depict the key relationships. Trend analyses demonstrate recent evolutions. We present a number of areas for future research, along with a discussion of potential future directions for the sub-discipline. This study should be of interest to researchers in this sub-discipline, in the MIS discipline, and in other related disciplines for future research, collaboration, publication, and education. It should also be of interest to doctoral students to identify potential research topics for dissertation research and to identify academic institutions for future employment where such research is understood, appreciated, and encouraged.


Completely positive and trace-preserving maps characterize physically implementable quantum operations. On the other hand, general linear maps, such as positive but not completely positive maps, which can not be physically implemented, are fundamental ingredients in quantum information, both in theoretical and practical perspectives. This raises the question of how well one can simulate or approximate the action of a general linear map by physically implementable operations. In this work, we introduce a systematic framework to resolve this task using the quasiprobability decomposition technique. We decompose a target linear map into a linear combination of physically implementable operations and introduce the physical implementability measure as the least amount of negative portion that the quasiprobability must pertain, which directly quantifies the cost of simulating a given map using physically implementable quantum operations. We show this measure is efficiently computable by semidefinite programs and prove several properties of this measure, such as faithfulness, additivity, and unitary invariance. We derive lower and upper bounds in terms of the Choi operator's trace norm and obtain analytic expressions for several linear maps of practical interests. Furthermore, we endow this measure with an operational meaning within the quantum error mitigation scenario: it establishes the lower bound of the sampling cost achievable via the quasiprobability decomposition technique. In particular, for parallel quantum noises, we show that global error mitigation has no advantage over local error mitigation.


An electrical pulse current of 3 - 5 kA during 3 - 5 μs was used to heat zirconium tapes of foils. The tapes (width 1-2 mm and length 30 mm) were placed in a chamber under 1 bar ambient air atmosphere. Specific enthalpy, resistivity, temperature, and specific heat capacity in solid and liquid states (up to 2350 K) were measured. Temperature was measured (from 1800 up to 2350 K) by a fast optical pyrometer through a quartz light guide. For registration of current through the specimen, the voltage across it, and the pyrometer signal, a digital 4-channel oscilloscope was used. The following thermophysical properties are presented in the temperature range 1800-2350 K: specific enthalpy, at the start of melting; specific enthalpy, at the end of melting; heat of melting; specific heat capacity of the solid state (from 1800 K up to melting); specific heat capacity of the liquid state (from 2150 K up to 2350 K). The dependence of resistivity (referred to initial dimensions) against specific enthalpy was obtained for the solid and liquid states (from room temperature up to 2350 K). The dependence of resistivity (referred to initial dimensions) against temperature was obtained for the solid and liquid states (from temperature 1800 K up to 2350 K). Additional information was obtained for the phase transition in the solid state for zirconium. Specific enthalpy for the start and the end of the transition, the heat of transition, and resistivity (referred to initial dimensions) in both states were measured.


In a knowledge-based economy intangible assets are indispensable to achieve competitive advantages. Resources like intellectual capital are perceived as crucial factors especially for regional growth. Intellectual capital is comprehended as a multidimensional concept, defined and explained in many various ways, depending on the context and further application. The purposes of this article is to consider the role and importance of the intellectual capital for regional development and competitiveness and to try to use it for an estimation of regional advance progress. On the basis of literature review the article provides a framework to analyse the intellectual capital and its main components. The central attention of the paper focuses on the evaluation of the intellectual capital in Polish regions and its influence on regional performance. The paper surveys the empirical examination of 16 Polish regions in terms of intellectual capital and simultaneously assesses the level of intellectual capital in rural areas. The article provides the insight into the role and value of the intellectual capital in Polish regions.


Excess morbidity in people with enduring mental illness is well known. The promotion of healthier lifestyles and physical health monitoring has started to receive more attention in recent years. Despite this, the British Society for Disability and Oral Health (BSDH) has highlighted extensive unmet needs for inpatients with mental illness who have poor levels of oral health and hygiene compounded by restricted access to dental services. An audit cycle of oral health and hygiene was completed at Heather Close Recovery Unit (HCRU), Mansfield in 2009 and 2010, with the aims to improve the oral healthcare of the patients at HCRU and to develop the multidisciplinary team's ability to promote, monitor and enable patients to look after their dental health. A total of 59 people were helped to fill in the questionnaire during two audit runs. Improvement in access to toothbrushes increased from 68% to 86%. There is also an improvement in knowledge of basic oral hygiene practice from 55% to 61%. The ideally recommended practice of brushing teeth twice daily increased from 29% to 38% in our patients. There was a little improvement in the number of patients registered with the dentist since the last audit. We believe that prevention and early intervention are keys to addressing dental health problems in psychiatric patients. The improvement in oral/dental healthcare of patients with chronic mental illness should be seen as part of the holistic recovery package. Effective liaison with community preventive dentistry teams can play a vital role in educating mental health practitioners and patients.


Large low speed hydro-generators (Fig. 1) have a very small specific air-gap to stator bore diameter ratio making it virtually impossible to have a perfect centering of the rotor within the stator during the assembly process. Therefore the machines are operated with an eccentricity that, though small, is not negligible, and is the cause of undesirable effects: considerable unbalanced magnetic pulls, vibrations, additional losses. It is therefore important to assess the eccentricity and even more to check its trend in case of any stator or rotor deformations in order to guarantee a safe operation and to prevent any serious damage at an early stage.


The variation in the concentration and the turbulent fluxes of dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphorus (DON and DOP) across the thermocline in the central Atlantic were studied along a quasi‐meridional transect from the Canary Islands to Argentina (22°N to 31°S). In general, DON concentrations were high in surface waters and declined toward the thermocline, whereas DOP concentrations were less variable with depth. Vertical, gradient‐driven fluxes of DON and DOP generally involved a downward flux, with a median DON:DOP ratio of 28:1. The downward flux of DON was closely correlated with the nitrate supply to the mixed layer and sufficed to remove an amount of nitrogen equivalent to that associated with the upward nitrate influx into the mixed layer (median = 104%). The downward flux of DON exceeded the supply of nitrate off the NW African coast, where Trichodesmium sp. was abundant. The downward flux of DOP was also very closely correlated with the phosphate supply to the mixed layer (r = 0.87; P = 0.0007), but the downward export of phosphorus as DOP accounted for only 9% of the upward phosphate supply to the mixed layer. There was also evidence of a deep upward flux of DON and DOP from below the thermocline, which, combined with the general downward flux in the upper waters, indicates the presence of a strong sink for DON and DOP within the thermocline, tentatively identified to be microplankton respiration. Our results point to a dominant role of downward DOM fluxes as a path for the removal of nutrients, and probably carbon, from the biogenic layer of the ultraoligotrophic central Atlantic.


'For a fleeting instant Maria thought she saw a little white horse with a flowing mane and tail, head raised, poised, halted in mid-flight, as though it had seen her and was glad.' The beautiful valley of Moonacre is shadowed by the memory of the Moon Princess and the mysterious little white horse. When Maria Merryweather comes there on a visit she finds herself involved with an ancient feud. She is determined to restore peace and happiness to the whole of Moonacre Valley. And Maria usually gets her own way...


Lingering concerns over the persistent achievement gap amidst the trend of an increasingly diverse society have been compounded by calls from the Oval Office, the National Science Board, and nationwide media to also address our current creativity crisis. Now, more than ever, we have a responsibility to produce a STEM-capable (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce to meet the demands of our rapidly changing local and global economic landscape. Barriers exist in our traditional educational system, which has historically limited underrepresented groups' affiliation and membership in the disciplines of science and engineering. The recent incorporation of engineering into the latest science education reform efforts presents an opportunity to expose students as early as elementary school to engineering practices and habits of mind, which have the potential to stimulate creative thinking skills through engineering design. This qualitative study was designed to examine the ways in which engineering education has the potential to promote creativity and academic competence in elementary science classrooms. As a part of my study, a diverse group of students from two fifth-grade classrooms took part in a 10-12 hour, engineering-based curriculum unit (Engineering is Elementary) during their regular science instructional time. Using a sociocultural lens, to include cultural production and identities in practice as part of my framework, I analyzed group and individual performances through classroom observations, student interviews, and teacher reflections to better understand the meaning students made of their experiences with engineering. Findings from the study included the ways in which creativity was culturally produced in the classroom to include: 1) idea generation; 2) design and innovation; 3) gumption/resourcefulness; and 4) social value. Opportunities for collaboration increased through each stage of the unit culminating with the design challenge. Engineering teams required cultivation by the teacher as students negotiated spaces for collaboration through challenges of competition versus compromise; assumed versus assigned roles; management of verbal versus non-verbal communication; and shifts from teacher-as-authority-figure to peers as sources of knowledge and inspiration. The engineering design challenge provided an ideal context for broaching socio-scientific issues and attention to ethical considerations. Students made reference to their growing environmental awareness and developing moral reasoning in their definitions and reflections on green engineering. Throughout the course of the unit, successful students, struggling students, and students with uncertain trajectories established themselves as competent and efficacious engineers. Implications of the study include ways to assist teachers in recognizing and cultivating creativity and collaboration in addition to effectively incorporating socio-scientific issues as part of the engineering (and science) curriculum. I also present recommendations for promoting equity in classroom engineering, pre-service teacher initiatives, and strategies for capitalizing on the complementarity between science and engineering.


