Sleep quality and memory are both relevant topics in today's society, especially among college students. Purpose: To determine if there is a correlation between sleep quality and short-term memory including objective and subjective measures. Methods: This study consisted of 25 participants, 6 males and 19 females, ages ranging from 19 to 22 (20.8±0.8 years), who avoided stimulants, caffeine or other sleep altering drugs for at least eight hours. Our participants were recruited via word of mouth, poster, and discussions in classroom settings. Participants memorized a list of 30 words for two minutes and then had two minutes to recall and write as many words as pos sible. Sleep quality was measured with the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and then scored using the official Pittsburg Index score sheet, and perceived memory was scored at face value. An independent t-test was used to determine if there was a significant difference between genders on their sleep quality, Memory Functioning Questionnaire scores, and their ability to recall words. Results: The test revealed no significant difference (p=0.68) between the sleep quality of males (7±3) and females (7±3). There was also no significant difference (p=0.16) between the number of words recalled by males (14±4 words) and females (11±3 words). The difference between the Memory Functioning Questionnaire scores of males (318±37) and females (282±55) was not significant (p=0.10). No significant difference (p=0.45) was found between science majors (8±4) and non-science majors (8±3) on sleep quality. Similarly, Memory Functioning Questionnaire scores were not significantly different (p=0.73) for science majors (285±52) and non-science majors (293±55). The test for recalled words also showed no significant difference (p=0.99) between science majors (12±3 words) and non-science majors (12±3 words).


The benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of deep (>3.0m) and shallow ( <0.5m) regions at four sites in the upper Swan River estuary were sampled over a six month period from September 1993 to December 1994. Changes in the benthos were examined in order to determine the effect of a number of physico-chemical parameters pertaining to the progression of a saline wedge from the middle to upper regions of the estuary during spring and summer.

The saline wedge was characterised by a higher salinity than overlying waters, and low dissolved oxygen concentration. With the arrival of the saline wedge, salinities increased rapidly and dissolved oxygen concentrations fell to below 2.0mgL·1. Oxygen recovery was evident two to three weeks after the arrival of the saline wedge, however, the magnitude of oxygen recovery was highly variable between sites. Turbidities at all sampling sites increased abruptly with the arrival of the saline wedge. This was due to the coagulation of colloidal particles caused by an increase in metallic ions, particularly calcium and magnesium in more saline water. Turbidities fell as abruptly as a more homogenous salinity profile was established. The movement of the saline wedge through the upper estuary was affected by a number of factors including surface freshwater discharge, barometric pressure and tidal variation.

Forty seven benthic macroinvertebrate species were collected from the upper Swan River Estuary. Shallow sites supported a diverse, species rich fauna comprising bivalves, polychaetes, crustaceans and other taxa. Deep sites were comparatively depauperate, being dominated by one species of polychaete. Classification and ordination techniques revealed further separation of shallow sites into upstream/downstream groups. Downstream sites had a more diverse and species rich fauna, whereas the fauna upstream was dominated by a small leptonid bivalve.

The differences in the faunal assemblages were explained by habitat variation between deep and shallow and upstream and downstream sites, and physical stress induced by the saline wedge. Shallow sites, in general, were characterised by fine to medium sands which provided suitable attachment sites for a number of bivalves and a tube building media for some amphipods and polychaetes. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the shallows were generally high throughout the sampling period at all sites. Deep sites however, were characterised by black, organically enriched anoxic mud, which was inhabited only by a spionid polychaete.

Salinity was an important factor in the distribution of relatively few species, predominantly the amphipods and isopods. This may be due to the euryhaline nature of the species inhabiting this region and their adaptations to extremes in salinity and temperature. A negative correlation between species richness and turbidity suggested that the higher turbidities present in the deeper regions may have impacted on the benthic fauna. Absence of a number of deposit feeding species contributed to the decrease in richness, which suggested these species were intolerant to large particulate fluxes.

The main effect of the saline wedge appeared to be deoxygenation, which explained much of the spatial and temporal variation of the benthos. The dominant species (particularly Prionospio cirrifera) in the deep regions were largely opportunistic and flourished in a very stressful environment characterised by hypoxia and on some occasions anoxia. Larger, non opportunistic species, intolerant to low dissolved oxygen concentrations, were either absent from the deeper regions or suffered population collapses during periods of oxygen stress.

Further research is required to observe whether many of the trends recorded in this study persist under different annual climatic conditions. In particular, this study did not encompass autumn and winter periods, where investigation into the response of the benthos to winter flushing and the subsequent development of riverine conditions is still needed.


This paper discusses the movement of capital flows to and from the exchange rate regimes and monetary policies of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa (CIBS). Furthermore, we compare the level of financial stability, and the composition and duration of capital flows of the countries on a policy level according to the ? ?third generation? crisis models?; following which the East Asian Crisis of 1997/98 linkages between the corporate and financial sectors, and foreign short-term debt are given further attention. The paper concludes by comparing all four countries and analysing possible risks in CIBS financial systems.


Abstract. Data warehouse means a decision support database allowing integration, organization, historisation, and management of data from heterogeneous sources, with the aim of exploiting them for decision-making. Data warehouses are essentially based on multidimensional model. This model organizes data into facts (subjects of analysis) and dimensions (axes of analysis). In classical data warehouses, facts are composed of numerical measures and dimensions which characterize it. Dimensions are organized into hierarchical levels of detail. Based on the navigation and aggregation mechanisms offered by OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) tools, facts can be analyzed according to the desired level of detail. In real world applications, facts are not always numerical, and can be of qualitative nature. In addition, sometimes a human expert or learned model such as a decision tree provides a qualitative evaluation of phenomenon based on its different parameters i.e. dimensions. Conventional data warehouses are thus not adapted to qualitative reasoning and have not the ability to deal with qualitative data. In previous work, we have proposed an original approach of qualitative data warehouse modeling, which permits integrating qualitative measures. Based on computing with words methodology, we have extended classical multidimensional data model to allow the aggregation and analysis of qualitative data in OLAP environment. We have implemented this model in a Spatial Decision Support System to help managers of public spaces to reduce annoyances and improve the quality of life of the citizens. In this paper, we will focus our study on the representation and management of imprecision in annoyance analysis process. The main objective of this process consists in determining the least harmful scenario of urban building sites, particularly in dense urban environments.


Title of Dissertation: STRUCTURING A PROBABILISTIC MODEL FOR RELIABILITY EVALUATION OF PIPING SUBJECT TO CORROSIONFATIGUE DEGRADATION Mohamed Chookah Alseyabi, Doctor of Philosophy, 2009. Dissertation directed by: Professor Mohammad Modarres Department of Mechanical Engineering Pipelines are susceptible to degradation over the span of their service life. Corrosion is one of the most common degradation mechanisms, but other critical mechanisms such as fatigue and creep should not be overlooked. The rate of degradation is influenced by many factors, such as material, process conditions, geometry, and location. Based on these factors, a best estimate for the pipeline service life (reliability) can be calculated. This estimate serves as a guide for maintenance and replacement practices. After a long period of service, however, this estimate requires reevaluation due to the new evidence gathered from monitoring the conditions of the pipeline. Several deterministic models have been proposed to estimate the reliability of pipelines. Among these models is the ASME B31G code, which is the most widely accepted method for the assessment of corroded pipelines. However, these models are highly conservative and lack the ability to estimate the true life and health of the pipeline. In addition to the limitations embedded in these deterministic models are the problems with inspection techniques and tools that may be inadequate and susceptible to error and imprecision. What is needed, therefore, is a best-estimate assessment model that estimates the true life of these pipelines and integrates the uncertainties surrounding the estimate. Hence, this dissertation proposes a probabilistic model that is capable of addressing the limitations of these models (by accounting for model uncertainties), the inspection data (by characterizing limited and uncertain evidence), and subjective proactive maintenance (by involving the decision-making process under uncertainty). The objective of this research is to propose and validate a probabilistic model based on the underlying degradation phenomena and whose parameters are estimated from the observed field data and experimental investigations. Uncertainties about the structure of the model itself and the parameters of the model will also be characterized. The proposed model should be able to capture wider ranges of pipelines rather than only the network ones, so that the proposed model will better represent the reality and can account for material and size variability. The existing probabilistic models sufficiently address the corrosion and fatigue mechanisms individually but are inadequate to capture mechanisms that synergistically interact. Given that capturing all degradation mechanisms would be a challenging task, the new model will address two of the most important mechanisms: pitting corrosion and fatigue-crack growth. The field data is very limited, and the experiments required an extensive and expensive set-up before they could produce suitable results. Hence, relying primarily in the initial stage on the generic data available from the literature facilitated the construction of the empirical degradation model and provided an order-of-magnitude estimate of the parameters of the degradation model. The proposed model in it is simplest form has the capability to estimate the degradation outputs with the least parameter inputs available. The Bayesian approach was implemented to incorporate the experimental data to further improve the proposed model and estimate the two constants' values. The proposed empirical model can be used to estimate the aging life expended, which will enable inspection and replacement strategies to be developed. STRUCTURING A PROBABILISTIC MODEL FOR RELIABILITY EVALUATION OF PIPING SUBJECT TO CORROSION-FATIGUE DEGRADATION


