Abstract This study compared the effects of the pilot version of a conceptually organized (C-O) history textbook, Understanding U.S. History, (Carnine, Crawford, Harniss, & Hollenbeck, 1994) and a widely used, traditional, topically organized (T-T) textbook, American History (Garraty, 1982). The pilot version of the C.O textbook presented content more conceptually and also provided multiple means, such as graphic organizers and integrative review questions, to assist student's learning of history information. Subjects were 81 eighth-graders in four intact United States history classes. Two teachers each taught one class using the pilot C-O text and another using the T-T text, effectively preventing teaching methods from becoming a confound. Student learning was measured by both a choice and a performance (essay) measure. Students using the pilot C-O textbook did significantly better on the choice measure than did the students who were using the T-T textbook even though the questions were drawn from the T-T text. The e ssay exam required students to explain the background for a primary source historical document. Posttest essays showed no difference between treatment conditions. Overall poor performance on the essay exam was hypothesized to be a result of an inadequate amount of content review and a lack of instruction in expository writing skills. Student interviews indicated generally favorable attitudes toward the pilot version of the C-O text, centering on ease of comprehension. Textbooks are the predominant pedagogical tools used to teach in content areas such as U.S. history. Numerous studies report 75% to 90% of classroom instruction is organized around textbooks (Tyson & Woodward, 1989). Despite this fact, current textbooks have been criticized for their poor organization. Critics contend, publishers attempt to cover all the topics that might be valued by the teachers with a resulting mass of content so great that it ends up being abbreviated almost to the point of incomprehensibility (Tyson-Bernstein, 1988). Without room to explain the context of the historical facts, American history textbooks can not present historical information in a coherent fashion (Kinder and Bursuck, 1991). Parker (1989) has aptly dubbed the resulting textbook content as a "parade of facts approach" (p.40). Students become overwhelmed with the quantity of material to be learned. In fact, Kinder and Bursuck (1991) argued that, "Good students may come to view their task as one of learning many details ... less able students may come to view their task as simply impossible" (p. 271). In addition to the "parade of facts" most textbooks are "inconsiderate" of their readers because of poor writing (Armbruster and Anderson, 1985). The serious and pervasive shortcomings of conventional textbooks have caused many teachers to abandon textbooks all together. This movement is clearest in reading and language arts, with the adoption of trade books, but is also surfacing in science, with hands-on learning. Calls for various alternatives to social studies textbooks have been heard (Kobrin, Abbott, Ellinwood, & Horton, 1993), including the use of trade books (Fuhler, 1992; Guzzetti, Kowalinski, & McGowan, 1992). E.D. Hirsch (1996), although agreeing with the criticism of many textbooks, has gone on to caution, But the alternative to textbook instruction, in the form of hands-on, project style teaching, has been shown to be highly ineffective. One must be careful, therefore, to distinguish between a justified attack on bad textbooks and an attack on the carefully focused teaching of subject matter through good textbooks. The most effective subject-matter learning is often achieved through the use of well-written, well thought-out textbooks. (p. 269). Carnine (1991) suggested that an alternative position to abandoning textbooks altogether is to dramatically redesign textbooks to make them more effective and efficient teaching tools. …


Abstract We report the occurrence of the oldest known multi-chambered trochospiral, planispiral and planispiral/uniserial foraminifera from the Lower to Middle Cambrian deposits in Nova Scotia (Canada). Morphologically, these forms closely resemble modern marsh foraminifera. If these are in fact similar or the same as present marsh foraminifera, their apparent lack of morphological evolution, and the agglutinated and complex multichambered nature of these foraminifera suggest that: 1) these organisms must have some unique characteristics favoring the development of a successful assemblage that appears to have survived to the present, 2) complex chamber arrangements started to develop before 500 Ma, and 3) either these forms are the ancestors to all multi-chambered foraminifera–including the calcareous foraminifera which are the dominant foraminiferal group today – or there was parallel evolution where these went undetected for 200 m.y. when the next occurrence of these chamber arrangements is reported. Similar foraminifera have been found in Carboniferous and younger deposits where it is clear these were associated with ancient marshes. These fill some of the time gap between the Cambrian forms and modern marsh species.


Summary 1. We measured the breakdown rate of tussock grass in 12 New Zealand streams in catchments that provided a gradient of agricultural development. We also examined the microbial and invertebrate communities associated with decomposing tussock litter.

2. Pristine streams in the study had low concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen ( 2500 μg L−1) and phosphate (35 μg L−1), as well as greater amounts of suspended sediment and fine sediment covering the streambed.

3. Breakdown rate and microbial respiration were significantly related across the sites, and both were positively related to concentrations of nitrate and phosphate. Fungal biomass, measured as ergosterol, was positively related to microbial respiration and was also higher at sites with higher concentrations of nutrients. Total and shredding invertebrates were most abundant at the sites with high nutrient concentrations, but abundance of shredding invertebrates was not significantly related to breakdown rate. Amphipods were the most common shredding invertebrate at most sites, but probably did not contribute greatly to high rates of breakdown in streams in agricultural catchments.

4. With the exception of one site, nutrients from agricultural development appeared to have larger positive effects on litter breakdown than negative effects from sedimentation. Litter breakdown can serve as a functional measure of ecosystem health in streams, but caution should be exercised when a stress, such as land use, can have both positive (nutrients) and negative (sedimentation) effects.


Coccolithophores are a unique group of calcifying phytoplankton that dominate pelagic biogenic calcification and facilitate carbon export. Changes in coccolithophore calcite production through changes in their abundance, species distribution or cellular calcification could affect the oceanic carbon cycle. Ocean acidification, global warming and future changes in nutrient and light conditions might affect coccolithophore populations. This study investigated the relationships between coccolithophore distribution and calcification and environmental factors, between the North Sea and the Arctic Ocean and in the Southern Ocean. Large gradients in carbonate chemistry and other variables provided insights into coccolithophore response to concurrent changes in the future ocean. Freshwater inputs and biological processes were driving the carbonate chemistry changes in the surface waters of the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Svalbard Arctic region. Even though biological processes seemed to play a major role in shaping the saturation state (calcite) and pH of these regions, the carbonate chemistry of the freshwater sources (Baltic Sea, sea-ice melt, riverine input/ terrestrial runoff) was also important and had accentuated the effects of biological activity. A multivariate approach showed that changes in pH and mixed layer irradiance explained most of the variation in coccolithophore distribution and community composition between the North Sea and Svalbard. Differences between the Svalbard population (dominated by the family Papposphaeraceae) and those from other regions were mostly explained by pH, whereas mixed layer irradiance explained most of the variation between the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Arctic water assemblages. Estimates of cell specific calcification rates showed that species composition can considerably affect community calcification. At Drake Passage, the coccolithophore community was dominated by Emiliania huxleyi B/C. Diversity and abundance were highest in the Subantarctic and Polar Frontal Zones, respectively, where temperature and mixed layer irradiance were high. Community and cell specific calcification, as well as coccolith production rates, showed an overall decreasing trend towards Antarctica and were correlated with the strong latitudinal gradients in temperature and calcite and anti-correlated with nutrient concentrations. Additionally, coccolith production rates and cell specific calcification were also correlated with mixed layer irradiance. Coccolithophore calcification rates at Svalbard and at Drake Passage were low compared to other oceanic regions. At Svalbard, the low calcification rates were the result of very low abundances of species that have both a low (e.g. Papposphaeraceae) and high (e.g. Coccolithus pelagicus) calcite content. At Drake Passage low calcification rates were the result of low to moderate abundances of E. huxleyi B/C, which has a low calcite content. The results of this study suggest that changes in future pelagic calcite production may result from physiological changes acting on single species and/or from shifts in the species composition of coccolithophore assemblages, as well as poleward biome migrations induced by ocean acidification, sea surface warming and stratification.


ABSTRACT/RESUME This paper compares the occupational and earnings attainments of male immigrants to Canada to those of native-born men to test explanations based on prejudice/discrimination, competitive market, and national origin-related productivity theories using data from the Public Use Microdata File of the 1991 Census of Canada. Although there is no indication that the returns to human capital among immigrants educated in Canada are any less than those received by the native-born majority, I do find that immigrants educated abroad receive lower returns to education in the form of both occupational status and earnings than the native born, as well as no returns to foreign labour market experience. A macro-level model could detect no effect of a measure of prejudice on the level of returns in the form of status points or earnings. I did, however, find a substantial effect of level of development of country of origin on earnings returns to postsecondary education among immigrants educated abroad. Dans cette communication l'auteur confronte les realisations professionnelles et de gains des immigrants masculins canadiens avec ceux des hommes de souche canadienne afin d'examiner les explications axees sur le prejuge et la discrimination, le marche concurrentiel et le rendement national selon l'origin du travailleur. Pour faire ceci il a eu recours aux donnees publiees dans les Fichiers de microdonnees a grande diffusion, Recensement du Canada, 1991. Quoiqu'il n'y aie pas de signe que le rendement au capital humain pour les immigrants formes au Canada est moins que celui pour les canadiens majoritaires de souche, l'auteur constate que les immigrants formes a l'etranger, quand ils obtiennent la meme annee de scolarite, sont moins recompenses en gains et statut professionnel par rapport a leurs homologues de souche canadienne. De plus, ces-premiers ne profitent pas de leur experience dans le marche etranger du travail. Un modele concu sur le microplan n'a pas decele un effet issu d'une mesure du prejuge sur la quantite du rendement en forme des gains et des points de statut. Neanmoins, l'auteur a bien constate un effet substantiel issu du niveau de developpement du pays d'origine en fonction de gains relatifs a l'education post-secondaire obtenue par les immigrants formes a l'etranger. As a nation founded by immigrants, Canada has continued to welcome newcomers in substantial numbers, and is, along with Australia, Israel, and the United States, one of the main immigrant-receiving nations of the world. As of the 1996 Census, 17.4% of Canada's population was born in another country, the largest percentage in more than fifty years. Are the opportunities afforded these immigrants in Canada's labour market equivalent to the opportunities of the Canadian-born, given equivalent human capital endowments? Or are the foreign-born relegated systematically to lower levels of the occupational structure and earnings distribution than would be warranted by their training and experience? The term 'discrimination' is normally applied by sociologists to this situation, though it is conceptually complex and notoriously difficult to measure (Evans and Kelley, 1991). In contrast, economists studying the phenomenon allude to discrimination only as a last recourse. (2) Instead, most favour either a neoclassical p osition that assumes that "rational" employers will not practice discrimination because it means that they must forego hiring cheaper minority workers and hence reduce their profits, or introduce additional variables to explain earnings differences between immigrant and native-born workers, such as changes in country of origin composition overtime, the self-selection of immigrants, or country differences in immigration policy (Borjas, 1994). Theories of Ethnic Inequality Prejudice/Discrimination Sociologists have typically assumed that, in the labour market, ethnic or racial prejudice on the part of employers, and sometimes workers, has produced discriminatory behaviour that restricts the opportunities of members of minority groups that are its object (see Evans and Kelley, 1991). …


