The present investigations have been initiated with the object of studying the air circulation and relation between
• the air movement and the drying of the timber in timber seasoning kilns. The work has been divided into five separate experiments, each of which is summarised separately as follows :-
Experiment 1 - The Measurement of the Flow of Air Through 'Timber Stacks. - A method of measuring the air velocity through timber stacks by means of vane anemometer p has been established. Correction factors, which, for ar49ne size and type of anemometer depend on the thickness of the timber and of the separating strips, on the velocity, and on the
position in which the anemometer is held, have been determined for a number of cases. These have been plotted against record- ed anemometer readings on a number of graphs.
Experiment 2 - The Effect of the Rate of Air Circulation on the rate of Drying. - A number of kiln runs has been made with narrow stacks of matched material using the same temperature and humidity in each run but different rates of
air circulation. The object has been to determine the effect
of the rate of air circulation on the rate of drying timber apart from the question of change of drying rate from one side
of a wide stack to the other due to fall in temperature and increase in humidity of the air. The results indicate that with the same air conditions the rate of drying is independent of the rate of air flow provided that this rate is greater than some minimum value which is probably in most cases less
-than 140 feet per minute.
Experiment 3 - The Relation Between the Quantity of Air Circulate* and the La in Dr in From the Enterin to the Leaving Air Side of a Kiln Charge of Timber. - A number of tests has been carried out in an experimental kiln to determine the change in air conditions and the lag in the drying rate from the entering to the leaving air side of a stack of timber 5 feet wide. Different sized separating
strips and different quantities of circulating air have been used. The theoretical relation between the quantity of air circulated, the amount of moisture evapdrated, and the change in air conditions has also been established; the results
so calculated have been compared with those determined experimentally.
Experiment 4 - The Relation Between Air Flow and Fall in Pressure Across a Timber Stack. - The flow of air through
a rectangular duct consisting of boards and separating strips and similar to the openings through a timber stack has been investigated. Curves showing the relation between static pressure change and rate of flow have been prepared for different sized strips and for board surfaces of different
degrees of roughness. Equations for the pressure loss during flow through the duct and for the entrance pressure loss
have been determined.
Experiment 5 - The Effect of Various Features of Kiln Design on the distribution of the Air over the Side of a Stack of Timber in a Commercial Kiln. - A series of tests has been carried out in commercial kilns of the cross shaft
internal fan type to determine the effect of various distances between the kiln walls and the sides of the stack on the distribution of the circulating air over the side of the stack The results of the tests are shown diagrammatically. The conclusion:: is reached that the 16 inch wide space commonly adopted for the particular design of kiln tested is reasonably satisfactory although more comprehensive tests on an experimental kiln of commercial proportions appear desirable.


In this work, we present a novel non-rigid shape matching framework based on multi-resolution functional maps with spectral attention. Existing functional map learning methods all rely on the critical choice of the spectral resolution hyperparameter, which can severely affect the overall accuracy or lead to overfitting, if not chosen carefully. In this paper, we show that spectral resolution tuning can be alleviated by introducing spectral attention. Our framework is applicable in both supervised and unsupervised settings, and we show that it is possible to train the network so that it can adapt the spectral resolution, depending on the given shape input. More specifically, we propose to compute multi-resolution functional maps that characterize correspondence across a range of spectral resolutions, and introduce a spectral attention network that helps to combine this representation into a single coherent final correspondence. Our approach is not only accurate with near-isometric input, for which a high spectral resolution is typically preferred, but also robust and able to produce reasonable matching even in the presence of significant non-isometric distortion, which poses great challenges to existing methods. We demonstrate the superior performance of our approach through experiments on a suite of challenging near-isometric and non-isometric shape matching benchmarks.


Safety and efficacy of quinupristin-dalfopristin (an injectable streptogramin antibiotic) were evaluated in the treatment of a variety of infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients either intolerant of or failing prior therapy. The influence of resistance phenotypes on treatment outcome was also assessed. This worldwide, multicentre, open-label, non-comparative, emergency-use clinical study enrolled patients with one or more of nine predefined, culture-confirmed infections with MRSA, who had no clinically appropriate alternative antibiotic therapy. The recommended quinupristin-dalfopristin dose was 7.5 mg/kg administered iv every 8 h for a duration judged appropriate by the investigator. There were no restrictions on prior or concomitant treatment with other antibiotics. Clinical, microbiological and laboratory assessments were performed at baseline, during study drug treatment, within 24 h after the last dose, and 7-21 days post-therapy. Ninety patients [age (mean +/- S.D.) 57.4 +/- 18.5 years] with significant underlying medical illnesses were treated at 63 centres in five countries. The most common indications were bone and joint infection (44.4% of patients) and skin and skin structure infection (16.7%). The mean (+/- S.D.) daily dose and treatment duration was 20.2 +/- 2.9 mg/kg/day for 28.5 +/- 22.3 days, most frequently administered every 8 h. The overall success rate (defined as a clinical outcome of either cure or improvement and a bacteriological outcome of eradication or presumed eradication) was 71.1% in the all-treated population (n = 90) and 66.7% in patients who were both clinically and bacteriologically evaluable (n = 27). Success rates for endocarditis, respiratory tract infection and bacteraemia of unknown source were below the population mean. The macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin type B resistance phenotype did not appear to alter the response rate. The most common non-venous adverse events related to study medication were arthralgias (10.8%), myalgias (8.6%) and nausea (8.6%). Quinupristin-dalfopristin should be considered as a treatment option for infections caused by MRSA, especially in patients intolerant of or failing alternate therapy.


This paper, which accompanies the preceding article by Gastil, reviews Cretaceous paleomagnetic evidence for Baja and coastal southern California. Like Cretaceous paleomagnetic data for the Cordillera as a whole, results from Baja and southern California require northward transport of 1000km or more, relative to interior North America. Agreement between independent results, for different rock types and experimental techniques, is overwhelming. Dextral shear driven by right-oblique subduction readily accounts for the paleomagnetic results. Alternative explanations such as experimental errors, rock-magnetic effects, anomalous geomagnetic behavior, errors in dating, or local structure are inadequate, improbable, or both. Some geologists have difficulty reconciling the findings of paleomagnetism with their own results; hence, as emphasized by Gastil, a conflict and enigma exist. To resolve them will require a willingness on both sides to honestly scrutinize basic assumptions.


The present faunistic study of blood sucking lice (Phthiraptera: Anoplura) has resulted in the recording of the 4 species: Hoplopleura acanthopus (Burmeister, 1839) ; Ho. affinis (Burmeister, 1839) ; Polyplax serrata (Burmeister, 1839)and Haematopinus apri Goureau, 1866 newly reported for the fauna of Croatia. Thirteen species and 2 subspecies are currently known from Croatia, belonging to 6 families. Linognathidae and Haematopinidae are the best represented families, with four species each, followed by Hoplopleuridae and Polyplacidae with two species each, Pediculidae with two subspecies and Pthiridae with one species. Blood sucking lice were collected from 18 different host species. Three taxa, one species and two subspecies were recorded on the Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758. Two species were recorded on Apodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771) ; A. sylvaticus (Linnaeus, 1758) ; Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 and Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758 per host species. On the remaining 13 host species, one Anoplura species was collected. The recorded species were collected from 17 localities covering 17 fields of 10x10 km on the UTM grid of Croatia.


Aquifer recharge with reclaimed water is a promising means to store and supply on demand reclaimed water of high quality for further non-potable reuse. The reuse applications may include indirect agricultural or landscape irrigation, saltwater intrusion barriers, subsidence mitigation or aquifer replenishment. As an alternative to high-pressure or double-membrane systems, hybrid schemes consisting of a disinfection/filtration step prior to aquifer recharge were assessed in this study regarding their environmental footprint and energy efficiency. A simplified life-cycle assessment (LCA) for a hypothetical case study in a water-scarce country was conducted to compare these hybrid schemes to a double-membrane system working under similar conditions. The results show that there is a significant margin for lowering the environmental impact, energy demand and operational costs if non-potable water quality is targeted. While the hybrid schemes outperform high-pressure membranes for these factors, land footprint and final water quality also need to be considered in the choice of solution for specific conditions.


The objective of pure-sampling quantum Monte Carlo is to calculate physical properties that are independent of the importance sampling function being employed in the calculation, save for the mismatch of its nodal hypersurface with that of the exact wave function. To achieve this objective, we describe a pure-sampling algorithm that combines features of forward-walking methods of pure-sampling and reptation quantum Monte Carlo. The importance sampling is performed by using a singledeterminant basis set composed of Slater-type orbitals. We implement our algorithm by systematically increasing an algorithmic parameter until the properties sampled from the electron distributions converge to statistically equivalent values, extrapolated in the limit of zero time-step. In doing so, we are able to unambiguously determine the values for the ground-state fixed-node energies and one-electron properties of various molecules. These quantities are free from importance sampling bias, population control bias, time-step bias, extrapolation-model bias, and the finite-field approximation. We applied our algorithm to the ground-states of lithium hydride, water and ethylene molecules, and found excellent agreement with the accepted literature values for the energy and a variety of other properties for those systems. Some of our one-electron properties of ethylene had not been calculated before at any level of theory. In a detailed comparison, we found reptation quantum Monte Carlo, our closest competitor, to be less efficient by at least a factor of two. It requires different sets of time-steps to accurately determine the ground-state energy and one-electron properties, whereas our algorithm can achieve the same objective by using a single set of time-step values.


