Aims Sexual assault peaks in mid-to late adolescence but its sequelae among this age group are not well understood. This systematic review aimed to describe mental health outcomes in young people following sexual assault. Methods Two reviewers searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, OpenGrey and PsycINFO databases independently, screening publications from 1990 to 30th October 2013. Inclusion criteria: longitudinal studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses in English with ≥50% participants aged 10–24 years; baseline mental health assessment conducted prior to or <8 weeks post-assault with follow-up ≥3 months later, and within three years of index assault. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently, with any differences resolved by a third person. Quality assessment used the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Results 3,758 titles and abstracts were screened after excluding duplicates, with 494 papers examined in full. Five cohort studies met inclusion criteria (sample size 64–294; mean age 13–26 years; duration of follow-up 3–12 months post-assault). Three studies examined rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), reporting rates of 88%–94% within a month of assault, 47%–71% by 3 months and 10.5%–65% by 12 months post-assault. Only one study measured rates of Depressive Disorder, reporting rates of 35% 6 months post-assault. A study assessing anxiety disorders 6 months post-assault found that 11% had Generalised Anxiety, 16%, Panic Disorder, 44%, Social Phobia, 41%, Specific Phobia and 56%, Agoraphobia. Longitudinal studies evaluating post-traumatic (n = 3), depressive (n = 2) or anxiety symptom scores (n = 1) all reported reduced symptoms over 6–12 months post-assault. Limitations Small sample sizes, and heterogeneity of study populations, measures used and follow-up schedules. Conclusion Psychopathology is common following sexual assault in young people. Most studies reviewed observed reduced rates of mental health disorders and reduced symptom scores over time but there is a paucity of longitudinal research in this area. Large scale, good quality studies are needed to characterise the nature and course of mental health difficulties experienced by adolescent sexual assault victims over time, in order to allow for better targeting of resources for these individuals.


WRF-MODEL PERFORMANCE FOR WIND POWER FORECASTING IN THE COAST RANGES OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA by Kevin T. Clifford This study describes the verification of modeled low-level atmospheric conditions in the complex terrain surrounding the Altamont Pass wind farm near Livermore, California, USA. The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) was used to (1) simulate the Coast Range near-surface winds, and (2) simulate low-level flow and available wind power in the Altamont Pass. Standard statistical verifications were performed against low-level wind speed observations at seventeen sites. Available wind power was calculated using equivalent wind speed and was evaluated for six areas within Altamont Pass. The overall results include good model performance for the regional near-surface winds, acceptable to good model performance for the Altamont Pass lowlevel winds, and good model performance for Altamont Pass capacity factor simulations. More specifically, while modeled hour-to-hour variance was not exact, WRF-modeled wind speeds were close to those observed. Combined with agreement between both modeled and observed wind direction and atmospheric stability, WRF modeled capacity factors were within the range of observed capacity factors in 93 % of the instances. Therefore, WRF modeled winds and derived wind power can be used as a wind power forecasting tool for Altamont Pass and possibly other coastal complex terrain regions.


DUZDEMIR, O., A. KURUNC and A. UNLUKARA, 2009. Response of pea (Pisum sativum) to salinity and irrigation water regime. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 15: 400-409 The aim of this study was to determine the effects of different salinity and irrigation water regime on yield, plant growth and water consumption of pea (Pisum sativum). Commercial variety of Rona was used as plant material. Salinity and irrigation water regime experiments were set up in pots as randomized plot experimantel designs with five replications. The first experiment focused on pea responses to irrigation water salinity by irrigating the crops using five different levels of saline water (0.7, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 7.0 dS m -1 ) with a constant leaching fraction (LF = 0.30). The other experiment was conducted to determine pea responses to irrigation regime. For the second experiment, four different amounts of water (1.43, 1.0, 0.75 and 0.50 times of required water) were applied to pea plants throughout the study period. It was determined that seed yield of pea decreased 13.3% for per unit increase in soil salinity after 0.6 dS m -1 which is the threshold value of pea. As soil salinity increases due to saline water applications, water consumption of pea decreased. Pea yield response factor to irrigation regime and salinity experiments was determined as 2.2 and 2.5, respectively. According to these results, it can be concluded that pea is very sensitive to water stress either due to irrigation regime or salinity. Since water stress and/or salinity causes high yield losses on pea, cultivation of this crop under limited irrigation water and/or saline conditions should not be suggested. In addition, because of sensitivity of pea to excess water, it should not be cultivated on soil with infiltration problem unless this problem is maintained.


This section is devoted to writing that does not fall within the strict definition of 'research' but that is, nevertheless, of special interest to researchers. It enables us to publish a wide variety of material on many aspects of hispanism: opinion, discussion, interviews, revaluations, arguments, anecdotes and memoirs, and impassioned calls to arms. It also offers us the opportunity of publishing our readers' responses to them. Contributions are invited, and may be of any length from a paragraph to 7,000 words.


Consumers need to exert effort to use the incentives provided in a promotion campaign. This effort is critical in the consumers' decision process and for the success of the campaign. We develop a model of consumer redemption effort that is general in nature and is applicable to coupons, rebates, and other price-discrimination devices. We find that the impact of redemption effort is quite intricate on a firm's profit and consumers' surplus. We find that there are cases where a firm would like to operate in a low redemption cost environment while consumers would be better off with higher costs. We identify cases where price can remain the same with or without the promotion. In these cases, it is possible that the surplus for each individual consumer is higher when a firm price discriminates and improves its profit. Our results indicate that a firm would rather have variation in consumer redemption costs than to have variation in consumer valuations. However, in a market with low valuation variability, consumer redemption cost variability is essential for an efficient promotion campaign. Therefore, the markets that naturally have a lot of variability in consumer valuations should be the ones targeted for online promotion programs that reduce consumer effort levels, not the markets with low variability.


In March 2010 the Digital Library of the Wielkopolska Region, the largest and one of the oldest Polish digital libraries reached the level of 100 000 objects available on-line. Since its inauguration in 2002, the dynamics of the development of Polish digital libraries has increased significantly. The common effort of several hundreds of scientific and cultural institutions in Poland led to the present situation in which there are over 50 publicly available digital libraries and together they give access to around 425 000 digital objects. Such a big number of similar network services lead to the need of integration mechanisms allowing to achieve a synergy effect perceptible for end users as well as for digital library creators and international digital library initiatives. Such mechanism developed by PSNC and named PIONIER Network Digital Libraries Federation, has been available as a network service since June 22-nd, 2007 and can be reached at http://fbc.pionier.net.pl/. This paper shortly presents the history of development of Polish digital libraries, showing the factors that have influenced the initial form and advancement of the Federation. It also describes the Federation architecture, organizational aspects of its operation, and key challenges including the integration of Polish and European digital libraries infrastructures.


Psychrometric properties of humid air are widely used in the analysis and modeling of thermal systems. In this work we present a method for obtaining these properties from the multi-fluid mixture formulation of the GERG mixture model. This mixture model was originally developed to model the thermodynamics of natural gas mixtures, and now has been extended to model thermodynamic properties relevant for carbon capture and storage. The primary advantage of this formulation is that the dry air composition is not fixed, and can be adjusted to suit the application, for instance in submarines, for Martian atmospheres, etc. We present an algorithm that can be used to calculate the saturated vapor water composition in vapor-liquid equilibrium, and other properties that arise out of this equilibrium calculation, such as relative humidity and dewpoints. Solid-vapor equilibrium is not considered, and neither is the calculation of wet-bulb temperatures.


Elastic properties of the extracellular matrix and nonpolarized signaling govern how cells migrate in three-dimensional environments. Cells move in complex three-dimensional (3D) environments in vivo, but most studies focus on migration on uniform 2D surfaces. During 2D migration, the second messenger phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PIP3) and the Rho family guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) Rac1, Cdc42, and RhoA drive formation of lamellipodia at the leading edge of the cell. However, it is unclear how this translates to the more physiologically relevant 3D environment where cells interact with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Petrie et al. explored how intracellular signaling and differing 3D environments supported distinct modes of cell migration. The authors investigated 3D migration of human foreskin fibroblasts in dermal explants and two in vitro models of the ECM: type I collagen and cell-derived matrix (CDM). In explants, cells formed cylindrical structures called lobopodia and, in contrast to events during 2D migration, active Rac1 was not targeted to the leading edge. This represents a mode of migration in between blebbing and lamellipodial motility (see commentary by Sixt). In the soft, nonlinear elastic environment of 3D collagen, cells formed lamellipodia similarly to the way they are formed during 2D migration. But in stiff, linear elastic 3D CDM, cells formed lobopodia. In 3D collagen, as in 2D migration, PIP3 and active Rac1 and Cdc42 were localized to the leading edge of cells, but in 3D CDM their distribution was not polarized. Knockdown or inhibition of RhoA, its effector ROCK, or its downstream target myosin II switched cells from lobopodial to lamellipodial motility in 3D CDM. The results suggest the existence of two different modes of migration that are controlled by external (elastic properties of the ECM) and internal (RhoA, ROCK, and myosin II signaling) contexts. R. J. Petrie, N. Gavara, R. S. Chadwick, K. M. Yamada, Nonpolarized signaling reveals two distinct modes of 3D cell migration. J. Cell Biol. 197, 439–455 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text] M. Sixt, Cell migration: Fibroblasts find a new way to get ahead. J. Cell Biol. 197, 347–349 (2012). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Abstract:On 4 September 2022, Chilean voters resoundingly rejected a progressive new constitution that offered a blueprint for social democracy. Some observers argue that Chile wisely escaped a narrow brush with a brand of authoritarian leftism long dominant in Latin America. This interpretation is simplistic and obscures the wider forces of illiberalism that contributed to the constitution's defeat. With the intrusion of everyday politics into the process, any reboot of the constitutional process will likely lead to a document that offers a much narrower vision of democracy.


