While considerable progress has been made in organizational neuroscience over the past decade, we argue that critical evaluations of published empirical works are not being conducted carefully and consistently. In this ex- tended commentary we take as an example Waldman and colleagues (2017): a major review work that evaluates the state-of-the-art of organizational neuroscience. In what should be an evaluation of the field's empirical work, the authors uncritically summarize a series of studies that: (1) provide insufficient transparency to be clearly un- derstood, evaluated, or replicated, and/or (2) which misuse inferential tests that lead to misleading conclusions, among other concerns. These concerns have been ignored across multiple major reviews and citing articles. We therefore provide a post-publication review (in two parts) of one-third of all studies evaluated in Waldman and colleague's major review work. In Part I, we systematically evaluate the field's two seminal works with respect to their methods, analytic strategy, results, and interpretation of findings. And in Part II, we provide focused reviews of secondary works that each center on a specific concern we suggest should be a point of discussion as the field moves forward. In doing so, we identify a series of practices we recommend will improve the state of the literature. This includes: (1) evaluating the transparency and completeness of an empirical article before accepting its claims, (2) becoming familiar with common misuses or misconceptions of statistical testing, and (3) interpreting results with an explicit reference to effect size magnitude, precision, and accuracy, among other recommendations. We suggest that adopting these practices will motivate the development of a more replicable, reliable, and trustworthy field of organizational neuroscience moving forward.


Results have been analysed from a three-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Festivals Project, which sought to document the extent and significance of festivals for rural communities and economies. Rural festivals have proliferated and diversified in recent years from the traditional country show to evermore whacky niches -- the Guyra Lamb and Potato Festival, the Wooli Goanna Pulling Festival, the Thoona Latin American and Wheely Bin Festival and Parkes' Elvis impersonators festival. Are such festivals significant for rural communities in contrast to their apparent short-lived nature? The ARC festivals project sought to answer this question. The largest ever database of rural festivals in Australia was compiled with more than 2,800 participating festivals. And through subsequent postal surveys (with 480 festivals in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania) and collaborative research partnerships for qualitative research with rural festivals in Daylesford (Victoria), Parkes (NSW), Bermagui (NSW) and Inverell (NSW), insights were gleaned on the ability of festivals to catalyse social and community development, to generate regional income and to challenge or sustain rural cultural identities.


The present invention relates to a composite composition that is useful in the manufacture of a thermoplastic product having improved physical and mechanical properties. Accordingly, the composition of the present invention comprises a mixture of organic filler which consists of a cellulosic material derived from a fibrous animal biomass and a coupling agent which consists of maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene, in which the mixture is capable of being reinforced in a polymer which includes polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene.


Stripe motion artifacts caused by phase fluctuation in phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (OCT) result in the quality degradation of the image ofin vivo blood flow of human eye. In order to suppress the stripe motion artifacts, we design a kind of frequency rejection filter aimed at the frequency spectrum characteristics of the image. Blood flow images of human eye acquired by our research group and another group are filtered to show the performance of the proposed method. Experimental results indicate that the stripe motion artifacts in the projection images are rejected significantly with minimal loss of signal information. The proposed filter can also be used in other imaging systems with similar stripe noise.


European Union Member States have so far tackled the problem of irregular migration in Europe by adopting common policies which aim to prevent irregular arrivals on the EU borders. In their EU-level policies, they have neglected regularization as an alternative EU-level policy addressing irregular migration. This represents a contrast to regularizations which are performed by many EU Member States. However, the EU Commission has gradually adopted a more positive stance about regularization. This article will discuss the principles of an EU-level regularization scheme through the analysis of the Commission's ideas on the issue. It will be argued that, rather than adopting a common policy, the flexible set of measures, which guide Member States in formulating regularization mechanism for protection/humanitarian reasons, can be formulated at the EU level.


BACKGROUND: Influenza-associated deaths in children occur annually. We describe the epidemiology of influenza-associated pediatric deaths from the 2004–2005 through the 2011–2012 influenza seasons. METHODS: Deaths in children <18 years of age with laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by using a standard case report form to collect data on demographic characteristics, medical conditions, clinical course, and laboratory results. Characteristics of children with no high-risk medical conditions were compared with those of children with high-risk medical conditions. RESULTS: From October 2004 through September 2012, 830 pediatric influenza–associated deaths were reported. The median age was 7 years (interquartile range: 1–12 years). Thirty-five percent of children died before hospital admission. Of 794 children with a known medical history, 43% had no high-risk medical conditions, 33% had neurologic disorders, and 12% had genetic or chromosomal disorders. Children without high-risk medical conditions were more likely to die before hospital admission (relative risk: 1.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.6–2.4) and within 3 days of symptom onset (relative risk: 1.6; 95% confidence interval: 1.3–2.0) than those with high-risk medical conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza can be fatal in children with and without high-risk medical conditions. These findings highlight the importance of recommendations that all children should receive annual influenza vaccination to prevent influenza, and children who are hospitalized, who have severe illness, or who are at high risk of complications (age <2 years or with medical conditions) should receive antiviral treatment as early as possible.


Many studies have examined invasion resistance in plant communities, but few have explored the mechanisms of invasion and how subsequent community reassembly affects community functioning. Using natural dispersal and deliberate seed addition into grassland communities with different compositional and richness histories, we show that invaders establish in a nonrandom manner due to negative effects of resident functional groups on invading species from the same functional group. Invaders hence complement communities with originally low richness levels. Consequently, communities converge toward similar levels of species richness, high functional richness, and evenness, but not always maximum productivity. Invasion processes are faster but qualitatively similar when the effect of chance, in the form of dispersal stochasticity, is reduced by seed addition. Thus, dispersal limitation may influence community assembly, but it does not override functionally predictable assembly mechanisms. Some of the most productive communities prior to invasion are unstable in the face of invasion, leading to decreased productivity following invasion. We suggest that invasion into such communities occurs possibly because a pathogen-free niche is available rather than a resource niche. Thus, pathogens in addition to resource niches may be important biological drivers of community assembly.


This paper shows how the polarization of natural light changes in an isotropic lens made from plastically strained synthetic sapphire. A formula is proposed for calculating the degree of polarization of the refracted rays. The refracted light is partially polarized perpendicular to the plane of incidence.


The downlink capacity of a UMTS FDD network is limited by the number of available channelization codes (code capacity) and by the available NodeB transmit power (soft capacity). The channelization codes of one sector are taken from an OVSF tree such that the number of codes per spreading factor is equal to the spreading factor itself. In the case that the codes of the OVSF tree are already exploited and the required transmit power is still clearly below its maximum, it is possible to establish another OVSF tree by using a secondary scrambling code. In this paper we develop a Monte Carlo simulation model for comparing the code capacity with the soft capacity of a UMTS network with sectorization, soft and softer handover. Several factors of influence like the orthogonality factor, the user activity, or the codes and power that are reserved for the HSDPA are investigated. Additionally, the capacity increase by using a second OVSF tree with the secondary scrambling code is studied


Civilisational dialogue initiatives are currently considered our best chance to prevent a potential clash between states belonging to different civilisations. Critical approaches to security are concerned with insecurities as experienced by multiple referents, including individuals, social groups, states and the global environment. This article argues that students of critical security studies and proponents of civilisational dialogue initiatives potentially have something to talk about. In presenting a two-step critique of civilisational dialogue initiatives, this article explores such potential, which could allow for further dialogue with a view to addressing insecurities of multiple security referents.


Decisions like Miranda v. Arizona helped popularize a conception of the courts as a protector of criminal defendants and a bulwark against overly aggressive law enforcement. But from arrest through trial, the Court has fashioned criminal constitutional procedure with a deep and abiding faith in the motivations of criminal justice system actors. Even decisions that vindicate individual constitutional rights at the expense of police and prosecutorial power are shaped by the Court's fundamental trust in those same actors. They establish, in essence, "Criminal Doctrines of Faith."
Criminal Doctrines of Faith pervade each stage of the criminal process — from cases that govern the pursuit of suspects and searches of homes to the disclosure of exculpatory evidence and the defendant's capacity to waive a jury trial. This faith in law enforcement takes several forms. Some decisions reflect a simple faith in police and prosecutors' character, while others, a faith in the institutions in which they work or in the courts' ability to identify and deter misconduct.
Recent high-profile prosecutions of police officers have highlighted and raised new questions about how much criminal procedure should rest on faith. In such cases, trusted government actors, both police and prosecutors, have attacked the integrity of a criminal process ostensibly designed to control their own behavior. Using the trials of the Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray as a lens, this Article highlights how the Supreme Court's faith in police and prosecutors raises profound questions about the strength of these doctrines, the importance of more skeptical and diverse viewpoints on courts, and the viability of court-led regulation of law enforcement actors.


A new theory on the characteristics of entrepreneurial knowledge This important book published by the Institute of Economic Affairs in association with Edward Elgar presents, in a new context, important aspects of Austrian economic ideas. The book explores the recent shift among professional economists and scholars in their evaluation of the debate on socialism. Socialism, Economic Calculation and Entrepreneurship presents an application of Israel M. Kirzner's theory of entrepreneurship to the theory of the impossibility of socialism. It discusses the influence of the fall of socialism, with particular reference to the evolution of economic thought. With innovative and timely discussion, this book will appeal to students and academics in the fields of economic systems, the economic analysis of socialism and the history of economic thought. This important resource will also be gratefully received by all scholars and students interested in Austrian economics.


