Marinesco–Sjögren syndrome (MSS; MIM 248800) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by congenital cerebellar ataxia, early cataracts, developmental delay, myopathy and short stature. Alterations in the gene SIL1 cause MSS in some patients with typical findings. In this study, molecular investigations including sequencing of the SIL1 gene, western blotting and microscopic investigations in fibroblast cultures were carried out in a cohort of 15 patients from 14 unrelated families, including the large, inbred family reported by Superneau et al., having the clinical features of MSS to provide insights into the pathophysiology of the disorder. A total of seven different mutations were found in eight of the patients from seven families. The mutations caused loss of the BIP‐associated protein (BAP) protein in four patients by western blot. Novel clinical features such as dental abnormalities, iris coloboma, eczema and hormonal abnormalities were noticed in some patients, but there was no clear way to distinguish those with and without SIL1 mutations. Cultured fibroblasts contained numerous cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, similar to those identified in the brain of the whoozy mouse in five unrelated patients, three with and two without SIL1 mutations, suggesting some SIL1 negative patients share a common cellular pathogenesis with those who are SIL1 positive.


PRESIDENT-ELECT Kathleen Thelen Kathleen Thelen is Ford Professor of Political Science at MIT. She received her BA from the University of Kansas and her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Thelen is a comparativist whose work focuses on the origins and evolution of political-economic institutions in the rich democracies. Her latest book, Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity (2014), received the Barrington Moore Prize and was co-winner of Best Book in the European Politics and Society Section. A previous work, How Institutions Evolve, was selected for the 2006 Mattei Dogan Award, and shared the 2005 Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award. Thelen has also contributed to the literature on institutional analysis, including Advances in Comparative Historical Analysis (2015) and Explaining Institutional Change (2010), both coedited with James Mahoney, Beyond Continuity (2005, with Wolfgang Streeck) and Structuring Politics (1992, with Sven Steinmo). Her article "Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics" remains the most cited and most downloaded contribution to the Annual Review of Political Science. Her work has also appeared in a number of journals, including World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and Politics & Society, among others. Thelen has been awarded fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study (Berlin), Radcliffe Institute, Oxford University, the Max-Planck-Society, and the AmericanScandinavian Foundation, among others. She is a Permanent External Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, and has held visiting appointments in Europe (Sweden, UK, France, Denmark) and Latin America (Mexico, Argentina). She was chair of the Council for European Studies (2002–2006) and President of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (2008–2009). Along with Erik Wibbels, she edits the Cambridge University Press Series in Comparative Politics. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (since 2015) and its German equivalent, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (since 2009). Thelen has been active in the association, most recently as a member of APSA Council and Treasurer. She has also served on numerous committees and as an officer in several Organized Sections—Comparative Politics (president), Politics and History (president), Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (vice-president), and European Politics and Society (treasurer).


We present a new data structure for rendering highly complex virtual environments of arbitrary topology. The special feature of our approach is that it allows an interactive navigation in very large scenes (30 GB/400 million polygons in our benchmark scenes) that cannot be stored in main memory, but only on a local or remote hard disk. Furthermore, it allows interactive rendering of substantially more complex scenes by instantiating objects. The sampling process is done in the preprocessing. There, the polygons are randomly distributed in our hierarchical data structure, the randomized sample tree. This tree uses only space that is linear in the number of polygons. In order to produce an approximate image of the scene, the tree is traversed and polygons stored in the visited nodes are rendered. During the interactive walk-through, parts of the sample tree are loaded from a local or remote hard disk. We implement our algorithm in a prototypical walk-through system. Analysis and experiments show that the quality of our images is comparable to images computed by the conventional z-buffer algorithm regardless of the scene topology.


CARIFORUM countries have identified a number of priority industries and niche sectors that span manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, and other service sectors, which are viewed as having strong potential to contribute to economic growth and development. However, these sectors face a number of challenges to realize their potential, including limited markets, low labor productivity and inadequate skills for market demand, high energy and transportation costs, and high levels of debt. In order to overcome challenges to private sector growth, best practice suggests that analyzing the environment for private sector development and identifying specific barriers to growth are critical steps toward making these sectors more competitive regionally and globally. This project aims to make a contribution in this regard via the use of a value chain methodology. The industry selected for this project was the ecotourism industry, and it was studied in the context of four countries: The Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. The ecotourism value chain was analyzed. Challenges to the development of the ecotourism industry were identified in the selected countries, and a roadmap was proposed.


Higher education expenditures persistently rise due to various economic, demographic and socio-cultural reasons. This caused repeated calls for reforms of the economic model in the higher education sector and dramatically increased the importance of the economic evaluations in the last decades due to concerns for efficiency. The above academic challenges led us to pioneering an attempt to evaluate the capabilities of financial management tools for three Western Balkan countries, i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. The precondition for successful reform processes is certainly a comprehensive and high-quality accounting information system that meets not only the requirements of external reporting but also the requirements of internal users, especially the management of HEIs. In that context, the main aim of this paper is to overview the legal and organizational accounting systems' characteristics focusing on external and internal reporting requirements, and study the level of development and usage of cost accounting at HEIs in selected countries. Therefore, our paper employs research methodology based on the survey conducted. The results show great differences in legal and organizational characteristics of accounting systems among the countries as well as in the development stages of cost accounting systems, which mainly focus on inconsistent overhead allocation as well as different accounting basis usage. The research results confirm poorly conceptualised and structured reporting of accounting information for management purposes, offering several applicable platforms for creation of performance management approaches and strategies in the public sector.


BACKGROUND & AIMS: Long-term treatment with entecavir resulted in durable virologic suppression and continued histologic improvement in nucleoside-naive chronic hepatitis B patients. Patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis, who received long-term entecavir treatment, were evaluated for improvement in liver histology. METHODS: The study included a subset of patients from phase III and long-term rollover studies, who received entecavir for at least 3 years, had advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis, and evaluable biopsies at baseline and after long-term treatment. RESULTS: Ten patients had advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis at baseline (Ishak fibrosis score, 4). After approximately 6 years of cumulative entecavir therapy (range, 267‐297 wk), all 10 patients showed improvement in liver histology and Ishak fibrosis score. The mean change from baseline in Ishak fibrosis and Knodell necroinflammatory scores were 2.2 and 7.6, respectively. A reduction in Ishak fibrosis score to 4 or less was observed for all 4 patients who had cirrhosis at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic hepatitis B patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis demonstrated histologic improvement and reversal of fibrosis and cirrhosis after long-term treatment with entecavir.


This technical note presents orientation for project teams and clients on how to reconcile the financing of chemical plants with climate change objectives. In lieu of minimum performance criteria, it provides quantitative benchmarks by which to prioritize levels of attention. It also provides guidance on assessing and encouraging the reduction of projects' greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the best available appropriate technologies. The present document in form of a technical note, therefore, conveys an approach to financing chemical plants in a manner consistent with the IDB's commitment to protecting the environment and reducing adverse impacts on the global climate, as established in its Environment and Safeguards Compliance Policy.


BACKGROUND
studies show that overweight and obesity are the result of a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors that begins prenatally. In evidence of this relationship the potential impact of prenatal nutrition experience in the development of the endocrine and neuroendocrine systems that regulate energy balance, with special emphasis on leptin, an adipocytederived hormone. Different authors relate the risk of obesity with rapid weight gain in the first years of life. Breastfeeding children have a lower degree of abdominal adiposity and, therefore, lower waist circumference. Similarly, it has been associated with exclusively breastfeeding with a slower weight gain rate of about 20 %. In the study of obesity, a rebound effect is considered when the child recovers its initial weight a year after finishing the procedure. This problem is common, therefore family intervention is essential in order to achieve the child's motivation to lead a healthy life. For this review we have selected studies to evaluate interventions of medium and long term in childhood obesity, ensuring adherence to treatment and the rebound effect, once the intervention ended.

AIM
to review studies examining the rebound effect and adherence to weight loss treatments for children and adolescents with overweight and obesity.

METHOD
the systematic review was prepared following the PRISMA guidelines. Are selected 19 studies related to the proposed issue.

RESULTS
several authors have established the beneficial short and long term effects of interventions that combine diet and physical activity among obese children. These results show the importance of multidisciplinary treatment programs for childhood obesity, emphasizing its encouraging longterm effects.

CONCLUSIONS
there are studies were the rebound effect in short duration programs is evident. During interventions it is significantly reduced BMI, but then increased quickly to reach even higher levels initial weight. The most effective type of actions tend to be those including the family and schools, they are multidisciplinary and they have a duration longer than 1 year.


A review of our recent advances in the multi-look SAR processing technique is presented. The problem of the formation of high-quality multi-look SAR images under unstable aircraft flight conditions is solved with a built-in geometric correction algorithm together with a radiometric correction approach with an extended number of looks. A novel technique for 3D topography retrieving with a conventional strip-map SAR is described. New benefits from building multi-looks SAR images are demonstrated. The proposed solutions are supported by radar data obtained with a Ku-band airborne SAR.


