Under modern conditions only North Pacific Intermediate Water is formed in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. This situation might have changed in the past. Recent studies with General Circulation Models indicate a switch to deep-water formation in the Northwest Pacific during Heinrich Stadial 1 (17.5–15.0 kyr) of the last glacial termination. Reconstructions of past ventilation changes based on paleoceanographic proxy records are still insufficient to test whether a deglacial mode of deep-water formation in the North Pacific Ocean existed. Here we present deglacial ventilation records based on radiocarbon-derived ventilation ages in combination with epibenthic stable carbon isotopes from the Northwest Pacific including the Okhotsk Sea and Bering Sea, the two potential source regions for past North Pacific ventilation changes. Evidence for most rigorous ventilation of the mid-depth North Pacific occurred during Heinrich Stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas, simultaneous to significant reductions in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Concurrent changes in δ13C and ventilation ages point to the Okhotsk Sea as driver of millennial-scale changes in North Pacific Intermediate Water ventilation during the last deglaciation. Our records additionally indicate that changes in the δ13C intermediate water (700–1750 m water depth) signature and radiocarbon-derived ventilation ages are in antiphase to those of the deep North Pacific Ocean (>2100 m water depth) during the last glacial termination. Thus, intermediate and deep-water masses of the Northwest Pacific have a differing ventilation history during the last deglaciation.


Purpose

The development of more sustainable logistics calls for innovative thinking. In order to accelerate the development in the field, there is a need for increased understanding of the process behind successful implementation of sustainable logistics innovations (SLI). The purpose of this paper is to explore the SLI process, in order to identify critical factors, challenges as well as actors involved.

Design/methodology/approach

A multiple-case study in six Swedish retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs), successful in SLI implementations, was conducted. Both within-case and cross-case analyses were applied.

Findings

The SLI process consists of five phases. The positive relationship between formalisation and SLI success is supported. Critical activities and challenges not known from literature were found in each phase. Examples are the use of logistics and customer KPIs, quickness, developing simple concepts, using a sustainability business case template and selecting where to test SLIs. Some phases are involving many internal and external actors, while others involve few internal actors. Customers are not particularly involved, and retailers involve their LSP suppliers.

Research limitations/implications

This study addresses the lack of empirical research in logistics innovation and has bridged the gap of innovation studies in other companies than in LSPs. Furthermore it has combined two developing areas, sustainable innovation and logistics innovation, into SLI. A number of critical activities and challenges, and complex patterns for actors' involvement in the SLI process phases are explored as insights from particular cases; these results could be analytically generalised to theory.

Practical implications

The practical implications lie in guiding managers who wish to improve sustainability and innovativeness in logistics and, consequently, business success. Knowledge from successful companies about which phases to go through in which sequence, which challenges that can be expected and who to include in the SLI process could imply that more companies focus on SLI.

Social implications

Knowledge on how to include sustainability in a clear innovation process, e.g., by making strong business cases, should imply an accelerated development of sustainable logistics in society.

Originality/value

This study addresses the lack of empirically-based research in logistics innovation and expands the concept to retailers.


Transparent conducting oxides (TCO's) are integral to many optoelectronic devices used for a range of display and solar energy technologies. Non-planar, 3-dimensional, TCO's offer the opportunity to support thin films of functional materials to increase light absorption, charge extraction, and wavelength-dependent manipulation of light if ordered into photonic structures. In addition increased surface area is also important for applications which rely on interfacial phenomena such as photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion, which is the focus of this investigation. Photoelectrodes have been fabricated from ordered spherical arrays of aluminium doped zinc oxide (AZO) and subsequently coated with photoactive semiconductor (CdS) nanoparticles using simple solution chemical deposition. The spheres of the structured AZO TCO are hollow and access to the internal volume supports loading of CdS as a thin film which results in increased light collection per geometric surface area. Efficient charge collection is observed, without restricting diffusion of electrolyte, allowing photocurrents ca. 20 times greater than a planar analogue.


Introduction Disease management programmes may enhance the quality of care provided to patients suffering chronic diseases. Objective To systematically assess the effectiveness of COPD disease management programmes. Methods Computerised search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), for studies evaluating interventions meeting our operational definition of disease management: >2 different intervention components; >2 healthcare professionals actively involved in patients' care; patient education; intervention lasting >12 months. Two reviewers evaluated 12,749 titles, fully reviewed 124 articles, identified and extracted data from 13 articles selected by using inclusion and exclusion criteria. Main clinical outcomes were: all-cause mortality, lung function, exercise capacity, health-related quality-of-life, symptoms, COPD exacerbations and healthcare utilisation. Meta-analysis of all-cause mortality could appropriately be performed (random effects model). Results Studies included consisted of 9 randomised controlled trials, 1 controlled trial, and 3 uncontrolled before-after trials. Results suggest that disease management programmes decrease risk of hospitalisation and modestly improve health-related quality-of-life and exercise capacity outcomes. All-cause mortality did not differ between groups (OR 0.84, 95%CI 0.54–1.40). Conclusion COPD disease management programmes seem to improve patient outcomes and health system utilisation outcomes. Future studies should explore the programmes' specific elements or characteristics that bring the greatest benefit.


ABSTRACT Previous research has repeatedly confirmed that students with special educational needs (SEN) are generally less accepted by their peers. Although inclusive teaching strategies and classroom characteristics are frequently hypothesised to improve students' social participation, empirical evidence is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate classroom characteristics and teaching practices that can help foster social participation, in general, and reduce the effect of lower social participation among students with SEN, in particular. The sample includes 518 students in 31 Grade 4 and 7 classes from Austria, of whom 99 are students with SEN. The results show that students with SEN receive fewer peer nominations and perceive their social participation to be lower compared to their peers without SEN. However, the association between SEN and self-perceived social participation is moderated by the social classroom climate, i.e. the difference becomes smaller when the social classroom climate is more positive. Furthermore, the higher the personalised instruction was rated by a student, the higher was his or her social status. The results suggest that interventions should focus not only on the improvement of individual students (with SEN) but also on changing the whole classroom environment.


In this paper, we present our results about simulation of 2D-EOF in Nano/Micro scales porous media using lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) in micro-channel for EOF. The high efficient numerical code use strongly high nonlinear Poisson Boltzmann equation to predicate behavior of EOF in complex geometry. The results are developed with precisely investigation of several effective parameters on permeability of EOF, such as geometry (channel height and number and location of charge), external electric field, thickness of Debye length (ionic concentration), and zeta potential. Our results are in excellent agreement with available analytical results. Our results show that for certain external electric field, zeta potential and porosity, there is an optimal Kh parameter (ionic concentration and channel height in this study) for velocity profiles. Based on the current study, homogenous zeta potential distribution on solid porous media, zeta potential and thickness of Debye length (Kh parameter) can dramatically affect on EOF permeability linearly or non-linearly, depend on amount of quantities. Thus, different arrangements are also considered. We show that prediction of EOF behavior in complex geometry with regarding role of effective parameters is completely possible for various applicable conditions.Copyright © 2014 by ASME


ABSTRACT Istanbul's Taksim Square has long been a place from which people have envisioned the city and the nation. As such, it has a long history of architectural interventions. This essay describes three new interventions as they appeared in July2018, two years after the failed coup attempt of 15July2016: a municipal complex commemorating the resistance to the coup attempt; the juxtaposition of a memorial photo exhibit and the void of the Atatürk Culture Center; and the rapid construction of the Taksim Mosque. Drawing on conceptualizations of landscape and scholarship on Taksim Square's contested meanings, this paper utilizes the "politics of perspective" as an analytical lens to examine how authorities are attempting to create anew way of seeing in the city. I argue that this project has acquired a new character in the aftermath of the coup attempt, placing viewers within the landscape rather than outside it.


In the early years of the twentieth century, the striking scientific developments of the period included a great increase in popular and professional attention to non-Euclidean geometry. One of the leading scholars of the subject was Henri Poincar, who was also a widely read theorist of the scientific discovery process, keenly concerned with the role of the intuition and the subconscious. His writings, and those of his interpreters, could well have increased the appeal of four-dimensional geometry for artists already attracted to the possibilities presented by these concepts. The working notes of one such artist, Marcel Duchamp, record directly his debt to ideas linked to Poincaran example of the interaction of greatly different parts of the wider culture.


Under the Nazi regime, tens of thousands of Jews lived in ghettos, working more or less normal jobs. Some of these ghettos had their own employment centers, and some employers even paid into retirements funds. Legislation known as "German Pensions for Work in Ghettos," or by its German acronym, ZRBG (Gesetz zur Zahlbarmachung von Renten aus Beschäftigungen in einem Ghetto) was passed in 2002 to grant pensions to some of these former laborers. But more than ten years after its passage, its implementation is still subject to considerable conflict. For many years, former laborers in Nazi ghettos have been fighting to get the pension that this law ostensibly guarantees them, but the vast majority of their applications have been rejected. Since 2002, around 70,000 survivors have invoked the ZRBG. However, over ninety percent of these applications were initially rejected by German authorities for various legal and practical reasons. This essay is an attempt to summarize the major steps in the implementation of the law. It begins with an overview of the historical background, and then will shift focus to the judicial, diplomatic, political, and practical problems with the implementation of the ZRBG.


