The aims of the research were to investigate the population and diversity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in human breast milk, to assess the probiotic potential of the identified LAB, to examine the antimicrobial resistance profile of the LAB and to investigate the possible relationship between the identified bacterial population and diversity with stage of lactation, number of children and diet. Samples of breast milk were collected from 20 breast feeding mothers. Standard spread plating on MRS agar and MRS agar supplemented with L-cysteine HCl (MRS-cys) was used for the enumeration of the organisms. Phenotypic identification of 108 recovered isolates was carried out. All isolates were Gram positive and oxidase negative, some were catalase positive and others were catalase negative. Further identification was carried out by grouping the isolates using repetitive sequence based PCR (rep-PCR). A total of nineteen groups were generated from the rep-PCR DNA profiles. This was followed by genotypic identification using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified LAB and non-LAB. Most of the LAB isolates belonged to the Lactobacillus genus, the rest were Leuconostoc, Weissella, Streptococcus and Enterococcus spp. The non-LAB were Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus hominis. To examine the potential probiotic characteristics of the isolates, at least one representative isolate from each species of LAB (11 in total) were selected and characterised through a series of experiments. Initially the acid and bile resistance of the selected isolates were studied. All eleven LAB showed good tolerance to low pH and high concentration of bile salt. The antimicrobial activity of the isolates was also assessed. Again all eleven LAB produced antibacterial metabolites that inhibited the growth of all the four indicator bacteria (Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus) in both unbuffered and buffered agar spot tests. The antimicrobial activity of the LAB using Agar well diffusion assay revealed antimicrobial properties of some of the studied LAB. The ability of the eleven selected LAB to produce exopolysaccharide, deconjugate bile salt and reduce cholesterol was investigated. The entire eleven LAB produced exopolysaccharide, deconjugate bile salt and reduce cholesterol. The phenotypic antimicrobial resistance profile of the eleven LAB was assessed. Furthermore, the genetic background of the phenotypic resistance was also investigated. All eleven LAB were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin and quinupristin/dalfopristin and resistant to daptomycin. Most of the LAB were resistant to erythromycin, gentamicin tetracycline and vancomycin. Antimicrobial resistance genes for erythromycin and tetracycline were confirmed for three LAB.


School music programs should be fostering both lifewide and lifelong musicing by enabling students to be involved in performing and enjoying a wide range of musical offerings within their communities throughout their lives. They should focus on connecting students with the musical lives of their communities, teaching them to perform, compose and arrange a variety of musical styles available throughout their community, as well as chamber music they can perform at home and with friends. This would move school music from the margins to the mainstream of the musical lives of their communities. The researcher investigated the musical offerings in Philadelphia from 21 September – 5 October 2003, documenting both live and broadcast music performances, to determine the "musical life" of the community during that period. The results indicate that the majority of performances in both live and broadcast media during this study period were musics unique to the Americas that developed from the clash and convergence of cultures unique to the Western Hemisphere. This is not the music typically offered in K12 school music programs, possibly indicating a disconnection between school music programs and the community's music scene. This could be a cause for lack of support for and participation in school music programs. This study raises implications and provides suggestions for both K12 curricular offerings and music teacher preparation programs. Given the fluid demographic shifts of pluralistic societies, ethnographic research and curriculum design have become necessary skills for music teachers. This study also indicates music teachers in the USA need to be well versed in digital technology, transcribing, arranging, and a wide variety of musics reflective of the Americas including traditional "art" musics of the Western Hemisphere, Bluegrass, folk, jazz, Brazilian, Caribbean, Cuban, Latin American, rock, pop and World Musics.


This research investigates the method of parameter identification for baseisolated buildings with a limited number of sensors. The base-isolated superstructure is considered as separated substructure from the isolation layer that shifts the natural frequency of the building away from the dominant frequency components of the ground motion, and is thus modelled as a shear type linear model. The structural response for the unrecorded floors are first predicted using a system of simultaneous linear equations with unknown parameters presented. Then a Gauss-Newton algorithm, which is based on solving a sequence of linearization least squares approximations to the nonlinear least square problems, is employed to identify the story stiffness and Rayleigh damping coefficients of the structure. The performance and robustness of the proposed identification method is demonstrated using a simulated structure and different initial guesses, both with and without added noise. The numerical results show that the estimated story stiffness and damping coefficients converge to the exact value using different initial guesses without measurement noise, and are robust to noise with the average error within 16% even with 10% added noise. Finally, the estimated response for unrecorded floor are compared to the true response. The results indicate that the method is capable of predicting the structural response of the base-isolated building accurately using limited sensors.


Abstract Purpose: Research interest in telehealth and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown. There is a need to review the literature to allow speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and other service providers to consider applicability to their settings. The aim of this review was to examine the nature and outcomes of studies examining telehealth assessment and/or intervention in ASD. Method: A systematic search of the literature was undertaken, with 14 studies meeting inclusion criteria. The authors extracted information from each included article, including participant characteristics, technology used, measures and reported outcomes. Quality review of articles was undertaken. Result: The 284 participants with ASD across the 14 included studies ranged in age from 19 months to adulthood. The quality of the studies varied. A range of services were provided via telehealth, including diagnostic assessments, early intervention and language therapy. Results suggested that services delivered via telehealth were equivalent to services delivered face to face, and superior to comparison groups without telehealth sessions. Conclusion: The findings suggest there may be a range of benefits in using telehealth with individuals with ASD, their families, and teachers. Further research, however, is required particularly regarding the use of telehealth directly with children with ASD for assessment and intervention.


The Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) fishery in the Gulf of Maine utilizes two types of gear, trawls and traps, targeting females as they move mid-winter to inshore waters. With an unstable market and an increased proportion of catch coming from the trap shrimp fishery, the goal of this project is to understand the benefit and feasibility of certifying the trap fishery as sustainable with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). We will address several data gaps required for the certification process: monitoring, industry support, and bycatch assessment. 1) Reviewing the fishery-dependent data from two monitoring programs, logbook and port sampling is needed. We will evaluate the efficiency, and look for overlaps and discrepancies of both programs at different spatial and temporal scales. A computer simulation will then model an efficient and comprehensive fishery for monitoring program maintaining representative data collection for landings, gear types, locations, and season variability. 2) Certification requires the fishers' support. A survey sent at the end of the 2009 winter season was designed to obtain in-depth understanding of the fishers' thoughts about the fishery and the certification process. 3) Limited information is available on the shrimp fishery bycatch in the Gulf of Maine, in particular, in the trap fishery. Using on-board observers during the 2010 season, we will quantify trap bycatch species composition, amounts, and temporal and spatial variations in the fishing season. With limited data and the trap fisheries' increased importance in the overall shrimp harvest, each component of this study will provide critical information needed for MSC sustainable certification. This certification may significantly enhance the economic value of the shrimp fishery in the state of Maine.


Digital entrepreneurship is broadly defined as creating new ventures and transforming existing businesses by developing novel digital technologies and/or novel usage of such technologies, (European Commission, 2015). Digital entrepreneurship has been viewed as a critical pillar for economic growth, job creation and innovation by many countries including the Member States of the European Union. We argue that a nation's digital entrepreneurial capacity depends largely on digital entrepreneurial behaviour, culture, and strategies as well as a supportive innovation ecosystem in which governments, industry, business, educational institutions and NGOs (non-government organizations) work together. Therefore, a holistic and integrative approach is needed. This study aims to explore the emerging concept of digital entrepreneurship from multiple disciplinary perspectives, namely, information technology and systems, entrepreneurship and management, as well as contextual political/legal and socioeconomic factors and their impacts in a systemic and integrative way. For that purpose, the paper develops a conceptual model to study digital entrepreneurship drawing on current literature and three well-established theories – social network theory, social capital theory and institutional theory. The model addresses five fundamental research questions of digital entrepreneurship, thus leading to a better understanding of the concept and practice of digital entrepreneurship.


As a term, "innovation" is used inconsistently, often resembling 'cheap talk.' In telecom. and media policy debates like network neutrality, both those supporting and against proposed regulation will claim their position improves innovation, while their opponents' position will harm innovation. However, "innovation" becomes a valuable legal term of art when used in mergers and acquisitions ("M&A") decisions, particularly when the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") evaluates "Major Transactions." The primary aims of this work are to clarify the meaning of innovation as it pertains to competition regulation and M&A strategy and offer insights into how innovation should influence future regulation and strategy formation.
After the Telecommunications Act of 1996 enabled telecommunications and media companies to compete in once-restricted lines of business, there was a flurry of M&A activity that has continued to this day. Simultaneously, innovations related to digital convergence have placed these once disparate lines of business in increasingly direct competition with one another. This research reviews the 82 FCC "Major Transaction" orders between the passage of the Act and 2015, using a textual coding method related to the various economic and legal definitions of innovation to analyze all 509 instances of the grammatical variations of the term's use. Four primary conceptual definitions of innovation are identified and explored through legal analysis, with the term's usage patterns analyzed in connection to bundling, business mavericks, business innovation, innovation markets, technological innovation, and the concept's integration into the competition regulation framework. Each of 82 orders is also categorized by the general markets involved and the type of transaction under review, and explored through a combination of the results of this coded data and legal research, which clarifies and reframes innovation discussions surrounding the precedents contained within the FCC's major mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and licensing transactions. Policy and business strategy conclusions are considered, with insights about how technological innovation challenges antitrust law's discrete market definitions and why open access factors across a broader range of indirect competitors may be more important.


