Micromechanics models which aim to provide an understanding of conductive adhesive materials from the level of micro-particles (less than 30 mm) are presented in this paper. The pressure-induced conducting mechanisms are investigated. A deformation analysis reveals a logarithmic pressure-resistance relationship and is capable of addressing the conducting phenomena for both rigid and deformable particle systems within a contact mechanics framework. This logarithmic relationship also provides analytical support for findings reported in the literature of conductive adhesive research. It is observed that electrical contacts are made by squashing conducting particles for a deformable particle system while the particle penetration creates a crater in metallization to make contacts for a rigid particle system. The current analysis provides simple closed-form solutions for the elastic deformation of single-particle contacts and based on the assumption that the contact forces are evenly distributed in a conductive film, the pressure-resistance responses are correlated to the particle volume fraction. The high volume fraction, while ensuring that there are a sufficient number of particles to make contacts, may limit the particle deformation due to overall increased stiffness, resulting in the increased resistance on a per particle basis. The current analysis also offers insight into design considerations whereby limited amount of deformation (low processing temperature) and sufficiently low electrical resistance are to be simultaneously satisfied. For the mechanical performance, the uniaxial nonlinear stress-strain relationship is obtained for conductive adhesive systems in terms of polymer and particle material properties. The Mori-Tanaka's method is utilized to account for particle-particle and particle-matrix interactions. The behaviour in thermal expansion within the elasto-plastic deformation range is also obtained in a similar fashion. In all these calculations, only a very simplified finite element analysis for the problem of a particle embedded into an infinitely extended matrix material needs to be carried out.


The last decade saw the arrival of a new player in the creation/evolution debate--the intelligent design creationism (IDC) movement, whose strategy is to act as "the wedge" to overturn Darwinism and scientific naturalism. This anthology of writings by prominent creationists and their critics focuses on what is novel about the new movement. It serves as a companion to Robert Pennock's Tower of Babel, in which he criticizes the wedge movement, as well as other new varieties of creationism.The book contains articles previously published in specialized, hard-to-find journals, as well as new contributions. Each section contains introductory background information, articles by influential creationists and their critics, and in some cases responses by the creationists. The discussions cover IDC as a political movement, IDC's philosophical attack on evolution, the theological debate over the apparent conflict between evolution and the Bible, IDC's scientific claims, and philosopher Alvin Plantinga's critique of naturalism and evolution. The book concludes with Pennock's "Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught in the Public Schools."


The presence of DNA fragments in tissues from rabbits given genetically modified (GM) soya-bean meal (solvent extracted) was investigated by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) approach. Moreover, the possible effects on cell metabolism were evaluated by determination of several specific enzymes in serum, heart, skeletal muscle, liver and kidney. The chloroplast sequence for tRNA Leu by using the Clor1/Clor2 primers designed on chloroplast trnL sequence was clearly detected. On the contrary, two couples of species specific primers for conventional (Le1-5/Le 1-3 which amplifies the soya bean lectin gene) and genetically modified (35S1/35S2 which amplifies the 35S CMV promoter that is present in the genomic structure of GM soya bean) soya bean were not found in all samples. No differences in enzyme levels were detected in serum, but a significant increase of lactic dehydrogenase, mainly concerning the LDH1 isoenzyme was found in particular in kidney and heart but not in the muscle, thus suggesting a potential alteration in the local production of the enzyme. Finally, no significant differences were detected concerning body weight, fresh organ weights and no sexual differences were detected.


A story of love, war, loyalty and betrayal, "Excalibur" begins with the failure of Lancelot's rebellion and the ruin of Arthur's marriage to Guinevere. The Saxons, sensing the disunity of the Britons, seize the chance to destroy Arthur. The climax of the war comes with the legendary triumph at Mount Badon, and Arthur's great victory. But the promises he made then come back to haunt him after the years of peace and glory.


The layer of rocks on the surface of the world is made of big segments. Those segments moves slowly and constantly. Severe cracks emerge from those motions of segments. The motion during the cracks is called earthquakes. This motion releases energy stored in the rocks.. Earthquakes are the rapid and sudden shaking of the Earth caused by the release of energy stored in rocks. The earthquake is a natural disaster. The most effective solution to earthquake is to make individuals to be conscious of how they can protect themselves from the earthquake just like they do during other disasters. The purpose of this research is to test the effects of the Earthquake Awareness Development Program (EADP) on 6 years old children. This study consists of activities to increase the earthquake consciousness level of 6 years old children. Earthquake Awareness Development Program (EADP) is made of those 10 activities. The activities in the program were implemented by preschool teachers. Sample of the study is 105 children attending nursery school in Istanbul. An 8-item pre-post test was applied. Results of the study showed that earthquake consciousness of children increased significantly.


We have investigated the use of a pitch adaptive spectral representation on large vocabulary speech recognition, in conjunction with speaker normalisation techniques. We have compared the effect of a smoothed spectrogram to the pitch adaptive spectral analysis by decoupling these two components of STRAIGHT. Experiments performed on a large vocabulary meeting speech recognition task highlight the importance of combining a pitch adaptive spectral representation with a conventional fixed window spectral analysis. We found evidence that STRAIGHT pitch adaptive features are more speaker independent than conventional MFCCs without pitch adaptation, thus they also provide better performances when combined using feature combination techniques such as Heteroscedastic Linear Discriminant Analysis.


This paper examines how knowledge is developed in supplier or buyer relationships in Turkish SMEs. The knowledge transfer activities in Turkish textile and apparel industry have been explored in this study. The knowledge transfer is undisputedly important subjects as knowledge provides competitive advantage to firms. Only few percentages of the Turkish textile and apparel industry are engaged in knowledge transfer activity although it is recorded as the largest industry in Turkish economy. Turkish textile and apparel industry is mostly run by family and most of them are either unaware or reluctant to involve in the knowledge transfer activities. This study examines the knowledge transfer practices in Turkish textile and apparel industry's SMEs through qualitative research and quantitative analysis by undertaking extensive literature reviews and present situation in Turkey.


Wood-plastic composites are being examined for a greater number of structural-type applications that may be exposed to different environments, some of them adverse. This paper discusses the influence of moisture absorption on the mechanical properties of wood flour-polypropylene composites. Composites filled with 20% or 40% wood flour (by weight) were placed in different environments, removed periodically, and tested for moisture content and mechanical properties. The composites filled with 20% wood flour (20%WF) absorbed moisture in all the environmental exposures, but no significant degradation of properties was observed. The 40%WF composites absorbed more moisture than did the 20%WF composites. The flexural properties of composites subjected to a water bath and to 90% relative humidity were lower than the flexural properties of the other composites. Tensile properties and notched impact strengths decreased only for composites placed in a water bath. Unnotched impact strengths did not change significantly with absorption of moisture.


This study examined the association between peers' perceptions of transformational leadership and ethical behaviour, as well as leadership effectiveness. Seventy-five military officer candidates were rated by 168 peers on four transformational leadership factors and ethical behaviour. Military supervisors provided a leadership effectiveness grade at the end of the academic year. Results show that all four transformational factors correlated positively with ethical behaviour but only one factor, idealized influence, correlated with leadership effectiveness. Ethical behaviour also correlated with leadership effectiveness. Results of a stepwise regression revealed that peers' perception of intellectual stimulation was the most significant contributor to the variance in peer's perception of ethical behaviour. Results of a hierarchical regression combining peers' perceptions of transformational factors and ethical behaviour as predictors of leadership effectiveness showed that peers' perceptions of idealized influence contributed to the variability in leadership effectiveness and that suppression of peers' perceptions of individualized consideration increased the predictability of leadership effectiveness. Ethical behaviour did not account for any variability in leadership effectiveness beyond that explained by idealized influence and individualized consideration. These results may be best understood in light of the scale used to assess ethical behaviour and the military context of the participants. Suggestions for future research are discussed. This study examined peers' perceptions of transformational behaviours and ethical behaviour as well as their relative contribution to leadership effectiveness in young military officer candidates. Such perceptions are important because they may impact on perceivers' behaviours (Morgan, 1993). Morgan found a small correlation (r = .15) between peers' perceptions of ethics and leadership, which suggests some independence between ethics and leadership. However, he did not specifically assess transformational leadership, which is a leadership style characterized by the immense impact it has on followers. Bass (1985) described transformational leadership as a style of leadership that changes followers in a profound way. Transformational leaders raise their followers' consciousness about the importance of their work, get their followers to transcend their self-interests, and satisfy their followers' needs of self-esteem and self-realization (Bass, 1985). Such followers often surpass their expectations about what they can achieve. Bass (1998) defined transformational leadership as comprising four sets of behaviours: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. Transformational leaders who engage in idealized influence are respected and trusted by their subordinates. Inspirational motivation implies the formulation of an inspiring vision and the setting of challenging goals. Leaders practising intellectual stimulation encourage their subordinates to think in novel ways. Last, individualized consideration describes leaders who provide individual attention and consideration to each subordinate. Transformational leadership has been consistently associated with superior performance in various organizations, including the military (Lowe, Kroeck, & Sivasubramaniam, 1996). For instance, United States Navy officers who were perceived as more transformational were rated as more effective leaders and their peers reported putting forth higher levels of effort at work and greater satisfaction with their leader (Yammarino & Bass, 1990). More recently, Israeli infantry cadets trained in transformational leadership developed into more effective platoon leaders, as indicated by better subordinate development and soldier performance (Dvir, Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002). Ethics is concerned with the values and morals that are desirable or appropriate to an individual or a society. …


