• Objective: To decrease medication errors that occur during the transfer of patients from a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) by institution of a computerized medication reconciliation tool. • Design: Prospective cohort study. • Setting and participants: Patients admitted to a 16-bed surgical ICU in an academic medical center. • Measurement: Proportion of medical records with at least 1 error identified. Secondary outcomes included compliance with the tool and number of medication orders changed. • Results: Over the 1-year study period, 1455 medication reconciliation forms were completed. 636 medication orders were changed as a result of the medication form, and 299 (21%) individual patients required at least 1 change. An average of 12.2 orders were changed per week, affecting an average of 6 patients per week. There was a high rate of compliance with the form. • Conclusion: The implementation of a simple, inexpensive tool is associated with a decrease in medication errors that reach patients during transfer from a surgical ICU.


The ability to design and construct synthetic biological systems with predictable behavior could enable significant advances in medical treatment, agricultural sustainability, and bioenergy production. However, to reach a stage where such systems can be reliably designed from biological components, integrated experimental and computational techniques that enable robust component characterization are needed. In this paper we present a computational method for the automated characterization of genetic components. Our method exploits a recently developed multichannel experimental protocol and integrates bacterial growth modeling, Bayesian parameter estimation, and model selection, together with data processing steps that are amenable to automation. We implement the method within the Genetic Engineering of Cells modeling and design environment, which enables both characterization and design to be integrated within a common software framework. To demonstrate the application of the method, we quantitatively characterize a synthetic receiver device that responds to the 3-oxohexanoyl-homoserine lactone signal, across a range of experimental conditions.


47 Abstract—Text Classification is the process of classifying documents into predefined classes based on its content. Text classification is important in many web applications like document indexing, document organization, spam filtering etc. In this paper we analyze the concept of a new classification model which will classify Mobile SMS into predefined classes such as jokes, shayri, festival etc. All sms are converted into text documents. After preprocessing vector space model is prepared and weight is assigned to each term. In the proposed model we have used entropy term weighting scheme and then PCA is used for reparameterization. Artificial Neural Network is used for classification.


The University of California has long been a major source of socioeconomic mobility in California. Data from the University of California's Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES) indicates that more than half the undergraduate students in the UC system have at least one parent that is an immigrant. The ratio is even higher at UC Berkeley. What do such a high percentage of students with recent immigrant backgrounds tell us about the University of California and socioeconomic mobility? How is it influencing the academy and academic and civic experience of undergraduates who are largely first or second-generation immigrants? Utilizing UCUES data on the University of California, and specifically the Berkeley campus as a case example, this brief provides an initial exploration of the dynamics of race and ethnicity, major, and the differing socioeconomic backgrounds of immigrant students, and in comparison to "native†students. Among the major conclusions offered in this study: there are a complex set of differences between various "generations†of immigrant students that fit earlier historical waves of immigrant groups to the United States; that the startling number and range of students from different ethnic, racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds points to the need for an expanded notion of diversity beyond older racial and ethnic paradigms; and while there are growing numbers of immigrant students at Berkeley from different parts of the world, and often from lower income families, there is a high correlation with their socioeconomic capital, described as a variety of factors, but most prominently the education level of their parents and family. Further, students at Berkeley who come from lower income families and have relatively low socioeconomic capital (in particular Chicano/Latinos) do well academically, if only marginally less so than those with higher rates of educational capital. At the same time, they also spend more time in paid employment, spend approximately the same amount of time as Euro-Americans studying and going to class, and have relatively high rates of overall satisfaction with their social and academic experience.


This paper examines disclosures by sell-side analysts when their institution has a lending relationship with the firms being covered. Lending-affiliated analysts' earnings forecasts are found to be more accurate relative to forecasts by other analysts but this differential accuracy manifests itself only after the advent of the loan. Despite this increased earnings forecast accuracy, lending-affiliated analysts exhibit undue optimism in their brokerage recommendations and forecasts of long term growth. The optimism exists both before and after the lending commences. The evidence suggests that any insights into the covered firm via the lending relationship are employed by bank analysts in a selective manner. They appear unwilling to compromise on disclosures where ex post accuracy is clearly revealed, possibly to preserve their own personal reputation. However, they are overly optimistic on other disclosures where resolution is less readily verifiable, possibly to promote their lending client's financial standing.


Sir Roderick Impy Murchison died 100 years ago. One of the last political acts of his busy life was to provide an endowment of £6,000 to the University of Edinburgh in 1870 so that a Chair of Geology might be founded. At the same time he ensured that his protégé Archibald Geikie was appointed to the post in 1871. Among Geikie's correspondence, now in the library of the University, are letters on the notorious Cambrian-Silurian controversy involving Murchison and Council members of the Geological Society of London. The letters followed the publication of Sedgwick's paper on the classification and nomenclature of the Lower Palaeozoic rocks of England and Wales in the Quarterly Journal of the Society in 1852. For good measure there is also a document by Murchison setting out his considered views on the controversy and an earlier letter written but never sent to Sedgwick in which Murchison comments candidly on his mother-in-law and his religious creed. The main story spans the life of two Councils of the Geological Society—those of 1851 and 1852—but the events themselves are crowded into the period February to June 1852. The Council for 1852 consisted of: D. T. Ansted W.J. Hamilton (Secretary) Lt.-Coh Portloek R. A. C. Austen J. D. Hooker S.P. Pratt J. J. Bigsby W. Hopkins (President) J. L. Prevost J. S. Bowerbank L. Horner A.C. Ramsay C. J. F. Bunbury C. Lyell D. Sharpe E. Forbes G.A. Mantell W.W. Smyth G. B. Greenough R.I. Murchison Most had served


The University of Salford has radically overhauled their approach to new student welcome and induction activities. During induction fortnight, the library team traditionally delivered an induction programme of compulsory computer based training sessions, introducing key services, operational information and instructions for basic library searching.

A review of activities in 2012 highlighted a number of issues. With increases in students' IT confidence, large sections of the induction package were redundant. Many students felt alienated through boredom with content, having worked out for themselves how to access email, computers and the virtual learning environment (VLE). Training materials focused heavily on IT processes due to a legacy remaining from a previous convergence of the IT and Library service. One student comment stated, 'I've just been to my Library induction and I don't even know where the books are.' For Library staff this was a labour intensive time, with over 222 staff hours spent repeating inductions in a two week period.

Over the past two years a new induction programme with less contact with Librarians has been developed. Librarians are now removed from a highly visible position to take a less public induction role. Induction activities are deployed throughout the first semester, reducing pressure on library staff and providing students with key information at their point of need. Using social media, a digital literacy blog and the VLE to increase awareness of library activities and information, induction has evolved into a marketing and communications event for the whole Library service.
This poster will provide a visual summary of the changes employed and strategies used. It will highlight the benefits for both staff and students, and illustrate the shift from embedded, practical training to a marketing and communication campaign, empowering new students to self-discover essential Library services and skills through a 'Skills for Learning' portal.


The course T175 Networked Living is a 300 hour, multiple media, distance learning course offered by the UK
Open University. The first presentation of the course, in 2005, attracted over 1600 students. T175 introduces
students to general concepts of information and communication technology in a range of contexts, including:
communication and identity; entertainment and information; and health, transport and government. It is an
introductory (level 1) course for a variety of bachelors' degrees, including the BSc programmes in: Information
and Communication Technology; IT and Computing; and Technology; as well as the BEng engineering
programme. The course was designed with a focus on retention of students and preparing them for further study.
Student workload and pacing was carefully planned and there is a significant study skills component. The course
uses a range of media, including: text, audio, computer animation and other software, and a website. Active
learning is encouraged by means of activities, online quizzes, animations, spreadsheets and a learning journal.
Continuous assessment is carried out via a mix of multiple-choice assignments (to test factual and numerical
skills) and written assignments (which include elementary research into new topics). The course culminates with
a written end-of-course assessment. This includes a major reflective component, as well as more traditional
questions designed to test knowledge and understanding.


Tone onset and normal tone offset in Nd tasks are formally similar to the S1 and S2 events in a CNV task requiring perceptual discrimination (tone duration) for designated tones. If the Nd thus reflects more than mere stimulus selection, increasing the duration of all tones should lengthen the Nd wave. Eight subjects participated to three Nd tasks, with short tones of 50, 150, and 300 msec, respectively. Mean amplitude difference (Nd) between relevant and distracter tones was measured over consecutive 50-msec time windows from 75 to 370 msec. The Nd was significant at C3, Cz, and C4 from the 125- to 170- to the 275- to 320-msec windows, with a significant tone duration effect only for the 225- to 270-msec time slice, with no sign of extended Nd with longer tones. Although this questions existing views of the Nd, it does not particularly agree with the Nd-as- compressed-CNV hypothesis.


Ferret C. 2010. — Hippophiles et hippophages. Anthropozoologica 45(1): 115-135. ABSTRACT Horse-eaters and horse-lovers At the North-Eastern extremity of the Turkic-speaking world, in Eastern Siberia, the Yakuts have adapted the steppe pastoral system to the environment of taiga and its strikingly harsh climate. Horse husbandry is extremely extensive and mainly devoted to food production. In response to F. Poplin's paper (1992) Le cheval, viande honteuse [Horse Flesh, a Shameful Meat], I insist on the lack of any horse-eating taboo among Yakuts and its consequences on the consumption of horse meat (all parts are eaten, fat and offal being particularly important), as well as on how meat is displayed and shared. Finally I draw a comparison between horse and pig and between horse and cow among Yakut and French people. In Yakutia, horse is situated at a "good distance" from man: thus, it can be eaten, and no contradiction exists between eating horse meat and loving horses.


