Recruitment of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) into tumors induces local immunosuppression in carcinomas. Here, we assessed whether SX-682, an orally bioavailable small-molecule inhibitor of CXCR1 and CXCR2, could block tumor MDSC recruitment and enhance T cell activation and antitumor immunity following multiple forms of immunotherapy. CXCR2+ neutrophilic MDSCs (PMN-MDSCs) were the most abundant myeloid cell subset within oral and lung syngeneic carcinomas. PMN-MDSCs demonstrated greater suppression of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte killing of targets compared with macrophages. SX-682 significantly inhibited trafficking of PMN-MDSCs without altering CXCR2 ligand expression. Trafficking of CXCR1+ macrophages was unaltered, possibly due to coexpression of CSF1R. Reduced PMN-MDSC tumor infiltration correlated with enhanced accumulation of endogenous or adoptively transferred T cells. Accordingly, tumor growth inhibition or the rate of established tumor rejection following programed death-axis (PD-axis) immune checkpoint blockade or adoptive cell transfer of engineered T cells was enhanced in combination with SX-682. Despite CXCR1/2 expression on tumor cells, SX-682 appeared to have little direct antitumor effect on these carcinoma models. These data suggest that tumor-infiltrating CXCR2+ PMN-MDSCs may prevent optimal responses following both PD-axis immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T cell transfer therapy. Abrogation of PMN-MDSC trafficking with SX-682 enhances T cell-based immunotherapeutic efficacy and may be of benefit to patients with MDSC-infiltrated cancers.


Industries such as trade, manufacturing and transportation have undergone significant changes due to the globalization concept. Sea ports play a very important role in building and strengthening the economies of countries worldwide. Due to the high rate of production, the work load has increased at the ports which resulted into financial as well as capacity problems. As a result of such problems, cost optimized and automated solutions are being developed and introduced at the ports. In the horizontal transport system of the sea ports, AGVs are one of those automated solutions used to transport containers from ships to yard and vice versa. Newer and more practices are being employed to make the efficient transportation of these AGVs. Numexia has recently introduced a new version of Cassette AGVs called Zero-Emission C-AGV. A conceptual model is developed for Zero-Emission C-AGVs and different layouts are evaluated using multi agent-based simulation. The greedy algorithm has been used for the efficient dispatching of jobs. The Simulation will carry out the dispatching of jobs for C-AGVs between quay area and yard using different layouts and scenarios for the unloading operation.


The Present Perfect (PP) in some Peninsular Spanish dialects is following the same path as other Romance languages; it is going through a grammaticalization process where the PP is usurping the semantic domains of the Preterite. This is the case of many Peninsular dialects such as Alicante (Schwenter, 1994) and Madrid (Serrano, 1994) among others as well as Bilbao (Kempas, 2005). He found that the frequencies of PPs in hodiernal contexts were higher than in other Spanish cities so these findings point out to a more advanced path of grammaticalization in this city. Previous studies have paid more attention to the linguistic constraints that favor the use of the PP instead of the Preterite rather than the social factors that influence this linguistic change. In this article, I focus on the study of three social variables (age, gender and class) to account for evidence of a change in progress in Bilbao Spanish.


Local near-field enhancement of random Sb-SiN films has been studied. Specimens consisting of a random Sb-SiN film and an optical recording layer were prepared and exposed to a focused laser beam. Laser-induced ablation occurred on the recording layer adjacent to random Sb-SiN film much faster and at much lower power than on a single recording layer. These results indicate that an optical field can be enhanced by random Sb-SiN films. The enhanced field was subsequently investigated by scanning near-field optical microscopy, and the pictures revealed that the enhanced field was localized.


Stackelberg games are two-stage games in which the first player (called the leader) commits to a strategy, after which the other player (the follower) selects a best-response. These types of games have seen numerous practical application in security settings, where the leader (in this case, a defender) must allocate resources to protect various targets. Real world applications include the scheduling of US federal air marshals to international flights, and resource allocation at LAX airport. However, the best known algorithm for solving general Stackelberg games requires solving Integer Programs, and fails to scale beyond a few (significantly smaller than 100) number of leader actions, or follower types. In this paper, we present a new gradient-based approach for solving large Stackelberg games in security settings. Large-scale control problems are often solved by restricting the controller to a rich parameterized class of policies; the optimal control can then be computed using Monte Carlo gradient methods. We demonstrate that the same approach can be taken in a strategic setting. We evaluate our approach empirically, demonstrating that it can have negligible regret against the leader's true equilibrium strategy, while scaling to large games.


Completion of junior high school is a critical milestone in every Ghanaian child's educational trajectory and a critical step toward the transition to higher education. However, the rate of children completing junior high school still lags behind most educational indicators in Ghana. Far more attention is paid to ensuring that students enroll in school, with very little investment or commitment paid toward ensuring that they graduate or complete junior high school. Part of the problem is that there is little to no research on the challenges that children, especially girls, face in completing school. This study aims to bring school completion trends and related challenges to the forefront of research and policy discourse. Thus, the study uses multilevel growth curve modeling, spatial hot spot analysis, and school completion data (from 2009 through 2013) to offer longitudinal insights into (a) the scale and trajectories of junior high school completion in Ghana, and (b) the gender and spatial nuances in the trends. Findings suggest that the completion rate is steadily improving but still low. Findings also reveal unequivocal gender and spatial disparities in the completion rate and the rate's trajectories, although the spatial inequalities between northern and southern Ghana are more severe compared to the gender inequalities. Suggestions for how Ghana's government and its development partners can bridge the gender and spatial gaps are discussed.


Restitution policy in Europe since 1945. Tensions between national constructions of memory and politics.
In the immediate aftermath of WWII, the Western Allies and the Soviet Union formulated divergent restitution policies for art and artefacts looted during the war. This first wave of restitutions, which lasted to the beginning of 1950, was dominated by the US policy based mainly on the 1907 Hague Convention of War. While the military governments in the western occupied zones of Germany and Austria mostly adhered to these regulations, the Soviet Union and its satellite states only chose to abide by them, when it was in their interest. Interestingly enough, Western European states in the case of the so-called inner restitution also selectively ignored these regulations.
During the Cold War the successful restitution became increasingly rare. The few spectacular cases in which such restitution occurred were mostly politically motivated.
The second wave of restitutions began soon after the fall of the Berlin wall and continues until today. It tends to be initiated at two different levels. On the one hand, it has occurred at the level of nation states and their respective governments. Based on the public international law, it (mostly) concerns the mutual return of looted and/or displaced artefacts. On the other hand, the second wave also concerns the restitution of art confiscated by the Nazi regime between 1933–1945 to their rightful owners and/or heirs. While there is usually no more enforceable legal claim to these restitutions – with some exceptions – many states have decided to honour these claims since 1998 as an ethical obligation (Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art; 2009 reinforced in the Teresin Declaration).
Drawing on selected examples an article examines how national and nationalistic constructions of memory have hampered transnational efforts at restitution. An author argues that the first wave already demonstrates the seemingly irreconcilable differences in how restitution was understood in national and international contexts, whereas the second wave illustrates the interaction of the official policy in different states and the opposing national narratives on World War II and the Holocaust.


Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue malignancy in children. Despite intensive research in recent decades the prognosis for patients with metastatic or relapsed diseases has hardly improved. New therapeutic concepts in anti-tumor therapy aim to modulate the patient's immune system to increase its aggressiveness or targeted effects toward tumor cells. Besides surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, immune activation by direct application of cytokines, antibodies or adoptive cell therapy are promising approaches. In the last years, adoptive transfer of natural killer (NK) cells came into the focus of translational medicine, because of their high cytotoxic potential against transformed malignant cells. A main challenge of NK cell therapy is that it requires a high amount of functional NK cells. Therefore, ex vivo NK cell expansion protocols are currently being developed. Many culturing strategies are based on the addition of feeder or accessory cells, which need to be removed prior to the clinical application of the final NK cell product. In this study, we addressed feeder cell-free expansion methods using common γ-chain cytokines, especially IL-15 and IL-21. Our results demonstrated high potential of IL-15 for NK cell expansion, while IL-21 triggered NK cell maturation and functionality. Hence, we established a two-phase expansion protocol with IL-15 to induce an early NK cell expansion, followed by short exposure to IL-21 that boosted the cytotoxic activity of NK cells against RMS cells. Further functional analyses revealed enhanced degranulation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α. In a proof of concept in vivo study, we also observed a therapeutic effect of adoptively transferred IL-15 expanded and IL-21 boosted NK cells in combination with image guided high precision radiation therapy using a luciferase-transduced RMS xenograft model. In summary, this two-phased feeder cell-free ex vivo culturing protocol combined efficient expansion and high cytolytic functionality of NK cells for treatment of radiation-resistant RMS.


Performance evaluation may change employee effort and decisions in unintended ways, for example, in multitask jobs where the evaluation measure captures only a subset of (differentially weights) the job tasks. We show evidence of this multitask distortion in schools, with teachers allocating effort across students (tasks). Teachers are evaluated based on student test scores; students who fail the test are retested 2-3 weeks later; and only the higher of the two scores is used in the teachers' evaluations. This retesting feature creates a sharp difference in the returns to teacher effort directed at failing versus passing students, even though both barely failing and barely passing students have arguably equal educational claim on (returns to) teacher effort. Using RD methods, we show that students who barely fail the end of school-year 𝑡 math test, and are then retested, score higher one year later (𝑡+1) compared to those who barely pass. This difference in scores occurs during the four years of the retest policy, but not in the years before or after. We find no evidence that the results arise from retesting per se, or from changes in students' own behavior alone. The results suggest teachers give more effort to some students (tasks) simply because of the evaluation system incentives.