Fcγ receptor (FcγR)-mediated phagocytosis is known to require tyrosine kinases (TKs). We identified c-Cbl and Cbl-b as proteins that undergo tyrosine phosphorylation during phagocytosis. Cbl-deficient macrophages displayed enhanced FcγR-mediated signaling and phagocytosis. Surprisingly, binding of IgG-coated targets (EIgG) was also enhanced. c-Cbl-deficient macrophages expressed less FcγRIIb, the inhibitory Fcγ receptor; however, this did not account for enhanced target binding. We isolated the function of one Fc receptor isoform, FcγRI, using IgG2a-coated targets (EIgG2a). Cbl-deficient macrophages demonstrated a disproportionate increase in binding EIgG2a, suggesting that signal strength regulates binding efficiency toward opsonized targets. In resting cells, FcγRI colocalized with the Src family TK Hck in F-actin-rich structures, which was enhanced in Cbl-deficient macrophages. Target binding was sensitive to TK inhibitors, profoundly inhibited following depletion of cholesterol, and ablated at 4°C or in the presence of inhibitors of actin polymerization. Sensitivity of EIgG binding to cytoskeletal disruption was inversely proportional to opsonin density. These findings challenge the view that FcγR-mediated binding is a passive event. They suggest that dynamic engagement of TKs and the cytoskeleton enables macrophages to serve as cellular "Venus fly traps", with the capacity to capture phagocytic targets under conditions of limiting opsonin density.


The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of health care providers in an acute care setting delivering care to pregnant women who are experiencing homelessness. In recent years, the number of women experiencing homelessness has significantly increased. In North America, the emerging homeless profile is that of a younger person and more often women. Living in precarious housing situations increases one's risk for serious health conditions. Women who are homeless often experience complex health issues but many intersecting barriers exist between homeless women and health care providers, which impacts the care provided. A better understanding of the health care providers who provide care is urgently needed. A narrative inquiry design was implement. We recruited 10 health care providers from antenatal, postpartum, and labour and delivery units in a large, urban tertiary care hospital. Using narrative inquiry methodology, and a conversation guide we explored care providers' personal and professional experiences over time, place, and within social contexts. Conversations with participant were held 2 or 3 times. From participants' narrative accounts, we identified four threads that were evident across their experiences: shaping and being shaped by institutional mandates, the importance of conversational spaces, the lack of interprofessional interactions and living with conflicted views about practice. Care practices are shaped by complex personal, interpersonal, and institutional factors. Contextualized learning experiences within health care settings may serve to encourage narrative reflective practices and support communities of practice with the ultimate goal to improve health care delivery for women in precarious housing situations.


The role of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in adjuvant management of optimally debulked endometrial cancer with extrauterine involvement is evolving. Recent studies have suggested an expanded role for chemotherapy and questioned the benefit of radiation therapy. Ongoing and planned clinical trials should provide clarification.


Current research on data stream classification mainly focuses on certain data, in which precise and definite value is usually assumed. However, data with uncertainty is quite natural in real-world application due to various causes, including imprecise measurement, repeated sampling and network errors. In this paper, we focus on uncertain data stream classification. Based on CVFDT and DTU, we propose our UCVFDT (Uncertainty-handling and Concept-adapting Very Fast Decision Tree) algorithm, which not only maintains the ability of CVFDT to cope with concept drift with high speed, but also adds the ability to handle data with uncertain attribute. Experimental study shows that the proposed UCVFDT algorithm is efficient in classifying dynamic data stream with uncertain numerical attribute and it is computationally efficient.


Importance Sampling (IS) is a widely used building block for a large variety of off-policy estimation and learning algorithms. However, empirical and theoretical studies have progressively shown that vanilla IS leads to poor estimations whenever the behavioral and target policies are too dissimilar. In this paper, we analyze the theoretical properties of the IS estimator by deriving a novel anticoncentration bound that formalizes the intuition behind its undesired behavior. Then, we propose a new class of IS transformations, based on the notion of power mean. To the best of our knowledge, the resulting estimator is the first to achieve, under certain conditions, two key properties: (i) it displays a subgaussian concentration rate; (ii) it preserves the differentiability in the target distribution. Finally, we provide numerical simulations on both synthetic examples and contextual bandits, in comparison with off-policy evaluation and learning baselines.


Theoretical fuzzy decision-making models mostly developed by Zadeh, Bellman, Jain and Yager can be adopted as useful tools to estimation of the total effectiveness-utility of a drug when appreciating its positive influence on a collec-tion of symptoms characteristic of a considered diagnosis. The expected effectiveness of the medicine is evaluated by a physician as a verbal expression for each distinct symptom. By converting the words at first to fuzzy sets and then numbers we can regard the effectiveness structures as entries of a utility matrix that constitutes the common basic component of all methods. We involve the matrix in a number of computations due to different decision algorithms to obtain a sequence of tested medicines in conformity with their abilities to soothe the unfavorable impact of symptoms. An adjustment of the large spectrum of applied fuzzy decision-making models to the extraction of the best medicines provides us with some deviations in obtained results but we are thus capable to select this method whose effects closest converge to the physicians' judgments and expectations. In the current speech we apply fuzzy decision making algorithms to ranking medicines in multifocal toxoplasmosis.


Abstract. In the continuing shift from engineered solutions towards more holistic methods of managing flood risk, spatial planning has become the primary focus of a conflict between land and water, water and people. In attempting to strike a balance between making space for water and making space for people, compromises are required. Through five case studies in the UK, this paper analyses the effectiveness of Planning Policy Statement 25 (PPS 25) and the processes of negotiation that it promotes. This assessment allows us to draw conclusions on the nature of the compromises this kind of negotiation can achieve and the implications of this for flood risk management. What emerges is that the beneficial impacts of decisions to develop floodplain areas are given a proper hearing and sensible conditions imposed, rather than arguments to prevent such development remaining unchallenged.


The main objective is to establish effects of occupational safety and health programs on
employee performance at Pyrethrum board of Kenya. The study objectives were; To identify
Occupational Health and Safety programs in place that affect employee performance, To identify
the kind of health and safety problems that employees go through because of the type of their
work, To examine the impact of low standards of occupational health safety programs on
productivity, To establish the measures undertaken by management of Pyrethrum board of Kenya
to curb the effects of occupational health safety of employees. The study adopted employed a
descriptive research design to agree on the effects of occupational safety and health programs on
employee performance at Pyrethrum board of Kenya. A sample of 132 employees was derived.
The determination of the sample was done using Cochran's (1977) formulas. Questionnaires were
used as the main data collection instruments and a pilot study was conducted to pre-test
questionnaires for validity and reliability. Descriptive statistics data analysis method was applied
to analyze numerical data gathered using closed ended questions aided by Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS Version 17). Pearson correlation was carried out to establish the
relationship between the research variables. The findings were presented using both descriptive
and inferential statistics methods. The study found that presence of occupational healthy safety
department affected employee performance. The presence of first aid and fire extinguishers at
precise points in the company affects employee performance. Pyrethrum Company does not
organize workshop, seminar and lecturers on safety precaution and presence of a hazard
assessment data affects employee performance. The study further concludes that employees
involved in an accident at work place are compensated employee work place is safe, there is lack
of hazard assessment data due to system failure that causes accidents. There is lack of
equipment, material and clothing for occupational health safety. Finally, the study concludes that
those employees have a safe place of employment. Employees have a safe means of access to
work. Employees are not aware of compensation in case an accident occurs at the place of
work.Employees do not know their legal rights concerning occupational health. The study
recommends that employer should provide safe working environment since feeling safe at work
ranks as a very important factor in job satisfaction. Part of the employer's social responsibilities
toward employees, of necessity, should encompass industrial workers being given opportunities
to participate in periodic workshops, seminars and lectures to sharpen their awareness on safety
precautions. Every workplace should demonstrate respect for the natural environment and
occupiers should work towards achieving the goals of no accidents, no harm to people and no
damage to the environment. Employers should take it as their responsibility to ensure the
working environment is safe.


The aim in this experiment was to determine whether demonstrations that focus on end-point related information, in this case, ball-trajectory information (BALL), are more effective in teaching motor skills than more traditional demonstrations which focus on movement technique (BODY). Nineteen participants with low-level soccer experience practised a left-footed, soccer-chip shot, which required them to land a ball on a target, while clearing a height barrier. Information concerning how to achieve the task goal was manipulated. Participants either received demonstrations of an expert performing the skill (i.e., BODY, n = 10) or they received a demonstration of the expert's ball flight path (BALL, n = 9). The participants were asked to match the criterion flight or form to achieve the task goal. Feedback concerning ball flight and movement form was controlled, although all participants received KR. Trials were videotaped for analyses and feedback and movement kinematics were collected using 3D cameras on a selection of trials. Both groups improved during acquisition although there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of outcome attainment (i.e., height success and radial error). In retention, the BALL group showed more accurate performance relative to the BODY group, when demonstrations and feedback were withheld. Only in acquisition were any differences between the two groups noted in terms of movement kinematics. The BODY group showed a closer approximation to the model in terms of how various joint displacement angles were obtained (but not the actual angles) in comparison to the BALL group. These results provide initial evidence to support the use of end-point template matching strategies for teaching complex movement skills, such as those common in sports which require the accurate displacement of some external object (such as a ball or disc).


