Interesting succeeding generations of students in specialized topics such as the Shroud of Turin requires active initiatives. An important pedagogical objective is served by introducing students to research at the undergraduate level. Not only does such research teach students about basic research methods, but it often stimulates lifelong interest in the topics thus researched. The purpose of the present work is to develop a set of research projects and materials suitable for undergraduate research. The projects presented here all involve computer science, specifically the application of image processing methods to digital images of the Shroud of Turin. Many image processing tools are available in languages such as Java, MatLab, Python, Processing, and specialized environments such as Photoshop, MatLab's Image Processing Toolbox, ImageJ (a Java based toolkit), and CVIPtools (a C-based image processing toolkit). The Focus Project concept is one which the author is exploring as a way of involving students in something bigger than the typical student project. Focus Projects are long term research projects with individual components that are within the range of undergraduate researchers. Each component of a Focus Project is a project which students could complete in a single semester that would contribute as a building block in a larger research program. A Focus Project Component fits into the overall structure of a larger research program. It consists of a body of knowledge and techniques that have been demonstrated by previous researchers, and a set of objectives that remain to be accomplished. The basic structure of a component will be described in terms of the research materials available to the students and the tools which they can apply to the work. The results of work on a Focus Project component would be not only a paper, but results, techniques, and computer codes which contribute to further work later by other students. The present paper will describe Focus Projects, describe the current status of the Shroud of Turin Image Processing Focus Project as well as student contributions which were done as Honor's Projects and Senior Seminar projects. Future Focus Project components under development will be described briefly and some of the available toolsets will be demonstrated on images of the shroud.


Raman spectroscopy has, for long, been utilized to investigate material systems on the micro and mesoscales. Recently, the technique has proven its ability in exploring systems on the nanoscale. In this paper, we review our recent work on the Raman investigation of molecular adsorption from liquid mixtures on surfaces of single-walled carbon nanotubes and fullerene nanospheres, emphasizing the following major research findings: the development of a Raman-based technique capable of sensing local chemical interactions on the surface of carbon nanotubes and spheres; the molecular simulation results supporting the Raman investigation; the possibility of creating mesostructures based upon mixtures of carbon nanotubes and nanospheres that are crucial for selective adsorption. The current findings represent a major new thrust for the development of new nanostructured materials with superior adsorption capabilities and unique applications. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


BACKGROUND
Children who wear hearing aids may be at risk for further damage to their hearing from overamplification. Previous research on amplification-induced hearing loss has included children using linear amplification or simulations of predicted threshold shifts based on nonlinear amplification formulae. A relationship between threshold shifts and the use of nonlinear hearing aids in children has not been empirically verified.

PURPOSE
The purpose of the study was to compare predicted threshold shifts from amplification to longitudinal behavioral thresholds in a large group of children who wear hearing aids to determine the likelihood of amplification-induced hearing loss.

RESEARCH DESIGN
An accelerated longitudinal design was used to collect behavioral threshold and amplification data prospectively.

STUDY SAMPLE
Two-hundred and thirteen children with mild-to-profound hearing loss who wore hearing aids were included in the analysis.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Behavioral audiometric thresholds, hearing aid outputs, and hearing aid use data were collected for each participant across four study visits. Individual ear- and frequency-specific safety limits were derived based on the Modified Power Law to determine the level at which increased amplification could result in permanent threshold shifts. Behavioral thresholds were used to estimate which children would be above the safety limit at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz using thresholds in dB HL and then in dB SPL in the ear canal. Changes in thresholds across visits were compared for children who were above and below the safety limits.

RESULTS
Behavioral thresholds decreased across study visits for all children, regardless of whether their amplification was above the safety limits. The magnitude of threshold change across time corresponded with changes in ear canal acoustics as measured by the real-ear-to-coupler difference.

CONCLUSIONS
Predictions of threshold changes due to amplification for children with hearing loss did not correspond with observed changes in threshold over across 2-4 yr of monitoring amplification. Use of dB HL thresholds and predictions of hearing aid output to set the safety limit resulted in a larger number of children being classified as above the safety limit than when safety limits were based on dB SPL thresholds and measured hearing aid output. Children above the safety limit for the dB SPL criteria tended to be fit above prescriptive targets. Additional research should seek to explain how the Modified Power Law predictions of threshold shift overestimated risk for children who wear hearing aids.


The acoustic reflection technique noninvasively measures airway cross-sectional area vs. distance functions and uses a wave tube with a constant cross-sectional area to separate incidental and reflected waves introduced into the mouth or nostril. The accuracy of estimated cross-sectional areas gets worse in the deeper distances due to the nature of marching algorithms, i.e., errors of the estimated areas in the closer distances accumulate to those in the further distances. Here we present a new technique of acoustic reflection from measuring transmitted acoustic waves in the airway with three microphones and without employing a wave tube. Using miniaturized microphones mounted on a catheter, we estimated reflection coefficients among the microphones and separated incidental and reflected waves. A model study showed that the estimated cross-sectional area vs. distance function was coincident with the conventional two-microphone method, and it did not change with altered cross-sectional areas at the microphone position, although the estimated cross-sectional areas are relative values to that at the microphone position. The pharyngeal cross-sectional areas including retropalatal and retroglossal regions and the closing site during sleep was visualized in patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The method can be applicable to larger or smaller bronchi to evaluate the airspace and function in these localized airways.


The Hippo (Hpo) kinase cascade plays a critical role, conserved from Drosophila to mammals, in the control of cell proliferation and organ size. As a consequence of Hpo activation in Drosophila, the transcriptional coactivator Yorkie (Yki) is phosphorylated and sequestered in the cytoplasm. The exclusion of Yki from the nucleus results in the reduced expression of cyclin E, which stimulates cell proliferation, and diap1, which is an antiapoptotic gene. Two aspects of Hpo signaling that have thus far remained elusive are the identity of the transcription factor that pairs with Yki to stimulate cell growth and whether Yki directly activates the genes whose expression is antagonized by Hpo. Two groups, Zhang et al. and Wu et al., performed very similar studies that identified the transcription factor Scalloped (Sd), a homolog of mammalian TEF proteins, as the binding partner of Yki. Reporter assays in a Drosophila cell line showed that the Sd-Yki complex formed a transcriptional unit whose activity was inhibited by Hpo. In Drosophila, outgrowth of cells in the eye caused by the overexpression of Yki was blocked when Sd was depleted by RNA interference, as was Yki-mediated expression of Hpo-target genes. Binding of Sd to Yki was necessary for both the nuclear translocation of Yki and the recruitment of Yki to the diap1 enhancer, the first evidence of the direct activation of an Hpo-target gene by Yki. Considering that the mammalian Yki homolog YAP is implicated in organ outgrowth and certain cancers (see Bandura and Edgar), these studies suggest that TEF-YAP complexes, the mammalian homologs of Sd-Yki, may serve as targets for therapies against tumorigenesis. L. Zhang, F. Ren, Q. Zhang, Y. Chen, B. Wang, J. Jiang, The TEAD/TEF family of transcription factor Scalloped mediates Hippo signaling in organ size control. Dev. Cell 14, 377-387 (2008). [PubMed] S. Wu, Y. Liu, Y. Zheng, J. Dong, D. Pan, The TEAD/TEF family protein Scalloped mediates transcriptional output of the Hippo growth-regulatory pathway. Dev. Cell 14, 388-398 (2008). [PubMed] J. L. Bandura, B. A. Edgar, Yorkie and Scalloped: Partners in growth activation. Dev. Cell 14, 315-316 (2008). [PubMed]


Eight new amino acid derivatives (1–8) and two known compounds (9–10) were isolated from the rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort. Their structures were established using UV, IR, HRESIMS, and NMR data. Notably, phenylpropanoid–amino acid adducts 1–6 are the first reported natural products, which possess a unique adduct structure. In addition, their analogues (1–5) were successfully synthesized by nucleophilic substitution and hydrolysis. The absolute configurations of 1–5 were determined by comparison of the specific rotations with those of their analogues and the natural amino acid methyl ester hydrochloride in acetic acid. In addition, these compounds were all evaluated for their neuroprotective effects, and compound 9 showed a moderate protective effect towards human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell injury induced by H2O2.


Computed tomographic (CT) scans of ten patients with rhinocerebral mucormycosis were reviewed. Early paranasal sinus involvement appeared as mucosal thickening on CT scans, usually without air/fluid levels. Recognition as mucormycosis was facilitated by knowledge of the clinical setting or by identification of invasive disease. Evidence of bone destruction on CT scans was seen in only two patients, was a late finding, and usually was absent despite deep extension of disease beyond the bony confines of the paranasal sinus. Five cases had intracranial involvement, either as fungal abscess or infarction. Intracranial mucormycosis usually involved the base of the brain and cerebellum following invasion of the infratemporal fossa or orbit. Intracerebral fungal abscess appeared as low-density masses on CT scans, with variable peripheral enhancement and little surrounding vasogenic edema. Identification of a rim of spared cortex was useful in distinguishing infection from bland infarct. Serial CT scans were also useful in assessing response to hyperbaric oxygen treatment, surgery, and chemotherapy.


Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), such as polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV) are bacterial polyesters, which can be used to produce biodegradable products. Since the mass production of PHAs in bacteria via fermentation is expensive, the production of PHAs in plants may be an attractive alternative. The production of PHB in plants required genetic engineering of phbA, phbB and phbC genes of Ralstonia eutropha, whereas, the bktB, phbB, phbC genes of R. eutropha and tdcB gene of Escherichia coli were required for PHBV production. In this study, each of these gene was fused with the transit peptide (Tp) of oil palm acyl-carrier-protein (ACP), and driven by the oil palm leaf-specific promoter (LSP1), for targeting into the plastids of leaf cells. In total, four transformation vectors, pLSP15 (PHB) and pLSP20 (PHBV), pLSP13 (PHB) and pLSP23 (PHBV) were constructed for the transformation of Arabidopsis and oil palm, respectively. Each vector contained the phosphinothricin acetyltransferase gene (Bar) driven by CaMV35S promoter in pLSP15 and pLSP20, and ubiquitin promoter in pLSP13 and pLSP23, as plant selectable marker. Matrix attachment region of tobacco (RB7MAR) was also included, to stabilize the transgene expression and to minimize gene silencing due to positional effects. Restriction enzymes, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing were used to verify all the constructed vectors. Arabidopsis transformation produced T1 transgenic Arabidopsis plants with normal phenotypes at a transformation efficiency of 0.2%~1.0%. PCR and Southern analyses were used to confirm the insertion of the transgenes. Nile blue A staining of these T1 plants demonstrated the accumulation of PHB granules in the leaf. The initial screening of Basta-resistant oil palm embryogenic calli transformed with pLSP13 using PCR demonstrated the presence of Bar and PHB genes in transformed oil palm.


This paper studies the dynamics of a New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model near the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates. In addition to the standard targeted-inflation equilibrium, we consider a deflation equilibrium as well as a Markov sunspot equilibrium that switches between a targeted-inflation and a deflation regime. We use the particle filter to estimate the state of the U.S. economy during and after the 2008-09 recession under the assumptions that the U.S. economy has been in either the targeted-inflation or the sunspot equilibrium. We consider a combination of fiscal policy (calibrated to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) and monetary policy (that tries to keep interest rates near zero) and compute government spending multipliers. Ex-ante multipliers (cumulative over one year) under the targeted-inflation regime are around 0.9. A monetary policy that keeps interest rates at zero can raise the multiplier to 1.7. The ex-post (conditioning on the realized shocks in 2009-11) multiplier is estimated to be 1.3. Conditional on the sunspot equilibrium, the multipliers are generally smaller and the scope for conventional expansionary monetary policy is severely limited.


Background: The parasitic nematode Spirocerca lupi (Spirurida: Thelaziidae), the canine esophageal worm, is the causative agent of spirocercosis, a disease causing morbidity and mortality in dogs. Spirocerca lupi has a complex life cycle, involving an obligatory coleopteran intermediate host (vector), an optional paratenic host, and a definitive canid host. The diagnosis of spirocercosis is challenging, especially in the early disease stages, when adult worms and clinical signs are absent. Thus, alternative approaches are needed to promote early diagnosis. The interaction between nematodes and their bacterial symbionts has recently become a focus of novel treatment regimens for other helminthic diseases. Results: Using 16S rDNA-based molecular methods, here we found a novel bacterial symbiont in S. lupi that is closely related to Comamonas species (Brukholderiales: Comamonadaceae) of the beta-proteobacteria. Its DNA was detected in eggs, larvae and adult stages of S. lupi. Using fluorescent in situ hybridization technique, we localized Comamonas sp. to the gut epithelial cells of the nematode larvae. Specific PCR enabled the detection of this symbiont's DNA in blood obtained from dogs diagnosed with spirocercosis. Conclusions: The discovery of a new Comamonas sp. in S. lupi increase the complexity of the interactions among the organisms involved in this system, and may open innovative approaches for diagnosis and control of spirocercosis in dogs.


The purpose of this study was to judge the feasibility of gasification for the disposal of waste streams generated through salmon harvesting. Gasification is the process of converting carbonaceous materials into combustible "syngas" in a high temperature (above 700 degrees C), oxygen deficient environment. Syngas can be combusted to generate power, which recycles energy from waste products. At 66% to 79% moisture, raw salmon waste streams are too wet to undergo pyrolysis and combustion. Ground raw or de-oiled salmon whole fish, heads, viscera, or frames were therefore "dried" by mixing with wood pellets to a final moisture content of 20%. Ground whole salmon with moisture reduced to 12% moisture was gasified without a drying agent. Gasification tests were performed in a small-scale, fixed-bed, updraft gasifer. After an initial start-up period, the gasifier was loaded with 1.5 kg of biomass. Temperature was recorded at 6 points in the gasifier. Syngas was collected during the short steady-state period during each gasifier run and analyzed. Percentages of each type of gas in the syngas were used to calculate syngas heating value. High heating value (HHV) ranged from 1.45 to 1.98 MJ/kg. Bomb calorimetry determined maximum heating value for the salmon by-products. Comparing heating values shows the efficiency of gasification. Cold gas efficiencies of 13.6% to 26% were obtained from the various samples gasified. Though research of gasification as a means of salmon waste disposal and energy production is ongoing, it can be concluded that pre-dried salmon or relatively low moisture content mixtures of waste with wood are gasifiable.


Regional colleges in Norway were reorganised in 1994 with the purpose of promoting efficiency and productivity. This is the first effort of checking what actually has happened afterwards with efficiency and productivity. DEA and Malmquist index approaches are used. Data for three years, 1994, 1995 and 1996 at a department level for about 100 units where collected by questionnaire and direct contacts. The three outputs where final exams distributed on two types; shortand long studies, and research publications. Inputs where number of academic and non-academic staff in full time equivalents, current expenses other than salaries, and building size in square metres. Typical cross section efficiency results show a large share of efficient departments, with a disproportionate number of efficient departments giving theoretical general education, and a large variation within the group of inefficient units. The difference between professional and arts and science departments may be explained by the nature of the teaching production function, but calculations for a sub-sample of professional departments (e.g. nurses, engineers, teachers) show almost the same variation within this group. The productivity change each year was mainly positive, with most departments experiencing a positive productivity effect from frontier shift, but a greater variation from positive to negative as regards the contribution from catching up.


In a recent essay in this journal Dean C. Tipps subjected the tradition/ modernity concept to a thorough ideological and empirical critique and concluded that the time has come to get rid of it. Although his ideological and empirical analyses were convincing, the methodological remarks at the end of the essay were incomplete. If the contention that we should no longer attempt to revise the tradition/modernity concept is to stick, compelling methodological grounds must be given since ideological bias and empirical inadequacy can in principle be corrected. I want to show that in so far as the tradition/modernity concept is an ideal type, efforts to make it better 'fit' the spread of empirical data are in principle wrong. Moreover, efforts to transform the concept into an empirical ranking device or a classificatory system are open to equally serious objections. In order to do this I will first clarify the nature and function of ideal types, empirical types and classification systems.


Abstract Kriging is one of the geostatistical techniques for spatial data analysis that is usually used for a modelling of natural phenomena or a creation of digital elevation models. In this paper, we introduce kriging methods in the context of a landslide modelling in time. The proposed procedure, as well as most of the statistical methods, is designed for complete data sets, i.e. the observations at the beginning and the end of the study are available. In order to use all the information from the data and to avoid the loss of information after omitting observations with missing values, the algorithm for imputation of missing data values based on kriging techniques is proposed. The methodology was verified by the landslide modelling in Halenkovice, Czech Republic, during the period from June 2008 to March 2010. The obtained results showed a potential of kriging methods for the landslide modelling.


Estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shale gas production and use are controversial. Here we assess the level of GHG emissions from shale gas well hydraulic fracturing operations in the United States during 2010. Data from each of the approximately 4000 horizontal shale gas wells brought online that year are used to show that about 900 Gg CH4 of potential fugitive emissions were generated by these operations, or 228 Mg CH4 per well—a figure inappropriately used in analyses of the GHG impact of shale gas. In fact, along with simply venting gas produced during the completion of shale gas wells, two additional techniques are widely used to handle these potential emissions: gas flaring and reduced emission 'green' completions. The use of flaring and reduced emission completions reduce the levels of actual fugitive emissions from shale well completion operations to about 216 Gg CH4, or 50 Mg CH4 per well, a release substantially lower than several widely quoted estimates. Although fugitive emissions from the overall natural gas sector are a proper concern, it is incorrect to suggest that shale gas-related hydraulic fracturing has substantially altered the overall GHG intensity of natural gas production.


One relatively new area of contemporary science research on management is crowdsourcing and virtual knowledge sharing occurring within it. It is defined as the dissemination of knowledge by a virtual community, informing others, making it public, expecting that others will comment on this knowledge, expand and complete it. Such a sharing of knowledge is particularly important for co-creating, participating, or acquiring innovative ideas by an organization. However, despite its positive impact on the organization, it has not been the subject of comprehensive research so far. This article presents the existing output in the scope of the ways of measuring community knowledge sharing within crowdsourcing. In this elaboration, explanations as to why it is worth studying virtual knowledge sharing may be found.


Background: Nursing students are at significant risk of aggression and violence in clinical settings, however, the prevalence and the impact of these on this vulnerable group remains unclear. Nursing students' experiences of aggression and violence and their ability to develop resilience to these adverse events requires further study.