Research at Cape Mamontov Klyk, Northern Siberia, was carried out to reconstruct the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmentalhistory in this remote region. The investigated area is located in the Lena-Anabar lowland at the LaptevSea coast. Generally, the cliff of Cape Mamontovy Klyk (73° 36? N; 117° 10? E) consists of ice-rich sediments witha complicated depositionary and cryolithological situation.Samples of sediments and ice wedges of different generations were taken over the whole vertical profile of the cliff forsedimentological, hydrochemical and isotope-geochemical analyses. These include analyses of grain size, and C andN content in order to get information about the conditions of deposition. With the ice wedge samples hydrochemicalanalyses (major ions) and AE18O and AED analyses were carried out for information about hydrological and palaeoclimaticconditions. A clear stratification of four units outcropping at the cliff can be found regarding the differentsedimentological parameters. About 4 m thick bottom sands with ice-sand-wedges represent the oldest unit in thissection (IRSL dated between 31:34:2 and 56:26:7 ka). It is overlain by a 5 m thick peat-sand-complexwith smallice wedges radiocarbon dated 30 to 45 ka 14C BP. Above that the Late Pleistocene Ice Complex as the main unit (about9 to 20 m thick) is one of the most peculiar cryolithological formations in this region characterised by silty sands withhuge syngenetic ice wedges. The Ice Complex is partly covered by a 2 m thick horizon of peat-rich, silty sedimentsof Holocene age. Besides this, two more subunits of Holocene age can be distinguished: deposits of thermoerosionalvalleys as well as fluvial deposits. First interpretations of these units indicate changing depositionary conditions froma rather fluvial to an alluvial environment in the Pleistocene and thermoerosional destruction in the Holocene.Recent ice wedges of the profile seem to be genetically correlated with snow patches as their isotopic composition isin the same range. Ice wedge growth is caused by the repeated cracking of the frozen ground, followed by penetrationand refreezing of melt water of winter snow. Thus, the isotopic signal of wedge ice may reflect winter temperatures.Assuming this, results of the isotopic composition of the ice wedges indicate that today?s climate seems to be thewarmest for that area since recent ice wedges show the heaviest isotopic composition of all units. Winter conditionsduring the Holocene were similar, but slightly colder than today.The Pleistocene ice wedges show a clear transition in the isotopic compositions which separate them clearly fromthe Holocene units ( 5? in AE18O less) pointing to colder winter temperatures at that time. The peat-sand-complexshows extreme variations in the isotopic composition. It has to be solved if these variations can only be explained byfluctuations in the winter temperatures. The lowermost unit (bottom sands) represents a period that is characterised bycold temperatures and low climatic variability in the winter season.Hydrochemical results for the ice wedges show that Holocene ice wedges are characterised by higher sodium andchloride contents and may therefore point to a stronger maritime influence whereas ice wedges of Pleistocene ageshow higher contents of calcium and hydrogen carbonate and may therefore be associated with a rather continentallyaffected environment.


Ultrasound images are widely used for diagnosis of congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT). Since a typical clinical ultrasound image captures 2D information of a specific view plan of the kidney and images of the same kidney on different planes have varied appearances, it is challenging to develop a computer aided diagnosis tool robust to ultrasound images in different views. To overcome this problem, we develop a multi-instance deep learning method for distinguishing children with CAKUT from controls based on their clinical ultrasound images, aiming to automatic diagnose the CAKUT in children based on ultrasound imaging data. Particularly, a multi-instance deep learning method was developed to build a robust pattern classifier to distinguish children with CAKUT from controls based on their ultrasound images in sagittal and transverse views obtained during routine clinical care. The classifier was built on imaging features derived using transfer learning from a pre-trained deep learning model with a mean pooling operator for fusing instance-level classification results. Experimental results have demonstrated that the multi-instance deep learning classifier performed better than classifiers built on either individual sagittal slices or individual transverse slices.


Public awareness of the negative effects of climate change is vital since it leads to collective action for prevention and adaptation. However, investigations on to what extent people are aware of the climate change issue are rare in the literature. The present study reported the adaptation process of awareness to climate change questionnaire into Turkish, and tested the conceptual model of willingness to act for pro-climate change friendly behavior in Turkish context. For these purposes, the questionnaire was administered to 603 pre-service teachers. The study also provided an insight through the analysis of the questionnaire for pre-service teachers' ideas about climate change and the terms related to climate change with an aim to provide information that can be useful for the international and national audiences. Therefore, the findings of the project shed light on to pre-service teachers' awareness regarding impacts of climate change, individual and industry initiative friendly behavior through a conceptual model.


Body sensors networks (BSNs) are emerging technologies that are enabling long-term, continuous, remote monitoring of physiologic and biokinematic information for various medical applications. Because of the varying computational, storage, and communication capabilities of different components in the BSN, system designers must make design choices that trade off information quality with resource consumption and system battery lifetime. Given these trade-offs, there is the possibility that the information presented to the health practitioner at the end point may deviate from what was originally sensed. In some cases, these deviations may cause a practitioner to make a different decision from what would have been made given the original data. Engineers working on such systems typically resort to traditional measures of data quality like RMSE; however, these metrics have been shown in many cases to not correlate well with the notions of information quality for the particular application. Objective metrics of information distortion and its effects on decision making are therefore necessary to help BSN designers make more informed trade-offs between design constraints and information quality and to help practitioners understand the kind of information being produced by BSNs, on which they have to base decisions. In this paper, we present a general methodology for developing such metrics for various BSN applications, illustrate how this methodology can be applied to a real application through a case study, and discuss issues with developing such metrics.


Mountain forests suffer from an increase in frequency and severity of summer droughts and infestations of pathogens and insects. Those factors are causing high mortality of some keystone tree species (forest die-offs). Yet, how tree diebacks and associated changes in forest composition will affect local diversity and ecosystem functions remains unknown. Here, we aim at quantifying the impact of climate-induced forest decline on biodiversity by measuring changes in taxonomic structure of invertebrate communities along gradients of silver fir (Abies alba) dieback in the French Pyrenees. We use DNA metabarcoding to analyse 224 samples of Malaise traps placed on 56 silver fir dominated plots in the French Pyrenees from May to September 2017. Samples were sequenced using Illumina MiSeq and analysed using the DAMe twin-tagging pipeline approach. We conducted taxonomic assignment against reference DNA barcode libraries to streamli ne identification and recover biological information for ecological analysis. We discuss the results of our metabarcoding analysis and the utility of our approach to conduct biomonitoring across a large geographical scale.


Mobile WiMAX is based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access technique. It, therefore, inherited the frequency and timing offset problems which contribute to the loss of the transmitted data. To overcome these problems, the transmitter and receiver must be well synchronized. This paper addresses the Mobile Wimax concept and introduces synchronization algorithms for frequency, timing acquisition, and cell search. These algorithms have been simulated under adaptive white Gaussian noise and fading channel for different values of signal to noise ratio. The simulation results obtained show that most of the errors have been successfully illuminated. Keywordsmobile WiMAX; orthogonal frequency division multiple access synchronization algorithms


Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) also known as Devic's disease is an acute demyelinating disorder combined with optic neuritis and transverse myelitis.A 10 years old boy presented in the ER with the complaints of fever and back pain for past 10 days and inability to walk for 6-7 days. He had developed urinary retention and constipation for the past 5 days along with abdominal distension. There was also blurring of vision in the left eye with only light perception and rapid afferent papillary defect was present while the right eye was normal. The provisional diagnosis was Transverse myelitis vsNeuromyelitisoptica (NMO). CSF revealed TLC 4, protein 54mg/dl, glucose 66mg/dl. Oligoclonal bands were negative. There was raised CPK. Visual evoked potential (VEP) showed prolongation of P100 latency along with amplitude loss, in left eye.His MRI spine showed extensive involvement of the spinal cord especially the cervical cord and there was no involvement of the brain. Left eye had optic neuritis.He was treated with steroid pulse therapy and later Plasmapharesis and was discharged home on azathioprine with no motor deficit but the visual loss was irreversible


"Agricultural diversification towards high-value crops can potentially increase farm incomes, especially in a country like India where demand for high-value food products has been increasing more quickly than that for staple crops. Indian agriculture is overwhelmingly dominated by smallholders, and researchers have long debated the ability of a smallholder-dominated subsistence farm economy to diversify into riskier high-value crops. Here, we present evidence that the gradual diversification of Indian agriculture towards high-value crops exhibits a pro-smallholder bias, with smallholders playing a proportionally larger role in the cultivation of vegetables versus fruits. The observed patterns are consistent with simple comparative advantage-based production choices. The comparatively high labor endowments of the small farmers, as reflected in their greater family sizes, induce them to diversify towards vegetables. Although fruit cultivation is also labor intensive (as compared to cultivation of staples), fruits are relatively capital intensive, making them a less advantageous choice for smallholders who tend to have low capital endowments. Furthermore, both the probability of participation in fruit and vegetable cultivation as well as land allocation to horticulture decreases with the size of landholdings in India. Small or medium holders do not appear to allocate a greater share of land to fruits or vegetables. However, the share allocated to vegetables is significantly higher if the family size is bigger, while the reverse is true in the case of fruits." from Authors' Abstract


Wampold and Imel (2015) argue that therapeutic outcomes may be more dependent on variables associated with therapists than treatment systems. An element of these therapist variables include the emotional and social skills of therapists, however, to date, little has been done to investigate the relationships between these therapy factors. One exception to this is pilot research conducted by my supervisors, their students, and myself (Harvey, Marwick, Baken, Bimler, & Dickson, 2016). This thesis aims to replicate and extend on this pilot research as to better understand therapists' emotional and social skills in practice. Using three complementary approaches including thematic analysis of therapist transcripts, a date-specific literature review, and revision of foundational research, Harvey et al.'s original pool of emotional and social skills was revised and extended. Subsequently, using a statistical method for mapping psychological constructs, therapists' emotional practices were transformed into a 'map' with three spatial dimensions, which was generally supported by comparative reliability checks including a validation study with a foreign-language sample. Finally, the nature of emotional practice was further investigated by administering a questionnaire of emotional practice items to 79 therapists. From this, eight salient practice constructs were identified. Statistical links were also found between these and both demographic data and a modified measure of the therapeutic relationship. Furthermore, using Q-analysis, a general consensus of responding was found between therapists' emotional response patterns and as a result, a tentative pathway to therapists' practice styles was developed. From these findings important research and clinical applications are apparent.


