Most studies of organizational performance define performance as a dependent variable and seek to identify variables that produce variations in performance. Researchers who study organizational performance in this way typically devote little attention to the complications of using such a formulation to characterize the causal structure of performance phenomena. These complications include the ways in which performance advantage is competitively unstable, the causal complexity surrounding performance, and the limitations of using data based on retrospective recall of informants. Since these complications are well-known and routinely taught, a pattern of acknowledging the difficulties but continuing the practice cannot be attributed exclusively to poor training, lack of intelligence, or low standards. Most researchers understand the difficulties of inferring causal order from the correlations generated by organizational histories, particularly when those correlations may be implicit in the measurement procedures used. We suggest that the persistence of this pattern is due, in part, to the context of organizational research. Organizational researchers live in two worlds. The first demands and rewards speculations about how to improve performance. The second demands and rewards adherence to rigorous standards of scholarship. In its efforts to satisfy these often conflicting demands, the organizational research community sometimes responds by saying that inferences about the causes of performance cannot be made from the data available, and simultaneously goes ahead to make such inferences. We conclude by considering a few virtues and hazards of such a solution to dilemmas involving compelling contradictory imperatives and the generality of the issues involved.


Adjuvant Radiotherapy (RT) after surgical removal of tumors proved beneficial in long-term tumor control and treatment planning. For many years, it has been well concluded that radio-sensitivities of tumors upon radiotherapy decrease according to the sizes of tumors and RT models based on Poisson statistics have been used extensively to validate clinical data. We found that Poisson statistics on RT is actually derived from bacterial cells despite of many validations from clinical data. However cancerous cells do have abnormal cellular communications and use chemical messengers to signal both surrounding normal and cancerous cells to develop new blood vessels and to invade, to metastasis and to overcome intercellular spatial confinements in general. We therefore investigated the cell killing effects on adjuvant RT and found that radio-sensitivity is actually not a monotonic function of volume as it was believed before. We present detailed analysis and explanation to justify above statement. Based on Niemierko's EUD, we present an equivalent radio-sensitivity model. We conclude that radio sensitivity is a sophisticated function over tumor volumes, since tumor responses upon radio therapy also depend on cellular communications.


A four-wave mixing (FWM) microscopy that is designed to probe third-order nonlinear susceptibilities, χ(3) of target materials with femtosecond light pulses has been constructed and investigated. Nondegenerate FWM signals (at 1500 and 639 nm) were produced in samples by a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser (790 nm) and a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (1035 nm). While the effect of electronic and vibrational molecular resonances on the visible FWM signal has been extensively studied, little attention has been paid to the infrared (IR) signal. This IR signal should exhibit a different dependence on the spectrum of molecular electronic resonances, and thus potentially offers a new mechanism for image contrast in microscopy. We have therefore constructed a FWM microscope to characterize these signals in a focused geometry. In polymeric films and beads containing a solute with a resonant (or near-resonant) optical response, the nonresonant polymer background signal was effectively suppressed using polarization-sensitive detection. Longitudinal scans of the beam foci through films were used to determine relative nonlinear third-order susceptibilities and second hyperpolarizabilities of selected solvents and the Rhodamine 6G dye molecule, for both the visible and IR FWM wavelengths.


We study how a large household windfall affects sorting of relatively disadvantaged youth over high school tracks by exploiting the discontinuity in the assignment of a welfare program in Mexico. The in-cash transfer is found to significantly increase the probability of selecting vocational schools as the most preferred options vis-a-vis other more academically oriented education modalities. We find support for the hypothesis that the transfer relaxes the liquidity constraints preventing relatively poor students from choosing a schooling career with higher out-of-pocket expenditures and higher expected returns. The observed change in stated preferences across tracks effectively alters school placement, and bears a positive effect on on-time graduation.


This paper presents an example of how of 'intelligence' is designed into a distributed system. The exemplar is Med Net Agent system. The Med Net Agent system, developed and prototyped in response to customer requirements, may be viewed as an ontology driven, agent-based, integrated system that incorporates both patient information and disease information. The Med Net Agent system design offers diagnosis support to the human clinician via Bayesian networks and via a medical information repository. This system is designed to work within the framework of the Theater Medical Information Program. Contributors to the system 'intelligence' include the use of semantic technologies, Bayesian networks, and the design for communication and information updates.


Introduction In the early 1980s scientists began raising concerns about global warming and climate changes. Initially these concerns about human-induced climate changes were met with skepticism because there are natural cycles of climate changes that occur over hundreds of years. Those who tried to raise the importance of this issue, and suggest that perhaps we were over-consuming or unsustainably using our resources, were faced with a lot of criticism and ridicule (Shah, 2005). That early skepticism of the 1980s and 1990s has been replaced with a mainstream scientific consensus on global warming--that changes in our climate are real and that continued human-induced global warming cannot be ignored. Today, the body of research accumulated over the past 25 years indicates that humans are a major factor in the current climate changes. More and more we are realizing that the Industrial Revolution has changed forever the relationship between humanity and nature. There is real concern that by the middle or the end of the next century, human activities will have changed the basic conditions that have allowed life to thrive on earth. The results are uncertain, but if current predictions prove correct, the climatic changes over the coming century will be larger than any since the dawn of human civilization (UNEP/WMO, 1994). What is Global Warming? Global warming is the progressive, gradual rise of the earth's average surface temperature, thought to be caused in part by increased concentrations of "greenhouse" gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere. According to the National Academy of Sciences, the Earth's temperature has risen by about one degree Fahrenheit in the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades. Analysis of the various human and natural influences on the global climate indicates that this warming cannot be explained without taking into account human emissions of GHGs. Current scientific data indicates that these "greenhouse" gases have been the dominant force driving temperature increases over the past 50 years. Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases--primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed, although uncertainties exist about exactly how earth's climate responds to them (Environmental, 2005). The Greenhouse Effect The term greenhouse is used in conjunction with the phenomenon known as the "greenhouse effect." Energy from the sun drives the earth's weather and climate and heats the earth's surface; in turn, the earth radiates energy back into space. Roughly 30 percent of the total solar energy that strikes the earth is reflected back into space by clouds, atmospheric aerosols, reflective ground surfaces, and ocean surfaces, Figure 2. The land, air, and the oceans absorb the remaining 70 percent. Atmospheric greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases) trap some of the out-going energy, retaining heat much like the glass panels of a greenhouse. Without this natural "greenhouse effect," temperatures would be much lower than they are now and life as we know it would not be possible. Greenhouse gases are responsible for maintaining the earth's average temperature at approximately 60 degrees Fahrenheit. What has many people worried now is that, since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been artificially raising the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect to get stronger, trapping more heat than needed and raising the average temperature of the earth's surface, which, if left unchecked, could eventually cause the planet to become much less habitable for humans, plants, and animals. [FIGURE 2 OMITTED] Our factories, power plants, and cars burn coal and gasoline, pumping millions of tons of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. …


The overall aim of this study was to investigate mathematical meaning making in
relation to the areas of construction and proof through the use of a dynamic
geometry environment (Cabri II as available on the TI 92 calculator). The
experimental work was carried out with 11-14 year old pupils in four schools in
the North of England between 1996 and 1999. The research involved working
with whole classes and a range of groups of varying sizes. The research
methodologies adopted were drawn from various areas (an approach advocated
as suitable for classroom research by Klafid, 1998). The researcher acted as both
teacher and participant observer. The study was conducted over several cycles,
with previous cycles of analysis and reference to the literature being used to
inform subsequent stages. After a pilot phase when recording methods and
technical approaches were clarified, there were four cycles of investigation. Data
collection was by means of participant observation, with audio recording of
dialogue. Screens generated by pupils were recorded in field notes.
There was emphasis from the outset of the study to relate the findings to
classroom practice. This led to a consideration as an ongoing part of the study,
of ideas of classroom and group dynamics and how these could be combined
with, and related to, the use of the technology.
The study illuminated two key areas; the processes of immediate individual and
group meaning making and wider aspects of social dynamics in the mathematics
classroom. Socio-cultural analysis of classroom and group discourses identified progression
from spontaneous to scientific concepts, illuminating the development of pupils'
powers of intuition and sense of conviction. The dynamic geometry environment
was used to investigate constructions stable under drag, illuminating the way in
which the dynamic aspects afforded by the technology affect pupils' appreciation
of the relationship between construction and proof. Various aspects of proof were
highlighted and in particular the function of proof as explanation was seen to be
an important aspect in the development of pupils' mathematical meaning making.
Further analysis illuminated a distinction between the immediate individual sense
making of pupils and the way this sense making is brought to social and
consensual meaning making. At the wider classroom level the study identified issue of transparency the
importance of the social use of argumentation to take forward the 'taken as
shared' and the development of socio-mathematical norms and whole-class zones
of proximal development. These aspects of individual and group meaning-making and whole class
dynamics are advanced as ways of promoting local communities of mathematical
practice as advocated by Winbourne and Watson( 1998).


