The present paper describes the synthesis of primary amines from long-chain aliphatic alcohols and ammonia using alumina-supported noble metal doped cobalt formulations with moderate cobalt loading (5 wt%). The influence of the noble metal nature, loading and impregnation sequence was studied in detail and comprehensively characterized using XRD, H2-TPR, CO-TPD and STEM-EELS/EDS. While all noble metals exerted a positive effect on the cobalt reducibility, Ag and Ru impacted to a higher extent the activity and selectivity for amine synthesis. The impregnation protocol was found to be critical with the best results being obtained for sequentially impregnated Ag–Co and co-impregnated Co(Ru) catalysts. Further optimization of the Ag and Ru metal loading led to two formulations affording a comparable activity to that of an alumina-supported catalyst containing 2.4 times more Co. At optimized conditions, the best formulation (5 wt% Co, 3 atom% Ag) afforded 90% conversion and 78% yield to 1-octylamine in the gas-phase amination reaction of 1-octanol with ammonia at 200 °C using 21 equiv. of ammonia compared to 1-octanol, which overcomes the maximum reported yield on benchmark Ni-alumina formulations (70%). Furthermore, this formulation showed high stability for at least 6 h on stream. A survey of the effect of the reaction variables on the catalytic performance revealed a co-catalytic effect of Ag, impacting positively both the activity and selectivity.


Title of Document: C-DI-GMP SIGNALLING IN BACTERIANEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTI-BIOFILM DRUGS Jie Zhou, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Directed By: Professor Dr. Herman O. Sintim Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Bacterial infections are becoming more difficult to treat, due to the emergence of resistance strains to almost every antibiotic. Most bacteria that infect humans to cause diseases are biofilm forming bacteria and it has been shown that most antibiotics that are in clinical use today are not very effective against bacteria in a biofilm. Despite the difficulty in eradicating bacterial biofilms, there is no anti-biofilm drug in clinical use today. Cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) is a second messenger in bacteria and it that is synthesized in the cytosol, in response to a changing bacterial environment to regulate bacterial physiology. Due to the central role that c-di-GMP plays in bacteria, there are interests in understanding c-di-GMP signaling with the hope that detailed understanding of c-di-GMP signaling would provide avenues to design small molecules that could be used to inhibit bacterial virulence and biofilm formation, which c-di-GMP regulates. We aim to understand the determinants of c-di-GMP binding to receptor proteins and RNA riboswitches, using c-di-GMP analogs. We designed a concise synthetic strategy to make c-di-GMP and analogs. These analogs were used to study the structure-activity-relationship (SAR) of c-di-GMP. The polymorphisms of the synthesized analogs were studied using a panel of spectroscopic techniques. It was discovered that one analog of c-di-GMP, namely 2"F-c-di-GMP, which had a high propensity to exist in the closed conformation could potently inhibit c-di-GMP synthesis by c-di-GMP synthases. Since c-di-GMP promotes biofilm formation in bacteria, these analogs represent good starting points to design anti-biofilm agents to treat persistent bacterial infections. C-di-AMP was recently discovered as another important bacterial signaling molecule and it is mostly found in Gram-positive bacteria. C-di-AMP controls many processes in bacteria, including growth, cell wall synthesis, ion transport, and sporulation. Many of the receptor or effector proteins that mediate c-di-AMP signaling remain to be characterized and there is lack of knowledge regarding how environmental factors regulate c-di-AMP metabolism. We developed a new fluorescent probe for the "realtime" detection of c-di-AMP. This assay could be used to find inhibitors of c-di-AMP signaling as well as studying the enzymatic proficiencies of c-di-AMP metabolism proteins. C-DI-GMP SIGNALLING IN BACTERIA-NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTI-BIOFILM DRUGS


From the Publisher:
This volume is the first diverse and comprehensive treatment of algorithms and architectures for the realization of neural network systems. It presents techniques and diverse methods in numerous areas of this broad subject. The book covers major neural network systems structures for achieving effective systems, and illustrates them with examples.
This volume includes Radial Basis Function networks, the Expand-and-Truncate Learning algorithm for the synthesis of Three-Layer Threshold Networks, weight initialization, fast and efficient variants of Hamming and Hopfield neural networks, discrete time synchronous multilevel neural systems with reduced VLSI demands, probabilistic design techniques, time-based techniques, techniques for reducing physical realization requirements, and applications to finite constraint problems.
A unique and comprehensive reference for a broad array of algorithms and architectures, this book will be of use to practitioners, researchers, and students in industrial, manufacturing, electrical, and mechanical engineering, as well as in computer science and engineering.


Reasoning with inconsistency involves some compromise on classical logic. There is a range of proposals for logics (called paraconsistent logics) for reasoning with inconsistency each with pros and cons. Selecting an appropriate paraconsistent logic for an application depends upon the requirements of the application. Here we review paraconsistent logics for the potentially significant application area of technology for structured text. Structured text is a general concept that is implicit in a variety of approaches to handling information. Syntactically, an item of structured text is a number of grammatically simple phrases together with a semantic label for each phrase. Items of structured text may be nested within larger items of structured text. The semantic labels in a structured text are meant to parameterize a stereotypical situation, and so a particular item of structured text is an instance of that stereotypical situation. Much information is potentially available as structured text, including tagged text in XML, text in relational and object-oriented databases, and the output from information extraction systems in the form of instantiated templates. In this review paper, we formalize the concept of structured text, and then focus on how we can identify inconsistency in items of structured text, and reason with these inconsistencies. Then we review key approaches to paraconsistent reasoning, and discuss the application of them to reasoning with inconsistency in structured text.


This report discusses the opportunities and challenges for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Latin America. CDM is an important tool to improve the viability of many clean technology investments as it offers a number of important opportunities including increasing a project's internal rate of return (IRR) and its impact on project risk and overall credibility. The new and enlarged interest in GHG mitigation and carbon finance since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and the full operation of the CDM provides the opportunity to revise programs and activities as needed to meet beneficiary country needs in this arena.


The long-term success of wildlife conservation depends on maximizing the benefits of limited funds and data in pursuit of population and habitat objectives. The ultimate currency for wildlife management is progress toward long-term preservation of ample, wild, free wildlife populations and to this end, funds must be wisely spent and maximal use made from limited data. Through simulation-based analyses, I evaluated the efficacy of various models for estimating population abundance from harvest data. Because managers have different estimators to choose from and can also elect to collect additional data, I compared the statistical performance of different estimation strategies (estimator + dataset) relative to the financial cost of data collection. I also performed a value of information analysis to measure the impact that different strategies have on a representative harvest management decision. The latter analysis is not based on the cost of data, but rather on the management benefit derived from basing decisions on different datasets. Finally, I developed a hybrid modeling framework for mapping habitat quality or suitability. This framework makes efficient use of expert opinion and empirical validation data in a single, updateable statistical structure. I illustrate this method by applying it across an entire state.


AbstractOBJECTIVE: To profile patients likely to have unmet expectations for care, examine the effects of such expectations, and investigate how physicians' responses to patients' requests affect the development of unfulfilled expectations.
 DESIGN: Patient and physician questionnaires were administered before and after outpatient visits. A follow-up telephone survey was administered 2 weeks post visit.
 SETTING: The offices of 45 family practice, internal medicine, and cardiology physicians.
 PATIENTS: Nine hundred nine adults reporting a health problem or concern.
 MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Before their visits, patients rated their general health and trust in the index physician. After the visit, patients reported upon 8 types of unmet expectations and any request they made. Two weeks thereafter, patients rated their visit satisfaction, improvement, and intention to adhere to the physician's advice. They also reported any postvisit health system contacts. Overall, 11.6% of patients reported ≥1 unmet expectation. Visits in which a patient held an unmet expectation were rated by physicians as less satisfying and more effortful. At follow-up, patients who perceived an unmet expectation for care also reported less satisfaction with their visits, less improvement, and weaker intentions to adhere. Patients with an unmet expectation related to clinical resource allocation had more postvisit health system contacts. Unmet expectations were typically reported by a patient whose request for a resource was not fulfilled.
 CONCLUSIONS: Unmet expectations adversely affect patients and physicians alike. Physicians' nonfulfillment of patients' requests plays a significant role in patients' beliefs that their physicians did not meet their expectations for care.


Background: Myocardial protection in cardiac surgeries is a must and requires multimodal approaches in perioperative period to decrease and prevent the increase of myocardial oxygen demand and consumption that lead to postoperative cardiac complications including myocardial ischemia, dysfunction, and heart failure. Study Design: Prospective, controlled, randomized, double-blinded study. Aims: This study aims to study the effect of propofol-dexmedetomidine continuous infusion cardioprotection during open-heart surgery in adult patients. Materials and Methods: Sixty adult patients of both sexes aged from 30 to 60 years old belonging to the American Society of Anesthesiologists III or IV undergoing open-heart surgery were randomly divided into two equal groups: Group P (control group) received continuous infusion of propofol at a rate of 2 mg/kg/h and 50 cc 0.9% sodium chloride solution infused at a rate of 0.4 μg/kg/h (used as a placebo) and Group PD received continuous infusion of propofol at a rate of 2 mg/kg/h and dexmedetomidine 200 μg diluted in 50 cc 0.9% sodium chloride solution infused at a rate of 0.4 μg/kg/h. Infusion for all patients started immediately preoperative till skin closure. Hemodynamic measurements of heart rate (HR), invasive mean arterial pressure, and oxygen saturation were recorded at baseline before induction of anesthesia, immediately after intubation, at skin incision, at sternotomy and every 15 min in the 1st h then every 30 min during the prebypass period then every 15 min in the 1st h then every 30 min after weaning from CPB till the end of the surgery. Serum biomarkers; cardiac troponin (cTnI) and creatine kinase-myocardial bound (CK-MB) samples were measured basally (T1), 15 min after unclamping of the aorta (T2), immediate postoperative (T3), and 24 h postoperative (T4). Intraoperative data were also recorded including the number of coronary grafts, aortic cross-clamping duration, duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), duration of surgery, and rhythm of reperfusion. Fentanyl requirement, extubation time, and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay were also recorded for every case. Results: There was no statistically significant differences as regard to demographic data between the studied two groups. HR and blood pressure recorded was lower in the PD group than the control group, and this difference was noted to be statistically significant. Furthermore, the PD group showed lower levels of myocardial enzymes (cTnI and CK-MB), decreased total fentanyl requirement, earlier postoperative extubation, and shorter ICU stay than the P(control) group. Conclusion: The use of propofol-dexmedetomidine in CPB surgeries offers more cardioprotective effects than the use of propofol alone.


