US companies seeking cheaper labor or extraordinary returns have often seen foreign direct investment as a panacea. However, many of these companies founder on the horns of a control dilemma. While raw economic data such as labor rates prove to be true, productivity and decision-making styles are so different that companies fail to maximize their investment returns. This situation is worsened as companies attempt to impose culturally inappropriate home country controls on their foreign investment. This study examines one of the potential sources of failure, escalation of commitment, which occurs when decision-makers over-commit incremental resources to failing investments without reasonable probability of recovery. This behavior has been widely documented in US domestic literature (see Whyte and Hook, 1997, for a summary). However, there is also some evidence that such behavior is culturally bounded (Chow et al., 1997; Sharp and Salter, 1997; Greer and Stephens, 2001). This study extends previous findings on cross-cultural differences in decision-making among managers by comparing the responses of managers in the USA and Mexico to an escalation of commitment exercise. The cross-cultural validity of two US based theories, agency (adverse selection) and framing (prospect theory), is tested. The results indicate that at base Mexican managers were more risk seeking. However managers from the more individualistic USA were significantly more likely than Mexican managers to escalate in the presence of agency (adverse selection) based incentives. Negative framing among managers was universal in escalating commitment.


The aim of this series is to publish a Reference Library, including novel advances and developments in all aspects of Intelligent Systems in an easily accessible and well structured form. The series includes reference works, handbooks, compendia, textbooks, well-structured monographs, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. It contains well integrated knowledge and current information in the field of Intelligent Systems. The series covers the theory, applications, and design methods of Intelligent Systems. Virtually all disciplines such as engineering, computer science, avionics, business, e-commerce, environment, healthcare, physics and life science are included. The list of topics spans all the areas of modern intelligent systems such as: Ambient intelligence, Computational intelligence, Social intelligence, Computational neuroscience, Artificial life, Virtual society, Cognitive systems, DNA and immunity-based systems, e-Learning and teaching, Humancentred computing and Machine ethics, Intelligent control, Intelligent data analysis, Knowledge-based paradigms, Knowledge management, Intelligent agents, Intelligent decision making, Intelligent network security, Interactive entertainment, Learning paradigms, Recommender systems, Robotics and Mechatronics including human-machine teaming, Self-organizing and adaptive systems, Soft computing including Neural systems, Fuzzy systems, Evolutionary computing and the Fusion of these paradigms, Perception and Vision, Web intelligence and Multimedia.    Indexed by SCOPUS, DBLP, zbMATH, SCImago.  All books published in the series are submitted for consideration in Web of Science.


About the book: This book offers a critical examination of the way in which the nature and governance of international labour migration is changing within a globalizing environment.

It examines how labour mobility and the governance of labour migration are changing by exploring the links between political economy and differentiated forms of labour migration. Additionally, it considers the effects of new social models of inclusion and exclusion on labour migration. Therefore, the book troubles the conventional dichotomies and categorizations – permanent vs. temporary; skilled vs. unskilled; legal vs. illegal -- that have informed migration studies and regulatory frameworks. Theoretically, this volume contributes to an ongoing project of reframing the study of migration within politics and international relations.

Bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, drawing on examples from the European Union, North America and Asia, Governing International Labour Migration will be of interest to students and scholars of migration studies, IPE, international relations, and economics.


This thesis consists of three journal papers that I have been worked on during my PhD program of study. The first paper presents heuristic algorithms that are designed to be implemented and executed in parallel with an existing algorithm in order to overcome its two limitations. Computational experiments show that implementing the heuristic algorithm on one auxiliary processor in parallel with the existing algorithm on the main processor significantly improves its computational efficiency, in addition to providing a series of improving feasible upper bound solutions. In the second paper, we present two interactive models to jointly forecast PEV sales and the diurnal recharging load curve in the U.S. between 2012 and 2020. A case study is conducted for the Midwest ISO region. Compared to the sales forecasts from the literature, our results turn out to be less optimistic. Our recharging load forecast results also suggest that, if appropriately managed, the impact of PEVs on electricity load would not be overwhelming in the next decade. The third paper focuses on assessing and mitigating the potential impact of PEVs recharging load on power systems, Case study show that electricity rates with higher flexibility induces PEVs to have less impact on the power systems in terms of both generation cost and uncertainties. Also, PEV users higher recharging behavior responsiveness will improve the effectiveness of price incentives and the control ability of the power utilities under all types of TOU rates mechanisms.


Private Label Strategy-Nirmalya Kumar 2007-02-13 As retailers have become more powerful and global, they have increasingly focused on their own brands at the expense of manufacturer brands. Rather than simply selling on price, retailers have transformed private labels into brands. Consequently, manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, and Procter & Gamble now compete with their largest customers: major retail chains like Carrefour, CVS, Tesco, and Wal-Mart. The growth in private labels has huge implications for managers on both sides. Yet, brand manufacturers still cling to their outdated assumptions about private labels. In Private Label Strategy: How to Meet the Store Brand Challenge, Nirmalya Kumar and Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp describe the new strategies for private labels that retailers are using, and challenge brand manufacturers to develop an effective response. Most important, they lay out actionable strategies for competing against or collaborating with private label purveyors. Packed with detailed international case studies, valuable visuals, and hands-on tools, Private Label Strategy enables managers to navigate profitably in this radically altered landscape.


Airtightness becomes a more and more important parameter in the rationalization of the energy consumption. The quality of the works during the construction process is essential. However, this particular step is on itself absolutely not sufficient to build airtight buildings. Airtightness has to be taken into account from the pre-project. For that, architects have to deal with a large bunch of items. Steps as the definition of the ambition level, the precise positioning of the airtightness barrier into the building are essential. Possible contradictions with permanent ventilation requirements have to be taken into account. For instance, in Belgium, there are natural ventilation requirements for fire safety reasons or for open heating devices (as stoves) and it could be difficult to conciliate these requirements with the performance of airtightness. In addition, some equipment such as distribution board must be adequately placed to avoid some air leakages. At last, the choice of equipment types and their position could be crucial to achieve the airtightness level considered. The construction process on itself, intermediate blower door tests during the construction process, the final blower door test as well as the attention points during the occupancy have also to be taken into account. Thereby, a path of 10 steps starting from the very beginning of the conception up to the utilization of the building have been identified to facilitate the realisation of affordable airtight buildings.


This updated edition of the best-selling developer's guide to the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface covers all aspects of project development, including hardware design, device firmware, and host application software.Topics include how to choose a device controller chip, how to write device firmware for USB communications, how to cut development time by using USB device classes, and how to write software to access devices that perform vendor-specific functions. Also discussed are hardware interfacing, using bus power, wireless technologies, and USB On-The-Go.The book presents example code for accessing USB devices using Visual Basic .NET and Visual C# .NET. The example code shows how to detect device arrival and removal and how to transfer vendor-defined data using the human interface device class and Microsofts WinUSB driver. Also covered is how to write device firmware to communicate with the USB host.The Fourth Edition covers USB 3.0 and SuperSpeed and has new information on controller chips, USB classes, power use, and Microsofts WinUSB driver.The authors website has program code, articles, and other information of interest to USB developers. (www.Lvr.com)


Different glucidic labelled compounds were used for carbohydrate metabolism exploration, tissular glycogen storage localization and amino acid uptake response to osmotic variation in the adult of Sagitta friderici. After [1-14C] glucose or [6-14C] glucose (osmotrophic) assimilation, the relative activity of the different metabolic pathways (glycolysis–citric acid cycle and pentose cycle) have been estimated by means of a micro-radiorespirometric method. The kinetics of expired 14CO2 showed that adult Sagitta mainly used the glycolytic–Krebs cycle rather than the pentose cycle in glucose catabolism. After 2-deoxy-D-[1-14C] glucose (osmotrophic) assimilation, tissular glycogen storages were localized. It was shown that glycogen deposits are abundant in several tissues except the locomotor muscles, which probably represent the main glucose consumers in these very active animals. The problem of glucose transport from the storage localizations to the sites of utilization has been discussed. The L-3H-leucine uptake variations into the Sagitta body after an osmotic shock have been estimated.


This is the story of everyday life in the big, happy Ruggles family who live in the small town of Otwell. Father is a dustman and Mother a washerwoman. Then there's all the children - practical Lily Rose, clever Kate, mischievous twins James and John, followed by Jo, who loves films, little Peg and finally baby William. This is a truly classic book awarded the Carnegie Medal as the best children's book of 1937.


Two studies examined whether participant attitudes would change toward positions advocated by an ingroup member even if the latter was known to be an embodied agent; that is, a human-like representation of a computer algorithm. While immersed in a virtual environment, participants listened to a persuasive communication from a digital representation of another student. The latter was actually an embodied agent (a computer-controlled digital representation of a human). Study 1 examined the extent to which gender of the virtual human, participant gender, and the agent's behavior affected attitude change. Results revealed gender-based ingroup favoritism in the form of greater attitude change for same gender virtual humans. Study 2 examined behavioral realism and agency beliefs; that is, whether participants believed the other to be an agent or an avatar (an online representation of an actual person). Results supported Blascovich and colleague's model of social influence within immersive virtual environments. Specifically, the prediction that virtual humans high in behavioral realism would be more influential than those low in behavioral realism was supported, but this effect was moderated by the gender of the virtual human and the research participant. Implications of these findings for the model are discussed.