The role all women play in raising sons has received very little scholarly attention. Moreover, and more germane to this article, discourse on Black women and sons in this regard until fairly recently, was almost nonexistent. With this in mind, the present review examines the emerging research concerning how Black mothers participate in the development of manhood and masculinity. An analysis of the recent and nascent body of literature exploring Black mother-son relationships (a) suggests that Black mothers play a significant role in the healthy development of manhood and masculinity, (b) demonstrates how Black mothers participate in healthy development of manhood and masculinity, and (c) challenges notions about mothers and fathers, males and females, and masculinity and femininity by blurring traditional lines of separation. There is a significant volume of literature that addresses the many variables that contribute to the construction of manhood and masculinity, such as the role of families (Billingsley, 1992; Boyd-Franklin, Franklin, & Toussaint, 2001; Cones & White, 1998; Franklin, 1984; Freud, 1976; June, 1991; Sigel, 1986), the media, including television, music, film, and written material (Boyd-Franklin, Franklin, & Toussaint, 2001; Comstock & Paik, 1991; Cones & White, 1998; Dines & Humez, 1995; Stroman, 1991; Winbush, 2002), religion (Billingsley, 1992; June, 1991; Stearns, 1990), schools (Murrell, 2002; Winbush, 2002), biology (Bush, 1998; Lewis & Weinraub, 1979), and peer groups (Boyd-Franklin, Franklin, & Toussaint, 2001; Cones & White, 1998; Franklin 1984, 1988). However, after examining the literature, it became strikingly evident that scholars have virtually ignored a significant variable in the manhood development process. The role all women play in raising sons has received very little scholarly attention. Moreover, and more germane to this work, discourse on Black women and sons until fairly recently, was almost nonexistent. During the 1980s, White feminists (Arcana, 1983; Forcey, 1987) began to examine how mothers participated in the reproduction of chauvinistic and sexist paradigms with respect to raising their sons. Looking at mother-son relationships from this perspective also continued to be the work of White feminists more recently (O'Reilly, 2001; Smith, 1995). However, largely left out of this discourse were the unique dynamics of Black mother-son relationships? Although there are some overlapping aspects and issues concerning Black mother-son relationships and White mother-son relationships, there are some salient differences. Having to forge and maintain a relationship in the context of white supremacy is the major factor that differentiates the mothering of Blacks and Whites. In addition, the following related conditions make the study of Black mother-son relationships unique: (a) 50% of all Black households with children under age 18 are headed by Black women, (b) Black women are held responsible in some academic literature and in the popular press for Black males' maladaptive characteristics and behaviors, and (c) catastrophic conditions exist that cause some observers to view Black men as an endangered species (Bush, 1996). Both with the uniqueness of Black mother-son relationships and the dearth of social science literature in mind, this article looks at how Black mothers participate in the development of manhood and masculinity. The following works are examined to shape our understating of this relationship and process: Black Mothers to Sons: Juxtaposing African American Literature with Social Practice (King & Mitchell, 1990), Can Black Mothers Raise Our Sons? (Bush, 1999b), Beating the Odds: Raising Academically Successful African American Males (Hrabowski, Maton, & Greif, 1998), and Black Sons to Mothers: Compliments, Critiques, and Challenges for Cultural Workers in Education (Brown & Davis, 2000). In addition to three out of the four aforementioned texts being based on empirical study, the four works were also selected because they seem to be the only texts where Black mother-son relationships are the primary focus. …


Do sanctions strengthen the targeted regime? I analyze the 2014 imposition of Western sanctions on Russia and its impact on voting. The US and the EU introduced targeted measures against Russian entities and individuals related to Putin's regime. Using polling station-level data I investigate whether Putin gained relatively more support among those local constituencies which were geographically close to a sanctioned firm. I find a significant effect of targeted sanction imposition on the vote share in presidential elections between 2012 and 2018. Putin gained 1.54 percentage points at those polling stations that had a sanctioned firm in immediate vicinity. Targeted sanctions imposition also affected voter turnout. The effect on voting can be explained as rally-around-the-flag in the face of sanctions, as long as voters did not endure economic losses through a decline in some sanctioned firms' economic performance.


This paper quantifies the rate of capacity utilisation in twenty-three selected industries of Pakistan for the period, 1971-76. Variation in the number of shifts worked and in intensity of operations of machinery among the industries is also determined. The impact of factors operating from the demand and from the supply side respectively is analysed by use of econometric techniques and by studying industrial managers/owners own perceptions of constraints to full utilisation of available capacity. The basic conclusions are that in the '70s approximately half the capacity was lying idle in the sample industries and that supply related factors are primarily responsible for creating this excess capacity.


Environmental management decisions at mercury‐contaminated sediment sites are predicated on the understanding of risks to various receptors, including fish. Toxicity reference values (TRVs) for interpreting risks to fish have been developed to assess mercury concentrations in fish or fish prey. These TRVs were systematically evaluated based on several lines of evidence. First, their conceptual basis and specific derivation were evaluated, including a close review of underlying toxicity studies. Second, case studies were reviewed to investigate whether TRVs are predictive of effects on fish populations in the field. Third, TRVs were compared with available information regarding preindustrial and present‐day background concentrations of mercury in fish. The findings show that existing TRVs are highly uncertain, because they were developed using limited data from studies not designed for TRV derivation. Although field studies also entail uncertainty, several case studies indicate no evidence of adverse effects despite mercury exposures that exceed the available TRVs. Some TRVs also fall within the range of background mercury concentrations in predatory or prey fish. Lack of information on the selenium status of mercury‐exposed fish is a critical confounding factor, and the form of methylmercury used in toxicity testing may also contribute to differences between TRV‐based predictions and field observations of mercury effects on fish. On balance, the available information indicates that several of the TRVs reviewed are lower than necessary to protect fish populations. The 20% effect concentration from a previously published dose–response analysis appears closer to an effect threshold, based on available laboratory data. Additional research is needed to provide a stronger basis to establish dose–response relationships for mercury effects on fish. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:529–549. © 2016 SETAC


About 100 million women are estimated to be circumcised globally. Various rates of complications have been encountered, especially after circumcision, such as bleeding, infection, shock, menstrual irregularity, difficulty in urination or common urinary tract infections, inguinal pain, difficulty in sexual intercourse, and genital circumcision scar especially at the vulvar region, and cystic or solid character mass in short and long term. Furthermore, the maternal-fetal morbidity and mortality increase due to bleeding and fistula, which develop after prolonged labor, travail, and difficult labors. Our aim in this paper was to discuss a 42-year-old multiparous female case who had undergone type 2 radical genital mutilation (circumcision) when she was 7 years of age, along with the literature, which has been evaluated for the gradually growing mass at the left inguinal canal region in the last 10 years and diagnosed as epidermoid inclusion cyst developing secondary to postcircumcision surgical ground trauma, since there was no other case found in the literature search that had been circumcised at such an early age and developing after circumcision at such advanced age, and, therefore, this is suggested to be the first case on this subject.


The primary mission of UniProt is to support biological research by maintaining a stable, comprehensive, fully classified, richly and accurately annotated protein sequence knowledgebase, with extensive cross-references and querying interfaces freely accessible to the scientific community. UniProt is produced by the UniProt Consortium which consists of groups from the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB) and the Protein Information Resource (PIR). UniProt is comprised of four major components, each optimized for different uses: the UniProt Archive, the UniProt Knowledgebase, the UniProt Reference Clusters and the UniProt Metagenomic and Environmental Sequence Database. UniProt is updated and distributed every 3 weeks and can be accessed online for searches or download at http://www.uniprot.org.


Discussions on Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) in the academic and practitioner journals are gradually changing from examining definitions and justifications to sharing good practice, with an acceptance that IMC is the only way forward in the multi-platform digital environment in which we now need to operate. Despite this growth in confidence, agencies report that the initiative in implementing IMC has to come from the client and barriers such as lack of understanding and organisational structures are preventing this from happening. But what do the clients think? There has been very little research into clients' perception of IMC and its implementation. This study addresses this issue by examining the views of senior personal across both the client and agency sides of the industry. These views are obtained by analysing quantitative and qualitative feedback from an online questionnaire. Results show that the client is aware that IMC needs to be at the strategic level of an organisation and does perceive its implementation as difficult. The main challenge they face is in influencing other departments within the organisation to co-operate. The implications of these findings are explored further.


INTRODUCTION
A substantial section of society constituting the mentally ill and psychiatric patients deserve special attention. Evidence has suggested that psychological factors have contributed to an increase in the susceptibility to periodontal disease.

AIM
The aim of the study was to evaluate the gingival and periodontal health of chronically non-hospitalized psychiatric patients in Mangaluru city, India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty one psychiatric patients having chronic psychiatric illness and on neuroleptic medications for a minimum of 2 years were included in the study. The control group consisted of 41 healthy dental patients who were selected to match the study group by age and gender, and for both groups 20 teeth excluding the third molars should be present. Demographic characteristics, dental examination including gingival index and periodontal health according to the community periodontal index were recorded for each patient in both the groups.