This code implements a semi-quantitative mathematical model of the changes over time in the statistical distribution of well-being of individuals in a society. The model predicts that when individuals overvalue the more socially conspicuous aspects of well-being in their lifestyle choices, then the average well-being of the overall population may experience continuous decline. In addition to tradeoff cost and overvaluation, we identify statistical variation in individuals' well-being and turnover within the population as key factors driving negative trends. We investigate the influence of the effects of heterogeneity in the population, as well as economic and/or technological progress.


Over the past two decades, efforts by the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) to build a "socialist" rule of law through legal and judicial reforms have contributed to the vibrant constitutional politics in the country. During the process of amending the 1992 Constitution, the socialist theoretical foundations of the Constitution quietly shifted as a result of new thinking and values. The complex interactions of old and new ideological precepts were prominently reflected by the changing discourse of human rights during debates about amendments to the 1992 Constitution. This article investigates the development of the "socialist" rule of law and the changes taking place in the discourse of human rights during the constitutional reform process in Vietnam. In setting out the context and content of constitutional reform, it seeks to deconstruct the socialist rule of law and interpret the discourse of human rights accordingly. In doing so, the mechanisms by which human rights have been socialized will be unpacked to make sense of subtle changes in the human rights discourse. Furthermore, the paper aims to uncover the implications of such a change for the development of Vietnam's human rights regime.


The effect of traditional de-bittering methods on the mineral and anti-nutrient components of fresh and squeezed-washed bitter leaf was studied. Palm oil, Potash, Salt and boiling process was used in the squeeze-washing at 3 pre-processing methods of squeezewash and periods of 3 to 8 minutes. The percentage retention and losses of mineral and antinutrients increased simultaneously during squeeze-washing. Copper, magnesium, calcium and anti-nutrient had retention of 55 to 100% for samples squeezed-washed with palm oil than the other squeezewashed samples. This could be due to rigidity of the cells which did not allow much nutrients to leach into the squeezed leaf-water. Loss of minerals and antinutrients was observed to be influenced directly by the cause-and-effect of disintegration changes which usually leads to softening due to the severity of the squeeze-washing on the bitter leaf instead of cellular composition or level of minerals and anti-nutrients initially present. Palm oil should be used in the squeeze-washing of bitter leaf for better nutrient retention. KEYWORD: Anti-Nutrients, Bitter Leaf, De-Bittering, Mineral, Squeeze-Washing


A series of spinel compounds including LiCu0.25Co0.25Ni0.25Mn1.25O4 and LiMn2O4 were prepared by the sol–gel method using glycine, ethanol, and ammonia solutions. The structural and magnetic properties were examined by X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and electron spin resonance. The prepared powders have spinel-phase cubic structure with space group Fd3m. It is found that the Curie constant "Cp" and the effective magnetic moment "μeff" values decrease with the more metal doping. The electrochemical properties were characterized and found to be superior for the LiCu0.25Co0.25Ni0.25Mn1.25O4. It was observed that the Warburg impedance coefficient (?w) was 122 Ω.s-0.5 for LiCu0.25Co0.25Ni0.25Mn1.25O4 (sample B), which was lower than the value for LiMn2O4 (sample A), 819Ω.s-0.5. Also, the diffusion coefficient (D) values of the lithium ions diffusing into the bulk electrode materials were calculated. Sample B had a higher "D" value than sample A. The prepared multi-doped lithium manganate spinel material delivered a higher specific discharge capacity of ~150 mAhg-1 compared to 115 mAhg-1 for LiMn2O4 after 150 cycles.


The drainage density of a network is conventionally defined as (proportional to) the ratio of its total channelized length divided by the watershed area, and in practice, it is defined by the statistical distribution and correlation structure of the lengths of unchanneled pathways. In tidal networks this requires the definition of suitable drainage directions defined by hydrodynamic (as opposed to topographic) gradients. In this paper we refine theoretically and observationally previous analyses on the drainage density of tidal networks developed within tidal marshes. The issue is quite relevant for predictions of the morphological evolution of lagoons and coastal wetlands, especially if undergoing rapid changes owing, say, to combined effects of subsidence and sea level rise. We analyze 136 watersheds within 20 salt marshes from the northern lagoon of Venice using accurate aerial photographs and field surveys taken in different years in order to study both their space and time variability. Remarkably, the tidal landforms studied show quite different physical and ecological characteristics. We find a clear tendency to develop characteristic watersheds described by exponential decays of the probability distributions of unchanneled lengths, and thereby a pointed absence of scale‐free distributions which instead usually characterize fluvial settings. We further find that total channel length relates well to watershed area rather than to tidal prism, a somewhat counterintuitive result on the basis of dynamical considerations. Finally, we show that in spite of the apparent site‐specific features of morphological variability, conventional measures of drainage density appear to be quite constant in space and time, indicating a similarity of form. We show that such similarity is an artifact of the Hortonian measure. Indeed, important morphological differences, most notably in stream (or link) frequency reflecting the true extent of branching innervating the marshes and the sinuosity of tidal meandering, may only be captured by introducing measures of the extent of unchanneled flow paths based on hydrodynamics rather than topography and geometry.


This paper presents theoretical and experimental studies of the mechanical performance and magnetorheological effects of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) fabricated with mixtures of large and small particles. First of all, an effective permeability model was developed to theoretically analyze the MR effect of bimodal particle based MR elastomers. From the theoretical analysis, an optimum volume fraction was derived which resulted in enhanced MR effects. Two categories of iron products with different particle sizes of 50 and 5 µm were used to fabricate a series of bimodal MRE samples. Their mechanical performances were characterized by using an MR rheometer. Experimental results agreed fairly well with theoretical analysis. The theoretical prediction of the optimum mixture ratio between large and small size particles was experimentally verified.


Background : Spinal tuberculosis is one of the causes leading to damage to the spine, nerve roots, or spinal cord. Few studies have identified the risk factors of developing neurological deterioration in spinal tuberculosis patients. In order to take care of the patients promptly before developing paralysis, the risk factors of neurological deterioration in these patients should be identified. Methods: The demographics and clinical characteristics of the patients diagnosed with spinal tuberculosis at Srinagarind hospital between 1993 and 2013 were collected. These include; age, sex, local pain and tenderness, radicular pain, body temperature, bladder involvement, Cobb angle, neurological deficit, vertebral collapse, endplate collapse, signal cord change, posterior element involvement, paraspinal or epidural abscess, disk space involvement, levels of involvement, ESR, and CRP. Univariate analyses were used to identify individual risk factors. Multivariate analyses were used to adjust the effect of combined risk factors. Result: A total of 125 patients with spinal tuberculosis were categorized into two groups of 70 men aged around 55.7 (55.7± 2.0 years) and 55 women aged around (52.3± 2.4 years). According to univariate analysis, the risk factors for developing neurological deterioration were signal cord changes, Cobb (>30 degrees), radicular pain, and epidural abscess. Multivariate analyses found that the only one risk factor for developing neurological deterioration was signal cord change. Conclusion: The risk factor for developing neurological deterioration in spinal tuberculosis patients was signal cord change.


Attendees will be provided with a brief history/timeline of collegiate recovery as a field, through the lens of research (with a focus on the explosive growth in knowledge in the last decade). This initial presentation will be followed by a synopsis of the current state of collegiate recovery science, focusing on recent studies in the field (CRP alumni survey; meta-reviews; and any large impact studies published in the last year up to month of the conference). The session will end with a presentation on the directions for the future, making clear calls that not only does the research need to continue and in what suggested ways, but also serving to inspire students to engage in the process as they are our best hope to continue the work in innovative ways we haven't thought of. The current landscape of collegiate recovery research and recovery science overall. Additionally, attendees will be able to describe future directions for this type of inquiry.