Conventional taught learning practices often experience difficulties in keeping students motivated and engaged. Video games, however, are very successful at sustaining high levels of motivation and engagement through a set of tasks for hours without apparent loss of focus. In addition, gamers solve complex problems within a gaming environment without feeling fatigue or frustration, as they would typically do with a comparable learning task. Based on this notion, the academic community is keen on exploring methods that can deliver deep learner engagement and has shown increased interest in adopting gamification – the integration of gaming elements, mechanics, and frameworks into non-game situations and scenarios – as a means to increase student engagement and improve information retention. Its effectiveness when applied to education has been debatable though, as attempts have generally been restricted to one-dimensional approaches such as transposing a trivial reward system onto existing teaching materials and/or assessments. Nevertheless, a gamified, multi-dimensional, problem-based learning approach can yield improved results even when applied to a very complex and traditionally dry task like the teaching of computer programming, as shown in this paper. The presented quasi-experimental study used a combination of instructor feedback, real time sequence of scored quizzes, and live coding to deliver a fully interactive learning experience. More specifically, the "Kahoot!" Classroom Response System (CRS), the classroom version of the TV game show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?", and Codecademy's interactive platform formed the basis for a learning model which was applied to an entry-level Python programming course. Students were thus allowed to experience multiple interlocking methods similar to those commonly found in a top quality game experience. To assess gamification's impact on learning, empirical data from the gamified group were compared to those from a control group who was taught through a traditional learning approach, similar to the one which had been used during previous cohorts. Despite this being a relatively small-scale study, the results and findings for a number of key metrics, including attendance, downloading of course material, and final grades, were encouraging and proved that the gamified approach was motivating and enriching for both students and instructors.


A modified three-step aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition process was used to grow dense and uniform CH3NH3PbI3 thin films directly on borosilicate glass. The resulting photoluminescence spectrum was blue shifted with respect to its bandgap. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies confirmed non-stoichiometric lead : iodine ratios within the films, due to decomposition of the CH3NH3PbI3 layers over time into lead iodide and the release of ammonia and hydrogen iodide. The complex refractive index and dielectric function of the deposited thin films were determined by variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry.


Thank you for downloading essays on the church of god. As you may know, people have search numerous times for their favorite books like this essays on the church of god, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some infectious virus inside their computer. essays on the church of god is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our digital library spans in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the essays on the church of god is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Background:  'Immediate' implants are placed in dental sockets just after tooth extraction. 'Immediate-delayed' implants are those implants inserted after weeks up to about a couple of months to allow for soft tissue healing. 'Delayed' implants are those placed thereafter in partially or completely healed bone. The potential advantages of immediate implants are that treatment time can be shortened and that bone volumes might be partially maintained thus possibly providing good aesthetic results. The potential disadvantages are an increased risk of infection and failures. After implant placement in postextractive sites, gaps can be present between the implant and the bony walls. It is possible to fill these gaps and to augment bone simultaneously to implant placement. There are many techniques to achieve this but it is unclear when augmentation is needed and which could be the best augmentation technique.

Objectives:  To evaluate success, complications, aesthetics and patient satisfaction between 'immediate', 'immediate-delayed' and 'delayed' implants. To evaluate whether and when augmentation procedures are necessary and which is the most effective technique.

Search strategy:  The Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register (to 2 June 2010), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 2), MEDLINE via OVID (1950 – 2 June 2010) and EMBASE via OVID (1980 – 2 June 2010) were searched. Several dental journals were handsearched.

Selection criteria:  Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing immediate, immediate-delayed and delayed implants, or comparing various bone augmentation procedures around the inserted implants, reporting the outcome of the interventions to at least 1 year after functional loading.

Data collection and analysis:  Screening of eligible studies, assessment of the methodological quality of the trials and data extraction were conducted independently and in duplicate. Trial authors were contacted for any missing information. Results were expressed as random-effects models using mean differences for continuous outcomes and risk ratios (RR) for dichotomous outcomes with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The statistical unit of the analysis was the patient.

Main results:  Fourteen eligible RCTs were identified but only 7 trials could be included. Four RCTs evaluated implant placement timing. Two RCTs compared immediate versus delayed implants in 126 patients and found no statistically significant differences. One RCT compared immediate-delayed versus delayed implants in 46 patients. After 2 years patients in the immediate-delayed group perceived the time to functional loading significantly shorter, were more satisfied and an independent blinded assessor judged the level of the peri-implant marginal mucosa in relation to that of the adjacent teeth as more appropriate (RR = 1.68; 95% CI 1.04 to 2.72). These differences disappeared 5 years after loading but significantly more complications occurred in the immediate-delayed group (RR = 4.20; 95% CI 1.01 to 17.43). One RCT compared immediate with immediately delayed implants in 16 patients for 2 years and found no differences. Three RCTs evaluated different techniques of bone grafting for implants immediately placed in extraction sockets. No statistically significant difference was observed when evaluating whether autogenous bone is needed in postextractive sites (1 trial with 26 patients) or which was the most effective augmentation technique (2 trials with 56 patients).

Authors' conclusions:  There is insufficient evidence to determine possible advantages or disadvantages of immediate, immediate-delayed or delayed implants, therefore these preliminary conclusions are based on a few underpowered trials often judged to be at high risk of bias. There is a suggestion that immediate and immediate-delayed implants may be at higher risks of implant failures and complications than delayed implants. On the other hand the aesthetic outcome might be better when placing implants just after teeth extraction. There is not enough reliable evidence supporting or refuting the need for augmentation procedures at immediate implants placed in fresh extraction sockets or whether any of the augmentation techniques are superior to the others.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

Interventions for replacing missing teeth: dental implants in fresh extraction sockets (immediate, immediate-delayed and delayed implants)

Dental implants can be placed in sockets just after tooth extraction (immediate implants) or after a couple of weeks up to a couple of months (immediate-delayed implants) or thereafter (delayed implants). This review looked at which was the best time to place dental implants and whether it would be advantageous to augment sites with gaps present at implant placement. It also tried to determine the most effective bone augmentation procedure.

The seven identified studies included too few patients to answer the questions. Four studies evaluated which is the best time to place implants. One study evaluated whether bone grafting is advantageous at implant placement and two studies evaluated which are the best grafting techniques.

There is currently too little evidence to draw any reliable conclusions, however, the aesthetic outcome could be slightly better when placing implants early after tooth extraction, though early placed implants might be at a higher risk of failure. There is not enough evidence supporting or refusing the need of bone augmentation when extracted teeth are immediately replaced with dental implants, nor is it known whether any augmentation procedure is better than others. Bone substitutes (anorganic bovine bone) can be used instead of self generated (autogenous) bone graft.


We propose an algorithm to perform multitask learning where each task has potentially distinct label sets and label correspondences are not readily available. This is in contrast with existing methods which either assume that the label sets shared by different tasks are the same or that there exists a label mapping oracle. Our method directly maximizes the mutual information among the labels, and we show that the resulting objective function can be efficiently optimized using existing algorithms. Our proposed approach has a direct application for data integration with different label spaces, such as integrating Yahoo! and DMOZ web directories.


In their daily work, psychiatric nurses are subjected to patient-perpetrated verbal and physical aggression. They manage a high level of work stress. As compared to their colleagues working in civil settings, forensic psychiatric nurses may experience different rates of patient aggression and work stress. Such experiences have implications for the mental health and productivity of nursing staff. In inpatient settings, homicide by a patient is a rare event. Representing the most severe form of patient aggression, patient homicide may be expected to have significant effects on the psychological well-being of psychiatric nurses. The present cross-sectional study comprised two separate phases. The broad aims of the first phase were to explore and compare the psychological well-being of civil and forensic hospital-based psychiatric nurses and to uncover factors contributing to and buffering against the development of posttraumatic stress reactions and general distress. Owing to the occurrence of a double patient homicide in a forensic psychiatric hospital where this study was underway, the study was expanded to include a second phase. The broad aims of the second phase were to evaluate the effects of patient homicide, on posttraumatic stress reactions and general distress in forensic psychiatric nurses, both working across the entire hospital and working on the unit where the patient homicide occurred. In the first phase, a battery of self-report measures was administered to 97 forensic psychiatric nurses in a forensic psychiatric hospital and 99 civil psychiatric nurses across three civil hospitals. In the second phase of the study, a slightly modified questionnaire was re-administered to 107 forensic nurses from the same forensic psychiatric hospital, five months after the occurrence of patient homicide. Multiple regression analyses indicated that while working in a civil setting is a risk factor for reporting higher levels of work stress, civil and forensic nurses experience similar psychological well-being and demonstrate comparable coping strategies and attitudes. As a group, 14-17% of civil and forensic nurses met diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 36% scored above the threshold for psychiatric caseness. A tentative model of the development of posttraumatic stress reactions and general distress was developed, illustrating that frequency of aggression and level of work stress have direct effects on both posttraumatic stress reactions and general distress. The moderating roles of coping strategies, attitude to personality disorder and attitude towards patient aggression were also highlighted in the model. Following the occurrence of patient homicide, forensic nurses in general demonstrated resilience, not displaying increased (or decreased) symptoms of posttraumatic stress or general distress. In comparison, there were trends for higher proportions of nurses working on the unit where the homicide occurred to meet criteria for PTSD and to score above the threshold for psychiatric caseness after the patient homicide, as compared to before the homicide. The present study affirms that psychiatric nursing is a challenging and stressful occupation and highlights risk factors for poor psychological well-being in mental health nurses. Limitations of the study, implications for employers and individual nurses, and directions for future research are discussed.