Intersectionality is becoming an increasingly important concept within gender research, emphasizing that social inequalities should be seen in the light of other identities than gender alone. The theoretical perspective, suggesting that identities interact and shape people's experiences and power positions, has also gained ground within the international community and development sphere. However, to what extent the perspective influences development organizations' work remains
to be examined. The purpose of this study is to see if and how an intersectionality perspective is applied by development organizations working with women's health in Ghana, a country with great demographic diversity and health disparities. Using a case study method, two Ghanaian non-governmental organizations are studied, searching for views, approaches, strategies and methods related to the ideas of intersectionality. The material mostly consists of interviews with staff members and organizational and project documentation. The results indicate a generally broad recognition of women's intersecting identities causing different health challenges and positions. However, while some elements of the organizations' work seemed to be informed by ideas of intersectionality, most of their practices cannot be explicitly related to an intersectionality perspective. The perspective is most prominent within the organizations' strategies of inclusion and appears to be inspired by contextual knowledge.


We are concerned with the problem of distributional prediction with incomplete features: The goal is to estimate the distribution of target variables given feature vectors with some of the elements missing. A typical approach to this problem is to perform missing-value imputation and regression, simultaneously or sequen-tially, which we call the generative approach. Another approach is to perform regression after appropriately encoding missing values into the feature, which we call the discriminative approach. In comparison, the generative approach is more robust to the feature corruption while the discriminative approach is more favor-able to maximize the performance of prediction. In this study, we propose a hybrid method to take the best of both worlds. Our method utilizes the black-box variational inference framework so that it can be applied to a wide variety of modern machine learning models, including the variational autoencoders. We also confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed method empirically.


Frailty is a state of decreased physical functioning and a significant complication of ageing. We examined frailty, energy and macronutrient intake, biomarkers of nutritional status and food insufficiency in US older adult (age ≥ 60 years) participants of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (n 4731). Frailty was defined as meeting ≥ 2 and pre-frailty as meeting one of the following four-item criteria: (1) slow walking; (2) muscular weakness; (3) exhaustion and (4) low physical activity. Intake was assessed by 24 h dietary recall. Food insufficiency was self-reported as 'sometimes' or 'often' not having enough food to eat. Analyses were adjusted for sex, race, age, smoking, education, income, BMI, other co-morbid conditions and complex survey design. Prevalence of frailty was highest among people who were obese (20·8 %), followed by overweight (18·4 %), normal weight (16·1 %) and lowest among people who were underweight (13·8 %). Independent of BMI, daily energy intake was lowest in people who were frail, followed by pre-frail and highest in people who were not frail (6648 (se 130), 6966 (se 79) and 7280 (se 84) kJ, respectively, P< 0·01). Energy-adjusted macronutrient intakes were similar in people with and without frailty. Frail (adjusted OR (AOR) 4·7; 95 % CI 1·7, 12·7) and pre-frail (AOR 2·1; 95 % CI 0·8, 5·8) people were more likely to report being food insufficient than not frail people. Serum albumin, carotenoids and Se levels were lower in frail adults than not frail adults. Research is needed on targeted interventions to improve nutritional status and food insufficiency among frail older adults, while not necessarily increasing BMI.


Tourism on islands, as elsewhere, can have positive and negative economic, environmental, and sociocultural impacts. Previous research has focused on residents' perceptions of these impacts with little emphasis on those of the visitor, resulting in a lack of theorizing and empirical investigation into how visitors perceive and evaluate their impacts. Based on the premise that a better understanding of the visitor perspective can underpin the proactive management of some tourism impacts, this study uses Social Exchange Theory to explore visitors' perceptions of tourism impacts on two Australian islands. Overall, visitors recognized that tourism activity increases impacts and evaluated these as mostly positive for the island communities. While visitors were aware of a range of positive and negative impacts, they judged their own impact to be more positive than that of tourism collectively. The findings point to how research can be used to underpin visitor-focused management and mitigation strategies of island destinations.


Background: The students are in the best position to comment on the effectiveness of any teaching system and they may be regarded as the best judges to assess the teaching and evaluation methods. Objective: This study was designed to obtain student feedback on teaching and assessment methods in the subject of pharmacology and use it for improvement. Materials and Methods: Based on student feedback from batch 2006, innovative strategies were implemented. To know the effect of these strategies feedback was obtained from subsequent batch 2007 using a written validated questionnaire covering various aspects of teaching and assessment methods. Results: Students were satisfied with all teaching methods except lecture, seminars and pharmacy exercises. Majority of the students showed preference for tutorials, short answer questions and revision classes. All students felt that there should be more time for clinical pharmacology and bedside teaching. The performance score of the students (batch 2007) indicated improvement in their scores (12%) when earlier feedback suggestions were implemented. The pass percentage of the subsequent batch in university examinations improved from 90 to 100%. Conclusion: The implementation of suggestions obtained from students resulted in improvement in their performance. Hence, it is very essential to synchronize teaching and evaluation methods with special requirements of medical students.


We introduce a deep generative network for 3D shape detailization, akin to stylization with the style being geometric details. We address the challenge of creating large varieties of high-resolution and detailed 3D geometry from a small set of exemplars by treating the problem as that of geometric detail transfer. Given a low-resolution coarse voxel shape, our network refines it, via voxel upsampling, into a higher-resolution shape enriched with geometric details. The output shape preserves the overall structure (or content) of the input, while its detail generation is conditioned on an input "style code" corresponding to a detailed exemplar. Our 3D detailization via conditional refinement is realized by a generative adversarial network, coined DECOR-GAN. The network utilizes a 3D CNN generator for upsampling coarse voxels and a 3D PatchGAN discriminator to enforce local patches of the generated model to be similar to those in the training detailed shapes. During testing, a style code is fed into the generator to condition the refinement. We demonstrate that our method can refine a coarse shape into a variety of detailed shapes with different styles. The generated results are evaluated in terms of content preservation, plausibility, and diversity. Comprehensive ablation studies are conducted to validate our network designs. Code is available at https://github.com/czq142857/DECOR-GAN.


In one of the most significant cases in the history of international criminal law, Prosecutor v. Perisic, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) effectively addressed an issue of first impression: may a military or political leader be convicted for knowingly facilitating crimes by another state's army? The influential tribunal answered this question in the negative—knowledge that the recipients of military assistance are perpetrating crimes is essentially irrelevant absent evidence that the facilitator specifically intended that crimes occur. The ICTY Appeals Chamber thus acquitted Serbian General Momcilo Perisic, who had been convicted at trial of knowingly aiding and abetting atrocities by the Bosnian Serb army in Sarajevo and Srebrenica between 1993 and 1995.The Special Court for Sierra Leone subsequently held that the controversial Perisic precedent did not comport with customary international law, and therefore affirmed the conviction of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian President, for knowingly assisting atrocities by rebel forces during the Sierra Leone Civil War. In an even more striking development, a different ICTY appellate panel thereafter reversed the Perisic legal standard on the ground that it neither comported with ICTY jurisprudence nor customary international law.The article analyzes this historic turn of events and explores the appropriate legal standard to convict leaders who enable atrocities by a foreign army.


This report describes a study of the deterioration of unpaved roads which was undertaken in Kenya. The work formed part of a larger study of the effectiveness of various maintenance strategies on the performance of unpaved roads. The primary objective of the research described in this report was to provide new and improved deterioration relationships for unpaved roads for use in a computer model for estimating the construction costs, maintenance costs and vehicle operating costs of roads in developing countries. Experimental test sections were located on the public road network in Kenya and their rates of deterioration were measured and quantified in terms of gravel loss of the wearing course, surface roughness, depth of loose surface material and rut depths. The test sections were monitored for a period of over 2 years. The deterioration of the test sections was related to cumulative traffic, original design standards and construction, maintenance strategy and climate. (Author/TRRL)


