This report examines the features of fatal residential fire incidents involving upholstered furniture in New Zealand over the period of 1996 to 2000. Included in this report is an analysis of the New Zealand Fire Service (NZFS) Emergency Incident Statistics from 1995 to 1999. Further investigation was also undertaken based on information from the Fire Incident Reporting System (FIRS) data from 1996 to 2000. It was found that upholstered furniture was involved in35.4% of all residential fire fatalities in a five-year period between 1996 to 2000. An analysis of common trends found in fatal residential fires involving upholstered furniture has also been included in this report. It was concluded that fatal residential fire incidents involving upholstered furniture typically resulted in a single fatality even though there was usually more than one person present in the residential structure when ignition occurred. Young children, the elderly and persons intoxicated by drugs or alcohol were particularly susceptible in such fires with most occupants asleep when ignition occurred. The most common cause of death for occupants remote from the room of fire origin was smoke inhalation while for occupants within the room of fire origin, it was from severe bums or exposure to heat and smoke from the fire. Smoke detectors were not present or defective in most of these incidents. Upholstered furniture was usually not the object first ignited, meaning that it was ignited later on in the fire by means of either small flame or large flame ignition sources. Other factors influencing fire fatalities in residential property were also discussed. Comparisons were made with similar studies done in other countries, namely the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia. Finally, conclusions were drawn from the results obtained. Recommendations and suggestions for future research were also included in this report.


A rotatable mesh cleaning chamber has at least part of an external wall which comprises an aperture up to the size of 1mm, or more generally, a mesh, and an internal spray mechanism. The device may find application in the cleaning of metals foils made from the pyrolysing of and cutting up of a lithium battery or the like.


Use of bauxite refining residue to reduce the mobility of heavy metals in municipal waste compost.

Due to the adverse environmental impact of landfills and the lack of space for nearby population centres an unprecedented interest has developed in waste recycling with the objective to reduce the volume of waste disposed. Generally organic matter represents the largest fraction in the domestic waste stream including food, garden and paper waste.

In the past efforts have been made to process this organic fraction into muniapal compost.However contamination of the compost with heavy metals has in many cases resulted in the lack of suitable markets and subsequent closure of compost facilities. A study was undertaken and aimed at reducing the concentration and mobility of heavy metals in municipal compost.

Bauxite refining residue ha; a high capacity to immobilise metals in soils through precipitation, cation exchange and chemisorption (Fe- and Al- oxides).

The first step in the study was to assess the metal adsorption capacity of red mud by equilibrating red mud with metal solutions. Metal removal from solution proved very high.

Subsequently, the effect of red mud addition to municipal compost was studied in relation to metal mobility. In particular the interaction of metals with the mobile soluble organic fraction, the humic and fulvic acids, was investigated. It was found that most metals remained in the insoluble humin fraction and the metals in solution remained complexed to the soluble organic fraction. Red mud appeared to be able to adsorp fulvic and humic acids and thus indirectly immobilise the metals in solution. Red mud did not appear to be able to transfer metals from the organic fraction to the mineral red mud fraction.

ft was kypothesised that, in order for the metals to be adsorped to red mud, the red mud needed to be present in the organic waste prior to composting. Metal adsorption to red mud is a rapid chemical reaction while metal complexation to the organic fraction takes a number of weeks, since it must be sufficiently oxidised to contain functional groups.

In order to verify this hypothesis, an installation with seven incubators was developed which allowed composting to be undertaken under computer controlled conditions and monitored for temperature, airflow and carbon dioxide respiration. The incubators were filled with 10 kg of a mixture of grass clippings and sawdust. The first incubator functioned as a control. The contents of the rest of the incubators were spiked with the following metals: Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. In addition the contents of the 3rd - 7th incubators were amended with an increasing percentage of red mud, respectively 10,20,25,30 and 40 % by weight. After the mixture was composted, the metal mobility was reduced by approx. 80 - 99 %, depending on the metal. The mobility was assessed as leachable and plant available in relation to the total metal content. Red mud did not affect the composting process if < 40% red mud was added.

The next step was to compost municipal organic waste in a pilot plant (capacity 5 m3) using batches with and without red mud. Mixed waste was collected from 150 households and the glass, metal and plastic fractions were removed bx- manual sorting. The rest was composted.

The red mud - compost had a relatively lower metal content and a reduced metal mobility compared to compost without red mud. The red mud - compost also had a 300 times higher pH buffer capacity and 90%less soluble organic matter.

The addition of red mud prior to composting was found to reduce the concentration and mobility of metals in compost, improve the quality of compost as a soil conditioner, increased the resistance of the organic fraction against further breakdown and this process thus adds value to both red mud and organic waste.


Geranium robertianum L., commonly known as Herb Robert, is an herbaceous plant popularly known for its functional properties including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, the phenolic profile of leaf and stem decoctions of Geranium robertianum L. was elucidated by UHPLC-DAD-ESI-MSn analysis, and their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potentials were assessed in vitro. Importantly, and envisaging the use of these extracts in human diets, the potential toxicity of bioactive concentrations was also addressed in macrophages and hepatocytes. Both extracts revealed high amounts of ellagitannins, although a slight prevalence of these compounds was observed in that originating from leaves. High radical scavenging activities against DPPH˙, ABTS˙+ and OH˙ were observed either for the leaf or the stem extract, as well as good activities towards ferric reducing antioxidant power, lipid peroxidation and oxygen radical absorbance capacity. In addition, both extracts were very effective at scavenging NO˙, as measured in a chemical model, while only the stem extract was able to decrease the production of this radical by stimulated macrophages. On the other hand, none of the extracts was able to modulate the activity of lipoxygenase or the expression of the inducible nitric oxide synthase. Overall, these data allowed us to conclude that G. robertianum L. stem and leaf decoctions are particularly rich in tannins. The strong scavenging effects displayed by the stem extract suggest that its anti-inflammatory activity may partially result from its anti-radical capacities towards NO˙.


Tactile Vision Sensory Substitution (TVSS) systems are used to convert scene images captured by the image sensors to tactile patterns that can be used to stimulate the skin sensory of the blind users. These types of devices needed to be wearable, small size, low power consumption, lightweight, and affordable cost. This paper presents the integration of an edge detection scheme inside a CMOS image sensor forming an Edge Detection CMOS Image Sensor (EDIS). The design is simulated using LTSPICE and MATLAB, performing three ways of simulation, giving accepted edge images having very few fine edges but keeping the main edges. The proposed way is simple, low component-count, doesn't reduce the fill factor, use no analog to digital converter, presents adaptable comparator-reference-voltage, and make a step towards an integrated all-in-one tactile vision sensory substitution device.


Depression is a mental condition of dejection and can limit one's energy and motivation to engage in life. The purpose of this Senior Honors Project is to develop a concept of happiness so that a better understanding of happiness may be established. It is a secondary goal that the depressed can utilize this concept and incorporate it into their lives so that they may improve their mental health and state of being. With the aforementioned in consideration, it will be of further use for the research to provide a foundation for such a means of obtaining a state of well-being and contentment. It is important to note that this research highlights the importance of several ideas when discussing the pursuit of happiness, such as: "autonomy", "the state's duty", "virtuosity" and "mindfulness."
 Findings will be ascertained through the examination of how respected philosophers (such as Aristotle, John Stuart Mills, Carl Rogers, Immanuel Kant, etc.) have viewed the concept of happiness and how these teachings can encourage one to find happiness. Moreover, a hybrid view of happiness will be gained from examining arguments from theories of hedonism and eudaimonism. Once there is a compilation of philosophical foundations for happiness, efforts will be motivated towards identifying how the depressed can utilize the information synthesized in this report to better understand how to promote enduring happiness in one's life. In combination with other efforts discussed in the research project, findings will illustrate how 'mindfulness' is an effective means towards promoting enduring happiness.


Quality writing, seamless technology integration, and a rich ancillary package are hallmarks of John C. Kotz and Paul M. Treichel, Jr.'s CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL REACTIVITY. Now thoroughly revised and enhanced, the fifth edition of this best-selling text will bring students to a new level of understanding and appreciation for chemistry's vital role in their lives. By emphasizing the close interrelationship of the macroscopic, symbolic, and particulate levels of chemistry, Kotz and Treichel provide an important organizing principle that carries throughout the book. The text's significantly revised art program reveals these three levels in engaging detail. This new art program is fully integrated with CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL REACTIVITY'S unparalleled CD-ROM, GENERAL CHEMISTRY INTERACTIVE, VERSION 3.0. With hundreds of guided simulations, animations, and video clips, as well as new Intelligent Tutors that guide students step-by-step through problems, GENERAL CHEMISTRY INTERACTIVE is the benchmark learning tool by which all others are measured-and it is included with every new copy of the text.


