Abstract. Ground magnetometer measurements of total magnetic field strength from 6 stations at low latitudes were analyzed using power spectrum and Hurst range scaling techniques. The Hurst exponents for most of these time-series were near 0.5, which indicates stochasticity, with the highest latitude stations exhibiting some persistence with Hurst exponents greater than 0.6. Although no definite correlations are evident, the relative increase of the Hurst exponent with latitude suggests the possibility that the underlying dynamics of the magnetosphere change with latitude. This result may help quantify the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere itself without the direct presence of the solar wind driver. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; plasmasphere) – Space plasma physics (nonlinear phenomena)


A feature of regional development in New Zealand over the last two decades has been ongoing skill shortages reported by employers at the same time as unemployment has been relatively high. This paper addresses that issue with findings from a five-year trans-disciplinary research programme on education employment linkages for young people. The author's contribution to that programme focused on employer-led channels at the regional level, investigating how employment opportunities and requirements in a region are communicated to young people as they make education choices. This paper pays particular attention to the role of career offices in post-school education institution, drawing on the skill ecosystem metaphor introduced initially by David Finegold in 1999 and developed more recently by the NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training in Australia in collaboration with a research team led by John Buchanan at the University of Sydney.


The pathogenic fungi Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii are two of the main causes of life-threatening meningoencephalitis in immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals respectively. Following inhalation, cryptococci are engulfed by phagocytic cells in the lung and previous studies by our group and others have demonstrated that they are then able to survive inside these cells (especially macrophages), thus acting as intracellular parasites. This intracellular phase is thought to underlie the ability of the pathogens to remain latent for long periods of time within infected individuals. Here, we demonstrate that cryptococci can also manipulate host macrophages in order to mediate an exquisitely controlled 'escape' process. This expulsive process, which we have termed 'vomocytosis', can occur either into the extracellular milieu or, remarkably, into neighbouring host cells, thus resulting in direct cell-to-cell transmission ('lateral transfer'). After vomocytosis, both the host macrophages and the expelled cryptococci appear morphologically normal and continue to proliferate. Vomocytosis therefore represents an important mechanism by which pathogens are able to escape from phagocytic cells without triggering host cell death and thus inflammation. Moreover, direct cell-to-cell spread of cryptococci allows the pathogen to remain concealed from the immune system and protected from antifungal agents, thus achieving long-term latency. This project has also provided a possible explanation for the molecular cause of a recent C. gattii outbreak on Vancouver Island, Canada. We found that isolates from the outbreak have dramatically increased their ability to replicate within macrophages in comparison with other C. gattii strains, despite the fact that they are genetically very similar to each other. We further demonstrate that such enhanced intracellular parasitism is directly linked to virulence in a murine model of cryptococcosis, suggesting that this ability might be the cause of the outbreak. Finally, application of high-density whole genome tiled arrays, confocal microscopy and mating assays reveal regulation of mitochondrial activity to be a major driver of virulence in this pathogen group. Taken together, these data indicate that a recent change in mitochondrial regulation within the C. gattii lineage has led to an increased intracellular proliferative capacity, resulting in the hypervirulent phenotype that underlies the outbreak. Such shifts in intracellular replication capacity may be a widespread phenomenon in other human pathogens and could potentially underpin disease epidemics caused by otherwise unrelated pathogens.


We present a model for the study of risk and return of household assets in village economies. The model yields similar insights and predictions to those derived from the traditional Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) and the Consumption-based Asset Pricing Model (CCAPM) in finance literature. We apply our model to the monthly panel data from a household survey in rural Thailand. First, we find that higher exposure to aggregate, non-diversifiable risks, as measured by household beta, or the co-movement of individual returns with the aggregate, is related to higher expected return on household assets. This finding is consistent with a major prediction from our model. The result is robust when we extend our definition of the aggregate economy or the market from village to province, and to the entire sample, or focus our definition to kinship networks within a village. The result is also robust when we control for household demography, asset sizes, and household occupations. We then use the prediction from the model to compute the risk-adjusted return for each household, i.e. the household alpha in CAPM terminology. Finally, we apply our model to the study of the village equity premium and estimate the implied coefficient of relative risk aversion. In contrast to " the equity premium puzzle " in the finance literature, our data at the less aggregate levels deliver estimates with a reasonably low magnitude. We also find that the larger the definition of the market, the more unreasonable magnitude of the implied risk aversion coefficient.


We study how consumption taxes affect multinational companies' (MNCs') tax planning in the digital economy. We focus on the European value-added tax (VAT), a consumption tax collected and remitted by firms. Exploiting 43 staggered VAT rate changes, we show that MNCs in the business-to-consumer (B2C) service sector reallocate reported sales to benefit from VAT rate differentials across countries. Difference-in-differences analyses around a 2015 VAT reform that removed these VAT planning opportunities for digital B2C services indicate that MNCs reported disproportionally high digital B2C sales in Luxembourg, the country with the lowest VAT rate in 2014. Further analyses suggest that VAT planning behavior also shapes corporate income tax strategies. Contrary to conventional wisdom, pre-tax profits of MNC subsidiaries in the digital B2C sector were insensitive to changes in corporate income tax rates prior to 2015. However, since VAT planning strategies became obsolete, MNCs book substantially higher profits in Ireland and other low-tax European countries. Collectively, our evidence informs debates on taxing digital sales and tax strategies of MNCs in the globalized internet economy.


Infection due to Barmah Forest virus (BFV) is an emerging problem in Australia, with increased numbers of cases being reported. BFV is a mosquito-borne arbovirus from the Togaviridae family. The virus was first isolated in 1974 from the Barmah State Forest in the Murray Valley region of the Victoria–New South Wales border, and was first shown to be pathogenic to humans in 1988. Symptoms of acute human infection may include rash, arthralgia, myalgia, lethargy and fever, and are similar to symptoms caused by Ross River virus infection. However, rash is more common and florid, and joint disease is less severe, in BFV disease than in Ross River virus disease. In a study of BFV cases on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, over half of all cases reported time off work and an illness that lasted more than 6 months. BFV disease is therefore associated with a significant burden of illness and is of public health concern. This article describes trends in the notification rates for BFV disease in New South Wales since it was made notifiable in 1991.


Mitochondrial cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc, CYP11A1 ) is the initiating enzyme of steroidogenesis and converts cholesterol to pregnenolone. Here we describe neurological, cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings in a patient with a homozygous disruption of P450scc. Free γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate levels were measured in the patient's CSF and control samples from 10 subjects by mean of high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. In the CSF, patient's free GABA levels were significantly reduced in comparison to control values. Cerebral MRI revealed multiple supratentorial located T2 lesions in the periventricular and peritrigonal white matter without gadolinium enhancement or diffusion restriction of lesions. Both MRI and CSF neurotransmitter findings in our patient with P450scc deficiency were comparable to those found in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Res. 2018;8(1-2):13-15 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jnr467w


We study the dynamic decision making of a financial institution in the presence of a novel implementation friction that gives rise to operational risk. We distinguish between internal and external operational risks depending on whether the institution has control over them. Internal operational risk naturally arises in the context of model risk, as the institution exposes itself to operational errors whenever it updates and improves its investment model. In this case, it is no longer optimal to implement the best model available, thus leaving scope for endogenous deviation from it, and hence model sophistication. We show that the optimal exposure to operational risk may well become decreasing in the level of internal operational risk, which in turn makes the exposure to market risk less volatile. We uncover that financial constraints interact with operational risk, whether internal or external, and prompt the institution to always adopt a more sophisticated model. While such constraints are always detrimental when operational risk is internal, they may be beneficial, despite inducing an excessive level of sophistication, when it is external.


Periodic Adsorption Processes (PAPs) have gained increasing commercial importance as an energy-efficient separation technique over the past two decades. Based on fluid-solid interactions, these systems never reach steady state. Instead they operate at cyclic steady state, where the bed conditions at the beginning of the cycle match with those at the end of the cycle. Nevertheless, optimization of these processes remains particularly challenging, because cyclic operation leads to dense Jacobians, whose computation dominates the overall cost of the optimization strategy. In order to efficiently handle these Jacobians during optimization and reduce the computation time, this work presents new composite step trust-region algorithms based on sequential quadratic programming and interior point methods for the solution of minimization problems with both nonlinear equality and inequality constraints. Instead of forming and factoring the dense constraint Jacobian, these algorithms approximate the Jacobian of equality constraints with a specialized quasi-Newton method. Hence, they are well suited to solve optimization problems related to PAPs. In addition to allowing inexactness of the Jacobian and its null-space representation, the algorithm also provides exact second order information in the form of Hessian-vector products to improve the convergence rate. The resulting approach also combines automatic differentiation and more sophisticated integration algorithms to evaluate the direct sensitivity and adjoint sensitivity equations. Numerical performance iv results on small scale PAP problems and CUTEr problems show significant reduction in computation time. Furthermore, we propose a systematic methodology to design PSA cycles using a superstructure based approach. The superstructure is rich enough to predict a number of different PSA operating steps, and their optimal sequence is obtained by solving an optimal control problem. PSA is a potential technology for pre-combustion CO2 capture because of low operating costs and high performance. We utilize the superstructure approach to synthesize PSA cycles for this purpose which can separate both H2 and CO2 at high purity and operate with a low power consumption of 86 kWh/tonne of CO2 captured.


