Introduction: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of chronic low back pain on postural stability in an elderly population. Materials and Method: The study enrolled 30 patients >65 years with chronic low back pain and 30 age-matched healthy controls. To assess postural stability, the centre of foot pressure sway was examined using a foot pressure platform. The chair stand, 10-m walk and timed up and go tests were conducted in both groups. Results: There was no difference between the two groups with respect to the mean age and gender. The centre of pressure sway was increased in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions in the group with low back pain. A marked reduction in postural stability was observed during measurements with the eyes closed. This reduction was more prominent in the anteroposterior direction (p<0.001). The elderly group with low back pain showed worse dynamic balance as assessed by the timed up and go test (p<0.001). The elderly patients with low back pain also showed considerably diminished performance during the chair stand and 10-m walk tests (p<0.001). Conclusion: Chronic low back pain leads to impaired postural stability, loss of dynamic balance and reduced functional mobility in the elderly. Consequently, rehabilitation for postural instability should not be overlooked while planning treatment for low back pain in older patients.


The Organization of American States is supporting the project "Biosafety Regulations in Latin America and The Caribbean within the framework of the International Biosafety Protocol". The general objective is to strengthen national skills for the assessment and management of risks of biotechnology food products, and to build up public awareness about their benefits and risks in the participant countries, with the ultimate goal to promote their safe and sustainable use within a protective and trusting environment for the public. The first phase has been focused on the evaluation of the political and regulatory systems in Chile, Peru and Colombia, identification of needs, and development of a series of biosafety seminar-workshops in the three countries, with the participation of distinguished foreign experts. The second phase, which started in March 2003, has been extended to six countries of Central America and The Caribbean. The project is helping to identify the weaknesses and needs for the establishment of the biosafety protocol in each participating country. It has also establish the specific training needs and is given the bases for the design of general outlines of biosafety training plans, which will contribute to an efficient implementation of the International Biosafety Protocol. The project it is also allowing to coordinate actions between the countries for a better implementation of the protocol at a regional level. On the other hand, the project has allowed to assemble, around discussion tables, international experts with the main representatives of regulatory and academic institutions, business enterprises and NGOs, as well as with congressmen in scientific and technological matters and the protection of biodiversity. Thus, the project has permitted the establishment of cooperation linkages and has contributed to reinforce the notion of the importance of biosafety for national development and the preservation of local biodiversity.


We propose in this paper a self-referenced method based on asynchronous sampling to monitor the waveform of periodic and quasi-periodic signals, with a low number of samples, typically 214 or lower. It provides a high-resolution representation of the signal under test, representative of the analog intensity signal under test. Additionally, the proposed approach is robust to the timing jitter of the signal, as experimentally demonstrated. Such features enable the accurate display of periodic and quasi-periodic signals. The method is applied to the characterization of laser dynamics, such as time series and phase portrait of periodic nonlinear regimes in optically injected lasers.


In this paper, we consider the problem of online learning of Markov decision processes (MDPs) with very large state spaces. Under the assumptions of realizable function approximation and low Bellman ranks, we develop an online learning algorithm that learns the optimal value function while at the same time achieving very low cumulative regret during the learning process. Our learning algorithm, Adaptive Value-function Elimination (AVE), is inspired by the policy elimination algorithm proposed in (Jiang et al., 2017), known as OLIVE. One of our key technical contributions in AVE is to formulate the elimination steps in OLIVE as contextual bandit problems. This technique enables us to apply the active elimination and expert weighting methods from (Dudik et al., 2011), instead of the random action exploration scheme used in the original OLIVE algorithm, for more efficient exploration and better control of the regret incurred in each policy elimination step. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first $\sqrt{n}$-regret result for reinforcement learning in stochastic MDPs with general value function approximation.


This paper presents the architecture of a virtual machine designed specifically for the execution of multiple languages, which we call Seam. The architecture consists of a number of generic components, usable by all languages, and of a number of interfaces for which implementations have to be provided by language implementors. Our contribution is the identification of the generic services and the clean design for the parameterization over their language-specific aspects. The goal of Seam is to provide both for ample reuse and simple language implementation, concerning both compilers and runtime components, and to be a platform for language interoperation. We have implemented a prototype version of Seam and validated it with two language implementations. We present a full running implementation of Alice and a naive implementation of a Java Virtual Machine running on Seam. The paper presents first implementation effort and performance results for the prototype.


OBJECTIVE
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids have been shown to be deficient in individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder compared to controls (Hawkey & Nigg, 2014). Clinical trials of omega-3 and omega-6 supplements as treatment for ADHD have demonstrated minimal efficacy (Bloch & Qawasmi, 2011; Gillies, Sinn, Lad, Leach, & Ross, 2011; Hawkey & Nigg, 2014; Puri & Martins, 2014; Sonuga-Barke et al., 2013). Existing trials have analyzed omega-3 and omega-6 separately although the tissue ratio of these fatty acids (n6/n3) may be more important than absolute levels of either. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between blood n6/n3 and arachidonic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid (AA/EPA), to ADHD symptoms.

METHOD
A systematic literature review identified original articles measuring blood n6/n3 or AA/EPA ratio in children and youth with ADHD, compared to controls without ADHD. Three databases were searched. Blood n6/n3, and AA/EPA ratios were compared between individuals with ADHD and controls. Results were pooled across studies using quantitative synthesis.

RESULTS
Five articles met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The pooled mean difference between patients with ADHD and controls was 1.97 (0.90-3.04) for n6/n3 (n=5 studies, I(2) 83%) and 8.25 (5.94-10.56) for AA/EPA (n=3 studies, I(2) 0%).

CONCLUSIONS
Children and youth with ADHD have elevated ratios of both blood n6/n3 and AA/EPA fatty acids compared to controls. Thus an elevated n6/n3, and more specifically AA/EPA, ratio may represent the underlying disturbance in essential fatty acid levels in patients with ADHD. These findings have implications for the development of future interventions using essential fatty acids to treat ADHD, and for the use of these ratios as biomarkers for titrating and monitoring ADHD treatment with essential fatty acids.


1 This study examined the effect of ingesting caffeine (6 mg kg−1) on muscle carbohydrate and fat metabolism during steady‐state exercise in humans. Young male subjects (n= 10) performed 1 h of exercise (70 % maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O2,max)) on two occasions (after ingestion of placebo and caffeine) and leg metabolism was quantified by the combination of direct Fick measures and muscle biopsies. 2 Following caffeine ingestion serum fatty acid and glycerol concentration increased (P≤ 0.05) at rest, suggesting enhanced adipose tissue lipolysis. 3 In addition circulating adrenaline concentration was increased (P≤ 0.05) at rest following caffeine ingestion and this, as well as leg noradrenaline spillover, was elevated (P≤ 0.05) above placebo values during exercise. 4 Caffeine resulted in a modest increase (P≤ 0.05) in leg vascular resistance, but no difference was found in leg blood flow. 5 Arterial lactate and glucose concentrations were increased (P≤ 0.05) by caffeine, while the rise in plasma potassium was dampened (P≤ 0.05). 6 There were no differences in respiratory exchange ratio or in leg glucose uptake, net muscle glycogenolysis, leg lactate release or muscle lactate, or glucose 6‐phosphate concentration. Similarly there were no differences between treatments in leg fatty acid uptake, glycerol release or muscle acetyl CoA concentration. 7 These findings indicate that caffeine ingestion stimulated the sympathetic nervous system but did not alter the carbohydrate or fat metabolism in the monitored leg. Other tissues must have been involved in the changes in circulating potassium, fatty acids, glucose and lactate.


Our article examines an age old debate about the nature and limits of property rights and the current manifestation of this debate in antitrust law. Many areas of law struggle to balance private property rights - most importantly, the right of exclusion - with the public's right of access to essential resources. What is the best way to manage resources that provide both public and private benefits? For years, academics and law makers have debated this question with respect to transportation systems, communication networks, scientific research, and a variety of other infrastructural resources. Many press for private control of such resources, arguing that the market most efficiently distributes their respective costs and benefits. Others take the position that these resources should be managed in an openly accessible manner. Advocates for this approach maintain that private control often is overly restrictive and unfairly allocates benefits to a few private parties. In the antitrust area, this tension is mediated by the essential facilities doctrine. Under certain circumstances a monopolist incurs antitrust liability in denying a competitor access to a facility under the exclusive control of the monopolist. While versions of this doctrine go back to the beginning of the antitrust laws, it has been heavily criticized by many commentators and by the Supreme Court itself in dicta. In our article, we advocate for the revitalization of the essential facilities doctrine and answer these criticisms. Our article seeks to 1) connect the essential facilities debate in the antitrust field to the broader question of private rights versus open access in other areas of the law, particularly intellectual property law; 2) propose and apply an economic theory of infrastructure that comprehensively defines what facilities are essential and must be shared on an open and non-discriminatory basis; and 3) demonstrate that courts are capable of applying this test in antitrust and elsewhere.