Foxbats over Dimona: The Soviets' Nuclear Gamble in the Six-Day War, by Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez. New Haven, CT and London, UK: Yale University Press, 2007. xiii + 218 pages. Notes to p. 264. Works cited to p. 273. Index to p. 287. $26. Reviewed by Mark N. Katz Ginor and Remez argue in this book that the Soviet Union played a much larger role in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War than has been recognized previously. Far from seeking to avoid the outbreak of this war or being surprised by its occurrence, Ginor and Remez claim that Moscow deliberately provoked an Israeli attack on Egypt. Further, it did so in the expectation that Egyptian forces would be able to resist this Israeli attack and then (along with Syrian and Jordanian forces) launch an attack of their own that would either lead to a protracted conflict or overwhelm Israel. With the United States already bogged down in Vietnam, the Soviets calculated that Washington would do little to help an Israel that struck first - or to prevent Soviet forces from destroying Israeli nuclear facilities in and around Dimona (thus preventing Israel from acquiring nuclear weapons) and otherwise becoming directly involved in the conflict. I was highly skeptical about these bold claims when I began reading this book. "Moscow made us do it" seemed to be too neat an explanation for Israel's actions in 1967. Long before reaching the book's end, though, I became convinced that Ginor and Remez have gotten it right. Their argument is based on, among other sources, a careful study of Soviet documents - many of which have only recently come to light - as well as interviews with former Soviet officials and servicemen who participated in the June 1967 events. Since the book's publication in June 2007, many of these individuals have confirmed in the Russian press what they told Ginor and Remez. One of the authors' most startling claims - that Soviet pilots flew the USSR's then most advanced military aircraft (the MiG-25 "Foxbat") over Dimona in May 1967 was subsequently confirmed by the chief spokesman for the Russian Air Force. Further, Ginor and Remez's description of Moscow's behavior in 1967 is consistent with how it has behaved on other occasions. Whether it was Cuba in 1962, the Arab-Israeli arena in 1967, Afghanistan in 1978, Chechnya in 1994, Georgia since 2003, or elsewhere, Moscow has routinely overestimated its strength as well as that of its allies, contemptuously underestimated the strength of its adversaries, and assumed that it could cleverly control the outcome of crises that they initiated. …


A national data infrastructure (NDI) provides data, data-related services and guidelines for the re-use of data to individuals and organizations. It facilitates efficient sharing of data, supports new business models, and is thus a key enabler for the digital economy, open research, societal collaboration and political processes. While several European countries have taken steps to set up data infrastructures cutting across institutional silos, approaches vary, and there is no common understanding of what a NDI exactly comprises. In Switzerland, activities are still at a conceptual stage. In order to foster a shared vision of what a NDI is about, stakeholder interviews were carried out with representatives of public administration, research, civil society, and the private sector. There is broad consensus among key stakeholders that a NDI is to be conceived as a nationwide distributed technical infrastructure allowing the sharing of data, based on predefined rules. Our findings also suggest that the notion of a NDI should be approached from four perspectives: a big data, a base register, an open data, and a mydata perspective. For its implementation, effective coordination across several dimensions (ethical, legal, political, economical, organizational, semantical, and technical) is crucial, which calls for a truly multidisciplinary approach.


This study is concerned with students' and lecturer's experiences of learning and teaching introductory accounting within higher education. It seeks to identify the key aspects of what constitutes "learning accounting" and "teaching accounting" for lecturers and students, their conceptions of accounting and the extent to which students and lecturers share experiences in common or differ in their experiences. The research method adopted is that of phenomenography which seeks to identify the qualitatively different ways in which various phenomena are experienced.
Since there has been relatively little critique of the practice of phenomenography, this study also seeks to critically review the application of the phenomenographic research method in practice. This review draws on experience within empirically-based phenomenological psychology to propose a revised phenomenographic research approach. This revised approach focuses on the need to bracket presuppositions about the phenomenon under investigation, to develop an empathetic understanding with the experiences of the participants and to report findings in a way which would most fully reveal the nature of that lived experience.
Through the application of this revised research approach key aspects of the individual, common and distinctive worlds of students and lecturers are identified. "Learning accounting" and "teaching accounting" are shown, primarily, to constitute the learning of a technique. Yet this emphasis on accounting as the learning of a technique is at variance with other teaching objectives perceived by lecturers to be equally, or more, important. Lecturers perceive the development of conceptual understanding to be of importance. However, they express diverse views about what "accounting" is, they are doubtful about the relationship between conceptual understanding and the learning of the technique and their explanations of accounting concepts often reveal a partial and, arguably incomplete, conceptual framework. In addition, the findings show that students' preconceptions and perceptions of relevance are central to their experience of learning accounting and they reinforce the experience of accounting as being about the learning of a technique. Lecturers' perceptions of those preconceptions and relevance reveal teaching responses based on misunderstandings of the students' experiences. An alternative way of viewing the introductory accounting curriculum is proposed which takes into account the ways in which students and lecturers experience the learning and teaching of accounting.


Background and objectives: Acute heart failure (AHF) is one of the main causes of hospitalization in Western countries. Usually, patients cannot be admitted directly to the wards (access block) and stay in the emergency room. Holding units are clinical decision units, or observation units, within the ED that are able to alleviate access block and to contribute to a reduction in hospitalization. Observation units have also been shown to play a role in specific clinical conditions, like the acute exacerbation of heart failure. This study aimed to analyze the impact of a brief intensive observation (OBI) area on the management of acute heart failure (AHF) patients. The OBI is a holding unit dedicated to the stabilization of unstable patients with a team of dedicated physicians. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective and single-centered observational study with retrospective collection of the data of all patients who presented to our emergency department with AHF during 2017. We evaluated and compared two cohorts of patients, those treated in the OBI and those who were not, in terms of the reduction in color codes at discharge, mortality rate within the emergency room (ER), hospitalization rate, rate of transfer to less intensive facilities, and readmission rate at 7, 14, and 30 days after discharge. Results: We enrolled 920 patients from 1st January to 31st December. Of these, 61% were transferred to the OBI for stabilization. No statistically significant difference between the OBI and non-OBI populations in terms of age and gender was observed. OBI patients had worse clinical conditions on arrival. The patients treated in the OBI had longer process times, which would be expected, to allow patient stabilization. The stabilization rate in the OBI was higher, since presumably OBI admission protected patients from "worse condition" at discharge. Conclusions: Data from our study show that a dedicated area of the ER, such as the OBI, has progressively allowed a change in the treatment path of the patient, where the aim is no longer to admit the patient for processing but to treat the patient first and then, if necessary, admit or refer. This has resulted in very good feedback on patient stabilization and has resulted in a better management of beds, reduced admission rates, and reduced use of high intensity care beds.


Interested in Evolutionary Robotics, this paper focuses on the acquisition and exploitation of memory skills. The targeted task is a well-studied benchmark problem, the Tolman maze, requiring in principle the robotic controller to feature some (limited) counting abilities. An elaborate experimental setting is used to enforce the controller generality and prevent opportunistic evolution from mimicking deliberative skills through smart reactive heuristics. The paper compares the prominent NEAT approach, achieving the non-parametric optimization of Neural Nets, with the evolutionary optimization of Echo State Networks, pertaining to the recent field of Reservoir Computing. While both search spaces offer a sufficient expressivity and enable the modelling of complex dynamic systems, the latter one is amenable to robust parametric, linear optimization with Covariance Matrix Adaptation-Evolution Strategies.


Given that young adults consume and interact with digital technologies not only a daily basis, but extensively throughout the day, it stands to reason they are more actively involved in advocating social change particularly through social media. However, national surveys of civic engagement indicate civic and community engagement drops-off after high school and while millennials attend college. While past research has compiled evidence about young adults' social media use and some social media behaviors, limited literature has investigated the audience's perspective of social activism campaigns through social media. Research also has focused on the adoption of new technologies based on causal linkages between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, yet few studies have considered how these dynamics relate to millennials engagement with others using social media for social good. This project builds on past research to investigate the relationship between millennials' online exposure to information about social causes and motives to take part in virtual and face-to-face engagement. Findings suggest that while digital media environments immerse participants in mediated experiences that merge both the off-line and online worlds, and has a strong effect on person's influence to do something, unclear is the extent to which social media and social interactions influence millennials willingness to engage both online and in-person. Even so, the results of this study indicate millennials are open to using social media for social causes, and perhaps increasing engagement off-line too.


Medieval war conflicts were in close connection to the landscape. It is known from the Czech medieval military orders that there was an appeal to use advantageous positions in the landscape. Study of resources allows us to identify several tactic principles which were considered standard or at least highly-desirable. These tactics can provide us with patterns in archaeological sources which can be, however, predictable by GIS analyses with certain accuracy.

This paper is aimed to use of the combination of several computer applications:
3D scans and 3D modeling, ArcGIS usage for extraction spatial datasets with combination LiDAR layer and building the spatial prediction model, and processing of the spatial datasets in factor analysis. The aim of the application is other archaeological object, than have been ever used. In this way it is complex of computer application applied on the small range conflict areas. The result of this paper is the method of the construction the spatial prediction model of the castle siege in the 15th century probably usable in wider Europe territory.
The dataset for the prediction models were extracted from rectified plans, LiDAR layers and geodetic measuring of the siege relicts and projectiles. The dataset contains number of 595 features which has been discovered in last 30 years. From raster layers were extracted data for the factor analysis and limit spatial data. From the results was constructed spatial prediction model. One of the conditions in the model was presence or absence in the active shooting castle area. This area can be reconstructed with metal detector investigation or with the computer simulation. We can map the place with the use combination 3D model of the loopholes and 3D scans of the weapons in the case of so far standing castles. The final spatial prediction model was constructed with conditions and count on the prepared raster layers. Prediction models were tested by archaeological researches and metal detector surveys.


The aim of this study is to show health differences at a county level in Germany and to identify possible reasons for these differences. The study calculates life expectancy as being representative for the health status. The analytical part of the study uses a wide database with socioeconomic, environmental, educational and health-care data. In a first step, the set of variables is reduced by a factor analysis and three factors are generated (socioeconomic conditions, environment, health-care). Secondly, a cluster analysis is used to show the regional distribution of the gained factors and thirdly a regression analysis is used to show the influence of the three factors on life expectancy. The results of the regression analysis show that socioeconomic conditions have the greatest influence on health status. Because of this, preventive health-care measures should integrate an improvement of socioeconomic conditions.