The following article describes and analyzes the spirituality of taiji quan in the West. Constructed around a particular North American perception of this Chinese martial art, the spirituality is based on discursive strategies that enable authors of taiji quan books (and their readers) to make sense of their practice in a North American context. Using reception theories and Gadamer's notion of fusion of horizon , three points will be highlighted here: 1) taiji quan books published in North America since the 1960s present this martial art as a spiritual practice 2) which the authors perceive as a Chinese Daoist spirituality 3) but which in fact is actualized in a North American socio-cultural context so that it meets the expectations of a certain category of practitioners. This means that the "spirituality of taiji quan " as presented by Western books has less to do with Chinese religious tradition than contemporary spirituality cloaked in old Daoist imagery.


In this study, the comparative advantage of main agricultural products and its relation to cropping pattern was studied in Ilam Province. For data analyzing the comparative advantage and government policies effects indices, Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) were used. The obtained results for the comparative advantage indices of Domestic Resource Cost (DRC), Social Cost Benefit (SCB) and Net Social Profitability (NSP) show that production of irrigated wheat, dry-farming wheat and dry-farming barely has not comparative advantage in Ilam Province but the production of irrigated barely, corn, dry-farming pea, dry-farming lentil, watermelon, cucumber and tomato have comparative advantage in Ilam Province. In addition, the obtained results for NPIC index show the Nominal Government Protection of inputs in all products. Also, Nominal Protection Coefficient index indicated that nominal market protection of products like wheat (irrigated and dry-farming) and barely (irrigated and dry-farming) was positive and those of other products were negative and the Effective Protection Coefficient for wheat and barley had the highest values. The results showed that the existing cropping pattern was not allotted with comparative advantage but is related to the effective protection coefficient


Warfare in premodern Southeast Asia, roughly that fought up until the end of the 19th century, was shaped by the environment across the region. Maritime trade connections brought the introduction and circulation of external models of warfare that would help to frame the way warfare in the region was depicted in some of the indigenous literature and art (including the influence of the Indian epics on shadow puppet theater). Firearms played a more direct role in determining the development of warfare in the region over the course of the early modern period. As a result of better firearms, the elephant declined in battlefield importance and was increasingly replaced by cavalry. In the 18th century, Southeast Asians fielded some of their best-organized armies, and in the early 19th century there was a temporary revival of naval strength in parts of the region, particularly in Vietnam. Nevertheless, the introduction of the steamship and better European military technology from the 1820s ushered in the decline of the remaining Southeast Asian armies by the end of the 19th century. Although indigenous states would attempt to modernize and catch up with Europe militarily, all of Southeast Asia, save for Thailand, fell under European control.


This essay examines three recent books focused on the fifteenth century--Robert Meyer-Lee's Poets and Power from Chaucer to Wyatt (Cambridge U. Press, 2007), Daniel Wakelin's Humanism, Reading, and English Literature: 1430-1530 (Oxford U. Press, 2007), and Andrew Cole's Literature and Heresy in the Age of Chaucer (Cambridge U. Press, 2008)--and argues that a new picture of the transitional period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in England has begun to emerge over the past ten years. It also discusses the groundbreaking work of James Simpson (The Oxford English Literary History, Volume 2, 1350-1547: Reform and Cultural Revolution [Oxford U. Press, 2002]), and Paul Strohm (Politique: Languages of Statecraft between Chaucer and Shakespeare [Notre Dame, IN: U. of Notre Dame Press, 2005]). Critical interest in reclaiming the fifteenth century has come about, I think, as both an extension of and a response to the historicism that dominated medieval and early modern literary study in the nineties. On the one hand, because the first efforts of historicists focused on Chaucer and on the Ricardian period, younger critics began to feel that the late fourteenth century had been exhausted as an area of investigation. It was hard to think of new things to say in the historicist vein about Chaucer and things Chaucerian in the wake of Strohm, Patterson, Middleton, Wallace, and others. The fifteenth century seemed like a logical place to go to extend the reach of historicism, not quite a new world to conquer, but instead an imitation of the old world that had yet to be assimilated. The parallel between Lydgate and Hoccleve as imitators of Chaucer and their critics as imitators of the early historicists was not lost on anyone. At the same time, however, these fifteenth-century critics had not failed to notice that their century forms a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in England. Renaissance New Historicism did not account for the fifteenth century; it seemed as if the sixteenth century emerged fully formed from the surrogacy of the Middle Ages, unaffected by centuries of writing and thinking, and harking back only to the classical past. Nor did other modes of Renaissance criticism spend much time thinking about the contiguity of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; most literary critics were eager to investigate what C. S. Lewis called the "golden age" of Elizabethan verse and drama. Once the doors to the fifteenth century's library of written work had been opened, however, it was easy to see how early sixteenth-century poets were stylistically and thematically akin to their Lancastrian and Yorkist predecessors. Indeed, when the poetry of Wyatt (for example) was copied from its manuscript sources, it looked very much like the work of fifteenth-century lyricists--though that resemblance had been hidden by modern editing practices. Work on the fifteenth century thus presented an implicit reproach to early modernists for their tendency to forget or misrepresent the Middle Ages. This "forgetting" was produced by a complex set of assumptions about the origins of the Renaissance and the revival of classical learning associated with it, a set of assumptions partly promulgated by early modern writers and partly promoted by Renaissance scholars in the interest of maintaining the boundary between the two periods. The scholarly turn to the fifteenth century on the part of medievalists proved to be a serious threat to the stability of that boundary. So if one simplistic description of the efflorescence of scholarship on the fifteenth century focuses on the dominance of Ricardian historicism and the appeal of Chaucer's imitators to young scholars in search of research topics, a more nuanced account looks to the beginnings and ends of the long fifteenth century for its larger significance. Both Ricardian historicism and Renaissance New Historicism are implicated here, as powerful structures of thought against which fifteenth-century scholarship presses and from which it derives various concepts and tools of analysis. …


"Seeing in Alison Bechdel's Fun Home", Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture and Media Studies, 28.3_84 (2013),

Alison Bechdel's autobiographical graphic novel, Fun Home (2006), intricately weaves together the author's coming-out story with her family's history, particularly the story of her father's closeted queer sexuality and possible suicide. In its exploration of family history, queer desires, and larger American historical events, Bechdel's novel deals with themes of trauma, memory, and historical narrative. The novel has been embraced for the queer way in which it approaches her family archive — it refuses to settle on one understanding of the truth of Bechdel's father, his sexuality, and the author's relationship to him, and instead insists on piecing together the past from a variety of angles. This article focuses on how the queer qualities of contingency and partiality that Fun Home produces around sexuality and the Bechdel family's history is an effect of the author's use of the visual possibilities of the graphic genre. Mapping Bechdel's coming-of-age story as a narrative about coming to see, this article traces the importance of vision in young Alison's gender identity, her relationship to her father, and her ability to posthumously "see" her father through family photographs. This article thus draws out the ways in which Bechdel represents the visual field as a source of both restriction and queer pleasure, the family as a site of both normalizing and queer looks, and the inevitable partiality of what she is able to see.


This chapter aims to review present knowledge about the effects of heat stress on goats, summarising what is known about its measurement, its impact on the performances of the animals, mainly milk traits, the physiological and genetic bases of the animals' response and the improvement of resilience through selection. A short historic review of the climatic indexes used to measure heat stress, with special emphasis on the tempera - ture humidity indexes, and the main consequences on milk yield and composition are followed by a description of the results of experiments carried out to study the physio - logical and metabolic consequences of heat stress. The results of the quantitative analyses of the genetic bases of heat stress using norm of reaction models and of the application of omic techniques, particularly transcriptomic and genomic, to understand the complex ity of the genetic background of animal's reaction to thermal stress, constitute the next points. The chapter ends treating the possible ways and difficulties of applying selection to increase resilience to heat stress.


Weight loss resulting from an exercise intervention tends to be lower than predicted. Modest weight loss can arise from an increase in energy intake, physiological reductions in resting energy expenditure, an increase in lean tissue or a decrease in non‐exercise activity. Lower than expected, weight loss could also arise from weak and invalidated assumptions within predictive models. To investigate these causes, we systematically reviewed studies that monitored compliance to exercise prescriptions and measured exercise‐induced change in body composition. Changed body energy stores were calculated to determine the deficit between total daily energy intake and energy expenditures. This information combined with available measurements was used to critically evaluate explanations for low exercise‐induced weight loss. We conclude that the small magnitude of weight loss observed from the majority of evaluated exercise interventions is primarily due to low doses of prescribed exercise energy expenditures compounded by a concomitant increase in caloric intake.


