Studies from North Carolina (NC) indicate that increasing concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and other constituents are correlated to adverse effects on stream ecosystems as evidenced by differences in benthic macroinvertebrate populations in streams across the state. As a result, stringent in-stream criteria based on the Water Quality Assessed by Benthic macroinvertebrate health ratings (WQABI) have been proposed for regulating TP concentrations in stormwater discharges and for selecting stormwater best management practices (BMPs). The WQABI criteria concentrations may not be suitable for evaluating stormwater discharges because they are based on baseflow concentration statistics, the criteria do not include a clearly defined allowable exceedance frequency, and there are substantial uncertainties in estimating the quality of runoff, BMP discharge, and receiving waters for sites without monitoring data. The Stochastic Empirical Loading and Dilution Model (SELDM), which was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, was used to simulate the quality of runoff, BMP discharge, and receiving waters to evaluate risks for water-quality exceedances with different criteria concentrations, allowable exceedance frequencies, and selected water-quality statistics. Water-quality data from two neighboring basins in the Piedmont ecoregion in NC were used to simulate in-stream stormwater quality. Data collected at 15 sites in NC were used to simulate runoff quality. Statistics for stochastic modeling of volume reduction, hydrograph extension, and water-quality treatment by BMPs, were used to simulate potential effect of these treatments on discharge quality and downstream stormwater quality. Results of these long-term 30-year simulations were used to evaluate criteria concentrations, the potential frequency of water-quality exceedances, and the effect of data selection on risks for water-quality exceedances. The simulations indicate that the potential frequency for exceeding instream and stormwater discharge criteria depend on the detailed definition of the criteria and the data that are selected for simulating water quality. Data and simulation results indicate that the baseflow concentrations do not represent stormwater concentrations, even in predominantly forested basins. There is substantial uncertainty in applying stormwater statistics to unmonitored sites, even if these statistics are applied to neighboring basins such as in this example. Over a period of several years (or more) it would be impossible to meet many of the proposed instream and stormwater discharge quality criteria unless these criteria include an allowable exceedance frequency because stormwater concentrations commonly vary by orders of magnitude. Selection of BMPs by using concentration reduction as the sole criteria may underestimate potential benefits of BMPs that also provide volume reduction, which reduces discharge loads, and hydrograph extension, which increases the dilution of runoff into a larger proportion of the upstream stormflow. Results of this study indicate the potential benefits of the multi-decade simulations that SELDM provides because these simulations quantify risks and uncertainties that affect decisions made with available data and statistics. Results of the SELDM simulations indicate that the WQABI criteria concentrations may be too stringent for evaluating the stormwater quality in receiving streams, highway runoff, and BMP discharges; especially with the substantial uncertainties inherent in selecting representative data. INTRODUCTION Several studies from North Carolina (NC) indicate that increasing concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) are correlated to adverse effects on stream ecosystems as evidenced by differences in benthic macroinvertebrate populations from stream to stream (McNett and others, 2010; Winston and others, 2012). Elevated TP concentrations may be an indicator of general water-quality degradation in receiving streams rather than the primary cause of the observed differences in macroinvertebrate populations. For example, herbicide and pesticide applications associated with fertilizer applications could be an underlying driver for the observed adverse effects (Nowell and others, 2014). The studies that identify TP as a constituent of concern also identify several other constituents that also are correlated to changes in benthic macroinvertebrate populations in NC streams (McNett and others, 2010; Winston and others, 2012) and correlation does not prove causation (Helsel and Hirsch, 2002). It is, however, widely recognized that elevated TP concentrations do contribute to adverse effects on water quality and aquatic


Large-eddy simulation of the oceanic mixed layer showed that Langmuir circulation (LC) is weakened under the surface heating and is ultimately broken down if the intensity of the surface heating becomes sufficiently strong. The critical condition for the breakdown of LC was mainly determined by the Hoenikker number Ho, and the transition occurs in the range Ho ; 1‐2. The breakdown of LC leads to a drastic change in the characteristics of the oceanic mixed layer, such as the variation of the rms horizontal velocities with time, the ratio of the horizontal spectra of vertical velocity field, and the pitch. The stability condition for LC suggested by Leibovich was still observed in this simulation. Furthermore, it was found that LC is largely responsible for the formation of a thermocline and the maintenance of a well-mixed layer above it, and the depth of a thermocline was estimated in that case.


Objectives: To assess whether electronic (e-) coaching, using personalized web-based lifestyle and risk factor counselling with additional email prompts, provides additional risk reduction when added to standard of care (SOC) in individuals at increased risk. Methods: Between June 2013 and May 2015, 402 participants were allocated 1:1 to e-coaching and SOC versus SOC. Participants free of manifest cardiovascular disease, with internet access, and a 10-year QRISK2 cardiovascular risk of ≥10% were enrolled. Change in oscillometric carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) from baseline to six months was the primary endpoint. Secondary outcomes included change in blood pressure (BP), weight, and risk scores. Analysis was by intention to treat. Results: Mean (±SD) age was 65.5 (5.6) years with 37% females. Primary outcome data were available for 94%. There was no difference in PWV reductions between e-coaching and standard of care groups (–0.16 m/s vs. –0.25 m/s, 95% confidence interval –0.39 to 0.22, p = 0.56). There were no differences in the improvement between groups for BP, weight, Framingham, or QRISK2 scores. Pulse wave velocity change was more favorable in those with a higher level of education (p = 0.04), but was not associated with age, gender, presence of diabetes, baseline QRISK2 score, or logins to the website. Conclusions: In individuals at increased cardiovascular risk, a comprehensive 'health check' program modestly reduced future risk. Personalized e-coaching did not provide added risk reduction. Currently there is no evidence to routinely recommend e-coaching in cardiovascular health check programs. Trial registration: HAPPY London ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01911910


Any high-school student asked to produce an example of symbiosis in nature would probably be able to explain that this had to encompass mutual benefit to the two species and might then cite plover birds plucking the leeches from the Nile crocodiles. Some, under the influence of the movie Finding Nemo, might even mention the relationship between sea anemones and clownfish. Challenged to explain parasitism, they would explain that this entails harm being done to one of the species rather than mutual benefit, and might well offer the example of human infestation by nematodes. However, in this volume of Immunology, we have assembled some of the leading figures looking at interactions between nematode infection and immune regulation.1–4 The hypothesis they explore is that by ridding the human immune system of interaction with nematodes, one loses the potential for key regulatory interactions on which normal immunity may have evolved a dependence. Collectively, the case they assess is as follows: all mammalian wildlife carry nematodes and this relationship is one that reaches back in coevolutionary terms to the first appearance of the adaptive immune system. Hunter–gatherer hominids would have harboured several species of nematodes. This coexistence is thought to have had a substantial impact on the development of regulation of adaptive immunity, as discussed here by Jan Bradley and colleagues. That is, through interactions of nematode gene products with the immune system, notably modulation of dendritic cell function and the establishment of regulatory T-cell networks. There is also, of course, a substantial skewing of immunity in favour of T helper type 2 (Th2) cytokines. The case is made that the loss of this tuning of human adaptive immunity by nematode gene products in the developed world over the past two generations has removed one of the driving cogs of human immune regulation. Indeed, one of the authors, Graham Rook, goes so far as to use the term 'pseudocommensal', rather than parasite. Compelling evidence has been presented, both in the articles here and elsewhere, for the relationship between this change in immune set-point and the growth in inflammatory diseases in the developed world. This encompasses autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes (as discussed in the following pages by Anne Cooke), as well as a massive increase in allergic disease. The list of diseases includes those which, though all involving immune–inflammatory dysregulation, span those of excessive Th2 immunity and those of excessive Th1/Th17 immunity, so earlier incarnations of the 'hygiene hypothesis' in which a key mechanism is loss of Th1/Th2 equilibrium must be an oversimplification. More recent studies emphasize the role of regulatory T cells.5 Specific evidence for the relationship between nematode infection and protection from allergy and autoimmunity comes from epidemiological studies as well as from mouse models. Ed Pearce and colleagues here review current concepts on the molecular mechanisms operating at the level of dendritic cell programming.

The articles gathered together here argue persuasively that removal of nematode products from human immunity has consequences for the regulation of inflammatory disease. However, it would be a dangerous and Western-centric jump from there to nostalgia for parasitic infestation as a 'good thing'. For much of the developing world, parasitic disease imposes a massive burden of morbidity, whether in terms of enhanced susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis or through retarded infant growth and development.

Clearly, the challenge to immunologists is to understand in molecular terms the components of nematode genomes with capacity to induce regulation and consequently those with biotherapeutic value, without having to endure the ignominy of Sally Mae Wallace from Mississippi from whom a 37-foot (11.3-m) worm was removed. Interestingly, however, Sally is quoted as saying 'I just knew I had the record. I was really filled with joy'.


The generalized harmonic numbers $H_n^{(k)}=\sum_{j=1}^n j^{-k}$ satisfy the well-known congruence $H_{p-1}^{(k)}\equiv 0\pmod{p}$ for all primes $p\geq 3$ and integers $k\geq 1$. We derive $q$-analogs of this congruence for two different $q$-analogs of the sum $H_n^{(k)}$. The results can be written in terms of certain determinants of binomial coefficients which have interesting properties in their own right. Furthermore, it is shown that one of the classes of determinants is closely related to degenerate Bernoulli numbers, and new properties of these numbers are obtained as a consequence.