It has been previously proposed that understanding the mechanisms of contour perception can provide a theory for why some flow rendering methods allow for better judgments of advection pathways than others. In this article, we develop this theory through a numerical model of the primary visual cortex of the brain (Visual Area 1) where contour enhancement is understood to occur according to most neurological theories. We apply a two-stage model of contour perception to various visual representations of flow fields evaluated using the advection task of Laidlaw et al. In the first stage, contour enhancement is modeled based on Li's cortical model. In the second stage, a model of streamline tracing is proposed, designed to support the advection task. We examine the predictive power of the model by comparing its performance to that of human subjects on the advection task with four different visualizations. The results show the same overall pattern for humans and the model. In both cases, the best performance was obtained with an aligned streamline based method, which tied with a LIC-based method. Using a regular or jittered grid of arrows produced worse results. The model yields insights into the relative strengths of different flow visualization methods for the task of visualizing advection pathways.


Costaceae are a pantropical family, distinguished from other families within the order Zingiberales by their spiral phyllotaxy and showy labellum comprised of five fused staminodes. While the majority of Costaceae species are found in the neotropics, the pantropical distribution of the family as a whole could be due to a number of historical biogeographic scenarios, including continental-drift mediated vicariance and long-distance dispersal events. Here, the hypothesis of an ancient Gondwanan distribution followed by vicariance via continental drift as the leading cause of the current pantropical distribution of Costaceae is tested, using molecular dating of cladogenic events combined with phylogeny-based biogeographic analyses. Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis (DIVA) is used to determine ancestral distributions based upon the modern distribution of extant taxa in a phylogenetic context. Diversification ages within Costaceae are estimated using chloroplast DNA data (trnL-F and trnK) analyzed with a local clock procedure. In the absence of fossil evidence, the divergence time between Costaceae and Zingiberaceae, as estimated in an ordinal analysis of Zingiberales, is used as the calibration point for converting relative to absolute ages. The results of the temporal analysis based on extant taxa indicate that the initial diversification within Costaceae occurred approximately 65 million years ago, long after the final break up of the Gondwanan supercontinent. Considering this minimum age of diversification, potential scenarios for the current biogeographic patterns found in Costaceae are presented in a temporal and spatial context. The evolution of specialized floral forms associated with specific pollinators is also discussed within the biogeographic framework.


Importance The death of a pediatric patient with sepsis motivated New York to mandate statewide sepsis treatment in 2013. The mandate included a 1-hour bundle of blood cultures, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and a 20-mL/kg intravenous fluid bolus. Whether completing the bundle elements within 1 hour improves outcomes is unclear. Objective To determine the risk-adjusted association between completing the 1-hour pediatric sepsis bundle and individual bundle elements with in-hospital mortality. Design, Settings, and Participants Statewide cohort study conducted from April 1, 2014, to December 31, 2016, in emergency departments, inpatient units, and intensive care units across New York State. A total of 1179 patients aged 18 years and younger with sepsis and septic shock reported to the New York State Department of Health who had a sepsis protocol initiated were included. Exposures Completion of a 1-hour sepsis bundle within 1 hour compared with not completing the 1-hour sepsis bundle within 1 hour. Main Outcomes and Measures Risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality. Results Of 1179 patients with sepsis reported at 54 hospitals (mean [SD] age, 7.2 [6.2] years; male, 54.2%; previously healthy, 44.5%; diagnosed as having shock, 68.8%), 139 (11.8%) died. The entire sepsis bundle was completed in 1 hour in 294 patients (24.9%). Antibiotics were administered to 798 patients (67.7%), blood cultures were obtained in 740 patients (62.8%), and the fluid bolus was completed in 548 patients (46.5%) within 1 hour. Completion of the entire bundle within 1 hour was associated with lower risk-adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.59 [95% CI, 0.38 to 0.93], P = .02; predicted risk difference [RD], 4.0% [95% CI, 0.9% to 7.0%]). However, completion of each individual bundle element within 1 hour was not significantly associated with lower risk-adjusted mortality (blood culture: OR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.51 to 1.06], P = .10; RD, 2.6% [95% CI, −0.5% to 5.7%]; antibiotics: OR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.55 to 1.12], P = .18; RD, 2.1% [95% CI, −1.1% to 5.2%], and fluid bolus: OR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.56 to 1.37], P = .56; RD, 1.1% [95% CI, −2.6% to 4.8%]). Conclusions and Relevance In New York State following a mandate for sepsis care, completion of a sepsis bundle within 1 hour compared with not completing the 1-hour sepsis bundle within 1 hour was associated with lower risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality among patients with pediatric sepsis and septic shock.


The generalized Gauss-Newton (ggn) approximation is often used to make practical Bayesian deep learning approaches scalable by replacing a second order derivative with a product of first order derivatives. In this paper we argue that the ggn approximation should be understood as a local linearization of the underlying Bayesian neural network (bnn), which turns the bnn into a generalized linear model (glm). Because we use this linearized model for posterior inference, we should also predict using this modified model instead of the original one. We refer to this modified predictive as "glm predictive" and show that it effectively resolves common underfitting problems of the Laplace approximation. It extends previous results in this vein to general likelihoods and has an equivalent Gaussian process formulation, which enables alternative inference schemes for bnns in function space. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on several standard classification datasets and on out-of-distribution detection. We provide an implementation at https://github.com/ AlexImmer/BNN-predictions.


ABSTRACT Narratives have become a promising approach in the study of terrorism due to their intrinsic value in understanding complex sociopolitical phenomena. In Spain, a 'battle of narratives' is developing in the current post-ETA period. This offers an interesting setting for the examination of their effects on their audiences among the growing remembrance policies and educational initiatives. This paper focuses on the narrative of victimization and its relevance in post-violent contexts. It uses the methodology of pre- and post-surveys to study the impact of the indirect testimonies of ETA's victims on a sample of 225 undergraduate students in Navarre, a region with a high incidence of ETA terrorism.


In this paper, we consider collaborative power systems education through the FEEDER consortium. To increase students' access to power engineering educational content, the consortium of seven universities was formed. A framework is presented to characterize different collaborative education activities among the universities. Three of these approaches of collaborative educational activities are presented and discussed. These include 1) cross-institutional blended courses ("MS-MD"); 2) cross-institutional distance courses ("SS-MD"); and 3) single-site special experiential courses and concentrated on-site programs available to students across consortium institutions ("MS-SD"). This paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.


The Internet is enabling new forms of teaching and learning. Connecting, through the Internet teachers to teachers, students to students, students to teachers, and perhaps most important, bringing the world of information inside the classrooms is reshaping the classroom setting, the role of educators, and students' perception concerning what they need to know. This study was intended to describe and analyze how students reacted to instruction delivered through the Internet, and their perceptions concerning the potentiality of the Internet to teach and learn mathematics. The setting for this study was the context of a college classroom, where participants were attending a mathematical communication and technology course. All students and the instructor were located physically in a mathematics computer laboratory in which the course content was presented to the students through the Internet. Data was collected from observations in the mathematics computer laboratory, and from semi-structured interviews using electronic-mail and unstructured open-ended interviews. Findings suggest that students had a deeper involvement in class activities due to the Internet links which created a more meaningful experience for them.


This thesis discusses the extension of the marketing concept,
marketing and marketing management to the service sector of the
economy. The study begins with an explanation of the current
literature about marketing in the service sector. As the sector
includes a large number of different industries, however, it was
not considered practicable to undertake empirical research throughout
the area but to select one service industry for further
examination. Leisure services was chosen and the relevant literature
in this area has been discussed in the thesis. [Continues.]


As all around the world, pesticides are used in our country to control the harmful organisms. As is known, however, use of pesticides takes a toll on humans, animals and the environment health-wise, and insensible and intensive use causes residues in food, soil, water and air. Even though the use of pesticides creates an increase in quantity product-wise, they are potential toxic materials for humans and animals. In this research, New Zealand albino rabbits (75 days old, 2 kg average live weight) were given chlorsulfuron and vitamin C through feed for 45 days, their liver enzyme activities were monitored and it was checked whether or not the liver was damaged. In the research, levels of GGT and ALK.P in the serum samples received from trial group animals were observed to be sensible in comparison to the control group (P<0.05).


