The objective of this research is to determine the effect of fast food advertisement on Malay children's preferences, aged between 4 to 6 years old. Previous literature suggested that children could be influenced by fast food advertisement. Therefore, we would like to investigate if Malay Children could also been influenced by Fast Food Advertisement. Two methods have been conducted in this research. The interview has been conducted to identify Fast Food eating behavior and awareness of among the children in terms of logo and symbol of the Fast Food Company. Experiment has been conducted to determine the effects of Fast Food advertisement over Malay Children's preference. Eighty six (86) respondents have participated in this study. The finding has shown that the advertisement of Fast Food is the key to influence young children in their preference and most of them are aware about the logo of Fast Food easily despite of their limited cognitive skill.


This dissertation presents a novel technique for high-bandwidth communication called STARI, Self-Timed At Receiver's Input. STARI is a hybrid of synchronous and self-timed design techniques. STARI is provably correct, well suited for CMOS implementation, and offers a practical, cost effective approach to interprocessor communication in a multiprocessor. To demonstrate STARI, a CMOS chip has been implemented and is described here.
STARI is motivated by limitations of purely synchronous or purely self-timed hardware. This dissertation begins with an asymptotic analysis of the performance of self-timed pipelines. It is shown that self-timed pipelines can achieve linear speedup under an assumption of uniform interconnect delays. However, practical designs have non-uniform interconnect because of the hierarchy of packaging. In these designs, the performance is limited by the latency of the slowest interconnect.
To exploit the high-bandwidth offered by STARI in a multiprocessor, each processor node must have a memory system that offers high-bandwidth data transfers to the STARI interface and low latency access to the local CPU. Dual-port memories allow both of these goals to be met. Consistency problems that arise when using dual-port memories are identified and two software solutions are presented and analyzed.


A plate of Zircaloy-2 received in the β-quenched condition was heat treated to vary systematically the size of the second phase particles (SPPs) and the content of alloying elements retained in solid solution. Scanning electron microscopy and thermoelectric power measurements were used to quantify these microstructural parameters. Specimens were exposed for different periods of time in autoclaves at 415°C and at 500°C in steam, and corrosion was assessed according to the gain in weight. Effects of the microstructure were not great but it was observed that materials having larger SPPs were somewhat more resistant to oxidation in the 415°C tests whereas those with smaller SPPs performed better at 500°C. Influences on corrosion rates that could be attributed to alloy elements in solid solution were small or perhaps nonexistent. The chemistry of oxide layers formed at 500°C has been examined by etching away the zirconium metal and then depth-profiling using sputtered neutral mass spectroscopy. There was some difference in surface topography between the materials with smaller and larger SPPs. The compositional profiles showed that the oxide was substantially under-stoichiometric below the surface in all cases, with O/Zr ratios reaching unity or even less, and extending to depths between 150 nm and 400 nm from the metal oxide interface. These results are discussed in terms of their implication for existence of a diffusional barrier layer and for the stress states that can be expected within the oxide.


The Escherichia coli LamB protein is located in the outer membrane. It is both a component of the maltose and maltodextrin transport system, and the receptor for phages lambda and K10. It is a trimer composed of three identical polypeptide chains, each containing 421 residues. Six independent mutants have been isolated, in which the LamB protein is altered in its interaction with one or more monoclonal antibodies specific for regions of the protein that are exposed at the cell surface. Some of the mutations also altered the binding site for phage lambda. All of the mutations were clustered in the same region of the lamB gene, corresponding to residues 333‐394 in the polypeptide. This and previous results strongly suggest that a rather large segment of the LamB polypeptide, extending from residue 315 to 401, is exposed at the outer face of the outer membrane. This segment would bear the epitopes for the four available anti‐LamB monoclonal antibodies that react with the cell surface, and part of the binding site for phage lambda.


The current understanding of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation within biomass burning (BB) plumes is limited by the incomplete identification and quantification of the non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs) emitted from such fires. Gaseous organic compounds were collected on sorbent cartridges during laboratory burns as part of the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME-4) and analyzed by two-dimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC–ToFMS). The sensitivity and resolving power of GC × GC–ToFMS allowed the acquisition of the most extensive data set of BB NMOCs to date, with measurements for 708 positively or tentatively identified compounds. Estimated emission factors (EFs) are presented for these compounds for burns of six different vegetative fuels, including conifer branches, grasses, agricultural residue, and peat. The number of compounds meeting the peak selection criteria ranged from 129 to 474 among individual burns, and included extensive isomer groups. For example, 38 monoterpene isomers were observed in the emissions from coniferous fuels; the isomeric ratios were found to be consistent with those reported in relevant essential oils, suggesting that the composition of such oils may be very useful when predicting fuel-dependent terpene emissions. Further, 11 sesquiterpenes were detected and tentatively identified, providing the first reported speciation of sesquiterpenes in gas-phase BB emissions. The calculated EFs for all measured compounds are compared and discussed in the context of potential SOA formation.


Based on simple diffusion theory and a time- dependent factor (α) for the chloride diffusion coefficient, chloride penetration through concrete was numerically modelled and the service life was predicted. This was done for two reference mixes (normal vibrated concrete, NVC and self- compacting concrete, SCC) and three other types of sustainable SCC incorporating high levels of cement replacement. All the mixes have a design compressive strength of 50-60 MPa at 28 days with different types of binders. In this study, the non-steady state chloride diffusion coefficients (Dnss) and the surface chloride concentrations (CS), which are mainly used for the numerical modelling of the chloride penetration phenomena, were calculated according to the recommendations of Nordtest methods NT BUILD 443 with the aid of using a developed excel solver tool. The numerical results indicated that the NVC at the same design strength level of the reference SCC showed lower service life and higher depth of cover design. For the sustainable SCC, the results showed that the incorporation of relatively high partial replacement of fly ash (FA) Class F and the combined high partial replacement of FA with the silica fume (SF) has little effect on the penetration parameter (Kcr) relative to that of reference-SCC. However, the incorporating of limestone powder (LP) at the same cement replacement ratio as other admixtures increased the Kcr, reduced the service life and increased the depth of cover design even when compared to the NVC at the same strength level.


This social and environmental assessment for the Senegal Dakar Diamniadio Road Project, which constructs a main communication axle between Dakar and Diamniadio, describes expected social and environmental risks associated with project activities. Negative impacts connected to the road maintenance subproject include involuntary resettlement, enormous quantities of waste generated, environmental pollution fro solid and liquid waste, deforestation, traffic disruption and traffic accidents, noise and vibrations from equipment operation, air pollution from dust and gaseous emissions, accidental leakage of hydrocarbons and other hazardous materials, unauthorized entry to the site, erosion and flooding, increased incidence of HIV/AIDS, and sedimentation and soil compaction. Added negative impacts associated with the water supply subcomponent are increased incidence of water-borne diseases; contamination of water sources, including underground water pollution and soil pollution; and increased water use and conflicts over water distributions. The electrification subcomponent may impose risks from excavation, the risk of electrocution, alteration of the countryside from electric lines, increased need for energy consumption, and an increased presence of insects in dwellings. Attendant to the school facilities subcomponent are impacts to public health from an increased need for toilet facilities. Biomedical wastes from the health center construction subcomponent pose risks of contamination and disease spread. Other major potential impacts recorded in the report pertain to the subcomponents for sanitation and business facilities.


Emerging across many disciplines are questions about algorithmic ethics – about the values embedded in artificial intelligence and big data analytics that increasingly replace human decisionmaking. Many are concerned that an algorithmic society is too opaque to be accountable for its behavior. An individual can be denied parole or denied credit, fired or not hired for reasons she will never know and cannot be articulated. In the public sector, the opacity of algorithmic decisionmaking is particularly problematic both because governmental decisions may be especially weighty, and because democratically-elected governments bear special duties of accountability. Investigative journalists have recently exposed the dangerous impenetrability of algorithmic processes used in the criminal justice field – dangerous because the predictions they make can be both erroneous and unfair, with none the wiser.
We set out to test the limits of transparency around governmental deployment of big data analytics, focusing our investigation on local and state government use of predictive algorithms. It is here, in local government, that algorithmically-determined decisions can be most directly impactful. And it is here that stretched agencies are most likely to hand over the analytics to private vendors, which may make design and policy choices out of the sight of the client agencies, the public, or both. To see just how impenetrable the resulting "black box" algorithms are, we filed 42 open records requests in 23 states seeking essential information about six predictive algorithm programs. We selected the most widely-used and well-reviewed programs, including those developed by for-profit companies, nonprofits, and academic/private sector partnerships. The goal was to see if, using the open records process, we could discover what policy judgments these algorithms embody, and could evaluate their utility and fairness.
To do this work, we identified what meaningful "algorithmic transparency" entails. We found that in almost every case, it wasn't provided. Over-broad assertions of trade secrecy were a problem. But contrary to conventional wisdom, they were not the biggest obstacle. It will not usually be necessary to release the code used to execute predictive models in order to dramatically increase transparency. We conclude that publicly-deployed algorithms will be sufficiently transparent only if (1) governments generate appropriate records about their objectives for algorithmic processes and subsequent implementation and validation; (2) government contractors reveal to the public agency sufficient information about how they developed the algorithm; and (3) public agencies and courts treat trade secrecy claims as the limited exception to public disclosure that the law requires. Although it would require a multi-stakeholder process to develop best practices for record generation and disclosure, we present what we believe are eight principal types of information that such records should ideally contain.