This case study examined the pre-service teacher's dispositional development in one small, undergraduate preparation program. The author conducted personal interviews with four former students and two faculty members, and analyzed and triangulated the data with archived artifacts. The study revealed four distinct expressions for dispositional development in the pre-service program: an early and sustained focus on dispositions, modeling by faculty, as well as embedded coursework and multiple practice contexts, with particular emphasis on clinical experience contexts. The four expressions functioned in tandem to foster dispositional development in the pre-service teacher. The research revealed that because the dispositional focus was embedded and integrated throughout the program, the pre-service teacher appeared to carry the dispositional awareness into the first professional teaching position. This conclusion validated the increasing burden and responsibility for pre-service programs to prepare highly qualified teachers with dispositions or heart for career longevity. Of particular significance, faculty and student participants acknowledged the unique link between the program's dispositions and the college's faith-based approach. The study affirmed the pre-service program's efforts to implement a dispositional focus with recommendations to compare programs of similar size, as well as conduct follow up interviews with participants in a longitudinal study to trace the program's dispositional efforts.


A positive relationship between the number of siblings and a child's chance of being stunted has been seen in several studies. It is possible that individual stunting risks are also raised by high fertility in the community, partly because of the impact of aggregate fertility on the local economy, but this issue has not been addressed in earlier investigations. In this study we estimate the independent effect of the child dependency ratio in the province (or governorate, region, or larger geopolitical zone within a country), using DHS data on up to 145,000 children in 152 provinces in 23 countries with at least two such surveys. The data design allows inclusion of lagged province variables and province fixed effects (to control for constant unobserved province characteristics). Three types of regression models for a child's chance of being stunted are estimated. Some estimates suggest an adverse effect of the current child dependency ratio, net of the child's number of siblings, while others do not point in this direction. When the child dependency ratio measured in an earlier survey is included instead, no significant effects appear. Thus, we conclude that there is only weak support for the idea that a child's stunting risk may be raised by high fertility in the community.


Two Historic Cemeteries in Crawford County, Arkansas. ROBERT C. MAINFORT, JR. and JAMES M. DAVIDSON (eds.). Arkansas Archeological Survey, Research Series No. 62, Fayetteville, 2006. viii + 261 pp., figs., tables, appendices, biblio. $30.00 (cloth), ISBN 1-56349-101-X. Reviewed by Kristina Killgrove In 2001, two small historic cemeteries in Crawford County, Arkansas, were threatened by expansion of Lake Fort Smith. The Becky Wright and Eddy Cemeteries were located less than a mile apart and were used in the latter half of the nineteenth century by the community of Frog Bayou. Excavation of these cemeteries was undertaken to remove the human remains and personal effects for reinterment elsewhere. The authors' research goal was to integrate all the archaeological information recovered from these two cemeteries as well as to tackle questions about typology, chronology, and socioeconomics that have not been fully addressed in previous literature. In the seven chapters of this monograph, the authors exhaustively catalogue and interpret the artifacts, human remains, and stratigraphie clues from 26 burials. The result of this work is a window into the social context of burial in a rural community at the end of the nineteenth century. Following a short introduction (chapter 1 by Robert Mainfort and James Davidson) and a brief report on archaeo-geophysical prospection and mapping (chapter 2 by Jami Lockhart), chapter 3 by James Davidson, Maria Tavaszi, and Robert Mainfort presents descriptions of each burial in the two cemeteries. Data such as the age and sex of the deceased, artifacts associated with the burial, and the form of the grave shaft itself are presented in list form. Each burial also includes a "coffin summary" that describes the probable form of the coffin as well as an overall "burial interpretation." This method of presenting data and interpretation together is unique in reports on historic cemeteries, and the authors encourage other researchers to follow their lead. The authors' use of photographs of tombstones, excavation plans, summary, and interpretation in this chapter serves both to document two cemeteries that have now disappeared and to allow the reader to visualize and understand the graves. Chapter 4 by Peggy Lloyd and Robert Mainfort deals with the history of the Becky Wright and Eddy Cemeteries. Based on censuses, land patents, and other historical information, the people buried in these cemeteries are tracked through the years. The ways in which land ownership and life histories of the individuals in this small community intertwine are interesting and add personal details to the skeletal remains. Information collected on the poorly preserved human remains is presented in chapter 5 by Diana Wilks. For each individual, age, sex, and biological affinity were estimated, an inventory was taken, and pathologies were observed, all based on standard bioarchaeological techniques. A verbal summary of each individual is also included. At both cemeteries, the adult sex ratio was more or less equal, although the Eddy cemetery had more subadult burials than the Becky Wright cemetery. There are some striking typographical errors in the biological and pathological terms used, as well as questionable interpretations about nonmetric traits. This chapter, however, is exhaustive, with all possible information gleaned from the fragmentary human remains. Chapter 6 constitutes the bulk of the monograph, comprising 125 pages on material culture, chronology, and socioeconomics. Davidson begins with a discussion of the physical grave shafts, specifically the fact that the majority of the graves at Becky Wright were vaulted. …


Underwater stereo-video photogrammetry was used to document the pectoral fin positions of various life-history stages of the critically endangered east Australian population of the grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) during normal swimming behaviour at multiple aggregation sites. A wide range in pectoral fin positions was recorded with dihedral pectoral fin angles ranging from –25 to 88°. Pectoral fin angles varied significantly among sites and this was attributed to the differing navigational and energetic requirements of the sharks. There was no significant relationship between pectoral fin angles and distances separating the shark and scuba diver. The wide range in pectoral fin angles, interactive use of the fins during swimming, low-energy behaviours of the sharks at aggregation sites and absence of 'fight' response agonistic behaviour indicated that the species does not exhibit agonistic pectoral fin depression. Reports of agonistic pectoral fin depression in the grey nurse shark obtained with visual estimates should be treated as preliminary observations requiring further testing using accurate sampling methods such as stereo photogrammetry. It is important that diver compliance with existing management guidelines that prohibit divers from chasing or harassing grey nurse sharks and blocking cave and gutter entrances is maintained.


Comparison of the Gideon (Judg 6:11–24) and Moses (Exod 3:1–15) call narratives raises the question of whether they are different manifestations of the same literary convention—a biblical "type-scene" of appointment and investiture—or display literary dependence. I suggest that their affinity goes beyond the shared features of the call-narrative convention and argue that the author of the Gideon narrative deliberately created direct literary links between the protagonist's investiture and that of Moses—the archetypical biblical leader—as a means of elevating Gideon's stature.


Genetic studies in patients with severe early-onset obesity have provided insights into the molecular and physiological pathways that regulate body weight in humans. We report a 19-year-old male with hyperphagia and severe obesity, mild learning difficulties and hypogonadism, in whom diagnostic tests for Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) had been negative. We carried out detailed clinical and metabolic phenotyping of this patient and investigated the genetic basis of this obesity syndrome using Agilent 185 k array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and Affymetrix 6.0 genotyping arrays. The identified deletion was validated using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and long-range PCR, followed by breakpoint sequencing which enabled precise localization of the deletion. We identified a approximately 187 kb microdeletion at chromosome 15q11-13 that encompasses non-coding small nucleolar RNAs (including HBII-85 snoRNAs) which were not expressed in peripheral lymphocytes from the patient. Characterization of the clinical phenotype revealed increased ad libitum food intake, normal basal metabolic rate when adjusted for fat-free mass, partial hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and growth failure. We have identified a novel deletion on chromosome 15q11-13 in an individual with hyperphagia, obesity, hypogonadism and other features associated with PWS, which is normally caused by deficiency of several paternally expressed imprinted transcripts within chromosome 15q11-13, a region that includes multiple protein-coding genes as well as several non-coding snoRNAs. These findings provide direct evidence for the role of a particular family of non-coding RNAs, the HBII-85 snoRNA cluster, in human energy homeostasis, growth and reproduction.


Corals are known to have both high phenotypic plasticity and significant capacity for acclimatisation, either through physiological, biochemical and behavioural responses to environmental stochasticity, or through contributions of symbiotic Symbiodinium to the physiological tolerance of the coral holobiont. Local adaptation is suggested by the fact that populations along environmental gradients maintain differences in environmental tolerance after acclimatisation to the same condition, as well as by the existence of correlations between the genetic diversity of coral hosts and environmental gradients in natural coral populations. However, no study has yet identified genetic markers underlying stress tolerance variation in corals.

The research presented here aims to improve knowledge of the adaptive importance of genetic diversity within coral populations by: (1) developing a cost- and time-efficient single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping method that accurately estimates allele frequencies from pooled samples (Chapter 2); (2) investigating correlations between allele frequencies at candidate loci and temperature and water quality gradients along the Great Barrier Reef (Chapter 3); (3) validating genotypeenvironment correlations at candidate loci for phenotypes associated with bleaching tolerance in both field and laboratory settings (Chapter 4); and, (4) predicting the spatial distribution of allele frequencies at the anti-oxidant capacity loci identified in Chapter 4 through Bayesian belief network modelling (Chapter 5).

SNPs are the most common type of genetic variation and are present at both functional and neutral loci, making them ideal markers to study adaptive molecular variation. SNP allele frequency distributions can be used to identify coral populations that show signatures of adaptation to local environmental conditions, because the frequency of genetic variants (i.e., alleles) will vary with selection for or against these mutations and any other linked loci that affect fitness of the organism. Examination of genomic signatures of environmental change at the population level provides information about the resilience of coral populations at broad geographical scales. Genotyping of pooled DNA for estimating allelic proportions provides a time- and costeffective method for large sample sets. In Chapter 2, I introduce two quantitative High Resolution Melting (qHRM) methods for measuring allele frequencies at known SNP loci in pooled DNA samples: the "peaks" method, which can be applied to large numbers of SNPs, and the "curves" method, which is more labour intensive but also more accurate.