1. Morphology, Phylogeny and Systematics . Morphology (M. Horak). Taxonomy and Phylogeny (M. Horak and R.L. Brown). Identification of Immature stages (L.P.S. van der Geest and H.H. Evenhuis). Identification of Pupae on Apple in Eastern North America (C.R.L. Adler). Identification of Larvae and Pupae (H. Beeke and D.J. de Jong). Identification of Early Immature Stages by Means of Allozyme Gel Electrophoresis (S.B.J. Menken). 2. Physiology, Reproduction and Ecology. Physiology and Genetics (G. Benz). Spermatogenesis (M. Friedlander). Reproductive Biology (J.F. Howell). Diapause (J.J. Brown). Sex Pheromones (H. Arn). Ecology and Population Dynamics (M.E. Solomon). 3. Natural Enemies and Pathogens . Parasitoids and Predators (N.J. Mills and K.P. Carl). Pathogens and Diseases (G. Zimmermann and J. Weiser). Nematode Parasites (G.O. Poiner, Jr). 4. Techniques. Rearing Methods (H. Bathon, P. Singh and G.K. Clare). Sterile Insect Release (B.A. Butt). Modelling and Prediction Technology (A.L. Knight and B.A. Croft). 5. Tortricids in Pome and Stone Fruits. Codling Moth Occurrence, Host Race Formation, and Damage (M.M. Barnes). Population Dynamics of the Codling Moth (H. Audemard). Use of Sex Pheromones for Control of Codling Moth (R.A. Vickers and G.H.L. Rothschild). Biological Control of the Codling Moth (L.A. Falcon and J. Huber). Chemical Control and Resistance to Pesticides of the Codling Moth (B.A. Croft and H.W. Riedl). Biology, Ecology and Control of Oriental Fruit Moth (G.H.L. Rothschild and R.A. Vickers). Other Tortricids on Pome and Stone Fruits. North American Species (R. Weires and H.W. Riedl). Tortricid Pests of Pome and Stone Fruits, Eurasian Species (E. Dickler). Tortricid Pests of Pome and Stone Fruits, Australian and New Zealand Species (C.H. Wearing et al.). Tortricid Pests of Pome and Stone Fruits, chemical Control and Resistance to Pesticides (B.A. Croft and L.A. Hull). Use of Sex Pheromones for Control of Tortricid Pests in Pome and Stone Fruits (P.J. Charmillot and R.A. Vickers). Biological Control of Tortricid Pests in Pome and Stone Fruits (J. Huber and S.A. Hassan). 6. Tortricids in Other Crops. Tortricids in Vineyards (R. Roehrich and E. Boller). Tortricids in Ornamental Crops and Greenhouses (M. van de Vrie). Tortricids in Tea (Y. Tamaki). Tortricids in Cereals (M. Glas). Tortricids in Miscellaneous Crops (L.P.S. van der Geest, C.H. Wearing and J.S. Dugdale). 7. Tortricids in Forestry. Biology of North American Spruce Budworms (C.J. Sanders). Spruce Budworm, Chemical and Biological Control (T. Ennis and E.T.N. Caldwell). Grey Larch Budmoth, Biology and Control (G. Benz). Eurasian Species in Forestry (H. Bogenschutz). Japanese Species in Forestry (K. Furuta and K. Kobayashi). North American Species in Forestry (I.S. Otvos). Tropical Species in Forestry (J. Schonherr). Australian and New Zealand Species in Forestry (M.M. Kay). General Index. Index of Leafroller Species. Index of Natural Enemies and Pathogens.


Water is an essential input in the production processes of all goods and services. However, most economic models ignore water as an essential factor of production. In contrast with other inputs, economic data do not reflect the role of water in the production processes of goods and services and its final value in the demand side. This makes it difficult to incorporate water in economic models, properly examine its role in economic activities, and study its interaction with other inputs in the production processes. Introducing water into an economy-wide database such as Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Data Base which has been widely used by many economic modelers across the world could help them to extend their research agendas on the role and importance of water in economic activities. As the first step towards this direction we divided the crop sectors of the GTAP-Power Data Base (which extends the GTAP Data Base Version 9 by disaggregating the electricity sector) into irrigated and rainfed categories and explicitly included water for irrigation into the cost structure of irrigated crops by river basin at the Agro Ecological Zone (AEZ) level.


The Encyclopedia of Ancient Natural Scientists is the first comprehensive English language work to provide a survey of all ancient natural science, from its beginnings through the end of Late Antiquity. A team of over 100 of the world's experts in the field have compiled this Encyclopedia, including entries which are not mentioned in any other reference work - resulting in a unique and hugely ambitious resource which will prove indispensable for anyone seeking the details of the history of ancient science. Additional features include a Glossary, Gazetteer, and Time-Line. The Glossary explains many Greek (or Latin) terms difficult to translate, whilst the Gazetteer describes the many locales from which scientists came. The Time-Line shows the rapid rise in the practice of science in the 5th century BCE and rapid decline after Hadrian, due to the centralization of Roman power, with consequent loss of a context within which science could flourish.


Introduction I. The Power of Dissenting Opinions II. Heller A. Majority Opinion B. Justice Stevens's Dissenting Opinion III. Landmark Cases from Future, Wiser Courts A. From Racism to Equality: Plessy and Brown 1. Plessy v. Ferguson 2. Brown v. Board of Education B. From Repression to Sexual Freedom: Bowers and Lawrence 1. Bowers v. Hardwick 2. Lawrence v. Texas C. Other Illustrative Cases from Future Courts IV. Factors Leading to a Decision Being Overturned A. Retrograde Decision in Face of Strong Social Movement B. Strength and Guidance of Prior Dissent C. Composition of the Court at the Time of Decision D. The Degree of Consensus Among the Court V. Blueprint for Overturning Heller Conclusion INTRODUCTION Justice John Paul Stevens recently bantered to Time Magazine that, if he could fix one thing about the American judicial system, it would be to make all of his dissents into majority opinions. (1) Banter aside, he stressed that if he could choose only one of his dissents to turn into a majority opinion, it would be his dissent in District of Columbia v. Heller. (2) Specifically, he said that he "would change the interpretation of the Second Amendment. The Court got that quite wrong. Gun policy should be handled by legislatures and by states, not by federal judges appointed for life." (3) With that same hope, it is rumored that, during a lecture to the Harvard Club of Washington, D.C., Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed her strong desire that Justice Stevens' dissenting opinion in Heller will become the majority opinion of "a future, wiser Court." (4) Heller is still the subject of national debate and is one of the more controversial decisions from the Roberts Court. The Court issued its pivotal 5-4 ruling on June 26, 2008, (5) finding for the first time that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to posses firearms unrelated to service in a well-regulated militia. (6) In its analysis, the Court concluded that "central" to the Second Amendment is the natural right to self-defense, and by extension, the right to possess handguns for self-defense within the home. (7) In finding so, the Court struck down a decades-old D.C. law that banned handgun possession and required that firearms in the home be stored safely. (8) Justice Stevens issued one of two dissenting opinions. (9) In his dissent, he argued passionately that the majority rendered "a dramatic upheaval in the law" and decided the case on "a strained and unpersuasive reading" of the Second Amendment. (10) He emphasized that the Second Amendment does not contain any "statement of purpose related to the right to use firearms for hunting or personal self-defense." (11) He also stressed that the Court's ruling overturned long-standing precedent announced in United States v. Miller, which held that the "obvious purpose" of the Second Amendment was to "assure the continuation and render possible the effectiveness of" the state militia. (12) The decision in Heller raised the obvious question of its potential impact on existing gun control laws and whether they will stand up to a Second Amendment challenge. (13) But few have questioned whether a "future, wiser Court" will simply reverse Heller. Our Article provides a blueprint for how Justice Ginsberg's hope may be realized. In Part I, we discuss the influence and guidance that dissenting opinions may provide to future, wiser Courts. In Part II, we analyze Heller, paying particular attention to the tensions that the conflicting majority and dissenting opinions raise. In Part III, we analyze landmark cases from future, wiser Courts that overturned stale or decidedly wrong precedent. In Part IV, we draw from these examples in order to evaluate the conditions that lead to overturning a Supreme Court case. Finally, in Part V, we apply the framework to Hellerand suggest possible ways to author its reversal. …


We measure a specific form of other-regarding behavior, costly cooperation with an anonymous other, among 645 subjects at a trucker training program in the Midwestern US. Using subjects' second-mover strategy in a sequential form of the Prisoners' Dilemma, we categorize subjects as: Free Rider, Conditional Cooperator, and Unconditional Cooperator. We observe the subjects on the job for up to two years afterwards in two naturally-occurring choices – whether to send two types of satellite uplink messages from their trucks. The first identifies trailers requiring repair, which benefits fellow drivers, while the second benefits the experimenters by giving them some follow-up data. Because of the specific nature of the technology and job conditions (which we carefully review) each of these otherwise situationally similar field decisions represents an act of costly cooperation towards an anonymous other in a setting that does not admit of repeated-game or reputation-effect explanations. We find that individual differences in costly cooperation observed in the lab do predict individual differences in the field in the first choice but not the second. We suggest that this difference is linked to the difference in the social identities of the beneficiaries (fellow drivers versus experimenters), and we conjecture that whether or not individual variations in pro-sociality generalize across settings (whether in the lab or field) may depend in part on this specific contextual factor: whether the social identities, and the relevant prescriptions (or norms) linked to them that are salient for subjects (as in Akerlof and Kranton (2000); (2010)), are appropriately parallel.