In her study, Simone Heller-Andrist applies the Kantian and Derridean parergon to English literature. The parergon is a specific type of frame that interacts with the work it surrounds in a fashion likely to influence or even manipulate our reading of the work. On the basis of this interaction, Derrida's parergon becomes a valid methodological tool that allows a close analysis of the mechanisms involved in the reading process. The manipulative force of a textual construct is apparent through the occurrence of friction, namely incongruities or gaps we notice during the reading process. Friction is thus, on the one hand, the main indicator of parergonality and, on the other, the prime signal for a potential conditioning of the reader. As readers, we not only have to analyze the interaction between work and parergon but must also constantly reflect upon our own position with regard to the text that we read. By means of the concept of the parergon, we can approach not only paratextual, narrative or discursive frames but also intertextual relationships. Since the application of the concept is based on a basic textual constellation and an internal mechanism, its range is wide and transcends – or complements – previously established textual categories.


plotKML is an R package that provides methods for writing the most common R spatial classes into KML files. It builds up on the existing XML parsing functionality (XML package), and provides similar plotting functionality as the lattice package. Its main objective is to provide a simple interface to generate KML files with a small number of arguments, and allows users to visually explore spatio-temporal data available in R: points, polygons, gridded maps, trajectory-type data, vertical profiles, ground photographs, time series vector objects or raster images, along with the results of spatial analysis such as geostatistical mapping, spatial simulations of vector and gridded objects, optimized sampling designs, species distribution models and similar. A generic plotKML() function automatically determines the parsing order and visualizes data directly from R; lower level functions can be combined to allow for new user-created visualization templates. In comparison to other packages writing KML, plotKML seems to be more object oriented, it links more closely to the existing R classes for spatio-temporal data (sp, spacetime and raster packages) than the alternatives, and provides users with the possibility to create their own templates.


We study information acquisition and dynamic withdrawal decisions when a spreading rumor exposes a solvent bank to a run. Uncertainty about the bank's liquidity and potential failure motivates depositors who hear the rumor to acquire additional noisy signals. Depositors with less informative signals may wait before gradually running on the bank, leading to an endogenous aggregate withdrawal speed and bank survival time. Private information acquisition about liquidity can subject solvent-but-illiquid banks to runs, and shorten the survival time of failing banks. Public provision of solvency information can mitigate runs by indirectly crowding-out individual depositors' effort to acquire liquidity information.


We present an overview of the theoretical and algorithmic aspects of the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aerosol and surface UV algorithms. Aerosol properties are derived from two independent algorithms. The nearUV algorithm makes use of OMI observations in the 350-390 nm spectral region to retrieve information on the absorption capacity of tropospheric aerosols. OMI-derived information on aerosol absorption includes the UV Aerosol Index and absorption optical depth at 388 nm. The other algorithm makes use of the full UV-to-visible OMI spectral coverage to derive spectral aerosol extinction optical depth. OMI surface UV products include erythemally weighted daily dose as well as erythemal dose rate and spectral UV irradiances calculated for local solar noon conditions. The advantages and limitations of the current algorithms are discussed, and a brief summary of several validation and evaluation analysis carried out to assess the current level of uncertainty of these products is presented. Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union. U7 - Export Date: 2 August 2010 U7 - Source: Scopus U7 - Art. No.: D24S47


The thesis addresses two related issues. Firstly, the lack of an accurate longitudinal reading of the incidence of indictable prosecutions predicated on the criminalisation of sexualised behaviours between males for the period 1850-1970; that is, consensual conducts (including 'victimless' behaviour discriminately criminalised) together with coercive behaviours. The results of the enumerative part of this investigation demonstrate significant variations in the frequency of prosecutions during what was a seminal period of criminalisation of such conduct. The rarity of cases of the later nineteenth century, followed by a slow, and sometimes erratic, increase during the inter-war years (1919-1939) preceded a more energetic period of prosecutions in the two decades about the publication of the government commissioned 'Wolfenden' Report (1957).
The primary sources used to produce this accurate longitudinal count of the criminal prosecutions and, in particular, the Calendars also provided the evidential basis for the second task of this investigation. To date, there has been no in-depth longitudinal reading of the treatment of such cases by the four main constituent 'players' within the Criminal Justice System that were charged with the practical realisation of Parliament's abstract criminalisation.
This thesis provides both a quantitative and qualitative reading of the sometime consistent and divergent attitudinal relationship between these four 'players' in the prosecution of sexualised conduct between males: the prosecution, defence, adjudication and presiding judiciary.
The practical criminalisation of inter-male sex 1850-1970: A Lancashire case study.
These two complimentary readings are contextualised within a number of contingent realities of the period that suggest the criminalisation of sexualised behaviours was not a major policing priority for much of the period. Further, that when such cases did come to trial the success rate and, therein further prosecutions, was heavily reliant on the role of the defendant cooperating with their own conviction.
Finally, the choice of these investigatory goals was in large part addressed by a reading of the specialised historiography within this relatively new field of study and thereby in part an attempt to light-up previously unexplored territory.


This study explored the role and perceptions of clinical education by the occupational therapy (OT) managers of clinical training sites. A descriptive, quantitative survey design was used and a self-administered questionnaire was developed.  The questionnaire was developed from the literature and comprised of four sections: nature of the site; clinical training at that site; management of clinical education and perceptions of benefits and challenges.  The content validity of the questionnaire was established. The questionnaires were sent to the heads of OT departments (n=22) that are utilised for the clinical education of occupational therapy students.  Fourteen questionnaires were returned (73.7%). Only 45.5% (n=39) of the occupational therapists employed in these sites were involved in clinical education.  The most common criteria for being involved were clinical experience and where OTs qualified.  Most OT managers played a supportive (36%) or logistical role (43%) in clinical education; 22% were actively involved while 28% had no involvement.  The two most frequent benefits of providing clinical education were perceived to be assistance in managing the clinical load and keeping up to date, while time and staff issues were perceived to be the challenges. The importance of involvement of all tiers of management in clinical education is not widely appreciated. Keywords Occupational therapy students, Clinical education, Occupational therapy manager


As a writer, scholar, critic, teacher, bibliophile, and publisher, Matthew J. Bruccoli had immeasurable impact on American literary scholarship and history over the past half century. In his more than one hundred published books, Bruccoli demonstrated a rare model of scholarship based on tenacious research, passionate intensity, and encyclopedic knowledge of his subjects. He brought this same spirited mode of inquiry to his essays as well. On Books and Writers brings together thirty of Bruccoli's best short pieces from journals, anthologies, and other publications to illustrate in a single volume the remarkable range and enduring contributions of this accomplished man of letters.


PURPOSE
To analyze the dosimetric impact of set-up accuracy of an electron breast boost technique using a lateral decubitus position with and without a breast compression device.

METHODS
Reproducibility of the breast boost set-up was verified for 19 patients and 99 fractions using Cone Beam CT (CBCT). 3D-3D matching was performed between the CBCT and the initial planning CT for each boost fraction by matching the tumor bed and clips. Shifts in all three dimensions were recorded for each fraction. The dosimetric impact of the daily positioning error was achieved by rerunning the initial treatment plans incorporating the shifts recorded for each fraction. Comparison of the tumor bed and scar coverage was analyzed for both plans.

RESULTS
The range of set-up errors based on CBCT was: 1.5 cm anterior to 8 mm posterior, 1.3 cm superior to 2.3 cm inferior, and -2.4 cm to 2.1 cm laterally. Three patients had set-up errors that were greater than or equal to 2 cm which is the normal margin placed on the tumor bed and scar. Two of these three patients had unacceptable coverage as defined by the V90 when compared to the original plan. The remaining 17 patients had no discernible difference in coverage (V90). Whether patients had breast compression seemed to have little impact on reproducibility of the set-up.

CONCLUSION
14 patients with a breast compression device and 5 patients without a breast compression device were studied using CBCT to quantify set-up error from 99 fractions. A 2 cm margin around the tumor bed plus scar volume seems to be adequate to account for set-up error. No appreciable difference was seen in set-up error between patients with breast compression or without. The two patients with unacceptable coverage were large breasted with deep seated tumors.


Developing Asia achieved steady economic growth in 2013 as the region adapted to a changing global landscape. Demand from the advanced economies picked up as recovery gathered momentum. Yet this improvement was tempered somewhat by moderated growth in the People's Republic of China (PRC) as it continued its shift toward more balanced growth. These two trends help shape the regional forecast. The Asian Development Outlook 2014 estimates that regional growth will edge up from 6.1% in 2013 to 6.2% in 2014 and 6.4% in 2015. As the United States (US) continues to phase out its unconventional monetary policy, combined GDP growth in the US, the euro area, and Japan is expected to almost double to 1.9% in 2014 from 1.0% in 2013. Growth in these economies will strengthen more to 2.2% in 2015. While the US policy shift may bring further volatility in financial markets, the tightening of global liquidity can be mitigated by accommodative monetary policy in the euro area and Japan. Reform is key to the outlooks for the region's two largest economies: the PRC and India. Growth in the PRC slowed to 7.7% in 2013 as credit growth tightened, wages rose, the currency appreciated, and the authorities continued implementing policies to promote economic expansion that is more equitable, sustainable, and balanced. As reform gathers pace, growth in the PRC is forecast to slow to 7.5% in 2014 and 7.4% in 2015. In contrast, India's outlook depends on its ability to successfully implement structural reforms and spark stronger growth. If successful, reform in India may accelerate economic growth from 4.9% in 2013 to 5.5% and 6.0% in the next 2 years. Risks to the outlook have eased compared to the recent past, and policy makers in the region can manage them. Yet three areas continue to warrant close monitoring. First, another shock to global financial markets from changes in US monetary policy cannot be ruled out. Second, data on the recovery in advanced economies have been mixed, leaving the possibility that demand for developing Asia's exports may be softer than forecast. And finally, if efforts in the PRC to curb credit expansion are too abrupt or excessive, a deeper slowdown could drag down prospects for its trading partners. As Asian governments manage these risks, they must also act to ensure that steady growth can continue in the decades ahead. The region's past economic growth lifted hundreds of millions of Asians out of poverty, but now widening inequality is undermining this success. During the 1990s and 2000s, more than 80% of the region's population lived in countries with worsening Gini coefficients, a common measure of inequality. The same market forces that enhanced growth—globalization, technological progress, and market reform—now exacerbate inequality. International experience shows that public spending can reduce income inequality. Government spending on education and health care, for example, broadens access for the poor to these vital services and levels the playing field. Pragmatic fiscal policy has endowed many economies in the region with scope to direct more public resources toward enhanced inclusion. But this opportunity may not last. Fiscal space will be squeezed in the coming decades by rising costs for health care and other needs common to rapidly aging societies. To ensure the ability to invest in inclusive growth, regional authorities must explore a wide range of options to raise revenue. These include broadening the base for personal income tax and value-added tax, enlarging corrective taxes and nontax revenues, and introducing naturally progressive taxes on property, capital gains, and inheritance. Improving tax collection is also important. Fiscal policy can and should play a bigger role in promoting inclusive growth in the region. Asian governments need to actively target inclusion when formulating fiscal plans and thereby build economic growth on broadly shared benefits. Achieving inclusive growth is a long-term challenge. As regional growth stabilizes, now is the time to plan and act for a more inclusive future.