This study aimed to synthesize an oligo(azomethine-ether) with benzothiazole moiety in organic medium by means of chemical oxidative polycondensation (OP). Optical properties were examined by photoluminescence (PL) and UV-Vis measurements both in solutions and solid film involved a poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix. Oligomer film in the PMMA matrix emitted a fine green light with a fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of 3.30%. Spectral and thermal observations showed a high rate of C--O--C coupling (cross-linking) for the oligomer. SEC results indicated low molecular weight (\sim3200--4650 g mol^{-1}) and the oligomer was soluble in organic solvents with high polarity. Electrochemical behavior was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), morphological properties by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermal characteristics by TG-DTA and DSC techniques.


Fashion and dress have the power to tell deeply human stories about who we are and who we aspire to be, and their intrinsically social natures can facilitate our search for self-expression and belonging. In tandem with larger global paradigms of economic growth and consumer capitalism, however, what we wear has become increasingly commoditized and destructive to both people and the planet. Using Andrew Curry and Anthony Hodgson's hree Horizons model as
an analytical framework, this project aims to understand how change might happen in the garment industry. It begins by uncovering the deeper systems structures and narratives that deine the status quo. Next, light is shed on the many proposed visions for what the industry could become. Finally, this project imagines potential pathways for pragmatically bridging the gap between the current paradigm and a more hopeful and sustainable future for the garment industry.


The key insight of the life cycle model in economics is that a household's consumption at any given time is determined not so much by its current income as by the total income available to the household over its lifetime. A replacement rate can be a useful tool in approximating the life cycle model's predictions for how households prepare for retirement. The Social Security Administration's Office of the Chief Actuary (SSA OACT) publishes two different calculations of retirement income replacement rates, each of which finds that Social Security benefits replace about 40% of a typical retiree's pre-retirement earnings. Some interpret these figures as indicating that Social Security benefits are insufficiently generous and that U.S. households' total retirement saving is inadequate. But SSA OACT's two methods for calculating replacement rates both violate the life cycle model in a meaningful way. SSA OACT's career-average earnings replacement rates, in which lifetime earnings are first indexed upward by the rate of economywide wage growth, exaggerates by roughly one-fifth the real value of earnings available to a household for consumption over its lifetime. This overstatement lowers a household's measured ability to replace their pre-retirement earnings. SSA OACT's final-earnings replacement rates effectively compare Social Security retirement benefits to pre-retirement earnings only in the years in which the individual worked, ignoring the life cycle model's prediction that household consumption is a function of long-term average earnings, including years in which a household member was not employed. A replacement-rate calculation more consistent with the life cycle model would compare retirement income to an average of real earnings calculated over a significant number of years. Such an approach would find substantially higher replacement rates for the typical retiree. It is important both for Social Security policy and the analysis of overall retirement savings adequacy that replacement-rate calculations build on the insights of the life cycle model that guides most economic analysis of retirement saving.


The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is responsible for planning, operating, and maintaining a highway network consisting of over 18,500 lane-miles of highway. Planning and building highways is, by nature, a long-range enterprise. It requires making many assumptions about future travel demand as well as estimating future fuel tax revenue. In recent years the growing uncertainty about oil prices and availability has made long-range transportation planning even more challenging. Rather than relying on trend extrapolation, this study uses market mechanisms to shed light on key long-range transportation planning assumptions. Although WSDOT is pursuing a variety of alternative fuels and energy sources including Electric Vehicles (EV), biofuels, propane, natural gas, etc. and their respective infrastructures, this study focuses primarily on natural gas. In particular, this study will help WSDOT assess the likelihood natural gas will substitute for petroleum fuels and estimate the impacts changes in fuel prices will have on travel demand, fuel consumption, Greenhouse Gas emissions, and fuel tax revenues. The results of the modeling show that the potential impacts of Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) have the potential to have effects on vehicle miles traveled (VMT), emissions, and fuel tax revenue. The effects of these vehicles are muted by the current lack of natural gas vehicles in the fleet. The usage of natural gas vehicles is limited to fleet vehicles and vehicles with high mileage usage. Challenges with widespread integration currently include the increased upfront capital costs associated with vehicles with natural gas, decreased power for heavy vehicles, and range anxiety in locations without developed natural gas fueling infrastructure. Currently the NGV market in the state of Washington is hampered by these factors. The modeling and analysis provided in the document can be used to analyze changing conditions in the NGV market and the effects on key transportation metrics.


Ultrasmall molybdenum sulfide nanoparticles with diameters of 1.47 ± 0.16 nm were fabricated from bulk MoS2 by a combination of ultrasonication and centrifugation. The nanoparticles were then assembled on an Au surface to form a film with high electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). A Tafel slope of 69 mV per decade was measured for this film and the onset potential was estimated to be −0.09 V. The small loading (1.03 μg cm−2) and the high current density (0.92 mA cm−2 at η = 0.15 V) demonstrated extremely high catalytic efficiency. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic results revealed that the assembled nanoparticle film was sulfur enriched with abundant S edges and a structural rearrangement of the S rich particles might occur during the self-assembly process, resulting in significantly enhanced electrocatalytic activity for HER. Electrochemical impedance measurements suggested that the assembling process optimized the conductivity of the nanoparticle film, which contributed to the enhanced HER catalytic activity. Our research has provided a new way to synthesize active molybdenum sulfide nanoparticles for HER and a new approach to achieve enrichment of S edges on molybdenum sulfide, which might have potential use not only for electrocatalytic HER, but also for photoelectrocatalytic HER and plasmon-enhanced water splitting.


This paper describes a new drop cable, a new cluster-type drop cable for residential premises, a new indoor cable, a new termination cable and a new riser cable for fiber distribution in residential and business premises. The structural design of these cables is investigated and the optimum structures for cost reduction of cable and installation are obtained. Based on the results, these cables are manufactured and their transmission and mechanical characteristics are confirmed to be stable.


Concrete is most extensively used and most popular construction material used in the world. The demand for materials in the construction industry has consecutively increased which has resulted in the reduction of sources and an increase in price. On the other hand a high volume of marble production has generated a considerable amount of waste material; almost 40% of marble stone mined and handled usually rejects at the mine sites or at processing units in the range of 250-400 tones. Leaving the waste materials to the environment can cause environmental problem. So it has become necessary to reuse these wastes particularly in the manufacture of concrete for construction purposes. The objective of the present experimental study is to demonstrate the possibility of using marble aggregates as partial replacement of natural aggregates along with waste marble slurry powder as partial replacement of cement. This experimental study was carried out as a mixture of cement and gravel substitution. The concrete formulations were produced with constant water/cement ratio. The results obtained show that the strength characteristics of concrete specimens produced using marble waste aggregate along with marble waste slurry powder were found to confirm with concrete production standards and substitution of natural aggregates by waste marble aggregates up to 10% along with substitution of cement by marble waste slurry powder up to 10% of any formulation is beneficial for concrete.


This paper assesses the impacts of R&D, export and the presence of foreign direct investment (FDI) on Chinese manufacturing productivity based on a panel data on more than 10,000 indigenous and foreign-invested firms for the period 1998-2001. Indigenous Chinese firms are found to significantly benefit from their own export activities and R&D spillovers. Given some specific characteristics of China as a transition economy, OECD invested firms produce strong negative intra-industry spillovers on indigenous Chinese firms across regions but strong positive intra- and inter-industry spillovers within the same regions. Overseas Chinese firms from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan exert positive intra-industry productivity spillovers only. The robustness analysis suggests that different measures of FDI could lead to different results. Our findings have important implications for both business managers and policy makers.


In this study, a two‐stage algorithm is developed for the cutting sequencing problem in a modular manufacturing system consisting of four basic workstations. Since the flexibility of the system is dependent upon the cutting stage of raw materials, the study focuses particularly on this workstation. In the first stage of the algorithm, an integer linear programming model is used to determine the number of hardboards that will be cut. The model is tested with two different objective functions. In the second stage, a heuristic which takes into account the due date of the products is developed to obtain the real‐time sequencing of these cutting patterns on the shop floor. The algorithm is further implemented in a furniture manufacturer that operates on a make‐to‐order basis. The results of the existing and proposed system are compared, and the proposed algorithm is found to provide a useful tool in such a real‐life planning problem.


Numerical modelling is nowadays an important tool for predicting river flows and sediment transport. Two dimensional (2D) models give more detailed information than the often used one dimensional (1D) models, and 2D models have the advantage over three dimensional (3D) models that the simulation times are reduced, and therefore could be more attractive to use in many applied cases, where 3D flow effects are not so important. When using numerical models in predicting sediment transport, the non-uniformity of the bed material has to be considered, especially in natural environments, where it is very likely to have different particle sizes. Sediment transport is highly dependent on the grain size distribution of the sediment mixture of the river bed. The main goal for this thesis was to see if the 2D model CCHE2D could assess accurately the sediment transport in a case with non-uniform material. A physical model study carried out by S. Lanzoni in 2000 was selected for this purpose. In the laboratory, a straight flume with a bimodal sediment mixture was used. Experiments on sediment transport were conducted in the flume, where bed load was the dominating transport mode, alternate bars developed during the experiment and equilibrium conditions were reached. The data from the physical model was the input for the numerical model used in this thesis. CCHE2D was capable of replicating the bed load transport rate in the flume, with only a 1.5 % difference between the measured average value and the simulated value. From the numerical modelling study, it was concluded that the modified Ackers and White formula for calculating sediment transport capacity gave the best results compared to the other available formulae in CCHE2D. This formula includes the hiding and exposure effects, which are important for a sediment mixture like the one used in the studied case. During the study, the main parameters that influenced the sediment transport process were identified. The numerical simulations proved to be very sensitive to the roughness height, the adaptation length and the mixing layer thickness. The study showed that the bed load transport rate calculation is also strongly dependent on the boundary conditions. Uncertainties on parameters and boundary conditions were solved by calibration and sensitivity analyses. The CCHE2D model could be applicable to cases where depth averaged values are accurate enough for the prediction of the physical processes that are being modeled, especially, in cases where helical flows have minor influence on the results. The time required for the simulations and the computational resources were adequate for carrying out this study. However, an applied case with a more complex geometry would require much more computational resources. Additionally, assessment of the parameters requires measured data and calibration.


