Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States and a top diagnosis for occupational therapy (OT) services among neurological conditions. Academic programs teach OT students neurological frames of reference (FORs) to provide a foundation for future practice. To meet accreditation standards, entry-level curricula must reflect current practice and evidence-based interventions. A survey of OT practitioners working in upper extremity stroke rehabilitation was conducted to investigate current clinical practice in a variety of treatment settings. Survey questions probed the use of motor rehabilitation techniques exclusive to one of six neurological FORs: Brunnstrom, Constraint-induced Movement Therapy, Neurodevelopmental Treatment, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, Rood, and Task-Oriented. Responses from 167 OT professionals indicated interventions representing all six FORs are currently being utilized in stroke rehabilitation. Techniques from the Task-Oriented and Neurodevelopmental Treatment approaches were used most frequently; however, the Rood–based techniques were used much less than interventions from the other FORs. No single neurological approach was found to dominate practice regardless of the number of years of experience in stroke rehabilitation or years since graduation from an entry-level program. A majority of participants appear to employ techniques from multiple approaches frequently, suggesting contemporary OT practice in upper extremity stroke rehabilitation is eclectic in nature. Comments To view a short evidence-based video about this article with the author, Mylene Schriner, visit our partner, MedBridge, at: http://ojot.medbridgeeducation.com/breakouts/10-rehabilitation-of-the-upperextremity-after-stroke OJOT is excited to partner with MedBridge to offer online CEUs through Breakouts – short, evidence-based video interviews featuring OJOT authors. Click here to learn more about this unique opportunity for discussions on hot topics in OT by leading researchers.


General analysis of the mode interaction in multimode fiber is presented in this paper. By taking local gain into consideration, the general coupled mode equations in multimode active fiber are deduced in the model and the effect of various factors can be analyzed based on the general coupled mode equations. Analytical expression of the beam quality factor is deduced for the optical field emerging from the multimode active fiber. The evolution of the mode power and M2 factor along the fiber are analyzed by numerical evaluations.


We respond to the three speculations of Robert Kaestner (2020) regarding our research in Clemens et al. (2018). First, Kaestner speculates about the robustness of the results to changes of specification. Those robustness checks are already in the original paper. Kaestner does not mention those checks and does not use the paper's open code and data to do any reanalysis. Second, he expresses doubts about the plausibility of the mechanism we posited, while ignoring new evidence corroborating precisely that mechanism. Third, he posits that a hypothetical, vast new wave of illegal migration in 1965 could explain the null results of Clemens et al. No such event occurred, Kaestner offers no evidence that it occurred, and Kaestner ignores a range of evidence that it did not occur. We conclude with an observation about the role of policy evaluation in economics.


Since the start of the war it has been universally recognized that troops deployed in the tropical theaters of operation would be extensively exposed to a variety of diseases which either do not occur in the United States or are not widely prevalent. Much speculation has taken place as to the disease problems which might arise when the Army was demobilized and troops brought home and returned to civil life. From time to time representatives of the Army, Navy, and U. S. Public Health Service have consulted to determine precautions which should be enforced to prevent the introduction of exotic diseases. Since the time for demobilization of the forces which campaigned in the Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and the Orient has now arrived, it is appropriate to evaluate the extent to which various tropical diseases have been a problem among troops and to review the measures which have been adopted by the Army to prevent introduction of these diseases by men returning from overseas.


Public earthquake early warning systems have the potential to reduce individual risk by warning people of approaching tremors, but their development has been hampered by costly infrastructure. Furthermore, both users' understanding of such a service and their reactions to actual warnings have been the topic of only a few surveys. The smartphone app of the Earthquake Network initiative utilizes users' smartphones as motion detectors and provides the first example of a purely smartphone-based earthquake early warning system, without the need for dedicated seismic station infrastructure and operating in multiple countries. We demonstrate that this system has issued early warnings in multiple countries, including for damaging shaking levels, and hence that this offers an alternative to conventional early warning systems in the foreseeable future. We also show that although warnings are understood and appreciated by users, notably to get psychologically prepared, only a fraction take protective actions such as "drop, cover, and hold."


Sphingolipids are a class of lipids that have important functions in a variety of cellular processes such as, differentiation, proliferation, senescence, apoptosis and chemotherapeutic resistance. The most widely studied bioactive shingolipids include ceramides, dihydroceramide (dhCer), ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P), glucosyl-ceramide (GluCer), sphingosine and sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). Although the length of fatty acid chain affects the physiological role, ceramides and sphingosine are known to induce apoptosis whereas C1P, S1P and GluCer induce proliferation of cells, which causes the development of chemoresistance. Previous studies have implicated the significance of bioactive shingolipids in oncogenesis, cancer progression and drug- and radiation-resistance. Therefore, targeting the elements of sphingolipid metabolism appears important for the development of novel therapeutics or to increase the effectiveness of the current treatment strategies. Some approaches involve the development of synthetic ceramide analogs, small molecule inhibitors of enzymes such as sphingosine kinase, acid ceramidase or ceramide synthase that catalyze ceramide catabolism or its conversion to various molecular species and S1P receptor antagonists. These approaches mainly aim to up-regulate the levels of apoptotic shingolipids while the proliferative ones are down-regulated, or to directly deliver cytotoxic sphingolipids like short-chain ceramide analogs to tumor cells. It is suggested that a combination therapy with conventional cytotoxic approaches while preventing the conversion of ceramide to S1P and consequently increasing the ceramide levels would be more beneficial. This review compiles the current knowledge about sphingolipids, and mainly focuses on novel agents modulating sphingolipid pathways that represent recent therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer.


This article makes the case for greater collaboration and communication between scholars and practitioners of information communications technology (ICT) for development projects and for the use of multi-methodological, cross-disciplinary approaches to understand what will make for more successful endeavors in this important arena, the necessity of which is reflected in the widespread use of public-private partnerships. To this end, we utilize both macro- and micro-level analyses to examine ICT investment in the developing world. The first research question—can ICT investment be shown to contribute to economic growth?—is addressed through econometric analysis. Though our model finds evidence to the affirmative, macro-level models often do not account for how ICT funds are employed, differentiate growth effects, or discern the characteristics of specific initiatives that make them more or less likely to succeed. This is where the case-study level of analysis becomes essential. This approach is used to address our second research question: whether successful strategies found among case studies can better inform policy prescription. To this end, we present a case study of a project based in rural Vietnam, followed by a summary of findings that unifies the lessons learned. In this way we intend to shed light on policy prescription, improve the outcomes of ICT initiatives, and present a first step in the mixed-methodological, cross-disciplinary direction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


ABSTRACT: Partnerships between companies and NGOs have received considerable attention in CSR in the past years. However, the role of NGO legitimacy in such partnerships has thus far been neglected. We argue that NGOs assume a status as special stakeholders of corporations which act on behalf of the common good. This role requires a particular focus on their moral legitimacy. We introduce a conceptual framework for analysing the moral legitimacy of NGOs along three dimensions, building on the theory of deliberative democracy. Against this background we outline three procedural characteristics which are essential for judging the legitimacy of NGOs as potential or actual partners of corporations.


This paper presents a theoretical and experimental investigation of the transmission and sensing characteristics of the biconically tapered cladded multimode fibers. The beam propagation method was used to examine the transmission characteristics with various structural parameters. The results show that the transmission of the biconically tapered cladded multimode fibers is sensitive to the mode of the input optical beam and the refractive index of the external medium. A refractive index sensor for the external medium was proposed based on the theoretical analysis, and its feasibility was demonstrated experimentally.


In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating the gaze direction of a person from a low-resolution image. Under this condition, reliably extracting facial features is very difficult. We propose a novel head pose estimation algorithm based on compressive sensing. Head image patches are mapped to a large feature space using the proposed extensive, yet efficient filter bank. The filter bank is designed to generate sparse responses of color and gradient information, which can be compressed using random projection, and classified by a random forest. Extensive experiments on challenging datasets show that the proposed algorithm performs favorably against the state-of-the-art methods on head pose estimation in low-resolution images degraded by noise, occlusion, and blurring.


This work assessed the status of teaching pre-vocational subjects in junior secondary school level. The study adopted descriptive survey method. The population of the study was 2916, while the sample for the study was 215 pre-vocational teachers and agricultural science and home economics students. The study was carried out in Afikpo Education Zone Ebonyi State. Four purposes of study and two hypotheses guided the study. The instrument used for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire. The instrument was validated by 3 experts. The reliability of the instrument was determined by the use of cronbach alpha, and the reliability coefficient was 0.84. the data for the study was collected by the researchers and the research assistants. Research Question 1 and 2 were analysed using percentages while research question 3 and 4 were analysed using mean and standard deviation and the hypotheses were tested using t-test statistics. Based on the analysis, the following findings emanated among others; 92% of the teachers were qualified, the school administrations co-operates in teaching of pre-vocational subjects, instructional materials were available for teaching of pre-vocational subjects. It was recommended among others that the teachers should adopt demonstration and project methods instead of story methods in teaching of pre-vocational subjects.