RESULTS
In the psychiatric patient group (Group A) 47.1% subjects were suffering from schizophrenia and 17.6% subjects were having mood disorder. Gingivitis varied from mild to severe among the patients of both the groups. Bleeding on probing (CPI 1) was recorded in 23.5% in Group A and 14.6% in Group B. Dental calculus (CPI 2) in 38.2% in Group A and 58.5% in Group B of the subjects, 20.6% with at least one 4mm to 5mm pocket (CPI 3), and 17.6% with at least one 6mm pocket (CPI 4).

CONCLUSION
The present study underlines a considerable need for prevention and treatment of periodontal disease among chronic psychiatric patients in Mangaluru city. Every effort should be made to increase the awareness of this cohort regarding the importance of oral hygiene practices and on the early diagnosis of periodontal problems.


We describe the simulated data sample for the Photometric Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Astronomical Time Series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC), a publicly available challenge to classify transient and variable events that will be observed by the LSST, a new facility expected to start in the early 2020s. The challenge was hosted by Kaggle, ran from 2018 September 28 to December 17, and included 1094 teams competing for prizes. Here we provide details of the 18 transient and variable source models, which were not revealed until after the challenge, and release the model libraries at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2612896. We describe the LSST Operations Simulator used to predict realistic observing conditions, and we describe the publicly available SNANA simulation code used to transform the models into observed fluxes and uncertainties in the LSST passbands (ugrizy). Although PLAsTiCC has finished, the publicly available models and simulation tools are being used within the astronomy community to further improve classification, and to study contamination in photometrically identified samples of SN Ia used to measure properties of dark energy. Our simulation framework will continue serving as a platform to improve the PLAsTiCC models, and to develop new models.


When two slanted surfaces are placed in proximity, the perceived slant difference between them is exaggerated. This effect has been called slant contrast. When a partial occluder is presented in front of the gap between them, the perceived slant difference between the surfaces is reduced. We refer to this reduction in perceived slant difference as stereo-slant assimilation. We investigated two properties of the occluder that might affect perceived stereo-slant difference. Three vertically aligned random-dot patterns were presented either with a partial occluder over the gaps between them or without it. Observers judged the perceived slant difference between the center pattern and two surround random-dot patterns that had the same slant. The perceived slant difference was reduced when the partial occluder was present. We varied stereo-depth and slant of the occluder and found that the decreased perceived slant difference was not due to either of these. Note that the surfaces were all simulated and presented on a computer screen and the results may not apply to real surfaces. The effect of the occluder on perceived slant differences could have resulted from either a reduction of slant contrast or an increase of slant assimilation.


The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently proposed an Internet nondiscrimination rule: "Subject to reasonable network management, a provider of broadband Internet access service must treat lawful content, applications, and services in a nondiscriminatory manner." Among other requests, the FCC sought comment on whether the proposed nondiscrimination rule would "promote free speech, civic participation, and democratic engagement," and whether it would "impose any burdens on access providers' speech that would be cognizable for purposes of the First Amendment." The purpose of this Article is to suggest that a wide range of responses to these First Amendment questions, offered by telecommunications providers and civil society groups alike, have glossed over a fundamental question: whether the activities of broadband Internet providers are sufficiently imbued with speech or expressive conduct to warrant protection under the First Amendment in the first place. Yet if this question is not resolved, any subsequent analysis of those who facilitate Internet-based telecommunications will necessarily rest on an incoherent and insufficiently considered definition of the "speech" that is at the heart of First Amendment concerns. The FCC's proposed nondiscrimination rule is an attempt to ensure that when access providers route "lawful content, applications, and services" to users on behalf of some third-party information providers, they are also obligated to route lawful content, applications, and services to users from all other information providers. Based on this understanding of the FCC's nondiscrimination rule as a form of the equal access rule upheld in Rumsfeld, the Article concludes that the nondiscrimination rule does not affect the speech and association rights of access providers. Internet access providers do not accrue the speech rights associated with the third-party content, applications, and other communications that they transport to users through their networks.


Literate Statistical Practice (LSP, (Rossini, 2001)) describes an approach for creating self-documenting statistical results. It applies literate programming (Knuth, 1992) and related techniques in a natural fashion to the practice of statistics. In particular, documentation, specification, and descriptions of results are written concurrently with writing and evaluation of statistical programs. We discuss how and where LSP can be integrated into practice and illustrate this with an example derived from an actual statistical consulting project. The approach is simplified through the use of a comprehensive, open source toolset incorporating Noweb, Emacs Speaks Statistics (ESS), Sweave, and R (Ramsey, 1994; Rossini et al., 2003; Leisch, 2002; Ihaka and Gentleman, 1996). We conclude with an assessment of LSP for the construction of reproducible, auditable, and comprehensible statistical analyses.


In this note we provide a probabilistic proof that Poisson and/or Dirichlet problems in an ellipsoid in $\mathbb{R}^d$, that have polynomial data, also have polynomial solutions. Our proofs use basic stochastic calculus. The existing proofs are based on famous lemma by E. Fisher which we do not use, and present a simple martingale proof of it as well.


This paper presents an ultra-high speed hardware platform dedicated to power system dynamic (small signal) and transient (large signal) stability. It is based on an intrinsic parallel architecture which contains hybrid mixed-signal (analog and digital) circuits. For a given model, this architecture overcomes the speed of the numerical simulators by means of the so-called emulation approach. Indeed, the emulation speed does not depend on the power system size. This approach is nevertheless not competing against high-performance numerical simulators in term of accuracy and model complexity. It targets to complement the numerical simulators with the advantage of speed, portability, low cost and autonomous functioning. The proof of concept is a flexible and modular 96-node hardware platform. It is based on a reconfigurable array of power system buses called Field Programmable Power Network System (FPPNS). Details on this hardware are given. Two benchmark topologies with, respectively, 17 nodes and 57 nodes are provided. Comparisons with a digital simulator are done in terms of speed and accuracy. The calibration of the system is explained and different applications are proposed and discussed. The promising results of this hardware platform show that the design of a fully integrated solution containing hundreds of power system buses can be achieved in order to provide a low cost solution.


The structural stability of different crystallographic phases of three magnesium chalcogenides, MgTe, MgS and MgSe, are investigated from first principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) using projector augmented waves (PAW) potentials within both generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and local density approximation (LDA). Five different phases of these compounds, rock-salt (B1), cesium chloride (B2), zinc-blende (B3), wurtzite (B4) and NiAs (B81), are considered in detail. LDA calculations of the ground state structure of all compounds considered are in accordance with previous studies, while calculations with GGA functionals resulted interesting perspectives. Ground state stable phases of MgS and MgSe are found as rock-salt structure, while the NiAs is the ground state of MgTe within the LDA scheme. But GGA calculations show that the ground states of MgTe and MgSe are wurtzite, while the ground state of MgS is same as in LDA calculations. There is also a structural transition observed for MgTe around 1.2 GPa pressure from wurtzite to NiAs by GGA calculations. The calculated quantities show that the rock-salt–NiAs and zinc-blende–wurtzite pairs have similar energetics. The calculated structural quantities for all compounds under study in all phases agree well with the available experimental and theoretical values. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Lack of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence of risk and, in this case, no evidence of harm does not mean evidence of no harm; subsequently, no amount of alcohol during pregnancy can be considered safe based on research evidence. Newborns exposed to maternal alcohol during pregnancy can develop a spectrum of characteristic facial features, impaired neurodevelopment, cognitive and behavioural disabilities, and fetal growth restriction known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), with the most severe form, including specific morphological facial abnormalities, defined as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).1–6 However, most patients with FASD exhibit only a subset of the characteristics of FAS, such as cognitive and behavioural deficits, and, possibly, facial abnormalities.4 FASD and FAS represent the most recurrent and easily preventable cause of acquired development disabilities in newborns.2 ,6 It is a serious problem for the individual and for society; it entails not only human suffering but also loss of productivity, and a high burden of medical and social costs.5 ,6

There are several unsolved questions related to prenatal alcohol exposure and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. The true rate of prenatal alcohol consumption in different countries using reliable tools of estimation is unknown. It is recognised that FASD is entirely preventable through alcohol abstinence, but worldwide 30% (60% in certain countries) of pregnant women consume alcohol during pregnancy.7 ,8 In Canada, prevalence rates of FAS and FASD have been reported to be 1–3 and 9 per 1000 live births, respectively, higher than the FAS prevalence of 0.5–2.0 per 1000 live infants in the USA.9 ,10 Currently, in Europe, there are no systematic data on FAS and FASD prevalence rates, nor on prenatal exposure to ethanol, and only one retrospective study in Italy showed a prevalence of FAS …


Quasi-trees generalize trees in that the unique "path" between two nodes may be infinite and have any countable order type. They are used to define the rank-width of a countable graph in such a way that it is equal to the least upper-bound of the rank-widths of its finite induced subgraphs. Join-trees are the corresponding directed trees. They are useful to define the modular decomposition of a countable graph. We also consider ordered join-trees, that generalize rooted trees equipped with a linear order on the set of sons of each node. We define algebras with finitely many operations that generate (via infinite terms) these generalized trees. We prove that the associated regular objects (those defined by regular terms) are exactly the ones that are the unique models of monadic second-order sentences. These results use and generalize a similar result by W. Thomas for countable linear orders.