The third edition of a groundbreaking reference, The HumanComputer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications raises the bar for handbooks in this field. It is the largest, most complete compilation of HCI theories, principles, advances, case studies, and more that exist within a single volume. The book captures the current and emerging sub-disciplines within HCI related to research, development, and practice that continue to advance at an astonishing rate. It features cutting-edge advances to the scientific knowledge base as well as visionary perspectives and developments that fundamentally transform the way in which researchers and practitioners view the discipline. New and Expanded Topics in the Third Edition: HCI and global sustainability HCI in health care Social networks and social media Enterprise social computing Role of HCI in e-Government Role of creativity and cognition in HCI Naturalistic approach to evaluation, persuasion, and globalization The chapter authors include experts from academia, industry, and government agencies from across the globe all among the very best and most respected in their fields. The more than 80 tables, 400 figures, nearly 7,000 references, and four-page color insert combine to provide the single most comprehensive depiction of this field. Broad in scope, the book pays equal attention to the human side, the computer side, and the interaction of the two. This balanced, application-focused design coverage makes the book not only an excellent research guide but also an authoritative handbook for the practice of HCI and for education and training in HCI.


By using the metapredicate freeze, object-oriented programming and process simulation can, for several problems, be done directly in Prolog; although, this is a tiresome and untidy chore. Committed choice languages, on the other hand, provide an elegant syntax for these types of programs. A scheme is given for compiling Guarded Horn Clauses into sequential Prolog, using Prolog's own scheduling principle. Synchronization is implemented using freeze, thereby avoiding busy wait. This proves that Prolog, including freeze, gives enough strength to cover a wide range of object-oriented programming problems, without redefining unification or defining a non-depth-first execution system on top of Prolog. The report presents two versions of the idea: one for flat GHC and one for full GHC. For the flat GHC version, a compiler has been developed and found to give satsfactory behavior.


Over 70% of the world's energy consumption is provided by fossil fuels and with those reserves depleting at a fast rate, alternative energy sources or methods are needed to support the world's energy needs. This research was done in an attempt to make it more economically feasible to produce fuel products, such as bio-diesel, from the upgrading of bio-oil obtained from the pyrolysis of biomass waste material such as sawdust. The high water and oxygenated compound content of bio-oil make it undesirable for fuel use; however, two methods involving surface modified commercial membranes were utilized in hopes of overcoming these problems: electrodialysis and a pressure-driven system. Nafion 117 membrane pores were expanded and then the membrane was subjected to bio-oil at pressures up to 700 psi with the goal of removing the water. Although the pores were enlarged, removing water through this method was unsuccessful. Electrodialysis was used in an effort to remove carboxylic acids from bio-oil, which are known to cause storage instability. The membranes used for this separation were Neosepta CMX and AMX commercial membranes. Modifications to the AMX membrane surface were made by adding crosslinked polyethylenimine groups to the surface of the membrane and its performance was compared to that of the unmodified one. A XPS and FTIR analysis proved the modified membrane to be more resistant to bio-fouling. © 2016 by George A. Marshall All Rights Reserved


In Re G (Residence: Same-Sex Partner) the Court of Appeal was called upon to determine the level of involvement and status to which a lesbian co-parent was entitled following her separation from the biological mother of children they had raised together. The decision represents something of a landmark for same-sex parents. In his judgment, Thorpe LJ took a principled approach designed to assimilate the appellant's position, insofar as it was possible to do so, with that of a biological father in similar circumstances. In stark (and welcome) contrast to previous lesbian parenting cases, it is difficult not to notice that the word 'lesbian' does not feature once in the judgment. Whereas previously a mother's lesbianism has been 'a factor to be considered' in cases arising under Section 8 of the Children Act 1989, the exclusion of lesbianism as a relevant factor in Re G indicates that the courts are now prepared to countenance the reality of lesbians as parents as a matter of principle, not merely on an ad hoc basis, as has hitherto been the case. In that sense it could be argued that, with his Re G judgment, Thorpe LJ has ushered in a new era of acceptance for same-sex parents, one in which their status as parents is duly recognised and reflected in law. However, it is argued here that the judgment raises several issues that may practically limit the utility of Re G as a precedent in future, similar cases. Indirectly, these issues champion the need for a new legal understanding and definition of parenthood. Whilst the judgment heralds a new era in transcending the prejudice and presumptions that have tainted previous lesbian parenting judgments, it also highlights the need for further reform.


Objective To use the rs1229984 variant in the alcohol dehydrogenase 1B gene ( ADH1B ) as an instrument to investigate the causal role of alcohol in cardiovascular disease. Design Mendelian randomisation meta-analysis of 56 epidemiological studies. Participants 261 991 individuals of European descent, including 20 259 coronary heart disease cases and 10 164 stroke events. Data were available on ADH1B rs1229984 variant, alcohol phenotypes, and cardiovascular biomarkers. and by categories of alcohol consumption. Results Carriers of the A-allele of ADH1B rs1229984 consumed 17.2% fewer units of alcohol per week (95% confidence interval 15.6% to 18.9%), had a lower prevalence of binge drinking (odds ratio 0.78 (95% CI 0.73 to 0.84)), and had higher abstention (odds ratio 1.27 (1.21 to 1.34)) than non-carriers. Rs1229984 A-allele carriers had lower systolic blood pressure (−0.88 (−1.19 to −0.56) mm Hg), interleukin-6 levels (−5.2% (−7.8 to −2.4%)), waist circumference (−0.3 (−0.6 to −0.1) cm), and body mass index (−0.17 (−0.24 to −0.10) kg/m 2 ). Rs1229984 A-allele carriers had lower odds of coronary heart disease (odds ratio 0.90 (0.84 to 0.96)). The protective association of the ADH1B rs1229984 A-allele variant remained the same across all categories of alcohol consumption (P=0.83 for heterogeneity). Although no association of rs1229984 was identified with the combined subtypes of stroke, carriers of the A-allele had lower odds of ischaemic stroke (odds ratio 0.83 (0.72 to 0.95)). Conclusions Individuals with a genetic variant associated with non-drinking and lower alcohol consumption had a more favourable cardiovascular profile and a reduced risk of coronary heart disease than those without the genetic variant. This suggests that reduction of alcohol consumption, even for light to moderate drinkers, is beneficial for cardiovascular health.


The Supreme Committee for the 10-year Anniversary Celebration of the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania was established in 1928. The committee performed its mission making the national rally campaign of the celebration of two state festivals – February 16 and May 15. The organizational skills and experience of Vladas Nagevicius in developing the national important memorial symbols should be noted. He was the chairman of the committee and the director of the Military Museum. The year 1928 evidenced the first manifestation of the global cultural memory in Independent Lithuania. A model of the ceremonial communication of the state festivals was created. It had an important component – a monument – a materialization sign of the memorial. To achieve their objectives, the committee used the periodicals, the Church, radio, artists and, of course, local communities. Dealing with the problems of commemorative monuments – the lack of funding, the risk of cheap monuments, the need to design an exceptional memorial object with national traditions, the committee inspired to introduce the shape of a splendour wooden cross as an identity standard. The Committee and the majority of citizens considered that the traditional monuments of cross-crafting is a successful reflection of the nationhood. The Supreme Committee had an exceptional role in designing the commemorative process in 1928.


Construction of the Itaparica dam and reservoir induced changes in the agricultural production systems of the Itaparica micro-region, at the lower-middle Sao Francisco river basin. Extensive traditional systems were replaced by e.g. irrigated fruit production. However, over twenty years after the dam construction, many farmers are still facing income insecurity. A survey, consisting of expert interviews and structured on-farm interviews, has been conducted to analyze current production systems. A Linear Programming farm optimization model was applied to determine optimal land allocation considering changing production conditions. Income depended strongly on low wages for day laborers, free irrigation water, and stable prices of the main crop, coconut. Diversification of production and improved market access can help to improve farmers' income situation. Moderate water pricing can raise the awareness of water scarcity and lead to implementation of water saving production methods.


Background Tragic and high-profile killings by people with mental illness have been used to suggest that the community care model for mental health services has failed. Aims To consider whether such homicides have become more frequent as psychiatric services have changed. Method Data were extracted from Home Office-generated criminal statistics for England and Wales between 1957 and 1995 and subjected to trends analysis. Results There was little fluctuation in numbers of people with a mental illness committing criminal homicide over the 38 years studied, and a 3% annual decline in their contribution to the official statistics. Conclusions There are many reasons for improving the resources and quality of care for people with a mental disorder, but there is no evidence that it is anything but stigmatising to claim that their living in the community is a dangerous experiment that should be reversed. There appears to be some case for specially focused improvement of services for people with a personality disorder and/or substance misuse.