Branching-time temporal logics generalizing relational temporal logics such as CTL have been proposed for various system types beyond the purely relational world. This includes, e.g., alternating-time logics, which talk about winning strategies over concurrent game structures, and Parikh's game logic, which is interpreted over monotone neighbourhood frames, as well as probabilistic fixpoint logics. Coalgebraic logic has emerged as a unifying semantic and algorithmic framework for logics featuring generalized modalities of this type. Here, we present a generic global caching algorithm for satisfiability checking in the flat coalgebraic mu-calculus, which realizes known tight exponential-time upper complexity bounds but offers potential for heuristic optimization. It is based on a tableau system that makes do without additional labelling of nodes beyond formulas from the standard Fischer-Ladner closure, such as foci or termination counters for eventualities. Moreover, the tableau system is single-pass, i.e. avoids building an exponential-sized structure in a first pass, to our best knowledge, optimal single-pass systems without numeric time-outs were not previously available even for CTL.


Abstract: The seismicity of Scandinavia is low to intermediate in intensity and with magnitudes that rarely exceed 5.5. Even so, the seismicity is characterized by a great diversity in space and time, related to the fact that its driving forces, or sources of stress, are multiple and also diverse in nature. The dominant driving forces range from plate-related (such as ridge push) through regional to local ones (such as topography); all, however, are somehow related to lateral inhomogeneities in lithospheric structure. Whereas it was earlier assumed that the post-glacial uplift was the main cause for the seismicity of Scandinavia, we now conclude that the uplift may at most be playing a minor role. Along the coastal stretch of northern Norway there are still some indications that the seismicity, which is often shallow, normal faulting and swarm related, may be related to the still remaining glacial-isostatic adjustment. The flexuring that is needed to explain such behaviour could, however, also be related to erosion and sedimentation processes. It will take more work to separate these potential driving forces.


Inner Bay of Izmir was an important "point of pollution" in terms of domestic and industrial pollution of Mediterranean region at the end of 1990s. From the beginning of 2000s, however, positive effects on all of the groups of living organisms in the marine ecosystem has begun to be seen as a consequence of avoidance of the pollutants. As a result of evaluation on seasonal surface plankton samplings between 2000 and 2005, present study related to the species abundance, distribution evaluated with the abiotic environmental variables such as temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen. Spawning situation has been demonstrated and compared with the previous studies in the Inner İzmir Bay fishes. During the study period, a total of 8727 eggs and 273 larvae were examined. 7 species of eggs and 13 species of larvae were determined. Availability rate of the species tended to increase from the spring to the summer seasons. The dominant species in the Inner Bay is Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus, 1758), being responsible for 98% the eggs and 51% of the larvae. 6.59% of the obtained eggs, however, were found be dead. Being one of the other small pelagic species, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) continues to lay eggs at very low levels. Parablennius gattorugine (Linnaeus, 1758) larvae (12%), Gobius niger Linnaeus, 1758 (11%), and Salaria pavo (Risso, 1810) (9%) are other important species in the region. At the lowest level of dissolved oxygen E. encrasicolus, Callionymus pusillus Delaroche, 1809, Buglossidium luteum (Risso, 1810) eggs and larvae of G. niger, Blennius ocellaris Linnaeus, 1758, Parablennius tentacularis (Brünnich, 1768) 1.68 mg/L were found. The fact that Blenniidae larvae were detected again at high level in the Inner Bay was found to be related to increased rate of light transparency. Part of the Inner Bay of İzmir that is richest in eggs-larvae is south of the middle part (offshore of Çakalburnu Lagoon) and the part that is richest in larvae is Yenikale Lighthouse located on outer part of the Bay. The weak currents which start from Yenikale Lighthouse doesn't much effect to eggs and larval drift.


The concept of replenishing or elevating NAD+ availability to combat metabolic disease and ageing is an area of intense research. This has led to a need to define the endogenous regulatory pathways and mechanisms cells and tissues utilise to maximise NAD+ availability such that strategies to intervene in the clinical setting are able to be fully realised. This review discusses the importance of different salvage pathways involved in metabolising the vitamin B3 class of NAD+ precursor molecules, with a particular focus on the recently identified nicotinamide riboside kinase pathway at both a tissue-specific and systemic level. NAD+ as a redox cofactor and signalling molecule The vital role of NAD+ in redox metabolism was first described in 1906 by Arthur Harden as being a required cofactor for alcohol fermentation (Harden & Young 1906). It has since been well established as a redox coenzyme necessary for many redox reactions (EulerChelpin 1966). During these redox events NAD+ can be reduced by accepting electrons from donor molecules or, in reverse, NADH can be oxidised to NAD+ by donating electrons. This interchange of electrons allows catalysis of reversible transhydrogenase reactions (Warburg & Christian 1936). Notably, NAD+ redox reactions are vital in energy production pathways such as glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation and fatty acid oxidation. Typically NAD+ is predominantly found in its oxidised form with NAD/NADH ratios varying from 10/1 to 700/1 and a total cellular concentration thought to be estimated between 0.3–1.0 mM in mammalian cells (Veech  et  al. 1972, Casazza & Veech 1986). Alternatively, NAD+ can be phosphorylated to NADP+ by NAD kinase and likewise this also exists in its reduced form NADPH. NADP(H) concentrations are estimated at 10% of total NAD(H) levels (Veech et al. 1972, Casazza & Veech 1986). NADPH acts as an essential reducing agent aiding many anabolic pathways including nucleic acid and lipid biosynthesis (Berger et al. 2004, Tedeschi et al. 2016). More recently, NAD+ has been recognised as an important signalling molecule that is consumed upon the activity of several enzymes including sirtuins (SIRTs), polyADP-ribose polymerases (PARPs) and cyclic ADP-ribose synthases (cADPRSs) (Houtkooper et al. 2010, Dolle et al. 2013). This new found purpose highlighted that NAD+, previously thought of as a stable molecule, is actually in continuous turnover and tightly regulated to maintain metabolic homeostasis. In fact, with approximately 2.5 ATP molecules formed per pair of electrons donated by NADH in the electron transport chain, and an estimated 80 kg of ATP turned over by an adult male each day, it is predicted as much as 30 kg NADH is generated every day, reinforcing the need for regulated maintenance of NAD(H) biosynthetic pathways (Kornberg 1991, Walsh et al. 2018). Journal of Molecular Endocrinology (2018) 61, R107–R121 Key Words


The Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation (NNHF) website – http://www.nnhf.org – is activated. NNHF was created in 2005 as an independent, non-commercial organisation in Zurich, Switzerland, to address the significant need for improving haemophilia care and treatment in the developing world. NNHF works with partners in governments, NGOs and healthcare specialists in supporting development programmes, such as the education and training of patients, doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians, the improvement of disease diagnosis and the establishment of patient registries. NNHF also offers awards and fellowships. Contact at: firstname.lastname@example.com announcement


The first time-resolved spectrum of a return stroke between the cloud and ground has been obtained with a slitless spectrograph. The time for luminosity to rise from zero to its peak in a section of the channel is 10 micro-seconds or less, and the intense emission lines are attributed to singly ionized nitrogen atoms. Several faint lines persisting for approximately 150 microseconds are due to neutral nitrogen and oxygen atoms.


Democracy and Social Ethics. By Jane Addams. Introduction by Charlene Haddock Seigfried (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002. Pp. Xxxviii, 127. Index. Cloth, $24.95, paper, $12.95); The Long Road of Woman's Memory. By Jane Addams. Introduction by Charlene Haddock Seigfried (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002. Pp. Xxxiv, 84. Index. Cloth, $21.95, paper, $10.95); Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy. By Jean Bethke Elshtain (New York: Basic Books, 2002. Pp. Xxii, 328. Ill, notes, index. Cloth, $28.00); The Jane Addams Reader. Edited by Jean Bethke Elshtain (New York: Basic Books, 2002. Pp. Xl, 488. Bib., index. Paper, $20.00); The Selected Papers of Jane Addams, Volume I: Preparing to Lead, 1860-81. Edited by Mary Lynn McCree Bryan, Barbara Bair, and Maree de Angury (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003. Pp. Lu, 650. III., notes, bib., index. Cloth, $65.00). If we need proof that there is a renaissance of interest in Jane Addams, Illinois's favorite daughter, here is a new crop of publications to provide it. Those of us who spend our scholarly lives on Addams have felt the effect of this renaissance already, as we have moved from our isolated offices to lively conferences devoted entirely to papers and discussions on the founder of Chicago's Hull-House in 1889 and the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. Addams would applaud the active collaboration that is occurring in the community of scholars who study her life, her work, and her ideology. At our most generous - and the example of Addams stands over us, admonishing us to be generous - we delight in our varying perspectives on Addams, understanding that we bring different expertise to the table, different ideological perspectives, different scholarly priorities. Addams reminds us with the very words and deeds we study, that there is plenty of room at the table for an array of approaches and that every enterprise is enhanced by broad and heterogeneous participation. Embrace of Addams's enthusiasm for dialogue has never meant, and certainly does not mean today, that harmony is the keynote of Addams scholarship. America's premier pacifist has never been allowed to rest peacefully on her laurels. Those who study her engage in as many debates and disagreements as any group of scholars, and that is not a violation of Addams's ethic of peace. Her pacifism never sought to repress conflict; it sought to construct civilized ways of channeling conflict into productive social ends. Addams scholars must demand that their process be as open to rigorous debate as hers was and as intent as she on using disagreement to build sturdier solutions to our shared problems of evidence and interpretation. The works on Addams under review here invite consideration of two current topics of interest among Addams scholars: the philosophical discipline informing her public work and words, and the relationship between her lived experience, her artistic use of memory, and her evolution as a political actor. Charlene Seigfried directly addresses both issues in her introductory essays to re-publications of two Jane Addams books, Democracy and Social Ethics (1902) and The Long Road of Women's Memory (1916). Questions of ideology, memory, and biography are also discernible in Jean Bethke Elshtain's book-length rumination on Addams, Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy, and in Elshtain's selection of Addams's writings in The Jane Addams Reader. Readers seeking to develop their own views on these and other questions about Addams now have available to them, thanks to the University of Illinois Press, the original texts that Seigfried has introduced as well as a new edition of Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922), introduced by Katherine Joslin, and the first volume of The Selected Papers of Jane Addams: Preparing to Lead, 1860-1881 edited by Mary Lynn McCree Bryan, Barbara Bair, and Maree de Angury. Appearing at the start of the twenty-first century, this small library marks the end of one period in Jane Addams scholarship and the beginning of another. …