Aims: This study set out to identify the prevalence and characteristics of workplace aggression and violence experienced by nursing students enrolled in one university's Bachelor of Nursing program. Another primary aim of the study was to aid students in the development of coping skills to manage aggression and violence encountered in the workplace through the delivery of focused education strategies informed by a positive psychology approach.

Methodology: A quasi-experimental design, using a mixed method repeated measures survey, was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data about personal experiences of aggression and violence from second and third year nursing students, in addition to their responses to two specially designed education interventions. Data were collected using Likert Scale and closed and open ended survey questions, the Resilience Scale, Attitude Towards Aggression (ATAS) Scale and the International Positive Affect Negative Affect Short Form (IPANAS-SF) Scale, at three different time points: baseline, immediately post intervention and post clinical practicum. A cinemeducation and a standard education intervention were designed to increase resilience and positivity in students when facing aggression and violence. Students' resilience, positivity and attitudes towards aggression and violence were investigated and compared in response to exposure to the interventions.

The response rate at baseline was 87.5% (n=97) for the second year students and 60% (n=56) for the third year nursing students, however, there was significant attrition over time with large differences in the response rate at individual time points. Parametric and non-parametric tests were conducted to analyse the data. All p values lower than .05 were considered significant. Qualitative data regarding nursing students' feelings and perceptions as a result of exposure to aggression and violence were examined using content analysis.

Results: Participants were mainly female with no children and aged 17 to 54 years. Almost 40% of all participants at baseline felt at risk of experiencing physical aggression in the clinical environment with 30% reporting they had actually experienced it. Non-physical aggression was even more prevalent with approximately 60% of students having personal experiences and nearly two thirds reporting they felt at risk.

A mixed ANOVA was used to examine the effectiveness of the two education interventions on student's resilience in participants who completed surveys at all three time points. The cinemeducation group (n=9) had mean resilience scores of 12.67, 16.06 and 10.72 at baseline, post intervention and post clinical practicum respectively, compared to the standard education group (n=11) scores of 14.59, 23.68 and 8.82 respectively. There was no statistically significant interaction between the education and time on students' resilience scores F(2,13) – 2.655, p=.84, partial n 2 .129. However, there was a statistically significant difference in resilience at different time points in this group as a whole (n=20) F(2,40) – 11.990, p<.0005, partial n 2 .400 with a statistically significant mean increase of 6.24 from baseline to post clinical practicum but a statistically significant mean decrease of 10.10 from post intervention to post clinical practicum.

The second year nursing students' attitude towards aggression was analysed across five domains: communicative, offensive, protective, destructive and intrusive. A Wilcoxon signed rank test indicated that a significant change in attitude occurred over time, with students viewing aggressive incidents as having less personal destructive impact at post clinical practicum compared to baseline T = 22.5, z = -3.13 (corrected for ties) n – Ties = 20, p = .002, two tailed. This effect can be considered "large", r = .70. No significant changes in the other domains were observed.

The IPANAS-SF provided information of the students' overall perception of aggression related to specific clinical scenarios as well as their feelings about their last personal experience of aggression and violence. The only statistically significant change observed from baseline to post clinical practicum was an overall increase in the students' negative affect in relation to the last aggressive incident (p = .046). Neither education intervention received by the second year nursing students had a statistically significant effect on either their attitudes or positivity towards aggression. However, the qualitative data identified more positive feedback for the cinemeducation intervention and the students receiving this intervention reported they were able to relate the information to real life situations and apply the knowledge obtained in their clinical practice.

Results from a follow up analysis of a third year cohort (n=71) provided similar results to those obtained from the baseline third year students, however, they had a statistically significant higher range of scores (p= 008 - .031) in the ATAS, compared to the third year baseline students, with only a "small" effect, range r = .19 - .24. The third year follow up group of nursing students level of resilience (Mean Rank = 69.35, n = 71) was significantly higher compared to the third year nursing students baseline scores (Mean Rank = 53.32, n = 53), U = 2,368, z = 2.459, p = .0.14, two tailed, although this effect was also small, r = .22.

The qualitative findings from the study for all the students combined identified two main themes from the data collected. The first theme that arose was 'overpowered and controlled by personal experience of aggression and violence' and captured the negative effect of aggression and violence on nursing students. This indicates that aggression and violence in the clinical setting is perceived by this sample of students as having a significant personal impact. Interestingly, some of the students described developing their personal coping mechanisms for dealing with the events and the aftermath of aggression and violence, which was evidenced in the second main theme 'developing attributes of resilience'. The themes arising from the nursing students' qualitative data support their reported negative experience of aggression and violence and the existence of individual qualities and skills within the student group that help to build personal resilience in the sample group.

Conclusion and recommendations: The sample of nursing students involved in this study experience, and perceive themselves to be at risk of, considerable physical and non-physical aggression and violence in the workplace, resulting in feelings of uncertainty, distress and anxiety. It is clear that clinical workplace settings need to continue to develop safe work environments. At the same time educational institutions can assist students in developing personal skills to help them cope with aggressive situations in clinical practice. It is recommended that aggression management education be integrated into undergraduate nursing curriculum specifically aimed at nursing students and effective strategies to enhance and improve nursing students' resilience and positivity when dealing with the aftermath of aggressive and violent incidents in the clinical environment are developed.


A fossil wood with features similar to those of the Oligocene Hovenia palaeodulcis Suzuki (Rhamnaceae) from Japan is described from the late Eocene Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Colorado, U.S.A. This is the first report of fossil wood of this Asian genus in North America and is further documentation of Tertiary exchange between East Asia and North America. The affinities of Chadronoxylon florissantensis, the most common angiosperm wood at Florissant, are reevaluated; its combination of features suggests relationships with two families in the Malpighiales, the Salicaceae and Phyllanthaceae. Chadronoxylon is compared with Paraphyllanthoxylon Bailey. The Eocene P. hainanensis from China has notable differences from the original diagnosis of Paraphyllanthoxylon, but shares features with Chadronoxylon warranting transfer of P. hainanensis to Chadronoxylon and the creation of Chadronoxylon hainanensis (Feng, Yi, Jen) Wheeler & Meyer, comb. nov.


The incidence of rising weight in reproducing women has potential for adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, both short and long term. The purpose of the project was to identify the extent of potential implications resulting from maintaining a body mass index larger than 25 throughout a pregnancy. Select authors have conducted quantitative, retrospective cohort studies by requesting participants to complete a questionnaire during pregnancy providing information on variables of social determinants of health with a control study of woman with a BMI under 25 and excluding mothers without a recorded BMI in antenatal records and mothers with pre-existing diabetes. Research resulted in overarching implications for both maternal and fetal well-being with added potential burden on the health care system. Neonate's born under influence of a maternal BMI larger than 25 risk complications including preterm birth, congenital anomalies, fetal macrosomia, and death. Mothers are at increased risk for preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, postpartum hemorrhage, caesarian section and require more healthcare services. Continued longitudinal studies may provide greater insight into the life course trajectories of children born under such circumstances, and offer interventions appropriate to aid consequences of weight implications on pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, additional studies on appropriate and safe interventions throughout the pregnancy may minimize potential risks on maternal and fetal well-being. This discussion is designed to explain the gravity of weight juxtaposed with pregnancy, and provide strategies aimed at optimizing health outcomes.


Near the floor plate of the embryonic neural tube there is a group of neuroepithelial precursor cells that are specialized for production of the oligodendrocyte lineage. We performed experiments to test whether specification of these neuroepithelial oligodendrocyte precursors, like other ventral neural cell types, depends on signals from the notochord and/or floor plate. We analyzed heterozygous Danforth's short tail (Sd/+) mutant mice, which lack a notochord and floor plate in caudal regions of the neural tube, and found that oligodendrocyte precursors did not appear at the ventricular surface where there was no floor plate. Moreover, oligodendrocytes did not develop in explant cultures of Sd/+ spinal cord in the absence of a floor plate. When a second notochord was grafted into an ectopic position dorsolateral to the endogenous notochord of a chicken embryo, an additional floor plate was induced along with an ectopic focus of oligodendrocyte precursors at the ventricular surface. Oligodendrocytes developed in explants of intermediate neural tube only when they were cocultured with fragments of notochord or in the presence of purified Sonic hedgehog (Shh) protein. Thus, signals from the notochord/floor plate, possibly involving Shh, are necessary and sufficient to induce the development of ventrally derived oligodendroglia. These signals appear to act by specifying the future fate(s) of neuroepithelial cells at the ventricular surface rather than by influencing the proliferation or differentiation of prespecified progenitor cells in the parenchyma of the cord.


Background and purpose : Sufficient nutrition is the appropriate proportions of food required for physical development and maintenance as well as supplying energy to the body. This study aimed at assessing the nutritional status and its related factors among Iranian University Students. Materials and Meth ods: As a cross-sectional research, the present study was conducted with the participation of 1031 students in Shahroud, Iran. The relevant information was obtained through a 24-hour diet recall questionnaire. Also, the anthropometric measurements were taken for these students. Results : The students' mean BMI and energy intakes were 22.01±3.57 and 1974±750.35Kcal, respectively. Majority of the students (73.91%) were of normal Body Mass Index (BMI), but some cases of malnutrition including both underweight and overweight were also observed among the students. The findings showed that the mean daily intakes of fiber, phosphorous, calcium, iron, vitamins A, B6, and B12 were less than the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowances) values. Hence, a significant relationship was observed between BMI and food consumption at each meal, type of snack, eating breakfast, number of snacks taken per day, speed of food consumption, adding butter or oil to the prepared food, the duration of daily activities, working with computer, and watching television (p<0.001). Conclusion : The results obtained through the methods of nutritional status revealed that due to BMI categories, some cases of malnutrition including both underweight and overweight were observed among the studied students. Examining the consumed food indicated qualitative and quantitative deficiencies as compared with standard recommendations, so that students were affected by hidden hunger resulting from micronutrients deficiency.