In Chapter 3, the distributions of SNP allele frequencies at five functional loci were investigated in 25 populations of Acropora millepora along the Great Barrier Reef using the curves genotyping method. Significant correlations between allele frequencies and gradients in both water quality and temperature were detected at two functional loci.

In Chapter 4, I validated the two genetic markers as true quantitative trait loci for anti-oxidant capacity in the common coral, A. millepora. Field surveys revealed that colonies carrying G and T alleles, respectively, at the two loci were significantly less affected by two bleaching events. These results were corroborated in an aquariumbased experiment showing constitutively higher anti-oxidant capacity of colonies with these alleles, particularly in the homozygous state. These genetic markers are located on different chromosomes and closely linked to a range of genes involved in bleachingassociated processes, such as thermal, hypoxic and oxidative stress, suggesting they are indicative of tolerance to a multitude of environmental perturbations.

Markers such as the ones identified in this study provide an opportunity to use environmental mapping to identify populations that are resistant to a range of environmental stressors. In Chapter 5, a spatial Bayesian belief network (BBN) model was developed to predict GBR-wide spatial distributions of allele frequencies at the antioxidant capacity locus C29226S281. A combination of long-term environmental monitoring data, allele frequency data, expert input and statistical evaluation was used to build the model, with the goal of refining prior beliefs and examining dependencies among environmental variables that are proxy indicators of selective forces on allele frequencies at locus C29226S281. The model predicts that a high allele frequency is correlated with poor water quality and large fluctuations in sea temperatures. The Bayesian simulation approach demonstrates that the synergism between highly fluctuating sea temperatures and high nitrate concentrations may be the primary driver in selecting alleles at this locus. High temperature fluctuation in isolation does not increase the probability of finding high allele frequencies. Consistent with this, spatial mapping of predicted allele frequencies reveals that increased anti-oxidant capacity alleles are most likely to be concentrated near the mouths of the Burdekin and Fitzroy Rivers, where nutrient levels are chronically high. Coupling GIS and BBN enables visualisation of the model output, specifically qualitative measurements of allele frequencies, enabling non-experts to explore and interpret complex interactions between environmental and genetic factors.

This thesis provides compelling evidence that the two loci identified are true QTLs associated with responses to bleaching-associated stressors. Correlations between the spatial distribution of allele frequencies and genotypic variation associated with bleaching tolerance at the loci indicate the existence of adaptive genetic diversity in current coral populations. These findings open up opportunities for novel coral reef management approaches, such as spatial mapping of stress tolerance for use in Marine Protected Area design, the identification of stress tolerant colonies for assisted migration and marker-assisted selective breeding to create more tolerant genotypes for restoration of denuded reefs.


Integral imaging (II) is an important 3D imaging technology. To reconstruct 3D information of the viewed objects, modeling and calibrating the optical pickup process of II are necessary. This work focuses on the modeling and calibration of an II system consisting of a lenslet array, an imaging lens, and a charge-coupled device camera. Most existing work on such systems assumes a pinhole array model (PAM). In this work, we explore a generic camera model that accommodates more generality. This model is an empirical model based on measurements, and we constructed a setup for its calibration. Experimental results show a significant difference between the generic camera model and the PAM. Images of planar patterns and 3D objects were computationally reconstructed with the generic camera model. Compared with the images reconstructed using the PAM, the images present higher fidelity and preserve more high spatial frequency components. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt in applying a generic camera model to an II system.


DCs and macrophages both express the chemokine receptor CX3CR1. Here we demonstrate that its ligand, CX3CL1, is highly expressed in the murine kidney and intestine. CX3CR1 deficiency markedly reduced DC numbers in the healthy and inflamed kidney cortex, and to a lesser degree in the kidney medulla and intestine, but not in other organs. CX3CR1 also promoted influx of DC precursors in crescentic glomerulonephritis, a DC-dependent aggressive type of nephritis. Disease severity was strongly attenuated in CX3CR1-deficient mice. Primarily CX3CR1-dependent DCs in the kidney cortex processed antigen for the intrarenal stimulation of T helper cells, a function important for glomerulonephritis progression. In contrast, medullary DCs played a specialized role in inducing innate immunity against bacterial pyelonephritis by recruiting neutrophils through rapid chemokine production. CX3CR1 deficiency had little effect on the immune defense against pyelonephritis, as medullary DCs were less CX3CR1 dependent than cortical DCs and because recruited neutrophils produced chemokines to compensate for the DC paucity. These findings demonstrate that cortical and medullary DCs play specialized roles in their respective kidney compartments. We identify CX3CR1 as a potential therapeutic target in glomerulonephritis that may involve fewer adverse side effects, such as impaired anti-infectious defense or compromised DC functions in other organs.


Currently there is a considerable interest in the development of digital communication techniques. This interest is due to the development of distributed processing concepts,1,2,3to changing regulatory policies of the US Government (the Carterfone decision and subsequent FCC rulings), and to the development of large networks.4 One widely used communication technique that has tremendous growth potential is circuit switching. There are two primary reasons for computer-oriented people to be interested in circuit switching. First, the computer plays a major role in the control and implementation of a circuit switch.5 Second, circuit switches have been used as the interconnection structure for systems containing (or hypothesized to contain) a multiplicity of processing elements.2,5,6


Mathematics, one of the ancient occupations through the history of humanity, is accepted as a discipline where abstract concepts are predominant and which contains generalities. When evaluated from the point of perception of abstract concepts and working with such concepts, it becomes evident that certain difficulties are experienced during learning and teaching process. One of methods used to overcome such difficulties is to correlate with everyday life and to present samples from real life to the individual. By this means, mathematical concepts can be materialised and lasting learning can be achieved. Even if we are not aware, almost every object or incident around us has a mathematical basis and a relation with mathematics. One of the most express examples to this relation is the Fibonacci numbers, observed in the order of plants, flowers, their leaves even their seed in the nature. This study includes the demonstration the compliance of relation between biology and mathematics, the order of seeds in the sunflower receptacle with the field of mathematics, taking the interdisciplinary study as basis, using Geogebra, one of the information technology tools developed for the field of mathematics and the evaluation of this practice developed by prospective teachers. Herewith it is aimed to emphasise the importance of interdisciplinary studies. In this study, the opinions of prospective biology and mathematics teachers are obtained and consequently it has been found out that they have positive opinion on the establishment of interdisciplinary relation. Furthermore, although it is not nominated as the main research question, it is understood that the information technology tools cannot be used only for materialisation of mathematics but also for establishment interdisciplinary relation.


Journey time surveys were carried out during spring 2013 as part of an analysis of dwell-time on the Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor (QBC), a key arterial bus corridor accessing Dublin city centre from its suburbs. The focus of the study was to understand the pattern of dwell-time on the corridor and to identify potential areas, if any, where service levels may be enhanced. The study should provide a beneficial and detailed observation of in-journey bus operations. This in turn can help to understand the impact of ticketing, boarding/alighting and other aspects of journey dwell within a high-level of service bus corridor. The Stillorgan QBC, between Foxrock Church and Leeson Street Bridge, comprises of 28 bus stops, 32 signalised junctions and measures approximately 9km. There are 60 locations, exclusive of running-time delays, where there is the potential for dwell to occur. 21 inbound journey time surveys were carried out in the morning commuter peak period over 7 days between the hours of 07:00 and 10:00, with 3 surveys carried out every day, one in each hour. Approximately 1,200 passenger boardings and 900 alightings were recorded. Individual fare transaction times were also surveyed. Several key findings emerged from the study. Dwell at junctions accounts for 13% of total journey time, with boarding and alighting accounting for 23%. 59% of passengers surveyed alight at four individual stops, and 24% of those surveyed board at two individual stops. Journey times are very variable, with a difference of 23 minutes between shortest and longest journeys (a variance of 110%). This has improved considerably since the last QBC Monitoring Report in 2010 when variances of 259% were recorded. Pre-paid tickets are the most popular and fastest method of payment with 55% of those surveyed using this method. Pre-paid ticket users take on average 7 seconds to board. There is no time-saving for LEAP Card (e-purse) users, who take on average 10 seconds to board (being the same for cash payers). The findings present evidence to support the implementation of off-board ticket purchase and/or the removal of both cash and e-purse ticket transactions from services. Service planning improvements, such as the consolidation of stops, multi-door entry/exit systems and measures to improve performance at junctions, are also suggested.


Bryan Garner is the most trusted living usage expert of our day, and Garner's Modern English Usage is the preeminent guide to the effective use of the English language. With well over 6,000 entries on English grammar, syntax, word choice, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and style, this book is adored by professional writers and general readers alike. In this major update to a timeless classic, Bryan Garner has dramatically expanded coverage of international English usage, making the volume for the first time a guide not only to American English usage, but to English usage around the globe. Interest in the English language is greater than ever; English is the lingua franca not only of higher education and academia, but of science, business, computing, aviation, and even - arguably - entertainment. An awareness of global English matters today as never before. To ensure that Bryan Garner's clear, unambiguous advice resonates with English-speakers worldwide, more than 2,000 entries have been revised to account for the nuances of English not only in the United States, but in Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and South Africa. Not everything has changed: readers will still find the popular "Garner's Language-Change Index" which registers where each disputed usage in modern English falls on a five-stage continuum from non-acceptability (to the language community as a whole) to acceptability, giving the book a consistent standard throughout. Bryan Garner's tools for scientific accuracy are, however, fully updated: this fourth edition benefits from usage data generated by Google Ngrams, which charts frequencies of any word or short sentence in sources printed after 1800. With thousands of concise entries, longer essays on problematic areas such as subject-verb agreement and danglers, and meticulous citations of the New York Times, Newsweek, and other leading journalistic sources, this fourth edition of Garner's Modern English Usage provides priceless reference information to anyone hoping to improve as a writer - worldwide.


