The variation of ice crystal properties in the tops of deep convective clouds off the north coast of Australia is analyzed. Cloud optical thickness, ice effective radius, aspect ratio of ice crystal components, crystal distortion parameter and asymmetry parameter are simultaneously retrieved from combined measurements of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER) satellite instruments. The data are divided into periods with alternating weak and strong convection. Mostly plate‐like particle components with aspect ratios closer to unity and lower asymmetry parameters characterize strongly convective periods, while weakly convective periods generally show lower aspect ratios, relatively more column‐like shapes and somewhat greater asymmetry parameters. Results for strongly convective periods show that, with increasing cloud top temperature, the distortion parameter generally decreases, while the asymmetry parameter and effective radius increase. For one of the strongly convective periods, the rate at which effective radii increase with cloud top temperature is more than double that of the other periods, while the temperature dependence of the other microphysical quantities for this period is substantially weaker. Atmospheric state analysis indicates that these differences are concurrent with differences in middle‐to‐upper tropospheric zonal wind shear. The observed variation of microphysical properties may have significant effects on the shortwave radiative fluxes and cloud absorption associated with deep convection. Additionally, MODIS collection 5 effective radii are estimated to be biased small with an artificially narrow range. Collection 6 products are expected to have less severe biases that depend on cloud top temperature and atmospheric conditions.


Maintaining the safety of hospitalized patients is a top priority in healthcare. Evidence has demonstrated that most patient injuries associated with falls are preventable. Despite major, sustained national initiatives related to fall prevention, fall rates continue to be problematic in acute care settings. Patient sitters are often used to observe/and or assist those that are identified as at a high risk for falls; however evidence to support the effectiveness of this intervention in reducing fall risk is lacing. A committee charged with revising the sitter policy in an acute care facility discovered inconsistencies by nurses when assessing this patient population. A literature review revealed common contributing factors to a change in cognition and delirium, both having strong relationship to patient falls. A Patient Sitter Assessment tool was developed and pilot tested on a 27 bed medical surgical telemetry unit. The purpose of this process improvement project was to determine the ease of use, utility, and staff satisfaction of the tool. Evaluation from 12 staff nurses who participated were favorable. Overall, nurses indicated satisfaction with the tool, and provided feedback that more education on delirium and contributing factors that impact cognition was needed. It is expected that use of the tool will result in earlier detection and treatment of change in cognitive status and improved sitter use. Implications and recommendations are presented and discussed. EVALUATION OF THE PATIENT SITTER


The studies and research show that in almost all countries of the world, violent crimes are on the rise. Against this background, the criminal prosecution authorities - the police and the prosecutor's office, as institutions of the rule of law, improve investigative procedures, using the scientific means and methods necessary to prove guilty and to prosecute the perpetrators. Human-environment interaction gives rise to the most different traces that can be useful in determining the time or succession of occurrence events, as well as determining human behavior in this process. Any human activity deployed in time and space, through physical movements, leaves in that place different changes from the previous situation, which is preserved for an appreciable period of time. Depending on all the elements presented, you can reconstitute the dynamic picture of the deed. The traces come to occupy the central place in science of forensics, so that at present no one can imagine a crime committed by physical movements of the person, without the proper traces being made at the place where it was committed.


The tunneling splitting of the energy levels of a ferromagnetic particle in the presence of an applied magnetic field - previously derived only for the ground state with the path integral method - is obtained in a simple way from Schr"odinger theory. The origin of the factors entering the result is clearly understood, in particular the effect of the asymmetry of the barriers of the potential. The method should appeal particularly to experimentalists searching for evidence of macroscopic spin tunneling.


Geographical research on education has grown rapidly in both volume and scope during the first decade of the twenty-first century, and one relatively new theme to emerge from this growing literature is that of education and aspiration. Much of the nascent interest in aspiration concerns access to quality schooling and University education. In this paper by contrast we highlight the importance of studying the ways aspirations are (re)produced within the school community. Our empirical focus is on low-income England under New Labour. Here we pursue a two-fold approach: firstly examining how education professionals define parental aspirations for primary-aged children as low; before secondly considering their alternative understandings of appropriate aspirations and the practices through which they seek to promote these, both in school and through the use of Extended Services for parents and children. In conclusion we highlight the importance of inward and outward geographies of education which 'recouple' schools with their social context, and discuss the moral and political ambiguities involved in practices designed to raise aspirations.


From the constructivist paradigm, knowing misconceptions of students regarding a particular concept is deemed vital in designing effective instruction. Ausubel (1968) commented that 'The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows; ascertain this and
teach him accordingly'. The symbiosis between science and mathematics is a profound one. Science views mathematics as a significant branch. Science likes to refer mathematics as the Queen, as mathematics nurtures the growth of science especially in the areas such as scientific prediction and manipulation. On the other hand, many concepts of mathematics are invented for the purpose of science such Proportion and Calculus to name a few. Two major ideas in
Proportion are the Direct and the Inverse. A good grasp of these mathematical ideas is paramount for students in understanding the fundamental nature of science in its quantitative form. This paper offers a comprehensive description of seven hundred and fifty nine science based students (385 female and 374 male) from a local university in their developmental understanding of this mathematical idea of Inverse Proportion from the six domains i.e., Definition of Inverse Proportion, Graphical Representation of Inverse Proportion, Mathematical Representation of Inverse Proportion, Data Characteristic of Inverse Proportion, Relational Understanding of Inverse Proportion, and Problem Solving in Inverse Proportion. It discusses these six domains from two perspectives i.e., Academic Ability and Gender. The paper is based on a study by Beh et al (2008) anchoring on Constructivism. Among the major
findings are: Students irrespective of high or low academic ability generally performed poorly in domains requiring conceptual understanding but showed relatively higher competency for the domain requiring procedural skills.
Students of higher level academic ability demonstrate a significant in dept understanding of Inverse Proportion than students of lower level of academic ability; and Male students overall understanding of Inverse is significantly
higher than their female counterparts at the 5% level. Since the study is based on Constructivism, it also highlights students' alternative frameworks. Implications for teaching and learning will be discussed.


UNSTRUCTURED
 Engaging children in physical activity is a pertinent research area. The health benefits of physical activity are well known, however it is consistently reported that many children are failing to accumulate the recommended hours. The media may have a role to play in physical activity promotion, however this is a relatively under explored area. This research aims to explore one potential use of the media by investigating children's preferences for characters, specifically Disney characters, which are present in the media that they are frequently exposed to. Focus groups were conducted, with 27 children (20 girls, 7 boys) aged between seven and ten. In the focus groups children were asked to draw their favourite Disney character and then discuss in the group the reasoning behind the chosen characters. The results were discussed in relation to two areas of research, entertainment education and gamification and how all of this can be incorporated into a physical activity setting. The main findings from the study suggest that if you can create an immersive environment, by incorporating elements such as characters/preferred characteristics of a character which have been identified by this research, you may be able to promote physical activity to children.


Indias COVID-19 lockdown is widely believed to have disrupted critical health services, but its effect on non-COVID health outcomes is largely unknown. Comparing mortality trends among dialysis patients in the eight months around the lockdown with the previous year, we document a 64% increase in mortality between March and May 2020 and an estimated 22-25% total excess mortality through July 2020. The mortality increase is greater among females and disadvantaged groups. Barriers to transportation and disruptions in hospital services appear to be the main drivers of increased morbidity and mortality. The results highlight the unintended consequences of the lockdown on critical and life-saving non-COVID health services that must be taken into account in the implementation of future policy efforts to control the spread of pandemics.


A Review of:
Ke, I., Gao, W., & Bronicki, J. (2017). Does title-by-title selection make a difference? A usage title analysis on print monograph purchasing. Collection Management, 42(1), 34-47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01462679.2016.1249040

Abstract

Objective – To compare usage of print monographs acquired through firm order to those acquired through approval plans.

Design – Quantitative study.

Setting – A public research university serving an annual enrollment of over 43,500 students and employing more than 2,600 faculty members in the South Central United States.

Subjects – Circulation and call number data from 21,356 print books acquired through approval plans, and 23,920 print books acquired through firm orders.

Methods – Item records for print materials purchased between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2014 were extracted from the catalog and separated by acquisitions strategy into firm order and approval plan lists. Items without call numbers and materials that had been placed on course reserves were removed from the lists. The authors examined accumulated circulation counts and conducted trend analyses to examine year-to-year usage. The authors also measured circulation performance in each Library of Congress call number class; they grouped these classes into science, social science, and humanities titles.

Main Results – The authors found that 31% of approval plan books and 39% of firm order books had circulated at least once. The firm order books that had circulated were used an average of 1.87 times, compared to approval plan books which were used an average of 1.47 times. The year-to-year analysis showed that the initial circulation rate for approval plan books decreased from 42% in 2011 to 14% in 2014, and from 46% to 24% for firm order books. Subject area analysis showed that medicine and military science had the highest circulation rates at over 45%, and that agriculture and bibliography titles had the lowest circulation rates. Subject area groups showed the same pattern, with books in the social sciences and sciences experiencing more significant circulation benefits to firm order purchasing.

Conclusion – Monographs acquired through firm orders circulated at a slightly higher rate than those acquired through approval plans.


