Background and purpose — Collaborations between arthroplasty registries are important in order to create the possibility of detecting inferior implants early and improve our understanding of differences between nations in terms of indications and outcomes. In this registry study we compared patient and procedure characteristics, and revision rates in the Nordic Arthroplasty Register Association (NARA) database and the Dutch Arthroplasty Register (LROI). Patients and methods — All total hip arthroplasties (THAs) performed in 2010–2016 were included from the LROI (n = 184,862) and the NARA database (n = 290,823), which contains data from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Descriptive statistics and Kaplan–Meier survival analyses based on all reasons for revision and stratified by fixation were performed and compared between countries. Results — In the Netherlands, the proportion of patients aged < 55 years (9%) and male patients (34%) was lower than in Nordic countries (< 55 years 11–13%; males 35–43%); the proportion of osteoarthritis (OA) (87%) was higher compared with Sweden (81%), Norway (77%), and Denmark (81%) but comparable to Finland (86%). Uncemented fixation was used in 62% of patients in the Netherlands, in 70% of patients in Denmark and Finland, and in 28% and 19% in Norway and Sweden, respectively. The 5-year revision rate for THAs for OA was lower in Sweden (2.3%, 95% CI 2.1–2.5) than in the Netherlands (3.0%, CI 2.9–3.1), Norway (3.8%, CI 3.6–4.0), Denmark (4.6%, CI 4.4–4.8), and Finland (4.4%, CI 4.3–4.5). Revision rates in Denmark, Norway, and Finland were higher for all fixation groups. Interpretation — Patient and THA procedure characteristics as well as revision rates evinced some differences between the Netherlands and the Nordic countries. The Netherlands compared best with Denmark in terms of patient and procedure characteristics, but resembled Sweden more in terms of short-term revision risk. Combining data from registries like LROI and the NARA collaboration is feasible and might possibly enable tracking of potential outlier implants.


In aerospace industry and other major mechanical industry systems, engineering components that are subjected to cyclic loads often lead to progressive crack growth that eventually results in struc-tural fracture. The damage tolerance design which is based on the assumption of pre-existed flaws in a structure is an important approach in aircraft industry since it is impossible to have flaw-free manufactured components.In this thesis work, an evaluation of crack propagation models was carried out. Fatigue crack growth threshold and fatigue crack growth rate models were evaluated. A method to present ex-perimental data available was developed to evaluate uncertainties in fatigue life models for more accurate predictions. Currently, a software that is used for predicting crack propagation life is NASGRO. The study has been made for two types of materials: a nickel-iron-based alloy (Inconel 718 forging) and titanium alloys (Ti 6-4 both forging and casting).A threshold model is in the normal case developed for each temperature. A method to model fatigue threshold (ΔKth) has been suggested by assuming temperature independence of ΔKth. In this method, a new threshold model was created by making use of an A/P (Actual/Predicted) plot so that all measured threshold values are on the conservative side of the minimum model. With this method, an understanding of fatigue threshold model was improved over the other method due to the possibilities to model ΔKth with average and minimum threshold values for each load ratio (ΔKth, R).Moreover, a method to investigate which set of parameters that best represent the crack growth behaviour has been suggested. In this method the best set of parameters were chosen to be the set of parameters giving the best fit to the available (da/dN, ΔK) points. The comparison between this method and the method with the set of parameters that give minimum scatter in the A/P values was done.Crack growth rate da/dN log curves were plotted as function of stress intensity range ΔK for R-ratio values ranging from -2 to 0.9 for the two different methods. A distinctive difference between the two methods was observed in Paris region at high temperatures (5500C-6500C) which becomes more obvious at lower R-ratios. Predicting crack propagation rate model with set of parameters giving minimum standard deviation in da/dN points was shown to be less conservative than that of parameter sets giving lowest scatter in A/P. Using both evaluation methods, da/dN versus ΔK plots of Inconel718forging were compared to da/dN (ΔK) plots for the pre-existing data at 5500C for R-ratios ranging from 0 to 0.8. An overall R-ratio influence was observed throughout for both ΔKth and da/dN.


The Earth's crustal movements occur at local and regional scale with various intensities that depend on the tectonic settings. Egypt's surface deformation is controlled by its location. It is located in the northeastern corner of the African continent and affected from the North by the subduction between Nubian and Eurasian plates and from the East by activities along the Red Sea spreading, Gulf of Suez, and Gulf of Aqaba. Away from the tectonic activities, the ground deformation could be triggered by human activities such as artificial lakes, underground water pumping or oil extraction. Estimating the recent crustal movements of the Earth's crust and its relation to tectonic and/or human activities can assist in better understanding of such movements, identify its nature, and highlight the areas of high strain for the security of human, public facilities, and vital national constructions.

Due to the lack of geodetic data collected from Egypt, former estimates are rough at best. Using very few GPS stations in Egypt, previous studies indicate northward motion of northern Nubia with respect to Eurasia of about 5 mm=y r ((McClusky et al., 2000); (Reilinger et al., 2006); (Mahmoud et al., 2005)). In order to better constrain the movement rate of northern Nubia and the interaction between Nubian, Eurasian, and Arabian plates, 16 permanent GPS stations in combination with 47 non-permanent stations covering Egypt for the period 2006-2012 were used. The collected data for about seven years were processed using Bernese 5.2 GNSS Software (Dach et al., 2007). To establish a good configuration around the Egyptian stations, the processing is carried out including 86 permanent stations belonging to three different tectonic plates. This led to a considerably better coverage of the Sinai-Dead Sea region as it represents the border between the Nubian and Arabian plates. Also, 34 stations out of these 86 are
included in the ITRF2008 and used for datum definition. The Bernese results are assessed using the time series analysis tool CATS (Williams, 2008).

The estimated absolute horizontal velocity field for Egypt is about 28-30 mm/yr to the northeast direction. GPS sites show a relative motion between Nubia and Eurasia of about 6.5±1 mm/yr, which increases towards the Hellenic trench, 8.2±0.8 mm/yr in Sinai peninsula, 14.2±1.4 mm/yr in the North of the Arabian plate and 22.3±�0.7 mm/yr in eastern and central Turkey. In the Nubia fixed frame the Gulf of Suez and southern Sinai do not show any significant horizontal velocities, which implies that Sinai may be still connected to Nubia. Applying the dislocation fault parallel analysis, the slip rate and the locking depth of the Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault are 5


Previously, we have shown that forced expression of prostaglandin endoperoxide synthase-2 [also called cyclooxygenase (COX) 2] leads to inhibition of programmed cell death in intestinal epithelial cells. More recently, we have demonstrated that growth of human colonic cancer xenografts is inhibited by treatment with a highly selective COX-2 inhibitor in tumors that express COX-2 (HCA-7) but not in those that lack COX-2 expression (HCT-116). To explore the biochemical mechanisms involved in these effects, we have evaluated the role of COX-2-derived eicosanoid products on programmed cell death in human colon cancer cells. Here we report that PGE2 treatment of human colon cancer cells leads to increased clonogenicity of HCA-7, but not HCT-116 cells. Treatment with a highly selective COX-2 inhibitor (SC-58125) decreases colony formation in monolayer culture and this growth inhibition was reversed by treatment with PGE2. Additionally, PGE2 inhibits programmed cell death caused by SC-58125 and induces Bcl-2 expression, but did not affect Bcl-x or Bax expression in human colon cancer (HCA-7) cells. Therefore, decreased cell death caused by PGE2 would enhance the tumorigenic potential of intestinal epithelial cells. Thus, these results may help to explain a component of the mechanism by which COX inhibitors prevent colorectal cancer in humans.


A magnetic sorbent with stable and superior magnetic behaviour was developed for His-tagged protein purification by immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC). Magnetic, monodisperse and porous silica microspheres 6 mm in size, with bimodal pore size distribution including both mesoporous and macroporous compartments were synthesized as the base material by a staged-shape template hydrolysis & condensation protocol. The magnetic microspheres were functionalized with iminodiacetic acid (IDA) and Ni ions were attached onto the microspheres by metal-chelate formation via carboxyl groups. The saturation magnetization and carboxyl content of IDA attached magnetic silica microspheres were determined as 22.1 emu g 1 and 19 mmol IDA g 1 microspheres, respectively. A superior magnetic response with respect to the currently available IMAC sorbents in the form of composite magnetic nanoparticles was obtained with the proposed sorbent. The magnetic sorbent was utilized for the isolation of His-tagged green fluorescent protein (GFP) from E. coli lysate in batch-fashion. The maximum equilibrium GFP adsorption was ca. 87 mg GFP per g sorbent. GFP was isolated with high selectivity (>95% purity) and isolation yields up to 68% by changing the magnetic sorbent concentration. The superior isolation performance of the sorbent was explained by the presence of a bimodal pore structure including both macropores facilitating the intraparticular diffusion of GFP, and the mesopores serving a large surface area for parking and adsorption of GFP into the microbeads.


