Creative accounting plays a significant role in financial reporting but it has been negatively correlated that means more managers involved in it may decrease the value of financial information, this study aims to shed light on the impact of Creative Accounting ethics techniques on the reliability of financial reporting from Auditors and Academics point of view. The data has been collected through a well-structured questionnaire is designed and will be distributed to a randomly chosen sample of certified auditors and accounting instructors in some universities. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to generalize the results and conclude the findings. The result deduces that creative accounting techniques used by management negatively affect the reliability of financial reporting. The statutory auditor plays an important role in promoting creative accounting practice in such way that positively affect the reliability of financial reporting. Keywords : creative accounting , reliability , financial reporting. JEL Classifications: G2, M4


The purpose of this study was to assess rape attitudes and empathy levels of students at a university in North Texas. The Attitudes Toward Rape questionnaire and the Rape Empathy Scale were administered to 387 undergraduate students. Dependent variables were attitudes and empathy and independent variables were prior knowledge or experience as a rape victim, having female siblings, gender, marital status, and age. Significance was found between rape-intolerant attitudes and both prior experience as a victim (p < .001), and gender (p < .001). Significance was also found between empathy and experience as a rape victim (p < .035) and gender (p < .032).


A fellow of my acquaintance, on seeing a colleague drink undiluted water (55.5 molal), has been known to comment in disapproval that water at such a concentration should not be used for that purpose and that its main function is for putting around the outside of boats. He conceded that dilution with a little salt is acceptable for boats but for no other purpose. The proponent of this philosophy is not a biologist and it is unlikely that many biologists would accept his generalization without some qualification. Nevertheless, it is a point of view. Another point of view with which all biologists might not agree, at least initially, is one which I wish to advance in this review. It is that, notwithstanding the indispensability of water in living systems and the unique properties of solvent water, quantitative variations in the amount of water available are of less direct microbiological significance than is generally conceded.


The major purpose of this study was to attempt to understand some of the reasons for Mathematics perception of Taiwanese children compared to American children. The study was conducted with elementary schools in the Denver metropolitan area and Taipei, Taiwan in which fifth graders in each city (21 and 37 respectively) were selected as target subjects in the study. To determine if attitudes and beliefs have this profound of effect on American students' performance in mathematics, research believes that it may be helpful to compare American students to Chinese students. By providing comparative data, the researcher found marked differences in the beliefs of American and Taiwanese students in four areas under investigation: how to do well in mathematics, what math solutions should be, motivation. The present study makes a potentially important contribution to our understanding of child development and education in two cultures. ********** Poor performance by American students on tests of mathematics and science has reached the level of a national crisis. Why is this? Study after study has reported on one or another facet of the low standing of Americans in international competition. For example, in a recent cross-national study of mathematics achievement, American students in the eighth and twelfth grades were below the international average in problem solving, geometry, algebra, calculus, and other areas of mathematics. In contrast, Japanese eighth graders received the highest average scores of children from 20 countries, and, at the twelfth-grade level, Japanese students were second only to Chinese students in Hong Kong (Garden, 1987). We must ask why this is the case. Why are Chinese students consistently among the top scorers in cross-national studies of achievement and American students consistently below the international average? The primary purpose of this research project was to attempt to provide some answers to this question. The researcher was interested in exploring cross-cultural differences in mathematics perception and attitude of younger children. Our major concern was to describe the context in which different levels of achievement occur in these two cultures. The researcher sought to identify not only contexts that appear to be important in explaining differences that we observed at the early years but also those that might be related to the cross-cultural differences in achievement that have been found among older children and youth. What effect does it have on our children's performance in mathematics? The researcher hope's these question s can be answered in further research. Literature Review Logically, children's academic achievement is related to three major factors: their intelligence, their experiences at school, and their experiences at home. With regard to the first factor, it seems unlikely that cross-national differences in academic achievement among Chinese, Japanese, and American children can be accounted for by differences in general intelligence. There is no evidence that Chinese and Japanese children are more intelligent than American children. According to Schoenfeld (1989), the way people engage in mathematical activities is shaped by their conceptions of mathematics. There have been many studies that confirm that affective factors shape how students behave. For instance, perceived personal control (Lefcourt, 1982), and perceived usefulness of mathematics (Fennema & Sherman, 1978) are all positively correlated with achievement in mathematics (Schoenfeld, 1989). However, it is unclear if there is a cause and effect relationship between affective factors and achievement in mathematics. It is interesting to note that Schoenfeld (1989) found that the strongest correlation was between mathematical performance and perceived mathematical ability. Children's academic achievement is given a more central role in some cultures than in others. …


Notions of terroir and their conceptualization through agro-environmental sciences have become popular in many parts of world. Originally developed for wine, terroir now encompasses many other crops in- cluding fruits, vegetables, cheese, olive oil, coffee, cacao and other crops, linking the uniqueness and quality of both beverages and foods to the environment where they are produced, giving the consumer a sense of place. Climate, geology, geomorphology and soil are the main environmental factors which make up the terroir ef- fect on different scales. Often considered immutable culturally, the natural components of terroir are actually a set of processes, which together create a delicate equilibrium and regulation of its effect on products in both space and time. Due to both a greater need to better understand regional-to-site variations in crop production and the growth in spatial analytic technologies, the study of terroir has shifted from a largely descriptive regional science to a more applied, technical research field. Furthermore, the explosion of spatial data availability and sensing technologies has made the within-field scale of study more valuable to the individual grower. The result has been greater adoption of these technologies but also issues associated with both the spatial and temporal scales required for practical applications, as well as the relevant approaches for data synthesis. Moreover, as soil microbial communities are known to be of vital importance for terrestrial processes by driving the major soil geochemical cycles and supporting healthy plant growth, an intensive investigation of the microbial organiza- tion and their function is also required. Our objective is to present an overview of existing data and modelling approaches for terroir functional modelling, footprinting and zoning on local and regional scales. This review will focus on two main areas of recent terroir research: (1) using new tools to unravel the biogeochemical cy- cles of both macro- and micronutrients, the biological and chemical signatures of terroirs (i.e. the metagenomic approach and regional fingerprinting); (2) terroir zoning on different scales: mapping terroirs and using remote- and proxy-sensing technologies to monitor soil quality and manage the crop system for better food quality. Both implementations of terroir chemical and biological footprinting and geospatial technologies are promising for the management of terroir units, particularly the remote and proxy data in conjunction with spatial statistics. Indeed, the managed zones will be updatable and the effects of viticultural and/or soil management practices might be easier to control. The prospect of facilitated terroir spatial monitoring makes it possible to address another great challenge in the years to come: the issue of terroir sustainability and the construction of efficient soil/viticultural management strategies that can be assessed and applied across numerous scales.


Many normative theorists have advocated constructivism as a way of overcoming skepticism and nihilism. They have produced three types of constructivism that correspond to three conceptions of rationality: formal (Hare and Gewirth), instrumental (Gauthier), and ideal (Rawls). In this book, T.K. Seung examines these three types and vindicates Rawls' claim that only the constructivism of ideal rationality - which accepts Kantiam ideals as its basis - is viable. Unlike Rawls, however, Seung traces Kantian ideas to Platonic forms. Without this Platonic move, he shows,ideal constructivism cannot avoid collapsing to normative positivism. Seung maintains that Platonic forms are the obects of normative intuition and that they are only schematic ideas and principles that must be articulated into a system of concrete normative standards. This process of articulation is normative construction. Contrary to the conventional wisdom that constructivism and intuitionism are in competition with each other, Seung demonstrates the necessity of their natural dependence. That is, their happy union alone can provide a secure foundation for normative theories and save them from the twin evils of scepticism and nihilism.


This research is an initial exploration of how members of one Hispanic subculture (Cuban Americans) were socialized into sport participation and spectating across multiple generations. Through 16 in-depth interviews with Cuban Americans across three generations, the researchers explored Cuban Americans' values relative to sport and identified socialization agents that were the primary contributors to their socialization into sport. It was confirmed that family plays a primary role in sport socialization for this subculture. We also found the presence of retroactive socialization--a child socializing the parent/grandparent into sport-- and suggest that neither school nor sport coaches are key socializing agents for this particular subculture. We also determined there were differences in sport socialization across generations.


We demonstrate an interactive parallel rendering system based on the impostors technique. Impostors increase the latency tolerance of an interactive rendering system, which allows us to use the power of a parallel machine even at high resolutions and framerates. Impostors also decrease the required rendering bandwidth, which makes possible the interactive use of a variety of advanced rendering techniques. These techniques are demonstrated by the interactive high-quality rendering of very large detailed models on large distributed-memory parallel machines.


Being a new student at Avalon High has been exciting for Ellie, to say the least-she's an honor student, a star on the track team, and, oh yeah, dating the super-hot class president, Will. Who also happens to be the alleged reincarnation of King Arthur. Ellie couldn't be happier to have Will in her life, but she's also worried that his estrangement from his parents is tearing him apart. To make matters worse, Will's doubt that he really is King Arthur could prevent the Merlin Prophecy-an age of enlightenment-from occurring. Can Ellie convince Will to believe in something that even she isn't sure about? And more importantly, can she get him to give his parents another chance? With all the mythology and mysticism of avalon high, Meg Cabot's very first manga is indeed a tale for the ages.


