Replication factor C (RFC, also called Activator I) is part of the processive eukaryotic DNA polymerase holoenzymes. The processive elongation of DNA chains requires that DNA polymerases are tethered to template DNA at primer ends. In eukaryotes the ring-shaped homotrimeric protein, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), ensures tight template-polymerase interaction by encircling the DNA strand. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen is loaded onto DNA through the action of RFC in an ATP-dependent reaction. Human RFC is a protein complex consisting of five distinct subunits that migrate through SDS/polyacrylamide gels as protein bands of 140, 40, 38, 37, and 36 kDa. All five genes encoding the RFC subunits have been cloned and sequenced. A functionally identical RFC complex has been isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the deduced amino acid sequences among the corresponding human and yeast subunits are homologous. Here we report the expression of the five cloned human genes using an in vitro coupled transcription/translation system and show that the gene products form a complex resembling native RFC that is active in supporting an RFC-dependent replication reaction. Studies on the interactions between the five subunits suggest a cooperative mechanism in the assembly of the RFC complex. A three-subunit core complex, consisting of p36, p37, and p40, was identified and evidence is presented that p38 is essential for the interaction between this core complex and the large p140 subunit.


The joint transform correlator (JTC) has been the best known technique for pattern recognition and identification. The JTC optically compares the reference image with the sample image then examines match or non-match by acquiring a correlation peak. However, the JTC technique has some problems such as weak correlation discrimination and noise which originates from the interference fringes in the Fourier transform plane. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes a new technique of modifications of the interference fringes by adopting special iterative filters. Experimental results are presented to show that the proposed technique can successfully improve the correlation peaks and the level of discrimination.


The proposed data mart based information system has proven to be useful and effective in the particular application domain of clinical research in heart surgery. In contrast to common data warehouse systems who are focused primarily on administrative, managerial, and executive decision making, the primary objective of the designed and implemented data mart was to provide an ongoing, consolidated and stable research basis. Beside detail-oriented patient data also aggregated data are incorporated in order to fulfill multiple purposes. Due to the chosen concept, this technique integrates the current and historical data from all relevant data sources without imposing any considerable operational or liability contract risk for the existing hospital information systems (HIS). By this means the possible resistance of involved persons in charge can be minimized and the project specific goals effectively met.
The challenges of isolated data sources, securing a high data quality, data with partial redundancy and consistency, valuable legacy data in special file formats, and privacy protection regulations are met with the proposed data mart architecture. The applicability was demonstrated in several fields, including (i) to permit easy comprehensive medical research, (ii) to assess preoperative risks of adverse surgical outcomes, (iii) to get insights into historical performance changes, (iv) to monitor surgical results, (v) to improve risk estimation, and (vi) to generate new knowledge from observational studies.
The data mart approach allows to turn redundant data from the electronically available hospital data sources into valuable information. On the one hand, redundancies are used to detect inconsistencies within and across HIS. On the other hand, redundancies are used to derive attributes from several data sources which originally did not contain the desired semantic meaning. Appropriate verification tools help to inspect the extraction and transformation processes in order to ensure a high data quality. Based on the verification data stored during data mart assembly, various aspects on the basis of an individual case, a group, or a specific rule can be inspected.
Invalid values or inconsistencies must be corrected in the primary source data bases by the health professionals. Due to all modifications are automatically transferred to the data mart system in a subsequent cycle, a consolidated and stable research data base is achieved throughout the system in a persistent manner.
In the past, performing comprehensive observational studies at the Heart Institute Lahr had been extremely time consuming and therefore limited. Several attempts had already been conducted to extract and combine data from the electronically available data sources. Dependent on the desired scientific task, the processes to extract and connect the data were often rebuilt and modified. Consequently the semantics and the definitions of the research data changed from one study to the other. Additionally, it was very difficult to maintain an overview of all data variants and derived research data sets. With the implementation of the presented data mart system the most time and effort consuming process with conducting successful observational studies could be replaced and the research basis remains stable and leads to reliable results.


The binary millisecond radio pulsar PSR J1023+0038 exhibits many characteristics similar to the gamma-ray binary system PSR B1259–63/LS 2883, making it an ideal candidate for the study of high-energy nonthermal emission. It has been the subject of multiwavelength campaigns following the disappearance of the pulsed radio emission in 2013 June, which revealed the appearance of an accretion disk around the neutron star. We present the results of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray observations carried out by the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System before and after this change of state. Searches for steady and pulsed emission of both data sets yield no significant gamma-ray signal above 100 GeV, and upper limits are given for both a steady and pulsed gamma-ray flux. These upper limits are used to constrain the magnetic field strength in the shock region of the PSR J1023+0038 system. Assuming that VHE gamma rays are produced via an inverse Compton mechanism in the shock region, we constrain the shock magnetic field to be greater than ∼2 G before the disappearance of the radio pulsar and greater than ∼10 G afterward.


Online communities play a pivotal role in innovation, marketing, corporate expertise management, product support and advertising. Communities in the order of millions of users are becoming the norm. However, this proliferation of demand is not met with intelligent, scalable, easy to use community management approaches. Current methods are based on basic statistical tools that aggregate data for the community owner/moderator to interpret and take appropriate actions. The data reflects only the current state of the community, which does not constitute an effective warning system of future events. Moreover, the community health becomes highly dependent on the owner's skill, interpretation, intimate knowledge of the community and its evolution path. This paper presents a proactive, extensible, risk-based management framework supporting advanced analytical services for managing online communities. The solution allows community owners to focus on the community objectives and proactively manage favourable/unfavourable events at the user and community level.


In most developing countries data limitations lead to the use of assumptions that compromise studies on the measurement of capital and its impact on productivity analysis. A possible approach is to use the ratio of the value of tractor sales to overall expenditure to impute overall machinery sales. The use of a constant ratio over an extended period results in increasingly incorrect estimates and fails to reveal the changing nature of mechanisation. In this paper, the probems with such an approach are highlighted through an analysis of the historic share of tractor sales to overall machinery sales in South Africa. This paper establishes that the current methods lead to underestimation in the overall value of machinery and implements sales in South Africa by approximately a $100 million per annum in recent years. An alternative method is suggested and the implications of a new capital formation series are discussed.


In classical African communitarianism, individual rights have
tended to be accorded a secondary status to the good of the community.
What is prioritised are the duties and obligations the individual has to
the whole as opposed to the entitlements one can expect to derive from
a community qua individual. I seek to show that this view, by its own
standards and assumptions, is erroneous in framing rights as secondary
to the good of the community. I attempt to show that individual rights
are an inherent component of classical African communitarian accounts.
Further, I seek to argue for a non-communalist view of African communitarianism
which takes into full account the multiple factors that constitute
modern African communities. Such a view, I suggest, will avoid the
unnecessary dichotomisation of rights which has become synonymous
with the classical African communitarian account.


This paper is concerned with inter-organisational information systems (IS) in e-government. Inter-organisational IS are usually considered to establish information exchange between public agencies. However, there may also exist other types of inter-organisational egovernment. Different public agencies can cooperate on shared digital resources of diverse kinds (shared websites, shared IT components, shared back-office systems). This paper develops a conceptual framework on four different types of inter-organisational egovernment. Study of inter-organisational information exchange is usually made by the aid of the concept of interoperability and the four defined levels of interoperability (legal, organisational, semantic and technical). When broadening the view to other types of interorganisational e-government, besides information exchange, it is also necessary to broaden the concept of interoperability. This concept is in the paper replaced by the concept of cogovernance dimension. A conceptual framework is formulated with seven co-governance dimensions: normative, regulatory, performative, relational, semantic, presentational and technical.


.................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. v NOMENCLATURE ......................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER


Google Android has become a popular mobile operating system which is increasingly deployed by mobile device manufactures for various platforms. Recent attacks show that Android's permission framework is vulnerable to application-level privilege escalation attacks, i.e., an application may indirectly gain privileges to perform unauthorized actions. The existing proposals for security extensions to Android's middleware (e.g., Kirin, Saint or TaintDroid) cannot fully and adequately mitigate these attacks or detect Trojans such as Soundminer that exploit covert channels in the Android system.

In this paper we present the design and implementation of XManDroid (eXtended Monitoring on Android), a security framework that extends the monitoring mechanism of Android to detect and prevent application-level privilege escalation attacks at runtime based on a system-centric system policy. Our implementation dynamically analyzes applications' transitive permission usage while inducing a minimal performance overhead unnoticeable for the user. Depending on system policy our system representation allows for an effective detection of (covert) channels established through the Android system services and content providers while simultaneously optimizing the rate of false positives. We evaluate the effectiveness of XManDroid on our test suite that simulates known application-level privilege escalation attacks (including Soundminer), and demonstrate successful detection of attacks that use Android's inter-component communication (ICC) framework (standard for most attacks). We also preformed a usability test to evaluate the impact of XManDroid on the user-experience with third party applications. Moreover, we analyze sources of false positives and discuss how this rate can be further significantly reduced.