The study centres on a long-term residential programme for the treatment of severe conduct disorder. A number of young people leave the programme before completion of treatment. The focus of the study is to examine existing data from psychometric tests to determine whether the data can provide material which delineates a completer profile and a non-completer profile. The data was originally collected as part of the assessment and diagnostic process for entry to the programme. All of the young people met criteria for a diagnosis of severe conduct disorder with early onset. Secondary data analysis was used, to delineate a profile of each group. Differences between the two groups were found in the areas of resilience factors, internalising and externalising characteristics, and comorbidity with a range of disorders. Comorbidity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder was particularly prevalent. As the data samples were small the current study is exploratory and descriptive, rather than predictive or inferential. Gender and ethnicity affect both the manifestation of conduct disorder and response to treatment. However, the small sample size did not allow separate analysis along gender or ethnic lines. Both of these areas warrant further research. Conduct disorder is a complex disorder, which affects every domain of the young person's life including family, individual development, educational achievement, peer relations, social relations, criminal history, and physical and mental health. Ecological models have explanatory utility in terms of aetiology, symptomatology, and treatment rationale covering all domains and are used as a framework for this study. This study reviews relevant literature, gives a brief outline of the specific programme, describes the method and results of the secondary analysis of the test data, and concludes with a discussion about the implications of the findings, and some suggestions for the design of further programmes and for future research in this area.


Purpose: This narrative review examines the hypothesis that shift work contributes to the major public health problem of obesity and suggests ways in which weight gain might be prevented in those who must work at times outside of the conventional 8-hour daytime work period. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was performed using several relevant electronic databases and print journals. Results: Those who do shift work are at a greater risk for weight gain than those who work daytime hours. The exact mechanism by which this occurs is unknown, although eating and exercise habits as well as the disruption in circadian rhythm appear to contribute. Conclusions: It is imperative that clinicians be aware of the relationship of shift work to obesity and of interventions that can help prevent obesity in those who must work during unconventional hours.


Objectives The main goal was to assess the reasons for antiretroviral therapy (ART) change in patients with HIV in a hospital setting in routine clinical practice. The economic impact of ART modification was also analysed. Methods Patients with HIV who changed their ART between 24 November and 24 December 2014 were registered. Length of initial therapy, type of ART before and after therapy modification, and reasons for the ART change were analysed. To assess the economic impact, antiretroviral drug costs at the time of the study were recorded. Results Of a cohort of 3850 patients with HIV, 1976 attended for pharmaceutical care consultation at Hospital Universitario La Paz during the study period. Ninety-two patients (4.7%) had their ART modified. The median length of the previous therapy was 26 months (range 1–144). The most common initial therapy regimen was 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI)+1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) (29.4%), and the most common one after modification was 2 NRTI+1 integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) (40.2%). Forty-three modifications were made because of toxicity and adverse effects (46.7%), 25 because of therapy simplification (27.2%), 16 because of treatment failure (17.4%), and 8 because of drug–drug interactions (8.7%). ART costs increased by a mean of €14 (SD €216; range −€528 to +€831) per month per patient after therapy modification at the time of study. Conclusions Toxicity and adverse effects were the most common reason for ART alteration in patients with HIV in routine clinical practice in a hospital setting. Better knowledge about factors that motivate these changes may contribute to decreased toxicity and increased treatment success. ART modification had a variable but not very substantial economic impact.


Molecular mapping techniques have defined the region of gene loss in two patients with the 5q- syndrome and uncharacteristically small 5q deletions (5q31-q33). The allelic loss of 10 genes localized to 5q23-qter (centromere-CSF2-EGR1-FGFA-GRL-ADRB2-CS F1R-SPARC-GLUH1-NKSF1-FLT4-telomere) was investigated in peripheral blood cell fractions. Gene dosage experiments demonstrated that CSF2, EGR1, NKSF1, and FLT4 were retained on the 5q- chromosome in both patients and that FGFA was retained in one patient, thus placing these genes outside the critical region. GRL, ADRB2, CSF1R, SPARC, and GLUH1 were shown to be deleted in both patients. The proximal breakpoint is localized between EGR1 and FGFA in one patient and between FGFA and ADRB2 in the other, and the distal breakpoint is localized between GLUH1 and NKSF1 in both patients. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to map the 5q deletion breakpoints, and breakpoint-specific fragments were detected with FGFA in the granulocyte but not the lymphocyte fraction of one patient. This study has established the critical region of gene loss of the 5q- chromosome in the 5q- syndrome, giving the location for a putative tumor-suppressor gene in the 5.6-Mb region between FGFA and NKSF1.


A gender-responsive budget is a budget that works for everyone – women and men, girls and boys – by ensuring gender-equitable distribution of resources and by contributing to equal opportunities for all. Gender-responsive budgeting is essential both for gender justice and for fiscal justice. It involves analysing government budgets for their effect on genders and the norms and roles associated with them. It also involves transforming these budgets to ensure that gender equality commitments are realized. These resources are designed to show how different actors can influence the budget cycle to promote gender-responsive budgeting at its different stages. It is intended to help groups developing strategies to think through the actions to take at each stage of the government budget process.


As in high-income countries, reduced rates of vat and vat exemptions (preferential vat rates) are a common feature of indirect tax systems in lmics. Many of the goods and services that are granted preferential rates - such as foodstuffs and kerosene - seem likely to receive such treatment on the grounds that they provide a means for the government to indirectly target poorer households, for whom such expenditures may take up a large proportion of their total budget. We use microsimulation methods to estimate the impact of preferential vat rates in four lmic countries, considering their effect on revenues, poverty, inequality, and across the consumption distribution. We consider whether other policy tools might be better suited for the pursuit of distributional objectives by estimating the impact of existing cash transfer schemes and a hypothetical scenario where the revenue raised from broadening the vat base is used to fund a universal basic income (ubi) in each country. We find that although preferential vat rates reduce poverty, they are not well targeted towards poor households overall. Existing cash transfer schemes are better targeted but would not provide a suitable means of compensation for a broader vat base given issues related to coverage and targeting mechanisms. Despite being completely untargeted, a ubi funded by the revenue gains from a broader vat base would create large net gains for poor households and reduce inequality and most measures of extreme poverty in each of the countries studied - even if only 75% of the additional vat revenue was disbursed as ubi payments.


The advent of on-line music sales has been a boon to the recording industry as well as for musicians and the general public. Previously unknown artists have found new avenues to showcase their work, and consumers have easy access to an enormous variety of musical genres.Yet an unintended consequence of the ability to sell songs through internet downloads is a novel, and until now, unnoticed way to infringe on copyrights - which, unless remedied, could lead to new classes of defendants never contemplated or desired to be ensnared in the Copyright Act's protections for artists, musicians and authors. Unlike a brick-and-mortar transaction, the act of purchasing a song on the web requires that the purchaser "download" a digital file of the song - that is, make a copy of the song that is located on the vendor's website, and transfer that copy to the consumer's computer. In this on-line transaction, consumers are availing themselves of one of the rights of the copyright owner, namely the reproduction right. Of course, by making songs available for purchase via download, the copyright owner is authorizing such a reproduction. But if the downloaded song is in fact infringing on another's musical composition copyright rights, this new method of purchasing music turns ordinary consumers into unintentional infringers. When a consumer downloads a song from a legitimate music store such as iTunes, she tacitly assumes that the song is not infringing on the musical work of another. If, however, the song is infringing on the copyright of another musical composition, then the consumer has made an unauthorized copy and infringes on the infringed-upon musician's reproduction right. It is only a matter of time before members of the recording industry grab onto this form of infringement and demand compensation from unsuspecting consumers. Copyright infringement is a tort of strict liability and courts would thus be constrained in their ability to give relief to consumers who infringe in this manner. This article argues that rather than wait for litigation to commence, Congress should consider legislating an exception for consumer downstream infringement that was neither contemplated nor desired when the Copyright Act was passed.


Tyler Burge's anti-individualism – the view that individuating many of a creature's mental kinds is necessarily dependent on relations that the creature bears to the physical, or in some cases social, environment – backs his theory of perceptual representation, i.e. perceptual anti-individualism. Perceptual anti-individualism articulates a framework that, according to Burge, perceptual psychology assumed without articulation. In this interview, Burge talks about the main tenets and underpinnings of perceptual anti-individualism in relation to classic representational theories of perceptual experience, reductive theories of mental content, theories of phenomenal consciousness, and other associated topics.