Title of Document: ROLE OF NF-κB/REL PROTEINS IN MEDIATING INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSES IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER Subhamoy Pal, Doctor of Philosophy, 2006 Directed By: Dr. Louisa Wu, Associate Professor, Center for Biosystems Research, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute In order to survive, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster needs to have a robust immune system to protect itself from numerous pathogenic microorganisms that are ubiquitous in its natural habitat. In two related projects, we studied the role of Rel transcription factors in mediating these immune responses. There are three Rel transcription factors, closely related to mammalian NF-κB: Dorsal, Dif, and Relish. They play an important role in mounting aspects of this response, including the inducible expression of antimicrobial peptides. To study the roles of these transcription factors in vivo, we used microarrays to determine the effect of null mutations in individual transcription factors on larval immune gene expression. Of the 188 genes that were significantly up-regulated in wildtype larvae upon bacterial challenge, overlapping but distinct groups of genes were affected in the Rel mutants. We also ectopically expressed Dorsal or Dif and used cDNA microarrays to determine the genes that were up-regulated in the presence of these transcription factors. Combining this data, we also identified novel genes that may be specific targets of Dif. In a related project, we observed that injection of a fungal secondary metabolite, Destruxin A reduced expression of various antimicrobial peptide genes. This reduction appeared to be mediated through suppression of the IMD pathway, through Relish. Destruxins are a class of cyclic depsipeptides produced by various fungi including the entomopathogen Metarhizium anisopliae. Though a direct relationship has been established between Destruxin production and fungal virulence, their in vivo mode of action during pathogenesis remained largely uncharacterized. To explore these effects, we looked at changes in gene expression following injection of Destruxin A into Drosophila. Microarray results revealed reduced expression of various AMPs that play a major role in the fly's humoral immune response. Flies coinjected with Destruxin A and the Gram-negative bacteria E.coli, showed increased mortality and an accompanying increase in bacterial titers. This mortality was rescued through ectopic activation of IMD pathway components upstream of Relish that are responsible for AMP induction. Together, these results suggest a novel role for Destruxin A in specific suppression of the humoral immune response in insects. ROLE OF NF-κB/REL PROTEINS IN MEDIATING INNATE IMMUNE RESPONSES IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER


Polyacrylamide polymers (PAM) are one of the most common water treatment chemicals used in clarification processes. Concerns have been raised with regards to the aquatic and human toxicity of acrylamide monomer. Greener polymers, produced using potato starch, were investigated at lab-scale as a potential non-toxic alternative to the use of PAM within a ballasted flocculation process (Actiflo®). Even under extreme temperature (1 °C), starch and PAM showed comparable turbidity removal performances, although higher starch dosages (four to five times) were needed to achieve such results. Compared to PAM, activated starch polymers also benefited from the use of lower mixing energy and smaller microsand. A slight biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) release (≈0.15 mg C/L) was also measured while using starch polymer, but this did not impact trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation. These results indicate that activated starch polymers represent a promising alternative to the use of PAM polymers in a ballasted flocculation process.


Anticipated changes in the population as we approach the 21st. century have many implication for postsecondary educational offerings. To improve our education system, the broad academic goals such educational programs should address include: 1- all students should become proficient in both the written and spoken word. 2- all students should learn about today's interdependent world, and the rich, diversified heritage it contains. 3- within the specialized postsecondary institutions offering technical training; e.g., community/junior colleges, technical schools, all students should receive quality (i.e., first rate) technical program instruction designed to prepare them for employment in the Information Age. 4- on-going short-term educational courses for adults, to encourage life-time learning. These should help prepare students to meet their social, civic, and career obligations. In addition - four questions must be carefully answered in developing any curriculum and plan of instruction to achieve the above-noted four broad academic goals. These questions are: "1- what education purposes should the school seek to attain? 2- what educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes? 3- how can these educational experiences be effectively organized? 4- how can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?" (Pautler, 1992: p.134) One may compare the curriculum for any program of study with the menu offered by a restaurant; i.e., students make selections from the curriculum as do the restaurant patrons who select from the menu-of-offerings. Those in the college responsible for its operation are charged with making the determination - what are the educational purposes of the institution? Such purposes determinations ultimately lead to the curriculum (menu) offered. This 'menu' of programs and courses (when timely and relevant to the needs of the clientele; i.e., students) attracts them to the institution. Needless to say, everyone is well aware of what happens to the restaurant offering a dull and uninteresting menu; it looses customers. In the educational setting this 'translates' to - it looses students! After purposes have been determined, attention should then be directed to the quality of educational experiences which are likely to attain the delineated purposes. Specifically, these are the teaching-learning experiences developed and implemented through the curriculum offered to students; i.e., its programs of study and course offerings. In business parlance, this is basically the 'packaging' of educational content. The third question to be answered is the degree of orderly structuring of the subject matter taught-and-learned. This entails developing the most effective way to 'package' the curriculum offerings. This step, i.e., the organization of subject matter content, insures that (1) it becomes the actual curriculum taught, and (2) it also becomes the tested curriculum. In addition, unambiguous execution of this third step helps insure that the curriculum, as spelled out, is actually practiced. (See English, 1987; Pautler, 1989, 1990). The final question deals with follow-up evaluation of results; i.e., are the stated academic goals being attained? The in depth discussion by English (1987) and Pautler (1989, 1990) focuses upon curriculum content; alignments; i,e., the written, taught, and tested curriculums are aligned; and curriculum assessments. They offer constructive, practical recommendations for such on-going assessments of 'results'. In developing a vision of anticipated changes for the 21st. century, many variables must be considered. World, national, state, and local trends all tend to influence future societal needs & educational requirements to help prepare students for these changes. Variable which must be considered for both short-term and long-term strategic planning include: 1- an aging population 2- longer life expectancy 3- global markets 4- duty-free trading 5- medical science changes 6- population age structure 7- households and families structure 8- changing American values and attitudes 9- religion 10- crime 11- education adaptations to societal needs 12- technology. …


Digital halftoning algorithms can produce results of very different quality and characteristics. To evaluate and improve the algorithms, it is important to have robust image quality measures. We propose a method to evaluate objectively the quality of halftoned images. The method is capable of evaluating any kind of monochrome original and is not limited by the choice of halftoning method. To perform the evaluation with respect to the perception of printed halftones, we use models for dot gain in prints and the human visual system. The main contribution and novelty of the method is an adaptive filter used to separate the halftone characteristics from the information about the original in the halftoned image. This approach facilitates the evaluation of the halftoned image's resemblance to the original as well as of the characteristics of the halftoning method.


In the ocular lens, cataract formation is associated with an elevated intracellular Ca(2+) concentration (Ca(2+)(i)) resulting from the loss of lens cell Ca(2+) regulation. The mechanisms regulating Ca(2+)(i) have been characterized previously in lens epithelial cells, but have not been well characterized in the more differentiated lens fiber cells. The mechanisms regulating Ca(2+)(i) in clusters of fiber-like cells (lentoids) in a sheep lens primary cell culture system in which the epithelial cells differentiate into enlarged fiber-like cells were investigated. Only approximately 50% of the lentoids responded to thapsigargin and/or agonists (ATP and epinephrine), compared to>95% of the epithelial cells. Remarkably, most (90%) lentoids exhibited a resting cytosolic Ca(2+)(i) that was approximately three-fold greater than that in epithelial cells (approximately 100n M). This elevated resting cytosolic Ca(2+)(i) was not affected by thapsigargin treatment, but decreased upon removal of extracellular Ca(2+) or addition of the Ca(2+) channel blocker Gd(3+) (5mM ). These results suggest that a plasma membrane Ca(2+) channel is more active in lentoids than in epithelial cells. Indeed, when plasma membrane cation channel activity was monitored by Mn(2+) influx and quenching of fura-2 fluorescence, quenching was faster in lentoids than epithelial cells. Following thapsigargin treatment, capacitative Ca(2+) entry was activated in epithelial cells but not lentoids. In conclusion, during differentiation in primary cell culture, lens cells lose their ability to respond to agonists and exhibit an elevated resting Ca(2+)(i) that was dependent on the activation of a Ca(2+) influx pathway. The results of this study support the possibility that a sustained elevation in resting Ca(2+)(i) is one of the factors controlling lens cell differentiation, possibly by triggering events such as calpain activation.


To examine the trend of racial disparity in receiving a physician recommendation for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among US adolescent girls. Methods: We analyzed National Immunization Survey of Teens (NIS-Teen) 2008–2012 data and examined the trend of racial disparity in receiving a physician recommendation for HPV vaccine among 13–17 year old US adolescent girls. Results: Overall, the weighted proportion of girls who received a physician recommendation was 49.2%, 57.0%, 54.9%, 58.8% and 65.3% in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively (p for trend <0.001). The respective weighted proportion for non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black and Hispanic girls were: 53.6%, 60.7%, 59.0%, 63.4% and 70.2%; 42.7%, 50.0%, 46.3%, 52.5% and 62.8%; and 40.0%, 50.8%, 48.0%, 51.4% and 56.5% (P < 0.001 for all 5 years). After adjusting for demographic characteristics, separate weighted analysis for each year of data showed that non-Hispanic black and Hispanic girls were less likely to receive a physician recommendation than non-Hispanic white girls (P < 0.01 for all 5 years). However, there was no significant difference between Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic girls (P > 0.05 for all 5 years). Conclusions: Reasons for racial disparity in receiving a physician recommendation need to be identified and addressed to achieve the desired level of HPV vaccine uptake among US adolescent girls, irrespective of race/ethnicity.


This study examines the impact of the quality of board members' training on the financial performance of Portuguese banks. The study employs a sample of 276 board members. Financial ratios such as return on average assets (ROAA) and return on average equity (ROAE) are used as measures for gauging banks' financial performance. Three indexes are used as proxies for board members' educational qualifications, specifically: Eduindex, for all academic qualifications obtained in areas such as business or economics; EduindexDP, for all qualifications obtained in prestigious domestic business schools; and EduindexFP, for all qualifications obtained in prestigious foreign business schools. The study findings have important policy implications, specifically a positive and significant impact on the bank's financial performance from having board members holding degrees from prestigious foreign business schools. In particular, the findings suggest that the prudential supervision developed by Banco de Portugal in cooperation with the European Central Bank should include a more rigorous process in the selection of board members. The present study is one of the first attempts in the literature emphasizing all these aspects simultaneously, that is, the banking sector, quality of board members' training, and Eduniversal Rankings, in the context in which all the banks of a specific country are analysed.