The thesis outlines a collaborative research project that was undertaken between the Malta Football Association (MFA), the Malta National Sports School (NSS) and Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU). Drawing on transition frameworks, models and contemporary literature (Schlossberg, 1981; Stambulova 2003; Wylleman & Lavalle, 2004; Morris, Tod & Oliver, 2015; Morris, Tod & Eubank, 2016; Richardson, Littlewood & Gilbourne, 2005; Richardson, Littlewood, Nesti & Benstead, 2012), the research adopted an action research methodology to examine the psycho-social and cultural challenges that young Maltese football players and parents experienced within migratory based transitions. The author adopted the role of practitioner-researcher to understand, plan and support a range of key stakeholders during the transition process. Specifically, Study One (Reconnaissance Phase) examined the challenges experienced by Maltese footballers that had migrated to European professional football. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 male Maltese players who had experienced migration to a foreign club. Results evidenced that players experienced homesickness and lacked psycho-social knowledge and skills for an effective transition. Players also experienced culturally based challenges. The findings are framed around a unique and deeply embedded Maltese cultural identity. Study Two (Reconnaissance Phase) utilised a focus group methodology with parents of players from the Maltese Football Association (MFA) Academy, parents of young players that had previously experienced migration, head coaches from top Maltese nurseries, and coaches from the National Sports School (NSS) and MFA. Findings of Study One were disseminated to facilitate reflection, discussion and to identify issues that required consideration in order to better prepare young players for future migratory based transition. Study Three (Action Planning) used focus groups to disseminate the findings of Study One and Two with the Headmaster of the NSS, and parent representatives of the school. A number of change strategies were developed to improve the school's programme of preparation for students who may migrate to foreign clubs. A separate action meeting was conducted with the Technical Director of the MFA to discuss and highlight change strategies to improve the MFA's programme of preparation for young footballers seeking a career abroad in professional football. The Implementation and Monitoring phases focused on applying the action strategies agreed. These were; (i) to experience migration and independent living, (ii) psycho-social and cultural support and development of young players, and (iii) parental education. Regular evaluation of change strategy activities evidenced positive change and also continued to enhance the efficacy of the strategies being implemented. Young players who have migrated overseas over the past year and who had engaged in a programme of preparation prior to migration have coped well with the challenges they have so far faced.


"Mark Twain's autobiography is a classic of American letters, to be ranked with the autobiographies of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Adams.... It has the marks of greatness in it--style, scope, imagination, laughter, tragedy."--From the Introduction by Charles NeiderMark Twain was a figure larger than fife: massive in talent, eruptive in temperament, unpredictable in his actions. He crafted stories of heroism, adventure, tragedy, and comedy that reflected the changing America of the time, and he tells his own story--which includes sixteen pages of photos--with the same flair he brought to his fiction. Writing this autobiography on his deathbed, Twain vowed to he "free and frank and unembarrassed" in the recounting of his life and his experiences.Twain was more than a match for the expanding America of riverboats, gold rushes, and the vast westward movement, which provided the material for his novels and which served to inspire this beloved and uniquely American autobiography.


Considerable effort has been expended by legal scholars attempting to apply formal approaches such as Bayes' Theorem or decision theory to various aspects of the litigation process. These efforts consistently fail adequately to account for the reality of the phenomenon being investigated. Most recently, Professor Kaye attempted to give another decision-theoretic account of the standard of persuasion in civil cases. This attempt fails formally, as it requires that litigation involve single issues for decision, which is virtually never the case. It fails pragmatically because it ignores all the surrounding context of the decision rule that colours and gives meaning to the decision rule. Jury trials cannot plausibly be analysed as designed to maximize the expected return to jurors.


Accurate information on the dry end (matric potential less than −1500 kPa) of soil water retention curves (SWRCs) is crucial for studying water vapor transport and evaporation in soils. The objectives of this study were to assess the potential of the Oswin model for describing the water adsorption curves of soils and to predict SWRCs at the dry end using the hygroscopic water content at a relative humidity of 50% (θRH50). The Oswin model yielded satisfactory fits to dry‐end SWRCs for soils dominated by both 2:1 and 1:1 clay minerals. Compared with the Oswin model, the Campbell and Shiozawa model combined with the Kelvin equation (CS‐K) produced better fits to dry‐end SWRCs of soils dominated by 2:1 clays but provided poor fits for soils dominated by 1:1 clays. The shape parameter α of the Oswin model was dependent on clay mineral type, and approximate values of 0.29 and 0.57 were obtained for soils dominated by 2:1 and 1:1 clays, respectively. Comparison of the Oswin model combined with the Kelvin equation, with water potential estimated from θRH50 (Oswin‐KRH50), CS model combined with the Arthur equation (CS‐A), and CS‐K model, with water potential obtained from θRH50 (CS‐KRH50) indicated that for soils dominated by 2:1 clay minerals, the predictive ability of the Oswin‐KRH50 model was comparable to the CS‐KRH50 model in which θRH50 was the input parameter but performed better than the CS‐A model where clay content was the input parameter. The Oswin‐KRH50 model also has the potential for predicting dry‐end SWRCs of soils dominated by 1:1 clays.


The full range of Bentham's engagement with Blackstone's view of law is beyond the scope of a single article. Yet it is important to recognize at the outset, even in a more restricted enquiry into the matter, that the engagement, begun when Bentham, not quite sixteen years of age, started to attend Blackstone's Oxford lectures (from which the Commentaries on the Laws of England emerged in the first edition of 1765–9), was indeed a lifelong affair. Whatever Bentham had in mind when, at the age of eighty, in 1828, he began to write a work entitled 'A familar view of Blackstone: or say Blackstone familiarized', the manuscripts at least suffice to prove that 'Our Author' was still in the forefront of his mind at that octogenarian but still indefatigably active stage of his career. Every aspect of Bentham's multifarious intellectual activity over the intervening decades had been touched in some measure by his response to Blackstone's ideas. It still seems true to say what was said a dozen years ago: It would be an exaggeration to say that Bentham elaborated his own conception of law by way of a constant and conscious dialectic with the views of Blackstone. But it would be an exaggeration for which the evidence would afford some excuse.


In the present thesis, it has been studied the possibility to insert FPGAs in the world of High Performance Computing (HPC) systems. Such systems are hybrid platforms that exploit the pure parallel computation of GPUs in order to reach very high performances. Nevertheless, GPU-based systems are power-hungry and require a power consumption so large, that running and maintaining such systems could be technologically and economically too much expensive. This thesis framework is inserted within the ExaNeSt EU founded project which has the purpose to prototype energy efficient solutions to produce exascale-level supercomputers. Low power consumption requirement is tried to be satisfied using a Multiprocessor System-on-Chip, namely a system mounting on the same package both a ARM x86 processor and an Ultrascale+ FPGA: the whole module has been specifically designed with special attention to power consumption. High performance computer systems are very important in the field of computational science; in fact,this thesis investigated the possibility of using FPGA accelerators to offload the compute intensive parts of a Molecular Dynamic code. The miniMD is a simple, parallel molecular dynamics (MD) code composed of five different OpenCL kernels (neighbor_bin, neighbor_build, force_compute, integrate_initial, integrate_final) designed for studying the physical movements of atoms and molecules. In the first part of this thesis work, each kernel has been studied in order to understand which of kernel could be accelerated into the FPGA of the Multiprocessor SoC architecture. After a baselining of the full miniMD application, it has been demonstrated that the task related to the building of the neighbour particles for each molecule of the system (neighbor_build kernel) and the one related to the force computation (force_compute kernel) are the most compute intensive ones and have a prominent role into the total execution time of the application. Therefore, using the technique of High-Level-Synthesis it has been directly generated the RTL codes of each the above kernels. Specifically, for "neighbor_build" and "force_compute" kernels, different optimizations have been made inside their original OpenCL codes in order to accelerate their execution onto the FPGA. Moreover, it has been possible to notice that the most important optimizations could be performed in the downloading and uploading processes of the data handled by the kernels, directly into the global memory of the FPGA. These optimizations were meant to promote the burst memory transactions and to exploit efficiently the low bandwidth between the External DDR memory and the Programmable Logic (PL) therefore reducing the access time of the external memory. It is important to notice that in the aforementioned optimizations, loops have not been so easy to be speeded up due to their not perfect bounded nature. At the end, all the kernels have been merged and a single Vivado design of the miniMD application has been obtained to be later runned onto the Zynq Ultrascale+ device.


This research is designed to improve the students' reading comprehension on procedure text by using demonstration method. This is aimed at finding whether demonstration method can improve students' reading comprehension on procedure text at Grade IX A SMPN 1 Kerinci in First Semester of 2017/2018 Academic Year. The study employed a classroom action research design in which the researcher and his collaborator worked together in designing the lesson plan, implementing the action, analyzing the data, and doing the reflection. The participants of this research were 23 students at Grade IX A SMPN 1 Kerinci in First Semester of 2017/2018 Academic Year. The research finding was that demonstration method could improve the students' reading comprehension. This conclusion was based on the increasing of the average score of students' reading comprehension. The students' average score before conducting the method was only 57,39, then it increased to 73,04 in cycle one. And it became 77,82 in cycle two. It means that students' average score successively improved in each cycle. And it can achieve the minimum achievement criteria or KKM, 70. Furthermore, factors that influence teaching and learning process are material, media, classroom activity, classroom management, teacher's approach, and teaching strategy.