The relationship between social skill deficits and emotional and behavioural problems has led researchers to examine the cognitive and behavioural elements of social skill acquisition in childhood. This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of two components of the Aussie Optimism program for enhancing social behaviour in late childhood.
One hundred and twenty-eight children (68 boys and 60 girls) aged between 9 and 12 years from two schools participated in the study: (a) 34 students received the social life skills program; (b) 49 students received the optimistic thinking skills program; and (c) 45 students were assigned to a no-treatment control group.

Children were assessed with self-report and teacher-report measures of social skills, adjustment and explanatory style at pretest, posttest and three months follow-up. In addition, the relationship between these variables at pretest and health-related variables measured throughout the intervention was examined. The results indicated that the social skills program improved the social skills of participating children at posttest. No intervention effects were found for explanatory style. No intervention effects were found for teacher-rated measures of behaviour or adjustment, although in general students improved on these measures over time. Eating breakfast was associated with increased social skills, and better teacher-rated academic performance and adaptive functioning at pretest. Stressful life events were negatively correlated with academic performance and teacher-rated happiness at pretest, and higher exercise levels were associated with less teacher-rated social problems at pretest.

This research indicates that the social life skills intervention program improves the social skills of participating children in the short-term. Limitations and implications of the present findings are discussed. Further research is needed to clarify the impact of health-related variables on intervention outcomes for children.


Overweight and obesity are multifactorial diseases caused by an imbalance in energy metabolism. An underlying genetic predisposition is often a factor in these conditions. In the cat breeding family of the Institute of Animal Nutrition at the Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zurich, a segregating overweight phenotype with a genetic contribution was observed. From this breeding family, 26 kittens were followed from birth up to 8 months of age. During this time, food intake was measured using an automatic feeding station, and energy expenditure was investigated using indirect calorimetry at the ages of 4 and 6 months. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was performed and blood glucose, leptin and insulin were measured at the ages of 4, 6 and 8 months. The kittens were also weighed daily for the first 2 weeks of life, every second day until weaning and once per week until 8 months of age. The body condition score (BCS) was evaluated monthly between 2 and 8 months of age. The main finding of this study is that a predisposition to overweight is connected to a higher food intake early in life, with no significant alterations in energy expenditure. The leptin blood levels were related to body fat percentage, and insulin sensitivity did not seem to be affected.


In any parametric inference problem, the robustness of the procedure is a real concern. A procedure which retains a high degree of efficiency under the model and simultaneously provides stable inference under data contamination is preferable in any practical situation over another procedure which achieves its efficiency at the cost of robustness or vice versa. The densitypower divergence family of Basu et al. (1998) provides a flexible class of divergences where the adjustment between efficiency and robustness is controlled by a single parameter �. In this paper we consider general tests of parametric hypotheses based on the density power divergence. We establish the asymptotic null distribution of the test statistic and explore its asymptotic power function. Numerical results illustrate the performance of the theory developed. AMS 2001 Subject Classification: 62F03, 62F35


Directive 2011/83 on consumer rights is a case of misleading advertising. Despite its grand title, it is little more than an up-dating of the Directives on doorstep and distant selling which also re-casts them as measures of maximum, not minimum, harmonization. The real interest lies in why the Directive is such a mouse. And this story tells of political resistance to the Commission's original plan to convert also the far more significant Directives on unfair terms and consumer sales to the maximum model. This vertical shift in regulatory responsibility, driven by an aggressive rhetoric of improving "coherence" in harmonized EU contract law, was firmly rejected, with the result that the finally adopted text is stripped of any depth of ambition. Consequently Directive 2011/83 on consumer rights is not without interest for its choice of detailed regulatory technique, explored in this paper, which focuses on pre-contractual information disclosure, post-agreement rights of withdrawal and limited aspects of contractual performance. But much more so, it reveals the contested heart of the EU's internal market project - coherence achieved by suppression of national regulatory competence (unity) or preservation of regulatory experimentation and local autonomy (diversity). The making of Directive 2011/83 demonstrates political readiness to shield the latter from the Commission's current predilection for the former.


The period under study was characterized by two min features: the appointment of members of the local family as governors and the trend towards lengthening the tenure of governors. An investigation of the causes which brought about these developments shows that the decline of the Ottoman central administration facilitated the emergence of local power groups. The transfer of the command of the Pilgrimage, previously mainly held by local notables, to the governors of Damascus was a major factor behind the lengthening of their tenure. The object of this study is to show how these developments came about and how the history of Damascus was shaped as a result The principal sources include Arabic manuscripts and archival material. These are surveyed in the first chapter. The second chapter deals with the limits of the province of Damascus, analyses the importance of the period under study and examines various aspects of the administration and the religious institutions. The local political developments which immediately preceded the appointment of the first 'Azm governor, Ismail Pasha, to Damascus are discussed, together with the origin of the 'Azms, in the first half of Chapter 3. The remaining part of the chapter deals with his governorship and with the causes behind the downfall of the 'Azm governors in 1730. The period between 1730 and 1741 which is discussed in chapter 4, saw five governors appointed to Damascus, one of whom was a 'Azm. The causes behind the rehabilitation of the 'Azms are discussed here. Chapter 5 is devoted to the third phase of 'Azm rule in Damascus in the period between 1741 and 1757. After it their power was weakened. It was not till 1771 that a 'Azm was again appointed to Damascus. The period between 1757 and 1760, which is discussed in Chapter 6, saw the governors seriously challenged by local forces inside and outside Damascus. They held the field for the time being, however, After 1760 the forces in Damascus were quiescent, but the outside dangers were increasing. A large part of Chapter 7 is devoted, therefore, to an analysis of these dangers, which culminated with the occupation of Damascus by the Mamluks of Egypt in 1771. The final chapter discusses the difficulties which the 'Azm governor, Muhammad Pasha, encountered in his attempt to restore the hegemony of Damascus. His death in 1783 marks the decline of 'Azm power and the transfer of the political initiative in southern Syria to the governor of Sidon, Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzar,


At the beginning of the school year, I cast my best "hook" for grabbing my students' attention: I challenge my eighth graders to investigate a bit of history that they interact with every day--the history of their own school. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Our "school history" unit of study usually takes place over the course of seven to nine days. In addition to building enthusiasm for social studies, this unit achieves several academic objectives. I want my students 1. To learn how to investigate and analyze primary historical sources, 2. To learn about the school's history, 3. To begin to see how this local history fits with the recent history of our nation, and 4. To plan and write a quality paper of several parts. There are also social skills that students learn or practice in this unit of study on school history: 1. How to cooperate with peers (while examining historical evidence), 2. How to work with an "archivist" (the teacher), and 3. How to handle valuable papers (a historical collection) with respect. In the beginning, I did not sit down and write out a seven-day unit of study. The project developed gradually over several years through trial and error and personal research. A Discovery A few years ago, while doing research for a graduate class, I visited the main branch of the District of Columbia Public Library in Washington, D.C.--the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library-and was thrilled to find a whole room dedicated to local D.C. history called the Washingtoniana Room. I was so intrigued that I returned to investigate the history of the public school where I teach, Stuart-Hobson Middle School in Washington, D.C. The librarian brought out vertical files on the school and several boxes. I was dumbfounded. There was a 1924 obituary for Alexander Tait Stuart (whose last name appears in the name of our school). There were articles from the 1960s about a local civil rights activist named Julius Hobson (Aha! There was the second part of our school's name. See the biographies in SIDEBAR 1). There were articles about two separate schools, Stuart Junior High and Hobson Middle School, joining together to form the "Capitol Hill Cluster Schools." There was so much material--and I had only begun to look in these files filled with old newspaper clippings. I began thinking about how to introduce my students to this interesting collection. An Early Attempt Originally, I wanted my students to have the experience of going to a library and digging out historical sources as I had done. So I gave my students some basic questions and two weeks to go the library, examine the materials, and create a final, typed report. But my instructions were too ambiguous, and I sent students off without teaching them how to investigate primary sources or handle historical papers. They were frustrated, and their reports were filled with misinformation. To my horror, a librarian called me to say that some items from the vertical files were missing. So I changed my approach the following year: I brought the materials into the classroom. I made photocopies of primary source materials and created seven sets of documents that students could examine in small groups, under the teacher's supervision, over several class periods. I also brought the detailed work of research and writing into the classroom. I explained to students step-by-step how a researcher goes to work in a library or archive. I told students how archives work, how to take notes from evidence, and how to work with a librarian to preserve the collection. I created lists of questions to guide students in their research and subsequent writing. Finally, I monitored students as they explored the collections of (copied) documents, discussed the evidence with their peers, took notes about the form and content of historical sources, and gradually constructed a report about what they had discovered. …


By an outcrop investigation to Nanqing anticlinal profile, located between Zhongsuo and Mianshan towns in northern Xichang Basin, it is considered that palaeo reservoir trace exists in Upper Triassic Baiguowan sandstone. In addition, by an analysis of organic geochemical index of the reservoir extraction from Baiguowan sandstone, it is indicated that the reservoir is a product of matured source rocks,which deposited in an anoxic reducing environment with high salinity. A source correlation was made between reservoir extraction and every source bed, reflecting that the source of Baiguowan sandstone palaeo reservoir in northwestern basin belongs to a mixed source from either Baiguowan continental source or underlying marine source in northern basin. The time of Baiguowan source entering into palaeo reservoir should be after early Cretaceous. An unconformity, which occurs between the bottom of Baiguowan sandstone and Palaeozoic, is the main migration channel to connect many Palaeozoic source beds.