With the boom of software-as-a-service and social networking, web-based single sign-on (SSO) schemes are being deployed by more and more commercial websites to safeguard many web resources. Despite prior research in formal verification, little has been done to analyze the security quality of SSO schemes that are commercially deployed in the real world. Such an analysis faces unique technical challenges, including lack of access to well-documented protocols and code, and the complexity brought in by the rich browser elements (script, Flash, etc.). In this paper, we report the first "field study" on popular web SSO systems. In every studied case, we focused on the actual web traffic going through the browser, and used an algorithm to recover important semantic information and identify potential exploit opportunities. Such opportunities guided us to the discoveries of real flaws. In this study, we discovered 8 serious logic flaws in high-profile ID providers and relying party websites, such as Open ID (including Google ID and Pay Pal Access), Face book, Jan Rain, Freelancer, Farm Ville, Sears.com, etc. Every flaw allows an attacker to sign in as the victim user. We reported our findings to affected companies, and received their acknowledgements in various ways. All the reported flaws, except those discovered very recently, have been fixed. This study shows that the overall security quality of SSO deployments seems worrisome. We hope that the SSO community conducts a study similar to ours, but in a larger scale, to better understand to what extent SSO is insecurely deployed and how to respond to the situation.


The mean sea level has been continuously increasing since the end of the 19th century and will continue to increase in the 21st century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that the sea level will rise by 40-60 cm until 2100. This situation will lead to social and economic problems, especially in coastal areas. For this reason, studies on sea level determination have great importance in our country. In this paper, we used the singular spectrum analysis (SSA) to investigate mean sea level variability along the coasts of the Black Sea, which is an intercontinental inland sea. This study aimed to determine the trend in sea level change along the coasts of the Black Sea over time. The mean sea level data from 10 tide gauge stations (Amasra, Batumi, Bourgas, Constantza, Igneada, Poti, Sevastapol, Trabzon II, Tuapse and Varna) are analyzed in this study. The mean sea level data were obtained from the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL). SSA was applied to the mean sea level observations at tide gauges stations, and the results were interpreted. According to the analysis results, there are increasing trends at the Batumi, Poti, Tuapse, Constantza, Sevastopol and Varna stations. The obtained trend of Bourgas station is not significant. There is The results of the Amasra, Igneada and Trabzon II tide gauge stations were inadequate in interpreting any change. There were no trends at these stations. Close eigenvalues were computed from the mean sea level at the tide gauge stations. This situation shows that there is a dominant seasonal component in the time series.


We present simultaneous multifrequency radio observations for a complete subsample of 26 XBLs from the Einstein Extended Medium-Sensitivity Survey, obtained with the Very Large Array (VLA). Spectra are computed using fluxes at 20, 6 and 3.6 cm. Unlike many radio selected samples, the EMSS did not impose any criterion on the radio spectrum to identify BL Lac objects. It is therefore possible to investigate the intrinsic radio spectral slope distribution and to determine the effect produced by this selection criterion. We find that 15% of the observed objects do not meet the flat-spectrum criterion imposed on some other BL Lac samples. A dataset that includes non-simultaneous data (that are also taken with different VLA configu- rations) shows an even higher percentage of steep spectrum sources. This effect can be ascribed to a larger fraction of extended flux detected with the more compact VLA configuration. Possible biases introduced by the flat-radio-spectrum criterion in the radio-selected BL Lac samples cannot explain the discrepancies observed in the evolutionary properties of Radio and X-ray selected samples of BL Lacs.


Composed of hundreds of microbial species, the composition of the human gut microbiota can vary with chronic diseases underlying health disparities that disproportionally affect ethnic minorities. However, the influence of ethnicity on the gut microbiota remains largely unexplored and lacks reproducible generalizations across studies. By distilling associations between ethnicity and differences in two United States based 16S gut microbiota datasets including 1,673 individuals, we report 12 microbial genera and families that reproducibly vary by ethnicity. Interestingly, a majority of these microbial taxa, including the most heritable bacterial family, Christensenellaceae, overlap with genetically-associated taxa and form co-occurring clusters linked by similar fermentative and methanogenic metabolic processes. These results demonstrate recurrent associations between specific taxa in the gut microbiota and ethnicity, providing hypotheses for examining specific members of the gut microbiota as mediators of health disparities.


PURPOSE: The insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system plays important roles in cancer; blocking IGF signaling has been shown to have therapeutic effects on tumor growth. Many studies have focused on the effect of IGF-I, but few have addressed IGF-II. To assess the role of IGF-II in cancer, we analyzed IGF-II expression in ovarian cancer and examined its association with disease characteristics and prognosis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Included in the study were 215 patients with primary epithelial ovarian cancer. Fresh tumor specimens were collected during surgery, and the patients were followed for a median of 31 months. Total RNA was extracted from the tumor and analyzed for IGF-II, IGF binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), and estrogen receptor-alpha expressions using quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Survival analysis was done to examine the associations of IGF-II with disease progression. RESULTS: IGF-II expression was found to be higher in tumors with poor prognosis; this included tumors with advanced stage, poor differentiation, serous histology, and large residual lesions. Patients with high IGF-II had elevated risk for disease progression and death, although the significance became less evident when the analysis was adjusted for clinical and pathologic variables. IGFBP-3 expression was higher in less aggressive tumors, but was not associated with disease progression. The expression of estrogen receptor-alpha had no effect on survival. CONCLUSION: This study found evidence that IGF-II expression is associated with disease progression, suggesting that IGF-II and IGF signaling are potential targets for ovarian cancer treatment. The study also indicates that IGF-II and IGFBP-3 have limited value in prognosis because of their strong associations with disease stage and tumor grade.


The thesis explored financial stringency by analysing differing managerial interpretations and responses. The data was partially collected through an action research process with three management teams in a Social Services Department of a Local Authority. A concept of organisational monetarism was developed as a description of those approaches which predict positive benefits from restricted resource growth. Organisational monetarism, together with other analyses which also explain managerial responses solely in terms of characteristics of the stringency itself were found to be inadequate.Additionally sub-cultures and contextual features were identified as significant determinants of responses to stringency. Subculture is defined as collective, taken for granted, values and behaviours of a management team. These included management style and role and their definitions of the task. Contextual features were defined as variables within each group's internal environment. The five variables identified were: environmental control, task visibility, pattern of spending, unionateness and degree of professional development. Because these factors differed for each team, the extent to which management teams could effectively manage stringency also varied. The degree of congruence between organisational factors and the reductions task, and thus, the extent of management change required if the task is to be accommodated, determined the interpretation and response to stringency by management groups. With a high degree of congruence, where both sets of organisational factors facilitated the performance of the reductions task, stringency was interpreted as a routine matter and assimilated. With less congruence, stringency posed a threat and was avoided. A low degree of congruence indicated a need for radical change if the task were to be routinised. In this latter case stringency led to crisis and managers responded by overt resistance and withdrawal from reductions related activities. The organisational costs and benefits of these different responses, in terms of resource consumption, conflict, control and innovation, were explored. Finally, the significance of managing diversity and reformulating the organisation's strategy in circumstances of financial stringency was stressed.


The present study aimed at evaluating the in vitro study of antioxidant activity of crude extracts (methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate and chloroform) of stem and leaves of physalis minima. The antioxidant activity was determined by two methods DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl- 2-picryl hydroxyl) assay and reducing power assay. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity of stem and leaves of physalis minima was determined at different concentration (200 µg, 400 µg, 600 µg and 800 µg). The entire tested sample showed lower scavenging activity than standard. The scavenging effect and reducing power of the eight extracts of the leaf and stem decreased in order of Methanol leaf extract > Methanol stem extract > Acetone leaf extract > Ethyl acetate leaf extract > Acetone stem extract > Ethyl acetate stem extract > Chloroform leaf extract > Chloroform stem extract. Thus result clearly indicated that the methanolic extract of leaf of P.minima showed higher activity compared to other extracts of stem and leaves. Hence is effective in scavenging free radical and has the potential to be a powerful antioxidant.


In this Policy Paper, actual issues of cultural ties of the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan) with three world powers (Russia, China and the United States) are gradually analysed. These cultural relations consist of the following areas: shared identity and values, leadership links, foreign media outlets operating in Central Asia, cultural influence, diasporas, financial support to cultural activities and people-to-people cooperation. Each of the above world powers has its own mechanisms and channels for establishing, maintaining, and sometimes strengthening cultural ties with specific countries individually, or with the region in its entirety. The countries of the region in turn have their own preferences and approaches in maintain-ing cultural ties with each of these three world powers.


