Human recognition based on gait is a new biometric method that considers both spatial and temporal features which tracks the gait of a human being from a distance. The most widely used techniques for gait recognition at present can be divided into two categories: the model-free method and the model-based method. Both these methods process images of a moving body. Although some effort has been devoted to gait recognition, a high identification rate and low computational cost still need to be achieved. In this study, we investigated gait recognition in terms of biomechanics, which is often overlooked in the fields of computer science and electronics. We present a method for people recognition by using both the three-dimensional parameters for lower limb joints, i.e., kinematic and kinetic parameters. Dynamic data are acquired by tracking marker positions using a motion capture system with force plates. Although a marker-free and cable-free biometric system is more applicable for security purposes, acquiring data by marker tracking is one of the most precise methods currently available. The results obtained from marker tracking can clarify the relationship between the recognition rate and dynamic data of normal walking. In this study, 350 trials were conducted for 10 subjects. For each subject, 20 trials were conducted for training and the remaining 15 were for testing. A self-organizing map (SOM) neural network was employed for data classification. The importance of a specific variable in each dimension for each joint is discussed in detail to investigate the major factors that cause the differences in human gait according to a biomechanical approach. Experimental results showed that gait is a reliable feature for individual identification since a high recognition rate can be achieved by choosing appropriate joints or dynamic parameters in some dimensions of a gait. Kinematic variables in the frontal and transverse planes of the knee or hip joints are recommended due to their higher recognition rates. These findings can be applied to both biomedicine and computer science.


In this study we examine factors that might impact on web advertising recall and recognition. These factors include the viewing mode, duration of page viewing and web page context factors, being text and page background complexity and the style of the banner ad. Via an experimental design we manipulate these factors over several levels. The key finding is that the longer a person is exposed to a web page containing a banner advertisement, the more likely they are to remember the banner advertisement. We also find that recognition scores are much higher than both unaided and aided recall scores. Lastly, web users in a goal-directed mode are much less likely to recall and recognize banner advertisements than users who are surfing a site.


We searched the limnological literature to assess the success of biomanipulation projects with respect to improvement of water quality in culturally eutrophic lakes and reservoirs. We reviewed 41 biomanipulation experiments (from 63 published papers/books) involving the reduction of zooplanktivorous and benthivorous fish abundances in 39 lakes. We divided the experiments into five categories based on the type of biomanipulation performed: piscivore stocking, piscivore stocking + partial fish removal, partial fish removal, elimination of fish, and elimination of fish followed by restocking. We judged success (consistently successful, partially successful, unsuccessful) by changes in water quality variables; primarily phytoplankton or chlorophyll biomass and water transparency, during the post-implementation period of each study. The percentage of consistently successful manipulations varied with approach: piscivore stocking (28.6 %), piscivore stocking + partial fish removal (60.0%), partial fish removal (90.0%), elimination of fish (40.0%), and elimination of fish followed by restocking (66.7 %). Overall, 61% of the biomanipulations were consistently successful in improving water quality, with most successful attempts involving small, shallow lakes (<25 ha, mean depth <3 m). Only 14.6% of the biomanipulations were unsuccessful in improving water quality for at least one year. Biomanipulations resulting in increased abundances of Daphnia and macrophytes were most likely to achieve stable clear water states and maintain improved water quality.


Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of using a mobile sink to reduce the energy consumption of nodes and to prevent the formation of energy holes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, these benefits are dependent on the path taken by the mobile sink, particularly in delay-sensitive applications, as all sensed data must be collected within a given time constraint. An approach proposed to address this challenge is to form a hybrid moving pattern in which a mobile-sink node only visits rendezvous points (RPs), as opposed to all nodes. Sensor nodes that are not RPs forward their sensed data via multihopping to the nearest RP. The fundamental problem then becomes computing a tour that visits all these RPs within a given delay bound. Identifying the optimal tour, however, is an NP-hard problem. To address this problem, a heuristic called weighted rendezvous planning (WRP) is proposed, whereby each sensor node is assigned a weight corresponding to its hop distance from the tour and the number of data packets that it forwards to the closest RP. WRP is validated via extensive computer simulation, and our results demonstrate that WRP enables a mobile sink to retrieve all sensed data within a given deadline while conserving the energy expenditure of sensor nodes. More specifically, WRP reduces energy consumption by 22% and increases network lifetime by 44%, as compared with existing algorithms.


High-modulus and high-strength carbon fibers were submitted to oxidation plus sizing and grinding treatments. Subsequent changes at the fiber surfaces were studied by Raman spectrometry. X-ray diffractograms and Raman spectra of the fresh fibers were compared with those of other carbon materials with different graphitization degrees. The industrial oxidation +sizing treatment induces disorder at the fibers surface, this being of a higher order of magnitude than that introduced by grinding. However, this disorder is different in nature from the intrinsic disorder typical for little graphitized carbon materials.


The topic of solar system formation has become essential to the teaching of astrobiology due to the discovery of more than 3700 exoplanets, some orbiting within their host star's habitable zone. The architecture of planetary systems is more easily understood when students are able to comprehend how solar systems form. There has yet to be a study that addresses the topic of planet formation at the college level using a large sample of introductory astronomy students. We collected responses from students in 13 introductory astronomy and planetary science courses (n = 1050) at the University of Arizona, who each completed 1 of 6 short-answer questions on the topic of planet formation. The questions were administered on the first day of the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 semesters before any relevant material was taught. After analyzing their responses, we found that the most common misconception students held was that our Solar System formed as a direct result of the Big Bang, but a substantial percentage of students lacked a more general understanding of fundamental astronomical topics (gravity, definitions of a planet and solar system, density, and the physical processes associated with solar system formation). This lack of foundational knowledge prevented students from explaining and understanding the process of planet formation at a scientific level.


The Contextualized Knowledge Repository (CKR) framework was conceived as a logic-based approach for representing context dependent knowledge, which is a well-known area of study in AI. The framework has a two-layer structure with a global context that contains context-independent knowledge and meta-information about the contexts, and a set of local contexts with specific knowledge bases. In many practical cases, it is desirable that inherited global knowledge can be "overridden" at the local level. In order to address this need, we present an extension of CKR with global defeasible axioms: these axioms locally apply to (tuples of) individuals unless an exception for overriding exists; such an exception, however, requires a justification that is provable from the knowledge base. We formalize this intuition and study its semantic and computational properties. Furthermore, we present a translation of extended CKRs to datalog programs under the answer set (i.e., stable) semantics and we present an implementation prototype. Our work adds to the body of results on using deductive database technology in these areas, and provides an expressive formalism for exception handling by overriding.


We develop a model to understand and predict customers' observed multichannel behavior in a customer support setting. Using individual-level data from a U.S.-based health insurance firm, we model a customer's query frequency and choice of using the telephone or web channel for resolving queries as a stochastic function of her latent "information stock." The information stock is a function of the customer's "information needs" which arise when customers file health insurance claims and "information gains" which customers obtain when they resolve their queries through the telephone and web support channels, and other factors such as seasonal effects for instance, queries that arise at the time of annual contract renewal. We find that average information gain from a telephone call is twice as much as that from visiting the web portal; customers prefer the telephone channel for health event-related information but prefer the web portal for structured seasonal information; and customers are polarized in their propensities of using the web channel and can be broadly classified into "web avoiders" and "web seekers." Our model provides superior in-sample and out-of-sample fit than multiple benchmark models for aggregate and individual-level customer activity and has several managerial uses, such as capacity planning.


We investigated the conditions necessary for perceptual simultaneity of visual and auditory stimuli under natural conditions: video sequences of conga drumming at various rhythms. Under most conditions, the auditory stream needs to be delayed for sight and sound to be perceived simultaneously. The size of delay for maximum perceived simultaneity varied inversely with drumming tempo, from about 100 ms at 1 Hz to 30 ms at 4 Hz. Random drumming motion produced similar results, with higher random tempos requiring less delay. Video sequences of disk stimuli moving along a motion profile matched to the drummer produced near-identical results. When the disks oscillated at constant speed rather than following "biological" speed variations, the delays necessary for perceptual synchrony were systematically less. The results are discussed in terms of real-world constraints for perceptual synchrony and possible neural mechanisms.


We tested the hypothesis that the influence of early work experiences on organization commitment would be moderated by the value employees place on these experiences. We measured work values in two samples of recent university graduates prior to organizational entry, and obtained measures of commensurate work experiences and three forms of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative: Allen and Meyer, 1990) on different occasions following entry. Regression analyses revealed that values and experiences did interact in the prediction of affective commitment and normative commitment, but that the nature of the interaction was different for different work value/experience combinations. The findings provide some challenge to the common sense assumption that positive work experiences will have the strongest effect on commitment among those who most value such experiences. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two hypocaloric diets supplemented with legume or cereal on hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, serum HDL2 and HDL3 composition, lipid peroxidation, and lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and paraoxonase (PON1) activities in obese rats. Obesity was induced by feeding a high-fat-diet during 3 months. At 400 ± 20 g, the obese rats were divided into three groups (n = 8): two groups were submitted for 28 days to a caloric restriction (CR) at 0.9 MJ supplemented with lupine (CR–Lupine group) or oats (CR–Oats group). The third group was fed a caloric restricted diet without supplementation (CR group). At day 28, glycemia was lower (-21%) in the CR–Oats than the CR group. CR–Oats diet reduced total cholesterol content (-13%) when compared to lupine supplementation. In contrast, CR–Lupine diet decreased serum triacylglycerols by 22% and 15% respectively versus CR–Oats and CR diets. Lipoproteins lipid peroxidation was significantly lower in CR–Lupine and CR–Oats when compared to the CR diet. Serum PON1 activity was increased in CR–Lupine (+88%) and CR–Oats (+82%) groups compared to CR group. Furthermore, LCAT activity was enhanced in CR– Lupine (+23% and +26%, respectively) versus CR and CR–Oats groups. In obese rats, caloric restriction supplemented with lupine compared to oats supplementation has beneficial effect on hypertriglyceridemia and improves reverse cholesterol transport by enhancing LCAT activity leading to anti–atherogenic effects. This effect is partially reinforced by the high HDL PON1 activity which protects it from oxidation.