The academic study of music and sound is facing an array of political and intellectual challenges, prompting a pointed moment of critical self-reflection, what Stuart Hall might call a break—a conjuncture in which "old lines of thought are disrupted, older constellations displaced, and elements, old and new, are regrouped around a different set of premises and themes" (1980, 57). Chief among contemporary challenges is a chorus of increasingly urgent calls to reveal and contest structures of power and inequality, to theorize potent, sincere, and comprehensive paradigms of diversity and inclusion (or to move beyond diversity and inclusion altogether), and to challenge ideologies that shape what are recognized as acceptable objects, subjects, subjectivities, discourses, and methods in scholarship on music and sound. Beyond debates over the contents of Western canons, or the inclusion of "non-canonical" musics and musicians to the array of suitable objects of study, these challenges demand an interrogation of the core values, political investments, and material ramifications at the heart of music scholarship. This special issue, Sounding the Break: Music Studies and the Political, embraces this moment of institutional and intellectual reflexivity, endeavoring to contribute to an interdisciplinary critical examination of formations of the political embedded within musical thinking in the academy.
The issue begins with three articles that aim directly at political structures within institutional contexts, followed by two empirical studies that point toward new ways of engaging with sonic materials outside more conventional academic frameworks. The first section features Tamara Levitz's "The Musicological Elite" while the second features William Cheng's "Black Noise, White Ears: Resilience, Rap, and the Killing of Jordan Davis." A third section comprises a transdisciplinary collection of writings on voice, gender, and race inspired by readings of Licia Fiol-Matta's (2017) The Great Woman Singer. A stimulating set of book reviews edited by Velia Ivanova adjourns the proceedings.
Tamara Levitz's opening article, emphasizing that "musicologists need to know which actions were undertaken, and on what material basis, in building their elite, white, exclusionary, patriarchal profession before they can undo them" (43), offers an incisive archival examination of the early institutional history of US musicology. Levitz shows how contestations over musicological objects of study and professional norms have been conditioned by geopolitical relations, competition with related subdisciplines, and dependence on wealthy patrons, granting institutions, and personal capital. Expressing wariness about a contemporary tendency to "confuse decolonization with liberal critique" (47), Levitz gestures toward a more radical restructuring of scholarly inquiry and a more fundamental rethinking of the ontological foundations of the university itself.
In her article, "Power and Equity in the Academy: Change from Within," music theorist Ellie M. Hisama focuses on more contemporary concerns. Reflecting on the precarity of her early years as a graduate student and junior scholar, Hisama outlines how, as a woman and person of color working on gender and music, she required an eclectic skillset to navigate power in the academy, especially in a subfield that has exhibited a "sustained resistance to considering issues of gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, and other identifications in scholarship and professional development" (83). Outlining both early-career responses to these challenges and more recent projects as a senior scholar, Hisama's article provides guidance to junior scholars "who hope to change the balance of power and equity in academic life from within" (90).
Lucie Vagnerova and Andres Garcia Molina interrogate the intersections of labor, curricula, pedagogy, and institutional power in the next article, "Academic Labor and Music Curricula." They emphasize the significance of contingent faculty, social movements, and students themselves for moving beyond tokenistic models of "diversity" and "inclusion" toward a decolonizing project that "question[s] the origins of value systems that largely originate in and pertain to white European and North American culture, values, gaze, and listening" (106). Such a project must apply across all scholarly disciplines, they argue, not only fields based in the Western canon like historical musicology or music theory, but also ethnomusicology, whose inescapable entanglements with colonialism, evolutionary frameworks, and its own exclusionary logics of canonization are often overlooked or minimized.
Moving outside the academy, William Cheng's "Black Noise, White Ears: Resilience, Rap, and the Killing of Jordan Davis" presents a chilling account of "white misimaginations of black skin, black ears, and black voices" (119) and the violence they engender. Cheng exposes how the unimpeachably valuable discourse of black resilience is troubled by a lamentable corollary: the imaginary capacity of black bodies and communities to endure additional pain. A related "formidability bias" fuels further fantasies of black bodies as unduly threatening, sonically excessive, and aurally deficient, establishing a fine line between the respectable sound of the resilient black voice and the menacing unruliness of disrespectable black noise. In the murder of Jordan Davis, the perceived noisiness of rap music and the fantasy of black menace in the ears and eyes of gun-wielding software developer Michael Dunn crystallized into "the self-defense justification of only choice—kill" (116).
To engage issues of power, diversity, and inequality, Ingrid Monson argues for engaging varied social science paradigms and philosophical resources in her article, "In Praise of Eclecticism: Relational Thinking and Theoretical Assemblage." Deploying an insightful articulation of the notion of relationality, Monson draws innovative connections between a constellation of theoretical frameworks from the last thirty-five years. Monson also shows the value of allowing a project's historical or ethnographic materials to lead the way toward the most effective assemblage of theoretical ideas, rather than merely applying preformulated concepts to particular materials. For Monson, the musical work and culture of Malian balafonist Neba Solo leads to a unique articulation of anthropological assemblage theory of morality and ethics that has profound implications for music, sound, and the political.
The next section centers on Licia Fiol-Matta's (2017) book The Great Woman Singer and includes responses by Jack Halberstam, Fred Moten, Arnaldo M. Cruz-Malave, Alexandra T. Vazquez, Gayatri Gopinath, and Fiol-Matta herself. The book, whose introduction is reprinted here, offers critical biographies of four Puerto Rican women singers. All of them faced gendered genre expectations, changing music industry practices, and a web of political entanglements ranging from Cold War threats of nuclear devastation to contestations over Puerto Rican cultural nationalism. And all of them, in their own ways, "refused the readily legible" (Moten, 229). Challenging the gendered tendency to conceive of singers as empty, unthinking vessels—as "placeholders for someone else's genius" (Fiol-Matta, 210)—Fiol-Matta explores the intellectual dimension of these women's voices, what she calls the "thinking voice." In doing so, Fiol-Matta "rewrites the history of genius that has made grand detours around female figures and rendered them as mouthpieces for a male composer" (Halberstam, 227). A crucial concept is Fiol-Matta's figure of "the nothing," a "generative nothingness" (Fiol-Matta, 247) that provided these women with "a queer strategy of fully inhabiting the place of lack, of oblivion, to which one is consigned within a misogynist and homophobic logic" (Gopinath, 244–45). Moten, noting the incoherence of a "queer mother" (230) within the normative discourse of nationhood, speculates: "What if the first move of decolonization is to accept this monstrosity, this disfiguration?" (231).
Current Musicology presents these pieces not to suggest specific solutions or political programs but to open up and deepen the pressing questions that face the study of music and sound—questions whose importance and urgency will only grow. We hope that these works contribute to a "break" that may, in Stuart Hall's words, "significantly transform the nature of the questions asked, the forms in which they are proposed, and the manner in which they can be adequately answered," a shift in perspective dependent not only on "internal intellectual labour, but the manner in which real historical developments and transformations are appropriated in thought" (1980, 57; emphasis added).
In addition to the wonderful authors whose words fill these pages, this issue would have been impossible without the exemplary work of the entire editorial board and advisory team. Special thanks are due to Velia Ivanova for her work as reviews editor, as well as the team of Associate Editors that worked particularly hard in bringing this publication to fruition: Jesse Chevan, Laina Dawes, Kyle DeCoste, Jane Forner, Julia Hamilton, and Ian Sewell.

References
Fiol-Matta, Licia. 2017. The Great Woman Singer: Gender and Voice in Puerto Rican Music. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Hall, Stuart. 1980. "Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms." Media, Culture and Society 2 (1): 57–72.


Cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix is mediated by elaborate networks of multiprotein complexes consisting of adhesion receptors, cytoskeletal components, signaling molecules, and diverse adaptor proteins. To explore how specific molecular pathways function in the assembly of focal adhesions (FAs), we performed a high-throughput, high-resolution, microscopy-based screen. We used small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to target human kinases, phosphatases, and migration- and adhesion-related genes. Multiparametric image analysis of control and of siRNA-treated cells revealed major correlations between distinct morphological FA features. Clustering analysis identified different gene families whose perturbation induced similar effects, some of which uncoupled the interfeature correlations. Based on these findings, we propose a model for the molecular hierarchy of FA formation, and tested its validity by dynamic analysis of FA formation and turnover. This study provides a comprehensive information resource on the molecular regulation of multiple cell adhesion features, and sheds light on signaling mechanisms regulating the formation of integrin adhesions.