Due to the limitation of most statistical forecasting models ignoring contextual information, judgmental adjustment is a widespread practice in business. However, judgmental adjustment still suffers with many kinds of biases and inconsistency inherent in subjective judgment. Our approach uses an adjustment mechanism concerning only with critical cue factors evaluated with genetic algorithm to alleviate problems caused by collinearity and insignificant sporadic variables usually arising in least square type estimators, and to derive more realistic parameter estimation. In case there are anticipated variations in the forecasting horizon and can't be handled by the model alone, this adjusting mechanism, formulated in a set of equations, can be used to assess mixed effect of cue factors consistently and effectively without subjective judgment involved. Empirical results reveal that this adjustment mechanism could significantly reduce MAPE of forecasts across seasons with improvement mainly coming from large size adjustments.


Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is common and has been associated with increased HIV-1 susceptibility. The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for BV in African women at high risk for acquiring HIV-1. Methods: We conducted a prospective study among 151 HIV-1-seronegative Kenyan female sex workers. Nonpregnant women were eligible if they did not have symptoms of abnormal vaginal itching or discharge at the time of enrollment. At monthly follow-up, a vaginal examination and laboratory testing for genital tract infections were performed. Multivariate Andersen-Gill proportional hazards analysis was used to identify correlates of BV. Results: Participants completed a median of 378 (interquartile range 350–412) days of follow-up. Compared with women reporting no vaginal washing, those who reported vaginal washing 1 to 14 [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.88–1.89], 15 to 28 (aHR 1.60, 95% CI 0.98–2.61), and >28 times/wk (aHR 2.39, 95% CI 1.35–4.23) were at increased risk of BV. Higher BV incidence was also associated with the use of cloth for intravaginal cleansing (aHR 1.48, 95% CI 1.06–2.08) and with recent unprotected intercourse (aHR 1.75, 95% CI 1.47–2.08). Women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate contraception were at lower risk for BV (aHR 0.59, 95% CI 0.48–0.73). Conclusions: Vaginal washing and unprotected intercourse were associated with increased risk of BV. These findings could help to inform the development of novel vaginal health approaches for HIV-1 risk reduction in women.


Environmental mycobacteria are a common cause of human infections. Recently, contaminated domestic water supplies have been suggested as a potential environmental source of several mycobacterial diseases. Since many of these mycobacterial species replicate best intracellularly, environmental hosts have been sought. In the present study, we examined the interaction of Mycobacterium avium with a potential protozoan host, the water-borne amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii. We found that M. avium enters and replicates in A. castellanii. In addition, similar to that shown for mycobacteria within macrophages, M. avium inhibits lysosomal fusion and replicates in vacuoles that are tightly juxtaposed to the bacterial surfaces within amoebae. In order to determine whether growth of M. avium in amoebae plays a role in human infections, we tested the effects of this growth condition on virulence. We found that growth of M. avium in amoebae enhances both entry and intracellular replication compared to growth of bacteria in broth. Furthermore, amoeba-grown M. avium was also more virulent in the beige mouse model of infection. These data suggest a role for protozoa present in water environments as hosts for pathogenic mycobacteria, particularly M. avium.


Abstract This article aims to trace the presence of Jews on Bulgarian territory since ancient times without subscribing to preconceived theses. Naturally, the issue of Jewish migration cannot be discussed without due consideration for the relations with the respective states and their peoples: Byzantium, the mediaeval Bulgarian empires, the Ottoman Empire, the post-Liberation Kingdom of Bulgaria and contemporary Bulgaria. It focuses on the historical periods which have had a direct bearing on the present state of the small Jewish community in Bulgaria today. This community has several distinctive features that are immediately obvious. In Bulgaria there are no adherents of various Israelite religious sects, even though the false messiah Sabbatai Zwi, whose followers ultimately adopted Islam, lived on Bulgarian territory. A Chabad rabbi from the US recently went to Bulgaria, but Chasidism has never had followers in Bulgaria. Despite the very high level of integration of Jews into Bulgarian society and the comparatively strong goodwill and tolerance of Bulgarians for Jews, Zionism became popular very early on and has undoubtedly been one of the factors for the emigration of around 90% of the Jews to Israel; the contemporary Jewish community in Bulgaria is increasingly bonding with the State of Israel and departing from the traditions brought from Spain.


ABSTRACT Austerity states, institutional dismantling and the governance of sub-national economic development: the demise of the regional development agencies in England. Territory, Politics, Governance. Contributing to interpretations of the governance geographies of austerity, the paper explains how, why and in what forms austerity states are constructed by actors in particular political-economic contexts and geographical and temporal settings, how and by whom they are articulated and pursued, and how they are worked through public policy and institutional and territorial architectures. Empirically, the focus is explaining the UK Government and its abolition and closure of the regional development agencies in England. First, a more qualitative and plural conception of austerity states is developed to question singular and/or monolithic notions of state types and their transitions, and to better reflect the particularities of how state projects are configured and unfolded by actors within political-economic variegations of capitalism. Second, a more geographically sensitive approach and appreciation of (re)scaling are detailed to incorporate and extend beyond the predominantly national frame and decentralizing narratives deployed in current accounts. Last, a historically literate interpretation of institutional dismantling is advanced better to explain the politics and restructuring of institutional landscapes by actors within austerity states.


This paper introduces a realization of finite-length impulse response (FIR) filters with simultaneously variable bandwidth and fractional delay (FD). The realization makes use of impulse responses which are two-dimensional polynomials in the bandwidth and FD parameters. Unlike previous polynomial-based realizations, it utilizes the fact that a variable FD filter is typically much less complex than a variable-bandwidth filter. By separating the corresponding subfilters in the overall realization, significant savings are thereby achieved. A design example, included in the paper, shows about 65 percent multiplication and addition savings compared to the previous polynomial-based realizations. Moreover, compared to a recently introduced alternative fast filter bank approach, the proposed method offers significantly smaller group delays and group delay errors.


Observations of stellar surfaces - except for the Sun - are hampered by their tiny angular extent, while observed spectral lines are smeared by averaging over the stellar surface, and by stellar rotation. Exoplanet transits can be used to analyze stellar atmospheric structure, yielding high-resolution spectra across spatially highly resolved stellar surfaces, free from effects of spatial smearing and the rotational wavelength broadening present in full-disk spectra. During a transit, stellar surface portions successively become hidden, and differential spectroscopy between various transit phases provides spectra of those surface segments then hidden behind the planet. The small area subtended by even a large planet (about 1% of a main-sequence star) offers high spatial resolution but demands very precise observations. We demonstrate the reconstruction of photospheric FeI line profiles at a spectral resolution R=80,000 across the surface of the solar-type star HD209458. Any detailed understanding of stellar atmospheres requires modeling with 3-dimensional hydrodynamics. The properties predicted by such models are mapped onto the precise spectral-line shapes, asymmetries and wavelength shifts, and their variation from the center to the limb across any stellar disk. This method provides a tool for testing and verifying such models. The method will soon become applicable to more diverse types of stars, thanks to new spectrometers on very large telescopes, and since ongoing photometric searches are expected to discover additional bright host stars of transiting exoplanets.


Experience with food additive petitions submited after publication of the Food and Drug Administration's Redbook I (U. S. FDA, 1982) guide lines indicated a number of areas in which improvements were needed, and advances in toxicol-ogy testing during the last decade required additional rev is ions. In March 1993, the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) distributed copies of a draft of Redbook II for public comment. Since that time, revisions have been made based on comments received on the initial draft. This article describes the rationale for Redbook II guidance on the design of pharm acoki-netic studies and discusses some common problems the FDA has encountered in reviewing pharmacokine tic data submitted as part of food additive petitions. Points emphasized are that (1) pharmaco kinetic information is needed for the interpretation of toxicity studies and is most use ful when conducted before major toxicity studies, (2) the use of whole-body autoradiography is encouraged as a means to select tissues of interest, and as a substitute for dissection and tis-sue sampling, (3) kinetic and mechanistic studies conducted with blood compo-nents, tissue slices, hepatocytes, and othercell types in vitro ofien provide more useful information on the fate of chemicals in specific tissues than information extracted from whole-animal studies. The intention of th e new guide lines for pharmaco kinetic studies is to increase the information content of data gathered and to encourage the use of pharmaco kinetic models and results in the selection of doses for subchronic, chronic, and developmental toxicity studies.


We consider the problem of approximate inference in the context of Bayesian decision theory. Traditional approaches focus on approximating general properties of the posterior, ignoring the decision task { and associated losses { for which the posterior could be used. We argue that this can be suboptimal and propose instead to loss-calibrate the approximate inference methods with respect to the decision task at hand. We present a general framework rooted in Bayesian decision theory to analyze approximate inference from the perspective of losses, opening up several research directions. As a rst loss-calibrated approximate inference attempt, we propose an EM-like algorithm on the Bayesian posterior risk and show how it can improve a standard approach to Gaussian process classication when losses are asymmetric.


Tom Walsh had a lot to learn about life. He liked travelling, and he was in no hurry. He liked meeting people, anyone and everyone. He liked the two American girls on the train. They were nice and very friendly. They knew a lot of places. Tom thought they were fun. Tom certainly had a lot to learn about life. This is a collection of short stories about adventures on trains. Strange, wonderful, and frightening things can happen on trains - and all of them happen here.