The ankle app contains an 8-week neuromuscular exercise programme that aims to reduce the risk of recurrent ankle sprains. The effectiveness of the programme is supported by high-quality studies.

When the app is opened for the first time, the content and use is explained. The user then accesses a settings screen, where a starting date is chosen and three training days per week are designated. These settings provide the user with a personalised training plan. Push notifications can …


The data deluge comes with high demands for data labeling. Crowdsourcing (or, more generally, ensemble learning) techniques aim to produce accurate labels via integrating noisy, non-expert labeling from annotators. The classic Dawid-Skene estimator and its accompanying expectation maximization (EM) algorithm have been widely used, but the theoretical properties are not fully understood. Tensor methods were proposed to guarantee identification of the Dawid-Skene model, but the sample complexity is a hurdle for applying such approaches---since the tensor methods hinge on the availability of third-order statistics that are hard to reliably estimate given limited data. In this paper, we propose a framework using pairwise co-occurrences of the annotator responses, which naturally admits lower sample complexity. We show that the approach can identify the Dawid-Skene model under realistic conditions. We propose an algebraic algorithm reminiscent of convex geometry-based structured matrix factorization to solve the model identification problem efficiently, and an identifiability-enhanced algorithm for handling more challenging and critical scenarios. Experiments show that the proposed algorithms outperform the state-of-art algorithms under a variety of scenarios.


This paper aims to address particular dimensions of regional and communal identity, concerning the peculiarities of spatial strategies and cultural locations as well as various interand intra-community political interactions. Identities of regions and communities are dynamic and evolving in relation to time and space. This paper is an attempt to address the complexities of the Hindu cultural nationalist Islamist politics. In this paper, the emphasis is on how the contemporary social life and politics of North Malabar appropriate and adopt cultural and political aspects of the past, in the creation of an identity in the present. The focus of this paper is more on latent political engagement and structural components of identity than the directly visible forms of articulations and assertions. Latent aspects of political engagements often associated with structural and cultural elements of regional and local societies directly relate to the ideological and political elements. In North Malabar, ethics of folk art and martial tradition are inseparable from various aspects of the latent political engagement. Elements of courage, heroism, martyrdom, altruism, sacrifice and resistance are integral elements in everyday cultural elements of the region. The daily aspect of political engagement and socialisation reinforce these values in terms of regional and community identity. In North Malabar, the ethics of folk culture, and martial art are not only appropriated in political engagement but also functional as crucial elements in various stages of political socialisation.


Integrated care concepts can help to diminish demographic challenges. Therefore, the use of eHealth solutions is recognised as an efficient approach. Lifetime electronic h ealth records (LEHRs) are expected to increase continuity, effectiveness, efficiency and thus quality of the care process. With respect to these benefits, an overarching implementation of LEHRs is desirable but non-existent. Hence, the aim of the article is to analyse the current LEHR implementation readiness of EU member states to derive implications for further LEHR research and development. Therefore, a case study on Denmark, Germany and Italy was conducted. The analysis shows that all countries fulfil the technical requirements but Denmark has great experiences and willingness to implement advanced eHealth measures like LEHRs. First Italian pilot projects are quite promising as well. The article paves the way for LEHR implementation and therewith for integrated care.


This essay reexamines the conventional opposition in genre criticism between modern realism and classical tragedy. By adapting Roland Barthes's account of realist representation with J. L. Austin's theory of speech-acts, the essay shows that epistemological skepticism animates the conventionality of certain literary techniques in modern realism. This account of the relation between realism and skepticism establishes grounds for further comparison with the seemingly antithetical generic tradition of tragedy. As a means of identifying previously unrecognized affinities between ancient tragedy and modern realism, this essay offers a model for how texts "perform" their genres. The essay describes these literary speech-acts as "genre performatives," which are smaller-order gestures, devices, and formal techniques that at once present and execute a text's status as part of any given genre. Formal expressions of epistemic contingency—skepticism's appearances across a spectrum of literary conventions—function not as abstract philosophy but as mechanisms that shore up the conceptual integrity of a literary text's wider generic tradition. Instead of imposing a sequence of ruptures in literary history or identifying rigid classes of characteristics that define any given genre, this essay demonstrates that "genre performatives" allow for comparisons across the longue duree (long term) of literary history and across ostensibly unrelated literary texts. The authors under consideration include Euripides, Sophocles, Miguel de Cervantes, William H. Gass, and Gustave Flaubert, among others.


Abstract Complex patterns of temporal and spatial variation in paleoflow within individual turbidites have been inferred from studies of both recent and ancient submarine channel–levee sands and sandstones. Previous interpretations of these paleocurrents have invoked "shifting patterns of meandering streamlines" in essentially unconfined flows, and in some cases topographic deflection of flows as they spilled from the channel. However, other flow indicators, such as current ripples, suggest that overbank flow may exhibit more uniform flow directions. Here we re-examine the spatial and temporal evolution of overbank flow on submarine channel levees, using grain fabric data from the Cretaceous Rosario Formation and extant data from the recent Amazon channel. We integrate these observations with our theoretical understanding of the long-term evolution of overbank flow processes to propose a process-based model of evolution of overbank flow across submarine channel levees. Overbank flow over levees is inferred to be dominated by three main processes: (1) gravity forces that attempt to direct flow down the local maximum slope; (2) inherited momentum from the channelized flow, which in many cases is closer to the axial flow direction; (3) development over time of an overbank wedge of fluid that moves broadly parallel to the direction of the main channel. The interaction among these processes varies both in space and time, and collectively accounts for the observed paleoflow variations inferred from deposits. This study may allow better interpretation of depositional sub-environments within levee turbidites, both in core and in outcrop.


Type 1 diabetes affects more than 3 million people in the United States and the rate of incidence is increasing on a global level (Atkinson, 2014). The diagnosis of type 1 diabetes often occurs prior to or during adolescence and the disease requires a high level of self-management. Adolescence is a challenging time for many adolescents especially in regards to body changes, weight gain and body image. Due to the added burden surrounding food with type 1 diabetes, disordered eating is more likely to occur. The rate of eating disorders in individuals with type 1 diabetes is as much as two times higher than that of their nondiabetic counterparts. Eating disorders and type 1 diabetes can lead to poor clinical outcomes including neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, and even death. Often the presence of an eating disorder is not known until those complications develop, and there is little that can be done to reverse the damage. It is difficult for healthcare providers to detect eating disorders in those with type 1 diabetes due to a lack of education, training, and criteria to diagnose. The goal of this project is to review existing literature for eating disorders among individuals with type 1 diabetes. This literature review also addresses the lack of current diagnostic criteria for the diabetes-specific eating disorder, diabulimia, creating a gap in knowledge for many healthcare professionals. Very few guidelines and support are provided for healthcare providers, therefore an approach on how primary care providers and endocrinologists can better address the needs of individuals with type 1 diabetes and eating disorders is presented.


Propargyl-choline was efficiently incorporated into teichoic acid (TA) polymers on the surface of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The introduction of a fluorophore by click chemistry enabled sufficient labeling of the pneumococcus, as well as its specific detection when mixed with other bacterial species. The labeling is localized at the septal site, suggesting a similar location of the TA and peptidoglycan (PG) synthetic machineries. This method is a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of the spatial location of pneumococcal TA biosynthesis.


Consumer behaviour is the focus on the processes a consumer uses to make purchase decisions, as well as to use and dispose of purchased goods or services. Understanding consumer behaviour is one of the largest challenges a business can face. The maize milling sector in Kenya is very competitive, mainly because of its low entry barriers leading to price as the only competing factor. With turnover and earnings driven primarily by market share and capacity utilization, the major determinant of success among its players is organic growth and cost leadership. The success of each individual company is dependent on its ability to gain market share and this has made the industry players to go through various lengths to increase capacity and to manage their costs. This study sought to determine the factors that influence the choice of maize flour brands by consumers in Nairobi, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research method. The population of the study comprised of 80 retail customers receiving services in four selected supermarket in Nairobi. The selected supermarkets were Nakumatt, Uchumi, Tuskys and Naivas. The study used questionnaires, which were given to customers buying flour in the supermarkets to fill. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics whereby frequencies and percentages, generated from the various data categories were computed and presented in graphs, pie charts, and tables. The study found that various factors such as price, perceived quality, the level of income, and the social cultural aspects influence the choice of maize flour brands by consumers in Nairobi. Thus, this study recommends that disparities resulting from the difference in their purchasing power should be utilized properly by the maize millers by producing brands that suit different classes in the society.


The VEGA Venus balloon radio transmissions received on Earth were used to measure the motion of the balloons and to obtain the data recorded by onboard sensors measuring atmospheric characteristics. Thus the balloons themselves, the gondolas, the onboard sensors, and the radio transmission system were all components of the experiment. A description of these elements is given, and a few details of data sampling and formatting are discussed.