Web scale discovery services are a tool with major potential to transform the nature of library systems. These services are capable of searching quickly and seamlessly across a vast range of local and remote content and providing relevancy-ranked results in the type of intuitive interface that today s information seekers expect.This report describes in detail the content, interface, and functionality of web scale discovery services developed by four major library vendors: OCLC, Serials Solutions, Ebsco, and Ex Libris. Each of these services is evolving rapidly, indicative of their open framework design and an ongoing expansion of indexed content as additional publisher and aggregator agreements are brokered. Although many similarities among the services are apparent, this report also outlines some observed differences, though these differences are becoming hazy as each vendor adds new functions, features, and content.To help individual libraries evaluate which service will best meet the needs of the library and its community, this report provides detailed evaluation questions and concludes with a section providing additional background information on each service.


A study of anomalous couplings of the Higgs boson to vector bosons and fermions is presented. The data were recorded by the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of pp collisions at the LHC of 13 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The study uses Higgs boson candidates produced mainly in gluon fusion or electroweak vector boson fusion at the LHC that subsequently decay to a pair of $\tau$ leptons. Matrix-element and machine-learning techniques were employed in a search for anomalous interactions. The results are combined with those from the four-lepton and two-photon decay channels to yield the most stringent constraints on anomalous Higgs boson couplings to date. The pure $CP$-odd scenario of the Higgs boson coupling to gluons is excluded at 2.4 standard deviations. The results are consistent with the standard model predictions.


Abstract I generate diagrams with the purpose of understanding the narratives, form, and aesthetics of sociocultural and political structures. This leaves room for the production of artistic works that can be introduced into the machinery of everyday life. The idea of the diagram emerged almost at the same time as the idea of the machine, although we cannot really tell which existed first. However, it seems clear that both are intrinsically connected. Machines and diagrams can be seen as a representation of a narrative system that leads the process of the creation of knowledge. What they share is essentially narrative: we create machines using diagrammatic narratives, and with those same narratives, we create knowledge. Narratives are the real machines.


The wavelength dependence of both the total back-scatter cross section σT and the depolarized back-scatter cross section σD for rough metallic surfaces of known statistical characteristics has been determined experimentally by comparing data at 0.63-, 3.39- and 10.6 μ wavelengths. The rms height from the mean, h, and the mean scale size l of the two surfaces used in the experiment are: h≈1 μ, l≈10 μ; h≈7 μ, l≈50 μ. At or near normal incidence, results show that the total cross section per beam area σT/A0 is independent of wavelength λ, provided that h/λ is greater than approximately 14. When h/λ≤14, σT/A0 increases rapidly with decreasing h/λ. Previous microwave data suggest that the metallic surface reflects nearly as a perfectly smooth surface without significant scattering losses when h/λ≲1/40. At or near normal incidence the ratio of σD to σT varies as (h/l)4λ/4πδ for all values of h/λ studied, where δ is the skin depth of the metallic surface. For incident angles ψ in the range from 20° to 80° and h/λ>14, both σT/A0 and σD/A0 vary as λ−n where n increases with increasing ψ. n has a value of 0.40 (±0.2) at 4ψ=20° and 0.8 (±0.2) at 80°.


The validation of the Italian version of Linehan, Goodstein, Nielsen, and Chiles (1983) Reasons For Living Inventory (RFL) is here presented. The sample in this study was made up of 532 participants (26-65 years old), from various Italian regions. Part of the sample also completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). The six-factor structure reported by Linehan et al. (1983) was reproduced using confirmatory factor analysis. The goodness-of-fit of the model was evaluated. In order to estimate convergent validity, correlations were calculated among the six factors of the RFL, and the BDI and BHS scales. The correlations with BDI and BHS support the convergent validity of the Italian version of the RFL Inventory.


Consider this court case: a defendant has traded a gun for drugs, and there is a criminal sentencing provision that stipulates an enhanced punishment if the defendant "uses" a firearm "during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime." Buying the drugs was obviously a crime — but can it be said that the defendant actually "used" the gun during the crime? This sort of question is at the heart of legal interpretation. Legal interpretation is built around one key question: by what standard should legal texts be interpreted? The traditional doctrine is that words should be given their "ordinary meaning": words in legal texts should be interpreted in light of accepted standards of communication. Yet often, courts fail to properly consider context, refer to unsuitable dictionary definitions, or otherwise misconceive how the ordinary meaning of words should be determined. In this book, Brian Slocum builds his argument for a new method of interpretation by asking glaring, yet largely ignored, questions. What makes one particular meaning the "ordinary" one, and how exactly do courts conceptualize the elements of ordinary meaning? Ordinary Meaning provides a much-needed, revised framework, boldly instructing those involved with the law in how the components of ordinary meaning should properly be identified and developed in our modern legal system.


Since the pioneering work of van Leeuwenhoek in 1684, subsequently built upon by other renowned microbiologists Robert Koch, Willoughby Miller and GV Black, oral microbiology has developed innovative techniques to study the oral microflora (now termed the 'oral microbiome'). The advent of molecular techniques such as DNA-DNA hybridization, polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing has created an array of opportunities to construct a comprehensive picture of the diversity and composition of the oral microbiome. Approximately 700 oral bacterial species have been identified, of which 50% have yet to be cultivated, and some of these are known only by their signature DNA sequences. The synergism of ever-evolving culture-based and state-of-the-art culture-independent molecular techniques has facilitated in-depth understanding of the dynamics, acquisition and transfer of oral bacteria, along with their role in oral and general health and disease. Further research is needed to not only analyse but also to make sense of the ever-increasing volumes of data which these molecular techniques (especially high-throughput DNA sequencing) are generating, as well as why particular bacteria are present and what they are 'actually doing' there. This review presents a comprehensive literature search of oral microbiology-related methods currently used to study the oral microbiome.


Abstract This paper presents an experimental study examining the seismic behavior of square reinforced concrete (RC) columns subjected to combined loadings. In this study, nine full-scale square RC columns were made with the same structural properties. Five of them were strengthened with high-performance ferrocement laminate and bonded steel plates in order to investigate the effects of strengthening on the seismic behavior of RC columns under combined loadings. Finally, the failure mode, hysteretic load-displacement response, bearing capacity, energy dissipation, ductility and plastic hinge characteristics were recorded and analyzed. The results show that combined loadings reduced the bearing capacity and changed the failure modes and deformation characteristics. Strengthened RC columns had significantly improved bearing capacity and different failure modes under the same combined loadings in contrast to the non-strengthened RC columns. The vertical eccentricity had little effect on the mechanical properties of columns, while the horizontal eccentricity significantly weakened the mechanical properties of columns. The mechanical properties of uniaxial compression-bending-shear-torsion columns were the worst. The tri-linear model calculation parameters under different failure modes and combined loadings were fixed and validated by experimental results.


Background: One of several reasons that the concept of healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP) was dismissed was the same presence of multidrug resistant organism (MDRO) between community-acquired pneumonia and HCAP at countries with the low prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, this finding could be unsuitable for countries with the high rates of AMR.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted at the respiratory department of Cho Ray hospital from September 2015 to April 2016. All adult patients suitable for community acquired pneumonia (CAP) with risk factor for healthcare-associated infection were included.

Results: We found out 130 subjects. The median age was 71 years (interquartile range 57-81). The male/female ratio was 1.55:1. Prior hospitalization was the most common risk factor for healthcare-associated infection. There were 35 cases (26.9%) with culture-positive (sputum and/or bronchial lavage). Isolated bacteria included Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9 cases), Klebsiella pneumoniae (9 cases), Escherichia coli (4 cases), Acinetobacter baumannii (6 cases), and Staphylococcus aureus (7 cases) with the characteristic of AMR similar to the bacterial spectrum associated with hospital-acquired pneumonia.

Conclusion: MDROs were detected frequently in CAP patients with risk factor for healthcare-associated infection at the hospital with the high prevalence of AMR. This requires the urgent need to evaluate risk factors for MDRO infection in community-onset pneumonia when the concept of HCAP is no longer used.


ABSTRACT As student demand for nonprofit management education (NME) grows, new program offerings proliferate. While longitudinal data track the development of graduate NME programs, their curricula and location, we know less about the trajectory of undergraduate programs. Preliminary research finds evidence of undergraduate programs that are more diverse and span a greater number of locations than ever before. As a compilation, these findings facilitate analysis of the institutionalization of NME by expanding the focus beyond courses to include program development (certificates, majors, and/or minors). The results enable data-driven discussions, highlighting NME distinctiveness in facilitating the development of student engagement with community.


I kappa B (IκB) was initially identified as a factor that inhibits DNA binding and nuclear translocation of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). Recently, however, IκB family members have demonstrated direct nuclear roles in regulating NF-κB–dependent transcription. Some IκB proteins, including IκBα and IκBβ, can regulate transcription by modulating the concentration of active NF-κB complexes within the nucleus. Others, such as IκBζ and Bcl-3, can directly activate transcription by forming transcriptional complexes at gene promoters. Thus, IκB proteins play important nuclear roles in regulating NF-κB–dependent transcription after stimulation with various extracellular signals.