The uncertainty of measurements must be quantified and considered in order to prove conformance with specifications and make other meaningful comparisons based on measurements. While there is a consistent methodology for the evaluation and expression of uncertainty within the metrology community industry frequently uses the alternative Measurement Systems Analysis methodology. This paper sets out to clarify the differences between uncertainty evaluation and MSA and presents a novel hybrid methodology for industrial measurement which enables a correct evaluation of measurement uncertainty while utilising the practical tools of MSA. In particular the use of Gage R&R ANOVA and Attribute Gage studies within a wider uncertainty evaluation framework is described. This enables in-line measurement data to be used to establish repeatability and reproducibility, without time consuming repeatability studies being carried out, while maintaining a complete consideration of all sources of uncertainty and therefore enabling conformance to be proven with a stated level of confidence. Such a rigorous approach to product verification will become increasingly important in the era of the Light Controlled Factory with metrology acting as the driving force to achieve the right first time and highly automated manufacture of high value large scale products such as aircraft, spacecraft and renewable power generation structures.


Marginal willingness to pay for eggs carrying different labels is estimated using observed Danish purchase data on individual level. Among other things the labels indicate environmental features and different levels of animal welfare for the hens that produce the eggs. The data on eggs are part of a very comprehensive panel data set covering household purchases of non-durables during a five year period. For each family a wide range of background characteristics are available. Detailed data on eggs are available during the one year period from July 1999 to June 2000 used in these estimations, Compared to simple statistics, such as the average market share of different egg types, econometric estimations make it possible to disentangle the effect of labels from the effects of e.g. differences in prices. Discrete models such as the multinomial logit make it particularly simple to estimate the willingness to pay for different characteristics of goods, in this case different labels. Had the purpose been to estimate substitution effects, a continuous model would have been used instead.
The estimations are conducted using the new and flexible Mixed Multinomial Logit model (MMNL) also known as Random Parameter Logit (RPL). Mixed multinomial logit allows heterogeneity among households by letting the parameters of the household utility functions be drawn from a common distribution instead of restricting them to be identical for all households. Estimating the parameters of the distribution of the parameters of the utility functions yields not only a measure of the marginal willingness to pay for different types of eggs, but also a measure of the degree of heterogeneity among the households.
The eggs are divided into battery eggs ('buraeg'), barn eggs ('skrabe aeg'), free-range eggs ('fritgaende') and organic eggs ('okologiske') and the marginal willingness to pay for the three last types relative to battery eggs are estimated. The marginal willingness to pay for different types of eggs turns out to vary whit the chain of stores in which the purchase is made. Econometric estimations using store-level data reveals that customers in some stores (e.g. Superbrugsen) are generally willing to pay for labels indicating environmental and animal friendly production methods, while customers in other stores (e.g. Bilka) are reluctant to do so. Combining data from many different stores leads to contra-intuitive results caused by the high level of heterogeneity among customers, prices and variety in the different stores.
It is found that models allowing the consumers' evaluation of the different labels to vary with background characteristics, such as the geographical location of the household residence, are significantly better than models ignoring background variables completely. Models allowing the evaluation to vary with attitudes, such as attitude to 1 branded goods, are also significantly better than the model ignoring these effects. The effect of the age of the main buyer is, in most cases, not significant. It is reasonable to expect the value of different labels to vary between households.
Animal welfare may be very important to some households, but have little or no value in other households. These differences are perceived as 'heterogeneity of preferences' in the econometric model. The labels 'barn eggs' and 'free-range eggs' mainly indicates increased animal welfare, whereas the 'organic' label indicates a more environmentally friendly production as well as a higher level of animal welfare. Some households may also perceive the organic eggs as being healthier than other egg types because the hens are fed with organic feed. The heterogeneity of marginal willingness to pay for organic eggs can therefore be induced by differences in the perception and evaluation of at least three different attributes, whereas the heterogeneity of marginal willingness to pay for barn and free-range eggs is expected to arise only from differences in perception and evaluation of animal welfare. Data supports this hypothesis as the estimated heterogeneity of marginal willingness to pay is generally higher for organic eggs than for the two other egg types.
More information in working paper #6: "Consumer Evaluation of Environmental and Animal Welfare Labelling: An Econometric Analysis on Panel Data Using Mixed Multinomial Logit" at www.akf.dk/organicfoods


In this article, we demonstrate the applicability of semantic techniques for detection of Conflict of Interest (COI). We explain the common challenges involved in building scalable Semantic Web applications, in particular those addressing connecting-the-dots problems. We describe in detail the challenges involved in two important aspects on building Semantic Web applications, namely, data acquisition and entity disambiguation (or reference reconciliation). We extend upon our previous work where we integrated the collaborative network of a subset of DBLP researchers with persons in a Friend-of-a-Friend social network (FOAF). Our method finds the connections between people, measures collaboration strength, and includes heuristics that use friendship/affiliation information to provide an estimate of potential COI in a peer-review scenario. Evaluations are presented by measuring what could have been the COI between accepted papers in various conference tracks and their respective program committee members. The experimental results demonstrate that scalability can be achieved by using a dataset of over 3 million entities (all bibliographic data from DBLP and a large collection of FOAF documents).


5G mobile communications is seen as the enabler for the networked society where connectivity will be available anywhere and anytime to anyone and anything. The details of 5G are the subject to ongoing research and debate, mostly focused on understanding radio technologies that can enable the 5G vision. So far, less work has been dedicated to the challenges that 5G will pose to the transport network. This paper provides a first analysis of the key challenges to 5G transport in terms of capacity, flexibility and costs, for example. Different use cases are discussed as well as technology options and control plane concepts.


Color correction and color transfer methods have gained a lot of attention in the past few years to circumvent color degradation that may occur due to various sources. In this paper, we propose a novel simple yet powerful strategy to profoundly enhance color distorted underwater images. The proposed approach combines both local and global information through a simple yet powerful affine transform model. Local and global information are carried through local color mapping and color covariance mapping between an input and some reference source, respectively. Several experiments on degraded underwater images demonstrate that the proposed method performs favourably to all other methods including ones that are tailored to correcting underwater images by explicit noise modelling.


The number of international graduate students coming to the U.S. to attend American colleges and universities is growing. In 2010 alone, over 20,000 Middle Eastern Graduate students (MEGS) were studying in U.S. universities (Bhandari & Chow, 2010). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of how MEGS experienced the transition from their home to the host culture and recommend how to help them with it. The conceptual framework used in this study was a comprehensive transition model incorporating Schlossberg et al.'s 4S Transition Model (1995) with the main ideas from Chickering's Vectors of Adult Development (1969), Furnham and Bochner's Social Skills and Culture Learning Model (1986), Tinto's Theory of Doctoral Persistence (1987), and Taylor's Cultural Learning Model (1994). The following questions guided the research: 1. How do Middle Eastern graduate students describe the academic and social environment in which they find themselves? (situation) 2. How do Middle Eastern graduate students experience the academic and social transition to graduate school in the U.S.? (self) 3. How do Middle Eastern graduate students describe adapting to graduate school in the U.S.? (strategy and support) Answering these questions was accomplished through Seidman's (2006) three in-depth interview approach. The sample consisted of eight MEGS who were enrolled in a U.S. university. The study's findings showed how MEGS described their environments by focusing on the differences, challenges, role changes, and what caused them stress. Specifically, (a) male participants in this study were not educated in a co-ed education system; (b) most participants had been living with their families until moving to the host country; and (c) they were not aware of the importance of social support systems and the social environment. MEGS also experienced feeling proud, overwhelmed, conflicted, homesick, lonely, and finally, changed as a result of this transition. Finally, they described adapting to graduate school by using strategies such as (a) consulting others when faced with challenges, (b) observing then acting when they could not consult; (c) being self-reliant when faced with academic challenges; (d) getting involved socially to experience the host culture; and (e) receiving different support from others.


My PhD study of belonging in place took a phenomenological approach supported by a variety of qualitative methods: specifically narrative life history interviews, written and photo diaries and photo-elicitation interviews. Researching something as intangible as belonging is difficult and I wanted to evaluate the practices people undertake which demonstrate how they 'do' belonging, rather than asking about feelings of belonging. This case study explains how and why I made use of a phenomenological approach in researching the everyday. It then shows how the particular methods chosen fit with the use of a phenomenological methodology. The case explores some of the challenges in investigating mundane aspects of daily life, which are increasingly the focus of sociological and geographical research. The focus in this case on multiple qualitative methods leads to a broader discussion of the use of a variety of innovative research methods.


This study implements an automated parser-based approach to the investigation of light verb constructions. The database consisting of ICE-GB and ICE-IRE is used to obtain qualitative and quantitative results on the use of light verb structures. The study explains and evaluates the steps employed to optimize parser output in detecting open lists of light verb constructions. It discusses the qualitative usage differences of these structures in the data between the two varieties and finds that ICE-GB favours fewer high frequency light verbs while ICE-IRE contains more diverse lower frequency light verbs and more passives. Overall, counts of light verb constructions are considerably higher than previously assumed. The projected counts suggest that attestations of light verb constructions will increase considerably if the search is not restricted to certain high-frequency light verbs as is typically done in studies employing manual or semi-automatic approaches to data collection.