Discussions about energy policy and issues focus on environmental impact of energy production and the generation of waste. When dealing specifically with nuclear energy, one of the major concerns is the solution to the 'waste problem'. Since there is no repository in the U.S. for the isolation of high-level radioactive waste generated by nuclear power plants, questions and criticism arise concerning this issue. Education is the key to providing information about this issue to help develop a more technologically literate society. Several educational programs and approaches will be discussed including: Penn State University's programs for students and teachers, The U.S. Department of Energy curriculum materials - 'Science, Society and America's Nuclear Waste', the 'International Workshop on Education in the field of Radioactive Waste Management - at the crossroad of energy, science and environment', and the American Nuclear Science Teacher's Association.


Discontinuation of Renine Angiotensine Aldosterone Blockade System did not reduced Post Coronary Surgery Renal Failure
Objective: To evaluate if preoperative discontinuation reninangiotensin- aldosterone blockade system (RAABS) reduces postoperative acute renal failure incidence in patients undergoing on or off pump coronary artery bypass grafting.
Design: Prospective, double blind, randomized study.
Setting: Single center study made in a tertiary cardiovascular care facility.
Participants: Patients with at least one month of renin-angiotensinaldosterone blockade system treatment, scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery were included. Patients with cardiogenic shock, acute or end stage chronic renal disease, acute coronary syndrome, hypertension development due to treatment suspension, acute heart failure or increased functional class of chronic heart failure within last 30 days were excluded.
Interventions: Patients were randomized in two groups: a) 72 hours RAABS suspension and b) RAABS administration until surgery. Measurements and main results: post-operative acute renal failure was assumed by RIFLE criteria: whether as an increase of 0.5 mg/ dl and/or decrease of creatinine clearance of 75% and/or triplicated the serum creatinine value 48 hours after surgery. 118 patients were included, 83 male. Overall incidence of end point was 13.3%. The incidence was 6.8 vs. 14.3% p=0.38 (0.524 IC 95% 0.15 to 1.83) between discontinuation and continuation respectively.
Conclusion: Discontinuation of RAABS system before coronary surgery did not reduce the incidence of post-operative acute renal failure.


Responses to monetary reward in humans have been assessed in a number of recent functional imaging studies, and it is clear that the neuronal substrates of financial reinforcement overlap extensively with regions responding to primary reinforcers, such as food. Money has the practical advantage of being an objectively quantifiable reinforcer. In this study, we exploit this advantage using a parametric functional magnetic resonance imaging design to look at the patterns of responding to systematically varying reward values. Twelve healthy volunteers were scanned during performance of a rewarded target detection task, in which the reward value varied between task blocks. We observed three distinct patterns of responding in different regions. Amygdala, striatum, and dopaminergic midbrain responded to the presence of rewards, regardless of value. In contrast, premotor cortex showed a linear increase in response with increasing reward value. Finally, medial and lateral foci of orbitofrontal cortex responded nonlinearly, such that response was enhanced for the lowest and highest reward values relative to the midrange. These results suggest functional distinction in response patterns within a distributed reward system.


As no one has yet traced the historical derivation of the morphology of Micmac this study will attempt to do so but it does not claim to be a complete and comprehensive study of Micmac historical morphology. This thesis will study Micmac morphology (both nominal and verbal) with regard to its comparison with Proto-Algonkian with an aim to discover how much of the morphology Micmac has retained and how much innovation there has been. Data from other Eastern Algonkian languages such as Abenaki, Maliseet and Delaware will be studied to help give insight as to whether the innovations evident in Micmac are exclusive to Micmac or if they are more widespread. The presentation of the Eastern data does not entail taking a position on the controversy regarding Eastern Algonkian as a genetic subgroup. -- The goal of this thesis is to see how Micmac relates to other Algonkian languages and to see what light it can shed on some of the morphological problems evident in Algonkian. -- Chapter One will present a general introduction to the thesis. The main verbal morphology will be dealt with in Chapters Two-Four. Chapter Two will deal with the Animate Intransitive (AI) and the Inanimate Intransitive (II), Chapter Three will deal with the Transitive Inanimate (Tl) and the pseudo-Transitive Inanimate (psTI) and Chapter Four will deal with the Transitive Animate (TA). Within each of these verbal morphology chapters there will be a general discussion of the verbal types as well as any peculiarities of the type, followed by a more specific discussion of verbal tenses and modes with representative paradigms of each. The Proto-Algonkian forms will be given where they are known so that morphological comparisons can be made between Micmac and Proto-Algonkian. Data from other Algonkian languages (especially Eastern) will be presented where it is morphologically relevant to the discussion. -- Chapter Five will also deal with verbal morphology but with one specific formation - the negative. The Micmac forms of the independent indicative present will be examined and possible derivations from Proto-Algonkian noted. Comparisons will be made with other Eastern Algonkian languages. -- Chapter Six will deal with nominal morphology, special regard being given to possession. The nominal morphology of possession will also be compared with the verbal morphology of the subordinative mode to display the similarities which exist between these formations. -- The thesis aims to draw some major conclusions regarding the historical morphology of Micmac. On the surface Micmac appears to be very divergant when compared with the traditional Proto-Algonkian reconstructions of Leopard Bloomfield which were based solely on four of the Central languages -Fox, Cree, Menominee and Ojibwa. When a more detailed study of Micmac's phonological development from Proto-Algonkian is carried out it can be seen that this is where Micmac has a radical evolution as there are cluster reductions, vowel contractions, etc.. Consequently, even though the phonological evolution has been somewhat radical, Micmac seems fairly conservative with regard to its historical morphology. Micmac, in fact, retains much of the morphology of Proto-Algonkian.


This thesis seeks to develop new methods to study the glycosylation of cell surfaces, with a particular interest in apoptosis. Existing methods in glyco- biology include mass spectrometry and glycan identification by lectin bind- ing. The use of new carbohydrate binding proteins (CBP) and microfluidic techniques will improve the field of glycobiology and its relevance in the area of apoptosis.
A method using the Lab in a Trench (LiaT) platform was developed to allow sequential labelling of cell surface glycans using lectins. Cells are captured in the trench, fluorescently labelled lectins are then added and allowed time to bind. The lectins are then released by their corresponding free sugar, allowing probing with subsequent lectins without steric hindrance due to adjacent sugars of interest. This study represents the first sequential labelling of the same cell surface by lectins.
It has been established, that exposure of terminal N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) occurs in late apoptosis and has a role in immune recognition and clearance of dead cells. AAL-2 is a recombinantly produced lectin or CBP with an affinity for the terminal sugar N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc). It has a binding profile matching that of the commercial GSL II in flow cy- tometry and western blot, but has the advantage of not requiring additional ions in its buffer. Using flow cytometry, this study has shown that AAL- 2 binds exclusively to late apoptotic cells. GafD is another recombinantly produced CBP with an affinity for terminal O-linked GlcNAc (O-GlcNAc). It was determined by flow cytometry that GafD binds to a subset very late apoptotic cells. The proteins to which GafD binds were identified through isolation of the cell membrane followed by mass spectrometric analysis. The proteins were found to be predominantly cytosolic, indicating a migration of the intracellular membrane to the cell surface during late apoptosis.


Dominance constraints are logical descriptions of trees. Efficient algorithms for the subclass of normal dominance constraints were recently proposed. We present a new and simpler graph algorithm solving these constraints more efficiently, in quadratic time per solved form. It also applies to weakly normal dominance constraints as needed for an application to computational linguistics. Subquadratic running time can be achieved employing decremental graph biconnectivity algorithms.


The number of Americans age 65 and older is projected to nearly double from 52 million in 2018 to 95 million by 2060, and the 65-and-older age group's share of the total population will rise from 16% to 23% (US Census 2018). Also, average U.S. life expectancy increased from 68 years in 1950 to 78.6 years in 2017, in large part due to the reduction in mortality at older ages. This larger share of older adults also means that Social Security and Medicare expenditures will increase from a combined 8.7% of gross domestic product today to 11.8% by 2050 (Social Security Administration 2019). These societal changes among aging Americans, along with the current COVID-19 pandemic, have led to isolation on a greater scale than in recent times. This is especially true in the rural area where small urban and rural communities continue to age as disproportionate shares of the younger population move to larger communities pursuing education, employment, and other opportunities. The objective of this research was to quantify the cost of providing greater mobility through public transportation to aging adults in small urban and rural communities to lower social isolation. This was compared with the increased medical spending due to current levels of isolation. Effort was taken to quantify the costs in numerous states throughout different regions of the United States. Results for the states studied showed that from three to 10 trips per month could be provided to an isolated individual at a lower cost than the extra medical costs due to isolation. Also, an extra 25 to approximately 80 miles of service can be provided to an isolated aging adult per month for the states studied. Finally, from two to six hours of service can be provided to an isolated aging adult per month at costs equal to or less than the monthly medical costs due to isolation. A marketing plan designed to target potential aging and isolated riders showed that the simulated cost of seven monthly trips per passenger would be feasible for small, medium, and large agencies at the median level, and that all simulations yielded cost-effective results for medium-sized agencies when added marketing and operating costs were included in the simulations.