Since the first credit card issued by the Bank of China in 1985, the domestic banks has issued 140 million credit cards in 2008, and by the end of 2011, the total number of credit cards issued reached 285 million, an increase of 24.3% from 2010. Further, 79.41% of the consumers have more than 3 credit cards, 35.12% have only one credit card while 1.35% have more than 10 credit cards. The total transaction reached 756 million RMB, which was 47.95% higher than the transaction volume in 2010. The number of the domestic credit card merchants has increased at the end of 2011 and the number of domestic acceptance merchants reached 3.18 million, a 45.68% increase compared to 2010 (Peng, 2012). This paper seeks to investigate the factors that influence consumers' decision to use credit cards and level of credit card limit. In particular, this research seeks to determine which consumers' characteristics have the greatest influence on the respondents' decision to have a credit card. For example, as the age increases, does the probability of consumer to holding a credit card decrease? The results show convenience, interest rate, application process, size of household, reward program, marital status, credit limit and age impact the respondent's likelihood of owning a credit card. Further, the results show the number of credit card, credit card use duration, monthly spending, and bachelor degree are statistically significant and positively related to different levels of credit limit. JEL Classifications: E0, E4, E5


Thesis deals with three major issues related to the management of TB in Pakistan namely diagnosis, diversity of M. tuberculosis isolates and drug resistance. Molecular techniques were used along with conventional methods to evaluate the work.

Among various target sequences used for the detection of M. tuberculosis by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the insertion sequence IS6110 is the most commonly used target sequence. The presence and the copy number of this target sequence. The presence and the copy number of this target sequence were confirmed in M. tuberculosis isolates collected from various geographical locations in Pakistan. None of the M. tuberculosis isolate from Pakistan was found lacking this insertion sequence. The copy number of IS6110 was found to vary from 3-20. The percentage of isolates having upto five copies of IS6110 was found to be 6.52, 21.7% isolates have a copy number between 5 and 10 while those with more 10 copies were 32 out of 46 (69.5%). PCR based detection of M. tuberculosis was carried out to know the sensitivity and specificity this test. After validation of the technique with known cultures and known concentration of M. tuberculosis DNA(Dexyribonucleic acid), the technique was applied to clinical specimens and was compared either with microscopy staining or culture. These studies established superiority of PCR over culture for early and rapid diagnosis of M. tuberculosis. Two target sequences reported for the detection of M. tuberculosis were compared and IS6110 was found to be the best target sequences for the detection of M. tuberculosis in clinical specimens.

In pulmonary TB patients, sputum is the specimen of choice and in extra-pulmonary cases, body fluid or tissue from the affected area is preferred. This requires various invasive procedures and sometimes it is not possible to have the proper specimen. In the present study, peripheral blood was tested as an alternative specimen both in pulmonary and extra-pulmonary cases. It was found that peripheral blood offers a reliable specimen for the detection of M. tuberculosis in general and for the diagnosis of extra-pulmonary TB in particular.

The diversity of M. tuberculosis isolates in Pakistan was studied by standard IS6110 based restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. All the isolates were found to be highly polymorphic. Cultures originating from certain areas were found to be more related than isolates collected from distant areas. The data showed that M. tuberculosis that TB was never controlled in this region.

The current standard for M. tuberculosis typing based on IS6110 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) suffers from the difficulty of comparing data between independent laboratories. Due to advantages of being highly reproducible and comparison of the data with the available worldwide, Variable Number Tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis was used to fingerprint M. tuberculosis from different regions of Pakistan. The standard strain H37Rv was included as control to assess the authenticity of the results. A total of 50 fingerprints were found in 70 samples analyzed by VNTR indicating again a high diversity of M. tuberculosis isolates. Some of the isolates has the same VNTR pattern but differed in RFLP analysis. Some of the isolates has the same RFLP pattern were but different in VNTR typing.

Development of multiple drug resistance (MDR) is the most important factor that has compounded the spread of the disease. Mutations associated with the drug resistance against drugs commonly used for the treatment of TB were determined. Resistance to isoniazid is more complex and mutations in a least five different genes are associated with resistance development. Four mutations in Kat G genes were screened in M. tuberculosis isolates form Pakistan and Kat G 315 mutation was detected in about 60% of MDR isolates hydroxidperoxide (AhpC) and inhA which encodes an enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase required for mycolic acid biosynthesis and is a major target for isoniazid (INH) in mycobacterial species are also involved in isoniazid resistance. Hence mutation in both these genes were also screened. Two mutations in rpoB gene associated with resistance to rifampicin were screened in M. tuberculosis isolates from Pakistan. The common mutation 531 reported from other parts of the world was found in 28 isolates out of 41 (68.29%) samples where as mutation526 was found in 6 sample. Thus, mutation in these codon has high predicative value. M. tuberculosis isolates from Pakistan were screened for alternations in codon 306 of the embB gene as mutation in this codon are reported to confer resistance to ethambutol. Mutations in rpsL gene associated with resistance to streptomycin were also screened and was found to have good predictive value for drug resistance. The identification of mutation associated with drug resistance in M. tuberculosis isolates from Pakistan will provide basis for understanding factors responsible for the development of multiple drug resistance and used of genotyping for rapid screening of resistance/ susceptibility to drug commonly used for the treatment of TB.


Cystinosis is an autosomal recessive disease that results in a defective integral membrane protein responsible for the transport of cystine out of lysosomes. This results in the accumulation of cystine in the lysosomes of almost every tissue, with subsequent formation of damaging crystals. The cystinotic process may affect every system of the body, but is particularly damaging to the kidneys and eyes. We discuss the perioperative care of a cystinotic patient with renal insufficiency, Fanconi's syndrome, and photophobia. Other organ systems affected by the cystinotic process are also discussed, with suggestions for the perioperative management of each. Issues of primary concern during perioperative care include preservation of renal function and maintenance of fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.


The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different dietary lipid sources and inclusion levels on lipid oxidation of thigh and breast muscle of male broilers. Eight isoenergetic (15.12 MJ AME/kg DM) and isonitrogenous (222.8 CP/kg DM) diets were formulated, using sunflower oil (SO), high oleic sunflower oil (HOSO), fish oil (FO) and tallow (T) at 30 g/kg and 60 g/kg inclusion levels. Eight hundred, day-old Ross 788 broiler males were randomly allocated to the eight treatments (n = 100) and further subdivided into four replicates/treatment (n = 25). All birds received a standard diet for 14 days whereafter the experimental diets were fed for an additional 28 days until termination of the study. Birds were slaughtered under commercial abattoir conditions at 42 days of age. Carcasses from 12 birds per treatment (n = 12) were trimmed for breast and thigh cuts by removing the skin. Twelve breast and thigh samples from each treatment group were stored at 4 °C for seven days under an oxygen permeable overwrap film and another 12 breast and thigh samples were vacuum packed and stored at -18 °C for 100 days. Meat samples were used for thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) analysis. Birds fed FO showed significantly more oxidation in both thigh and breast meat than birds from any of the other treatments during storage. These results indicated that dietary lipid sources do influence the lipid oxidation processes of broiler meat.


The Swiss National Science Foundation wants research results freely available on the internet and links the promotion of scientific research closely to this requirement. Does this Open Access Strategy mean that the culture of the book is threatened in Switzerland? A petition in the internet calls for more money for publishers in the  humanities and more freedom for the  authors. Meanwhile, more than four thousand people have signed it. Caspar Hirschi, Professor for History of Science at the U...


Premature cracking of prestressed concrete sleepers has been found in railway tracks. The major cause of cracking is the infrequent but high-magnitude wheel loads produced by a small percentage of 'bad' wheels or rail head surface defects which are crudely accounted for in AS 1085.14 by a single load factor. The current design philosophy, outlined in AS 1085.14, is based on assessment of permissible stresses resulting from quasi-static wheel loads and essentially the static response of concrete sleepers. In order to shift the conventional methodology to a more rational design method that involves more realistic dynamic response of concrete sleepers and performance-based design methodology, a significant research effort within the framework of the CRC for Railway Engineering and Technologies is currently underway to perform comprehensive studies of the loading conditions, the dynamic response, and the dynamic resistance of prestressed concrete sleepers. The collaborative research between the University of Wollongong (UoW) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has addressed such important issues as the spectrum and amplitudes of dynamic forces applied to the railway track, evaluation of the reserve capacity of typical prestressed concrete sleepers designed to the current code AS 1085.14, and the development of a new limit states design concept. This paper presents the results of the extensive investigations at UoW and QUT aimed at predicting wheel impact loads at different return periods (based on the field data from impact detectors) together with an experimental investigation of the ultimate impact resistance of prestressed concrete sleepers required by a limit states design approach. The paper also describes the reliability concepts and rationales associated with the development of limit states format codes and the issues pertaining to conversion of AS 1085.14 to a limit states design format.