If it is hypothesized that there is no dark matter, then some alternative gravitational theory must take the place of general relativity (GR) on the largest scales. Dynamical measurements can be used to investigate the nature of such a theory, but only where there is visible matter. Gravitational lensing is potentially a more powerful probe as it can be used to measure deflections far from the lens and, for sufficiently large separations, allow it to be treated as a point-mass. Microlensing within the local group does not yet provide any interesting constraints, as only images formed close to the deflectors are appreciably magnified, but stacking of multiple light-curves and observations of microlensing on cosmological scales may be able to discriminate between GR and non-dark matter theories. Galaxy–galaxy lensing is likely to be a more powerful probe of gravity, with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) commissioning data used here to constrain the deflection law of galaxies to be for impact parameters in the range . Together with observations of flat rotation curves, these results imply that, in any gravitational theory, photons must experience (close to) twice the deflection of massive particles moving at the speed of light (at least on these physical scales). The full SDSS data set will also be sensitive to asymmetry in the lensing signal and to variation of the deflection law with galaxy type. A detection of either of these effects would represent an independent confirmation that galaxies are dark matter-dominated; conversely, azimuthal symmetry of the shear signal would rule out the typically ellipsoidal haloes predicted by most simulations of structure formation.


Detailed morphotectonic and geological research shows the the Quaternary surface deformation processes associated with the thrusting in the eastern Shonai basin, northeast Japan.The Neogene and Quaternary structure in the eastern Shonai basin is dominated by a series of major north-south trending folds and thrust belts which include the Aosawa trend, the Sakata trend, and the Oishi trend from east (mountain-side) to the west (basin central-side). The Aosawa trend, which bounded the Shonai basin and the Dewa Hills, began to move in the late Pliocene. The Sakata trend and the Oishi trend, which are located at the eastern margin of the Shonai alluvial lowland, began to move in the Early Pleistocene and the Middle Pleistocene, respectively with the frontal migration of thrusting. These structures are interpreted to be fault propagation folds on a east dipping detachment fault.On the Aosawa trend, the late Pleistocene terraces are tilted with little faulting overlying the late Pliocene to middle Quaternary reverse faults. On the Sakata trend, the late middle Pleistocene deformation is similar to the underlying Neogene structure, which is characterized by asymmetrical folds with thrusts. On the Oishi trend, the late Quaternary terraces deformed as asymmetrical folding with a narrow flexure zone on the western (thrust tip side) limb overlying symmetrical early to middle Quaternary folds. These morphological figures show the general deformation processes of each structure in the eastern Shonai fold and thrust zone as follows.·In the early stage, the tip of the concealed thrust elongates to the surface, so the figurefor surface deformation changes from symmetrical folding to asymmetrical folding with a narrow flexure zone on the thrust tip side limb.·In the middle stage, the fault tip reaches near the surface, with continuing uniformdeformation composed of asymmetrical folding with surface faulting.·In the later stage, the thrusting on the fault near the surface is decreased, and gentletilting becomes to predominate on the surface.A simple dislocation model suggests that the elongation rate of the fault tip of the thrust underlying the Oishi trend is about 1 mm/yr in the late Pleistocene. This rate is similar to its vertical displacement rate.


We identify the existence of nonlinear optical (NLO) activity in a number of novel ABX3-type
metal-free perovskites, where A is a highly tuneable organic cation, B is a NH4 cation and X a
halide anion. Through systematic first-principles calculations, we identify important trends to chart
the second-harmonic generation of this class of materials. We study three perovskites MDABCO-
NH4 I3 , CNDABCO-NH4 I3 and ODABCO-NH4 I3 for use as deep-UV second-harmonic generation
materials. We identify the role of the dipole moment imparted by the organic group on the A
cation as an important parameter to tune the NLO properties of these materials. We apply this
knowledge functionalising the organic group DABCO with the highly polar cyanide CN group,
and we demonstrate a significant improvement of the NLO response in this family of materials.
These findings can accelerate the application of metal free perovskites as inexpensive, non-toxic,
earth-abundant materials for the next generation of optical communication applications.


Integration of renewable energy and optimization of energy use are key enablers of sustainable energy transitions and mitigating climate change. Modern technologies such the Internet of Things (IoT) offer a wide number of applications in the energy sector, i.e, in energy supply, transmission and distribution, and demand. IoT can be employed for improving energy efficiency, increasing the share of renewable energy, and reducing environmental impacts of the energy use. This paper reviews the existing literature on the application of IoT in in energy systems, in general, and in the context of smart grids particularly. Furthermore, we discuss enabling technologies of IoT, including cloud computing and different platforms for data analysis. Furthermore, we review challenges of deploying IoT in the energy sector, including privacy and security, with some solutions to these challenges such as blockchain technology. This survey provides energy policy-makers, energy economists, and managers with an overview of the role of IoT in optimization of energy systems.


[1] We derived a coseismic slip model for the Mw 7.9 2008 Wenchuan earthquake on the basis of radar line-of-sight displacements from ALOS interferograms, GPS vectors, and geological field data. Available interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data provided a nearly complete coverage of the surface deformation along both ascending (fine beam mode) and descending orbits (ScanSAR to ScanSAR mode). The earthquake was modeled using four subfaults with variable geometry and dip to capture the simultaneous rupture of both the Beichuan fault and the Pengguan fault. Our model misfits show that the InSAR and GPS data are highly compatible; the combined inversion yields a 93% variance reduction. The best fit model has fault planes that rotate from shallow dip in the south (35°) to nearly vertical dip toward the north (70°). Our rupture model is complex with variations in both depth and rake along two major fault strands. In the southern segment of the Beichuan fault, the slip is mostly thrust (<13 m) and occurred principally in the upper 10 km of the crust; the rupture progressively transformed to right-lateral strike slip as it propagated northeast (with maximum offsets of 7 m). Our model suggests that most of the moment release was limited to the shallow part of the crust (depth less than 10 km). We did not find any "shallow slip deficit" in the slip depth distribution of this mixed mechanism earthquake. Aftershocks were primarily distributed below the section of the fault that ruptured coseismically.


Background: Cellulose can be converted to ethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF). The difference between the optimal temperature of cellulase and microbial fermentation, however, has been identified as the critical problem with SSF. In this study, one fungal strain ( AnsX 1) with high cellulase activity at low temperature was isolated from Antarctic soils and identified as Verticillium sp. by morphological and molecular analyses. Results: The biochemical properties of crude AnsX 1 cellulase samples were studied by filter paper cellulase assay. The maximum cellulase activity was achieved at low temperature in an acidic environment with addition of metal ions. Furthermore, AnsX 1 cellulase demonstrated 54-63% enzymatic activity at ethanol concentrations of 5-10%. AnsX 1 cellulase production was influenced by inoculum size, carbon and nitrogen sources, and elicitors. The optimal culture conditions for AnsX 1 cellulase production were 5% inoculum, wheat bran as carbon source, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 as nitrogen source, and sorbitol added in the medium. Conclusions: Our present work has potential to enable the development of an economic and efficient cold-adapted cellulase system for bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels in future.


Proposed is a bidirectional integrated random fields (BIRF) model for human behaviour understanding. The traditional hidden-state conditional random fields (HCRF) and conditional random fields (CRF) are bridged by modifying the feature functions of both, which propagates sequence classification or segmentation information in-between. Consequently, the sequence classification result by HCRF and the sequence segmentation results by CRF can be utilised to supervise the decision of each other and the performance of both models will be boosted iteratively. Large-scale experiments show that the BIRF model can achieve competing performance with the state-of-the-art methods for human behaviour understanding.


