This thesis uses quantitative as well as qualitative methods to examine the impact of school philosophical statements on school development planning.
Three case study schools from an Asian city were selected. A questionnaire and face to face interviews were used as data gathering tools. The data from the questionnaires informed the questions created for the interviews and the outcomes of these two data sources were analysed qualitatively. As a result of the findings from qualitative analysis a further quantitative analysis was made of the questionnaire data. A total of 188 responses to questionnaires were examined and 22 interviews took place.
The main aim of this research is to empirically examine the assumptions that underpin the Council of International Schools and New England Association of Schools and College's accreditation standards for school philosophical statements and development planning. At the heart of these assumptions is the belief that school development planning is most effective when it is closely linked to a clearly written, collaboratively created set of philosophical statements which articulate the school's values and beliefs. To date this assumption has not been substantiated by research. A secondary aim is to examine the systems and structures in schools that assist in linking the school's philosophy to its planning processes.
The data resulted in a set of interesting findings. Firstly, insights were gained into techniques used to reaffirm and embed school philosophy into the school's culture. Secondly, the data suggested that the assumptions made by the accrediting agencies hold true under certain circumstances but that a school's underlying ideology may be more powerful in driving institutional planning. As a result of the findings, suggestions to further develop accreditation standards are made and ideas for further research are proposed.


Although the majority of US adults has Internet access and gathers health information online, the Internet does not replace clinicians. People rate health professionals as their top source for technical questions such as diagnosis and treatment, but nonprofessionals (eg, friends and family) are rated higher for emotional support and quick remedies. For their most recent health issue, 21% of adults say they turned to others who have the same health condition; evidence of people's interest in connecting with and learning from each other. People living with chronic diseases (and their caregivers) are especially likely to say they look online for peer advice. They are pioneering new ways of pursuing health by banding together and sharing knowledge; so-called peer-to-peer health care. Practical tips from fellow patients and caregivers can have far-reaching implications for clinical outcomes. As a parent of a chronically ill child observed: "We all work collaboratively, but I notice that my doctor doesn't. After I've talked with my community online, I go back to him and ask, 'What do your colleagues say about this issue?' And it's clear it didn't occur to him to ask them." Clinicians might do well to look into online patient communities and consider recommending them as resources for their patients. Clinicians might look at patient networks as a model for their own collaborative learning process as well. Linking the expertise of patients, families, and clinicians holds promise for further improving care and outcomes.


To measure the accuracy of incidence rates for invasive cervical cancer derived from cancer registration data, a review of histopathology records was undertaken for all cases of invasive cervical cancer, a 20 per cent random sample of CIN 3 registrations and all cases of cancer of the uterus not otherwise specified (NOS) from Greater Manchester, which were registered by the North Western Regional Cancer Registry between 1988 and 1989. The subjects were 386 cases of invasive cervical cancer, 313 CIN 3 registrations and 69 cases of cancer of the uterus NOS. The main outcome measure was the incidence rate of invasive cervical cancer in Greater Manchester after adjusting for errors in cancer registration. It was found that 375 (97 per cent) of the 386 cases of invasive cervical cancer were verified against the original pathology report but 11 cases (3 per cent) had been registered as invasive cervical cancer in error. Nine cases of invasive cervical cancer were found to have been misclassified as CIN 3, and 10 cases as cancer of the uterus NOS. As the CIN 3 cases were a 20 per cent random sample of all CIN 3 registrations, the best estimate of the number of cases of invasive cervical cancer misclassified as CIN 3 is 45, which makes a total under-registration of 55 cases over the two-year period. After adjusting for under-and over-registration, the incidence rate of invasive cancer of the cervix in Greater Manchester for 1988-1989 increased from 16.5 to 18.1 per 100,000 population.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Although women predominate in later life, their diverse experiences of growing older have often been neglected within social gerontology and the sociology of ageing. Instead, the significance of gender and ethnicity and the interrelationship of sexism, racism and ageism, remain under theorised. More recently, some feminists have highlighted the neglect of gender issues and have examined how gendered power relations in society influence women's experiences of growing older (e.g. Arber & Ginn, 1991, 1995). This has provided insight into why older women are often significantly materially disadvantaged in comparison to men. Additionally how, despite the inequalities they face across the life course, older women are far from being passive victims. However, although feminist scholarship has made older women's accounts more visible, how these are influenced by ethnic and cultural diversity and the experience of migration remains neglected. Even the concepts used to understand experiences of ageing tend to be western centric and are often applied universally as though they are unchanged by culture. For example, there is a tendency to assume that what it means to age 'successfully', and the underlying concepts attached to it such as independence, agency, empowerment, disempowerment and autonomy, will not vary amongst and between ethnic groups. A potential effect of this is the exclusion of those accounts that offer alternative insights into the experience of ageing. In this paper, the accounts of ethnically diverse midlife and older women will be drawn upon to highlight different perceptions and experiences of later life. It will be argued that theories of ageing have to be sensitive to those different voices that construct and make sense of growing older


Create rich, flexible, and maintainable line-of-business applications with the MVVM design patternSimplify and improve business application development by applying the MVVM pattern to Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Microsoft Silverlight 4. With this hands-on guide, you'll use MVVM with data binding, commands, and behaviors to create user interfaces loosely coupled to business logic. MVVM is ideal for .NET developers working with WPF and Silverlightwhether or not you have experience building enterprise applications.Discover how to:Dive deep into MVVMand learn how it differs from other UI design patterns Build a simple Customer Relationship Management application you can adapt for your own projects Implement MVVM to maintain separation between UI declarative syntax and presentation logic code Create a Domain Model to define your applications business context Write dynamic code for the data access layer with the Microsoft Entity Framework and NHibernate Enforce complex data-validation scenarios using Windows Workflow Foundation 4 Implement MVVM using frameworks and toolkits such as Microsoft Prism Get code samples on the web For system requirements, see the Introduction.


ABSTRACT. Typhoid is an endemic in Fiji with increases observed since the early 2000s and frequent outbreaks reported. We assessed the diagnostic accuracy of currently available typhoid rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) (TUBEX, Typhidot Rapid, and Test-It assay) to establish their performance against blood culture in Fiji and to examine their suitability for rapid typhoid outbreak identification. The performance of RDTs was assessed in the public health reference laboratory in Suva, Fiji, according to the manufacturers' instructions. A simulation was used to examine the potential use of RDTs for attribution of a febrile illness outbreak to typhoid. For the diagnostic evaluation, 179 patients were included; 49 had blood culture–confirmed typhoid, 76 had fever as a result of non-typhoid etiologies, and 54 were age-matched community controls. The median (interquartile range) age was 29 (20–46) years. Of the participants, 92 (51.4%) were male and 131 (73.2%) were indigenous Fijians. The sensitivities of the tests were 77.6% for TUBEX, 75.5% for Typhidot Rapid, and 57.1% for Test-It assay. The Test-It assay had the highest specificity of 93.4%, followed by Typhidot Rapid 85.5% and TUBEX 60.5%. Typhidot Rapid had the best performance in the simulation for attribution of a febrile illness outbreak to typhoid. Typhoid RDTs performed suboptimally for individual patient diagnosis due to low sensitivity and variable specificity. We demonstrate that RDTs could be useful in the field for rapid attribution of febrile illness outbreaks to typhoid. Typhidot Rapid had the best combination of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, cost, and ease of use for this purpose.


Law schools should recognize and maximize their opportunity to work in public service. Law schools have an obligation to recognize a causal link between legal education and value learned through the law school experience and the tremendous effect that this training can have on the community. This essay examines the history of the traditional law school curriculum and poses practical and philosophical suggestions for the improvement of existing course work towards the public good. Next, the essay examines the community beyond the walls of the school as a source of instruction and finally, argues that a more expansive definition of professional responsibility must be instilled in the students and rewarded by the law schools. Through this redefinition, the law school and the community at large can benefit from one another through a compact of mutual obligation and support.


It has been documented recently that left atrial (LA) deformation in AF patients (while in AF) is predictive of subsequent stroke risk. Additionally, diminished LA deformation during AF correlates with the presence of LA blood stasis. Given that endothelial function is dependent on laminar blood flow, the present study sought to investigate the effect of diminished LA deformation (during AF) on platelet reactivity and inflammation in AF patients. Patients (n = 17) hospitalised with AF underwent echocardiography (while in AF) for determination of peak positive LA strain (LASp). Whole blood impedance aggregometry was used to measure extent of ADP-induced aggregation and subsequent inhibitory response to the nitric oxide (NO) donor, sodium nitroprusside. Platelet thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) content was determined by immunohistochemistry. LASp tended (p = 0.078) to vary inversely with CHA2DS2VASc scores. However, mediators of inflammation (C-reactive protein, Txnip) did not correlate significantly with LASp nor did extent of ADP-induced platelet aggregation or platelet NO response. These results suggest that the thrombogenic risk associated with LA stasis is independent of secondary effects on platelet aggregability or inflammation.