Social enterprises are a unique form of organisation, located where the public, private and voluntary sectors intersect, typically founded by dynamic individuals who deal with social injustice by finding resources in the community. As these organisations develop, isomorphic pressures from stakeholders such as funders and regulatory bodies lead to a formalisation of previously informal relations with vulnerable beneficiaries. This could cause harm or distress to the beneficiaries, which can then impact on front-line workers who are providing day-to-day services to them. In healthcare organisations, it has been shown that workers can form psychological defences to deal with the stress of working with people in pain or distress, which can account for otherwise inexplicable behaviour in teams and organisations. Since social enterprises also deal with people who are vulnerable and needy, they too could evolve similar defences, complicated by the involvement of these individuals in the roles of both client and as stakeholder that can influence the organisation's governance. This exploratory paper first considers social enterprise as a unique form of organisation, then how stakeholder involvement in governance contributes to legitimacy. After outlining how individual and group psychological defences can affect healthcare organisations, the paper then considers the implications for social enterprise governance, concluding with recommendations for further research.


Ecosystem process models are important tools for determining the interactive effects of global change and disturbance on forest carbon dynamics. Here we evaluated and improved terrestrial carbon cycling simulated by the Community Land Model (CLM4), the land model portion of the Community Earth System Model (CESM1.0.4). Our analysis was conducted primarily in Oregon forests using FLUXNET and forest inventory data for the period 2001–2006. We go beyond prior modeling studies in the region by incorporating regional variation in physiological parameters from >100 independent field sites in the region. We also compare spatial patterns of simulated forest carbon stocks and net primary production (NPP) at 15 km resolution using data collected from federal forest inventory plots (FIA) from >3000 plots in the study region. Finally, we evaluate simulated gross primary production (GPP) with FLUXNET eddy covariance tower data at wet and dry sites in the region. We improved model estimates by making modifications to CLM4 to allow physiological parameters (e.g., foliage carbon to nitrogen ratios and specific leaf area), mortality rate, biological nitrogen fixation, and wood allocation to vary spatially by plant functional type (PFT) within an ecoregion based on field plot data in the region. Prior to modifications, default parameters resulted in underestimation of stem biomass in all forested ecoregions except the Blue Mountains and annual NPP was both over- and underestimated. After modifications, model estimates of mean NPP fell within the observed range of uncertainty in all ecoregions (two-sided P value = 0.8), and the underestimation of stem biomass was reduced. This was an improvement from the default configuration by 50% for stem biomass and 30% for NPP. At the tower sites, modeled monthly GPP fell within the observed range of uncertainty at both sites for the majority of the year, however summer GPP was underestimated at the Metolius semi-arid pine site and spring GPP was overestimated at the Campbell River mesic Douglas-fir site, indicating GPP may be an area for further improvement. The low bias in summer maximum GPP at the semi-arid site could be due to seasonal response of V cmax to temperature and precipitation while overestimated spring values at the mesic site could be due to response of V cmax to temperature and day length.


Low system voltage in traction networks, mainly caused by active power absorption of locomotives, adversely affects the performance of the locomotives and also the power transmission capability of the catenary line. This paper introduces a voltage support scheme to compensate for the adverse effects of low system voltage. The proposed method is based on the injection of reactive power through the current-controlled line-side converter of locomotives. Comparing the catenary voltage with its reference value, the error is fed to a high-order controller. The controller generates the quadrature (q)-axis reference value of a current control strategy, which is responsible for the reactive power injection. To design the high-order controller, adopting the nonparametric models of the system at various locations, an optimization-based loop-shaping approach is used. The loop shaping guarantees the stability and the acceptable performance of the closed-loop system for various locomotive positions in the network. The performance of the proposed control strategy is evaluated based on simulation results in MATLAB/PLECS environment. Moreover, implementing a scaled-down laboratory setup, the performance of the proposed scheme is experimentally evaluated.


Of the many problems that face Africa, conflict is perpetual. In a continent whose land mass is one-fifth of the world, and where ethnicity is omnipresent, conflict is nearly inevitable. Africans are captive to the divisive and manipulative colonial repression that has placed hurdles toward nation building, particularly because foreign powers partitioned Africa without regard to culture or socio-economic development. Hence, Africa has been, for decades, been the battleground for East-West political and economic interests. Despite flagrant suffering and millions dead due to conflict, media coverage (championed by western media) have either been silent or selective as evidenced by the United States (US) and British media. Even reportage filed from Africa has been edited to suit Western audiences and other pecuniary interests. To counter tribal connotations not only to forestall stereotypes, but also to assure accuracy and fairness, African countries have instituted peace journalism in association with sympathetic international media organizations with focus on conflict resolution. Furthermore, the advent of "peace journalism" is intended to undercut the "CNN factor" whereby incredulous sources are paraded before television cameras.


The word "industry" conjures up images of large rooms filled with machinery, handling equipment and operators. The "apparel industry" is regarded as the engine for producing the garments that are eventually displayed in the High Street for us to purchase. In educational contexts, this was the image that prevailed in the 70s and 80s. Students were prepared to enter a labour-intensive industry, with many learning skills of assembly line balancing, work study and quality control. Students on sandwich courses spent the best part of a year on industrial placement, and it was not unusual for them to be involved in work study or quality control activities. Times have changed but not necessarily the perception. This article looks at how we need to address the problem of industry classification.


Introduction: Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is the second most common nosocomial infection diagnosed in mechanically ventilated patients with incidence of 20-36%, mainly caused by Gram-negative organisms in our country. Decrease in PaO 2 /FIO 2 (arterial oxygen tension/fractional inspired oxygen) is an early marker of VAP. Impaired consciousness, re-intubation and continuous sedation are the most important risk factors of VAP. We aimed to study the incidence, risk factors, clinico-microbiological profile, change in ventilator settings needed and outcome of VAP in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of a tertiary care centre in Eastern India. Methods: This retrospective, observational study was conducted from January 2015 to June 2017, including 300 patients. We diagnosed VAP using Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria and analysed the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS®) version 20.0. Results: Incidence of VAP was 45%, with higher incidence in infants with prolonged ventilation, use of continuous sedation and H2 blockers, re-intubation, presence of genetic syndromes and impaired consciousness. Gram-negative organisms (94%) ( P. aeruginosa [45.93%], K. pneumoniae [25.18%], E. coli [14.81%], Acinetobacter spp. [8.14%]) outnumbered Gram-positive organisms (6%) ( S. aureus [2.96%], Enterococcus spp. [2.22%] and S. pneumoniae [0.7%]). Resistance to common antibiotics was found in many cases. Multivariate analysis identified nasogastric tube feeding (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.88; 95% CI = 0.8-2.3), use of H2-blockers (adjusted OR = 2.04; 95% CI = 0.51-4.5), use of continuous sedation (adjusted OR = 2.779; 95% CI = 0.7-4.9), re-intubation (adjusted OR = 4.861; 95% CI = 1.6-17.8) and duration of ventilation > 1 week (adjusted OR = 5; 95% CI = 0.7-6.3) as the risk factors for VAP. Purulent tracheal secretions (p < 0.0001), positive tracheal aspirate culture (p < 0.0001) and a suggestive chest radiograph (p < 0.0001) were the strongest predictors of development of VAP. The PaO 2 /FIO 2 ratio was lower in the VAP group in all the three points of comparison but was not significant. The tidal volumes, peak and mean pressures, positive end-expiratory pressures (PEEP) and FIO 2 were higher in VAP patients both on days 3 and 5 of ventilation as compared to non-VAP patients but the differences were not statistically significant. Duration of PICU stay (16.5 ± 10.1 days) and mortality (53.3%) was higher in VAP patients compared to non-VAP patients (11.5 ± 9.2 days and 40.6%). Conclusion: Identifying and minimizing the risk factors and proper choice of antibiotics as per sensitivity would improve outcome. Characteristics and parameters of mechanical ventilation were not influenced by the development of VAP. The variables of ventilation would not be sensitive for diagnosing VAP and clinical, radiological and microbiological criteria remain the tools for diagnosing VAP.


The use of first-person self-avatars in immersive virtual environments (VEs) has grown over recent years. It is unknown, however, how visual feedback from a self-avatar influences a user's online actions and subsequent calibration of actions within an immersive VE. The current paper uses a prism throwing adaptation paradigm to test the role of a self-avatar arm or full body on action calibration in a VE. Participants' throwing accuracy to a target on the ground was measured first in a normal viewing environment, then with the visual field rotated clockwise about their vertical axis by 17° (prism simulation), and then again in the normal viewing environment with the prism distortion removed. Participants experienced either no-avatar, a first-person avatar arm and hand, or a first-person full body avatar during the entire experimental session, in a between-subjects manipulation. Results showed similar throwing error and adaptation during the prism exposure for all conditions, but a reduced aftereffect (displacement with respect to the target in the opposite direction of the prism-exposure) when the avatar arm or full body was present. The results are discussed in the context of how an avatar can provide a visual frame of reference to aid in action calibration.


We develop a game-theoretic framework of negotiation over sharing of trans-boundary resources between neighboring countries. The downstream country offers a non-water "leverage" good in exchange for water access and makes a take-it-or-leave-it offer to the upstream country. The downstream country can further invest in water provision before the negotiations. We compare three types of outcomes: the first-best outcomes where an "ex-ante social planner" choses both the water investment and the water and leverage goods exchanged in the negotiations; the outcome when an "ex-post social planner" only enters at the negotiation stage; and the outcome of bilateral negotiations. We argue that all three cases can be empirically realistic; show that the outcome with the ex-post social planner can distort the downstream country's investment incentive; and that the bilateral negotiation outcome can lead to water investment either below or above the efficient/ex-ante planner's preferred choice.


