Manuscript Type: Empirical

Research Question/Issue: We ask two research questions: (1) How do CEO stock ownership and options influence the amount of equity capital that a foreign firm raises in US capital markets? (2) How does the foreign firm's home-country risk moderate these relationships?

Research Findings/Insights: To test our hypotheses, we use a sample of firms from 40 countries that raised equity capital via ADR offerings between 1994 and 2005. Using a full-information maximum likelihood approach to estimate a model that accounts for sample selection associated with non-capital raising ADRs and non-listed ADRs, as well as hot and cold equity markets, we found that CEO stock and option ownership lead to a higher level of equity capital raised. Interestingly, the level of home-country risk of the issuing firm weakens the relationship between the CEO stock ownership and the amount of equity capital raised, but strengthens the relationship between CEO stock options and ADR equity capital raised.

Theoretical/Academic Implications: We develop a framework that draws on behavioral decision making and agency theory to suggest that executive risk taking varies across countries and different forms of monitoring (stock ownership versus options) and that agents may exhibit risk-seeking as well as risk-averse behaviors. We also examined the potential corporate governance costs associated with principal-principal conflict as it relates to CEO stock-based compensation and the implications for raising equity capital. Because stock ownership and stock options have different risk profiles, and foreign firms operate in countries with different home-country risk, we theorize how home-country risk will moderate the relationship between CEO stock ownership or options with the amount of equity capital raised by a foreign firm in US stock markets through the issuance of American Depository Receipts (ADRs).

Practitioner/Policy Implications: Our results show that US investors pay attention to the types of stock-based executive compensation used by firms that raise capital in the US. In particular, CEOs of firms from higher risk countries need to consider US investors' perceptions of their stock-based compensation because it may hamper the firm's effectiveness in raising capital in the US.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To examine patient preferences for content and methods of delivering treatment plans, educational information, and survivorship care plans.

RESEARCH APPROACH
Thematic analysis of four tape-recorded focus groups of cancer survivors.

SETTING
An outpatient clinical cancer center in an academic medical center in the midwestern United States.

PARTICIPANTS
40 cancer survivors who had completed initial treatment. Participants were grouped by disease site: (a) prostate, genitourinary, and skin; (b) breast and gynecologic; (c) gastrointestinal, sarcoma, and head and neck; and (d) brain, pancreas, and lung.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH
An exploratory, descriptive approach with in-depth focus group thematic and comparative analysis methodology. The data are grouped into four major, interconnected themes.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Survivors' personal experiences with receiving cancer treatment.

FINDINGS
Four categories were agreed on using thematic analysis: educational information, treatment plan, survivorship care plan, and patient support. Themes were identified within each category.

CONCLUSIONS
The number of cancer survivors continues to grow each year. Approaching each survivor with individualized educational information, an initial treatment plan, a survivorship care plan, and emotional support is imperative. Oncology nurses must assess cancer survivors for their unique needs and intervene accordingly.

INTERPRETATION
Because oncology nurses assess and recognize the learning needs of each patient, they are best positioned to develop teaching content, strategies, and timing of interventions. The importance of written educational materials cannot be negated. Oncology nurses also are well positioned to provide a proactive role in the development and delivery of treatment and survivorship plans of care.


Friendship is a socially constructed phenomenon that is part of the everyday lives of human beings. Its practices have been researched for many years by sociologists and social anthropologists. The use of digital communication technology has come to play an important role in the way that we interact with family and friends. This qualitative study explores different dimensions of friendship that are practiced across three generations of Canadian, middle class, educated women. Furthermore, it looks at how these dimensions of friendship are made manifest, diluted or challenged by the use of communication technologies. The main findings show that the ideals of friendship are expressed through intimacy, closeness and reciprocity for all generations, however the way that these are expressed through digital communication technology varies across the generations.


Recent progress on the worldwide development of gyrotrons for fusion application is presented. After breakthroughs of gyrotron technologies in the 1990s, significant progress has been made in the 2000s, in particular, on a long-pulse gyrotron for a wide range of frequencies from 84 to 170 GHz. And, activities for advanced gyrotrons, for example, a high-power gyrotron using a coaxial resonator, a multifrequency gyrotron, etc., have proceeded. With this progress have come improvements of gyrotron components such as a high-efficiency mode converter, a wide-band window, etc. The gyrotrons have been applied to major fusion devices for heating and magnetohydrodynamics controls. At present, the development of a 1-MW-class continuous-wave gyrotron is in the scope, which is applicable for the self-ignition experiment of fusion plasma and its confinement at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).


Analysis of data from point counts, a common method for monitoring bird population trends, has evolved to produce estimates of various population parameters (e.g., density, abundance, occupancy) while simultaneously estimating detection probability. An important consideration when designing point counts is to maximize detection probability while minimizing variation in detection probability both within and between counts. Our objective was to estimate detection probability for three marsh passerines (Marsh Wren [Cistothorus palustris], Swamp Sparrow [Melospiza georgiana], and Yellow-headed Blackbird [Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus]) as a function of weather covariates and evaluate the temporal variability in detection probability of these three species. We conducted paired, unlimited radius, 10-min point counts for our three study species at 56 wetlands in Iowa from 20 April – 10 July 2010. We conducted surveys in the early-morning (30 m before sunrise to 3 hr after sunrise) and late-evening (3 hr before sunset to 30 m after sunset) hours during consecutive survey periods to minimize any daily variation in detection probability. We recorded all birds detected during point counts and also recorded both weather variables and time to sunrise or sunset before each survey. We estimated detection probability for each species as a function of weather and temporal covariates using the N-mixture model in the "unmarked" package in Program R. Mean detection probability ranged from 0.272 (SE = 0.042) for Marsh Wren to 0.365 (SE = 0.052) for Swamp Sparrow. Time of season was positively correlated with detection probability for Swamp Sparrow but was negatively correlated with detection probability for Yellow-headed Blackbird, suggesting that detection probability increases throughout the breeding season for Swamp Sparrow and is highest early in the breeding season for Yellow-headed Blackbird. Detection probability of Marsh Wren did not vary temporally nor did we find any effect of weather covariates on detection probability for any species. Understanding how detection probability for marsh passerines varies throughout the breeding season allows for targeted survey efforts to maximize detection probability for these species. Furthermore, consistent detection probability of marsh passerines between morning and evening survey periods increases the opportunity to conduct surveys for these birds, which allows for greater flexibility to increase spatial and temporal replication of surveys could lead to more precise estimates for desired population parameters.


Objectives: Recent studies have shown that the occurrence rate of bloodstream infections associated with arterial catheters is 0.9–3.4/1,000 catheter-days, which is comparable to that of central venous catheters. In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published new guidelines recommending the use of limited barrier precautions during arterial catheter insertion, consisting of sterile gloves, a surgical cap, a surgical mask, and a small sterile drape. The goal of this study was to assess the attitudes and current infection prevention practices used by clinicians during insertion of arterial catheters in ICUs in the United States. Design: An anonymous, 22-question web-based survey of infection prevention practices during arterial catheter insertion. Setting: Clinician members of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Subjects: Eleven thousand three hundred sixty-one physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, and registered nurses who elect to receive e-mails from the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: There were 1,265 responses (11% response rate), with 1,029 eligible participants after exclusions were applied. Only 44% of participants reported using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–recommended barrier precautions during arterial catheter insertion, and only 15% reported using full barrier precautions. The mean and median estimates of the incidence density of bloodstream infections associated with arterial catheters were 0.3/1,000 catheter-days and 0.1/1,000 catheter-days, respectively. Thirty-nine percent of participants reported that they would support mandatory use of full barrier precautions during arterial catheter insertion. Conclusions: Barrier precautions are used inconsistently by critical care clinicians during arterial catheter insertion in the ICU setting. Less than half of clinicians surveyed were in compliance with current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Clinicians significantly underestimated the infectious risk posed by arterial catheters, and support for mandatory use of full barrier precautions was low. Further studies are warranted to determine the optimal preventive strategies for reducing bloodstream infections associated with arterial catheters.


The Covid-19 pandemic is still current but has been particularly well addressed, so far, in the Australian context. This article presents an analysis of management practice to describe the experience of one Primary Health Network (PHN) and its approach and response to the pandemic within its geographical region in accordance with Federal government directives. The PHN is a large geographic area that includes the Central Coast, just north of the Sydney basin, the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region and the Northwest/New England region that extends from Tamworth to the Queensland Border.
The article describes the PHN function within its primary healthcare role (PHC) in respect to responding to national initiatives to address and reduce the impact Of the Covid-19 event. The article recounts the Federal Governments directive described through the 'National Cabinet' and the Federal Health Department and the PHN response to those directives and initiatives. The article also recounts the actual cases of Covid-19 over the period of the epidemic.
The article describes the governance, leadership, and management initiatives. The article then describes the PHN approach to evaluation of its approach from the perspective of general practice and other PHC providers as well as providing perspectives from governance, management, and staff. The evaluation process identified significant impacts on providers and strong support for the continuation of telehealth measures. There were positive responses to the PHN activity and as a strong sense of trusted information, ongoing education, and general engagement.