The August 2004 edition of the Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology (Volume 4, Edition 1) published a paper on educational leadership reporting on research using a phenomenological research design. The article was accompanied by a request for submissions in and on education using or drawing on phenomenological methodologies. The eight papers in this edition are the result, and I am delighted to have been tasked with writing this brief route map through the pages that follow.


Recent progress in active-edge technology of silicon sensors enables the development of large-area tiled silicon pixel detectors with small dead space between modules by utilizing edgeless sensors. Such technology has been proven in successful productions of ATLAS and Medipix-based silicon pixel sensors by a few foundries. However, the drawbacks of edgeless sensors are poor radiation hardness for ionizing radiation and non-uniform charge collection by edge pixels. In this work, the radiation hardness of edgeless sensors with different polarities has been investigated using Synopsys TCAD with X-ray radiation-damage parameters implemented. Results show that if no conventional guard ring is present, none of the current designs are able to achieve a high breakdown voltage (typically < 30 V) after irradiation to a dose of ∼ 10 MGy. In addition, a charge-collection model has been developed and was used to calculate the charges collected by the edge pixels of edgeless sensors when illuminated with X-rays. The model takes into account the electric field distribution inside the pixel sensor, the absorption of X-rays, drift and diffusion of electrons and holes, charge sharing effects, and threshold settings in ASICs. It is found that the non-uniform charge collection of edge pixels is caused by the strong bending of the electric field and the non-uniformity depends on bias voltage, sensor thickness and distance from active edge to the last pixel (``edge space"). In particular, the last few pixels close to the active edge of the sensor are not sensitive to low-energy X-rays ( < 10 keV), especially for sensors with thicker Si and smaller edge space. The results from the model calculation have been compared to measurements and good agreement was obtained. The model can be used to optimize the edge design. From the edge optimization, it is found that in order to guarantee the sensitivity of the last few pixels to low-energy X-rays, the edge space should be kept at least 50% of the sensor thickness.


Abstract. Air pollution variability is strongly dependent on meteorology. However, quantifying the impacts of changes in regional climatology on pollution extremes can be difficult due to the many non-linear and competing meteorological influences on the production, transport, and removal of pollutant species. Furthermore, observed pollutant levels at many sites show sensitivities at the extremes that differ from those of the overall mean, indicating relationships that would be poorly characterized by simple linear regressions. To address this challenge, we apply quantile regression to observed daily ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels and reanalysis meteorological fields in the USA over the past decade to specifically identify the meteorological sensitivities of higher pollutant levels. From an initial set of over 1700 possible meteorological indicators (including 28 meteorological variables with 63 different temporal options), we generate reduced sets of O3 and PM2.5 indicators for both summer and winter months, analyzing pollutant sensitivities to each for response quantiles ranging from 2 to 98 %. Primary covariates connected to high-quantile O3 levels include temperature and relative humidity in the summer, while winter O3 levels are most commonly associated with incoming radiation flux. Covariates associated with summer PM2.5 include temperature, wind speed, and tropospheric stability at many locations, while stability, humidity, and planetary boundary layer height are the key covariates most frequently associated with winter PM2.5. We find key differences in covariate sensitivities across regions and quantiles. For example, we find nationally averaged sensitivities of 95th percentile summer O3 to changes in maximum daily temperature of approximately 0.9 ppb °C−1, while the sensitivity of 50th percentile summer O3 (the annual median) is only 0.6 ppb °C−1. This gap points to differing sensitivities within various percentiles of the pollutant distribution, highlighting the need for statistical tools capable of identifying meteorological impacts across the entire response spectrum.


Abstract The purpose of the study is to evaluate the suitability of moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data to study the land use land cover over India. The study is based on secondary data sets pertaining to forest, cropland, pasture, and barrenland obtained from Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) and MODIS (Terra) global land use land cover data yearly composite from 2002 to 2005. A family of statistical and mathematical techniques is adopted here in order to compare the MODIS data with DES statistics. The comparison at the country level shows estimated forest cover has least uncertainty compared to pasture and barrenland. Comparison at the state level, on the other hand, shows high degree of association between the data sets in cropland ( R 2 = 0.9 ), followed by forest cover and pastureland. Barrenland shows weakest association between DES and MODIS. The computed average accuracy in cropland shows a level of 84% and has been chosen as the best fitted land cover category among all land cover classes selected for the study. Hierarchical clustering of the MODIS cropland at the state level based on the estimated accuracy shows that, except for Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Haryana, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa, which are far off from the true estimate, the rest of the states are in closer correspondence of the cropland statistics reported by Ministry of Agriculture.


Following the publication of Henri Lefebvre's book Le Droit à la ville (1968), a debate has emerged regarding the neoliberal takeover of urban spaces and activism. Nonetheless, in the past 10 years, we have seen the continuous expansion of public space via social networking media and, today, most public institutions in Western states use social networking sites to communicate with their "citizens." Although there are many serious problems associated with this takeover, little has been said about them so far. In this article, I address the contribution of The right to the city to this debate by analyzing a public institution which tried to establish communication with its "citizens" in an urban space in a virtual world. My analysis concludes that the users of this new media platform did not regard themselves as citizens when they were dwelling in this urban space online, but instead saw themselves as the consumers they were addressed as in this environment.


This paper reports a study of how a Building Control system of accountability can improve compliance and enhance building
energy efficiency in new buildings. Research to date has presented many non- compliance issues with Part L of the Building
Regulations in the dealing either with design or construction. Based on a literature review, the paper notes as to how some European
countries such as Ireland have set out to improve Building Regulations compliance by ensuring that certificates of compliance are
provided by each member of the design team to certify the design is compliant, in conjunction with building contractors' and
building certifiers' certifying that the construction is compliant. Although comprehensive in its nature, this approach in turn, puts
additional professional accountability on each member of the design team, the building contractor, the sub-contractors' and
certifiers' in terms of accurately identifying non-compliance, rectifying the problem and certifying compliance. By exploring and
understanding the nature of this additional professional accountability, the paper sets out the problems with a system of
accountability faced by certifiers' and other building professionals involved in the certification process


The generation, transmission and distribution of electricity underpins modern technology and constitutes a necessary element for our development and economic functionality. In the recent years, as a result of environmental concerns and technological advances, private and public investment have been steadily turning towards renewable sources of energy, resulting in a growing penetration of those in the power network. This poses additional challenges in the control of power networks, since renewable generation is in general intermittent, and a large penetration may cause frequent deviations between generation and demand, which can harm power quality, damage equipment and even cause blackouts. Load side participation in the power grid is considered by many a means to counterbalance intermittent generation, due to its ability to provide fast response at urgencies. Industrial loads as well as household appliances, such as refrigerators and air-conditions, may respond to frequency deviations by accordingly adjusting their demand in order to support the network. This is backed by the development of relevant sensing and computation technologies. The increasing numbers of local renewable sources of generation along the introduction of controllable loads dramatically increases the number of active elements in the power network, making traditionally implemented, centralised control difficult and costly. This demonstrates the need for the employment of highly distributed schemes in the control of generation and demand. Such schemes need to ensure the smooth and stable operation of the network. Furthermore, an issue of fairness among controllable loads needs to be considered, such that it is ensured that all load participants share the burden to support the network evenly and with minimum disruption. In this thesis, we study the dynamic behaviour of power networks within the primary and secondary frequency control timeframes. Using tools from linear and non-linear control and optimisation, we present methods to design distributed control schemes for generation and demand that guarantee stability and fairness in power allocation. Our analysis provides relaxed stability conditions in comparison with current literature and allows the inclusion of practically relevant classes of generation and demand dynamics that have not been considered within this setting, such as of higher order dynamics. Furthermore, fairness in the power allocation between loads is guaranteed by ensuring that the equilibria of the system are solutions to appropriately constructed optimisation problems. It is evident that a synchronising variable is required for optimality to be achieved and frequency is used as such in primary control schemes whereas for secondary frequency control a different synchronising variable is adopted. For the latter case, the requirements of the synchronising feedback scheme have been relaxed with the use of an appropriate observer, showing that stability and optimality guarantees are retained. The problem of secondary frequency regulation where ancillary services are provided from switching loads is also considered. Such loads switch on and off when some prescribed frequency threshold is reached in order to support the power network at urgencies. To study their behaviour, tools from discontinuous and hybrid systems analysis have been employed. We show that the presence of switching loads does not compromise the stability of the power network and reduces the frequency overshoot, potentially saving the network from collapsing. Furthermore, we explain that when the on and off switching frequencies are equivalent, then arbitrarily fast switching phenomena might occur, something undesirable in practical implementations. As a solution to this problem, hysteresis schemes where the switch on and off frequencies differ are proposed and stability guarantees are provided within this setting. All our analytic results are distributed and network independent and have been verified with realistic simulations on well accepted benchmarks.


