Stromal macrophages (M phi) have been localized in situ and isolated within erythroid clusters from human marrow. Stromal M phi arborize in an extensive network uniformly distributed throughout marrow interstitium, and express the phenotype CD4+, CD11a+, CD11c+, CD13+, CD14+, CD16+, CD18+, CD31+, CD32+, FcRI+, HLA-DR+, and CD35-, transferrin receptor-negative, and CD11b (weak). They express endocytic receptor antigens, but show significant differences in myeloid antigen expression compared with freshly harvested or cultured monocytes. Human stromal M phi are therefore specialized mature marrow M phi that are accessible for further investigations in infectious, storage, or hemopoietic disorders.


Recently researchers have suggested several computational models in which, one programs by specifying large networks of simple devices. Such models are interesting because they go to the roots of concurrency - the circuit level. A problem with the models is that it is unclear how to program large systems and expensive to implement many features that are taken for granted in symbolic programming languages.

This paper describes the Concurrent Inference System (CIS), and its implementation on a massively concurrent network model of computation. It shows how much of the functionality of current rule-based systems can be implemented in a straightforward manner within such models.

Unlike conventional implementations of rule-based systems in which the inference engine and rule sets are clearly divided at run time. CIS compiles the rules into a large static concurrent network of very simple devices. In this network the rules and inference engine are no longer distinct. The Thinking Machines Corporation, Connection Machine - a 65,536 processor SIMD computer - is then used to run the network. On the current implementation, real time user system interaction is possible with up to 100,000 rules.


The crystal structure (space group P 1, a = 7.5208(4), b = 7.6430(4), c = 9.5724(4) A, α= 110.204(3), β = 103.338(6), γ= 98.281(7)°, V = 487.14(7) A 3 , Z = 1) of the new mineral batisivite, (V, Cr) 8 Ti 6 [Ba(Si 2 O 7 )]O 22 , has been determined and refined from single-crystal X-ray data to R =2.59%. Strong and sharp X-ray reflections define a C -centred monoclinic lattice with a = 4.9878(3), b =14.1899(16), c = 7.0813(2) A, β= 103.598(4)°, characteristic for members of the derbylite group. Considering additional weak and slightly di3use reflections, the pattern could be indexed with a primitive triclinic cell as cited above. There are eight metal (M) sites, with M1–M4 defining octahedral α-PbO 2 double chains and M5–M8 defining octahedral columns as in the structure of V 3 O 5 . The stacking of both units defines the structure of the derbylite type with channels that may be described as chains of empty cube-octahedra running parallel to [011] in triclinic setting. In batisivite adjacent cube-octahedra are alternately occupied by Ba and disilicate units, lowering the symmetry to triclinic. However, Ba-disilicate order is not complete. One cube-octahedron is statistically filled by ca . ¾ Ba and ¼disilicate, the other is occupied by ca. ¾ disilicate and ¼Ba. This type of disorder is in qualitative agreement with the observed slight di3usivity of the super-structure reflections. The bridging oxygen of the disilicate group occupies the same site as disordered central Ba.


This research was concerned with the integration of physical and virtual prototyping to support user evaluation in the product design process.

The research background, research aim and research objectives which give the overall guide to this research are introduced first. The top-level aim of the research was to explore the ways that physical and virtual prototypes can be simultaneously combined to support industrial designers in testing and modifying their designs. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken into the topics of product design and development, the role of physical and virtual prototype/prototyping and related prototyping integration technologies. A questionnaire survey regarding the applications of prototypes is then presented. The knowledge gained from these was used to define the needs of real time integration of physical and virtual prototyping. A method to quickly transfer the changes in a physical prototype to a virtual prototype has been proposed and developed into an integration system known as the Loughborough University Prototyping Integration System (LUPIS). The feasibility and potential benefits of this system were tested through several user trials. The generic implementation of LUPIS is then discussed and an example of the configuration of this system for a motorcycle is presented. Finally, conclusions about the outcome of the research and suggestions for future work are provided. The main conclusions drawn from the research were:
Real time integration of physical and virtual prototypes/prototyping is an efficient way of helping product design activities, especially in the product evaluation process. LUPIS has presented a new approach to achieve the real time integration. However, more advanced technologies are needed to develop this system and make it more sophisticated.

The main contributions of this research include: i) a deeper understanding of the applications of physical and virtual prototyping (obtained through literature review and questionnaire survey), ii) the needs of real time integration of physical and virtual prototyping has been defined; iii) a wide range of technologies related to prototyping integration have been investigated and analysed, and their limitations are identified; iv) The Loughborough University Prototyping Integration System has been developed and a generic implementation method has been also proposed.


The discussion of cross-deputization (mandating that police officers enforce immigration policies) is often framed as a referendum on civil rights and racial politics. Those who oppose cross-deputization often maintain that asking police to target individuals based on their immigration status endangers civil rights. Those who support cross-deputization, on the other hand, argue that enforcing immigration laws is necessary to maintain a culture of lawfulness and to preserve public safety. Previous research on the psychology of legitimacy and procedural justice, however, suggests that this is likely a false dichotomy (e.g., Alpert & Dunham, 2004; Jost & Major, 2001; Tyler & Huo, 2002), a perspective we adopt in this article. Drawing on the psychological literature on legitimacy and on our own research in the area of policing and immigration, we find that ensuring civil rights—and the perception of police fairness—does not conflict with public safety in either perception or reality. Rather, the public's belief in the fairness of law enforcement is a necessary precondition of public safety and lawfulness. In other words, because law enforcement requires legitimacy to be effective, wide-ranging concerns about racism actually become a threat to public safety. Implications for public policy are discussed.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

          — Benjamin Franklin


In recent years, a number of reforms have been made regarding the provision of care to people experiencing psychiatric disabilities. The aim of these reforms was to enable these people to participate in society and to "live as others". This political ambition, as well as research on recovery, stands to a certain extent in contrast to the message conveyed in the media, where the mentally ill/disabled to a great extent are represented as dangerous and incurable. The aim of the thesis is to analyse if, and how a group of people experiencing psychiatric disabilities create a sense of being like others, and to relate the analysis to the historical emergence of the contemporary conception of mental illness/psychiatric disability. This thesis employs the method of interviews.I highlight the informants encounter with the historically based stereotype that defines the persons as unreasonable, irrational and incapable of taking care of themselves. When the informants face the stereotype, they act to reduce the negative consequences. The informants' actions can be interpreted in terms of approaches and in this perspective the informants appear as strong actors, who, contrary to the stereotype, are capable of take care of themselves. Three approaches are described: expertise, adaptation, and distancing. In situations where the stereotype is not present, the informants can create a feeling of being like anyone else. Their stories show that the feeling of being like others is individual. The development taking place in the field is "path-dependent", meaning that the initial activity, the differentiation of persons with mental illness and the subsequent events is a development following a pattern which could explain the failure of the good political intentions. It has progressed from closed institutions to an institutionalized care service.


There have been many attempts to include citizens as more active players in the proliferation of renewable energy technologies. However, the roles that citizen users play in renewables proliferation are not limited to adoption, but include technological domestication, innovation, and market creation. This chapter first reviews innovation by citizen users in the early phases of small-scale renewable energy technologies (S-RET) technology development in wind turbines, solar collectors, and low-energy housing. It then examines user innovation and peer assistance in the later phases of diffusion in air-source and ground-source heat pumps, pellet-burning systems, and solar collectors. It reviews research user motivations, diffusion pathways, and peer intermediation, and pays particular attention to how the forms of innovative citizen energy communities are changing from locality-based community energy initiatives to distributed and Internet-mediated energy communities. The chapter concludes by drawing policy implications regarding user innovation and peer assistance in the transformation of energy systems.


Changes in construction projects are common and can lead to disruptive effects such
as project delays, cost overruns and quality deviations. The rework due to unplanned
changes can cost 10-15% of contract value. By managing these changes more
effectively, these disruptive effects can be minimised or avoided. Previous research
has approached this industry problem from an information-processing view with the
introduction of hard IT based solutions. In this knowledge age, this study argues that
effective change management can be brought about by understanding the significant
role of knowledge during change situations. In managing change, the construction
project team members bring their tacit and explicit knowledge into the problem
situation and it is this knowledge that is captured, converted and shared between the
parties during the change process.
With this knowledge-based perspective of managing project change, the research
problem is articulated for this study as follows: How does the construction project
team manage knowledge during unplanned change in the construction phase within
collaborative team settings? The research problem is investigated by a conceptual
model supported by hypotheses, which recognises and integrates process, group,
organisational and wider environmental characteristics within the change process.
The research methodology for this study adopted a phenomenological research
philosophy. Within this context, case studies were used to investigate the research
problem. The principal data collection technique used in the case studies was the
semi-structured interviews. Content analysis and cognitive mapping techniques were
used to analyse the primary data.
The case study findings reveal that different forms of knowledge are created and
shared between project team members during problem-solving activities of change
events. These knowledge flows are very much centred on tacit knowledge and
experience of project personnel. This social construction and use of knowledge in
change management challenges the prevailing codification knowledge management
solutions based on 'hard' IT approaches, which do not appreciate and accommodate
this social phenomenon. The study concludes by stressing the need to balance
codification knowledge management strategies with 'soft' personalisation strategies to stimulate and support appropriate social interaction between team members and,
thereby, enhance the creation, dissemination and shared understanding of tacit
project experience. It is through the balance of codification and personalisation
strategies that collaborative teams can successfully resolve and learn from change
events in the construction phase of projects.