Le Corbusier's first trip to the United States in 1935 is generally considered a failure because it produced no commissions. The experience nevertheless had a profound effect on him, both personally and professionally. Sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Le Corbusier promoted his ideas through a lecture tour, exhibition, and press conferences, as well as in meetings with industrialists, housing reformers, New Deal technocrats, and editors. His lectures were watershed events that advanced the cause of European modernism. Yet he returned to France empty-handed and published a bittersweet account, Quand les cathe..^2ales e'!ient blanches: voyage au pays des timides (When the Cathedrals Were White: Journey to the Country of Timid People), which faulted America for lacking the courage to adopt his ideas.In this first major study of Le Corbusier's American tour, Mardges Bacon reconstructs his encounter with America in all its fascinating detail. Through extensive archival research and interviews, she presents a critical history of the tour as well as a nuanced and intimate portrait of the architect. Drawing on the methods of microhistory, she also considers how small ordinary events affect larger biographical, architectural, and cultural developments.Bacon notes that Le Corbusier's dialogue with America was drafted within a spirited European discourse on ame^2(c)canisme. She contends that the trip validated his concept of a "second machine age" that would unite standardized industrial methods with a new humanism. Le Corbusier's subsequent work, she suggests, reflected an "Americanization," evidenced by the introduction of tension structures and the textured skyscraper conceived as an integrated system with functions articulated. She also defines Le Corbusier's role in the debate over New York City high-rise public housing.Appearing here in print for the first time are color reproductions of the pastel drawings that illustrated Le Corbusier's American lectures.


Abstract. Verification of modeled rainfall with precipitation observed by a rain gauge network has been performed in a case study over the Cyprus Island. Cyprus has a relatively dense rain gauge network. The applied verification method is the Contiguous Rain Area (CRA) analysis. Some drawbacks of the CRA method are pointed out when it is applied to such a case study. Impact on the CRA results, when considering different dimensions of the verification sub-domain and different types of indicators (correlation and mean square error) used in the comparison, are discussed. Results indicate that care should be taken when verification of modeled rainfall is performed over a domain smaller than the model one.


Purpose Under the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic circumstances where the gold prices are increasing and the stocks are in free fall, this research aims to compare the returns of gold prices and Turkish real estate investment trust (T-REIT) index by covering the 2008 global financial crisis, 2018 Turkish currency crisis and 2020 COVID-19 pandemic-based economic crisis periods and examine the effects of the returns of gold and the T-REIT index on each other, a research area that has been limited in the literature Design/methodology/approach For the empirical analysis, vector auto regression model was used, and Augmented Dickey-Fuller and Granger causality tests were also conducted The average returns were compared with the coefficient of variation analysis Findings The results of the study exhibited that except for the 2008 global financial crisis period, 2018 Turkish currency crisis and 2020 COVID-19 pandemic-based economic crisis, the T-REIT index performs better than gold prices, but it is a riskier instrument, and both investment instruments do not affect the returns of each other The segmentation of both instruments recommends the fund managers including both tools for diversification of a portfolio Research limitations/implications In Turkey, gold prices are valued based on the fluctuations of the global gold prices, as well as the Turkish Lira/US Dollar currency exchange rates The effect of the exchange rates may be considered in future studies, and the study may be conducted based on the USD values of the T-REIT index and global gold prices Further studies may also include the comparison between the T-REIT index returns and a set of commodities such as the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index This study covered only the first five months of 2020 to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic-based economic crisis initial effects, and a successor study is also recommended by including more new data of the post-COVID-19 pandemic and comparing both results Practical implications The results of the research are expected to contribute to the REIT literature and give insight to investors about their investment choices while including both investment tools in their portfolio, especially for the future conditions of the new COVID-19 pandemic-based economic crisis Social implications The study may provide insight for individuals, especially those who are considering possible investment options in the Turkish real estate market in the post-COVID-19 pandemic crisis Originality/value Gold and real estate have always been considered as important investment instruments Gold is commonly accepted as a safe haven in the literature, and the REITs are considered as long-term investment instruments by many scholars While gold prices increase in the windy periods, the returns of real estate investments have more cyclical movements based on mostly the macroeconomic conditions and its integration with stock markets, yet the real estate is a common long-term investment tool, especially because of the regular income it generates for the retirement years By covering three crisis periods including the COVID-19 pandemic-based economic crisis effects, making research about two important investment tools would contribute to the literature, especially in which the studies in this area were very limited


A number of common and generally noncontroversial practices in the care of patients at the end of life lead to their deaths. For example, physicians honor a patient's refusal of medical intervention even when doing so leads to the patient's death. Similarly, with a patient's or surrogate's consent, physicians administer sedatives in order to relieve pain and distress at the end of life, even when it is known that doing so will cause the patient's death. In contemporary U.S. public policy, these practices are accepted as ethical and legal while physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is—for the most part—rejected in current U.S. law and public policy. Some think, however, that if one accepts practices that are known to lead to a patient's death, then one cannot reasonably reject a patient's request for a lethal dose of medication so that she may kill herself (PAS).


Abstract. We examine the statistical relationships between the interplanetary parameters and spectral power of the geomagnetic fluctuations in the 1–4 mHz frequency band at high latitude stations in two hemispheres. For that, we use a cross-correlative analysis of different combinations of parameters to identify a factor contributing most to the ULF power and to choose (whenever possible) the cross-related keynote controlling parameters. Along with the well-known dependencies of the high latitude pulsation power on the solar wind velocity and variations of the SW dynamical pressure and an additional factor – the flux of solar suprathermal ions with energies about several keV, has been established.


Photoacoustic FT-IR spectroscopy was used to quantify kaolinite in binary mixtures with KBr and silica, with the use of a linear relationship between the reciprocals of photoacoustic intensity and kaolinite concentration. The method is valid for both dilute and concentrated mixtures; an average error of 12% was obtained for kaolinite concentrations ranging from 15 to 80%. The technique thus compares favorably with more common approaches that require low analyte concentrations. It is concluded that quantitative photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy is feasible provided that the magnitude of the product of thermal diffusion length and absorption coefficient is taken into account.


US labor force participation has continued to fall in the wake of the Great Recession. Improvements in the US unemployment rate reflect the fact that more people are falling out of the labor force, not a stronger labor market. Controlling for changes in the demographic makeup of the workforce (i.e., gender, age, education, and race), Research Scholar Fernando Rios-Avila investigates trends in labor force participation across and within groups between 1989 and 2013. He finds that not all groups have lost ground equally, while participation rates for some groups have actually increased. Understanding these patterns in labor force participation is a necessary first step toward crafting effective policy responses.


This paper describes a reference architecture for self-maintaining systems that can learn continually, as data arrives. In environments where data evolves, we need architectures that manage Machine Learning (ML) models in production, adapt to shifting data distributions, cope with outliers, retrain when necessary, and adapt to new tasks. This represents continual AutoML or Automatically Adaptive Machine Learning. We describe the challenges and proposes a reference architecture.


To end the civil war in Sierra Leone the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) signed a peace agreement guaranteeing power-sharing in July 1999. Such power-sharing is a widely used, often recommended political arrangement to overcome deep divisions between groups. However, scholars disagree on whether power-sharing causes peace, or, on the contrary, causes continuing violence. One reason for this is the literature's tendency to neglect how power-sharing is actually put into place. But post-agreement implementation is essential if we are to judge the performance of power-sharing. Therefore, we investigate the role played by power-sharing in terminating the civil war in Sierra Leone. We argue that the government was able to use the peace agreement to pursue its goal of ending the war through marginalising the RUF.


The advances in communication technology have seen strong interest in digital signal transmission. However, illegal data access has become more easy and prevalent in wireless and general communication networks. Data security has become a critical issue. In order to protect valuable data from undesirable readers, data encryption is essential. Furthermore, the wireless channels have fluctuating channel qualities and high bit error rates. For reliable communications, channel coding is often employed. As such in this paper, a scheme based on encryption and channel coding has been proposed for secure data transmission over wireless channels. In the proposed scheme, the encryption and decryption algorithms based on Brahmagupta- Bhaskara equation are developed for data security. Turbo codes are used as channel coding for data communication over wireless channels with burst errors. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is demonstrated through implementation results for an image communication over wireless channels.