Theoretical Framework This article builds on the work of youth development psychologists, social movements, critical class-race theory, and group theory. Arguably, youth have historically responded to external forces in part due to their sense of self worth and value. But their internal notion of possibilities and self worth is not the primary or sole force in moving youth to action. Rather, it is the relationship to the larger systemic elements (race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, nationality) that have created a climate of resistance (Ginwright, Cammarota, & Noguera, 2005). Historically, youth have participated in resistance movements throughout the world, from Tianmen Square, Native American Youth Movements, Anti-Apartheid Movements, and Anti-War movements, to name a few. This has been especially true for the African American community throughout time, particularly during the 1960s. Reverend Dr. Moses William Howard, Senior Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday, September 3, 2006, in his sermon entitled "Race" further asserts an example of the global impact of the African American liberation movement when in 1912 South Africa looked to the N.A.A.C.P. as a model for its own liberation movement. Additionally, "We Shall Overcome" has become the rallying song for freedom movements throughout the world. Black activism, Howard notes, was not about sit-ins or boycotts, these were the methods for the broader vision of redemption: "discovering human possibilities." The movement was about the "courage to live free" (1) to imagine the "what ifs." What if we had access to jobs, education, decent housing and the right to vote? The questions often asked by many participants of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements are, "What has happened to the voice of Black youth in the democratic process? Where are today's liberation fighters for freedom and justice?" There is a nostalgic, even romantic remembrance, of an era filled with youth led boycotts, sit-ins, walk outs and protests in the 1950s-1970s. The issues of poverty, racism, war, and sexism were taken up by young people. The African American community celebrated youth activism in schools, churches and civic organizations. Youth were on the forefront, fighting for social justice. However, today while the issues of poverty, racism, war, and sexism have not disappeared from the national, state, or local arenas, Black youth are seemingly silent when we compare their level of activism to their counterparts from the 1960s. Has young people's place in the democratic process simply become obsolete? Have youth today abandoned their political rite of passage? Do resistance movements and redemption take on different forms for today's African American youth? Have our youth stoped imagining possibilities? Or, have we overcome? This article will attempt to answer some of these question by placing African American youth activism in its present-day context. These new forms of activism will in some ways deviate from previous strategies utilized by youth but provide a fresh approach to resistance and activism in relationship to discovering their possibilities. James Baldwin in Contact (1984) said: One thing you always have to keep in mind is how little you can take for granted. When one talks about the sixties, for example, one tends to assume that everyone knows what you're talking about, but, in fact, many of them were hardly born yet when the sixties were going on. That means you have to rethink everything as if it happened in ancient Rome or Greece. (2) Baldwin's caution rightfully places the burden on the educators, community leaders and elders in ensuring that youth know their history and its meaning in present-day democratic struggles. There are several factors that must be examined as we consider African American youth resistance. Shawn Ginwright in "Toward a Politics of Relevance: Race, Resistance and African American Youth Activism" gives a poignant picture of the operating variables for our consideration when analyzing African American youth activism. …


Natural organic matter (NOM) plays a significant role in the fouling of ultrafiltration membranes in drinking water treatment processes. For a better understanding of the interaction between fractional components of NOM and polysulfone (PS) ultrafiltration membranes used for drinking water treatment, fouling and especially the physically irreversible fouling of natural organic matter were investigated. Resin fractionation, fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), contact angle and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) were employed to identify the potential foulants. The results showed that humic acid and fulvic acid of small size were likely to permeate the membrane, while the hydrophobic fraction of humic and fulvic acid and aromatic proteins tended to be rejected and retained. Organic compounds such as proteins, humic substances, and polysaccharide-like materials, were all detected in the fouling layer. The physically irreversible fouling of the PS membrane seemed to be mainly attributed to the hydrophobic fraction of humic substances.


Recent high-profile incidents of police misconduct have led to calls for increased police accountability. One proposed reform is to equip police officers with body worn cameras, which provide more reliable evidence than eyewitness accounts. However, such cameras may pose privacy concerns for individuals who are recorded, as the footage may fall under open records statutes that would require the footage to be released upon request. Furthermore, storage of video data is costly, and redaction of video for release is time-consuming. While exempting all body camera video from release would take care of privacy issues, it would also prevent the public from using body camera footage to uncover misconduct. Agencies and lawmakers can address privacy problems successfully by using data management techniques to identify and preserve critical video evidence, and allowing non-critical video to be deleted under data-retention policies. Furthermore, software redaction may be used to produce releasable video that does not threaten the privacy of recorded individuals.


AbstractThis paper focusses on the ethical and legal aspects of confidentiality for Canadian psychologists, with particular emphasis on clinical psychology. The concepts of confidentiality, privileged communication, and privacy are clarified. The law of privileged communication in Canada is presented. Ethical standards, provincial and federal legislation, and case law bearing on confidentiality in clinical practice are discussed. Issues of mandatory child abuse reporting, the duty to protect, informed consent, and third party and client access to records, are explored. Suggestions are made to the psychologist regarding the management of confidentiality. The helping relationship is the most fragile of all professional relationships. More than any other it requires the client to disclose intimate personal information. The confidentiality of the relationship has long been regarded as its cornerstone (Keith - Spiegel & Koocher, 1985). The area of confidentiality is complicated, however, by misunderstandings about the commonly used terms, confidentiality, privacy, and privilege (Keith - Spiegel & Koocher, 1985). Further, the ethical and legal requirements surrounding the topic of confidentiality have rarely been clarified, and never in the Canadian context.The purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical and legal aspects of confidentiality for Canadian psychologists, with particular emphasis on clinical psychology. Space limitations preclude covering all of the relevant issues. It is not possible, for example, to cover the literature relating to research, the educational system, or the prison system. Ethical standards related to confidentiality in clinical practice will be reviewed. The issue of confidentiality as it pertains to the areas of mandatory child abuse reporting, the duty to protect, informed consent, third party access, and client access to records, will be addressed. The issue of privileged communication in Canada will be reviewed. In addition, provincial and federal legislation, and case law bearing on the practice of psychology will be considered.Privacy, Privilege, and ConfidentialityPrivacy is a basic human right accorded to all Canadian citizens. It reflects the right of an individual to control how much of his or her thoughts, feelings, or other personal information can be shared with others (Keith - Spiegel & Koocher, 1985). Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) guarantees that "Everyonehas the right to life, liberty, and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice" (p. 260). Further, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec have all adopted privacy legislation: the Privacy Act of British Columbia (1979), the Privacy Act of Saskatchewan (1978), the Privacy Act of Manitoba (1987), and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (1977). Confidentiality and privilege developed from the individual's right to privacy. Privilege is a "legal term that describes the quality of certain specific types of relationships that prevent information, acquired in such relationships, from being disclosed in court or other legal proceedings" (Keith - Spiegel & Koocher, 1985, p. 58). Historically, privileged communication was applied to the solicitorclient relationship, and grew from the belief that discussions between a client and solicitor had to be protected in an adversial justice system, if justice was to be served (Picard, 1984). In those circumstances where a psychologist has been accorded privileged communication in court, he or she is required to retain the client's confidence, unless the client has waived the right to privilege, or has made mental status an element in legal proceedings. Confidentiality implies "an explicit contract or promise not to reveal anything about a client, except under circumstances agreed to by both source and subject" (Keith - Spiegel & Koocher, 1985, p. …


Objective: The present study was designed to investigate whether early detection of blood ketone bodies help in diagnosing Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and also to explore whether early changes in blood β-hydroxybutyrate is associated with serum electrolytes and acid-base abnormalities. Research Design and Methods: A total of 122 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients (age 39 ± 15 yrs and body mass index 20.3 ± 2.4 kg/m 2 , mean ± SD) were included in the study. Plasma glucose was measured by glucose oxidase method, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA 1C ) by high-performance liquid chromatography method, blood β-hydroxybutyrate by biosensor method; urinary acetone was measured by strip based on nitroprusside reaction. Serum urea and creatinine were measured by enzymatic method. Serum electrolytes were measured by ion sensitive electrode technique. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for urinary ketone method were calculated against the blood ketone. Results: The relative frequencies of DKA, using urinary ketone and blood ketone criteria, were 15.6% (19 out of 122) and 13.9% (17 out of 122), respectively. In contrast, 50% (61 out of 122) patients showed hyperketonemia. Using blood ketone as the reference method, the sensitivity of urinary ketone measurement was found to be 32.6% and specificity was 93.7%. PPV and NPV of urinary ketone against blood ketone were 73.68% and 71.84%, respectively. The DKA subjects, diagnosed by blood ketone criteria, showed significant biochemical derangements as compared to Non-DKA subjects [serum urea (P < 0.001), creatinine (P = 0.02), sodium (P < 0.001), potassium (P < 0.001), total carbon dioxide (P = 0.02), and osmolality (P = 0.02)]. Correlation analysis shows that electrolytes, blood gas, and acid-base status have highly significant correlation with blood ketone levels (Na + - r = −0.303, P < 0.001; K + - r = 0.449, P < 0.001; Mg 2+ - r = −0.174, P < 0.05; TCO 2 - r = −0.573, P < 0.001; venous blood pH- r = −0.659, P < 0.001, and osmolality- r = −0.273, P < 0.002). No such correlation was found with plasma glucose except that for serum sodium (r = −0.301, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Measurement of ketonuria by nitroprusside reaction has considerable limitations with an error of about 25-30% in detecting the ketonemic status of type 2 diabetic patients. The present data also demonstrated that severity of hyperketonemia, but not that of hyperglycemia, reflects the underlying biochemical derangements in type 2 diabetic patients better.