Many models have been developed to predict the sediment transport in watercourses. This paper attempts to test the effectiveness of log-linear models (LLM) to estimate the suspended (S-LMM), dissolved (D-LLM), and total suspended (T-LLM) load into a Mediterranean semiarid karst stream (the Argos River basin, in southeast Spain). An assessment of the supposed validity of each model and a leave-one-out cross-validation were carried out to determine their degree of statistical robustness. The T-LLM model showed higher prediction accuracy (R2 = 0.98, RMSE = 0.15, and PE = ±5.4–6.6%) than the D-LLM model (R2 = 0.97, RMSE = 0.16, and PE = ±5.5–6.8%) or the D-LLM model (R2 = 0.77, RMSE = 0.71, and PE = ±101–493%). In addition, different model variants, according to two flow patterns (FP1 = base flow and FP2 = rising water level), were developed. The FP2-SLLM model provided a very good fit (R2 = 0.94, RMSE = 0.34, and PE = ±25.3–61.5%), substantially improving the results of the S-LLM model.


Suitable habitat for some of the most threatened species is dwindling fast and with limited conservation resources available, it is essential that we invest those resources in areas with great biodiversity value. The Uxpanapa Valley in Mexico is one of Mesoamerica's largest forest remnants, is considered as a main biodiversity hotspot and has recently been established as a Protected Area. However, only minimal research has been conducted on the distribution of species in the area and deforestation activities remain high. The initial management proposal lacked zonation as well as species sampling data and did not include a portion of the Uxpanapa Valley in which there are several threatened species, including two primates present in the region (Ateles geoffroyi and Alouatta palliata). The main aim of this project was to identify areas most suited to biodiversity protection and conservation based on primate distribution. This was achieved through the following steps: first, primate distribution and group sizes were established and primate presence/absence was associated with landscape attributes. Spider monkeys were found to be positively associated with tall forest. Second, threats present in the study area were quantified (fire incidents, hunting activities and natural predation) but no clear impacts of these factors were found on primate distributions. Third, the potential for primates to act as umbrella species for bat species was investigated, and a positive association was found between the distributions of endangered bats and spider monkeys. In the final analysis, all the above results were combined in a Systematic Conservation Planning approach, and Priority Conservation Sites were selected. The final output should contribute toward structuring an effective management plan for the Protected Area that will ensure maximum protection for biodiversity. Overall, this work provides information on the effectiveness of using primates for developing conservation strategies and their potential to be used as a proxy for ensuring tropical forest maintenance.


CASE REPORT A 4-year-old female, weighing 12kg, presented for ENT and dental examination under anaesthesia. Nasal intubation was requested to facilitate the dental examination. On examination she had the distinctive facial features of Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome that included hyperteleorism, prominent glabella, short "beaked" nose, short philtrum, mild micrognathia and microsomia, but she had no cleft lip or palate, nor iris coloboma. She had generalised hypotonia. She initially failed to thrive because of feeding difficulty, recurrent infections and aspiration pneumonia, requiring numerous hospital admissions. She is developmentally delayed and has a history of convulsions that are controlled with levetiracetam 750mg and lamotrigine 25mg. The PDA noted at birth had closed by 3 months and there was no other cardiac abnormality. She had intra-uterine growth retardation (IUGR) and was delivered prematurely at 34 weeks by emergency Caesarean section to a 34-year old primigravida. At 8 months she underwent an anti-reflux procedure for recurrent aspiration. A feeding gastrostomy was placed at the same time, in view of her difficulty with swallowing and refusal to eat. The Nissen fundoplication was made difficult by a small diaphragmatic hernia. Intubation at that time was noted to be difficult, but not impossible, using a Miller 1 laryngoscope blade. Anaesthesia was uneventful and consisted of a sevoflurane induction, maintenance with isoflurane and a thoracic epidural for peri-operative pain management. There was no suggestion of malignant hyperthermia. On this occasion she required no sedative premedication. On arrival in theatre, she was asleep in her father's arms and a "steal induction" using sevoflurane was performed. After ascertaining that the larynx could be visualised, albeit with some difficulty, a nasal RAE endotracheal tube was softened in hot water to facilitate passage through the more patent left nostril. A smaller ET tube (4mm) than expected for her age (5mm) was placed atraumatically without muscle relaxants. A throat pack was inserted to prevent potential soiling of the airway. Anaesthesia, lasting 2 hours, was uneventful and she remained normothermic. A paracetamol suppository (250mg), placed prior to surgery, provided adequate postoperative analgesia.


The neoliberal environmental governance of river conservation, coupled with the organizational modernization imposed and sustained by the European Union's water directives, engenders Other Spaces of feminist ecological alignment. The riparian landscapes of urban cities are manifestations of political and ideological rationalities operating under the constraints of capitalist markets, and are saturated by the contradictions of neoliberal environmental science. Neoliberal rationalities configure river waterways as "sites", the dimensions of which are analogous to Michel Foucault's account of spatial heterotopias as polymerous relations of propinquity between junctures. Many of the modernising initiatives instituted by the European Union's Water Framework Directive can be discerned as biopolitical neoliberal regimes governing local river spaces, through the enfolding into "spaces of emplacement" and the "sites" of programmatic calculation, financialisation of the domestic sphere, and market-based neoliberal environmental science. Primarily informed by organizational ethnographies, extensive interviews and ethnographic observations of river restorations, this book empirically examines how the relationally embodied heterochronies of ecological activism challenge the programmatic rationalities of the European Union's river 'government', namely its shifting assemblages of formal and informal agencies, practices and institutions that variously and differentially align the self-regulating ability of subjects with the design, objectives and scope of the European Union's neoliberal regime of river governance.

This book's analysis of the complex inter-governmental networking eliding the local governance of rivers with voluntary sector community-outreach and European Union directives identifies new locations of ecological activism precipitated by political affinities, which have become simultaneously public and private. The capacity of river heterotopias to intersect the public and private spheres of urban cities emphasises the intrinsic reproductive labour time of river restoration; for, as Foucault suggests, the heterochronies of urban heterotopia are one and the same time "outside of time", while also constituting "a sort of perpetual and indefinite accumulation of time in an immobile place". The book shows that the intersecting heterochronies of the urban river space confirm this Other Space as an intriguing gendered heterotopia.

Dr Pamela Odih is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths University of London. Pamela's research interests include gender, work and global capitalism; time, social theory and the constitution of subjective identity; environmental cultural politics, international communication media and poststructural semiotics; and neoliberalism, consumer citizenship and healthcare markets.


The adsorption of proteins and synthetic polymers at the air-water interface (AWI) has broad significance in biomedicine and biotechnology. Protein behavior at the AWI can be guided to control the structure of the two-dimensional biopolymer film. In addition, synthetic polymers affect how plasma proteins act on implant or drug carrier surfaces, and can also decrease the potential for gas embolism. In this thesis, fluorescence microscopy was applied in combination with tensiometry and atomic force microscopy to study plasma proteins at the AWI alone and under the effect of synthetic polymers. First, the morphology of serum albumin layer controlled by the solution conditions was explored by fluorescence microscopy. Heterogeneity at the micron scale was observed for the protein film during adsorption and at reduced concentrations. Moreover, the competition for interfacial area between Pluronic surfactant F-127 and fibrinogen or serum albumin was studied by semi-quantitative confocal fluorescence methods. A transition stage where F-127 and protein underwent lateral phase separation was found. Two competing processes were revealed--the disintegration of protein-rich phase by F-127 and the coalescence of protein phase. Lastly, the interaction of immunoglobulin and the thin film of a widely used polydimethylsiloxane synthetic polymer was studied at the AWI. The compression state of the polymer film was shown to significantly affect protein adsorption and guide proteins into circular domain structures. Overall, this work has demonstrated the wide utility of fluorescence microscopy to study protein-protein and protein-synthetic polymer interactions at the AWI. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemistry First Advisor Ivan J. Dmochowski


Background:
Children who enter foster care are known to show high rates of problems across a number of different areas, including their mental health, relationships and development, with difficulties often continuing into adulthood. There are indications that some of these baseline characteristics have an effect on a child's outcome from foster care, but this evidence is limited due to an overwhelming reliance on administrative data for the analysis of potential links. In order to explore this more fully, face-to-face assessments with these children need to be conducted. There are known difficulties, including choosing reliable informants for the child, and deciding when is the best time to perform assessments. In this study, the aim was to explore some of the relevant issues while assessing, in the primary research question, how different child characteristics were associated with the quality of the relationship that the child had with their carer.