The photochemical degradation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) using ultraviolet irradiation (UV) of 6, 12 and 18 W with peroxyacetic acid (PAA) was studied in a batch reactor. The objective of this work was to investigate degradation and mineralization of 4-CP by PAA. The degradation efficiency increased with increasing UV input. The degradation process was also pH and initial PAA concentration dependent. The optimum conditions for the photochemical degradation of 4-CP as UV input, pH and PAA concentration was found to be 18 W, 9.5 and 3,040 ppm. The reaction efficiency decreased with increasing initial 4-CP concentrations. More than 95% mineralization of 4-CP was achieved with the UV/PAA process. The chloride ion concentration and chemical oxygen demand (COD) was evaluated. The chloride ion concentration and COD were decreased gradually with increasing UV input. Samples were analyzed by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV spectrophotometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for residual concentration and identification of final degraded products.


'The Children of Lovers are Orphans.' Proverb Bestselling novelist, author of "Lord of the Flies", William Golding was a famously acute observer of children. What was it like to be his daughter? In this frank and engaging family memoir, Judy Golding recalls growing up with a brilliant, loving, sometimes difficult parent. The years of her childhood and adolescence saw her father change from an impecunious schoolteacher to a famous novelist. Once adult, she came to understand some of the internal conflicts which led to his writing. The Golding family life, both ordinary and extraordinary, always kept its characteristic warmth, humour, complexity, anger and love, danger and insecurity. This is a book about family and parents, about lovers and their children, and about our impact on one another - for good or ill.


The aim of this study is to describe in what ways the object of learning changes shape during its way from the intended (planned), enacted (offered) and lived (discerned) object of learning. The study is based on variation theory, and learning study is used as a model. A total of three preschool teachers, 39 children aged 4-5 years and three researchers participated in the study. Three interventions were carried out in three different groups of children (A, B and C) by three preschool teachers. The data consist of video-dcumented meetings with the preschool teachers and researchers, interviews with the children in the form of pre-, post- and delayed post-tests and video-documented interventions (3). The results show (a) how the teachers' focus on aspects concerning the object of learning and aspects not concerning the object of learning affects learning possibilities. The results also show (b) a discrepancy between the children's possibilities to learn adn what the preschool teachers intend to offer them to learn. Finally, the results show (c) how the preschool teachers' understanding of childrens learning sometimes makes them use other words than the appropriate ones to make the intervention funnier or more interesting.


The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final downselection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supranuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1° collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g. GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the status of the mission at the end of its Phase A study.


Introduction: Monte Carlo simulation is gradually being introduced for clinical dose computation in the quest to improve the accuracy of predicting the dose distribution to a medium from a given beam setup. Dosimetric measurement is used to verify the accuracy of the calculated dose distribution before the beam setup can be employed for therapeutic purpose. It is thus important to investigate the accuracy and time requirement of this dose calculation algorithm currently in use in the institution under different conditions. Methods: Dose calculations were made with a Monaco® Treatment Planning System which runs a Monte Carlo dose computation algorithm. Calculation times were investigated as functions of field sizes and chosen calculation uncertainty. Film measurements were made for each calculated dose distribution and both dose distributions were compared using OmniPro I'mRT software, which employs the gamma evaluation criteria for comparing two dose distributions. Results: Calculation time increased with increase in field size and with reduction in the calculation variance. The calculated dose distribution also concords more with the measured at small field sizes than at larger field sizes. At calculation uncertainty of 2% and gamma evaluation criteria of 3% and 3 mm for the dose difference and distance to agreement values respectively, 67% calculated dose distribution passed the gamma analysis (gamma index > 95 %). The values are better with decrease in the chosen calculation uncertainty or relaxing the pass criteria. Conclusion: Calculation time as a function of variance appears to increase exponentially with decreasing variance and there appears to be little gain to use variance value lower than 1 % because the required increase in the computation time is not justified by the marginal improvement in the result.


OBJECTIVE
To provide information on the clinical presentation of sciatic neuropathy and its management in a real-world setting, and to analyze the effects of a multimodal approach based on the association of physical and pharmacological therapy.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A multicentric observational prospective study was conducted in 44 Italian tertiary centers specialized in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Orthopedics, Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Rheumatology. To develop a shared management of LPB with sciatica, a dedicated clinical record was proposed to collect data about diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. Pain, disability, and quality of life were recorded trough validated questionnaires at baseline and after a two-month follow-up.

RESULTS
394 patients (age, mean ± SD 55.7 ± 14.1 years, 57.1% females) with chronic LBP and sciatica were enrolled in the study. The characteristics of the selected group showed a certain variability in the clinical presentation. At baseline, patients received several different therapeutic options among physical, pharmacological and neurotrophic treatments. A subgroup of 312 patients was treated with a combination of neurotrophic agents containing alpha-lipoic acid (ALA). After a two-month follow-up, a general improvement in both perceived pain and functional disabilities was observed. A significant improvement (p < 0.001) in the Pain Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Roland e Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) and Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Italian short version was observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Sciatic neuropathy is a multifaceted condition managed by means of a wide spectrum of therapeutic options. The results of this study suggest that a multimodal approach based on the association of ALA with physical and pharmacological therapies can be beneficial in the treatment of LBP with sciatica.


Atmospheric gravity waves play a significant role in the dynamics and thermal balance of the upper atmosphere. In this paper, we present a novel technique for automated and robust calculation of momentum flux of high-frequency quasi-monochromatic wave components from spectroscopic imaging and horizontal radar wind measurements. Our approach uses the two-dimensional (2-D) cross periodogram of two consecutive Doppler-shifted time-differenced (TD) images to identify wave components and estimate intrinsic wave parameters. Besides estimating the average perturbation of dominant waves in the whole field of view, this technique applies 2-D short-space Fourier transform to the TD images to identify localized wave events. With the wave parameters acquired, the momentum flux carried by all vertically propagating wave components is calculated using an analytical model relating the measured intensity perturbation to the wave amplitude. This model is tested by comparing wave perturbation amplitudes inferred from spectroscopic images with those from sodium lidar temperature measurements. The proposed technique enables characterization of the variations in the direction and strength of gravity waves with high temporal resolution for each clear data-taking night. The nightly results provide statistical information for investigating seasonal and geographical variations in momentum flux of gravity waves.


The efficiency of tumor induction by oncogenes is influenced by modifier genes that determine individual susceptibility. We have used a transgenic mouse model to examine the role of a candidate susceptibility gene, bcl-2, for development of Raf oncogene-induced lung adenomas. Loss of bcl-2 greatly retarded tumor development without affecting tumor phenotype. Tumor tissues from bcl-2 positive and negative mice were compared for the fraction of S phase cells by staining for proliferating cell nuclear antigen and for the fraction of apoptotic cells by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick end labeling assay. The data indicate that the increased tumor latency in the absence of bcl-2 results primarily from an increased apoptotic rate but also involves a decrease in tumor cell proliferation. Both effects can be rescued by breeding with H2K-bcl-2 transgenic mice demonstrating that loss of bcl-2 was the major genetic factor determining tumor resistance. These findings suggest that bcl-2 is a major susceptibility gene for development of lung cancer in mice and perhaps in humans.


This article provides an overview of "memory laws" in Europe, reflecting upon what may be called the "asymmetry" of such laws. It then looks at the special case of Poland and its troubled experience with memory laws; it considers the question of whether, in the eyes of the law -- genocide, and in particular the Holocaust -- is so "special" that its public denials warrant legal intervention. It also looks at the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and its (not necessarily coherent) "doctrine" on memory laws and their consistency, or otherwise, with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (and in particular with freedom of expression as laid down in Art. 10). The article concludes by asserting that even if we take the law as an indicator of European public memory, there is no consensus on the past, except perhaps for the special case of the Holocaust. The main challenge lies in determining whether memory laws, defined by some as social engineering and the imposition of "imperative" versions of memory, are consistent with the principles inherent in open, democratic and free societies in Europe. This challenge remains unmet.


As rural communities experience amenity-driven population growth and globalizing cultures and economic systems, community land-use regimes must react to and implement emerging land-use ideologies. A growing community must balance the interests of the entities that benefit from growth – i.e., the growth machine – and the potentially restructuring community understandings of the purpose of land. This conflict is particularly intense in areas that benefit both economically and culturally from high quality natural amenities – one part of the community might seek to increase development to benefit from those amenities, while another might seek to protect them. This article engages in a theoretical and empirical exploration that seeks to answer a single question: Why, in the face of those competing land-use ideologies, might a community choose to adopt a more resource-protective, or resource-sustaining, land-use regime? This article follows three distinct theoretical pathways to where they converge in two specific communities, and then engages in an empirical assessment of the land-use conditions on the ground in those communities. I ultimately conclude that because a community can only understand the value of a particular choice by experiencing its effects, a legal evolution toward resource-protective, or resource-sustaining, land-use regimes only occurs after the valued resources are harmed – a result we might like to avoid. For that reason, the crux on the path toward sustainability is to accurately imagine – before directly witnessing – the consequences of the alternatives available to us.