The efficacy, relative toxicity, residual toxicity and dissipation behaviour of imidacloprid and bifenthrin were evaluated against mustard aphid [Lipaphis erysimi (Kalt.)] during 2006-07 and 2007-08. Imidacloprid (RiBo 17.8 SL @ 20, 40 and 60 g ai/ha), bifenthrin (Marker 20 per cent EC @ 60, 80 and 100 g ai/ha) and deltamethrin (as standard check) (Decis 2.8 per cent EC @ 15 g ai/ha) were evaluated against mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kalt.) and was found effective in reducing the aphid population in comparision to control. The highest mortality of aphids and marketable yield was registered by imidacloprid @ 60 g ai/ha, while highest cost benefit ratio was found in imidacloprid @ 20 g ai/ha and proved sufficient to optimize the yield. The LC50 values were 0.00017 and 0.00015 for imidacloprid, 0.00152 and 0.00122 for bifenthrin, 0.00199 and 0.00134 for deltamethrin, after 24 and 48 hr of treatment, respectively. Imidacloprid was 8.93 times and bifenthrin 1.10 times more toxic than deltamethrin after 48 hr of treatment. For evaluation of persistence and residual toxicity of imidacloprid the mortality data were taken up to 48 hr, within different exposure periods of 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 days after application of insecticides. Based on the index of persistence toxicity, the order of effectiveness for the L. erysimi were imidacloprid @ 60 g a.i/ha (1014.23)> imidacloprid @ 40 g a.i/ha (931.37) > imidacloprid @ 20 g a.i/ha (820.41)> deltamethrin 15 g a.i/ha (707.93)> bifenthrin @ 100 g a.i/ha (659.76)> bifenthrin @ 80 g a.i/ha (611.12)>bifenthrin @ 60g a.i/ha (545.25). The dissipation behaviour of imidacloprid under field condition on Brassica rapa L. subsp. oleifera (toria) crop was studied in tender shoots and seeds. The initial deposits of imidacloprid @ 20, 40 and 60 g a.i /ha were 0.830, 1.126 and 1.280, respectively. Imidacloprid residues reached below its detectable level after 5th and 10th day of its application at lower and higher rates. The half life values were 1.44, 1.96, 1.67 days for imidacloprid @ 20, 40 and 60 g a.i/ha, respectively. Based on the observations, a waiting period of at least four days after imidacloprid application @ 20 g a.i/ha is considered safe from point of health hazards due to toxic effect of residues in leaves.


In 1980's, a new convention emerged in the economics profession - that central banks' primary, even sole, responsibility should be controlling consumer price inflation. By the 1990's, this view was gaining credibility in policy circles, and various countries mandated that their central banks make inflation their primary focus (generally with and escape clause in the event of a severe economic shock). Here in the United States, this orthodoxy never gained official status; rather, the U.S. policy goal remains promoting stable long-term growth using a variety of theoretical approaches. ; The recent problems in East Asia, as well as earlier difficulties in Japan, raise the question of whether such a concentrated focus on inflation became tunnel vision. Drawing on the crises in Japan and other Asian countries, with reference to comparable episodes in the United States, this article suggests that a preoccupation with inflation may have lulled policymakers and investors into ignoring useful signals from stock, real estate, and currency markets and from emerging imbalances in the real economy. Whether such imbalances would have been better addressed by monetary policy, or by improved disclosure, supervisory intervention, or tax policy, a broader perspective might have identified problems in Asia before they assumed such crippling proportions. ; This article concludes by suggesting that policymakers may want to look for signs of overheating emanating from asset markets and from emerging imbalances in the real economy, even when consumer prices are well behaved. Signs that high levels of debt may be financing increasingly optimistic investments warrant particular concern. The article also stresses the vulnerabilities that newly liberalized financial markets may introduce and the importance of measures that encourage the private sector to price risk more accurately and force it to bear the costs of international financial crises more fully. Overall, it advocates an eclectic approach to assessing economic performance.


Women are well represented in some academic fields but notably underrepresented in others, including many STEM fields. Motivated by studies that show collaboration is more attractive to women than men, we investigate whether female participation across academic fields is related to how collaborative those fields are. Using panel data for 30 academic fields from 1975 to 2014, we find that one additional author on the average paper published in a field is associated with an increase of 2.5 percentage points in the female share of PhD recipients. This estimate implies that about 30 percent of the observed rise in female share during our sample period can be attributed to increased collaboration.


The health of Indigenous Australians is poor compared to that of their counterpart Australians. Further, their health is worse by international standards. The Australian Government recently made a commitment to improving the health status of Indigenous Australians through the 'closing the health gap' initiative. Achieving this requires an improvement in the priority setting process through the use of evidence. Central to this is the need for a concept of 'benefit' from services that reflects the needs and aspirations of Indigenous Australians. The purpose of this paper is to develop an Indigenous-specific health metric that captures individual and community benefits for improving the priority setting process. A workshop-based approach identified four dimensions of benefit in Indigenous health: individual health gain, community health gain, equity and cultural security. The individual health gain dimension accounted for 42 per cent of the total perceived benefit from health care interventions, while the remaining three dimensions each weighted between 19 per cent and 21 per cent. The individual health gain had two sub-dimensions: a DALY consistent attribute and a non-DALY attribute. The DALY attributes were by far the most influential, but while the DALY as a measure of health gain in economic evaluation is desirable, alone it grossly underestimates the overall benefit from interventions in Indigenous health.


Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused by Mycobacterium bovis, is a chronic zoonotic disease where host genetics is thought to contribute to susceptibility or resistance. One of the genes implicated is the SLC11A1 gene, that encodes for the natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1). The aim of this study was to identify SLC11A1 polymorphisms and to investigate any resulting functional differences in NRAMP1 expression that might be correlated with resistance/susceptibility to M. bovis infection. Sequencing of the SLC11A1 gene in cDNA isolated from Brown Swiss, Holstein Friesian, and Sahiwal cattle identified five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding region, but only one of these (SNP4, c.1066C>G, rs109453173) was present in all three cattle breeds and therefore warranted further investigation. Additionally, variations of 10, 11, and 12 GT repeats were identified in a microsatellite (MS1) in the SLC11A1 3′UTR. Measurement of NRAMP1 expression in bovine macrophages by ELISA showed no differences between cells generated from the different breeds. Furthermore, variations in the length of the MS1 microsatellite did not impact on NRAMP1 protein expression as analyzed by luciferase reporter assay. However, further analysis of the ELISA data identified that the presence of the alternative G allele at SNP4 was associated with increased expression of NRAMP1 in bovine macrophages. Since NRAMP1 has been shown to influence the survival of intracellular pathogens such as M. bovis through the sequestering of iron, it is possible that cattle expressing the alternative G allele might have an increased resistance to bTB through increased NRAMP1 expression in their macrophages.


Battigalli and Siniscalchi (2002) formalize the idea of forward induction reasoning as "rationality and common strong belief of rationality" (RCSBR). Here, we study the behavioral implications of RCSBR across all type structures. Formally, we show that RCSBR is characterized by a solution concept we call Extensive Form Best Response Sets (EFBRS's). It turns out that the EFBRS concept is equivalent to a concept already proposed in the literature, namely Directed Rationalizability. (See Battigalli and Siniscalchi 2003.) We conclude by applying the EFBRS concept to games of interest.


The stability constants of the fluoride complexes of scandium are much higher than those of most other elements; in particular, with respect to the REE, these complexes are in general much more stable than it would be expected on the basis of the corresponding ionic radii only. Accordingly, the presence of fluorides should easily lead to differentiation between scandium and other elements, including the REE, at times giving origin to specific minerals; a similar behaviour can be expected for zirconium or other HFS elements, whose complexes with the fluoride ion are also very stable, and in general for other ligands, such as for instance the phosphate and carbonate ions. Therefore, rather than the specific properties of sites in crystal structures, the formation of complexes of different stability in the depositing solutions and their disruption may become instead fundamental in explaining the enrichment of these elements, and the consequent formation of particular minerals of unusual composition. The practical consequences of this possibility are supported by crystal-chemical considerations and by a number of examples observed in Alpine veins and in pegmatites.


The modern goals of insulin replacement in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T1, T2DM) are A1C <6.5% long-term, and prevention of hypoglycaemia (blood glucose, BG <70 mg/dl). In addition to appropriate education and motivation of diabetic subjects, the use of rapid- and long-acting insulin analogues, is critical to achieve these goals. The benefits of rapid-acting analogues (lispro, aspart and glulisine have similar pharmacodynamic effects) compared with non-modified human regular insulin, are: (a) lower 1- and 2-h post-prandial blood glucose; (b) lower risk of late post-prandial hypoglycaemia (and therefore lower BG variability); (c) better quality of life (greater flexibility in timing and dosing of insulin). In T1DM, rapid-acting analogues improve A1C only by the extent to which replacement of basal insulin is optimized at the same time, either by multiple daily NPH administrations, or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII), or use of the long-acting insulin analogues glargine or detemir. In T2DM, rapid-acting analogues reduce post-prandial hyperglycaemia more than human regular insulin, but systematic studies are needed to examine the effects on A1C. The benefits of long-acting insulin analogues glargine and detemir vs. NPH, are: (1) lower fasting BG combined with lower risk of hypoglycaemia in the interprandial state (night); (2) lower variability of BG. Glargine and detemir differ in terms of potency and duration of action. Detemir should be given twice daily in the large majority of people with T1DM, and in a large percentage of subjects with T2DM as well, usually at doses greater vs those of the once daily glargine. However, when used appropriately for individual pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, glargine and detemir result into similar effects on BG, risk of hypoglycaemia and A1C. Rapid- and long-acting insulin analogues should always be combined in the treatment of T1 and T2DM.


