This article investigates the question of where the responsibility for promoting gender equality resides in the Chinese employment context. Utilizing Acker's (2006) inequality regimes framework, the study explores women's underrepresentation in management roles in China and explains the persistence of gender inequalities in managerial echelons of Chinese organizations. Based on 30 interviews with female managers, the findings demonstrate the marketization and individualization of gender equality in organizational activity. The existing gender inequality, and the lack of responsibility for tackling it, has been either legitimized by eluding to the commercial-only focus of organizations or rendered invisible through a belief in individual choice as the determining factor of career progression for women. Gender inequality in management is also maintained through the compliance of female managers themselves with the presumed legitimacy of gender-based differential access to managerial roles. References to culture and tradition, market forces, competitive pressures, and individual choices by female managers are often made in explaining the unequal career paths and outcomes for men and women in their organizations. Our findings contribute to the human resource management (HRM) literature by framing macrosocietal context as a dynamic and endogenous aspect of management of human resources in organizations and provide novel insights into the interplay between HRM and societal context. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


ABSTRACT Background: Mesothelioma of peritoneal origin has wider variation in treatment outcomes than mesothelioma of pleural origin, likely because peritoneal mesothelioma comprises borderline malignant variants and aggressive malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPeM). This study retrospectively evaluates the efficacy of first-line systemic pemetrexed and cisplatin chemotherapy in MPeM. Research design and methods: Twenty-four patients with histologically proven MPeM were treated with pemetrexed plus cisplatin as a first-line systemic chemotherapy. The response was evaluated radiologically according to standard Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria. Twenty-two patients underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/(FDG-PET)/computed tomography(CT) at baseline, and 13 were eligible for metabolic assessment. Results: Two complete responses and 9 partial responses were achieved. Overall response rate and disease control rate were 45.8% and 91.7%, respectively. Median progression-free survival and median overall survival were 11.0 months and 15.8 months, respectively. Wet- type MPeM had significantly longer survival (40.9 months median) than other clinical types (15.5 months) (P = 0.045). The baseline maximum standardized uptake value in 22 patients was 8.93 (range, 2.5–16.77). Conclusions: Systemic pemetrexed plus cisplatin is active for MPeM. Disparity with the outcome of cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) needs to receive more emphasis, since peritoneal mesothelioma has a 5-year survival rate of 50%.


Bone grafting is a common procedure for bone reconstruction in dentistry, orthopedics, and neurosurgery. A wide range of grafts are currently used, and xenografts are regarded as an interesting alternative to autogenous bone because all mammals share the same bone mineral component composition and morphology. Antigens must be eliminated from bone grafts derived from animal tissues in order to make them biocompatible. Moreover, the processing method must also safely inactivate and/or remove viruses or other potential infectious agents. This study assessed the efficacy of two steps applied in manufacturing some equine-derived xenografts: hydrogen-peroxide and e-beam sterilization treatments for inactivation and removal of viruses in equine bone granules (cortical and cancellous) and collagen and pericardium membranes. Viruses belonging to three different human viral species (Herpes simplex virus lectron-beam irradiation one graft type 1, Coxsackievirus B1, and Influenzavirus type A H1N1) were selected and used to spike semi-processed biomaterials. For each viral species, the tissue culture infective dose (TCID50) on cell lines and the number of genome copies through qPCR were assessed. Both treatments were found to be effective at virus inactivation. Considering the model viruses studied, the application of hydrogen peroxide and e-beam irradiation could also be considered effective for processing bone tissue of human origin. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


With €3.6 million of support from the European Union, a research team aims to develop a computer program that can analyze dialogue from Internet chat rooms and tell when people are growing excited, angry, and so on. The team is part of a small but growing number of physicists who are turning from atoms and electrons to study social phenomena such as terrorism, the growth of cities, and the popularity of Internet videos. Joining with social scientists, they treat groups of people as "complex socioeconomic systems" of many interacting individuals and analyze them using conceptual tools borrowed from physics, mathematics, and computer science. Last month, 130 researchers of various stripes gathered in Zurich, Switzerland, to discuss such work.


Biosignal classification is an important diagnosis tool in biomedical application that helps medical experts to automatically classify whether a sample of biosignal under test/monitor belongs to the normal type or otherwise. Most biosignals are stochastic and nonstationary in nature, that means their values are timedependent and their statistics vary over different points of time. However, most classification algorithms in data mining are designed to work with data that possess multiple attributes in order to capture the non-linear relationships between the values of the attributes to the predicted target class. Therefore it has been a crucial research topic for transforming univariate time-series to multivariate dataset in order to fit into classification algorithms. For this, we propose a pre-processing methodology, called Statistical Feature Extraction (SFX). Using the SFX we can faithfully remodel statistical characteristics of the time-series via a sequence of piecewise transform functions. The new methodology is tested through simulation experiments over three representative types of biosignals, namely EEG, ECG and EMG. The experiments yield encouraging results supporting the fact that SFX indeed produces better performance in biosignal classification than traditional analyses techniques like Wavelets and LPC-CC.


Embarrassingly parallel Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) exploits parallel computing to scale Bayesian inference to large datasets by using a two-step approach. First, MCMC is run in parallel on (sub)posteriors defined on data partitions. Then, a server combines local results. While efficient, this framework is very sensitive to the quality of subposterior sampling. Common sampling problems such as missing modes or misrepresentation of low-density regions are amplified -- instead of being corrected -- in the combination phase, leading to catastrophic failures. In this work, we propose a novel combination strategy to mitigate this issue. Our strategy, Parallel Active Inference (PAI), leverages Gaussian Process (GP) surrogate modeling and active learning. After fitting GPs to subposteriors, PAI (i) shares information between GP surrogates to cover missing modes; and (ii) uses active sampling to individually refine subposterior approximations. We validate PAI in challenging benchmarks, including heavy-tailed and multi-modal posteriors and a real-world application to computational neuroscience. Empirical results show that PAI succeeds where previous methods catastrophically fail, with a small communication overhead.


By adopting Law no. 287 of July 17, 2009 on the Civil Code republished by Law no. 71/2011 the new Civil Code is subject to the modern legislations tendencies to create a triple balance in terms of property relations between spouses by means of the matrimonial property regimes established: 1. between spouses: through the appearance of matrimonial agreements, which have led to the adoption of more flexible legal rules which allow spouses a certain freedom to choose the regime of patrimonial relations between them; 2. within the family: to protect the interests of the family, they resorted to mandatory rules providing for limitations and prohibitions (art.321-322 on the family home – a new notion in the Romanian law, art.316 on the acts of disposal seriously threatening family interests); 3. between family and society-third parties: by establishing formal requirements of legal acts, including matrimonial agreements to be concluded by notarial act that must be given to publicity afterwards. Also, considering the fact that Romania is a member state of the European Union and that more and more Romanian people are living abroad or marry foreigners, we consider the harmonization of legislation in order to determine the law applicable to such relationships as a highly important requirement. Given these issues we will devote the present study: to primary qualification of the matrimonial regime notion.


A landmark result of non-smooth convex optimization is that gradient descent is an optimal algorithm whenever the number of computed gradients is smaller than the dimension $d$. In this paper we study the extension of this result to the parallel optimization setting. Namely we consider optimization algorithms interacting with a highly parallel gradient oracle, that is one that can answer $\mathrm{poly}(d)$ gradient queries in parallel. We show that in this case gradient descent is optimal only up to $\tilde{O}(\sqrt{d})$ rounds of interactions with the oracle. The lower bound improves upon a decades old construction by Nemirovski which proves optimality only up to $d^{1/3}$ rounds (as recently observed by Balkanski and Singer), and the suboptimality of gradient descent after $\sqrt{d}$ rounds was already observed by Duchi, Bartlett and Wainwright. In the latter regime we propose a new method with improved complexity, which we conjecture to be optimal. The analysis of this new method is based upon a generalized version of the recent results on optimal acceleration for highly smooth convex optimization.


