National development plans in Africa are increasingly recognizing nutrition as both essential for development and a social right. So far, however, this has not resulted in the large-scale provision of nutrition services necessary to reduce the high levels of malnutrition on the continent. Nutrition now has to feature more prominently in policymaking processes, and the resultant policies have to be translated into effective programs to achieve a significant reduction in the burden that malnutrition imposes on so many African households, communities, and nations. The experience of East Africa has relevance for policy and program design in other regions affected by malnutrition


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of a number of performance management techniques in the outsourcing process, in a business services context. Design/methodology/approach - Using a structured outsourcing framework, performance management techniques are applied in a financial services organisation over a three-year period. A case study approach is employed to undertake the research, which involved the research team engaging directly with the Organisation throughout the outsourcing process. Findings - Applying performance management techniques in the outsourcing process is challenging in a number of areas including comparison difficulties, incomplete information and inadequate performance management systems. However, benchmarking and cost analysis are useful mechanisms for improving performance, and reducing costs via internal process redesign or outsourcing. Performance management techniques can be employed to remove inefficiencies from processes both prior to outsourcing and during the outsourcing relationship. Research limitations/implications - There are a number of limitations of the research approach including gaining full participation from the company, having access to all relevant company information and time constraints. Practical implications - The research findings highlight the implications of applying performance management techniques in a practical outsourcing setting. As well as identifying the challenges, the research highlights the value of integrating critical success factors, cost analysis, benchmarking and other performance management techniques into the outsourcing process. Originality/value - There are few studies in the literature of applying performance management techniques in the outsourcing process at an operation's level. The findings have identified the challenges and benefits of performance management techniques in the outsourcing process. The findings have highlighted the importance of operations management concepts such as performance management, operations strategy, business improvement and process re-design to services outsourcing, and the need for further research in this area by operations management scholars.


Background This study was conducted to observe the influence of different time intervals between prior cervical conization and posterior hysterectomy on postoperative infection in female patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cancer. Material/Methods Medical records of 170 patients who underwent hysterectomy following cervical conization between November 2010 and September 2016 at the Zhenjiang 4th Hospital were reviewed. According to the interval between hysterectomy and cervical conization, patients were classified into 1–2-week, 4–5-week, and 6-week groups. The outcomes of 46 patients who underwent conization with iodoform gauze inside the vagina were observed. Results The total postoperative infection rate after hysterectomy was 25.3% (43/170). The expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in the cervical secretions and tissues were found to gradually increase, peaking at 2 weeks after conization, then significantly decreasing 3–6 weeks onwards. Compared with the 1–2-week group, the 4–5-week and 6-week groups exhibited significantly lower infection rates (2/42, 4.8%, 4–5-week group; 0%, 0/33, 6-week group; vs. 41/95, 43.2%, 1–2-week group; p<0.001). In the 1–2-week group in particular, the postoperative infection rate after laparoscopic hysterectomy was significantly higher than the rate after abdominal hysterectomy (21/35, 60% vs. 20/60, 33%, p=0.0177). In addition, the vaginal and cervical wound infection rates after conization in patients treated with iodoform were significantly lower than the rates in those without iodoform treatment (p<0.05). Conclusions Hysterectomy should be performed at least 4 weeks after conization. Treatment with iodoform would be beneficial.


A series expansion of the interaction between a nucleus and its surrounding electron distribution provides terms that are well-known in the study of hyperfine interactions: the familiar quadrupole interaction and the less familiar hexadecapole interaction. If the penetration of electrons into the nucleus is taken into account, various corrections to these multipole interactions appear. The best known correction is a scalar term related to the isotope shift and the isomer shift. This paper discusses a related tensor correction, which modifies the quadrupole interaction if electrons penetrate the nucleus: the quadrupole shift. We describe the mathematical formalism and provide first-principles calculations of the quadrupole shift for a large set of solids. Fully relativistic calculations that explicitly take a finite nucleus into account turn out to be mandatory. Our analysis shows that the quadrupole shift becomes appreciably large for heavy elements. Implications for experimental high-precision studies of quadrupole interactions and quadrupole moment ratios are discussed. A literature review of other small quadrupole-like effects is presented as well (pseudoquadrupole effect, isotopologue anomaly, etc.).


The buildings are one of the most resistant and at the same time exclusive creatures of human beings in different civilizations. In the past, the most significant impact of each society was the scale and hugeness of their buildings as a direct mirror of their power among other nations. Also theirs buildings were intelligent and practical enough to respect the nature and the user by means of implementing local achievements. The mentioned respect was not just for the nature, but it was caring about the beliefs, feelings, costumes and lifestyle of the inhabitants. Architecture in its scenario, since the commencement till now was in struggle to locate itself as the historical image of different styles and in this procedure it updates itself according to different forms, spaces, climates etc. within this frame, when we shift the lens on contemporary architecture of Iran which has got long history and background, the notion of identity becomes one of the main issues on the table. Identity could be discussed in diverse scale starting from human to the society, but when an architect tries to reflect identical phenomena in his/her design there are two contradictory orientations. Some of them are digging into the history to find clues of identity and reflect them in contemporary design but the other group has got too much radical view which means neglecting of classical architecture and looking for identity in more prospective perspective. The notion of identity and culture could alter from architect to architect, building to building and form to form. This article tries to give some clues and base points in order to bring two mentioned radical perspectives to a kind of mid-point which could possibly be a guideline for the cure of contemporary architecture in Iran.


The article gives an overview on the visualization of climate model data simulation from a visual studies perspective. On one hand the question is raised of what it means culturally when global images are used to communicate scenarios of a changing climate future beyond the field of climate research itself. The product of this process is one of the most widespread 'icons' of climate change, the image of the blue planet that has turned red. On the other hand insights into how these visualizations are designed in the studio of a computer designer are given. The focus here is on the way in which specific visualization software shapes images of a changing global climate. The article takes as its starting point the perspective of visual and media studies, because images have become so crucial in communicating research results of climate science and convincing policy agents and the public. What is special about scientific images depicting climate change is that they have implicitly also become political images. As today various actors and recipient groups are making use of pictures depicting climate change, the article concerns climate science, media studies, computer visualization, cultural studies, and politics alike. WIREs Clim Change 2012, 3:185–193. doi: 10.1002/wcc.162


Automotive turbochargers have been widely applied in vehicles in order to increase the power output of internal combustion engines by increasing the air to fuel ratio entering the piston cylinders. Turbochargers use the exhaust flow to spin a turbine at speeds of up to 140,000 r/min. Under such extreme working conditions, even a weak vibration can lead to the bearing failure and the whole turbocharger destroyed. In order to guarantee a safe operation, it is necessary to carry out a theoretical research on the dynamics performance of turbochargers. Therefore, the primary objective of this research is to develop a dynamics model for the turbocharger rotor system under multi-field coupled forces and then to study the dynamic characteristics and the stability of its rotor system according to the simulation and experimental results.

A turbocharger is a special kind of rotating machinery because of the following aspects: Firstly, the turbocharger rotor system is supported by floating ring bearings. The impact of
nonlinear multi-field coupled forces must be considered. Secondly, the turbocharger rotor system is a multi-span rotor bearing system that makes the modeling and simulation more complicated. Thirdly, the working speed range of the turbocharger covers multiple orders of critical speeds. This flexible rotor system cannot be studied using the conventional theory of rigid rotors.

In this thesis, the lubrication system of a turbocharger is initially investigated. The
analytical expressions of the hydrodynamic pressure distribution in the floating ring bearing are derived using the infinitely long bearing theory, taking into account the oil inlet
pressure and the cavitation area. The influences of external loads and oil inlet pressure on
the oil flow rate into the inner clearance are analytically investigated, while considering the
effect of the rotation of the ring. A finite element model is then developed for the turbocharger rotor system. In this model, the excitation forces considered include rotor
imbalance, hydrodynamic forces, lubricant feed pressure and the dead weight. The dimensionless form of Capone hydrodynamic force model is extended into the floating ring bearing. Following model development, modal analysis is carried out on both a free rotor system and a turbocharger rotor system. The effects of the structural parameters and working conditions, such as the rotor imbalance, lubricant viscosity, bearing clearances and lubricant feed pressure, on the stability of the turbocharger rotor system are studied. A turbocharger test rig is then designed and developed to monitor the turbocharger shaft motion. The experimental data agree well with the simulation results from the theoretical model.

The primary contribution of the current research can be categorized into the following aspects: Firstly, the analytical expressions of the hydrodynamic pressure distribution have been solved. The equilibrium positions of the journal and ring have been deduced under different external loads and lubricant feed pressure. The relationship between the oil flow rate and the rotational velocity of the shaft has been obtained. Secondly, Capone hydrodynamic force model is introduced and extended to simulate the dynamic performance of the floating ring bearing. The analytical expression of the hydrodynamic
forces of double oil films have been derived based on the dimensionless form of the Reynolds Equations. Thirdly, the motion of the turbocharger shaft is simulated within a speed range of 0 to 8,000 rad/s. The influences of structural parameters and working conditions on the stability of the turbocharger rotor system are clearly understood.

It should be noted that the developed model still needs to be validated when turbocharger is operated at a relatively high speed, although it grees well with experimental results within the speed range of 0 to 2,000 rad/s.


