BACK COVER: Climate change, psychiatric drugs, genetically modified organisms, nuclear power, fluoridation, stem cell research these are just a few of the hundreds of issues involving science and technology that are vigorously debated. If you care about an issue, how can you be more effective in arguing for your viewpoint and campaigning in support of it? The Controversy Manual offers practical advice for campaigners as well as plenty of information for people who want to better understand what's happening and to be able to discuss the issues with friends. The Controversy Manual provides information for understanding controversies, arguing against opponents, getting your message out, and defending against attack. Whether experts are on your side or mostly on the side of opponents, you'll find advice for being more effective. While not taking sides on individual controversies, the emphasis is on fostering fair and open debate and opposing those who use power and manipulation to get their way. The author Brian Martin is professor of social sciences at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He has been involved in and studied scientific and technological controversies since the 1970s, and is the author of numerous publications addressing controversy dynamics.


Chronic inflammatory demyelination polyneuropathy is a heterogeneous and treatable immune-mediated disorder that lacks biomarkers to support diagnosis. Recent evidence indicates that paranodal proteins (contactin 1, contactin-associated protein 1, and neurofascin-155) are the targets of autoantibodies in subsets of patients showing distinct clinical presentations. Here, we identified neurofascin-186 and neurofascin-140 as the main targets of autoantibodies in five patients presenting IgG reactivity against the nodes of Ranvier. Four patients displayed predominantly IgG4 antibodies, and one patient presented IgG3 antibodies that activated the complement pathway in vitro. These patients present distinct clinical features compared to those with anti-neurofascin-155 IgG4. Most patients had a severe phenotype associated with conduction block or decreased distal motor amplitude. Four patients had a subacute-onset and sensory ataxia. Two patients presented with nephrotic syndromes and one patient with an IgG4-related retroperitoneal fibrosis. Intravenous immunoglobulin and corticosteroids were effective in three patients, and one patient remitted following rituximab treatment. Clinical remission was associated with autoantibody depletion and with recovery of conduction block and distal motor amplitude suggesting a nodo-paranodopathy. Our data demonstrate that the pathogenic mechanisms responsible for chronic inflammatory demyelination polyneuropathy are broad and may include dysfunctions at the nodes of Ranvier in a subgroup of patients.


The ignition characteristic of solid propellant is the main content in internal ballistic research. In this study, the factors which may have an impact on ignition delay time of Nitrate Ester Plasticized Polyether Propellant (NEPE) are analyzed by a CO2 laser radiation experiment. Using high-speed camera, the ignition process of NEPE propellant is recorded under different environmental conditions. Results show that the ignition delay time decreases with the increase of laser heat flux, ambient pressure and initial temperature of NEPE propellant. At the same time, with the increase of laser heat flux, the influences of ambient pressure and initial temperature on the ignition delay time decrease. Besides, the effect of oxygen concentration on the ignition delay time is confirmed that the oxygen content has little effect on the ignition delay time when the oxygen content of the ambient gas is less than that of the propellant pyrolysis product.


Abstract. We present updated recommendations for the reactive uptake coefficients for glyoxal and methylglyoxal uptake to aqueous aerosol particles and cloud droplets. The particle and droplet types considered were based on definitions in GEOS-Chem v11, but the approach is general. Liquid maritime and continental cloud droplets were considered. Aerosol types include sea salt (fine and coarse), with varying relative humidity and particle size, and sulfate/nitrate/ammonium as a function of relative humidity and particle composition. We take into account salting effects, aerosol thermodynamics, mass transfer, and irreversible reaction of the organic species with OH in the aqueous phase. The new recommended values for the reactive uptake coefficients in most cases are lower than those currently used in large-scale models, such as GEOS-Chem. We expect application of these parameterizations will result in improved representation of aqueous secondary organic aerosol formation in atmospheric chemistry models.


We report the production of Er impurity-doped glass nanoparticles (NPs) by laser ablation of doped glass microparticles entrained in a flowing argon aerosol. The NP composition for this process is similar to the starting feedstock material, so the manufacture of impurity-doped NP requires only an impurity-doped feedstock. In experiments, NPs with a relatively large mean size of 20 nm were produced to purposely not confine the fluorescence of the impurity; however, other valuable properties of the NPs such as low-temperature sintering were retained. We measured the resulting changes in stoichiometry using energy dispersive spectroscopy in both scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. We measured the spectra from both sparsely deposited regions consisting of individual NPs and clusters of NPs, and densely deposited regions where the deposits formed nanostructured films. The spectra measured from sparse and dense deposits were similar; for samples stored for six months in atmospheric conditions, the fluorescence measured from isolated NPs was quenched, but not the fluorescence measured from the densely deposited nanostructured films. In samples in which the fluorescence was measured within weeks of deposition, the fluorescence lifetimes were found to be only 0.5 ms shorter than those of the starting microparticles, indicating that the nanostructure did not significantly influence the defect or impurity quenching of the Er ions.


1. The effects of four meals of similar energy, but different nutritional, composition on postprandial blood pressure, heart rate, autonomic function, catecholamines, insulin and packed cell volume levels were studied in seven fit elderly subjects. 2. The high carbohydrate and high protein meals led to a significant overall fall in supine systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared either with no change or a rise after the normal (i.e. mixed) and high fat meals. Similar between-meal differences were seen with erect diastolic but not erect systolic blood pressure. No significant postural blood pressure fall occurred after any of the meals. Supine heart rate was unaffected by meal type or by time, and although erect heart rate showed a small increase during the study there was no between-meal difference. 3. Parasympathetic function was unaffected by meal type. Plasma noradrenaline rose after the high carbohydrate and mixed meals only, remaining elevated for 120 min after meal consumption. This increase was not related to the changes in blood pressure or plasma insulin levels. 4. Plasma insulin and glucose rose after the high carbohydrate and mixed meals, but were unchanged after the high protein and high fat meals. Packed cell volume showed a small decrease towards the end of the study, although there was no between-meal variation. 5. The differences in the cardiovascular changes after the different meals could not be ascribed to alterations in autonomic function, insulin release or fall in plasma volume. We propose that the postprandial changes in blood pressure are due to the nutrient composition of the meal rather than the actual energy load.