In the age of life-long learning and increased competition for time, motivation becomes a salient issue. Students need to be more intrinsically motivated in the absence of more formal structure. This is especially true in online learning environments where direct instructor influence is mitigated. Online learning environments typically embrace many choices in ways in which learning material is presented and interaction with students is supported in both individual and collaborative contexts. As such, it is imperative that we better understand the implications of various learning activities and associated technologies on aspects of intrinsic motivation in elearning. In this paper we examine these effects through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with students in an online MBA program. Results encourage use of a pedagogically driven portfolio of learning activities supported by well-selected and integrated audio, video, and data technologies. Extension to use of mobile devices in ubiquitous e-learning contexts is explored.


Objectives The aim is to prevent inappropriate prolonged courses of antimicrobials, minimise wastage of antimicrobials and promote good prescribing practice of antimicrobials through achieving the following objectives: ▶ Improving compliance with the key performance indicators (KPIs) for prescribing antimicrobials at Barts and The London NHS Trust. ▶ Implementing an antimicrobial review date policy on paediatric wards. Method The features and implementation of the policy were as follows: ▶ When a prescribed antimicrobial agent did not comply with the Trust KPIs for antimicrobial prescribing, the ward pharmacist would query this using a preprinted antimicrobial KPI green sticker in the notes (ideally within 48 h of the prescription). ▶ Where there was no intended duration of therapy or review date on the drug chart, an automatic stop sticker was placed on the chart for the antimicrobial to stop after 5 days of treatment (with specific exclusions which included haematology oncology patients, patients with infections requiring long treatment courses for example, in cystic fibrosis and those being treated for neutropenic sepsis). ▶ The prescriber had approximately 72 h to rewrite the prescription if they wished to continue for a different duration. Where a stop date coincided with the weekend or bank holiday the duration was extended to the next normal working day. The automatic antimicrobial stop policy was successfully piloted on a paediatric general medical ward over 5 weeks prior to implementing the policy across the paediatric directorate. Details of the pilot results and policy were emailed to all clinicians, ward managers and the paediatric pharmacy team. The paediatric pharmacy team and senior sisters were trained on the policy including the roles and responsibilities of the doctor, nurse and pharmacist. The policy was introduced to a single ward each week across all the eight paediatric wards including paediatric intensive care and the neonatal unit. Results 3 monthly KPI snap shot audits conducted by pharmacy as per Trust policy in December showed there was much room for improvement as only 8% of prescriptions specified a review date. However, the last audit which took place during the course of the pilot showed a significant improvement as 47% of prescriptions specified a review date or duration of treatment. Audit results post introduction of the new antimicrobial policy to the whole paediatric directorate are being awaited. Conclusion Preliminary results have indicated a significant improvement in antimicrobial prescribing in relation to specifying course durations or review dates across the whole paediatric directorate, however further data is currently being awaited.


The study of robustness has received much attention due to its inevitability in data-driven settings where many systems face uncertainty. One such example of concern is Bayesian Optimization (BO), where uncertainty is multi-faceted, yet there only exists a limited number of works dedicated to this direction. In particular, there is the work of Kirschner et al. (2020), which bridges the existing literature of Distributionally Robust Optimization (DRO) by casting the BO problem from the lens of DRO. While this work is pioneering, it admittedly suffers from various practical shortcomings such as finite contexts assumptions, leaving behind the main question Can one devise a computationally tractable algorithm for solving this DRO-BO problem? In this work, we tackle this question to a large degree of generality by considering robustness against data-shift in $\varphi$-divergences, which subsumes many popular choices, such as the $\chi^2$-divergence, Total Variation, and the extant Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence. We show that the DRO-BO problem in this setting is equivalent to a finite-dimensional optimization problem which, even in the continuous context setting, can be easily implemented with provable sublinear regret bounds. We then show experimentally that our method surpasses existing methods, attesting to the theoretical results.


Data rates provisioned by broadband Internet Service Providers continue to fall short of the requirements posed by emerging applications. However, the potential of statistical multiplexing of the last mile broadband connections remains unexploited even as the average utilization of these connections remains low. In this work we propose and evaluate a collaborative flow-based access sharing infrastructure in community networks. Our results show that with multi-homing and flow-based routing in today's broadband Internet access scenarios, significant performance benefits including a reduction in download times are achievable. The extent of the benefit largely depends on the nature and volume of traffic: under high load and with bulky transfers the achievable improvements are higher than those realizable under low load scenarios with short-lived flows. We start out by introducing the architecture of our system and describing deployments on the client systems and the DSL routers. We introduce our experimental setups: an off-line fluid TCP simulator and a realistic testbed. We use several traffic workloads, including real-world flow traces, artificial flow traces generated according to statistic distributions, artificial Web workloads, and a peer-to-peer application. We then introduce a methodology for evaluating the benefits of flow routing by comparing the flow durations with different routing policies and network setups. This is done for different classes of flows, in relation to the current load in the system. We investigate the capacity of our system and the possible performance with ideal, omniscient routing algorithms. We then evaluate several routing policies based on routing metrics like congestion or the number of active flows in the system. Finally, we study the impact of employing a wireless network for flow redirection amongst the broadband connections.


We present a new methodology for studying the problem of intra-firm bargaining, based on the notion that contracts cannot commit the firm and its agents to wages and employment. We develop and analyse a general non-cooperative multilateral bargaining framework between the firm and its employees and consider outcomes which are immune to renegotiations by any party. Equilibrium firm profits are characterizable as both a weighted average of a neo-classical (non-bargaining) firm's profits and a generalization of Shapley value for a corresponding cooperative game. Furthermore, the resulting payoffs induce economically significant distortions in the firm's input and organizational-design decisions.


Typical electromyogram (EMG) amplitude estimators use a fixed window length for smoothing the amplitude estimate. When the EMG amplitude is dynamic, previous research suggests that varying the smoothing length as a function of time may improve amplitude estimation. This paper develops optimal time-varying selection of the smoothing window length using a stochastic model of the EMG signal. Optimal selection is a function of the EMG amplitude and its derivatives. Simulation studies, in which EMG amplitude was changed randomly, found that the "best" adaptive filter performed as well as the "best" fixed-length filter. Experimental studies found the advantages of the adaptive processor to be situation dependent. Subjects used real-time EMG amplitude estimates to track a randomly-moving target. Perhaps due to task difficulty, no differences in adaptive versus fixed-length processors were observed when the target speed was fast. When the target speed was slow, the experimental results mere consistent with the simulation predictions. When the target moved between two constant levels, the adaptive processor responded rapidly to the target level transitions and had low variance while the target dwelled on a level.


Effective energy planning and governmental decision-making policies heavily rely on accurate forecast of energy demand. This paper discusses and compares five different forecasting techniques to model energy demand in the United States using economic and demographic factors. Two artificial neural network (ANN) models, two regression analysis models, and one autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model are developed based on the historical data from 1950 to 2013. While ANN model 1 and regression model 1 use gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), and per capita personal income as independent input factors, ANN model 2 and regression model 2 employ GDP, GNP, and population (POP) as the predictive factors. The forecasted values resulted from these models are compared with the forecast made by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the period of 2014–2019. The forecasted results of ANN models and regression model 1 are close to those of the U.S. EIA; however, the results of regression model 2 and ARIMA model are significantly different from the forecast made by the U.S. EIA. Finally, a comparison of the forecasted values resulted from three efficient models showed that the energy demand would vary between 95.51 and 100.08 quadrillion British thermal unit (btu) for the period of 2014–2019. In addition, we have discussed the possibility of self-sufficiency of the United States in terms of energy generation based on the information of current available technologies nationwide.


Young women with breast cancer and a BRCA mutation do not need to rush to have a double mastectomy, after a large prospective study found that breast conservation with radiotherapy was a safe option in the first decade after diagnosis. Experts said that young women with a BRCA mutation should take time to discuss whether radical breast surgery was the right choice for them.

The study, published in the Lancet Oncology , found that survival after treatment of women with a BRCA mutation was similar to overall survival in women without the mutation—at least for the first 10 years.1

The POSH study included 2733 women recruited between 2000 and 2008 from 127 hospitals in the UK. The women were all aged 40 years or younger when they were first given a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. Genotyping detected a BRCA mutation in 12% of the women: 201 patients with the BRCA1 …


The starting point is the investigation of competitiveness – resource and measure of development within the context of internationalization and globalization of the world economy. At the regional level, competitiveness must capture the distinguishing features that influence the overall competitiveness of the economic agents located in a certain region, despite the usual mix of highly and less competitive economic agents. Such features might comprise, among others, social and physical infrastructure, labor skills and public institutions' efficiency. Defining the regional competitiveness and correct identification of its determinants may be achieved in different manners – either adaptations for the regional level of the definitions of macroeconomic or microeconomic competitiveness are attempted and the corresponding determinants are identified, or other ways to "deal with" the notion and to identify and, eventually, to aggregate the corresponding determinants are pursued. In their attempt to assess regional competitiveness, the authors started from an operational model that evaluates national competitiveness on the basis of five integrating criteria (each criterion is an aggregation of several domains): overall operational economic performance, energy use, information and communication technology, gross value added structure, participation in the international markets. The author's central idea regarding the elaboration of a model to assess the regional competitiveness is also that of using integrating criteria (complex indicators) able to reveal clearly the final results of the efforts of the national and local governments, the business environment and the civil society aimed at increasing the regional competitiveness of the EU countries. Thus, following the performed analyses certain domain-grouped criteria were selected, regarding the overall economic performance of the regions, labor quality and skills, business environment, research-development and innovation, infrastructure and environment – analyzed through domain-specific indicators. In the authors' opinion, the proposed model fully satisfies the requirements of an operational model to assess the regional competitiveness, because it significantly employs integrating criteria and it uses comparable data obtained by applying quasi-unitary methodologies, accessible each year for a large number of countries and regions, which will allow for multi-annual comparisons in the future.