Mixed clayey soils occur as mixtures of sand (or gravel) and clay in widely varying proportions. Their engineering behavior has not been comprehensively studied yet. An experimental program, comprising monotonic, cyclic, and post-cyclic triaxial tests was undertaken on compacted clay-granular material mixtures, having different proportions of clay and sand or gravel. This paper presents the results of cyclic triaxial tests and explains the behavior of the mixtures based on number of loading cycles, cyclic strain amplitude, granular material content, grain size, and effective confining pressure. The results indicate an increase in degree of degradation and cyclic loading-induced pore water pressure as the number of loading cycles, cyclic strain and granular material content increase. Also the results show that the grain size has no significant effect on the degree of degradation and cyclic loading-induced pore water pressure in the specimens. The effect of granular material content on pore water pressure during cyclic loading in equal-stress-level was also examined. The pore water pressure increases with the increase of granular material content.


Heat detection is a key factor for the economic viability of dairy herds. However, it is becoming more difficult for farmers to detect and use the heat for a successful artificial insemination. There are various reasons for this development. On the one hand, cows are showing progressively fewer behavioral signs of oestrus and, on the other hand, due to economic necessity leading to growing herds, the herd managers do not have enough time for adequate oestrus detection. The result is a considerable loss of profit. For these reasons, the development and use of new and above all workable oestrus detection methods are imperative.
The objective of this study was to establish a new heat detection method which allows the farmer to automatically observe his herd on a 24/7-basis. The recommended system is based on the continuous detection of the moving cows in a freestall barn, which involves machine vision. The information received about the positions as well as the locomotion within the freestall barn enables a precise view of the moving patterns. With this system, we analyzed the duration and the intensity of activity as well as the social interactions of cows in oestrus with other members of the herd. As gold standard for the validation of the method, we used an enzyme immuno assay test to measure the amount of progesterone in skimmed milk. As part of the extensive preparation, we selected appropriate video cameras, designed suitable markers and implemented special software. Finally, we used high-resolution GigE-cameras and markers we made ourselves out of fabric-reinforced PVC with printed 2D matrix codes.
Our study demonstrated that the new method is able to correctly show the increased activity which is typical of cows in oestrus. The median of the increase in motion activity with regard to a moving average of the 10 days before the oestrus was +430 % for cows in natural oestrus and +338 % for cows in PGF2α-induced oestrus. Overall, the median was +397 %. We found a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) in increased motion activity between cows in oestrus and cows not in oestrus (median:
+153 %). There was no statistically significant difference in increased motion activity between cows in natural oestrus and cows in PGF2α-induced oestrus (p = 0.290). In our study we used ROC analysis to find the optimum between sensitivity and specificity of the method. We identified an ideal threshold value of +225 %. The outcome was a sensitivity of 85 % and a specificity of 83 %.
To enhance the efficiency of the machine vision method, we established a completely new parameter. This parameter is used for the detection and evaluation of social interactions between cows in heat and peri-oestrus herd members. We named the new parameter "variance of social interactions". This measure of scale makes sexual contacts of observed cows (in heat) with other likewise sexually active herd members apparent. The median of the variance of social interactions was 1.598 for cows in natural heat, 1.478 for cows in PGF2α-induced oestrus and 1.52 overall. For cows not in oestrus (in dioestrus or gestating), we found a measure of scale of 1.10. We found a statistically significant difference (p = 0.003) between the cows in oestrus and the cows not in oestrus. There was no statistically significant difference in the variance of social interactions between cows in heat naturally and cows in PGF2α-induced oestrus
(p = 0.881). With ROC analysis, we determined a heat detection rate (sensitivity) of 74 %. The specificity was 83 %.
By means of a regression analysis, we combined the two parameters of increased motion activity and variance of social interactions. This resulted in a sensitivity of 82 % and a specificity of 87 %.
Heat detection in dairy herds with the use of machine vision is not only a functional alternative to the pedometers that have been commonly used so far. With the newly introduced and automatically included parameter "variance of social interactions", the recommended system offers real additional value for the farmer and can thus help to optimize fertility rates in dairy herds. Moreover, the method provides supplemental data such as length of food intake, lying times, average speed, etc.). This data has the potential to help farmers prevent impending diseases such as lameness or ketosis as well as to indicate problems with animal husbandry at an early stage and therefore provide a contribution to animal-oriented management of dairy herds.


This was a song I produced and composed for Cash 4 Kids in Association with Metro Radio. It was a football song for England's World cup effort and it charted on the iTunes Chart - It went out under the name of Steve and Karens Dreamteam - Steve and Karen have the breakfast show on Metro Radio. This required a very different approach to recording and producing a single as my task was to first write a song and then manage to get around 40 + people to contribute parts to it - this ranged from a rapper to a 10 piece Steel band. This all had to be accomplished in 3 days - and we had a great time doing it. It had blanket airplay on Metro and would have charted even higher had England won a few games - but you can't have everything. My process for recording this was to record most of the instruments in my studio and then transfer everything to the multitrack at Blast Studios who were contributing the studio time for free (as was I) and get a kind of conveyer belt of people coming through to play various instruments and sing various lines. Everything was indeed completed on time and I believe we raised quite a bit of cash for a great cause. A very enjoyable if hectic experience which added another dimension to my producers role as it also became a project management and people management exercise which required a lot of very precise organisation in order to keep everything on schedule. I had to make sure that all participants completed their pieces in the shortest possible time in order to leave time for mixing which was done partly at Blast and partly at my own studio. A very enjoyable project.


School-based physical education is a critical setting for the promotion of physical activity and health among adolescents. However, enrollment in physical education significantly decreases when physical education becomes an optional subject in grade 11, with only 10% of females and 22% of males choosing to enroll. Limited research has identified individual and social environmental perceived barriers to enrollment in elective physical education. Further, no research has explored perceived individual and social environmental facilitators to electing to enroll in physical education. Thus, the purpose of the study was to identify perceived barriers and facilitators to intention to enroll in elective physical education among a diverse group of female and male adolescents using focus group methodology. Two schools were purposely selected to participate in this study, one with the highest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (57%) and one with the lowest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (33%). By selecting schools with the highest and lowest enrollment, comparisons were made between the perceived barriers and facilitators identified by the participants in a school with high enrollment and a school with low enrollment. However, when participant recruitment occurred, no male students at the high enrollment school indicated they did not intend to enroll in grade 11 physical education. In order to attain sufficient participant recruitment within each required group (i.e., male- no intention group) the school with the second highest enrollment in grade 11 physical education (40%) was included within the study. Grade 10 adolescents (N=63) with either an intention to enroll or no intention to enroll in grade 11 physical education participated in a focus group interview. Focus groups were separated based on gender (female/male) and intention to enroll in grade 11 physical education (intention/no intention). Following the completion of the focus group interviews barriers and facilitators were categorized, using McLeroy's ecological model, as individual level (e.g., intrapersonal) or social environmental (e.g., interpersonal, institutional, community). Findings revealed several factors that influenced students' enrollment intention. However, differences were minimal between factors reported by students in the high and low enrollment schools. Differences were more prominent between gender and intention. These differences between females and males and between participants who were intending to enroll and participants who were not intending to enroll had consistent overarching themes. At the individual level (i.e., intrapersonal) four factors were associated with enrollment intention: past experience, self-efficacy, personal choice: scheduling, and knowledge. Several social environmental factors (interpersonal, institutional, and community) were also reported. These included parents, friends, teammates/coaches, teacher, course curriculum, and activity opportunities within the community.


The goal of this document is to provide a compendium of new performance characterization methods for new photovoltaic (PV) system designs as a reference. New methods are described and explained by laboratory tests up to case studies. While performance characterization is more than evaluating efficiency of a component or a system in certain operating points, the results account for multidimensional usage and benefits. These assessments are intended to provide well-founded and comparable key figures in order to enable new PV system designs to move faster into new fields of application. This report gives a short introduction into current standards and definitions regarding performance characterization of PV systems as a starting point. New PV system components and complex new systems with PV are then described with their respective performance characterization methods. Where currently no performance characterization methods for complex PV systems particularly with multiple functions exist, their design and their performance, energetically and regarding multi-dimensional usage benefits, are presented and described by means of showcases. PV systems are not only PV modules and PV inverters in an optimally oriented system which produce as much electrical energy as possible. Current PV systems may provide a dual or even a triple use. However, as varied as the use of each system and each PV installation is, as different is the approach of performance evaluation.


Medical resources are increasingly shifting from making patients better to preventing them from becoming ill. Genetic testing is likely to extend the list of conditions that can be screened for. Is it time to stop and consider whom we screen and how we approach it

Most medical experts and health authorities consider consultations in primary health care ideal for opportunistic health promotion and disease prevention. Doctors are thus expected to discuss preventive measures even when they are not among the reasons for contact. But are such opportunistic initiatives ethically justifiable in contemporary Western medicine? We argue that doctors should maintain a clear focus on each patient's reasons for seeking help rather than be distracted by an increasing list of standardised preventive measures with unpredictable relevance to the individual.