A method for accurate phase determination in holographic interferometry using a one- or two-dimensional Fourier transform is described. The method calculates the interference phase pointwise, even between fringe extrema, and thus has advantages over conventional fringe-finding and -tracking methods. Only one interference pattern may be used, although the use of two patterns reconstructed with a mutual phase shift permits an easier phase unwrapping and determination of nonmonotonic fringe-order variations. Additionally, the method offers a means for filtering out disturbances such as speckle noise and background variations.


Overview This is an introduction to the mathematical foundations of probability theory. It is intended as a supplement or follow-up to a graduate course in real analysis. The first two sections assume the knowledge of measure spaces, measurable functions, Lebesgue integral, and notions of convergence of functions; the third assumes Fubini's Theorem; the fifth assumes knowledge of Fourier transform of nice (Schwartz) functions on R; and Section 6 uses the Radon-Nikodym Theorem. The mathematical foundations of probability theory are exactly the same as those of Lebesgue integration. However, probability adds much intuition and leads to different developments of the area. These notes are only intended to be a brief introduction — this might be considered what every graduate student should know about the theory of probability. Probability uses some different terminology than that of Lebesgue integration in R. These notes will introduce the terminology and will also relate these ideas to those that would be encountered in an elementary (by which we will mean pre-measure theory) course in probability or statistics. Graduate students encountering probabilty for the first time might want to also read an undergraduate book in probability.


Lithium is an important constituent in amphiboles, where it can be incorporated up to a limit of three atoms per formula unit (apfu). Lithium can partition itself between the B-group sites (where it occurs at the [6+2]-coordinated M4' position) and the C-group sites (where it occurs at the M3 site). Systematic analysis of the available chemical (EMP + SIMS) and structural data constrains lithium occurrence in amphiboles to the following compositions and exchange vectors: (1) B Li is incorporated according to M4' Li M4 Na -1 , and no miscibility gap is apparent, despite the difference in the ionic radii; (2) C Li is incorporated according to M3 Li M2 Fe 3+ M3 Fe 2+ -1 M2 Fe 2+ -1 ; however, a partial bond-strength contribution is provided by Si at the T1 site and by Na or K at the A m site. Amphiboles with C Li > 0.5 apfu (root names: leakeite, kornite, whittakerite and pedrizite) have more than half-occupied A-group sites. Seven new amphibole end-members containing lithium have been discovered in epysienites (dequartzified and albitised granites) from the Pedriza Massif (Central Spain), where lithium incorporation and partitioning is controlled both by the composition of the fluid and the temperature conditions of crystallisation. This occurrence provides an unique opportunity to characterise the M4' Li ⇔ M4 Na and M3 Li ⇔ M3 Fe 2+ solid solutions, as well as model crystal-chemical mechanisms and understand their dependence on intensive parameters. An accurate quantification and partitioning of lithium in amphiboles is not trivial, and requires a combination of ion-micro-probe analysis and structure refinement. Analysis of the available data provides criteria for calculating reliable H 2 O and Li 2 O values, as well as for obtaining reliable unit formulae from routine EMP results. These criteria can then be used to simplify petrological studies in Li-rich environments.


Context Although many studies have looked at the teaching of mathematics or at the teaching of reading, few have looked at teaching in both subjects and attempted to discuss characteristics of quality instruction across these two domains. In this article, we reflect on our attempts to do so. We focus on one aspect of instruction, the extent of cognitive demand that characterizes reading and mathematics instruction in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms. Purpose We pursued this work to share the difficulties faced in working across the two subject areas and how the differences and similarities in the two subject areas influenced data collection and the interpretation of results. We also wanted to explore whether the instructional styles of teachers who teach in both subject areas exhibited similar amounts of cognitive demand. Research Design After discussing the struggles faced in data collection, terminology used, and the comparability of research bases in the two domains, we report on an exploratory analysis of classroom observation data from the High-Quality Teaching study. Three aspects of cognitive demand were assessed through the classroom observations of approximately 550 lessons in reading and 600 lessons in mathematics: demand of tasks posed by the teacher, demand of students' responses, and demand of the lesson content. Using data related to these aspects of cognitive demand, we also compared the level of cognitive demand in the reading and mathematics classes of the 69 teachers who taught both subjects. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the level of cognitive demand exhibited in the tasks teachers pose and the responses and work of students are similar in mathematics and reading. However, we found that the cognitive demand associated with content was higher in reading than in mathematics. For teachers who teach both reading and mathematics, only a small percent demonstrated the same demanding instruction for tasks, responses, or content regardless of subject area. Are the differences real, or an artifact of the definitions and protocols used to compare the subject areas? In either case, we raise issues related to teacher education, professional development, and evaluation. Should teacher policies incorporate information about potential differences in quality instruction across disciplines, and, if so, how? If quality instruction across subjects differs, what are implications for policies that shape expectations for teachers who teach both reading and mathematics?


