Received: 2016-11-23 | Accepted: 2016-04-14 | Available online: 2016-12-22 http://dx.doi.org/10.15414/afz.2016.19.04.157-162 The objective of this research was to investigate possible genetic variation in the sensitivity of soybean cultivars for nitrogen fixation rates in response to soil drying.  The work confirmed that the selected physiological characteristics (RWC, osmotic potential, stress index and created nodules on roots) are good evaluating parameters for the determination of water stress in plant. In the floricultural year 2014 an experiment with four genetic resources of soybean was launched. Sowing of Maverick (USA), Drina (HRV), Nigra (SVK) and Polanka (CZK) genotypes was carried out in the containers of 15 l capacity. This stress had a negative impact on the physiological parameters. By comparing the RWC values, the decrease was more significant at the end of dehydration, which was monitored in Maverick and Drina genotypes using the Nitrazon inoculants and water stress effect. Inoculated stressed Nigra and Polanka genotypes have kept higher water content till the end of dehydration period. Also the proline accumulation was monitored during the water stress, whilst higher content of free proline reached of Maverick. More remarkable decrease of osmotic potential was again registered in a foreign Drina and Maverick genotypes in the inoculated variations. Nigra and Polanka genotypes responses not so significant in the given conditions. Key words: soybean, drought, stress, inoculation of Nitrazon References CANDRAKOVA, E. and LISKA, E. (2006) Vplyv teplotných a vlahových podmienok na tvorbu urody hrachu siateho, Influence of Temperature and Water Conditions on Field Pea Yield Formation. Acta fytotechnica et zootechnica, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 57-61. DOWNIE, J. A. (1998) Functions of rhizobial nodulation genes. In Spaink, H. P., Kondorosi A. and Hooykaas, P. J. J. (ed.), Rhizobiacee. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publisher, pp. 387. FAROOQ, M. et. al. (2009) Plant drought stress: effects, mechanisms and management. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, pp. 153–188. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10440040802548555 FISCHER, R.A. and MAURER, R. (1978) Drought resistance in spring wheat cultivars. I. Grain yield response. Aust. J. Agric. Res., vol. 29, pp. 897–907. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AR9780897 FREDERICK, J.R., CAMP, C.R. and BAUER, P.J. (2001) Drought-stress effects on branch and mainstem seed yield and yield components of determinate soybean. Crop Science, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 759-763. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2001 JAMES, A. T., LAWN R. J. and COOPER, M. (2008) Genotypic variation for drought stress response traits in soybean. I. Variation in soybean and wild Glycine spp. for epidermal conductance, osmotic potential, and relative water content. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, vol. 59, no.7, pp. 656–669. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AR07159 KU, Y. S., AU-YEUNG, W. K. and YUNG, Y. L. (2013) Drought Stress and Tolerance in Soybean. Chapter 10. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.5772/52945 LEPORT, L. et aL. (2003) Physiological responses of cool-season grain legumes to drought in the lowrainfall Mediterranean environment of south-western Australia. In: N.P. Saxena (Ed.), Management of Agricultural Drought: Agronomic and Genetic Options, pp. 163–172, Enfield: Science Publishers. MALHOTRA, R.S., SARKER, A. and SAXENA, M.C. (2004) Drought tolerance in chickpea and lentil-present status and future strategies. Challenges and Strategies for Dryland Agriculture, no. 32, pp. 257–273. MIRABELLLA, R., (2004) Role of ROP GTPases and NodFactor Signaling in Medicago Root Nodule Infection: Thesis. Wageningen: Wageningen University, 160p. PATTERSON, T.G. and LARNE, T.A. (1983) Nitrogen fixation by soybeans. Seasonal and cultivar effects, and comparison of estimates. Crop Science, vol. 23, no.3, pp. 488-492. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1983.0011183X002300030012x RASAEI, B., GHOBADI, M.E. and AMIRI, M. K. (2013) Effect of osmotic potential on germination and seedling characteristics of soybean seeds. International Journal of Agriculture and Crop Sciences. vol., 5, no.11, 1265-1268. RICCARDI, L.,POLIGNANO, G.B. and DE GIOVANNI, C. (2001) Genotypic response of Faba bean to water stress. Euphytica, vol.118, no.1. pp. 39–46. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004078017159 SANCHOLI, G., MOBASSER, H. R. and FANAEI, H. R. (2015) Effect Inoculation of Soybean Cultivars with bacteria Rhizobium japonicum in Sistan. Biological Forum – An International Journal no.1, pp. 552-558. ISSN 0975-1130. SADEGHIPOUR, O. and ABBASI, S. (2012) Soybean response to drought and seed inoculation. World Applied Sciences Journal, vol.1, no.1, pp. 55-60. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00462.x VIRGINIA, S., PAGAN, M. and COOPER, M. (2012) Genetic Analysis of Relative Water Content (RWC) in Two Recombinant Inbred Line Populations of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] Journal of Plant Genome Sciences, vol. 1, no. 2. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5147/jpgs.2012.0058


AIM
The aim of this study was to assess the physical activity profile of taxi drivers and its relationship with hypertension prevalence in this group of workers.

METHODS
Cross sectional exploratory study. Between November 2008 and April 2009, 491 taxi drivers from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, answered a questionnaire focusing on previous hypertension diagnosis, occupational characteristics and physical activity habits. Two logistic models were developed to determine risk factors related to hypertension and to find variables associated with a higher probability of sedentarism.

RESULTS
Hypertension prevalence was 22.6%. The workload of the group investigated was high. Results indicate that 'age', 'body mass index', 'physical activity', and 'years as a taxi driver' are related to the probability of hypertension. Physical activity was shown to be a protection factor for hypertension, even considering the deleterious effect of time as a taxi driver. Our results also determined that the practice of physical activity is influenced by age, level of education and workload.

CONCLUSIONS
It is recommended that programs to combat sedentary lifestyles as well as measures to reduce workloads be developed as strategies to prevent hypertension.


Aim: Expert radiologists are excellent image interpreters. Unfortunately, image interpretation errors are frequent even among experienced radiologists and not much is known about which factors lead to expertise. Increasing assessment quality can improve radiological performance. Progress tests can monitor expertise development over time and identify factors related to the development of radiology expertise, which in turn can help designing successful training programs. Improved tests can detect diagnostic errors and direct training. The aims of this thesis were to contribute to the development of high quality assessment of radiological expertise and to add to our knowledge on the development of it.

Methods: Several studies were conducted to evaluate the validity of tests of knowledge and image interpretation skill in radiology using Messick's model of construct validity. In one study, the results of nine administrations of the Dutch radiology progress test (DRPT), from 2005 to 2009, were analysed. In a second study, the effect of a don't know option (DKO) and formula scoring (i.e. penalizing incorrect answers) on the validity of progress test results during a DRPT administration was investigated. Two other studies investigated the effect of increased authenticity of a test on its validity. This test model included volumetric radiological images, such as CT-scans, which can be stack viewed and digitally manipulated in a way that is representative of clinical practice. Indications of reliability, difficulty, authenticity and the external aspect of construct validity of the volumetric image tests were obtained by analysing test scores and questionnaire responses of participants. In addition, scores were correlated to scores on human cadaver anatomy tests. Another study investigated test items on different components of the image interpretation process. To gain insight in the development of radiological expertise, DRPT test results between 2005 and 2010 were modelled and predictors of development were investigated.

Results: DRPT scores were found to be reliable and valid measures of radiological knowledge and image interpretation skill development. Scores on images were found to be higher than on theoretical knowledge. Participants with a lower risk-taking test behaviour were disadvantaged by progress tests with a DKO, which was found to threaten the construct validity, despite a higher reliability with DKO. Volumetric image questions improved the test quality on all investigated aspects of validity compared to traditional 2D image questions. Questions assessing components of image interpretation were found to contribute to test quality by uncovering errors and partial knowledge. Radiological expertise development shows a rapid initial increase, levels of at end of training and is also affected by hospital.

Discussion: Progress tests are reliable and valid tools to monitor radiological expertise development, but may need to include items on volumetric image interpretation. The use of DKOs introduces a bias and is not recommended. The reliability benefit does not outweigh the validity threat. Our findings need further studies, e.g. focussing on different expertise levels, and evaluating additional aspects of test quality. In depth analysis of training environment variables will be helpful to identify success factors for expertise development in radiology training.


It is a widely held belief that questioning vulnerable witnesses is a specialist skill. In England and Wales vulnerable witness advocacy training built around '20 Principles' has been developed and is being delivered. The 20 Principles do not cite a tested theoretical framework(s) or empirical evidence in support. This paper considers whether the 20 Principles are underpinned by research evidence. It is submitted that advocacy training and the approach to questioning witnesses in the courtroom should take into account the already available research evidence. The authors make recommendations for revision of the training and for a wider review of the approach taken to the handling of witness evidence.


The Palaeocene Basal Sands of the London Basin are usually in hydraulic continuity with the underlying Cretaceous Chalk aquifer. They are a minor aquifer rarely utilized for water supply. Instead, production wells are completed in the Chalk aquifer, which provides the bulk of the water. The conventional well design is for cemented casing to extend into the top few metres of the Chalk, with the rest of the Chalk section below left unlined (open hole). Although this has generally proved to be successful, there have been occasions where failures have occurred owing to sand entering the wells from the Basal Sands. The pathways are not always evident, but can include fractures in the Chalk, damaged casings or poor grout seals. Setting casings deep into the Chalk does reduce the risk of sand ingress, but yields may be diminished. In some cases, screening of the Basal Sands and the very top part of the Chalk has been used as an alternative. Detailed data from geological and geophysical logs can greatly assist in the design process, and the risk of sand ingress can be reduced by following good drilling and construction practice and ensuring that casings have been properly grouted. In this paper the terms wells, production wells, boreholes and water supply boreholes are used interchangeably.