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The cornerstone of medical practice is the consultation between a patient who seeks help and a doctor whomthe person trusts.1 Several theoretical models have been developed to analyse and improve the quality of the consultation. In 1979, Stott and Davis presented an influential model that elicited four potentials of the encounter between patient and doctor: management of presenting problems, modification of help seeking behaviour, management of continuing problems, and opportunistic health promotion.2 Since then, opportunistic preventive initiatives have become considered to be part of good medical practice.

From a moral point of view, preventive medicine– that is, initiatives to improve health among people who are currently free of symptoms–is fundamentally different from curative medicine, which is offered to patientswho seek medical help. The two disciplines imply different promises and have different obligations to the individuals whose lives they modify.3

When Stott and Davis developed their model, the number of relevant opportunistic initiatives was limited and seemed both technically feasible and ethically justifiable. However, interest in risk factors in healthy …

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SegĽoVÁ, Lucia: How did National Activists become elites? The Careers of the Slovak National Declaration Assembly Participants after 1918. The article analyses the careers of a particular group of participants of the Declaration assembly that took place on 30th october, 1918, in Turčiansky Sv. Martin/Turócszentmárton (present day Martin in Slovakia). At the assembly, the Declaration of the Slovak Nation was proclaimed, by which the parti - cipants declared the "will of the Slovak nation" to become a part of the newly established Czechoslo vak Republic. The author focuses particularly on 33 male participants who hailed from Turčiansky Sv. Martin, the very town where the declaration assembly took place. The study centers on two questions. Firstly, family background and more specifically, the relationship of kinship ties of the participants to their later career success in the spheres of politics, economy and public service. Secondly, the influence of regime changes in 1918 (the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and establishment of the Czechoslovak republic), 1939 (the dissolution of Czechoslovakia and establishment of the so called war-time Slovak republic), and 1948 (the seizure of power by the Communist party of Czechoslovakia) on the social position and careers of the Declaration assembly members.


1. Introduction. Information on cavitation affecting hydraulic machines is obtainable from the following sources : (i) The scale model ; (ii) The prototype. Observation of the latter, however, is most usually confined to effects of cavitation, such as erosion, vibration, etc... whereas mainly cavitation figures are observed on the model, while noting effects of cavitation on machine performance. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to compare the prototype with the model in order to show the usefulness of model tests in studying cavitation problems. 2. Francis turbines. Two cases have been investigated : (i) Two 20,900 HP vertical Francis turbines at the Carla power plant (500 r.p.m. under 137 m head) showed erosion al the runner blade entrance. These machines ran for 31.6 % of the overall time in an operating range in which cavitation had been observed on the model ; (ii) The 90,000 HP vertical Francis turbines at the Genissiat power plant (150 r.p.m. under 64.5 m head) were affected by erosion at the runner blade exits. These machines ran for 10 % of the total time in an operating range in which cavitation had been observed on the model. There was close agreement between prototype and model, and in the case of the Carla turbines the visible swirl underneath the model and prototype runners was almost identical for both. 3. Kaplan and bulb turbines. No erosion was observed near the runner hub and blade leading edges of the 11,500 HP La Vanelle plant Kaplan turbine (100 r.p.m. under 6.95 m head) and the 62,500 HP Châteauneuf-du-Rhone Kaplan turbine (93.7 r.p.m. under 19.3 m head), even though the respective models had shown traces of cavitation. The marginal cavitation observed on the La Vanelle model did leave any erosion on the blades. No erosion was observed on the prototypes nor cavitation on the models of the 17,600 HP Saint-Hilaire-du-Rozier Kaplan turbine (107 r.p.m. under 10 m head) and the 12,400 HP Beaumont-Monteux bulb turbine (150 r.p.m. under 11 m head).


The potential effects of increased aerosol loading on the development of deep convective clouds and resulting precipitation amounts are studied by employing the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model as a detailed high-resolution cloud resolving model (CRM) with both detailed bulk and bin microphysics schemes. Both models include a physically-based activation scheme that incorporates a size-resolved aerosol population. We demonstrate that the aerosol-induced effect is controlled by the balance between latent heating and the increase in condensed water aloft, each having opposing effects on buoyancy. It is also shown that under polluted conditions, increases in the CCN number concentration reduce the cumulative precipitation due to the competition between the sedimentation and evaporation/sublimation timescales. The effect of an increase in the IN number concentration on the dynamics of deep convective clouds is small and the resulting decrease in domain-averaged cumulative precipitation is shown not to be statistically significant, but may act to suppress precipitation. It is also shown that even in the presence of a decrease in the domain-averaged cumulative precipitation, an increase in the precipitation variance, or in other words, andincrease in rainfall intensity, may be expected in more polluted environments, especially in moist environments.

A significant difference exists between the predictions based on the bin and bulk microphysics schemes of precipitation and the influence of aerosol perturbations on updraft velocity within the convective core. The bulk microphysics scheme shows little change in the latent heating rates due to an increase in the CCN number concentration, while the bin microphysics scheme demonstrates significant increases in the latent heating aloft with increasing CCN number concentration. This suggests that even a detailed two-bulk microphysics scheme, coupled to a detailed activation scheme, may not be sufficient to predict small changes that result from perturbations in aerosol loading.


We consider a new class of huge-scale problems, the problems with sparse subgradients. The most important functions of this type are piece-wise linear. For optimization problems with uniform sparsity of corresponding linear operators, we suggest a very efficient implementation of subgradient iterations, which total cost depends logarithmically in the dimension. This technique is based on a recursive update of the results of matrix/vector products and the values of symmetric functions. It works well, for example, for matrices with few nonzero diagonals and for max-type functions. We show that the updating technique can be efficiently coupled with the simplest subgradient methods, the unconstrained minimization method by B. Polyak, and the constrained minimization scheme by N. Shor. Similar results can be obtained for a new non-smooth random variant of a coordinate descent scheme. We present also the promising results of preliminary computational experiments.


In this article, a dataset of burial grounds is considered in relation to the question of a probable demographic crisis in the 6th century AD, as a consequence of the cosmic event in AD 536-7. Although indications of an extensive crisis can be seen in a wide range of sources, it is difficult to make any estimate of the extent of the crisis. Some hypothetical social consequences are, however, discussed and compared to the Black Death in the 14th century AD. For the 6th century crisis, a widespread upheaval and renegotiation of property rights for land that has been abandoned is suggested, together with a possible redefinition of the nature of property rights. After the crisis there seem to be increased possibilities for private ownership of land, which enables the  acquisition of large landholdings among a limited number of people. This is related to an increasingly stratified social structure in the Late Iron Age, where an elite is thought to have been able to take advantage of the crisis for their own benefit. It is argued that this is reflected in the Late Iron Age/Vendel Period burial grounds and their locations, as these might have been used to manifestrenewed property rights.


Temporal cavity solitons (CSs) are pulses of light that can persist in coherently driven passive resonators, such as fiber ring resonators and monolithic Kerr microresonators. While these solitons can in principle occupy arbitrary positions, multisoliton configurations often appear rigidly frozen in time, seemingly insensitive to noise. Here, we elucidate this behavior by presenting theoretical and experimental evidence of a universal mechanism through which temporal CSs can form robust long-range bound states. These bound states require perturbations to the strict Lugiato–Lefever mean-field description of temporal CSs. Binding occurs when the perturbation excites a narrowband resonance in the soliton spectrum, which gives long oscillatory tails to the CSs. Those tails can then interlock for a discrete set of temporal separations between the solitons. The universality of this mechanism is demonstrated in fiber ring cavities by providing experimental observations of long-range bound states ensuing from three different perturbations: third-order dispersion (dispersive wave generation), the periodic nature of the cavity (Kelly sidebands), and the random birefringence of the resonator. Subpicosecond resolution of bound-state separations and their dynamics are obtained by using the dispersive Fourier transform technique. Good agreement with theoretical models, including a new vector mean-field model, is also reported. Our work provides a framework to better understand the many soliton bound states observed in externally driven, passive Kerr resonators, including the soliton crystals reported in microresonators.