The purpose of this report is to evaluate the fire safety of Gevahuset. The report is based on a number of representative fire scenarios and computer simulations of evacuation and fire development. Suggestions
on improvement of the safety lever are presented. The programs used, as tools in the evaluation process, are FDS, SIMULEX, Detact T2 and FAST. The program FDS has generated output concerning smoke filling and fire spread. SIMULEX has been used to estimate the evacuation time from the
building. The activation time of sprinklers has been calculated with the programs Detact T2 and FAST. A description of Gevahuset and its different activities has been included along with the existing fire precautions.


Preface to the Second Edition. From the Preface to the First Edition. 1. Religion in Psychological Perspective. The Prevalence and Scope of Religion. Religion in Action. Psychological Questions about Religion. What is Religion? Religion as Reconnection. Personal and Social Religion. Religious Function and Religious Content. The Variety of Religious Behaviors. How do Psychologists Handle the Problem of Defining Religion? Dimensions of Religious Commitment: Logical and Descriptive. Religious Belief (The Ideological Dimension). Religious Practice (The Ritualistic Dimension). Religious Feeling (The Experiential Dimension). Religious Knowledge (The Intellectual Dimension). Religious Effects (The Consequential Dimension). The Dimensions in Combination. Status and Utility of the Multidimensional Schema. Psychological Approaches to Religion. Complementary Viewpoints within Psychology. Where do we Look for the Processes Underlying Religiousness? Relevance of the Possible Bases of Religion. Is the Psychology of Religion Valid? Is Religion Unique? Implications of the Various Positions. Approach and Plan of the Book. Orientations. Limitations. Organization. 2. Historical and Theoretical Developments. The Early Period: An Impressive Start. Starbuck and the "Either-Or" Philosophy. James. The Middle Period: Factors Contributing to the Decline. Theoretical Interlude. Classical Theories and Their Questions. Some Stimuli to Current Research. The Contemporary Period: The Reemergence of the Field. Indicators of the Trend. Is Psychology of Religion Influencing General Psychology? Reasons for the Trend. 3. Research in the Psychology of Religion. Philosophy of Science for Psychology of Religion. Tensions Between Psychology and Religion. The Nature of Psychological Science. Multiple Accounts of Religious Behavior. Influence of the Post-Modernism Movement. The Role Psychology Can Fulfill. Methods of Researching Religion. Strategies and Methods. Measuring Religion. 4. Religious Development in Children. Psychological Research on Religious Development. The Nature of Childhood Religion. Perception, Language, and the Meaning of Symbols: Cognitive Mechanisms. Family, Social Context, and Personal Needs: Social Learning and Attachment Processes. Cognitive Factors in Moral Development. Piaget's 2 Stages of Moral Reasoning. Piaget's 3 Stages of Cognitive Development. Kohlberg's 6 Stages of Moral Judgment. Stages of Religious Development. Elkind's Stage Theory. Research on Religious Stages. Religious Stages in Prayer. Research Possibilities and Questions. 5. Religious Development Through the Lifespan: Adolescence and Adulthood. Religion in Adolescence. How Religious are Adolescents? Global Measures of Religiousness. Doubt. Secret Doubt and Hidden Observers. Models of Lifespan Religious Development. Development of Religious Judgment: The Double Helix Model. Stages of Faith Development. Sequence of Motives: Religion as Used, Lived, and a Quest. Are Stage Models Valid?: An Assessment. Psychological Processes Prompting Adolescent Religious Development. Paradox. Cognitive, Social, and Personal Factors. Religion and Spirituality in Adulthood and Old Age. How Religious are Adults and the Aged? Baseline Data on Religion and Spirituality. Age-Trajectory Data. Spirituality and Functional Religious Development. Research Possibilities and Questions. 6. Religious Conversion and Persuasion. Prevalence and Definition of Conversion. Popular Opinion. The Prevalence of Conversion. The Definition Issue. Conversion Processes. Sudden and Gradual Conversion. Conversion Process Models. Lofland and Stark's Step Model of Conversion. Motives are Important: Glock's Expansion of Sect-Church Theory. The Relief Effect and Group Processes. The Conversion-as-Creativity Analogy. A Systemic Stage Model. Choice and the Cause of Conversion. Psychological Issues in Conversion. Religion as Crutch. Role of Emotions. The Convertible-Type Issue. The Ripe-Age Issue. Conversion as Attitude Change. Some Current Issues Pertaining to "Cults." What is "Cultic"? "Snapping" and Brainwashing. Research Possibilities and Questions. 7. Religion and Experience. Relations between Religion and Experience. Experience: The Bottom Line. Ordinary and Extraordinary Experience. Experiential Responses to Religion. Phenomenological Descriptions of Becoming Religious. Conversion, Values, and Purpose in Life. Religious and Mystical Experience. The Common Core Thesis and the Problem of Language. Theories of Religious Experience. What Facilitates Religious Experience? Research Possibilities and Questions. 8. Religious Orientation, Attitudes, and Behavior. Religion and Morally Relevant Attitudes. Living One's Religion vs. Using It. Religious Orientation and Prejudice. Religious Orientation and Subjective Experience. Tentative Conclusions about the Intrinsic-Extrinsic Constructs. Religion and Social Behavior. The Good Samaritan Experiment: Evidence for Situational Factors in Helping. The Rescuers: Evidence for Personal factors in Helping. Religion and Negative Behavior. Does Religion Predict Significant Moral Behavior? Re-Evaluating the I-E Research: Quest and Fundamentalism. Religion-as-Quest. Has I-E Outlived Its Usefulness? Authoritarianism and Fundamentalism. Research Possibilities and Questions. 9. Religion, Health, and Well-Being. Impressions of Religion and Psychopathology. Religious Material in Psychic Disturbance. Relativity of Mental Health. Religion and Normal Personality. Early Childhood Factors. Authoritarianism and Dogmatism. Suggestibility and Hypnotizability. Intelligence and Achievement. Summary. Religion, Mental and Physical Health, Abnormality, and Well-Being. Religion and Mental Health. Physical Health. Fear of Death. Spiritual Well-Being. Counseling. What Conclusions Can be Drawn? Research Possibilities and Questions. 10. Evaluation and New Directions. General Evaluation. Areas and Issues. Cross-Topic Themes. Directions for Development. References. Name Index. Subject Index.


The microbial demand for iron is often met by the elaboration of siderophores into the surrounding medium and expression of cognate outer membrane receptors for the ferric siderophore complexes. Conditions of iron limitation, such as those encountered in vivo, cause Pseudomonas aeruginosa to express two high-affinity iron-uptake systems based on pyoverdin and pyochelin. These systems will operate both in the organism's natural habitat, soil and water, where the solubility of iron at neutral pH is extremely low, and in the human host where the availability of free iron is too low to sustain bacterial growth due to the iron-binding glycoproteins transferrin and lactoferrin. Cross-feeding and radiolabelled iron uptake experiments demonstrated that pyoverdin biosynthesis and uptake were highly heterogeneous amongst P.aeruginosa strains, that growth either in the presence of pyoverdin or pyochelin resulted in induction of specific IROMPs, and that induction of iron uptake is siderophore-specific. The P.aeruginosa Tn5 mutant PH1 is deficient in ferripyoverdin uptake and resistant to pyocin Sa, suggesting that the site of interaction of pyocin Sa is a ferripyoverdin receptor. Additional Tn5 mutants appeared to exploit different strategies to achieve pyocin Sa-resistance, involving modifications in expression of pyoverdin-mediated iron uptake, indicating that complex regulatory systems exist to enable these organisms to compete effectively for iron. Modulation of expression of IROMPs prompted a study of the mechanism of uptake of a semi-synthetic C(7) α-formamido substituted cephalosporin BRL 41897A. Sensitivity to this agent correlated with expression of the 75 kDa ferri-pyochelin receptor and demonstrated the potential of high-affinity iron uptake systems for targeting of novel antibiotics. Studies with ferri-pyoverdin uptake-deficient mutant PH1 indicated that expression of outer membrane protein G (OprG), which is usually expressed under iron-rich conditions and repressed under iron-deficient conditions, was perturbed. Attempts were made to clone the oprG gene using a degenerate probe based on the N-terminal amino acid sequence. A strongly hybridising HindIll restriction fragment was cloned and sequenced, but failed to reveal an open reading frame correspondmg to OprG. However, there appears to be good evidence that a part of the gene codmg for the hydrophilic membrane-associated ATP-binding component of a hitherto uncharacterised periplasmic- binding-protein-dependent transport system has been isolated. The full organisation and sequence of the operon, and substrate for this putative transport system, are yet: to be elucidated,


Based on the methodology of Jafry and Schuermann (2004) to summarize the rating transition matrix into a scalar (a mobility index), we build up time series of theses indices for each U.S. business sector. The database used consists on rating transitions reported by Moody's from the first quarter of 1980 to the first quarter of 2005. As a first step, we check if the mobility index used captures some stylized facts. For instance, we confirm the existence of rating momentum effects for the majority of U.S. business sectors. Then, we test for possibly crisis transmission phenomenon among sectors by estimating a Markov Switching Vector Autoregressions model. The results obtained provide evidence of high and low correlation regimes and prove default contagion among some sectors. For example, an increase of downgrades in the U.S. industrial sector during the high correlation regime implies more downgrades in the U.S. banking sector during the next three months.


