Abstract Objective: Different fatty acids elicit different responses in the human body once ingested. Although red meat is often considered to be a source of fatty acids which has a negative impact on human health, many studies have reflected variability in the quantity and quality of fatty acids found in red meat produced on different production systems in different countries. This study evaluated the fatty acid profile of beef, produced by the grass- and grain-fed production systems practised in South Africa. Design: Data are reported as a percentage of lipid per 100 g total fat to enable a comparison with international findings. Furthermore, the findings are translated into edible meat portions, taking fat trimming (often associated with red meat intake) into consideration in order to determine the contribution which the different products can make to the human diet. Subjects and setting: Three cuts of beef from cattle from four production groups were sampled and the fatty acid composition analysed for the meat and fat fractions. Results: Notable differences were found in the quantity and quality of different fatty acids in beef from the different production systems. When untrimmed, no statistically significant difference was found in the total fat between beef produced on the different production systems. Differences became more significant as trimming was performed. When trimmed of all visible fat, beef from young cattle fed according to a grain-based feeding system contained less total fat (6.96 g), and less saturated fat (2.16 g) per 100 g, than beef produced from their grass-fed counterparts (9.77 g and 3.30 g, respectively). There was a more favourable omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio, i.e. 2.0–2.5:1.0 for grass-fed cattle, compared to 8–30:1 for grain-fed cattle, irrespective of the degree of trimming. The beef from the grass-fed cattle also contained a higher quantity of conjugated linoleic acid. Conclusion: A unique classification system for red meat has been implemented in South Africa and dictates the characteristics of the fresh meat that is available to consumers. The results of this study consequently indicate distinctive differences between the fatty acid profile of local red meat and that of beef produce from other countries; often used as a reference for dietary guidance.


This software is a higher-performance implementation of tiled WMS, with integral support for KML and time-varying data. This software is compliant with the Open Geospatial WMS standard, and supports KML natively as a WMS return type, including support for the time attribute. Regionated KML wrappers are generated that match the existing tiled WMS dataset. Ping and JPG formats are supported, and the software is implemented as an Apache 2.0 module that supports a threading execution model that is capable of supporting very high request rates. The module intercepts and responds to WMS requests that match certain patterns and returns the existing tiles. If a KML format that matches an existing pyramid and tile dataset is requested, regionated KML is generated and returned to the requesting application. In addition, KML requests that do not match the existing tile datasets generate a KML response that includes the corresponding JPG WMS request, effectively adding KML support to a backing WMS server.


Abstract Graduate level studies have academic demands which are multiple and varied. A student with a cognitive disability may be especially challenged due to the abstract and theoretical subjects inherent to higher education. Material presented includes a description of student needs, possible approaches for faculty, and adaptive strategies (task analysis, pre-arrangement, planned performance and appraisal). Through carefully applied planning, discipline, and use of resources, a graduate student with a cognitive disability may successfully complete a master's degree or doctorate. Introduction Graduate level studies are by definition complex, abstract, and highly theoretical. Can a student with a cognitive disability realistically pursue a master's degree or doctorate? This commentary will support the belief that through adaptive strategies and faculty support, advanced academic work is possible. Topics include description of student needs and specific techniques for instructors to utilize or recommend. The perspective reflects the author's personal experiences with completion of a doctorate after sustaining a head injury in a motor vehicle accident. Awareness of Student Needs A graduate student may have been challenged by a learning disability throughout schooling, or may have recently been evaluated and diagnosed. If a cognitive disability is more recent in determination or occurrence, the student would require much more intervention with introduction to varied compensatory techniques. When experiencing a non-apparent or "invisible" disability, self-disclosure to faculty is important. The student may describe holistic issues in addition to cognitive challenges, which affect performance, including sensori-motor symptoms (visual or auditory, mobility), or psycho-social (isolation, depression, communication). Focusing on cognitive issues, the executive functions required in scholarly tasks are especially challenged. These skills include: memory, judgment, planning, problem solving, concentration, decision-making and attention to simultaneous demands. (Wilson, 2001; Edgar, 1978). Considering the many activities of a student such as attending class, listening, taking notes, lab participation, writing, study and research, these are significant difficulties. Limitations in those skills areas may affect the student's abilities for attending class, listening, note taking, lab participation, writing, study and research. Special help is likely to be needed to accomplish the activities of learning, independent study, and research. It is important for the student to establish working relationships with professors which will promote the design and use of creative adaptive strategies. Approaches by Faculty With larger classrooms and demanding schedules, professors may wonder how it would be possible to address the specialized learning needs of each individual student. Time for advisement and additional review is limited. Suggestions, which follow, are intended as possibilities for faculty to use when approached by a student who has identified his or her special needs. Suggestions are offered not with the intention of substituting for Special Education type needs. The ideas may be especially helpful to full or part time faculty who do not have training or experience in providing for special needs. The graduate student is expected to take initiative for arranging meetings and to be responsible for implementation of plans. In the course of a semester, the professor might initially meet with the student to review needs, establish a plan (perhaps short bimonthly meetings to determine progress and revised strategies) and finally assess achievement. They may jointly define specific problem areas, goals, and approaches. The faculty member's role is to promote autonomy by facilitating problem solving and to recommend techniques which increase structure and adapted ability. Adaptive Strategies The strategies described occur within a four-step process, including task analysis, pre-arrangement, planned performance and appraisal. …


Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) are the two major histological types of breast cancer worldwide. Whereas IDC incidence has remained stable, ILC is the most rapidly increasing breast cancer phenotype in the United States and Western Europe. It is not clear whether IDC and ILC represent molecularly distinct entities and what genes might be involved in the development of these two phenotypes. We conducted comprehensive gene expression profiling studies to address these questions. Total RNA from 21 ILCs, 38 IDCs, two lymph node metastases, and three normal tissues were amplified and hybridized to approximately 42,000 clone cDNA microarrays. Data were analyzed using hierarchical clustering algorithms and statistical analyses that identify differentially expressed genes (significance analysis of microarrays) and minimal subsets of genes (prediction analysis for microarrays) that succinctly distinguish ILCs and IDCs. Eleven of 21 (52%) of the ILCs ("typical" ILCs) clustered together and displayed different gene expression profiles from IDCs, whereas the other ILCs ("ductal-like" ILCs) were distributed between different IDC subtypes. Many of the differentially expressed genes between ILCs and IDCs code for proteins involved in cell adhesion/motility, lipid/fatty acid transport and metabolism, immune/defense response, and electron transport. Many genes that distinguish typical and ductal-like ILCs are involved in regulation of cell growth and immune response. Our data strongly suggest that over half the ILCs differ from IDCs not only in histological and clinical features but also in global transcription programs. The remaining ILCs closely resemble IDCs in their transcription patterns. Further studies are needed to explore the differences between ILC molecular subtypes and to determine whether they require different therapeutic strategies.


Significant shifts in the phenology of life-cycle events have been observed in diverse taxa throughout the global oceans. While the migration phenology of marine fish and invertebrates is expected to be sensitive to climate change, the complex nature of these patterns has made measurement difficult and studies rare. With continuous weekly observations spanning 7 decades in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island (USA), the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography trawl survey provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the influence of climate on the migrations of marine species in the northwest Atlantic. Analyses of the survey observations of 12 species indicated that residence periods have changed by as much as 118 d, with shifts in the timing of both ingress to and egress from the coastal zone. The residence periods of warm-water species expanded while those of cold-water species contracted. Dirichlet regressions fit to the annual presence-absence patterns of each species identified interannual temperature variations, fluctuations in ocean circulation, and long-term warming all as having a significant effect on migration phenology. Additionally, temperature gradients within Narragansett Bay were shown by generalized additive models to cause detectable shifts in local spatial distributions during coastal residency. These novel findings mirror results found in the spatial domain and therefore suggest that the studied species are adapting their spatiotemporal distributions to track their thermal niche in a changing climate. If so, characterizing the spatial and temporal aspects of climate responses across species will be critical to understanding ongoing changes in marine ecosystems and successfully managing the fisheries they support.


Increasingly state and local governments in Western Australia are identifying 'community development' as a way of involving community members in addressing areas of community need and social issues. Definitions of community development are varied and are most often presented as a set of values or processes used to enhance community participation and to promote soda/ change. Commonly the principles of self-help, resource access and equity, democratic participation and community mobilisation are used to provide an understanding of what is community development Within these understandings common practices or tools of community development are identified as ways to achieve these principles or outcomes, some of which include resource information, education, empowerment, facilitation and negotiation.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the ways in which 'community development' is understood and practiced by community development workers. It is my argument that while there are some core and recognisable traits found within these understandings, these combine with a number of variables specific and relevant to a particular situation and thus form a 'situated' community development 'discourse'. These variables are loosely formed 'filters' that surround the community development practitioner, the employing organisation, and the factors found in broader social political and economic environment these filters represent a complex interaction that converge and subsequently 'load' how community development is understood and practiced within a particular context.

