Cluster analysis comprises a range of methods for classifying multivariate data into subgroups. By organizing multivariate data into such subgroups, clustering can help reveal the characteristics of any structure or patterns present. These techniques have proven useful in a wide range of areas such as medicine, psychology, market research and bioinformatics.

 This fifth edition of the highly successful Cluster Analysis includes coverage of the latest developments in the field and a new chapter dealing with finite mixture models for structured data.

 Real life examples are used throughout to demonstrate the application of the theory, and figures are used extensively to illustrate graphical techniques. The book is comprehensive yet relatively non-mathematical, focusing on the practical aspects of cluster analysis.

 Key Features:
 - Presents a comprehensive guide to clustering techniques, with focus on the practical aspects of cluster analysis.
 - Provides a thorough revision of the fourth edition, including new developments in clustering longitudinal data and examples from bioinformatics and gene studies
 - Updates the chapter on mixture models to include recent developments and presents a new chapter on mixture modeling for structured data.

 Practitioners and researchers working in cluster analysis and data analysis will benefit from this book.


Numerous health websites are developing rapidly in China and the competition is fierce between these websites. In order to win the competition, the websites operators need to satisfy their customers to attain more market shares. But few attention has been paid to factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty on these websites. As a result, the paper aims to empirically explore the factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty on health websites based on perceived service quality (responsiveness, empathy and reliability), perceived risk (financial risk and time risk) and trust, and then to propose some targeted measures. A survey was conducted to collect data by means of questionnaires, and a total of 231 usable responses were gathered. Then the hypothesis model was tested using the Structural Equation Modeling(SEM). Results revealed that responsiveness, empathy, time risk and trust had significant impacts on customer satisfaction, whereas reliability and financial risk showed no effects on customer satisfaction. In addition, customer satisfaction and trust significantly influenced customer loyalty. The implications and limitations were discussed .


Stuck debt handling is an effort done by a debt institution in its effort to overcome stuck debt problems or arrears for debt in its time. In essence, the stuck debt handling is an action or steps done to overcome stuck debt to avoid higher loss if it wasn't fulfilled.
The research purpose is to find out stuck debt condition faced by PT. BPR Batu Arto Rejo, to find out stuck debt handling done by PT. BPR Batu Arto Rejo and also to find out the policy applied by PT. BPR Batu Arto Rejo fit or not with the banking awareness principle. The research benefit especially for PT BPR Batu Arto Rejo management, the research hoped to give consideration in deciding debt policy, especially stuck debt.
The research concluded that stuck debt condition faced by PT. BPR Batu Arto Rejo along 2007 to 2009 found that the existence of stuck debt most of them happened in service debt. The handling of stuck debt done by PT. BPR Batu Arto Rejo aimed to do debt savings which was done to less liquid debt. The debt saving was done by re-scheduling, reconditioning, restructuring, liquidation, and trial. The policy applied by PT. BPR Batu Arto Rejo was fitted the banking awareness principles.


The feasibility of the application of terahertz electromagnetic waves in the diagnosis of prostate cancer was examined. Four samples of incomplete cancerous prostatic paraffin-embedded tissues were examined using terahertz spectral imaging (TPI) system and the results obtained by comparing the absorption coefficient and refractive index of prostate tumor, normal prostate tissue and smooth muscle from one of the paraffin tissue masses examined were reported. Three hundred and sixty cases of absorption coefficients from one of the paraffin tissues examined were used as raw data to classify these three tissues using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM). An excellent classification with an accuracy of 92.22% in the prediction set was achieved. Using the distribution information of THz reflection signal intensity from sample surface and absorption coefficient of the sample, an attempt was made to use the TPI system to identify the boundaries of the different tissues involved (prostate tumors, normal and smooth muscles). The location of three identified regions in the terahertz images (frequency domain slice absorption coefficient imaging, 1.2 THz) were compared with those obtained from the histopathologic examination. The tissue tumor region had a distinctively visible color and could well be distinguished from other tissue regions in terahertz images. Results indicate that a THz spectroscopy imaging system can be efficiently used in conjunction with the proposed advanced computer-based mathematical analysis method to identify tumor regions in the paraffin tissue mass of prostate cancer.


Boehmite nanomaterials have been researched for use in applications such as separation media, fillers for resins, and catalyst support. This study investigates the relationship between structural density and mechanical and thermal performance of boehmite nanofiber-polymethylsilsesquioxane composite aerogels. Tri-functional organosilicon alkoxide, methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS), was added to a boehmite nanofibers aqueous dispersion, the colloidal nanofibers were coated and bonded with polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ), to produce transparent to translucent wet gel monoliths. Low bulk density composite aerogel panels were prepared by CO2 supercritical drying of the wet gel monoliths before their mechanical properties and thermal conductivity were investigated. As the amount of the MTMS in the starting composition increased, the fibrillar monolith skeleton coated with PMSQ thickened. Correspondingly, the Young's modulus of the monoliths increased, and the thermal conductivity decreased. When the amount of MTMS added was small, it was possible to deform the translucent panels by uniaxial compression. After 30 % uniaxial compression of the panel, the thermal conductivity was suppressed by 19 %. The thermal conductivity response to compressive deformation of fibrous aerogels, after fabrication, may inform future insulation material development.


The engineering and construction industries require their workforce to undertake complex learning and training activities. Exposing new employees, graduates, or apprentices to these environments could endanger their safety and the safety of those working with them. On site education and training also requires an investment of time from skilled individuals and companies. Problems accessing environments, such as construction sites, heavy plants or chemical manufacturers, are substantially heightened by the need to risk assess and comply with Health and Safety legislation making the traditional "hands on" and "shadowing" approaches to training and education more complicated than in the past. These difficulties are also compounded by changes to the geographical locations (e.g. distance learning, on site) of those studying to join these career paths or progress within them. Therefore, educational institutions and trainers must consider how to deliver this skill based learning for both those with access to academic premises and those learning at a distance. New technologies such as serious games are one of the solutions being explored. This paper undertakes an analysis of safety issues and safety training and learning methods relating to the construction industry. The paper takes its start point from a Health and Safety Executive commissioned report in 2003 (Hide et al, 2003) and questions if sufficient improvements in safety have been achieved within the construction industry since its publication. Then, the paper investigates the development of education and training that meets the necessary reality and complexity of engineering and construction sectors and the ability of serious games to provide timely and accessible training to achieve competency within these sectors.


The Anthropocene is characterized by close interdependencies between the natural Earth system and the global human society, posing novel challenges to model development. Here we present a conceptual model describing the long-term co-evolution of natural and socio-economic subsystems of Earth. While the climate is represented via a global carbon cycle, we use economic concepts to model socio-metabolic flows of biomass and fossil fuels between nature and society. A well-being-dependent parametrization of fertility and mortality governs human population dynamics. Our analysis focuses on assessing possible asymptotic states of the Earth system for a qualitative understanding of its complex dynamics rather than quantitative predictions. Low dimension and simple equations enable a parameter-space analysis allowing us to identify preconditions of several asymptotic states and hence fates of humanity and planet. These include a sustainable co-evolution of nature and society, a global collapse and everlasting oscillations. We consider different scenarios corresponding to different socio-cultural stages of human history. The necessity of accounting for the 'human factor' in Earth system models is highlighted by the finding that carbon stocks during the past centuries evolved opposing to what would 'naturally' be expected on a planet without humans. The intensity of biomass use and the contribution of ecosystem services to human well-being are found to be crucial determinants of the asymptotic state in a (pre-industrial) biomass-only scenario without capital accumulation. The capitalistic, fossil-based scenario reveals that trajectories with fundamentally different asymptotic states might still be almost indistinguishable during even a centuries-long transient phase. Given current human population levels, our study also supports the claim that besides reducing the global demand for energy, only the extensive use of renewable energies may pave the way into a sustainable future.


The rise of social media has created an endless source of possibilities for companies to interact and connect with their target audiences. As it is a new channel, companies may experience uncertainty on how to use it to its fullest potential. The purpose of this study is to describe how the Public Service radio channel, P4 Kalmar, use its Facebook page and how its members perceive the communication on this platform. We have also presented recommendations on how P4 Kalmar can improve the relationship with its members. To reach our conclusions we have combined theoretical references with a quantitative content analyze, a survey and qualitative depth interviews. By analyzing our findings we came to the conclusion that P4 Kalmar have to develop a strategy for communicating on social media. But since no general communication strategy for the organization exists they have to develop one before developing one for social media. P4 Kalmar should also niche themselves into becoming the main source for local news on Facebook. Finally they have to focus on the fact that social media is relationship based and that this is the primary reason for their existence on Facebook.