The focus of this thesis is the abaya, an outerwear garment worn by women in the Gulf. I interrogate how the abaya is made, acquired and worn, and how items and imagery of contemporary abaya design, specifically from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are produced and disseminated to various audiences. I investigate the motivations, agency and tastes of women who wear abayas and explore how designers operate across the spectrum of production, distribution and consumption. This research evidences the way women mediate between being invested in the 'traditions' of dress practices, shaped by habitus, and the re-translation of selfpresentation as modern fashion consumers/designers. To examine this, I explore the cultural implications on design processes that create new localised fashion practices. Through the lens of cultural identity, I analyse competing interpretations of modesty and situated embodiment, discourses on national identity visualised through dresscodes, and innovations enhanced by a UAE dispositif that advocates design and potentially creates space for symbolic abaya-led fashion production. To consider these concepts, my ethnographic approach triangulates interviews, textual and material cultural analysis with observations across selected mixed-gender and women-only spaces to examine abaya-wearing and design practices.

No study to date examines the abaya as worn and informed by socialities, materialities and spatialities of design, production, consumption and distributionrepresentation, nor investigates how wearers, designers and influencers co-direct style choice through new consumption practices and imaging regimes that reflect 'local taste' and fashion's multiple modernities. By considering the abaya from a design and designer's point of view my research offers new insights into fashion and design practices originating from an emergent market outside the 'West'. Furthermore, this thesis contributes to areas of research concerned with veiling, gender studies, entrepreneurship and the subsequent design/production-distributionconsumption systems, communities and geographies formed.


Ecosystem-based management (EBM) is a rising paradigm in resource management. Social scientists agree that EBM necessitates a natural sciences foundation yet its human dimensions are less understood; a greater role for the social sciences is needed. One underutilized area is inquiry into how different cultural traditions order their universe to derive meaning and values from ecosystems in a manner directive for human behaviour. Providing insight into human perceptions of ecosystems and their components, social sciences contribute to understanding knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples and methods for relating Western and Indigenous management approaches. First Nations traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and Western science represent potentially complementary traditions that can inform EBM. Although overlap exists, these traditions comprise distinct knowledge systems incorporating different methods and ways of knowing. An epistemological analysis of convergence and divergence between TEK and Western science is presented with attention to the social, philosophical, and methodological features of TEK systems. This framework is applied to the Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot Sound whose membership included Nuu-Chah-Nulth elders and forest scientists. Drawing equally on TEK and Western science, the Panel developed the groundbreaking silvicultural system of variable retention advancing EBM in Canada and spawning other initiatives. Ecosystems provided the shared conceptual terrain for bridging TEK and ecological science—the "best of two cultural worlds." Special skills are required for such intercultural EBM with implications for ecosystem-based paradigms beyond this case. The boreal forest provides a worthwhile context for follow-up research.


The purpose of this study is to understand how ethical leadership and coworker ethical behavior will influence employee unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). In particular, the authors examine the mediating effect of moral disengagement on the relationship between ethical leadership and UPB and also investigate the moderating effect of coworker ethical behavior on the aforementioned effect.,Data were collected from 251 employee–coworker dyads from five organizations in Taiwan at two time points. Moderated mediation analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses.,The results show that moral disengagement mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employee UPB. Moreover, the results show that coworker ethical behavior moderates the relationship between moral disengagement and employee UPB, as well as the mediated relationship between ethical leadership and employee UPB via moral disengagement. Specifically, both the moral disengagement–UPB relationship and the ethical leadership–moral disengagement–UPB relationship become weaker when coworker ethical behavior is high.,The results highlight the importance of creating an ethical work environment to get everyone behaving ethically in the workplace, because nurturing an ethical atmosphere in organizations will be useful in reducing the occurrence of UPB even for those who have high levels of moral disengagement.,This study shows that coworkers matter morally as much as leaders, demonstrating the importance of social influence from coworkers in organizations.


The status of women in economics in the US has come increasingly under the spotlight. We exploit high-quality administrative data to paint the first comprehensive picture of the status of women in UK academic economics departments in research-intensive universities. Our evidence indicates that, as in the US, women in economics are under-represented and are paid less than men. The issues facing women in economics in the UK are similar to other disciplines, particularly STEM, but have received less national policy attention to date. We conclude with a discussion of interventions that might improve the status of women in academia and we present new evidence that a UK academic diversity programme (Athena SWAN) has narrowed the gender pay gap at a senior level.


For non-traditional students higher education pathways are often characterised by initial aspirations and later disappointments, when classed, gendered and relational positionings conflict with students' identities and contribute to their withdrawal from academia (Mannay 2012). As academics and practitioners it is not enough simply to chart these difficulties and theorise the costs of divided identities; rather we need to acknowledge the ways in which we maintain divided communities in our institutions and seek opportunities to create communities of practice. This paper discusses an innovative 'group encounter' that offered a metaphorical even playing field where students and academics shared the floor in discussions, presentations and an academic research output. The experience engendered an opportunity for marginalised students to gain access to a successful learner identity and for academics to consider the value that these students have to academia; creating inclusive spaces in place of divided communities.

Outline
This paper is submitted to the SRHE Annual Research Conference 2012 - 'What is Higher Education For? Shared and contested ambitions' for consideration under the research domain 'student experience'; and specifically the research topic 'Changing student experiences of higher education and evolving identities of students'. The central argument of the paper is that if we intend not only to widen access at points of entry but rather engender a space where academic journeys can be successfully completed; and projects social mobility achieved, there is a need to create inclusive spaces in place of divided communities.

The background to the paper is drawn from a research study that focused on the experiences of mothers and daughters residing in a marginalised housing area in urbanised south Wales, United Kingdom; which explored social reproduction as a spatial, psychological and intergenerational process (Mannay, 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013 in press). The research was funded by the ESRC and was based in an area in urban south Wales, which has become the epitome of the classically disadvantaged council estate. The study drew on a range of visual, narrative and interview methods data production. Analysis of this data drew from a psychoanalytically informed psychosocial approach; and was particularly interested in Kleinian processes of splitting and defence as a vehicle to impose continuity in response to change; and the threat of fragmentation in family life.

One of the central findings of the research was that for marginalised, non-traditional students re-entering education, the emotional cost of social mobility is often one that they are unable to pay, and that practitioners and policy makers need to be aware of, and responsive to their situation so that retention and completion rates can be improved. The first part of the paper contextualises this research project and presents two case studies of women that completed Access courses and gained places in post-1992 universities, focusing on their initial aspirations and later disappointments, examining the ways in which their classed, gendered and relational positionings conflicted with their education trajectory and contributed to their withdrawal from academia.

Social mobility is not without cost, as previous research with non-traditional students has demonstrated (Francis 2010; Reay et al 2010; Warrington 2005), and for mature students such difficulties are often confounded. Retention of non-traditional students is problematic and research synthesis has identified weak course match; unsatisfactory academic experience; lack of social integration; financial issues and personal circumstances as the primary reasons behind non-completion at the higher education level (Jones 2008).

As Thomas and Jamieson-Ball (2011) argue it is challenging to convert the results of retention synthesis into institutional interventions or a strategy that improves student retention and success. However, programmes such as the 'What works? Student retention and success' offer strategies emphasising the importance of collaborative, student centred learning and teaching, which facilitates staff - student interaction and enables staff to have a better understanding of their students (Crosling et al 2008). This approach can be seen as a move away from discourses of individual failure and a step towards an acknowledgement for the need for structural change within institutions; however, facilitating institutional change and providing opportunities to engender retention and success can be challenging.

In response to this challenge the second part of the presentation focuses on an innovative 'group encounter' designed by Mary Clare O'Connell that offered a metaphorical even playing field where students and academics shared the floor in discussions, presentations and an academic research output. The event was a conference around the topic 'Battle of the Sexes' and the programme offered presentations and group discussion sessions. The two key note speakers consisted of a student and a high status academic. Opportunities to present were restricted to eight minutes to encourage students to speak and the programme was not hierarchical as there was an equal platform for both academics and students; at postgraduate, undergraduate and, importantly, Access levels. Similarly, round table discussions fostered an atmosphere in which all delegates were inherently part of the discussion and the arguments rather than the speakers' position were prioritised.

In this way the event offered not only a community of practice but a semiotic social space that is closer to the concept of an affinity space (Gee 2007). An affinity space is characterised by common endeavour rather than socially ascribed identities and importantly novices and masters share common space; where leadership is porous and leaders are resources. In addition to this one day event everyone who attended, whether or not they gave a presentation, were invited to submit a paper for publication in an online journal. The paper could be in the standardised academic format, an art form or poem; and the content could either discuss a gender related theme or simply be a personal reflection of the experience of the group encounter. Importantly, there was also an accredited qualification offered for those who made a contribution to the journal.

The paper will assess the usefulness of the event and the subsequent publication of the journal; focusing on how it created an affinity space and the extent to which the format can be seen as a change in the institution and a tool for engendering retention and success. Reflecting on the conference and drawing on some of the published contributions, the evaluation is particularly interested in how such events can foster an identity of being 'in place' for non-traditional students who often feel 'out-of-place', outcast and outclassed in the higher education system. In this way the paper engenders a discussion about changing student experiences of higher education and best practice in relation to fostering differentiated institutional identities in which all students feel that their contribution is valid, desired and significant.