This thesis consists of three self-contained essays that consider indirect effects of unemployment and low earnings on crime and children's school performance. The first essay, Crime, unemployment and labor market programs in turbulent times (joint with Jonas Agell), investigates the effect of unemployment and participation in labor market programs, in general and among youth, on Swedish crime rates using a new panel data set for Swedish municipalities for the period 1996-2000. The exceptional variation in Swedish unemployment in the 1990s provides a remarkable (quasi-) experiment. Between 1996 and 2000 the overall unemployment rate (including those enrolled in labor market programs) decreased from 11.9 to 6.8 percent, and for those most likely to commit crimes, people under the age of 25, unemployment decreased from 21.2 to 8.7 percent. But the decrease in unemployment was far from uniform across the country, and our identification strategy is to use the exceptional variation in the improvement in labor market conditions across municipalities to isolate the relationship between unemployment and crime. We also consider whether placement in labor market programs reduce crime. Such an effect could arise for many reasons. Program participation may imply: (i) that there is less time for other activities, including crime; (ii) social interactions that prevent the participant from adopting the wrong kind of social norms; (iii) a greater ability to earn legal income in the labor market. Unlike most previous studies we identify a statistically and economically significant effect of general unemployment on the incidence of burglary, auto-theft and drug possession. Contrary to much popular wisdom, however, we could not establish a clear association between youth unemployment and the incidence of youthful crimes and there is no evidence that labor market programs – general ones and those targeted to the young – help to reduce crime.The second essay, Earnings and crime: The case of Sweden, analyzes whether low earnings has an effect on Swedish crime rates, considering the overall crime rate and specific property crime categories, using a panel of county-level data for the period 1975–2000. Various measures of the income distribution are considered, based on annual labor earnings as well as annual disposable income. The results indicate that the effect of low earnings on crime in Sweden is at best weak. We estimate a significant effect of low earnings on the number of auto thefts, but the effect is small. Low earnings seem to have no effect on the overall crime rate, the number of burglaries or the robbery rate. The results give, however, further support for an unambiguous link between unemployment and the overall crime rate as well as specific property crime categories. These findings are in contrast with results from, for example, the United States where wages are found to have a stronger impact on crime than unemployment. The differing results could, at least partly, be explained by the fact that during the period investigated, Swedish unemployment has been of a more permanent nature than U.S. unemployment, and that transitory earnings fluctuations appear to dominate the Swedish earnings distribution for young men, a part of the population committing a disproportionate share of many crimes.Finally, the third essay, Parental unemployment and children's school performance, considers another possible indirect effect of unemployment, namely the school performance of the children of the unemployed. I use Swedish data on individual GPA from the completion of primary school at age 16 and final grades from upper secondary school for a majority of all children completing primary school in 1990 directly moving on to three years of upper secondary school, which they complete in 1993. The empirical method builds on the idea that primary school GPA can be used to control for family and individual heterogeneity. The huge variation in Swedish unemployment during the beginning of the 1990s, which can be traced to macroeconomic events, provides an ideal setting for testing the hypothesis that parental unemployment affects children's school performance. The main results can be summarized as follows. If a mother is subjected to an unemployment spell during the period when one of her children attends upper secondary school, the school performance of the child marginally improves. This implies that, for women, the positive effect of having extra time on your hands exceeds the negative effects of the disadvantages caused by unemployment. This positive effect of having an unemployed mother seems to increase with the length of the unemployment spell. On the opposite, having a short-term unemployed father has a negative effect on a child's school performance while the effect is insignificant for long-term paternal unemployment. The fact that a long-term unemployment spell of the father has a less clear effect could be interpreted as the shock of unemployment wearing out. One explanation for the differing results across genders could be that women in general cope better with being unemployed and hence are able to use their new extra time doing something productive, such as spending quality time with their children.


The Water Framework Directive puts much emphasis on the role of economics for improving the management of water resources. In the context of the urban water cycle, previous studies have proven that Life Cycle Costing (LCC) is a useful methodology for assessing the costs of the whole cycle. However, there are many elements and factors that can influence the results of the LCC assessment and therefore affect the decision making process. The main aim of this study is to identify the main difficulties for carrying out LCC studies in the urban water cycle and to propose some solutions to overcome them. Hence, the conclusions obtained from the assessment of several case studies will be more robust. Moreover, the transferability of the results will be improved.


1. The Three Stage Theory of the History of Ancient Hebrew Using the sources available to them, by the end of the nineteenth century scholars had been able to construct an elegant theory of the history of Hebrew in the ancient period. The main evidence that scholars used was the Hebrew Bible. More specifically, for them, as is still the case with language scholars today, "the Bible" meant the traditional Masoretic Text of the books of the Tanach, the one readily available to everyone who has a Hebrew Bible. The Bible was, however, not the only evidence that scholars in the nineteenth century had available to them for ancient Hebrew. They were also aware that early rabbinic works like the Mishnah used a noticeably different sort of Hebrew, which is often called "Mishnaic Hebrew." Third, these early scholars were aware that from the late biblical period on, Hebrew competed in the Jewish homeland with the Aramaic language. Various forms of evidence in rabbinic sources or in other sources like the New Testament Gospels (see, for example Jesus' quoted use of Aramaic in the Greek text of Mark 5:41 and elsewhere) indicated that Hebrew's battle against Aramaic in the Jewish homeland was often a losing one. According to this scholarly theory, there were three main periods in the history of ancient Hebrew. First, before the exile to Babylon in the sixth century BCE was the "Golden Age" of Hebrew literature. Early works of literature such as the story of King David in the Book of Samuel, or the early parts of the Mosaic Pentateuch were written in pure Classical Hebrew. After the Babylonian exile, however, according to this theory, Hebrew lost ground to Aramaic. Factors such as the rise in non-native speakers of Hebrew, and the breaking of the continuity of the pre-exilic educational system meant that Hebrew declined. Evidence for this was found in the Bible. The books of Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, by their contents, are among the books that must have been composed after the return from exile. It happens that each of these books shares a peculiar style of Hebrew, which sets them clearly apart from works of the Golden Age, such as Samuel. The main characteristic of this style is actually simply a greater openness to linguistic variety than is typical of the language of a book like Samuel. However, since some of the additional linguistic features which these books like to use are found in Aramaic or "Mishnaic Hebrew", and since some passages in these books seem rather difficult to comprehend (try Daniel chapter eight, for example), these books were taken as a symptom that Hebrew in the post-exilic period was in a state of decline. Scholars therefore called this second period the "Silver Age" of Hebrew literature. The idea of decline was also used to explain the third era of the history of ancient Hebrew. Under the influence of Aramaic and other factors, Hebrew continued to decline in the post-exilic period, according to this theory, until by the CE period the Mishnaic Hebrew of the Rabbis represents a thoroughly unclassical form of Hebrew, perhaps an Aramaised form of Hebrew. The three-stage linear model of the development of ancient Hebrew was a reasonable and logical deduction from the evidence as it was available and understood at that time. The three-stage model, of a pre-exilic Golden Age down to about the sixth century BCE, a post-exilic Silver Age, and a post-biblical, post-classical age, was furthermore of great use to scholars when discussing biblical books. Since Hebrew was understood to have developed in a linear fashion, away from early, pure, classical Hebrew under Aramaic influence towards the form of language found in the Mishnah, it was possible to argue where on that linear development works of uncertain date were to be put. Note the following paragraph on the language of Qoheleth (or Ecclesiastes) from the authoritative Encyclopaedia Biblica, published in 1899, which is a good illustration of the results of nineteenth century scholarship: [T]he language . …


After 7 years, Ken Klee has completed his book on Bankruptcy and the United States Supreme Court. This 6 chapter book is a comprehensive desk reference for lawyers, judges, and scholars examining the Supreme Court's bankruptcy decisions from 1898 through 2008 from six different perspectives. Chapter 1 examines the Court as a governmental and political institution devoting attention to the Court's business and habits, i.e., the processes by which the Court receives bankruptcy cases and decides them and the rules it promulgates to regulate bankruptcy courts and practice. Chapter 2 looks at how the Court tends to resolve conflicts between bankruptcy law and other areas of state and federal law, such as administrative law, family law, labor law, pension law, probate law, real estate law, and tax law. This discussion is linked closely to Chapter 3 which discusses the constitutional breadth of the bankruptcy power and analyzes how the Court reconciles bankruptcy law with constitutional law, sovereign immunity, federal preemption, and federalism, as well as the use of state law in bankruptcy. Chapter 4 discusses the Court's treatment of the bankruptcy court as a judicial institution. In particular, it examines how the Court has sculpted and restricted the bankruptcy court's subject matter jurisdiction, powers of the bankruptcy court, and res judicata and collateral estoppel effects of bankruptcy court and non-bankruptcy court judgments. Chapter 5 analyzes, in considerable detail, bankruptcy law, doctrine, and policies that arise primarily or exclusively of the context of the Bankruptcy Code, such as avoiding powers, dischargeability, claims priority and distribution, and plan confirmation.Chapter 6 discusses some of the bankruptcy cases over the past 111 years in which the Court sharply changed the course of bankruptcy law. It also includes some favorite cases, regardless of their impact on bankruptcy law or doctrine.


Three outstanding questions regarding Paleoproterozoic crustal growth and assembly in southwestern Laurentia are (1) the mechanisms of crustal growth (back-arc rifting and associated juvenile magmatism vs. accretion of juvenile arcs), (2) the nature and significance of pre-Yavapai orogeny (>1.70 Ga) deformation, and (3) how the isotopically mixed boundary zone between the Mojave and Yavapai Paleoproterozoic crustal provinces formed. Supracrustal successions associated with the Mojave-Yavapai boundary zone in northwestern Arizona are dominated by >1730 Ma bimodal metavolcanic sequences and compositionally siliciclastic metasedimentary rocks, with minor ultramafic rocks, chert, and carbonate. This lithologic assemblage requires juvenile mafic volcanism in a basin that also received abundant quartz-rich (i.e., continental) detritus. A pre-D1 (first deformational event), back-arc rift setting for northwestern Arizona best explains the observed supracrustal assemblage. Plutonic rocks that intrude the supracrustal rocks are generally 5–15 m.yr. younger and span the entire compositional range of granitoids; i.e., they are not plutonic equivalents of the metavolcanic rocks. In the model presented here, supracrustal rocks were deposited in a back-arc basin above an east-dipping subduction zone undergoing slab rollback. Subsequent shallowing of the subducting slab resulted in (1) eastward migration of 1.76–1.74 Ga arc magmatism in eastern California to 1.73–1.71 Ga arc magmatism within the former back-arc basin in northwestern Arizona, (2) consequent closure of the back-arc basin, (3) thrusting of Yavapai province rocks over the basin (D1), resulting in (4) burial of supracrustal rocks to >20 km, and ultimately, (5) gravitational collapse of the orogen. These events predated the 1.70–1.68 Ga Yavapai orogeny and occurred within a time interval of 5–20 m.yr. Similar time intervals for tectonic switching have been documented from the Lachlan orogen of eastern Australia. Rifting and associated magmatism and arc accretion are both viable—and not mutually exclusive—mechanisms for crustal growth.