Crystalline NiO and doped with rare earth lutetium oxide (Lu 2 O 3 ) at (6%wt)., have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), The Q-switched Nd:YAG laser beam was incident at an angle of 45° on the target surface, and the energy of the laser was 500 mJ, wavelengths of 532nm , and frequency 6Hz. XRD pattern shows all doped and undoped films are polycrystalline , and cubic structure. The 200nm thin NiO showed an average optical energy band gap of 3.4eV, and increase with doping at 6% Lu 2 O 3 . The Hall Effect measurements confirmed that holes were predominant charges in the conduction process (i.e p-type). D.C conductivity measurements with temp-erature (T), show that the films prepared have the two activation energy increase with doping of Lu 2 O 3 . Capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements were performed for films prepared, where the built in voltage has been determined and decreases in value when doping with the rare earth. In this study we assumed an energy band diagram for p-NiO /n-Si heterojunction.


Background In 2009 the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended the inclusion of routine human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines in national immunisation programmes to reduce the global burden of cervical cancer. The aim of this review was to critically appraise the evidence of efficacy of HPV vaccines in the studies used by the WHO in support of its recommendation. Methods The efficacy-publications were retrieved from the WHO Immunisation, Vaccines and Biologicals webpage and each publication was appraised against the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) framework and compared with WHO Strategic Group of Experts' GRADE-evaluation of evidence with special focus on outcome measures, length of follow-up and general applicability of the results. Results The WHO based its decision on three phase III trials and two phase II trials. The age range of enrolled females (15–26 years) was not compatible with the recommended vaccine age (9–13 years). All five studies used surrogate endpoints, namely cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) stadia I, II and III and Adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS). The direct effect of HPV vaccines on the natural history of cervical cancer was not assessed. Gardasil's® efficacy for the prevention of cervical lesions associated with all known HPV types was very low and not statistically significant for CIN 3 and AIS. Gardasil® and Cervarix® proved efficacious only when all endpoints were grouped and when a subgroup analysis was undertaken of HPV 16 and or 18 naïve women. Individual endpoints were measured in two trials only and the number of cases was small and confidence intervals were wide. Grouping endpoints is problematic because of different rates of progression and regression especially for CIN 1, which is also the most prevalent cervical lesion. The percentage of cervical lesions associated with HPV types 16 and or 18 was lower than the 70% reported in medical literature. Maximum follow up was 6.4 years with only two trials examining participants for more than 4 years. General applicability of results is not clear due to lack of data on recruitment and composition of country samples. Conclusion WHO's recommendation to include routine HPV vaccination in national immunisation programmes is based on weak evidence namely surrogate outcome measures, which are very likely to regress spontaneously. Data on long-term efficacy are lacking.


© 2019 Journal of Clinical Neonatology | Published by Wolters Kluwer Medknow Objectives: Benefits of mother's only milk (MOM) for preterm infants are numerous. We realized that usage of MOM in our unit is less and often delayed for days. The proportion of MOM usage as the first feed after birth of total feed, was only 19%. In view of this existing evidence and identified problem, we decided to start quality improvement (QI) initiative in our unit with the primary objective "To encourage the use of MOM as first feed in preterm (PT) and very low birth weight (VLBW) neonate from existing 19% to >50% over a period of 3 month." Materials and Methods: This QI study involved the systematic implementation of evidence‐based practices using Point of Care QI methodology developed by the WHO‐SEARO. Results: After several Plan, Do, Study, Act, during the intervention phase, usage of MOM increases from baseline 19% to 91.3%. Postintervention, sustained usage of MOM after 6 months is at close to 80%. Conclusions: Effective implementation of comprehensive communication bundles (CCB) is feasible in resource‐constraint setting and resulted in sustained increase in the usage of MOM in PT and VLBW neonates.


SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione: Il problema dell'estrema ingiustizia ne La Trilogia del ritorno – 2. La deferenza al diritto nella prospettiva di Uhlman – 3. Tortura: brevi riflessioni a partire dalle pagine de La trilogia.Law and extreme injustice. A reflection starting from Fred Uhlman's pagesABSTRACT: This article adopts the perspective of the "Law and Literature" studies in order to focus on the terrible experience of the Holocaust that wracked Europe during the first half of the twentieth century. The theoretical and legal analysis is developed starting from the pages written by Fred Uhlman. Literature can help to move on to an in-depth debate that – from the issue of the violation of human rights – is to be carried out into the relationship between law and morality. The extreme injustice, the banality of evil and the radicalism of fascist ideologies represent the main themes this article starts from.


A split-sample design is used to test for a difference between mean willingness to pay (WTP) for protecting the Mexican spotted owl versus protecting 62 threatened/endangered species which includes the Mexican spotted owl. The multiple bounded contingent valuation method is used in a mail survey of U.S. residents. The mean WTP amounts are statistically different at the 0.1 confidence level indicating the multiple-bounded mail survey passes the scope test. The range of estimated benefits of preserving the 4.6 million acres of critical habitat for the Mexican spotted owl substantially outweighs the costs of the recovery effort.


The goal of the work in this dissertation is to understand and overcome the limiting optoelectronic processes in emerging second generation photovoltaic devices. There is an urgent need to mitigate global climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy from photovoltaics has great potential to reduce emissions if the energy to manufacture the solar cell is much lower than the energy the solar cell generates. Two emerging thin film solar cell materials, organic semiconductors and hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, meet this requirement because the active layers are processed at low temperatures, e.g. 150 °C. Other advantages of these two classes of materials include solution processability, composted of abundant materials, strongly light absorbing, highly tunable bandgaps, and low cost.Organic solar cells have evolved significantly from 1% efficient devices in 1989 to 11% efficient devices today. Although organic semiconductors are highly tunable and inexpensive, the main challenges to overcome are the large exciton binding energies and poor understanding of exciton dynamics. In my thesis, I optimized solar cells based on three new solution processable azadipyrromethene-based small molecules. I used the highest performing molecule to study the effect of increasing the permittivity of the material by incorporating a high permittivity small molecule into the active layer. The studies on two model systems, small donor molecules and a polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction, show that Frenkel and charge transfer exciton binding energies can be manipulated by controlling permittivity, which impacts the solar cell efficiency.Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite materials have similar advantages to organic semiconductors, but they are not excitonic, which is an added advantage for these materials. Although photovoltaics based on hybrid halide perovskite materials have exceeded 20% efficiency in only a few years of optimization, the loss mechanisms are not understood but critical to systematically improve the efficiency towards the theoretical limit. Thus, I correlated morphology to local power conversion efficiency determining properties by mapping local short circuit current, open circuit voltage, and dark drift current in state-of-the-art methylammonium lead iodide solar cells with sub-30 nm spatial resolution using photoconductive atomic force microscopy. I found, within individual grains, spatially-correlated heterogeneity in short circuit current and open circuit voltage. This heterogeneity is attributed to a facet-dependent density of trap states. These results imply that controlling crystal grain and facet orientation will enable a systematic optimization of hybrid halide perovskite photovoltaics.


Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDAC-I) have been recently shown to induce growth arrest and apoptosis, in a variety of human cancer cells by mechanism that cannot be solely attributed to the level of histone acetylation. Vorinostat, an orally active HDAC inhibitor, has shown preclinical and clinical significant antitumor activity in both haematological malignancies and solid tumors, and has been recently approved in USA for the treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphomasVorinostat has shown preclinical and clinical effects in human cancers and it is the first HDAC-I approved by FDA for cutaneous T-cell-lymphoma treatment.
TG2 is a multifunctional enzyme that catalyze a Ca2+-dependent transamidating reaction resulting in covalent cross-links between proteins. TG2 may also act as a G-protein in transmembrane signalling, as well as a cell surface adhesion mediator. TG2 upregulation has been demonstrated in several cancers and its expression levels correlate with resistance to chemotherapy and metastatic potential. In the present study, we demonstrated that the antiproliferative effects of vorinostat is paralleled by the induction of both TG2 mRNA and protein expression in breast, colorectal and oral cancer cell lines. This effect was also shared by other pan-HDIs and by class I HDAC-Is but not by the specific inhibitor of HDAC-6. Vorinostat-induced TG2 upregulation correlated with an increased transamidating activity. Confocal microscopy analysis confirmed TG2 induction as well as TG2 cytosolicaggregation upon vorinostat treatment. Compartment analysis of TG2 protein expression revealed that vorinostat induces cytosolic, membrane and cytoskeleton but not nuclear upregulation of TG2. Apparently this effect seems confined to tumor cells, since same results were not observed in ex vivo vorinostat-treated peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy donors. Notably high basal levels of TG2 protein correlated with lower antiproliferative activity of vorinostat. In order to confirm that TG2 play a role in vorinostat antitumor effect, we silenced by specific shRNA TG2 expression in high TG2 expressing HT29 colorectal cancer cells, and overexpressed full length TG2 in low TG2 expressing MCF7 breast cancer cells. We demonstrated that in TG2 silenced cells vorinostat antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects were enhanced whereas in TG2 overexpressed cells they were impaired, demonstrating that TG2 is directly involved in the mechanism of antitumor effect exerted by vorinostat. Moreover cotreatment of tumor cells with two specific inhibitors of TG2 transamidating activity (KCC009 and monodansylcadaverine) potentiated the antitumor effect of vorinostat, suggesting that TG2 crosslinking activity is important for vorinostat antitumor effect. Vorinostat also induced TG2 acetylation, however this posttranslational modification has no relevant effect on protein half-life as demonstrated by cotreatment with cycloheximide. Finally, vorinostat-resistant MCF-7 cell line selected by stepwise increasing concentrations of vorinostat up to 12 μM, significantly overexpressed TG2 protein compared with parental control cell line. Overall this study demonstrated that TG2 overexpression is a common mechanism of intrinsic or acquired resistance to vorinostat and that inhibition of TG2 transamidating activity may potentiate vorinostat antitumor effect.