Dr. Don Berwick, a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, often calls the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act "majestic." The legislation's noble intention was to expand health insurance to nearly all United States residents. There were notable and intentional exceptions including immigrants without some form of legal status. Even with its compromises and conditions, the Affordable Care Act promised to give millions of people ongoing access to health care.


Abstract American critics of the Barack Obama administration's 2011 "pivot to Asia" policy claim that, despite the lofty rhetoric, the United States has pursued an anemic strategy in Asia. Chinese critics of the pivot to Asia assert that it is a bellicose strategy aimed at containing China's rise. These two conflicting criticisms are addressed in a detailed historical narrative that traces the development and implementation of U.S. strategy, based on declassified documents, some of which have never before been made public, and extensive in-depth interviews with senior policymakers. Neither American nor Chinese critics of the pivot to Asia are correct. If this policy is properly dated and measured, the United States undertook a substantive military, diplomatic, and later economic reorientation toward Asia. That reorientation started in the mid-2000s, well before the pivot announcement. The aim of the reorientation was not to contain China's rise. Rather, the United States sought to manage China's growth through a blend of internal and external balancing combined with expanded engagement with China. These means were intended to work symbiotically to expand the combined power of the United States and its allies and partners in Asia, and to dissuade China from bidding for hegemony. The ultimate effect of the reorientation strategy—if successful—would be to preserve the existing power balance in the region, in which the United States has held the superior position.


The aperture pattern of pollen grains is a character defined as the number, shape, and position of apertures. Although this character is highly variable in angiosperms, two states are particularly widespread. Pollen grains with one polar aperture occur frequently in basal angiosperms and monocots while tricolpate pollen is a synapomorphy of the eudicots. Many morphological characters are the result of a compromise between selective forces (acting on morphology) and developmental constraints (limiting the range of possible morphologies). To investigate what are the respective roles of development and selection in the determination of aperture pattern in angiosperms, we have chosen to study the characteristics of cell division during male meiosis, since it has been shown that aperture pattern is determined during microsporogenesis. The present study focuses on Asparagales. From a selection of species belonging to the major families of Asparagales, we described the type of cytokinesis, the way callose is deposited, the shape of the tetrad, as well as the shape and position of apertures within the tetrad. We show that although pollen morphology is quite uniform in Asparagales (most species produce monosulcate pollen), the characteristics of cell division during male meiosis vary among families. A highly conserved developmental sequence is observed in higher Asparagales whereas lower Asparagales, and particularly Iridaceae, display different ways of achieving cell division.


I suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. The shadows are there, all of them, out there, those from my childhood, and those from books, and particularly those from my dreams. I get up. I walk forward on tiptoe. I chase shadows that disappear, that fade under the electric light, in rooms, bathrooms, through closets, from step to step, in the staircases, under beds, in the corners of curtains. Nothing remains but the house lit up from top to bottom like a screen on which shadows go by [. . .]. From that to the cinema, there is only one step. You can see why I love-why I adore-the movies. They are the endless play of all shadows, a dream in black and white.-Josephine Baker (1949)1This meditation on shadows and cinema appears in Josephine Baker's autobiography, a work assembled by journalist Marcel Sauvage. In her translation and analysis of the passage, Claudine Raynaud detects the uncanny revision of Plato's cave-fire made electric light-and a subtle break in the convention of autobiographical contracts.2 Here, reality and imaginary, memory and dream dissolve in a tangle, undermining the promise of coherent stories and subjects. From the depth of successive interiors (bathrooms, stairs, bedrooms) and the privilege of shared perspective, Baker repositions her readers outside, looking in. Nothing remains. The house becomes a screen of flickering shadows, and the startled star, ransacking the intimate corners of her life at midnight, disappears. More than allegorical double or autobiographical anecdote, this passage replays scenes from Baker's cinematic life: the chase through bathrooms and bedrooms in La Sirene des tropiques (Henri Etievant and Mario Nalpas, FR, 1927); the hyperbolic shadows that precede and accompany Baker's appearance on stage in Zou Zou (Marc Allegret, FR, 1934); and the extended domestic dreamscape of Princesse Tam-Tam (Edmond Greville, FR, 1935). The shadows of cinema-of Baker's cinema and the Cinema-stretch across this brief reflection. They are subversive, defiant, out there even in the dark.The play of shadows that Baker ascribes to cinema and produces in this autobiographical remix likewise resonates with the practice and theory of the inter-war avant-garde. As Denis Hollier chases shadows across surrealist painting, photography, and autobiography, he reminds us that the shadow is a privileged indexical sign. Shadows are cast on the spot, at the instant of an object's presence. They signify "less the representation of an object, than the effect of an event."3 While the shadow-sign is contemporaneous with its object, the surrealist shadows are multiple, wandering, torn from their objects, or born of objects impaled upon the iconic surface of painted canvas. They introduce "an indecision that makes it difficult to know if one is faced with a real shadow or a represented one, if one is looking at a cast shadow or its image, if one is inside a space of the indexical type or looking at a space of the iconic kind."4 For the first wave of experimental filmmakers in the 1910s and '20s, cinema extended the possibilities of this kind of indexical and temporal shadow play. Where Maxim Gorky saw "not life but the shadow of life [. . .] not movement but the soundless shadow of movement" in 1896, early film theorists like Louis Aragon, Antonin Artaud, Jean Epstein, Louis Delluc, and Germaine Dulac theorized a secret or second life in cinema, a kingdom of specters that could disrupt, confuse, and surpass the object-shadow indexes of everyday life.5 Not shadows of life, but shadows with lives of their own.While no doubt there is much work to be done in the space between the early twentieth-century avant-garde and Josephine Baker (the parallel tracks of automatic writing and improvisatory dance come immediately to mind), I do not explore these connections in this essay. Nor do I recuperate Baker's cinema for the first wave of experimental European filmmaking. Rather, I read Baker's films as engaged in precisely the kind of "endless play of all shadows" that she describes, one that muddles the distinctions between index and icon, reality and representation, subject and screen. …


Privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) is increasingly demanded in real-world applications, e.g., in the health-care domain, to combine person-related data for data analysis while preserving the privacy of individuals. However, the adoption of PPRL is hampered by the absence of easy-to-use and powerful PPRL tools covering the entire PPRL process. We therefore demonstrate Primat, a flexible and scalable tool that enables the definition and application of tailored PPRL workflows as well as the comparative evaluation of different PPRL methods. We introduce the main requirements for PPRL tools and discuss previous tool efforts that do not fully meet the requirements and have not been applied in practice. By contrast, Primat covers the whole PPRL life-cycle and improves applicability by providing various components for data owners and the central linkage to be executed by a trusted linkage unit. PVLDB Reference Format: Martin Franke, Ziad Sehili, Erhard Rahm. PRIMAT: A Toolbox for Fast Privacy-preserving Matching. PVLDB, 12(12): 18261829, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14778/3352063.3352076


Crop-based training strategies decouple training resolution from GPU memory consumption, allowing the use of large-capacity panoptic segmentation networks on multi-megapixel images. Using crops, however, can introduce a bias towards truncating or missing large objects. To address this, we propose a novel crop-aware bounding box regression loss (CABB loss), which promotes predictions to be consistent with the visible parts of the cropped objects, while not over-penalizing them for extending outside of the crop. We further introduce a novel data sampling and augmentation strategy which improves generalization across scales by counteracting the imbalanced distribution of object sizes. Combining these two contributions with a carefully designed, top-down panoptic segmentation architecture, we obtain new state-of-the-art results on the challenging Mapillary Vistas (MVD), Indian Driving and Cityscapes datasets, surpassing the previously best approach on MVD by +4.5% PQ and +5.2% mAP.