The concepts of "Life" and "Light" are prominent in the prologue of the fourth gospel (cf. John 1:4, 5, 7, 8, 9) and have been studied by various scholars as important themes. In the past years, the quest for the conceptual background of the prologue and the entire Gospel has led to converging and diverging opinions. But are all the proposed backgrounds important to the reader to understand and interpret the fourth gospel? Should we find the relevant religious background, could it help us understand and interpret the "Life" and "Light" concepts in the prologue and the rest of the Gospel? The aim of this study is to identify the most appropriate background against which to read and explore the concepts of "Life" and "Light" in the fourth gospel. We also wish to study other selected passages from the fourth gospel that relate to "Life" and "Light". The reason for doing this is to find out if they can add meaning to our understanding of "Life" and "Light" in the prologue. The study reviews and compares crucial literature on the fourth gospel. Attention is given to the development of the debate on the religious background that influenced John. It also seeks to discover if there are any fresh ideas on the religious background of the fourth gospel. Reference will be made to primary material like the Dead Sea Scrolls, first century Palestinian Judaism, Josephus, and Philo of Alexandria. The following proposed backgrounds will be reviewed: Hellenistic Judaism, Philo of Alexandria, Gnosticism, Hermetic Literature, Mandaism, the Old Testament, Rabbinic Judaism, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Samaritan background. This research is undertaken within the reformed evangelical tradition, and is informed by the historical critical method. The author argues that the Old Testament and its development in first century Palestinian Judaism is the most plausible background against which to understand the "Life" and "Light" concepts in the fourth gospel. The study concludes that "Life" in the fourth Gospel is understood as eternal life characterized by quality, happiness, blessedness and many other good characteristics. Believing in Jesus who is the true life leads one to enjoy the authentic life. The life that he gives triumphs over death through the resurrection. Concerning "Light" the study also concludes that to receive the light (Jesus) is to receive salvation accompanied by enlightenment, joy, blessings and victory. It is impossible to receive the "Light" that Jesus gives and to fail to have the "Life" that he gives. The absence of the "Life" and "Light" from him leads to suffering, hopelessness and death without hope. Thus, the Old Testament and Pharisaic Judaism meaning of these two concepts is fulfilled in Jesus the "Life" and the "Light" in the fourth Gospel.


Environmental markets are widely prescribed as an alternative to open access regimes for natural resources. We develop a model of dynamic groundwater extraction to demonstrate how a spatial regression discontinuity design that exploits a spatially incomplete market for groundwater rights recovers a lower bound on the market's net benefit. We apply this estimator to a major aquifer in water-scarce southern California and find that a groundwater market generated substantial net benefits, as capitalized in land values. Heterogeneity analyses point to gains arising in part from rights trading, enabling more efficient water use across sectors. Additional findings suggest that the market increased groundwater levels.


1. In thirty-nine normotensive and hypertensive human subjects plasma concentrations of angiotensin II during pressor infusions of the peptide were significantly related to the concentrations found before infusion began. 2. When mean diastolic pressure before and during lower rates of angiotensin infusion were plotted against concurrent plasma angiotensin II concentrations, a straight-line relationship was observed. This relationship also held for the higher rates of infusion in some subjects. 3. During infusion at a standard rate of 4 ng min −1 kg −1 the rise in plasma angiotensin II concentration varied widely from subject to subject. 4. There was a significant negative relationship between this increase and the threshold of the pressor response to angiotensin. 5. There was a significant positive relationship between the threshold of the pressor response and the basal concentrations of renin and angiotensin II. 6. These results suggest that angiotensin normally present in blood lies within or close to a range capable of affecting blood pressure.


Although referees who officiate in the amateur football leagues are exposed to various stressors that can negatively affect their mental health (MH), little is known about their MH symptoms. The purpose of the study was to evaluate MH symptoms of referees who officiate in the Turkish amateur football leagues. An online survey was sent to all referees in the Turkish amateur football leagues (n = 4,900) incorporating standardized scales assessing depression, anxiety, and stress. A total of 1,279 referees participated in the study. Female referees reported higher depression (p < .01) and anxiety (p = .02) scores than males. Younger referees (23–27 years) reported higher depression (p = .01) and anxiety (p < .01) scores than older (>38 years) referees. Results showed that symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress scores were associated with marital status (being single), lower incomes, severe sports injury history, and inadequate social support. In light of these results, MH assessments should be undertaken to detect which referees are at greater risk of MH problems and facilitate appropriate and timely MH interventions. Further study is needed to inform MH risk reduction strategies and/or programming.


Background: For decades the literature has been investigating the ideal dose-response regarding the frequency, intensity and volume of training that optimize the increase in muscle strength and power in athletes and non-athletes. Objective: Evaluate the effects of strength training from a nonlinear (NLP) and non-periodized (NP) model on muscular peak power in soccer players. Methods: Twelve male junior football players from a professional team in Cabo Frio (Brazil) were recruited and randomly divided into two groups (6 in each group). The groups were randomly divided into: G1 - (Body mass: 64.7 ± 6.5 kg; Height: 172.3 ± 5.8 cm; % fat: 5.1 ± 2.7; Age: 17.5 ± 1.0 years) performed RT with NLP model; G2 - (Body mass: 66.1 ± 4.7; Height: 177.1 ± 6.1 cm; % fat: 5.1 ± 1.2, age: 17.6 ± 0.5 years) performed RT with NP model. Both groups are subjected to 12 weeks of training. PNL strength training consisted of weight training sessions on alternate days, 3 times a week, the rest intervals were 120s among the exercises and included 10 exercises. NLP distribution was as follows: Day 1 (3x4-6 maximum repetitions [RM] with rest intervals of 120 sec between sets); Day 2 (3x8-10RM with 60-90 rest intervals between sets); and day 3 (3x12-15RM with rest intervals of 60 sec between sets). NP training performed the same duration, weekly frequency, exercises and number of sets (3 sets 8-10RM and 60-90 sec rest intervals). Before and after NP and NLP training, muscle peak, speed and agility were evaluated. Results: The ANOVA with mixed model showed no significant interaction between group and moment (F(1,10) = 0.133; p=0.72), and no significant main effect for group (F(1,10) = 0.032; p=0.86) in muscular peak power. There was a significant main effect for moment (F(1,10) = 14.872; p=0.003), where were  showed that Post-training presented higher values of muscular peak power compared to Baseline (p= 0.003). Conclusion: It is concluded that both training organization models are effective and can be used to develop peak muscle power.


Recently forage testing laboratories have begun to evaluate forages for neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility. Evaluation of forage for NDF digestibility is being conducted to improve laboratory prediction of animal performance. One of the factors that influences NDF digestibility is the maturity stage at which the forage is harvested. This Focus on Forage article will highlight the effects of maturity on forage NDF digestibility. With advancing maturity, all plants, including grasses, legumes, corn, and small grains, under-go physiological changes. With advancing maturity, plants develop xylem tissue for water transport, accumulate cellulose and other complex carbohydrates, and these tissues become bound together by a process known as lignification. The combined effect of physiological changes results in plant cell walls (NDF), which are more difficult for rumen bacteria to attach to and to digest. How does maturity affect forage NDF digestibility? One simple, practical aspect of maturity effects on NDF digestibility in forages is related to changes in leaf-to-stem ratio. The NDF in legume or grass leaves is significantly more digestible than NDF in stem tissue. As forage matures, leaf-to-stem ratio declines (more stem, fewer leaves) and as a result NDF digestibility declines because a greater portion of the total NDF is NDF associated with stem tissue. Corn silage is unique in defining maturity effects on NDF digestibility because leaf-to-stem ratio is not greatly altered across normal harvest maturity stages. It is actually common to observe a decline in total NDF content in corn silage as the corn plant matures. This is because the corn ear is filling with grain, which dilutes the total forage NDF content. Despite this illusionary maturity effect, the NDF digestibility of the corn plant still declines with advancing maturity (Figure 3) mainly due to advancing lignification of cell walls (NDF). As forage matures, NDF digestibility can decline over 40 percentage units (% of NDF). Figures 1 to 4 of this article feature the classic relationship of increasing NDF content of grasses, legumes, corn silage, and small grain forages with advancing maturity. Each figure also details the decline in NDF digestibility with advancing maturity. The rate of decline in NDF digestibility is, however, different between forage types. The decline in NDF digestibility in grasses and small grain silages is particularly dramatic (Figures 1 and 4) with advancing maturity. While grasses and small grain forages are in the vegetative state, NDF digestibility is very high (> 70% of NDF). When stem elongation occurs in grasses and small grain forage, NDF digestibility declines at a relatively fast rate. In legumes (Figure 2), NDF digestibility is less as compared to grasses during vegetative stages of growth but declines slower and in a more linear fashion with advancing maturity. Finally, NDF digestibility in corn silage declines approximately 10.0 percentage units between the 1⁄2 milk-line to advanced black layer stages of maturity. How can forage NDF digestibility be best managed?