For every person over the age of 65 in today's European Union, there are four people of working age but, by 2050, there will only be two. Demand for long-term care, of which home care forms a significant part, will inevitably increase in the decades to come. Despite the importance of the issue, however, up-to-date and comparative information on home care in Europe is lacking. This book attempts to fill some of that gap by examining current European policy on home care services and strategies. Home care across Europe probes a wide range of topics including the links between social services and health-care systems, the prevailing funding mechanisms, how service providers are paid, the impact of governmental regulation, and the complex roles played by informal caregivers. Drawing on a set of Europe-wide case studies (available in a second, online volume), the study provides comparable descriptive information on many aspects of the organization, financing and provision of home care across the continent. It is a text that will help frame the coming debate about how best to serve elderly citizens as European populations age.


Many of the mammals undergoing drastic declines in tropical forests worldwide are important seed dispersers and seed predators, and thus changes in mammal communities due to hunting will affect plant recruitment. It has been hypothesized that larger‐seeded species will suffer greater reductions in seed removal and thus greater increases in predispersal seed predation than smaller‐seeded species. We compared primary and secondary seed removal and predispersal seed predation of two tree species between hunted and nonhunted sites in Central Panama. Seeds of Oenocarpus mapora (Arecaceae) are 16‐times greater in size than those of Cordia bicolor (Boraginaceae). We quantified primary seed removal and predispersal seed predation using seed traps, and we assessed secondary seed removal using seed removal plots. Primary removal of C. bicolor was 43 percent lower in the hunted sites, while primary removal of O. mapora was not significantly different. Secondary removal of unprotected O. mapora seeds on the ground was 59 percent lower in hunted sites, while secondary removal of C. bicolor was not significantly different. Predispersal seed predation of O. mapora by mammals was significantly lower in hunted sites, while predispersal seed predation by insects was not significantly different in either species. In combination with other studies, our results suggest that seed size is not a reliable predictor of the impacts of hunting. Mammal defaunation differentially affects stages and modes of seed dispersal and seed predation of different plant species, suggesting that these influences are complex and related to multiple plant traits.


- - - - - - For more than two centuries, members of our Armed Forces have defended our country with unyielding courage. In our Nation's times of need, these brave patriots step forward to answer America's call, leaving behind everything they know and love. And as they help secure our freedom and democracy, their families sacrifice alongside them. During Military Family Month, we recognize every spouse, parent, sibling, child, and loved one who stands with our service members, and we reaffirm our solemn vow to serve these families as well as they serve us. The selflessness of our military families tells a story of unfailing duty and devotion. Through long deployments, difficult separations, and moves across the country and overseas, spouses and partners put their careers on hold and children take on extra responsibilities. With grace and resilience, families endure the absence of loved ones and shoulder the burdens of war. And when battle ends and our service members return home, their families support their transition and recovery. To fulfill our sacred promise to our service members and their loved ones, my Administration continues to make supporting our military families a top priority. This year, we launched the Veterans Employment Center, an interagency resource to connect transitioning service members, veterans, and their spouses to meaningful career opportunities. We are also committed to fostering partnerships with organizations that help military caregivers and making consistent and effective family services available, including mental health care and counseling, deployment and relocation assistance, and child care and youth programs. Through their Joining Forces initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden are working to ensure members of our Armed Forces, veterans, and their families have all the opportunities and benefits they deserve. And since 2011, their efforts have encouraged businesses to hire more than 500,000 veterans and military spouses. Every day, our military families at home and abroad inspire us and remind us of our obligation to take care of those who do so much for our country. As a grateful Nation, we pay tribute to the women and men who have made our military the finest fighting force the world has ever known, and we honor the enduring strength and dedication of their families. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 2014 as Military Family Month. I call on all Americans to honor military families through private actions and public service for the tremendous contributions they make in support of our service members and our Nation.


Beginning in 2002, lawyers for the Bush Administration began producing the now infamous legal memoranda on the subject of interrogation. The memoranda advise interrogators that they can torture people without fear of prosecution in connection with the so-called global war on terror. Much has been and will be written about the expedient and erroneous legal analysis of the memos. One issue at risk of being overlooked, however, because the memos emphasize torture, is that the United States must respect limits far short of torture in the conduct of interrogations. The United States may not use any form of coercion against persons detained in an armed conflict, nor may it engage in cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment at any time. The great effort of the memo writers to restrict torture to the most extreme conduct imaginable obscures the fact that the United States has wider obligations. Avoiding torture is not enough. Interrogators must also respect the broader restrictions on coercive, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The legal prohibition has, first, moral, but also pragmatic underpinnings. Apparently some in the Bush Administration have become persuaded that torture, coercion, cruelty and abuse can be effective methods of interrogation and that the need for information outweighs the illegality and immorality of using such means. The weight of the evidence is firmly against the conclusion, however, that forceful interrogation is as reliable as non-forceful methods. Using unlawful means has been counter-productive in effectively responding to terrorism. The evidence on information gathering supports international law's absolute prohibition on torture, cruelty, and coercion.


We report on progress in algorithms for iterative phase retrieval. The theory of convex optimization is used to develop and to gain insight into counterparts for the nonconvex problem of phase retrieval. We propose a relaxation of averaged successive reflectors and determine the fixed point set of the related operator in the convex case. A numerical study supports our theoretical observations and demonstrates the effectiveness of the algorithm compared to the current state of the art.


Understandings of war – its shape, form, character and content – are conditioned by conceptualisations and narratives of social and political space. As such, the history of writing on war is also a history of spatiality, expressed through a particular circumstance and practice. Through analysis of early modern conceptualisations of space, politics and war, this article considers the shift in political spatiality associated with the demise of modern linear spatiality that firmly established the territorial state as site of politics and war. The central argument of this article is that contemporary accounts of war reveal a political spatiality in flux coupled with an insistence on the global, such that many accounts of war neglect its political content. Three key accounts of contemporary war are engaged: liberal discourses of war as 'policing'; accounts of war as 'biopolitical empire'; and discourses of war as 'risk management' – all found, in different ways and collectively, to disregard the political confrontation that war necessarily entails.


OBJECTIVE: To assess tolerance and safety of 0.6% chlorhexidine vaginal and neonatal wipes to improve perinatal outcomes in home deliveries in Pakistan and the ability of traditional birth attendants and project staff to perform a randomized trial of this intervention. METHODS: Focus groups of pregnant and nonpregnant women and in-depth interviews of traditional birth attendants explored barriers to the use of chlorhexidine wipes. Then, a study was performed of women delivering at home attended by traditional birth attendants. Consenting women were randomly assigned to receive either 0.6% chlorhexidine or saline vaginal and neonatal wipes. Women and their infants were followed up on postpartum days 7, 14, and 28. Acceptability and tolerance of vaginal and neonatal wipes, as well as maternal and neonatal outcomes, were assessed. RESULTS: The focus groups and interviews indicated that the chlorhexidine intervention would be acceptable to women and their providers. Of the 213 eligible pregnant women approached, 203 (95%) gave informed consent and were enrolled and allocated to groups. Traditional birth attendants had no difficulty administering chlorhexidine vaginal and neonatal wipes in a home setting. Of the 203 births, 103 (51%) of whom received 0.6% chlorhexidine, there were no allergic reactions, vaginal itching, burning, or requests for study termination. Follow-up at 28 days postpartum was more than 95%. Although this study was not powered to show significant differences in neonatal outcomes between treatment groups, the lower rates of some neonatal adverse clinical outcomes in the chlorhexidine group were encouraging. CONCLUSION: Use of 0.6% chlorhexidine vaginal and neonatal wipes for the prevention of neonatal infection is well-tolerated and seems safe. A trial of this intervention by traditional birth attendants in a home-delivery setting is feasible. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00121394 LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I


Preterm delivery is one of the leading causes of neonatal and infant mortality and the leading cause of infant morbidity. It is responsible for more than 70% of neonatal deaths and nearly 50% of long-term neurologically disabled infants and children. All efforts should therefore be made to reduce these sad losses to women and their families and the sometimes preventable permanent neurological harm to children.
Many pregnancies are complicated by psychosocial problems. In South Africa, women are exposed to many psychosocial stressors, including poverty and traumatic stress. South African women have some of the highest rates of antenatal depression in the world (up to 40% in comparison to international rates of 10-15%). Furthermore rates of intimate partner violence are high, with 30% of pregnant women reporting intimate partner violence in the last year. In the past, routine screening for these problems at antenatal visits, have been neglected. However, more recently, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has recommended that all pregnant women, regardless of social status, should have a psychosocial screening done once in each trimester. They recommended that the screening should include a wide range of psychosocial conditions, including depression, intimate partner violence and stress. In a plea for action to improve maternal health, Al-Saleh and Di Renzo recently referred to maternal stress as a cause of disability.