Congresswomen of color yield a distinct policy impact in Congress through their perspectives as women and as Americans of color, and through the mix of congressional tools they most often use. Both despite and through the legislative process and the institutional leadership positions they hold, they are able to influence policy by engaging with the executive branch. These more frequently utilized tools include scrutinizing and pressuring the executive branch as advocates, critics and advisers, and public outreach to generate more inclusive and better-informed policymaking. These congresswomen often specifically address substantive interests that are especially pronounced for people of color around the world, women, low-income Americans, and other disadvantaged groups, in policy debates where these considerations are both expected and unexpected. Women of color also adopt a no-nonsense, assertive and persistent style of policymaking. Media content research and other qualitative analyses suggest that Congresswomen of color face more difficulty in gaining credit and attention for their efforts than the average congressperson, which is a disservice to the American public and their understanding of Congress. Their impact is this: their backgrounds as women of color provide expertise and their distinct modi operandi improve the quality of legislation by considering the combined needs of people of color, women, low-income populations, and others both domestic and foreign that the general public is unaware of or purposefully disregard. With a sensitivity to overlooked and disadvantaged peoples, congresswomen of color challenge fellow members of Congress and the American public to broaden their policy concerns to be more inclusive, comprehensive, and just.


Is Nietzsche's famed perspectivism a kind of Protagorean relativism that undermines the intelligibility of his own criticisms of religious and moral thinking as false? I argue against the Protagorean reading through a careful examination of the only two published texts in which Nietzsche discusses perspectivism: THE GAY SCIENCE, sec. 354 and the GENEALOGY, the 3rd essay, section 12, both written around the same time. I show that neither passage supports the Protatogrean reading (or similar deconstructionist and anti-realist readings familiar from the secondary literature).
Both GS 354 and GM III:12 presuppose that the features of the world that become objects of cognition are the result of affective or emotional engagement. GS 354 emphasizes the way in which evolutionary pressures produce affective convergence on certain judgments about what is true; GM III:12 calls attention to the ways in which, beyond that evolutionary baseline, what we know will depend on our capacity to control our affects/interests. GS 354 gives us a doctrine that is both Humean and Darwinian; GM III:12, by contrast, is a defense of Thucydides's ability to suspend moral judgment to understand how historical actors really behave.
Both passages defend a kind of naturalized Kantianism: whereas Kant treats the uniformity of human judgment on these matters as transcendental conditions on the possibility of knowledge, Nietzsche treats them as simply consequences of our cognitive propensities as shaped by evolutionary forces. But GM III:12 also calls attention to the role affects play in knowledge beyond the Kantian case, i.e., the cases where we can turn on, and turn off, as it were, certain affects in the course of inquiry. It is in the latter case that Thucydides is crucial for understanding perspectivism.


This paper reports on a study which explored the mentoring experiences of professionally unqualified practicing teachers enrolled in a part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study sought to understand the mentoring experiences these students received from their teacher mentors, who were also their colleagues. Data was collected through interviews towards the end of their programme. Drawing on the concept of teacher knowledge, findings indicate that some students experienced subject-specific mentoring, others received only feedback on generic pedagogic issues, and some received minimal mentoring. They reported content-specific and pedagogical mentoring as the most useful, indicating that this significantly assisted them in improving their teaching, even though they had been teaching for some time. It also emerged that some students received very limited mentoring, where mentors simply complied to fulfil university assessment requirements. The study suggests a need for more focused, comprehensive and ongoing mentor training for mentor teachers. The success of this would require collaboration between all stakeholders involved in departments of education and universities. This paper further suggests that university-school partnerships required strengthening, along with appropriate strategies put in place, towards ensuring mentoring effectiveness. Keywords : emerging economy; mentoring; PGCE; professionally unqualified practicing teachers; school-based learning; teacher knowledge


Yanashkov, I. T. and T. D. Vatchev, 2017. First report of root and lower stem rot caused by Drechslera sorokiniana on einkorn in Bulgaria. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 23 (4): 594–595 In July 2014, severe root and stem base rot was observed on einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.) crops grown commercially in the region of Slivnitsa (Western part of Bulgaria). Drechslera spp. isolates were readily obtained from all examined plants with disease symptoms as well as from symptomless root tissues and einkorn stubble. All obtained isolates were identifi ed as Drechslera sorokiniana (Sacc.) Subram. and Jain (syn. Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoemaker) by microscopic observation of their morphological characteristics and showed additionally identical characteristics to known isolate of D. sorokiniana previously obtained from diseased wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants. Pathogenicity of all D. sorokiniana isolates was confi rmed both in in vitro tests on germinating einkorn wheat seeds and in pot experiments with growing einkorn plants. Previously, the pathogen has been largely established on various cereal crops in Bulgaria. To the best of our knowledge, this is the fi rst report of D. sorokiniana as a pathogen on root and lower stem plant parts of einkorn wheat in Bulgaria.


All of a sudden, everybody's talking about the gig economy. From taxi drivers to pizza deliverers to the unemployed, we are all aware of the huge changes that it is driving in our lives as workers, consumers and citizens. This is the first comprehensive overview of this highly topical subject. Drawing upon years of research, stories from gig workers, and a review of the key trends and debates, Jamie Woodcock and Mark Graham shed light on how the gig economy came to be, how it works and what it's like to work in it. They show that, although it has facilitated innovative new services and created jobs for millions, it is not without cost. It allows businesses and governments to generate value while passing significant risk and responsibility onto the workers that make it possible. This is not, however, an argument for turning back the clock. Instead, the authors outline four strategies that can produce a fairer platform economy that works for everyone. Woodcock and Graham's critical introduction will be essential reading for students, scholars and general readers interested in the massive shifts that characterize our modern digital economy.


The majority of bird species studied to date have molt schedules that are not concurrent with other energy demanding life history stages, an outcome assumed to arise from energetic trade-offs. Empirical studies reveal that molt is one of the most energetically demanding and perplexingly inefficient growth processes measured. Furthermore, small birds, which have the highest mass-specific basal metabolic rates (BMRm), have the highest costs of molt per gram of feathers produced. However, many small passerines, including white-plumed honeyeaters (WPHE; Lichenostomus penicillatus), breed in response to resource availability at any time of year, and do so without interrupting their annual molt. We examined the energetic cost of molt in WPHE by quantifying weekly changes in minimum resting metabolic rate (RMRmin) during a natural-molt period in 7 wild-caught birds. We also measured the energetic cost of feather replacement in a second group of WPHEs that we forced to replace an additional 25% of their plumage at the start of their natural molt period. Energy expenditure during natural molt revealed an energy conversion efficiency of just 6.9% (±0.57) close to values reported for similar-sized birds from more predictable north-temperate environments. Maximum increases in RMRmin during the molt of WPHE, at 82% (±5.59) above individual pre-molt levels, were some of the highest yet reported. Yet RMRmin maxima during molt were not coincident with the peak period of feather replacement in naturally molting or plucked birds. Given the tight relationship between molt efficiency and mass-specific metabolic rate in all species studied to date, regardless of life-history pattern (Efficiency (%)  = 35.720•10−0.494BMRm; r2 = 0.944; p = <0.0001), there appears to be concomitant physiological costs entrained in the molt period that is not directly due to feather replacement. Despite these high total expenditures, the protracted molt period of WPHE significantly reduces these added costs on a daily basis.


Health Workers (HWs) are most likely to be infected by the Ebola virus disease (EVD) through mainly nosocomial transmission because they treat patients with EVD; this occurs through close contact with patients when infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are not strictly practiced. This study aimed to assess the level of implementation of infection prevention and control measures as well as challenges in their implementation in the north-eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A mixed study was carried out in northeastern of DRC in August 2019. In-depth interviews were conducted with 16 HCW in front-line and with a member of the national coordination team. The quantitative part was focused on the review of the reports of the commission for the prevention and control of infections. Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim in Swahili before being translated in French and in English. The IPC packages were implemented in the health Facilities and in the community. We noticed a high proportion of realization of the IPC planned activities. All HCWs interviewed declared to have been trained on IPC and supported with materials and equipment for implementation. Cultural and traditional views of community have been mentioned as the community related factor which impact negatively in IPC implementation by the HCWs. Non-compliance with IPC measures by HCWs has been also mentioned added with the non viability of healthcare facilities. It is urgent to improve communication of importance to comply with IPC measures in community but also among HCWs. Also, Infrastructure of Health Care Facility must be strengthened.


A simple method of activating the Caltech Active Strand Cloud-water Collector (CASCC) is described. This system detected the onset of wet deposition events associated with the advection of marine stratus clouds using an optical rain sensor (ORS) and a standard passive fog collector (SFC) in combination with a relative humidity threshold. The system was deployed on a rooftop between May 10 and September 20, 2016 (134 days) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, six km from Pacific Ocean, at 240 m elevation. Twenty-nine fog water samples (daily mean volume = 174 ± 71 mL) were collected for the purposes of quantifying the concentration of monomethylmercury (MMHg) and its possible marine origins. For 20 days during the study, a visibility sensor (VS) was collocated with the ORS and both sensors detected 7 fog events. The ORS detected 2 additional marine stratus drizzle events missed by the VS. The start time of the events detected by the ORS was delayed relative to the onset of visibility reduction in 6 of 7 events by 4.5 ± 3.3 hours. Low wind speeds at night at this location limited the wet deposition to the SFC. Average CASCC sampling time during these events was 6.2 ± 2.8 hours and 4 liquid samples were obtained (80 to > 275 mL). As a comparison, fog water collections at UCSC during the fog seasons of 2014 and 2015 yielded 35 and 12 samples, respectively using a trigger based on relative humidity (RH) and sampling times of > 12 h per day. The main benefit of triggering with the ORS in 2016 was to cut in half the sampling time without loss of sample collection volume. Mean MMHg concentrations between the 3 years were not significantly different suggesting that the SFC/ORS triggering system is appropriate for use at multiple fog collection sites simultaneously.