Background: Diabetes is a universal problem and is becoming a major concern at old age especially in obese people and in people with sedentary life style. The present study was conducted to assess complications and mortality in ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Materials & Methods:160 consecutive patients of diabetic (group I) and non-diabetic (group II) having acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) of both genders were included. Treatment was given to all patients. Results: Age group <44 years had 15 diabetic and 10 nondiabetic, 45-54 years had 25 diabetic and 12 nondiabetic, 55-64 years had 10 diabetic and 20 nondiabetic and >65 years had 40 diabetic and 28 nondiabetics. The site was anterior in 26 and 20, inferior in 38 and 40, inferior+ right ventricular in 20 and 10 and lateral in 6. Mortality was seen in those in which streptokinase was given in 7 and 3 and streptokinase not given in 15 and 10 in group I and group II respectively (P< 0.05). Conclusion: With streptokinase administration there was reduction in mortality in diabetic as well as in nondiabetic. However, diabetics not on streptokinase had higher mortality as compared to nondiabetics.


Background: Poultry, eggs, and their products represent a potential food safety hazard. Although consumer practices related to these foods have been studied in various countries, little data exists from Latin America. Objective: The objective of this pilot study was to provide initial data to characterize consumers' purchase, storage, handling, and preparation of poultry products and eggs in three countries: Argentina, Colombia, and USA. Methods: Consumers (n = 425 total) in each location completed a questionnaire about poultry products and egg purchase locations, storage conditions (i.e. refrigerator or freezer), preparation and handling practices, and managing leftovers. Results: The results indicated that in the USA most surveyed consumers purchased refrigerated eggs, whereas in Argentina (91%) and Colombia (84%) eggs typically were purchased at room temperature. Furthermore, almost all consumers in the USA stored eggs in the refrigerator, but 23% of Argentinian and 45.9% of Colombian consumers stored eggs at room temperature, which is potentially an unsafe practice. Some practices supported possible cross-contamination, for example washing raw eggs and poultry prior to cooking. Conclusions: These results are a first comparison across countries in the Americas of consumer poultry and egg practices and can serve as the basis for further research and development of food safety educational messages.


UNCITRAL has a vital role to play in exploring problems with and potential reform of ISDS, and in considering how to ensure its work better promotes, and does not undermine, rule of law, other domestic and international commitments and policies, and the globally agreed Agenda 2030. As the process moves forward, it is essential for the work to take a broad approach to defining the problem of "inconsistency" and designing reform solutions, as explored in this briefing note. Reform proposals regarding limiting shareholder claims, increasing states' interpretive power, and avoiding inappropriate adjudicator incentives are undoubtedly positive signs that reflect earnest desire for change. But it is unclear that anything short of a reversion to state-to-state dispute settlement will minimize the risk of inconsistency across law and policy spheres.


Kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic studies were performed for the batch adsorption of methylene blue (MB) on the high lime fly ash as a low cost adsorbent material. The studied operating variables were adsorbent amount, contact time, dye concentration, and temperature. The kinetic data were analyzed using the pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order kinetic models and the adsorption kinetic was followed well by the pseudo-second order kinetic model. The equilibrium data were fitted with the Freundlich, Langmuir, and Dubinin Radushkevich (D–R) isotherms and the equilibrium data were found to be well represented by the Freundlich and D–R isotherms. Based on these two isotherms MB is taken by chemical ion exchange and active sites on the high lime fly ash have different affinities to MB molecules. Various thermodynamic parameters such as enthalpy of adsorption (ΔH°), free energy change (ΔG°), and entropy change (ΔS°) were investigated. The positive value of ΔH° and negative value of ΔG° indicate that the adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous. The positive value of ΔS° shows the increased randomness at the solid–liquid interface during the adsorption. A single-stage batch adsorber was also designed based on the Freundlich isotherm for the removal of MB by the high lime fly ash.


Taxation is the most important tool of the government's fiscal policy, which speeds up the process of economic growth, and constitutes one of the most major and most stable sources of income for governments. Comparison this source with other sources suggests that, whatever the contribution of taxes is more in provision of government expenditures, economic adverse effects are reduced, significantly. Accordingly, it is necessary to taxation problems, be analyzed by estimating the throughput and efficiency of the tax system, and practice, in order to overcome them, and to identify new ways of taxing, to reduce exist tax gap between tax revenues and tax capacity, by adopting the methods and measures. In the present study, as the regional study, is trying to rank Affairs tax Office of East of Tehran, by examining six factors influencing the actual capacity of tax, as amount of tax collecting, number of tax employees, etc, and testing their effectiveness with TOPSIS method, based on information from 2011, to evaluate the inter-organizational factors influence the capacity of the tax. In this study, researcher collected research data, without any kind of tampering, and with the help of interviews with tax experts, and visiting the tax affairs offices of East of the state. The results of the entropy technique, showed that the amount of collected taxes, with weight 0.2444, has the most importance, and the ratio of the number of records, compared with number of employees, with the weight of 0.0412, has the lowest importance among six identified indicators. Finally, it was determined that, among the tax Affairs Offices of East of Tehran, tax affairs office of Boomehen, with C A ₂*=0.7099, is the first, and tax affairs office of Pardis, with the C A ₁* =0.2493, is on the last place.


Systems biology looks for emergent system effects from large scale assemblies of molecules and data, for instance in the human platelets. However, the computational efforts in all steps before such insights are possible can hardly be under estimated. In practice this involves numerous programming tasks, the establishment of new database systems but as well their maintenance, curation and data validation. Furthermore, network insights are only possible if strong algorithms decipher the interactions, decoding the hidden system effects. This thesis and my work are all about these challenges. To answer this requirement, an integrated platelet network, PlateletWeb, was assembled from different sources and further analyzed for signaling in a systems biological manner including multilevel data integration and visualization. PlateletWeb is an integrated network database and was established by combining the data from recent platelet proteome and transcriptome (SAGE) studies. The information on protein-protein interactions and kinase-substrate relationships extracted from bioinformatical databases as well as published literature were added to this resource. Moreover, the mass spectrometry-based platelet phosphoproteome was combined with site-specific phosphorylation/ dephosphorylation information and then enhanced with data from Phosphosite and complemented by bioinformatical sequence analysis for site-specific kinase predictions. The number of catalogued platelet proteins was increased by over 80% as compared to the previous version. The integration of annotations on kinases, protein domains, transmembrane regions, Gene Ontology, disease associations and drug targets provides ample functional tools for platelet signaling analysis. The PlateletWeb resource provides a novel systems biological workbench for the analysis of platelet signaling in the functional context of protein networks. By comprehensive exploration, over 15000 phosphorylation sites were found, out of which 2500 have the corresponding kinase associations. The network motifs were also investigated in this anucleate cell and characterize signaling modules based on integrated information on phosphorylation and protein-protein interactions. Furthermore, many algorithmic approaches have been introduced, including an exact approach (heinz) based on integer linear programming. At the same time, the concept of semantic similarities between two genes using Gene Ontology (GO) annotations has become an important basis for many analytical approaches in bioinformatics. Assuming that a higher number of semantically similar gene functional annotations reflect biologically more relevant interactions, an edge score was devised for functional network analysis. Bringing these two approaches together, the edge score, based on the GO similarity, and the node score, based on the expression of the proteins in the analyzed cell type (e.g. data from proteomic studies), the functional module as a maximum-scoring sub network in large protein-protein interaction networks was identified. This method was applied to various proteome datasets (different types of blood cells, embryonic stem cells) to identify protein modules that functionally characterize the respective cell type. This scalable method allows a smooth integration of data from various sources and retrieves biologically relevant signaling modules.


Urine volume is the greatest risk factor for nephrolithiasis. High fluid intake is the first general advice given to stone-forming patients for the prevention of their recurrence. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of bicarbonate-rich mineral water (1715 mg bicarbonate/l) on urinary-stone risk factors in comparison with sodium potassium citrate, a well-established treatment for urinary stones. The mineral water and sodium potassium citrate were administered in equimolar concentrations, with respect to the alkali load. All investigations were carried out in healthy male subjects aged 23-38 years. The study followed a cross-over design. All subjects received a standardized diet during the cross-over phase, which was formulated according to the dietary recommendations of the German Society of Nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung, 1996). On the loading day of the cross-over phase, fruit tea was substituted for either mineral water or sodium potassium citrate dissolved in fruit tea. The treatment offered during the second part of the cross-over phase was continued for a 4-week follow-up under normal dietary conditions. During the cross-over phase, there was a significant increase in urinary pH (p < 0.001). There was also a significant increase in the excretion of citric acid (P < 0.01), a decrease in the excretion of oxalic acid, and therefore a decrease in the relative supersaturations for calcium oxalate and uric acid. In the follow-up phase also, the relative supersaturations decreased and there were beneficial effects on the other urinary variables. The effect of the bicarbonate-rich mineral water was similar to that of the sodium potassium citrate, which suggests that it could be useful in the prevention of the recurrence of calcium oxalate and uric acid stones.