Large data sets offer opportunities for graduate students to become involved in meaningful research, but also comes with a unique set of challenges. This paper seeks to examine that relationship through utilizing the High School Longitudinal Study 2009 – representative of US ninth graders in 2009 (n = 21,444) – to examine a set of research questions about STEM interest and preparation amongst secondary students. Student researchers identified gaps in plans and outcomes with regards to race, gender, exceptionalities, and socioeconomic status. Findings indicated inequities that affect STEM outcomes. A significant interaction was found between students education expectations by gender on science self-efficacy [F(4,1264) = 2.797, p =.025]. This interaction was not observed for math self-efficacy. Females and underrepresented minorities were less likely to pursue computer science courses and computer science careers [Females: Χ2 (2, N = 20,594) = 111.500, p < .0001; Minorities: Χ2 (2, N = 13,069) = 6.455, p = .040]. Students' expectations for post-secondary education differed by IEP status and socioeconomic status [Χ2 (3, n =165,684) = 26.886, p = 0.001]. Finally, time spent in extracurricular activities impacted academic achievement and students in lower socioeconomic groups were less involved in extracurricular activities [Χ2 (4, n = 20,598) = 132.298, p < .0001].


Abstract According to Troesken (2004), efforts to purify municipal water supplies at the turn of the 20th century dramatically improved the relative health of Blacks. There is, however, little empirical evidence to support the Troesken hypothesis. Using city-level data published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the period 1906-1938, we explore the relationship between water purification efforts and the Black-White infant mortality gap. Our results suggest that, while water filtration was effective across the board, adding chlorine to the water supply reduced mortality only among Black infants. Specifically, chlorination is associated with a 9 percent reduction in Black infant mortality and a 10 percent reduction in the Black-White infant mortality gap. We also find that chlorination led to a substantial reduction in the Black-White diarrhea mortality gap among children under the age of two, although this estimate is measured with less precision.


Societal expectations about agricultural production are changing. There are increased demands on issues such as food safety, animal welfare and the impact of agriculture on the environment (land, water and air). These changes have been refl ected in the European Union's (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but information on these issues is lacking and this complicates the required evaluation of policies. The EU Framework 7 project FLINT tries to close this gap by analysing the feasibility of collecting data on these new topics. FLINT has established a data infrastructure with up-to-date farm-level indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of the CAP. The project created a pilot network of more than 1,000 farms to collect a set of sustainability indicators at farm level. The pilot represents farm diversity at EU level, including the different administrative environments in the Member States. This paper sets out the context and the main contributions of the project.


Context:  Sleep-disordered breathing (characterized by recurrent arousals from sleep and intermittent hypoxemia) is common among older adults. Cross-sectional studies have linked sleep-disordered breathing to poor cognition; however, it remains unclear whether sleep-disordered breathing precedes cognitive impairment in older adults. Objectives:  To determine the prospective relationship between sleep-disordered breathing and cognitive impairment and to investigate potential mechanisms of this association. Design, Setting, and Participants:  Prospective sleep and cognition study of 298 women without dementia (mean [SD] age: 82.3 [3.2] years) who had overnight polysomnography measured between January 2002 and April 2004 in a substudy of the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. Sleep-disordered breathing was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index of 15 or more events per hour of sleep. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the independent association of sleep-disordered breathing with risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, adjusting for age, race, body mass index, education level, smoking status, presence of diabetes, presence of hypertension, medication use (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, or nonbenzodiazepine anxiolytics), and baseline cognitive scores. Measures of hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, and sleep duration were investigated as underlying mechanisms for this relationship. Main Outcome Measures:  Adjudicated cognitive status (normal, dementia, or mild cognitive impairment) based on data collected between November 2006 and September 2008. Results:  Compared with the 193 women without sleep-disordered breathing, the 105 women (35.2%) with sleep-disordered breathing were more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment or dementia (31.1% [n = 60] vs 44.8% [n = 47]) even after multivariate adjustment (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-3.08). Elevated oxygen desaturation index (≥15 events/hour) and high percentage of sleep time (>7%) in apnea or hypopnea (both measures of disordered breathing) were associated with risk of developing mild cognitive impairment or dementia (AOR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.04-2.83] and AOR, 2.04 [95% CI, 1.10-3.78], respectively). Measures of sleep fragmentation (arousal index and wake after sleep onset) or sleep duration (total sleep time) were not associated with risk of cognitive impairment. Conclusion:  Among older women, those with sleep-disordered breathing compared with those without sleep-disordered breathing were associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive impairment.


Blood-based diagnostics require various forms of sample preparation depending on the analyte of interest, which can include plasma separation and cellular lysis. Specifically, assays that require the release of intraerythrocytic analytes (e.g., detection of malaria antigens, dehydrogenases, and hemoglobin) require the rupture of red blood cells prior to analysis. Associated handling steps and additional fluid manipulation complicates the user-experience by adding time, potential for contamination error, and reagent waste. In this work, we demonstrate an in situ chemical hemolysis treatment coupled with a paper-based device for the quantification of liberated hemoglobin without using a hemolytic buffer. In contrast to traditional hemolytic methods that use a buffered solution of saponin, a surfactant, we dried saponin within our device to lyse red blood cells without diluting the sample. The optimal treatment condition for hemolysis of blood samples with hematocrit values ranging from 20–50% was 10.6 μg saponin per cm2. Establishing a relationship between saponin and zone area potentially allows this in situ hemolysis treatment to be translated to other paper-based devices with different geometries. For samples with hematocrit values below 40%, we achieved quantitative hemolysis. Samples with higher hematocrits (e.g., 40–50%) experienced a lesser extent of hemolysis (80–85%), which we attribute to the increased number of red blood cells present in samples with elevated hematocrits. The in situ chemical hemolysis treatment described here could potentially be integrated with a multiplexed paper-based microfluidic device to permit multiple sample preparation techniques on a single sample of blood without additional off-chip user steps.


My practice focuses on the traverse between contemporary art and design, looking at creating artefacts to store memories of lost love. I collect memories from people relating to platonic, familial and romantic relationships that they have experienced, which then inform the development of sculptural artefacts, created to capture and embody this lost love.
My research explores how the most mundane object can become a shrine or reliquary for the emotions and feelings of another, which could be further developed as aids to provoke memories for those with dementia or helping the bereaved to process grief in a visual and tactile way. Exploration of personal objects prompts memories of lost love. It is the storage of these memories that I am interested in creating.
I have started to collect narratives at "lost love cafes" which I have established in local coffee houses where people donate their memories of times spent and objects associated with lost loved ones. From these collected memories I hope to look further into love and all it's different facets, which in turn will be used for the production of new artefacts that will become storage sculptures for memories and feelings felt for lost love.


The extended Huygens-Fresnel principle is used to formulate general expressions of the mutual intensity function for a finite optical source with partial spatial coherence propagating in the weakly turbulent atmosphere. Formulations are developed for both the focused and collimated Gaussian beam. Generalized criterion for the effective far-field range is defined in terms of the source aperture, optical wave number, source coherence, and characteristic length associated with the atmospheric turbulence. Beam spread and lateral coherence length in the near and far field are investigated for a combination of parameter variations and the physical implications discussed. Finally, analytic results are calculated and plotted to illustrate the functional behavior of relevant physical parameters.


The debate over gene patenting in the United States has been ongoing for nearly three decades. It reached a climax in June 2013, with the Supreme Court's decision in Assn. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics. The Myriad case was remarkable for many reasons, not least because it fostered the engagement of hundreds of scientists, physicians, patients, lawyers, activists and policy makers, each of whom expressed a view regarding the case and gene patenting, more generally. From this multitude of voices emerged six distinct narrative types that recounted the "facts" in the case. I have termed these the Science, Innovator, Administrative, Access, Dystopian and Congestion narratives. In this article, I trace the origins of each of the narrative types in Myriad from press accounts, published literature and the record in the case, including nearly one hundred separate amicus briefs filed at all stages of the litigation. I then assess how each narrative type influenced and became incorporated into the resulting judicial decisions. There is a strong correlation between the narrative types employed by a speaker and the normative case outcome desired by that speaker. This correlation occurs not only when the narrators are litigants or amici curiae, but also judges. This finding suggests that the judges issuing decisions in the case calibrated the narratives or "facts" expressed in their opinions to align best with the doctrinal outcomes that they desired.The six narrative types that emerged in Myriad also constitute at least a partial taxonomy of narrative types within the broader realm of disputes involving new technology, scientific discovery and innovation. Thus, whether a dispute involves gene patenting, genetically modified organisms, nanotechnology or self-driving vehicles, it is likely that some or all of the narrative types in the Myriad case will make an appearance. However, the same narrative types in different technological settings do not always appear to support the same doctrinal outcomes. Thus, narrative type cannot be said to be determinative of case outcome without additional context provided by the narrator's perspective, audience and worldview.