This paper addresses the effect of the type of habitat on thermal comfort and energy requirements for heating and cooling for 7 Algerian cities located in different climatic zones of the country. Our choice is focused on four buildings: two traditional houses: a home with overhead ceiling opening (covered patio), an open patio house; and two representative modern buildings: a detached self-built and an apartment building. The study was conducted using the TRNSYS software coupled with the aeraulic multizone simulation software COMIS. Annex A of the European Standard 15251 is applied to quantify the occupant's comfort in unconditioned spaces, and ISO 7730 is used to fix the comfort requirements to determine the energy required when the spaces are conditioned. The simulation results show that the open patio house is better in hot weather, and reduces cooling energy consumption throughout the examined cities, while the "modern" buildings give a better summer comfort in dry and cold semi arid climate but needs more cooling energy.


THE INFLUENCE OF PERCEPTUAL ACCURACY ON WILLINGNESS TO SEEK HELP AMONG COLLEGE FRESHMEN By Kathryn A. Conley, M.S., M.A. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011 Major Director: Steven J. Danish, Ph.D. Professor, Counseling Psychology OBJECTIVE: The current study explored the applicability of the social norms approach to a new domain of study: psychological help-seeking. A number of questions that must be answered to determine whether the social norms model can be applied effectively to the helpseeking domain guided the study. METHOD: Data were collected from freshmen at five colleges and universities in the Mid-Atlantic region (N = 3021) during freshman orientation week. The study used a cross sectional design to examine personal attitudes and behaviors related to help-seeking as well as perceptions about others' attitudes and behaviors related to help-seeking. RESULTS: Most participants reported that they were willing to seek help and viewed seeking help as a personal strength rather than personal weakness. However, discrepancies between "reality" and perception indicate that most freshmen in this sample misperceived reality. Most participants underestimated the extent to which peers are accepting of seeking psychological help and most participants were not accurate in their perceptions of peer help seeking behaviors. This misperception significantly influenced personal willingness to seek help. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that the social norms method of intervention is applicable to the domain of help seeking and efforts to reduce stigma. Implications, next steps for future research, and limitations of the current study are discussed.


In several African countries fertility levels have stagnated or increased slightly. However, many women still report an unmet need for family planning. Therefore achieving further fertility declines requires programs that increase demand for family planning, but that also address the existing unmet need. One way to improve contraceptive access in a cost-effective manner might be to integrate family planning services into other existing health services. This paper analyzes secondary data from the 2012–2013 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) survey in Madagascar to estimate the number of women with an unmet need for family planning that might benefit from integrating family planning services into other health services. In Madagascar, one third of the demand for family planning is not met; an estimated 820,000 women have an unmet need for family planning. A substantial portion of these women can be reached by integrating family planning services into existing maternal and child health services. Health providers are uniquely positioned to help address method-related reasons for non-use of family planning, such as concerns about health problems and side-effects. Given the large unmet need for family planning, programs should not exclusively focus on increasing the demand for family planning, but also seek new ways to address the existing unmet need. Our study illustrates that simple analyses of existing health survey data can be an important tool for informing the design of programs to tackle this unmet need.


Solar energy is receiving much more attention in building energy systems in recent years. Solar thermal utilization should be based on the integration of solar collectors into buildings. The facades of buildings can be important solar collectors, and therefore become multifunctional. In addition, solar collectors can be used to enhance the appearance of the façade when considering aesthetic compatibility. Currently, the feasible approach for integration of solar collectors into buildings is to install collectors on the south tilted roofs, south walls, balconies or awnings. Experiences on solar thermal utilization are mainly introduced in this paper, which include solar hot water systems with different design methods in residential buildings and solar-powered integrated energy systems in public buildings. Then suggestions are given. In cities of China, an ideal opportunity to carry out solar renovation with roof-integrated collectors is in combination with the rebuilding of apartment roofs, from flat to inclined. With regard to multi-story residential buildings, a central hot water supply system and central-individual hot water supply system are more appropriate in view of aesthetic compatibility of solar collectors with building roof and convenience of management. As for public buildings, it is highly recommended to design solar-powered integrated energy systems for the purpose of high solar fraction.


0740-7475/03/$17.00 © 2003 IEEE Copublished by the IEEE CS and the IEEE CASS September–October 2003 THE SEMICONDUCTOR content in electronic systems has steadily risen to over 15% of the total system cost. PCs and peripherals in the late 1980s and networking chips in the late 1990s have caused major increases in IC usage, each providing about a 5% bump to the dollar value of IC content. Today, the semiconductor industry is at the threshold of another major expansion of IC slots driven by wireless and consumer devices. Of the semiconductor industry's expected $214 billion in revenue for 2004, mobile phones will account for $31 billion and consumer electronics will account for almost twice as much. Multimedia is driving the growth in both of these industry segments. The digital home has become the hub of what Dave Orton, CEO of ATI Technologies, calls, "the first generation of the visual age." The digital TV tuner, which the FCC mandated to reach 100% of all TV devices by 2007, is a small fraction of the high-definition TV cost—but it opens the door for many more silicon slots for video processing and storage. Supported on most air interfaces, multimedia has already gone wireless. Handheld wireless access is an important part of this growing segment. By 2003, cell phones became the single largest market for processor silicon with 450 million units. This silicon goes beyond DSP baseband to real processor cores that handle not only networking and user interface tasks, but also JPEG, MPEG codecs for images and video, and MP3 for audio. The processor speed in handsets is on the same curve as those for the PCs of a decade earlier, albeit with enormous focus on energy efficiency. Embedded processing is now an important part of what Sanjay Jha of Qualcomm calls the wireless virtuous cycle: Increased data and media functions drive improvements in display and processor speeds that, in turn, enable new services and content, which then drive the need for even higher processor speeds. Indeed, services are moving from ring tones and photo messaging to video telephony, broadcast media, location-based services, and network-based gaming. The processing of media data in these systems presents many challenges. These functions must be timely—even real-time—but must also be energy and bandwidth efficient. Design decisions at all levels must consider the impact on the end user's experience. Guest editors Radu Marculescu and Petru Eles have done an excellent job in organizing a special issue on this subject; they selected a total of nine articles from 25 submissions after an extensive review process. This issue contains the first six of the selected articles: They address the energy-efficient scheduling of multimedia streams and backlight adaptation and compression issues for multimedia applications. In a later issue, D&T will feature articles on distributed speech recognition and multimedia SoCs. In addition to these theme articles, Maria Varsamou, Nikolaos Papandreou, and Theodore Antonakopoulos present a testing methodology for the signaling protocols used by point-to-point communication links. In an article on the evaluation of DRAM tests, Ad J. van de Goor examines well-known memory tests and shows the importance of selecting the right stress combinations for good fault coverage. With this issue, D&T also launches its Book Reviews department—edited by Scott Davidson, Sachin Sapatnekar, and Grant Martin—to bring forward a critical evaluation of the books that would interest D&T readers. Finally, Ken Wagner, D&T's interviews editor, presents an interview with Dean Richard Newton of UC Berkeley, and his perspective on the increasing role of engineering in societal issues. I hope you enjoy this issue!


The morphology, structure, and magnetism of Fe films on an oxygen-precovered, stepped Cu(1 1 25) surface are investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, and magneto-optical Kerr effect analysis. After exposure of Cu(1 1 25) to about 600 L of oxygen at 493 K, a well-ordered (2√×√)R45° superstructure is formed. The O-induced structure has a zig-zag morphology, showing a high density of facets and is very stable during subsequent Fe deposition. Fcc Fe can be stabilized up to 20 monolayer (ML) thickness, while the magnetization of the films reorients from perpendicular to in-plane at 15 ML. From 24 ML, the linear extrapolation line of the thickness dependence of the Kerr intensity of the transformed bcc Fe films does not go along with the pure fully magnetized bcc Fe films. We conclude that oxygen adsorption strongly affects the structure and spin-reorientation transition of Fe films.


BACKGROUND
This pilot study was designed to test the efficacy of a physical activity program for improving psychological variables and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) symptoms and to provide preliminary evidence regarding the effects on perceived cognitive symptoms and objectively measured cognitive performance by FMS patients.

METHODS
Sixteen women diagnosed with FMS were randomly assigned to an 18-week physical activity program or to a control condition. Psychological measures, FMS symptoms, perceived cognitive function, objective measures of cognition, and walking capacity were assessed at baseline and posttest.

RESULTS
At posttest, there were significant differences in fatigue (effect size, ES=1.86), depression (ES=1.27), FMS symptoms (ES=1.56), self-reported cognitive symptoms (ES=1.19), and delayed recall performance (ES=1.16) between the physically active group and the control group, indicating that the FMS patients benefited from physical activity. Beneficial effects were also observed for 6 of the 7 objective measures of cognition and ranged from small to large (ESs=0.26 to 1.06).

CONCLUSIONS
Given that all FMS patients do not respond well to conventional treatments, these beneficial effects of physical activity are important. Future studies with larger samples are warranted to test the reliability of the findings for the objective measures of cognition.


The selection of appropriate classifier is of great importance in improving the positioning accuracy and processing time for indoor positioning. In this work, an extensive analysis is carried out to determine the most appropriate classification algorithm to solve the indoor positioning problem. KIOS Research Center dataset is used in the experimental work. Principal Component Analysis method is employed together with Ranker method to determine the best features. In the next stage, the performances of Naïve Bayes, Bayesian Network, Multilayer Perceptron, K-Nearest Neighbor and J48 Decision Tree, which are widely preferred classification algorithms for indoor positioning studies, are analyzed on four distinct mobile phones. The results of the analysis reveal that J48 Decision Tree is superior to the other classification algorithms in terms of both processing time and accuracy.