This paper considers that granting a legal personality to robots could lead to the emergence of an electronic ability to pay, which may be recognized for tax purposes. As a consequence of such a development, a specific tax personality would need to be granted to robots. This would require a clear definition of robots, which could be based on the use of artificial intelligence, combined with a sufficient level of autonomy. From the perspective that smart robots may now replace inherent human activities, such as the interaction, learning and decision-making processes, the potential implications of a tax on robots, or on the use of such robots, is considered. The possibility of an income tax on an imputed salary from robots� activities, or on other income, is also considered. Initially, the economic capacity to pay the tax should still be attributed to the employer or owner of the robots. Later, when technology allows, an ability to pay to robots may be recognized. Initial comments on the application of the value added tax on robots� activities (transfer of goods and services), as well as international tax issues (notably tax treaty aspects) are also expressed, but would be the subject of further study from a global and international perspective.


Abstract. The current study reports the photoacoustic spectroscopy-based assessment of breast tumor progression in a nude mice xenograft model. The tumor was induced through subcutaneous injection of MCF-7 cells in female nude mice and was monitored for 20 days until the tumor volume reached 1000  mm3. The tumor tissues were extracted at three different time points (days 10, 15, and 20) after tumor inoculation and subjected to photoacoustic spectral recordings in time domain ex vivo at 281 nm pulsed laser excitations. The spectra were converted into the frequency domain using the fast Fourier transformed tools of MATLAB® algorithms and further utilized to extract seven statistical features (mean, median, area under the curve, variance and standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis) from each time point sample to assess the tumor growth with wavelet principal component analysis based logistic regression analysis performed on the data. The prediction accuracies of the analysis for day 10 versus day 15, day 15 versus day 20, and day 10 versus day 20 were found to be 92.31, 87.5, and 95.2%, respectively. Also, receiver operator characteristics area under the curve analysis for day 10 versus day 15, day 15 versus day 20, and day 10 versus day 20 were found to be 0.95, 0.85, and 0.93, respectively. The ability of photoacoustic measurements in the objective assessment of tumor progression has been clearly demonstrated, indicating its clinical potential.


Jonathan F. Beecher's accomplished study is both a lively life story of one of the most engaging figures among the French romantic intellectuals of the 1840s and a compelling chronicle of early French socialism. Victor Considerant (1808-1893), a follower of the great utopian thinker Charles Fourier, played an important role in the creation of a Fourierist movement and the development of socialist journalism. In the process of conveying a rich understanding of Considerant's life, Beecher traces the rise and fall of French romantic socialism and demonstrates how the utopian visions of thinkers such as Charles Fourier came to inspire a whole generation of young radicals and reformers not only in France but also in Dostoevky's Russia and in the America of Horace Greeley and Margaret Fuller. He paints a vivid portrait of a particularly important period of European intellectual history and gives his readers insight into the experience of a generation of thinkers and political activists. This comprehensive history will become the definitive work on Victor Considerant, and - along with Beecher's classic study of Fourier - a major contribution to the history of French socialism in the nineteenth century.


Introduction Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays an essential role in detoxification of catechols by transferring the methyl group from S-adenosyl-l-methionine to the substrate. In breast cancer, it catalyses methylation of oestrogen metabolites to block their oestrogenicity which prevents their oxidation to carcinogenic quinones. In this study we investigated whether its tumour suppressor role is limited to oestrogen receptor dependent breast cancer, or whether it has a general validity. Material and methods A differential cell surface proteomics analysis with SILAC-LC-MS quantification was performed on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line and its clone selected for higher migration capacity. Analysis of migration and invasiveness of MCF7 cells stably transfected with COMT was performed using Transwell assay. The protein-level expression of COMT in different breast cancer subtypes was determined by next-generation, data independent acquisition based proteomics (96 patients) and immunohistochemistry (621 patients). Results and discussions A quantitative cell surface proteomics identified the membrane-bound isoform of COMT as a cell surface protein overexpressed in a more migrating clone of MDA-MB-231 cells, indicating the association of COMT with cell motility in triple negative breast cancer. On the other hand, overexpression of COMT in MCF-7 cells decreased cell migration and invasiveness, supporting tumour suppressor role in oestrogen receptor dependent breast cancer. Analysis of 96 primary breast cancer tumours using next generation proteomics showed increased COMT protein levels in more aggressive tumours: in grade 3 vs. grade 1, in luminal B vs. luminal A, in triple negative vs. luminal A, and in triple negative lymph node positive vs. triple negative lymph node negative tumours. Conclusion Based on our results, we hypothesise a dual role of COMT in breast cancer: while tumour suppressor role is further supported by our data in ER +breast cancer cells, in tissues COMT seems to be associated with more aggressive phenotype, namely in ER independent, triple negative breast cancer. It is thus evident that the dominance of catecholoestrogen methylation activity may be limited to ER dependent breast cancer. This may alter the perspective how COMT is considered as a potential diagnostic or therapeutic target. We thank Czech Science Foundation, project No. 17–05957S, for financial support.


The broad objective of strategic management is to enable an organisation to assess its strategic position, so it is able to provide its customers with a product or service they will value. This study attempts to use this broad objective to examine the Sports Administration Department at the University of Natal, Durban to identify issues that will assist it to reach a wider number of students. The Sports Administration has, over the last ten years, seen a reduction in sports participation. This occurred at a time when the number of students at the University had grown substantially. This resulted in a need to examine the complex dynamics taking place in the Sports Administration's operating environment, for it to be in a position to address the needs of the students it is established to serve. This study indicates that strategic management principles, which apply to a business organisation, can be applied to the setting of the Sports Administration to identify the needs and wants of its customers, to address the concerns of management and to make recommendations that will assist the Department to provide an improved service to students.


