Dual-Doppler data collected during the Taiwan Area Mesoscale Experiment (TAMEX) were used to study the kinetic energy balance of a subtropical prefrontal rainband over the Taiwan Strait. Fields of the system-relative wind and reflectivity were derived in a horizontal domain of 36 km by 40 km using the objective analysis scheme with 1-km grid spacing in all three directions, except in the lowest two levels where the height increment was chosen to be 0.5 km. There were ten analysis levels in the vertical ranging from 0.4 to 8.8 km. Vertical velocities were computed from the an elastic continuity equation by integrating downward with variational adjustment. Subsequently, fields of perturbation pressure and temperature were retrieved from a detailed wind field using the three momentum equations. The Doppler-derived winds and retrieved thermodynamic variables are then used to compute the magnitude of each term in the kinetic energy budget equation. Results show that the vertical total of the horizontal generation term acts as the main source of kinetic energy, while vertical totals of dissipation and the horizontal flux convergence/divergence of kinetic energy provide the main sinks. The horizontal flux convergence/divergence of kinetic energy is nearly balanced by the vertical flux convergence/divergence at most levels. In a similar manner, the vertical generation of kinetic energy term is almost in balance with the total buoyancy term. The computed tendencies show the decrease of mean kinetic energy at low levels and the increase at middle levels, which are attributable to the generation and redistribution of kinetic energy and latent heat releases by organized convection associated with the rainband. These findings are consistent with the weakening of a low-level jet and the formation of a middle-level jet at the times of convection as revealed by upper air observations. The budget study further demonstrates that the storm's meso-γ-scale environment is modified by areas of convection through scale interaction or "feedback" mechanisms.


Aim The aim of this study was to describe the experience of security and insecurity in patients with chronic heart failure who were treated by Advanced Home Care (AHC) in a city in Sweden. Background It is common for patients with heart failure to have frequent readmissions to hospital due to deterioration. The patients have various symptoms such as breathing problems, oedema and fatigue. Being cared for by AHC has become more common for patients with heart failure to reduce deterioration of heart failure and prevent hospitalization. Method A qualitative method with semi-structured interviews was used. Eight patients with heart failure participated in the study. The interviews were analysed by content analysis. Findings Three categories were identified: 'home care', 'the social network' and 'internal and external resources'. Conclusion The experience was complex and depended on several factors both within and outside the health care situation. The need for access to a multidisciplinary team was great and it was important that the nursing staff had time to listen. It was important that the care had focus on the patient's perspective to create security and avoid insecurity.


Based on internal structure, a new family of entactinarian radiolarians, the Kungalariidae, is described with three new genera and four species: Kungalaria newcombi, Cachecreekaria californiensis, Transylvanaria devaensis, and T. hattorii. Members of this family have an eccentric internal, nassellarian-type initial spicule with bar MB, rays A, V, L, I, and spine Ax; a medullary shell built above the plane of lateral rays as in the cephalis of many nassellarians; and a spherical to subspherical cortical shell around the medullary shell. This new family is part of a group of Triassic entactinarians structurally intermediate between Entactinaria, or spicule-bearing Spumellaria, and Nassellaria. The new genera and species described occur in the Rhaetian of Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Aalenian to early-mid Bajocian of central Japan, Cenomanian of California, and Coniacian of Romania.


Violence against women is a major problem in Canada. Grandin and Lupri (1997) compared rates of violence in Canada and the United States and found Canadians have a higher prevalence of partner violence than Americans. This is indicative that partner violence may be a proportionately larger problem in Canada than the United States. Of course the number of victimized women is greater in the United States, given its much larger population. However, Grandin and Lupn"s (1997) results point to the importance of studying the Canadian situation. Results from the largest national survey on violence against women ever conducted showed that 29 percent of Canadian women have experienced violence by a current or former husband (Johnson, 1996). These results suggest that research and policies are desperately needed to understand and prevent partner violence in Canada. Brownridge and Halli (2000) argue that one important empirical tack for arriving at an understanding of partner violence involves the investigation of common-law couples separately from married couples. These researchers argue that common-law and marital unions are qualitatively different relationships and, hence, the former requires separate analysis to fully understand the causes of partner violence against women. Little is known about violence in common-law relationships in Canada. There have been only six surveys in Canada that have differentiated prevalence rates in terms of marital/commonlaw status (Brinkerhoff and Lupri, 1988; Kennedy and Dutton, 1989; Smith, 1986; Sommer, 1994; Statistics Canada, 1993; Statistics Canada, 2000). Though their breadth varies, these surveys demonstrate a consistent pattern showing common-law couples to have a greater propensity to be violent. Canadian common-law relationships are two to four times more likely than their married counterparts to involve male partner violence. In the only systematic analysis of violence in Canadian common-law unions, Brownridge and Halli (1999a) found that unique sets of variables are linked to violence in different marital status categories. Surprisingly, this is also the case for two groups of marrieds. Violence among women who possess a history of cohabitation with someone other than their husband (PC married) seems to be linked to different variables than does violence experienced by those without a prior history of cohabitation (non-PC married). Brownridge and Halli's (1999a) reasoning, that the two groups of marrieds should be separated since PC marrieds are likely to be different as a result of their past cohabitation experience with another man, appears to be supported. In fact, when prevalence rates of violence are compared, the rate of violence reported by PC married women even exceeds that of women living common-law. These results suggest that PC marrieds are an important martial status category that should be studied in their own right. The increasing number of cohabitors lends further credence to their separate treatment from marrieds. Since the Canadian Census began to distinguish between common-law and marital unions, the rate of couples living in common-law unions in Canada has more than doubled. According to the 1996 Census, 14 percent of couples in Canada are living common-- law (Statistics Canada, 1997). The impact of this trend toward increasing common-law unions in Canada is illustrated by Dumas (1997:130) who writes, "consider that if the relative growth rates were maintained for the two groups, by the year 2022 there would be as many common-- law couples as married couples. Thus, in half a century ... marriage would have relinquished its place as the conjugal norm in Canada." Given higher rates of violence in common-law relationships, there has been some concern expressed in the literature that the prevalence of violence will increase with the continuing trend toward cohabitation (e.g., Dobash and Dobash, 1995). Since the duration of common-law relationships tends to be short relative to marital relationships (Burch and Madan, 1986; Halli and Zimmer, 1991), ending either in break-up or marriage, one might expect the higher likelihood of violence in a given cohabiting women's life to be short lived. …


Abstract Southwestern Europe is one of the best regions for characterizing the dinosaur assemblages that prevailed just before the end-Cretaceous extinction. Aiming to better document this scenario, we provide the first evidence of dinosaur skin impressions in the red-beds of the Tremp Formation (southern Pyrenees). The impressions are assigned to sauropods (probably titanosaurians) on the basis of their scale morphology, arrangement and size. They represent a valuable tool for analysing the last occurrences of the sauropod clade before the K–Pg extinction, as they fall within chron C29r (latest Maastrichtian), thus representing some of the last in situ remains of this clade worldwide.


Aerosol chemical and optical properties are ex- tensively investigated for the first time over the Paris Basin in July 2000 within the ESQUIF project. The measurement campaign offers an exceptional framework to evaluate the performances of the chemistry-transport model CHIMERE in simulating concentrations of gaseous and aerosol pollu- tants, as well as the aerosol-size distribution and composition in polluted urban environments against ground-based and air- borne measurements. A detailed comparison of measured and simulated variables during the second half of July with particular focus on 19 and 31 pollution episodes reveals an overall good agreement for gas-species and aerosol compo- nents both at the ground level and along flight trajectories, and the absence of systematic biases in simulated meteoro- logical variables such as wind speed, relative humidity and boundary layer height as computed by the MM5 model. A good consistency in ozone and NO concentrations demon- strates the ability of the model to reproduce the plume struc- ture and location fairly well both on 19 and 31 July, despite an underestimation of the amplitude of ozone concentrations on 31 July. The spatial and vertical aerosol distributions are also examined by comparing simulated and observed lidar vertical profiles along flight trajectories on 31 July and con- firm the model capacity to simulate the plume characteris- tics. The comparison of observed and modeled aerosol com- ponents in the southwest suburb of Paris during the second half of July indicates that the aerosol composition is rather correctly reproduced, although the total aerosol mass is un- derestimated by about 20%. The simulated Parisian aerosol is dominated by primary particulate matter that accounts for anthropogenic and biogenic primary particles (40%), and in- organic aerosol fraction (40%) including nitrate (8%), sul- fate (22%) and ammonium (10%). The secondary organic aerosols (SOA) represent 12% of the total aerosol mass, while the mineral dust accounts for 8%. The comparison demonstrates the absence of systematic errors in the sim- ulated sulfate, ammonium and nitrates total concentrations. However, for nitrates the observed partition between fine and coarse mode is not reproduced. In CHIMERE there is a clear lack of coarse-mode nitrates. This calls for additional param- eterizations in order to account for the heterogeneous forma- tion of nitrate onto dust particles. Larger discrepancies are obtained for the secondary organic aerosols due to both in- consistencies in the SOA formation processes in the model leading to an underestimation of their mass and large uncer- tainties in the determination of the measured aerosol organic fraction. The observed mass distribution of aerosols is not well reproduced, although no clear explanation can be given.