From the Publisher:
In secret, underground, an amazing new world has taken shape, an alternate universe where technical communications sit alongside bulletin boards devoted to TV sitcoms, popular music, and every imaginable sexual proclivity. The Internet has its own language, its own rituals, its own code of ethics, and even its own ways of punishing outsiders. Let the newbie beware! Surfing on the Internet is a fearless excursion through this remarkable new world, in the company of one of the most inventive young nonfiction writers at work today. Fueled by Fruity Pebbles and caffeine, J. C. Herz, a digital Dian Fossey loose in the jungle of Net life, embarks on an on-line odyssey. Beginning with worldwide message boards that feature tips for phreaking (phone tapping) and plots to assassinate Barney the purple dinosaur, she brings to life the anarchic sprawl of the Net, exploring the flames (personal tirades), the aliases (one guy she meets has 158), the Net cities and virtual saloons where the digerati congregate. No corner of the Net is beyond the reach of her curiosity, and some of those corners turn out to be pretty dark. Sex on-line has its limitations, for instance (although the cross-gender possibilities are intriguing). There are the out-and-out nuts who stretch even the most liberal free-speech ethos. And there's the chilling case of Kieran, the Internet ghost whose only off-line visitors for months are the people who deliver takeout food to his apartment. When last seen, J. C. Herz is checking into an Internet addicts support group - meeting on-line, of course. Surfing on the Internet is a romp through the frontier of the twenty-first century, and J. C. Herz is a brilliant and daredevil guide. Don't log on without it.


This article gives an overview of the changes and developments in the travel industry and the way travel intennediaries like travel agents are responding to them. These changes include the deregulation of airlines and the advent of global distribution systems, the pressure from airlines for lower distribution costs, rapid and fundamental changes in technology and consumer preferences. The responses by travel agents include rapid integration and consolidation within the industry, the use of technology to streamline operations and expand market reach, and the review of traditional revenue models to make way for new approaches to revenue generation. In conclusion, some future scenarios for both leisure and corporate travel distribution are outlined. JELL84


This thesis investigates the importance banks, and bankers had with the development of the Denton County Texas from the 1870s until the beginning of the Second World War. Specifically, their role in the formation of both private and public infrastructure as well as the facilitation towards a more diverse economy. Key elements of bank development are outlined in the study including private, national, and state bank operations.


A one-dimensional non-stationary numerical Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) model is combined with an Eulerian advective scheme, called TRAP. The input information includes meteorological measurements at the surface and high level information from weather forecast centres. The Boundary Layer model includes a comprehensive set of equations governing the meteorological processes (momentum, turbulence, heat, short and infrared radiation, humidity, soil heat transfer). The pollutant transport model is a single layer one, based on the mixing layer concept. The TRAP scheme was chosen after careful comparison of some of the most widespread advection schemes. Graphic facilities on a PC show the changes of the pollutant fields at specified time steps. Examples using real meteorological data demonstrate the complex configurations of pollutant concentration and deposition in time and space and also show how easily the model can handle them.


The indigenous Bedouin Arab population in the Naqab/Negev desert in Israel has experienced a history of displacement, intense political conflict, and cultural disruption, along with recent rapid modernization, forced urbanization, and migration. This volume of essays highlights international, national, and comparative law perspectives and explores the legal and human rights dimensions of land, planning, and housing issues, as well as the economic, social, and cultural rights of indigenous peoples. Within this context, the essays examine the various dimensions of the "negotiations" between the Bedouin Arab population and the State of Israel. Indigenous (In)Justice locates the discussion of the Naqab/Negev question within the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict and within key international debates among legal scholars and human rights advocates, including the application of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the formalization of traditional property rights, and the utility of restorative and reparative justice approaches. Leading international scholars and professionals, including the current United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, are among the contributors to this volume.


Considering the low rate of reproduction in Asian elephants Elephas maximus and African elephants Loxodonta africana in captivity, and the critical status of the size of the captive population, nutrition plays an important role in the captive management of elephants. This paper highlights two major reviews of the subject but emphasizes those aspects of the feeding regime that seem of particular importance and practical relevance. Obesity and colic are of major concern and offering good-quality hay as a staple diet item over an extended period of the day is the most important recognized prophylactic measure against these conditions. Fruits, cereals, bread or pelleted feeds are not recommended owing to their high financial cost and contribution to obesity, respectively. The use of pelleted compound feeds may only be warranted to address mineral or vitamin deficiencies in the hay supplied to elephants.


Current music recommender systems typically act in a greedy manner by recommending songs with the highest user ratings. Greedy recommendation, however, is suboptimal over the long term: it does not actively gather information on user preferences and fails to recommend novel songs that are potentially interesting. A successful recommender system must balance the needs to explore user preferences and to exploit this information for recommendation. This article presents a new approach to music recommendation by formulating this exploration-exploitation trade-off as a reinforcement learning task. To learn user preferences, it uses a Bayesian model that accounts for both audio content and the novelty of recommendations. A piecewise-linear approximation to the model and a variational inference algorithm help to speed up Bayesian inference. One additional benefit of our approach is a single unified model for both music recommendation and playlist generation. We demonstrate the strong potential of the proposed approach with simulation results and a user study.


A school-based management program was implemented Mexico in 2001 and continued until 2014. This national program, Programa Escuelas de Calidad, was considered a key intervention to improve learning outcomes. In 2006, the national program was evaluated in the Mexican state of Colima, being the first experimental evaluation of the national program. All schools were invited to participate in the program; a random selection was performed to select the treatment and control groups among all the applicants. An intent-to-treat approach did not detect any impact on learning outcomes; a formal school-based management intervention plus a monetary grant was not enough to improve learning outcomes. First, the schools in the evaluation sample, control and treatment, were schools with high learning outcomes. Second, these schools had experienced some years of regular school-based management practices before the evaluation. A difference-in-difference design is used to identify heterogeneous effects of the program on learning outcomes. The difference-in-difference approach shows that the intensity of treatment increased test scores during the first year of the intervention.


Detrital zircon provenance analysis is used to resolve the age of sandstone injectites together with source sandstones that form faultbounded, tabular bodies within Mesoproterozoic crystalline rocks of the Colorado Front Range. Named Tava sandstone (informal), the unit is a product of liquefaction and remobilization of mature quartz sediment within source bodies having volumes ≥1 × 10 6 m 3 into dikes up to 6 m in width. To surmount the indeterminate age of emplacement, we obtained new U-Pb detrital zircon age data for two source sandstones, three dikes and one sill, for comparison to four Paleozoic arenites. Tava age distributions feature a dominant 1.33–0.97 Ga broad age group and narrow ca. 1.11, 1.44, and 1.70 Ga groups, with several smaller age groups >1.5 Ga. The Tava detrital zircon results are dissimilar to Paleozoic sandstones but closely resemble published detrital zircon reference data for Grenville orogen–derived siliciclastic units of the western United States. The similarity in age distributions is borne out by statistical comparisons among Tava sandstone, Paleozoic samples, and Neoproterozoic strata that reveal a high probability of correlation of Tava sandstone to ca. 800–680 Ma strata deposited during intracontinental extension. We conclude that Tava sandstone is Neoproterozoic in age and provides a new avenue to investigation of Rodinia's terrestrial paleoenvironment.


Planning and engineering for Integrated Waste Management (IWM) facilities requires some form of public participation in considering the types of technology to be adopted by the local authority. The study aims to identify the relationship between knowledge and perception on IWM disposal technology and its level of acceptance by the public in Majlis Perbandaran Kajang, Malaysia (MPKj). The data collected from 5 main development area of MPKj is hope to assist planners and engineers to locate, build and programmed the facilities in achieving the objectives of sustainable waste management. About 654 respondents were sampled through Likert-style structured questionnaires quantitatively and qualitatively to provide the perceptions and understanding on IWM disposal technologies, the acceptance of IWM facilities and technologies, choices of waste disposal technology and types of waste management technology that resolve the environmental problem. 6 knowledge components were identified in the model of relationship between perception and acceptance of IWM disposal technology; knowledge on information and disposal methods, knowledge on waste management issues, knowledge on participation and recycling, knowledge on fundamental waste concepts, knowledge on types of waste technologies and knowledge on the environmental issues associated to waste technologies. The Acceptance model shows key knowledge variable having greatest influence is knowledge on the environmental issue related to waste disposal activities. Acceptance of technologies is influence by the respondents' practices of waste collection and disposal, the understanding of benefits from waste facilities, attitudes and willingness to bear the cost of waste disposal. Components determining the choice of waste disposal technology include the knowledge on the advantages of disposal technologies and the needs and cause for waste treatment. Three components which determine the acceptance of waste technology are the concern of pollution, preferred distance of waste facilities and the order on choice of disposal technologies.


The article presents the historical evolution of healthcare system in Russia, from early Soviet times until the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the communist era. The development of the healthcare system is described and analyzed in relation to key public health indicators, and the role of developed principles in modern Russian healthcare system. The paper deals with a peculiar system: in international literature four healthcare models are identified, the so called Semashko model was developed and firstly structured in the USSR and secondary applied in other communist countries. Considering that nowadays most of the world countries, including Russia, use Bismark or Beveridge systems, a serious historical reconsideration appears be useful.