Hydrophobic clay fillers have not been widely used in dispersion coatings for linerboard because of the difficulty of dispersing them in water. This work investigated whether hydrophobic clay can be used as filler in barrier dispersion coatings. Hydrophobic clay was compared with conventional clay in terms of coating consolidation, structure, wetting, and barrier performance. All coatings were applied to linerboard sheets made using a laboratory dynamic sheet former. The coated linerboards were examined using scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, and were characterized with respect to water absorption, vapor transmission rate, and contact angles. The results show that a coating containing hydrophobic clay provides a superhydrophobic character to paper; i.e., a high water contact angle (150 degrees) and relatively low water absorption. Raman mapping of cross-sections revealed that the latex distribution is uniform in the presence of either conventional clay or hydrophobic clay, and that the distribution of hydrophobic clay tends to be more uniform than conventional clay, which might reflect good mixing and consolidation of hydrophobic clay.


Our ageing populations have changed the epidemiology our health care services currently face. Chronic care, complex and frail patients require a different care approach based on preventive activities and care follow-up by multidisciplinary teams. Healthcare has been traditionally based in face-to-face encounters between the patient and the healthcare provider. Collaboration of healthcare professionals remained for those activities such as emergencies and surgical procedures. This is probably the reason why the first taxonomies of non-technical skills came out from the specialties of anesthetics and surgery (Fletcher et al 2003; Flin and Maran 2004; Yule et al 2008).
Non-technical skills are the set of interpersonal and cognitive skills complementary to clinical technical skills. It encompasses competences such as communication, teamwork, leadership, decision- making or situational awareness.
A first approach to non-technical skills for healthcare professionals responsible of delivering care services and health maintenance was developed recently in Spain in the context of home care for chronic patients (Escarrabill et al 2014)


Abstract Vector space models are used in language processing applications for calculating semantic similarities of words or documents. The vector spaces are generated with feature extraction methods for text data. However, evaluation of the feature extraction methods may be difficult. Indirect evaluation in an application is often time-consuming and the results may not generalize to other applications, whereas direct evaluations that measure the amount of captured semantic information usually require human evaluators or annotated data sets. We propose a novel direct evaluation method based on canonical correlation analysis (CCA), the classical method for finding linear relationship between two data sets. In our setting, the two sets are parallel text documents in two languages. A good feature extraction method should provide representations that reflect the semantic content of the documents. Assuming that the underlying semantic content is independent of the language, we can study feature extraction methods that capture the content best by measuring dependence between the representations of a document and its translation. In the case of CCA, the applied measure of dependence is correlation. The evaluation method is based on unsupervised learning, it is language- and domain-independent, and it does not require additional resources besides a parallel corpus. In this paper, we demonstrate the evaluation method on a sentence-aligned parallel corpus. The method is validated by showing that the obtained results with bag-of-words representations are intuitive and agree well with the previous findings. Moreover, we examine the performance of the proposed evaluation method with indirect evaluation methods in simple sentence matching tasks, and a quantitative manual evaluation of word translations. The results of the proposed method correlate well with the results of the indirect and manual evaluations.


Appeals to idiom data have played an important role in arguments about the relation between English prepositional datives (Mary gave a present to John) and double object forms (Mary gave John a present).The claimed existence of idioms in both types has led researchers to conclude that the two constructions are independent, with no derivational relation between them. This article shows that the factual claims are mistaken: no English dative idioms exist in either type. Forms like give ~ the creeps/show ~ the ropes are not double object idioms because they are not idioms—they are fully compositional. Forms like throw ~ to the wolves/send ~ to the showers are not dative idioms because they are not datives—they are caused-motion constructions. The former misanalysis arises from a confusion of idioms with collocations. The latter misanalysis arises from a simplistic view about the syntax-semantics mapping, namely, that oblique datives univocally express caused motion. Given that English dative idioms do not exist, arguments about the derivational relatedness of dative forms in English must appeal to other data.


A comprehensive analysis of photosynthetic pathways in relation to phylogeny and elevational distribution was conducted in Bromeliaceae, an ecologically diverse Neotropical family containing large numbers of both terrestrial and epiphytic species. Tissue carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) was used to determine the occurrence of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) and C3 photosynthesis in 1893 species, representing 57% of species and all 56 genera in the family. The frequency of δ13C values showed a strongly bimodal distribution: 1074 species (57%) had values more negative than -20‰ (mode=-26.7‰), typical of predominantly daytime carbon fixation via the C3 pathway, whereas 819 species (43%) possessed values less negative than -20‰ (mode=-13.3‰), indicative of predominantly nocturnal fixation of carbon via the CAM pathway. Amongst the six almost exclusively terrestrial subfamilies in Bromeliaceae, Brocchinioideae, Lindmanioideae and Navioideae consisted entirely of C3 species, with CAM species being restricted to Hechtioideae (all species of Hechtia tested), Pitcairnioideae (all species belonging to a xeric clade comprising Deuterocohnia, Dyckia and Encholirium) and Puyoideae (21% of Puya spp.). Of the other two subfamilies, in the overwhelmingly epiphytic (plus lithophytic) Tillandsioideae, 28% of species possessed CAM photosynthesis, all restricted to the derived genus Tillandsia and tending towards the more extreme epiphytic 'atmospheric' life-form. In Bromelioideae, with comparable numbers of terrestrial and epiphytic species, 90% of taxa showed CAM; included in these are the first records of CAM photosynthesis in Androlepis, Canistropsis, Deinacanthon, Disteganthus, Edmundoa, Eduandrea, Hohenbergiopsis, Lymania, Pseudananas, Ronnbergia and Ursulaea. With respect to elevational gradients, the greatest number of C3 bromeliad species were found at mid-elevations between 500 and 1500m, whereas the frequency of CAM species declined monotonically with increasing elevation. However, in Puya, at least ten CAM species have been recorded at elevations >3000m, showing that CAM photosynthesis is not necessarily incompatible with low temperatures. This survey identifies five major origins of CAM photosynthesis at a higher taxonomic level in Bromeliaceae, but future phylogenetic work is likely to reveal a more fine-scale pattern of gains and losses of this trait, especially in ecologically diverse and widely distributed genera such as Tillandsia and Puya.