Sociology has been curiously silent about the concept of luck. The present article argues that this omission is, in fact, an oversight: An explicit and systematic engagement with luck provides a more accurate portrayal of the social world, opens potentially rich veins of empirical and theoretical inquiry, and offers a compelling alternative for challenging dominant meritocratic frames about inequality and the distribution of rewards. This article develops a framework for studying luck, first by proposing a working definition of luck, examining why sociology has ignored luck in the past, and making the case for the value of including luck in sociology's conceptual repertoire. The article then demonstrates the fertile research potential of studying luck by identifying a host of research questions and hypotheses pertaining to the social construction of luck, the real effects of luck, and theoretical interventions related to luck. It concludes by highlighting the distinctive contributions sociology can make to the growing interdisciplinary interest in this topic.


We introduce a new approach for comparing reinforcement learning policies, using Wasserstein distances (WDs) in a newly defined latent behavioral space. We show that by utilizing the dual formulation of the WD, we can learn score functions over trajectories that can be in turn used to lead policy optimization towards (or away from) (un)desired behaviors. Combined with smoothed WDs, the dual formulation allows us to devise efficient algorithms that take stochastic gradient descent steps through WD regularizers. We incorporate these regularizers into two novel on-policy algorithms, Behavior-Guided Policy Gradient and Behavior-Guided Evolution Strategies, which we demonstrate can outperform existing methods in a variety of challenging environments. We also provide an open source demo.


Teacher-student discourse is increasingly mediated through, by and with digital technologies. In-class discussions have found new, textually-rich venues online; chalk and whiteboard lectures are rapidly giving way to PowerPoint presentations. Yet, what does this mean experientially for students? This article investigates college students' experiences of PowerPoint in the classroom. The research asks: What are the tacit and pedagogical dimensions of the PowerPoint presentation for students? The method of inquiry is informed by a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and by the heuristic notions of pedagogical tact and thoughtfulness.


Abstract. Today, a variety of methods have been proposed by researchers to distinguish ground and non-ground points in point cloud data. Most fully automated methods have a common disadvantage which is the lack of proper algorithm response for all areas and levels of the ground, so most of these algorithms have good outcomes in simple landscapes but encounter problems in complex landscapes. Point cloud filtering techniques can be divided into two general rule-based and novel methods. Today, the use of machine learning techniques has improved the results of classification, which has led to significant results, especially when data can be labelled at the presence of training data. In this paper, firstly, altimeter and radiometric features are extracted from the LiDAR data and the point cloud derived from digital photogrammetry. Then, these features are participated in a classification process using SVM learning and random forest methods, and the ground and Non-ground points are classified. The classification results using this method on LiDAR data show a total error of 6.2%, a type I error of 5.4%, and a type II error of 13.2%. The comparison of the proposed method with the results of LASTools software shows a reduction in total error and type I error (while increasing the type II error). This method was also investigated on the dense point cloud obtained from digital photogrammetry and based on this study, the total was 7.2%, the type I error was 6.8%, and the type II error was 10.9%.


Background: Foamy urine is often reported to be associated with proteinuria and kidney diseases. There is no objective measure on the nature and correlation of this relationship. Literature reviews revealed very few studies that can confirm or refute this relationship. This study hypothesized that the severity and persistence of urinary foam were associated with the degree of proteinuria (as determined by urine protein-creatinine ratio and dipstick).
Methods: We analyzed urine samples of patients from our chronic kidney disease (CKD) clinics for urine protein and foam. The urine samples were shaken in a standardized way and heights of resting foam (in millimeters) were measured after a pre-determined resting time. The foam heights were correlated with clinical variables including proteinuria, stages of CKD, gender, age, co-morbidities and urine specific gravity.
Results: A total of 160 urine samples were analyzed. Greater foam height was significantly associated with advanced CKD stages (p=0.015), urine dipstick protein (p<0.001), urine PCR (p=0.005) and diabetes mellitus (p=0.013). Urine specific gravity (p=0.053) and hypertension (p=0.91) did not achieve statistically significant results with foam height. Further analyses were performed on 54 urine samples with no or low protein level (defined as urine PCR of less than <100 mg/mmol AND urine protein dipstick result of ≤ 1+). In these samples, there was no statistically significant relationship between foam height and CKD stages (p=0.403), specific gravity (p=0.564), diabetes mellitus (p=0.909) and hypertension (p=0.08).
Conclusion: Our study showed that urinary foam can be used as a rudimentary surrogate marker for proteinuria in patients with CKD. It provides extra leverage to the age-long assumptions that urinary foam is associated with kidney disease and proteinuria. More research will be needed to ascertain and investigate the nature of this relationship.


The incidence of prostate cancer remains very high and is the second leading cause of cancer related death in the USA [1,2]. Worldwide prostate cancer accounts for 15% of all male cancer diagnoses. Important within this large group of patients is identifying the different risk groups (low risk, intermediate risk, high risk) and subgroups within them. While treatment advances involving surgery, radiation, hormonal therapy, and systemic treatments continue to provide improved outcomes in more aggressive prostate cancer, there have also been new paradigms describing treatment de-escalation for lower risk prostate cancer. Some of this involves active surveillance protocols with no definitive treatment [3]. While active surveillance may be appropriate for some patients, there appears to be a role for a partial prostate treatment in some low risk patients [4,5]. Dose escalation has been shown to improve biochemical outcomes from several studies, but this comes at a cost to the adjacent organs that also receive a higher dose [6,7]. Radiation proctitis and cystitis while less common are likely underreported and can cause long term morbidity for patients [8]. Partial gland therapy would aim to deliver a high therapeutic dose to specifically identified targets within the prostate gland and in most cases spare the higher doses of radiation from reaching the rectum and bladder [5, 9]. Important in this paradigm is being able to identify areas of disease [9,10]. For example, current biopsy sample the prostate via the peripheral zone however, may be underestimating anterior gland disease. Additionally, small areas could theoretically be missed. Improvements in imaging has led to renewed interest in using dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI to evaluate for prostate malignancy [11]. In fact a PI-RADS system has been created to help grade the radiographic features [12]. However, evaluation by imaging alone currently does not yield a high sensitivity or specificity [9,10]. A biopsy confirmation of these lesions is important to evaluate the true and false positive results. True positives may then be candidates for partial gland therapy on protocol. In addition, it is also possible for a prostate cancer to not be readily visualized using DCE-MRI. It should be stated that partial gland therapy is not currently standard of care and thus practitioners are encouraged to study this on protocol at this time. Focal therapy has been attempted in some published studies. In fact, focused ultrasound, thermotherapy, brachytherapy, photodynamic therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery have been attempted [4,5]. While standard external beam radiation may take up to 8-9 weeks to complete the delivery of a definitive dose to the prostate for prostate cancer, more recent advances in radiation have allowed the safe delivery of higher doses per fraction. Stereotactic radiation has introduced the concept of treating a prostate cancer in a few fractions completed in 1-2 weeks. The exact dose and fractionation are still under investigation however, radiation doses similar to current brachytherapy schedules appear to be the most promising. Outcomes appear comparable to standard radiation schedules [13]. One advantage to stereotactic radiation is the excellent dosimetry and the non-invasive nature of the process. A stereotactic course could be completed in a matter of 5 days for example in an every other day schedule (total elapsed days within 2 weeks). When combined with partial gland therapy, the therapeutic index can be very favourable as the higher doses are likely not to reach all the important adjacent normal organs. On a larger scale, focal therapy represents a paradigm change to more customized treatment plans for patients with prostate cancer. Investigations are on-going at this time, but partial gland SBRT guided by DCE MRI remains a promising therapeutic option for select prostate cancer patients


The pursuit of medical careers, as well as advocating for epilepsy research, ketogenic therapies, and neuro-rehabilitation are among the efforts in this section on healthcare and research.


OBJECTIVE
This study tested the hypothesis that children with prolonged middle ear effusion (MEE) during the first 3 years of life are at risk for cognitive delays or deficits.

METHOD
A prospective study enrolled 698 children from diverse backgrounds and controlled for eight demographic and environmental factors. Participants were recruited at birth and monitored for ear status frequently in the home; 379 children were assessed for cognition with the Stanford-Binet, 4th ed., at 3 years of age, 294 at 5 years, and 198 at 7 years.

RESULTS
Using the SAS General Linear Models (GLM) procedure, we found a significant direct relation between duration of bilateral MEE and Stanford-Binet Composite and Nonverbal Reasoning/Visualization Factor scores at age 3, but not at age 5 or age 7. Statistical clustering analysis revealed four groups with different temporal patterns of MEE: Low MEE, Early MEE (peaking at 0-6 months), Later MEE (peaking at 6-12 months), and High MEE. GLM analyses revealed no direct effects, but several moderated effects, of MEE cluster on cognitive development at 3 years, but none at 5 or 7 years. In general, children in the Later MEE and High MEE groups appeared to be more adversely affected by bilateral MEE at 3 years, but effects were moderated in complex ways by socioeconomic status or home stimulation. Growth curve modeling across the three assessment periods showed no effects of total duration of MEE but did indicate that children in the Later MEE cluster had low scores at age 3 but caught up at ages 5 and 7.