This study aimed to extend the knowledge on player and surface loading by contributing new data in relation to a greater range of movements, relevant in-game scenarios and on carefully controlled third generation artificial turf surfaces. This was done by selecting soccer relevant movements and in-game scenarios for a player movement study with the help of a player focus group and questionnaire. Furthermore, four surfaces were created with surface hardness and rotational traction values at the upper and lower limits of the standards set by FIFA.
The study showed that both the surface hardness and rotational traction properties can affect the human movement dynamics, though these effects were mainly present during the stop and turn manoeuvre. During the stop and turn manoeuvre the soft and high traction surfaces conditions led to increased frontal plane moments as well as increased average ground reaction forces during mid-stance. In combination with decreased ground contact times it appeared that the players were able to decelerate / accelerate faster and generate a larger force on the soft and high traction surfaces. During peak push off it appeared that the players were able to generate a larger force on the hard surfaces, which also led to a significant increase in plantar flexion moment.
While some parameters showed an effect for surface hardness and / or rotational traction across all four surface conditions, for others such as the knee valgus, hip extension and hip internal rotation moment showed only a significant effect between two of the four surfaces. At the same time the other surfaces showed either no effect or the opposite effect. This suggests that the effects of the surface hardness can be influenced by the rotational traction properties, and vice versa.
Regarding the jumping / heading manoeuvre the effects of the surface conditions were limited. This may have been related to the high demands of the movement, or to limitations of the mechanical measurement methods.
In addition to the effects of surface properties on human movement dynamics the study also showed that the mechanical measurement methods may not be representative of the human loading. The impact force conditions of the advanced artificial athlete were substantially different to that of the stop and turn and jumping / heading manoeuvre. Whereas for the rotational traction test the study showed that the rotation of the foot during the ST was substantially less than the minimum 45° required by the FIFA guidelines.
Regarding the inclusion of in-game scenarios the study showed that both the simulated opponent used for the stop and turn manoeuvre, and heading a ball during a maximal vertical stop jump manoeuvre can affect the human movement dynamics. During the stop and turn with a simulated opponent the frontal plane moments in the lower limbs were significantly increased. However, this increase in joint loading could not be related to any changes in movement strategy. During the landing after heading a ball during a maximal vertical stop jump the players used a different landing strategy by landing in a more upright position and increasing the ankle plantar flexion ankle just before lading. This allowed for a larger change in the ankle plantar / dorsi flexion angle to absorb the impact of the landing. In addition to this, the heading manoeuvre also led to a significant increase in the frontal plane joint moments of the lower limbs.
For future studies it is recommended that a combination of surface properties is used to gain insight into how these affect each other regarding the effects they have on human movement dynamics. In addition, they should provide detailed information on the surface design as well as the properties. Regarding the quantification of the properties it is recommended that in addition to industry standards the surfaces are also quantified using conditions closer to those expected within the study. It is also recommended that future studies incorporate in-game scenarios in order to gain more insight into the effects of interventions that simulate actual match situations.


To escape the state of nature, people would submit to an absolute sovereign. Therefore, absolute sovereignty is justified. So argued Thomas Hobbes. A minimal state, and only a minimal state, could arise by an invisible hand process. Therefore, the minimal state is justified. So argued Robert Nozick. In political philosophy, "therefores" often seem to come from nowhere. My versions of these arguments are caricatures, of course, but many of us are also left wondering by the real thing. Do Hobbes's contractarian story and Nozick's invisible hand story have anything to do with justifying the state? What would a story have to be like to engage such a task? These questions matter. Rational choice theories like that of Hobbes (and after him, Rawls) and natural rights theories like that of Nozick (and before him, Locke) are the wellsprings of current Anglo-American political philosophy, supplying not only our subject matter but our methods as well.' If they don't make sense, then generally speaking, neither do we. I will distinguish between two different kinds ofjustification in political theory. This distinction can help us avoid being distracted by problems that are mere artifacts of contractarian methodology, only appearing to be relevant to justifying states per se. This will help us explain what is irreparably wrong with hypothetical consent arguments, why we find them appealing nevertheless, and what kind of argument can actually make use of that appealing hypothetical element. The distinction will also clarify the limited sense in which invisible hand processes can be relevant to a state's justification.


Orthogonal Frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is used widely in wired and wireless technologies. In this thesis, OFDM in two application areas are studied. The first area of study is, OFDM in wireless access in vehicular environment (WAVE) which is a radio frequency (RF) wireless technology. The other area of study is, OFDM in indoor optical wireless communication (OWC) which is an optical wireless technology. In OFDM in WAVE, a novel method is developed to accurately estimate the relative speed of vehicles using the OFDM symbols exchanged. In OFDM in indoor OWC systems, the limitations of existing OFDM modulation schemes such as diversity combined ACO-OFDM are investigated and ways to address those shortcomings are devised. Also in this thesis, a novel optical modulation scheme is developed, which shows higher optical power efficiency than the two conventional schemes: asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM) and DC biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM).


Regional difference of environmental evolvements is one of important aspects in world change research program. Changes in land cover and in the way people use the land have become recognized as important global environmental change in many areas. Land-use and cover changing (LUCC) is one of the major studies of global changing lately. Land-use is the term which covers the condition of used-land, the method, extent, structure, regional distributing and benefits in the land-use. It is affected by the natural condition or is enslaved to the conditions in society, economy and technology, and social production mode plays a decisive role in land-use; land-cover is the state of covering which is formed on account of the earth's surface or contrived by human being, is the summary of vegetation and artificially covering on the earth's surface. So land-use and cover changing is connecting closely. Land-use and cover changing information points that information on the position, distributing, range, and size of land-use and cover changing in the certain time. Motivated by a global concern for sustainability and environmental quality in city, a considerable number of studies have utilized satellite sensor data in the analysis of urban morphological change .some studies focused on the physical and socioeconomic drivers of change in urban land cover and implications on land use practices and resource management. Other studies went beyond the characterization of change and its causes and attempted to integrate remotely sensed data with models of urban growth to project future change. GIS and RS technologies are widely applied for LUCC studies providing a powerful tool for capturing, storing, checking manipulating, merging, analyzing and displaying data. Especially RS technology are also widely used for LUCC studies such as automatic discovery changing, automatic extraction changing area, confirmation changing type, using interactive explanation accessorily to extract the changing information of land-use in the research area. RS has an important contribution to make in the actual change in LUCC on regional. This paper studies land-use and land-cover change in Fuzhou area of Fujian Province, China. It builds a series of land-use change maps using Remote Sensing automatic monitoring and GIS spatial analysis techniques. Finally the paper briefly discusses the drive of land-use and cover changes. The study provides a reference to the sustainable development for the region.


This article proposes a paradigm that draws from the common-law rule of negligence. It defines actionable sexual conduct in the workplace in terms of the cost of precautionary conduct and the increased safety such precaution would have yielded. Like the rule of negligence, the proposed paradigm creates incentives for men and women to take steps to prevent sexual conduct loss to the point at which the cost of an additional increment of precaution is equal to the value of the reduction in risk of loss. This point is the optimal level of precaution. After this point, additional precaution might further reduce sexual conduct loss, but the cost of such precaution would outweigh the resulting benefit.


How early does criminal liability attach along the continuum between planning and committing a terrorist act? And in light of the answer to that question, have we struck an appropriate balance between the benefits of prevention and the off-setting costs in terms of a potentially-increased rate of false-positives and foregone opportunities to gather additional intelligence and evidence? These questions are pressing, particularly in light of statements from senior government officials that the Justice Department will be forward-leaning in its interpretation of its anticipatory-prosecution powers. My aim in this article is to establish a shared understanding regarding the first question in order to facilitate an intelligent debate regarding the second. In some respects, this is well-trodden ground. I and others have written previously of the government's sweeping capacity under 18 U.S.C. Section 2339B to prosecute potential terrorists who can be linked in some fashion to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). But it is becoming clear that the utility of Section 2339B is eroding in the face of several developments, most notably the ongoing decentralization of what might be called the global jihad movement. Simply put, it is becoming less common for a suspected terrorist to be vulnerable to a Section 2339B FTO-support prosecution. What, then, is the government's capacity for anticipatory prosecution when confronted with unaffiliated terrorism? Setting aside the possibility of a pretextual charge based on some unrelated offense by a suspect, the basic options are a conspiracy charge under a terrorism-related provision such as 18 U.S.C. Section 956(a) or a charge under 18 U.S.C. Section 2339A, the lesser-known of the two material-support statutes. The article identifies the earliest plausible point of intervention under both options, and examines the extent to which indictments in post-9/11 prosecutions have stayed within these boundaries. My most notable conclusion, perhaps, is that Section 2339A can be and arguably has been used to create a capacious form of inchoate liability in circumstances that otherwise would have to be charged under the relatively-demanding standards of attempt.


The market enthusiasm generated around investment in CRM technology is in stark contrast to the nay saying by many academic and business commentators. Building on the resource-based view of the firm this study shows the human, technological and business capabilities required to effectively execute a CRM program. Further, the study demonstrates that CRM programs are most valuable when directing attention towards a proactive market orientation. Lastly, the study cautions that in seeking to compete through superior service, CRM programs must first be feasible and this requires a wider understanding of the structural and behavioural limits to performance.


Abstract. Ecosystem shifts related to climate change are anticipated for the next decades to centuries based on a number of conceptual and experimentally derived models of plant structure and function. Belowground, the potential responses of soil systems are less well known. We used geochemical steady state models, soil density fractionation, and soil radiocarbon data to constrain changes in soil carbon based on measurements from detrital (free light), aggregate-bound (occluded) and complexed or chemically bound (mineral associated) carbon pools and for bulk soil. We explored a space-for-time sequence of soils along a cold-to-warm climatic gradient from Alaskan Black Spruce forest soil with permafrost (Gelisols; 50 cm Mean Annual Temperature −1.5 ºC), Alaskan White Spruce forest soil lacking permafrost (Inceptisols; 50 cm MAT +3 ºC ), and Iowa Grassland soil lacking permafrost (Mollisols; 50 cm MAT +9 ºC) developed on similar geologic substrates (wind-blown loess deposits). These temperature ranges were also representative of temperatures at 50 cm soil depth from model output by the Community Land Model for the years 2014, 2100, and 2300 for Interior Alaska. Fitting an exponential equation to depth trends in soil C down to 2 m depths, we found that depth distributions of organic C were related mainly to depths of rooting and changes in bulk density. Using output from the geochemical steady state model, the direction and magnitude of the C loss or gain upon ecosystem shift was dictated by the C stocks of initial and final ecosystems. Radiocarbon measurements specific to each soil fraction (free light, occluded, and mineral associated) allowed us to constrain the timing of the potential loss or gain of C in each fraction driven by climatic shifts. Thawing from the Gelisol to Inceptisol in loess parent materials from present day to year 2100 resulted in small net gains to soil C, reflecting the net balance between loss of detrital and gain into occluded and mineral associated C. Greater warming and shifts from Inceptisol to Mollisol analogous to predicted warming from circa 2100 to 2300 resulted in net C losses from both occluded and mineral associated C, although small gains to the free light C fraction occurred throughout the depth profile. Gains to occluded and mineral associated C post- thaw likely reflect aggregate formation and physical protection of C as well as formation of organo-mineral compounds that accompany microbial processing. Greater warming and shifts from Inceptisol to Mollisol, which are analogous to predicted warming circa 2100 to 2300, resulted in net C losses from both occluded and mineral associated C resulting from enhanced decomposition, small gains to the free light C fraction occurred throughout the transition to Mollisol reflecting deeper rooting of the tallgrass prairie system.