Although the epigraphic records do not attest an exact toponomy to confirm where exactly Hygassos is but rather announce an ethnic, this paper aims to suggest further by chasing the
inter-relatability of some selected inscriptions. The supplementary data is also presented to find out and assess the question of settlement and chronology in a variety of contexts. The data repository attained from the close catchment of the Acropolis (in Kizilkoy) give a lucid picture of a densely occupied "urban" zone and represents a flashback to the Hellenistic links of the deme, however it is quite a painful job to trace the earlier features that are highly disturbed or misrepresented in the khorai. Even though land use seems to be quite determined by the interplay of environmental and habitational dynamics (the settlement patterns hardly appear to be forcefully driven) in both, the inland deme of Hygassos and coastal/quasi-coastal Phoinix were the two diverse implantations in the Rhodian Peraia, in respect of attraction in the Hellenistic period. Changes within the spatio-temporal context are not that easy to explore, however, when architectural data and micro-plans are reviewed, mobility and/or seasonality could have been there, beyond the smooth layouts, particularly near the coastal hilly terrains of Hygassos. Still, crumbles of ceramic evidence which hint at Hygassos' potential to offer links with the late Bronze Age and; cultic figures or linguistic rules that manifest her tendency toward a stronger Anatolian, hence Karian character in the Peraia, make her a lot more distinguished than the neighbouring demoi.


Background: The incidence of gallstones formation association with the obesity epidemic and rapid weight loss is dramatically increasing in recent years. Therefore, the aim of the review of literature was to discuss the gallstone formation prophylaxis and weight loss procedure with especial focus to the available related literature from Saudi Arabia. Methods: A review of the literature was made using the most common electronic sources including: electronic database, EMBASE, MEDLINE search using keywords: gallstones, bariatric surgery, weight loss, and Saudi Arabia. The major outcomes gained were related with the different procedure associated with bariatric surgeries to find out possible predictive factors for the development of gallstone and prevention measures. Conclusion: Although there a gap in literature from Saudi Arabia, the real movement towards a more conservative attitude in the gallstone formation prophylaxis after bariatric surgery needs more physicians to be involved to face the increasing biliary complications.


An equifacetal simplex, in which all facets are congruent, has a unique center. The center conjecture states that a simplex that has a unique center must be equifacetal. A strong version of the conjecture is proved in dimensions at most six by showing that there is an explicit list of centers, defined for all simplices, whose coinciding implies the simplex is equifacetal. It remains an open problem whether the conjecture is true in dimensions greater than six.


Finkl Steel Durodi is a nickel-chromium-molybdenum-vanadium, alloy hot work tool steel that hardens deeply and uniformly to a high hardness that holds up exceedingly well under impact and thermal shock. It is designed to provide maximum abrasion and heat resistance over a full range of service temperatures normally encountered in forging applications. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, hardness, and elasticity. It also includes information on high temperature performance as well as forming, machining, and joining. Filing Code: TS-789. Producer or source: Finkl Steel (a Schmolz + Bickenbach Group company).


This thesis explores changes in the division of paid and domestic work when British couples become parents. It investigates whether the increase in gender inequality that often occurs may be an obstacle to childbearing and relationship quality. Previous research concentrated on mothers' labour market interruptions and connections between female employment and low fertility or high family instability. Considering the division of domestic labour, however, is central to understanding how economic inequalities between men and women are interdependent with women's greater involvement in unpaid work. This thesis also provides the first UK evidence on how domestic work matters to childbearing and relationship quality of new parents in the context of trends towards more egalitarian gender role identities but lagging practice. The theoretical framework combines a rational choice approach to family behaviour with explanations based on gender role identity. The empirical investigation uses event-history analysis and regression models based on fourteen waves (1992-2005) of the British Household Panel Survey. In contrast to neo-classical economic predictions, the change in the division of labour after couples become parents does not depend on women's relative earnings. Instead both partners' gender role identities are more significant. The association between the domestic labour division and childbearing or relationship quality, however, does not vary by women's gender role identities. Men's housework contributions are associated with a higher probability of having a second child for dual-earner couples, although traditional male-breadwinner families are still more likely to have a first and second child. Gender equality in housework and childcare after couples have a child is associated with lower satisfaction with the partner for most mothers but greater relationship stability. Despite emergence of some egalitarian trends, relatively traditional practice and expectations therefore seem to persist among new parents. The gendered UK policy context also favours more traditional arrangements around parenthood.


Objective
Two larvicides, temephos (Abate®) and novaluron (Mosquiron®) were compared in a field trial in Colonche, Ecuador against Aedes aegypti (Skuse). Community perceptions of dengue fever along with acceptance of new methods were evaluated.
Methods:
Homes were inspected for water storage containers and the evaluation of two larvicides was conducted post-application to 189L drums citywide. The city was split in half using the main street to assign treatment areas: the northern part of the city received temephos in 43 drums, while the southern side of the city received novaluron applications in 66 drums. Aedes population density was assessed by eggs counts. Eggs were collected from oviposition traps every 7days for 56 days. A survey was administered to the community to determine dengue related knowledge and risk perception.
Results
Eggs were reduced from an average of 37 and 15 to 0 at day 7 post-treatment for the temephos and novaluron sites, respectively. Significant reductions were found only at days 7 and 14 for both treatment sites. Most of the respondents thought that protection against mosquito bites was important, however only 50% of them knew about either the locations of larval habitats or source reduction practices. About 16% reported they did not want to use a different larvicide than temephos. Yet, some participants reported concerns about temephos applications.
Conclusion
Results showed that fewer eggs were collected at pre and post-treatment but were apparently lower in the novaluron site. Both interventions were effective up to 15 days post-application. Short effect could be explained by the lack of knowledge in the community about dengue prevention practices. Interventions need to be tailored to the local ecology and social conditions so they can be effective, thus such should follow the principles of integrated vector management.


The paper examined the changes in public sector reforms in Nigeria over the last several decades. Nigeria has embraced variants of the philosophy of administration broadly called "New Public Management" (NPM) in an effort to improve administrative efficiency and the provision of public services The politicisation of the public service has been a subject of author interest. This paper brings concepts and ideas from around the world about the need for and ways of achieving more responsive and accountable new public management within the framework of democratic governance. The paper adopts a content analysis method through the use of secondary data. The findings of the paper revealed that the adoption of NPM has improved public service in the delivery of social service to the citizens. It also reduced corruption in the public service through the implementation of e-government and SERVICOM initiatives to the citizens. The paper concluded that NPM reforms had led to the emergence of a truly reprofessionalised Nigerian public service in the fourth democratic governance. Keywords: Democracy, governance, new public management, accountability, reform


Ultrasonic wire bonding is an indispensable process in the manufacturing of semiconductor components. It is used for interconnecting the silicon die to e.g. connectors in the housing or to other semiconductors in complex components. In high power applications, such as wind turbines, locomotives or electric vehicles, the thermal and mechanical limits of interconnects made from aluminum are nearing. The limits could be overcome using copper wire bonds, but their manufacturing poses challenges due to the harder material, which leads to increased wear of the bond tools and to less reliable production. To overcome these drawbacks, adaptation of process parameters at runtime is employed. However, the range of parameter values for which a stable process can be maintained is very small, making it necessary to compute suitable parameters beforehand. To this end, and to gain insights into the process itself, the ultrasonic bonding process is modeled. The full model is composed of several partial models, some of which were introduced before. This paper focuses on the modularization of the full model and on the interaction of partial models. All partial models are presented, their interaction is shown and the general outline of the simulation process is given.


Academics and business practitioners are intrigued by the factors that foster continued user engagement in virtual worlds (VWs). It is unclear how, and to what extent, existing theories can explain their continued use. As young people constitute the majority of VW users, understanding the reasons for their continued use intentions is important. Taking the distinctive features of VW services into account, such as the visibility of users' actions to other users, we contextualize the Theory of Planned Behavior and investigate the role of teenagers' attitudes, social influences and perceived behavioral control as the determinants of their continued intention to use VW. We then apply a set of constructs from prior Information Systems (IS) literature to decompose these constructs. By analyzing primary data collected from 923 users of Habbo Hotel, a leading virtual world for teenagers, this study confirms the role of users' intrinsic motivation, interpersonal influence and self-efficacy as key constituents of sustained user engagement in VWs. In addition, we demonstrate that decomposing these three established constructs can capture many of the key contextual characteristics of VWs. The study contributes to the literature by showing that IS theories and constructs are appropriate for the VW setting and teenage users. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


This paper discusses the conceptual considerations that underpin classroom teaching observations within the research methodology for a project on Higher Education English Studies in ordinarily non-Anglophone contexts. The parameters of the broad project are outlined, and the methodological purpose served by classroom teaching observations therein explained. A survey of the various strands of existing classroom research follows, highlighting the relevant aspects of each for this project. A section briefly considers what sort of initial conceptual understanding of the classroom is suitable, and three frameworks – exploiting notions of spatiality, culture and performance – are recommended. How observer-interference in the classroom may be negotiated is briefly considered in the final section.


Learning sciences, as an interdisciplinary field of research, refers to adoption of theories from multiple disciplines to gain understanding of the conditions and processes that lead to effective learning. This paper examines learning sciences research in the Asia Pacific region by means of content analysis of research papers published in three major journals: Journal of the Learning Sciences, International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, and Instructional Science. A total of 24 research papers contributed by authors affiliated to six Asia Pacific countries from 1997 to 2010 were found and analyzed. The main findings suggested that Hong Kong and Australian researchers are pioneers in learning sciences research, while Singaporean researchers have had significant contributions to this field after 2007. In addition, empirical studies were favoured over positional and theoretical papers. It is found that the theoretical frameworks underpinning these empirical studies were strongly influenced by Western research philosophies, including knowledge building pedagogy and learning study theories. Moreover, nearly half of the empirical studies involved the use of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) technologies. The findings of this study may provide insights to promote learning sciences research in the Asia-Pacific region.