In preliminary studies, best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) has been found useful for identifying high-yielding maize (Zea mays L.) single crosses prior to field evaluation. In this study, the effectiveness of BLUP for large-scale prediction of yield, moisture, stalk lodging, and root lodging was investigated. Multilocation data from 1990 to 1994 were obtained from the hybrid testing program of Limagrain Genetics. For each of 16 heterotic patterns, the performance of m untested single crosses was predicted from the performance of n tested single crosses as y M = C MP C PP -1 y P , where y M = m x 1 vector of predicted performance of the untested single crosses ; C MP = m x n matrix of genetic covariances between the untested single crosses and the tested single crosses ; C PP = n x n phenotypic covariance matrix among the tested single crosses ; and y P = n x 1 vector of average performance of the tested single crosses, corrected for yield trial effects. Correlations between predicted and observed performance were obtained with a delete-one cross-validation procedure. For heterotic patterns with large (>100) numbers of tested single crosses, the correlations ranged from 0.426 to 0.762 for yield, 0.754 to 0.933 for moisture, 0.300 to 0.739 for stalk lodging, and 0.164 to 0.532 for root lodging. The correlations, especially for lodging traits, increased as larger numbers of tested single crosses were available. The results in this study were obtained from large and diverse data sets (600 inbreds, 15 183 data points, and 4099 tested single crosses across 16 heterotic patterns) and provide strong evidence that BLUP is useful for routine identification of superior single crosses prior to field testing.


Over the last decade, it has become increasingly popular to use event studies with intraday asset pricing data to study the effect of macroeconomic events on the economy. The proponents of this approach argue that asset prices react to macroeconomic events very quickly and that if we know the precise timing of a macroeconomic announcement, a very narrow event window around such an announcement (ranging from 30 minutes to 60 minutes) should be sufficiently long and free from contaminating information that might otherwise cause biased estimates in wider event windows. In contrast, this paper argues that even narrow event windows can lack clean identification because the reaction of asset prices may be affected by other important news that comes out earlier on the same day. We support this argument by studying the relationship between federal funds futures and other asset prices (stocks and Treasuries) on FOMC announcement dates, a relationship widely studied in high-frequency event studies to identify the effect of conventional monetary policy shocks on asset prices. We find that asset prices react significantly more strongly to monetary policy shocks on FOMC announcement dates that overlap with other macroeconomic announcements that come out earlier on the same day. We also find a stronger reaction of asset prices when markets are more volatile. This finding suggests that limitations of investors, such as through rational inattention or asymmetric information, might matter in these event studies. Consequently, one should be cautious before arguing that high-frequency (intraday) event studies adequately address the contamination issues that plague the methods that use low-frequency data.


Capsule Interpretation of nest survival estimates may be improved by incorporating the search method used to locate nests as a covariate. Aims To compare annual survival estimates for Dickcissel Spiza americana nests and determine if incorporating search method (structured, opportunistic, or behavioural searches) improved model fit. Methods Dickcissel nests were located using structured, opportunistic, or behavioural searches over three years (2011–2013) in Mississippi, USA. Models were used to estimate daily survival rates (DSRs) and to analyse factors influencing nest survival. Results DSRs for Dickcissels were best explained by quadratic date, nest age, age found, and year, but incorporating search method improved model fit. Daily survival was 1.51 times greater for nests located using opportunistic search methods relative to structured searches, but was not significantly different between structured and behavioural searches. Conclusions Survival estimates varied by search method, specifically between structured searches and opportunistically located nests. This might have arisen because heterogeneity in nest placement or parental behaviour may influence the sample of nests located with a given search method. Researchers may be able to account for this potential source of bias by including search method as a model covariate when using standard survey designs or modelling approaches.


AIM
To evaluate the female oncofertility attitude and knowledge of reproductive health professionals in China.

METHODS
An online survey was distributed to reproductive health professionals in Shanghai, China.

RESULTS
Female professionals were more likely to consider that cancer patients would want to preserve their fertility. Participants with higher educational background tended to have a more positive attitude toward oncofertility. The majority of the participants (71.0%) obtained a fair or low level of oncofertility knowledge, and only 25.3% of them received scores at the 'good knowledge' level.

CONCLUSION
There are significant gaps in the current oncofertility knowledge among reproductive health professionals in China, suggesting an urgent, unmet need for establishing an interdisciplinary fertility preservation training and service system.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the incidence and epidemiologic correlates of congenital syphilis at an inner-city Boston hospital, and draw comparisons with the situation at the same hospital 40 years ago.

DESIGN
Chart review and comparison with data collected in 1951.

SETTING
Maternity and pediatric services at Boston City Hospital.

METHODS
A study conducted in 1951 on the maternity service of Boston City Hospital in which demographic data were collected on all women admitted in labor over a 5-month period was replicated. Serologic testing for syphilis was carried out on these women, and the demographic and medical correlates of positive maternal syphilis serology were examined. This study was repeated exactly 40 years later, using the cord blood screening for syphilis done routinely at delivery and a review of prenatal records.

RESULTS
From a group made up largely of married white women in 1951, the study population shifted in 1991 to a group made up mostly of minority women, with 75% unmarried. In 1951, 24 patients were diagnosed with syphilis either before or during the pregnancy, giving a prevalence rate of 2.4%. In 1991, 25 of 647 women were diagnosed with syphilis, for a prevalence rate of 3.9%. The women with positive cord blood serologies had a higher rate of other sexually transmitted diseases and substance abuse. No symptomatic cases of congenital syphilis were seen in 1951 or in 1991, although at least 11 of the 26 infants born to mothers with positive serologies in 1991 received intravenous penicillin therapy.

CONCLUSIONS
The continued prevalence of diagnosed syphilis in women at delivery reflects an inner-city epidemic of congenital syphilis that is tied to substance abuse, human immunodeficiency virus, and changing social patterns, as well to older problems of serologic screening, prenatal care, treatment failures, and maternal reinfection. It is essential that screening programs be maintained and improved in this high-risk population, and that infants born to mothers with positive serologies receive full and adequate treatment if there is any doubt at all about their infection status.


ABSTRACT The aim of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate the effect of nutrition education on nutritional knowledge levels of pregnant women. The study was undertaken on a sample of pregnant women (i = 743) attending health centers in Istanbul for prenatal care. Nutrition knowledge scores were significantly higher in posttest (23.0) than pretest (16.0) after receiving nutrition education (p < .001). Significant differences in pretest (p < .05) but not posttest (p > .05) scores were found for factors, such as education level, work status, and the number of pregnancies; significant differences in both test scores were found for age and nutrition information (p < .05). In conclusion, pregnant women need to be given adequate and appropriate nutrition education for maternal and child health according to sociodemographic characteristics.


The purpose of this study was to enhance local history as a focus area in a Higher Education (HE) teaching context. This article documented a case study of the practice of flower growing as a recreational-competitive activity. A historical narrative was thus constructed around the Wellington Horticulture Society (Coloured), henceforth referred to as the (WHS). The founding of the WHS coincided with the emergence of cultural organisations in Wellington. Furthermore, it was part of a social development, known as garden culture. By using documentary evidence, previous research material and an oral historical account, a narrative of the WHS was created, emphasising aspects, such as competition, family history and garden culture. This research identified social and political dilemmas associated with the WHS.


Customer service is defined as the ability of a company to afford the service requestor with the expressed need. Due to the increasing importance of service offerings as a revenue source and increasing competition among service providers, it is important for companies to optimize both the customer experience as well as the associated cost of providing the service. For more complex interactions with higher value, mixed-initiative systems provide an avenue that gives a good balance between the two goals. This article describes a mixed-initiative system that was created to improve customer support for problems customers encountered with their appliances. The tool helped call takers solve customers' problems by suggesting questions aiding the diagnosis of these problems. The mixed-initiative system improved the correctness of the diagnostic process, the speed of the process, and user satisfaction. The tool has been in use since 1999 and has provided more than $50 million in financial benefits by increasing the percentage of questions that could be answered without sending a field service technician to the customers' homes. Another mixed-initiative tool, for answering e-mail from customers, was created in 2000.


This paper examines the effects of skill advantages at age six on different types of parental investments, and long-run outcomes up to age 27. We exploit exogenous variation in skills due to school entry rules, combining 20 years of Chilean administrative records with a regression discontinuity design. Our results show higher in-school performance and college entrance scores, and sizable effects on college attendance and enrollment at more selective institutions, in particular for low-income children. Our findings suggest that parental time investments are neutral to early skills gaps, while monetary investments are reinforcing and likely to be mediating the long-run effects.


Abstract
Purpose
Despite the increase in empirical studies of social enterprise in management and organization research, the lack of a cohesive knowledge base in this area is concerning. In this chapter, we propose that the underdevelopment of the attendant research infrastructure is an important, but oft-overlooked, barrier to the development of this body of empirical research.

Design/methodology
We explore this proposition through a review of 55 empirical studies of social enterprises published in the last fifteen years, in which we examine the mix and trajectory of research methods used and the research infrastructure on which these studies depend.

Findings
We find that empirical research has used social enterprise largely as a context for theory development, rather than deductively testing, and thus building upon, existing theories. The latter pattern is due largely to the absence of two key dimensions of infrastructure: well-defined samples, and consistent, operational measures of social enterprise success. Finally, we identify present trends along both dimensions that contribute to changing the research infrastructure for empirical social enterprise research.

Originality/value
Our analysis highlights the critical need for research infrastructure to advance empirical research on social enterprise. From this perspective, research infrastructure-building provides an important opportunity for researchers interested in social enterprise and others interested in enabling high-quality empirical research in this setting.


BACKGROUND
The current "gold-standard" for Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis is based primarily on subjective clinical rating scales related with motor features. Molecular biomarkers that are objective and quantifiable remain attractive as clinical tools to detect PD prior to its motor onsets.

OBJECTIVE
Here, we aimed to identify, develop, and validate plasma-based circulating microRNA (miRNAs) as biomarkers for PD.