In recent decades, developing countries and indigenous communities have increasingly asserted the necessity of protecting so-called "traditional cultural expression" – the array of creative expressions integral to the cultural and social identities of indigenous and local communities – from improper exploitation. Among the more prominent voices responding to such calls has been the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which has worked to develop an international framework affording traditional cultural expression and folklore sui generis rights. This Note examines WIPO's recently promulgated Revised Draft Provisions for the Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions/Expressions of Folklore, which would, among other things, loosely define "architectural forms" as a protectable traditional cultural expression. In evaluating the proposed protection for "architectural forms," this Note simultaneously assesses the profound tensions WIPO's Revised Draft Provisions create with respect to the existing U.S. intellectual property regime and identifies the general limits of WIPO's current vision for protecting traditional cultural expression in general. Ultimately, this Note argues that WIPO's proposals should not include the vaguely defined category of "architectural forms" as protectable subject matter because the currently broad language would raise serious issues as to public domain and free speech rights, and could seriously impair creative expression, cultural development and the progress of an important professional service.


As part of a Common Knowledge symposium on the "consequence of blur," this article reassesses the anthropologist E. B. Tylor's famous but vague concept of the animist soul as an optimal reflection of the soul's fuzzy ontological status among animist peoples. Unlike the Platonic body/soul dichotomy, with its fixed appearance/essence distinction, indigenous conceptions of the soul among North Asian peoples, such as the Chukchi of Siberia and the Darhads of Mongolia, are reversible: persons can turn themselves inside-out as their inner souls and outer bodies cross over and become one another.


It is envisioned and practiced to present each chapter within 60% of a lecture period. The accompanied CD
makes this feasible. The remaining 40% of the lecture period is to be spent on the set of in-class, lecture related
practice problems. In different settings, and depending on the students' potential, the suggested percentages
can be adjusted.The book also includes two exam questionnaires. Solutions to the in-class practice problems
and the exams all are included.The in-class practice problems and the exams may easily be altered to meet the
needs and the interests of the students.In short, the book is a complete and flexible package that guides an
instructor to assist the students to apply the Mathematica graphics in a broad range of technical courses.


The possibility of stabilizing emulsions of water and non-polar alkane with pure, coloured organic pigment particles is explored. Seven pigment types each possessing a primary colour of the rainbow were selected. Their solubility in water or heptane was determined using a spectrophotometric method and their surface energies were derived from the contact angles of probe liquids on compressed disks of the particles. As expected, most of the pigments are relatively hydrophobic but pigment orange is quite hydrophilic. At equal volumes of oil and water, preferred emulsions were water-in-oil (w/o) for six pigment types and oil-in-water (o/w) for pigment orange. The emulsion type is in line with calculated contact angles of the particles at the oil–water interface being either side of 90 . Their stability to coalescence increases with particle concentration. Emulsions are shown to undergo limited coalescence from which the coverage of drop interfaces by particles has been determined. In a few cases, close-packed primary particles are visible around emulsion droplets. At constant particle concentration, the influence of the volume fraction of water (fw) on emulsions was also studied. For the most hydrophilic pigment orange, emulsions are o/ w at all fw, whereas they are w/o for the most hydrophobic pigments (red, yellow, green and blue). For pigments of intermediate hydrophobicity however (indigo and violet), catastrophic phase inversion becomes possible with emulsions inverting from w/o to o/w upon increasing fw. For the first time, we link the pigment surface energy to the propensity of emulsions to phase invert transitionally or catastrophically.


Botswana has been one of the most successful countries in the developing world over the last 40 years by many measures. Incomes have grown at a sustained pace, poverty has fallen, and the citizenry has become more educated. To be sure, poverty and income inequalities remain a problem, but rising standards of living have meant a better life for this generation of Batswana than any before it. The question facing the country leadership is whether this commendable performance can be sustained into the next generation. There are clouds on the horizon that cannot be ignored. Diamond earnings, the life blood of decades of prosperity, have flattened out. In per capita terms they are falling. Moreover, because revenues from diamonds going to the public sector have been falling for more than a decade, a growth model predicated upon an ever expanding state presence is not viable. Diamond earnings accruing to the state for subsequent redistribution have peaked. Employment and wages in the public sector have reached their natural limits as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); recycling revenues from mining into the private sector, either directly or through the financial sector, has been inefficient with low social returns; and redistributive mechanisms to support social safety nets are also likely be approaching their limits. The country confronts the challenge of looking for new sources of growth outside of government.


BACKGROUND
 Digital behavioral health (BH) tools can help improve or maintain BH conditions such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, stress, chronic pain or insomnia; the efficacy of digital self-care tools can be enhanced via addition of human touch-points.

 OBJECTIVE
 The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of adding asynchronous chat-based coaching to the myStrength digital BH platform.

 METHODS
 Participants who were at least 18 years old, fluent in English and readily able to access the internet were recruited via Craigslist advertisements to participate in a pilot intervention. Participants were asked to use the digital tool at least 2 times per week and to communicate via online chat with a coach at least 2 times per week. Participants completed online surveys at 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks, and completed a 30 minute telephone interview between 5 weeks and 6 weeks.

 RESULTS
 Of 226 who responded to the advertisement, 200 people were invited to participate, 134 engaged in coaching initially and 96 completed the final interview. Seventy-eight percent of participants were female, 62% were white, 23% were black, 8% were Hispanic and 6% were Asian. One-fifth were in treatment with a BH provider, one-fifth received BH care from a medical provider, and 22% were taking BH medications. In response to the question, "On a scale of 0-10, how helpful has your coach been over the past 2-weeks," the mean score and standard deviation were 7.5±2.4 at 2 weeks, 8.2±1.9 at 4 weeks and 8.6±1.9 at 6 weeks. Satisfaction with coaching was 7.6±2.5 (out of 10) at 2 weeks and 8.3±1.9 at 4 weeks. Participants felt that coaching increased the value of the digital tool, with a mean rating of 8.4±1.9 (out of 10). Three-quarters of participants felt that the encouragement coaches provided was the most helpful aspect, followed by guidance to specific resources (53%), support (51%), connection to another person (42%), and assurance (40%). These findings were corroborated in the qualitative data; participants emphasized the value of having personalized suggestions amidst a large breadth of content, an outside perspective, and greatly appreciated the "human contact in a digital world." The coach-patient relationship strengthened over time (2-weeks vs 6-weeks): 78% vs 93% felt that the coach discussed things that were important to the participant; 78% vs 90% felt that the coach liked and understood them; 85% vs 93% felt the interaction with their coach was helpful; 77% vs 88% had confidence in the working relationship with their coach (all P<0.05). Eighty-one percent of participants reported that they would prefer to work with the same coach over time whereas 19% would have preferred to talk with a coach in real time.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The addition of asynchronous coaching to a digital BH platform was well received, perceived as helpful, and promoted a more personalized experience with the digital BH tool that improved over time; future studies will evaluate impact on clinical outcomes and engagement. The added human element helped participants feel supported in their struggles with BH issues and has the potential to help increase engagement to myStrength's effective, evidence-based, well-being resources.


In his recent critical essay on the history of the Catholic Church, Swiss-born theologian Hans Kung notes that assessments of the institution, both internal and external, vary significantly. A faithful but questioning priest, he opines that it is the most controversial of churches "subject to extremes of admiration and attack." (1) Claiming that at mid-twentieth century the common attitude towards it was one of benevolent indifference, Kung suggests that its current rigid and infallibly taught positions on matters such as abortion, homosexuality and euthanasia have now turned general opinion "into hatred, indeed public hostility." (2) The purpose of this article is not to suggest right or wrong, rather it attempts to delve antagonism in the United States and Canada towards Catholicism in historiographical and historical terms. Our times leave little space for tolerance of the church and its teaching. The current anger which infuses contemporary attitudes requires some explanation before historical understandi ng can be addressed. Moreover, one of the most difficult aspects of such an analysis is the paucity of the acknowledgment in the mainstream historical literature even of the existence of anti-Catholicism. It is a prejudice that rarely utters its name. Given the seemingly endless disclosures in the United States of massive and predatory sexual assault on the part of its clergy and the willing silence of some American bishops, hostility to the Roman Catholic church has exploded. The muscular zero tolerance measures taken by the American Conference of Catholic Bishops at its annual meeting held in Dallas in June 2002 were modified by the Vatican's cautious response. Acting in the interest of justice to the accused rather than concern for the victim, Rome's reaction will likely increase antagonism. Yet objections to Catholicism in America are not new. What changes from time to time is the nature, depth and extent of the virulence of anti-Catholic attitudes. Reflecting upon anti-Catholicism in America, the historian Arthur Schlesinger Sr. once referred surprisingly to this prejudice as "the deepest bias in the history of the American people." (3) Indeed it is hard to define anti-Catholicism. The raw intolerance of one person may be the honest objection of another. The difference between thoughtful criticism of the church and hoary prejudice continues to perplex historians. For example, in his recent study of Charles Chiniquy, former priest from Quebec and well-known nineteenth century anti-Catholic polemicist, Richard Lougheed struggles with that distinction. He reminds his readers that if there was indeed a fanatical and excessive brand of anti-Catholicism in Chiniquy's day, that of evangelical Protestants at least had a legitimate theological foundation, Moreover, in Quebec at that time the struggle against Catholicism was informed by a countervailing and powerful anti-Protestantism and triumphant clericalism symbolized by the preeminence and domination of Ultramontane Catholics. (4) Historical Background: Canada and the United States While cliche frequently suggests that what happens south of the forty-ninth parallel eventually occurs north of it, serious readers of the comparative literature in Canadian and American history realize that there is no perfect chronological fit between the two countries. There is no simple sequence of cause and consequence. For example, while antebellum America spiraled towards the fratricidal disaster of the Civil War, pre-Confederation Canada evolved hesitatingly away from colonial status to a greater measure of autonomy and national affirmation. Similarly, the experiences of the Catholic Church in the United States and Canada differed considerably in chronology, demographics and attitudes. What is more, within Canada the history of the Roman Catholic Church is also contrasted in that its French speaking component was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic while that of English speaking Canada was mostly Protestant. …