Recently, the United States Supreme Court wrestled with the profoundly complex and bedeviling issue of individual privacy in the landmark case of Carpenter v. United States. It is the most recent in a long line of Fourth Amendment cases that examine an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy. In Carpenter, the Supreme Court revisited and expanded upon this query from Riley v. California and United States v. Jones — both progeny of Katz v. United States, the leading case in this area.
The Carpenter Court ruled the government required a warrant before it could use private information arising from defendant Timothy Carpenter's cellular phone — specifically, his cell site location information (CSLI). In the 5-4 decision, the Court ruled "narrowly" in favor of privacy, finding the government had constitutionally violated Mr. Carpenter's reasonable expectation of privacy by acquiring this private information without a warrant. It ruled that, as a cell phone customer, Mr. Carpenter could reasonably expect that his CSLI would be treated as private, even though it was in the possession of a third party. In so ruling, the Court declined to apply the long-standing third-party doctrine of United States v. Miller and Smith v. Maryland. These cases, which stand for the proposition that there is a reduced expectation of privacy in information an individual knowingly shares with another, have thus been narrowed.
Against a backdrop of stunningly advanced surveillance technology and the strictures of the United States Constitution, the question of how individual privacy comports with the need for police investigation is a complex and impressively difficult one. In the current political landscape, judicial vigilance becomes increasingly important in protecting the appropriate dimensions of individual privacy. The grave risks of governmental abuse may militate in favor of strengthened judicial oversight in determining the parameters of the state's broad investigative powers. Strong privacy protections may indeed serve to function as a safeguard against the risks of governmental overreach, police misconduct, and improper warrantless surveillance.


Urban parks are key elements of the urban landscape. They provide important ecological, environmental, and social value as well as spaces for outdoor activities to contribute to urban sustainability. Reasonable accessibility is fundamental for people to take full advantage of the benefits of parks. Spatial interaction models are useful in many fields, especially in static systems. The proposed model has been validated for analyzing the accessibility of district parks in Hong Kong. The accessibility index was calculated using the population in catchment zones lying within a walking distance of 400 m, considering the population that the parks serve, the distance between residential areas and parks, the park area, and the facilities and current condition of green spaces in the parks. The results indicate that the index is strongly related to the spatial pattern of residential areas and the shape and spatial pattern of district parks. High accessibility is always associated with parks located in centers of population concentration rather than in the geographical centers of built-up areas. The catchment zones of district parks within walking distance only cover one-fourth of residential areas, and most residents do not have convenient access to reach parks on foot. The district parks were established without much concern for increasing accessibility. No districts have enough district parks to meet the needs of their residents. Future parks should preferably be elongated to serve more nearby residents, especially in extremely compact cities like Hong Kong.


For the multiple-input multiple-output interfering multiple-access channels (IMACs), opportunistic interference alignment (OIA) using the singular value decomposition (SVD)-based beamforming at each user fundamentally reduces the user scaling condition required to achieve any target DoF, compared to that for the single-input multiple-output IMAC. In this paper, we tackle two practical challenges of the existing SVD-based OIA: 1) the need of full feedforward of the selected users' beamforming weight vectors and 2) a low rate achieved based on the exiting zero-forcing receiver. We first propose a codebook-based OIA, in which the weight vectors are chosen from a predefined codebook with a finite size so that information of the weight vectors can be sent to the belonging BS with limited feedforward. We derive the codebook size required to achieve the same user scaling condition as the SVD-based OIA case for both Grassmannian and random codebooks. Surprisingly, it is shown that the derived codebook size is the same for the two codebook methods. Second, we introduce an enhanced receiver at the base stations (BSs) in pursuit of further improving the achievable rate. Assuming no collaboration between the BSs, the interfering links between a BS and the selected users in neighboring cells are difficult to be acquired at the belonging BS. We propose the use of a simple minimum Euclidean distance receiver operating with no information of the interfering links. With the help of the OIA, we show that this new receiver asymptotically achieves the channel capacity as the number of users increases.


The literature exploring other regarding behavior sheds important light on interesting social phenomena, yet less attention has been given to how the received results speak to foundational assumptions within economics. Our study synthesizes the empirical evidence, showing that recent work challenges convex preference theory but is largely consistent with rational choice theory. Guided by this understanding, we design a new, more demanding test of a central tenet of economics—the contraction axiom—within a sharing framework. Making use of more than 325 dictators participating in a series of allocation games, we show that sharing choices violate the contraction axiom. We advance a new theory that augments standard models with moral reference points to explain our experimental data. Our theory also organizes the broader sharing patterns in the received literature.


In recent years the professions have undergone radical transformation. With the advent of rapidly changing markets, more sophisticated and demanding clients, deregulation and increased competition, the generalist professional partnerships have given way to larger, more corporate forms of organization, comprising increasingly autonomous specialist business units. This volume critically examines these changes through an examination of the archetypes which characterize accounting, health care and law practitioners. With examples drawn from Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA, Restructuring the Professional Organization will be of interest to all students of organization studies seeking to understand the issues and problems confronting the professions as they move to the new millennium. Topics covered include: * a review of the models of professional organization *drivers of change in professional organizations * internal dynamics of changes in these organizations * new organizational forms and archetypes.


A substantial proportion of schizophrenia-spectrum patients exhibit a cognitive impairment at illness onset. However, the long-term course of neurocognition and a possible neurotoxic effect of time spent in active psychosis, is a topic of controversy. Furthermore, it is of importance to find out what predicts the long-term course of neurocognition. Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), accumulated time in psychosis the first year after start of treatment, relapse rates and symptoms are potential predictors of the long-term course. In this study, 261 first-episode psychosis patients were assessed neuropsychologically on one or more occasions. Patients were tested after remission of psychotic symptoms and reassessed 1, 2, 5, and 10 years after inclusion. The neurocognitive battery consisted of California Verbal Learning Test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Task, Trail Making A and B, and Finger Tapping. We calculated a composite score by adding the z-scores of 4 tests that were only moderately inter-correlated, not including Finger Tapping. Data were analyzed by a linear mixed model. The composite score was stable over 10 years. No significant relationship between psychosis before (DUP) or after start of treatment and the composite score was found, providing no support for the neurotoxicity hypothesis, and indicating that psychosis before start of treatment has no significant impact on the course and outcome in psychosis. We found no association between symptoms and the neurocognitive trajectory. Stable remission during the first year predicted neurocognitive functioning, suggesting that the early clinical course is a good predictor for the long-term course.


Research into volunteers' motivations to volunteer (MTV) usually relies on surveys and there is a need for more qualitative research into volunteering motivations, particularly in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, existing qualitative research into volunteering motivations usually relies on the thematic analysis of interviews with volunteers, but while this analysis is necessarily the analysis of discourse, there is rarely a systematic or replicable analysis of such discourse. This thesis aims to contribute to current understanding of MTV and the beliefs underpinning them by drawing upon various tools for discourse analysis in the analysis of community-based volunteers' accounts of their volunteering experiences. However, given the generally positive reception that community based volunteering receives in the public domain, this thesis aims not only to describe and explain informants' MTV but also to critically evaluate volunteers' representations of volunteering practice. A central argument in this thesis is that while a strong sense of concern for the suffering and flourishing of beneficiaries is expressed throughout volunteers' representations, volunteering tends to be represented as an optional act of goodwill, rather than a moral duty or obligation. This raises questions about the dominant ways we think about helping others in contemporary society and about the ideologies underpinning such beliefs. It is argued that bringing to the fore and problematizing such beliefs is critical in a time where traditional collectives are breaking down and the social contracts underpinning British and European society together with the nature of our obligations as citizens in an increasingly globalized society are subject to increasing scrutiny and debate.


This paper presents a 3D reactive collision avoidance algorithm for vehicles with underactuated dynamics. The underactuated states cannot be directly controlled, but are controlled indirectly by steering the direction of the vehicle's velocity vector. This vector is made to point a constant avoidance angle away from the obstacle, thus ensuring collision avoidance, while the forward speed is kept constant to maintain maneuverability. We choose an optimal pair of desired heading and pitch angles during the maneuver, thus taking advantage of the flexibility provided by operating in 3D. The algorithm incorporates limits on both the allowed pitch angle and the control inputs, which are limits that often are present in practical scenarios. Finally, we provide a mathematical proof that the collision avoidance maneuver is safe, and support the analysis through several simulations.


