Background: Medical education in the 21st century needs to produce health professionals who can respond to health systems challenges and population health needs. Although research on medical education is increasing, insufficient attention is paid to the outcomes of medical training, in particular graduates' competencies and the effects of their training on healthcare and population health in Africa. Method: This baseline study assessed whether the current Stellenbosch University medical curriculum enabled graduates to acquire health systems strengthening competencies. The teaching of competencies in public health, evidence-based healthcare, health systems and services research, and infection prevention and control was assessed through a document review of study guides and a survey of recent medical graduates. Results: We found that teaching of most competencies was included in the curriculum, but appeared fragmented with a lack of continuity across phases of the curriculum. Health systems and health leadership and management teaching was weak, and important public health competencies in human rights and health advocacy received little attention. Recent graduates said their training was 'adequate', but were unable to apply knowledge and skills to address health systems challenges within working environments. They wanted more integrated, practical, problem-based teaching in environments in which they would one day work, and their teachers to be role models for the competencies students were expected to acquire. This study is contributing to improvements to the medical curriculum at Stellenbosch University.


This study investigated culture and gender effects on ethical reasoning in an auditing context using Kohlberg's (1969) cognitive moral development theory in conjunction with Hofstede's culture theory (1980, 2001). The study was conducted using Canadian (71) and Mainland Chinese (64) final year undergraduate accounting students. The results indicated that Canadian accounting students had significantly higher ethical reasoning levels than Mainland Chinese accounting students. This suggests that cultural differences affect ethical reasoning in an auditing context. The difference in ethical reasoning scores between Canadian males and females was not significantly different from the difference between Chinese males and females.


—Communication in networks suffers if a link fails. When the links are edges of a tree that has been chosen from an underlying graph of all possible links, a broken link even disconnects the network. Most often, the link is restored rapidly. A good policy to deal with this sort of transient link failures is swap rerouting, where the temporarily broken link is replaced by a single swap link from the underlying graph. A rapid replacement of a broken link by a swap link is only possible if all swap links have been precomputed. The selection of high quality swap links is essential; it must follow the same objective as the originally chosen communication subnetwork. We are interested in a minimum diameter tree in a graph with edge weights (so as to minimize the maximum travel time of messages). Hence, each swap link must minimize (among all possible swaps) the diameter of the tree that results from swapping. We propose a distributed algorithm that efficiently computes all of these swap links, and we explain how to route messages across swap edges with a compact routing scheme. Finally, we consider the computation of swap edges in an arbitrary spanning tree, where swap edges are chosen to minimize the time required to adapt routing in case of a failure, and give efficient distributed algorithms for two variants of this problem.


Knowledge workers, who typically enjoy global labour mobility, are considered critical to economic growth in developing countries. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the organizational commitment of South African knowledge workers, a commitment widely considered both improbable and unobtainable. In this study, a critical review of the organizational commitment literature, to ascertain its psychometric applicability to knowledge workers in South Africa, uncovered an unsystematic and fragmented body of research that has been imperfectly integrated in previous research models. A new definition of organizational commitment is therefore developed to account for current contextual complexities and theoretical advances in commitment research (e.g. multiple foci, variable duration, and changing intensities).
A mixed-method research design was used in all stages of the
investigation. To establish the construct validity and practical validity of the organizational commitment construct, a multidisciplinary explanatory model was developed based on the extant literature and focus group discussions with knowledge workers. To test the proposed model, a self-administered survey questionnaire was developed. A total of 637 usable questionnaires from knowledge workers employed in the accounting and information technology occupations in both the public and private sector were analysed using a variety of statistical techniques, primarily hierarchical regression analysis and structural equation modelling. Particular care was taken that appropriate and strict statistical criteria guided the analyses. The survey results were then presented to focus groups for discussion.
The results clearly evidence the widely accepted three-component structure of organizational commitment but provide new insight into the nature of the relationship between the commitment components. The veracity of a multiple foci approach is demonstrated and interaction effects between commitment bases and commitment foci are examined. The results are mixed concerning the proposed model, which required revision after the psychometric analyses. Overall, however, the results are both surprising and encouraging. Surprising given the evidence of high levels of organizational commitment amongst knowledge workers, and encouraging given the amount of variance explained in salient organizational outcomes such as turnover intentions (37%) and boosting behaviour (24%).
Analysis per employment sector showed no overall effect of sector in the regression models but further analyses showed different patterns of significant antecedents amongst knowledge workers employed in the public and private sectors.
The empirical findings and theoretical position of this study challenge prevailing assumptions about the organizational commitment of knowledge workers and provide refreshment to both scholars and practitioners faced with the development of new management approaches and insights.


The objective of this thesis is to improve the understanding of what processes and mechanism affects the distribution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organic carbon in coastal sediments. Because of the strong association of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs) such as PCBs with organic matter in the aquatic environment, these two entities are naturally linked. The coastal environment is the most complex and dynamic part of the ocean when it comes to both cycling of organic matter and HOCs. This environment is characterised by the largest fluxes and most diverse sources of both entities. A wide array of methods were used to study these processes throughout this thesis. In the field sites in the Stockholm archipelago of the Baltic proper , bottom sediments and settling particualte matter were retrieved using sediment coring devices and sediment traps from morphometrically and seismically well-characterized locations. In the laboratory, the samples have been analysed for PCBs, stable carbon isotope ratios, carbon-nitrogen atom ratios as well as standard sediment properties. From the fieldwork in the Stockholm Archipelago and the following laboratory work it was concluded that the inner Stockholm archipelago has a low (≈ 4%) trapping efficiency for freshwater-derived organic carbon. The corollary is a large potential for long-range waterborne transport of OC and OC-associated nutrients and hydrophobic organic pollutants from urban Stockholm to more pristine offshore Baltic Sea ecosystems. Theoretical work has been carried out using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and statistical methods. On a database on 4214 individual sediment samples, each with several different PCB congener concentrations . From this work it was concluded that the continental shelf sediments are key global inventories and ultimate sinks of PCBs. Depending on congener, 10-80% of the cumulative historical emissions to the environment are accounted for in continental shelf sediments. Further it was concluded that the many infamous and highly contaminated surface sediments of urban harbours and estuaries of contaminated rivers cannot be of importance as a secondary source to sustain the concentrations observed in remote sediments. Of the global shelf PCB inventory < 1% are in sediments near population centres while ≥ 90% is in remote areas (> 10 km from any dwellings). The remote sub-basin of the North Atlantic Ocean contains approximately half of the global shelf sediment inventory for most of the PCBs studied.


We study out-of-plane coupling and switching in a semiconductor periodic waveguide structure, with attention given to both dispersion within the structure and impedence matching of an external wave with a guided mode. We show nanosecond-scale optical switching and discuss the implications for Bragg soliton excitation.


In single-particle tracking (SPT), fluorescence video microscopy is used to record the motion images of single particle or single molecule. Here, by using a total-internal-reflection microscope equipped with an argon ion laser and a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera with high-speed and high-sensitivity, video images of single nanobeads in solutions were obtained. From the trajectories, the diffusion coefficient of individual nanobead was determined by the mean square displacements as a function of time. The sizes of nanobeads were calculated by Stokes-Einstein equation, and the results were compared with the actual values.


The continuous decrease in size of transistors has allowed more components to be integrated in a single unit area and brings a range of opportunities as well as problems to the electronic packaging industry. To meet these challenges, the introduction of Carbon Nanotubes (CNT), which display a series of extraordinary properties, have attracted great interest. CNTs pose great difficulties to direct experimental study, thus theoretical study becomes a valuable alternative. This thesis presents several examples of theoretical studies aiming at CNT-based applications. Classic Molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) and continuum modeling are adopted as key methodologies in these studies. Although it is a theoretical work, this thesis presents exciting findings that point to possible practical applications.
Chapter 2 presents two direct applications of CNT in electronic packaging, i.e. thermal management and interconnection. The thermal management is related to the use of CNTs in a micro-channel cooler construction due to its excellent thermal conductivity. In this example, the thermal interface resistance between CNT and adhesive could influence the heat transfer between the heat generator and the CNT fins in the cooler. This influence shall be evaluated. Thus in section 2.1, the thermal conductivity of epoxy matrix for thermal conductive adhesive (TCA) is studied by MDS using the Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics Method (NEMD). The thermal resistivity at the interface between the carbon nanotube and the polymer is estimated to be 33.262×10-8 m2K/W, which is consistent with previous studies. Both thermal management and interconnection with CNTs requires peeling off the CNT forest from the metal catalysts where CNTs were grown. Therefore an investigation of the bonding strength between metal and SWNT is presented. Two kinds of metal, i.e. iron and nickel are studied. Simulation results reveal that to debond the joint, a force greater than 31.7 nN is needed for Fe-SWNT joint, and for Ni-SWNT joint the required force is 3.5 nN.
Then buckling behaviors of CNT are investigated and its potential applications presented. These investigations can be used in the electronic packaging applications. It starts from formulation work on the radial buckling of CNT. The results of this work are then verified with MDS which predicts an enhanced critical pressure for buckling of CNT due to an inserted linear carbon chain. This is followed by a theoretical analysis on the boundary condition effect on axial bucking of chiral CNT with MDS. It finds that boundary conditions can influence critical bucking strain by 20%. Hereafter a molecular gun that utilizes bending buckling of a telescope CNT is studied, which shows the inner tube of the doublewalled carbon nanotube (DWNT) can be shot out with a speed up to 500 m/s.
After that another study concerning the effects of mechanical manipulation of CNT is undertaken. In this study, forced transverse vibrations of a single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) containing atomic-size particles inside has been looked at, and the inertial trapping phenomenon in CNT resonators is discovered with MDS. This work reveals that when standing wave occurs by applying driving oscillation, particles inside the SWNT will be trapped near the anti-nodes or tip of SWNT if there are either one or two anti-nodes. A brief theory based on Fokker-Planck equation is proposed to explain this phenomenon. This trapping phenomenon is found to be highly sensitive to the external driving frequency i.e. that even a very small change of driving frequency can strongly influence the probability of the particle location inside the CNT. This effect can be potentially employed to achieve the atomic scale control of a particle position inside the SWNT via the finite adjustment of the external driving frequency. The thesis proposes that the inertia trapping phenomenon can be used to realize the concept of matter manipulation. Although it is not a true full three-dimensional (3D) maneuvering matter at the atomic level, the work could still be valuable in fields such as synthetic biology and molecule level data storage and hopefully offer a valuable tool for the realization of true 3D nanotechnology.