This thesis will explore how 'community development' is constructed through academic, government, and industry literature. It will examine it's historical application and emergence in Australia as a form of community service work, and explore it as a response to the shifting social political and economic environment as its context Here the thesis sets out the processes for exploring with community development workers, their understandings and practices of community development as employees of government organisations. The findings from two case studies, one state and one local government organisation involved in the delivery of youth services, are presented. Finally, the concluding chapter draws upon the similarities and differences found between the literature and the research findings to demonstrate the ambiguity of the term 'community development' and how it can be adapted to suit a multitude of situations, with varying ideological purposes.


The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 brings together aspects of family, child care and adoption law that affect children. The Act deliberately seeks to incorporate the 3 key principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) - i.e. non-discrimination (Article 2); a child's welfare as a primary consideration (Article 3); and listening to children's views (Article 12) - into Scottish legislation and practice. This 'mapping paper' undertakes a detailed analysis of the Act, and accompanying regulations and guidance, asking the following questions: In relation to which decisions do the views of children need to be sought? Which children are included in any such requirements? What processes are specified for ascertaining children's views? What weight is given to the child's views? Is provision made for feedback to the child? Relevant reported case law is considered. The mapping paper is part of a feasibility study, funded by the Scottish Executive. The feasibility study sought to examine how best to conceptualise and evaluate how decision-making in children's lives takes due account of their views, with particular attention to processes related to Part I of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and the implications for compliance with the UNCRC. A second volume reports on the feasibility study itself, including literature reviews on relevant research and methodology.


Apelin, the newly identified adipokine and the endogenous ligand for the APJ receptor is related to obesity and insulin resistance. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of 2 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the apelin gene (APLN) with susceptibility to Type Two Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in the Egyptian population. Methods: Two SNPs on APLN were genotyped in 145 diabetic patients and 135 nondiabetic individuals, aged 40-60 years. Realtime polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze the 2 SNPs in both the diabetic and the healthy subjects. The association of the 2 SNPs (rs2281068 and rs3115759) in APLN and T2DM risk was investigated. Allele and genotype frequencies between patients and control groups were compared using the Chisquare (χ2) test. Results: In the apelin gene; GT/TT genotype of apelin risk genotypes of the rs2281068 variants was found to be significantly related with the risk of T2DM with the power (OR : 9.623, CI : 35.52 - 16.77) (P ≤ 0.001). while on the contrary, the GA/AA genotype of the rs3115759 variants was not at increased risk for T2DM (OR :1.25, CI : 0.785-2.09) (P=0.3408). Conclusions: Both association and functional studies suggested that SNP rs2281068 in APLN is associated with the risk of T2DM in the Egyptian population.


The death of Vo Nguyen Giap on October 4, 2013, in his 103rd year, was noted with respect everywhere in the world. General Giap commanded the military forces that freed Vietnam from French colonialism in the 1946–1954 war that ended with the victory at Dien Bien Phu (1954), and that then defeated U.S. imperialist aggression in the 1962–1975 war that ended with liberation of Saigon. The heroic and victorious struggle of Communist Vietnam was a major factor in the growth of anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements that shook the previously colonized world, Western Europe, and even the United States. … In 1970 Monthly Review Press published Military Art of People's War: Selected Writings by General Vo Nguyen Giap, that included a May 1968 interview with General Giap by Madeleine Riffaud, originally published in l'Humanite on June 4, 1968. In commemoration of Vo Nguyen Giap we reprint that interview. —Eds. This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website , where most recent articles are published in full. Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


Based on numerical modeling, the dynamic characteristics of high-power ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber amplifiers during the amplification of nanosecond pulses with kilohertz repetition rates are comprehensively analyzed. The temporal pulse energy, power, upper-level population distribution, amplified spontaneous emission, stored energy, pulse waveform evolution, etc., are emphasized in this paper. Some practical issues in amplification processes, such as the impacts of reflected pulses from the external surfaces and the fluctuation of input pulse energy on the amplifier performance, are also discussed. The models and results are important for the design and development of high-power double-clad fiber amplifiers.


Witchcraft, astrology, divination and every kind of popular magic flourished in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from the belief that a blessed amulet could prevent the assaults of the Devil to the use of the same charms to recover stolen goods. At the same time, the Protestant Reformation attempted to take the magic out of religion, and scientists were developing new explanations of the universe. Keith Thomas' classic analysis of beliefs held on every level of English society begins with the collapse of the medieval Church and ends with the changing intellectual atmosphere around 1700, when science and rationalism began to challenge the older systems of belief.


The attacks of September 11 2001 created an iconic moment where our history can be defined as the pre and post 9-11 period. The impact that this event had on how states organise their national security intelligence apparatus was immediately evident. Within New Zealand this new security conscious era created a polarised debate: on one side were those who demanded that the Government tighten border and domestic security, and on the other side were those who argued that New Zealand's isolation and independence created a condition that reduced the likelihood of the country becoming a target of terrorism or a place attractive to those with terrorist sympathies. When New Zealand was called on by the United States to contribute to the War On Terror, an argument flared within executive government. The political destabilisation manifested itself first within The Alliance, a party that had in 1999 formed a governing coalition with the Labour Party. The Alliance fragmented: on one side, the leader and deputy leader (both Cabinet Ministers) positioned in support of Cabinet's intention to contribute to the conflict, and, on the other side, the remaining caucus members opposed the move. The division became politically unreconcilable and the coalition became fragile through to the General Election late in 2002. Post-Election, the Labour Party and two members of the Progressive Party (a party created by The Alliance's former leader and deputy leader) formed a new coalition government. The new Cabinet decided on a limited military contribution to the War On Terror and embarked on a legislative programme designed to ensure New Zealand remained secure and protected from external and internal threats. Then, in December 2002, an Algerian Imam named Ahmed Zaoui arrived at the nation's border where he sought asylum. Immediately Zaoui was confronted by an environment that was politically and operationally highly sensitised to matters of internal security. Zaoui, New Zealand's authorities soon discovered, had been convicted of terrorism related charges in Belgium and France, and had been convicted in absentia and sentenced to death on three occasions in Algeria. The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service stated that Zaoui was a risk to the nation's security and imprisoned him indefinitely in a maximum security prison pending an assessment of the case by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security. The events that followed challenged New Zealand's democratic foundations, and created tensions between the governing executive and the judiciary. During this timeframe, the researcher reported on the Zaoui case and in 2004 was lead-author of an investigative journalism-styled book: I Almost Forgot About The Moon – the disinformation campaign against Ahmed Zaoui. This Thesis examines this case-study, analysing why the Inspector General found in Zaoui's favour. The case-study aids the Thesis' enquiry into what affect classified intelligence information has on the national and public interest when that information remains secret and unable to be tested by the wider executive, legislature, the judicial arena, the fourth estate, and the public.


The Beijing Platform for Action in 1995 raised awareness, that the mass media contributed greatly to the empowerment and promotion of women. But within the media industry itself, gender equality is a problem. This article discusses the position of women in Riau Television. Of the 12 division leadership positions in Riau Television, there are only four women who occupy manager positions. Using qualitative research methods and using the four women as cases studied, in this article the author reveals the explanation behind only four women occupying managerial positions in the midst of male domination. Framed by the Glass Ceiling Theory the question answered is: What are the pathways in which the four female journalists have succeeded in occupying the position of manager on Riau TV in the midst of male domination? The results of the study show that social channels that enable women to succeed in breaking through the barriers are seen in the policies of the president director as a company leader in promoting them to occupy manager positions. The reality of women who occupy manager positions in Riau Television, is not a portrait that portrays a form of position sharing out of pity. Having the experience, abilities, years of service and achievements of these four women, are a number of requirements that are considered by the president director in deciding to place women in managerial positions.


The applicability of ultra-high performance concrete which has clearly better mechanical properties than ordinary concrete is one of the most common topics in civil engineering scientific papers. Due to the high price of this type of concrete in comparison with ordinary concrete, and the absence of design codes, practical application of this type of material is still very limited, especially in less developed countries. The idea of partial usage of UHPC in some kind of structures is being developed by other scientists (Habel 2004), however it is still the lack of information about curing conditions of composite members and shear bond strength between ordinary concrete and UHPC. In order to make reliable composite structures, it is very important to ensure sufficient interface strength. In this paper experimental data is presented, which was obtained from tests carried out by authors. The aim of experiments was to establish the influence of different heat treatment regimes on mechanical properties (including shear bond strength) of normal strength concrete and ultra-high performance concrete newly cast composite members. Bi-surface shear test method was used to determine the average shear bond strength. Three different curing regimes were analysed. It was observed from preliminary tests that after heat treatment UHPC achieved its final maturity, however ordinary concrete did not gain the same strength as concrete specimens which were cured in 20 °C water for 28 days. It is a possibility that shear bond strength of heat treated composite members was significantly reduced due to the large shrinkage deformations during the short period of time. The results presented in this paper make a significant contribution to supplement the limited information about possibilities to use normal strength concrete and UHPC in new NSC-UHPC composite structures.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.14.1.15820