The development of composite materials has represented many advances in the naval, aeronautical and aerospace sector complying with specific properties that increase the strength of the material, depending on the application being used and the environmental conditions to which it is exposed. Composite materials as the constituted with carbon fiber reinforcements of epoxy type matrix, nowadays are used for the manufacture of components in the structure of the aircrafts for their reductions of weight and fuel in contrast to the common use of metallic alloys. Due to the importance of epoxy resin and its use in industrial processes will be considered object of study in this project. Despite of these advantages, other challenges to overcome are the development of cheaper production process and new techniques of processing to the manufacturing of components with structural functions; one of them is the resin infusion which is based on the impregnation of thin films of dry fabrics through resin, this technique uses vacuum pressure to drive resin into laminate. Materials are laid dry into the mold and the vacuum is applied before resin is introduced. This process improves the quality and strength of the laminate reinforcement (fiberglass) of the parts. During the resin impregnation process, the vacuum causes the nucleation and formation of air bubbles from gases dissolved in the resin. A degassing process prior to the infusion can be a solution to remove those undesirable effects in the resin. This explorative study has as aim the research about the state of art of the degasification techniques and collects the processes involved in the quality of the final result of the resin. Additionally, it gives the initial requirements to carry out a future experimental study. Technical requirements to the realization of the experiments such as equipment, materials and personnel involved will be evaluated. A solvent database as CES-EDUPACK 2012 of recognized prestige in industrial engineering and aeronautics field, also used in companies as Ferrari, Renault F1, Intel, NASA will be used in the selection criteria of the materials involved in the technical requirements.


The in vitro-in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) methods used currently to predict the hepatic clearance of new chemical entities are plagued by poorly understood inaccuracies. To begin identifying plausible sources, we challenge two of core hypotheses. Hypothesis-1: the intralobular micro-anatomical organization of hepatocytes (HPCs) can be abstracted away. By accepting that hypothesis, one can assume that intrinsic clearance per HPC is essentially the same in vitro and in vivo, and thus an IVIVE method can employ a simplified liver model, typically the "well-stirred" liver model. Hypothesis-2: when the simplified liver model is the "parallel tube model," drug concentration decreases exponentially from portal to central vein. When either simplified liver model is used, a core assumption is that intrinsic clearance is directly proportional to the unbound fraction of drug. A barrier to progress has been the fact that it is currently infeasible to challenge the two hypotheses using wet-lab experiments. In this work, we challenge virtual counterparts of the two hypotheses by experimenting on virtual mice in which hepatic disposition and clearance are consequences of concretized model mechanisms that have met several demanding requirements, including the following. The virtual liver's structure and organization are strongly analogous to those of an actual liver, and the hepatic disposition and clearance of several virtual compounds have achieved quantitative validation targets. We study two virtual compounds. Compound-1 simulates the extreme of low-clearance, highly permeable compounds. Compound-2 simulates a highly permeable compound exhibiting maximum intrinsic clearance. We simulate changes in unbound fraction by changing the probability (pEnter) that a Compound-1 or -2 will enter an adjacent HPC during a simulation cycle. Compound-1 and -2 HPC EPiC Series in Computing Volume 70, 2020, Pages 198–207 Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Q. Ding, O. Eulenstein and H. Al-Mubaid (eds.), BICOB 2020 (EPiC Series in Computing, vol. 70), pp. 198–207 exposure rates do not decrease from portal to central vein: they increase, and that contradicts both hypotheses. Further, the relationship between exposure rates and pEnter is nonlinear. The insights achieved help explain the frequently reported underprediction of in vivo hepatic clearance values. We suggest that IVIVE methods can be improved by utilizing a liver model that couples a biomimetic representation of intralobular HPC organization with biomimetic representations of intrahepatic disposition dynamics.


From Niall Ferguson to Fareed Zakaria, commentators have paid growing attention to the rise of Asia and its implications for the West. Recent years have also seen the emergence of a growing volume of literature on intellectual property developments in Asia, in particular China and India. Few commentators, however, have explored whether Asian countries will take unified positions on international intellectual property law and policy. Commissioned for the Inaugural International Intellectual Property Scholars Series, this article fills the void by examining intellectual property developments in relation to the decades-old 'Asian values' debate. Drawing on the region's diversity in economic and technological developments and the continuous rivalry among the different regional powers, the article contends that one can neither locate any distinct values, approaches, or practices on intellectual property law and policy nor identify any established pan-Asian positions in the area. The article further explores the role Asian countries will play if these emerging countries exert more influence on the development of the international intellectual property system. It points out that, although Japan and South Korea are unlikely to join others to form a united front for the Asian developing world, China, India, and ASEAN members may be willing to work together to form a normative community. This article concludes with a discussion of ten key items that will find their way to the community's common policy agenda if such a community indeed exists.


Do "niche" parties—such as Communist, Green, and extreme nationalist parties—adjust their policies in response to shifts in public opinion? Would such policy responsiveness enhance these parties' electoral support? We report the results of statistical analyses of the relationship between parties' policy positions, voters' policy preferences, and election outcomes in eight Western European democracies from 1976 to 1998 that suggest that the answer to both questions isno. Specifically, we find no evidence that niche parties responded to shifts in public opinion, while mainstream parties displayed consistent tendencies to respond to public opinion shifts. Furthermore, we find that in situations where niche parties moderated their policy positions they were systematically punished at the polls (a result consistent with the hypothesis that such parties represent extreme or noncentrist ideological clienteles), while mainstream parties did not pay similar electoral penalties. Our findings have important implications for political representation, for spatial models of elections, and for political parties' election strategies.


Background: Traditional treatment approaches for the management of restless legs syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson's disease (PD) include the use of medications that either directly or indirectly increase dopamine levels. In turn, a potential adverse event that could be expected is the development or exacerbation of psychiatric-related symptoms. Objective: To evaluate and describe the incidence of psychosis and associated behavioral features in patients taking ropinirole for RLS or PD. Methods: Patients were identified from a computerized database search of outpatients being treated with ropinirole for 1 of 2 medical conditions: PD or RLS. Data were collected in a retrospective manner from 95 patients who were tracked over the course of their therapy to determine whether psychosis or associated behavioral symptoms developed as a result and whether an intervention was needed to adjust ropinirole dosing or if additional medications had to be added to control features associated with psychosis. Results: A total of 284 patients being treated for RLS or PD were identified; of this group, 95 patients were identified as being treated for PD or RLS with ropinirole. Of the 95 patients being treated with ropinirole, 13 developed psychotic features that required therapeutic intervention with either the use of an antipsychotic or dose adjustment of ropinirole. PD patients included in this study were numerically more likely to develop psychotic features compared with RLS patients; however, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.122). The results do suggest that this risk is increased when ropinirole is used as part of a dual therapy approach with dopamine agonists in the treatment of either PD or RLS (p = 0.003). Discussion: Dopamine agonists have long been used as preferred treatment in the management of PD and RLS. When treating either PD or RLS in the psychiatric population, the concern arises that increased activity at dopamine receptors may induce or exacerbate psychiatric features. A potential clinical concern with the use of ropinirole is the potential for patients to develop psychiatric features, although there are few data available to demonstrate whether stimulation of targeted individual dopamine receptors is linked to the development or exacerbation of psychotic features. It is also undetermined whether concurrent antipsychotic treatment provides any protective benefit against psychosis, especially in patients already being treated for psychotic symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that ropinirole may play a role in inducing or exacerbating psychosis and its associated features, although a number of confounding variables prevent the determination of a clear association and suggest that further investigation is warranted in controlled clinical trials.


In this research note, we examine the design, development, validation, and use of virtual worlds. Our purpose in doing so is to extend the design science paradigm by developing a set of design principles applicable to the context of virtual environments, particularly those using agent-based simulation as their underlying technology. Our central argument is that virtual worlds comprise a new class of information system, one that combines the structural aspects of traditional modeling and simulation systems in concert with emergent user dynamics of systems supporting emergent knowledge processes. Our approach involves two components. First, we review the characteristics of agent-based virtual worlds (ABVWs) to discern design requirements that may challenge current design theory. From this review, we derive a set of design principles based on deep versus emergent structures where deep structures reflect conventional modeling and simulation system architectures and emergent structures capture the unpredictable user-system dynamics inherent in emergent knowledge processes, which increasingly characterize virtual worlds. We illustrate how these design challenges are addressed with an exemplar of a complex mirror world, a large-scale ABVW we developed called Sentient World. Our contribution is the insight of partitioning ABVW architectures into deep and emergent structures that mirror modeling systems and emergent knowledge processes respectively, while developing extended design principles to facilitate their integration. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our design principles for informing and guiding future research and practice.