A comprehensive guide to get up and running with build automation using Gradle About This Book Practical and engaging from start to finish covering the fundamentals of GradleLearn the skills required to develop Java applications with Gradle and integrate at an enterprise level Apply the correct plugin and configuration to our Gradle build files to work with the different languages Who This Book Is For This book is for Java developers who have working knowledge of build automation processes and are now looking to gain expertise with Gradle and add to their skill set. What You Will Learn Write your first Gradle Script Write build logic with the Gradle build language Explore the Java plugins supported by Gradle Understand dependency management in Gradle Package and publish your (web) application Integrate Scala and Groovy with Gradle Write your own custom tasks and plugins Integrate Gradle with your IDE In DetailGradle is a project automation tool that has a wide range of applications. The basic aim of Gradle is to automate a wide variety of tasks performed by software developers, including compiling computer source code to binary code, packaging binary codes, running tests, deploying applications to production systems, and creating documentation. The book will start with the fundamentals of Gradle and introduce you to the tools that will be used in further chapters. You will learn to create and work with Gradle scripts and then see how to use Gradle to build your Java Projects. While building Java application, you will find out about other important topics such as dependency management, publishing artifacts, and integrating the application with other JVM languages such as Scala and Groovy. By the end of this book, you will be able to use Gradle in your daily development. Writing tasks, applying plugins, and creating build logic will be your second nature. Style and approach This step-by-step guide aims to cover the fundamentals of Gradle and focuses on providing the practical skills required to develop web application.


Understanding the interplay between surface chemistry, electronic structure, and reaction mechanism of the catalyst at the electrified solid/liquid interface will enable the design of more efficient materials systems for sustainable energy production. The substantial progress in operando characterization, particularly using synchrotron based X-ray spectroscopies, provides the unprecedented opportunity to uncover surface chemical and structural transformations under various (electro)chemical reaction environments. In this work, we study a polycrystalline platinum surface under oxygen evolution conditions in an alkaline electrolyte by means of ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy performed at the electrified solid/liquid interface. We elucidate previously inaccessible aspects of the surface chemistry and structure as a function of the applied potential, allowing us to propose a reaction mechanism for oxygen evolution on a platinum electrode in alkaline solutions.


This study focuses on understanding the implementation of three interactive digital products in the first-year foundational courses (General Chemistry, Physics I & II, Calculus I & II) at the Faculty of Engineering, and the perceptions of teaching and learning experiences with those products. The data were gathered from the instructors, students and Distance Education Unit Coordinator through in-depth interview of purposeful sample of the academics, student online survey and product platform usage data. The study reveals the nuances of the institutional change prompted by the initiatives for advancing teaching and learning through the integration of technology. The study findings are discussed through themes that address the benefits of integrating digital products as well as challenges experienced by the instructors, students, and by the institution during this period of transition to digital technologies. The findings assisted in identifying the related set of recommended actions for improving the implementation of digital products and strengthening their integration into academic programs.


Empirical evidence suggests that the study abroad experience accelerates growth in global vocabulary knowledge. The exact nature of this growth is rarely reported, however, and there is little documented evidence to indicate whether it is linear or uneven, whether the speed of growth is constant or changing, or whether the study abroad context favours the acquisition of certain aspects of vocabulary knowledge over others. This paper introduces and evaluates a method of tracking incremental changes in vocabulary knowledge during a year of overseas study. Lexical knowledge is elicited through a word association task completed by the learner at six-weekly intervals. Responses to the task, although not formally constrained, are dependent on the conceptual and lexical associations of the test-taker. Data sets are analysed using a word-knowledge framework, and findings reveal a gradual increase in some aspects of vocabulary knowledge (the number of collocations and native speaker-like associations), but striking inconsistencies over time in others (e.g. word form, form-meaning connections, orthography). The study uses an innovative application of an investigative tool to capture stages in the micro-development of the lexicon, thus exposing the complex and multi-dimensional nature of lexical acquisition.


At least 164 papers have defined a 'patent thicket' since the first mention of the term in 1988. There is no canonical definition. Instead authors use the term to refer to various combinations of seven different underlying economic issues. An average paper in 2001 used a definition based on 1.2 of these issues, and the complexity of definitions grew by 35% over the following decade. This increase in definitional complexity is partly a response to a growing sophistication in the broader literature on the economics of patents. However, repeat authors are frequently inconsistent in their definitions, and overall there is evidence of a growing confusion concerning patent thickets. Our analysis largely resolves this confusion. It also suggests that ill-advised policy reform efforts, and not patent thickets themselves, threaten the health of the innovation economy.


When it comes to conserving electricity, it is crucial for users to know how much energy is consumed by individual appliances. However, the technical feedback provided by existing energy consumption feedback systems in the form of dry numbers and intangible units is not appropriate for most users. To address this shortcoming we developed PowerPedia, a system that provides behavior-influencing feedback over and above pure consumption values. By integrating a community platform - a Wikipedia for electrical appliances - PowerPedia enables users to identify and compare the consumption of their domestic appliances with that of others. It thus helps users to better understand their electricity consumption and take effective action to save electricity


Phytosociological studies are an important tool to detect temporal vegetation changes in response to global climate change. In this study, we present the results of a resurvey of a plot-based phytosociological study from Sikkilsdalen, central Norway, originally executed between 1922 and 1932. By using a detailed phytosociological study we are able to investigate several aspects of elevational shifts in species ranges. Here we tested for upward and downward shifts in observed upper and lower distribution limits of species, as well as changes in species optima along an elevational gradient, and related the observed range shifts to species traits that could explain the observed trends. More species shifted upwards than downwards, independently of whether we were investigating shifts in species' upper or lower distribution ranges or in species optima. However, shifts in species upper range margins changed independently of their lower range margins. Linking different species traits to the magnitude of shifts we found that species with a higher preference for prolonged snow cover shifted upwards more in their upper elevational limits and in their optima than species that prefer a shorter snow cover, whereas no species traits were correlated with the magnitude of changes in lower limits. The observed change in species ranges concord both with studies on other mountains in the region and with studies from other alpine areas. Furthermore, our study indicates that different factors are influencing species ranges at the upper and lower range limits. Increased precipitation rates and increased temperatures are considered the most important factors for the observed changes, probably mainly through altering the pattern in snow cover dynamics in the area.


Bracken [Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn] is a cosmopolitan species and is a noxious weed in many areas. Because of its abundance, particularly in Britain, bracken affords an ideal system for investigating various aspects of population genetics and evolution. High mobility of dispersal units (spores) suggests that rates of gene flow among distant populations should be high. Gene flow is a major evolutionary force that influences the genetic structure of populations. To examine the effects of gene flow on population heterogeneity and population substructuring in bracken, starch gel electrophoresis of enzymes was used to provide the necessary genetic database. Allele frequency data at 21 loci were obtained for seven British populations, one Majorcan and one from the eastern United States. A model was employed to estimate the amount of gene flow (Nm) at several levels. Gene flow among British populations was extremely high (Nm= 36.51), one of the highest estimates reported for plants. Among eight European populations gene flow was lower (but still considered high) at Nm= 2.47. Trans-Atlantic gene flow was low (Nm= 0.0926).

F-statistics were used to assess population heterogeneity and substructuring. The data indicate that, compared with other species, there is very little genetic differentiation among British populations of bracken. Indeed, it appears that the whole island is behaving as a single randommating population. This result is consistent with high levels of gene flow. Only one population (on the Isle of Arran) showed statistically significant genetic substructuring. Habitat heterogeneity on the island and age structure are hypothesized as possible causes of this result.

The data reported here support previous studies demonstrating that bracken is genetically polymorphic and is an outcrossing species.


Mt Olympus is the highest mountain of Greece (2918 m.) and one of the most important and well known locations of the modern world. This is related to its great cultural significance, since the ancient Greeks considered this mountain as the habitat of their Gods, ever since Zeus became the dominant figure of the ancient Greek religion and consequently the protagonist of the cultural regime. Before the generation of Zeus, Olympus was inhabited by the generation of Cronus. In this paper we shall refer to a lesser known mythological reference which, in our opinion, presents similarities to the geotectonic evolution of the wider area of Olympus. According to Apollodorus and other great authors, the God Poseidon and Iphimedia had twin sons, the Aloades, namely Otus and Ephialtes, who showed a tendency to gigantism. When they reached the age of nine, they were about 16 m. tall and 4.5 m. wide. Having then realized their powers, because of their gigantic proportions, they decided to climb Olympus and fight the Gods, exile Zeus and the others, and wed two Goddesses. Otus was to marry Hera and Ephialtes Artemis. But they did not know how to climb such a high mountain, so they decided to construct a "ladder", by putting mount Ossa on top of mount Olympus and mount Pelion on top of Ossa. This description coincides with the geological and tectonic evolution of the wider Olympus area. But, these complex tectonic processes were completed about 8 – 10 m.a., i.e. millions of years before the appearance of humans, therefore it is impossible that these morphotectonic processes were witnessed by man, so the similarities between the myth of Aloades and the tectonic evolution of the area must be purely coincidental. But are they, or is there more here?