Nowadays, the global supply chain system needs to respond promptly to changes in customer demand and adapt quickly to advancements in technology. Supply chain management becomes an integral approach which links together producers, distributors and customers in collaborative management of the whole system. The variability in orders or inventories in supply chain systems is generally thought to be caused by exogenous random factors such as uncertainties in customer demand or lead time. Studies have shown, however, that orders or inventories may exhibit significant variability, even if customer demand and lead time are deterministic. Most researchers have concentrated on the effects of the ordering policy on supply chain behaviour, while not many have paid attention to the influences of applying different forecasting to supply chain planning. This thesis presents an analysis of the behaviour of a model of a centralised supply chain. The research was conducted within the manufacturing sector and involved the breathing equipment manufacturer Draeger Safety, UK. The modelling process was embedded in the organization and was focused on the client's needs. A simplified model of the Draeger Safety, UK centralised supply chain was developed and validated. The dynamics of the supply chain under the influence of various factors: demand pattern, ordering policy, demand-information sharing, and lead time were observed. Simulation and analysis were performed using system dynamics, non-linear dynamics and control theory. The findings suggest that destructive oscillations of inventory could be generated by internal decision making practices. To reduce the variation in the supply chain system, the adjustment parameters for both inventory and supply line discrepancies should be more comparable in magnitude. Counter- intuitively, in certain fields of decision, sharing demand information can do more harm than good. The linear forecasting ARMA (autoregression and moving average) model and the nonlinear forecasting model Wavelet Neural Network were applied as the supply chain forecasting methods. The performance was tested against supply chain costs. A management microworld was developed, allowing managers to experiment with different decision policies and learn how the supply chain performs.


Milk production supply response at the regional level for the U.S. dairy sector is estimated through the use of dynamic dual models. Adjustment rates and elasticity measures are presented, and then the estimated parameter coefficients are used to stimulate shifts in production resulting from price changes. A drop in milk price designed to realign market conditions is projected to be borne largely by the Corn Belt and, to a lesser extent, the western states.


Fault segmentation is an important issue in predicting the magnitude of an earthquake. To address the issue, we are conducting a comprehensive research in the Tsugaru Mountains and surrounding areas at the northernmost of Honshu. The Tsugaru Peninsula consists of the NS~NNW-SSE extending Tsugaru Mountains (about 50 km-long, 10 -15 km-wide) and the hills and lowlands. As a fault zone related to the formation of the Tsugaru Mountains, there are the Tsugaru fault, the Aomoriwan-Seigan Fault zone, the Tsugaru-Sanchi-Seien Fault zone. It is considered that asymmetric shape of the Tsugaru Mountains was formed due to uplift and shortening accompanying these fault activities. However, compared with the scale of the mountainous area, the range where the active fault is recognized is short, there is also the possibility of extending further north. On the other hand, on the southern side of the Tairadate Mountains, hills with constant height spread to Sotogahama and Yomogita. The Negishi-Seihou Fault existing eastern portion of Tairadate Mountains may also be continuous to the south (including the marine area). Thus, although there are few known active faults in Yomogita Town to Sotogahama Town in the eastern foot of the Tsugaru Mountains, considering the possibility that the active structure may be blind in the vicinity of Yomogita. Therefore, we conducted a seismic reflection profiling along the Amida River in Yomogita Town, about 7.6 km-long, to define the subsurface structure of the area. In seismic lines, the vibrator truck (IVI ENVIRO VIBE) is used as the seismic source. Source and geophone spacing are 10-m. Seismic reflection data was processed by using the standard CMP stacking method. In this presentation we demonstrate the subsurface structure revealed by the seismic reflection survey


Enzyme and metabolic engineering offer the potential to develop biocatalysts for converting natural resources into a wide range of chemicals. To broaden the scope of potential products beyond natural metabolites, methods of engineering enzymes to accept alternative substrates and/or perform novel chemistries must be developed. DNA synthesis can create large libraries of enzyme-coding sequences, but most biochemistries lack a simple assay to screen for promising enzyme variants. Our solution to this challenge is structure-guided mutagenesis in which optimization algorithms select the best sequences from libraries based on specified criteria (i.e. binding selectivity). Here, we demonstrate this approach by identifying medium-chain (C6-C12) acyl-ACP thioesterases through structure-guided mutagenesis. Medium-chain fatty acids, products of thioesterase-catalyzed hydrolysis, are limited in natural abundance compared to long-chain fatty acids; the limited supply leads to high costs of C6-C10 oleochemicals such as fatty alcohols, amines, and esters. Here, we applied computational tools to tune substrate binding to the highly-active 'TesA thioesterase in Escherichia coli. We used the IPRO algorithm to design thioesterase variants with enhanced C12- or C8-specificity while maintaining high activity. After four rounds of structure-guided mutagenesis, we identified three thioesterases with enhanced production of dodecanoic acid (C12) and twenty-seven thioesterases with enhanced production of octanoic acid (C8). The top variants reached up to 49% C12 and 50% C8 while exceeding native levels of total free fatty acids. A comparably sized library created by random mutagenesis failed to identify promising mutants. The chain length-preference of 'TesA and the best mutant were confirmed in vitro using acyl-CoA substrates. Molecular dynamics simulations, confirmed by resolved crystal structures, of 'TesA variants suggest that hydrophobic forces govern 'TesA substrate specificity. We expect that the design rules we uncovered and the thioesterase variants identified will be useful to metabolic engineering projects aimed at sustainable production of medium-chain oleochemicals.


Among the pleasures an Alfred Hitchcock film affords its viewers is the chance to spot the director in one of his signature cameo appearances: as part of a crowd in "The Lodger", as a card player in "Shadow of a Doubt" or as the illustration for a newspaper ad in "Lifeboat". Such cameos, argues Thomas Leitch are but the most obvious in a whole series of cinematic "games" devised by Hitchcock to engage, delight, manipulate, and challenge his audiences. Developing a model of narrative based on game theory, Leitch offers a new explanation for the distinctiveness and power of Hitchcock's films. Games such as the cameo appearances, the author says, allow the audience simultaneously to immerse itself in the world created by the narrative and to stand outside that world and appreciate the self-consciously suspenseful or comic techniques that make the movie peculiarly Hitchcockian. A crucial aspect of the director's gameplaying, Leitch contends, emerges in the way he repeatedly redefines the rules. Leitch divides Hitchcock's career into key periods in which one set of games gives way to another, reflecting changes in the director's concerns and the conditions under which he was making movies at the time. By repeatedly redefining what it means to be a Hitchcock film, Leitch contends, the director fosters a highly ambivalent attitude toward such concerns as the value of domesticity, the loss of identity, and the need for - and fear of - suspenseful apprehension. Hitchcock's games with his audience are of a serious nature. In alternately challenging and confirming the viewers' sense of the rules, this peerless storyteller simultaneously challenged and confirmed the participants sense of themselves.


Abstract Objectives: The present study aimed at investigating the effectiveness and tolerability of bupropion hydrochloride extended release (XL) in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients with atypical features (AF). Methods: 51 patients were prescribed bupropion XL for 8 weeks (6 visits: screening, baseline, weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8). The primary efficacy measure was a change of the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-Seasonal Affective Disorder Version (SIGH-SAD) from baseline to endpoint. Secondary efficacy measures included the SIGH-SAD atypical symptoms subscale, Clinical Global Impression–Severity (CGI-S), Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) and Epworth Sleepiness Questionnaire (ESQ). Response or remission was defined as ≥50% reduction or ≤7 in SIGH-SAD total scores, respectively, at end of treatment. Results: The HAM-D-29 total score reduced by 55.3% from baseline (27.3±6.5) to end of treatment (12.2±6.3) (p<0.001). Atypical symptom subscale scores also reduced by 54.5% from baseline (9.2±3.0) to end of treatment (4.2±2.8) (p<0.001). At the end of treatment, 24.4% (n=10) and 51.2% (n=21) subjects were classified as remitters and responders, respectively. The most frequently reported AEs were headache (13.7%), dry mouth (11.8%), dizziness (9.8%), and dyspepsia (9.8%). Conclusions: Our preliminary study indicates that bupropion XL may be beneficial in the treatment of MDD with atypical features. Adequately powered, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are necessary to determine our results.


Abstract In supply chain networks, the flow of material occurs between various business entities such as suppliers, manufactures, distributors, and retailers, which can be considered as the various echelons (levels) in a multi-echelon supply chain network. Spare parts supply chain management deals with optimizing stocking, purchasing, repairing, and disposing activities of purchased parts and their components for maintaining a successful user-service level for a system involving repair and operating functions. A spare parts inventory system has products that will have relationships with other products. A multi-indenture structure defines the structure of the products that flow through the supply chain system. In this article, we present a standardized, object-oriented, data-driven, simulation framework for the evaluation of multi-echelon multi-indenture spare part supply chain networks.