Method:
Seventy children aged between 6 and 60 months were examined between one and two months after they entered foster care. They were assessed as regards their mental health, language, cognition and relationships, and the results were compared with normative population data whenever possible (research question 1). The data were also explored to investigate to what extent the children had overlapping problems across the areas studied (research question 2). There is a lack of research on the mental health of very young children in care, and so a control group of 40 children aged 12-24 months were recruited from the general population, against whom they could be compared. This sample was age- and gender-matched with 20 children aged 12-24 months in the foster care sample (research question 3).
It was possible to access the birth records of 38 of the sample with a view to assess whether the children had shown signs of being 'at risk' at birth (research question 4).
The quality of the relationship between the child and their carer was assessed using a structured observation, the Parent-Infant Relationship Global Assessment Scale (PIRGAS). Regression analyses were conducted to analyse how the child characteristics of age,gender, mental wellbeing, cognition and language were associated with PIRGAS score (research question 5). In addition, the carer's levels of commitment and experience were explored as potential contributors to the quality of this relationship (research question 6). The reliability of foster carers was assessed by investigating whether their level of worry related to the degree of problem that the child had. The child's level of engagement in the cognitive assessment was measured and compared with the score they attained in the assessment, while the change in scores over time was also calculated (research question 7).

Results:
Research question 1. The results showed that, in line with previous research in the area, children who enter foster care are likely to be experiencing more problems with mental health, language, cognition and relationships than children in the general population, already at the time of entering care. Research questions 2 and 3. There was some indication that this difference between them and the general population may not be very pronounced in children under the age of 2. Children over the age of 30 months, on the other hand, were likely to have complex and overlapping problems.

Research question 4. An examination of routine birth data showed that children who later came into foster care were already different from the general population at birth in having lower mean birth weight and higher likelihood of prenatal exposure to drugs.

Research question 5. An examination of the primary research question showed that the child characteristics of age, gender, mental wellbeing, cognition and language together predicted 17% of the variance in the quality of the relationship between the child and their foster carer as measured by the PIRGAS. Some additional analyses revealed that mental wellbeing appeared to be the single most influential of the child characteristics. Research question 6. A complex interplay between the child's wellbeing, carer commitment and relationship quality was also revealed with associations between all the factors.

Research question 7. In some instances, the carers did not appear to be the most reliable informants for children in their care, sometimes reporting a lack of worry even when the child showed concerning symptoms or behaviours, as observed by the research team.

There was a strong association between how engaged a child was in the task and how they performed on the task, and this has implications for how meaningful the score is as a predictor of ability.

It was also possible to follow up a small number of the sample a year later. It was found that the cognitive percentile scores achieved when a child first entered care were not significantly different to those that they achieved a year later, suggesting that, despite the concerns about the validity of the assessments, these measures can be useful for predicting later performance. A much more mixed picture for language was found, in that scores achieved when a child first entered care showed little relationship to how the child performed a year later.

Discussion:
Overall, the results lend support to the notion of the importance of early intervention, with children over the age of 2 showing a greater number of problems as well as more complex problems than those under the age of 2. Mental wellbeing in the child, as measured by the presence of positive prosocial behaviours, showed associations with the quality of the relationship with the carer, as well as with the commitment of the carer. Carers did not report being worried about the youngest children who were not displaying these prosocial behaviours; thus it may be that foster carers are underestimating their importance, or are reluctant to report on such behaviours.

The observations made over so many assessments and the work carried out to explore potential issues with the assessments guide recommendations for future work in this area. It is clear that there is a need to repeat measures to assess change, and to conduct holistic assessments, so that findings might be clinically interpreted in a meaningful way.

Despite difficulties in assessing children who enter foster care, the findings underscore the importance of early assessment. The study findings confirmed that this is a vulnerable group, with very complex needs. Even though all children are likely to be negatively affected by the disruption that is entailed in entering foster care, only a thorough assessment will be able to identify which children also have underlying problems that will require support and intervention in addition to the safe and nurturing foster care that they all require.


The increased use of nitrogen fertilizer in the Mississippi River Basin since the 1950s has been blamed for declining water quality, the degradation of aquatic ecosystems and the growth of a seasonal hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. In this study, we use the IBIS terrestrial ecosystem model and the HYDRA aquatic transport model to examine how agricultural practices and climate influenced terrestrial and aquatic nitrogen cycling across the Mississippi Basin and the nitrate export to the Gulf. The modeling system accurately depicts the observed trends and interannual variability in nitrate export by the Mississippi River (r2 > 0.83), and several of the major tributaries, between 1960 and 1994. The challenge of simulating nitrate export from the central western sub‐basins highlights the key role of processes like denitrification. The simulations demonstrate that three factors led to the doubling of nitrate export by the Mississippi River since 1960: (1) an increase in fertilizer application rates, particularly on maize; (2) an increase in runoff across the basin; and (3) the expansion of soybean cultivation. By the early 1990s, fertilized crops may have accounted for almost 90% of the nitrate leached to the river system, despite representing only 20% of the watershed area. The majority of the nitrate exported to the Gulf appears to originate from "hot spots," including a stretch of the "Corn Belt" across Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana. The relative contribution of such heavily fertilized lands, particularly those in close proximity to higher order streams, can be even greater during wet years.


MOTIVATION
Many complex diseases are the result of abnormal pathway functions instead of single abnormalities. Disease diagnosis and intervention strategies must target these pathways while minimizing the interference with normal physiological processes. Large-scale identification of disease pathways and chemicals that may be used to perturb them requires the integration of information about drugs, genes, diseases and pathways. This information is currently distributed over several pharmacogenomics databases. An integrated analysis of the information in these databases can reveal disease pathways and facilitate novel biomedical analyses.

RESULTS
We demonstrate how to integrate pharmacogenomics databases through integration of the biomedical ontologies that are used as meta-data in these databases. The additional background knowledge in these ontologies can then be used to enable novel analyses. We identify disease pathways using a novel multi-ontology enrichment analysis over the Human Disease Ontology, and we identify significant associations between chemicals and pathways using an enrichment analysis over a chemical ontology. The drug-pathway and disease-pathway associations are a valuable resource for research in disease and drug mechanisms and can be used to improve computational drug repurposing.

AVAILABILITY
http://pharmgkb-owl.googlecode.com


Burkina Faso has extensive experience with urine-diverting dry toilets (UDDTs) and the reuse of human excreta in agriculture in line with the ecological sanitation (ecosan) principles of containment, treatment, and reuse. Around 30 such ecosan projects have been implemented over the past 15 years, including installation of approximately 13,500 household UDDTs, accompanied by awareness-building and training on toilet use, emptying, and reuse. Recently, efforts have been made to revisit former and current project sites in the spirit of 'return to learn'. We identified four such learning initiatives (studies/events), from which we draw recommendations to improve the sustainability of future implementation of ecosan in Burkina Faso and similar contexts. Key recommendations include increased attention to different user needs, handwashing and training on emptying/reuse as well as research and innovation on toilet design, urine collection/handling, menstrual management, and cost reduction/financing. Burkina Faso has set up the ambitious goal of 100 per cent toilet coverage and optimal reuse in the national sanitation programme by 2030, with UDDTs projected to make up 15 per cent of the 2 million toilets needed in rural areas. It is therefore timely to take stock and learn from past interventions. In addition, to enable resource recovery and reuse at scale, it will be important to develop a supportive policy and legal framework with collaboration between the WASH, agriculture, health, and environmental sectors.


What's the true cost of a hamburger? To the consumer, it's anywhere from under a dollar to, say, ten bucks in a fancy burger joint. But to the slaughterhouse workers, the cost of a hamburger includes the financial and physical hardships of the slaughterhouse work itself. However, even less publicly discussed or understood is the psychological trauma inflicted on slaughterhouse workers. Not only do the employees face serious physical health hazards, but they also view, on a daily basis, large-scale violence and death that most of the American population will never have to encounter. This Note will discuss the psychological harm caused by slaughterhouse work and will propose several methods, including OSHA reforms, workers' compensation, and expansion of tort doctrine, by which the legal regime can prevent the harm from occurring and can compensate the employees for their psychological injuries.


More than 80 years ago, manufacturers started spiking vaccines with alum, an additive, termed an adjuvant, that spurs a stronger reaction from the immune system. Yet scientists have struggled to explain exactly how alum, a catch-all term for several types of aluminum-containing adjuvants, does this. Recently, researchers have floated at least three possible mechanisms, including one that involves DNA spilled from dying cells. The reason alum works so well, several studies suggest, is that it trips an alarm that alerts the immune system when cells are in trouble. Insights into how alum works might allow researchers to design replacements that retain alum9s advantages but lose some of its shortcomings.


Croatian power system was located between two synchronous UCTE zones and subject to numerous power exchange programs expected after UCTE reconnection performed in October 2004. Due to neighbouring Italian system which is a large power importer, many players are very interested in regional electricity market. Consequently, steady state analysis is performed in order to evaluate prospects for transmission interconnection between Croatia and Italy. Study results presented in this paper give a clear picture of Croatian transmission system throughput with respect to this interconnection. Maximum possible power transits are evaluated. This case study is of utmost interest for different players as detailed evaluation of power supply from South Eastern Europe was not reachable so far due to UCTE separation.


This paper investigates the robustness of CGE models with respect to the elasticities of substitution in demand between domestically produced goods and foreign goods - the so-called Armington elasticities. The Armington-type modeling of trade is still one of the most extensively used specifications in CGE modeling. For a long time the choice of the respective elasticities of substitution has not been given much attention. We resimulate 50 published CGE policy simulations each a 1000 times and randomize the elasticities. The results of this experiment clearly indicate that a change in the elasticities has noteworthy quantitative and qualitative effects on the results in more than half of the models. We thus conclude that the choice of the elasticities should get more attention and robustness of models with respect to elasticities should be tested by modellers.