Although fertility decision-making has been the source of considerable theoretical and empirical investigation, the effect of several contextual variables on individuals' fertility decision-making processes are not yet understood. For example, are individuals more strongly influenced by social forces that are informational or normative? Also, do individuals change their fertility intentions based on their current and developmental economic conditions? Further, how 'shared' are reproductive decisions within a couple, are males or females more likely to get what they want? This 3-study program of research used both experimental and exploratory qualitative methods to elucidate the nature of these unresolved issues within the domain of fertility decisionmaking. Study 1 (N = 344, Mage = 23, SDage =6.41, 59.3% female) found that highly motivated individuals' fertility intentions were more susceptible to informational, compared to normative messages (the opposite was true for unmotivated participants). Study 2 (N = 249, Mage = 24, SDage =6.10, 61.4% female) found that exposure to mortality primes up-regulated fertility intentions for individuals with "fast" life history strategies, but facilitated the down-regulation of fertility intentions for individuals with "slow" life history strategies. Interestingly, resource scarcity primes were associated with the postponement of fertility plans in individuals' with "fast" life history strategies. Study 3 (N = 120, Mage = 21, SDage =4.96, 50% female) found that, contrary to predictions, the similarity of couples' gender role attitudes, career-orientations, and education levels did not significantly predict the frequency of their use of statements coded as compromise and agreement or persuasion and disagreement in their discussions regarding their future reproductive plans. Findings do suggest that individuals with higher levels of education were more likely to use persuasion and disagreement statements in their child timing and number discussions with their romantic partner, indicative of greater decision-making power in that particular social exchange. Further, men and women in study 3 were equally likely to use statements coded as compromise and agreement, persuasion and disagreement, and concession when discussing both their future fertility plans as well as their future financial plans. FAMILY PLANNING IN CONTEXT: SENSITIVITY OF FERTILITY DESIRES AND INTENTIONS TO ECOLOGICAL CUES


This paper develops an infinite horizon model of public spending and taxation in which policy decisions are determined by legislative bargaining. The policy space incorporates both productive and distributive public spending and distortionary taxation. The productive spending is investing in a public good that benefits all citizens (e.g., national defense or air quality) and the distributive spending is district-specific transfers (e.g., pork barrel spending). Investment in the public good creates a dynamic linkage across policy-making periods. The analysis explores the dynamics of legislative policy choices, focusing on the efficiency of the steady state level of taxation and allocation of tax revenues. The model sheds new light on the efficiency of legislative policy-making and has a number of novel positive implications.


This paper presents the performance analysis of  hybrid rat race coupler, widely used in radio frequency (RF)/wireless communication systems to couple the power in the desired way. The  hybrid ring coupler consists of 4 ports, two for the input signals and two for the output signals, where sum and difference patterns of the applied two signals can be obtained at two output ports and usually called sum and difference ports. In this work, the couplers have been designed and simulated at central frequencies (fo) of 2.4 and 10 GHz using different types of substrates such as RT Duroid 5880 and FR4.  Furthermore, the coupler has been used for direction finding (angle-of-arrival estimation) application, where we combine the designed  hybrid rat race coupler with a simple two antenna elements array  (at fo=10GHz and RT Duroid =2.2) and fabricate the circuit in order to validate the performance of the coupler by measuring the direction of arrival (DoA) from  and  ports. The obtained results show that good performance can be achieved with the designs considered in this paper.


The concept of "Global Citizenship" is enjoying increased currency in the public and academic domains. Conventionally associated with cosmopolitan political theory, it has moved into the public domain, marshaled by elite actors, international institutions, policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, and ordinary people. At the same time, scholarship on Global Citizenship has increased in volume in several domains (International Law, Political Theory, Citizenship Studies, Education, and Global Business), with the most substantial growth areas in Education and Political Science, specifically in International Relations and Political Theory. The public use of the concept is significant in light of what many scholars regard as a breakdown and reconfiguration of national citizenship in both theory and practice. The rise in its use is indicative of a more general change in the discourse on citizenship. It has become commonplace to offer globalization as a cause for these changes, citing increases in regular and irregular migration, economic and political dispossession owing to insertion in the global economy, the ceding of sovereignty to global governance, the pressure on policy caused by financial flows, and cross-border information-sharing and political mobilization made possible by information communications technologies (ICTs), insecurities caused by environmental degradation, political fragmentation, and inequality as key drivers of change. Global Citizenship is thus one among a string of adjectives attempting to characterize and conceptualize a transformative connection between globalization, political subjectivity, and affiliation. It is endorsed by elite global actors and the subject of an educational reform movement. Some scholarship observes empirical evidence of Global Citizenship, understood as active, socially and globally responsible political participation which contributes to global democracy, within global institutions, elites, and the marginalized themselves. Arguments for or against a cosmopolitan sensibility in political theory have been superseded by both the technological capability to make global personal legal recognition a possibility, and by the widespread endorsement of Global Citizenship among the Global Education Policy regime. In educational scholarship Global Citizenship is regarded as a form of contemporary political being that needs to be socially engineered to facilitate the spread of global democracy or the emergence of new political arrangements. Its increasing currency among a diverse range of actors has prompted a variety of attempts either to codify or to study the variety of usages in situ. As such the use of Global Citizenship speaks to a central methodological problem in the social sciences: how to fix key conceptual variables when the same concepts are a key aspect of the behavior of the actors being studied? As a concept, Global Citizenship is also intimately associated with other concepts and theoretical traditions, and is among the variety of terms used in recent years to try to reconceptualize changes it the international system. Theoretically it has complex connections to cosmopolitanism, liberalism, and republicanism; empirically it is the object of descriptive and normative scholarship. In the latter domain, two central cleavages repeat: the first is between those who see Global Citizenship as the redress for global injustices and the extension of global democracy, and those who see it as irredeemably capitalist and imperial; the second is between those who see evidence for Global Citizenship in the actions and behavior of a wide range of actors, and those who seek to socially engineer Global Citizenship through educational reform.


Corrections to classical radiometry are considered for the case of a uniform medium. The corrections represent wave effects of physical optics and the effects of partial coherence. New results include integral transforms and infinite series connecting the real and imaginary parts of Walther's distribution function and the Wigner function; infinite series representing all the corrections to the evolution of different distributions along rays; and estimates and comparisons of the degree to which different distribution functions are conserved along rays. In addition, a new distribution function is presented, which is exactly conserved along rays.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Define digital citizenship. It's nothing anyone would have thought necessary to do only a decade ago, but the concept of citizenship no longer exists only within the realm of the physical world. With K-12 students seeming to at all times have one foot in the real world and one in the virtual, school districts are starting to acknowledge a new collective responsibility: to teach kids what it means to be a good digital citizen and how to go about being one. The answer follows the same rules entrenched in the prescription for being a good citizen on the ground: Obey the law, have respect for others, act civilly and sensibly. The movement to address and characterize digital citizenship originated in the UK, where educators have been working toward establishing protocols for good digital citizenship since the mid-1990s. The effort has been picked up today by Digizen.org, owned and operated by London-based nonprofit Childnet International, which loosely defines the term as the responsibility of all online users to interact with each other with dignity and respect. The site provides a manual for educators and students on making the most constructive and ethical use of social networking, as well as guides for recognizing and tackling cyberbullying. According to Digizen.org, if educators can help young people see online environments as communities they're helping to shape, they'll act more responsibly. "Digital citizenship isn't just about recognizing and dealing with online hazards," the site reads. "It's about building safe spaces and communities, [having students] understand how to manage personal information, and about being internet savvy-using your online presence to grow and shape your world in a safe, creative way, and inspiring others to do the same." In the US, the notion of digital citizenship is less expansive, more concrete--focusing on individual ethical behavior, with particular attention paid to online piracy. One high-profile effort to arrive at the meaning of being a digital citizen has come from the Digital Citizen Project at Illinois State University. The program, which targets the higher education environment, bills itself as a "proactive approach to peer-to-peer and copyright issues." It confronts illegal music and movie downloading by challenging students to consider right and wrong as it exists both in the physical world and on the internet. "Creating good digital citizens involves making students aware of all the things that can happen once you put anything out there on the web," says Cheryl Elzy, dean of university libraries, who runs the project. One educator has taken the step of itemizing the ingredients that combine to create a good digital citizen. Mike Ribble, director of technology at Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District 383 in Manhattan, KS, spent the better part of three years working to create an authoritative definition of digital citizenship while pursuing his educational doctorate. He emphasizes the appropriate use of technology as a learning and communication tool. Ribble believes that maintaining privacy is of paramount importance, in light of the amount of time kids spend on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, so it's imperative that schools teach students how to use these sites without putting themselves at risk. Ribble has encapsulated his theories at his website, Digital Citizenship: Using Technology Appropriately. There he lists the fundamental elements that he says together form the underpinning of digital citizenship (see "9 Steps to Building a Good Digital Citizen," page 50). Ribble admits the nine-part formula--which includes explanations of digital etiquette, law, commerce, and even health and wellness--can be daunting for school districts, but he says that all the components can be accounted for gradually. "When this was first put out, everybody thought they had to fix all nine at once, but there's just way too much to do that quickly," he says. …