We consider an economy where decision maker(s) do not know the true production function for a public good. By using Bayes rule they can learn from experience. We show that the economy may learn the truth, but that it may also converge to an inefficient policy where no further inference is possible so that the economy is stuck in an information trap. We also show that our results are robust with respect to experimentation.


Projection installations are part of Spatially Augmented Reality, where the projection medium is used to enrich a fixed, bounded physical space with digital content. Projection technology enables us to turn many kinds of physical objects into displays. In this paper we develop and present a conceptual framework that addresses three aspects of a projection installation: the contentassociated with the object, the digital content, and the relation between the two. We conclude the paper with a set of strategies commonly used in projection installations: Enhancing or emphasizing physical aspects; Transforming materiality; Adding virtual objects; 3D effects; Complex content on simple objects or simple content on complex; Strong versus loose connections between the physical object and the digital content. This paper is based on four cases, two of which concern cultural heritage installations, the others concerning urban computing, including media architecture.


One-bit transforms (1BTs) have been proposed for low-complexity block-based motion estimation by reducing the representation order to a single bit, and employing binary matching criteria. However, as a single bit is used in the representation of image frames, bad motion vectors are likely to be resolved in 1BT-based motion estimation algorithms particularly for small block sizes. It is proposed in this paper to utilize a two-bit transform (2BT) for block-based motion estimation. Image frames are converted into two-bit representations by a simple block-by-block two bit transform based on multithresholding with mean and linearly approximated standard deviation values. In order to avoid blocking effects at block boundaries during the block-by-block transformation while enabling the two-bit representation to be constructed according to local detail, threshold values are computed within a larger window surrounding the transforming block. The 2BT makes use of lower bit-depth and binary matching criteria properties of 1BTs to achieve low-complexity block motion estimation. The 2BT improves motion estimation accuracy and seriously reduces the amount of bad motion vectors compared to 1BTs, particularly for small block sizes. It is shown that the proposed 2BT-based motion estimation technique improves motion estimation accuracy in terms of peak signal-to-noise ratio of reconstructed frames and also results in visually more accurate frames subsequent to motion compensation compared to the 1BT-based motion estimation approach.


We explore two hitherto poorly understood characteristics of the human-trafficking market—the cross-border ease of mobility of traffickers and the elasticity of buyers' demand. In a model of two-way bargaining, the exact configuration of these characteristics is shown to determine whether domestic and foreign crackdowns on illicit employment mutually reinforce or counteract one another in efforts to stem the tide of trafficking. Estimation results from a gravity model of trafficking present evidence consistent with the mutual-reinforcement view, indicating considerable ease of mobility and inelastic demand.


There is strong current interest in social mobility, especially in the light of the conclusion of the Leitch Review (2006) that highlighted the importance of upskilling the workforce and the ongoing Milburn review (2012) on the need for greater inclusion. This report brings together material related to Lifelong Learning Network (LLN) progression agreements (PAs) and, to a lesser extent, the Aimhigher progression framework and considers their role and potential impact on social mobility.
Relevant documents, both within the WASRS archive and externally, were identified through a keyword search. These documents were imported into thematic coding software and text excerpts related to PAs and social mobility extracted and then brought together to provide the basis of the synthesis.
Students studying on vocational programmes were found to have benefited from LLN activities in relation to information advice and guidance, curriculum development, new courses and agreements between feeder and receiving institutions. However, HEFCE (SQW, 2010) is concerned with their continuation beyond the funding period, since, although alternative funding modules have been explored by most LLNs, buy-in and carry-over has not been guaranteed. As the funding period was limited, and the continuation of the LLN outputs uncertain, it might be concluded that LLN activities have only benefited a few cohorts of vocational students. Recent changes to the HE funding system are likely to have significant impact on its legacy in general, and progression agreements in particular.
Indirect benefits include the deepening and formalising of partnerships within LLNs, previously established informal networks, and the formation of new partnerships (SQW, 2010). However, in the current political climate of increased competition between HEIs and higher fees, such relationships between institutions are likely to come under increasing pressure. Therefore a new collaborative environment will need to be built and proven over time. Most LLNs sought partnership with employers and engagement was apparent in the development of curricula and new courses (e.g. Kewin et al., 2011). The interests of employers have also manifested themselves in a desire to upskill their employees. Furthermore, many LLNs have targeted their developments on subject areas for which there was a regional employment need (e.g. Elgie, 2010). However, the current challenging economic climate might constrain employers and their willingness to engagement with the remaining LLNs, placing their sustainability under further pressure.
It is also important to emphasise that providing clear and robust evidence of success is difficult for any intervention. The key challenges centre around the following issues: measurement of impacts that may only become identifiable over long time periods; attribution of success when there are other political and social factors and policy interventions at play; unintended consequences of interventions (positive and negative); and differing interpretations of success by stakeholders.


Medical X-ray imaging is an important tool in diagnostic radiology. The ionising-radiation dose to the patient is justified by the clinical benefit of the examination. Nonetheless, detectors that operate at even lower doses and provide more information to the radiologist are desired. A hybrid pixel detector has the potential to provide a leap in detector technology as it incorporates a more advanced signal-processing capability than currently used detectors.The DIXI digital detector is a hybrid pixel detector developed for X-ray imaging. It consists of a readout chip and a semiconductor sensor. The division in two parts makes it possible to optimise each part individually. The detector is divided into square pixels with a size of 270 x 270 μm2. DIXI has the ability to count single photons and every readout pixel has two embedded counters to allow the acquisition of two images close in time. A discriminator enables the selection of photons with energies above a preset threshold level.The readout chip Angie has been developed and its performance has been evaluated in terms of noise, threshold variation and capability to perform energy weighted counting. Silicon sensors have been fabricated, and a control system for DIXI has been designed and built. An electroless process for deposition of Ni/Au bumps on the chip and sensor has been optimised as a preparation for the assembly of a complete detector, which is being assembled by flip-chip bonding using anisotropic conductive film.A simulation library for the DIXI detector has been set up and results on the image quality are reported for different exposures and working conditions. A theoretical model for hybrid pixel detectors based on the cascaded linear system theory has been developed. The model can be used to investigate and optimise the detector for different detector configurations and operating conditions.


We measure the coherent multipath interference noise and the associated bit error rate (BER) penalty affecting an optical link in which a fraction of the signal is scattered from the fundamental into the first-order mode of a bend insensitive fiber, to mimic a situation that can be encountered in fiber to the home deployments. Our set up allows changing the relative weights and the phase difference between the two interfering modes, and measuring the BER in stationary and dynamical settings, namely with the interference conditions kept fixed or continuously varied during the measurement cycle, respectively. We show that the BER penalty detected in the dynamical measurements can be entirely ascribed to the stochastic variations of the received intensity, and we demonstrate a good agreement between the experimental data and the results of our numerical simulations.


While the size of nanoparticles (NPs) seems to be a concept established in the field of NPs and is commonly used to characterize them, its definition is not that trivial as different "sizes" have to be distinguished depending on the physical characterization technique performed to measure them. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are known for their crystallinity, their large variety of compositions due to a huge number of inorganic building blocks that can be combined with almost endless organic linkers, their tunable pore structure, their ultrahigh porosity, and the different ways their backbones can be functionalised. The combination of these features with the nanoworld offers manifold perspectives for the synthesis of well-defined MOF nanoparticles (NPs), whose size attribute should be accurately determined as it strongly influences their physicochemical properties (at this length scale). In order to elucidate size determination, we synthesised zirconium fumarate metal–organic framework nanoparticles (Zr-fum MOF NPs) and characterized them using various common characterization methods. Herein, we compare the results of different solid-state methods, including powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to data obtained from dispersion-based methods, such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). In doing so, we illustrate the challenge of finding the appropriate method for obtaining a MOF NP size that is meaningful in the context of the desired application. Moreover, we demonstrate the importance of applying multiple complementary techniques as soon as the MOF NP size is considered. Throughout this paper, we highlight and define some reasonable recommendations of how the MOF NP size should be explored.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To explore the extant literature for key features of prodromal and acute myocardial infarction fatigue experienced by women, including estimates of severity, narrative descriptors, impacts on activities of daily living and frequency, and to describe what is known from the current evidence base.

BACKGROUND
Several studies, conducted across the globe, have investigated prodromal and acute myocardial infarction symptoms experienced by women and suggested that fatigue is prevalent, and they have also sporadically described specific characteristics of fatigue, such as narrative descriptors and severity. However, no review specific to this acute and prodromal fatigue could be located in the literature.

DESIGN
Integrative review, guided by Whittemore and Knafl's approach and the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms.

METHODS
We used a comprehensive, systematic approach to searching, screening, selecting, evaluating and analysing the records. Data were collected in February 2017.

RESULTS
Twenty-one articles were included in the review, including nine quantitative, six qualitative and six mixed-methods studies, with the majority (14) published in the USA. The average age of participants across the studies was the early 60s. Distress, quality, intensity and timing of prodromal myocardial infarction fatigue were more completely described in the literature than acute myocardial infarction fatigue.