The goal of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan is to reduce annual highway fatalities by 5,000 to 7,000. This goal can be achieved through the widespread application of low-cost, proven countermeasures that reduce the number of crashes on the nation's highways. This sixth volume of NCHRP Report 500, "Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan," provides strategies that can be employed to reduce the number of run-off-road collisions. The report will be of particular interest to safety practitioners with responsibility for implementing programs to reduce injuries and fatalities on the highway system.


DIKOVA, B., L.MISHCHENKO, A. DUNICH and A. DASHCHENKO, 2016. Tomato spotted wilt virus on giant hyssop and common valerian in Ukraine and Bulgaria. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 22: 108–113 Giant hyssop, Lophanthus anisatus Benth., cultivated in Ukraine, has been found for the first time naturally infected by Tomato spotted wilt virus. Common research of TSWV-infection of medicinal plants in Ukraine and Bulgaria are carried out. It was investigated that TSWV infects giant hyssop in Ukraine and common valerian in co-infection with AMV, CMV, TMV, PVY or BBWV in Bulgaria. Symptoms of the diseases and size of TSWV isolates are determined. Characteristic symptom of TSWV infection in giant hyssop was yellow mosaic on the leaves, in common valerian yellow irregular spots on the leaves. Recommendations about TSWV disease management on commercial plantations of medicinal plants in ecological conditions of Ukraine and Bulgaria are submitted in article.


Background Observational studies have indicated a high but heterogeneous prevalence of low bone mineral density (BMD) and vertebral fractures (VR) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Objectives To evaluate the relationship between SLE and BMD, osteoporosis and the risk of vertebral fracture. Methods A systematic review and meta-regression analyses were carried out according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles were identified from electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, VHL, SciELO and the Cochrane Library). The search was conducted using MesH terms, Boolean operators and keywords, which included "systemic lupus erythematosus", "osteoporosis", "bone mineral density", and "vertebral fractures". Prospective longitudinal and cross-sectional studies were considered for review without language restrictions. Articles were screened for suitability. Those selected were evaluated by two investigators, who extracted information on study characteristics, outcomes of interest, and risk of bias, and summarized the strength of evidence. Data was extracted when studies met inclusion criteria and were of sufficient quality. BMD, reported as the mean ± standard deviation evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), was analyzed including information on SLE cases and controls, treatment, menopausal status and fractures by meta-regression analysis adjusted by anatomical region. Data were analyzed using the Metafor package in R (3.0.2 version). Results In total 49 articles were identified and analyzed (12, 593 SLE cases/six anatomical regions and 14,235 controls/six anatomical regions). SLE women, but not SLE men, had a lower BMD than healthy controls (p<0.0001). When only SLE patients were analyzed, the BMD did not significantly differ between patients who had or had not received corticosteroid (CTS) therapy. Unsurprisingly, postmenopausal SLE patients had a lower BMD (lumbar spine and total hip) compared with premenopausal patients (p<0.0001). The BMD did not differ in patients with and without fractures. Conclusions This systematic review and meta-regression analysis shows that women with SLE had a higher risk of low BMD than healthy controls. The data did not show that CTS therapy had an impact on BMD. References Bultink IE. Osteoporosis and fractures in systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2012;64:2–8. Acknowledgement We would like to thank David Buss for his valuable guidance and advice during this project. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Discussions of homelessness measurement methodologies have largely focused on the generation of primary data, for example point-in-time counts. Though there is long standing tradition in the use of administrative data for measuring homelessness, relatively little examination of administrative data as method exists, i.e. the set of socio-technical practices through which administrative data are generated. This paper undertakes an internationally informed review of 50 administrative data systems in order to deconstruct these systems and stage a methodological discussion. Uniquely, the review included systems from other policy fields outside of homelessness, including health and education, in order to learn from wider data practices. The discussion elaborates on six key design considerations driving administrative data systems, including; function; data architecture; data quality; ethico-legal considerations; privacy preservation; and data access and accessibility. To conclude, we outline what an ideal data system would look like in order to improve the potential use of administrative data to measure homelessness and our response to it, but, more importantly, in mobilising data more effectively in order to facilitate research and operational uses of data. The six design elements can inform future homelessness administrative data systems, whilst also sensitising researchers and users of current administrative data to its (socially) constructed nature.


Based on the scattering properties of nonspherical dust aerosol, a new method is developed for retrieving dust aerosol optical depths of dusty clouds. The dusty clouds are defined as the hybrid system of dust plume and cloud. The new method is based on transmittance measurements from surface-based instruments multi-filter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) and cloud parameters from lidar measurements. It uses the difference of absorption between dust aerosols and water droplets for distinguishing and estimating the optical properties of dusts and clouds, respectively. This new retrieval method is not sensitive to the retrieval error of cloud properties and the maximum absolute deviations of dust aerosol and total optical depths for thin dusty cloud retrieval algorithm are only 0.056 and 0.1, respectively, for given possible uncertainties. The retrieval error for thick dusty cloud mainly depends on lidar-based total dusty cloud properties.


Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against the different coli surface antigens CS1, CS2, and CS3 of colonization factor antigen II (CFA/II) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) were generated by fusing F/O myeloma cells with spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with different preparations of purified CFA/II. Five hybrids that produced antibodies specific for CS1, CS2, or CS3 in high titer were cloned and propagated. All the anti-CS MAbs were of the immunoglobulin G1 isotype, and all gave single precipitation lines in immunodiffusion tests when reacting with CFA/II-positive E. coli extracts containing the corresponding CS factor. The binding of all the MAbs to solid-phase-bound CFA/II could be completely inhibited by purified CFA/II containing the corresponding CS factor. However, whereas one MAb against CS3 was inhibited by all of 18 different CFA/II-positive strains tested, another anti-CS3 MAb was inhibited by bacteria expressing CS1 and CS3 (CS1 + CS3 strains) or CS3 alone but not by CS2 + CS3 strains, suggesting antigenic differences in CS3 when expressed by different strains. Use of the anti-CS MAbs in slide agglutination, immunodiffusion, or a CFA inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed differences in the relative distribution of the various CS factors of CFA/II in clinical ETEC isolates from different geographic areas. By using the anti-CS MAbs in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay-nitrocellulose replica method, CFA/II-positive colonies could be detected in stool cultures from infected animals without prior isolation of the ETEC organisms.


We address the spatial elastic behavior that can be achieved through the use of a serial chain of revolute and prismatic elastic joints. We show that, regardless of the number of joints or the configuration of the links, there exists a subspace within the 21-dimensional compliance matrix space that cannot be reached by a simple serial elastic mechanism. This restriction is shown to be dual to the restriction on the stiffness matrices associated with simple parallel mechanisms. Although analogous to each other, the two restrictions correspond to different elastic behaviors. A procedure to synthesize any realizable compliance matrix with a simple serial mechanism is provided. The dualities and differences between the parallel and serial cases are discussed.


Researchers have devoted considerable efforts to design effective online marketplaces, especially with respect to the institutional structures believed to establish buyer trust in the community of sellers. Comparatively speaking, the effectiveness of social mechanisms, although practically evidenced as important, has received much less attention in e-commerce research. In the current study we explore the contribution of social mechanisms–specifically IT-enabled instant messaging, the message box, online community and informal coalition programme–to effective online marketplaces. We propose that these mechanisms facilitate social relationships and trust building processes during transactions, in addition to the existing institutional structures. When consumerto-consumer (C2C) transactions are considered risky, the buyer-seller social relationship is more critical for buyers when forming their transaction intentions. The research model is largely supported by a pilot study of 104 buyers of TaoBao.com, China's C2C leading marketplace. We discuss the findings, implications, and our preparations for a large-scale study.


Goals: To evaluate the utilization and determinants of receiving palliative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its effect on survival. Background: Palliative treatment for HCC, including transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and systemic chemotherapy, is available for patients who do not receive potentially curative therapy. The utilization and outcomes of these therapies in clinical practice are unknown. Study: We conducted a population-based cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results Registry data linked to Medicare claims of HCC patients aged above 65 years diagnosed during 2000 to 2005 who did not receive liver transplant, resection, or ablation. The proportions of patients who received TACE or systemic chemotherapy were calculated by tumor stage, liver disease status, and non-HCC comorbidity. Determinants of receiving palliative therapy were examined in logistic regression models and propensity scores were calculated. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate mortality risk. Results: We identified 3163 HCC patients (median age, 75 y; 67% men) who did not receive potentially curative treatment. Approximately 12.5% of patients received TACE and 11.0% received chemotherapy. In patients with early or intermediate stage HCC, no liver decompensation, and little or no comorbidity, only 22.8% received TACE and 13.8% received chemotherapy. Median survival was significantly higher among patients who received TACE (14.0 mo) compared with who received chemotherapy (5.0 mo) or no therapy (2.0 mo). A significant reduction in overall mortality was observed for TACE (54%) and chemotherapy (33%). Conclusions: Utilization of palliative treatment for HCC is low, which could not be explained by clinical features. However, misclassification could have occurred due to the data source. Receipt of TACE or systemic chemotherapy was associated with a reduction in mortality.