Introduction The incidence of antiretroviral therapy induced lactic acidosis and its associated mortality may be reduced by appropriate dosing, risk stratification and early detection. This study describes the epidemiology, risk factors and predictive laboratory markers for lactic acidosis in subjects commenced on stavudine containing antiretroviral therapy between 2004 and 2007 at a hospital in KwaZuluNatal. Persons with body weight above 60kg received 40mg twice daily and those below 30mg. Methods A nested case-control study design was used. Risk factor analysis was adjusted for the established risk factors of weight and gender. Results Lactic acidosis occurred in 79 (17 per 1000 person years) of 1 762 persons. Significant baseline risk factors were female gender (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) =5.4) and increased body weight (AOR, compared to persons <60 kg, was 6.6 for persons 60 to 69 kg, 6.9 for persons 71 to 80 kg, and 95.7 for persons >80 kg). Predictors six months into therapy were an alanine transaminase >50 IU /L (AOR=11.1) and triglyceride between 11.5 mmol/l (AOR=11.2 compared to persons with triglyceride <0.5 mmol/l). No associations were found with regard to age, CD4 counts, viral loads or creatinine and albumin levels. Conclusion Obese females are at greatest risk for lactic acidosis with exponential increased in risk at weights above 80kg. The 30mg dose may be preferable, given that a sharp increase in risk occurred at 60kg, and that that the 30mg dose has been shown to have adequate virologic suppression. Additional risk factors for LA include an increase in alanine transaminase and triglyceride at 6 months of treatment. Number of words = [260]


Parasitic micro-organisms can influence multiple ecological processes, from growth, mortality, and behavior, to community structure and trophic interactions, yet are typically ignored components of marine biodiversity. We collected 1298 blood samples from reef fishes off 6 eastern Caribbean islands, repre- senting 27 families, 57 genera and 103 species, in - cluding invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish. Members of 14 species from 8 families were infected, comprising damselfishes (Pomacentridae), parrotfishes (Scaridae), mullet (Mugilidae), jacks (Caranjidae), Blennies (Blen - neidae and Labrisomidae), snappers (Lutjanidae), and angelfishes (Pomacanthidae). None of the 8 distinct blood parasites found fit descriptions of other Ca - ribbean parasites, but resembled typical Haemo gre - garina-like intraerythrocytic parasites and Haemo- hormidium-like parasites collected from fishes on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia. No blood parasites were found in lionfish and there was surprisingly little overlap in the families of Caribbean and GBR fishes. Most infected species were strongly diurnal. The high incidence of infection in Stegastes damselfishes was particularly surprising and has potentially important ecological consequences, given that damselfishes in- fluence benthic community structure and are prey for reef piscivores. Gnathiid isopods, an apparent vector of apicomplexan blood parasites in other systems, were common at sampling sites and collected for use in transmission experiments. Haemogregarina- like parasites were taken up by gnathiids that fed on infected blennies. By comparison, when gnathiids fed on Stegastes damselfish infected with a Hae mo - hormidium-like parasite, no parasites were found. This study reveals the high biodiversity of haemopara- sites infecting eastern Caribbean reef fishes, and highlights the need for additional research throughout the Caribbean and in other tropical reef systems.


Background Nesfatin-1 is a newly found anorectic neuropeptide with potent metabolic regulatory effects, whose peripheral levels are shown to be elevated in diabetes. It is a newly discovered hypothalamic neuropeptide that regulates appetite. Its discovery has generated great interest in the scientific community because of its implication in energy and glucose homeostasis. Nesfatin-1 is an amino-acid peptide originating from the cleavage of nucleobindin2. It has a molecular weight of 9.8 kDa and the half-life of nucleobindin2 mRNA is ∼6 h. Interestingly, nesfatin-1 is also expressed in pancreatic β-cells, where it is localized with insulin in secretion vesicles. The structure of nesfatin-1 is also tripartite; the segment starting from the N-terminal end and going up to 23 amino acids is called N23, the middle segment covering the amino acids from 23 to 53 is called M30, and the segment from the 53rd to 82nd amino acids toward the carboxyl terminus is called C29. Objective We compared serum nesfatin-1 in patients with type 2 diabetes with evidence of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) [urinary albumin–creatinine ratio (UACR) >300 mg/day or reduced estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 ml/min] with patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and who had no evidence of DKD (UACR<30 mg/day) and a control group of healthy nondiabetic individuals. Patients and methods Ninety patients attending the outpatient clinics at Alexandria Main University Hospital and Alexandria Police Hospital, Egypt, were enrolled in this cross-sectional study to determine the association of serum level of nesfatin-1 and DKD in patients with type 2 diabetes. They were divided into three groups: group I included 30 type 2 diabetic patients with DKD. Group II included 30 type 2 diabetic patients without DKD. Group III included 30 nondiabetic healthy controls matched for age and sex with group I. Assessment included a thorough assessment of history, complete clinical examination, neurological examination, fundus examination, and laboratory investigations including metabolic profile and plasma nesfatin-1 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results The study showed a statistically significant difference between the three studied groups in terms of age (P<0.001), HbA1c and fetal bovine serum (P≤0.001), fasting insulin level (P=0.022), blood urea (P<0.001), serum creatinine (P<0.001), eGFR (P<0.001), and UACR (P<0.001). The difference between the three groups studied was not significant in serum nesfatin-1 (P<0.564). The mean peripheral concentrations of nesfatin-1 were not significantly higher in patients with diabetes who had evidence of DKD compared with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients who had no evidence of DKD (P<0.001). Conclusion Serum nesfatin-1 was not significantly higher in albuminuric type 2 diabetic patients compared with normoalbuminuric patients. Serum nesfatin also did not correlate with eGFR and creatinine in the different groups studied. Serum nesfatin-1 may not be useful as an early marker of DKD instead of albuminuria. More studies are needed to identify the role and the significance of nesfatin in diabetic patients.


Gymnophycus gen. nov. (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta) is a genus of two species of minute algae from eastern Australia. Plants consist of erect, alternate-distichously branched uncorticated axes. Procarps are formed on the subterminal cells of major axes, the carpogonial branch arising on the first of three pericentral cells, which also bears a sterile lateral cell. In G. hypsispermis sp. nov., from southern Queensland, axial growth ceases with initiation of procarps and carposporophytes are terminal. In G. hapsiphorus sp. nov., from Lord Howe Island, N.S.W., and One Tree Island, Queensland, growth of the lateral axis on the sub-hypogenous cell continues after procarp formation, displacing the carposporophytes laterally. Fertilization in both species appears to result in transfer of the zygote nucleus to either the third pericentral cell or the supporting cell, followed by fusion of the supporting cell with the third pericentral cell via a small connecting cell. These cells form a distinctive perforate arch at the distal end of the fertile axial cell and give rise to two gonimoblast initials which together produce up to seven gonimolobes of carposporangia. The hypogenous cell is also incorporated into the fusion product. Neither involucral nor any type of adventitious filaments are associated with the mature carposporophyte. Sessile tetrahedral tetrasporangia are produced in adaxial rows on lateral branches, and male gametophytes bear dense spermatangial heads in a similar position. Because of fusion cell and carposporophyte anomalies, Gymnophycus is only provisionally placed in the tribe Compsothamnieae, with which it shares vegetative and procarp features.


My senior project was spent building a desktop application similar to WriteRoom and OmmWriter. These two applications are both word processors for the Macintosh OS X operating system. Both of these applications are designed to be a reset on word processing software, bringing their interfaces back to the days of Microsoft Word 3.0 and Word Perfect. They do this by spending more time on focusing on the design of the software interface, and focusing on keeping it minimalistic, instead of filling the product with new obscure features, which is a common complaint against the current iterations of Microsoft Word. The final application, named coffee shop, ended up not meeting my expectations. Having spent most of my education developing applications for the internet, instead of the desktop, I ran into pitfalls which, if this had been an internet application, wouldn't have been as problematic.


This paper summarizes the development of hybrid squeeze film dampen (HSFDs) for active control of rotor vibrations. Previously, it was shown both theoretically and experimentally that HSFDs can be used for controlling rotor vibrations (El-Shafei, 1993). This is done by controlling the flow in a squeeze film damper through movable end seals, thus achieving the ability to change the damper from a short damper to a long damper and vice versa. However, the control of the HSFD was manual. In this paper, an automatically controlled circuit is developed for the HSFD, incorporating a pressure control servovalve for controlling the pressure in the scaling chambers. A complete mathematical model of this open-loop system is developed and is implemented on a digital computer. The transient behavior of the system, including the sealing ring dynamics, illustrates that the open-loop system exhibits well behaved, stable, and fast response. In addition it is shown that the HSFD can achieve any amount of damping between the short and long damper modes through the accurate positioning of the sealing rings. The simulation results illustrate that the automatically controlled HSFD can be a very useful device for the active control of rotors. A closed loop control strategy with feedback on rotor speed is also investigated both from the points of view of steady state and transient behaviors. It is shown that this closed loop strategy results in a much improved behavior of the rotor system.Copyright © 1994 by ASME


For over 2,000 years, banks have served to facilitate the exchange of money and to provide a variety of economic and financial services. During the most recent financial collapse and subsequent recession, beginning in 2008, banks have been vilified as perpetrators of the crisis, the public distrust compounded by massive public bailouts. Nevertheless, another form of banking has also emerged, with a focus on promoting economic sustainability, investing in community, providing opportunity for the disadvantaged, and supporting social, environmental, and ethical agendas. Social Banking and Social Finance traces the emergence of the "bank with a conscience" and proposes a new approach to banking in the wake of the economic crisis. Featuring innovations and initiatives in banking from Europe, Canada, and the United States, Roland Benedikter presents an alternative to traditional banking practices that are focused exclusively on profit maximization. He argues that social banking is not about changing the system, but about improving some of its core features by putting into use the "triple bottom line" principle of profit-people-planet. Important lessons can be learned by the success of social banks that may be useful for the greater task of improving the global financial system and avoiding economic crises in the future.