The Upper Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale Formation in Utah includes coal and gas deposits and is an important outcrop analogue to study reservoir characterisation of fluvial—deltaic petroleum systems. Numerous sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic studies of the Notom fluvial—deltaic wedge have been conducted recently; however, palynological analyses had not previously been undertaken. Here, we present palynological data from 128 samples collected in the Notom wedge of the Ferron Sandstone Member outcropping in south-central Utah. The purpose of this study is to use palynological analysis to refine the broader depositional environments, evaluate the climatic setting, and to build a biostratigraphic palynological framework. The dominance of terrestrial palynomorphs, especially the high yield of moisture-loving cryptogam spores, indicates a primarily everwet depositional environment characteristic of hydromorphic floodplain palaeosols formed in subtropical to tropical climates. Although dinoflagellates are rare, four intervals with occurrences of marine cysts indicate periods of increased marine/tidal influence associated with previously identified flooding surfaces within Milankovitch-scale parasequences of the largely non-marine stratal succession. These flooding surfaces confirm correlations from regional high-resolution sequence stratigraphic studies and allow correlative marine parasequences and systems tracts to be extended within floodplain-dominated stratal successions. The presence of Nyssapollenites albertensis pollen places the interval studied within the Nyssapollenites albertensis Interval Zone (Nichols 1994), constraining the age of the Ferron Sandstone Member to the latter part of the Cenomanian and the early Coniacian. This largely agrees with the bentonite- and ammonite-derived Turonian age proposed in previous studies.


This is a brutal story but, from the safety of fifty years distance in time it is an extremely compelling one. It is also an enduring lesson that a military unit, formed under an evil ideology, led by a social outcast and composed of vicious criminals, will sink to its lowest common denominator hate. The Dirlewanger Battalion, also known as Sonderkommando (special commando) Dirlewanger was perhaps the least understood, but at the same time the most notorious German SS anti-partisan unit in World War II. German propaganda correspondents and wartime photographers did not follow them in action. And for good reason. Wherever the Dirlewanger unit named for and led by Oskar Dirlewanger operated, corruption and rape formed an every-day part of life and indiscriminate slaughter, beatings and looting were rife. Formed as a battalion of convicted poachers in 1940, the unit operated in Poland until 1942, guarding Jews in forced labor camps and making life miserable for Poles in Lublin and Cracow. From there Dirlewanger spent two years combating partisans in central Russia, giving no quarter and expecting none in return, during vicious fighting against an elusive foe in the midst of inhospitable swamps and dismal forests. In 1944 Dirlewanger savaged Warsaw during the Polish Uprising, before moving to Slovakia to crush another rebellion there. The end of the war saw the unit, which was now a division in size, fighting for its life south of Berlin against the Soviet Army. Medieval in their outlook on war and certainly not indicative of many German military formations, this unit none-the-less remains a reflection of a segment of mankind gone mad in the inferno of World War II on the eastern front. Size: 6" x 9" over 50 b/w photographs, maps, fully annotated


How is women's employment shaped by family and domestic responsibilities? This book, written by leading experts in the field, examines twenty-five years of change in women's employment and addresses the challenges facing women today.


Deep neural networks (DNNs) continue to make significant advances, solving tasks from image classification to translation or reinforcement learning. One aspect of the field receiving considerable attention is efficiently executing deep models in resource-constrained environments, such as mobile or embedded devices. This paper focuses on this problem, and proposes two new compression methods, which jointly leverage weight quantization and distillation of larger teacher networks into smaller student networks. The first method we propose is called quantized distillation and leverages distillation during the training process, by incorporating distillation loss, expressed with respect to the teacher, into the training of a student network whose weights are quantized to a limited set of levels. The second method, differentiable quantization, optimizes the location of quantization points through stochastic gradient descent, to better fit the behavior of the teacher model. We validate both methods through experiments on convolutional and recurrent architectures. We show that quantized shallow students can reach similar accuracy levels to full-precision teacher models, while providing order of magnitude compression, and inference speedup that is linear in the depth reduction. In sum, our results enable DNNs for resource-constrained environments to leverage architecture and accuracy advances developed on more powerful devices.


This study develops a new conceptual tool to explore the potential societal consequences of climate change. The conceptual tool de- lineates three quasi-independent factors that contribute to the societal con- sequences of climate change: how climate changes; the sensitivity of physical systems, biological resources, and social institutions to climate change; and the degree of human dependence on those systems, resources, and institutions. This conceptual tool, as currently developed, is not predictive, but it enables the exploration of the dependence of climate change risks on key contributing factors. In exploring a range of plausible behaviors for these factors and methods for their synthesis, the authors show that plausible assumptions lead to a wide range in potential societal consequences of climate change. This illustrates that the societal consequences of climate change are currently difficult to constrain and that high-consequence climate change outcomes are not necessarily low probability, as suggested by leading economic analyses. With careful implementation, this new conceptual tool has potential to increase public understanding of climate change risks, to support risk management


The manuscript assesses the current and expected future global drivers of Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystems. Atmospheric ozone depletion over the Antarctic since the 1970s, has been a key driver, resulting in springtime cooling of the stratosphere and intensification of the polar vortex, increasing the frequency of positive phases of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). This increases warm air-flow over the East Pacific sector (Western Antarctic Peninsula) and cold air flow over the West Pacific sector. SAM as well as El Niño Southern Oscillation events also affect the Amundsen Sea Low leading to either positive or negative sea ice anomalies in the west and east Pacific sectors, respectively. The strengthening of westerly winds is also linked to shoaling of deep warmer water onto the continental shelves, particularly in the East Pacific and Atlantic sectors. Air and ocean warming has led to changes in the cryosphere, with glacial and ice sheet melting in both sectors, opening up new ice free areas to biological productivity, but increasing seafloor disturbance by icebergs. The increased melting is correlated with a salinity decrease particularly in the surface 100 m. Such processes could increase the availability of iron, which is currently limiting primary production over much of the SO. Increasing CO2 is one of the most important SO anthropogenic drivers and is likely to affect marine ecosystems in the coming decades. While levels of many pollutants are lower than elsewhere, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and plastics have been detected in the SO, with concentrations likely enhanced by migratory species. With increased marine traffic and weakening of ocean barriers the risk of the establishment of non-indigenous species is increased. The continued recovery of the ozone hole creates uncertainty over the reversal in sea ice trends, especially in the light of the abrupt transition from record high to record low Antarctic sea ice extent since spring 2016. The current rate of change in physical and anthropogenic drivers is certain to impact the Marine Ecosystem Assessment of the Southern Ocean (MEASO) region in the near future and will have a wide range of impacts across the marine ecosystem.


We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the in-sample and out-of-sample properties of stock return dynamics in 14 developed and 12 emerging markets. We start by formulating a theoretically founded asset-pricing model that decomposes log stock returns into equilibrium pricing factors (accounting and discount factors) and short-run (vector) autoregressive dynamics. Based on this model, we design both in-sample and out-of-sample panel modeling techniques to investigate international stock market returns at short and long horizons. Our findings show that (i) there is evidence of in-sample signaling from the equilibrium relations but this feature does not appear to translate into out-of-sample forecasting, (ii) a rolling window forecasting scheme can better approximate the distributional features of returns in comparison with a recursive method, (iii) forecasting with single-lagged equilibrium relationships does not play a uniformly significant role in anticipating returns, (iv) forecasting with a full model containing all lagged equilibrium relations can outperform both a random walk model and a VAR(1) model and (v) linear combinations of alternative forecasts reduce ex-ante uncertainty.


The determinism of instruction cache performance can be considered a major problem in multimedia devices which hope to maximise their quality of service. If instructions are evicted from the cache by competing blocks of code, the running application will take significantly longer to execute than if the instructions were present. Since it is difficult to predict when this interference will occur the performance of the algorithm at a given point in time is unclear We propose the use of an automatically configured partitioned cache to protect regions of the application code from each other and hence minimise interference. As well as being specialised to the purpose of providing predictable performance, this cache can be specialised to the application being run, rather than for the average case, using simple compiler algorithms.


The study examines the relationship between dynamic capabilities and institutional size of financial cooperatives. A mixed research design was adopted to study 269 savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) in Uganda. Structural equation modelling and content analysis were carried out. The results indicate that dynamic capabilities and institutional size of financial cooperatives are significant and positively related. Further, the constructs of dynamic capability of coordination, learning, and competitive response contribute to the increase in membership, capital base, returns to members, and portfolio quality of SACCOs. The study concludes that the size and development of financial cooperatives depends heavily on the institutional and managerial capabilities for coordination, learning, and competitive responses to the environment. The study's contribution is to highlight the complexity of the environment in which the financial cooperatives operate and the importance of dynamic capabilities to succeed.


ABSTRACT Central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and autophagy dysfunction are known to be involved in the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. Manganese (Mn), a neurotoxic metal, has the potential to induce microglia-mediated neuroinflammation as well as autophagy dysfunction. NLRP3 (NLR family, pyrin domain containing 3)- CASP1 (caspase 1) inflammasome-mediated neuroinflammation in microglia has specific relevance to neurological diseases. However, the mechanism driving these phenomena remains poorly understood. We demonstrate that Mn activates the NLRP3-CASP1 inflammasome pathway in the hippocampus of mice and BV2 cells by triggering autophagy-lysosomal dysfunction. The autophagy-lysosomal dysfunction is induced by lysosomal damage caused by excessive Mn accumulation, damaging the structure and normal function of these organelles. Additionally, we show that the release of lysosomal CTSB (cathepsin B) plays an important role in Mn-induced NLRP3-CASP1 inflammasome activation, and that the increased autophagosomes in the cytoplasm are not the main cause of NLRP3-CASP1 inflammasome activation. The accumulation of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL1B (interleukin 1 β) and IL18 (interleukin 18), as well as the dysfunctional autophagy pathway may damage hippocampal neuronal cells, thus leading to hippocampal-dependent impairment in learning and memory, which is associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD).


