Microbiological validation of assessments of caries acti243 vity during cavity preparation. E.A.M.KIDDa*, S.JOYSTONBEClHALb & D.BEIGHTONC. (AUNSD; bLHMC; Ci jRU), London. The operative management of primary and secondary caries assumes that all discoloured tissue at the enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) represents active disease and this is removed to arrest the carious process. This study aims to establish clinical criteria to differentiate between active and arrested caries at the EDJ, using microbiological assessment of dentine samples to verify its clinical status. X-rays were available for posterior teeth. Cavities were prepared under rubber dam. After gaining access, areas of the EDJ were chosen and assessments made of consistency (soft, medium, hard), colour (dark, mid and pale brown) and moisture content (wet, dry). Dentine was removed by using a No.3 round bur and placed in lml of broth. Samples (n=l99) were vortexed, diluted and cultured for total anaerobic counts, mutans streptococci (ns) and lactobacilli; counts were expressed as log10lo (CFU per sample). Results showed no significant differences between microflora of primary and secondary caries. Soft lesions and wet lesions harboured significantly more bacteria, lactobacilli and as than medium, hard or dry lesions (p <0.01). Lesions visible on x-ray harboured more bacteria, including lactobacilli and ms (pc0.01), while dentine colour was not discriminatory. Soft lesions harboured significantly more lactobacilli than as (1.72+1.87 and 0.76+1.22; p<0.001). It can be concluded that the relevant clinical criteria for the diagnosis of infected dentine at the EDJ were visibility on x-ray, soft lesions and wet lesions. MRC Grant: G9025352S0.


However confident we feel about the way we perceive the visual world around us, there is not a one-to-one relation between visual stimulation and visual perception. Our eyes register reflections of the visual environment and our brain has the difficult task of constructing 'reality' from this information. In doing so, the brain has to rely on internal information, like inferences and assumptions, in addition to external information, being the visual stimulation. External visual information is processed in specialized sensory brain regions located in the occipital lobe of the brain. Our investigations tested the general belief that internal information is processed in cognitive brain regions located in the parietal and frontal lobe. To this end we presented participants with ambiguous images that elicit two - mutually exclusive - perceptual interpretations. Because perception differs while the stimulus remains the same, ambiguous images enable the separate investigation of neural activations associated with external and internal influences on perception. We focused our studies on two perceptual phenomena that reflect a contribution of internal information to the perception of ambiguous images. The first phenomenon is the occurrence of spontaneous changes in the perception of a constant ambiguous stimulus, back and forth between two possible interpretations of the stimulus. Since there are no concomitant changes in the visual stimulation, these changes reflect an internal process in the mind of the observer. Using intracranial recordings of neural activity, we found that sensory brain regions that are located in the occipital lobe activate when spontaneous perceptual changes occur. This finding shows that these brain regions, which are specialized in the processing of external information, also process internal perceptual information. The second phenomenon we studied is perceptual memory. The way we perceive an ambiguous image is partly determined by the way we have perceived it previously. We found that perceptual memory modulates neural processing soon after the onset of the stimulus, preceding the completion of the perceptual interpretation. This was observed using electro-encephalography, a technique that measures neural activity at a high temporal resolution. In an additional study we used functional magnetic resonance imaging, a technique with a high spatial rather than temporal resolution. Perceptual memory was associated with activations in sensory brain regions located in the occipital lobe. Moreover, the involved sensory brain regions differed between stimuli and, per stimulus, were specialized in the processing of that stimulus specifically. Perceptual memory is thus processed in brain regions that are also dedicated to the processing of stimulus-specific external information. In summary, contrary to general belief we found that internal information that contributes to our perception of ambiguous stimuli is associated with activations of sensory rather than cognitive brain regions. Given the known role of these sensory regions in the processing of external information, our findings indicate that internal and external contributions to perception are not processed in separate brain regions, but instead are inextricably linked in terms of neural processing. It thus seems that objective perceptual processing based solely on external information does not occur in the brain.


Children and young people on the autism spectrum show elevated anxiety levels in comparison to typically developing peers and those with other special educational needs. However, despite the significant time spent in school, few researchers have focused on how the school environment contributes to elevated anxiety levels in autism. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, exploring causes of anxious affect for autistic adolescents attending mainstream school. Experiences in the school environment that were highlighted as sources of anxiety included adverse noises, the behaviour of others and the social identity of autistic pupils. Additionally, academic pressure, transitions, disliked subjects, homework and handwriting were highlighted as sources of anxiety. Key frameworks of anxiety and autism (Boulter et al., 2014; Wood & Gadow, 2010) were used to understand these findings.An empirical study was also conducted to explore how the secondary school experience contributed to elevated anxiety following the Intolerance of Uncertainty framework of anxiety and autism proposed by Boulter et al. (2014). A school-based sample of 30 autistic adolescents aged 11-14, took part in the study. Parents completed measures of anxiety, sensory processing, autism symptom severity, and teachers completed a measure of social skills. Participants on the autism spectrum completed a measure of the number and types of experiences causing feelings of anxiety in the school social and learning environment. Indirect pathways from sensory sensitivities and social and environmental experiences in school to anxiety symptoms through intolerance of uncertainty were then tested. Findings supported and extended the key framework of anxiety in autism proposed by Boulter et al. (2014), demonstrating significant indirect pathways from experiences in school, sensory sensitivities and autism traits to anxiety through intolerance of uncertainty.


Physical and emotional violence among siblings is one aspect of family dynamics that is often overlooked by practitioners working with children and families receiving services for abuse and neglect. One reason for this may be the limited attention that violence between siblings has received in comparison with other forms of family violence. Button and Gealt (2010) noted the need for more research in this area as well as increased efforts to prevent this form of family violence. One national study identified sibling violence as the most common form of family violence (Straus, Gelles, & Steinmetz, 1980); others have concluded that sibling conflict is rather typical, stating that it occurs daily for approximately 50 percent of young children (Dunn & Kendrick, 1982). The effects of sibling violence can lead to poor peer relations and behavioral problems (Stormshak, Bellanti, & Bierman, 1996); depression and anxiety (Duncan, 1999); and continued self-blame, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, interpersonal relationship problems, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Wiehe, 1997). Sibling violence has also been associated with the occurrence of peer bullying (Ensor, Marks, Jacobs, & Hughes, 2010; Finkelhor, Tumer, & Ormrod, 2006), suggesting that this form of family violence may have indirect implications for the health of others outside the family. However, these findings seem to have had limited inclusion in intervention programs serving children and families. This article seeks to draw attention to this often overlooked family dynamic and to recommend ways to integrate this content into parenting intervention programs. Following a brief overview of some of the factors often associated with psychological and physical abuse, findings from interviews with five practitioners who conduct parenting intervention groups are summarized. Recommendations are provided for how practitioners could bring greater attention to sibling violence in their parent intervention programs. OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM Mental health has been described as "indispensable to personal well-being, family and interpersonal relationships, and contribution to community or society" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999, p. 4). Physical abuse is associated with such psychiatric disorders as PTSD, conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (Famularo, Kinscherff, & Fenton, 1992), depression (Kolko, 2002), aggression and anxiety (Azar & Wolfe, 1998), and impaired social functioning with peers (Salzinger, Feldman, Hammer, & Rosario, 1993). Psychological maltreatment, which includes verbal abuse and threats, is associated with depression, conduct disorder, and delinquency (Kazdin, Moser, Colbus, & Bell, 1985) and can impair social and cognitive functioning in children (Smetana & Kelly, 1989). Research has also linked parental verbal aggression and children's psychosocial problems (Moore & Pepler, 2006), even when no physical abuse is present. Children who are abused often lack resources to manage their own frustration, stress, and anger. This lack of self-control may result in their venting their anger on others. Longer term effects include the potential for children who have been abused to repeat the abuse and neglect in the future with their own children. Child neglect has been associated with academic problems, aggression, and low self-esteem (Erickson & Egeland, 2002) as well as anxious and inattentive behaviors at school (Corcoran, 2000). The fact that child well-being improves when parental maltreatment is reduced speaks to both the importance of resilience and the need for family intervention (Christoffersen & DePanfillis, 2009). Parent intervention programs are one way to decrease or eliminate child maltreatment and enhance parenting skills to improve family health and functioning. Parenting Intervention Programs Parent education is commonly used in child welfare (Barth et al. …


In the above-mentioned article,1 the electronic version differs from the print version due to typos in Table 2. The only data affected were the apps that did not predict the fertile window. The electronic version on the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine website has been corrected. We apologize for the error, and we regret any confusion or inconvenience it may have caused.


Stand-up comedy is said to reflect a society's problems and fears. The influential and indeed very funny American comedians Lenny Bruce and Andy Kaufman both refused to be considered comedians. To this day, a large number of critics have thus focused on Bruce and Kaufman as social critics. Taking as a premise that stand-up comedians teach through enjoyment, this study seeks to evaluate Bruce and Kaufman's performances with regard to their comical means used to convey socio-critical messages. Detailed analyses of both comedians' strategies of humor enable a precise understanding of their critical messages in the first place. An evaluation of both comedians' reception and a contextualization of their material clarifies their position as critical comedians within postmodern society. The biographical pictures 'Lenny' and 'Man on the Moon' are understood as the most influential parts of their reception and are analyzed in detail. The preservation of Lenny Bruce and Andy Kaufman's strategies of humor and their underlying critical messages can thus be illustrated and the relevance of their comedy for today's viewers is pointed out. Finally, the legacy of Bruce and Kaufman as pioneers of (American) stand-up comedy is emphasized.