Abstract. We present a five-year time series of seven tropospheric species measured using a ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL; Eureka, Nunavut, Canada; 80°05' N, 86°42' W) from 2007 to 2011. Total columns and temporal variabilities of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and ethane (C2H6) as well as the first derived total columns at Eureka of acetylene (C2H2), methanol (CH3OH), formic acid (HCOOH) and formaldehyde (H2CO) are investigated, providing a new data set in the sparsely sampled high latitudes. Total columns are obtained using the SFIT2 retrieval algorithm based on the optimal estimation method. The microwindows as well as the a priori profiles and variabilities are selected to optimize the information content of the retrievals, and error analyses are performed for all seven species. Our retrievals show good sensitivities in the troposphere. The seasonal amplitudes of the time series, ranging from 34 to 104%, are captured while using a single a priori profile for each species. The time series of the CO, C2H6 and C2H2 total columns at PEARL exhibit strong seasonal cycles with maxima in winter and minima in summer, in opposite phase to the HCN, CH3OH, HCOOH and H2CO time series. These cycles result from the relative contributions of the photochemistry, oxidation and transport as well as biogenic and biomass burning emissions. Comparisons of the FTIR partial columns with coincident satellite measurements by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) show good agreement. The correlation coefficients and the slopes range from 0.56 to 0.97 and 0.50 to 3.35, respectively, for the seven target species. Our new data set is compared to previous measurements found in the literature to assess atmospheric budgets of these tropospheric species in the high Arctic. The CO and C2H6concentrations are consistent with negative trends observed over the Northern Hemisphere, attributed to fossil fuel emission decrease. The importance of poleward transport for the atmospheric budgets of HCN and C2H2 is highlighted. Columns and variabilities of CH3OH and HCOOH at PEARL are comparable to previous measurements performed at other remote sites. However, the small columns of H2CO in early May might reflect its large atmospheric variability and/or the effect of the updated spectroscopic parameters used in our retrievals. Overall, emissions from biomass burning contribute to the day-to-day variabilities of the seven tropospheric species observed at Eureka.


Small infarcts in the subcortical area (lacunar infarction) have been considered a relatively simple condition. In most cases, complications associated with warfarin are not a cause for worry, the superiority of angioplasty or stenting need not be disputed, and performing craniectomy is unnecessary; we simply administer an antihypertensive drug and aspirin. However, small subcortical infarcts are not easy to manage. No solid evidence has been presented to support the effectiveness of antiplatelet agents or statin, while the incidence of hemorrhagic complication after the use of antiplatelets is high in this condition. More importantly, the consequences of accumulated small vessel diseases are dismal; many patients suffer from progressively worsening gait difficulty and cognitive/emotional problems. The presence of small vessel disease even worsens the outcome of other stroke subtypes. Last, although genetic causes of small vessel disease are being studied, the existing knowledge on its pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment is far from satisfactory.

These issues were amply discussed in the International Conference Stroke Update (ICSU) that was held on November 6-8, 2014, in Jeju Island, South Korea. In this issue and in subsequent May issue, we will publish a series of articles regarding small vessel diseases. Most speakers kindly agreed to write on each of the subjects presented at the ICSU 2014. In these papers, the seriousness of small vessel disease will be correctly elucidated. Small vessel disease seems to be more common among Asians than among Caucasians, and rapidly aging populations in this region will considerably increase the burden of accumulating cases of small vessel disease. One of the missions of the Journal of Stroke (JOS) is to more actively present Asian issues, and the series of articles will certainly contribute to this endeavor.

Finally, I am pleased to inform you that the JOS was enlisted as an SCI (E) by Thomson Reuters on October 22, 2014. For this, I am indebted to the editorial board members, authors, and members of the Korean Stroke Society, who are excellent, enthusiastic, and devoted contributors and advisers. I am happy to say that all of your articles published in the JOS to date can now be considered "SCI" papers. This excellent news will result in our papers gaining more attention and will attract submission of articles from all over the world. I believe that our constant efforts will make the JOS a truly world-class journal. For this, I would like to suggest a toast!


Alcoholism is a common disorder that leads to brain defects and associated cognitive, emotional and behavioral impairments. Finding and extracting discriminative biological markers, which are correlated to healthy brain pattern and alcoholic brain pattern, helps us to utilize automatic methods for detecting and classifying alcoholism. Many brain disorders could be detected by analysing the Electroencephalography (EEG) signals. In this paper, for extracting the required markers we analyse the EEG signals for two groups of alcoholic and control subjects. Then by applying wavelet transform, band-limited EEG signals are decomposed into five frequency sub-bands. Also, the principle component analysis (PCA) is employed to choose the most information carrying channels. By examining various features from different frequency sub-bands, six discriminative features for classification are selected. From functional brain network perspective, the lower synchronization in Beta frequency sub-band and loss of lateralization in Alpha frequency sub-band in alcoholic subjects are observed. Also from signal processing perspective we found that alcoholic subjects have lower values of fractal dimension, energy and entropy compared to control ones. Five different classifiers are used to classify these groups of alcoholic and control subjects that show very high accuracies (more than 90%). However, by comparing the performance of different classifiers, SVM, random forest and gradient boosting show the best performances with accuracies near 100%. Our study shows that fractal dimension, entropy and energy of channel C1 in Alpha frequency sub-band are the more important features for classification.


The Historia de los Reyes Moros de Granada, written by the chronicler Hernando de Baeza in the first half of the XVI century, in Spain, is a valuable text that provides a very different perspective from other late medieval Spanish official chronicles. This article provides an account of the discovery of a previously unknown manuscript of this chronicle which, unlike the two others already known, is complete and includes the ending, which narrates the negotiations between the Catholic Kings of Spain and the last Nasrid sultan Boabdil for the Islamic surrender of Granada. The article describes this previously unknown manuscript, gives an account of the importance of the codex in which it is found, and shows the importance of this discovery for Spanish historiography more generally. A complete transcription in Castillian and an English translation are provided.


Constitutionalism compels and constrains all dimensions of our everyday lives in ways large and small that we often do not fully appreciate – perhaps because constitutions take many forms that we do not generally associate with constitutionalism. From the arts, sports, trade, entertainment, politics and war, constitutionalism is both the point of departure and the port of call. In this paper, I explore whether and how we might distinguish among these seemingly infinite types of constitutions.


We present a technique for the registration of multiple surveillance cameras through the automatic alignment of image trajectories. The algorithm address the problem of recovering the relative pose of several stationary cameras that observe one or more objects in motion. Each camera tracks several objects to produce a set of trajectories in the image. Using a simple calibration procedure, we recover the relative orientation of each camera to the local ground plane in order to projectively unwarp image trajectories onto a nominal plane of correct orientation. Unwarped trajectory curves are then matched by solving for the 3D to 3D rotation, translation, and scale that bring them into alignment. The relative transform between a pair of cameras is derived from the independent camera-to-ground-plane rotations and the plane-to-plane transform computed from matched trajectories. Registration aligns n-cameras with respect to each other in a single camera frame (that of the reference camera). The approach recovers both the epipolar geometry between all cameras and the camera-to-ground rotation for each camera. After calibration, points that are known to lay on a world ground plane can be directly backprojected into each of the camera frames. The algorithm is demonstrated for two-camera and three-camera scenarios by tracking pedestrians as they move through a surveillance area and matching the resulting trajectories.


Technical documents with complex structures and orthography present special difficulties for current parsing technology. These include technical notation such as subscripts, superscripts and numeric and algebraic expressions as well as Greek letters, italics, small capitals, brackets and punctuation marks. Structural elements such as references to figures, tables and bibliographic items also cause problems. We first hand-code documents in Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) to specify the document's logical structure (paragraphs, sentences, etc.) and capture significant orthography. Next, a regular expression analyzer produced by LEX is used to tokenize the SGML text. Then a token-based phrasal lexicon is used to identify the longest token sequences in the input that represent single lexical items. This lookup is efficient because limits on lookahead are precomputed for every item. After this, the Alvey Tools parser with specialized subgrammars is used to discover items such as floating-point numbers. The product of these preprocessing stages is a text that is acceptable to a full natural language parser. This work is directed towards automating the building of knowledge bases from research articles in the field of bacterial chemotaxis, but the techniques should be of wide applicability.


In 1982, Giovanni Dosi contributed with an explanation that attempted to conciliate the demand-pull and the technology-push views on technological selection. The solution based on Kuhnian analysis of scientific revolutions assumes the origins of technological changes to be independent of market factors, but ultimately validated by these same factors. This paper demonstrates that technological selection actually occurs within market processes, when entrepreneurs use their judgment to interpret and evaluate the scope of the habitual, conventional, and institutional routines shaping the social environment. Since entrepreneurs specialize around their idiosyncratic interpretations, business paradigms emerge that comprise different technological paradigms. Therefore, business paradigms instrumentally use technological paradigms in order to better correspond to the socially routinized and non-routinized behavior of market agents.


Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) is an important turfgrass species used extensively on golf courses. It is highly susceptible to the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F.T. Bennett, the causal agent of dollar spot disease. There is a wide range in degree of susceptibility among current cultivars, with a limited number that have improved resistance. Colonial bentgrass (A. capillaris L.), a related species, has good resistance to dollar spot. We have produced interspecific hybrids between creeping bentgrass and colonial bentgrass and field-tested them against dollar spot. Some of the hybrids had excellent dollar spot resistance, exhibiting essentially no disease symptoms. This is the first formal report of evaluation of interspecific hybrids between creeping bentgrass and colonial bentgrass for an agronomically important trait. The results presented here suggest that the use of interspecific hybrids may be a useful new approach in Agrostis breeding programs.


Very public challenges to international courts (ICs) by state governments, legislatures, domestic or international courts, corporations, investors or civil society groups are often draped in terms of 'legitimacy'. The challenges provoke several questions. Why should such 'compliance constituencies' defer to ICs' judgments at all? More precisely: when do ICs' judgments give such constituencies reason to act differently than they would otherwise – and when do they not? The present contribution argues that states' disobedience may be justified due to the substantive contents of the particular ruling by an IC. Section 1 provides a brief sketch of Raz's 'Service account' of legitimacy, and addresses some criticisms relevant to our concerns. Section 2 brings this account to bear on ICs, and lays out some of its distinguishing features by comparing it to the influential accounts of Daniel Bodansky and Yuval Shany. Section 3 turns to consider how this account accommodates and even justifies cases of disobedience against ICs.


Elizabeth Fox-Genovese died in January 2007. She was a renowned scholar and important public intellectual, but in this reminiscence Mark Bauerlein recalls her as something else: a model colleague. Despite the many attacks on her work and the difficulties she encountered in her professional life, she always conducted herself with respect and high-mindedness. Never did Bauerlein witness her give in to gossip and vitriol. She was an example of the best of higher education, and academia is a diminished place without her.


It can be more than just a game. With the stresses our culture is experiencing today, it's more important than ever to find ways for families to come together as a strong unit. Competitive youth sports offer families ideal opportunities to support our kids, instill character, and teach lessons that will serve our children both now and in the future-all in a fun and natural setting. Unfortunately, many of us don't take full advantage of these sports experiences, of because we don't know how to begin. Drawing from a rich background in sports, parenting, and family development, World Series hero Jim Sundberg and his wife, Janet, teach that the sports experience can provide unique opportunities for kids to deal with emotions and develop the skills necessary for healthy, life-enhancing interactions with others. But for this to happen, moms and dads need a practical plan. The Sundbergs will help you build that plan by showing you How to Win at Sports Parenting. Discover how to help your children ...- Enjoy to the fullest the sports they play - Learn valuable sports-to-life lessons - Deal with game day emotions in a healthy manner - Develop crucial skills they will use the rest of their lives.


Workers of Streblognathus aethiopicus Smith stridulated when grasped or when either mammalian breath or carbon dioxide was directed onto them. The ants did not react when subjected to air or nitrogen treatments and only occasionally responded to a stridulating nestmate. The sound produced by individual stridulating ants was analysed using a sonagram, while ablation experiments suggested that carbon dioxide receptors were positioned on the antennae. Scanning electron micrographs were used to examine the stridulatory apparatus and the putative carbon dioxide receptors on the antenna. Stridulation was usually associated with increased ant activity which included the aggressive opening of the mandibles, waving of the antennae and the positioning of the abdomen under the body when ready to sting. Streblognathus aethiopicus appeared to use stridulation to warn potential predators of their presence before they have to protect themselves by means of their powerful mandibles and potent sting. It is proposed that the purpose of sound production by S. aethiopicus is primarily defensive.


Dr Brown and his colleagues are to be congratulated for performing a logistically formidable, but necessary, epidemiological study testing the currently in vogue hypothesis that the B*2703 subtype of HLA-B27 is not related to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). They conclude that the B*2705 subtype, as well as B*2703, possesses a lower risk for developing AS in a group of B27 positive west Africans, the Fula from Gambia, when compared with B27 positive white subjects invoking the potential protective role of an environmental factor(s). This conclusion is based on an assumed risk of developing AS in B27 positive persons of 11.1% for men and 1.5% for women. No cases of AS were seen among 900 adult Fula men and 215 first degree relatives of 48 B27 positive Fula twin pairs. We would argue that the data warrant the more conservative conclusion implied in their discussion, namely, the risk for AS among B27 positive Fula subjects would need to be at least 2.7% in men and 1% in women to assign significance to the finding of no AS in this population. The risk of developing AS in HLA-B27 positive subjects clearly varies among diVerent ethnic groups, but it is now generally accepted that among white populations, the prevalence of AS is nearer 1–2% rather then 11.1%. 4 The Norwegian survey of 14 539 subjects quoted by the authors is in fact based on a highly selected sample of only 375 people responding positively to a questionnaire for low back pain or stiVness who actually turned up for examination and had x rays of sacroiliac joints. You arrive at an entirely diVerent conclusion if you apply the AS prevalence figures of 1.4% for B27 subjects from the Busselton population study or 1.3% of Dutch B27 positive subjects. The second study examined 2956 subjects older than 44 years who all had sacroiliac x rays and only three B27 positive subjects had AS according to the New York criteria leading to a prevalence of 0.1%. Recalculating the data of Brown et al according to these more generally accepted prevalence rates leads to the following conclusions. The probability of observing no cases of AS in 900 adult Fula men would be 46.9% (that is, p=0.47). The number of B*2703 persons expected to develop AS would be zero, as in fact observed in this population. Even assuming a risk of 2.7% for AS in B27 positive subjects, the likelihood that no cases of AS would be found in 900 adult Fula men is 23.2% (that is, p=0.232). Furthermore, we calculate that the prevalence of AS in the population of B27 positive adult Fula men would need to be at least 5.54% before the finding of zero observed cases of AS in 900 adult Fula men would be statistically significantly diVerent. We conclude that the issue of B*2703 and risk for AS remains an open question and in need of further more extensive population prevalence studies.


Plant secondary metabolites appeared to have some effects on rumen fermentation pattern, microbial population, feed intake and digestibility. An experiment was conducted to identify forage species with potential in defaunating (killing protozoal population) the reticulo-rumen in goats. There were five forage species tested: Robles ( Desmodium ( , Cassia siamea), Desmodium heterophyllum) Kakawate ), Centro ( and Ipil-ipil (Gliricidia sepium Centrosema pubescens) (Leucaena leucocephala) with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as the control treatment. The forages of the different species were homogenized using a blender to extract the juice. The extracts were then drenched down into the reticulo-rumen of goats through stomach tubing at 1% of their body weight (BW). Froth analysis for saponin content showed higher values in Robles followed by Ipil-ipil, with Kakawate as the lowest. Ipil-ipil and Robles had comparable defaunating effects with that of the SLS which significantly reduced ( <0.01) the p protozoal numbers as compared to the other forages tested. However, Ipil-ipil and Desmodium appeared to have significantly higher ( <0.01) dry matter (DM) intake p of the basal Napier grass ( ) diet as compared to the other Pennisetum purpureum forages tested. Bacterial population also decreased but differences among treatments were not significant. Therefore, forage extracts containing high amounts of saponin are effective in reducing protozoal population, comparable to that of SLS. The use of Ipil-ipil forage extract for defaunating the rumen is recommended as it is organic, unlike SLS, and also promotes higher dietary DM intake.


Cypress canker is a serious disease that has devastated Cupressus spp. in many parts of the world. In Mediterranean Europe it has caused the deaths of millions of trees. Three species of Seiridium, S. cardinale, S. cupressi, and S. unicorne, are associated with cypress canker. Considerable debate surrounds the taxonomic status of these fungi. They have been viewed as a single morphologically variable species, three distinct taxa; or two species based on the presence or absence of conidial appendages. Studies based on ribosomal DNA (ITS1, ITS2, and 5.8S gene) sequence failed to separate the cypress canker fungi. In an attempt to distinguish between the species associated with cypress canker we used histone and partial ß-tubulin sequences of fourteen isolates of Seiridium spp. from cypress. Analysis of sequence data showed Seiridium isolates from Cupressus spp., residing in two major clades. One clade accommodated S. unicorne isolates from Portugal and South Africa. The other major clade consisted of two subclades containing non-appendaged S. cardinale isolates. We believe the larger second clade, represents the cypress canker pathogens while the other clade contains the less pathogenic S. unicorne, which has a host range beyond Cupressus. This study thus provides strong evidence to support previous morphological data suggesting three distinct species are associated with cypress canker.