The real estate sector accounts for more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions and thus offers great potential for carbon abatement. Energy efficient and green buildings are rapidly transforming the commercial property sector, and institutional investors can benefit from that transformation through the value created by the greening of their real estate holdings. This article develops a global survey for property portfolios, measuring the environmental performance of listed property companies and private property funds. Based on the objective set of environmental survey data, we construct an environmental scorecard - the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark. The results reported in this article suggest that the environmental performance of the global property investment industry can be substantially improved. For institutional investors, the survey results and the scorecard metrics benchmark the current environmental performance of their property portfolio, and show the way to improving it.


In this thesis, we present novel software technology for the analysis of wireless networks, an emerging area of computer science. To address the widely acknowledged lack of formal foundations in this field, probabilistic model checking, a formal method for verification and performance analysis, is used. Contrary to test and simulation, it systematically explores the full state space and therefore allows reasoning about all possible behaviours of a system. This thesis contributes to design, modelling, and analysis of ad-hoc networks and randomised distributed coordination protocols. First, we present a new hybrid approach that effectively combines probabilistic model checking and state-of-the-art models from the simulation community in order to improve the reliability of design and analysis of wireless sensor networks and their protocols. We describe algorithms for the automated generation of models for both analysis methods and their implementation in a tool. Second, we study spatial properties of wireless sensor networks, mainly with respect to Quality of Service and energy properties. Third, we investigate the contention resolution protocol of the networking standard ZigBee. We build a generic stochastic model for this protocol and analyse Quality of Service and energy properties of it. Furthermore, we assess the applicability of different interference models. Fourth, we explore slot allocation protocols, which serve as a bandwidth allocation mechanism for ad-hoc networks. We build a generic model for this class of protocols, study real-world protocols, and optimise protocol parameters with respect to Quality of Service and energy constraints. We combine this with the novel formalisms for wireless communication and interference models, and finally we optimise local (node) and global (network) routing policies. This is the first application of probabilistic model checking both to protocols of the ZigBee standard and protocols for slot allocation.


This dissertation is submitted as part assessment for the M.A. in Teaching and Training Studies at the University of Central Lancashire. Its purpose is to assess how environmental education is organised in a cross section of Lancashire schools and how it could be developed. The question of whether a school can claim to provide a good environmental education without attending to its environmental performance is examined.
Information was gathered by three means; unstructured in erviing, a questionnaire and by examining three schools in greater detail. The main instrument, the questionnaire, achieved an 83 % response rate.
The major findings of the survey were:-
11.6% of primary schools in the sample have a written environmental policy
50.0% of secondary schools in the sample have a written environmental policy
58.2% considered that environmental education is integrated into the curriculum in their school
50.9% of all schools in the sample do have a nominated coordinator for environmental education.
The most worthwhile actions that a school can undertake to enhance its environmental performance are:
Development of school sites
Recycling projects
Sharing examples of good practice
Appointing an environmental, coordinator
Conducting a curricular audit
Developing partnerships with the local authority
Involving pupils in energy efficiency projects.
The dissertation examines the process of policy formation and develops a matrix to assist teachers who wish to design and implement an environmental policy to establish the current environmental position of the school.


The influence of fluctuations of the shape degree of freedom in collisions of deformed nuclei with energies between 0.8 and 2.1 GeV/nucleon is analyzed on the basis of an intranuclear cascade simulation for the strongly deformed systems $^{46}$Ti${+\mathrm{}}^{46}$Ti and $^{166}$Er${+\mathrm{}}^{166}$Er. While there is a considerable sensitivity of the global event variables to the orientation for polarized beams and targets, this dependence disappears in the average over all orientations for impact parameter selected and integrated events. The dependence of the nuclear stopping and thermalization on the size of the system under consideration and on the bombarding energy is also investigated.


Despite empirical observations suggesting that practitioners value the use of substitutions during soccer match-play, limited research has sought to substantiate such claims. This study used online surveys to assess the perceptions of practitioners within professional soccer about the use and practices of substitutes. Thirty-three practitioners completed one of two surveys (each requiring both open and closed questions to be answered), depending upon whether their primary role related mostly to tactical ('tactical practitioners'; n = 7) or physical ('physical practitioners'; n = 26) aspects of player/team management. Thematic content analysis of responses identified four higher-order themes: 'impact of substitutions', 'planning and communication', 'player preparation and recovery' and 'regulations'. Eighty-five percent of practitioners believed that substitutes are important in determining success during soccer match-play, with the primary justification being the perceived ability of such players to provide a physical and/or tactical impact. However, contextual factors such as the match situation, timing of introduction, and players undergoing adequate pre-pitch-entry preparation, may be important for realising such aims. Although many practitioners believed that there was a need for substitutes to engage in bespoke non-match-day preparations and recovery strategies that differ from starting players, logistical considerations, such as scarcity of resources, often limit their scope. Notwithstanding, 96% of respondents indicated that substitutes frequently perform extra conditioning sessions to account for deficits in high-speed running loads compared with players exposed to a longer period of match-play. Substitutes' pre-match warm-ups are typically led by team staff, however practitioners reported providing varying levels of input with regards to the practices adopted between kick-off and pitch-entry. Uncertainty exists as to the efficacy of current pre-pitch-entry practices, and 100% of practitioners highlighted 'preparatory strategies' as at least a 'moderately important' direction for future research. This study presents novel insights and highlights areas that are considered future research priorities amongst those working in the field.


Energy aware system operation, and not just low power hardware, is an important requirement for wireless embedded systems. These systems, such as wireless multimedia terminals or wireless sensor nodes, combine (soft) real-time constraints on computation and communication with requirements of long battery lifetime. In this paper, we present an OS-directed dynamic power management technique for such systems that goes beyond conventional techniques to provide an adaptive power vs. fidelity trade-off. The ability of wireless systems to adapt to changing fidelity in the form of data losses and errors is used to tradeoff against energy consumption. We also exploit system workload variation to proactively manage energy resources by predicting processing requirements. The supply voltage, and clock frequency are set according to predicted computation requirements of a specific task instance, and an adaptive feedback control machanism is used to keep system fidelity (deadline misses) within specifications. We present the theoretical framework underlying our approach in the context of both a static priority-based preemptive task scheduler as well as a dynamic priority based one, and present simulation-based performance analysis that shows that our technique provides large energy savings (up to 76%) with little loss in fidelity (<4%). Further, we describe the implementation of our technique in the eCos real-time operating system (RTOS) running on a StrongARM processor to illustrate the issues involved in enhancing RTOSs for energy awareness.


Phase pre-emphasis is theoretically studied and introduced to reduce peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) in optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. In intensity modulated (IM) systems, simulations show noticeable PAPR reductions: 4.14 dB (N = 16) and 15.48 dB (N = 512) in time lens-based OFDM, N is the number of subcarriers. An equation is developed to calculate phase values and is proved to be effective. Optical implementing methods are proposed and analyzed. In a time lens-based OFDM system, phase pre-emphasis reduces fiber nonlinearity and results in a 5.2-dB increase of launch power at the bit error rate (BER) of 10?6. Simulations also show similar PAPR reduction and fiber nonlinearity mitigation in optical inverse discrete Fourier transformer (OIDFT) based OFDM systems.


Agricultural mechanization can contribute to agricultural transformation. However, there is a need to find institutional solutions allowing smallholder farmers, who play a key role in agricultural development, to access tractors even though they cannot afford their own. Hire markets hold promise for this, but tractor owners are often reluctant to provide services to smallholder farmers because of high transaction costs. To address this problem, start-ups and tractor manufacturers have developed ICT applications that aim to help smallholder farmers access tractors. This model has been coined Uber for tractors, suggesting strong similarities with the Uber service for ride hailing. Although receiving much advance praise, these models have not been rigorously analyzed. Studying Hello Tractor (Nigeria) and EM3 Agri-Services (India), this paper assesses how such models address the challenges of agricultural markets, which are characterized by spatial dispersion, the concentration of demand around peak seasons, and high transaction costs, among other problems. This paper explores the extent to which such models can help to improve tractor utilization and access to services by smallholder farmers. The paper acknowledges the potential of ICT-based tractor hire but finds that many of the thornier challenges of agricultural markets – which urban ride-hailing markets do not face – have yet to be addressed. The paper also finds that analog solutions such as booking agents and phone calls still trump digital ones and highlights the need for a supportive environment such as building (ICT) literacy. Last, the paper suggests that the advantages of ICT-based solutions over more traditional ways of organizing service markets are more mixed than commonly assumed. In brief, while the Uberization of mechanization has appeal, such models are not the silver bullet they are often portrayed to be. More research is needed on how to make such ICT-based efforts work, and it is important not to neglect alternative solutions.