Purpose of review Evaluation and management of patients with pulmonary nodules continue to be a significant clinical challenge due to the possibility of malignancy. Recent findings With advances in technology, several minimally invasive diagnostic options are available for diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions. Development and refinement of minimally invasive sampling techniques will aid in clinical decision making, as well as help advance scientific understanding of lung cancer growth and metastasis. Summary Although most surgical candidates should be referred promptly for resection, transthoracic or bronchoscopic biopsy may be particularly helpful when an infectious cause is suspected, when the patient is a marginal or poor candidate for surgery, or when a surgical candidate desires proof of malignancy before proceeding to surgery. Newer minimally invasive techniques should be rigorously evaluated for their role in the diagnostic algorithm of peripheral lung lesions.


Chlorophyll data from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor(SeaWiFS) is assimilated into the three-dimensional global NASA OceanBiogeochemical Model (NOBM) for the period 1998-2004 using amultivariate configuration of the SEIK filter which is anensemble Kalman filter scheme. The SEIK filter is applied here with alocalized analysis and simplified by the use of a constant covariancematrix. The multivariate assimilation is applied to update thefour phytoplankton groups of the model as well as the simulatednutrient fields. While the chlorophyll estimates of the model can besignificantly improved by the assimilation, the results are less clearfor the nutrients. We discuss the behavior of the multivariateassimilation process and the challenges involved by it.


Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has become a focus of increasing attention by natural resource managers over the past decade, particularly in the context of the shared management authority between resource users and government agencies (co-management). Little work has been done on how TEK can be successfully integrated with science and applied in contemporary science-based resource management institutions, and the efficacy and legitimacy of co-management and associated attempts to document TEK or integrate it with science have recently been questioned. The cooperative research programme of one co-management group, the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC), was studied to describe how TEK and science are integrated and applied in the research process, document perceptions and attitudes of native hunters and scientists towards TEK and science, and identify organizational characteristics that facilitate knowledge integration. Hunters and TEK played a variety of roles in ABWC's research programme, including hypothesis generation, sample collection and data interpretation. Hunters and scientists defined TEK similarly, but differed in their views of science, which hunters often perceived as a tool of state control. Despite political undercurrents, the ABWC displayed several indicators of successful knowledge integration. Organizational characteristics that facilitated integration included a membership structure fostering genuine power-sharing and a range of opportunities for formal and informal interactions among hunters and scientists leading to long-term relationships and an organizational culture of open communication and transparency in decision-making. Given the importance of long-term relationships between scientists and hunters for successful knowledge integration, this study raises questions about (1) the potential for meaningful integration in short-term projects such as environmental impact assessment and (2) the use of TEK documentation studies in the absence of other forms of active participation by TEK- holders.


Application of the universal space-time principle (g=cd) explains a Pioneer's anomaly, whose simple solution also proves the principle. Due to its rigid nature, despite the high degree of approximation of calculated values, plotted curves of annual trajectory shortage so as the accumulation of differences between predicted and registered positions of probe are equivalent to those recorded.


In a society strongly dependent and intensively industrialized such like the one we live in, risk cannot be an isolated event, but the consequence of some facts that determine its transfer from one point of the planet to another. As a result to the general tendency of increasing the volatility of the financial markets but also to the increasing complexity of the global financial system there was registered a continuous interest in the domain of risk management. Within the article there are being presented methods of reducing risk for financial titles portfolio, coming to support the investors that want a greater security when making the portfolio. We will further present the way in which diversity can reduce risk, but at the same time in order to better understand the complete effect of diversity we will show the way in which a portfolio risk depends on an individual risk of each component title, exemplifying some titles quoted at Bucharest Stock Exchange.


It is often taken for granted that rivers organize transport into a single active channel. In some net-depositional environments, however, flow of water and sediment is distributed in several stable channels. Such branching rivers may be confined in valleys (anabranching or anastomosed) or unconfined on deltas (distributaries), and their existence confronts us with the very basic question of what governs the spatial organization of channel patterns in sedimentary landscapes. Current models for equilibrium channel morphology cannot predict the occurrence of branching rivers because they do not consider dynamical processes such as avulsion, i.e., the rapid abandonment of a channel in favor of a new path at lower elevation. The requisite conditions for avulsion have been the subject of ongoing debate. Here we resolve the conditions leading to channel avulsion, and show that branching rivers occur when avulsion is the dominant mechanism of lateral channel motion. A compilation of field and laboratory data demonstrates that avulsion frequency scales with the time required for sedimentation on channel beds to produce a deposit equal to one channel depth. From the relative rates of bank erosion and channel sedimentation, we derive a dimensionless mobility number that accurately predicts the conditions under which anabranching and distributary channels occur. Results may be directly applied to modeling landscape evolution over human and geologic time scales, and for inverting formative environmental conditions from channel deposits on Earth and other planetary surfaces.