This is a case study of the Utrecht tramway rolling stock maintenance project (21.6M euros). The case study is unique to the Dutch environment, which has experienced many construction-related projects. As it is one of the first services contracts in this area, it is different from a construction project, where the performance can be more easily and quickly identified. Another unique factor is that the vendors are also less educated in the Best Value (BV) approach. The BV approach and concept of the "vendor having no financial risk, and the owner having all the financial risk" was not well understood. At the time of its procurement (May 2011), the understanding of the clarification period in the Netherlands was not mature, causing potential issues with this type of contract. The uniqueness of this project, coupled with the approach to BV, presents invaluable lessons learned for entities interested in implementing BV.


Tobacco is a leading contributor to morbidity and mortality globally. Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of abdominal obesity, atherogenic dyslipidemia, raised blood pressure, insulin resistance (with and without glucose intolerance), pro-inflammatory state, and pro-thrombotic state. Tobacco use is associated with various core components of metabolic syndrome. It has been found to play a causal role in various pathways leading on to development this condition, the current article discusses various facets of this association.


Autologous adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) has been proposed as a remedy for a number of inflammatory, autoimmune, and degenerative conditions. This procedure had mainly been evaluated in veterinary medicine and outside the United States when this study was initiated. This study looks at adverse events to evaluate safety as its primary objective and secondarily follows efficacy of SVF as deployed through intra-articular injections and intravenous infusions for a variety of orthopedic and non-orthopedic conditions. We hypothesized that autologous SVF deployment using a specialized surgical processing system (the CSN Time Machine® system, trademark name for the MediKhan Lipokit/Maxstem system; MediKhan, Los Angeles, California) was safe (ie, minimally acceptable adverse events) and that clinical efficacy could be demonstrated. This was a prospective case series. After institutional review board approval, 1698 SVF deployment procedures were performed between 2011 and 2016 by us and other affiliates with our same system trained by us as a nearly closed sterile surgical lipotransfer procedure on 1524 patients with various degenerative, inflammatory, and autoimmune conditions with a majority involving the musculoskeletal system. All outcome test data were collected in an online database over a 5-year period. Our study shows a very low number of reported adverse events and a reduction in pain ratings after 6 months or more across a variety of musculoskeletal diseases and improvements in a variety of other degenerative conditions. Our system for producing adipose-derived SVF therapy for our patients was safe and benefits could be measured for a long time after SVF deployment. Further controlled long-term studies for specific disease conditions with large patient populations are necessary to further investigate the benefits observed.


—Exploited for food, traditional medicine, and pets, many turtle populations have been over-harvested or even extirpated from historic ranges. Most turtles possess life-history characteristics that complicate conservation efforts. These characteristics include delayed sexual maturity and high embryo and juvenile predation rates. Restoration strategies include nest protection, head-starting, and translocations. We examined short-term results of these strategies on a reintroduced population of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) in southern Oklahoma. We released 16 hatchery-raised juveniles and 249 adult M. temminckii into pools adjacent to the Washita River near Lake Texoma on the border of Texas and Oklahoma, USA. We tracked mortality and conducted nest searches to document factors related to population sustainability. We used hoop nets to recapture individuals and track growth. We confirmed seven mortalities during 2007 and none in 2008. In 2007 we located eight nests, all of which were depredated, and 18 nests in 2008, one of which was detected before depredation and successfully protected until hatching. We compared growth rates of released juveniles and members of the same cohort that were kept in captivity. There was no significant difference in dimensional growth, but released juveniles gained more weight than those retained at the hatchery.


This thesis aimed to further investigate the effects of movements on modulations of visual and somatosensory perception. The first experiment (Chapter 2) investigated spatial mislocalisation of visual stimuli presented before saccade using a pointing paradigm and found that a predictive remapping of visual space occurred before saccade and the post-saccadic remapping employed spatially as well as temporally accurate memory of pre-saccadic visual stimuli. The second experiment (Chapter 3) examined relevance of saccadic chronostasis to remapping of visual space using a target displacement paradigm and found that it did not serve as a mechanism that fills in a perceptual gap during saccadic suppression. The third (Chapter 4) and fourth (Chapter 5) experiments adopted a target blanking paradigm and found that the pre-saccadic stimuli predictively remapped before saccade were anchored to the location of the pre-saccadic target remapped using a precise efference copy and neither saccade landing sites nor remembered locations of pre-saccadic targets were used in this process. Behavioural (Chapter 6) and fMRI (Chapter 7) studies were conducted to investigate modulations of tactile perception by manual movements and found that the tactile attention induced by the cued index finger facilitated processing of tactile stimuli presented to the responded hand. The somatosensory ROIs mainly showed a bias towards contralateral tactile stimulation in comparison with ipsilateral tactile stimulation. The right primary motor cortex (right M1), the left precuneus (left PreC) and the left middle frontal gyrus (left MFG) showed significant modulations of somatosensory processing by the Moving condition compared to the Non Moving condition. The final chapter included summaries and conclusions of each chapter and proposals for future investigations.


This article tests the Kampala compromise on the aggression amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court against the principle of legality, nullum crimen sine lege, requiring criminal law to be reasonably clear and prohibiting its retrospective application. It outlines three possible legality-based challenges to incriminating aggression: the supposed indeterminacy of the jus ad bellum and the lack of an incrimination under customary international law; the vagueness of the definition of the crime of aggression introduced in Article 8 bis; and the uncertainty regarding the application of this definition to situations in which the ICC's jurisdiction over a particular individual arises only ex post facto. The article argues that it is the last of these three challenges, based on retroactivity rather than vagueness, that is the most serious one. A fundamental ambiguity about the legal nature of the Rome Statute has direct bearing on this issue: it is either substantive in nature, directly creating the crimes it defines, or jurisdictional in nature, in that it merely sets out the subject-matter jurisdiction of the Court over offenses which are substantively defined elsewhere, in customary international law. The main practical consequence of this distinction is in the further question whether defendants charged before the Court have the right to challenge the legality of the charges against them on the basis that they do not comport with customary law. The article argues that this ambiguity about the nature of the Rome Statute was if anything only exacerbated in Kampala, discusses the substantive scope of application of Article 8 bis as well as the intricate jurisdictional regime introduced by the aggression amendments, and finally briefly turns to the question whether the definition of aggression adopted in Kampala departed from custom.


Using multi-GPU systems, including GPU clusters, is gaining popularity in scientific computing. However, when using multiple GPUs concurrently, the conventional data parallel GPU programming paradigms, e.g., CUDA, cannot satisfactorily address certain issues, such as load balancing, GPU resource utilization, overlapping fine grained computation with communication, etc. In this paper, we present a fine-grained task-based execution framework for multi-GPU systems. By scheduling finer-grained tasks than what is supported in the conventional CUDA programming method among multiple GPUs, and allowing concurrent task execution on a single GPU, our framework provides means for solving the above issues and efficiently utilizing multi-GPU systems. Experiments with a molecular dynamics application show that, for nonuniform distributed workload, the solutions based on our framework achieve good load balance, and considerable performance improvement over other solutions based on the standard CUDA programming methodologies.


Objective: The emergence of obesity as a distinct disease could have far reaching consequences for an organisation where optimum health and physical fitness are required for personnel to perform their occupational roles effectively. The objectives of this paper are to systematically review the literature concerning correlates and treatment of obesity in military populations. Methods: Through computerised searches of English language studies, 17 papers were identified (treatment (13), correlates (4)). Results: Successful treatment interventions incorporated exercise, healthy eating information, behavioural modification, self-monitoring, relapse prevention, and structured follow-up and were supported by trained personnel. Efficacy due to physical activity was underreported. Reduction in body fat rather than body weight was the most significant outcome. The major significant correlates of obesity were being enlisted personnel, male, ≧35 years of age, African-American/Hispanic ethnicity, and married (with spouse present). Conclusion: This systematic review highlights the deficit in knowledge concerning treatment and the lack of engagement in relation to the specific correlates of obesity in military populations.


In the course of General Physics it is possible to find the problem related to the study of the motion of bodies in a liquid when their densities are greater than that of the liquid.  A problem not found in the bibliography consulted is: What depth will be obtained for a body when it fall freely from a height H above the free surface, if you density is less than that of the liquid? To carry out the study of this problem, a theoretical model was applied and an analytical solution was found to this depth.  In addition, an experiment was designed based in the video analysis technique, using Tracker for Windows to know the real depth obtained. The main goal of this paper is to estimate the energy interchanged in the impact of the body onto the surface linking both results.


This study was aimed to determine bacterial agents which causing omphalitis in chicks. To achieve this purpose the following points were studied: Isolation and biochemical identification of E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus from yolk sac samples were collected from diseased chicks and detection virulence markers in isolated E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus by using phenotypic and genotypic markers of virulence. Phenotypic assay as the Congo red binding capacity of the isolated E.coli and the haemolytic activity of the isolated E.coli on blood agar medium were used. Genotypic assay as detection of Adhesin-encoding genes of E.coli by using multiplex PCR and detection of Staphylococcus aureus super antigen genes by using multiplex PCR. This study was carried-out on random samples (150 samples) of yolk sac that were collected from different private chick hatcheries from newly hatched chicks. The samples were collected, labeled and transported in ice box to the laboratory of Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University bacteriological identification was carried-out for the bacterial isolates of these samples. It could be concluded that, the main bacterial agents causing omphalitis include Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, klebsiella pneumonia and Enterobacterhafniae.