The broad aim of this research was to evaluate a cyclic fed batch culture system for the production of secondary metabolites and to identify a physiological parameter that correlated with product induction for optimisation of the process. A cyclic fed batch culture (CFBC) system was successfully established using a constant flow of glucose limited medium into the bioreactor, and culture stability was found to be dependent on time of flow initiation. A 40% increase in product concentration was obtained using CFBC when compared to batch culture with the organism Saccharopolyspora erythraea. CFBC induced secondary metabolite production with the organism Amycolatopsis orientalis, despite the lack of production in batch culture. Product concentration was dependant on the growth rate range used in CFBC for both organisms, although the trends of productivity differed for the two. Product stability at quasi steady-state during CFBC depended on the variation in biomass concentration obtained. A number of physiological parameters were measured in both batch culture and CFBC for correlation with product induction. A decrease in protein synthesis rate was observed to precede the induction of antibiotic in CFBC with both organisms, however, this trend was not observed in batch culture with Amycolatopsis orientalis. Although complex trends were observed for levels of RNA, total protein and the ratio of the two, no correlation with induction was observed. Profiled feeding regimes were employed for the manipulation of protein synthesis rates to optimise conditions for production. Increased productivity was not obtained, although protein synthesis rate was manipulated to reduce the timing of product induction at the start of the cycle. Morphological examination of the filamentous organism Saccharopolyspora erythraea, grown in either CFBC, chemostat culture or variable volume-chemostat culture, was found to indicate the organisms' physiological state. Productivity was highest in CFBC, coinciding with a transition from exponential to linear morphological growth and decreasing growth rate through the progress of one cycle. Where the morphological growth rate remained constant, that is in variable volume chemostat, productivity was lowest. In chemostat culture a morphological distribution was observed with both exponential and linear growth resulting in a product concentration higher than found in variable volume chemostat but less that in CFBC. Future work should include molecular studies to determine events leading to secondary metabolite induction. In conjunction with these studies development and unstructured model of the physiology is required. Clarification of the role of protein synthesis rates and particular components of the mechanism are required before this parameter can be discarded.


Public involvement in environmental management has become an important component
of decision making, which had been until the 1970's based almost entirely on
"economic efficiency" and "science centred approach". EIA, the most widespread
instrument asking for public involvement in environmental management has been
reconceptualised to incorporate concepts of sustainable development for which EIA is
well fitted provided it is a "holistic", "preventive" and "participative" instrument.
However, depending on political, institutional and social contexts EIA processes, by
opening decision making to the public sphere, still represent a great shift in traditional
planning.
EIA was introduced in the Portuguese legal system in 1990 due to the Portuguese
membership in the European Union and public participation became mandatory. The
intriguing question on the basis of this investigation is how a society labelled as having
a non-participative culture and where decision making has never been opened to public
scrutiny behaves with such an instrument.
A broad picture of EIA public participation in the Portuguese society has been outlined,
the approach taken stressing the importance of cultural contexts in getting insights to the
understanding of the phenomenon. This broad picture has been enhanced by the use of
an in-depth case study of the Portuguese reality in order to stress relevant features. An
analytical model to guide the investigation has been constructed by putting together
pieces of consensus on public participation effectiveness identifying key issues and key
criteria.
This investigation indicates that despite the reactive approach taken to EIA and the
weakness of the Portuguese EIA system, EIA has been contributing to a change in
public perceptions as well as in attitudes of developers, consultants, government and
institutions towards environmental management. It is increasingly felt that EIA got
roots in Portuguese society being the instrument that asks more regularly and with more
efficacy for public involvement. In pair with this, it is also recognised that EIA needs
reformulations to make it a more effective, comprehensive and credible tool. Public participation in the Portuguese EIA system presents several difficulties related to
the social/cultural context and to the procedures used in its implementation. The former
deals in a great part with the lack of traditions of participation in society, the strong
weight of representative democracy and the low levels of environmental consciousness.
The later deals with the late phase of public involvement, poor mechanisms used to
disseminate information and promote a two-way communication and the use of a
standard bureaucratic process.
Environmental problems arrived late to Portuguese society but have become
increasingly relevant due to the development policies followed. Signs exist now that the
traditional passive citizenship can give place to a more active one and that the lay public
increasingly feel that they have a word to say in decisions affecting their quality of life.
Some avenues have been explored in this investigation related to context and practice of
public involvement in EIA and to the challenge posed by sustainable development to
societies especially those considered of intermediate development.


In this paper we raise a question on the reliability of option implied risk aversion. We prove that given any number of options, there exist numerous risk aversion functions which are piecewise constant, have only two values, either a lower bound or an upper bound on the true risk aversion function, and are consistent with the prices of all these options. Similar results are proved with respect to the true risk aversion function's derivatives. These results show that the errors in the estimation of risk aversion and its derivatives caused purely by market incompleteness can be infinitely large and it is extremely difficult to ensure that the risk aversion function we extract from option prices is the true one.


Golden goal (Gogo) is a cell-surface protein critical for proper synaptic layer targeting of photoreceptors in the Drosophila melanogaster visual system. In collaboration with the seven-transmembrane cadherin Flamingo (Fmi), Gogo mediates both temporal and final layer targeting of R cell axons and its cytoplasmic domain is required. However, it is not known how Gogo activity is regulated. I show in my Dissertation that a conserved tripeptide Tyr-Tyr-Asp (YYD motif) in Gogo cytoplasmic domain is required for photoreceptor axon targeting. Deleting the YYD motif is sufficient to completely abolish Gogo function. I demonstrate that the YYD motif is a phosphorylation site and that mutations in the YYD tripeptide impair synaptic layer targeting. Gogo phosphorylation results in premature axon stopping and dephosphorylation is crucial for the collaboration with Fmi during the final target layer targeting. Therefore, both temporal and final layer targeting strongly depend on Gogo phosphorylation status. Drosophila Insulin Receptor (DInR) has been reported to regulate wiring of photoreceptors in the fly. I show that insulin signaling is a positive regulator of YYD motif phosphorylation in a direct or indirect way. My findings suggest a novel mechanism of the regulation of Gogo activity by phosphorylation which can be induced by insulin signaling. I propose the model that a constant phosphorylation signal is antagonized by a presumably temporal dephosphorylation signal, which creates a permissive signal that could govern developmental timing in axon targeting.


R. Wilson Freyermuth* I. INTRODUCTION Today, virtually all mortgages contain acceleration clauses permitting the mortgagee to accelerate the mortgage indebtedness upon default by the mortgagor as defined in the mortgage loan documentation. Section 8.1 of the new Restatement (Third) of Property: Mortgages [hereinafter Mortgages Restatement] endorses the view that these mortgage acceleration provisions are generally enforceable after default in accordance with their terms.2 Following default and acceleration, the mortgagor may prevent foreclosure only by redeeming the property from the mortgage debt, i.e., "only by paying or tendering to the mortgagee the full accelerated mortgage obligation."3 Section 8.1(d)(3), however, places certain constraints upon the mortgagee's right to accelerate, permitting the mortgagor to reinstate (after curing any existing defaults) if "the mortgagee has engaged in fraud, bad faith, or other conduct making acceleration unconscionable."4 This standard has a significant judicial pedigree in mortgage law decisions, but its use of the elusive term "bad faith"-a term often understood in the context of its more honorable twin, "good faith"-creates the potential for uncertainty in the evaluation of disputes over the enforcement of acceleration provisions. The rhetoric of good faith has played a significant role in judicial opinions addressing challenges to creditor decisions to exercise acceleration clauses following the occurrence of a default by the borrower. Most of these challenges involve a claim by the borrower either that the lender's security or prospects for repayment are not threatened (i.e., that the default poses no actual harm to the lender meriting acceleration of the debt) or that the lender's decision is pretextual or comes as an unfair surprise. For example, consider the following hypothetical: Randolph runs a small plumbing supply business, financed via a $750,000 revolving line of credit (bearing an interest rate of 10%) from Local Bank. Local Bank holds a perfected security interest in all of Randolph's inventory, accounts, and intangibles as well as a recorded mortgage upon Randolph's business premises. Under the terms of the loan documents, Randolph must provide audited financial statements to Local Bank each year by January 14. Under the terms of the loan documents, failure by Randolph to perform any obligation (whether monetary or nonmonetary) constitutes a default and entitles Local Bank to demand immediate payment of the entire outstanding balance of the line of credit. Now consider the following scenarios, each involving a variation on the foregoing hypothetical. Example One (Borrower Insolvency). As of January 15, 1998 (one day late), Randolph has not provided the audited financial statements. Citing Randolph's failure to provide the financial statements on a timely basis, Local Bank demands immediate repayment of the entire credit line. Had Randolph provided the financial statements, they would have shown him to be insolvent. Example Two (Bank's Mistaken Perception of Insecurity). On January 20, 1998 (six days late), Randolph provides Local Bank with audited financial statements. The statements demonstrate that Randolph has a net worth exceeding the outstanding balance of the credit line, and operating cash flows that are more than sufficient to cover monthly amortization of that outstanding balance. Furthermore, the financial statements indicate that the value of Local Bank's collateral exceeds $1 million. Nevertheless, Smith (the Local Bank loan officer responsible for Randolph's loan) is concerned by rumors that Home Depot will open a new superstore in the area. Smith believes that a new Home Depot would erode Randolph's customer base and render his operations unprofitable. In reality, however, Home Depot has decided not to open a new store in the area; the rumors are the wishful thinking of a local real estate developer. …