Long coaxial cables are widely used in telecommunication industry and, in oil and gas industry. The telecommunication industry mainly uses these cables for telecommunication between island, countries, etc. While in Oil and Gas Industry, the long coaxial cable plays a central role in production and well maintenance services. The long coaxial cable is attached with the down-hole monitoring equipment and travels to the well of 6 to 7 kilometres depth without repeaters. It is used to supply power to down-hole equipment and also provide communication link with the computer located at the oil rig or ship. During the transmission period, the long coaxial cable is often subjected to temperature differences and external noise interference. Both elements can be considered as interrelated with address to the degradation on the performance of the long coaxial cable. Therefore, the aim of the research is to investigate the performance of the long coaxial cable. The objectives are to analyze and evaluate the performance of the long coaxial cable corresponding to temperature differences, and also to develop and analyze the thermal transfer analysis for long coaxial cable. The methodology used for the research consists of five main stages such as mathematical analysis, designing long coaxial channel model as FIR filter, theoretical analysis, practical analysis and thermal transfer modeling.
The study and the investigation were conducted on the MATLAB by designing a long coaxial channel model. The designed long coaxial model were experimented and analyzed for various length (eg:- 1 km, 3 km, 5 km, 6.096 km which equivalent to 20k feet, 8 km and 10km), various frequencies (eg: 10kHz, 50kHz and 100kHz) and various temperatures (eg: 20°C and 150°C). The experiment was repeated by considering the skin effect. Finally, the thermal transfer formula for the long coaxial cable is formulated and the same experiment above was repeated. In overall, the analysis shows the developed long coaxial channel model has the ability to evaluate and analyze the performance of any long coaxial cable at different temperatures leading to thermal transfer. Conclusively, four internal factors or criteria leading to thermal transfer have been identified, which plays the major role on the performance of the long coaxial cable at different temperatures. They are frequency, temperature, skin effect and length of the long coaxial cable.


Abstract On 20 September 2002, an enormous rock/ice slide and subsequent mud-flow occurred on the northern slope of the Kazbek massif, Northern Ossetia, Russian Caucasus. It started on the north- northeast wall of Dzhimarai-Khokh (4780 ma.s.l.) and seriously affected the valley of Genaldon/ Karmadon. Immediate governmental actions, available scientific information, first reconstructions, hazard assessments and monitoring activities as well as initial expert judgments/recommendations are documented in order to enable more detailed analyses and modelling of the event by the wider scientific community. Among the most remarkable aspects related to this event are (1) the relation between the recent event and somewhat smaller but quite similar events that occurred earlier in historical times (1835, 1902), (2) the interactions between unstable local geological structures and complex geothermal and hydraulic conditions in the starting zone with permafrost, cold to polythermal hanging glaciers and volcanic effects (hot springs) in close contact with each other, (3) the erosion and incorporation of a debris-covered valley glacier largely enhancing the sliding volume of rocks, ice, firn, snow, water and probably air to a total of about 100 × 106m3, and (4) the astonishingly high flow velocities (up to 300 km h-1) and enormous length of travel path (18 km plus 15 km of debris/mud-flow). This extraordinary case illustrates that large catastrophic events in high mountain regions typically involve a multitude of factors and require integrated consideration of complex chains of processes, a task which must be undertaken by qualified groups of experts.


Objective: Farm to school (FTS) programs provide many established benefits to students and the community; however, fish to school programs are a less studied subset of FTS. The objective was to identify how fish to school programs are implemented, their impacts, and the enabling factors to support these programs. Methods: We conducted formative research and interviewed stakeholders from 2 school districts in Oregon in 2019. Results: Interviewees reported benefits of connecting students and the larger school community with local food and creating excitement from new lunch offerings. Factors that facilitated fish to school programs included strong program leaders and partnerships, FTS grant funding, and the creative use of resources. Challenges in maintaining the program included sustainable program funding, seafood distribution networks, recipe development, and higher cost per serving of seafood compared to other proteins. Conclusions: Resources exist for school professionals interested in starting or sustaining fish to school programs. These programs are difficult to launch and sustain, and thus, require many forms of support (institutional, financial, industry, culinary, etc) and benefit from innovations like fish to school aggregators and product development such as pre-prepared fish options.


Two new forms are described: Nannopera australis flindersi subsp.nov. (Nannopercidae) from Fiinders
lsland; Kyphosuis diemenensis sp. nov.(Kyphosidae),
from the north coast of Tasmania (figured).
One species is added to the local list: Crapatalus
arenarius McCulloch, 1915 (Leptoscopidae).
Some miscellaneous observations are made as follows.
Haplochitonidae: Lovettia sealii (Johnston), 1883,
specification of a sample, general remarks on whitebait.
Syngnathidae: Urocampus carinirostris Castelnau, 1872,
supernumerary opercular ridges, records of pipefish
breeding seasons; Leptoichthys fistularius Kaup, 1853, regeneration
of caudal extremety, scute development;
Lissocampus caudalis Waite & Hale, 1921. disposition
of ova in marsupium. Nannopercidae: general remarks
on family, descriptions of small samples of Nannopera
(australis australis Gunther, 1861 and N.a. tasmaniae(Johnston), 1883, with some results at variance with published
specifications, data on 2 undetermined specimens
from King lsland, new subspecies as above. Kyphosidae:
key to Australian members of family, new species as
above (first Tasmanian kyphosid). Xiphiidae: Xiphias gladius Linne, 1758, dimensions of an East Coast
example, taxonomic status of the Australian broad bill
swordfish. Ophidiidae: Genypterus microstomus Regan,
1903, large examples, key to Tasmanian members of
family. Tetraodontidae: Tetraodon armilla McCulloch &
Waite, 1915, notes on a specimen, remarks all the
family.


Five years after the signing of the protocols that aimed at normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, the author argues that the tension between Yerevan and Ankara has mounted to a level never seen before. He cites the protocols' attempt to resolve the historical dispute between the two countries and Turkey's linking the opening of its border with Armenia with the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as the reasons for this failure at normalization. He also points out that the failure of the protocols has helped Russia to increase its military presence and political leverage in the South Caucasus. He highlights that the resolution of issues between either Turkey-Armenia or Armenia-Azerbaijan would create real dangers for Russia, as the region would irreversibly break out of Russia's neo-imperial influence. The article concludes with reflections on why these two states do not need external mediation to normalize their relations.


Integrins have direct effects in stimulating proliferation and preventing apoptosis in cancer cells and mediating proangiogenic interactions between endothelial cells and extracellular matrix. Alterations of expression of various integrins and their receptors have been observed in various cancers in which angiogenesis is known to play a role, including colorectal cancer. Inhibition of specific integrins might thus inhibit both direct effects of integrins on cancer cells and tumor angiogenesis. Inhibitory peptides and anti-integrin monoclonal antibodies are currently being investigated in clinical trials in patients with solid tumors, with early evidence suggesting clinical benefit in disease stabilization with use of an anti-alphaVbeta3 antibody in the settings of colorectal cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Integrin inhibition alone and with other targeted therapeutic approaches should be further investigated in clinical trials in patients with colorectal cancer.


made it possible to integrate computer systems into everyday life. However, cumbersome traditional devices like keyboards, mice, or the TV remote control, are inconvenient and unnatural to use. Hand gestures are a natural means of communication amongst humans. They are used to show feelings, emphasise points, and express thoughts and emotions. The use of hand gestures for humans to interact with computers should come as second nature to us. Using this approach, Sabrina Bilocca (supervised by Prof. Adrian Muscat) developed a computer vision system which automatically recognises simple human hand gestures to control a TV. Bilocca's research involved the recognition of isolated gestures as well as multiple gestures in continuous sequences. The greatest challenge was to recognise gestures in a series, since another procedure was needed to spot the key hand gestures while discarding unrelated movements between the key gestures. The system was developed on a real-life dataset of isolated and a chain of hand gestures. The video samples were pre-processed using two algorithms (computer programmes that do a specific task, like separate the hand from the background) called 'hand segmentation' and 'feature extraction'. The resulting images were input into a machine learning technique for training and testing that allows the computer to learn how to identify the hand gestures in a better way. Bilocca used the Hidden Markov Model as a machine learning. To efficiently spot and recognise key gestures in continuous sequences, Bilocca proposed and implemented an orientation backtracking technique. Using these techniques she achieved a 100% recognition rate for isolated gestures and an 87.8% recognition rate for gestures in a sequence. This compares with existing state-of-theart techniques. The project could be further developed as a real-time application to recognise hand gestures as they happen, which would help assist people with disability and the elderly. The skills Bilocca learnt in this project help her in her current position as a network engineer. •


Summary In 2008 in Morogoro region, Tanzania, mass drug administration (MDA) to school-aged children to treat two neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) – urinary schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths – was suspended by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare after riots broke out in schools where drugs were being administered. This article discusses why this biomedical intervention was so vehemently rejected, including an eyewitness account. As the protest spread to the village where I was conducting fieldwork, villagers accused me of bringing medicine into the village with which to 'poison' the children and it was necessary for me to leave immediately under the protection of the Tanzanian police. The article examines the considerable differences between biomedical and local understandings of one of these diseases, urinary schistosomiasis. Such a disjuncture was fuelled further by the apparent rapidity of rolling out MDA and subsequent failures in communication between programme staff and local people. Rumours of child fatalities as well as children's fainting episodes and illnesses following treatment brought about considerable conjecture both locally and nationally that the drugs had been either faulty, counterfeit, hitherto untested on humans or part of a covert sterilization campaign. The compelling arguments by advocates of MDA for the treatment of NTDs rest on the assumption that people suffering from these diseases will be willing to swallow the medicine. However, as this article documents, this is not always the case. For treatment of NTDs to be successful it is not enough for programmes to focus on economic and biomedical aspects of treatment, rolling out 'one size fits all' programmes in resource-poor settings. It is imperative to develop a biosocial approach: to consider the local social, biological, historical, economic and political contexts in which these programmes are taking place and in which the intended recipients of treatment live their lives. If this is not done, the world's poor will continue to be neglected.