With a focus on the lodging market, we investigate the nature of competition between a peer‐to‐peer platform and a traditional lodging provider (hotel), in an environment where both possess the market power to affect the final lodging price established in the market. To understand such an environment, we investigate the strategy choices of the three types of players active in this market: the platform, the hotel, and individuals in the population who consider supplying or demanding lodging capacity. We use our analysis to predict how the emergence of the peer‐to‐peer platform affects the profits of the hotel and the welfare of consumers. We characterize two types of equilibria: Partial Coverage and Full Coverage. The former type arises if each individual's demand for lodging while on vacation is relatively low in comparison to her supply. In this case, the level of demand originating from vacationers is insufficient to make it worthwhile for the platform to lower its service fee in order to attract capacity from every individual in the population. In contrast, when the demand for lodging while on vacation is relatively high, it may become profitable for the platform to implement the Full Coverage equilibrium, in which case every individual supplies lodging capacity to the platform. We demonstrate that the entry of the platform to the market will definitely increase the consumer surplus if the platform chooses to implement the Full Coverage equilibrium. At the Partial Coverage equilibrium, the consumer surplus might actually decline upon the entry of the platform. This might happen because the entry of the platform can sometimes lead to higher lodging prices, and as a result, can hurt individuals when vacationing. Because the entry of the platform raises the income of individuals in the economy, their willingness to pay for lodging while on vacation may rise. Such higher prices may also sometimes lead to higher profits for the hotel, in spite of the competition with the platform. In the special case that individuals experience no disutility when offering a portion of their housing space to the platform because this space has no alternative use for the individual, the entry of the platform will always lead to higher consumer welfare and lower profits for the hotel, irrespective of whether Full or Partial Coverage arises as equilibrium.


The most pressing problems facing humanity today - over-population, energy shortages, climate change, soil erosion, species extinctions, the risk of epidemic disease, the threat of warfare that could destroy all the hard-won gains of civilization, and even the recent fibrillations of the stock market - are all ecological or have a large ecological component. in this volume philosophers turn their attention to understanding the science of ecology and its huge implications for the human project. To get the application of ecology to policy or other practical concerns right, humanity needs a clear and disinterested philosophical understanding of ecology which can help identify the practical lessons of science. Conversely, the urgent practical demands humanity faces today cannot help but direct scientific and philosophical investigation toward the basis of those ecological challenges that threaten human survival. This book will help to fuel the timely renaissance of interest in philosophy of ecology that is now occurring in the philosophical profession. This title: provides a bridge between philosophy and current scientific findings; covers theory and applications; and, encourages multi-disciplinary dialogue.


Commodity prices cycles have a negative effect in developing countries. This paper applies system dynamics to study the long term cyclical behavior of coffee price. The model is based in Meadows (1970) and Deaton and Laroque (1996, 2003). The model includes the price dynamics, investments, capacity, and demand. Our model is the first stages and not fully calibrated. Nevertheless, the model provides a better understanding of the commodity cycles, focusing on the internal structure of the system. The model replicates the reference mode, thus, coffee price exhibits cyclical behavior in the long term. In particular, we have founded very difficult the estimation of investment functions; therefore, future work will be focus on validation and use of laboratory experiments to estimate investment function with coffee farmers.


The potential effects and green dilemma of wind energy developments on Avifauna are explored using information from previous studies of existing wind farms. Besides, key ecological considerations of future wind energy development scenario of Ethiopia were also drawn. Moreover, post-construction ecological impacts of the currently operating wind power plants on avifauna are not yet researched. Despite the fact that, various scientific literatures across the globe has revealed the effect of wind power plant on avifauna and other wild animals. The effects of wind farms on avifauna are highly variable and depend on a wide range of factors including the specification of the wind plants, the topography of adjacent land, the habitats and the number and species of birds present. As well, the impact of wind farms on avifauna includes habitat loss, collisions with wind turbines, disturbance/displacement and barrier effects. Species groups which are at risk of collision includes migratory soaring bird species such as storks and cranes, birds of prey such as eagles and hawks, and some species of sea birds. The Ethiopian electric power corporation recognizes the importance of diversification of energy resources to ensure stable energy supply and is trying to develop various kinds' of alternative power plants technologies. Thus, development of wind farms should be considered in the light of both energy and ecological significance to wild animals and the largest biodiversity. In order to avoid the negative impacts of wind farms a strategic approach at the landscape scale early in the planning stage will both avoid impacts to biodiversity and reduce the risk to developers. Likewise, mitigation measures with a potential to minimize impacts are also summarized. Finally, wildlife concerns of future wind energy development scenario and recent developments in the monitoring are outlined and some areas for future work are described.


We propose a novel approach to intelligent tutoring in which feedback messages are associated with constraints on correct problem solution. The knowledge state of the student is represented by the constraints that he or she does and does not violate during problem solving. Constraint-based tutoring has been implemented in SQL-Tutor, an intelligent tutoring system for teaching the database query language SQL. Empirical evaluation shows that (a) students find the system easy to use, and (b) they do better on a subsequent classroom examination than peers without experience with the system. Furthermore, learning curves are smooth when plotted in terms of individual constraints, supporting the psychological appropriateness of the constraint construct.


Article type: Original Article Received: Jan. 2016 Accepted: Mar. 2016 Corresponding author: Minoo Pakgohar e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com .ac.ir Background & Aim: Male andropause begins with hormonal, physiological and chemical changes, and usually occurs in men between the ages of 40 to 55 years. These changes affect their quality of life. Hence, the current study investigated the quality of life of men with andropause and its related factors. Methods & Materials: This preliminary cross-sectional study was conducted through the census method on 80 males aged 40 to 60 years, employed at the schools of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected in 2014 using a demographic questionnaire, the Short-Form 36 (QOL) questionnaire, and the Persian version of the Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS software v.22 through descriptive and inferential statistics (Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's Correlation Coefficient and Stepwise multivariate Regression). The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: The mean age of the andropausal men was 47.6±4.79 years and the majority (38.8%) of the samples were in the 45-49 age group. The mean quality of life score was 61.75±13.52. Stepwise regression showed a significant relationship between age and the scores of overall quality of life, physical and psychological health dimensions. Moreover, significant associations were observed between the overall quality of life score and the andropause severity, and between physical health dimension and sleep hours per day. Conclusion: This study indicates that andropause lowers the quality of life, and age, andropause severity and sleep hours affect the quality of life in the andropausal men.


Abstract Projected demographic changes in industrialized and developing countries vary in extent and timing but will reduce the share of the population in working age everywhere. Conventional wisdom suggests that this will increase capital intensity with falling rates of return to capital and increasing wages. This decreases welfare for middle aged asset rich households. This paper takes the perspective of the three demographically oldest European nations – France, Germany and Italy – to address three important adjustment channels to dampen these detrimental effects of aging in these countries: investing abroad, endogenous human capital formation, and increasing the retirement age. Our quantitative finding is that endogenous human capital formation in combination with an increase in the retirement age has strong implications for economic aggregates and welfare, in particular in the open economy. These adjustments reduce the maximum welfare losses of demographic change for households alive in 2010 by about 2.2 percentage points in terms of consumption equivalent variation.


Gradient-based optimization methods are the most popular choice for finding local optima for classical minimization and saddle point problems. Here, we highlight a systemic issue of gradient dynamics that arise for saddle point problems, namely the presence of undesired stable stationary points that are no local optima. We propose a novel optimization approach that exploits curvature information in order to escape from these undesired stationary points. We prove that different optimization methods, including gradient method and Adagrad, equipped with curvature exploitation can escape non-optimal stationary points. We also provide empirical results on common saddle point problems which confirm the advantage of using curvature exploitation.


Law reviews are filled with sophisticated and often impassioned debates over the use of racial and gender preferences in employment, education, and electoral districting. As a political scientist I am particularly interested in a puzzle that has received far less attention in the legal literature: How have such highly unpopular programs become so well entrenched in public policy and in the practices of employers and educational institutions? In this Article, I will suggest that part of the answer lies in the nature of the peculiar regulatory regime that has evolved since 1964 to interpret and enforce nondiscrimination rules relating to race, gender, and disability. This regulatory regime, which governs the conduct of nearly every employer, school, and unit of state and local government in the country, is notable for its lack of transparency and accountability--features that, for better or for worse, insulate it from ordinary politics. That the use of racial and gender preferences lacks public support is hard to deny. A recent Century Foundation report noted that: Racial preferences in higher education remain highly unpopular among voters, who consistently register opposition by a two-to-one margin. Anti-racial preference referenda have been put to voters in six states--both "blue" and "red"--and prevailed in five of those: California (1996), Washington (1998), Michigan (2006), Nebraska (2008), and Arizona (2010). (1) The most comprehensive political science analyses of the subject, Paul Sniderman and Thomas Piazza's The Scar of Race and Sniderman and Edward Carmines' Reaching Beyond Race, found that opposition to affirmative action is so intense that the mere mention of the topic early in a polling interview increased the prevalence of negative racial stereotypes and decreased support for programs designed to help racial minorities later in the interview. (2) Recognizing these political realities, colleges and graduate schools have gone to great lengths to obscure the size of the boost given to minority candidates in the admissions process. (3) In American politics one rarely finds such a huge and persistent gap between public policy and public opinion. A possible explanation for the creation and survival of these unpopular policies is that they have been imposed by unelected judges who use constitutional interpretation to circumvent the political process. This was certainly true of busing to achieve school desegregation in the 1970s, but it does not explain the persistence of affirmative action in employment, college admission, or electoral districting, where federal regulation is based on federal statutes rather than on the Constitution. In these areas, the Supreme Court often has tried to tamp down use of gender and racial preferences only to see its decisions overridden by Congress or circumvented by regulators. The most important examples are the Civil Rights Act of 1991, (4) which reversed a number of Supreme Court interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that had made it more difficult for plaintiffs to win "disparate impact" suits, (5) and the the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982, (6) which overturned Supreme Court decisions that had reduced federal pressure to create "majority minority" electoral districts. (7) Far from demonstrating the strength of the "imperial judiciary," affirmative action illustrates the limits of the Supreme Court's control over policymaking and the extent to which Congress has been willing to step in to defend the status quo. John Skrentny, the author of the most thorough and convincing explanation of the creation of affirmative action policies under Title VII, (8) has offered a number of explanations for their persistence. (9) Most importantly, opposition to affirmative action is broad but diffuse. It is not a top priority of many voters or of any significant political organizations. (10) Supporters of affirmative action, in contrast, care deeply about the issue, are well organized, and are quick to mobilize against threats to the status quo. …