We study the interplay between corporate liquidity and asset reallocation opportunities. Our model shows that financially distressed firms are acquired by liquid firms in their industries even when there are no operational synergies associated with the merger. We call these transactions "liquidity mergers," since their main purpose is to reallocate liquidity to firms that might be otherwise inefficiently terminated. We show that liquidity mergers are more likely to occur when industry-level asset specificity is high (i.e., industry-specific rents are high) and firm-level asset specificity is low (industry counterparts can efficiently operate distressed firms' assets). We also provide a detailed analysis of firms' liquidity policies as a function of real asset reallocation, examining the trade-offs between cash and lines of credit. The model makes a number of predictions that have not been examined in the literature. Using a large sample of mergers, we verify the model's prediction that liquidity-driven acquisitions are more likely to occur in industries in which assets are industry-specific, but transferable across industry rival firms. We also verify the prediction that firms are more likely to use credit lines (relative to cash) when they operate in industries in which liquidity mergers are more frequent.


Side-valley tributary fans within the main axial valley river floodplain system are integral components of the sediment assemblage characterizing floodplains in the high-energy Navarro River basin, California. Laboratory analyses of subsurface core and auger samples from four study sites reveal that sediment-size distributions within the floodplain are controlled by spatial and temporal variation in sediment sources and depositional processes. Over 75% of sediment within individual lower-fan strata are poorly sorted and include gravel clasts inferred to be contributions from the side-valley tributary, whereas remaining strata are composed of fine sediment less than 2 mm without gravel. High-water marks indicate that portions of the side-valley tributary fans are episodically inundated by axial valley overbank flow, a factor that influences fan relief and profile. Thus, two dominant sources supply sediment to this transitional environment: side-valley tributaries and the axial valley river. The transport and depositional processes that supply sediment to the fans operate under three conditions: (1) Tributary debris or fluvial flows, and selective entrainment of fines by fan surface flows, deposit sediment when there is no overbank flow from the axial channel; (2) overbank flow deposits sediment derived from the axial valley river when there is no tributary input; and (3) tributary flows deposit sediment while the floodplain is inundated by floods from the axial valley river. The mixing and interlayering of sediment from these disparate sources within the active floodplain illustrate the significance of both hillslope-floodplain and channel-flood-plain interactions in high-energy fluvial systems with floodplains.


In this thesis Russian Futurist performance is considered in the wider context of the emergence and development of the initial phase of the Russian Futurist movement, 1910-14. Futurism emerged at a time of increasing commodification and diversification within the arts. New commercial enterprises, private art galleries, publishing companies and the arrival of cinema, combined with a growing urban population and expanding middle class who sought new forms of leisure activities, I provided fertile ground for new artistic ventures. As such, Futurism constituted a part of the newly forming art and entertainment market. Crucial to Futurism's survival in this competitive market was its need to secure a guaranteed source of funding. In many ways, then, the early phase of Russian Futurism, 1910-14, can be interpreted as a struggle to use all means and all artistic creativity possible to secure that funding. Part I describes the competitive artistic situation, socio-economic context and cultural networks of the 1910s. It identifies the key figures who helped to shape Futurism's development, from patrons and impresarios to artists and critics, and analyses the various marketing strategies which they employed to engage an audience. Part II examines the interaction between Futurist and audience. It focuses on the sites of Futurist performance, the public's perception of and associations with these sites, and questions of affordability and accessibility. The final two chapters deal specifically with the critical reception of Futurism: the public's attitude to the Futurists; the critics' interpretation of the Futurists and the public; and the Futurists' attitude to different sections of the public. The final section explores the possibility of a socio-political subtext in Futurist art of this period and draws conclusions concerning the provocative nature of Futurist performance and its function as a medium to express the Futurist aesthetic, that is, to effect change in all aspects of daily life.


Since the inception of Ghana's Educational Reform Programme in 1987, so many interventions have been put in place by the government and various donor organizations. Among them is the Quality Improvement in Primary School (QUIPS) programme sponsored by the USAID, which started in 1997, aimed at improving teaching and learning at the basic level. The purpose of the study was to determine the level of improvement in academic performance of pupils in New Edubiase Methodist Primary School since the inception of the QUIPS programme. It was also to find out what impact the programme has had on the teachers in the school as well as the assistance that the programme has given to parents and the community. The sample for the study included teachers of the New Edubiase Methodist Primary School and the parents who have their children in the school, numbering 58. The instruments used to collect data were questionnaire and interview. In analyzing the data, frequencies and percentages were used. The study revealed the following: The introduction of the QUIPS programme has helped to improve academic performance of the pupils in New Edubiase Methodist Primary School; The teachers in the school have improved their professional expertise through in-service training organized during the intervention; The parents and the community have also benefited indirectly from the programme; and that the District Assembly has contributed towards the implementation of the QUIPS programme.


The synthetic peptide Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Tyr (GRGDY), which contains the RGD sequence of several adhesion molecules, was covalently grafted to the surface of otherwise poorly adhesive glass substrates and was used to determine the minimal number of ligand-receptor interactions required for complete spreading of human foreskin fibroblasts. Well- defined adhesion substrates were prepared with GRGDY between 10(-3) fmol/cm2 and 10(4) fmol/cm2. As the adhesion ligand surface concentration was varied, several distinct morphologies of adherent cells were observed and categorized. The population of fully spread cells at 4 h reached a maximum at 1 fmol/cm2, with no further increases up to 10(4) fmol/cm2. Although maximal cell spreading was obtained at 1 fmol/cm2, focal contacts and stress fibers failed to form at RGD surface concentrations below 10 fmol/cm2. The minimal peptide spacings obtained in this work correspond to 440 nm for spreading and 140 nm for focal contact formation, and are much larger than those reported in previous studies with adsorbed adhesion proteins, adsorbed RGD-albumin conjugates, or peptide-grafted polyacrylamide gels. Vitronectin receptor antiserum specific for integrin alpha V beta 3 blocked cell adhesion and spreading on substrates containing 100 fmol/cm2 of surface- bound GRGDY, while fibronectin receptor antiserum specific for alpha 5 beta 1 did not. Furthermore, alpha V beta 3 was observed to cluster into focal contacts in spread cells, but alpha 5 beta 1 did not. It was thus concluded that a peptide-to-peptide spacing of 440 nm was required for alpha V beta 3-mediated cellular spreading, while 140 nm was required for alpha V beta 3-mediated focal contact formation and normal stress fiber organization in human foreskin fibroblasts; these spacings represent much fewer ligands than were previously thought to be required.


BACKGROUND
Around a third of people with schizophrenia or related serious mental illness will be a parent. Both the parents and the children in this population are at increased risk of adverse outcomes due to parental mental illness. Parenting interventions are known to improve parenting skills and decrease child disruptive behaviour. This systematic review aimed to synthesise the evidence base for parenting interventions designed specifically for parents who have schizophrenia or related serious mental illness.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of parenting interventions for people with schizophrenia or related serious mental illness.

SEARCH METHODS
On 10 February 2021 we searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Study-Based Register of Trials, which is based on the following: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ClinicalTrials.Gov, Embase, International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN), MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared parenting interventions with a control condition for people with schizophrenia or related serious mental illness with a child between the ages of 0 and 18 years.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We independently inspected citations, selected studies, extracted data and appraised study quality. We assessed risk of bias for included studies.

MAIN RESULTS
We only included one trial (n = 50), and it was not possible to extract any data because the authors did not provide any means and standard deviations for our outcomes of interest; they only reported whether outcomes were significant or not at the 0.05 level. Three domains of the trial were rated as having a high risk of bias.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
The only included trial provided inconclusive evidence. There is insufficient evidence to make recommendations to people with schizophrenia (or related serious mental illness) or clinicians, or for policy changes. Although there is no RCT evidence, parenting interventions for people with schizophrenia or related serious mental illness have been developed. Future research should test these in RCTs in order to improve the evidence base for this population.


A reimplementation of the UNIX file system is described. The reimplementation provides substantially higher throughput rates by using more flexible allocation policies, that allow better locality of reference and that can be adapted to a wide range of peripheral and processor characteristics. The new file system clusters data that is sequentially accessed and provides two block sizes to allow fast access for large files while not wasting large amounts of space for small files. File access rates of up to ten times faster than the traditional UNIX file system are experienced. Long needed enhancements to the user interface are discussed. These include a mechanism to lock files, extensions of the name space across file systems, the ability to use arbitrary length file names, and provisions for efficient administrative control of resource usage.