Introduction
 Governments around the world suspended immunization outreach to control COVID-19 spread. Many have since resumed services with an emphasis on catch-up vaccinations. This paper evaluated immunization disruptions during India's March-May 2020 lockdown and the extent to which subsequent catch-up efforts reversed them in Rajasthan, India.

 Methods
 In this retrospective observational study, we conducted phone surveys to collect immunization details for 2,144 children that turned one year old between January and October 2020. We used logistic regressions to compare differences in immunization timeliness and completed first-year immunization status among children that were due immunizations just before (unexposed), during (heavily exposed), and after (post-exposure) the lockdown.

 Results
 Relative to unexposed children, heavily exposed children were significantly less likely to be immunized at or before 9 months (OR 0.550; 95%CI 0.367-0.824; p=0.004), but more likely to be immunized at 10-12 months (OR 1.761; 95%CI 1.196-2.591; p=0.004). They were also less likely to have completed their key first-year immunizations (OR 0.624; 95%CI 0.478-0.816; p=0.001) by the time of survey. In contrast, post-exposure children showed no difference in timeliness or completed first-year immunizations relative to unexposed children, despite their younger age. First-year immunization coverage among heavily exposed children decreased by 6.9pp to 10.4pp (9.7% to 14.0%). Declines in immunization coverage were larger among children in households that were poorer, less educated, lower caste, and residing in COVID red zones, although subgroup comparisons were not statistically significant.

 Conclusion
 Disruptions to immunization services resulted in children missing immunization during the lockdown, but catch-up efforts after it was eased ensured many children were reached at later ages. Nevertheless, catch-up was incomplete and children due their immunizations during the lockdown remained less likely to be fully immunized 4-5 months after it lifted, even as younger cohorts due immunizations in June or later returned to pre-lockdown schedules.


There is no doubt that Westernisation and industrialisation have brought about significant social, economic and political changes which have transformed the traditional socio-economic and political structure of especially African countries. This has necessitated the change of traditional or customary law. Otherwise the law would have lagged behind social change and consequently would have been irrelevant to the lives of the people it purported to govern. There has, however, been no uniformity in this. It is equally true that African countries of the post-independence era have frequently had recourse to legislation in order to facilitate economic development. This process of planned societal and economic development was aimed at modernising and transforming the societies and economies of many African countries as rapidly as possible so that blacks might enjoy "all the good things" which Western civilisation had produced in the two millennia of its history. In pursuing law reform in South Africa we may learn a lesson from these experiences.


Abstract ___________________________________________________ This thesis begins with a literature review focusin g on electric vehicle (EV) applications. Systems used for steering, braking and energy storage are i nv stigated, with specific concentration on torque control in various DC and AC motors commonly used in EVs. A final solution for a lowrange personal transportation EV in the form of a w heelchair is proposed. The theme for this thesis is motion control, focusi ng on a two axis (or two wheel drive) brushless DC hub motor (BLDCHM) EV, with torque and direction control tracking a user reference. The operation principle for a BLDCHM is documented and the dynamic and electrical equations derived. Simulation results for motor response unde r ifferent load and speed conditions are compared to practical measurements. Current and tor que control loops are designed, implemented and tuned on a single-axis test-bed with an inducti on motor (IM) load coupled via a torque transducer. A Texas Instrument DSP development kit is used for the control algorithm bench testing. The final control algorithm is then duplicated and expanded in simulation to form a dynamic twoaxis system for an electric wheelchair. It incorpor ates both motor drive and regenerative capabilities. After demonstrating two axis controls for BLDCHMs, a control algorithm is designed simulated and compared to traditional systems. The final solution focuses specifically on an intuitive response to the driver input whilst maint i ing direction tracking, even when there is a difference in smoothness of the individual terrains traversed by the left and right wheels. In addition the motor drives are equipped with control le s that ensure regenerative braking in order to recover as much energy as possible when the wheelch air is commanded to decelerate.


Organic farming in the EU is a system of agriculture and food production that combines favourable environmental and animal welfare standards and is supported by EU law (Regulations (EC) No 834/2007 (1) and 889/2008/EC (2)). The organic production system strives for minimal disruption of the natural equilibrium while ensuring the production of high-quality food. To ensure that organic farmers and processors produce or process foods in accordance with organic legislation, designated control bodies and authorities certify and inspect each organic practitioner (cf. list of EU control bodies and authorities). Compliant produce is required to carry the EU organic logo (Figure 1).


Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors had been extensively used to treat inflammatory disorders. However, the increased incidence of cardiovascular side effects had limited the usage of the drugs. The emergence of microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) as newly recognized therapeutic target for inflammation and pain gave new hope to develop anti-inflammatory drug with minimal adverse effects. Thus, selective inhibition of COX-2 and mPGES-1 is expected to provide anti-inflammatory effects without the side effects. Chalcone is a compound derived from nature with various pharmacological activities. Based on its favorable activity, chalcone framework had been used to identify novel derivatives for anti-inflammatory properties. Hence, the present study aims to identify chalcone derivatives that can reduce the production of the inducible PGE2 by targeting COX-2 and mPGES-1 using structure-based drug design. A hybrid pharmacophore model of COX-2 named as "phore 1" was developed and used to screen chalcone derivatives from ASINEX database. Forty-two compounds were successfully mapped on "phore 1" and only 15 compounds were selected based on docking. These compounds were then subjected to pharmacophore screening and followed by docking for mPGES-1. Three lead compounds (BAS00384673, BAS00643043 and BAS02557914) were found to be selective towards COX-2 and have good binding interaction with mPGES-1.


Some philosophers and disability advocates argue that disability is not bad for you. Rather than treated as a harm, it should be considered and even celebrated as just another manifestation of human diversity. Disability is mere difference. To most of us, these are extraordinary claims. Can they be defended?

What do people mean when they claim that disability is mere difference? This is not always clear. Surely, they cannot mean that all disabilities are mere differences. There are some disabilities that are so bad that life with them is plainly not worth living. Jonathan Glover reports the case of an infant born with a severe case of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a genetic condition due to which any contact with the skin causes severe blisters and scarring. The condition can extend to the patient's digestive and respiratory tracts, resulting in constant, unbearable pain. Having to live with such a condition is worse than non-existence. Since death can be a benefit for someone in this condition, having this disability must be a harm.1

Or suppose there was a disability that causes no pain but cuts life short. Other than causing premature death, this imagined condition does not have any negative impact on quality of life. (Real progeroid syndromes also cause morbidity.) Surely, a person who has this imaginary disability and who wants to go on living would be harmed when she dies early because of it. And if dying prematurely when you want to live on does not harm you, then it is hard to see what does. Therefore, the claim that disability is mere difference cannot apply across the board. It must apply only to some disabilities.