BACKGROUND
Most patients with end-stage renal disease require dialysis to survive because they are unable to access kidney transplantation. Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is recommended by some clinical practice guidelines as the dialysis treatment of choice for adults without significant comorbid conditions or those with residual kidney function. This study aims to synthesize published qualitative studies of patients' experiences, beliefs, and attitudes about PD.

METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies of adult perspectives of living with PD. Databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL), theses, and reference lists were searched to November 2011.

RESULTS
39 studies involving 387 participants were included. We identified 7 themes: resilience and confidence (determination and overcoming vicissitudes), support structures (strong family relationship, peer support, professional dedication, social abandonment, and desire for holistic care), overwhelming responsibility (disruptive intrusion, family burden, and onerous treatment regimen), control (gaining bodily awareness, achieving independence and self-efficacy, and information seeking), freedom (flexibility and autonomy, retaining social functioning, and ability to travel), sick identity (damage to self-esteem and invisible suffering), and disablement (physical incapacitation and social loss and devaluation).

CONCLUSIONS
PD can offer patients a sense of control, independence, self-efficacy, and freedom. However, holistic and multidisciplinary care is needed to mitigate the risks of impaired self-esteem, physical incapacitation, reduced social functioning, and poor sense of self-worth. Strategies that aim to strengthen social support and promote resilience and confidence in patients are integral to achieving positive adjustment, improved psychosocial outcomes, and treatment satisfaction.


The aim of this study was to examine diet quality among participants in the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (PATH) cohort and to assess the association with adiposity. Data were collected from participants (n = 23,768) aged 35–69 years that were residents of the Atlantic Canadian provinces. Both measured and self-reported data were used to examine adiposity (including body mass index (BMI), abdominal obesity, waist-to-hip ratio and fat mass) and food frequency questionnaires were used to assess diet quality. Overall, diet quality was statistically different among provinces. Of concern, participants across all the provinces reported consuming only 1–2 servings of vegetables and 1–2 servings fruit per day. However, participants also reported some healthy dietary choices such as consuming more servings of whole grains than refined grains, and eating at fast food restaurants ≤1 per month. Significant differences in BMI, body weight, percentage body fat, and fat mass index were also observed among provinces. Adiposity measures were positively associated with consumption of meat/poultry, fish, snack food, sweeteners, diet soft drinks, and frequenting fast food restaurants, and inversely associated with consumption of whole grains and green tea. Although all four provinces are in the Atlantic region, diet quality vary greatly among provinces and are associated with adiposity.


The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) is an imaging UV-VIS solar backscatter spectrometer and is de- signed and used primarily to retrieve trace gases like O 3 and NO2 from the measured Earth reflectance spectrum in the UV-visible (270-500 nm). However, also aerosols are an important science target of OMI. The multi-wavelength algorithm is used to retrieve aerosol parameters from OMI spectral reflectance measurements in up to 20 wavelength bands. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is performed to quantify the information content of OMI reflectance mea- surements on aerosols and to assess the capability of the multi-wavelength algorithm to discern various aerosol types. This analysis is applied to synthetic reflectance measure- ments for desert dust, biomass burning aerosols, and weakly absorbing anthropogenic aerosol with a variety of aerosol optical thicknesses, aerosol layer altitudes, refractive in- dices and size distributions. The range of aerosol parame- ters considered covers the natural variability of tropospheric aerosols. This theoretical analysis is performed for a large number of scenarios with various geometries and surface albedo spectra for ocean, soil and vegetation. When the sur- face albedo spectrum is accurately known and clouds are ab- sent, OMI reflectance measurements have 2 to 4 degrees of freedom that can be attributed to aerosol parameters. This in- formation content depends on the observation geometry and the surface albedo spectrum. An additional wavelength band is evaluated, that comprises the O2-O2 absorption band at a wavelength of 477 nm. It is found that this wavelength band adds significantly more information than any other individual band.


This paper contains the work related to Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) that focuses mainly on Incremental Conductance Method (Inc. Cond) with direct control. For this purpose, dsPIC30F2010 microcontroller has been used for the programming of MPPT Method. The dsPIC30F2010 programming has been performed on MPLABIDE Software. The MATLAB/SIMULINK and hardware study have been done using photovoltaic (PV) panels, Cuk converter and battery. Comparative study between hardware and MATLAB/SIMULINK has been performed and conclusions have been drawn.


Study Design: In vitro experiment using degenerated human ligamentum flavum (LF) and herniated intervertebral disk (IVD). Objectives: To investigate the role and effect of degenerated and herniated IVDs on LF hypertrophy and ossification. Summary of Background Data: Spinal stenosis is caused, in part, by hypertrophy and ossification of the LF, which are induced by aging and degenerative process. It is well known that degenerated IVDs spontaneously produce inflammatory cytokines. Therefore, we hypothesized that degenerated IVD may affect adjacent LF through secreted inflammatory cytokines. Methods: LF and herniated lumbar IVD tissues were obtained during surgical spinal procedures. LF fibroblasts were isolated by enzymatic digestion of LF tissue. LF cell cultures were treated with disk supernatant from herniated IVDs. Secreted cytokines from IVD tissue culture were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. After analysis of cytotoxicity, DNA synthesis was measured. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for mRNA expressions of types I, II, III, V, and XI collagen and osteocalcin, and histochemical stains were performed. Results: Supernatant from tissue culture of herniated IVD showed increased production of interleukin-1&agr;, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-&agr;, prostaglandin E2, and nitric oxide compared with disk tissue culture from traumatic condition. There was no cytotoxicity in LF cells treated with disk supernatant from herniated IVDs. There was significant increase in DNA synthesis, upregulation in mRNA expression of types III, XI collagen and osteocalcin, whereas variable expression pattern of type I and V, and strong positive stains for Von Kossa and alkaline phosphatase in LF cultures with disk supernatant. Conclusions: Degenerated and herniated IVDs provide an important pathomechanism in hypertrophy and ossification of the LF through inflammatory cytokines.


Electronic contracts present trade law scholars with a multitude of issues concerning international privatelaw, arising from the peculiarities of the online environment. However, as in traditional paper contracts,directives, model laws and conventions governing electronic commercial transactions still leave open suchan important question as when is an electronic contract concluded. This article focuses on the offer andacceptance requirement using a comparative approach to explore how this issue is addressed in Russia aswell as in other civil- and common-law jurisdictions. The paper compares different regulatory approachestaken by the EU and US on the formation of electronic contracts, highlighting their differences and the progressmade towards convergence and consumer's protection. The relevant law for each country is discussedin relation to two types of transactions: those concluded between qualified professionals or traders, i.e.so-called Business-to-Business (B2B), and those between qualified professionals and consumers, namelyBusiness-to-Consumer (B2C).


Two hundred and forty unsexed day-old broiler chickens were allotted to eight dietary treatments arranged in a 4 × 2 factorial arrangement of two cassava varieties (white and yellow cassava) supplemented with no additive (control), synthetic amino acid, cellulase enzyme and a combination of amino acid and cellulase enzyme for the starter (0–4 weeks) and finisher (4–8 weeks) phases. Data was collected on growth performance, feed conversion ratio (FCR), cost of feed consumed per kilogram and analysed using ANOVA. Starting broilers fed a diet containing yellow cassava supplemented with amino acids had the most superior (p < 0.05) final weight (709.09 g/bird), weight gain (657.27 g/bird), best FCR (1.93), and the cheapest (p < 0.05) cost per kilogram weight gain (₦200.15/kg [US$0.56]). Finishing broilers fed a diet containing white cassava supplemented with amino acid also recorded the best (p < 0.05) FCR (2.43) and cheapest cost of feed consumed per kilogram weight gain (₦226.71/kg [$0.63]). The study concluded that dietary supplementation with amino acid when white or yellow cassava root is to be used in the nutrition of broilers is essential for improved growth performance and economic benefits to broiler farmers.


Experimental studies have shown that the protein abundance in living cells varies from few tens to several thousands molecules per species. Molecular fluctuations roughly scale as the inverse square root of the number of molecules due to the random timing of reactions. It is hence expected that intrinsic noise plays an important role in the dynamics of biochemical networks. The Chemical Master Equation is the accepted description of these systems under well-mixed conditions. Because analytical solutions to this equation are available only for simple systems, one often has to resort to approximation methods. A popular technique is an expansion in the inverse volume to which the reactants are confined, called van Kampen's system size expansion. Its leading order terms are given by the phenomenological rate equations and the linear noise approximation that quantify the mean concentrations and the Gaussian fluctuations about them, respectively. While these approximations are valid in the limit of large molecule numbers, it is known that physiological conditions often imply low molecule numbers. We here develop systematic approximation methods based on higher terms in the system size expansion for general biochemical networks. We present an asymptotic series for the moments of the Chemical Master Equation that can be computed to arbitrary precision in the system size expansion. We then derive an analytical approximation of the corresponding time-dependent probability distribution. Finally, we devise a diagrammatic technique based on the path-integral method that allows to compute time-correlation functions. We show through the use of biological examples that the first few terms of the expansion yield accurate approximations even for low number of molecules. The theory is hence expected to closely resemble the outcomes of single cell experiments.