A branch of physics which becomes increasingly relevant to our soci etal functions is magnetospheric physics. This rise to fame is due to the incessant growth in the utilization of space technology and assets in our daily lives. Much like adverse atmospheric weather can wreak havoc to our homes and facilities, disturbances in the magnetosphere can render space assets for communication and navigation inoperative as well as pose haz ards to astronauts and people on commercial polar flights. Two main space disturbances are magnetic storms and magnetospheric substorms. The former has been studied for more than a century and the latter for four decades. This article provides a brief overview of the main features ob served in these space disturbances and some theoretical models for their cause. (


The first casualty of the Eurozone crisis in Ireland was social partnership and centralized wage bargaining. Despite the fact that a consensual approach to socio-economic policy was the default position of the country's political economy for twenty three years, the Irish government has so far pursued a unilateral rather than a negotiated adjustment. The policy constraints of EMU and the narrow focus on public sector austerity, in the context of an unprecedented fiscal crisis, has undermined the capacity of the actors to engage in a strategy of social partnership. Internal devaluation has reinforced the liberal market orientation of Ireland's public policy regime. The author will detail the failed attempt at a negotiated response to the crisis in 2009, the implicit reform strategy of the public sector agreement reached in 2010 and will analyze the impact of de-centralised collective bargaining in the private sector. We conclude that the narrow focus on austerity decreases the capacity of the democratic state to pursue an egalitarian response to the crisis, and reflects a general movement toward neoliberalism at the European level.


This paper details the lessons learned in the process of setting up a new open access (OA) journal from scratch. The Journal of the European Honors Council (JEHC) was started in 2016, published its first issue in 2017, and is currently publishing its fifth issue. The development of JEHC is described in four phases: lead-up to the first idea (2015-2016), from first idea to first issue (2016-2017), professionalization (2017-2018), and increasing impact (2018-). Ten lessons learnt are detailed: (1) do a realistic needs assessment; (2) involve committed people with skills, passion, and time; (3) provide a low-barrier publication option; (4) identify and pick 'low-hanging fruit'; (5) get your basics organized; (6) invest time in technical knowledge; (7) professionalize in phases; (8) be transparent, open, and personal; (9) try to avoid monetary transactions as much as possible; and (10) printing can help. The main piece of advice to others wishing to start an OA journal is: inform yourself well before you start, but do not be afraid to learn along the way.


Middleboxes are commonly deployed to implement policies (e.g., shaping, transcoding, etc.) governing traffic traversing ISPs. While middleboxes may be used for network management to limit the impact of bandwidth-intensive applications, they may also be applied opaquely to limit access to (or degrade) services that compete with those offered by the network provider. Without regulation or accountability, such practices could be used to raise the barrier to entry for new technologies, or block them entirely. Further, by breaking end-to-end system design principles, these practices can have negative side-effects on reachability, reliability and performance.
This paper presents evidence of deployed middlebox-enabled policies that provide differential service to network applications affecting subscribers of T-Mobile US, Boost Mobile, and others. We used rigorous controlled experiments and statistical analysis of the performance of popular online services to identify traffic differentiation. The observed policies include throttling bandwidth available to video and audio streaming, transcoding video, and selectively zero-rating traffic such as video and music streaming. Such policies may violate the "No Throttling" and/or "No Unreasonable Interference" provisions of the Open Internet Order [15] (OIO), and potentially violate rules in different jurisdictions. Some of these policies were not transparent to consumers and/or were presented in misleading ways, violating the transparency requirement of the OIO. We recommend that providers concerned about traffic loads use application-agnostic techniques to throttle, thus meeting the "reasonable network management" clause of the OIO. Such policies are also easy for consumers to understand, thus providing better transparency.
We find that the observed policies are implemented using deep packet inspection (DPI) and simple text-matching on the contents of network traffic, potentially leading to misclassification. We validate that misclassification occurs, causing unintentional zero-rating or throttling. For example, video-specific policies can arbitrarily apply to non-video traffic, providing another example of "Unreasonable Interference" barred in the OIO. In fact, we show that current approaches to implementing network management policies are fundamentally vulnerable to unintentional behavior; i.e., the DPI-based approach to network management cannot guarantee 100% accuracy. We recommend that the specific implementations of DPI-based throttling be made public to improve transparency. Further, we recommend that policymakers and net- work operators adopt alternative rules and approaches to network management that avoid such flaws and vulnerabilities.
Last, network management policies currently lack auditing provisions, and we argue that this hinders enforcement and compliance with rules. Further, network providers' policies evolve over time, requiring constant vigilance. We recommend that regulators incorporate auditing technologies such as those presented in this work as part of future policies.


Since possible causes, but no definitive causes, of bad sleep has been identified,
this study aimed to investigate the relationship between depressions, alexithymia and sleep quality
with descriptive-correlation method.
Materials & Methods: This study descriptive correlational study was conducted on 120 (60 mal, 60
female) students of Tabriz University that were selected by random sampling. Toronto Alexithymia
Scale (TAS-20), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21)
were used to collect data. The data were analyzed by Pearson's correlation test and multivariate
regression analysis methods.
Results: There was a significant relationship between depression and sleep quality in students, as well
as between alexithymia and its components. Multivariate regression analysis (step by step) showed
that the two components of alexithymia include: difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty
describing feelings predicts of sleep quality.
Conclusion: This study confirmed the relationship between depression and alexithymia via sleep
quality


In Panetti v. Quarterman, the US Supreme Court expanded upon and clarified its earlier decision in Ford v. Wainwright, barring the execution of persons with mental disabilities who do not have a rational understanding of the reasons for their execution. The Panetti decision, however, has a second holding that may be equally important: that the failure to provide a defendant an adequate opportunity to submit expert evidence in response to the report filed by the court-appointed experts thus deprived him of his constitutionally adequate opportunity to be heard. Both of these holdings leave open multiple questions that will likely be explored in subsequent cases (how severe does a mental illness have to be to qualify under this standard? how closely will the Court monitor the extent to which lower courts implement the new standard? To what extent does this decision augur a new level of comfort with expert testimony in other sorts of criminal proceedings?). However, the Court chose not to address the question that many observers had thought was at the core of the case: whether a defendant can be medicated so as to make him competent to be executed? Does the Court's decision to not confront this question mean that it will never deal with such a case? In this discussion of Panetti, I offer some possible answers to these questions.


Complex trauma in early childhood has the ability to impact a child's development in multiple domains, thus influencing development throughout the rest of their life. The purpose of this study was to explore best practices with children who have experienced complex trauma from the perspective of mental health professionals, with a focus on children between the ages of three and five. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six mental health professionals who were asked to discuss the presentation, interventions, and outcomes of a case where the child experienced complex trauma. Consistent with previous literature, all participants in this study reported self-regulation deficits and relational impairments for the case they discussed. Additionally, all six participants utilized play therapy and expressed the importance of collaboration with other adults and systems in the child's life in order for treatment to be successful, exemplifying the need to utilize an ecological approach. Other practices used by professionals included Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, feelings/emotion interventions, EMDR, and relational interventions such as including the parents/caregivers in treatment, addressing the attachment needs, and coaching parents. Overall, participants utilize a combination of approaches and interventions in order to provide best practices, always emphasizing safety, attachment, and development.


Development of large-scale grammars for natural languages is a complicated endeavor: Grammars are developed collaboratively by teams of linguists, computational linguists, and computer scientists, in a process very similar to the development of large-scale software. Grammars are written in grammatical formalisms that resemble very-high-level programming languages, and are thus very similar to computer programs. Yet grammar engineering is still in its infancy: Few grammar development environments support sophisticated modularized grammar development, in the form of distribution of the grammar development effort, combination of sub-grammars, separate compilation and automatic linkage, information encapsulation, and so forth. This work provides preliminary foundations for modular construction of (typed) unification grammars for natural languages. Much of the information in such formalisms is encoded by the type signature, and we subsequently address the problem through the distribution of the signature among the different modules. We define signature modules and provide operators of module combination. Modules may specify only partial information about the components of the signature and may communicate through parameters, similarly to function calls in programming languages. Our definitions are inspired by methods and techniques of programming language theory and software engineering and are motivated by the actual needs of grammar developers, obtained through a careful examination of existing grammars. We show that our definitions meet these needs by conforming to a detailed set of desiderata. We demonstrate the utility of our definitions by providing a modular design of the HPSG grammar of Pollard and Sag.


Conservation easement use is growing rapidly, as is the number of organizations looking to the tool to meet land conservation needs. Until recently, tribes had not been involved in conservation easement transactions. This book chapter examines the most common way tribes have become involved in conservation easement transactions — tribes as conservation easement holders. The chapter examines why tribes decide to hold conservation easements, looking at the choice to use conservation easements generally and then situating the decision in the evolution of property law in the United States both on and off tribal land. Conservation easements are a uniquely American form of property that emerge from Lockean roots and embrace a libertarian notion of property rights. In that light, tribal embrace of the tool may seem surprising as these notions of property have done harm to tribal sovereignty and may be at odds with some traditional tribal practices. The chapter concludes by asking whether tribes should use conservation easements. Wrapped up in this question is an assessment of the conservation easement tool generally as a vehicle for long-term land protection. The strength of the conservation easement tool is that it gives government entities the ability to extend their land conservation and environmental stewardship roles beyond their jurisdictional boundaries. Tribes may not have the power to regulate land use in nearby communities, but they can acquire conservation easements over such land and obtain similar results. Thus, despite some discordance due to the anticommunitarian sentiments at the heart of conservation easements, the conservation easement tool may provide tribes with an avenue for furthering tribal goals of conservation and intergenerational equity. Full book available via Ashgate website.