The Federal Vision is about the complex and changing relationship between levels of governance within the United States and the European Union. Based on a transatlantic dialogue between scholars concerned about modes of governance on both sides, it is a collective attempt at analysing the ramifications of the legitimacy crisis in our multi-layered democracies, and possible remedies. Starting from a focus on the current policy debatea over devolution and subsidiarity, the book engages the reader in to the broader tension of comparartive federalism. Its authors believe that in spite of the fundamental differences between them, both the EU and the US are in the process of re-defining a federal vision for the 21st century. This book represents an important new contribution to the study of Federalism and European integration, which seeks to bridge the divide between the two. It also bridges the traditional divide between technical, legal or regulatory discussions of federal governance and philosophical debates over questions of belonging and multiple identities. It is a multi-disciplinary project, bringing together historians, political scientists and theorists, legal scholars, sociologists and political economists. It includes both innovative analysis and prescriptions on how to reshape the federal contract in the US and the EU. It includes introductions to the history of federalism in the US and the EU, the current debates over devolution and subsidarity, the legal framework of federalism and theories of regulatory federalism, as well as innovative approaches to the application of network analysis, principal-agent models, institutionalist analysis, and political theories of citizenship to the federal context. The introduction and conclusion by the editors draws out cross-cutting themes and lessons from the thinking together of the EU and US experiences, and suggest how a federal vision could be freed from the hierarchical paradigm of the federal state and articulated around concepts of mutal tolerence and empowerment. Contributors to this volume - Jacques Delors Joseph Nye Robert Howse and Kalypso Nicolaidis Daniel Elazar Joseph Weiler Mark Pollack David Lazer and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger John Kincaid Andrew Moravcsik George Bermann Daniel Halberstam Giandomenico Majone Cary Coglianese John Peterson Vivien Schmidt Fritz Scharpf Sujit Choudhry Elizabeth Meehan Marc Landy Denis Lacorne Robert Howse and Kalypso Nicolaidis


Surfactants, polymers, and their mixtures are widely used in commercial formulations of paints, water-based adhesives, detergents, food, and other products. This thesis describes measurements of the forces acting on colloidal particles in surfactant and polymer solutions. The change in force on addition of surfactants and polymers is usually caused by adsorption to an interface. In this thesis, I also describe the effect of surface charge density, surface crystallinity, surface heterogeneity, and preadsorbed polymer on surfactant adsorption. A new method for the stabilization of colloidal particles is introduced via the synthesis and adsorption of unnatural proteins. Unnatural proteins can be synthesized using the natural 'machinery' of a bacterial cell with almost any primary sequence, and provide an environmentally friendly route to colloidal stabilization. As a model system, we study the stabilization of alumina, because alumina has a high Hamaker constant and is therefore difficult to stabilize. An unnatural protein with the sequence, thioredoxin-Pro39Glu10 is used. The Glu10 is anionic (pH > 3) and is designed to adsorb to positively charged alumina (pH<9). The thioredoxin-Pro39 is hydrophilic so it should remain in solution, thereby providing a steric barrier to the approach of two particles in a range of salt and pH conditions. Ellipsometry experiments show that thioredoxin-Pro39Glu10 adsorbs to alumina. Force measurements with the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) colloid probe technique show that adsorption of the unnatural protein leads to repulsive forces that decay exponentially with the separation between the surfaces, and are independent of salt concentration. The loss of a salt-dependent force shows that adsorption of the unnatural protein has effectively neutralized the charge on the alumina. Thus, I have shown that an unnatural protein can be used to control the stability of a colloidal system. In general, the same hydrophilic block can probably be added to a variety of anchoring blocks to stabilize different colloidal particles. Electrostatic forces are frequently responsible for the stabilization of colloidal particles. The decay length of these forces is dictated by the electrolyte concentration. The relationship between the decay length and the concentration is well understood for fully dissociated 1:1 electrolytes. Here, I examine the decay-length in solutions where the ions associate strongly. The forces are measured between silica surfaces in aqueous carboxylic acid and surfactant solutions. The decay lengths of the electrostatic double-layer force in both these solutions are well described by the usual expression for decay length when the concentration of ions is obtained from an activity measurement. The effect of the surface properties of the solid substrate on surfactant adsorption is also described in this thesis. The adsorption characteristics of a charged surfactant onto fixed charged surfaces as a function of surface charge density is reported. This is the first time that a method has been introduced for making a series of known fixed charged surfaces. Investigating surfactant adsorption to these surfaces has improved our understanding of the role of charge density in surfactant adsorption and desorption. The desired surface charge density is achieved by the use of gold-thiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of different ω-groups (–OH and –N(CH3)3). The mole fraction of –N(CH3)3 on the mixed SAM dictates the surface charge density. The charge on –N(CH3)3 is fixed and does not self-regulate. The adsorption of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to the interface between these model surfaces and aqueous solutions of SDS is investigated. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) of the adsorbed surfactant reveals no surface micelles above the critical micelle concentration, cmc, over a wide variety of –N(CH3)3 densities. This shows that the lateral mobility of ions other than surfactant at the interface is important for the formation of surface micelles of ionic surfactants. Adsorption isotherms of SDS (with no added salt) measured by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) show a plateau region in which the surface excess of SDS is equal to the known fixed surface charge. This demonstrates that the adsorption is electrostatically driven. There is no critical surface charge density at which adsorption rises rapidly. Thus there appears to be no 'hemimicelle concentration'. My work suggests that the formation of hemimicelles depends on the lateral mobility of the surface ions. Desorption experiments starting above the cmc show rapid desorption of SDS into water until the surface excess is equal to the surface charge density. The rapid desorption is followed by a much slower desorption. The elucidation of this fast-slow desorption pattern based on charge density is made possible by the preparation of a set of constant charge surfaces.


AbstractIn this paper we present the Virtual Try On (VTO), an online application that assists users in the evaluation of garments in an online shopping scenario. With the VTO users can create a size-correct virtual representation of themselves, allowing them to virtually try on physically simulated garments which can then be animated. We discuss the requirements of web based physically simulated clothes through a discussion of its building blocks: body sizing, motion retargeting and real-time physically based simulation of resizable and customizable garments. We also discuss its place in a CAD chain from 2D pattern data to the final production of actual garments.


Malignant pleural mesothelioma causes the greatest societal burden of all the asbestos-related diseases. Progress in better understanding tumour biology will be facilitated by the availability of quality-assured annotated tissue. MesobanK has been created to establish a bioresource of pleural mesothelioma tissue linked to detailed anonymised clinical data. When complete, the bioresource will comprise a 750-patient tissue microarray and prospectively collected tissue, blood and pleural fluid from 300 patients with mesothelioma. Twenty-six new cell lines have also been developed. MesobanK meets all appropriate ethical and regulatory procedures and has recently opened to requests for tissue and data.


This paper is concerned with applications of-nite state automata (FSA) to word order processing. As the surface order of constituents is a function of many interacting factors, an adequate formalisation seems fairly complicated. I argue that despite this complexity, most ordering constraints observed in free word order languages can be treated by lower-level methods such as nite state automata. In order to illustrate my claim, I will present a nite state formalisation of some ordering constraints for German. Since the acceptability of an utterance very often depends on the context it occurs in, the approach taken does not only distinguish between grammatical and ungrammatical structures, but also takes into account some discourse information for-malised in terms of information packaging (ground/focus). Furthermore, the paper discusses the performance of a grammar of German augmented with an FSA-based word order processing module. Finally, the problem of morphological and syntactic ambiguity is addressed.


In this paper, the performance-three QRS cancellation techniques compared to obtain a residual ECG information containing only atrial activity (AA), thereby facilitating detection of the P wave in the ECG and/or analysis of atrial arrhythmias. The methods are based on adaptive filters (AdF), neural networks (NN), and the space-time of an averaged beat for subsequent removal from the ECG signal, the comparison is made with reference to the results obtained with the adaptive filtering method by Thakor. The results show that the methods based on NN and AdF are more robust to morphological changes of the signal and in the presence of noise than non-adaptive methods, also have the advantage that they do not require a pre-detection stage of QRST, however, for the average beat alignment method, best results are obtained when there are no QRS detection failures.


The aim of this exploratory research is to understand further how organisations can evaluate their activities, which generate knowledge creation, to meet changing stakeholder expectations. A Scale of Knowledge (SoK) Framework is proposed which links knowledge management and organisational activities to changing stakeholder expectations. The framework was informed by the knowledge management literature, as well as empirical work conducted via a single case study of a multi-site hospital organisation in Saudi Arabia. Eight in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers from across the organisation regarding current and future stakeholder expectations, organisational strategy/activities and knowledge management. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and a hierarchical value map technique to identify activities that can produce further knowledge and consequently impact on how stakeholder expectations are met. The SoK Framework developed may be useful to practitioners as an analytical aid to determine if current organisational activities produce organisational knowledge which helps them meet (increasingly higher levels of) stakeholder expectations. The limitations of the research and avenues for future development of the proposed framework are discussed. Keywords—Knowledge creation, knowledge management, organisational knowledge, scale of knowledge, knowledge impact.


Shanmugam, Venkateswaran. Ph.D., Engineering Ph.D. Program, Wright State University, 2011. Efficient Risk Assessment Using Probability of Fracture Nomographs. The traditional risk-based design processes involve designing the structure based on risk estimates obtained during several iterations of an optimization routine. This approach is computationally expensive for large-scale aircraft structural systems because of the iterative nature of the risk assessment methods. Therefore, this research introduces the concept of risk-based design plots that can be used for both structural sizing and risk assessment of stiffened plates when maximum allowable crack length information is available. These plots are obtained using normalized probability density functions of load and material properties and are applicable for any arbitrary load and strength magnitudes that follow similar scatter. Risk-based design plots serve as a tool for failure probability assessment given geometry and applied load, or they can determine geometric constraints to be used in sizing, given allowable failure probability. This approach would transform a reliability-based optimization problem into a deterministic optimization problem with geometric constraints that implicitly incorporates risk into the design. Moreover, these plots provide a unique graphical tool to visualize the sensitivity of risk to geometric changes and loading conditions. In situations where crack length is defined as a probability distribution, the presented approach can only be applied for various percentiles of crack lengths. To demonstrate the methodology outlined in this research, a cracked flat and stiffened plate configurations of Aluminum 2024-T3 are investigated using both a Stress Intensity Factor and Cohesive Zone Model approach. This research also presents a material property calibration process for the probabilistic cohesive zone model for Aluminum 2024-T3. In order to demonstrate the robustness of the calibration process, it was also applied to a composite (IM7/977-3) double cantilever beam peel test to capture the scatter in experimental measurements of delamination strength.