Ion chromatography is a relatively new technique for rapid, sensitive, multianion analysis which has
many advantages over alternative techniques such as wet chemical methods, spectrophotometry or the
use of ion-selective electrodes. Since it was first described by Small et all in 1975, ion chromatography
has deservedly received a great deal of attention and is now routinely used in the analysis of environmental,
water, food and industrial samples. However, applications on biological samples have been relatively
few.


Using an online survey, focus groups, and logs of telnet connections, the authors studied users who gain access to the Internet via the University of Toronto Library online catalog and information system. The study showed that 75% of the users were male, 46% of the users reported finding nothing that they were looking for, and 13% of the Internet sites available accounted for 80% of the telnet connections. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for professional practice and future research, Although the Internet is known to have millions of users, very few studies have been published about what it is used for and by whom. The few studies that have been published focus on use by librarians. Tillman and Ladner[1] studied the uses of the Internet by special librarians. McClure, Moen, and Ryan[2,3] conducted a survey in which they asked librarians in academic and public libraries to assess the impact of the Internet on libraries. Eisenberg and Milbury[4] surveyed members of LM-NET: The School Library Media Network, a listserv whose target audience is school library media specialists, about their use of Internet resources and the impact of their use of Internet on the role or status of their library media programs. In addition to formally published studies, some informal information about use of campuswide information systems is available, such as the popularity rankings posted by InfoSlug at the University of California Santa Cruz[5] and the gopher at Texas A&M.[6] What is missing are formal studies of Internet users who are not librarians. Since the whole user group of the Internet would be difficult to study, we studied the users at one site. We looked at people who used the Internet through UTLink, the online catalog and information system at the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto is a major research university in Ontario, Canada, with an enrollment of fifty thousand students. At the time of the study, students were not automatically eligible for computer accounts that gave access to the Internet, so many of them took advantage of the access to the Internet offered by the library The research questions we investigated in the study included: 1. Who is using the Internet? Are there differences in sex or academic status between Internet users and the overall population at the university? 2. Where do they go on the Internet? What sites do they access and why? 3. What are they using the Internet for? 4. Are they satisfied with what they find on the Internet? 5. Are they satisfied with the way the University of Toronto provides access to the Internet? 6. What changes would they like to see? We hoped that the answers to these questions would prove useful to librarians who are planning services related to the Internet. Methodology We used an online survey, focus groups, and analysis of a log of telnet connections to address the research questions. The online survey results provided demographic information, information about people's reasons for using the Internet, and users' ratings of the information they found, as well as of the method of providing access. The open questions on the survey and the focus groups were helpful in collecting suggestions for improvement and explaining the uses people made of the Internet. Examination of the logs of telnet connections helped to identify the most popular destinations and to compare usage patterns for Internet resources with well-known usage patterns for other types of information. Online Survey We were able to do the online survey because the University of Toronto provides Internet access through UTLink, its online catalog and information system (Data Research Associate's Information Gateway). The university provides the access by connecting library card holders to the Hytelnet software (version 6.3) created by Peter Scott at the University of Saskatchewan. …


An extensive literature has documented the existence of suites of correlated behavioural traits (called behavioural syndromes) in a range of vertebrate species, as well as in some invertebrates. The existence and persistence of such behavioural syndromes is of both fundamental and applied interest and the main aim of the work described in this thesis was to examine sources of individual variation in risk-taking and aggression, as well as the circumstances under which those behaviours could be uncoupled. The study used two species of freshwater fish that have become something of a model to study behaviour: the three spine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
In chapter 1 I give a background on the current research on individual variability in behaviour, behavioural syndromes and coping strategies, with special reference to fish; as well as considering the implications of behavioural syndromes for evolutionary biology and aquaculture. Chapter 2 describes a long-term experiment on boldness, aggression and the relationship between them in sticklebacks that grew at different rates under two different competitive regimes. In one treatment (the low interaction condition) food was dispersed, while in the other (the high interaction condition), food was clumped. Fish were fed to excess in both treatments. Analysis of the relationship between risk-taking and some morphological variables showed that, in general, shy fish were heavier and longer than both bold and behaviourally intermediate fish, independently of their body condition. Fish from the low interaction condition were more aggressive than those from the high interaction feeding regime. Boldness and aggression were positively associated only in the fast growing fish from the high interaction competitive regime.
Limited evidence suggests that individual personalities may influence reproductive success and other fitness-related traits in complex and context-specific ways. In the study described in Chapter 3, I used an indirect approach to relate fitness to personalities in sticklebacks. Specifically, I related hatching date of fry (used as an indirect measure of parental fitness) to their personalities (boldness and aggression). Individuals that hatched early were bolder than late hatched fish, whereas most of the shy individuals were found among the late bred fish. There were no detectable differences in aggression between early and late hatched fish, but there was a relationship between boldness and aggression independent of hatching date.
In chapters 4 and 5, I describe studies of rainbow trout from two lines selected for breeding for low (LR) or high (HR) post-stress plasma cortisol response that have become something of a model system for studies of coping strategies in fish. In addition to striking differences in cortisol responsiveness, LR and HR fish show patterns of brain biochemistry, risk-taking and aggression that are typical of so-called proactive and reactive animals respectively.
The results reported in chapter 5 strengthen this interpretation, by comparing behavioural flexibility and response to novelty in 3rd generation LR and HR rainbow trout. After being trained individually to find food in one arm of a T-maze, HR fish were able to found food strikingly faster than LR trout when the resource was moved to a different position. In contrast, LR fish were much less distracted by the presence of an unfamiliar object. Previous studies have shown that proactive animals develop and follow routines more strictly than do reactive animals, while the latter are more aware of changes in their environment. My results therefore give further support to the characterisation of LR and HR rainbow trout as showing proactive and reactive coping strategies.
In chapter 4 however, I complicate this interpretation by showing that the relationship between boldness and aggression is flexible. Following transport from the UK to Norway, HR and LR fish switched behavioural profiles. In contrast to the results of previous studies, HR fish fed sooner in a novel environment and became dominant over LR fish in pairwise aggressive interactions. One year after transport, HR fish still fed sooner than LR fish, but no difference in social dominance was found. Among offspring of transported fish, no differences in feeding rates were observed, but as in pre-transported 3rd generation fish, HR fish lost fights for social dominance against size matched LR opponents. Transported fish and their offspring retained their distinctive physiological profile throughout the study, with HR fish showing consistently higher post-stress cortisol levels at all sampling points. Therefore the striking difference in cortisol responsiveness in these two strains of trout is on its own not sufficient to maintain distinct behavioural phenotypes.
The work described in this thesis therefore extends current understanding of individual variability in behaviour and of behavioural syndromes by identifying circumstances under which risk-taking and aggression are uncoupled in two species of freshwater fish. It also suggests some potential consequences for fitness. In chapter 6 these results are discussed on the light of current research on animal personalities, behavioural syndromes, coping strategies and their implications for evolutionary biology. Particular reference is made to the existing literature on fish and the implications of those findings for aquaculture are also discussed.


Due to the unprecedented loss of old-growth forests to harvesting throughout circumboreal regions an understanding of similarities and differences in old-growth dynamics is needed to design effective restoration, management and conservation efforts. This paper reviews concepts, prevalence and variability of old-growth forests across landscapes, and evaluates different stand scale dynamics at the old-growth stage across the circumboreal zone. Oldgrowth historically dominated many boreal forest landscapes in both Eurasia and North America. Throughout much of North America, and to some extent in western Siberia, the natural prevalence and development of old-growth forests are regulated by the occurrence of stand-replacing fires. In eastern North America and Siberia, insect outbreaks may, however, be more important. Insect outbreaks as well as recurrent non-stand replacing surface fires and windthrows, when occurring at the old-growth stage, often form stands characterized by several tree age-class cohorts. This multi age-class forest development type is common in Europe and eastern Siberia but its prevalence and importance in boreal North-America is not well documented. Similarities in successional dynamics across the circumboreal region are found in the development of mono-dominant even-aged stands, the replacement of shade intolerant tree species by shade tolerant species, as well as in all-aged stands driven by smallscale gap dynamics. The message to land managers is that the focus should not only be on setting aside remaining old-growth forests or in restoring static old-growth attributes, but also in emulating natural disturbances and successional dynamics at landscape and regional scales to maintain natural variability in old-growth attributes through time.