The hypotheses that beta diversity should increase with decreasing latitude and increase with spatial extent of a region have rarely been tested based on a comparative analysis of multiple datasets, and no such study has focused on stream insects. We first assessed how well variability in beta diversity of stream insect metacommunities is predicted by insect group, latitude, spatial extent, altitudinal range, and dataset properties across multiple drainage basins throughout the world. Second, we assessed the relative roles of environmental and spatial factors in driving variation in assemblage composition within each drainage basin. Our analyses were based on a dataset of 95 stream insect metacommunities from 31 drainage basins distributed around the world. We used dissimilarity-based indices to quantify beta diversity for each metacommunity and, subsequently, regressed beta diversity on insect group, latitude, spatial extent, altitudinal range, and dataset properties (e.g., number of sites and percentage of presences). Within each metacommunity, we used a combination of spatial eigenfunction analyses and partial redundancy analysis to partition variation in assemblage structure into environmental, shared, spatial, and unexplained fractions. We found that dataset properties were more important predictors of beta diversity than ecological and geographical factors across multiple drainage basins. In the within-basin analyses, environmental and spatial variables were generally poor predictors of variation in assemblage composition. Our results revealed deviation from general biodiversity patterns because beta diversity did not show the expected decreasing trend with latitude. Our results also call for reconsideration of just how predictable stream assemblages are along ecological gradients, with implications for environmental assessment and conservation decisions. Our findings may also be applicable to other dynamic systems where predictability is low.


Abstract This review focuses on the synthesis, reactivity and structural chemistry of zinc hydroxides and oxides derived essentially from organozinc compounds. It demonstrates the advantages of the organometallic route to these classes of compounds that is time and atom efficient. We have surveyed the preparation of organozinc hydroxide complexes via direct hydrolysis of both R2Zn compounds and alkylzinc complexes of the type RZn(L) (where L = monoanionic, mono- or multidentate organic ligand). The variety of their molecular structures is discussed with an emphasis on how the character of zinc bonded alkyl substituents or L ligands can influence the stability and the mode of aggregation of the resulting zinc hydroxides. The section dedicated to synthetic procedures and the solid state structures of zinc oxides focuses on the following aspects: (i) zincoxane compounds; (ii) the encapsulation of ZnO species into organozinc moieties and (iii) zinc oxide complexes supported by organic ligands. Finally, utility of oxozinc carboxylates as a predesigned molecular platform for modelling of the reactivity of prototypical Zn-MOFs towards H2O and donor solvents is presented.


In this case note the judgment in the Smith case is criticized for being inconsistent with the landmark ruling in Volks. It is argued that the Adjudicator ought to have remanded the matter in Smith to the Board and ought to have ordered it to re-examine its discretion with a focus on a set of factors. Some of the negative effects of Smith on the pension funds industry are also outlined. While the authors express their understanding that the Adjudicator's decision in Smith was made with the rights of women in mind, they believe that her reasoning was wrong. She may have arrived at the same decision on different reasoning. In order to prevent the negative effects of Smith on the pension funds industry, it is recommended that the Adjudicator, when given an opportunity, should overrule the precedent set in Smith. Failure to do so would create the risk of the inconsistent application of the term spouse under South African law, or at the very least in relation to acts of Parliament administered by the National Treasury, which may potentially violate the equality provisions of the Constitution.


Much of the dramatic change in skill and wage structure observed in recent years in the United States is believed to stem from the impact of new technology. This paper compares the changing skill structure of wages and employment in the United States with three other advanced developed countries - the UK (where wage inequality has risen even faster in the 1980s than in the US), Denmark (where unemployment has risen, but wage inequality but not grown very much) and Sweden (where wage inequality and unemployment has remained has remained stable over our sample). We base most of our analysis on a newly constructed panel of two-digit industries covering 17 years but also, where necessary, use other data sources at various levels of aggregation. We investigate how far technical change can explain the growth of the share of skilled workers (by occupation or education) has occurred in all countries. Like the US, most of this shift towards an increased usage of more skilled workers has occurred within industries. Furthermore, evidence of the complementarily of human capital with physical capital and with new technology is uncovered in all four countries. Nevertheless, technology can only account for a relatively small part (about 1/4) of the changes in the skill structure of the labour marker in the Anglo-American nations. In Sweden, however, a substantial part of the change is accounted for by technology. It seems likely like, over and above any effect from skill biased technological change, the observed changes in skill structure in Britain and America are also linked to the structure of labourr market institutions, such as the declining role of trade unions and collective bargaining.


Daylight savings time (DST) represents a public good with costs and benefits. We provide the first comprehensive examination of the welfare effects of the spring and autumn transitions for the UK and Germany. Using individual-level data and a regression discontinuity design, we estimate the effect of the transitions on life satisfaction. Our results show that individuals in both the UK and Germany experience deteriorations in life satisfaction in the first week after the spring transition. We find no effect of the autumn transition. We attribute the negative effect of the spring transition to the reduction in the time endowment and the process of adjusting to the disruption in circadian rhythms. The effects are particularly strong for individuals with young children in the household. We conclude that the higher the shadow price of time, the more difficult is adjustment. Presumably, an increase in flexibility to reallocate time could reduce the welfare loss for individuals with binding time constraints. JEL classification: H41, I31


This study explores contact phenomena in Estonian Russian as spoken by two groups of young Russian-speaking students, one in bilingual Tallinn and the other in the predominantly Russian-speaking northeast. The innovations analyzed involve both Estonian-language lexical material (borrowing or loan words) and Estonian morphosyntactic patterns (convergence, that is, when no Estonian-language morphemes are employed but the underlying structure is clearly Estonian). The article analyzes word-order patterns in genitive constructions and compares them with relevant features of Standard Russian and Standard Estonian. Mixed constructions of the type noun + noun or verb + verb are viewed as instances of congruent lexicalization. It is shown how common stems/words and internationalisms are important for the facilitation of code-switching.


Brain activation studies of orthographic stimuli typically start with the premise that different types of orthographic strings (e.g., words, pseudowords) differ from each other in discrete ways, which should be reflected in separate and distinct areas of brain activation. The present study starts from a different premise: Words, pseudowords, letterstrings, and false fonts vary systematically across a continuous dimension of familiarity to English readers. Using a one-back matching task to force encoding of the stimuli, the four types of stimuli were visually presented to healthy adult subjects while fMRI activations were obtained. Data analysis focused on parametric comparisons of fMRI activation sites. We did not find any region that was exclusively activated for real words. Rather, differences among these string types were mainly expressed as graded changes in the balance of activations among the regions. Our results suggests that there is a widespread network of brain regions that form a common network for the processing of all orthographic string types.


There are many possible ways to approach the topic of educational theory and critique. One could inquire into the meaning of critical phenomena and subject-matter in practical education and instruction, investigate the various forms of critique with the goal of determining the extent to which they assist in clarifying pedagogical action, or one could ask: 'What is meant by critical educational research?' and 'How do the various approaches to this topic relate to one another?'. This article inquires into the relationship between critique and negativity. Such a distinction is relevant for the practical, theoretical and research-oriented use of the various forms and subject matters of critique. This analysis of their relationship aims to clarify how the structure of human learning connects to that of pedagogical action; and, additionally, how the theoretical guidelines and orientation for pedagogical action relate to scientific analyses and research in education in a way that is productive. Distinctions made in thought, judgement and action are not simply delimiting positive characteristics. Such distinctions are at once mediated by the relations of knowledge and ignorance, ability and inability. Although ignorance and inability can be transformed into positive knowledge and ability, they are not superseded in the process. Ignorance and inability are, on the contrary, constitutive elements of learning. The possibility for transitions from ignorance and inability to knowledge and ability—a possibility that itself presupposes knowledge and ability—point to a form of negativity within the process of education (Bildung). This form of negativity relates to the human ability to learn (Bildsamkeit) and provides the definitive basis of human learning. A form of negativity constitutive of learning processes leads to one that grounds pedagogical processes. Pedagogical efficacy is mediated by a double negativity, comprised of both a universal and a particular form of negativity. The relation of negativity to learning and pedagogical efficacy, with specific reference to educational research studies on teaching and learning processes, is considered. A form of educational research that operates beyond fundamentalist criticisms—that is to say, criticisms based on unshakeable beliefs—and utilises issues arising from a pluralisation of critique to confront the pluralism of critical positions, is considered. The article closes with reflections on the relation between the Critical and the Uncritical.


BACKGROUND
Interleukin-1 is pivotal in the pathogenesis of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We assessed the efficacy and safety of canakinumab, a selective, fully human, anti-interleukin-1β monoclonal antibody, in two trials.

METHODS
In trial 1, we randomly assigned patients, 2 to 19 years of age, with systemic JIA and active systemic features (fever; ≥2 active joints; C-reactive protein, >30 mg per liter; and glucocorticoid dose, ≤1.0 mg per kilogram of body weight per day), in a double-blind fashion, to a single subcutaneous dose of canakinumab (4 mg per kilogram) or placebo. The primary outcome, termed adapted JIA ACR 30 response, was defined as improvement of 30% or more in at least three of the six core criteria for JIA, worsening of more than 30% in no more than one of the criteria, and resolution of fever. In trial 2, after 32 weeks of open-label treatment with canakinumab, patients who had a response and underwent glucocorticoid tapering were randomly assigned to continued treatment with canakinumab or to placebo. The primary outcome was time to flare of systemic JIA.