On 19 November 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Auton (Guardian ad litem of) v. British Columbia (Attorney General) (1). Contrary to both the lower courts, (2) the Court held that the refusal of the Province of British Columbia to fund a particular treatment for autistic children did not violate the right to equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter). (3) As McLachlin C.J.C. explained, the issue before the Court was "not what the public health system should provide, which is a matter for Parliament and the legislature. The issue [was] rather whether the B.C. Government's failure to fund these services under the health plan amounted to an unequal and discriminatory denial of benefits under that plan, contrary to s. 15 of the Charter." (4) The petitioners, however, failed to establish that the denial of benefits violated the Charter. (5) While the government must provide services authorized by law in a non-discriminatory manner, discrimination was not established because the benefit claimed, funding for all medically required services, was not provided by law, nor had the government excluded autistic children on the basis of disability. (6) Determining which denials of a health care service violate equality rights and which do not is a difficult task. (7) Moreover, this issue will likely continue to be "contentious ... as the availability of a growing array of new and often expensive modalities challenges those responsible for allocating limited health care budgets in a fair and efficient manner." (8) The Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Auton sets an important legal precedent and framework for examining the issue of the equitable allocation of resources. This comment examines two components to this framework: "medical necessity" and the equality analysis under s. 15. After summarizing the facts and the two lower court decisions, I shall argue that the Supreme Court of Canada's analysis in Auton is consistent with prior case law, and though not groundbreaking, provides useful clarification and guidance. Facts The four infant petitioners suffer from autism, a neuro-behavioral syndrome caused by dysfunction of the central nervous system. (9) A 1987 study published by Dr. O. Ivar Lovaas suggested that Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) or Intensive Behavioral Invention (IBI) may help some autistic children between ages three and six. (10) This intensive therapy costs between $45,000 and $60,000 per year for a single child. (11) The petitioners and other individuals lobbied the Province of British Columbia to provide funding for the therapy. J2 At the time of trial, the government funded several programs for young autistic children and seemed to be moving toward funding some form of early intervention therapy. (13) Nevertheless, the government had not established funding for ABA/IBI therapy. (14) Among the factors contributing to the government's hesitance were financial constraint and "the emergent and somewhat controversial nature of ABA/IBI therapy." (15) The petitioners sought a declaration that the denial of funding for Lovaas therapy (a particular type of ABA/IBI therapy) by the Ministries of Health, Education and Children and Families violated s. 7 and s. 15 of the Charter. They also sought an order of mandamus requiring the Crown to pay for the costs of past and future treatment. Decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court Allan J. addressed only the claim against the Ministry of Health because she considered the claim to primarily a health care issue. (16) Having thus narrowed the claim, Allan J. found that applied behavioral therapy is a "medically necessary service" for autistic children. (17) In making this finding, she rejected the Crown's "narrow definition of a 'medically necessary service' as one that must be provided by a health care practitioner." (18) Instead, she determined that a more precise definition was "whatever cures or ameliorates illness. …


Richard Posner is one of the few legal minds to have noticed the affinity between the philosophies of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and Friedrich Nietzsche. This article examines that affinity, showing how Holmes's pragmatism both comports with and departs from Nietzsche's existentialism. Holmes's pragmatism shares with Nietzsche's existentialism a commitment to skepticism, perspectivalism, experiential knowledge, and aesthetics, as well as an abiding awareness of the problematic nature of truth and the fallibility of the human mind. We demonstrate here that Holmes was familiar with Nietzsche's writings and that the two thinkers turned away from Christian ethics and glorified the life struggle in distinctly evolutionary terms. Both men celebrated the individual capacity to exercise the will for purposes of personal autonomy, greatness, and creative or aesthetic achievement. Nietzsche, however, did not share Holmes's belief in the pragmatic potential of meliorism, which marks the distinction between their notions of fate. The thinking of Nietzsche and Holmes converges in the person of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was a manifest influence on both Holmes and Nietzsche and whose thinking on fate and power, inflected as it is by aesthetic pragmatism, shapes our understanding not only of Holmes and Nietzsche in isolation but also of Holmes and Nietzsche as paired, ambitious philosophers concerned about the role of fate and power in human activity.


Beginning in the 1990s, a trend of using the security dilemma to explain ethnic violence has emerged. However, previous research mainly focuses on individual cases with large-scale violence; whether ethnic security dilemma theory is a sound approach to explain less violent ethnic conflict remains unclear. This paper employs a large-N design and tests the hypothesis that the ethnic security dilemma causes ethnic conflicts, without discriminating between differences in severity and scale of conflict. The paper also conducts a longitudinal comparison with a previous quantitative model using the latest data available. The empirical results do not support the hypothesis and suggest that the explanatory power of the ethnic security dilemma has declined over time. Although there is no definite conclusion that the ethnic security dilemma is not a useful explanation for less violent ethnic conflicts, given the limitations of this research, I conclude with a theoretical discussion questioning the applicability of the theory. Supplemented with this qualitative assessment, I conclude that a quantitative study of the ethnic security dilemma used to explain ethnic violence may not be a viable option for future research in this field. This article is available in Res Publica Journal of Undergraduate Research: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/respublica/vol17/iss1/9


This study describes an evaluation of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) reform model in first-semester general chemistry. PLTL was implemented in place of one-third of the available lecture time, maintaining the same amount of structured class time under the reform. The evaluation demonstrates that classes implementing the PLTL reform at the setting featured a statistically significant improvement of 15% in the pass rate for the classes, compared to conventional, lecture-only classes at the same setting. Additionally, the PLTL classes maintained a comparable score on a comprehensive American Chemical Society final exam to that of the conventional classes. Combined, these findings suggest that the improvement in pass rates occurs while maintaining the same level of rigor in the PLTL classes. Examining student groups shows that students in underrepresented minority groups demonstrated the largest improvement in pass rates with the PLTL reform.


Patient: Female, 6-year-old Final Diagnosis: Burkitt's leukemia Symptoms: Right iliac fossa pain Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Laparoscopic cecectomy Specialty: Surgery Objective: Rare disease Background: Appendicitis is the most common cause of an acute abdomen. Approximately 1% of appendicectomies will have an incidental finding of an appendiceal neoplasm. A primary appendiceal lymphoma is extremely rare, and is found in 0.015% of all appendiceal specimens. Burkitt lymphoma is an aggressive B cell lymphoma characterized by translocation and dysregulation of the c-Myc gene. Burkitt leukemia is considered to be an alternative manifestation of the same pathology, and is defined by the presence of >25% Burkitt blasts within the bone marrow. The treatment approaches for Burkitt leukemia/lymphoma are similar. Case Report: A 6-year old girl presented with a history, examination, and radiological imaging consistent with acute appendicitis. An inflamed, edematous appendix was identified intraoperatively, and a cecectomy was performed. Histopathological investigations demonstrated Burkitt leukemia with isolated extra-nodal involvement of the appendix. The patient was subsequently started on a multi-agent steroid and chemotherapy regimen. A literature review was performed, identifying cases of Burkitt leukemia/lymphoma presenting as appendicitis. Conclusions: This case highlights the importance of clinical vigilance and routine specimen histopathology review, and explores key management considerations associated with the incidental diagnosis of Burkitt leukemia/lymphoma.


Description: Emphasizes practical issues and examples of decision making with applications in engineering design and management Featuring a blend of theoretical and analytical aspects, Engineering Decision Making and Risk Management presents multiple perspectives on decision making to better understand and improve risk management processes and decision–making systems. Engineering Decision Making and Risk Management uniquely presents and discusses three perspectives on decision making: problem solving, the decision–making process, and decision–making systems. The author highlights formal techniques for group decision making and game theory and includes numerical examples to compare and contrast different quantitative techniques. The importance of initially selecting the most appropriate decision–making process is emphasized through practical examples and applications that illustrate a variety of useful processes. Presenting an approach for modeling and improving decision–making systems, Engineering Decision Making and Risk Management also features:-Theoretically sound and practical tools for decision making under uncertainty, multi–criteria decision making, group decision making, the value of information, and risk management-Practical examples from both historical and current events that illustrate both good and bad decision making and risk management processes-End–of–chapter exercises for readers to apply specific learning objectives and practice relevant skills-A supplementary website with instructional support material, including worked solutions to the exercises, lesson plans, in–class activities, slides, and spreadsheets An excellent textbook for upper–undergraduate and graduate students, Engineering Decision Making and Risk Management is appropriate for courses on decision analysis, decision making, and risk management within the fields of engineering design, operations research, business and management science, and industrial and systems engineering. The book is also an ideal reference for academics and practitioners in business and management science, operations research, engineering design, systems engineering, applied mathematics, and statistics.


The current study examined learning temperaments and needs differences between at-risk students receiving psychosocial and academic interventions with an average performing comparison group. In all, 293 males and 408 females, consisting of 472 at-risk, and 229 comparison students were surveyed. Dependent measures were obtained through administration of the Nunn Assessment of Learning Temperament (NALT). Results indicated significant main and interaction effects. Implications for educational intervention are discussed. Temperamental and self-perception differences continue to receive intense interest in the psychoeducational literature (Brophy, 1996; Carey, 1998; Nunn & Parish, 1992; Rothbart & Jones, 1998). Studies of learning have long emphasized the role that temperamental characteristics, perception of needs, and accommodating for these differences can play in facilitating successful response to the learning environment (Ackerman, Kyllonen, & Roberts, 1999; Nunn, 1995). As Carey (1998) has noted, "Certain temperament traits ... are particularly likely to create a `poor fit' with the caregiving environment and generate the dissonance and excessive stress that lead to behavioral or other functional problems in the child" (pg. 527). Currently, American education is challenged to fulfill the needs of students termed "at-risk," in order to capture talents and human resources. Discerning temperaments of at-risk youth relative to learning and instructional practices is a productive avenue in which actions can be taken to facilitate each students' unique approach to the learning environment (Barr & Barrett, 1995; Mills, Dunham, & Alpert, 1988; Sartain, 1989; Slavin, Karweit, & Madden, 1989). In this respect, middle to late adolescence presents some of the greatest challenges to educators as they attempt to accommodate for temperamental considerations (Brophy, 1996; Nunn, 1995). As such, adolescence is an opportunity in which support of learning temperaments is helpful to both educators and students alike. Such individualization is proactive in nature and emphasizes the importance of working with student affinities (Levine, 1994). The present study attempts to further define at-risk adolescents' perceptions of temperaments in an effort to clarify how best to support their success. Method Participants Students attending a large mid-west high school in grades 10 through 12 (N = 701) voluntarily participated in this study. In all, 293 males and 408 females, consisting of 472 at-risk, and 229 comparison students were surveyed. Students in this study were primarily caucasian, and from middle to lower-middle income backgrounds. Instrument The Nunn Assessment of Learning Temperament-NALT (Nunn, 1995) was administered as a measure of dependent variables. The NALT is a likert-type scale consisting of 110 items representing seven oblique factors that have demonstrated satisfactory statistical validity (Nunn, 1995), and reliability (Nunn, 1992). Procedure Students meeting criteria for "at-risk" were those who had demonstrated the following: a) average academic performance in the last three semesters one standard deviation or more below their peers; and b) receiving one or more academic and/or behavioral support service through the schools' at-risk program. All students completed the NALT individually or in small groups during the school day. All responses were confidential with parental permission obtained prior to completion of the instruments. Results Two-way analysis of variance was employed to examine the effects of gender and at-risk status upon NALT factors. Regarding Achievement Orientation (AO), a main effect for at-risk was obtained, F (1,518) = 42.81, p [is less than] .0001, with at-risk students being significantly less achievement oriented (M = 27.55) than were the comparison group (M = 30.79). Main effects for gender and interaction were nonsignificant. …