An article about the aesthetics, politics and dramaturgy of taste implicit in Reckless Sleepers' The Last Supper (2003). The authors explore notions of gustatory taste and the multi-sensory potential of serving food in performance and the ethics of (mis)representation of real life events; the assassination of the Romanovs and Che Guavara proving to be the most unreliable narratives. The piece sits between fact and fiction, the found and the fabricated, and is punctuated with the arrival of the real last suppers of convicted felons. The work speaks from a primarily western religious perspective, inspired by Da Vinci's Last Supper (1498) and the act of communion that takes place in church services. In this way, it leans towards an occidental, spiritual notion of taste, where transubstantiation allows the rice paper script to become both the body of Christ and the symbol of his own last supper. Nietzsche's notion of intoxication comes into play as performers and audience share wine, or blood, and drink to absent friends. The article proposes that the piece enacts a dramaturgy much like a meal, where conversation ebbs and flows, and a sense of togetherness, or act of communion, is engendered. The authors posit that the tacit contract with the audience is redrawn by food as both an aesthetic and dramaturgical encounter. As such, it becomes an invocation (or intoxication) of taste, mortality and last-ness that continues to resonate thirteen years after its devising. Both Pinchbeck and Westerside wrote about this performance when they first saw it at the same venue in 2006, both conducted interviews with members of the Reckless Sleepers, Mole Wetherell and Tim Ingram, for their ongoing research into dramaturgy, aesthetics and taste in contemporary performance. Now this research is woven together into a tapestry of reflections on the piece, a pentimento of memories.


Background and Purpose: Upon centuries, wars have taken over countries due to theadvancement of sophisticated warfare,causingserious injuries among soldiers. Nurses are directly involved in preoperative and postsurgical patient care. One ofthe most remarkable contributions of the Iranian operating room nurses was to provide medical care for wounded soldiers in field hospitals during the Iran-Iraq war. This study aimed to explore the experiences of civilian operating room nurses infield hospitals at the frontlines during the Iran-Iraq war. Methods: This study was conducted using historical research methodology and oral history method throughin-depthinterviews with civilian nurses engaged inoperating rooms during the war.Participants were selected via snowball sampling. This study investigated nursing practice in operating rooms as recountedby 16 civilian nurses who served in field hospitals inthe Iran-Iraq war during 1980-1988. Results: This study had six descriptive themes focusing on the experiences of nurses engaged in operating rooms during theIran-Iraq war, and the results were obtainedin a narrative style. The main themes extracted from the study were"establishment of medical centers in the frontlines", "organization of emergency medical teams", "establishment of operating rooms", "nursing duties inthe operating room", "documentation of medical interventions", and "vulnerability of nurses in the operating room". Conclusion: The findings of this study will significantly enhance the current knowledge regarding operating room nursing practiceduring the Iran-Iraq war, enabling a greater understanding of this particular medical experience.


Maps provide a base for all intelligence operations and strategic and tactical decisions, supporting the planning and execution of all battlefield functions. The development of military mapping support in South Africa, related closely to the development of aerial photography, may be divided into five, sometimes overlapping, phases. The first of these phases spans the years from 1840 to 1930 and is characterised by the gradual recognition that aerial photographs could be used for mapping. Two major conflicts – the Anglo Boer War and the First World War – marked this development. The Second World War is the key event of the second phase (1930–1950), which witnessed a rapid expansion of aerial photo coverage. The third phase (1945–1960) saw the overemphasising of interpretation techniques rather than the analytical use of results, which was rectified during the fourth phase (1955–1962) when the focus shifted to the applied uses of air-photo interpretation. During the third and fourth phases the topographic mapping support ability of the South African military was expanded. The fifth phase (since 1960) commenced with the expansion of data gathering and analysis into portions of the electromagnetic spectrum beyond the small visible sector. During this period the protracted nature of the conflict on the northern border of Namibia (formerly South West Africa) and the war in Angola focused attention on the South African military mapping system. The National Service system allowed for the expansion of mapping units and the thorough mapping of large areas adjoining our borders. Through all five phases, mapping in the South African military has advanced from hand-produced maps to the utilisation of complex equipment that satisfies the sophisticated mapping needs of a modern defence force. This paper presents a brief history of both mapping support and the mapping units that have served within the South African theatre during the twentieth century. In doing so, the operational importance of topographic maps is also highlighted.


This article is focussed on the problem of application of special psychological knowledge in legislation and executing of law. Our main concern are limits in which scientific psychological knowledge can be used for needs of law application. In great details we investigated problems broadly discussed in a special literature, that in opinions of many authors, there are substantially narrow possibilities to use psychology in solution of legal problems. The majority of these problems are related to essential difference in the very nature of both sciencies. We show that in fact all these differences do not preclude cooperation between psychology and law and use of psychologic knowledge in law. These differences actually are related to different position of each science in their relationship. It is shown that in fact psychological knowledge is broadly used in law. However, it is so called "practical psychological knowledge". The real problem is transformation of common sense psychological pastulates, widely used in law, into scientivic psychological knowledge. We investigated conditions under which such transitions occures and stages through which such development proceeds. It is shown that interconnection between law and psychology is very different on each of these stages. On the first stage psychological knowledge is applied at least. On the last one, we have most intensive application of special psychological knowledge.


Recently, Natural Language Processing (NLP) has witnessed an impressive progress in many areas, due to the advent of novel, pretrained contextual representation models. In particular, Devlin et al. (2019) proposed a model, called BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), which enables researchers to obtain state-of-the art performance on numerous NLP tasks by fine-tuning the representations on their data set and task, without the need for developing and training highly-specific architectures. The authors also released multilingual BERT (mBERT), a model trained on a corpus of 104 languages, which can serve as a universal language model. This model obtained impressive results on a zero-shot cross-lingual natural inference task. Driven by the potential of BERT models, the NLP community has started to investigate and generate an abundant number of BERT models that are trained on a particular language, and tested on a specific data domain and task. This allows us to evaluate the true potential of mBERT as a universal language model, by comparing it to the performance of these more specific models. This paper presents the current state of the art in language-specific BERT models, providing an overall picture with respect to different dimensions (i.e. architectures, data domains, and tasks). Our aim is to provide an immediate and straightforward overview of the commonalities and differences between Language-Specific (language-specific) BERT models and mBERT. We also provide an interactive and constantly updated website that can be used to explore the information we have collected, at this https URL.


The problem of analysis of postmodern works
has generated many different analytical techniques, most of which
concentrate on either structure or meaning. This project is an
attempt to create an analytical technique that will examine both
structure and meaning. Thus, it attempts to answer the following
questions: How does quoting a piece of music change its meaning?
How can an analyst compare the same or similar material in
disparate contexts? What are the technical, musical and
extra-musical markers of certain tropes or ideas? Finally, what
methodologies or tools can be used or created to effectively carry
out these analyses? This study will culminate with an analysis of
quoted materials in the third movement of Luciano Berio's Sinfonia
for 8 voices and orchestra (1968 -
69). Postmodernism is historically viewed through
the lens of deconstruction, as explicated by Michel Foucault,
Jacques Derrida and others; this approach promotes the idea of
"incredulity toward metanarrative" and usually concentrates instead
on technical aspects rather than meaning. This study instead
concentrates on Frederic Ferre´'s reconstructive model of
postmodernism, which has its roots in ecology. In this model,
disparate elements of a piece of music - including quotations from
other musical works - are examined as if they were life forms and
landscapes interacting with each other. This approach allows the
analyst to create graphs showing how the life forms from a quoted
piece of music alter and are altered by the landscape of the
quoting piece. Chapter 1 is a brief examination
of the history of quotation in music, including authoritarian
versus anti-authoritarian uses of quotation. In Chapter 2, the
project looks at the development of postmodernist thought and
compares deconstructionism to reconstructionism. Following that,
there is a discussion of postmodernism and quotation in music, and
an overview of the literature on discontinuous forms. Chapter 3
gives background on the concept of irony, drawing upon the work of
D. C. Muecke, Richard Rorty, Linda Hutcheon and others. Chapter 4
develops the methodology using Ferre´'s reconstructive
postmodernism as a model and the concept of "timbral space" or
"orchestrational space" as a launching point, and Chapter 5 applies
this methodology in an analysis of the third movement of Luciano
Berio's Sinfonia through formal, motivic and harmonic structure.
The final chapter details the conclusions - there are moments of
high, medium and low levels of irony in the work, based on the
number of parameters (form, motive, harmony) that are altered in
the transfer. The graphic analyses present yield many interesting
pieces of data about the work, and the methodology can be adjusted
to look for other important information in a given piece of
music.