"The ABC of Acid-Base Chemistry "provides physiologists, medical students, and physicians with an intelligible outline of the elements of physiological acid-base chemistry. This new edition of Horace W. Davenport's standard text takes into account different ways of looking at the problems of acid-base derived from new instrumentation. The exposition has been modified to allow the student to apply his understanding to other systems of description of the acid-base status. Although the pH system has been retained, there is increasing emphasis on the use of hydrogen ion concentration. Topics discussed include: partial pressure of gases, composition of alveolar gas, transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, buffer action of hemoglobin and seperated plasma, oxygenated whole blood and reduced blood, concepts of base excess and base deficit, and chemical regulation of respiration. "Any reader who clearly understands the subject matter of this book will have a firm grounding in the principles of the subject; I find it the clearest text of this type that I have read." "British Journal of Hospital Medicine " "This little book is of great value to chemically trained physicians and medical students who want to get a clearer idea of the physiology of acid base chemistry in the blood." "The Journal of Gastroenterology ""


Background: We used metabolic risk factors to estimate the prevalence and clinical significance of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in Asian Americans with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 824 consecutive Asian HCC patients at Stanford University Medical Center from 1998 to 2015. Patients were subdivided as: Chinese, other East Asian (Japanese and Korean), South East Asian (Vietnamese, Thai, and Laotian), Maritime South East Asian (MSEA: Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, and Singaporean), and South West Asian (Indian, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern). Metabolic risk factors studied were body mass index, hypertension, type II diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Results: Most patients were male (76%) with mean age 63 years. Metabolic risk factors were highly prevalent on presentation and increased over time (P<0.001), as did the prevalence of cryptogenic HCC (P<0.004). Compared with other Asian subgroups, MSEAs had the highest body mass index (26.3) and higher rates of type II diabetes (44% vs. 23% to 35%, P=0.004), hypertension (59% vs. 38% to 55%, P=0.04), and cryptogenic HCC (15% vs. 4% to 10%, P=0.01). They were more likely to be symptomatic on presentation (44% vs. 32% to 58%, P=0.07), less likely to present within Milan criteria (34% vs. 35% to 63%, P<0.0001), and trended toward decreased 10-year survival rates compared with other ethnic subgroups (9% vs. 25% to 32%, P=0.07). Conclusions: Metabolic risk factors were increasingly prevalent among Asian Americans with HCC. MSEAs, who had the highest incidence of these risk factors, had more advanced tumor stage and trended toward worse survival.


Recently, a number of commercial companies are offering preconceptional carrier tests directly-to-consumers. This offer raises a number of concerns and issues above and beyond those encountered with preconceptional tests offered within the traditional health care setting. In order to bring some of these issues to light and to initiate dialogue on this topic, this article discusses the following issues: the current offer of preconceptional carrier tests (until the end of 2010) through online commercial companies; the implications for the informed consent procedure and the need for good information; the need for medical supervision and follow-up; and the appropriate use of existing resources. The article concludes with some reflections about the potential sustainability of the offer of preconceptional carrier tests directly-to-consumers.


A dimple structure is a concave surface, processed onto a heat transfer surface to promote convective heat transfer. Benefits, such as heat transfer enhancement with moderate flow resistance, less fouling, etc., have been reported by many researchers. Due to the limitations of the experimental method, heat transfer on dimpled surfaces in turbulent flow, which is complex in distribution and dynamic over time, has not yet been fully understood. With the aid of Infrared (IR) Thermography, details of the Nusselt number distributions on these surfaces in high resolution were investigated in this study.
Three surfaces, including a plane surface, a single-dimpled surface, and a double-dimpled surface were observed in turbulent water flow within a dimple Reynolds number range of Re_d=1×10^4-3.5×10^4 and a flow temperature range of T_in=25-43 ℃. All surfaces have the same dimple structure with a printing diameter D_d=15.3 mm and a relative dimple depth t⁄D_d=0.26. These surfaces were coated using physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology with an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer, a SiO2 layer, and copper layers onto the dimpled surfaces of calcium fluoride (CaF2) glass substrates. During the heating experiment, the ITO layer was charged with direct current (DC) power providing a constant heat flux (q) up to 53 kW⁄m^2 from the structured surface through Joule heating. Wall temperature distributions on the heating surface were recorded through the CaF2 substrate by an IR camera with a spatial and a temporal resolution of 283 μm and 50 Hz, respectively. Before the measurement for each surface, in-situ calibration was conducted to determine the relationship between wall temperature and raw IR intensity from the camera. These IR images include the averaged images (averaged over 10 s) and image sequences over 115 s.
Reattaching zone, recirculating zone, and wake were observed in the wall temperature distribution on dimpled surface. At Re_d=2×10^4, a maximum heat transfer region was found in the reattaching zone close to the rear dimple's edge with a Nusselt number ratio (Nu_d⁄Nu_pl) of around 2, while the rate was found to be around 1 in the recirculating zone. Considering the influence of three-dimensional distributions of heat transfer, the spanwise-averaged and area-averaged Nusselt number ratios (Nu_span,d⁄Nu_span,pl and Nu_d⁄Nu_pl) showed maximum values of 1.6 and 1.3, respectively. In the wake, the heat transfer drops sharply from the higher value near the rear edge to that on the plane surface (Nu_d⁄Nu_pl=1) with a distance around 1.5D_d. The experiment on the double-dimpled surface showed that the maximum Nusselt number ratio in the second dimple was significantly larger than in the dimple upstream. The increase was around 10% at Re_d=2×10^4.
Heat transfer on dimpled surfaces increased with rising Reynolds number. However, the Nusselt number ratio was observed to decrease with increasing of the Reynolds number. On double dimpled surface, the influence of the upstream dimple in heat transfer became weaker at higher Reynolds numbers. Finally, other experimental parameters, such as the inlet flow temperature and the heat flux, had limited influence on the heat transfer over the dimpled surfaces.
Time resolved temperature distributions showed that a switching mode of the wall temperature between two symmetric states would repeat several times in low frequency as Re_d>1×10^4. The comparison showed that the switching mode influenced six temperature subzones, which were symmetrically distributed in and downstream of the dimple.


From the people of ancient Greece to the tribes of the Pacific Ocean, massage has been a significant element in medicine, midwifery, folk healing, and athletics. Yet the rich presence of healing touch is rarely manifest in the telling of human history. Now, for the first time, Robert Noah Calvert offers a comprehensive history of massage that spans the globe. Starting with the healing art's ancient foundations, Calvert's "History of Massage" leads us through Greek temples and Middle Eastern bathhouses, Chinese martial arts traditions and Native American sweat lodges, to discover the significant role of touch therapy in the life of the world's people. With rich use of anecdote and illustrated text, the author details the cross-cultural healing and sensual applications of massage, the development of massage technologies, and the emerging trends of massage in the twenty-first century. "History of Massage" is groundbreaking work that should not be missed by anyone interested in massage and its benefits for healing.


In this work, we present a teaching proposal which emphasizes on visualization and physical applications in the study of eigenvectors and eigenvalues. These concepts are introduced using the notion of the moment of inertia of a rigid body and the GeoGebra software. The proposal was motivated after observing students' difficulties when treating eigenvectors and eigenvalues from a geometric point of view. It was designed following a particular sequence of activities with the schema: exploration, introduction of concepts, structuring of knowledge and application, and considering the three worlds of mathematical thinking provided by Tall: embodied, symbolic and formal


We present here a realization of Hurwitz algebra in terms of 2 × 2 vector matrices which maintain the correspondence between the geometry of vector spaces that is used in the classical physics and the algebraic foundation underlying quantum theory. The multiplication rule we use is a modification of the one originally introduced by M. Zorn. We demonstrate that our multiplication is not intrinsically non-associative; the realization of the real and complex numbers is commutative and associative, the real quaternions maintain associativity and the real octonion matrices form an alternative algebra. Extension to the calculus of the matrices (with Hurwitz algebra valued matrix elements) of the arbitrary dimensions is straightforward. We briefly discuss applications of the obtained results to extensions of standard Hilbert space formulation in quantum physics and to alternative wave mechanical formulation of the classical field theory.


Mexico ratified the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol in April 2000. While Regulations establishing a mechanism for eligibility determination were issued at the same time, the Mexican government began a transitional process to take over eligibility in March 2002. Prior to that time, the UNHCR had been recognizing refugees under its mandate. As of this writing no national policy regarding the detention of asylum seekers has been established, nor have refugee advocates begun to pressure the government to comply with Article 31 of the Convention. Rather, whether an asylum seeker is detained during the eligibility process depends in part on the place and timing of the request as well as on the knowledge and goodwill of the migration authority.


Disease mongering starts at the top of recent accusations being hurled at psychiatry. It is used to refer to the attempts by pharmaceutical companies or others who have similar interests, to enlarge the market for a treatment by convincing people that they are sick and need medical intervention. This paper critically analyses the 'for' and 'against' arguments of disease mongering in psychiatric disorders, both new and old, such as Bipolar disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Restless legs syndrome, Premenstrual dysphoric disorder, female sexual dysfunction, social phobia, metabolic syndrome and road rage disorder.


A Sigmodon hispidus population in a relict grassland was studied by live-trapping from April, 1965, to February, 1969. The populations oscillated from high densities in the fall to low densities in the spring. Initial population declines were caused primarily by a normal cessation in the breeding cycle and accelerated by harsh winter weather, although other factors were probably involved. The population underwent a 92% turnover in six months. Ecological densities ranged from 0.0 to 20.6 animals/ acre/ month in the favored habitat. Exclusive boundary strip male seasonal home ranges (0.962 +/- 0.206 acres) averaged significantly larger (p = 0.01) than those of the females (0.543 +/- 0.090 acres) and males tended to be more nomadic than females. Animals tended to traverse smaller areas during periods of high densities. No indications of territorial defense were evident. Sigmodon hispidus preferred habitats with a dense undergrowth and a protective overstory although they utilized less-favored habitats during high density periods. The population consumed about 0.7% of the available vegetation produced on the area per year.