Objectives & Background Pulmonary Embolism (PE) in pregnancy remains one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in the developed world. However, there is a paucity of high quality evidence resulting in a lack of consensus in managing this group of patients. The aim of the study was to address the diagnostic utility of D dimer for suspected PE in pregnant and postpartum patients, and to identify any clinical presentation variables that are predictors of PE in this group of patients. Methods A retrospective case note review of 152 pregnant and postpartum patients who underwent diagnostic imaging (Ventilation/Perfusion (V/Q) or computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA)) for suspected PE at a tertiary teaching hospital from 2007 to 2011 was conducted. The reference range for D-dimer was less than 0.5 mg/L as being normal. The following variables were also assessed in terms of their predictive capability for PE diagnosis in pregnancy; Heart Rate (HR), Mean Arterial Pressure (MAP), Shock Index (SI), and A-a gradient. Results The application of D-dimer testing for suspected PE in this study population had a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI, 73%– 100%), specificity of 42% (95% CI, 31%–53%), and a likelihood negative ratio of 0. None of the clinical variables were significant predictors of PE according to regression analyses: d-dimer odds ratio (OR) 1.52 95% CI [0.95, 2.42], HR OR 1.02 95% CI [0.56, 1.85], MAP OR 1.54 95% CI [0.89, 2.66], SI OR 0.70 95% CI [0.33, 1.51] and A-a gradient OR 2.08 95% CI [0.93, 4.62]. Conclusion According to our study, there is supportive evidence that a negative D-dimer result is useful as a means of ruling out PE in pregnant and post-partum patients. However, we need a larger prospective observational study to collaborate the findings.


The practice of infibulation, or female circumcision, was carried out in many parts of the ancient world. Today, infibulation and other female mutilations are still practiced in various parts of the world. There are 3 different types of infibulation, involving removal or mutilation of different parts of the female genitalia. Every Sudanese girl is circumcised when she has passed her 6th birthday. The procedure, which is attended and performed solely by females, is described in detail. Complications may arise. The purpose of the practice is usually to preserve virginity until marriage. However, a whole network of other reasons has grown up and interwoven itself in tribal custom. Similar practices involving the female genitalia in other areas are compared to Sudanese infibulation. A table presents ages at which the procedure is carried out in different countries. Reasons cited for the practice in these countries are also listed.


The recent development of Web Analytics offers new perspectives to libraries, archives and museums to improve their knowledge of user needs and behaviours. In order to dive into the mind of their end users, institutions can explore queries from a digital catalogue. However, a manual exploration demands a major time commitment and only leads to limited results. This paper explores how text mining techniques can help automate the analysis of large volumes of log files. A 5-step methodology including clustering is illustrated by a case study from the State Archives of Belgium.


Interval Temporal Logic (ITL) is an established temporal formalism for
reasoning about time periods. For over 25 years, it has been applied in a
number of ways and several ITL variants, axiom systems and tools have been
investigated. We solve the longstanding open problem of finding a complete
axiom system for basic quantifier-free propositional ITL (PITL) with infinite
time for analysing nonterminating computational systems. Our completeness proof
uses a reduction to completeness for PITL with finite time and conventional
propositional linear-time temporal logic. Unlike completeness proofs of equally
expressive logics with nonelementary computational complexity, our semantic
approach does not use tableaux, subformula closures or explicit deductions
involving encodings of omega automata and nontrivial techniques for
complementing them. We believe that our result also provides evidence of the
naturalness of interval-based reasoning.


Cellulosic ethanol can achieve estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions greater than 80% relative to gasoline, largely as a result of the combustion of lignin for process heat and electricity in biorefineries. Most studies assume lignin is combusted onsite, but exporting lignin to be cofired at coal power plants has the potential to substantially reduce biorefinery capital costs. We assess the life-cycle GHG emissions, water use, and capital costs associated with four representative biorefinery test cases. Each case is evaluated in the context of a U.S. national scenario in which corn stover, wheat straw, and Miscanthus are converted to 1.4 EJ (60 billion liters) of ethanol annually. Life-cycle GHG emissions range from 4.7 to 61 g CO2e/MJ of ethanol (compared with ∼ 95 g CO2e/MJ of gasoline), depending on biorefinery configurations and marginal electricity sources. Exporting lignin can achieve GHG emission reductions comparable to onsite combustion in some cases, reduce life-cycle water consumption by up to 40%, and reduce combined heat and power-related capital costs by up to 63%. However, nearly 50% of current U.S. coal-fired power generating capacity is expected to be retired by 2050, which will limit the capacity for lignin cofiring and may double transportation distances between biorefineries and coal power plants.


As the application of deep learning has expanded to real-world problems with insufficient volume of training data, transfer learning recently has gained much attention as means of improving the performance in such small-data regime. However, when existing methods are applied between heterogeneous architectures and tasks, it becomes more important to manage their detailed configurations and often requires exhaustive tuning on them for the desired performance. To address the issue, we propose a novel transfer learning approach based on meta-learning that can automatically learn what knowledge to transfer from the source network to where in the target network. Given source and target networks, we propose an efficient training scheme to learn meta-networks that decide (a) which pairs of layers between the source and target networks should be matched for knowledge transfer and (b) which features and how much knowledge from each feature should be transferred. We validate our meta-transfer approach against recent transfer learning methods on various datasets and network architectures, on which our automated scheme significantly outperforms the prior baselines that find "what and where to transfer" in a hand-crafted manner.


The Discussion Draft of the "Tax Reform Act of 2014" (TRA14) released by US House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) on February 26, 2014 represents a major effort for fundamental and far reaching reform of US tax law. Unfortunately, while many parts of the proposal seem quite sensible as an effort to bring back the "spirit of 1986", the international tax reform proposals are deeply flawed and based on obsolete assumptions on the world facing US multinationals in 2014.Overall, TRA14 represents a welcome effort to propose a revenue neutral combination of base broadening and rate cutting. TRA14 envisages three individual rates of 10%, 25% and 35% and a corporate rate of 25%. This rate structure is quite sensible, and if it can be achieved in a revenue neutral fashion that is an added advantage. However, the international tax proposals are based on the assumption that because most other OECD countries have adopted a limited version of territoriality, i.e., a "participation exemption" for dividends out of the active income of Controlled Foreign Corporations (CFCs), the US must follow suit to preserve the competitiveness of US based MNEs. But this assumption is wrong, for three reasons. First, the empirical data indicate that under current law US based MNEs do not face a competitive disadvantage despite the fact that they are nominally taxed on a worldwide basis without a participation exemption. Second, the OECD BEPS project suggests that the effective tax rates of foreign MNEs are headed up, not down. Third and most importantly, reducing the US corporate tax can be done without putting US-based MNEs at a competitive disadvantage even if deferral were completely eliminated, and this has the added advantage of eliminating both lock out (the main problem the participation exemption is designed to solve) and the incentive to shift profits out of the US (which this version of TRA 14 does little to address).This paper will discuss these points and conclude that as far as the international proposals are concerned it would be better to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch with a simple proposal of full inclusion at whatever corporate rate is judged to be similar to the effective rates paid by foreign-based MNEs.


The distinct axonal tracts of the mature nervous system are defined during development by sets of substrate-bound and diffusible molecular signals that promote or restrict axonal elongation. In the adult cerebral cortex, efferent and afferent axons are segregated within the white matter. To define the relationship of growing efferent and afferent axons in the developing murine cortex to chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) in the pericellular and extracellular matrix, we used the fluorescent tracer Dil to determine axonal trajectories and immunolabeling to disclose the distribution of CSPGs. Axons of neurons in the preplate are the first to leave the cortex; they arise in the CSPG-rich preplate and extend obliquely across it to enter the CSPG- poor intermediate zone. Slightly later, axons of cortical plate neurons extend directly across the CSPG-rich subplate, and then turn abruptly to run in the upper intermediate zone. In contrast, once afferent axons from the thalamus reach the developing cortical wall, their intracortical trajectory is centered on the CSPG-rich subplate, above the path taken by efferent axons. Our findings demonstrate a molecular difference between the adjacent but distinct efferent and afferent pathways in developing neocortex. Early efferents cross the subplate and follow a pathway that contains very little CSPG, while afferents preferentially travel more superficially within the CSPG-rich subplate. Thus, CSPGs and associated extracellular matrix (ECM) components in the preplate/subplate do not form a barrier to axonal initiation or outgrowth in the neocortex as they may in other locations. Instead, their distribution suggests a role in defining discrete axonal pathways during early cortical development.


Objectives: Intussusception, an uncommon but important cause of acute abdomen
during infancy and early childhood, can be safely and effectively treated by
fluoroscopic air reduction. Although pediatric radiology fellows report ample
opportunity to practice intussusception reduction, radiology residents report few
opportunities to participate in this procedure. Adequate training to reduce
intussusception is essential, as successful reduction obviates the need for
surgery. A teaching device that simulates intussusception reduction could help
radiology residents develop the skills necessary to perform this procedure. Materials and Methods: We report on
improvements made to a training device developed in 2010 by Stein-Wexler et al. Since then we have simplified the
manufacturing process, added several unique patient cases, improved the
software so that adding patient scenarios is easier, and improved the graphic
interface to make the simulation more realistic and facilitate feedback. Results: The simulator is now a
customizable and robust standalone package. A thorough instructor's manual and
improvements to the graphic design-such as embedded checklists, built-in
feedback mechanisms, and a more intuitive interface-make the simulator easier
to use. Conclusion: We have improved
our previously-reported teaching device for intussusception reduction and
produced a robust simulator. We plan to make this device available to programs
that train physicians in pneumatic intussusception reduction.


This paper empirically analyzes the impact of several factors on a 'conventionality index' in the specific context of the cinema exhibition sector. To our knowledge, it is the first time that a standard conventionality index has been constructed for this purpose. Econometric analysis of the determinants of variation in this index provides decision-makers with an empirical focus for analyzing distributional aspects of the movie exhibition market, with particular emphasis on product differentiation. Specifically, (i) do cinemas based in a city area have a different or 'specialized' focus in contrast to cinemas in small towns? Or, (ii) do multiplexes have a different or more specialized focus in comparison with cinemas? To this end, cross-sectional econometric models are estimated to help analyze these effects in three Italian regions for a sample of cinemas covering the 2006 season.