Purpose Subsidiary units must respond to emerging threats including disaggregation of value chains and increased headquarters monitoring and control which have lead to a cycle of subsidiary decline. We recognize the value of subsidiary initiatives as a short term response but argue that subsidiary long term survival and growth will depend on the unit"s ability to align with its parent strategic activities and knowledge base. Design/ Methodology This research is part of an ongoing quantitative and qualitative study programme of Irish subsidiary operations of foreign MNCs. This paper integrates our broader research to date with both in-depth interviews of a focal case with a comprehensive review of the literature relating to MNC and subsidiary management to identify how subsidiaries can respond to current challenges. Findings. In contrast to the dominant view in the literature, our research found that subsidiaries can respond to emerging threats by integrating their activities and deepening their alignment with their parent operation. We identify three significantly important features in developing alignment – strategic embeddedness or ensuring development of subsidiary strategy in line with headquarters stated objectives, relational embeddedness determined by trust relationships and a history of consistent subsidiary delivery and finally knowledge embeddedness facilitated through coalescent knowledge creation and collaborative effort in line with headquarters strategy and direction. Research Limitations. Results from the survey are subject to the standard limitations and a larger pool of interviewees may have reinforced the qualitative findings. Practical Implications. Subsidiary managers need to be aware of how closer integration of unit activities with headquarters and the management of knowledge outflows can reduce the risk of relocation and better position subsidiaries for survival and growth. Originality. By demonstrating the benefits of alignment with headquarters, this paper provides a valuable alternative perspective to the predominant view in the literature that subsidiary survival is dependent on subsidiary initiative. Capturing both the subsidiary and parent perspectives addresses a significant limitation of many studies and provides valuable insights.


Background:  Ileus is a failure of normal intestinal motility in the absence of mechanical obstruction. Ileus is thought to result from an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic motor activity, resulting in intestinal atony. Few anti-cancer therapies reported to be associated with paralytic ileus, such as vincristine, vinblastine and paclitaxel. It is thought as a consequences of autonomic neuropathy. Here we present a paralytic ileus experience during cisplatin therapy.  Case presentation:  We present a case of 57 years old gentleman with diagnosis of metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma to lung and multiple bones who develop paralytic ileus following chemotherapy cisplatin and fluorouracil. The patient complained of abdominal discomfort with bloating and not tolerating Ryle tube feeding started 3 days after completion of cycle 2 cisplatin & fluorouracil infusion chemotherapy. No vomiting and still passing out small amount of stool everyday. Physical examination revealed abdominal distension, lower abdominal tenderness, sluggish bowel sound and empty rectum. The blood investigations for electrolyte, renal and hepatic function, and amylase were normal. Abdominal computerized tomography showed diffuse dilatation of small and large bowels extending to the rectum, without any obstructive pathology which was consistent with paralytic ileus. He was hospitalized and treated with nasogastric decompression and partial parenteral nutrition started. The symptoms improved after few days of decompression.  Conclusion:  Peripheral neuropathy due to cisplatin has been well described, however paralytic ileus has not previously been reported in medical literature. From patient self-reported outcome study, however, this complication was not that uncommon, and was reported by 0.76% of patients receiving cisplatin, especially people who are male, 60 years old and more, have been taking the drug for more than 1 month, also take medication dexamethasone. The present study, after excluding other cause of paralytic ileus, was associated with cisplatin. The mechanism of how cisplatin causes paralytic ileus is poorly understood, maybe due to autonomic neuropathy. Autonomic neuropathy presented with severe postural hypotension has been reported previously in cases of germ cell tumor treated with cisplatin based chemotherapy. This report highlights the need for physicians to be aware of this potential complication when administering cisplatin for such higher-risk group.


1. A comparison has been made between alkaline mannitol diuresis and alkaline glucose diuresis in the treatment of salicylate poisoning during an 8 hr period. 2. Mannitol gave a higher rate of urine flow, but there was no significant difference in the rate of salicylate excretion. 3. Serum levels of sodium, potassium and calcium fell in both groups, mainly during the first 2 hr. The mean fall in serum sodium was greater (21·4 mEq/l compared with 10·0 mEq/l) and that in serum potassium less (0·6 mEq/l compared with 1·5 mEq/l) in patients who received mannitol than in those who did not. 4. All serum electrolyte values had returned to normal within 24 hr of the end of the treatment period. 5. Acid—base changes occurring during treatment are described. 6. No adverse clinical features were seen in either treatment group. 7. Syrup of ipecacuanha was used to induce emesis. The mean recovery of salicylate in the vomitus was 38% of the apparent total ingested. The variability in recovery (0–81%) was not related to the delay between ingestion and vomiting. 8. It is concluded that mannitol does not increase the excretion of salicylate. It maintains good urinary excretion, thereby increasing the safety of the procedure. It is associated with a smaller fall in serum potassium and permits rapid removal of salicylate for a smaller rise in serum pH than does forced alkaline diuresis alone.


Security requires that a system continues to function even when any one subsystem fails. A multiterminal HVDC system consists of N voltage-source converters (VSCs) exchanging power through a DC network. When any one converter is lost, before the surviving (N-1) converters have time to re-establish a new power balance, the excess DC power can produce voltage spikes which are destructive to the power electronic switches. The paper shows that the advanced DC voltage controller (ADCVC), which is a higher hierarchical controller, can meet the targeted voltage margin.


In this paper, we propose and analyze a new system architecture for video multicast over Internet, namely, the sender-adaptive and receiver-driven layered multicast (SARLM). In SARLM, the sender of a video source splits the video data coded by a scalable codec and a channel codec into multiple data streams, each of which corresponds to a separate multicast group. The sender can adjust the way in which the video sequence is split dynamically based on the receivers' network parameters collected through feedback. Meanwhile, a receiver can estimate available bandwidth based on a modified packet-pair technique and choose to reassemble and playback the video sequence for a given quality level by dynamically subscribing a given part or all of the data streams according to its network conditions. To optimize the sender's adaptation strategy, we introduce a quality-space (Q-Space) model to describe and analyze the mathematical relationship between the sending rate of different SARLM layers and the video quality received by a given receiver identified by its network characteristics including available bandwidth and packet loss ratio. Our simulation results demonstrate that, under the same network topology and condition, the SARLM architecture can achieve higher network throughput and better video qualities on the receiver side than the existing approaches.


This dissertation examines the systemic effects of private school choice in the context of two statewide, means-tested school voucher programs— the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (ICSP) and the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP). Specifically, I examine public school responses to private school competition from the ICSP and the LSP and the direct impacts of the LSP on racial stratification in public and private schools. In Louisiana, I show that the lowest-graded public schools had a modest, statistically significant, positive response to the injection of competition, with impacts ranging from .001 to .06 SD. In Indiana, the evidence is slightly weaker. In math, none of the four competition measures are significantly related to school-average performance whereas in English Language Arts, three out of eight results provide evidence of a statistically significant, positive competitive effect. Depending on the radius selected, a one-unit increase in the concentration measure (a modified Herfindahl Index) is associated with a .04 to .05 SD increase in school-average ELA achievement. Regarding racial stratification in Louisiana's schools, I show that LSP transfers reduce racial stratification in the voucher students' former public schools, but marginally increase racial stratification in the private schools. Specifically, 82% of all student transfers reduce racial stratification in the traditional public schools, compared to 45% in private schools. Overall, the articles presented in this dissertation demonstrate that private school choice programs have null to modest positive impacts on the students who remain in public schools. Given that traditional public schools are and will continue to be the primary provider of educational services in K-12, this is good news for public school students in states with expanding private school choice


The double function of language, as a social/communicative means, and as an individual/cognitive capability, derives from its fundamental property that allows us to internally re-represent the world we live in. This is possible through the mechanism of symbol grounding, i.e., the ability to associate entities and states in the external and internal world with internal categorical representations. The symbol grounding mechanism, as language, has both an individual and a social component. The individual component, called the "Physical Symbol Grounding", refers to the ability of each individual to create an intrinsic link between world entities and internal categorical representations. The social component, called "Social Symbol Grounding", refers to the collective negotiation for the selection of shared symbols (words) and their grounded meanings. The paper discusses these two aspects of symbol grounding in relation to distributed cognition, using examples from cognitive modeling research on grounded agents and robots.


There are two major causes of vibrations in gas-turbine structures: (i) excitation by time-varied external forces applied to a structure and (ii) self-excitation, which can occur, for some fluttering vibration modes, due to interaction of a vibrating structure with gas flow.

Gas-turbine structures are typically assembled structures, which comprise friction, gap and other types of the contact interfaces: such as damper devices, interlock shrouds and root joints in bladed discs, etc. Forces occurring at these interfaces are strongly nonlinear because of friction forces, unilateral interaction forces acting along normal to a contact interface, closing and opening clearances during vibrations, etc. The nonlinear contact interfaces can have dominant influence or affect significantly the amplitude levels and resonance frequencies for forced vibrations and can suppress the exponential growth of flutter amplitudes to form a periodic motion of limit cycle oscillations for flutter-excited vibrations.