Large public events, such as concerts, rallies, and festivals, impact turf health when held on natural turfgrass surfaces. The impact associated with these events is due to the placement of physical structures such as stages and seating areas and pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the turf surface. Trafficked turf protection covers, which are field covers meant to be placed directly on the turf surface where pedestrian or vehicular traffic is expected and/or equipment will be placed, can be used to minimize damage to the turf surface. Scientific data on turf response to these covers is lacking. Four cover treatments comprised of a non-covered non-trafficked control, plywood, plywood + Enkamat Plus, and white high-density polypropylene [single sided (Terratile) or double sided (Matrax)] were applied to tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and effects of light intensity, duration of covering, season and soil moisture were evaluated. Growth chambers and field experiments were conducted in 2010-2011. Tissue samples were taken in growth chambers experiments every four days over the 20-day period to analyze chlorophyll (Chl a, Chl b, Chl a+b) and carotenoids (carot) under split factors of light intensity (12hr, PAR 530 μmol m s, 5 μmol m s) and soil moisture (50%, 75% of pot soil moisture capacity). Field trial treatment effects were observed every two days and eight days after cover removal in the spring, summer and fall and a normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) measure was used at the conclusion of each trial period to confirm visual ratings. Covers that allowed light transmission to the canopy provided the best visual retention of percent green cover and higher contents of Chl a, Chl b, Chl a+b and carot. However, when treatments were tested under conditions that simulated low light under a concert stage (PAR 5 μmol m s), covers performed similarly. Moderate soil moisture increased Chl b and carot content under covers. Field trials showed that plywood and plywood + Enkamat allowed for acceptable covering periods of six days in spring, four days in fall, and zero days in summer. Summer conditions shortened the number of days (8 -10) that tall fescue could be covered with Matrax and Terratile and still maintain an acceptable level of green cover. Matrax performed the best during high temperatures and did not tend to sink into the turf in saturated soil. All covers exhibited desirable qualities and limitations that should be considered for turf protection during an event.


This article aims to contribute to studies that analyse the concepts of liberalism and its theoretical limits. Our background is the construction of the Empire of Brazil (1822 1889), specifically through the Constitution of 1824 in which the defence of individual freedom, civil and property rights were central points of its formulation. This liberal-biased Constitution coexisted with the restriction of the freedom of some, the enslaved, imposed by others, the slave owners. This maintenance of slavery coexisting with the ideals of liberalism could create the impression of a falsification of liberal ideas. The core of this paper is to analyse how the bases of slavery inherited from the colonial period were able to fit into a new liberal political structure. The research indicates that the end of slavery without any reparations to the former slaves generated social implications as discrimination based on race and persistent inequalities still relevant for modern day Brazil and that the apparent incoherence was not in the association of slavery and liberalism, but in the supposed dichotomy created between these two concepts.


This essay examines the ways revolutionary desire was articulated and interpreted through graffiti in Cairo, Egypt during the Arab Spring and its immediate aftermath. For writers in Cairo, graffiti was one of many in a constellation of resistances that undermined everyday life in Hosni Mubarak's Egypt and the SCAF-controlled interim government. Ordinary surfaces of the city were illegally marked, displaying revolutionary potentiality by allowing the seemingly powerless rhetorical openings of engagement. Far from being a monolithic discourse, graffiti created geographies of material protest that were locally enacted but globally contextualized. Political graffiti, like the overall protests of the Arab Spring, emerged in large numbers at particular moments, but its numerous roots spread distinctly into the past. First contextualizing Cairo graffiti as a tool for revolutionary protest, the article then examines specific writers (Mahmoud Graffiti, Ganzeer), particular 'battleground' spaces (Tahrir Square, Mohamed Mahmoud Street), different graffiti mutations (tags, pieces, murals) and contrary aesthetic manipulations of the form ('No Walls' campaign, graffiti advertisements by multinational corporations) in order to assemble a graffiti scene in Cairo as it follows the ebbs and flows of revolutionary desire.


An inguinal hernia is a condition where intra-abdominal organs bulge through the abdominal muscles or the inguinal canal. It is more common in males than in females and can occur at any age. Most adult inguinal hernias are considered acquired defects caused by weakness in the abdominal wall musculature due to excessive straining from heavy lifting, weight gain, coughing, or difficulty with bowel movements and urination. Inguinal hernias present as a bulge in the groin area that can become more prominent when coughing, straining, or standing up, and disappears when lying down. Symptoms are present in around 66% of affected people which may include pain or discomfort especially with coughing, exercise, or bowel movements. Medical history and physical examination are key to diagnosing inguinal hernias; however, imaging tests such as ultrasound, CT scan, or MRI can aid in the diagnosis when findings are equivocal. Inguinal hernias are generally classified as indirect, direct, or femoral based on the site of herniation relative to surrounding structures. In adults, watchful waiting is usually recommended for small and reducible inguinal hernias; however, inguinal hernias that enlarge, cause symptoms, or become incarcerated or strangulated are treated surgically. Surgical treatment can be divided into tissue repair and mesh repair with the latter being preferred due to having a lower recurrence rate.

An undescended testicle is a testicle that never moved to its proper position in the scrotum. The majority of these cases involves only one testicle, but around 10% can involve both. Complications involved with this condition include testicular cancer and infertility, and surgical correction is recommended before the child reaches 18 months old.

Here, we present a 78-year-old male who was diagnosed with a right inguinal hernia. Upon exploration, the right testicle was noted to be undescended and involved with the hernial sac. Based on the patient's age, and the risk for future malignancy, the hernia repair also included an orchiectomy.


The early development and current concerns of artificial life practices are outlined in relation to both biology and art. The pragmatic side of a-life is presented, together with a consideration of how it compares with the biological sciences and a description of its methodologies for studying nature through computer simulation. A-life is proposed here as a place to locate art practice for artists who are interested in technoscience, and who are concerned with the "two cultures" gap between the humanities and the sciences. Mythical narratives that underpin new computational techniques, such as the dream of transformation or even generation of life, are not dismissed but become the impetus for resituating a-life as a set of representational strategies with great creative potential. A-life is linked to a particular aspect of 20th century art: how artists have developed and expressed the conviction that art and everyday life are inextricably enmeshed.


Immature foraging sea turtles occupy Chesapeake Bay, Virginia annually from May through November. Telemetry was used to monitor the movements and behavior of loggerhead, Caretta caretta, and Kemp's ridley, Lepidochelvs kempi, turtles during 1981-1985. Both species utilized the estuary for summer foraging, but exhibited habitat-preference and behavioral differences that amounted to resource partitioning between the species. Loggerheads oriented towards major river outflows and tended to move along channel sides with the tidal flow while ridleys occupied shallower foraging areas and did not range as far with the tide. Strong site tenacity was displayed by both species once foraging areas were established. Differences were apparent in respiratory behavior; ridleys remained on the surface for longer and underwater for shorter periods than loggerheads. Ridleys had a tendency to stay on the surface longer during daylight than night hours, whereas loggerheads surfaced and submerged longer during night than daylight. Estimates of daylight respiration behavior of loggerheads (surface to dive time ratio of 1:17) were used to adjust estimates of population size. Replicated aerial surveys for loggerheads yielded an unadjusted mean population over 1982-1985 of 423. A respiration adjustment factor which accounts for turtles unseen because they are below the surface (17 turtles below the surface for every one seen at the surface) yielded an average annual estimate of 7905. Reported mortality is a small percentage (1.4) of the adjusted population estimate. Mark-recapture, aerial survey and biotelemetric techniques were used in 1980 and 1982-1985 to elucidate migrations of loggerheads and ridleys which are incapable of overwintering in Chesapeake Bay. For both species, the period of residence in the Bay was correlated with water temperature. Migrations to the Bay were linked to vernal warming; the heaviest concentrations of turtles were found south of the 18 C isotherm. Fall migration was linked less strongly with declining water temperature and appeared to be related to the onset of winter storms. Migrating loggerheads remained nearshore in southerly currents in the fall. Contact with most telemetered loggerheads was broken in the vicinity of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. A satellite-tracked loggerhead spent two months in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream offshore before contact was broken. ix Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY OF SEA TURTLES FROM CHESAPEAKE BAY, VIRGINIA Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter


This paper discusses the ancient problem of meaningful life. Given the amount of evil and absurdity in the world around us, how can human life be experienced as meaningful? Two traditional approaches to this issue are identified and critically discussed: the life of action and the life of contemplation. It is argued that none of these can resolve the problem in a satisfactory manner. Finally, the notion of guilt is briefly taken up as one potential source of meaning (or of the fact that life can genuinely lack meaning and that this lack can be experienced as a loss).


Galeshewe is a former township in South Africa that has been neglected for a long time. The economic activity is low and the design of the physical environment poor. The Urban Renewal Programme started in 1999 as an attempt to improve the situation in previously disadvan-taged areas in South Africa. This diploma work can be seen as one part of that program. In South Africa one way of strengthening the economic growth is to work with the development of economic activity clusters connected through different modes of transport. In the Integrated Development Plan of Sol Plaatje unicipality, the Galeshewe Activity Corridor was pointed out. Along the Corridor six economic activity nodes were identified. In this diploma work suggestions for development of the corridor and three of the nodes have been made. All three students have together prepared the Corridor proposal. For the nodes, studies and proposals in more detail have been done individually. The overall aim of our project is to strengthen the physical conditions for economic and social activities in a previously disadvantaged area. This will be done through proposals for physical development which are presented by means of illustrative material to picture how the area could look like in ten to fifteen years. The aim is to describe how the area functions and looks today, and based on that to create a comprehensive material about Galeshewe, with focus on the Galeshewe Activity Corridor. As a response to the overall aim, four guiding principles have been formulated: • Holistic planning (regarding the spatial context for new pro-posals) • Better balance between different modes of transport (a switch of focus from car to pedestrians, bicyclists and public trans-port) • Improve public spaces (create new squares to support eco-nomic and social activities) • Improve accessibility (mainly by handling the issue of security) The guiding principles together with a SWOT Analysis, Kevin Lynch's City Structure Analysis and today's situation in Galeshewe, have ruled the design of the proposals for both the corridor and the nodes. The SWOT analysis highlighted strengths like lively streets and well used public transport, weaknesses like poverty and poor physical environ-ment, opportunities like the will to improve and available funding to do so, and threats like bad reputation and high crime rate in the area. Through the Kevin Lynch's City Structure Analysis the structure of and the relation between elements such as paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks were identified. Interesting discoveries were that many paths, or passages, are not connected to each other and that the area lacks landmarks. Along the corridor, upgrading of the streetscape through paving, tree planting and new streetlights has already started. The proposal of the corridor has in focus to create a safe street environment, as well as improved facilities for the pedestrians and bicyclists. The proposal of the corridor also includes as a design program for various fittings to improve the street environment. The emphasis lays, however, on the node proposals. The three nodes have different points of departure but are designed to work together. The Entrance Node puts emphasis on a proposed new square placed near existing businesses. The square will be surrounded by new busi-nesses and amenities such as a new Galeshewe museum and a planned but not yet built petrol station. Space around an existing park, a nearby swimming pool and Community Hall is planned to form a connected whole. The Culture Node puts emphasis on semiformal trading and the development of a cultural village. The node's main focus has moved from existing businesses to the corridor, where the Cultural Village and link-ages to the largest park in Galeshewe are developed. Around a new car wash, a small public square in direct contact with the park and new trading is placed. The Circle Node has a potential of becoming the centre of Galeshewe. The node development is concentrated to the area where five roads meet instead of the business area pointed out as the potential economic node. The latter is instead turned into a local shopping centre surrounded by housing. The Circle Node will become a busy, urban, commercial place as well as a transportation knot. A library, a cinema, a large grocery store, restaurants and offices are examples of activities that can be built in this node.