Web-based service-oriented grid computing refers to a distributed computing system comprising a collection of interconnected and virtual computers that provides web-based services via the Internet. These services are based on Service Level Agreements (SLAs) established by negotiation between service providers and consumers. SLAs are contractual obligations that define the mutually agreed understandings and expectations in terms of Quality of Service (QoS) values for the provision of services. How to automatically conduct the service level agreement negotiations between service providers and consumers so as to successfully achieve the desired QoSs is one of the significant research challenge in web-based service-oriented grid computing. In this paper, we proposed a graph-based approach to model service level agreement negotiations by considering their interdependency relationships and concurrency. A Colour Petri Net-based service level agreement negotiation protocol was also proposed to concurrently conduct multiple service level agreement negotiations. With the proposed approach and protocol, service level agreement negotiations can be efficiently and concurrently processed and the service level agreements can be efficiently achieved. Experimental results also indicate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach and protocol in terms of the negotiation success rate, the negotiation time and the negotiation outcome.


Preparation of highly active, stable and earth-abundant photoanodes for water oxidation is an important strategy to meet the demand of developing clean-energy technologies. In this paper, efficient and stable photoanodes based on oxygen-deficient black WO3−x@TiO2−x core–shell nanosheets with precisely controlled shell thickness have been fabricated for photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion from neutral water solutions. The black WO3−x@TiO2−x core–shell nanosheet photoanode with the shell thickness of ∼15 nm achieved around 8 times higher photocurrent density (∼3.20 mA cm−2) than the pure WO3 photoanode at 1.23 V vs. the RHE. An improved onset potential with long-term PEC durability was also realized with the obtained black WO3−x@TiO2−x core–shell nanosheet photoanodes. The promoted PEC water oxidation performance was likely to be originated from enhanced light absorption, interfacial charge transfer and charge separation in these WO3−x@TiO2−x nanosheets which were revealed by finite-difference time-domain simulations and specific band alignment, along with optical and electrochemical spectroscopic evidence. In a word, such black WO3−x@TiO2−x nanosheet photoanodes suggest many exciting opportunities for PEC water splitting toward highly efficient solar fuel generation and many other PEC sensing applications.


Supermassive black hole binaries may be detectable by an upcoming suite of gravitational wave experiments. Their binary nature can also be revealed by radio jets via a short-period precession driven by the orbital motion as well as the geodetic precession at typically longer periods. We have investigated Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) radio maps of powerful jet sources for morphological evidence of geodetic precession. For perhaps the best-studied source, Cygnus A, we find strong evidence for geodetic precession. Projection effects can enhance precession features, for which we find indications in strongly projected sources. For a complete sample of 33 3CR radio sources, we find strong evidence for jet precession in 24 cases (73 per cent). The morphology of the radio maps suggests that the precession periods are of the order of 106-107 yr. We consider different explanations for the morphological features and conclude that geodetic precession is the best explanation. The frequently observed gradual jet angle changes in samples of powerful blazars can be explained by orbital motion. Both observations can be explained simultaneously by postulating that a high fraction of powerful radio sources have subparsec supermassive black hole binaries. We consider complementary evidence and discuss if any jetted supermassive black hole with some indication of precession could be detected as individual gravitational wave source in the near future. This appears unlikely, with the possible exception of M87.


We report the case of a 53 year old lady who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy and was found to have an accessory cystic duct close to the fundus. Careful dissection of the liver bed was done and the duct clipped preventing a bile leak. The presence of such ducts though rare should be identified during surgery to prevent potential complications.


In the context of a continuous-time pure-exchange economy model, the paper develops a novel methodology, based on measure-valued stochastic processes, for analyzing the evolution of heterogeneity in a tractable manner and studying its impact on asset prices. The agents in the economy differ with respect to impatience, risk aversion, beliefs about the growth rate of output, and to the rules for updating beliefs. The heterogeneity itself is described by a single object, a measure, and its dynamics by a measure-valued stochastic process. A key contribution of the paper consists in obtaining a closed form formula for the stock price in the case in which preferences are homogeneous with the risk aversion parameter given by a natural number. We also synthesize and generalize existing results about the equilibrium in heterogeneous pure-exchange complete markets economies and we highlight the importance of the endogenously determined risk tolerance weighted consumption distribution as a key ingredient in driving the equilibrium variables.


The increase in the interstate and international practice of law necessitates a review of the rules governing the admission of attorneys to practice before federal district courts. By virtue of the sweep of their jurisdictional net, federal district courts are likely to be the fora for litigating most interstate or international disputes. The present rules, based upon the antiquated notion that lawyers only rarely practice law in federal district court, and then only in the federal district court located in the state in which they practice, do not address this change in the practice of law. For these reasons, a new Rule concerning the admission to practice law in federal district courts, and designed to account for the recent changes in the practice of law, is worth serious consideration. The Rule is based on the theory that lawyers will act ethically by handling only those legal matters within their competence and that clients will act intelligently when hiring a lawyer. The Rule will not result in a system of perfect client representation by lawyers in federal courts, but will provide the federal district courts with some assurance of lawyer competence. For these reasons, and because a single rule providing for the admission of lawyers to practice law before all federal district courts is more than a decade overdue, this Rule should be implemented as soon as possible.


This report examines the economic effects of the principal programs authorized under the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 that influence the U.S. dairy sector. The analytical results presented in this study were used as input to a broader study mandated by Congress, which required an evaluation of the economic impacts of Federal milk marketing orders, direct payments to producers, price supports, and export programs. This study examines the effects of dairy policies on prices, program payments, and other variables under different scenarios. The results are compared to a baseline set of estimates over the 2002-07 period. The findings show that gross income in the U.S. dairy sector would be $7.2 billion below baseline levels over the course of this period if the programs were discontinued. Over the same period, cumulative Government outlays for these programs would be approximately $5.5 billion below baseline levels.


We present the scalable, elastic operator scheduler in IBM Streams 4.2. Streams is a distributed stream processing system used in production at many companies in a wide range of industries. The programming language for Streams, SPL, presents operators, tuples and streams as the primary abstractions. A fundamental SPL optimization is operator fusion, where multiple operators execute in the same process. Streams 4.2 introduces automatic submission-time fusion to simplify application development and deployment. However, potentially thousands of operators could then execute in the same process, with no user guidance for thread placement. We needed a way to automatically figure out how many threads to use, with arbitrarily sized applications on a wide variety of hardware, and without any input from programmers. Our solution has two components. The first is a scalable operator scheduler that minimizes synchronization, locks and global data, while allowing threads to execute any operator and dynamically come and go. The second is an elastic algorithm to dynamically adjust the number of threads to optimize performance, using the principles of trusted measurements to establish trends. We demonstrate our scheduler's ability to scale to over a hundred threads, and our elasticity algorithm's ability to adapt to different workloads on an Intel Xeon system with 176 logical cores, and an IBM Power8 system with 184 logical cores.


Historically, an initial public offering ("IPO") was a process whereby a company sold all of its underlying assets to the public. A new tax innovation, the "tax receivable agreement" ("TRA"), creates private tax benefits in public offerings by allowing pre-IPO owners to effectively keep valuable tax assets for themselves while selling the rest of the company to the public.
Prior to 2005, TRAs were almost never used in IPOs. Today they have become commonplace, changing the landscape of the IPO market in ways that are likely to become even more pronounced in the future. This Article traces the history of various iterations of TRAs and shows that a new generation of more aggressive TRAs has recently developed. Although TRAs were historically used only for a small subset of companies with a certain tax profile, the new generation of innovative and aggressive TRAs can be used by virtually any company conducting an IPO, greatly expanding the potential use of TRAs.
TRAs have been described by a few critics as "bizarre" and "underhanded," yet the economic and tax consequences of the different types of TRAs have gone mostly unexplored in the literature. This Article explores whether critics' comments regarding TRAs have merit, or whether TRAs are simply an efficient contract between pre-IPO owners and public companies. It examines TRAs within the larger landscape of financial transactions, showing that the way TRAs are used in the public market deviates from similar private transactions in ways that are likely detrimental to public shareholders. This Article also shows how the Up-C, a type of IPO transaction where TRAs are most commonly used, allows pre-IPO owners to take money that should be earmarked for public shareholders in undisclosed ways and proposes remedies for this problem.