The spatial-temporal distribution of the anthropogenic radionuclide 137Cs originating from nuclear bomb testing and the Sellafield reprocessing plant in the Irish Sea is simulated using a global version of the Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model (MICOM). The physical model has a horizontal resolution of about 40 km, and it is forced with daily atmospheric reanalysed fields for the period 1948 to 2002. A comparison of the temporal evolution of observed and simulated concentrations of 137Cs has been conducted for the regions east of Scotland, west of central Norway and at the entrance of the Barents Sea. It follows that the annual mean 137Cs concentration signal from the Sellafield discharge reaches the southwestern Barents Sea region in 5 yr, in accordance with available observations. To more accurately assess the age of the caesium-tagged water masses, three additional experiments were performed with an Eulerian age coupled to the evolution of the tracer concentration. It is demonstrated that the transit time depends on the duration of the tracer release history, on the dynamical ocean state and on whether the transit time is derived from the time difference between the release history and the concentration evolution downstream of the release, or as an explicit Eulerian age tracer. The Eulerian age tracer gives a transit time for a Sellafield-like discharge to reach the Barents Sea of 56 months in the 1970s, 52 months in the 1960s and 51 months in the 1980s, and that this difference is strongly governed by the ocean dynamics in the Faeroe—Scotland region.


Supported single-atom catalysts have attracted increasing interest due to their high atomic efficiencies and simple structures used to establish the structure–activity relations in catalysis. In this contribution, we present a density functional theory study of ZnO supported single transition metal (TM: Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni) atoms for the water gas shift reaction (WGSR). We find that these single TM1 atoms prefer to substitute in the surface Zn lattice and exhibit promising activity for stabilizing the intermediates (i.e. CO, OH, and COOH) involved in WGSR. Meanwhile, the surface lattice O coordinated with the TM1 atoms is responsible for the hydrogen abstraction process. The formation of COOH via the association between CO and OH is the rate-limiting step in the catalytic cycle. Microkinetic modeling analysis is used to determine the activity trend, and a volcano-like plot between the calculated rates and the binding energies of COOH is obtained, suggesting that the COOH binding energy might be a good activity descriptor for catalyst screening. Among these single atoms, the single Ni1 atom exhibits the highest activity and is promising for WGSR.


An integrated organic petrological and geochemical approach has been adopted to evaluate the variation in the type of organic materials contributing to the Carboniferous succession in the eastern and central Midland Valley and to assess the extent to which both extrusive and intrusive igneous activity have modified the optical and geochemical properties of organic matter in this province. The type investigation reveals that the succession is extremely rich in organic matter, much of which originated from the vascular tissues of higher plants. The profound influence of terrestrial sedimentation throughout the Carboniferous is evident from the marked terrestrial overprinting of many known marine horizons. Much of the accumulated organic matter has been subjected to varying degrees of microbial reworking. In addition to the characterisation of organic matter in oil shales (lamosites and torbanitic shales), humic coals, sapropelic coals, marine bands and carbonaceous clasts incorporated in volcanic vent deposits, each of which bear different petrological and/or geochemical signatures, a detailed evaluation was undertaken of the Lower Carboniferous (Vis6an) sequence in east Fife, since the algal-rich shales in the Visean have long been considered as the most likely source rocks for the oil shows and modest petroleum accumulations which occur in the Midland Valley. Although many of the oils and bitumens studied have suffered varying degrees of biodegradation and/or water washing, these early suspicions have been confirmed by the close correspondence between the biomarker profiles of the oils/bitumens studied and those of the non-marine, lamositic shales of the Lothians OilShale Group (Lothians oil shales). Notwithstanding the close spatial relationship which exists between oil shows and igneous materials in many areas of the Midland Valley, a hightemperature origin for all of these hydrocarbons need not be invoked because consideration of regional maturation levels indicates that the Lower Carboniferous succession attained maturities conducive to the generation of liquid (and gaseous) hydrocarbons through the "conventional" course of burial metamorphism by the end of the Carboniferous period. For the rank investigation, maturation profiles (based on vitrinite reflectance) for nearly forty boreholes and field sections in the Midland Valley were constructed and rank maps were prepared for different horizons throughout the Carboniferous. Lateral and vertical patterns of paleaoheatflow were monitored both before and after the intrusion of the Midland Valley Sill. The higher regional levels of organic maturation recorded in the west of the Midland Valley, at all levels in the Carboniferous, correspond to an increased thickness of the volcanic pile in the central and western parts of the province, suggesting that a greater regional heat sink existed in the west during the Carboniferous. The optical and textural properties of vitrinite have been used to constrain the timing of sill emplacement with respect to the imposition of regional levels of coalification, from which deductions have been made about the importance of igneous activity in modifying background maturation profiles, not only in the Midland Valley, but elsewhere in the world. The early Permian tholeiitic Midland Valley Sill, which underlies most of the eastern and central Midland Valley, has caused the development of extensive thermal aureoles, in marked contrast to the preceding Lower to mid-Carboniferous alkaline-dolerite intrusions which have failed to induce any widespread alteration of organic matter. This major difference in organicmatter response is explained in terms of differing rank levels of organic matter at the time of intrusion and to differences in the degree of sediment compaction and water saturation, factors which probably also strongly influenced the rank level of organic matter prior to invasion by magmas. Maturation of organic matter closely associated with extensive Surtseyan-type volcanicity in the eastern part of the Midland Valley displays no relationship to the regionally developed coalification in associated sediments. Maturation levels of clasts in pyroclastic vent deposits have generally not been raised much above the regional reflectance level, suggesting the incorporation of organic matter in ash streams in which water was an important coolant and protective agent. The effects that different heating rates have had on commonly used molecularmaturity indices, based on both saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons, in different types of organic matter were also investigated. Results show that molecular-maturity parameters may significantly underestimate the maturities of samples in which the organic matter has experienced high rates of heating, either through igneous activity or a high background geothermal gradient, and that distinct "reversals" occur in many ratios at elevated ranks. Type influences are inferred for Tmas and hopane/moretane ratios and for parameters based on distributions of methylphenanthrene isomers. Anomalous assessments of sample maturity may additionally derive from the lowering (suppression) of vitrinite reflectance which invariably occurs in samples containing abundant liptinitic materials, principally sporinite in the Carboniferous of the Midland Valley. The results presented in this thesis carry important implications for hydrocarbon exploration. Accurate appraisals will only be achieved through the complete integration of organic petrological, geochemical and geological data in sedimentary sequences containing abundant hydrogen-prone organic components and/or in basins in which there has been widespread igneous activity.


The illegal drugs market is one of the main issues in the political agenda in Colombia. Literature has focused on legalization in consumption (demand) but studies about legalization of production (supply) are scarce. Taking into account that Colombia is a country leading in drugs production but not drugs consumption in the world, it is relevant to understand illegal drugs supply. The elements that influence decisions about drugs production and the investor behavior under certain incentives have received few attention. In order to analyze the behavioral structure of investment decisions, this paper conducts a laboratory experiment. The aim is to analyze the effect of three different factors influencing the individual decision to invest when a business is related to (i) a criminal activity (illegal), (ii) drugs, or (iii) a negative social effect (negative externality) using a between subjects design. The experiment has two parts. Part I is a replication of the "Ten Paired Lottery-Choice Decisions" by Holt and Laury (2002) to measure individual's risk aversion level. Part II keeps the same structure but shows a frame that varies three elements along treatments: type of business (drugs-related or neutral), legal status (illegal or legal) and the presence of a negative externality. The experiment was applied on 141 undergraduate students of the Universidad del Rosario. Results show a robust gender effect meaning that women are more risk averse than men and they are more prone to increase their risk aversion level in Part II while they revealed more conservative attitudes in front of drugs policies in the post experiment survey. No evidence was found of any effects of illegality and the negative externality on investment decisions. Descriptive comparisons suggest an unwillingness to invest in a drugs-related business. These results suggest that neither illegality nor the existence of a negative externality are efficient elements to discourage investment.