We have developed a new-generation Amber united-atom force field for simulations involving highly demanding conformational sampling such as protein folding and protein-protein binding. In the new united-atom force field, all hydrogens on aliphatic carbons in all amino acids are united with carbons except those on Calpha. Our choice of explicit representation of all protein backbone atoms aims at minimizing perturbation to protein backbone conformational distributions and to simplify development of backbone torsion terms. Tests with dipeptides and solvated proteins show that our goal is achieved quite successfully. The new united-atom force field uses the same new RESP charging scheme based on B3LYP/cc-pVTZ//HF/6-31g** quantum mechanical calculations in the PCM continuum solvent as that in the Duan et al. force field. van der Waals parameters are empirically refitted starting from published values with respect to experimental solvation free energies of amino acid side-chain analogues. The suitability of mixing new point charges and van der Waals parameters with existing Amber covalent terms is tested on alanine dipeptide and is found to be reasonable. Parameters for all new torsion terms are refitted based on the new point charges and the van der Waals parameters. Molecular dynamics simulations of three small globular proteins in the explicit TIP3P solvent are performed to test the overall stability and accuracy of the new united-atom force field. Good agreements between the united-atom force field and the Duan et al. all-atom force field for both backbone and side-chain conformations are observed. In addition, the per-step efficiency of the new united-atom force field is demonstrated for simulations in the implicit generalized Born solvent. A speedup around two is observed over the Duan et al. all-atom force field for the three tested small proteins. Finally, the efficiency gain of the new united-atom force field in conformational sampling is further demonstrated with a well-known toy protein folding system, an 18 residue polyalanine in distance-dependent dielectric. The new united-atom force field is at least a factor of 200 more efficient than the Duan et al. all-atom force field for ab initio folding of the tested peptide.


Mechanical
metamaterials are man-made materials which derive their unusual properties from
their structure rather than their composition. Their structure, or
architecture, often consists of periodically arranged building blocks whose
mutual interactions realize unusual properties. In this thesis, we investigate
the role of two aspects of mechanical metamaterials: The beam ligaments and the
microstructures of hinging squares. Both aspects play an important role in
mechanical metamaterials, but give rise simultaneously to several open
problems. First, although the mechanical behaviour of slender beam ligaments is
well understood, the finite-width ligaments that often occur in mechanical
metamaterials lead to new physics; wide beams exhibit a negative post-buckling
stiffness, characterized by a decreasing force after buckling, which is not
well understood. Second, fully filled microstructures of hinging squares
constitute an auxetic mechanism, but possible new zero modes derived from
(diluted) microstructures with missing squares remain largely unexplored. How
does the number of zero modes increases in such diluted systems, can we count
these additional modes, and what is their spatial structure? Here we address
these open problems, thereby providing the necessary understanding to fully
leverage the characteristics of wide beam ligaments and diluted collections of
hinging squares for the design of novel mechanical functionalities.


In this short note, we derive the large deviations estimate of the tail of the buffer occupancy distribution in a communications link with a very general integrated Poisson shot noise model for the total input. The result is obtained by a straightforward application of the results of Duffield and O'Connell. The interesting outcome of these computations is that, in the light-tail case, it is largely model independent, and this makes the statistical analysis of traffic in view of link dimensioning, with a procedure implementable by a simple network-based software.


The Danek Bonebed is a monodominant Edmontosaurus bonebed preserving predominantly disarticulated material from the Upper Campanian Horseshoe Canyon Formation within the city limits of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To date, at least six dinosaur taxa have been identified at the site: Albertosaurus sarcophagus, Chasmosaurinae indet., Dromaeosauridae indet., Edmontosaurus regalis, Ornithomimidae indet., and Troodontidae indet. This bonebed has been used as a case study for creating a digital, searchable bonebed map using a geographic information system (GIS) platform. The original quarry maps produced on site are refined when digitized with new anatomical information gathered during preparation of collected specimens. Each specimen is labeled with the known specimen identification, quarry coordinates, and catalogue number. Creating a digital map of the bonebed allows easier interpretation of data and the ability to share maps to compare specific elements within the bonebed.


Health research plays a pivotal role in addressing inequities in health and human development, but to achieve these objectives the research must be based on sound scientific and ethical principles. Although it is accepted that ethics play a central role in health research in developing countries, much of the recent debate has focused on controversies surrounding internationally sponsored research and has taken place largely without adequate participation of the developing countries. The relationship between ethical guidelines and regulations, and indigenously sponsored and public health research has not been adequately explored. For example, while the fundamental principles of ethical health research, such as community participation, informed consent, and shared benefits and burdens, remain sacrosanct other issues, such as standards of care and prior agreements, merit greater public debate within developing countries. In particular, the relationship of existing ethical guidelines to epidemiological and public health research merits further exploration. In order to support health research in developing countries that is both relevant and meaningful, the focus must be on developing health research that promotes equity and on developing local capacity in bioethics. Only through such proactive measures can we address the emerging ethical dilemmas and challenges that globalization and the genomics revolution will bring in their wake.


With this paper I analyse how policy agendas are being shaped and reshaped in new soft spaces emerging in Danish spatial planning at subnational scales, and how policy making in these soft spaces seeks to influence formal planning arenas. The paper demonstrates how the new soft planning spaces in Danish spatial planning primarily are concerned with promoting policy agendas centred on economic development, whilst doing limited work in filling in the gaps between formal scales of planning, as envisaged in the planning literature. Instead, soft spaces seem to add to the increasing pressures on statutory spatial planning, being used as vehicles for neoliberal transformations of strategic spatial planning. I therefore argue for a need to maintain a critical stance towards the emergence of soft spaces in spatial planning.


ii To PB iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to thank the Mid-America Transportation Center (MATC) and the Korea Institute of Construction Technology (KICT) for providing financial support. In addition we would like to thank L. ABSTRACT The implementation of warm-mix asphalt (WMA) is becoming more widespread in the United States of America with a growing number of contractors choosing to utilize various WMA technologies. WMA technologies were developed in order to reduce mixing and compaction temperatures of hot mix asphalt (HMA) without affecting the quality of the pavement. Research into the effects of WMA additives suggests that it may be more susceptible to rutting and moisture damage than traditional HMA pavements. The objective of this research is to evaluate the effects of a single WMA additive on resistance to rutting and moisture damage on lab mixed and field mixed pavements. This objective was completed by conducting extensive laboratory experiments to determine and assess the performance of both WMA and HMA mixtures produced using Iowa aggregates. The conclusions of this study are as follow:  Reduced mixing and compaction temperatures were achieved using the selected additive.  The selected WMA additive was successfully used and samples were taken during a local resurfacing project.  Moisture sensitivity of both field mixed WMA and field mixed HMA were comparable although both failed to meet Iowa DOT standards.  Dry Indirect Tensile Strength values of lab mixed WMA and HMA samples were nearly the same.  TSR values of lab mixed HMA surpassed those of lab mixed WMA although both failed to meet Iowa DOT standards. v  The aged field mixed HMA successfully passed the Hamburg Wheel Tracker Test and provided the best creep and stripping values compared to all other field mixed specimens.  Lab mixed HMA using a PG 64-22 binder performed the best compared to all other lab mixed specimens although none of the lab mixed specimens successfully passed the Hamburg Wheel Tracker Test.