METHODS
Global miRNA expressions were acquired from a discovery set of 32 PD/32 controls using microarrays. k-Top Scoring Pairs (k-TSP) algorithm and significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) were applied to obtain comprehensive panels of PD-predictive biomarkers. TaqMan miRNA-specific real-time PCR assays were performed to validate the microarray data and to evaluate the biomarker performance using a new replication set of 42 PD/30 controls. Data was analyzed in a paired PD-control fashion. The validation set was composed of 30 PD, 5 progressive supranuclear palsy, and 4 multiple system atrophy samples from a new clinical site.

RESULTS
We identified 9 pairs of PD-predictive classifiers using k-TSP analysis and 13 most differentially-expressed miRNAs by SAM. A combination of both data sets produced a panel of PD-predictive biomarkers: k-TSP1 (miR-1826/miR-450b-3p), miR-626, and miR-505, and achieved the highest predictive power of 91% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predicted value, and 88% negative predicted value in the replication set. However, low predictive values were shown in the validation set.

CONCLUSIONS
This proof-of-concept study demonstrates the feasibility of using plasma-based circulating miRNAs as biomarkers for neurodegenerative disorders such as PD and shows the challenges of molecular biomarker research using samples from multiple clinical sites.


The leading strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) cultivar grown in Florida is currently 'Florida Radiance' (Chandler et al., 2009; U.S. Patent PP20,363) which was commercialized in 2009 and by the 2015–16 season, accounted for ≈70% of the acreage in west-central Florida. This cultivar is preferred for its early and total yields, its uniformly shaped and attractive fruit, and its open plant architecture and long pedicels which allow efficient harvesting. Sweet Sensation® 'Florida127' (Whitaker et al., 2015; hereafter referred to as 'Florida127'; U.S. Patent PP25,574) is currently the second leading cultivar with ≈20% of acreage in 2016–17. This cultivar is preferred for its combination of high yields, large fruit size, excellent eating quality, and long shelf life. However, neither of these current commercial standards are well adapted for early transplanting dates in west-central Florida. High temperatures during transplanting tend to reduce early yields of 'Florida Radiance' and cause elongated fruit, which may be unmarketable, and 'Florida127' often becomes too vegetative when exposed to high temperatures. The planting window in west-central Florida has shifted earlier in recent years in an attempt to produce higher yields in late November and December when market prices are highest (Wu et al., 2015).

There is currently a need for additional cultivars with uniformly shaped fruit and harvesting efficiency similar to 'Florida Radiance' and flavor characteristics similar to 'Florida127'. There is also a need for cultivars that are adapted to early planting, between 25 Sept. and 1 Oct., when environmental conditions in west-central Florida are hot and unfavorable for flower initiation and ideal fruit shape.

'Florida Beauty' strawberry is the product of a collaborative breeding effort between the University of Florida and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. It has demonstrated adaptation to early planting, maintaining excellent fruit quality, and a yield distribution that complements current commercial standards. Experimental trials have been conducted under the direction of the University of Florida on the research plots of the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC) (Balm, FL), at the Florida Strawberry Growers Association (FSGA) headquarters in Dover, FL, and on several farms in west-central Florida and Southern Spain.


Clinical legal education is both more exhilarating and more stressful than "traditional" legal education. It forces students to confront their pre-existing assumptions about the practice of law and the representation of clients (frequently, indigent and marginalized individuals), and it similarly forces them to integrate new doctrine, theory, and practice in a very different way than "regular" law classes demand. Therapeutic jurisprudence considers the role of the law as a therapeutic agent, and examines all aspects of the legal system in an effort to determine whether it is operating therapeutically or anti-therapeutically, and suggests that legal decision-makers consider the potential impact that legal judgments may have on individuals' well-being. Therapeutic jurisprudence has several applications to clinical teaching: It (1) improves the teaching of skills, (2) gives clinical teachers a better understanding of the dynamics of clinical relationships, (3) investigates ethical concerns and the effect on lawyering roles, and (4) invigorates the way teachers and students question accepted legal practice.


To elucidate dietary preferences of benthic grazers at the Arctic Kongsfjorden by means of fatty acid trophic
markers, ten different parallel treatments (starvation, 3 species of red macroalgae, 4 species of brown
macroalgae and 2 species of green macroalgae) were offered as mono-algal diet to specimens of the dominant
sea urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (Echinodermata, Echinoidea) and the gammarid amphipod
Gammarellus homari (Crustacea, Amphipoda). At the end of the 3-week feeding experiments, amphipods
and sea urchins (soft tissue) were deep-frozen and analysed for total lipid contents as well as fatty acid (FA) compositions. In addition, FA profiles of the algal species were determined and screened for specific FA
patterns or single FAs qualifying as potential trophic markers in the grazers. Despite their diets of nine algalspecies with different FA compositions, FA patterns of the sea urchins and amphipods revealed a pronounced similarity between treatments. This strong similarity was also observed in the faecal pellets of the sea urchins. Hence, deviating FA compositions of the macroalgae were neither reflected in the FA patterns of the grazers' tissue nor in their faecal pellets. Suitable algal FA trophic markers could thus not be identified in the two grazers from Kongsfjorden. The rather low lipid levels, especially in the amphipods, as well as a pronounced degradation and modification of FAs may explain that the FA trophic marker approach did not provide evidence of dietary preferences. Future experiments may obtain a higher resolution of potential FA trophic markers by analysing separate lipid classes or single tissues of lipid-poor grazers. Alternatively, different methods are needed to reveal high-resolution trophic relationships between macroalgae and herbivores in Kongsfjorden.


Objective: The purpose was to gain insight in the functioning of caregivers of cardiac arrest survivors at 12 months after a cardiac arrest. Secondly, the course of the wellbeing of the caregivers during the first year was studied. Finally, factors that are associated with a higher care burden at 12 months after the cardiac arrest were investigated. Subjects: A total of 195 family caregivers of cardiac arrest survivors were included. Main measures: Quality of life (SF-36, EuroQol-VAS), caregiver strain (CSI) and emotional functioning (HADS, IES) were measured at two weeks, three months and one year after the cardiac arrest. Thereby, the caregiver was asked to fill out the cognitive failure questionnaire (CFQ) to evaluate their view on the cognitive status of the patient. Results: Caregiver strain was high in 16 (15%) of the caregivers at 12 months. Anxiety was present in 33 (25%) caregivers and depression in 18 (14%) caregivers at 12 months. The repeated measures MANOVA showed that during the first year the following variables improved significantly: SF-36 domains social and mental health, role physical, role emotional and vitality, caregiver strain, HADS and IES (P<0.001). At 12 months caregiver strain correlated significantly (explained variance 63%, P=0.03) with caregiver HADS (P=0.01), EuroQol-VAS (P=0.02), and the CFQ (P<0.001), all measured at 12 months after the cardiac arrest. Conclusions: Overall wellbeing of the caregivers improves during the first year up to normal levels, but caregivers with emotional problems or perceived cognitive problems at 12 months are at risk for developing a higher care burden.


With the advent of open data initiatives, raw data has been staged as a crucial element of government transparency. If the consequences of such data-driven transparency have already been discussed, we still don't know much about its back rooms. What does it mean for an administration to open its data? Following information infrastructure studies, this communication aims to question the modes of existence of raw data in administrations. Drawing on an ethnography of open government data projects in several French administrations, it shows that data are not ready-at-hand resources. Indeed, three kinds of operations are conducted that progressively instantiate open data. The first one is exploration. Where are, and what are, the data within the institution are tough questions, the response to which entails organizational and technical inquiries. The second one is extraction. Data are encapsulated in databases and its release implies a sometimes complex disarticulation process. The third kind of operations is 'rawification'. It consists in a series of tasks that transforms what used to be indexical professional data into raw data. To become opened, data are (re)formatted, cleaned, ungrounded. Though largely invisible, these operations foreground specific 'frictions' that emerge during the sociotechnical shaping of transparency, even before data publication and reuses.


Should coercive indoctrination or "rotten social background" be a defense to crime? Traditional desert-based excuse theory roundly rejects these defenses because the offender lacks cognitive or control dysfunction at the time of the offense. The standard coercive crime-control strategies of optimizing general deterrence or incapacitation of the dangerous similarly reject such defenses. Recognition of such defenses would tend to undermine, perhaps quite seriously, deterrence and incapacitation goals. Finally, the normative crime-control principle of empirical desert might support such an excuse, but only if the community's shared intuitions of justice support it. The law's rejection of such defenses suggests that there might be little popular support for them.This is not necessarily the end of the story, however. Coercive indoctrination has in some cases, such as that of POW Richard Tenneson, prompted considerable public sympathy, confirming that lay persons do tend to exculpate some such offenders. Such intuitive support for a coercive indoctrination defense suggests that there may be practical crime-control value in having the criminal law recognize it. If the criminal law can build its reputation as a reliable moral authority with the community it governs, it can harness the potentially powerful forces of social and normative influence.There are good arguments for seeing "rotten social background" as a form of coercive indoctrination and, thus, for considering it too for a defense under such a newly-created doctrine. However, while the two defenses may be analogous, having a "rotten social background" by itself is not likely to meet the minimum prerequisites that logically would adhere to a coercive indoctrination defense, and certainly would have little intuitive support. On the other hand, specific cases of "rotten social background" might well qualify, if it is shown that that experience forced upon the person a set of beliefs and values compelling him toward the offence that he could not reasonably have been expected to resist.