Specially designed for students starting a tertiary level course in higher education, this book addresses all aspects of academic writing, from the details of accurate grammatical construction, pronunciation and spelling to appropriate style choices. Ten appendices form a bank of useful material, cross-referenced from the main units. A glossary of examination and essay terms and an extensive key are also included.


Dual‐energy x‐ray imaging is capable of enhancing the conspicuity of materials by removing extraneous contrast. Classic dual‐energy theory, however, does not encompass materials which have a K edge in the diagnostic energy range, such as iodine contrast agent. We attempt to extend dual‐energy theory to incorporate all materials. In the first approach, a third basis material is introduced to account for the discontinuity. The transmission of a human torso consisting of muscle, adipose and iodine can be represented by equivalent thicknesses of three basis materials chosen to be Lucite, aluminum and iodine. Material look‐alike unit vectors in the Lucite, aluminum and iodine space give the direction for projecting patient data to remove contrast between any two pairs of materials. This approach fails, however, if a contrast agent different from that used as a basis material is present, such as barium. A more general extension of dual‐energy theory would accommodate different K edges. In the second approach, a K‐edge material is represented by two basis materials and a Heaviside function shifted to the K edge and scaled to give the jump ratio. The scale factor is a slowly varying function of the energy shift: the jump ratio is 5.58 for iodine (Z=53) and 5.23 for barium (Z=56). This makes it possible to describe any material by three parameters. The next step will be to link the two disjoint approaches to obtain a general extension of dual‐energy theory, of which the current theory is a projection into the two‐basis plane.


Consumer quantitative survey is performed on general population 18+ in Serbia at the end of September – begging of October 2010. The instrument used in this survey was a structured questionnaire consisting of several separate sections, including motivation toward food in general (Food Choice Questionnaire FCQ), the specific questions about traditional and functional food and consumer socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The stratified three-staged random representative sample is applied (N=516). Based on reported frequency heavy traditional food consumers, who simultaneously reported lower level of functional food consumption (NT=196) and heavy functional food consumers with lower level of traditional food consumption (NF=60) are identified. A descriptive statistical analysis (parametric and non-parametric) is conducted with the aim to investigate all statistically significant differences between two consumers' group profiles. The heavy traditional dominate over heavy functional food consumer group in Serbia. "Traditional food" in Serbia is perceived as home-made, tasty and healthy, with long heritage. Rank of motivations is very similar: after 'taste' 'price', 'natural content' and 'health' are most frequently chosen by both consumers groups. However, the heavy traditional food consumers are more old, therefore unemployed (as retired people are considered as unemployed) and exposed to social influences. Differences in age and education between two compared consumers groups indicate possible transition of diet pattern toward more frequent functional food consumption.


The organ distribution of microsomal cytochrome P 450 isoenzymes (P 450), microsomal epoxide hydrolase (EH) and cytosolic glutathione-S-transferases was investigated by immunoblotting and enzyme measurements in rats and humans. In rats, P 450 IA1 was detected only in the duodenum, and P 450 IA2 and IIC11 were detected only in the liver. The highest concentrations of P 450 IIB1/B2 were found in the lung and in the duodenum; pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase activity was closely correlated with the amounts of P 450 IIB1/B2 in the different organs. P 450 IIE1 was present in liver, kidney and lung, whereas EH was found in liver, intestine and kidney. In humans, P 450 IIIA4 was detected in all tissues investigated; the highest concentrations were found in liver and intestine. The P 450 IIIA4 level was closely correlated with that of erythromycin demethylase and pentoxyresorufin-O-dealkylase activities. P 450 IIC8-10, IIE1 and IID6 were expressed in liver and intestine, P 450 9 in liver and kidney and P 450 IA2 in liver. EH was identified only in liver, intestine and kidney. In both species, concentrations and total amounts of P 450 isoenzymes and EH were much lower in all extrahepatic tissues than in the liver. Conversely, glutathione-S-transferase-pi was abundant in human intestine and colon compared to liver. Glutathione-S-transferase-mu polymorphism was confirmed in all tissues investigated. This extensive study showed that the pattern of (iso) enzymes was different in all tissues studied; consequently, xenobiotic metabolism would appear to be very different in each type of tissue.


SUMMARY In response to mechanical stimuli the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri (Demospongiae, Haplosclerida, Spongillidae) carries out a series of peristaltic-like contractions that is effective in expelling clumps of waste material from the aquiferous system. Rates of contraction depend on the region of tissue they are propagating through: 0.3–1 μm s–1 in the peripheral canals, 1–4 μm s–1 in central canals, and 6–122 μm s–1 in the osculum. Faster events include twitches of the entire sponge choanosome and contraction of the sheet-like apical pinacoderm that forms the outer surface of the animal. Contraction events are temporally and spatially coordinated. Constriction of the tip of the osculum leads to dilation of excurrent canals; fields of ostia in the apical pinacoderm close in unison just prior to contraction of the choanosome, apical pinacoderm and osculum. Relaxation returns the osculum, canals and the apical pinacoderm to their normal state, and three such coordinated `inflation–contraction' responses typically follow a single stimulus. Cells in the mesohyl arrest crawling as a wave of contraction passes, suggesting an extracellular signal may pass between cells. Bundles of actin filaments traverse endopinacocytes of the apical pinacoderm. Actin-dense plaques join actin bundles in adjacent pinacocytes to form continuous tracts spanning the whole sponge. The orchestrated and highly repeatable series of contractions illustrates that cellular sponges are capable of coordinated behavioural responses even in the absence of neurons and true muscle. Propagation of the events through the pinacocytes also illustrates the presence of a functional epithelium in cellular sponges. These results suggest that control over a hydrostatic skeleton evolved prior to the origin of nerves and true muscle.


Suppose a principal Alice wishes to reduce her uncertainty regarding some future payoff. Consider a self-proclaimed expert Bob that may either be an informed expert knowing an exact (or approximate) distribution of a future random outcome that may affect Alice's utility, or an uninformed expert who knows nothing more than Alice does. Alice would like to hire Bob and solicit his signal. Her goal is to incentivize an informed expert to accept the contract and reveal his knowledge while deterring an uninformed expert from accepting the contract altogether. The starting point of this work is a powerful negative result (Olszewski and Sandroni, 2007), which tells us that in the general case for any contract which guarantees an informed expert some positive payoff an uninformed expert (with no extra knowledge) has a strategy which guarantees him a positive payoff as well. At the face of this negative result, we reexamine the notion of an expert and conclude that knowing some hidden variable (i.e., the description of the aforementioned distribution), does not make Bob an expert, or at least not a "valuable expert". The premise of our paper is that if Alice only tries to incentivize experts which are valuable to her decision making then she can indeed screen them from uninformed experts. On a more technical level, we consider the case where Bob's signal about the distribution of a future event cannot be an arbitrary distribution but rather comes from some subset P of all possible distributions. We give rather tight conditions on P (which relate to its convexity), under which screening is possible. We formalize our intuition that if these conditions are not met then an expert is not guaranteed to be valuable. We give natural and arguably useful scenarios where indeed such a restriction on the distribution arise.


OBJECTIVE Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a significant clinical and public health concern. Understanding the distribution of CRE colonization and developing a coordinated approach are key components of control efforts. The prevalence of CRE in the District of Columbia is unknown. We sought to determine the CRE colonization prevalence within healthcare facilities (HCFs) in the District of Columbia using a collaborative, regional approach. DESIGN Point-prevalence study. SETTING This study included 16 HCFs in the District of Columbia: all 8 acute-care hospitals (ACHs), 5 of 19 skilled nursing facilities, 2 (both) long-term acute-care facilities, and 1 (the sole) inpatient rehabilitation facility. PATIENTS Inpatients on all units excluding psychiatry and obstetrics-gynecology. METHODS CRE identification was performed on perianal swab samples using real-time polymerase chain reaction, culture, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Prevalence was calculated by facility and unit type as the number of patients with a positive result divided by the total number tested. Prevalence ratios were compared using the Poisson distribution. RESULTS Of 1,022 completed tests, 53 samples tested positive for CRE, yielding a prevalence of 5.2% (95% CI, 3.9%–6.8%). Of 726 tests from ACHs, 36 (5.0%; 95% CI, 3.5%–6.9%) were positive. Of 244 tests from long-term-care facilities, 17 (7.0%; 95% CI, 4.1%–11.2%) were positive. The relative prevalence ratios by facility type were 0.9 (95% CI, 0.5–1.5) and 1.5 (95% CI, 0.9–2.6), respectively. No CRE were identified from the inpatient rehabilitation facility. CONCLUSION A baseline CRE prevalence was established, revealing endemicity across healthcare settings in the District of Columbia. Our study establishes a framework for interfacility collaboration to reduce CRE transmission and infection. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:921–929


Glomerular permeability was investigated by using saccharated ferric oxide (Ferrivenin) as a tracer substance in sham operated and adrenalectomized rats during the infusion of normal saline and of renin and angiotensin. Kidney tissue was examined by electronmicroscopy. A striking increase in the number of the tracer substance particles was noted within the endothelial cells and basement membrane of sham operated rats infused with renin and angiotensin compared with that in adrenalectomized rats similarly treated or in rats infused with physiological saline only. No prominent change in the structure of the capillary wall was noted. More detailed information on the sieving characteristics of the glomerular filter and of the modifications induced by renin and angiotensin and by adrenalectomy was obtained by studying its behaviour in relation to the rates of passage of radioactively labelled PVP molecules of different sizes. In sham operated rats during renin or angiotensin infusion the passage of the higher molecular weight fractions of the polymer through the glomerular membrane was significantly increased, while the filtration of the lower molecular weight fractions was similar to that observed in rats infused with normal saline. One possible explanation could be an increase in intraglomerular pressure resulting in stretching of a small proportion of the total pore area. The absence of a similar response in adrenalectomized rats was attributed to the severe reduction in glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow caused in these animals by the infusion of renin and angioten.