In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, you can learn how to use HTML and CSS to design, create, and maintain world-class web sites. Using a clear, down-to-earth approach, each lesson builds upon the previous one, allowing even complete beginners to learn the essentials from the ground up. Full-color figures and clear step-by-step instructions help you learn quickly. Practical, hands-on examples show you how to apply what you learn. Quizzes and Exercises help you test your knowledge and stretch your skills. Learn how to Build your own web page and get it online in an instant Format text for maximum clarity and readability Create links to other pages and to other sites Add graphics, color, and visual pizazz to your web pages Work with transparent images and background graphics Design your sites layout and typography using CSS Get user input with web-based forms Publicize your site and make it search-engine friendly Test a web site for compatibility with different browsers Make your site easy to maintain and update as it grows Free Access to Online Learning Lab Register your book at informit.com/register for free, exclusive access to the Online Learning Lab to supplement this books lessons: Video walkthroughs to show you how to complete the step-by-step examples in the book Fast and fun online quizzes to test your understanding of each lesson Updates or corrections as they become available


IMPORTANCE
Stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of years of life lost. Genetic factors contribute to stroke prevalence, and candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified variants associated with ischemic stroke risk. These variants often have small effects without obvious biological significance. Exome sequencing may discover predicted protein-altering variants with a potentially large effect on ischemic stroke risk.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the contribution of rare and common genetic variants to ischemic stroke risk by targeting the protein-coding regions of the human genome.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Exome Sequencing Project (ESP) analyzed approximately 6000 participants from numerous cohorts of European and African ancestry. For discovery, 365 cases of ischemic stroke (small-vessel and large-vessel subtypes) and 809 European ancestry controls were sequenced; for replication, 47 affected sibpairs concordant for stroke subtype and an African American case-control series were sequenced, with 1672 cases and 4509 European ancestry controls genotyped. The ESP's exome sequencing and genotyping started on January 1, 2010, and continued through June 30, 2012. Analyses were conducted on the full data set between July 12, 2012, and July 13, 2013.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Discovery of new variants or genes contributing to ischemic stroke risk and subtype (primary analysis) and determination of support for protein-coding variants contributing to risk in previously published candidate genes (secondary analysis).

RESULTS
We identified 2 novel genes associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke: a protein-coding variant in PDE4DIP (rs1778155; odds ratio, 2.15; P = 2.63 × 10(-8)) with an intracellular signal transduction mechanism and in ACOT4 (rs35724886; odds ratio, 2.04; P = 1.24 × 10(-7)) with a fatty acid metabolism; confirmation of PDE4DIP was observed in affected sibpair families with large-vessel stroke subtype and in African Americans. Replication of protein-coding variants in candidate genes was observed for 2 previously reported GWAS associations: ZFHX3 (cardioembolic stroke) and ABCA1 (large-vessel stroke).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Exome sequencing discovered 2 novel genes and mechanisms, PDE4DIP and ACOT4, associated with increased risk for ischemic stroke. In addition, ZFHX3 and ABCA1 were discovered to have protein-coding variants associated with ischemic stroke. These results suggest that genetic variation in novel pathways contributes to ischemic stroke risk and serves as a target for prediction, prevention, and therapy.


Variance decomposition and impulse response analysis of the links in swap spreads in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan indicates that across all swap maturities and in all three currencies, the slope of the risk-free term structure makes the greatest contribution, and the contribution is greater for longer terms to maturity. The contributions of interest rate volatility, the liquidity premium, and the corporate spread are small or negligible. There is a significant bidirectional influence (particularly through term structure slope) between the U.S. and U.K. swaps markets across maturities. The U.S. and U.K. swap markets have no major impact on the Japanese swaps market, and the Japanese market has a negligible influence on the U.S. and U.K. swaps markets.


Artificial reproduction of common barbel (Barbus barbus) under controlled conditions usually did not exceed 10% of ovulation success. The aim of the study was to optimise the process of artificial reproduction of the barbel (cultured generation F4) with thermal and hormonal stimulation The first experiment examined the effect of stimulation with thermal conditions on the ovulation and the embryos survival rates. After the optimum conditions of thermal stimulation in barbel reproduction were determined, another experiment was conducted which examined how the effectiveness of reproduction is affected by four selected hormonal preparations (CPH, hCG, Ovaprim and Ovopel). Thermal stimulation for 58 days was found to be the most effective (748 degree-days). The second experiment examined the synergistic effects of different hormonal preparations under the optimal thermal conditions as, determined in the first experiment. Among the hormones evaluated as part of this study, CPH and Ovaprim were yielded the best results as compared to control. The use of the preparations resulted in the percentage of ovulations of 90-100% and the embryo survival rate at the hatching stage was about 90%. The study concludes that thermal stimuli and hormonal applications have a synergistic effect on artificial reproduction


An advanced computer code is undergoing development for numerically simulating laser cooling and trapping of large numbers of atoms. The code is expected to be useful in practical engineering applications and to contribute to understanding of the roles that light, atomic collisions, background pressure, and numbers of particles play in experiments using laser-cooled and -trapped atoms. The code is based on semiclassical theories of the forces exerted on atoms by magnetic and optical fields. Whereas computer codes developed previously for the same purpose account for only a few physical mechanisms, this code incorporates many more physical mechanisms (including atomic collisions, sub-Doppler cooling mechanisms, Stark and Zeeman energy shifts, gravitation, and evanescent-wave phenomena) that affect laser-matter interactions and the cooling of atoms to submillikelvin temperatures. Moreover, whereas the prior codes can simulate the interactions of at most a few atoms with a resonant light field, the number of atoms that can be included in a simulation by the present code is limited only by computer memory. Hence, the present code represents more nearly completely the complex physics involved when using laser-cooled and -trapped atoms in engineering applications. Another advantage that the code incorporates is the possibility to analyze the interaction between cold atoms of different atomic number. Some properties that cold atoms of different atomic species have, like cross sections and the particular excited states they can occupy when interacting with each other and light fields, play important roles not yet completely understood in the new experiments that are under way in laboratories worldwide to form ultracold molecules. Other research efforts use cold atoms as holders of quantum information, and more recent developments in cavity quantum electrodynamics also use ultracold atoms to explore and expand new information-technology ideas. These experiments give a hint on the wide range of applications and technology developments that can be tackled using cold atoms and light fields. From more precise atomic clocks and gravity sensors to the development of quantum computers, there will be a need to completely understand the whole ensemble of physical mechanisms that play a role in the development of such technologies. The code also permits the study of the dynamic and steady-state operations of technologies that use cold atoms. The physical characteristics of lasers and fields can be time-controlled to give a realistic simulation of the processes involved such that the design process can determine the best control features to use. It is expected that with the features incorporated into the code it will become a tool for the useful application of ultracold atoms in engineering applications. Currently, the software is being used for the analysis and understanding of simple experiments using cold atoms, and for the design of a modular compact source of cold atoms to be used in future research and development projects. The results so far indicate that the code is a useful design instrument that shows good agreement with experimental measurements (see figure), and a Windows-based user-friendly interface is also under development.


Failed Back Syndrome (FBS) is a resultant of lumbar laminectomy which cannot give the expected results to the patients and surgeons. Fail back syndrome can also be called as Fail Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). Early tissue mobilization and scar formation is very important for early functional recovery. Neural Scarring is one of the important complications that are responsible for FBS. Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) has been used for tissue and scar healing. The main aim of the study was to assess the effects of LLLT on FBS. A 60 year male developed FBS as he underwent laminectomy and discectomy for IVDP at the level of L4-5, L5-S1 and was complaining of pain during day today activities. Examination revealed pain and tenderness over the same level. Pain at rest was experienced which increased on daily activities. On examination the pain was found to be ischemic in origin with no neural involvement. Plantar pressure analysis suggested high pressure on right heel. These findings lead to decreased functional outcome, quality of life and also participation in social activities. Patient was treated with low level laser therapy (LLLT), 78 Hz for 3 min with cluster probe (3.4J/cm2, EC LASER- wavelength 632.8nm, power output 30mw) followed by strengthening program. There was a significant reduction in pain and tenderness. Results showed 70% reduction on VAS (10 pre- treatment and 3 post treatment) and also there was an improvement in the plantar pressure weight distribution and hence the gait pattern. From results we can conclude that LLLT is effective in improving chronic pain caused due to FBS and it is also responsible for improving weight distribution. LLLT helps to increase vascularity and decrease neural scarring thereby reduces pain and improves gait pattern.


In 1993, the Hawai'i Supreme Court held in Baehr v. Lewin that excluding same-sex couples from marriage was presumptively invalid under the Hawai'i Constitution because it discriminated on the basis of sex. Consequently, the exclusion could only be upheld if the State could demonstrate that it "furthers compelling state interests and is narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary abridgments of constitutional rights." This decision marked the first victory in the marriage equality movement in America. Baehr and its progeny have generated an important debate in legal and social science literature about whether "early" civil rights victories are incremental steps forward or precipitate a damaging backlash. The paper argues that, on balance, Baehr was an important step forward for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and gender equality. By asking the State to explain why same-sex couples could not be married, the Hawai'i Supreme Court opened a dialogue that continues to this day.