In Online Courts and the Future of Justice, Richard Susskind, the world's most cited author on the future of legal services, shows how litigation will be transformed by technology and proposes a solution to the global access-to-justice problem. In most advanced legal systems, the resolution of civil disputes takes too long, costs too much, and the process is not just antiquated; it is unintelligible to ordinary mortals. The courts of some jurisdictions are labouring under staggering backlogs - 100 million cases in Brazil, 30 million in India. More people in the world now have internet access than access to justice. Drawing on almost 40 years in the fields of legal technology and jurisprudence, Susskind shows how we can use the remarkable reach of the internet (more than half of humanity is now online) to help people understand and enforce their legal rights. Online courts provide 'online judging' - the determination of cases by human judges but not in physical courtrooms. Instead, evidence and arguments are submitted through online platforms through which judges also deliver their decisions. Online courts also use technology to enable courts to deliver more than judicial decisions. These 'extended courts' provide tools to help users understand relevant law and available options, and to formulate arguments and assemble evidence. They offer non-judicial settlements such as negotiation and early neutral evaluation, not as an alternative to the public court system but as part of it. A pioneer of online courts, Susskind maintains that they will displace much conventional litigation. He rigorously assesses the benefits and drawbacks, and looks ahead, predicting how AI, machine learning, and virtual reality will likely come to dominate court service.


Summary 1. Metabolic theory specifies constraints on the metabolic organisation of individual organisms. These constraints have important implications for biological processes ranging from the scale of molecules all the way to the level of populations, communities and ecosystems, with their application to the latter emerging as the field of metabolic ecology. While ecologists continue to use individual metabolism to identify constraints in ecological processes, the topic of metabolic scaling remains controversial. 2. Much of the current interest and controversy in metabolic theory relates to recent ideas about the role of supply networks in constraining energy supply to cells. We show that an alternative explanation for physicochemical constraints on individual metabolism, as formalised by dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory, can contribute to the theoretical underpinning of metabolic ecology, while increasing coherence between intra- and interspecific scaling relationships. 3. In particular, we emphasise how the DEB theory considers constraints on the storage and use of assimilated nutrients and derive an equation for the scaling of metabolic rate for adult heterotrophs without relying on optimisation arguments or implying cellular nutrient supply limitation. Using realistic data on growth and reproduction from the literature, we parameterise the curve for respiration and compare the a priori prediction against a mammalian data set for respiration. 4. Because the DEB theory mechanism for metabolic scaling is based on the universal process of acquiring and using pools of stored metabolites (a basal feature of life), it applies to all organisms irrespective of the nature of metabolic transport to cells. Although the DEB mechanism does not necessarily contradict insight from transport-based models, the mechanism offers an explanation for differences between the intra- and interspecific scaling of biological rates with mass, suggesting novel tests of the respective hypotheses.


Context. The planetary system discovered around the young A-type HR 8799 provides a unique laboratory to: a) test planet formation theories; b) probe the diversity of system architectures at these separations, and c) perform comparative (exo)planetology.
Aims. We present and exploit new near-infrared images and integral-field spectra of the four gas giants surrounding HR 8799 obtained with SPHERE, the new planet finder instrument at the Very Large Telescope, during the commissioning and science verification phase of the instrument (July–December 2014). With these new data, we contribute to completing the spectral energy distribution (SED) of these bodies in the 1.0–2.5 μm range. We also provide new astrometric data, in particular for planet e, to further constrain the orbits.
Methods. We used the infrared dual-band imager and spectrograph (IRDIS) subsystem to obtain pupil-stabilized, dual-band H2H3 (1.593 μm, 1.667 μm), K1K2 (2.110 μm, 2.251 μm), and broadband J (1.245 μm) images of the four planets. IRDIS was operated in parallel with the integral field spectrograph (IFS) of SPHERE to collect low-resolution (R ~ 30), near-infrared (0.94–1.64 μm) spectra of the two innermost planets HR 8799 d and e. The data were reduced with dedicated algorithms, such as the Karhunen-Loeve image projection (KLIP), to reveal the planets. We used the so-called negative planets injection technique to extract their photometry, spectra, and measure their positions. We illustrate the astrometric performance of SPHERE through sample orbital fits compatible with SPHERE and literature data.
Results. We demonstrated the ability of SPHERE to detect and characterize planets in this kind of systems, providing spectra and photometry of its components. The spectra improve upon the signal-to-noise ratio of previously obtained data and increase the spectral coverage down to the Y band. In addition, we provide the first detection of planet e in the J band. Astrometric positions for planets HR 8799 bcde are reported for the epochs of July, August, and December 2014. We measured the photometric values in J, H2H3, K1K2 bands for the four planets with a mean accuracy of 0.13 mag. We found upper limit constraints on the mass of a possible planet f of 3–7 MJup . Our new measurements are more consistent with the two inner planets d and e being in a 2d:1e or 3d:2e resonance. The spectra of HR 8799 d and e are well matched by those of L6-8 field dwarfs. However, the SEDs of these objects are redder than field L dwarfs longward of 1.6 μm.


Mushrooms are greatly prized in oriental cultures because they are known to have more than one active role in traditional medicine. Current practice is to use whole mushroom preparations or simple water extracts. It is assumed that the active polysaccharide fractions are ?-(1 ?3)-glucans. In this work, we have extracted polysaccharides using different solvent systems from dry mycelia of Ganoderma lucidum, G.adspersum, Schizophyllum commune, and Trametes versicolor. The influence of these polysaccharide fractions on reactive oxidizing species production by white blood cells and neutrophils was compared. A novel fluorescent method was used to detect the changes in generation of reactive oxidizing species. The fractions have different and, in some cases, opposing activities on reactive oxidizing species production. Reduction in activity when polysaccharide extracts are used together with N-formyl-methionyl-phenylalanine (FMP), an immune system activator, suggests the active site for these polysaccharides could be the same as that of FMP. This is the first report that polysaccharide fractions from G. adspersum show immunomodulatory properties.


We consider an online decision making setting known as contextual bandit problem, and propose an approach for improving contextual bandit performance by using an adaptive feature extraction (representation learning) based on online clustering. Our approach starts with an off-line pre-training on unlabeled history of contexts (which can be exploited by our approach, but not by the standard contextual bandit), followed by an online selection and adaptation of encoders. Specifically, given an input sample (context), the proposed approach selects the most appropriate encoding function to extract a feature vector which becomes an input for a contextual bandit, and updates both the bandit and the encoding function based on the context and on the feedback (reward). Our experiments on a variety of datasets, and both in stationary and non-stationary environments of several kinds demonstrate clear advantages of the proposed adaptive representation learning over the standard contextual bandit based on "raw" input contexts.


• In October, Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse outcomes remain widespread across South Sudan despite the ongoing harvest. Based on the August 2019 South Sudan IPC analysis, an estimated 4.5 million people are likely to face Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse acute food insecurity during the October 2019 to January 2020 harvesting period in the presence of planned humanitarian food assistance. However, it is likely that the number of households experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity and the severity of food insecurity in Maban, specifically, is higher than originally anticipated due to flooding that has caused displacement and losses of crops and food aid commodities at the household level, in addition to disruptions to food assistance delivery, trade flows, and market functioning. • Food insecurity is most severe in Ulang, Maiwut, and Maban counties of Upper Nile and Duk county of Jonglei, where Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes exist due to the impact of flooding on household crop production and food access. However, the availability of the harvest and natural food sources has relatively reduced the severity of food insecurity in other counties of concern, including Yirol East and Cueibet of Lakes, Canal/Pigi of Jonglei, and Budi of Eastern Equatoria, where Crisis (IPC Phase 3) exists. Large-scale humanitarian food assistance also continues to mitigate more severe outcomes in several areas of concern, such as Leer, Mayendit, and Panyijiar counties of Unity and Rumbek North of Lakes. In September, more than 2 million people were reached with food assistance, though the reach still remains below the estimated population in need. • Food security is expected to slightly improve from October 2019 to January 2020, driven by the availability of the harvests and seasonal food sources. Although 2019/20 national crop production is still expected to be similar to or slightly better than last year, cereal production deficits are now likely to be higher than previously anticipated in areas affected by flooding in Upper Nile, Jonglei, and Greater Bahr el Ghazal. Household food and income sources are most likely to remain inadequate to cover most households' minimum food needs, given the depletion of productive household assets over the course of the protracted conflict. • Although the number of conflict events is anticipated to decline as a result of implementation of the peace deal, food security is expected to deteriorate from February to May 2020. Household food gaps will likely widen due to cereal production deficits, especially in flood-affected counties, and due to seasonal declines in livestock production, fish, and wild foods. Poor macroeconomic conditions and rising food demand, driven by returnees, are expected to sustain high food prices and constrain food access. Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes are expected, though past trends indicate humanitarian food assistance is likely to prevent Emergency (IPC Phase 4) in some counties in 2020. • In the event that the peace deal does not hold, and a resurgence of conflict prevents populations from moving in search of food sources or restricts humanitarian access for a prolonged period of time, food insecurity would likely worsen. Poor households who did not harvest or do not own livestock with few income sources to access food would be at risk of Catastrophe (IPC Phase 5). Famine (IPC Phase 5) would be likely in counties where there are already high levels of acute food insecurity. Full implementation of the September 2018 peace deal, an end to conflict by all parties, and a scale-up of assistance is needed to prevent further loss of lives and livelihoods. Current food security outcomes, October 2019


A previously published gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for the analysis of 7-aminoflunitrazepam(7-amino-FM2) in urine was subjected to an inter-laboratory collaborative study. The method was rigorously defined in termsof performance requirements, yet allowed some degrees of flexibility to individual analysts. The collaborative study followedthe guidelines provided by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists International (AOAC International). Each of ninedrug-abuse urine testing laboratories in Taiwan participated in the study to analyze 3 samples in duplicate. The repeatabilityrelative standard deviation (RSD(subscript r)) and the reproducibility relative standard deviation (RSD(subscript R)) of the measurements of 7-amino-FM2 in urine were determined to be less than 9.91% and 14.84%, respectively. The method showed acceptable reproducibility, asevidenced by HORRAT values of 0.6 to 0.7. The method was thus proposed to be used by the testing laboratories in Taiwan.