Since 1928, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has developed, maintained, and elaborated the International System of Radiological Protection used world-wide as the common basis for radiological protection standards, legislation, guidelines, programs, and practice. ICRP provides and periodically revises radiation and tissue weighing factors, provides and updates recommended dose limits for occupational and public exposures, recommends dose levels for termination of pregnancy, and estimates threshold doses for tissue reactions (deterministic effects). ICRP developed the dose quantity "effective dose". NCRP Council Committee 1 (CC-1) is charged with developing recommendations for revising radiation protection guidance for the United States. Topics to be discussed include a summary of current ICRP guidance, NCRP CC-1 directions, NRC regulatory changes on the horizon, and potential implications of radiation protection guidance changes on the practice of medicine. The opinions of AAPM members on potential changes are welcomed. NCRP Program Area Committee (PAC) 4 has oversight of activities in radiation protection in medicine, including protection of patients and training of health care workers. Documents have been published recently on diagnostic reference levels and achievable doses, health effects of preconception and prenatal radiation exposure, and administrative policies for quality assurance and peer review of tissue reactions associated with fluoroscopically guided interventions. Additional documents are in preparation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the international system of radiation protection and learn about the work of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in relation to activities of medical physicists 2. To understand the ongoing work of NCRP in developing new guidance for radiation protection in the U.S. 3. To understand the ongoing work of NCRP in developing new recommendations for radiation protection in medicine. 4. To learn about other national organizations in US whose work plays a useful role in the activities of medical physicists. M. Rehani, Work done as part of being member of ICRP. ICRP is an independent charity.


ABSTRACT Despite the availability of psychotherapy and support in relation to mental health problems among young people has improved relatively few young people use the support available when they experience stress or impaired mental health. Research has examined various explanations for this, and attitudes to psychotherapy and mental health problems affecting young people's willingness to seek help.The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitudes toward psychotherapy of students in Ghana. In this study, 175 high school students in the municipality Sunyani, Brong-Ahafo Region, responded to a questionnaire with 25 questions about psychotherapy and attitudes toward psychotherapy.The results showed that high school students in Sunyani municipality had poor knowledge of psychotherapy, and that they generally had positive attitude towards psychotherapy. They believe attitude toward psychotherapy can help improve their mental well-being. It was also reported that students' age, gender, school they attend and knowledge about psychotherapy did not have significant effect on their attitude towards psychotherapy and psychotherapy as a way to improve psychological well-being. There were no significant differences between genders concerning the level of knowledge about psychotherapy, attitude towards psychotherapy and psychotherapy as a way to improve psychological well-being.In conclusion, high school students in the Sunyani municipality had poor knowledge about psychotherapy. However, they have positive attitude towards psychotherapy and they as well believe that their attitude toward psychotherapy can help improve psychological well-being.


One of the most pressing demands on electrophysiology applied to the diagnosis of epilepsy is the non-invasive localization of the neuronal generators responsible for brain electrical and magnetic fields (the so-called inverse problem). These neuronal generators produce primary currents in the brain, which together with passive currents give rise to the EEG signal. Unfortunately, the signal we measure on the scalp surface doesn't directly indicate the location of the active neuronal assemblies. This is the expression of the ambiguity of the underlying static electromagnetic inverse problem, partly due to the relatively limited number of independent measures available. A given electric potential distribution recorded at the scalp can be explained by the activity of infinite different configurations of intracranial sources. In contrast, the forward problem, which consists of computing the potential field at the scalp from known source locations and strengths with known geometry and conductivity properties of the brain and its layers (CSF/meninges, skin and skull), i.e. the head model, has a unique solution. The head models vary from the computationally simpler spherical models (three or four concentric spheres) to the realistic models based on the segmentation of anatomical images obtained using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Realistic models – computationally intensive and difficult to implement – can separate different tissues of the head and account for the convoluted geometry of the brain and the significant inter-individual variability. In real-life applications, if the assumptions of the statistical, anatomical or functional properties of the signal and the volume in which it is generated are meaningful, a true three-dimensional tomographic representation of sources of brain electrical activity is possible in spite of the 'ill-posed' nature of the inverse problem (Michel et al., 2004). The techniques used to achieve this are now referred to as electrical source imaging (ESI) or magnetic source imaging (MSI). The first issue to influence reconstruction accuracy is spatial sampling, i.e. the number of EEG electrodes. It has been shown that this relationship is not linear, reaching a plateau at about 128 electrodes, provided spatial distribution is uniform. The second factor is related to the different properties of the source localization strategies used with respect to the hypothesized source configuration.


Though Judge Learned Hand famously wrote in 1923 that "[u]nder our criminal procedure the accused has every advantage," more recent scholarship has persuasively argued that the playing field in a criminal prosecution is tilted against, rather than for, the defendant. In federal criminal prosecutions where there is, beyond the immediate criminal liability risk, a future threat of the government also bringing civil claims against the same defendant, the defendant faces increased uncertainty and vulnerability. This vulnerability is made worse by an asymmetry in options available to the parties in a criminal prosecution, an asymmetry that has been hesitantly but repeatedly ratified in the case law and by prosecutors themselves. In particular, while the defendant can and may be compelled to give up any of his future meritorious civil claims arising out of the prosecution and thus assure the government the finality it might seek, federal prosecutors often cannot assure the defendant that the government will not pursue future civil claims against the defendant. This limit on the prosecutor's power to bind the government from bringing future civil charges against the defendant, and its effect on the plea process in criminal cases, are both illustrated vividly in the tax interplay and immigration interplay contexts. The ultimate effect of this power imbalance within the contractual model of plea bargaining is to increase the defendant's vulnerability during the plea process, to strengthen the government's already substantial leverage, and to create a harsh trap for the unwary and unsophisticated defendant who erroneously thinks he has bargained for finality.


Node pruning is a commonly used technique for solution acceleration in a dynamic‐programming network. In pruning, nodes are adaptively removed from the dynamic programming network when they are determined not to lie on an optimal path. We introduce an ε‐pruning condition that extends pruning to include a possible error in the pruning step. This results in a greater reduction of the computation time; however, as a result of the inclusion of this error, the solution can be suboptimal or possibly infeasible. This condition requires the ability to compare the costs of an optimal path from a node to a terminal node. Therefore, we focus on the class of acyclic dynamic programming networks with monotonically decreasing optimal costs‐to‐go. We provide an easily implementable algorithm, Reach and Bound, which maintains feasibility and bounds the solution's error. We conclude by illustrating the applicability of Reach and Bound on a problem of single location capacity expansion. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, 2008


The survival of any organization in a highly competitive environment depends on its ability to provide the best service quality to its existing customers as the quality of service is a key factor in the success of any organization. Though a stable supply of enough energy is a must for industrialization, Ethiopia's growing industrial sector has come with an unprecedented rise in power demand. Despite the introduction of quality improvement programs and several customer care packages in the past, service quality gaps are still enduring in EEPCo.The study has the objective of assessing industrial customers' satisfaction on service quality using SERVQUAL model. It also addresses the problems of quality gaps through the survey done at EEPCo, South Addis Ababa Region Industrial customers. The study was conducted using a descriptive survey method where the respondents were industrial customers and frontline managers. The sample size was 333 industrial customers and these were selected using simple random sampling technique. Front line managers were selected through purposive sampling. Moreover, structured questionnaires and interviews are tools used to gather relevant information and statistical tools like percentage, tables and charts are used to analyze the data. The study shows performance of EEPCo in providing quality service to its industrial customers is not in a situation to meet their expectations. In all dimensions of the SERVQUAL; tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy, and assurance, it's found that there is a negative gap between service expectations and service perceptions.Therefore, the Corporation should come up with an appropriate service delivery standards, proper complaint handling mechanisms, relevant training for its employees, and strengthening decision making power of employees. Decision makers also have to exert maximum effort in quality improvement programs so that the corporation ensures industrial customers satisfaction.


Background: Mandatory influenza vaccination of health care workers (HCWs) has generated significant controversy over the last several years. Many health care organizations have implemented mandatory policies in order to boost vaccination rates of health care workers due to failed attempts at voluntary strategies. The trivalent influenza vaccine has been proven to be a relatively safe and cost effective tool in mitigating influenza. However, it has also demonstrated a varied efficacy rate from season to season and person to person. There have been previous studies evaluating influenza vaccination for HCWs who work with the elderly, but little data is available on tertiary care hospitals. The object of this review is to determine if there is sufficient data behind the effectiveness of influenza vaccination of HCWs in preventing nosocomial infections in tertiary care hospitals to justify a mandate with negative associated consequences such as termination, relocation, or mask wearing for a non-compliant HCW. Methods: An exhaustive search of available medical literature was conducted using Medline-OVID, CINAHL, Medline-PubMed, NIH clinical trials website, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, using the keywords: health personnel, cross infection, nosocomial, influenza human, influenza vaccine, and tertiary care hospital. Relevant articles were assessed for quality using GRADE. Results: Two studies met the inclusion criteria and were featured in this systematic review. A prospective observational study demonstrated an inverse association between HCW vaccination rates and nosocomial influenza rates among patients. A nested case-control investigation indicated a protective effect on hospitalacquired influenza (HAI) when more than 35% of healthcare workers were vaccinated. Conclusion: The two studies included in this review demonstrate a protective effect in preventing nosocomial infections in tertiary care hospitals. However, these studies have multiple limitations and biases. Based on these studies, the data is inconclusive and does not support a strong recommendation for mandatory influenza vaccination of HCWs for prevention of nosocomial infections in tertiary care hospitals.