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The dynamics of biomass growth implies that the yield of irrigated crops depends, in addition to the total amount of water applied, on irrigation scheduling during the growing period. Advanced irrigation technologies relax constraints on irrigation rates and timing, allowing to better adjust irrigation scheduling to the varying needs of the plants along the growing period. Irrigation production functions, then, should include capital (or expenditures on irrigation equipment) in addition to aggregate water. We derive such functions and study their water-capital substitution properties. Implications for water demand and adoption of irrigation technologies are investigated. An empirical application confirms these properties.


Functional modelling can be challenging to integrate with physical CAD-modelling, since the natures of these representations are quite different. This paper presents a methodology seeking to bridge these representations in a product platform context. The contribution of this work is a pragmatic way to improve the connections between Functional Requirements and CAD models. It does so by structuring functions, features and components and by linking these through tags in CAD-models. The methodology thereby associates the CAD models to the functional knowledge used when creating them. The result is the functional mapping chart, which is illustrated by an example from the automotive industry.


Direct observations from an array of current meter moorings across the Mozambique Channel in the south-west Indian Ocean are presented covering a period of more than 4 years. This allows an analysis of the volume transport through the channel, including the variability on interannual and seasonal time scales. The mean volume transport over the entire observational period is 16.7 Sv poleward. Seasonal variations have a magnitude of 4.1 Sv and can be explained from the variability in the wind field over the western part of the Indian Ocean. Interannual variability has a magnitude of 8.9 Sv and is large compared to the mean. This time scale of variability could be related to variability in the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), showing that it forms part of the variability in the ocean-climate system of the entire Indian Ocean. By modulating the strength of the South Equatorial Current, the weakening (strengthening) tropical gyre circulation during a period of positive (negative) IOD index leads to a weakened (strengthened) southward transport through the channel, with a time lag of about a year. The relatively strong interannual variability stresses the importance of long-term direct observations.


This article surveys the results of research carried out in the Nordic countries on the influence of various aspects of urban form and settlement patterns on travel behavior and discusses these results in the view of studies carried out in other European, American, Australian, and Asian countries. There is overwhelming evidence that urban spatial structures matter to travel behavior. However, whereas much of the research in America and parts of Europe has focused on the influences of local neighborhood characteristics on travel, the Nordic research shows effects on travel behavior mainly from urban form characteristics at a higher geographical scale: the overall population density within continuous urban areas and the locations of residences and workplaces relative to the city-level or metropolitan center structure.


Uniplanar quasi yagi antenna has gained considerable attention recently as a method of producing a broad bandwidth antenna array with a well defined end-fire radiation pattern. An important advantage of the novel quasi-yagi antenna designed in x-band is its ability to be scaled linearly to any frequency band. This paper presents simulation results of scaled quasi-yagi antenna designed to operate around 10GHz using Agilent High frequency Structure Simulator (HFSS) software. Return loss, input impedance smith chart, radiation patterns, E-field, H-field and current distributions are simulated and presented.


The Israeli population has been coping with terror acts and war, where residents - adults and children, are under missile attacks and terror which endanger their lives. In order to enhance coping resources in this harsh reality, the "Mashabim" Community Stress Prevention Center in Israel devised special programs for teachers and children at schools. The programs are based upon the "Basic Ph" Model of Coping and Resiliency developed in Israel (Lahad, 1997; Lahad, Shacham and Ayalon, 2013). This article describes a case study of one elementary school whose teachers and pupils were under massive fire during the Second Lebanon War. Immediately upon cease-fire, an intervention program was implemented within the school. The program included special workshops for teachers for enhancing resilience following war. The program also offered verbal and nonverbal activities for pupils, to enable them to express their experiences, emotions and thoughts through painting, sculpting, movement, physical activity, talking and storytelling. The article discusses the program's theoretical basis and its implementation in school. Furthermore, the findings emerging from in-depth interviews with the teachers are presented, indicating the contribution of the intervention program to teachers with reference to four aspects: enhancing the teachers' coping resources, effective preparation for activities with the pupils in class, development of the team as a significant support group and the need for indepth trauma and resilience related training.


OBJECTIVE
The reported prevalence of cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) and cavum Vergae (CV) in brain computed tomography (CT) is 5.5% in Great Britain and 1.24% in China but unknown in Taiwan. Moreover, CSP and/or CV has generally been thought to decrease as age progresses, but the evidence of actual prevalence at different age levels is still limited in the literature.

METHODS
A total of 19,031 patients with brain CT at a regional hospital in northern Taiwan from July 2008 to August 2010 were included in this study. Their radiological official reports were retrospectively reviewed to check for CSP and/or CV. An X2 test was used for statistical analysis (α = .05).

RESULTS
The prevalence of CSP and/or CV in all brain CT was 0.93% (n = 177), which was lower. than that in the Chinese and British studies. Among them, 2.8% (n = 5) had only CSP, 1.7% (n = 3) had only CV, and 95.5% (n = 169) had coexistent CSP and CV. There is a significant difference in prevalence between the age groups (p = .009), and the prevalence is the highest in the group aged 20-29 years (1.56%) and lowest in the group aged above 80. After age 20-29, the prevalence tends to decrease with increasing age.

CONCLUSION
This is not only the first study of CSP and CV in the Taiwanese population but the study population is also larger than those in the literature. The prevalence was found to approximately decrease as age progresses, but would reach the peak in the young adult group rather than the children or adolescent group.


Smart, aggressive baserunning will change a game, a series, and even a season. It sets the philosophy and mind-set of the coaches, trainers, and players. It becomes instinctual and contagious. It translates to pressure and, most important, wins.
 Baserunning is the most complete and authoritative guide on this critical yet often-overlooked offensive skill. You'll go inside today's game to learn the techniques and strategies for ruling the basepaths. Discover the secrets to leading off, detecting pick-off attempts, improving first-step speed, avoiding tags, and determining the best counts and situations for success in stealing bases.
 But the art of baserunning is more than just speed and swiping bags—it is effortlessly and efficiently rounding the bases, taking the extra base, tagging up, reading defensive positioning, scouting strengths and weakness, forcing errors, and ultimately scoring runs. Only Baserunning covers it all.
 With major league advice, skill assessment, the best player and team drills, expert instruction, detailed photo sequences, and proven exercises and routines for speed, agility, and quickness, Baserunning is a must-have for every coach, player, and student of the game.


Multi-relation embedding is a popular approach to knowledge base completion that learns embedding representations of entities and relations to compute the plausibility of missing triplet. The effectiveness of embedding approach depends on the sparsity of KB and falls for infrequent entities that only appeared a few times. This paper addresses this issue by proposing a new model exploiting the entity-independent transitive relation patterns, namely Transitive Relation Embedding (TRE). The TRE model alleviates the sparsity problem for predicting on infrequent entities while enjoys the generalisation power of embedding. Experiments on three public datasets against seven baselines showed the merits of TRE in terms of knowledge base completion accuracy as well as computational complexity.


Abstract Few previous studies have explored the characteristics and dynamics of adolescent sibling incest. The objectives of this paper were twofold: first, to conduct a literature review that accounts for earlier research in the area, and secondly, to conduct a clinical study to explore differences regarding the characteristics of a group of adolescent sibling incest offenders (n=21) compared to a group of adolescent non-sibling offenders (n=24). Comparisons were made regarding variables such as family dysfunction, the offenders' prior victimization and offending behaviour. The data were derived from intake assessment files and semi-structured interviews with 45 adolescents who had sexually offended. The sibling incest offender group had grown up more often in dysfunctional families. Moreover, the results indicated that the offending behaviour in the sibling incest group was more severe. The study gives some empirical support for the possibility that sibling incest can be one sign, among others, of maltreatment during childhood.


Due to dwindling resources and the aging of the building infrastructure, many future activities in civil engineering will focus on building conversions and refurbishments. The key prerequisite in this case is the verification of the serviceability and the load bearing capacity towards the certification authorities. In most of the practical cases the current loading status, the internal stresses and deformation under static loads are unknown. As a result, the immanent load reserves canOt be exploited, which often leads to a very conservative approach or even to demolition. Refurbishing of existing slabs means dealing with many uncertainties. Material properties like densities or elasticity modules as well as geometries or boundary conditions are often unknown. For this reason thereOs a strong need to make efficient use of all information derived from measurements under static and dynamic test loads. In this context, in the field of modal analysis especially output-only methods utilizing only response measurements have proved particularly powerful. The big advantage is that the exciting forces need not to be measured. As a consequence high demands on signal analysis and the subsequent system identification are made. This paper describes a procedure to automatically update a numerical model by means of a prior identification of modal parameters with the Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD). The modal parameters are used to calibrate the numerical model, which uses a-priori information on the construction. The updated model is subsequently capable to describe the dynamic behavior of the slab within the considered frequency range. The different steps of the methodology are shown using the example of a wooden beam ceiling.