CONCLUSIONS
Fatigue is the most common prodromal myocardial infarction symptom experienced by women and is also a common acute symptom. Additional research exploring prodromal and acute myocardial infarction fatigue is necessary.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
As healthcare professionals work with women across the healthcare spectrum, recognising fatigue as an important potential myocardial infarction symptom is essential. Not only can women be educated about this symptom and other possible myocardial infarction symptoms, but clinicians can consider fatigue as an important symptom in a constellation of factors when evaluating women's health and the potential for coronary disease and myocardial infarction.


The 2nd International Conference on Whole-Body Vibration Injuries, held in Siena (Italy), 7-9 November 2000, was organized by the Department of Prevention of the Local Health Unit 7 (AUSL 7) of Siena, in co-operation with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Prevention (ISPESL) of Rome (Italy) and the University of Siena (Italy). The conference was sponsored by the European Commission under the BIOMED 2 Concerted Action BMH4-CT98-3291 (Vibration Injury Network). The conference took a similar form to the 1st International Conference on Whole-Body Vibration Injuries held at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, England, 15-17 September 1997 (see Journal of Sound and Vibration 215, 1998). The vibration experienced by some vehicle and machine operators has long been suspected to be a cause of injuries. There is epidemiological evidence that occupational exposure to whole-body vibration is associated with an increased risk of low back pain, sciatic pain, and degenerative changes in the spinal system. There is, however, not yet sufficient data to outline a clear exposure-response relationship between whole-body vibration exposures and low back pain disorders. There are guides, standards and proposed legislation intended to protect workers from excessive exposure to whole-body vibration and mechanical shock. Models have been developed to predict forces in the spine associated with vibration and shock. Biodynamic models have been developed to estimate risks of injury and optimize environments so as to minimize risks. This conference provided a unique opportunity to exchange information on the potential for injury from whole-body vibration and mechanical shock, to increase understanding of the mechanisms of injury, to improve methods of investigating the effects of whole-body vibration and shock, and to disseminate understanding by means of preventing injury. Eighty persons participated in the conference from 16 countries: Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Greece, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ukraine, United States of America, Yugoslavia. Researchers from various disciplines - biomechanics, physics, physiology, engineering and medicine - exchanged their ideas with respect to the state-of-the-art, the main criticisms of experimental and epidemiological data, and the future directions of research. The main topics of the papers presented at the conference involved: epidemiology, physiological measurements and pathological investigations, biodynamic measurements, models and analogues, measurement and evaluation of exposures, seating dynamics, guidelines, standards, and other preventative measures, compensation and legal implications. Thirty-four papers were presented at the conference. Following independent review, 18 of the papers have been accepted for publication in this issue of the Journal of Sound and Vibration. In addition to the benefits accruing to areas of biodynamics, modelling, clinical and epidemiological research, the advances in knowledge promoted by the papers have potentially important socio-economic implications. Such benefits were evident in a special session of the conference dedicated to preventative measures and the promotion of the transfer of knowledge from the laboratory to the field. Some of the results from work packages of the EU research project BIOMED 2 "Vibration Injury Network" identified preventative measures, including guidelines for whole-body vibration health surveillance, a survey of technical preventative measures to reduce whole-body vibration effects when designing mobile machinery, criteria for the recognition of whole-body vibration injury as an occupational disease, and a whole-body vibration database on the Internet. The main effort of this conference was to summarize the current state of knowledge in the field of whole-body vibration injuries and identify practical implications for risk prevention. The results of the conference confirmed that epidemiological data providing direct information on exposure-response relationships for spinal disorders induced by whole-body vibration are still limited. For this reason, emphasis was placed on the implications from experimental studies and clinical observations, the development of computational biomechanical models, and on research strategies to improve knowledge in the future. Together, this approach should provide a framework to facilitate the development of future guidelines and improve standardization of the assessment of the risks of whole-body vibration at the workplace and develop vibration-specific preventative measures.


A parallel manipulator is a closed loop mechanism which consists of a moving platform that is connected to a fixed base by at least two kinematic chains in parallel. Parallel manipulators can provide several advantages, such as high stiffness, high accuracy, and low inertia but also have some disadvantages, such as small workspace, complicated structures, a high cost, and also pose a major challenge to their analysis and control. To overcome the above shortcomings, progress on the development of parallel manipulators with less than 6-DOF has been accelerated. In this thesis, a new parallel manipulator with three degrees of freedom DOF is designed. Kinematic of the manipulator including inverse kinematic, Jacobian matrix and velocity equation are analyzed. Performance indices such as workspace, dexterity and stiffness, of the parallel manipulator are studied. The parallel manipulator is optimized based on the performance indices to obtain on the optimal design parameters for achieved maximum performance of the parallel manipulator. A prototype was fabricated to demonstrate the manipulator. An electronic board, transistor relay driver circuit, is designed for the purpose of establishing communication interface between the computer, adaptive learning algorithm and the actuator mechanism. Design and development an adaptive learning algorithm controller ALAC of position the actuators is presented in real time parallel manipulator based on artificial neural network ANN. The control of a parallel manipulator based on joint space control is implemented by determine the lengths of the electrohydraulic actuators EHA individually. EHA are known to have nonlinear parameters and dynamic factors such as frictions, load variations and leakage. These effects, if not controlled, would lead to large scale oscillations that would damage system components. System identification is a prerequisite to analysis of a dynamic system. It is performed using neural network Auto Regressive with exogenous (NNARX) model based on the input/ output experimental data. There some criteria such as loss function, Aikeke's Information Criterion, goodness of fit and correlation analysis of the residual are analyzed to determine the adequate model for representing the EHA. The real time ALAC is coded in MATLAB/ SIMULINK and consists of two inverse ANN, feed forward neural network ANN1 and feedback network ANN2, and proportional feedback controller (P). The ANN2 is used to update the weights and biases online while ANN1 is used to implement the controller. Pcontroller is designed to improve the controller system and ensure the stability. The updated weights and biases of the ANN1 are same set obtained ANN2. The results of the proposed controller were compared with direct inverse neural controller DINC. It was found from experimentation that the ALAC was able to improve the position control of the parallel manipulator and adjusted the weights according to changing condition and control the system without any changes in the controlling algorithm. It is still effective with few overshoot compared with DINC.


To improve the sensitivity of antibody microarray assays, we developed ENSAM (Europium Nanoparticles for Signal enhancement of Antibody Microarrays). ENSAM is based on two nanomaterials. The first is polystyrene nanoparticles incorporated with europium chelate (beta-diketone) and coated with streptavidin. The multiple fluorophores incorporated into each nanoparticle should increase signal obtained from a single binding event. The second nanomaterial is array surfaces of nanoporous silicon, which creates high capacity for antibody adsorption. Two antibody microarray assays were compared: ENSAM and use of streptavidin labeled with a nine-dentate europium chelate. Analyzing biotinylated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) spiked into human female serum, ENSAM yielded a 10-fold signal enhancement compared to the streptavidin-europium chelate. Similarly, we observed around 1 order of magnitude greater sensitivity for the ENSAM assay (limit of detection < or = 0.14 ng/mL, dynamic range > 10(5)) compared to the streptavidin-europium chelate assay (limit of detection < or = 0.7 ng/mL, dynamic range > 10(4)). Analysis of a titration series showed strong linearity of ENSAM ( R2 = 0.99 by linear regression). This work demonstrates the novel utility of nanoparticles with time-resolved fluorescence for signal enhancement of antibody microarrays, requiring as low as 100-200 zmol biotinylated PSA per microarray spot. In addition, proof of principle was shown for analyzing PSA in plasma obtained from patients undergoing clinical PSA-testing.