A key factor in conceptualising ethnicity is the notion of territory or geographic boundary. In the context of globalisation boundaries are becoming more porous and the world is shrinking in terms of time and place. Ethnicity often relies on the notion of common origin which is often linked with both geography and history (real or imagined). Geographic icons possess symbolic attributes and become significant in attachment and evoke emotions, sentiments and longing to be in a particular location. Notions of territory are also linked up with concepts of place. Place is a complex phenomena and implies people's connections to locales. Places enable association between lived experiences, personal stories, myths, images, memories which present legacies that carry meaning to individuals and communities. In exploring ethnic identity it is useful to draw upon both the notions of place which we are all born into and the notion of space which is more abstract and provides for consideration of social interaction and the construction of social identity based on hierarchy and power. While it is acknowledged that there is a strong inter-relationship between space and place, the distinction enables exploration of issues of identity construction in the context of transnational migration and communities in the diaspora who may not have the same links to space in the new country of settlement. This paper will explore the complexities of identity formation amongst ethnic communities in Australia. The dimensions of space and place in the construction of ethnic identity will be investigated. The paper will examine the approaches by ethnic communities to the notion of 'homeland', sense of belonging and identity formation in the context of migration. The paper will draw upon research conducted with different ethnic communities and contrast the approaches to identity, sense of belonging, space and place across different groups. The paper will also explore the issues relating to identity formation in the context of mainstream Australian identity which is often constructed in a way that excludes ethnic minorities and renders them as the 'other'. It will be argued that ethnic communities construct their identities in based on issues of space (relationships, regimes of power, events in their country of origin, racism, equality and social justice issues) and the main focus is on recognition of their identity in the public space rather than on focus on homeland territory. The paper will also delve into the relationship to place (i.e. the Australian geographic landscape) by ethnic communities in their identity formation.


BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus type 2 is not infrequently associated with obesity and can be prevented, improved and even reversed with the different types of bariatric operations. AIM: To compare serum glucose levels on pre and post-operative periods in patients undergoing gastroplasty with Capella and gastric sleeve techniques. METHOD: A descriptive and prospective analysis of serum glucose levels was done on pre and post-operative patients undergoing these operations. RESULTS: Of the 83 patients analyzed, 76 (91.5%) were female. Ages ranged from 21 to 64 years, with average age of 44 years. Seventy-seven (92.7%) underwent gastroplasty (Capella) and six (7.3%) to gastric sleeve. The pre-operative blood glucose ranged from 125 to 500 mg / dL and dropped to 76 to 120 mg / dL in the post-operative period of three months. Of the 77 patients taking medication for diabetes, 57 had metformin 850 to 3500 mg daily, 18 glibenclamide 5 to 10 mg per day and 17 insulin. After three months of operation, 92.2% stopped using drugs for diabetes and 100% of those who remained medicated decreased from more than 65% the dose of the drug, and none remained dependent of insulin treatment. CONCLUSION: Bariatric surgery is effective method to improve and even reverse type 2 diabetes mellitus.


Successful education systems are those that promote leadership at all levels, thereby encouraging teachers and principals, regardless of the formal positions they occupy, to lead innovation in the classroom, the school and the system as a whole. This report summarises evidence from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey and the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment that underpins the three themes of the 2015 International Summit on the Teaching Profession: school leadership, teachers' self-efficacy and innovation in education. It also offers examples from around the world of how some schools are introducing innovative ways of teaching and learning to better equip students with the skills they need to participate fully in 21st-century global economies.


In the parched Upper Santa Cruz River Basin (USCRB), a binational USA–Mexico basin, the water resources depend on rainfall-triggered infrequent flow events in ephemeral channels to recharge its storage-limited aquifers. In-situ data from the basin highlight a year-round warming trend since the 1980s and a concerning decline in average precipitation (streamflow) from 1955–2000 to 2001–2020 by 50% (87.6%) and 17% (63%) during the winter and summer, respectively. Binational sustainable management of the basins water resources requires a careful consideration of prospective climatic changes. In this article we review relevant studies with climate projections for the mid-21st century of four weather systems that affect the region's precipitation. First, the North American Monsoon (NAM) weather system accounts for ~60% of the region's annual rainfall. The total NAM precipitation is projected to decline while heavy rainfall events are expected to intensify. Second, the frequency of the pacific cold fronts, the region's prevalent source of winter precipitation, is projected to decline. Third, the frequency and intensity of future atmospheric rivers, a weather system that brings winter rainfall to the region, are projected to increase. Fourth, the frequency and intensity of large eastern pacific tropical cyclones (TC) are expected to increase. On rare occasions, remnants of TC make their way to the USCRB to cause storms with considerable impact on the region's water resources. In contrast to the high confidence projections for the warming trend to persist throughout the mid-21st century, the precipitation projections of these four weather systems affecting the region encompass large uncertainties and studies have often reported contradicting trends. An added source of uncertainty is that the USCRB is located at the periphery of the four rain-bearing weather systems and small mesoscale changes in these weather systems may have accentuated impacts on their edges. Despite the high uncertainty in the projections of future precipitation, the early 21st century drying trend and the projected mid-21st century decline in precipitation events serve as a pressing call for planning and actions to attain sustainable water resources management that reliably satisfies future demands.


Species composition, size range and some behavioral notes about drifting flotsam associated fish of the Balearic Islands are presented, and more detailed observations on Seriola dumerili, Naucrates ductor, Coryphaena hippurus and Scomberesox saurus are also given. 25 fish species belonging to 18 families were identified, 12 of these species and the individuals of the family Mugilidae were recorded for the first time associated with floating objects in the western Mediterranean. Most of the specimens collected were juveniles, which suggests the importance of floating objects as a nursery, and thus in the recruitment and redistribution of fishes. Analisis of two drift floating material samples show that objects of anthropogenic origin were most abundant (83.5% and 63.5%) and suggests that at present, human refuse may have taken over the role of the floating remains of marine plants for fishes in the western Mediterranean pelagic environment.


Let $C$ be a nonempty closed convex subset of a real Hilbert space, $H$ and let $ T: C \rightarrow C $ be an asymptotically $k$-strictly pseudo-contractive mapping with a nonempty fixed-point set, $F(T)=\{x\in C: Tx=x\}$. Let $\{t_n\}$, $\lbrace\alpha_{n}\rbrace$~ and $\lbrace\beta_{n}\rbrace$~ be real ~sequences in $( 0, 1)$. We consider the sequence $\lbrace x_{n}\rbrace$, ge nerated from an arbitrary $ x_{1} \in C $, by either I. \hskip 3.0cm $x_{n+1} = P_C[\left( 1-\alpha_{n} - \beta_{n}\right) x_{n}+ \beta_{n}T^{n}x_{n}], \; n\geq 1,$ or II. $\left\{\begin{array}{ll} \nu_n=P_C((1-t_n)x_n) x_{n+1}=(1-\alpha_n)\nu_n+\alpha_nT^n\nu_n, \; n\geq 1\end{array}\right.$ We prove that under some mild conditions on the real sequences $\lbrace\alpha_{n}\rbrace$ and $\lbrace\beta_{n}\rbrace$, the sequence $ \lbrace x_{n}\rbrace$ generated by I converges strongly to a fixed point of $T$. Furthermore, under some mild conditions on the sequences $\{t_n\}$ and $\{\alpha_n\}$, the sequence generated by II converges strongly to the least norm element of the fixed point set of $T$. Some examples are used to compare the convergence rates of these two iteration schemes. Our results compliment and extend several strong convergence results in the literature to the class of mappings considered in our work.


The article describes the essence of the concept of knowledge management as an aspect of intellectual capital management, which serves as the main resource for improving of the company's competitiveness and defines intellectual capital as an object of management. Managing intellectual capital, representing the company's core value, contributes to achieving the company's goals, creates the prerequisites for innovation, provides benchmarking in all activities, training and motivation of employees, increasing the efficiency of design, procurement and marketing processes, provides a fast pace of corporate development and implements the management process with maximum efficiency.


This study compares eddy‐covariance measurements of carbon dioxide fluxes at six northern temperate and boreal peatland sites in Canada and the northern United States of America, representing both bogs and fens. The two peatland types had opposite responses of gross ecosystem photosynthesis (GEP) and ecosystem respiration (ER) to inter‐annual fluctuations in water table level. At fens, wetter conditions were correlated with lower GEP and ER, while at bogs wetter conditions were correlated with higher GEP and ER. We hypothesize that these contrasting responses are due to differences in the relative contributions of vascular plants and mosses. The coherence of our results between sites representing a range of average environmental conditions indicates ecosystem‐scale differences in resilience to hydrological changes that should be taken into account when considering the future of peatland ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration under changing environmental conditions.


This paper presents a quantitative assessment of the potential farmers' benefits from increases in the productivity of the agricultural sector combined with the introduction of new marketing strategies. The analysis is based on farm-programming models designed to capture the important structural features of farm household decision making in Mozambique. The model explicitly incorporates the harvest income target and satisfaction of household caloric demand through home-consumption of own production before maximizing cash revenues through marketed goods.