One problem is that those who make the claim that disability is mere difference almost never add any qualifications. They do not seem …


To obtain accurate estimates of surface and cloud parameters from satellite data an algorithm has to be developed which identifies cloud-free and cloud-contaminated pixels. Data from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on board Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites have been available since February 2004. The data is accessible to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). This study attempts to utilize available MSG data for developing simple cloud mask and height algorithms and thereafter compare and determine the relationship between cloud height and observed rainfall on a ground station. A multispectral threshold technique has been used: the test sequence depends on solar illumination conditions and geographical location whereas most thresholds used here were empirically determined and applied to each individual pixel to determine whether that pixel is cloud-free or cloudcontaminated. The study starts from the premise of an acceptable trade-off between calculation speed and accuracy in the output data. For this reason, only three infrared channels of MSG satellite were used alongside climatological data provided by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and also land surface climatological data available from the WorldClim website. The accurate measurement of spatial and temporal variation of tropical rainfall around the globe remains one of the critical unresolved problems in the field of meteorology. This study attempted to compare computed cloud height and observed rainfall on ground station (CGIS-Butare, Rwanda) and derived cloud height-total rainfall relationship from storms over the same station. Results from the simple cloud mask algorithm were validated using EUMETSAT cloud mask products for a tropical region (≈ 11°N 14°S and ≈ 6° 51°E) over Africa. Overall accuracy of the simple cloud mask developed here was found to be 87% for four scenes which were during dayand night-time as well as twilight time as defined by sun elevation angles. Analysis of recorded rainfall at CGIS and comparison of the same with computed cloud height showed that rainfall mainly occurred when cloud heights were greater than 3000m. Further, deriving a relationship between the observed rainfall and the cloud height was found to follow a Gaussian model in which clouds at approximate heights between 4000m and 5000m produced higher amounts of rainfall. Below and above this height range, rainfall amounts were found to be generally low. The derived cloud height-total rainfall relationship was applied to other storms over this station. Initial results show low correlation between estimated and observed rainfall. More synoptic observations have to be used to evaluate the derived relationship. Next to this a better procedure to differentiate nimbostratus and cumulonimbus has to be incorporated. Different relations between height and observed rainfall for the two types of clouds may be derived which may improve the overall results.


This study investigates the nature and extent of teacher's understanding of assessment in the context of an outcomes-based education system at a Hammersdale Farm School. The study also investigates the nature of assessment techniques used by educators at the school and whether these techniques were implemented in a manner that enhances learner performance. The educator level of assessment literacy or illiteracy was also examined. Learner's experience of assessment was also investigated. The subjects in this study were eleven educators and twenty-two learners. The research methodology was in the form of a qualitative case study. Individual interviews of educators, learners questionnaire as well as document analysis were used to investigate educator's assessment, literacy or illiteracy, learner's experience of assessment and whether assessment (there) techniques are implemented in a manner that embraces principles of outcomes-based education. The results revealed that educators show an understanding of assessment in an outcomesbased education system. There has been a shift from the traditional way of conducting assessment, which was by means of tests and examination only. Educators conduct assessment continuously and employ a variety of strategies, which help educators collect data about learner's performance. The data collected enables educators to give constant feedback to learners and also report to parents about their children's performance. However, findings also revealed that there is some illiteracy with regards to assessment planning and implementation. (Educators attempts are dwarfed by the tradition of summative type of assessment that educators have been exposed to all their lives. The study has also revealed that though educators engage in continuous assessment and employ various assessment strategies; examinations are still considered as the strategy to be used for making decisions and public judgments due to lack of clearly formulated school assessment policy. There is minimal participation of parents in their children's learning, which is due to illiteracy with regards to transformational policies and curriculum issues. Some parents, because of work commitments, financial constraints and not living with their children, makes participation almost impossible. The implication of this study is that the school needs to have a clearly formulated assessment policy, which reflects OBE principles. The policy should state clearly how assessment is to be planned and implemented in an outcomes-based education system. The school also needs to have a staff development programme which is an ideal platform for sharing meanings and interpretations with regards to assessment implementation in an outcomes-based education system. The development programme will also help educators revisit and review their assessment policy to ensure that assessment implementation is on track. Parent participation in their children's learning could be made a reality through workshops. Parent's workshops would help develop parents on transformational policy and curriculum issues. This will ensure maximum parent participation in their children's learning and also ensure that parents provide necessary support to sustain effective learning. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One 1.


The ability to quickly obtain accurate genome sequences of eukaryotic pathogens at low costs provides a tremendous opportunity to identify novel targets for therapeutics, develop pesticides with increased target specificity and breed for resistance in food crops. Here, we present the first report of the ~54 MB eukaryotic genome sequence of Rhizoctonia solani, an important pathogenic fungal species of maize, using nanopore technology. Moreover, we show that optimizing the strategy for wet-lab procedures aimed to isolate high quality and ultra-pure high molecular weight (HMW) DNA results in increased read length distribution and thereby allowing generation of the most contiguous genome assembly for R. solani to date. We further determined sequencing accuracy and compared the assembly to short-read technologies. With the current sequencing technology and bioinformatics tool set, we are able to deliver an eukaryotic fungal genome at low cost within a week. With further improvements of the sequencing technology and increased throughput of the PromethION sequencer we aim to generate near-finished assemblies of large and repetitive plant genomes and cost-efficiently perform de novo sequencing of large collections of microbial pathogens and the microbial communities that surround our crops.


Introduction Colonoscopy remains the gold standard procedure for screening and polyp detection, with adenoma detection rate (ADR) being a widely-accepted key performance indicator (KPI). It has long been recognised that even experienced endoscopists incur an appreciable 'miss-rate' and a number of novel devices have been marketed to assist this aspect of practice. The Endorings™ device is a simple soft silicone, single-use device consisting of a series of rings arranged around a central tubular core. As the colonoscope is inserted the rings fold backward to allow intubation and flare on withdrawal to flatten colonic folds and aid inspection. Methods Prospective data was collected during screening colonoscopy (performed by two accredited colonoscopists) when the Endorings™ device was used and compared the KPI results to outcomes from the previous few months, for the same two colonoscopists) when the device was not in use (ie. historical controls). Results The ADR without Endorings™ (n = 85) was 49.4% with a per-procedure detection rate (ppr) of 0.97. With Endorings (n = 66) 66.7% (p = 0.0006) with ppr of 1.625. This represents a 35% increase in ADR and a 68% increase in the number of polyps detected at any given procedure. There were no significant differences in completion rates, withdrawal time, use of sedation or comfort scores. The device was removed in 5/66 procedures due to interference with intubation (in the presence of either an angulated sigmoid or diverticulosis). No complications were recorded. Conclusion Use of the Endorings™ device was associated with a significant increase in ADR. Qualitatively, the three-ring design was felt to interfere with normal intubation such that insertion technique had to be modified. An updated design iteration with two rings in slightly different positions along the central tube, has been produced and appears to offer a significant advantage in this regard. Furthermore, the central tube can be pushed further along the distal end of the colonoscope to allow the terminal ileum to be intubated with the device in place. The Endorings™ may offer an advantage in screening colonoscopy and, in this cohort, further prospective investigation is warranted. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The contribution of surface water and groundwater were studied in a small stream in the central part of Sweden using electrical conductivity of water as a tracer. The portion of deep groundwater increases in the downstream direction from approx. 5 % to 20 %.


Quality Assurance (QA) concepts and applications in Higher Education (HE) emerge from evolving meanings related to HE's dynamic relationship with social, economic, cultural, and technological developments.  The latter has been redefined by the growth spurred by the forms distance and online education acquired during the last decades.  Creating a roadmap with clearly articulated meanings of quality and consistent key actions fills a need for the involved communities to reground the research, policy-making, and the related discourse.  Our current work consists of a thorough meta-analysis on all available research in every identified pertinent field. It is a qualitative review of the concepts, definitions, and approaches about quality in general, but also specifically, in e-learning in HE, as they have globally appeared in peer-reviewed journals, government reports, and web pages.  As we left no stone unturned in enquiring regarding the meanings, uses, evolution, and applicability of the revealed variables it is our hope that the roadmap we provide here will guide future research and support policy-making in the field. The present study is part of the research project e-learning Quality Assurance Design Standards in Higher Education (e-QADeSHE), which was funded by Laureate International Universities as the winning research project for the International David Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2015 edition).


With convergence-divergence as an organizing theme, this Article explores harm reduction and human rights as conceptual approaches to and discourses about unsafe abortion. The vehicle for this exploration is access to safer-use information on medication abortion, namely women's self-administration of the drug misoprostol. More specifically, this Article focuses on the Sanitary Initiative Against Unsafe Abortion ("the Uruguay Model") as an actualized model or prototype of access to information through physician-patient consultation in restrictive legal environments. On convergence, this Article seeks to test the claim that international human rights law imposes government obligations to provide, and to refrain from interfering with the communication of, information necessary to reduce the harms of unsafe abortion. Access to information is protected in international law through a constellation of human rights. These rights are articulated in broad terms, but given content and meaning through interpretation by courts, committees, Special Rapporteurs, and commissions. By reference to this jurisprudence, normative validation for harm reduction in unsafe abortion, and specifically access to safer-use information, is constructed from the human rights to life, health, and non-discrimination, among others. On divergence, this Article seeks to make explicit the different moral warrants underlying harm reduction and human rights. Human rights are set against the normative neutrality of harm reduction, which is characterized by a pragmatic approach to health outcomes. The human rights shortcomings of access to safer-use information through physician-patient consultation, the Uruguay Model, are contrasted against a model driven by a feminist ideology, namely the Safe Abortion Hotline. The limitations of the pragmatic-neutrality of harm reduction in criminal law reform are set against a human rights approach, which envisions legal reform in service of broad social change.