In a previous study, a denitrification wall was constructed in a sand aquifer using sawdust as the carbon substrate. Ground water bypassed around this sawdust wall due to reduced hydraulic conductivity. We investigated potential reasons for this by testing two new walls and conducting laboratory studies. The first wall was constructed by mixing aquifer material in situ without substrate addition to investigate the effects of the construction technique (mixed wall). A second, biochip wall, was constructed using coarse wood chips to determine the effect of size of the particles in the amendment on hydraulic conductivity. The aquifer hydraulic conductivity was 35.4 m/d, while in the mixed wall it was 2.8 m/d and in the biochip wall 3.4 m/d. This indicated that the mixing of the aquifer sands below the water table allowed the particles to re‐sort themselves into a matrix with a significantly lower hydraulic conductivity than the process that originally formed the aquifer. The addition of a coarser substrate in the biochip wall significantly increased total porosity and decreased bulk density, but hydraulic conductivity remained low compared to the aquifer. Laboratory cores of aquifer sand mixed under dry and wet conditions mimicked the reduction in hydraulic conductivity observed in the field within the mixed wall. The addition of sawdust to the laboratory cores resulted in a significantly higher hydraulic conductivity when mixed dry compared to cores mixed wet. This reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of the sand/sawdust cores mixed under saturated conditions repeated what occurred in the field in the original sawdust wall. This indicated that laboratory investigations can be a useful tool to highlight potential reductions in field hydraulic conductivities that may occur when differing materials are mixed under field conditions.


A new sampling theorem on the sphere has been developed recently, reducing the number of samples required to represent a band-limited signal by a factor of two for equiangular sampling schemes. For signals sparse in a spatially localised measure, such as in a wavelet basis, overcomplete dictionary, or in the magnitude of their gradient, for example, a reduction in the number of samples required to represent a band-limited signal has important implications for sparse signal reconstruction on the sphere. A more efficient sampling of the sphere improves the fidelity of sparse signal reconstruction through both the dimensionality and spatial sparsity of signals. To demonstrate this result we consider a simple inpainting problem on the sphere and consider signals sparse in the magnitude of their gradient. We develop a framework for total variation (TV) inpainting, which relies on a sampling theorem to define a discrete TV norm on the sphere. Solving these problems is computationally challenging; hence we develop fast methods for this purpose. Numerical simulations are performed, verifying the enhanced fidelity of sparse signal reconstruction due to the more efficient sampling of the sphere provided by the new sampling theorem.


Bacterial reporters are live, genetically engineered cells with promising application in bioanalytics. They contain genetic circuitry to produce a cellular sensing element, which detects the target compound and relays the detection to specific synthesis of so-called reporter proteins (the presence or activity of which is easy to quantify). Bioassays with bacterial reporters are a useful complement to chemical analytics because they measure biological responses rather than total chemical concentrations. Simple bacterial reporter assays may also replace more costly chemical methods as a first line sample analysis technique. Recent promising developments integrate bacterial reporter cells with microsystems to produce bacterial biosensors. This lecture presents an in-depth treatment of the synthetic biological design principles of bacterial reporters, the engineering of which started as simple recombinant DNA puzzles, but has now become a more rational approach of choosing and combining s nsing, controlling and reporting DNA 'parts'. Several examples of existing bacterial reporter designs and their genetic circuitry will be illustrated. Besides the design principles, the lecture also focuses on the application principles of bacterial reporter assays. A variety of assay formats will be illustrated, and principles of quantification will be dealt with. In addition to this discussion, substantial reference material is supplied in various Annexes. Table of Contents: Short History of the use of Bacteria for Biosensing and Bioreporting / Genetic Engineering Concepts / Measuring with Bioreporters / Epilogue


The proposed Earth Clouds And Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) satellite mission is at joint European and Japanese program. The EarthCARE mission is focused on investigating the interactions between clouds, aerosol and long and short-wave atmospheric radiation. The proposed platform instruments include a lidar and a cloud profiling radar along with various passive sensors. The use of circular polarization is being considered for the EarthCARE lidar. This consideration may turn out to have particular advantages with regards to the ability to discriminate water and ice layers on the basis of the depolarized return. In particular, for EarthCARE the use of circular depolarization would reduce the amount of depolarization signal induced by multiplescattering processes in water clouds.


This article calls for colleges and schools of education to become more market-responsive to the specific needs of urban school districts. The authors warm of the emergence of "corporate universities" effecting the education training sector. A balance must be developed between what professors want to teach and what students need to learn as both groups face increased complexities in urban settings. The Public Policy and Practice Problem In an era when graduates from programs in educational administration are entering the increasingly competitive marketplace of education, it will become pointedly more critical for schools and colleges of education to respond to the surrounding market and create automatic (and measurable) systematic linkages between the public-subsidized universities and the constituent school districts. This is particularly paramount in the state's urban center and metropolitan venues. Public educators, in Florida as well as the rest of the U.S., are now facing, with the emergence of competitors to reach their tax-paying clients. These competitors range from voucher advocates to charter school enthusiasts; and private entrepreneurs to parochial school leaders. And, of course, the acceleration of "virtual high schools." The Paradox at Precedent In the corporate sector, there is a profound escalation of "corporate universities" as the result, in part, of schools and colleges of business failing to meet the required needs of the corporate sector. Like educational institutions, they too, exist in an increasingly competitive market and they must produce the measurable results to sustain that existence. Corporate universities grew from 400 ten years ago to 1600 today, and 90% have gone to virtual offerings of courses online. Ninety-two percent of large corporations plan web-based training in 1999, according to Buckman Laboratories, Inc. This only reinforces earlier findings referenced by Shane (1987) in Teaching and Learning in a Microelectronic Age. In a survey of 200 companies, 75% indicated that they found it essential to provide classes in remedial education to high-school graduated workers. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1985) in U.S. News and World Report has also reported that nearly eight million adults were in training programs funded by business. Although theses sources are somewhat dated, there is substantial evidence and widespread agreement that this condition has not recessed; but rather, progressed in business and industry. More recently, Linkage, Inc. estimated that corporations of all sizes will invest more than $60 million in external corporate training at a time when their higher education counterparts continue, in part, to remain steadfast with academic tradition and conventional methods to instructional program delivery. The Paralleling Analogy This shift could occur in the education sector, particularly in Florida, if business continues to be conducted "as usual." We, too, must produce results that yield progress and success of our outcomes. That is, learning outcomes that produce higher test scores and improved student achievement. The transformation in the corporate sector could serve as a prototype for what is to come in Florida and the rest of the U.S. As highlighted by colleagues in Florida, "the state enters the next century with educational attainment in the lowest quartile of the fifty states . …


Purpose- The principal focus of this research paper is to investigate and comprehend the factors explaining green purchase behaviors in Islamic countries viz Pakistan and Jordan and compare their green behaviors. The second facet of the research is to test the moderating effect of environmental knowledge on hypothesized model of the green purchase intentions in Islamic environments.Design/methodology/approach-The constructs employed for the research have been taken from previously developed and used in research studies. A pilot survey of 30 respondents was conducted to check the reliability of the constructs. The hypothesized model was developed on the basis of literature and tested through correlation analysis followed by regression to see the moderating role of environmental knowledge. Findings- The findings of the research reveal that the Green Purchase Intentions are influenced by Price and Quality of Products, Perceived Threat to Local and Global Environment, Past Environmentally Friendly Behaviors of the consumers. The moderating role of environmental knowledge was also confirmed, however the degree of moderation was stronger for P&Q and EK in both Pakistan and Jordan vis-a-vis other predictor variables.Research Limitations/implications- The current research has been conducted with limited sample size of 301 both from Pakistan and Jordan, the future research should be conducted with larger sample size to generalize the results. The future research endeavors should also focus on the specific green products to make the findings more reliable and valid. For sake of parsimony, the theoretical framework encompasses few predictor variables and palpably discounts some other predictors of criterion variable under study.Practical implications- Among the Antecedents of green purchase intentions under study, Price and Quality of products posit significant influence on eco-behaviours of consumers in both the Islamic countries. Therefore managers must take note of the Price and Quality dimension of the Green Products to imbibe the Green purchase behaviors. Originality/value- This is the pioneer paper that compares the green purchase behaviors of Islamic countries viz Pakistan and Jordan with the moderating effects of Environmental Knowledge.


Information System (IS) plays a lot of important roles in today's life. It
helps many organizations in performing their business operations. The
implementation of IS in healthcare industry has evolved rapidly compared to
a decade ago. The use of healthcare information system has increased the
need of IS audit practices in the healthcare industry in order to provide
patients with better, effective and efficient services. However, the role of IS
auditor in such a critical industry needs to be clearly defined. With the
demand of IT usage in this industry, the telemedicine facility was introduced
in Malaysia a few years back and a Telemedicine Act was introduced in
1997. This research seeks to determine the role played by IS auditors in
healthcare industry and to determine the state of telemedicine practice in the
healthcare industry in Klang Valley and Federal Territory (Kuala Lumpur and
Putrajaya) regions. The primary data were collected via interviews and
questionnaire survey. 30 hospitals within the survey regions were identified.
However, only 12 hospitals answered the questionnaire while another 4
hospitals agreed to be interviewed. The remaining 14 did not respond to the
research project for various reasons. Analysis carried out and the findings
indicated that the main roles IS auditors play in healthcare industry are
generally advisory and consultancy roles. Another significant contribution
from IS auditor was seen to be that of providing security diagnostics. Other
than that, based on the 16 respondents, the research indicated that the
current state of telemedicine practices in Klang Valley and Federal Territory
regions is extremely low. Reasons are such as small company, no
requirement for it, or waiting for the success of government projects.