Recent developments in the design and synthesis of donor–acceptor semiconducting copolymers have significantly contributed to improve the ambipolar transport properties of polymer field-effect transistors (FETs). The further development of such FETs towards real applications would greatly benefit from the knowledge of the specific charge distribution along the channel, especially in the ambipolar regime. Here we accomplish this task by adopting charge modulation spectroscopy (CMS) and microscopy (CMM), electro-optical spectroscopy techniques which allow us to probe in situ charge induced features in the transmission spectra of conjugated polymers, to study a model high mobility donor–acceptor co-polymer (DPPT-TT, poly(N-alkyldiketopyrrolo-pyrrole dithienylthieno[3,2-b]thiophene)). Thanks to the sub-micrometer spatial resolution of confocal microscopy, we are able to isolate the specific contribution of channel and electrode regions which are superimposed in the macroscopic CMS spectra, thus allowing the mapping of hole and electron distributions across the active channel in both unipolar and ambipolar operating regimes. Our findings illustrate the use of a local probe in charge-modulation experiments to correctly assign spectral features and to determine the distributions of positive and negative charge carriers in an operating device, which has relevant implications on the understanding of the nature of charge transport in high-mobility ambipolar semiconducting polymers.


Work activation is a phrase used to describe a policy objective of moving people of working age from a social welfare payment into paid employment. It uses the social welfare system proactively to support, encourage or oblige claimants to participate in work, education or training. In this context a recent government publication - Proposals for Supporting Lone Parents - signals the introduction of a stronger form of work activation for lone parents and low-income mothers, including the introduction of a work obligation of 19.5 hours per week when their youngest children reach the age of eight.

This paper, Reframing the Irish Activation Debate, critically engages with that government initiative. It seeks to develop a positive model of activation capable of supporting people in their efforts to find decent, sustainable employment. It does this by developing a template that can be used as a model for activating adults of working age, including people with disabilities, migrants, youth, homeless or older people. It looks at the international literature dealing with activation and employment of lone parents and low income mothers and discusses issues concerning the ethics of care, time, health and work/life balance. It analyses the situation of these target groups in Ireland at the present time. It discusses conditionality and argues for a rights-based approach that incorporates a strong legal framework and activation policy. Finally it examines the challenges faced by institutions and individuals involved in implementing work activation policies.


From the Publisher:
Special Edition Using Java 2 Standard Edition specifically covers only the Standard Edition of version 1.3 of the Java Software Development Kit (SDK). It begins with a series of quick refreshers for Object-oriented programming and Java fundamentals, including applet programming and threads, to ensure that readers are up to speed. The book then moves to intermediate Java features including user interface design with Java Foundation Classes (JFC) and Abstract Windows Toolkit (AWT), data structures and Java utilities, containers and layout managers, and creating images. Later chapters cover advanced topics including Internationalization & creating JAR archive files. Useful appendices offer further Java resources & SDK tool information. Throughout the book, the authors focus on Java 2 Standard Edition SDK version 1.3 changes, including the newest "HotSpot" compiler, which offers increased performance, faster start-up and smaller memory usage, among other improvements.


Single parent households experience periods of food insecurity more frequently than other Australian families. Despite elevated risk, many single parents achieve food security with limited means. This article applies and evaluates the utility of the livelihoods framework approach as a tool for understanding food insecurity in this population and generating relevant policy recommendations. The approach is adapted here to provide insight into the skills, strategies and resource individuals use to attain or strive for food security. The framework incorporates these individual capabilities into a model of the social, economic and political structures and processes through which individuals navigate to attain food security. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with single parents living in rural and urban South Australia. Transcripts were analysed in an effort to populate a food security livelihoods framework for single parents. The livelihoods framework is found to be capable of reproducing the types and levels of capabilities reported in previous findings. Furthermore, it provides novel insight into the relationships that form between classes of capabilities and between capabilities and the structures and processes in which they are utilised. These insights are considered in terms of relevance to policy.


The aim of this article is to evaluate the effectiveness of scallop enhancement programs in Hokkaido. We analyzed the catch statistics from 1910 to 1993, and the number of seeds released from 1977 to 1993. The mean annual catch in weight in the last ten years (1984-1993) increased by 69 times in the Soya region, by 15 times in the Abashiri region, and by 6 times in the Nemuro region compared with that for the years before the commencement of stocking (1951-1973). Also, the coefficients of variation of annual catches by weight decreased considerably. The CVs between the years before stocking and the last ten years decreased from 1.41 to 0.38 in the Soya region, from 0.52 to 0.28 in the Abashiri region, and from 0.44 to 0.36 in the Nemuro region. We also analyzed the annuaI catch and seed release statistics by the local fishermen's associations. The recent increase in catches is supported by the seeds released and from increased reproduction from released seeds that have matured and added to the reproduction stock. The reproduction effect was markedly different between locations of the fishing grounds. As a whole, in Hokkaido the stock enhancement of scallop is economically successful, however, the yield for released seeds varies considerably among the fishermen's associations. Causes of the variation and release starategies were discussed.


Synthetically-generated audios and videos - so-called deep fakes - continue to capture the imagination of the computer-graphics and computer-vision communities. At the same time, the democratization of access to technology that can create a sophisticated manipulated video of anybody saying anything continues to be of concern because of its power to disrupt democratic elections, commit small to large-scale fraud, fuel disinformation campaigns, and create non-consensual pornography. We describe a biometric-based forensic technique for detecting face-swap deep fakes. This technique combines a static biometric based on facial recognition with a temporal, behavioral biometric based on facial expressions and head movements, where the behavioral embedding is learned using a CNN with a metric-learning objective function. We show the efficacy of this approach across several large-scale video datasets, as well as in-the-wild deep fakes.


Graham v. Florida was a watershed decision, not least because of the centrality of the so-called "rehabilitative ideal" to its holding that life in prison for juveniles convicted of nonhomicide crimes was cruel and unusual. The Court's emphasis on rehabilitation was surprising both in terms of the Court's previous decisions on punishment, in which rehabilitation was barely included as a "purpose of punishment," but also in terms of the history of academic and legislative skepticism if not hostility toward the idea of rehabilitation (which includes two recently decided sentencing cases, Tapia and Pepper). Courts and commentators have struggled to make sense of both the meaning and the scope of Graham's rehabilitative holding. Their struggle is one about defining how (and whether) rehabilitation should play any substantial role in sentencing. My essay places Graham in the context of the recent history of rehabilitation, and views its attempt to "rehabilitate" rehabilitation in light of that history. The rehabilitative ideal encompasses not just one model, but three: the mostly discredited model of rehabilitation as treatment, a more modest model of rehabilitation as training, and an older model of rehabilitation as reform. Both the language and the result of Graham show it to be squarely in the tradition of the third model, where rehabilitation is not something the state provides, but something the offender is supposed to undergo, through a process of reflection, remorse, and atonement. Rehabilitation as reform is notable because it is compatible with a suspicion that prison in general is a bad place for rehabilitation and that it is unlikely that the state can do anything to positively aid the offender in reforming. At best, the state must get out of the way. Whether we want to extend Graham or reject it depends on whether we find its ideal of rehabilitation as reform appealing.


Two model independent solutions to the problem of controlling wheel-based mobile platforms are proposed. These two algorithms are based on a so called virtual vehicle approach, where the motion of the reference point on the desired trajectory is governed by a differential equation containing error feedback. This, combined with the fact that the proven stable control algorithms are basically proportional regulators with arbitrary positive gains, make the solutions robust with respect to errors and disturbances, as demonstrated by the experimental results.


A novel intelligent online demand side management system is proposed for peak load management in low-voltage distribution networks. This method uses low-cost controllers with low-bandwidth two-way communication installed in custumers' premises and at distribution transformers to manage the peak load while maximising customer satisfaction. A multi-objective decision making process is proposed to select the load(s) to be delayed or controlled. The efficacy of the proposed control system is verified by simulation of three different feeder types.


Introduction: The incidence of brain tumor in pregnant women is estimated to be 1 in 1000–2000 pregnancies and it is similar for pregnant and not pregnant women. Incidence of malignant brain tumors is 3.6 per 1 million live births. Treatment and diagnostic of malignant brain tumor during pregnancy has a lot of specificity and it is a challenge for neurosurgeons and obstetricians. The aim: To report the case of brain tumor during pregnancy and summarize literature overview about brain tumor management and treatment during pregnancy. Case: A 34-years-old woman presented at 38th week of pregnancy complaining of headache, dizziness, nausea and fever. Patient was diagnosed with giant brain tumor after computed tomography (CT) was performed. Multi-disciplinary team decided that patient has to deliver by cesarean section and after neurosurgery have to be performed. Conclusion: It is important to select proper diagnostic and treatment method to minimize maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. Diagnosing of brain tumor during pregnancy may be difficult due to similar symptomatic such as hyperemesis gravidum, preeclampsia, eclampsia or normal pregnancy condition. Management of women with brain tumor during pregnancy has to be approached by multi-disciplinary team.