Formative eAssessment can be very helpful in providing high quality higher education assignments. However, there are obstacles restricting the uptake of formative eAssessment in higher education including both cultural and technical issues. When a university is encouraging the uptake of formative eAssessment internally it is useful to have case studies from academic schools detailing how academics enthusiastic about formative eAssessment have used it in their modules. It is particularly helpful if these case studies document: i.) the principle obstacles that these champions had to deal with, ii.) a cooperative-design process through which these obstacles have been dealt with by the champions (with assistance from e.g. learning technologists), and iii.) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the resulting formative eAssessments. However there is a shortage of such real-world long-term case studies. This paper helps fill this gap in the literature by describing the case of a Modern Languages module within a Russell Group university (Southampton). The formative eAssessment solution resulting from the case study utilises our QTI, mobile QTI, accessibility, and web 2.0 tools and can be positioned at the cutting edge of formative eAssessment practice. We have evaluated this with undergraduate student volunteers from Spanish modules and received positive feedback.


Managing the growing extent of fast, complex and uncertain construction projects is in many ways the focus within prevalent Lean Construction theories. An essential prerequisite to get a more effective and lean construction process is to use adequate procurement models to promote innovation and cooperation. This paper presents a study of how different project related prerequisites affect the choice of performance, remuneration and cooperation models when contracting. The results are based on a field survey among professional construction clients with the purpose to investigate how different factors such as short lead time, market competition, different kinds of uncertainties and strategic considerations are affecting the contracting process. Choosing the performance model is mainly connected to the distribution of responsibility of the design between the client and the contractor. However, project oriented and external factors can also impact this decision, e.g. lead time for project execution, technical complexity and lack of interested bidders increases the usage of design and build types of contracts. Decisions of remuneration and cooperation models are highly connected to the risk management of projects where short lead time, poor competition and different kinds of uncertainties are present. Under these circumstances and when the client wants to participate strategically in the construction process, transparent models of remuneration and cooperation during a partnership are favoured.


Swimming speeds and prey selection of temporally captive, wild grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) were investigated in relation to prey characteristics in an experimental set-up at the Sea Mammal Research Unit (St Andrews, UK). For breathhold divers, such as seals, the cost of swimming is a key variable in the management of oxygen stores. Thus it is likely that they modulate their swim speeds in order to maximise time spent feeding at a prey patch. We observed a strong relationship between swimming speed and stroke and glide pattern. Seals decreased their swim speeds by increasing their gliding period and as a result they decreased their oxygen consumption. Results indicated that mean swim speed decreased significantly with increasing distance to the patch, consistent with optimality model predictions. In addition, seals modified their swim speeds in response to changes in the speed and density of their prey. Seals decreased their swim speed as the speed of the prey increased. On the other hand, seals increased their swim speed as the density of the prey increased. Concurrently, bottom durations significantly increased suggesting that seals' foraging strategies allowed them to most efficiently exploit their environment. Prey selection experiments investigated dietary preferences and the factors affecting their choice to select between different types of food. In the present study, seals maximised some aspects of their energy intake but also displayed some individual prey preferences. These findings indicate the importance of fine-scale observations of foraging behaviour and the value of experimental protocols in developing our understanding of marine mammal foraging behaviour.


Self-assembly of nanomaterials over macroscopic dimensions and development of novel nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) hold great promise for numerous nanotech applications. However, it has always been a great challenge to find a general route for controlled self-assembly of nanomaterials and generating electromechanical response at the nanoscale level. This work indicates that self-organized anisotropic nematic liquid crystals (LC) can be exploited for nanotemplating purposes to pattern carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and Quantum dots (QDs) over a macroscopic dimension. The pattern formed by the CNTs or QDs can be controlled by applying external electric and magnetic fields, developing novel nano-electromechanical and nano-magnetomechanical systems. Self-organizing nematic liquid crystals (LC) impart their orientational order onto dispersed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and obtain CNT-self-assembly on a macroscopic dimension. The nanotubes-long axis, being coupled to the nematic director, enables orientational manipulation via the LC nematic reorientation. Electric field induced director rotation of a nematic LC+CNT system is of potential interest due to its possible application as a nanoelectromechanical system. Electric field and temperature dependence of dielectric properties of an LC+CNT composite system have been investigated to understand the principles governing CNT-assembly mediated by the LC. In the LC+CNT nematic phase, the dielectric relaxation on removing the applied field follows a single exponential decay, exhibiting a faster decay response than the pure LC above a threshold field. Due to a strong LC-CNT anchoring energy and structural symmetry matching, CNT long axis follows the director field, possessing enhanced dielectric anisotropy of the LC media. This strong anchoring energy stabilizes local pseudonematic domains, resulting in nonzero dielectric anisotropy in the isotropic LC phase. These anisotropic domains respond to external electric fields and show intrinsic frequency response. The presence of these domains makes the isotropic phase electric field-responsive, giving rise to a large dielectric hysteresis effect. These polarized domains maintain local directors, and do not relax back to the original state on switching the field off, showing non-volatile electromechanical memory effect. Assembling quantum dots (QDs) into nanoscale configurations over macroscopic dimensions is an important goal to realizing their electro-optical potential. In this work, we present a detailed study of a pentylcyanobiphenyl liquid crystal (LC) and a CdS QD colloidal dispersion by probing the dielectric property  and relaxation as a function of an applied acelectric field Eac. In principle, dispersing QDs in a nematic LC medium can direct the dots to align in nearly one-dimensional chain-like structures along the nematic director and these assemblies of QDs can be directed by external electric fields. In a uniform planar aligned cell, the Fréedericksz switching of the LC+QDs appears as a two-step process with the same initial switching field as the bulk but with the final value larger than that for an aligned bulk LC. The relaxation of  immediately following the removal of Eac follows a single-exponential decay to its original value that is slower than the bulk but becomes progressively faster with increasing Eac, eventually saturating. These results suggest that the arrangement of the QDs is mediated by the LC.


ABSTRACT Background: Achieving remission in late-life depressive disorder is difficult; it is far better to prevent depression. In the last ten years there have been a number of clinical studies of the feasibility of prevention. Methods: A limited literature review was undertaken of studies from 2000 specifically concerning the primary prevention of late-life depressive disorder or where primary prevention is a relevant secondary outcome. Results: Selective primary prevention (targeting individuals at risk but not expressing depression) has been shown to be effective for stroke and macular degeneration but not hip fracture. It may also prove effective for the depression associated with caregiving in dementia. Emerging evidence finds effectiveness for indicated prevention (in those identified with subthreshold depression often with other risk factors such as functional limitation). Despite a number of promising risk factors (for example, diet, exercise, vascular risk factors, homocysteine and insomnia), universal prevention of late-life depression (acting to reduce the impact of risk factors at the population level) has no current evidence base, although a population approach might mitigate suicide. Conclusion: Interventions which work in preventing late-life depression include antidepressant medication in standard doses and Problem-Solving Treatment. When integrated into a care model, such as collaborative care, prevention is feasible but more economic studies are needed.