Given a set $T$ of triangles in 3-space, with $\vert T\vert$ = $n$, let ${\cal S}$($T$) be the set of all lines stabbing the set $T$. The combinatorial descriptive complexity of ${\cal S}$($T$) is denoted by #${\cal S}$($T$). The following questions about ${\cal S}$($T$) are considered in this thesis: (a) answer the query "given a line $l$, is $l$ $\in$ ${\cal S}$($T$)?" (query problem). (b) decide whether ${\cal S}$($T$) $\ne$ 0 (existence problem). (c) Give upper and lower bounds on #${\cal S}$($T$).
The following results are shown in this thesis: (1) There is an $\Omega (n\sb3$) lower bound for #${\cal S}$($T$). Also ${\cal S}$($T$) may have $\Omega (n\sb2$) connected components. (2) There is an $O (n\sp{3+\epsilon}$) upper bound on #${\cal S}$($T$). Within the same time bound it is possible to solve the existence problem. (3) The existence problem for triangles on a set of planes with $g$ different plane inclinations can be solved in $O(g\sp2 n\sp2 {\rm log}\ n$) time. (4) The query problem is solvable in $O(n\sp{2+\epsilon}$) preprocessing and storage and logarithmic $O({\rm log}\ n$) query time. (5) The results (1), (2), (3) and (4) extend, with the same asymptotic bounds, to sets of convex polyhedra with total complexity $n$.
Given a set $T$ of n disjoint triangles, the ray shooting problem for $T$ is the following: preprocess $T$ so to be able to answer queries of the form "Given a ray $\rho$, does $\rho$ hit any triangle in $T$?". The following results are shown in this thesis: (1) Using $O(n\sp{3+\epsilon}$) randomized preprocessing time and storage we can solve ray-shooting queries in $O (\sqrt{n}{\rm log}\sp2 n$) worst case query time. (2) If we are given $m$ $>$ $n\sp{7/5}$ rays and $n$ disjoint triangles, we can answer all the ray shooting queries in $O (m\sp{5/6-\delta} n\sp{5/6+5\delta}$log $n$ + $m$ log $n$ + $n$ log $m$) randomized expected time and $O (m+n$) space, for every $\delta$ $>$ 0. The multiplicative constants depend on $\delta$. (3) Given $m$ rays and $n$ axis-oriented boxes we can answer ray shooting queries in randomized expected time $O(m\sp{3/4-\delta}n\sp{3/4+3\delta}\log\sp3n+m$ log$\sp3n+n$ log $m$) and $O(m+n$) space, for 1/28 $<$ $\delta$ $<$ 1/9. The multiplicative constants depend on $\delta$.


Polish groups are separable completely metrizable topological groups. A key problem in the theory of Polish groups is that of the uniqueness of a Polish group topology: under what conditions does a group admit only one Polish group topology? Closely related is the problem of automatic continuity: when is a homomorphism between Polish groups necessarily continuous? This dissertation is an investigation of these questions.The key to unlocking these problems is to determine which sets in a Polish group are definable both algebraically and topologically. By algebraically definable one has in mind sets such as the commutators, conjugacy classes, or the squares. In the context of Polish groups, topologically definable means being a Borel set. A classical uniqueness result requires algebraically definable sets that are always Borel. Unfortunately its use is sometimes limited: while algebraically definable sets are often analytic (continuous images of Borel sets), it is shown here that they are not necessarily Borel. In particular, the set of squares in the homeomorphism group of the unit circle, and the set of squares in the automorphism group of the rational circle, are not Borel.An alternative result that avoids the need for Borel sets is obtained: a Polish group with a neighborhood base at the identity consisting of sets that are always analytic has a unique Polishgroup topology. As a consequence of this result, compact, connected, simple Lie groups and finitely generated profinite groups have a unique Polish group topology.


Introduction: There are two organised cancer screening programmes in Denmark, against cervical and breast cancers. The aim with this study was to give an overview of the available register-based research regarding these two programmes, to demonstrate the usefulness of data from the national registers. Research topics: The register-based studies on cancer screening in Denmark could be grouped into research concerning effectiveness, in terms of mortality and incidence reduction, short-term indicators, e.g. in relation to recommended quality assurance indicators, and side effects, e.g. as false-positive results and overdiagnosis. Conclusion: The results indicate that registers have proven to be a valuable tool in evaluating the effects of ongoing screening activities. As they cannot be systematically used to test new screening technologies, register-based studies should not be seen as an alternative to randomised controlled trials, but as a supplement.


Read-out systems using Si photodiodes and front-end circuits(FEC) were studied in order to measure the energy deposit with a dynamic range from 1MIP(minimum ionization particle) to 10 MIPs in a crystal scintillator bar of the total absorption calorimeter (TASC) of the CALET (CALorimetric Electron Telescope) instrument. Four types of FEC were investigated for the photodiode read out. Two of them were A225(AMP-TEK), which consisted of a hybrid charge sensitive preamplifier and a shaping amplifier, and MPX-08 (NOVA), which is a charge-integrating chip. It was confirmed that the A225 had a resolution of approximately 0.31 fC and a maximum range of approximately 2 pC. A new hybrid integrated circuit(IC) is being developed to measure the light yield of a scintillator with a dynamic range of seven orders by using two photodiodes. This FEC consists of two preamplifiers that have a different gain. The performance of a high-gain preamplifier was evaluated. The resolution is approximately 0.5 fC and the maximum range is more than 25 pC. A new application specified integrated circuit(ASIC), which has a high dynamic range of four orders, is being developed. This ASIC consists of one preamplifier circuit and two shaping circuits that have a different gain. The prototype IC was designed using the 0.5-μm BiCMOS process. The outline of read-out systems using each type of FEC and the state of the development of each system are described below.


Microwave and Millimeter Wave Circuits and Systems: Emerging Design, Technologies and Applications provides a wide spectrum of current trends in the design of microwave and millimeter circuits and systems. In addition, the book identifies the state-of-the art challenges in microwave and millimeter wave circuits systems design such as behavioral modeling of circuit components, software radio and digitally enhanced front-ends, new and promising technologies such as substrate-integrated-waveguide (SIW) and wearable electronic systems, and emerging applications such as tracking of moving targets using ultra-wideband radar, and new generation satellite navigation systems. Each chapter treats a selected problem and challenge within the field of Microwave and Millimeter wave circuits, and contains case studies and examples where appropriate.


We reconstructed Middle Pleistocene surface hydrography in the western South Atlantic based on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages, modern analog technique and Globorotalia truncatulinoides isotopic ratios of core SP1251 (3829,7 ́S / 5340,7 ́W / 3400 m water depth). Biostratigraphic analysis suggests that sediments were deposited between 0.3 and 0.12 Ma and therefore correlate to Marine Isotopic Stage 6 or 8. Faunal assemblage-based winter and summer SST estimates suggest that the western South Atlantic at 38S was 4-6C colder than at present, within the expected range for a glacial interval. High relative abundances of subantarctic species, particularly the dominance of Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (left), support lower than present SSTs throughout the recorded period. The oxygen isotopic composition of Globorotalia truncatulinoides suggests a northward shift of the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence Zone and of the associated mid-latitude frontal system during this Middle Pleistocene cold period, and a stronger than present influence of superficial subantarctic waters and lowering in SSts at the core site during the recorded Middle Pleisto-


Ten Sahiwal-friesian first lactating cows were divided randomly into 2 groups to detrmine the effect of grazing and stallfeeding management on their performance. Following the split-plot intime design, it is observed that period of lactation significantly affected the average total milk production (P < 0.01) and body weight change (P < 0.05). There were also significant (P < 0.05) effects of interaction between lactation period and block, and between lactation period and block, and between lactation period and feeding systems on the average total milk production. Milk yield declined as the lactation pregressed except for the grazing cows during the first five month of study, where increase of about 1.8% in milk yield was observed. During the 8 months study period grazed and stallfed cows produced 10,203.6 kg and 8,134.5 kg of milk, respectively. No significant differences between the treatment groups in length of calving to first estrus (60.8 days vs 86.8 days), conception rate (3.0 vs 3.6), length of calving to cenception (131.8 days vs 171.4 days), calving interval (409.2 days vs 447.8 days) and birth weight of calves (26.6 kg vs 29.4 kg). It is concluded that grazing cows tend to produce more milk and obtain slightly better reproductive performance than stallfed cows.


Introduction: Ageing involves a loss of muscle mass and function. The rate of decline is associated with negative health outcomes and increased mortality (1). Muscle atrophy is observed at a predictable rate from 30 years of age (2), however maintenance of function is seen in masters athletes > 60 years of age (3). Myostatin acts as a negative regulator of muscle mass (4) and underlies hypertrophy with chronic resistance training (5) and atrophy in chronic conditions (4). Experiment 1: Declared healthy participants (n = 83, 18 - 75 years of age, 36 male, 47 female) were recruited. Body composition, metabolic rate, grip strength and 6-minute walk test were recorded. Venous blood was collected and total myostatin concentration (herein referred to as myostatin) quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Total myostatin was lower in females compared with males (2176.1 [135.3] vs. 2788.7 [180.2] pg.mL-1 [p = 0.007]). Stepwise regression observed that myostatin concentration is best predicted firstly by gender, then by age (r = 0.399, p = 0.02), and was not further improved by the addition of measures of metabolism, muscle mass or function. Experimental 2: A cohort of aged sedentary (SED) males (n = 14; 63.9 [5.6] years of age) and masters athletes (lifelong exerciser [LEX]; n = 10, 61.1 [5.8] years of age) completed 6 weeks of high intensity interview training (HITT). Two way ANOVA suggested no group (SED, LEX) × time (pre, post) interaction on myostatin concentration (p = 0.649), nor a main effect of time (p = 0.757), however there was a trend towards increased myostatin in the LEX group relative to SED (p = 0.083). Discussion: Loss of muscle mass and function occurs at a predictable rate from ~30 years of age, however the rate of loss differs between active and inactive populations. Here we demonstrate that total circulating myostatin decreases as age increases, and differs significantly between males and females. Total circulating myostatin negatively correlates with increasing age, however alterations in myostatin do not appear after short term training interventions. Longer term activity may alter myostatin, thus our next work will follow up experiment 2 with a 3 year longitudinal analysis.