In this study, an animal (Wistar rat) model of PM2.5 associated with chronic pulmonary infection in vivo was established and the effects of PM2.5 and its relationship with cytokines were investigated. A total of 60 adults Wistar rats were randomly divided into control group (group A), group fumigated with PM2.5 (group B), with 30 rats in each group. Then the lung function of rats, the cell count and differential count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were detected. The levels of cytokines (IL-8, IL-1β, SICAM-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in sera were measured with ELISA methods. The total number of cells in BALF of the fumigated group was significantly higher than in the control group after inhalation of PM2.5. Among the cells, the lymphocytes of the fumigated group were significantly higher than the control group on the 1st and 3rd day, but no significant difference was observed on the 7th day. After inhalation of PM2.5, the concentrations of serum cytokines IL-8, IL-1β and TNF-α of the fumigated group and the control group were all lower than the limits of the ELISA kit. There was no significant difference between the concentrations of serum cytokines IL-8 and TNF-α in the fumigated and the control groups. However, the IL-1β concentration in the serum of the fumigated group was significantly higher than in the control group. The results indicated that when rats were inhaled with PM2.5, the components in PM2.5 as an antigen substance mediated the antibody reaction of antigen, which might cause the serious airway inflammatory response and lung tissue injury, this effect may be related to IL-8.


Handcycling is a mode of mobility, and sport format within Para‐cycling, for those with a lower limb impairment. The exercise modality has been researched extensively in the rehabilitation setting. However, there is an emerging body of evidence detailing the physiological responses to handcycling in the competitive sport domain. Competitive handcyclists utilize equipment that is vastly disparate to that used for rehabilitation or recreation. Furthermore, the transferability of findings from early handcycling research to current international athletes regarding physiological profiles is severely limited. This narrative review aims to map the landscape within handcycling research and document the growing interest at the elite end of the exercise spectrum. From 58 experimental/case studies and four doctoral theses, we provide accounts of the aerobic capacity of handcyclists and the influence training status plays; present research regarding the physiological responses to handcycling performance, including tests of sprint performance; and discuss the finite information on handcyclists' training habits and efficacy of bespoke interventions. Furthermore, given the wide variety of protocols employed and participants recruited previously, we present considerations for the interpretation of existing research and recommendations for future work, all with a focus on competitive sport. The majority of studies (n = 21) reported aerobic capacity, detailing peak rates of oxygen uptake and power output, with values >3.0 L min−1 and 240 W shown in trained, male H3‐H4 classification athletes. Knowledge, though, is lacking for other classifications and female athletes. Similarly, little research is available concerning sprint performance with only one from eight studies recruiting athletes with an impairment.


Healthy food systems hold potential to improve a city's social, health, and economic well-being. Currently, there is a worldwide trend in refocusing food systems to invest in the local community rather than relying on hyper-industrial food value chains that erect barriers for local residents in a city's food sector. It is the purpose of this report to assess how Hartford's food sector currently is working so that the city may move in a more innovative direction with its food sector, improving the social, health, and economic conditions for the city and its residents. Thus, this report examines Hartford's food assets and challenges as well as its opportunities for growth and improvement. In doing so, it investigates if investing in the food economy as an industry cluster is right for Hartford in terms of its cultural, health, and economic progress and identifies which recommendations may make these improvements viable. Through a combination of a food system literature review and 22 interviews with a representative sample of Hartford food stakeholders, this report analyzes the current functionality of Hartford's food system. Through this analysis, Hartford is found to be a quasi food desert, where food is available but is not consumed to a high degree because of lower healthy food quality, a possible consequence of the higher costs associated with offering healthy options, as well as overall store quality. Likewise, the Hartford food system lacks systems for aggregation and is losing quality young talent. While City leadership and the food community are bourgeoning in terms of their influence in the food system, there is work to be done in terms of explicitly supporting the local food economy, collaborating and aggregating resources, and incentivizing local food business. Recommendations for addressing these findings include improving urban grocery stores, advocating for food aggregation, engaging the private sector, increasing food education, streamlining the food business startup process, amending the city's zoning ordinance, and developing a food investment syndicate. ___________________________ Kathryn Madden, M.C.P., S.M.Arch.S.


Framed by the problem of fake news and misinformation, a recent study into journalism education in Ireland focused on the overlaps that exist between two professions: journalism and librarianship. The emerging literature on fake news is overwhelmingly coming from these two disciplines. Historically both have deep roots in truth and fact and employ a specific range of tools for the evaluation of information. Librarians use a framework called information literacy, while journalism educators speak of media literacy, fact-checking and verification of sources. With the many overlaps in media and information literacy, journalists and librarians would appear to be natural partners in the fight against fake news. This article looks at the current level of awareness of information literacy among journalism educators and establishes if there is scope for collaboration and development of a bespoke information literacy module in journalism, media and broadcasting courses.


We present a user-scheduling scheme for multiuser multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) systems with random unitary beamforming (RUB) in this paper. The new scheme, which is termed as adaptive beam activation based on the conditional best beam index feedback (ABA-CBBI), requires low average feedback load by imposing a feedback threshold on the users' signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and suffers less multiuser interference by only activating those beams requested by at least one user. We derive the exact analytical expression for the sum-rate capacity of the resulting multiuser MIMO systems, based on which we examine the optimal selection of the feedback threshold in terms of sum-rate maximization. We demonstrate through selected numerical examples that the proposed ABA-CBBI scheme with optimal thresholds can achieve better sum-rate performance than existing schemes over high-signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) regions.


Current estimates predict 1 in 3 people born today will develop dementia, suggesting a major impact on future population health. As such, research needs to connect specialist clinicians, data scientists and the general public. The In-MINDD project seeks to address this through the provision of a Profiler, a socio-technical information system connecting all three groups. The public interact, providing raw data; data scientists develop and refine prediction algorithms; and clinicians use in-built services to inform decisions. Common across these groups are Risk Factors, used for dementia-free survival prediction. Risk interactions could greatly inform prediction but determining these interactions is a problem underpinned by massive numbers of possible combinations. Our research employs a machine learning approach to automatically select best performing hyperparameters for prediction and learns variable interactions in a non-linear survival-analysis paradigm. Demonstrating effectiveness, we evaluate this approach using longitudinal data with a relatively small sample size.


Traditionally, new scientific advances have been applied quickly to the leukemias based on the ease with which relatively pure samples of malignant cells can be obtained. Currently, our arsenal of approaches used to characterize an individual's acute myeloid leukemia (AML) combines hematopathologic evaluation, flow cytometry, cytogenetic analysis, and molecular studies focused on a few key genes. The advent of high-throughput methods capable of full-genome evaluation presents new options for a revolutionary change in the way we diagnose, characterize, and treat AML. Next-generation DNA sequencing techniques allow full sequencing of a cancer genome or transcriptome, with the hope that this will be affordable for routine clinical care within the decade. Microarray-based testing will define gene and miRNA expression, DNA methylation patterns, chromosomal imbalances, and predisposition to disease and chemosensitivity. The vision for the future entails an integrated and automated approach to these analyses, bringing the possibility of formulating an individualized treatment plan within days of a patient's initial presentation. With these expectations comes the hope that such an approach will lead to decreased toxicities and prolonged survival for patients.


Purity practices during the first century CE were widespread in Judaea and Galilee as part of everyday life and not limited to concerns relating to the temple cult. Developments in key water rites were partly triggered by concepts of graded impurity, to which an understanding of defilement via food also belonged. Certain rabbinic characteristics represent later developments and cannot be assumed for the time of Jesus. Hand impurity did not originate as a rabbinic decree to protect tĕrumâ , and accusations against Pharisees for setting aside Scripture in favour of their own traditions did not originate with the historical Jesus, but suggest later polemics. Jesus' stance on purity is perhaps better characterized as prophetic than halakic.


Induction melting was attempted to prepare the undoped and Nb-doped CoSb3 compounds, and their thermoelectric properties were investigated. Single phase d-CoSb3 was successfully obtained by induction melting and subsequent annealing at 400°C for 2 hours in vacuum. The positive signs of Seebeck coefficients for all the specimens revealed that Nb atoms acted as p-type dopants by substituting Co atoms. Electrical conductivity decreased and then increased withincreasing temperature, indicating mixed behaviors of metallic and semiconducting conductions. Electrical conductivity increased by Nb doping, and it was saturated at high temperature. Maximum value of the thermoelectric power factor was shifted to higher temperature with the increasing amount of Nb doping, mainly originated from the Seebeck coefficient variation.


OBJECTIVE
It has been shown previously in smaller studies that fasting serum leptin and insulin concentrations are highly correlated, and insulin sensitive men have lower leptin levels than insulin resistant men matched for fat mass. We have examined the association between insulin resistance (assessed by fasting insulin) and leptin after controlling for overall and central adiposity in a population-based cohort.

DESIGN
Leptin levels were compared across insulin resistance quartiles within three categories of obesity (tertiles of body mass index (BMI)). Partial correlation coefficents and multiple linear regression models were used to assess the relationship between leptin and fasting insulin after adjusting for BMI and waist to hip ratio (WHR) or waist circumference.

SUBJECTS
Subjects were normoglycemic participants of a 1987 non-communicable diseases survey conducted in the multiethnic population of Mauritius. 1227 men and 1310 women of Asian Indian, Creole and Chinese ethnicity had normal glucose tolerance and fasting serum leptin measurements.