Background/objectives: Congenital hypothyroidism is one of the most common preventable causes of mental retardation in children. The prognosis of infants detected by neonatal screening and started on treatment early is excellent, with intelligence quotients similar to sibling or classmate without the disease. Setting: Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, KVG Medical College, Sullia.
 2 Case report: A 15 year old boy came with history of head ache, generalized body ache and lack of concentration in school. He was a case of congenital hypothyroidism and was on irregular treatment for the last 13 years. Intervention: The patient was advised strictly to continue the oral l-thyroxine 100μg one hour before food and come for regular follow-up.
Conclusion: Definite intellectual deterioration is seen if oral l-thyroxine is not started within 50 days of life and the deterioration is irreversible. So in India newborn screening programs should be implemented as a national program as it is very important to diagnose and treat congenital hypothyroidism as soon as possible and to treat it effectively.


Objective comparisons of web development platforms are much needed by development teams. The Plat Forms experiment sought to provide these objective comparisons, and this survey was designed to provide the subjective context for the experiment's results. The survey, run in June 2007 asked 268 web developers to directly compare their two best known platforms for 12 aspects of software quality. The results of this survey ideally show where the objective results of the Plat Forms research agree with the current opinions of web developers, and where they disagree. In addition to the 3 platforms measured in the Plat Forms research (Java, Perl, PHP), Ruby and Python developers were also involved. Many of the survey results agreed with the objective research, for example PHP was less dependent on tools and frameworks. Some results differed from the Plat Forms research, for example, PHP was rated poorly for security and robustness.


Abstract : This thesis examines the challenges, specifically in regard to tactical C2 in austere conditions, to the Enhanced MAGTF Operations (EMO) concepts being developed by the Marine Corps. EMO hinges on the ability of company landing teams (CLTs) to deploy from a seabase, conduct over-the-horizon insertion, and retain the data-driven C2 inherent in modern military operations, specifically with regard to warfighting functions of intelligence and supporting fires. This thesis leverages the capabilities of smartphones, mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), and longhaul data trunks to offer a conceptual solution set to these C2 challenges. Research was conducted in partnership with the Infantry Officer Course and Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. Two long range, MV-22 Osprey supported exercise raids were observed in the field. Additionally, the full systems test for the 2014 Rim of the Pacific exercise was observed and evaluated. Using analysis of the different approaches currently being pursued with respect to EMO, this thesis compares their benefits and limitations and offers an alternate strategy to solving the issue of distributed C2 in EMO mission sets. Finally, this thesis intends to inform the acquisitions process by proving feasibility assessment and offering a GOTS- and COTS-supported solution with mature technological foundations.


A lack of social competence is one of the primary characteristics of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This pervasive lack of social competence can cause individuals with ASD to struggle to develop meaningful social relationships with peers and adults across their lifetime. Thus, learning appropriate socialization skills is an essential component in the education of this population. The purpose of the current study was to provide an initial investigation into the effectiveness of a comprehensive social skills training intervention on the social competence of young children with ASD using direct recording methods. Eight students with ASD between the ages of 5 and 7 years, with current placements in self-contained kindergarten or first grade classrooms in the public school setting participated in a 12 week intervention. The intervention implemented was "The Incredible Flexible You: A Social Thinking Curriculum for Preschool and Early Elementary Years" (Hendrix, Palmer, Tarshis, & Winner, 2013), a packaged, multi-sensory social skills training program developed to promote the social competence of young children with ASD. The intervention was presented daily for approximately 20 minutes in a small group school setting. Using a concurrent multiple baseline across participants single-case research design, the research study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program upon the participant's positive social initiations, positive social responses, and active engagement during recess. Observational data were collected utilizing both a frequency behavior count system and a timed interval behavioral observation system. Additionally, data were collected via the Autism Social Skills Profile (ASSP; Bellini & Hopf, 2007) through preand post-intervention parent forms to determine the effects of the program on the overall social functioning of the participants. Procedural fidelity was collected throughout the research, and social validity was also assessed utilizing the Behavior Intervention Rating Profile (BIRP, Von Brock & Elliott, 1987). Overall, participants made slight gains in social competency, yet the data did not support a functional relation between the intervention and dependent variables. Individual participant progress was discussed in detail. Limitations of the study and implications for practice and future research in social competency for young children with ASD were further discussed. INDEX WORDS: Autism spectrum disorder, Social skill competence, Disabilities THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SOCIAL THINKING CURRICULUM IN FACILITATING SOCIAL COMPETENCE OF YOUNG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER


Companies often treat outsourcing as de facto solution, without careful evaluation and understanding the true strategic rationals for pursuing it. Outsourcing brings in companies business significant structural changes, which require a cohesive master plan, i.e. a strategic outsourcing plan. If a company starts outsourcing initiative, steps for success are: knowledge, planning, sourcing and execution. The success is primarily dependent on explicit planning and identification of all possible opportunities. Strategic outsourcing plan must be done from the perspective that it will help to grow business instead of focusing only on cost cutting, leaving out from consideration long term business implications. Company's business strategy should be aligned with outsourcing strategy and outsourcing strategy execution should stay in sync with near and long term business growth goals. The biggest mistake that companies are making when approaching an outsourcing solution is missing linkage to business strategy. Strategic Outsourcing Plan built without the context of business strategy can produce, at best, only tactical result and can take a company entirely to the wrong direction, allowing functions to be outsourced in ways that actually hurt the company. Before entering into an outsourcing engagement and before starting the plan, company should have certain processes to compare actual performance against plans. Concrete measurements, data history help to indicate processes weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, thus giving direct input to strategic outsourcing plan. Different duration business and outsourcing plans are defined as: long term, near term, short term and tactical. Each plan has its own business owners, activities to be performed, methods and tools to be used and documents created. Both strategic plans: business and outsourcing, should be performed in parallel in order to achieve maximum benefit.


Abstract The quality of care provided by health systems contributes towards efforts to reach sustainable development goal 3 on health and well-being. There is growing evidence that the impact of health interventions is undermined by poor quality of care in lower-income countries. Quality of care will also be crucial to the success of universal health coverage initiatives; citizens unhappy with the quality and scope of covered services are unlikely to support public financing of health care. Moreover, an ethical impetus exists to ensure that all people, including the poorest, obtain a minimum quality standard of care that is effective for improving health. However, the measurement of quality today in low- and middle-income countries is inadequate to the task. Health information systems provide incomplete and often unreliable data, and facility surveys collect too many indicators of uncertain utility, focus on a limited number of services and are quickly out of date. Existing measures poorly capture the process of care and the patient experience. Patient outcomes that are sensitive to health-care practices, a mainstay of quality assessment in high-income countries, are rarely collected. We propose six policy recommendations to improve quality-of-care measurement and amplify its policy impact: (i) redouble efforts to improve and institutionalize civil registration and vital statistics systems; (ii) reform facility surveys and strengthen routine information systems; (iii) innovate new quality measures for low-resource contexts; (iv) get the patient perspective on quality; (v) invest in national quality data; and (vi) translate quality evidence for policy impact.


The rate of increasing storage capacity is being slowed by the inability to produce ever closer flying heights between the sliders and disks. In order to allow the sliders to 'fly' faster and more closely to the disk surfaces, it is important to control the surface of substrates of hard disks to a super-smooth level. However, there are no sophisticated instruments and assessment standards for super-smooth surfaces. In this research, the authors attempt to build a measurement and assessment protocol for the evaluation of super-smooth surfaces using a white-light optical instrument CCI (Coherence Correlation Interferometer). The key advantage of this instrument is its exceptionally high vertical resolution which is an order of magnitude better than comparable systems. This paper focuses on discussing the factors influencing the experimental results; they include sampling intervals, the number of measurements, scan size, filter cut-off wavelength etc. Based on the experimental results, an optimum protocol for measurement and assessment are recommended, and then the authors measure and compare the surface roughness of six hard disks derived from differing chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) 'abrasives'. It has been found that: (1) the roughness values of the six hard disks surfaces have all reached a sub-nanometre level; (2) CMP regimes have little influence on the topography of the hard disk surfaces.


New financial instruments --such as structured financial products and exchange-traded funds --and new financial institutions --including hedge funds and private-equity funds --present opportunities as well as policy and regulatory challenges in U.S. and Japanese financial markets. This book presents cutting-edge research from experts in academia and the financial industry on new instruments and new institutions while contrasting their developments in the different countries. The contributors highlight the innovative way in which Japanese financiers and government officials have learned from the U.S. regarding the introduction of new instruments into their market. New Financial Instruments and Institutions continues the productive collaboration between the Brookings Institution and the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research in examining current issues in capital and financial markets. Contributors include Jennifer Bethel (Babson College),Todd Broms (Managed ETFs, LLC), Frank Edwards (Columbia Business School), Allen Ferrell (Harvard Law School),Yasuyuki Fuchita (Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research), Gary Gastineau (Managed ETFs, LLC), Ken Lehn (University of Pittsburgh), Josh Lerner (Harvard Business School), Frank Partnoy (University of San Diego Law School), Adam Posen (Institute for International Economics), Ken Scott (Stanford Law School), Steve G. Segal (Boston University, J.W. Childs Associates),Yuta Seki (Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, New York), Erik Sirri (Babson College), and Randall Thomas (Vanderbilt Law School).