From the planning details to the steps to the considerations, understand how to design the perfect SharePoint implementation by applying the information in Professional SharePoint 2007 Design. Begin with an overview of a installation and move through the technical aspects of creating usable, accessible, aesthetically pleasing SharePoint interfaces, with a primary focus on using SharePoints basic design tools to create a better looking and more effective installation. Understand how to use PhotoShop to design the graphics and template model for your site and learn how to integrate SharePoint themes.


A novel method of error analysis for opto-mechanical system by considering issues of the space and time stability is proposed. According to the theory of error transfer model and the system stability requirements, the temporal parameter is introduced as the dynamic compensate to reflect the structure random response influencing the position precision in the period of working time. The error transfer model originated from our method is also put forward. Moreover, the simulation is used to analyze the error of spatial filter system in Shenguang (SG) II facility. The results show that the method can more effectively deal with the target position error induced by the system structure, and it also provides a dynamic error analysis method for the high power laser facility and other great science projects.


When a host establishes a new link-layer connection, it may or may not
have a valid IP configuration for Internet connectivity. The host may
check for link change (i.e., determine whether a link change has
occurred), and then, based on the result, it can automatically decide
whether its IP configuration is still valid. During link identity
detection, the host may also collect necessary information to initiate
a new IP configuration if the IP subnet has changed. In this memo,
this procedure is called Detecting Network Attachment (DNA). DNA
schemes should be precise, sufficiently fast, secure, and of limited
signaling. This memo provides information for the Internet community.


This podcast is a recording of a research seminar that took place on December 3, 2015, at the University of Westminster's Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI). In this contribution, David Gauntlett discusses his new book, Making Media Studies, and other new work. In Making Media Studies (Peter Lang, 2015), Gauntlett proposes a vision of media studies based around doing and making – not about the acquisition of skills, as such, but an experience of building knowledge and understanding through creative hands-on engagement with all kinds of media. Gauntlett suggests that media studies scholars have failed to recognise the significance of everyday creativity – the vital drive of people to make, exchange, and learn together, supported by online networks. He argues that we should think about media in terms of conversations, inspirations, and making things happen. Media studies can be about genuine social change, he suggests, if we recognise the significance of everyday creativity, work to transform our tools, and learn to use them wisely. David Gauntlett is a Professor in the School of Media, Arts and Design at the University of Westminster, where he is also the School's Co-Director of Research. He is the author of several books, including: Creative Explorations (2007), Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction (2nd edition 2008), Making is Connecting (2011), and Making Media Studies (2015). He has made a number of popular online resources, videos and playthings, and has pioneered creative research and workshop methods. He is external examiner for Information Experience Design at the Royal College of Art, London.


As networked systems become more complex, and they support more critical applications, there is a compelling need to augment the Red Team approach to vulnerability analysis with more formal, automated methods. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Planning, with its welldeveloped theory and rich set of tools, offers an attractive approach. By adopting this approach we have been able to generate attack graphs for a simple but realistic web-based system in five seconds or less, which is an order of magnitude improvement over previous efforts at automated analysis. In this paper we describe our methods and the results. Since vulnerability analysis is a new application of AI planning, our work has uncovered issues with both modeling techniques and planning tools. We discuss these issues and suggest methods for addressing them.


In the last years, several neutrino oscillation experiments reported results not compatible within the 3-neutrino model, that hint at the existence of light sterile neutrinos. To test this hypothesis, the SOX (Short distance neutrino Oscillations in BoreXino) experiment will search for oscillations from active to sterile neutrinos by placing a radioactive $^{144}$Ce-$\bar\nu_e$ source underneath the liquid scintillator detector Borexino. Oscillations will be observed via a reduction of the detected interaction rate of the antineutrinos and an oscillatory pattern as a function of the neutrino energy and travelled distance. Data taking is going to start in beginning of 2018 and first results are expected within this year.


A simple means of fabricating thin Ge-on-insulator (GOI) layers with a strong bond at the Ge/SiO2 interface through direct wafer-bonding is described. In this work, high quality Ge/SiO2 bonding was achieved under ambient air and at room temperature as a result of the extremely hydrophilic bonding surfaces obtained by chemical treatment prior to direct bonding. Based on the results of this work, the first-ever bonding mechanism between ammonium hydroxide treated Ge and SiO2/Si wafer surfaces is proposed. In addition, strain generated during post-annealing as a consequence of the significant thermal-expansion mismatch between Ge and SiO2 was gradually relieved by applying a multistep-cooling process. Structural characteristics of the thin GOI layer were analyzed by cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was determined that direct wafer-bonding followed by polishing could produce a GOI layer as thin as 156 nm, with sub-nm surface roughness.


The Src homology 2 (SH2) domain of the mammalian adaptor protein Crk-II contains a proline-rich insert, predicted to lie within an extended DE loop, which is dispensable for phosphopeptide binding. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, this region of the Crk-II SH2 domain was found to interact with a subset of SH3 domains, notably the Abl SH3 domain. Furthermore, this proline-rich insert was found to modify the efficiency with which Crk-II was phosphorylated by the p140c-abl tyrosine kinase. In vitro, the interaction of full-length non-phosphorylated Crk-II with a glutathione S-transferase-Abl SH3 domain fusion protein was very weak. However, phosphorylation of Crk-II on Tyr-221 which induces an intramolecular association with the SH2 domain, or addition of a phosphopeptide corresponding to the Crk-II Tyr-221 phosphorylation site, stimulated association of Crk-II with the Abl SH3 domain. NMR spectroscopic analysis showed that binding of the Tyr-221 phosphopeptide to the Crk SH2 domain induced a chemical shift change in Val-71, located in the proline-rich insert, indicative of a change in the structure of the proline-rich loop in response of Crk SH2-pTyr-221 interaction. These results suggest that the proline-rich insert in the Crk SH2 domain constitutes an SH3 domain-binding site that can be regulated by binding of a phosphopeptide ligand to the Crk SH2 domain.


During the second semester of 2001, a research was conducted in a history class for children, aged 9 to 11 who studied at UFMG's Pedagogical Center. It aimed at identifying and analyzing the representations of these pupils concerning black people throughout the History of Brazil. The first and last classes developed the following theme: "the role of Black people in the shaping of Brazilian History". We asked the children to draw "Black people and their ways of life" and write captions for their drawings. Between these two classes, a set of activities was developed, which used various historical sources and the teacher's mediation. They were intended to allow the pupils to raise this issue and broaden their own representations in order to incorporate a more complex and pluralistic vision of the presence of black people in the shaping of Brazilian History. Some of the questions discussed in this article are: "What changed and what remained of the children's initial representations?", "Was there any relationship between the representations and practices concerning the Black people transmitted through these children's social relation network, the means of communication, school or other places and the children's own representations?" and "What contribution can the studies of social representations may offer to history teachers in their task of forming a new idea of citizenship and new social identities


IZA DP No. 13739 SEPTEMBER 2020 Happier with Vocational Education?* Using Italian data, I study the relationship between vocational education and self-reported happiness by focusing on individuals with at least a five-years high school degree, either vocational or academic. My instrumental variable strategy shows that individuals who have completed a vocational high school are more likely to report a high level of happiness than individuals who have completed an academic degree. I find no clear evidence that vocational graduates have a lower probability to be employed or earn lower wages than other graduates. I show that they live more than other graduates in small towns, where prices are lower and social life more rewarding, and have a less privileged parental background. Both facts may lead to more moderate aspirations and therefore contribute to higher happiness. JEL Classification: I21, D90


Flow boiling in microchannels has received enormous interest in academic research over the past few decades because of its importance in the thermal management of micro-structured devices. A vast number of experimental and theoretical studies have been reported and an increasing number of computational studies of microchannel flow boiling have been performed in the past few years. This article provides a review of the previous studies of flow boiling in microchannels, with a focus on the computational work. We present the governing equations, boundary conditions, numerical methods and the mathematical treatment of phase change used. Some important numerical studies are reviewed in detail and their strengths and weaknesses are presented. Finally, a summary of the current status of modelling in this area is provided.