The name 'Humboldt' is associated with various ideals such as the unity of teaching and research, the freedom to teach and to learn and the community of teachers and students and used to stand for a unified idea of the university. Recent developments and changes like widening participation in and the marketisation of higher education related to the emergence of neoliberalism have challenged those old ideals. Through creating a Humboldt University model based on Humboldtian ideals and a Neoliberal University model reflecting neoliberal ideas the study seeks to illustrate the main changes that have happened. It then evaluates the developments by putting them against the German (the origin of Humboldt's ideas) and English university (the first to marketise higher education). The ones to sense the developments and changes the most are the university academics. Therefore, it was chosen to review the former through the eyes of the latter.Thus, the study offers a glimpse of how university academics at the German and English institution/institute perceive the changes deriving from comparing the above-mentioned model. How do they relate to the Humboldtian ideals? How do they evaluate recent developments and related discourses in higher education? Are there connections between the countries' university traditions and their perception?The main findings suggest that academics at the English institute believe more in the old ideals than the German academics who blame mainly massification for its infeasibility. It also shows that recent discourses and their termination are understood differently by the academics. For a new unifying idea of the university, opposing perceptions like the ones examined would need to be brought in line. Can there be one identity of the university?


Regeneration initiatives, especially in urban areas, have claimed that they are concerned with the development of local skills especially in relation to training, employment and 'capacity building'. A central feature of these initiatives is the partnership arrangements that draw together the post-16 sector, local agencies, the voluntary sector and training providers. The article highlights some of the issues raised by those involved in the process. It suggests that there is an inherent contradiction between a skills agenda defined by agencies external to a local community and one that seeks to draw together local residents and activists. In particular, there may be a mismatch between a skills agenda that enhances capacity building as defined centrally and one that is defined locally or within a neighbourhood. These potential areas of difference raise important policy and practice issues for those involved in adult or community education. The article discusses the significance of these tensions by placing them in the context of the regeneration agenda and in its relationship to other policy issues such as accreditation, curriculum design and delivery.


Abstract Canadian organizations are facing mounting challenges to productivity and survival due to innumerable changes in the new global economy. Of all of the forces directing modern organizational change, technological innovations are among the fastest growing concerns for a psychology of work. In this article, we review the types of technologies being adopted in Canadian firms and assess their influence on the skills and experiences of workers. We conclude that the direction of change for employee performance, use of job skills, and quality of worklife experiences is mediated by the type of innovation adopted and the manner in which it is implemented in the organization. Industrial and organizational psychologists can lead the way in helping organizations and employees benefit from new technology by providing empirically based guidelines for strategic implementation of workplace innovations.Although Canada has been slower to automate than have Japan and many western industrialized nations (Grayson, 1993; Newton, 1987), the jobs of thousands of Canadian employees have been touched by advanced technologies. Recent data suggest that 90% of Canadian companies have re-engineered and the survivors are now committing more resources to advanced technologies (Shoesmith, 1995). Large organizations and those with foreign parent firms are most likely to have experienced technological innovations in recent years, although small and mid-sized companies are increasingly likely to do so (Baldwin & Diverty, 1995). It appears that no matter what the demographics of the organization, employees are facing dramatic changes in the way that work gets done. In this article we address the types of technological innovations being adopted in Canadian firms and assess their influence on the skills and experiences of workers. For each area of influence we propose a research agenda through which industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists can continue to provide empirically based answers to many important questions concerning the world of work.Demographics of InnovationThe 1980s were pivotal years for advances in workplace technology, marked primarily by large-scale office innovations. According to Statistics Canada (1996) less than one quarter of employed people used computers at work during the early 1980s; this figure increased to 48% (more than 6 million Canadians) in 1994. Not only has the proportion of Canadian businesses using advanced technologies grown, the innovations have increased in sophistication from single applications to integrated mutli-use networks (Betcherman, McMullen, Leckie, & Caron, 1994). In addition to personal computers and information technologies, Canadian companies are adopting more process automations. Manufacturing firms employ advanced technologies in various facets of the production process (Baldwin, Gray & Johnson, 1995) and robotics are used to perform basic manual and support tasks (Bylinsky, 1994). Production workers in innovative factories may be networked into computer systems that enable them to keep track of parts to be installed and to keep production moving, and computer screens provide job aids for workers who assemble complex computer-based products. Bylinsky (1994) views these technologies, and the agility they bring to the factory, as the beginning of a revolution that will set the tone of manufacturing for decades to come.New applications are also found in such varied areas as retailing, transport, and even medicine, as evidenced by the products (e.g., bar code scanners, satellite communication devices for truckers, and portable medical computers) produced in the new digital factories (Bylinsky, 1994). Secretaries and office personnel use word processors, electronic mail and computer networks to perform their jobs. Managers, bank tellers and other service professionals use computers to complete routine tasks, and computer-based technologies are common in chemical and nuclear power industries (Czaja, 1994). …


Abstract, by Craig William FrenchThis paper reprints an edited version of Jack Treynor's famous 1962 manuscript. The author's facsimile of the original mimeograph was obtained thanks to the kind generosity of Professor Elroy Dimson of the London Business School. Edits in the present version, which differ from the original Rough Draft, include minor typographical corrections and minor notation differences for some variables in the formulae.Specifically, where Mr. Treynor used a bar or curve over a variable, I use an underscore, and I have omitted the upper and lower limits (and their index) above and below all Sigma summation signs as the nature of the summations is clear. Pagination is as in the original.I have otherwise attempted, in this replica, to preserve the vintage character of the document, including font style, spacing, margins and a reproduction reminiscent of the days prior to the invention of photocopy machines and modern portfolio theory. Unfortunately, I could not replicate the wonderful mimeo aroma.Mr. Treynor points out that many minor changes will be evident to anyone who compares the Craig French version to the version in Robert Korajczyk's book, Asset Pricing and Portfolio Performance, Risk Books, London, 1999 [Chapter 2, pp. 15-22]. Mr. Treynor considers all French's changes improvements.A more complete description of the development of the Treynor CAPM may be found in French, Craig W., "The Treynor Capital Asset Pricing Model". Journal of Investment Management, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 6072, 2003. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=447580


Background: Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders are under-diagnosed in pediatric patients, and infantile TMJ luxation is a very rare condition. Luxation early in life can cause skletofacial problems, such as retrognathia, if it is left untreated for a long time. It is well known that severe retrognathia is one of the most common causes of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Clinical presentation: The authors report a case of infantile TMJ luxation with secondary retrognathia associated with SDB, in which intraoral vertico-sagittal ramus osteotomy (IVSRO) was chosen over intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy and sagittal split ramus osteotomy for surgical correction. Conclusion: IVSRO is an effective osteotomy technique for correcting skeletofacial deformities, especially in cases associated with TMJ disorders.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this article is to describe a method to help patients with long-term mental illness describe their life situations--their "life worlds"--through photography.

CONCLUSIONS
Photographs and interviews are useful for data collection. The positive effect of this method is allowing informants who have long-term mental illnesses to express their perceptions.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
Nurses can use photography in conjunction with interviews to ascertain the life worlds of their patients.


A Primer on American Labor Law is an accessible guide written for nonspecialists—labor and management representatives, students, general practice lawyers, and trade unionists, government officials, and academics from other countries. It covers such topics as the National Labor Relations Act, unfair labor practices, the collective bargaining relationship, dispute resolution, the public sector, and public-interest labor law. This thoroughly updated fourth edition contains extensive new material, covering developments in the eleven years since the third edition, including the continuing decline in union membership, job security rights, wrongful discharge litigation and dispute resolution procedures, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) litigation, cases involving sexual harassment and sexual orientation, the most recent collective bargaining agreements in professional sports, and the debate—spurred by globalism—on international labor standards. Much of the discussion of the National Labor Relations Act discusses decisions and policy changes by the National Labor Relations Board during the author's chairmanship in 1994-1998.


We report on the first case in which sequestered secondary plant compounds determine an insect's external appearance in the ultraviolet spectrum and thereby influence visually mediated mate choice. Larvae of the common blue butterfly Polyommatus icarus specifically sequester flavonoids in different amounts and types, depending on the part or species of food plant. During late pupal development the majority of ultraviolet-absorbing flavonoids are deposited in the wing scales. The flavonoid content of the larval diet thereby determines ultraviolet wing patterns. In laboratory and field experiments, male butterflies clearly preferred flavonoid-rich, ultraviolet-absorbing female dummies. This preference is mediated visually by the ultraviolet pattern of the wings. Food-plant parts and species vary in value as a food source, so ultraviolet wing patterns may signal mate quality and are not a species-specific characteristic. We discuss the use of principal component analysis in analysing spectral data in the context of visual communication. We propose the alternative application of confidence intervals of averaged spectra as a novel straightforward statistical method for comparing groups of spectra in a manner that is independent of assumptions about the visual system of the receiver. In addition, they can be used to give confidence intervals to derived measures of colour such as quantum catch by photoreceptors.


Deep brain stimulation is a method that involves using an electric stimulus on a specific target in the brain with stereotaxis. It is a minimally invasive, safe, adjustable and reversible nerve involvement technology. At present, this technique is widely applied to treat movement disorders and has produced promising effects on mental symptoms, including combined anxiety and depression. Deep brain stimulation has therefore been employed as a novel treatment for depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, habituation, Tourette's syndrome, presenile dementia, anorexia nervosa and other refractory mental illnesses. Many encouraging results have been reported. The aim of the present review was to briefly describe the mechanisms, target selection, side effects, ethical arguments and risks associated with deep brain stimulation. Although deep brain stimulation is a developing and promising treatment, a large amount of research is still required to determine its curative effect, and the selection of patients and targets must be subjected to strict ethical standards.