In 2016, the proportion of HIV-infected persons in the Baltic countries was as follows: Latvia 18.5, Estonia 17.4, Lithuania 7.4 per 100,000 of population. The aim of our study was to evaluate the spectrum and morphology of combined lung pathologies in fatal HIV/AIDS cases in Latvia from 2010 to 2016. We did a retrospective review of the HIV/AIDS patients' medical autopsy case files and histological slides at the Pathology Centre of Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital. All statistical data were processed in IBM SPSS Statistics 23. We analysed 455 cases – 311 (69%) men, 134 (31%) women. The mean age of the analysed patients was 40 years (±9 SD, range 22–68). The conditions leading to death were opportunistic infections (OI) – 28%, tuberculosis (TB) – 23%, wasting syndrome complicated by nonspecific pneumonia and sepsis or HIV/AIDS unrelated conditions – 27%, malignancies – 11% (B large cell lymphoma, primary and secondary cancers of the lung, Kaposi sarcoma), and end stage liver disease – 11%. Lungs were affected in 380 cases (83.5%). We identified 112 cases of tuberculosis (TB). In 21%, it was isolated pulmonary TB, in 79% – disseminated TB. Additionally, OI were proved in 26% of these patients. The prevalence of OI was higher in patients who died from isolated pulmonary TB. We also identified 10 cases of disseminated atypical mycobacteriosis. Opportunistic infections were diagnosed in 126 persons – 77% (n=97) of them had one, but 23% (n=29) had two or more OIs. The most common isolated OI with lung involvement was Pneumocystis jiroveci (PC) pneumonia (n=71, 15.6%); 10% had cryptococcosis, 1% – pulmonary aspergillosis and Candida pneumonia each. 40 patients (9%) had disseminated cytomegalovirus (CMV). Among the various combinations of oppor tunistic infections, the most common was PC+CMV. 81% of HIV patients were unemployed and prisoners with interrupted treatment. We concluded that our study revealed that combined opportunistic infections and TB were the most frequently observed pulmonary infections, followed by primary and secondary lung malignancies and bacterial pneumonia in HIV/AIDS unrelated cases of multiorgan disease. Diagnostic difficulties occurred mainly in disseminated diseases due to nonspecific clinical presentation, similar appearance on imaging studies and limited bacterial diagnostic possibilities after death.


Abstract The overwhelming list of new bacterial genomes becoming available on a daily basis makes accurate genome annotation an essential step that ultimately determines the relevance of thousands of genomes stored in public databanks. The MicroScope platform (http://www.genoscope.cns.fr/agc/microscope) is an integrative resource that supports systematic and efficient revision of microbial genome annotation, data management and comparative analysis. Starting from the results of our syntactic, functional and relational annotation pipelines, MicroScope provides an integrated environment for the expert annotation and comparative analysis of prokaryotic genomes. It combines tools and graphical interfaces to analyze genomes and to perform the manual curation of gene function in a comparative genomics and metabolic context. In this article, we describe the free-of-charge MicroScope services for the annotation and analysis of microbial (meta)genomes, transcriptomic and re-sequencing data. Then, the functionalities of the platform are presented in a way providing practical guidance and help to the nonspecialists in bioinformatics. Newly integrated analysis tools (i.e. prediction of virulence and resistance genes in bacterial genomes) and original method recently developed (the pan-genome graph representation) are also described. Integrated environments such as MicroScope clearly contribute, through the user community, to help maintaining accurate resources.


We explore how to design sustainable infrastructure for ad hoc social interaction based on the conception of infrastructuring, meta-design and Living Labs. The exploration is based on a design experiment of establishing a Network Zone (a Living Lab setup) with support of a smart phone app. The objectives of our design program were to create connections and design possibilities for letting social interaction emerge through use that could continue beyond the project period. The experiment was part of a project in collaboration with a larger urban municipality (Copenhagen) to rethink the way we can offer services to senior citizens in order to strengthen social interaction among them. It was done in an urban outdoor environment. We add to the discourse that positions design as something that, rather than taking place before use, should happen in use – here by creating objects that are open for reconfiguration through use.


A multivariable adjunction is the generalisation of the notion of a 2-variable adjunction, the classical example being the hom/tensor/cotensor trio of functors, to n + 1 functors of n variables. In the presence of multivariable adjunctions, natural transformations between certain composites built from multivariable functors have "dual" forms. We refer to corresponding natural transformations as multivariable or parametrised mates, generalising the mates correspondence for ordinary adjunctions, which enables one to pass between natural transformations involving left adjoints to those involving right adjoints. A central problem is how to express the naturality (or functoriality) of the parametrised mates, giving a precise characterization of the dualities so-encoded. We present the notion of "cyclic double multicategory" as a structure in which to organise multivariable adjunctions and mates. While the standard mates correspondence is described using an isomorphism of double categories, the multivariable version requires the framework of "double multicategories". Moreover, we show that the analogous isomorphisms of double multicategories give a cyclic action on the multimaps, yielding the notion of "cyclic double multicategory". The work is motivated by and applied to Riehl's approach to algebraic monoidal model categories.


Abstract. This article analyzes the relationship between the processes of policy making, management and research and the way in which the Westerschelde estuary developed between 1985 and 2006. The Westerschelde has three core functions: economically: it makes the port of Antwerp accessible; ecologically: it generates habitats for certain unique species; and in terms of safety: its morphology helps preventing the hinterland from being flooded. We analyze how the processes of policymaking, management and analysis focused on these three aspects, and how they in turn affected the physical system of the Westerschelde. We proceed to develop a framework for evaluating the policy making, management and esearch and how this impacts the Westerschelde. We apply this framework to twenty years of policy making on, management of, and research about the Westerschelde. We conclude that policy, management and research, due to learning effects, take the dynamics of the Westerschelde into account to a greater extent than they have in the past, but there exist a real probability for old routines to return.


The third edition of Clinical Care of the Diabetic Foot has been fully revised and updated, and continues to be the essential handbook on foot care and the treatment of the diabetic foot. The diabetic foot is typically the victim of nerve damage, micro- and macrovascular disease, and faulty healing, mechanisms that without proper care can lead to amputation. More than 80,000 diabetes-related amputations are performed in the United States each year, but non-specialist primary care providers, as well as residents, nurses, and diabetes educators, can help prevent this devastating, life-altering, and expensive complication. Healthcare professionals and medical students alike will find that this concise, well-indexed, and updated guide offers practical advice on detecting and managing diabetes-related foot complications.


The debate whether power is a kind of resource or an application of resources shows the complexities of the concept of power. By combining both perspectives, the authors argue that it is possible to develop a new categorization of power: soft power, soft hard-power, hard soft-power and hard power. Compared with the US and the European Union, the authors argue that if the American power strategy could be seen as "omnidirectional American primacy" and EU "omnidirectional post-sovereignty", China's power strategy at the moment could be mainly described as an "attraction-defence" one. With relatively limited tangible and intangible power resources, China relies more on attraction than coercion, and focuses more on defence rather than shaping. Finally, the authors propose to improve China's power strategy by prioritizing its soft economic hard-power, upgrading soft power, extending soft military hard-power, moderately developing hard power and hard soft-power, and expanding its shaping function while maintaining the central defensive role.


Cost-effective yet safe creation of high-permeability reservoirs within deep bedrock is the primary challenge for the viability of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and unconventional oil/gas recovery. Although fracturing fluids are commonly used for oil/gas, standard fracturing methods are not developed or proven for EGS temperatures and pressures. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of currently used fracturing methods are only recently being determined. Widespread concerns about the environmental contamination have resulted in a number of regulations for fracturing fluids advocating for greener fracturing processes. To enable EGS feasibility and lessen environmental impact of reservoir stimulation, an environmentally benign, CO2-activated, rheoreversible fracturing fluid that enhances permeability through fracturing due to in situ volume expansion and gel formation is investigated herein. The chemical mechanism, stability, phase-change behavior, and rheology for a novel polyallylamine (PAA)-CO2 fracturing fluid was characterized at EGS temperatures and pressures. Hydrogel is formed upon reaction with CO2, and this process is reversible (via CO2 depressurization or solubilizing with a diluted acid) allowing potential removal from the formation and recycling, decreasing environmental impact. Rock obtained from the Coso geothermal field was fractured in laboratory-scale experiments under various EGS temperatures and pressures at significantly (at least an order of magnitude) lower effective stress than standard fracturing fluids, and the fractures were characterized with imaging, permeability measurement, and flow modeling. Although additional work is required to further understand the fluid properties, potential and limitations, this novel fracturing fluid and process represent a potential alternative to conventional fracturing fluids to vastly reduce water usage and the environmental impact of fracturing practices and effectively make EGS production and unconventional oil/gas exploitation cost-effective and cleaner.


Describing feline behavior from both a mechanistic and functional approach, this textbook provides an accessible overview of this fascinating subject. The book begins by addressing physiological, developmental and psychological aspects, with chapters on domestication, the development of the senses, learning, communication and feeding behavior. The authors then build on this foundation to discuss social behavior, hunting and predation, cat-human interactions and welfare. Fully updated throughout, this new edition also includes two new chapters on behavioral disorders due to pathologies and from misdirected natural behavior.


Cancer
Neuroblastomas—the most common tumor type in infants—develop from fetal nerve cells, and their clinical course is highly variable. Some neuroblastomas are fatal despite treatment, whereas others respond well to treatment and some undergo spontaneous regression without treatment. Ackermann et al. sequenced more than 400 pretreatment neuroblastomas and identified molecular features that characterize the three distinct clinical outcomes. Low-risk tumors lack telomere maintenance mechanisms, intermediate-risk tumors harbor telomere maintenance mechanisms, and high-risk tumors harbor telomere maintenance mechanisms in combination with RAS and/or p53 pathway mutations.