I. Introduction In the Shiite community, the memory of liberative suffering constitutes the theological basis of solidarity, resistance, and righteousness. Such memory of suffering, which may exist in other traditions as well, has a powerful potential not only to create solidarity within religious communities but also to forge connections among different religions. By memory, I refer to a remembrance that is simultaneously cognitive and emotional. As I use the term, memory is not only a cognitive issue stemming from "imagination," "recollection," and "repetition," but it is also an "affection" that arises from passions, such as suffering. Also, memory of suffering does not imply "resurrection" of past suffering in the present. Rather, it means recognizing, reconsidering, and sensing tangible aspects of past suffering, on the one hand, and experiencing its constructive and instructive dimensions, on the other. By "liberativity" of suffering, I refer to redemption from suffering, not from sin (as in the Christian context). By "suffering," I do not primarily mean everyday pain such as illness and disease. Rather, I refer to particular instances of quintessential, comprehensive, and collective suffering, both physical and emotional, that have fallen on specific historical figures and communities. Finally, by "solidarity," I refer to a type of integration and societal ties through which different peoples, even on a global scale, come together to prevent new suffering. Solidarity not only correlates with a type of society, as Durkheim says; it is also associated with a specific type of commonality within a particular community. In other words, solidarity that is based on shared joy differs from solidarity that is based on the memory of pain and suffering. The memory of liberative sufferings can be an effective means to overcome internal and external disputes within and among various traditions. While I draw primarily upon instances of suffering in the Shiite Islamic tradition, I do so only to illustrate how solidarity can be founded upon the memory of suffering. I do not intend to suggest the exclusivity of Shiite suffering in the history of suffering but, rather, to put forth a model that can serve as a common logic between Muslims and others. I pose to my non-Muslim audience such questions as: Are there instances of suffering for (liberative suffering) in their own traditions? Could remembrance of suffering for help to create solidarity within their own contemporary contexts? Could such remembrance be employed as a bridge among different religions (or, at the very least, among Abrahamic religions) to bring them to a common purpose? This essay introduces an interpretation of Shiite theology of "suffering and solidarity," which finds resonance in the Qur'an, as a contribution to contemporary approaches to altruism, self-sacrifice, and peace. The qur'anic exegesis of Mohammad Hussein Tabatabai (1) is used to search for specific references about the Shiite approach with regard to the subject of solidarity that could be achieved through the memory of suffering. Then follows a phenomenological study of the relationship between suffering and solidarity, on the one hand, and suffering and rising conflicts, on the other. Although this latter section draws upon Christian theological interpretations of suffering, it is not intended to be a comparative study. Rather, I refer to the Christian tradition in order to find a common language and to render Shiite theology and tradition comprehensible to Western theologians. II. Liberative Suffering in the Islamic Scripture (The Qur'an) Three types of meaningful suffering can be identified in the Qur'an: Nonliberative suffering, time-specific liberative suffering, and eschatological liberative suffering. Nonliberative suffering falls only upon individuals and does not impact others or society. In other words, this type of suffering, which can fall upon both prophets (such as Job, Jonah, or Zachariah) and nonprophets, is redemptive neither for self nor for others (Q. …


Background Traditional Chinese Medicine has considerable public support in Australia and elsewhere around the world; the literature suggests Chinese medicine (CM) and acupuncture are particularly popular. Aim To examine factors associated with CM/acupuncture use among young/middle-aged Australian women. Methods This research formed part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH), a population-based cohort study. Data were obtained from the 'young' (34–39 years; n=8010) and 'middle-aged' (62–67 years; n=9151) ALSWH cohorts, who completed survey 6 (in 2012) and survey 7 (in 2013), respectively. Outcome measures included use of CM and visits to an acupuncturist in the previous 12 months. Predictive factors included demographic characteristics, and measures of health status (diagnosed chronic medical conditions) and health service utilisation. Statistical analyses included bivariate χ2 tests, two proportions Z-tests and backward stepwise multiple logistic regression modelling. Results In total, 9.5% and 6.2% of women in the young and middle-aged cohorts, respectively, had consulted an acupuncturist, and 5.7% and 4.0%, respectively, had used CM. Young women with low iron levels and/or endometriosis were more likely to use CM and/or acupuncture. Middle-aged women with low iron levels and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) were more likely to use CM, while middle-aged women with arthritis and/or CFS were more likely to use acupuncture. Conclusions Women with chronic conditions (including arthritis, low iron, CFS and endometriosis) were associated with higher odds of CM/acupuncture use. There is a need for further research to examine the potential benefits of CM/acupuncture for these chronic illnesses.


A 30-m long railroad embankment failure that occurred on May 25 2011 in the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is presented. Emphasis is given on the field observations of the failure, the characterization of the site conditions and the seepage and slope stability analyses, all of which represent important components of the training and practice of a geotechnical engineer. The failure occurred following a record wet season that resulted in ponding water against the embankment and high enough water pressures and exit gradients that resulted in instability of the railroad embankment. Detailed background material and the methodology for using the case history in geotechnical engineering education are presented.


From the Introduction to this thesis:
Through the ever growing amount of data and the desire to make them accessible to the user through the sense of listening, sonification, the representation of data by using sound has been subject of active research in the computer sciences and the field of HCI for the last 20 years. During this time, the field of sonification has diversified into different application areas: today, sound in auditory display informs the user about states and actions on the desktop and in mobile devices; sonification has been applied in monitoring applications, where sound can range from being informative to alarming; sonification has been used to give sensory feedback in order to close the action and perception loop; last but not least, sonifications have also been developed for exploratory data analysis, where sound is used to represent data with unknown structures for hypothesis building.
Coming from the computer sciences and HCI, the conceptualization of sonification has been mostly driven by application areas. On the other hand, the sonic arts who have always contributed to the community of auditory display have a genuine focus on sound. Despite this close interdisciplinary relation of communities of sound practitioners, a rich and sound- (or listening)-centered concept about sonification is still missing as a point of departure for a more application and task overarching approach towards design guidelines. Complementary to the useful organization along fields of applications, a conceptual framework that is proper to sound needs to abstract from applications and also to some degree from tasks, as both are not directly related to sound. I hence propose in this thesis to conceptualize sonifications along two poles where sound serves either a normative or a descriptive purpose.
In the beginning of auditory display research, a continuum between a symbolic and an analogic pole has been proposed by Kramer (1994a, page 21). In this continuum, symbolic stands for sounds that coincide with existing schemas and are more denotative, analogic stands for sounds that are informative through their connotative aspects. (compare Worrall (2009, page 315)). The notions of symbolic and analogic illustrate the struggle to find apt descriptions of how the intention of the listener subjects audible phenomena to a process of meaning making and interpretation. Complementing the analogic-symbolic continuum with descriptive and normative purposes of displays is proposed in the light of the recently increased research interest in listening modes and intentions.
Similar to the terms symbolic and analogic, listening modes have been discussed in auditory display since the beginning usually in dichotomic terms which were either identified with the words listening and hearing or understood as musical listening and everyday listening as proposed by Gaver (1993a). More than 25 years earlier, four direct listening modes have been introduced by Schaeffer (1966) together with a 5th synthetic mode of reduced listening which leads to the well-known sound object. Interestingly, Schaeffer's listening modes remained largely unnoticed by the auditory display community. Particularly the notion of reduced listening goes beyond the connotative and denotative poles of the continuum proposed by Kramer and justifies the new terms descriptive and normative. Recently, a new taxonomy of listening modes has been proposed by Tuuri and Eerola (2012) that is motivated through an embodied cognition approach. The main contribution of their taxonomy is that it convincingly diversifies the connotative and denotative aspects of listening modes. In the recently published sonification handbook, multimodal and interactive aspects in combination with sonification have been discussed as promising options to expand and advance the field by Hunt and Hermann (2011), who point out that there is a big need for a better theoretical foundation in order to systematically integrate these aspects. The main contribution of this thesis is to address this need by providing alternative and complementary design guidelines with respect to existing approaches, all of which have been conceived before the recently increased research interest in listening modes. None of the existing contributions to design frameworks integrates multimodality, and listening modes with a focus on exploratory data analysis, where sonification is conceived to support the understanding of complex data potentially helping to identify new structures therein. In order to structure this field the following questions are addressed in this thesis:
• How do natural listening modes and reduced listening relate to the proposed normative and descriptive display purposes?
• What is the relationship of multimodality and interaction with listening modes and display purposes?
• How can the potential of embodied cognition based listening modes be put to use for exploratory data sonification?
• How can listening modes and display purposes be connected to questions of aesthetics in the display?
• How do data complexity and Parameter-mapping sonification relate to exploratory data analysis and listening modes?


N-fixing legume crops may be a good component of a general plan to improve cropping system efficiency. For this purpose, crop suitability to specific environments must be established. Irrigated field experiments were conducted for three years (2004–2007) with cv. 'Alameda' sown on five different dates in each year. This article examines the phenologic response of the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) crops to various thermal and photoperiod regimes. For this purpose first the authors have used the concept of the development rate (inverse to duration) developed by Wit et al. (The simulation of photosynthetic systems, 1970) and the development rate as the inverse of the time between sowing and flowering (1/f) defined by Hadley et al. (Effects of temperature and photoperiod on flowering in soya bean [Glycine max (L.) Merril]: a quantitative model, 1984). In this way, if a crop has a long period between sowing and flowering (f: days), it will have a low development rate (1/f: days), so it can then analyse the length of the period by means of the 1/f the development rate. In second place families of mathematical models have been obtained by applying the methodology developed by Villacampa et al. (A new computational algorithm to construct mathematical models, 1999) and Cortes et al. (A new methodology for modelling highly structured systems, 2000) that will be compared with the linear model widely used for legumes (Summerfield et al. Measurement, prediction and genetic characterisation of flowering in Vicia faba and Pisum sativum, 1991). In the family of models produced it will select those that best express the crop phenologic response in different phenologic stages.