States frequently administer federal law, yet scholars have largely overlooked how the practice of cooperative federalism affects the balance of power across the branches of the federal government. This Article explains how states check the federal executive in an era of expansive executive power and how they do so as champions of Congress, both relying on congressionally conferred authority and casting themselves as Congress's faithful agents. By inviting the states to carry out federal law, Congress, whether purposefully or incidentally, counteracts the tendency of statutory ambiguity and broad delegations of authority to enhance federal executive power. When states disagree with the federal executive about how to administer the law, they force attention back to the underlying statute: Contending that their view is consistent with Congress's purposes, states compel the federal executive to respond in kind. States may also reinvigorate horizontal checks by calling on the courts or Congress as allies. Cooperative federalism schemes are a more practical means of checking federal executive power than many existing proposals because such schemes do not fight problems commentators emphasize—a vast administrative state, broad delegations, and polarized political parties—but rather harness these realities to serve separation of powers objectives.


Richard Talbert is William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History and Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He is an international authority on the cartography of the ancient world and is the editor of "The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World". Published to complement his Greek and Roman dictionaries, "An Atlas of Ancient Geography, Biblical and Classical" by Sir William Smith is the rarest and most visually compelling of the volumes. Produced to the highest standard by the leading mapmaker of the day, the maps - large-scale, small-scale, historical, topographical, multiple city plans and other insets - are clear, detailed, intricately colored works of art. "The Atlas" provides the first complete set of maps of the ancient world, both classical and biblical. A full index of names and places, both ancient and modern, accompanies each of the larger maps. For each map there is also an accompanying text, giving sources and authorities for them. This handsome edition is introduced by Richard Talbert, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History and Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and one of the world's foremost scholars of the cartography of the ancient world. Academics, collectors and libraries will welcome the opportunity to acquire a copy of this extremely rare landmark work.


This study compares the effect of Common Agricultural Policy implementation on comparative advantages of livestock production in four selected countries, namely Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (V4). The comparative advantage of Czech Republic's bovine production as well as Slovakian poultry production has improved. On the contrary, sheep production in Poland and Slovakia has lost its previous positive RSCA value, similarly to swine production in Czech Republic and horse production in Hungary. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of bovine production in V4 countries revealed that the formerly successful quality competition was replaced gradually by price competition during the examined period (1999-2010).


In this paper, a method for increasing the bandwidth of a test bed for dynamic characterization of power amplifiers (PAs) is described. The technique is readily implemented using commercially available instruments, which makes it suitable for, e.g., production testing. The bandwidth extension technique is combined with coherent averaging of the measurements in order to simultaneously increase the bandwidth and dynamic range of the test bed. The errors in the obtained wideband signal are also estimated. The method is evaluated experimentally on a base station PA for the third-generation wideband code division multiple access system and on a Doherty amplifier. A tenfold increase in bandwidth to a total of 144 MHz and a more than 10-dB increase in dynamic range to 78 dB were obtained in practice. In addition, the obtained wideband signal is used for behavioral amplifier modeling.


The densification and deformation of porcelain samples during firing with different compression load were investigated by loading dilatometry. Porcelain has a viscous behavior above 1000°C and the global densification is due to the applied stress and due to the behavior of the material itself. Moreover, the density of the powder compact is very influent in thermal transformations and in the global densification rate. Consequently, dilatometry curves are difficult to explain by analytical methods due to the complex response of porcelain and due to the cost and time required to conduct many experiments, which lead to sparse data sets. In this article, Support Vector Regression (SVR) was applied to predict the behavior of porcelain during sintering from a small set of experiments of densification against time, green density, and applied pressure. The SVR method was used to reconstruct any two-dimensional densification–temperature curves at any applied pressure, from the experimental data. It is shown that SVR is able to calculate a unique optimum from a very limited number of experiments. Moreover, only two main parameters are required for the calculation. Results provide more information about sintering and creep phenomena as extrapolation at very low applied pressure of densification can be performed.


The Virgo gravitational wave detector is an interferometer (ITF) with 3 km arms located in Pisa, Italy. From July to October 2010, Virgo performed its third science run (VSR3) in coincidence with the LIGO detectors. Despite several techniques adopted to isolate the ITF from the environment, seismic noise remains an important issue for Virgo. Vibrations produced by the detector infrastructure (such as air conditioning units, water chillers/heaters, pumps) are found to affect Virgo's sensitivity, with the main coupling mechanisms being through beam jitter and scattered light processes. The Advanced Virgo design seeks to reduce ITF couplings to environmental noise by having most vibration-sensitive components suspended and in vacuum, as well as muffle and relocate loud machines. During the months of June and July in 2010, a Güralp-3TD seismometer was stationed at various locations around the Virgo site hosting major infrastructure machines. Seismic data were examined using spectral and coherence analysis with seismic probes close to the detector. The primary aim of this study was to identify noisy machines which seismically affect the ITF environment and thus require mitigation attention. Analyzed machines are located at various distances from the experimental halls, ranging from 10 to 100 m. An attempt is made to measure the attenuation of emitted noise at the ITF and correlate it with the distance from the source and with seismic attenuation models in soil.


Autofrettage is a procedure performed to improve the durability of high pressure components. The main aim of this thesis work was to analyse the effect of autofrettage on the valve house of the cutting head assembly of a water jet cutting machine. As the stepping stone, a thick pipe, as a typical example of pressure vessels, was employed in order to study autofrettage process and its effects. Afterward, the adopted approach was applied on the valve house. Eventually, the results showed that this procedure leads to a tangible decrease in the maximum value of stress.


Surveys concur that adolescents disproportionately engage in many real-world risk behaviors, compared with children and adults. Recently researchers have employed laboratory risky decision-making tasks to replicate this apparent heightened adolescent risk-taking. This review builds on the main findings of the first meta-analysis of such age differences in risky decision-making in the laboratory. Overall, although adolescents engage in more risky decision-making than adults, adolescents engage in risky decision-making equal to children. However, adolescents take fewer risks than children on tasks that allow the option of opting out of taking a risk. To reconcile findings on age differences in risk-taking in the real-world versus the laboratory, an integrative framework merges theories on neuropsychological development with ecological models that emphasize the importance of risk exposure in explaining age differences in risk-taking. Policy insights and recent developments are discussed.


As the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model has developed in recent years, so has the role of the therapeutic relationship within that model. This portfolio aims to uncover aspects of the therapeutic relationship in CBT as it is practiced nowadays. The first section presents an overview in which the different parts included in this portfolio are briefly described, and the way in which they are linked together is outlined. The second section, the research component, explores qualitatively Counselling Psychologists' experience of the therapeutic relationship while practicing CBT. This section aims to provide the reader with insights from the therapists' perspective, which has been a largely neglected variable in the literature. The third section represents the clinical component and gives a vivid account of CBT with a client with anger issues. Finally, the fourth section, the critical literature review, presents the role of empathy in the cognitive behavioural treatment of depression. As a whole, the portfolio provides a broad view of different perspectives of the therapeutic relationship in CBT, and aims to increase awareness among researchers and therapists of how the research findings can be of use for clinical practice.


Abstract Policymakers in publicly funded health-care systems are frequently required to make intricate decisions on which health-care services to include or exclude from the basic health-care package. Although it seems likely that the concept of individual responsibility is an essential feature of such decisions, it is rarely explicitly articulated or evaluated in health policy. This paper presents a tentative conceptual framework for exploring when health-care services contain characteristics that facilitate individual responsibility through private financing. Six attributes for exploring the suitability of private financing for specific health-care commodities are identified: (i) it should enable individuals to value the need and quality both before and after utilization; (ii) it should be targeted toward individuals with a reasonable level of individual autonomy; (iii) it should be associated with low levels of positive externalities; (iv) it should be associated with a demand sufficient to generate a private market; (v) it should be associated with payments affordable for most individuals; and finally, (vi) it should be associated with 'lifestyle enhancements' rather than 'medical necessities'. The tentative framework enables exploration of individual responsibility connected to health care as a heterogeneous group of commodities, and allows policymakers to make decisions on rationing by design rather than default.


Complex and adaptive challenges threaten human well-being and sustainability. However, our leadership graduates often lack the capacity and or commitment to address these challenges in a meaningful way. This paper details a five-year study exploring the impact of an interdisciplinary undergraduate course on the development of global capacities, complex Adaptive Leadership, Socially Responsible Agency, and systems thinking. The course instructors used innovative and intentionally divergent learning methods to challenge students to serve as stewards of their own knowledge and facilitators of their own learning through the confrontation of authentic and complex challenges. The researchers note transferable qualitative findings that demonstrate the profound impact of the noted leadership learning experience on the development of Socially Responsible Agency, along with Adaptive Leadership capacity and systems thinking.


We develop a methodology to construct real effective exchange rates that incorporate two distinctive elements not accounted for in the traditional measures: i) competition in third markets and ii) adjustments for similarity in export baskets between exporters and their competitors. In addition to constructing competition-adjusted real effective exchange rates at the aggregate country level, we develop similar measures at the country-product, country-destination, and country-product-destination level. We then build a novel and public dataset where we apply this methodology to compute monthly adjusted REERs for a panel of 120 countries and 769 products. As an application, we use the dataset to examine the changes in export competitiveness in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean between May 2014 and February 2016, a period characterized by substantial movements in exchange rates. We find that using traditional measures of real effective exchange rates misallocates between one third and one half of the relevant weights, and it leads to an important underestimation of the loss in export competitiveness. Furthermore, we find that there are very significant differences across products and destinations with regards to changes in export competitiveness.