This study analyses the opportunities and challenges presented by agricultural insurance instruments in the deepening of financial services in rural areas in Mesoamerica. It outlines a public policy framework to guide the decision-making process. It concludes that, in order to support the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in the light of increasing trade liberalization and natural hazard risks, agricultural insurance should be at the forefront of the set of financial instruments to be developed.


In the era of progress and technology development, organizations in order to accelerate the delivery of services, reduce costs, and gain customer satisfaction seek to fulfill these goals through the development of information technology and appropriate organizational structure and QaemShahr municipality is not an exception. In this study, the organizational structure is the combination of the complexity, formality, and centralization and the ICT as a part of an organizational system that is impressive in the effectiveness of the activities is taken into consideration. This study is an applied research adopting a descriptive method. Following this, 100 people from QaemShahr municipality were participated in the study of whom 80 staff were elected as the sample size. To collect the data for examining the relationship between ICT and organizational structure, a researcher-made questionnaire with 0.86 Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Stephen Robins standard questionnaire to assess the organizational structure were used. To analyze the data, SPSS software was used for inferential statistics. The results indicated that ICT had impact on organizational structure and among the three dimensions of the structure, formality had the highest level of significance with ICT. There is no significant difference in awareness of ICT among women and men as well as the impact of ICT on the organizational structure at different levels in QaemShahr municipality.


This article investigates the problem behind the protracted crisis of how hospitality ought to be understood and practised in the urbanised and pluralistic congregations of Zambian Society ("the problem of hospitality"). The focus is not only on the Zambian context, but explores in general the traditional African way of life. The activities of the early missionaries, colonialism and the incompetence of independent African states are discussed with particular emphasis on their role in communal life and hospitality. It reveals that in the aftermath of colonialism and of the missionary era, where African traditional patterns were disrupted, the traditional communalism and hospitality were distorted. The article therefore argues that Africans are at a crossroads, and the resulting effects are uncertainty, disillusionment and despair. Both religious and philosophical worldviews are now developed along the lines of cultural idolatry, that is, culture is emphasised above God. Consequently, there is a defective and deceptive view of life in relation to others, as can be noticed in the problem of the practice of hospitality among Zambians. Thus the article proposes practical guidelines for a relational response within pastoral ministry as an approach to addressing the challenge of hospitality.


BACKGROUND
Chronic alcohol consumption leads to oxidative stress in a variety of cells, especially in brain cells because they have a reduced oxidative metabolism of alcohol. Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are anion channels of the inner mitochondrial membrane, which can decouple internal respiration. "Mild uncoupling" of the mitochondrial respiratory chain leads to a reduced production of free radicals (reactive oxygen species) and a reduction in oxidative cell stress. The extent to which chronic alcohol consumption regulates UCP-2 and -4 in the brain is still unknown.

METHODS
We examined the effects of a 12-week 5% alcohol diet in the brain of male Wistar rats (n = 34). Cerebral gene and protein expression of UCP-2, -4, as well as Bcl-2, and the release of cytochrome c out of the mitochondria were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot analysis. The percentage of degenerated cells was determined by Fluoro-Jade B staining of brain slices.

RESULTS
Brains of rats with a chronic alcohol diet showed an increased gene and protein expression of UCP-2 and -4. The expression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 in the brain of the alcohol-treated animals was decreased significantly, whereas cytochrome c release from mitochondria was increased. In addition increased neurodegeneration could be demonstrated in the alcohol-treated animals.

CONCLUSIONS
Chronic alcohol consumption leads to a cerebral induction of UCP-2 and -4 with a simultaneous decrease in the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2, cytochrome c release from mitochondria and increased neurodegeneration. This study reveals a compensatory effect of UCP-2 and -4 in the brain during chronic alcohol consumption.


A novel dual-band internal antenna similar in size to the single-band internal antenna for cellular handsets is proposed. Our approach to realize a small and low-profile dual-band internal antenna is to use the dominant mode (TM10 mode) and the higher-order mode (TM30 mode). In order to use this approach for recent dual-band cellular systems it is necessary to lower the resonant frequency of the higher-order mode (TM30 mode). This motivated our development of a new antenna configuration with a slot on the radiation element of a quarter-wavelength shorted microstrip antenna to lower the resonant frequency of the TM30 mode. In this paper, the experimental and the analytical results for this antenna are presented. In the results, by adjusting the location and the length of the slot, the dual-frequency operation can be achieved with the frequency ratio (TM30 mode/TM10 mode) from 2 to 3. In addition, the enhancement of bandwidth is presented. key words: dual-frequency, dual-band, microstrip antenna, slot


The ECMWF OCEAN5 system is a new global eddy-permitting ocean-sea ice ensemble reanalysisanalysis system. This Technical Memorandum gives a full description of the OCEAN5 system, with the focus on its Behind-Real-Time (BRT) component, the reanalysis product ORAS5. The OCEAN5 Real-Time (RT) component includes all upgrades developed for ORAS5 and runs daily using the latest observations and forcing fields from the operational Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). ORAS5 includes 5 ensemble members and covers from 1979 onwards. Compared to ORAS4, the ocean model resolution has been increased to an eddy-permitting resolution (0.25◦) in the horizontal and a near-surface resolution of 1 m in the vertical. ORAS5 also includes a prognostic thermodynamic-dynamic sea-ice model with assimilation of sea-ice concentration data. Both observation data sets and forcing fields have been updated as well. An important novelty in ORAS5 is a generic ensemble generation scheme for perturbing both observations and forcing fields. Other upgrades include revisions to the ensemble-based spin-up and a-priori bias correction scheme. Assessment of ORAS5 and sensitivity experiments suggests that all system components contribute to an improved ocean analysis state, with directly assimilation of temperature and salinity in-situ data as the most influential term. Compared to ORAS4, ORAS5 also shows improved ocean climate variability in terms of Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and sea-level when verified against independent observation data sets. The SST biases in the Gulf Stream region remain large in ORAS5 though, which is associated with a misrepresentation of front positions and overshoot of the northward transport of the Gulf Stream.


Chemical treatments were recently shown to be very effective in enhancing the exciton emission of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (1L-TMDs) by suppressing the exciton quenching caused by structural defects. However, the effects of these chemical treatments varied greatly depending on the synthesis method and the type of 1L-TMD; therefore, the exact origin of the emission enhancement is still elusive. Here we report the spatially heterogeneous effects of bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (TFSI) and benzyl viologen (BV) treatment on the optical properties of triangular 1L-WS2 grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Nanoscale photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectral maps showed that TFSI had a minimal effect on the inner region of the triangular WS2 grain, whereas the PL of the edge region was enhanced up to 25 times; further, BV reduced the PL, also more strikingly in the edge region. Systematic variation of the spectral weights among neutral excitons, trions, and bi-excitons indicated that p-doping and n-doping with TFSI and BV, respectively, occurred in both the inner and edge regions; however, the PL enhancement was attributed mainly to the reduction of structural defects caused by TFSI treatment. Our observation of the spatially heterogeneous effects of chemical treatment suggests that the inner and edge regions of CVD-grown 1L-WS2 are populated with different types of structural defects and helps in clarifying the mechanism by which chemical treatment enhances the optical properties of 1L-TMDs.


Moringa oleifera gained importance as a medicinal plant. The current study assesses Moringa leaf ethanol extracts (MLE) against experimentally diclofenac sodium (DcNa)-induced liver toxicity in male rats. Leaves were extracted with different solvents differing in polarity. Assessment involved total phenolic compounds, total flavonoids and radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH·). HPLC was performed for identifying phenolic compounds, wherein ethyl vanillin (1,205 mg/kg), 3-OH-tyrosol (812.2 mg/kg), benzoic acid (273.8 mg/kg), salicylic acid (240.0 mg/kg), chlorogenic acid (233.3 mg/kg) and 3,4,5-methoxy-cinnamic acid (172.5 mg/kg) were measured. Fifty animals (each treatment group consisted of 10 rats) were subjected to five treatments and the experiment lasted for 4 weeks. Animals were exposed to DcNa (100 mg/kg) and two doses of MLE as well as silymarin (an antioxidant flavonoid C25 H22 O10 ) for 4 weeks. Liver marker enzymes, including alkaline phosphatase, alanine transaminase, and aspartate transaminase as well as urea, uric acid, and creatinine were increased. Serum albumin and total protein decreased in DcNa-treated rats. Homogenates nitric oxide increased in liver tissue of the DcNa-treated rats, while the activity of each of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione, and catalase decreased. It could be concluded that MLE in both doses and silymarin are considerably hepatoprotective with antioxidant activity (AOA) against DcNa-induced hepatotoxicity in rats. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Administration of MLE caused improvements in kidney functions and acted as antioxidant enzymes as compared with silymarin (as a reference drug). AOA was exhibited by MLE in vivo, and this would have a positive effect against oxidative liver damage caused by DcNa. Plasma membrane was protected and the regenerative and reparative capacity of liver increased by phenolics in the MLE. The study demonstrated the MLE hepatoprotective activity and recommends using M. oleifera leaves for the treatment of liver disorders.