Whiteness is largely invisible in American law. The United States Constitution never mentions white people. Indeed, the entirety of constitutional and statutory law, at both the federal and state level, includes only two antidiscrimination statutes that refer explicitly to white people. These Reconstruction-era statutes—42 U.S.C § 1981 and § 1982—declare that all people shall have the "same right" regarding contracts and property as "enjoyed by white citizens."

This Article argues that the unique visibility of whiteness in § 1981 and § 1982 presents an opportunity. The plain language of these statutes exposes whiteness and requires explicit analysis of the contract and property rights that white people enjoy. To remain faithful to the statutory text, courts must consider why white people serve as a statutory benchmark in the first place—a task that forces a reckoning with America's long history of white supremacy. Further, courts must examine the nature of the contract and property rights that white people "enjoy"—a task that requires them to examine how these rights affirmatively provide pleasure and satisfaction.

The contract and property rights enjoyed by white and non-white people remain profoundly unequal, but § 1981 and § 1982 offer a powerful tool for reform. The two statutes provide not only an important avenue for litigation, but also a valuable model for legislation and a catalyst for public discourse that openly examines whiteness and the benefits it confers.


This work explores the potential-dependent electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in alkaline media over supported Au and Pd nanoparticles and demonstrates the synergistic effects of bimetallic Pd–Au catalysts for the selective formation of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). Results from electrolysis product analysis at various electrode potentials, along with cyclic voltammetry of HMF and its oxidation intermediates, revealed the unique catalytic properties of Pd and Au for competitive oxidation of alcohol and aldehyde side-groups present in HMF. Aldehyde oxidation was greatly favored over alcohol oxidation on the Au/C catalyst, which was very active for HMF oxidation to 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (HFCA), however high electrode potentials were required for further oxidation of the alcohol group to FDCA. HMF oxidation on Pd/C followed two competitive routes to FDCA and the pathway was dependent on the electrode potential. Oxidation of aldehyde groups occurred much slower on Pd/C than on Au/C at low potentials, but was greatly enhanced at increased potentials or by alloying with Au. It was found that Pd–Au bimetallic catalysts achieved deeply oxidized products (FFCA and FDCA) at lower potentials than monometallic catalysts and the product distribution was dependent on the electrode potential and surface alloy composition. Bimetallic catalysts with 2 : 1 and 1 : 2 Pd–Au molar ratios (Pd2Au1/C and Pd1Au2/C) exhibited advantages of both single components with facile alcohol and aldehyde group oxidation, resulting in greatly improved HMF conversion rate and selectivity to fully oxidized FDCA.


In this paper, a generalized analytical equation for cooling time evaluation is analyzed and compared with existing exact solutions and verified by computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The process of quenching of semiaxles and cylindrical forgings in water flow is also considered. Two approaches are analyzed. The traditional approach focuses on quenching, which is based on Newton's boundary condition between the solid surface and fluid. The second approach solves a conjugate heat transfer problem based on a full set of Navier–Stokes equations. CFD technology does not require knowledge of the heat transfer coefficients at the surface of steel parts. Both approaches and results of calculations were compared and the results showed that a generalized correlation can be used for cooling time calculation both for simple and complicated configurations. Calculation results coincide with each other, which indicates that the generalized equation is a suitable method for calculations and development of intensive quenching technologies. As an example, the processes for quenching semiaxle and cylindrical forgings are considered. CFD analysis successfully detected small stagnant zones at the surface of the steel. Such zones could be related to quench crack formation. These results can be used for designing and development of intensive quenching processes.


Over 70,000 samples from the 3029-m-long Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) ice core drilled on the top of the Greenland Ice Sheet (Summit) have been analyzed for δ8O. A highly detailed and continuous δ8O profile has thus been obtained and is discussed in terms of past temperatures in Greenland. We also discuss a three-core stacked annual δ8O profile for the past 917 years. The short-term (<50 years) variability of the annual δ8O signal is found to be 1‰ in the Holocene, and estimates for the coldest parts of the last glacial are 3‰ or higher. These data also provide insights into possible disturbances of the stratigraphic layering in the core which seems to be sound down to the onset of the Eemian. Spectral analysis of highly detailed sequences of the profile helps determine the smoothing of the δ8O signal, which for the Holocene ice is found to be considerably stronger than expected. We suggest this is due to a process involving diffusion of water molecules along crystal boundaries in the recrystallizing ice matrix. Deconvolution techniques were employed for restoring with great confidence the highly attenuated annual δ8O signal in the Holocene. We confirm earlier findings of dramatic temperature changes in Greenland during the last glacial cycle. Abrupt and strong climatic shifts are also found within the Eem/Sangamon Interglaciation, which is normally recorded as a period of warm and stable climate in lower latitudes. The stratigraphic continuity of the Eemian layers is consequently discussed in section 3 of this paper in terms of all pertinent data which we are not able to reconcile.


High-brightness AlGaInP/mirror/barrier/Si light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with vertical electrodes were fabricated using a wafer bonding technique. The high-thermal-conductivity Si substrate provides a better heat sink (compared with GaP or GaAs), which is a particularly important characteristic for high-power, large-area emitter applications. It allows for saturation of the small-area LED (300×300 µm2) after 150 mA injection and for the large-area LED (1200×1200 µm2) to increase output power even at 300 mA injection. The light output of the large-area vertical-conducting LED is mainly affected by the top-side (i.e., n-AlGaInP cladding) electrode design, where an interdigitated-finger electrode provides the better current spreading performance and prevents the current crowding problem. The extent of junction heating on LED samples (300×300–1200×1200 µm2) can also be evaluated from the corresponding electroluminescence spectra and emission-peak-wavelength driven by different injection current values. Finally, using a natural lithography technique, the mirror-substrate (MS) LEDs with textured surfaces present a brightness of 10 cd, which is about 4 cd brighter than that of the MS LED without a textured surface. With a combination of the MS wafer bonding and surface texturing techniques, thermal management in packaging becomes the key factor in further enhancing the external quantum efficiency of large-area LEDs under high flux operation.


Abstract It is increasingly apparent that faults are typically not discrete planes but zones of deformed rock with a complex internal structure and three-dimensional geometry. In the last decade this has led to renewed interest in the consequences of this complexity for modelling the impact of fault zones on fluid flow and mechanical behaviour of the Earth's crust. A number of processes operate during the development of fault zones, both internally and in the surrounding host rock, which may encourage or inhibit continuing fault zone growth. The complexity of the evolution of a faulted system requires changes in the rheological properties of both the fault zone and the surrounding host rock volume, both of which impact on how the fault zone evolves with increasing displacement. Models of the permeability structure of fault zones emphasize the presence of two types of fault rock components: fractured conduits parallel to the fault and granular core zone barriers to flow. New data presented in this paper on porosity–permeability relationships of fault rocks during laboratory deformation tests support recently advancing concepts which have extended these models to show that poro-mechanical approaches (e.g., critical state soil mechanics, fracture dilatancy) may be applied to predict the fluid flow behaviour of complex fault zones during the active life of the fault. Predicting the three-dimensional heterogeneity of fault zone internal structure is important in the hydrocarbon industry for evaluating the retention capacity of faults in exploration contexts and the hydraulic behaviour in production contexts. Across-fault reservoir juxtaposition or non-juxtaposition, a key property in predicting retention or across-fault leakage, is strongly controlled by the three-dimensional complexity of the fault zone. Although algorithms such as shale gouge ratio greatly help predict capillary threshold pressures, quantification of the statistical variation in fault zone composition will allow estimations of uncertainty in fault retention capacity and hence prospect reserve estimations. Permeability structure in the fault zone is an important issue because bulk fluid flow rates through or along a fault zone are dependent on permeability variations, anisotropy and tortuosity of flow paths. A possible way forward is to compare numerical flow models using statistical variations of permeability in a complex fault zone in a given sandstone/shale context with field-scale estimates of fault zone permeability. Fault zone internal structure is equally important in understanding the seismogenic behaviour of faults. Both geometric and compositional complexities can control the nucleation, propagation and arrest of earthquakes. The presence and complex distribution of different fault zone materials of contrasting velocity-weakening and velocity-strengthening properties is an important factor in controlling earthquake nucleation and whether a fault slips seismogenically or creeps steadily, as illustrated by recent studies of the San Andreas Fault. A synthesis of laboratory experiments presented in this paper shows that fault zone materials which become stronger with increasing slip rate, typically then get weaker as slip rate continues to increase to seismogenic slip rates. Thus the probability that a nucleating rupture can propagate sufficiently to generate a large earthquake depends upon its success in propagating fast enough through these materials in order to give them the required velocity kick. This propagation success is hence controlled by the relative and absolute size distributions of velocity-weakening and velocity-strengthening rocks within the fault zone. Statistical characterisation of the distribution of such contrasting properties within complex fault zones may allow for better predictive models of rupture propagation in the future and provide an additional approach to earthquake size forecasting and early warnings.