Smartphone has become highly prevalent in recent years. It demonstrates as a useful technology that brings productivity and convenience in our daily life. However, smartphone usage can also drive psychological and behavioral maladaptive dependency, which may result in negative problems. Given that research on smartphone addiction is still limited in the information systems literature, this paper aims to propose a framework of motives from the functionalist perspective and investigate why users will be addicted to smartphones. Four categories of motives for smartphone usage are proposed in this study. They include enhancement motives (i.e., information seeking and perceived enjoyment), social motives (i.e., social relationship), coping motives (i.e., mood regulation and pastime), and conformity motives (i.e., conformity). We empirically test our research model using online survey method. The findings illustrate that perceived enjoyment, mood regulation, pastime, and conformity positively affect smartphone addiction, whereas information seeking and social relationship have no significant effects. Implications for both research and practice are provided.


The study investigated the perceived barriers to the development of small, medium and microenterprises (SMMEs) operating in the South African small business sector. A quantitative orientation was used in carrying out the study through self-administered questionnaires and a descriptive quantitative method of analysis was applied. The research population consisted of entrepreneurs within the Thulamela Municipality in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A purposive sample of seventy-five SMME owners and managers participated in this study (males = 73%, n = 55; females = 27%, n = 20 and, age range 18-55 years). The study seeks to add on the narrow body of literature concerning barriers faced by small, medium and microenterprises within the small business sector by revealing how SMMEs in South Africa are stalled from developing into successful enterprises as a result of some major barriers affecting the small business sector. The study revealed that, indeed, SMMEs in Thulamela Municipality in the Limpopo Province of South Africa are faced with various barriers affecting their development. Five significant barriers were identified, namely, lack of finance, access to market, out-dated equipment and technology, poor infrastructure and lack of training. The study recommends on the action plan that is required for SMMEs to increase their efficiency and sustaining themselves against possible barriers thereby helping entrepreneurs to exploit the full potential of the SMME sector.


The antitrust community retains something of an inconsistent attitude towards evidence-based antitrust. Commentators, judges, and scholars remain supportive of evidence-based antitrust, even vocally so; nevertheless, antitrust scholarship and policy discourse continues to press forward advocating the use of one theory over another as applied in a specific case, or one school over another with respect to the class of models that should inform the structure of antitrust's rules and presumptions, without tethering those questions to an empirical benchmark. This is a fundamental challenge facing modern antitrust institutions, one that I call the "model selection problem." The three goals of this article are to describe the model selection problem, to demonstrate that the intense focus upon so-called schools within the antitrust community has exacerbated the problem, and to offer a modest proposal to help solve the model selection problem. This proposal has two major components: abandonment of terms like "Chicago School," "Neo-Chicago School," and "Post-Chicago School," and replacement of those terms with a commitment to testing economic theories with economic knowledge and empirical data to support those theories with the best predictive power. I call this approach "evidence-based antitrust." I conclude by discussing several promising approaches to embedding an appreciation for empirical testing more deeply within antitrust institutions.


In 1874 I had the honour of reading a paper to this Society
upon the Law of Weather and Storms. I then stated that
my principal object, in the interests of our merchants and
sailors, was to induce others on land, or on ship-board, to
register observations, which, when collated with those
reported in other countries in the Southern Hemisphere,
might lead to some general and useful results. It is now
assumed that a circular storm, to use the definition of
Buchan, is simply the variation of the atmosphere attempting
"to flow in upon a central area of low pressure in an inmoving
spiral course." I stated that the rule for determining
the approach as well as direction of the storm had been in
somewhat rough and familiar language laid down by Ballot,
"If you stand with your back to the wind, the barometer
will be lower on your left hand than on your right." This,
however, only describes storms in the other hemisphere—the
W. India hurricanes, and the typhoons of China, which move
from right to left, i.e., in a direction contrary to the movements
of the hands of a watch.


Nanomineralogical studies of mineral surface coatings in soils reveal insights into biogeochemical processes that heretofore were not known to exist. This is a new dimension in understanding past and present biogeochemical processes in soils, and in this study it is a way to better understand the behavior of low-solubility-index elements such as Al, Ti, and Zr. Soils were sampled from selected sites in Sudbury (Ontario, Canada) that have been affected by acidification and particulate matter emissions from base-metal smelters with subsequent remediation within the past century. These anthropogenic processes have affected an entire landscape, but are now recorded in assemblages of nano-size phases that can be only studied using a combination of focused ion beam technology (for sample preparation) and high-resolution analytical transmission electron microscopy (for phase identification). A first generation of clay minerals (pre-acidification phase), their partial replacement by nano-size hematite and amorphous silica (anthropogenic acidification), and a second generation of clay minerals (post-acidification, including soil remediation) are products of changes in soil biogeochemical processes during these natural and anthropogenic-induced weathering stages. Complex assemblages of nanophases formed prior to the second generation of clay minerals depict underlying mechanisms for the mobilization and sequestration of the low-solubility-index elements Zr and Ti under acidic conditions. The occurrence of baddeleyite (ZrO 2 ), anatase (TiO 2 ), and the Magneli phases Ti 4 O 7 and Ti 5 O 9 (all present at the nanoscale) suggest an influx of nanocolloidal Zr and Ti oxides during weathering of smelter-derived particulate matter. Kelyshite {NaZr[Si 2 O 6 (OH)]}, authigenic zircon (ZrSiO 4 ), and kleberite [Fe 3+ Ti 6 O 11 (OH) 5 ] are most likely products of the sequestration of the Zr- and Ti-bearing nanocolloids.


In this paper we propose a multipath delay estimation scheme for MIMO-OFDM system with the code division preamble. The algorithm is composed of three steps: the delays of L1 stronger paths are firstly estimated by coarse multipath delay estimation module. Then the channel coefficients of L1 paths are estimated and fed back to interference reconstruction module, by which the interference from other antennas will be recovered. After interference cancellation, fine multipath delay estimation module is used to get the delays of L paths and accurate estimation of delays could be taken advantage by channel estimation module. It is verified by simulation that the proposed algorithm can correctly estimate all paths for 4 antennas once SNR is higher than 6 dB. As antenna number is increased to 16, the correct estimation probability of former 4 paths is still about 90% when SNR is higher than 3 dB. So the proposed multipath delay estimation scheme with interference cancellation can efficiently improve the accuracy of multipath delay estimation in MIMO-OFDM system.


A substantial literature shows that unmarried persons have health disadvantages that differ by gender, health outcome, and non-marital state. Divorce is associated with ill health for men, but the results for women are mixed. Studies have not estimated effects of marital status on selfreported health in mid-life using longitudinal data to control for marital selection with individual fixed effects. We use the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2010) to estimate effects of divorce on selfreported health. We find evidence of adverse effects of divorce on health for women, but modest (or no) effects for men. In models with individual fixed effects, divorce is associated with an increase in the probability of reporting "bad" health for women, but not men. Examining several diseases and conditions, we also identify associations between divorce and mental health issues. Planned analyses will link couples to study within-couple differences in the health effects of divorce.


For reactions that take place in milliseconds, the standard approach since the 1950s has been to employ a flow technique of some kind. An early example was used to study fast gas-phase reactions in which one of the reactants is a free radical such as OH that can be produced by an intense microwave discharge acting on a suitable source gas mixture. This gas, along with the other reactant being investigated, is made to flow through a narrow tube at a known velocity.


Model tests of the existing Baldhill Spillway were conducted with symmetrical and asymmetrical gate openings to determine for various flow conditions the characteristics of the hydraulic pulsating pressures acting on the surface of the spillway chute and stilling basin apron. The 1:30 -scale model simulated the entire width and length of the spillway crest, gates, chute, and stilling basin, The model was capable of simulating various upper and lower pool elevations and discharges as high as 65,000, cfs. Pulsating pressures were simultaneously measured with 30 surface-mounted transducers located in turbulent areas. Data were collected with a data acquisition system capable of collecting data for various lengths of time and sampling at various rates. The test results provided sufficient information of the potential pulsation pressure acting on the surface of the spillway chute and stilling basin apron to enable to design decision to insure the integrity of the structure.


Twitter is a form of free micro-blogging which allows users to send and receive short public messages called tweets. Tweets are limited to no more than 140 characters, and can include links to blogs, web pages, images, videos and all other material online. You can start tweeting in 10 minutes, anytime, from your computer, smart phone or tablet. By following other people and sources you are able to build up an instant, personalized Twitter feed that meets your full range of interests, both academic and personal. Thousands of academics and researchers at all levels of experience and across all disciplines already use Twitter daily, alongside more than 200 million other users. Yet how can such a brief medium have any relevance to universities and academia, where journal articles are 3,000 to 8,000 words long, and where books contain 80,000 words? Can anything of academic value ever be said in just 140 characters? This guide answers these questions, showing you how to get started on Twitter and showing you how Twitter can be used as a resource for research, teaching and impact activities.