As structural analogues of carbon nanotubes (CNT), boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) possesses extraordinary mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical properties. These unique properties, makes them promising materials applications in composite, hydrogen storage, radiation shielding, biomaterials. However, difficulties in high yield BNNT synthesis and obtaining stable dispersions of BNNTs in aqueous media remain as main challenges. This thesis research focuses on the BNNT synthesis and optimization thereof in addition to preparation of stable aqueous dispersions of BNNTs. High yield synthesis of BNNTs on Si wafers and BNNFs as well as floating BNNT form by modified growth vapor trapping-BOCVD method in conventional tube furnace at 1200 °C were accomplished in this research. Synthesis of BNNTs were optimized in terms of temperature, catalyst ratio, catalyst amount, ammonia flow, reaction time and system parameters which allowed high yield synthesis of good quality BNNTs with vacuum free, low cost, novel growth vapor trapping-BOCVD route. As-synthesized BNNTs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Following the successful synthesis of BNNTs, BNNT synthesis from boron minerals were investigated. Boron minerals Ulexite and Etidot-67, gifted from ETI Maden Isletmeleri, were used as boron precursors for the synthesis of floating BNNTs in this research. Assynthesized BNNTs were characterized by SEM and RAMAN spectroscopy. Two modification approaches were utilized for the surface modifications of BNNTs: Covalent functionalization and non-covalent functionalization. In covalent functionalization approach, BNNT's surfaces were hydroxylated by nitric acid treatment and ozone treatment, which reduces the van der Waals forces between nanotubes. Moreover, hydroxyl groups on the surface of BNNTs can be used as starting spots for the further functionalization. In-non covalent functionalization approach, BNNTs were wrapped with ionic surfactants and polymers (b-PEI (branched polyethyleneimine) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) via π-π interaction to prevent agglomeration of BNNTs and dispersed in aqueous media. Dispersions of as-functionalized BNNTs characterized by Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR) and dynamic light scattering spectroscopy (DLS). BNNT thin film production by dip LbL method was investigated. LbL method allows high control over the architecture of thin film in addition to film thickness. BNNT dispersions were used in combination with b-PEI and PSS Poly(styrenesulfonate) for the production of BNNT thin films on glass substrates. Different pH values of as-prepared dispersions were tested in order to achieve 5 bl (bilayer) and 10 bl thick BNNT thin films by dip LbL method. Synthesis parameters of BNNTs were successfully optimized and synthesis of BNNTs were achieved. As-synthesized BNNT's surfaces were modified with covalent and noncovalent functionalization methods and stable aqueous dispersions of BNNTs were achieved. We found that, non-covalent functionalization of BNNTs allows BNNTs to be dispersed in aqueous media with good dispersion stability.


Evidence from multiple lines of research supports the effectiveness and practical importance of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. Conference presenters discussed the relationship between 12-Step participation and abstinence among various populations, including adolescents, women, and urban drug users. Insight from the arts and humanities placed empirical findings in a holistic context.


Towards the middle of the 20th century, scholarly research revealed that the fabled Silk Roads, far from being mere trade routes, were cultural highways that played a pivotal role in linking east and west, intermittently bringing together nomads and city dwellers, pastoral peoples and farmers, merchants and monks, and soldiers and pilgrims. The notion of movement is therefore central to an understanding of the relations between peoples; it is also the factor of which specialists have, for various reasons, not taken sufficient account. It is in this context that the Silk Roads Project, initiated by UNESCO, assumes its significance. It has proved very fruitful and led to a large variety of projects of which this volume presents a selection. Although the papers collected here are wide-ranging, they reveal the emergence of the concept of a common heritage and plural identity. The studies carried out under the Project have shown that identity, seen from a long-term perspective, cannot be viewed as a ghetto or an enclosure, but as the result of a whole process of synthesis and encounter between peoples and cultures. (from the Introduction) Vadim Elisseeff was Chairman of the UNESCO International Consultative Committee of the Silk Roads during the ten years of its existence. He is a specialist in the archaeology and history of the Far East and has held a number of important posts in national and international academic or cultural institutions such as that of General Inspector of the Museums of France and Director of Research in Archaeology of the Far East at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes en sciences sociales, Paris, and was a member of the French Commission for Archaeological Excavations from 1955 to 1968.


A class of 'superstar cities', including London, have become over recent decades both objects of concentrated academic speculation and sites for economic activities which are themselves highly speculative as well as dynamic and magnifiers of inequality. The post-industrial, post-Fordist and internationalised economy evolving in London since the 1980s has made the city again the most (rather than the least) cyclically sensitive part of the UK economy. Rather surprisingly, however, it has suffered less than other parts of the UK in the downturn since the 2007/8 financial crisis in which its banks were heavily involved. The degree of protection enjoyed during this period reflects a combination of public sector expansion (prior to the austerity programme), safeguarding of senior professional jobs, and a massive government bail-out of the major banks' wholesale operations.


AIMS
Self-help smoking cessation interventions for pregnant smokers are of importance due to their potential to be wide-reaching, low-cost and their appeal to pregnant smokers who are interested in quitting smoking. To date, however, there has been no systematic assessment of their efficacy. This systematic review aimed to assess the efficacy of self-help interventions for pregnant smokers and to investigate whether self-help material intensity, type or delivery are associated with cessation.

METHODS
The literature was searched for randomized and quasi-randomized controlled trials of self-help smoking cessation interventions for pregnant smokers without significant cessation counselling. Fifteen trials met the inclusion criteria and relevant data were extracted independently.

RESULTS
The primary meta-analysis pooled 12 trials comparing usual care (median quit rate 4.9%) with self-help (median quit rate 13.2%) and yielded a pooled odds ratio (OR) of 1.83 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-2.73], indicating that self-help interventions on average nearly double the odds of quitting compared with standard care. However, a further meta-analysis failed to find evidence that intervention materials of greater intensity increase quitting significantly over materials of lesser intensity (pooled OR = 1.25, 95% CI 0.81-1.94). There was insufficient evidence to determine whether the tailoring of materials or levels of one-to-one contact were related to intervention efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS
Self-help interventions appear to be more effective than standard care although, due mainly to a lack of trials, it is unclear whether more sophisticated and intensive approaches increase intervention effectiveness.


The emerging Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) provide the possibility of developing innovative approaches to replace the traditional approaches of using text, 2D-maps, images and graphs to facilitate better communication and collaboration. This thesis uses these emerging technologies to present an innovative collaborative virtual environment for multiple stakeholders to come together to visualise and analyse complex urban agendas and have an informed debate about the proposed plans, their inter-dependencies and intended outcome.

The research has been driven by working closely with a group of stakeholders in the Black Country. The case study approach ensured the concerns of the majority of the stakeholders are addressed within an urban planning context involving a range of complex data sets.

This research has designed and implemented a software framework that can create a VR-centred planning environment which can efficiently manage planning related datasets, support interactive visualisation and analysis, and enhance stakeholder engagement. The overall software system has been implemented within a co-located workspace comprised of a PowerWall, 3D input devices and conferencing facilities for 30 participants. The underlying unified urban model can integrate various geospatial data, demographic data and new urban plans to bring new developments to life. This model allows the users to reconfigure the urban space to suit the discussion points relevant to an urban scenario.

Three types of evaluations have been conducted: performance evaluation, usability evaluation and business benefit evaluation. In this case the experiments have been conducted within an urban space of 350km2. The performance evaluation experiments have shown that the interactive response for rendering, navigation and interactive tasks are adequate for real-time performance. The human factors experiments show that the user interface is easy to learn and easy to use for typical interactive tasks. The proposed collaborative environment has been rated high by the stakeholders in terms of the value of this system for their urban tasks.


OBJECTIVE
To determine if symptoms of depression accelerate in cognitively normal apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 carriers as compared to noncarriers.

METHOD
Six hundred thirty-three cognitively and functionally normal members of the Arizona APOE Cohort aged 21-86 years underwent neuropsychological testing every 1 to 2 years that included the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Personality Assessment Inventory. We estimated the longitudinal change on these measures using mixed models that simultaneously modeled cross-sectional and longitudinal effects of age on depression scores by APOE status and the interaction between the two. We also estimated incident depression on the basis of accepted clinical cut-scores on depression measures and use of depression medications.

RESULTS
The mean length of follow-up was 7.7 years. Comparing APOE ε4 carriers with noncarriers revealed no significant longitudinal difference in the rate of change or slope of change on any depression scale or subscale. There was also no difference in incident depression or antidepressant drug use between the carrier and noncarrier groups.

CONCLUSIONS
These data fail to support a relationship between APOE genotype and longitudinal change in depression symptoms, suggesting that depression symptoms may not be intrinsic to the early preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease.


Numerous empirical studies have investigated the profitability of technical trading rules in a wide variety of markets, and many of them found positive profits. Despite positive evidence about profitability and improvements in testing procedures, skepticism about technical trading profits remains widespread among academics mainly due to data snooping problems. This study tries to mitigate the problems by confirming the results of a previous study and then replicating the original testing procedure on a new body of data. Results indicate that in 12 U.S. futures markets technical trading profits have gradually declined over time. Substantial technical trading profits during the 1978-1984 period are no longer available in the 1985-2003 period.


Objectives Health literacy—the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information—is a major determinant of an individual's overall health and health care utilization. In this project, the authors examined predictors of health literacy levels, including numeracy and graphic literacy, among an adult population in the Upper Midwest. Methods The research was conducted at the Minnesota State Fair. Three previously validated scales were used to assess health literacy: Newest Vital Sign, the General Health Numeracy Test, and questions from Galesic and Garcia-Retamero's Graph Literacy Scale. Demographic information—such as age, educational attainment, zip code, and other potential predictors and modifiers—was collected. Multivariate linear regression was conducted to examine the independent effects of educational attainment, race, ethnicity, gender, and rural or urban location on overall health literacy and scores on each of the individual instruments. Results A total of 353 Upper Midwest residents completed the survey, with the majority being white, college-educated, and from an urban area. Having a graduate or professional degree or being under the age of 21 were associated with increased health literacy scores, while having a high school diploma or some high school education, being Asian American, or being American Indian/Alaska Native were associated with lower health literacy scores. Conclusion Advanced health literacy skills, including the ability to calculate and compare information, were problematic even in well-educated populations. Understanding numerical and graphical information was found to be particularly difficult, and more research is needed to understand these deficits and how best to address them.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to investigate and develop an analysis model of a tourism department network using an explorative approach. Strategic stakeholders have been identified for the tourism department and organised into partner groups. An analysis model has been developed based on four network types: formal organisation, informal organisation, formal individual and informal individual. For every type, the following six network content dimensions were found relevant to analyse: stakeholders, reciprocal relations, relation exchange, network driving forces, network management and network purpose. The investigations have shown some focused network strengths such as network permanency, with corresponding weaknesses such as rigid relations. Some typical implications of the strengths and weaknesses for the department have been identified, and some network techniques to handle the implications have been proposed. An annual network development process for a tourism department is suggested. The resulting network is summarised as the Professional Tourism Academic Network (PTAN).