Science , this issue p. [1165][1]

 [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aat6768


Modern educational process has to take into account the tendencies in science and tech advancement and also demands of society to quality of education services. As one of the most effective ways, there is reasonably considered purposeful usage of digital educational resources. In this study, there has been considered modern educational technology of "Blended learning" by model of the "Flipped classroom", that is based on the concept of unifying the technology of "class-lesson system" and technology of digital teaching on the grounds of new didactic possibilities given by ICT (informational and communicational technologies) and modern teaching means. Theoretical methods among which there are analyzing, comparing and summarizing the research subject on the base of psychological and pedagogical literature; query-diagnostic method that help to evaluate effectiveness of digital educational resources usage in teaching students with application of "Flipped classroom" technology. In the carried study, there are shown different variants and technological means in realization of "Flipped classroom" when making digital educational resources on subjects of "Methodology and methods in organizing scientific research" and "Method of teaching mathematics". According to survey results it can be stated that students sufficiently highly evaluate the level in organization of teaching, the content of digital educational resources and also qualification and responsiveness of teachers. Study results can be used at development of teaching courses, digital educational resources that are introduced within scope of higher education, when making comparative studies for working out design methodology for digital educational resources. Pilot project on introduction of new educational technology on within realization scope of digital education resources at various levels of higher professional education, was held on the base of Kazan (Volga region) federal university institute and proved its trustworthiness.


The development of the dorsal ganglion of the salp, Thalia democratica, is described from electron microscope reconstructions up to the stage of central neuropile formation. The central nervous system (CNS) rudiment is initially tubular with an open central canal. Early developmental events include: (i) the formation of a thick dorsal mantle of neuroblasts from which paired dorsal paraxial neuropiles arise; (ii) the differentiation of clusters of primary motor neurons along the ventral margin of the mantle; and (iii) the development from the latter of a series of peripheral nerves. The dorsal paraxial neuropiles ultimately connect to the large central neuropile, which develops later. Direct contact between neuroblasts and muscle appears to be involved in the development of some anterior nerves. The caudal nerves responsible for innervating more distant targets in the posterior part of the body develop without such contacts, which suggests that a different patterning mechanism may be employed in this part of the neuromuscular system. The results are compared with patterns of brain organization in other chordates. Because the salp CNS is symmetrical and generally less reduced than that of ascidian larvae, it is more easily compared with the CNS of amphioxus and vertebrates. The dorsal paraxial centres in the salp resemble the dorsolateral tectal centres in amphioxus in both position and organization; the central neuropile in salps likewise resembles the translumenal system in amphioxus. The neurons themselves are similar in that many of their neurites appear to be derived from the apical surface instead of the basal surface of the cell. Such neurons, with extensively developed apical neurites, may represent a new cell type that evolved in the earliest chordates in conjunction with the formation of translumenal or intralumenal integrative centres. In comparing the salp ganglion with vertebrates, we suggest that the main core of the ganglion is most like the mes-metencephalic region of the vertebrate brain, i.e. the zone occupied by the midbrain, isthmus, and anterior hindbrain. Counterparts of more anterior regions (forebrain) and posterior ones (segmented hindbrain) appear to be absent in salps, but are found in other tunicates, suggesting that evolution has acted quite differently on the main subdivisions of the CNS in different types of tunicates.


A baselining methodology is crucial to verify savings from energy conservation programs, to determine progress toward preset energy-efficiency goals, and to implement performance-based shared energy savings contracts. This paper discusses the various issues involved and structures a formal baselining methodology at the facility level or whole-building level when monthly utility bills are available. Normalizing annual energy use for changes in the conditioned area and in the number of occupants as well as correcting for increases in the connected load (a phenomenon referred to as creep) are also discussed. The various functional forms assumed by the regression models with outdoor dry-bulk temperature as the only regressor variable are described in the framework of two widely used energy modeling software packages. An important aspect of this paper is the development of prediction uncertainty bands for the regression model, both at the monthly level and at the annual level, an issue of key importance if one wishes to reach statistically meaningful conclusions regarding month-to-month and year-to-year changes in observed energy use with respect to the baseline year. Finally, a statistical method is described by which one can overcome model identification limitations in case the read dates of the utility bills are not known.more » A companion paper presents the results of applying this baselining methodology to eight Army installations nationwide.« less


The opioid crisis besetting every region of the United States directly affects more than just those who use substances. For a pregnant woman, a consequence of substance use can be neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)—withdrawal symptoms experienced by the newborn (see Box 1). NAS is on the rise in New Hampshire, but prenatal care for the mother can reduce or eliminate the risk. Newborns who are treated recover, yet mothers using opioids are often using other substances and confronting behavioral health issues which complicate recovery. This brief analyzes inpatient hospital discharge data (2012–2015) to assess the prevalence of NAS in New Hampshire; describes one hospital's successful program for treating pregnant women and newborns; discusses how comprehensive and coordinated care and home visiting services provided through community based organizations can support new mothers and families; and discusses how a recent change to New Hampshire law intended to support child protection may be having unintended consequences.


This Devil's Advocate explores the cinematic wonders of Brian Desmond Hurst's much loved 1951 adaptation of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge, through the prism of horror cinema, arguing that the film has less in common with cosy festive tradition than it does with terror cinema like James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein, Robert Weine's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and F.W. Murnau's Faust. Beginning with Charles Dickens himself, a prolific writer of ghost stories, with A Christmas Carol being but one of many, Colin Fleming then considers earlier cinematic adaptations including 1935's folk-horror-like Scrooge, before offering a full account of the Hurst/Sim version, stressing what must always be kept at the forefront of our minds: this is a ghost story.


This paper proposes a novel methodology for generating 3D point clouds of good accuracy from stereo pairs. Initially, the methodology defines some conditions for the proper selection of image pairs. Then, the selected stereo images are used to estimate dense correspondences using the Daisy descriptor. An efficient two-phase strategy to remove outliers is then introduced. Finally, the 3D point cloud is refined by combining sub-pixel accuracy correspondences estimation and the moving least squares algorithm. The proposed methodology can be exploited by multi-view stereo algorithms due to its good accuracy and its fast computation.


Blogs, networking sites, and other examples of the social web provide businesses with a largely untapped marketing channel for products and services. But how do you take advantage of them? With The New Community Rules, you'll understand how social web technologies work, and learn the most practical and effective ways to reach people who frequent these sites. Written by an expert in social media and viral marketing, this book cuts through the hype and jargon to give you intelligent advice and strategies for positioning your business on the social web, with case studies that show how other companies have used this approach. The New Community Rules will help you: Explore blogging and microblogging, and find out how to use applications such as Twitter to create brand awareness Learn the art of conversation marketing, and how social media thrives on honesty and transparency Manage and enhance your online reputation through the social web Tap into the increasingly influential video and podcasting market Discover which tactics work -- and which don't -- by learning about what other marketers have tried Many consumers today use the Web as a voice. The New Community Rules demonstrates how you can join the conversation, contribute to the community, and bring people to your product or service.


Abstract. Spectral effects of liquid water are present in absorption (differential optical absorption spectroscopy – DOAS) measurements above the ocean and, if insufficiently removed, may interfere with trace gas absorptions, leading to wrong results. Currently available literature cross sections of liquid water absorption are provided in coarser resolution than DOAS applications require, and vibrational Raman scattering (VRS) is mostly not considered, or is compensated for using simulated pseudo cross sections from radiative transfer modeling. During the ship-based TransBrom campaign across the western Pacific in October 2009, MAX-DOAS (Multi-AXis differential optical absorption spectroscopy) measurements of light penetrating very clear natural waters were performed, achieving average underwater light paths of up to 50 m. From these measurements, the retrieval of a correction spectrum (H2Ocorr) is presented, compensating simultaneously for insufficiencies in the liquid water absorption cross section and broad-banded VRS structures. Small-banded structures caused by VRS were found to be very efficiently compensated for by the intensity offset correction included in the DOAS fit. No interference between the H2Ocorr spectrum and phytoplankton absorption was found. In the MAX-DOAS tropospheric NO2 retrieval, this method was able to compensate entirely for all liquid water effects that decrease the fit quality, and performed better than using a liquid water cross section in combination with a simulated VRS spectrum. The decrease in the residual root mean square (rms) of the DOAS fit depends on the measurement's contamination with liquid water structures, and ranges from ≈ 30% for measurements slightly towards the water surface to several percent in small angles above the horizon. Furthermore, the H2Ocorr spectrum was found to prevent misfits of NO2 slant columns, especially for very low NO2 scenarios, and thus increases the reliability of the fit. In test fits on OMI satellite data, the H2Ocorr spectrum was found selectively above ocean surfaces, where it decreases the rms by up to ≈ 11%.


Some of the most significant transactions singled out recently for intensive federal review involve the communications industry. Unfortunately, communications providers face serious and potentially fatal problems of supply. Radio spectrum -- the chief input and most severe constraint on the ability of carriers to support more users and more data -- is essentially unavailable at any price. That's because the Federal Communications Commission has run out of usable, unassigned spectrum to license. As consumers pull orders of magnitude more data to their smartphones, tablets, and notebook computers, carriers are becoming desperate. Network operators, already experiencing what the FCC warned in 2010 as an imminent "spectrum crunch," have little choice but to acquire spectrum assets from other mobile operators, whose licenses can be put to immediate use once the agency approves the transfer. They have been doing so as quickly as possible, attempting or completing over a dozen major transactions since 2007. But as the urgency of spectrum-related transactions has increased, the FCC has come to play an increasingly problematic -- and largely unstructured -- role in the government's review of transactions in the communications industry. This brief essay discusses the key problems with the FCC's current approach to transactions involving spectrum license transfers.