The article presents the research of the structural transformation of the economy. The authors have formulated the theoretical concept and the basic reasons for structural transformation of the economy in regions. According to the authors' approach, the economy should function as a whole system. This defining principle is aimed at the systemic effect. The loss of regions' control, and, in some cases, deviation from the national goals are the main reasons for the reduction in the Russian economic efficiency. As a result of the liberalization of the economy, the principle of selective investments has become the dominant one as a result of the liberalization of the economy. It broke the synergetic principle used for the formulation of economic strategy. The authors recommend to structure an efficient economy on the basis of the specificity of the economic situation due to its internal state and international realities. We also advise to achieve the balance between regional development and the development of country's economic competitiveness. The article substantiates the need to overcome the growth of negative trends. These trends are due to the deformation of the most important economic principles and relationships as a result of weakness in the structural and investment policy. Thus, the high-priority task is the orientation of economic development to ensure the technical and technological independence of the economic system. This strategy contains the determining directions for the next development stages. We propose to focus the modernization of the structure of regional economy on the combination of the conceptual foundations of the federal structural policy and regional conditions for its implementation. Regional economy should balance economic initiative and independence in terms of the methods and means for its implementation. We recommend to combine the economic growth with the regional environmental management and the regulation of the natural environment. The authors propose a mathematical model for the management and evaluation of structural shift in economic systems as well as the regional evaluation model of structural shift. We also offer an optimization approach in management improving the economic structure to ensure an effective balance of its components.


Historical, socially constructed notions of Black and Latino masculinity, mis/labeled behavior, punitive policies (e.g., suspension) and practices (e.g., school-imposed labeling) lead to disproportionate rates of dropout in urban US schools, continued involvement in the criminal legal system, and a limited participation
in society. This article argues that school-imposed labeling—affixing a category or descriptor on a student to signal a shorthand message to others about a student's academic ability and behavior—is symbolically violent (Bourdieu). By examining unofficial labels, punitive structures, and teacher perceptions of labeled students, I explored school-imposed labeling as a form of "normalized" practice
that impacts Black and Latino males who attend an urban charter school with a "no excuses" orientation.


This paper argues that immigrants are not substitutes for births. As demonstrated through several scenarios modelling Australia's future population, fertility and immigration do not have equivalent impacts on population size and age structure. The authors contend that the solution to low fertility does not lie in a choice between supporting fertility and supporting migration but in prudent policy relating to both.


Su calls for a reexamination of essentialism in light of a resurging interest in identity and identity politics. Since the mid-1990s, poststructuralist dismissals of identity as "pernicious and metaphysically inaccurate" have increasingly been challenged by feminist philosophers and cultural critics, race theorists, and, most recently, "postpositivist realists." Yet academic scholarship continues to read essentialism in ontological terms, as Walter Benn Michaels does. Ontological readings focus attention on the ways in which essentialism involves positing a presocial being who is defined by an essence that predetermines an individual's identity in racial terms. Su proposes to shift the way essentialism is analyzed, to consider it in epistemological rather than ontological terms. This would involve focusing on the extent to which racial memory in these texts enables, prohibits, or otherwise transforms cultural knowledge. Through a close analysis of works by Frank Chin and N. Scott Momaday, Su argues that essentialism does not necessarily imply the existence of static identities or common experiences that define a people; rather, it implies the possibility for certain personal experiences to yield reliable knowledge about broader social patterns of exploitation.


ARGESIM proposes a new benchmark description ARGESIM C20 'Complex Production System'. This article describes a first implementation of this benchmark by use of the simulation software Flexsim. The simulation model is controlled by a heterarchical control algorithm implemented in Flexsim, which covers routing and scheduling and is based on reservations. The results are presented according to the requirements of the benchmark description.


Numerical simulations have been undertaken for the benchmark problem in a Square cavity by using computational fluid dynamics software. This work aims at discussing the fundamental numerical and computational fluid dynamic aspects which can lead to the definition of the following meshing methods and turbulence models. The meshes used for the simulation are hexahedral, hexahedral cell with near wall refinement, tetrahedral grid, polyhedral, tetrahedral with near wall refinement and polyhedral mesh with prism layer cells based the near wall thickness of Y+ less than one. The turbulence models used for the simulation work are AKN K-Epsilon Low-Re, Realizable K-Epsilon, Realizable K-Epsilon Two-Layer, standard K-Epsilon, standard K-Epsilon Low-Re, Standard K-Epsilon Two-Layer, V2F K-Epsilon, SST(Menter) K-Omega, and Standard(Wilcox) K-Omega. From these meshes and turbulence models, we will conclude the suitable mesh and turbulence for the recirculation flow by the grid independent test. These analytical values of results are compared with reference data which gives an optimization of experimental work. Unsteady simulation was ran for all the Grid Independent mesh with the SST k omega model with the time step of 0.01 sec for 40 seconds. The flow nature is studied with and without the temperature for Reynolds number, 1000 and 10000.


Location-based games have become popular in recent years, with Pokémon Go and Ingress being two very prominent examples. Some location-based games, known as Serious Games, go beyond entertainment and serve additional purposes such as data collection. Such games are also found in the OpenStreetMap context and playfully enrich the project's geodatabase. Examples include Kort and StreetComplete. This article examines the role of spatially structured scoring systems as a motivational element. It is analysed how spatial structure in scoring systems is correlated with changes observed in the game behaviour. For this purpose, our study included two groups of subjects who played a modified game based on StreetComplete in a real urban environment. One group played the game with a spatially structured scoring system and the other with a spatially random scoring system. We evaluated different indicators and analysed the players' GPS trajectories. In addition, the players filled out questionnaires to investigate whether they had become aware of the scoring system they were playing. The results obtained show that players who are confronted with a spatially structured scoring system are more likely to be in areas with high scores, have a longer playing time, walk longer distances and are more willing to take detours. Furthermore, discrepancies between the perception of a possible system in the scoring system and corresponding actions were revealed. The results are informative for game design, but also for a better understanding of how players interact with their geographical context during location-based games.


Magic-angle (θ=1.05°) twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) has shown two seemingly contradictory characters: the localization and quantum-dot-like behavior in STM experiments, and delocalization in transport experiments. We construct a model, which naturally captures the two aspects, from the Bistritzer-MacDonald (BM) model in a first principle spirit. A set of local flat-band orbitals (f) centered at the AA-stacking regions are responsible to the localization. A set of extended topological semimetallic conduction bands (c), which are at small energetic separation from the local orbitals, are responsible to the delocalization and transport. The topological flat bands of the BM model appear as a result of the hybridization of f and c electrons. This model then provides a new perspective for the strong correlation physics, which is now described as strongly correlated f electrons coupled to nearly free c electrons-we hence name our model as the topological heavy fermion model. Using this model, we obtain the U(4) and U(4)×U(4) symmetries of Refs. [1-5] as well as the correlated insulator phases and their energies. Simple rules for the ground states and their Chern numbers are derived. Moreover, features such as the large dispersion of the charge ±1 excitations [2,6,7], and the minima of the charge gap at the Γ_{M} point can now, for the first time, be understood both qualitatively and quantitatively in a simple physical picture. Our mapping opens the prospect of using heavy-fermion physics machinery to the superconducting physics of MATBG.


This article analyzes the macroeconomic differentials between the DRC and Zambia. To do this, secondary data were collected in five international institutions over a ten-year period (2007 to 2017). The DRC is less efficient from a macroeconomic point of view than Zambia. It belongs to the group of countries with low HDI, while Zambia is in the middle group and has an average of $ 1501.6 per year of GDP per capita at a constant price, which is 4.12 times higher than the DRC (363,7 $ / year) while it has a population growth of almost 5 times higher than Zambia. Industry accounts for a large share of GDP construction in the DRC, averaging 38.6 percent while services in Zambia account for 52.2 percent. Agriculture contributes only slightly to the construction of GDP in the DRC (8.8%) against 20.5% in Zambia.


This study gives a non-traditional framework for the evaluation of the convenience of an asymmetric monetary association (such as dollarization), from the point of view of the country that gives up its monetary sovereignty. In the analytical part we discuss the relationship between nominal volatility, real volatility and country risk. Given the social loss function of the policymaker, we determine the necessary conditions for dollarization to improve social welfare. With this in mind, we concentrate in the analysis of two main aspects: 1) the degree of synchronization existing between the cycle of the leader and associated country, and 2) the effect and relative importance of the different channels (the trade and financial channels) that transmit the shocks from the central country (the United States). In the empirical part we perform an application of our analytical framework to the case of Argentina. To estimate the synchronization of the business cycles we use the coefficient of cyclical correlation, calculated for four different methodologies of de-trending. The effect and relative importance of the financial channel and the trade channel were extracted from the impulse-response functions and variance decompositions of a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). We analyze the stability of the results altering the order of the variables, re-estimating the model with rolling sub-samples and modifying the deterministic component in the error correction mechanism. As a general result dollarization in Argentina would not only reduce the risk of devaluation but also reduce the real volatility of the economy and so the country risk. For that reason, from the financial point of view the advantages of dollarization will depend on how much society values the alternative of keeping open the possibility of adjusting to extraordinary shocks with the exchange rate parity.