Historical institutionalism challenged older forms of comparative historical analysis by moving away from purely structural explanations of historical outcomes. Instead it posited that there were critical junctures in which actors chose between institutional alternatives, which in turn led to path dependence. I examine a phenomenon neglected both by historical institutionalism and older forms of historical analysis—chronic instability. Instead of institutional lock-in, some junctures lead to periods of instability in which a series of regimes replace each other in rapid succession. Three different causal mechanisms that routinely contribute to chronic instability—external shocks, changing configurations of actors, and disjuncture between the logic of change and mechanisms of reproduction—are explored in depth. The plausibility of the theory is illustrated by an examination of regime instability in Germany from the collapse of the Empire in 1918 through the founding of the Federal Republic in 1949.


From risque cabaret performances to engrossing after-hours shop talk, "Trade of the Tricks" offers an unprecedented look inside the secretive subculture of modern magicians. Entering the flourishing Paris magic scene as an apprentice, Graham M. Jones gives a firsthand account of how magicians learn to perform their astonishing deceptions. He follows the day-to-day lives of some of France's most renowned performers, revealing not only how secrets are created and shared, but also how they are stolen and destroyed. In a book brimming with humor and surprise, Jones shows how today's magicians marshal creativity and passion in striving to elevate their amazing skill into high art. The book's lively cast of characters includes female and queer performers whose work is changing the face of a historically masculine genre.


In this paper we provide an overview of various satellite products over the Sahara Desert that were available during the GERBILS field campaign. Our results indicate that all mid‐visible satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) products match well with AERONET retrievals. For low AOD (AOD < 1), the satellite AODs compare well with aircraft AOD values but they tend to underestimate at high AOD values. We then assessed the satellite products in 0.5 × 0.5 degree grids for the entire study region (10–30°N and 20°W–10°E). If we use a multi‐angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) as a benchmark for AOD retrievals over bright targets, the estimated AOD derived from the ozone‐monitoring instrument aerosol index–MISR relationship performs best when compared with MISR for the entire study region. Although differences exist among satellite products, the advancement in satellite retrieval techniques now provide AOD retrievals over bright targets such as deserts, which are useful for numerical modeling simulation comparisons and other studies. Furthermore, the in situ information from aircraft and the ground continue to provide valuable information for validating satellite products and for assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society and British Crown Copyright, theMet Office


Abstract Retailers in South Texas border cities were surveyed to determine the impact of the December 1994 Mexican peso devaluation on their sales and retailing mix strategies. Results indicate that sales consequences are strong, averaging a 41.8 percent decline, but vary by city, store type, distance from the border, and relative domestic market size. Adjustments to the retailing mix were primarily defensive in nature, aimed predominantely at reducing costs and conserving cash. Proactive changes to retain or increase business were limited. Reducing prices was the dominant aggressive tactic employed. Public policy initiatives are consistently seen as having a positive impact on the situation. Research results provide limited support for Clark's (1994) theory describing the impact of national boundaries on firm marketing strategies. The importance of relative distance from the border and relative market size is confirmed. The hypothesized consequences for firm level marketing strategies were not observed, ...


Natural language processing (NLP) models are known vulnerable to adversarial examples, similar to image processing models. Studying adversarial texts is an essential step to improve the robustness of NLP models. However, existing studies mainly focus on analyzing English texts and generating adversarial examples for English texts. There is no work studying the possibility and effect of the transformation to another language, e.g, Chinese. In this paper, we analyze the differences between Chinese and English, and explore the methodology to transform the existing English adversarial generation method to Chinese. We propose a novel black-box adversarial Chinese texts generation solution Argot, by utilizing the method for adversarial English samples and several novel methods developed on Chinese characteristics. Argot could effectively and efficiently generate adversarial Chinese texts with good readability. Furthermore, Argot could also automatically generate targeted Chinese adversarial text, achieving a high success rate and ensuring readability of the Chinese.


This paper empirically examines perceptions of the criminal justice system held by young males using longitudinal survey data from the recent National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 Cohort and the National Youth Survey. While beliefs about the probability of an arrest are positively correlated with local official arrest rates, they are largely idiosyncratic and unresponsive to information about the arrests of other random individuals and local neighborhood conditions. There is little support, therefore, for the `broken windows' theory of Wilson and Kelling (1982). Yet, perceptions do respond to changes in an individual's own criminal and arrest history. Young males who engage in crime but are not arrested revise their perceived probability of arrest downward, while those who are arrested revise their probability upwards. Beliefs respond similarly to changes in a sibling's criminal and arrest history. The perceived probability of arrest is then linked to subsequent criminal behavior. Cross-sectionally, youth with a lower perceived probability of arrest are significantly more likely to engage in crime during subsequent periods. Following an arrest, individuals commit less crime, consistent with deterrence theory and the fact that their perceived probability of arrest increases.


Peer-to-peer (P2P) applications such as P2P video streaming and internet video calling have gained tremendous popularity and are expected to be vastly increasing in the next few years. However, low-cost large-scale video services have remained an intangible goal. The ethernet passive optical network (EPON) is being regarded as one of the promising for next-generation optical access solutions in the access networks attempt to tackle this problem but facing a major challenge to offer scalable large-scale video services. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an architecture which combines the advantages of EPON and P2P architecture to provide scalable Internet Protocol delivery multimedia services and improve quality-of-services. In the proposed architecture, we design new optical network unit (ONU) mechanisms, which support traffic redirection communication among ONUs in combination with caching. Thus, it can reduce the resource consumption and add extra downstream bandwidth at the optical line terminal since the intra-PON traffic is not necessary to be buffered and scheduled in the downstream direction. Finally, we propose a "Redirect" dynamic bandwidth allocation scheme, which can support intra-PON traffic redirection and intertraffic bandwidth allocation. Simulation results have shown that our proposed architecture can improve the overall QoS in terms of end-to-end delay, jitter, system throughput, fairness, and packet dropping rate.


Background & Aims: Neurofibroma is a slow-growing benign tumor of neural origin. The lesion is rare in the oral cavity. Most reported cases are parts of a generalized syndrome called Neurofibromatosis (NF), but in rare cases, solitary lesion unrelated to the syndrome has been reported. The tongue is the most common site. Gingiva is a rare location for solitary neurofibroma. In this study, we report a rare case of solitary oral neurofibroma in buccal mandibular gingiva of a 33 year-old male.
A 33 year-old man with a history of 30 months gum swelling was referred to oral medicine department of Dental School. A well-defined, pale pink, soft, 1×1 cm nodule was observed on right mandibular gingiva on premolar region. No abnormal radiographic findings was observed. In histopathological features, benign proliferations of spindle mesenchymal cells with storiform pattern were seen. The s-100 immunohistochemistry staining of the lesion was positive. No recurrence was evident after one year.
A few isolated cases of Neurofibroma of the gingiva have been reported. Because of the risk of malignant transformation, long-term follow-up is recommended.
Keywords: Solitary neurofibroma, Mouth, Gingiva, Neurofibromatosis


The temporal and spatial variability of Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) is investigated using a compilation of several observational data sets: hydrography, XBTs, Argo profiles, satellite altimetry, and a climatology. The subduction and export of SAMW as part of the overturning circulation play an important role in global heat, freshwater, carbon and nutrient budgets. Determining the formation, circulation, and variability of SAMW is therefore an important step towards understandmg the Southern Ocean's role in climate variability and change.

The spatial distribution of SAMW properties and export paths is investigated. SAMW is identified by a dynamical tracer: a minimum in potential vorticity. SAMW consists of several modes with distinct properties rather than a continuous water mass with properties that gradually evolve towards the eastern region of the Southern Ocean as previously believed. (Modified) Montgomery streamlines on the density surfaces corresponding with potential vorticity (PV) minima are used to determine the circulation paths of SAMW. The different SAMW modes are injected into the ocean interior at "hot spots" north of the Subantarctic Front (SAF), and then follow narrow export pathways into the subtropical gyres.

We have also investigated the temporal variability of SAMW in the formation region, south of Australia. SAMW properties show high intra- and inter-annual variability, but no evidence of a trend over the 17-yr mean temperature record studied (1991-2007). Abrupt changes in temperature and salmity at the SAMW core are related to cross-frontal advection of cool and fresh surface water through eddies and meanders from the SAF, and warm and salty water originating from the East Australian Current in the north. In addition, the SAMW pool on a single section often consists of two or more modes with distinct temperature, salinity and vertical homogeneity characteristics, but similar density.

The main features of the regional circulation and the physical drivers of the east/west contrast in biomass concentration in the Subantarctic Zone (SAZ) south of Tasmania have been identified. Enhanced input of subtropical water high in micronutrients (such as iron) in the east likely supports the higher surface biomass observed there. The physical processes shown to be responsible for maintaining the east/west contrast south of Tasmama (e.g., regional circulation, eddies and subsurface salinity intrusions) are likely to drive variability in physical and biogeochemical properties of SAMW, Antarctic Intermediate Water and the SAZ elsewhere m the Southern Ocean.