You've just been handed your department's biggest project and you probably aren't sure where to even begin. Whether you have 6 months or 6 weeks to complete it, being an effective project manager can make all the difference to the end result. Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management can help you quickly become an effective and efficient project manager when time matters most. Through topics such as "building a project budget and schedule" to "managing vendors," this book will guide you through what works and what doesn't based on tried and true practices. Your learning will be focused on the skills and qualities of effective project managers, leadership styles and project trends, including information technology, outsourcing and virtual teams. Let Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management help you take your project from start to finish.


A technique based on multiresolution wavelet decomposition was developed for the merging and data fusion of a high-resolution panchromatic image and a low-resolution multispectral image. The standard data fusion methods may not be satisfactory, because they can distort the spectral characteristics of the multispectral data. The method presented here consists of adding the wavelet coefficients of the high-resolution image to the multispectral (low-resolution) data. More specifically, we add the high-order coefficients of the wavelet transform of the panchromatic image to the intensity component (L) of the multispectral image. The method is thus an improvement on standard intensity–hue–saturation (IHS or LHS) mergers. An alternative approach for correcting the red–green–blue coefficients is also discussed. We used the method to merge SPOT and Landsat Thematic Mapper images (SPOT means Systeme pour l'Observation de la Terre). The technique presented is clearly better than the IHS and LHS mergers for preserving both spectral and spatial information.


Image classification is an image processing technique used to separate different categories in a dataset according to unique image information. It has many fields of application, such as medicine, security monitoring, component defect detection, people counting, license plate recognition and robot positioning. There are many challenges in the field of image classification. For example, poor image quality leads to poor results. Moreover, there is need to study how to improve the recognition rate, reduce the amount of calculation and strengthen the robustness [1].Classification algorithms are tested for visual images in outdoor environments. However, vision sensors are sensitive to light. When there is no light, the signal to noise ratio in the visual images will be poor. This in turn could lead to false classification. To circumvent this problem, a sensor of another spectral band can be used, making sensing independent of lighting conditions. An example of this is thermal images which can be created by sensing the infrared radiation from objects. To evaluate the classification accuracy of different algorithms based on different image types, we developed five datasets: thermal raw images, visual raw images, thermal binary images, visual binary images and fused images. In this study, each dataset includes two different objects, a human and a bicycle. The classification algorithms used for investigations include HOG, SIFT and SURF. The first high level analysis is performed on a personal computer (PC). After analysis, SIFT and SURF algorithms were implemented on an embedded platform, NVIDIA TEGRA TK1.The results show that thermal raw images is better for object classification compared to visual raw, thermal binary, visual binary and fused thermal-visual images. Regarding classification algorithms, the SIFT algorithm performs better with 93.3% accuracy compared to HOG and SURF which have 86.4% and 91.7% respectively.


Environmental issues in modern day Iowa are a perfect example of the indirect consequences of exploiting natural resources. Over 12,000 years ago, glaciers left the state with rich and fertile soil, perfect for agriculture. Over the course of more than one hundred years, Iowa's landscape has been cleared and drained to gain access to this valuable farmland. While the economic benefits of agriculture are clear, it is important to understand the environmental consequences of this transformation. This dissertation uses economic tools and analysis to investigate three environmental and resource issues related to the complex interplay between Iowa agriculture and the environment.The first chapter examines the relationship between an important adaptive tool, tile drainage, and climate. Tile drainage is largely responsible for transforming Iowa from mostly wetlands into prime farmland. It fundamentally changes the relationship between land, climate, and soil, by draining away excess water, allowing crops to grow. This chapter uses observations from over 800,000 farms across the U.S. to estimate the relationship between farmland value and climate while explicitly incorporating tile drainage. We find fundamental differences in the relationship between tile drained and non-tile drained land, which has not been accounted for in previous research. Using climate projections, we estimate the impact of climate change on farmland and show how these estimates can be biased when tile drained and non-tile drained farms are pooled together.The second chapter looks at the relationship between land change and lake water quality. While most of Iowa's lakes are artificial, many are popular destinations for fishing, boating, swimming, and other recreational activities. But their close proximity to farmland results in high nutrient levels and decreased water quality, which can reduce recreational and ecosystem benefits. This chapter combines fifteen years of water quality measurements with satellite images of land use to estimate the impact of land use change on water quality. These estimates are used to assess the lake water quality impacts of the Renewable Fuel Policy, a government policy which has had a large impact on agriculture and land use in Iowa.The third chapter is concerned with the optimal management of the Iowa deer population through hunting licenses. Although not all species have benefited from the transformation of Iowa's landscape, the deer population has thrived due to a lack of predators and an abundant new food source in crops. While deer hunters enjoy a large population of deer, farmers and drivers face costs due to crop depredation and deer vehicle collisions, creating a complex management problem. This chapter uses the tools of dynamic programming to solve for an optimal policy that balances these opposing interests.Altering the natural landscape turned Iowa into one of the most productive farming regions in the world, but has also created the need to balance intensive farming practices with the impacts on the surrounding environment. The tools of economics provide an appealing framework to propose solutions to these problems. The goal of the following three chapters is to use these tools to shed some light on three such issues Iowa currently faces. The insight and results from this research will hopefully help inform future researchers and policymakers in Iowa and beyond.


The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through empirical analysis, whether or not post-graduate students choose information technology or other information sources such as home institution libraries for the purposes of learning, expanding their knowledge and/or completing their studies. A survey was conducted to gather primary source data for the paper. Questionnaires were administered to 211 education post-graduate students. Results showed that Greek post-graduate students from different fields of study chose the Internet as their primary information source for a number of reasons but mainly: for the provision of creditable and up-to-date information, for easy access to information at home, for the time of day they can access the material and for fast information retrieval. Although the Greek post-graduate students believed the Greek information network to be satisfactory up to a degree, this paper identifies that greater access to Internet resources, training programs providing students with tools to effectively use the network's resources and more online databases, combined with a historical and statistical database of libraries' online catalogs are key issues in improving both information source performance and the link between strategy and implementation.


Previous research has reported that an alcohol dependant population showed impairment in recognition of certain facial expressions, particularly fear (Townshend & Duka, 2003). The aim of the current study was to investigate whether binge drinkers also show impairment in the recognition of previously seen faces with different facial expression. N = 95 (50 female) social drinkers took part in a 2x2x4 mixed design quasi-experiment. The between-subject factors were Binge Group (binge vs. non-binge), Sex (male vs. female) and the within-subject factor was Facial-Expression (Happy, Sad, Fearful, Neutral) recognition. Participants were shown sets of facial images which they were subsequently asked to indicate if they recognised from a larger set that included never-before-seen faces. Initial correlational analysis revealed significant effects, but only for female participants. A negative correlation was found between binge-score and happy faces correctly recognised. Fearful faces only approached significance, but interestingly the direction was also negative. That is, the higher the binge-score the fewer faces recognised. Furthermore, a negative correlation between binge-score and proportion of correctly recognised faces was found. Again this suggests that the higher the binge-score the fewer faces recalled. Most worrying was the finding that the higher the binge-scores the higher the number of false positive responses. A 2x2x4 mixed ANOVA revealed a main effect for Facial-Expression; sad faces were least well recognised while fearful faces were best recognised although this pattern was clearer in non-binge drinkers there were no other significant effects. A 2x2 between-subject ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for Sex, with females making more False Positive errors than males. This clearly warrants further investigation particularly the False Positives that correlated with high levels of binge drinking in females as this has potential implications for areas such as face recognition in eyewitness testimony.


We have isolated a novel Siphoviridae phage (named Sol-P11) morphotype from the surface sands of the Sahara Desert with a ribbon-like structure at the tail extremity. Sol-P11 was found to grow on a Bacillus subtilis strain isolated from the same environment and to contain a double stranded DNA genome of approximately 120 kb in length incapable of being hydrolysed by a wide variety of restriction endonucleases. The major constituent proteins of CsCl-purified Sol-P11 virions were 65, 50, 30, and 24 kDa in size, with the 30 kDa polypeptide being the major protein of the 85 nm diameter icosahedral capsid, and the other three proteins comprising the major polypeptides of the tail (320 nm in length) and ribbon-like structure. Moreover, different sized phages displaying a Sol-P11 morphology were observed in phage preparations from the Death Valley and Namib deserts. Sol-P11-like phage morphotypes have been previously described, including PBPI, a flagellum-specific phage that infects B. pumilis and phage BcP15 infecting the marine bacterium, Burkholderia cepacia DR11. We thus propose that Sol-P11 represents a member of a novel morphotype of Siphoviridae phages that use a ribbon-like structure, instead of caudal fibers, to attach to their host cell.