The Ultimate Maya 2009 Resource for Intermediate to Advanced Users If you already know the basics of Maya, now you can elevate your skills with Maya 2009 and the advanced coverage in this authoritative new reference and tutorial. From modeling, texturing, animation, and visual effects to high-level techniques for film, television, games, and more, this book provides professional-level instruction on Maya Complete and Maya Unlimited. This fully updated book brings you up to speed on Maya 2009's new features and expands your skills with advanced instruction on cloth, fur, and fluids. You'll learn Dynamics, Maya Muscle, Stereo Cameras, Assets, rendering with mental ray, and more. Filled with challenging tutorials and real-world scenarios from some of the leading professionals in the industry, this one-of-a-kind guide gives you valuable insight into the entire CG production pipeline. If you've been looking for a complete, professional-quality Maya resource to turn to again and again, this is the book for you.


Prior studies suggest that language users perform motoric simulations when construing action sentences and that
 verbs and constructions each contribute to simulation-based representation (Glenberg &
 Kaschak 2002; Richardson et al. 2003; Bergen et al. 2007; Bergen & Wheeler 2010). This raises the possibility
 that motorically grounded verb and construction meanings can interact during sentence understanding. In this experiment, we use
 the action-sentence compatibility effect methodology to investigate how a verb's lexical-class membership, constructional context,
 and constructional bias modulate motor simulation effects. Stimuli represent two classes of transfer verbs and two constructions
 that encode transfer events, Ditransitive and Oblique Goal (Goldberg 1995). Findings
 reveal two kinds of verb-construction interactions. First, verbs in their preferred construction generate stronger simulation
 effects overall than those in their dispreferred construction. Second, verbs that entail change of possession generate strong
 motor-simulation effects irrespective of constructional context, while those entailing causation of motion exert such effects only
 when enriched up to change-of-possession verbs in the semantically mismatched Ditransitive context. We conclude that simulation
 effects are not isolable to either verbs or constructions but instead arise from the interplay of verb and construction
 meaning.


This paper focuses on three main concepts: creativity, cultural and creative industries in order to better understand their impact on contemporary cities. We decided to adopt a historic perspective showing these concepts in order to catch the evolution and the different nuances attributed to and to clear the misunderstandings of the application of the concept of creative and cultural industries. The concept of creativity has been analysed and the question of how we can measure creativity has been developed, showing an overview of different existing indexes which can potentially contribute to benchmarking the creative potential of a country.


This paper investigates why the Coordinate Structure Constraint (CSC) is violable in odd coordination in German. Schwartz's (1998) analysis successfully handles nominal odd coordination but some cases of verbal odd coordination are problematic for his analysis. This paper offers an alternative analysis of verbal odd coordination, under which the CSC is subject to the Principle of Minimal Compliance, proposed by Richards (1998) on independent grounds. Verbal odd coordination involves V-to-C movement in an ATB-way, which allows the computational system to ignore a violation of the CSC. This paper has two theoretical implications. One is that head movement takes place in the narrow syntax. The other one is that the CSC is defended as a syntactic constraint on overt movement.


The way knowledge is represented influences the effectiveness with which that knowledge can be shared and reconstructed. Of particular interest to this study is the hypertext knowledge representation. Based on the schema theory, we propose a model explaining the effect of the hypertext knowledge representation on the user's problem solving performance. The sophistication of the knowledge structure that the user can construct from the hypertext knowledge representation is proposed as an intervening variable mediating the effect of hypertext on the problem solving performance. According to our model, the hypertext representation of the "collective schemata" of a group of experts allows the user to acquire a more complex and better integrated knowledge structure that is more similar to the experts' than does a linear representation. The model further hypothesizes that the complexity, integration and degree of similarity of an individual's schemata to that of domain experts in turn improves significantly the individual's problem solving performance. Compared to the linear representation, the hypertext representation of expert knowledge is expected to improve the quality of problem solving in the organization through the facilitation of the acquisition of more sophisticated knowledge structures by the users. A field experiment was used to verify the hypotheses of our model. This research demonstrates the important role of hypertext knowledge representation in supporting knowledge construction and problem solving.


Empirical research in Information Systems (IS) is dominated by the use of explanatory statistical models for testing causal hypotheses, and by a focus on explanatory power. Predictive statistical models, which are aimed at predicting out-of-sample observations with high accuracy, are rare, and so is attention to predictive power. The distinction between explanatory and predictive statistical models is key, as both types of models play a different, yet essential, role in advancing scientific research. Similarly, explanatory power and predictive accuracy are two distinct qualities of a statistical model, and are measured in different ways. A literature review of MISQ and ISR shows that predictive goals, predictive claims, and predictive statistical models are scarce in mainstream empirical IS research. In addition, we find three questionable common practices: First, even when the stated goal of modeling is predictive, explanatory statistical modeling is often employed. Second, the predictive power of a model is often inferred from its explanatory power. And third, the vast majority of explanatory statistical models lack proper predictive assessment, which is a key scientific requirement. In light of the distinction between explanatory and predictive statistical modeling and power, and current practice in IS, we highlight the main differences between them, focusing on practical issues that confront an empirical researcher in the data analysis process.


In this paper, we present a survey of the origins of unlicensed wireless devices, their governing regulation, the current technological state of the art, an overview of the market with information from publicly available sources, and an analysis of the potential regulatory issues. Unlicensed wireless devices are permitted to emit radio frequency energy, without specific authorization, registration, or grant of a license. Today, millions of unlicensed devices are already in operation in a multitude of important uses for industry, medicine, government, national defense, and in the homes. The market for unlicensed wireless communications devices is experiencing unprecedented growth into a multi-billion dollar industry - quite striking in light of the severe downturn in the U.S. telecommunications and technology sectors. Unlicensed devices advance the public interest, necessity, and convenience for the American people by enabling applications not possible with wires or that do not require the acquisition of spectrum rights through the licensing process. However, without a forward-looking approach to policy reform addressing the fundamental problem of interference and maintaining these low entry barriers to spectrum, much of the benefit and promise of unlicensed devices may be delayed, or unrealized. We conclude that the effective policy reform includes enabling more unlicensed spectrum and promulgating rules to encourage technological and market-based solutions to optimize efficient use and sharing of spectrum.


BACKGROUND
It is unclear which anthropometric measure is most useful for assessment of the cardiovascular risk. We investigated the association between different anthropometric measures and risk of heart failure (HF) hospitalization.

METHODS
BMI, waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), body fat percentage (BF%), weight and height were measured among 26,653 subjects (aged 45-73 years) without history of myocardial infarction (MI), stroke or HF from the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort at baseline in 1991-96. Incidence of HF hospitalizations was monitored during a mean follow-up of 15 years.

RESULTS
Seven hundred and twenty-seven subjects were hospitalized with HF as primary diagnosis, of whom 157 had an MI before or concurrent with the HF. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, the hazard ratios of HF hospitalization (fourth vs. first sex-specific quartile) were 1.80 (95% CI: 1.45-2.24) for BMI, 1.87 (1.50-2.34) for WC, 1.77 (1.43-2.19) for WHR, 1.35 (1.09-1.68) for BF%, 1.93 (1.57-2.39) for weight and 1.18 (0.96-1.44) for height. Significant interactions between BMI and WC and WHR, respectively, were observed, and the joint exposure of high BMI and high WC or high WHR further increased the risk. The results were similar in secondary analyses, i.e., excluding incident HF with previous MI during the follow-up.

CONCLUSION
Our results support the view that raised BMI, WC, WHR or BF% increases the risk of HF hospitalization. The joint exposure of high BMI and high WHR or high WC further increased the risk in an additive way.


The low-energy consumption of IEEE 802.15.4 networks makes it a strong candidate for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. As multiple M2M applications with 802.15.4 networks may be deployed closely and independently in residential or enterprise areas, supporting reliable and timely M2M communications can be a big challenge especially when potential hidden terminals appear. In this paper, we investigate two scenarios of 802.15.4 network-based M2M communication. An analytic model is proposed to understand the performance of uncoordinated coexisting 802.15.4 networks. Sleep mode operations of the networks are taken into account. Simulations verified the analytic model. It is observed that reducing sleep time and overlap ratio can increase the performance of M2M communications. When the networks are uncoordinated, reducing the overlap ratio can effectively improve the network performance.