This paper addresses a five-year interdisciplinary research collaboration between a silversmith and a material scientist. The paper describes two projects carried out by Dr Coilin O'Dubhghaill (Art and Design Research Centre) and Dr Hywel Jones (Materials and Engineering Research Institute) at Sheffield Hallam University between 2007–2012. The first of these projects addressed problems of reliability and control in metal patination. In the Japanese metalwork tradition there is a unique process used to produce multi-coloured metalwork. A range of metals and special alloys are combined in a piece of metalwork and patinated using a single solution – the niiro solution. This approach allows the designer to incorporate a wide palette of colours in a piece of metalwork. However, difficulties in producing the alloys and controlling the patination process have limited the possibilities for application of these materials. The collaboration brought together the expert knowledge of a craftsperson and a materials scientist in a search for improved alloy production and patination process control. The study led to improved understanding of casting techniques for alloy production, the development of a non-proprietary synthetic niiro solution, and overall enhanced process control. The research was disseminated through lectures and papers in journals and international conferences, and through exhibitions of artwork produced as a study of practical applications. A second ongoing research project looks at new techniques for the production of Mokume Gane, a multi-coloured metal laminate used in the jewellery industry. Mokume Gane is a highly desirable and unique decorative material, but production is difficult at both small workshop and industrial levels. The research investigates a novel method for producing mixed metal layered materials using friction stir welding (FSW) and compares the results with mokume gane made by a number of different conventional methods. FSW was invented in 1991 in the UK by TWI and has found widespread use in the joining of aluminum and, more recently, steels. By adapting FSW it has been possible to successfully bond many layers of dissimilar metals, while simultaneously producing unique patterns in the metal. This minimizes further processing, reducing waste and potentially lowering costs. The technique avoids many of the problems experienced in traditional workshop production e.g. melting or lack of bonding, while allowing production of small, customized ingots and mass production of large sheets, with up to several square meters possible. The research builds on the traditional craft knowledge of the silversmith, developing novel methods and materials through the use of cutting edge processing techniques. The paper describes the practices and outcomes from the above projects and the kinds of new knowledge such research can yield. The paper also reflects on how the research was structured and carried out. Through interviews with the participants, the experience of the collaborators is examined and the difficulties and advantages of this type of research collaboration are considered and explored.


The present study examined the contemporary genetic composition of the Eurasian badger, Meles meles, in Ireland, Britain and Western Europe, using six nuclear microsatellite loci and a 215-bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region. Significant population structure was evident within Europe (global multilocus microsatellite FST = 0.205, P < 0.001; global mitochondrial control region ΦST = 0.399, P < 0.001). Microsatellite-based cluster analyses detected one population in Ireland, whereas badgers from Britain could be subdivided into several populations. Excluding the island populations of Ireland and Britain, badgers from Western Europe showed further structuring, with evidence of discrete Scandinavian, Central European, and Spanish populations. Mitochondrial DNA cluster analysis grouped the Irish population with Scandinavia and Spain, whereas the majority of British haplotypes grouped with those from Central Europe. The findings of the present study suggest that British and Irish badger populations colonized from different refugial areas, or that there were different waves of colonization from the source population. There are indications for the presence of an Atlantic fringe element, which has been seen in other Irish species. We discuss the results in light of the controversy about natural versus human-mediated introductions


A series of laboratory experiments have been performed highlighting the potential of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) as a versatile sensor for the detection of terrorist threats. LIBS has multiple attributes that provide the promise of unprecedented performance for hazardous material detection and identification. These include: 1) real-time analysis, 2) high sensitivity, 3) no sample preparation, and 4) the ability to detect all elements and virtually all hazards, both molecular and biological. We have used LIBS to interrogate a variety of different target samples, including explosives, chemical warfare simulants, biological agent simulants, and landmine casings. We have used the acquired spectra to demonstrate discrimination between different chemical warfare simulants, including those on soil backgrounds. A linear correlation technique permits discrimination between an anthrax surrogate and several other biomaterials such as molds and pollens. We also use broadband LIBS to identify landmine casings versus other plastics and environmental clutter materials. A new man-portable LIBS system developed as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Ocean Optics, Inc., is described and several other schemes for implementing LIBS sensors for homeland security and force protection are discussed.


A improved, simple and economic reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method has been developed and validated as per ICH guidelines for the quantification of acetic acid present in Gefitinib as an solvent impurity. Validation studies demonstrated that the proposed RP-HPLC method is simple, specific, rapid, reliable and reproducible. The high recovery and low relative standard deviation confirm the suitability of the proposed method for the routine quality control analysis for the quantification of acetic acid in Gefitinib.


This study examined the roles of peer acceptance and friendship quality as moderators of the association between interparental conflict and internalizing symptoms in a longitudinal sample of elementary school children who were initially recruited in early childhood. Ratings of interparental conflict, peer acceptance and friendship quality were obtained from 103 parents and children at age seven (middle childhood), while child-reported internalizing symptoms were assessed at age 10 (pre-adolescence). Interparental conflict in middle childhood was not associated with internalizing symptoms during preadolescence for boys. However, girls who were highly accepted by peers in middle childhood were less likely to experience internalizing symptoms in pre-adolescence. Results suggested that the relationship between conflict and internalizing symptoms was attenuated for girls with high levels of peer acceptance. Additionally, girls who were both highly accepted by peers and had high quality friendships experienced the lowest levels of internalizing symptoms. Discussion of results highlights the importance of examining peer relations as a way to attenuate internalizing problems for girls.


In a first inventory of the lichen flora of the Reserva BiolOgica San Francisco (1800-3150 m) in the Andes of Southern Ecuador we report 214 species of which 55 are new records for the country. Apparently four species are new to science. About 55% of the species are widespread in the tropics (21% neotropical and 34% pantropical), 14,5% have a temperate origin and 5% are restricted to the Andes. Endemism with only 2% is low. A preliminary list with data on the biogeography, habitats and substrates of the species is provided.


Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) uses transient magnetic field to activate brain regions by inducing an electric field across and an electric current through neurons. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows the measurement of brain activity making it a potentially useful tool in combination with TMS to analyze the sites of stimulation within the brain. TMS typically utilizes a high current pulse up to 8 kA at approximately 2.5 kHz to induce an electric field inside the brain sufficient for neural stimulation. Lorentz forces are created on the TMS coil and are increased in the presence of a high external magnetic field from the MRI magnet. This study implements a realistic coil model developed from X-ray images of a commercial figure-of-eight TMS coil. The Lorentz forces and stress profile inside the current carrying material of this realistically modeled coil are presented. Results show that the maximum Lorentz force density is significantly larger than previously calculated, by a factor of more than 3.


Satisfying the needs of mitigation for losses of habitat and biological resources demands further development of ecological theory to improve quantitative predictions of benefits of ecological restoration projects. Several limitations now exist in scaling compensatory restoration to match losses of ecosystem services. Scaling of restoration projects has historically been done by area of habitat, assuming that function follows. One recent development in compensatory mitigation uses a currency of secondary production, which has the important merit of specifying one measurable, functional goal against which to judge success. Future development of the fundamental basis for restoration ecology might profitably include: (1) identifying and quantifying important ecosystem services to serve as alternative goals of restoration; (2) discriminating among size classes in a population in estimating their contributions to ecosystem services; (3) re-evaluating the practice of restoring the populations of only a few representative or dominant species to replace a diversity of species losses; (4) contrasting the success of habitat restorations versus population enhancements; (5) incorporating more landscape- scale considerations into ecosystem-based restoration designs; (6) injecting more formal uncertainty analyses into scaling restoration projects; (7) enhancing the basic science of population, community, and ecosystem ecology to improve the capacity of the discipline to predict impacts of interventions; (8) integrating empirical and theoretical developments in food web dynamics to resolve contradictions in our models of how population changes propagate across trophic levels; and (9) incorporating the concept that populations, communities or ecosystems targeted for restoration may now be in alterna- tive states and that restoration targets have been biased by shifting historical baselines. Forging part- nerships between the practitioners of ecological restoration and basic ecologists holds a dual promise for testing ecological theory and for improving the effectiveness of environmental restoration.


Value chains are in constant motion: new links supplement or replace old links, margins shrink or grow, the number of market participants changes. One can say that the value migratesUfrom one industry to the other, from one sub-segment to the other, in the real estate economy as well as in any other industry. That makes it difficult to answer the question on which stages of the chain how much value is created and where the stages with the highest relative creation of value will lie in the future. But answering this question is important for the strategic planning of enterprises because they depend on the timely identification of growth fields in order to secure their long-term position in the marketplace. So far the real estate economic literature has largely neglected the topic value creation. Therefore this paper tries to design a method to identify value migrations particularly for the real estate industry. For this, the concept of Slywotzky (1996) which was developed for other industries serves as the intellectual basis. The work is divided into a theoretical and an empirical part. In the first part the terms value, value creation, and value chain are defined for the real estate economy. Characteristic difficulties show up with distinguishing between the different links of the value chain. Then a method is presented for the measurement of the creation of value and the size of the market. Finally it is demonstrated, how assumptions on future value migrations can be derived. The second part contains the results of an empirical study of the value chain of commercial real estate in Germany. For this purpose, the authors interviewed industry experts and evaluated available statistic data. Furthermore tendencies for the future value migration are derived.