The history of Brazilian housing policies and programmes mirrors approaches and methodologies set by international organisations such as the World Bank. This history is clearly reflected in interventions that have taken place in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the object of this working paper. Since the mid-1990s, Rio de Janeiro has been at the forefront of in situ slum upgrading initiatives. A number of programmes pursuing the "urbanisation of favelas" have been implemented in attempts to integrate favelas into the city fabric. The expectation was/ is that the arrival of urban infrastructure would requalify these territories and transform them into regular neighbourhoods, leading to the spatial and social integration of favelas and the rest of the city. Adequate housing brings immediate and systemic benefits to its residents and should, as such, be a strategic priority shared by the state. In Rio de Janeiro's slum upgrading initiatives, however, urbanisation has become the main priority over every other aspect of development: in this pursuit for the integration of urban areas, is housing being forgotten? Identifying the lack of citizen participation in decision-making as the main reason for failure, the author analyses how, despite the evolution that led to Rio's progressive urbanisation programmes, authorities insist on seeing housing through regressive lenses and resorting to failed approaches. This paper argues that interventions must combine and address the tense demands and aspirations emanating from slums and the city as a whole, allowing housing to be an on-going process that happens in the city and the urban poor to be the protagonist of the process. Urbanising favelas,


AbstractThis paper aims, in general, at drawing attention to the many fables not included in fable collections. It focuses, more particularly, on the fables which can be found throughout Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek literature, predating the extant ancient fable collections. Some of these stray fables are unique, others significantly vary well-known themes; all of them show that the genre is a flexible form, which can be adapted to widely divergent literary and social contexts. In this article the intrinsic interest and functional richness of the "non-collection" fable tradition are exemplified by analyses of the fable of the Lion Cub and the Man from a tragedy by Aeschylus, the lyric poet Archilochus' version of the fable of the Fox and the Eagle, and the multifunctionality of the fable of the Dung Beetle and the Eagle in three different comedies by Aristophanes.


We give a pedagogical introduction into the functional renormalization group treatment of disordered systems. After a review of its phenomenology, we show why in the context of disordered systems a functional renormalization group treatment is necessary, contrary to pure systems, where renormalization of a single coupling constant is sufficient. This leads to a disorder distribution, which after a finite re normalization becomes non-analytic, thus overcoming the predictions of the seemingly exact dimensional reduction. We discuss, how the non-analyticity can be measured in a simulation or experiment. We then construct a renormalizable field theory beyond leading order. We discuss an elastic manifold embedded in N dimensions, and give the exact solution for N → ∞. This is compared to predictions of the Gaussian replica variational ansatz, using replica sym metry breaking. We further consider random field magnets, and supersymmetry. We finally discuss depinning, both isotr opic and anisotropic, and universal scaling function.


Background Status epilepticus (SE) is a refractory neurological disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. SE can be induced by numerous factors, including oxidative stress. Catalpol has several biological activities, including regulating the oxidative stress response. However, the role of catapol in SE has not been fully elucidated. Material/Methods Thirty Wistar rats were randomly and equally divided into 3 groups: a control group, an SE group established by LiCl-pilocarpine intraperitoneal injection, and an SE+catalpol group established administering catalpol to SE rats. Epileptic seizure level and after-discharge duration (ADD) were analyzed. Cognitive function was assessed by Morris water maze. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were tested. Keap1 and ARE mRNA expressions were detected by real-time PCR. Nrf2 protein expression was determined by Western blot. Results Catalpol significantly decreased epileptic seizure level, extended ADD, and improved cognitive function compared with the SE group (P<0.05). MPO was increased, SOD was reduced, Keap1 mRNA was upregulated, and Nrf2 protein and ARE mRNA were reduced in the SE group compared with the control group (P<0.05). Catalpol markedly decreased MPO, enhanced SOD activity, decreased Keap1 mRNA level, and elevated Nrf2 protein and ARE mRNA expressions compared with the SE group (P<0.05). Conclusions Catalpol plays an anti-epileptic role and improves cognitive function by regulating the Nrf2-Keap1-ARE signaling pathway to inhibit oxidative stress response.


Sexual activity, sexuality and responses to HIV and AIDS in a rural context in South Africa were studied using a cultural-historical activity theory framework. Activity theory directs the focus onto activity and emphasises the importance of an historical perspective for understanding current preventative practices. Qualitative data were generated from interviews and focus groups with 45 male and female participants between 10 and 71 years of age. An activity system analysis illustrated critical historical changes in a mediational artefact (the form of contraception) in sexual activity. The shift from intercrural sex to the use of the injectable contraceptive set up particular conditions for condom use in response to HIV and AIDS.


Three broadband simulation methods are used to generate synthetic ground motions for the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake and compare with observed motions. The methods include a physics‐based model by Hartzell et al. (1999, 2005), a stochastic source‐based model by Boore (2009), and a stochastic site‐based model by Rezaeian and Der Kiureghian (2010, 2012). The ground‐motion dataset consists of 40 stations within 600 km of the epicenter. Several metrics are used to validate the simulations: (1) overall bias of response spectra and Fourier spectra (from 0.1 to 10 Hz); (2) spatial distribution of residuals for GMRotI50 peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity, and pseudospectral acceleration (PSA) at various periods; (3) comparison with ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for the eastern United States. Our results show that (1) the physics‐based model provides satisfactory overall bias from 0.1 to 10 Hz and produces more realistic synthetic waveforms; (2) the stochastic site‐based model also yields more realistic synthetic waveforms and performs superiorly for frequencies greater than about 1 Hz; (3) the stochastic source‐based model has larger bias at lower frequencies (<0.5  Hz) and cannot reproduce the varying frequency content in the time domain. The spatial distribution of GMRotI50 residuals shows that there is no obvious pattern with distance in the simulation bias, but there is some azimuthal variability. The comparison between synthetics and GMPEs shows similar fall‐off with distance for all three models, comparable PGA and PSA amplitudes for the physics‐based and stochastic site‐based models, and systematic lower amplitudes for the stochastic source‐based model at lower frequencies (<0.5  Hz).


This research was undertaken to: develop a process for the direct solvent extraction of castor oil seeds. A literature survey confirmed the desirability of establishing such a process with emphasis on the decortication, size, reduction, detoxification-deallergenization, and solvent·extraction operations. A novel process was developed for the dehulling of castor seeds which consists of pressurizing the beans and then suddenly releasing the pressure to vaccum. The degree of dehulling varied according to the pressure applied and the size of the beans. Some of the batches were difficult-to-hull, and this phenomenon was investigated using the scanning electron microscope and by thickness and compressive strength measurements. The other variables studied to lesser degrees included residence time, moisture, content, and temperature.The method was successfully extended to cocoa beans, and (with modifications) to peanuts. The possibility of continuous operation was looked into, and a mechanism was suggested to explain the method works. The work on toxins and allergens included an extensive literature survey on the properties of these substances and the methods developed for their deactivation Part of the work involved setting up an assay method for measuring their concentration in the beans and cake, but technical difficulties prevented the completion of this aspect of the project. An appraisal of the existing deactivation methods was made in the course of searching for new ones. A new method of reducing the size of oilseeds was introduced in this research; it involved freezing the beans in cardice and milling them in a coffee grinder, the method was found to be a quick, efficient, and reliable. An application of the freezing technique was successful in dehulling soybeans and de-skinning peanut kernels. The literature on the solvent extraction, of oilseeds, especially castor, was reviewed: The survey covered processes, equipment, solvents, and mechanism of leaching. three solvents were experimentally investigated: cyclohexane, ethanol, and acetone. Extraction with liquid ammonia and liquid butane was not effective under the conditions studied. Based on the results of the research a process has been suggested for the direct solvent extraction of castor seeds, the various sections of the process have analysed, and the factors affecting the economics of the process were discussed.


In order to verify the air content in hydraulic fluid, an instrument was needed to measure the dissolved air content before the fluid was loaded into the system. The instrument also needed to measure the dissolved air content in situ and in real time during the de-aeration process. The current methods used to measure the dissolved air content require the fluid to be drawn from the hydraulic system, and additional offline laboratory processing time is involved. During laboratory processing, there is a potential for contamination to occur, especially when subsaturated fluid is to be analyzed. A new method measures the amount of dissolved air in hydraulic fluid through the use of a dissolved oxygen meter. The device measures the dissolved air content through an in situ, real-time process that requires no additional offline laboratory processing time. The method utilizes an instrument that measures the partial pressure of oxygen in the hydraulic fluid. By using a standardized calculation procedure that relates the oxygen partial pressure to the volume of dissolved air in solution, the dissolved air content is estimated. The technique employs luminescent quenching technology to determine the partial pressure of oxygen in the hydraulic fluid. An estimated Henry s law coefficient for oxygen and nitrogen in hydraulic fluid is calculated using a standard method to estimate the solubility of gases in lubricants. The amount of dissolved oxygen in the hydraulic fluid is estimated using the Henry s solubility coefficient and the measured partial pressure of oxygen in solution. The amount of dissolved nitrogen that is in solution is estimated by assuming that the ratio of dissolved nitrogen to dissolved oxygen is equal to the ratio of the gas solubility of nitrogen to oxygen at atmospheric pressure and temperature. The technique was performed at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The technique could be theoretically carried out at higher pressures and elevated temperatures.