ABSTRACT Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) people frequently report negative health care encounters. Medical professionals may inadequately manage LGBTQ persons' health if they have not received training in this area. An anonymous survey measuring efficacy in health situations among LGBTQ persons was answered by 166 medical students across all years of a UK university. Results show that 84.9% of participants reported a lack of LGBTQ health care education, with deficits in confidence clarifying unfamiliar sexual and gender terms, deciding the ward in which to nurse transgender patients, finding support resources, and discussing domestic abuse with LGBTQ patients. Most participants reported that they would not clarify gender pronouns or ask about gender or sexual identity in mental health or reproductive health settings. Participants reported infrequently observing doctors making similar inquiries. Participants held positive attitudes toward LGBTQ patients, with attitude scores positively correlating with LGBTQ terminology knowledge scores (rs = 0.5052, p < .01). Addressing gender identity and sexuality issues within medical curricula may remove barriers to accessing health care and improve encounters for LGBTQ patients.


Meningiomas are the most frequent benign intracranial lesions. They arise from the arachnoidal cap cells and are extra-axially located. Gross total resection in most of the cases is the treatment of choice. Technical aspects such as the presence of perifocal edema renders the resection procedure difficult and are related to postoperative outcome. Edema is not associated with location and size alone. It constitutes actually a phenomenon of the tumor and adjacent brain parenchyma interface and also depends on the secretion of vascular proliferations factors. Herewith, we present our retrospective study concerning 57 patients, who were operated, within the last eighteen months in our tertiary neurosurgical center. In our findings we involved tumor location and histological type. The grade of resection was described according to Simpson's scale and arachoidal plane was evaluated on T2-WI and FLAIR sequences. Furthermore, we have established statistical correlations of neurological outcome utilizing modified Rankin Scale upon the first two months, based on edema index (p < 0.008), arachnoidal plane presence (p < 0.0001) and the extent of excision (p < 0.003), as well. We advocate that surgeon should thoroughly examine the preoperative radiological tools and plan safely the strategy of extirpation beginning from the arachnoidal cleft.


This thesis experimentally investigates the phenomenon of ingress through gas turbine rim seals. The work focuses on developing experimental and numerical techniques for measuring the required sealing flow levels to purge the wheel-space against ingress and the effect of externally-induced ingress on the surface temperature as well as heat transfer to the rotor. Ingress is driven by a pressure difference between the mainstream annulus and wheel-space cavity resulting from the asymmetric external pressure profile in the annulus and/or the rotation of fluid in the rotor-stator wheel-space cavity. It can be prevented by pressurising the wheel-space through the supply of sealant flow. The University of Bath had measured and shown, for the first time, the thermal effects of ingress on the rotor in the wheel-space for a datum seal (axial-clearance seal) using thermo-chromic liquid crystal. However, as the previously used experimental technique with thermo-chromic liquid crystal was prone to large uncertainties, a non-intrusive temperature measurement technique using an infrared (IR) temperature sensor was developed. The new technique was successfully applied to the Bath one-stage gas turbine test facility and provided a full temperature history of the rotor surface in a transient heat transfer experiment. Moreover, a data analysis method appropriate for transient experiments using the IR temperature measurement technique was developed. The method was used to accurately calculate the heat transfer coefficient and the adiabatic surface temperature based on the full temperature history. A series of numerical experiments was carried out to develop the analysis method and the results from the numerical experiments were used to design new heat transfer experiments for both the 1 and 1.5-stage ingestion rigs of the University of Bath. Gas concentration measurements were made on the stator of the Bath one-stage gas turbine test rig to determine the variation of sealing effectiveness with sealant flow rate for four different seal geometries at design operational conditions. The IR temperature measurement technique was used to determine the effect of ingress on the heat transfer coefficient and the adiabatic wall temperature on the rotor of the ingestion test facility. Concurrent gas concentration measurements were made on the stator to compare the effects of ingress on the two discs (stator and rotor). Comparison between the adiabatic effectiveness on the rotor and the concentration effectiveness on the stator showed that the rotor was protected against the effects of ingress relative to the stator. The sealing air, which was drawn into the rotor boundary layer from the source region, thermally buffered the rotor against the ingested fluid in the core. Subsequently, a thermal buffer ratio hypothesis was developed and shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data. A previously published orifice model was modified so that the sealing effectiveness determined from the concentration measurements in a rig could be used to determine the effectiveness based on pressure measurements in an engine. There was good agreement between the effectiveness acquired from pressure measurement determined using the theoretical model and the sealing effectiveness determined from concentration measurements. It was also shown how parameters obtained from measurements of pressure and concentration in a rig could be used to calculate the sealing effectiveness in an engine.


This paper is focused on the automated identification of the clinical free-text records that contain useful information (e.g. symptoms, modifiers, diagnosis, etc) of a certain disease. We introduce a novel semi-supervised machine learning algorithm to address this problem, by training the set covering machine in a bootstrapping procedure. The advantage of the proposed technique is that not only can it find the documents of interest more accurately than searching based on diagnostic codes, the features it learned could also be directly used as a knowledge representation of the given topic and to assist either further machine learning algorithms or manual post-processing and analysis.


A five-year investigation (2004/05 to 2008/09) was carried out in two Sauvignon blanc and two Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in the Helderberg area, Western Cape, South Africa. Soils, derived mainly from granite and shale, were identified in each vineyard. Climatic parameters were measured, while leaves and juice were analysed. Experimental wines were prepared and evaluated annually. The nutritional status of the leaf blades and petioles was not affected by soil parent materials in a consistent pattern. Juice N of grapevines on the shale-derived soil was usually higher than that of vines on the granite-derived soil. The effect of soil parent material on Sauvignon blanc wine style appeared to have been more distinct at the locality where wine quality was highest. At this locality, wine from the grapevines on shale-derived soil (higher water-holding capacity) was best in 2004/05 (dry season), while the reverse was true in the 2007/08 season (wet). The style and/or quality of Cabernet Sauvignon wines were affected to a greater extent by differences in soil parent materials, relative to Sauvignon blanc. Differences were especially noticeable during the cooler and wetter seasons. Better drainage in the case of the granite-derived soils, due to the higher coarse sand fraction, may have played a positive role during these seasons.


The aim of this article is to analyze the work of the event's relative desingularisation that Ricœur operates by coupling with the narrative in Time and Narrative in the early 1980s, then the re-opening of the question of the singularity and uniqueness of the event in Memory, History, Forgetting (in 2000) in the reconstructed theoretical frame of historical representation put to the test of the "event at the limits" which is the Shoah. In Time and Narrative Ricœur intends to transcend, through the interweaving of history and fiction applied to founding events of collective identity like the Shoah, the epistemological aporia of the dichotomy between a history which dissolves the event in the explanation and a purely emotional attitude in the face of events of considerable ethical intensity. However, this narrativisation of the event runs up against the traumatic power of the radical extra-textual of the event — the Shoah, which thus constitutes a challenge for the historical representation of the past. It is this question that Ricœur takes up in Memory, History, Forgetting , but this time the investigation has been largely reconfigured by the dialectic of memory and history, contributing to the representation of the past. While distinguishing the absolute moral incomparability of the Shoah and the incomparability relative to the historiographical plane (i.e., possible comparability), Ricœur maintains that the entanglement between historiographical judgment and moral judgment is inevitable, thus opening up the great question of the social, political and ethical responsibility of the historian.


Zakah is a very basal religious service and closely interconnected with both transcen-dental and social aspects of human life. According to Islamic rules, zakah is imposed on every soul (zakah al-fitr) and certain properties meeting the standardized measure (zakah al-maal). Collected zakah is hereinafter distributed to the poor, the needy, the people em-ployed to administer zakah, and the people whose hearts are made to embrace Islam, the people in bondage, the people twined by debt, the fighters in the cause of Allah, as well as the wayfarers. In Zakah Management Act No. 38/1999 mentioned, that zakah which have been bestowed to Badan Amil Zakah or Lembaga Amil Zakah (i.e. government and non-government bodies for the collection of zakah respectively) will be considered as deducti-ble for one's taxable profits or incomes. Likewise, in Act No. 17/2000 contended that zakah of income can be considered as deductible for one's taxable incomes. With a few appropri-ate assumptions, we can prove that the application of zakah as deductible for one's taxable incomes will have several impacts on the economy. Aggregate consumption will increase, saving will decrease, investment criterion will change, and national income as a whole will finally enlarge. Government is therefore suggested not to hesitate to execute the Zakah Consciousness Movement.


The present study assessed factors affecting patterns of pre-incarceration medical service access and use among jail detainees with serious mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders. Multivariable logistic and negative binomial models controlling for socio-demographic and psychodiagnostic factors assessed the extent to which insurance status and medical need significantly affected having a regular health care place/provider and number of emergency and non-emergency care visits in the year prior to detention. The results indicated having insurance was associated with decreased emergency care use and increased access to routine medical care. In comparison with insurance status, medical need was a more important determinant of the frequency of both routine and emergency medical care visits. We believe the results broadly support Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, as well as its provisions for medical homes for offender populations.