We propose a novel approach to find aliases of a given name from the web. We exploit a set of known names and their aliases as training data and extract lexical patterns that convey information related to aliases of names from text snippets returned by a web search engine. The patterns are then used to find candidate aliases of a given name. We use anchor texts and hyperlinks to design a word co-occurrence model and define numerous ranking scores to evaluate the association between a name and its candidate aliases. The proposed method outperforms numerous baselines and previous work on alias extraction on a dataset of personal names, achieving a statistically significant mean reciprocal rank of 0.6718. Moreover, the aliases extracted using the proposed method improve recall by 20% in a relation-detection task.


Cavernomas comprise 8%-15% of intracranial vascular lesions, usually supratentorial in location and superficial. Cavernomas in the thalamus or subcortical white matter represent a unique challenge for surgeons in trying to identify and then use a safe corridor to access and resect the pathology. Previous authors have described specific open microsurgical corridors based on pathology location, often with technical difficulty and morbidity. This series presents 2 cavernomas that were resected using a minimally invasive approach that is less technically demanding and has a good safety profile. The authors report 2 cases of cavernoma: one in the thalamus and brainstem with multiple hemorrhages and the other in eloquent subcortical white matter. These lesions were resected through a transulcal parafascicular approach with a port-based minimally invasive technique. In this series there was complete resection with no neurological complications. The transulcal parafascicular minimally invasive approach relies on image interpretation and trajectory planning, intraoperative navigation, cortical cannulation and subcortical space access, high-quality optics, and resection as key elements to minimize exposure and retraction and maximize tissue preservation. The authors applied this technique to 2 patients with cavernomas in eloquent locations with excellent outcomes.


This title offers step-by-step instruction in every technique, from beginner to advanced levels, shown in more than 600 action-packed photographs and diagrams. It is the ultimate how-to guide to the exciting water sports of kayaking and canoeing, both for novices and more experienced intermediate-level paddlers. It includes expert instruction on mastering the basic skills as a beginner on flat water, and progressing to the challenges of white water, open water and the sea. It offers essential advice on clothing and equipment, reading weather conditions and understanding hydrodynamics. Paddling in kayaks and canoes offers enormous scope for young children, teenagers and adults alike in terms of recreational fun, touring and camping holidays. This book provides practical advice on where to paddle, clothing and equipment, how to get into a kayak and a canoe, how to capsize safely, how to hold the paddle, and the skills needed to move and roll the boat. It also explores the fast and furious sports of white water paddling, play boating and surfing, and the competition scene.Illustrated with step-by-step sequences and over 600 inspirational photographs, this practical guide is a one-stop reference source for aspiring paddlers everywhere.


If remembering is discriminative behaviour along the dimension of time and if, as Sargisson and White (2001) argued, generalisation around a peak can occur in this behaviour, then the peak shift which has been shown in discrimination along so many other stimulus dimensions, might also occur in remembering. To examine this hypothesis, 6 hens were trained in a delayed matching-to-sample procedure at delays of 2 and 4 s. The probability of reinforcement for correct responses was initially 0.9 at both delays until performance stabilised. A generalisation probe was then carried out by inserting unreinforced trials at delays of 0, 1, 1.5, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4.5, 5 and 6 s in a session amongst normal training delay trials. The generalisation functions had a slight peak around 2 s. After further training, a second generalisation probe showed a slightly declining function. The probability of reinforcement at the 2 s delay was then dropped to 0.1, so that in the terms of the classical generalisation/peak shift paradigm, 2-s delay trials became S  ̄ and 4-s delay trials became S+. A third generalisation probe then was conducted. This resulted in a flat function from 0 s to 3 s, and a large, clear peak in discriminative performance at 4.5 s over all hens. After more of the same differential reinforcement training, a fourth generalisation probe showed a broad curve peaking at 3 s, with minima at 1 s and 6 s and a global maximum at 0 s. Another training condition was then run, with the probability of reinforcement at the 2-s delay dropped to 0, to see if increasing the "aversiveness" of S  ̄ would again result in a peak shift. A fifth generalisation probe was then conducted. This showed a sharp decline in discriminability at shorter delays, a dip around 2 s, and a very small area shift beyond 4 s, but no clear peak shift. This was interpreted as being due to overlearning, with the consequences of remembering at S  ̄ no longer significantly affecting performance at S+. A final training condition was then run, with S  ̄ moved from 2 s to 3 s with zero probability of reinforcement, and for only a short period, to prevent overlearning. It was predicted that this would cause peak shift to re-occur. A sixth generalisation probe was then conducted. This found a further decline in discriminability at shorter delays, a shift in the dip from 2 s to 3 s, and a large, clear peak at 4.5 s. This demonstration of peak shift in a remembering process would not have been predicted by any traditional theory of memory, but strongly supports the conception of remembering as discriminative behaviour along the stimulus dimension of time.


This work proposes a game theoretic approach to tackle the problem of multi-robot coordination in critical scenarios where communication is limited and the robots must accomplish different tasks simultaneously. An important application falls in underwater robotic framework where robots are used to protect a ship against asymmetric threats guaranteeing simultaneously the coverage of the area around the ship and the tracking of a possible intruder. The problem is modelled as a potential game for which novel learning protocols are introduced. Indeed, a general extension of pay-off based algorithms is herein proposed where the main difference with state-of-the-art protocols is that the trajectory optimization is considered instead of single action optimization. Moreover, the proposed T-algorithms, steer the robots toward Nash equilibria that will be shown to correspond to the accomplishment of different, possibly antagonistic, goals. Finally, performances of the algorithms, under different scenarios, have been evaluated in simulations.


Immunodominance in T cell responses to complex antigens like viruses is still incompletely understood. Some data indicate that the dominant responses to viruses are not necessarily the most protective, while other data imply that dominant responses are the most important. The issue is of considerable importance to the rational design of vaccines, particularly against variable escaping viruses like human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and hepatitis C virus. Here, we showed that sequential inactivation of dominant epitopes up-ranks the remaining subdominant determinants. Importantly, we demonstrated that subdominant epitopes can induce robust responses and protect against whole viruses if they are allowed at least once in the vaccination regimen to locally or temporally dominate T cell induction. Therefore, refocusing T cell immune responses away from highly variable determinants recognized during natural virus infection towards subdominant, but conserved regions is possible and merits evaluation in humans.


The continuity and the success of organizations appear increasingly associated with the incorporation of social media. The success depends of the structural and procedural changes that the organization has to make. Today, social media are the new digital marketing tools that help in the processes of communication. Companies need to understand that they are no longer the exclusive owners of the relation of consumers with their products/services; instead, the survival of the organizations depends of the effective utilization of the social media. Creative and innovative solutions are not necessarily too expensive and the internet ends up being one of the best marketing tools available for the organizations. In a more transparent and dynamic world, consumers trust other people to provide advice and recommendations about products and services more and more through social media and it is important to know how and why social media influence organizations. This study analyzes through a literature review the current importance of social media for digital marketing communication and shows a case study on traditional shops that use social media to obtain competitive advantages over shopping centers in Funchal (Madeira, Portugal). To finish, the study proposes a new model of business for successful marketing strategies. Also, the article explains how to manage the changes associated and how collaborators need to get used to working in a wider and more dynamic community.


Climate and weather, especially storms, have major effects on trees. Fast moving "Alberta Clippers," or Blue Storms, that produce extreme cold and little precipitation happen each year on the Great Plains in association with Chinook winds in the Northern and Central Rockies. When these storms occur between February 13th and March 10th when shortleaf pines on the Ouachita National Forest are becoming active, characteristic narrow growth rings are left in the wood. Prior to February 13th, growth is not affected by cold temperatures; after March 10th when trees are fully active, a frost ring is produced. Only between these two dates is growth reduced without the production of a frost ring.


Olin Brass Alloy C77000 combines high strength with excellent stiffness, formability, corrosion resistance, and solderability. These characteristics make it extremely adaptable to a range of spring applications including flat and slightly formed springs. It is also used for switches, jacks, and relays; in food processing, hospital and medical equipment; and in ferrules. This datasheet provides information on composition and physical properties. Filing Code: Cu-890. Producer or source: Olin Brass.


Although it is generally recognized that the equilibrium real interest rate (ERR) varies over time, most recent work on policy analysis has been carried out under the assumption that this rate is constant. We show how this assumption can affect inferences about the conduct of policy in two different areas. First, if the ERR moves in the same direction as the trend growth rate (as is suggested by theory), the probability that an unperceived change in trend growth will lead to a substantial change in inflation is noticeably lower than is suggested by recent analyses (of inflation in the 1970s, for example) that assume a constant ERR. Second, if the monetary authority targets a time varying ERR but the econometrician assumes otherwise, estimated policy rules will tend to exaggerate the degree of interest rate smoothing as well as the weight that the monetary authority places upon inflation.


The present study examined teachers' evaluations of the teaching effectiveness of a close friend and colleague and the extent of supportiveness the close friend and colleague provided. We reasoned that the teaching performance of a close friend and colleague who was teaching the same subject matter, e.g., history, as one did would reflect unfavorably on one's competence and so be threatening to self. One can maintain positive elf-evaluation by devaluing the effectiveness of teaching by the close friend and colleague The support offered by the close friend and colleague teaching the same subject may also be threatening, for the negative implications it can carry with regard to one's competence. To cope, one could perceive the support as relatively low. 145 teachers responded to a questionnaire containing the variables of interest. Analysis provided support for the hypotheses, confirming the proposition that there is an element of defensive comparison among teachers who considered themselves to be close friends with a target teacher.