About the Authors Other Wiley and IEEE Press Books on Related Topics Acknowledgments Preface Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Historical Overview 1.2 Applications of Irregular Variable Length Coding 1.3 Motivation and Methodology 1.4 Outline of the Book 1.5 Novel Contributions of the Book Chapter 2 Information Theory Basics 2.1 Issues in Information Theory 2.2 AdditiveWhite Gaussian Noise Channel 2.3 Information of a Source 2.4 Average Information of Discrete Memoryless Sources 2.5 Source Coding for a Discrete Memoryless Source 2.6 Entropy of Discrete Sources Exhibiting Memory 2.7 Examples 2.8 Generating Model Sources 2.9 Run-Length Coding for Discrete Sources Exhibiting Memory 2.10 Information Transmission via Discrete Channels 2.11 Capacity of Discrete Channels 2.12 Shannon's Channel Coding Theorem 2.13 Capacity of Continuous Channels 2.14 Shannon's Message for Wireless Channels 2.15 Summary and Conclusions I Regular Concatenated Codes and Their Design List of Symbols in Part I Chapter 3 Sources and Source Codes 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Source Models 3.3 Source Codes 3.4 Soft-Decoding of Variable Length Codes 3.5 Summary and Conclusions Chapter 4 Iterative Source/Channel Decoding 4.1 Concatenated Coding and the Turbo Principle 4.2 SISO APP Decoders and Their EXIT Characteristics 4.3 Iterative Source/Channel Decoding Over AWGN Channels 4.4 Iterative Channel Equalisation, Channel Decoding and Source Decoding 4.5 Summary and Conclusions Chapter 5 Three-Stage Serially Concatenated Turbo Equalisation 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Soft-in/Soft-outMMSE Equalisation 5.3 Turbo Equalisation Using MAP/MMSE Equalisers 5.4 Three-stage serially concatenated coding and MMSE equalisation 5.5 Approaching the Channel Capacity Using EXIT-Chart Matching and IRCCs . 5.6 Rate-Optimisation of Serially Concatenated Codes 5.7 Joint Source-Channel Turbo Equalisation Revisited 5.8 Summary and Conclusions II Irregular Concatenated VLCs and Their Design List of Symbols in Part II Chapter 6 Irregular Variable Length Codes for Joint Source and Channel Coding 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Overview of proposed scheme 6.3 Transmission frame structure 6.4 VDVQ/RVLC encoding 6.5 APP SISO VDVQ/RVLC decoding 6.6 Simulation results 6.7 Summary and Conclusions Chapter 7 Irregular Variable Length Codes for EXIT Chart Matching 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Overview of proposed schemes 7.3 Parameter design for the proposed schemes 7.4 Simulation results 7.5 Summary and Conclusions Chapter 8 Genetic Algorithm Aided Design of Irregular Variable Length Coding Components 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The free distance metric 8.3 Overview of the proposed genetic algorithm 8.4 Overview of proposed scheme 8.5 Parameter design for the proposed scheme 8.6 Simulation results 8.7 Summary and Conclusions Chapter 9 Joint EXIT Chart Matching of Irregular Variable Length Coding and Irregular Unity Rate Coding 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Modifications of the EXIT chart matching algorithm 9.3 Joint EXIT chart matching 9.4 Overview of the transmission scheme considered 9.5 System parameter design 9.6 Simulation results 9.7 Summary and Conclusions III Applications of VLCs Chapter 10 Iteratively Decoded VLC Space-Time Coded Modulation 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Space Time Coding Overview 10.3 Two-Dimensional VLC Design 10.4 VL-STCM Scheme 10.5 VL-STCM-ID Scheme 10.6 Convergence Analysis 10.7 Simulation results 10.8 Conclusions Chapter 11 Iterative Detection of Three-Stage Concatenated IrVLC FFH-MFSK 11.1 Introduction 11.2 System Overview 11.3 Iterative decoding 11.4 System parameter design and Results 11.5 Conclusion Chapter 12 Conclusions and Future Research 12.1 Chapter 1: Introduction 12.2 Chapter 2: Information Theory Basics 12.3 Chapter 3: Sources and Source Codes 12.4 Chapter 4: Iterative Source/Channel Decoding 12.5 Chapter 5: Three-Stage Serially Concatenated Turbo Equalisation 12.6 Chapter 6: Joint source and channel coding 12.7 Chapters 7 - 9: EXIT chart matching 12.8 Chapter 8: GA-aided Design of Irregular VLC Components 12.9 Chapter 9: Joint EXIT Chart Matching of IRVLCs and IRURCs 12.10Chapter 10: Iteratively Decoded VLC Space-Time Coded Modulation 12.11Chapter 11: Iterative Detection of Three-Stage Concatenated IrVLC FFHMFSK 12.12Future work 12.13Closing remarks Appendix A VLC Construction Algorithms A.1 RVLC Construction Algorithm A A.2 RVLC Construction Algorithm B A.3 Greedy Algorithm (GA) and Majority Voting Algorithm (MVA) Appendix B SISO VLC Decoder Appendix C APP Channel Equalisation Bibliography Glossary Subject Index Author Index


Overview: The Monthly Economic Review is an overview of the New Zealand economy. It includes the latest data on New Zealand's economic growth, unemployment, inflation, merchandise trade and balance of payments figures, along with certain financial data (such as the Reserve Bank's official cash rate). The unemployment rate, economic growth and central bank interest rates for several of our main OECD trading partners are also included. Each publication highlights a specific topic of interest. The Monthly Economic Review is produced eleven times per year.


In these days of commonplace contraception and the prolongation of higher education, adolescent pregnancies appear as a challenge to the socially-prescribed reproductive period and generally give rise to worry and incomprehension. The object of this article is to show how scientific discourse helps to reinforce the socially required age of first pregnancy. Contrary to a medicalized and normative literature, this article will also, on the basis of field studies, call into question some received ideas on the subject, and outline some other explanations for these « culturally » precocious pregnancies.


Abstract Decreases in shorebird populations are increasingly evident worldwide, especially in the East Asian—Australasian Flyway (EAAF). To arrest these declines, it is important to understand the scale of both the problem and the solutions. We analysed an expansive Australian citizen-science dataset, spanning the period 1973 to 2014, to explore factors related to differences in trends among shorebird populations in wetlands throughout Australia. Of seven resident Australian shorebird species, the four inland species exhibited continental decreases, whereas the three coastal species did not. Decreases in inland resident shorebirds were related to changes in availability of water at non-tidal wetlands, suggesting that degradation of wetlands in Australia's interior is playing a role in these declines. For migratory shorebirds, the analyses revealed continental decreases in abundance in 12 of 19 species, and decreases in 17 of 19 in the southern half of Australia over the past 15 years. Many trends were strongly associated with continental gradients in latitude or longitude, suggesting some large-scale patterns in the decreases, with steeper declines often evident in southern Australia. After accounting for this effect, local variables did not explain variation in migratory shorebird trends between sites. Our results are consistent with other studies indicating that decreases in migratory shorebird populations in the EAAF are most likely being driven primarily by factors outside Australia. This reinforces the need for urgent overseas conservation actions. However, substantially heterogeneous trends within Australia, combined with declines of inland resident shorebirds indicate effective management of Australian shorebird habitat remains important.


Application of a self-sweeping self-pulsing laser for high-resolution spectral analysis of π-shifted FBGs has been demonstrated for the first time. It is shown that the self-sweeping laser generates nearly single-frequency radiation during a single pulse. This fact allows us to characterize the shift-induced dip of 14 MHz width in the FBG reflection spectrum. Nonlinear deformation of the measured ultranarrow spectral structure with increasing incident power is observed. Sampling interval during the scan is shown to be limited by pulse to pulse frequency shift, which is equal to the cavity mode spacing of 6 MHz. The main feature of the applied technique is its simplicity due to the absence of special elements for frequency scanning.


The conventional wisdom is that a software-defined network (SDN) operates under the premise that the logically centralized control plane has an accurate representation of the actual data plane state. Nevertheless, bugs, misconfigurations, faults or attacks can introduce inconsistencies that undermine correct operation. Previous work in this area, however, lacks a holistic methodology to tackle this problem and thus, addresses only certain parts of the problem. Yet, the consistency of the overall system is only as good as its least consistent part.
Motivated by an analogy of network consistency checking with program testing, we propose to add active probe-based network state fuzzing to our consistency check repertoire. Hereby, our system, PAZZ, combines production traffic with active probes to continuously test if the actual forwarding path and decision elements (on the data plane) correspond to the expected ones (on the control plane). Our insight is that active traffic covers the inconsistency cases beyond the ones identified by passive traffic. PAZZ prototype was built and evaluated on topologies of varying scale and complexity. Our results show that PAZZ requires minimal network resources to detect persistent data plane faults through fuzzing and localize them quickly.


We provide the first estimates of the extent of common ownership of competing firms in Australia. Combining data on market shares and substantial shareholdings, we calculate the impact of common ownership on effective market concentration. Among firms where we can identify at least one owner, 31 percent share a substantial owner with a rival company. Analysing 443 industries, we identify 49 that exhibit common ownership, including commercial banking, explosives manufacturing, fuel retailing, insurance and iron ore mining. Across the Australian economy, common ownership increases effective market concentration by 21 percent. Our estimates imply that if listed firms seek to maximise the value of their investors' portfolios, then they place the same value on $3.70 of their competitors' profits as on $1 of their own profits. We discuss the limitations of the available data, and the potential implications of common ownership for competition in Australia.


A Wreathed garland of deserved praise, 1 Of praise deserved, unto thee I give, I give to thee, who knowest all my wayes, My crooked winding wayes, wherein I live, Wherein I die, not live: for life is straight, 5 Straight as a line, and ever tends to thee, To thee, who art more farre above deceit, Then deceit seems above simplicitie. Give. me simplicities that I may live, So live and like, that I may know, thy wayes, 10 Know them and practise them: then shall I give For this poore wreath, give thee a crown of praise.'