Using a dataset of proxy recommendations and voting results for uncontested director elections from 2005 and 2006 at S&P 1500 companies, we examine how advisors make their recommendations. Of the four firms we study, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Proxy Governance (PGI), Glass Lewis (GL), and Egan Jones (EJ), ISS has the largest market share and is widely regarded as the most influential. We find that the four proxy advisory firms differ substantially from each other both in their willingness to issue a withhold recommendation and in the factors that affect their recommendation. It is not clear that these differences, or the bases for the recommendations, are transparent to the institutions that purchase proxy advisory services. If the differences are not apparent, investors may not accurately perceive the information content associated with a withhold recommendation, and investors may rely on those recommendations based on an erroneous understanding of the basis for that recommendation. To the extent that proxy advisors aggregate information for the purpose of facilitating an informed shareholder vote, these limitations may impair the effectiveness of the shareholder franchise. If the differences are apparent, our results show that investors, though selecting a proxy advisor, can indirectly choose the bases for their vote on directors. To that extent, it is likely that proxy advisory firms will retain more investor clients if their recommendations are based on factors that their clients consider relevant.


The crosslingual link detection problem calls for identifying news articles in multiple languages that report on the same news event. This paper presents a novel approach based on constrained clustering. We discuss a general way for constrained clustering using a recent, graph-based clustering framework called correlation clustering. We introduce a correlation clustering implementation that features linear program chunking to allow processing larger datasets. We show how to apply the correlation clustering algorithm to the crosslingual link detection problem and present experimental results that show correlation clustering improves upon the hierarchical clustering approaches commonly used in link detection, and, hierarchical clustering approaches that take constraints into account.


I examined sexual size dimorphism (SSD) and assortative mating and estimated a discriminant function for predicting sex in the Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida, a medium-sized marsh tern. I measured and molecularly sexed 241 breeding adults captured in southern Poland from 2005 to 2010. Males were significantly larger than females in all six measurements: total head length, bill length, bill depth at gonys, tarsus length, wing length and body mass. The largest dimorphism index (DI) was found in head and bill measurements and body mass. Within pairs, the total head length, bill length and bill depth were positively correlated. Two discriminant functions, one based on the length and depth of the bill and the second including only total head length, showed the same high sex classification success of 95%. DI in Whiskered Terns was greater than in other terns probably due to stronger sex specialization in foraging niche.


Abstract In this article, we explore the conditions under which prima facie adjectival adjuncts projected as depictive modifiers inside verbal phrases allow extraction. Building on the analysis of gerund clauses proposed in Fábregas and Jiménez-Fernández (in press), we argue that their empirical behaviour shows that, whenever these adjectival constituents license extraction, they are projections of PathP that form a verbal complex with the verb inside a single syntactic domain. This forces the conclusion that adjunct adjectives must be projected as PathPs, and in the last part of the paper we show that this proposal in fact explains two properties of these elements without further stipulations: they always receive a stage level interpretation, and cannot combine with pure stative verbs.


Although resource constrained countries face a myriad of challenges, interventions have been made to empower patients to take the ownership of their health and wellbeing. It is enthusing to note that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have played a pivotal role in adding value to the quality of healthcare services in an attempt to make them patient-centric. The benefits of adopting patient-centric approach in the delivery of health care services include provision of better treatment and reduced medical expenses. This is so because a patient makes informed choices about their health and wellbeing in consistent with their personal preferences, desires, values, and beliefs. In addition to this, managing their own health reduces the occurrences of preventable illness. Unfortunately, due to limited resources in developing countries; the uptake of patientcentric services has been low. This paper therefore endeavours to provide a comprehensive comparative analysis of the patient centric services between high income and resource constrained countries. It also outlines the challenges that are encountered in providing patient-centric health care services in low constrained settings. Potential solutions to circumvent the aforementioned challenges are also succinctly discussed.


The Maoist insurgency in Nepal is one of the highest intensity internal conflicts in recent times. Investigation into the causes of the conflict would suggest that grievance rather than greed is the main motivating force. The concept of horizontal or intergroup inequality, with both an ethnic and caste dimension, is highly relevant in explaining the Nepalese civil war. There is also a spatial aspect to the conflict, which is most intense in the most disadvantaged areas in terms of human development indicators and land holdings. Using the intensity of conflict (fatalities) as the dependent variable and HDI indicators and landlessness as explanatory variables, the authors find that the intensity of conflict across the districts of Nepal is significantly explained by the degree of inequalities.


In 2005, doripenem, the newest carbapenem on the market, was developed by a pharmaceutical company in Japan, and it was recently approved by the United States (US) Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to be used in the adult population. Doripenem is a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent that can be used in many different infections ranging from pneumonia to abdominal infections. Even though doripenem has shown to be safe and efficacious in adults, it lacks pharmacokinetic and safety information in the pediatric population. However, by looking at the pediatric pharmacokinetic data of other carbapenems and a recent multicenter study of doripenem in patients between the age of 3 months and 18 years of age, clinicians can gain a better understanding of how to dose this antimicrobial agent in infants, children, and adolescents.


M.M. Scholtz, 2# A. Theunissen, M.C. Mokolobate, O. Ntwaeagae & M. Ferreira ARC-Animal Production Institute, Private Bag X2, Irene, 0062, South Africa; University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa; Northern Cape Department of Agricultural, Land Reform and Rural Development, Private Bag X9, Jan Kempdorp 8550, South Africa ________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract The importance of indigenous breeds that are adapted to the anticipated warmer climate, lower nutritional value of the grazing and harsher conditions will increase as a result of climate change. South Africa has indigenous beef cattle breeds such as the Nguni that are widely recognized for its adaptive attributes. Extensive livestock production is an important agricultural activity in the Northern Cape and many other parts of South Africa. Continuous deterioration in beef cattle production environments as well as alternative grassfed production systems necessitates the reviewing and evaluation of current production and breeding strategies. Crossbreeding between British / European and indigenous breeds may become more important to increase beef production in the near future, where management is at relatively high levels, but where conditions are harsh. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Nguni in a terminal crossbreeding system. The research was conducted over a period of four years at the Vaalharts Research Station of the Northern Cape Department of Agricultural, Land Reform and Rural Development near Jan Kempdorp. A total of 238 weaning weight records was collected (167 Nguni and 81 Angus x Nguni). The 205-day weaning weight of the Angus x Nguni calves were 177 kg and that of the pure Nguni calves 145 kg. Although the adjusted weaning weight of the Angus x Nguni calves was 32 kg higher than that of pure Nguni calves, the difference was not significant. This can be attributed to the large variation in weaning weights, with that of the pure Nguni calves ranging from 56 kg to 230 kg and that of the Angus x Nguni calves from 105 kg to 303 kg. The 205-day weight also increased with an increase in the age of the cow until five years, where after it decreased. The cow weight at weaning did not seem to have an effect on the weaning weights of the calves. If cow efficiency is expressed as kilogram calf weaned per Large Stock Unit, the cow efficiency of cows with Angus x Nguni calves improves by 22%. The results showed that crossbreeding can increase the weaning weights of crossbred calves from Nguni cows. As a result of the very large variation in the 205-day weights, some non-genetic factors affecting this weight were evaluated. It was found that in addition to the sex of the calf, 205-day weight was also affected by age of the dam, the year of weaning, month of birth, year x genotype interaction and the herd of origin of the dam. The fact that herd of origin of the cow affects the weaning weights of her calves may indicate the presence of epigenetics or large differences in genetic merit between herds. ________________________________________________________________________________


This work investigates the negative effects of channel estimation errors on the performance of spatial modulation (SM) when operating over flat Rayleigh fading channels. The pairwise error probability of the SM scheme is derived in the presence of channel estimation errors and an upper bound on the average bit error probability is evaluated for M-PSK and M-QAM signalling. It is shown via computer simulations that the derived upper bound becomes very tight with increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the SM scheme is quite robust to channel estimation errors.


Sitagliptin Inhibits the Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammation
Abstract
Objective: Sitagliptin is an anti-diabetic Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor; used worldwide with a well-established evidence base as an effective anti-diabetic therapy and the lowest cost of all DPP-4 inhibitors. Atherosclerosis and inflammation are more common in diabetic patients than in nondiabetic patients, and progression of atherosclerosis contributes to this inflammation. Therefore, anti-inflammatory therapy is important for the prognosis of diabetic patients. Although several reports have investigated the anti-inflammatory mechanisms of sitagliptin in vitro, none of these studies has described its effects on mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We assessed the MAPK-dependent anti-inflammatory effects of sitagliptin in HUVECs.
Methods: HUVECs (1–2 × 105 cell/mL) were either pretreated with different doses of sitagliptin for 1 h or left untreated. Subsequently, HUVECs were either incubated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) together with sitagliptin (after treatment) or left untreated. Five hours post incubation, the culture medium was sampled for interleukin (IL)-6. Additionally, intranuclear p65 levels were measured 5 h after simultaneous treatment with LPS and sitagliptin. p38 MAPK levels and PKC activity were measured in the cytosolic fractions 30 min after simultaneous treatment with LPS and sitagliptin.
Results: Treatment with LPS alone induced significant IL-6 production compared with untreated control cells. Pretreatment of cells with sitagliptin at all concentrations tested significantly reduced LPS-stimulated IL-6 production. However, after treatment of cells with sitagliptin at any concentration did not inhibit LPS-stimulated IL-6 production. Compared to untreated cells, treatment with 5 nM sitagliptin significantly inhibited LPS-stimulated intranuclear p65 expression, and p38 MAPK phosphorylation. There was no significant difference in PKC activity with LPS or sitagliptin.
Conclusion: In HUVECs, sitagliptin elicits its anti-inflammatory effects through MAPK-dependent mechanisms.