The paper brings the results of the current national educational agency project research of effectiveness of the modular didactic cycle with new technologies, methods and forms in student-focused concept through the processing of experimental data of the electronics study program from the period of 2016-2017. Data were collected from contributions kept by the students groups during the preparation phase and also from reflective final phase of the research period. Also, the presented solution and results of the project are directed at the main component of the educational process – the content of education and its compatibility with the technological trends in the actual working environment. The results show that digitization of the learning content and flexibility of design of educational modules with multimedia components are dominant and indicate compatibility with the trends of flexible educational environment. In addition, the results of project illustrates that even the change can be difficult, success can be attained in the most heterogeneous diversification of university education and mobility of graduates of technical universities that will contribute to increase of educational efficiency and will encourage arrival of investments to innovative entrepreneur projects and, mainly, will help national firms to succeed at EU and world market by strengthening of the dominant subject which produces values – the technical field graduate with the key competences for the 21 century needs.


We present LR-GAN: an adversarial image generation model which takes scene structure and context into account. Unlike previous generative adversarial networks (GANs), the proposed GAN learns to generate image background and foregrounds separately and recursively, and stitch the foregrounds on the background in a contextually relevant manner to produce a complete natural image. For each foreground, the model learns to generate its appearance, shape and pose. The whole model is unsupervised, and is trained in an end-to-end manner with gradient descent methods. The experiments demonstrate that LR-GAN can generate more natural images with objects that are more human recognizable than DCGAN.


Symptom and medication use are the key outcomes for assessing the efficacy of subcutaneous (SCIT) and sublingual allergen immunotherapy (SLIT). Our objective was to explore the similarities and differences between existing scoring mechanisms used in clinical trials of SLIT for seasonal allergens and characterize the impact that such differences may have on efficacy reporting. Randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trials investigating the efficacy of SLIT for seasonal allergic rhinitis (2009–2013) were selected for review. Simulated and published data were used to demonstrate differences in scoring methods. Symptom and medication scoring methods across trials, although all designed to achieve the same objective, included important differences. The maximum daily symptom score (DSS) can vary widely depending on the number of symptoms assessed, and terminology of symptoms is not consistent. Similarly, daily medication scoring (DMS) methods differ greatly among studies and are dependent on medications allowed and weighting of scores assigned to each medication. When published DSS and DMS scores were used to calculate simulated daily combined scores (DCSs) based on various published methods, changes from placebo ranged from 19% to 29% when assuming all variables other than the DSS and DMS methods were equal. Variations in trial design, analysis, and seasonal characteristics also have effects on symptom and medication scoring outcomes. We identified multiple differences in trial scoring methods and design that make comparison among trials difficult. Symptom, medication, or combined scores cannot be indirectly compared among trials without taking the methods of scoring and other trial differences into account.


An artificial environment created with co mputer hardware and software and presented to the user in such a way that it appears and feels like a real environment. To "enter" a virtual reality, a user does special gloves, earphones, and goggles, all of which receive their input from the computer system. In this way, at least three of the five senses are controlled by the computer. In addition to feeding sensory input to the user, the devices also monitor the user's actions. The goggles, for example, track how the eyes move and respond accordingly by sending new video input. Virtual reality systems require extremely expensive hardware and software and are confined mostly to research laboratories. The term virtual reality is sometimes used more generally to refer to any virtual world represented in a computer, even if it's just a text-based or graphical representation.


Gate-tunable Schottky junction solar cells (SJSCs) based on graphene and graphene mesh electrodes on n-type Si are fabricated and the effect of the external gate voltage (Vg) on the photovoltaic characteristics is investigated. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of both devices continuously increase with increasing absolute values of Vg. Importantly, despite the slightly lower PCE values at Vg = 0 V, the graphene mesh on Si SJSC shows more rapid enhancement of PCE values, from 5.7% to 8.1%, with Vg varied from 0 V to −1 V. The finite element simulation highlights the benefits of the graphene mesh electrodes from the non-uniform and dynamic modulation of potential distributions driven correlatively by a work function change in the graphene regions and electric-field penetration through the hole regions.


OBJECTIVE
We report the development and use of MRI-compatible and MRI-visible 3D printed models in conjunction with advanced visualization software models to plan and simulate safe access routes to achieve a theoretic zone of cryoablation for percutaneous image-guided treatment of a C7 pedicle osteoid osteoma and an L1 lamina osteoblastoma. Both models altered procedural planning and patient care.

CONCLUSION
Patient-specific MRI-visible models can be helpful in planning complex percutaneous image-guided cryoablation procedures.


It has been said that supreme enlightenment is reflected in the holy smile of the Buddha. Yet, the Victorians thought of open-mouthed smiling as obscene, and nineteenth-century English and American slang equated "smiling" with drinking whisky. Every smile is the product of physical processes common to all humans. But since the dawn of civilization, the upward movement of the muscles of the face has carried a bewildering range of meanings. In A Brief History of the Smile, Angus Trumble deftly weaves art, poetry, history and biology into an intriguing portrait of the many nuances of the human smile. Elegantly illustrating his points with emblematic works of art, from 18th and 19th century European paintings to Japanese woodblock prints, Trumble explores the meanings of smiling in a variety of cultures and contexts. But he also asks key questions about the behavioral and psychological aspects of smiling: When and how in infancy does human smiling become a profound act of communication? Is smiling unique to human beings? How does smiling function to foster our attachments to each other? Effortlessly mingling erudition, wit, and personal anecdote, Trumble weaves a seamless interdisciplinary tapestry. An established talent in the art worlds of Europe, Europe and Australia, Trumble challenges our most deeply held assumptions about smiling. In his analysis of Jusepe de Ribera's Girl Playing a Tambourine, Trumble explores the sinister side of the smile-the leer, the snarl, the lewd grin. And from J. A. Ingres' portrait of the Princesse de Broglie, he extracts the implications of "public" smiling, the tension between decorum and beauty. Trumble brings his expertise as a writer, historian and thinker to bear on the art of smiling in this charming and distinctive work.


A review is presented of some of the principal techniques of laser cooling and trapping that have been developed during the past 20 years. Its approach is primarily experimental, but its quantitative descriptions are consistent in notation with most of the theoretical literature. It begins with a simplified introduction to optical forces on atoms, including both cooling and trapping. Then its three main sections discuss its three selected features, (1) quantization of atomic motion, (2) effects of the multilevel structure of atoms, and (3) the effects of polychromatic light. Each of these features is an expansion in a different direction from the simplest model of a classical, two-level atom moving in a monochromatic laser field.


Antisocial behavior can be triggered by negative social experiences and individuals' processing of these experiences. This study focuses on risk-buffering interactions between temperament, perceived parenting, socio-economic status (SES), and sex in relation to antisocial behavior in a Dutch population sample of preadolescents (N = 2230). Perceived parenting (overprotection, rejection, emotional warmth) was assessed by the EMBU (a Swedish acronym for My Memories of Upbringing) for children, temperament (effortful control and frustration) by the parent version of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised, SES by information on parental education, occupation, and income, and antisocial behavior by the Child Behavior Checklist (parent report) and the Youth Self-Report (child report). All parenting and temperament factors were significantly associated with antisocial behavior.The strongest risk-buffering interactions were found for SES which was only related to antisocial behavior among children with a low level of effortful control or a high level of frustration. Furthermore, the associations of SES with antisocial behavior were more negative for boys than for girls. Thus, the effects of SES depend on both the temperament and sex of the child.


Spatial statistical analysis of massive amounts of spatial data can be challenging because computation of optimal procedures can break down. The Spatial Random Effects (SRE) model uses a fixed number of known but not necessarily orthogonal (multiresolutional) spatial basis functions, which gives a flexible family of nonstationary covariance functions, results in dimension reduction, and yields optimal spatial predictors whose computations are scalable. By modeling spatial data in a hierarchical manner with a process model that includes the SRE model, the choice is whether to estimate the SRE model's parameters or to take a Bayesian approach and put a prior distribution on them. In this article, we develop Bayesian inference for the SRE model when the spatial basis functions are multiresolutional. Then the covariance matrix of the random effects decomposes naturally in terms of Givens angles and eigenvalues, for which a new class of prior distributions is developed. This approach to prior specification of a spatial covariance matrix offers remarkable improvement over other types of priors used in the random-effects literature (e.g., Wishart priors), as demonstrated in a simulation experiment. Further, a large remote-sensing dataset of aerosol optical depth (AOD), from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra satellite, is analyzed in a fully Bayesian framework, using the new prior, and compared to an empirical-Bayesian analysis.


We have investigated the vapor response properties of chemically sensitive thin film resistors prepared from conductor-insulator composites. A new sensor type was developed from alkylamine-capped gold nanocrystals, and films of this composite, which are composed of nanometer-scale gold cores separated by regions of insulating alkylamine chains, exhibit small reversible resistance increases upon exposure to vapors such as water, acetone, or toluene. However, these films exhibit large irreversible resistance decreases in exposure to vapors possessing the thiol (-SH) functionality. The resistance change is shown useful for determination of the mercaptan concentration, and readily permits the detection of methylmercaptan at concentrations as low as 4 ppb (parts per billion), and hydrogen sulfide at concentrations as low as 9 ppm (parts per million). We have also investigated the geometric, spatial, and temporal response properties of chemically sensitive resistors prepared from polymer-carbon black composites in exposure to common organic vapors. The reversible resistance responses of these detectors were evaluated with short rise-time pulses of vapor, and detectors formed from very thin (< 200 nm) films of polyethylene-co-vinyl acetate (PEVA)-carbon black composites produced steady-state responses within 17 ms for methanol exposures and within 90 ms for toluene, acetone, or n-hexane. In accord with Fickian diffusion, the response times of PEVA-carbon black detectors were proportional to the square of the film thicknesses in the range 510 nm to 5700 nm, and the response vs. time profiles were well fit by a simple finite difference model based on Fickian diffusion. The temporal response also provides useful information for the identification or discrimination of solvent vapors beyond that available solely in the steady-state response employed in previous studies of this sensor type. We also demonstrate that there is an optimum detector volume to produce the highest signal/noise ratio for a given composite when exposed to a fixed volume of analyte vapor, and we show that useful information and optimizations can be obtained from the spatiotemporal response profile of an analyte moving in a controlled path across an array of chemically identical, but spatially nonequivalent, detectors.