This thesis focuses on the degradation pathways occurring in composite solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cathodes based on lanthanum-strontium manganite (LSM), combining modeling at the electrode level with experimental data. LSM composite electrodes are one of the most promising candidates for SOFCs cathodes, yet life-time is currently one of the limiting factors for the deployment of this technology. The combination of modelling tools and analysis of experimental data permitted to achieve a better comprehension of the mechanisms controlling the performance loss during operation and a quantification of the degradation. By acquisition and formalization of knowledge of degradation processes, this thesis offers new tools to predict the life-time of a cell, hypothesize technological solutions for limiting the performance losses, and evaluate the impact of such solutions. A new experimental strategy for SOFC button cell testing has been developed and validated during this work, namely the simultaneous operation of several cathode segments on the same cell support. This allowed, on the one hand, the production of reproducible and reliable data for the evaluation and investigation of degradation processes and, on the other hand, the possibility of rapid identification of experimental problems affecting one segment. The approach has been validated both experimentally and theoretically – through finite element calculations. The vast majority of the experimental results contained in this work has been obtained using this testing configuration. Furthermore, investigation techniques with unprecedented resolution in the SOFC research field have been developed in collaboration between EPFL and external partners, namely a fast Cr quantification in operated cells, and 3D non-destructive reconstruction of cathode microstructures by X-ray computed tomography, giving new instruments for the study of SOFC performance and degradation. Finally, a set of data has been gathered concerning the reactivity of LSM-based systems, aging composite pellets for different times and temperatures and analyzing them with Rietveld-XRD, in order to map and assess the loss of performance caused by the formation of insulating phases in the electrode. A steady-state electrode model present in literature has been selected and improved for simulating the performance of composite cathodes in presence of degradation phenomena, converting it into a time-dependent model. The first phenomenon that has been integrated is the variation of the microstructure of the composite electrode, allowing the prediction of variation in performance for a number of case studies: coarsening of only one phase, coarsening of both phases, coarsening of both phases with variation of porosity. Experimental results obtained by microstructural analysis and electrochemical characterization of cells aged for different times were compared to the simulations of the correspondent case study, showing that the morphological variation of the anode electrode in the early cell operation (first few hundreds hours) is well predicted by the time-dependent model. No cathode morphological variation on this time scale could be detected. Another degradation pathway analyzed was poisoning by Cr species. The phenomenon has been modelled assuming an overpotential-driven deposition of Cr blocking species on the electrode active sites. Validation has been performed comparing the simulations to Cr pro les obtained experimentally from cell tested for relatively short time (1000 h); one conclusion reached was that increased electrode thickness has a beneficial effect in limiting Cr poisoning. The simulation was extended to operation times on the order of several 10 kh, difficult to achieve experimentally, describing the progressive deactivation of the electrode material. The model provides an estimation of the expected life-time of an electrode and predicts quantitatively the performance loss during time; this allows individuating technological solutions to hinder Cr poisoning, and the evaluation of the impact of such solutions. In particular, it has been found that the conductivity and amount of the electrolyte phase are critical, and that a three-fold decrease of the degradation related to Cr poisoning is expected while passing from 50%LSM/50%YSZ (standard composition for most LSM based cathodes) to 42%LSM/58%ScSZ electrodes (new composition). Finally, it has been found that cathode composition may have an indirect effect on the amount of deposited Cr: experimental evidences supporting a Mn-catalyzed deposition of Cr species have been found, suggesting that the presence of excess Mn in the cathode system can be detrimental.


This article explores the impact of Arab reality television on Arab governance. Reality television activates hypermedia space (Kraidy, 2006c), a broadly defined inter-media symbolic field, because its commercial logic promotes ostensibly participatory practices like voting, campaigning and alliance building via mobile telephones and the Internet. How does hypermedia space contribute to changing the ways in which Arab citizens and regimes access, use, create and control information? How do the new information dynamics affect the way citizens and governments relate to each other? To address these questions, this article focuses on recent social and political developments in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, treating the two countries as a dynamic pair whose multi-faceted interactions shape a pan-Arab hypermedia space. This article will endeavor to explain how various Saudi and Lebanese actors have appropriated the reality TV show Star Academy for social and political purposes, and how increased public awareness of the hypermedia space engendered by the program has affected the nature of governance in the two countries. This article concludes with a discussion of how hypermedia space contributes to shifts in the nature and boundaries of social and political agency.


RATIONALE
Accurate, early identification of patients at risk for developing acute lung injury (ALI) provides the opportunity to test and implement secondary prevention strategies.

OBJECTIVES
To determine the frequency and outcome of ALI development in patients at risk and validate a lung injury prediction score (LIPS).

METHODS
In this prospective multicenter observational cohort study, predisposing conditions and risk modifiers predictive of ALI development were identified from routine clinical data available during initial evaluation. The discrimination of the model was assessed with area under receiver operating curve (AUC). The risk of death from ALI was determined after adjustment for severity of illness and predisposing conditions.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Twenty-two hospitals enrolled 5,584 patients at risk. ALI developed a median of 2 (interquartile range 1-4) days after initial evaluation in 377 (6.8%; 148 ALI-only, 229 adult respiratory distress syndrome) patients. The frequency of ALI varied according to predisposing conditions (from 3% in pancreatitis to 26% after smoke inhalation). LIPS discriminated patients who developed ALI from those who did not with an AUC of 0.80 (95% confidence interval, 0.78-0.82). When adjusted for severity of illness and predisposing conditions, development of ALI increased the risk of in-hospital death (odds ratio, 4.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.9-5.7).

CONCLUSIONS
ALI occurrence varies according to predisposing conditions and carries an independently poor prognosis. Using routinely available clinical data, LIPS identifies patients at high risk for ALI early in the course of their illness. This model will alert clinicians about the risk of ALI and facilitate testing and implementation of ALI prevention strategies. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT00889772).


This article considers the seventeen UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and provides an analysis of economic challenges which are largely missing in the discussion to date. Whilst the UN SDGs are a considerable achievement, they do not address the issue of finite natural resources for technology and food production, nor do they address issues of infrastructure and materials. In terms of the social dimensions, diminishing the extensive corruption in the global system and the promotion of social trust, fundamental for functioning democracy, are also in need of urgent attention. Using the WORLD model, we draw up the system that exists in our world and come to preliminary conclusions about changes that are necessary to achieve the goals. Our analysis will show that there are some important missing systemic elements that are needed to deliver the SDGs and we make recommendations on this basis. We propose that achieving these goals depend upon establishing new economic systems, more equitable societies and diverting military funding into SDG achievement.


Abstract The Ishigaki high-pressure schist belt in the southern Ryukyu Arc is correlated with the Suo high-pressure schist belt in southwest Japan. The former metamorphic sequence is composed mainly of basic and pelitic schists and is subdivided into three zones, the lower-grade zone A, the medium-grade zone B and the high-grade zone C, based on the mineral assemblages of the basic schists. The K–Ar phengite age gives 188–205 Ma for zone A, 196–206 Ma for zone B and 208–220 Ma for zone C, while the apparent d002 spacing of carbonaceous materials is 3.590–3.437 Å, 3.415–3.390 Å and 3.387–3.364 Å, respectively. The age–d002 relationships suggest that the ages become older with increasing metamorphic temperature. This positive age–temperature relationship in the Ishigaki area contrasts with a negative relationship in the Nishiki area in the Suo belt. The two areas also display a contrasting thermal structure with the former area having an inverted metamorphic gradient and the latter displaying a normal thermal structure. These contrasting age–temperature–structure relationships in the metamorphic belt could be due to different tectonic styles relating to the exhumation of the metamorphic sequences. We suggest that the ages obtained are related directly to the ductile deformation history of the matrix phengite below the closure temperature (500°C) during exhumation of the host rocks. The duration from the beginning of exhumation to the apparent resetting of the phengite K–Ar system was different between the two metamorphic sequences, and significantly longer in the Ishigaki than the Nishiki.


Abstract This article argues that nudges can often be turned into self-nudges: empowering interventions that enable people to design and structure their own decision environments – that is, to act as citizen choice architects. Self-nudging applies insights from behavioral science in a way that is practicable and cost-effective, but that sidesteps concerns about paternalism or manipulation. It has the potential to expand the scope of application of behavioral insights from the public to the personal sphere (e.g., homes, offices, families). It is a tool for reducing failures of self-control and enhancing personal autonomy; specifically, self-nudging can mean designing one's proximate choice architecture to alleviate the effects of self-control problems, engaging in education to understand the nature and causes of self-control problems and employing simple educational nudges to improve goal attainment in various domains. It can even mean self-paternalistic interventions such as winnowing down one's choice set by, for instance, removing options. Policy-makers could promote self-nudging by sharing knowledge about nudges and how they work. The ultimate goal of the self-nudging approach is to enable citizen choice architects' efficient self-governance, where reasonable, and the self-determined arbitration of conflicts between their mutually exclusive goals and preferences.


The conventional farming model is increasingly criticized for its negative environmental impacts and inability to feed our planet's ever-growing population with limited resources. Unlike the intensive model, the permaculture and bio-intensive micro-agriculture model developed at Bec Hellouin places nature at the heart of farming. The idea is to produce large amounts from small areas, at the same time replenishing the biosphere and gradually moving away from use of chemical inputs and fossil fuels. Although the Bec Hellouin model was created in a rural setting in northern France, its innovative approach is rooted in the circular economy and is equally suited to application in urban settings, where micro-farms provide myriad services to the local community, such as local produce, environmental benefits, microclimate, social ties, and more.


The structure of the DNA binding domain, determined at 1.8 angstrom resolution, contains a three-helix bundle that is capped by a four-stranded antiparallel beta sheet. This structure is a variant of the helix-turn-helix motif, typified by catabolite activator protein. In the heat shock transcription factor, the first helix of the motif (alpha 2) has an alpha-helical bulge and a proline-induced kink. The angle between the two helices of the motif (alpha 2 and alpha 3) is about 20 degrees smaller than the average for canonical helix-turn-helix proteins. Nevertheless, the relative positions of the first and third helices of the bundle (alpha 1 and alpha 3) are conserved. It is proposed here that the first helix of the three-helix bundle be considered a component of the helix-turn-helix motif.