Currently, deep learning approaches have proven successful in the areas of handwriting recognition. Despite this, research in this field is still needed, especially in the context of multilingual online handwriting recognition scripts by adopting new network architectures and combining relevant parametric models. In this paper, we propose a multi-stage deep learning-based algorithm for multilingual online handwriting recognition based on hybrid deep Bidirectional Long Short Term Memory (DBLSTM) and SVM networks. The main contributions of our work lie in partly in the composition of a new multi-stage architecture of deep learning networks associated with effective feature vectors that integrate dynamic and visual characteristics. First, the proposed system proceeds by pretreating the acquired script and delimiting its Segments of Online Handwriting Trajectories (SOHTs). Second, two types of feature vectors combining BetaElliptic Model (BEM) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) are extracted for each SOHT in order to fuzzy classify them into k sub-groups using DBLSTM neural networks for both online and offline branches trained using an unsupervised fuzzy k-means algorithm. Finally, we combine the trained models to strengthen the discrimination power of the global system using SVM engine. Extensive experiments on three data sets were conducted to validate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show the effectiveness and complementarities of the individual modules and the advantage of their fusion.


Health services research studies how social factors, financing systems, organizational structures and processes, technology, and personal behaviors affect access to health care, the costs and quality of health care, and the health and well-being of individuals and populations. HSR, a boundary-crossing field, engages a very wide set of clinical and academic disciplines, investigates a broad array of questions relating to health care delivery and management, financing, clinical practice, personal health care decision-making, and health policy, and employs virtually all quantitative and qualitative methods found in the social sciences, economics, outcomes measurement, management and administration, epidemiology and statistics, law, and policy analysis. It has one major professional organization, Academy Health, and is supported in the US in large measure by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, certain other federal agencies, and philanthropic organizations; numerous journals exclusively or predominantly publish on HSR-related topics.

Keywords:

access;
costs;
economics;
health services research;
health care;
policy;
quality;
technology


Discussion teaching--the foundation of the Harvard Business School's renowned case method of instruction--is a powerful tool for developing skills as well as conveying knowledge. In the give and take of discussion, students go beyond abstract understanding to the active application of important principles. They are confronted with the same kind of ambiguous, many-sided problems they will face in their professional lives. The elements of great teaching can be identified and consciously practiced. Many of the essays describe the building blocks of successful group leadership: negotiating a "contract" governing the conduct of the group; orchestrating a constructive process of questioning, listening, and responding; encouraging independent thinking; and guiding participants toward useful roles in their interaction with one another. The other chapters in the volume cover the ethical considerations of discussion teaching, the special challenges of teaching technical material using this method, and one pioneering effort to introduce a participative mode of medical education.


In most states, counties are allowed to tax personal property and may attach liens to the personal property if the taxes are not paid. However, secured creditors may already have a lien on the same personal property, which they perfected by making the appropriate filing as set forth by the Uniform Commercial Code (the "UCC"). The laws that control the relative rights of the counties and the secured creditors vary widely among states. In some states, despite a creditor's apparent priority under the UCC, a county's lien can override a creditor's prior lien, even without any registration or opportunity for the creditor to discover the county's lien. Some states also allow counties to attach liens to property in other counties in the state. The conflict between the rights of the counties and the rights of the secured creditors comes up most often in the context of repossession by the creditor. When the creditor repossesses and liquidates its collateral, the law often requires that creditor to repay delinquent taxes to the county. However, the creditor may not even be able to discover if any taxes were due until pursued by the county. Furthermore, in some states, a creditor who repossesses and liquidates collateral may be forced to pay the county up to the entire amount to satisfy the taxpayer's outstanding personal property taxes, regardless of whether those taxes reflected amounts due on that creditor's collateral or whether it was based on taxes due on other property. Because of the unpredictability and financial burden on creditors in states with such laws, this Note argues that some states should reconsider their current laws to more appropriately balance the interests of the creditors with the interests of the counties. This Note argues for objectively balancing the interests of the parties, keeping in mind the counties' legitimate need to collect taxes while incorporating the creditors' need for predictability and fair treatment. In order to understand the perspective and normal expectations of the secured creditors, this Note first examines how their security interests usually work under the UCC absent any government tax liens. Section I starts with explaining UCC Article 9, which governs secured transactions in all fifty states, and the special type of security interest known as a purchase money security interest ("PMSI"). The Section will examine how Article 9 normally dictates priority among secured creditors. Next, in Section II, the state laws that control the rights of counties and secured creditors are broken down into four dimensions: priority, discoverability, scope, and apportionment. The Section examines each of these four dimensions and explores the variations that exist among the states. Next, in Section III, this Note analyzes the laws in several states that have recently had changes in their laws related to personal property taxes. This brings together the four dimensions to illustrate how they can be combined in ways that are more favorable to counties or more favorable to creditors. Finally, in Section IV, this Note presents the best practice model that states ought to adopt to balance the interests of the counties and the secured creditors fairly and explains why the proposed rules are the fairest and most practical approach.


The pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) LGP2 optimizes the size of the filaments formed between the PRR MDA5 and viral RNA to maximize the antiviral response. Cells infected with viruses can mount an innate immune response that involves detection of viral DNA or RNA by cytoplasmic pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs). MDA5, LGP2, and RIG-I are all related PRRs that bind to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and possess helicase activity. LGP2 lacks the CARD domains present in the other PRRs, which is necessary for the formation of a signaling complex at the mitochondrial membrane that stimulates antiviral responses. LGP2 has been reported to have both positive and negative effects on the antiviral response. By exposing cells to increasing amounts of LGP2-expressing plasmid with the same amount of MDA5-expressing plasmid, Bruns et al. found that low amounts of LGP2 enhanced the MDA5-dependent activation of an antiviral reporter gene, whereas high amounts of LGP2 inhibited the response. Expressing LGP2 with mutations that disrupted RNA binding, ATP hydrolysis activity, or the helicase domain did not enhance MDA5-mediated antiviral signaling at any dose, but still inhibited MDA5-mediated signaling at high doses. Coexpression of LGP2 in cells expressing mutants of MDA5 that could not oligomerize did not affect the expression of the antiviral reporter gene. In vitro biochemical assays with purified, tagged MDA5 lacking the CARD domains and tagged LGP2 in the presence of dsRNA of various lengths showed that LGP2 enhanced the rate of association of MDA5 with dsRNA: Association in the absence of LGP2 was linear with an initial lag period, whereas association in the presence of LGP2 was exponential without a lag. MDA5 can form long filaments on dsRNA, which are visible by electron microscopy. Electron microscopy analysis and in vitro biochemical assays revealed that the amount of wild-type MDA5 associated with dsRNA was increased in the presence of LGP2, but that the length of the MDA5-dsRNA filaments was shorter than those formed without LGP2 and was similar to the length of the filaments formed by a signaling-competent and oligomerization-defective mutant MDA5. Introduction of dsRNA-MDA5-LGP2 complexes into cells activated the antiviral reporter gene to a greater extent than did complexes containing the dsRNA and MDA5 only or complexes containing dsRNA, signaling-competent and oligomerization-defective mutant MDA5, and LGP2. Thus, LGP2 appears to promote the nucleation of MDA5 onto dsRNA, thereby producing shorter filaments that optimally stimulate the antiviral response. A. M. Bruns, G. P. Leser, R. A. Lamb, C. M. Horvath, The innate immune sensor LGP2 activates antiviral signaling by regulating MDA5-RNA interaction and filament assembly. Mol. Cell 55, 771–781 (2014). [PubMed]


We examine the level and progress of bond market integration amongst the eleven Economic and Monetary Union countries with active bond markets, over normal and crisis periods. The study covers data from January 2002 up to March 2014. We employ seven indicators for assessing integration, namely beta convergence, sigma convergence, variance ratio, Asymmetric Dynamic Conditional Correlation, dynamic co-integration, market synchronisation, and common factors approach. The results suggest that there is no heterogeneity in the integration process of large-sized economies and medium-sized economies, thereby restricting portfolio diversification potential. Further, bond market integration in the Economic and Monetary Union deteriorated during the crisis period, especially during the European debt crisis, with the economies of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain being the worst affected. We observe that bond markets take a lead in information linkages vis-a-vis stock markets, and hence should get precedence in policy intervention relating to market integration, development, and crisis management.