RESULTS
At day 15 in trial 1, more patients in the canakinumab group had an adapted JIA ACR 30 response (36 of 43 [84%], vs. 4 of 41 [10%] in the placebo group; P<0.001). In trial 2, among the 100 patients (of 177 in the open-label phase) who underwent randomization in the withdrawal phase, the risk of flare was lower among patients who continued to receive canakinumab than among those who were switched to placebo (74% of patients in the canakinumab group had no flare, vs. 25% in the placebo group, according to Kaplan-Meier estimates; hazard ratio, 0.36; P=0.003). The average glucocorticoid dose was reduced from 0.34 to 0.05 mg per kilogram per day, and glucocorticoids were discontinued in 42 of 128 patients (33%). The macrophage activation syndrome occurred in 7 patients; infections were more frequent with canakinumab than with placebo.

CONCLUSIONS
These two phase 3 studies show the efficacy of canakinumab in systemic JIA with active systemic features. (Funded by Novartis Pharma; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT00889863 and NCT00886769.).


Background Roller sports (RS) have continuous spreading, not only a recreational activity. There are different sports modalities, ruled by national/international organizations. We investigated at the FIHP, being the world leader for RS, about the circumstance of accidents. Object To investigate if RS must be considered at risk for accidents or not. Design Retrospective study through observations of accidents occurred in Italian FIHP during the 2009–2012 Olympic term. Setting Collecting data, statistical analysis of accidents. Analysis-goal and technical-scientific anamnesis to detect risk factors. Participants 97 085 Italian skaters in 4 years, subdivided into modality, sex, time, affected part of body. Risk factor assessment Data comparison underlines high number of accidents when athlete is physically stressed. These seem to be connected with 1) effect of skate vibrations on Hoffmann reflex; 2) effect of eccentric contractions; 3) functional overload on lumbar muscles; 4) age, sex, modality, time. Main outcome measurements We suggest to increase: 1) recovering periods during in-skate and off-skate; 2) more specific physical training with special attention to core stability and proprioception; 3) better control of upper part of body. Results Accidents were overall 502, equaling to 0.52% of all analyzed member athletes. Accidents involved 305 women and 197 men. 75.3% of accidents happened in training and 24.7% in competition. Subdivided into modality, (number of accidents compared to the total number of members athletes FIHP) the accidental risk was 0.24 % for artistic athletes, 0.18 % for inline speed athletes, 0.04% for rink-hockey athletes, 0.05% for inline hockey athletes, 0.01% for freestyle athletes, and 0.001% for ski roll athletes. The proportion of involved body parts for accidents during training were: upper limbs 57.4%, lower limbs 22.5%, head 13.2%, shoulder 4.0%, other 2.4; during competition: upper limbs 44.3%, lower limbs 20.9%, head 20.1%, shoulder 13.7% other 1.0%. Conclusions RS, if practiced in sports clubs, presented few accidents. The knowledge of the risk factors should allow us to optimize training strategies by preventing further risks. Other risk factors were detected, independent of speed, obstacles, hard surfaces, and behavior. We confirm that the use of protections is useful, especially for the beginners.


Abstract. Local governments often rely on hazard maps to plan for and respond to local natural disasters. These maps often rely on the use of many colors, but their exact color scheme and style differs in each area. As a result, we hypothesize that some users, specifically colorblind individuals, may have difficulty correctly understanding the information on some of these hazard maps. In this study, we test that hypothesis by conducting a survey of Japanese liquefaction hazard maps and their visual accessibility. To this end, we first undergo a survey of the color schemes used in these maps and investigate whether they are easily understood by people with colorblindness. We next specifically analyze several maps we deem particularly problematic in terms of color scheme and visibility, using these as case studies to discuss issues with accessibility and to summarize possible countermeasures. Our survey found that liquefaction hazard maps use one of three main color schemes: "diverging color scheme," "Sequential cold colors," or "sequential warm colors." However, while there were issues with several maps, including difficulty reading the background map or correctly understanding the risk of liquefaction, these difficulties were not related to the color scheme used. To improve the accessibility of hazard maps, therefore, is necessary to create a unified manual that contains the following information: an examination of colors, the utilization of a universal design check tool, and the use of GIS vector data.


Traffic simulation is more and more widely used and a helpful decision tool for planer and managers. Several tools exist and could be grouped in two main families: Macrosimulators with aggregate vision of the traffic in the network and microsimulators which provide individual data. These two tools got different approaches of modeling traffic and could be use for different applications, but in some case, links or interactivities are observed depending on the inputs needed. Unfortunately and due to the differences between models, these links are not lacking of compatible problems. This paper presents a study with an innovative dynamic approach of the OD matrix determination process comparing to the usual static one. Evaluation and tests of the proposed method are presented to quantify the improvement. Using dynamic traffic assignment, developing a historical data base representing the traffic network behavior during time and finding a new matrix adjustment fitting with the data used, are the main innovative contributions of this work.


Otolaryngologists have long recognized the value of cocaine as a topical anesthetic and vasoconstricting agent. It is used in nasal surgery and as a vasoconstrictor before examination. As drug abuse has increased, screening for drugs of abuse has become common. This study was designed to determine how medicinal cocaine affects the urine test for the metabolite benzoylecgonine, the most common screening test for cocaine. Group I consisted of 12 patients scheduled for elective nasal surgery. Cocaine was given in our usual preoperative manner as 4 ml of 4% solution on cottonoids. Group II consisted of 30 volunteers in whom approximately 1 ml of 4% solution was sprayed intranasally. In both groups, a urine sample was collected before dosing and at regular intervals afterwards. All samples were negative before application of cocaine and all were positive 24 hours later. The duration of the positive result had some variability, but all were negative by 72 hours. The results show that medicinally used cocaine does make a drug screen positive. Patients should be informed that cocaine is being used and could cause a positive test for several days.


We study normalising reduction strategies for infinitary Combinatory Reduction Systems (iCRSs). We prove that all fair, outermost-fair, and needed-fair strategies are normalising for orthogonal, fully-extended iCRSs. These facts properly generalise a number of results on normalising strategies in first-order infinitary rewriting and provide the first examples of normalising strategies for infinitary lambda-calculus.


This article presents SOR, a vehicular social network to enable social communications and interactions among users on the road during their highway travels. Motivated by the limited connection to Internet contents and services, the essential goal of SOR is to encourage distributed users on the road to spontaneously contribute as the information producer, assembler, and distributer in order to provide timely and localized infotainments to each other through low-cost inter-vehicle communications. To be specific, SOR enables individual users to maintain a personal blog, similar to one on Facebook and Twitter, over which users can create and share personal content information to the public such as travel blogs with pictures and videos. By accessing each other's SOR blogs and commenting on interesting topics, passengers can exchange messages and initiate social interactions. In the specific highway environment, SOR addresses two challenges in the context of vehicular social communications. First, vehicular social communications tend to be frequently interrupted by diverse vehicle mobility and intermittent intervehicle connections, which is annoying to users. To address this issue, SOR adopts a proactive mechanism by estimating the connection time between peer vehicles, and recommending vehicles with relatively long-lasting and stable intervehicle connections for social communications. Second, as users on the road are typically strangers to each other, they are reluctant to disclose personal information to others. This makes it challenging to identify users of shared interests and accordingly restricts the scale of users' social interactions. To remedy that, SOR provides a secured solution to protect sensitive user information during social communications. Lastly, we use simulations to verify the performance of SOR.


This paper presents several new methods to help interpretation and understanding of ground stress. The methods are based on data from 239 stress measurements conducted in the virgin ground in NSW and Queensland mines and computational models simulating large scale faulted ground behaviour. The underground stress regime plays an important role in mining profitability and safety however, understanding of the stress tensor is often difficult due to its mathematical complexities and non-intuitive behaviour. The aim of this study is to explain stress distribution in faulted ground, its origin and propose several methods of stress interpretation. Major findings presented in this study include: increase of maximum horizontal stress with depth based on underground measurements and numerical simulation of faulted ground, affect of faults on ground stress, normalisation technique that allows comparison of lateral stress magnitudes in rock of different stiffness, 'Strain Tectonic Factor' concept and its value in understanding stress components and its affect on rock strength.


We extend the classic "Schelling model" (1971 1978) to incorporate the wealth and status of agents and the desirability and affordability of residences. We analyze the effects of 1) the degree of the status-wealth correlation, and 2) the extent to which the wealth of residents shapes the affordability of residences, on levels of status and wealth segregation. Both factors generally exert a positive effect on both forms of segregation and interact to produce higher levels of segregation. The greater the correlation between status and wealth, the more the agents tend to segregate, either due to choice (for the wealthy and high status) or exclusion (for the poor and low status). We also find that housing price endogeneity is a precondition for status segregation.


This article outlines the development of post-graduate physiotherapy education in South Africa and the problems encountered. The method and results of two surveys are discussed. The first, conducted in 1986, ascertained involvement and interest in post-graduate study, and the reasons for non-participation. The respondents' needs and preferences were also analysed. The second (1989) survey investigated the extent to which universities were meeting these needs. The difference between clinical specialisation and academic post-graduate study is discussed and the progress made in the former is detailed.Proposals are made for overcoming current problems in postgraduate programmes, including delineating objectives and competencies, optimum management of existing resources and developing new resources. The question remains as to whether the direction in which post-graduate programmes are developing at present can be justified in terms of the needs of the population.


Abstract:The April 2016 Peruvian election saw the triumph of former finance minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK) in the close runoff against Keiko Fujimori, daughter of authoritarian president Alberto Fujimori (1990–2000). This election raises interesting questions for students of democracy that we aim to answer in this article: What explains the strength and endurance of fujimorismo sixteen years after the collapse of this competitive authoritarian regime? Why did so many Peruvians support the daughter of a former dictator? Who makes up the anti-fujimorista coalition? Finally, given the fujimorista majority in Congress, how will Peru be governed in the upcoming term?