Background & Objectives : Agricultural mechanization development in parallel of growing this sector treat farmers' health and safety and other persons in farms. Safety training has a vital role in reducting agricultural machinery operators and farmers' occupational injuries. The purpose of this research was study of agricultural expert's knowledge toward safe work with agricultural machinery. Methods : The statistical population of this study was Jihad-Agriculture organization experts in Khuzestan and Ilam provinces (N=493) that 230 of them were selected as the research sample through proportional stratified random method. Data collecting instrument was a questionnaire that its validity was confirmed by a group of extension experts and professors. The Coronbach Alpha coefficient was used in order to determine the questionnaires' reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS19 software and comparative test.. Results : experts' safety knowledge was at a suitable level (Mean=3. 73 from 5 and SD=1. 41) and 72.22 percent of them were assessed medium. Also the means comparison test showed that there is a significant difference among respondents' safety knowledge depending upon education level and whether they have experienced an incident in the field or not. But there was no significant relationship between their safety knowledge and participate in safety training course and whether they observe of work incidents or not. Conclusion : According to the importance of training in the promotion of farmers' safety and inattention of agricultural and health system managers toward safety on farms, it is necessary for implementation of safety training courses for preparing professionals widely and quality and empowered them to participate in safe agricultural extension program.


The article is focused on the introduction and categorization of various approaches to rurality, and
the identification and delimitation of rural areas in Visegrad countries. Three substantively different groups of
conceptualizations and definitions of rural and rurality are described as follows: functional definitions, rural as
locality (political-economic approaches), and social representation. Latter, basic sorts of methods and appro
-
aches to the delimitation of rural areas in V4 countries are introduced emphasizing its historical development,
differences in spatial level and criteria of delimitation in current research. Due to different nature of rural areas
and even local administrative units (the basic units usually used for delimitation of rural areas), it is not possible
to reach sufficient and reliable identification of rural areas for whole V4 area using any of criteria or definitions
applied in the research at national levels. Therefore, the average population density of entire V4 area was used
as a main criterion for distinguishing between urban and rural LAU 2 at the whole Visegrad area level. Such
approach is also affected by generalization but it captures various conditions in each country relatively well and
moreover, it is comparable with the OECD and European Union methods to some extent.


Changes in soil sulfur (S) fractions were assessed in oil palm and food garden land use systems developed on forest vegetation in humid tropical areas of Popondetta in northern Province. The study tested a hypothesis that S in food gardens are limiting nutrient factor and are significantly lower than in plantations and forests. Subsistence food gardens are under long-term slash and burn practice of cropping and such practice is expected to accelerate loss of biomass S from the ecosystem. From each land use, surface soil (0–15 cm) samples were characterised and further pseudocomplete fractionated for S. Conversion of forest to oil palm production decreased (p<0.001) soil pH and electrical conductivity values. The reserve S fraction in soil increased significantly (p<0.05) due to oil palm production (∼ 28 %) and food gardening activity (∼ 54 %). However, plant available SO 4 2- -S was below 15 mg kg^(−1) in the food garden soils and foliar samples of sweet potato crop indicating deficiency of plant available S. Soil organic carbon content (OC) was positively and significantly correlated to total S content (r=0.533; p<0.001) among the land use systems. Thus, crop management practices that affect OC status of the soils would potentially affect the S availability in soils. The possible changes in the chemical nature of mineralisable organic S compounds leading to enhanced mineralisation and leaching losses could be the reasons for the deficiency of S in the food garden soils. The results of this study conclude that long-term subsistence food gardening activity enriched top soils with reserve S or total S content at the expense of soluble S fraction. The subsistence cropping practices such as biomass burning in food gardens and reduced fallow periods are apparently threatening food security of oil palm households. Improved soil OC management strategies such as avoiding burning of fallow vegetation, improved fallows, mulching with fallow biomass, use of manures and S containing fertilisers must be promoted to sustain food security in smallholder oil palm system.


The benefits of working in a research group are clear: students develop domain expertise, gain an understanding and appreciation of the research process and its practice, and acquire team, communication, problem-solving and higher-level thinking skills. Students with this experience are better equipped to make informed judgements about technical matters and to communicate and work in teams to solve complex problems. Clearly, this type of research experience must be made available to a broader population. This paper discusses how the Systems and Software Engineering Affinity Research Group model provides a socialization and infrastructure mechanism that supports the development and management of large research groups that engage undergraduate and graduate students with a wide range of skill levels and experiences in research and projects. This nonhierarchical model integrates students into both a small research group and the encompassing large research group and uses structured activities to develop their technical, communication, group and research skills.


Estimating a silent participant's degree of engagement and his role within a group discussion can be challenging, as there are no speech related cues available at the given time. Having this information available, however, can provide important insights into the dynamics of the group as a whole. In this paper, we study the classification of listeners into several categories (attentive listener, side participant and bystander). We devised a thin-sliced perception test where subjects were asked to assess listener roles and engagement levels in 15-second video-clips taken from a corpus of group interviews. Results show that humans are usually able to assess silent participant roles. Using the annotation to identify from a set of multimodal low-level features, such as past speaking activity, backchannels (both visual and verbal), as well as gaze patterns, we could identify the features which are able to distinguish between different listener categories. Moreover, the results show that many of the audio-visual effects observed on listeners in dyadic interactions, also hold for multi-party interactions. A preliminary classifier achieves an accuracy of 64 %.


This paper addresses the challenge of learning from peers in an online multitask setting. Instead of always requesting a label from a human oracle, the proposed method first determines if the learner for each task can acquire that label with sufficient confidence from its peers either as a task-similarity weighted sum, or from the single most similar task. If so, it saves the oracle query for later use in more difficult cases, and if not it queries the human oracle. The paper develops the new algorithm to exhibit this behavior and proves a theoretical mistake bound for the method compared to the best linear predictor in hindsight. Experiments over three multitask learning benchmark datasets show clearly superior performance over baselines such as assuming task independence, learning only from the oracle and not learning from peer tasks.


Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study was to collect and analyse data necessary for expansion of the NSRT item pool and to evaluate the NSRT adaptive testing software. Design: Participants were administered pure-tone and speech recognition tests including W-22 and QuickSIN, as well as a set of 323 new NSRT items and NSRT adaptive tests in quiet and background noise. Performance on the adaptive tests was compared to pure-tone thresholds and performance on other speech recognition measures. The 323 new items were subjected to Rasch scaling analysis. Study sample: Seventy adults with mild to moderately severe hearing loss participated in this study. Their mean age was 62.4 years (sd = 20.8). Results: The 323 new NSRT items fit very well with the original item bank, enabling the item pool to be more than doubled in size. Data indicate high reliability coefficients for the NSRT and moderate correlations with pure-tone thresholds (PTA and HFPTA) and other speech recognition measures (W-22, QuickSIN, and SRT). Conclusion: The adaptive NSRT is an efficient and effective measure of speech recognition, providing valid and reliable information concerning respondents' speech perception abilities.


Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 176 The book provides a review of the state of the art of neurological assessment in the first two years of life and identifies the most appropriate instruments for the follow-up of newborns who are at risk of developing neurological abnormalities. After a brief description of the neurophysiological basis of development in the first years, the book provides a comprehensive review of the various methods used for the neurological assessment in young infants describing how a combined approach of clinical and instrumental investigations can provide important diagnostic and prognostic information. The first part of the book describes the most used clinical neurological examinations and their applications in infants with neurological abnormalities, followed by a description of the value of neuroimaging and neurophysiological techniques in normal preterm and full term infants in the first two years and the main types of abnormal MR findings of neurophysiological findings (EEG and evoked potentials) in relation to brain lesions. Other sections include chapters describing techniques assessing specific aspects of cognitive, perceptual and sensory abilities. Special attention is given to hearing, language and communication and to development of vision and visual attention both in normal infants and in those with neonatal brain lesions. The final chapters are devoted to intervention, describing how the identification of specific profiles of impairment can lead to the development of appropriate plans of early intervention.


Abstract The use of waste materials in civil engineering applications has gained importance nowadays. Consuming limited natural resources and increasing waste disposal costs have led researchers to evaluate waste materials for different geotechnical applications. In this respect, some waste materials are used as reinforcement in soils to improve their engineering properties. The main objective of this paper was to investigate the usability of waste polypropylene fiber as a reinforcement material in high plasticity fine-grained soils. For this purpose, waste toothbrush bristle (WTB) was used as a polypropylene fiber reinforcement material and added to fine-grained soil at ratios of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6% and 0.8% by dry total weight. The effect of WTB on freezing–thawing behavior and unconfined compression strength of unreinforced and reinforced clayey soil was evaluated. The results indicated that addition of WTB to high plasticity clay improved its behavior against freezing–thawing. Also, undrained shear strength increases with respect to increment in WTB ratio.