Background and aims Normal fetal growth depends on the genetically predetermined growth potential and its modulation by the health of the fetus, placenta and mother. If any of these factors is deficient, adverse pregnancy outcome and/or fetal growth restriction (FGR) may be the consequence-condition when a fetus is unable to achieve its genetically determined potential size. Although FGR is probably a physiologic adaptive response to various stimuli, it is associated with neonatal mortality and distinct short or long-term morbidity. Methods During the period of 3 years, causes and early neonatal outcome of 160 fetal growth restricted pregnancies were studied. We used late versions of SPPS and Statgraf for Win statistical programs. Results were compared by Person Chi-Square (<0.05) and logistic regression analyses. Results Compared with normally grown fetuses, those who were growth restricted (GR) were more frequently exposed at fetal (OR 2.49; 95% CI 1.33–4.65), placental (OR 2.83; 95% CI 1.52–5.29), and maternal prenatal conditions, such as hypertensive disorders (OR 3.05; 95% CI 1.69–5.52), addictions (OR 10.57; 95% CI 2.25–49.48), and prior complications of pregnancy (OR 2,61; 95% CI 1.18–5.76). GR newborns had increase risk of resuscitation (OR 2.81; 95% CI 2.83–4.32), immediate transfer to intensive care unit (OR 2.38; 95% CI 1.56–3.65), and were more prone to acute neonatal consequences, such as perinatal asphyxia (OR 3.26; 95% CI 1.96–5.43). Compared with normally grown, GR newborns had increase risk for neonatal adaptive problems, such as hypothermia (OR 2.02; 95% CI 1.11–3.68), hypoglycemia (OR 2.94; 1.85–4.68), and polycythemia (OR 5.09; 95% CI 2.25–11.52). Conclusions The clinician's challenge is to identify real, at-risk GR fetuses, because of a hostile intrauterine environment. Once FGR has been detected, the management of the pregnancy should depend on a surveillance plan that maximises gestational age with minimising the risks of neonatal adverse outcome, avoiding iatrogenic prematurity. Immediate management in delivery room should be focus on adequate resuscitation of a depressed newborn, insuring normal physiologic transition, and preventing acute neonatal adaptive problems.


In this thesis the pathophysiology of hydronephrosis due to ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction was studied. The kidney adapts to obstruction by changes in renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR). GFR is mainly regulated by the tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) which acts as a negative feedback between the tubule and glomerular vessels.In earlier micropuncture experiments on rats with partial unilateral obstruction we have found an increase in TGF sensitivity during volume expansion (VE). It has also been shown that the degree of UPJ obstruction could be calculated using a pressure/flow (P/F) study technique.In a first series of experiments, the TGF response to VE in rats with bilateral partial obstruction was examined. A new balance between the kidneys occured, where the diuresis was greatest on the least obstructed side.The RBF was investigated by real transit time ultrasound in two studies. RBF was normal during basal conditions, but became significantly increased during VE in hydronephrotic animals. The response was thromboxane and/or nitric oxide dependent.In a last study, 44 patients with a diagnosis of hydronephrosis were examined with the P/F study technique prior to operation. It was shown that the outflow resistance of the UPJ could be accurately calculated in all cases.It is concluded that the normal adaptation of the kidney to obstruction depends on the presence of a normally functioning contralateral kidney. This adaptation includes a change of the filtration characteristics with is achieved through Tx and NO dependent vasodilatation and probably areduction of the filtration coefficient. It is further concluded that the degree of obstruction can be accurately calculated by a P/F study in patients with hydronephrosis.


The focal field of high NA lens axicon with a binary-phase optical component is calculated by using vector diffraction theory. Numerical results show that for a radially polarized Bessel Gaussian input field, the proposed system generates a subwavelength (0.395λ) longitudinally polarized beam with large uniform depth of focus (approximately 6 λ).


At the end of the cold war, the collaborative endeavors undertaken by American and Soviet scientists and engineers took on a new dimension. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russian scientists, once the pride of the Soviet system, suddenly were faced with unpaid salaries, canceled journal subscriptions, inoperable experimental equipment, disconnected telephones, even the lack of heat in laboratories. Forced to look abroad for support, virtually every scientific, engineering, and educational organization has invested scarce resources in efforts to attract and retain partners from the United States. In response, U.S. government agencies have committed more than $2.6 billion to the support of joint programs, and American companies, eager to see their collaborative ventures through to fruition as well as to gain access to Russian know-how and resources, have begun routinely to pay for both ends of these arrangements. In Experiments in Cooperation, the third book in the Twentieth Century Fund's Russia in Transition series, Glenn E. Schweitzer examines the recent history of U.S.-Russian scientific and technological collaboration. Outlining the complex motivations of Russian and U.S. government agencies, businesses, and the scientific community, Schweitzer evaluates the successes and failures of current ventures from both the Russian and U.S. perspectives and makes recommendations for improving the outcome for both sides. In particular, Schweitzer makes a distinction between assistance and technical cooperation, focusing on the latter, and addresses the issue of tailoring programs for Russia's distinctive needs rather than trying simply to replicate successes from elsewhere in EasternEurope. Although he recognizes that there are severe limitations on the capabilities of Russian science today, Schweitzer argues that Russian researchers are often in the best position to develop suitable proposals for cooperative ventures and to assess their merits.


This document defines protocols, procedures, and conventions to be
employed by peers implementing the Generic Security Service
Application Program Interface (GSS-API) when using the Kerberos
Version 5 mechanism. RFC 1964 is updated and incremental changes are
proposed in response to recent developments such as the introduction
of Kerberos cryptosystem framework. These changes support the
inclusion of new cryptosystems, by defining new per-message tokens
along with their encryption and checksum algorithms based on the
cryptosystem profiles. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


Next generation wireless local area networks (WLANs) such as the IEEE 802.11a standard are expected to rely on multiple antennas at both transmitter and receiver to increase throughput and link reliability. However, these improvements come at a significant increase in signal processing and hence hardware complexity compared to existing single-antenna systems. This paper presents, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first 4 /spl times/ 4 MIMO-OFDM WLAN physical layer ASIC based on the OFDM specifications of the IEEE 802.1 la standard. The ASIC achieves an uncoded throughput of 192 Mbps in a 20 MHz channel resulting in a spectral efficiency of 9.6 bits/s/Hz. We describe the hardware architectural differences to single-antenna OFDM systems as well as the extensions made necessary by the use of multiple antennas. Our implementation provides reference for the silicon complexity of MIMO-OFDM systems.


GBS is a leading cause of mortality in newborn babies in high- and low-income countries worldwide. Different strains of GBS are characterized by different degrees of virulence, where some are harmlessly carried by humans or animals and others are much more likely to cause disease. The genome sequences of almost 2,000 GBS samples isolated from both animals and humans in high- and low- income countries were analyzed using a pan-genome-wide association study approach. This allowed us to identify 279 genes which are associated with different lineages of GBS, characterized by a different virulence and preferred host. Additionally, we propose that the GBS now carried in humans may have first evolved in animals before expanding clonally once adapted to the human host. These findings are essential to help understand what is causing GBS disease and how the bacteria have evolved and are transmitted. ABSTRACT Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus; GBS) is a colonizer of the gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts, and an opportunistic pathogen of infants and adults. The worldwide population of GBS is characterized by clonal complexes (CCs) with different invasive potentials. CC17, for example, is a hypervirulent lineage commonly associated with neonatal sepsis and meningitis, while CC1 is less invasive in neonates and more commonly causes invasive disease in adults with comorbidities. The genetic basis of GBS virulence and the extent to which different CCs have adapted to different host environments remain uncertain. We have therefore applied a pan-genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach to 1,988 GBS strains isolated from different hosts and countries. Our analysis identified 279 CC-specific genes associated with virulence, disease, metabolism, and regulation of cellular mechanisms that may explain the differential virulence potential of particular CCs. In CC17 and CC23, for example, we have identified genes encoding pilus, quorum-sensing proteins, and proteins for the uptake of ions and micronutrients which are absent in less invasive lineages. Moreover, in CC17, carriage and disease strains were distinguished by the allelic variants of 21 of these CC-specific genes. Together our data highlight the lineage-specific basis of GBS niche adaptation and virulence. IMPORTANCE GBS is a leading cause of mortality in newborn babies in high- and low-income countries worldwide. Different strains of GBS are characterized by different degrees of virulence, where some are harmlessly carried by humans or animals and others are much more likely to cause disease. The genome sequences of almost 2,000 GBS samples isolated from both animals and humans in high- and low- income countries were analyzed using a pan-genome-wide association study approach. This allowed us to identify 279 genes which are associated with different lineages of GBS, characterized by a different virulence and preferred host. Additionally, we propose that the GBS now carried in humans may have first evolved in animals before expanding clonally once adapted to the human host. These findings are essential to help understand what is causing GBS disease and how the bacteria have evolved and are transmitted.