In a wireless communication network, different users share a common resource. An objective of radio resource management is to assign the resources in an effective way among the users. Power control is an important component in this setting that has been extensively studied over the last two decades. In many real networks, there are inherent time delays due to filtering of signals and control signalling. Time delays can affect stability and convergence properties of the power control algorithms. We therefore consider power control laws of higher order to include models with delays and delay compensation. The main contribution of this paper is to exploit more structure of the interference feedback to prove less conservative conditions for system stability. Our primary tool to reduce conservativeness is to use scalings in an input-output framework for stability analysis.


Despite the research advances in intra-domain light-path provisioning in WDM networks, efficient and practical schemes for path computation and resource advertisement in multi-domain mesh networks still need to be developed. Most of the proposed solutions in the literature lacks the ability to convey optical network-specific Traffic Engineering information and are based on periodic message flooding technique. The proposed solution provides a novel and economical way to disseminate information while performing the domain chain computation. It also provides a policy-based wavelength selection scheme that allows a load balanced provisioning of end-to-end lightpaths.


Breeding programs are crucial for boosting productivity and increase sustainability of aquaculture. Over years, Tanzania has witnessed fluctuation in its capture fisheries production from 320,900 to 375, 535 and back to 362,595 metric tonnes in the years 2000, 2005 and 2016, respectively (URT 2016). The declining trend in fish production has made fish supply in the country unstable and conversely, increased the demand for fishes to about 730,000 metric tonnes in 2017. However, the local aquaculture production has not increased accordingly. Tanzania is importing fish mainly from Asia to meet its increased demand. In 2017, a total of 2,055,721 kg of frozen tilapia were imported from China and Mozambique (URT 2017). The introduction of exotic fish species in Tanzania should be carefully managed because introduced species have many negative impacts on the indigenous species. Tanzania should have a moderate scale tilapia breeding program that will produce good quality fingerlings at affordable prices for smallholder fish farmers. The availability of reliable good quality fingerlings is key to improve aquaculture production in the country. Among 17 existing hatcheries, only 12 hatcheries are active; however these hatcheries are not performing well due to low investment and technology, leading to the production of low quantity and quality fingerlings. The need for a structured sustainable Tilapia breeding program with bio secured and reliable hatcheries to enhance aquaculture production in Tanzania is put forward in


Abstract. Geography markup language (GML) is an XML specification for expressing geographical features. Defined by Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), it is widely used for storage and transmission of maps over the Internet. XML schemas provide the convenience to define custom features profiles in GML for specific needs as seen in widely popular cityGML, simple features profile, coverage, etc. Simple features profile (SFP) is a simpler subset of GML profile with support for point, line and polygon geometries. SFP has been constructed to make sure it covers most commonly used GML geometries. Web Feature Service (WFS) serves query results in SFP by default. But it falls short of being an ideal choice due to its high verbosity and size-heavy nature, which provides immense scope for compression. GMZ is a lossless compression model developed to work for SFP compliant GML files. Our experiments indicate GMZ achieves reasonably good compression ratios and can be useful in WebGIS based applications.


[1] Paleoproxy studies show a strong correlation between tropical climate and high-latitude temperature variability recorded in the Greenland ice cores over the last glacial cycle. In particular, abrupt cooling events in the Greenland Ice Sheet Project II δ18O ice record appear synchronous with a southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the Atlantic, a weakening of the Indian and East Asian monsoon systems, and a strengthening of the South American monsoon system. Because this high-to-low-latitude climate teleconnection significantly alters the tropical hydrologic cycle around the globe, it plays a critical role in regulating global climate on glacial-interglacial time scales. We compare δ18Oseawater reconstructions (a salinity proxy generated from previously published Mg/Ca and oxygen isotope data on Globigerinoides ruber (white var.)) obtained from western Caribbean core ODP 999A and western equatorial Pacific core 806B across the last three glacial cycles to show that systematic variations in surface salinity at these sites suggest the tropical Hadley cell hydrologic system undergoes systematic reorganizations that differ dramatically between warm interglacial and cold glacial periods. Furthermore, cross-spectral and phase angle analyses of the ice-volume-corrected Caribbean and western Pacific δ18OSW records reveal a 100 kyr frequency in both records that is almost 180° out of phase and a 23 kyr frequency that is nearly in phase. This results in the development of a very large δ18OSW gradient between the Caribbean and the western equatorial Pacific on glacial-interglacial time scales that is best explained by a southward shift in both the Atlantic and Pacific ITCZ during North Atlantic cold phases.


Brain injury is generally considered the leading cause of mortality and disability in children and youth (Savage & Wolcott, 1994). Each year one million children are taken to emergency rooms with traumatic brain injuries resulting from motor vehicle collisions, falls, sports, and abuse. Other nontraumatic brain injuries occur from anoxia (e.g., near drowning, strangulation, choking), infections (e.g., encephalitis, meningitis), tumors, strokes and other vascular accidents, neurotoxic poisoning, and metabolic disorders (Savage, 1997). Brain injuries to children between birth and 19 years of age annually result in 7,000 deaths and 150,000 hospitalizations. About 30,000 have a permanent disability after the injury each year (Savage, 1997). Young males have the highest incidence rates of traumatic brain injury of any group. Some studies have shown that males under the age of 18 have a 1.6% chance of sustaining a brain injury each year (Forkosch, Kaye, & LaPlante, 1996), which is significantly higher than any other group. Recent data indicate that firearms are the most common cause of fatality due to brain injury in adolescents, surpassing the rate due to motor vehicle accidents associated with alcohol consumption (Sege, 1994; Forkosch et al., 1996). Prior to the 1990 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students with brain injuries were often misclassified, inappropriately placed, and under served. Since the passage of IDEA, these students have been identified as falling under a separate category of disability. It is the purpose of this paper to address the unique sequelae these youth manifest and present a summary of cognitive, psychosocial, behavioral, and educational interventions that school counselors and educational personnel may employ to enhance their school adjustment. The roles that school counselors assume in this process is also discussed and analyzed. In a separate section, the authors present a summary of key multicultural considerations in the design and implementation of these interventions. Types of Interventions Cognitive Interventions Different authors have summarized some of the cognitive deficits that affect educational performance in children with a brain injury (Lazar & Menaldino, 1995; Lord-Maez & Obrzut, 1996). These deficits include memory and learning impairments. A reduced capacity for new learning can severely impair the ability to perform in school, and this impairment may become more problematic over time. The speed of information processing is also slower, which compounds the problem and adds to the difficulties these children have in dealing with daily school demands. Lazar and Menaldino (1995) focused on the interaction of injury and developmental stage and concluded that cognitive deficits appear to become more evident with maturation, when the demands become more complex. As a result, ongoing intervention and support need to be provided to students throughout their school life. Ylvisacker et al. (1995) suggest four levels of cognitive functioning in children after a brain injury, with corresponding cognitive tasks and interventions. Level one implies dependency on external support even for routine tasks. Level two requires the use of memory supports such as checklists, photos, log books, and graphic organizers. At level three, the student receives minor prompting to use organizing, planning, and memory aids and is expected to perform independently. Finally, level four indicates performance within normal limits, with no need for external support. Many authors describe the use of microcomputers in cognitive remediation (Begali,1992; Gianutsos, 1992; Matthews, Preston, & Malec, 1991; Ylvisacker et al., 1995). Thomas-Stonell, Johnson, Schuller, Schuller, and Jutai (1994) evaluated a computer-based program (TEACHware) aimed at helping remediate cognitive/communication skills in children with brain injury. …


Network analysis shows how the kinase Plk1 supports the mitotic activity of Aurora A. Plk1 network dynamics Mitosis, a process of cell division, is regulated by a network of kinases, including Plk1 and Aurora A. Kettenbach et al. examined the Plk1 protein interaction network upon disruption of phosphorylation-dependent substrate targeting. From the interactions that persisted, the authors discovered that Plk1 promotes amplification of Aurora A activity during mitosis by binding to, phosphorylating, and inhibiting the phosphatase PP6. This explains the previously puzzling finding that Plk1 not only is activated by Aurora A but is also critical for Aurora A activity. The wealth of network data in this study more generally furthers our understanding of mitosis control, which may inform drug development against cancer and other diseases. Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is an essential protein kinase that promotes faithful mitotic progression in eukaryotes. The subcellular localization and substrate interactions of Plk1 are tightly controlled and require its binding to phosphorylated residues. To identify phosphorylation-dependent interactions within the Plk1 network in human mitotic cells, we performed quantitative proteomics on HeLa cells cultured with kinase inhibitors or expressing a Plk1 mutant that was deficient in phosphorylation-dependent substrate binding. We found that many interactions were abolished upon kinase inhibition; however, a subset was protected from phosphatase opposition or was unopposed, resulting in persistent interaction of the substrate with Plk1. This subset includes phosphoprotein phosphatase 6 (PP6), whose activity toward Aurora kinase A (Aurora A) was inhibited by Plk1. Our data suggest that this Plk1-PP6 interaction generates a feedback loop that coordinates and reinforces the activities of Plk1 and Aurora A during mitotic entry and is terminated by the degradation of Plk1 during mitotic exit. Thus, we have identified a mechanism for the previously puzzling observation of the Plk1-dependent regulation of Aurora A.