The current paper aims at the discussion of the uncertainties of hydraulic transient modelling using the classic method of characteristics and incorporating unsteady friction (UF) and pipe-wall viscoelasticity. A two-stage calibration procedure is used for estimating the model parameters: the first stage refers to the calibration of steady state conditions and the second stage to the transient state. This step-wise calibration procedure, although simple, consists of a set of guidelines useful for engineering practice when having pressure and flow data, instead of the blind simultaneous calibration of all known parameters. A data collection programme was carried out in an experimental facility, composed of high-density polyethylene pipes to collect transient pressure data for different initial discharges. Results obtained have shown that UF and viscoelasticity, despite being phenomena that have completely different natures, have similar effects in the transient pressure response, which the inverse transient solver is not capable of distinguishing.


When designing distributed web services, there are three properties that are commonly desired: consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. It is impossible to achieve all three. In this note, we prove this conjecture in the asynchronous network model, and then discuss solutions to this dilemma in the partially synchronous model.


In today's high-speed packet networks that support various applications with different service requirements, congestion control is an important issue. One of the methods for preventing congestion is packet scheduling. Packet scheduling in routers can provide guaranteed performance in terms of delay, delay jitter, packet loss, and throughput. In this paper, we describe the OPNET model of an IP router with a scheduling algorithm called VirtualClock. The VirtualClock algorithm monitors the average transmission rates of packet data flows. It also provides each flow with a guaranteed throughput and a low queuing delay. We have incorporated the VirtualClock algorithm into the OPNET process model ip_output_iface. This process model executes scheduling algorithms in the network layer of IP objects.


Small low-cost sensor devices, each equipped with limited resources, are networked and used for various critical applications, especially those related to homeland security. Making such a sensor network secure is challenging mainly because it usually has to operate in a harsh, sometimes hostile, and unattended environment, where it is subject to capture, reverse-engineering, and manipulation. To address this challenge, we present a program-integrity verification (PIV) protocol that verifies the integrity of the program residing in each sensor device whenever the device joins the network or has experienced a long service blockage. The heart of PIV is the novel randomized hash function tailored to low-cost CPUs, by which the algorithm for hash computation on the program can be randomly generated whenever the program needs to be verified. By realizing this randomized hash function, the PlV protocol 1) prevents manipulation/reverse-engineering/reprogramming of sensors unless the attacker modifies the sensor hardware (e.g., attaching more memory), 2) provides purely software-based protection, and 3) triggers the verification infrequently, thus incurring minimal intrusiveness into normal sensor functions. Our performance evaluation shows that the PIV protocol is computationally efficient and incurs only a small communication overhead, hence making it ideal for use in low-cost sensor networks.


Rice blast is one of the most damaging diseases of rice worldwide. In the present study, we analyzed DNA sequence variation of avirulence genes of AVR-Pita1 in field isolates of M. oryzae in order to understand the effectiveness of the resistance gene Pi-ta in China. Genomic DNA of 366 isolates of M. oryzae collected from Yunnan province of China were used for PCR amplification to examine the existence of AVR-Pita1 using gene specific PCR markers. Results of PCR products revealed that 218 isolates of M. oryzae carry AVR-Pita1. Among of them, 62.5%, 56.3%, 58.5%, 46.7%, 72.4%, and 57.4% of M. oryzae carry AVR-Pita1 from northeastern, southeast, western, northwest, southwestern, and central of Yunnan province, respectively. The detection rate of AVR-Pita1 was in order as: southwest>northeast>western>central>southeast>northwest of Yunnan province. Moreover, a total of 18 AVR-Pita1 haplotypes encoding 13 novel AVR-Pita1 variants were identified among 60 isolates. Most DNA sequence variation was found to occur in the exon region resulting in amino acid substitution. Six virulent haplotypes of AVR-Pita1 to Pita were identified among 60 field isolates. The AVR-Pita1 has evolved to virulence from avirulent origins via base substitution. These findings demonstrate that AVR-Pita1 is under positive selection and mutations of AVR-Pita1 are responsible for defeating race-specific resistance in nature.


Globalisation of higher education has led to an increase in the delivery of transnational programmes, those where students are located in a different country than the providing institution. These programmes are marketed as offering the same degree at the same quality standards as that delivered onshore and often the specific context or place of learning is not considered. Literature on the student experience of learning in this setting is sparse. This study addresses this gap by exploring accounts of students' processes of networked learning on two transnational Masters programmes delivered by an Irish college in the Gulf region of the Middle East. Processes of learning are theorised using two frameworks: the approaches to learning framework; and the model of networked learning. Data is generated through interviews with 18 students. Findings show two key qualitative differences in the phenomenographical outcome spaces. Firstly, between descriptions focused on academic skills (searching literature, reading, writing) and those focused on ideas (analysing, synthesising, critiquing). Secondly, between descriptions of engagement in the act of networked learning and descriptions of non-engagement, classified as either 'unable to engage' or 'unwilling to engage'. The categories of description at the lower levels of complexity in all outcome spaces are not explained well using either theoretical framework. These findings have a deeper alternative explanation when both the transnational and the individual's contexts are taken into consideration. Conclusions are drawn for theory, methodology, policy and practice. For theory, an amended definition of networked learning is suggested which allows for the multiple contexts within which learning takes place. For methodology, it is suggested non-inclusive hierarchical structures in outcome spaces are appropriate for phenomenographical studies of the processes of learning. Finally, the notion that transnational programmes can be delivered 'context-free' is challenged which has implications for institutional policy and educational practice within higher education.


ABSTRACT This study investigated the relationship among home language use, parents' beliefs about dual language development, and Spanish-speaking children's vocabulary knowledge. Parents (n = 162) completed a questionnaire about their home language use and beliefs about dual language development, and elementary-age children (N = 190) – Kindergarten (M age = 5.71, SD = .56), second grade (M age = 7.52, SD = .31), and fourth grade (M age = 9.35, SD = .45) – completed conceptually-scored vocabulary assessments. Principal component analyses revealed that Spanish-speaking parents' beliefs about dual language development are heterogeneous. Further, parents' beliefs can be characterized differently according to their children's English proficiency designations and grade levels. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the Bilingual Facility parental belief factor was associated with home language use practices, which in turn were associated with children's vocabulary. However, this association only applied to limited English proficient students and their parents. These results underscore the importance of attending to Spanish-speaking parents' beliefs, as they appear to relate to home language use practices and, importantly, they also relate to their children's vocabulary achievement.


Development aspect is a key target and agenda for all governments in the world. The concept embraces different facets of development including political, social, economic, infrastructure, societal, environmental, and intellectual aspects. Numerous factors contribute to the achievement of the above goals. Among these is a communication policy factor; an effective and comprehensive policy can help the state accelerate development success rate. In underdeveloped countries, the mass media play an essential role in mediating the development in the country. Systematic and comprehensive communication policies are greatly needed in these countries compared to developed and developing countries. In Somalia, where there was no effective and functioning state since 1990s, the need for such policies is great. The country has been in chaotic and unstable political situation, where the media has negatively contributed to hostility and conflict. In this paper, the author discusses the concept of development journalism and its evolution and relevance particularly to the newly independent states in Asia and Africa since 1960s. Although some people may argue that, the concept is out of date; this author believes that it is more relevant in today's current political dilemma in Somalia. The paper provides numerous rationales for adopting the development journalism and how it can contribute to the state building efforts. Implications for policy and decision-makers were also discussed along these lines. For media practitioners, the paper recommends to follow peace journalism when covering tribal and political conflicts and to fully participate in current development projects.


A previously healthy 8-month-old girl presented to the emergency department with fever and increased work of breathing. She was hospitalized for hypoxia attributed to community-acquired pneumonia, treated with ceftriaxone, and weaned to room air over several days. On the morning of planned discharge, she was noted to have had persistently elevated blood pressures for the past 12 hours.