This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centred, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the 'make-love-not-war' primate by specialists. In bonobo society, females form alliances to intimidate males, sexual behaviour (in virtually every partner combination) replaces aggression and serves many social functions, and unrelated groups mingle instead of fighting. The species' most striking achievement is not tool use or warfare but sensitivity to others. In the first book to combine and compare data from captivity and the field, Frans de Waal, a world-renowned primatologist, and Frans Lanting, an internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, present the most up-to-date perspective available on the bonobo.Focusing on social organization, de Waal compares the bonobo with its better-known relative, the chimpanzee. The bonobo's relatively nonviolent behaviour and the tendency for females to dominate males confront the evolutionary models derived from observing the chimpanzee's male power politics, cooperative hunting, and intergroup warfare. Further, the bonobo's frequent, imaginative sexual contacts, along with its low reproduction rate, belie any notion that the sole natural purpose of sex is procreation. Humans share over 98 per cent of their genetic material with the bonobo and the chimpanzee.Is it possible that the peaceable bonobo has retained traits of our common ancestor that we find hard to recognize in ourselves? Eight superb full-colour photo essays offer a rare view of the bonobo in its native habitat in the rain forests of Zaire as well as in zoos and research facilities. Additional photographs and highlighted interviews with leading bonobo experts complement the text. This book points the way to viable alternatives to male-based models of human evolution and will add considerably to debates on the origin of our species. Anyone interested in primates, gender issues, evolutionary psychology, and exceptional wildlife photography will find a fascinating companion in "Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape".


H is to ry M ag az in es in E u ro p e This volume of essays is the result of the EU project 'EHISTO', which dealt with the mediation of history in popular history magazines and explored how history in the commercialised mass media can be used in history teaching in order to develop the media literacy and the transcultural competences of young people. The volume offers articles which for the first time address the phenomenon of popular history magazines in Europe and their mediating strategies in a foundational way. The articles are intended as introductory material for teachers and student teachers. The topic also offers an innovative approach in terms of making possible a European cross-country comparison, in which results based on qualitative and quantitative methods are presented, related to the content focus areas profiled in the national magazines.


Reward learning depends on accurate reward associations with potential choices. Two separate outcome dimensions, namely the valence (positive or negative) and surprise (the absolute degree of deviation from expectations) of an outcome are thought to subserve adaptive decision-making and learning, however their neural correlates and relative contribution to learning remain debated. Here, we coupled single-trial analyses of electroencephalography with simultaneously acquired fMRI, while participants performed a probabilistic reversal-learning task, to offer evidence of temporally overlapping but largely distinct spatial representations of outcome valence and surprise in the human brain. Electrophysiological variability in outcome valence correlated with activity in regions of the human reward network promoting approach or avoidance learning. Variability in outcome surprise correlated primarily with activity in regions of the human attentional network controlling the speed of learning. Crucially, despite the largely separate spatial extend of these representations we also found a linear superposition of the two outcome dimensions in a smaller network encompassing visuo-mnemonic and reward areas. This spatiotemporal overlap was uniquely exposed by our EEG-informed fMRI approach. Activity in this network was further predictive of stimulus value updating indicating a comparable contribution of both signals to reward learning.


With widespread use of collaboration technology and increasing dispersion of teams due to globalization of companies, more and more collaboration activities are being conducted virtually. However, virtual collaboration seems to work well for some cases, but not for others. This phenomenon motivates research questions: What factors determine the suitability of collaboration virtualization, and how do those factors affect the design of effective collaboration systems? Our literature study yielded little theoretical work in this regard. As such, we believe that research on collaboration virtualization theory (CVT) is critically needed. To this end, we present our preliminary findings on the purpose and composition of collaboration virtualization theory based on the literature. Essentially, our CVT contains three categories of constructs: task, team, and technology characteristics. Our main objective in this short paper is to initiate a new theoretical perspective for research in the field of collaboration technology and management.


This longitudinal mixed methods study concerns the professional development of eight non-native English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in Slovakia. Raising awareness of the teacher's role in creating conducive learning environments has not traditionally been part of the aims of EFL teacher education programmes. This study therefore set out to explore the impact of a 20-hour experiential in-service teacher development course that had been informed by theoretical principles drawn from within as well as outside the domain of applied linguistics, including second language motivation research, group dynamics and educational psychology. A combination of quantitative measures (pre- and post-test questionnaires measuring students' perceptions of their classroom environment) and qualitative measures (interviews, observations, and written course feedback) were employed to assess the course impact on the teachers' conceptual change. The results show that although some traces of impact were found in the participants' teaching practice, conceptual change did not occur despite their positive appraisals of the programme. Further interrogation of qualitative data about the reasons for this outcome has led to the generation of an integrated model of Language Teacher Conceptual Change (LTCC), which accommodates and thus interprets the variable and individual ways in which the eight teachers responded to the course input. The fact that the complex and idiosyncratic growth patterns fitted comfortably into the proposed conceptual framework provides validation for the theoretical construct, and the LTCC model is therefore believed to offer an integrated, theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded framework for future research on language teacher development and for designing effective teacher education interventions.


This paper focuses on part of a much larger study that explored form five (14 to 16 year-old) students' ideas in statistics. A range of ideas was explored, including the students' ideas about measures of centre and graphical representations. Students' ideas about measures of centre were analysed and categories of responses identified. While students could compute mean and median, they were less competent with tasks that involved constructing meanings for averages. This could be due to an emphasis in the classroom on developing procedural knowledge or to linguistic and contextual problems. Some students used strategies based on prior school and everyday experiences. The paper concludes by suggesting some implications for mathematics education.


Drawing from confidential firm-level balance sheets for 17 European countries (13 Euro-Area), the paper documents the newly expanded database of cross-country comparable competitivenessrelated indicators built by the Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet). The new database provides information on the distribution of labour productivity, TFP, ULC or size of firms in detailed 2-digit industries but also within broad macro-sectors or considering the full economy. Most importantly, the expanded database includes detailed information on critical determinants of competitiveness such as the financial position of the firm, its exporting intensity, employment creation or price-cost margins. Both the distribution of all those variables, within each industry, but also their joint analysis with the productivity of the firm provides critical insights to both policymakers and researchers regarding aggregate trends dynamics. The current database comprises 17 EU countries, with information for 56 industries, including both manufacturing and services, over the period 1995-2012. The paper aims at analysing the structure and characteristics of this novel database, pointing out a number of results that are relevant to study productivity developments and its drivers. For instance, by using covariances between productivity and employment the paper shows that the drop in employment which occurred during the recent crisis appears to have had "cleansing effects" on EU economies, as it seems to have accelerated resource reallocation towards the most productive firms, particularly in economies under stress. Lastly, this paper will be complemented by four forthcoming papers, each providing an in-depth description and methodological overview of each of the main groups of CompNet indicators (financial, trade-related, product and labour market).


This paper examined disagreement in two sets of data in the context of service encounters: problem-solving interactions (doctor-patient communication) and purchase-oriented encounters (pharmacies) from a cross-cultural perspective (Spanish-British English). We proposed assertiveness, a term that refers to both socio-psychological and linguistic features of communication, as a concept that may help understand disagreement. To this end, this study explored, on the one hand, frequency and types of disagreement in 160 British and Spanish service encounter interactions (SEIs, henceforth), in order to understand degrees of assertiveness, as well as the difficulty to grasp motivations for disagreement. On the other hand, five case studies were examined to unravel the social meanings attached to disagreement. The results showed that not in all cases Spanish interlocutors are more assertive than British interlocutors, that social meanings are not stable within the same genre and that linguistic choices may be linked to psychosocial motivations, such as assertiveness.


This Article compares how U.S. and German judges conceptualize the harm the headscarf poses to society. The examples are the 2003 Ludin case, in which the German Federal Constitutional Court held that the civil service, in the absence of state regulation, could not reject a woman from a civil service teaching position solely because she would not remove her headscarf while teaching, and State v. Freeman, in which a Florida court held that a woman could not pose for a driver's license photograph wearing a garment (the niqab) that covered all of her face except her eyes. While judges and legal critics in both countries tended to see the headscarf as threatening, German society was more likely to see it as a symbol of political Islam, while U.S. society viewed it as a tool used by potential terrorists.


Purpose: This paper aims to explore how digital technologies have forced small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to reconsider and experiment with their business models (BMs) and how this contributes to their innovativeness and performance. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical study has been conducted on 338 European SMEs actively using social media and big data to innovate their BMs. Four in-depth case studies of companies involved in BM innovation have also been carried out. Findings: Findings show that the use of social media and big data in BMI is mainly driven by strategic and innovation-related internal motives. External technology turbulence plays a role too. BMI driven by social media and big data has a positive impact on business performance. Analysis of the case studies shows that BM is driven by big data rather than by social media. Research limitations/implications: Research into big data- and social media-driven BMs needs more insight into how components are affected and how SMEs are experimenting with adjusting their BMs, specifically in terms of human and organizational factors. Practical implications: Findings of this study can be used by managers and top-level executives to better understand how firms experiment with BMI, what affects business model components and how implementation might affect BMI performance. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first research contributions to analyse the impact of digitalization, specifically the impact of social media and big data on a large number of European SMEs.


Past and ongoing vertebrate introductions threaten to rearrange ecological communities in the Indo‐Malay Archipelago, one of Earth's most biodiverse regions. But the consequences of these translocations are difficult to predict. We compared local abundance and distributions in four tropical mammal lineages that have crossed from Asia to Wallacea or New Guinea. The local abundance of macaques (Macaca spp.), which naturally crossed Wallace's Line, was higher in Sulawesi (east of the line; mean = 3.7 individuals per camera station, 95% CI = 2.2: 5.1) than in Borneo (west of the line; mean = 1.1, CI = 0.8: 1.4), but the local abundance of Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga), Rusa deer, and Sus pigs was similar in their native ranges and where they had been introduced by humans east of Wallace's Line. Proximity to rivers increased Malay Civet local abundance and decreased the local abundance of pigs in parts of their introduced ranges (Maluku and New Guinea, respectively), while having no effect on local abundance in their native ranges (Borneo) or other areas where they have been introduced (Sulawesi). That local abundance was higher east of Wallace's Line in just one of four mammal lineages is consistent with findings from plant invasions, where most species have similar abundance in their native and introduced ranges. However, species' ecology may change as they enter new communities, for example, their patterns of abundance at local scales. This could make it difficult to predict community structure in the face of ongoing species introductions.