The pseudarthrosis usually develops during the first two years of life; however, there are reports of cases in which fractures developed before birth and reports of late-onset pseudarthrosis3. There is a strong association between Congenital pseudoarthrosis and Type I neurofibromatosis4. CPT develops in about 5.7% of patients with NF-I and 40% of patients with pseudoarthrosis were found to have NF-I4,5. Main pathology is hyperplasia of fibroblasts with the formation of dense fibrous tissue at fracture site causing osteolysis, and persistence of pseudarthrosis5.

The difficulty in treating this condition occurs because of two factors. 1) Biologic: poor healing ability of the dysplastic segment of bone and 2) Mechanical: technical difficulty to fix small and osteopenic bone fragments in children without damaging the distal physis. A multitude of treatment protocols focusing on stimulating the healing process by using different bone grafting techniques were documented6. The graft materials most commonly used included osteoperiosteal graft, massive onlay graft, autogenous iliac crest bone graft, and vascularised bone graft.


This article reports that the Minister of Production and Environment Hugo Tobchi announced that the 15,000 tons of lead slag and dust, left by the former company Metal Huasi, has been removed from Abra Pampa. The industrial waste was stored in a specially prepared mine owned by the company Minera el Aguilar. A handwritten note reads, "Need to follow-up with Multisectora, etc. to discuss reaction."


Securities class actions play a crucial, if contested, role in the policing of securities fraud and the protection of securities markets. The theoretical understanding of these private enforcement claims needs to evolve to encompass the broader set of goals that underlie the securities regulatory impulse and the publicness of those goals. Further, a clear grasp of the modern securities class action also requires an updated understanding of how the role of market intermediation in securities transactions has reshaped the realities of securities litigation in public companies and the evolution of the fraud cause of action in the context of open-market transactions. The Supreme Court's embrace of market efficiency as a mechanism to establish reliance in its 1988 decision, Basic, Inc. v. Levinson, illustrates the necessary adaptation of common law fraud to the modern market setting, and Congressional enactment of the PSLRA in 1995 exemplifies the efforts to respond to the litigation risks inherent in that adaptation. Together, Basic and the PSLRA provide a frame for understanding both a series of recent Supreme Court decisions on securities class actions and a different understanding of the theory undergirding those class actions. To develop this understanding, we expand the conversation about the goals of securities regulation to include the set of goals that are rooted in publicness and focus on market protection, innovation, and growth, as well as stability and systemic considerations. We posit that this broader theoretical understanding explains why the Court rejected a challenge to the fraud on the market doctrine and, instead, permitted the continued use of market efficiency: the Court chose to preserve the deterrence and enforcement role of these cases in promoting market growth and innovation. We then apply this understanding of publicness and market intermediation to the interpretation of the Court's limited, but ambiguous, use of "price impact" in securities fraud cases. Our analysis reveals that the practical balance established by Basic and the PSLRA has prevailed over pure doctrinal approaches to issues like reliance or other, more incomplete theoretical explanations focused solely on compensation, deterrence, and investor protection, but neglecting the role of publicness in the securities markets.


Some probiotics and their cell components are known to modulate lipid metabolism in vitro and/or in vivo. This study was carried out to investigate possible anti-adipogenic action of a probiotic cell extract, Lactobacillus plantarum KY1032 cell extract (KY1032-CE), in vitro using 3T3-L1 cells. Lipid regulation in the cell culture system was assessed by AdipoRed assay and Oil red O staining of intracellular lipids and real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis of adipogenesis-related factors. AdipoRed assay revealed that KY1032-CE treatment significantly decreased lipid accumulation in maturing 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Oil red O staining demonstrated that KY1032-CE reduced the number of lipid-containing rounded cells. KY1032-CE down-regulated the mRNA and protein expression of four adipocyte-specific genes: peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ2, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α, fatty acid synthase, and adipocyte-fatty acid binding protein. Accordingly, these results indicate that KY1032-CE can reduce fat mass by modulating adipogenesis in maturing preadipocytes. Further studies are needed to elucidate its mode of actions in efficacy tests of KY1032-CE in vivo.


Inhalation of volatile agents, or solvent abuse, is a dangerous pastime practised by many young adolescents in various parts of the world. Benzine, a distillate of petroleum, is a cheap and readily available solvent that is often inhaled or "sniffed" to produce a short-lived feeling of euphoria or disorientation. The aim of this report is to describe four adolescents with severe polyneuropathies secondary to chronic benzine inhalation who were seen at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria's Neurology Department. Methods and patients: Four adolescent boys aged 15–18 years presented to the Department of Neurology from 2011 to 2013 with progressive weakness and muscle atrophy. Results: On examination all patients showed signs of a severe motor and sensory neuropathy. Two were wheelchair bound at the time of presentation and an initial diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome was considered. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was normal and electromyography showed severe mixed motor and sensory mainly axonal polyneuropathies in all patients. All investigations for causes of neuropathies were normal, but all patients eventually admitted that they had been abusing benzine by inhaling it for a period of at least six months. The inhalation occurred as a group activity, involving many children. Conclusion: Inhalant abuse appears to be a common practice amongst adolescents from Pretoria. It can lead to a catastrophic polyneuropathy, which should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a young patient presenting with a Guillain-Barré syndrome-type of clinical picture. Awareness amongst schools and drug programmes should be raised to prevent this tragic and highly disabling condition.


From being a rare disease in the early 1900s, lung cancer is today the most common forms of cancer worldwide. This development is due to the gradual uptake of cigarette smoking in different populations and birth cohorts during the past 75 years. In spite of different modes of treatment, survival is still poor and surgery remains the prerequisite for cure. National data from the Swedish Cancer Register for the 35-year period 1958-1994 were analysed to estimate the effects of birth cohort, year of diagnosis (period) and age at diagnosis on the time trends in lung cancers. Early mortality, complications, major morbidity during the first 30 days, quality of life and long term survival after lung cancer surgery were assessed to estimate the significance of pre-surgical and tumour-related risk factors. Also, effects of delay in diagnosis and treatment among patients with non-small cell lung cancer were examined.The main results indicate that the overall age-adjusted incidence of lung cancer in Sweden has stabilised in men during the last two decades but has been increasing continuously in women. The fastest rate increase was noted among the youngest women and the incidence of adenocarcinoma is increasing in both sexes. Our results show low early mortality and morbidity after lung cancer surgery. Furthermore, quality of life was comparable with that of CABG patients postoperatively. However, patients with reduced lung capacity and those undergoing pneumonectomy should be treated with great care, as they run a considerable risk of major complications, impaired quality of life or death during the first 30 days postoperatively. Tumour stage (TNM) is the best prognostic indicator for long-term survival following radical surgery, underlying the importance of accurate surgical staging. Factors such as impaired preoperative lung function, older age, and major complications after surgery all negatively influence survival. Current smokers as a group run a significant risk of an adverse outcome (major complication or death), impaired mental health and shortened survival after lung cancer surgery. Waiting time for diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer was longer than recommended; especially among those surgically treated, but prolonged delay did not influence survival adversely.


Together with Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen is generally acknowledged as the founder of the young science of ethology. Professor Tinbergen has spent a lifetime of research exploring the behavior of many types of animals in their natural environments, and has founded centers of worldwide renown for research and teaching in the behavioral sciences, first in his native Holland and later at Oxford. His influence extends far beyond the borders of Europe and of zoology proper, and he has contributed substantially to international and interdisciplinary collaborationTinbergen's work has been characterized by many as a "breath of fresh air" in fields that were in danger of using touch with nature and of becoming bogged down in theory. He has tirelessly worked for the use of scientific methods in the study if human behavior, both normal and abnormal. Without shying away from quantification and measurement, he has made his main contribution in what Sir Peter Medawar calls "creative observation" and in the design of meaningful experiments, even in the seemingly chaotic and continuously varying conditions if the natural habitat.In following him in what Tinbergen likes to call his seemingly aimless wanderings, the reader will catch a unique glimpse into the workshop of ethology. Even when reporting on sophisticated experiments, or when developing new theoretical concepts and arguments, Tinergen writes simply, lucidly, and precisely. The present volume spans forty years of pioneer investigation and includes selections on the behavior of gulls; on the homing, landmark preference, and prey findings of the digger wasp; on the food hoarding of foxes; and on creatures living scattered as a defense against predators.These classic original studies will fascinate the increasing number if readers interested in the topical problems if animals and human behavior.