Walters v. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Ltd., 651 F.3d 280 (2d Cir. 2011). I. Introduction A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit involved very high-profile parties: the People's Republic of China, its Embassy in Washington, D.C., and multiple branch representatives of its billiondollar, state-owned bank operating in New York City. (1) However, this case arose from a small-scale business transaction: the retail purchase of a Chinese-manufactured SKS semi-automatic rifle (2) during the regular course of business in the small town of Lamar, Missouri. (3) This rifle, purchased by a father for his son in 1993, allegedly malfunctioned during a hunting trip and discharged a bullet into the son's head, killing him in front of his father. (4) Since this event, the son's parents have pursued many avenues of legal action seeking justice for their loss against China and its state-affiliated companies and assets. (5) This process, pursued intermittently from 1993 to 2011, just shy of two decades, reached yet another dead end for the parents on July 7, 2011, in the Second Circuit. (6) Walters v. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Ltd. presented the Second Circuit with the issue whether, in the context of the execution of assets, immunity for foreign states under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) may be considered sua sponte by a district court or at the behest of a third party. (7) The Second Circuit held that "where a judgment creditor seeks to enforce a judgment rendered against a foreign [state] by attaching or executing upon its property, a district court may [have the power to] apply the FSIA's execution immunity provisions [sua sponte,] regardless of whether the foreign sovereign enters an appearance." (8) Sua sponte, Latin for "of one's own accord; voluntarily," refers to the power of a court to raise an issue or motion without the need for another party to raise it first. (9) In the context of the FSIA, raising execution immunity sua sponte refers to the ability of a court to raise the issue of immunity without requiring a representative of a foreign state or a third party to appear in court and/or raise it personally. (10) In reaching this conclusion, the Second Circuit relied on the structure, history, and purpose of the FSIA. (11) Walters is noteworthy for addressing several aspects of the FSIA. In addition to holding that a district court can raise the issue of immunity sua sponte, Walters reaffirmed the independence of the issues of jurisdictional immunity and execution immunity as separate and distinct principles under the FSIA. (12) Walters also asserted the narrow and "restrictive" view toward the exceptions to execution immunity under the FSIA. (13) Walters clarifies the FSIA execution provisions, which have been described "as among the most confusing and ineffectual in the statute" and in need of reform. (14) The execution provisions under the FSIA are confusing and ineffectual for a multitude of reasons, including structure and procedure. (15) Structurally, the execution provisions are confusing because: they grant differing levels of execution immunity to instrumentalities based on whether they conduct commercial activity in the U.S.; they distinguish different grounds for obtaining attachment before or after judgment against a foreign state; and they suggest that a non-foreign state party seeking a contractual waiver of immunity with a foreign state party to attain three separate waivers of immunity for pre-judgment attachment, jurisdiction, and execution. (16) Procedurally, the execution immunity provisions are ineffectual and prevent practical application because they create an exceedingly "restrictive regime" in order to successfully enforce judgments against foreign states. (17) This confusion arising from the execution immunity provisions under the FSIA has been a source of prolonged litigation in U. …


Clojure is a practical, general-purpose language that offers expressivity rivaling other dynamic languages like Ruby and Python, while seamlessly taking advantage of Java libraries, services, and all of the resources of the JVM ecosystem. This book helps you learn the fundamentals of Clojure with examples relating it to the languages you know already, in the domains and topics you work with every day. See how this JVM language can help eliminate unnecessary complexity from your programming practice and open up new options for solving the most challenging problems.Clojure Programming demonstrates the languages flexibility by showing how it can be used for common tasks like web programming and working with databases, up through more demanding applications that require safe, effective concurrency and parallelism, data analysis, and more. This in-depth look helps tie together the full Clojure development experience, from how to organize your project and an introduction to Clojure build tooling, to a tutorial on how to make the most of Clojures REPL during development, and how to deploy your finished application in a cloud environment.Learn how to use Clojure while leveraging your investment in the Java platform Understand the advantages of Clojure as an efficient Lisp for the JVM See how Clojure is used today in several practical domains Discover how Clojure eliminates the need for many verbose and complicated design patterns Deploy large or small web applications to the cloud with Clojure


The Arctic region is currently facing substantial environmental changes. Melting of glaciers as a consequence
of increasing temperature subsequently creates stressful environmental conditions, such as reduced salinity
in coastal habitats of kelp beds. We investigated the physiological and transcriptomic performance of
the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima from Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) over a 24-hour exposure at two
salinities (20 and 30 psu) after a 7- day pre-acclimation at three temperatures (0, 8 and 15°C). The results demonstrate that the maximum quantum yield of PS II (Fv/Fm) at 15° C was significantly higher than at 0° C,
but showed no difference at the two salinities. Pigment content exhibited similar response patterns. Salinity,
however, affected gene expression much stronger than temperature. The highest number of differentially
expressed genes (DEGs;-DESeq2 with log2Ratio≥2), compared to the control at 8°C and normal salinity, was found in the specimens at 8°C and low salinity (1,374), followed by samples at 0°C and low salinity (1,193). The lowest number of DEGs appeared in the individuals at 0°C and normal salinity (274). Expression profile changes mainly focused on regulations of photosynthetic components and transport processes, as well as induction of ROS scavengers. On the physiological level, our findings indicate a high plastic performance of S. latissima at higher temperatures and lower salinities accompanied by significant gene expression modulation


The purposes of the study were to track weightlifters' barbell acceleration with a portable accelerometer over three training sessions to examine test–retest reliability and to compare peak barbell acceleration at different training intensities. Twelve nationally ranked weightlifters volunteered for this study. The portable accelerometer was attached to the right side of the barbell to measure barbell resultant acceleration during the snatch lift at a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. The data were collected over three training sessions at intensity levels of 80%, 85%, and 90% of one repetition maximum. The data were analyzed using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) for the three training sessions and one-way repeated measure ANOVA to compare the difference in peak barbell acceleration at three intensities. Results showed that the device was highly reliable with an ICC of 0.88 and 95% confidence interval of 0.81–0.93. There were significant differences in peak barbell acceleration at various lifting intensities, indicating a decline of the acceleration as the mass of the barbell became heavier. The portable accelerometer seems useful in measuring barbell acceleration data, which can be analyzed in future studies to monitor a weightlifter's performance in a practical setting instead of testing at a laboratory.


The presence of very high amounts of oxy-components in unprocessed bio-oil after thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass is an undesirable property of bio-oil. This results in severe drawbacks for raw bio-oil which are considered to be undesirable characteristics of any fuel, e.g., low heating value, corrosiveness, high viscosity, and low stability. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate oxygen atoms from the components of bio-oil. On the other hand, the very high number of oxy-components in unprocessed bio-oil offers an excellent platform to acquire various specialty chemicals. Therefore, in this work, vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzaldehyde) is considered as a model compound of lignin-derived bio-oil, and various chemical conversions are conducted to achieve lower molecular weight hydrocarbon fractions and several important intermediates, e.g., benzene, guaiacol, o-cresol, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, m-methoxybenzaldehyde, phenol and o-quinonemethide. Bond dissociation energy studies were carried out to observe the potential chemical breakage sites of vanillin. Chemical reaction mechanisms are proposed according to the various bond dissociation possibilities, and potential energy surfaces are reported for each reaction scheme. The production of guaiacol from vanillin using atomic hydrogenation at the aromatic carbon of the Caromatic–CHO bond of vanillin followed by formyl group removal was found to be the pathway requiring the lowest activation energy (only 10.13 kcal mol−1). The present results are in accordance with their experimental counterparts wherever applicable. The thermochemical phenomena of these reactions were studied in a wide temperature range, i.e., 598 to 898 K for the gas phase and 298 to 498 K for the aqueous phase, at a fixed pressure of 1 atm. The aqueous phase environment was created by a SMD model using water as the solvent. All reaction schemes in both phases were favourable under all temperature conditions except for the formation of phenol from vanillin via the formation of 5-formylsalicylaldehyde, as reported in reaction schemes 7a and 7a1.