The free and open publication of course materials (OpenCourseWare or OCW) was initially undertaken by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other universities primarily to share educational resources among educators (Abelson, 2007). OCW, however, and more in general open educational resources (OER), have also provided well-documented opportunities for all learners, including the so-called "informal learners" and "independent learners" (Carson, 2005; Mulder, 2006, p. 35). Universities have also increasingly documented clear benefits for specific target groups such as secondary education students and lifelong learners seeking to enter formal postsecondary education programs. In addition to benefitting learners, OCW publication has benefitted the publishing institutions themselves by providing recruiting advantages. Finally enrollment figures from some institutions indicate that even in the case of the free and open publication of materials from online programs, OCW does not negatively affect enrollment. This paper reviews evaluation conducted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), and Open Universiteit Nederland (OUNL) concerning OCW effects on higher education participation and student recruitment.


Production research as an academic field has experienced tremendous growth in the last few decades. The progress in production research and operations management (OM) research is due in no small part to the increasing sophistication and availability of research methods in this field. This paper explores the role of research methods in OM publications through an analysis of the entire corpus of research as represented in a leading OM journal, the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR). This paper reports on a study of all 8653 academic article abstracts published in IJPR since inception to identify the research methods used to both generate and analyse data over the 55 years from the journal's inception in 1961 through 2015. The study classifies articles using a 6 × 6 typology on the dimensions of data generation and data analysis and provides a summary of the use of research methods and the evolution of their use over time. For example, mathematical modelling has become the dominant method for data generation while experiments have become less popular. Though meta-heuristics and optimisation remain the most popular methods for data analysis, data mining methods have gained pained popularity, comparable to statistical methods.


The newly-constructed Nature Gardens at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (California, USA) were purposefully built to attract wildlife. In this study we wanted to find out to what extent this manufactured environment is successful in attracting native insect fauna to the urban core of the city when compared to the surrounding neighborhoods or natural areas on the periphery of Los Angeles. To determine this, a one-year Malaise trap catch from the Nature Gardens was compared with samples from four neighboring sites within a five-kilometer radius, as well as a site adjacent to natural habitat located sixteen kilometers away. Our analysis focused on the diversity and abundance of three pollinator groups: bees, flower flies and butterflies contrasted with a single non-pollinator group: scuttle flies. Our findings show that the Nature Gardens support greater abundance and diversity than any of the nearby sites or the natural site for all pollinator taxa examined. In contrast, the natural site supported much higher abundance and diversity of the non-pollinator scuttle flies when compared to the Nature Gardens. Calculated evenness of all taxa was lower in the Nature Gardens than at the natural site and Shannon Diversity indices were highest in the Nature Gardens for flower flies and butterflies, but lower in the Nature Gardens than at the natural site for bees and scuttle flies. These results indicate that biodiversity in an urban environment can be selectively manipulated through management of green spaces, but may not duplicate the communities found in natural spaces. Rather, targeted management (through plantings, ground cover and other substrates, watering, pest management techniques, etc.) can increase fauna predictively to create a "wildlife spectacle" of charismatic microfauna.


An improvement in performance of the atomic orbital Laplace transformed second-order Møller-Plesset (AO-LT-MP2) method for periodic systems is reported using the resolution of identity (RI) technique. Transformation of the two-electron integrals constitutes the main computational bottleneck of the AO-LT-MP2 method. A substitution of regular four-center integrals by their three center counterparts in the RI approximation naturally reduces the computational cost of the integral transformation step. The RI divergence problem in the presence of periodic boundary conditions is solved in our implementation by restricting the fitting domain. Accuracy and computational efficiency of the RI-AO-LT-MP2 approach are assessed on a set of one-dimensional test systems: trans-polyacetylene and anti-transoid polymethineimine.


From the Publisher:
For the recorded history of management, the world has managed value creation according to what can be seen, touched and proven. In today's knowledge-based economy, value creation is derived primarily from how well firms manage intangibles (knowledge, service, expectations, response time, innovation, change management, etc). The large capital outlays that signified the manufacturing economy are no longer required. In fact, such 'tangibles' now explain less than 20% of the value of most publicly listed firms. For example, Time Warner has only 6.49% of its value attributable to tangibles. As such, for every $1 of true value, only $0.065 cents is being measured and managed by conventional management practices. For Oracle Corporation, tangibles account for only 4% of its value. For General Electric (worth over US$450 billion), tangibles account for less than 11% of its value.
Intention, context, emotional intelligence, escalation, and sustainability are words that are generally absent from the operational management techniques of managers worldwide. They form, however, the basis of skills required to manage organizations in today's knowledge-based economy. The authors investigate the ways that intangible values can be identified, measured, and managed. Their revolutionary and innovative taxonomy not only reveals fundamental differences between a manufacturing economy and one which creates value through knowledge, relationships, and time. By using case studies, a compelling mixture of theory and applications, and a set of accounting tools, the authors demonstrates how a new value framework can protect investors while giving companies the ability to generate long-term growth.


Our study investigates the influence of sintering temperature on the microstructure (grain size distribution, grain boundary length), electrical conductivity, and oxygen permeation properties of permeation membranes. For this purpose, SrSc0.1Co0.9O3-δ samples with different microstructures were prepared by varying the sintering temperature from 1100 to 1250 °C. The average grain sizes were gradually increased, thus the grain boundary lengths decreased with increased sintering temperatures. The influence of the ceramic microstructure on total electrical conductivity was found to be negligible. The oxygen transport properties of the samples were characterized by permeation measurements as a function of temperature in an air/helium oxygen partial pressure gradient. The decrease of the sintering temperature, meaning a decrease of grain size and thus the increase of grain boundary length, leads to an enhanced oxygen permeation flux and a reduced activation energy. This implies that oxygen exchange and transport in the SrSc0.1Co0.9O3-δ membranes occur more rapidly along grain boundaries than in the grain bulk.


Artificial groundwater recharge is a means of replenishing groundwater supplies with surface water which might otherwise be lost. Artificial groundwater recharge has also been used to protect coastal aquifers against saltwater intrusion; to improve water quality; and to reduce groundwater depletion that causes land subsidence. Three principal methods of artificial groundwater recharge are currently in practice: spreading basins, injection wells, and recharge shafts/pits. The appropriate method for a specific use depends upon the availability of land, the type of aquifer to be recharged, economic constraints, and the purpose of recharge. Artificial groundwater recharge has created a stir in both the health and legal communities. The quality of source water used for groundwater recharge is of increased concern due to the unknown health effects associated with the consumption of reclaimed wastewater or potentially contaminated surface runoff. Artificial groundwater recharge has forced changes in regional water laws. The ownership rights to treated effluent, the water rights to recharged water, and the potential liability arising from artificial groundwater recharge have only recently been addressed in a few states.


In the case of Beal v. Doe, decided in 1977, the US Supreme Court ruled that states could constitutionally restrict money from Medicaid from funding elective abortions. After the 1973 case Roe v. Wade [2], in which the US Supreme Court had ruled that women have rights to terminate pregnancies within the first trimester [3], the state of Pennsylvania passed legislation that restricted the use of Medicaid funds for abortion [4] procedures. In 1977, several Medicaid eligible women who were unable to receive coverage for a non-therapeutic abortion [4] brought a case against Frank S. Beal, secretary of the Department of Public Welfare of Pennsylvania. The US Supreme Court decision in Beal v. Doe gave states the authority to place Medicaid restrictions on funding for non-therapeutic or elective abortions.


Racial and ethnic disparities in health care are known to reflect access to care and other issues that arise from differing socioeconomic conditions. There is, however, increasing evidence that even after such differences are accounted for, race and ethnicity remain significant predictors of the quality of health care received. In Unequal Treatment, a panel of experts documents this evidence and explores how persons of color experience the health care environment. The book examines how disparities in treatment may arise in health care systems and looks at aspects of the clinical encounter that may contribute to such disparities. Patients' and providers' attitudes, expectations, and behavior are analyzed. How to intervene? Unequal Treatment offers recommendations for improvements in medical care financing, allocation of care, availability of language translation, community-based care, and other arenas. The committee highlights the potential of cross-cultural education to improve provider–patient communication and offers a detailed look at how to integrate cross-cultural learning within the health professions. The book concludes with recommendations for data collection and research initiatives. Unequal Treatment will be vitally important to health care policymakers, administrators, providers, educators, and students as well as advocates for people of color.


The Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised has been widely used as a measure of memory. However, there are a number of limitations with the administration, scoring and interpretation of the subtest. A revised scoring system was developed in this study in order to address some of the deficiencies in the original scoring system. The revised scoring system was found to
have very good reliability and this reliability was at least equal to that found for the original scoring system. There was also a high correlation between the two scoring
systems, indicating that both systems generated a similar grading of memory performance in an elderly sample. However, further research is needed to extend the
psychometric information available and to develop a normative base. An Index of non-verbal memory performance was also derived from the revised scoring system in
order to provide an indicator of deficient non-verbal memory. This Index was able to discriminate between persons with left and right hemisphere lateralised lesions and
therefore has the potential to provide a diagnostic indicator of non-verbal memory dysfunction. Although further research is needed in order to validate this Index in other samples, this approach provides an alternative to the development of new "nonverbal" memory tests. In order to extend the clinical information available from the Visual Reproduction Subtest, cueing, recognition, and perceptual match procedures were also developed and standardised. The results obtained with these measures indicated that a number of individuals were able to recall substantially more information than was found using free recall procedures. Further research is needed in order to obtain normative information about performance on these tasks in normal and clinical populations.