A warranted belief may derive inferential warrant from warranted beliefs which support it. It may possess what I call coherential warrant in virtue of being consistent with, or lacking improbability relative to, a large system of warranted beliefs. Finally, it may have foundational warrant, which does not derive from other beliefs at all. I define and distinguish these sources of warrant and explain why all three must be included in the true and complete account of the structure of knowledge, and why the first two sources are significant at all levels of knowledge. Only foundherentism and a weak version of foundationalism can satisfy this criterion. My analysis has significant, and happy, consequences for the epistemological tradition. The project of describing the structure of knowledge is nearly complete. Those who have pronounced the death of epistemology are partially correct, not because epistemology has failed, but because it has been so successful.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of 12-week aqua walking and jogging program on muscle function, ankle range of motion (ROM), balance and fell efficacy in degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis (DLSS) patients. Six patients (2 males, 4 females) with DLSS participated in aquatic exercise program 3 times per week with each session of 60 min (warming-up, aqua walking, aqua jogging and cool down) at 1 m 20 cm–1 m 30 cm deep pool. Janda's muscle function test, ankle ROM, Berg balance scale (BBS) and fall efficacy scale (FES) were analyzed before and after the training intervention. We found significant increases in balance, muscle function, ankle ROM and fall efficacy after training intervention. In conclusion, aquatic exercise seems to affect physical function and fall efficacy positively in elderly DLSS patients.


Aiming at the issue of friend recommendation in social network, a friend recommendation method based on multi dimensional similarity is proposed. Compared with the existing methods, it is no longer limited to a single dimension of matching information, but from three dimensions of interest, time, and space to judge the similarity of users in different dimensionality, then it uses the similarity to do comprehensive evaluation to recommend friends to the target users. Experimental studies have shown that the precision rate of recommended results is close to 70 percent, and the checking efficiency rate is close to 60 percent when the method is applied to the recommendation service of mobile social network. The performance of this method is much higher than the friend recommended method based on single dimension and can be applied to a variety of characteristics of the mobile social network.


After the adoption of the equation q kw EIw = + for cross-tie track analyses, a number of methods for the determination of the track modulus k were proposed and used during the past several decades. However, some of these methods are difficult to utilize or are of questionable validity. Therefore, at first, a simple yet accurate method is presented and its use is illustrated on practical examples. Then, other published methods are critically reviewed and their shortcomings are pointed out.


The Edge of Sacred project was conducted with the Nauiyu community in northern Australia and investigated trauma and traditional healing practices. Study participants from the community identified negative social changes and an escalation in anti-social behaviour, such as higher rates of bullying, violence, risky sexual behaviour and children accessing pornography, when mobile phones and social networking sites were used inappropriately. The research utilised Dadirri, a place-based, performative healing praxis that engaged community members in a truth-telling journey. Shared stories revealed social impacts derived from accessing mobile technologies and the ensuing cultural colonisation affected all aspects of Nauiyu community life. We present the findings of mobile phone use behaviours in this remote context and the performance of negative, traumatised and harmful identities that occupy social media and are enabled through social networking sites. Despite the corrosive effects of colonisation, the community unanimously believed that empowerment through truth-telling exists within and belongs to Nauiyu. The traditional holistic healing practice of Dadirri reframes identities, reclaiming Indigenous Lore.


This bibliography provides an alphabetical listing of over 1500 articles, books, and dissertations that treat in some way the topic of clitics and related matters, e.g. affixes, words, word order, movement, sandhi, etc. The beginning point for the bibliographic entries is 1892, taking Jacob Wackernagel's classic work as the point of departure, and the entries cover the subsequent 100-year period. Each entury is accompanied by a series of descriptors which give an indication of the content of the item. Nearly one-third of the book is a detailed analytic index, based on the descriptors, which can aid in topical searches for relevant material. Prefatory matter includes an essay "What is a Clitic?" by Arnold M. Zwicky, a brief consideration of Wackernagel's scholarly career by Brian D. Joseph, and information on the format and use of the book itself.


ABSTRACT SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped non-segmented positive-sense RNA virus, classified as a beta coronavirus, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), reported as a SARS-CoV-2 receptor, is expressed in different human tissues (lung, intestine, and kidney) and in the testis, ovaries, uterus, and vagina. This suggests a potential risk to the human reproductive tract in COVID-19 patients. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected in the blood, urine, facial/anal swabs, semen, and vaginal secretion, suggesting other potential means of transmission. However, little has been reported about SARS-CoV-2 infection in the male and nonpregnant female reproductive tracts, which may provide direct evidence on sexual transmission and fertility problems. Therefore, we focused this narrative review mainly on the distribution of ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2 positivity in the male and nonpregnant female reproductive tracts, providing an overview of the potential threat of COVID-19 to reproductive health and sexual transmission.


Graphene has a unique atom-thick two-dimensional (2D) structure, high conductivity and charge mobility, huge specific surface area, excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Thus, it has been regarded as an important component for functional materials, especially for developing a variety of catalysts. In this review, we summarize the recent advancements in synthesizing graphene based new catalysts, and their applications in organic synthesis, sensors, environmental protection and energy related systems.


Acceptance of online shopping adoption by individuals has been a concerning issue for researchers in the past decade. However, most research has focused in evaluating the attitudes and intention to use electronic commerce from the shoppers' perspective, neglecting to analyze the behavior and attitudes of those who have not adopted e-commerce yet: the non- shoppers. The objective of this study is to explore and evaluate the behavior and attitudes of the non-shoppers' segment towards the acceptance of business-to-consumer electronic commerce (B2C-EC). The theoretical foundations of the study are provided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Innovations Diffusion Theory (IDT), with the addition of a specific factor related to the nature of B2C-EC: product offering of the e-commerce channel. This framework leads to an attitudinal/behavioral model which seeks to identify the factors perceived by non-shoppers as the most important for the adoption of B2C-EC. The model has been validated with data from 995 Spanish non-shoppers using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. Findings from the analysis results show that perceived usefulness, perceived compatibility and product offering affect positively the attitude of non-shoppers towards the adoption of B2C-EC and their intention to use it. Among these factors, perceived compatibility stands out as the most relevant factor to foster the adoption of B2C-EC among non-shoppers. Other implications for theory and practice are discussed in the final section.


The units of local governments in Poland own one of the largest stock of real estate. Their property is very differentiated. These are property occupier for water-supply and sewerage networks, as well as sewage treatment plants, dumping grounds, cemeteries, fields assigned for investments of public purposes, or investment fields assigned for residential and commercial building, schools, habitable apartment-houses, as well as service real estate. Each particular category of the differentiated property requires individual management. It is obliged that it corresponds with the policy and individual tasks of local governments, as well as with holistic policy of development of territorial unit. The real estate management influences the economic condition of local government, companies and citizens in direct and indirect manner. Irrational management led to increase of functioning cost, lowers budgetary incomes, makes economic activity difficult, disorganizes real estate market. The rational real estate management can be an important instrument of steering processes of local sustainable development, a tool for creating active revenues, a factor of forming potential opportunities for development. The general aim of the study is present the portfolio, system, finance, organization and real management strategy of real estate in Gdansk. Particularly, we will present classification of municipal property on the base of bylaw and specify the type of real estate management. In the course of carried research, we will perform a election of European cities and we will perform comparison between them in the context of municipal real estate management as forming potential opportunities for development. For the purpose of the article, we will study the literature of real estate management, real estate markets and public management. The research will include studies of proper regulation and municipal documentation. Research methods will consist of logical concluding, induction and comparison. Developing the answers to the above stated problem can contribute to the competitiveness and greater efficiency of the public sector in making real estate decisions that determine municipal investment and development. The contribution of the project to a new knowledge area is, therefore, not only of theoretical nature, but has scientific and applicability values in the first place. The results of the study can be useful for public real estate managers.


3-D integrated circuits (3-D ICs) offer a promising solution to overcome the scaling limitations of 2-D ICs. However, using too many through-silicon-vias (TSVs) pose a negative impact on 3-D ICs due to the large overhead of TSV (e.g., large footprint and low yield). In this paper, we propose a new TSV sharing method for a circuit-switched 3-D mesh-of-tree (MoT) interconnect, which supports high-throughput and lowlatency communication between processing cores and 3-D stacked multibanked L2 scratchpad memory. The proposed method supports traffic balancing and TSV-failure tolerant routing. The proposed method advocates a modular design strategy to allow stacking multiple identical memory dies without the need for different masks for dies at different levels in the memory stack. We also investigate various parameters of 3-D memory stacking (e.g., fabrication technology, TSV bonding technique, number of memory tiers, and TSV sharing scheme) that affect interconnect latency, system performance, and fabrication cost. Compared to conventional MoT interconnect [6] that is straightforwardly adapted to 3-D integration, the proposed method yields up to ×2.11 and ×1.11 improvements in terms of cost efficiency (i.e., performance/cost) for microbump TSV bonding and direct Cu-Cu TSV bonding techniques, respectively.


For over forty years Saul Bellow has been writing fiction that denounces the destructive forces that have dominated the literature of this century--existential nihilism and historicist pessimism. In novel after novel--The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, Humbolt's Gift, Mr. Sammler's Planet, and others--he has tried to restore the integrity of the private life, the value of human feeling, and the primacy of social contract, while proclaiming each individual's perennial access to age-old truths. In this collection of interviews spanning the period from 1953 to 1991, Bellow elaborates further upon his fictional treatment of these ideas. Here the reader finds the wit and urbane commentary that typify this marvelous writer. He speaks with his interviewers of the changing role of fiction, the literary establishment, and the place of literature in modern life. Since no definitive biography of Bellow has yet been written, these interviews provide valuable insights into the writer that many argue to be the pre-eminent American novelist of the post-World War II era.