All experts agree on the importance of subcontracting. The high impact of subcontractors on the construction process means that the selection of subcontractors is a sensitive activity. Previous investigations documented the selection of subcontractors based on criteria but did not consider the number of subcontracted tasks. This paper explores allocating the best portion of tasks to subcontractors while optimizing the risk and cost in the fixed project schedule. The study's main finding demonstrates that subcontractor selection without attention to the order allocation is not a realistic approach; therefore, a hybrid model that applies continuous ant colony and fuzzy set theory is proposed.


On May 12, 2005, the inaugural meeting of the American Dental Education Association Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education (ADEA CCI) was convened. Comprised of thought leaders representative of dental education and practice, the ADEA CCI published groundbreaking white papers that effectively helped bring dental education across the threshold of the 21st century. Twelve years later, a new ADEA CCI has been convened-ADEA CCI 2.0. The ADEA CCI 2.0 is a broad-ranging, strategically interconnected, flexible, and multifarious community of stakeholders situated within and across all facets of oral health education and practice. Whereas the first iteration of the ADEA CCI made the case for change regarding revisions of the dental curriculum and learning environment, the ADEA CCI 2.0 will focus on external domains that are having a global impact on the content and delivery of health care and health professions education and, ultimately, how health care benefits people. The principal work of the ADEA CCI 2.0 will be to create educational and implementation resources and opportunities for dental educators to contemplate, investigate, and ultimately define the future needs of their academic dental institutions in this constantly changing world.


The higher education sectors are constantly moving towards the incorporation of explicit measures of the outcomes of their activities. It is especially important in the context of distance education to address the issues of being accountable to the society. This paper presents the comparative study of the dimensions of outcome indicators employed by the distance learning institutions at the Asian region. By means of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, the relative importance of the outcome indicators from teaching, research, consultancies as well as cultural and social activities were analyzed in an attempt to understand the differences among the perceptions of outcomes employed by these institutions in the region as well as important issues about the topic. When quantifying and qualifying Distance Education and Continuous Education interaction, perceptions may be less than reliable. In a study comparing distance education' perceptions of interaction (as compared with observations of their interaction), Sorensen and Baylen (2000) noted that students accurately noted that: across-site interaction was very low, that within-site interaction was very high, that interaction changes with instructor location, that remote site students participate less, and that group activities increase interactions. However, students perceived that less interaction occurred over time (when, in fact, interaction increased), and that technology inhibits interaction (when, more accurately, it seems to create different patterns of interaction. The OU provides university education to those wishing to pursue higher education on a part-time and/or distance learning basis, including people with health disabilities, who are officially a priority group for the university; nearly 13,000 OU students have health disabilities. The British Government has also tasked the Open University to continue the work of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) when it was dissolved. The CNAA formerly awarded degrees at the polytechnics which have since become universities. Keywords-Distant Education; Open University (OU); synchronous learning; asynchronous learning.


Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) plays an important role in controlling immune and inflammatory responses. Recent studies have demonstrated that activation of PPARγ reduces airway hyper-responsiveness and activation of eosinophils that are increased by induction of asthma. We have used a mouse model of asthma to determine the role of PPARγ in the regulation of the pulmonary immune response, more specifically in the involvement of immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-10. Administration of PPARγ agonists or adenovirus carrying PPARγ cDNA (AdPPARγ) reduced eosinophilic airway inflammation and airway hyper-responsiveness. Expression of PPARγ was increased by ovalbumin inhalation, and the increase was further enhanced by the administration of PPARγ agonists or AdPPARγ. The increased IL-10 levels in lung tissues after ovalbumin inhalation were further increased by the administration of rosiglitazone, pioglitazone, or AdPPARγ. Levels of IL-4, IL-5, and ovalbumin-specific IgE were also increased after ovalbumin inhalation, and the increased levels were significantly reduced by the administration of the PPARγ agonists or AdPPARγ. The results also showed that inhibition of IL-10 activity with anti-IL-10 receptor antibody partially restored the inflammation. These findings suggest that a protective role of PPARγ in the pathogenesis of the asthma is partly mediated through an IL-10-dependent mechanism.


This paper was mainly based on a literature review and focused on control of emissions and on thermal comfort conditions in office buildings. The ultimate goal was to identify optimal conditions for both human health and work productivity in office room environments. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) was to be achieved at low emission rates and correct indoor air temperature. Different ventilation and air conditioning strategies were evaluated and compared. Both energy and environmental aspects were considered. Analyses were made for emission rates of various indoor sources such as outdoor pollution, construction materials, furnishings, office-equipment and consumer products.


Agricultural producers are allowed to use the cash method of accounting for calculating income for federal and state tax purposes. This causes inevitable and numerous differences between taxable farm income and accrual farm income. For the most part, farm financial statements are not prepared in a way that recognizes the impact these differences have on tax liability, earnings, and net worth. Recognizing the amount of the estimated deferred tax liability and its' possible impact on your operation are part of the analysis of every year's business.


At a time when scientific and technical innovation now requires a multitude of heterogeneous inputs and expertise from the public and private sectors alike, cooperative research centers (CRCs) have emerged as the predominant vehicle for cross-sector collaboration. In the U.S. alone, there are thousands of CRCs on university campuses, and agencies like the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and more recently the Department of Energy fund CRCs to address some of the nation's most formidable challenges with science and technology, including cancer and other diseases, terrorism surveillance and the detection of weapons of mass destruction, and new energy technologies and smart energy grid development. Industry oftentimes participates in CRCs for access to knowledge, capacity development, and to mitigate risk. This volume includes research investigating CRCs from North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia to explore the dynamics of CRCs, including but not limited to resource allocation, structure, level of sponsorship, organization and membership, management and operations, objectives and goals, and in doing so identifies both differences and similarities across institutional and national contexts. The volume sheds light on the role of CRCs in promoting innovation, S&T policy, and economic development, and on the practical aspects of successful CRC management. Moreover, the works included in the volume consider the implications for the various stakeholder groups (firms, universities, researchers, students, policymakers) invested in CRCs.


Background  Increases in Australia's life expectancy have slowed since 2003. Within this context, it is important to analyse whether socio-economic and geographic inequalities in premature mortality have changed in recent years.
Aim  The aim is to measure the extent of and change in inequalities in premature mortality (under 75 years) by area socio-economic status and remoteness in Australia from 2006-16.
Data and methods  This study uses Australian death registration data from 2006-16. We identify area socio-economic quintile (Q1 lowest to Q5 highest) and remoteness (major cities, inner regional, outer regional/ remote/very remote) for each decedent. Age-standardised death rates (ASDR) at ages 35-74 and 0-34 years are calculated and smoothed over time.
Results  ASDR decline at ages 35-74 years has slowed markedly, and from 2011-16 Q1 ASDRs stagnated. The Q1:Q5 ASDR ratio for females rose from 2011-16 for males (1.97 to 2.11) and females (1.78 to 1.98), and also widened in the Q2:Q5 and Q3:Q5 comparisons for females. ASDRs outside major cities stagnated from 2011-16 and inequalities compared with major cities widened to be 40% higher in 2016. ASDR declines at 0-34 years were quicker than for 35-74 years and inequalities widened slightly.
Conclusions  Slowing declines in premature mortality in Australia are accompanied by substantial and widening socioeconomic and geographic inequalities. Without reductions in mortality in lower socio-economic groups and outside capital cities, future life expectancy growth in Australia will likely be hampered.


For the last twenty years, the consumption of poultry meat has boomed in Vietnam as in the rest of the developing world. Capital-intensive production has grown rapidly to satisfy this demand. Based on a few numbers of genetically uniform strains, these systems threaten biodiversity. In Vietnam, both rural and urban households still keep indigenous chickens as part of a diversified livelihood portfolio. In line with the national in situ conservation strategy, this study approached the context of local poultry keeping in two rural and one suburban districts of Northern Vietnam. It aimed at understanding households' willingness, constraints and opportunities for practice improvement, including breeds' management. As the Ri chicken constitutes the large majority of backyard flocks, two particular objectives of this study are the morpho-biometriccharacterisation of phenotypic diversity among individuals classified as Ri by farmers and an assessment of their productive potential. Chicken was found to hold a different place in livelihoods of the three districts with consequenceson the managementof genetic resources. The most favourable conditionsfor improvement of the Ri breed was found in the rural district of Luong-Son, due to market integration. In the more remote district of Ky-Son, living standards were lower and much would be gained from Ri conservation. Ri breed was the most threatened in the suburban Gia-Lam district, where poultry was a minor side-activity, lacking incentive for genetic management. From motives and constraints, tracks about breeding goals are suggested. Further considerations about conservation, improvement, market integration and livelihoods are proposed.


Death, The One and the Art of Theatre is the latest collection of Barkers distinctive and revelatory philosophical musings on theatre. It is a stunning array of speculations, deductions, prose poems and poetic apercus that casts a unique and unflinching light on the nature of tragedy, eroticism, love and theatre. Exploring the juncture between aesthetics and metaphysics, the book looks at the human experience of love and death as life at its most intrinsically theatrical. Howard Barker is an internationally renowned playwright whose works are regularly produced throughout Europe and the US. He is widely known for his controversial explorations into contemporary tragedy and his anti-Brechtian focus on the irrational and the catastrophic. He is often credited as a major influence on the generation of playwrights that includes Sarah Kane. Death, The One and the Art of the Theatre is a profoundly unsettling and inspiring piece of writing and extends the challenge to orthodox morality that Barker first presented in Arguments for a Theatre, a challenge he describes as men and womens secret longing for the incomprehensible nature of pain.