Preface. Introduction. Impact, Penetration and Material Modeling. Fragmentation of Ceramics in the Ballistic Environment. ( Dennis E. Grady ). Flow Behavior of GLass at the Tip of a Penetrator. Rheology of Powder and Porous Media In Modeling of Penetration into Porous Ceramic. ( D.A. Shockey, D. Bergmannshoft, D.R. Curran, and J. W. Simons ). Computer Modeling of Shock Wave Propagation in SiC-Sample. ( B.A. Galonov, V.V. Kartuzov, and S.M. Ivanov ). Ballistic IMpact Damage Observations in a Hot-pressed Boron Carbide. ( V.L. Bekenev, V.V. Kartuzov, E.V. Kartuzov, and H.V. Hachataian ). Characterization of Mictrostructural Damgae in Silicon Carbide Processed via Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition. ( J.C. LaSalvia, R.B. Leavy, J.R. Houskamp, H.T. Miller, D.E. MacKenzie, and J. Campbell ). Material Concepts, Processes and Characterization. Effects of Grain Size, Shape and Second Phases on Properties of Sintered SiC. ( H.T. Miller, J.C. LaSalvia, R.B. Leavy, and D.E. MacKenzie ). Indenter Elastic Modulus and Hertzian Ring Crack Iniation. ( K.T. Strong, Jr., A.A. Wereszezak, and W.L. Dalez, and O. M. Jadaan ). High Frequency Ultrasound of Alumina for High Strain-Rate Applications. ( S. Bottiglieri and R.A. Haber ). The effect of Particle Size, Particle Loading and Thermal Processing Conditions on the Properties of Alumina Reinforced Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites. ( Allyn L. McCormick, Michael K. Aghajanian, Andrew L. Marshall ). Pressureless Sintering of B4C-SiC Composites for Armor Applications. ( Rosa Marla da Rocha, Francisco C. L. de Melo ). Applications of NDE. A Portable Microwave Interference Scanning System for Nondestructive Testing of Multi-Layered Diclectric Materials. ( K.F. Schmidt, Jr., J.R. Little, Jr., W.A. Ellingson, and W.Green ). Destructive Testing and Nondestructive Evaluation of Alumina Structural Ceramics. ( Raymond E. Brennan, William H. Green, James M. Sands ). Nondestructive Evaluation of as Fabricated and Damged Encapsulated Ceramics. ( William H. Green, Raymond Brennan, and Robert H. Carter ). Microstructural Study of Sintered SiC via High Fequency Ultrasound Spectroscopy. ( A.R. Portune and R.A. Haber ). Impact Damage Analysis in a Level III Flexible Body Armor Vest using XCT Diagnostics. ( Joe Wells. Nevin Rupert, and Murray Neal ). Transparent Armor. Impact onto Glass and Glass Ceramic Bars. ( Stephan Bless, John Tolman, Scott Levinson, and Ian Polyzois ). Numerical Study of the Effect of Surface Stresses of Transparent Ceramics of Laminated Targets for Military Armor Applications. ( Costas G. Fountzoulas, James M. Sands, Gary Gilda, Parimal J. Patel ). Analyses of Various Damage Mechanisms in Transparent Armor Subject to Projectile Impact. ( Kevin C. Lai, Xin Sun, and Douglas W. Templeton ). Pressureless Reaction of Sintering of AION Using Aluminum Orthophospage as a Transient Liquid Phase. ( Michael Bakas, Henry Chu ). Alon Transparent Armor. ( Lee M. Goldman, Robyn Foti, Mark Smith, Uday Kashalikar, and Suri Sastri ). Author Index.


Abstract A part of kraft lignin (KL) can be used as a value-added product without detracting the chemical recovery and the energy balance of the kraft mill. The focus of this study is the production of light-weight carbon fibres (CFs) from KL obtained by the LignoBoost process. For this purpose, crude KL and various cellulose products from kraft pulping of hardwood (HW) and softwood (SW) were dissolved in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIm][OAc]) and submitted to dry-jet wet-spun to obtain precursor fibres containing 70% KL and 30% cellulose, which were thermally stabilised and further converted by thermal treatments into CF. The initial and final products were characterised with respect to, e.g. mole mass distribution, thermal properties, tensile strength and tensile modulus determination. The optimised precursor fibres are smooth and flexible with similar mechanical properties as commercial textile fibres. The best CFs made had a tensile strength of 780 MPa and a tensile modulus of 68 GPa and are thus stronger and stiffer than those produced by melt-spinning of SW-based lignins alone. The new CFs based on dry-jet wet-spun precursors still have a high potential for further improvements.


Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide well-known for its significant biological and chemical properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, bioactivity, and polycationicity. It is widely used in the nanomedicine, biomedical engineering and development of new therapeutic drug delivery systems with enhanced bioavailability, specificity and reduced pharmacological toxicity. Chitosan is a natural polymer obtained by deacetylation of chitin. After cellulose chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature. Different methods of synthesis of chitosan nanoparticles and their applications in nanomedicine, biomedical engineering, industrial and pharmaceutical fields were discussed in this review.


The marketing of farm inputs and outputs has become a major problem for farmers in Pakistan. Farm input supplies are irregular, characterized by shortages and high prices at critical times. This report reviews the input and output policies for cereals implemented in Pakistan during the period 1996–2010. Pakistan has a long and varied history of intervening in farm input and output markets, going back decades before the period under review. Most significantly, in the wake of economic reforms launched during the 1980s, it has withdrawn from most of the commodity markets except wheat. In other commodity markets, intervention is by and large notional and without much practical involvement. The rolling back of the public sector from markets has certainly saved public funds, but the savings have come at a cost. Some of the cost, in terms of higher prices and variability stemming from the uncertain economic environment and supply, is borne by consumers, and some, in terms of lower producer prices at harvest, is borne by farmers, especially small and medium farmers, whose farms account for more than 50 percent of the area under cereals.


From its inception, photography has been placed within narratives of illusionism, of the increasing mastery of the depiction of the visible world. As a new medium, it was feared that it would make painting obsolete. While such assumptions have been criticized in postmodern theory, the developments in new media in the last decade seem to bring them back to life. This time, however, it is photography that is outdone, reduced to a chapter in an ongoing story of a quest for images that give the greatest sense of immediacy and transparency. In their 1999 book Remediation, Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin analyze how contemporary new media enthusiasts are claiming that new technologies (mainly within the field of virtual reality) offer an ever greater experience of "immediacy" that fosters "a sense of presence" in the viewer. [1] These accounts remain basically within the teleological paradigm that earlier saw photography as an improvement over painting in terms of the level of realism it offered. Nonetheless, there has been a change of accent. After all, photography was uniquely valuable to the discourse that traced an ever greater realism in the history of art because of its status as an imprint, as an index. It shared this status only with its younger relative, cinema. Lev Manovich has succinctly described pre-digital film as the attempt "to make art out of a footprint"; the footprint is, in Charles Sanders Peirce's classification of signs, an index, like the photographic image or the film image. [2] In texts such as "Rhetoric of the Image" (1964), Roland Barthes analyzed both the "coded iconic message" and the "non-coded iconic message" of photographs--the former being indexical and the latter cultural. [3] However, in Camera Lucida (1980), Barthes focused on those elements of photography that espace the clutches of culture, of codedness. In this late book, he contrasted studium with punctum: studium is the analysis of a photograph as a cultural, coded artifact, whereas a punctum occurs when the v iewer is touched by some detail that has escaped the photographer's control. The detail that creates the sensation of punctum appears to be--for a moment--pure indexicality, a point that escapes the code. [4] Bolter and Grusin make it clear that this approach to photography becomes problematic at a time when computer images are becoming indistinguishable from photographs: "An image could be synthesized without the need for the objects in the image to have existed or to have been together at any time, which was exactly the condition that Roland Barthes considered the definition of photography in Camera Lucida." [5] Pragmatically, Bolter and Grusin note that "because a digital photograph can sometimes be regarded as transparent, it too can express our desire for immediacy." [6] This may be true, and it certainly is true that pre-digital photography has many means of manipulating the image and many photographic practices have focused on this. The question still remains if this "desire for immediacy" will be so easily swayed to accept the loss of the (illusion of) indexical truth. "Whatever else its power, the photograph could be called sub- or pre-symbolic, ceding the power of art back to the imposition of things," Rosalind Krauss stated in her "Notes of the Index: Part 1." [7] The self-assurance of such a statement--made well before the impact of digitization--indicates how much has changed in a comparatively short time. What is the status of photography when "things" are no longer necessary, when the "photorealistic" simulation of reality (as in Hollywood special effects) is considered by some to be more "real" than indexical images because it gives a greater sense of "immediacy"? For photography to be accepted as an art, "ceding the power of art back to the imposition of things" was never enough. It was even a threat. Technical and formal mastery, a signature style in the selection and ordering of the things shown, were of the utmost importance in establishing photography as an art. …


Motorcycle Rickshaws (MRs) are an informal paratransit mode in Pakistan. They are locally manufactured and very popular but there are concerns about their crash involvement and overall safety. The first study of the current PhD program revealed that rickshaws (both MRs
and auto-rickshaws) were involved in 51,992 road crashes attended by emergency ambulances in Punjab province, Pakistan between 2011-2013. This study aims to examine the road safety behaviours and practices of Motorcycle Rickshaw Drivers (MRDs) that may be contributing to these crashes. MRDs were observed at 12 major signalised intersections in Lahore. Vehicle characteristics and driver behaviours were recorded using a paper-based
survey between 9am-7pm for a full week in May 2015. Of the 500 MRDs observed, about 23.4% appeared to be younger than the minimum driver licensing age of 18 years. More than half (52.6%) of the MRDs entered on the red light and 17.4% crossed when the signal was turning from yellow to green or red. MR traffic conflicts were observed in 62.8% of cases and one crash and 15 near-miss crashes were witnessed. Additionally, about half of MRs
were overloaded, no MRD wore a helmet, and 3.8% were using a mobile phone while driving. This study provides the first scientific evidence to substantiate public concerns regarding the safety of MRs. It demonstrates that about a quarter of MRDs are underage,almost half of MRs are overloaded and more than half disobey traffic signals. This research could inform authorities to manage MR related transport and road safety issues.