[1] Studies of nonvolcanic tremor (NVT) have established the significant impact of small stress perturbations on NVT generation. Here we analyze the influence of the solid earth and ocean tides on a catalog of ∼550,000 low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) distributed along a 150 km section of the San Andreas Fault centered at Parkfield. LFE families are identified in the NVT data on the basis of waveform similarity and are thought to represent small, effectively co-located earthquakes occurring on brittle asperities on an otherwise aseismic fault at depths of 16 to 30 km. We calculate the sensitivity of each of these 88 LFE families to the tidally induced right-lateral shear stress (RLSS), fault-normal stress (FNS), and their time derivatives and use the hypocentral locations of each family to map the spatial variability of this sensitivity. LFE occurrence is most strongly modulated by fluctuations in shear stress, with the majority of families demonstrating a correlation with RLSS at the 99% confidence level or above. Producing the observed LFE rate modulation in response to shear stress perturbations requires low effective stress in the LFE source region. There are substantial lateral and vertical variations in tidal shear stress sensitivity, which we interpret to reflect spatial variation in source region properties, such as friction and pore fluid pressure. Additionally, we find that highly episodic, shallow LFE families are generally less correlated with tidal stresses than their deeper, continuously active counterparts. The majority of families have weaker or insignificant correlation with positive (tensile) FNS. Two groups of families demonstrate a stronger correlation with fault-normal tension to the north and with compression to the south of Parkfield. The families that correlate with fault-normal clamping coincide with a releasing right bend in the surface fault trace and the LFE locations, suggesting that the San Andreas remains localized and contiguous down to near the base of the crust. The deep families that have high sensitivity to both shear and tensile normal stress perturbations may be indicative of an increase in effective fault contact area with depth. Synthesizing our observations with those of other LFE-hosting localities will help to develop a comprehensive understanding of transient fault slip below the "seismogenic zone" by providing constraints on parameters in physical models of slow slip and LFEs.


ABSTRACT Given its rapidly-aging population, the U.S. needs a workforce that is informed about and capable of meeting the diverse needs of older adults. Students pursing gerontology education may feel unsure of career opportunities as they enter a job market with traditionally clearly-defined disciplinary backgrounds. The goal of this study was to explore how people currently employed in an aging-related job searched for positions, and how this compared to phrasing used by employers to advertise job openings across several aging-related fields. A web-based survey was administered to employees in aging-related positions, and a search of four job-seeking websites to collect and analyze aging-related job postings was conducted. Most (63%) currently working in the field of aging reported finding their jobs through referral from a friend/colleague or through job search sites or job boards. Out of 493 relevant job postings identified, only 175 of the postings (35%), preferred or required applicants to have some type of aging-related knowledge, skills, training, or prior experience. There may be consequences to not specifically recruiting applicants with aging-related backgrounds: job seekers with qualifications in aging may look for other positions that expressly call for their specialized skills or knowledge, and quality of services and care may be different when provided by persons without such training.


Understanding and predicting the hydraulic properties of biofilm‐affected porous media is of high importance in bioremediation, filtration, and bioreactors. In this study, a channel network model was applied for characterizing the variably saturated flow in biofilm‐affected soils. The soil pores are represented by a network of interconnected channels having a triangular cross‐section in which the shape of the water surface is determined by the matric head. The channel network model provides a better representation of the pore space than the capillary bundle model by accounting for pore connectivity and allowing for dual occupancy at individual pores. The effect of the biofilm on the network hydraulic properties was analyzed by considering three synthetic scenarios for the biofilm spatial distribution. The first scenario assumed that the biofilms fully clogged the smallest pores; the second scenario assumed that the biofilm covered all pore walls in a layer of uniform thickness; and the third scenario assumed that the biofilm covered a uniform fraction of the pore cross‐sectional area. We showed that the biofilm spatial distribution has a significant effect on the flow and hydraulic properties. Moreover, pore connectivity plays a significant role when considering flow in biofilm‐affected soils and therefore must be taken into account. Finally, the simulations demonstrated that the effect of biofilms on the hydraulic properties of the network is a complicated and nonlinear function that depends not only on the biofilm scenario but also on the saturation.


Human operators play a critical role in various Cyber-Physical System (CPS) domains, for example, transportation, smart living, robotics, and medicine. The rapid advancement of automation technology is driving a trend towards deep human-automation cooperation in many safety-critical applications, making it important to explicitly consider user behaviors throughout the system development cycle. While past research has generated extensive knowledge and techniques for analyzing human-automation interaction, in many emerging applications, it remains an open challenge to develop quantitative models of user behaviors that can be directly incorporated into the system-level analysis. This dissertation describes methods for modeling different types of user behaviors in medical CPS and integrating the behavioral models into system analysis. We make three main contributions. First, we design a model-based analysis framework to evaluate, improve, and formally verify the robustness of generic (i.e., nonpersonalized) user behaviors that are typically driven by rule-based clinical protocols. We conceptualize a data-driven technique to predict safety-critical events at run-time in the presence of possible time-varying process disturbances. Second, we develop a methodology to systematically identify behavior variables and functional relationships in healthcare applications. We build personalized behavior models and analyze population-level behavioral patterns. Third, we propose a sequential decision filtering technique by leveraging a generic parameter-invariant test to validate behavior information that may be measured through unreliable channels, which is a practical challenge in many human-in-the-loop applications. A unique strength of this validation technique is that it achieves high inter-subject consistency despite uncertain parametric variances in the physiological processes, without needing any individual-level tuning. We validate the proposed approaches by applying them to several case studies. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Computer and Information Science First Advisor Insup Lee Subject Categories Computer Sciences This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1652 MODEL-BASED ANALYSIS OF USER BEHAVIORS IN MEDICAL CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS


Background In order to provide a better healthcare education to the society, health care students should have an acceptable electronic health (E-Health) literacy. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the level of E-Health literacy of Medicine and Health Sciences university students in Mashhad, Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed on 192 students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences using a validated Persian translate of the E-Health literacy scale (P-EHEALS) questionnaire in 2016. Demographic data including age, monthly income, level of education, preference of website for obtaining health related information and minutes of Internet use per day were obtained from the subjects. Independent-samples t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for comparison between groups, and Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression were used to assess the correlation between study parameters and EHEALS score using SPSS version 21. Results A total of 192 (67.2% female and 32.8% male) subjects with mean age of 24.71±5.30 years participated in the study. Mean P-EHEALS score of the subjects was 28.21±6.95. There was a significant difference in P-EHEALS score between genders (p<0.001), department (p=0.001), education level (p<0.001) and health status (p=0.003) as well as monthly income (p=0.03), website preference categories (p=0.02). Male students were significantly more likely to gain higher P-EHEALS scores. Conclusion The level of E-Health literacy was low in Medical and Health Sciences university students in Mashhad. More studies are needed to assess the contributors to E-Health literacy.


The increasing computational requirements of deep neural networks (DNNs) have led to significant interest in obtaining DNN models that are sparse, yet accurate. Recent work has investigated the even harder case of sparse training, where the DNN weights are, for as much as possible, already sparse to reduce computational costs during training. Existing sparse training methods are often empirical and can have lower accuracy relative to the dense baseline. In this paper, we present a general approach called Alternating Compressed/DeCompressed (AC/DC) training of DNNs, demonstrate convergence for a variant of the algorithm, and show that AC/DC outperforms existing sparse training methods in accuracy at similar computational budgets; at high sparsity levels, AC/DC even outperforms existing methods that rely on accurate pre-trained dense models. An important property of AC/DC is that it allows co-training of dense and sparse models, yielding accurate sparse-dense model pairs at the end of the training process. This is useful in practice, where compressed variants may be desirable for deployment in resource-constrained settings without re-doing the entire training flow, and also provides us with insights into the accuracy gap between dense and compressed models. The code is available at: https://github.com/IST-DASLab/ACDC .


"Auch" and "noch" in Child and Adult German is an empirical study on the early acquisition of "auch" (also) and "noch" (also/still) in German, and the adult use of these particles in spoken language. The study is based on an extensive longitudinal corpus of child language and several corpora of adult spoken German. It is the first study to analyse the intonation properties of these particles systematically, but it also looks at their semantic, syntactic and information structural properties. It not only establishes how children acquire the two particles, but it also develops an analysis of auch and noch that emphasises the difference between stressed and unstressed particles.