The aim of the study was to evaluate psychometric properties of the Icelandic version of the Denison Organizational Culture Survey. It consists of four factors; involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission. Each factor is further divided into three sub-factors derived from five items each. The sample included 1,132 managers and employees in 13 Icelandic firms. The majority of the participants were males or 59.3% (n=658), and 40.7% (n=452) were females. The factors and sub-factors showed good internal consistency and item-total correlation was within an acceptable range for all but two items. Factor structure was evaluated by conducting confirmatory factor analysis. Results showed acceptable goodness of fit of the original structure within involvement and consistency but not adaptability and mission. Factor analysis of the 12 sub-factors showed acceptable goodness of fit for the original four factor model, which were in line with previous studies. The psychometric properties of the survey are satisfactory.


1. Sensory neural units responding to sinusoidal stretching of the body wall were studied in the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris L. 2. A phasic stretch-sensitive unit found in segmental nerve I responded optimally to stretching at frequencies of 4-6/min. 3. The number of spikes per stretch and the spike frequency in the unit were directly related to the amplitude of the applied stretch within a range of 0-2-0-7 mm stretch/segment. 4. The ranges of amplitude and frequency sensitivity for the unit in isolated preparations corresponded closely to stretch parameters seen during peristaltic locomotion in intact animals. 5. Stretch-sensitive responses in segmental nerve II-III were more variable; some units responded to longitudinal stretch while others responded to relaxation.


Chronic periodontitis (ChP) is a prevalent inflammatory disease affecting 46% of the US population. ChP produces a profound local inflammatory response to dysbiotic oral microbiota that leads to destruction of alveolar bone and tooth loss. ChP is also associated with systemic illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, malignancies, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the mechanisms underlying these adverse health outcomes are poorly understood. In this prospective cohort study, we used a highly multiplex mass cytometry immunoassay to perform an in-depth analysis of the systemic consequences of ChP in patients before (n = 28) and after (n = 16) periodontal treatment. A high-dimensional analysis of intracellular signaling networks revealed immune system–wide dysfunctions differentiating patients with ChP from healthy controls. Notably, we observed exaggerated proinflammatory responses to Porphyromonas gingivalis–derived lipopolysaccharide in circulating neutrophils and monocytes from patients with ChP. Simultaneously, natural killer cell responses to inflammatory cytokines were attenuated. Importantly, the immune alterations associated with ChP were no longer detectable 3 wk after periodontal treatment. Our findings demarcate systemic and cell-specific immune dysfunctions in patients with ChP, which can be temporarily reversed by the local treatment of ChP. Future studies in larger cohorts are needed to test the boundaries of generalizability of our results.


Fly ash produced by power plants in the United States occasionally contains significant amounts of unburned carbon due to the use of low nitrogen-oxide and sulphur-oxide burners in recent years. This ash cannot be reused in concrete production due to its reactivity with air entrainment admixtures and is largely placed in landfills. Highway structures have high potential for large volume use of high carbon fly ashes (HCFAs). However, in such applications, even though mechanical properties of the fly ash-amended highway base layers and embankments are deemed satisfactory, one key issue that precludes highway embankments built with fly ash is the potential for groundwater impacts caused by metals in the fly ash.

This study was conducted to evaluate the leaching potential of metals from high carbon fly ash stabilized highway base layers and high carbon fly ash amended highway embankment structures. Three different laboratory tests: (1) batch water leach tests, (2) toxicity characteristics leaching procedure tests, (3) column leach test and two different numerical modeling analyses: (1) WiscLEACH, (2) MINTEQA2, were carried out. Analysis were conducted on eight fly ashes and two locally available sandy soil materials that are mainly used in highway base layer and highway embankment structures.

Laboratory test results indicated that an increase in fly ash content in the soil fly ash mixtures yielded an increase in leached metal concentrations except Zn metal. The pHs had significant and different impacts on the leaching of metals. The leaching of Cr, Zn, Al, As and Se were increasing with pH while leaching of Ba, B, Cu, Fe, Mn, Sb, V were decreasing.

Numerical model WiscLEACH was used to simulate the leaching behavior of leached metals from HCFA stabilized highway base layers and amended highway embankment structures. WiscLEACH predicted field metal concentrations were significantly lower than the metal concentrations obtained in laboratory leaching tests, and field concentrations decreased with time and distance due to dispersion in soil vadose zone. Numerical model MINTEQA2 predicted that leaching of metals were solubility controlled except As, Se and Sb metals. Speciation analyses indicated that leached metals were present at their less or non-toxic forms.


Mueller matrixes are presented for optically inactive and fluorescent samples with and without photo-selection, and for optically active and fluorescent ones with and without photo-selection, in order to analyze phenomena observed in fluorescence polarization. Absorption-fluorescence transformation matrices are introduced in the derivation of formula to take account of the process occurring during the interval between excitation and emission. Mueller matrix expressions derived are used for investigating the problems of circularly polarized emission (CPE) and linearly polarized emission (LPE) measurements. It is found that they are useful not only in analyzing the effects of experimental systems on fluorescence polarization spectroscopy but also in the design, analysis, and evaluation of CPE and LPE spectrometers.


ABSTRACT

CREATIVE LEARNING APPROACHES FOR UNDERGRADUATE SELF-DEVELOPMENT

This thesis investigates creativity in the undergraduate curriculum and how students respond to creative approaches to learning within their studies. Specifically, the thesis considers how the use of multiple creative learning methods may enhance undergraduate learning and the role that creative visualisation and guided imagery can play in this experience.

The thesis presents the learning stories of six undergraduates in the main study who took one of these modules. Interviews were conducted and a range of other documentary data, such as learning journals and assignments, was collected and analysed in order to detail each student's journey through and experience of the module. The analysis is presented in three separate sections; firstly, as individual student case studies; secondly, as a thematic cross-case analysis; and thirdly, as a synthesis of the data with theoretical constructs and current debates surrounding creativity in higher education with conclusions and recommendations for individual and sector practice.

The thesis discusses the 'messy' nature of research, highlights the compromises and difficulties inherent in a PhD project and illustrates how these issues were overcome. The work also reflects on the researcher's own PhD learning journey and identifies a number of themes that influence the efficacy of the teaching of creative skills in undergraduate programmes. The thesis proposes a number of new models that have been integrated into the author's own teaching and that have wider implications for the teaching of transferable skills in creativity and creative thinking in higher education for practice-based and non-vocational programmes as well as consultancy opportunities for industry. New knowledge proposed within the thesis includes a refined model of student engagement and a model to plot the student journey of self-discovery. The thesis also offers a critique of and guidelines for the use of guided imagery to promote student creativity in higher education.


Finding correct semantic correspondences between ontologies is one of the most challenging problems in the area of semantic web technologies. Experiences with benchmarking matching systems revealed that even the manual revision of automatically generated mappings is a very difficult problem because it has to take the semantics of the ontologies as well as interactions between correspondences into account. In this paper, we propose methods for supporting human experts in the task of reviSing automatically created mappings. In particular, we present non-standard reasoning methods for detecting and propagating implications of expert decisions on the correctness of a mapping. We show that the use of these reasoning methods significantly reduces the effort of mapping revision in terms of the number of decisions that have to be made by the expert.


Many fans enjoy keeping track of baseball action with easy abbreviations written on simple grids. Serious scorekeeping, however, is more complicated than just jotting down runs, outs, and the final score. Official scorekeeping requires a thorough knowledge of a large body of rules-many of which are confusing, and all of which must be followed carefully to ensure that the scorekeeper's data are valid. With confidence and enthusiasm, Andres Wirkmaa leads the reader through the daunting maze of rules that govern official scorekeeping. Chapters explain and clarify the official scorer's duties, responsibilities and authority; the official scorer's reports; and all the game-to-game details such as player listings, substitute batters and runners, out-of-turn batters, called and forfeited games, runs batted in, base hits, stolen bases, sacrifices, putouts, assists, double and triple plays, errors (and instances when errors are not charged), wild pitches and passed balls, bases on balls, strikeouts, earned runs, winning and losing pitchers, and saves. Also covered are statistics, percentage records, minimum standards for individual championships, and consecutive hitting and playing streaks.


This article discusses the merits of the poems of the 18th century Frisian writer Durk Lenige. It is assumed implicitly, from the evidence of anthologies of Frisian poetry, and explicitly, from casual references in the literature, that Lenige is a minor poet, at best. No arguments are given in support of that preconception. Close reading of his poems reveals that several of them exhibit an intelligent composition, combining knowledge of science and religion in order to either present an ethical position or to express a personal emotion. In addition, the poems often have a very rhetorical, very condensed form, employing elaborate compounds and a compressed syntax, that is characteristic of international baroque poetry. The neglect of his poetry can possibly be attributed to lack of appreciation of the 18th century world view, and to the impopularity of the use of classic mythology with present-day critics and researchers studying the Frisian literature.