Abstract Environmental resources and values (natural capital) should be seen as a key factor in regional competitiveness. However, little attention has been paid so far to the role of natural capital in the process of achieving competitive advantage from the territorial perspective. Therefore, the main purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study on the environmental competitiveness of Polish regions. The author's contribution to the theory is the use of taxonomic metrics for research purposes. Based on certain predefined criteria the environmental potential of each voivodship was assessed in 2004 and 2012. For research purposes, 26 indicators of state, pressure, and environmental protection were proposed. Owing to the fact that the subset of diagnostic variables (indicators) contained elements that could not be directly aggregated, their unification was achieved using standardization formulas. The methodology proposed by the author might be used to assess environmental competitiveness in different regions or countries. The results of the performed analyses indicated that the Subcarpathian province scored highest in terms of environmental competitiveness, while Swiętokrzyskie province scored lowest.


This article conceptualizes economies of spectatorship through a case study of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (SMR). Economies of spectatorship produce spectacular diegeses as commodities sold to spectators and sponsors. They develop through a dialectical process of progressive decontextualization as their diegeses are cross-marketed with discrepant products and services to reach new markets. Progressive decontextualization leads to diegetic incoherence that threatens the realization of profit. As an economy of spectatorship, the SMR produced an outlaw biker themed diegesis replete with vicarious action and consumable character gambles. The SMR progressively decontextualized as it cross-marketed its outlaw diegesis with establishment corporate, religious and political themes. The resulting diegetic incoherence threatened profits and required the SMR's producers to make significant investments in order to stabilize its flow of spectators and sponsors. Conceptualizing such inherently negating processes is critical to understanding the commodification of spectacle in mature capitalism.


Virtual prototyping of car doors enhanced with haptic feedback is a promising way to decrease the number of physical prototypes. We clarify, correct, summarize, and extend our previous work on the haptic simulation of car doors. A fundamental issue is the derivation of the performance specification of a task-optimized haptic interface, which is based on the knowledge of the typical user interaction with a car door and a comprehensive model of the dynamics of a rotatory car door. We reason that a direct drive with a high torque output (≥ 100 N·m) and a high control bandwidth has to be used. Consequently, we created a backlash-free very stiff device providing a safe and high-fidelity haptic rendering. Finally, we conducted an extensive user study with 17 participants. An important result is that the haptic simulation can be reliably used to evaluate different door concepts if the difference between them is larger than 5 N·m. Furthermore, the participants did not like a high effort for closing the door, while both a low and a medium effort are appreciated. This is in accordance with the heuristic findings of the automotive industry, which shows the effectiveness of our virtual prototyping approach.


This research study defines communication barriers in online program and courses by determining the perceptions of students and teachers at Eastern Mediterranean University. It aims to get the answers of question which is what sorts of problems students and teachers face while being involved in online courses and online program. Distance Education, in other words, online programs and online courses is the new challenge that universities face in the knowledge age in order to adapt to contemporary changes. Therefore; most of the universities try to improve their educational systems in relation to the demands of students by presenting alternatives depending on participants' interests and needs. Eastern Mediterranean University has started to implement distance education program and online courses to meet the demands of its students with the support of developing technologies and trends. Communication is an essential concept in online context to define the effectiveness and quality of these systems in regards of having qualified communication among participants that provides mutual understanding in educational context for efficient outcomes. For having effective online system, defining the communication barriers is an important process. Therefore; multiple qualitative and quantitative research approaches under mixed approach are used to be aware of communication barriers in online context and make participants to revamp the system by eliminating the weaknesses of the existing system and adapting to new trends that teachers and students have experienced.


Utilization of a new geomorphometric variable for land surface segmentation — the angle of absolute curvatures — is a main goal of the paper. The angle of absolute curvatures is defined as the difference between the orientation of maximal curvature (field independent) and the orientation of the greater of the profile or the tangential curvature. Land-forms separated by three types of borders (A, B, C) can be delimited from the field of angles of absolute curvatures. Borders of A type are connected with a local extreme of slope. Borders of B and C type are connected with a change to the priority of either profile or tangential curvature, as shown in computation, respectively. Fields of altitude, slope, profile curvature, tangential curvature and rotor curvature are reflected by an algorithm. Distinct borders in the field of the angles of absolute curvatures are connected with a sudden change of value and with zero isolines in the previously mentioned fields. Spatially closed entities generated by this proposed algorithm are considered to be a variant of the elementary forms of the land surface. The quality of information generated by this algorithm depends on the size of the grid mesh of the input digital elevation model. The algorithm in its current state is suitable for locating the borders of some elementary forms in the first stage of geomorphology mapping.


Efficient performance tuning of parallel programs is often hard. We present a performance prediction and visualization tool called VPPB. Based on a monitored uni-processor execution, VPPB shows the (predicted) behaviour of a multithreaded program using any number of processors and the program behaviour is visualized as a graph. The first version of VPPB was unable to handle I/O operations. This version has, by an improved tracing technique, added the possibility to trace activities at the kernel level as well. Thus, VPPB is now able to trace various I/O activities, e.g., manipulation of OS internal buffers, physical disk I/O, socket I/O, and RPC. VPPB allows flexible performance tuning of parallel programs developed for shared memory multiprocessors using a standardized environment; C/C++ programs that uses the thread package in Solaris 2.X.


In this thesis, we study the non-Abelian anyons that emerge as vortices in Ki-taev's honeycomb spin lattice model. By generalizing the solution of the model, we explicity demonstrate the non-Abelian fusion rules and the braid statistics that charaterize the anyons. This is based on showing the presence of vortices leads to zero modes in the spectrum. These can acquire finite energy due to short range vortex-vortex interactions. By studying the spectral evolution as a function of the vortex seperation, we unambigously identify the zero modes with the fusion degrees of freedom of non-Abelian anyons.

To calculate the non-Abelian statistics, we show how the vortex transport can be implemented through local manipulation of the couplings. This enables us to employ the eigenstates of the model to simulate a process where a vortex winds around another. The corresponding evolution of the degenerate ground state space is given by a Berry phase, which under suitable conditions coincides with the statistics. By considering a range of finite size systems, we find a physical regime where the Berry phase gives the predicted statistics of the anoyonic vortices with high fidelity.

Finally we study the full-vortex sector of the model and find that is supports a previously undiscovered topological phase. This new phase emerges from the phase with non-Abelian anyons due to their interactions. To study the transitions between the different topological phases appearing in the model, we consider Fermi surface, whose topology captures the long-range properties. Each phase is found to be characterized by a distinct number of Fermi points, with the number depending on distinct global Hamiltonian symmetries. To study how the Fermi surfaces evolve into each other at phase transitions, we consider the low-energy field theory that is described by Dirac fermions. We show that phase transition driving perturbations translate to a coupling to chiral gauge fields, that always lead to Fermi point transport. By studying this transport, we obtain analytically the extended phase space of the model and its properties.


My creative practice addresses two research questions: how does ubiquitous computation affect the visual operations of the contemporary control society and what does this mean for the use of visual media in contesting such control? Through photographic and video work in digital formats, I explore the movements and arrests of informatic flows that constitute the operation of control, and the potential for resistance that may be felt in the turbulence of the interface, as a dynamic threshold where such flows meet.
In this turn to the interface, I theorise the impacts of computationality on the loss of the image as a stable site of representational resistance, with the unsettling of perspectival representation in the topology of informational space and the ambiguity of a digital visuality whose software hides as it shows. When brought together with recent work on the de-materialisation wrought by informational Capital, the digital image comes to be seen as an instantiation of anxiety about the abstracted nature of power that increasingly operates as control. It is less to the digital image itself, but rather to the circulations and patternings of data expressed as light on the screen, that we must attend if we are to confront the digital visuality of control.
The 'image-machine of control' is the infrastructure that modulates these data circulations and patternings through inciting the making, sharing and watching of images. Drawing on affect theory, I emphasise the role that affects of insecurity, at the level of the dividuated subject and the abstracted socius, play in inciting an interactivity with the screen on which the State and Corporation alike rely for their accumulation and circulation of data. The digital-visual interface, being the encounter with the screen, becomes a sitemoment to explore its dynamic boundary condition, whose turbulence of data flows may open up 'lines of flight' from the striated grid of control. These lines of flight help us see beyond the workings of the faciality system, and the subject-object relations of the gaze. Specificity of positioning in scopic regimes of control still matters, but posthumanist theorising suggests that such positioning be understood as vector and not point, whose movements we need to stay in touch with.
Using digital photography to open up the everyday practice of image-making to its potential to disrupt the informatic flows of control, my first photographic work, medium specific, makes use of photomontage to look at the topology of informational space through its 'folds', as a first experiment in disrupting the tempo of the image-machine's visual incitements through a 'pleating' of its data. I use haptic photography in the pieces figure ground, surface gaze and touch light to stay in touch with the smooth space of the interface as a time-space of contingency, potentially resistant to the gridded striations of control.
My exploration of the contingency of the interface continues with two video works, look screen and moving still, which address its vibrational ontology. I put the concept of the vibrational interface to use in confronting the rhythms of control deployed by the image-machine. Being a rhythm of not only circulation but also capture, not merely movement but also arrest, I suggest that understanding the ontology of the interface in terms of its vibrational forces is useful for disrupting, through its moving stillness, the rhythm of flow and stasis on which control depends. Both videos use visual and sonic vibrations to set up counter-rhythms and oscillations, whose trembling may release energies for change.