RESULTS
Mean serum leptin concentration increased across quartiles of fasting insulin in each BMI group and gender, after controlling for BMI, WHR and age. Furthermore, fasting insulin was a significant determinant of serum leptin concentration, independent of BMI and WHR, in both men and women. Similar results were found if waist circumference replaced BMI and WHR in the model.

CONCLUSION
These results suggest that insulin resistance/concentration may contribute to the relatively wide variation in leptin levels seen at similar levels of body mass or alternatively, leptin may play a role in the etiology of insulin resistance. Further studies will be important to determine whether the hyperleptinemia/insulin resistance relationship has a role in the natural history of obesity, Type 2 diabetes mellitus and the other metabolic abnormalities associated with insulin resistance.


Tissue engineering scaffolds attempt to mimic the stem cell environment by creating dif - ferent biophysical and chemical signals. On the other hand, stem cells are able to sense these characteristics and change their destiny. Scientists try to explain these phenomena through scaffold design and in vitro experiments, but the mechanisms implicated remain unclear. Moreover, environment-cell interactions are a key process to get organs and tissues arrangement. Therefore, this chapter deals with the mechanical signals and mechanism involved in cell behaviour through scaffolds as a strategy in tissue engineering.


Composing has been slighted at all levels of education. Following an analysis of the history and failure of compositional pedagogy for developing musicianship, a new rationale for such pedagogy is presented. This pedagogy is argued to be essential for preparing contemporary musicians and audiences to understand most properly what music 'is' and 'is good for', and for promoting ever-new conceptions of 'music' and of its evolving values. In addition to advancing general musicianship in relation to the standard repertory, the special contribution of pedagogy rooted in composing organised sound pieces is outlined in relation to a new praxial philosophy of music that is challenging the limited and limiting theory of music and its value provided by traditional aesthetic theory. The latter is seen to be a major impediment to new compositional modes that expand musical frontiers, while the praxial theory supports, as well as gains support from, various new attempts to organise sound for expressive and other purposes.


This report presents the results from the ISS Lahti pilot case of RYM SHOK NewWow project which was conducted in collaboration between Stanford PBL lab, ISS and VTT during 2011–2012. The purpose of the Lahti pilot case was to study factors of physical, virtual and social environment that enhance or disrupt knowledge work on individual and team level at a new ISS regional office in Lahti remodelled according to new ways of working principles. More specifically, the objective was to examine how to increase engagement in the work of service secretaries, superiors and managers working in the business area of security, technical and cleaning services. The employees had moved from an old office space not supporting the needs for transparency, interaction, collaboration, and engagement promoted by new ways of working practices. The remodeled ISS Lahti regional office was designed following a new space concept developed at ISS called the office of choice. The new space concept was designed to support diverse work tasks allowing the employees to choose a space most suitable to their activities. The research team conducted an ethnographic study during three working days at the new Lahti office site, where the researchers observed how the employees experienced the new space in their daily work. Three methods were utilized; observation, interviews and questionnaires. Additional workshops were held at the ISS Lahti office to engage the employees in the study as well as provide them feedback The results of the Lahti pilot case contribute to the development of methods that support a continuous and dynamic transformation of the work environment, explicit choices employees make with regards to place, technology, and work processes. This encourages an integrated approach that brings space management, ICT management, and business processes together taking into account the end user perspective and evolving needs.


Even advanced Spanish speakers of second language English tend to confuse the pronouns 'he' and 'she', often without even noticing their mistake (Lahoz, 1991). A study by AntónMéndez (2010) has indicated that a possible reason for this error is the fact that Spanish is a pro-drop language. In order to test this hypothesis, we used an extension of Dual-path (Chang, 2002), a computational cognitive model of sentence production, to simulate two models of bilingual speech production of second language English. One model had Spanish (ES) as a native language, whereas the other learned a Spanish-like language that used the pronoun at all times (non-pro-drop Spanish, NPD_ES). When tested on L2 English sentences, the bilingual pro-drop Spanish model produced significantly more gender pronoun errors, confirming that pronoun dropping could indeed be responsible for the gender confusion in natural language use as well.


Your guide to designing apps that extend the capabilities of your SharePoint site. Take advantage of the most important new concept in Microsoft SharePoint 2013--the app. Led by two SharePoint experts, youll learn development techniques such as building app lists, creating event handlers, and the major classes in the object model that provide access to content stored in SharePoint. Get expert guidance on how to:Best design an app Develop a SharePoint-hosted app Develop a developer- hosted app Create and use lists Support notifications Program a client-side app with JavaScript Establish user security and SharePoint application security Get code samples on the Web.


The primary obstacle to genuine multilateral global trade liberalization has been the extreme protection of agriculture in the wealthiest economies. The route left open after the collapse of the Doha Round is that of bilateral free trade agreements, which are of limited scope. The agreement with US is the result of Colombia's priority interest in making permanent the concessions granted temporarily to a portion of its exports in compensation for the fight against illegal drugs, but at the expense of the Andean Price Band System, which was the only mechanism for border protection against the subsidies to agriculture in the United States. In the agreement with the European Union, the winning sector was fruits and vegetables, and the loser was milk and dairy products. However, both treaties may lose relevance once the US and the European Union sign the treaty known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), given the huge trade diversion effect it would have. Depletion of the secular downward cycle in prices for agricultural products, and the onset of a new one characterized by an upward trend in the medium term could overwhelm the narrow spaces of such bilateral pacts with respect to the sector. To respond to these challenges and to seize new opportunities, Colombia should focus on the mass adoption of biotechnology and on resolving the conflict between current use of the land and its true agro-ecological vocation.


The present communication is based on the research undertaken by the author and whose principal results are detailed in its thesis entitled « Choice of alternatives of road infrastructures : multicriteria methods » like on the prospects offered by this one. The problems of the choice between various alternatives are permanent and crucial in the projects of systems of transport and road infrastructures. The designer who works out a technical solution must have objective and global methods in order to propose to the decision makers, who are generally a political entity, an optimal alternative. The complexity of the many fields affected by the transport infrastructure as well as the diversity of the various intervening actors directly or indirectly in the study process are as much elements to integrate in this choice. Only methods of multicriteria decision analysis, associated with a dialogue integrated into all the stages of the study process, make it possible to the designer as well as possible to take account of this complexity. The use of such methods also makes it possible to bind the objective aspects of the choices, based in particular on technical evaluation of the performance indicators of the alternatives for each criterion, with its subjective aspects which are the relative consideration of importance of each criterion, also called weighting. These methods of multicriteria decision analysis used in parallel with dialogue methods are clearly at the basis of a study process ensuring the realization of a sustainability road. They indeed make it possible to bind social, by the dialogue of the various actors, economic and environmental dimensions by the consideration of adequate criteria. Moreover, the consideration of the needs for the future generations, by the taking into account of the cycle of life of the infrastructure, is easy to realize. The author carried out an actualization of methodology of the road project process while basing him on the integration of these principles in the procedure. An evaluation of the various methods of multicriteria decision analysis was carried out and tested on a real case in Switzerland. It results the following main clauses from them : The use of the method of partial aggregation Electre III makes it possible to better moderate the judgments and use easy indicators; The honest separation in the stages of the process of the phase of weighting, which is to be realized before the alternatives generation, this one preceding the phase of the evaluation of the criteria; The objective judgment is to be realized by the designer and subjective weighting by the decision makers.


ABSTRACT There is a dire need to place the disproportionate number of minority foster children with successful foster families. Because there are more minority foster children than minority foster parents, we suggest placing children with qualified families despite differences in racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds. We propose a conceptual model for transcultural parenting that accounts for cultural differences and emphasizes the importance of equipping foster parents with training to preserve children's birth heritages and help them thrive in dual worlds. We address how essential it is for agencies to assess foster parents' cultural receptivity, that is, their openness to participate in activities that stimulate children's cultural development. We suggest a theoretical framework that integrates cultural receptivity and culturally competent transcultural parenting.


This paper provides an initial glimpse into the performance of the insurance industry in the region through the use of a broad diagnostic survey. It also provides some descriptive statistics based on survey data. Survey information is used to identify variables and factors affecting insurance market performance in Latin America and the Caribbean, forming the basis for a discussion of policy recommendations. The analysis is a first step toward identifying problems perceived to be of critical relevance to more effective insurance markets in the region.