Rabies is a zoonotic virus that is extremely lethal to humans and many wildlife species such as raccoons, skunks, foxes, as well as domestic animals such as cats, dogs, and livestock. Reservoirs of the rabies virus throughout species specific populations pose an enormous risk of exposure and infection of domestic animals that have direct contact with humans. The most effective way to prevent wildlife spillover of rabies is through the use of vaccine programs. The wildlife targeted with vaccines are mainly skunks, raccoons, and foxes since these species hold the most significant reservoirs of the virus within the United States. Modified live or attenuated vaccines and whole inactivated or killed vaccines will be discussed as well as their effectiveness and drawbacks. Different forms of administration of vaccines will be compared and contrasted to decide the effectiveness of the types. The social and habitual behaviors of skunks, raccoons, and foxes need to be understand in order to administrate the vaccines at the most effective time to ensure a larger number of wildlife are vaccinated. The cost effectiveness of type of vaccine, administrative methods, and the cost of distribution must be analyzed to reduce costs of the vaccine programs. Further research must be done to create different strains of vaccines that are cost effective, have very few drawbacks, and are effective at preventing the virus from infecting wildlife populations. It may not be possible to eradicate the rabies virus within the near future due to its ability to infect many species but the control and prevention of the virus in the wildlife populations is essential in order to reduce the risk of domestic animals being infected and ultimately prevent humans from becoming infected.


Abstract Despite significant advances in strengthening post-disaster recovery efforts, misaligned strategy and inefficient resource allocation are far too often the norm for infrastructure reconstruction. To examine the inter-organizational networks that form to coordinate resources for infrastructure reconstruction, we employed social network analysis in 19 communities in the Philippines following Super Typhoon Haiyan, at 6 and 12 months post-disaster. To build these networks, we analysed interview, field observation and documentation data collected from non-governmental organizations, local governments and communities. A survey questionnaire was also administered to organizations working in selected communities to validate networks. Results from network analysis established that information was the most commonly shared resource by organizations, followed by financial, material and human resources. Government agencies had the highest actor centralities; however, qualitative data suggest that these roles were the result of obligatory consultations by international organizations and lacked legitimacy in practice. Findings further demonstrate that networks become more decentralized over time as actors leave and roles become more established, influenced by short-term expatriate contracts and the termination of United Nations supported cluster coordination. Findings could help organizations strengthen humanitarian response efforts by attending to resource allocation and knowledge sharing with other organizations.


Background: Age appropriate immunization (AAI) observed as an important issue irrespective of vaccine coverage. Aim: To study the extent of AAI in a state with high coverage for fully immunized (FI) coverage. Subjects and Methods: A rapid cross-sectional survey was done in all 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh, India using World Health Organization (WHO) approved 30 cluster techniques in every district. Mean age (in days) with 95.0% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to ascertain gap between vaccines; BCG, DPT/Hep B (1,2,3) and measles. Results: About 82.0% mothers possessed immunization card of 2491 surveyed children and coverage was found to be 84.9% for both BCG and DPT/Hep B-1, and 84.8%, 83.9%, and 82.7% for DPT/Hep B-2, 3 and measles respectively. The mean age of immunization observed to be 21.0 (95.0% CI: 19.1- 22.8) for BCG, 76.5 (95.0% CI: 73.8-79.4) for DPT/Hep B-1, 112.4 (95.0% CI: 109.3-115.5) for DPT/ Hep B-2, 148.0 (95.0% CI: 144.8-151.3) for DPT/Hep B-3, and 302.7 (95.0% CI: 299.5-305.6) days for measles. Mean gap in days between vaccines was observed as 58.1 (95.0% CI: 55.4-60.8) between BCG and DPT/Hep B-1, 42.6 (95.0% CI:40.4-44.7), 44.2 (95.0% CI:42.3-46.5), and 162.1 (95.0% CI: 159.3-164.8) between DPT/Hep B-1 and 2, DPT/Hep B-2 and 3, and DPT/Hep B-3 and measles respectively. Variation across districts was also observed for mean age of immunization and gap between vaccines. Conclusion: AAI observed as a public health issue adjunct to vaccination coverage in order to improve the quality of immunization services.


Direct government intervention in the form of State Aid to the banking sector has emerged as a core theme in the recent crisis. The BU current structural design, leaving actual and potential government intervention largely unattached, may actually enhance moral hazard, negative cross-border externalities and financial fragmentation between the hard core and the periphery Member States. Borrowing costs (i.e. interest rates) would be influenced by a bank's location rather than by the ECB's monetary policy, eventually rendering the system unsustainable. The EDIS proposal highlights the issue of State Aid and the role of national involvement in the banking sector. Efficient supervision, elimination of national State Aid and effective backstops to the ERF and EDIS are the appropriate policies to eradicate hard core - periphery divide and preserve the integrity of the euro.


Abstract. Detection of buildings and vegetation, and even more reconstruction of urban terrain from sequences of aerial images and videos is known to be a challenging task. It has been established that those methods that have as input a high-quality Digital Surface Model (DSM), are more straight-forward and produce more robust and reliable results than those image-based methods that require matching line segments or even whole regions. This motivated us to develop a new dense matching technique for DSM generation that is capable of simultaneous integration of multiple images in the reconstruction process. The DSMs generated by this new multi-image matching technique can be used for urban object extraction. In the first contribution of this paper, two examples of external sources of information added to the reconstruction pipeline will be shown. The GIS layers are used for recognition of streets and suppressing false alarms in the depth maps that were caused by moving vehicles while the near infrared channel is applied for separating vegetation from buildings. Three examples of data sets including both UAV-borne video sequences with a relatively high number of frames and high-resolution (10 cm ground sample distance) data sets consisting of (few spatial-temporarily diverse) images from large-format aerial frame cameras, will be presented. By an extensive quantitative evaluation of the Vaihingen block from the ISPRS benchmark on urban object detection, it will become clear that our procedure allows a straight-forward, efficient, and reliable instantiation of 3D city models.


Because of the intrinsic complexity in computation, three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction is an essential and challenging topic in computer vision research and applications. The existing methods for 3D reconstruction often produce holes, distortions and obscure parts in the reconstructed 3D models, or can only reconstruct voxelized 3D models for simple isolated objects. So they are not adequate for real usage. From 2014, the Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is widely used in generating unreal datasets and semi-supervised learning. So the focus of this paper is to achieve high-quality 3D reconstruction performance by adopting the GAN principle. We propose a novel semi-supervised 3D reconstruction framework, namely SS3D-GAN, which can iteratively improve any raw 3D reconstruction models by training the GAN models to converge. This new model only takes real-time 2D observation images as the weak supervision and doesn't rely on prior knowledge of shape models or any referenced observations. Finally, through the qualitative and quantitative experiments & analysis, this new method shows compelling advantages over the current state-of-the-art methods on the Tanks & Temples reconstruction benchmark dataset.


The effects of typographic cues, such as bold, underline, italic, capitals have been studied in print. The indications are that typographic cueing can improve the recall of material and this is most evident if recall immediately follows reading. This study investigates whether cueing on screen facilitates recall and introduces factors that have been explored when cueing content in printed material. A series of documents was read on screen followed by a set of multiple choice questions, which covered a range of question types. Cued material was either a phrase or sentence in red type, and these related to either main facts or incidental details. A control condition contained no red. Instruction regarding cueing was also varied. We found a difference in overall recall between the cueing conditions, but no significant difference between the experimental conditions and the control. The difference was attributable to better recall of cued phrases than cued sentences. However, this difference was found only for incidental material These results suggest that cueing a whole sentence containing detail can hinder overall recall, but cueing the specific detail is helpful. Looking at answers to particular questions, we found an interaction between the instruction regarding the use of red and the type of question. For most questions performance was better without instruction regarding red type, but this was not the case for some questions. Telling participants that red highlights the answers to some of the questions helped them locate where an item came within the text, if red was used. Overall, these findings provide no evidence that cueing is generally useful, despite the close relationship between some cued material and questions and explicit information on this relationship. Mixing questions on cued and non-cued material may remove any possible benefits of cueing. INTRODUCTION Typographic cueing provides a non-verbal way of guiding readers and focusing attention. By using typographic techniques (such as bold, underline, italics or color) to cue material, information designers can help readers to focus on material that requires the most attention. Most existing work has looked at the application of cueing to printed material, whereas this study explores typographic cueing on screen. Glynn (1978) suggests that one of the assumptions underlying typographic cueing is that it works because of an isolation effect; by using cueing to set apart some information, lhe cued information is more likely to be noticed by readers.This is also referred to as making material perceptually more salient (Ausubel, Novak and Hanasian, 1978). But while there is wide agreement on why typographic cueing may be useful for readers, there are few guidelines discussing what cues are appropriate and little research to suggest how cues are best used (Beck, 1991). The general consensus emerging from the literature is that typographic cueing can improve the recall of cued material. Foster (1979), in his overview of the cueing literature, argues that there is considerable evidence that typographic cueing can improve recall. Improved recall is demonstrated most frequently if it is tested immediately after reading (193). Foster's conclusion is echoed by Beck (1984, 1991) who notes that cueing generally helps readers to recall the cued information. While typographic cueing may generally improve the recall of cued material some research suggests that excessive cueing may reverse any positive effects. Excessive cueing may make it difficult for readers to focus on important information. Marks (1966) explored the quantity of material that should be cued through a study of children's reading of simple instructions. Marks found that cueing key words (by using bold or larger type) tended to improve performance, but cueing the entire set of instructions (through underlining) was detrimental to performance. Although Marks' study suggests that cueing key words rather than entire passages may improve readers' performance, it is not possible to draw this conclusion from the study because of the different cueing devices used. …