This essay reformulates the question of human augmentation as a problem of advanced humanmachine communication, theorizing that such communication implies robust artificial intelligence and necessitates understanding the relational role new technologies play in human-machine communication. We focus on the questions, "When do electronic tools cease to be 'simply' tools, and become meaningfully part of ourselves," and, "When might we think of these tools as augmenting our selves, rather than simply amplifying our capabilities?" These questions, already important to the medical and rehabilitative fields, loom larger with increasing commodification of pervasive augmentation technologies, and indicate the verge on which human-machine communication now finds itself. Through analyses of human and machine agency, mediated through a theory of close human-machine communication, we argue that the critical element in discussions of human-machine communication is an increase in sense of agency, extending the traditional human-computer interface dictum to provide an internal locus of control.


Traditional markets in Asian countries still account for the majority of fresh meat, fish and vegetable purchases. One of the reasons for their popularity is the relational trust between vendors and buyers. This trust may justify the limited availability of information on origin or production methods and other attributes of foods sold in these markets. However, a number of recent food safety outbreaks and food fraud cases raised consumer and government concerns on over the level information in these markets and ignited a reflection of possible action. This study aims to determine the consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for fresh meat traceability and free growth hormone information traditional markets in Taiwan. To estimate the values of information the payment card method was employed and to account for the starting point bias, the sample was divided into different treatments each with a different price of meat. A total of 2,381 completed survey were collected in mid-July, 2015. An interval regression model is utilized to examine how much consumers would be willing to pay for addition product information. The results suggest that WTP of information not consistent among groups with different starting point scenarios. There was a significant difference between respondents that were not given any indication of the price per quantity of meat and those that were prompted with a market price. Interestingly, we found that consumers treat the information of growth hormone-free examination and traceability differently.


In this study, the interrelationships between various morphometric characters, viz., carapace width and length and chelar propodus length and height in males, as well as carapace width and length and abdominal width and length in females, were estimated using a total of 980 crabs, Portunus pelagicus. The carapace width/length — weight relationship was studied in both sexes on a total of 1188 crabs using the allometric growth equation of Von Bertalanffy. The allometric relationships between the characters of this set suggest that most relationships are positive and highly significant. The 'b' values for carapace width-weight in males and females were 3.607 and 3.293, respectively, and for carapace length-weight they were 3.049 and 2.774, respectively. The results show a significant deviation from an isometric growth pattern. An analysis of covariance indicates that there is a significant difference between sexes with respect to the carapace width-weight relationship.


Background: Microorganisms growing in a biofilm are associated with chronic, recurrent infections, and health problems for patients with indwelling devices which are difficult to treat with antimicrobial agents. Staphylococcus species are the most common microorganisms isolated from these patients. This study was conducted to detect biofilm production in Staphylococcal isolates from orthopedic device-related infections (ODRI) and chronic osteomyelitis (CO) and correlation of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern between biofilm producers and nonbiofilm producers. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Department of Microbiology in a tertiary care center after the Institutional Ethics Committee approval, from October 2014 to September 2016. Detection of biofilm was performed by Congo Red Agar (CRA), tube method (TM), and tissue culture plate (TCP) methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method, and minimum inhibitory concentration for oxacillin and vancomycin was determined according to the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines. Results: A total of 51 clinical isolates, consisting of 45 Staphylococcus aureus and 6 coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS), were isolated from 47 CO and 4 ODRI patients of which 32 were methicillin-resistant S. aureus and 2 MRCONS. Biofilm production was detected in 22 isolates by TCP, 18 by TM, and 13 by CRA methods. Fifty percent ODRI isolates and 42.5% CO isolates were biofilm producers. The biofilm producers have lower antimicrobial sensitivity pattern in all except vancomycin. Conclusion: Biofilm producers were detected from 43.1% of total isolates with higher antimicrobial resistance pattern.


Drawing parallels to the rise of general purpose graphical processing units (GPGPUs) as accelerators for specific high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, there is a rise in the use of non-volatile memory (NVM) as accelerators for I/O-intensive scientific applications. However, existing works have explored use of NVM within dedicated I/O nodes, which are distant from the compute nodes that actually need such acceleration. As NVM bandwidth begins to out-pace point-to-point network capacity, we argue for the need to break from the archetype of completely separated storage. Therefore, in this work we investigate co-location of NVM and compute by varying I/O interfaces, file systems, types of NVM, and both current and future SSD architectures, uncovering numerous bottlenecks implicit in these various levels in the I/O stack. We present novel hardware and software solutions, including the new Unified File System (UFS), to enable fuller utilization of the new compute-local NVM storage. Our experimental evaluation, which employs a real-world Out-of-Core (OoC) HPC application, demonstrates throughput increases in excess of an order of magnitude over current approaches.


This paper represents the introduction to the Magneto Rheological (MR) fluid and its basic properties. The main aim of this paper is to prepare the magneto rheological fluid for the MR damper which is used in vehicle suspension system. MR fluids are a class of smart material. A MR fluid is a very useful constituent material for the engineers which are involved in the design of brakes, damper, clutches and shock absorber system. This paper also emphasis on the details of preparation, testing and validification of magneto rheological fluid for its effective use and testing of MR damper. Now a day's increasing vibration affect the vehicle ride comfort. To improve ride comfort of vehicle suspension system magneto rheological fluid is very necessary in magneto rheological damper to reduce the vibrations or shocks.


The mitochondrial scaffolding protein A-kinase anchor protein 121 (AKAP121) assembles a signaling complex that includes components of the cAMP (adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate) and Src signaling pathways, facilitating their stimulation of mitochondrial metabolism. Carlucci et al. identified the E3-ubiquitin ligase Siah2 as an AKAP121 binding partner in a yeast two-hybrid screen and confirmed the interaction through in vitro assays, coimmunoprecipitation from human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cell lysates, and immunostaining of mouse fibroblasts. Cotransfection of HEK293 cells with AKAP121 increased association of a Siah2 mutant that lacked E3-ubiquitin ligase activity (Siah2rm) with mitochondria, and cotransfection with Siah2 (but not Siah2rm) markedly decreased AKAP121 abundance. Hypoxia promotes Siah2 transcription, and oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD) stimulated a Siah2-dependent decrease in the abundance of AKAP121 transfected into HEK293 cells and of endogenous AKAP121 in cultured rat hippocampal neurons and mouse fibroblasts. AKAP121 was a substrate for Siah2 ubiquitination in vitro, and Siah2 overexpression promoted the ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of AKAP121 in HEK293 cells, as did OGD. When transfected into HEK293 cells, AKAP121 increased mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) and metabolic activity and opposed decreases in ΔΨm and mitochondrial metabolic activity produced by OGD; Siah2 decreased basal ΔΨm and metabolic activity and opposed the effects of AKAP121. Further, siRNA directed against Siah2 increased metabolic activity in cells exposed to OGD. Occlusion of the middle cerebral artery in rats (which causes ischemic damage to the frontal cortex) led to a decrease in AKAP121 immunoreactivity in neurons in the ischemic region, which was blocked by siRNA directed against Siah2. The authors thus conclude that degradation of AKAP121 by Siah2 provides a mechanism whereby mitochondrial respiration can be slowed under hypoxic conditions. A. Carlucci, A. Adornetto, A. Scorziello, D. Viggiano, M. Foca, O. Cuomo, L. Annunziato, M. Gottesman, A. Feliciello, Proteolysis of AKAP121 regulates mitochondrial activity during cellular hypoxia and brain ischaemia. EMBO J. 27, 1073-1084 (2008). [PubMed]


Technology workers are often stereotyped as being socially awkward or having difficulty communicating, often with humorous intent; however, for many technology workers with atypical cognitive profiles, such issues are no laughing matter. In this paper, we explore the hidden lives of neurodiverse technology workers, e.g., those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or other learning disabilities, such as dyslexia. We present findings from interviews with 10 neurodiverse technology workers, identifying the challenges that impede these employees from fully realizing their potential in the workplace. Based on the interview findings, we developed a survey that was taken by 846 engineers at a large software company. In this paper, we reflect on the differences between the neurotypical (N = 781) and neurodiverse (N = 59) respondents. Technology companies struggle to attract, develop, and retain talented software developers; our findings offer insight into how employers can better support the needs of this important worker constituency.