Multistage collectors are commonly used in travelling wave tubes (TWTs), klystrons, gyrotrons and inductive output tubes (IOTs). A dc beam transfers some of its energy to the input RF wave during its travel through the interaction circuit. The purpose of a collector is to recover most of the remaining dc power from the spent beam and thereby increase both the collector and the overall efficiency. Secondary electrons play a detrimental role in collector performance. Use of the asymmetric collector geometries and application of a magnetic field in the collector region have proved to be effective in recapturing the secondaries. A fully three-dimensional simulator LKOBRA (MF) – the mainframe version of Lancaster KOBRA, has been developed at Lancaster University; this is capable of simulating multistage collectors including the effects of secondary electron emission and magnetic field. It is based on KOBRA3-INP1 but has been modified and improved together with the pre- and post-processors of the package. Efficiency is an important parameter in space applications of microwave tubes so it is always desirable to optimise the collector performance to maximise the overall tube efficiency. As a first step the potentials at the collector electrodes are optimised to achieve the maximum possible theoretical efficiency. A computer code based on the well-known enumerative technique has been developed for this purpose. In the next step the geometry of the collector electrodes is optimised using an automated design package that is based on a genetic algorithm. The genetic algorithm creates a new geometry through a search procedure that works from a population of possible geometries. A new set of geometries is generated using three basic operators namely reproduction, crossover and mutation. The collector efficiency is used as the fitness parameter in the genetic algorithm that produces a new population of geometries. This package has been used to optimise the efficiency of a 4-stage symmetric collector and a 2-stage asymmetric collector.


Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) mediates the repression of pro-inflammatory genes by deacetylating core histones, RelA/p65 and the glucocorticoid receptor. Reduced level of HDAC2 is associated with steroid resistant inflammation caused by oxidants. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating HDAC2 in response to oxidants and unsaturated aldehydes is not known. Here, we report that oxidative stress imposed by cigarette smoke extract (CSE), and aldehyde acrolein induced phosphorylation of HDAC2 which was abolished by serine-alanine mutations at serine sites S394, S411, S422 and S424. HDAC2 phosphorylation required direct interaction with serine-phosphorylated protein kinase CK2α and involved reduced HDAC2 deacetylase activity. Furthermore, HDAC2 phosphorylation was required for HDAC2 interaction with transcription factors, co-repressor complex formation, CBP recruitment, acetylation on lysine residues and consequently increased transrepression activity. Thus, phospho-acetylation of HDAC2 negatively regulates its deacetylase activity which has implications in steroid resistance in chronic inflammatory conditions.


The exclusionary rule is back under the judicial magnifying glass. Recent opinions, most notably by Justice Scalia, have sparked speculation that the Roberts Court is inclined to overrule Mapp v. Ohio and send Fourth Amendment disputes back to the realm of civil suits and police disciplinary actions. As the Court's rulings have made clear, any reevaluation of the exclusionary rule's future will be conducted under the now familiar rubric of whether the rule's "benefit" of deterring police misbehavior outweighs the "cost" of lost evidence and convictions. This essay argues that if any such reevaluation does occur, the Court must take into account something overlooked in evaluations of the past: the benefits of a suppression hearing itself. The hearing acts much like a morality play for those involved in the nitty gritty of law enforcement – police, judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys – by instructing everyone involved both as to the Fourth Amendment's rules and why those rules are of a constitutional magnitude mandating honor and respect. And because the exclusionary rule reaches a wide variety of police behavior – unlike civil suits and disciplinary proceedings which reach only the most egregious instances of misbehavior – the suppression hearing becomes an invaluable public forum for providing transparency and promoting police compliance with the Fourth Amendment. In short, the suppression hearing is the exclusionary rule's unsung hero, and in the end offers the Court a means to find the truest measure of the exclusionary rule's costs and benefits.


This dissertation presents four papers that seek to make theoretical and practical contributions to the literature on work-life boundary management. Specifically, this research explores new relationships between boundary antecedents, moderators and outcomes, tests the impact of different working arrangements, and uses multiple research methods in order to add to our understanding of how we can manage work-life boundaries in such a way that better work-life outcomes are recognized. The research makes contributions to three areas of work-life literature. First, this research contributes to literature on work–life boundary management by redefining the role of permeability as an essential mechanism by which boundaries can influence work-life outcomes. Using survey and daily diary data with homeworkers in the UK, this research suggests that permeability is a moderator that influences the impact of segmenting and integrating employment practices on work-life outcomes. Further, this dissertation also provides evidence to support the idea that the employment context in an important consideration when considering boundary management. Using qualitative and quantitative research conducted in both highly segmented and highly integrated work environments this research has underscored the importance of considering that boundary strategies are not 'one size fits all'.
This dissertation also contributes to the growing body of literature that examines the relationship between individual preferences for integration or segmentation and the resources provided by their work environment. Drawing on Person-Environment Fit (Edwards, 1996, Rothbard, 2005) the research uses polynomial regression and response surface analysis to examine boundary management among employees working off-shore versus those in traditional office-based roles. 'Fit', as well as 'misfit' between segmentation-preference and segmentation-supply and the resulting impact on work-life outcomes is examined.
Last, this research also makes a contribution to the literature that connects the Job Demands-Resources Model to the work-life interface (Demerouti et al., 2001). Drawing on Boundary and Border Theories (Zerubavel, 1991, Clark, 2000), this research uses data from a daily diary study of homeworkers to examine daily predictors and outcomes of boundary strength. In addition, the data demonstrate that boundary permeability acts a moderator that regulates the impact of job demands and resources, apart from just segmenting and integrating working practices, on work-life outcomes and well-being. Together, these papers reflect the importance of examining work/non-work boundaries through the lens of individual and organisational difference and allow us to better understand the mechanisms which can be used to better manage these boundaries.


The liver provides a tolerogenic immune niche exploited by several highly prevalent pathogens as well as by primary and metastatic tumors. We have sampled healthy and hepatitis B virus (HBV)–infected human livers to probe for a subset of T cells specialized to overcome local constraints and mediate immunity. We characterize a population of T-betloEomesloBlimp-1hiHobitlo T cells found within the intrahepatic but not the circulating memory CD8 T cell pool expressing liver-homing/retention markers (CD69+CD103+ CXCR6+CXCR3+). These tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) are preferentially expanded in patients with partial immune control of HBV infection and can remain in the liver after the resolution of infection, including compartmentalized responses against epitopes within all major HBV proteins. Sequential IL-15 or antigen exposure followed by TGF&bgr; induces liver-adapted TRM, including their signature high expression of exhaustion markers PD-1 and CD39. We suggest that these inhibitory molecules, together with paradoxically robust, rapid, cell-autonomous IL-2 and IFN&ggr; production, equip liver CD8 TRM to survive while exerting local noncytolytic hepatic immunosurveillance.


Abstract The existance of information technology currently to higher education institution had become a necessity to support education processes. Manajemen Information Academic System (SIMAK) IPB is an aplication (software) that organize the whole academic activity processes namely compiling lectures' schedules, re-registration through online KRS completion and academical data reports. The purpose of this study is to analyze the obstacles, analyzing the quality level of SIMAK IPB and to formulate recomendation of policy strategy to SIMAK IPB service improvement. Based on the result of SERVQUAL Gap analysis discover that performance degree of the services provide by Bogor Agricultural University was bigger than importance degree perceived by users of academic system in Bogor Agricultural University due to the SERVQUAL score valued >-0, which means the services provide by Bogor Agricultural University have already fulfill users' expectation. The IPA resulted that in quadran A of Cartesian Diagram, based on students' perception, there were 7 attributes which will become the main priority to be improved. Meanwhile, based on academic staffs' perception indicated that there were 6 attributes that become the main priority to be improved. The conclusion of this study users' satisfaction degree to SIMAK IPB obtained from questionnaire deployment to students: average value of importance degree scored 3.34 (agree) and average value of performance degree scored 3.91 (satisfy).  Meanwhile, the result obtained from questionnaire deployment among academic staff, average value of importance degree scored 3.33 (agree) and average value of performance degree scored 3.92 (satisfy)  Keyword: academic information system, information system quality analysis, university system information, SIMAK


The North American medical physics community validates the education received by medical physicists and the clinical qualifications for medical physicists through accreditation of educational programs and certification of medical physicists.
Medical physics
educational programs (graduate
education and residency education) are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics
Education Programs (CAMPEP), whereas medical physicists are certified by several organizations, the most familiar of which is the American Board of Radiology (ABR). In order for an educational program to become accredited or a medical physicist to become certified, the applicant must meet certain specified standards set by the appropriate organization.
In this Symposium, representatives from both CAMPEP and the ABR will describe the process by which standards are established as well as the process by which qualifications of candidates for accreditation or certification are shown to be compliant with these standards.
The Symposium will conclude with a panel discussion.
Learning Objectives:
1.
Recognize the difference between accreditation of an educational program and certification of an individual
2.
Identify the two organizations primarily responsible for these tasks
3.
Describe the development of educational standards
4.
Describe the process by which examination questions are developed
GS is Executive Secretary of CAMPEP.