"Take a picture, it lasts longer" and "a picture's worth a thousand words" are quintessential statements often used either sincerely or facetiously to make a statement about a specific occurrence. In qualitative research, researchers combine visual media and ethnographic research to provide purposeful presentations of meaning relating to social occurrences. Sarah Pink, the author of Doing Visual Ethnography: Images, Media, and Representation in Research (2001), provides a contemporary look into how the arrangement between photography, video, and hypermedia, along with ethnography, has the potential to provide a greater understanding of social phenomena. It is important to note that the author's objective is to offer an additional technique for conducting ethnographic research and not to make this book a guide for conducting visual ethnography. As with any research project, the researcher must be able identify and defend the need for the method of choice. Visual methods are no exception; ethnography with the use of visual tools must be thoroughly investigated prior to embarking on a project that will utilize this method. The importance of this step is critical to the setting and to the participants who will be studied. Pink (2001) imparts two examples of how and where visual methods seemed appropriate. In a study of bullfighting, visual methods were appropriate as they helped Pink analyze the way that participants positioned themselves within the bullfighting culture. In contrast, Pink's research in Guinea Bissau suggested that visual methods were questionable in that context due to the value that is placed on photographs within that culture. Pink labeled this as an "economic inequality" and a possible reason why ethnographic visual research was not suitable in that setting. The context is a determining factor when contemplating the application of visual methods. Once it is determined that visual methods will be used for a research study, Pink (2001) encourages the researcher to choose technology wisely. While a camera or other media equipment may seem to be mundane tools, based on the way technology is used in our western culture, they nonetheless inform our sense of identity. Researchers and participants create a dynamic identity when technology is introduced. The information that a participant shares will vary greatly depending on the type of visual tool used. For example, participants in a study conducted with no visual tools may have the tendency to produce rich narrative information; on the other hand, the use of a still camera may alter the information that is offered by the participants, and their sense of identity may also be adjusted. A video camera may further alter the way in which participants share information and represent themselves. As an anthropologist, Pink (2001) offers the use of visual methods paired with ethnography as a qualitative research method. However, an innovative researcher may opt for the use of visual methods with any other form of qualitative research. A researcher conducting an ethnographic research study will, for the most part, have control of the research. However, the use of visual material, such as still photographs, will carry a variety of meanings to the audience. Pink states: [T]here are no fixed criteria that determine which photographs are ethnographic. Any photograph may have ethnographic interest, significance or meanings at a particular time or for a specific reason. The meanings of photographs are arbitrary and subjective; they depend on who is looking. The same photographic image may have a variety of (perhaps conflicting) meanings invested in it at different stages of ethnographic research and representation, as it is viewed by different eyes and audiences in diverse temporal historical, spatial, and cultural contexts. (p. 51) To support Pink's statement I will offer a visual example. The picture below shows a patrol cap that is worn with the United States Army combat uniform. …


Minimized conformational potential energy calculations have been performed for AAF linked to dCpdG at the guanine amino group. This 1s a model for the minor AAF adduct observed in DNA, whose conformational Influence has been difficult to ascertain. A global minimum energy confor-mation was computed with torsion angles like those of the dCpdG residue of Z-DNA. This conformation was Incorporated into a larger polymer model at a B-Z junction, with the carcinogen residing 1n the groove 1n the Z direction. Local minimum energy conformations of the B type were also computed. In addition, two minima were found with fluorene-cytidine stacking. These results suggest that existing B-Z junctions may be vulnerable to modification by AAF at the guanine amino group, or that such junctions may be Induced by the carcinogen 1f the base sequence 1s appropriate. Otherwise the carcinogen can be located 1n the minor groove of the B helix (5,10,11) or covalently intercalated (13-15).


Error-related potentials (ErrP) have been increasingly studied in psychophysical experiments as well as for brain-machine interfacing. In the latter case, the generalisation capabilities of ErrP decoders is a crucial element to avoid frequent recalibration processes, thus increasing their usability. Previous studies have suggested that ErrP signals are rather stable across recording sessions. Also, studies using protocols of serial stimuli presentation show that these potentials do not change significantly with the presentation rate. Here we complement these studies by analysing the decoding generalisation capabilities. Using data from monitoring experiments, we evaluate how much the performance degrades when tested in a condition different than the one the decoder was trained with. Moreover, we compare different spatial filtering techniques to see which preprocessing steps yield less-sensitive features for ErrP decoding.


Objective: Converging evidence suggests that abnormalities of brain development may play a role in the pathogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). As sulco-gyral patterns are thought to be a footprint of cortical development, we set out to quantitatively map folding complexity across the neocortex in TLE. Additionally, we tested whether there was a relationship between cortical complexity and features of hippocampal maldevelopment, commonly referred to as malrotation. Methods: To quantify folding complexity, we obtained whole-brain surface-based measures of absolute mean cortical curvature from MRI scans acquired in 43 drug-resistant patients with TLE with unilateral hippocampal atrophy, and 40 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. In patients, we correlated changes in cortical curvature with 3-dimensional measures of hippocampal positioning. Results: We found increased folding complexity in the temporolimbic cortices encompassing parahippocampal, temporopolar, insular, and fronto-opercular regions. Increased complexity was observed ipsilateral to the seizure focus in patients with left TLE (LTLE), whereas these changes were bilateral in patients with right TLE (RTLE). In both TLE groups, increased temporolimbic complexity was associated with increased hippocampal malrotation. We found tendencies for increased complexity in bilateral posterior temporal cortices in LTLE and contralateral parahippocampal cortices in RTLE to be predictive of unfavorable seizure outcome after surgery. Conclusion: The anatomic distribution of increased cortical complexity overlapping with limbic seizure networks in TLE and its association with hippocampal maldevelopment further imply that neurodevelopmental factors may play a role in the epileptogenic process of TLE.


Recent studies have consistently found important economic e¤ects of year-to-year weather ‡uctuations. This paper studies the economic e¤ects of long-term and gradual climate change, over a period of 250 years, when people have time to adapt. In particular, I study the e¤ects of the Little Ice Age, a historical episode of long-term climate change. Results show signi…cant negative economic e¤ects of long-term climate change. Cities with good access to trade were substantially less a¤ected. Results from yearly historical wheat prices and yield ratios show that temperature change impacted economic growth through its e¤ect on agricultural productivity. Further evidence shows a lack of adaptation. I show evidence of the relevance of these results to the context of contemporary developing countries and recommend ways in which these …ndings may improve Integrated Assessment Models.


The article makes the case for redescribing Jean Barbeyrac (1674-1744), the great French translator and influential glossator of seventeenth-century Latin natural-law texts, as something quite other than a neutral mediator of Samuel Pufendorf. To consider the specific religious and political charge of his strategies as translator is to recognize the independence of Barbeyrac's Huguenot stance on natural jurisprudence. This stance is provoked by the profound challenge that Pufendorf's radical post-Westphalian secularizing of civil authority posed for a Huguenot: how to grant that the state had legitimate authority to regulate all external conduct, but at the same time preserve an inviolable moral space for the exercise of individual conscience. The argument—pointing to Barbeyrac's construction of a 'Lockeanized' Pufendorf—rests both on his famous presentation of Leibniz's critique of Pufendorf's De officio hominis et civis and on more neglected elements of Barbeyrac's corpus.


Salinity is one of the most important factors negatively effecting the yield in crop species. In this study the effect of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and arbuscular mycorrhizae on proline content, membrane permeability and growth of strawberry cv. 'San Andreas' were studied under different salt treatments (0, 30 and 60 mM/L NaCl). The leaf area was measured 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 days after saline solution applications on the plants. The results showed that increasing concentrations of NaCl decreased all growth parameters. Increased salt concentration led to increased proline level compared to the control. Bacterial application at 60 mM/L NaCl concentration provided the highest ameliorative effect and therefore determined the most effective protection of the plant against salt stress. It was observed that the anthocyanin content increased in line with the increasing salt concentration. In general, the salt applied on the plants causes an increase in membrane permeability and thus disrupts membrane stability and becomes a significant factor damaging the plant. Membrane permeability increased at applications with 30 mM/L and 60 mM/L NaCl. Our results revealed that bacteria application can have an ameliorative effect that helps the plant to tolerate the negative effects of salt stress by increasing proline and anthocyanin levels.


Scapular dyskinesis refers to abnormal movement patterns of the scapula, which have been associated with injury. Previous investigations have validated the scapular dyskinesis test as a visual assessment method using physicians, physical therapists, and certified athletic trainers. Through educational programs, athletic training students should be taught what scapular dyskinesis is and how to identify it. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to (a) evaluate entry-level graduate athletic training students' ability to identify scapular dyskinesis, (b) assess their reliability, and (c) determine if they were able to correctly identify the muscles involved in rehabilitating an individual with scapular dyskinesis. Follow-up questions were directed at the athletic training students' learning experiences and exposure to scapular dyskinesis. Forty-one graduate athletic training students volunteered to rate 15 videos of participants completing the scapular dyskinesis test. The raters exhibited 80% agreement in identifying scapular dyskinesis. Nineteen of those 41 completed the reliability component, which consisted of seven videos, and revealed moderate reliability (κ =.32 inter-rater; κ =.45 intra-rater). The raters also demonstrated an ability to identify the muscles involved, with 88% correct responses. The follow-up questions revealed that athletic training students perceive greater exposure to scapular dyskinesis and identifying scapular dyskinesis in the classroom setting compared to the clinical setting. Overall, the results indicated that entry-level graduate athletic training students are prepared and able to identify scapular dyskinesis during a scapular dyskinesis test. However, it also indicates a disparity in the clinical education component of the athletic training education program. This dissertation is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council Dissertation Director: __________________________________ Dr. Gretchen Oliver Dissertation Committee: __________________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Bonacci __________________________________ Dr. Michael Gray __________________________________ Dr. Brady Tripp


ABSTRACT This study explores how public sector reform discourses are reflected in Russian central government budgeting. Through the lenses of institutional logics, Russian central government budgeting is considered to be a social institution that is influenced by rivaling reform paradigms: Public Administration, New Public Management (NPM), the Neo-Weberian State, and New Public Governance. Although NPM has dominated the agenda during the last decade, all four have been presented in "talks" and "decisions" regarding government budgeting. The empirical evidence illustrates that the implementation of management accounting techniques in the Russian public sector has coincided with and contradicted the construction of the Russian version of bureaucratic governance, which is referred to as the vertical of power. Having been accompanied by participatory mechanisms and a re-evaluation of the Soviet legacy, the reforms have created prerequisites for various outcomes at the level of budgeting practices: conflicts, as in the UK, and hybridization, as in Finland.