Colistin is a polymyxin antibiotic which is considered as one of the last line agents against infections due to multidrug resistant or carbapenem resistant gram-negative pathogens. Colistin resistance is associated with chromosomal alterations which can usually cause mutations in genes coding specific two component regulator systems. The first plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene, mcr-1 was described in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates in December 2015 and followed by another plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-2 in 2016. The rapid and interspecies dissemination of plasmid-mediated resistance mechanisms through horizontal gene transfer, have made these genes considerably threatening. After the first reports, although mcr-1/mcr-2 producing Enterobacteriaceae isolates have been reported from many countries, there have been no reports from Turkey. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the presence of mcr-1/mcr-2 in clinical Enterobacteriaceae isolates from different parts of our country. A total of 329 Enterobacteriaceae isolates from 22 laboratories were collected which were isolated between March, 2015 and February, 2016. mcr-1/mcr-2 were investigated by polymerase chain reaction during February-March, 2016. Two hundred and seventeen of Klebsiella pneumoniae (66%), 75 of Salmonella spp. (22.8%), 31 of Esherichia coli (9.4%), 3 of Enterobacter cloacae (0.9%), 2 of Klebsiella oxytoca (0.6%) and 1 of Enterobacter aerogenes (0.3%) isolates were included to the study. Agarose gel electrophoresis results of PCR studies have shown expected band sizes for positive control isolates as 309 bp for mcr-1 and 567 bp for mcr-2. However, the presence of mcr-1/mcr-2 genes was not detected among the tested study isolates of Enterobacteriaceae. Although mcr-1/mcr-2 were not detected in our study isolates, it is highly important to understand the mechanism of resistance dissemination and determine the resistant isolates by considering that colistin is a last-line antibiotic against infections of multidrug or carbapenem resistant gram-negative bacteria. Thus, it is suggested that these mechanisms should be followed-up in both clinical and non-clinical (e.g. isolates from food animals, raw meats and environment) isolates of special populations.


We examined the cross-cultural equivalence of a widely used instrument that assesses perceived parental rearing, the EMBU-C, among native Dutch and immigrant adolescents living in The Netherlands. The results of a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the factor structure of the EMBU-C, consisting of three latent factors (Warmth, Rejection, and Overprotection), and reliabilities of these scales are similar in both samples. These findings lend further support for the factorial and construct validity of this instrument. The comparison of perceived child rearing between native Dutch and immigrant adolescents showed cultural differences in only one of the assessed dimensions: Immigrant adolescents perceive their parents as more overprotective than do Dutch adolescents.


Trends 1 was mainly based on a survey of structure and trends in higher education in the EU/EEA countries. Trends 2 surveyed the other signatory countries of the Bologna Declaration. This review: confirms all the main conclusions reached in the Trends 1 report; reinforces the observation concerning the move towards a two-tier system, but not necessarily corresponding to the definitions used for the degree structure outlined in the Bologna Declaration (e.g. the notions of "postgraduate" or "binary" system of higher education); confirms the observation concerning the move towards accreditation; shows that long study programmes at all levels, and rather inflexible monodisciplinary curricula still exist in several countries and would need to be adjusted to meet the principles of the Bologna Declaration.


Analysis of multicolor flow cytometric data is traditionally based on the judgment of an expert, generally time consuming, sometimes incomplete and often subjective in nature. In this article, we investigate another statistical method using a Sequential Univariate Gating (SUG) algorithm to identify regions of interest between two groups of multivariate flow cytometric data. The metric used to differentiate between the groups of univariate distributions in SUG is the Kolmogorov‐Smirnov distance (D) statistic. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated by applying it to a known three‐color data set looking at activation of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes with anti‐CD3 antibody treatment and comparing the results to the expert analysis. The algorithm is then applied to a four‐color data set used to study the effects of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on several murine bone marrow populations. SUG was used to identify regions of interest in the data and results compared to expert analysis and the current state‐of‐the‐art statistical method, Frequency Difference Gating (FDG). Cluster analysis was then performed to identify subpopulations responding differently to rHuEPO. Expert analysis, SUG and FDG identified regions in the data that showed activation of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes with anti‐CD3 treatment. In the rHuEPO treated data sets, the expert and SUG identified a dose responsive expansion of only the erythroid precursor population. In contrast, FDG resulted in identification of regions of interest both in the erythroid precursors as well as in other bone marrow populations. Clustering within the regions of interest defined by SUG resulted in identification of four subpopulations of erythroid precursors that are morphologically distinct and show a differential response to rHuEPO treatment. Greatest expansion is seen in the basophilic and poly/orthochromic erythroblast populations with treatment. Identification of populations of interest can be performed using SUG in less subjective, time efficient, biologically interpretable manner that corroborates with the expert analysis. The results suggest that basophilic erythroblasts cells or their immediate precursors are an important target for the effects of rHuEPO in murine bone marrow. The MATLAB implementation of the method described in the article, both experimental data and other supplemental materials are freely available at http://web.mac.com/acidrap18. © 2008 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry


India is the world's second most populous nation with an estimated 1.27 billion inhabitants. In 2018, the Indian economy was estimated to be the seventh-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the third-largest in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. Although robust economic growth over the past two decades has contributed to a decline in mass poverty, gains in other indicators of "well-being" such as access to health care or education continue to lag behind. To address these "failures" the Indian government recently announced an unprecedented National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), or in Hindi, the Ayushman Bharat Yojana (popularly known as "Modicare"), designed to provide health insurance coverage to roughly 100 million "poor and vulnerable families" (or an estimated 500 million individuals) through reimbursements. This paper provides an overview of this ambitious plan, in particular, its strengths and weaknesses and the complex economic and political challenges it faces.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The aim was to review available literature on research and service evaluation evidence of nurse-led case management services targeting older people with multiple chronic conditions in their own homes. This was anticipated to highlight important issues for nursing practice, healthcare policy, service provision and health service research.

BACKGROUND
Enhanced roles for nurses have developed in response to demands for increased efficiency in the provision of healthcare especially in the area of chronic disease management. It is apparent that the evidence to support nurses providing a case management approach for patients with multimorbid chronic conditions in their home environment is ambiguous.

DESIGN
A systematic review of the literature.

METHODS
The review was carried out across multiple sources including search and alert engines, electronic databases, relevant journal websites and grey literature. The inclusion criteria applied concentrated on articles in the English language, case management intervention involving nurses providing care in the patients' own home and older people (aged over 65 years) with multiple chronic illnesses. Of a total of 568 papers identified, eight were of relevance and included in the review.

RESULTS
The qualitative data derived from this systematic review suggests that access to case management services had a positive impact on the patient, the carer and the healthcare staff particularly the General Practitioner. In contrast the more robust quantitative data does not demonstrate a significant impact on emergency admissions, bed days, nor costs.

CONCLUSIONS
Further research is needed to understand how case management can most effectively improve service effectiveness for patients and their carers and reduce cost of care.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
A new emphasis on comparative effectiveness research is required which has the potential to reshape the whole system of healthcare provision for patients with complex needs.


The method for solving an optimal design problem under uncertainty depends on how the latter is quantified. When sufficient information is available the popular probabilistic approach can (and should) be adopted. In reality however, we often do not have sufficient data to infer appropriate probability distributions for the uncertain quantities modeled as random variables. The amount of available information about the uncertain quantities may be limited to ranges of values (intervals). In this case, the interval analysis approach can be employed to reformulate and solve the optimal design problem. In this study, we use both approaches to solve an engine design optimization problem that considers fuel economy and acceleration performance of a medium-sized truck with a hydraulic-hybrid powertrain. We then contrast the obtained results and comment on the characteristics and features of the two approaches. We also demonstrate an extension of the interval analysis approach to multilevel systems using a simple yet illustrative engine-related example.


Macrophytes play a key role in many unshaded lotic ecosystems, but little is known of the factors controlling their presence, abundance, and composition. Macrophyte abundance, diversity, and composition were studied in 15 New Zealand streams to test the hypotheses that the presence and development of macrophytes in lotic systems is primarily controlled by the hydrologic regime (frequency of high‐velocity flood events) and that the interflood spatial distribution and performance of taxa in more stable systems is strongly influenced by local hydraulic conditions (depth/velocity/sediments). Both hypotheses were supported by our results. We found that the abundance and diversity of macrophytes decreased as flood disturbance frequency increased (r2 = 0.52, P = 0.002 for abundance; r2 = 0.53, P = 0.022 for diversity) and that vegetation was absent in streams with more than ~13 high‐flow disturbances per year. An experiment in an ecohydraulics flume identified that the main mechanism causing these effects was not stem breakage at high water velocity but probably uprooting associated with bed sediment erosion. We found that plants with high propagule production constituted a greater proportion of the vegetation in more flood disturbed streams than in stable streams, suggesting that this species trait is important for the maintenance of macrophyte communities in flood prone streams. Distinct velocity, depth, and substrate particle size habitat preferences were displayed by four common species in the study streams. None of the macrophytes showed overlapping preferences for all three habitat variables, suggesting coexisting of the species in streams by physical niche separation. These results significantly expand our understanding of the role of flow regimes in determining lotic ecosystem structure and functioning.