Each day more and more laws are passed that require school districts to be accountable for their students' performances in the classroom. Educators are given the age-old responsibility of ensuring that their students meet the rigors of a quality education. Teachers today though are faced with a generation of students unlike any they have ever taught before. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions and desires." This is indeed the case when it comes to this current generation of students and their parents. This article discusses, how inadvertently through good intentions, an entire generation of young adults who will be defined by their failure to internalize some of the most important societal and educational values this country has held dear, has come to significantly impact the current day educational system. ********** Each day, new legislation is enacted into law that requires school districts to educate a growingly diverse new generation of students unlike any that has ever entered classrooms in the past. Federal regulations such as the "No Child Left Behind" statute strain already limited school resources. In addition, state regulations add to the burden. Each day school districts are being held more and more accountable for students' performances in the classroom as measured through standardized testing. Ultimately, it is the everyday classroom educator that bears the burden for this accountability. This is not new. Once the educational system was formalized and curriculum standardized, classroom teachers were held both personally and professionally responsible for ensuring that their students met the rigors of a quality education. What has changed though, and what has caused a significant impact on their ability to do so, is the student population itself. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions and desires." These words of wisdom have been expressed by many notables from Samuel Johnson to Karl Marx to St. Bernard of Clairvaux. This unfortunately is indeed the case when it comes to this current generation of students and their parents. Through nothing but good intentions many parents just may have inadvertently created an entire generation of young adults who will be defined by their failure to internalize some of the most important societal and educational values we have held dear as a nation. More economically blessed than their parents, with better careers, nicer homes, and more expensive automobiles, today's parents have worked diligently to give their children everything that the American Dream aspires to and stands for, and that they did not have as children themselves. They have given their children music, art, and dance lessons, individualized and group instruction on how to better play soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, and every other type of sport imaginable. They have signed their children up, and became actively involved themselves, in all manners of organized sports. They have organized "play dates" with other children to ensure that their children would have friends. They have sat at countless numbers of sporting events on all levels and eagerly encouraged their proteges on to success. In theatres across the nation they have endured off key musical renditions and applauded when their aspiring dancers clumped across the stage out of step. They did all of these things and more because it was not done for them, and because they were convinced that this is what "good parents" should do. All these activities outside the home meant that most families faced a daily time crunch dilemma as they hurriedly sought out ways to spend "quality time" together. Something had to give, there was just not enough time to go to soccer games, piano lessons, school meetings, and do homework. In order to compensate they made compromises. Many chose to cut back on family dinners. Not sitting around the dinner table together to share a meal was a marked and significant change from the parents' own childhood routine. …


Laser ablation is a versatile technique for fabricating microstructures on polymer surfaces. Due to the nature of the process, the fabrication of the microstruture can take place in a very late stage of the heterogeneous assembly. This makes laser ablation very attractive for fabricating micro-optical components on opto-electronic assemblies in comparison to other fabrication techniques like injection molding and embossing. In this paper we will report on the first experimental results of microlens fabrication with excimer laser ablation techniques. By scanning the polymer surface along multiple circular paths with a circular beam of a pulsed excimer laser, one is able to obtain a lens shape with arbitrary focal distance and diameter. Important issues such as the choice of ablation parameters, the selection of scanning path and the performance of the resulting laser ablated lens will be discussed.


Cross-country evidence on student achievement might be hampered by omitted country characteristics such as language or legal differences. This paper uses cross-state variation in Germany, whose sixteen states share the same language and legal system, but pursue different education policies. The same results found previously across countries hold within Germany: Higher mean student performance is associated with central exams, private school operation, and socio-economic background, but not with spending, while higher equality of opportunity is associated with reduced tracking. In a model that pools German states with OECD countries, these fundamental determinants do not differ significantly between the two samples.


Cantique de Jean Racine was written in 1865 during Faure's final year at the Ecole Niedermeyer, winning him the first prize for composition, and this elegant work now holds a cherished place in the choral repertory for both sacred and secular occasions. Presented with an English singing translation in addition to the original French, John Rutter's edition includes an accompaniment for organ or piano, and the work may also be performed with the transcription for harp and strings (available separately), compatible with the instrumentation for the OUP edition of the Faure Requiem in its 1893 version. Complete orchestral and vocal material is available on hire/rental and on sale. In addition, an arrangement for upper voices (SSAA) with Faure's original keyboard accompaniment is available on sale.


Coronary artery disease (CAD) is inflammatory and caused by genetic/environmental factors. Interleukin (IL) 6 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine implicated in CAD. Selenoprotein S (SelS) has recently been implicated in inflammation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Several IL-6 and SelS polymorphisms are associated with increased CAD risk and the aim of this project is to investigate in vitro the mechanisms underlying this. Flow cytometry was used to assess the surface expression of the macrophage differentiation-specific markers CD14 and CD11c, and IL-6r (CD126) by PBMC derived macrophages. mRNA levels were determined by quantitative PCR (QPCR) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and IL-1β-stimulated THP-1 cells and in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-derived macrophages from healthy donors. CD11c-hi, CD14-lo expression on macrophage-like versus monocyte-like PBMCs confirmed their differentiation state. Neither differentiation state nor inflammatory stimulation affected expression of IL-6 or SelS in THP-1 or PBMCs. IL-6 was significantly upregulated in LPS-stimulated THP-1 and PBMC-derived macrophages, consistent with the literature. SelS was upregulated by LPS only in differentiated THP-1 cells. ER stress proteins CHOP (C/EBP homologous protein) and BiP (IgH chain binding protein) were not induced by IL-1β or LPS. CD126 (IL-6r) expression was very low on PBMC-derived macrophages, suggesting that classical IL-6 signalling may not occur in these PBMCs. In conclusion, this PBMC model of inflammation has been validated, and suggests a lack of classical IL-6 signalling; further analysis by IL-6 and SelS genotype will reveal underlying molecular mechanisms of CAD risk association.


The study focuses on a pragmatic study of the political speech delivered during the declaration of President GoodluckEbele Jonathan as a presidential aspirant under the umbrella of People's Democratic Party. A campaign speech was chosen to bring to fore meanings intended by Goodluck Jonathan through the Speech Act Theory of Searle(1969). Our findings and analysis revealed that the selected sentences of the speech comprised the following speech act types: assertive-92%, expressive- 50%, declarative-33%, commissive-8% and directive-17%. The study has once again revealed that language of politics especially political speeches could be better understood through the speech act analysis of President GoodluckEbele Jonathan Declaration Speech of September 18, 2010.


The focus of this article centers around an established universities sports outreach program—the Sport Universities North East England (SUNEE) project—and explores how its core workforce, student volunteers, perceive that they develop effective working relationships with the project's "hard-to-reach" clients. The SUNEE project represents an alliance between the region's five universities to tackle social exclusion, and promote and nurture social capital and civil responsibility through the vehicle of sports. This joined-up approach to sports development provides the region's student volunteers with vast opportunities to gain both experience and qualifications as sports coaches, mentors, and leaders by working with a range of hard-to-reach groups. To explore how the dynamics of the project influenced relationship statuses between SUNEE's diverse participants, from the perspective of the student volunteers, this article draws upon Robert Putnam's notion of social capital to interpret the experiences of the study's percipients (n = 40). Captured using semi-structured interviews, students indicate that over the course of their participation in the project, social capital served both exclusionary and integrative functions, yet as time elapsed, social capital was increasingly generated between SUNEE's diverse participants, playing a crucial role in bringing both volunteers and hard-to-reach clients together.


Recent narrative analysis in medical anthropology provides keys to both the personal meaning of illness and the historical, cultural, and institutional shaping of that experience. Yet Western psychiatric thinking and practice continue to view schizophrenic discourse as closed to interpretation. Caught in this "closed text," the self would seem obliterated. But using narratives of schizophrenia and homelessness, this essay proposes a different understanding of schizophrenic alterity. The openness of the text-as-experience is re-created collectively, from outside the subject's narration: the subject's "self is construction through the added perspectives of his or her interlocutors in the role of storymakers.