The aim of this paper is to study the dynamical probtem of tidal friction in a binary system consisting of deformable components, with the restriction that the angle of lag or advance of the tidal distortion with respect to the direction of the disturbing companion is small. The fractional distortion of the bodies due to rotation and tidal interaction is also treated as a first-order small quantity, and terms up to the fourth harmonic in the tidal potential are retained. In this linear approximation, the time-dependent tidal potential can be Fourier decomposed into a spectrum of simple harmonic terms, each of which is responsible for raising a 'partial wave' in the body; each such partial wave can then be treated independently of the others. This is the method first employed by Darwin. In Section 2, it is assumed that the phase lag in the response of the body (due to dissipation of kinetic energy of deformation) is proportional to the forcing frequency, which is justified for small amplitude oscillations of a viscous fluid or visco-elastic body. A simple expression is then obtained for the potential function for the distortion in terms of the disturbing potential and the structure of the body. In Section 3, the distortion potential function is employed in deriving the components R, S and W of the disturbing force which are then substituted in the Gaussian form of the equations for variation of the elements. In Section 4, the Eulerian equations for motion of deformable bodies are derived, using the so-called 'mean axes' of the body as the rotating axes of reference. In Section 5, it is shown that the dynamical effects of rotational distortion occur on a much shorter time scale than those arising from tidal friction, which allows one to consider the two phenomena as acting independently of one another. The collected set of Gaussian (orbital) and Eulerian (body) equations is re-written in terms of dimensionless variables for the tidal friction case, and the stability of the system is examined on the basis of these equations. In Section 6, the tidal friction equations are integrated numerically for the close binary system A G Persei and for the Ear th -Moon system. In the former, the integrations were started from a highly elliptical orbit and the system was found to relax into a circular orbit, with synchronous rotation perpendicular to the orbit. In the latter, the integrations were performed backwards in time from the present day, and it was found that the lunar orbit rapidly becomes highly elliptical at the time of closest approach, thus indicating a probable capture of the Moon by the Earth. This result is in agreement with that obtained by other investigators; however, it is shown that the detailed behaviour of the system at the time of capture, in particular the inclination of the lunar orbit to the ecliptic, depends critically on the chosen rate of dissipation in the Moon's interior. A simple argument is presented which allows an estimation for the mean viscosity of a fluid body from the known age of the system: for the components of AG Per, the result is 2 x l011 g cm -1 s 1, indicating that the stars must have possessed turbulent convective outer regions during some part of their tidal evolution, while for the Earth, the result is 1.4 • 1012 g cm -1 s -1. It is shown that the angle of tida! lag in nonsynchronous close binary systems in general is expected to be extremely small, and not observationally detectable.


The analysis of long economic cycles allows us to understand long-term world-system dynamics, to develop forecasts, to explain crises of the past, as well as the current global economic crisis. The article offers an historical sketch of research on K-waves; it analyzes the nature of Kondratieff waves that are considered as a special form of cyclical dynamics that emerged in the industrial period of the World System history. It offers a historical and theoretical analysis of K-wave dynamics in the World System framework; in particular, it studies the influence of the long wave dynamics on the changes of the world GDP growth rates during the last two centuries. Special attention is paid to the interaction between Kondratieff waves and Juglar cycles. The article is based on substantial statistical data, it extensively employs quantitative analysis, contains numerous tables and diagrams. On the basis of the proposed analysis it offers some forecasts of the world economic development in the next two decades.


This paper investigates whether leading indicators can help explain the cross-country incidence of the 2008-09 financial crisis. Rather than looking for indicators with specific relevance to the current crisis, the selection of variables is driven by an extensive review of more than eighty papers from the previous literature on early warning indicators. The review suggests that central bank reserves and past movements in the real exchange rate are the two leading indicators that have proven the most useful in explaining crisis incidence across different countries and crises in the past. For the 2008-09 crisis, we use six different variables to measure crisis incidence: drops in GDP and industrial production, currency depreciation, stock market performance, reserve losses, or participation in an IMF program. We find that the level of reserves in 2007 appears as a consistent and statistically significant leading indicator of the current crisis, in line with the conclusions of the earlier literature. In addition to reserves, recent real appreciation is a statistically significant predictor of devaluation and of a measure of exchange market pressure during the current crisis. That our data on the crisis period include the first quarter of 2009 may explain why we find stronger results than earlier papers such as Obstfeld, Shambaugh and Taylor (2009, 2010) and Rose and Spiegel (2009a,b).


Micro evidence on the relationship between wages and unemployment has been provided recently in a series of contributions by Blanchflower and Oswald (1994, 1995). They argue for the existence of a wage curve linking local wages to local unemployment. They claim the relationship to be static. They also claim that the unemployment elasticity of pay is -0.1 across-countries. They claim that this shows that countries exhibit the same degree of wage flexibility. In this paper we study wage determination in Argentina. We believe that both regional and national factors affect wage setting. Thus, we also favor the modelization at the regional level of aggregation. However, we show that a regional wage two-way fixed effects error component model does not identify the effect of aggregate variables on wages though it controls for them. Thus, the claim that the estimated unemployment elasticity of pay in this model provides a good measure of wage flexibility may be misleading. We propose a three-step estimator that may identify the whole set of parameters of interest in a wage equation. That is, we propose a statistical procedure that may consistently estimate the coefficients of both local and aggregate variables that affect wage setting. We reject the existence of a static wage curve in favor of a dynamic regional wage equation. Additionally, we tentatively favor an error correction mechanism representation instead of a Phillips curve type representation for the common time series component of the regional wages.


A photoresponsive quadruple hydrogen-bonded supramolecular polymer was constructed using photochromic azobenzene and ureidopyrimidinone motifs. The E-isomer of azobenzene preferred to form linear supramolecular polymers and further aggregate as its concentration increased. After irradiation with UV light, the E-isomer was converted into the Z-isomer, and the Z-isomer could also self-assemble into supramolecular polymers with a relatively low degree of polymerization. Moreover, supramolecular polymer films were fabricated by a solution casting process. These supramolecular polymers showed highly reversible trans/cis photoisomerization in both solutions and films under alternating UV and visible light irradiation.


The effects of glucose-insulin-potassium (GIK) on cardiac metabolism have been studied previously in non-diabetic patients after cardiac surgery. Although patients with diabetes mellitus can be expected to benefit most from such treatment, the impact of GIK in diabetic patients undergoing cardiac surgery remains unexplored. Therefore the present study investigates the effects of high-dose GIK on myocardial substrate utilization after coronary surgery in patients with Type II diabetes. A total of 20 patients with Type II diabetes undergoing elective coronary surgery were randomly allocated to either post-operative high-dose GIK or standard post-operative care, including insulin infusion if necessary to keep blood glucose below 10 mmol/l. Myocardial substrate utilization was studied using the coronary sinus catheter technique. Haemodynamic state was assessed with the aid of Swan-Ganz catheters. High-dose GIK caused a shift towards carbohydrate utilization, with significant lactate uptake throughout the study period and significant uptake of glucose after 4 h. Arterial levels of non-esterified fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyric acid decreased, and after 1 h no significant uptake of these substrates was found. Increases in the cardiac index and stroke volume index were found in patients treated with high-dose GIK. A decrease in systemic vascular resistance was found both in the control group and in the high-dose GIK group. We conclude that high-dose GIK can be used in diabetic patients after cardiac surgery to promote carbohydrate uptake at the expense of non-esterified fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyric acid. This could have implications for treatment of the diabetic heart in association with surgery and ischaemia.


Jatropha is the latest in a list of "miracle crops" that have been promoted in southern Africa for their perceived development benefits. This was based on promises of high yields, low water requirement, ability to grow on marginal land and lack of competition with food. In less than 10 years, tens of thousands of hectares were acquired for jatropha plantations and thousands of hectares were planted, most of which are now unused or abandoned. Overestimations of jatropha yields coupled with underestimations of the management costs have probably been the prime contributors to the collapse of most jatropha projects in southern African. However, a few projects still survive and show signs of possible long-term sustainability. We consider two such projects, a smallholder-based project in Malawi and a large-scale plantation in Mozambique. Though their long-term sustainability is not proven, both projects may increase resilience by diversifying household income streams and contributing to national fuel security. By identifying what seems to be working in these projects we provide insights as to why other projects may have failed in southern Africa and whether there is still place for jatropha in the region. In essence can jatropha still enhance local/national resilience or are jatropha's benefits just a myth?


To gain a critical understanding of the lived challenges within the managerial cycle (recruitment, employment, termination) in professional league football, the research initially followed a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews. A total of 16 professional league managers completed a face-to-face interview using open ended questions, allowing them to share their true perspectives (Dale, 1996). The interview schedule concerned the managers' perceptions of challenges faced within the role, strategies to deal with the challenges, specific skills and qualities possessed, and future challenges within the role. Data were analysed via deductive and inductive content analysis (Biddle, Markland, Gilbourne, Chatzisarantis, & Sparkes, 2001; Cote, Samela, & Russel, 1995), and emerging themes were subjected to member checking (Sparkes, 1998). The range of experiences revealed a number of proposals for how to deal with cultural, organisational and personal related challenges. The managers' ability to delegate responsibilities and to adapt effectively to changing environments seemed critical to avoid loops of accumulating problems. Unprofessional attitudes to recruitment and sackings seemed embedded in the culture. The eagerness for short-term results was perceived as a threat to sustainability in managerial work currently and in the future. The managerial cycle model was developed on the basis of Study One findings. Study Two aimed to examine the managerial cycle model by bringing in the internal (senior management and support staff) and external (Norwegian Football Association, League Managers' Associations) key stakeholder views on the training, development and support of managers within the various phases of the managerial cycle (recruitment, employment and termination). A total of 21 internal (n=18) and external (n=3) key stakeholders completed a semi-structured interview, which was analysed via both deductive and inductive content analysis. The findings gave insight in senior management experiences regarding managerial recruitment and dismissals. Support staff members reported that both frequent changes of managers detracted the ability to work professionally and longitudinally. They also suggested that the managers' receptivity to support was reduced in periods of high pressure. Further, managers were expected by their leaders to take care of their own development. These findings suggest that managers need to be skilled in self-directed learning to avoid superficiality in work. Preparing managers for the ability to adapt effectively to contextual changes appears to not be sufficiently integrated into the current formal training of managers. Study Three employed a case study approach to critically examine how the managerial lived experience might change over time. Three managers engaged in one Norwegian PL-club (full season) and one manager from an English League One club (four months) were regularly interviewed during various phases of the managerial cycle (recruitment, employment, termination). Ethnographic principles were employed in the study that aimed to better understand how the managerial experience might change across situations and conditions. The managerial experiences changed along with sporting results (ups and downs), and differed in levels of trust and communication internally. The findings argue that shared understanding and trust across organisational levels are needed to facilitate internal stability and long-term efficiency, meaning that the skills to establish these conditions are crucial for sustained sporting and organisational success. All the managers experienced challenges at cultural, organisational and personal levels related to the different phases of the managerial cycle and technical (understanding across professions), human, and conceptual skills were needed to deal with role related challenges. Given the complexity of the role, and the continuous and rapid changes that managers are exposed to, the current study suggests that contextual insights are needed to understand and ultimately advise or prepare managers sufficiently for their future role(s). Managers need consistency in their approach to gain trust from internal stakeholders, and sporting success seems to facilitate the support. To establish managerial consistency, the manager requires a clear philosophy based on cultural, organisational and personal understandings, combined with humbleness toward knowledge.