This article was created with the aim that readers can find out about educational supervision. supervision is the effort of school officials in leading teachers and other officials in improving teaching, including stimulating, selecting the growth of positions and teacher development and revising educational goals, teaching materials and teaching methods and evaluations


This cost-benefit analysis study considered energy-efficiency measures in low-cost housing, primarily standard 30 m 2 Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. The three packages of interventions that improve the thermal performance of the houses (ceilings, roof and wall insulation, windows and partitions) were found to be economically attractive both from a national and a household perspective. The net benefits from the whole package for a standard RDP home is about 10 per cent of the value of the housing subsidy provided by the government. The same interventions applied to informal housing appear more costly because the lifespan of shacks is taken to be five years. Row houses are particularly attractive, although their social acceptability requires further study. Compact fluorescent lamps and solar water heating are also attractive because of the energy savings they deliver. Apart from saving money, all these measures improve the quality of life of households by increasing comfort and decreasing indoor air pollution. Although the measures have a net social benefit, it does not mean that poor people can afford them. Energy-efficiency measures tend to have high capital costs, while the benefits are spread over many years. With their high discount rates, consumers are often not able to wait for future savings, nor do they have access to capital for investment. Based on our analysis, however, a capital subsidy of between R1 000 and R2 000 (not the full capital cost) is all that would be required to make these measures attractive to poor households across a range of regions and income groups. The no-cost measures of northern orientations: climatically correct window size and placement, as well as the appropriate wall and roof colour have a thermal running cost and environmental impact.


A lithium-tagged salt for assessing the sources of salt in the human diet was prepared by fusing lithium carbonate and sodium chloride at 900 degrees C followed by grinding and sieving the fused salts to a defined grain size; magnesium carbonate was added as a hygroscopic agent. To validate the use of this tagged salt, which replaced alternately table salt and cooking salt in daily use, a 44 day metabolic study was conducted on five volunteers. Measurements of sodium and lithium balance throughout the study showed that 93% of both dietary sodium and dietary lithium were excreted in the urine and 1.7% of dietary lithium and 2% of dietary sodium in the faeces. Collections of sweat for 48 h at intervals throughout the study showed that only 1.7% of dietary lithium and 1.4% of dietary sodium were recovered in sweat. Thus both elements were excreted equivalently by the three main routes. The apparent mean sodium retention over the whole period of dietary control was 7.4 +/- 4.4 mmol/day or 3.4% of the total intake. The excretory patterns of lithium after a period of lithium ingestion were exponential, thus allowing a method to be developed for the prediction of total lithium output from a shorter period of urine collection. This study suggests that the lithium method is suitable for epidemiological use to measure the sources of dietary salt.


Important corrections to BFKL evolution are obtained from non-leading contributions and from non-linear effects due to unitarisation or saturation. It has been diffcult to estimate the relative importance of these effects, as NLO effects are most easily accounted for in momentum space while unitarisation and saturation are easier in transverse coordinate space. An essential component of the NLO contributions is due to energy conservation effects, and in this paper we present a model for implementing such effects together with saturation in Mueller's dipole evolution formalism. We find that energy conservation severely dampens the small-x rise of the gluon density and, as a consequence, the onset of saturation is delayed. Using a simple model for the proton we obtain a reasonable qualitative description of the x-dependence of F-2 at low Q(2) as measured at HERA even without saturation effects. We also give qualitative descriptions of the energy dependence of the cross section for gamma*gamma* and gamma*-nucleus scattering.


A qualitative process evaluation of five Intensive Alternative to Custody (IAC) pioneer areas was undertaken to assess implementation of IAC, identify approaches to implementation and capture the lessons learnt. The findings indicated that many of the persistent offenders (those with at least 29 prior convictions) targeted by pilots were positive about the IAC order. Although intensive, it provided order and stability, allowing them to move away from a criminal lifestyle. Sentencers welcomed the order as a viable alternative to custody. Probation staff and partners were equally positive about its efficacy. Only one in four IAC orders were revoked because requirements were breached, which suggests that the pilots had managed to engage many of the offenders.


The main challenge in an effort to build a realistic system with context-sensitive inference capabilities, beyond accuracy, is scalability. This paper studies this problem in the context of a learning-based approach to context sensitive text correction ‐ the task of fixing spelling errors that result in valid words, such as substituting to for too, casual for causal, and so on. Research papers on this problem have developed algorithms that can achieve fairly high accuracy, in many cases over 90%. However, this level of performance is not sufficient for a large coverage practical system since it implies a low sentence level performance. We examine and offer solutions to several issues relating to scaling up a context sensitive text correction system. In particular, we suggest methods to reduce the memory requirements while maintaining a high level of performance and show that this can still allow the system to adapt to new domains. Most important, we show how to significantly increase the coverage of the system to realistic levels, while providing a very high level of performance, at the 99% level.


This paper examines reception practices of contents spread through the Portuguese newsmagazines "Sabado" and "Visao", exploring, in particular, the way young audiences understand, interpret and position themselves in relation to representations of women who hold political posts. The thematic analysis conducted on the data resulting from a sequence of focus group discussions shows that participants tended to prefer readings that were aligned with traditional gender ideology. Despite occasional moments of negotiation, contestation and resistance, the results indicate that most participants did not critically problematize the role of the media in the gendered (re)construction of social reality, supporting instead the reification of the male-political-public and female-personal-private triads. Moreover, participants rarely questioned the economic, socio-cultural and political factors that exert influence on the news production. Informed by a feminist perspective, this study therefore highlights the need to empower the audiences in relation to the gender assumptions that the news media have spread and to reflect about the impact of the media representations on the (re)configuration of the public sphere.


This chapter describes a study on teachers' perceptions of the coaching role in innovative secondary vocational education in the Netherlands. Data from 109 teachers were collected by means of an online questionnaire, asking for their associations with the coaching role, goals concerning the coaching role, and typical coaching activities. Using multiple correspondence analysis, it was explored whether underlying dimensions could be found in teachers' perceptions of the coaching role. Relations between teachers' perceptions of the coaching role and background variables were also explored. The outcomes revealed that dominant themes in the teachers' perceptions were promoting and supporting students' meta-cognitive skills, creating a positive learning and working atmosphere, and guiding and actively supporting students. Two underlying dimensions regarding the perceptions of the coaching role could be detected. The extremities of these dimensions were interpretable in terms of learning environment and learning process on the one dimension, and general development and domain-specific development on the other. Teachers' background variables were not significantly related to their perceptions of the


There has been a significant amount of research investigating the relationship between sample disturbance and laboratory test results in soft soils. As a result of this research, the general rule adopted is that using larger specimens results in less sample disturbance. When testing these larger specimens in the laboratory, the results are more representative of in situ behavior of the materials. In contrast, there has been relatively little corresponding research performed on hard soils whose behavior typically lies on the boundary between rock and soil. Extensive unloading in hard soils, from sampling, results in large suctions (negative pore pressures) and the formation of fractures that are uncharacteristic of the material in its natural state. This poses the question of whether the use of small specimens would produce more reliable laboratory results. This paper investigates the following two hypotheses within the context of oedometric testing: (1) testing smaller diameter specimens will produce results more representative of the in situ behavior of the material, and (2) an aspect ratio of 2.5 may reduce disturbance to the specimen during preparation are tested. The results of this testing program, including the intact material properties, and a characterization of the compression behaviour of clay shale from the Bearpaw Formation is also presented herein. Results show that a reduced specimen size, when working with a hard clay shale, minimizes the effect of disturbance and produces results that are the most representative of the intact material. Decreased specimen size also aids in determining preconsolidation pressure by not only reducing the disturbance to the sample resulting from unloading, but also by enabling these high stresses to be achieved in conventional testing equipment. Two criteria from the literature were used to assess disturbance within the oedometer specimens. Overall, the methods provide a good baseline of assessing disturbance, however, there is less gradation to the quality of a specimen in a hard soil. Parameters Cc and σ′p were sensitive to sample disturbance, however, other parameters such as cv and K were less dramatically affected by disturbance. Therefore, care must be taken when assessing the compression of a hard soil as failing to achieve sufficiently higher stresses and the presence of disturbed specimens may lead to misleading Cc and σ′p values.


A practical, hands-on approach to power distribution system reliability As power distribution systems age, the frequency and duration of consumer interruptions will increase significantly. Now more than ever, it is crucial for students and professionals in the electrical power industries to have a solid understanding of designing the reliable and cost-effective utility, industrial, and commercial power distribution systems needed to maintain life activities (e.g., computers, lighting, heating, cooling, etc.). This books fills the void in the literature by providing readers with everything they need to know to make the best design decisions for new and existing power distribution systems, as well as to make quantitative "cost vs. reliability" trade-off studies. Topical coverage includes: Engineering economics Reliability analysis of complex network configurations Designing reliability into industrial and commercial power systems Application of zone branch reliability methodology Equipment outage statistics Deterministic planning criteria Customer interruption for cost models for load-point reliability assessment Isolation and restoration procedures And much more Each chapter begins with an introduction and ends with a conclusion and a list of references for further reading. Additionally, the book contains actual utility and industrial power system design problems worked out with real examples, as well as additional problem sets and their solutions. Power Distribution System Reliability is essential reading for practicing engineers, researchers, technicians, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students in electrical power industries.