This paper analyzes liquidity in an order driven market. We only investigate the best limits in the limit order book, but also take into account the book behind these inside prices. When subsequent prices are close to the best ones and depth at them is substantial, larger orders can be executed without an extensive price impact and without deterring liquidity. We develop and estimate several econometric models, based on depth and prices in the book, as well as on the slopes of the limit order book. The dynamics of different dimensions of liquidity are analyzed: prices, depth at and beyond the best prices, as well as resiliency, i.e. how fast the different liquidity measures recover after a liquidity shock. Our results show a somewhat less favorable image of liquidity than often found in the literature. After a liquidity shock (in the spread or depth or in the book beyond the best limits), several dimension of liquidity deteriorate at the same time. Not only does the inside spread increase, and depth at the best prices decrease, also the difference between subsequent bid and ask prices may become larger and depth provided at them decreases. The impacts are both econometrically and economically significant. Also, our findings point to an interaction between different measures of liquidity, between liquidity at the best prices and beyond in the book, and between ask and bid side of the market.


(The following paper is meant as a starting exploration around the questions: if we know that our bodies' state has an impact on our cognitive performance, what are the implications for design and evaluation of design – particularly design to support creativity, innovation, discovery?) As per the Creativity Tools Report, 2005, a goal of Human Computer Interaction / Human Factors research with respect to creativity and cognition has been to develop principled heuristics that can both inform design of software, hardware and their environments, as well as offer a foundation for evaluation metrics [41]. As an approach towards developing such formalisms, we propose a novel combination of research from two domains not usually associated with HCI: (a) neuroscience for its mapping of creative acts to brain area and function, and (b) human performance for its research of physical activity's effects on cognition. We show how research in both these areas may be combined to inform new, neural based insights into design and evaluation. We suggest that working from this perspective may significantly reconfigure knowledge work software, hardware and work environment design and evaluation.


This paper examines the relationship between individuals' skills and labor market outcomes for the working-age population of Colombia's urban areas. Using a 2012 unique household survey, the paper finds that cognitive skills (aptitudes to perform mental tasks such as comprehension or reasoning) and socio-emotional skills (personality traits and behaviors) matter for favorable labor market outcomes in the Colombian context, although they have distinct roles. Cognitive skills are greatly associated with higher earnings and holding a formal job or a high-qualified occupation. By contrast, socio-emotional skills appear to have little direct influence on these outcomes, but play a stronger role in labor market participation. Both types of skills, especially cognitive skills, are largely associated with pursuing tertiary education. The analysis applies standard econometric techniques as a benchmark and structural estimations to correct for the measurement error of skill constructs.


Consumer foreign online purchasing (CFOP) in this thesis refers to the exchange between consumers and foreign online retailers. Despite empirical facts showing increasing interest of consumers to purchase from foreign online retailers, researchers have only paid modest interest to this new marketing field. In response to recent researchers' calls for further studies in this new field, this thesis aims to add knowledge on why some consumers purchase from foreign online retailers and others do not. CFOP is associated with uncertainty, so it is important to study what affects uncertainty and how consumers deals with uncertainty.Contrary to marketing-management theory studies, this thesis employs behavior theory and adopts views from relationship and network perspectives. The theoretical framework in this effort is business relationship concepts (commitment, trust, and uncertainty) and provides deeper understanding of how consumers behave in foreign online purchasing contexts. The empirical studies in this thesis employ multiple methods, including, in-depth, focus groups, narrative interviews, and two quantitative studies. This thesis discusses previous studies on marketing management theory, business-to-business and business-to-consumer relationships. Based on the framework, this thesis contributes with deeper insight for understanding consumers' foreign online purchasing behavior. The empirical and theoretical contributions of this thesis not only advance understanding of this market arena, but also may attract the interest of other researcher.In addition to the four papers with different theoretical contributions, the thesis contains a summary to properly position its theoretical background. Since the papers have a variety of emphases and stress different uses of analytical tools, uncertainty, commitment, and trust, the summary connects the four papers into a theoretical framework. The theoretical frame explicitly states the findings in the papers. It explains factors that affect uncertainty in CFOP and also how consumers deal with uncertainty in order to establish and develop relationships through the pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase phases.


The purpose of this research was to examine the level of School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) implementation in the State of Florida. The relationship between implementation fidelity of SWPBS to academic and behavioral outcomes for elementary and middle schools was then analyzed. The results of this study found that SWPBS is being implemented with fidelity in the majority of schools in one year and that these schools maintain or increase fidelity over time. Findings also suggest that there may be a relationship between greater implementation fidelity and lower ODR and OSS rates and to a lesser extent, academic outcomes. School leaders continue to face unprecedented challenges since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Most notably, leaders are facing increased accountability for student achievement. One factor that has been identified as influencing the instruction that schools provide is student problem behavior (Lassen, 2006). Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, and Feinberg (2005) suggest that establishing effective discipline practices is critical to ensuring academic success. Recognizing this challenge, school leaders have instituted various programs to improve school culture and meet the needs of the students. One framework that is currently being used in more than 8000 schools in over 47 states throughout the nation is School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) (Spaulding, Horner, May, & Vincent, 2008). Some outcomes associated with SWPBS include decreased office discipline referrals (ODR), increased instructional time, decreased administrative time addressing discipline, increased teacher satisfaction, improved peer relationships, increased academic achievement, and an increase in perceived school safety (Glover, 2005; Lassen, 2006; Landers, 2006; Lassen, Steele, & Sailor, 2006; Rentz, 2007; & Luiselli, Putnam, Handler, & Feinberg, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the fidelity of implementation of SWPBS to academic and behavioral outcomes. Examining possible relationships between the fidelity of implementation of SWPBS to academic achievement and student problem behaviors may be of use to policy makers, practitioners, and future researchers.


Persistent slip bands (PSB) is the important and typical microstructure generated during fatigue crack initiation. Intensive works have been done to investigate the mechanisms of the formation of persistent slip bands in the past decade. In this paper, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation associated with embedded atom model (EAM) is applied on the PSBs formation in nickel-base superalloys with different microstructure and temperature under tensile-tensile loadings. Simulation results show that PSBs formed within the γ phase by massive dislocations pile-up and propagation which can penetrate the grain. Also, the temperature will affect the material fatigue performance and blur PSBs appearance. The simulation results are in strong agreement with the experimental test results published before.


The development of new aeronautical combustor concepts relies on the best possible knowledge of combustion phenomena, such as ignition and extinction, flame structure, combustion instabilities or pollutant emissions. Numerical simulation, and in particular the Large Eddy Simulation approach, is a powerful tool to understand, predict and control the coupled physics involved in turbulent combustion in both academic and applied configurations. Thanks to reliable physical models, accurate numerical methods and high efficiency on massively parallel computers, numerical simulation is now able to produce robust and reliable solutions in complex geometries, taking into account all technological and physical effects. Today, it is a research tool that contributes to improving our knowledge of turbulent reacting flows and in particular the interaction between turbulence and combustion chemistry. It is also an efficient tool for the design of aeronautical combustors, guiding test benches and possibly reducing their number.


: Solar-powered animals are particularly susceptible to climate change because photo synthesis brings major risks to animals under environmental stress. Although some groups have been widely studied (e.g. corals), little information is available on how other less charismatic photosynthetic animals (e.g. sea slugs) will respond to future ocean conditions. This study is the first to evaluate the impact of future ocean conditions on the fitness of tropical photosynthetic sacoglossan sea slugs throughout different life stages. Adults of Elysia clarki were exposed (30 d) to conditions simulating present-day and predicted scenarios of ocean acidification ( Δ pH = 0.4) and warming (+4°C). Egg masses were incubated under the same conditions as adult broodstock until 15 d after metamorphosis. Exposure to ocean acidification and warming scenarios led to a significant decrease in the number of spawned egg masses and in their membrane thickness. More-over, a significant decrease in the volume of embryo capsules was accompanied by an increase in embryo volume. These findings suggest that sea slugs shifted their energy allocation towards embryo quality rather than to structures that confer protection from environmental challenges. Climate change-related stress significantly reduced the survival and length of veligers and increased the incidence of deformities, but did not affect chloroplast acquisition by juvenile slugs. The lower reproductive output of adults and the adverse impacts on early life stages recorded under future ocean conditions allows us to anticipate negative consequences for the recruitment of these sea slugs' populations in the oceans of tomorrow.


In the paper, the effect of voltage increase (from 500 VDC up to 650 VDC) on the structure and chemical composition of the porous coating on titanium made by Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation is presented. Phosphates-based coatings enriched with calcium, magnesium, zinc, and copper in electrolyte based on 1 L of 85% concentrated H3PO4, with additions of Ca(NO3)2·4H2O, and Mg(NO3)2∙6H2O, and Zn(NO3)2∙6H2O, and Cu(NO3)2∙3H2O, are described. The morphology and chemical and phase composition are evaluated using SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, GDOES, and CLSM. Based on these analyses, it was found that PEO coatings are porous and enriched with calcium, magnesium, zinc and copper. They consist mainly of the amorphous phase, which is more visible for higher voltages; this is correlated with an increase in the total PEO coating thickness (the higher the voltage, the thicker the PEO coating). However, for 650 VDC, an amorphous phase and titanium substrate were also recorded, with a signal from Ti2P2O7 crystalline that was not observed for lower voltages. It was also found that all obtained coatings may be divided into three sub-layers, i.e., porous, semiporous, and transitional.