Storytelling maps have recently become increasingly popular, as they provide access to otherwise inaccessible places or services. A printed map is a tangible object which mediates the storytelling process. This particular map, featuring the adventures of Pintea Viteazul (Pintea the Brave), a Romanian folk-hero, is designed to enhance tourist experiences
during outdoor activities in a mountain area with relatively accessible
infrastructure and scenic features: the Mara Valley and Creasta Cocosului (Maramureş, Romania). The main research questions revolved around the experience design. The research was based on designing and testing a specific storytelling map for mountain tourism. The main stages of development were the experience design and the map itself. Focusing on a complex geographic location famous for its volcanic relief
and folk tales, it tells the story of the mountain by tracing a parallel between geological features and a national legend.


Judischer Nietzscheanismus, edited by Warner Stegamier and Daniel KrochmalnikScholars have treated many dimensions of Nietzsche's relationship to Jews and Judaism. Some have dealt with Nietzsche's own views on Jewish culture, on Jewish history, or on the Jews of his own times. Others have examined the way in which Jews have received and evaluated Nietzsche's writings, both the assimilated Jews who knew him and those who were affected by Nietzsche subsequent to his demise. Finally, a few have scoured Nietzsche's writings for parallels between his thought and Jewish thought. The editors of this collection make it clear that they have a particular and fairly narrow concern: they define Judischer Nietzscheanismus as the point where the "interest by Jews for Nietzsche" and the "interest for Judaism" intersect, that is, "where Jews have concerned themselves with Nietzsche in regard to Judaism" (p. v). If the editors had adhered rigorously to this definition, they would have produced a slim volume with only a handful of essays. Fortunately they chose to be more liberal in their definition, and the result is a collection with many excellent observations of Nietzsche's influence in a variety of contexts.The 22 essays in Judischer Nietzscheanismus are based on contributions to a conference that took place in Greifswald in September of 1995. The editors had obvious difficulty in assigning categories to the various contributions: the first two "groups," "Nietzschean Perspectives on Judaism" and "The Origin and Concept of Jewish Nietzscheanism," contain only one essay apiece. The initial essay, written by Josef Simon, argues that Nietzsche believed the Jews were not a people since they define themselves in their relationship to God, not in opposition to other nations. Simon's interest, however, is less Jews and Judaism in Nietzsche's thought than the more abstract concern for the processes by which otherness is conceptualized in the philosopher's work. Friedrich Niewohner's contribution, by contrast, deals with the historically documented notion of Jewish Nietzscheanism. "Nietzscheanism" was coined in 1889, when Ola Hansson labeled Georg Brandes a "preacher of Nietzscheanism"; in combination with the adjective "Jewish" it appears nine years later in 5658 (1898) in a Hebrew essay by Achad Haam. Niewohner argues, however, that Jewish Nietzscheanism begins in 1888 with Brandes' (Hirsch Moses Cohen's) reception, a contention that contradicts his strict notion of Jewish Nietzscheanism, which he defined earlier as the contribution of Nietzschean thought to a new interpretation of Judaism.The next grouping of essays, "Nietzsche and the Jewish Movement of Renewal," opens with two essays that do demonstrate Nietzsche's influence on Jewish thought, especially in Zionist circles in Eastern Europe around 1900. Menachim Brinker discusses the broad reception Nietzsche's writings had among Hebrew writers in Russia during the early part of the twentieth century. David Krochmalnik, adopting David Biale's notion of counter-history, focuses on 1900 as the pivotal year for Jewish Nietzscheanism. Both scholars produce ample evidence to support their claims, but the Nietzsche understood by the initial Jewish reception is a peculiar one. More than the content of his thought, these early Nietzsche enthusiasts appear to have been enthralled by the rhetoric, metaphors, and general atmosphere of intellectual rebelliousness and regeneration. Like non-Jewish authors and intellectuals, they read Nietzsche less for what he had to say than for his inspirational value. …


ABSTRACT Aim: A non-negligible proportion of colorectal cancer patients receiving regorafenib does not seem to benefit from such a treatment approach and are then exposed to unnecessary toxicity. Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and piastrinosis (platelet number increase) may represent indirect indicator of tumour induced inflammation and angiogenesis and have been suggested to influence patients' outcome. Our analysis investigated the role of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and piastrinosis in pretreated metastatic colorectal cancer patients receiving regorafenib. Methods: We collected neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet count at the start of treatment. Cut-off values for neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and platelets were calculated by ROC curve analysis. Other tested variables were: age, sex, performance status, k-ras status, number of metastatic sites, previous adjuvant chemotherapy, number of previous systemic anticancer therapies, Overall survival (OS) and progression free survival (PFS) were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method, multivariate analysis was performed by Cox method. Results: 208 patients were eligible. In the global population median OS was 4.2 months whereas median PFS was 2.4 months. Ten (5%) achieved a partial response, 58 (29%) disease stabilization and the remaining 134 (66%) progressed under treatment. The cut off value for piastrinosis and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was determined at 0.545 ULN and 0.381 respectively. At univariate analysis neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and piastrinosis both correlated with clinical outcome. At multivariate analysis a high platelet count and high neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio were related to a worse OS (Exp(b):1.49, 95%CI:1.0130-2.2103, p = 0.0439 and Exp(b):1.6963, 95%CI: 1.0757-2.6751, p = 0.0237 respectively) and PFS (Exp(b):1.4985, 95% CI: 1.0925-2.0556, p = 0.0126 and Exp(b): 1.9277, 95% CI: 1.3226-2.8097, p = 0,0007 respectively). Interestingly in 52 (25%) patients negative for these factors, median overall survival was 15.9 months vs. 3.1 months for patients harbouring at least one of the factors examined (HR:3.81, 95% CI:2.3260-4.8274, p Conclusions: Our analysis suggests that a high platelet count and a high neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio are predictive factors for clinical outcome in patients treated with regorafenib. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