Abstract. Interannual variability of precipitation is traditionally described by fitting a probability model to yearly precipitation totals. There are three potential problems with this approach: a long record (at least 25–30 years) is required in order to fit the model, years with missing rainfall data cannot be used, and the data need to be homogeneous, i.e., one has to assume stationarity. To overcome some of these limitations, we test an alternative methodology proposed by Eagleson (1978), based on the derived distribution (DD) approach. It allows estimation of the probability density function (pdf) of annual rainfall without requiring long records, provided that continuously gauged precipitation data are available to derive external storm properties. The DD approach combines marginal pdfs for storm depths and inter-arrival times to obtain an analytical formulation of the distribution of annual precipitation, under the simplifying assumptions of independence between events and independence between storm depth and time to the next storm. Because it is based on information about storms and not on annual totals, the DD can make use of information from years with incomplete data; more importantly, only a few years of rainfall measurements should suffice to estimate the parameters of the marginal pdfs, at least at locations where it rains with some regularity. For two temperate locations in different climates (Concepcion, Chile, and Lugano, Switzerland), we randomly resample shortened time series to evaluate in detail the effects of record length on the DD, comparing the results with the traditional approach of fitting a normal (or lognormal) distribution. Then, at the same two stations, we assess the biases introduced in the DD when using daily totalized rainfall, instead of continuously gauged data. Finally, for randomly selected periods between 3 and 15 years in length, we conduct full blind tests at 52 high-quality gauging stations in Switzerland, analyzing the ability of the DD to estimate the long-term standard deviation of annual rainfall, as compared to direct computation from the sample of annual totals. Our results show that, as compared to the fitting of a normal or lognormal distribution (or equivalently, direct estimation of the sample moments), the DD approach reduces the uncertainty in annual precipitation estimates (especially interannual variability) when only short records (below 6–8 years) are available. In such cases, it also reduces the bias in annual precipitation quantiles with high return periods. We demonstrate that using precipitation data aggregated every 24 h, as commonly available at most weather stations, introduces a noticeable bias in the DD. These results point to the tangible benefits of installing high-resolution (hourly, at least) precipitation gauges, next to the customary, manual rain-measuring instrument, at previously ungauged locations. We propose that the DD approach is a suitable tool for the statistical description and study of annual rainfall, not only when short records are available, but also when dealing with nonstationary time series of precipitation. Finally, to avert any misinterpretation of the presented method, we should like to emphasize that it only applies for climatic analyses of annual precipitation totals; even though storm data are used, there is no relation to the study of extreme rainfall intensities needed for engineering design.


A customer journey map is a very simple idea: a diagram that illustrates the steps your customer(s) go through in engaging with your company, whether it be a product, an online experience, retail experience, or a service, or any combination. The more touchpoints you have, the more complicated — but necessary — such a map becomes. Sometimes customer journey maps are "cradle to grave," looking at the entire arc of engagement. Here, for example, is a customer journey timeline that includes first engaging with a customer (perhaps with advertising or in a store), buying the product or service, using it, sharing about the experience with others (in person or online), and then finishing the journey by upgrading, replacing, or choosing a competitor (re-starting the journey with another company):


Accounting for Value teaches investors and analysts how to handle accounting in evaluating equity investments. The book's novel approach shows that valuation and accounting are much the same: valuation is actually a matter of accounting for value.

 Laying aside many of the tools of modern finance?the cost-of-capital, the CAPM, and discounted cash flow analysis?Stephen Penman returns to the common-sense principles that have long guided fundamental investing: price is what you pay but value is what you get; the risk in investing is the risk of paying too much; anchor on what you know rather than speculation; and beware of paying too much for speculative growth. Penman puts these ideas in touch with the quantification supplied by accounting, producing practical tools for the intelligent investor.

 Accounting for value provides protection from paying too much for a stock and clues the investor in to the likely return from buying growth. Strikingly, the analysis finesses the need to calculate a "cost-of-capital," which often frustrates the application of modern valuation techniques. Accounting for value recasts "value" versus "growth" investing and explains such curiosities as why earnings-to-price and book-to-price ratios predict stock returns. By the end of the book, Penman has the intelligent investor thinking like an intelligent accountant, better equipped to handle the bubbles and crashes of our time. For accounting regulators, Penman also prescribes a formula for intelligent accounting reform, engaging with such controversial issues as fair value accounting.


Two feeding trials were conducted to evaluate the potential of malunggay (Moringa oleifera) leaf meal (MLM) as partial substitute for commercial hog pre-starter and starter diets of weaned pigs. Sixteen and 15 crossbreed weaned pigs were distributed randomly to four and three treatments in feeding trials A and B, respectively, following a completely randomized design. Commercial feeds served as the control diet in both feeding trials; substituted with 2, 3 and 4% MLM for treatments 2, 3 and 4, respectively in feeding trial A. In B, substitution with MLM was increased to 5 and 10% for treatments 2 and 3, respectively. Results showed no significant differences among treatments in all performance parameters measured. The average body weight, average daily gain, average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio of pigs fed diets with up to 10% MLM were statistically comparable to those fed 100% commercial feeds. Therefore, the commercial hog pre-starter or starter feeds could be partially substituted with MLM up to 10% without detrimental effect on the performance of weaned pigs. When malunggay is readily available in the backyard where the animal raiser could prepare the MLM, the feed cost to produce a kilogram body weight gain could be reduced by as much as PhP 4.28 to PhP 6.84/kg BWG with 10 and 4% MLM, respectively.


This paper develops a structural empirical general equilibrium model of aggregate bilateral trade with path dependence of country-pair level exporter status. Such path dependence is motivated through informational costs about serving a foreign market for first-time entry of (firms in) an export market versus continued export services to that market. We embed the theoretical model into a structural dynamic stochastic econometric model of bilateral selection into export markets and apply it to a data-set of aggregate bilateral exports among 120 countries over the period 1995-2004. In particular, we disentangle the role of changes in trade costs, in labor endowments, and in total factor productivity for trade, bilateral market entry, numbers of firms active, and welfare. Dynamic gains from trade differ significantly from static ones, and path-dependence in market entry cushions effects of impulses in fundamental variables that are detrimental to bilateral trade.


In this study, 160 African American seventh grade students were asked to complete a questionnaire designed to measure variables such as, `racial preference of teacher', and their perception of the types of treatment received from their Caucasian teachers. The majority of the students, contrary to some research, believed their teachers treated them fairly, related to them, and did not use race as an excuse to mistreat them or punish them for bad behavior. However, a slight majority stated they would prefer being taught by young African American teachers over young Caucasians, but students rejected the notion of only being instructed by teachers of a specific race, African American or Caucasian. Over the past decades, an increasing amount of attention has been given to race relations in the class room between students and teachers. For example, one of the most frequent complaints of high school students, especially African American students, is that some teachers, most noticeably Caucasians, don't relate very well to them. Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the effects of race on students and teachers, and how well they identify with one another in the classroom. Many educators (Felsenthal, 1970; Graybill, 1997) believe that a positive relationship must exist between the student and teacher if significant academic achievement is to be gained. That is, the student must identify favorably with their teachers or they will do very poorly in school, which will lead to failure in society. Investigators (Biber and Lewis, 1997; Cook, 1978; Felsenthal, 1970) reported that African American students, as well as their parents articulated that race of teacher was not significant, as long as teachers were caring, effective and fair. Furthermore, Caucasian teachers were able to motivate African American elementary school kids as effectively as African American teachers. Despite this evidence, other researchers (Brophy, 1983; Casteel, 1998; Cecil, 1988; Ford, 1985; Good, 1981; Holliday, 1985; Marcus et al., 1991; Nieto et al., 1994; Rabinow and Cooper, 1981; Rong, 1996; Troyna, 1990) have concluded that African American students were given less attention, ignored more, praised less, and reprimanded more than their counterparts when taught by Caucasian teachers. In light of the aforementioned literature, it would seem appropriate for school administrators to make every effort to place students with a teacher of their race. Therefore, this investigation attempted to find out how students felt about being taught by someone other than a member of their own race. Simply stated: Do African American students feel they do not receive fair and just treatment from Caucasian teachers who instruct them? Also, would African Americans prefer teachers of their own race because they could relate better to them? Method Sample Participants were 160 seventh grade African American students in a public junior high school located in a suburban area in southeastern Louisiana. The population was comprised of 101 girls and 59 boys. Originally there were 180 participants, but 20 students were disqualified because of missing data. All participants were tested by school counselors and were considered low achievers and had stanine scores of 4 or below on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. A majority of the students received free lunch or reduced lunch. Caucasian students comprised only 21% of the school population but were not part of this study. All but twelve students were instructed entirely by Caucasian teachers. The 51 Caucasian teachers who participated in the present study were part of the school's teaching staff, whose racial makeup was as follows: 78% Caucasians (sex of teacher was split almost equally); 26% African Americans (all females) and 1% Asians. These 51 teachers taught all of the students' core subjects except physical education, so that the only contact the students had with a teacher of their own race was one class 55 minutes) a day. …


Beliefs help shape how teachers perceive effective mathematics teaching. Providers of professional development, be they local or from other countries, need to be cognisant of such perceptions. This paper seeks to answer the question, 'What do South African teachers perceive as effective and ineffective teaching for developing conceptual understanding of mathematics?' A sample of 46 mathematics teachers was shown vignettes from eight different classrooms where the lesson dealt with some aspect of teaching fractions, and were then asked to comment on the strengths and weakness of what they observed. The comments were classified into seven themes with 18 sub-themes or categories. The majority of the comments focused on two themes, use of materials and modes of instruction. The various mathematical approaches for developing the concept of fractions received little attention. Perceptions of which vignette was considered to be the most effective approach to teaching mathematics resulted in a wide variety of responses. Finally implications for professional development are explored. It is suggested that in-service courses should be geared to what teachers themselves consider best practice, and that reflection on practice should play a more significant role in professional development.