Determining where critical areas in watersheds exist, and how land cover in these critical areas influence water quality is vital. Impervious land cover has been shown to have a negative influence on water quality; however, the influence of impervious surface location within individual watersheds is poorly understood. This study examined the effects of impervious surfaces on water quality in 23 headwaters catchments in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. An effective method for generating impervious surface classifications from aerial photography is presented. Using these impervious surface classifications, the influence of impervious surface position was examined. Additionally, using a functional definition of a riparian area, this study presents a methodology for delineating potential riparian zones from adjacent hillslopes along Southern Appalachian headwater streams. Impervious surface percentages were correlated with water quality (specific conductance) at the watershed outlet. The results indicate that impervious surface in potential riparian zones and low-order streams (i.e., less than 3rd order) are dominant controls of specific conductance measured at the watershed outlet.


The Mitchell-Lama program, which provides loans to developers in exchange for those developers providing affordable housing, faces a serious problem as developers attempt to take advantage of a provision in the program that allows them to opt-out by repaying the government loans ahead of schedule. This creates a conflict between the developer and the tenants but also between the developer's desire for maximizing profits and society's desire to provide affordable housing. The author argues that simply preventing developers from leaving the program could violate the Contracts Clause as well as discourage future developers from participating in government programs. Rather, the author contends that developers should still be allowed to exit the program but that tenants should be protected through rent stabilization, rent subsidies, and eviction protection. Moreover, cooperatives should not be allowed to exit the program in the same manner as rental projects.


Increases in both the number and amount of court fees, fines, and surcharges—regardless of offenders9 ability to pay—have become standard practice in courthouses throughout the United States. A recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice, as well as several others, have shown that imposing criminal justice debt can interfere with reentry and rehabilitation. In response to this identified problem, the Vera Institute of Justice is exploring a potential demonstration project that would help jurisdictions generate revenue and hold offenders accountable for their crimes without the unintended negative justice outcomes. The Fines and Fees Initiative seeks to ameliorate the negative consequences that criminal justice debt may have on individuals, communities, and criminal justice systems.


Background: Health related quality of life (HRQL) measures are becoming increasingly used in the evaluation of health care interventions. They allow us to better understand the impact of disease on a patient's life as a whole and to incorporate the patient's perspective in clinical decision making and in the evaluation of health care. A number of studies have explored the HRQL of people with stroke. Still, due to a number of conceptual and methodological issues, there is no clear understanding of the HRQL of a stroke subgroup: people with aphasia.

Aims: The broad aim of this research was to explore the HRQL of people with chronic aphasia following stroke in a way that could be replicated in clinical practice. Thus, a single stroke-specific scale (the SS-QOL) was chosen for the assessment of HRQL. The specific research questions that were addressed were: A) Can an acceptable, reliable and valid version of the SS-QOL be developed for people with chronic aphasia? This involved: i) development of an aphasia-adapted version of the SS-QOL and ii) evaluation of its psychometric properties. B) What are the predictors of HRQL in people with chronic aphasia, as measured by the aphasia adapted
version of the SS-QOL?

Methods: The development of an aphasia-adapted version of the SS-QOL involved consultation with professionals with experience in measure development, language and aphasia, and pilot testing for the modification of the instrument, and a pre-test of the adapted version with 18 people with aphasia. This process resulted in the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale (SAQOL). A cross-sectional interview-based survey study was undertaken to evaluate the psychometric properties (acceptability, reliability and validity) of the SAQOL and to determine the predictors of HRQL as measured by the SAQOL. Convenience sampling was used in the pilot and pre-test studies and cluster sampling in the survey study.

Measures: HRQL was measured with the SAQOL. In the construct validation of the SAQOL, the following measures were used: for emotional distress the GHQ-12, for cognition the RCPM, for activities the FAI, for social support the SSS and for language the FAST and the ASHA-FACS. Potential predictors of HRQL included demographic, stroke-related variables and variables implicated in previous research or of theoretical interest measured with the following instruments: the GHQ-12, the FAI, the SSS, the ASHA-FACS, the RCPh1 and the PSI (patients' satisfaction with stroke care).

Results A) i) Development of an aphasia-adaptedv ersion of the SS-QOL resulted in the SAQOL, an interview administered self-report measure. People with moderate or mild receptive aphasia (as determined by a score of >_ 7 in the receptive domains of the FAST) found the SAQOL acceptable and were able to self-report to it.

A) ii) Psychometric evaluation: 83 out of 95 participants self-reported on the SAQOL. The results supported the reliability and the validity of the overall SAQOL, but not of its subdomains' structure. A shorter 39-item version was derived through factor analysis (SAQOL-39). This instrument had a stable, conceptually clear 4-factor structure (physical, psychosocial, communication and energy) and high acceptability, internal consistency [scale(a= .93) and subdomains' (a=. 74-. 94)], test-retest reliability [scale (ICC=. 98) and subdomains' (ICC=. 89-. 98)] and construct validity [corrected domain-total correlations (r=. 38-. 58), subdomains' convergent (r=. 55-. 67) and discriminant (r=. 02-. 27), and scale's discriminant (r=. 19-. 31) and correlated measures (r=. 45-. 58)].

B) Predictors of HRQL: High emotional distress, reduced involvement in home and outdoors activities, high communication disability and >_2 comorbid conditions predicted poorer HRQL (adjusted R2=. 52). Stroke type (infarct vs haemorrhage) and demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, employment status and socioeconomic status) were not significant predictors of HRQL in these participants.

Conclusions:The SAQOL-39 is an acceptable, reliable and valid measure for the assessment of HRQL in people with chronic aphasia. Further testing is needed to establish the usability of this measure in evaluative research and routine clinical practice. Poor HRQL is predicted by distress, reduced involvement in activities, communication disability and comorbidity. Service providers need to take these factors into account when designing intervention programmes.


Belgian police began patrolling Second Life, the virtual world, in early 2007, responding to a claim of virtual rape. [1] Few crimes evoke as much social revulsion and emotional harm as the powerful forcing themselves on the weak. But does it make sense to talk about an avatar-on-avatar sexual misconduct in familiar terms (i.e., sexual assault and rape)? Is it punishable? Who should take care of the punishing? [1] Benjamin Duranske, Reader Roundtable: "Virtual Rape" Claim Brings Belgian Police to Second Life , Virtually Blind , Apr. 24, 2007, http://virtuallyblind.com/2007/04/24/open-roundtable-allegations-of-virtual-rape-bring-belgian-police-to-second-life/.


BACKGROUND
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are a group of heterogeneous inflammatory conditions affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Although there is considerable evidence linking the gut microbiota to intestinal inflammation, there is limited knowledge on its potential role in the development of extraintestinal manifestations of IBD.

METHODS
Four groups of patients were included: IBD-associated arthropathy (IBD-A); IBD without arthropathy (IBD-N); rheumatoid arthritis (RA); and non-IBD, nonarthritis controls. DNA from stool samples was isolated and sequenced using the Illumina platform. Paired-end reads were quality-controlled using SHI7 and processed with SHOGUN. Abundance and diversity analyses were performed using QIIME, and compositional biomarker identification was performed using LEfSe.

RESULTS
One hundred eighty patients were included in the analysis. IBD-A was associated with an increased abundance of microbial tyrosine degradation pathways when compared with IBD-N (P = 0.02), whereas IBD-A and RA patients both shared an increased abundance of Clostridiaceae when compared with controls (P = 0.045). We found that history of bowel surgery was a significant source of variability (P = 0.001) among all IBD patients and was associated with decreased alpha diversity and increased abundance of Enterobacteriaceae (P = 0.004).

CONCLUSIONS
An increased abundance of gut microbial tyrosine degradation pathways was associated with IBD-A. An increased abundance of Clostridiaceae was shared by both IBD-A and RA patients and suggests a potentially common microbial link for inflammatory arthritis. The increased abundance of Enterobacteriaceae, previously reported in IBD, may be due to the effects of previous bowel surgery and highlights the importance of controlling for this variable in future studies.


High prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms/disorders in neck and upper extremities are reported among computer users. Considering the widespread use of information and communication technology (ICT) and mobile phones becoming more and more like computers with small keyboards it is of importance to identify the factors and conditions related to this use, that influence our health. The overall aim of this thesis was to obtain new ergonomic knowledge of the physical exposure associated with the use of information and communication technology with emphasis on small keyboards, computer mice and young adult ICT users. In an interview study with young adult ICT users, where the data analysis was performed with the grounded theory method, was showed that the young adults experienced ICT as a tool for being and acting in the present, to be social, efficient and independent with almost unlimited opportunities but also risks. A comparative experimental study with experienced computer mouse users evaluated muscle activity with surface electromyography and wrist positions/movements with electrogoniometry during work with a traditional flat computer mouse (pronated hand position) and a vertical computer mouse (neutral hand position). Work with the vertical computer mouse decreased the muscle activity in the extensor muscles in the forearm and in the first dorsal interossei muscle, and the ulnar deviation in the wrist compared to the traditional mouse. An experimental study, with young adults with and without musculoskeletal symptoms from neck and/or upper extremities, evaluated thumb positions/movements with electrogoniometry, muscle activity with surface electromyography, and working techniques with an observational protocol when text entering on a mobile phone. The young adults with symptoms had lower muscle activity in the abductor pollicis longus and tended to have higher velocity and fewer pauses in the thumb movements compared to those without symptoms. Females had higher muscle activity in the first dorsal interossei and the abductor pollicis longus compared to males. It was more common in the group with symptoms to sit with the head bent forward, to sit without forearm and back support and to enter text with one thumb rather than two compared to those without symptoms. Use of forearm support decreased the muscle activity in the trapezius muscles. Use of one hand grip increased the muscle activity in the extensor muscles in the forearm. High observed velocity in the thumb movements was associated with increased muscle activity in the extensor muscles in the forearm compared to low or moderate velocity. In conclusion, this thesis shows that computer mouse design has an effect on the muscle activity in the forearm and hand, and on the wrist positions and movements. It also shows that the individual factors working technique and gender have an effect on muscle activity and thumb movements when entering text on a mobile phone. Furthermore, there were differences in working techniques, thumb movements, and muscle activity between the young adults with musculoskeletal symptoms in the neck and upper extremities and those without symptoms.