FOR YEARS, defendants opposing multi-jurisdiction product liability or alleged toxic exposure class actions in federal courts have benefited from a plethora of decisions denying certification of such classes based in whole or in part upon choice-of-law concerns. Most federal courts have found that where individual choice-of-law determinations are necessary, and different states' laws apply to different putative class members' claims, certification is improper under various subsections of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a) and 23(b). Because class actions potentially turn small value individual actions into "bet the company" litigation, the success and reliability of the choice-of-law defense has been a welcome development. However, class actions continue to be litigated in federal court, and plaintiffs are searching for new ways to reverse the trend against certification of multi-jurisdiction product liability or toxic tort classes based on choice-of-law considerations. Several writers (some of whom also represent plaintiffs in class action lawsuits) have recently argued in the academic literature that the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA") (1) alters the need for choice-of-law analysis. By increasing the likelihood that multi-jurisdiction class actions will be litigated in federal rather than state court, they argue that CAFA in essence requires that federal courts analyze the laws of multiple jurisdictions when necessary. Under this rationale, "[n]o longer is it appropriate to summarily deny certification on the grounds that multiple state laws are involved." (2) Other articles suggest that, in light of CAFA, prior interpretations of the Supreme Court's decision twenty-five years ago in Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Shutts (3) are now incorrect. Shutts rejected the application by a state court of that state's law to claims from other jurisdictions absent fulfillment of very strict conditions rarely (if ever) met in products liability or toxic tort cases. Many federal courts have incorporated Shutts in their choice-of-law determinations. Under this "new" interpretation, the authors seek to transform Shutts into support for application of a single state's law to a multi-jurisdiction class. This article summarizes recent attacks on the choice-of-law doctrine and offers defense arguments detailing why CAFA does not alter the need for or manner of its application. Although plaintiffs have not pursued these challenges yet in active litigation on a widespread basis, defendants should be vigilant in monitoring for and defending against these arguments. If plaintiffs successfully argue that choice-of-law analyses are unnecessary or, at least, do not prevent certification where material differences in applicable law exist, defendants will lose a powerful component of their class certification defense. I. The Central Nature of Choice-of-Law Analyses Although most class action defendants are familiar with the choice-of-law issues inherent in multi-jurisdiction products liability and toxic tort class actions, a brief review of Shutts and its impact on the current choice-of-law landscape provides helpful context for understanding the potential new challenges to this defense. In Shutts, a class of gas company investors located throughout the country filed suit in Kansas state court seeking application of Kansas law to their claims to recover interest on certain royalties from oil leases, most of which were not in Kansas. (4) The Kansas state court certified the class and applied Kansas law to all of the leasing agreements. (5) The defendants' appeal focused in large part on the impropriety of certification given the differences between Kansas law and the laws of the states in which the leases were located. Because state laws differed, for example, on key points such as the amount of interest (if any) that could be recovered, the Supreme Court found that the conflicts among the potentially applicable laws could have a major impact on the amount of the defendants' liability. …


Although career development theories underline the central role of information in career choice and studies show that guidance practitioners are among the main information sources of people making career choices, the actual information practices of these practitioners in their career interventions remain fragmented. Moreover, the studies on the theme of career choice associating information, information sources and information practices (whether it is among guidance practitioners or individuals in career choice) offer little conceptualization on these notions. In order to fill this gap, an online survey of 330 guidance practitioners in Quebec was conducted to document specifically their career information practices (information sources consulted and categories of career information sought). Statistical analysis show that the main career information sought relates to central elements of career choice (training programs and occupations) and the main information sources consulted are non-human and institutional. In addition, some contextual elements are associated with seeking and selecting certain categories of information and sources. The discussion highlights the importance of digital sources in the information practices of these practitioners, the association between the populations served and the choice of information sources and categories of career information and the role of co-workers as information support on career and beyond.


Trawling causes widespread physical disturbance in shallow shelf seas. While the impacts of trawling on the biomass and community structure of benthic fauna are well known, no existing studies have quantified the effects of trawling disturbance on the absolute production of small benthic infauna. We investigated the effects of beam trawling disturbance on the production of small benthic infauna (AFDM > 0.78 to 62.5 mg) at 9 sites that were subject to a 17.5-fold range in annual trawling disturbance, using a size-based approach that could be applied to other soft-bottom systems. We developed a generalised additive model to test for relationships between trawling disturbance and infaunal production and size structure, after accounting for differences in sediment characteristics and depth. The statistical power of our analyses to detect linear and non-linear relationships between production and disturbance, including increased production at intermediate levels of disturbance, was high (>90% probability of detecting a 50% change in production across the range of disturbance). The analyses showed that trawling frequencies of 0.35 to 6.14 times yr-1 did not have a significant effect on the production of small infauna or polychaetes. This result contrasts with order of magnitude decreases in the production of large infauna, and shows that small polychaetes with fast life histories are less vulnerable to trawling disturbance. Since small infaunal polychaetes are a key source of food for flatfishes, we conclude that beam trawling disturbance does not have a positive or negative effect on their food supply.


Abstract —
 A new taxon of Botryosphaeriaceae associated with Arrhenatherum and Dactylis was collected in Italy. Single ascospore isolates were obtained and formed asexual morphs in culture. Multi-gene phylogenetic analysis was carried out using ITS, LSU nrDNA and EF1-&agr; sequence data and the resulting phylogenetic tree showed that new species clustered in Botryosphaeriaceae together with Tiarosporella species with high bootstrap support. The new species is introduced as a sexual morph of Tiarosporella and detailed descriptions and illustrations are provided. A discussion of the asexual morphs of Tiarosporella is provided.


The concepts of nano-science and technology are penetrating into the aspects of environmental science and technology. Environmental nano-pollutants (ENP) is suggested. as a specific category of pollutants that presents many common critical characters impacting the natural and social ecosystems. The outstanding properties are the various reactions in the macro-interfacial processes. Several examples as the adsorption of rare-earth metals on Chinese loess, the adsorption of PAHs on aquatic sediments with humic substances and the speciation of nano-flocculants in the water and wastewater treatment are discussed in the paper.


This project is a study of the politics of mass literacy in India. It sets the problem of literacy in the context of public discourses, institutional practices and formation of various identities related to educational and development goals in contemporary Indian society. The study is centered around specific case studies of two villages under the 'Total Literacy Campaign' (TLC) launched nationwide in May 1988 by the National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA). Despite marginal improvement in literacy rates since independence, there has been a steady increase in the absolute number of total 'illiterates', which is bigger than the size of 'literates'. Also the gap between 'literates' and 'illiterates' has been ever- increasing. The government admits its failures towards mass education and hence now it has declared promotion of literacy as a national mission. To counter its past failures, it has launched a 'total campaign' approach in adult literacy programme along with 'Education For All' (EFA) goal in general towards elementary education. Thus this project is a study of the pedagogic principles, practice and public policy on promotion mass education and literacy in India. It seeks to study the cultural and linguistic bases of mass literacy and the democratic i.e. participatory and interactive/discursive methods of literacy promotion. The study is based on new socio-cultural approaches to language, discourse-learning, identity and culture (Introduction, Chapter 1). It is an interdisciplinary study in literacy practices (language and discourse learning) whose development is traced with colonial history of social, political and educational development in north India (Chapters 2&3). It traces these developments beginning with nationalist thinking on nation-building, mass literacy and education during the freedom movement before 1947 (Chapter 2), and the evolution of public policy goals on education and its culture after 1947 (Chapter 3). It looks into why highest 'illiteracy' exists in the Hindi- speaking states and how adequately our educational planners have addressed these complex problems. The policy principles and institutional practices in learning are further examined in case studies of two villages in Bihar and Haryana (Chapters 4&5). TLC's pedagogic principles, practices and relevance as seen and understood by learners are examined in order to establish the real contexts of a learning. This is also done through a concrete area of language and content analysis of the TLC reading materials, the way TLC Primers (texts) have been presented to the learners and the ways these texts are interacted with, by the adult learners (Chapter 6). We thus endeavour to establish the issue of literacy-leaming in terms of survival, cultural and identity needs of the learner. All these discussions are primarily based on adult learners' and concerned people's historical, social, and classroom experiences.


Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) provide vast improvements over existing sensing methods in the context of structural health monitoring (SHM) of highway infrastructure systems, including improved system reliability, improved longevity and enhanced system performance, improved safety against natural hazards and vibrations, and a reduction in life cycle cost in both operating and maintaining the infrastructure. Advancements in MEMS technology and wireless sensor networks provide opportunities for long-term continuous, real-time structural health monitoring of pavements and bridges at low cost within the context of sustainable infrastructure systems. The primary objective of this research was to investigate the use of MEMS in highway structures for health monitoring purposes. This study focused on investigating the use of MEMS and their potential applications in concrete through a comprehensive literature review, a vendor survey, and a laboratory study, as well as a small-scale field study. Based on the comprehensive literature review and vendor survey, the latest information available on off-the-shelf MEMS devices, as well as research prototypes, for bridge, pavement, and traffic applications were synthesized. A commercially-available wireless concrete monitoring system based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and off-the-shelf temperature and humidity sensors were tested under controlled laboratory and field conditions. The test results validated the ability of the RFID wireless concrete monitoring system in accurately measuring the temperature both inside the laboratory and in the field under severe weather conditions. In consultation with the project technical advisory committee (TAC), the most relevant MEMS-based transportation infrastructure research applications to explore in the future were also highlighted and summarized.