Towards the vision of translating code that implements an algorithm from one programming language into another, this paper proposes an approach for automated program classification using bilateral tree-based convolutional neural networks (BiTBCNNs). It is layered on top of two tree-based convolutional neural networks (TBCNNs), each of which recognizes the algorithm of code written in an individual programming language. The combination layer of the networks recognizes the similarities and differences among code in different programming languages. The BiTBCNNs are trained using the source code in different languages but known to implement the same algorithms and/or functionalities. For a preliminary evaluation, we use 3591 Java and 3534 C++ code snippets from 6 algorithms we crawled systematically from GitHub. We obtained over 90% accuracy in the cross-language binary classification task to tell whether any given two code snippets implement the same algorithm. Also, for the algorithm classification task, i.e., to predict which one of the six algorithm labels is implemented by an arbitrary C++ code snippet, we achieved over 80% precision.


Introduction: Nurses are the "backbone" of any human services framework and their work is varied and extremely complicated. When carrying out their jobs, nurses faces different circumstances and patients, which are elements of the circumstances and patient level workloads. In addition, higher amount of nurse's dissatisfaction prompts to leave out from the nursing profession. This generally creates staff shortage among nurses. Due to  enhances extra time and job stress, increases burnout, longer patient holding up records, lastly, as an outcome expanded displeasure among patients Leadership is the way toward impacting representatives to accomplish organizational goals and objectives Methods: This analytical, cross-case study was conducted in public hospital of Lahore. Respondents 'selection was convenient sampling technique. Selected sample was 211 registered nurses. Well adopted questionnaire as per Likert scale was used in this study. Results: The finding of this study showed that caregivers prefer transformational styles of leaders to achieve optimal presentation of nurses. The results showed that there is statistically significance as p-value < 0.05 at all level of job satisfaction.Conclusions: A transformative leadership style promotes job satisfaction among nurses, which improves performance. Nurses job performance increased proportionally by increasing job satisfaction. In the current health system, it is necessary to develop leadership behaviors that have proven to be effective in the implementation of positive and adaptive behaviors among nurses. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 5, Issue-3: 201-208


The overlap between the separate fields of philosophy of technology and environmental philosophy can be investigated using the two longest running flagship journals for each field, Environmental Ethics (EE) and Research in Philosophy and Technology, which is now published as Techne: Research in Philosophy and Technology (RPT/Techne). By looking at the theoretical and conceptual ideas on nature and the environment expressed in RPT/Techne, at those on technology and artifacts expressed in EE, and at the individuals who contributed them using the principles of social epistemology as developed by Steve Fuller, a stereoscopic view incorporating the insights from both specializations can be constructed. The ideas developed in the articles can be charted like stars within constellations, loosely connected in groupings that are neither clear nor evident. Five constellations can be discerned from the relevant articles in each journal, and while there is some overlap, there is considerable difference. The stereoscopic view is developed in three ways: first, by reviewing the contributions of authors who have published in both journals; second, by utilizing resources in both specializations to add subtlety and depth to the ideas expressed, starting in this case from Jacques Ellul's "Nature, Technique and Artificiality"; and third, by using W. D. Ross's ethical theory, which fuses prima facie duties with virtues, to integrate traditional ethical concerns with those raised by philosophers focused on technology and those concerned with the environment.


Drug treatment has been and will continue to be a successful method in modern medicine that can change the course of a disease. However, it is surprisingly seldom used in the more technically oriented orthopedic surgery. Bone healing and physiological skeletal remodeling involve a complex set of regulated signaling pathways that control the formation of new bone matrix and the resorption of damaged bone at the disease or injury site. Pharmaceutical substances, both anabolic drugs increasing bone formation and anti-catabolic drugs decreasing bone resorption, can be used to modulate fracture healing. In the experimental studies, we used bone grafts placed in bone chambers in rats. In the first study the grafts were untreated and the animals received weekly injections with zoledronate, an anti-resorptive drug, or saline as control. In the second study the grafts were either pretreated with a bone inducing protein, BMP-7 or saline before surgery. As BMP-7 also induces resorption, the rats received either an injection of zoledronate or saline after two weeks. We saw that weekly injections of zoledronate decreased the resorption of both old graft and new-formed bone during bone graft remodeling. The combination of local BMP-7 and a single injection of zoledronate increased the bone formation substantially and at the same time protected the graft against premature catabolism. In the clinical studies, we used high tibial osteotomies as a clinical model to study the effect of a bisphosphonate in fracture healing and pin fixation. Forty-eight patients were randomized to either an infusion of 4 mg zoledronate or saline after four weeks. Zoledronate almost doubled the fixation of the non-coated pins in the diaphyseal bone. The healing time was not affected. In conclusion, bisphosphonates in experimental models delay the resorption of remodeling bone without disturbing the formation. BMP can be used to stimulate bone formation and can be combined with a bisphosphonate to control the simultaneously induced bone resorption. In humans single infusion of zoledronate almost doubled the pin-fixation in cortical diaphyseal bone. (Less)


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: In addition to the primary oncological aim of complete excision of cancer, post operative urinary continence remains a major element in the surgical management of patients with localised prostate cancer that Urologists continue to improve on. In the last decade, a new technique named Retzius Sparing (posterior approach), when compared to the standard (anterior approach) Robotic Assisted Radical Prostatectomy (RARP) has shown superior continence recovery. The technique of this posterior approach is technically challenging, especially when it relates to training Residents and Fellows. Our Unit performs a hybrid approach whereby a fusion of both techniques mentioned is employed. This is known as the Anterior Retzius Sparing (ARS) Technique for RARP. METHODS: In the posterior retzius sparing approach, preservation of all anterior structures such as the endopelvic fascia, dorsal venous complex (DVC) and pubovesical ligaments is performed. With our new ARS approach, we preserve the urachus and therefore the anatomical bladder position. The operation is continued in the standard anterior approach, except the dorsal venous complex (DVC) and urethral complex is dissected off the anterior side of the prostate. The non expert Urologists can perform Robotic suturing of the DVC, Rocco suture and the vesicourethral anastamosis in a familiar and training appropriate setting. Following the vesicourethral anastomosis, a 16 Foley 2-way catheter is inserted into the bladder suprapubically and left for 7 days. A urethral catheter is inserted also and removed on discharge, the following post operative day. Following our Institutional review board approval, we evaluated patients with localised prostate cancer that underwent RARP from 2017-2018 by a single surgeon. We compared the first 120 cases of ARS technique with 120 cases of the standard (anterior approach) RARP. RESULTS: Immediate continence was observed in 75% of cases from the anterior retzius group compared to 25% from the standard approach. Our initial results show that ARS translates to early return to full continence compared to the standard non retzius sparing approach. CONCLUSIONS: It is our conclusion that the ARS technique, compared to posterior retzius spare, has an easier learning curve, with less technical challenges as depicted in the surgical video. This is beneficial for the training of Residents and Fellows as is reflected by the familiar steps and anatomy of the conventional RARP. Importantly, it allows the patient the advantage of a retzius spare. Source of Funding: none


Very large-scale biometric systems are becoming mainstream in nationwide identity cards and mobile secure payment methods. As with other Big Data systems, biometric systems contend with the "four V" challenges that involve the effective managing of the complex life cycle and operations of identity information—despite the immense enrollment database size (
 volume
) and rapid transaction response-time (
 velocity
) requirements using potentially noisy, fraudulent (
 veracity
), and multiple (
 variety
) biometric identifiers. We describe representative techniques addressing these challenges in a variety of diverse and realistic biometrics applications such as 1) indexing methods that allow access in near constant time (velocity) irrespective of the scale (volume) of the biometric database, 2) fusing multiple (variety) biometrics to address risk and accuracy concerns, and 3) ensuring the integrity (veracity) of biometric databases by eliminating multiple duplicate records as well as protecting against theft of biometric identifiers. While sharing many commonalities with generic Big Data system-design issues, biometric systems also provide a rich case study involving how these issues manifest and are addressed in a unique, domain-specific way. We believe that by virtue of dealing with some of the most critical entities, namely identity and entitlement, biometric systems are likely to emerge as among the most critical of the Big Data systems.


This book provides the best solution for students and researchers in understanding the basic concept and the right procedure for the data analysis. The main objective of this book is to guide and help students or researchers who are using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software in performing the statistical methods in their applied research. This book is very easy to follow for beginners in SPSS by following simple step-by-step instructions. It is arranged in a way that it is user friendly, and is written in a simple language that can easily be understood by the users. This book will give a straightforward solution to students and can also be used as a guideline in performing the statistical test using statistical analysis tools. Hopefully this book will help students in making good presentations and conclusions based on the results obtained and provides valuable information on statistical methods in applied research.