It is argued that the design of decisions is a process that in many ways is shaped by social factors such as identities, values, and influences. To be able to understand how these factors impact organizational decisions, the focus must be set on the management level. It is the management that shoulders the chief responsibility for designing collective actions, such as decisions. Our propositions indicate that the following measures must be taken in order to improve the quality of organizational decisions: 1. The identity of the people, involved in organizational decision making, affects the quality of decisions and should be taken into account in the design of decisions. 2. The decision maker or designer of decisions should engage the members of an organization to create a shared vision. 3. Getting the members of an organization to express and share common values should improve the decision making process. 4. Being able to socially influence the members of an organization, or other stakeholders involved, as well as letting them participate in the process, should improve the quality of decisions.


Abstract Transportation planners are increasingly incorporating roadway design features to mitigate impacts of highways on wildlife and to increase driver safety. We used camera and track surveys to evaluate wildlife use before and after construction of 3 wildlife underpasses and associated fencing on a new section of United States Highway 64 in Washington County, North Carolina, USA. We recorded 242 occasions of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use of underpass areas before highway construction began. Following completion of the highway, we collected 2,433 photographs of 9 species with deer representing 93% of all crossings. Adjusting for differences in number of monitoring days, white-tailed deer use of underpass areas averaged 6.7 times greater after the new highway and underpasses were completed. We recorded 3,614 wildlife crossings of ≥20 species based on track counts, representing most medium and large mammals known to occur in the area and several reptiles and birds. After completion of the highway, we documented wildlife mortality due to vehicle collisions during a 13-month period and recorded 128 incidences representing ≥24 species. Within fenced highway segments, mortalities were lowest near underpasses and increased with distance from the underpasses. However, we also documented more mortalities in fenced areas compared with unfenced areas. With greater distance from an underpass, animals with smaller home ranges seemed less likely to reach the underpass and instead attempted to climb over or crawl under fencing. Based on collision reports from adjacent highway sections, the new section of United States Highway 64 experienced approximately 58% fewer wildlife mortalities (primarily white-tailed deer), suggesting underpasses and fencing reduced the number of deer–vehicle collisions. Continuous fencing between underpasses may further reduce the number of vehicle collisions for deer but additional design features (e.g., buried fencing) should be considered for other wildlife species.


While conceptions of the 'modern' have been intensively and fruitfully studied from a variety of perspectives in the context of continental European history, scholars of Britain have hardly addressed the history of the first industrial nation and the world's leading colonial power in this register, despite its enormous cultural influence.In examining British conceptions and expressions of modernity --from Victorian debates about 'national character' to breathtaking exhibitions of artefacts such as the 'moving pavement' that would revolutionize the future appearance of cities, to debates about the impact of new forms of production and consumption, mass communication and travel -- this book fills the gap.Is it true, as Virginia Woolf observed upon seeing the first London exhibition of work by Manet and the Post-Impressionists that 'On or about December 1910 human character changed'? Do men and women experience modernity in the same way? How did contemporaries make sense of the changing social worlds they inhabited? How were conflicting visions of modernity, technology and social change expressed in: advertisements and branding; art, architecture and design; business and commerce; mysticism and mountaineering; new approaches to psychology and the self; and colonial discourse?These wide-ranging issues are addressed by internationally acclaimed experts in the history of science, intellectual history, gender studies, consumption and empire studies. The result is a multifaceted and innovative foray into British cultural history.


We reveal a new statistical variability phenomenon in bulk n-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors scaled down to 18-nm physical gate length. Rare but dramatic on-current degradation is observed in 3-D simulations of large ensembles of transistors that are subject to random dopant fluctuations. Physically, it originates from the random compensation of donors (from the source or drain extension) and acceptors (from halo implants) around the access regions to the channel, leading to mobile charge starvation, dramatic increase in the access resistance, and corresponding current collapse. The estimated frequency of occurrence of the phenomenon is higher than one in a hundred for a square device and higher than 10-4 for two-times-wider devices, as demonstrated by simulations of 10 000-device ensembles.


The filterability of the broth-grown stable L-form derived from Streptococcus faecium F24 was tested by filtration under the influence of varying amounts of applied pressure. A decrease in the pore size of the filter resulted in a corresponding decrease in viable count, but no major effect was noted due to the different pressures applied. Serial filtration of a deoxyribonuclease-treated L-form culture in the mid-logarithmic phase of growth resulted in recovery of viable L-forms from the 0.45-μm filtrate but not from the 0.22-μm filtrate. It is possible that disruption of the L-form bodies with release of small viable elements had occurred. Protoplasts, diluted in an osmotic stabilizer, were filtered similarly; L-forms could be grown from the filtrate passing through the filters of 0.45 μm or greater. Filtration of the parent streptococci gave rise to streptococcal colonies from the 1.2-μm filtrate only.


The work done in the philosophy of modeling by Vaihinger (1876), Craik (1943), Rosenblueth and Wiener (1945), Apostel (1960), Minsky (1965), Klaus (1966) and Stachowiak
(1973) is still almost completely neglected in the mainstream literature. However, this work seems to contain original ideas worth to be discussed. For example, the idea that diverse functions of models can be better structured as follows: in fact, models perform only a single function – they are replacing their target systems, but for different purposes. Another example: the idea that all of cognition is cognition in models or by means of models. Even perception, reflexes and instincts (animal and human) can be best analyzed as modeling. The paper presents an analysis of the above-mentioned work.


As a result of renewed regional interest in biogas technology, the Network for Biodigesters in Latin America and the Caribbean (RedBioLAC) was formed to increase dialogue concerning: a) Promotion and management of biogas projects; and b) Innovations in the field. The network has exemplified the productivity of having a forum of opportunities to tackle and share valuable innovations in materials, marketing, and approach to a project's management and finances. Currently, RedBioLAC is building momentum by beginning development of a web-based project information sharing and management platform. This document aims to provide a snapshot of the current reality and synthesize conclusions on the economic, institutional, cultural, and technical factors that need to be addressed. Finally, the emerging RedBioLAC is presented as a forum for exchanging experience and strengthening biodigester programs in Latin America.


Modern enterprises must manage uncertain data for purposes of risk assessment and decisionmaking under uncertainty. The Monte Carlo approach embodied in the MCDB system of Jampani et al. is well suited for such a task. MCDB can support industrial strength business-intelligence queries over uncertain warehouse data. Moreover, MCDB's extensible approach to specifying uncertainty can also capture complex stochastic prediction models, allowing sophisticated ``what-if'' analyses within the DBMS. The MCDB computations can be highly CPU intensive, but offer the potential for massive parallelization. To realize this potential, we provide a new system, called MC3 (Monte Carlo Computation on a Cluster), that extends the MCDB approach to the map-reduce processing framework. MC3 can exploit the robustness and scalability of map-reduce, and can handle data stored in non-relational formats. We show how MCDB query plans over ``tuple bundles'' can be translated to sequences of map-reduce operations over nested data, and describe different parallelization schemes. We also provide and analyze several novel distributed algorithms for adding pseudorandom number seeds to tuple bundles. These algorithms ensure statistical correctness of the Monte-Carlo computations while minimizing the seed length. Our experiments show that MC3 can scale well for a variety of workloads.


This short paper focuses on the problem of reference class in evidentiary assessment as it relates to probability and weight of evidence. The reluctance to inject mathematical formalism into the factfinding function is justified. Objective probability requires a reference class from which a proportion is derived. Probability assessments change with the reference class. If a proposition is subject to proportional comparison against two or more different references, their selection is often an inductive process. The advantage of objectivity and methodological rigor is illusory. A legal dispute is the search for a plausible understanding of the truth, and an overtly mathematized process runs the risk of substantially substituting particularized inquiry with aggregate assessment, a notion inimical to transactional causation between conduct and injury. In special circumstances, however, when such inquiry cannot advance the goal of error minimization, a rule of law consistent with a class proposition may advance the notion of statistical justice. But as a general matter the juridical process should not confuse aggregate assessment with individual justice.


Both Imaging Spectrometry and LIDAR have been already investigated as independent data sources to describe and quantify forests properties. While Imaging Spectrometry provides information on the biochemical and biophysical properties of the canopy, LIDAR resolves the spatial and vertical distribution of the canopy structure (1, 2). The presented contribution outlines a concept how these two complementary information sources can be combined for an improved estimation of forest parameters based on radiative transfer modelling.


We analyze the ergodic capacity and capacity bound of a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system suffering from frequency-selective in-phase and quadrature-phase (IQ) imbalances along with residual carrier frequency offset (CFO). In the literature, capacity analysis of systems with IQ imbalance has been done only for the single antenna case and has considered either frequency-flat IQ imbalances at both transmitter and receiver sides without CFO or only receiver-side IQ imbalances with CFO. Additionally, these works dealt with IQ imbalance by treating the mirror tone interference as an additional source of noise, which is not optimal. In this paper, we consider a generalized system model that includes a multi-antenna system with frequency-selective IQ imbalances at both the transmitter and the receiver sides, in addition to the presence of CFO, and perform capacity analysis considering joint detection of the signal and its self-interference. In addition, for the imperfect channel estimation case, existing works in the literature optimize for pilot spacings and pilot designs. Pilot-data power allocation is an additional degree of freedom that is available to further optimize the system and has not been addressed before. Therefore, we analyze the pilot-data power allocation that maximizes the capacity bound and obtain a closed-form solution for the optimal power allocation at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. We then study how the IQ imbalance and residual CFO severity affect capacity, symbol error rate (SER), and capacity bound maximizing power allocation. Finally, we derive the optimal power allocation when the channel is slow varying and remains constant over a block of several OFDM symbols. The derived results are validated through Monte Carlo simulations.