[1] We investigate the ionospheric response to several stratospheric sudden warming events which occurred in Northern Hemisphere winters of 2008 and 2009 during solar minimum conditions. We use GPS total electron content data in a broad latitudinal region at ±40° geographic latitude and a single longitude, 75°W. In all cases, we find a strong daytime ionospheric response to stratospheric sudden warmings. This response is characterized by a semidiurnal character, large amplitude, and persistence of perturbations for up to 3 weeks after the peak in high-latitude stratospheric temperatures. The ionospheric perturbations at the lower latitudes usually begin a few days after the peak in stratospheric temperature and are observed as an enhancement of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) in the morning sector and a suppression of the EIA in the afternoon sector. There is also evidence of a secondary enhancement in the postsunset hours. Once observed in the low latitudes, the phase of semidiurnal perturbations progressively shifts to later local times in subsequent days. This progressive shift occurs at a different rate for different stratospheric warming events. The large magnitude and persistence of ionospheric perturbations, together with the predictability of stratospheric sudden warmings several days in advance, present an opportunity to investigate these phenomena in a systematic manner which may eventually lead to a multiday forecast of low-latitude ionosphere conditions.


Banking is Information challenging business and information technology (IT) plays a key role in it. The growing competitive situations in the financial services market have forced to broaden and activate other delivery channels. The latest delivery channel to be set off is the electronic banking. This paper discusses the effect of security on the adoption of e banking. It also discusses how technology support offered to the respondents leads to a rise in customer adoption of e banking. The study was conducted among 346 respondents in Chennai city. The respondents were e banking users and comprised of both males and females. All respondents had graduation as their minimum qualification level. It was revealed from the study that both gender and occupation does not influence the technology support. On the other hand there is a significant difference in the age groups regarding the technology support in the usage of e banking. The study also reveals that there is significant correlation among security, Technology support and customer adoption.


The social and political integration of Muslim immigrants into Western societies is among the most pressing problems of today. Research documents how immigrant communities are increasingly under pressure to assimilate to their "host" societies in the face of significant discrimination. In this article, we bring together two literatures—that on immigrants and that on social movement participation—to explore whether Muslim immigrants respond to their societal situation by engaging in collective political action. Although neither literature has given much attention to immigrant collective action, they do provide predictive leverage relative to the influence of grievances, efficacy, identity, emotions, and embeddedness in civil society networks. Our analyses are comprised of three separate but identical studies: a study of Turkish (N = 126) and Moroccan immigrants (N = 80) in the Netherlands and a study of Turkish immigrants (N = 100) in New York. Results suggest that social psychological mechanisms known to affect native citizens' collective action function similarly for immigrants to a great extent, although certain immigrant patterns are indeed unique.


This study is motivated by the well-documented increase in wage inequality during the 1980s and the continued high levels of inequality during the 1990s. Specifically, we examine changes in the distribution of long-run earnings and changes in economic mobility for recent cohorts. These cohorts, who either entered retirement in the 1990s or are nearing retirement, experienced very different labor market conditions during their working lives than did earlier cohorts. Economic growth led to higher mean earnings for recent cohorts but the distribution of yearly earnings became less equal. As a result of these changes, the average worker nearing retirement had higher long-run earnings than members of previous cohorts. This, however, need not have translated into higher long-run earnings across the board. Those at the bottom of the distribution of long-run earnings might actually have had lower accumulated earnings than previous cohorts if the gains from growth were more than offset by the increase in inequality of earnings during the 1980s. If the accumulated earnings of those at the bottom of the distribution fell, then this could have had an impact both on decisions about whether to continue to work after the period of normal retirement and on Social Security benefits. The second, and related, policy question is whether mobility has increased. If mobility has increased, then this may partially offset the impact of the increase in earnings inequality. Outcomes may be less equal, but there is less chance of being stuck with a bad outcome. Our ability to measure earnings mobility for five cohorts spanning a twenty-five-year period allows us to address this important question.


The global financial crisis resulted in a significant downturn in the global economy, with impacts felt throughout the world. In this paper, we use a dynamic global general equilibrium model to explore the longer-term impacts of the financial crisis, with a particular focus on China. The economies of most countries suffered to some extent, with the extent of declines in the long run likely to depend on the extent to which investment declines. Our results suggest that overall the financial crisis leads to international trade falling by approximately 14 percent from the 2020 baseline level. Within this, the composition of trade changes, particularly reflecting changes in demand for construction of investment goods and increasing longer-term demand from economies like China. We also briefly consider the impact of a more protracted recovery from the crisis, which has even more significant impacts on the global economy.


Some insecticides activate TRP channels to overstimulate mechanosensory neurons to impair insect mouth movements and prevent feeding. Many insecticides target an insect's nervous system. Pymetrozine (PM) and pyrifluquinazon (PFQ) disrupt the function of sensory cells called chordotonal neurons that control body movement in flies. PM and PFQ kill plant-sucking insects, like aphids, by impairing mouth movement, so the insects cannot eat. Nesterov et al. used the fruitfly Drosophila to investigate the specific molecular targets of PM and PFQ, because in these insects the chemicals are not lethal and impair gravity sensing and hearing instead of feeding. PM and PFQ placed in the drinking water caused inactivity, impaired anti-gravitaxis (their usual desire to walk up against the gravitational field), and abolished sound-induced antennal responses in wild-type Drosophila but not those lacking Nanchung (Nan) or Inactive (Iav), two vanilloid subfamily members of transient receptor potential (TRP) cation channels that mediate neuronal activity in response to various sensations. Fluorescent reporters revealed that Nan and Iav formed a complex exclusively in the sensory chordotonal neurons. Application of PM or PFQ induced Ca2+ signals only in this type of sensory neuron and only in the subset that were positive for both Nan and Iav. However, compound action potentials in the cells were rapidly silenced soon after exposure to PM and PFQ, indicating electrical silencing through overstimulation. Transfection experiments in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells confirmed heteromeric complex formation between Drosophila Nan and Iav and their ability to mediate PM- or PFQ-induced Ca2+ responses. Application of a cell-impermeable TRP inhibitor or removal of extracellular Ca2+ blocked PM- or PFQ-induced Ca2+ responses in CHO cells coexpressing Nan and Iav. A fluorescent voltage indicator revealed changes in the cell membrane potential after PM or PFQ exposure, indicating that the Nan/Iav TRP channel complex stimulated Ca2+ influx at the plasma membrane rather than release of Ca2+ from internal stores. The findings suggested that, although the physiological role of these channels differs between fruit flies and the targeted insects, activation of this TRP channel complex may be the molecular mechanism of action of these insecticides. A. Nesterov, C. Spalthoff, R. Kandasamy, R. Katana, N. B. Rankl, M. Andrés, P. Jähde, J. A. Dorsch, L. F. Stam, F. -J. Braun, B. Warren, V. L. Salgado, M. C. Göpfert, TRP channels in insect stretch receptors as insecticide targets. Neuron 86, 665–671 (2015). [PubMed]


The intitial euphoria felt worldwide as a result of Mikhail Gorbachev's plans to restructure Soviet society "Perestroika" quickly faded. As Soviet citizens struggled with obtaining basic supplies in an impoverished nation, and as republics declared independence, the Kremlin faced daunting challenges. These translations of 33 articles allow us to see recent developments in the former USSR from diverse points of view. A useful sequel to Dr. Tarasulo's "Gorbachev and Glasnost", this volume gives the reader a view of the unprecedented metamorphosis of this country. The authors include not only journalists but also Boris Yeltsin and the poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Interviews with Andre Sakharov Yegor Ligachev, Gorbachev's one-time opponent in the Politburo, round out the collection. Dr. Tarasulo has also written a brief introduction for each article, placing its argument in context.


Introduction Recent emphasis has been placed on the importance of nutrition support teams (NSTs) in good nutritional care and management of patients on parenteral nutrition (PN). Evidence regarding their benefit, however, is surprisingly sparse, with the absence of large trials to evaluate their effectiveness. In 2010, the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) published its report 'A Mixed Bag', which evaluated the care given to patients receiving PN in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. It found that only 19% of inpatients received care with respect to their PN that was considered good. Furthermore, there was evidence of inappropriate PN use, prescribing errors, inadequate monitoring and a high rate of avoidable metabolic complications. The aim of this sub-analysis was to evaluate the effectiveness of NSTs in management of this particular cohort of patients. Methods All patients in England and Wales who received PN between 1 January and 31 March 2008 were identified from pharmacy records. Two patients per consultant were identified. A clinical questionnaire was sent to be completed by the consultant for each patient, and then returned with a copy of the case notes. The questionnaires and case notes were then analysed by the Advisor group consisting of consultants, dieticians and pharmacists. Results Only 60% of responding hospitals had an NST. Of those teams, only 43% saw PN referrals. 53% of NSTs had complete autonomy in ordering/vetoing PN. Only half the patients within the study had an NST involved in the decision to commence PN, whereas PN composition was determined by the NST in 80% of cases. Patients who had an NST involved in their nutritional management were almost twice as likely to receive good care as those without NST support (27.4% vs 15.2%). Likelihood of 'less than satisfactory care' with respect to PN management was much lower in those with NST involvement (7% vs 11.5%). Conclusion These results demonstrate that involvement of a NST substantially improves quality of care with respect to PN management, although even with NST involvement there were still more than 70% cases where nutrition care was considered sub-optimal. There is currently enormous variation in the composition of NSTs, with 9% not having a doctor as part of the team. There is also wide variation in the function of the NST in different regions, which may explain why previous studies have shown conflicting results with respect to the effectiveness of NSTs in improving overall nutrition care. Perhaps standardisation of the composition and role of NSTs would be beneficial in order to truly evaluate their role in improving overall nutrition management.