We consider the problem of estimating the spatial layout of an indoor scene from a monocular RGB image, modeled as the projection of a 3D cuboid. Existing solutions to this problem often rely strongly on hand-engineered features and vanishing point detection, which are prone to failure in the presence of clutter. In this paper, we present a method that uses a fully convolutional neural network (FCNN) in conjunction with a novel optimization framework for generating layout estimates. We demonstrate that our method is robust in the presence of clutter and handles a wide range of highly challenging scenes. We evaluate our method on two standard benchmarks and show that it achieves state of the art results, outperforming previous methods by a wide margin.


Target 9.c of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for the achievement of universal and affordable internet access by 2020. This note analyzes Sub-Saharan Africa's progress towards this goal. It finds that: (i) rates of internet access reported in household surveys differ markedly and are often lower than the prevailing estimates of internet use reported by the International Telecommunications Union, (ii) internet access in regions outside the capital city tends to be lagging, and (iii) lack of access to electricity is a key barrier constraining access to internet among poor Africans.


The glass is very unique in the world due to it can ge erate solar power to supply all the energy cons umption from cooling and heating system and still remain some power to feed back into grid. There is no possibility for any other Low-e glass in the world to reach this target. The reflection of the heat insulation and reflection fi lm can enhance the solar power generation and heat insulation simultaneously to gain more renewable energy and reduce more energy consumption from cooling and heating system. According to the test result of three real glass houses site testing at National Taiwan University of Scien c and Technology the Heat Insulation Solar Glass ( HISG) house performed outstanding energy efficiency while compared with normal and lo w-e glass house. Based on a continuous site testing from Oct. 2014 to June 2015 of 3m x 3m x 3m glass houses, the HISG house gained 685 kWh during this period. It can supplied all the heatin g and cooling consumption of 317 kWh during this period and remained 368 kWh feeding bac k into grid. Contrarily, the ordinary glass house co nsumed 587 kWh on cooling and heating system. The energy efficiency during this p eriod could be 955 kWh due to the contribution from HISG. The HISG has been proved to possess the highest capacity of energy efficiency f or zero energy buildings in the world. The HISG cou ld be applied on the vertical window or skylight for zero energy buildings. According to a computer simulation on the energy saving of a 26m x 26 m skylight on a 4 m high building in London and Abu Dhabi, the HISG can save 173,993 kWh and 256,512 kWh and decrease CO 2 of 121,795 and 179,558 kg respectively while compared with normal glass. The HISG is very unique in the world for zero energy buildings in the futu re. © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Peer -r view under responsibility of [KES International. ].


Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is of special interest to vascular surgeons as heparin is the predominant anticoagulant used before, during, and after vascular surgery. Further, the prothrombotic nature of this antibody-mediated disorder leads to a high frequency of limb ischemia due to large arterial occlusion by platelet-rich ("white") clots or because of extensive venous thrombosis involving large veins and small venules. This latter syndrome has been associated with coumarin anticoagulation of HIT-associated deep-vein thrombosis (coumarin-induced venous limb gangrene). Non-heparin anticoagulants, such as the direct thrombin inhibitors (lepirudin, argatroban), may be needed for intraoperative management of a patient with suspected acute HIT who requires vascular surgery. The transience of HIT antibodies provides a rationale for intraoperative use of heparin in a patient who has recovered from HIT and in whom HIT antibodies are no longer detectable. D ow nl oa de d by [ U ni ve rs ity o f N eb ra sk a, L in co ln ] at 0 3: 31 1 1 Ju ne 2 01 6


In order to implement and manage a centralized waste management system in Latvia in the first waste management planning period  2006  - 2012, all territory was divided into ten waste management regions (WMR), and each one has their own regional sanitary landfill. In the common waste management system only, municipal waste disposal service is a public service, therefore all landfill's operators are public service providers.
 The Public Utilities Commission (Regulator) is institutionally and functionally independent, autonomous body governed by public law which carries out regulation of public services in the five sectors, incl. waste management, in accordance with the law "On Regulators of Public Utilities" and special legal acts of the regulated sectors. The public service provider for the provision of solid waste disposal service at a landfill for solid waste shall calculate tariff in accordance with the Methodology for the Calculation of Solid Waste Disposal Service Tariff.
 To evaluate the comparability of the accumulated and technical indicators within the merchant supervision, the Regulator elaborated a benchmarking for comparing the costs, technical and social parameters included in the waste disposal service tariff. The benchmarking for waste disposal service consists from four steps: General characteristics of the regulated service and WMR; Direct production costs and parameters; Other operating costs and parameters, and Comparison and monitoring.
 In this study only first step is analyzed, that include the characteristics of the infrastructure used by the merchant, information on the essential differences in the provision of the regulated service among the merchants, which make an influence of the tariff formation costs and revenue from recovery and recycling materials.


We consider two extremal problems in hypergraphs. First, given k ≥ 3 and k-partite k-uniform hypergraphs, as a generalization of graph (k = 2) matchings, we determine the partite minimum codegree threshold for matchings with at most one vertex left in each part, thereby answering a problem asked by Rodl and Rucinski. We further improve the partite minimum codegree conditions to sum of all k partite codegrees, in which case the partite minimum codegree is not necessary large. Second, as a generalization of (hyper)graph matchings, we determine the minimum vertex degree threshold asymptotically for perfect Ka,b,c-tlings in large 3-uniform hypergraphs, where Ka,b,c is any complete 3-partite 3-uniform hypergraphs with each part of size a, b and c. This partially answers a question of Mycroft, who proved an analogous result with respect to codegree for r-uniform hypergraphs for all r ≥ 3. Our proof uses Regularity Lemma, the absorbing method, fractional tiling, and a recent result on shadows for 3-graphs. INDEX WORDS: Absorbing method, Regularity lemma, Hypergraph, Perfect matching, Graph tiling, Graph packing, Minimum degree. MATCHINGS AND TILINGS IN HYPERGRAPHS


Past scholarship has explained the structure of the Book of Judges as a cycle of apostasy, foreign domination, deliverance and apostasy and has treated the final four chapters of the book as appendices. As if this were an adequate pronouncement on the literary structure of the book, many commentators then shifted their attention to the historical and geographical information said to underlie the stories of the book. More recent scholarship has tended to view almost every book of the Old Testament as an eventual product of Deuteronomistic redaction, with the Book of Judges forming part of the so-called Deuteronomistic history. In this framework, the appendices are said to be significantly marked by an editorial observation that is actually an expression of optimism in kingship. We, however, argue that the intention of the author is traceable in his use of syntax throughout the book of Judges. By a more careful examination of his use of syntax and details of the reports concerning the military successes of the tribes of Judah at the beginning of the book and of Dan at the end of the book, the author may be more correctly heard as he responds to questions raised concerning the reason for the exile and future of the tribes. Not only does this approach to Judges demonstrate that the account of the tribe of Dan is not a mere "appendix", but it also places Judges more realistically among the various voices clamouring to be heard during the exile.


Merchants pay banks a fee on every credit card transaction. These credit card transactions cost American merchants an average of six times the total cost of cash transactions. The variation in fees among credit cards is also large, with some cards, such as rewards cards, costing merchants twice as much as others.The largest component of the fee merchants pay goes to finance rewards programs, which in turn generate more credit card transactions. Although merchants finance the rewards programs, they derive no benefit from them. Rather than generating additional sales, rewards programs merely induce consumers to shift transactions from less expensive payment systems to more expensive rewards credit cards. Why, then, do all consumers pay the same price for purchases, regardless of the means of payment?The answer lies in a set of credit card network rules known as merchant restraints. Merchant restraints prohibit merchants from accepting certain credit cards selectively and from pricing goods and services according to cost of payment. These restraints thus prevent merchants from signaling to consumers the costs of different payment methods. Accordingly, consumers never internalize the costs of their choice of payment system. Merchant restraints thus encourage more credit card transactions at a higher price than would occur in a perfectly efficient market. The restraints also permit card issuers to externalize the costs of rewards programs to merchants and, ultimately, to consumers who do not use rewards cards.This Article argues that merchant restraints distort competition within the credit card industry and among payment systems in general. Further, merchant restraints' economic justifications are unfounded, and they should be banned as antitrust violations.


Based on the transmission line approximation, three different equivalent formulations have been proposed for evaluating the interaction between an external electromagnetic field and a transmission line, The difference among these "coupling" formulations, which are summarized for the case of a lossless line, lies essentially in the representation of the source terms as a function of the external electromagnetic field components. The authors show that the contribution of a given electromagnetic field component is different depending on the particular adopted formulation, To show that, the three formulations are employed to calculate the voltages induced on an overhead line by a nearby lightning strike, and the contribution to the induced voltage of the various electromagnetic field components explicitly appearing in each formulation is emphasized. The authors conclude that it is misleading to speak about the contribution of a given electromagnetic field component to the total induced voltages without first specifying the coupling formulation one is using.