Any analysis of the role domestic courts play in the enforcement of international humanitarian law (IHL) must confront recurring and layered skepticisms: that war in the real world is not meaningfully constrained by law and that, even if it were, the conduct of hostilities cannot be judged after the fact in the detached and unilateral setting of a domestic courtroom. But from the beginning of the republic, the courts of the United States have applied norms now collected under the rubric of international humanitarian law and, in the process, have played a constitutive role in its articulation and enforcement. Precedents in both the military and the civilian judiciary, in both criminal and civil proceedings, suggest that the domestic courts can act as agents of the international order, in Professor Richard Falk's phrase, by implementing established IHL norms and by defining them in the first place. This Article explores the capacity of domestic courts to implement and enforce IHL, their obligation to do so, and the limits that IHL places on their processes and their jurisdiction. The analysis is inevitably complicated by the variety of norms that qualify as "humanitarian." At its most abstract, IHL defines the minimum standards for human rights applicable to all parties to an armed conflict - a definition that assures a broad overlap between IHL and the vast canon of human rights norms.1 As suggested below, this conception supports an expansive role for domestic courts. But a more concrete and ostensive definition suggests that some norms of IHL are more appropriate than others for enforcement in the domestic courts. It could be argued, for example, that international humanitarian law comprehends heterogeneous norms like the right to peace, the prohibition of certain weapons, the protection of cultures and environments in times of armed conflict, the prohibition of wanton destruction and attacks on civilians, the protection of prisoners of war, and individual accountability and/or reparations for all violations. In the case -dependent world that is the common law, and in a judiciary that will decline to resolve "political questions," it is implausible that each of these norms would be equally enforceable in a domestic court in every setting. Nonetheless, history and doctrine suggest that there are three broad "litigation-types" or paradigms defining the circumstances in which U.S. courts potentially play a constructive role in the implementation and enforcement of IHL: (1) The Yamashita2 paradigm, referring to criminal prosecutions, under a federal statutory regime informed by international standards, in military and civilian courts, of both U.S. and foreign combatants, typically though not necessarily at the end of an armed conflict, under a restrictive conception of international humanitarian law traditionally limited to the laws of war as laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949,:i their antecedents, and their progeny; (2) The Filartiga4 paradigm, referring to civil proceedings for damages or injunctive relief, primarily under a common law regime informed by international standards, against a variety of non-state actors including individuals and organizations, potentially even in the early stages of a conflict, and invoking an expansive conception of what qualifies as international humanitarian law; and (3) The 911 paradigm, referring to a response of the domestic courts to the epochal terrorist attack of 11 September 2001, in which the judiciary should be expected to supervise arid implement various administrative or regulatory measures (e.g. detention of persons, the seizure of evidence and property, the freezing of assets, extradition, deportation, the revocation of licenses, debarment) based on an amalgam of IHL and criminal law, and directed at both state and non-state entities. I am not arguing that these patterns for the potential enforcement of international humanitarian law are hermetically separate from one another nor that they are immune from evolution on their own terms. …


Sometimes, complex software systems fail because of faults introduced in the requirements and design stages of the development process. Reviewing documents related to requirements and design by several reviewers can remove some of these faults, but often a few remain undetected until the software is developed. In this paper, we propose a procedure leading to the estimation of the number of faults which are not discovered. The main advantage of our procedure is that we do not need the standard assumption of independence among reviewers.


This work presents a synchronic description of the Taleshi language spoken in northwest Iran. Its purpose is to provide a comparative study of the basic phonological, morphological and syntactic structure of three dialects spoken in Iran: Anbarani (northern), Asalemi (central) and Masali (southern). In addition, the sociolinguistic situation of the dialects is explored, along with some key elements of narrative discourse structure.To date only individual dialects of Iranian Taleshi have been described, mostly at the level of a grammatical sketch. This study, by comparing key representative speech varieties of each main dialect area, provides an overview of the whole dialect continuum, and is thereby able to show how the language changes from north to south. This variation has arisen partly as a result of language contact: the Taleshi language area is surrounded by other languages, including South Azerbaijani (Turkic), and Tati, Gilaki and Persian (all Western Iranian). Language shift to Persian is also occurring, and many Talesh no longer transmit their mother tongue to the next generation.The data for the study is drawn from fieldwork carried out in Iran during 2006 and 2007. This fieldwork included the elicitation of word and sentence lists, and the recording, transcription and translation of narrative texts in each dialect area. Further to these, a short film (The Pear Film) was used to elicit spontaneous narrative texts in nine locations along the dialect continuum; we therefore include some wider comment on other dialects of Iranian Taleshi.


The Que River Shale Fonnation overlies the Que-Hellyer Volcanics, which are the host
sequence to the Hellyer and Que River massive sulphide deposits, western Tasmania.
The Que River Shale is a homogeneous unit of finely laminated, fine grained (<100um)quartz, muscovite and calcite grains in a dirty brown chloritic matrix. The shale contains intercalated
resedimented volcaniclatic sandstones at the top and base of the unit. Shale composition varies by less
than 5 wt % with regards to major elements.
Deposition of the Que River Shale began after the fonnation of the Hellyer Massive sulfide
deposit but contemporaneous with the mixed sequence. Shale deposition extended throughout the end
of deposition of the Mount Charter group, synchronous with the Southwell Subgroup volcanism.
However the erruption of Upper Basalts and Andesites and the influx of predominantly rhyolitic
volcaniclastic mass-flows and turbidites associated with the Southwell Subgroup restricted the finely
laminated shale mostly to a period of quiesence between the two styles of volcanism.
The depositional environment of the Que River Shale is interpreted to represent quiet,
reducing bottom waters, due to a high proportion of complete agnostid trilobite specimems along with
the presence of carbonaceous material and pyrite nodules. Geochemical techniques have been used to
further define the basin as inhospitable (little or no oxygen present) to euxinic (free H2S). While Sisotopes
range from o34S + 17 to +43 suggesting that the sediment may have been a closed system with
respect to S04 z. ans H2S.
The Que River Shale has an andesitic provenance suggesting a local source for the shale.
However, the Que River Shale cannot be derived directly from any one source, or combination of
sources in the Mount Read Volcanics without significant modification The only quantification that
can be placed on the source rocks is that the Que River Shale must contain 20-25% Hellyer Basalt, to
obtain the high Cr values observed (up to 1.3 wt % Cr203). The Que River shale must havebeen well
homogenised by sedimentary processes to account for its restricted range in chemical composition
The Que River shale does not show an extensive alteration plume unlike the underlying
basalts. Alteration in the suite therefore cannot be used as an exploration indicator. However,
anomalous base metal values (up to 400 ppm Pb and 938 ppm Zn) are spatially association to the
orebody and may be useful as vectors to mineralisation.


Some studies suggest that people can maintain their cognitive abilities through "mental exercise." This has not been unequivocally proven. Retirement is associated with a large change in a person's daily routine and environment. In this paper, we propose two mechanisms how retirement may lead to cognitive decline. For many people retirement leads to a less stimulating daily environment. In addition, the prospect of retirement reduces the incentive to engage in mentally stimulating activities on the job. We investigate the effect of retirement on cognition empirically using cross-nationally comparable surveys of older persons in the United States, England, and 11 European countries in 2004. We find that early retirement has a significant negative impact on the cognitive ability of people in their early 60s that is both quantitatively important and causal. Identification is achieved using national pension policies as instruments for endogenous retirement.


When designers can obtain exclusive intellectual property (IP) rights in the functional aspects of their creations, they can wield these rights to increase both the costs to their competitors and the prices that consumers must pay for their goods. IP rights and the costs they entail are warranted when they serve as needed incentives to encourage designers to invest in creating new socially valuable designs. But the law must be wary of allowing rights to be misused. Accordingly, IP law has employed a series of doctrinal and costly screens to channel designs into the appropriate regime—copyright law, design patent law, or utility patent law. Unfortunately, those screens are no longer working. Designers are able to obtain powerful IP protection over the utilitarian aspects of their creations without demonstrating that they have made socially valuable contributions and without paying substantial fees that weed out weaker designs. This is bad for competition and bad for consumers. In this article, we integrate theories of doctrinal and costly screens, and we explore their roles in channeling IP rights. We demonstrate how these two types of screens can serve as complements in the efficient regulation of design protection, and we illustrate the inefficiencies that have arisen through their misapplication in copyright and design patent laws. Finally, we propose a variety of solutions that would move design protection towards a successful channeling regime, balancing the law's needs for incentives and competition. Those proposals include improving doctrinal screens to weed out functionality, making design protection more costly, and preventing designers from obtaining multiple forms of protection for the same design.


The thickness dependence of the static and dynamic properties of Co2MnSi (CMS) full Heusler was investigated. Five samples with thickness ranging from 7 to 100 nm were deposited by rf magnetron sputtering on single crystal MgO(001). X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) evidence the epitaxial growth of samples, with an epitaxial relationship MgO(001)[100]//CMS(011)[110]. Magnetic properties were studied by standard magnetometry and broadband stripline ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). We observe a four-fold magnetocrystalline anisotropy Kc = 1.5 × 105 erg/cm3 for thicker samples, and an increase of Kc up to 2.6 × 105 erg/cm3 for the thinnest sample, accompanied by an increase of saturation magnetization. We attribute this behavior to interfacial effect (strain or stoichiometry).


This self-report study of 404 incarcerated youth found extraordinarily high rates of sexual minority status (SMS; i.e., lesbian/gay or bisexual) among the girls, particularly girls of color. Further analyses of the 107 girls 16 and older found that SMS girls reported being the victims of abuse and engaging in self-harming behaviors more than non-SMS (straight) girls. Structural equation models indicated that regardless of sexual identity, abuse was a risk factor for self-harming. This relationship held for physical or sexual abuse and for abuse by family members or people outside the family. Relative to non-SMS girls, SMS girls demonstrated higher rates of sexual abuse, primarily family sexual abuse, which mediated the relationship between SMS and self-harming.