Immuno-modulators in combination with antileishmanial drug miltefosine is a better therapeutic approach for treatment of Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) as it not only reduces the dose of miltefosine but also shortens the treatment regimen. However, immunological mechanisms behind the perceived benefits of this combination therapy have not been investigated in detail. In the present study, we hypothesized that potential use of drugs that target the host in addition to the parasite might represent an alternative strategy for combination therapy. We investigated immune responses generated in Leishmania donovani infected animals (hamsters and mice) treated with combination of CpG-ODN-2006 and miltefosine at short dose regimen. Infected animals were administered CpG-ODN-2006 (0.4 mg/kg, single dose), as free and liposomal form, either alone or in combination with miltefosine for 5 consecutive days and parasite clearance was evaluated at day 4 and 7 post treatment. Animals that received liposomal CpG-ODN-2006 (lipo-CpG-ODN-2006) and sub-curative miltefosine (5 mg/kg) showed the best inhibition of parasite multiplication (∼97%) which was associated with a biased Th1 immune response in. Moreover, compared to all the other treated groups, we observed increased mRNA expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-12) and significantly suppressed levels of Th2 cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β) on day 4 post treatment in animals that underwent combination therapy with lipo-CpG-ODN-2006 and sub-curative miltefosine. Additionally, same therapy also induced heightened iNOS mRNA levels and NO generation, increased IgG2 antibody level and strong T-cell response in these hamsters compared with all the other treated groups. Collectively, our results suggest that combination of lipo-CpG-ODN-2006 and sub-curative miltefosine generates protective T-cell response in an animal model of visceral leishmaniasis which is characterized by strong Th1 biased immune response thereby underlining our hypothesis that combination therapy, at short dose regimen can be used as a novel way of treating visceral leishmaniasis.


For more effective teaching and learning in undergraduate engineering education, there is a strong need for faculty professional development to instruction from instructor-centered, information-transmission teaching by lecture to more student-centered, conceptual-change learning by active learning through student engagement. The National Science Foundation IUSE (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education) program has funded a large-scale faculty development program at a large southwestern university called Just-in-Time-Teaching with Two Way Formative Feedback for Multiple Disciplinary (JTFD) Programs. The project scales to seven engineering disciplines with 84 faculty using a train-the-trainer model to engage faculty in year-long apprenticeships with a semester of eight biweekly workshops followed by a semester of six biweekly mentor-supported classroom innovation implementation. Prior project research has shown that evidence-based practices such as student engagement, contextualization of content, and two-way formative feedback can improve student attitudes, achievement and persistence. Research also shows that changing faculty teaching beliefs toward evidence-based strategies and practices can be difficult, but the transition can be eased when disciplinary communities of practice support faculty while they are changing their beliefs and practices. The personal interactions that occur within and between the disciplinary communities of practice are being characterized in JTFD with social network analysis (SNA) and will be correlated to shifts, across time, in the beliefs and practice of the faculty toward student-centered instruction. Prior project SNA research has shown faculty who are socially better connected to one another also teach with more student-centered classroom practices, as found from classroom observations. This was assessed by a tool called Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) which has 25 items related to evidence based practice and is used by trained observers to assess classroom practice. Faculty beliefs and classroom practice are being assessed in JTFD with surveys, open ended questions and classroom observations. Faculty motivation is being assessed with a new survey using expectancy-value theory. The impact of faculty changes in classroom practice results have been collected during the spring 2016 term from four pairs of disciplinary leader trainers who completed the eight workshops. One result showed that the effect of the eight workshops on faculty's student-centered classroom practice, as measured by RTOP, was an improvement between 34% and 65%. Another result showed that, for two faculty, compared to the same class for a prior semester, significant gains in the student grade ratio (the ratio of A's plus B's to C's plus D's plus E's plus W's). Thus, the cohort of eight faculty trained during the Spring 2016 semester shifted their practice significantly from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered learning as shown by the classroom observation RTOP results. Because of the limited number of participants other measures of change in faculty beliefs and motivation were positive, but did not show statistical significance. Future cohorts with larger numbers of participants can reveal correlations between faculty beliefs, motivation and classroom practice.


Background The 'open' (external) and 'closed' (endonasal) rhinoplasty approaches remain a subject for debate. Semiopen approach was proposed by Inchingolo and colleagues in 2012 with the advantages of the open technique without division of the columella. Patients and methods A randomized prospective single-blinded study was conducted. Thirty patients were divided into two groups. In group A, 15 patients underwent rhinoplasty with the endonasal approach, whereas in group B, 15 patients were subjected to rhinoplasty with the semiopen approach. Parameters used for evaluation were recorded intraoperatively, at 1 week, and 3 months postoperatively. Results In group B, the operative time was longer and tip accessibility was better compared with group A, with a high statistical significance. Postoperative edema was more in group B than in group A, with a significant difference in the immediate postoperative period. Conclusion The semiopen approach shows better tip accessibility compared with the ordinary closed approach, with fewer incisions compared with the tip delivery technique and with no need for columellar division as in open approach. However, it has a longer operative time with more postoperative edema compared with the closed approach. Therefore, the best use of this approach is for cases in which tip modification is needed, especially if concomitant nasal dorsum modification is also needed.


Most contribution to the field of structure-based human gait
recognition has been done through design of extraordinary gait
features. Many research groups that address this topic
introduce a unique combination of gait features, select a
couple of well-known object classiers, and test some variations
of their methods on their custom Kinect databases. For a
practical system, it is not necessary to invent an ideal gait
feature -- there have been many good geometric features
designed -- but to smartly process the data there are at our
disposal. This work proposes a gait recognition method without
design of novel gait features; instead, we suggest an effective
and highly efficient way of processing known types of features.
Our method extracts a couple of joint angles from two signature
poses within a gait cycle to form a gait pattern descriptor,
and classifies the query subject by the baseline 1-NN classier.
Not only are these poses distinctive enough, they also rarely
accommodate motion irregularities that would result in
confusion of identities. We experimentally demonstrate that our
gait recognition method outperforms other relevant methods in
terms of recognition rate and computational complexity.
Evaluations were performed on an experimental database that
precisely simulates street-level video surveillance
environment.


In this richly detailed, sensitive ethnographic work, Sally Cole takes as her starting point the firsthand accounts of five differently situated Portuguese women, who describe their lives in a rural fishing community on the north coast of Portugal. Skillfully combining these life stories with cultural and economic analysis, Cole radically departs from the picture of women as sexual beings that prevails in the anthropological literature on Europe and the Mediterranean. Her very different strategy--a focus on women as workers--reflects the Portuguese women's own definition of themselves and allows them the strong, resonant voice that is the goal of both the new ethnography and feminist scholarship. From this new perspective, Cole proposes an important critique of the dominant paradigm of southern European gender relations as being embedded in the code of honor and shame. Covering the Salazar years, as well as the period since the 1974 Revolution, Cole shows that fisherwomen of the past enjoyed greater autonomy in work and social relations than do their daughters and granddaughters, who live in a context of increasing commoditization and industrialization. Central to this account is an examination of the changing structure and role of the household as economic production moved to the factory.


Conclusions about inequality based on cross-sectional snapshots of annual income can give a misleading picture of the inequality of a more permanent notion of income, due to the mobility of individuals across annual income classes. This paper reassesses some of the issues about taxation and inequality using two longitudinal tax return data bases. Replacing annual income with "time-exposure" income, defined as average real income over the period, does not significantly reduce the measured degree of inequality in the 1979-1985 period, although the fraction of income received by the lowest increase substantially. The procedure does, though, reduce the contribution to inequality of certain sources of income such as capital gains and increase the contribution of other sources such as interest and dividends. There is no systematic evidence that the comparison of snapshots between the 1967-1973 and 1979-1985 periods overstates the growth in inequality of a more permanent notion of income. The inequality of pre-tax income has been increasing steadily in the past two decades. Changes in income taxation have neither stemmed nor contributed significantly to this trend; since 1980 the contribution of the income tax to decreasing inequality has declined slightly.


Understanding how Ti partitions between the Si and Zr sites in zircon is crucial for developing the Ti-in-zircon geothermometer. Energies calculated using quantum-mechanical methods (VASP, CASTEP, Dmol 3 , Crystal) were used to compare the relative favorability of substitution into each site at pressures ranging from 0 to 10 GPa. The results of these quantum-mechanical calculations were used in Monte-Carlo calculations to derive the excess enthalpy of mixing (Δ H excess ), entropy of mixing (Δ S excess ), and free energy of mixing (Δ G excess ) for the binaries ZrSiO 4 –ZrTiO 4 and ZrSiO 4 –TiSiO 4 (assuming that all compositions have zircon structure) at temperatures ranging from 333 K to 3000 K, and estimates are made of the maximum amount of Ti that may be incorporated into each site as a function of temperature and pressure. The results are considered in thermodynamic reference to other oxides, such as SiO 2 , ZrO 2 , and TiO 2 , that are involved in substitution reactions. At pressures below about 3.5 GPa, substitution into the Si site is more thermodynamically favorable and thus dominates, whereas at higher pressures, substitution into the Zr site becomes more important in zircon. The latter result suggests that the reaction TiO 2(rutile) + ZrSiO 4(zircon) → TiSiO 4(zircon) + ZrO 2(baddeleyite) becomes predominant for the substitution of Ti-in-zircon for ultra-high pressure assemblages. The molar volume of the theoretical zirconstructured compound ZrTiO 4 was calculated using quantum mechanics (VASP, CASTEP, Dmol 3 ) and determined to be 44.21 ± 0.45 cm 3 /mol. The resulting ΔV for the reaction ZrSiO 4(zircon) + TiO 2(rutile) = ZrTiO 4(zircon) + SiO 2(quartz) is doubled. The Clapeyron slope (d P /d T ) of the reaction is halved, and the pressure correction to the Ti-in-zircon thermometer is twice as large as a previous estimate.