Inspired by Partee (2010), this paper defends a broad thesis that all modifiers, including numeral modifiers, are restrictive in the sense that they can only restrict the denotation of the NP or VP they modify. However, the paper concentrates more narrowly on numeral modification, demonstrating that the evidence that motivated Ionin & Matushansky (2006) to assign non-restrictive, privative interpretations to numerals – assigning them functions that map singular sets to sets containing groups – is in fact consistent with restrictive modification. Ionin & Matushansky (2006)'s argument for this type of interpretation is partly based on the distribution of Turkish numerals which exclusively combine with singular bare nouns. Section 2 demonstrates that Turkish singular bare nouns are not semantically singular, but rather are unspecified for number. Western Armenian has similar characteristics. Building on some of the observations in section 2, section 3 demonstrates that restrictive modification can account for three different types of languages with respect to the distribution of numerals and plural nouns: (i) languages where numerals exclusively combine with plural nouns (e.g., English), (ii) languages where they exclusively combine with singular bare nouns (e.g., Turkish), (iii) languages where they optionally combine with either type of noun (e.g., Western Armenian). Accounting for these differences crucially involves making a distinction between two kinds of restrictive modification among the numerals: subsective vs. intersective modification. Section 3 also discusses why privative interpretations of numerals have trouble accounting for these different language types.


Previous studies examining intra-firm wage dispersion and firm performance have focused on wage levels. The authors of this study argue that for purposes of comparing wage dispersion's positive incentive effects with its adverse morale effects, the dispersion of wage increases is more revealing than the dispersion of wage levels. It is reasonable to expect greater dispersion of wage increases to be associated with higher monetary incentives, but also with increased perceptions of unfairness. The authors' analysis of linked employer-employee data from Denmark for the years 1992–97 shows that the dispersion of wage growth within firms generally had a negative association with firm performance. The results are robust across industries and categories of firm size, but are mainly driven by white-collar rather than blue-collar workers.


The ensemble size in sequential atmospheric ensemble based data assimilation using the Heikes and Randall (1995a,b) global shallow-water model is reduced by projecting the ensemble on a limited number of its leading EOFs. The ensemble size is determined by retaining the modes containg the main directions of variability of the system (most energetic modes of the flow). The efficiency of this approach for adaptively updating the ensemble size in the Maximum Likehood Ensemble Filter (MLEF) by Zupanski (2005), Zupanski et al.( 2005) used for ensemble data assimilation is assessed for different fractions of variability conserved and compared in terms of rms and similarity index error indicators with the full ensemble run. An illustration of the feasibility and effectiveness of the method is presented in framework of twin experiments for the above shallow water model. A reduction of up to a factor of four in the number of members of the ensemble was obtained, yielding comparable ensemble data assimilation (ENSDA) results with the full ensemble run. This novel approach results in sizable computational resource economy for general ensemble data assimilation methods.


Citizens are at the heart of open government, and their participation represents a fundamental principle of the latter. Despite their essential role and the great potential benefits open government holds for the public, challenges of use among citizens persist. Previous empirical research has scarcely addressed these issues from a citizen perspective. This study investigates the determinants of open government data use by citizens in Germany. Our results indicate that ease of use, usefulness, as well as transparency, participation and collaboration expectancies significantly determine citizens' intention to use open government data, which in turn positively affects their word-of-mouth intention. Overall, the findings not only contribute to our understanding of citizen behavior in the context of open government research, especially shedding light on the key aspects of citizens' usage intention, but also provide implications for both researchers and practitioners. Points for practitioners Citizen-based use of open government data (OGD) has multiple facets that practitioners should be aware of. Public administration needs to take account of the important role of accessibility and usability in providing OGD services, with the objective of meeting the major challenge of enabling equal access for all populations via appropriate channels and customization. The content-related preparation of OGD services should seek to enhance transparency, participation and collaboration, raising and shaping respective expectations among citizens. Finally, practitioners should pay particular attention to the opportunities and risks associated with word-of-mouth communication in the context of OGD.


Transmission of the malaria parasite Plasmodium is influenced by many different host, vector and parasite factors. Here we conducted a field study at Mbita, an area of endemic malaria in Western Kenya, to test whether parasite transmission to mosquitoes is influenced by the severity of malaria infection in its human host at the time when gametocytes, the transmission forms, are present in the peripheral blood. We examined the infectivity of 81 Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte carriers to mosquitoes. Of these, 21 were patients with fever and other malaria-related symptoms, and 60 were recruited among apparently healthy volunteers. Laboratory-reared Anopheles gambiae s.s. (local strain) were experimentally infected with blood from these gametocyte carriers by membrane-feeding. The severity of the clinical symptoms was greater in febrile patients. These symptomatic patients had higher asexual parasitaemia and lower gametocyte densities (P=0·05) than healthy volunteers. Ookinete development occurred in only 6 out of the 21 symptomatic patients, of which only 33·3% successfully yielded oocysts. The oocyst prevalence was only 0·6% in the 546 mosquitoes that were fed on blood from this symptomatic group, with mean oocyst intensity of 0·2 (range 0–2) oocysts per mosquito. In contrast, a higher proportion (76·7%) of healthy gametocyte carriers yielded ookinetes, generating an oocyst rate of 12% in the 1332 mosquitoes that fed on them (mean intensity of 6·3, range: 1–105 oocysts per mosquito). Statistical analysis indicated that the increased infectivity of asymptomatic gametocyte carriers was not simply due to their greater gametocyte abundance, but also to the higher level of infectivity of their gametocytes, possibly due to lower parasite mortality within mosquitoes fed on blood from healthy hosts. These results suggest that blood factors and/or conditions correlated with illness reduce P. falciparum gametocyte infectivity.


This article describes the findings of a qualitative study investigating teacher perspectives on the impact of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) on their classroom teaching practice, using intensive case studies focusing on six primary and secondary teachers from two rural schools. The study found that all teachers were enthusiastic, had seen improvements in student engagement, and were able to develop and evolve their IWB teaching strategies through explicit reflection. However, there was considerable diversity both in the ways in which the IWB was used and in the degree to which teachers changed their classroom teaching practices. Whereas some (Glover and Miller, 2001; Kennewell, 2006) have been critical of IWB adoption without clear pedagogical transformation or without utilisation of all IWB features, we argue that one of the IWB's key benefits is that it can be used initially without requiring a big shift in pedagogy but that it may gradually afford more major pedagogical changes over a longer period of time. These findings are important for the design of professional development in schools because with such a diversity of perceived IWB affordances, effective professional development is more likely to take the form of informal practice sharing than of specific hardware or software training.


This study aimed to evaluate the chest Computed Tomography (CT) scans of COVID-19 suspected patients in the first period of the pandemic, to reveal the frequency of parenchymal-extraparenchymal incidental findings (IFs). Our single-center retrospective observational study was initiated with the approval of the ethics committee. Chest CT records taken during March-August 2020 due to the suspicion of COVID-19 pneumonia were scanned using the imaging archive of our center. The study was conducted with 1540 patients with non-contrast chest CT without prior CT imaging to detect IFs. Histopathological results and clinical-radiological follow-up data of the patients were scanned from medical records. Of the 1540 patients in our study, 902 (58.57%) were male and 638 (41.43%) were female, with a mean age of 41.96±17.08 (5-92) years. While 248 (16.1%) patients had a typical appearance for COVID-19 pneumonia on thorax CT, no findings were found in 1180 (76.6%) patients. Except for COVID-19 pneumonia, parenchymal IFs(primary malignant lung lesions, metastatic lesions, benign pathologies) were detected in 73 patients (4.74%) and extraparenchymal IFs(lymphadenopathy, breast lesions, thyroid nodule, bone, liver and kidney lesions…) in 280 patients (18.8%). Our study showed that the number of patients without any findings in terms of COVID-19 pneumonia on CT scans is high. It is understood that CT scans for pneumonia are unnecessary due to radiation exposure and should be used when clinically necessary. However, due to the ability of CT to detect incidental findings, it is also important to define IFs oth er than pneumonia in patients who underwent chest CT examination during the pandemic.


After working in marine ecological research and lecturing at universities for several decades, the authors are aware that almost none of the concepts and paradigms established at the time they were students or in the decades before have survived unchanged up to the present day. This appears quite natural taking into account the enormous progress made by marine science due to refined methods, extended range of research e.g. into the deep sea and the polar regions, increased number of researchers and funding, and greatly improved and accelerated exchange of scientific results. What is striking, however, against this background is the almost messianic fervour with which many of our professional guild (and not only the younger ones lacking experience) call for the immediate "abolishment" or "dismissal" of old ideas because their creators were wrong in thinking the way they did. In these authors` opinion, there is a basic misunderstandig about the role of ecological concepts in scientific argumentation. Very few concepts are so foolish that they can be dismissed entirely without any loss; the vast majority contain some truth that may fit at least certain situations, and may thus serve as a brickstone in constructing ecological theory. An attempt will be made to expand on that point in this contribution. What is more important: many of the concepts nowadays considered (partially?) erroneous have stimulated scientific discussion enormously, in some cases up to the present day and have, by their mere existence, guaranteed that ecological work was found necessary to continue in the respective fields. Finally, observing the tremendous pace at which ecological progress is being made these days in some disciplines and at the same time, the degree of uncertainty we are - despite all efforts - still facing in others, it is not difficult to anticipate that many of the new ideas replacing the old concepts nowadays will end up shortly on the garbage dump of science history as well. So tolerance should be the motto: let us not put out the baby with the bathwater! Give the old concepts their credit, look eagerly for alternatives and try to provide the best possible evidence for your results, but be modest. There may be various solutions to one ecological problem, and the way to handle this situation is differentiation, not abolishment.