This essay explores the nature and neurological basis of creativity in technical production. After presenting a model of expert technical cognition based in cognitive anthropology and cognitive psychology, the authors propose that craft production has three inherent sources of novelty — procedural drift, serendipitous error and fiddling. However, these are quite limited in their creative potential, which may help explain the virtual absence of innovation over the long millennia of the Palaeolithic. Innovation can be far more rapid and effective via invention, which requires folk theories of causation and adequate working memory capacity, all fairly recent evolutionary developments. The neurological basis of expert technical cognition lies in well-known cortical and sub-cortical structures, but recent research has established a provocative role for the cerebellum in the formulation of novel arrangements.


A previous absence of academic focus on new product launch behaviours and effects has been replaced by a spate of activity in the NPD commercialization process – always an eminent topic among practitioners, since it is the only NPD stage that actually returns cash. Naturally, academics seek theories and law-like generalizations to help understand new product launches in a research sense, as well as to use theories to help explain, predict and teach outcomes and concepts useful to managers, students of management and other researchers. The present manuscript reports the search for a theory base to explain some interesting results of new product launches in the biochemical industry. It has long been known that competing hypotheses lead to better conclusions; thus we attempt competing theories to try to contemplate better strategic thinking about product launches. Competing theories reveal that some may be superior in explaining results in this particular context, for this particular sample. Yet this study, with a single sample, really only demonstrates the feasibility of the approach. The adventure should continue from a meta-analytic basis to discover something of more universal value to the strategic thinker.


For Mobile Extra Heavy Oils (Cold production) and for Bitumen Extra Heavy Oils (Thermal production), dehydration process is based on solvent mixture with additives injection in order to break the Water in Oil emulsions. Dehydration requires injection of large amount of additives, relatively high operating temperature, solvent addition and long retention times inside the vessels. This process could be improved by electrocoalescence in order to reduce the amount of additive and possibly reduce the vessels retention times to finally reach the oil export specification. However, current commercial electrocoalescence processes have a low efficiency for Extra Heavy Oils because of the presence of polar heavy components limiting the electrocalescence effect and consequently limiting the efficiency of electrostatic coalescer. The objective is to determine the most efficient electrocoalescence parameters considering the characteristics of two types of heavy crude oils issued from Cold and Thermal productions: the aim is to optimize the development of a pre-electrocoalescer unit adapted to the extra-heavy oil characteristics. This paper presents experimental results for electrocoalescence additive selection and for the optimization of electrical parameters. The crude oils behaviour was analyzed considering their tendency to form an emulsion under controlled hydrodynamic conditions in relation with the oil/water interface dynamics. For the electrostatic dehydration, the optimization of the emulsion breaker concentration was performed using the Electrical Stability Tester API device. The minimum concentration that triggers electrical short-circuiting in relation with droplet coalescence was selected. The electrical parameters of the preelectrocoalescer device were determined in presence of the selected additive concentration. For the two types of crude oils, high voltage and high frequency up to 1 kHz are required in combination with the addition of solvent and additive in order to destabilize the water in oil emulsions. Correlation between dehydration efficiency and residence time under electrical stress is established.


Background Sport and active recreation are important avenues for health enhancing physical activity. These health benefits can however be negated by injury. The impact of sport and active recreation injury on long term physical activity levels has yet to be investigated. Objective To evaluate the impact of serious sport and active recreation injury on patients' long-term physical activity levels. Design Prospective cohort study with 12-month follow-up. Setting Two Level 1 trauma centres and one regional hospital in Victoria, Australia. Participants Adults admitted to hospital with orthopaedic sport and active recreation injuries and captured by the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry were recruited from the two Level 1 trauma centres and one regional hospital over a 12-month time period. A total of 324 patients entered the study and 98% were followed up at 12-months post-injury. Assessment of risk factors Independent variables used in the analyses were sporting group, age, sex, education level, major trauma classification (Injury Severity Score>15), injury patterns and disability at 12-months post-injury. Main outcome measurement The International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results At 12-months post-injury participants reported significant reductions in physical activity levels (p<0.001) with median levels reduced by two thirds. Those reporting no disability as measured by the Extended Glasgow Outcomes Scale at 12-months, still reported significant reductions in physical activity (p<0.001) with median levels reduced by more than half and vigorous activity being performed half as frequently. Multivariate regression analysis found no significant predictors of physical activity levels at 12-months. Conclusion Sport and active recreation injuries lead to significant reductions in physical activity levels, with potential negative health impacts in the future. The importance of sports injury prevention in maintaining population physical activity and the need to better understand why patients do not return to pre-injury activity levels is highlighted.


The local chromatic number of a graph, introduced by Erdős et al., is the minimum number of colors that must appear in the closed neighborhood of some vertex in any proper coloring of the graph. This talk would like to survey some of our recent results on this parameter. We give a lower bound for the local chromatic number in terms of the lower bound of the chromatic number provided by the topological method introduced by Lovasz. We show that this bound is tight in many cases. In particular, we determine the local chromatic number of certain odd chromatic Schrijver graphs and generalized Mycielski graphs. We further elaborate on the case of $4$-chromatic graphs and, in particular, on surface quadrangulations.


The efficient mapping of program parallelism to multi-core processors is highly dependent on the underlying architecture. This paper proposes a portable and automatic compiler-based approach to mapping such parallelism using machine learning. It develops two predictors: a data sensitive and a data insensitive predictor to select the best mapping for parallel programs. They predict the number of threads and the scheduling policy for any given program using a model learnt off-line. By using low-cost profiling runs, they predict the mapping for a new unseen program across multiple input data sets. We evaluate our approach by selecting parallelism mapping configurations for OpenMP programs on two representative but different multi-core platforms (the Intel Xeon and the Cell processors). Performance of our technique is stable across programs and architectures. On average, it delivers above 96% performance of the maximum available on both platforms. It achieve, on average, a 37% (up to 17.5 times) performance improvement over the OpenMP runtime default scheme on the Cell platform. Compared to two recent prediction models, our predictors achieve better performance with a significant lower profiling cost.


Remote sensing can transform the speed, scale, and cost of biodiversity and forestry surveys. Data acquisition currently outpaces the ability to identify individual organisms in high resolution imagery. We outline an approach for identifying tree-crowns in true color, or red/green blue (RGB) imagery using a deep learning detection network. Individual crown delineation is a persistent challenge in studies of forested ecosystems and has primarily been addressed using three-dimensional LIDAR. We show that deep learning models can leverage existing lidar-based unsupervised delineation approaches to initially train an RGB crown detection model, which is then refined using a small number of hand-annotated RGB images. We validate our proposed approach using an open-canopy site in the National Ecological Observation Network (NEON). Our results show that combining LIDAR and RGB methods in a self-supervised model improves predictions of trees in natural landscapes. The addition of a small number of hand-annotated trees improved performance over the initial self-supervised model. While undercounting of individual trees in complex canopies remains an area of development, deep learning can increase the performance of remotely sensed tree surveys.


There is limited empirical evidence on whether cash transfers to poor pregnant women improve children's birth outcomes and potentially help weaken the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Using a unique array of program and social security administrative micro- data matched to longitudinal vital statistics in Uruguay, we estimate that participation in a generous social assistance program led to a sizable reduction in the incidence of low birthweight. The effect is due to faster intrauterine growth rather than longer gestational length. Our findings are consistent with improved maternal nutrition during pregnancy being a key driver of improved birthweight. (JEL I14, I32, I38, J13, J16, O15)


Scalp reconstruction aims to achieve an appropriate appearance and is fundamentally important to the integrity of the skeletal structure to protect the central nervous system. The present work describes the case of a child aged 1 year and 5 months with a total-thickness lesion of the scalp presenting with ischemic areas in the cranial calotte and absence of periosteum after infection. The lesion was urgently debrided, washed with 9% normal saline, and dressed with silver sulfadiazine ointment for 2 days. The patient was subsequently transferred to the surgical center, and multiple perforations were made in the outer table of the skull. A dressing was made with rayon gauze soaked with petrolatum emulsion and removed 7 days after the surgery accompanied by antibiotic administration. Finally, 10 days after surgery, split-thickness skin grafting was performed, and satisfactory aesthetic results were obtained.


A model with a closed-form solution is the Holy Grail of derivatives valuation, because as computers have become increasingly powerful, exact answers to even very complicated formulas can typically be obtained almost instantaneously. Unfortunately, as derivative instruments have become increasingly complicated, closed-form valuation has become increasingly rare. Researchers are now trying to develop more efficient and accurate approximation techniques. Lattice models, such as the classic binomial model of Cox, Ross, and Rubinstein, are among the workhorses of this effort. Lattice models converge to accurate values as the number of node calculations increases, but convergence is often erratic and slow. The biggest problem is that the option payoff between two price nodes can be highly nonlinear, for example when the critical price barrier for a knock-out option falls between two layers of nodes, and a large jump in the computed option value occurs when a small change in the number of time steps causes the critical price to hop from one side of a node to the other. A variety of tricks have been proposed to deal with this problem by adapting the geometry of the lattice to make the nodes land directly on top of the critical prices. Generally this has required the additional flexibility afforded by a trinomial structure rather than the binomial, but that is costly in terms of efficiency. In this article, Dai and Lyuu introduce a new approach that achieves remarkable improvement in efficiency by combining binomial and trinomial structures. Here the trick is to construct a binomial lattice with nodes that land on top of the key prices, but to use a very small amount of trinomial lattice to connect the initial price—the model option value—to the binomial structure. This allows both the best placement of the tree relative to the critical areas and also great efficiency gains because binomial lattice probabilities for the terminal nodes can be computed directly using combinatorial results, skipping over calculations for all of the intermediate time steps.