The proposed Building Code Requirements and Specifications for Masonry Structures presented in this book were developed by the Joint American Concrete Institute, American Society of Civil Engineers Committee 530. The book is divided into two parts. The first part covers building code requirements for the structural design and construction of masonry elements of any structures erected under requirements of the general building code of which this code forms a part. Among the subjects covered are quality assurance and construction requirements, and analysis and design. The second part covers specifications and requirements for materials and construction of masonry structures. Included are the placing, bonding and anchoring of masonry, furnishing and placing reinforcements and metal accessories, and furnishing and placement of grout.


Risk Management was in the beginning primarily considered a means of controlling
and managing litigation, which has been the major worry for clinicians in many
countries for a considerable time and a growing problem in the international context.
Early risk management strategies were dominated by attempts to reform the legal
system and reduce the levels of compensation and the associated costs (Mills, 1995).
Gradually the need to address the underlying clinical problem became apparent and
the term risk management came to include strategies and projects to reduce the
incidence of harm and improve the quality of care, whilst also taking a proactive
approach to caring for injured patients.
Looking ahead there are, of course many challenges for clinical risk management and
patient safety. In one particular area, however, there is still a long way to go and this
may ultimately determine the long term impact of risk management. At the moment is
still the responsibility of a comparatively few persons in health care organizations. In
contrast in aviation or in other complex industrial systems "safety is everyone's
responsibility". Patient safety and risk management need to become embedded in the
culture of healthcare, not just in the sense of individual high standards, but of a
widespread acceptance of a systematic understanding of risk and safety and the need
for everyone to actively promote patient safety (Charles Vincent, 1995).
The organizational accident model of James Reason (1997) has been particularly
influent in providing the foundations for a broader, system view of error and safety. In
fact Reason has suggested that: "medical mishaps share many important causal
similarities with the breakdown of complex socio - technical systems". Besides in the
last few years has been a growing interest in a wider range of safety and reliability
techniques used in other industries. Healthcare staff may resist the application of
techniques from industry on the grounds that healthcare is "different" in some respect
and cannot be treated in the same way as a production line. Aviation, nuclear power,
chemical and petroleum industries and healthcare are complex, hazardous activities
carried out in large, complex organizations by, for the most part, dedicated and highly
trained people. We have to observe that there are also important differences between
healthcare context and other industries. However, none of this is to say that HRA
techniques should not be applied and utilized in healthcare. If the lessons learnt in one
other industry can be transferred to another, the effort and energy required to solve
system safety problems will be greatly enhanced.
In one of the few review of HRA techniques Jeremy Williams (1985) began by saying:

"It must seem quite extraordinary to most scientists engaged in research into other
areas of the physical and technological world that there has been little attempt by
human reliability experts to validate the human reliability assessment techniques which
they so freely propagate, modify and disseminate".
There is considerable scope for Human Factors and Reliability techniques to be
applied to many aspects of healthcare. There is broad and deep evidence that this
relatively new discipline can make a big impact on healthcare error. HF and HRA
methodologies will need to be adapted and modified if they are to be of real value to
clinicians. A set of proactive approaches needs to be generated to help risk managers
and clinicians understand why care is sometimes substandard and to help them devise
generic error reduction strategies to limit the potential for adverse occurrences in the
future. To attain this objective, one must first of all find a method by means of which
practical operational experience can be acquired such that qualitative and quantitative
analyses on human errors will become possible.

General objectives of the research
The focus of my PhD thesis is on using industrial risk management and human factors
engineering theories, in order to understand the specific characteristics of healthcare
organisations and to design principles and methodologies for the improvement of
patient and health care employee safety.

The present research aims to:
¾ Explore the Italian state of art in Clinical Risk Management. Which is the
Clinical Risk Management organisational configuration in Italian healthcare
context? Which specific techniques and methodologies have used in Italian
health care systems?
¾ Individuate and verify the factors influencing the growing and sharing of the
safety culture. This investigation begins with the consideration that a
fundamental part of risk management is about changing behaviour towards
safer care. This change comes about through learning, which takes place at
the level of individual health professional, at the organizational systems
levels, and at point in between. How much and in which way cultural
aspects influence the success of Risk management processes?
¾ Understand and describe the possibility to transfer human reliability
methodologies and theories to healthcare domain. How to develop useful
and applicable clinical risk management tools and solutions, basing on
Human Factors discipline?
Methodology of research
I conducted a qualitative research, adopting the Multiple Case Studies method. I used
interviews and focus groups techniques for the data collection and I applied within and
cross case analysis.
I performed a literature review of Industrial Risk Management and Clinical risk
management process and its characteristics. I individuated four theoretical constructs.
Then, in order to ascertain the full range of the available HRA techniques and their
potential application in healthcare I carried out an extensive literature review of this
specific topic. I analysed a number of useful methods and techniques in existing
industrial sectors for performing human reliability and error analysis in the healthcare
system.


Internet traffic monitoring is a crucial task for network security. Self-similarity, a key property for a relevant description of internet traffic statistics, has already been massively and successfully involved in anomaly detection. Self-similar analysis was however so far applied either to byte or Packet count time series independently, while both signals are jointly collected and technically deeply related. The present contribution elaborates on a recently proposed multivariate self-similar model, Operator fractional Brownian Motion (OfBm), to analyze jointly self-similarity in bytes and packets. A non-linear regression procedure, based on an original Branch & Bound resolution procedure, is devised for the full identification of bivariate OfBm. The estimation performance is assessed by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Further, an Internet traffic anomaly detection procedure is proposed, that makes use of the vector of Hurst exponents underlying the OfBm based Internet data modeling. Applied to a large set of high quality and modern Internet data from the MAWI repository, proof-of-concept results in anomaly detection are detailed and discussed.


New small-molecule modulators of wild-type glucocerebrosidase improve pathogenic phenotypes in different cellular models of Parkinson's disease. Boosting GCase activity in PD Mutations in the GBA1 gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase) represent the most common risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). Because decreased wild-type GCase activity may be contributing to PD pathogenesis, activating the wild-type enzyme is a potential therapeutic approach. Burbulla et al. developed a new small-molecule modulator of wild-type GCase called S-181. This compound increased wild-type GCase activity and improved pathogenic phenotypes in iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons generated from fibroblasts from patients with PD having both genetic and idiopathic forms of the disease as well as in GBA1 mutant mice. These findings point to activation of wild-type GCase as a potential therapeutic approach for various forms of PD that exhibit decreased GCase activity. Mutations in the GBA1 gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase) represent the most common risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD). GCase has been identified as a potential therapeutic target for PD and current efforts are focused on chemical chaperones to translocate mutant GCase into lysosomes. However, for several GBA1-linked forms of PD and PD associated with mutations in LRRK2, DJ-1, and PARKIN, activating wild-type GCase represents an alternative approach. We developed a new small-molecule modulator of GCase called S-181 that increased wild-type GCase activity in iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons from sporadic PD patients, as well as patients carrying the 84GG mutation in GBA1, or mutations in LRRK2, DJ-1, or PARKIN who had decreased GCase activity. S-181 treatment of these PD iPSC-derived dopaminergic neurons partially restored lysosomal function and lowered accumulation of oxidized dopamine, glucosylceramide and α-synuclein. Moreover, S-181 treatment of mice heterozygous for the D409V GBA1 mutation (Gba1D409V/+) resulted in activation of wild-type GCase and consequent reduction of GCase lipid substrates and α-synuclein in mouse brain tissue. Our findings point to activation of wild-type GCase by small-molecule modulators as a potential therapeutic approach for treating familial and sporadic forms of PD that exhibit decreased GCase activity.


In this article we re-evaluate Fritz Schütze's biographical interview method with its orientation towards the analysis of social problems experienced by the individual. We used Schütze's method in a study of repeat offenders in a Polish prison, and on the basis of this experience we believe that we make two contributions – one to social science enquiry in general, and one to prison sociology. We argue that in social science research this method offers unique insights into the process of identity formation. These insights are made possible because of the 'triple bind of narration' inherent in Schütze's method, that is to say the requirement to close, the requirement to condense and the requirement to provide detail. In relation to prison research we argue that Schütze's method has rehabilitation value in making the interviewee/narrator re-evaluate their life through biography work. We also offer practical advice on how to conduct such interviews.


Multiple player tracking is one of the main building blocks needed in a sports video analysis system. In an uncalibrated camera setting, robust mutli-object tracking can be very difficult due to a number of reasons including the presence of noise, occlusion, fast camera motion, low-resolution image capture, varying viewpoints and illumination changes. To address the problem of multi-object tracking in sports videos, we go beyond the video frame domain and make use of information in a homography transform domain that is denoted the homography field domain. We propose a novel particle filter based tracking algorithm that uses both object appearance information (e.g. color and shape) in the image domain and cross-domain contextual information in the field domain to improve object tracking. In the field domain, the effect of fast camera motion is significantly alleviated since the underlying homography transform from each frame to the field domain can be accurately estimated. We use contextual trajectory information (intra-trajectory and inter-trajectory context) to further improve the prediction of object states within an particle filter framework. Here, intra-trajectory contextual information is based on history tracking results in the field domain, while inter-trajectory contextual information is extracted from a compiled trajectory dataset based on tracks computed from videos depicting the same sport. Experimental results on real world sports data show that our system is able to effectively and robustly track a variable number of targets regardless of background clutter, camera motion and frequent mutual occlusion between targets.