As a first step in formulating an improved plague vaccine, we developed a simple purification strategy that produced high yields of pure cell-associated and culture supernatant-derived fraction 1 capsular antigen (F1) from both avirulent Yersinia pestis C092 (Pgm- Lcr-) and an Escherichia coli F1-producing recombinant strain. Cell-associated F1 was partially purified by sequential ammonium sulfate precipitations of a sodium chloride extract of acetone-dried bacteria harvested from broth cultures. Cell-free F1 was precipitated directly from culture supernatants with a single application of 30% ammonium sulfate. By exploiting the aggregative property of F1, large quantities of purified high-molecular-weight F1 species from both cell extracts and supernatants were isolated in the void volume of a preparative gel filtration column. Highly purified, endotoxin-free F1, combined with two different adjuvants, induced very high F1 titers in mice and protected them against either subcutaneous (70 to 100% survival) or aerosol (65 to 84% survival) challenge with virulent organisms. This protection was independent of the source of the antigen and the adjuvant used. F1-induced protection against both subcutaneous and aerosol challenge was also significantly better than that conferred by immunization with the licensed killed whole-cell vaccine. Our results indicate that F1 antigen represents a major protective component of previously studied crude capsule preparations, and immunity to F1 antigen provides a primary means for the host to overcome plague infection by either the subcutaneous or respiratory route.


Inverse methods to obtain soil hydraulic parameters are becoming increasingly popular, due to their more rapid, complete, and robust estimations of hydraulic parameters compared with traditional direct methods. We present a method to infer hydraulic parameters based on first arrival travel time measurements made with zero-offset borehole ground penetrating radar (BGPR). Borehole ground penetrating radar offers many advantages for field-scale monitoring of transient processes including the ability to measure rapidly, over relatively large soil volumes, with high temporal resolution and to great depths. The BGPR measurements are used to infer the position of the wetting front during infiltration. The analysis makes use of critical refraction at the edge of the wetting front, which gives rise to a linear increase in BGPR travel time with time as the wetting front passes beneath the antennae. The slope of this response is used directly to calculate the hydraulic conductivity. We demonstrate that unique determination of the van Genuchten α and n parameter is not possible with BGPR data alone; at least one pressure head measurement in the dry range (early time) is required. We employ a nonlinear least squares parameter estimation code to obtain the optimal a and n parameters for synthetic data. The method could potentially be applied to areas of artificial recharge in an infiltration basin, natural recharge in an ephemeral stream, or agricultural settings where the surface is flooded with irrigated water.


Social enterprises that focus on appropriate technologies for socio-economically marginalized populations in developing countries are on the rise. However, standardized methodologies to assess the success of the venture and their economic, social and environmental impact are almost non-existent. Current assessment strategies focus on tangible outputs such as customers reached and revenues generated, which creates a disconnect between an organization's mission and the impact created by the products and services provided. An emphasis shift from outputs to outcomes requires a move away from the solely growth-based measures to include mission-based measures. A systemic and systematic assessment methodology has been developed by our team for comprehensive and efficient assessment of early-stage social enterprises. This methodology uses a hierarchical framework to assess metrics at various levels of the venture while tracing them back to the overarching objectives of the venture. Current assessment practices used by nonprofits, social enterprises and academic ventures are discussed in detail to establish the need for systemic and systematic frameworks. The principles and mechanics of our assessment framework and its operationalization are presented with a culminating case study of the application of this methodology to a telemedicine venture in East Africa over the last three years.


In its most recent examination of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court told a story about the South. Although the Court ultimately did not rule on the continued constitutionality of § 5, the VRA provision that singles out certain jurisdictions with a history of racially discriminatory voting practices for additional regulation, its opinion expressed significant doubt that the measure was still justified. In this tale of progress and redemption, the Court concluded that "things have changed in the South."One body of commentary that was not considered in this story was the region's literature. Yet many of these works, in particular the novels of William Faulkner, address some of the same thematic and sociological concerns that animate § 5. Specifically, Faulkner's novels explore the power of memory in the South and the ongoing influence of the past on present actions and attitudes. In his depiction of the burden of memory, Faulkner suggests a distinct role for § 5 that policymakers and commentators should consider in the debate over its continued necessity. Rather than punishing the sons for the sins of the fathers, the provision can be seen as targeting the independent concern of a past-haunted society and the uncertain results which the unchecked power of memory can produce in the present. This Article explores how Faulkner's novels can contribute to a better understanding of the role § 5 serves in the modern South and thus inform the debate over whether the law remains constitutional. In doing so, it also considers the role literature can play in legal analysis beyond the uses typically identified by the law and literature movement.


Abstract. The Ivrea–Verbano Zone is the most complete, time-integrated crust–upper mantle archive in the world. It is a unique target for assembling data on the deep crust and the Moho transition zone and testing several hypotheses of formation, evolution, and modification of the continental crust through space and time across the Earth. The ICDP workshop Drilling the Ivrea–Verbano zonE (DIVE), held in Baveno, Italy, from 1 to 5 May 2017, focused on the scientific objectives and the technical aspects of drilling and sampling in the Ivrea–Verbano Zone at depth. A total of 47 participants from 9 countries with a wide variety of scientific and/or drilling expertise attended the meeting. Discussion on the proposed targets sharpened the main research lines and led to working groups and the necessary technical details to compile the full drilling proposal. The participants of the workshop concluded that four drilling operations in the Val Sesia and Val d'Ossola crustal sections represent the scientifically most promising solution to achieve the major goals within DIVE to unravel the physico-chemical properties and architecture of the lower continental crust towards the crust–mantle (Moho) transition zone.


We demonstrate that common modeling assumptions underlying micro-unit productivity indices induce biases in the evolution and decomposition of standard aggregate productivity measures. After controlling for such biases, we decompose aggregate productivity based on groups of economically significant firm types. We show that large incumbent firms that both export and import determine the evolution of aggregate productivity for the Belgian manufacturing sector. Over time, the increase in average productivity outweighs the decline in the covariance between market shares and productivity of this group. The former result stems from stronger learning-by-doing effects for granular firms. The latter suggests an increase in resource misallocation due to market distortions. This pattern intensifies after the 2008 financial crisis. All other firm types, if anything, contribute negatively to aggregate productivity and productivity growth.


Around 50% of the world's electrical power supply comes from the Rankine cycle, and the majority of existing Rankine cycle plants are driven by coal. Given how unattractive coal is as an energy resource in spite of its high energy content, it becomes necessary to find a way to utilize coal in a cleaner and more efficient manner. Designed as a potential retrofit option for existing Rankine cycle plants, the Integrated Mild/Partial Gasification Combined (IMPGC) Cycle is an attractive concept in cycle design that can greatly increase the efficiency of coal-based power plants, particularly for retrofitting an old Rankine cycle plant. Compared to the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC), IMPGC uses mild gasification to purposefully leave most of the volatile matters within the feedstock intact (hence, yielding more chemical energy) compared to full gasification and uses partial gasification to leave some of the remaining char un-gasified compared to complete gasification. The larger hydrocarbons left over from the mild gasification process grant the resulting syngas a higher volumetric heating value, leading to a more efficient overall cycle performance. This is made possible due to the invention of a warm gas cleanup process invented by Research Triangle Institute (RTI), called the High Temperature Desulfurization Process (HTDP), which was recently commercialized. The leftover char can then be burned in a conventional boiler to boost the steam output of the bottom cycle, further increasing the efficiency of the plant, capable of achieving a thermal efficiency of 47.9% (LHV). This paper will first analyze the individual concepts used to create the baseline IMPGC model, including the mild and partial gasification processes themselves, the warm gas cleanup system, and the integration of the boiler with the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). This baseline will then be compared with four other common types of power plants, including subcritical and ultra-supercritical (USC) Rankine cycles, IGCC, and natural gas. The results show that IMPGC consistently outperforms all other forms of coal-based power. IMPGC is more efficient than the standard subcritical Rankine cycle by nine percentage points, more than a USC Rankine cycle by nearly four points, and more than IGCC by seven points.


Optimizing Harris Corner Detection on GPGPUs Using CUDA Justin Loundagin The objective of this thesis is to optimize the Harris corner detection algorithm implementation on NVIDIA GPGPUs using the CUDA software platform and measure the performance benefit. The Harris corner detection algorithm—developed by C. Harris and M. Stephens—discovers well defined corner points within an image. The corner detection implementation has been proven to be computationally intensive, thus realtime performance is difficult with a sequential software implementation. This thesis decomposes the Harris corner detection algorithm into a set of parallel stages, each of which are implemented and optimized on the CUDA platform. The performance results show that by applying strategic CUDA optimizations to the Harris corner detection implementation, realtime performance is feasible. The optimized CUDA implementation of the Harris corner detection algorithm showed significant speedup over several platforms: standard C, MATLAB, and OpenCV. The optimized CUDA implementation of the Harris corner detection algorithm was then applied to a feature matching computer vision system, which showed significant speedup over the other platforms.