In the last two years, Europe has experienced a rise in skin allery and dermatitis due to goods and Asian provenance that have been treacted with dimethylfumarate (DMFU). Accordingly,laboratories in the leather and foodwear sectors have been obliged to develop analytical methods to determine the presence of this substance given de absence of an official method. The ban on DMFU as laid down in Decision 2009/251 of the European Union establishes a maximun concentration of DMFU in products of 0.1 mg/Kg. A simple nom-destructive rapid method based on manual headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) and gas cromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)is proposed to detect DMFU in leather and footwear. Thereafter, the samples which DMFU is detected are analysed by solid-liquid extraction (SLE) with acetone after which DMFU is quantitatively determined by GC-MS. The quantitative method in validated in terms of linearity, precision, sensivity and recovery; demostrating its reliability. Quantification of this performed used naphthalene-D8 as internal standard. The detection limits are 0.005 mg/Kg and 0.03 mg/Kg for the HS-SPME-GC-MS and SLE-GC-MS methods, respectively. Given that these limits are bellow the maximun limit of 0.1 mg/Kg imposed by the European Union, the proposed methods are suitable for determining DMFU content in real samples.


Summary : The aim of this study was to determine whether there was evidence for a genetic component in the immune response as measured by IgG2 levels. The study was motivated by our studies of early-onset periodontitis (EOP), a group of disorders characterized by rapid destruction of the supporting tissues of the teeth in otherwise healthy individuals. EOP has two subforms, localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP) and a generalized form (G-EOP). IgG2 levels are elevated in LJP but not G-EOP individuals; and African-American IgG2 levels are higher than Caucasian levels regardless of EOP status. IgG2 levels were determined in 123 EOP families and in 508 unrelated non-EOP control individuals. Segregation analysis under the regressive model approach of Bonney was used to analyze IgG2 levels for evidence of major locus segregation. After adjusting for LJP status, race, sex, and age, the best fitting model was an autosomal codominant major locus model (accounting for approximately 62% of the variance in IgG2), plus residual parent/offspring and spousal correlations. Smoking and GM23 are also known to affect IgG2 levels. If additional adjustments are made for smoking and GM23, the best-fitting model is still a codominant major locus but with no significant residual correlations.


This thesis explores the value of literary affect and reader experiences thereof for critical analysis. Two authors, E. M. Forster and Christopher Isherwood, sit at the core of this thesis due to their respective ideas of ―prophecy‖ and ―vitality‖ that propose the importance of individual reader experience in interpreting fiction. Their theories propose, in different ways, that fiction has the ability to extend beyond its mimetic and contextual limits. Derek Attridge and Emmanuel Levinas have contributed to these theories more recently and from a different perspective to re-establish the examination of literature based in reader experience and its ineffable effect. These theories are examined and combined to achieve a holistic and functional theory of literary affect that can be applied critically. The novels used as examples are E. M. Forster's A Passage to India, Christopher Isherwood's Prater Violet, A Meeting by the River, and A Single Man.


In this thesis, an output-only experimental modal testing and analysis technique known as the Natural Excitation Technique (NExT) is examined for use with large residential structures and interior cavities. The technique which assumes a random, stationary input causing the response data is reviewed and extended for the first time to include the assumption of an impulse input. This technique is examined with respect to the experimental modal analysis of single and two room residential structures. Each structure is first tested using conventional modal testing methods. Then, NExT is applied using each structure's response to a simulated sonic boom, an impulsive input. The results of these analyses along with the results obtained from a finite element model are compared. Then, the interior cavities enclosed by the residential structures are examined using NExT. Therefore, this thesis also demonstrates the successful use of NExT on acoustic systems for the first time. Three configurations of the interconnected cavities enclosed by the two room structure are considered to study physical phenomena. Both interior pressure response to random, stationary inputs and the sonic boom response are used with NExT to determine modal properties. The results of these analyses are compared to a theoretical analysis. Advantages to using NExT with both the response to a random, stationary input and an impulsive input are demonstrated for structural and acoustic systems.


Introduction: To introduce Bayesian method in validation of transtheoretical model's Self-Efficacy and Decisional Balance for nutritional behavior improvement among Prediabetes with ordinal data. Methods: This is an Experimental trial with parallel design and sample was included 220 Prediabetes who Participated in screening program and had over 30 years old, fasting blood glucose ranged 100-125 and at least elementary Education. We used OpenBugs 3.2.3 to fit Bayesian ordinal factor analysis to achieve validation of TTM's decisional balance and self-efficacy. Results: All of the factor loadings corresponded to mentioned constructs was significant atα= 0.05%. That support validation of the Constructs. Correlation between Pros and Cons was not significant(0.076,0.007).Furthermore a specific statistical model for ordinal data created that can estimate odds ratios and marginal Probabilities for each choice of any item in questionnaire. Conclusion: Thanks to benefits of Bayesian method in use of prior information such as Meta-analysis and other resources, In comparison to similar studies that used standard or other factor analysis for ordinal data, our results had good accuracy(with aspect to standard deviation) even with lower sample size.so the results can be used in future clinical researches.


This paper focuses on organizational identity and trust. The paper is being created from a theoretical point of view. Exploring concept and their interrelation is important and valuable scientific work with the purpose of better understanding their meaning and interrelation. This kind of conceptual and theoretical examination has an important task as a basis for theorizing and theory creation. Both identity and trust are multilevel notions. Both concepts describe an abstract phenomenon that is of growing interest in organization field of study. Despite of the conceptual ambiguity both identity and trust can be argued to be relative and qualitative by nature. In addition, they both are commonly seen as the property of a collective at the organizational level analysis. They both can be understood being affected by meanings, understanding and interpretation. They can also be understood being created and maintained in social interaction. There are several concepts that are related to the concept of organizational identity. In this paper we create a link between organizational identity and trust. The link can be understood by exploring organizational identity's related concepts self-identity and identification. Both concepts are also crucial in understanding trust. In addition, in order to understand organizational identity's and trust's interrelation one must also explore the concept of commitment. Identity in an individual level, self-identity, can be characterized as individual's theory of oneself. Identification in turn, has been defined as an individual's sense of oneness or belongingness with an organization. Organizational identity can be understood as if a part of an answer relating to identification: To what is someone identifying themselves with? Commitment has commonly been characterized as the psychological strength of an individual's attachment to the organization or as the relative strength of an individual's identification with the organization and involvement in a particular organization. Trust in return is the key in creating greater commitment to an organization. Trust however, does not create identification. Instead we believe organizational identity affects the level of identification of individuals within organization which in return creates trust. In general the approach presented here encourages an enhanced awareness of interdependence and embeddedness of the concepts organizational identity, membership identification, commitment and trust.


We investigated mtDNA genetic differentiation and the phylogenetic relationships of 11 populations of the oniscidean genus Ligidium. We studied nine populations from Greece, assigned to three nominal species (L. euboicum, L. germanicum and L. beieri), and two from central Europe (L. germanicum and L. hypnorum), applying RFLP analysis of two mtDNA segments (12S rDNA and 16S rDNA) amplified by PCR. The analysis revealed seven monomorphic and four polymorphic populations, and 17 different haplotypes, each one present in one population only. Several restriction enzymes produced population specific patterns, enabling discrimination among the different populations. The estimated net nucleotide divergence between populations ranges from 1.06 to 16.52%, while the high NST value (0.96) indicates the existence of increased interpopulation genetic differentiation that can be attributed to the extreme isolation among Ligidium populations. The relationships between haplotypes and populations are not congruent with their geographical distribution and the established taxonomy within the genus.


Background: Recent animal experiments have suggested that ketamine administration during development might induce widespread neurodegeneration and long-term cognitive deficits. The underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Methods: Immature rat hippocampal neurons and newborn rats underwent repeated exposure to ketamine, ketamine+inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α(YC-1), ketamine+inhibitor of reactive oxygen species(ROS) (L-carnitine) or ketamine+Ca2+ blocker(nimodipine). Apoptosis of the hippocampal neurons was analyzed by TUNEL and flow cytometry. Intracellular ROS were measured using 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate. The expression of HIF- 1α and apoptosis-related proteins was analyzed by western blot or qPCR. As these rats grew, behavioral tests were performed to evaluate cognitive function. Results: The apoptotic rate in the ketamine group was significantly higher than that in the other groups, and the intracellular ROS levels in the ketamine and ketamine+YC-1 groups were higher than those in the other groups. The expression of HIF- 1α, p53, BNIP3 and cleaved caspase-3 proteins increased, and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax decreased in the ketamine group. The transcriptional levels of HIF-1α in the ketamine and ketamine+YC-1 groups were higher than those in the other groups. Cognitive deficits were found only in the ketamine group. Conclusion: We suggest that ketamine-induced neurodegeneration in neonatal rats, followed by long-term cognitive deficits, might be mediated via the ROS/HIF-1α pathway.


Over the last years, political and scientific debates have stressed the growing importance of adult education. Currently important research questions call not only for data sources that collect detailed information on adult education with repeated measurements and in different cohorts, but they should also include data on other life spheres such as education and working histories, partnership and household information, as well as competence development. In Germany, there are several large-scale datasets containing information on adult education. While general panel studies do not provide a systematic overview of educational activities of adults, studies focusing on adult education are either small-scale or cross-sectional and contain little context information. A study that covers information on all educational activities in the life course as well as repeated competence assessment is still missing. In part, these deficits will be resolved by large-scale longitudinal studies focused on adults and education that were either recently conducted or are currently prepared. Thus, we do not call for new data sources on adult education. What is far more important in the next years is analyzing the data of the new large-scale data sources thoroughly, but also developing new theoretical approaches to adult education.