SAVE TIME AND SUPERCHARGE EXCEL 2013 WITH VBA AND MACROS! Use Excel 2013 VBA and Macros to automate virtually any routine task, and save yourself hours, days, maybe even weeks. Then, learn how to make Excel do things you thought were simply impossible! Youll discover macro techniques you wont find anywhere else and learn how to create automated reports that are amazingly powerful and useful. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad show how to instantly visualize information, so you and your colleagues can understand and act on ithow to capture data from anywhere, and use it anywherehow to automate Excel 2013s most valuable new features. Mastering advanced Excel macros has never been easier. Youll find simple, step-by-step instructions, real-world examples and case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with bonus examples, macros, and solutionsstraight from MrExcel. Get started fast with Excel 2013 macro development Write macros that use Excel 2013 enhancements, including Timelines and the latest pivot table models Work efficiently with ranges, cells, and R1C1-style formulas Build super-fast applications with arrays Write Excel 2013 VBA code that works on older versions of Excel Create custom dialog boxes to collect information from your users Use error handling to make your macros more resilient Use web queries and new web service functions to integrate data from anywhere Master advanced techniques such as classes, collections, and custom functions Build sophisticated data mining and business analysis applications Read and write to both Access and SQL Server databases Control other Office programsand even control Windows itself Start writing Excel Apps similar to those in the Excel App Store About MrExcel Library: Every book in the MrExcel Library pinpoints a specific set of crucial Excel tasks and presents focused skills and examples for performing them rapidly and effectively. Selected by Bill Jelen, Microsoft Excel MVP and mastermind behind the leading Excel solutions website MrExcel.com, these books will Dramatically increase your productivitysaving you 50 hours a year or more Present proven, creative strategies for solving real-world problems Show you how to get great results, no matter how much data you have Help you avoid critical mistakes that even experienced users make


This paper points out that education should be the central objective of the post-2010 Lisbon Process. Compared to other OECD countries, the member states of the European Union perform poorly when it comes to key indicators of innovative potential, such as the percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education and the educational quality of Europe's students. Education makes a three-fold contribution to a country's economic health. First it is beneficial for employment rates, second it is a key driver for long-term economic growth and third it appears to be beneficial for social cohesion. It will be crucial for European countries to attain higher levels of tertiary education and increase the quality of their education.


Long-term traffic prediction is highly challenging due to the complexity of traffic systems and the constantly changing nature of many impacting factors. In this paper, we focus on the spatio-temporal factors, and propose a graph multi-attention network (GMAN) to predict traffic conditions for time steps ahead at different locations on a road network graph. GMAN adapts an encoder-decoder architecture, where both the encoder and the decoder consist of multiple spatio-temporal attention blocks to model the impact of the spatio-temporal factors on traffic conditions. The encoder encodes the input traffic features and the decoder predicts the output sequence. Between the encoder and the decoder, a transform attention layer is applied to convert the encoded traffic features to generate the sequence representations of future time steps as the input of the decoder. The transform attention mechanism models the direct relationships between historical and future time steps that helps to alleviate the error propagation problem among prediction time steps. Experimental results on two real-world traffic prediction tasks (i.e., traffic volume prediction and traffic speed prediction) demonstrate the superiority of GMAN. In particular, in the 1 hour ahead prediction, GMAN outperforms state-of-the-art methods by up to 4% improvement in MAE measure. The source code is available at https://github.com/zhengchuanpan/GMAN.


A total of 39 xylose-utilizing yeast strains were isolated from herbivore faeces in Thailand. They were identified as Candida tropicalis (32 isolates), Candida albicans (1 isolate), Pichia terricola (1 isolate), Trichosporon mycotoxinivorans (2 isolates), Sporopachydermia lactativora (2 isolates) and Zygoascus meyerae (1 isolate) based on their morphological, cultural, physiological and biochemical characteristics including the sequence analysis of the D1/D2 region of the large-subunit ribosomal DNA. Thirty seven isolates could ferment xylose to ethanol. Zygoascus meyerae E23 isolated from elephant faeces produced the highest ethanol concentration (3.61 g/l after 72 h). C. tropicalis A26 isolated from cow faeces produced the highest xylitol concentration (43.79 g/l) which corresponded to 0.71 g xylitol/g xylose after 24 h. C. tropicalis A26 xylose reductase showed 98.4% identity and 99.0% similarity to C. tropicalis (ABX60132C) xylose reductase, and showed the tetra-amino acid motif (Ile-Pro-Lys-Ser) which is conserved among NADPH-dependent xylose reductase.


This article identifies factors that influence agricultural economics professionals' job choice between academic and government employment. Respondents agreed that job responsibilities were the most important factor in choosing their current position. They also agreed that having a positive work environment, good salary, family time, adequate resources, and professional and social interaction were important job attributes. Proportionally more women than men regarded partner opportunities, nondiscrimination, time for child care, and supportive colleagues as very important attributes influencing their decisions. A binomial probit of respondents' current job sector indicates significant job choice determinants include sector preference (academic or government), previous professional experience, a positive work environment, and advancement opportunities.


Unique microfluidic control actuated by simply turning off and on microfabricated electrodes in a small-volume system was investigated for lab-on-a-chip applications. This was accomplished using a relatively new pumping technique of redox-magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), which as shown in this dissertation generated the important microfluidic features of flat flow profile and fluid circulation. MHD is driven by the body force, FB = j × B, which is the magnetic part of the Lorentz force equation, and its direction is given by the right hand rule. The ionic current density, j, was generated in an equimolar solution of potassium ferri/ferro cyanide by applying a constant current/potential across the gap between an anode-cathode pair of the electrodes. The magnetic field, B, was produced with an NdFeB permanent magnet beneath the chip. Two types of microelectrode geometries were used in this dissertation: microbands and concentric disks and rings. Horizontal flow profiles having uniform velocities (≤124.0 μm/s) at fixed heights across different gaps were sustained along a ~25.0 mm path using microband electrodes, in a small volume contained over an insulated silicon chip. Microfluidic rotational flow with velocity ≤ 14 μm/s was also achieved over an annular region between concentric disk (radius: 80 μm) and ring (inner radius: 800 μm) microelectrodes. In a different but related series of studies, natural convection generated by electrochemical processes was studied in a steady state microfluidic system, but without using redox-MHD convection. Natural convection was found to generate a maximum fluid velocity of < 10 μm/s radially across the gap between concentric disk-ring microelectrodes. A proof-of-concept magnetic microbead enzyme assay was also integrated with the redox-MHD flat flow profile generated by [Ru(NH3)6] 3+/2+ in Tris buffer. Selective placement of the assay complex at different locations combined with the uniform transport of the electroactive species by-product generated a strong current signal at the locations that were on the same flow path as the detector. When the assay complex was placed at other locations that were on parallel flow paths the current signal at the detector was insignificant (20%), thus confirming the potential of redox-MHD microfluidics to perform multiple, parallel assay detections.


Chronic neural implants are usually made from silicon materials and are subject to scar tissue formation at the tissue/implant interface, which interferes with their functionality. Carbon nanofibers are an example of a material that may improve neural implant interactions with native cell populations since these nanofibers have promising cytocompatibility, mechanical, and electrical properties. Neural implants may achieve better tissue interactions simply by incorporating carbon nanofibers into a silicon matrix. The objective of the present in vitro study was to determine cytocompatibility properties of carbon nanofibers and porous silicon materials. Carbon fiber substrates were prepared from carbon fibers with either nanoscale or micron scale diameters, and both high and low surface energy fibers were investigated. Porous silicon was prepared by treatments resulting in mesoscale pores with nanoscale roughness between pores. Astrocytes (glial scar tissue-forming cells) were seeded separately onto the carbon fiber and silicon substrates. Astrocytes preferentially adhered on the largest diameter carbon fiber with the lower surface energy and preferred the silicon sample with the greatest porosity. These results indicate that nanoscale surface roughness may deter astrocyte adhesion. Controlling carbon fiber diameter and silicon porosity may be approaches for increasing implant contact with neurons and decreasing scar tissue formation.


We present a new traffic engineering (TE) model which is based on QoS rerouting and uses hybrid resilience to improve the recovery performance of multi-layer networks where an MPLS network is layered above an MPlambdaS network. We formulate the rerouting of the LSPs/lambdaSPs as a multi-constrained problem and use its polynomial reduction to find a heuristic solution that can be implemented by standardized constraint-based routing algorithms. This heuristic solution uses a cost-based routing optimization to achieve different network configurations which multiplex/separate bandwidth-aware LSPs/lambdaSPs on the network links. We formulate the resilience upon failure as a multi-objective problem consisting of finding a resilience strategy that minimizes recovery operation time and maximizes the LSP/lambdaSP restorability. A solution to this problem is proposed where a hybrid resilience framework is used to achieve restoration in the MPLS layer to complement path switching in the MPlambdaS layer. We evaluate the performance of the TE model when rerouting the tunnels carrying the traffic offered to a 23- and 31-node networks. Simulation reveals that the hybrid resilience model performs better than classical recovery mechanisms. In terms of restorability, quality of rerouting paths and rerouting stability


The paper presents a philosophical approach to the investigation of foreign body incidents in food. The suggested procedure has similarities with "key" procedures used for taxonomy. However, the wide diversity of materials encountered and the need to determine something of the history of the offending item demands modifications to this process. The categorisation may be made on instinct or experience, and appropriate confirmatory tests will be applied in the light of the initial categorisation. Cardinal rules are proposed: firstly , the receipt of the items should be well documented; and secondly, the initial observations should be as non-destructive as possible. The stereo microscope is the major instrument used to reveal clues as to origin of foreign substances. Other microscopy and analytical techniques are used to supplement the stereo microscope. The paper includes suggested categories for foreign materials; lists of possible origins of forei,gn contamination; examples of specific recurrent foreign materials associated with foods and a bibliography of helpful sources of information.