Computer-generated animations have become a commonly employed medium to communicate architectural designs and projects. Because designers of animations are not constrained by real-world conditions and do not share the rich history of film, they do not readily benefit from the body of cinematographic techniques that filmmakers can draw upon. Specialists argue that this results in unappealing, lackluster animations that could be vastly improved by the application of filmmakers' craft knowledge. The aim of this study was to identify which aspects of film craft show the most promise by systematically examining the use of cinematographic techniques in animations and their effects on viewers' evaluations. Our analysis of award-winning architectural animations established average shot length as a reliable and valid predictor for determining participants' judgments of salience, vividness, and diversity. A shorter average shot length resulted in more favorable ratings, while longer shot rates led to the opposite outcome. We consider these findings from a broader filmic perspective and discuss them in light of their usefulness for designers and the field.


Paleontologists have struggled for 50 years to determine whether dinosaurs were cold-blooded like today9s reptiles or warm-blooded like most modern mammals and birds. A study on page 1268 examines the growth and metabolic rates of nearly 400 living and extinct animals, and concludes that neither was right. Instead, dinosaurs had an in-between metabolism.


ABSTRACT In recent years, scholars have theorized about the narrative potential of video games. These conversations have helped to situate a complex new medium into the parameters of older forms of storytelling. This paper argues that these debates often privilege heteronormative formulations of narrative structure. Building on the work of Judith Roof (1996. Come as you are: Sexuality and narrative. New York: Columbia University Press), I illustrate how traditional narrative theory relies on masculine, heteronormative conceptualizations of a necessarily reproductive climax. Queer narrative theory, in contrast, focuses on the pleasurable possibilities embedded in the middle of the narrative. Similarly, gaming narratives play in the middle spaces where queer narrative thrives. Using this as a theoretical model, I explore how games are more effective in the narrative middle and provide a new lens for both narrative scholars and gaming scholars.


The development of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars resistant to Fusarium head blight (FHB) (caused by Fusarium gramineamm Schwabe) requires screening methodologies that accurately characterize reaction to this disease. The objectives of this study were (i) to characterize the stability of cultivars for their FHB reaction and (ii) to define an optimum resource allocation for FHB evaluation. Fourteen cultivars were evaluated in FHB-screening nurseries at two locations across a 4-yr period. Field data were used to calculate disease incidence (INC) as the frequency of symptomatic spikes and disease index (DIS) as the mean disease score of all spikes. FHB reaction also was evaluated on harvested grain as percent visually scabby kernels (VSK) and deoxynivalenol (DON) concentration. Significant differences among cultivars for all FHB parameters were found in each environment. Pearson correlation coefficients among FHB parameters were positive and highly significant, ranging from 0.32 between INC and DON to 0.72 between INC and DIS. Spearman rank correlation coefficients for yearly cultivar rankings and Kendall's coefficient of concordance were high, indicating similarity of the rankings of the tested cultivars in different environments. Visually scabby kernels was the FHB parameter with highest similarity for cultivar ranking across environments. Most of the cultivars, including susceptible ones, expressed stability for FHB reaction. Optimum resource allocation for DIS was most affected by the number of environments with three being the minimum to accurately characterize a genotype's resistance level. Using more than three replications or scoring more than 10 spikes per plot had little practical value in characterizing FHB reaction.


Some scientific and engineering applications need to compute a large number of eigenpairs of a large Hermitian matrix. Though the Lanczos method is effective for computing a few eigenvalues, it can be expensive for computing a large number of eigenpairs (e.g., in terms of computation and communication). To improve the performance of the method, in this paper, we study an s-step variant of thick-restart Lanczos (TRLan) combined with an explicit external deflation (EED). The s-step method generates a set of s basis vectors at a time and reduces the communication costs of generating the basis vectors. We then design a specialized matrix powers kernel (MPK) that further reduces the communication and computational costs by taking advantage of the special properties of the deflation matrix. We conducted numerical experiments of the new TRLan eigensolver using synthetic matrices and matrices from electronic structure calculations. The performance results on the Cori supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) demonstrate the potential of the specialized MPK to significantly reduce the execution time of the TRLan eigensolver. The speedups of up to 3.1× and 5.3× were obtained in our sequential and parallel runs, respectively.


Carpeted in boreal forests, dotted with lakes, cut by rivers, and straddling the Arctic Circle, the region surrounding the White Sea, which is known as the Russian North, is sparsely populated and immensely isolated. It is also the home to architectural marvels, as many of the original wooden and brick churches and homes in the region's ancient villages and towns still stand. Featuring nearly two hundred full color photographs of these beautiful centuries-old structures, Architecture at the End of the Earth is the most recent addition to William Craft Brumfield's ongoing project to photographically document all aspects of Russian architecture.

The architectural masterpieces Brumfield photographed are diverse: they range from humble chapels to grand cathedrals, buildings that are either dilapidated or well cared for, and structures repurposed during the Soviet era. Included are onion-domed wooden churches such as the Church of the Dormition, built in 1674 in Varzuga; the massive walled Transfiguration Monastery on Great Solovetsky Island, which dates to the mid-1550s; the Ferapontov-Nativity Monastery's frescoes, painted in 1502 by Dionisy, one of Russia's greatest medieval painters; nineteenth-century log houses, both rustic and ornate; and the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Vologda, which was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in the 1560s. The text that introduces the photographs outlines the region's significance to Russian history and culture.

Brumfield is challenged by the immense difficulty of accessing the Russian North, and recounts traversing sketchy roads, crossing silt-clogged rivers on barges and ferries, improvising travel arrangements, being delayed by severe snowstorms, and seeing the region from the air aboard the small planes he needs to reach remote areas.

The buildings Brumfield photographed, some of which lie in near ruin, are at constant risk due to local indifference and vandalism, a lack of maintenance funds, clumsy restorations, or changes in local and national priorities. Brumfield is concerned with their futures and hopes that the region's beautiful and vulnerable achievements of master Russian carpenters will be preserved. Architecture at the End of the Earth is at once an art book, a travel guide, and a personal document about the discovery of this bleak but beautiful region of Russia that most readers will see here for the first time.


In this paper, a novel technique to set the coupling constant between cells of a coupled resonator optical waveguide (CROW) device, in order to tailor the filter response, is presented. The technique is demonstrated by simulation assuming a racetrack ring resonator geometry. It consists on changing the effective length of the coupling section by applying a longitudinal offset between the resonators. On the contrary, the conventional techniques are based in the transversal change of the distance between the ring resonators, in steps that are commonly below the current fabrication resolution step (nm scale), leading to strong restrictions in the designs. The proposed longitudinal offset technique allows a more precise control of the coupling and presents an increased robustness against the fabrication limitations, since the needed resolution step is two orders of magnitude higher. Both techniques are compared in terms of the transmission esponse of CROW devices, under finite fabrication resolution steps.


Thermoeconomic diagnosis represents a promising technique for the detection of common faults in refrigeration systems, which are responsible of degradation in their energetic performance. Recently, the authors have carried out a sensitivity analysis of the performance of this method to the thermodynamic conditions of inlet air and to the geometry of the direct expansion coil, in case of degradation induced by evaporator fouling. The analysis showed that the method is able to detect this fault, but sometimes its quantitative assessments are not satisfactory. In order to understand more in-depth the origin of such results and identify margins for refinement of the technique, this paper is aimed at evaluating at what extent changes in the exergetic performance of faults-free components may negatively influence the model capability to detect the fouled evaporator and quantify the consequent additional exergy consumption. The results suggest that the method is particularly sensitive to the cost of "induced malfunctions" on the compressor and the condenser, especially when low coil depth or high relative humidity of inlet air are considered.


The last two decades have seen a rapid increase in the use of outdoor based education and training programmes for developing managers. Since 1989, the Masters' Programme in Construction and Project Management, at the University of Ulster, has incorporated an outdoor management development residential course as a methodology for developing construction project managers that is complementary to the academic content of the curriculum. Outdoor Management Development courses with projects/tasks involving physical activities, set in the outdoors, present delegates with a challenging variety of managerial situations which cannot, easily, be replicated in a lecture theatre. Those involved, soon realise that they are learning effectively and efficiently from their own direct experiences and that outdoor projects, if designed properly, demand qualities of leadership, teamwork and managerial competence. When combined with enhanced review and discussion they are seen as a powerful managerial development medium out of which the individual and the employer may gain significant benefits. This paper attempts to describe this experience by examining the theoretical base behind the concept of outdoor management development, relating it to the learning process, discussing assessment and feedback issues and evaluating its success.


In 2007, Australia's Commonwealth Government took a dramatic new approach to the governance of remote Indigenous communities. The 'Northern Territory Intervention' aimed to combat abuse and violence in remote Indigenous communities, and included far-reaching changes to welfare administration, employment programmes and policing. This paper considers a hitherto obscure aspect of the Intervention: the surveillance of publicly funded computers and internet use. Between 2007 and 2012, providers of internet and computer access facilities in the affected communities were required to audit and record computer use. In this paper we examine the legal and policy dimensions of this case of governmental surveillance, using interviews, published materials and documents obtained through freedom of information processes.