These results have revealed the spatial and temporal variability of SAMW in greater detail than was possible due to lack of data. Different modes of SAMW are formed in each ocean basin. Ventilation "windows" revealed by the PV distribution show hot spots where SAMW subducts. The export of warmer, saltier modes in these "hot spots" contnbutes to the circumpolar evolution of mode water properties towards cooler, fresher and denser modes in the east. We also found that mesoscale features strongly influence SAMW variability south of Tasmania, and are likely to be important in settmg SAMW properties in other regions with high eddy kinetic energy.


College and university endowments are charged with earning returns sufficient to meet their internal return needs and objectives. Fifty-eight years of endowment return data now exist, providing an excellent opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the endowment management. This article is the first to examine endowment returns in relation to both internal and external goals over the entire 58-year period. We find the average return of endowments over the long term has underperformed the annual return need, a typical long-term return goal, and the traditional passive 60/40 benchmark. We conclude that the average endowment would have been better served by simply indexing to the passive 60/40 benchmark. TOPIC: Foundations & endowments Key Findings • Over the 58-year period data are available, the average endowment significantly underperformed its annual return need, its long-term return objective, and the traditional 60/40 passive benchmark. • Although the average endowment appears unable to mimic the returns of the largest endowments, it can readily capture the returns of the passive 60/40 benchmark. Relative to the average endowment, the traditional 60/40 mix provided superior absolute and risk-adjusted returns over the last 46-year period. • Trustees of the majority of endowments would be well served to consider the implications of these findings in managing endowments to succeed in funding their prime directives.


Final concepts are often not the most creative or innovative design within the solution space. The purpose of this research is to gain insight into the decisions made in concept selection. In particular, we studied how designers link multiple decision-making elements together, including: actions (what people do), reasoning (why they do it), and design outcomes (an objective measure of engineering performance). Fifty-seven participants were tasked with solving a design challenge relating to a robotic gripper by selecting a design within a predefined design space. Each design had a corresponding measure (termed "success rate") which enabled each designer's performance to be quantified and compared against other designers. The task was hosted on an interactive interface in which design actions were collected. A post-task survey probed for the reasoning behind design actions. Characterization of decision-making behavior and reasoning was rooted in prior design literature. Design actions were quantified concerning the degree of design space explored and the decision-making strategies employed. Key results include design strategies such as manipulation techniques, the impact of maximum observed success rates, and a willingness to submit an alternative solution which influenced design outcomes. Although designer preferences validated the design strategies identified, there was no correlation between the decision factors considered and improved outcomes. The methods and findings from this work assessed the underlying dynamics when engineers selected less innovative or creative solutions and recommended decision-making strategies that should be considered to improve design outcomes.


As part of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative proposed by President George W. Bush in 2003, the Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative is developing technologies to provide large amounts of hydrogen without pollution or greenhouse gases. The Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative is a research and development programme within the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology that is using a series of successively larger-scale experiments to demonstrate the commercial-scale, economically feasible production of hydrogen using nuclear energy.


This book investigates the causes and consequences of image-based sexual abuse in a digital era. Image-based sexual abuse refers to the taking or sharing of nude or sexual photographs or videos of another person without their consent. It includes a diversity of behaviours beyond that of "revenge porn", such as the secret trading of nude or sexual images online; "upskirting", "downblousing" and other "creepshots"; blackmail or "sextortion" scams; the use of artificial
intelligence to construct "deepfake" pornographic videos; threats to distribute photographs or videos without consent; and the taking or sharing of sexual assault imagery. This book investigates the pervasiveness and experiences of these harms, as well as the raft of legal and non-legal measures that have been introduced to better respond to and prevent image-based sexual abuse.

The book draws on groundbreaking empirical research, including surveys in three countries with over 6,000 respondents and over 100 victim-survivor and stakeholder interviews. Guided by theoretical frameworks from gender studies, sociology, criminology, law and psychology, the authors argue that image-based sexual abuse is more commonly perpetrated by men than women, and perpetration is higher among some groups, including younger
men and sexual minority men. Although the motivations of perpetrators vary, a dominant theme to emerge was that of power and control. The gendered nature of the abuse means that it is best understood as a being on a "continuum of sexual violence" because victim-survivors often experience it as part of a broader pattern of gendered harassment, violence and abuse. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, law and psychology. Image-based sexual
abuse is also an essential resource for activists, legal and policy practitioners, technology companies and victim-survivors seeking to understand the deeply complex nature of intimate-image sharing in a digital era.


The South African biofuels industrial strategy promotes a development-oriented strategy with feedstock produced by smallholders and processed by traditional producer-owned cooperatives. This study examines a proposal to apply this strategy to small farmers in KwaZulu-Natal, using soybeans as feedstock for biodiesel production. First, it is argued that value-adding cooperatives established under South Africa's Cooperatives Act would fail to attract the capital and expertise needed to process biodiesel owing to ill-defined voting and benefit rights. Second, a mixed integer linear programming model is used to check the viability of producing biodiesel from soybeans, viewed from the perspective of the smallholder as grower and co-owner of the processing plant. It is concluded that smallholder participation would require a rental market for cropland, coownership of the processing plant in an investor-share cooperative, information and training, and a high level of price support.


The Yin and Yang of Plant Caspases The function of plant metacaspases, identified by limited sequence homology to the animal caspases that control cell death, has remained elusive. Coll et al. (p. 1393) have now elucidated the actions of two metacaspases in the small plant Arabidopsis. One metacaspase, AtMC1, promoted cell death, and the other, AtMC2, acted antagonistically to stall cell death. The results help to elucidate the mechanisms by which plants control cell survival during development and defend against pathogen attack. An ancient link between cell death control and innate immune receptor function has been discovered in plants. Metacaspases are distant relatives of animal caspases found in protozoa, fungi, and plants. Limited experimental data exist defining their function(s), despite their discovery by homology modeling a decade ago. We demonstrated that two type I metacaspases, AtMC1 and AtMC2, antagonistically control programmed cell death in Arabidopsis. AtMC1 is a positive regulator of cell death and requires conserved caspase-like putative catalytic residues for its function. AtMC2 negatively regulates cell death. This function is independent of the putative catalytic residues. Manipulation of the Arabidopsis type I metacaspase regulatory module can nearly eliminate the hypersensitive cell death response (HR) activated by plant intracellular immune receptors. This does not lead to enhanced pathogen proliferation, decoupling HR from restriction of pathogen growth.


Over the Christmas period, a short Bill was introduced into the US House of Representatives. The Research Works Act aims to make it illegal to require researchers to make their work publicly available. If passed, Australian researchers and the public will lose access to a considerable amount of US research.


The role of the Arctic region in global petroleum supply over the next decades is becoming a subject of increasing interest as the potential of the region's geology is revealed and the shrinking of the ice cap makes drilling an increasingly feasible activity. Nevertheless, significant concerns remain, not least the potential impact of any hydrocarbon EP activity in an environmentally sensitive region. In addition, the lack of existing infrastructure and the likely high cost of any development in geographically remote and climatically harsh conditions mean that the economics of any new project will depend to a large extent on the size of discoveries and the oil price, which, in turn, will be impacted by the development of other sources of oil supply (for example, US unconventional oil) and alternative energies. As a result, although increased activity in a number of Arctic countries suggests that the region could become a major source of future oil supply, there are a number of challenges – including the impact of sanctions resulting from the Ukraine crisis – to be met before this potential can be realized. The objective of this paper is to provide an updated overview of offshore oil and gas developments in the Arctic and to discuss the potential for large-scale development of the region as a petroleum province over the next 20-30 years, thereby providing a starting point for future production estimates and for analyzing how relevant such estimates may be for global oil (and gas) markets. The paper argues that the most likely Arctic offshore areas to be developed first are the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea but that various factors – political, commercial, technological and environmental – have the potential to hamper petroleum development, particularly if the conflict between Russia and the international community continues to escalate, as partnership will be critical if the Arctic resources of the country with the largest geography in the region are to be developed successfully.


Traditional and emerging human activities are increasingly putting pressures on marine ecosystems and impacting their ability to sustain ecological and human communities. To evaluate the health status of marine ecosystems we need a science-based, integrated Ecosystem Approach, that incorporates knowledge of ecosystem function and services provided that can be used to track how management decisions change the health of marine ecosystems. Although many methods have been developed to assess the status of single components of the ecosystem, few exist for assessing multiple ecosystem components in a holistic way. To undertake such an integrative assessment, it is necessary to understand the response of marine systems to human pressures. Hence, innovative monitoring is needed to obtain data to determine the health of large marine areas, and in an holistic way. Here we review five existing methods that address both of these needs (monitoring and assessment): the Ecosystem Health Assessment Tool; a method for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in the Bay of Biscay; the Ocean Health Index; the Marine Biodiversity Assessment Tool; and the Nested Environmental status Assessment Tool. We have highlighted their main characteristics and analyzing their commonalities and differences, in terms of: use of the Ecosystem Approach; inclusion of multiple components in the assessment; use of reference conditions; use of integrative assessments; use of a range of values to capture the status; weighting ecosystem components when integrating; determine the uncertainty; ensure spatial and temporal comparability; use of robust monitoring approaches; and address pressures and impacts. Ultimately, for any ecosystem assessment to be effective it needs to be: transparent and repeatable and, in order to inform marine management, the results should be easy to communicate to wide audiences, including scientists, managers and policymakers.