Transportation infrastructure is critical for the advancement of society. Bridges are vital for an efficient transportation network. Bridges across the world undergo variable deformation/displacement due to the Earth's dynamic processes. This displacement is caused by ground motion, which occurs from many natural and anthropogenic events. Events causing deformation include temperature fluctuation, subsidence, landslides, earthquakes, water/sea level variation, subsurface resource extraction, etc. Continual deformation may cause bridge failure, putting civilians at risk, if not managed properly. Monitoring bridge displacement, large and small, provides evidence of the state and health of the bridge. Traditionally, bridge monitoring has been executed through on-site surveys. Although this method of bridge monitoring is systematic and successful, it is not the most efficient and cost-effective. Through technological advances, satellite-based Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have provided a system for analyzing ground deformation over time. This method is applied to distinguish bridges that are more at risk than others by generating models that display the displacement at various locations along each bridge. A bridge's health and its potential risk can be estimated upon analysis of measured displacement rates. In return, this process of monitoring bridges can be done at much faster rates; saving time, money and resources. PSI data covering Oxnard, California, revealed both bridge displacement and regional ground displacement. Although each bridge maintained different patterns of displacement, many of the bridges within the Oxnard area displayed an overall downward movement matching regional subsidence trends observed in the area. Patterns in displacement-time series plots provide evidence for two types of deformation mechanisms. Long-term downward movements correlate with the relatively large regional subsidence observed using PSI in Oxnard. Thermal dilation from seasonal temperature changes may cause short-term variabilities unique to each bridge. Overall, it may be said that linking geologic, weather, and groundwater patterns with bridge displacement has shown promise for monitoring transportation infrastructure and more importantly differentiating between regional subsidence and site-specific displacements.


Although women constitute a very important proportion
of the world's population, the link between women
and the state of the environment has only recently begun to
be recognized. Women are universally known to be closer
to nature than men and this may underscore their assiduous
relationship with their physical environment. Nigerian
women are not homogenous because of the enormous
variety of socio-economic and cultural situations which
individual women may find themselves in. There are different
classes of women in Nigeria, hence it is this class
position that determines how a woman relates to her
environment. The relationship between poorer women and
the environment differs from those of the more privileged
women. In the traditional Nigerian societies, domestic
activities such as provision of water for general household
use, maintaining a clean environment in the house by
disposing household wastes and maintaining sanitation
facilities, have been delegated to the women of the community.
Thus the women's influence concerning solid waste
management is immensely felt in the home.
The primary aim of this study was the assessment of the
level of involvement of women in solid waste management
in two medium income areas in Ibadan and Lagos- both
highly urbanized cities in Nigeria. The secondary objectives
were to:
(i) Identify the specific roles, perceptions, values, attitudes
and practices of women in relation to solid waste
management.
(ii) Examine the issues and constraints that hamper active
participation of women at household, community and
national levels in the planning, designing and implementation
of solid waste management schemes.
(iii) Evaluate women's awareness level of waste reduction
as an alternative to solving the solid waste management
problems, currently plaguing the society.


The report presents new BAT (Best Available Techniques) candidates for larger breweries, malting companies and soft drink producers identified within the Nordic brewery sector. The report is prepared as a joint Nordic contribution to the Technical Working Group and is proposed to be used when a review of the BREF for Food, Drink and Milk Industries from 2006 is launched. Larger and IPPC relevant breweries have a production capacity exceeding 300 tons per day or 1,100,000 hl per year. The number of larger breweries and malting companies in the Nordic countries is 10 companies. 8 potential new BAT candidates and 2 emerging techniques are included in the report and all candidates have their origin in the Nordic countries. The BAT described in the report are related to a number of resource saving and optimisation solutions, e.g. like substitution of raw materials and processes, energy and water savings plus production of renewable energy based on brewery waste and side-products.


Tissue Engineering may offer new treatment alternatives for organ replacement or repair deteriorated organs. Among the clinical applications of Tissue Engineering are the production of artificial skin for burn patients, tissue engineered trachea, cartilage for knee-replacement procedures, urinary bladder replacement, urethra substitutes and cellular therapies for the treatment of urinary incontinence. The Tissue Engineering approach has major advantages over traditional organ transplantation and circumvents the problem of organ shortage. Tissues reconstructed from readily available biopsy material induce only minimal or no immunogenicity when reimplanted in the patient. This book is aimed at anyone interested in the application of Tissue Engineering in different organ systems. It offers insights into a wide variety of strategies applying the principles of Tissue Engineering to tissue and organ regeneration.


A weasel word is a term used in academic or political discourse whose meaning is so imprecise or badly defined that it impedes the formulation of coherent thought on the subject to which it is applied, or leads to unsubstantiated conclusions. In this symposium we consider several key terms central to the study of postcommunist politics and discuss the extent to which they fall into this category. The terms discussed here include regime terminology, the notion of postcommunism, the geographic entity "Eurasia," socialism, populism, and neoliberalism. While the authors come to different conclusions about the extent to which these terms are weasel words, they also provide pointers for how to deploy terms in ways that are consistent with the underlying concept and thus aid in the cumulation of knowledge about the region.


__Abstract__

Urban freight contributes significantly to pollution, noise disturbance, traffic congestion, and safety problems in city centers. In many cities, local governments have introduced policy measures, in particular time-access restrictions, to alleviate these problems. However, setting time windows is very challenging due to the conflicting interests and objectives of the stakeholders involved. In this article, we examine whether it is possible to develop time-window policies that enhance environmental sustainability and distribution efficiencies, while meeting the objectives of the municipalities. We develop a framework for balancing retailer (costs), municipality (satisfaction), and environmental (emissions) objectives, using data envelopment analysis, under different urban time-window policies. The approach is illustrated by a case study of three Dutch retail organizations, with a large number of stores affected by such time windows. On the basis of an evaluation of 99 different time-window policies, our results show that harmonizing time windows between neighboring cities leads to the best overall performance. The currently used time-window policy appears to perform reasonably well, but can be improved on all dimensions. However, harmonizing time-window policies may be difficult to realize in practice.


Despite many achievements regarding child rights over the last 20 years, including improvements in many indicators such as the significant reduction in infant and child mortality; the more positive way of thinking about and listening to children; and increased response to those who abuse children, the rights of children are still insufficiently protected. Millions of children across the world suffer from the effects of extreme forms of poverty and their associated evils, such as malnourishment, stunted growth, nutritional-deficiency diseases and illiteracy. Recent figures from the International Labour Organisation (2010) show that, globally one in every six children work, 126 million children work in hazardous conditions, and the highest proportion of child labourers is in sub-Saharan Africa, where 26% of children (49 million) are involved in work. These figures provide only a glimpse of the challenges and obstacles that a child faces around the world


Agriculture contributes significantly to anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs), with estimates of agriculture's contribution ranging from 10% to 25% of total global GHG emissions per year. The science regarding mitigating (reducing and removing) GHGs through agriculture is conflicting and inconclusive. However, the severity and urgency of climate change and its potential effects on food security demonstrate that we must include mitigation within food system planning frameworks. In British Columbia, Canada, the provincial government has established significant GHG reduction targets for its agencies, and has called on local governments to reduce their carbon footprints through a charter and incentive, as well as through growth management legislation. At the same time, local governments, are giving increased attention to development of local/regional agri-food systems. However, GHG mitigation efforts do not yet seem to factor into local agri-food system discussions. Although frameworks for reporting agriculture GHGs exist, local government measurement of agriculture mitigation is hampered by a lack of agriculture GHG inventories, limited data availability, and the inherent variability in agriculture emissions and removals due to the dynamic nature of farm ecosystems. With the goal of informing local governments and food system planners on the importance of agriculture GHG mitigation, this paper (1) reviews the science of GHGs, (2) describes sources of agriculture GHG emissions and illustrates potential mitigation practices, (3) discusses the variability of agriculture mitigation science, (4) highlights the importance of agriculture GHG inventories, and (5) emphasizes the necessity for local agriculture mitigation strategies.


We address the problem of optimal path finding for multiple agents where agents must not collide and their total travel cost should be minimized. Previous work used traditional single-agent search variants of the A* algorithm. In Sharon et. al. (2011), we introduced a novel two-level search algorithm framework for this problem. The high-level searches a novel search tree called increasing cost tree (ICT). The low-level performs a goal test on each ICT node. The new framework, called ICT search (ICTS), showed to run faster than the previous state-of-the-art A* approach by up to three orders of magnitude in many cases. In this paper we focus on the low-level of ICTS which performs the goal test. We introduce a number of optional pruning techniques that can significantly speed up the goal test. We discuss these pruning techniques and provide supporting experimental results.