The majority of the water distribution pipes which take the greater part of Japanese drinking water utilities' assets are made of iron such as gray/ductile cast iron or steel. It will be necessary to replace most of these pipes due to corrosion in the near future. In general, pipeline assessment which is done before replacement is carried out through digging to take visual observation; however, digging costs and environmental burden due to digging will become a problem. This study therefore undertakes a research into methods of pipeline assessment which reduce the digging necessity. In the study of the Impact Elastic-Wave Method, elastic-waves were applied to cast iron pipes whose external surfaces were in various states of corrosion (pitting, partial, uniform, etc.); the frequency component of the received waves showed that there was a tendency for the frequency component of the waves for corroded iron pipes to be distributed in a lower range than sound pipes. In addition, it also showed that it is possible to discriminate the thickness reduction of approximately one mm. These results demonstrate the possibility of applying this method to pipeline assessment without or with minimum digging .


This article examines factors that influence Food Stamp Program exits and finds that families who leave the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program are also more likely to leave the Food Stamp Program. However, the influence of TANF departure is smaller in states with large TANF caseload declines. The results also suggest that many families leaving the Food Stamp Program are still eligible for benefits. These families may have poor information on food stamps eligibility in the face of TANF departure or may view Food Stamp Program reauthorization procedures as too costly relative to program benefits.


Most OCR systems are designed for the recognition of a single page. In case of unfamiliar font faces, low quality papers and degraded prints, the performance of these products drops sharply. However, an OCR system can use redundancy of word occurrences in large documents to improve recognition results. In this paper, we propose a sub-word image clustering method for the applications dealing with large printed documents. We assume that the whole document is printed by a unique unknown font with low quality print. Our proposed method finds clusters of equivalent sub-word images with an incremental algorithm. Due to the low print quality, we propose an image matching algorithm for measuring the distance between two sub-word images, based on Hamming distance and the ratio of the area to the perimeter of the connected components. We built a ground-truth dataset of more than 111000 sub-word images to evaluate our method. All of these images were extracted from an old Farsi book. We cluster all of these sub-words, including isolated letters and even punctuation marks. Then all centers of created clusters are labeled manually. We show that all sub-words of the book can be recognized with more than 99.7% accuracy by assigning the label of each cluster center to all of its members.


Wraparound is a care coordination model that has shown effectiveness for serving children and youth with significant emotional and behavioral health needs and their families. The current study evaluates a statewide wraparound demonstration with the goals of reducing the use of residential care and increasing access to outpatient mental health services among youth at risk of residential placement. More than 5 years of linked public systems data were analyzed using longitudinal panel data modeling to estimate wraparound treatment effects on service use over time. Findings show that wraparound enrollment decreased the use of residential treatment and increased the use of outpatient therapy, consistent with the goals of the demonstration. Implications are discussed for wraparound's effectiveness as a statewide care coordination model, the importance of quality implementation of wraparound, and the current study's methodological contributions to the wraparound literature.


Achieving both security and efficiency is the challenging issue for a data outsourcing service in the cloud computing. Proof of Storage with Deduplication (POSD) [1] is the first solution that addresses the issue for the cloud storage. However, the validity of the POSD scheme stands on the strong assumption that all clients are honest in terms of generating their keys. We present insecurity of the scheme under new attack model that malicious clients exploit dishonestly manipulated keys. We also propose an improvement of the POSD scheme to mitigate our attack.


The author of the article analyses travelogues associated with the Alps and the Tatras by Polish nineteenth-century writers. She seeks to demonstrate the extent to which both the Alps and the Tatras — often appearing in Polish literature as a clear motif or theme — were idealised. The main source material analysed by the author comprises works by Juliusz Słowacki, Seweryn Goszczyński, Adam Asnyk, Maria Konopnicka, Bolesław Prus and Jan Kasprowicz. In her analysis the author stresses the interpretation of aquatic motifs associated with the mountain landscape, particularly lakes, which often seem to link the mountains to the sky. A comparison of the various ways of presenting the mountain landscape in works by Polish authors originating in various literary periods has revealed a range of literary idealisation processes.


This experimental study concentrates on how different lighting arrangements affect visual perceptions of plant lighting. Five different lighting arrangements of three tree species were prepared; the differences between the participants' perceptions of each lighting arrangement were analysed and the effects of the different lighting arrangements were determined. Consequently, these applied lighting techniques were observed to be effective in creating visual perceptions of plants. In this particular study of plant-lighting alternatives, the objective was to determine which techniques created the most positive effects.


Thousands of silicified wood fragments were recently collected from the middle Cenomanian of Vienne in western France at less than 10 km away from a historical locality where in 1870 the French geologist Alphonse Le Touzé de Longuemar reported silicified wood. The plant assemblage is very diverse, and includes several species of ferns, conifers, and angiosperms. We describe and discuss the systematic affinities of a new vesselless angiosperm. Many of its characters are shared by extant and fossil Winteraceae. Nevertheless, the absence of uniseriate rays makes the anatomy of these specimens unique. Its combination of characters justifies the establishment of a new genus of vesselless fossil angiosperm wood of uncertain affinity, Sherwinoxylon gen. nov.


As the widening of access to higher education is becoming a top priority for governments in the UK and around the world, this ground-breaking piece of work raises questions that policy-makers, vice-chancellors and government officials are reluctant to ask. Unlike previous publications, this highly qualified team of authors have closely analyzed rates of participation by, and the experiences of, disabled students in higher education over a two year period. They compare the responses of eight different universities to the new anti-discriminatory practice, contrasting their social profiles, academic missions, support for disabled students and approaches for the implementation of change. It is this approach to making changes that comes under particular scrutiny, with a close examination of the university's interpretation of 'reasonable adjustments', and the extent to which they have modified their campus and teaching accordingly. Student case studies are used throughout to illustrate the real impact of institutional responses to the legislation. 'Disabled Students in Higher Education' will make fascinating reading for students of education, social policy, politics, and disability studies, and for those working towards accredited university teacher status.


The Na-superionic-conductor (NASICON) Na3V2(PO4)3 is an important positive electrode material for Na-ion batteries. Here, we investigate the mechanisms of phase transition in NaxV2(PO4)3 (1 ≤ x ≤ 4) upon a non-equilibrium battery cycling. Unlike the widely believed two-phase reaction in Na3V2(PO4)3 – Na1V2(PO4)3 system, we determine a new intermediate Na2V2(PO4)3 phase using operando synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Density functional theory calculations further support the existence of the Na2V2(PO4)3 phase. We propose for the first time two possible crystal structures of Na2V2(PO4)3 analyzed by Rietveld refinement. The two structure models with the space groups P21/c or P2/c for the new intermediate Na2V2(PO4)3 phase show similar unit cell parameters but different atomic arrangements, including a vanadium charge ordering. As the appearance of the intermediate Na2V2(PO4)3 phase is accompanied by symmetry reduction, Na(1) and Na(2) sites split into several positions in Na2V2(PO4)3, in which one of the splitting Na(2) position is found to be a vacancy whereas the Na(1) positions are almost fully filled. The intermediate Na2V2(PO4)3 phase reduces the lattice mismatch between Na3V2(PO4)3 and Na1V2(PO4)3 phases facilitating a fast phase transition. This work paves the way for a better understanding of great rate capabilities of Na3V2(PO4)3.


The empirical literature on trade liberalization reflects two puzzles. First, the effect of trade liberalization on economic growth is ambiguous. Second, the effect of trade liberalization by developing countries on their income distribution is ambiguous. This paper attempts to explain these two puzzles at the same time, based on a multiple-cone neoclassical growth model. The model shows that countries that are labor abundant in a global sense may see a rise in income inequality and a decline in per capita GDP and per capita consumption with liberalization if they are capital abundant in a local sense. The results suggest that the two puzzles can be explained by the existence of global and local factor abundances.


A successful deployment of power generation coming from variable renewable sources (VRES-E), such as wind and solar photovoltaic, strongly depends on the economic cost of system integration. This paper, in seeking to look beyond the impact of RES-E generation on the evolution of the total economic costs associated with the operation of the electricity system, aims to estimate the sensitivity of balancing market requirements and costs to the variable and non-fully predictable nature of intermittent renewable generation. The estimations reported in this paper for the Spanish electricity system stress the importance of both attributes as well as power system flexibility when accounting for the cost of balancing services.


In this paper we tackle the problem of routing multiple agents in a coordinated manner. This is a complex problem that has a wide range of applications in fleet management to achieve a common goal, such as mapping from a swarm of robots and ride sharing. Traditional methods are typically not designed for realistic environments hich contain sparsely connected graphs and unknown traffic, and are often too slow in runtime to be practical. In contrast, we propose a graph neural network based model that is able to perform multi-agent routing based on learned value iteration in a sparsely connected graph with dynamically changing traffic conditions. Moreover, our learned communication module enables the agents to coordinate online and adapt to changes more effectively. We created a simulated environment to mimic realistic mapping performed by autonomous vehicles with unknown minimum edge coverage and traffic conditions; our approach significantly outperforms traditional solvers both in terms of total cost and runtime. We also show that our model trained with only two agents on graphs with a maximum of 25 nodes can easily generalize to situations with more agents and/or nodes.


PURPOSE
To quantify and describe relationships between subjective and external measures of training load in professional youth soccer players.