Abstract. While the variations of tidal range are large and fairly well known across Australia (less than 1 m near Perth but more than 14 m in King Sound), the properties of the tidal currents are not. We describe a new regional model of Australian tides and assess it against a validation dataset comprising tidal height and velocity constituents at 615 tide gauge sites and 95 current meter sites. The model is a barotropic implementation of COMPAS, an unstructured-grid primitive-equation model that is forced at the open boundaries by TPXO9v1. The Mean Absolute value of the Error (MAE) of the modelled M2 height amplitude is 9.3 cm, or 13 % of the 73 cm mean observed amplitude. The MAE of phase (11°), however, is significant, so the M2 Mean Magnitude of Vector Error (MMVE, 20 cm) is significantly greater. Results for 5 other major constituents are similar. We conclude that while the model has skill at height in all regions, there is definitely room for improvement (especially at some specific locations) before harmonic predictions based on observations are rendered obsolete. For the M2 major-axis velocity amplitude, the MAE across the 95 current meter sites, where the observed amplitude ranges from 0.1 cm s−1 to 144 cm s−1, is 6.5 cm s−1, or 20 % of the 31.7 cm s−1 observed mean. This nationwide average result is not much greater than the equivalent for height, but it conceals a larger regional variation. Relative errors on the narrow shelves of NSW and Western Australia exceed 100 %, but tidal currents are weak and negligible there compared to non-tidal currents. We show that the model has predictive value for much of the 79 % of Australia's shelf seas where tides are a major component of the total velocity variability. In descending order this includes the Bass Strait, Kimberley to Arnhem Land and Southern Great Barrier Reef regions. There is limited evidence the model is also valuable for currents in other regions across northern Australia. We plan to commence publishing unofficial tidal current predictions for chosen regions in the near future, based on both the limited number of observations, and the COMPAS model.


Previous research indicates stigmas can produce feelings of fear, isolation, and discrimination, and that negative stigma has been and still is, associated with tattooing. Due to the rise in tattoo popularity, a method to analyze stigma against tattooed individuals is needed. The Martin Stigma Against Tattoos Survey (MSATS), was created, taken by 210 undergraduate students along with a Big Five personality measure, and subjected to factor analysis and preliminary evaluation of validity. Results supported a single factor solution and the 17-item measure demonstrated a high level of internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha = .92. Items with face validity and significant differences between tattooed and non-tattooed participants on MSATS scores provided initial evidence of construct validity. Perhaps dispelling one myth underlying stigma, no significant differences were found in the GPA of tattooed versus non-tattooed college students. ********** Although tattooing is ancient, it has just recently begun to rise in public popularity (Hawkes, Senn, & Thorn; 2004). A 2007 Harris Poll reported that over 40% of Americans ages 25-40 had at least one tattoo, as compared to 3% 20 years ago, and about 0.5% 50 years ago. Hawkes (2004) noted that basic psychological processes create a tendency to judge based on appearance, and much stigma has historically been attached to tattoo recipients who tend to be seen as socially deviant. Kruglanski and Webster (1991) found that non-conformists were the target of more negative stigma, especially when there was a drive for a quick conclusion on the part of the perceiver. Historical attitudes toward tattooing in North America have been varied and have usually been related to issues of social class (Braunberger, 2000; Gray, 1994). As increasingly diverse groups of people get tattoos, popular perceptions are often discordant with the individual meanings behind tattoos. Still, tattooing is often seen as a negative behavior. While sociological and cultural accounts of tattooing exist there are relatively few empirical studies (Atkinson, 2002). One more esoteric theory explains the increase of tattooing as a projection of Jungian psychological elements, which used to be projected onto holy symbols, onto the self as a manifestation of self-expression coinciding with a decline in traditional religious adherence (Mercury, 2000). Another theory, postulated by Hawkes et al. (2004), suggests tattoos produce a feeling of power or control over oneself and reflect self-concept. Of the extant objective studies, a number demonstrate that differences may exist between tattooed and non tattooed individuals (e.g. Bjonberg & Perman, 1964; Howell, Payne, & Roe, 1971). For example, Howell and colleagues' (1971) research indicated that the tattooed population demonstrated significantly more impulsive and sensation-seeking behavior than the non-tattooed population. Additionally, attitudes toward women and minorities with tattoos have been studied (Brown, Perlmutter, & McDermott, 2000; Houghton, Durkin, Parry, Turbit, & Odgers, 1996 ; as cited by Hawkes al.). However, these studies focused mostly on sexism and racism and not attitudes toward tattoos in general. Previous research has highlighted several stereotypes about those with tattoos, including being unsuccessful in school, coming from broken homes, having an unhappy childhood, rarely attending church, having poor decision-making skills, usually obtaining body modifications while inebriated, and being easy victim to peer pressure (e.g., Armstrong, 1994; Roberts & Ryan, 2002; Owen & Koch, 2004). Furthermore, tattooing has been viewed by many as an impulsive or irresponsible behavior and has been associated with psychiatric disturbances in some literature (Eksteen & Jankowski, 2006; Hawkes et al., 2004; Lane, 2004). Bulrich (1983) stated that western society at that time tended to view tattoos as undesirable. …


† Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and log-linear modeling are two techniques for multi-way contingency table analysis having difierent approaches and flelds of applications. Log-linear models are interesting when applied to a small number of variables. Multiple Correspondence Analysis is useful in large tables. This e‐ciency is balanced by the fact that MCA is not able to explicit the relations between more than two variables, as can be done through log-linear modeling. The two approaches are complementary. We present in this paper the distribution of eigenvalues in MCA when the data flt a known log-linear model, then we construct this model by successive applications of MCA. We also propose an empirical procedure, fltting progressively the log-linear model where the fltting criterion is based on eigenvalue diagrams. The procedure is validated on several sets of data used in the literature.


A new micromammal site at Alhaurin el Grande (Malaga, southern Spain) located above early Pliocene marine deposits allows an approach to the marine-continental correlation for this age. The early Pliocene marine filling throughout the Malaga Basin is developed in three transgressive-regressive sequences (Pl-1, Pl-2, and Pl-3 units) bounded by discontinuities. At the top of the intermediate sequence Pl-2, peaty sediments have yielded fossils of Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Insectivora, and Crocodylia. The presence of Cricetus barrieri Mein & Michaux, 1970 in combination with murids, both of primitive morphology, such as Apodemus gudrunae Van de Weerd, 1976, and more advanced forms (i.e. Occitanomys brailloni Michaux, 1969 and Stephanomys donnezani cordii Ruiz Bustos, 1986), points to an early Ruscinian age (MN 14 biozone). Based on the planktonic foraminifers, the biostratigraphic data indicate that marine sediments just below the micromammal beds belong to the MPl-2 biozone of the early Zanclean. Available paleomagnetic data from the marine sediments show that the micromammal bed must be located between the normal geomagnetic subchron C3n3n (4.89-4.80 Ma) and the subchron C3n2n (4.63-4.49 Ma), limiting the age of this site to the late part of the early Zanclean.


Abstract The Parnaíba Basin is a Phanerozoic intracontinental basin within the South America plate, lying on top of and within Precambrian terranes. The Parnaíba Basin Analysis Program wide-angle reflection–refraction (WARR) lies east–west and is 1150 km long profile crossing the basin and its margins. The WARR results show that the crust and uppermost mantle along the profile consist of the Amazonian Craton and Borborema Province, and the Grajaú and Teresina domains comprising the Parnaíba block hidden below the sedimentary cover of the basin itself. The lithospheric characteristics of the Parnaíba block and their differences from the adjacent Precambrian Amazonian Craton and Borborema Province elucidate some aspects of the present day existence of the sedimentary basin covering it. Important elements include the presence of a high mantle velocity and high-velocity lowermost crustal region, interpreted as linked to the intrusion of mafic material into the crust underlying the Grajaú domain, and indications that the crust in this area has been intruded since its consolidation in the Neoproterozoic. It is tentatively proposed that magmatism is related to the inferred thinning of the lower crust of the Teresina and Borborema segments of the profile, with this, in turn, linked to Cretaceous extensional tectonics and the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean.


To reduce income inequality, redistributive policies are widely adopted by both federal and provincial governments in Canada. Quebec and Canada have a fairer society in OECD countries. However, their economic growth is slower than many other countries. This paper studies how these redistributive policies affect economic growth based on Canadian data for the first time. The growth model is based on standard augmented Solow model and includes several different self-defined policy indexes. Using high quality panel data spanning the period 1982 to 2009 calculated from statistic Canada's website and Arellano-Bond panel technique, empirical analyses show that redistributive policy is negatively and significantly associated with economic growth. These findings are in accordance with many former literatures and may have important policy significance.


Private access to corporate servers from Internet can be achieved using various security mechanisms. This article presents a network access control mechanism that employs a policy management architecture empowered with dynamic firewalls. With the existence of such an architecture, system and/or network administrators do not need to reconfigure firewalls when there is a location change in user settings, reconfiguration will be automatic and seamless. The proposed architecture utilizes dynamic firewalls, which adapt their policies according to user locations through the guidance of a policy server. This architecture is composed of a VPN client at user site, a domain firewall with VPN capabilities, a policy server containing a policy decision engine, and policy agents residing in dynamic firewalls, which map policy server decisions to firewall policy rules, at server site.