Introduction Accurate cause-of-death reporting is required for mortality data to validly inform public health programming and evaluation. Research demonstrates overreporting of heart disease on New York City death certificates. We describe changes in reported causes of death following a New York City health department training conducted in 2009 to improve accuracy of cause-of-death reporting at 8 hospitals. The objective of our study was to assess the degree to which death certificates citing heart disease as cause of death agreed with hospital discharge data and the degree to which training improved accuracy of reporting. Methods We analyzed 74,373 death certificates for 2008 through 2010 that were linked with hospital discharge records for New York City inpatient deaths and calculated the proportion of discordant deaths, that is, death certificates reporting an underlying cause of heart disease with no corresponding discharge record diagnosis. We also summarized top principal diagnoses among discordant reports and calculated the proportion of inpatient deaths reporting sepsis, a condition underreported in New York City, to assess whether documentation practices changed in response to clarifications made during the intervention. Results Citywide discordance between death certificates and discharge data decreased from 14.9% in 2008 to 9.6% in 2010 (P < .001), driven by a decrease in discordance at intervention hospitals (20.2% in 2008 to 8.9% in 2010; P < .001). At intervention hospitals, reporting of sepsis increased from 3.7% of inpatient deaths in 2008 to 20.6% in 2010 (P < .001). Conclusion Overreporting of heart disease as cause of death declined at intervention hospitals, driving a citywide decline, and sepsis reporting practices changed in accordance with health department training. Researchers should consider the effect of overreporting and data-quality changes when analyzing New York City heart disease mortality trends. Other vital records jurisdictions should employ similar interventions to improve cause-of-death reporting and use linked discharge data to monitor data quality.


Abstract This paper provides a photographic tour of the ground-surface rupture features of the Greendale Fault, formed during the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake. The fault, previously unknown, produced at least 29.5 km of strike-slip surface deformation of right-lateral (dextral) sense. Deformation, spread over a zone between 30 and 300 m wide, consisted mostly of horizontal flexure with subsidiary discrete shears, the latter only prominent where overall displacement across the zone exceeded about 1.5 m. A remarkable feature of this event was its location in an intensively farmed landscape, where a multitude of straight markers, such as fences, roads and ditches, allowed precise measurements of offsets, and permitted well-defined limits to be placed on the length and widths of the surface rupture deformation.


Quantum experiments are being conducted with larger and larger systems of higher and higher masses. Gravitational effects could soon become relevant in these experiments. This creates the opportunity for an experimental evaluation of our concepts of space, time, and matter, and can pave the way to the yet unknown theory uniting general relativity and quantum mechanics. If we ask how a quantum superposition state sources the gravitational field, there are two possible answers: the gravitational field itself being in a superposition or the geometrical concept of classical space-time remaining valid even at small scales. One focus of this project will be on a systematic evaluation as to which decoherence effects can be expected as the result of either possibility, i.e. gravitational fluctuations of classical compared to such of quantum origin. The latter possibility of a co-existence of quantum matter and classical gravity has triggered the idea that gravity may also cause an objective collapse of the wave-function, thereby resolving the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. Exploring this idea with a detailed study of the combined dynamics of gravity and decoherence is the second major objective of the project.


Hsp60 in eukaryotes is considered typically a mitochondrial chaperone (also called Cpn60) but in the last few years it has become clear that it also occurs in the cytosol, the cell surface, the extracellular space, and in the peripheral blood. Studies with prokaryotic models have shown that Hsp60 plays a role in assisting nascent polypeptides to reach a native conformation, and that it interacts with Hsp10 (which also resides in the mitochondria and is also named Cpn10). In addition to its role in polypeptide folding in association with Hsp10, other functions and interacting molecules have been identified for Hsp60 in the last several years. Some of these newly identified functions are associated with carcinogenesis, specifically with tumor cell survival and proliferation. Thus, assessing the levels of Hsp60 in tumor cells and in sera of cancer patients is becoming an attractive area of investigation aiming at the development of means for practical applications in clinical oncology. Since Hsp60 participates in extracellular molecular interactions and cell signalling and also in key intracellular pathways of some types of tumor cells, the idea of using Hsp60 in anti-cancer therapy (chaperonotherapy) is being investigated. The Hsp could be used either as an anticancer agent alone or in combination with tumor antigens, or as target for anti-chaperone compounds. In this article, a brief review is presented of representative research efforts aimed at assessing Hsp60 in a variety of tumors with the purpose of illustrating possible implications and applications for making early and differential diagnoses, assessing prognosis, monitoring response to treatment, and for developing novel anti-cancer strategies.


Contents. List of Contributors. Introduction: Significance of the Renal Circulation (W.P. Anderson, r.G. Evans, and K.M. Stevenson). Structure of the Renal Circulation (J.F. Bertram). Development of the Renal Vasculature (D. Alcom). Cell Physiology of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells and Mesangial Cells and the Impact of this on the Control of Renal Circulation (G. Wolf). Control of Afferent and Efferent Arteriolar Tone (S. Ito). The Intrarenal Distribution of Blood Flow (T.L. Pallone, A. Edwards, and M.S. Kreisberg). Blood flow in the Glomerular Capillary Network (K.M. Denton). Autoregulation (H.R. Kircheim and A. Just). Tubuloglomerular Feedback (J. Schnermann). Neural Control of the Renal Circulation (G.F. DiBona and U.C. Kopp). Endocrine Control of Renal Vasculature (J.G. McDougall, R. DeMatten, C.N. May and N.A. Yates). Endothelial Factors in the Regulation of the Renal Circulation: Nitric Oxide (W.H. Beierwalles). Angiotensin II Regulation of the Renal Circulation (P.K. Carmines). Endothelin and the Kidney (P. Nambi). Nonendothelial Paracrine Regulation of the Renal Micro circulation (E.W. Inch, J.D. Mig, and L.G. Navar). Integrative Aspects of the Renal Medullary Circulation (G. Bergstrom and R.G. Evans). Aging and the Renal Circulation (Z. Greenfeld and C. Baylis). Fetal Renal Circulation (E.R. Lumbers). The Renal Circulation in Pregnancy (E.R. Lumbers). Renal Circulation in Genetic Experimental Hypertension (A. Bataillard, M. Lo, and J. Sassard). Remodeling of the Renal Resistance Vessels in Hypertension (K. Skov and M.J. Mulvany). Renal Blood Flow in Human Diseases (J.J. Kelly and J.A. Whitworth). Renal Hemodynamics in Human Hypertension (P. van Paassen, D. de Zeeuw, P.E. de Jong, and G. Navis). Obesity, Insulin Resistance, and the Renal Circulation (J.E. Hall, M.W. Brands, E.W. Shek, and J.R. Henegar). Index.


This study deals with the influence of topography on glacial dynamics and the genesis of till in an area of moder-ate bedrock relief. An area 25 km west of Lycksele, northern Sweden, was investigated using geomorphological and sedimentological methods. The bedrock is dominated by coarse-grained granites and the topography, ranging in altitude between 310 and 490 m. a.s.l., is characterized by relatively wide, free-lying hills.The erosional and depositional features provide evidence of several glacial events, with regional ice flows from approximately the same direction (NW-NNW). The gravel fraction of the till is dominated by material transported more than 10 km. However, the total glacial erosion has been modest, as indicated by the frequent occurrence of residual pre-glacial weathering features. There is no evidence of warm-based conditions during the period when the ice divide of the Late Weichselian ice sheet was situated E-SE of the study area. The major mor-phological impact is most likely by pre-Late Weichselian ice sheets.The general stratigraphy at the valley floors is a complex sequence of heterogeneous till and beds of sorted sediments with some evidence of glacial deformation covered by an up to 2.5-m-thick, texturally homogeneous till layer with distinct fissility structure and clast fabric orientation. The lower unit is interpreted as pre-Late Weichselian marginal deposits, and the upper till as mainly formed during rigid-bed conditions, i.e. by lodgement, during the last deglaciation. The role of pervasive deformation and melt-out in the formation of the upper till are discussed. Inferred mainly from till fabrics it is evident that the ice flow was strongly topographically controlled within a relatively wide marginal zone of the retreating ice.At the summits of the hills there are only signs of very weak glacial abrasive and depositional activity, sug-gesting frozen based conditions over the summits until a very late stage of the deglaciation. The very thin till at the summits, which also lay as a drape over the thick lee-side deposits, consists of a mixture of relatively fine-grained, distantly derived debris and of local bedrock fragments entrained during a very late phase of plucking.On the stoss- and lateral slopes of the hills the till is thin and discontinuous. The irregular bedrock surface in these areas created a "mosaic" of small-scale subglacial depositional environments, which were superimposed on the changes in the conditions for deposition along the hillslope. This till is comparatively coarse-grained, which is interpreted as an effect of syn-depositional winnowing of fines, and locally also because of the incorporation of local bedrock material largely from pre-glacially weathered zones.On the lee-sides of the hills the deposits are considerably thicker than on slopes facing other directions. They are characterized by highly variable texture and structure, suggesting a depositional environment characterized by large temporal and spatial variations in meltwater activity and stress/strain conditions. The lee-side tills are inter-preted as mainly pre-Late Weichselian in age.The overall conclusion is that the local topography strongly controlled the basal ice flow and produced a com-plex pattern of thermal variations within a relatively wide marginal zone of the ice sheet during the last deglacia-tion. The study supports the view that there are complete transitions between the different genetical types of sub-glacial tills, although the role of deformation by pervasive shearing is uncertain in this type of coarse-grained till.