OBJECTIVE Adiposity and the gut microbiota are both related to the risk of type 2 diabetes. We aimed to comprehensively examine how changes induced by a weight-loss diet intervention in gut microbiota–related metabolites, such as trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) and its precursors (choline and l-carnitine), were associated with improvements in adiposity and regional fat deposition. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This study included 510 overweight and obese individuals who were randomly assigned one of four diets varying in macronutrient intake. We examined associations of 6-month changes in blood metabolites (TMAO, choline, and l-carnitine) with improvements in body weight (BW), waist circumference (WC), body fat composition, fat distribution, and resting energy expenditure (REE). RESULTS Individuals with a greater reduction of choline (P < 0.0001) and l-carnitine (P < 0.01) rather than TMAO showed significant losses of BW and WC at 6 months. The reduction of choline was significantly predictive of decreases in body fat composition, fat distribution, and REE. Results of sensitivity analysis showed that the baseline diabetes risk status, such as the presence of hyperglycemia (31% of the total participants) and fasting glucose levels, did not modify the associations. Early changes in choline and l-carnitine were significantly predictive of weight loss over 2 years (P < 0.05 for all). Individuals with increases in choline or l-carnitine were 2.35-times (95% CI 1.38, 4.00) or 1.77-times (1.06, 2.95) more likely to fail to lose weight (–5% or more loss) at 2 years. CONCLUSIONS Overweight and obese individuals who showed decreases in circulating choline or l-carnitine levels achieved greater improvements of adiposity and energy metabolism by eating a low-calorie weight-loss diet, suggesting that such metabolites are predictive of individuals' response to the treatment. Further investigations are necessary to confirm our findings, particularly in a population with prediabetes that is more representative of the U.S. population with obesity.


In many respects we have come a long way since the era of Jim Crow. It is no longer acceptable in most white circles overtly to express sentiments of white supremacy. But whites remain attached to a subtle and culture-borne sense of superiority vis-a-vis people of color. The law, and the judges who interpret and apply it, have played an important role in the construction of race and its social meanings, and they have an equally important part to play in effectuating racial progress. It is the contention of this essay that no principle of judicial restraint is available to justify hesitation in that regard.Part I develops the proposition that a dignitary racial hierarchy persists in America, taking as its point of departure Gunnar Myrdal's well-known analysis of white Americans' attitudes regarding race in the 1940s. Part II turns to an examination of what the law might do to combat dignitary racial hierarchy. Part II.A. describes the ways in which race and the law are intertwined, seeking to rebut the possible contention that the public (legal) and private realms are separate with regard to race. Part II.B. examines the ways existing equal protection law sustains white dignitary privilege, and contends that law could avoid doing so. Finally, Part II.C. argues that judges ought to be "activist" on matters of race: there is no case to be made for judicial restraint in this realm.


Background The Dickkopf (DKK) family comprises a set of proteins that function as regulators of Wnt/β–catenin signaling and has a crucial role in development. Recent studies have revealed the involvement of this family in tumorigenesis, however their role in tumorigenesis is still remained unclear. Methodology/Principal Findings We found increased expression of DKK2 but decreased expression of DKK1 in Ewing family tumor (EFT) cells. We showed that EFT-specific EWS/ETS fusion proteins enhance the DKK2 promoter activity, but not DKK1 promoter activity, via ets binding sites (EBSs) in the 5′ upstream region. EWS/ETS-mediated transactivation of the promoter was suppressed by the deletion and mutation of EBSs located upstream of the DKK2 gene. Interestingly, the inducible expression of EWS/ETS resulted in the strong induction of DKK2 expression and inhibition of DKK1 expression in human primary mesenchymal progenitor cells that are thought to be a candidate of cell origin of EFT. In addition, using an EFT cell line SK-ES1 cells, we also demonstrated that the expression of DKK1 and DKK2 is mutually exclusive, and the ectopic expression of DKK1, but not DKK2, resulted in the suppression of tumor growth in immuno-deficient mice. Conclusions/Significance Our results suggested that DKK2 could not functionally substitute for DKK1 tumor-suppressive effect in EFT. Given the mutually exclusive expression of DKK1 and DKK2, EWS/ETS regulates the transcription of the DKK family, and the EWS/ETS-mediated DKK2 up-regulation could affect the tumorigenicity of EFT in an indirect manner.


Objective:To estimate the age and sex-specific prevalence of HIV infection in the population of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Design:Two-stage cluster sampling of the population aged 0–49 years of Addis Ababa, using kebeles (urban dwelling associations) as clusters. Methods:The sera used for this study were collected in an earlier study (1994) on the rate of acquisition of antibodies against measles, rubella, and hepatitis B. After separate approvals were obtained from the institutional ethics committees, sera were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay confirmed by Western blot. Age- and sex-specific HIV prevalence rates were estimated. The prevalence of HIV in men and women over 15 years of age was compared by calculating age-standardized HIV prevalence, using the age distribution of the census population as the standard. A time-dependent catalytic model was used to obtain crude estimates of HIV incidence from age-prevalence data. Results:A total of 3853 sera were available for analysis. The prevalence of HIV in adults was 6.0% [95% confidence interval (CI), 4.5–7.4%] for men and 6.9% (95% CI, 5.3–8.5%) for women, with peak prevalence in the 25–29 year age group of 16.3 and 11.8%, respectively. After standardization for age using the direct method, the HIV prevalence ratio comparing adult men with women was 0.97: 1 (95% CI, 0.70: 1 – 1.35: 1). Three children aged less than 5 years were HIV-positive. The prevalence of HIV among adults ranged from 0–21.3% in different clusters, indicating the heterogeneity of the spread of HIV in the city. HIV prevalence estimates among the antenatal clinic patients of Addis Ababa in 1996 far exceeded the estimates obtained during the community survey, particularly in the youngest age group (15–24 years). Estimates of HIV incidence (per susceptible person per annum) for the age group 16–22 years ranged from 1.3–2.25% for men and from 2.1–2.4% for women. Conclusion:By 1994, a substantial proportion of the adult population of Addis Ababa was infected with HIV. Promotion of behavioural changes and the control of sexually transmitted diseases should be strongly supported to limit the spread of the HIV epidemic in Ethiopia.


The problem of the parsing accuracy of simple sentences is solved. The case of the language with high inflexion is investigated. The task is addressed by the example of the Lithuanian language, which one root can give hundreds or even more than one thousand word forms. The method of estimation of the parsing accuracy of the simple sentences of such language is given, which is based on the usage of knowledge of language consistent patterns. It is taken note, that in the case of language with high inflection and small number of users the usage of the statistical data on language is strongly restricted. The method of the accuracy estimation of the parsing of simple sentences is presented. The algorithm of implementation of the software is described. The validity of the propositions is proved by experiments. The material of the Lithuanian corpus was used for the experiments. The recommendations are given for the increasing of the accuracy of the parsing of simple sentences for the languages with high inflection. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.itc.43.4.6700


We show how specific features of the microstructure information from VPIN and DPIN can volatile the futures market and can link with the price discover and investor sentiment. We develop an investor (institutional, noise, and both) sentiment index for the Shanghai Stock Exchange 50 (SSE 50) Index Futures, and analyze relations among the index futures return, the investor sentiment, VPIN and DPIN, illiquidity, and volatility. We first specify the informed investor sentiment index for traders who invest based on market information and uninformed investor sentiment index for irrational noise traders who provide market liquidity. Empirically, the VPIN and the investor sentiment can predict the SSE 50 futures returns in a low frequency environment, and there is a significantly negative correlation between the informed transaction and the next level of liquidity in a high frequency environment. We also show that the futures market is relatively stable under moderate investor sentiment, and the trading volume can correspond to both investor sentiment and liquidity levels.


Prepared by the Water Laws Committee of the Water Resources Planning and Management Division of ASCE. This report, a product of ASCE's Model Water Code Project, presents legislation proposed for adoption by state governments that would allocate water rights among competing interests and resolve other qualitative conflicts over water. To develop the proposed legislation, input was sought from people involved with water-related issues, such as engineers, government administrators, lawyers, business people, and academics. Because of the divergence of water laws of eastern and western states, the development of a single code appropriate for all the States was not possible and two different model water codes were prepared. The code presented in this book reflects the needs and legal traditions of the eastern states. Regulated riparian statutes allocate the right to use water on the basis of whether the use is reasonable, so that is how this code allocates the waters of a state. This code also addresses the difficult question of multijurisdictional transfers of water, whether across a water basin boundary or across a state line.