The Debye-Wolf electromagnetic diffraction integral is now routinely used to describe focusing by high numerical (NA) lenses. We obtain an eigenfunction expansion of the electric vector field in the focal region in terms of Bessel and generalized prolate spheroidal functions. Our representation has many optimal and desirable properties which offer considerable simplification to the evaluation and analysis of the Debye- Wolf integral. It is potentially also useful in implementing two-dimensional apodization techniques to synthesize electromagnetic field distributions in the focal region of a high NA lenses. Our work is applicable to many areas, such as optical microscopy, optical data storage and lithography.


We report the generation of five mouse strains with the tamoxifen‐inducible Cre (Cre‐ERT2; CE) gene cassette knocked into the endogenous loci of Pax3, Myod1, Myog, Myf6, and Myl1, collectively as a resource for the skeletal muscle research community. We characterized these CE strains using the Cre reporter mice, R26RLacZ, during embryogenesis and show that they direct tightly controlled tamoxifen‐inducible reporter expression within the expected cell lineage determined by each myogenic gene. We also examined a few selected adult skeletal muscle groups for tamoxifen‐inducible reporter expression. None of these new CE alleles direct reporter expression in the cardiac muscle. All these alleles follow the same knock‐in strategy by replacing the first exon of each gene with the CE cassette, rendering them null alleles of the endogenous gene. Advantages and disadvantages of this design are discussed. Although we describe potential immediate use of these strains, their utility likely extends beyond foreseeable questions in skeletal muscle biology. genesis 52:759–770, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


In 2010, the ILO together with European Training Foundation (ETF) presented research on 'The implementation and impact of National Qualifications Framework: Report of a study in 16 countries' documenting countries that were early adopters of NQFs, such as Australia, Scotland, New Zealand, England, Wales and Northern Ireland as well as countries that had recently started implementation of National Qualifications Framework (NQFs), such as South Africa, Mexico, Chile, Malaysia, Mauritius, Botswana, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Lithuania, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Russia.

In the intervening years as the number of countries implementing NQFs has grown exponentially, the debate has increasingly centered on topics like labour market impact and outcomes of NQFs, including employer experience in using qualification frameworks when making hiring decisions.

This follow-up ILO research is therefore intended to better understand labour market aspects of NQF implementation and to provide sound empirical evidence of how employers recruit, fill vacancies and understand how qualification frameworks are tools for them and for employing people. In doing so we have been careful to chose countries that reflect various stages of implementation including Ireland, France, Belize, Jamaica, Sri Lanka and Tunisia.

The results clearly show that whilst the challenges associated with NQF implementation are myriad, benefits do accrue, especially over the long term. As such, for all the promised benefits of NQFs to be realised, a very long timeframe needs to be taken into account.


When hail suppression operations are being considered, it is already understood that hail damage is a significant problem in an area in which the political subdivision, organization, or other sponsoring entity has interest and/or responsibility. The next step is to determine the scope of the hail problem, the geographic area requiring protection, and the seeding agents and methods to be used. Consideration must also be given to how the project is to be evaluated. Once these tasks are done, the framework of the program can be established and the appropriate daily project designs can be produced. These basics are discussed in this chapter.


Nonconventional and Vernacular Construction Materials: Characterisation, Properties and Applications provides a comprehensive repository of information on materials science and the modern structural engineering application of ancient, vernacular, and nonconventional building materials, with leading experts contributing chapters that focus on current applications and the engineering of these construction materials. Opening with a historic retrospective of nonconventional materials, Part One includes a review of vernacular construction and a discussion of the future directions for nonconventional and vernacular materials research and applications. Chapters in Part Two focus on natural fibers, including their application in cementitious composites, non-cementitious composites, and strawbale construction. In Part Three, chapters cover the use of industrial by-products and natural ashes in cement mortar and concrete, and construction using soil-cement blocks, clay-based materials, adobe and earthen materials, and ancient stone masonry. Timber, bamboo, and paper construction materials are investigated in the final section of the book. Provides a state-of-the-art review of the modern use and engineering of nonconventional building materialsContains chapters that focus on individual construction materials and address both material characterization and structural applicationsCovers sustainable engineering and the trend towards engineering for humanity


The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the understanding and utilization of Strychnos henningsii (umqalothi, Red bitterberry) by Zulu traditional healers and the signs and symptoms induced by the thirtieth centesimal potency (30CH) homoeopathic dilution of the crude substance in a previously conducted triple-blind placebo-controlled homoeopathic proving. Methodology The study was carried out in four dispersed areas of KZN (Harding, Durban, Weenen and Melmoth). From each area one isangoma and one inyanga were interviewed, resulting in eight interviews. All visits were conducted by the researcher, who acted as principal communicator and translator, and his supervisor, who assisted him by doing live video recording of all interviews. The methodology employed was that of qualitative interviewing using semi-structured interviews. Each video was transcribed into Zulu text and subsequently translated to English text by the researcher and his supervisor. The data obtained from the interviews was then compared to data obtained from the previously conducted homoeopathic proving of Strychnos henningsii 30CH in order to evaluate the overlap between the traditional and the homoeopathic approach to utilisation of the plant. Results After comparison, it was found that there was an overlap in the gastro-intestinal system, cardio-vascular system, respiratory system and female/male genito-urinary system and in some mental symptoms. v However, there were no overlaps found in traditional usage of the plant as an antisnake venom, and in the proving symptoms related to scalp, hair, eyes, ear, nose, face, mouth, teeth and throat. Conclusion After comparison between the understanding and utilization of Strychnos henningsii by Zulu traditional healers and the signs and symptoms induced by the proving of Strychnos henningssi 30CH, it was concluded that while there are certain overlaps, the homoeopathic proving produced a wider range of symptoms which may either serve to extend the traditional use, or overlap with existing traditional use not exposed within the scope of this study. Interviews with a greater number of traditional healers in a wider geographic area may reveal a closer correlation between homoeopathic proving symptoms and patterns of use by traditional healers.


Five baby food products imported into Uganda were collected from different shops and investigated for contamination by fungi and aflatoxins. Forty-two species belonging to 21 genera in addition to some unidentified fungi were recovered on dichloran rose bengal chloramphenicol agar. Cornflakes followed by Cerelac were the most heavily contaminated products while Heinz mixed cereal was the least. Cladosporium sphaerospermum, Fusarium tricinctum and Penicillium oxalicum were the most predominant fungi. On the other hand, usingAspergillus flavus/parasiticus agar, 34 % of the samples were positive for aflatoxigenic aspergilli. Aflatoxigenic aspergilli constituted 78.8 % of all aspergilli and 4.9 % of all contaminating fungi. Samples from all products were contaminated with aflatoxigenic aspergilli, but samples of Cerelac were the most, while those of Porridge oats were the least. Aflatoxin analysis of food samples revealed that 9 out of 13 analysed samples were contaminated with aflatoxins in the range of 1–10 ppb (6 samples) and 11–20 ppb (3 samples). Only samples of Cerelac were aflatoxin–free, although aflatoxigenic aspergilli were detected in some samples. It was noted that samples of Cerelac had the least moisture content compared to the other products. Contaminated foods constitute a health hazard to human consumption. These foods, especially those for babies, must therefore be examined at regular intervals in order to assess their hygienic quality.


Linguistic Emotivity explores expressive and emotive meanings in Japanese from the perspective of the Place of Negotiation theory. The Place of Negotiation theory provides a framework for understanding how linguistic signs function in the place of communication (in cognitive, emotive, and interactional places). The theory finds the indexicality of a sign fundamental and views meanings as being negotiated among interactants who share not only information but, more significantly, feelings. Using analytical tools recognized in conversation and discourse analyses, the book analyzes emotive topics (vocatives, emotive nominals, quotative topics, etc.) and emotive comments ( da and ja-nai , interrogatives, stylistic shifts, etc.) in contemporary Japanese discourse. It argues for the importance of emotivity in Japanese, in the context of the Japanese culture of pathos . Linguistic Emotivity challenges the traditional view of language that privileges logos , form, information, and abstraction, and instead, it proposes a philosophical shift toward pathos , expression, emotion, and linguistic event/action.


During the fourteenth century, Ottomans opened madrasa in where they invaded. The first madrasa was founded in Nicosia (Iznik). The second was founded in Brussa. All of them were built to let the people learn religion including in astronomy and mathematics, as it happened in some other places of Anatolia during the Seljukids in the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth century. They also founded hospitals in the same places. One of them was Yıldırım Hospital in Bursa. It was also served as a medical school. Its first physician was Physician Husnu. The first medical studies in the Ottoman Empire appeared in the fourteenth century. Among them can be mentioned Ishaq b. Murad, Hadji Pahsa, Physician Barakat and Cemal al-Din Aksarayi. Except Aksarayi who was interested in religious science in addition to medicine, they preferred to write in Turkish. Hadji Pasha had works in Turkish and Arabic. Although the other scientists who were interested in mathematics, astronomy, physics and chemistry preferred to write in Arabic or sometimes in Persian, the physicians wrote their works in Turkish.They felt to have to explain why they used Turkish language and said that they wrote their works in Turkish because they wished to understand what they said in their works. Their works were mainly on diseases, their treatments and the drugs which were used during the treatment of the illnesses.