The interface between two immiscible electrolyte solutions (ITIES), or liquid|liquid interface, provides a defect-free junction for fundamental studies of adsorption phenomena, heterogeneous charge transfer reactions, and phase-formation processes. Recent research interests include the organization and reactivity of metallic and semiconducting nanoparticles (NPs) at ITIES. In a general sense, the present thesis is devoted to addressing this issue, including the voltage-induced assembly of charged NPs, the photoreactivity of semiconducting NPs and the redox properties of alkanethiolate monolayer-protected gold nanoclusters. The adsorption of ionic species at the liquid|liquid interface was first modeled theoretically. The aim of the simulations was to envisage the effect of the adsorption of charged NPs on the interfacial charge distribution across the liquid|liquid interface. For simplicity, in the calculations the charged NPs were considered as large ions, which were further taken as point charges. Various adsorption isotherms were considered, including potential independent, Langmuir and Frumkin models. The simulation indicates that the ionic adsorption has a strong influence on the potential distribution across the interface. Under certain conditions, it results in a non-monotonous potential profile with a trap at the interface. The voltage induced assembly of mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) stabilized gold and cadmium selenide (CdSe) NPs were investigated at the polarizable water|1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface. The studies reveal that the surface concentration of NPs at the liquid|liquid boundary is reversibly controlled by the applied bias potential. There was no evidence of irreversible aggregation or deposition of the particles at the interface. Furthermore, the adsorbed CdSe NPs at the water|DCE interface demonstrated the photoreactivity characteristic of a self-assembled ultrathin p-type semiconductor photoelectrode. The surface structure also has significant effect on the optical properties of CdSe NPs. The redox properties of hexanethiolate monolayer-protected gold nanoclusters (MPCs) were studied in detail at electrochemical interfaces. First, the absolute standard redox potential of MPCs in solutions was theoretically derived from electrostatic considerations. The significant effect of the solvent polarity was verified experimentally by studies in various organic solvents. Second, the redox properties of self-assembled MPCs on a gold electrode were studied in organic electrolytes and room temperature ionic liquids (RTILS). The effect of the electrostatic interaction between MPCs and electrode on the redox properties of MPCs was theoretically considered in terms of the method of images in classical electrostatics and justified experimentally. In RTILS, the rectification of the successive oxidation of self-assembled MPCs by the anionic component of RTILS was observed. Third, MPCs were further used as redox quenchers at the polarizable water|DCE interface. Photocurrent responses originating from the heterogeneous quenching of photoexcited porphyrins by MPCs dissolved in the DCE phase were observed. As MPCs can function as both electron acceptors and electron donors, the photocurrent results from the superposition of two simultaneous processes, which correspond to the oxidation and reduction of MPCs. The magnitude of the net photocurrent is essentially determined by the balance of the kinetics of these two processes, which can be controlled by tuning the Galvani potential difference between the two phases. We show that, within the available potential window, the apparent electron transfer rate constants follow the classical Butler-Volmer dependence on the applied potential difference.


OBJECTIVE
To document computed tomography (CT) features in dogs with masticatory myositis.

DESIGN
Retrospective case series.

ANIMALS
7 dogs with an immunologic diagnosis of masticatory myositis and an absence of clinical abnormalities of any skeletal muscles other than the masticatory muscles.

PROCEDURES
History; clinical, hematologic, biochemical, immunologic, cytologic, and histologic findings; and pre- and postcontrast CT imaging features of masticatory muscles and head and neck lymph nodes were extracted from medical records.

RESULTS
On CT images, changes in size (atrophy or swelling) were common for all masticatory muscles except the digastricus muscles, which were involved only in 1 dog. Pre-contrast attenuation changes, most often hypoattenuation with varied distribution patterns, were seen in masticatory muscles of 4 dogs. Contrast enhancement with a predominantly inhomogeneous distribution pattern was seen in the temporalis, masseter, and pterygoid muscles of all dogs. Head and neck lymph nodes were enlarged in all but 1 dog and had contrast enhancement with predominantly central or homogeneous distribution patterns. Muscle biopsy was performed in 6 dogs, with biopsy specimens obtained from areas that had the most obvious contrast enhancement on CT images. For all 6 dogs, biopsy specimens had histologic features indicative of masticatory myositis.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results suggested that CT may be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of masticatory myositis in dogs, including selection of sites for diagnostic muscle biopsy.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) degrades both fibrillar collagens and elastin. MMP-2 is secreted as a latent 72-kd proenzyme that must be proteolytically processed to the 62-kd active form. In our laboratory we demonstrated a significant increase of active, matrix-bound MMP-2 in abdominal aortic aneurysmal (AAA) tissue compared with nonaneurysmal aorta with arteriosclerotic occlusive disease and normal aortic tissue. This increase in active MMP-2 is considered to be important in aneurysm pathogenesis, but the mechanism of its activation in aortic tissue is unknown. Membrane type-1 MMP (MT-1 MMP) is known to be an activator of MMP-2. The purpose of this study was to determine MT-1 MMP expression and its involvement in pro-MMP-2 activation in human aneurysmal tissue.

METHODS
Infrarenal aortic tissue was obtained during the surgical repair of AAAs or the bypass of aortoiliac occlusive disease, or from nondiseased aorta, and the expression of MT-1 MMP messenger RNA was determined with Northern blot analysis. MT-1 MMP protein was determined with immunoblot and immunohistochemistry. The ability of aortic tissue to activate pro-MMP-2 was analyzed by incubating aortic tissue with exogenous radiolabeled pro-MMP-2.

RESULTS
MT-1 MMP messenger RNA and protein are increased in AAA (P <.05) compared with arteriosclerotic occlusive disease and normal aortic tissue. Immunohistochemical analysis localized MT-1 MMP to aortic smooth muscle cells and macrophages in aneurysmal tissue. AAA tissue demonstrated a greater capacity to activate exogenous pro-MMP-2 compared with atherosclerotic and normal aortic tissue (P <.05).

CONCLUSION
These studies demonstrate that MT-1 MMP is increased in AAA tissue and suggest that it may be important in AAA pathogenesis through its ability to activate pro-MMP-2


Ballasted railway track is very suitable for heavy-rail networks because of its many superior advantages in design, construction, short- and long-term maintenance, sustainability, and life cycle cost. An important part of the railway track system, which distributes the wheel load to the formation, is the railway sleeper. Improved knowledge has raised concerns about design techniques for prestressed concrete (PC) sleepers. Most current design codes for these rely on allowable stresses and material strength reductions. However, premature cracking of PC sleepers has been found in railway tracks. The major cause of cracking is the infrequent but high-magnitude wheel loads produced by the small percentage of irregular wheels or rail-head surface defects; both these are crudely accounted for in the allowable stress design method by a single load factor. The current design philosophy, outlined in Australian Standard AS1085.14, is based on the assessment of permissible stresses resulting from quasi-static wheel loads and essentially the static response of PC sleepers. To shift the conventional methodology to a more rational design method that involves a more realistic dynamic response of PC sleepers and performance-based design methodology, comprehensive studies of the loading conditions, the dynamic response, and the dynamic resistance of PC sleepers have been conducted. This collaborative research between several Australian universities has addressed such important issues as the spectrum and the amplitudes of dynamic forces applied to the railway track, evaluation of the reserve capacity of typical PC sleepers designed to AS 1085.14, and the development of a new limit states design concept. This article presents the results of the extensive analytical and experimental investigations aimed at predicting wheel impact loads at different return periods (based on field data from impact detectors), together with an experimental investigation of the ultimate impact resistance of PC sleepers required by the limit states design approach. It highlights the reliability approach and rationales associated with the development of limit states and presents guidelines pertaining to conversion of AS 1085.14 to a limit states design format. The reliability concept provides design flexibility and broadens the design principle, so that any operational condition could be catered for optimally in the design.


The major purpose of this study was to determine the importance of graduating students having computer skills as they enter the workforce in the Prescott area located in Arizona. This study focused on the populations of Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley businesses and past Bradshaw Mountain High School graduates. Bradshaw Mountain High School is located in Prescott Valley. The procedure that the researcher used to collect data for the study was through survey instruments. Two survey instruments were developed and used. One survey was utilized for the business population and a different survey was used for the student population. A random sample collection was used to select the respondents and gather data. Approximately 110 businesses and 81 students returned usable surveys. Results indicated that both businesses and students feel that computer training should be a requirement for all high school students. Most businesses and half of the student respondents viewed favorably making computer training a high school graduation requirement. The computer training requirements ranged from basic or general knowledge of operating computers to operation of specific programs. Most of the business and student respondents viewed themselves as being proficient operating the computer. While about half of the businesses found their employees lacking in computer skills, most businesses did not offer any type of funds for computer training for their employees. Both the business and student respondents didn't see that lacking in computer skills would be a barrier to getting new employment or hiring new employees. The researcher concluded that high school students should be required to have computer training for at least a year before graduating. Most businesses and students used computers in their place of work. Those that did not use computers foresaw the computer becoming a part of future work operations. Lack of computer skills was not seen as a barrier to future employment prospects. This result is probably from students basing their knowledge on their short length of time in the employment force, and businesses not using computers in the capacity they could be used in. As most businesses do not provide funding for computer training, any new hires would have to obtain their own computer training if required for the position.