Introduction: This study was conducted to determine the occupational burnout and its dimensions in Babol hospital personnel, as well as determining the levels of work, social support and self-esteem in these staffs. Methods: In this study, demographic information questionnaire was distributed internally among 130 hospital personnel. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure the severity of occupational burnout. In the Maslach inventory, the frequency of the studied units in each of the occupational burnout dimensions including: emotional exhaustion, personality depersonalization and decrease in personal adequacy with a Likert scale in a low-medium and high-grade manner were evaluated and data analysis was performed by SPSS 21 software and descriptive-analytic tests. Findings: Regarding the dimensions of occupational burnout, the findings indicated that the mean of personal adequacy was 31.78 ± 8.726 out of the total score of 48, the mean of emotional exhaustion in the employees was 26.53 ± 12.624 out of the total score of 54 and the mean of the personality depersonalization was 5.70 ± 5.444 out of the total score of 30. Personality adequacy was low in 43.8 % of employees, emotional exhaustion was high in 47.7 % of people and personality depersonalization was low in 69.2 % of people. There was a significant correlation between occupational burnout dimensions and variables of gender, work history, marital status, place of employment, occupation and work experience of staff (p < 0.05), the rate of workload with emotional exhaustion (p = 0.000 and r = -0.608) and personality depersonalization (p = 0.000 and r = -0.357) showed a significant and inverse correlation. Conclusion: The total amount of occupational burnout in the staff was related to emotional exhaustion (moderate), personality depersonalization (low) and personal adequacy (low).


Gujjolaay Eegimaa (G.E.), an Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo phylum spoken in the Basse-Casamance area in Senegal, exhibits a system of nominal classification known as a "gender/ noun class system". In this type of nominal classification system which is prevalent in Niger-Congo languages, there is controversy as to whether the obligatory classification of all nouns into a finite number of classes has semantic motivations. In addition to the disputed issue of the semantic basis of the nominal classification, the formal criteria for assigning nouns into classes are also disputed in Joola languages and in G.E. In this PhD thesis, I propose an investigation of the formal and semantic properties of the nominal classification system of Gujjolaay Eegimaa (G.E). Based on cross-linguistic and language-specific research, I propose formal criteria whose application led to the discovery of fifteen noun classes in G.E. Here, I argue that the G.E. noun class system has semantic motivations. I show that some nouns in this language may be classified or categorized on the basis of shared properties as stipulated in the classical theory of categorization. However, most of the classification of the G.E. nouns is based on prototypicality and extension of such prototypes by family resemblance, chaining process, metaphor and metonymy, as argued in the prototype theory from cognitive semantics. The parameters of categorization that fruitfully account for the semantic basis of the G.E. nominal classification system are both universal and cultural-specific. Primary data constitutes the material used in this research and include lexical (including loanwords), textual as well as experimental data using picture stimuli. The collected data comprise different types of communicative events recorded in audio and video formats and also in written format through participant observation.


The quantity of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) was measured in 125 rain events in Wilmington, NC between February 21, 2002 and August 11, 2003. All rain events had measurable CDOM, although there was much variability between events. The amount of fluorescent CDOM was affected by season and storm origin. There was significantly more fluorescent CDOM in winter and continental rain, relative to summer and coastal events. Diurnal variations were also seen where the amount of fluorescent CDOM decreased gradually from the morning through the afternoon and evening hours.
In addition to measuring the quantity, the photolabilty of rainwater CDOM was also studied and compared to the photodegradation of CDOM in natural waters. There was significant photodegradation of CDOM in all events studied after 12hour exposure to simulated sunlight. Approximately half the fluorescence was lost upon irradiation of rainwater CDOM, which was similar to the amount of fluorescence loss of the Cape Fear River (CFR) CDOM. Maximum loss of CDOM absorbance in rainwater was in the
UV-A region, while maximum loss shifted to the lower end of the UV-B region for the CFR. Monochromatic and filtered sunlight experiments demonstrated that the degree of photobleaching of rainwater CDOM was directly related to the amount of UV-A and UV-B irradiation present.
The structural characteristics of the rainwater CDOM were also examined. The carbon to nitrogen ratio of extracted rainwater CDOM was 24, which is approximately half the CFR CDOM C/N ratio. The C/N ratio increased in rainwater while it decreased in CFR after irradiation, suggesting different mechanisms of photodegradation. The extracted fluorescent CDOM was also examined via 1H NMR. The fluorescent CDOM had primarily aliphatic character, while the CFR CDOM had relatively more aromatic character. Upon photolysis, rain CDOM lost primarily aliphatic moieties. In summary, rainwater contains significant amounts of photodegradable chromophoric dissolved organic matter. This has important ramifications with respect to the wavelength dependent spectral attenuation of solar radiation in atmospheric waters.


The PHOT (Portable High-Speed Occultation Telescope) systems were developed for the specific purpose of observing stellar occultations by solar system objects. Stellar occultations have unique observing constraints: they may only be observable from certain parts of the globe; they often require a rapid observing cadence; and they require accurate time-stamp information for each exposure. The PHOT systems consist of 14 inch telescopes, CCD cameras, camera mounting plates, GPS-based time standards, and data acquisition computers. The PHOT systems are similar in principle to the POETS systems (Portable Occultation, Eclipse, and Transit Systems), with the main differences being (1) different CCD cameras with slightly different specifications and (2) a standalone custom-built time standard used by PHOT, whereas POETS uses a commercial time standard that is controlled from a computer. Since 2005, PHOT systems have been deployed on over two-dozen occasions to sites in the US, Mexico, Chile, Namibia, South Africa, France, Austria, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand, mounted on portable 14 inch telescopes or on larger stationary telescopes. Occultation light curves acquired from the 3.9 m AAT (Anglo-Australian Telescope) have produced photometric signal-to-noise ratios (S/N) of 333 per scale height for a stellar occultation by Pluto. In this article we describe the seven PHOT subsystems in detail (telescopes, cameras, timers, and data stations) and present S/N estimates for actual and predicted occultations as functions of star brightness, telescope aperture, and frame rate.


Objectives To determine long-term seroprotection after serogroup C meningococcal (MenC) vaccination at the age of 9–12 years, with or without booster vaccination at the age of 13–15 years. Design Observational cohort study; follow-on from randomised study. Setting Participants were recruited from English secondary schools (in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire). Participants and interventions Participants were primed with MenC CRM-glycoconjugate vaccine at the age of 9–12 years in the UK routine immunisation campaign. In previous studies they were randomised at 13 to 15 years of age to receive a booster dose of MenC-CRM glycoconjugate vaccine (CRM-group) or bivalent meningococcal serogroup A/C polysaccharide vaccine (PS-group), or they received no additional doses of MenC vaccine (control group). In this follow-on study, a blood sample was obtained 11 years after primary immunisation. Of 531 individuals eligible to participate, 134 were enrolled, and 124 were included in the analysis. Main outcome measures MenC serum bactericidal antibody (SBA) geometric mean titre; proportion of participants with SBA titre ≥8 (putative protective threshold). Results Median ages at priming, boosting and blood sampling were 10.61, 14.42 and 22.11 years, respectively. Geometric mean titres for MenC SBA were: CRM group 1373 (95% CI 954 to 1977); PS group 1024 (687 to 1526); and controls 284 (167 to 483). SBA titres ≥8 were present in 50/54 (92.6%) controls and 70/70 (100%) boosted individuals. Conclusions The planned introduction in the UK of an adolescent booster of MenC conjugate vaccine in 2013 is likely to provide sustained protection against MenC disease. Trial registration Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01459432).


Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct loans are intended to provide transitory credit to creditworthy borrowers unable to obtain conventional credit at reasonable terms. Farm loan program (FLP) effectiveness is measured in part by how readily direct loan borrowers graduate to conventional credit. A survey of FSA borrowers originating direct loans during fiscal years 1994-1996 is used to estimate graduation rates. A majority of 1994-1996 loan originators did exit the direct FLP by November 2004. A multinomial logit model indicates financial strength at origination resulted in greater likelihood of farming without direct loans approximately 9 years after loan origination.


This research investigates the potential for using a virtual learning environment and inparticular wikis as an alternative to face to face tutorials. From a pedagogicalperspective groupwork and problem based learning provides a teaching/learningenvironment which allows students to discuss and explore ideas whilst benefiting fromdirection and feedback from an e-tutor (Savin-Baden, 2000). This facilitates theopportunity for reflective learning with the goal that a student can develop a betterunderstanding of the material. However, there have been some difficulties observedwith face to face group work that may be alleviated, at least in part by using a virtuallearning environment.The paper explores the results of a blended model of group work. 'Blended' refers to ateaching model which includes both face to face sessions and online time via theinternet with the same cohort of students. A wiki1 was used to facilitate the students inexploring one topic in depth through uploading relevant resources and their comments.The wiki environment was observed by the e-tutor on a weekly basis to ensure that allstudents participated and there was an opportunity for the e-tutor to give feedback inclass that same week. The advantages and disadvantages of face to face and virtualenvironment discussions were evaluated by the students and teaching staff after a tenweek period. This paper presents the findings of this exercise from both theperspective of the tutor and the learners. It was a beneficial exercise for the studentsas it enabled easier, more frequent contact with group members which made thegathering of materials for the assignment quicker. It resulted in a repository, generatedby the students, of highly relevant materials stored online that could be accessed 24/7.It assisted the e-tutor in monitoring and evaluating individual contributions to the groupexercise on a continuous basis and allowed the e-tutor the opportunity to encourage non particpants to engage with the activity.