This paper presents a method of health monitoring for coated steel belts in an elevator system by measuring the electrical resistance of the ropes embedded in the belt. A model on resistance change caused by fretting wear and stress fatigue has been established. Temperature and reciprocating cycles are also taken into consideration when determining the potential strength degradation of the belts. It is proved by experiments that the method could effectively estimate the health degradation of the most dangerous section as well as other ones along the whole belts.


Voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) has become a popular alternative to traditional public-switched telephone network (PSTN) networks that provides advantages of low cost and flexible advanced ldquodigitalrdquo features. The flexibility of the VoIP system and the convergence of voice and data networks brings with it additional security risks. These are in addition to the common security concerns faced by the underlying IP data network facilities that a VoIP system relies on. The result being that the VoIP network further complicates the security assurance mission faced by enterprises employing this technology. It is time to document various security issues that a VoIP infrastructure may face and analyze the challenges and solutions that may guide future research and development efforts. In this paper, we examine and investigate the concerns and requirements of VoIP security. After a thorough review of security issues and defense mechanisms, we focus on attacks and countermeasures unique to VoIP systems that are essential for current and future VoIP implantations. Then, we analyze two popular industry best practices for securing VoIP networks and conclude this paper with further discussion on future research directions. This paper aims to direct future research efforts and to offer helpful guidelines for practitioners.


The author uses a quantitative network analysis approach to assess how participants in the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) respond to partial outages at other banks. Despite the limited number of operational events, benchmarks can be established. For example, the effect of a partial outage at a big six bank that has a net payment balance of $1 billion is estimated to correspond to a decline in connectivity of about 6 or 7 per cent, due to other participants not sending payments to the problem participant. This suggests that participants tend to perceive a partial outage at a counterparty as inconvenient enough to warrant a delaying of payments, at least to the problem participant. There is no strong evidence of systemic effects, whereby participants also delay payments to non-problem counterparties, in an effort to maintain a reasonable liquidity position. Notable events mostly occurred in 2004 or 2005, and the incidence of operational events did not increase over the sample period. The improvement of contingency measures, such as the use of the LVTS Direct Network, possibly contributed in this regard.


Joints must be the most common source of failure in any structures. Especially, aircraft structures are strongly demanded to reduce their weight keeping structural reliability in higher level. In recent years, as composite materials became applied more and more in aircraft structures, there exist many composite/metal mechanical joints. So, it is important to make clear the damage behavior of composite/metal mechanical joint. Authors proposed the method to monitor the mechanical behaviors using the fastener bolt embedded an optical fiber sensor, i. e. Smart bolt. In this paper, we try to apply this method to detect the early stage of bearing damage around fastener holes of composites. The results are summarized as follows; (1) we can detect the damage by the change of inclination in the relationship between load and axial strain measured by Smart bolt, and (2) it was shown that the early stage of damage of composites around the fastener hole can be detected by using Smart bolt


History records many controversial trials in which religious issues have been involved. In 399 BC Socrates was tried and condemned in Athens for introducing strange gods and corrupting the Athenian youth. The case was presented by Plato and Xenophon as a travesty of justice, with Socrates as a martyr to truth against superstition and prejudice. The trial of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is viewed by many as the most notable in world history and its effect on human history has been incalculable. The spiritual significance of the trial and death of Jesus is dramatically presented in the four gospels and although the nature of this significance is hard to define with exactness since the gospels are narratives and not theological treatises, it may fairly be described as residing in the evaluation of the trial and death of Jesus as the vicarious sacrifice of the son of God for humanity. Socrates' relentless pursuit of truth and irritating habit of pointing out the ignorance of others led to his trial and death and as considered by many, in this respect he foreshadowed the life and death of Jesus. By accepting the hemlock rather than submitting to exile, Socrates demonstrated that he shared both the mission and the final destiny of the prophets and the righteous.


Given that ecological effects of disturbance have been extensively studied in many ecosystems, it is surprising that few quantitative syntheses across diverse ecosystems have been conducted. Multi-system studies tend to be qualitative because they focus on disturbance types that are difficult to measure in an ecologically relevant way. In addition, synthesis of existing studies across systems or disturbance types is challenging because sufficient information needed for analysis is not easily available. Theoretical advances and improved predictions can be advanced by generalizations obtained from synthesis activities that include multiple sites, ecosystems, and disturbance events. Building on existing research, we present a conceptual framework and an operational analog to integrate this rich body of knowledge and to promote quantitative comparisons of disturbance effects across different types of ecosystems and disturbances. This framework recognizes individual disturbance events that consist of three quantifiable components: (1) environmental drivers, (2) initial system properties, and (3) physical and biological mechanisms of effect, such as deposition, compaction, and combustion. These components result in biotic and abiotic legacies that can interact with subsequent drivers and successional processes to influence system response. Through time, a coarse-scale quasi-equilibrial state can be reached where variation in drivers interacting with biotic processes and feedbacks internal to the system results in variability in dynamics. At any time, a driver of sufficient magnitude can push the system beyond its realm of natural variability to initiate a new kind of event. We use long-term data from diverse terrestrial ecosystems to illustrate how our approach can facilitate cross-system comparisons, and provide new insights to the role of disturbance in ecological systems. We also provide key disturbance characteristics and measurements needed to promote future quantitative comparisons across ecosystems.


Earth's sand seas (dune fields) experience winds that blow with different strengths and from different directions in line with the seasons. In response, dune fields show a rich variety of shapes, from crescentic barchans to star and linear dunes. These dunes commonly exhibit complex and compound patterns with a range of length scales and various orientations, which up to now have remained difficult to relate to wind cycles. Here, we develop a model for dune orientation that explains the coexistence of bedforms with different alignments in multidirectional wind regimes. This model derives from subaqueous experiments, which show that a single bidirectional flow regime can lead to two different dune orientations depending on sediment availability, i.e., the erodibility of the bed. Sediment availability selects the overriding mechanism for the formation of dunes: increasing in height from the destabilization of a sand bed (with no restriction in sediment availability) or elongating in a finger on a non-erodible surface from a localized sand source. These mechanisms drive the dune orientation. Therefore, dune alignment maximizes dune orthogonality to sand fluxes in the bed instability mode, while dunes are aligned with the mean sand transport direction in the fingering mode. Applied to Earth's deserts, the model quantitatively predicts the orientation of rectilinear dunes and their superimposed patterns. This field study suggests that many linear dunes on Earth elongate from sources, and are simply aligned with the mean sand transport direction.


The corona mortis (crown of death) is usually considered as the anastomosis between the external iliac vessels and internal iliac vessels over the superior pubic ramus, although there is no consensus regarding its definition. It possesses a variable prevalence among different studies and its presence is of surgical significance to numerous procedures. Some of these surgeries are routinely performed by the orthopedist, thus, awareness of the corona mortis is crucial. The present work aimed to perform a comprehensive review to evaluate the prevalence of the corona mortis and to address its anatomical, surgical and clinical aspects in respect to orthopedics.   It is known that iatrogenic rupture of this vessel during surgery may cause significant hemorrhage with difficulty in hemostasis. This vessel can also be the source of hemorrhage in pubic fractures, hence, when evaluating pubic fractures one must check the presence of bleeding and its source. Thus, the orthopedist must remember this vessel during procedures such as osteotomies and whilst using accesses such as the ilioinguinal and modified Stoppa.


This paper looks at the use of of Information and Communication Technologies, (ICTs), and audio-visual resources in developing children's reading culture in Nigeria. It has been observed that most children in Nigeria have very poor reading culture as reading is not associated with pleasure. Developing reading culture in children has been identified as the foundation and the building block for life-long learning. This paper therefore tries to highlight the use of ICTs and audio-visual resources as veritable resources in associating reading with pleasure by encouraging children in learning how to learn, visual literacy, and associating reading with pleasure. The central roles played by Libraries in promoting reading habit in children were highlighted. Some of the identified reading problems associated with children include dyslexia, speech apraxia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Other factors include poor learning environment and lack of functional libraries, inadequate supply of reading materials and poor reading campaign. The paper concluded that in order to have any functional education system that will encourage sustainable development in any nation, it is therefore indispensable to inculcate reading culture from the scratch in order to have informed citizens who will intellectually advance the nation to globally competitive level. This could be done by providing a reading environment such as libraries, provision of adequate reading materials, and proactive public awareness programmes on the importance of reading for national development.