Angela, 16 years old, was arrested for possession of drugs. She experienced abuse as a child, abandonment by her mother, addiction to drugs, the suicide of a friend, violence, and homelessness. While awaiting disposition of her case and placement in a suitable program, her multiple needs were not addressed and she ended up on her own. During this time, she was raped and relapsed into drug use. Preface Developing this project on girls in the juvenile justice system began in 1995 and was originally coordinated by Andrea Shorter of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a research and policy organization that also runs several programs for juvenile and adult offenders.(1) As youth advocates, the authors came together over our concern with the circumstances of girls in the San Francisco juvenile justice system. Most of us had worked with girls who were incarcerated, which motivated us to conduct this study. We also were aware that an excellent survey of resources for girls had been carried out by the Come into the Sun Coalition, but that the Coalition's extensive recommendations had not been implemented. We hoped that this study would deepen that report's contribution and would be a useful organizing tool to change how the juvenile justice system works with girls. One of the first issues we grappled with was what it means to focus on girls. The needs of adolescent girls pose a challenge for the juvenile justice system, which was designed by men and has been structured on the fact that boys make up a majority of those in the system. We also did not want to take away from the concerns that young men of color are increasingly being incarcerated at an unprecedented rate. However, we felt that in the passion to find solutions to get boys out of the system, the fact that more and more girls were coming into the system was being ignored. Our initial decision to focus on the Out-of-Home Placement (OOHP)(2) unit of San Francisco's Juvenile Probation Department was the result of several factors. The status of girls in the system was relatively unstudied; we envisioned this study as one of a series, and other aspects of girls' involvement would be researched in the future. OOHP provided a manageable venue to understand the invisibility of girls in the system and initial interviews with two of the people who ran this division highlighted a multitude of problems in this area relating to the lack of services for girls. In addition, San Francisco's recently elected mayor, Willie Brown, had been pressuring the probation department to decrease the rate of incarcerating youth in juvenile hall. Reducing the number of youth who were locked up would necessitate more emphasis on preventive programs and alternatives to incarceration. Thus, that there are fewer programs for girls and many of their needs are not met in existing programs were immediate causes for concern. Once this policy direction was identified as a starting place, our primary goal was to provide a vehicle through which the experiences and voices of girls would be heard. Our recommendations at the end of the study were developed from the suggestions made by the girls we interviewed, as well as by the people who work with them. Too often policymakers exclude the people most affected by the decisions they make and research is not always used to create social change. We wanted to take a different approach - to give a voice to girls who have been invisible in the juvenile justice system. Our hope was that this study would not merely be published, but that it would lead to positive changes in the system itself. Therefore, we included recommendations that could form the basis for action if we were able to get them into the most effective hands. As will be seen below, this study has had an impact beyond our deepest expectations. Introduction Discussion about juvenile crime and delinquency usually presumes that offenders are boys. …


Various counselling interventions can help women navigate difficulties. However, storytelling in and of itself, may be uniquely useful as a process through which women understand themselves. Throughout time, people have used different kinds of storytelling from oral, written, and dramatic traditions to make sense of experience, connect, and heal. For example, both First Nations and African American communities have a tradition of oral storytelling as a curative experience. Talk therapy itself is based on the hypothesis that speaking with another person, un-silencing, has intrinsic therapeutic value. However, those whose stories do not fit in with the dominant narrative, a narrative that prizes speed, power, and external achievement, may feel pressured to conform. Consequently, such groups may experience silencing in the therapeutic process. "Storytelling has always held particular importance for women and other "silenced" minority groups who have had to rely on oral traditions to transmit knowledge, establish continuity, and share information, sometimes even dangerous or subversive information" (Goering, 1996p. 1 ). As counsellors are increasingly pressured to work under tight time and budgetary constraints the healing value of simply listening may be lost. This narrative literature review aims to increase counsellor's knowledge by exploring benefits of female oral storytelling in the therapeutic relationship from a feminist perspective. Exploring the Benefits of Storytelling for Women in the Therapeutic Relationship


Train is the most frequently used means of transportation in Tokyo. Train stations are gaining attention as commercial complex today, and higher level of comfort is being demanded for the indoor environment. Open structure of the train station and semi-outdoor like environment suggest that the thermal comfort condition is relaxed compared to indoor comfort standards. The objective of this study is to investigate the thermal comfort condition within train stations and to clarify the appropriate target for environmental control. Field surveys were carried out in summer, autumn and winter during July 2004 to August 2006 in four train stations located in urban area of Tokyo. Concourses were not air-conditioned except one station where spot cooling was operated in summer near the ticket gate. Each survey was conducted from 7:00 to 20:00 for 3 to 11 days per season per station for a total of 81 days. The survey consisted of thermal environment measurement and thermal comfort questionnaire. More than 80% of passengers felt thermally comfortable within the range of 19 to 29 °C SET*. However, acceptability zone was found to be 19 to 32 °C SET*, and it is recommended to design naturally ventilated train stations to fulfil this target.


Scientific ideologies swirl throughout Stoker's two most gothic novels, Dracula (1897) and The Lair of the White Worm (1911), and this essay will address those ideologies as literary manifestations of just some of the "weird science" that was permeating late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Europe. Specifically, the essay examines racial theories, physiognomy, criminology, brain science, and sexology as they appear in Stoker's two novels. Stoker owned a copy Johann Caspar Lavater's five-volume edition of Essays on Physiognomy (1789), and declared himself to be a "believer of the science" of physiognomy. The second major "weird science" infecting the gothic works of Stoker is the new field of criminology, or the bourgeois attempt to codify, control, and exterminate criminal elements in the human population. Stoker drew on both Havelock Ellis's The Criminal, published in 1890, and the Italian Cesare Lombroso's work, Uomo Delinquente (1876), a book that was available to Stoker in a two volume French translation published as L'Homme Criminel (1895). Stoker derived a number of his passages about the workings of the brain from the theories of the well-known professor of physiology, W. B. Carpenter, founder of the notion of "unconscious cerebration," a concept developed in his book Principles of Mental Physiology (1874). Finally, Richard von Krafft-Ebing published his pioneering text on sexuality in 1886, Psychopathia Sexualis, with Special Reference to Contrary Sexual Instinct: A Medico-Legal Study, and invented the scientific study of sex. Of a piece with criminology, sexology attempted to categorize and medicalize human behaviors in such a way that all would become clear to the informed and enlightened bourgeois consciousness. As another weirdly scientific effort to "discipline and punish," sexology sought to transform crime into perversion, and the man or woman suffering from vampiric tendencies became just another case study of sexual deviancy.


In all organisms, protein-mediated electron transfers underlie energy metabolism and countless other critical metabolic pathways. Deciphering the factors governing electron transfers offers enormous practical value, including finding reliable guidelines for metabolic engineering to produce clean solar fuels. Protein maquettes provide simple, flexible scaffolds to study biological electron transfer processes. The maquette approach to protein design builds man-made oxidoreductases from first principles with minimal reference to natural protein sequences. This scheme has produced impressive in vitro and in vivo results to replicate the functions of natural oxidoreductases using simple, straightforward α-helical bundles. The redox function of maquettes has so far been limited to electron transfers within a single water-soluble molecule. This work extends the maquette project to examine electron transfers A) between diffusing redox partners and B) in amphiphilic proteins. Nature employs complimentary electrostatic surfaces to bring diffusing redox proteins together, and a series of maquettes of varying surface charge demonstrate that the same principles apply to flexible manmade proteins. A heme-binding maquette of complimentary surface charge is shown to reduce natural cytochrome c at physiological rates, while a maquette variant similar in charge to cyt c shows a far weaker interaction. The ionic strength dependence of these interactions is shown to be broadly similar to that in natural proteins. This work also presents the first intra-protein redox function in a de novo amphiphilic protein and describes progress toward transmembrane electron transfer analogous to that in the cytochrome bc1 complex. These functional achievements are remarkable given that the proteins are designed from first principles without atomically resolved structures, and they hold promise for future efforts in applying artificial proteins to new metabolic pathways. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics First Advisor Peter L. Dutton Second Advisor Bohdana M. Discher


AIM: The role of β-glucan supplementation on cancer development is well established. In this report we focused on the effects of glucan on levels of individual classes and subclasses of immunoglobulins. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the levels of IgM, IgG, IgA, IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 in 39 patients diagnosed with breast or colorectal cancer. RESULTS: We found a significant decrease of IgG1 levels in the placebo group, which was particularly pronounced in females. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term glucan supplementation significantly stabilized levels of IgG1 resulting in maintaining anti-infectious immunity. The decrease in IgG1 levels found in the placebo group was clearly caused by a complex therapy of cancer disease.


Until the 1990s, Croatian pedagogical theory and practice has featured developmental qualities of the so-called 'Germanic circle pedagogy'. This means that it was a normative and empirical science focused on practical learning about upbringing. However, attempts to constitute pedagogy as a complete science about upbringing were not to be neglected. During the transition following the communist ideology's collapse and the intensification of globalisation, pedagogy began to 'Americanise' terminology. This replaced the terms 'education' (Cro. 'obrazovanje') and 'upbringing' (Cro. 'odgoj') with 'education' (Cro. 'edukacija'), while the term 'educology' was introduced to represent the science about education. Americanisation is visible through changes to the Croatian pedagogical tradition's standard terminology, which generated doubts and discrepancies in both content guidelines and application. Regardless of the paradigm war, these and similar theoretical side-tracks do not ensure a sufficiently solid theoretical identity for pedagogy. This status is reflected in today's study of pedagogy, which was designed according to principles of the Bologna process and the pedagogical profession, which is searching for space for practical action.