Positive community-police relations, which are based on mutual trust, are key to equitable and just policing. Use of force that is perceived as unfair and biased can quickly undermine relations between the police and the public. In an attempt to understand what psychological factors contribute to police use of force decisions and potentially racially biased use of force application, this study proposed masculinity threat as an important psychological factor that influences police behavior. Masculinity threat occurs when a man's status as a man is threatened, and threats to masculinity are often associated with increased aggression and dominance as a way of restoring the threatened status. Policing is a male-dominated field, and because most victims of officer use of force are men, the current research examines how threats to male police officers' masculinity, including verbal and physical manifestations of threat, contribute to officer force against civilians. Past research has explored how high levels of trait masculinity threat (as measured by the Male Gender Role Stress scale; Goff, Martin, & GamsonSmiedt, 2012) in police officers is associated with higher levels of force against racial minority suspects, however, no such research has examined state level masculinity threat (e.g., in the moment threats) as they occur in real world police-suspect interactions. Focusing on understanding the associations between use of force and state level masculinity threat, it was predicted that officers who have their masculinity explicitly and publicly threatened by male suspects will use more force against suspects compared to MASCULINITY THREAT AND USE OF FORCE ii interactions where no such masculinity threat has occurred. It was also predicted that minority suspects who threaten officers' masculinity will receive more force than White suspects. To test these hypotheses, reporting officers' (RO) narratives of use of force interactions (excluding lethal force) from a large police department on the West Coast were coded and analyzed. Contrary to the hypotheses, results suggest that masculinity threat within an officer-suspect interaction may relate to lower levels of average officer force and higher number of sequences (e.g., back and forth exchanges) between suspect and officer. While results are in the opposite direction of the hypotheses, they provide new information regarding the association between personal threats to officer manhood and their subsequent actions. Specifically, results suggest that masculinity threat has a more complicated relationship with force than previously predicted and future research would do well to investigate a potential interaction effect of trait level and state level masculinity on police use of force decisions. Several other areas of further research are outlined, such as the need to examine other suspect-level and officer-level variables such as age and tenure. Overall, the results of this study suggest the need for continued clarifying research. MASCULINITY THREAT AND USE OF FORCE iii Acknowledgements Thank you to my thesis committee for their support of this project and their ongoing efforts to teach me novel ways to approach research questions. I would also like to sincerely thank my family, friends and peers for their continued support. In particular, I would like to thank my husband, Sean, without whom my graduate studies at Portland State would not have been possible. MASCULINITY THREAT AND USE OF FORCE iv Table of


Human parvovirus B19 (B19) is a single-stranded DNA virus that targets erythroid progenitor cells in the bone marrow. B19 causes erythema infectiosum in children, transient aplastic anemia, pure red cell aplasia, hydrops fetalis, and contributes to other illnesses. An association between B19 infection and hypocomplementemia and rheumatoid arthritis has been reported, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We report the case of a 1-year-old Japanese girl with persistent fever, skin rash, transient edema of the extremities, hypoalbuminemia, and hypocomplementemia associated with B19 infection. We considered Kawasaki disease (KD) and collagen diseases, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus, in our differential diagnosis. B19 infection might be associated with serological features that suggest systemic lupus erythematosus and may present with clinical symptoms seen in KD. Especially during erythema infectiosum epidemics, we must consider B19 infection in the differential diagnosis of KD patients who demonstrate atypical clinical symptoms and unexplained laboratory findings.


Urban issues are increasingly considered on national policy programs. Cities are major contributors to national economies and play a key role as nodes in the global market. As with any urban area with an emerging history, the city of Doha has emerged as a commercial hub around a port, which has guided the emergence of housing agglomerations. Several types of houses were developed over the various stages of Doha's urbanization period since the 1950s. Doha metropolitan has evolved rapidly in the twentieth century due to the investment of oil and gas revenues which has resulted in massive inflows of migrants. During the last few decades, the phenomenal impact of the multicultural population on the housing market has suggested unique lifestyle-oriented preferences. The city has evolved rapidly in the twentieth century due to the investment of oil and gas revenues, which has resulted in massive population growth. Housing supply and demand have been challenged to satisfy the diverse market needs. Since the 1990s, the phenomenal impact of the increased population growth rates of the massive migrant flows on the housing market has instigated the need for a demand-driven supply of housing. In parallel, the socio-cultural diversities of the multi-cultural population require certain housing typologies to meet this diverse need. The rapid increase in land prices has led to the increase of residential rents and hindered the establishment of more affordable housing. Accordingly, housing affordability became one of the most important topics that presents an important topic both in the present and for the future. Tracing population growth rates in Doha reflects the rapid increase in certain periods of their massive inflows. During the period between 1990 and 1995, Doha has witnessed a considerable increase in population growth rates. This is followed by a steady increase until 2005 where another rapid increase has taken place. This was a result of Doha's participation in mega-sporting events, which has led to an increase in housing demand to accommodate the increasing population. In this paper, two methodological approaches to study housing dynamics and characteristics are used: an analysis of population trends and a survey of housing preferences. Statistical analysis of population trends provides a quantitative overview on the dynamics of the housing supply and demand. The survey of housing preferences is known to be related to cultural factors on how nationals and migrants are residing in the city, including their demography and lifestyle. It provides an overview of the current lifestyle clusters of current population. The paper aims to explore affordable housing opportunities with respect to supply and demand trends and the surveyed lifestyles in order to meet the diverse demographics of Doha's population. Conclusions are drawn to establish future guidelines and recommendations for housing growth and neighborhood planning in view of population demographics, governmental visions, and urban realities.


This article provides an account of the extent to which South African annual reports, as at the end of 2010, comply with the fundamental and enhancing qualitative characteristics of decision-useful information. Using the frameworks provided by the International Accounting Standards Board and Integrated Reporting Committee of South Africa, the research provides a normative assessment of the quality of South African annual reports at the transition to integrated reporting, which can be used by future researchers wishing to study the effect of an integrated reporting model on corporate reporting. Based on the views of a selection of corporate reporting experts, the article finds that certain aspects of South African companies' corporate reports are regarded as providing useful information to users. There are also areas in need of improvement, most notably the disclosure of non-financial information and the integration of this information with the financial performance and strategic vision of the organisation.


We have written DosFs, a new file system for UNIX that uses MS-DOS data structures for permanent storage. DosFs can be used anywhere a traditional UNIX file system can be used, and it can mount disks written by MS-DOS as regular UNIX partitions. DosFs can be used as the root partition, and exported by an NFS server. Our motivation for this work was efficient disk space utilization; DosFs provides from 30% to 80% better disk utilization than the 4.3 BSD Fast File System (FFS). In addition, we found that the disk block allocation algorithm used by DosFs lets us exploit large contiguous disk operations, providing a five-fold improvement over FFS for uncached operations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first file system implementation that allows the user to specify the logical block size at mount time. A user can mount the same fileystem with a larger block size when file accesses tend to be sequential and a smaller one when they tend to be scattered. The MS-DOS structures were designed for a single-user system and do not support access control. We solved this problem with simple extensions that are backward-compatible with MS-DOS.


Research in Communication Design, part 2, departs from the usual reporting of research to dig deeper into issues of importance to research and its development by design. The need for a change in relationship between education, practice and research is discussed along with the practical need for better research dissemination. Theory, method and tool are discussed as possible frames for research activity. The articles in this special issue are introduced in terms of theory, post analysis and conceptual development in relation to research. The issue concludes with a practical argument for the need for research. CONNECTING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE THROUGH RESEARCH It may seem strange in a special issue on Research in Communication Design to reflect on the relationship between design education, design practice and research, but it is a necessary musing. Education and practice in design have long been estranged, due in no small part to its craft basis and the self-taught nature of many of the now retiring or just retired design professionals. For them the idea of an academic degree in design was foolish. However, since the middle of the twentieth century, design programs at universities have grown resulting in designers who have at least a bachelor degree. While a college education has become commonplace for those entering the practice of design, the relationship between education and practice has not become substantially more cordial. Educational programs today tend to be more diligent in preparing students for the technology that comprises the tools of their trade-employers demand this. Some more progressive practitioners value student experience with team work, multidisciplinary projects, user studies, even speculative thinking about not ready for primetime technology. Understanding something of human perception, aesthetics and communication strategy remains the price of admission to the field. Nevertheless the gulf between education and practice while somewhat diminished remains. The communication context in which we now live is more complex as information is not scarce. It is unfiltered on the worldwide web, strains for our attention with annoying media tricks, evades our earnest search through engines now perverted by ratings derived from popular access and paid positioning of information. It is not only the physical format for information that has changed, it is also the institutional support and infrastructures that have changed. The change in communication context opens new questions to which there are no easy answers. The transfer of information from one media to another has never been automatic. Different media afford different structures and opportunities, privilege information delivery and processing using different senses and codes. Altering information to take advantage of changed media affordance is an issue, while the largely untheorized and unstructured configuration of new media raises many questions. Practitioners are typically unable to address these questions as they require time and money that go beyond a quick, focused clinical research that is designed for actionable results. Such research, when done, is not shared as there is no time or incentive for writing papers, even if the limited research is not proprietary. These very practical studies reveal the problems practice is addressing and this can lead to research, questions that open the way to rigorous research, if these problems are communicated. Educational institutions are just now waking up to their potential to do research as graduate programs begin to develop that are not remedial, not developed for those who failed to comprehend and develop design skill in their undergraduate programs. With the development of doctoral programs in design, the potential for communication design research expands and accelerates, but only if these programs understand research in a rigorous way. A culture of design research needs to develop. …


In the last decade, an increasing number of qualitative studies sought to investigate the dynamics of various dyads by conducting in-depth, multiple family member interviews. The emphasis in the methodological literature dealing with this type of research is primarily on the data collection process, and much less on the development of methods suitable for the analysis of the data thus derived, especially with regard to dyads consisting of family members belonging to different systems: families of origin or nuclear families. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for dyadic analysis based on examining the dynamics of the evolving relationships between key caregivers of a family member with brain injury. The model includes inductive and abductive phases of analysis, and it is based on an ecological-systemic perspective. The benefits of this model are highlighted, and its potential contribution is further discussed.