(ABSTRACT) In this report, we give a deeper investigation of the loss-compensated recirculating delayed self-heterodyne interferometer (LC-RDSHI) for ultra-narrow linewidth measurement, including the theoretical analysis, experimental implementation, further modification on the system and more applications. Recently, less than 1kHz linewidth fiber lasers have been commercialized. But even the manufacturers face a challenge on accurately measuring the linewidth of such lasers. There is a need to develop more accurate methods to characterize ultra-narrow laser linewidth and frequency noises. Compared with other currently available linewidth measurement techniques, the loss-compensated recirculating delayed-heterodyne interferometer (LC-RDSHI) technique is the most promising one. It overcomes the bottleneck of the high resolution requirement on the delayed self-heterodyne interferometer (DSHI) by using a short length of fiber delay line. This method does not need another narrower and more stable laser as the reference which is the necessary component in heterodyne detection. The laser spectral lineshape can be observed directly instead of complicated interpretation in frequency discriminator techniques. The theoretical analysis of a LC-RDSHI gives us a guidance on choosing the optimal parameters of the system and assists us to interpret the recorded spectral lineshape. Laser linewidth as narrow as 700Hz has been proved to be measurable by using the LC-RDSHI method. The non-linear curve fitting of Voigt lineshape to separate Lorentzian and Gaussian components was investigated. Voigt curve fitting results give us a clear view on laser frequency noises and laser linewidth nature. It is also shown that for a ultra-narrow linewidth laser, simply taking 20dB down from the maximum value of the beat spectrum and dividing by 2 √ 99 will over estimate the laser linewidth and coherent length. Besides laser linewidth measurement in the frequency domain, we also implemented time-domain frequency noise measurement by using a LC-RDSHI. The long fiber delay obtained by a fiber recirculating loop provides a higher resolution of frequency noise measurement. iii However, spectral width broadening due to fiber nonlinearity, environmental perturbations and laser intrinsic 1/f frequency noises are still potential problems in the LC-RDSHI method. A new method by adding a transmitter switch and a loop switch is proposed to minimize the Kerr effect caused by multiple recirculation. iv Acknowledgments I would like to take this chance to express my sincere appreciations to people who offered me tremendous help and support in the past several years, especially, my adviser, Professor Anbo Wang. He provided me a great opportunity to do the …


While the WTO agreements do not regulate the use of biotechnology per se, their rules can have a profound impact on the use of the technology for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. This book seeks to identify the challenges to international trade regulation that arise from biotechnology. The contributions examine whether existing international obligations of WTO Members are appropriate to deal with the issues arising for the use of biotechnology and whether there is a need for new international legal instruments, including a potential WTO Agreement on Biotechnology. They combine various perspectives on and topics relating to genetic engineering and trade, including human rights and gender; intellectual property rights; traditional knowledge and access and benefit sharing; food security, trade and agricultural production and food safety; and medical research, cloning and international trade.


In this study, determination of titanium tetraisopropanol (TTIP) concentration and calcination temperature were used to synthesis of B4C-nano TiB2 by co-precipitation method. TTIP, boron carbide and isopropanol were used as the precursor materials. B4C composites with 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 20.0 and 40.0 ww%TiB2 were obtained. The ww%TiB2 on the phase constitution and microstructure during synthesis and densification was determined. In this process, TiO2 nanoparticles is initially converted to titaniumtetrahydroxide and Ti(OH)4 as intermediate product in above 1523 K for 25-65 minutes. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission scanning electron microscopy were used to determined phase and microstructure of B4C-nano TiB2 composites. The distribution sizes of TiB2 nanoparticles on B4C were calculated between 10-40 nm.


Speech style, syllable stress, and the second-language acquisition of Spanish /e/ and /o/ Justin Bland This study examines the effects of speech style, syllable stress, and proficiency level on the production of the second-language (L2) Spanish vowels /e/ and /o/. The study addresses traditional descriptions of L2 Spanish (e.g. Stockwell & Bowen, 1965), which claim that English-speaking learners, unlike native speakers (NSs), reduce vowels in unstressed syllables and diphthongize /e/ and /o/ in stressed syllables. Additionally, it adds to previous research by investigating how speech style affects L2 Spanish vowels, how these effects change by course level, and how they compare to NS style-shifting. Data was gathered from 55 adult learners of Spanish (SLs) at three course levels, as well as 10 NSs of Spanish using two elicitation tasks at different levels of formality. A total of 7,740 word-medial tokens of /e/ and /o/ was extracted, and vowels' F1, F2, duration, and diphthongization were measured using Praat. ANOVA tests were run to determine the main and interaction effects of participant group, elicitation task, and syllable stress on these four response variables for each vowel. Significant main effects as well as interaction effects were found for group, task, and stress on the F1 and F2 of /e/ and /o/, as well as interaction effects, providing evidence that the SLs and NSs centralized their unstressed vowels, that /e/ and /o/ became more raised and peripheral as course level increased, and that the SLs at all levels peripheralized their vowels in formal speech.


BACKGROUND
Information about laboratory reference intervals (RIs) of European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) hospitalized at rehabilitation centers is scarce.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to establish hematologic and biochemical RIs for rehabilitated hedgehogs before the release into the wild, and to assess whether sex and management of the center influence laboratory results.

METHODS
Blood was collected from 50 hedgehogs at 3 centers. Thirty-eight animals were included in the study based on normal body weight, absence of clinical signs of disease, Bunnell index > 0.80, and absence of hibernation during overwintering. CBCs were performed using an automated laser cell counter followed by morphologic analysis of blood smears. Clinical biochemistry was performed using an automated spectrophotometer. RIs were determined as recommended by the ASVCP guidelines.

RESULTS
Hematology profiles revealed a prevalence of lymphocytes, a constant presence of nucleated RBCs, Howell-Jolly bodies and basophils, and bilobed nuclei in neutrophils and eosinophils. Biochemistry profiles were characterized by higher creatinine and urea concentrations, and higher ALP and GGT activities compared with other domestic species. The sex did not influence the results. Conversely, numbers of eosinophils, activated and large granular lymphocytes, and concentrations of total protein, glucose and cholesterol were different among the centers, likely due to different management practices (eg, antiparasitic treatments, environmental exposure to microorganisms, diet).

CONCLUSION
The RIs established in this study can be used to monitor the health status of hedgehogs in rehabilitation centers. As management practices appeared to influence some variables, it is recommended to standardize the management protocols to minimize their influence on laboratory data.


A TDM/FDM conversion algorithm for realizing transmultiplexers with an FFT processor and a set of digital subfilters is proposed which provides a significant saving in multiplication rate. In the proposed algorithm in which an FDM signal is directly sampled, the dimension of the FFT processor is reduced by provision of preand postprocessing and the multiplication rate in radix-3 is reduced by refinement of the processing. In addition, the multiplication rate in the subfilters is reduced by the adoption of symmetrical coefficients. Although the direct sampling of an FDM signal has been considered to increase the multiplication rate compared with the sampling with frequency shift of FDM signal, our estimation shows that the increase of multiplication rate in the proposed algorithm keeps within 20 percent compared with that in a typical algorithm based on sampling with frequency shift of FDM signal. Furthermore, it shows that the proposed algorithm reduces the multiplication rate by 30 percent compared with a previously proposed algorithm based on direct sampling of FDM signal. Based on the proposed algorithm, a digital 60 channel transmultiplexer has been implemented. System configuration of the developed equipment is outlined and its measured performance is described.


Rapid economic reforms and proper GDP growth in China has affected the regional development of Chinese provinces. This study aims to estimate the degree of economic and environmental disparities within Chinese provinces for developing policy recommendations of regional transformation. The reduced log-linear specification of endogenous growth model is used for the estimation of convergence rates within Chinese provinces. The empirical results prove that an increase of 1% in GDP per capita basic year reduces the economic growth rate by 0.1% in the reference year. Thus, the ratio of the average per capita income in the wealthiest group to poorest provinces accounted for the factor 9.6 in 1995 and factor 4.1 in the year 2015, which means a reduction of disproportionate development. Environmental convergence trends were also found and less polluted provinces eventually increase emissions at higher rates than the initially polluted ones. With the pass of time, all provinces do move to the same steady state in environmental parameters. The speed of the economic and environmental convergence in China provinces is rather slow, and the economic growth was achieved by great sacrifices of an environment, since all provinces are striving to the same steady state in terms of pollution increase. The industrialized regions due to the presence of significant financial resources should pay more attention to the protection of the environment using all the available economic potential. At the same time, both initially poor provinces and rich have to develop more profoundly agriculture, tourism, recreation, and other environmentally friendly industries to improve economic performance.