Abstract Objective A so-called 'weekend effect' has been described in which mortality among those admitted to hospital at a weekend is higher than among those admitted on weekdays. The causes for the weekend effect remain unclear. This study examined patterns of community mortality to explore whether a shift from the community to hospital may account for observed differences in hospital mortality rates across the week. Methods The annual number of deaths in the community was compared to that in hospitals in England and Wales during 2012 to 2014 using data from the Office for National Statistics. Analyses included the mean annual deaths, by age group and by cause of death in the community and hospital and comparison of the proportion of deaths on each day of the week to the expected number of deaths. Results The observed and expected total number of deaths in the community were broadly similar on the weekend and weekday (P = 0.386). There was no difference between observed and expected rates when comparing average daily weekday deaths to the average daily weekend deaths in the community (P = 0.434). In addition, there was no difference in the proportion of deaths in the community on the weekend when compared to the expected rate for those aged under 65, 75–84 and 85+ years. People were more likely to die on the weekend (rather than the weekday) in the community from neoplasms (P = 0.009) but less likely to die from cardiovascular disease (P = 0.012) or those aged 65–74 years. Conclusion We found no evidence of a significant difference in the risk of dying in the community at the weekend compared to during the week, or between the observed and expected deaths on each day. The lower risk of dying in the community at the weekend from cardiovascular diseases and among those aged 65–74 years and the higher risk for neoplasms are of interest but marginal. We found no evidence of a shift in deaths from the community to hospital at weekends.


Global warming is enabling many plant species to expand their range to higher latitudes and altitudes, where they may suffer less from natural aboveground and belowground enemies. Reduced control by natural enemies can enable climate warming-induced range expanders to get an advantage in competition with natives and become disproportionally abundant in their new range. However, so far studies have examined individual growth of range expanders, which have common congeneric plant species in their new range. Thus it is not known how general is this reduced effect of above- and belowground enemies and how it operates in communities, where multiple plant species also interact with each other. Here we show that range-expanding plant species with and without congenerics in the invaded habitats differ in their ecological interactions in the new range. In a community-level experiment, range-expanding plant species, both with and without congenerics, suppressed the growth of a herbivore. However, only range expanders without congenerics reduced biomass production of the native plant species. In the present study, range expanders without congenerics allocated more biomass aboveground compared to native plant species, which can explain their competitive advantage. Competitive interaction and also biomass allocation of native plants and their congeneric range expanders were similar. Our results highlight that information about species phylogenetic relatedness with native flora can be crucial for improving predictions about the consequences of climate warming-induced range expansions.


The impacts of oceanic CO2 uptake and global warming on the surface ocean environment have received substantial attention, but few studies have focused on shelf bottom water, despite its importance as habitat for benthic organisms and demersal fisheries such as cod. We used a downscaling ocean biogeochemical model to project bottom water acidification and warming on the western Eurasian Arctic shelves. A model hindcast produced 14–18 year acidification trends that were largely consistent with observational estimates at stations in the Iceland and Irminger Seas. Projections under SRES A1B scenario revealed a rapid and spatially variable decline in bottom pH by 0.10–0.20 units over 50 years (2.5%–97.5% quantiles) at depths 50–500 m on the Norwegian, Barents, Kara, and East Greenland shelves. Bottom water undersaturation with respect to aragonite occurred over the entire Kara shelf by 2040 and over most of the Barents and East Greenland shelves by 2070. Shelf acidification was predominantly driven by the accumulation of anthropogenic CO2, and was concurrent with warming of 0.1–2.7°C over 50 years. These combined perturbations will act as significant multistressors on the Barents and Kara shelves. Future studies should aim to improve the resolution of shelf bottom processes in models, and should consider the Kara Sea and Russian shelves as possible bellwethers of shelf acidification.


A population genetic study identified that the asialoglycoprotein receptor 1 (ASGR1) mutation carriers had substantially lower non–HDL-cholesterol (non–HDL-c) levels and reduced risks of cardiovascular diseases. However, the mechanism behind this phenomenon remained unclear. Here, we established Asgr1-knockout mice that represented a plasma lipid profile with significantly lower non–HDL-c and triglyceride (TG) caused by decreased secretion and increased uptake of VLDL/LDL. These 2 phenotypes were linked with the decreased expression of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, 2 key targeted genes of sterol regulatory element–binding proteins (SREBPs). Furthermore, there were fewer nuclear SREBPs (nSREBPs) on account of more SREBPs being trapped in endoplasmic reticulum, which was caused by an increased expression of insulin-induced gene 1 (INSIG1), an anchor of SREBPs. Overexpression and gene knockdown interventions, in different models, were conducted to rescue the ASGR1-deficient phenotypes, and we found that INSIG1 knockdown independently reversed the ASGR1-mutated phenotypes with increased serum total cholesterol, LDL-c, TG, and liver cholesterol content accompanied by restored SREBP signaling. ASGR1 rescue experiments reduced INSIG1 and restored the SREBP network defect as manifested by improved apolipoprotein B secretion and reduced LDL uptake. Our observation demonstrated that increased INSIG1 is a critical factor responsible for ASGR1 deficiency–associated lipid profile changes and nSREBP suppression. This finding of an ASGR1/INSIG1/SREBP axis regulating lipid hemostasis may provide multiple potential targets for lipid-lowering drug development.


In this work, we investigated synthesis, magnetic properties of silica coated metal ferrite, (CoFe2O4)/SiO2 and Manganese doped cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (MnxCo1-xFe2O4 with x= 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06)/SiO2 for possible biomedical application. All the ferrites nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method using FeCl3.6H2O, CoCl2.6H2O and MnCl2.2H2O as precursors, and were silica coated by Stober process in directly ethanol. The composition, phase structure and morphology of the prepared core-shell cobalt ferrites nanostructures were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-red spectra (FT-IR), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (FESEM-EDAX). The results revealed that all the samples maintain ferrite spinel structure. While, the cell parameters decrease monotonously by increase of Mn content indicating that the Mn ions are substituted into the lattice of CoFe2O4. The magnetic properties of the prepared samples were investigated at room temperature using Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). The results revealed strongly dependence of room temperature magnetic properties on (1) doping content, x; (2) particles size and ions distributions.


Preeclampsia increases the long-term risk of cardiovascular disease, possibly through occurrence of hypertension after delivery, such as masked hypertension, night-time hypertension, and an adverse systolic night-to-day blood pressure (BP) ratio. These types of hypertension are often unnoticed and can only be detected with ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). We aimed to determine hypertension prevalence and 24-hour BP pattern with ABPM and office BP measurements in women 1 year after severe preeclampsia. This is a retrospective cohort study. As part of a follow-up program after severe preeclampsia, 200 women underwent ABPM and an office BP measurement 1 year after delivery. We calculated hypertension prevalence (sustained hypertension, masked hypertension, and white-coat hypertension) and systolic night-to-day BP ratio (dipping pattern). Medical files and questionnaires provided information on preexisting hypertension and antihypertensive treatment. One year after delivery, 41.5% of women had hypertension (sustained hypertension, masked hypertension, or white-coat hypertension) with ABPM. Masked hypertension was most common (17.5%), followed by sustained hypertension (14.5%) and white-coat hypertension (9.5%). With sheer office BP measurement, only 24.0% of women would have been diagnosed hypertensive. Forty-six percent of women had a disadvantageous dipping pattern. Hypertension is common 1 year after experiencing severe preeclampsia. Masked hypertension and white-coat hypertension are risk factors for future cardiovascular disease and can only be diagnosed with ABPM. Therefore, ABPM should be offered to all these women at high risk of developing hypertension and possibly future cardiovascular disease.


Citation: Bogdanović, V., & Mirović, I. (2018). Young researchers writing in ESL and the use of metadiscourse: Learning the ropes. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 18, 813–830. http://dx.doi.org/10.12738/estp.2018.4.0031 * An earlier version of the paper was presented at the conference "Metadiscourse Across Genres". METU Northern Cyprus Campus, Cyprus, 30 March-01 April 2017. 1 Correspondence to: Vesna Bogdanović (PhD), Department of Fundamental Disciplines in Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 6, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com 2 Ivana Mirović (MA), Department of Fundamental Disciplines in Engineering, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 6, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia. Email: email@example.com Abstract Entering the world of academic writing can be a troublesome experience for young researchers, especially for those writing in ESL. In addition to mastering the specific language of their disciplinary community, they also have to adopt an array of metadiscourse features which help them organize their writing and position themselves towards their content and their readers. Research on the use of metadiscourse in academic writing has indicated that ESL writers generally do not use metadiscourse elements to the same extent and in the same way as native English speakers. The paper will focus on the process of developing the awareness of metadiscourse features with young researchers and will attempt to gain an insight into how they adopt and apply these linguistic elements in their writing. It is based on a case study with three young researchers from the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Serbia, whose research articles will be analyzed in relation to the correct usage of metadiscourse as well as its potential absence, using Hyland's framework. In the subsequent analysis, a questionnaire and interviews will be used to determine the degree of young authors' awareness of their use of metadiscourse and their approach to applying it in their writing. The triangulation between the corpus analysis and the questionnaire and interview data will try to address the issues of the reasons for using specific markers, the importance they attach to the use of metadiscourse in relation to the content of the research articles, and the methods of learning them, in order to unfold the correlation of beginnings of academic writing and the use of metadiscourse. It is hoped that the results of the analysis can be applied in teaching academic writing.


During the past few decades, fundamental changes have taken place in project development, planning, and execution. This has taken form with embracing new techniques such as various agile project management methodologies to develop products, instead of using the traditional waterfall project management methodology commonly used today. Using agile has been very successful as a large portion of the IT world has integrated it within their companies. Unfortunately, professional fields such as the building design and construction industry have remained mostly with the traditional methods impacting the projects in terms of cost, scheduling, and other project elements that can benefit from the advantages found in agile methodologies. This thesis paper will research and illustrate what is involved with the process of adopting and transforming companies from the traditional to the agile methodology, and will explain the benefits, the hardships, and other components relevant to illustrate what needs to take place in order to implement agile in the construction industry, as well as layout possible solutions that can ease the adoption process.