Abstract We describe an articulated partial leg of an Oligocene bird. It is one of the smallest avian fossils ever recorded. Its slender and exceptionally short tarsometatarsus, hallux as long as the tarsometatarsus and stout moderately curved claws agree with stem-group Apodidae (swifts), stem-group Trochilidae (hummingbirds), and stem-group Upupidae/Phoeniculidae (hoopoes/woodhoopoes). Unfortunately, due to the poor preservation of the specimen its more precise affinities remain unresolved. The specimen differs in many details from all other tiny Palaeogene birds and therefore most probably it represents a new taxon but it is too fragmentary to describe it. It is just the twelfth avian fossil from the Oligocene marine deposits of the Outer Carpathians and Central Palaeogene Basin — a huge area that covers south-eastern Poland, north-eastern Czech Republic and northern Slovakia — and therefore it adds to our very limited knowledge on the avifauna of that region. The remains of land birds from Jamna Dolna and other sites of the region can be attributed to the general sea level fall at that time, which led to limitation of the connection with the open ocean and resulted in many shallow shoals, temporary islands and exposed dry land areas along the coast.


This thesis seeks to elaborate the inner qualities of integrity and presence in professional practice. It is offered as a contribution to the growing body of literature that shifts the emphasis in professional development from the transfer of skills and knowledge to the transformation of practice. Professional education has been viewed as the acquisition of the knowledge and skills required to address the presenting problems of daily practice. It has been assumed that the answers to these problems can be identified, codified and passed on to others, resulting in a kind of professionalism by protocol. But, as Dreyfus & Dreyfus (2005) have pointed out, there is a qualitative shift in the practice of experts when compared to novices and beginners. The expert evidences a deliberative skill that does not rely on the application of protocols but on extensive case by case experience. Indeed professionalism may be understood as the quality of practice that is evident at the very moment when protocols no longer apply (Coles 2002). Professional practice is not a simple concept as Kemmis (2006) has shown. The thesis contributes to this field by suggesting that professionalism is acquired through prolonged inquiry into the contingencies of quotidian practice and that this shapes the inner qualities the practitioner brings to their practice. It is offered as a first person inquiry (Reason 2001) that probes fractals of my own professional practice over a five year period. In telling my personal story, I give an account of an emergent methodology that engages with action research and narrative inquiry. A narrative mode of knowing (Bruner 1986) notices the complex, many sided and sometimes conflicting stories of professional life resulting, not in a set of propositional claims, but in an account that provides the reader with the imaginal space to enter the process and participate, with me, in making sense of professional practice.


The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a measure of the electrical activity of the heart. Since its introduction in 1887 by Waller, it has been used as a clinical tool for evaluating heart function. A number of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, atrioventricular (AV) dysfunctions, and coronary arterial disease, etc.) can be detected non-invasively using ECG monitoring devices. With the advent of modern signal processing and machine learning techniques, the diagnostic power of the ECG has expanded exponentially. The principal reason for this is the expanded set of features that are typically extracted from the ECG time series. The enhanced feature space provides a wide range of attributes that can be employed in a variety of machine learning techniques, with the goal of providing tools to assist in CVD classification. This paper summarizes some of the principle machine learning approaches to ECG classification, evaluating them in terms of the features they employ, the type(s) of CVD(s) to which they are applied, and their classification accuracy.


Blood pressure measurement is an essential component of the general examination of every patient and the sphygmomanometer is one of the most commonly used diagnostic medical devices. The accuracy of sphygmomanometers depends strictly on performing the correct maintenance and calibration process of this equipment. The aim of this study was assessing the calibration condition of sphygmomanometers in use of primary care especially in physicians and general practitioner's office. The metrological reliability of more than two hundred manual sphygmomanometers in use in over 150 physician's offices and small clinics was evaluated. Quantitative analysis showed the amount of the obtained results in some equipment is critical and over the standard limitations. Primary care practitioners should have a system to ensure that their sphygmomanometers are recalibrated regularly according to the national or international standards. Using a mal-calibrated medical device has serious ethical, social and health implication to the society in general and to the misdiagnosed or mistreatment patient in particular. So, the obtained results show there is serious need for new and severe regulations on periodic performance verifications and medical equipment quality control program.


Background and purpose: Scalp cluster acupuncture and constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) have been shown to improve functional recovery in patients with acute stroke. However, stroke rehabilitation usually requires a multidisciplinary care which combing different therapeutic approaches. The combined effects of scalp cluster acupuncture and CIMT were unknown. Methods: A prospective randomized clinical trial was performed to compare the functional recovery in acute ischemic stroke patients received either combined therapy of scalp cluster acupuncture and CIMT (experimental group) or body acupuncture and traditional rehabilitation therapy (control group). Patients with first time unilateral cerebral infarction in internal carotid artery system, onset within 3 days, and muscle strength of the affected upper limb less than grade III without obvious sensory disturbance and speech disorder were enrolled. Patients' functional recovery, as evaluated by Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) scale and blood oxygenation level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-fMRI), was recorded and compared after two weeks' interventions. Results: FMA scale and BOLD-fMRI showed statistically significant improvements after intervention rehabilitations in both groups. This improvement was more prominent in the experimental group. Conclusions: A novel therapy which combined scalp cluster acupuncture and CIMT could significantly improve functional recovery in patients with acute ischemic stroke.


Drainage from abandoned underground coal mines negatively impacts many miles of stream habitat throughout the Appalachian region. The drainage is commonly called acid mine drainage (AMD) due to its low pH; however, not all mine drainage is acidic. The quantity and quality of the water discharged from a coal mine depend upon numerous variables, such as the design of the mine, chemical composition of the coal and surrounding rocks, and local climate. Coal extracted from the now-abandoned Cherry Valley Coal Mine near Leetonia, Ohio, was reached by a slope entry such that the mine is not entirely up-dip, and a significant area is flooded. Recharge water that enters the unsaturated area of the mine mobilizes soluble iron-sulfate salts as it flows down-dip and adds pyrite oxidation products to the mine pool. The bedrock overburden is covered by calcareous glacial till that imparts alkalinity to the shallow groundwater, buffers the acidity, and keeps the pH inside the mine circumneutral. Maintaining a circumneutral pH reduces pyrite oxidation by decreasing the solubility of ferric iron, the primary oxidizing agent of pyrite at low pH, which reduces the positive feedback mechanism that drives pH down and concentration of oxidation products up. Shallow groundwater is brought to the mine via subsidence fractures, which facilitate a rapid increase in discharge from the mine (and dilution of oxidation products) in response to surface runoff events. The loadings of all dissolved ions, except iron, are controlled by the changes in discharge rather than the changes in concentration.


Attention to cultural diversity is a necessity at online higher education in management (2004) postulated a framework for conceptualizing dimensions of intercultural competence in its development model of intercultural sensitivity. Complementary, Intercultural Learning Model (Beamer, 2016) emphasizes the importance that students are able to encode and decode the differences in messages emitted by people of different cultures. In addition, higher education institutions should attend perceived cultural distance emerges as an outstanding concept related to the management of interculturality by the management of institutions. The aim of this research is develop a systematic indexed literature review at the field of intercultural approach to the online teaching and learning at management. Systematic literature review described by Fink (2005) is the methodology used. It consist on identifying, evaluating, synthesizing, interpreting and analyzing research literature. This review is based on Business Source Complete (EBSCO) that offers papers from 1936 to 2016 with 1,232 documents; Web of Science, from 1995 to 2016 with 207 documents and Scielo, from 1999 to 2016 with 358 documents. The content analysis applied shows that 74% of the papers' fragments can be categorizes as integration. Therefore, the papers articles avoid the importance of achieving integration at the online teaching-learning processes in management.


Nepal's current Agricultural Development Strategy recognizes the need to increase the levels of soil organic matter for productive and sustainable agriculture, and the important role commercial organic fertilizers can play in that process. It advocates for a gradual shift from chemical intensive to more sustainable farming systems; i.e. application of organic as well as balanced inorganic fertilizers to enable sustained levels of production without degrading the soil and environment. To date there has been limited use of commercial organic fertilizers in Nepal. However, recent research has confirmed that semi-organic fertilizer regimes increase yield and enterprises producing organic fertilizers and other soil improvers can be viable. Research has also shown that farmers will use such products if the quality and availability can be assured. This article analyses the situation in Nepal and proposes market-based strategies for policy makers to address the quality and availability issues so that organic matt...


The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the "BBA") made substantial changes to the audit procedures for passthrough entities. The BBA repealed the prior rules for partnership audits and replaced them with a centralized regime that, in general, assesses and collects tax at the partnership level. Tax professionals have expressed concern that assessment and collection of tax at the partnership level is inconsistent with the long-standing rules of taxation of passthrough entities, and may have unpredictable and incongruous consequences. Not surprisingly, one of the first questions that partners and practitioners asked was "how do we get out this?" Treasury and the IRS, however, want most partnerships to be covered by the BBA, and thus the election out rules have been a controversial aspect of the BBA.