In this paper we discuss the challenges of processing and converting 3D scanned data to representations suitable for interactive manipulation in the context of virtual restoration applications. We present a constrained parametrization approach that allows us to represent 3D scanned models as parametric surfaces defined over polyhedral domains. A combination of normal- and spatial-based clustering techniques is used to generate a partition of the model into regions suitable for parametrization. Constraints can be optionally imposed to enforce a strict correspondence between input and output features. We consider two types of virtual restoration methods: (a) a paint restoration method that takes advantage of the normal-based coarse partition to identify large regions of reduced metric distortion suitable for texture mapping and (b) a shape restoration approach that relies on a refined partition used to convert the input model to a multiresolution subdivision representation suitable for intuitive interactive manipulation during digital studies of historical artifacts.


The present study sought to identify dishabituation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to different psychological stressors. Young adult male Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to five, 1 h sessions of restraint stress on five consecutive days. On the sixth day, and 2 h before additional exposure to restraint, animals were subjected to 30 min of a small (27 cm square), elevated open field stressor (pedestal), which served as the dishabituating stimulus. We predicted HPA axis response dishabituation in chronically restrained rats exposed to the novel pedestal. Rats which underwent five days of restraint stress showed significantly blunted plasma corticosterone levels to restraint (habituation) as compared to restraint-naive rats. However, rats which underwent five sessions of restraint responded with an enhanced habituation response when confronted with restraint shortly after exposure to the novel pedestal. Instead of HPA axis response dishabituation, we observed enhanced habituation. Subsequent experiments determined that a 1.25mg/kg corticosterone injection could substitute for pedestal exposure to produce enhanced restraint habituation. Combined treatment with both the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist RU40555 (30 mg/kg) and the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist RU28318 (50 mg/kg) blocked the expression of enhanced habituation after pedestal exposure. Thus, the delayed corticosterone negative feedback produced by novel stress led to enhanced expression of corticosterone response habituation.


Fault rock low-temperature thermochronometry can inform the timing, temperature, and significance of hydrothermal fluid circulation in fault systems. We demonstrate this with combined hematite (U-Th)/He (He) dating, and sandstone apatite fission-track (AFT) and apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He (He) thermochronometry from fault-related fissures on the Gower Peninsula, Wales. Hematite He dates from 141 ± 5.1 Ma to 120 ± 5.0 Ma overlap with a 131 ± 20 Ma sandstone infill AFT date. Individual zircon He dates are 402–260 Ma, reflecting source material erosion, and imply a maximum Late Permian infill depositional age. Burial history reconstruction reveals modern exposures were not buried sufficiently in the Triassic–Early Cretaceous to have caused reheating to temperatures necessary to reset the AFT or hematite He systems, and thus these dates cannot reflect cooling due to erosion alone. Hot fluids circulating through fissures in the Early Cretaceous reset the AFT system. Hematite was either also reset by fluids or precipitated from these fluids. Similar hematite He dates from fault-related mineralization in south Glamorgan (Wales) and Cumbria (England) imply concomitant regional hot groundwater flow along faults. In this example, hydrothermal fluid circulation, coeval with North Atlantic rifting, occurred in higher-permeability fissures and fault veins long after they initially formed, directly influencing local and regional geothermal gradients.


Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to determine if motivational interviewing leads to increased physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness or functional exercise capacity in people with chronic health conditions. Data sources: Seven electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsychINFO, EMBASE, AMED, CINHAL, SPORTDiscus and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials) were searched from inception until January 2014. Trial selection: Two reviewers independently examined publications for inclusion. Trials were included if participants were adults (>18 years), had a chronic health condition, used motivational interviewing as the intervention and examined physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness or functional exercise capacity. Data extraction: Two reviewers independently extracted data. Risk of bias within trials was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale. Data synthesis: Meta-analyses were conducted with standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach was used to evaluate the quality of the evidence. Results: Eleven publications (of ten trials) were included. There was moderate level evidence that motivational interviewing had a small effect in increasing physical activity levels in people with chronic health conditions relative to comparison groups (standardized mean differences = 0.19, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.32, p = 0.004). Sensitivity analysis based on trials that confirmed treatment fidelity produced a larger effect. No conclusive evidence was observed for cardiorespiratory fitness or functional exercise capacity. Conclusion: The addition of motivational interviewing to usual care may lead to modest improvements in physical activity for people with chronic health conditions.


This  paper  deals  with  the  comparison  of  the  performance  characteristics  of  Al/SiC composites  produced  through  stir  casting  and  powder metallurgy.  Composites  prepared  by 5 % volume fraction of SiC reinforcement material with Aluminum matrix metal. In primary process  there  is  some defects  like porosity, blow holes,  irregular grain  structure are present that can be reduced in secondary process i.e. extrusion. Work pieces are longitudinally split, grid marked and extruded in hydraulic press. From the deformed grid, stress and strain values are calculated. Hardness values and microstructure are also compared for the two processes.


Abstract: In this policy paper, Terence Wesley-Smith explores strategic, political, and economic dimensions of Beijing's heightened interest in Oceania. He challenges the disingenuous threat discourse pervading the existing literature, and argues that China's rise offers island states opportunities not available under established structures of power. Wesley-Smith notes that China's primary objective is to gain the support of island states, particularly to isolate Taiwan, and that it has a growing interest in the natural resources of the region. China and the Western powers previously shared an interest in excluding the Soviet Union from Oceania. But today tensions associated with China's presence increasingly influence the strategic environment. China is not setting itself up to assume a leadership or military role in Oceania, Wesley-Smith maintains. He disputes the notion that Beijing has exploited regional vulnerabilities, and that its activities have encouraged corruption and instability. He also argues that U.S. neglect is not a significant factor in the rise of China in Oceania. Instead, Western aid-leveraged efforts to impose neo-liberal reforms have made island leaders more receptive to peaceful coexistence, equality, respect for sovereignty, and the promise of untied aid. Wesley-Smith argues that China's rise in Oceania largely parallels developments in the Caribbean, and disturbs a situation where a small number of allied powers exercise enormous regional influence. But he notes that all of these regional actors have growing economic entanglements with China—and compelling reasons to avoid confrontation. He suggests that the Western powers have to accept that China is in Oceania to stay. They can do little but urge Beijing to play by the rules they have established and enforced, yet it may be the allied powers that have to compromise. Wesley-Smith concludes that China's rise broadens the options for island states, whose leaders are accustomed to operating in a world controlled by great powers.


Abstract:During the Liu-Song 劉宋 dynasty (420–79), Pei Songzhi 裴松之 (372–451) compiled an elaborate set of annotations to the history of the Three Kingdoms era, Sanguozhi 三國志. Several decades later, during the Liang 梁 dynasty (502–57), Liu Xiaobiao 劉孝標 (462–521) compiled similar annotations for Shishuo xinyu 世說新語, a collection of pithy anecdotes concerning prominent figures from the Han through Jin dynasties. These annotations were products of a new era of textual production, in which fervent interest in historiography and book collecting reached new heights. Though building on earlier traditions of commentary and exegesis, the influence of this newly expanded network of textual circulation can be seen in the sheer variety of sources Pei and Liu cite, as well as in their meticulous and unprecedented attention to bibliographic detail. This has made it possible to use their annotations to trace the compilers and titles of hundreds of texts that would otherwise be completely unknown. Relying on this wealth of information, earlier studies have tabulated the titles of all cited sources to create lengthy bibliographies. But in doing so, they divorce this bibliographic information from the context in which it was originally embedded. This study uses data mined from these annotations to create a series of network diagrams, which illustrate how citations of older texts create connections among the various chapters of the two texts to which they were appended. By considering the networks of textual relationships created through annotation, this study reveals the importance of otherwise marginalized texts in the construction of historiographic knowledge and sheds new light on how scholars of the early medieval period made use of, and made sense of, the increasingly vast sea of text to which they had access.


ABSTRACT There is growing recognition of the prevalence of "within school churn", a phenomenon in which teachers remain within a school but are assigned a new grade level or course. In this study we examine the consequences of within-school churn for the pedagogical content knowledge of elementary teacher participants in an NSF-funded science PD program. We argue grade-level reassignment is akin to out-of-field science teaching for elementary teachers, as they encounter a new set of grade-specific standards, new subject matter topics, and new curricula. We observed that elementary teachers can be "re-noviced" when assigned to a new grade level, in that they may lack content knowledge and/or pedagogical content knowledge for teaching their new science topics. Nonetheless, we argue there are important similarities between experienced and reassigned teachers that merit consideration of their unique professional learning needs in comparison to novice teachers.


Aiming at the limitations of the characterization of gas channeling strength at present,the gas channeling coefficient is defined by analyzing the dynamic gas ratio curves of CO2 flooding in tubes. Natural gas flooding experiments are conducted to verify the precision of the defined coefficient,and the results show that the precision could be as high as 0.03,the defined coefficient could be used to preliminarily evaluate gas channeling during gas flooding. The results also show that the defined coefficient is highly sensitive to displacement efficiency, approximately 0.015 change would be induced by per unit change in displacement efficiency. Keywords- gas channeling coefficient, CO2 flooding, natural gas flooding, displacement efficiency.