Background: Angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is a receptor for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and differences in its expression may affect susceptibility to infection. Methods: We performed a genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis using hepatitis C virus-infected liver tissue from 190 individuals. Results: We discovered that polymorphism in a type III interferon gene (IFNL4), which eliminates IFN-λ4 production, is associated with a two-fold increase in ACE2 RNA expression. Conversely, among genes negatively correlated with ACE2 expression, IFN-signalling pathways were highly enriched and ACE2 was downregulated after IFN-α treatment. Negative correlation was also found in the gastrointestinal tract where inflammation driven IFN-stimulated genes were negatively correlated with ACE2 expression and in lung tissue from a murine model of SARS-CoV-1 infection suggesting conserved regulation of ACE2 across tissue and species. Conclusions: We conclude that ACE2 is likely a negatively-regulated interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) and carriage of IFNL4 gene alleles which modulates ISGs expression in viral infection may play a role in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis with implications for therapeutic interventions.


: One of the biggest acts of plunder by Israel was of a vast Palestinian film archive looted by Israeli military forces in Beirut in 1982. The films are managed under the repressive colonial control of the Israel Defense Forces Archive, which thus conceals many of them and information regarding their origin. This article documents my efforts to disclose the films and locate their institutions in Beirut, to chart their history, name their film-makers and open a discussion about returning them. It also provides a deeper understanding of colonial mechanisms of looting and truth production. I discuss the Third Palestine Cinema Movement and the various institutions that were part of the Palestinian revolution in the 1970s, with a focus on the Cultural Arts Section managed by Ismail Shammout.


This book draws together the main elements of strategic management theory and considers their relevance to contemporary practice in construction. It helps students understand what corporate strategy involves and how it is possible to develop a proactive approach to the management of key organisational resources that are essential to attain objectives.Understanding of the importance of strategic management has developed rapidly in the past decade. Recent economic events have shown that all organisations must continually reassess their approach to achieving intended objectives, especially improvement in customer focus. The construction industry is no different. Construction employers require graduates who are competent in understanding the basis of strategic management, the range of techniques that will enable the organisation to identify opportunities and threats and respond to rapid change.This book provides an overview of the context in which construction projects are carried out, and the potential methods that exist to conduct strategic analysis and decision-making. By analysing case studies, Corporate Strategy in Construction: Understanding today's theory & practice demonstrates how vital lessons can be learnt from other industries by benchmarking practices and developing alternative ways of delivering value to clients.A key message of the book is that construction organisations can, with a better appreciation of strategic management, increase their potential to innovate and create sustainable competitive advantage.


ABSTRACT M1 breast cancer is regarded as an incurable disease. Therefore, surgery has been considered as beneficial only for palliative purposes, like toilet mastectomy for ulceration, bleeding or pain. However, several recent studies show, that patients who have received elective surgery as a part of their treatment live longer than those with surgical treatment. The biological basis behind the phenomenon has been speculated. Surgery leads to decreased tumour burden, lower levels of circulating tumour cells and maybe beneficial immunological responses. On the other hand, majority of the studies reporting longer survival in operated patients are retrospective. Patients who have received surgical treatment have been younger, have received more systemic treatments, especially chemotherapy and anti-HER2 agents, have had fewer metastatic sites or asymptomatic metastases only. Therefore, the observed longer survival in operated patients may be just due to selection bias. Moreover, many of these studies suffer also other methodological shortcomings. A few randomized trials have been launched to clarify if surgery really prolongs survival in M1 breast cancer, including the Turkish MF 07-01 protocol, the Indian trial from Tata Memorial Centre, the Dutch SUBMIT trial and the Japanese JCOG1017 trial. The results from the two first mentioned trials were reported in SABCS 2013. In the Indian trial, surgery was not associated with survival benefit, neither in the entire study population of 350 patients nor in any of the evaluated subgroups. Neither the Turkish trial was able to show survival benefit after surgery in the entire study population (N = 278) during a median follow-up of 18 months. The authors also reported numerous subgroup analyses, suggesting possible survival benefit in younger patients, in patients with bone metastases only, especially in those with solitary bone metastasis. Patients with initial surgery and multiple liver or pulmonary metastases, in turn, did worse than those with systemic treatment only. However, these subgroup analyzes were unplanned and may therefore suffer from multiple testing. In conclusion, the results from the two reported randomized trials were mainly discouraging and do not indicate elective surgical treatment in patients with M1 breast cancer outside trials. Disclosure: The author has declared no conflicts of interest.


In recent years, the Innocent Movement has begun to focus its attention on wrongful misdemeanor convictions as a systemic problem. This Article analyzes eighty-five documented misdemeanor exonerations and concludes that innocence has been demonstrated primarily in two ways: laboratory tests of alleged unlawful drugs that reveal "no controlled substance" despite the individual having pled guilty to misdemeanor drug possession; and police body camera or citizen videos that surface after a misdemeanor conviction to contradict the factual basis for that conviction. Strategic use of these relatively definitive methods of revealing wrongful misdemeanor convictions can call attention to the flaws in misdemeanor prosecutions and help to improve accuracy in misdemeanor cases, just as the Innocence Movement has used DNA evidence to do so in the felony context.
This Article also addresses the Innocence Movement's nascent interest in misdemeanors as a normative matter. The hope is that some innocent people wrongly convicted of misdemeanors will be exonerated, which will allow the Movement to highlight systemic causes of such errors in reform efforts that will ultimately benefit all individuals facing misdemeanor charges. For example, the Harris County, Texas mass misdemeanor drug exonerations have highlighted how bail is used to extract guilty pleas. On the other hand, an innocentric focus on misdemeanors could overtake an existing, yet still developing, narrative of the disproportionate and unfair direct and collateral consequences of misdemeanor convictions. These consequences can last a lifetime and restrict an individual's access to employment, housing, and education. Defining the "wrong" in "wrongful misdemeanor conviction" as the conviction of an innocent person ignores the "wrong" of low-level public order offenses that result in permanent criminal records and wildly disproportionate consequences for individuals and their families. This latter narrative has fueled recent decriminalization, sealing and expungement, and other reforms to mitigate the disproportionate consequences of a misdemeanor record. The Innocence Movement should take care to avoid undermining these broader questions about whether the harsh punishments attached to misdemeanors are ever appropriate, regardless of guilt or innocence.


This paper asks whether Americans were jobless in 2014 because of where they were living in 2007. In the cross section, employment rates diverged across U.S. local areas 2007-2009 and—in contrast to history—have barely converged. This "great divergence" could reflect spatial differences in human capital, rather than causal location effects. I therefore use administrative data to compare two million workers with very similar pre2007 human capital: those who in 2006 earned the same amount from the same retail firm, at establishments located in different local areas. I find that conditional on 2006 firm-x-wages fixed effects, living in 2007 in a below-median 2007-2009-fluctuation area caused those workers to have a 1.3%-lower 2014 employment rate. Hence, U.S. local labor markets are limitedly integrated: location has caused long-term joblessness and exacerbated within-skill inequality. The enduring impact is not explained by enduringly high unemployment, more layoffs, more disability enrollment, or reduced migration. Instead, the employment outcomes of cross-area movers are consistent with severe fluctuation areas continuing to depress residents' labor force participation. Impacts are correlated with housing busts but not manufacturing busts, possibly reconciling current experience with history. If recent trends continue, employment rates are estimated to remain diverged into the 2020s—adding up to over a relative lost decade for half the country. Employment models should allow market-wide shocks to cause persistent labor force exit, leaving employment depressed even after unemployment recovers.


The United States plans to immobilize several metric tons of excess weapons plutonium in a solid matrix. The selected material must achieve the short-term goal of deterring proliferation through theft or host-nation reuse, and the long-term goal of preventing plutonium exposures over geologic time. The Department of Energy, after internal review, has recently decided on Synroc, a crystalline ceramic, to immobilize the plutonium. This paper presents an independent echnical comparison of glass versus ceramic immobilization options, and reaches similar conclusions to those of the Department of Energy. On a technical basis, Synroc performs better than glass in a number of areas. It is more proliferation resistant than glass due to the more complicated and less well-known extraction process that would be required to separate the plutonium. Synroc is more chemically durable than borosilicate glass and can dissolve more depleted uranium than glasses to address future criticalitY problems. Now that the Department of Energy has selected Synroc as the waste form of choice for plutonium disposition, it should also be reconsidered for immobilization of high-level nuclear waste.


This work studies the application of genetic algorithms to the domain of game playing, emphasising on learning a static evaluation function. Learning involves experience generation, hypothesis generation and hypothesis evaluation. Most learning systems use preclassified examples to guide the search in the hypothesis space and to evaluate current hypotheses. In game learning, it is very difficult to get classified examples. Genetic Algorithms provide an alternative approach. Competing hypotheses are evaluated by tournaments. New hypotheses are generated by genetic operators. We introduce a new framework for applying genetic algorithms to game evaluation-function learning. The evaluation function is learned by its derivatives rather than learning the function itself. We introduce a new genetic operator, called derivative crossover, that accelerates the search for static evaluation function. The operator performs cross-over on the derivatives of the chromosomes. We have demonstrated experimentally the advantage of tile derivative crossover for learning an evaluation function.