Today, water and sanitation services are organised very differently in Britain and Germany, with privatization at regional level in Britain, and municipal companies in charge of several public services in Germany. But cities in both countries shared the same initial experience, due to the prominent role of British engineers in the initial conception of sealed piped water supply systems and water treatment.In Britain, water services were developed earlier than on the continent, by private companies which pumped the water close to cities with the newly invented steam engine. As soon as the end of the XVIIth century, Parliament made some companies statutory, which protected them from competition. But in the second half of the XIXth century, many of these companies were bought by local authorities or replaced by direct public management entities. Both the government and business communities supported this development for hygienic and welfare reasons. After the 1929 financial crisis, the British government initiated a reorganisation of public services at regional level, which resulted in a consolidation at river basin level of water resources and service management. Fifteen years later, full privatisation of water and wastewater services was accompanied by increased centralisation in the planning of resources and regulation of users.In Germany, Berlin was a notable exception, since the Emperor overrode the opposition of the local council and imposed a water service run by a private company listed on the London stock exchange. All other cities directly chose public management, together with a preference for groundwater or Uferfiltrazion. But pragmatism led to network services becoming autonomous from general budgets, and to the creation of mixed economy companies under private law but with 100% public capital, grouping together water, gas, electricity, district heating and public transport. These municipal companies have generally resisted movements towards centralisation and privatisation, and the model was imposed in the new eastern Lander after re-unification.In the end, we can contrast the histories of Britain where the public versus private debate ended up in centralisation, and Germany where the principle of subsidiarity prevailed, and we provide some explanations at the end of the article.


To better estimate the radiation energy within and beneath the forest canopy for energy balance snowmelt models, a two stream radiation transfer model that explicitly accounts for canopy scattering, absorption and reflection was developed. Upward and downward radiation streams represented by two differential equations using a single path assumption were solved analytically to approximate the radiation transmitted through or reflected by the canopy with multiple scattering. This approximation results in an exponential decrease of radiation intensity with canopy depth, similar to Beer's law for a deep canopy. The solution for a finite canopy is obtained by applying recursive superposition of this two stream single path deep canopy solution. This solution enhances capability for modeling energy balance processes of the snowpack in forested environments, which is important when quantifying the sensitivity of hydrologic response to input changes using physically based modeling. The radiation model was included in a distributed energy balance snowmelt model and results compared with observations made in three different vegetation classes (open, coniferous forest, deciduous forest) at a forest study area in the Rocky Mountains in Utah, USA. The model was able to capture the sensitivity of beneath canopy net radiation and snowmelt to vegetation class consistent with observations and achieve satisfactory predictions of snowmelt from forested areas from parsimonious practically available information. The model is simple enough to be applied in a spatially distributed way, but still relatively rigorously and explicitly represent variability in canopy properties in the simulation of snowmelt over a watershed.


Executive Summary This paper will focus on the legal, labor, and employment implications of the Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. decision. We will also examine what opportunities Wal-Mart management has before it to reshape its employment policies such as more objective hiring practices along with making Wal-Mart senior management accountable for Affirmative Action goals. Introduction On February 6, 2007, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's prior ruling to certify a class of female plaintiffs alleging that Wal-Mart discriminated against them on the basis of their gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pregerson, 2007). Close observers of the Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.case understand that a monumental, and perhaps historic, event was taking place before their eyes. The purpose of this paper is to address the significance of this case with respect to the impact on women's productivity and labor issues in terms of career advancement and to provide management advice to Wal-Mart executives. First, one must consider the importance of class certification to the parties. A class action certification "is one of the most devastating employment-related events that can happen to an employer" (Haase & Sullivan, 2006, p. 153). As these researchers explain, the employer now faces potential liability, significant legal costs to defend the suit, and the need to counter evidence that would likely have been inadmissible if the plaintiffs had to proceed on an individual basis against the employer. Certification of the class action indicates the court has ruled that this suit may proceed as a class action allowing the six named plaintiffs to represent the entire class. The Dukes case is additionally significant as it is the largest discrimination class certification in federal court history, involving an estimated 1.6 million potential plaintiffs (Hart, 2007). The class consists of "[a]ll women employed at any Wal-Mart domestic retail store at any time since December 16, 1998, who have been or may be subjected to Wal-Mart's challenged pay and management track promotions policies and practices" (Pregerson, 2007, p. 1340). Wal-Mart is the nation's largest private employer and as such sets the culture within the retail industry, if not the entire employment arena (Hart, 2007). This researcher argues that because of Wal-Mart's involvement, this case has "transformative potential" (p. 356). The potential arises from the ability of the Dukes case to push boundaries and address the continuing pervasive issue of gender discrimination (Hart, 2007). One must also consider the legal impact of the case on future class action claims of discrimination. Some (Haase & Sullivan, 2006) argue that minimal legal impact has occurred from the Dukes decision. They base this conclusion on analytical reviews of court decisions regarding the certification of class actions against employers. Haase and Sullivan (2006) concluded that Dukes "has not marked a turning point in the legal treatment of subjective decisions in employment" (p. 155). As their analysis found, a majority of courts denied class certification prior to Dukes. (see Reid v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.; Abram v. United Parcel Service of America, Inc.) Following the Dukes decision, the breakdown in class certifications appears to remain the same with a majority of courts continuing to deny class action certification (Haase & Sullivan, 2006). While the legal trend or impact is a factor to consider, the important issue for businesses to take into account from the Dukes case is that no private employer has ever faced a class action of this size, and the public is engaging in a new dialogue regarding workplace discrimination. Regardless of the legal impact on future court decisions, Dukes serves as a reminder to employers of the risk and exposure involved when sued, the importance of reviewing their current employment policies and developing policies that limit subjectivity, and assessing how to reduce the risk of being sued (Haase & Sullivan, 2006). …


The deep sea is the largest and yet least explored ecosystem on Earth. Even less is known about the more remote deep-sea beyond the polar circle. Until recently, deep-sea research has predominantly encompassed single sampling campaigns or measurements. Such data, however, represent only snap shots in time and space so that ecological conclusions are of restricted applicability. Long-term studies offer the opportunity to identify environmental settings determining the structure, complexity and the development of deep-sea communities.Following a pre-site study using the French Remotely Operated Vehicle "VICTOR 6000" in summer 1999, we established the first long-term station in polar deep-sea regions in the western Fram Strait off Spitsbergen. The AWI-Hausgarten consists of nine stations along a depth gradient from 1000 to 5500m and a latitudinal transect of seven stations starting in the north at the margin of the sea ice. There is also an experimental area at the central station (2500m) for long-term experiments to study the effect of different substrates, nutrient enrichment and predator exclusion on benthic activity and diversity. Here, we present the methods used during our annual visits to study seasonal and interannual variations in biological, geochemical and sedimentological parameters.


the paper considers a possible method of technical diagnostics of electrical equipment of power supply systems and electrical substations based on the fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic. it is shown that, based on the matrix of fuzzy relationships, one can make a plausible enough prediction about possible malfunctions and causes of failures. the prerequisites for this analysis are the current condition (state) of the electrical equipment and expert assessments of diagnostic signs. the paper shows the comparison made using the features scale of saaty, in accordance with nine degrees of preference. at the core of fuzzy expert assessments is an attempt to formalize linguistic information, namely linguistic variables whose meanings can be words or phrases. the paper presents a complete range of preconditioned defects consisting of m factors and their corresponding space conclusions as to the causes of these malfunctions (defects) of n symptoms. fuzzy causal relations in the space of underlying factors are established between the assumptions and conclusions of the experts. the resulting system of equations is solved by the method based on the composition of fuzzy conclusions. possible failures are ranked according to the experts' preference, which reveals the most significant symptoms of mal-functioning and allows arriving at the conclusion as to the future operation of the facility. the validity of the provisions of the method presented is confirmed by appropriate calculations, which demonstrates the correct behavior of the model concerning the transformer equipment. it is shown that in case of the fuzzy symptoms occurrence and evaluation of these features by a scale of preferences, it is possible to conclude about the further operation of electrical equipment or its withdrawal for repair. thus, the mathematical model based on the fuzzy relations of symptoms selected using the experts' estimations contains elements of predicting the possible failures of power systems electrical equipment.


The Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) is a malignant primary bone tumor often involving soft tissue that affects not only children but also young adults. Since 1992, with the addition of ifosfamide and etoposide to standard chemotherapy for primary tumors, much improvement has been made in the treatment of ESFT, with a primary focus on children. Though often recognized as a childhood cancer, it can affect individuals into the middle years of their lives, but little is known about the outcomes of adults with ESFT. ESFT, which includes Ewing's sarcoma, extraosseous Ewing's sarcoma, Askin tumor, and primitive neuroectodermal tumor, is the second most common primary malignant bone tumor in children and adolescents. It accounts for 10% of primary malignant bone tumors in children and 3% of all childhood malignancies. The most common presenting symptoms of ESFT are pain or swelling. Treatment for ESFT consists of a multimodal approach, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Children and young adults with Ewing's sarcoma face many physical challenges from their illness and the complications of their treatments. Nurses play an instrumental role in assessment techniques, which lead to prompt evaluation and intervention. Nurses are vital in the education and reinforcement of supportive care needs for this patient population.