The geometric features of the Helvetic nappes of the Alps show intense internal deformation set up predominantly by simple shear during nappe transport. The nappes are bounded by thrusts that parallel incompetent layers and ramp upward stratigraphically across competent units in the direction of tectonic transport; stratal layering is oblique to nappe boundaries. Thrust surfaces formed after ductile shear zones developed in underlying pre-Triassic gneissic basement. The broad zone of shearing narrowed down as deformation increased to form zones of intense shear and ultimately to form thrust faults. Contraction along competent layers obliquely inclined to shear surfaces produced buckle folds. The geometry of these folds was modified by further shearing as their normal limbs became aligned in the extension field of the strain ellipse for simple shear, producing normal faults.


Visual-Aural Progression chronicles my five-year journey through the MFA program in Wood Design. This writing showcases my progression as a craftsman through photos of my work and reflections on the reasons motivations and sentiments for these endeavors. I went into this journey with only a rudimentary skill set and have emerged from the other end a professional guitar maker.


Hybrid organizations that combine multiple, existing organizational forms are frequently proposed as a source of organizational innovation, yet little is known about the origins of such organizations. We propose that individual founders of hybrid organizations acquire imprints from past exposure to work environments, thus predisposing them to incorporate the associated logics in their subsequent ventures, even when doing so requires deviation from established organizational templates. We test our theory on a novel dataset of over 700 founders of social ventures, all guided by a social welfare logic. Some of them also incorporate a commercial logic along with the social welfare logic, thereby creating a hybrid social venture. We find evidence of three sources of commercial imprints: the founder's own, direct work experience, as well as the indirect influence of parental work experiences and professional education. Our findings further suggest that the effects of direct imprinting are strongest from the early tenure of for-profit experience, but diminish with longer tenure. In supplementary analyses, we parse out differences between the sources of imprints and discuss implications for how imprinting functions as an antecedent to the creation of new, hybrid forms.


AIM
To investigate the effect of locally administered intracisternal papaverine on the pupils during cerebral aneurysm clipping.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Four patients that received cerebral aneurysm clipping were included in the study. Papaverine (3%, 60 mg) was dropped into the internal carotid artery cistern to relieve vascular spasm and act on the oculomotor nerve intentionally at the same time. The size, shape and reflection of light of the bilateral pupils were monitored at different times after application of papaverine and every 30 min after surgery continuously for 4 hours.

RESULTS
Prior to the application of papaverine, the bilateral pupils in 4 patients were the same in size and shape. Two to 5 minutes after the application of papaverine, the ipsilateral pupils of the surgical site were dilated in all four patients and the contralateral pupil showed dilation in 1 patient, and recovered to a normal size at 2-5 hours after the application of papaverine. Papaverine reduced light reflection of the ipsilateral pupil of the surgery site; Papaverine changed the ipsilateral pupil of the surgery site to an irregular elliptical shape, which lasted for different times. Four patients regained consciousness normally without demonstration of nerve damage.

CONCLUSION
Our results confirmed previous reports that local application of papaverine in the carotid artery pool during artery aneurysm surgery resulted in dilation of the ipsilateral pupil of the surgery site. In addition, our results indicated that the pupil changes induced by papaverine occurred within several minutes after the application of papaverine.


This dissertation consists of two essays. The first provides evidence that the recent revival of shelf equity offers is related to changes in how firms use shelf registration. During 1990-2003 firms that make shelf filings have no immediate intent and low probability of issuance, lower pre-filing returns relative to non-shelf issuers, and often have been certified in prior SEOs. The evidence indicates that the way firms now use shelf offerings resolves the under-certification problem responsible for the shelf demise in the 1980s (Denis, 1991) and results in smaller market penalties and lower underwriter fees relative to non-shelf offerings. This allows firms with greater uncertainty to take advantage of the shelf option to defer or abandon offers. Additionally, firms often use universal shelf filings and choose between debt and equity offerings based on the prevailing relative market conditions. The second essay examines offer price discounting of traditional and shelf-registered seasoned equity offerings (SEOs). The results indicate that relative to traditional SEOs, shelf discounting during 1982 June 2004 is similar in magnitude, is influenced by the same factors, and has increased similarly over time. Prior studies attribute the time-series increase of seasoned offer discounting to pre-offer short sale constraints (Rule 10b-21; adopted in 1988). This study provides insights about the effect of Rule 10b-21 by exploiting the fact that shelf-registered offerings were exempt from this regulation until September 2004. The analysis uses the shelf exemption as a control in testing the Rule's effect, and the elimination of the exemption as an "out-of-sample" test. The results suggest that Rule 10b-21 is not associated with the increase in seasoned offer discounts. The gradual increase in discounting over the past two decades is largely due to a shift in the composition of issuers toward firms that have greater stock volatility and pre-offer price uncertainty.


Brain tumors are common causes of mortality and disabilities in human societies. With the all-round advances in the fields of diagnosis and treatment as a group and team and interdisciplinary is an undeniable necessity. According to the National Association of tumor America in 2013, In America the number of 688000 persons suffering from primary brain tumors. The incidence of brain tumors over the past 20 years has increased in all age groups. This study investigates a model of the relationship of psychological well-being with self-efficacy, self-esteem and psychological hardiness in cancer patients of benign brain tumors in order to recovery and better health and better compatibility with brain tumor patients. This research is descriptive-correlation. The population includes all brain tumor patients who are referring to Beasat hospital in Sanandaj of Kurdistan province, who they are gone under brain tumor surgery from 2014 to 2016.according to Morgan table for the studied population the acceptable samples will be 200 persons. These samples were selected as stratified random sampling. For data analyzing structural equation modeling was used for investigate the main purpose of the study in addition to descriptive indicators associated with each scale. SPSS software version 22 and modeling software AMOS18 were used for data analyzing. According to obtained fitting indicators (RMSEA=0.005, CFI=0.956, AGFI= 0.907, GFI, 0.931, CMIN=2.2) P=0.001. It was clear that the developed model has good fitness. The application of this model is useful in the supportive psychotherapy of brain tumor patients for upgrading health and computability with illness.


Interactive technologies have come to define our culture, and as such, they influence and shape our modes of perception and behavior. This empirical investigation explored the public's perception of the impact of the Internet on heroism via assessment of a sample population through a process of item generation, sampling, and principal component analysis. A robust 5-component structure emerged with consensus among participants including: 1) Collaboration expands heroic potential; 2) Internet technology expands heroic potential; 3) Heroes are motivated to protect and serve; 4) Heroes are responsive to injustice; 5) Concern for others is a required ingredient. The results extend research in collaborative heroism, supporting the basic premises of the theory, suggesting that the tools of the networked society are impacting the social construction of heroism, expanding it such that heroism is evolving to meet the demands of the 21 st century.


Twelve specialists examine the dissemination of Greek studies and its cultural impact in various areas of early modern Europe from the fifteenth to the early sixteenth century


INTRODUCTION On July 13, 1972, a 42-year-old U.S. Senator from Missouri stood before the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach to accept the Party's vice presidential nomination. Thomas Eagleton characterized being chosen as the vice presidential nominee as surprising, and resoundingly declared that the country needed to not only elect George McGovern as President, but "to elect Democrats to public office at every level" (Eagleton 643). Twelve days later, Eagleton, after Washington bureau chief of Knight newspapers Bob Boyd and reporter Clark Hoyt had uncovered his history of mental illness, held a news conference and disclosed that three times between 1960 and 1966 he had received psychiatric care, including electroshock treatment, for "nervous exhaustion and fatigue" ("Log" 14). And after repeatedly vowing to stay in the race, and receiving the "1,000 percent" backing of McGovern, on July 31 at a Washington, DC joint McGovern and Eagleton news conference, the Missouri Senator announced that he had agreed "to step aside" to avoid dividing the party (McGovern and Eagleton 643). Eagleton's failure to disclose up front his medical history and fear of the stigma attached to mental illness were two of the contributing factors to his rapid demise as a national candidate. Former ambassador to France, Sargent Shriver, replaced Eagleton on the Democratic ticket. But, incumbent President Richard Nixon and his Vice Presidential running mate, Spiro Agnew, soundly defeated the McGovern/Shriver ticket in the November 1972 election. On April 12, 1990, a 60-year-old former U.S. Senator from Florida announced in Tallahassee that he was coming out of retirement to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor. Lawton Chiles, within 24 hours of declaring his candidacy, was contacted by reporters asking about rumors being circulated by Republicans that he had been treated for clinical depression. Chiles acknowledged immediately that he had been taking Prozac--a frequently used drug to battle depression--since the previous December (Elliott Newsbank). He went on to say that when he chose not to run for re-election to the Senate in 1988 because of "burnout" it was diagnosed later as depression and was remedied with Prozac. Despite the revelations about Chiles' mental illness, he easily won the Democratic nomination, and in November of 1990, defeated incumbent Bob Martinez for Governor. The differences in the rhetoric surrounding each candidate's disclosure of mental illness, both by the candidates and in the news media, perhaps illustrate changing attitudes toward mental illness. These two men, 18 years apart, who each had received the latest treatment available for depression, faced very different fates even though they were in very similar situations. Eagleton was a U.S. Senator and Chiles a former U.S. Senator, each with a proven track record with the voters of their respective states. Each ran for a public office they had not sought before. Neither Eagleton nor Chiles disclosed their mental illness until the news media learned of the story, and at that time, the campaign was already underway. The main difference was that one was a candidate for national office and the other for state office. However, comparing each case is still instructive in exploring America's changing attitude towards mental illness, as reflected in the rhetoric of the candidates and in the news media.(1) THE CANDIDATES In early July of 1972 George McGovern revealed the choice of U.S. Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri as his running mate. Newsweek, with a story titled "Tom Who? A Man Named Eagleton," Time, with "Eagleton: McGovern's Man from Missouri," and U.S. News and World Report, with "Eagleton Sees United Party Emerging from Diversity," provided readers with insights about who this Missouri Senator was. Newsweek focused more on the "veepstakes" and how Eagleton became the choice, Time chronicled in some detail his rise to the rank of U. …