This paper surveys the literature on the linkages between asset prices and macroeconomic outcomes. It focuses on three major questions. First, what are the basic theoretical linkages between asset prices and macroeconomic outcomes? Second, what is the empirical evidence supporting these linkages? And third, what are the main challenges to the theoretical and empirical findings? The survey addresses these questions in the context of four major asset price categories: equity prices, house prices, exchange rates and interest rates, with a particular focus on their international dimensions. It also puts into perspective the evolution of the literature on the determinants of asset prices and their linkages with macroeconomic outcomes, and discusses possible future research directions.


Abstract. The Mediterranean basin is a particularly vulnerable region to climate change, featuring a sharply contrasted climate between the North and South and governed by a semi-enclosed sea with pronounced surrounding topography covering parts of the Europe, Africa and Asia regions. The physiographic specificities contribute to produce mesoscale atmospheric features that can evolve to high-impact weather systems such as heavy precipitation, wind storms, heat waves and droughts. The evolution of these meteorological extremes in the context of global warming is still an open question, partly because of the large uncertainty associated with existing estimates produced by global climate models (GCM) with coarse horizontal resolution (~200 km). Downscaling climatic information at a local scale is, thus, needed to improve the climate extreme prediction and to provide relevant information for vulnerability and adaptation studies. In this study, we investigate wind, temperature and precipitation distributions for past recent climate and future scenarios at eight meteorological stations in the French Mediterranean region using one statistical downscaling model, referred as the "Cumulative Distribution Function transform" (CDF-t) approach. A thorough analysis of the uncertainty associated with statistical downscaling and bi-linear interpolation of large-scale wind speed, temperature and rainfall from reanalyses (ERA-40) and three GCM historical simulations, has been conducted and quantified in terms of Kolmogorov-Smirnov scores. CDF-t produces a more accurate and reliable local wind speed, temperature and rainfall. Generally, wind speed, temperature and rainfall CDF obtained with CDF-t are significantly similar with the observed CDF, even though CDF-t performance may vary from one station to another due to the sensitivity of the driving large-scale fields or local impact. CDF-t has then been applied to climate simulations of the 21st century under B1 and A2 scenarios for the three GCMs. As expected, the most striking trend is obtained for temperature (median and extremes), whereas for wind speed and rainfall, the evolution of the distributions is weaker. Mean surface wind speed and wind extremes seem to decrease in most locations, whereas the mean rainfall value decreases while the extremes seem to slightly increase. This is consistent with previous studies, but if this trend is clear with wind speed and rainfall data interpolated from GCM simulations at station locations, conversely CDF-t produces a more uncertain trend.


A significant amount of attention has been placed on IS Evaluation within the literature over the years and much has been written. In this paper we review the advancement of research in this area. We found however, that only a limited understanding of the phenomenon exists and only modest progression has been made: while the literature states the importance and objectives of IS evaluation, and its complexity and problematic nature,, not all concepts related are clearly defined. In addition, several taxonomies for classifying evaluation approaches exist, but there is no agreement as to which of these is acceptable for the entire research community, let alone for practice. Our review also shows that the literature is replete with reports of what industry uses in terms of evaluation approaches and methods, but that there is a lack of thorough accounts of actual evaluation practice, what works well and what the concrete problems associated with it are. Finally, we also found that the role and interplay of formality and intuition in IS evaluation is controversially discussed. On this basis the paper identifies a research gap and argues for more detailed empirical studies of actual evaluation practice to advance the field of IS, both in theory and practice.


The authors report an empirical regularity in the market shares of brands. They propose a theoretical explanation for this observed regularity and identify additional consequences of their explanation. Empirical testing of these consequences supports the proposed explanation. The empirical regularity is obtained using cross-sectional data on market shares of brands in 91 product categories of foods and sporting goods sold in the United States. In total, the data set has 1171 brands. The key feature of the empirical regularity is that, in each category, the difference between pairs of successively-ranked market shares forms a decreasing series. In other words, the decrease in the market share between two successively-ranked brands becomes smaller as one progresses from higher-ranked to lower-ranked brands. The observed patterns of market shares are represented by the power law to a remarkable degree of accuracy, far surpassing the fits typically observed in predictive models of market shares. The authors then propose an explanation for the regularity in terms of a model of consumer purchases. At the heart of this model is a special case of the well-known Dirichlet-multinomial model of brand purchases. This special case corresponds to Bose-Einstein statistics, and has an intuitive implication that the purchase probability of a brand is proportional to the number of units of that brand already purchased. A notable feature of the model is that it considers multiple product categories, and allows for the entry and exit of brands over time. The authors then describe, and test using the data set, two predictions of the proposed model regarding patterns of market shares across product categories. For both of these predictions, which appear counterintuitive, the authors report reasonable empirical support. Overall, there appears to be good evidence supporting the proposed model and the observed regularities. The authors discuss some potential implications of the regularities for marketing practice and research. They also offer an interpretation of the previously known square-root relationship between market share and the order of entry of firms into an industry.


Tumor staging systems for laryngeal cancer (LC) have been developed to assist in estimating prognosis after treatment and comparing treatment results across institutions. While the laryngeal TNM system has been shown to have prognostic information, varying cure rates in the literature have suggested concern about the accuracy and effectiveness of the T-classification in particular. To test the hypothesis that tumor volumes are more useful than T classification, we conducted a retrospective review of 78 patients with laryngeal cancer treated with radiation therapy at our institution. Using multivariable analysis, we demonstrate the significant prognostic value of anatomic volumes in patients with previously untreated laryngeal cancer. In this cohort, primary tumor volume (GTVP), composite nodal volumes (GTVN) and composite total volume (GTVP + GTVN = GTVC) had prognostic value in both univariate and multivariate cox model analysis. Interestingly, when anatomic volumes were measured from CT scans after a single cycle of induction chemotherapy, all significant prognosticating value for measured anatomic volumes was lost. Given the literature findings and the results of this study, the authors advocate the use of tumor anatomic volumes calculated from pretreatment scans to supplement the TNM staging system in subjects with untreated laryngeal cancer. The study found that tumor volume assessment after induction chemotherapy is not of prognostic significance.


We introduce a mathematical model on the dynamics of demand and supply incorporating collectability and saturation factors. Our analysis shows that when the fluctuation of the determinants of demand and supply is strong enough, there is chaos in the demand-supply dynamics. Our numerical simulation shows that such a chaos is not an attractor (i.e. dynamics is not approaching the chaos), instead a periodic attractor (of period 3 under the Poincare period map) exists near the chaos, and co-exists with another periodic attractor (of period 1 under the Poincare period map) near the market equilibrium. Outside the basins of attraction of the two periodic attractors, the dynamics approaches infinity indicating market irrational exuberance or flash crash. The period 3 attractor represents the product's market cycle of growth and recession, while period 1 attractor near the market equilibrium represents the regular fluctuation of the product's market. Thus our model captures more market phenomena besides Marshall's market equilibrium. When the fluctuation of the determinants of demand and supply is strong enough, a three leaf danger zone exists where the basins of attraction of all attractors intertwine and fractal basin boundaries are formed. Small perturbations in the danger zone can lead to very different attractors. That is, small perturbations in the danger zone can cause the market to experience oscillation near market equilibrium, large growth and recession cycle, and irrational exuberance or flash crash.


Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 (CZTSe) is a semiconductor used as the absorber layer in highly promising sustainable thin film solar cells. We study the effect of Ar + etching of copper deficient and zinc excess CZTSe thin films deposited on Mo/glass substrates on the surface elemental composition, measured by X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and Photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Low temperature PL spectra reveal a broad asymmetrical band at 0.95 eV. The temperature and excitation intensity dependencies of this band suggest that it is a free to bound (FB) recombination of electrons from the conduction band with holes localised at an acceptor affected by potential fluctuations. The surface composition of the as grown films demonstrates a strong copper deficiency: [Cu]/[Zn+Sn] = 0.33. Etching of the film surface using Ar + beam increases [Cu]/[Zn+Sn] to 0.51, which is significantly smaller than that of 0.78 in the bulk, measured by wavelength dispersive x-ray analysis, demonstrating the presence on the surface of a copper-depleted layer. The Ar + etching drastically reduces the FB band intensity by a factor of 4.5, broadens it and develops a low energy tail. Ar ions displace atoms in CZTSe lattice creating primary radiation defects, vacancies and interstitials, which recombine at room temperature forming antisite defects with deep energy levels. Some of them generate the observed low energy tail and increase the mean depth of potential fluctuation (cid:534) , determined from the shape of the low energy side of FB band, from 24 meV before Ar + etching to 35 meV after. Other deep defects work as non-radiative recombination centres reducing the intensity of the FB band.


These images try to encompass the dramatic impact that small actions can have on someone with osteoporosis, illustrating pain, frustration and the limitations of the body. They are not meant as a representation of real-life situations, but are instead an exaggerated response to an Osteoporosis Workshop that artists Finbow and Schrag ran for Front-line Nursing staff, Health Care Assistants and Health Care Academics

The aim of the workshop was to bring new ideas and ways of thinking about working with patients who have or may have Osteoporosis. Part of this process involved the participants creating tissue paper exoskeletons in order to visualise the breaking/snapping of bone, but also to the emotions related to tearing/breaking, as well as the sense of fragility of the body.