The literature suggests that sex offenders are more at risk of relapse and how much treatment pathways are needed to prevent it. Furthermore, the picture of predisposing factors connected to relapse appears complex. Therefore, the aim of this work is to verify the framework of social-cognitive risk factors connected to relapse in sex offenders. Participants in the study are 128 male sex offenders. The age range of the participants goes from 21 to 75 years (M = 41.74; SD = 13.45). Participants were given self-report questionnaires to evaluate cognitive distortions towards children and towards the right to sexuality, the Hanson Sex Attitude Questionnaire; cognitive distortions towards women, the Vindictive Rape Attitude Questionnaire; the mechanisms of moral disengagement, the Moral Disengagement Scale; furthermore, based on the grid of De Leo and colleagues, any adverse conditions (abuse, mistreatment, poverty, substance abuse, institutionalization) during childhood and/or adolescence were identified. Recidivism, on the other hand, was examined by asking participants if they had been convicted several times of the same crime and verifying this information through their files. The results showed that institutionalization, abuse, cognitive distortions towards women, and the mechanism of attributing blame to the victim can be relevant risk factors associated with relapse. The picture that emerged could suggest how the occurrence in a context of institutionalization during childhood could evidently represent an adverse condition during individual development that acts as a predisposing factor for the risk of relapse; in fact, it is possible to hypothesize that this condition may be linked to experiences of neglect. In the direction, the cognitive distortions towards women and the mechanism of attributing guilt to the victim represented the fulcrum of the deviant cognitive scheme capable of legitimizing the activation of violent and abusive behavior.


This article deals with the selection of bureaucrats in the Romanian public administration. Our inquiry is framed within the Public Choice Theory and has two main parts. The first one (A), the theoretical one, the authors present: A1) the weberian approach on bureaucracy; A2) a review of the public choice theory on bureaucracy; and formulate: A3) a theory of institutional change and public bureaucrats selection. The part ends by A4) describing the research methodology. In the second part (B), the applied one, the authors perform B1) an in-depth examination of the civil service legislation of 1990-2009. Finally, B2) they make a policy proposal for the reform of the civil service in Romania. The authors' contribution to extending knowledge in the field of civil service research consists in their refinement of Reid and Kurth theory of organizational change (1988), (1989) and in the application of this refined theory to the Romanian case. The new theory predicted that Romanian politicians faced inefficiency in maintaining a highly politicized civil service while accessing the European Union and, for that reason one should observe a de-politicization of the public bureaucrats' selection system up to January 2007, followed by a re-politicization after January 2007. Our documentary research confirmed the prediction. Methodology: We analyze the legislation applicable in the case of civil service selection between 1990 and 2009, and focus on 1993-2009 (for reasons which depend upon Romania's official relation with the European Union). In order to analyze these documents, we use a dimensional perspective, i.e. we list a series of attributes, which a politicized system of selecting civil servants should exhibit. These attributes are to be grouped into four classes: recruitment, assessment, promotion and mobility. On the basis of these attributes we aim at showing to what extent bureaucrats' selection procedures in Romania describe a politicized public administration. In analyzing documents we depart from the following proposition, deriving from our theory: when institutions offer politicians the opportunity to politicize public administration, then they will politicize it. For the case of the selection of bureaucrats, the European Union expected Romania to provide evidence of equal access to civil service, merit-based competitions, politically neutral service, decentralized personnel management and sustainable development of a professionalized civil service. In other words, having a de-politicized and professional civil service were (at least) the two conditions needed to Romanian politicians to tick the box of civil service reform. Our theory implies that these formal demands were at least partly translated into institutional changes. The theory suggests also that after the accession to the European Union (January 2007), a new re-politicization of the selection process of civil service began. Selective References: Gajduschek, G. 2007. Politicisation, Professionalisation, or both? Hungary's Civil Service System. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 40, pp.343-362; Reid Jr., J.D.; Kurth, M.M. 1988. Public Employees in Political Firms: Part A. The Patronage Era. Public Choice 59, pp.253-262; Reid Jr., J.D.; Kurth, M.M. 1989. Public Employees in Political Firms: Part B. Civil Service and Militancy. Public Choice 60, pp.41-54.


Essential amino acids are necessary for nutrition whether obtained by digestion of proteins or by oral supplementation of amino acids. The elderly experience loss of skeletal muscles and decrease in their strength and function, which can lead to poor quality of life. Increased quantity and quality of proteins stimulates muscle protein synthesis that can help combat this natural aging process. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to see if consumption of essential amino acid drink high concentrations of leucin (2040 mg/serving) during exercise will attenuate the condition of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in the elderly. Also, we aimed to assess the degree of muscle flexibility and endurance followed the three-day exercise protocol. We hypothesized that the older participants acutely ingesting the essential amino acid supplement during the exercise regime will have increased physical performance and diminished symptoms of DOMS. METHODS: In this study, 16 participants (6 P, 10 EAA-O) completed a health screening visit and an exercise routine (sit, stretch and reach, shoulder flexibility distance, MVC isometric handgrip, push-ups (reps), flexed arm hang (time), cable triceps extension (50% of one repetition max until failure), and a 1.5-mile run, with intermittent consumption of the sports drink) for three consecutive days. The study participants were randomly assigned to either the EAA-O group (6.6g of EAA-O + Gatorade) or the control group (Gatorade-only). The study design is a double blinded study as neither the recording analysis researchers nor study participants were aware of the assigned group. RESULTS: The EAA-O group improved significantly from day one to two in flexed arm hang (p = 0.036) and the 1.5-mile run (p = 0.040). The EAA-O group improved significantly from day two to three in push-ups (p = 0.002), flexed arm hang (p = 0.035), and 1.5-mile run (0.001). The EAA-O group improved significantly from day one to three in push-ups (p = 0.045), flexed arm hang (p = 0.006), 1.5-mile run (p = 0.0003), and the top speed (p = 0.026). The placebo group did not improve significantly in any of the exercise parameters. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the Overtime essential amino acid supplementation combined with training improves overall athletic performance in the older sedentary population. Research reported in this publication was supported by a research contract with Calwood Nutritionals and was approved by the ENMU IRB.


AIM
This research aimed to use a consensus process to develop a framework and definition for nutrition and dietetic research, and to identify dietetic research priorities for Australia for the period 2020 to 2030.

METHODS
A three-round Delphi process was selected to enable dietitians with demonstrated research expertise to contribute to the national priority development. All Fellows of the Dietitians Association of Australia, Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitians and research leaders were invited to participate (n = 84). The questionnaire was distributed electronically using a 7-point Likert scale. Rounds 1 and 2 asked participants to comment on the proposed research framework, definition of dietetic research and to rate a set of priorities categorised within seven themes. Fields were available for comments for revisions to each section. Approval was considered when ≥70% of participants ranked priorities as Agree or Strongly agree. In Round 3, participants were asked to rank the resultant priorities within themes.

RESULTS
Through this Delphi process, Australian dietitians with demonstrated expertise contributed to and confirmed a framework and definition for dietetic Research. A ranked list of 15 priorities within five themes for dietetic Research in Australia for the period 2020-2030 was developed: Healthy ageing; Vulnerable populations; Food systems and health/nutrition promotion; Informatics and evidence based practice and Achieving a balance between prevention and treatment approaches.

CONCLUSIONS
It is anticipated that results will lead to the development of a research strategy to focus future dietetic research efforts, including the development of professional position papers as well as informing research competencies for dietetic education.


The Nurses Take Over the Physical. You should not think that clinical medicine has been totally abandoned. At the Boston area hospital where I spent a whole month watching a single patient, almost every day a physical examination was performed by the nurses. I was interested in this new development, and approached it with open mind. Nurses are as intelligent as the doctors and quite a few are much brighter. There is no reason why they shouldn't be able to learn the physical examination. True, some limitations were predictable. The nurses' ability to interpret the findings, and choose the direction of further search, may not equal that of the doctors because the nurses' general medical knowledge is somewhat less broad and less detailed. Further, it took almost 200 years of confronting the physical signs with the findings at postmortem and surgery, and with the data obtained by instrumental methods, before the clinicians' skills in physical examination achieved the peak of exactitude and sophistication. For a century and a half, the training of young doctors in physical examination has been, as a rule, entrusted to clinicians well versed and keenly interested in the subject. There is no comparable tradition behind the nurses' training in this particular field. I watched six nurses doing the physical examination. They used to begin with auscultation of the chest. This they did in a cursory way, placing their stethoscopes at two or three, seldom four points (a routine auscultation of the lungs involves 10 to 12 points). Most nurses did not listen to the base of the lungs, where the wet crackles of pulmonary congestion or bronchopneumonia are most likely to be heard. The patient was not told to breathe deeply, through open mouth, or to cough. The nurses then proceeded to cardiac auscultation which was limited to counting the heart rate. This was followed by auscultation of the abdomen, rather superfluous in a patient who passed normal stools and had no abdominal complaints. A number of vitally important steps were omitted. The nurses did not look into the patient's mouth or at her skin, did not check the small of her back for edema nor the buttocks for bedsores, and did not inspect the legs. The patient whom I closely observed had a pronounced edema on the legs, feet, and ankles, an important and ominous sign. None of the nurses noticed that. I saw enough to draw my conclusions. What these nurses were doing was inaccurate and sadly incomplete. Unfortunately, the nurses took the physical examination over from the doctors at a time when the doctors themselves had already deeply neglected this art. The nurses whose work I watched had never had the chance to properly learn the physical examination, or to fully appreciate its importance. Practicing Medicine. Can non-physicians practice medicine? It was tried in the past. I remember the medics who practiced in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 40s. The institution was inherited from pre-WWI German and Russian imperial armies. A few civilian schools offered a two year curriculum modeled upon military medics' training. Around 1950, the institution of practicing medics was abolished in those European countries where it still existed. It was assumed that diagnosing diseases and treating sick people should not be entrusted to half-qualified practitioners. Fifty years later I learned, much to my surprise, that medical practice of half-qualified persons was being reintroduced in the United States. I recently watched a case of a 13-year old girl who suddenly fell ill, vomited several times (first food, and then some water-like liquid), and complained of a bad pain in her belly. The mother called her pediatric medical center. A nurse answered the phone, asked some questions, diagnosed "abdominal virus," and advised Tylenol. I marveled at this nurse's self-assurance. The girl's symptoms could be due to various conditions, some of which would require immediate intervention. …