METHODS
Data from differential ratings of perceived exertion (dRPE) and 7 measures of external training load were collected from 20 professional youth soccer players over a 46-week season. Relationships were described by repeated-measures correlation, principal component analysis, and factor analysis with oblimin rotation.

RESULTS
Significant positive (.44 ≤ r ≤ .99; P < .001) within-individual correlations were obtained across dRPE and all external training load measures. Correlation magnitudes were found to decrease when training load variables were expressed per minute. Principal component analysis provided 2 components, which described 83.3% of variance. The first component, which described 72.9% of variance, was heavily loaded by all measures of training load, while the second component, which described 10.4% of the variance, appeared to have a split between objective and subjective measures of volume and intensity. Exploratory factor analysis identified 4 theoretical factors, with correlations between factors ranging from .5 to .8. These factors could be theoretically described as objective volume, subjective volume, objective running, and objective high-intensity measures. Removing dRPE measures from the analysis altered the structure of the model, providing a 3-factor solution.

CONCLUSIONS
The dRPE measures are significantly correlated with a range of external training load measures and with each other. More in-depth analysis showed that dRPE measures were highly related to each other, suggesting that, in this population, they would provide practitioners with similar information. Further analysis provided characteristic groupings of variables.


Post-modified possessors have always been problematic in English because with such complex possessors the desire to put a topical possessor before the possessum brings into conflict two principles which English and many other Germanic languages strive to follow, namely that (1) the head of the possessor phrase should get the possessive marking and (2) the marking of the possessor phrase should be adjacent to the possessum, i.e. at the right edge of the possessor phrase. The so-called 'group genitive' found in the phrase the king of France's daughter satisfies the second ('right edge') principle but violates the first ('head marking'), while the alternative 'split genitive' the king's daughter of France obeys the first principle but destroys the unity of the possessor phrase.This paper documents the rise of these two constructions in English and the rather abrupt favouring (in writing, at least) of the group over the split genitive near the beginning of the Early Modern English period. It also investigates the role and nature of the complexity of the possessor phrase in the choice between the two constructions in the period (e2, 1570–1639) when both constructions are common in English writings. It is clear that the group genitive has always been favoured when the post-modification was of the simple and easily processed sort found in the king of France , while the split genitive was generally used to position the possessor N at the right edge of the possessor phrase when the post-modification was of a more complex sort. However, although there is a strong correlation between the complexity of the possessor phrase and the choice of construction, other factors were clearly at play also and need to be investigated further, as does the relationship between the disfavouring of the split genitive and the availability of an alternative construction in which a complex possessor is post-nominal within a prepositional phrase, e.g. the daughter of the king of France .It is widely assumed that the development from the split genitive to the group genitive in English was a simple matter of the reanalysis of the possessive marker from an inflection to a clitic, but some minor constructions that we find in the period when the group genitive was gaining ground over the split genitive raise difficulties for such an assumption. For example, sometimes the possessive marker appears both on the possessor N and at the edge of the complex possessor of phrase, e.g. my lordys of Warwykys shyp 'my Lord of Warwick's ship', and in other examples a complex possessor phrase is placed before the possessum but only the head is marked, e.g. my lordes of Suffolk men 'my Lord of Suffolk's men'. Such examples as well as some other facts seem most consistent with an analysis which treats the possessive marker found in the group genitive in the morphology, rather than in the syntax. Thus the diachronic facts support a sort of analysis which has been proposed for English solely on synchronic facts.


ABSTRACT These thoughts on poverty relate to the strengths and needs of shelter programs that lead people who are homeless to self-sufficiency. Demographic data from 4,000 homeless shelter guests over a 4-year period gave evidence that the shelter was an important part of a suburban social service delivery system. It met the short-term needs of many who were homeless. The irony is that the same program developed to help homeless individuals attain self-sufficiency appears to set up many of the most vulnerable to fail, specifically mothers and their children and those addicted to alcohol and drugs.


This research investigated the barriers that affect an effective implementation of sustainable construction for residential buildings in Abuja, Nigeria. An in-depth literature review on sustainability and sustainable development, sustainable construction, sustainable residential buildings (SRB), drivers of SRB, barriers of SRB and sustainable construction in residential buildings in Nigeria were examined, and over nineteen barriers of SRB were found.
Quantitative research approach was used to achieve the research aim and objectives. Proportional stratified random sampling was used to collect data from 47 construction professionals. Data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of five parts, and analysed using SPSS software. The result obtained was presented using descriptive analysis. Furthermore, cross tabulation of some key variables were presented in the result. Equally importantly, identifying the major barriers that hindered the construction professionals from incorporating sustainable residential buildings, mean scores of variables were determined and the variables were ranked according to the mean score value.
The study findings indicate that, the majority of the construction professionals have a moderate level of knowledge about the concept of sustainable construction. However, lack of government serious commitment towards sustainable buildings, building owners concerned about financial benefits, lack of awareness about the benefits/important of sustainable construction, lack of practical understanding among building owners about energy efficiency in sustainable building, and lack of incentives to change building culture were found as the major barriers that affect effective implementation of sustainable construction for residential buildings in Abuja-Nigeria. In addition, actions towards transforming the traditional building culture were drawn from the responses' suggestions that, the government needs to enforce strict rules and regulations, and indeed, encourage residential builders/developers through some incentives programs in order for sustainable construction to be adopted within the construction sector.


Should the law secure to copyright owners control over new technological uses of their works? Or should the law leave technological innovators free to explore and exploit such uses? The greater control afforded to copyright owners, the greater the incentive to produce content, but also the greater the disincentive to produce better technologies to enjoy it. This Article studies the degree to which protecting copyright owners or technological innovators by property rules or liability rules over new technological uses of content would drive members of each group to invest desirably in their respective creations and in reducing the interference between their activities. The Article offers three major contributions: (1) it assesses the degree to which different entitlements promote authorship and innovation as well as investments to minimize the interference between them, (2) it shows that a property rule in technological innovators might drive them to harm copyright owners intentionally, and (3) it suggests a way of modifying legal entitlements that can improve copyright owners and innovators' incentives to invest.


We consider a variant of the stochastic multi-armed bandit problem where arms are known to be organized into different groups having the same mean. The groups are unknown but a lower bound q on their size is known. This situation typically appears when each arm can be described with a list of categorical attributes, and the (unknown) mean reward function only depends on a subset of them, the others being redundant. In this case, q is linked naturally to the number of attributes considered redundant, and the number of categories of each attribute. For this structured problem of practical relevance, we first derive the asymptotic regret lower bound and corresponding constrained optimization problem. They reveal the achievable regret can be substantially reduced when compared to the unstructured setup, possibly by a factor q . However, solving exactly the exact constrained optimization problem involves a combinatorial problem. We introduce a lowerbound inspired strategy involving a computationally efficient relaxation that is based on a sorting mechanism. We further prove it achieves a lower bound close to the optimal one up to a controlled factor, and achieves an asymptotic regret q times smaller than the unstructured one. We believe this shows it is a valuable strategy for the practitioner. Last, we illustrate the performance of the considered strategy on numerical experiments involving a large number of arms.


The purpose of this article is to explore options to further open access in the Netherlands from 2021. Its premise is that there is a need to look at the qualitative aspects of open access, alongside quantitative ones. The article first takes stock of progress that has been made. Next, we suggest broadening the agenda by involving more types of actors and other scholarly formats (like books, chapters, proceedings, preprints and textbooks). At the same time we suggest deepening the open access agenda by including several open access dimensions: immediacy, diamond open access, open metadata, open peer review and open licences. To facilitate discussion, a framework is proposed that allows specifying these actions by the a) aspects of open access they address (what is made open access, how, when and where it is made open access, and copyright and rights retention), b) the actors that play a role (government, research institutions, funders) and c) the various levels at which these actions can be taken: state as goal, set as policy, legalize and promote, recognize and reward, finance, support with infrastructure. A template is provided to ease the use of the framework.


textabstractIn this study, two main questions are addressed: (1) Can the time consuming and
cumbersome development and refinement of (heuristic) ECG classifiers be alleviated, and (2)
Is it possible to increase diagnostic performance of ECG computer programs by combining
knowledge from multiple sources?
Chapters 2 and 3 are of an introductory character. In Chapter 2, the measurement part of
MEANS is described and evaluated. This research largely depends on the earlier work of
Talman [11]. In Chapter 3, different methods of diagnostic ECG classification are described and
their pros and cons discussed. The issue is raised whether or not the ECG should be classified
using as much prior information as possible, and our position is made clear.
The first question~ how to ease the transfer of cardiological knowledge into computer
algorithms, is addressed in Chapters 4 and 5. The development and refinement of heuristic ECG
classifiers is impeded by two problems: (1) It generally requires a computer expert to translate
the cardiologist's reasoning into computer language without the average cardiologist being able
to verify whether his diagnostic intentions were properly realized, and (2) The classifiers are
often so complex as to obscure insight into their doings when a particular case is processed by
the classification program. To circumvent these problems. we developed a dedicated language.
DTL (Decision Tree Language), and an interpreter and compiler of that language. In Chapter
4, a comprehensive description of the DTL environment is given. In Chapter 5, the use of the
environment to optimize MEANS, following a procedure of stepwise refmement, is described The second question, whether it is feasible to combine knowledge from multiple sources in
order to increase diagnostic performance of an ECG computer program, is explored from several
perspectives in Chapters 6 tlrrough 9