Nonreciprocal intensity transmission in optical fibers can be realized by use of an asymmetric fiber taper. A few-mode fiber taper-based nonreciprocal component is designed, and its nonreciprocal transmission characteristics are demonstrated. This structure can be employed to build polarization-independent all-fiber isolators or fiber-optic sensors.


We have developed an advanced process for fabricating a next-generation multi-layer Nb integrated circuit structure incorporating a top active layer. In this structure, the passive-transmission-line (PTL) layer is placed between the top active layer and a DC-bias current layer at the bottom. This structure will make it possible to flexibly design active circuits and PTL wiring, and will also enable active circuits to be effectively shielded from magnetic fields generated by a large DC-bias current. Both the DC-bias current layer and the PTL layer are planarized; however, the top active layer is fabricated without planarization. To fabricate this new structure, it was necessary to achieve a better planarization process for junctions formed over underlying Nb patterns. The combined process we developed comprising additional SiO2 deposition and additional mechanical polishing after the standard Caldera planarization process results in superior planarization for junction formation. We obtained excellent characteristics of junctions formed over underlying pattern edges when they were fabricated on surfaces planarized using this new process. Using the process, we fabricated new 10-Nb-layer integrated circuit structures and estimated the characteristics of their circuit elements.


The landscape of childhood in the 21st century increasingly involves technology. As information and communication technologies (ICTs) become ubiquitous in homes, schools, libraries, and play spaces, children are plugged-in and online with greater frequency and at a younger age. Concerns regarding new and emerging technologies like the immersive Internet, mobile phones, and social networking sites often lead to highly charged, emotive responses aimed at reducing the risks associated with such technologies. These reactions focus our attention on children in the role of victimized consumer, and privilege the perspective of a single stakeholder, the parent. This desire to protect young technology consumers runs contrary to the participatory techniques intended to give greater voice to users in the design and development of technology. A broader, more enlightened perspective on the role of technology in the lives of children recognizes the multiple roles, stakeholders, and value propositions which affect these interactions with ICTs. Rather than casting children in the limited role of consumer of technology, participatory and value-sensitive design techniques afford children the role of tester, evaluator, appropriator, remediator, co-designer, or co-investigator. Creating and sustaining a pluralistic society means providing sufficient opportunities for the voices of children in the decisions that affect their lives and their futures. This panel will ground this discussion in current empirical research studies where a child's voice is actively sought as part of the design and evaluation of technologies as an opportunity to speculate about the need to go further in ensuring that children are active participants in the decision making process. The panel will invite discussion about ways that the information science community could be taking a far more active role in terms of awareness raising, advocacy and mediation between all the various stakeholders to enable a stronger voice for children in society.


Finite element simulations of structural members are a good alternative to physical testing for studying strength and structural response of the members when finite element models have been properly calibrated and validated. Published information on finite element modeling of cold-formed steel deck in bending is scarce. This paper presents the development of finite element models of corrugated steel deck in bending using a general-purpose software, ANSYS. Effects of the following parameters on elastic buckling and ultimate moments of models, as well as on their load-deflection curves, were studied: shell element types, mesh density, corner radius, number of deck corrugations, presence of transverse ties, initial geometric imperfection distribution and magnitude, deck boundary conditions, loading type, and stress-strain diagrams. Optimal parameters of the models were determined. Moment capacities, flexural stiffness, and load-deflection curves predicted by the models with the optimal parameters correlated well with test results available in literature, especially when the deck material behavior was described by nonlinear stress-strain diagrams. The developed FE models can be used for studying flexural strength and behavior of solid steel deck with various geometry under various loading types, which can be useful in development of new efficient profiles and in improving the current deck design methods. The models can also be used as a basis for the development of FE models of steel deck with openings and acoustical perforations, as well as built-up deck profiles, design methods for which are currently underdeveloped.


This thesis analyses the phenomenon of suicide bombings as manifested in the Palestinian landscape of conflict and attempts to construct a theoretical framework of analysis to study the phenomenon. It investigates Hamas, and most specifically its resort to suicide bombings, from the time of its inception in 1988 to its electoral victory in 2006. In focussing on a particular organisation this work rejects the notion of a monolithic Islamist global threat perpetrated by individuals that are irrational and propelled solely by religion and the call to jihad, irrespective of their organisational affiliation and geographical location. Instead such categorisations are rebuffed by using tools provided by International Relations theory and examples of Hamas that illustrate why and how suicide operations are adopted in a particular socio-political setting. Hence, at its core, this thesis probes how concepts and methods in contemporary International Relations can assist in explaining and understanding the phenomenon of suicide bombings using the specific empirical case of the Hamas. Three broad theoretical methodologies/approaches are utilised in the constructed theoretical framework of analysis, namely Rational Choice Theory, Social Constructivism and the Just War thesis. Each of these is believed to grant equally crucial insights into specific aspects of suicide operations, which when amalgamated provide a more holistic understanding of the phenomenon in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Within this given theoretical structure the thesis demonstrates how Palestinian suicide operations are, first and foremost, a complex combination of instrumental and expressive violence which are adopted by rational actors to assert power, achieve political and/or societal survival and enable retaliation and competition. Second, this work reveals how suicide operations perform an important role in the formation and consolidation of Palestinian national identity and also demonstrates how such acts are used as a mechanism to delineate both organisational and individual space. Finally, this thesis probes how political Islam is employed to facilitate the articulation, justification and legitimisation of suicide operations as a modern-day jihad to Palestinian society through the means of modern interpretations and fatwas. In its endeavours to formulate a more holistic understanding of suicide operations in the Israeli - Palestinian conflict this work consciously uses both positivist and post-positivist concepts as part of its theoretical framework. However, while it employs neo-utilitarian choice-theoretic assumptions as a methodological tool to illustrate one facet of suicide bombings it is, both ontologically and epistemologically, more closely aligned with post-positivists approaches. As such it challenges basic rationalist assumptions that claim value neutrality and treat actors as possessing identities and interests that are autogenous and pre-social. Finally, the methodological structure of this thesis is based on qualitative research which utilises not only primary and secondary source literature but also interview-based field data collected in both Israel and the Palestinian territories from December 2004 to January 2005.


This study has been made for brought out the actual role of librarians in present rapid changing environment and according to modernization and advanced developments in information era. The enormous e-resources are available in recent times and very difficult to handle and filter them for disseminating useful and require information to users. This survey has taken place for knowing the library professional's abilities, capabilities and calibers for satisfying the library users in this web era. Total 155 questionnaires were distributed to LIS professionals who were working in private and government sectors in Telangana state. Among them 123 questionnaires were received and only 100 good questionnaires were taken in to count for the data interpreted according to given answers. Most of the LIS professionals need to develop their skills and advanced technologies day by day according to latest developments in LIS field. Few of remarkable changes are found from this study also.


The angular distribution of photoelectrons ejected during the ionization of Ne atoms by extreme ultraviolet (XUV) free-electron laser radiation in the presence of an intense near infrared (NIR) dressing field was investigated experimentally and theoretically. A highly nonlinear process with absorption and emission of more than ten NIR photons results in the formation of numerous sidebands. The amplitude of the sidebands varies strongly with the emission angle and the angular distribution pattern reveals clear signatures of interferences between the different angular momenta for the outgoing electron in the multi-photon process. As a specific feature, the central photoelectron line is characterized at the highest NIR fields by an angular distribution, which is peaked perpendicularly to both the XUV and NIR polarization directions. Experimental results are reproduced by a theoretical model based on the strong field approximation.


Psychologists have not considered wisdom and creativity to be closely associated. This reflects their failure to recognize that creativity is not exclusively the result of bold discoveries by young conceptual innovators. Important advances can equally be made by older, experimental innovators. Yet we have had no examination of why some experimental artists have remained creative much later in their lives than others. Considering the major artists who worked together during the first decade of Impressionism, this paper compares the attitudes and practices of two important experimental innovators who made significant contributions after the age of 50 with two of their colleagues whose creativity failed to persist past 50. Unlike Pissarro and Renoir, who reacted to adversity in mid-career by attempting to emulate the methods of conceptual artists, Cezanne and Monet adopted elements of other artists' approaches while maintaining their own experimental methods and goals. For both Cezanne and Monet, recognizing how they themselves learned was a key to turning experience into wisdom. Their greatness in old age appears to have been a product of their understanding that although the improvement in their art might be painstaking and slow, over long periods its cumulative effect could be very great.