Architecture and biology are fields of high complexity. Generative design approaches pro - vide access to continuously increasing complexity in design. Some of these methods are based on biological principles but usually do not communicate the conceptual base neces - sary to appropriately reflect the input from biology into architecture. To address this, we propose a model for analysis and design of architecture based on a multistaged integrated design process that extends the common morphological process in digital morphogenesis with a typology-based ontological model. Biomimetics, an emerging field to strategically search for information transfer from biology to technological application, will assist in delivering a frame of reference and methodology for establishing valid analogies between the different realms as well as integration of the biological concept into a larger framework of analogy to biological processes. As the biomimetic translation of process and systems information promises more radical innovation, this chapter focuses on the dynamic per spectives provided by biological development and evolution to model the complexity of architecture. The proposed process was used to inform five parallel workshops to explore dynamic biological concepts in design. The potential of the process to investigate biomi - metic processes in architecture is then discussed, and future work is outlined.


The classical theoretical prediction for the "commons dilemma" is as tragedy. The situation popularized as "the tragedy of the commons" became intriguing because beneath this unfortunate and surely undesired result of collective action laid the model of "rational actor". Yet, the messiness of alternative theories of human behavior has been motive of hesitation to adopt more realistic assumptions than those of the rational choice to address collective action. Still, a deeper understanding of the interplay among cognition, values systems, and institutions should be the starting point for any discussion of societal change. In this paper, we present a new approach to advance the theory of collective action by combining the framework of institutional analysis with Clare Graves's theory of adult biopsychosocial development. Moreover, we sketch an empirical strategy for investigating the behavioral hypotheses resulting from the Graves' model using experimental CPR (common-pool resource) games. The results from the suggested approach promise to be a valuable improvement toward a more integral approach to collective action problems and sustainability.


This thesis explores first generation Muslim immigrant women's acculturation experiences and strategies from a religious, cultural and gender perspective. It aims to increase our understanding of the diverse and confounding roles and expectations of their heritage culture and host Canadian culture. Qualitative interviews with eight married with children, English-speaking Muslim immigrant women who have lived in Canada for at least three years explored: (a) their overall experiences living in a Canadian Prairie city; (b) their experience transitioning from their role in the family in a traditional non-Western culture to their role in the family in an egalitarian Canadian culture; and (c) factors that hinder and facilitate their adaptation in Canada. Findings demonstrated that although women's acculturation experiences and strategies are unique and dynamic, all women expressed the interconnectivity and significance of God, community and family in their lives. Women's personal experiences and goals related to work, family, and community influence how and to what degree they negotiate and reconcile the diverse and confounding roles and expectations of their heritage and Canadian cultures. Their acculturation experiences are constantly evolving, and their adaptation in Canada is largely influenced by their daily experiences, including the supports they have and do not have both at home and in their local heritage and host communities. Women also face the central challenge of raising their children in a culture that promotes a set of values that compromises the transmission of their own core religious/cultural values. Thus, they employ strategies such as conscientiously modeling devotion to Islam through practice and teaching, restricting their children's personal freedom and independence, and monitoring and limiting their children's Canadian friendships, while increasing contact with their local heritage community. This research contributes to crosscultural inquiry via a cultural comparison that established cultural aspects of women's traditional heritage cultures, which was subsequently compared to Canadian culture as a tool for gauging cultural discrepancies. Future research may explore the whole family unit through a longitudinal lens to facilitate both the adaptation and integration of immigrants from collectivistic cultures into Canadian culture, and improved policies and programs that mark Canada as a pluralistic and egalitarian culture.


Female sex offenders may be implicated in up to one fifth of all sex crimes committed in the United States. Despite previous research findings that suggest unique patterns of offending among female sex offenders, limited empirical research has investigated the motivations and processes involved. The present study qualitatively examined female sex offenders' offense-related experiences and characterized the internal and external factors that contributed to offending. Semi-structured interviews with 24 female sex offenders were analyzed by a team of coders with limited exposure to the existing literature using grounded theory analysis. A conceptual framework emerged representing distinctive processes for solo- and co-offending, contextualized within ecological layers of social and environmental influence. This model extends previous work by offering an example of nested vulnerabilities proximal to female sexual offending. Implications for future research, prevention, and treatment are discussed.


Old age is commonly associated with loneliness as loss of partner and friends, retirement, deteriorating health and functional impairments may make way for loneliness. An ageing population may give rise to concern for growing numbers of lonely people. The study explores loneliness among older people 67-79 years old (N=699), living in their own homes, examining whether and how socio-demographic factors, subjective health, and mastery influence loneliness among people with no impairments and people with impairments. The study uses cross-sectional and longitudinal (five-year panel) data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation study (NorLAG), calculating the risk of loneliness at T1, and prospectively at T2. Mastery is the only factor significantly influencing the risk of loneliness both at T1 and T2, both for older people with impairments and for those without impairments. A high level of mastery is related to a lower risk of loneliness. Being married or cohabitant are related to a lower risk of loneliness, among those without impairments both at T1 and at T2, among those with impairments only at T1. Age, gender and subjective health were not independently related to loneliness at any time. The results suggest that the subjective feeling of mastery is important to avoid loneliness, both at T1 and prospectively at T2 in both groups


The response time of physical computational elements is finite, and neurons are no exception. In hierarchical models of cortical networks each layer thus introduces a response lag. This inherent property of physical dynamical systems results in delayed processing of stimuli and causes a timing mismatch between network output and instructive signals, thus afflicting not only inference, but also learning. We introduce Latent Equilibrium, a new framework for inference and learning in networks of slow components which avoids these issues by harnessing the ability of biological neurons to phase-advance their output with respect to their membrane potential. This principle enables quasi-instantaneous inference independent of network depth and avoids the need for phased plasticity or computationally expensive network relaxation phases. We jointly derive disentangled neuron and synapse dynamics from a prospective energy function that depends on a network's generalized position and momentum. The resulting model can be interpreted as a biologically plausible approximation of error backpropagation in deep cortical networks with continuous-time, leaky neuronal dynamics and continuously active, local plasticity. We demonstrate successful learning of standard benchmark datasets, achieving competitive performance using both fully-connected and convolutional architectures, and show how our principle can be applied to detailed models of cortical microcircuitry. Furthermore, we study the robustness of our model to spatio-temporal substrate imperfections to demonstrate its feasibility for physical realization, be it in vivo or in silico.


Avionics System Maintenance Procedures are discussed in this thesis in the context of a BPhil project involving formal training in research methods and includes information obtained by investigating issues pertinent to aircraft avionics systems
maintenance. Personnel matters, problem specification and identification, maintenance procedures, health and safety issues, and quality control issues are discussed in terms of their influence in effectively carrying out required maintenance.
The work described in the thesis demonstrates that several research methods are applicable to, and effective for, gathering information on avionics systems maintenance.
Evidence is presented to support the view that research of maintenance procedures can produce considerable benefits in terms of improved overall maintenance performance.
A critical comparison of maintenance procedures used by British Aerospace and the Indonesian Air Force is included, and conclusions are drawn which highlight a number of significant possibilities for developing improved procedures. Specific
recommendations for improving maintenance productivity are given, and the benefits of addressing issues of Continuing Professional Development, Health and Safety matters, problem identification, use of computer databases, particularly for information governed by Standards, are discussed.


Zimmerman, J. (2003). Made from Scratch: Reclaiming the Pleasure of the American Hearth. New York: Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 266 pp. Hardcover ISBN: 0-684-86959-4, $25.00. Made from Scratch takes a different view of work in the home. Rather than examine housework in terms of gendered division of labor or in terms of issues related to work and life, Zimmerman reappraises "domesticity"-what it is, how it has evolved, and its enduring value. She is concerned about the conflict between the lived experience and negative rhetoric about what she terms "homeways." Her premise is that American homemaking, though a necessary part of every person's life, resides in a culture that has dismissed homemaking as unnecessary scutwork. She urges us to "reclaim the pleasures we are in danger of losing, and, along with them, the self-respect and balance and order that naturally follow" (p. 241). She believes that domesticity is about connections-with the past, with family, with community, and with the self; thus, she argues for five shifts in the current domestic paradigm. To arrive at these conclusions, Zimmerman presents arguments about what she considers key elements of domesticity: housekeeping, cooking, and work with textiles. The book is divided into eight chapters, each with a thorough historical and literary basis. Chapter 1 is about heirlooms-how we keep material objects to remind us of our ties to the past and the hunger we seem to have today for the "quaint" and "trivial" domestic arts that link us to our personal histories. She argues that working to break down gender stereotypes within tasks in the home has resulted in lost value for homemade things, choosing instead to buy more convenient imitations. Zimmerman is clear about not wanting to "revive cookie-cutter notions of the family" (p. xiii), but she does want to "discover how to progress without abandoning the richness of our domestic past" (p. 22). Chapter 2 is an exploration of conceptions of the hearth, especially in relation to Hestia, the classical Greek goddess. The author explores the ancient ideal of the domestic hearth and its relevance to our current rhetoric about loss of community, isolation, and rootlessness. Chapter 3 follows with a review of the history of housework and the people who have performed it, from heroic medieval housewives to Victorian parlor feminists. Zimmerman uses children's stories, famous paintings, and books to foster understanding of ordinary daily life in bygone eras. A critique of home economics and its progressive, modern approach at the turn of the twentieth century is the focus of chapter 4. …


In this thesis we extend the worst-case modeling approach as first introduced by Hua and Wilmott (1997) (option pricing in discrete time) and Korn and Wilmott (2002) (portfolio optimization in continuous time) in various directions.