This paper presents and discusses two case studies in the Portuguese motor vehicle industry – Salvador Caetano's Ovar Industrial Division (SCOID), a 'Brownfield site' with minority Toyota ownership; and Autoeuropa, a 'Greenfield site' wholly owned by Volkswagen. Basically, it considers the scope for the meaningful application of 'Japanese' organisational methods in these contexts, focusing on the human factor – i.e. as close as possible to the actors on the shop floor. After providing some insights into the Portuguese automotive industry, it profiles both SCOID and Autoeuropa and assesses each of their methods of work, within this balance of commitment between global and local. The main findings reveal the lag that can exist between theoretical models (namely those following a geographical criteria) and the actual practice carried out by manufacturers when tested outside their point of geographical origin.


Abstract. The Tibetan Plateau has been conventionally treated as an elevated heat source driving the Asian monsoon system, especially for the South Asian monsoon. Numerous model simulations with general circulation models (GCMs) support this hypothesis with the finding that the Asian monsoon system is weak or absent when all elevated topography is removed. A recent model simulation shows that the South Asian summer monsoon circulation is little affected with only the Himalayas (no-Tibetan Plateau) kept as a barrier, leading to a hypothesis of the barrier "blocking" mechanism of the Tibetan Plateau. In this paper, a new series of experiments are designed to reexamine this barrier effect. We find that with the barrier, the large-scale summer monsoon circulation over South Asia is simulated in general agreement with the full Tibetan Plateau, which is consistent with the previous finding. However, there remains significant differences in both wind and precipitation fields, suggesting a role for the full Tibetan Plateau as well. Moreover, the proposed barrier blocking mechanism is not found in our experiments. The energy of the low-level air and the convection are lower and weaker over the Indian subcontinent in the full Tibetan Plateau experiment than that in the no-Tibetan Plateau experiment or the barrier only experiment, which is in contrast to the barrier blocking hypothesis. Instead, there is a similar candle-like latent heating in the middle troposphere along the southern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in both the full Tibetan Plateau and the barrier experiments, whereas this "candle heating" disappears in the no-Tibetan Plateau experiment. We propose that this candle heating is the key to understanding the mechanisms of the Tibetan Plateau on the South Asian monsoon. Future studies are needed to check the source of the "candle heating" and its effect on the Asian monsoon.


The ocean is the ultimate sink for all liquid waste and has for many years been the recipient of both treated and untreated sewage waste. This book offers a comprehensive study on the subject of ocean disposal of these effluents. The early chapters cover the philosophy of outfall design, properties of sewage from developed towns and an overview of water quality regulations in New Zealand, Great Britain and the U.S. Alternative ways of satisfying these regulations are discussed. The book also provides information required to design outfall pipelines and diffusers. The methods of calculating the initial dilution and the investigations necessary to compute the further dispersion of the effluent are discussed. A brief discussion of the problems of salt water intrusion, of outfall construction and post construction monitoring is presented at the end of the book.


This photo-essay book was written to fulfill requirements for completion of a senior thesis project to graduate with honors from the South Carolina Honors College. Its purpose is to promote the enjoyment and preservation of the Congaree National Park by educating the public on the historical and ecological significance of the land and the many activities it has to offer. Despite its proximity to downtown Columbia, there remains a lack of public awareness about the park and the amazing activities and opportunities it has to offer. I have compiled information and pictures that will best depict the unique qualities of the area. This project was a culmination of research, photography, hiking, and wildlife identification resulting in the publication of a photo-essay book on the Congaree National Park. The book describes specific areas of the park, as well as, the historical, cultural, and natural significance; includes a nature guide for common invasive species and native plant and animal species; and discusses management, volunteering, and recreational activities. This book, which will be available to University of South Carolina students and local residents, will serve as a gateway to establish background understanding of the importance of the land, as well as motivate individuals to visit the Congaree National Park.


We analyse a survey of 200 plan sponsors and investment managers in the US and Europe regarding the use of credit rating guidelines in the conduct of their investment activities. We find that ratings-based guidelines are widespread, but their forms and motivations vary considerably. The usage of ratings appears remarkably similar in the US and Europe. The adoption of ratings-based investment guidelines appears driven by the private sector, with regulation playing a relatively minor role. Guidelines generally reference ratings of specific agencies, rather than the ratings of all officially "recognized" agencies. Ratings-based guidelines seem unlikely to destabilize markets because although asset retention guidelines are common, rapid forced selling upon downgrades is not. Market participants express a preference on the margin for more accuracy over more stability, but stability is valued and guidelines rarely include agency outlook designations, which could be used to increase rating accuracy. These findings generally support the hypothesis presented in Cantor (2004) that ratings are used as governance tools by market participants to ameliorate principal-agent problems between asset managers and their clients.


There is longstanding debate in population policy about the relationship between modern contraception and abortion. Although theory predicts that they should be substitutes, the existing body of empirical evidence is difficult to interpret. What is required is a large-scale intervention that alters the supply (or full price) of one or the other – and importantly, does so in isolation (reproductive health programs often bundle primary health care and family planning – and in some instances, abortion services). In this paper, we study Nepal's 2004 legalization of abortion provision and subsequent expansion of abortion services, an unusual and rapidly-implemented policy meeting these requirements. Using four waves of rich individual-level data representative of fertile-age Nepalese women, we find robust evidence of substitution between modern contraception and abortion. This finding has important implications for public policy and foreign aid, suggesting that an effective strategy for reducing expensive and potentially unsafe abortions may be to expand the supply of modern contraceptives.


The thoughtful integration of built and natural environments in urban areas to advance social and economic goals has become a 21st century imperative. In response, this paper proposes some fundamental principles of ecological urbanism for use by planners, designers, architects and other professionals. The paper makes use of examples and context from Scotland, but the underlying principles and key messages are, we believe, universal and can inform decision making anywhere in the world.


ABSTRACTPurpose: This study was to evaluate clinically and radiographically the volume changes of alveolar ridge grafting using customized xenogenic bone graft. Patients and methods:A total of 12 patients with mandibular horizontal and vertical alveolar ridge defects ≥ 3 mm were selected. They were divided into 2 groups: Group I (Test Group) included 6 patients in which mandibular alveolar ridges were reconstructed with customized Xenogenic bone graft Smartbone (IBI S.A., Switzerland). Group II (Control Group) included 6 patients in which mandibular alveolar ridges were reconstructed with particulate Xenogenic bone (Smart bone, IBI S.A., Switzerland) grafting to posterior mandibular ridge with titanium mesh was performed. Volume analysis of the changes in alveolar ridge in both Groups were obtained before and four months after the procedure using CBCT. Densitometric analysis of the Postoperative bone formed and compared with native bone. Results: Four months postoperatively. Measurements made on cone-beam computerized tomograms, four months postoperative showed significance increase in bone volume by 40 % in the area of newly formed bone in Group I (Customized bone) compared with 23% in Control Group. Statistical significant changes was found in the density of newly formed bone four months post-operatively in both Groups, however there was no significant difference in bone density postoperatively between Group I (customized Bone) and Group II (Control). Conclusion: According to the results, the treatment of defective alveolar ridge augmentation of the mandibular ridge with customized xenogenic bone graft Smartbone (IBI S.A., Switzerland) is successful and produces results consistent with the control Group.


In recent years, there has been a rapid development of social networks and an increase in their diversity both in terms of functionality and users. Online social networks (OSN) can offer considerable benefits to communication and user relationships as well as benefits for students in learning and participating in online courses and platforms. Among the advantages of using online social networks as facilitators of the educational activities, we mention: support for social learning and blended learning programs, availability for interaction, collaboration, sharing information and resources, encouraging participation and critical thinking, informal education and increasing students' motivation for certain subjects or areas of knowledge. Other positive aspects of using OSN in education are related to the participation of students in discussion groups, using of real-time study materials (microblogging is a simple way to engage in dialogue with other students), flexible academic environment and establishing of relationships between teachers, students and researchers from other institutions. The goal of this work is to explore the potential of using online social networks as facilitators of educational activities in two universities from Romania. Two samples of students have been collected that have various study profiles. The study aims at answering two main research questions: which are the preferred facilitators of learning and which is the weight of time spent on online social networks for university-related activities? On the one hand, the results show that the most important facilitators are the discussion groups, the chat on Facebook and the Facebook page of students' group. On another hand, the results reveal significant differences between the two universities as regards the preferences and the time spent for academic purposes.