Title: Examining Transylvanian Saxon Fortified Churches from the 13th to the 16th Centuries; the History and Archaeology of the Saxon Rural Church in Romania: Roles and Identities. Author: David Morgan This dissertation provides a multi-layered analysis of Saxon rural fortified churches from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries in Transylvania. By examining the histories and archaeologies of these poorly studied but prominent medieval survivals, the thesis explores the processes by which the Church transformed Saxon social structures and considers how far structure and form reflect that society and its evolving identities. The timeframe spans the primary Saxon colonization of Transylvania until the occupation of the region by the Turks after 1526. Critically, almost all of the Saxon villages and churches originated and were subsequently fortified during this period and many have remained relativity unaltered since. Three major research strategies are employed: (1) a quantitative analysis of data for the representative regions of Brasov and Sibiu Counties; (2) detailed analysis of the form and function of the built units; and (3) detailed assessment of two major case studies. Data were collected from published and archival reports and sources, plus interviews, newspapers and site surveys. Core to the whole is the creation of a Gazetteer of Saxon sites in Brașov and Sibiu Counties. The thesis considers Saxon fortified complexes in their site and landscape setting, but first reviews medieval to modern Saxon Transylvania, evaluating the impact of events on the Saxon peoples, and then details the nature of Saxon rights, privileges, and administration in their lands and settlements. The roles and development of the Saxon fortified churches are next explored, assessing topographic, defensive, material and economic considerations and evolutions. The final part of the thesis analyses the morphology, domestic, cultural and social life of the Saxon fortified church and village, through which we may assess other angles of evolving Saxon identity. In addition, the thesis has considered the heritage of complexes – how viewed, how maintained, issues of access, of decay – and their recognition by UNESCO and European Union departments. The thesis reveals a specific Saxon colonial form which adapted to a near constancy of threat and uncertainty. The survival of so many components of this distinctive past requires far more attention from scholars to appreciate fully the Saxon contribution. David Morgan Saxon Fortified Churches from the 13th to 16th Centuries --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------iii


Monoclonal antibodies to fibrillin 1 (MP340), a component of elastin-associated microfibrils, were used to screen cDNA libraries made from bovine nuchal ligament mRNA. One of the selected clones (cL9; 1.2 kb) hybridized on Northern (RNA) blotting with nuchal ligament mRNA to two abundant mRNAs of 9.0 and 7.5 kb, which were clearly distinct from fibrillin mRNA (10 kb). Further library screening and later reverse transcription PCR by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique resulted in the isolation of additional overlapping cDNAs corresponding to about 6.7 kb of the mRNA. The encoded protein exhibited sequence similarity of around 80% with a recently identified human protein named latent transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1)-binding protein 2 (LTBP-2), indicating that the new protein was bovine LTBP-2. This was confirmed by the specific localization of bovine LTBP-2 cDNA probes to human chromosome 14q24.3, which is the locus of the human LTBP-2 gene. The domain structure of bovine LTBP-2 is very similar to that of the human LTBP-2, containing 20 examples of 6-cysteine epidermal growth factor-like repeats, 16 of which have the consensus sequence for calcium binding, together with 4 examples of 8-cysteine motifs characteristic of fibrillins and LTBP-1. A 4-cysteine sequence which is unique to bovine LTBP-2 and which has similarity to the 8-cysteine motifs was also present. Antibodies raised to two unique bovine LTBP-2 peptides specifically localized in tissue sections to the elastin-associated microfibrils, indicating that LTBP-2 is closely associated with these structures. Immunoblotting experiments identified putative LTBP-2 isoforms as a 260-kDa species released into the medium by cultured elastic tissue cells and as larger 290- and 310-kDa species in tissue extracts. A major proportion of tissue-derived LTBP-2 required treatment with 6 M guanidine for solubilization, indicating that the protein was strongly bound to the microfibrils. Most of the guanidine-solubilized LTBP-2 appeared to be monomeric, indicating that it was not involved in disulfide-bonded aggregation either with itself or with latent TGF-beta. Additional LTBP-2 was resistant to solubilization with 6 M guanidine but was readily extracted with a reductive saline solution. This treatment is relatively specific for solubilization of microfibrillar constituents including fibrillin 1 and microfibril-associated glycoprotein. Therefore, it can be inferred that some LTBP-2 is bound covalently to the microfibrils by reducible disulfide linkages. The evidence suggests that LTBP-2 has a direct role in elastic fiber structure and assembly which may be independent of its growth factor-binding properties. Thus, LTBP-2 appears to share functional characteristics with both LTBP-1 and fibrillins.


This paper reviews the literature on the impact of ethnic diversity on economic development. Ethnically polarized societies are less likely to agree on the provision of public goods and more likely to engage in rent seeking activities providing lower levels of social capital. Initial conditions are important determinants of adverse development outcomes. The role of decentralization, democracy and markets as potential remedies are discussed. The paper then presents a number of preliminary hypotheses on the relationship between diversity and instability in order to stimulate future research.


Politics aside, people worldwide have come to admire Barbara Bush's wit, candor and compassion, as well as her unswerving devotion to her husband and children. Now, she gives listeners a very private look at a life she lived in the public eye for more than 25 years. With the contemporary American history as the backdrop, Mrs. Bush remembers the experiences that led to the White House, from growing up in Rye, New York and meeting George Bush, through life as a young bride and mother and the almost unbearable pain of losing a child. She talks candidly about her years in public life in Washington, New York and China, and describes her role as the wife of the Vice President, culminating in the climactic White House years. Drawing upon excerpts from the diary she has compiled for more than 30 years, Mrs. Bush takes us behind the scenes of the Persian Gulf conflict and the end of the Cold War, and introduces us to the world leaders and their spouses with whom she has developed friendships over the years. She also talks about both the Bushes' struggle to overcome Graves Disease, the disappointment of the 1992 Presidential campaign and the joys of rediscovering private life, and tells us why she threw so much of her energy and compassion behind the important cause of making America more literate. Filled with the funny, often self-deprecating and occasionally touching anecdotes for which she is well-known, Mrs. Bush's memoir will charm her millions of admirers and earn her many more.


Middle school can be a tough time for students to be willing to share their ideas and thoughts aloud in class. This study challenges that unwillingness to speak aloud in class and teaches students how to participate appropriately in formal class discussions. While conducting this study, data was collected to determine if the discussions had an effect on student performance and confidence in the science classroom. Students were observed during five different class discussions. Data was collected by using tools such as rubrics, self-assessments, pre-assessments and post-assessments. After two months of post-treatment, the study concluded with the knowledge that class discussions can be used as another strategy to engage students to be active participants in their learning of science topics while also allowing students to demonstrate oral speaking skills in a respectful learning environment.


While climate change, sustainable architecture, and green technologies have become increasingly topical, issues surrounding the sustainability of the city are much less developed. The premise of the book is that an ecological approach is urgently needed both as a remedial device for the contemporary city and as an organizing principle for new cities. Ecological Urbanism approaches the city without any one set of instruments and with a world view that is fluid in scale and disciplinary approach. Design provides the synthetic key to connect ecology with an urbanism that is not in contradiction with its environment. The book brings together design practitioners and theorists, economists, engineers, artists, policy makers, environmental scientists, and public health specialists, with the goal of reaching a more robust understanding of ecological urbanism and what it might be in the future.


The Curriculum + Community Enterprise for Restoration Science (CCERS) is an educational model designed to increase the quality and effectiveness of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science (STEM-C) education in urban public middle schools through restoration science; increase knowledge and instructional skill of educators who work in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods; and increase public middle school students' knowledge of and interest in STEM-C. The model consists of five interrelated pillars, to create "wrap around" educational programming for disadvantaged urban students in New York City. The CCERS is an example of a complex partnership built upon formal and informal partnerships between universities, foundations, K-12 institutions, community organizations, and cultural institutions primarily from New York City. While the project will generate scientific research, provide educational resources, and contribute to educational research knowledge, an overarching goal is to create a replicable model applicable to other locations in need of restoration science educational projects.


The NODE.London Reader projects a critical context around the Season of Media Arts in London March 2006 and provides another discursive dimension to the events of October 2005's Open Season. It engages debates in FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software), media arts and activism, collaborative practices and the political economy of cultural production in the present day. It includes essays and artist projects from Sabeth Buchmann, Toni Prug, Armin Medosch, Simon Yuill, Chad McCail, Critical Art Ensemble, Jo Walsh, Richard Barbrook, Michael Corris, Harwood, Kate Rich, Agnese Trocchi, Matthew Fuller, Rasmus Fleischer and Palle Torsson, Brett Neilson and Ned Rossiter, Matteo Pasquinelli and Francis McKee.


Purpose: Education 4.0 paves the way for a new form of the university where academicians teach, research and provide services in different ways, which raises the question of the readiness of academicians to face the challenges. This study attempts to explain to which extent the university and its academic staff are ready to face Education 4.0 challenges through the initiatives of knowledge management and organizational learning. Research Methods: Questionnaires were administered to all academic staff in one education university in Malaysia and 218 completed questionnaires were received and analyzed in this study. Data were collected using modified items from two sources to measure knowledge management and organizational learning practices at the university. Items for measuring staff readiness for Education 4.0 were developed based on criteria found in the recent literature. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Findings: Results indicated that the academic staff and the university were ready to face the Education 4.0 challenges. The level of organizational learning practiced by the academic staff is high, the same as the knowledge management practiced by the university. Pearson's correlation analysis showed that both organizational learning and knowledge management practices had significant positive relationships with the readiness of academic staff for Education 4.0. However, multiple regression analysis with stepwise procedures found that only one knowledge management practice and one organizational learning practice were the predictors of the readiness of the academic staff in facing the Education 4.0 challenges. Implications for Research and Practices: This study provides new insight into Education 4.0 through the perspective of knowledge management and organizational learning. Universities need to put more initiatives for knowledge creation, knowledge organization, knowledge storing, knowledge dissemination and knowledge application. Furthermore, academicians also need to put more effort into supporting new learning and ideas, formal learning and external/interface learning.