The Indian Retail Industry is witnessing a rapid transformation and is the fastest growing sector contributing 10 percent of the country's GDP. Indian retail market is estimated to grow from $427 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $637 billion by 2015 (Srivastava 2008). India became the prime destination for the global retailers because of favorable demographics, high disposable income levels, changing life styles and increased customer awareness.  Indian apparel retailing is the country's largest opportunity for the organized retailers after food retailing. The fast pace of the Indian retail industry presents many companies with a host of daily challenges. In today's competitive environment and with the growing importance of services, delivering high quality services has become the basic retailing strategy. The present paper studies the impact of service quality on apparel retail customer satisfaction and also indentifies the critical factors of service quality from customer's perspective. The sample consists of 250 respondents from the Metropolitan City Hyderabad which is one of the fastest growing metropolitan cities in India a structured questionnaire RSQS (Retail Service Quality Scale) was administered for data collection. Secondary data was collected from research databases, reports, journal articles etc. SPSS 17.0 was used for statistical analysis. The results will help the Retail service managers to plan and design their service strategies. The study identifies the critical of factors of Apparel Retail Service Quality and evaluates the impact of service quality on Retail Customer Satisfaction. The results helps the retailers to focus on critical areas of service where to improve, where to modify and where to cut down and enables them to take effective service strategies.


textabstractHematopoiesis is the formation of blood cellular components. In mammalian embryonic
development, the yolk sac and its vasculature are the source of the first blood cells called
hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from which all blood cells originate. HSCs are produced by
the aorta-gonad-mesonephros region, yolk sac and placenta from where they migrate to the
fetal liver, where they expand. Hereafter, HSCs transfer to the bone marrow from where they
establish the definitive adult hematopoiesis and reside throughout adulthood.
HSCs are responsible for foundation of the adult blood differentiation hierarchy and
provide continuous hematopoietic cell production. The major characteristic of HSCs is their
self-renewal capacity, i.e., they proliferate to give rise to all different types of blood cells,
but the pool of stem cells does not become depleted . HSCs are pluripotent. They generate
more committed progenitor cells or other stem cells, i.e., common myeloid and lymphoid
progenitor cells (CMPs and CLPs respectively) which differentiate and give rise to the progeny
belonging to these two lineages of blood cells. While the lymphoid progenitor cells
generate B- and T cells as well as natural killer cells, the myeloid progenitor cells produce the
other leukocytes, i.e. granulocytes and monocytes/macrophages, as well as red blood cells
(erythrocytes) and platelets (Figure 1).
The life span of mature blood cells is relatively short and cell production process is
continuous, therefore it demands tight regulation by hematopoietic growth factors. The
hematopoietic growth factors are a family of cytokines that interact with specific receptors
on hematopoietic cells. These molecules like stem cell factor (SCF) or KIT ligand (KIT-L),
granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF), granulocyte CSF (G-CSF), and macrophage CSF
(M-CSF), regulate the functional activation of the specific cells with which they interact.
Hematopoietic growth factors are required for the survival, proliferation, and differentiation
of hematopoietic progenitors.


At the main point of intersection between the railway and the city, stations are key elements in the organization of the intermodal transport as well as catalysts of urban developments in metropolises, medium and small cities. The focus of this publication is to explore the enrichment of a renewed approach of railway stations as intermodal nodes, therefore acting as breeding grounds for both urban and social developments.
This book has been initiated and built upon several activities currently running at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute), Delft University of Technology (DIMI, Delft Deltas Infrastructure Mobility Initiative and Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment) and University of Paris-Est (l'Ecole d'Urbanisme de Paris). These activities have been framed within the context of two rapidly developing metropolitan areas: Randstad in the Netherlands and Metropole du Grand Paris in the Ile de France. This volume forms the basis for a research on the 'role of stations in future metropolitan areas' with the ambition to link the two countries, learning from their different cities and distinct geographical context through comparable mobility challenges on the levels of the inner city, suburban and peripheral areas.
In line with these considerations, in 2018 AMS Institute, TU Delft/ DIMI and the Dutch Embassy in Paris with Atelier Neerlandais organized a successful workshop: 'Stations of the Future', in collaboration with La Fabrique de la Cite. Together with Dutch and French planning entities, involving mass transit operators and railway companies, this workshop focused on several case studies in both metropolitan areas to understand the role of station hubs as intermodal nodes. During this joint French-Dutch event that took place in Paris, we spoke on topics like Station as intermodal node, Station as destination and Station as data center, including a debate on the relation between public space and architecture, densification and programming of station areas, pedestrian flows management and the integration of data.
Following the Paris workshop, the summer school 'Integrated Mobility Challenges in Future Metropolitan Areas' was organised by AMS Institute and Delft University of Technology/DIMI with the collaboration of the ARENA architectural research network, University of Paris-Est and the City of Amsterdam. This 8-day workshop extended the debate among international young professionals, academics and master students by looking at an important rail-metro node in the metropolitan area of the city Amsterdam: Sloterdijk Station – a crucial hub in a bigger urban area for mobility and exchange, and for urban growth. The main question was: which approaches and scenarios can be tested and applied to these intermodal nodes, particularly when dealing with lack of space and growing number of users? The results were four very different plans to improve the Sloterdijk Station area and to make the station a 'future proof' intermodal hub.
In this publication, invited experts from practice and knowledge institutes in France and the Netherlands share their common experience and draw on specific aspects and problems of conception, management and development of stations. A brief overview of the results of the two initiatives 'Stations of the Future' and the summer school 'Integrated Mobility Challenges in Future Metropolitan Areas' is here illustrated, accompanied by photo reportages of both events and by a curated reportage of the Amsterdam Sloterdijk station area.


The present study sought to examine the linguistic and discoursal features in the language of the text messages created by Iranian EFL learners. To this end, 400 text messages were collected from both genders. The contents of the collected data were analyzed in terms of linguistic features as well as discoursal features. The results highlighted the important role of gender in linguistic and discoursal features of text messages created by Iranian mobile phone users. More specifically, females' use of complex sentences, formal opening and closing, and expression of thoughts, feelings, and emotions in their messages were much higher than men who created simple, short and to the point messages. The findings of this study highlight the role of text messages as a pedagogical tool since they are widely used to send or receive learning or information contents.


"If...Then: Architectural Speculation" is the sixth in an annual series of publications featuring work by talented architects selected by The Architectural League of New York's Young Architects Competition jury. This year, entrants were asked to explore the process of architectural speculation: the act of imagination that precedes every work, projecting future events in a space that does not yet exist. The winners of the competitionFernando Romero; Tobias Lundquist; Anthony Piermarini and Hansy L. Better Barraza; Keith Mitnick, Mireille Roddier, and Stewart Hicks; Tom Wiscombe; and Gail Peter Bordentake on this challenge and creatively address the social and political assumptionssurrounding architectural production through a rethinking of site, program, form, technology, and materials.


This paper presents an exploration of the concept of research transparency. The policy context is described and situated within the broader arena of open science. This is followed by commentary on transparency within the research process, which includes a brief overview of the related concept of reproducibility and the associated elements of research integrity, fraud and retractions. A two-dimensional model or continuum of open science is considered and the paper builds on this foundation by presenting a three-dimensional model, which includes the additional axis of 'transparency'. The concept is further unpacked and preliminary definitions of key terms are introduced: transparency, transparency action, transparency agent and transparency tool.  An important linkage is made to the research lifecycle as a setting for potential transparency interventions by libraries. Four areas are highlighted as foci for enhanced engagement with transparency goals: Leadership and Policy, Advocacy and Training, Research Infrastructures and Workforce Development.


Context. Software Process Improvement (SPI) initiatives like Capability Maturity Model (CMM), Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), Bootstrap etc., have been developed on the primary agenda of continuous software process improvement. Similarly, about two decades ago, the United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS) have laid down a set of guidelines based on the ISO quality standards for providing certification to organizations named TickIT. TickIT is now obsolete with its successor scheme TickITplus taking up its place with a lot of significant additions. All the companies which were certified based on TickIT guidelines (more than 1000 companies) were asked to move to TickITplus in order to keep their TickIT certification. However, until now it has been three years since the inception of TickITplus and only 70 companies have adopted TickITplus. This is way below relative to the number of TickIT certified organizations. The present thesis is done in order to find the factors why most of the companies have not adopted TickITplus and also why the 70 organizations have moved to TickITplus. Objectives In this study, an attempt has been made to accomplish the following objectives: Identifying the changes that have been brought about in the new scheme. The factors that a software organization looks into while adopting or migrating to a new software quality certification scheme are identified. Validate these factors with the help of survey and interviews. Analyze the results of survey and interviews to provide the reasons why most of the organizations haven't adopted TickITplus certification scheme.Methods. This research is done by using a mixed method approach by incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research methods. An online survey is conducted with the help of an online questionnaire as part of the quantitative leg. Two survey questionnaires have been framed to gather responses. With respect to the qualitative research method interviews are conducted to get a wider understanding about the factors that led an organization to migrate or not to migrate to TickITplus. The gathered data is analyzed using statistical methods like bivariate and univariate analysis for the quantitative method and thematic coding has been applied for the qualitative method. Triangulation method is used to validate the data obtained by correlating the results from the survey and interviews with those extracted from the literature review.Results. Results pertaining to the reasons why companies have moved to and also why other companies haven't taken up TickITplus have been gathered from the survey and interviews. It was identified that high costs and low customer demand were the main reasons for the organizations not to choose TickITplus while among the organizations which have moved to TickITplus have also chosen the scheme based on customer requirement. However, few other reasons apart from these have also been identified which are presented in this documentConclusions. Conclusions have been drawn citing the importance of costs incurred for implementing TickITplus as a reason for not selecting TickITplus as it was considered very expensive. Among other reasons customer requirement was also low which was identified as a factor for the relatively low number of TickITplus certified organizations. On the other hand, among the TickITplus certified firms, customer demand forms the prominent reason for moving to TickITplus and lack of appropriate people to take up the work was considered as an important hindrance while implementing TickITplus. Several other reasons and challenges have also been identified which are clearly detailed in the document.