We train one multilingual model for dependency parsing and use it to parse sentences in several languages. The parsing model uses (i) multilingual word clusters and embeddings; (ii) token-level language information; and (iii) language-specific features (fine-grained POS tags). This input representation enables the parser not only to parse effectively in multiple languages, but also to generalize across languages based on linguistic universals and typological similarities, making it more effective to learn from limited annotations. Our parser's performance compares favorably to strong baselines in a range of data scenarios, including when the target language has a large treebank, a small treebank, or no treebank for training.


This paper aims to promote a training tool developed under LdV programme in footwear training in English, Romanian, Turkish and Greek. The virtual training centre is a good example of the development of innovative practices in the field of vocational education and training, which is one of Leonardo da Vinci General Objectives. Virtual training centre for Shoe Design (VTC-Shoe) was developed in 2007-2009 within a Project proposed by a consortium consisting of three Balkan countries (http://vtc.shoe-design.ro). The partners are Gheorghe Asachi technical University (Romania), Selcuk University (Turkey) and Technical University of Crete (Greece).


The fusion of law and equity in common law systems was a crucial moment in the development of modern Anglo-American law, with implications for the procedural, substantive and remedial aspects of law. This paper will introduce a volume of essays in which scholars undertake historical, comparative, doctrinal and theoretical analysis that aims to shed light on the ways in which law and equity have fused, and the ways in which they have remained distinct even in a 'post-fusion' world.
The central concern of this paper lies in two facts. The first is that the presence of equity in common law systems poses fundamental questions. What is the place of equity in a modern common law system? Is the purpose of equity, as a distinct ingredient of common law systems, spent? Should equity be distributed through the law? If equity should be a distinct ingredient of common law systems, in what form? The second is that fusion (or merger or union) has become the means by which lawyers address those basic questions.
Helpful answers to these basal questions have become more remote as theories of equity have become constrained by the terms in which fusion is discussed. How can the situation be improved? This chapter suggests that a newly widened perspective is needed. The constitutional place that has been assigned to equity in common law systems must be acknowledged and accommodated. And any modern theory of equity must be composite rather than simple or unitary. Also important to appreciate is the practical significance of how fusion is discussed, and how equity theories are formed, in the thinking of lawyers and the work of the courts. To illustrate that practical point, illustrations are given of the accidental fusion of law and equity through the unthinking assimilation of modern equitable claims to the common law forms of action finally abolished in England in 1875.


Imagine that someone asks you how legal services are regulated in the United States. You might answer that lawyers need a license in the jurisdictions where they intend to practice, typically after graduating from an ABA-accredited law school and passing the bar examination. You could explain that lawyers are governed by rules of professional conduct and subject to discipline, including disbarment, for failing to comply. You also might mention the growing patchwork of state and federal regulations that govern lawyer behavior. Each of these answers offers a slightly different perspective on the regulation of legal services, but they share one common feature: they are all about lawyers. This Article contends that the current lawyer-based regulatory framework should be reimagined if we hope to spur more innovation and expand access to justice. Rather than focusing on the so-called "law of lawyering" – the body of rules and law regulating lawyers – this Article suggests that we need to develop a broader "law of legal services" that authorizes, but appropriately regulates, the delivery of more legal and law-related assistance by people who do not have a J.D. degree and do not work alongside lawyers. For example, the Washington Supreme Court recently adopted a framework for allowing specially educated and separately regulated professionals – Limited License Legal Technicians (LLLTs) – to deliver a narrow range of family law services without a traditional law license. Some observers predict that LLLTs will be able to offer assistance at a lower cost than lawyers and improve access to legal services. This type of regulatory reform, which falls outside the law of lawyering, illustrates the growing importance and potential utility of the law of legal services. The idea of looking beyond the law of lawyering for ways to encourage innovation is conceptually different from many recent calls for regulatory reform, which tend to focus on expanding opportunities for lawyers and nonlawyers to work together through alternative business structures (ABSs). To be sure, ABSs are a potentially important development, but they are necessarily a creature of the law of lawyering. Consider, for example, the authorization of ABSs under the United Kingdom's Legal Services Act (LSA). Passed in 2007, the LSA requires ABSs to have a lawyer manager, provides detailed regulations about a lawyer's role in the ABS, and explains the role nonlawyers can play relative to lawyers. The LSA does not purport to regulate nonlawyers who want to deliver legal services completely apart from the legal profession. In other words, reforms focused on ABSs overlook regulatory innovations outside the law of lawyering – like the LLLT program – that hold the promise of an even greater impact on legal services.For too long, regulatory reforms have focused primarily on the limited options available within the law of lawyering. By looking beyond that body of law, we can unlock the innovative potential of new providers who are capable of delivering legal services to those who need them. In this way, the law of legal services can safely expand the public's options for addressing many legal needs, and it can do so in ways overlooked by conventional regulatory reform efforts.


Predicting the onset of fracture in a material subjected to dynamic loading conditions has typically been heavily mesh-dependent, and often must be specifically calibrated for each geometric design. This can lead to costly models and even costlier physical testing. In response to this, a failure criterion was created based on the strain energy density (SED) of the material. Calculations to obtain the SED were developed to take advantage of a non-local length scale, wherein the sensitivity to mesh density was partially reduced. This method was applied to a steel coupon subjected to dynamic uniaxial tension. A one-time calibration was used to determine the material's critical SED in the non-local length scale. This length scale was dependent on the mesh density of the model and a prescribed magnifier, such that the failure criterion was a function of the length scale. Steel coupons were modeled and tested dynamically. Thicknesses of those coupons were varied and stress concentrations were included. Differing grades of steel were also employed. The non-local SED failure criterion provided consistent and accurate predictions, regardless of the changes in dimensions of the coupons.


A teacher's ability to manage the classroom strongly influences the quality of teaching and learning that can be accomplished. Among the most pressing concerns for inexperienced teachers is classroom management, a concern of equal importance to the general public in light of behaviour problems and breakdowns in discipline that grab newspaper headlines. But classroom management is not just about problems and what to do when things go wrong and chaos erupts. It's about how to run a classroom so as to elicit the best from even the most courteous group of students. An array of skills is needed to produce such a learning environment. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Classroom Management raises issues and introduces evidence-based, real-world strategies for creating and maintaining well-managed classrooms where learning thrives. Students studying to become teachers will need to develop their own classroom management strategies consistent with their own philosophies of teaching and learning. It is hoped that this work will help open their eyes to the range of issues and the array of skills they might integrate into their unique teaching styles. Key Features: *325 signed entries organized in A-to-Z fashion across two volumes *Reader's Guide grouping related entries thematically *References/Further Readings and Cross-References sections *Chronology in the back matter *Resource Guide in the appendix This Encyclopedia is an excellent scholarly source for students who are pursuing a degree or position in the field of education. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Classroom Management is an ideal source for all academic and public libraries.


The application of engineered nanomaterials in food contact materials (FCMs) is considered a promising tool for improving functionality, but knowledge about exposure and toxicity remains limited. This chapter presents an overview of published studies on migration testing and the analytical possibilities and difficulties in determining the release of nanoparticles from FCMs. The evaluation of the literature shows that most studies of migration testing have dealt with the release of silver nanoparticles and a much smaller number with the release of nanoclays and other nanomaterials. Analytical methods for detecting nanoparticle release include scanning and transmission electron microscopy techniques to detect particles, atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry and especially inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to determine total element concentrations and combined techniques such as asymmetric flow-field flow fractionation-multi-angle light scattering-ICP-MS to detect nanoparticle size and concentration. In recent years, single-particle ICP-MS has been introduced as a technique that can determine nanoparticulate and ionic material in one analysis. So far, the migration studies found in the literature ignore release mechanism questions and improved analytical techniques are required to answers such questions.


The prevalence of celiac disease (CD) varies greatly, but several reports have shown that CD is increasing in frequency in different geographic areas. The increase in prevalence can be partially attributed to the improvement in diagnostic techniques and disease awareness; however the equally well documented rise in incidence in the last 30–40 years cannot be so easily explained. The new epidemiology of CD is now characterized by an increase of new cases in the historical CD areas (northern Europe and the United States) and more interestingly in a spread of the disease in new regions (Asian countries). A significant change in diet habits, particularly in gluten consumption as well as in infant feeding patterns are probably the main factors that can account for these new trends in CD epidemiology. of CD in Sub-Saharan In a recent study a serologic CD screening was performed in a representative sample of a young adult general population in Israel (12). The prevalence of CD diagnosed before 0.12% men The overall prevalence based on Six of 9 subjects with positive serology endoscopy, histological changes ABSTRACT Celiac disease (CD) has a multifactorial etiology with complex genetics and frequently occurs in association with other autoimmune disorders. Even though triggered by a dietary antigen, it shows many autoimmune features, the most peculiar being the presence of high titers of anti-tissue transglutaminase 2 autoantibodies, produced in the small intestinal mucosa since the early stages of the disease. More than 60% of CD-associated susceptibility loci are shared with at least another autoimmune condition, suggesting common pathogenic mechanisms. In particular, recognition of peptides by HLAmolecules,posttranslationalmodifications requiredforoptimalpeptide binding and immune mechanisms leading to tissue damage have been found in CD as well as in other autoimmune diseases. This review briefly summarizes the main autoimmune features of CD, underlining the sim-ilarities with other autoimmune disorders, in particular with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, the role of gluten and microbiome in driving autoimmunity is discussed.