Preface. Chapter 1: Introduction and Statistics Revision. Chapter 2: Standard Control Charts: A First Approximation. Chapter 3: What Can Go Wrong and What Can We Do About It? Chapter 4: Introduction to Forecasting and Process Dynamics. Chapter 5: Non-Stationary Time Series Models for Process Disturbances. Chapter 6: Repeated Feedback Adjustment. Chapter 7: Periodic Adjustment. Chapter 8: Control of a Process with Inertia. Chapter 9: Explicit Consideration of Monetary Cost. Chapter 10: Cuscore Charts: Looking for Signals in Noise. Chapter 11: Monitoring an Operating Feedback System. Chapter 12: A Brief Review of Time Series Analysis. Bibliography and Further Reading.


Wealth can be transferred on death in a number of different ways, most commonly by will. Yet a person can also use a variety of other means to benefit someone on death. Examples include donationes mortis causa, joint tenancies, trusts, life-insurance contracts and nominations in pension and retirement plans. In the US, these modes of transfer are grouped under the category of 'will-substitutes' and are generally treated as testamentary dispositions. Much has been written about the effect of the use of will-substitutes in the US, but little is generally known about developments in other jurisdictions. For the first time, this collection of contributions looks at will-substitutes in a comparative perspective. It examines mechanisms that pass wealth on death across a number of common law, civil law and mixed legal jurisdictions, and explores the rationale behind their use. It analyses them from different viewpoints, including those of owners of businesses, investors, as well as creditors, family members and dependants. The aims of the volume are to show the complexity and dynamics of wealth transfers on death across jurisdictions, to identify patterns between them, and to report the attitudes towards the different modes of transfer in light of their utility and potential frictions they give rise to with policies and principle underpinning current laws.


We first review the basic theory of a general class of symmetric spaces with canonical reflections, midpoints, and displacement groups. We introduce a notion of gyrogroups established by A. A. Ungar and define gyrovector spaces slightly different from Ungar's setting. We see the categorical equivalence of symmetric spaces and gyrovector spaces with respect to their corresponding operations. In a smooth manifold with spray we define weighted means using the exponential map and develop the Lie-Trotter formula with respect to midpoint operation. Via the idea that we associate a spray with a Loos symmetric space, we construct an analytic scalar multiplication on a smooth gyrocommutative gyrogroup with unique square roots. We furthermore develop the concepts of parallel transport and parallelogram. Later we see that the exponential map associated with spray in the Finsler gyrovector space with seminegative curvature gives us a length minimizing geodesic. Analogous to define a partial order on a vector space, we construct the partial order on the gyrovector space and investigate its properties related with what we call the gyrolines and the cogyrolines. Finally we apply the concept of gyrogroup structure to the setting of density matrices, especially qubits generated by Bloch vectors, and show the equivalence between the set of Bloch vectors and the set of Lorentz boosts.


Long non-coding transcripts from telomeres, called telomeric repeat-containing RNA (TERRA), were identified as blocking telomerase activity (TA), a telomere maintenance mechanism (TMM), in tumors. We expressed recombinant TERRA transcripts in tumor cell lines with TA and with alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) to study effects on TMM and cell growth. Adeno- and lentivirus constructs (AV and LV) were established for transient and stable expression of approximately 130 units of telomere hexanucleotide repeats under control of cytomegalovirus (CMV) and human RNase P RNA H1 (hH1) promoters with and without polyadenylation, respectively. Six human tumor cell lines either using telomerase or ALT were infected and analyzed for TA levels. Pre-infection cells using telomerase had 1%–3% of the TERRA expression levels of ALT cells. AV and LV expression of recombinant TERRA in telomerase positive cells showed a 1.3–2.6 fold increase in TERRA levels, and a decrease in TA of 25%–58%. Dominant-negative or small hairpin RNA (shRNA) viral expression against human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) results in senescence, not induced by TERRA expression. Population doubling time, cell viability and TL (telomere length) were not impacted by ectopic TERRA expression. Clonal growth was reduced by TERRA expression in TA but not ALT cell lines. ALT cells were not affected by treatments applied. Established cell models and tools may be used to better understand the role of TERRA in the cell, especially for targeting telomerase.


Abstract: Flexibility is often attributed to the extent of de-regulation or so-called "a-typical" work such as part time employment, fixed term contracts and self-employment. Based upon a study of that compared flexibility in 8 countries (UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria) using a representative sample survey of those between 18 and 65 carried out in 2001 (N=10123) and a study of policy frameworks, we develop new ways of looking at flexibility which are focused upon the actual work practices of people in the labour market and how they undertake flexibility of time (working hours), place (where the work takes place) and conditions (contract). We argued that based upon these definitions there is in fact a great deal of flexibility in European labour markets, that goes beyond only "atypical" employment. We explore this in the context of the different regimes of regulation found in different European countries. Furthermore, we identify good flexibility associated with highly educated people being able to regulate their own working time and bad flexibility associated with people with low education, low income, often young workers and those found in rural areas. Some types of flexibility were more typical for men and some for women.;


The objective of this study was to determine the time and level of Information Systems (IS) awareness among Kenyan university students and the choice of IS as a field of specialization. The study posited that the choice of a field of specialization is dependent upon a student's awareness of its existence, its utilization in the real world, its career opportunities, and its strategic importance to the country's economic development agenda. It posited further that early IS awareness could have a positive impact on the choice of IS as a field of specialization. The underlying assumptions were that the time of IS awareness as a field of specialization among Kenyan university business students was late and levels low, leading to possible low levels of choice of IS as a field of specialization. Using the survey method, the case study found late and low levels of IS awareness as a field of specialization among university business students. Future studies linking time and levels of IS awareness with choice of IS as a filed of specialization and with existence of requisite IS skills in the country (or lack thereof) are suggested.


The study derives the closed-form solution of the valuation of deposit insurance under forbearance for banks whose capital requirements are either solely based on the 1988 Basel Accord (BA) approach or the VaR-based approach. The study also demonstrates that the deposit insurance liability under BA rises monotonically with portfolio risk, but it is much less risk-sensitive under VaR. It implies that the VaR-based capital regulation is more stable in containing deposit insurance losses and failure probability than the BA capital regulation.


The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis Hendel, is an economic tephritid that invaded Senegal in 2004 (Vayssières et al. 2011). This work determined 1) Impact of B. dorsalis on mango crop production and value, and marketing practices, 2) Effect of neem and kaolin on its behavior and development (laboratory and field), and 3) Effect of treated soil with neem seed cake (NSC) and neem seed powder (NSP) on the larval-pupal survival and development (laboratory and field). Results revealed crop value (price/kg) was associated with infestation levels. P<0.0001, crop value decreased in highly infested orchards. Southern Orchards were heavily infested than northern orchards. Early harvest, orchard sanitation, decreasing the purchase quantity, sorting infested mangoes and lowering prices were strategies used by growers and traders. Laboratory bioassays showed females landed and spent time on fruit identically on control and neem. On kaolin there were fewer landings and less time spent. P<0.0001, mean pupae was higher in control than in treated mangoes. In the field, percent of infested mangoes was higher in neem than in control and kaolin. However, the number of emerged flies was higher in the control than in either the neem or kaolin-treated fruit. Treated soil with NSC and with NSP did not have effect on pupation; all larvae pupated in the lab. However, treated soil decreased significantly the number of emerged flies. In the field, there were no significant differences between untreated and treated soil in number of emerged flies.


The task of narrative visualization has been the subject of increasing interest in recent years. Much like data visualization, narrative visualization offers users an informative and aesthetically pleasing perspective on "storydata." Automatically creating visual representations ofnarratives poses significant computational challenges due to the complex affective and causal elements, among other things, that must be realized in visualizations. In addition, narratives that are composed by novice writers pose additional challenges due to the disfluencies stemming from ungrammatical text. In this paper, we introduce the NARRATIVE THEATRE, a narrative visualization system under development in our laboratory that generates narrative visualizations from middle school writers' text. The NARRATIVE THEATRE consists of a rich writing interface, a robust natural language processor, a narrative reasoner, and a storyboard generator. We discuss design issues bearing on narrative visualization, introduce the NARRATIVE THEATRE, and describe narrative corpora that have been collected to study narrative visualization. We conclude with a discussion of a narrative visualization research agenda.