In most developing countries there has been an uncritical acceptance of foreign accounting methods without taking into consideration their unique environmental needs. This situation has created chaotic practices and confusion in operations and procedures in these countries (accounting schizophrenia). Recently, some of these countries have rushed to apply international accounting standards, also without considering their individual circumstances. The basic premise on which the research rests is that this situation can not be allowed to presist. There exists a critical need for a model for identifying and managing accounting problems in developing countries. The building blocks of the suggested model are: (i) the three dimensions of the characteritics of the conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting (structural organisational, and environmental), (ii) the applicability of the general medical model for disease regulation to accounting problems, and (iii) the applicability of the medical model for regulating schizophrenia to accounting problems in developing countries, having taken into consideration that accounting practices in these countries suffer from the two main symptoms (thought insertion or substitution, and will taken over and controlled by external forces) of the central syndrome of schizophrenia as a result of adherence to various foreign accounting influences. The proposed model comprised three interconnected processes: W case history, (ii) diagnosis which consists of preliminary examination and primary investigation, and (iii) treatment and management. it has the following advantageous characteristics: it is inductive and deductive, democratic and autocratic, comprehensive, systematic dynamic, and finally descriptive and prescriptive. It is believed by this writer that the attempt to develop the model should be accompanied by empirical study concerns with testing its applicability. The empirical study will be conducted in one of the developing countries, Egypt, because of the factors which will be discussed later. It has become apparent from the case history review that Egyptian accounting practices in the first studied period (from 1805 to 1956) suffered from accounting schizophrenia. In 1966, there was positive step for development with the issuing of the Egyptian unified accounting system which represents a reliable body of specialised knowledge for both the producers and users of accounting information. But there has been a long debate about the problems of the system because there is no diagnosis of them by empirical methods. Data for diagnosis process were collected through personal interview by structured questionnaire in the National Investment Bank in Egypt as a user of the information provided by the system. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that the system does work but it suffers from some problems which affect the usefulness of the provided information. These problems have
been classified into three categories: structural, organisational, and environmental. Many of them are believed to result from important causes deeply rooted in human elements. The treatment must start from this key problem; human elements. Since 1974, the open Door Policy has been adopted and there are many new foreign pressure groups. The rush step towards the adoption of international accounting standards may cause the recurrence of accounting schizophrenia. In order to avoid this recurrence the strategy of 'prevention is better than cure' must be followed.


The accountability for reasonableness (AFR) concept has been developed and discussed for over two decades. Its interpretation has been studied in several ways partly guided by the specific settings and the researchers involved. This has again influenced the development of the concept, but not led to universal application. The potential use in health technology assessments (HTAs) has recently been identified by Daniels et al as yet another excellent justification for AFR-based process guidance that refers to both qualitative and a broader participatory input for HTA, but it has raised concerns from those who primarily support the consistency and objectivity of more quantitative and reproducible evidence. With reference to studies of AFR-based interventions and the through these repeatedly documented motivation for their consolidation, we argue that it can even be unethical not to take AFR conditions beyond their still mainly formative stage and test their application within routine health systems management for their expected support to more sustainable health improvements. The ever increasing evidence and technical expertise are necessary but at times contradictory and do not in isolation lead to optimally accountable, fair and sustainable solutions. Technical experts, politicians, managers, service providers, community members, and beneficiaries each have their own values, expertise and preferences, to be considered for necessary buy in and sustainability. Legitimacy, accountability and fairness do not come about without an inclusive and agreed process guidance that can reconcile differences of opinion and indeed differences in evidence to arrive at a by all understood, accepted, but not necessarily agreed compromise in a current context - until major premises for the decision change. AFR should be widely adopted in projects and services under close monitoring and frequent reviews.


Heart valve manufacturers possess the most complete inventory of world-wide mechanical valve failures, but to convert failures to time-related risks requires estimates of patient follow up. Since manufacturers did not actively track patients, they needed a model that incorporates an assumed death rate to decrease the numbers of patients at risk. We present a method for using a manufacturer's implant card database to estimate time-related complication rates for patient subsets, and illustrate its use by examining the risk of outlet strut fracture (OSF) with the Björk-Shiley 60 degrees Convexo-Concave valve (CC60). We developed a parametric model for valve patient survival based on actively followed valve patients from three centers using only variables typically available from implant cards. Using this survival model, a simulated lifetime was produced for each valve in the CC60 implant database for which the required covariates were known. These lifetimes were then used to analyze OSF as if they were true follow up times. This allowed the use of conventional methods of univariate and multivariate analysis for OSF, including parametric statistical models. According to the approximate linearity of the cumulative hazard functions, OSF risk over time appeared to be fairly constant. Several risk factors were identified, including valve size, patient age at implant and valve position. Using parametric models for both patient survival and OSF permits the estimation of the probability of OSF before death for an individual patient (as opposed to the usual actuarial probability of OSF given that the patient does not die). Because the patient may die before his valve would have failed, this cumulative incidence of OSF is always less than the actuarial risk. For all but the very highest risk patients, the cumulative incidence over their relatively short remaining lifetimes is very small.