Partnership with teachers for professional development has been considered ben-eficial because of the potential of collaborative work in the teacher's own classroom to be relevant topractice. From this perspective, both teachersand researcherscan draw on their own expertise and work as authentic partners. In this study, we address the need for such collaboration and focus on how a teacher and a researcher performed their roles when collaboratively implementing mathematical modeling tasks within a context of in situ professional development. Using multi-tier design-based research, as a framework, a researcher worked in a teacher's classroom to implement a series of research-based mathematical modeling activities. A broad corpus of data from this interaction was analyzed, including audio recordings of inter-views with the teacher, video recordings of three mathematical modeling lessons, researcher field notes and journal reflections, instructional materials, and students' written work using the principles for designing activities for teachers. The emerging roles and relationships between the teacher and the researcher were documented, as (1) the researcher implemented the professional development, (2) the teacher shared her concerns, (3) the researcher responded to the teacher's challenges, and (3) the teacher reflected on student development. As a case study of collaboration, the participants' roles and strategies to overcome challenges and achieve shared objectives can benefit teachers and researchers who plan to collaboratively implement modeling in the classroom. The study supports the value and viability of this form of in situ professional development, indicating that significant changes in teachers' thinking about their students' mathematical model development can occur in relatively short periods of time.


This paper analyses the Canadian economy for the post 1960 period. It uses an accounting procedure developed in Chari, Kehoe, and McGrattan (2006). The procedure identifies accounting factors that help align the predictions of the neoclassical growth model with macroeconomic variables observed in the data. The paper finds that total factor productivity and the consumptionleisure trade-off -- the productivity and labor factors -- are key to understanding the changes in output, labor supply and labor productivity observed in the Canadian economy. The paper performs a decomposition of the labor factor for Canada and the United States. It finds that the decline in the gender wage gap is a major driving force of the decrease in the labor market distortions. Moreover, the milder reduction in the labor market distortions observed in Canada, compared to the US, is due to a relative increase in effective labor taxes in Canada.


Can We Drop the Adjectives Please?I am an artist, I am an artist, I am an artist. This mantra was given to me at the beginning of my MA in Ceramics & Glass at the RCA, by my formidable tutor, and glass artist, Tessa Clegg. Two things are significant: I have never forgotten my given label, and I was there to study ceramics, but I had been allocated a glass tutor. What help could she possibly be?I now find myself on the other side. I have become the educator, as well as the artist. I feel a responsibility to my students, to enable and encourage them to be the artist they want, not to attach adjectives of ceramicist, painter, sculptor, craftsman. The adjective determines how they and their work are viewed, where and how it should be seen, and even the material value. I am reluctant to label them, or even myself.Surely, if these students are makers of things, and thinkers of ideas, the integrity of the material and thought should determine the response?I am also a hoarder of things. Recently, I unearthed my 'end of year one' report from the RCA. I had debated my role in the world and the context of the work I was producing. I was uncomfortable with the adjectives, even then. I find myself returning to this idea continually.Yet, 'I am an artist, I am an artist', though some days it is difficult to remember, and I still debate these issues in my own practice. I work in paper and paper clay, so I can be labelled in many ways: craft, ceramic, installation, sculpture, art? Sometimes this depends on the funding opportunities. I often use 'found' ceramic plates, and draw images to become decals, which I now employ a company to print. Am I still the craftsperson? The incorporation of industrial processes cannot be disregarded within the realm of craft.If I am asked to exhibit in a 'craft' gallery, I, and my work, are viewed very differently than when I take over an empty shop-front to show objects in a 'pop-up gallery'. In this instance, alternative audiences have access to art works, and the potential of creativity to enliven the derelict high street can be quickly achievable. The nature of craft is changing, and we must strive to encourage our students (and ourselves) to embrace the skills of making, but equally the skills of thinking. Richard Sennett's view of the craftsman seems sometimes in opposition to this idea. Those of us who are 'makers of things' need to reassess how and where they are seen. If these objects do not seem to fit certain gallery spaces or curators' notions of what constitutes art, then exploration of alternative venues and audiences are required. We are thinkers as well as do-ers, therefore we need to take control of our context.To return to my MA tutor, she was instrumental in my questioning of my work and my ideas. She did not have to be a ceramicist to understand. Perhaps even with the adjectives, we are not quite so different.http://makingfutures.plymouthart.ac.uk/


Although females in numerous species generally prefer males with larger, brighter and more elaborate sexual traits, there is nonetheless considerable intra- and interpopulation variation in mating preferences amongst females that requires explanation. Such variation exists in the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata, an important model organism for the study of sexual selection and mate choice. While female guppies tend to prefer more ornamented males as mates, particularly those with greater amounts of orange coloration, there remains variation both in male traits and female mating preferences within and between populations. Male body size is another trait that is sexually selected through female mate choice in some species, but has not been examined as extensively as body coloration in the guppy despite known intra- and interpopulation variation in this trait among adult males and its importance for survivorship in this species. In this study, we used a dichotomous-choice test to quantify the mating preferences of female guppies, originating from a low-predation population in Trinidad, for two male traits, body length and area of the body covered with orange and black pigmentation, independently of each other. We expected strong female mating preferences for both male body length and coloration in this population, given relaxation from predation and presumably relatively low cost of choice. Females indeed exhibited a strong preference for larger males as expected, but surprisingly a weaker (but nonetheless significant) preference for orange and black coloration. Interestingly, larger females demonstrated stronger preferences for larger males than did smaller females, which could potentially lead to size-assortative mating in nature.


Medical tourism - the travel of patients from one (the "home") country to another (the "destination") country for medical treatment - represents a growing business. A number of authors have raised the concern that medical tourism reduces access to health care for the destination country's poor and suggested that home country governments or international bodies have obligations to curb medical tourism or mitigate its negative effects when they occur. This Article is the first to comprehensively examine both the question of whether this negative effect on access to health care occurs for the destination country's poor, and the normative question of the home country and international bodies' obligations if it does occur. I draw on the work of leading theorists from the Statist, Cosmopolitan, and Intermediate camps on Global Justice and apply it to medical tourism. I also show how the application of these theories to medical tourism highlights areas in which these theories are underspecified and suggests diverging paths for filling in lacunae. Finally, I discuss the kinds of home country, destination country, and multilateral forms of regulation this analysis would support and reject. This Article is the second in a trilogy of law review articles I have done on various aspects of Medical Tourism. The first Article, Protecting Patients with Passports: Medical Tourism and the Patient Protective-Argument, 95 Iowa L. Rev. 1467 (2010) is available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1523701. The third Article, Circumvention Tourism, 97 Cornell L. Rev. _ (2012) is forthcoming and will be posted on SSRN in the near future.


To understand the current prevalence of aggressive acts on Australian roads, a large cross-sectional survey was conducted inviting drivers from all Australian jurisdictions to participate. A stratified sampling procedure was undertaken to ensure the age and gender distributions were representative of each jurisdiction. Participants were asked to report the frequency of aggressive driving behaviours as well as speeding, drink-driving and mobile phone usage while driving. Recent crash history was also obtained. The sample consisted of 2,916 drivers (males = 45%) with an average age of 42 (±16) years. Minor aggressive behaviours such as expressing annoyance to other drivers and sounding the horn in anger were reported by the majority of the sample (60% and 70% respectively). More extreme behaviour such as chasing another driver when angry was less common, however still reported by 18% of the overall sample. Aggressive driving behaviours were more common in younger, male drivers with 36% of drivers aged 22 to 39 reporting extreme aggression. Associations were found between aggressive driving with crash involvement and other forms of risky driving behaviour. The results show that aggressive driving is a problem on Australian roads. Further research is warranted to explore where aggressive driving fits within an overall risky driving pattern of behaviour, what attitudes drivers hold toward aggressive driving, and how to target the reduction of these behaviours.


After-school programs, scout groups, community service activities, religious youth groups, and other community-based activities have long been thought to play a key role in the lives of adolescents. But what do we know about the role of such programs for today's adolescents? How can we ensure that programs are designed to successfully meet young people's developmental needs and help them become healthy, happy, and productive adults? Community Programs to Promote Youth Development explores these questions, focusing on essential elements of adolescent well-being and healthy development. It offers recommendations for policy, practice, and research to ensure that programs are well designed to meet young people's developmental needs. The book also discusses the features of programs that can contribute to a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. It examines what we know about the current landscape of youth development programs for America's youth, as well as how these programs are meeting their diverse needs. Recognizing the importance of adolescence as a period of transition to adulthood, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development offers authoritative guidance to policy makers, practitioners, researchers, and other key stakeholders on the role of youth development programs to promote the healthy development and well-being of the nation's youth.


A picture may be worth a thousand words but what might those words be? How do we go about finding those words? Images are often used to convey information, supplement textual content, and/or add visual appeal to documents. Unless the user can see the image and properly interpret it, the user may not receive the same information. While containers exist for providing text alternatives in various types of electronic documents (including Web pages), they are rarely used. When they are used, the text alternatives are not informative. While guidance currently exists regarding which containers to use in order to provide text alternatives, there is little guidance available regarding what information to include in these containers and how to compose text alternatives. The purpose of this work is to establish a procedure for identifying the information being communicated within an image and provide guidance on how to produce informative text alternatives.
Based on related information in the areas of Web accessibility, library cataloguing, captioning and audio description, image retrieval and indexing, art description, and tactile representation, important information communicated by an image were identified and a procedure for producing informative text alternatives using that information was developed. Studies were conducted to determine the effectiveness of the procedure to identify important information about an image.
Study 1 determined the information identified about an image when the procedure was not available. It also suggested reasons why people would opt to not provide a text alternative for an image. Study 2 determined the information that people would identify when they were given the procedure and a set of questions to help identify information about an image. Study 3 determined the information people identified when they were required to consider all of the different types of information that may be important in an image. The results from these three studies were compared to determine the effectiveness of the procedure to identify important information about the image. Study 4 presented the information identified in the previous three studies to sighted and visually impaired users to evaluate the importance of such information. This study determined the quality of the information identified in the first three studies and the ability of the procedure to identify important information for a wide set of images.
The results of these studies showed that the procedure was effective in identifying a greater amount of important information than without the procedure. Additional guidance was also identified to further help people create informative and useful text alternatives. The studies also showed that the procedure could be applied by different user groups to a wide range of images. The procedure was submitted to the International Standards Organization to become a technical specification, which will be available to people around the world.