Digital versions of labor and capital can be reproduced much more cheaply than their traditional forms. This increases the supply and reduces the marginal cost of both labor and capital. What then, if anything, is becoming scarcer? We posit a third factor, 'genius', that cannot be duplicated by digital technologies. Our approach resolves several macroeconomic puzzles. Over the last several decades, both real median wages and the real interest rate have been stagnant or falling in the United States and the World. Furthermore, shares of income paid to labor and capital (properly measured) have also decreased. And despite dramatic advances in digital technologies, the growth rate of measured output has not increased. No competitive neoclassical two-factor model can reconcile these trends. We show that when increasingly digitized capital and labor are sufficiently complementary to inelastically supplied genius, innovation augmenting either of the first two factors can decrease wages and interest rates in the short and long run. Growth is increasingly constrained by the scarce input, not labor or capital. We discuss microfoundations for genius, with a focus on the increasing importance of superstar labor. We also consider consequences for government policy and scale sustainability.


An attempt was made to study the correlation between bone mineral density (BMD)with Serum Calcium in persons attending Urban Clinic. The present study was conducted in our Urban clinic those attending were 84 (25males and 59 postmenopausal females) with age group between 50 to 65 years. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated in each individual. The bone mineral density (BMD) was measured by Bone Densitometer and classified as normal, osteopenia and osteoporosis according to Tscore. Serum calcium was measured on autoanalyser.BMD scores were low in postmenopausal women and men above 56+ years age according to Tscore along with decreased Serum calcium level. There was significant association between BMD and serum calcium levels. ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY


The concept of full commutativity of displacements in the expression for strain energy density for the geometrically nonlinear problem has been introduced for the first time and fully established in this paper. Its consequences for the FEM formulation have been demonstrated. As a result, the strain energy, equilibrium equation, and incremental equilibrium equation for the geometrically nonlinear problem can all be presented in a unified manner involving various stiffness matrices that are all symmetric, unique, and explicitly expressed. As an important application, the framework has been employed in the FEM implementation of Koiter's initial postbuckling theory, which has been handicapped by its mesh sensitivity in evaluating one of the initial postbuckling coefficients. This has largely prevented it from being incorporated in mainstream commercial FEM codes. Based on the outcomes of this paper, the mesh sensitivity problem has been completely resolved without the need to use any specially formulated element. As a result, Koiter's theory can be practically and straightforwardly implemented in any FEM code. The results have been verified against those found in the literature.


The most important finding made in the field of neurobiological research during the last decade is the discovery of the enormous experience-dependent plasticity of the human brain. The elaboration and stabilization of synaptic connectivity, and therefore, the complexity of neuronal networks in the higher brain centres depend to a far greater extent than previously believed on how – or rather, for which purpose – an individual uses his brain, the goals pursued, the experiences made in the course of his life, the models used for orientation, the values providing stability and eliciting a sense of commitment. The transmission and internalization of culture-specific abilities and of culture-specific values is achieved primarily during childhood by nonverbal communication (mirror neuron system, imitation learning) as well as by implicit and explicit experiences (reward system, avoidance and reinforcement learning). Therefore the structural and functional organization of the human brain is crucially determined by social and cultural factors. Especially the frontal cortex with its highly complex neuronal networks involved in executive functions, evaluation an decision making must be conceptualized as a social, culturally shaped construct. The most important prerequisites for the transgenerational transmission of human values and their deep implementation into the higher frontocortical networks of the brains of subsequent generations are secure affectional relationships and a broad spectrum of different challenges. Only under such conditions, children are able to stabilize sufficiently complex networks and internal representations for metacognitive competences in their brains. This delicate process of experience-dependent organization of neuronal connectivity is seriously and often also persistently hampered or prematurely terminated by uncontrollable stress experiences. This danger ought be minimized by education programs aiming at the implementation of values of connectedness to others and to nature during the period of brain maturation.


With the introduction of the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)/College of American Pathologists (CAP) guidelines for human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) testing, some authors noticed an increase in equivocal HER2 determinations. Indeed, many retrospective assessments showed an increase of up to 14% in the number of equivocal cases by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization. In these cases, if after reflex testing with the same and/or an alternative specimen the HER2 test result is deemed to be equivocal, the ASCO/CAP guidelines recommend to consider HER2-targeted therapy. However, due to the absence of prospective data on the efficacy of anti-HER2 therapy in equivocal HER2 breast cancer (BC), the therapeutic decision is extremely complex, especially in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant settings. In this perspective paper, we analyse the available retrospective data aiming to answer to the dilemma whether to treat or not to treat HER2 equivocal cases with a HER2-targeted therapy.


This study investigates how different travel satisfaction survey methods influence the reported level of door-to-door travel satisfaction among travellers. The travel satisfaction measurement survey tools tested consisted of two types of smartphone applications (a satellite navigation app and a game app), an on-line survey, a paper-based semi-structured questionnaire and a focus group. Each of the measurement tools comprised of a similar set of questions, but in different formats, aimed at exploring the pros and cons of each tool among different group of travellers. In total, 5,275 valid responses were collected during the survey period from eight European cities and five FIA (Federation Internationale de I'Automobile) national motorist networks. The analysis results, with ordered logit model of travellers' reported overall satisfaction, showed that the travel satisfaction reported by different survey methods and different travel modes and user groups, correlated with distinct groups of key determinants. The relationship between and within these key determinants, however, was far from straight forward. Some were more complex than others. Some issues, such as parking availability and security, that are mostly discussed by policy makers and users may not be the ones that directly correlate with the users' overall travel satisfactions. Consistent with previous studies, the travellers' mood and previous experience influenced the reported overall journey satisfaction.


Injecting sulfate aerosol precursors into the stratosphere has been suggested as a means of geoengineering to cool the planet and reduce global warming. The decision to implement such a scheme would require a comparison of its benefits, dangers, and costs to those of other responses to global warming, including doing nothing. Here we evaluate those factors for stratospheric geoengineering with sulfate aerosols. Using existing U.S. military fighter and tanker planes, the annual costs of injecting aerosol precursors into the lower stratosphere would be several billion dollars. Using artillery or balloons to loft the gas would be much more expensive. We do not have enough information to evaluate more exotic techniques, such as pumping the gas up through a hose attached to a tower or balloon system. Anthropogenic stratospheric aerosol injection would cool the planet, stop the melting of sea ice and land‐based glaciers, slow sea level rise, and increase the terrestrial carbon sink, but produce regional drought, ozone depletion, less sunlight for solar power, and make skies less blue. Furthermore it would hamper Earth‐based optical astronomy, do nothing to stop ocean acidification, and present many ethical and moral issues. Further work is needed to quantify many of these factors to allow informed decision‐making.


Mental health and substance use disorders account for a significant proportion of disability worldwide. In many developing countries like South Africa, mental healthcare services are often inadequate, forcing people to find their own way of coping with distress and give meaning to their experiences. Therefore, this situation necessitates the conceptualisation and characterisation of the quality-of-life indicators, as well as psychosocial strategies to promote mental well-being. The objectives of this study were to assess the psychometric properties of psychological well-being (PWB) measures in the context of urban Soweto. Data were collected from participants in the Birth to Twenty Plus cohort ( n = 1327), in 2018–2019. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses conducted for measures of hope, faith, social support, general self-efficacy, and life satisfaction were taken from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Emotion Battery. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine internal consistencies; discriminant validity was assessed using Pearson correlations. Test-retest reliability analysis was conducted on a subset of participants at three time points which were at least 2 months apart. Overall, the measures of PWB were characterised as having unidimensional factor structures, good model fit indices, high internal consistency and reliability to the paragraph. This study demonstrated that the PWB measures evaluated here are psychometrically sound, and suitable to be used in the South African context.