Activist hedge funds revolutionized corporate America, generating both excitement and criticism alike. This article suggests that a novel market mechanism, a "super hedge fund," would maintain the benefits of hedge fund activism, while curbing its downsides. The super hedge fund would not really be a fund but, rather, a contractual arrangement among a broad group of institutional investors and a task force of financial experts. The task force would pool together the potency of the institutional shareholders in a sophisticated manner and then unleash its sting on target corporations. Unlike current hedge fund activism, the super hedge fund would not necessitate substantial financing or market transactions and, therefore, would be extremely efficient and very accessible. Importantly, the mechanisms of the super hedge fund would operate so as to ensure that the fund's incentives are closely aligned with the interests of the long-term shareholders of the targeted corporations. Hence, the new mechanism should respond to the claims of short-termism lodged at current hedge fund activism.


Wood-harvesting activities are conducted by contractors through tendering based on prices determined by the amount of transported wood, land conditions and transport method parameters. Managers should determine the average completion time of the work and the base price accurately to prevent both work and contractor losses prior to the tender and note the same in the tender contract. Thus, prediction of productivity in wood production is of great importance in the determination of the work duration and cost. In this context, the aim of the present study was to determine the most accurate estimation model that would predict productivity (Pe) based on log volume (Vt), route slope (P) and winching distance (D) in uphill cable skidding activities with a drum tractor. In the current study, estimation models were developed that use both linear regression through SPSS employing all data and the robust regression method that minimizes the effect of outliers. Harvesting units were selected among pure spruce (Picea orientalis (L.) Link) stands via the uphill cable-skidding method with a tractor in the NorthEast of Turkey. Route slope, winching distance, log volume and time-consumption data were collected in the chosen harvesting units and productivity prediction models were developed with these data. In this study, the productivity estimation was performed using linear regression in SPSS and robust regression methods prepared in MATLAB environment. The coefficients calculated by these methods were statistically tested, and it was determined that the winching distance coefficient was insignificant with both methods. Thus, the productivity estimation model was re-determined with both methods based on the slope and log volume parameters, and the findings were compared. Additionally, the standard errors of the coefficients of both models were compared and it was concluded that the robust method was more sensitive than the SPSS regression method.


Using a hand-collected data set of private firm acquisitions and IPOs, this paper develops the first empirical analysis in the literature of the "IPO valuation premium puzzle," which refers to a situation where many private firms choose to be acquired rather than to go public at higher valuations. We also test several new hypotheses regarding a private firm's choice between IPOs and acquisitions. Our analysis of private firm valuations in IPOs and acquisitions indicates that IPO valuation premia disappear for larger VC backed firms after controlling for various observable factors affecting a firm's propensity to choose IPOs over acquisitions. Further, after controlling for the long-run component of the expected payoff to firm insiders from an IPO exit, we find that the IPO valuation premium vanishes even for larger non-VC backed firms and shrinks substantially for smaller firms as well. Our Heckman-style treatment effects regression analysis demonstrates that the above results are robust to controlling for the selection of exit mechanism by firm insiders based on unobservables. Our findings on private firms' choice between IPOs and acquisitions can be summarized as follows. First, firms operating in industries characterized by the absence of a dominant market player (and therefore more viable against product market competition) are more likely to go public rather than to be acquired. Second, more capital intensive firms, those operating in industries characterized by greater private benefits of control, and those which are harder to value by IPO market investors are more likely to go public rather than to be acquired. Third, the likelihood of an IPO over an acquisition is greater for venture backed firms and those characterized by higher pre-exit sales growth.


Visual place recognition is a challenging problem due to the vast range of ways in which the appearance of real-world places can vary. In recent years, improvements in visual sensing capabilities, an ever-increasing focus on long-term mobile robot autonomy, and the ability to draw on state-of-the-art research in other disciplines-particularly recognition in computer vision and animal navigation in neuroscience-have all contributed to significant advances in visual place recognition systems. This paper presents a survey of the visual place recognition research landscape. We start by introducing the concepts behind place recognition-the role of place recognition in the animal kingdom, how a "place" is defined in a robotics context, and the major components of a place recognition system. Long-term robot operations have revealed that changing appearance can be a significant factor in visual place recognition failure; therefore, we discuss how place recognition solutions can implicitly or explicitly account for appearance change within the environment. Finally, we close with a discussion on the future of visual place recognition, in particular with respect to the rapid advances being made in the related fields of deep learning, semantic scene understanding, and video description.


The number of Crozet shags or cormorants Phalacrocorax [atriceps] melanogenis breeding at subantarctic Marion Island decreased by 68% from 841 pairs in 1994/95 to 272 pairs in 2002/03. The mean number of pairs at colonies also decreased and was significantly related to the overall number of birds breeding in any given season. The decreases coincided with a period of warming and reduced precipitation at Marion Island and with a decrease in the number of gentoo penguins Pygoscelis papua breeding there. Both these seabird species forage inshore and there is considerable overlap in their diets. Nototheniid fish and the decapod Nauticaris marionis continued to be important in the diet of Crozet shags, but a change in dominance among nototheniid prey suggests availability of prey to shags changed after the mid 1980s. Crozet shags breed for the first time when aged three years. It is probable that about 25% of the mature population did not breed in 1997/98, coincident with a strong El Niño Southern Oscillation event. In four seasons, breeding pairs on average fledged 0.30 chicks from first clutches, an amount thought inadequate to sustain the population. Crozet shags at the Prince Edward Islands should now be regarded as Endangered. Placing breeding colonies in the most highly protected zone on Marion Island, considering the establishment of an ex situ population and undertaking a genetic study of the specific status of the Crozet shag are recommended conservation measures.


Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) represents a mechanism for exhibiting temporal information instead of spatial information to overcome the limitations of small-screen devices. Previous studies examining this area focused only on information presented by RSVP displays and disregarded changes in the performance of accompanying tasks associated with such displays. Therefore, this investigation performed a dual-task experiment (a search task for static information and a reading task for RSVP display information) to examine the effects of presentation mode (character-by-character, word-by-word, and one-line format), speed (171, 260, 350, and 430 characters per minute, or cpm), and text-flow orientation (vertical and horizontal orientation) of RSVP display information on the visual performance of users during different stages of usage (whether current usage is the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or eighth day of usage) for a small screen. The results showed that RSVP display design factors did not distract participants from static information search tasks but did affect participant reading comprehension on RSVP displays. Speed and presentation modes significantly influenced the participants' reading comprehension. Participants performed best at speeds ranging from 171 to 350 cpm and performed worst at 430 cpm. The word-by-word and one-line format presentation modes achieved considerably higher comprehension scores than the character-by-character format. However, text-flow orientation did not significantly affect reading comprehension. Additionally, participants' reading comprehension on the first day of usage was significantly worse than that on the other five days. Finally, the possible applications of RSVP displays and the implications of these findings on reading Chinese text are discussed.


Non-local models guaranty that finite element computations on strain softening materials remain sound up to failure from a theoretical and computational viewpoint. The non-locality prevents strain localization with zero global dissipation of energy, and consequently finite element calculations converge upon mesh refinements to non-zero width localization zones. One of the major drawbacks of these models is that the element size needed in order to capture the localization zone must be smaller than the intemallength. Hence, the total number of degrees of freedom becomes rapidly prohibitive for most engineering applications and there is an obvious need for mesh adaptivity. This paper deals with the application of the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation, well known in hydrodynamics and fluid-structure interaction problems, to transient strain localization in a non-local damageable material. It is shown that the ALE formulation which is employed in large boundary motion problems can also be well suited for non-linear transient analysis of softening materials where localization bands appear. The remeshing strategy is based on the equidistribution of an indicator that quantifies the interelement jump of a selected state variable. Two well known one-dimensional examples illustrate the capabilities of this technique: the first one deals with localization due to a propagating wave in a bar, and the second one studies the wave propagation in a hollow sphere.


Reagan, Jean. How to Babysit a Grandpa . Illus. Lee Wildish. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Print. Salt Lake City, Utah children's author Jean Reagan offers a delightful and humorous read-aloud about a boy and his special relationship with his grandpa.  But just who is babysitting who? In this fun switcheroo, a little boy's parents go out and he is given the very serious task of babysitting his grandpa. The little boy as narrator gives plenty of tips including the types of snacks that grandpas like – anything dipped in ketchup – as well as things that grandpas like to do such as putting on a scary play or showing off your muscles. Turns out the hardest part of babysitting a grandpa is goodbye time, but as any good babysitter knows, a hug, a kiss and the promise of a future visit solves this dilemma. Especially sweet are the reassuring remarks the boy makes to his grandpa when the parents are leaving, "Don't worry. They always come back…" as well as the advice he provides the reader: 'When your grandpa says "Naptime," it's time for his nap.' It was interesting to watch the reactions of my own children, aged 6 and 3, as we read the story together.  My 3-year-old did not quite grasp the nuance and was therefore fairly impressed that the little boy was indeed babysitting the grandpa, while my 6-year-old 'got it' straightaway and relished this knowledge that she had over her little brother.  Both ages, however, enjoyed the book immensely and have requested it several times over. Wildish's digitally-created illustrations are fun and colourful and genuinely add to the enjoyment of the story with their tongue-in-cheek humour. Perfect for preschoolers aged 3 and up, this book would also be a fabulous Grandpa gift for birthdays or Father's Day. Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Debbie Feisst Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.