An Investigation of Lean Blowout of Gaseous Fuel Alternatives to Natural Gas Megan Karalus Co-Chairs of the Supervisory Committee: Professor John Kramlich Mechanical Engineering Professor Philip Malte Mechanical Engineering This work examines lean premixed flame stability for multi-component fuel mixtures to support fuel flexibility for industrial combustors. A single Jet Stirred Reactor (JSR), a generic recirculation stabilized combustor, along with gaseous fuels of hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen/methane blends are chosen for the study. Experimental data on blowout are collected and a series of models are used to understand the mechanism of extinction in this recirculation-stabilized flame environment. By studying this more generic combustor, the aim is to develop generalizable results and methodologies for understanding and predicting lean blowout of multicomponent fuels. Experimental data approaching blowout are taken for fuels of pure hydrogen, pure methane, and hydrogen/methane blends in 10% by volume increments. The data relate inlet equivalence ratios to experimentally measured temperatures for each fuel approaching blowout and reveal the final blowout condition for each fuel. These blowout data are obtained by holding the air flow rate constant and decreasing the fuel flow rate until the flame is extinguished. Doing so holds the flow field and turbulence parameters approximately constant as blowout is approached. The reactor is stabilized to lower equivalence ratios and temperatures as the percentage of hydrogen in the fuel increases. In order to gain insight on the mechanism controlling blowout, two dimensional, axisymmetric computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are carried out for the lean premixed combustion of both hydrogen and methane as the fuel. Hydrogen requires only 9 species to fully describe its chemistry. Therefore, the detailed mechanism of Li et al. is chosen for the hydrogen simulations. Methane combustion is described by the full GRI-3.0 chemical mechanism with 35 species. To facilitate reasonable computational times a skeletal mechanism of 22 species is developed from GRI-3.0 using the Directed Relation Graph method developed by Lu and Law. The CFD simulations for both hydrogen and methane combustion are run similarly to the experiments. The fuel flow rate is reduced until the CFD model no longer produces a burning solution. Contour plots from the CFD model illustrate the evolution of the flow-field, temperature profiles, and flame structure within the JSR as blowout is approached for both fuels. The modeling suggests that lean blowout in the JSR does not occur in a spatially homogeneous condition, but rather under a zonal structure. Analysis of the models from the perspective of a combusting fluid particle traveling through the jet, into the recirculation zone, and then entraining back into the jet suggests that the blowout condition is dependent on the development of the pool of radicals. The flame remains stable as long as the radical pool develops significantly enough to achieve ignition before the hypothetical combusting fluid particle is re-entrained. As the fuel flow decreases, the induction period increases and the ignition event is pushed further around the recirculation zone. Eventually, the induction period becomes so long that the ignition is incomplete at the point where the recirculating gas is entrained. This threshold leads to overall flame extinction. Two Chemical Reactor Network (CRN) models are developed using the flow field and reaction fields from the detailed CFD models in an attempt to capture the bulk of the physical processes responsible for flame stability. The single Plug Flow Reactor (PFR) model follows the concept of the hypothetical combusting fluid particle and assumes that only convective transport is responsible for stability. This model matches hydrogen blowout well, reproducing the ignition event and the development of the pool of radicals before re-entrainment. While the single PFR model with the UCSD chemical mechanism does predict the blowout temperature across the full range of methane/hydrogen fuel blends well, it fails to adequately predict blowout equivalence ratio for fuels with high methane concentrations. A two PFR model is subsequently developed in which the core jet region (of constant mass flow) exchanges mass with the recirculation region through turbulent diffusive transport. Entrainment of flow by jet action is confined entirely to the recirculation region, represented by the exhaust of the recirculation PFR being convectively re-entrained at its entrance. The two PFR model performs about as well as the single PFR model in predicting blowout for hydrogen in the JSR and shows significant improvement over the single PFR model in both following the experimental data approaching blowout, and predicting the blowout condition for methane. In fact the two PFR model shows good agreement with both equivalence ratio and temperature at blowout across the full range of H 2 /CH 4 blends. Regardless of the chemical mechanism applied, or whether we consider transport by convection only as in the single PFR model, or transport by both convection and diffusion as in the two PFR model, the story regarding the onset of blowout remains the same and is consistent with that given by CFD as well: the key to the stable operation of the reactor is the ignition event in the recirculation zone, resulting in the development of the radical pool. For pure hydrogen combustion as the fuel flow rate is reduced and the reactor moves towards blowout the destruction of the fuel slows and spreads, and the development of the radical pool moves further around the recirculation zone. The radical pool must develop (i.e. ignition must occur) before re-entrainment or the reactor will extinguish. For methane we similarly see the destruction of methane spread, and the net production of CO, and subsequently the net production of OH move further around the recirculation zone until the reentrainment of radicals can no longer sustain the combustion. For methane, transport of the CO and radicals through turbulent diffusion appears to be a controlling process in this ignition event. The ignition event for hydrogen, on the other hand, is affected very little by the inclusion of diffusive transport of radicals. This is most likely due to the fact that the breakdown of hydrogen directly produces an H radical that feeds the chain propagating reaction, however the direct breakdown of methane has no such feedback. It is only in the destruction of methane intermediates that the H radical needed to feed the chain propagating reaction is produced.


Abstract:Scholarly publishing has long been integral to the mission of the modern research university. Since 2013 Concordia University in Montreal has been working to create a new library-based scholarly press. Concordia University Press has a dual publishing model: electronic books will be made freely available without any restrictions (i.e., open access). Print versions, depending on the project, will also be available for sale to individual readers, libraries, and vendors. This article describes the work that has been done to establish the press, as well as the challenges and opportunities that it and other North American university presses face in an evolving scholarly communications landscape.


How do stereotypes – as rhetorical, homogenising claims about the Self and Other – survive despite their users having personal experiences that contradict them? This article addresses this question by examining why the Christian and Muslim inhabitants of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta insist the 'moro' is a cunning, hostile antagonist, even when their interactions with Moroccans tend to be profitable, and even as ethnographers of mainland Spain report widespread revisions of the Moorish migrant's negative image and the country's Islamic past. Building on the interpretative model of stereotypes developed by Herzfeld, Brown and Theodossopolous, I argue that the 'moro' persists as an unequivocally malevolent character because it (1) is cultivated by a number of financially interested actors and (2) is central to the discursive strategies Ceutans use to respond to the political threats to their españolidad from both north and south.


CLIC is a proposed linear e+e- collider designed to provide particle collisions at center-of-mass energies of up to 3 TeV. Precise measurements of the properties of the top quark and the Higgs boson, as well as searches for Beyond the Standard Model physics require a highly performant CLIC detector. In particular the vertex detector must provide a single point resolution of only a few micrometers while not exceeding the envisaged material budget of around 0.2% X0 per layer. Beam-beam interactions and beamstrahlung processes impose an additional requirement on the timestamping capabilities of the vertex detector of about 10 ns. These goals can only be met by using novel techniques in the sensor and ASIC design as well as in the detector construction. The R&D program for the CLIC vertex detector explores various technologies in order to meet these demands. The feasibility of planar sensors with a thickness of 50–150 μm, including different active edge designs, are evaluated using Timepix3 ASICs. First prototypes of the CLICpix readout ASIC, implemented in 65 nm CMOS technology and with a pixel size of 25×25μm 2, have been produced and tested in particle beams. An updated version of the ASIC with a larger pixel matrix and improved precision of the time-over-threshold and time-of-arrival measurements has been submitted. Different hybridization concepts have been developed for the interconnection between the sensor and readout ASIC, ranging from small-pitch bump bonding of planar sensors to capacitive coupling of active HV-CMOS sensors. Detector simulations based on Geant 4 and TCAD are compared with experimental results to assess and optimize the performance of the various designs. This contribution gives an overview of the R&D program undertaken for the CLIC vertex detector and presents performance measurements of the prototype detectors currently under investigation.


The feed-in tariff regulation is the wider spread promotion scheme used to encourage the take-up and development of generation from renewable energy sources in the EU, and the costs of resources devoted to this promotion are usually borne by final consumers. Two components of the electricity retail price are expected to be influenced by feed-in tariff regulation: the incentive to those firms producing electricity from renewable energy sources and the wholesale price of electricity. In this study we analyze the effects that feed-in tariff regulation has on electricity retail price for industrial consumers. This analysis is performed by estimating the relative intensity of the effects from the cost of incentives for electricity generation under the feed-in tariff and the electricity wholesale price over the Spanish industrial retail price. Especial attention is devoted to technology-specific considerations, as well as short and long run effects. In general, results show that there is not a strong link between the retail and wholesale market for Spanish industrial consumers. Moreover, taking into account technology-specific characteristics, results indicates that an increase of solar generation leads to a higher increase in the industrial retail price than in the case of a proportional increase of wind generation. This implies that, when evaluating the feed-in tariff regulation impact on the industrial retail price, the cost of incentives effect prevails over the wholesale price effect, and this is stronger for solar than for wind generation.


Abstract Time-resolved in situ-applied scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) has been used to study the homoepitaxial growth of Fe on Fe(ll0). Sequences of STM images taken during growth directly show the atomistics of the growth processes on the surface. These data are statistically analysed and compared with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations which include the correct symmetry of the bcc (110) surface. Two sets of activation barriers were used in the simulation. Applying simple bond-counting energetics the influence of the probabilities of different hopping events on the growth has been studied. Material-specific barriers calculated using a Finnis-Sinclair potential reproduce most of the real growth behaviour. A strongly anisotropic growth is found with islands elongated in [001] which is kinetically stabilized by a hindered diffusion at step edges along [001]. At room temperature, the presence of a step edge barrier prevents the interlayer mass transport nearly completely and leads to kinetic roughening and complete facetting of the surface.


We excite low-symmetry planar arrays of nanoscale magnetic split-ring resonators oscillating at around 200 THz frequency under oblique incidence of light. Due to the in-plane coupling of split-ring resonators, classical magnetic-dipole waves result in the plane. We measure the dispersion relation of "antiferromagnetic" and "ferromagnetic" modes, revealing backward waves and a wave-vector-dependent damping. The latter provides evidence for retardation effects, which play no role in the quantum-mechanical counterpart of classical magnetization waves, i.e., magnons. Our experiments are in good agreement with both simple heuristic modeling and microscopic theory.


This manuscript reports on a project to examine the feasibility of extensive radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging to determine product provenance in the meat production industry. The investigators examined existing technologies and meat production processes as well as emerging technologies in RFID tagging to assess the potential of RFID technologies for provenance assurance. While RFID technologies hold tremendous promise for traceability, the current state of the technology and production process creates challenges for effectively creating full traceability. However, RFID holds tremendous potential for improving processing throughput, which will help make RFID-based traceability more attractive for adoption by meat processors.