Helicobacter pylori has coexisted with humans for at least 60.000 years and has evolved persistence strategies that allow it to evade host immunity and colonize its host for life. The VacA protein is expressed by all H. pylori strains and is required for high-level persistent infection in experimental mouse models. Here, we show that VacA targets myeloid cells in the gastric mucosa to create a tolerogenic environment that facilitates regulatory T-cell differentiation, while suppressing effector T-cell priming and functionality. Tregs that are induced in the periphery during H. pylori infection can be found not only in the stomach but also in the lungs of infected mice, where they are likely to affect immune responses to allergens. ABSTRACT The gastric bacterium Helicobacter pylori causes a persistent infection that is directly responsible for gastric ulcers and gastric cancer in some patients and protective against allergic and other immunological disorders in others. The two outcomes of the Helicobacter-host interaction can be modeled in mice that are infected as immunocompetent adults and as neonates, respectively. Here, we have investigated the contribution of the Helicobacter immunomodulator VacA to H. pylori-specific local and systemic immune responses in both models. We found that neonatally infected mice are colonized at higher levels than mice infected as adults and fail to generate effector T-cell responses to the bacteria; rather, T-cell responses in neonatally infected mice are skewed toward Foxp3-positive (Foxp3+) regulatory T cells that are neuropilin negative and express RORγt. We found these peripherally induced regulatory T cells (pTregs) to be enriched, in a VacA-dependent manner, not only in the gastric mucosa but also in the lungs of infected mice. Pulmonary pTreg accumulation was observed in mice that have been infected neonatally with wild-type H. pylori but not in mice that have been infected as adults or mice infected with a VacA null mutant. Finally, we traced VacA to gastric lamina propria myeloid cells and show that it suppressed interleukin-23 (IL-23) expression by dendritic cells and induced IL-10 and TGF-β expression in macrophages. Taken together, the results are consistent with the idea that H. pylori creates a tolerogenic environment through its immunomodulator VacA, which skews T-cell responses toward Tregs, favors H. pylori persistence, and affects immunity at distant sites. IMPORTANCE Helicobacter pylori has coexisted with humans for at least 60.000 years and has evolved persistence strategies that allow it to evade host immunity and colonize its host for life. The VacA protein is expressed by all H. pylori strains and is required for high-level persistent infection in experimental mouse models. Here, we show that VacA targets myeloid cells in the gastric mucosa to create a tolerogenic environment that facilitates regulatory T-cell differentiation, while suppressing effector T-cell priming and functionality. Tregs that are induced in the periphery during H. pylori infection can be found not only in the stomach but also in the lungs of infected mice, where they are likely to affect immune responses to allergens.


Marshes along the coast of North Carolina are currently at risk due to ongoing land loss, and as they are highly productive waterways, understanding the processes driving land loss is critical. By focusing on two marshes adjacent to waterways — Roanoke Marsh, south of Manns Harbor, and Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge — we created a dataset of land loss rates from 1983 to 2016, both within the marsh interior (due to expanding ponds) and on the outer edge of the marsh (coastal retreat). We investigated the hypothesized primary driver behind the interior pond expansion (wind-driven waves in the pond interior) and the coastal edge retreat of the marsh (wind-driven waves within Currituck Sound). The total land area lost over the 34- year study period was 1.49 km2 and 2.32 km2 on Roanoke Marsh and Mackay Island, respectively. The percentage of total land lost due to internal pond expansion was 60% in Roanoke Marsh and 44% in Mackay Island. Internal pond expansion is at least of equal importance to outer coastal retreat for net land loss in these coastal marshes. The local wind has a dominant direction from the north-northwest with more energetic winds during the winter. However, the wind directions and direction of pond expansion do not appear to be correlated. This may be because the winds are bimodal and drive expansion in multiple directions. In addition, there is subsidence in this portion of North Carolina that may be an additional factor contributing to the pond area expansion.


Background Despite a lack of evidence in the literature, several assumptions exist about the safety of thoracentesis in clinical guidelines and practice patterns. We aimed to evaluate specific demographic and clinical factors that have been commonly associated with complications such as iatrogenic pneumothorax, re-expansion pulmonary oedema (REPE) and bleeding. Methods We performed a cohort study of inpatients who underwent thoracenteses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC) from August 2001 to October 2013. Data were collected prospectively including information on volume of fluid removed, procedure side, whether the patient was on positive pressure ventilation, number of needle passes and supine positioning. Iatrogenic pneumothorax, REPE and bleeding were tracked for 24 h after the procedure or until a clinical question was reconciled. Demographic and clinical characteristics were obtained through query of electronic medical records. Results CSMC performed 9320 inpatient thoracenteses on 4618 patients during the study period. There were 57 (0.61%) iatrogenic pneumothoraces, 10 (0.01%) incidents of REPE and 17 (0.18%) bleeding episodes. Iatrogenic pneumothorax was significantly associated with removal of >1500 mL fluid (p<0.0001), unilateral procedures (p=0.001) and more than one needle pass through the skin (p=0.001). For every 1 mL of fluid removed there was a 0.18% increased risk of REPE (95% CI 0.09% to 0.26%). There were no significant associations between bleeding and demographic or clinical variables including International Normalised Ratio, partial thromboplastin time and platelet counts. Conclusions Our series of thoracenteses had a very low complication rate. Current clinical guidelines and practice patterns may not reflect evidence-based best practices.


Java has become the programming language of choice for the first computer programming course in most of the computer science programs in the country. However, Java is a true objected-oriented language and requires instructors to introduce object-oriented constructs (classes, objects and methods) early in the course. This poses a problem for both students (who find the introduction to objects to be very dry and abstract) and instructors (who attempt to enliven this material). In this paper, the authors describe how Alice is used to introduce the essential concepts of object-oriented programming in the beginning of a CS1 Java course.


The thesis examines aid. It has two specific topics within that: the link between aid and domestic tax revenue, and aid allocation. In the chapter on aid and tax, it is shown that there is a negative link between aid in the form of grants and domestic tax revenue, but that this link is only found to be negative in the very earliest years of the sample (1970-1985). In more recent times, aid (grants or loans) have a positive effect on domestic tax revenue. There are two specific contributions within aid allocation. First, the reasons why aid is given are examined, and catalogued using the 4P framework: poverty, policy, population and proximity. Individual donors are examined, which allows a greater degree of clarity. Second, I move beyond examining the total amount of aid given, to study the type of aid given. It is shown that donors do practice policy selectivity at this level of disaggregation.


Background: Optimal control of diabetes mellitus remains elusive, especially in developing countries. A comprehensive and standardised approach, coupled with intensive patient and clinician education, may provide the solution. Methods: Comprehensive datasheets accompanied by patient education from a multidisciplinary team and clinician retraining on diabetes management was introduced into the Edendale Hospital diabetes clinic in 2012. This study compares diabetes control starting October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013 (Y1) to October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014 (Y2). Results: Significant changes (p-values < 0.005) were noted in the following parameters between Y2 and Y1 respectively: * Mean HbA1c% (10.41 ± 2.91 vs. 11.26 ± 2.99). * Mean HbA1c in males (9.46 vs. 10.57) and (10.38 vs. 11.19) for females. * Mean HbA1c for type 1 (11.80 vs.10.77) and type 2 patients (10.91 vs.10.10). * Percentage of patients achieving triglyceride control (64.28 vs. 52.85). * Percentage of patients making lifestyle changes and performing home glucose monitoring. * Increase in female waist circumference (97.29 vs. 85.95 cm). * Increase in BMI in males (29.65 vs. 27.92 kg/m2). Conclusion: This multifaceted approach to diabetes care in a resource-limited clinic significantly improved glycaemic and triglyceride control. Obesity remains a major challenge. This model could serve as a blueprint for other such resource-limited clinics.


This paper studded the effect of symmetry mapping process on the compression parameters of the fractal color image compression by moment features was studded. Feature of moment utilized to reduction the symmetry mapping from 8 to only one. The operation of reduction is achieved by using predictor to symmetry mappings; the predictor will predict specific symmetry mapping according a specific feature of moments to one of eight. Such that eight versions (blocks) are produced for each domain block, so this case needs 8 mappings and it requires more computational time. Our suggestion will directly reduce the encoding time 1:8 times.