The aim of the research was to investigate diseased fish species Labeo (Labeo bicolor) and Sack-gill Catfish (Heteropneustes fossilis) by testing several diagnostic systems targeting fish herpesviruses in purpose to determine the etiology of the outbreak infection in aquarium fishes at the Kуiv Zoo during summer 2017. During a fish health inspection of aquariums in Kyiv Zoo, an Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 − CyHV-3 was detected in Labeo and Sack-gill Catfish. Preliminary examination of infected fish revealed a range of lesions particularly in internal organs and tissues. The gills of diseased fish were characterized by hyperaemia and necrosis. The infringement of liver color and structure, kidney swelling and gallbladder necrosis were observed in both fish species. The virus did not grow in fish cell lines of RTG-2, FHM and EPC, that was evident by absence of any morphological changes in appropriate cell lines. Also initially fish were tested for parasitic and bacterial infections and they were determined to be non-infected. Our results demonstrated that specific oligonucleotide primers for thymidine kinase gene of CyHV-3 were successfully amplified the specific DNA fragments. The length of polymerase chain reaction product, as expected, was 264 nucleotide pairs. The amplified specific fragments were identical to the area of thymidine kinase gene CyHV-3, as was shown by sequence analysis. The identity of nucleotide sequences composed 97‒99%. The same positive results were obtained using primers that recommended by the International Epizootic Bureau, fragments in size of 409 and 292 were also obtained. In our opinion, CyHV-3 was brought to Ukraine by import of aquarium fish avoiding sanitary control of transboundary transportation. Therefore, the uncontrolled import of aquarium and cultured fish species is a serious problem because imported fish could be as a source of highly pathogenic infections for industrial aquaculture.


Educational games have great potential for learning, however the potential of user-generated microgames for supporting learning is still not completely understood. The present study reviews the design quality of user-generated microgames based on microgame design fundamentals and explores the potential of the games for facilitating learning from the perspective of elementary teachers in terms of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This is exploratory research organised within the GeoGebra application and with the participation of elementary teachers in Indonesia. The study found that the games met the microgame design fundamentals but the mechanics and aesthetics were in need of some improvements. The major strength of the games is simplicity for learning, however their user interfaces are their major weakness. Learning resources and environments in Indonesian elementary schools are relatively supportive of games integration into learning processes whilst senior teachers and rural areas are less so. These findings suggest users should pay more attention to audios, visuals and special effects as well as winning conditions when creating microgames in open platforms. It is of pivotal importance to provide playing instructions and games that fit to mobile screens. Furthermore, teachers have to carefully select the games and consider the context before utilising user-generated microgames for assisting learning.


Beginning with Justice Ginsburg's 2011 opinion in the Goodyear case – and echoed in Justice Thomas's 2014 opinion in Walden v. Fiore and Justice Alito's 2017 opinion in Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court – the Supreme Court has suggested that the distinctiveness of specific personal jurisdiction (in contrast to general jurisdiction) resides in its being "case-linked." However, to date, the Justices have not spelled out what it takes for a defendant's contacts with a forum to be case-linked, although they now have an opportunity to do so in a pair of personal injury cases brought against Ford Motor Company. This essay aims to provide the missing account of case-linkage, explaining along the way how it applies to the Court's pending cases.

Our method is constructive and interpretive: we take as our starting point the Court's precedents and its reasoning about two pillars of personal jurisdiction: state sovereignty and defendant's due process rights. After Part I's introduction, Part II re-examines the Court's personal jurisdiction decisions from International Shoe to the present with the goal of understanding the concept of case-linkage as it has played out in the cases. Part III describes the Ford litigations presently before the Court, explaining why they invite consideration of an aspect of specific jurisdiction that the Court has yet to address adequately.

We put forward our theory of case-linked jurisdiction in Part IV. Case-linkage, we argue, can only be understood within a framework that isolates the key concepts that matter for due process. Two are crucial: (1) a concept of the scope of the defendant's submission to state authority, and (2) a concept of the scope of the forum state's legitimate interests. We explain the latter in terms of the principle that a state's courts ought not meddle in affairs beyond the state's legitimate reach (labeled "the Anti-Busybody Principle"). By explaining case-linkage both in terms of the scope of a defendant's submission to state power and of a state's legitimate interests, we offer a way to bring together the process and sovereignty concerns that underlie the law of personal jurisdiction.

With our own affirmative account in place, Part V shows why the "causation" approach to case-linkage advocated Ford and by some lower courts are indefensible, even if the more expansive "relatedness" tests of other courts are also not up to the task at hand. We also show that the intuitively right answer to the Ford cases—that a state court has jurisdiction to hear tort claims brought by state residents injured in-state by the defendant's product (when the defendant has extensively sold the product-line in that state)—not only meshes with all relevant Supreme Court precedents, but also points to the best path forward for understanding, defining, and demarcating case-linked jurisdiction.


Improving the effectiveness of the transfer of information during handover among doctors is an essential part of patient safety and good risk management. The emergency department has been identified as a high risk area for errors in handover due to its potentially stressful and chaotic environment where there are competing demands, distractions, interruptions and time pressures. The lack of formal training in giving handovers has also been highlighted as resulting in a variable quality of handover. Most of the literature on handover has focussed on transitions between shifts with fewer studies on the transfer of information from paramedics to medical staff. There is a dearth of literature exploring the experiences of junior medical staff receiving handover in the emergency department.
Purpose: This paper presents findings on the perceptions by paramedics and medical staff about what enables and constrains handover in the emergency department. In particular, it focuses on the implications for the education of junior medical staff about receiving effective handover from paramedics.
Methods: Qualitative data were collected using interviews with 19 paramedics and 16 doctors (n=35) from ambulance services and emergency departments in 2 states of Australia.
Results: Three main themes emerged that were evident at both sites and in the 3 professional groups. These were: difficulties in creating a shared cognitive picture, tensions between 'doing' and 'listening', and fragmenting communication.
Conclusion: Recommendations arising from this study as to how handover could be improved are the need for shared experiences and understanding between junior doctors and paramedics; the use of simulation activities focussing on handover; and, for the development of a standardised approach to handover from paramedics to ED receiving staff


This paper introduces a hybrid model that combines a neural network with a latent topic model. The neural network provides a lowdimensional embedding for the input data, whose subsequent distribution is captured by the topic model. The neural network thus acts as a trainable feature extractor while the topic model captures the group structure of the data. Following an initial pretraining phase to separately initialize each part of the model, a unified training scheme is introduced that allows for discriminative training of the entire model. The approach is evaluated on visual data in scene classification task, where the hybrid model is shown to outperform models based solely on neural networks or topic models, as well as other baseline methods.


Purpose- The purpose of this paper is to examine the applicability of contemporary western management theories within the context of the Nigerian national culture. It explores the evolution of modern management in Nigeria today and why the effective transfer of management practices from Europe and America is a challenge. Design/Methodology/Approach- This study provides a descriptive exploration of the evolution of contemporary management philosophies, the Nigerian culture, and the challenges the application of western contemporary management within a Nigerian culture has created for modern managers in Nigeria today. Findings- The Nigerian culture does limit the usefulness of western management practices in the workplace. In reality, these conflicts can be minimized or avoided if the local cultural norms and practices are recognized and considered in the application of contemporary management principles. Research Limitation & Implication- The effect of culture as a major influence in determining the relevance of western management theories in Nigeria is discussed within the context of Geert Hofstedes five cultural dimensions, leveraging previous empirical studies on the country's cultural conditioning. Though Nigeria was the focus of this research, it must be stated that Nigeria is a multi-cultural country and there is still a need to study in-depth the various cultural practices that prevail across the major tribes to be able to understand the conflicts that occur. The majority of those interviewed during the course of this study were from the Yoruba tribal groups though it can be safe to generalize to the extent that several cultural norms are shared across the major tribes. Practical Implications- The five cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede provides a framework for understanding the impact of cultural differences for management. However, an understanding of how the local Nigerian culture affects the mindset and way of life of managers and the people they manage is useful in assessing the suitability of western management practices and theories and explore ideas for adaptation. This is particularly useful for multinational corporations. Originality/Value- This paper builds on scholarly contributions on culture and the extent to which it limits the effectiveness of the practice management theories and philosophies in Nigeria. It goes a step further to examine specific aspects of culture in practice that limits management practices in the workplace. Finally, it provides examples to support the assertion that there is a need to improve the robustness of international management theories that is useful in the African context.


In pretoothbrush populations, gumlines would often be marred by a thick, visible crust of calcium phosphate, food particles, and trapped microorganisms. Called dental calculus, or tartar, this hardened plaque still plagues many, and dentists attack it with metal picks and abrasives. But ancient dental calculus can be a treasure for researchers. At a recent meeting in London, several scientists noted that the microbial DNA preserved in ancient dental calculus—and in equally prosaic human coprolites (fossilized or preserved feces)—carries a record of the communities of bacteria that lived in and on people who died hundreds or thousands of years ago. They want to know how thousands of years of civilization have changed this invisible ecosystem, for good or for ill.