Being much attached to Botany, and, in a less degree perhaps to
Entomology, I have put together a few notes, bearing upon both
these sciences, and bringing before you one out of the many points,
at which the two great families of plants and insects cross each
other's paths— one, it must be added, in which the latter get
decidedly the worst of it. We all know, to what an enormous extent insects are dependent
on plants for support. In the supply both of food and protection
Flora proves herself a veritable mother to her humble friends. But
there is a dark side in the character of even this gentle deity, whom
we are apt to associate with all that is cheerful and smiling; and it
is astonishing to see in how many ways and under what different
aspects she puts forth her "insecticidal" functions. Directly or
indirectly the members of the Vegetable Kingdom help largely to
thin the ranks of the little creatures which visit them.


The purpose of this article was to present the project Vi r Music, with a focus on electric guitar teaching (Case 1) and master classes (Case 2). What were the benefits and shortcomings in the two cases and how did online teaching differ from face-to-face teaching? A guitar teacher with a specialisation in jazz music introduced distance teaching to three of his students. Under supervision the students taught upper-secondary students living 290 km from the university. The guitar lessons were held with the use of Skype. In the project, 11 distance master classes were also studied. The devices used were a video-conference system, external microphones and speakers, and 50–52′′ TV screens. The methods for data collection in both cases were above all qualitative interviews with teachers and students and to some degree observation of the teaching sessions. The overall impression from the study was that teachers and students seemed to consider the online teaching in the project a positive experience. The informants looked upon the distance-learning situation as a fruitful complement to face-to-face teaching. Because of the time delay, the most difficult part of the online teaching was playing together or marking the rhythm. The results suggested that video-conference teaching is more intensive than face-to-face teaching and requires both thorough planning and readiness to improvise during the lesson.


Nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) is characterized by accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver. The objective of this study was to evaluate protective effects of fermented Cordyceps militaris extract by Pediococcus pentosaceus ON188 (ONE) against hepatosteatosis and obesity in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were fed HFD mixed with ONE for four weeks and its effects on hepatosteatosis and obesity were examined. Although ONE did not change food intake, it reduced body weights of mice at administration dose of 200 mg/kg/day. Activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) as plasma parameters were reduced by ONE in a dose-dependent manner. Hepatic lipid droplets and triglyceride (TG) levels were also reduced by ONE due to upregulation of fatty acid oxidizing genes such as carnithine palmitoyltransferase (CPT1) and peroxisomal proliferator activated receptor α(PPARα) mediated by induction of sphingosine kinase 2 (SPHK2). In epididymal fat tissue, sizes of adipocytes were significantly reduced by ONE in a dose-dependent manner. This is mainly due to suppression of lipogenesis and upregulation of adipocyte browning genes. Collectively, these results suggest that fermented ONE can activate fatty acid oxidation via SPHK2 in the liver. It can also suppress lipogenesis and activate browning in adipose tissue. Thus, ONE might have potential to be used for the development of functional foods against liver dysfunction and obesity.


The subject of this thesis is the investigation of a digital absolute posi- tion-detection system, which is based on a position-information carrier (i.e. a magnetic tape) with one single code track on the one hand, and an array of magnetoresistive sensors for the detection of the information on the other. The sensor array consists of a permalloy (Ni0.81Fe0.19) strip which is electrically sub-divided into adjacent sensor elements by means of cross- contact leads (Mo-Al). The sensor response on a magnetic field in the plane of the strip is a result of the anisotropic magnetoresistance effect in thin ferromagnetic films. The permalloy strip has a thickness of about 50 nm and a width in the range of 10 to 30 um. The central positions of the sensor elements are located at mutual distances of 50 to 200 um, which is dependent on the bit period in the magnetic tape. The plane of the sensor strip is positioned perpendicular to the magnetic-tape plane. The strip axis and direction of movement of the permalloy strip are lengthways along the magnetic tape. This tape is recorded with a so-called pseudo-random bit pattern, having the property that each arbitrary selected set of n adjacent bits is unique. Depending on the actual position of the sensor head, a special bit combination is detected by a sensor array con- sisting of n elements. This digital word can be decoded to a position coordi- nate. The thesis reports on the feasibility of the position-detection system on the basis of experiments with specially developed measurement heads. In introduc- tory observations the backgrounds, the theory and the design choices come up for discussion. Attention is paid to the modelling of the magnetization distribution in the permalloy strip, which is excited by homogeneous or inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Next the conversion of the magnetization distribution into magnetoresistance and so-called planar-Hall voltages is treated, resulting in a clear choice for the application of the former in a position-detector array. The potentialities of a silicon Hall-sensor array as an alternative for permalloy sensors is considered. Next the basic set-up of a complete position-detection system is discussed, including the generation of the applied position code, as well as methods to cope with problems like the sensor arrays being non-ideally positioned with respect to the bit centres and the potentialities of the application of interpolation schemes. For practical reasons commercially available, longitudinally magnetized tapes are used as a position-data carrier in an experimental system. In view of the computations of the sensor behaviour in the stray field of such a tape, the foundations of a computer simulation model are discussed, resulting in both a practical "simple" model and a more-difficult sophisticated model. Next the details of the realized sensor-chip design are outlined. The realization of the sensor head has been a very demanding activity of this research project; two subjects are discussed in detail. First the realization of the required low interface-resistivity value between permalloy and conduc- tor film is discussed. Second the positioning of the sensor strip at the very edge of the substrate (distance in the order of micrometers) is described. The measurements chapter describes the applied measurement equipment, the various properties and dimensions of the prototype sensor structures and the set-up of the actually performed measurements, i.e. the registration of the sensor-element responses in the stray fields of magnetic tapes. The results are evaluated for sensor elements and tapes with various properties, in the light of the so-called detection distances which are determined with the help of "eye patterns" composed on the basis of worst-case responses. The lower limit of the bit period is found to be in the order of a few hundred micro- meters. Conclusions are first addressed to the performance of the computer model. It is found that the simple simulation model results in reasonably accurate approximations of the sensor responses and detection distances, if the computations are carried out for relatively small values (t ~ 10 um) of the separation between the sensor strip and the magnetic-tape surface. A careful extension of the range of the experimental parameters in the computer model does not result in essentially better computed figures for the minimum bit period (i.e. resolution) of the position-detection system: Prospects of improved performances could possibly arise by the introduction of an all- embracing second design round. It is noted that the final resolution of the position-detection system, being in the order of magnitude of 100 um, can be improved by a factor of 10 to 100 with the application of interpolation techniques. In this case the increase of the accuracy which, in the first instance, is in the order of magnitude of the bit period, will be dependent on the actual quality of these techniques. Finally, the performance of a position detection system based on the alternative silicon-Hall technology is estimated to be of the same order as the permalloy-based version. In an appendix attention is paid to measurement techniques which, based on magnetoresistance sensors, at the time were applied for analysis of the form and magnitude of the compact head field of recording write heads. The utilization of the discussed absolute position-detection system should be based on the possibilities to economically realize a (mass)product with relatively good performance with respect to the established (mostly optical) systems. Having this aim in view, a special-purpose signal-processing chip should be developed, among other things, and integrated with the thin-film sensor structure. However, extensive and multidisciplinar activities of this kind are found to form a certain barrier for the utilization of the design.


Studies on the marine plankton in Malaysian waters are limited, and most of the studies have been mainly taxonomic and qualitative in nature. The present study investigates the spatial and temporal distribution of SeaWiFS derived-chlorophyll-a in the Straits of Malacca. A period of six consecutive years from 1998 to 2003 is studied. Validation of in situ chlorophyll-a measurements with their corresponding SeaWiFS chlorophyll-a data is carried out. The correlation of sea surface temperature (SST) with the temporal chlorophyll-a data is investigated. The relationship between the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) values and chlorophyll-a data is discussed. Finally, the correlation of marine fish landings with chlorophyll-a data is revealed. SeaWiFS Data Analysis System (SeaDAS) has been used in SeaWiFS chlorophyll-a data analysis. In its typical use for the study of chlorophyll-a variability in tropical cloudy areas, ocean colour imagery is often binned in space and time. Comparison of in situ and SeaWiFS derived chlorophyll-a reveals that there is a moderate, positive correlation (r = 0.51) between the in situ and SeaWiFS chlorophyll-a observations, and the correlation is significant (P <0.05) at the 0.05 level. With the six years of nearly continuous monthly images from the SeaWiFS instrument, the patterns of chlorophyll-a variability at Straits of Malacca have thus been investigated.
The results show spatial variability of chlorophyll-a in the Straits of Malacca. High chlorophyll-a concentration value (4.42 mg m-3) has been observed along the near coastal area. Chlorophyll-a value (0.39 mg m-3) decreased towards the offshore areas. Chlorophyll-a distribution was higher in the central (2.68 mg m-3) and southern parts (3.80 mg m-3) of the Straits of Malacca compared to the northern parts (1.16 mg m-3). The results also show seasonality of chlorophyll-a and SST variations in the Straits of Malacca. Phytoplankton bloom events were also revealed during the northeast monsoon season all over the Straits of Malacca. The peak concentrations of chlorophyll-a were prevailed during the northeast monsoon months (2.73 mg m-3).
Chlorophyll-a concentration is relatively low during the southwest monsoon (1.68 mg m-3) and the two inter-monsoons months and was confined to the coastal areas. SST is low during the northeast monsoon months (28.31oC) and high during the southwest monsoon (30.32oC) and the two inter-monsoon months. A negative correlation was observed between the temporal SST and chlorophyll-a. Strong negative SOI value (-28.5) occurred in 1998 and was associated with low chlorophyll-a values. Positive SOI values observed in 1999 were associated with high chlorophyll-a values.
It was found that the monthly marine fish landings value (39,391 metric tonnes) during the northeast monsoon months is lower than the monthly marine fish landings value (45,637 metric tonnes) during the southwest monsoon months.
The research has demonstrated that satellite remote sensing is capable of identifying, quantifying and mapping chlorophyll-a in the study area. The variability between SeaWiFS and in situ chlorophyll-a data explains the typical nature of Case II waters. The spatial chlorophyll-a distribution is associated with hydrographic features of the Straits of Malacca, and the temporal variation of chlorophyll-a concentrations is related to temporal variations in SST distributions and availability of nutrients. Strong relationships exist between ocean colour and other physical parameters such as SST. The negative correlations between chlorophyll-a and fish production with the SOI are attributed to the negative effects of the El Nino in the study area