The clinical importance of microbiomes to the chronicity of wounds is widely appreciated, yet little is understood about patient-specific processes shaping wound microbiome composition. Here, a two-cohort microbiome-genome wide association study is presented through which patient genomic loci associated with chronic wound microbiome diversity were identified. Further investigation revealed that alternative TLN2 and ZNF521 genotypes explained significant inter-patient variation in relative abundance of two key pathogens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Wound diversity was lowest in Pseudomonas aeruginosa infected wounds, and decreasing wound diversity had a significant negative linear relationship with healing rate. In addition to microbiome characteristics, age, diabetic status, and genetic ancestry all significantly influenced healing. Using structural equation modeling to identify common variance among SNPs, six loci were sufficient to explain 53% of variation in wound microbiome diversity, which was a 10% increase over traditional multiple regression. Focusing on TLN2, genotype at rs8031916 explained expression differences of alternative transcripts that differ in inclusion of important focal adhesion binding domains. Such differences are hypothesized to relate to wound microbiomes and healing through effects on bacterial exploitation of focal adhesions and/or cellular migration. Related, other associated loci were functionally enriched, often with roles in cytoskeletal dynamics. This study, being the first to identify patient genetic determinants for wound microbiomes and healing, implicates genetic variation determining cellular adhesion phenotypes as important drivers of infection type. The identification of predictive biomarkers for chronic wound microbiomes may serve as risk factors and guide treatment by informing patient-specific tendencies of infection.


-- Entertaining and easy-to-read introductions to the life stories of men and women who have helped shape American history -- Attractively illustrated with full-color drawings


The journeys of Rene Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle published in 2 volumes. This is volume-1, as related by his faithful lieutenant, Henri de Tonty; his missionary colleagues, Fathers Zenobius Membre, Louis Hennepin, and Anastasius Douay; his early biographer, Father Christian LeClercq; his trusted subordinate, Henri Joutel; and his brother, Jean Cavelier; together with memoirs, commissions, etc. Edited with an introduction by Isaac Joslin Cox


One of the novel methods for reduction of acrylamide in food is application of plant phenolics in technological process of Latvian plants as lovage contain significant amounts of plant phenolics and other natural antioxidants. The aim of current research was to determine the effect of lovage extracts to the formation of acrylamide in French fries. Variety 'Lenora' potatoes were used. Potatoes were sliced and blanched in hot water (85 ± 2 °C 8 min). After blanching samples were treated with lovage water and ethanol extracts and four samples were obtained: control (without additional treatment); SW – sprayed with water extract, IMW – immersed in water extract, SE sprayed with ethanol extract. After treatment all samples were fried in oil (180 ± 2 °C) for 7 minutes. Total phenolic (TPC), vitamin C content and antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS) were determined for all samples before and after frying. For fried potatoes acrylamide and breaking force with texture analyser were determined. TPC of samples during frying decreased significantly but comparing fried samples the highest TPC in SE sample was determined. The highest DPPH radical scavenging activity was observed in samples treated with water extract but during frying the DPPH activity for all treated samples was lower than to control sample. The most significant changes in ABTS radical scavenging activity were observed and also the highest activity of sample SE was observed. Vitamin C content decreased significantly during frying, the highest vitamin C content in SE sample was determined. The highest maximal breaking force of fried potatoes was detected for sample IMW, but the lowest for sample SE. The lowest acrylamide content was found in sample, which was sprayed with lovage-water extract.


Evening ensemble of golden olive green lightweight wool twill:

A) Short jacket. No collar, center front opening with 4 hook-and-loop closures. Back has section of bloused fabric giving the effect of a faux hood hanging back. Wide bands of decoration on front, yoke, and on faux "hood" of back, in the form of golden vines of gold braid and leaves and flowers of gold and pearl beads. Fully lined in olive silk crepe.
Label at center back inside neckline: "Milgrim".

B) Full length evening dress of matching fabric. Sleeveless, wide straps. Moderate neckline with "bow" effect at front. Just below knot of bow is accent of brown mink. Slight train to back of skirt. Side zipper closure. Fully lined in green silk crepe matching jacket.
Label inside skirt: "Milgrim"

C) Muff of matching fabric. Large trapezoidal shaped muff, the front with two large tiers of mink tails and a large bow with floral pattern in tiny white seed beads accented in gold beads and with scrolling gold embroidery. Zipper compartment on back.

Label inside pocket: "This Article / 10 Year Guarantee" "Berlou / Moth / Proofed"


When information about workers'' abilities is imperfect, past employment histories are important determinants of unemployment duration. This paper studies the effects of employment protection laws on unemployment spells in two countries: Italy and Spain. Italy and Spain''s adoption of fixed-term contracts with lower firing costs in the mid 1980s provides an interesting empirical framework to study the effects of policies affecting firing costs. The evidence presented supports the hypothesis that when firing costs increase, so does the stigma attached to bad employment histories. First, I show that in Italy people, who became unemployed because of termination of the employment contract, have 10 per cent lower probability per year to remain unemployed than fired workers. Second in Spain, workers dismissed from a temporary job have 30 per cent shorter unemployment spells than workers fired from regulator contracts.


Testing concurrent programs remains a difficult task due to the non-deterministic nature of concurrent execution. Many approaches have been proposed to tackle the complexity of uncovering potential concurrency bugs. Static analysis tackles the problem by analyzing a concurrent program looking for situations/patterns that might lead to possible errors during execution. In general, static analysis cannot precisely locate all possible concurrent errors. Dynamic testing examines and controls a program during its execution also looking for situations/patterns that might lead to possible errors during execution. In general, dynamic testing needs to examine all possible execution paths to detect all errors, which is intractable. Motivated by these observation, a new testing technique is developed that uses a collaboration between static analysis and dynamic testing to find the first potential error but using less time and space. In the new collaboration scheme, static analysis and dynamic testing interact iteratively throughout the testing process. Static analysis provides coarse-grained flow-information to guide the dynamic testing through the relevant search space, while dynamic testing collects concrete runtime-information during the guided exploration. The concrete runtime-information provides feedback to the static analysis to refine its analysis, which is then feed forward to provide more precise guidance of the dynamic testing. The new collaborative technique is able to uncover the first concurrency-related bug in a program faster using less storage than the state-of-the-art dynamic testing-tool Java PathFinder. The implementation of the collaborative technique consists of a static-analysis module based on Soot and a dynamic-analysis module based on Java PathFinder.


Abstract Coding standards and good practices are fundamental to a disciplined approach to software projects irrespective of programing languages being employed. Prolog programing can benefit from such an approach, perhaps more than programing in other languages. Despite this, no widely accepted standards and practices seem to have emerged till now. The present paper is a first step toward filling this void: It provides immediate guidelines for code layout, naming conventions, documentation, proper use of Prolog features, program development, debugging, and testing. Presented with each guideline is its rationale and, where sensible options exist, illustrations of the relative pros and cons for each alternative. A coding standard should always be selected on a per-project basis, based on a host of issues pertinent to any given programing project; for this reason the paper goes beyond the mere provision of normative guidelines by discussing key factors and important criteria that should be taken into account when deciding on a full-fledged coding standard for the project.


The radar cross section (RCS) reduction of microstrip patch antennas for low-observable platforms is considered, with emphasis on the application of lossy superstrates. The observed effect of these on antenna parameters is related to expected RCS reduction using results from the literature. The RCS computed by a finite element method/method of moments code is also presented. Other RCS reduction techniques discussed include shorting posts and ferrite substrates.


In recent years, many approximate methods have been developed for analyzing queueing models of complex computer systems. These ad hoc methods usually focus on specific aspects of system operation, and appear to be different from one another, making it difficult to see the underlying principles of model development, to understand the relationship between different models of the same system, or to apply the existing methods to new situations. This book presents the first systematic study of approximation methods in queueing network modeling and of the way these methods are developed.Metamodeling identifies the underlying modeling process and provides tools and techniques for model development that will allow students and researchers to sort through the many different methods, understand them, and apply them to new problems. Using the metamodeling characterization, the book surveys and classifies a large number of approximation methods, catalogs a large number of useful model transformations, characterizes iterative solution procedures and gives theorems for proofs of convergence. This work has led to several other significant results, most notably: an approximation that works well for systems containing semaphores that serialize processes; and the discovery of multiple stable operating points for systems in which there are processes at several priority levels.Contents: Queueing Network Models of Computer Systems; The Structure of the Modeling Process; Behavior Sequence Transformations and Models with Shadow Servers; State Space Transformations; Consistent Solution, Iteration, and Convergence.Subhash Chandra Agrawal is R&D Project Manager with BGS Systems, Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts. This book inaugurates the MIT Press series in Computer Systems (Research Reports and Not es), edited by Herb Schwetman.