Australian vegetation is fire-prone. Every year, wet and dry sclerophyll forests of Western
Australia, southeastern Australia and grassland ecosystems of the northern part of the continent
are subject to high intensity fires. The sclerophyll vegetation contains up to 2.71 % of the
element potassium. The element exists in plants' organic matrix: attached to the oxygen containing and carboxyl functional groups; in aqueous form such as potassium (K+) ions
surrounded by water; and as discrete particles in dried plant parts. Theoretically, temperature in
the conflagrations can be as high as 2000oC. During the high intensity bushfires, potassium
atoms and salts are released from the plant structure as it crumbles into the combustion zone
where the species are ionized. Up to 20 % of the potassium present in plants is ionized in a
bushfire environment.

During suppression of the threat, high frequency (HF) - ultra high frequency (UHF) radio
communications systems are in constant use by suppression crews in firegrounds. Despite their
use, HF and very high frequency (VHF) radio communications are reported to be failing in
extreme bushfire conditions. The reports of radio communication failure tend to be anecdotal and
therefore warrant an investigation. This study aims at carrying out field and laboratory radio wave
attenuation and phase shift measurements at HF to X-band frequencies in moderate intensity fires.
Very high intensity bushfires often spread very fast and change direction rapidly therefore it is
unsafe to set up equipment for measuring attenuation and phase shift in the fires. Consequently,
numerical experiments were used to study radio wave propagation in very high intensity fires.

Propagation measurement data at radio wave (HF-VHF) frequencies through fire are scarce and
that which is available lacks precision. It is also the purpose of the study to produce attenuation
and phase measurement data at these frequencies. The field and laboratory measurements were
carried out using a Radio Wave Interferometer (RWI) and Vector Network Analyzer (VNA - HP
8277C). RWI uses the same principles as Microwave interferometer (MWI) except that RWI
works at radio frequencies. Electron density and momentum transfer collision frequency in
moderate intensity bushfire plumes were estimated from the attenuation and phase shift
measurements.

Laboratory and field measurements using a VNA - HP 8277C and RWI respectively in moderate
intensity fires (700-1000 K) have revealed that electron density in the plume could range from
1014-1016 m-3. Theoretical calculations based on local thermal equilibrium in grassfires flames
with temperatures up to 1200 K suggest that electron density could be up to 1017 m-3 if up to 20 %
of the inherent potassium atoms are ionized.

There are at least two possible mechanisms that could lead to a significant signal strength
reduction (attenuation) in bushfire environments. They are signal refraction due to thermal bubble
and ionization-induced signal absorption in the plume. Electrons, which result from thermal
ionization of potassium in the fire, transfer energy from the incident radio wave to the fire plume
through collision with inherent neutral particles. The transfer of energy can significantly attenuate
and induce a phase shift on radio wave signals. Experimental work carried out in the project
suggest that radio wave attenuation is significantly higher at UHF and X-Band frequencies than at
HF. Field radio wave propagation measurements at 1.50 m above the seat of a moderate intensity
grassfire revealed that 30 MHz signals can be attenuated by up to 0.03 dB/m while 151.3 MHz
signals were attenuated by up to 0.05 dB/m. An intense cane fire attenuated 151.3 MHz signals
by 0.05 dB/m. The attenuation effect was observed to increase when X-band (10.0 -12.5 GHz)
signals were considered. Attenuation coefficients up to 4.45 dB/m were measured.

Phase shift induced on the signals was also observed to increase with the increase in frequency
band (low for HF and high for X-band). A 30 MHz signal suffered a 3.08o phase shift in the
moderate intensity grassfire whereas in the X-band frequencies, a phase shift of up to 29.31o was
observed in a fire of about the same intensity.

Numerical experiments have shown that signal loss due to refraction is frequency dependent in
very hot regions of bushfire plumes. X-band waves are more affected than VHF waves.
Numerical experiments predicted maximum attenuation coefficients of 0.11 dBm-1 for 150 MHz
and 0.31 dBm-1 for 3 GHz radio waves when they propagate about a meter above fuel-flame
interface of a 90 MWm-1 bushfire with fuel potassium content of 0.50 %. Theoretical studies also
revealed that; for potassium content of about 0.20 %, a collimated beam of radio signals (10 cm
wide) propagating at grazing angles to the fuel-flame interface of a very high intensity bushfire
(1600 K) could suffer attenuation coefficients of about 1.45 dBm-1. This effect is calculated to
decrease with the increase in height above the combustion zone. For very high intensity bushfires
in fuels with high potassium content (e.g., up to 3.00 %), attenuation by refraction is likely to be
the most significant form of radio wave energy loss for collimated beams propagating at grazing
angles to the fuel-flame interface.

The Line-Of-Sight (LOS) radio wave propagation measurements in moderate intensity vegetation
fires (700-1000 K) have shown that signal attenuation is plume temperature and frequency
dependent. Transmission through hottest region of the fire (combustion zone) suffers significant
signal strength loss whereas low attenuation has been observed at cooler regions of the plume.
This could be explained by the fact that "collisional plasma effect" on radio waves is more
pronounced at combustion zone than at the thermal plume region of the fire as the effect is
temperature dependent.

Bcontinent with a potential combustion zone temperature of 2000oC. These bushfires have a
potential to adversely affect LOS radio wave communications when transmission is through the
hottest part of the fire. It must be noted that radio wave communication blackout could even
occur at temperatures as low as 1300 K provided that the fire is sufficiently ionized.


Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like (UBLs) proteins are post-translational modifiers that share a characteristic ββαββαβ fold. SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) is one of a number of ubiquitin-like proteins. Unlike ubiquitin, SUMO does not appear to have a role in protein degradation. Instead it has been shown to have roles in facilitating protein-protein interactions, altering protein localisation and modulating protein activity. Analysis of protein databases indicates the existence of ubiquitin-fusion proteins, which act to functionally mimic ubiquitination by interacting with the proteosome. During the course of this project a family of SUMO-like domain (SLD) proteins has been identified and termed the RENi family after its best-studied members S. pombe Rad60, S. cerevisiae Esc2 and M. musculus Nip45. I have initiated an investigation into the importance of the two SUMO-like domains for S. pombe Rad60 function. A rad60 mutant deleted for SLD1 (rad60-SLD1Δ) is not viable suggesting that SLD1 is required for the essential role of Rad60. A rad60 mutant deleted for SLD2 (rad60-ct) is viable but cells are sensitive to DNA damaging agents. This implies that SLD2 is not required for the essential function of Rad60 but is required for the response to DNA damage. The C-terminally truncated Rad60 protein (Rad60-ct) is mis-localised in rad60-ct cells. Provision of an NLS to the C-terminus of the Rad60-ct protein restores nuclear localisation but does not rescue the HU and MMS sensitivity of rad60-ct cells. Instead, expression of the Rad60-ctNLS protein has a dominant-negative effect in both wild-type and rad60-ct cells. The same phenomenon was observed when SLD2 was replaced with SUMO. This suggests that SLD2 is required not only to localise Rad60 to the nucleus, but also for the DNA damage response itself. Molecular modelling suggests that SLD1 and SLD2 can adopt the characteristic ββαββαβ fold. A novel 'recombinase-mediated cassette-exchange' system was used to initiate a structure/function study of Rad60 SLD2 by mutating residues predicted to help maintain the hydrophobic core. The DNA damage sensitive phenotype of L348G, L338G, L346G and I334G substitutions support the hypothesis that the SLD2 adopts a SUMO-like fold. Sumoylation of Rad60, in vitro, can be enhanced by the SUMO E3 ligase, Pli1 but not Nse2. Rad60 is sumoylated in a manner dependent on the C-terminus, which has is required to interact with the Hus5 conjugator, in vitro. This suggests that SLD2 may act to recruit Hus5 for sumoylation of itself and/or other proteins.


The past two decades have seen the emergence of a global movement that calls for a new model of learning for the twenty-first century. There is now a significant body of literature focusing mainly on three topics – motivations for a new model of learning, the specific competencies and skills needed to function effectively in the twenty-first century, and the pedagogy required to stimulate those capabilities. This is the second in a series of three papers based on a comprehensive review of the literature. It addresses the competencies and skills that are deemed necessary for today's societies. While it is generally accepted that formal education must be transformed to enable the new forms of learning needed to tackle the complex global challenges ahead, there is no single prescribed approach to educating young people for the twenty-first century. Multiple sources have identified a variety of competencies and skills that warrant consideration, most of which are absent from current learning processes. Growing concern about potential economic and global crises ahead are leading many to question whether today's learners possess the combination of critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative and communication skills, necessary to tackle the unexpected developments they will face. This paper explores these skills in depth and highlights several key elements for learning in the twenty-first century including personalization, collaboration, communication, informal learning, productivity and content creation. It also underlines the importance to the twenty-first century workplace of personal skills such as initiative, resilience, responsibility, risk-taking and creativity; social skills such as teamwork, networking, empathy and compassion; and learning skills such as managing, organizing, meta-cognitive skills and 'failing forward'. 1 This paper was prepared for UNESCO when the author was a Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Ireland. EDUCATION RESEARCH AND FORESIGHT • WORKING PAPERS 2


Imitation Learning has been shown to be successful in solving many challenging real-world problems. Some recent approaches give strong performance guarantees by training the policy iteratively. However, it is important to note that these guarantees depend on how well the policy we found can imitate the oracle on the training data. When there is a substantial difference between the oracle's ability and the learner's policy space, we may fail to find a policy that has low error on the training set. In such cases, we propose to use a coach that demonstrates easy-to-learn actions for the learner and gradually approaches the oracle. By a reduction of learning by demonstration to online learning, we prove that coaching can yield a lower regret bound than using the oracle. We apply our algorithm to cost-sensitive dynamic feature selection, a hard decision problem that considers a user-specified accuracy-cost trade-off. Experimental results on UCI datasets show that our method outperforms state-of-the-art imitation learning methods in dynamic feature selection and two static feature selection methods.