The need for sustainable development of the urban environment presents the research community with a number of challenges and opportunities. A considerable volume of research has been undertaken into the constituent parts of this complex problem and a number of tool kits and methodologies have been developed to enable and encourage the application of specific aspects of research in practice. However, there is limited evidence of the holistic integration of the body of knowledge arising from the research within real-life decision-making practices. In this paper we present an overview of the existing body of knowledge relating to sustainable development of the urban environment and propose a generic framework for its integration within current practices. This framework recognises the need to: understand social, economic, and environmental issues; understand the decision-making processes; provide a means of measurement, assessment, or valuation of the issues; provide analytical methods for the comparative assessment of complex data to enable an evaluation of strategies and design options and to communicate effectively throughout the process with a wide range of stakeholders. The components of a novel sustainability assessment, visualisation and enhancement (SAVE) framework, developed by the authors to 'operationalise' the body of knowledge are presented and justified. These include: decision-mapping methods to identify points of intervention; indicator identification and measurement approaches; appropriate mathematical and analytical tools and an interactive simulation and visualisation platform which integrates and communicates complex multivariate information to diverse stakeholder groups. We report on the application of the SAVE framework to a major urban development project and reflect on its current and potential impact on the development. Conclusions are also drawn about its general applicability.


This paper aims at contributing to the discussion on the overall assessment of European agencies and their possible developments. For this purpose, three main questions are tackled: (i) what are the European agencies' distinguishing features that have emerged and consolidated in the almost two-decade long process of agencification in the EU legal order? (ii) how can such features be assessed and what problems do they raise? (iii) what perspectives can be envisaged in the development of the agencification process? The European agencies' distinguishing features and the problems that they raise are considered by focusing on the main aspects in which the agencification process can be analysed: namely, the organizational architecture of European agencies; the powers conferred on them; the relationships between European agencies and national administrations; the "global dimension" of the administrative networks coordinated by European agencies; the mechanisms to keep European agencies under control; the legal limits of the establishment of new European agencies (and the Meroni doctrine).
As for the possible perspectives of the agencification process in the EU legal order, building upon current institutional debates and recent reform processes, two main possible lines of development are discussed: firstly, a substantial complication of the model, due to the gradual emergence, next to the European agencies of the type consolidated so far, of a "new type" of European agencies, which are independent vis-à-vis the market and EU political institutions, including the Commission; secondly, the expansion of agencification beyond the Commission's sphere of influence and the establishment of European agencies serving European bodies other than the Commission.


We used the Economics of Biomass Removals model to evaluate the required treatment acreages, volumes removed, treatment costs and product revenues from national forest and other ownerships. We used three distinct treatment prescriptions to achieve two hazard reduction goals for treatable timberlands in the Western United States. The two hazard reduction goals were to maintain current hazard levels over 10 years, and to reduce hazard levels by 20 percent over 10 years. We also simulated one treatment prescription on national forest timberland only in order to evaluate the effect of requiring a minimum level of treatment in each State. These simulations show that costs and revenues differ by intensity of the hazard reduction goal and by treatment prescription. They show that uneven-aged treatment prescriptions tend to be more expensive than thin-from-below prescriptions for accomplishing hazard reduction goals. Uneven-aged prescriptions, however, yield greater timber product volumes and values for landowners, offsetting the higher costs. On the other hand, in situations without wood product markets, thin-from-below prescriptions could be a better option because of the lower net costs.


In the summer of 2020, CAMPI (the Computer-Aided Metadata Generation for Photoarchvies Initiative) assessed the use of computer vision in assisting in the arduous task of processing digital photograph collections. The prototype built to find duplicates and tag photos depicting similar scenes in Carnegie Mellon University Archives' General Photography Collection was successful, proving such an interface would be both feasible and useful for cultural heritage institutions with large visual collections.This whitepaper reports on the background for this project, the specific tasks, methods, and results from our software prototype, and a summary of future directions and needs for both computer vision as well as interfaces for photo archive description. We also offer a high-level technical roadmap as well as specific implementation details and reference code for our prototype.


Abstract. We use 7 years (2010–2016) of methane column observations from the
Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) to examine trends in atmospheric
methane concentrations over North America and infer trends in emissions.
Local methane enhancements above background are diagnosed in the GOSAT data
on a 0.5∘×0.5∘ grid by estimating the local background as
the low (10th–25th) percentiles of the
deseasonalized frequency distributions of the data for individual years.
Trends in methane enhancements on the 0.5∘×0.5∘ grid are
then aggregated nationally and for individual source sectors, using
information from state-of-science bottom-up inventories. We find that US
methane emissions increased by 2.5±1.4  % a−1 (mean ± 1 standard deviation) over the 7-year period, with contributions from both
oil–gas systems (possibly unconventional oil–gas production) and from
livestock in the Midwest (possibly swine manure management). Mexican
emissions show a decrease that can be attributed to a decreasing cattle
population. Canadian emissions show year-to-year variability driven by
wetland emissions and correlated with wetland areal extent. The US emission
trends inferred from the GOSAT data account for about 20 % of the observed
increase in global methane over the 2010–2016 period.


OBJECTIVE. This study explored U.S. occupational therapists' perceptions of online competence assessment and associated evidence-based resources. METHOD. The study used a cross-sectional design with a survey. Respondents were occupational therapists certifying or recertifying with the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy in March 2016. RESULTS. The response rate was 88.6%, with 58.5% indicating they had used the online competence assessment platform. A majority agreed that the platform's tools helped them identify clinical knowledge (n = 211; 79.9%) and skill needs (n = 160; 60.8%). Of those who obtained copies of the evidence-based resources (n = 98; 45.6%), 72.5% (n = 71) read at least one. Chi-square analysis demonstrated negative relationships between years as an occupational therapist and clinical skills assessment and between highest degree and use of evidence-based practices. CONCLUSION. Online competence assessment assisted participants in identifying competence needs and evidence-based resources for improving clinical knowledge and skills.


Planners are interested in promoting and facilitating the creation of healthy, liveable, vibrant communities which work toward goals of sustainability, or the potential to exist indefinitely whilst maintaining or improving the social, environmental and economic resource bases they are embedded within. These principles have motivated planners to engage in a wide variety of activities, stepping in to balance market failures or facilitating community development using planning principles. Yet until recently, the provision of a healthy, adequate, sustainable and secure food supply to a city's residents has been left purely up to market forces, despite evidence of several serious market failures. However, in the past decade, a new field of planning practice, known as food systems planning, has emerged and become well established across North America, Europe and Australia. Food systems can be understood as the processes by which food is produced, processed, distributed, retailed, consumed and the associated waste products disposed of, as well as the associated inputs and outputs at each stage. Food systems planning seeks to utilise planning principles, such as stakeholder participation and the creation of plans and policies, to help facilitate movement of local food systems towards sustainability objectives, ideally whilst also benefiting other elements of the local community. Food systems planning initiatives have been highly successful overseas, in many cases initiatives have been launched in contexts that are not dissimilar to New Zealand. However, food systems planning methods and frameworks have not as yet been adopted by planners and local governments within New Zealand. This thesis sought to evaluate the opportunities for adapting and implementing food systems planning principles in the New Zealand context. A broad and comprehensive evaluation was undertaken of both food systems characteristics and government frameworks in New Zealand. The results were then considered in the context of food systems planning literature. This thesis presents that research, and identifies significant opportunities for food systems planning principles to be further developed and implemented in New Zealand.


Photovoltaic (PV) technology is fast emerging as a viable energy supply option in mitigation against environmental degradation through the burning of traditional fossil fuels. The cost of the technology, however, still poses a major challenge, as the efficiencies are generally still quite modest. Current research efforts to improve efficiency are mainly focused on component physics and manufacturing technologies. Little attention seems to be paid to improved system design at field level. Traditionally it is assumed that a panel installed at a tilt angle that is equal to the latitude at a location should achieve maximum annual energy yield for a non-tracking installation. However, in practice, due to a number of factors such as wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, global and diffuse irradiation and other climatic factors, the optimum azimuth and tilt get more convoluted. In this paper the optimum angles (azimuth and tilt) to maximise annual energy yield for fixed angle PV installations at all locations in South Africa have been tabulated. Climate data software together with solar design software were used in determining the angles. The availability of these tables will offer an additional support tool to the country in promoting the growth of PV as a viable alternative energy generation technology for both urban as well as the most secluded rural areas that are not grid connected.