We present a simple method for fabricating robust dry adhesives by coating a soft polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) thin layer on rigid backbone micropillars of polyurethane acrylate (PUA). These core–shell type micropillars demonstrated enhanced durability both in normal and shear adhesion over more than 100 cycles of attachment and detachment. Relatively strong normal (∼11.4 N cm−2) and shear (∼15.3 N cm−2) adhesion forces were observed, which were similar to or even larger than those of homogeneous PDMS micropillars. A simple theoretical model based on beam deflection theory was used to explain the experimental results.


This report outlines the conceptual, procedural and material evolution of my artistic practice over the course of the past three years. Throughout all of the changes my artwork has undergone during this time, my work has always dealt with the combination of (and sometimes conflict between) a scientific, logical, utilitarian truth, and a more poetic, emotive and oblique conception of knowledge. This preoccupation reflects my own impulse to both understand my environment in the most conventionally factual way, while simultaneously acknowledging its hopeless (but profound and poetic) complexity, subjectivity and obscurity. As a manifestation of these concerns, my artistic output includes diagrammatic compositions, philosophical illustrations, drawings of scientific imagery, portfolios of cartographic documents and methodical replications of scientific experiments. In this report I outline the various, complimentary ways in which I consider the notion of epistemological collapse.


We present ~2'' resolution CO (3-2), HCO+(4-3), and 880 μm continuum images of the luminous infrared galaxy NGC 6240 obtained at the Submillimeter Array. We find that the spatially resolved CO (3-2), HCO + (4-3), and the 880 μm emission peaks between the two nuclear components that are both known to harbor AGNs. Our large velocity gradient (LVG) analysis performed on each velocity channel suggests that the peak of the molecular gas emission traced in our observations is warm (T = 20-100 K), dense (nH2 = 105.0-105.4 cm-3), and moderately optically thin (τ = 0.2-2) in the central 1 kpc. We also find large column densities of ~1023 cm-2. Such extreme conditions are observed over ~300 km s-1 centered around the CO-derived systemic velocity. The derived molecular gas mass from the CO (3-2) emission and a CO-to-H2 conversion factor commonly used for ULIRGs is (6.9 ± 1.7) × 109 M☉, and this is consistent with the mass derived from previous CO (2-1) observations. The gas is highly turbulent in the central kpc (ΔvFWZI ~ 1175 km s-1). Furthermore, possible inflow or outflow activity is suggested from the CO (3-2) velocity distribution. We tentatively state that 3.5 × 108 M☉ of isolated CO (3-2) emission seen west of the northern disk may be associated with outflows from starburst superwinds, but the gas outflow scenario from one of the central AGN is not completely ruled out. Piecing all of the information together, the central region of NGC 6240 harbors 2 AGNs, ~1010 M☉ of molecular gas mass, 5 × 107 M☉ of dust mass, and has possible evidence of inflow and outflow activity.


The number of persons with disabilities is increasing, both internationally and locally. Additionally, there are more persons with multiple complexities who require enteral tube feeding (ETF). Presently, there is only one local, day care facility, for adults with exceptionalities. This facility, referred to as Centre X, employs case workers and paraprofessionals. No nursing personnel are available onsite. Paraprofessionals provide basic care for clients, including assisting clients with leisure, or work-related, activities and supporting personal care needs, such as toileting and feeding. To date, ETF is viewed as a nursing responsibility, even though the Bermuda Nursing Council (BNC) does not indicate this to be the case (Parker (BNC), 2014). Consequently, individuals with disabilities who require ETF are excluded from Centre X and its programme offerings.

This dissertation explores the feasibility of establishing a local ETF programme to robustly train the paraprofessional staff of Centre X to assume ETF responsibilities, for an evidence-based change in practice. The project is representative of a complex change initiative. As such, a plethora of change management tools are discussed and critically applied to the proposal for role development. The literature review explores various themes important in the consideration of expanding the paraprofessional role. Topics include parental psychosocial disability impact, disability effects on adults with disabilities, present roles of nurses and paraprofessionals, legal issues of role development, evidence regarding expanded practice, consequences of poor ETF practice and ETF standards of care which promote safe client outcomes. The ACT model (Biech, 2007) and the CDC's framework for public health programme analysis (CDC, 2016, 1999) have both been systematically applied throughout the change process. The work undertaken thus far, will guide the construction of a business case proposal, which will be presented to senior management for approval consideration of the stated change initiative.

The work presented in this dissertation affirms that paraprofessionals can, and should, be trained to undertake ETF responsibilities (WHO, 2015; NICE, 2012). In so doing, less discrimination will take place at Centre X, and people with disabilities, requiring ETF, will be able to participate in social and/or training opportunities (ADS, 2016). As an RN, this writer has a legal and ethical duty to advocate for quality improvements to be made in caring for vulnerable members of the community (RCN, 2012; BNC, 2012, 2005). There is clear consensus by international organisations that governments must provide disability services for its citizens (WHO, 2015; UK Chief Nursing Officers, 2012; UN, 2007, 2006). Providing appropriate care is a matter of human rights (WHO, 2015; UK Chief Nursing Officers, 2012; UN, 2007, 2006). Allowing paraprofessionals to assume ETF responsibilities would be a start to realising this international mandate (WHO, 2015; UN, 2007, 2006).


Recently, flipped classrooms have received increasing research interest in various disciplines (Gaughan, 2014). Although researchers have identified major psychological factors affecting the quality of the flipped classroom, these factors have not been systematically or simultaneously examined. Drawing on the questionnaire data obtained from 39 university second-language learners of different achievement profiles, this study explores the relative effects of students' accepted workload, preferred form of work (group vs. individual) and perceived usefulness of flipped classrooms on these learners' perceptions and acceptance of a flipped classroom. Additionally, based on these university L2 learners' questionnaire responses, we examined if achievement levels (high vs. low achievers) would modulate the effects of the aforementioned factors. The results showed that high achievers could accept 2 hours of preparatory work prior to class, but that low achievers could only accept 1 hour of work. Additionally, while high achievers prefer individual work, low achievers like to work in groups. Based on the findings of the study, pedagogical implications for the implementation of the flipped classroom for mixed-level students are discussed.


In comparison to the well known and widely used UPC bar codes, that offer generic object-level visibility, RFID tags, also referred to as the ePCs: electronic product codes with a 96-bit identification method, offer unique, item level visibility throughout the entire local and global supply chain. This is because UPC codes are typically product and manufacturer specific, whereas RFID codes are generic, truly unique IDs. This is why RFID technologies with the appropriate information systems and information technology (IS/IT) infrastructure help both major distributors and manufacturers, as well as other logistics operations, such as the electronic manufacturing industries, defense industries, automotive, pharmaceutical industries, and others, dealing with complex, global supply chains in which products and product manufacture, assembly and shipments must be traced and identified in a non-contact, wireless fashion. Engineering management is collaborating with IS/IT professionals to model and integrate RFID-related information systems engineering requirements into computer networks, because of reducing cost, increasing security, or safety, or because parts are subject to corrosion, or food/medicine is subject to quality degradation, or other reasons. All of these requirements point to an automated, wireless-readable sensory-based identification method, and network, that offers more functionalities and is significantly 'smarter' than the well known bar code or the unified product code (UPC). RFIDs are available as passive and/or active radio read/write sensor-packages with active read (and often write) capabilities in relatively large areas (like a large distribution center warehouse, or a containership), all performed automatically, supervised by computers and communicated in a wireless fashion over secure intranets. The attraction to an engineering management-focused supply chain manager is that when the RFID network is integrated with the factories' material resource IT management systems, accurate information can be obtained on all tagged parts in close to real-time, throughout the entire supply-chain. This can include the globally distributed factories, as well as information about parts and assemblies during shipment, including in-transit. This is why RFID represents great research, technology, as well as huge business opportunities. In this paper we introduce some of the most important engineering management information system modeling principles, challenges and solutions, that RFID researchers, implementers and users should keep in mind when developing such systems, and/or planning for such applications.


The term "fistula" can be defined as an improper connection between different body compartments. It can occur in different parts of the body. Although, fistulae mostly develop due to untreated chronic infections, traumatic injuries and congenital deformities, specific infections or diseases, and post-surgical healing abnormalities can also cause fistula formation. Although, there is a general classification system made by the World Health Organization to identify fistulae, specifically, in this chapter oral fistulae are divided into four different categories, namely dentoalveolar, oroantral, oronasal and orocutaneous fistulae. The diagnosis and the treatment protocols for oral fistulas are described using this specific classification and with additional new techniques introduced for the correction of the lesions. Conventional surgical meth‐ ods also are summarized. The importance of the radiological examination is empha‐ sized and the practitioners are informed of possible complications.