This qualitative study explored the educational journeys of five postsecondary students with learning disabilities (LD) from the perspective of the students and their families. Using a resilience lens, it examined the challenges that they faced and the capacities and resources that facilitated their resilience and helped them achieve their current level of academic achievement and mental health. A retrospective, multiple case study design was used, and a series of three interviews was conducted with each university student with an LD and their families. The participants identified a number of interactions among the students and their parents, teachers, and peers that helped shape and develop the capacities they needed in order to negotiate for the supports and resources that sustained their well-being. These capacities included an awareness and acceptance of their LD and themselves as learners, the self-advocacy skills they needed in order to seek out and negotiate for the supports and accommodations that would help them succeed, the ability to set lofty yet attainable goals, the perseverance to work toward these goals in spite of setbacks and challenges, and the willingness to use the supports and resources that were available to them.


The fine structure of normal heart muscle from the silver perch, Bairdiella chrysum (Lacdp\ede), is similar to that previously reported for marine and freshwater teleosts. Cardiac lymphocystis is a viral disease manifested by single, giant-cell lesions variously located in the epicardium, trabecular spaces, and subendocardium-in direct apposition to myocardial cells. Occasionally, the hyaline capsule of lymphocystis cells partially surround myocardial cells but cause no pathological changes or inflammatory reaction. The lymphocystis cells contain typical cellular organelles, including the viroplasmic net unique to these cells. Annulate lamellae, often continuous with the rough endoplasmic reticulum, are present, usually along the periphery of the cell. Some elements of the rough endoplasmic reticulum are dilated and contain a finely granular material, but others contain cross-banded fibrils, each having a periodicity of 30 nm. Similar fibrils are present in the perinuclear cisternae.


This thesis brings together the two fields of missiology and Wesleyan studies, in order to develop a theology of participation in the missio Dei from the perspective of whole-life discipleship.Barth?s re-articulation of mission as an activity of God and the subsequent emergence of the missio Dei concept has shifted missiological thinking from an anthropocentric view of mission to the understanding that the church and persons are participants in the missio Dei. This thesis argues for the missio Dei to be defined as the grace of the triune God moving in, through, and with the world, that all might be drawn into the life-transforming embrace of divine love. The thesis argues that all narratives are held in tension within one grand narrative, the Bible. No person is in existence outside of this grand narrative. This is not a statement of fact but a confession of faith. The statement of fact is that the biblical grand narrative, the story of the triune God?s creation, redemption and sanctification, claims the status of being applicable to all persons and narratives. The thesis argues for defining grace as the presence, pardon, and power of God that moves in, through, and with the world. Jesus Christ is the meritorious means while the Holy Spirit is the efficacious means making possible the participation of all persons in the missio Dei. The central argument of the thesis, then, is that one participates in the missio Dei by participating in the means of grace, or the spiritual disciplines of piety and mercy. There are two original contributions. First, a Wesleyan perspective of grace and the means of grace inform the development of a theology of participation in the missio Dei that overcomes the repetitive articulations of mission as simply being human action or divine action. Second, through the means of grace, Christian disciples participate in the missio Dei as those transformed by God?s love and those through whom that love embraces and transforms the world. Twenty-first century missiology is illumined as the missio Dei concept is articulated as fully divine yet inseparable from human activity through the Wesleyan notion of co-operant grace, thereby positing the understanding that ecclesiology is informed through attention to disciplined discipleship.An implication of this argument for contemporary mission is that it is applicable for all persons, all ages, and all ecclesial expressions of the Christian church as participation in the missio Dei through the means of grace is understood to be a holistic way of life where spiritual formation is understood as inseparable from justice ministries.


Research continues to investigate barriers to managing occupational health and safety behaviors among the workforce. Recent literature argues that (1) there is a lack of consistent, multilevel communication and application of health and safety practices, and (2) social scientific methods are absent when determining how to manage injury prevention in the workplace. In response, the current study developed and tested a multilevel intervention case study at two industrial mineral mines to help managers and workers communicate about and reduce respirable silica dust exposures at their mine sites. A dust assessment technology, the Helmet-CAM, was used to identify and encourage communication about potential problem areas and tasks on site that contributed to elevated exposures. The intervention involved pre- and post-assessment field visits, four weeks apart that included multiple forms of data collection from workers and managers. Results revealed that mine management can utilize dust assessment technology as a risk communication tool to prompt and communicate about healthier behaviors with their workforce. Additionally, when workers were debriefed with the Helmet-CAM data through the device software, the dust exposure data can help improve the knowledge and awareness of workers, empowering them to change subtle behaviors that could reduce future elevated exposures to respirable silica dust. This case study demonstrates that incorporating social scientific methods into the application of health and safety management strategies, such as behavioral modification and technology integration, can leverage managers' communication practices with workers, subsequently improving health and safety behaviors.


Three large wastewater treatment plants in Sweden participate in a project evaluating different types of ammonium feedback controllers in full-scale operation. The goal is to improve process monitoring, maintain effluent water quality and save energy. The paper presents the outcome of the long-term evaluation of controllers. Based on the experiences gained from the full-scale implementations, a discussion is provided about energy assessment for the purpose of comparing control strategies. The most important conclusions are the importance of long-term experiments and the difficulty of comparing energy consumption based on air flow rate measurements.


Over half of the world's population are at risk of infection from dengue fever (Guha-Sapir2005). This viral disease is transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito and is the major source of human death in the world when compared with any other vector borne disease (Gubler1998a). The first important epidemic of dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) in America was reported in Cuba in 1981 and subsequently in Venezuela during 1989 and 1990 (Oletta2006, Brightmer1998). There has been a trend of increased incidence in many Central and South American countries since 1990 - Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras and Mexico (SanMartin2010) with Venezuela having the highest number of cases of DHF. The urgent need for more effective public health measures to combat this disease in Venezuela drove the decision to undertake the work described in this dissertation. Spatio-Temporal modelling has been developed for the prediction of the occurrence of dengue fever in Zulia state, Venezuela. A systematic approach has been adopted to validate this tool. At the first stage of the analysis an exploratory study was performed to underline the most significant features of the dynamics of incidence rates of dengue fever from 2002 to 2008. In the second stage a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) approach was used in the form of Negative Binomial Generalized Linear Mixed model (GLMM) to compare Relative Risk (RR) across exposure groups by age and sex, using an epidemiological dataset covering the whole of Zulia State, Venezuela. This approach used both a frequentist and a Bayesian perspective for comparative purposes of both outcomes and methodologies. Finally a Spatio-Temporal model was constructed based on Generalized Additive Mixed model (GAMM) framework because the earlier analysis identified a complex association between covariates and response variables. This GAMM structure was further developed so that it could be used to help predict future outbreaks of the disease in Zulia state with a good degree of accuracy.


Androgen receptor mutations and amplifications in circulating tumor DNA provide clues to prostate cancer drug resistance. Detecting resistance before it starts Androgen receptor targeting is the cornerstone of prostate cancer treatment. Even when the tumors become "castration-resistant" or no longer sensitive to androgen deprivation, androgen signaling can still be effectively targeted by newer drugs such as abiraterone and enzalutamide, which also inhibit the androgen signaling axis. Romanel et al. analyzed tumor DNA samples from the blood of 97 patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer at different times during the course of treatment with abiraterone. Although some new mutations emerged during therapy, the authors found that androgen receptor amplifications were present from the beginning and correlated with abiraterone resistance, suggesting that detection of these amplifications should be useful for identifying abiraterone-resistant cancers before starting treatment. Androgen receptor (AR) gene aberrations are rare in prostate cancer before primary hormone treatment but emerge with castration resistance. To determine AR gene status using a minimally invasive assay that could have broad clinical utility, we developed a targeted next-generation sequencing approach amenable to plasma DNA, covering all AR coding bases and genomic regions that are highly informative in prostate cancer. We sequenced 274 plasma samples from 97 castration-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with abiraterone at two institutions. We controlled for normal DNA in patients' circulation and detected a sufficiently high tumor DNA fraction to quantify AR copy number state in 217 samples (80 patients). Detection of AR copy number gain and point mutations in plasma were inversely correlated, supported further by the enrichment of nonsynonymous versus synonymous mutations in AR copy number normal as opposed to AR gain samples. Whereas AR copy number was unchanged from before treatment to progression and no mutant AR alleles showed signal for acquired gain, we observed emergence of T878A or L702H AR amino acid changes in 13% of tumors at progression on abiraterone. Patients with AR gain or T878A or L702H before abiraterone (45%) were 4.9 and 7.8 times less likely to have a ≥50 or ≥90% decline in prostate-specific antigen (PSA), respectively, and had a significantly worse overall [hazard ratio (HR), 7.33; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.51 to 15.34; P = 1.3 × 10−9) and progression-free (HR, 3.73; 95% CI, 2.17 to 6.41; P = 5.6 × 10−7) survival. Evaluation of plasma AR by next-generation sequencing could identify cancers with primary resistance to abiraterone.