In most digital communication systems, if we can afford to send data below the modem transmission speed, then it is possible to achieve the system bit error rate as small as we desire by using error control codes. The Reed-Solomon codes are such error control codes, that are widely used for forward error correction due to their optimal characteristics in both Hamming distance and structure, but most of all, their capacity for correcting both random and burst errors. -- Finding a suitable code for a communication channel, or trying to explain how the Reed-Solomon codes work, or comparing various decoding methods is not an easy task, hence this thesis developed a general purpose Reed-Solomon (RS) coding and decoding (codec) simulator for teaching as well as research purposes. -- The RS codec simulator has two versions that can be run under Microsoft Windows and Unix operating system, respectively. A friendly and easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) is provided for PC. The user can define a code by selecting the symbol length m from 3 to 8 bits and the error correcting capability T of up to 20. -- In the encoder, the systematic code generation and the self-reciprocal generator polynomial are used. The noisy channel can be modeled by an error pattern. This error pattern can either be entered by the user with the arbitrary weight or generated by an external program, which generates all possible error positions. In the decoding process, both the Peterson and Berlekamp-Massey algorithms are available for finding the error locator polynomial. The simulation results show that the Peterson's direct method is better when T ≤ 6. However, the Berlekamp-Massey algorithm is much faster when T > 6. Chien search is used for locating the error position in the received word. Although the error values can be obtained by using either Gauss-Jordan elimination or Forney's algorithm, Gauss-Jordan elimination is preferred when T is small, i.e. T ≤ 10, but as T increased, i.e. T > 10, the Forney algorithm should be used in order to minimize decoding time. -- It is found that the periodicity algorithm conceived by S.Le-Ngoc and Z.Young [1] [2] is a special case of the LeNgoc-Ye Transformation Algorithm [3]. An improved periodicity algorithm is proposed which can eliminate the division operation required by the LeNgoc-Young algorithm. The analysis shows that the periodicity algorithm is valid for all values of m. Furthermore, a new periodicity algorithm is also developed by using direct solution method to eliminate the index table required in the proposed periodicity algorithm. It is shown that the new periodicity algorithm outperforms the look-up table, Chien search, binary decision (fast Chien search) and Okano-Imai algorithms in terms of optimization of both memory space and decoding time. The new periodicity algorithm has a simple structure and therefore it is well suited for VLSI implementation.


Battery thermal management has significant effect on the performance of electric vehicles (EVs) under high current rates. In this research, a comprehensive thermal analysis and multi-objective optimization design framework is proposed to enhance the thermal performance of a novel air–liquid cooling coupled battery pack under higher discharging rate (3C). Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical calculation is utilized to compare the cooling efficiency of the battery pack designs. Furthermore, a surrogate model is generated by using Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) and support vector machine. The design parameters include different mini-channels' mass flowrates and the air flow inlet velocity, the objectives are the temperature rise, temperature distribution, and the energy consumption. Sensitivity analysis results indicate that the air flow inlet velocity is the main factor affecting the temperature rise and temperature distribution, while the mass flowrates of mini-channels have important influence on the pressure drop. Finally, the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is used to select the optimal battery pack design, the maximum temperature, and temperature standard deviation (TSD) get improved by 1.8 K and 0.06 K, respectively. And the energy consumption of the cooling system can be controlled within the appropriate range after optimization design.


We described mountain lion (Pw7za concolol-) habitat characteristics during two studies in the same area of northeastern Oregon during the 1990s. In the f rs t study (1992-1994) we evaluated micro-habitat features associated with 61 diurnal bed sites that were not associated with kills. We used similar techniques in the second study (19961998) to evaluate habitat features at 79 cache sites near lion-killed prey. A dog was used to find 93% of the diurnal bed sites. Radio telemetry triangulation was used in the second study. Characteristics of diurnal bed sites and cache sites were compared with random habitat plots. Rock structure and downed logs were identified as important habitat components at diurnal bed sites. Canopy cover at cache sites was si-gificantly higher than at random sites. Cache sites also were associated with rock structure, but not to the same degree as diurnal bed sites. In both studies mountain lions used sites in close proximity to habitat edges more frequently than expected based on random plots. Understanding the similarities and differences of habitat use at diurnal bed, cache and lull sites sheds light on the ecological adaptation of mountain lions to the multiple environmental influences and disturbances of managed forests. Proceedings of the Seventh Mounkzin Lion Workshop


We study within a van der Waals density functional theory framework the structural and electronic properties of Ge-intercalated epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001). We argue that the insertion of Ge adatoms at the graphene/SiC interface results in an almost complete detachment of the graphitic layer from the substrate. A stable electron-doped phase is obtained as a result of the pinning of the Fermi level by sp3-type Ge dangling-bond states. Stability is preserved when germanium atoms substitute Si/C atoms of the SiC substrate, while it is compromised when Ge is additionally chemisorbed on the graphene surface. Results are in good agreement with recent experiments.


Background . Nosocomial infections contribute substantially to increased morbidity, mortality and resource expenditure in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Methods . A one-year prospective surveillance study was performed using epidemiological and microbiological methods to quantify the frequency of infections and the antimicrobial usage, microbiological environmental sampling and molecular typing of clinical and environmental isolates. Results . The frequency of ICU-acquired infections was comparable to other Italian ICUs. Most of these infections were caused by few epidemic clones of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii. The survival advantage of these epidemic clones over the sporadic isolates may be related to the multi-resistant profile of the epidemic clones and to the high usage of some antibiotics in the ICU. Hand contamination of ICU personnel is a likely factor for dissemination of epidemic clones within the ICU. Conclusions . The integrated surveillance approach described in this study is able to clarify the complex epidemiology of ICU-acquired infections and can provide important cues for prevention and control activities.


Older people are more at risk of contracting foodborne infections, however the majority remain well despite the physical, social and cognitive challenges of older age. Future healthcare strategies targeting older people can be informed by exploring the food history and current context of their lives and what 'assets' they employ to successfully consume 'safe' food in the home. Phase I: Socio-demographic, health and asset related data collection through a researcher completed questionnaire i) at 4 Age-UK lunch clubs ii) at a North Hertfordshire District Council community centre lunch club and iii) via a 3UA webpage in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. 50 respondents recruited via self-selection. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS. Phase II: 15 semi-structured interviews conducted via purposive sampling from the questionnaire cohort, and 3 interviews with sheltered housing staff in Buckinghamshire. Qualitative data analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach with NVivo software. Mean age: 79 years (SD 8.9) from 62-99 years. 19 Male (38%), 31 female (62%). Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) 10cm scale for reporting subjective health: mean 6.8cm. 80% lived independently alone, either in their own homes or in sheltered accommodation. Exploring the reported belief that 'food hygiene didn't exist' during the childhood years of this population and theoretical development of concepts surrounding whether adult food hygiene practices were hidden and non-verbalized as viewed by children, or unnecessarily in times of a simplified food chain between producer and consumer. Adapting to modern food products has required the acquirement of new food hygiene knowledge and skills, with evidence that this knowledge is now being passed from the younger generation to the elder along with food provision.
Keywords: Older people, food hygiene, health, assets, learning, family.


This working paper applies the Foster Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) (1984) index of poverty measures to the subsistence fishing industry in South Africa in order to evaluate the impact of resource transfers on poverty. The sample of subsistence communities was identified by the Chief Directorate: Marine and Coastal Management of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. Data on these communities was taken from the Census (1996) and the October Household Survey (1995). The contribution of the paper is unique in that it modifies the expenditure equations of the FGT methodology to account for different species of fisheries, and in this way quantifies the impact of public sector poverty alleviation efforts. We are then able to estimate the impact on poverty and inequality relative to the quantities of rights transferred to subsistence communities by the state. The findings suggest that poverty can be completely eradicated in subsistence communities relative to a R1000.00 poverty line by allocating approximately 16.69 percent of the landed value or 6.12 percent of the wholesale processed (Free On Board) value of known subsistence fisheries to the recipients. Of course, this must be balanced within the context of scarce public resources, and a discussion of the opportunity costs of the transfer is given due regard. The technique developed is scalable and decomposable, making it ideal for use in planning exercises in the public domain.


Technological innovation combined with entrepreneurial mindset can transform industry structures
and incumbent businesses. We focus on the financial services industry, where the phenomenon of
FinTech is shaking the established, traditional players and according to many experts is able to totally
transform this business sector. A proven method that allows incumbent companies to sense efficiently
their business environment and utilize other stakeholders in order to become agile to such changes is
the utilization of open innovation. The open innovation mechanism helps incumbent firms to work with
a group of talents or entrepreneurial teams or startups to develop applications and new digital business
activities in order to achieve digital transformation.
Through an open innovation case study, this paper tries to provide evidence of the benefits and challenges
raised by the digital transformation in the well-established sector of financial services. Participating
actively as organizers and facilitators of the open innovation initiative helped us obtain exposure
to incumbent companies and startups at a level of detail required for achieving a deep understanding
on all important aspects when integrating digital technologies with the established way of
doing work in the financial sector.


In order to examine the behavior of elements under the control of aqueous fluid through slab-mantle interactions, a series of high-pressure and high-temperature experiments was carried out at subsolidus temperature, 850°C. The starting materials consist of two portions: metabasite from blueschist as a slab material and olivine as a mantle material. The metabasite was directly placed on the olivine and sealed within an Au tube. At 3 and 6 GPa corresponding to 100 and 200 km in depth, respectively, the slab material was changed from blueschist to rutile-bearing eclogite. Observed phases in the mantle side were primary olivine and enstatite formed by the reaction between olivine and Si02-rich aqueous fluid from the slab side. At 8 GPa, the slab material was further transformed to rutile-free eclogite, and phases occurred in the mantle side were titanoclinohumite in addition to olivine and enstatite. The titanoclinohumite was formed by the reaction between olivine and Ti-bearing aqueous fluid which was supplied from the slab side. The titanoclinohumite is essentially identical in chemical composition to those principally occurring in kimberlite xenoliths. Because the Ti-phase is a host reservoir of HFSE, the formation of titanoclinohumite at 8 GPa corresponding to 250 km 1 n depth suggests that the aqueous fluid can be a carrier of HFSE from the subducting slab to the upper mantle, and thus the source region of kimberlite magma could be impregnated by the interaction between mantle peridotite and the HFSE-bearing aqueous fluid from the subducting slab.