We describe an algorithm for inducing clause-combining rules for use in a traditional natural language generation architecture. An experiment pairing lexicalized text plans from the SPaRKy Restaurant Corpus with logical forms obtained by parsing the corresponding sentences demonstrates that the approach is able to learn clause-combining operations which have essentially the same coverage as those used in the SPaRKy Restaurant Corpus. This paper fills a gap in the literature, showing that it is possible to learn microplanning rules for both aggregation and discourse connective insertion, an important step towards ameliorating the knowledge acquisition bottleneck for NLG systems that produce texts with rich discourse structures using traditional architectures.


Is law mankind's triumph over the vicious and chaotic state of nature? Or is law a product of power and self-interest? In this major work of cultural and legal theory, Paul Kahn argues that both views are aspects of a Judaeo-Christian legacy in which the virtues of law are always challenged by a love beyond law. Kahn offers a powerful new interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear, reading it as a meditation on political psychology, on the demands that politics makes upon the soul. The play, he contends, juxtaposes the necessities of love to those of the state, and finds only incommensurability. Neither law nor love can include the other, but neither can exist without the other. Law and Love: The Trials of King Lear shows us what interdisciplinary work can achieve. The book not only offers surprising new readings of all the major characters in the play; it also expands the horizons of literary studies by introducing the legal imagination. Kahn demonstrates that cultural studies must recognise law as a core element in the Western conception of self and community, and similarly that legal studies must include the broadest themes of Western culture.


Most people fight over something or other and language is usually at the very center of the conflict. Often the way we use language is the cause of the battle. There are many areas in which fighting about language can be observed but civil law cases offer the most fertile examples of this warfare over words. What did the contract actually say? Was there deception in the advertising? Was the warning label clear and effective? Did the company evidence race of age discrimination against employees or customers? Was one company's name too similar to that of another company? Did the corporation plagiarize the work of another? Did it fraudulently represent what its work? This book is about the ways linguistic analysis describes, exposes, and aids disputes in 18 civil cases where language framed the battle ground. Roger Shuy, a well-known forensic linguist and consultant, shows how the skills of linguistic analysis can help resolve disputed meanings, while also showing how civil cases can prove to be fertile ground for linguistic scholarship. He does this by collecting and analyzing cases involving contracts, trademark disputes, advertisements, product liability, copyright infringement, discrimination, and fraud controversies. In each case he employs all the tools of formal linguistics to show how it can be as helpful as other physical sciences in resolving legal disagreements. The work will be of interest primarily to linguists - sociolinguists, forensic linguists, and scholars and students of law and society - as well as lawyers and law students.


This paper analyses emigration from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to main European and North American destinations since the 1960s. It explores the role of states, post-colonial ties and migration policies in emigration dynamics. By adopting a historical-comparative approach and an origin country perspective, this paper shows that Maghreb emigration was continuously shaped not only by government strategies in Europe but also by those of Maghreb states. Drawing on new bilateral migration flow data compiled in the DEMIG C2C database, the paper reveals three distinct phases in which Maghreb emigration patterns converge and diverge: the post-independence period in which Maghreb emigration boomed; the period from the mid-1970s until the early 1990s when Algerian emigration levelled off while emigration from neighbouring countries' remained high; and the period from the early 1990s when Moroccan emigration increased exponentially while Tunisian and Algerian only grew moderately. Similarities in Maghreb emigration patterns can be explained by the countries' comparable geopolitical and socio-economic features and that European states apply the same immigration policies to all Maghreb countries. To understand the divergences however, a closer look at origin country factors is required. The paper finds that Algeria's departure from regional emigration patterns in the 1970s can be traced back to the emigration stop implemented by the Algerian government in 1973. Conversely, the active promotion of emigration by the Moroccan state facilitated emigration by making access to passport easier and fostering a culture of emigration that together with high unemployment partly explains Morocco's emigration boom after the 1990s. Finally, recent diversification of Maghreb emigration to divergent South European countries, can be attributed to specific historical linkages, with Moroccans and Algerians mainly migrating to Spain and Tunisians to Italy.


Energy sector development in Canada frequently involves the need to address First Nations and other Aboriginal interests when government permits or approvals for facilities are involved. Impact and benefits agreements (IBAs) can play a meaningful role in the reconciliation of the interests and ambitions of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. This article explores the potential advantages and challenges of working toward agreement to resolve First Nations concerns on a proposed project and also discusses the importance of a robust regulatory process in reaching such agreements.


An oxygen isotope study has been carried out on rocks and minerals from the 3 units which comprise the concentric Hercynian pluton of Ploumanac'h (Brittany, France). Lack of extensive low-temperature water/rock interactions enabled 3 non-cogenetic pulses of magma to be identified: (1) an early mantle-derived basaltic magma of alkaline affinity (δ18O ∼ 6); (2) biotite granites (δ18O ∼ 9) which form the bulk of the intrusion; and (3) a ring dyke of late, two mica-cordierite granite (δ18O = 12.3) that is clearly of crustal derivation. The δ18O data, together with published 87Sr/86Sr results, suggest that the last 2 (granitic) pulses were generated in the continental crust. These results are not compatible with any models of closed-system fractional crystallization of a single parent magma-type, although they probably can be fitted into a 'mixing' model involving combined assimilation/fractional crystallization of continental crustal material by basaltic magma. A more likely explanation of the biotite granites is melting of amphibolites or granulites of the lower crust (possibly derived from volcano-detrital parent rocks), with the two-mica granites forming by melting of shallower, more pelitic metasedimentary rocks. The position of the Ploumanac'h pluton in a linear arrangement of related intrusions, together with the clear-cut structural control of its emplacement, are compatible with a model of melting at different levels in the crust and upper mantle, either associated with a mantle plume, or by a pressure release near the tip of a propagating lithospheric crack.


In this sophisticated overview of human emotions, a widely respected psychologist and author addresses the ambiguities and embraces the controversies that surround this intriguing subject. An insightful and lucid thinker, Jerome Kagan examines what exactly we do know about emotions, which popular assumptions about emotions are incorrect, and how scientific study must proceed if we are to uncover the answers to persistent and evasive questions about emotions. Integrating the findings of anthropological, psychological, and biological studies in his wide-ranging discussion, Kagan explores the evidence for great variation in the frequency and intensity of emotion among different cultures. He also discusses variations among individuals within the same culture and the influences of gender, class, ethnicity, and temperament on a person's emotional patina. In his closing chapter, the author proposes that three sources of evidence--verbal descriptions of feelings, behaviors, and measures of brain states--provide legitimate but different definitions of emotion. Translating data from one of these sources to another may not be possible, Kagan warns, and those who study emotions must accept--at least for now--that their understanding is limited to and by the domain of their information.


The Power Distribution Controller senior project aims to replace the current Power Distribution Module (PDM) on Cal Poly's Formula SAE internal combustion vehicle with a more advanced, configurable, and reliable system. The Power Distribution Controller is a MOSFET based system that can be controlled through either controller area network or a parallel interface to distribute and control power from the vehicle's battery to the several electrical devices on the car. The Power Distribution Controller also collects output voltage and current data, and communicates this data to the vehicle's data logger. This will allow engineers to troubleshoot electrical problems on the car by looking through log files, and also detect possible sources of electrical failure before the devices fail. Finally, the Power Distribution Controller is highly configurable and adaptable to any surrounding electrical system by being updatable through firmware rather than hardware.


PURPOSE
The Transtheoretical Model is a theory-based approach for conceptualizing behavioral change. Inherent in this model is the determination and use of appropriate interventions to assist clients in improving their health behaviors. In the Transtheoretical Model, behavioral change progresses through a series of stages (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) where movement from stage to stage is dependent upon decisional balance (the pros and cons that influence the decision). The purpose of this study was to develop instruments to test the validity and reliability of two components of the Transtheoretical Model--stages of change and decisional balance--as they relate to a new application in oral self-care behavior. An additional purpose was to determine if there was an association between these two components that would be applicable to a specific oral self-care behavior.

METHODS
A three-part questionnaire was developed consisting of 1) stages of change instrument (4 items), 2) decisional balance instrument (40 items), and 3) demographic and dental experience information (9 items). Regular interdental cleaning was chosen as a behavior representing a commitment to oral self-care. The study population consisted of 709 subjects aged 35 to 55 who were recruited from 17 dental practices.