Finbow and Schrag were particularly drawn to the aesthetics of the broken exoskeletons. Drawing on their collaborative practice of Performance-For-Camera, they developed a series of images of Schrag seeming to fall/collapse/break. These images are highly dramatic and exaggerated: they bring a sense of bemusement, playfulness, drama, empathy and comedy to the viewer, drawing them in to the images and making them ask questions.

The "faint" or collapsed body has been used throughout Art History. Most often, it is women depicted in these "broken" states: men are rarely shown in this manner, and when they are, it is often suggested that their condition is much more serious. Women are four times more likely than men to have Osteoporosis, but all of us are affected by it. In using Schrag as a male figure in the work, it reminds us of our inter-connections to this disease. Most often than not, within 18th Century paintings in which someone has collapsed/fainted, they are depicted in domestic environments. Similarly, many of the falls/breaks that occur to people with Osteoporosis happen in their homes, or doing simple tasks such as putting on shoes or taking off a coat. The images Finbow and Schrag have developed similarly occur in a domestic sphere and aim to give an empathetic reminder of the difficulty of the condition and the complexities of its occurrence.


Salt welds form due to salt thinning by mechanical (e.g. salt-flow) and/or chemical (e.g. salt-dissolution) processes. Despite being ubiquitous in salt-bearing sedimentary basins, where they may trap large volumes of hydrocarbons, little is published on weld thickness and composition. We here use 3D seismic reflection, borehole and biostratigraphic data from the Atwater Valley protraction area of the northern Gulf of Mexico to constrain the thickness and composition of a salt weld. Seismic data image an 'apparent weld' at the base of a Plio-Pleistocene minibasin that subsided into allochthonous salt. Borehole data indicate the weld is actually 'incomplete', being c. 24 m thick, and containing an upper 5 m-thick halite and a lower 15 m-thick halite, separated by a 4 m-thick mudstone. The age and origin of the intra-weld mudstone is unclear, although we speculate it is either: (i) Late Jurassic, representing material transported upwards from the autochthonous level within a feeder, and subsequently trapped as allochthonous salt thinned and welded; or, perhaps, more likely (ii) Pliocene, representing a piece of salt carapace reworked from the top of and eventually trapped in the now locally welded sheet. We show that 3D seismic reflection data may not resolve weld thickness, with the presence of relatively thin remnant salt lending support to models of welding based on viscous flow. The halite-dominated character of the weld also supports the hypothesis that tectonic purification may occur during salt flow. Supplementary material: uninterpreted seismic reflection profiles, raw biostratigraphic data and a BOEM biostratigraphic chart are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4183061


Temporary streams in California and other Mediterranean climate areas are among the aquatic habitats most altered by human actions and by invasions by alien species. They typically support novel ecosystems, defined as ecosystems dominated by new combinations of organisms in highly altered habitats. Although these new ecosystems have many attributes of the ecosystems they replaced, such as native species, they typically contain many new interactions among species. Managers need to recognize this reality to find ways to direct change towards novel ecosystems with desirable features, including native species. The concept of reconciliation ecology is a practical approach to living with the new reality; it includes actively guiding ecosystem change, as illustrated by Putah Creek, Cosumnes River, Eel River and Six Bit Gulch in California. The first three waterways are all highly altered and managed with varying degrees of success to favour desired aquatic species, whereas Six Bit Gulch experiences such extreme conditions that the original ecosystem is still largely intact. The examples illustrate that most aquatic ecosystems in California are so highly altered that attempting to restore them to an earlier condition or stable state is largely not possible. Where more or less intact systems persist, it is usually because extreme environmental conditions restrict both alien invaders and human use in small watersheds. This pattern appears to be fairly typical of streams in Mediterranean climate areas. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Expert systems divide neatly into two categories: those in which ( 1) the expert decisions result in changes to some external environment (control systems), and (2) the expert decisions merely seek to describe the environment (classification systems). Both the explanation of computer-based reasoning and the "bottleneck" (Feigenbaum, 1979) of knowledge acquisition are major issues in expert systems research. We have contributed to these areas of research in two ways. Firstly, we have implemented an expert system shell, the Mugol environment, which facilitates knowledge acquisition by inductive inference and provides automatic explanation of run-time reasoning on demand. RuleMaster, a commercial version of this environment, has been used to advantage industrially in the construction and testing of two large classification systems. Secondly, we have investigated a new technique called sequence induction which can be used in the construction of control systems. Sequence induction is based on theoretical work in grammatical learning. We have improved existing grammatical learning algorithms as well as suggesting and theoretically characterising new ones. These algorithms have been successfully applied to the acquisition of knowledge for a diverse set of control systems, including inductive construction of robot plans and chess end-game strategies.


The subject of this book is drawing as the catalyst of design processes. The electronic creation and production of images in all the design professions has led today to fundamental changes in the design processes. Hence, drawing has gained a new importance. Designing by drawing mobilises the eye, the head and the hand to an equal degree, and it establishes connections among the senses that the designer can only experience in a very limited way on the computer screen.


Population densities of landlocked lake-migratory brown trout Salmo trutta were estimated in two distinct lotic sections, separated by a lentic segment, in the Greana River, Sweden, and individual growth and habitat use were monitored for 835 tagged brown trout from September 1998 to June 2000. Residency dominated in the upstream section where density of 0+ and 1+ year brown trout was low and growth rate high. In contrast, >90% of the brown trout that migrated to the lake originated from the downstream section, where density was high and growth rate low. For ≥2+ year individuals, growth rate was similar between the two stream sections, but densities were higher in the upstream than in the downstream section. Lake-migrants had higher growth rates than non-migrants (residents) during the autumn of both years. From September to May, migrants increased their body mass by >35%, whereas non-migrants increased by <5%. Approximately 70% of the brown trout moved <10 m and <2% moved between the two stream sections. indicating that the lentic habitat might function as a barrier for juveniles. Differences in migratory behaviour, density and growth between the upstream and the downstream section might indicate that environmental factors influence the decision to migrate. It cannot be excluded, however, that the observed differences are genetically programmed, selected by migration costs that favour migratory behaviour downstream and residency upstream.


Abstract. Standardization in land administration domain has been expanded to 3D and even 4D representations, adopting a multipurpose character, in order to become the foundation of a sustainable and smart economic development. At the moment, although the potential benefits of 3D Cadastre is argued to be enormous and there are plenty of standards related to 3D Cadastre while others enhancing the role of 3D Cities, there is no complete solution for 3D Cadastre. That being so, the last years, there has been a rapid increase in the integration, harmonization and implementation support of such standards. In this context, the integration of 3D legal spaces with 3D physical objects is gaining ground, as the (invisible) legal boundaries do not always match with the physical counterparts, leading to obscure situations. LADM, the International Standard for land administration, was proved to be one of the best candidates to unambiguously represent 3D Rights, Restrictions and Responsibilities. On the other side, spatial data models and virtual city models manage 3D urban structures without focusing on legal aspects. Many researchers have explored integrations between those aspects giving promising results. In this direction, apart from international standards, also national standards have been developed to enable the communication between land information systems. One of the most representatives is INTERLIS, a Swiss standard, a precise, standardized Object Relational modelling language on the conceptual level, which allows for automated quality control. Thus, in this paper the focus is given on how INTERLIS and LADM complement each other in the actual implementation of land administration systems. Main challenges among others in the context of this research include: 1. extensible hierarchical and versioned code lists in INTERLIS models, 2. formally define LADM constraints in INTERLIS, 3. discuss 3D geometry types and 4. introduce a holistic LADM/INTERLIS approach for country profiles.


Jordan is experiencing steady economic growth, which is leading to improved living standards and a higher degree of urbanization. The country's economic growth is linked to i) ongoing tendencies, such as increased population due to immigration and climate change impacts on, for instance, scarce water resources; and ii) growing energy demand, especially for electricity. Electricity, a necessary precondition for economic growth, is required for industrial development and transportation and for electricity-intensive technologies such as cooling and water desalination. Jordanian economic growth is also coupled with fossil fuel consumption, with the biggest share of the country's electricity supply coming from imported fossil fuels. Because of the unstable political situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and the volatility of energy prices, Jordan's reliance on energy imports is threatening its security of supply.

The Jordanian government is seeking alternatives to imported energy. Renewable energy sources are a high priority, with the government having set the target of reaching 10% of renewable energies in the final energy mix by 2020. While there are several strategies and action plans on how to reach this target, other options such as nuclear, natural gas, and exploration of offshore gas fields are also currently under discussion. Nuclear energy, for instance, could constitute 6% of the overall energy mix by 2020. Jordan has favorable conditions for renewable energies such as wind and solar. Even though the share of renewable energies is not currently significant, this could soon change, given that several projects for deployment of renewable energies are currently in the planning or implementation phases. The goal of this background report is to understand the socioeconomic and political context of the
ongoing energy transition in Jordan. The background report is organized around the following questions:

- What are the current socioeconomic challenges in Jordan?
- What are the political background and framework conditions for participatory governance?
- What is the energy context, including current supply and demand and the state of electricity transmission grids?
- What is the institutional and regulatory structure of energy policy in Jordan?