Drawing on Walter Benjamin's doctoral thesis on the Early German Romantics and Maurice Merleau-Ponty's apperceptive phenomenology, with his Critique of Rationality, John Eustice O'Brien proposes an original epistemology based on the preobjective energy of aesthetic consciousness of human being in the social world.


Kozani Basin is located in northern-central Greece and constitutes the southernmost of the Plio-Pleistocene basins of western Macedonia. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of morphological slope values, as well as the analysis of the drainage pattern in Kozani Basin confirms that the current topographic relief reflects intense neotectonic activity. Synthetic Morphotectonic Map of the under study area was carried out by means of the combined use of: (a) Digital Elevation Model (DEM), (b) Slope Distribution Map, (c) Morphological Slope Map and (d) Drainage Pattern Map. The composition of the digital modelling in conjunction with the regional geological setting, allows the identification of the main morphological discontinuities and lineaments that result from morphotectonic interpretation. The high morphological slope values indicate well-defined morphotectonic features, which mainly trend NE SW and, secondarily, NW SE. Distinct tectonic structures are mostly recognized in the SE margin of Kozani Basin, which is characterized by intense topographic relief. The main large-scale tectonic structure trends NE SW and corresponds to the major Aliakmonas marginal fault zone that bounds the Kozani basin to the south. On the other hand, the NW margin's features are indiscernible; thus, the criteria for their recognition are based on the existence of the river terraces, which reflect the tectonic control. The results of our studies are presented on the Morphotectonic Map, which is followed by our 3D model of Kozani Basin.


Electric vehicles (EV) have gained global attention due to increasing oil prices and rising concerns about transportation-related urban air pollution and climate change. While mass adoption of EVs has several economic and environmental benefits, large-scale deployment of EVs on the low-voltage (LV) urban distribution networks will also result in technical challenges. This paper proposes a simple and easy to implement single-phase EV charging coordination strategy with three-phase network supply, in which chargers connect EVs to the less loaded phase of their feeder at the beginning of the charging process. Hence, network unbalance is mitigated and, as a result, EV hosting capacity is increased. A new concept, called Maximum EV Hosting Capacity (HC $_{max}$ ) of low voltage distribution networks, is introduced to objectively assess and quantify the enhancement that the proposed phase-shifting strategy could bring to distribution networks. The resulting performance improvement has been demonstrated over three real UK residential networks through a comprehensive Monte Carlo simulation study using Matlab and OpenDSS tools. With the same EV penetration level, the under-voltage probability was reduced in the first network from 100% to 54% and in the second network from 100% to 48%. Furthermore, percentage voltage unbalance factors in the networks were successfully restored to their original values before any EV connection.


Cryptococcus neoformans is a spherical, encapsulated, basidiomycetous yeast and
the causative agent of cryptococcosis, a form of meningitis that affects the central
nervous system of immunocompromised individuals (immunocompromised means
patients with compromised immune systems). Since the 1980's and the emergence of the
AIDS epidemic, much study has been concentrated on this fungus because cryptococcosis
is 100% fatal in untreated patients. Even with treatment, the condition does not always
decrease in severity, and no major advancements in antifungal drugs have been made in a
decade. Recently, Cryptococcus has been shown to possess the necessary machinery for
RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi is a method of post-transcriptional gene silencing that
may increase cryptococcal survival within mammalian hosts by controlling gene
expression at various stages of the life cycle through heterochromatin and euchromatin
rearrangement. RNAi was first described in Caenorhabditis elegans in 1998 by Andrew
Fire and his colleagues, and is best studied in Drosophila melanogaster. The pathway
includes argonaute and dicer proteins that aid in highly specific degradation of mRNA in vivo. To date, no organism has been shown to utilize RNAi as a factor for virulence,
nor should it be thought of as such; however, this pathway may indeed play a role in the
formation of certain virulence factors for Cryptococcus, including the transcription of
heat stress response genes required for thermotolerance, oxidative stress response genes
such as those required for melanin and mannitol biosynthesis, as well as the formation of
the polysaccharide capsule. Two separate, yet equally effective methods were used in
order to create deletion constructs of the AGO1 and AGO2 genes. Overlap PCR and
traditional cloning methods were employed. While overlap PCR was optimized,
molecular cloning techniques were also used to create the complementation constructs for
the above genes.
Through overlap PCR, this study resulted in the creation of deletion constructs for
the AGO1 and AGO2 genes, which are thought to play a role in RNAi. This study also
resulted in the creation of a complementation construct for the ago1 deletion. These
constructs can be biolistically inserted into C. neoformans to produce the corresponding
deletion strains. Once these strains are produced, future experiments will include many
phenotypic studies between them and other known strains, as well as an eventual murine
virulence study.


The phosphorus index (P-Index) is a risk assessment and management tool to aid in reducing the risk to water
quality due to movement of excess phosphorus (P) from fields. An allowable P application rate is specified based on the
computed risk. This study focused on the Virginia P-Index. The objectives were to determine the factors to which the P-Index
is most sensitive and to determine the factors to which the resulting P application rate recommendations are most sensitive.
A differential analysis was used to calculate relative sensitivity for nine baseline scenarios: a low, medium, and high baseline
within three different regions of Virginia. Impact of user variability in estimating factor values was evaluated using a
probability distribution analysis. The P-Index was most sensitive in the low and medium baseline scenarios to P management
factors, including annual application rate, method of fertilizer application, and source availability factor. In high-risk
baseline scenarios, the P-Index was most sensitive to transport factors (erosion, runoff, or leaching). User variability had
a greater impact on the P-Index and on P application rate recommendations as P risk increased over each of the three regions.
The closer a field's P-Index value is to a threshold between P recommendation rate categories, the higher the probability that
alternate P application rates will be recommended due to user variability. The results highlight the need for consistent
estimation of factor values, particularly the factors to which the P-Index is most sensitive and particularly in the higher-risk
situations.


Designing acid‐stable oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts is key to developing sustainable energy technologies such as polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzers but has proven challenging due to the high applied anodic potentials and corrosive electrolyte. This work showcases advanced nanoscale microscopy techniques supported by complementary structural and chemical characterization to develop a fundamental understanding of stability in promising SrIrO3 thin film electrocatalyst materials. Cross‐sectional high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy illustrates atomic‐scale bulk and surface structure, while secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging using a helium ion microscope provides the nanoscale lateral elemental distribution at the surface. After accelerated degradation tests under anodic potential, the SrIrO3 film thins and roughens, but the lateral distribution of Sr and Ir remains homogeneous. A layer‐wise dissolution mechanism is hypothesized, wherein anodic potential causes the IrOx‐rich surface to dissolve and be regenerated by Sr leaching. The characterization approaches utilized herein and mechanistic insights into SrIrO3 are translatable to a wide range of catalyst systems.


Background In Uganda, the current national health sector strategic and investment plan underscores schistosomiasis as one of the diseases targeted for elimination by the year 2015. However, uptake of treatment among school children is unknown but suspected to be low. We estimated the uptake and predictors of preventive treatment with praziquantel. Methods In a cross sectional study carried out in Jinja district of Uganda, a random sample of 1,010 children in 12 primary schools was questioned about their uptake of praziquantel, knowledge and perceptions about schistosomiasis, support for taking preventive treatment and the dangers of taking praziquantel. The prevalence and mean intensity of infection with Schistosoma mansoni were determined. Results Self reported uptake of praziquantel at last mass treatment was 28.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 22.9%–33.6%). Overall prevalence and mean intensity of S. mansoni infection was 35% (95% CI: 25.4%–37.9%) and 116.1 eggs per gram (epg) of stool (95% CI: 98.3–137.1) respectively. Uptake of praziquantel was more likely if a child was from a school with high prevalence of infection, had knowledge about schistosomiasis transmission and prevention, and reported teachers' support to take praziquantel. Of the 285 children who took praziquantel, 142 (49.8%) developed side effects. Of the 725 children who did not take the drug, 522 (72.0%) reported fear of side effects as a major reason for non-uptake. Conclusions Uptake of praziquantel in this population is very low. Fear of side effects of praziquantel, lack of knowledge about schistosomiasis transmission and prevention and lack of teacher support are some of the major factors associated with low uptake.