CONCLUSIONS
Prolonged MEE, especially between 6 and 12 months, may put children at risk for cognitive delays at 3 years, but the risk effect is not strong and effects are no longer detectable at 5 or 7 years.


Desing and development of a novel smart-meter for improved Smart Grid managementThe electric networks are shifting to a new architecture called Smart Grid, this concept consist in the utilization of new technologies and tool to improve the performance and the reliability of the network, offering solution to the upcoming challenges of the energy generation and distribution. The paradigm of Internet of Things (IoT) is used to proceed in the evolutions, this approach aims to deploy devices that are connected among them and can receive and submit commands and information through Internet. With the evolution of the electric networks towards the concept of smart grid there is an increasing necessity of new tools and devices that helps in this progression to enable new feature for both the energy suppliers and the users. One among the various devices that will be used more and more in this future scenario are the so-called smart-meters. Most the meters employed nowadays are used for billing purposes and are only able to collect data regarding the power usage of the customers and communicate it to the suppliers. The upcoming meter instead are designed to use already know technologies like Internet communications to increase the possible function that they can perform. Despite on the market devices like that are already available there is still no meter that satisfies all the needs and most of these is quite expensive and it is not feasible to deploy many of them. With this concept in mind the work done for this project aimed to realize a prototype of a smart-meter and a software infrastructure that satisfy the requirements considered essential: the software should be able to manage all the devices deployed on the grid and update them while the devices should be low cost and Internet connected. Before the design of the device some researches have been done to analyze what features were offered by the meter already available on the market, to examine the proposal done in the literature and which are the challenges to face in the design process. After this preliminary observation some guidelines were defined to proceed in the work: the device developed in this thesis must be able to self-configure itself when installed and auto-update according to the situations and the requests. On the other hand, the software infrastructure must be able to manage all the meters, keeps a list of the active devices and constantly updating their settings. To realize the meter two open source low cost devices were used: an MCC USB-201 that is a data acquisition board with up to 8 analogic inputs and a Raspberry Pi 3 that is well known single board computer with a 1.2GHz CPU. The meter is able to collect the measurements of voltages and currents, it can selectively run three algorithms for smart grid management and is an element of a distributed software infrastructure that supports smart grid self-healing. The main actor of software infrastructure developed to support this meters is constituted by a software called Device Catalog that takes enables the self-configuration and the auto-update of the meters and control the execution of their function. The meter and the infrastructure were then tested using a Real Time Simulator and exploiting the Hardware in the Loop (HIL) technique. This approach allows to perform the test in a safe environment emulating the behaviour of a real electric network avoiding all the constraints and the risk of a test done in the field. The results of the test were then analyzed to underline the benefit that such devices could bring to the reliability of the grid and the management process


This action research study was undertaken because there has been an inadequate amount of research on students with learning disabilities and their areas of strength. In this study I examined the interrelatedness of using Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences within a classroom of students with learning disabilities in rural Southern Alberta. My research question was as follows: Would the use of the theory of Multiple Intelligences, within one rural Junior High special education class, lead to improved social, emotional, and academic success for the students? I worked with 19 students for a period of nine weeks. Through identifying and using the student's areas of strength and incorporating the theory of Multiple Intelligences, I provided an avenue for the students to improve upon their weaknesses. This study could assist educators in offering alternative strategies to enable students with learning disabilities to be successful. Through observations, pre and post Multiple Intelligences inventories, projects, presentations, journals, student-teacher conferences, video conferences, and interviews I obtained data that was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The analysis of the data did conclude that there were gains within the academic, social, and emotional areas despite an interruption caused by a teachers' strike. A future research study within this area is recommended in order to solidify any correlation between the theory of Multiple telligences and increased academic, social, and emotional success for students with rrning disabilities.


Epithelial cells lining the colon do not normally express galanin type 1 receptors (Gal1Rs). However, subsequent to infection with enteric pathogens such as Salmonella typhimurium, the Gal1R is rapidly upregulated in colonocytes where it contributes to the excess fluid production associated with diarrhoea. Humans infected with non-typhoid Salmonella respond differently according to age: infants develop diarrhoea but not bacteraemia and survive, while the elderly become bacteraemic and die. Thus the aim of this study was to determine if age-related differences exist in response to S typhimurium infection in mice, and whether these differences are due to altered Gal1R expression. Wild-type C57BL/6J mice that were 2 and 15 months old, as well as 2-month-old Gal1R knockout mice, were infected by gavage. Young wild-type mice expressed Gal1R in response to infection, had increased colonic fluid secretion, low rates of bacteraemia and survived. In contrast, 15-month-old wild-type mice expressed fewer Gal1Rs in response to infection, had attenuated increases in colonic fluid secretion, high rates of bacteraemia and died. A similar profile was noted in 2-month-old Gal1R knockout mice. Addition of polyethylene glycol to the drinking water of 15-month-old wild-type mice increased colonic fluid secretion and reduced rates of bacteraemia to those observed in 2-month-old wild-type mice and eliminated fatalities. The difference in response to S typhimurium infection with age may be due, at least in part, to decreased Gal1R expression and decreased amounts of colonic fluid secretion.


Wilbur C. Rich, ed., African American Perspectives on Political Science. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007. Pp. 456. Cloth $89.50. Paper $32.95. Conventional political science in the United States is a historical and social science discourse located predominantly among highly educated white men, and produced by such men for each other. The anthology under review purports to evaluate and contest black exclusion from this academic discipline. Yet, this would-be progressive undertaking is largely truncated because most of the volume's eighteen essays are written within the shadow of dominant white American political science scholarship, and they scarcely challenge the discipline's received assumptions, theories, and analytical approaches. In general, readers will not find in this text new ideas, concepts, theories, approaches, or even new thinking about "political thought." Rather, this is a set of essays whose authors essentially bow to the intellectual altars of liberal pluralism and political behavioralism. Rather than challenge or go beyond the limitations of scientism in conventional political studies, most of the authors embrace the "scientific method" of quantitative data analysis associated with the natural sciences as the model for empirical political science. Hence, little new knowledge about black politics emerges in this text. Written within the disciplinary power of behavioral political science, this volume is not a product of the provocative or powerful thinking necessary for the 21st century. Indeed, most of the essays easily could have been published ten or more years ago! The volume's title encourages the anticipation of particular viewpoints on the discipline of political science, specifically African American perspectives. Hence, part of my strategy in approaching the volume was to identify and understand the meaning of these various perspectives. I searched in vain. In the introduction the editor Wilbur Rich announces, "This collection of essays is about political science as seen through the eyes of African American political scientists--their assessment of the subfields, their views about the quality of race-related research and their regrets about the omissions in the literature. The central theme is that race matters in politics not only nationally, but internationally." He notes that these "omissions" hinder an understanding of racial and ethnic conflict, and therefore require a variety of perspectives to contend with the "danger of unconscious insularity in methodology and outlook." "For this reason," Rich writes, "we African American political scientists have a special responsibility to rethink the norms, canons, and directions of the discipline." Except for a few essays, however, the anthology falls far short of these goals. Indeed, the essays rarely break new ground, and the contributors generally accept the dominant methodology, norms, and canons of conventional political science. African American Perspectives on Political Science is comprised of five parts. Part one "Race and Political Scientists" contains three essays that are contextual and review the literature on conventional political science research, suggesting that the discipline has consistently evaded racial and ethnic politics. The contributors also note the challenges black political scientists face in seeking to advance in the field. There are two essays in "Globalization and Transnational Politics." One provides a comparative analysis of African Americans in Latin American politics, and the other examines competing theoretical frameworks employed in the study of social change and political development. In "Civic Engagement and Voting," part three, the four essays are interesting and analyze the complexity of black public opinion; the changing character of political attitudes about black feminism; the interconnections of race, class, and gender in the organizational politics and civic activities of African American women; and the academic trajectory and political activism of a member of the first generation of African Americans to earn the Ph. …


Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) is a novel radiation therapy modality currently developed at several synchrotron sources around the world. The MRT technique is based on the use of plane parallel arrays of microbeams produced by a multislit collimator (MSC). The major benefit of MRT lies in the dose volume effect: a higher radiation tolerance of the normal tissue when using micrometer scale beam size. Moreover, pre-clinical studies highlighted the detrimental effect of MRT on the tumor tissue and demonstrated the presence of a differential effect between normal and tumor tissue. One of the possible application of MRT is the treatment of inoperable paediatric brain tumors where conventional radiotherapy presents a high level of toxicity on the developing brain. Despite the numerous pre-clinical studies that demonstrated the efficiency of the MRT technique over the last twenty years, efforts are still required for the dosimetry quality assurance (QA) before being able to move from pre-clinical to human clinical stage and are the framework of this study. Currently, a 3 generation synchrotron X-ray source is required to perform MRT irradiations. Indeed, the low beam divergence allows the production of plane parallel microbeams, the high dose rates ensure fast irradiation times thus avoiding any blurring of the microbeams with cardiosynchronous motion and the energy spectrum in the range 27-600 keV provides sharp beam penumbra. Quality Assurance (QA) is required for MRT but remains a challenging task due to the high spatial resolution and the radiation resistance properties required from the dosimeter. In MRT, QA must include reference dosimetry in a reference broadbeam (i.e. no spatial fractionation of the beam) and the dosimetry of the microbeams. Microbeam dosimetry consists in the experimental determination of the dose in the microbeams (i.e. peak dose), of the dose between the microbeam (i.e. valley dose), of the Peak to Valley Dose Ratio (PVDR) and of the scatter factors. Many detectors have been investigated and led to the conclusion that ionisation chambers (IC) and Gafchromic® films currently are the most accurate detectors for broadbeam and microbeam dosimetry respectively. However, due to the high dose rates encountered in MRT, lack in collection efficiency has been observed from the IC leading to significant uncertainties. Moreover, despite their great spatial resolution, Gafchromic® films do not provide sufficient dynamic range to display both peak and valley doses, they are passive detectors and still present too significant reading uncertainties to be used as primary detectors. Within this context, the aim of this study was to improve both broadbeam and microbeam dosimetry at the ID17 biomedical beamline at the ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France) where MRT is developed and to propose the corresponding quality assurance procedures. First, the lack of collection efficiency of the MRT reference IC was addressed by the development a new method based on the measurement of the IC response at different dose rates. This method provides correction factors to be applied to the reference IC and results in the determination of the absolute dose with an accuracy better than ± 5%. In the context of MRT veterinary trials on the ID17 biomedical beamline, an absorbed dose to water protocol has been established within this work. In collaboration with ID17, the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (University of Wollongong, Australia) developed the X-Tream dosimetry system especially for MRT QA applications. The system relies on a high resolution silicon Single Strip Detector (SSD) for the microbeams acquisition. The X-Tream dosimetry system has been characterised at the ESRF and a particular attention was dedicated to the study of the radiation damage induced into the SSD as well as on the experimental determination of the energy dependence of the device. The ability of the SSD to perform rapid and efficient QA tests prior MRT treatment has been evaluated: in-air measurements of 1D intensity profiles of the synchrotron beam used in MRT were performed in order to assess the alignment of the MSC. The SSD was able to detect small misalignments of the MSC which resulted in changes in the valley shape and on the peak and valley signals. The results obtained by the SSD for the MSC alignment were in agreement with the monitoring IC currently used for this purpose on ID17. An alignment procedure based on the pink-beam imaging modality available at the ESRF has also been developed in order to align the SSD with the MRT beam. The SSD has then been used at the ESRF under reference conditions in order to experimentally determine the PVDRs and scatter factors. For the first time, an active detector has been able to measure both valley and peak signals with the same accuracy leading to a direct determination of the PVDRs in agreement with published results obtained using Gafchromic® films and MC simulations. Finally, preliminary tests have been carried at the Imaging and Medical BeamLine (IMBL) at the Australian Synchrotron (AS) where the microbeam array have been acquired for the first time with an active detector.


The definitive best-practices guide to enterprise data-management strategy.You can no longer manage enterprise data "piecemeal." To maximize the business value of your data assets, you must define a coherent, enterprise-wide data strategy that reflects all the ways you capture, store, manage, and use information.In this book, three renowned data management experts walk you through creating the optimal data strategy for your organization. Using their proven techniques, you can reduce hardware and maintenance costs, and rein in out-of-control data spending. You can build new systems with less risk, higher quality, and improve data access. Best of all, you can learn how to integrate new applications that support your key business objectives.Drawing on real enterprise case studies and proven best practices, the author team covers everything from goal-setting through managing security and performance. You'll learn how to: Identify the real risks and bottlenecks you face in delivering data-and the right solutions Integrate enterprise data and improve its quality, so it can be used more widely and effectively Systematically secure enterprise data and protect customer privacy Model data more effectively and take full advantage of metadata Choose the DBMS and data storage products that fit best into your overall plan Smoothly accommodate new Business Intelligence (BI) and unstructured data applications Improve the performance of your enterprise database applications Revamp your organization to streamline day-to-day data management and reduce cost Data Strategy is indispensable for everyone who needs to manage enterprise data more efficiently-from database architects to DBAs, technical staff to senior IT decision-makers.© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.


Abstract We thank Warrick et al. (2014) for the Comment on our recent synthesis of 10Be-derived denudation rates (Willenbring et al., 2013), in which we suggested that gently sloping areas, representing ∼ 90% of the Earth's land surface, have sufficiently high rates of denudation to produce a majority of mass fluxes to the world's ocean. First, Warrick et al. take issue with labeling our global cosmogenic nuclide denudation fluxes "sediment" and with the inferred comparisons to other sediment yield apportionment studies. We apologize for instances of unclear wording related to the terms: sediment production, sediment to the oceans, and mass flux. Unlike sediment gauging data, cosmogenic nuclides measure total mass loss in surface environments averaged over millennial time scales, and they tend to not miss large landscape-changing events with low recurrence intervals (Kirchner et al., 2001). We aimed to quantify the spatial patterns of long-term, pre-anthropogenic mass fluxes from continents. We stated that previous sediment yield studies are not directly comparable, and this is correct because chemical weathering is included in total denudation, and there are differences in terms of averaging time scales and the effects of sediment storage.


This mapping presents a selected overview of existing research on gender, education and population flows in the Nordic peripheral areas. These areas are faced with a series of challenges that cannot be analyzed nor solved without taking a gender perspective into account. The challenges relate to, for instance, altered living conditions caused by global changes, stagnated or negative economic development, decrease in the amount of workplaces (particularly in the traditionally male-dominated professions) as well as, not least, migration and depopulation which is partly due to the fact that the young people of the area (especially the women) move to bigger cities to educate themselves. The challenges in question are not only significant in relation to the viability and cohesion of the areas, but also for the men and women who live there and their mutual social relations.


Racially polarized voting makes minorities more vulnerable to discriminatory changes in election laws and therefore implicates nearly every voting rights doctrine. In Thornburg v. Gingles, the Supreme Court held that racially polarized voting is a necessary—but not a sufficient—condition for a vote dilution claim under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Court, however, has recently questioned the propriety of recognizing the existence of racially polarized voting. This colorblind approach threatens not only the Gingles factors but also Section 2's constitutionality.

The Court treats racially polarized voting as a modern phenomenon. But the relevant starting point is the 1860s, not the 1960s. Prior to the Fifteenth Amendment's passage, Republicans received overwhelming support from newly enfranchised Black voters in the former Confederate States and expected that support to continue. The Reconstruction Framers were thus attentive to the realities of racially polarized voting and openly recognized that extending the franchise would empower Black voters to mobilize politically and protect their own interests. Racially polarized voting was a feature—not a bug—in the passage and ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment. Accordingly, this Article argues that the Court's treatment of racially polarized voting as a constitutional taboo is historically unfounded and doctrinally incoherent.

There are significant implications for acknowledging the role of racially polarized voting during Reconstruction. This historical insight moves vote dilution claims—and their predicate finding of racially polarized voting—far closer to the heart of the Reconstruction Amendments and challenges the Court's hostility to race-based redistricting. It is powerful evidence that Congress is well within its enforcement authority to remedy and deter dilutive measures that exploit racially polarized voting. Finally, reconstructing racially polarized voting helps reorient voting rights doctrine toward a Fifteenth Amendment framework.


Contemporary immigration in Western countries spurs intense debates about immigrant–host society relationships, asking questions about who and what it means to belong in such immigrant-receiving societies. In the Republic of Ireland, the debate about belonging in the wake of large-scale in-migration during the 'Celtic Tiger' years placed the onus on newcomers to shed their 'difference' and conform to Irish society's norms of 'sameness' if they were to belong. Return migrants, however, complicate the terms of social belonging, positioned as they are somewhere between 'newcomers' and 'natives'. Drawing on interviews with return migrants, I analyse returnees' conceptualizations of belonging upon homecoming. I show how return migrants' social positioning in the post-return context is complex, as they move between ascriptions of sameness and difference, at once blending with and challenging cultural norms set by the dominant group. This is important, suggesting that belonging in immigrant-receiving societies is not overdetermined by host society demands on immigrants to shed their difference and conform to dominant norms of sameness. Rather, even as they position themselves as the 'same' as the dominant group, my respondents also resist these norms, weaving moments of both sameness and difference in their everyday negotiations of belonging vis-à-vis the mainstream population.


ABSTRACT Organic-rich, shale-hosted septarian and nonseptarian calcite concretions, in the Middle Devonian (Givetian) Hamilton Group of central New York State, formed early in the shallow subsurface as indicated by detailed petrography, SEM, X-radiographic, lithologic, geochemical, and isotopic analyses. 13Ccarb values suggest that carbon was derived from microbial breakdown of organic matter in the sulfate reduction zone at subsurface depths of less than 10 m. However, strongly depleted 18O (-7 to -10 PDB) suggests much greater burial depths. The SUP>18O data appear to represent an altered isotopic signature, as indicated by their narrow, depleted range and petrographic evidence for recrystallization of concretion carbonate. Evidence of primary porosity in concretions during growth indicates that early stage diagenetic alteration occurred in an open-marine, phreatic environment that homogenized isotopic and geochemical signatures of metastable carbonate minerals. The association of septarian calcite and bitumen, along with the depleted 18O values, suggests that late-stage diagenesis was a result of migration of warm, basin-derived, connate waters through the open system. Preburial condensation of sediments in younger stratigraphic units within the Hamilton Group, possibly caused by increased winnowing, bioturbation, and erosional events during shallowing of the Hamilton sea, has generated stratigraphic variations in concretion lithology and shape. Within any given unit, however, variation in characteristics of concretions remains a primary function of their timing of growth versus burial compaction. Unlike Cenozoic carbonate concretions in organic-rich marine sediments that possess a dolomitic matrix, no dolomite concretions were discovered in the Hamilton Group. Preliminary data suggest that restriction of calcite as the host mineral for Early to Middle Paleozoic concretions may be controlled by elevated sulfate concentrations that inhibited dolomite precipitation and/or primary secular variations in carbonate mineralogy.