RESULTS
A 70% (n = 521) response rate was obtained. Based upon the stages of change portion of the questionnaire, nearly 60% (n = 309) of the subjects were in the maintenance stage, while 21% (n = 109) were in precontemplation, with the rest distributed among the other stages. Reliability of the instrument was established with Kappa scoring. The decisional balance instrument was subjected to factor analysis resulting in a final decisional balance instrument of 28 items. There was a statistically significant relationship between the two components of stages of change and decisional balance.

CONCLUSIONS
Stages of change and decisional balance instruments were developed and shown to be valid and reliable. Based upon the oral self-care behavior defined in this study, these instruments can identify an individual's current behavior and assess readiness to change by analyzing the distribution of the pros and cons a person considers when making a behavioral change. Understanding a client's behavioral stage would enable the practitioner to select and provide appropriate interventions. Further research should focus upon development of stage-appropriate intervention strategies and techniques, in order to move individuals along the continuum of stages toward behavioral change. Additionally, research with parallel and diverse populations is indicated.


Background : As a result of the high cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates in Finland in late 1960's, which became a source of national concern, a major community based programme for CVD prevention called the North Karelia project was established. Aim: The aim of the project was to carry out a programme of comprehensive community based interventions to reduce coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and morbidity. Methods : Using lifestyle modification methods and strategies for environmental change the programme aimed to reduce three main risk factors: smoking, elevated blood cholesterol and blood pressure. Several intervention settings and strategies in the community were used. Results : Since the 1970's the CHD mortality in North Karelia has declined by more than 80%. Major reductions have been seen across the main three cardiovascular risk factors. Among both men and women, total serum cholesterol levels within the population declined by almost 20% and systolic blood pressure by about 10%. Smoking among men decreased from 52% to 33%, while among women a slight increase in smoking prevalence was recorded. Conclusions : The North Karelia project has shown that a comprehensive, determined, theory-based community program can have a meaningful and positive effect on risk factors and lifestyles. Furthermore, these changes are associated with favorable changes in chronic disease rates and the health of the population.


The Gene Ontology (GO) has become the internationally accepted standard for representing function, process, and location aspects of gene products. The wealth of GO annotation data provides a valuable source of implicit knowledge of relationships among these aspects. We describe a new method for association rule mining to discover implicit co-occurrence relationships across the GO sub-ontologies at multiple levels of abstraction. Prior work on association rule mining in the GO has concentrated on mining knowledge at a single level of abstraction and/or between terms from the same sub-ontology. We have developed a bottom-up generalization procedure called Cross-Ontology Data Mining-Level by Level (COLL) that takes into account the structure and semantics of the GO, generates generalized transactions from annotation data and mines interesting multi-level cross-ontology association rules. We applied our method on publicly available chicken and mouse GO annotation datasets and mined 5368 and 3959 multi-level cross ontology rules from the two datasets respectively. We show that our approach discovers more and higher quality association rules from the GO as evaluated by biologists in comparison to previously published methods. Biologically interesting rules discovered by our method reveal unknown and surprising knowledge about co-occurring GO terms.


Effective resource requirement forecasting is necessary to reduce the escalating cost of care by ensuring optimum utilization and availability of scarce health resources. Patient hospital length of stay (LOS) and thus resource requirements depend on many factors including covariates representing patient characteristics such as age, gender, and diagnosis. We therefore propose the use of such covariates for better hospital capacity planning. Likewise, estimation of the patient's expected destination after discharge will help in allocating scarce community resources. Also, probable discharge destination may well affect a patient's LOS in hospital. For instance, it might be required to delay the discharge of a patient so as to make appropriate care provision in the community. A number of deterministic models such as ratio-based methods have failed to address inherent variability in complex health processes. To address such complexity, various stochastic models have therefore been proposed. However, such models fail to consider inherent heterogeneity in patient behavior. Therefore, we here use a phase-type survival tree for groups of patients that are homogeneous with respect to LOS distribution, on the basis of covariates such as time of admission, gender, and disease diagnosed; these homogeneous groups of patients can then model patient flow through a care system following stochastic pathways that are characterized by the covariates. Our phase-type model is then extended by further growing the survival tree based on covariates representing outcome measures such as treatment outcome or discharge destinations. These extended phase-type survival trees are very effective in modeling interrelationship between a patient's LOS and such outcome measures and allow us to describe patient movements through an integrated care system including hospital, social, and community components. In this paper, we first propose a generalization of the Coxian phase-type distribution to a Markov process with more than one absorbing state; we call this the multi-absorbing state phase-type distribution. We then describe how the model can be used with the extended phase-type survival tree for forecasting hospital, social, and community care resource requirements, estimating cost of care, predicting patient demography at a given time in the future, and admission scheduling. We can, thus, provide a stochastic approach to capacity planning across complex heterogeneous care systems. The approach is illustrated using a five year retrospective data of patients admitted to the stroke unit of the Belfast City Hospital.


C. Titus-Petersen M. ED mini-thesis, Department of Education, University of the Western Cape. In this mini-thesis, I explored the factors that affect grade 8 learners' performance in reading in English. The study focused on reading as it was revealed by National Education Department and Western Cape Education Department that literacy and numeracy levels in schools in the Western Cape were poor. In addition, in March 1997, OBE was initiated in South Africa to develop a better educational system for all learners in schools and was perceived as a major step from the previous system (Botha, 2002). The system of OBE introduced the continuous assessment policies, which was a challenge for teachers already in the educational system. The study highlighted the theories of reading with particular emphasis on the evaluation of teaching of reading and assessment in the English classroom, learners' home reading background and the influence of social practices and multiliteracies on learners' reading proficiency. According to Alderson (2000) reading is perceived as a process of meaningmaking with identification of different levels of meaning and understanding in and from text including reading skills. To elicit the factors that affect reading four variables were focused on during the study. The variables included reader, task, text and Social Practices and Multiliteracies variables, which interplayed in reading during tasks. In order to gather data the following data capturing methods were employed, firstly I highlighted the classroom observations to unpack the realities in classrooms for both the teacher and the learners. Then secondly I focused on the learners' questionnaire to determine what happened during reading lessons and learners' home reading practices. And thirdly I presented the teacher's interview to highlight the reading strategies that she employed in class. Lastly I discussed the document analysis of grade 8 examination papers and classroom activities with a checklist. I discovered that the system of OBE put demands on teachers that they are not properly trained to do. Despite the fact that training was provided, it was too short and not clearly focused on interactive reading skills. When we consider the importance of multiliteracies, the teacher clearly draws on the learner's home background by doing activities that make them feel that they are important. This teacher has the ability to successfully incorporate multimodal teaching methods in her class. The teacher also set time aside everyday to assess and mark the learners books, she then clarified issues that learners' might encounter in the course of the reading lesson. However, there are some factors that could be addressed to improve reading abilities. The overcrowding and ghettoized condition of the class, did not promote morale within this environment. With the inception of OBE in-service training was provided, it was too short and not clearly focused on interactive reading skills. A further factor is learners' use of Afrikaans during interactions with the teacher and each other, except for one learner who spoke English during the lesson. In conclusion, the evidence showed that the factors hat affect reading and therefore outcomes in education.


One of the alternatives to the existing medicines and treatment procedures in fighting multi drug resistance (MDR) is strengthening the effects of medicines by modifying their molecular structures through exposure to laser radiation. A method associated with this, is the generation of micro-droplets which contain medicines solutions; the droplets are utilized/produced as vectors to transport the medicines to targets. In our studies we try to combine these two methods in order to obtain a new technique to deliver the efficient medicines to targets that can be applied for a relative large number of chemicals. For this purpose we have developed an experimental set-up containing a liquid droplets generator, a tunable laser source used to irradiate droplets, a subunit to measure the laser induced fluorescence (LIF) signals and a real time recording system for droplet image analysis. Measurements on different probes, like ultrapure water, commercial grade medicines, newly developed medicines and laser dyes were performed.. All these measurements were performed on waterbased solutions. We present in this paper the laser induced fluorescence measurements results on medicine solutions (in bulk or in a micro-droplet form) that exhibit important modifications after the exposure at laser radiation. It was evidenced that the exposures to laser beams/coherent optical radiation of some medicines solutions in ultrapure water may produce molecular modifications in solutions. These slight modifications of the molecules made them more efficient against bacteria strains.


Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has become established as a diagnostic and research tool in many areas of medicine because of its ability to provide excellent soft-tissue delineation in different areas of interest. In addition to T1and T2-weighted imaging, many specialized MR techniques have been designed to extract metabolic or biophysical information. Diffusion-weighted imaging gives insight into the movement of water molecules in tissue, and diffusion-tensor imaging can reveal fiber orientation in the white matter tracts. Metabolic information about the object of interest can be obtained with spectroscopy of protons, in addition to imaging of other nuclei, such as sodium. Dynamic contrast material–enhanced imaging and recently proton spectroscopy play an important role in oncologic imaging. When these techniques are combined, they can assist the physician in making a diagnosis or monitoring a treatment regimen. One of the major advantages of the different types of MR imaging is the ability of the operator to manipulate image contrast with a variety of selectable parameters that affect the kind and quality of the information provided. The elements used to obtain MR images and the factors that affect formation of an MR image include MR instrumentation, localization of the MR signal, gradients, k-space, and pulse sequences. RSNA, 2007


Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.