This study of e-government in Vietnam goes to the heart of the modernization process in a developing country and transitional economy. Governments around the world have rushed towards e-government, but the majority of e-initiatives have failed in both developing and developed countries. The thesis explores the particular challenges facing contemporary public administration in a single-party state as it tries to implement effective e-government projects. It examines the reasons why Vietnam initiated ambitious e-government projects, critical factors in the e-government implementation process and the changes that e-government initiatives have brought or might bring to public administration in Vietnam. The study proposes a holistic model of e-government implementation. The model is developed from earlier theoretical and empirical studies on e-government implementation. While e-government has been widely recognized as an important force that has great potential to transform government bureaucracy, increase public accountability, enhance government transparency and reduce corruption, the implementation of e-government projects has proved problematic. Internationally, government leaders have had to rethink how they use information and communications technology (ICT) because the complex nature of e-government implementation has made initial targets unachievable. While the model of e-government implementation developed in the thesis applies in the first instance only to Vietnam, it may help analysis of e-government implementation in other developing countries. Vietnam began its e-government initiatives during a period of general public administration reform. However its first initiatives failed dramatically. There was a huge waste of state resources and opportunities. Further, despite reforms in public administration, citizens and the business community in Vietnam have continued to be troubled by corruption, cumbersome procedures and ineffectiveness in the state apparatus. In this context, the study of key factors in e-government implementation is critically important. The study uses a case approach and qualitative methods. Three case studies are presented. The first focuses on a national initiative to improve Customs administration in Ho Chi Minh City, one of the busiest ports for business in Vietnam. However, since it is local governments that interact directly with citizens, two province-level locations, Ho Chi Minh City and Daklak Province, were chosen to conduct two further case studies. Two-stage interviews, archival studies and the author's interactions with key leaders in both central and local governments supplied a significant amount of the evidence on which the analysis is based. The research findings are that Vietnam initiated its e-government initiatives mainly because of its ambition of the reformists to reform public administration following the transition to a market-based economy and pressure from processes of international economic integration. A group of four factors proved to be critical in e-government implementation: state capacity, ICT infrastructure and human capital, the specific context of the local governments studied, and international donors and lending agencies. Overall, relationships between party and state in a one-party state and how these affected the exercise of government power constrained capacity to implement e-government. Finally, the thesis argues that changes brought by e-government to current public administration are limited to specific impacts on communications and service delivery in particular government agencies. Redesign of public sector structures, business processes and management principles remains rare. The thesis makes an important contribution to the sparse international literature on e-government implementation and public administration, especially in developing countries and in transitional economies. It is hoped that the implications from the study are of value to the government of Vietnam, international development agencies and other developing countries.


This paper presents a rigorous, unified framework for facilitating communication between mathematics systems. A mathematics system is given one or more interfaces which offer deductive and computational services to other mathematics systems. To achieve communication between systems, a client interface is linked to a server interface by an asymmetric connection consisting of a pair of translations. Answers to requests are trustable in the sense that they are correct provided a small set of prescribed conditions are satisfied. The framework is robust with respect to interface extension and can process requests for abstract services, where the server interface is not fully specified.


Sixteen California Cabernet Sauvignon wines were chosen to represent a spectrum of vegetal aroma characteristics. Sensory analysis by descriptive analysis profiling and experts' groupings of the wines by similarity of aroma were completed for the wines. All wines were found to be significantly different from one another for all aroma terms rated by the descriptive panel, including the vegetal terms eucalyptus, bell pepper, olive, and cooked vegetable. The expert winemakers/enologists sorted the same wines into groups by three different similarity criteria: first, by similarity according to their own individual criteria; second, by intensity of vegetal aroma; and third, by intensity of sulfur defects. Comparison of the results from descriptive analysis and the expert panel sorting data revealed similarities in the classification of vegetal aromas for these wines regardless of the criteria used for sorting. Methoxypyrazines, typically associated with vegetal aromas, were also measured for these wines and were not correlated with any of the descriptive terms, suggesting that other classes of aroma compounds contribute to the vegetal aromas in wines. The results indicate a more complex interrelationship between chemical composition and sensory perception of vegetal aromas in Cabernet Sauvignon wines than had previously been hypothesized.


The Faraday Discussion on the design of new heterogeneous catalysts took place from 4-6 April 2016 in London, United Kingdom. It brought together world leading scientists actively involved in the synthesis, characterisation, modelling and testing of solid catalysts, attracting more than one hundred delegates from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experience levels - academic and industrial researchers, experimentalists and theoreticians, and students. The meeting was a reflection of how big of an impact the ability to control and design catalysts with specific properties for particular processes can potentially have on the chemical industry, environment, economy and society as a whole. In the following, we give an overview of the topics covered during this meeting and briefly highlight the content of each presentation.


A revolution (in the legal sense of the term) occurs when chains of legal dependence rupture - causing one legal system to be replaced by a different and incommensurable legal system. For example, before the French Revolution chains of legal dependence ultimately led to Louis XVI, but after this revolution they led to the National Assembly (or the people of France it represented). The very possibility of revolutions depends upon laws being structured into legal systems in this fashion. And yet, despite substantial academic interest in revolutions, there has been a reluctance to examine the structure that makes them possible. The goal of this Article is to begin to fill this gap by examining six mistakes in reasoning about revolutions that occur when the structure of legal systems is ignored. My discussion focuses on concrete examples of these mistakes, drawn from a wide variety of sources, including the writings of Akhil Amar, the Supreme Court of Pakistan's 1958 decision in State v. Dosso, the jurisprudence of John Austin, and recent criticisms of Bush v. Gore.


Preface Chapter 1. Introduction to ITHINK 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Static, comparative static, and dynamic models 1.3 Model components 1.4 Modeling in ITHINK 1.5 The detailed modeling process Chapter 2. Modeling of Dynamic Business Systems 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Making the organization more manageable-systems and processes 2.3 Creating and using a model 2.4 Structural complexity-a market share model 2.5 Complexity due to random variation-an order control process 2.6 Further benefits of dynamic modeling 2.7 Organization principle of this book Chapter 3. Measuring Process Performance 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Financial measures of performance 3.3 The basic profit model 3.4 The role of time, borrowing, and lending 3.5 Choosing among alternatives 3.6 Optimizing at the level of the firm 3.7 Issues with financial measures 3.8 Beyond process output measures 3.9 The process model approach Chapter 4. Single-Step Processes 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The basic process model and Little's Law 4.3 Queuing systems 4.4 Transient queuing behavior 4.5 Further modeling with queuing systems Chapter 5. Multistep Serial Workflow Processes 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Modeling multistep processes in ITHINK 5.3 Specifying models/modeling objectives 5.4 An uncoupled process-an order handling process 5.5 A tightly coupled process-a fast food restaurant process 5.6 Other configurations Chapter 6. Multistep parallel workflow processes 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Parallel queuing models-designing a checkout system 6.3 Resource implications-the fast food restaurant revisited 6.4 Telephone call center model-balking 6.5 Machine repair model 6.6 Batching-a laboratory analysis model Chapter 7. The Supplier Interface: Managing Risk 7.1 Introduction 7.2 First-moment managers 7.3 Second-moment managers 7.4 Third-moment managers7.5 Fourth-moment managers Chapter 8. Customer Interface 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The basic Make-to-Stock model-controlling the inventory level 8.3 The Make-to-Order process- customer interface Chapter 9. The Tradeoffs between Quality, Speed, and Cost 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Model development 9.3 The tradeoffs 9.4 Coping with uncertainty Chapter 10. Modeling Supply Chains 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Introduction to the Beer Game 10.3 The Beer Game model 10.4 Further analysis of the Beer Game model 10.5 Modifications to the basic model 10.6 Using the Beer Game model in game mode Chapter 11. The Dynamics of Management Strategy: an Ecological Metaphor 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Hierarchy in nature 11.3 A model demonstrating the hierarchical nature of an expanding business Chapter 12. Modeling Improvement Processes 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Learning curves 12.3 Modeling an improvement process 12.4 Model results 12.5 Other types of learning curves Appendix A. Modeling Random Variation in Business Systems A.1 Introduction A.2 The uniform distribution A.3 The triangular distribution A.4 The normal distribution-common cause process variation A.5 The exponential distribution-equipment failure times A.6 The Poisson distribution-modeling defects in products A.7 The pass/fail and binomial distribution-product failures A.8 Bimodal distributions-parallel process flows A.9 Custom distributions A.10 The relative comparison of random variation Appendix 2. Discussion of the Actual Profiles for the Examples of Chapter 2 Appendix B. Economic Value Added Appendix C. Derivation of Equations 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4 Appendix 8A Optimization Techniques for the Customer Interface Model Index


The childhood obesity epidemic is an urgent public health problem. The most recent data available show that nearly 19 percent of boys and about 15 percent of girls aged 2-19 are obese, and almost a third of U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese (Ogden et al., 2012). The obesity epidemic will continue to take a substantial toll on the health of Americans. In the midst of this epidemic, children are exposed to an enormous amount of commercial advertising and marketing for food. In 2009, children aged 2-11 saw an average of more than 10 television food ads per day (Powell et al., 2011). Children see and hear advertising and marketing messages for food through many other channels as well, including radio, movies, billboards, and print media. Most notably, many new digital media venues and vehicles for food marketing have emerged in recent years, including Internet-based advergames, couponing on cell phones, and marketing on social networks, and much of this advertising is invisible to parents.The marketing of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages is linked to overweight and obesity. A major 2006 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) documents evidence that television advertising influences the food and beverage preferences, requests, and short-term consumption of children aged 2-11 (IOM, 2006). Challenges and Opportunities for Change in Food Marketing to Children and Youth also documents a body of evidence showing an association of television advertising with the adiposity of children and adolescents aged 2-18. The report notes the prevailing pattern that food and beverage products marketed to children and youth are often high in calories, fat, sugar, and sodium; are of low nutritional value; and tend to be from food groups Americans are already overconsuming. Furthermore, marketing messages that promote nutrition, healthful foods, or physical activity are scarce (IOM, 2006). To review progress and explore opportunities for action on food and beverage marketing that targets children and youth, the IOM's Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention held a workshop in Washington, DC, on November 5, 2012, titled "New Challenges and Opportunities in Food Marketing to Children and Youth."