Due to the necessity for flexibility without compromising the LIB's state of health (SOH), the reliability of Li-ion batteries (LIB) is a critical challenge for FHE devices. A thin form factor-based LIB with a thickness of less than 1mm is regarded as the candidate material to suit such demands since it can be folded, bent, and twisted with minimal performance loss. Furthermore, LIB has high specific power (W/Kg) and specific energy (Wh/Kg), as well as a smaller memory effect, making it more appealing for wearable applications. While much research has been done on the chemo-physical effects of repeated charging and discharging LIB, such as SEI development, material deterioration, and so on, but such impacts owing to repeated flexure LIB have not been much studied. The deterioration of the reliability of thin-flexible power sources was investigated in this work under twist, flexing, and flex-to-install to simulate stresses of daily motions of the human body by utilizing motion-control setups in a lab setting. Furthermore, an AI-based regression model has been developed to forecast the SOH of the battery based on many variables such as physical, atmospheric, and chemo-mechanical experimental circumstances that may be difficult to address by manpower. Based on the various variables and their interactions, the generated models are expected to be used to predict battery life and assess the acceleration factors between test circumstances and usage conditions for a range of test scenarios.


The syntheses of the intramolecularly coordinated organotin compounds {Me2N(CH2)3}Ph(X)SnCH2SnPh2X (3, X = I; 4, X = F) and {Me2N(CH2)3}Ph(F)Sn(CH2)3SnPh2F (7) are reported. The compounds have been characterized by elemental analysis, electrospray mass spectrometry, 1H,1H DOSY (4), 13C, 19F, and 119Sn NMR spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In the solid state, compound 4 is a head-to-tail dimer as a result of unsymmetrical Sn–F–Sn bridges, whereas compound 7 is a monomer with F→Sn intramolecular coordination, giving a six-membered ring. In solution, both 4 and 7 are monomeric. The reactions of both 4 and 7 with fluoride anion in CD2Cl2 have been investigated by variable-temperature 19F and 119Sn NMR spectroscopy.


Much work has focused on the problems of small group communication and of one-to-many broadcast, while issues in large scale interactive networked teleconferences have received less attention. In this paper, we consider the problems inherent in conducting large scale conferences: teleconferences with hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of active participants. The lessons learnt from our design for a digital amphitheater – a system based on active agents, where about one hundred remote participants can conference together – are discussed. In that system we successfully overcame end system limitations by offloading some processing into the network, thus creating parallelism and reducing the bottleneck inherent in the serial nature of the hosts managing each display. We expand on this architecture, further exploring parallelism by pushing functions from individual end systems, to clusters and the network, with the aim of scaling to thousands of users.


From the Publisher:
Mobile satellite services are set to change with the imminent launch of satellite personal communication services (S-PCS), through the use of non-geostationary satellites. This new generation of satellites will be placed in low earth orbit or medium earth orbit, hence, introducing new satellite design concepts. One of the first texts to cover this rapidly evolving field, this text provides the reader with an overview of mobile satellite systems, from their initial introduction (Inmarsat), current satellite-PCS (referring to such systems as Globalstar), through to Satellite-UMTS and an understanding of the following:
The design concepts associated with non-geostationary satellite systems (constellation, link budgets, Doppler) The concepts of UMTS (network architecture, aims, in the context of IMT-2000) and the role foreseen for the satellite component (complementary to terrestrial network, network extension, global availability) Inter-working between satellite and terrestrial networks (network architecture, ATM Adaptation Layer) Radio interface technologies (WB-CDMA, TDMA, transmission environment) Regulatory issues Future services and applications Potential satellite markets (prediction techniques, effect of tariffing policies on potential market)
With leading edge information, this valuable resource will be indispensable to researchers, engineers, operators and market evaluators in satellite service industries and research institutions, as well as postgraduates and research students in the field.
This is one of the first books to cover the latest developments of network technology in mobile satellite services.
Provides in-depth analysis of market prediction methodology and evaluates potential satellite-UMTS markets. Discusses ATM technology via satellite. Describes future services and applications.


At present, the boats fishing choodai do not normally venture out to
more than 6-8 miles off the shore. Within this zone, there are separate
fishing grounds for various types of nets which differ, among other things,
in mesh size. But an analysis of the size-groups taken by them shows that
the catches as a whole are supported mostly by the 0-year-class. This indicates
that given the indices of abundance and the corresponding rate of
growth of an year-class, it should be theoretically possible, from a study
of mesh-selection, to determine in advance the period at which it (the year class)
would enter the catches of a net; perhaps the approximate amount
of total catches that could be expected during a particular season could
also be estimated. The data collected should further be important from
the point of view of evolving a proper exploitation policy. Investigation
of selection has also to some extent become urgent in view of a controversy
that has recently arisen in the fishery. The men who use shore-seines fish
choodai within the coastal belt, 1-1.5 miles from the shore, and they feel
that the operation of gill-nets both within and outside this range is detrimental
to their trade. As there are indications that the use of gill-nets is
hkely to increase rather than diminish in the coming years, this dispute is
likely to become more serious in the future. Obviously, an important point
to be clarified in this connection is whether both gill-nets and shore-seines
operate on the same size-group or age-group at any time of the year.


Current work in explainable reinforcement learning generally produces policies in the form of a decision tree over the state space. Such policies can be used for formal safety verification, agent behavior prediction, and manual inspection of important features. However, existing approaches fit a decision tree after training or use a custom learning procedure which is not compatible with new learning techniques, such as those which use neural networks. To address this limitation, we propose a novel Markov Decision Process (MDP) type for learning decision tree policies: Iterative Bounding MDPs (IBMDPs). An IBMDP is constructed around a base MDP so each IBMDP policy is guaranteed to correspond to a decision tree policy for the base MDP when using a method-agnostic masking procedure. Because of this decision tree equivalence, any function approximator can be used during training, including a neural network, while yielding a decision tree policy for the base MDP. We present the required masking procedure as well as a modified value update step which allows IBMDPs to be solved using existing algorithms. We apply this procedure to produce IBMDP variants of recent reinforcement learning methods. We empirically show the benefits of our approach by solving IBMDPs to produce decision tree policies for the base MDPs.


Objective To examine the relationships between prenatal physical activity and prenatal and postnatal urinary incontinence (UI). Design Systematic review with random effects meta-analysis and meta-regression. Data sources Online databases were searched up to 6 January 2017. Study eligibility criteria Studies of all designs were included (except case studies) if they were published in English, Spanish or French and contained information on the Population (pregnant women without contraindication to exercise), Intervention (subjective or objective measures of frequency, intensity, duration, volume or type of exercise, alone ["exercise-only"] or in combination with other intervention components [e.g., dietary; "exercise + co-intervention"]), Comparator (no exercise or different frequency, intensity, duration, volume and type of exercise) and Outcome (prenatal or postnatal UI). Results 24 studies (n=15 982 women) were included. 'Low' to 'moderate' quality evidence revealed prenatal pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) with or without aerobic exercise decreased the odds of UI in pregnancy (15 randomised controlled trials (RCTs), n=2764 women; OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.68, I2=60%) and in the postpartum period (10 RCTs, n=1682 women; OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.51, 0.79, I2=0%). When we analysed the data by whether women were continent or incontinent prior to the intervention, exercise was beneficial at preventing the development of UI in women with continence, but not effective in treating UI in women with incontinence. There was 'low' quality evidence that prenatal exercise had a moderate effect in the reduction of UI symptom severity during (five RCTs, standard mean difference (SMD) −0.54, 95% CI −0.88 to –0.20, I2=64%) and following pregnancy (three RCTs, 'moderate' quality evidence; SMD −0.54, 95% CI −0.87 to –0.22, I2=24%). Conclusion Prenatal exercise including PFMT reduced the odds and symptom severity of prenatal and postnatal UI. This was the case for women who were continent before the intervention. Among women who were incontinent during pregnancy, exercise training was not therapeutic.


BACKGROUND: Observational studies suggest that HIV-focused pharmacies can improve antiretroviral therapy (ART) refill adherence, but there is a lack of clear documentation about the kind and variability of adherence interventions that are conducted. OBJECTIVES: To use qualitative research methods to obtain an in-depth understanding of how ART adherence support and counseling is provided in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-focused community pharmacies. To determine relevant facilitators and barriers around adherence support from both patient's and pharmacist's perspectives. METHODS: A qualitative research study of patients who patronized and pharmacists who were employed at HIV-focused pharmacies in the San Francisco Bay Area was conducted. Participants were recruited using flyers at HIV clinics and community-based organizations and using blurbs in newsletters. Transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory methods to determine emergent themes in the data. RESULTS: 19 eligible patients with a self-reported diagnosis of HIV, who were taking their current ART regimen for at least 3 months, and who obtained their ART from a community pharmacy in the San Francisco Bay Area were included; 9 pharmacists who were employed at 9 different pharmacy locations frequented by participants were interviewed. Emergent themes included descriptions of pharmacy adherence counseling and support, roles and responsibilities regarding medication adherence, barriers to providing adherence support, and feeling connected as a facilitator to adherence support relationships. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacists provide diverse types of ART adherence support and are uniquely positioned to help clients manage their medications. Additional training on developing relationships with patients and advertising their adherence services may further the role of community pharmacists in supporting antiretroviral adherence.