An emerging trend among voice specialists is the use of quantitative protocols for the diagnosis and treatment of voice disorders. Vocal fold vibrations are directly related to voice quality. This research is devoted to providing an objective means of characterizing these vibrations. Our goal is to develop a dynamic model of vocal fold vibration, and map the parameter space of the model to a class of voice disorders; thus, furthering the assessment and diagnosis of voice disorder in clinical settings. To this end, this dissertation introduces a new seven-mass biomechanical model for the vibration of vocal folds. The model is based on the body-cover layer concept of the vocal fold biomechanics, and segments the cover layer into three masses along the longitudinal direction of the vocal fold. This segmentation facilitates the model comparison with the motion of the vocal glottis contour derived from modern high-speed digital imaging systems. The model simulation is compared to 14 sets of experimental data from human subjects with healthy vocal folds and pathological vocal folds including nodule, polyp, and unilateral paralysis. We also propose a semi-empirical two-stage procedure for tuning the parameters so that the model response matches as closely as possible the experimental data in the time and frequency domains. The first stage involves the manual coarse tuning of parameters based on limited data to expedite the process. The second stage is an automatic (or manual) fine tuning process on a subset of the parameters tuned in the first stage based on a larger amount of data. Once an 'optimal' set of model parameters has been identified, two model-based factors, quantifying the asymmetry between left and right vocal folds and anterior x and posterior segments of the vocal folds, are introduced and calculated for each of the 14 cases. The two factors form an asymmetry plane. Based on the value of the asymmetry factors for the 14 cases, the plane is subdivided into four regions corresponding to healthy vocal folds, nodule, polyp, and unilateral paralysis. This yields a clear visual aid for clinicians, correlating the model parameters to voice quality.


Understanding the interaction between eagles and wind farms is essential for the development of strategies to minimize collision risk, and to quantify avoidance rates for collision risk modeling. The purpose of our study was to measure the avoidance rates of Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles (Aquila audax fleayi) and white-bellied sea-eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster) using a new method, and to examine factors affecting these rates. We conducted eagle surveys at the Musselroe Wind Farm (undeveloped and used as a control); Studland Bay Wind Farm during commissioning and operational stages; and Bluff Point Wind Farm during the operational stage, all in northern Tasmania, Australia. Observers documented flight tracks and behavior of eagles over 875 days during the period 2006–2008. Both species demonstrated a distinct avoidance of the turbines, preferring to fly midway between them. Avoidance rates were 81%–97%, and differed significantly between species and sites, with white-bellied sea-eagles avoiding at a higher rate than wedge-tailed eagles. Eagles at Bluff Point had a higher avoidance rate than those at Studland Bay, even though the sites were only 3 km apart. Both species altered their avoidance rates in response to stages in the wind-farm development, but only the wedge-tailed eagle altered its rate in response to weather conditions, demonstrating a higher avoidance rate during wet and windy conditions. Our study found that the interaction of eagles and wind turbines is complex, which highlights the need for further study of avoidance rates in species at different sites. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.


The purpose of this paper is to provide same insight (1) service quality evaluation by proposing the importance-performance analysis as valuable tool to ensure multi-perspective evaluation and by customer satisfaction index, then (2) to know what priority attributes have to keep up the good work to achieve customer satisfaction. Data were obtained from 100 Esia customers who use service transactions online payment points wich sampling technique is convenience sampling. Data processed by using Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) methode and Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). The IPA results showed by cartesius diagram and describes about the attribute fill in each quadran which have different meanings. Analysis of the level of concordance shows that lowest quality of service factors is the emphaty (78.60%), whereas the highest level is tangible dimension (89.45%). Based on the CSI calculations customer satisfaction is 72.17%. Keywords: Customer Expectation, Customer Satisfaction, Service Quality


This paper presents a weight-changing device based on the transfer of mass. We chose liquid metal (Ga-In-Tin eutectic) and a bi-directional pump to control the mass that is injected into or removed from a target object. The liquid metal has a density of 6.44g/cm3, which is about six times heavier than water, and is thus suitable for effective mass transfer. We also combine the device with a dynamic volume-changing function to achieve programmable mass and volume at the same time. We explore three potential applications enabled by weight-changing devices: density simulation of different materials, miniature representation of planets with scaled size and mass, and motion control by changing gravity force. This technique opens up a new design space in human-computer interactions.


Events are always passing; to experience an event is to experience the passing. But how do we perceive an experience that encompasses the just-was and the is-about-to-be as much as what is actually present? In Semblance and Event, Brian Massumi, drawing on the work of William James, Alfred North Whitehead, Gilles Deleuze, and others, develops the concept of "semblance" as a way to approach this question. It is, he argues, a question of abstraction, not as the opposite of the concrete but as a dimension of it: "lived abstraction." A semblance is a lived abstraction. Massumi uses the category of the semblance to investigate practices of art that are relational and event-oriented -- variously known as interactive art, ephemeral art, performance art, art intervention -- which he refers to collectively as the "occurrent arts." Each art practice invents its own kinds of relational events of lived abstraction, to produce a signature species of semblance. The artwork's relational engagement, Massumi continues, gives it a political valence just as necessary and immediate as the aesthetic dimension.


Estonian cultural studies constitute a rich and promising area of research. This area is uniquely positioned to bring together the vast array of methodological approaches that increasingly have come to define our postmodern mindscape. It allows us to more productively unpack salient aspects of national and world literature and to bring into sharper focus the role of the humanities in general. Contemporary research, teaching and supervisory activities in the university environment proceed from an unprecedented openness to multiple differences, older and newer constructions and deconstructions, congruent or incongruent points of view, active merging of many paradigms, intra- or interdisciplinary, and a permanent disposition towards innovation. There are theoretical clusters that focus on the form and structure of a work, combining with linguistic and stylistic, author-centred or reader-centred approaches; intertextual relations; content-driven, i.e., socio-semantic and historical interpretations; and complex combinations of all of these. As a result, contemporary literary research has to integrate an overwhelmingly rich multitude of different productive methods to encompass both levels of mimesis and poiesis, in their respective hermeneutic circles: literary historical, textological, bio-bibliographical and reception studies; close reading, poetic, linguistic, structuralist, semiotic, narratological; intertextual, translation-theoretical; psychoanalytical, cognitivistic; socio-psychological – including gender and memory studies, post-colonialism, new historicism, ecocriticism – as well as intercultural studies; post-structuralist discursive, hermeneutical-phenomenological, mytho-theoretical; analytical philosophical, formal statistical, digital and other current and plausible approaches. Such anthological versatility en gros is necessary as different authors, types of texts, phenomena, traditions and levels can actualise separate points of view, networks and methodologies. Thus, the in-depth study of literatures, avoiding shallow eclecticism and levelling synthesis, should be implemented within a comprehensive, unified meta-multi-theoretical field that integrates diverse paradigms and polylogical perspectives central to the humanities today. The theorisations may be exclusively collateral, have inclusive intersections or be more generally congenial. The use of one cluster does not exclude the consideration of others, even opposing ones. Although the comparative meta-theory, or general poetics, does not aim to erase inevitable and inspiring incoherencies, a synchronisation of meta-languages can often be achieved at the appropriate levels of description, even between analytical and continental language philosophy evident in pragmapoetics (q.v. Merilai 2003, 2007a, b). While the humanities encourage diversity, no scholar, however astute, is expected to have a full command of all relevant discourses within the whole polysystem; hence the need for shared synergies.


Abstract The aim of this work was to achieve a better understanding of the wettability, i.e. liquids wetting and sorption characteristics (or penetrability), of acetylated Southern yellow pine (SYP) including probable differences in such characteristics between early- or latewood. Matched samples of acetylated and untreated SYP boards were prepared. The wettability of the samples were measured by the Wilhelmy technique using standard probe liquids as well as two different sample coatings, a cationic knot sealer and an acrylic based dye. The results showed that latewood regions of the acetylated wood had a noticeably lower uptake of the non-polar low surface tension liquid octane as well as the polar high surface tension liquid water compared with latewood of the untreated controls. Contact angle analysis based on the Lewis acid–base concept indicated that the acetylated wood is predominantly Lewis basic. A preferential wetting of the knot sealer was observed on the acetylated wood.