In the continuous-time worst-case portfolio optimization model (as first introduced by Korn and Wilmott (2002)), the financial market is assumed to be under the threat of a crash in the sense that the stock price may crash by an unknown fraction at an unknown time. It is assumed that only an upper bound on the size of the crash is known and that the investor prepares for the worst-possible crash scenario. That is, the investor aims to find the strategy maximizing her objective function in the worst-case crash scenario.

In the first part of this thesis, we consider the model of Korn and Wilmott (2002) in the presence of proportional transaction costs. First, we treat the problem without crashes and show that the value function is the unique viscosity solution of a dynamic programming equation (DPE) and then construct the optimal strategies. We then consider the problem in the presence of crash threats, derive the corresponding DPE and characterize the value function as the unique viscosity solution of this DPE.

In the last part, we consider the worst-case problem with a random number of crashes by proposing a regime switching model in which each state corresponds to a different crash regime. We interpret each of the crash-threatened regimes of the market as states in which a financial bubble has formed which may lead to a crash. In this model, we prove that the value function is a classical solution of a system of DPEs and derive the optimal strategies.


The underpinning essence of being part of a regional organisation such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is to achieve development through integration. Regional integration thus becomes the bedrock from which the treaties governing SADC and its member states are to be interpreted. The SADC Treaty and its various protocols articulate that members should eliminate obstacles to the free movement of people, goods and services. This should include the progressive reduction of immigration formalities in order to facilitate the freer movement of students and staff for the specific purposes of study, teaching, research and any other pursuits relating to education and training. Relying on international law principles such as pacta sunt servanda, this article establishes that though South Africa has made much progress in meeting most of the SADC obligations relating to migration and education, there are still grey policy areas that fall short of SADC standards and regional commitments. It also appraises the role of the SADC Council of Ministers, the Parliamentary Forum, the Tribunal and the National Committees in addressing these areas.


The present investigation was conducted to detect the type and concentrations of bacterial and fungal bioaerosols in one room (bedroom) of each selected residential building located in different regions of Qom during February 2015 (n=9) to July 2016 (n=11). Moreover, we evaluated the efficiency of negative air ions (NAIs) in bioaerosol reduction in indoor air in residential buildings. In the first step, the mean concentrations of bacterial and fungal in nine sampling sites evaluated in winter were 744 and 579 colony forming units (CFU)/m3, while these values were 1628.6 and 231 CFU/m3 in the 11 sampling sites evaluated in summer, respectively. The most predominant genera between bacterial and fungal in all sampling sites were detected as Micrococcus spp. and Staphylococcus spp. and also, Aspergillus spp. and Penicillium spp., respectively. The 95% and 45% of sampling sites have bacterial and fungal concentrations over the recommended levels, respectively. In the removal step, we achieved a reduction with a range of 38% to 93% for bacterial genera and 25% to 100% for fungal genera by using NAIs. The results suggested that NAI is a highly effective, simple and efficient technique in reducing the bacterial and fungal concentration in the indoor air of residential buildings. Keywords—Bacterial, fungal, negative air ions, indoor air, Iran.


This paper presents an introduction to computer-aided theorem proving and a new approach using parallel processing to increase power and speed of this computation. Automated theorem provers, along with human interpretation, have been shown to be powerful tools in verifying and validating computer software. Destiny is a new tool that provides even greater and more powerful analysis enabling greater ties between software programs and their specifications.


Creative work has been celebrated as the highest form of achievement since at least Aristotle. But our understanding of the dynamics and market for creative work--artistic work in particular--often relies on unexamined cliches about individual genius, industrial engineering of talent, and the fickleness of fashion. Pierre-Michel Menger approaches the subject with new rigor, drawing on sociology, economics, and philosophy to build on the central insight that, unlike the work most of us do most of the time, creative work is governed by uncertainty. Without uncertainty, neither self-realization nor creative innovation is possible. And without techniques for managing uncertainty, neither careers nor profitable ventures would surface.In the absence of clear paths to success, an oversupply of artists and artworks generates boundless differentiation and competition. How can artists, customers, entrepreneurs, and critics judge merit? Menger disputes the notion that artistic success depends solely on good connections or influential managers and patrons. Talent matters. But the disparity between superstardom and obscurity may hinge initially on minor gaps in intrinsic ability. The benefits of early promise in competition and the tendency of elite professionals to team up with one another amplify and disproportionately reward even small differences.Menger applies his temporal and causal analysis of behavior under uncertainty to the careers and oeuvres of Beethoven and Rodin. The result is a thought-provoking book that brings clarity to our understanding of a world widely seen as either irrational or so free of standards that only power and manipulation count."


Summary Of the new direct oral anticoagulants, direct factor Xa inhibitors are limited by the absence of a proven reversal agent. We assessed the safety, tolerability and impact on anticoagulation reversal of ciraparantag (PER977) alone and following a 60 mg dose of the FXa inhibitor edoxaban. Escalating, single IV doses of ciraparantag were administered alone and following a 60 mg oral dose of edoxaban in a double-blind, placebo-controlled fashion to healthy subjects. Serial assessments of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effects of ciraparantag were performed. Eighty male subjects completed the study. Following edoxaban (60 mg), a single IV dose of ciraparantag (100 to 300 mg) demonstrated full reversal of anticoagulation within 10 minutes and sustained for 24 hours. Fibrin diameter within clots was restored to normal 30 minutes after a single dose of 100 to 300 mg ciraparantag as determined by scanning electron microscopy and change in fibrin diameter quantified by automated image analysis. Potentially related adverse events were periorbital and facial flushing and cool sensation following IV injection of ciraparantag. Renal excretion of ciraparantag metabolite was the main elimination route. There was no evidence of procoagulant activity following ciraparantag as assessed by D-dimer, prothrombin fragments 1.2, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor levels. In conclusion, ciraparantag in healthy subjects is safe and well tolerated with minor, non-dose limiting adverse events. Baseline haemostasis was restored from the anticoagulated state with doses of 100 to 300 mg ciraparantag within 10–30 minutes of administration and sustained for at least 24 hours. Institution where the work was performed: Duke University Clinical Research Unit, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC USA


This paper presents a detailed analysis of reflexive nominal compounds like self-assessment in English and their counterparts in nine other languages, whose number and use has strongly increased in these languages over the last several decades. The first component of these compounds is shown to be related to intensifiers like selbst in German and its cognate form self- in English, whose multiple uses also underlie different semantic types of reflexive compounds (self-help vs. self-control), whereas the second component typically derives from transitive verbs. Among the central problems discussed in this paper are the question of the productivity of these compounds and the possibility of deriving their meaning in a compositional fashion. The parameters of variation manifested by the sample of languages under comparison in this pilot study concern inter alia the form of the intensifier (native or borrowed, one or two), the semantic type, and the lexical category of the resultant compound.


This paper presents a comprehensive model for ranking candidate location plans of multiple urban transit hubs, which can effectively capture various aspects of concerns in the transit hub location planning process, including the overall efficiency of the transit network, the transfer intensity, the proximity to major passenger generators/attractors, the effectiveness of hub service coverage, the compatibility with land use restrictions, and the adaptability to future developable transit concepts. Grounded on an analytical hierarchy process (AHP)-based framework integrated with fuzzy logic, the proposed model offers the strengths to effectively determine the weights for multiple evaluation criteria and to synthesize the final score of each candidate plan for comparison. Results from a case study in Suzhou Industrial Park, China, reveal that the proposed model offers some promising properties for transportation planners to use in planning of transit hub locations. Comparative studies with respect to differe...


Emotions are one of the unique aspects of human nature, and sadly at the same time one of the elements that our technological world is failing to capture and consider due to their subtlety and inherent complexity. But with the current dawn of new technologies that enable the interpretation of emotional states based on techniques involving facial expressions, speech and intonation, electrodermal response (EDS) and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), we are finally able to access real-time user emotions in various system interfaces. In this paper we introduce emotion-prints, an approach for visualizing user emotional valence and arousal in the context of multi-touch systems. Our goal is to offer a standardized technique for representing user affective states in the moment when and at the location where the interaction occurs in order to increase affective self-awareness, support awareness in collaborative and competitive scenarios, and offer a framework for aiding the evaluation of touch applications through emotion visualization. We show that emotion-prints are not only independent of the shape of the graphical objects on the touch display, but also that they can be applied regardless of the acquisition technique used for detecting and interpreting user emotions. Moreover, our representation can encode any affective information that can be decomposed or reduced to Russell's two-dimensional space of valence and arousal. Our approach is enforced by a BCI-based user study and a follow-up discussion of advantages and limitations.


Some cold cathode gauges (CCGs) in KEKB Accelerator show different behavior from other ones. These gauges have following characteristics : (1) The locations of these CCGs are limitted to just downstream side of bending magnets where the synchrotorn radiation is intense. (2) The discharge current is proportional to the beam current. (3) The discharge current is observed even without a permanent magnet of CCG. (4) The discharge current per unit beam current approaches to a constant value as the integrated beam current increases. From these characteristics, the observed abnormal discharge current of these CCGs is considered to be due to the photoelectrons generated by the synchrotron radiation. A simulation shows that the electrons are not generated inside of the beam chamber but inside the gauge chamber by reflected SR or accelerated photoelectrons that are produced inside the beam chamber. Attaching small dipole magnet at the neck of CCG port can remove the effect of secondary electrons.