Mastitis is an intramammary infection that leads to important economic losses in dairy industry such as increasing the amount of waste milk by affecting the quality and quantity of the milk, removing cows from herd or sending them for slaughter early. Staphylococcus aureus has an important place in the fight against mastitis. In this study, it is aimed to genotyping of the 98 S. aureus isolates that were isolated from bovine mastitis by the polymerase chain reaction of enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC-PCR). ERIC primers generated DNA products in sizes ranging between ~8000 bp and 250 bp. According to the Nei homology, a dendrograme was obtained by the assessment of 28 bands in total. ERIC-PCR grouped 98 S. aureus isolates into this clusters (I–VI) showing 64 ERIC genotypes. This method, which enables the S. aureus strains to be described and classified successfully, could be used in forming a database by formulation of genotypes, determining the origin of the epidemic, studies of vaccine development and developing effective protection strategies against mastitis since it is easy, fast and reliable. At the same time, this study would contribute to the comprehension of S. aureus epidemiology and ecology in dairy herds.


It is known that the growth of a cancerous tumor is well described by the Gompertz's equation. The existing explanations for this equation rely on specifics of cell dynamics. However, the fact that for many different types of tumors, with different cell dynamics, we observe the same growth pattern, make us believe that there should be a more fundamental explanation for this equation. In this paper, we show that a symmetry-based approach indeed leads to such an explanation: indeed, out of all scaleinvariant growth dynamics, the Gompertzian growth is the closest to the linear-approximation exponential growth model.


Program verification is a promising approach to improving program quality, because it can search all possible program executions for specific errors. However, the need to formally describe correct behavior or errors is a major barrier to the widespread adoption of program verification, since programmers historically have been reluctant to write formal specifications. Automating the process of formulating specifications would remove a barrier to program verification and enhance its practicality.This paper describes specification mining, a machine learning approach to discovering formal specifications of the protocols that code must obey when interacting with an application program interface or abstract data type. Starting from the assumption that a working program is well enough debugged to reveal strong hints of correct protocols, our tool infers a specification by observing program execution and concisely summarizing the frequent interaction patterns as state machines that capture both temporal and data dependences. These state machines can be examined by a programmer, to refine the specification and identify errors, and can be utilized by automatic verification tools, to find bugs.Our preliminary experience with the mining tool has been promising. We were able to learn specifications that not only captured the correct protocol, but also discovered serious bugs.


One of the primary policy initiatives instituted in response to the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis is a requirement that all Eurozone sovereign bonds issued after January 1, 2013 include provisions referred to as Collective Action Clauses or CACs. These CACs are intended to enable an orderly restructuring of distressed sovereign debt by allowing for a super-majority of creditors to impose restructuring terms on minority holdouts. This paper assesses the likely effect of this proposal on the borrowing costs of Eurozone countries. Economic theory makes ambiguous predictions: on the one hand, making debt easier (cheaper) to restructure could increase the propensity of governments to borrow irresponsibly, which would increase the cost of capital; on the other hand, if restructurings proceed more smoothly, creditors will receive a settlement more quickly, which would reduce the cost of capital. Since this is ultimately an empirical issue, we have assembled a database consisting of over 900 sovereign bonds, issued by more than 75 countries, from 1990 through 2010. Relying on this database we demonstrate that the majority of the existing literature is based on inadequate or inappropriate data, which has led researchers to conclude that the inclusion of a CAC either has no effect or increases the cost of capital for weaker nations and decreases the cost of capital for stronger ones. In contrast, we find that the presence of CACs leads to a lower, not higher, cost of capital, especially for below-investment grade bonds.


The paper focuses on fish consumption and long-distance fish trade in the medieval monastery Studenica in Serbia, from the perspective of archaeozoology and historical evidence. Medieval written sources on the subject suggest that fish was available primarily to particular social classes – the royalty, nobles and monasteries. Preserved muniments indicate that during the 13th-15th centuries the majority of distinguished monasteries had their own fishing ponds, fishing grounds and their own fishermen. Fish consumption occupied an important role in monastic contexts, both in Christian religious practices (e.g. Lent) and in celebrations commemorating the Virgin Mary and the monastery founder, during which high-quality fish was obtained from greater distances. The ichthyoarchaeological remains discussed in this paper originate from waste deposition areas within and outside of the ramparts of the Studenica Monastery, accumulated during the 14th and the first half of the 15th century. Apart from the remains of the species available more or less locally (Wels catfish [Silurus glanis Linnaeus, 1758], carp [Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758], pike [Esox lucius Linnaeus, 1758]), the faunal assemblage contained the remains of migratory sturgeons (beluga [Huso huso Linnaeus, 1758], Russian sturgeon [Acipenser gueldenstaedtii Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1833], stellate sturgeon [Acipenser stellatus Pallas, 1771]) most likely transported from the Danube area, about 200 km away as the crow flies. Skeletal element distribution, butchering traces and size estimations (of beluga in particular) indicate that large specimens (c. 2-3.6 m in total length) were brought whole to the monastery, possibly dried or salted. Their occurrence is an additional indicator of long-distance fish trade recorded in muniments, and it offers new insights into economic, social and religious practices in medieval Eastern Orthodox monasteries.


We consider a model for interacting objects, where the evolution of each object is given by a finite state Markov chain, whose transition matrix depends on the present and the past of the distribution of states of all objects. This is a general model of wide applicability; we mention as examples: TCP connections, HTTP flows, robot swarms, reputation systems. We show that when the number of objects is large, the occupancy measure of the system converges to a deterministic dynamical system (the "mean field") with dimension the number of states of an individual object. We also prove a fast simulation result, which allows to simulate the evolution of a few particular objects imbedded in a large system. We illustrate how this can be used to model the determination of reputation in large populations, with various liar strategies.


Background. Medical students in their clinical years are assessed by clinician educators (CEs) with different levels of involvement and responsibilities in the assessment process. Objective. To obtain a better understanding from CEs of their involvement in assessment activities in the clinical years of a medical degree programme, their self-reported knowledge of assessment and methods of learning about assessment. This study also explored the potential association between involvement in assessment activities, self-reported knowledge of assessment and employment profile. Methods. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among CEs involved in assessment of an undergraduate medical programme (years 4 - 6) at a South African university. Results. Fifty-four CEs were contacted and 30 responses (56%) were received. Assessment responsibilities included design of assessment instruments, participation in assessment activities and quality assurance of assessments. The top five assessment activities that CEs were involved in were conducting objective structured practical examinations (OSPEs)/objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), designing multiple-choice questions, being a clinical examiner, conducting portfolio-based oral examinations and marking written assessments. CEs (≥80%) reported having some knowledge of formative and summative assessment, and of validity and reliability. Fewer CEs reported knowledge of constructive alignment, standard setting, item analysis and blueprinting. CEs acquired knowledge of assessment predominantly through informal methods such as practical experience and informal discussion rather than through formal education processes such as attending courses. Conclusions. CEs participated extensively in assessment, but their knowledge with regard to assessment concepts varied.


First English-language edition, with revisions and additions by the author.This classic work by one of the world's most distinguished Egyptologists was first published in German in 1984. The Search for God in Ancient Egypt offers a distillation of Jan Assmann's views on ancient Egyptian religion, with special emphasis on theology and piety. Deeply rooted in the texts of ancient Egypt and thoroughly informed by comparative religion, theology, anthropology, and semiotic analysis, Assmann's interpretations reveal the complexity of Egyptian thought in a new way.Assmann takes special care to distinguish between the "implicit" theology of Egyptian polytheism and the "explicit" theology that is concerned with exploring the problem of the divine. His discussion of polytheism and mythology addresses aspects of ritual, the universe, and myth; his consideration of explicit theology deals with theodicy and the specifics of Amarna religion.


The
study intentions were to examine the correlation and impact of the style of leadership
of the principals on job performance of the teachers of secondary school in
private sector in Lahore district, Pakistan. It is correlational study in terms
of research design. The data was collected from 106 principals and 543 teachers
of secondary schools in private sector in Lahore district through adapted
instrument. The first tool of the instrument "Principal Leadership Style Questioner
(PLSQ) had cronbach alphas of 0.834 for autocratic leadership sub-scale, 0.764
for democratic leadership sub-scale and 0.861 for laissez-faire leadership
sub-scale. The Second tool of the instrument "Teacher Job Performance
Questioner" (TJPQ) had Cronbach alpha of 0.816. The research question and hypotheses
were tested by using percentage, multiple regression, Pearson correlation at
the level of p<0.05 significance. The statistics attesting 57.3% variation
in teachers' job performance was due to mutual contribution of principals' autocratic
leadership, democratic leadership and laissez-faire leadership styles. The most
commonly employed principals' leadership style was autocratic leadership in
secondary school in private sector in the district. It had statistically
significant and strong positive impact on teachers' performance in the studied
area. Whereas reciprocal impact in case of laissez-faire. The principal
suggestion was that the school principals should be trained to learn the
mixture usage of autocratic and democratic leadership styles wisely in diverse
situations and work settings in secondary schools in private sector in the
district Lahore, Pakistan.