The conjugation of the protein transduction domain (PTD) from the HIV-1 Tat protein to shell-cross-linked (SCK) nanoparticles is reported as a method to facilitate cell surface binding and transduction of SCK nanoparticles. Attaching increasing numbers of peptide sequences to SCK nanoparticles in a global solution-state functionalization strategy has been devised as a method for increasing the efficiency of the cell-penetrating process. The numbers of peptides per SCK were controlled through stoichiometric balance and measured experimentally by two independent methods, UV-visible spectroscopy and phenylglyoxal analysis. PTD was conjugated in (0.005, 0.01, and 0.02) molar ratios, relative to the acrylic acid residues in the shell, to the SCK nanoparticles resulting in SCK populations possessing nominally 52, 104, and 210 (41, 83, and 202 as measured by phenylglyoxal analysis) PTD peptides per particle, respectively. The methodologies for the block copolymer and nanoparticle syntheses, peptide derivatization, and characterization of peptide-functionalized SCK nanoparticles are reported and the feasibility and efficiency of intracellular internalization of the respective SCKs were quantified.


There is nothing peaceful about Samia Shariff's account. Life has not been easy for this Algerian woman, who was born in France. The third child in a Muslim family whose father is a prosperous and respected businessman, Samia was not welcome in a clan where the birth of a daughter was considered a punishment from Allah! A powerful, at times almost unbearable narrative, Veil of Fear draws us into a world of men who justify most of their actions towards women by means of an abusive interpretation of the Koran and its teaching. Thus, from the time of her birth, Samia lives in fear. In fear of her mother, of her father, of the husband she was forced to marry at the age of 16, of the fundamentalists who constantly threaten her, of the obstetricians who want to put her to sleep, of what might happen to her children, of fleeing towards the unknown, of choosing freedom over assured wealth and, above all, of making her daughters live through the same torments she has experienced. Humiliated, beaten, raped, harassed, she had the intelligence and courage to break out of the infernal circle in which a woman depends on the totalitarian power of a man, from generation to generation. Thus, in November 2001, using false passports for herself and her five children, she crossed the Atlantic Ocean and took refuge in Canada, where she was finally able to start a real life as a mother and woman. In a style that is both simple and effective, Samia recounts her life, her trials and, above all, her victories. For several decades she was the instrument of a completely incredible belief system that granted her no rights whatsoever, not even the right to love or even live in peace. In this respect, she is now the spokeswoman for millions of other women who have stories that are similar and possibly even worse, to tell us. In her own words, Samia says, "I lost everything I had in order to obtain what I never had: peace and love." Translated from the original French language by Jennifer Makarewicz and Robert Marion.


This book offers a ground-breaking argument for better treatment of mental health from Richard Layard (author of Happiness) and David M. Clark. Britain has become a world leader in providing psychological therapies thanks to the work of Richard Layard and David Clark. But, even so, in Britain and worldwide the majority of people who need help still don't get treatment. This is both unjust and a false economy. This book argues for change. It shows that mental ill-health causes more of the suffering in our society than physical illness, poverty or unemployment. Moreover, greater spending on helping people to recover from mental health problems - and stay well - would generate massive savings to national economies, as those who suffer from depression and anxiety disorders account for nearly a half of all disability and are predominantly of working age. Modern talking therapies, such as CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), are highly effective, and if more sufferers got these treatments, lives would be turned around and the cost would be fully covered by the huge savings. Thrive explores the new effective solutions to the misery and injustice caused by mental illness. It describes how successful psychological treatments have been developed and explains what works best for whom. It also urges us to do all we can to prevent these problems in the first place, through better schools and a better society. And, most importantly, it offers real hope. "This book is an inspiring success story and a stirring call to further action. Its message is as compelling as it is important: the social costs of mental illness are terribly high and the costs of effective treatments are surprisingly low." (Daniel Kahneman). "Extremely easy and pleasurable to read. It's the most comprehensive, humane and generous study of mental illness that I've come across." (Melvyn Bragg). "Remarkable...presents the issues in a style that easy for the professional, the general public, and policy makers to understand." (Aaron T Beck). "Professors Layard and Clark (the Dream Team of British Social Science) make a compelling case for a massive injection of resources into the treatment and prevention of mental illness. This is simply the best book on public policy and mental health ever written." (Martin Seligman). Richard layard is one of the world's leading labour economists, and in 2008 received the IZA International Prize for Labour Economics. A member of the House of Lords, he has done much to raise the public profile of mental health. His 2005 book Happiness has been translated into 20 languages. David M. Clark, Professor of Psychology at Oxford, is one of the world's leading experts on CBT, responsible for much progress in treatment methods. With Richard Layard, he was the main driver behind the UK's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.


SUMMARY (1) Net aerial primary production of a grassland in Nairobi National Park was estimated using the harvest method in conjunction with estimates of mortality in the three most abundant grass species. (2) As a result of the long rains (March-April) net primary production (dry matter) was 651 g m-2 and as a result of the short rains (October-December), 420 g m-2. These estimates were more than twice the peak biomass observed in each season. (3) The three most abundant grass species differed in their performance. Themeda triandra Forsk. had the highest net production relative to its biomass and the highest mortality rate in all seasons. Pennisetum mezianum Stapf. was lowest in both these respects and Setaria phleoides Leeke intermediate. (4) Removal by large herbivores was too small to detect by exclosure methods. Calculations based upon population density of these animals suggest that they consumed less than 4% of annual net primary production. (5) The grassland studied was fairly typical of others with similar rainfall in East and southern Africa with respect to peak herbaceous biomass and average large herbivore population density. (6) Some implications of these results for management of the park are discussed.


This study has aimed at examining the small holder farmers' coping strategies to sustained household food insecurity and hunger in Southern Ethiopia (Sidama Zone). In order to collect the required input data, a comprehensive interview schedule was developed. The data were collected from 614 households who were selected through two-stage probability sampling technique. The association of each predicting variable and the dependent variable (coping strategies), controlling for all confounding factors, was examined using the multivariate analysis. The result revealed that about 54% of the households were facing mild to severe food insecurity, and of which, about 19% fall in household hunger category (as measured by Household Hunger Scale) for more than six months of the year. The study further showed that households in the study area employ a range of coping strategies to respond to the high and sustained food insecurity and hunger, ranging from minimizing the number of meals and amount of food consumption to out-migration of household members during chronic food shortage. The findings of the multivariate analysis using multiple regression technique documented that some demographic and socio-economic variable (such as age of the household head, educational status, access to main social service and others) have associations with the number of coping strategies practiced by the households. Finally, few recommendations were given based on the key findings of the study, which includes promoting income-generating activities, enhancing the micro-financing efficiency, creating employment opportunities at local areas to deter unskilled labor migration, on farm diversification and the like. Key words: Climate change, food insecurity, copying strategies, Southern Ethiopia, Sidama Zone


'I read a book one day, and my whole life was changed.' So begins The New Life, Orhan Pamuk's fabulous road novel about a young student who yearns for the life promised by a dangerously magical book. On his remarkable journey, he falls in love, abandons his studies, turns his back on home and family, and embarks on restless bus trips through the provinces, in pursuit of an elusive vision. This is a wondrous odyssey, laying bare the rage of an arid heartland, from the bestselling author of My Name is Red and Snow. In coffee houses with black-and-white TV sets, on buses where passengers ride watching B-movies on flickering screens, in wrecks along the highway, in paranoid fictions with spies as punctual as watches, the magic of Pamuk's creation comes alive. From a writer compared to Kafka, Nabakov, Calvino and Garcia Marquez, The New Life documents the spiritual journey of a young student, who leaves his family behind in the name of love, life and literature.


Pay for Success (PFS) financing is a relatively new concept in the United States, with great potential for improving the social sector and government efficiency. As with anything new and disruptive, there are numerous unknowns for the pioneers forging the early path. Early excitement about the first social impact bond in the United Kingdom (Peterborough prison pilot) was quickly followed by the question, How will this work in the United States, and what are the risks? When new financial markets emerge, it is common to see wide variation in the proposed mechanisms for addressing risk, reflecting the different perspectives and risk tolerances of the participants involved. Only by understanding, quantifying, and managing this risk will investors become comfortable enough to invest in PFS financing structures.