"Cinema brings the industrial revolution to the eye," writes Jonathan Beller, "and engages spectators in increasingly dematerialized processes of social production." In his groundbreaking critical study, cinema is the paradigmatic example of how the act of looking has been construed by capital as "productive labor." Through an examination of cinema over the course of the twentieth century, Beller establishes on both theoretical and historical grounds the process of the emergent capitalization of perception. This process, he says, underpins the current global economy. By exploring a set of films made since the late 1920s, Beller argues that, through cinema, capital first posits and then presupposes looking as a value-productive activity. He argues that cinema, as the first crystallization of a new order of media, is itself an abstraction of assembly-line processes, and that the contemporary image is a politico-economic interface between the body and capitalized social machinery. Where factory workers first performed sequenced physical operations on moving objects in order to produce a commodity, in the cinema, spectators perform sequenced visual operations on moving montage fragments to produce an image. Beller develops his argument by highlighting various innovations and film texts of the past century. These innovations include concepts and practices from the revolutionary Soviet cinema, behaviorism, Taylorism, psychoanalysis, and contemporary Hollywood film. He thus develops an analysis of what amounts to the global industrialization of perception that today informs not only the specific social functions of new media, but also sustains a violent and hierarchical global society.


This paper offers an axiomatic characterization of two classes of poverty measures that are sensitive to inequality of opportunity, one a strict subset of the other. The proposed indices are sensitive not only to income shortfalls from the poverty line, but also to differences in the opportunities faced by people with different predetermined characteristics, such as race or family background. Dominance conditions are established for each class of measures and a sub-family of scalar indices, based on a rank-dependent aggregation of type-specific poverty levels, is also introduced. In empirical analysis using household survey data from eighteen European countries in 2005, substantial differences in country rankings based on standard Foster-Greer-Thorbecke indices and on the new opportunity-sensitive indices are found. Cross-country differences in opportunity-sensitive poverty are decomposed into a level effect, a distribution effect, and a population composition effect.


Abstract. Population estimation statistics are widely used in government, commercial and educational sectors for a variety of purposes. With growing emphases on real-time and detailed population information, data users nowadays have switched from traditional census data to more technology-based data source such as LiDAR point cloud and High-Resolution Satellite Imagery. Nevertheless, such data are costly and periodically unavailable. In this paper, the authors use West Coast District, Singapore as a case study to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of using satellite image from Google Earth for extraction of building footprint and population estimation. At the same time, volunteered geographic information (VGI) is also utilized as ancillary data for building footprint extraction. Open data such as Open Street Map(OSM)could be employed to enhance the extraction process. In view of challenges in building shadow extraction, this paper discusses several methods including buffer, mask and shape index to improve accuracy. It also illustrates population estimation methods based on building height and number of floor estimates. The results show that the accuracy level of housing unit method on population estimation can reach 92.5 %, which is remarkably accurate. This paper thus provides insights into techniques for building extraction and fine-scale population estimation, which will benefit users such as urban planners in terms of policymaking and urban planning of Singapore.


The paper presents results from the research of the influence of soil texture on the water retention curves of calcomelanosols, calcocambisols and terra rossa in Republic of Macedonia. The content of the fi ne soil separates in the calcomelanosols varies depending on the subtype. The physical sand fraction (coarse sand + fi ne sand) in the Amo horizon amounts to: 44.81% in the organomineral calcomelanosols, 40.13% in the organogenic and 36.52% in brownised calcomelanosols. In the (B)rz horizon in the brownised calcomelanosols it amounts to 32.64%. The contents (clay + silt) or physical clay in the Amo horizon amounts to: 55.19% in the organomineral calcomelanosols, 59.87% in the organogenic, and the highest content was in the brownised calcomelanosols, 63.48%. The average value of this fraction in the horizon (B) rz in the brownised calcomelanosols amounts to 67.36%. In the calcocambisols the average content of the physical sand fraction in the Amo horizon amounts to 33.43%, and in the cambic horizon (B)rz 22.50%. In the terra rossa the fraction physical clay is represented with a greater percentage related to the physical sand fraction. In the Amo horizon in the physical clay fraction the clay fraction is predominant, average 43.08% and 52.13% in the cambic horizon, 24.90% in Amo and 19.37% in the silt fraction. There is the highest retention capacity, average 41.48% in the humus-accumulative horizon Amo in the calcomelanosols, subtype organogenic. The remaining subtypes of calcomelanosols have lower retention capacity in this horizon. As with retention capacity of 0.33 required in other points of tension (6.25 and 15 bar) it shows the same condition; mean value of organogenic was 29.39 and 17.22%, respectively, then organomineral 23.98 and 18.34%, respectively, and brownised calcomelanosols 21.70% and 16.60%, respectively. The average retention values in the Amo horizon and the cambic horizon (B)rz regarding calcocambisols amounts to 33.49% and 33.24%. The average retention values (pressure of 6.25 = 625 kPa and 15 bar = 1500 kPa) in the Amo horizon and the cambic horizon (B)rz regarding calcocambisols amounts to 25.27% and 17.06% respectively, and 27.89% and 16.68%, respectively. The average retention capacity in terra rossa, amounts to 39.05% in the Amo horizon, and 40.25% in (B)rz. The average retention values (pressure of 6.25 and 15 bar) in the Amo horizon and the cambic horizon (B)rz regarding terra rossa amounts to 29.92% and 20.93%, respectively, and 33.23% and 23.38%, respectively. The results from our research show that in Amo and (B)rz horizons there is a positive correlation between the water retention curves at 0.33; 6.25 and 15 bars and contents of physical clay (clay and silt) and clay. Also there is high negative correlation between the retention curves at 0.33 bars contents of physical sand fractions (coarse sand+fi ne sand; r = -0.47). Normal 0 false false false MK X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */
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Cancer linked DNA hypo-methylation and hyper-methylation are present throughout the human genome. The hyper-methylation facilitates cancer progress by repressing the tumor suppressor gene. Hypo-methylation contribution towards cancer has not yet been clear. Recent studies of tissue specific methylation have suggested that DNA hypo-methylation aid tumor formation by many pathways. Loss of DNA methylation associated with cancer may alter transcription. In addition, DNA hypo-methylation might affect promoter usage production of intra-genic non-coding RNA transcripts, co-transcriptional splicing and initiation and elongation of transcription. Studies of hemi methylation of DNA in cancerous cells as well as normal tissues suggest that active de-methylation can explain cancer associated DNA hypo-methylation. New studies that genomic 5-hydroxymethylcytosine is intermediate in DNA de-methylation exhibits cancer associated losses. It suggests that both decreased hydroxyl-methylation and methylation of DNA play important role in carcinogenesis.


Data on early morbidity and complications after revision total hip replacement (THR) are limited. The aim of this nationwide study was to describe and quantify early morbidity after aseptic revision THR and relate the morbidity to the extent of the revision surgical procedure. We analysed all aseptic revision THRs from 1st October 2009 to 30th September 2011 using the Danish National Patient Registry, with additional information from the Danish Hip Arthroplasty Registry. There were 1553 procedures (1490 patients) performed in 40 centres and we divided them into total revisions, acetabular component revisions, femoral stem revisions and partial revisions. The mean age of the patients was 70.4 years (25 to 98) and the median hospital stay was five days (interquartile range 3 to 7). Within 90 days of surgery, the readmission rate was 18.3%, mortality rate 1.4%, re-operation rate 6.1%, dislocation rate 7.0% and infection rate 3.0%. There were no differences in these outcomes between high- and low-volume centres. Of all readmissions, 255 (63.9%) were due to 'surgical' complications versus 144 (36.1%) 'medical' complications. Importantly, we found no differences in early morbidity across the surgical subgroups, despite major differences in the extent and complexity of operations. However, dislocations and the resulting morbidity represent the major challenge for improvement in aseptic revision THR.


Using a mix of wireless telecommunication, digital audiovisuals and the Internet, the digital entertainments have evolved to a new form of interaction based on mobile ubiquitous computing and mixed reality. Our work is devoted to the application using both reality and virtuality in a complex mixed mode. Our research goal is to highlight constructive schemes (interfaces, narrative structure...) which can be used in the design of interactive media production. This paper is devoted to the analysis and the classification of the possible relationship between virtual worlds (VW) and real worlds (RW). It focuses on the general public, in particular entertainment applications. We discuss a general model of the RW/VW interactions and present a classification of applications. Some significant examples are discussed as a conclusion.