Moving towards label-free technologies is essential for many clinical and research applications. Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool in the field of biomedicine for label-free cell characterisation and disease diagnosis, owing to its high chemical specificity. However, Raman scattering is a relatively weak process and can require long acquisition times, thus hampering its integration to clinical technologies. Multimodal analysis is currently pushing the boundaries in biomedicine, obtaining more information than would be possible using a single mode and overcoming any limitations specific to a single technique. Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a rapid and label-free quantitative phase imaging modality, providing complementary information to Raman spectroscopy, and is thus an ideal candidate for combination in a multimodal system. Firstly, this thesis explores the use of wavelength modulated Raman spectroscopy (WMRS), for the classification of immune cell subsets. Following this a multimodal approach, combining Raman spectroscopy and DHM, is demonstrated, where each technique is considered individually and in combination. The complementary modalities provide a wealth of information (both chemical and morphological) for cell characterisation, which is a step towards achieving a label-free technology for the identification of human immune cells. The suitability of WMRS to discriminate between closely related neuronal cell types is also explored. Furthermore optical spectroscopic techniques are useful for the analysis of food and beverages. The use of Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy to successfully discriminate between various whisky and extra-virgin olive oil brands is demonstrated, which may aid the detection of counterfeit or adulterated samples. The use of a compact Raman device is utilised, demonstrating the potential for in-field analysis. Finally, monodisperse and highly spherical nanoparticles are synthesised. A short study demonstrates the potential for these nanoparticles to benefit the techniques of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy and optical trapping, by way of minimising variability.


The new dispensation in South Africa necessitated a paradigm shift at the National Terminology Services (NTS). Being part of the Central Government, the NTS has to implement policy as laid down by the government of the day. Former policy, processes and products are described as well as the vision and objectives for the future. The NTS plays a vital role in the implementation of the Reconstruction and Development Program, as no communication is possible without terminology and no development or empowerment can take place without communication. The NTS has the infrastructure and knowledge to facilitate the development of the indigenous South African languages. Problems originating from the implementation of multilingual terminography are discussed, as well as strategies being implemented to overcome them. Finding a new Terminology Management System able to handle the documentation of the 11 official languages has high priority. As the client base of the NTS has broadened with the addition of more official languages, products have to be adapted, changing terminology needs have to be taken into account, and the accessibility of terminology has to be improved. The NTS hopes to contribute towards the promotion of mutual scientific and technical communication in South Africa in this way.


Web page classification has attracted increasing research interest. It is intrinsically a multi-view and semi-supervised application, since web pages usually contain two or more types of data, such as text, hyperlinks and images, and unlabeled pages are generally much more than labeled ones. Web page data is commonly high-dimensional. Thus, how to extract useful features from this kind of data in the multi-view semi-supervised scenario is important for web page classification. To our knowledge, only one method is specially presented for this topic. And with respect to a few semi-supervised multi-view feature extraction methods on other applications, there still exists much room for improvement. In this paper, we firstly design a feature extraction schema called semi-supervised intra-view and inter-view manifold discriminant (SI2MD) learning, which sufficiently utilizes the intra-view and inter-view discriminant information of labeled samples and the local neighborhood structures of unlabeled samples. We then design a semi-supervised uncorrelation constraint for the SI2MD schema to remove the multi-view correlation in the semi-supervised scenario. By combining the SI2MD schema with the constraint, we propose an uncorrelated semi-supervised intra-view and inter-view manifold discriminant (USI2MD) learning approach for web page classification. Experiments on public web page databases validate the proposed approach.


In this groundbreaking study, Crista DeLuzio asks how scientific experts conceptualized female adolescence in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Revisiting figures like G. Stanley Hall and Margaret Mead and casting her net across the disciplines of biology, psychology, and anthropology, DeLuzio examines the process by which youthful femininity in America became a contested cultural category. Challenging accepted views that professionals "invented" adolescence during this period to understand the typical experiences of white middle-class boys, DeLuzio shows how early attempts to reconcile that conceptual category with "femininity" not only shaped the social science of young women but also forced child development experts and others to reconsider the idea of adolescence itself. DeLuzio's provocative work permits a fuller understanding of how adolescence emerged as a "crisis" in female development and offers insight into why female adolescence remains a social and cultural preoccupation even today.


Famous for his masculine swagger and gritty roles, American cultural icon Clint Eastwood has virtually defined the archetype of the tough lawman. Beginning with his first on-screen appearance in the television series "Rawhide" (1959--1965) and solidified by his portrayal of the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "Dollars" trilogy (1964--1966), he rocketed to stardom and soon became one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood. "The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood" examines the philosophy and psychology behind this versatile and controversial figure, exploring his roles as actor, musician, and director. Led by editors Richard T. McClelland and Brian B. Clayton, the contributors to this timely volume discuss a variety of topics. They explore Eastwood's arresting critique and revision of the traditional western in films such as "Unforgiven" (1992), as well as his attitudes toward violence and the associated concept of masculinity from the Dirty Harry movies (starting in 1971) to "Gran Torino" (2008). The essays also chart a shift in Eastwood's thinking about the value of so-called rugged individualism, an element of many of his early films, already questioned in "Play Misty for Me" (1971) and decisively rejected in "Million Dollar Baby" (2004). Clint Eastwood has proven to be a dynamic actor, a perceptive and daring director, as well as an intriguing public figure. Examining subjects such as the role of civil morality and community in his work, his use of themes of self-reliance and religious awareness, and his cinematic sensibility, "The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood" will provide readers with a deeper sense of Eastwood as an artist and illuminate the philosophical conflicts and resolutions that drive his films.


In this work we consider an ad-hoc audio conferensing system based on VoIP services in which the participants connect to the conference using mobile communication devices with wireless connectivity. To overcome possible quality problems in the wireless link, we propose improvements to the existing conferencing systems. Some networking modifications are suggested to increase the channel capacity and robustness from the conference server to multiple clients. On the other hand, for the improvement of the uplink quality, we suggest a new spatial error concealment method, where a backup device captures and sends the audio signals to the server together with the primary device. In the server the lost frames from the primary channel are estimated based on the backup signal. Several methods for estimating the primary signal based on the backup signal are studied. The results of the methods are evaluated by a psychoacoustic error metric based on Zwicker's loudness model. An informal subjective test is also performed to compare the results of these methods in order to chose one for implementing on the real- time conferencing setup. Both objective and subjective tests show consistent results and confirm that usage of spatial error concealment improves significantly the audio quality in the primary signal.


With the increasing emphasis on dependability in complex, distributed systems, it is essential that system development can be done gradually and at different levels of detail. We propose an incremental treatment of faults as a refinement process on object-oriented system specifications. An intolerant system specification is a natural abstraction from which a fault-tolerant system can evolve. With each refinement step a fault and its treatment are introduced, so the fault-tolerance of the system increases during the design process. Different kinds of faults are identified and captured by separate refinement relations according to how the tolerant system relates to abstract properties of the intolerant one in terms of safety, and liveness. The specification language utilized is object-oriented and based upon first-order predicates on communication traces. Fault-tolerance refinement relations are formalized within this framework.


The urinary tract, in dog, is found in the abdominal and pelvic cavity, having as components the kidneys and the urinary ways (ureters, uriary bladder and urethra). The urinary tract is affected by a series of serious problems, as incontinence, bacterial infections, neoplasia, obstruction, lithiasis. The urinary tract can be examined from a functional point of view (genera and organ signs), as well as from physical approach, each segment in its own (through general and complementary methods - cathererism, radiologic examination and ultrasound examination).


The authors examined the perspectives of African American boys on topics related to culturally responsive teaching, cultural discontinuity, and differential treatment. Participants in focus group interviews were 19 elementary and middle school students identified as having emotional and behavioral disorders or chronic behavior problems. Transcripts of the taped interviews were coded and analyzed for common themes. Students described good and caring teachers as those who provided assistance to them, did not give up on them, made them behave, and helped them stay out of trouble. The students' beliefs about the importance of earning respect from their peers, the importance of standing up for themselves in physical and verbal challenges, and the lack of reliance on teachers to resolve conflicts are not consistent with expected school behaviors and put the students at risk for conflicts and misunderstandings. Attitudes toward academic achievement varied by school, with students from one of the middle schools saying their peers valued achievement and students from the other two schools reporting peer pressure not to achieve academically. Students reported being treated differently because of their label, reputation, and race. Involving students and their perspectives in developing culturally responsive schools are discussed as well as implications for teachers and school personnel.