Abstract This discussion focuses on the content of the responsibility to protect the norm. It specifically addresses the historical roots and development of the norm by describing its fundamental differences from the doctrine of humanitarian intervention. The legal heart of the responsibility to protect concept and questions of when and how the norm is engaged are also examined. Finally, the discussion explores the role that the UN institutions can play in interpreting and applying the norm, as well as the mechanisms of cooperation in protection available to the international community.


A one-phase efficient method to solve linear programming (LP) problems for grasp analysis of robotic hands is proposed. Our method, named as KKT Simplex method, processes free variables directly while choosing the entering and leaving variables, which makes it a one-phase method able to start at any point of the set of feasible solutions. Besides, the proposed method lowers the number of simplex steps by an angular pricing strategy to choose the entering variable. Moreover, the method reduces the size of an LP problem by the identification of nonbinding constraints that preserves the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) cone. We developed the KKT Simplex method by incorporating to the well-known revised simplex method the following components: a method to process free variables, a pricing strategy, and an identification method. We solve LP problems of grasp analysis to test the efficiency and the one-phase nature of the proposed method.


Abstract Bahr Youssef (B.Y) is a semi-natural branch canal connecting the River Nile with Fayoum depression, in the desert immediately to the west of the Nile Valley, about 92 kilometers southwest of Cairo, for irrigation purposes of El-Minya, El-Fayoum, Bani-Swif, and Giza governorates. The area served by Bahr Youssef reaches about 850.000 feds in the Middle Egypt, out of 1.650.000 feds served by the Ibrahimeya carrier canal, which branches from the River Nile's at Assiut barrage, and extends northward for 55 kilometers, until Dayrut city. In Dayrut; "Ibrahimeya" canal bifurcates into seven carrier canals, (Bahr Youssef is one of them,) through Dayrut Group of regulators. Bahr Youssef suffers from, meandering phenomenon, in many reaches, occurred with all its harmful and destructive effects. As meanders are the direct result of erosion-deposition processes occur in such flatty reaches with hydraulically unstable sections, our effort here is directed for studying the existing geometric, and hydraulic conditions of some representative reaches of Bahr Youssef, to evaluate the size of the problem through intensive field measurements, and to verify the available predicting techniques and theories by comparison with the obtained measured values. Introducing an acceptable, effective and easy method, which can be used for an accurate estimation of the meandering phenomenon, is the main objective of this study. This was achieved through reviewing and assessment of the available predicting techniques, and evaluating their liability, validity, and suitability through the comparison with the field collected measurements.


Plants host distinct bacterial communities on and inside various plant organs, of which those associated with roots and the leaf surface are best characterized. The phylogenetic composition of these communities is defined by relatively few bacterial phyla, including Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. A synthesis of available data suggests a two-step selection process by which the bacterial microbiota of roots is differentiated from the surrounding soil biome. Rhizodeposition appears to fuel an initial substrate-driven community shift in the rhizosphere, which converges with host genotype-dependent fine-tuning of microbiota profiles in the selection of root endophyte assemblages. Substrate-driven selection also underlies the establishment of phyllosphere communities but takes place solely at the immediate leaf surface. Both the leaf and root microbiota contain bacteria that provide indirect pathogen protection, but root microbiota members appear to serve additional host functions through the acquisition of nutrients from soil for plant growth. Thus, the plant microbiota emerges as a fundamental trait that includes mutualism enabled through diverse biochemical mechanisms, as revealed by studies on plant growth-promoting and plant health-promoting bacteria.


Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer with the highest cancer occurrence in females. Handheld ultrasound is one of the most efficient ways to identify and diagnose the breast cancer. The area and the shape information of a lesion is very helpful for clinicians to make diagnostic decisions. In this study we propose a new deep-learning scheme, semi-pixel-wise cycle generative adversarial net (SPCGAN) for segmenting the lesion in 2D ultrasound. The method takes the advantage of a fully convolutional neural network (FCN) and a generative adversarial net to segment a lesion by using prior knowledge. We compared the proposed method to a fully connected neural network and the level set segmentation method on a test dataset consisting of 32 malignant lesions and 109 benign lesions. Our proposed method achieved a Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) of 0.92 while FCN and the level set achieved 0.90 and 0.79 respectively. Particularly, for malignant lesions, our method increases the DSC (0.90) of the fully connected neural network to 0.93 significantly (p<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$<$</tex-math><alternatives><mml:math><mml:mo><</mml:mo></mml:math><inline-graphic xlink:href="li-ieq1-2978470.gif"/></alternatives></inline-formula>0.001). The results show that our SPCGAN can obtain robust segmentation results. The framework of SPCGAN is particularly effective when sufficient training samples are not available compared to FCN. Our proposed method may be used to relieve the radiologists' burden for annotation.


Rent-Sharing under Different Bargaining Regimes: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data In many European countries, the majority of workers have their wages directly defined by industry-level agreements. In addition, for some workers, industry agreements are complemented by firm-specific agreements. Yet, the relative importance of firm and industry agreements (in other words, the degree of centralization) differs drastically across industries. The authors of this paper use unique linked employer-employee data from a 2003 survey in Belgium to examine how these bargaining features affect the extent of rent-sharing. Their results show that there is substantially more rent-sharing in decentralized than in centralized industries, even when controlling for the endogeneity of profits, for heterogeneity among workers and firms and for differences in characteristics between bargaining regimes. Moreover, in centralized industries, rent-sharing is found only for workers that are covered by a firm agreement. Finally, results indicate that within decentralized industries, both firm and industry bargaining generate rent-sharing to the same extent. JEL Classification: J31, J51


This thesis studies the theory of intermediation in trade problems arising from the allocation of a single indivisible object.

Chapter I considers a general trade problem with a single seller and multiple buyers. I analyze a game, where multiple intermediaries compete with each other
by designing contracts that determine the terms of trade between the bargaining parties. I show the existence and uniqueness of equilibrium outcomes. Repeating the analysis for the case of a single monopolist intermediary, I compare the equilibrium outcomes and show that allocative efficiency is strictly improved as a
result of the competition among intermediaries.

Chapter II considers a bilateral trade problem with two-sided asymmetric information where the buyer's valuation may depend on the private information of both bargaining parties. I analyze the impact of intermediation by a profit-maximizing intermediary in a game, where the seller has the ability to trade directly with the buyer. I provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the equilibrium outcomes with the presence of an intermediary to be strictly more efficient than those that are attainable in its absence.

Lastly, in Chapter III, similar to the previous chapter, bilateral trade problems with informational externalities arising from interdependences are considered. I analyze a game, where the seller designs a contract at ex-ante stage before learning his private information. I characterize the optimal mechanisms and show that they attain second-best outcomes. The Pareto optimality of ex-ante contracting in the absence of an intermediary, in turn presents a natural limit to the benefits to
be accrued from intermediation.


Nutrient availability and stresses impact a cell's decision to enter a growth state or a quiescent state. Acetyl-CoA stimulates cell growth under nutrient-limiting conditions, but how cells generate acetyl-CoA under starvation stress is less understood. Here, we show that general stress response factors, Msn2 and Msn4, function as master transcriptional regulators of yeast glycolysis via directly binding and activating genes encoding glycolytic enzymes. Yeast cells lacking Msn2 and Msn4 exhibit prevalent repression of glycolytic genes and a significant delay of acetyl-CoA accumulation and reentry into growth from quiescence. Thus Msn2/4 exhibit a dual role in activating carbohydrate metabolism genes and stress response genes. These results suggest a possible mechanism by which starvation-induced stress response factors may prime quiescent cells to reenter growth through glycolysis when nutrients are limited.


The goal is to present the main free and open access search engines such as PATENTSCOPE and Google Patents. It also seeks to verify the information retrieval system, which seeks to transform the user's information needs into a list or collection of documents whose content satisfies that need. We present the comparison of both verifying each one independently and then, a summary table. Finally, it is concluded that the constant search for inventions can make the difference between the positions of competences between global companies; It is for this reason that patents prove to be a source of reliable information on the subjects of interest of the people or companies. Pantestscope and Google Patents allows you to download as much data as a table for future analysis of the information. Keywords: Information retrieval, Patents, Patentscope, Google Patents, Web


One of the best-known figures of British history, collective memory of Henry VIII presents us with the image of a corpulent, covetous, and cunning king whose appetite for worldly goods met few parallels, whose wives met infamously premature ends, and whose religion was ever political in intent. 1536 - focusing on a pivotal year in the life of the King - reveals a fuller portrait of this complex monarch, detailing the finer shades of humanity that have so long been overlooked. We discover that in 1536 Henry met many failures - physical, personal, and political - and emerged from them a revolutionary new king who proceeded to transform a nation and reform a religion. A compelling story, the effects of which are still with us today, 1536 shows what a profound difference can be made merely by changing the heart of a king.