Nowadays, people face a series of choices every day, what kind of factors will influence their choices has become a research subject. People are always looking for the best choice which they benefit the most. In this project, the mode choices people face are car, bus, train and air. The study is focused on long distance intercity trips and high speed rail assessment. In the discrete choice model, the benefit of each choice is represented by the utility function of the corresponding characters and people's preference. MNL model and NL model are built to estimated people's choices towards mode choices and destination-mode choices. Models with respect to trip purposes, income and SP combined with RP are discussed. FASTBIOGEME and ALOGIT are used as tools to do the model estimation, validation and making forecast. Market share for different modes are forecasting according to different polices. Elasticity with respect to cost and travel time is discussed.


In contributing to global climate change mitigation efforts as agreed in Paris in 2015, China has set a target of reducing the carbon dioxide intensity of gross domestic product by 60-65 percent in 2030 compared with 2005 levels. Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model of China, this study analyzes the economic and greenhouse gas impacts of meeting those targets through carbon pricing. The study finds that the trajectory of carbon prices to achieve the target depends on several factors, including how the carbon price changes over time and how carbon revenue is recycled to the economy. The study finds that carbon pricing that starts at a lower rate and gradually rises until it achieves the intensity target would be more efficient than a carbon price that remains constant over time. Using carbon revenue to cut existing distortionary taxes reduces the impact on the growth of gross domestic product relative to lump-sum redistribution. Recycling carbon revenue through subsidies to renewables and other low-carbon energy sources also can meet the targets, but the impact on the growth of gross domestic product is larger than with the other policies considered.


PTEN/MMAC1 is a tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in a variety of cancers. PTEN encodes a phosphatase that recognizes phosphoprotein substrates and the phospholipid, phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate. PTEN inhibited cell growth and/or colony formation in all of the epithelial lines tested with one exception. The decrease in cellular proliferation was associated with an induction of apoptosis and an inhibition of signaling through the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase pathway. Akt/protein kinase B, a gene whose antiapoptotic function is regulated by phosphatidylinositol3,4,5-triphosphate, was able to rescue cells from PTEN-dependent death. PTEN, therefore, appears to suppress tumor growth by regulating phos phatidylinositol .V-kinu.su signaling.


The thesis contributes to the perspective on the role of stakeholder engagement in negotiating corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices in developing country context. It critically examines the role of societal pressures as drivers of Shell's CSR agenda, and explores the forms of relationships existing between Shell and its stakeholders in Nigeria, as the company implements its CSR programme, both in the light of its strategic business objectives and of its social responsibilities and environmental liabilities. Furthermore, it examines the role of government in the oil MNCs' CSR agenda, and explores the conditions under which the government, in its dual role as business partner and as state authority, promotes CSR policies and practices in Nigeria. Shell's CSR policies and practices in Nigeria were examined under the theoretical lenses of the resource-based view perspective extended to notions of legitimacy and the licence to operate. Additionally, the stakeholder engagement perspective was applied as the theoretical framework for examining Shell's stakeholder engagement, and the role of the company's stakeholders in negotiating its current CSR policies and practices in Nigeria. Data collection was undertaken during field research in Nigeria. The evidence presented is drawn from individual interviews with corporate executives at Shell Nigeria, Shell International, several stakeholders in the Nigerian oil sector, and from an online survey conducted in 2005 on Shell Nigeria's stakeholders. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used throughout the analysis presented in the thesis. The research findings suggest that the relationship between the firm's pursuit of the social licence to operate through CSR initiatives and stakeholder engagement is more complex than assumed. It adds to the understanding of the dynamics of a MNC's stakeholder engagement in the local context. It highlights the various interdependencies that develop between stakeholder groups and the company at the institutional level as well as within the context of the organisation, as the corporation develops and implements its CSR agenda. As such, the research invites an examination not just of the differences and barriers existing between the firm and its stakeholders, home and host country practices, but also of the ways in which they are embedded in each other, and how this affects their collaboration.


Background Several studies have reported weak associations between religious or spiritual belief and psychological health. However, most have been cross-sectional surveys in the USA, limiting inference about generalizability. An international longitudinal study of incidence of major depression gave us the opportunity to investigate this relationship further. Method Data were collected in a prospective cohort study of adult general practice attendees across seven countries. Participants were followed at 6 and 12 months. Spiritual and religious beliefs were assessed using a standardized questionnaire, and DSM-IV diagnosis of major depression was made using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Logistic regression was used to estimate incidence rates and odds ratios (ORs), after multiple imputation of missing data. Results The analyses included 8318 attendees. Of participants reporting a spiritual understanding of life at baseline, 10.5% had an episode of depression in the following year compared to 10.3% of religious participants and 7.0% of the secular group (p < 0.001). However, the findings varied significantly across countries, with the difference being significant only in the UK, where spiritual participants were nearly three times more likely to experience an episode of depression than the secular group [OR 2.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.59–4.68]. The strength of belief also had an effect, with participants with strong belief having twice the risk of participants with weak belief. There was no evidence of religion acting as a buffer to prevent depression after a serious life event. Conclusions These results do not support the notion that religious and spiritual life views enhance psychological well-being.


In the last decade, one of the most interesting and under-examined characteristics of Latin American novels authored by women is the recourse to representations of secular spiritual practices as a form of resistance to patriarchal authority. Authors Laura Restrepo, Luisa Valenzuela, Giaconda Belli, Mayra Montero, Carmen Bullosa, Elizabeth Subercaseaux, and the lesser-known authors Alicia Yanez Cossio and Alina Diaconu, all explore unusual spiritual experiences and endeavours that effect profound personal transformation and interfere with forms of patriarchal order. This engagement of secular spirituality is new but not surprising. As Latin America has faced dramatic changes with post-Cold War political, economic, and militaristic rearrangements, spiritual life has not only attracted new followers but also evoked conversions. Over the last four decades, large sectors of the poor have abandoned Catholicism and converted to evangelical Protestantism. On a much smaller scale, Buddhism has been adopted amongst sectors of the middle class, and feminist theology has emerged as a spiritual and political movement on the continent and in the Caribbean (Aquino 15; Sigmund 2). Francine Masiello has suggested in "Las politicas del texto" that the need to infuse individual life with greater spiritual meaning emerges from the division of spirit and matter. As a result of this division of spirit and matter, she suggests, subjects are seeking out meaning "in the crevices of the sensory world, in the interstitial zone between bodies and social referents" (312). Although she describes this division as the remaining scar of dictatorship and genocide in Argentina, her model is applicable to other Latin American regions where the combined effects of militarization, repression, persecution, and betrayal on the part of the nation-state over the past three decades has evoked comparable states of existential depression. The two experimental novels, El penultimo viaje (set in Argentina) by Alina Diaconu and Dulce compania (set in Colombia) by Laura Restrepo, are examples of this recent turn. In both, the loss of and search for spiritual connection in the human world result from the experience of corporeal repression and pressures to conform to the status quo. In El penultimo viaje, this repression extends from militant patriarchal regimes that exert complete control over the corporeal behaviour and mobility of its subjects. In Dulce compania, repression is produced by a gendered regime shaped by Catholic constructions of social difference as well as an apocalyptic, militarized environment. Overwhelmed by pressures to conform to physical and spiritual practices that maintain and stabilize the militarist, patriarchal regime, the women protagonists in both novels lose hope that they can build a meaningful future life. As I argue here, both novels foreground the secular pilgrimage as an "oppositional practice" (Chambers 6) that restores this lost meaning and hope. In these representations, pilgrimage is structurally reformulated. It involves a spiritual inward turn and a cathartic corporeal experience that in its most profound moment constitutes the recognition of the other within. In both novels, this personal use of pilgrimage prompts significant subjective transformation and leads the protagonist to dwell and form oppositional alliances in the marginal interstices and frontiers of the nation-state. The novels of Diaconu and Restrepo represent several important departures from canonical Latin American literary projects that have used the form of the travel narrative to imagine oppositional identities. In the past, definitive Latin American travel narratives, including Alejo Carpentier's prologue to El reino de este mundo, Juan Rulfo's "Talpa," or Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The Very Old Man With," amongst many others, have introduced new aesthetic or cultural concepts of regional or national identity by uncovering popular spiritual practices. …


RNA-seq may replace gene expression microarrays in the near future. Using RNA-seq, the expression of a gene can be estimated using the total number of sequence reads mapped to that gene, known as the Total Read Count (TReC). Traditional eQTL mapping methods, such as linear regression, can be applied to TReC measurements after they are properly normalized. In this paper, we show that eQTL mapping, by directly modeling TReC using discrete distributions, has higher statistical power than the two-step approach: data normalization followed by linear regression. In addition, RNA-seq provides information on allele-specific expression (ASE) that is not available from microarrays. By combining the information from TReC and ASE, we can computationally distinguish cisand trans-eQTL and further improve the power of cis-eQTL mapping. Both simulation and real data studies confirm the improved power of our new methods. We also discuss the design issues of RNA-seq experiments. Specifically, we show that by combining TReC and ASE measurements, it is possible to minimize cost and retain the statistical power of cis-eQTL mapping by reducing sample size while increasing the number of sequence reads per sample. In addition to RNA-seq data, our method can also be employed to study the genetic basis of other types of sequencing data, such as ChIP-seq (chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA sequencing) data. In this paper, we focus on eQTL mapping of a single gene using the association-based method. However, our method establishes a statistical framework for future developments of eQTL mapping methods using RNA-seq data (e.g. linkage-based eQTL mapping), and the joint study of multiple genetic markers and/or multiple genes.