In this paper, a new topology of single-phase pulse width modulated (PWM) AC-DC converter is proposed for bidirectional power flow between plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and the grid. This converter consists of a PWM voltage source converter (VSC) and a ripple reduction circuit. The ripple reduction circuit consists of a switching leg and an inductor. The inductor is connected between the midpoints of the second and third legs of VSC. An AC voltage of 230 V, 50 Hz is converted into 400 V DC using a single-phase VSC with ripple compensation circuit. A buck-boost DC-DC converter charges and discharges the battery of the electric vehicle (EV) or PHEV with this 400 V DC. While in discharging mode, it feeds energy back to the grid. The zero voltage regulation (ZVR) and power factor correction (PFC) modes of operation at PCC are also achieved with reactive power compensation and harmonics elimination of other connected loads at PCC with modified control in order to improve the power quality at the grid.


Obesity traits are causally implicated with risk of cardiometabolic diseases. It remains unclear whether there are similar causal effects of obesity traits on other non-communicable diseases. Also, it is largely unexplored whether there are any sex-specific differences in the causal effects of obesity traits on cardiometabolic diseases and other leading causes of death. We constructed sex-specific genetic risk scores (GRS) for three obesity traits; body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), and WHR adjusted for BMI, including 565, 324, and 337 genetic variants, respectively. These GRSs were then used as instrumental variables to assess associations between the obesity traits and leading causes of mortality in the UK Biobank using Mendelian randomization. We also investigated associations with potential mediators, including smoking, glycemic and blood pressure traits. Sex-differences were subsequently assessed by Cochran's Q-test (Phet). A Mendelian randomization analysis of 228,466 women and 195,041 men showed that obesity causes coronary artery disease, stroke (particularly ischemic), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, type 2 and 1 diabetes mellitus, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, chronic liver disease, and acute and chronic renal failure. Higher BMI led to higher risk of type 2 diabetes in women than in men (Phet = 1.4×10−5). Waist-hip-ratio led to a higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Phet = 3.7×10−6) and higher risk of chronic renal failure (Phet = 1.0×10−4) in men than women. Obesity traits have an etiological role in the majority of the leading global causes of death. Sex differences exist in the effects of obesity traits on risk of type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and renal failure, which may have downstream implications for public health.


The relationships between size (length and width) of the lagenar (asteriscus) and the utricular (lapillus) otoliths and body length for five cyprinid fish species, freshwater bream Abramis brama, white bream Blicca bjoerkna, Prussian carp Carassius gibelio, brond-snout Chondrostoma regium, and rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus, collected from Lake Ladik from November 2009 through October 2010, are presented. The right and left side measurements of otoliths were pooled in all cases except asteriscus length in Prussian carp. Nonlinear and linear functions provided the best fit for 80% and 20% of all species, respectively. All relationships were highly significant (P 0.71) and the mean percent prediction errors were less than 10%. The results showed that reliable original size estimates of all species studied are obtainable from their otolith biometrics. The regressions from this study can be useful for investigators examining food habits of piscivorous fauna and sizes of these fishes in archaeological samples.


Socioeconomic inequalities in cancer stage at diagnosis and survival are important public health issues. This study investigates the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and colorectal cancer (CRC) stage at diagnosis and survival in Switzerland, a European country with highest level of medical facilities and life expectancy. We used population‐based CRC data from seven Swiss cantonal cancer registries 2001–2008 (N = 10,088) linked to the Swiss National Cohort (SNC). Follow‐up information was available until the end of 2013. SEP was estimated based on education. The association between cancer stage and SEP was assessed using logistic regression models including cancer localization (colon/rectum), sex, age, civil status, urbanity of residence, language region, and nationality (Swiss/non‐Swiss). Survival was analyzed using competing risk regressions reporting subhazard ratios (SHRs) for the risk of dying due to CRC. We observed a social gradient for later stage CRC with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 1.11 (95% CI: 0.97–1.19) and 1.28 (95% CI: 1.08–1.50) for middle and low SEP compared to high SEP. Further, single compared to married people had elevated odds of being diagnosed at later stages. Survival was lower in patients with CRC with low SEP in the unadjusted model (SHR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.07–1.30). After adjustment for stage at diagnosis and further sociodemographic characteristics, significant survival inequalities by SEP disappeared but remained for non‐Swiss compared to Swiss citizens and for patients living in nonurban areas compared to their urban counterparts. Swiss public health strategies should facilitate equal access to CRC screening and optimal CRC care for all social groups and in all regions of Switzerland.


Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and poses patients at many risks. In this thesis we address the management of these risks in general practice including the prediction and prevention of ischaemic stroke, and other adverse events including hospitalisation, mortality and heart failure. AF is a well-known risk factor for ischaemic stroke. Anticoagulants can effectively prevent stroke, but only in patients at high enough risk of stroke does their benefits outweigh the risk of bleeding complications. Practice guidelines recommend the CHA2DS2-VASc model for stroke risk prediction but external validation studies show ambiguous and conflicting results. In a meta-analysis of studies validating CHA2DS2-VASc we observed consistently higher risks of stroke for each CHA2DS2-VASc score in studies recruiting patients in hospitals as compared to studies recruiting in the open general population, and substantial heterogeneity that could not be fully explained by meta-regression. While their benefits are evident, anticoagulants are often underused. We evaluated the reasons for non-adherence to practice guidelines on stroke prevention in AF in general practice. General practitioners (GPs) most often mentioned sustained sinus rhythm after an episode of AF, and the cardiologist considered responsible for the anticoagulation as reasons for non-adherence. To subsequently improve the anticoagulant management of AF patients, we undertook a cluster-randomised trial assessing the effectiveness of automated CHA2DS2-VASc based decision support on stroke prevention. In index practices, GPs were provided an automatically generated CHA2DS2-VASc based anticoagulant treatment recommendation. GPs in the reference practices provided care as usual. Underuse of anticoagulants in our study was low and the decision support did not result in a reduction in stroke incidence, nor did it affect bleeding risk or anticoagulant treatment. Besides stroke, patients with AF are at increased risk of many other adverse events. We observed a high incidence of hospitalisation and mortality, predominantly for non-cardiac causes. Existing stroke prediction models, particularly the ATRIA score, may be useful in identifying patients at high risk of such events. Heart failure (HF) is another adverse condition that frequently co-occurs in patients with AF. Combiningindividual participant data from four HF-screening studies, we observed a high prevalence of HF in older community-dwelling AF patients and an impaired diagnostic accuracy of NTproBNP for HF screening. Medical research nowadays often relies on data collected during routine clinical practice. We assessed possible misclassification and its effect on the validation of a prediction model, using CHA2DS2-VASc as a case study. Misclassification was substantial in some predictors, though overall model performance was not affected. We conclude that routinel care data may be a useful source when validating prognostic models. This thesis concludes by discussing the two pathways along which more accurate prediction of stroke may be achieved: i) updating the predictors and their weights in the CHA2DS2-VASc model, and evaluating interaction terms; ii) evaluating additional predictors including clinical parameters, biomarkers, and echocardiographic measurements. In the end, better stroke prediction then should lead to better anticoagulant treatment and ultimately better prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.


Peripheral giant cell granuloma appears as a solitary purplish-red nodule, having vascular or hemorrhagic appearance, with or without surface ulceration. It may be a sessile or pedunculated lesion on the gingiva or the alveolar crest, common in relation to incisors and first molars. It occurs in response to local irritation from the connective tissue of the gingiva, periodontal ligament or periosteum of the alveolar ridge and may occur in periimplant tissues and edentulous arches. They are more common in females than males, more frequently seen in mandible than maxilla. Their growth potential is very high, and may penetrate interdentally to involve the adjacent cortical bone. An accurate diagnosis based on the histological observation is vital for its management. Considering its rapid and penetrating nature of its growth, surgical excision including its base is recommended to prevent the recurrence.


Dendrimer–dye assemblies are used as novel supramolecular nanoreactors for the formation of various gold nanostructures. The organic–inorganic hybrid systems are investigated with dynamic light scattering, UV–vis spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) as well as cryo-TEM and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM). We show that the shape of the hybrid assemblies is determined by the choice and the ratio of the building blocks. Shape and size of the gold nanoparticles within the assemblies are controlled by the reducing agent. The accessible range of gold morphologies extends from small and spherical, over ellipsoidal, faceted, and large to highly anisotropic. The approach may open the way to new hybrid systems with applications in catalysis or in the biomedical field.


Water requirements for different crop types according to soil type and climate conditions play not only an important role in agricultural efficiency production, though also for water resources management and control of pollutants in drainage water. The key issue to attain these objectives is the irrigation efficiency. Application of computer codes for irrigation simulation constitutes a fast and inexpensive approach to study optimal agricultural management practices. To simulate daily water balance in the soil, vadose zone and aquifer the VisualBALAN V. 2.0 code was applied to an experimental area under irrigation characterized by its aridity. The test was carried out in three experimental plots for annual row crops (lettuce and melon), perennial vegetables (artichoke), and fruit trees (citrus) under common agricultural practices in open air for October 1999-September 2008. Drip irrigation was applied to crops production due to the scarcity of water resources and the need for water conservation. Water level change was monitored in the top unconfined aquifer for each experimental plot. Results of water balance modelling show a good agreement between observed and estimated water level values. For the study period, mean drainage obtained values were 343 mm, 261 mm and 205 mm for lettuce and melon, artichoke and citrus respectively. Assessment of water use efficiency was based on the IE indicator proposed by the ASCE Task Committee. For the modelled period, water use efficiency was estimated as 73, 71 and 78 % of the applied dose (irrigation + precipitation) for lettuce and melon, artichoke and citrus, respectively.