The nonlinear vibration regimes can be highly sensitive to variation of the parameters of contact interfaces and design parameters of the structure. Appropriate choice of parameter values can reduce the levels of vibration amplitudes to those when they cannot cause immediate failure and, even, do not contribute practically to the accumulation of high-cycle fatigue damages. The effective choice and control of the vibration levels require methods for quantitative assessment of their sensitivity to variation of structural and contact interface parameters.

Moreover, in addition to finding parameters providing the acceptable vibration levels, inevitable variability and scatters of design parameters and operating conditions during manufacture and during gas-turbine engine operation require determination the parameters which ensure the robustness of the design: when changes of design parameters within ranges of their variability do not affect significantly the vibration amplitudes

In this paper, efficient frequency-domain methods are discussed which allow direct and efficient calculation of the sensitivity coefficients for: (i) the nonlinear forced response and (ii) amplitudes and frequencies of flutter-excited limit-cycle oscillations for structures with friction and gap contact interfaces. The methods use realistic large-scale finite element models of structures and multiharmonic representation of the periodic vibrations. The approaches are developed to calculate design parameters maximising the design robustness. A set of representative examples of the application of these methods are given.


Satellite derived rainfall products are useful for drought and flood early warning and overcome the problem of sparse, unevenly distributed and erratic rain gauge observations, provided their accuracy is well known. Mozambique is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events such as major droughts and floods and thus, an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different rainfall products is valuable. Three dekadal (10-day) gridded satellite rainfall products (TAMSAT African Rainfall Climatology And Time-series (TARCAT) v2.0, Famine Early Warning System NETwork (FEWS NET) Rainfall Estimate (RFE) v2.0, and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS)) are compared to independent gauge data (2001–2012). This is done using pairwise comparison statistics to evaluate the performance in estimating rainfall amounts and categorical statistics to assess rain-detection capabilities. The analysis was performed for different rainfall categories, over the seasonal cycle and for regions dominated by different weather systems. Overall, satellite products overestimate low and underestimate high dekadal rainfall values. The RFE and CHIRPS products perform as good, generally outperforming TARCAT on the majority of statistical measures of skill. TARCAT detects best the relative frequency of rainfall events, while RFE underestimates and CHIRPS overestimates the rainfall events frequency. Differences in products performance disappear with higher rainfall and all products achieve better results during the wet season. During the cyclone season, CHIRPS shows the best results, while RFE outperforms the other products for lower dekadal rainfall. Products blending thermal infrared and passive microwave imagery perform better than infrared only products and particularly when meteorological patterns are more complex, such as over the coastal, central and south regions of Mozambique, where precipitation is influenced by frontal systems.


We develop a dynamical symmetry approach to path integrals for general interacting quantum spin systems. The time-ordered exponential obtained after the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation can be disentangled into the product of a finite number of the usual exponentials. This procedure leads to a set of stochastic differential equations on the group manifold, which can be further formulated in terms of the supersymmetric effective action. This action has the form of the Witten topological field theory in the continuum limit. As a consequence, we show how it can be used to obtain the exact results for a specific quantum many-body system which can be otherwise solved only by the Bethe ansatz. To our knowledge this represents the first example of a many-body system treated exactly using the path integral formulation. Moreover, our method can deal with time-dependent parameters, which we demonstrate explicitly.


The escalating competition between online pornography - seeking and disseminating behaviors and technologies that attempt to reduce them creates technical, semantic and legal barriers to the legitimate discussion of and education about sensitive health issues involving sexuality, anatomy and pathology, especially when image-based knowledge is used. The effects of this competition on the use and management of an online dermatology atlas are described with a discussion on the importance of anticipating, addressing and controlling this problem while developing and maintaining image-based digital libraries and other e-Health applications.


The emphasis on a false climate crisis is becoming a tragedy for modern civilization, which depends on relible, economic, and environmentally viable energy. The windmills, solar panels and backup batteries have none if these qualities. This falsehood is pushed by a powerful lobby which Bjorn Lomborg has called a climate industrial complex, comprising some scientists, most media, industrialists, and legislators. It has somehow managed to convince many that CO2 in the atmosphere, a gas necessary for life on earth, one which we exhale with every breath, is an environmental poison. Multiple scientific theories and measurements show that there is no climate crisis. Radiation forcing calculations by both skeptics and believers show that the carbon dioxide radiation forcicng is about 0.3% of the incident radiation, far less than other effects on climate. Over the period of human civilization, the temperature has oscillated between quite a few warm and cold periods, with many of the warm periods being warmer than today. During geological times, it and the carbon dioxide level have been all over the place with no correlation between them.


In Scotland, UK, beavers became extinct about 400 years ago. Currently, two wild populations are present in Scotland on a trial basis, and the case for their full reintroduction is currently being considered by Scottish ministers. Beavers are widely considered 'ecosystem engineers'. Indeed, beavers have large impacts on the environment, fundamentally change ecosystems, and create unusual habitats, often considered unique. In this review, we investigate the mechanisms by which beavers act as ecosystem engineers, and then discuss the possible impacts of beavers on the biodiversity of Scotland.
A meta-analysis of published studies on beavers' interactions with biodiversity was conducted, and the balance of positive and negative interactions with plants, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals recorded.
The meta-analysis showed that, overall, beavers have an overwhelmingly positive influence on biodiversity. Beavers' ability to modify the environment means that they fundamentally increase habitat heterogeneity. As beavers are central-place foragers that feed only in close proximity to watercourses, their herbivory is unevenly spread in the landscape. In addition, beaver ponds and their associated unique successional stages increase habitat heterogeneity both spatially and temporally. Beavers also influence the ecosystems through the creation of a variety of features such as dams and lodges, important habitat features such as standing dead wood (after inundation), an increase in woody debris, and a graded edge between terrestrial and aquatic habitats that is rich in structural complexity.
In Scotland, a widespread positive influence on biodiversity is expected, if beavers are widely reintroduced. For instance, beaver activity should provide important habitat for the otter Lutra lutra, great crested newt Triturus cristatus and water vole Arvicola amphibious, all species of conservation importance.
Beavers are most likely to have detrimental impacts on certain woodland habitats and species of conservation importance, such as the Atlantic hazelwood climax community and aspen Populus tremula woodland. A lack of woodland regeneration caused by high deer abundance could lead to habitat degradation or loss. These are also of particular importance due to the variety of associated dependent species of conservation interest, such as lichen communities in Atlantic hazelwoods.


The vascular permeability of the ocular fundus, alterations in the coagulation system, and plasma concentrations of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha) were studied in dogs following intradermal inoculation with 5 x 10(5) TCID50 of Rickettsia rickettsii. Twenty-four to 48 hours after the onset of fever and rickettsemia, multifocal areas of retinal vasculitis were evident, which corresponded to areas of altered vascular permeability demonstrated by fluorescein angiography. The number and intensity of retinal vessels with sodium fluorescein leakage peaked during the second week after inoculation, and retinal vascular permeability remained altered during the third week of infection, well past the phase of clinical and clinicopathologic recovery. Development of retinal vasculitic foci was associated with thrombocytopenia, increased concentrations of circulating fibrinogen, and slight prolongation of activated partial thromboplastin time. Increased concentrations of fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products were detected in 4 of 9 dogs. Despite the degree of vascular endothelial damage evident on fluorescein angiographic and histologic studies in these dogs, plasma TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha concentrations were not increased.


ABSTRACT The Frasnian–Famennian boundary is correlated with one of several Late Devonian extinction pulses that resulted in a significant decrease in diversity as well as ecological restructuring. This event is recognized within the globally correlated Upper Kellwasser interval that is well exposed and biostratigraphically well constrained in shale units of western New York State. The ichnological and geochemical signals of the interval stratigraphically below the Upper Kellwasser event at these localities provides insight into the onset of this important extinction event. Detailed analysis of ichnogeneric composition, relative size of burrow populations, amount of bioturbation, and trace metal concentrations vary in concert. Deep-penetrating, pyritized Skolithos burrows terminate abruptly at a thin, laminated black shale interval with enriched Mo levels, up to 31 ppm, and are overlain by an interval of gray-green bioturbated shales dominated by Chondrites. These textural and chemical shifts reveal that bottom-water oxygen levels decrease rapidly below the base of the Upper Kellwasser interval. Relative oxygen levels are interpreted to remain low through the Chondrites-dominated interval, with protracted stressed conditions followed by a gradual decrease to anoxic conditions within the Upper Kellwasser interval. These results suggest that, at least locally in the Appalachian Basin, bottom-water oxygen stress and/or fluctuating oxygen conditions were present leading up to the extinction event. This evidence does not support an instantaneous onset of anoxia as causal mechanism for extinction.