The aim of this study was to determine whether an ophthalmophakometric technique could offer a feasible means of investigating ocular component contributions to residual astigmatism in human eyes. Current opinion was gathered on the prevalence, magnitude and source of residual astigmatism. It emerged that a comprehensive evaluation of the astigmatic contributions of the eye's internal ocular surfaces and their respective axial separations (effectivity) had not been carried out to date. An ophthalmophakometric technique was developed to measure astigmatism arising from the internal ocular components. Procedures included the measurement of refractive error (infra-red autorefractometry), anterior corneal surface power (computerised video keratography), axial distances (A-scan ultrasonography) and the powers of the posterior corneal surface in addition to both surfaces of the crystalline lens (multi-meridional still flash ophthalmophakometry). Computing schemes were developed to yield the required biometric data. These included (1) calculation of crystalline lens surface powers in the absence of Purkinje images arising from its anterior surface, (2) application of meridional analysis to derive spherocylindrical surface powers from notional powers calculated along four pre-selected meridians, (3) application of astigmatic decomposition and vergence analysis to calculate contributions to residual astigmatism of ocular components with obliquely related cylinder axes, (4) calculation of the effect of random experimental errors on the calculated ocular component data. A complete set of biometric measurements were taken from both eyes of 66 undergraduate students. Effectivity due to corneal thickness made the smallest cylinder power contribution (up to 0.25DC) to residual astigmatism followed by contributions of the anterior chamber depth (up to 0.50DC) and crystalline lens thickness (up to 1.00DC). In each case astigmatic contributions were predominantly direct. More astigmatism arose from the posterior corneal surface (up to 1.00DC) and both crystalline lens surfaces (up to 2.50DC). The astigmatic contributions of the posterior corneal and lens surfaces were found to be predominantly inverse whilst direct astigmatism arose from the anterior lens surface. Very similar results were found for right versus left eyes and males versus females. Repeatability was assessed on 20 individuals. The ophthalmophakometric method was found to be prone to considerable accumulated experimental errors. However, these errors are random in nature so that group averaged data were found to be reasonably repeatable. A further confirmatory study was carried out on 10 individuals which demonstrated that biometric measurements made with and without cycloplegia did not differ significantly.


Surface chirality arising from self-organized molecular monolayers may manifest both a handedness and footedness, leading to a dual level of chiral expression. Recent advances have determined both levels of chirality at the single-molecule level and, surprisingly, reveal a plethora of chiral orderings. There is yet no clear understanding of why such varied manifestations of interface chirality occur. Here, we show that the ordering of handedness and footedness of amino-acids within (n× 2) assemblies on Cu(110) may be understood on the basis of three simple generic rules from which a variety chiral expressions naturally arise. These rules also provide insights into how enantiomer assembly at surfaces may be tailored to produce required chiral organizations and segregations.


Based on nonlinear Talbot effect, we propose an acousto-optic tunable second-harmonic (SH) array in a one-dimensional periodically poled LiNbO3 (PPLN) crystal. The SH array is the self-imaging of χ(2) in the PPLN crystal. By applying an acoustic wave, we can tune the period, the distribution, and even the dimension of the array. Such a phenomenon has potential applications in tunable high-resolution Talbot illuminators, beam shapers, and image processing.


We report our experience in using two different languages to build the same software project. Specifically, we have converted an entire undergraduate compiler course from using AspectJ, an aspect-oriented language, to using OCaml, a functional language. The course has evolved over a period of eight years with, on average, 60 students completing it every year. In this article, we analyze our usage of the two programming languages and we compare and contrast the two software projects on a number of parameters, including how they enable students to write and test individual compiler phases in a modular way.


Engineering companies working with machine tools will often be required to calibrate those machines to international standards. The calibration process requires various errors in the machine to be measured by a skilled expert. In addition to conducting the tests, the engineer must also plan the order in which the tests should take place, and also which instruments should be used to perform each test. It is critical to find as short a calibration plan as possible so that the machine is not out of service for too long. In this work, automated planning is applied to the problem of generating machine tool calibration plans. Given a description of a machine, and its various axes, we produce a calibration plan that minimises the time taken to measure all of the errors of a machine. We also consider the case when there is not enough time to test all errors of the machine, and the calibration plan must maximise the importance of the set of errors tested in the limited time available.


This project examines archaeological, historical, and ethnographic data regarding ceramic production in Barbados during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. The project uses multiscalar analysis, microhistory, and craft and industrial production as lenses for examining the production, distribution and use of local ceramics to explore changes in local craft production. The local production of ceramics allowed sugar plantation managers and owners to use local resources by providing ceramics used in the production of sugar which facilitated economic production on the island's plantations. Sugar pots and cones were used directly in the production of sugar and other ceramic items like tiles and brick were used in the construction of industrial buildings used to boil and store sugar, the primary cash crop that was exported. Sugar contributed significantly to the emergence of the sugar economy and the emergence of a reliance on enslaved laborer, which had profound impacts on social and economic systems in Barbados and the broader Atlantic world. The ceramics produced contributed a relatively low cost medium of sugar storage that fulfilled the planter's objective of maximizing financial profits associated with sugar production. In addition, the marketing of ceramics contributed to parallel forms of economic production as from the inception the plantation operated kilns also produced a small proportion of domestic wares. In time, these domestic wares were incorporated into internal marketing systems developed for and by the islands domestic population. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, independently operated kilns were being operated by free blacks who specialized in the production of utilitarian domestic and household wares. This study focuses on archaeological and historical data associated with two pothouses located in the Parish of St. John, Barbados. The study includes an analysis of the two sites and their associated ceramic assemblages. It also, draws upon the rich historic accounts recorded in the detailed records of Codrington Plantation. This is perhaps the most detailed primary source for information on eighteenth and nineteenth-century industrial pottery production in the Caribbean. The study also draws upon an array of historical information for the island including ethnographic data collected by Jerome Handler in the 1960s from the village of Chalky Mount in the Parish of St. Andrew. The Codrington records and the ethnographic accounts provide details regarding the ware types, production systems, and marketing of Barbadian made ceramics. The site data and historical analyses combine to inform about the relationships of people involved in organizing, producing, selling wares as well as their changing role in the local economy. A typological schema has been produced that will assist researchers in understanding both industrial and local ceramic production. This scheme involves three types of ceramics production in Barbados; the first is plantation based and relied generally on enslaved labor to produce architectural and industrial wares for plantation use. The second involves independent or off-plantation production producing domestic, industrial and architectural wares for the plantations and also the open market relying on either free or enslaved potters. The third type involves the production by free potters of domestic and craft items for the local and tourist markets. The Political Economy of Ceramic Production in Barbados: From plantation industry to craft production By Dwayne Louis Scheid B.A. Historic Preservation, Mary Washington College, 2000 M.A. Anthropology, Syracuse University, 2008


This paper explores the contribution of the foremost Catholic theologian in the church in the United States - John Courtney Murray - to the issue of abortion. Although Murray never directly spoke on the question of abortion, his distinctions between morality and civil law and between matters of public and private morality contribute to our thinking about that question. Indeed, Murray's views on how the Church should respond to legislative efforts to decriminalize contraception, as well as his statements generally about religious freedom, the separation of law and morality and the distinction between public and private morality have been influential in forming arguments concerning the abortion controversy. In the mid-1960s, Murray wrote a memorandum containing recommendations regarding how Catholics should respond to a proposal to amend Massachusetts law to decriminalize contraception. In response, Murray wrote a memo arguing against Catholic opposition to the law, despite his view that artificial contraception was immoral. Because that memorandum has been used by others in an attempt to use Murray to justify a pro-choice position, I use it as a framework for exploring Murray's thought. This paper considers to what extent Murray's statements about how the Church should respond to contraception carry over into the development of a workable position regarding abortion and evaluates arguments that have been made based on his writings. I argue that Murray has something to say to both public policymakers and the Catholic Church about their approach to abortion. More specifically, I argue that abortion is a matter of public morality, making it a matter that the state is justified in regulating, but also that prudential considerations must be taken into account in deciding whether and how the law should intervene. Separating the questions of whether abortion is a proper subject for the law to address and what constitutes a good law with respect to abortion is a necessary step in moving from confusion to productive debate.