The Uniformization Theorem due to Koebe and Poincare implies that every compact Riemann surface of genus greater or equal to 2 can be endowed with a metric of constant curvature – 1. On the other hand, a compact Riemann surface is a complex algebraic curve and is therefore described by a polynomial equation with complex coefficients. The uniformization problem is then to link explicitly these two descriptions. In [BS05b], Peter Buser and Robert Silhol develop a new uniformization method for compact Riemann surfaces of genus two. Given such a surface S, the method describes a polynomial equation of an algebraic curve conformally equivalent to S. However, in this method appear a complex number τ BS and a function f BS which is holomorphic on the unit disk, both being characterized by some functional equations. This means that τ BS, f BS are given implicitly. P. Buser and R. Silhol then approximate them numerically by a complex number τ and a polynomial p using the approximation method developped in [BS05a]. In cases where the equation of the algebraic curve is known, they notice that these approximations are very good. In this thesis we prove a convergence theorem for the approximation method of P. Buser and R. Silhol, and we propose an adaptation of their method that allows to solve some of the numerical problems to which it is prone. Moreover, we generalize this uniformization method to hyperelliptic Riemann surfaces of genus greater than 2, and we give some examples of numerical uniformization in genus 3.


An ammonia-oxidizing, carbon-fixing archaeon, Candidatus "Nitrosopumilus maritimus," recently was isolated from a salt-water aquarium, definitively confirming that chemoautotrophy exists among the marine archaea. However, in other incubation studies, pelagic archaea also were capable of using organic carbon. It has remained unknown what fraction of the total marine archaeal community is autotrophic in situ. If archaea live primarily as autotrophs in the natural environment, a large ammonia-oxidizing population would play a significant role in marine nitrification. Here we use the natural distribution of radiocarbon in archaeal membrane lipids to quantify the bulk carbon metabolism of archaea at two depths in the subtropical North Pacific gyre. Our compound-specific radiocarbon data show that the archaea in surface waters incorporate modern carbon into their membrane lipids, and archaea at 670 m incorporate carbon that is slightly more isotopically enriched than inorganic carbon at the same depth. An isotopic mass balance model shows that the dominant metabolism at depth indeed is autotrophy (83%), whereas heterotrophic consumption of modern organic carbon accounts for the remainder of archaeal biomass. These results reflect the in situ production of the total community that produces tetraether lipids and are not subject to biases associated with incubation and/or culture experiments. The data suggest either that the marine archaeal community includes both autotrophs and heterotrophs or is a single population with a uniformly mixotrophic metabolism. The metabolic and phylogenetic diversity of the marine archaea warrants further exploration; these organisms may play a major role in the marine cycles of nitrogen and carbon.


In this book selected contemporary architects and critics focus on the theme of rigor in architecture. They investigate the difficulties in sustaining the clarity of a design idea from its inception to the final details and the corresponding difficulty the critic has in tracing this process. A project section includes the work of emerging practitioners from Europe and the United States. The book concludes with a section on the work of Eileen Gray and Heinrich Tessenow. Translations of writings by the two architects are included, notably Tessenow's book Of House Building and Such Things along with appraisals of their projects by commissioned authors. Distributed for the 9H Gallery.


For a country to develop, it requires a well and fully employed populace to earn income and carter for their basic needs and hence achieve a better standard of living. It is a global concern to protect and conserve vital natural resources to avoid repercussions from not doing so like climate change. But if communities are not economically empowered, they seem a threat to these green belts putting their existence and natural function in jeopardy. The main purpose of this study was to contribute to a better understanding of how crop cultivation is affecting the values, services, functions and goods provided by Nakivubo wetland to the immediate communities. It was undertaken to find out whether this vital resource in an urban setting is only endangered by crop growing. Hence the concern to identifying the underlying factors to continued un-wise use of the resource. The study followed a qualitative research design and the population of interest were the farmers cultivating in this wetland and other persons undertaking other livelihoods and various activities. Several key informants from the environmental management agencies as well as local council officials contributed to this study. Data were gathered through questionnaire, self administered questionnaire, interview guide, mapping, photography and direct observation. Political ecology theory was used to inform and guide the study. To understand the varying power relations, struggles and conflicts over wetland resource use and the available management drives better amongst all the concerned stakeholders. Data were analyzed, by transcribing, coding, grouped and regrouped and were presented using some direct quotes from the research participants.The major finding of the study was that the farmers are encroaching on this vital resource because they do not have satisfying alternative livelihoods and that this is their long lived livelihood. There has been a continuous position change of the crop growing activity from the slopes to the wetland fringes and now the interior. Influencing factors to the change were found out to be; increased urbanisation, population explosion, wide spread unemployment and under-employment and abject poverty. Areas on the slopes and wetland fringes have been taken up by other livelihoods, housing establishments (residential, commercial and industrial). This settlement is being spearheaded by some local council and other Government officials by leasing off land to the developers. The farmers were found out to have free and easy access to the wetland area allocating and selling plots to each other easily. Inadequate enforcement of the laws protecting the wetland has made it possible for people to go to the far interior. The environment managers and farmers revealed that crop growing has disastrous effects on the wetland vegetation and hence it's natural function (like purification of flood waste water; containing runoffs, sewage and other effluents from the city before it gets into Lake Victoria). Continuity of crop growing by the farmers in the wetland interior is not a simple task because of its fragile nature and current level of pollution. It was observed that there is over use of the resource (estimated 80% of the wetland is currently dominated by crop growing). Besides crop growing, the other livelihood activities taking place in the wetland included; fishing and fish farming, brick production, sand, gravel and clay collection, harvesting of wetland products, and grazing of animals. Sewage collection ponds and disposal was also taking place. Various housing development initiatives are also taking place on the fringes and drained parts. Opening up of the natural vegetation and human presence has endangered flora and fauna. There are awareness raising campaigns and enforcing of the available wetland, policy - management laws (use-guidelines and regulations) among others. Despite the endeavours by the authorities to protect the resource, the laws are defied by the encroachers to continue earning a living from livelihoods and establishing housing structures for commercial, residential and industrial purposes among others. This is perpetuated by the support from some politicians, economic powerful class, some community members and capitalist enterprises. Further still, the study indicates that if the encroachers are not provided with alternative livelihood sources and land for development initiatives particularly housing, creation of a well defined and coordinated management technique amongst the concerned stakeholders, there is expected continued encroachment.


This thesis analyses the role of smallholder livestock production within mixed farming practices in the agrarian society of Nepal based on a detailed analysis by gender, class, caste, and ethnicity from six communities representative of the three agro-ecological regions-Mountain, Hill and Terai. Over the past decade, farmers have gradually integrated market based small scale livestock enterprises into subsistence farming systems for livelihood enhancement which has generated alternative livelihood opportunities for the reduction of poverty among poor and disadvantaged people. Specific attention is given to both the assumptions that surround the promotion of livestock development as a poverty alleviation programme, and the investigation of complex society-livestock development-environment relations through the incorporation of 'everyday' interactions at different scales. Moreover, in such a mixed farming system there is a dynamic relationship between livestock, crop and common property resources (e.g. forest, pastureland) whereby, depending on the agro-ecological region, livestock production depends to a certain extent on fodder and grass from common property resources (CPRs).

The thesis uses a theoretical framework derived from political ecology to critically analyse how society, development and environment orthodoxies influence livestock production and management practices. The research used multiple methods (qualitative and quantitative methods) including participatory research techniques which were conducted in six communities from Mustang, Lalitpur and Chitwan representative of the three agro-ecological regions respectively. Socio-economic and gender analysis, and cross comparative analytical tools were used to discover the main factors influencing current livestock production and inequitable benefit sharing of livestock development across gender, class, caste, and ethnic groups.

The discussion of the results of the research begins with a consideration of rural livelihood diversity from an historical context and from empirical investigations that were conducted in order to explore the vulnerability of diverse caste and ethnic groups across agro-ecological regions of Nepal. This thesis then examines the specific roles of livestock production and changes over the time. The effects and consequences of both pre-existing socio-cultural values of livestock, and agro-ecological circumstances on the current market based livestock production and consumption preferences are examined in South Asia generally, and more specifically in Nepal. Following this, the thesis addresses gender roles and relations and also the gendered effects of market based livestock production and management systems across the three agro-ecological regions, and class, caste and ethnic groups are described and analysed. Finally, there is examination of the relevance of environmental problems and challenges that are associated with the current market based livestock production systems based on the farmers views and perceptions.

The findings reveal that over the past decade, farmers from various socio-economic groups have integrated small scale market based livestock production into their subsistence agricultural systems to generate cash income. There is also evidence that the preference for particular livestock enterprises is influenced by socio-cultural values, characteristics of the agro-ecological region, and availability of livestock feed resources. In the process of developing market based livestock production and management systems, gender roles and relations have changed and a greater income inequality has been created among the rural poor, differentiated by class, caste, and ethnicity. The findings also reveal that, in contrast to the general assumption that livestock has degraded natural resources, farmers views/perceptions indicate that current livestock enterprise practices in the hill and Terai regions have not impacted negatively on common property resources (mainly forests). This is due to the introduction of community forestry programmes, along with stall feeding practices and the use of alternative feed resources (e.g., private cultivated land and other feed resources). However, according to the farmers, these regions have been facing new environmental challenges from livestock processing and wastes; a finding that requires further investigation. In contrast to hill and Terai regions, the pastureland areas of the mountain region, are being degraded due to the lack of alternative feed resources/options.