The preferential market access given by the United States to most developing countries through the Generalized System of Preferences yields real benefits for the covered countries and for U.S. consumers and firms importing the goods. Americans save hundreds of millions of dollars a year from duty-free imports, and many poor people abroad have benefited from preferential access to a rich market.Against these benefits, Congress must consider the significant costs of unilateral preference programs — to the preference recipients themselves, to excluded developing countries, and to the world trading system in general — when the program expires at the end of this year.Product exclusions, import limits that are triggered just when an exporter becomes successful, outdated eligibility criteria, and complex administrative and customs requirements all serve to limit the usefulness of the program to the ostensible beneficiaries and to U.S. consumers. Trade preferences distort markets and discourage unilateral and multilateral trade liberalization: when beneficiary countries concentrate their efforts in preserving their preferential access rather than becoming competitive, it undermines efforts for multilateral trade liberalization and keeps them beholden to artificial arrangements and the whims of rich-country politicians.The United States should not abandon its efforts to bring down global trade barriers through multilateral trade talks. In the meantime, however, unilateral reform is within reach. The expiration of the GSP at the end of 2010 provides a timely opportunity for the United States to correct the most egregious of the GSP's limitations and to move toward opening the U.S. market on a permanent and nondiscriminatory basis. That is surely the best way to encourage a more open, free, and prosperous global economy.


Purpose: The purpose of this review article is to describe the benefits and challenges associated with massive open online courses (MOOCs) and to discuss the implications specific to medical imaging education and training. Methods: Peer-reviewed journal articles pertaining to MOOCs in higher education were analyzed to identify commonalities, relationships, and possible gaps in the literature. Results: Analysis revealed several repetitive themes and concepts regarding the use of MOOCs in higher education: theory of connectivism, instructors' and students' perspectives, and benefits and challenges. Implications for medical imaging education and training were also discussed. Conclusions: As web-based education and technology integration continue to increase, innovative approaches, such as MOOCs, will continue to develop. As higher education institutions continue experimenting with MOOCs, opportunities to engage individuals as lifelong learners will rise. Medical imaging students can use MOOCs to refine skills to prepare for an upcoming course along with the possibility of completing continuing education requirements.


The present study examines the role of a specific instruction designed to guide jurors on nonstatutory mitigating circumstances in determining sentence recommendation. To date, there is no research examining whether specific instructions provide more guidance, and improve jurors' discretion compared to the current general instructions. We predicted that specific mitigating instructions would increase confidence in life sentencing compared to generic instructions as well as revised instructions. We also predicted that expert testimony of childhood physical abuse would minimize death penalty recommendations. Contrary to our predictions, we found that exposure to generic instructions increased confidence in a life sentence. In addition, perceptions of the defendant and mood predicted confidence in sentence. Positive mood predicted high levels of confidence in a death sentence.


Introduction Even as technology and globalization are changing the way we live and view the world, colleges and universities have become increasingly interested in preserving historic campus buildings and sites. Heritage has become more important to students, faculty, and staff, as well as to alumni, who have often been its prime supporters. This article focuses on the stewardship of a campus's heritage--the preservation, maintenance, and care of heritage buildings and sites. There are a number of landmark or heritage designations, ranging from institution-specific and local to state and national to the National Register of Historic Places. Sometimes a structure may be called a "landmark" and other times a "heritage building," The distinction becomes important when the designating agency specifies guidelines regarding the building's care, as will be discussed in this article. There are several critical components to the stewardship of campus heritage: identifying and designating heritage buildings or sites; creating a campus plan that includes a section on heritage; setting up a systematic process for maintenance that addresses campus heritage issues; developing a process of budgeting for maintenance and recapitalization; and recognizing the larger context of campus heritage, including its impact on local neighborhoods. Declaring a Building a Landmark The first--and most critical--act of stewardship is the identification of a building as a heritage structure. This is only the beginning of stewardship and preservation, but it is essential for most of what follows. Without this designation, the possibility of preserving the building--maintaining it with appropriate materials and techniques--is left to chance. The questionnaire of the Council of Independent Colleges Historic Campus Architecture Project, funded by the Getty Foundation, provides a guide to identifying significant places: What places on campus are the most important and meaningful to your institution's history and/or mission? These places may include a building (interior or exterior space), an area of the campus, the campus plan itself or its arrangement of buildings, an open space (such as a lawn, a mall, a vista, or a playing field), or other types of structures or locations. Are there particular buildings or sites that are especially significant in terms of architecture, landscape, American history, the history of education, religion, engineering, or culture in general? Places may include individual buildings, entire campus arrangements, campus plans, and landscapes that possess some distinctive aspects of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and association. (Council of Independent Colleges 2006, p. 1) This article will generally focus on buildings, not sites or landscapes, although many issues will readily apply to both. Getting a building designated as a landmark can be difficult. In an article appearing in the Chronicle of Higher Education following the May 2002 Campus Heritage Preservation Conference in Chicago, reporter Lawrence Biemiller noted some of the objections to landmark designation reportedly expressed by higher education administrators and trustees: Say the word "preservation" around top college administrators and many go rigid with fear. A president might remember tense meetings with an influential graduate-school dean eager to build on a prime campus site inconveniently occupied by a minor Victorian landmark. A provost may recall a long legal battle with community organizers determined to preserve a decrepit mansion or marketplace owned by the institution--organizers who were unmoved by arguments about the changing needs of the university. A vice president could be thinking of the price tag for rehabilitating a concrete fortress from the 1960s that many people think is unspeakably ugly, even if it is the work of a world-famous architect. …


This article considers the role played by a core set of "dynamical patterning modules" (DPMs) in the origination, development and evolution of complex organisms. These consist of the products of a subset of the genes of what has come to be known as the "developmental-genetic toolkit" in association with physical processes they mobilize. The physical processes are those characteristic of chemically and mechanically excitable mesoscopic systems like cell aggregates: cohesion, viscoelasticity, diffusion, spatiotemporal heterogeneity based on activator-inhibitor interaction, and multistable and oscillatory dynamics. We focus on the emergence of the Metazoa, and show how toolkit gene products and pathways that pre-existed the metazoans acquired novel morphogenetic functions simply by virtue of the change in scale and context inherent to multicellularity. We propose that DPMs, acting singly and in combination with each other, constitute a "pattern language" capable of generating all metazoan body plans and organ forms. This concept implies that the multicellular organisms of the late Precambrian-early Cambrian were phenotypically plastic, fluently exploring morphospace in a fashion decoupled from both function-based selection and genotypic change. The relatively stable developmental trajectories and morphological phenotypes of modern organisms, then, are considered to be products of stabilizing selection. This perspective solves the apparent "molecular homology-analogy paradox," whereby widely divergent modern animal types utilize the same molecular toolkit during development, but it does so by inverting the neo-Darwinian principle that phenotypic disparity was generated over long periods of time in concert with, and in proportion to genotypic change.


In 1996, the authority within which this researcher works became a Unitary Authority.
and received a substantial Standard Fund Grant to tackle exclusion and disaffection.
The project aims included the objective of increasing the number of permanently
excluded pupils returning to mainstream schools. I was seconded to the projec~ as a
full time educational psychologis~ along with a behavioural support teacher.
education social worker and four learning support assistants. The project, though
changing year on year in terms of specific conten~ continued for three years; towards
the end of this period, the reintegration process for excluded children became the
responsibility of the behaviour support service, and the project as a discrete entity
ceased to exist. Permanent exclusion rates in this LEA mirrored national figures at the
time the project began.
Review of the literature revealed that although plenty had been written about
exclusion, relatively little existed in the literature concerning the return of
permanently excluded pupils to new schools. Of the small body of literature that did
exist, much was found to be speculative. In addition, little had captured the views of
pupils and families about the processes of reintegration. The literature indicated
various factors that were believed to be important in ensuring success of new
placements, including a small amount specifically related to post-exclusion, though it
was observed that the evidence upon which this was based could not be described as
robust.
The present empirical study sought to discover the perceptions of participants (pupils,
families, school staff and LEA support staff) about the experiences of return to
mainstream school for five pupils. These pupils were selected on the basis that they
had maintained new placements for at least three terms following return. This study
took a ~solution focused' view - ie it explored the factors which participants viewed
as important in supporting the long-term success of new placement. This perspective
arose because examination of LEA records revealed that over a period of six years,
some years showed only 25% of pupils were maintained in new placements for three
terms or more. Data was obtained through individual interviews with parents, pupils,receiving school staff and LEA support staff. In additio~ a focus group interview was
held with members of the LEA behaviour support team.
Since participant perceptions and attitudes were sought, 'new paradigm' interpretive
methodology was applied, and grounded theory was used to analyse individual
interviews and focus group data.
The main findings of the research highlighted:
• the varying perceptions of what constituted 'successful' reintegration: LEA
records were not always consistent with parental perception
• the relatively low profile given by pupils and parents to the preparation of new
placements in terms of curriculum, basic skills, subject choices, graduated
build up etc (all of which are indicated to be important by the existing
literature)
• the critical importance of the quality of relationships within pupil relational
networks: this dimension incorporates adult/pupil relationships, those
pertaining to adult/adult relationships within the pupil network, and
pupil/pupil networks
• the quality of emotional support available to pupils, arising from the quality of
those relationships within the relational network. In addition, academic
support was also raised
• the perceived importance of the pupils' own characteristics: attitude towards
the new placement and their determination to succeed
In the context of pupils returning to new mainstream schools following permanent
exclusion, and sustaining these placements beyond three terms, the present study
(through the application of grounded theory) raises three core dimensions which play
a critical role in initial and maintained success, namely: relationships, support,and
pupil characteristics. Some of these issues raised may also be directly applicable to
other aspects of inclusive practice, for example pupils moving from enhanced
provision/special units/special schools into mainstream settings. The psychological
and social processes of such transitions for pupils and their families may well echo
those described in this dissertation.