Representing graphs as sets of node embeddings in certain curved Riemannian manifolds has recently gained momentum in machine learning due to their desirable geometric inductive biases (e.g., hierarchical structures benefit from hyperbolic geometry). However, going beyond embedding spaces of constant sectional curvature, while potentially more representationally powerful, proves to be challenging as one can easily lose the appeal of computationally tractable tools such as geodesic distances or Riemannian gradients. Here, we explore two computationally efficient matrix manifolds, showcasing how to learn and optimize graph embeddings in these Riemannian spaces. Empirically, we demonstrate consistent improvements over Euclidean geometry while often outperforming hyperbolic and elliptical embeddings based on various metrics that capture different graph properties. Our results serve as new evidence for the benefits of non-Euclidean embeddings in machine learning pipelines.


Abstract In Finland, there are no tuition or application fees for post-secondary education. However, the application and admission processes by which the educational institutions select new students may still generate inequalities between prospective applicants from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Institutions select their students based on school and program-specific entrance examinations that measure how well the applicants have mastered predetermined exam materials. Typically, preparing for the exams is time consuming and applicants focus on one entrance exam at a time. Selectivity varies between the schools and programs, depending on the exam performance of the competing applicants. As a result, it can be difficult for students to evaluate their chances of being selected. This uncertainty together with the limited number of applications introduces a strategic component to the application decisions. Furthermore, students from low-income families may not have the resources to take preparation courses or to cover the costs of spending gap years to prepare for the exam. To study the socioeconomic aspect of application decisions, I use information on the newly graduated Finnish general upper secondary school students between the years 2004 and 2013. First, I document differences in application behaviors between students from different family income groups. Students who have performed equally well on the Finnish language test in the national matriculation examination but come from different family income groups exhibit different application behaviors. Compared to their peers from high-income families, students from low-income families are less likely to apply to universities and more likely to apply to polytechnics, send fewer applications overall, and apply to less selective programs. Second, by exploiting information on parental job losses due to plant closures, I investigate the causal impact of family income on the application decisions. I find that parental job losses have no impact on the likelihoods of high school graduates applying to any post-secondary institution, to at least one university or to at least one polytechnic. Instead, the affected students change their application strategies by sending fewer applications and by choosing less selective programs.


Long QT syndrome is a chronic disorder, and one of the most common genetic arrhythmia syndromes that can cause unexpected cardiac arrest and death in individuals. Treatment options include medications, use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and restricting activities of daily life. Minimal research exists exploring the specific psychosocial aspects of the illness and/or the impact on the quality of life of individuals and families coping with the management and diagnosis of this illness. Furthermore, little research has attempted to understand the role of gender differences and mother-child perceptions among individuals with Long QT syndrome. The current study used data from a larger study in an effort to specifically examine overall gender differences in QOL, as well as perception differences between mother-son and motherdaughter perceptions of QOL. The study predicted that mothers and sons would have less matched perception with regard to QOL domains, while mothers and daughters would be more aligned. The study also predicted that female children would have a higher selfreported QOL than male children. Results found that there was greater cross-informant variance for sons and mothers on the treatment anxiety subscale but not statistically significant findings for overall cross-informant variance. There were no statistically significant findings for gender differences overall, but results suggested that women were indicating a lower QOL than males. Results also found that emotional functioning was identified as lower than the other subscales, and lower than in healthy individuals, indicating the emotional needs of those with Long QT syndrome may be compromised. Further research addressing the psychosocial needs of children and families with Long QT syndrome is necessary. LQTS: GENDER DIFFERENCES v


This study compared the effect of four different intensities of initial eccentric exercise (ECC1) on optimum angle shift and extent of muscle damage induced by subsequent maximal eccentric exercise. Fifty-two male students were placed into 100%, 80%, 60%, or 40% groups (n = 13 per group), performing 30 eccentric actions of the elbow flexors of 100%, 80%, 60%, or 40% of maximal isometric strength [maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)] for ECC1, followed 2-3 wk later by a similar exercise (ECC2) that used 100% MVC load. MVC at six elbow joint angles, range of motion, upper arm circumference, serum creatine kinase activity, myoglobin concentration, and muscle soreness were measured before and for 5 days following ECC1 and ECC2. A rightward shift of optimum angle following ECC1 was significantly (P < 0.05) greater for the 100% and 80% than for the 60% and 40% groups, and it decreased significantly (P < 0.05) from immediately to 5 days postexercise. By the time ECC2 was performed, only the 100% group kept a significant shift (4 degrees). Changes in most of the criterion measures following ECC1 were significantly greater for the 100% and 80% groups compared with the 60% and 40% groups. Changes in the criterion measures following ECC2 were significantly (P < 0.05) greater for the 40% group compared with other groups. Although the magnitude of repeated bout effect following ECC2 was significantly (P < 0.05) smaller for the 40% and 60% groups, all groups showed significantly (P < 0.05) reduced changes in criterion measures following ECC2 compared with the ECC1 100% bout. We conclude that the repeated-bout effect was not dependent on the shift of optimum angle.


A family of kernels for statistical learning is introduced that exploits the geometric structure of statistical models. The kernels are based on the heat equation on the Riemannian manifold defined by the Fisher information metric associated with a statistical family, and generalize the Gaussian kernel of Euclidean space. As an important special case, kernels based on the geometry of multinomial families are derived, leading to kernel-based learning algorithms that apply naturally to discrete data. Bounds on covering numbers and Rademacher averages for the kernels are proved using bounds on the eigenvalues of the Laplacian on Riemannian manifolds. Experimental results are presented for document classification, for which the use of multinomial geometry is natural and well motivated, and improvements are obtained over the standard use of Gaussian or linear kernels, which have been the standard for text classification.


Multiagent systems are widely recognized as a method of choice for realization of distributed time-critical applications for the smart grid. However, no general solutions have been proposed for the difficult task of system development and validation, ready for deployment, which would fully account for the underlying communication network performance. We propose a novel platform designed for this purpose, which integrates a standard multiagent development framework [Java Agent Development (JADE)] and an industry standard communications network simulator (OPNET modeler). It was realized through generic extensions of the JADE framework to provide discrete event scheduling capabilities, while the OPNET modeler was extended to provide a generic method of associating the network nodes with agents running in JADE. The adopted method adheres to the high-level architecture standard. Importantly, applications developed using this platform may be deployed on the target system without manual modifications. A distributed protection application is presented and the performance is analyzed with respect to candidate agent behaviors and communication scenarios, demonstrating that the feasibility of the application critically depends on the choices made during its design and implementation.


Objectives
We have established a zebrafish model system that will allow unprecedented access to the role of selenoprotein function during development. The work described here focuses on a poorly characterized RNA binding protein that is similar to SECIS binding protein 2 (SBP2), which is required for the co-translational insertion of selenocysteine at select UGA codons in selenoprotein mRNAs. This protein, SECISBP2L, shares many features with SBP2 but is has no known function. We hypothesize that the zebrafish model system will reveal a selenoprotein-synthesis related function for SECISBP2L.

Methods
Using CRISPR/Cas9, we generated zebrafish with a disruption in one of the conserved domains in SECISBP2L. When bred out to a homozygous mutant animal, we verified that SECISBP2L protein expression was eliminated. To analyze selenoprotein synthesis, we metabolically labeled wild-type and mutant embryos with radioactive selenium (Se-75).

Results
In terms of overt phenotypes in SECISBP2L null fish, we observed no defects in growth, mobility or fertility. However, we noticed a significant sensitivity to oxidative stress as measured by lethality associated with peroxide exposure. In order to detect changes in selenoprotein expression that may have resulted from SECISBP2L loss, we performed Se-75 labeling in embryos. We also began an investigation of the effect of oxidative stress on selenoprotein expression during development. As such, one set of embryos was treated for 24 hours with 100 nM Se-75 and the other with Se-75 plus 200 μM H2O2. In general, we did not observe an overall alteration of selenoprotein expression as a result of SECISBP2L loss. We did, however, observe a significant spike of expression for a 50 kDa selenoprotein that did not occur in the SECISBP2L null animals. Based on this molecular weight, we predict that this band corresponds to selenophosphate synthase (SEPHS2). In addition, subsequent labeling at later time points revealed a general reduction of selenoprotein expression that may result from reduced SEPHS2 expression because it is essential for selenocysteine-tRNA synthesis.

Conclusions
We conclude that SECISBP2L is required for optimal selenoprotein expression and its function may be induced by oxidative stress. We have also demonstrated the value of a zebrafish model system for studying the mechanism of selenoprotein synthesis.

Funding Sources
Funded by the National Institutes of Health.


This theoretical review of Winne and Hadwin's model of self-regulated learning (SRL) seeks to highlight how the model sheds new light on current research as well as suggests interesting new directions for future work. The authors assert that the model's more complex cognitive architecture, inclusion of monitoring and control within each phase of learning, and separation of task definition and goal setting into separate phases are all important contributions to the SRL literature. New research directions are outlined, including more nuanced interpretations of judgments of learning and the potential to more thoroughly assess the influence of interactions among cognitive and task conditions on all phases of learning.