ABSTRACT This study analyzes psbA gene sequences, predicted D1 protein sequences, species relative abundance, and pollution-induced community tolerance in marine periphyton communities exposed to the antifouling compound Irgarol 1051. The mechanism of action of Irgarol is the inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport at photosystem II by binding to the D1 protein. The metagenome of the communities was used to produce clone libraries containing fragments of the psbA gene encoding the D1 protein. Community tolerance was quantified with a short-term test for the inhibition of photosynthesis. The communities were established in a continuous flow of natural seawater through microcosms with or without added Irgarol. The selection pressure from Irgarol resulted in an altered species composition and an inducted community tolerance to Irgarol. Moreover, there was a very high diversity in the psbA gene sequences in the periphyton, and the composition of psbA and D1 fragments within the communities was dramatically altered by increased Irgarol exposure. Even though tolerance to this type of compound in land plants often depends on a single amino acid substitution (Ser264→Gly) in the D1 protein, this was not the case for marine periphyton species. Instead, the tolerance mechanism likely involves increased degradation of D1. When we compared sequences from low and high Irgarol exposure, differences in nonconserved amino acids were found only in the so-called PEST region of D1, which is involved in regulating its degradation. Our results suggest that environmental contamination with Irgarol has led to selection for high-turnover D1 proteins in marine periphyton communities at the west coast of Sweden.


This study investigated the development of length measurement ideas in students from prekindergarten through 2nd grade. The main purpose was to evaluate and elaborate the developmental progression, or levels of thinking, of a hypothesized learning trajectory for length measurement to ensure that the sequence of levels of thinking is consistent with observed behaviors of most young children. The findings generally validate the developmental progression, including the tasks and the mental actions on objects that define each level, with several elaborations of the levels of thinking and minor modifications of the levels themselves.


The effect of mutual coupling between elements plays a crucial role to the performance of the antenna arrays. The radiation patterns of antenna arrays will be altered by the coupling effect from the adjacent elements thus reducing the accuracy and resolution in direction finding application. This research developed and validated the novel 3-D Algorithm to calculate the far-field pattern of dipole arrays arranged in three dimensions and in any configuration (both in straight and slanted position). The effect of mutual coupling has been accounted using the Induced EMF method. The computation is performed on 2x2 parallel dipoles and 12 dipoles arranged at the edge of a cube. The results are validated with other electromagnetic techniques such as Method of Moment (MoM) and Finite Difference Time-Domain (FDTD). Then, a 2x2 dipole array is chosen for beam steering and experiment validation due to its ease of implementation and feeding network. The array optimisation to control the pattern is performed using a genetic algorithm. The far-field pattern computed using the 3-D algorithm might be less accurate than other 3-D electromagnetic techniques but its array optimisation is faster and efficient. The simulation and measurement results are in good agreement with each other confirmed the validity of the 3-D algorithm.


An analytical method is derived which gives the elastic response of a homogeneous rock layer to two-dimensional distributions of vertical displacement applied along its lower boundary. Displacement field, stress distribution, and distortional strain-energy density diagrams are presented for three types of displacement applied at the lower boundary of 5-km thick layers possessing average sedimentary rock properties. These three types of displacement are: (1) sinusoidal vertical displacement and no horizontal displacement; (2) an approximate step in vertical displacement and no horizontal displacement; and (3) sinusoidal vertical and horizontal displacement (horizontal displacement 90° out of phase with the vertical). Displacement fields and stress distributions for each type of applied displacement are nearly independent of the elastic characteristics of the layers. The magnitudes of displacement necessary to initiate fracture at some point in the layer are small (3.7–8.2 m) for the three types of applied displacement. For applied displacement (1) and (3), the initial fracture is a vertical tensile crack at the crest of the fold. For applied displacement (2), the initial fracture is either a vertical crack at the upper surface or a shear fracture at the lower surface. Displacement fields and fracture patterns for scale-model experiments of two problems similar to the analytical examples are presented. For a sinusoidal vertical displacement, the fracture pattern is a complex zone of normal faults which taper inward toward the axis of the fold and die out at depth. For a step in vertical displacement, the fracture pattern is (1) a series of reverse faults which start vertically at the base of the layer, curve, and intersect the upper surface at low angles, and (2) a series of normal faults dipping toward the convex side of the reverse faults. Of particular interest are the reverse faults which show that vertical movement at depth can generate low-angle faulting at the surface. Displacement fields found in the elastic analyses are good first-order approximations of displacement fields in the scale-model experiments. Points of initial fracture observed in the model experiments agree closely with those computed in the elastic analyses. The line of fracture for the curved reverse faults in the model experiments can be predicted on the basis of the Mohr fracture criterion and the stress distribution from an elastic analysis.


Group exhibition curated by Geraint Evans.

Artists include: Paul Housley, Jake Clark, Laura White, Martin Newth and Michael Samuels.

This exhibition considers the material culture of suburbia. The suburbs are an indisputable site of consumption driven by an ever more pervasive shopping economy. Flat pack furniture, collections of porcelain ornaments, Chamois leather, tidy gardens and garden sheds describe a form of aspiration and perceived conformity. And yet there is creativity within suburbia, as Roger Silverstone writes: "The shared products of contemporary material and symbolic culture are chosen or discarded, arranged and rearranged according to desire, itself structured by class or ethnicity. Suburban streets are complex and subtle signifiers, offering, for those who can read the signs, delicate statements of style and status." (Silverstone, 1997 p. 6/7)

Michael Samuels' practice can be characterised as a form of contemporary bricolage, which utlises industrially produced Modernist furniture. Elements such as cabinets, tables and sideboards are liberated from their traditional role, cut up and reconfigured into structures that no longer have a utilitarian purpose. Laura White is interested in our relationship and negotiation with the 'stuff' of the world, from the first-hand encounters with objects and matter to the mediated experience of images, such as those found in books, on posters and the internet.

Martin Newth's work tracks the historical roots of the photographic process and raises questions about the aesthetics of the medium. For 'Shed' a typical garden shed was converted into a camera obscura by inserting a simple uncut spectacle lens into the door. Paul Housley works and reworks his paintings, referencing art history whilst seeking to reinvent it. Urgent, immediate depictions of domestic ornaments, broken prams, piles of skulls and a plethora of other images emerge from the layers, traces, lumps and marks of restless making.

Jake Clark's paintings depict the houses, people and belongings of British and European seaside suburbia. In 'Low Rise', an essential possession of many suburban homes - the flat pack cd rack – is painted in an overly optimistic tone. The inverted reference to J G Ballard's 'High Rise', the sickly palette and splatters of paint undermine this symbol of domestic order.

The Flat Pack Sessions is part of Wimbledon College of Arts paintingresearch's yearly thematic: Punk in the Suburbs.


Bulk electrical conductivity (σa) can dominate the low frequency dielectric loss spectrum in soils, causing changes in the permittivity and errors in estimated water content. We examined the dependence of measured apparent permittivity (Ka) on σa in contrasting soils using time‐domain reflectometry (TDR), a digital time‐domain transmission (TDT) sensor, and a capacitance sensor (5TE) during near saturated solute displacement experiments. Sensors were installed in columns packed with fine sand or a clay loam soil. Displacement experiments were completed by first equilibrating columns with 0.25 dS m−1 CaCl2, introducing a step pulse of ∼4.7 dS m−1 CaCl2 and, after equilibration, displacing the resident solution with 0.25 dS m−1 CaCl2. Using TDR, measured Ka increased with increasing σa; however, the slope of this response averaged 3.47 m dS−1 for clay loam compared with 0.19 m dS−1 for sand. The large response in the clay loam was attributed to relaxation losses that narrowed the effective bandwidth from 821 to an estimated 164 MHz. In contrast, the effective frequency in sand averaged 515 MHz. Permittivity measured using the TDT probe exhibited little or no sensitivity to σa (<0.32 m dS−1) in both media. Measured Ka using the 5TE probe declined with increasing σa up to 1 to 1.8 dS m−1 and then increased thereafter with net negative responses for sand (ΔKa/Δσa = −3.1 m dS−1) and net positive responses for the clay loam (ΔKa/Δσa = 2.9 m dS−1). Consideration of the Ka–σa response is required for accurate soil water content estimation (±0.03 m3 m−3) in the presence of solution EC variations using TDR in fine‐textured soils or the 5TE sensor in all media. Large differences in the sampling volumes between 5TE‐measured bulk EC and permittivity confounded the Ka–σa response in the presence of a concentration gradient.


We report on detailed investigation of the stability of localized modes in the nonlinear Schrödinger equations with a nonlinear parity-time (alias 𝒫𝒯) symmetric potential. We are particularly focusing on the case where the spatially dependent nonlinearity is purely imaginary. We compute the Evans function of the linear operator determining the linear stability of localized modes. Results of the Evans function analysis predict that for sufficiently small dissipation localized modes become stable when the propagation constant exceeds certain threshold value. This is the case for periodic and tanh-shaped complex potentials where the modes having widths comparable with or smaller than the characteristic width of the complex potential are stable, while broad modes are unstable. In contrast, in complex potentials that change linearly with transverse coordinate all modes are stable, which suggests that the relation between width of the modes and spatial size of the complex potential defines the stability in the general case. These results were confirmed using the direct propagation of the solutions for the mentioned examples.