This paper emphasizes the importance of empirical research on dictionary users and, in particular, investigates the effect of the so-called "menu" (a list of definitions at the beginning of a polysemous article) on the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners' dictionary look-up processes. The menu has been increasingly popular in English learners' dictionaries in Japan, but no empirical evidence has ever shown that it is really effective for reference acts. Two groups of subjects with different levels of reference skills were observed looking up given information in two different types of mini-dictionaries, one with and the other without the menu. The results showed that the menu was not so effective for skilled users, but that it helped the less skilled users find the appropriate information.


A better understanding of the relationship between a state's agricultural sector and the national agricultural economy increases the ability of agricultural interest groups to anticipate and understand policy developments. This paper develops and documents a state-level model of the Iowa agricultural sector. The model is used to evaluate the future performance of the Iowa agricultural economy, given a specific set of assumptions about the general economy, agricultural policies, the weather, and technological change. When the model is used to analyze the implications of the Dunkel text on agriculture, the increase in Iowa net farm income is found to be proportionally higher than the increase in U.S. net farm income, because Iowa's agricultural economy is concentrated in commodities that benefit from the Dunkel text.


Objective: To examine some of the potential benefits and risks of water fluoridation for older adults. Methods: This study used 'The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing', to access a nationally representative sample of 4977 people aged 50 and older. The sample was used to estimate associations between the percentage of households in a respondent's local area with a currently fluoridated water supply and the probability of two binary outcomes: the respondent having all their own teeth and having normal bone density. Past exposure of individuals to fluoridated water was not assessed; the prevalence of fluoridated water in local supplies was obtained from the 2006 Census of Ireland. The Census data indicated that there was considerable variation in the proportion of households with fluoridated water supplies, especially in rural areas. Bone mineral density was estimated from a heel ultrasound of each respondent, and their number of teeth was self-reported. A range of individual variables, such as educational attainment, housing wealth, age and health behaviours, was controlled for. Results: It was found that the greater the percentage of households with a fluoridated water supply in an area, the higher the probability that respondents had all their own teeth. There was no significant relationship between the proportion of households with a fluoridated water supply in an area and bone health. Conclusion: This study suggests that water fluoridation provides a net health gain for older Irish adults, though the effects of fluoridation warrant further investigation. Vincent O0Sullivan1,2 and Brian C. O0 Connell The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK Dublin Dental University Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland


The quantity of litigation in the federal courts has reached unprecedented heights. While this 'crisis of volume' has attracted the attention of legislators and scholars, the judiciary has been left to divine self-help measures to reduce litigants' use of the federal courts. The federal bench that must manage this caseload explosion includes a cadre of recently appointed federal judges. Many of these judges embrace the New Federalism, an initiative to shift governmental power and responsibility back to the states. This article posits that the combination of judicial overload and injudicious federalism is operating to shunt certain classes of litigants away from federal courts. New procedural and substantive theories are being created to restrict federal jurisdiction. Federal courts are increasingly using the doctrines of preclusion, preemption, abstention and remand to shuttle cases or decision-making authority back to state courts. Complementing this procedural routing of cases is an expansion of summary procedures and a dramatic reduction in the scope of substantive constitutional rights. This article questions the propriety of the judiciary's use of administrability concerns in the formulation of jurisdictional theories. While court efficiency appears to be a deserving goal, the current method of its implementation is through a reduction of court access to particular classes of litigants. The article analyzes the concept of administrability and posits that administrative efficiency is actually a value-laden argument for selecting which litigants should be permitted access to federal courts. This article also critically examines whether the adjustment of jurisdictional theories by the judiciary is either an effective docket-clearing mechanism or a desirable institutional practice. Analysis of the assumptions underlying jurisdictional manipulation and the implications of judicial molding of Article III jurisdiction raises serious separation of powers and fairness concerns regarding the quest for administrative efficiency. Finally, the article offers a new, access-expansive approach to jurisdiction. The proposed ratchet theory of jurisdiction creates a guiding principle of jurisdictional analysis. If the Constitution operates substantively like a one-way wrench - rights may be expanded but not contracted - a jurisdictional analog is imperative. Federal courts should adopt jurisdictional rules that offer the greatest chance of merits determinations.


Abstract Diabetes is a risk factor for heart failure and cardiovascular mortality with specific changes to myocardial metabolism, energetics, structure, and function. The gradual impairment of insulin production and signalling in diabetes is associated with elevated plasma fatty acids and increased myocardial free fatty acid uptake and activation of the transcription factor PPARα. The increased free fatty acid uptake results in accumulation of toxic metabolites, such as ceramide and diacylglycerol, activation of protein kinase C, and elevation of uncoupling protein-3. Insulin signalling and glucose uptake/oxidation become further impaired, and mitochondrial function and ATP production become compromised. Increased oxidative stress also impairs mitochondrial function and disrupts metabolic pathways. The diabetic heart relies on free fatty acids (FFA) as the major substrate for oxidative phosphorylation and is unable to increase glucose oxidation during ischaemia or hypoxia, thereby increasing myocardial injury, especially in ageing female diabetic animals. Pharmacological activation of PPARγ in adipose tissue may lower plasma FFA and improve recovery from myocardial ischaemic injury in diabetes. Not only is the diabetic heart energetically-impaired, it also has early diastolic dysfunction and concentric remodelling. The contractile function of the diabetic myocardium negatively correlates with epicardial adipose tissue, which secretes proinflammatory cytokines, resulting in interstitial fibrosis. Novel pharmacological strategies targeting oxidative stress seem promising in preventing progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy, although clinical evidence is lacking. Metabolic agents that lower plasma FFA or glucose, including PPARγ agonism and SGLT2 inhibition, may therefore be promising options.


Creating Total Value Engineering Through Combining Design for Manufacturing and Design for Six Sigma Constructs David Ryan Christensen School of Technology, BYU Master of Science The modern manufacturing world has been driven to compete in a more international and interconnected system. This has led to increased focus upon frameworks and architectures to guarantee quality, high market acceptance, and reduce cost. Modern manufacturing design processes evolved largely from Henry Ford at Ford Motor Company, and Alfred Sloan at General Motors. Their structures embody two different focuses on quality and value engineering which have influenced many recent design frameworks. In the 1970s a heavy emphasis was placed upon Design for Manufacturing, which uses group technology, commonality of processes, and continual focus to reduce part count. Some companies have desired a design process that better accounts for new market needs and Voice of the Customer changes, allowing them to break out of the old processes by using a new framework called Design for Six Sigma. Contextual and survey analysis contrasting DFSS and DFM showed these systems have different definitions of what creates value; which causes a different focus on how to improve value. As the market frequently errs at knowing when to apply DFM or DFSS, using a simple case study of a product with high part and assembly cost, teams were challenged to create a better flashlight using both DFM for part reduction, and DFSS for function improvement. The aim was to increase value. Value has been defined by the formula: value = (performance + capability) / cost or as value = function/cost. Results from the case study combining DFM and DFSS constructs demonstrate a total value engineering construct. It was also shown that DFM indicated effectiveness for a slow-changing market with cost reduction focus, and DFSS demonstrated effectiveness for analyzing continually changing market needs. Disruptive innovations can replace a formerly lull market, for which DFM can be completely unprepared; while DFSS is not effective in slow product-change markets. Incorporating the best of DFSS and DFM creates a Total Value Engineering framework.


Cancer immunotherapy is an emerging treatment strategy that modulates the immune system to fight against cancer. Although several immunotherapeutic agents have been utilized in the clinic for cancer treatment, low patient response rates and potential immune-related adverse events remain two major challenges. With the merits of delivery controllability and modular flexibility, nanomedicines provide opportunities to facilitate immunotherapies for clinical translation in a safe and effective manner. In this review, we discuss the convergence of nanomedicine with immunotherapy with a focus on molecular and nanoengineering approaches towards activatable cancer immunotherapy. These activatable nanoagents exert immunotherapeutic action only in response to internal or external stimuli. This allows them to locally reprogram the tumor microenvironment and activate antitumor immunity while reducing the incidence of immune-related adverse events. The category of activatable immunotherapeutic nanoagents are discussed along with an overview of their clinical translation prospects and challenges.