Electron Breakdown An electron possesses charge and spin. In general, these properties are confined to the electron. However, in strongly interacting many-body electronic systems, such as one-dimensional wires, it has long been theorized that the charge and spin should separate. There have been tantalizing glimpses of this separation experimentally, but questions remain. Jompol et al. (p. 597) looked at the tunneling current between an array of one-dimensional wires and a two-dimensional electron gas and argue that the results reveal a clear signature of spin-charge separation. Electronic spin and charge respond differently during tunneling between low-dimensional electron systems. In a one-dimensional (1D) system of interacting electrons, excitations of spin and charge travel at different speeds, according to the theory of a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid (TLL) at low energies. However, the clear observation of this spin-charge separation is an ongoing challenge experimentally. We have fabricated an electrostatically gated 1D system in which we observe spin-charge separation and also the predicted power-law suppression of tunneling into the 1D system. The spin-charge separation persists even beyond the low-energy regime where the TLL approximation should hold. TLL effects should therefore also be important in similar, but shorter, electrostatically gated wires, where interaction effects are being studied extensively worldwide.


OBJECTIVE To examine the kinetics of HbA1c, glycated albumin (GA), and fructosamine (FA) levels in response to plasma glucose change and their relationship with the preceding plasma glucose level. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The time courses of HbA1c, GA, and FA after acute glycemic normalization were observed in nine patients with newly diagnosed non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and compared with theoretical ones. Their weight functions against preceding plasma glucose level were analyzed assuming a stepwise plasma glucose change and compared with the theoretical prediction. RESULTS The fasting plasma glucose level was acutely normalized after admission with a half-time of 6.3 ± 2.4 days (mean ± SD). The HbA1c level decreased linearly during the initial 2 months with a half-time of 34.6 ± 10.1 days, followed by a gradual decrease thereafter. GA and FA levels decreased very rapidly during the initial 2–3 weeks with half-times of 17.1 ± 2.8 and 12.2 ± 4.8 days, respectively, followed by a gradual decrease thereafter. The time courses of HbA1c, GA, and FA agreed well with theoretically estimated decay curves. Experimental values of weight functions against the preceding plasma glucose level agreed well with the theoretical prediction. The weight functions for glycated proteins had maximum values on the days just before the measurement of glycated proteins and gradually decreased with an increasing time interval. The lengths of the periods over which the weight functions for HbA1c, GA, and FA extend back were estimated to be roughly 100, 40, and 30 days, respectively. CONCLUSIONS The levels of HbA1c, GA, and FA do not reflect the simple mean but reflect the weighted mean of the preceding plasma glucose level over a considerably longer period than was previously speculated.


In his memorial for Gilles Deleuze, Derrida remarks that he has always felt an affinity with the work of Deleuze and, indeed, considered him the thinker of their "generation" with whom he was the closest.1 Derrida, however, also notes that there are two points that he wished he could have discussed further with Deleuze: Deleuze's insistence on the term "immanence" and his definition of philosophy as the creation of concepts. Thus while their thought-and their thinking of thought-resonates on many levels, it is also with respect to their understandings of philosophy and thought in general that the Derridean and Deleuzian projects can be seen to diverge. This essay begins to investigate the affinity between Deleuze and Derrida by considering one theme central to both: a conception of thought that puts it into fundamental relationship to movement, and views this movement of thought as one that is roused by internal difference. While a point of comparison, this consideration of the movement of thought-the movement that is thought-also leads to the specification of certain differences. First, the movement of thought for Deleuze is precisely a movement that traverses (it is the line of the transversal), while for Derrida it is the movement that occurs when one cannot traverse, when limits and borders are impassable-the movement within aporia. second, Deleuze and Derrida differ, albeit subtly, with respect to the temporal aspect of thought. This difference can also be understood as the difference between transcendence and immanence or between mediation and immediacy, although here it will be articulated as the difference between the "yet to come" and "becoming."2 These differences, though, lead to a further point of convergence: the movement of thought is implicated in a structure of possibility and impossibility that indicates what must be thought. In Derrida, this structure takes the form of undecidability and contamination. Derridean undecidability finds its Deleuzian counterpart in the zones of indiscernibility that, according to Deleuze, characterize the becoming of philosophical concepts. Thus, it is in returning to the Deleuzian theme that caused Derrida to "grumble a bit" that we can see the completion of their affinity.3 The bad conscience experienced in undergoing aporia, in accordance with which we must always think, is indeed a concept in Deleuze's sense: it attests to our present problems.4 Consequently, the differences between the Deleuzian and the Derridean understandings of thought's movement should be viewed as arising from the divergent paths they take with respect to the consequences of the internal alterity that gives cause to think. Derrida advances bad conscience and responsibility while Deleuze advances experimentation and creation. Their respective accounts of the nature of the movement of thought underscore this difference. By articulating these particular variations, we will develop a better understanding of the more general and obvious ones such as the difference in style and ethos, and gain a sense of the compatibility or incompatibility of their projects. Hence, we will discover that there is something in Deleuze that requires that we attest to otherness and something in Derrida that requires that we engage in inventive creation. Thought's Movement: From Infinite Speed to Moving within the Space of Aporia Derrida and Deleuze share the idea that thought is movement and that this is a movement of "becoming-other" that is provoked by internal difference. One differs from oneself, and it is these gaps and divergences within the self that cause thought. Not only is this internal alterity-otherness within the self-that which gives rise to thought, it also characterizes the nature of thought itself. Thus, Deleuze avers that "one does not think without becoming something else, something that does not think-an animal, a plant, a molecule, a particle-and that comes back to thought and revives it. …


Aim The last systematic review of research on the behavior of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) was in 2012. Since then, several important findings have been published. Therefore, the study aim was to synthesize recent relevant work related to this issue. Method We conducted a systematic review of the literature. Relevant articles were identified using the electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus and a manual search of references lists. Thirty of 156 articles identified met the inclusion criteria. A quality evaluation of the articles was performed and the information was synthesized using a narrative approach. Results Compared with controls, children and adolescents with NF1 present significant alterations in language, reading, visuospatial skills, motor function, executive function, attention, behavior, emotion, and social skills. The prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is important and can affect cognition and executive function variables. A high prevalence of autistic traits and autistic spectrum disorder were reported. The benefits of using statins to treat cognitive deficits are unclear. However, children with NF1 and ADHD seem to benefit from methylphenidate treatment. The presence of hyperintensities in brain magnetic resonance imaging data seem to be related to poor cognitive performance. Analysis of these lesions could help to predict cognitive alterations in children with NF1. Interpretation There has been important progress to evaluate cognitive characteristics of children with NF1 and to determine the physiological mechanisms of the concomitant disorders. However, discrepancies in relation to intelligence, learning disabilities, attention deficits, and treatment remain. Further investigations on this topic are recommended.


Malignant tumors can be detected with high sensitivity and specificity by imaging their increased metabolic rate for glucose, amino acids and fatty acids. Positron emission tomography (PET) with glucose analog [18F]FDG, which utilizes increased glucose metabolism, has become a routine clinical test for diagnosis, staging and restaging a variety of cancers. Despite the tremendous success of PET-FDG, there are some wellknown limitations of [18F]FDG such as high cerebral uptake, uptake in inflammatory tissues, high excretion through urinary tract and low or negligent uptake in certain type of tumors. Decades of nuclear medicine research have lead to development of other PET imaging agents to overcome such limitations. We examined two series of tracers targeting two different altered metabolic processes in the tumor cells in order to improve on imaging properties of existing clinically utilized PET ligands. One series is 18F labeled tyrosine and phenylalanine derivatives, which targets altered amino acid metabolism – increased amino acids uptake and protein synthesis rate in cancer cells. We synthesized three new 18F labeled fluoroalkyl tyrosine derivatives, in vitro studies in human glioblastoma cells of these tyrosine derivatives indicated they were not very promising tumor-imaging agents since in comparison to clinically utilized imaging agent O(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine (FET), their uptake was much lower. We also synthesized and evaluated Land D-isomers of new phenylalanine derivatives, p-(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)-phenylalanine (FEP) and p(3-[18F]fluoropropyl)-phenylalanine (FPP) in comparison to clinically utilized FET and its D-isomer. In vitro studies in 9L glioma cells as well as biodistribution and small animal PET imaging studies demonstrated that Lisomer of FEP is comparable to FET and it is a potential useful tracer for tumor imaging with PET. Comparison of Land D-isomers of phenylalanine derivatives showed that D-isomers did not have improved imaging properties than their corresponding L-isomers. Of all new aromatic amino acid derivatives, Lisomer of FEP had the best outcome and is comparable to clinically established FET in imaging rats bearing 9L tumor model. The other series of tracers is 11C labeled ethanolamine amine derivatives, which targets the altered lipid metabolism associated with increased cellular proliferation in tumors. Here, we developed 11C labeled ethanolamine and two ethanolamine derivatives — N-methyl ethanolamine and N,N-dimethyl ethanolamine. In vitro studies demonstrated that they could be more sensitive PET tracers than clinically utilized [11C]choline for the imaging of phospholipids biosynthesis in tumors. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemistry This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/291 First Advisor Hank F. Kung Second Advisor Datta E. Ponde


Although crowd work is typically completed through desktop or laptop computers by workers at their home, literature has shown that crowdsourcing is feasible through a wide array of computing devices, including smartphones and digital voice assistants. An integrated crowdsourcing platform that operates across multiple devices could provide greater flexibility to workers, but there is little understanding of crowd workers' perceptions on uptaking crowd tasks across multiple contexts through such devices. Using a crowdsourcing survey task, we investigate workers' willingness to accept different types of crowd tasks presented on three device types in different scenarios of varying location, time and social context. Through analysis of over 25,000 responses received from 329 crowd workers on Amazon Mechanical Turk, we show that when tasks are presented on different devices, the task acceptance rate is 80.5% on personal computers, 77.3% on smartphones and 70.7% on digital voice assistants. Our results also show how different contextual factors such as location, social context and time influence workers decision to accept a task on a given device. Our findings provide important insights towards the development of effective task assignment mechanisms for cross-device crowd platforms.