When an animal becomes infected determines mortality. Immune function varies in a circadian pattern. Gagnidze et al. found that this circadian pattern affected the mortality of mice intranasally infected with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which enters the sensory neurons in the nose, travels to the olfactory bulb, and then infects the brain, causing encephalitis. Most of the mice (95%) infected at the start of the rest period of the cycle (light for mice, ZT0) died, whereas less than half (40%) of those infected at the start of the active period (dark, ZT12) died. Mice infected at both time points exhibited an antiviral and proinflammatory cytokine response, but the pattern of accumulation in the blood differed. ZT0-infected animals had a persistent proinflammatory response with increased concentrations of the proinflammatory cytokine CCL2 and also had sustained accumulation of the anti-inflammatory hormone cortisone. Compared with the olfactory bulb of ZT12-infected mice, the ZT0-infected mice also exhibited increased accumulation of monocytes, macrophages, and effector dendritic cells, which was associated with increased proinflammatory cytokine transcripts. Of the transcripts encoding transcription factors that regulate the circadian cycle, the mRNA for the circadian regulatory transcription factor Rev-ERBα was highest at ZT12 in the olfactory bulb of uninfected mice. Pharmacological inhibition of Rev-ERBα increased the mortality of the ZT12-infected mice, which was associated with an increase in Ccl2 transcripts in the olfactory bulb 12 hours after infection (consistent with the time when Rev-ERBα protein would be present). The authors propose that Rev-ERBα may suppress Ccl2 expression to limit the infiltration of proinflammatory monocytes that cause the excessive neuroinflammation resulting in death. These data show that time of infection is a critical factor in the immune response, which can have profound effects on the outcome of the infection. K. Gagnidze, K. H. Hajdarovic, M. Moskalenko, I. N. Karatsoreos, B. S. McEwen, K. Bulloch, Nuclear receptor REV-ERBα mediates circadian sensitivity to mortality in murine vesicular stomatitis virus-induced encephalitis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 5730–5735 (2016). [PubMed]


One of the most important recent developments in American legal theory is the burgeoning interest in "popular constitutionalism." One of the most important features of the American legal system is the selection of state judges – judges who resolve thousands of state and federal constitutional questions each year – by popular election. Although a large literature addresses each of these subjects, scholarship has rarely bridged the two. Hardly anyone has evaluated judicial elections in light of popular constitutionalism, or vice versa. This Article undertakes that thought experiment. Conceptualizing judicial elections as instruments of popular constitutionalism, the Article aims to show, can enrich our understanding of both. The normative theory of popular constitutionalism can ground a powerful new set of arguments for and against electing judges, while an investigation into the states' experience with elective judiciaries can help clarify a number of lacunae in the theory, as well as a number of ways in which its logic may prove self-undermining. The thought experiment may also be of broader interest. In elaborating the linkages between judicial elections and popular constitutionalism, the Article aims to shed light more generally on some underexplored connections (and tensions) among theories and practices of constitutional construction, democratic representation, jurisprudence, and the state courts.


Cartographic data for the northeastern side of the Monte Amiata area suggest a very complicated geometric setting for the Tuscan Nappe cropping out in the Poggio Zoccolino and Campiglia d9Orcia areas. The occurrence of some outcrops consisting of "Calcare Cavernoso" and "Calcari a Rhaetavicula Contorta" Fms., exposed at the top of the Poggio Zoccolino hill, represents a problem highlighted by previous fieldwork. In fact, the altitude of these Late Triassic Tuscan Nappe formations, bounded by Ligurian l.s. Units, is greater then the Cretaceous-Oligocene "Scaglia Toscana" Fm. which represents the uppermost formation of the Tuscan Nappe, entirely exposed in the easternmost slope of Poggio Zoccolino hill. At the base of Poggio Zoccolino hill, close to Bagni di S. Filippo village, Late Triassic evaporites and the overlying Jurassic carbonate succession crop out; at the top of the hill the "Scaglia Toscana" Fm. is widely exposed and lies on the Jurassic carbonates. Fieldwork and structural analysis have not resolved the problematic geometrical relationships between the Triassic successions ("Calcare Cavernoso" and "Calcari a Rhaetavicula Contorta" Fms.) and the "Scaglia Toscana" Fm. Seismic reflection profiles crossing the study area, acquired by ENEL GreenPower for geothermal purposes, provide new structural information for better understanding of the tectonic evolution and structural setting of the Tuscan Nappe in the Mt. Amiata geothermal area. The seismic interpretation indicates that the Late Triassic formations exposed at the top of the Poggio Zoccolino hill are a Tuscan Nappe sequence probably overthrust during the syn-collisional tectonics of the Northern Apennines.


The contribution focuses on the economies of farming families in the Late Middle Ages that have been researched in recent works about ecclesiastical and secular landowners in Northern Switzerland. It was common for landlords to confer farmsteads as entails – meaning the farms would pass automatically from the tenant to his direct descendants. This gave tenant farmers a great amount of freedom in choosing how to use the land. Many farming families handled their affairs over generations as if they were de facto owners of the property. Land owners may thereby have run the risk of losing their claim to an estate, but the system certainly encouraged tenant farmers to act on their own initiative, as evidenced in forms of cooperation between landlords and tenants in matters of maintenance and agricultural production. Secular landowners in particular took active steps to foster profit-oriented farming among their tenants, for instance by participating in costs and granting loans – in monetary form and in kind – for wine and cattle farming. Such loans, however, also led to increasing economic dependency on the part of the farming families concerned, in addition to their legal dependency. In the day-to-day relations between the farmers and their landlords, cooperation and conflict were never far apart. Conditions had to be renegotiated on an ongoing basis.


Amongst Taiwan's aboriginal tribes, one can observe a great variety of gender relationships; however, merely classifying them in terms of the society's patrilineal or matrilineal character would limit our understanding of the gender contracts? real conditions. This study employs a semi-structured interview methodology to explore the life histories of aboriginal people living or working in Taipei City. In taking as our point of departure the principles of subjective hermeneutics, we hope to give voice to the aboriginal peoples themselves, and allow them to represent their own perception of what gender relationships in their cultures are like. Focusing on the gendered power relations, we examine how the dichotomy between the dominated and dominating/exploited and exploiting is defined, and whether control of property determines the dominating power of one of the sexes. Our discussion focuses on three different dimensions: first, the means of handing down power within one's family (power in social systems); second, conflict and resolution systems (forms of power); and third, the structures of labor division, economy and autonomy (fields of power). We conclude that the description of aboriginal gender relationships cannot be limited to the matriarchal and patriarchal concepts, neither can we, at least in certain cultures, determine the source of power and exploitation on the sole basis of gender. Although socialist and Marxist feminisms presuppose that women's oppression stems from their weak position within the economic autonomy, this theoretical construct needs to be treated with reservations when applied to the cultural realities of the aboriginal societies. Overemphasizing power-control and gender equality within the public sphere may cause one to lose the opportunity to judge gendered power relations from a more equal perspective, thus closing the doors to the possibility of exploring deeper cultural layers. Even though under the pressure of women's movements, social systems transform and gender equality improves, the implicit rules guiding the relationship between an individual and the society remain unaltered. Since these rules are the main cause of cultural differences, rather than merely over-emphasizing gender equality, we choose to focus on the phenomenon of gender contractualization as exhibited in different cultures.


Problem. Teacher migration and attrition are costly to educational institutions and negatively impact students' education. Teachers migrate to other positions and/or leave the profession for different reasons. Research of literature indicated that one influence on the teacher's decision to migrate to another position or to leave the profession is lack of principal support. This sequential mixed-methodology study explores elementary teachers' perception of the relationship between principal support and teacher retention and migration in the rural elementary schools of north-central Pennsylvania. Method. To explore the role of the principal, this sequentially mixed-methodological study used a focus group to identify elementary teachers' perception of principal support, a survey to apply elementary teachers' perception of principal support to a larger group, and, finally, interviews to clarify elementary teachers' perception of principal support. A focus group was used as the primary means of collecting elementary teachers' perceptions of principal support. The focus group data were combined with principal support data from the literature review. To apply the elementary teachers' perceptions of principal support to a larger group, a 16-question survey was conducted with elementary teachers in rural north-central Pennsylvania. For clarification of elementary teachers' perception of principalsupport, the five survey questions with the greatest means were used to generate questions for interviews. Four teachers, 2 male and 2 female, were interviewed. Results. The data from the focus group and literature review generated 88 phrases of principal support. The 88 statements were grouped according into 16 common themes. The 16 themes were used to develop questions for the survey. The results of the survey indicated that the survey actually measured two different constructs. The means of the negative-posed questions were consistently lower than themeans of the positive-posed questions, indicating that it takes greater activation energy to leave a position because of lack of principal support than it takes to stay in a teaching position because of such support. The survey question with the top five means were: 1. The principal assigns me to an area that ensures my success. 2. The principal builds trust with the teachers at the school. 3. The principal is fair to me. 4. The principal supports me when dealing with student discipline. 5. The principal clearly communicates expectations from me. These were used as a basis to conduct the interviews. Interviews. The differences between the positive means and the negative means of thesurvey and four of the five interview questions indicated that the principal is a component of the teacher's position but the principal is not the determining factor in deciding whether to stay in or leave the position. The interviews appeared to support the survey: Leaving appeared to require greater activation energy. The responses in the interviews indicated that the principal actions were connected and that the individual actions affected each other. For example, fairness was connected to trust. Trust was connected to accepting where the principal assigned the teacher. The interviews also indicated that teachers were willing to endure some lack of support; however, there could be a tipping point where they were no longer willing to stay because oflack of support. The differences of the positive means and the negative means of thesurvey indicated that a greater amount of activation energy was needed to leave theposition because of lack of support than to stay in a teaching position because of such support. Hence, teachers might be willing to endure some lack of principal support without leaving. Conclusions. The role of the principal in teacher migration and retention is limited. While the principal is a component of the teaching position, the principal is not the determining factor in deciding to stay in the teaching position or the decision to leave the teaching profession. To make the decision of migrating requires greater activation energy than staying in the position. Principal actions are interrelated; one affects another. Teachers are willing to endure some lack of principal support; however, discussion revealed that there is a tipping point that can lead to migration or attrition.


Ethics committees ar becoming much more visible on the Canadian health care scene. They range from research-ethics committees that decide whether research projects are ethically sound to case-oriented committees that look at particular issues and give advice. Eike-Henner Kluge says that ethics committees are useful tools, but only when they are appropriately constituted and function in a professional manner. Otherwise, he warns, they become either useless or a liability.


Over the past two years the spread of waterless printing has accelerated noticeably. For the fiscal year ending March 2012, shipment volume was at its highest level since analogue positive waterless printing plates went on sale in 1979. The Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA) Cortina rotary press is being introduced by companies across Europe, while Japanese ones are switching from five- or six-unit press models to waterless.