The central problem of rationality is to tame and domesticate the overwhelming complexity the human mind faces in its efforts to survive and thrive in a complex, unpredictable, and hostile universe. Much of the history of the human race is essentially the story of its expanding capacity to do just that, and the survival benefits that has bestowed on the species. Legal systems in general are part of the story of taming complexity, and the modern American legal system in particular an important part. In an effort to understand the nature of legal systems, much legal scholarship, like the scientific endeavors in many other disciplines, engages in reductivist efforts that simplify and then tries to explain or engage in normative efforts about a certain set of phenomena, typically through a priori reasoning. An outstanding and enormously influential example is economic analysis of law. Two recent publications of this kind particularly pertinent to The Future of Litigation are the extraordinary efforts of Louis Kaplow to explain, justify, and reform the law of burden of proof and essentially the entire judicial process. In contrast to such reductivist efforts is the methodology of Stephen Yeazell, which might be called "the reformed judicial process school." The reformed judicial process school embraces rather than suppresses the complexity of the matter under investigation, in this case the judicial system, and employs whatever tools of analysis seem most appropriate to the task at hand, including careful doctrinal exegesis, the application of microeconomics, or empirical research. The result (whatever Yeazell or others might have intended) is careful, bottom-up empiricism rather than top-down prescription. Each approach has its utility and limitations. In the effort to advance knowledge of the operation of the legal system, work like Yeazell's succeeds better than reductivist approaches. This is significantly explained by Yeazell's recognition of the implications that the legal system is complex and dynamic, and the failure of the legal economists in that regard. In predicting The Future of Litigation, the work product of the reformed judicial process school is more likely to be influential than that of standard microeconomic theorizing. Indeed, because Kaplow's work ignores the significance of complexity, it ends up with prescriptions that have essentially infinite transaction costs. The advantage of the Yeazell approach is particularly evident in the pleading area that has been thrown into turmoil by the recent Supreme Court decisions in Iqbal and Twombly.


AN OUTSIDER'S GUIDE TO PUBLIC ORAL HISTORY NZJPH5.1 2017 3 At the beginning of this century, public history in New Zealand was considered a 'new term' in historical practice, described as crucial in both 'the emergence of professional history writing' and the assertion of 'cultural nationalism.' In the past decade, scholars here have highlighted its breadth and significance in 'the employment of historians and the historical method outside academia; in government, private companies, the media, historical societies and museums, as well as those working in private practice.' Oral history has also become a significant part of public history's nation-making, key in the collecting of exceptional and 'ordinary' public voices. For Māori, current definitions of oral and public history are problematic because, as this essay suggests, both are constructed within Pākehā-centric perspectives of history, tradition, orality and what counts as 'public.' Public history has been called a 'slippery process', often shaped in a contrast between 'people's history' and a 'search for social cohesion'. This search for 'cohesion' is a familiar colonial refrain that fuels a healthy native scepticism of public history as yet another settler-centric invention that keeps us on the outside. This essay considers the ways in which public oral history in New Zealand is articulated, noting how this is done within narrow definitions and binaries that displace, ignore, or distort, indigenous perspectives. It suggests a rethinking of oral history as a movement beyond current binaries in the field, and advocates a widening of the meaning of oral sources, methods and politics, in order to include indigenous definitions as legitimately oral and public. This analysis is decolonial, not because it seeks an eradication of nationalism, but because it seeks to disrupt colonial-centric


This article focuses on the phenomenon of internalizing human rights norms within the Inter-American Court of Human Rights system – collectively comprised of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ("Commission") and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights ("Court"). The process of internalization of human rights norms within the Inter-American Court of Human Rights system involves human rights activists, those seeking to remedy wrongs which they acknowledge as existing in society before them, and juridical actors using the powerful institutions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights system in order to achieve the aim of highlighting and attempting to stop these practices. The process of internalization within this system also involves bringing the harms suffered by victims, their families and their communities into the open, acknowledging the wrongs done to them, along with the myriad impacts of these wrongs, and preserving the dignity and core humanity of the victims of human rights violations. The article examines the place of the Commission and the Court within the larger human rights policies of the Organization of American States as well as the procedural relationship between the Commission and the Court. It discusses the role that the Commission has come to play as an advocate for those who have suffered human rights violations at the hands of a state or state actors. The article asserts that throughout the history of the Commission's role in relation to the Court, the Commission has become increasingly active in advocating for those who allege substantial human rights violations and ensures that these victims are seen by the Court as having essential humanity as well as legal standing and rights. It also argues that the Commission is the fundamental place for the institutionalization of the voices of human rights victims and those who support them. The article then examines the jurisprudence of the Court with a view to understanding how the Court uses itself as a tool of human rights. It argues that the Court has expanded the concept of human rights protections in Latin America to take a holistic and humanity-based view rather than functioning within a formalistic legal structure. In so doing, the article asserts that the Court reflects on the reality of human rights violations and their impacts and the importance of bringing these to light, at once validating the suffering and humanity of victims and chastising those states and state actors responsible for committing abuses against the populations they controlled.


Hedge funds have become critical players in both corporate governance and corporate control. In this article, we document and examine the nature of hedge fund activism, how and why it differs from activism by traditional institutional investors, and its implications for corporate governance and regulatory reform. We argue that hedge fund activism differs from activism by traditional institutions in several ways: it is directed at significant changes in individual companies (rather than small, systemic changes), it entails higher costs, and it is strategic and ex ante (rather than intermittent and ex post). The reasons for these differences may lie in the incentive structures of hedge fund managers as well as in the fact that traditional institutions face regulatory barriers, political constraints, or conflicts of interest that make activism less profitable than it is for hedge funds. But the differences may also be due to the fact that traditional institutions pursue a diversification strategy that is difficult to combine with strategic activism.Although hedge funds hold great promise as active shareholders, their intense involvement in corporate governance and control also potentially raises two kinds of problems: The interests of hedge funds sometimes diverge from those of their fellow shareholders; and the intensity of hedge fund activism imposes substantial stress that the regulatory system may not be able to withstand. The resulting problems, however, are relatively isolated and narrow, do not broadly undermine the value of hedge fund activism as a whole, and do not warrant major additional regulatory interventions.The sharpest accusation leveled against activist funds is that activism is designed to achieve a short-term payoff at the expense of long-term profitability. Although we consider this a potentially serious problem that arguably pervades hedge fund activism, we conclude that a sufficient case for legal intervention has not been made. This conclusion results from the uncertainties about whether short-termism is in fact a real problem and how much hedge fund activism is driven by excessive short-termism. But, most importantly, it stems from our view that market forces and adaptive devices taken by companies individually are better designed than regulation to deal with the potential negative effects of hedge fund short-termism while preserving the positive effects of hedge-fund activism.


A Real-World Test of Internet Utility Many libraries now provide Internet access for their patrons and staff or are planning to do so. The push toward Internet access in libraries is proceeding despite the fact that establishing and supporting access is time-consuming, expensive, and fraught with political and policy implications. How useful is the Internet in carrying out the mission of contemporary libraries? Given that library budgets are finite with extreme demands for diversified collections and services, what gains, if any, should library professionals expect from the investment in network connectivity? This study seeks to test the Internet's effectiveness at an important facet of library practice-answering reference questions. Researchers conducted a three-fold test of Internet effectiveness: depth, accuracy, and durability. Using a variety of search tools, they found that the Internet could provide answers to a significant percentage of actual reference questions. There was little significant difference between the accuracy of information obtained through Internet sources and traditional reference sources. The Internet sites showed surprising durability throughout the project. What was prediction is reality. There is now widespread access to network information. The volume of information being produced and stored on computer networks is massive and increasing. Current choices include multiple formats: complex data sets, high resolution graphics, sounds, video, and animation are available in addition to plentiful text databases and documents. The current availability of billions of records in proprietary databases and public-domain networks is only the beginning. The Significance of the Study The watchword for today's Internet is variety. The Internet is a hodgepodge, with constantly changing tools, protocols, standards, and quasi-standards: e-mail, the World Wide Web, Telnet hosts, FTP archives, discussion groups, and gopher sites. Together these tools form the latest attempt at fulfilling a dream, over a half-century old, of being able to obtain information regardless of time, space, or format. [1] While the Internet's intellectual lineage spans the greater part of this century and its technological roots are decades old, library interest in and use of the Internet began only about ten years ago.[2] Scanning library trade, research, and professional journals reveals the first mention of the Internet in 1988.[3] Since then, the Internet, not to mention other network tools, facets, and issues, has accounted for thousands of articles. Conferences and workshops sponsored by professional associations, regional library cooperatives, graduate programs, and private trainers all seek to give library workers the skills, knowledge, and experience to cope with the Internet. There are a few large projects seeking to build virtual collections accessible on public networks.[4] Some libraries are building community information networks where clients can find a wealth of local information, ranging from community events to social services. In addition to adding content to the Internet, a number of cataloging projects sponsored by libraries and library utilities are seeking to impose order on a disorderly Internet.[5] A recent American Library Association survey noted that 25 percent of public libraries provide some kind of Internet access to patrons.[6] The 1996 National Survey of Public Libraries and the Internet documented a 113-percent increase in Internet connectivity in public libraries since 1994.[7] The Barron list, which contains instructions for connecting to library catalogs on the Internet, shows more than four hundred library-sponsored Internet sites in North America alone.[8] Though libraries are instituting Internet access in increasing numbers, there is still a wide disparity in access. While 96 percent of public libraries serving populations of 250,000 to 499,999 and 82 percent serving a population of 1,000,000 or more provide Internet access, only 31. …