The study concludes that there is a critical need to prioritise and combine three key elements/factors in order to formulate an inclusive livestock development framework to address the issues of vulnerability and social exclusion in rural livestock development. They are: i) address pre-existing livestock based socio-cultural values in order to include the poorest of the poor, such as the Dalit group and other disadvantaged ethnic groups, ii) introduce livestock which are suitable to the agro-ecological conditions, and iii) consider the availability of and access to livestock feed resources. The positive implications that potentially emanate from social inclusion include the maintenance of rural income equality across household, community and regional levels, and livestock management and production systems that are environmentally sustainable across the three agro-ecological regions of Nepal.


The research of this thesis deals with the derivation of optimum designs for linear mixed models. The problem of constructing optimal designs for linear mixed models is very broad. Thus the thesis is mainly focused on the design theory for random coefficient regression models which are a special case of the linear mixed model. Specifically, the major objective of the thesis is to construct optimal designs for the simple linear and the quadratic regression models with a random intercept algebraically. A second objective is to investigate the nature of optimal designs for the simple linear random coefficient regression model numerically. In all models time is considered as an explanatory variable and its values are assumed to belong the set {a, 1, ... , k}. Two sets of individual designs, designs with non-repeated time points comprising up to k + 1 distinct time points and designs with repeated time points comprising up to k + 1 time points not necessarily distinct, are used in the thesis. In the first case there are 2+1 1 individual designs while in the second case there are ( 2k + 1 ) 2 k 1 such designs. The problems of constructing population designs, which allocate weights to the individual designs in such a way that the information associated with the model parameters is in some sense maximized and the variances associated with the mean responses at a given vector of time points are in some sense minimized, are addressed. In particular Dand V -optimal designs are discussed. A geometric approach is introduced to confirm the global optimality of Dand V -optimal designs for the simple linear regression model with a random intercept. It is shown that for the simple linear regression model with a random intercept these optimal designs are robust to the choice of the variance ratio. A comparison of these optimal designs over the sets of individual designs with repeated and non-repeated points for that model is also made and indicates that the Dand V-optimal iii population designs based on the individual designs with repeated points are more efficient than the corresponding optimal population designs with non-repeated points. Except for the one-point case, Dand V-optimal population designs change with the values of the variance ratio for the quadratic regression model with a random intercept. Further numerical results show that the D-optimal designs for the random coefficient models are dependent on the choice of variance components.


The traumatic experience of having one's home broken into, precious objects—books, records, paintings, and musical instruments—destroyed and looted, has been described in many a memoir or fictional account from the Cultural Revolution. However, these narratives, which have become well known as emblematic examples of the Cultural Revolution experience, often leave out the flipside of these intrusions: the question of what happened to the objects after they had been taken? Starting out from the experiences related in a set of interviews that were conducted with representatives from different generations and social groups, this paper offers an alternative reading of this and similar campaigns: one that emphasizes assiduous reading and listening, and learning from the cultural objects that were confiscated from some so as to be enjoyed by others. The paper argues that the experience of "smashing (and enjoying) the Four Olds" was extremely transcultural: contrary to common notions that see the Chinese Cultural Revolution as a period of political and cultural iconoclasm as well as of isolationism, and consequently a "cultural desert," the paper provides extensive evidence of a vibrant and transculturally informed experience of cultural consumption. This involved both China's traditional and foreign cultural products which, even if officially banned, were unofficially available, especially during the "smashing" campaign and similar campaigns that followed.


Government support in America is an emergent trend largely observable in broken households, creating a nation of welfare families that are fragmented and relying on state and federal financial assistance. The cost of family fragmentation was first studied and published in 2008, finding that family breakdown had cost American taxpayers $112 billion a year, documenting for the first time the enormous expense of divorce and unwed childbearing.Family fragmentation occurs when individuals experience domestic breakdown caused by divorce, or non-marital child bearing. The 2008 Report's calculations suggested that "to the extent that the decline of marriage increases the number of children and adults eligible for and in need of government services, costs to taxpayers will grow." These calculations were based on differences in poverty rates by household types which reveal that those headed by a single female have relatively high poverty rates, leading to higher spending on welfare, health care, criminal justice and education. Though already a well-documented fact that family fragmentation is harmful to children, the 2008 Report brought to light that reducing the costs of family fragmentation "is a legitimate concern of government, policymakers and legislators." Now nearly five years later we set out to discover if that research was heeded in some way by various states. This article provides a more recent snapshot of the costs of family fragmentation on a state-by-state basis through examining states' efforts to correct the rising costs of family fragmentation. It reviews basic family welfare costs and legislative and public policy initiatives directed at reducing family fragmentation by state. Utilizing the same measurements and indicators originally used to compile the 2008 Report, and not being economists, we endeavor to report the facts and any observable difference law and policy has (or has not) made in these past five years. The article begins with an explanation in Part I of the research included in this study, giving descriptors and indicators for each expense category calculated. Part II offers an overview of various available federal, state and private sector family strengthening initiatives. The raw information by state is then examined in Part III, providing some straightforward analysis of this raw data. Findings are not necessarily prescriptive, but seek to highlight the basic policies that states are using to strengthen families that can result in decreased family fragmentation costs. This brief survey cannot make direct connections, but is offered as a catalyst for states to appropriately alter policies toward family strengthening policy. The great expense to states of family fragmentation, whether from divorce or unwed childbearing, reveal that broken families are not simply about providing more federal funding or protecting individual privacy choices, but are a matter of authentic concern for researchers, taxpayers, legislatures, and government officials.


In this paper, an optical parametric amplifier and wavelength converter in an all-fiber optical configuration is experimentally demonstrated for photonic applications in the 1 μm band. This is achieved by using a microstructured fiber which provides anomalous dispersion at 1 μm and an LiNbO3 electro-optic intensity modulator specially designed at this operating wavelength for generating pump pulses. A gain of greater than 30 dB together with highly efficient wavelength conversion is obtained at 1053 nm. The gain bandwidth and gain-power efficiency are also investigated. Experimental results agree well with the theory of parametric amplification including Raman scattering.


A nonlinear discrete-time model along with an optimal stabilizing controller using a unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) is proposed for weak/islanded grids in this paper. An advanced stabilizing controller greatly benefits islanded medium-sized grid and microgrid due to their relatively small stored energy levels, which adversely affect their stability, as opposed to larger grids. In addition, a discrete-time grid model and controller are preferred for digital implementation. Here, the discrete-time Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs optimal control method is employed to design an optimal grid stabilizer. While UPQC is conventionally utilized for power quality improvement in distribution systems in the presence of renewable energy, here, the stabilizing control is added and applied to the UPQC series voltage in order to mitigate the grid's oscillations besides UPQC's power conditioning tasks. Consequently, the UPQC can be employed to stabilize a grid-tie inverter (GTI) or a synchronous generator (SG) with minimum control effort. When controlling the GTI associated with renewable energy sources, a reduced UPQC structure is proposed that only employs the series compensator. Next, a successive approximation method along with neural networks is utilized to approximate a cost function of the grid dynamical states, the UPQC control parameters, and disturbance, in a two-player zero-sum game with the players being UPQC control and grid disturbances. Subsequently, the cost function is used to obtain the nonlinear optimal controller that is applied to the UPQC. Simulation results show effective damping behavior of the proposed nonlinear controller in controlling both GTI and SG in weak and islanded grids.


For over a century the sunbird Anthreptes malacensis has been known to occur on the Soela Islands where it reaches the eastern limit of its distribution, and when Shelley (1877) named Anthreptes celebensis, now known as Anthreptes malacensis celebensis, he included the Soela Islands in its range. In subsequent years apparently only Hartert (1898) has in the briefest possible way discussed specimens from the Soela Islands, stating that they were: "quite like Celebes specimens". At this the matter has rested with the result that in the latest list (van Bemmel, 1948) the Soela Islands are still included in the range of Anthreptes malacensis celebensis. When Stresemann (1932) restricted, in the Celebes, the range of A. m. celebensis to the southern peninsula, and described the birds from north, east and southeast Celebes as a new subspecies, Anthreptes malacensis citrinus, the identity of the Soela birds with A. m. celebensis was no longer likely from the Zoogeographie point of view. Therefore I was not surprised to find that our series of Anthreptes malacensis from the Soela Islands shows clear differences from the two Celebes subspecies (which are very similar to each other), which justify separation as a moderately well-marked subspecies. Anthreptes malacensis extremus subspecies nova Diagnosis. — Differs in the male sex from the subspecies celebensis and citrinus in the distinctly greener, less yellow under parts; the gular patch is slightly more greyish brown, less warm brown in colour, all measurements average larger, the bill is not only somewhat larger but especially broader at its base. Differs from other neighbouring races, Anthreptes malacensis convergens Rensch (Lesser Soenda Islands), and Anthreptes malacensis helio-