We present the AGODA (Analyse sémantique et Graphes relationnels pour l'Ouverture des Débats à l'Assemblée nationale) project, which aims to create a platform for consulting and exploring digitised French parliamentary debates (1881-1940) available in the digital library of the National Library of France. This project brings together historians and NLP specialists: parliamentary debates are indeed an essential source for French history of the contemporary period, but also for linguistics. This project therefore aims to produce a corpus of texts that can be easily exploited with computational methods, and that respect the TEI standard. Ancient parliamentary debates are also an excellent case study for the development and application of tools for publishing and exploring large historical corpora. In this paper, we present the steps necessary to produce such a corpus. We detail the processing and publication chain of these documents, in particular by mentioning the problems linked to the extraction of texts from digitised images. We also introduce the first analyses that we have carried out on this corpus with "bag-of-words" techniques not too sensitive to OCR quality (namely topic modelling and word embedding).


Three series of six pyrazine-2-amidoxime (H2pzaox)-based 3d-4f clusters, {Ln8Ni6}, {Ln5Ni10} and {Ln5Ni8} (Ln = Dy and Gd), were solvothermally synthesized in the absence or presence of different coligands, and were structurally and magnetically characterized. The unusual ring-shaped {Ln8(μ3-OH)4} core in the two {Ln8Ni6} complexes is generated by four corner-sharing triangle {Ln3(μ3-OH)} units, which are further connected to six outer NiII ions by twelve deprotonated H2pzaox ligands in three common binding modes. By contrast, the remaining four clusters contain only two corner-sharing {Ln3(μ3-OH)} triangles, which interact with peripheral NiII ions through fourteen H2pzaox ligands in five (for {Ln5Ni10}) and four (for {Ln5Ni8}) different bridging ways. Thus, the interesting core motifs observed in these clusters depend significantly on the number of the triangular {Ln3(μ3-OH)} subunits and their connectivity manner with the singly and doubly deprotonated pyrazine-2-amidoxime ligand. Additionally, weak ferromagnetic superexchange in the {Dy5Ni10} and {Ln5Ni8} clusters and antiferromagnetic coupling in {Ln8Ni6} and {Gd5Ni10} clusters was respectively mediated by versatile oximate bridges between the intramolecular LnIII and NiII ions. Furthermore, the three DyIII-derived aggregates exhibit slightly temperature-dependent magnetic relaxations under a zero dc field, and the three GdIII-based clusters display large magnetic entropy changes of 23.5 J kg-1 K-1 for {Gd8Ni6}, 19.4 J kg-1 K-1 for {Gd5Ni10}, and 22.4 J kg-1 K-1 for {Ln5Ni8} at 4.0 K and 70 kOe. These interesting results are helpful for the understanding of oximate-based 3d-4f coordination chemistry and their structure-function relationships.

publisher-specific, author manuscript: http://rsc.li/journals-terms-of-use


Title of Document: EFFECT OF SWIRL ON THE CHOKING CRITERIA, SHOCK STRUCTURE, AND MIXING IN UNDEREXPANDED SUPERSONIC NOZZLE AIRFLOWS Ahmed Abdelhafez, Doctor of Philosophy, 2009 Directed by: Professor Ashwani K. Gupta Department of Mechanical Engineering Swirling flow in nozzles occurs in a number of important propulsion applications, including turbofans and turbojet engines, spin-stabilized rockets, and integral rocket/ramjets. This study examines the effect of imparting swirl to underexpanded supersonic nozzle airflow on the choking criteria, shock structure, and mixing. Fuel is injected coaxially along centerline at the nozzle throat. The nanosecond Schlieren and condensate-seeded Mie-scattering diagnostic techniques are utilized to visualize the shock structure and mixing within the free supersonic part of flowfield, while CFD numerical simulations are used to quantify the subsonic region inside nozzle. Thrust is measured experimentally to validate the numerical findings and assess the effect of swirl on nozzle choking criteria, primarily thrust and specific impulse. It is found that the throat velocity itself (not any of its components) is choked in a swirling flowfield. Therefore, the limiting tangential Mach number is unity. Moreover, the application of swirl always results in a reduction in axial Mach number component. The mass flow rate through nozzle is found to be primarily a function of throat static pressure and axial Mach number. The reduction in the latter with swirl explains the observed reduction in mass flow. Greater reservoir pressures, on the other hand, result in higher throat static pressures, which compensates for the reduced axial Mach number, and the mass flow rate can be kept constant at its non-swirling value. It is also found that the distribution of subsonic Mach number in a nonswirling flow is almost not affected with the application of swirl, i.e., non-swirling and swirling flows have the same subsonic Mach number profile. In terms of thrust and specific impulse, the application of swirl at matched nozzle reservoir pressure results in the expected reductions in discharge coefficient, thrust, and specific impulse. At matched mass flow, however, the application of swirl results in the enhancement of both thrust and specific impulse. This is attributed to the considerable degree of underexpansion associated with the swirling flow as a result of the higher nozzle reservoir pressure with swirl. In terms of shock strength, the application of swirl at matched reservoir pressure weakens the shock structure. Matching the mass flow, on the other hand, results in a stronger structure. Swirl is found to enhance supersonic mixing significantly, where swirl-induced vortices stir up and mix different regions of flowfield. High relative Mach numbers between air and fuel, combined with subsonic injection, are found to induce a negative-angled air/fuel shear layer, which results in mixing enhancement and a weaker shock structure. EFFECT OF SWIRL ON THE CHOKING CRITERIA, SHOCK STRUCTURE, AND MIXING IN UNDEREXPANDED SUPERSONIC NOZZLE AIRFLOWS


This essay reviews the "New History of Capitalism" (NHC) literature with specific attention to its claims about the relationship between capitalism and slavery. While others have critiqued severe deficiencies in the empirical dimensions of this literature, I focus upon the shortcomings in its conceptualization of "capitalism." In addition to being plagued by definitional imprecision surrounding its use of the term that causes NHC scholars to conflate the slave system with laissez-faire economic doctrines, this literature generally neglects the close historical association between classical economists and abolitionism. The ensuing confusion over the intellectual history of capitalism and its relationship to the emergence of economics as a social science leads several practitioners in the NHC literature to unwittingly adopt a modern iteration of the "King Cotton" economic thesis that was advanced by radical pro-slavery "fire eaters" on the eve of the American Civil War. While the two service opposite objectives with regards to slavery itself, they are shown to adopt eerily similar diagnoses of slavery's economic position in the world. As with its Confederate-era precursor, the NHC variant of this thesis errs in its attempt to reduce the complexities of an economy to a simplistic causal relationship based upon a single slave-produced crop.


We propose a parallel method for computing local Laplacian curvature flows for triangular meshes. Laplace operator is widely used in mesh processing for mesh fairing, noise removal or curvature estimation. If the Laplacian flow is used in global sense constraining a whole mesh with an iterative weighted linear system, it can be used even for mesh contraction. However, numerical solution of such a global linear system is computationally expensive. Therefore, we have developed a method to compute such an iterative linear system using only local neighbourhoods of each vertex in parallel. Parallel computation of local linear systems is performed on GPU using OpenCL. We have evaluated speedups of the parallelization using both local and global Laplacian flows. We show test cases, where the parallel local method can be used for mesh fairing. In contrary, we also investigate and outline a fail case, where the local Laplacian flow cannot be used. When the local Laplacian flow has problems with global convergence, we offer a global parallelization of the linear system solving as an alternative.


Silicon nanocrystals, average sizes ranging between 3 and 7 nm, were formed in sapphire matrix by ion implantation and subsequent annealing. Evolution of the nanocrystals was detected by Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction XRD. Raman spectra display that clusters in the matrix start to form nanocrystalline structures at annealing temperatures as low as 800 ° C in samples with high dose Si implantation. The onset temperature of crystallization increases with decreasing dose. Raman spectroscopy and XRD reveal gradual transformation of Si clusters into crystalline form. Visible photoluminescence band appears following implantation and its intensity increases with subsequent annealing process. While the center of the peak does not shift, the intensity of the peak decreases with increasing dose. The origin of the observed photoluminescence is discussed in terms of radiation induced defects in the sapphire matrix. © 2006 American Institute of Physics. DOI: 10.1063/1.2355543


Abstract We introduce Multi-SimLex, a large-scale lexical resource and evaluation benchmark covering data sets for 12 typologically diverse languages, including major languages (e.g., Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Russian) as well as less-resourced ones (e.g., Welsh, Kiswahili). Each language data set is annotated for the lexical relation of semantic similarity and contains 1,888 semantically aligned concept pairs, providing a representative coverage of word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), frequency ranks, similarity intervals, lexical fields, and concreteness levels. Additionally, owing to the alignment of concepts across languages, we provide a suite of 66 crosslingual semantic similarity data sets. Because of its extensive size and language coverage, Multi-SimLex provides entirely novel opportunities for experimental evaluation and analysis. On its monolingual and crosslingual benchmarks, we evaluate and analyze a wide array of recent state-of-the-art monolingual and crosslingual representation models, including static and contextualized word embeddings (such as fastText, monolingual and multilingual BERT, XLM), externally informed lexical representations, as well as fully unsupervised and (weakly) supervised crosslingual word embeddings. We also present a step-by-step data set creation protocol for creating consistent, Multi-Simlex–style resources for additional languages. We make these contributions—the public release of Multi-SimLex data sets, their creation protocol, strong baseline results, and in-depth analyses which can be helpful in guiding future developments in multilingual lexical semantics and representation learning—available via a Web site that will encourage community effort in further expansion of Multi-Simlex to many more languages. Such a large-scale semantic resource could inspire significant further advances in NLP across languages.