In this work, we initiate the study of the Minimum Circuit Size Problem (MCSP) in the quantum setting. MCSP is a problem to compute the circuit complexity of Boolean functions. It is a fascinating problem in complexity theory---its hardness is mysterious, and a better understanding of its hardness can have surprising implications to many fields in computer science.
We first define and investigate the basic complexity-theoretic properties of minimum quantum circuit size problems for three natural objects: Boolean functions, unitaries, and quantum states. We show that these problems are not trivially in NP but in QCMA (or have QCMA protocols). Next, we explore the relations between the three quantum MCSPs and their variants. We discover that some reductions that are not known for classical MCSP exist for quantum MCSPs for unitaries and states, e.g., search-to-decision reduction and self-reduction. Finally, we systematically generalize results known for classical MCSP to the quantum setting (including quantum cryptography, quantum learning theory, quantum circuit lower bounds, and quantum fine-grained complexity) and also find new connections to tomography and quantum gravity. Due to the fundamental differences between classical and quantum circuits, most of our results require extra care and reveal properties and phenomena unique to the quantum setting. Our findings could be of interest for future studies, and we post several open problems for further exploration along this direction.


L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E magazine (1978– 1981), from the first issue, was figured as a project in recovering "out-of-print books, magazines, and unpublished manuscripts." This description should strike a note of dissonance in the chorus of common knowledge concerning this influential little magazine, which is known for shaping the emergent poetics of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E writing community. However, skimming along the surface of the issues today, the reader is struck by the density of bibliographic notes on access and availability. Among the contemporary reviews and short essays that characterize the bulk of the magazine, one finds offers from the "L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Distributing Service," a kind of door-to-door photocopy delivery mechanism for out-of-print works. A catalogue of books and magazines could be ordered for fifty cents from the home address of editor Charles Bernstein, who ran this reprint-on-demand service through a neighborhood Xerox machine. In the first issue of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (1978), the reader notes that David Melnick's Pcoet (1975), originally published by G.A.W.K. just three years prior, could be photocopied by the Distributing Service for $3.00. Similarly, out-of-print titles by Clark Coolidge, Ron Silliman, Bruce Andrews, and Lyn Hejinian, among others, were on offer in Xerox format. The full run of Silliman's foundational Tottel's poetry newsletter was announced in both L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E no. 4 and Tottel's no. 17. Issues of magazines like This, Hundred Posters, and Toothpick were also listed in the inventory. The catalog included scores of such entries, most of which have never been "properly" republished. For those that follow the distributing services of Craig Dworkin, however, these titles should sound familiar. In fact, all of the above-mentioned works can be found on Dworkin's online archive, Eclipse. Or rather, they would be found if Eclipse were online. Like the solar event invoked in the site's title, the archive flickered out of sight in December of 2012. When I began this review, the site was functioning regularly at http://english. utah.edu/eclipse. However, due to an oversight in the restructuring of university servers—as much a surprise to the editor as the site's users—the full archive simply vanished. By the time this review goes to press, it will likely return to the internet at a new URL. In the meantime, umbraphiles might content themselves with captures of the site from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. They might content themselves, that is, if the Internet Archive crawler had uniformly captured the high-resolution facsimile images of the Eclipse archive while they were available. Sadly, that too is not the case. In the shadow of this syzygy, we might pause, for a moment, to consider the de-publication of Eclipse from the Internet. As Bruno Latour might remind us, once a punctualized actor like Eclipse breaks down, its myriad components are on rare view to the user. Of course, there is little need to turn to the Internet Archive unless one needs access to a site no longer available online. On browsing the haphazard collection of captures, date by date, a whole network of automated and variable processes can be traced over time. From a bibliographic perspective, the reader may thus contend with the trickier aspects of digital publication: continually updated (or disappearing) content, changing forms and formats, and a host of contextual and intertextual modulations—all of which dramatically impact our understanding of the material conditions of a little database like Eclipse.


DISCIPLINE-BASED PLANETARY EDUCATION RESEARCH AND COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS ANALYSIS OF MARS Filis Coba Old Dominion University, 2016 Director: Dr. Declan De Paor Co-Director: Dr. Jennifer Georgen This thesis originates from the testing and implementation of an IRB-approved interactive animation designed to help students understand what causes The Reasons For The Seasons (RFTS) on Earth. Results from the testing indicated a small improvement in student understanding after exposure to the animation. Next, using the 3-D mapping tool Google Earth, students explored seasons and other planetary features on Mercury, Venus, the Moon and Mars through IRB-approved interactive tours which were developed and tested for astronomy education. Results from the tests indicated that there were statistically significant learning gains (p-value < 0.05) after students interacted with the tours compared to those who did not. The development of the tours inspired a geophysics study of the possibility of former plate motion (or plate tectonics) on Mars. A 2-D finite element convection model for the mantle of Mars was designed and solved using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.1, to investigate whether or not thermal gradients in a Mars-sized planet could cause vigorous upper mantle convection, consistent with plate tectonic processes. Results from this project indicated that stable convection could occur in the interior of a Mars-like planet assuming the presence of sufficiently high thermal gradients at about 0.8 times the mantle temperature of Earth. The convective patterns resembled hot upwelling and cool downwelling which may be similar to subduction-like features. Furthermore, increasing the temperature of the hot boundaries resulted in faster, more rigorous convective motions and a hotter average temperature.


Visual Counterfactual Explanations (VCEs) are an important tool to understand the decisions of an image classifier. They are 'small' but 'realistic' semantic changes of the image changing the classifier decision. Current approaches for the generation of VCEs are restricted to adversarially robust models and often contain non-realistic artefacts, or are limited to image classification problems with few classes. In this paper, we overcome this by generating Diffusion Visual Counterfactual Explanations (DVCEs) for arbitrary ImageNet classifiers via a diffusion process. Two modifications to the diffusion process are key for our DVCEs: first, an adaptive parameterization, whose hyperparameters generalize across images and models, together with distance regularization and late start of the diffusion process, allow us to generate images with minimal semantic changes to the original ones but different classification. Second, our cone regularization via an adversarially robust model ensures that the diffusion process does not converge to trivial non-semantic changes, but instead produces realistic images of the target class which achieve high confidence by the classifier.


The USA ranks third in the global prevalence of diabetes, preceded only by India and China. About 7% of the population has diabetes. A third of the total number of people with the condition is believed to be undiagnosed and therefore not receiving treatment to reduce the risk of disabling and lifethreatening diabetes complications. The economic costs of diabetes are enormous – estimated at 132 billion USD in 2002. The mission of the US National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) is to reduce diabetes-related illness and death. NDEP focuses on optimizing diabetes care to improve management and outcomes for all people with diabetes in the USA, and addresses the urgent need to help prevent or delay the onset of the condition. It is hoped that NDEP might serve as a model for efforts to counter the diabetes epidemic in other countries.


Web browsers show HTTPS authentication warnings (i.e., SSL warnings) when the integrity and confidentiality of users' interactions with websites are at risk. Our goal in this work is to decrease the number of users who click through the Google Chrome SSL warning. Prior research showed that the Mozilla Firefox SSL warning has a much lower click-through rate (CTR) than Chrome. We investigate several factors that could be responsible: the use of imagery, extra steps before the user can proceed, and style choices. To test these factors, we ran six experimental SSL warnings in Google Chrome 29 and measured 130,754 impressions.


We consider a benchmark example of a three-link planar biped walker with torso, which is actuated in between the legs. The torso is thought to be kept upright by two identical torsional springs. The mathematical model reflects a three-degree-of-freedom mechanical system with impulse effects, which describe the impacts of the swing leg with the ground, and the aim is to induce stable limit-cycle walking on level ground. The main contribution is a novel systematic trajectory planning procedure for solving the problem of gait synthesis. The key idea is to find a system of ordinary differential equations for the functions describing a synchronization pattern for the time evolution of the generalized coordinates along a periodic motion. These functions, which are known as virtual holonomic constraints, are also used to compute an impulsive linear system that approximates the time evolution of the subset of coordinates that are transverse to the orbit of the continuous part of the periodic solution. This auxiliary system, which is known as transverse linearization, is used to design a nonlinear exponentially orbitally stabilizing feedback controller. The performance of the closed-loop system and its robustness with respect to various perturbations and uncertainties are illustrated via numerical simulations.


Michael Winship, "In Search of Monk Hall: A Publishing History of George Lippard's The Quaker City " (pp. 132–149) A reconstruction of the complicated publication history of George Lippard's The Quaker City, or the Monks of Monk Hall (1844-45), based on an examination of the available evidence, including the few surviving manuscript sources, newspaper notices and advertisements, scarce surviving early copies of the work itself, and contemporaneous accounts. Among the issues addressed are: the chronology of publication of the original ten numbers of the work; the evolving relationship between Lippard and his publisher, George B. Zieber; and the methods of distribution and number of copies produced and sold. This account suggests that a better understanding of how The Quaker City was produced and circulated in its own time will enrich scholars' understanding of the novel and the cultural work that it performed.