The evolution of self‐pollination has long been considered an adaptive strategy to cope with low or variable pollinator service; however, alternative reproductive strategies, such as generalized pollination (>1 pollinator functional group), may also ensure plant reproductive success in environments with inadequate pollinator visitation. Island–mainland systems provide ideal settings to assess the interaction between pollination and breeding systems in response to pollinator visitation because islands are often pollinator‐depauperate. This study compared 28 insular and 26 mainland species of Caribbean Gesneriaceae to test the hypothesis that low diversity and possibly low pollinator service on islands would lead to a greater frequency of generalized plant–pollinator interactions and/or a higher potential for autonomous self‐pollination in insular than in mainland species. We also assessed the hypothesis that epiphytic species should have greater autofertility than species occurring in other habitats. Pollinator observations conducted in the field from 2004 to 2014 revealed bat, bee, butterfly, hummingbird, moth, and generalized pollination systems. Functional specialization in pollination systems was high in insular (71% of the species) and mainland sites (all species), but generalized and bat‐pollinated species were more common on islands. Overall, pollinator visitation rates did not differ between island and mainland; however, for hummingbird‐pollinated species, visitation rate was on average three times higher in mainland than island species. Autofertility indices (fruit set of bagged/outcross flowers) ranged from 0 to 1 and did not differ between island and mainland species. Species growing on rocks (rupiculous) and trees (epiphytic) had on average higher autofertility than terrestrial species. Synthesis. This study revealed that alternative reproductive strategies are used in pollinator‐depauperate environments. Pollinator visitation is lower in insular hummingbird‐pollinated species (the ancestral pollination system of insular Gesneriaceae); therefore, generalized pollination may be considered a reproductive assurance mechanism evolved primarily on island environments. Contrary to the long‐standing tenet, however, autonomous self‐pollination was similar in island and mainland Gesneriaceae suggesting that: (i) generalized pollination provides a viable alternative to selfing in pollinator‐depauperate environments, (ii) autofertility as a reproductive assurance mechanism may be frequent in plant species from mainland regions in environments with unpredictable pollinator visitation and resource availability.


The intention of this research was to investigate the factors attributed to successful joint ventures, paying particular attention to cultural variances, in the Irish infrastructure operation and maintenance sector. Culture is an important aspect of international business partnerships; culture and communication are inseparably linked, so much so that most communicative behaviour is governed by the person's culture. With the growth of international joint ventures in the recent years there are more foreign partnerships forming and this in turn demands that different cultures must work together to make the venture successful.

The aim of this research was to explore the experiences and perceptions of seven senior managers, comprising Irish and foreign managers, who had experience employed in or managing joint venture organisations. Semi structured interviews were used to gather the data from the participating managers. The data was then analysed to identify key themes in relation to what effects joint venture success and how culture plays a role in its business cycle. The research has highlighted the importance of being culturally aware, how differences can present themselves and if not understood or managed appropriately how they can manifest as negative influences on the venture.

By means of a qualitative research approach, the researcher has documented the experiences and perceptions of the senior managers and used the data uncovered to develop some findings, conclusions, recommendations and suggestions for further research on attributing factors to create a successful joint venture and how different cultures act on its success.


After the Song and Yuan dynasties, the development of the imperial examination system was witnessed by the spread of the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming dynasties. This was accompanied by the position of culture and education buildings in the local urban landscape system that was greatly improved, some even dominating the performance of the urban landscape. The resulted structure of the urban landscape before the Song Dynasty is described as the so-called status change of the "The Status Change of Culture and Education." Studies have shown that "The Status Change" during the Ming and Qing Dynasties could be found here and there. This work took the City of Yangzhou Prefecture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties as the research object. Starting from the background of the development of culture and education, this paper expounds the process and characteristics of such a status change during this period.


Past-year sexual, physical, and psychological violence against women and men aged 60 to 74 years was studied. The data derived from a nationally representative survey on violence in which approximately 2,800 women and men aged 60 to 74 years in Sweden participated. Women were significantly more likely to have been subjected to at least one form of violence in the past year. The prevalence of sexual violence as well as systematic and repeated psychological violence was found to be significantly higher for women than for men. Sexual violence was the most common form of violence against women. Systematic and repeated psychological violence was the most common form of violence against men. Additional gender differences were found in relation to victim characteristics. While associations among women were found between violence victimization and sociodemographic characteristics, health as well as social capital, only health-related characteristics were found to be associated with past-year violence victimization among men. Among women, economic problems, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, lack of trust in other people, and not having anyone to talk to were associated with violence victimization. Poor psychological health and an at-risk consumption of alcohol were found to be associated with violence victimization among men. The results highlight the importance of research on violence victimization to assess gender differences also when inquiring into the situation among persons in older generations. The results also indicate practical implications for caring professions; the need to inquire into the experiences of violence among older persons and to pay particular attention to these characteristics when encountering women and men in this age interval.


Currently available therapy for condyloma acuminata (genital warts) is not consistently effective. Interferon (IFN) has both antiproliferatve and antiviral properties and has been used to treat genital warts with varying degree of success. We conducted an open study on 6 male patients with genital warts. A single wart of comparable area from each patient was injected with 2 × 106 IU of IFN alpha-2b, 3 times weekly for 3 weeks. The response to treatment was assessed during the therapy and at 1, 5 and 9 weeks after the completion of treatment. Two of the injected lesions showed complete regression and in 2, there was a moderate reduction in size but not a complete regression. In 2 patients there was appearance of new lesions while still on therapy and only a slight reduction tn the size of injected lesions. All patients tolerated the therapy well and in none treatment had to be discontinued due to adverse reactions. The preliminary trial suggests that intralesional IFN is not a superior alternate to the currently available modalities of treatment in genital warts. High cost of the therapy is another limiting factor.


Background. Italian ethics committees (ECs) have the responsibility for evaluating and monitoring clinical research.
Methods. An electronic survey targeted to the biostatisticians operating in the 95 ECs in Italy, was launched in November 2016. Several aspects were explored such as education, job title, training in biostatistics and experience in the evaluation of protocols within the EC.
Results. Seventy case report forms were returned (74%), and the response rate was highest for ECs located in the South (78%) and lowest in the North (51%). The biostatisticians in the respondent ECs were prevalently male, aged 50-60 years, with postgraduate education in medical specialties and statistics. The annual workload varied depending on the type of institution and geographical area, with an annual median number of protocols examined ranging from 80 in hospital ECs to 198 in university hospital ECs, and from 80 to 108, in the South and the Centre, respectively. Of these, 40% were observational study protocols. The EC biostatisticians proposed to reject 5% of protocols and to suspend with the request of clarification or amendments 10%. Only 61% and 79% of these opinions, respectively, were regarded as binding by the other EC members.
Conclusion. The biostatistician will not be able to play a significant role in the EC as long as the required skill-set remains vague and his/her opinion on a protocol is underrated.


Abstract The rail dampers are mechanical devices which work as dynamic absorbers to reduce the rail vibration and rolling noise. The paper shows the experimental results from the functionality and performance testing of an experimental demonstrative rail damper. The vibration attenuation takes the highest values, namely 6-22 dB, between 160 and 1000 Hz.


ABSTRACT Agrarian change in South Africa over the past two decades has seen consolidation of the hegemony of large-scale commercial farming and corporate agribusiness within agro-food systems. Constrained domestic demand and growth opportunities elsewhere have driven both farming and agribusiness capitals to move into other African countries, attempting to reproduce agro-food systems similarly centred on the dominance of large capital. This is evident in five areas: first, the financialization of agriculture and 'farmland funds'; second, multinational and South African input supply industries; third, large-scale land deals to expand industrial farming systems; fourth, the export of South African companies' food processing, manufacture, logistics and distribution operations; and fifth, the expanding reach of South African supermarkets and fast food chains. Regional expansion involves South African agrarian capital encountering substantial obstacles to entry, and challenges mounted by competitors in destination markets. Success as a regional hegemon in Africa's agro-food system is thus far from assured, and even where it does appear to succeed, generates contradictions, and rising social tensions of the kinds experienced in South Africa itself.


We analyze polarization switching in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, taking into account a proper semiconductor frequency-dependent complex susceptibility and spin-flip processes. Thermal effects are included as a varying detuning, and gain differences arise from birefringence splitting. We find that, for large birefringence, gain differences between the two linearly polarized modes are preponderant, and switching occurs owing to thermal shift. For small birefringence polarization switching from the high- to the low-gain mode occurs owing to the combined effect of birefringence and semiconductor phase-amplitude-coupled dynamics for a finite value of the carrier spin-flip rate.


From Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, "The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian Culture, History and Identity" brings together an illuminating selection of writings on contemporary India. India is an immensely diverse country with many distinct pursuits, vastly different convictions, widely divergent customs and a veritable feast of viewpoints. Out of these conflicting views spring a rich tradition of skeptical argument and cultural achievement which is critically important, argues Amartya Sen, for the success of India's democracy, the defence of its secular politics, the removal of inequalities related to class, caste, gender and community, and the pursuit of sub-continental peace. "Profound and stimulating ...the product of a great mind at the peak of its power". (William Dalrymple, "Sunday Times"). "One of the most influential public thinkers of our times...This is a book that needed to have been written...It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and as influential as work as Edward Said's Orientalism". (Soumya Bhattacharya, "Observer"). "The winner of the 1998 Nobel prize in economics is a star in India ...he deserves the recognition ...shows that the argumentative gene is not just a part of India's make-up that can easily be wished away". ("The Economist"). Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at Harvard. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge 1998-2004. His most recent books are "The Idea of Justice", "Identity and Violence" and "Development as Freedom". His books have been translated into thirty languages.