This dissertation is about one of the most robust and widespread types of pragmatic meaning in natural language: scalar implicatures (SIs). A scalar implicature is the inference that when a speaker uses a linguistic item that is on a scale with another item, the hearer concludes the sentence with the stronger scale member does not hold. For instance the inferences from 'It was okay' to 'It was not excellent' and from 'Some students passed' to 'Not all students passed' are scalar implicatures. It is widely acknowledged that these inferences are context-dependent, yet little is known about the properties of the context that determine their presence or absence. This thesis aims to contribute to the filling of this gap by considering the relation between SIs and the contextual property of information focus. Additionally, it addresses the psychological reality of the view that the exclusive reading of 'or', on which 'A or B' means 'A or B but not both', comes about by an SI. The thesis addresses these questions through a set of 11 experiments, both off-line (questionnaires) and on-line (processing). Next to the relation between SIs and focus, these experiments consider relevance of the stronger scalar alternative, the processing cost of SI-calculation, the assumption of speaker expertise and the relation between SIs and exhaustivity. The results support the prediction that information focus affects SI-calculation. However, the array of data taken together raise doubts about the view that the exclusive reading of 'or' is the result of a scalar implicature. The author discusses and tests theoretical insights from truth-conditional semantics, logic, pragmatics and reasoning as well as insights and results from (experimental) psycholinguistics, so this dissertation should be of interest to scholars in any of these domains.


As no-tillage and other conservation tillage practices continue to increase, it is important to have knowledge of herbicide adsorption on crop residue with regard to the potential for the herbicide to be removed from the residue and move with runoff water from the field into nearby surface waters. Previous research had compared herbicide adsorption to various residues, but it was difficult to make comparisons among these studies because the residues were from different crops or the amount of residue decomposition was different. The amount of "weathering" or "aging" of the residue at the time of herbicide treatment could alter the amount initially adsorbed and subsequent desorption by rainfall. The amount of herbicide adsorbed varied greatly among the herbicides evaluated. Of the triazine herbicides, AAtrex had the least amount adsorbed (5%) and Princep was adsorbed the most (32%) with Bladex (15%) having an intermediate amount of adsorption. The two acetochlor formulations had a similar amount of adsorption with Surpass being 57% adsorbed and Harness being 61 % adsorbed. Dual (44%) and Frontier (38%) had lesser amounts adsorbed compared to Surpass and Harness. A calculated Herbicide Contamination Potential (HCP) more accurately reflected potential contamination of surface water than did herbicide adsorption.


Citizens increasingly engage with political issues in new ways
by addressing politicians via social media, campaigning at international
forums, or boycotting corporate entities. These forms of engagement
move beyond more regulated electoral politics and are rightly celebrated
for the ways they increase representation and provide new channels of
accountability. Yet, despite these virtues, political engagement beyond
voting inevitably tends to entrench and amplify inequality in citizen
influence on political decision-making. The tendency toward inequality
undermines relational equality between citizens and muddies the channels
of political accountability and responsibility. This article unpacks
the ostensible tension and argues that it reveals to us another strength in
views which hold the state to be citizens' collective project and provides
argumentative resources to motivate democracies to give due attention
to ensuring that democratic participatory channels remain fit for purpose
in an ever-changing society.


Abstract. A field survey was organized on the French Mediterranean coasts to investigate the effects of the tsunami induced by the 21 May 2003 Boumerdes-Zemmouri (Algeria) earthquake (Mw=6.9). The results show that eight harbours were affected by important sea level disturbances that caused material loss. Unfortunately, the low sampling rate of the French tide gage records (10 min) does not allow for a proper evaluation of the tsunami wave amplitudes since these amplitudes were probably underestimated in the harbours where these sensors are installed. The survey brings to light regional and local contrasts among the harbours' hydrological responses to the tsunami. To better understand these contrasts, a numerical simulation of the sea level elevations induced by the tsunami was conducted. The simulation showed a certain correlation between the field results and the wave amplification along the coast; however it underestimated the observed phenomena. Another simulation was then conducted using high resolution bathymetric grids (space step of 3 m) centred more specifically on 3 neighbouring harbours, however, again the simulation results did not match the amplitudes recorded through the observations. In order to better understand the wave amplification mechanisms inside each grid, a Gaussian signal was virtually broadcasted from the source to the harbours. Virtual sensors identified the periods which are stimulated – or not – by the arrival of the signal in each grid. Comparing these periods with those previously recorded emphasizes the proper period of each waterbody. This paper evaluates the limitations of such a study, focusing specifically on (1) the importance of having accurate and precise data about the source (the lack of information about the signal amplitude leads to an underestimation of the tsunami, thus reproducing only a fourth to a third of the observed phenomenon), (2) the need for networked tide gages with high resolution records and short sampling rates, and (3) the importance of conducting field studies immediately after a tsunami occurs.


The popular press often extolls packet networks as much more efficient than switched voice networks in utilizing transmission lines. This impression is reinforced by the delays experienced on the Internet and the famous graphs for traffic patterns through the major exchange points on the Internet, which suggest that networks are running at full capacity. This paper shows the popular impression is incorrect; data networks are very lightly utilized compared to the telephone network. Even the backbones of the Internet are run at lower fractions (10% to 15%) of their capacity than the switched voice network (which operates at over 30% of capacity on average). Private line networks are utilized far less intensively (at 3% to 5%). Further, this situation is likely to persist. The low utilization of data networks compared to voice phone networks is not a symptom of waste. It comes from different patterns of use, lumpy capacity of transmission facilities, and the high growth rate of the industry.


A high value non-wood product which is currently highly demanded in the local and international market is the Gondorukem (Gondorukem), produced from heating the pine's tree gum (Pinus merkusii Junk). The constraint that we deal with is the fluctuation Gondorukem's price which is triggered by the behavior of the Chinese industrialist since China is the biggest producer of Gondorukem. This research is aimed to compare the Gondorukem's competitive advantage point a view from the industry, enterprises and countries' among China, Brazil and Indonesia. The study is not only about comparing the Pine forest as a natural resource and measuring its productivity per hectare, but also observing the productivity and efficiency of the workers in each country. The analysis of industrial competitiveness is measured by using RCA# index, and the production cost and profit margin ratio is used to measure competitiveness among the enterprises. It can be concluded that China has the largest area of sap-tapped pine forest and Brazil is the highest for its forest productivity and workers' efficiency, however Indonesia has the highest ratio of production cost and profit margin among the other countries. In term of the value of RCA# during the year of observation 2001 up to 2008, China exceeded Indonesia and Brazil. It's expected by this research that Indonesia will be able to intensify the currently sap-tapped areas and expand the production area (extensive efforts) by utilizing the pine forest outside Java. It's also proposed to increase the production by working on research about pine tree which produces more sap, performing comparative study to Brazil and raising up the wage of the sap-tapped workers.


This case study centres on the information literacy program for first year undergraduate students at the University of Wollongong Library. The university has one central library servicing an eftsu student population of approximately 9,100. In 1995, 3,000 of these are commencing undergraduates. In global terms this is a small university and, mainly due to physical restrictions of~e campus, it is not predicted to grow above 10,700 eftsu by the year 2000. Therefore, the impact of student numbers on the provision of service will not dramatically change in the near future. The library has always provided bibliographic instruction, either basic orientation to the library or detailed classes on the use of specific reference tools. During the 1980s, it would be fair to say that most of these sessions were conducted with little reference to the academic curriculum and usually consisted of a one hour, content based lesson, with a low level of active participation by students. In a minor way, classes were linked to the overall subject content of the student's courses. Disciplines Arts and Humanities | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details McGurk, Catriona and Wright, Lynne (1995). 'Curriculum based information literacy skills for first year undergraduate students' in D. Booker, The learning link information literacy in practice, Auslib Press, Adelaide, pp. 136-56. This book chapter is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/asdpapers/389 CURRICULUM BASED INFORMATION LITERACY SKILLS FOR FIRST YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Lynne Wright and Catriona McGurk University ofWollongong NSW