[1] Perennially ice-covered, meromictic lakes occur along the northern coast of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian high Arctic and have distinctive conductivity and temperature profiles. They are salinity stratified and have deep thermal maxima that persist throughout the year at temperatures up to 60 C above the winter minimum in the overlying atmosphere. Heat transfer in one of these lakes (Lake A, latitude 83.0 N, longitude 75.4 W) was simulated using a high spatial resolution model based on a one-dimensional heat diffusion and radiative transfer equation, which was solved through numerical integration. Boundary conditions were forced using climate data from an automated weather station installed next to the lake. There was a good fit between simulated and observed water column temperatures, including the midwater temperature maximum of 8.5 C, after 63 years of heating (RMSE = 0.10 C). This suggests that Lake A became ice-free in the 1940s, a known period of intense warming of the circumpolar Arctic. The model was sensitive to forcing by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400–700 nm), in addition to optically related parameters such as surface reflectance, snow and ice cover, and the PAR diffuse attenuation coefficient. The unusual thermal structure is affected by stratified layers of pigmented microbial communities, which enhance the absorption of solar radiation. Simulation of ice-free summers revealed that the lake's thermal profile would lose its characteristic shape over several decades and that ongoing climate change could reduce the thermal maximum from 8.5 to 4 C within 50 years.


The objective of this study was to identify and describe the alcohol-related expectancies of a sample of Thai high school students. A convenience sample of 2,227 high school students in Chon Buri province completed an alcohol expectancy questionnaire. The initial factor analysis was done with data from 875 questionnaires and identified four factors. The four factors were cross-validated on two separate sets of 676 questionnaires. A relationship was found between expectancies and drinking behaviors. High school students who drank alcohol had significantly greater positive expectancies for alcohol and greater expectancies that alcohol would enhance sexual perfomar~ce and power. Students who did not drink had significantly greater negative expectancies for alcohol and a greater expectancy that Buddhism viewed alcohol use negatively. Frequent drinkers and students who drank alcohol in large quantities had significantly greater positive expectancies for alcohol and were more likely to believe that alcohol enhanced sex and power than infrequent drinkers and students who drank smaller quantities of alcohol. The alcohol expectancies found in this sample of Thai high school students were similar to alcohol expectancies found for adolescents in the USA, with the exception of the expectancy regarding Buddhism.


This paper reports on a study that explored how nonnative speakers (NNSs) interacted with native speakers (NSs) in a chat room. Fifteen university students worked collaboratively with expert speakers to complete six task-based activities. The findings indicated that online communication fostered high levels of interaction using various types of negotiation strategies. Students benefited from being exposed to a wide range of functional discourse produced by the NSs. Further, expert scaffolding increased students' awareness of linguistic forms that led to modified output including self-repairs. Students, however, experienced difficulties comprehending linguistic variations including regionalisms. Students also failed to perform certain tasks, such as direct and indirect speech acts. The results suggest that learners not only need to work toward maintaining a balance between fluency and accuracy, but also develop their intercultural communication skills in order to successfully engage in online exchanges with NSs. Expert speakers, on the other hand, need to be aware of not over intervening in the interaction. The study concludes that text-based chat involving NSs is a powerful mediating tool for the enrichment of language learning that goes beyond a traditional classroom setting.


Microsimulation models for indirect taxation require detailed underlying demand systems, in order to be policy relevant. A possible solution for the econometric problem (lack of necessary degrees of freedom) is the separability concept and the closely related notion of two-stage budgeting. In this paper, weak separability is applied on the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS), its quadratic extension QUAIDS and the Rotterdam model. These two-stage budgeting demand systems were estimated on Belgian time series data and were evaluated by means of a comparison of their elasticities (both partial and total), goodness-of-fit measures and their forecasting accuracy. Though the rank three QUAIDS model does not dominate the others in every respect (at least for time series data), it has nice theoretical properties which can on their own be a justification for the use of the system.


The research project was conceived out of a desire to explore the potential application of complexity theory in understanding urban regeneration processes. The science is still in its infancy, having been born out of a general milieu of, and paralleled, the dissatisfaction with the classical science approach to the problems of the world. At the heart of the complexity project is, therefore, the defiance of the reductionist paradigm in favour of holism and emphasis on emergent properties in the understanding of complex systems. As a new way of thinking and one that boasts of its ability to cut across disciplinary boundaries, the emerging science has found its maiden expression in many spheres of the social and physical inquiry - offering, in each case, potential solutions to the vexing problems and questions that have survived the test of time. In urban studies, such questions reside within the general thesis of the persistence of the urban problem in the midst of a myriad of theoretical tools and policies designed to secure a better understanding and tackle the problem. The translation of this promising theoretical platform into the study and the pursuit of the research agenda were conducted through the case study of the Hulme inner city area in Manchester. The task basically involved three phases of analysis. The first was a historical narrative that attempted to weigh the evolution of the Hulme regeneration processes between 1960 and 1990 against the characteristic features of complex systems, with the aim of establishing a case for conceptualisation of urban regeneration as a subject of complexity. Using selected analytical tools of social network analysis, the second phase sought to quantify the regeneration networks of Hulme so as to weigh them against the deprivation indices for the area between 1990 and 2000, with the aim of testing for any correlations and their implications in the complexity project. Though equally facilitated by social network analysis, the third level was more concerned about investigating the enabling environment for the evolution of urban regeneration networks than mere quantification of the network parameters. Put together, the three levels of analysis provided a framework that serves as a fundamental analytical framework for urban regeneration processes. It offers a much more robust, emergent based, holistic approach to urban regeneration than that which iscontained in many of the contemporary claims of holism. The study's emphasis on intervention without violation of natural (social) order does not only provide a (potentially) essential tool for analysis but also sheds light on questions of the appropriate institutional thickness that is desirable for innovation. Being an exploratory undertaking, the study does not purport to be an exhaustive account of the issues raised, especially that complexity theory is itself still an emerging phenomenon.


Since 2012 - "the year of MOOC (Massive Online Open Classes)" as stated an article in New York Times, most top universities started to offer some sort of MOOC. Class-center.com declared that "more than 700 universities around the world have launched free online courses and that by the end of 2016, around 58 million students had signed up for at least one MOOC". Moreover, Coursera, the most famous MOOC provider launched specialization tracks that allow subscribers to earn ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) to prestigious universities. As a consequence, the author tried to analyze students perception towards MOOC phenomenon. The students that participated into the demarche were both Romanian and Erasmus students attending classes to University "Politehnica" of Bucharest, the largest technical university in Romania. Only the students of the 4th year have been considered eligible to take part in the survey, as they are targeted as MOOCs potential students - "89% of Coursera learners are over the age of 22", as stated Coursera CEO. The main objective of the present paper consists in identifying the benefits of using MOOCs and also the challenges students have to face when accessing them. Moreover, the research identifies the limitations of MOOCs towards students perception and proposes several "possible futures" for educational platforms. The tool used within the research was the questionnaire that lead to conclusions related to the perceptive boundaries of MOOC within the respondents. The results complete the state of knowledge of the Romanian higher education system and also could complement the methods of improving the quality of higher education services by including the suggestions received from the beneficiaries of educational services - the students.


A 34-year-old man was transferred from a local hospital to our trauma center after a motor vehicle crash. He was diagnosed with a splenic laceration with bleeding (Figure 1). Multiple rib fractures with hemopneumothorax, liver laceration, cervical vertebral fracture, and thoracic vertebral fracture were also diagnosed. His blood pressure was 114/74 mmHg and heart rate was 110/min; he was intubated at the local hospital because of the lung injury. His vital signs were stable but systolic blood pressure dropped progressively to 100 mmHg, therefore splenic angiography was decided. No definite bleeding focus was identified, but venous or parenchymal bleeding from spleen injury was suspected. Hence, diffusion of the gelfoam particle embolization of the distal branch was performed to decrease the splenic perfusion (Figures 2, 3). The next day, abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed diffuse splenic ischemia (Figure 4). The patient was stabilized and extubated. He complained of left chest wall pain, but it could not be distinguished from the multiple rib fractures. He was moved to the general ward and the other fracture site was treated with an orthosis. Eleven days postembolization, CT revealed splenic liquefaction (Figure 5). Because his condition was stable, he was discharged and CT after 2 months showed atrophied spleen (Figure 6). Splenic embolization is useful in blunt splenic injury, but it had several complication in-


Sour water are aqueous waste streams from oil refining operations, heavily contaminated with hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which need to be stripped before reuse or disposal, avoiding damages to process and environment. Two-stage sour water stripper units are the most common technology to treat sour water for hydrogen sulfide and ammonia separation to produce reusable water and send these species respectively to Claus and ammonia plants. The first stage of a two-stage sour water unit is responsible for properly splitting hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. This work uses surrogate models to predict the limiting point of hydrogen sulfide separation in the first stage of a sour water unit, allowing more efficient heat duty control strategies to achieve the difficult split of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia and simultaneously lowering heat consumption. Failure of compliance to this limit results in unspecified stripped gas from the first stage, impeding it to directed to Claus plant, entailing loss of sulfur production and higher load of pollutant emissions from flared gases. Therefore, a precise surrogate predictor was developed to dynamically define a quasi-optimum set-point to the controller of the first stage reboiler duty based on dynamic disturbances – the first stage input factors to the surrogate model, such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia contents of the sour water. The new control policy outperformed the traditional first stage ratio control in terms of stripped gas composition and plant stability.