Addressing these questions is essential for understanding the feasibility of each of the nine technologies discussed in the MENA-SELECT project, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewables. It is also essential for understanding the human factors of the energy transition, such as the different views of the main stakeholder groups involved in the energy policy process.


Knowledge of the characteristics and spatial distribution of permafrost in Iceland is important to understanding slope stability, climate change impacts and palaeo‐glaciology. The permafrost distribution there, however, is poorly constrained. The presence of rock glaciers and stable ice‐cored moraines in mountain settings relates to permafrost, making such landforms indicators of present or past permafrost. This study combines recently published aerial photographs (2002–07), radar interferometry based on Advanced Land Observing Satellite phased array type L‐band synthetic aperture radar (ALOS PALSAR) data (2007), land surface temperatures estimated from moderate‐resolution imaging spectroradiometer satellite data (MODIS; 2003–10) and field mapping to re‐examine the permafrost distribution, thermal characteristics and dynamics on the Tröllaskagi peninsula. An inventory of 265 landforms, mostly active or inactive (intact), categorised them by genesis and activity, the latter independently investigated by PALSAR interferometry. Intact landforms are mainly glacigenic, occurring as moraine‐derived rock glaciers or ice‐cored moraines. Their dominant orientation is between north and northeast, suggesting that topography and exposure influence their present‐day formation. Permafrost landforms exist at all elevations on the Tröllaskagi peninsula, with intact landforms at high elevations and relict landforms reaching down to sea level. Rock glaciers at sea level may imply early deglaciation of northern Iceland. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


At independence in 1962, Uganda started off as a multiparty democracy until 1971, when 'Field Marshal' Idi Amin's military junta took over and ruled by decree for eight years. In 1980 multiparty democracy was restored only to be usurped by another military junta in 1985. In 1986, after a five year protracted guerrilla war, the NRM Government came to power instituting a no-party political system based on individual merit. Subsequent constitutional reforms between 1995 and 2005 culminated into the restoration of multi-party democracy. Uganda's Parliament is a uni-cameral, democratic, parliamentary system of government modeled on the Westminster system of legislature. The Ugandan taxpayer forks out the equivalent of a new executive Gulf Stream jet per annum to maintain parliament and parliamentarians and so they are entitled to know and ask for value for money. A leader in the ruling NRM party was quoted as stating that he does not mind if Members of Parliament (MPs) sleep in Parliament as long as they wake up in time to vote for the party's positions. Africa Leadership Institute (AFLI), a Ugandan independent, non-partisan, public policy think tank, takes exception to such statements and that is one of the reasons why it came up with its first groundbreaking and innovative Parliamentary Scorecard 2006-2007 in December 2007. The voting public welcomed the Scorecard with open arms while, on the other hand, the Members of Parliament (MPs) received it with mixed feelings accompanied by both negative criticism and positive acclaim. The Scorecard only measures on the constitutionally recognised roles of MPs and does not reward MPs for activities that are not a part of their legal mandate. For instance, while many voters might choose to vote for an MP based on how often the representative attends local funerals, pays school fees for children in the constituency, these activities are not part of an MP's legal obligations, so it would be unfair and misleading to grade legislators on these actions. The Scorecard Project is an exercise aimed at scoring the performance of Ugandan MPs in an endeavour to contribute to better governance. It is based on the idea that it is possible to work within the framework of representative government but still maintain a high degree of public participation in decision making. By empowering constituents to monitor their elected representatives, it provides intrinsic benefits by strengthening civic engagement with Parliament. In strengthening Parliament in fulfilling its functions, the scorecard is boosting democracy and good governance.


Two barley varieties, 'Glenn' and 'Park', have been developed by the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in cooperation with the Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture. Glenn is a high yielding, early maturing, strong strawed variety with resistance to loose and covered smut. Glenn has not yet been classified with respect to acceptability for malting and brewing but tests have been generally favorable. Park is a strong strawed variety with superior resistance to prevalent leaf spotting diseases. Park has been classified as an acceptable variety for malting and brewing by the Malting Barley Improvement Association.


Supernova detection is a major objective of the Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment. In the next stage of SK (SK-Gd), gadolinium (Gd) sulfate will be added to the detector, which will improve the ability of the detector to identify neutrons. A core-collapse supernova (CCSN) will be preceded by an increasing flux of neutrinos and antineutrinos, from thermal and weak nuclear processes in the star, over a timescale of hours; some of which may be detected at SK-Gd. This could provide an early warning of an imminent CCSN, hours earlier than the detection of the neutrinos from core collapse. Electron antineutrino detection will rely on inverse beta decay events below the usual analysis energy threshold of SK, so Gd loading is vital to reduce backgrounds while maximizing detection efficiency. Assuming normal neutrino mass ordering, more than 200 events could be detected in the final 12 hr before core collapse for a 15–25 solar mass star at around 200 pc, which is representative of the nearest red supergiant to Earth, α-Ori (Betelgeuse). At a statistical false alarm rate of 1 per century, detection could be up to 10 hr before core collapse, and a pre-supernova star could be detected by SK-Gd up to 600 pc away. A pre-supernova alert could be provided to the astrophysics community following gadolinium loading.


Constraints and uncertainties are presented for modeling of an ultralow-velocity zone layer (ULVZ) at the base of Earth's mantle using an SKS wave with small segments of P wave diffraction at the SKS core entry and exit locations, called SP_dKS. Source or receiver effects are ruled out as causes for the SP_dKS anomalies used to map ULVZ structure, since systematic SP_dKS-SKS travel time moveout behavior is present in profiles of recordings of a given earthquake at many seismographic stations and also for many events recorded at one station. The southwest Pacific region produces strong variability in observed SP_dKS/SKS amplitude ratios (compared to synthetic seismograms), which geographically corresponds to an anomalous ULVZ region. Accurate determination of absolute ULVZ thicknesses requires knowledge of, in addition to magnitude of P wave velocity (V_p) reduction in the layer, the magnitude of S wave velocity (V_S) reduction and density (ρ) perturbation (if any). Synthetic seismogram experiments demonstrate several key points regarding uncertainties and constraints in modeling ULVZ structure: (1) thicker layers (up to 300 km thick) with mild reductions (e.g., −2.5 to −5.0%) cannot reproduce the anomalous SP_dKS behavior seen in the data; (2) for ULVZ layers less than 10 km thick, strong trade-offs exist between discontinuous velocity reductions and linear gradient reductions over a thicker zone; (3) uncertainties preclude precise determination of magnitude of δV_P and δV_S reductions, as well as the δV_S:δV_P ratio; (4) large density increases within the ULVZ (e.g., up to 60% and more) can efficiently broaden and delay the peak of the energy that we identify as SP_dKS for models with strong velocity reductions in the layer; (5) models with extreme Q reductions in the ULVZ can affect SP_dKS waveforms, and dampen spurious ringing energy present in Sd waveshapes due to the ULVZ; and (6) the minimum required V_p reduction for the most anomalous data (around −10%) trades off with thinner ULVZ structures containing larger velocity reductions (with possible density increases as well).


Companies of today act on a global competitive market. This dynamic business environment requires operational efficiency and capabilities to produce and develop products and services required by the market at the necessary rate of change. To achieve this many companies focus on core competencies, moving the rest to external suppliers. The trend has therefore turned from producing internally to buying from external suppliers. The objective in this paper is to identify critical parameters, which affects (or are affected) by the make or buy decision, based on the two case studies. This paper is based upon a literature overview and two case studies conducted at Volvo and ABB in Sweden. Both companies have out-sourced different components. Some of the parameters found in the case studies are; competitive priorities, resources, the logistic cost, core competencies, the feed-back loop and long time survival. The case study shows that not all outsourcing cases were such a success as expected, indicating the need for a "Rightsourcing model".


View from West Vista Chino Road; landscaping (xeriscaping) hides house from street, merges house to desert landscape; One of the last domestic projects conducted by Neutra, designed for the same family (Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., a Pittsburgh department store tycoon) who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. The five-bedroom, five-bathroom vacation house, was designed to emphasize connection to the desert landscape while offering shelter from harsh climatic conditions. Large sliding glass walls open the living spaces and master bedroom to adjacent patios. When Kaufmann died in 1955, the house was vacant for a number of years, then underwent some remodeling. In 1991 new owners sought to restore the home to its original design. Neutra died in 1970 and the original plans were not available, so the couple brought in Los Angeles architects Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner to restore the design. They consulted archives at UCLA and Columbia and the 1947 photographs by Julius Shulman, which had made the house famous. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 7/18/2014)


Most socialist states have shown some transformation of their political institutions in the eighties, but the Hungarian experimentation with reforms is significantly different from that of other socialist states. The 1985 national and local elections were held on the basis of a hitherto unique electoral law; citizens were able to nominate candidates of their own choosing. The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP) Central Committee clearly approved of the expanded responsibilities forthe new National Assembly (also called in Hungarian the Parliament or Orszag gyules) and held that it should play a more active role in the legislative and political systems. This, of course, would be impossible without major organizational and/or functional changes on the plenary, committee and procedural levels.


Machiavelli's The Prince has been cherished for more than 500 years, withits various facets used by scholars and researchers of management sciences. But with the dawn of positive organizational scholarship, the Machiavellian prince with his dark aspects does not appear compatible. Hence, the emerging field, resting more on humans' positive side, is also in need of an idol the way Machiavelli's The Prince has been idolized through the traditional views of management and business. As a result, the current study has reviewed Prince Myshkin, the protagonist in Dostoevsky's The Idiot as the alternative and antagonist to Machiavelli's style. Hence the current study identifies the possible ethical implications in human resource management which can be guided through the character of Prince Myshkin. The study also analyzes how two different princes (i.e.,Prince Myshkin and Machiavelli's prince) guide managers under similar situations, thus guiding managers to deal in contemporary tones with the way of the new prince (i.e., Prince Myshkin).