The kernel support vector machine (SVM) is one of the most widely used classification methods; however, the amount of computation required becomes the bottleneck when facing millions of samples. In this paper, we propose and analyze a novel divide-and-conquer solver for kernel SVMs (DC-SVM). In the division step, we partition the kernel SVM problem into smaller subproblems by clustering the data, so that each subproblem can be solved independently and efficiently. We show theoretically that the support vectors identified by the subproblem solution are likely to be support vectors of the entire kernel SVM problem, provided that the problem is partitioned appropriately by kernel clustering. In the conquer step, the local solutions from the subproblems are used to initialize a global coordinate descent solver, which converges quickly as suggested by our analysis. By extending this idea, we develop a multilevel Divide-and-Conquer SVM algorithm with adaptive clustering and early prediction strategy, which outperforms state-of-the-art methods in terms of training speed, testing accuracy, and memory usage. As an example, on the covtype dataset with half-a-million samples, DC-SVM is 7 times faster than LIBSVM in obtaining the exact SVM solution (to within 10-6 relative error) which achieves 96.15% prediction accuracy. Moreover, with our proposed early prediction strategy, DC-SVM achieves about 96% accuracy in only 12 minutes, which is more than 100 times faster than LIBSVM.


The standardized precipitation index and normalized difference vegetation index on event incidences (at different time scale) and biomass feed dry matter production, were used to assess climate change influences on feed availability. A significant decline (p<0.05) in feed dry matter availability indices across years was observed. The deviation from normality shows that the biomass feed production could vary significantly during drought occurrence years and this accelerates profoundly over time as drought frequency is expected to increase over time. The highest significant decline was observed in 2015 followed by 2006 and 2014. The results of analysis of the impact of climate change on livestock in relation to biomass dry matter production discretely subdivide different agro-ecological zones into land use land cover classes in southwestern Ethiopia. As represented by temporal scale drought, flooding and landslides were incidences considered as the major climatic risks in the study area. The risks threaten the livelihoods and even the security of the socio-ecological systems in general and such marginalized segments of the farming society in particular. The future needs effective action on environment management, devising adaptive and mitigation mechanism and change should aim at managing the occurrence and effects of extremes.

 Key words: Biomass base feed, climate extreme event, livestock feed risk, temporal scale.


Visual neurons respond selectively to specific features that become increasingly complex in their form and dynamics from the eyes to the cortex. Retinal neurons prefer localized flashing spots of light, primary visual cortical (V1) neurons moving bars, and those in higher cortical areas, such as middle temporal (MT) cortex, favor complex features like moving textures. Whether there are general computational principles behind this diversity of response properties remains unclear. To date, no single normative model has been able to account for the hierarchy of tuning to dynamic inputs along the visual pathway. Here we show that hierarchical application of temporal prediction - representing features that efficiently predict future sensory input from past sensory input - can explain how neuronal tuning properties, particularly those relating to motion, change from retina to higher visual cortex. This suggests that the brain may not have evolved to efficiently represent all incoming information, as implied by some leading theories. Instead, the selective representation of sensory inputs that help in predicting the future may be a general neural coding principle, which when applied hierarchically extracts temporally-structured features that depend on increasingly high-level statistics of the sensory input.


An inclusive search for a new-physics signature of lepton-jet resonances has been performed by the ATLAS experiment. Scalar leptoquarks, pair-produced in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV at the large hadron collider, have been considered. An integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1, corresponding to the full 2015 dataset was used. First (second) generation leptoquarks were sought in events with two electrons (muons) and two or more jets. The observed event yield in each channel is consistent with Standard Model background expectations. The observed (expected) lower limits on the leptoquark mass at 95% confidence level are 1100 and 1050 GeV (1160 and 1040 GeV) for first and second generation leptoquarks, respectively, assuming a branching ratio into a charged lepton and a quark of 100%. Upper limits on the aforementioned branching ratio are also given as a function of leptoquark mass. Compared with the results of earlier ATLAS searches, the sensitivity is increased for leptoquark masses above 860 GeV, and the observed exclusion limits confirm and extend the published results.


The main purpose of this study is to develop a Fuzzy inference system to predict bank profitability in Iran and help investors in their investment decisions. For this purpose, the main effective variables on bank profitability, including facilities, deposits, manpower costs, and assets were recognized. In the next step, the data of 13 banks were collected from 2001 to 2011. The membership functions and Fuzzy rules were developed in the MATLAB software and then, Fuzzy inference system was developed. The findings revealed that the system has an appropriate performance in predicting profitability of Iranian banks and rarely makes any error in this area. The predicted profitability of many banks has increased during the study period and also the predicted profitability of private banks was more than public banks. The banks of Industry and Mine and Karafarin Bank had the least profitability and Mellat Bank had the highest. Finally, Post Bank had the most errors while Mellat Bank had the fewest errors.


This paper deals with the low complexity algorithm for the check node processing i.e. L-bubble check algorithm in non-binary LDPC decoders. After a review of the state-of-the-art, there is a focus on a reduction of hardware requirement for check node processing using high level synthesis. High level synthesis helps in optimizing the hardware design to a great extent. This motivated to use high level synthesis for implementing the L-bubble check algorithm. Finally, high level synthesis results are presented which shows that the number of slices required to implement the L-bubble check algorithm using HLS is 204.


The lattice of invariant subspaces of several Banach spaces of analytic functions on the unit disk, for example the Bergman spaces and the Dirichlet spaces, have been studied recently. A natural question is to what extent these investigations carry over to analogously defined spaces on an annulus. We consider this question in the context of general Banach spaces of analytic functions on finitely connected domains $\Omega$. The main result reads as follows: Assume that $B$ is a Banach space of analytic functions satisfying some conditions on the domain $\Omega$. Assume further that $M(B)$ is the set of all multipliers of $B$. Let $\Omega _1$ be a domain obtained from $\Omega$ by adding some of the bounded connectivity components of $\Bbb C \setminus \Omega$. Also, let $B_1$ be the closed subspace of $B$ of all functions that extend analytically to $\Omega _1$. Then the mapping $I \mapsto \operatorname{clos} (I\cdot M(B))$ gives a one-to-one correspondence between a class of multiplier invariant subspaces $I$ of $B_1$, and a class of multiplier invariant subspaces $J$ of $B$. The inverse mapping is given by $J \mapsto J \cap B_1$.


Suggest to the average leftist that animals should be part of broader liberation struggles and—once they stop laughing—you'll find yourself casually dismissed. With a focus on labor, property, and the life of commodities, Making a Killing contains key insights into the broad nature of domination, power, and hierarchy. It explores the intersections between human and animal oppressions in relation to the exploitative dynamics of capitalism. Combining nuts-and-bolts Marxist political economy, a pluralistic anarchist critique, as well as a searing assessment of the animal rights movement, Bob Torres challenges conventional anticapitalist thinking and convincingly advocates for the abolition of animals in industry—and on the dinner plate. Making A Killing is sure to spark wide debate in the animal rights and anarchist movements for years to come.


This paper presents a road-network search route planning algorithm by which multiple autonomous vehicles are able to efficiently visit every road identified in the map in the context of the Chinese postman problem. Since the typical Chinese postman algorithm can be applied solely to a connected road-network in which ground vehicles are involved, it is modified to be used for a general type of road map including unconnected roads as well as the operational and physical constraints of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For this, a multi-choice multi-dimensional knapsack problem is formulated to find an optimal solution minimising flight time and then solved via mixed integer linear programming. To deal with the dynamic constraints of the UAVs, the Dubins theory is used for path generation. In particular, a circular–circular–circular type of the Dubins path is exploited based on a differential geometry to guarantee that the vehicles follow the road precisely in a densely distributed road environment. Moreover, to overcome the computational burden of the multi-choice multi-dimensional knapsack algorithm, a nearest insertion and auction-based approximation algorithm is newly introduced. The properties and performance of the proposed algorithm are evaluated via numerical simulations operating on a real village map and randomly generated maps with different parameters.


The presence research community would benefit from a reliable and valid cross-media presence measure that allows results from different laboratories to be compared and a more comprehensive knowledge base to be developed. The ITC-Sense of Presence Inventory (ITC-SOPI) is a new state questionnaire measure whose development has been informed by previous research on the determinants of presence and current self-report measures. It focuses on users' experiences of media, with no reference to objective system parameters. More than 600 people completed the ITC-SOPI following an experience with one of a range of noninteractive and interactive media. Exploratory analysis (principal axis factoring) revealed four factors: Sense of Physical Space, Engagement, Ecological Validity, and Negative Effects. Relations between the factors and the consistency of the factor structure with others reported in the literature are discussed. Preliminary analyses described here demonstrate that the ITC-SOPI is reliable and valid, but more rigorous testing of its psychometric properties and applicability to interactive virtual environments is required. Subject to satisfactory confirmatory analyses, the ITC-SOPI will offer researchers using a range of media systems a tool with which to measure four facets of a media experience that are putatively related to presence.


What will happen if a new tool is introduced to different cultures? What if the tool can potentially bridge those cultures? Will it be used in the same way across cultures and contribute to a decrease in cultural differences? Or will it be used in culturally appropriate ways and eventually integrated into preexisting cultural practices? To answer these questions, we predicted and examined cultural differences in the use of Facebook focusing on social networks. In support of the prediction, the present work found that users in individualistic cultures had more ego-centric networks (i.e., members of networks were connected via the self) than users in collectivistic cultures. The results were consistent across a two-culture comparison and a multicultural analysis across 49 nations. Additional findings suggest that (a) living in individualistic/collectivistic cultures are closely linked to these differences in social networks and (b) the individualism–collectivism may have stronger influences than ecological factors that gave rise to it.