Motion and change through time are important aspects of thematic maps. Traditionally, such data have been visualized using a series of paper maps that represent multiple snapshots of a location over time. These maps are visually compared by the map reader when analyzing change over time for a location. This static view of change over time has worked well for cartographers in the past, but today computer animation allows cartographers to emphasize the dynamic nature of this data. By animating a map, change over time can be represented on one map rather than in a traditional map series. This study compared a paper map series, a computer map series, and animated maps of the same data to assess the effectiveness of each technique for memorizing data symbolized by graduated flow lines. Subjects were asked to study the maps and to memorize two types of information: quantity data at specified locations on the maps and trend patterns that occurred over the maps. Memorization of the information was subsequently tested using a series of multiple choice questions. Analysis of response times and accuracy rates for these questions suggest that animation does not improve learning ability for quantity evaluations. It does appear, however, to improve subjects' abilities to learn and remember trend patterns in the data. Results also indicate gender differences in using animated maps.


The analytic expressions for frequency locations of the zero-effective-phase photonic band edge of the photonic multilayers containing single-negative materials are derived based on the effective medium theory. By adopting the derived band-edge formula, the properties, especially the thickness- and angular-dependence of the zero-effective-phase photonic bandgap are investigated in detail. The obtained results are consistent with the predictions in the transfer-matrix method. Moreover, the potential application of the band-edge formula in extending zero-effective-phase photonic bandgaps is proposed, which is verified in the photonic heterostructure realized by using composite right-/left-handed transmission line.


Porous materials in the nanometer range are interesting materials in many fields of science and technology. Especially in terms of colloidal suspensions, these materials are promising candidates for applications such as gas sensing, host-guest chemistry, drug delivery and coatings in the semiconductor industry. In this work, syntheses of monodisperse, stable, colloidal suspensions of different materials for the preparation of porous thin films were described.
Colloidal suspensions of zeolite Beta nanocrystals with low aluminum content were prepared and the crystallization kinetics was studied. The crystalline Beta was stabilized in colloidal suspensions by addition of inorganic silica-based binders and applied for the preparation of films by a spin-on process. The thickness of the films was controlled by repeated coating steps, speed of deposition and Beta concentration of the coating suspensions. The Beta films exhibit good mechanical properties, smooth surfaces and show a low refractive index, which is typical for highly porous silica based materials.
Additionally, a synthetic approach for the preparation of colloidal mesoporous silica spheres and functionalized colloidal suspensions of nanoscale mesoporous materials with high yields from concentrated solutions is presented. Narrow particle size distributions in the range of about 50 to 150 nm were established with Dynamic Light Scattering measurements and electron microscopy before and after template extraction. Discrete nanoscale mesoporous particles with functionalized pore surfaces resulted when adding functional organoalkoxysilanes directly to the initial silica precursor solutions. Nitrogen sorption analysis indicated that the functional groups were located at the inner surfaces of the mesoporous channel systems.
By further decreasing the diameter of these mesoporous silica spheres, their scattering ability for visible light was also drastically decreased. We have demonstrated the synthesis of extremely small mesoporous silica nanoparticles via a specific co-condensation process with phenyl groups. If the size of the particles falls below about 1/10 of the wavelength of the incoming light (0.1 ), the colloidal suspensions show optical transparency. Because of an easy handling and a good reproducibility, the suspensions are ideal for the production of thin film by spin-coating. The films showed excellent optical qualities, exhibited good diffusion properties and a highly accessible pore system. Thanks to the small particle size and the resulting low surface roughness, the formation of multilayers was possible without transmitting defects on the surface with every following coating step. The availability of such homogeneous porous thin films made it possible to use ellipsometry as analysis method. Ellipsometric porosimetry (EP) is a convenient method to determine the effective porosity of a thin film on its original support without destroying it. It was possible to record sorption isotherms of the thin films with ellipsometry and to correlate the data with nitrogen sorption data of dried powders of the same material. The thin films showed very low refractive indices around 1.2 in the case of both, zeolites and functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles.
Besides, a synthesis procedure for TiO2 particles in an acidic medium by a simple sol-gel process was investigated. The material showed a high surface area and the thin films prepared from the colloidal suspensions had a high refractive index combined with a certain porosity. Thus, the preparation of wavelength specific Bragg mirrors could be realized by a simple and reproducible spin-coating approach using colloidal suspensions of functionalized porous silica nanoparticles and titania sols. The Bragg reflectors show a sensitivity towards specific relative pressures of organic vapors like isopropanol or toluene.


The continuously increasing Internet coverage and its availability has give rise to an issue that was once considered not important to take into consideration. Today a number of applications use the Internet to de-liver time critical messages. The usage of wireless Access Points involves a considerable percentage to connect mobile devices to the Internet pro-vider. However, these relatively cheaper Internet Access Points have their own disadvantages as compared to the GSM and ADSL. The access points cover a very limited area and thus in order to cover a wider area multiple access points must needs to be installed. In other words, as the user moves he/she is supposed to switch between access points. Never-theless, the basic problem in such cases is involves packet loss during handover. In today's technological advancements these issues, though very small, are no more insignificant but are required to be handled prop-erly. So protocols such as MobileIP, LISP, HOST have been proposed and are currently being used for such a purpose. Furthermore, in this thesis a mechanism to reduce such packet losses has been studied and proposed in relation to the SensibleThings Internet-of-things platform. A workaround solution known as Mobile DCXP has been proposed and implemented and comparisons with the existing system have been carried out. In addition, a generic solution has been discussed in detail and compared with the Mobile DCXP. However, the implementation of the generic solution has been deferred to the future. The concept of Mobile DCXP has been illustrated with proof-of-concept apps and an implementation of a simple Android Application known as IChat has been conduct. The IChat is a simple chat app that is used in the experi-ment to determine out the packet lost during handover and to carry out a comparison. Finally, based on the data collected from IChat, an evaluation of Mobile DCXP has been presented and a performance comparison with Mobile Proxy DCXP has been illustrated with charts. Furthermore, in the conclusion Mobile DCXP could minimize packet loss as compared to the existing system.


Geniposide is a key iridoid glycoside from Gardenia jasminoides fructus widely used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. However, detection of this small molecule represents a significant challenge mostly due to the lack of specific molecular recognition elements. In this study, we have performed in vitro selection experiments to isolate DNA aptamers that can specifically bind geniposide. Using a stringent selection procedure, we have isolated DNA aptamers that can distinguish geniposide from genipin and glucose, two structural analogs of geniposide. Two top aptamers exhibit low micromolar binding affinity towards geniposide, but show significantly reduced affinity to genipin and glucose. These aptamers have the potential to be further developed into analytical tools for the detection of geniposide.


Ocean model biases such as the North West corner cold bias connected to the location of the Gulf Stream path, the warm bias in upwelling zones, the warm bias in the Southern Ocean, and model drift like the deep ocean warm bias which tends to peak in around 800 to 1000 m depth in the Atlantic Ocean are issues common among state-of-the-art ocean models. These issues are often amplified when the ocean model is coupled to an atmosphere model to perform climate simulations. Furthermore, unrealistic freezing of the Labrador Sea is an issue in various climate models. With the unstructured mesh approach in our Finite Element Sea ice Ocean Model (FESOM) we are able to systematically investigate the benefits of local refinement of the ocean model grid both in an uncoupled set-up (sea-ice ocean only) as well as in a fully coupled climate model (atmosphere-
land-sea ice-ocean). While the horizontal ocean model resolution is 25 km on average in the finer grids, we refine the grids in some key areas to up to 5 km. Therefore we can explicitly resolve ocean eddies and simulate eddy-mean flow interactions in these key areas. The atmosphere-land component of our AWI-CM (Alfred Wegener Institute Climate Model) is ECHAM6-JSBACH developed at the Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. Here we present results of century-long uncoupled and coupled simulations on ocean model grids with different local refinements while keeping the atmosphere resolution constant in the coupled simulations. Results indicate that high horizontal resolutions in key regions such as the Gulf Stream / North Atlantic Current area or the Agulhas Stream can reduce biases such as the North West corner cold bias and the deep ocean model drift.


St. Marys Entrance is an Atlantic Ocean tidal inlel located on the Florida-Georgia state border. At the end of the nineteenth century rubble-mound jetties were constructed. Large-scale natural and jetty-induced morphologic changes have occurred in the area, including; fillet accretion adjacent to both jetties, landward migration of ebb-tidal shoals, and profile steepening of nearshore areas downdrift (south) of the inlet. Natural migration of the ebb-tidal shoal at the north end of Cumberland island and of shoals seaward of central Cumberland island have also occurred. Average shoreline position change from 1870 to 1974 along Cumberland and Amelia island was 1.5 m/yr and 0.3 m/yr, respectively. Preliminary analysis indicates 58 × 10 6 m 3 of sediment accumulated in the St. Marys Inlet/Ebb-Delta Complex from 1924 to 1970's, implying a gross sediment transport of 1.2 × 10 6 m 3 /yr. Net southerly littoral transport is estimated to be 0.3 × 10 6 m 3 /yr. Nearshore volumetric losses have been significant along central Amelia Island, resulting in profile steepening along most of the island. Geomorphic response to jetty construction at St. Marys Entrance has been similar to other Atlantic coast tidal inlets. Relatively rapid, significant reconfiguration of the ebb-delta system was followed by more subtle, long-term changes farther up-and down-drift.