Acute intra-renal infusion of bradykinin increases diuresis and natriuresis via inhibition of vasopressin activity. However, the consequences of chronically increased bradykinin in the kidneys have not yet been studied. A new transgenic animal model producing an excess of bradykinin by proximal tubular cells (KapBK rats) was generated and submitted to different salt containing diets to analyze changes in blood pressure and other cardiovascular parameters, urine excretion, and composition, as well as levels and expression of renin-angiotensin system components. Despite that KapBK rats excrete more urine and sodium, they have similar blood pressure as controls with the exception of a small increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP). However, they present decreased renal artery blood flow, increased intrarenal expression of angiotensinogen, and decreased mRNA expression of vasopressin V1A receptor (AVPR1A), suggesting a mechanism for the previously described reduction of renal vasopressin sensitivity by bradykinin. Additionally, reduced heart rate variability (HRV), increased cardiac output and frequency, and the development of cardiac hypertrophy are the main chronic effects observed in the cardiovascular system. In conclusion: (1) the transgenic KapBK rat is a useful model for studying chronic effects of bradykinin in kidney; (2) increased renal bradykinin causes changes in renin angiotensin system regulation; (3) decreased renal vasopressin sensitivity in KapBK rats is related to decreased V1A receptor expression; (4) although increased renal levels of bradykinin causes no changes in mean arterial pressure (MAP), it causes reduction in HRV, augmentation in cardiac frequency and output and consequently cardiac hypertrophy in rats after 6 months of age.


The consequences of demanding perfection of oneself are hotly debated, with researchers typically arguing for either the adaptiveness or the maladaptiveness of this trait. Research informing this debate involves mainly psychiatric patients, undergraduates, and self-report data, suggesting a need to broaden this relatively narrow evidence base. The present study examines self-oriented perfectionism (i.e., demanding perfection of oneself), conscientiousness, socially prescribed perfectionism, neuroticism, and research productivity in psychology professors. Self-oriented perfectionism was negatively related to total number of publications, number of first-authored publications, number of citations, and journal impact rating, even after controlling for competing predictors (e.g., conscientiousness). Self-oriented perfectionism may represent a form of counterproductive overstriving that limits research productivity amongst psychology professors. Although self-oriented perfectionism is often labeled as adaptive, such statements may be overly general.


Effective Science Communication: A practical guide to surviving as a scientist is devoted to the variety of ways that scientists are expected to communicate in their day-to-day professional lives. It includes practical advice on how to publish your work in scientific journals, apply for grants, and effectively communicate your research to both scientific and non-scientific audiences. There are chapters devoted to constructing a digital footprint, dealing with the media, and influencing science policy. Guiding you throughout are a number of useful exercises that will help you to become a more effective communicator, providing a helping hand in your scientific journey to not only survive, but to prosper in the process.


ONLINE AND STATISTICAL LEARNING IN NETWORKS Shahin Shahrampour Ali Jadbabaie Alexander Rakhlin Learning, prediction and identification has been a main topic of interest in science and engineering for many years. Common in all these problems is an agent that receives the data to perform prediction and identification procedures. The agent might process the data individually, or might interact in a network of agents. The goal of this thesis is to address problems that lie at the interface of statistical processing of data, online learning and network science with a focus on developing distributed algorithms. These problems have wide-spread applications in several domains of systems engineering and computer science. Whether in individual or group, the main task of the agent is to understand how to treat data to infer the unknown parameters of the problem. To this end, the first part of this thesis addresses statistical processing of data. We start with the problem of distributed detection in multi-agent networks. In contrast to the existing literature which focuses on asymptotic learning, we provide a finite-time analysis using a notion of Kullback-Leibler cost. We derive bounds on the cost in terms of network size, spectral gap and relative entropy of data distribution. Next, we turn to focus on an inverse-type problem where the network structure is unknown, and the outputs of a dynamics (e.g. consensus dynamics) are given. We propose several network reconstruction algorithms by measuring the network response to the inputs. Our algorithm reconstructs the Boolean structure (i.e., existence and directions of links) of a directed network from a series of dynamical responses. The second part of the thesis centers around online learning where data is received in a sequential fashion. As an example of collaborative learning, we consider the v stochastic multi-armed bandit problem in a multi-player network. Players explore a pool of arms with payoffs generated from player-dependent distributions. Pulling an arm, each player only observes a noisy payoff of the chosen arm. The goal is to maximize a global welfare or to find the best global arm. Hence, players exchange information locally to benefit from side observations. We develop a distributed online algorithm with a logarithmic regret with respect to the best global arm, and generalize our results to the case that availability of arms varies over time. We then return to individual online learning where one learner plays against an adversary. We develop a fully adaptive algorithm that takes advantage of a regularity of the sequence of observations, retains worst-case performance guarantees, and performs well against complex benchmarks. Our method competes with dynamic benchmarks in which regret guarantee scales with regularity of the sequence of cost functions and comparators. Notably, the regret bound adapts to the smaller complexity measure in the problem environment.


Abstract Surface height and mass balance changes of Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers within Juneau Icefield, Alaska, are examined to determine the relationship between these parameters and climatic forcing. Both Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers are located in a maritime climate, but they behave very differently. Taku Glacier, a former tidewater glacier, is ∼70 times larger than Lemon Creek Glacier, and its dynamics are largely a result of the post-tidewater glacier cycle which causes insensitivity to climate change during advance phases. Taku Glacier is advancing at present but its surface height, mass balance, and rate of advance have decreased since 1988. Lemon Creek Glacier, a small alpine glacier, is retreating and has maintained a negative mass balance since 1953. Mass balance records from both Taku and Lemon Creek Glaciers correlate well with temperature and show little correlation with precipitation. The mass balance of these glaciers also correlates with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). However, the Lemon Creek Glacier mass balance record shows a stronger correlation with the PDO than that of Taku Glacier. Taku Glacier shows a longer delay in response to warming in Southeast Alaska likely due to post-tidewater glacier dynamics, its large accumulation area ratio (AAR), and its size.


This article shows that a junior market can be an effective financing strategy for growth-oriented entrepreneurs who want to list on a senior stock exchange. We analyze 209 graduations from the Canadian junior market (TSXV) benchmarked with 191 initial public offerings (IPOs) on the senior exchange (TSX). Graduations are as frequent as IPOs, and the probability of reaching the TSX is significantly higher for TSXV firms than for venture capital-backed firms. The growth rate of revenues is significantly higher before graduations than before IPOs, allowing TSXV firms to reach the TSX earlier. Investors value both groups of firms similarly, indicating comparable perceived quality. In Canada, the junior market is a valuable financing strategy for growth-oriented entrepreneurs. It fulfills its role of fostering the development of innovative firms and feeding the senior exchange. However, the choice of the TSXV reduces entrepreneur ownership interest compared with the IPO strategy.


Background A constructive patient safety culture is a main prerequisite for patient safety and improvement initiatives. Until now, patient safety culture (PSC) research was mainly focused on hospital care, however, it is of equal importance in primary care. Measuring PSC informs practices on their state of affairs and can guide further improvements. Measuring tools were only available for general practice and not much was known on effective interventions.

Aim The aim of the first part of the thesis was to develop and validate a generic PSC questionnaire for the Dutch primary care setting (SCOPE-PC) and to explore the prevailing culture. The second part was aimed at developing and testing two patient safety interventions in general practice.

Methods For developing the questionnaire we conducted an exploratory factor analysis and both calculated Cronbach's alpha's and inter-correlations. Mean dimension scores per each professions were determined and compared to the dimension mean to see whether professions differed.

To test two interventions, completing a PSC questionnaire (SCOPE) solely or combined with a complementary workshop, a three-armed trial was conducted. The workshop consisted of education and facilitated discussions using the Manchester Patient Safety Framework and their own SCOPE results. The primary outcome was the number of known incidents the year before the intervention and one year later. Secondary outcomes were quality- and safety indicators and PSC. A generalized linear model was used to analyse the number of incidents and multilevel analysis was used to analyse the culture questionnaires. In addition to the quantitative measures, we conducted interviews at follow up and used the theory of 'Community of Practice' for interpretation.

Results Validation of the SCOPE-PC questionnaire resulted in seven dimensions. Perceptions of caregivers were generally positive with little differences between professions. The dimension 'Intention to report events' scored lowest and showed the largest variation within professional groups.

Trial results showed that practices that participated in the workshop reported 42 times more incidents than the control group indicating improved PSC. Practices that only completed the questionnaire reported five times more incidents compared to the control group. The interviews showed that risk-awareness was improved after the workshop. Also interaction around the patient safety as an issue increased. Notable was that quantitative analysis of the SCOPE questionnaire showed no significant differences over time nor between the three groups at follow-up whilst the interviews as well as the changed reporting behavior did suggest improvement of culture in the workshop practices.

Conclusion Caregivers in primary care seem to be positive about their PSC. The workshops indicate that education plays an important role in risk-awareness. Also, discussing PSC was perceived to contribute to unity and clarity. Culture change is important for providing safe healthcare and this study showed that it is fruitful spending time on the subject in a team approach.