The Baltic Sea ecosystem has undergone dramatic changes, so-called ecosystem regime shifts, during the past four decades. Baltic Sea herring (Clupea harengus) spawning-stock biomass has declined to a third, and weight-at-age has halved as a result of food shortages and competition with sprat (Sprattus sprattus). The management objective for the herring stock is currently in transition from precautionary to maximum sustainable yield (MSY). The main basin Baltic Sea herring was modelled under the current ecosystem regime and the effect of a recovery of the cod (Gadus morhua) stock and the availability of planktonic food to levels found in the early 1980s analysed. A target of F-MSY = 0.16 for herring, which should decline to F-MSY = 0.10 with recovery of the cod stock, is proposed. An increase in the availability of planktonic food is estimated to more than double the yield at F-MSY = 0.27, overriding the negative effects of cod predation should there be a simultaneous increase in both cod and availability of planktonic food. The estimated net increase in yield is 40% at F-MSY = 0.20. Functions are presented to calculate FMSY and to estimate the expected yield depending on the abundance of cod and food availability. Retrospective application of the functions is indicative of overfishing of herring in the 1990s and early 2000s, and a net loss in yield, with a landing value of some E440 million.


10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (EC 188.8.131.52) catalyzes the NADP-dependent conversion of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate to tetrahydrofolate and CO2. Previous studies of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase purified from rat or pig liver homogenized in phosphate buffers indicated the presence of copurifying 10-formyltetrahydrofolate hydrolase activity, which catalyzes conversion of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate to tetrahydrofolate and formate. We find that the supernatant from rat liver homogenized in mannitol/sucrose/EDTA medium contains essentially all of the total cellular 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase activity, but no measurable hydrolase activity. Treating mannitol/sucrose/EDTA-washed mitochondria with Triton X-100 (0.5%) releases hydrolase activity in soluble form. 10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase purified from the mannitol/sucrose/EDTA supernatant has no 10-formyltetrahydrofolate hydrolase activity. Results of kinetic experiments using the hydrolase-free dehydrogenase give a complex rate equation with respect to (6R,S)-10-formyltetrahydrofolate. Double-reciprocal plots fit a 2/1 hyperbolic function with apparent Km values of 3.9 and 68 microM. Our results indicate that 10-formyltetrahydrofolate hydrolase and dehydrogenase are not alternate catalytic activities of a single protein, but represent two closely related and separately compartmentalized hepatic enzymes.


For the authors discussed in "Remarkable Modernisms" - poets John Yau, Charles Simic, and Mark Strand, and novelists Ann Beattie and Joyce Carol Oates - writing about modern art not only helps to illuminate the work of the artist but also serves as a stimulus to verbal self-portraiture. By revealing as much about their own lives and works as they do about the visual objects reviewed - pieces for example by Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Joseph Cornell, Alex Katz, Edward Hopper and George Bellows - the authors studied by Daniel Morris extend the scope of their analysis. In all five cases, writing about art becomes a critical inquiry into the nature of public acts of witnessing and private acts of seeing and not seeing. While challenging older, rigidly formalist approaches, these authors also diverge from the strictly contextual approaches favoured by many contemporary academic critics. As poets and novelists, they remain sensitive to the value of compositional techniques when they address a visual artifact, and they reject the shibboleth of "content" versus "formalist" approaches to art. They reveal that this dichotomy fails to account for the "semantics of form" - the interwoven relationship between the "how" and the "what" of a work of art. Indebted to visual art as a basis for their own compositional discoveries in words, these authors' writings on art have the effect of turning pictures into a language that extends our frame of reference beyond the flat surface of the picture plane to each author's version of contemporary society as social text.


To meet the world's ever growing energy demand, the E&P industry is developing new technologies to find and drill for hydrocarbons in more challenging environments such as deep water or deep targets, and to enter areas of the world that had previously been closed to exploration activities, such as the Arctic. While the Arctic was looked at geologically several times in the last century, the technological challenges that it presents restricted activities to the periphery of this vast collection of basins. Despite the significant resource estimates shown in Figure 1, the extreme environmental conditions combined with the vast remoteness of this region have limited exploration and development efforts to date.


For the past 10 years, a popular method to study global gene expression changes has been RNA sequencing of bulk tissues. However, an inherent limitation of this approach is the confounding of multiple cell types or multiple developmental stages. By contrast, new technologies enable transcriptional profiling of thousands of cells at single cell resolution. Single cell RNAsequencing (scRNA-seq) of human and animal tissues has produced unprecedented insight into gene expression changes underlying development and response to stimuli. However, until recently, scRNA-seq has never been applied to plants. Using the 10X Genomics platform, JeanBaptiste et al. (2019) establish a methodological framework to produce and analyze high-throughput, droplet-based scRNAseq data from Arabidopsis root samples. To test the ability of scRNA-seq to identify known and novel cell types, the authors transcriptionally profiled over 3,000 cells from whole root samples. Similarities in gene expression profiles were used to partition cells into discrete clusters. To determine the cell type represented by each cluster, the authors report the results of three complementary analyses based on published tissue-specific and cell stage-specific gene expression data. Exploration of the clusters revealed hundreds of new genes, including transcription factors, with cell typeand tissue-specific expression profiles. Among these genes are likely candidate regulators of cell identity and differentiation. After assigning cell types to each cluster, Jean-Baptiste and colleagues sought to explore the expression dynamics underlying cell maturation. To this end, a particularly exciting application of scRNA-seq is the ability to order cells along a developmental timeline based on overlapping gene expression profiles (see Figure). Cascades of genes differentially expressed between developmental states along the timeline should contain candidate regulators of cell maturation events. Here, the authors used an advanced machine learning approach available in Monocle, a popular R package, to order root hair, endodermis, and cortex cells from young to old in 'pseudotime.' Genes differentially expressed between cells at the root of the developmental trajectory (young cells) and those at the end of the trajectory (old cells) for each tissue type corresponded to stage-specific markers previously identified by RNA-seq, suggesting that developmental trajectories can be successfully recapitulated for root cells. Notably, an analysis of gene expression changes over time using an "RNA Velocity" package revealed that transcriptional rates of hair cell-specific genes increased in hair cells as ploidy increased, even as overall RNA levels decreased. These observations are consistent with hair cells becoming more specialized over time as they move toward terminal differentiation. Together, these results highlight the power of scRNA-seq to explore transcriptional dynamics and regulation of developmental events at an unprecedented resolution. In addition to addressing developmental questions, scRNA-seq is a promising technique for characterizing cellular heterogeneity in response to environmental signals or stress. By exposing roots to high temperatures, this study reports expression changes of both canonical and novel genes among multiple cell and tissue types. Future scRNA-seq applications could therefore include identification of cell types that most strongly respond to different biotic or abiotic stresses. This level of resolution could inform selection of specific cell types for targeted gene manipulation, thereby circumventing pleiotropic effects. Overall, the agreement of this study's findings with published Arabidopsis root data supports the validity and reliability of scRNAseq in an established plant model. Notably, Jean-Baptiste and colleagues demonstrate the exciting power of scRNA-seq to explore total mRNA dynamics across developmental time in specific cell types. Three recent and complementary studies also report successful scRNA-seq experiments with Arabidopsis roots (Shulse et al. 2018) and illuminate systems-level transcriptional perturbations in mutants (Denyer et al., 2019; Ryu et al., 2019). Together, these studies provide a robust framework for analyses in Arabidopsis and support the applicability of scRNA-seq to less well-characterized plants, including crop species. Rachel Shahan Department of Biology Duke University firstname.lastname@example.com ORCID: 0000‐0001‐7702‐9432


This section of the ANNALS is published in collaboration with the two abstracting Journals, ABSTRACTS OF WORLD MEDICINE, and OPHTHALMIC LITERATURE, published by the British Medical Association. The abstracts selected for this Journal are divided into the following sections: Acute Rheumatism; Chronic Articular Rheumatism (Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteo-Arthritis, Spondylitis, Miscellaneous); Disk Syndrome; Gout; Pararheumatic (Collagen) Diseases; Non-Articular Rheumatism; General Pathology; ACTH, Cortisone, and other Steroids; Other General Subjects. At the end of each section is a list of titles ofarticles noted but not abstracted. Not all sections may be represented in any one issue. The section "ACTH, Cortisone, and other Steroids" includes abstracts and titles of articles dealing with research into the scope and modus operandi ofsteroid therapy.