Post-fire vegetation response is influenced by the interaction of natural and anthropogenic factors such as topography, climate, vegetation type and restoration practices. Previous research has analyzed the relationship of some of these factors to vegetation response, but few have taken into account the effects of pre-fire restoration practices. We selected three wildfires that occurred in Bandelier National Monument (New Mexico, USA) between 1999 and 2007 and three adjacent unburned control areas. We used interannual trends in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series data derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to assess vegetation response, which we define as the average potential photosynthetic activity through the summer monsoon. Topography, fire severity and restoration treatment were obtained and used to explain post-fire vegetation response. We applied parametric (Multiple Linear Regressions-MLR) and non-parametric tests (Classification and Regression Trees-CART) to analyze effects of fire severity, terrain and pre-fire restoration treatments (variable used in CART) on post-fire vegetation response. MLR results showed strong relationships between vegetation response and environmental factors (p < 0.1), however the explanatory factors changed among treatments. CART results showed that beside fire severity and topography, pre-fire treatments strongly impact post-fire vegetation response. Results for these three fires show that pre-fire restoration conditions along with local environmental factors constitute key processes that modify post-fire vegetation response.


One of many evolved functions of biological cell membranes is to induce and regulate self-assembly of photoactive molecules into efficient light harvesting nanomaterials. Synthetic molecular assemblies at soft interfaces exhibit macroscale long-range order and so provide routes to biomimetic analogues that minimise concentration quenching. Here, we report the facile assembly of free-standing layered crystalline films of zinc(II) meso-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin nanostructures that exhibit significant photocurrents in situ at an electrified liquid | liquid interface. This methodology does not require acidic conditions, specialised amphiphilic porphyrins, or the use of additives or external stimuli. The assembly process is driven by an interplay between the hydrophobicity gradient at an immiscible aqueous | organic interface and optimised hydrogen bonding in the formed nanostructure. Highly-ordered interfacial nanostructures may provide a new paradigm for realisation of light-harvesting antennae in artificial photosynthetic technologies.


Abstract Female wood ducks (Aix sponsa) feed primarily on plant foods in the prelaying period and switch to a diet of mostly invertebrates during egg production. If nutrient acquisition is habitat-specific, then selection and use of habitats may differ between these reproductive stages. A better understanding of these processes is needed to assist future habitat conservation and management efforts. In January–May 1999 and 2000, we monitored movements and habitat use of radiomarked females (n = 47) during the prelaying and egg-production periods of first nests. Home-range size averaged 367 ha and did not vary with reproductive period, year, or female age. Habitat use did not differ between periods of prelaying and egg production; consequently, data were combined. Habitat use varied between years, female age, and periods of nest initiation (i.e., early vs. late). Use of beaver ponds (BP), temporary wetlands (TW), managed impoundments (MI), and lake habitats (LK) declined in 2000 compared to 1999, possibly due to reduced precipitation. Nest initiation date was independent of female age. Adult females used BP more than yearlings, and early-nesting females used BP and MI more than late-nesting females. Females selected habitats nonrandomly when habitat composition of the study area was compared to that of home ranges (second-order selection). Lake-influenced wetlands (LI) and MI were ranked highest in preference. Home-range size was inversely related to percentage of the home range comprised of MI and LI, supporting the idea that MI and LI were high-quality habitats. However, we found no relationship between nest initiation date (an important index to reproductive performance) and the combined area of MI and LI in home ranges. Habitat selection did not differ from random when habitat composition of home ranges was compared to that of radio locations (third-order selection). Although MI and LI were preferred, high-quality habitats, our results suggest that breeding female wood ducks can satisfy requirements for egg production using a variety of wetland habitats. We suggest that providing a diversity of habitat types will increase the probability of meeting needs of breeding females throughout the breeding season, especially in areas where wetland conditions frequently change.


We report the rediscovery of the Pied Butterfly Bat, Glauconycteris superba Hayman, 1939, 40 years after this species was last recorded. The new specimen from Mbiye Island, Democratic Republic of the Congo, is compared with the type specimens of G. s. superba and G. superba sheila Hayman, 1947 and a specimen from Matonguine, Ivory Coast. The variation in the striking colouration of the pelage as well as in morphometric data is considered to be individual rather than geographic variation and we tentatively regard G. s. sheila as a synonym of the nominate form. Despite the wide distribution of this species in the tropical forest zone of West and Central Africa, only four specimens from four localities are known to date, which might indicate very specific habitat preferences. Contemporary land cover information around historic collection sites shows degraded landscapes. Given the highly uncertain area of occupancy of this species, we suggest changing the status of G. superba in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species from "Least Concern" to "Data Deficient".


Screening (secondary prevention) is one of the four pillars of cancer control, the others being prevention (primary prevention), treatment and palliative care. For many, screening is an attractive option; finding a cancer (or preferably a cancer precursor) early carries the promise of reduced mortality and simpler treatment. If finding precursors is the objective of screening, reduced cancer incidence should follow. This has led to people referring to such screening as cancer prevention, by which they mean prevention of progression to invasive cancer.

Unfortunately, for screening to be effective in a population, large numbers of healthy people have to be tested; many of them will be found to have abnormalities, most not cancers or their precursors; and substantial costs will be incurred. All this would be worthwhile if cancer mortality and morbidity are thus reduced. But, as Raffle & Gray point out, such an outcome is not inevitable, even if cancers are found. There are various reasons for this. First, the cancers may have been curable had they been allowed to progress and present normally. Second, death may occur despite screening. Third, and perhaps even worse, had screening not been carried out, the cancers might never have presented clinically in the individuals' lifetime – a situation that applies to a certain extent to all cancers for which there are screening programmes, and which is termed overdiagnosis. Overdiagnosis differs from lead time, which is simply bringing forward the time of diagnosis for a cancer that was destined to present clinically, and has been observed whenever screening has been carried out. This causes the "popularity paradox", which Raffle & Gray put as follows: "The greater the harm through overdiagnosis and overtreatment from screening, the more people there are who believe they owe their health, or even their life, to the programme." This is particularly the case for prostate cancer, since there is no unequivocal evidence from randomized screening trials that prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening reduces prostate cancer mortality; however, many men whose cancers have been detected by such screening, together with their relatives and urologists, believe that their lives have been saved by PSA screening. Such individuals tend to be members of groups that advocate for PSA screening, and those who point out the lack of evidence, including Raffle & Gray and myself, find themselves at the receiving end of great hostility. This conflict between the sceptics, on the one hand, and the enthusiasts (patients whose cancers are detected by screening), the advocacy groups they belong to, and the many clinicians who do not understand screening, on the other hand, is not resolved in this book, and may in fact be irresolvable, but it is important that it be recognized. To read this book is to be reminded again and again that, sadly, the concept of requiring an evidence-base for screening runs counter to the beliefs of the public in many countries, nearly all politicians, and many health professionals.

Raffle & Gray devote much of the book to the need to organize screening. They emphasize the system performance aspects and give good coverage of all the consequences of screening, the harms as well as benefits. However, it is important to note that many of their comments apply to the situation in the United Kingdom, which may limit the usefulness of the book in other settings, particularly for readers in developing countries who want more guidance on establishing or revising screening programmes than they can obtain from WHO publications. Thus, some reservations are needed in recommending the book in its entirety, especially to developing country programme managers.

Nevertheless, this is a book that clinicians, public health officers and others who are introducing a screening programme should read, even though their own circumstances may differ from those described in this book, since they need to understand the many common pitfalls that confront programme managers no matter what the setting. Those who want to learn about screening at the basic level should probably start with a standard epidemiology textbook before progressing to this book and use it to test their understanding using the examples provided at the end of each chapter.

Raffle & Gray have years of experience at the regional and national levels in trying to solve the problems they describe. Their solutions may not work everywhere, but they give us pause for thought, and if we recognize the dilemmas they have faced, and difficulties they have solved, we will be much closer to achieving the cost-effective approach to screening that they advocate, and we should desire. ■


In an era of globalization, devolution, decentralization, the "New Governance," advanced information and communications technology, and the growing complexity of public problems, public-private partnerships have become an increasingly popular vehicle for delivering services and generating solutions to our most pressing societal problems. Others have already discussed the growing use of partnership arrangements and looked at the benefits that derive from these arrangements. Here we are interested in something else – an elaboration of the specific skill sets managers need to excel in this increasingly decentralized, collaborative, and "networked" environment. Based on in-depth interviews with over two dozen educational partnership directors, we elaborate the nine key management skills, values, and attitudes that are essential for success in managing partnership arrangements.


This paper reports on the use of police reported crash data from Great Britain, and Germany to estimate injury risk and injury severity measures for European vehicles. The relationship between these measures and EuroNCAP test results is evaluated for vehicles tested under the EuroNCAP test program. Additional analysis focuses on front impact and side impact police reported crashes and evaluates the relationship between EuroNCAP test results and injury outcome in police reported crashes for each of these crash types in Great Britain. Results using the combined German and UK real world crash data point to improving average vehicle crashworthiness with increasing EuroNCAP star rating. Analysis of the component measures of the crashworthiness metric shows this result stems from an association between average injury severity and overall EuroNCAP star rating and not the injury risk component of the crashworthiness measure. Comparison of average crashworthiness ratings based on frontal impact crashes within EuroNCAP offset frontal impact star rating categories showed no trends whilst a strong association between average crashworthiness in side impact crashes and the side impact EuroNCAP score was observed. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E215375.