We develop efficient techniques for the non-rigid registration of medical images by using representations that adapt to the anatomy found in such images.
Images of anatomical structures typically have uniform intensity interiors and smooth boundaries. We create methods to represent such regions compactly using tetrahedra. Unlike voxel-based representations, tetrahedra can accurately describe the expected smooth surfaces of medical objects. Furthermore, the interior of such objects can be represented using a small number of tetrahedra. Rather than describing a medical object using tens of thousands of voxels, our representations generally contain only a few thousand elements.
Tetrahedra facilitate the creation of efficient non-rigid registration algorithms based on finite element methods (FEM). We create a fast, FEM-based method to non-rigidly register segmented anatomical structures from two subjects. Using our compact tetrahedral representations, this method generally requires less than one minute of processing time on a desktop PC.
We also create a novel method for the non-rigid registration of gray scale images. To facilitate a fast method, we create a tetrahedral representation of a displacement field that automatically adapts to both the anatomy in an image and to the displacement field. The resulting algorithm has a computational cost that is dominated by the number of nodes in the mesh (about 10,000), rather than the number of voxels in an image (nearly 10,000,000). For many non-rigid registration problems, we can find a transformation from one image to another in five minutes. This speed is important as it allows use of the algorithm during surgery.
We apply our algorithms to find correlations between the shape of anatomical structures and the presence of schizophrenia. We show that a study based on our representations outperforms studies based on other representations. We also use the results of our non-rigid registration algorithm as the basis of a segmentation algorithm. That algorithm also outperforms other methods in our tests, producing smoother segmentations and more accurately reproducing manual segmentations. (Copies available exclusively from MIT Libraries, Rm. 14-0551, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Ph. 617-253-5668; Fax 617-253-1690.)


Keeping requirements specifications up-to-date when systems evolve is a manual and expensive task. Software engineers have to go through the whole requirements document and look for the requirements that are affected by a change. Consequently, engineers usually apply changes to the implementation directly and leave requirements unchanged. In this paper, we propose an approach for automatically detecting outdated requirements based on changes in the code. Our approach first identifies the changes in the code that are likely to affect requirements. Then it extracts a set of keywords describing the changes. These keywords are traced to the requirements specification, using an existing automated traceability tool, to identify affected requirements. Automatically identifying outdated requirements reduces the effort and time needed for the maintenance of requirements specifications significantly and thus helps preserve the knowledge contained in them. We evaluated our approach in a case study where we analyzed two consecutive source code versions and were able to detect 12 requirements-related changes out of 14 with a precision of 79%. Then we traced a set of keywords we extracted from these changes to the requirements specification. In comparison to simply tracing changed classes to requirements, we got better results in most cases.


The notion of teacher leadership is implicit in official documentation in the South African education system post 1994, which emphasises a move towards a more shared and participatory approach to the practice of leadership and management in schools. The concept of teacher leadership is embedded in a distributed leadership theoretical framing which emphasises that leadership need not be located only in the position of the principal but can be stretched over a range of people who work at different levels in a school. We report on a study in which the perceptions of teachers' on their understanding and experiences of teacher leadership were explored. The study adopted a survey approach and utilised closed questionnaires to gather data from 1,055 post level-one teachers across a range of schools of diverse contexts in KwaZulu-Natal. We found that while teachers supported the notion of shared leadership and believed they were equipped to lead, their leadership was largely restricted to their classrooms. There was some evidence of teacher leadership amongst teacher colleagues in certain curricular and extra-curricular activities. However, teacher leadership in relation to school-wide and community issues was almost non-existent. We signal two problematics regarding the leadership of school teachers and consider the implication of these for the distribution of leadership, and therefore change, in schools. Keywords : distributed leadership; education leadership; power; school management teams; teacher leadership; teachers


Deep neural networks achieve outstanding results for challenging image classification tasks. However, the design of network topologies is a complex task, and the research community is conducting ongoing efforts to discover top-accuracy topologies, either manually or by employing expensive architecture searches. We propose a unique narrow-space architecture search that focuses on delivering low-cost and rapidly executing networks that respect strict memory and time requirements typical of Internet-of-Things (IoT) near-sensor computing platforms. Our approach provides solutions with classification latencies below 10~ms running on a low-cost device with 1~GB RAM and a peak performance of 5.6~GFLOPS. The narrow-space search of floating-point models improves the accuracy on CIFAR10 of an established IoT model from 70.64% to 74.87% within the same memory constraints. We further improve the accuracy to 82.07% by including 16-bit half types and obtain the highest accuracy of 83.45% by extending the search with model-optimized IEEE 754 reduced types. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical demonstration of more than 3000 trained models that run with reduced precision and push the Pareto optimal front by a wide margin. Within a given memory constraint, accuracy is improved by more than 7% points for half and more than 1% points for the best individual model format.


During the last decade the condition of life has changed in many ways for the pastoral Van Gujjar who have their winter camps in the interior of the forests of the Shiwalik foot hills of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal in northern India. While the Gujjar in most of northern India are a very large and ethnically as well as religiously diversified population, the pastoral Gujjar in this particular area are all Muslims and constitute a rather homogenous, specialised community based on the production of buffalo milk from pastoralism in state forest. Although most other pastoral communities in the Himalayan region have a village base where they practice agriculture for part of the year, this is not so for the Van Gujjar, who live scattered in temporarily erected huts, made from forest materials, in both their winter and summer pastures in the interior of the forests. During summer they migrate to the spruce forests and alpine meadows of Uttaranchal or to the Shimla hills in Himachal Pradesh. I visited the Gujjar of this area for the first time in 1987 and conducted the main part of my fieldwork among them in 1989-1992. What I found in 1987 was a non-literate, not very well known, pastoral people living with their herds at the periphery of local Indian society. Socially and politically marginalised and heavily exploited by both forest officials and middlemen, they appeared to have all odds against them (Gooch 1992). (Less)


The Swedish infrastructure manager Trafikverket is funding research for timetabling optimization tools as part of their overall mission to utilize the existing infrastructure more efficiently. Currently, Trafikverket is modernizing both planning processes and the IT architecture, and will soon be ready to start using optimization tools on a broad scale. Meanwhile, innovative uses of a prototype developed at SICS have shown how a prototype does not necessarily merely serve to pave way for a future, large-scale implementation. This paper shows how computers in railway planning, coupled with OR techniques, relevant data and apt modeling, can help provide a future user with valuable insights even before the full-fledged tool is in place.


Lifelong learning is a recurring theme in this journal. The present issue of Seminar.net has four contributions, covering a range from how elderly use ICT, how teachers and supervisors in higher education experience virtual learning environments, how producers of MOOC's fail to observe quality frameworks, and last how "gamification" affects ideas about teaching and learning. They all bring vital arguments to the table about how digital environments cause changes in our lives, beginning with games for children and helping elderly to adjust to an increasingly digitized lifeworld in the other end of the life cycle. First, most of the technological innovations we are used to by now, was invented a long time ago – by persons who now are considered elderly. The ideologies supported around notions like "the digital natives" are exactly that, - ideologies. But even skilled and experienced elderly – and teachers in higher education are in dire need of keeping up with swift changes in technology and its use. I am very pleased that the articles we present here have a critical stance towards ideologies and are able to scrutinise the conditions for a democratic and factual base for education.The opening article in this issue, "Older active users of ICTs make sense of their engagement"by Magdalena Kania-Lundholm and Sandra Torres, who work at Uppsala University, Sweden enlightens us about how elderly people use digital media. Instead of seeing the elderly as a group of "digital immigrants", this article focuses on elderly people who are active and skilled users of ICT. They are eager to share their skills and experiences and contribute to the wellbeing of other, not so eager users. The article contributes to the notion of "the digital spectrum" and furthers the very important discussion on the inequalities that using ICT continues to bring about.The second article is written by Chris O'Toole, of Lancaster University, and has the title "Networked e-Learning: The changing facilitator - learner relationship, a facilitators' perspective; A Phenomenological Investigation". The phenomenological case study deals with how the relationship between facilitator and student is changing. Networked e-Learning is the context and the research is undertaken at an Irish higher education institution.The author's role as a highly experienced facilitator provides particular and specific insight into the guiding facilitator's experiences during a time of institutional transition to Networked e-Learning.Gamification is a topic that has been declared as "up and coming" for a number of years. Marc Fabian Buck, of the Nord University, Norway, presents the article "Gamification of learning and teaching in schools – a critical stance". He states that the aim of Gamification is to change learning for the better by making use of the motivating effects of (digital) games and elements typical of games, like experience points, levelling, quests, rankings etc. His most contemporary example is of the "Summer of '16" and the apparent success of "Pokemon go". He argues that gamified learning and teaching suspends the fundamental, subversive, and critical moments only schools can offer.The last article is provided by Ulf Olsson, of Stockholm University, Sweden: "Teachers' Awareness of Guidelines for Quality Assurance when developing MOOCs". His study focuses on higher education teachers' awareness of quality issues in relation to Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). Olsson conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 teachers at six Swedish HEIs while they developed open courses (MOOCs). The overall findings show that the teachers were not part of any transparent quality assurance system. Subsequently, he raises the question of the adequacy of a quality system for innovative activities.


Project portfolio approaches consider various concurrent project interdependencies but typically neglect longitudinal interdependencies. These are important for exploratory projects, which create strategic options. If these options are not exploited in successive projects they become lost opportunities. This study analyzes 138 firms regarding their extent to consciously manage project sequences. We differentiate between proactive lineage (planning a roadmap of future projects) and reactive lineage (using learnings from past projects). Results show that both practices are positively and independently related to portfolio success. We derive suggestions for future research and discuss which theoretical foundations could be used to better understand the impact of lineage management.