A detailed model is developed for predicting the ventilation rates of the indoor, conditioned zone of a house and the attic zone. The complete set of algorithms is presented in a form for direct incorporation in a two zone ventilation model. One of the important predictions from this model is the leakage flow rate between the indoor and attic zones. Ventilation rates are predicted from a steady state mass flow rate balance for each zone where all individual flow rates through leakage sites are based on a power law expression for flow rate versus pressure difference. The envelope leakage includes distributed leakage associated with background leakage, localized leakage associated with vents and flues, and active fan ventilation. The predicted ventilation rates agree quite well with field measurements of ventilation rates in houses and attics with different leakage configurations, without the use of any empirically adjusted parameters or constants. r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development, adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, does not have a chapter dedicated to trade. Yet since 1992, trade has become increasingly important to democracy, human rights, women's rights, economic development, employment and the environment. ""Trade and environment"" has been identified by many governments and civil society organisations as an important policy issue in preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. At the same time, environment has become a highly politicised word in the world inhabited by trade negotiators. The aim of this paper is to examine whether or not the inclusion of WTO environmental negotiations, as outlined in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, advances or retards sustainable development.


Movement Primitives (MP) are a well-established approach for representing modular and re-usable robot movement generators. Many state-of-the-art robot learning successes are based MPs, due to their compact representation of the inherently continuous and high dimensional robot movements. A major goal in robot learning is to combine multiple MPs as building blocks in a modular control architecture to solve complex tasks. To this effect, a MP representation has to allow for blending between motions, adapting to altered task variables, and co-activating multiple MPs in parallel. We present a probabilistic formulation of the MP concept that maintains a distribution over trajectories. Our probabilistic approach allows for the derivation of new operations which are essential for implementing all aforementioned properties in one framework. In order to use such a trajectory distribution for robot movement control, we analytically derive a stochastic feedback controller which reproduces the given trajectory distribution. We evaluate and compare our approach to existing methods on several simulated as well as real robot scenarios.


Kerala, south western state of India is known for its abundant heavy mineral deposits along the coast. Beach placer deposits in Kerala is known for ilmenite, rutile, zircon, monazite, sillimanite and garnet. The grain size study of the sediments from Karamana river, flowing in the southern part of Kerala. Sediments from different parts of the river basin is studied, which enabled to understand the grain size variations with course of the river from the Peppara dam to Thiruvallam, very near to coast. Mineralogy of the river vary from one place to another depending different factors like host rocks in the province, climate conditions of the area, agents of transport and hydraulic condition during deposition, also can predict the actual source area associated with heavy mineral. Textural and heavy mineral studies of the placers of beach and Karamana river basins indicating the river is one of the important contributors of sediments to the western coast of the southern part of Kerala. Samples from various parts of the river indicate that the sediment is medium sand, moderately sorted, fine skewed and platykurtic. The characteristics of grain size distribution are related to the source rocks, process of weathering, and different sorting processes during transportation and deposition. The total heavy mineral percentage shows it is prominently enrichment in fine sand and very fine sands.


A reconfigurable low-noise amplifier (LNA) with tunable input matching network is proposed. The tunable input matching network provides continuous tuning of the input resonant circuit. The LNA is implemented using 0.13-mum CMOS technology. The amplifier has a tuning range of 1.9-2.4 GHz with an input return loss better than -13 dB. The LNA has a measured voltage gain of 10-14 dB and a noise figure of 3.2-3.7 dB within the band. The LNA consumes 14 mA from a 1.2-V supply. The detailed analysis of the proposed LNA, including the tuning range and additional noise of the proposed reconfigurable input matching network, is presented. To our knowledge, this is the first architecture that provides continuous tuning of the input matching network.


We present a near realtime text tracking system capable of detecting and tracking text on outdoor shop signs or indoor notices, at rates of up to 15 frames per second (for generous 640 × 480 images), depending on scene complexity. The method is based on extracting text regions using a novel tree-based connected component filtering approach, combined with the Eigen-Transform texture descriptor. The method can efficiently handle dark and light text on light and dark backgrounds. Particle filter tracking is then used to follow the text, including SIFT matching to maintain region identity in the face of multiple regions of interest, fast displacements, and erratic motions.


It matters greatly where you start, in thinking about communications. You may start, for instance, in a mood of excitement and even congratulation that at the present stage of civilization there is a communications system incomparably more vast and efficient than could ever have been imagined: that the voice of radio, the face of television, goes into millions of homes, and that we have the most widely distributed press in the world. You can feel this excitement even if you recognize certain little local difficulties such as a cigarette advertisement appearing just before Robin Hood, or a particularly shocking series in one of the Sunday papers, or even the overnight death of the News Chronicle.… On the other hand, you may be starting from the feeling that never in the history of the world has there been so much production of bad culture. Never, it is true, has there been so much production of any kind, but the percentage of this production which is bad is now appalling.… Many people, good people, have this image of a depraved, or largely depraved, population, whom they call the masses. The people are not profiting by the gleaming machine of communication, but are being reduced to what is usually called a near-moronic mass.… My own starting point is distinct from either of these attitudes. In my view you cannot understand the communications system unless you look at it historically, and this as yet we have not really enough evidence for. Very few people have been working on it.… and because of this, such history of the communications system as exists is mostly bad history, bad history which hides from us the factors which could lead to an understanding of the contemporary situation.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


The political underperformance, socio-economic grievances, widespread poverty and expansion of terrorist networks in the Sahel region are commonly framed as security risks to both the region itself and to Europe. The heavy international security presence in the region, including a UN peacekeeping mission with a robust mandate, a US Africa Command drone base, three EU missions, a large French-led counter-terrorist operation, and the creation of a new Special Forces Joint Task Force, support this interpretation. This paper critically reflects on how security threats are framed and looks at how the region has become a scene for the EU to strengthen its identity as a security actor and for its member states to both show commitment to multilateralism by contributing troops to EU and UN missions and to be loyal partners to larger allies such as France and the US. While this is not incompatible with the desire to increase the stability in the region, the fact that the international presence has taken on a logic of its own may render external actors less attentive to how they affect, and are affected by, local power dynamics.


Engineering computing is a topic that nearly all engineering departments include in their curricula. Yet, the pedagogical goals of a computing course are necessarily split between code as a means of learning higher level math, code as a specific tool in design and research, and code as a way to learn algorithmic thinking. Learning more advanced applied math is typically learned through the traditional lecture/homework/test format, whereas learning the syntax of a particular language is most often taught through short programming assignments. This paper introduces Coding to Think as a way to teach algorithmic thinking that builds off of the Writing to Think movement in the Humanities. This technique is very well suited to long-term projects as it provides an opportunity to focus on deeper and more complex algorithmic thinking. The semester-long project presented is motivated by three guiding learning outcomes: 1) To program at a level of complexity that requires planning, iteration, encapsulation and documentation, 2) To move from Idea to Code (a phrase that is mentioned in class at least once a week) and 3) To articulate and put into practice the power of a computing language that can do more than a calculator or Excel. The seven project assignments that lead students from an initial idea to final code are detailed, as well as an assessment of outcomes, student and faculty comments, suggested improvements and adaptations and ABET assessment measures.


More than half the world's population now live in urban areas. In developing countries, these areas will become home to almost all of the projected 50 per cent population growth that will occur between now and 2030, swelling urban populations by a further 1.3 billion by 2030 and 2.5 billion by 2050 (GMR 2013). As a result, by the middle of the century, urban dwellers will account for more than 85 per cent of the population in the more developed countries and more than 65 per cent in the less developed regions. Overall, it is expected that seven out of ten people will be living in urban areas by 2050 (UN-Habitat 2011).
 In this rapidly changing environment, megacities, urban corridors and city regions have attracted the largest attention of both academics and policymakers. In comparison, far less is known about smaller and emergent urban areas (Ferre, Ferreira and Lanjouw 2011), even if most of the current urban population in the world live in small and medium towns (WUP 2012) and the major part of population growth is projected to take place in those towns under one million people (using 2005 UN population estimates).
 As part of the Tomorrow-Today Horizon Scanning Initiative supported by IDS, the project 'Exploring the Potential and Limits of the Resilience Agenda in Rapidly Urbanising Contexts' aims to analyse the emergence of the concept of 'urban resilience' in the literature and to assess the potential and limitations of this concept as an element of policy narrative, especially in the context of rapid urbanisation processes. In order to give a more empirical dimension to this analysis, we also included two case studies (one large city – Mumbai in India, and one smaller city – Khulna in Bangladesh) with the aim of relying on these case studies to better understand some of the crucial processes characterising urbanisation, to scrutinise the dynamic and evolving linkages and processes that connect the rural and the urban in the peri-urban interface and the ways in which resources are differently defined, appropriated and used by various interest groups.