Abstract The international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) research project is currently surveying the academic profession in 22 countries. At the planning conference of this study, three emphases in the contemporary professional environment of academics have become particularly persuasive: relevance, internationalisation and management. As part of the international research team of the CAP research project, the authors have applied the questionnaire of the CAP survey (which measures academics' experiences and responses to these three trends) to a sample of the South African academic profession. The results show that while the South African academic profession has made the mind-shift from the traditional conceptualisation of the university as an "ivory tower institution", rather detached from society in its pursuit of truth, to an institution relevant to the concrete and immediate needs of society, the profession could thus far not succeed in giving practical effect to this changed concept. While the South African academic profession has internationalised rapidly during the first decade after the repeal of the international academic boycott against South Africa, to the point where it has become more internationalised than its colleagues abroad, it has been losing ground again during the past few years. It is in its relationship with management that the biggest cause of concern for the South African academic profession lies. This research indicates that the South African academic profession finds itself in a highly prescriptive environment, over which it has little influence, and which it does not find very supportive of its teaching and research activities. In conclusion, follow-up research aiming at addressing these problems is recommended.


Up for Grabs: The Future of the Internet, Volume 1 is the first volume of an exciting series by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University. How will the Internet be expected to change the workplace, family life, education and many other foundations of society between 2004 and 2014? Significantly. That was the forecast of nearly 1,300 leading technology experts and scholars who responded to The Future of the Internet I, a 2004 survey by researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University. The extensive elaborations supplied by survey respondents provide a vision of a networked, digital future that enhances many peoples' lives but also has some distressing implications. The big-picture Internet issues of the next decade, as foreseen by the experts in this survey, include: positive and negative changes in the family dynamic; a conflict between our desire for privacy, security and ownership of intellectual property and our desire for the convenience of free information sharing on networked devices; and a concern over being inundated with information. About the series: Technology builders, entrepreneurs, consultants, academicians, and futurists from around the world share their wisdom in The Future of the Internet surveys conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and Elon University. The series of surveys garners smart, detailed assessments of multi-layered issues from a variety of voices, ranging from the scientists and engineers who created the first Internet architecture a decade ago to social commentators to technology leaders in corporations, media, government, and higher education. Among the respondents are people affiliated with many of the world's top organizations, including IBM, AOL, Microsoft, Intel, ICANN, the Internet Society, Google, W3C, Internet2, and Oracle; Harvard, MIT, and Yale; and the Federal Communications Commission, FBI, U.S. Census Bureau, Social Security Administration, and U.S. Department of State. They provide significant and telling responses to questions about the future of government, education, media, entertainment, commerce, and more. They foresee continuing conflicts over control of networked communications and the content produced and shared online. They also predict the major changes ahead for everyone in every field of endeavor.


Celiac disease (CD), or gluten-sensitive enteropathy, is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood but is diagnosed in all ages. CD is a genetically driven immunological intolerance to dietary gluten. Th e treatment is a gluten-free diet. Th e diagnostic criteria are the ESPGHAN criteria, which include the histological characteristics of villous atrophy, crypt hyperplasia and increased number of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). Th e clinical manifestations in CD range from severely aff ected young children to children and adults with milder symptoms as well as patients with silent CD. Th ere is a strong heredity in CD with the well-known HLA components DQ2 and DQ8. Th e genetics in CD are believed to confer up to 40% HLA genetics and otherwise non-HLA genetics. Th e knowledge of the genotype-phenotype association in CD is limited. Th e aim of this study has been to estimate the risk of a third sibling being aff ected in CD sib-pair families, identify the chromosomal region containing susceptibility genes in CD and study the genotype-phenotype association in CD. Material was collected from 107 families with at least two aff ected siblings, making a total of 224 CD siblings, as well as their healthy siblings and parents. Screening for CD was performed in these apparently healthy members and the estimated risk for CD in the third sibling and parent was then calculated. Th irteen new CD cases were diagnosed, six siblings and seven parents. Th e estimated sibling risk was 26.3% and the parent risk was 12.9%. Th e risk of a sibling of two aff ected siblings having CD was approximately three times higher compared to siblings of one aff ected sibling. Considering the high level of knowledge of CD in these families, the number of undiagnosed cases was surprisingly high. We suggested that serological screening should be off ered all fi rst-degree relatives of CD patients. Genome-wide linkage scan was performed in the same material. Th is work showed signifi cant evidence of linkage to CD with an interesting region on chromosome 5q31-33 and on chromosome 11q. Simplex CD family material was collected for further genetic association studies. Th e phenotype-genotype association was examined in two studies. An investigation was made of a possible interaction between the phenotypes and HLA class II risk alleles, the CTLA4 +49 A/G polymorphism, the haplotype MH30*G:-1147*T:+49*A:CT60*G:CT61*A and the 5q31-33 locus, in CD. Th e patients were grouped according to symptoms at presentation, the age at diagnosis and gender. Th e heritability of the phenotype was estimated to be 0.45. Th e AA genotype at the CTLA4 +49A/G polymorphism was associated with clinically silent disease. No other correlations were found between genotypes and clinical presentation, age at diagnosis or gender. A genotype-phenotype analysis was made of phenotypes in DQ2-negative CD patients in the largest DQ2-negative CD group that has been published compared to DQ2-positive CD controls in a European population. Th e fi nding was that the clinical presentation diff ered signifi cantly between DQ2-negative and DQ2-positive CD patients in Italy and Sweden. In both samples there was an association between DQ2-negative cases and classic symptoms. In the Italian sample there was also an association between silent grade and DQ2-negative cases. Autoimmune disease was signifi cantly overrepresented in DQ8-positive patients. Th is thesis shows that the risk for third sibling and parents is, as expected, increased in sibpair families, as the expected risk of being aff ected in polygenic diseases is higher in families with multiple cases compared to single-case families. Th e genome scan indicated signifi cant linkage to 11q and 5q, which makes these regions interesting for further fi ne mapping of these regions using association analysis. Genotype-phenotype analysis of both HLA and non-HLA locus showed some signifi cant correlation between silent CD and both CTLA4 +49 AA genotype and the DQ2-negatives. In addition, an association was shown between classic symptom grade and DQ2-negative cases.


Accepted 7 Desember 2015 Abstract: The concept of integrity, as a factor of sustaining values and significance of cultural heritage, is considered to be a key element in the process of urban heritage conservation. Review and analysis of documents, conventions and theories concerning the role of integrity in urban heritage conservation shows that in recent decades, the concept of integrity has attracted attention worldwide in the process of selection, assessment, and codification of the comprehensive conservation and management plan of urban heritage, particularly in the World Heritage sites. Currently, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre has a unique role among other scientific associations. In recent years, the World Heritage Center has put efforts into developing a conceptual framework in order to offer the criteria for evaluation, conservation and management of various types of heritage including the urban heritage. This research is carried with the aim of developing a conceptual framework for integrity in urban heritage conservation by determining the concepts related to integrity. The main question of this paper is that what are the dimensions, aspects, components and criteria of integrity within the domain of urban heritage conservation? Documents and related theories of integrity highlight the importance of conserving the integrity and stability of the cultural dimensions, besides natural dimensions, tangible and intangible aspects and intactness and wholeness components in the process of recognizing and conserving the integrity of place which are possible to be measured and evaluated by structural-historical integrity, functional-social integrity and visual-aesthetic integrity. The major contribution of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for urban heritage conservation, applying all the above mentioned issues.


This article aims to explain the emergence of the Danish People's Party, a radical right-wing populist party, by using a model combining political opportunity structures and the diffusion of new master frames. The article shows that because of dealignment and realignment processes – as well as the politicisation of the immigration issue – niches were created on the electoral arena. The Danish People's Party was able to mine these niches by adopting a master frame combining ethno-pluralist xenophobia and anti-political establishment populism, which had proved itself successful elsewhere in Western Europe (originally in France in the mid-1980s). In this process of adaptation, a far right circle of intellectuals, the Danish Association, played a key role as mediator.


Introduction Leptospirosis is the most common occupational zoonosis in New Zealand, with the highest incidence observed in meat processing workers and farm workers. New Zealand has a high incidence of human infection relative to other temperate developed countries, and the organism is widespread in livestock. Serological testing has confirmed infection in livestock presenting to abattoirs and in meat workers. The objective of this study was to determine whether leptospires were present in bioaerosols within the abattoir. Methods Ambient air samples (n=18) were collected in an abattoir from ovine and bovine processing areas, using a SASS 3100 high volume sampler located adjacent to workers performing exsanguination (halal sticking), pelt removal, evisceration, a splitting saw (bovine only) and boning or meat cutting. Nucleic acid (DNA) in the bioaerosol samples was amplified using multiple displacement amplification (MDA) for metagenomic analysis, but the material was also tested for specific pathogenic species including L. interrogans sv Pomona and L. borgpetersenii sv Hardjobovis by quantitative PCR. The original (unamplified) DNA samples were also tested. Result Leptospires were detected in 11 of the (MDA) samples from both ovine and bovine processing areas at the splitting saw, evisceration, exsanguination and pelt removal. There was no evidence of leptospires in samples taken in the boning or meat cutting areas, or in the five blanks taken. Two of the original DNA samples, both from the ovine pelt removal area, also tested positive for leptospires. Discussion This is the first study to show that leptospires can be detected in a bioaerosol within an abattoir, suggesting a possible route of transmission to meat workers. The organism was detected at locations adjacent to slaughter, pelt removal and evisceration, with the strongest evidence near ovine pelt removal. This distribution directly mirrors the pattern of risk shown in serological testing of meat workers.