Abstract This paper reports the formation of CZTSe absorber layers at temperatures between 380–550°C using a two-stage process. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) analysis identified the presence of Cu rich and Zn rich regions that are consistent with the presence of secondary phases. These phases could evolve at lower temperatures during the formation of the CZTSe phase. The absorber layers exhibit an evolution in the morphology with conversion temperature, with the highest temperature yielding the largest and most compact grains. In the past, Cu–Zn alloys have been identified in the sputtered metallic precursor produced with our baseline process. In this study, we investigate the selenisation of Cu–Zn precursors under the same conditions as used for the CZTSe in order to understand and identify the formation of potential secondary phases that might form in our CZTSe absorber layers. The results showed that Cu1·8Se and ZnSe were formed as separate phases. There is evidence to suggest that the Cu1·8Se evolves into the Cu2Se phase as the temperature increases above 520°C. This provides an insight into the phases formed during processing and their possible influence on kesterite formation.


The North American Great Lakes are a vital natural resource that provide fish and wildlife habitat, as well as drinking water and waste assimilation services for millions of people. Tributaries to the Great Lakes receive chemical inputs from various point and nonpoint sources, and thus are expected to have complex mixtures of chemicals. However, our understanding of the co‐occurrence of specific chemicals in complex mixtures is limited. To better understand the occurrence of specific chemical mixtures in the US Great Lakes Basin, surface water from 24 US tributaries to the Laurentian Great Lakes was collected and analyzed for diverse suites of organic chemicals, primarily focused on chemicals of concern (e.g., pharmaceuticals, personal care products, fragrances). A total of 181 samples and 21 chemical classes were assessed for mixture compositions. Basin wide, 1664 mixtures occurred in at least 25% of sites. The most complex mixtures identified comprised 9 chemical classes and occurred in 58% of sampled tributaries. Pharmaceuticals typically occurred in complex mixtures, reflecting pharmaceutical‐use patterns and wastewater facility outfall influences. Fewer mixtures were identified at lake or lake‐influenced sites than at riverine sites. As mixture complexity increased, the probability of a specific mixture occurring more often than by chance greatly increased, highlighting the importance of understanding source contributions to the environment. This empirically based analysis of mixture composition and occurrence may be used to focus future sampling efforts or mixture toxicity assessments. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:509–518. © 2018 SETAC


Many current behavior generation methods struggle to handle real-world traffic situations as they do not scale well with complexity. However, behaviors can be learned off-line using data-driven approaches. Especially, reinforcement learning is promising as it implicitly learns how to behave utilizing collected experiences. In this work, we combine policy-based reinforcement learning with local optimization to foster and synthesize the best of the two methodologies. The policy-based reinforcement learning algorithm provides an initial solution and guiding reference for the post-optimization. Therefore, the optimizer only has to compute a single homotopy class, e.g. drive behind or in front of the other vehicle. By storing the state-history during reinforcement learning, it can be used for constraint checking and the optimizer can account for interactions. The post-optimization additionally acts as a safety-layer and the novel method, thus, can be applied in safety-critical applications. We evaluate the proposed method using lane-change scenarios with a varying number of vehicles.


Worshipped and revered in several Indo-Pacific countries, and mostly feared among the western world, sharks are an old group of vertebrates dating back to the Devonian-Silurian boundary (~400Ma). Constantly represented as human predator by occidental movies, sharks have a spiritual appeal for several Indo-Pacific cultures. In contrast with this spiritual significance, in China sharks are a fierce animal believed to give strength and health for those whom consume their fins. They are also considered as a signal of prosperity and wealth. Fished for their meat and fins, several species are considered under high threat and are now facing extinction, with about 93% of nominal species included on the IUCN Red List. Mainly relying on the inefficiency of law enforcement authorities, the shark finning industry is a growing business with global scale actors and consequences. Understand the relation between spiritual beliefs, wealth and vitality, and the consumption of shark fins and meat is needed to precisely delineate the shark finning problem and to the development of efficient management and conservation policies. Molecular methods provide a valuable option for the identification of shark meat and body parts such as fins, although it still not consensual which one is the most appropriate.


The axial and transverse optical forces exerted by Gaussian beams on an arbitrarily oriented and homogeneous spheroid are calculated and studied within the framework of the Mie theory. The results are applied to study the behavior of the forces in a counterpropagating optical trap. We calculate the trapping efficiencies for a wide range of physical parameters, including the beam waist separation distance, the equivalent spheroid radius, the spheroid eccentricity, and the refractive index ratio between the particle and the surrounding medium.


Fabrication of carbon films on semiconductor micro/nanocrystals improves their photocatalytic performance. However, the carbon coating can often lead to reduction in their activity because of the blocking of the reaction sites. Herein, we report the synthesis of folded-up thin carbon nanosheets on Cu2O cubes by surface etching, which increase the photocatalytic activity of Au/Cu2O 2 fold due to the enhancement in light absorption and charge separation.


The Cambrian Chengjiang biota of South China provides compelling fossil evidence for the rapid appearance of metazoan phyla in Earth history (the 'Cambrian explosion'). However, the timing of the Chengjiang biota is poorly constrained owing to lack of datable rock materials within the Maotianshan Shale that yields the fossils. Here we integrate secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and chemical ablation isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons from the Maotianshan Shale to provide high-precision geochronological constraint on the Chengjiang biota. The youngest group of SIMS U–Pb detrital zircon dates yields an age peak at 520 Ma. Six zircons from this group are further dated by the CA-ID-TIMS U–Pb technique, but suggesting that they were not formed from a single zircon growth event. Thereby neither the age peak nor the weighted mean age defined by the youngest SIMS U–Pb dates could represent the maximum depositional age of the Maotianshan Shale. Instead, the youngest CA-ID-TIMS U–Pb date, 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma (2σ, analytical uncertainty/incorporates U–Pb tracer calibration uncertainty), provides the first robust maximum age of the Chengjiang biota. This new geochronological constraint on the Chengjiang biota indicates that the Cambrian explosion reached its major phase around 518.03 ± 0.69/0.71 Ma, demonstrating a protracted process (>22 myr) for the Cambrian explosion. Supplementary material: SIMS and CA-ID-TIMS zircon U–Pb data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4024849


High resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) measurements and density functional model cluster calculations are presented to clarify the vibrational structure of the adsorption system C6H6/Si(001). All vibrational modes of the adsorption complex, which previously was identified to exhibit a cyclohexadiene-like structure, have been calculated and characterized according to the motion of the different atoms of the adsorption complex. Special emphasis is placed on the low-frequency modes. The coupling between the adsorbate and the substrate modes is analyzed with the help of a model that represents various limiting situations. Different coupling variants are found to apply to different collective modes of the adsorbate. The A1 and B1 modes can be described rather well by a model that only encompasses the adsorbate and the Si dimer underneath; for the A2 and B2 modes a frozen substrate description of the adsorption complex is more appropriate.


Many projects in Nigeria construction industry experience extensive delays thereby exceeding the project duration date which often lead to costly disputes and claims between parties. Therefore, this research presents the causes of construction delays, and the factors contributing to construction delays. The state of the art technology used in addressing the issue of delay was discussed. Based on the literature the theoretical frame work was developed. Consequently, questionnaire survey were conducted among 93 major project stakeholders in the Nigeria construction industry which includes the contractors, consultants and clients. Relative important index of each factors were calculated and ranked, and according to the highest ranking of these factors the top important causes of construction delay influencing the Nigeria construction industry were determined. Besides, the most important technology was also determined. Kruskal Wallis test was carried out to determine the significant difference between the factors of delay on causes of construction delay.
The result of the survey revealed that financial predicament, lack of consultant site staff, poor skills and inexperience of labour are the most important factors contributing to construction delay in the Nigeria construction industry. The result further revealed that labour input tracking model is the most important state of the art technology. Subsequently, the findings in this research will contribute in improving performance in the Nigeria construction industry in terms of time and cost overrun. Further research is needed to investigate the model use in addressing delay issues in the Nigeria construction industry.


This paper presents new evidence on the role of embeddedness in predicting contract duration in the context of information technology outsourcing. Contract duration is a strategic decision that aligns interests of clients and vendors, providing the benefits of business continuity to clients and incentives to undertake relationship specific investments for vendors. Considering the salience of this phenomenon, there has been limited empirical scrutiny of how contract duration is awarded. We posit that clients and vendors obtain two benefits from being embedded in an interorganizational network. First, the learning and experience accumulated from being embedded in a client-vendor network could mitigate the challenges in managing longer term contracts. Second, the network serves as a reputation system that can stratify vendors according to their trustworthiness and reliability, which is important in longer term arrangements. In particular, we attempt to make a substantive contribution to the literature by theorizing about embeddedness at four distinct levels: structural embeddedness at the node level, relational embeddedness at the dyad level, contractual embeddedness at the level of a neighborhood of contracts, and finally, positional embeddedness at the level of the entire network. We analyze a data set of 22,039 outsourcing contracts implemented between 1989 and 2008. We find that contract duration is indeed associated with structural and positional embeddedness of participant firms, with the relational embeddedness of the buyer-seller dyad, and with the duration of other contracts to which it is connected through common firms. Given the nature of our data, identification using traditional ordinary least squares based approaches is difficult given the unobserved errors clustered along two nonnested dimensions and the autocorrelation in a firm's decision here the contract with those of contracts in its reference group. We use a multiway cluster robust estimation and a network auto-regressive estimation to address these issues. Implications for literature and practice are discussed.