Many educational institutions have adopted E-Learning system or are thinking to adopt it in their educational systems. As a nearly recent system, many do not know the exact meaning of E-Learning, or why should it be used? After using it, will the institution face any problems? And what are the best solutions for these problems? This paper aims to answer all the above questions. In addition, it discusses the ways to transform traditional learning systems to E-Learning, and how to measure the advantages of this transformation. Finally, the students' views of E-Learning show that they prefer e-learning over traditional system.


Normal course of cortical maturation has been evidenced for many years through gray matter volume measurements and abnormal gray matter volumes have frequently been reported as a part of a pathological brain development in neurogenetic or psychiatric disorders. The pathogenic processes underlying abnormal gray matter volume are not yet well understood, as either altered cortical thickness or a defect in cortical expansion may decrease cortical volume. Resolving this issue may provide clues for localizing the timing of the alteration. Indeed, expansion of the cortical surface is allowed by both increase in brain perimeter and folding of the cortical sheet (gyrification) during early brain development. Conversely, alteration of cortical thickness may occur at different developmental stage. Here, we aimed to identify the respective contribution of these processes to cortical volume in the parietal lobe, in a cohort of typically developing young individuals compared to patients affected by 22q11 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS). 22q11DS is a common neurogenetic condition in which parietal gray matter (Eliez, 2000) and gyrification (Schaer, in press) are specifically altered early in development.


The historic preservation field has the challenge of maintaining and perpetuating the architectural and cultural history of the United States. There is an extensive number of historic resources throughout the country, which each have numerous related documents that provide the context and background on the property. In order to catalog and analyze the information in an effective manner, historic preservationists must utilize the new technologies available, including Geographic Information Systems, or GIS. Through the review of examples from various business fields and industries, as well as innovative historic preservation programs, the application of a GIS to the historic preservation field is evident. As the local level of historic preservation is the cornerstone for the field, a set of guidelines has been created to assist local historic preservation non-profit organizations and preservation planning departments to begin implementing a GIS.


This paper describes one component; professional socialisation, from the findings of a larger study exploring the responses of Registered Nurses and healthcare support workers to patient death in an acute hospital setting. Professional socialization involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills of a particular profession, and the adoption of values and norms leading to the development of behaviours and self-concept that are indicative of the characteristics necessary for the role taken at work. It is recognised that there is a strong desire for nurses to feel part of a team and as a result conform to existing practices and routines in order to be accepted.
A Heiddegarian phenomenological approach was used to gather and analyse data through individual interviews. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling from two medical wards in a large teaching hospital in the United Kingdom.
It was found that recently qualified Registered Nurses felt they should not show their emotions or discuss their feelings with certain colleagues. In order to be accepted by established staff on the ward they felt they needed to conform to behaviours they believed would be acceptable. Some of the more experienced Registered Nurses and healthcare support workers showed their emotions and talked about events to colleagues expressing the benefits they perceived of doing this for both themselves and others. This demonstrates that newly qualified staff were not always correct in their assumptions of what was considered the norm in these situations.
Some of the newer Registered Nurses felt they needed to be more rigid in their behaviours, and were reluctant to challenge medical staff regarding active treatments. These differences could be due to established Registered Nurses feeling secure and comfortable in their professional roles, and being clear on the values they hold. More inexperienced Registered Nurses could be lacking in both knowledge and skills, as well as being unsure of their professional role.
Keywords: Professional Socialisation, Belongingness, Self Image, Nursing, Sense of belonging, Professional Identity


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether previous pancreas graft loss caused by intra-abdominal infection is a risk factor for a subsequent pancreas retransplantation.

DESIGN
Retrospective case-series analysis.

SETTING
Large university hospital.

PATIENTS
Of 97 pancreatic retransplantations (July 1, 1985 to June 30, 1994), 13 (13%) were performed after previous pancreas grafts had been lost because of intra-abdominal infection.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Cause of retransplant graft loss; patient survival.

RESULTS
Of 13 cases of pancreatic retransplantations performed after previous grafts had been lost because of intra-abdominal infection, 12 (92%) were again complicated by intra-abdominal infection. Of these 12 retransplantation infections, 10 were caused by the same microbial species that had caused failure of the previous graft 1 to 5 years earlier (8 required graft pancreatectomy [mortality rate, 25%], and 2 were successfully treated) and 2 were caused by different microbial species (both required graft pancreatectomy [mortality rate, 0%]). In 1 of the 13 retransplantations, prophylactic antimicrobial treatment was directed at the microbial species that had caused failure of the previous graft; no recurrent intra-abdominal infection developed.

CONCLUSIONS
Intra-abdominal infection after a previous pancreas transplantation is a risk factor for recurrence of infection by the same microbial species after a subsequent retransplantation. For the selected patients who are considered for retransplantation in spite of their previous graft loss caused by intra-abdominal infection, periretransplantation antimicrobial prophylaxis should include a prolonged course of an agent directed against the previously identified microbial species.


The effects of both barley and Lolium rigidum densities on weed growth and spike production and on crop yield were examined in
five field experiments carried out in the Mediterranean drylands of Spain and Western Australia. The aim was to check the consistency of the competitiveness of the crop in different environmental and management conditions. L. rigidum reduced barley yields in most of the experiments
(between 0 and 85%), the number of ears per m2 being the most affected. It was found that increasing the barley seeding rate did not reduce the crop losses but did limit weed biomass (between 5 and 61%) and spike production (between 24 and 85%). The variability observed in crop yield losses between sites and seasons was related to rainfall at the beginning of the season. The most sensitive component of yield to weed
competition was the number of ears per plant.


MicroRNAs play a role in regulating diverse biological processes and have considerable utility as molecular markers for diagnosis and monitoring of human disease. Several technologies are available commercially for measuring microRNA expression. However, cross-platform comparisons do not necessarily correlate well, making it difficult to determine which platform most closely represents the true microRNA expression level in a tissue. To address this issue, we have analyzed RNA derived from cell lines, as well as fresh frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues, using Affymetrix, Agilent, and Illumina microRNA arrays, NanoString counting, and Illumina Next Generation Sequencing. We compared the performance within- and between the different platforms, and then verified these results with those of quantitative PCR data. Our results demonstrate that the within-platform reproducibility for each method is consistently high and although the gene expression profiles from each platform show unique traits, comparison of genes that were commonly detectable showed that detection of microRNA transcripts was similar across multiple platforms.


The current framework for sorting the probative from the prejudicial considers "emotion" to be the hallmark of unfair prejudice. Emotions elicited by evidence are thought to "inflame" the jury and "cause them to abandon their mental processes." This inaccurate view of emotion as the enemy of rationality is problematic for evidence law. We argue for a more sophisticated and nuanced view of emotion's role in evaluating proof and prejudice. We use two types of evidence to illustrate our argument: gruesome photos and victim impact statements.As some scholars have noted, emotional responses to evidence are not necessarily prejudicial responses. But this observation captures only a small part of the problem with the current evidentiary framework. Emotions do not always lead to prejudice, but they can lead to prejudice in more complex and subtle ways than previously recognized. The emotions elicited by evidence affect not only the decision maker's appraisal of the evidence, but also the process of deliberation. For example, anger toward the defendant elicited by victim impact statements may result in an inability to remain open to evidence favoring the defense, to greater certainty about the verdict, and to a desire to punish. Other emotions, such as sadness or sympathy, have other effects on the deliberative process. Conversely, emotional responses to evidence play a role in assessing probative value, and this function of emotion receives little or no recognition in evidentiary discourse. For example, to determine whether a gruesome photo is unduly prejudicial, it is also necessary to consider whether the photo contributes any additional value to the deliberative process beyond the medical examiner's testimony. Without accounting for the role of emotion in the reasoning process, it is difficult to examine how the medium affects the message. The value added lies in the photo's additional persuasive power, which is closely tied to its emotional impact. Whether the emotions evoked by evidence interfere with deliberation depends on what emotions the evidence evokes, how they affect the deliberative process, and what the deliberative process is meant to accomplish. We argue that the cognitive sciences, including psychology and neuroscience, can shed substantial light on the first and second of these questions. The third is a legal question, but one that should be informed by a more informed and realistic understanding of decisional dynamics.