Absorption features centered near 0.60 - 0.65 and 0.80 - 0.90 micron were identified in the spectra of three low-albedo main-belt (165, 368, 877) and two low-albedo outer-belt (225, 334) asteroids (Vilas et al., Icarus, v. 109,274,1994). The absorption features were attributed to charge transfer transitions in iron alteration minerals such as goethite, hematite, and jarosite, all products of aqueous alteration. Concurrently, Jarvis et al. (LPSC XXIV, 715, 1993) presented additional spectra of low-albedo asteroids that had absorption features centered near 0.60 - 0.65 micron without the longer wavelength feature. Since these two features in iron oxides originate from the same ground state, and the longer wavelength feature requires less energy to exist, the single shorter wavelength feature cannot be caused by the iron alteration minerals. In addition, spectra of minerals such as hematite and goethite show a rapid increase in reflectance beginning near 0.5 micron absent in the low-albedo asteroid spectra. The absence of this rise has been attributed to its suppresion from opaques in the surface material. Spectra on more than one night were available for only one of these five asteroids, 225 Henrietta, and showed good repeatability of the 0.65-micron feature. We have acquired additional spectra of all five asteroids in order to test the repeatability of the 0.65-micron feature, and the presence and repeatability of the features centered near 0.8 - 0.9 micron. We specifically will test the possibility that longer wavelength features could be caused by incomplete removal of telluric water. Asteroid 877 Walkure is a member of the Nysa-Hertha family, and will be compared to spectra of other members of that family. Data were acquired in 1996 and 1999 on the 2.1-m telescope with a facility cassegrain spectrograph, McDonald Observatory, Univ. Of Texas, and the 1.5-m telescope with facility cassegrain spectrograph at CTIO. This research is supported by the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program.


Fugue States: The universe is permeated with the odour of kerosene. The euphoric hyperbole of promised, online utopias has been subsumed by sprawling, banal, online malls populated by bored and angry ghosts, omnipresent, omniscient, so it would seem, yet dislocated and trapped. Trapped by the sheer mundanity of it all, trapped by the repetitive micro tasks we must perform daily, hourly, on trains, on buses, as we eat, before we sleep, when we wake,toxic click bait, cat memes, selfies and 'fake' news,likers, haters, unexpected items in the bagging area, do not reply. To protect your privacy some pictures in this message were not downloaded. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?


NiS cocatalyst modified LaFeO3/g-C3N4 heterostructures were successfully prepared and their photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance under visible light irradiation was presented. LaFeO3/g-C3N4/NiS composites were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), nitrogen adsorption desorption isotherms, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), transient photocurrent responses and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicated that the LaFeO3/g-C3N4/NiS heterostructures had enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance than pure g-C3N4, LaFeO3 and LaFeO3/g-C3N4. 5%-LaFeO3/g-C3N4/2%NiS exhibited the highest photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 121 μmol g−1 h−1 under visible light, which was almost 60 times higher than the hydrogen evolution rate of 5%-LaFeO3/g-C3N4. The effective separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs in the LaFeO3/g-C3N4 Z-scheme system with NiS as a cocatalyst enhanced the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. This study provided a facile approach to prepare NiS modified LaFeO3/g-C3N4 heterostructures and to construct an effective photocatalytic system for hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation.


Some of the highest density pockmark fields in the world have been observed on the northwest Australian continental shelf (>700/km2) where they occur in muddy, organic-rich sediment around carbonate banks and paleochannels. Here we developed a semi-automated method to map and quantify the form and density of these pockmark fields (~220,000 pockmarks) and characterise their geochemical, sedimentological and biological properties to provide insight into their formative processes. These data indicate that pockmarks formed due to the release of gas derived from the breakdown of near-surface organic material, with gas accumulation aided by the sealing properties of the sediments. Sources of organic matter include adjacent carbonate banks and buried paleochannels. Polychaetes biodiversity appears to be affected negatively by the conditions surrounding dense pockmark fields since higher biodiversity is associated with low density fields. While regional bi-directionality of pockmark scours corresponds to modelled tidal flow, localised scattering around banks suggests turbulence. This multi-scale information therefore suggests that pockmark scours can act as proxy for bottom currents, which could help to inform modelling of benthic biodiversity patterns.


Background Illicit drug use is a multifaceted public-health problem with potentially serious impacts. The United Kingdom has one of the highest prevalence of illegal drug use in Europe. Reduction of overall illegal drug use in England and Wales has decreased from 11% to 8.2% (2012/13) over the past 10 years. People who use drugs often seek help from their family doctors. Aims To investigate General Practitioners (family doctors) first recording of drug use and opioid substitute treatment in primary care settings. Design A descriptive study design. Males and females (16-64 years old) were extracted from The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database. Setting England and Wales primary care. Method The first recording of drug use and opioid substitution treatment in primary care was estimated for the period (1994-2012). Poisson regressions were conducted to estimate incidence risk ratios (IRR). Results We identified 33,508 first recordings of drug use and 10,869 individuals with prescriptions for opioid substitute treatment. Overall, males (IRR 2.02, 95% CI:1.97–2.07), people in the age-group; 16-24 (IRR 6.7, 95% CI:6.4–6.9) compared to those over 25 years and the most deprived (IRR 4.2, 95% CI:3.9–4.4) were more likely to have a recording of drug use. Males (IRR 1.2 95% CI:1.2–1.3), in the age-group; 25-34 (IRR 1.8 95% CI:1.7–1.9) and the most deprived (IRR 3.9 95% CI:3.6–4.3) were the groups more likely to have a opioid substitute treatment prescription. Conclusion It is evident from this study that there is little recording of drug use and opioid substitute treatment in primary care. Most drug users do not receive treatment in primary care.


Various fall-detection solutions have been previously proposed to create a reliable surveillance system for elderly people with high requirements on accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. In this project, an enhanced fall detection system is proposed for elderly person monitoring that is based on smart sensors worn on the body and operating through consumer home networks. With treble thresholds, accidental falls can be detected in the home healthcare environment. By utilizing information gathered from an accelerometer, cardio tachometer and smart sensors, the impacts of falls can be logged and distinguished from normal daily activities. The proposed system has been deployed in a prototype system as detailed in this paper. From a test group of 30 healthy participants, it was found that the proposed fall detection system can achieve a high detection accuracy of 97.5%, while the sensitivity and specificity are 96.8% and 98.1% respectively. Therefore, this system can reliably be developed and deployed into a consumer product for use as an elderly person monitoring device with high accuracy and a low false positive rate.


The author - after his graduation with a Bachelors Degree in Architecture and several years of practice in private sector firms in Islamabad and also with the Pakistan Public Works Department for projects of the federal government of Pakistan, having completed several projects to his credit and some ongoing in Islamabad and in other parts of Pakistan - shifted to the University of Leuven, Belgium, where he completed a Master of Architecture in Human Settlements" and is presently engagedin a Ph.D research on the "Critical Relationship Between Theory and Practice, " focusing on the application of C.A. Doxiadis' theory in the making of the plan of Islamabad - " the Intention, " and its realization - 'the Effect on the assumption that in essence the plan of Islamabad is the central construct and focus through which the knowledge between intention and effect of this important planning episode of the 1950s-1960s can be unlocked. The text that follows is a slightly edited version of a paper presented at the International Symposion on "Globalization and Local Identity," organized jointly by the World Society for Ekistics and the University of Shiga Prefecture in Hikone, Japan, 19-24 September, 2005.


Nucleobase-functionalized polymers are widely used in the fields of supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly, and their development for biomedical applications is also an area of interest. They are usually synthesized by tedious multistep procedures. In this study, we assess adenine as an organoinitiator/organocatalyst for the ring-opening polymerization of lactide. L-Lactide can be quantitatively polymerized in the presence of adenine. Reaction conditions involving short reaction times and relatively low temperatures enable the access to adenine end-capped polylactide in a simple one-step procedure, in bulk, without additional catalyst. DFT calculations show that the polymerization occurs via hydrogen bond catalysis. The mechanism involves (i) a hydrogen bond between the NH9 of adenine and the carbonyl moiety of lactide, leading to an electron deficient carbon atom, and (ii) a second hydrogen bond between the N3 of adenine and the NH2 of a second adenine molecule, followed by a nucleophilic attack of the latter activated amine on the former electron deficient carbon on the monomer. For longer reaction times and higher temperatures, macrocyclic species are formed, and a mechanism involving the imidazole ring of adenine is proposed based on literature studies. Depending on the reaction conditions, adenine can thus be considered as an organoinitiator or an organocatalyst for the ring-opening polymerization of lactide.


The company as a socio-economic subject, having as its main purpose the generation of profits, considers each of its actions mainly in terms of economic gain. In other situations, other criteria may play a part, but the criterion of economic efficiency is always dominant. Company finances can be defined as a set of cash inflows and cash outflows as a result of past investments. To optimize the aggregation of these flows, an organizational structure for managing the finances is formed in each company. This structure is called not only to optimize the flow of resources but also to ensure the realization of the main functions of finance. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of the value and structure of the company's sources of financing.