Low-pressure membranes are often used for disinfection purposes. Using a simple bench-scale testing unit, several membranes were evaluated for their capability to remove microorganisms under specific conditions. Five hollow fiber modified polysulfone membranes ranging in molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) from 10,000 to 300,000 daltons and a 0.2 μm nominal pore size membrane were also evaluated. The 10,000 MWCO membrane removed less virus than the two 100,000 MWCO or the 300,000 MWCO membranes. The data from this study suggests that MWCO and specific flux may not, in all cases, be a good predictor of virus removal.


A broadcast channel (BC) where the decoders cooperate via a one-sided link is considered. One common and two private messages are transmitted and the private message to the cooperative user should be kept secret from the cooperation-aided user. The secrecy level is measured in terms of strong secrecy, i.e., a vanishing information leakage. An inner bound on the capacity region is derived by using a channel-resolvability-based code that double-bins the codebook of the secret message, and by using a likelihood encoder to choose the transmitted codeword. The inner bound is shown to be tight for semi-deterministic and physically degraded BCs, and the results are compared with those of the corresponding BCs without a secrecy constraint. Blackwell and Gaussian BC examples illustrate the impact of secrecy on the rate regions. Unlike the case without secrecy, where sharing information about both private messages via the cooperative link is optimal, our protocol conveys parts of the common and non-confidential messages only. This restriction reduces the transmission rates more than the usual rate loss due to secrecy requirements. An example that illustrates this loss is provided.


Prior studies describe digital tactics as specific strategies actors apply within broader repertoires of contention, specifically in social and political contexts. A comparison of EZLN, Idle No More, and the ongoing Rio Yaqui water rights movement reveals the kinds of community knowledge work that has to happen prior to and around activating digital tactics in Indigenous rights movements, including choices in messaging and discourses of Indigeneity, targeting of movement opponents, and selection of digital tools and techniques. Activists harness these communicative affordances to practice a politics of visibility, cultivate solidarity, diffuse an Indigenous consciousness, enforce dominant governments' trust and treaty responsibilities, and remind many of the irrevocable injustice of colonialism. Designing methodologies that account for specific Indigenous social and political contexts as well as the affordances of various digital environments is part of the future work of Indigenous media theorists.


Dynamic fault trees (DFT) are widely used to analyze the fault-tolerance of computer systems.
The syntax and semantics of DFT, however, lack formal definitions which has lead to vagueness in the interpretation of DFT. Existing analysis techniques also suffer from the statespace explosion problem.
This thesis describes a compositional approach to formalizing the DFT syntax and semantics.
The DFT semantics are formalized by separating a DFT into its elements and formalizing the behavior of each element using an input/output interactive Markov chain (IOIMC). IOIMC are a combination of continuous-time Markov chains (CTMC) and input/output automata and IOIMC models can be combined using parallel composition. The semantics of a DFT are now defined as the composition of the semantics of its elements.
This compositional approach to formalizing DFT semantics also leads to the compositional analysis of DFT using compositional aggregation. Compositional aggregation is a well known technique which combines composition and aggregation to combat the state-space explosion problem.
In this thesis we give new formal definitions for the syntax and semantics of the DFT formalism. The IOIMC formalism is also introduced. Compositional analysis for DFT is then described which is accomplished using a translation tool (used to find IOIMC representations of DFT elements) and the Tipp tool. Two case studies are given that show the applicability of the new compositional analysis.


We explore the task of automatic assessment of argument quality. To that end, we actively collected 6.3k arguments, more than a factor of five compared to previously examined data. Each argument was explicitly and carefully annotated for its quality. In addition, 14k pairs of arguments were annotated independently, identifying the higher quality argument in each pair. In spite of the inherent subjective nature of the task, both annotation schemes led to surprisingly consistent results. We release the labeled datasets to the community. Furthermore, we suggest neural methods based on a recently released language model, for argument ranking as well as for argument-pair classification. In the former task, our results are comparable to state-of-the-art; in the latter task our results significantly outperform earlier methods.


Obfuscation, uncertainty and opacity. These are just a few of the words that may be used to describe the judiciary's attempt at producing a consistent and accurate identification of employment status of individuals. Given its significance, one may have considered that definitive instruction and guidance would be present to navigate interested parties. However, where clarity is required, only confusion remains. This is not to lay the blame at the door of the judiciary entirely. The 'mix of law and fact' involved in the identification process incorporates facts in each case which will invariably lead to contradictory decisions, but the underlying principles established in law – created by the judiciary in the absence of any specific and meaningful guidance from the legislation, must offer key criteria on which impartial decisions as to the employment status of an individual can be made. This paper attempts to identify those key criteria present in the judgments indicative of employee status and thereby provide instruction for interested parties.


A newly published report by a group of American geoscientists concludes that two deadly earthquakes that struck the north of Italy in 2012 were not triggered by activities at a local oil field. That finding is at odds with the outcome of an earlier study, released in April, which said that the humanmade influence "cannot be excluded." The Italian government claims that the new study, which in part draws on new pressure measurements made at the oil field in question, rules out any role for hydrocarbon extraction in the two quakes. But some scientists question the legitimacy of the new research, which was commissioned on behalf of the company that owns the oil field and was based on work carried out for energy giant ENI.


This research aims to understand the transition of established entrepreneurial firms into sustainable entrepreneurship ventures in Malaysia using a competency based perspective. The research considers established entrepreneurial firms attempts to acquire green technology financing. By observing a green technology financing scheme (GTFS) a competency trap is identified that constrains established entrepreneurial firms, regardless of their excellent financing track record and previous business success in other ventures. Utilising Rasmussen et al.'s (2011, 2014) evolutionary entrepreneurial competency framework, the research examines how established entrepreneurial firms develop the entrepreneurial competencies to overcome this trap and acquire green technology financing. By comparing different established entrepreneurial firms during the process to acquire financing, the research examined the GTFS contextual influence on the deployment of competencies, revealing the multi-faceted nature of the competency trap. In order to acquire GTFS financing the research identified two sets of entrepreneurial necessary competencies; (i) opportunity refinement competencies (ii) resource acquisition competencies. However, development of these competencies is influenced by the established entrepreneurial firms' paths and the competency trap. Four different pathways to address the competency trap are highlighted. This emphasizes the need for more contextual based research at multiple levels of analysis to understand established entrepreneurial firms' transition into sustainable entrepreneurship ventures.


Aims To assess the planned diabetes care for the coming year and its associated factors in patients with Type 2 diabetes who have a person-centered annual consultation. Methods Implementation study of a new consultation model in 47 general practices (primary care) and 6 outpatient clinics (secondary care); 1200 patients from primary and 166 from secondary care participated. Data collection took place between November 2015 and February 2017. Outcomes: preferred monitoring frequency; referral to other health care provider(s); medication change. One measurement at the end of the consultation. We performed logistic regression analyses. Differences between primary and secondary care were analyzed. Results Many patients arranged a monitoring frequency <4 times per year (general practices 19.5%, outpatient clinics 40%, p < .001). Type of provider (physician/nurse, OR 3.83, p < .001), baseline HbA1c (OR 1.02, p = .017), glucose lowering medication; and setting treatment goals (OR .65, p = .048) were associated with the chosen frequency. Independently associated with a referral were age (OR .99, p = .039), baseline glucose lowering medication and patients' goal setting (OR 1.52, p = .016). Medication change was associated with type of provider, baseline HbA1c, blood glucose lowering medication, quality of life (OR .80, p = .037) and setting treatment goals (OR 2.64, p = .001). Conclusions Not only disease but also person related factors, especially setting treatment goals, are independently associated with planned care use in person-centered diabetes care.


Over the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent estimates suggest that ASD may affect as many as one out of every 68 children in the United States, an increase of over 78% since 2007. Although some of this increase can be attributed to the enhanced awareness and focus on early intervention resulting from public education campaigns, much of the cause remains unknown.
Nearly half of all individuals diagnosed with ASD possess either average or above average intelligence, but only a small percentage are employed, regardless of their level of educational attainment or individual qualifications. One study of adults with high functioning autism identified employment "as the single biggest issue or barrier facing them."
In the next eight years alone, experts predict a 230% increase in the number of young people with ASD transitioning to adulthood. As these numbers grow, there inevitably will be pressure to change the status quo and expand employment opportunities for them. At the same time, as a result of the amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act, litigants of all disabilities are increasingly successful in establishing coverage under the statute and increasing protection against disability discrimination in employment. Taken together, there is little doubt that increasing numbers of individuals with ASD will enter the labor pool over the next decade.
This shift presents a tremendous opportunity both for people with autism to integrate into the workforce and for employers to tap into the talents and abilities of a sizable population of workers. At the same time, it unquestionably will create new legal challenges for employers attempting to accommodate this set of workers, many of whom will have unique needs. This Article explores the legal issues that are likely to arise in the context of the employment of people with ASD. Recognizing that there is a great deal of diversity in functioning among people on the spectrum, its focus is on those who are sufficiently high functioning to be capable of holding mainstream, independent employment.