Sometimes, we lie when we speak; sometimes, we lie when we don't. Striking the right balance is the essence of the June 2016 Supreme Court opinion in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, which challenged the applicability of the Civil False Claims Act (FCA) to a defendant who falsely implied that it was in compliance with Medicaid requirements in order to obtain payment from the government. In a unanimous opinion, the Justices affirmed the validity of the implied certification theory but warned that misrepresentations must meet a demanding "materiality" standard to be actionable. While both parties were quick to claim victory, in the long run the decision is likely to satisfy no one and to raise as many questions as it answers.Ironically – or perhaps fittingly – for a case expected to redefine the contours of fraudulent omissions, the opinion was notable as much for what it didn't say as for what it did. Without citing to the extensive appellate FCA case law on either implied certification or materiality, and relying little on the statutory text itself, the Justices drew primarily from the common law. They explicitly declined to set bright-line rules, opting instead for a fact-intensive, commonsense approach more reminiscent of Justice Stewart's famous proclamation regarding pornography ("I know it when I see it").This essay confronts the fundamental question underlying implied certification litigation: what type of fraud should "count" under the FCA? Neither the statutory language nor 150 years of case law – nor Escobar itself – has provided a coherent mechanism for distinguishing irrelevant noncompliance from more significant misrepresentations that go to the heart of what the government believes it is buying. Situating Escobar within the historical context of FCA certification theories, this essay identifies the crucial issues left open by the opinion, including how, when, and by whom this new materiality standard will be assessed. Escobar not only represents a lost opportunity to resolve these debates; it introduces confounding new questions that virtually guarantee befuddled litigants will have no choice but to seek clarity through future litigation.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the trends and features of one of the most visible intellectual property (IP) management practices, IP licensing, in the context of start-ups, accessing external technology at the outset of their lifetime. In particular, it compares start-ups and incumbent firms, in terms of licensing strategy pursued, role of in-licensed technologies relative to the internal innovation process and successively implemented IP management strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-method study is presented using quantitative data on licensing deals from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and cases on start-up companies involved in inbound technology licensing.

Findings

Evidence indicates start-ups have different IP licensing strategies than incumbents, and their successive IP management strategies are more flexible than for incumbents.

Originality/value

The authors shed light on IP licensing, which is gaining momentum in open innovation (OI) settings, in an understudied segment of SMEs, namely, start-ups. The authors display interesting evidence of the portion of start-ups that license-in from external companies, indicating that this practice is more widespread than literature would suggest; the authors demonstrate that licensing-in is a valuable strategy for start-up companies, possibly providing additional channels for acquiring know-how on the market. The authors therefore contribute to, and advance, entrepreneurship, IP and OI literature.


This paper aims to explore the experience of
known egg donation (where eggs are donated by a
woman known to the recipient either as a friend
or family member) within the context of the
relationships involved in the donation. Part of my
PhD research involved a number of in-depth
interviews with individuals who had experienced
known egg donation either as the recipient or the
donor, or the partner of the recipient or donor.
These interviews are currently being analysed using
the voice-centred relational method of data
analysis (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Mauthner &
Doucet, 1998), which provides the researcher with
the opportunity to be reflexive during the
analytical stages of the research as well as
providing a 'voice' for those taking part in the
research. Preliminary data analysis suggests that
the quality of the relationships between the donor,
the recipient and their partners are a key feature
of known egg donation.


An increasing number of experimental studies indicate that perception encodes a posterior probability distribution over possible causes of sensory stimuli, which is used to act close to optimally in the environment. One outstanding difficulty with this hypothesis is that the exact posterior will in general be too complex to be represented directly, and thus neurons will have to represent an approximation of this distribution. Two influential proposals of efficient posterior representation by neural populations are: 1) neural activity represents samples of the underlying distribution, or 2) they represent a parametric representation of a variational approximation of the posterior. We show that these approaches can be combined for an inference scheme that retains the advantages of both: it is able to represent multiple modes and arbitrary correlations, a feature of sampling methods, and it reduces the represented space to regions of high probability mass, a strength of variational approximations. Neurally, the combined method can be interpreted as a feed-forward preselection of the relevant state space, followed by a neural dynamics implementation of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to approximate the posterior over the relevant states. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of this approach on a sparse coding model. In numerical experiments on artificial data and image patches, we compare the performance of the algorithms to that of exact EM, variational state space selection alone, MCMC alone, and the combined select and sample approach. The select and sample approach integrates the advantages of the sampling and variational approximations, and forms a robust, neurally plausible, and very efficient model of processing and learning in cortical networks. For sparse coding we show applications easily exceeding a thousand observed and a thousand hidden dimensions.


This study reviewed the policies and outcomes of international support for forest management in Nepal and answered whether international support on forest management in developing countries resulted in positive socioeconomic and environmental outcomes at local communities. The evaluation is based on the socio-ecological theory and synergies-tradeoff model of forestry ecosystems goods and services. The study shows that the international interventions influenced national policies and community forestry practices, which contributed to the remarkable increase of forest stock. The new forestry institutions increased timber product supplies to urban users and contributed to offsetting of greenhouse gas emission of affluent societies in overseas. However, the intervention spoiled centuries of old forestry practices, which had contributed to the evolvement of socio-ecological condition, sustained local economy and environment systems. The new forestry institutions and practices locked local opportunities of multipurpose uses of forest, worsened water yield and local knowledge, and hampered local economic activities. Consequently they affected habitat diversities for forest based species, and forest resource supplies for sustaining agrobiodiversities and local food security. In reality the interventions increased benefit to distant users (urban users in the country and affluent societies in overseas) and further marginalized local communities and particularly socially disadvantaged people. The paper shows that the international forestry policies and supports are technically wrong or poorly based on science which is against their promise of providing better technical supports and benefiting local communities in developing countries. It argues that the interventions created many complexities in forestry institutions and practices which require too costly endeavor to change and address the local socioeconomic and environmental problems. The paper has explained the root cause of the international policy problem on many schools of thought.


Summary We have developed a computational pipeline to analyse large surveys of A ymetrix GeneChips, for example NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus. GEO samples data for many organisms, tissues and phenotypes. Because of this experimental diversity, any observed correlations between probe intensities can be associated either with biology that is robust, such as common co-expression, or with systematic biases associated with the GeneChip technology. Our bioinformatics pipeline integrates the mapping of probes to exons, quality control checks on each GeneChip which identifies flaws in hybridization quality, and the mining of correlations in intensities between groups of probes. The output from our pipeline has enabled us to identify systematic biases in GeneChip data. We are also able to use the pipeline as a discovery tool for biology. We have discovered that in the majority of cases, A ymetrix probesets on Human GeneChips do not measure one unique block of transcription. Instead we see numerous examples of outlier probes. Our study has also identified that in a number of probesets the mismatch probes are an informative diagnostic of expression, rather than providing a measure of background contamination. We report evidence for systematic biases in GeneChip technology associated with probe-probe interactions. We also see signatures associated with post-transcriptional processing of RNA, such as alternative polyadenylation.


Although the study of medicine and the tradition of medical students gaining clinical experience on hospital wards have not significantly changed over the years, the experience of physicians practicing in the current climate has changed dramatically. Physicians are confronted with increasing regulations aimed at improving quality of care and are often overwhelmed by their position in a tug-of-war between administrators, staff, colleagues and most importantly, patients. With more than half of the US physicians experiencing professional burnout, questions arise regarding their mental health and work-life balance. Blendon et al 1 reported an overall decline in the public's confidence and trust in physicians, which may be explained by cultural changes as well as displeasure with medical leaders' responses to healthcare needs. As the next generation of physicians emerges in this evolving healthcare environment, adaptation to new practices and regulations will be imperative. Emotional intelligence (EI) and mindfulness provide a possible solution to the struggles physicians will invariably face.

The term EI, which refers to a person's ability to recognise, discriminate and label their own emotions and those of others, was coined by Salovey and Mayer and popularised by Goleman.2 3 Mindfulness is the process by which an individual actively observes his or her thoughts and feelings without judgement.4 With foundations in Eastern meditation, mindfulness is now an accepted method of stress reduction in Western culture.4

The practice and employment of synergistic EI and mindfulness is grossly lacking from medical school curricula, postgraduate training and continuing medical education (CME) programmes. The systemic deficiency of both EI and mindfulness in healthcare has become more apparent as studies have demonstrated high burnout rates,5 increasing public mistrust in physicians1 and disheartening data indicating that 300–400 physicians commit suicide each year; a surprising figure that equals approximately one physician per day.6

Identifying …


The current study examines the psychometric properties of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: structural validity, reliability and external validity. We conducted a study on a sample of 247 high school students, all aged 16. In order to verify hypotheses, scales measuring feeling of loneliness, shyness and self-esteem were administered. As a result of confirmatory factor analyses, it has been demonstrated that the structure of R-UCLA is three-factorial, the factors presents as follows: (1) intimate others, referring to the feeling of exclusion; (2) social others, referring to the lack of closeness and support in relationships; and (3) belonging and affiliation, referring to the lack of community bonds—all of which are reliable in their measurement as well as the total score of R-UCLA. Moreover, we demonstrated that the feeling of loneliness is positively related with shyness and negatively related with self-esteem. The obtained results support using the R-UCLA among Polish adolescents.


This article considers thinking with a common worlds framework in relation to reimagining our pedagogies to move beyond the nature/culture binary. Drawing on the work of scholars who engage with common worlds ethnographic projects, the author grapples with what it means to shift from humancentric perspectives of teaching children about nature toward attending to the interdependencies, mutual vulnerabilities, and responsibilities between humans and nonhumans. The article describes encounters between children, wasps, bees, and mushrooms as a means of illustrating how we might move toward different ways relating to the nature/culture divide, away from learning about toward thinking with.