A short story originally published in 1900 by writer and poet Henry Lawson captured the perceived incompatibility of women and life in remote Australia with its refrain that the bush 'was no place for a woman!'. The suggestion in Lawson's story is that the bush could easily prove fatal to women and for men it could undo them, mentally and spiritually. Now at the start of the new millennium, many barriers to women living and working in rural Australia have been challenged or removed altogether. Yet, recent sociological research, such as that undertaken by Margaret Alston, argues that gender inequality is an ongoing problem in rural communities. For example, one persistent stereotype is that men undertake the meaningful work in rural life while women watch from the sidelines, simply 'help', or see their contribution downplayed or downright ignored. This article explores how a new breed of bestselling novels, variously dubbed 'chook lit' or 'contemporary Australian rural romance', use a romantic structure to represent gender inequality in a rural setting. The article draws examples from Jillaroo (Rachael Treasure, 2002), The Bark Cutters (Nicole Alexander, 2010) and North Star (Karly Lane, 2011) to show the varying approaches to the romance plot that construct gutsy heroines, depict important rural issues and leave readers with endings that, as in other romances, offer 'a utopian projection which expresses a critical evaluation of the contemporary patriarchal order' (Cranny-Francis 1990: 191). This article argues that contemporary Australian rural romances raise questions about the romance plot while critiquing aspects of gender inequality specific to the context. In turn, such novels may encourage and inspire female readers (if they so choose) to do more in rural life than sit on the fence watching the men.


A large cold trap with sodium inventory of about 1.0 m/sup 3/, which had been regenerated at high temperatures (i.e., 450 to 600/sup 0/C) 16 times during its 6-yr life, was subjected to destructive examinations. Emphasis was placed on determination of material damage to the mesh wires and the compositional material due to the multi-time high temperature regenerations. With regard to the mesh wires, the results of examinations revealed that mechanical strength was significantly reduced due to selective leaching of metal elements such as nickel and chromium. Before the examination, formation of a crack or defect that could have been caused by stress corrosion was suspected in the stainless steel structural material. But no such crack or defect was found.


The treatment of hyperacute ischaemic stroke has been revolutionised by the concept of potentially salvageable tissue – the 'ischaemic penumbra'. However, current therapeutic practice is to administer thrombolytic therapy with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator after exclusion of intra-cerebral haemorrhage, with 'time since onset' used as a surrogate marker for the presence or absence of the ischaemic penumbra. The ability to identify the penumbra on an individual basis would enable bespoke treatment plans on the basis of underlying pathophysiology. The most commonly employed penumbral image technique is multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to identify a region of perfusion-diffusion mismatch. However, this approach remains to be validated. Moreover, a systematic review presented as an appendix to this thesis highlights the marked heterogeneity for its application.
This thesis focusses on the development of a novel MRI technique (Oxygen Challenge) and is the first to report findings from human acute ischaemic stroke. The rationale for this technique is that it is sensitive to deoxyhaemoglobin, which is produced as a consequence of oxidative metabolism. It therefore has the potential to discriminate tissue compartments based on metabolic activity. For this study, 35 subjects with acute ischaemic stroke were imaged with transient hyperoxia (Oxygen Challenge) applied during continuous T2*-weighted MRI. Exploratory analyses suggested the following;

•Oxygen Challenge precipitates a T2*-weighted signal increase in healthy tissue
•This signal increase is partly dependent on the underlying cerebral blood volume, as suggested by univariate and multivariate analyses
•In general, higher concentrations of oxygen precipitate greater T2*-weighted signal increases, but oxygen may influence T2*-weighted signal intensity in a bi-modal manner
•The signal changes in operationally defined infarct core are attenuated, suggesting a metabolic influence on Oxygen Challenge results
•Signal increases in the hyperacute perfusion-diffusion mismatch region were sometimes exaggerated, consistent with increased oxygen extraction fraction. However, small volumes of tissue acquired from only a few subjects limited definitive conclusions in this study
•Oxygen Challenge may detect regions of crossed cerebellar diaschsis, although further confirmation is required
•Maps of 'percentage signal change' allowed rapid evaluation of whole brain Oxygen Challenge data
•Improvements in signal-to-noise ratio are required before this technique can be applied in clinical practice.

On the basis of these data it is concluded that the technique is encouraging and further validation is warranted.


Background It is hypothesised that sleep duration affects the production of melatonin and subsequently influences cancer risk. The relationship between sleep duration and risk of breast cancer has been investigated recently but findings from epidemiological studies have been inconsistent and have not been summarised quantitatively. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of observational studies of the association between sleep duration and breast cancer. Methods Relevant publications were identified from reviews and computer-aided searches using PubMed, with keywords "sleep duration", "breast cancer", "survival rate", "mortality", "morbidity", "incidence" and "risk", up to July 23rd, 2009. RR estimates and 95% CIs were extracted for the comparison between the highest exposure group, women who slept ≥ 9 hours, and the reference group that comprised women who had a moderate sleep duration (7 or 8 hours). Summary RRs were estimated by calculating the average of the log RRs, weighted by the inverse variances of the log RRs. Results Five studies, four with prospective data and one case-control study, were identified on the risk of breast cancer in relation to sleep duration. The published data include 9166 women with incident invasive breast cancer and 147 344 women without breast cancer. When results from these studies were combined, the aggregate RR was 0.96 (95% CI 0.86 to −1.07) for women with the longest sleep duration compared to those in the reference group with a shorter sleep duration. When analysis was restricted to prospective data, the aggregate RR was 0.89 (95% CI 0.78 to 1.01). There was no evidence for significant heterogeneity in this association by menopausal status. Conclusion Meta-analysis of the published epidemiological data provides no strong evidence for a relationship between sleep duration and risk of breast cancer.


Ocean surface winds, currents, and waves play a crucial role in exchanges of momentum, energy, heat, freshwater, gases, and other tracers between the ocean, atmosphere, and ice. Despite surface waves being strongly coupled to the upper ocean circulation and the overlying atmosphere, efforts to improve ocean, atmospheric, and wave observations and models have evolved somewhat independently. From an observational point of view, community efforts to bridge this gap have led to proposals for satellite Doppler oceanography mission concepts, which could provide unprecedented measurements of absolute surface velocity and directional wave spectrum at global scales. This paper reviews the present state of observations of surface winds, currents, and waves, and it outlines observational gaps that limit our current understanding of coupled processes that happen at the air-sea-ice interface. A significant challenge for the coming decade of wind, current, and wave observations will come in combining and interpreting measurements from (a) wave-buoys and high-frequency radars in coastal regions, (b) surface drifters and wave-enabled drifters in the open-ocean, marginal ice zones, and wave-current interaction ``hot-spots'', and (c) simultaneous measurements of absolute surface currents, ocean surface wind vector, and directional wave spectrum from Doppler satellite sensors.


Social ecological models of health often describe multiple levels of influence that interact to influence health. However, it is still common for interventions to target only one or two of these levels, perhaps owing in part to a lack of guidance on how to design multilevel interventions to achieve optimal impact. The convergence strategy emphasizes that interventions at different levels mutually reinforce each other by changing patterns of interaction among two or more intervention audiences; this strategy is one approach for combining interventions at different levels to produce synergistic effects. We used semistructured interviews with 65 representatives in a cross-site national initiative that enhanced health and outcomes for patients with diabetes to examine whether the convergence strategy was a useful conceptual model for multilevel interventions. Using a framework analysis approach to analyze qualitative interview data, we found three synergistic themes that match the convergence strategy and support how multilevel interventions can be successful. These three themes were (1) enhancing engagement between patient and provider and access to quality care; (2) supporting communication, information sharing, and coordination among providers, community stakeholders, and systems; and (3) building relationships and fostering alignment among providers, community stakeholders, and systems. These results support the convergence strategy as a testable conceptual model and provide examples of successful intervention strategies for combining multilevel interventions to produce synergies across levels and promote diabetes self-management and that may extend to management of other chronic illnesses as well.


Programming languages evolve over time, adding additional language features to simplify common tasks and make the language easier to use. For example, the Java Language Specification has four editions and is currently drafting a fifth. While the addition of language features is driven by an assumed need by the community (often with direct requests for such features), there is little empirical evidence demonstrating how these new features are adopted by developers once released. In this paper, we analyze over 23k open-source Java projects representing over 7 million Java files, which when parsed contain over 14 billion AST nodes. We analyze this corpus to find uses of new Java language features over time. Our study gives interesting insights, such as: the fact that while all features are used, there are still millions of more places they could potentially be used; all features are used before release; and features tend to be adopted by committers on an individual basis rather than as a team.