INTRODUCTION
Patients with complex medical care needs often embark on multiple care transitions over an extended period of time. As these patients or their caregivers often become the chief source of communication for complex medical situations, each transition can create an opportunity for health care errors. Combining the efforts of the established departments of Chronic Care Coordination (CCC), Clinical Pharmacy Call Center (CPCC), and Continuing Care, Kaiser Permanente Colorado created programs to further safe care transitions.

METHODS
Two key goals for safe care transitions were established: 1) reductions in medication errors and 2) increased follow-up with care plans. To achieve these goals, communication plans targeted at medication reconciliation, patient education, and coordination of outpatient recommendations were established. Expected outcomes included reductions in medication errors, decreased Emergency Department and hospital admissions, decreased readmissions, and increased outpatient follow-up and medication compliance.

RESULTS
A review of medication-reconciliation records for intervention patients indicated that >90% of all discharge summaries contained at least one potential drug-related problem including duplicative drugs, omitted therapy, and medication contraindications. After skilled nursing facility discharge, patients who were transitioned by CPCC clinical pharmacists were: 1) 78% less likely to die; 2) 29% less likely to need an Emergency Department visit; and 3) 17% more likely to follow up with primary physicians and clinicians than were patients in the usual care group. Health care cost savings for patients seen by the CCC program demonstrated, conservatively, an annualized per patient savings of $5276. For 763 patients enrolled in 2003, this amounts to an estimated, annualized savings of $4,025,588.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients are becoming more informed and involved in their care, but they require ongoing education and coaching to become effective advocates for themselves. Identification of unintended medication discrepancies and potential drug-related problems and increased follow-up during care transitions can improve patient safety and quality of care while saving health care resources.


The Delaware cities of Dover and Wilmington are only 5 mi apart. Their combined populations barely exceed 100,000. Yet each city is planning to build a new convention center to corner a piece of the booming trade and convention center-industry market. Many areas of the country are banking on the positive economic impacts of convention centers. According to the industry publication Tradeshow Week, at most 50 cities are building new centers or are expanding existing ones to meet the demands of an industry that grew 7% per year over the past decade. Most construction and engineering firms feel the market is a solid one, despite the currently sluggish economy. Obviously the centers are a gamble for growth by various government officials and voters who hope that hotels, restaurants, stores and theaters will arrive, along with convention/trade-show attendees and their dollars. Potential income is not everything. Most cities site new centers, or decide to expand existing ones, to revitalize a particular area. Basically, convention center designs require floors that take a convention center load of 350-400 psf, attention to column-spacing so exhibit floors are spacious, and a great deal of long-span construction. Elaborate electrical systems are needed to support efficient grids of utility floor boxes to service hundreds of exhibit booths. Fast-tracked construction is a given. Once convention centers are approved, city officials want quick returns.


For foreign policy observers, US President George Bush's human rights rhetoric strikes a chord distinctly reminiscent of the Reagan administration. First impressions, however, can be deceiving. With respect to human rights, the new policies coming out of the White House are actually far more regressive than those of the Reagan era. The Bush administration's clearest articulation of human rights policy can be found in the National Security Strategy, a 31-page report that President Bush submitted to the US Congress at the end of September 2002. This comprehensive restatement of US foreign policy made headlines for its endorsement of pre-emptive military action and its support for unilateral US actions in place of international treaties and organizations. Equally troubling for those who support multilateral approaches to security and safeguarding justice is the document's replacement of human rights with the watery notion of "human dignity." The National Security Strategy specifies "aspirations for human dignity" as a primary tenet of US foreign policy. "Aspirations of human dignity," however, do not go far enough. The invocation of "human dignity" instead of "human right," if accepted and repeated elsewhere, may overturn 50 years of progress in international law. The National Security Strategy is peppered with a handful of references to human rights, but human dignity has prime billing. The White House's message is clear: the United States does not seek to champion human rights, but instead promotes an abstract substitute. The international community would agree that "aspirations for human dignity" are important, but insufficient as foreign policy goals. The National Security Strategy reflects at best a misguided application of the terms "human rights" and "human dignity" and, at worst, a deliberate attempt to distort and manipulate them. The Strategy defines the "nonnegotiable demands of human dignity" as "the rule of law; limits on the absolute power of the state; free speech; freedom of worship; equal justice; respect for women; religious and ethnic tolerance; and respect for private property." This eclectic list is wholly divorced from any that has ever appeared in international human rights treatises, serving merely as a compilation of the administration's current priorities. It omits nearly all of the human rights deemed inviolable in international human rights treaties, including the right to life, freedom from torture, and freedom from slavery. Also missing is any mention of those rights associated with civic participation and democracy, a popular nonpartisan tenet of US assistance abroad. The National Security Strategy also weakens the enforcement potential for the rights it does include. The rights of religious and ethnic groups to nondiscrimination are reduced to mere "tolerance," a passive concept that fails to create any proactive obligations. Similarly, a woman's right to nondiscrimination is downgraded to a vague notion of "respect," another passive concept, reminiscent of the paternalism of the days when women, specifically white women, were placed on a pedestal, but denied agency to make legal and political claims. Only the right to property is elevated to a higher status than that recognized in international human rights law. The document's definition of human dignity is a product of the Bush administration's understanding of "American values" as described in the US Constitution and the country's "experience as a great multi-ethnic democracy." While the National Security Strategy alludes to the fact that states may find guidance for their foreign policies in many places, there is no mention of any international principles to guide US foreign policy. International norms are reserved for other, lesser countries. US foreign policy has always been caught between the competing forces of international expectations of cooperation and universal standards on the one hand and domestic expectations of US exceptionalism on the other. …


An experimental neuropathy was induced in cats by injections of acrylamide (7.5, 15 or 30 mg/kg/day) for 2 to 10 days. The responses of primary and secondary endings of soleus muscle spindles to stretch were evaluated and correlated with the appearance of ataxia and incoordinated motor movements. Animals that received 15 or 30 mg/kg/day became ataxic and demonstrated poor motor coordination on the 7th or 4th day, respectively. At these times, both primary and secondary endings of muscle spindles had elevated thresholds and diminished discharge frequencies. Continued acrylamide administration resulted in exacerbation of the clinical symptoms and further attenuation of spindle responses. The discontinuation of acrylamide was followed by slow recovery. Only those cats which received a total dose of 75 mg/kg or less remained asymptomatic and had normal spindle function. The coincidence of onset of motor coordination deficits and spindle dysfunction, coupled with a lack of demonstrable motor defect at the same time, suggests that the initial clinical features of acrylamide neuropathy may be partly the consequence of impaired spindle function.


In this paper, we propose the use of (adaptive) nonlinear approximation for dimensionality reduction. In particular, we propose a dimensionality reduction method for learning a parts based representation of signals using redundant dictionaries. A redundant dictionary is an overcomplete set of basis vectors that spans the signal space. The signals are jointly represented in a common subspace extracted from the redundant dictionary, using greedy pursuit algorithms for simultaneous sparse approximation. The design of the dictionary is flexible and enables the direct control on the shape and properties of the basis functions. Moreover, it allows to incorporate a priori and application-driven knowledge into the basis vectors, during the learning process. We apply our dimensionality reduction method to images and compare it with principal component analysis (PCA) and non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) and its variants, in the context of handwritten digit image recognition and face recognition. The experimental results suggest that the proposed dimensionality reduction algorithm is competitive to PCA and NMF and that it results into meaningful features with high discriminant value.


We present a family of linear regression estimators that provides a fine-grained tradeoff between statistical accuracy and computational efficiency. The estimators are based on hard thresholding of the sample covariance matrix entries together with l2-regularizion (ridge regression). We analyze the predictive risk of this family of estimators as a function of the threshold and regularization parameter. With appropriate parameter choices, the estimate is the solution to a sparse, diagonally dominant linear system, solvable in near-linear time. Our analysis shows how the risk varies with the sparsity and regularization level, thus establishing a statistical estimation setting for which there is an explicit, smooth tradeoff between risk and computation. Simulations are provided to support the theoretical analyses.


Aim: The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment, and compare it with radio-frequency ablation (RFA). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among AF patients who received CBA or RFA from November 2014 to January 2017 at The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. All patients were followed up from discharge date to either occurrence of death or April 2017. Results: Totally, 154 patients were identified who met the inclusion criteria of having episodes of electrocardiogram-documented AF within 2 months before hospitalization, 13 patients were excluded due to predetermined exclusion criteria, 29 (13 in the CBA group and 16 in the RFA group) were lost to follow-up, and 133 patients (57 in the CBA group and 76 in the RFA group) completed follow-up. The primary efficacy endpoints (AF recurrence or repeat ablation) occurred in 17 patients in the CBA group and 29 patients in RFA group (1-year Kaplan–Meier event-rate estimates, 33.2% and 37.9%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43–1.5; P = 0.50). Long treatment success rate (no AF recurrence or repeat ablation during the follow-up) was 71.2% in CBA group and 64.6% in RFA, respectively (P = 0.47). The primary safety endpoints occurred in 10 patients in CBA group and 19 patients in the RFA group (1-year Kaplan–Meier event rate estimates, 17.3% and 21.2%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.34–1.57; P = 0.65). Conclusion: This paper presents the results of a first-ever study in a Chinese clinical setting and shows CBA had equivalent efficacy and safety in comparison to RAF as a treatment for AF. CBA is a promising new method for AF treatment.