This study examines the earnings of an under-researched group: Asian women in computer science, in the United States (U.S.). I distinguish three subsets of college-educated Asian female computer scientists working full time in the U.S.: 1) U.S.-born, U.S.-educated Asian Americans, 2) Asian-born, U.S.-educated Asian immigrants, and 3) Asian-born, Asian-educated Asian immigrants. Results from multivariate regression and quantile regressions (at the 10th, 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles) show that U.S.- and Asian-educated Asian immigrant women earn less on average (at the mean level) and at the 10th, 50th, and/or 75th percentile levels than their white male counterparts. Only Asian American women do not earn less than their white male counterparts at any level. Further analysis reveals that Asian immigrant women earn less due to their gender, but not because of a combination of their gender and race. Neither the immigrant women's birthplace or the origin of their degree further disadvantage their earnings. The lack of multiple disadvantages may be explained by white women earning less than expected, but not Asian immigrant women earning more than expected. Suggestions for further research are discussed.


In "Revisioning History" thirteen historians from around the world look at the historical film on its own terms, not as it compares to written history but as a unique way of recounting the past. How does film construct a historical world? What are the rules, codes, and strategies by which it brings the past to life? What does that historical construction mean to us? In grappling with these questions, each contributor looks at an example of New History cinema. Different from Hollywood costume dramas or documentary films, these films are serious efforts to come to grips with the past; they have often grown out of nations engaged in an intense quest for historical connections, such as India, Cuba, Japan, and Germany.The volume begins with an introduction by Robert Rosenstone. Part I, "Contesting History," comprises essays by Geoff Eley (on the film "Distant Voices, Still Lives"), Nicholas B. Dirks ("The Home and the World"), Thomas Kierstead and Deidre Lynch ("Eijanaika"), and Pierre Sorlin ("Night of the Shooting Stars"). Contributing to Part II, "Visioning History," are Michael S. Roth ("Hiroshima Mon Amour"), John Mraz ("Memories of Underdevelopment"), Min Soo Kang ("The Moderns") and Clayton R. Koppes ("Radio Bikini"). Part III, "Revisioning History" contains essays by Denise J. Youngblood ("Repentance"), Rudy Koshar ("Hitler: A Film from Germany"), Rosenstone ("Walker"), Sumiko Higashi ("Walker" and "Mississippi Burning"), and Daniel Sipe ("From the Pole to the Equator").


Anoxic treatment was tested for pest control on three types of insect cases. Test animals were larvae of Trogoderma angustum (Solier) and Anthrenus verbasci (L). Cases were enclosed in low diffusion plastic and the oxygen level was reduced by use of the VELOXY nitrogen generator. Test was performed 1) with nitrogen treatment only, 2) with 2 sachets of Ageless 200 added during one and two weeks respectively and 3) with 4 and 8 sachets of Ageless 200 added during one week. Oxygen level was reduced to 0.2% by the VELOXY. Temperature was about 22o C and RH around 28% in the cases. In the treatment with VELOXY only, all test specimens died. With 2 Ageless 200 almost all insects survived one week. After two weeks a few larvae survived in the tightest case. With 4 Ageless 200, 3 Trogoderma survived in the tightest case. With 8 sachets all insects died.


Background and Aim: Underlying factors of Obesity is various and the main aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and some sociodemographic related factors among Iranian northern primary school children in year 2010. Materials and Methods: This is a crossectional-descriptive study that was performed on 7399 primary school children (3934= male and 3465=female) from 112 schools that were chosen by two step sampling (cluster and simple random). The number schools were equal with respect to residential area and sex. Center of Disease Control and prevention (CDC) criteria was used for comparing anthropometric indexes. Results: Linear regression analysis revealed that weight, height and BMI increase 2.70 kg, 4.62 cm and 0.42 kgm in boys (P=0.001) and 3.12 kg, 5.19 cm and 0.52 kgm in girls (P=0.001) in each of years, respectively. Highest and lowest obesity was observed in Gomishan and Ramian districts, respectively. Results of logistic regression analyses showed that the risk of overweight and obesity was 1.203 times in male as compared to females[1.078-1.341, CI 95%], 1.382 times in urban as compare to rural areas[1.240-1.541, CI 95%] and 2.297 times in high economic group as compared to low economic group[1.911-2.761, CI 95]. Conclusion: Obesity was a health problem in primary school children in Golestan province and urbanization and rise of economic status was a risk factor.


This study is intended to see how the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) will be positioned in Indonesia's development and strategic perspective in the context of regional initiatives. While the motivations to promote the MSR are mainly economic, there also exist political considerations and consequences of the initiative that will shape the implementation and outcome of the proposed cooperation. This study takes both economic and political perspectives into consideration. The report of this study is organized as follows. After the introduction, the second section highlights various issues related to the MSR initiative. It discusses the economic transformation in China in order to better explain the motivations of East Asian countries to introduce a 21st Maritime Silk Road. This section also highlights the economic development of Indonesia, and focuses in particular on various aspects related to maritime affairs and connectivity. It is then followed by the third section, which discusses Indonesia's perspective on and expectations of the MSR initiative.


This Paper provides a descriptive analysis of the demand for high-skilled workers using a new firm dataset, the IZA International Employer Survey 2000. Our results suggest that while workers from EU countries are mainly complements to domestic high-skilled workers, workers from non-EU countries are hired because of a shortage of high-skilled labour. The Paper, furthermore, provides a short description of recent German policy initiatives regarding the temporary immigration of high-skilled labour. In view of our descriptive results these temporary immigration policies seem, however, to satisfy only partly the demand of firms interested in recruiting foreign high-skilled workers. A more comprehensive immigration policy covering also the permanent immigration of high-skilled workers appears to be necessary.


While typical SAR imaging employs a co-located (monostatic) RADAR transmitter and receiver, bistatic SAR imaging separates the transmitter and receiver locations. The transmitter and receiver geometry determines if the scattered signal is back scatter, forward scatter, or side scatter. The monostatic SAR image is backscatter. Therefore, depending on the transmitter/receiver collection geometry, the captured imagery may be quite different that that sensed at the monostatic SAR. This document presents imagery and image products formed from captured signals during the validation stage of the bistatic SAR research. Image quality and image characteristics are discussed first. Then image products such as two-color multi-view (2CMV) and coherent change detection (CCD) are presented.


Offering strong data protection to cloud users while enabling rich applications is a challenging task. Researchers explore a new cloud platform architecture called Data Protection as a Service, which dramatically reduces the per-application development effort required to offer data protection, while still allowing rapid development and maintenance.


Visual perception is strongly shaped by expectations, but it is poorly understood how such perceptual expectations are learned in our dynamic sensory environment. Here, we applied a Bayesian framework to investigate whether perceptual expectations are continuously updated from different aspects of ongoing experience. In two experiments, human observers performed an associative learning task in which rapidly changing expectations about the appearance of ambiguous stimuli were induced. We found that perception of ambiguous stimuli was biased by both learned associations and previous perceptual outcomes. Computational modeling revealed that perception was best explained by a model that continuously updated priors from associative learning and perceptual history and combined these priors with the current sensory information in a probabilistic manner. Our findings suggest that the construction of visual perception is a highly dynamic process that incorporates rapidly changing expectations from different sources in a manner consistent with Bayesian learning and inference.


Caregivers often recognize the signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their child before age two, yet, they often do not receive a diagnosis until after the child is four years old. Preschool teachers have high levels of exposure to the developing child and so are in an ideal position to identify children who may have ASD and refer them for assessments which may lead to access to early intervention services. This research sought to better understand whether or not preschool teachers are familiar with signs of ASD in young children, comfortable discussing concerns with parents, and knowledgeable about services to which young children with ASD may beneift. This research is important to the social work field because it is imperative to ensure public agencies are working to help families gain access to services which will aid their children in reaching their full potential. The sample in this study consisted of 84 preschool teachers, many of whom were Caucasian (78%), female (90.6%), and held a college degree (80%). The results of this study found preschool teachers to have a moderate level of knowledge regarding ASD symptoms regardless of experience. In general teachers held positive perceptions about mainstreaming and those who have had training specific to inclusion had more positive perceptions about mainstreaming than those who did not (p = .026). Teachers responded with high levels of comfort voicing their concerns about child development to parents, and teachers with greater experience reported feeling more comfortable addressing their concerns with parents. Teachers in this study reported having knowledge of services available to families with children with ASD and there was no association between teachers experience or education level and their familiarity with these services. IDENTIFICATION OF ASD IN PRESCHOOL SETTINGS 3