This thesis is the first ever survey of Shetland's literature. The large body of material the thesis covers is not well known, and, apart from Walter Scott's 1822 novel The Pirate, and Hugh MacDiarmid's sojourn in the archipelago, Shetland is not a presence in any account of Scottish writing. 'The Literature of Shetland' has been written to address this absence. Who are Shetland's writers? And what have they written? These are the fundamental questions this thesis answers. By paying close attention to Shetland's writers, 'The Literature of Shetland' extends the geographical territory of the Scottish canon.

'The Literature of Shetland' covers a chronological period from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Virtually no creative poetry or prose, either written or oral, survives in Shetland from before this time so, after a brief discussion of the fragmentary pre-nineteenth century sources, the thesis discusses the archipelago's literature in eight chronologically arranged chapters.

Chapter One concentrates on a group of three obscure early nineteenth-century Shetland authors – Margaret Chalmers, Dorothea Primrose Campbell, and Thomas Irvine – and also explores Scott's involvement with the northern isles. Chapters Two and Three discuss an important period at the end of the nineteenth century, in which books and newspapers were published in Shetland for the first time, and in which a number of pioneering and influential local writers emerged. Jessie M.E. Saxby became the first professional writer from Shetland and, in the work of George Stewart, James Stout Angus, Basil Anderson, and especially J.J. Haldane Burgess, the Shetland dialect developed as a serious literary idiom. These writers laid down foundations for much of what came next. Chapter Four discusses the end of this period of growth, with James Inkster posed as the last significant figure of his generation, and the war poet John Peterson as the first local writer to depart from the literary principles which developed in the Victorian era. Chapter Five looks at the work Hugh MacDiarmid did in Shetland from 1933-1942. MacDiarmid is not really part of the narrative of the thesis, but the work he produced in the isles is vast. Because he does not need to be introduced in the way the other writers do, this chapter takes a different approach to the rest of the thesis and looks at MacDiarmid's Shetland-era work alongside that of Charles Doughty. Doughty was a crucial presence for MacDiarmid during his time in the isles, and considering their work together opens up a better understanding of the work MacDiarmid did in Shetland. Chapters Six and Seven discuss the second major period of growth in Shetland's literature, focussing on the writers associated with the New Shetlander magazine, an important local journal which emerged in 1947. The final chapter then looks at contemporary Shetland authors and asks how they negotiate the literary tradition the thesis has worked through. This chapter also discusses the Shetland-related work of several non-native authors, Jen Hadfield being the most well known.

In moving through these authors, as well as providing necessary introductory material, several general questions are asked. Firstly, because almost all the writing studied emerges from the isles, the question of how each writer engages with those isles is consistently relevant. How do local writers find ways of writing about their native archipelago? Do writers who are not from Shetland write about the islands in different ways than local people? The thesis shows how Scott and MacDiarmid, the two most famous non-native authors dicussed here, draw on earlier literary sources – the sagas and the work of Doughty – to construct their respective creative visions of the isles. And, in discussing the work of local authors, it will be shown that, in the early period covered in Chapter One, landscape is the most prominent idea whereas, from the Victorian era to the present day, the croft provides the central imaginative space for Shetland's writers.

A second question that runs through the thesis is one of language. Almost every local author has written extensively in Shetland dialect, and this study explores how they have developed that language as a literary idiom. The thesis shows how Shetland dialect writing gets underway in the 1870s, and how writers have continued to expand and diversify that literary tradition. The two most innovative figures to emerge are J.J. Haldane Burgess and William J. Tait and, after demonstrating how the corpus of writing in Shetland dialect has grown, the thesis concludes by examining the ways in which contemporary writers engage with the vernacular legacies their predecessors have left. Extensive use of the local language gives Shetland's writing a regional distinctiveness, and this thesis shows how some writers have been enabled and inspired by that idiom, how some have taken dialect writing in exciting new directions, but also how some have felt limited by it and how, by not using the language, some writers have been unfairly ignored by local editors and critics.

The thesis also shows that, in its two main eras of development – at the end of the nineteenth century and in the middle of the twentieth – Shetland's writers took their cues from the general movements in Scottish writing. In the Victorian period, developments in local letters paralleled the interest in regionality and upsurge in vernacular writing that are marked characteristics of Scottish writing at the time. And, in discussing the emergence of the New Shetlander and the writers associated with it, the thesis demonstrates how the second period of flourishing in Shetland's literature is part of the wider cultural movement of the Scottish Renaissance.

The picture of Shetland's literature the thesis offers is a self-consciously heterogeneous one. Despite the marked use of the vernacular, the thesis resists moving towards an encompassing definition of the large body of work covered, preferring to celebrate the diversity of the writing that Shetland has inspired during the last two centuries. Questions of engagement with the local environment and the use of the local language are constantly asked, but the primary scholarly contribution offered by 'The Literature of Shetland' is a realignment of Scotland's northern literary border.


The effect of the element length is examined in modelling crack growth in fatigue loading of an adhesive joint. This is done for a cohesive element using an expression for the damage evolution developed at the University of Skovde which is implemented using the UMAT subroutine in the FE-solver Abaqus. These analyses are done for pure mode I loading by analysing a DCB-specimen loaded by a pure moment.An expression is developed in which the critical element length is dependent on the geometry of the specimen (in the form of the wave number of the adhesive joint), the element length, the material properties of the adhesive (in form of the material parameters , , ), the load applied (in form of the stress in the crack tip), the time step used in the analysis and the crack growth rate.It is shown that the results converge by decreasing the element length and the time step used. Therefore an expression for the crack growth rate as a function of the remaining parameters can be determined. Another expression is thereafter developed for the element length needed in order to get a crack growth rate within a certain range of the critical element length. The results show a regular pattern but are not monotone. Therefor two different definitions of the critical element length are tested, either by defining the critical element length as the point where the error is greater than an arbitrary boundary of 1 % of a converged result or where a least square approximation of the error is within 1 % of the converged results. The first method shows a highly irregular result which makes it difficult to develop an expression out of these results. The second method on the other hand gives results that are predictable enough to develop a function out of them. This is done using a regression analysis with all parameters of a third order expression in order to get an expression.


This report is a master thesis at the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The purpose of the thesis was to find a control system used for regulating a system for inductive charging of electric ferries. Systems for inductive power transfer can be utilized in wireless charging of electric mobility applications. Wireless charging of electric mobility applications is especially advantageous for methods of public transportation that make short, but frequent stops, as buses and ferries. In this thesis, a system for inductive charging of electric ferries will be examined, with system design and specifications provided by SINTEF. The system is described and simplified in order to derive a transfer function that is simplified using dominant pole approximation. The resulting simplification is a second order transfer function of the form H(s) = a0 s+b1s+b0 with the terms a0, b1 and b0 varying according to the distance between the sending and receiving coils. Two scenarios for distance between the coils is looked into: A maximum distance, leading to a low coupling coefficient k for the system, and a minimum distance, leading to a high coupling coefficient for the system. For these cases of coupling two methods for controller design are looked into: Haalman's loop shaping technique and experimental tuning by tuning maps. Based on these methods two controllers with constant gains are designed. The two methods lead to two controllers: One integral-only controller and one PID-controller in series with a filter. The systems' responses with the two controllers is evaluated and compared, and it is concluded that the integral-only controller is the best choice for controlling the system.


In recent years, although the national Non-Government Organizations (NGO) have become vital items on the development agenda of the Bangladeshi government, however, there is still no single uniform law and authority for regulating and monitoring this sector. The current laws fail to regulate the operation of the sector and that is a big threat to the healthy growth of the organizations to serve the society. This paper will select, analyze and compare the existing statutory laws regarding the regulation of NGOs in Bangladesh. In addition, this paper will critically examine the inadequacies of the existing legal structure to specifically highlight the need to devise a legal framework that both facilitates the operational activities of an NGO and regulates its governance. Finally, the paper will recommend the framing of a modern uniform NGO law in Bangladesh that can commensurately serve the public. Qualitative and quantitative analytical research methods have been applied primarily; besides, a non-doctrinal method has also been applied in this paper.


Although the equations governing turbulent flow of fluids are well known, understanding the overwhelming richness of flow phenomena, especially in high Reynolds number turbulent flows, remains one of the grand challenges in physics and engineering. High Reynolds number turbulence is ubiquitous in aerospace engineering, ground transportation systems, flow machinery, energy production (from gas turbines to wind and water turbines), as well as in nature, e.g. various processes occurring in the planetary boundary layer. High Reynolds number turbulence is not easily obtained in the laboratory, since in order to have good spatial resolution for measurements, the size of the facility itself has to be large. In this paper, we discuss limitations of various existing facilities and propose a new facility that will allow good spatial resolution even at high Reynolds number. The work is carried out in the framework of the Center for International Cooperation in Long Pipe Experiments (CICLoPE), an international collaboration that many in the turbulence community have shown an interest to participate in.