"Predicting the future is risky business. But fundamentals are not too difficult to recognize. The most fundamental fact concerning the Korean peninsula is that North Korea cannot remain as it is. The only question is whether it will change suddenly and abruptly or gradually and incrementally. In either case, Korea will be unified. To maintain peace and security in the region, it is essential that the process of Korean unification remain a peaceful one. With luck, a unified and robust Korea will contribute to the creation of a stable multipolar equilibrium in the Northeast Asian region." "No Way Out: North Korea's Impending Collapse" Spring 1996 Nine years ago, I wrote "that there is a real possibility that Kim Jong Il may find himself on the way out in the next few years." Yet Kim Jong Il still rules in Pyongyang, and no sign of "impending collapse" is visible. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What happened? Why did my "prediction" go wrong? First of all, mine was not exactly a prediction. In the 1996 article, I stated that the collapse of the Kim regime was a real possibility, implying there was also a real possibility that the collapse would not come to pass. The title "No Way Out: North Korea's Impending Collapse" is strongly predictive. But the title is a product of the editing process, not my own creation. It is, however, true that the flow of my argument strongly suggested the possibility that Kim Jong Il may lose power. After protecting myself with cautious disclaimers, such as "predicting the future is a risky business," I nevertheless went on to say that "fundamentals are not too difficult to recognize. The most fundamental fact concerning the Korean peninsula is that North Korea cannot remain as it is. The only question is whether it will change suddenly and abruptly or gradually and incrementally." This is clearly a predictive statement, but one qualified by the suggestion that it is impossible to predict whether the future will be one of sudden or gradual change. Clearly, profound skepticism about man's ability to predict the future runs throughout the entire article. Should we, then, give up entirely the ambition to decipher the future? Perhaps the more appropriate question is whether it is possible to do without assumptions about the future. A man crosses a road, and we know he is able to do so because he assumes no moving vehicle will enter the space he will occupy at that time. In fact, every move we make is based on an assumption about the future. Prediction, in other words, is not a matter of choice. It is a necessity. But how do we predict the future? What is the premise on which one's conclusions are based concerning relative likelihood of alternative scenarios? In my 1996 article, I assumed that Kim Jong Il's political fate would depend on his economic performance, which was a disaster. North Korea was clearly a failed state, unable to feed its own people. Since 1987, North Korean gross national product has been steadily declining, with grain production falling even faster. The collapse of communist regimes meant the loss of trading partners for North Korea and the disappearance of foreign friends who used to provide North Korea with its needs at what used to be called "friendship prices," meaning subsidies. The choice facing Kim Jong Il today is this: should he go for "reform and opening" or stick to the status quo? If economy has higher priority than politics, the reform option is the obvious one to choose. What North Korea can expect from reformist policy in economic terms has been dramatically demonstrated by the Chinese example. But on the other hand, economic reform can be politically destabilizing. From the viewpoint of Kim Jong Il's interests, the survival of the regime comes before economic improvement. That is why we should not expect North Korea to adopt serious structural market-oriented reforms anytime soon, which means that the North Korean economy is highly unlikely to improve anytime soon. …


Plant oils, marine and animal fats are major components of the human diet and they are economically important for many exporting countries. Triacylglycerols (TAG) are the major fat components in human diet. Food consumed by Muslims must be HALAL. Food products with a HALAL designation do not only relate to meat, but also include canned, processed and frozen foods, organic foods, bakery products, pastry and beverages, because of the potential use of animal derived (including porcine) products. Two main objectives of this study are; to differentiate lipid profiles in lard, marine and plant oils and to detect lard contamination in food and commercial cooking oils. This method achieved comprehensive TAGs characterization and differentiation in several oil standards and commercial products. These results were obtained from a single analysis on the Dual-cell Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer using protocols which employs full scan MS, wide band activation with MS2, data-dependent CID (collision induces dissociation) with MS3, all from a single injection. The fatty acid composition of each TAG is easily assigned from the loss of specific neutral fatty acids either in MS (APCI mode) or from similar losses in the CID MS/MS spectra. Therefore, this method could be used as a rapid screening method for TAG profiles. A number of unique TAGs were found in animal and plant oils and three unique TAGs were found in lard oil;these TAGs may be employed in lard detection or adulteration in foods or oil as illustrated in this study. Such an approach may be useful in the determination of halal or haram food products. Finally, preliminary work is also presented regarding the utility of phospholipids contained in plant, marine, and animal fats as additional unique markers for the presence of specific individual oils; especially those from porcine products.


This study presents a novel soft magnetic composite powder that is suitable for the preparation of soft magnetic components working at high frequencies, such as inductors or reactors for power electronics. The material is a combination of Somaloy 110i 5P, a pure iron powder with a coating capable of withstanding heat treatments at 650°C or higher, and a low loss gas atomized Fe-6.5%Si. Compared to pure Fe-6.5% Si, the advantages of this new material are higher magnetic saturation and high component density similar to that of pure Somaloy 110i 5P, as well as easy manufacturing procedures, i.e., the compaction pressure is low or moderate (800-1200 MPa vs. 1200-2000 MPa for pure FeSi) which reduces production costs. The material displays high frequency losses similar to that of Somaloy 110i 5P+Sendust, but due to the high saturation and density of the Somaloy 110i 5P/FeSi components, the low frequency core losses are further reduced. In this study, this new material concept will also be compared to other inductor materials.


PURPOSE: This study's overarching aim was to explore public and professional understanding of child homicide, and its pre- and post-offence characteristics. Previous findings of child homicide studies have been challenged in this dissertation,
such as for example: the public misconceptions of crime numbers and trends, parents as the most common perpetrators in child homicide offences, children under one as the age category in highest risk of homicide victimisation. In addition, a role of
child homicide investigator and the challenges and pressures associated with the role, were explored throughout the study.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Dissertation consists of two studies. First one is conducted in a quantitative approach with the help of online questionnaires filled by 264 participants. The data is analysed using SPSS. Second study uses qualitative approach and four semi-structured interviews are conducted with police homicide investigators. Thematic analysis is used to analyse the interviews.
FINDINGS: The findings present a clearer picture of perceptions and opinions regarding the offence of child homicide and its pre- and post-offence characteristics In addition, the role of child homicide investigator is explored in greater detail,
emphasising on the challenges and pressures faced throughout the investigations of child deaths.


The roles and structure of government defence research establishments are being redefined in several European countries. So far, large‐scale government controlled defence research establishments have played a key function in the development of technological capabilities in the defence field. These organisations are now facing downsizing drives as well as attempts at injecting a commercial logic into their operations. As a consequence their relationships with government defence agencies and defence industrial suppliers are changing. This paper analyses these changes with special reference to the British case, and explores their potential implications for European research policy.


The response to non-face objects in the face selective fusiform face area (FFA) can predict behavioral performance for these objects, but such results are often disregarded because experts may pay more attention to objects in their domain of expertise. We report an effect of expertise with objects in FFA that cannot be explained by differential attention. We relate regional cortical thickness (rCT) of FFA to face and object recognition using the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and Vanderbilt Expertise Test (VET). Object performance in the VET was summarized using two PCA factors, one for living objects (VET-LV) and one for non-living objects (VET-NL). Using high-resolution structural data, we measured rCT in individually defined FFA1 and FFA2, OFA and PHG, in twenty-seven men recruited to vary in expertise for cars. The only significant correlations with behavioral performance were found in the FFAs. In right FFA2, rCT was positively correlated with performance on VET-NL (r=.42). This was supported by a correlation with an independent matching task with cars and planes (.43). In contrast, rCT was negatively correlated with performance on the VET-LV in left FFA1 (-.50) and FFA2 (-.68), and with performance on the CFMT in right FFA1 (-.46). Multiple regression revealed that performance with faces and objects together accounted for ~40% of the variance in rCT in several FFA patches. While men with a thicker FFA cortex performed better with non-living objects, those with a thinner FFA cortex performed better with faces and living objects. Performance with these different categories may reflect experience that is acquired during different phases of brain development (arguably faces earlier than vehicles), with different mechanisms of plasticity operating at these different times. The results point to a domain-general role of FFA in object perception, one that cannot be explained by attention to objects of expertise. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


The lattice of noncrossing partitions can be embedded into the Cayley graph of the symmetric group. This allows us to rederive connections between noncrossing partitions and parking functions. We use an analogous embedding for type B non-crossing partitions in order to answer a question raised by R. Stanley on the edge labeling of the type B non-crossing partitions lattice.


Since the 2011 Irish General Election, Fine Gael has been the governing party of Ireland and, in terms of members of the Oireachtas and Europan Parliament, has been the largest party. During this time, the Irish political landscape has experienced a number of socially progressive milestones, indicative of the changing demographics and political beliefs in postrecession Ireland. Through the use of qualitative projective techniques, this research seeks to explore the current political brand image of Fine Gael from the perspective of Irish voters. Projective techniques can be used to provide an in-depth understanding deep-seated feelings and underlying attitudes of voters towards political brands. This understanding is important, as political brands can offer an inherent strength electorally due to their ability to produce simple, credible, salient and long-standing voter signals, and to encourage consistency in voting decisions. This research takes a holistic viewpoint of the political brand that encompasses the three elements of the party leader, political party, and party policies. Firstly, this research interprets existing branding theory, and its implications towards the study of branding in political contexts. This is followed by a review of existing political branding literature. This is followed by an outline of the research approach, which includes a review of projective techniques and their applicability to this research. Key findings are then presented, followed by a discussion on the political brand image of Fine Gael. The conclusion lays out the implications and limitations of this research, and potential areas for further research.


In any decision-making process, it is necessary to evaluate the merit of different parameters and disclose the effect they have on the solution in order to optimize it. If the criteria are mathematically quantifiable, a mathematical model may be created for the evaluation process. The application of rough sets, neural networks, fuzzy logic or information theory are widely used mathematical tools for the solution of this type of problem. In this work two tasks are approached: (1) To minimize the number of required parameters(attributes) by discriminating different objects (classes), for the case when there is an overlap in the collected information from parameters (intervalvalued information); (2) To calculate the minimum accuracy necessary in the selected attributes to discriminate all of the objects. This approach is very useful in both reducing the cost of the communication channels and in eliminating unnecessary stored information.