Systemic Operational Design (SOD) is the postmodern incarnation of Soviet Operational Art in western militaries. Although low-tech by essence and humanist by character, SOD is another successful Israeli start-up whose inventor, Shimon Naveh, keeps releasing updated versions through experimentation and customer feedback. Like all groundbreaking inventions, two trends follow suit: (1) The 'Ali Express' copycats, selling what appears to be the same merchandise but much cheaper; and, (2) Legitimate agents producing generic versions, although all of us know nothing compares to the original. In the past decade it seems everyone is doing design, but many attempts seem like the Telephone Game [1] , whereby a word is whispered in a circle of players from one participant to another until eventually, the source is vaguely echoed. The following paper tells the story of Systemic Operational Design from its inception in the Israeli Defense Forces, through its growth in foreign militaries (spearheaded by the US) and coming full circle back to the IDF. It is written from the point of view of IDF's veteran of Design developing and teaching who is currently employing that philosophy in the highest ranking command course to be exposed to SOD. The paper provides a critical analysis, distinguishing between the three evolutionary phases of SOD, philosophically and pedagogically. As such, it is an open invitation to all novice teachers and students of military design to dig deeper (or go further) in their pursuit of a relevant mode of operation for the senior command. It is the opening shot for an upcoming book under the same name, to be published in 2018. [1] Also coined 'Chinese Whispers' or 'whisper down the lane'


Background and Aim Water resources pollution control is one of the main challenges of our time for researchers. Colored wastewater discharges caused by textile industry activities has added to the concern. In this study, removal of Acid Orange 7 dye (AO7) using Kenya Tea residue absorbent (granular) has been studied. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016. In this work, initially, tea residue was prepared in three forms of raw, treated with concentrated phosphoric acid, and carbonated, at temperatures of 350, 450 and 500 °C in the chemistry laboratory of Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. Then, efficiency of the above absorbents in the removal of Acid Orange 7 dye in initial concentrations of dye as 50–500 mg/l from water samples in terms of pH 2–10 and 1–10 g/l of adsorbent dose within 20 to 300 minutes was investigated. In addition, their subordination from Langmuir and Freundlich absorption isotherms was also determined. Concentration changes in Acid Orange 7 dye at a wavelength of 483 nm was determined by spectrophotometry and results were reported using descriptive statistics. Results Results showed that efficiency of Acid Orange 7 dye removal is higher in acidic pH and higher adsorbent dosage. The highest efficiency of Acid Orange 7 dye removal was 98.41% by raw tea residue absorbent at pH 2, reaction time was 120 minutes and initial concentration of dye was 50 mg/l, which was obtained at adsorbent dosage of 10 g/l. It was determined that the mechanism of absorption acceptably follows Freundlich absorption isotherm (R2=0.97). Conclusion Due to the availability and very low price, optimal performance of Kenya tea raw residue (granular) in Acid Orange 7 dye removal, it can be used as an efficient surface absorber in an absorber from colored wastewater.


We consider the problem of coloring k-colorable graphs with the fewest possible colors. We present a randomized polynomial time algorithm which colors a 3-colorable graph on n vertices with minfO((1=3 log 4=3); O(n 1=4 logn)g colors where is the maximum degree of any vertex. Besides giving the best known approximation ratio in terms of n, this marks the rst non-trivial approximation result as a function of the maximum degree. This result can be generalized to k-colorable graphs to obtain a coloring using minf ~ O((1?2=k); ~ O(n 1?3=(k+1))g colors. Our results are inspired by the recent work of Goemans and Williamson GW93] who used an algorithm for semideenite optimization problems (cf. GLS81, Ali92]), which generalize linear programs, to obtain improved approximations for the MAX CUT and MAX 2-SAT problems. An intriguing outcome of our work is a duality relationship established between the value of the optimum solution to our semideenite program and the Lovv asz #-function. We show lower bounds on the gap between the optimum solution of our semideenite program and the actual chromatic number; by duality this also demonstrates interesting new facts about the #-function.


Large banks often sell part of their loan portfolio in the form of collateralized debt obligations (CDO) to investors. In this paper we raise the question whether credit asset securitization affects the cyclicality (or commonality) of bank equity values. The commonality of bank equity values reflects a major component of systemic risks in the banking market, caused by correlated defaults of loans in the banks' loan books. Our simulations take into account the major stylized fact of CDO transactions, the nonproportional nature of risk sharing that goes along with tranching. We provide a theoretical framework for the risk transfer through securitization that builds on a macro risk factor and an idiosyncratic risk factor, allowing an identification of the types of risk that the individual tranche holders bear. This allows conclusions about the risk positions of issuing banks after risk transfer. Building on the strict subordination of tranches, we first evaluate the correlation properties both within and across risk classes. We then determine the effect of securitization on the systematic risk of all tranches, and derive its effect on the issuing bank's equity beta. The simulation results show that under plausible assumptions concerning bank reinvestment behaviour and capital structure choice, the issuing intermediary's systematic risk tends to rise. We discuss the implications of our findings for financial stability supervision.


The microorganisms on and in the human body play a significant role in health and disease; however, little is known about how the interactions between these complex communities affect our wellbeing. This study examines how bacteria and phage interact through bacterial nucleases that restrict infection, such as restriction enzymes and CRISPR systems, and the covalent DNA modifications that neutralize them. Multiple targeted nucleases equip bacteria with an innate immune response against phage, and CRISPR systems provide an adaptive immune response. I report three main studies. 1) To study the human gut microbiome and virome (comprised predominately of phage), we collected fecal samples from a healthy individual over four years. From the fecal samples, total bacterial DNA and DNA from purified virus like particles (VLPs) were sequenced using Illumina and Pacific Bioscience single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing to yield information about genome sequences and covalent modifications. Using computational methods we identified seven bacterial contigs and one phage contig with CRISPR arrays targeting phage contigs. This suggests that both bacteria and phage use CRISPR systems to compete with other phage. 2) Covalent DNA modifications are known to block the nuclease activity of restriction enzymes, however it was unknown if they can block the nuclease activity of CRISPR systems. To address this, we test if the CRISPR-Cas9 system could target wild type T4 phage and two T4 mutants. Wild type T4 modifies all its cytosines to glycosylated hydroxymethylcytosine (glc-HMC), and the two mutant T4 phage contain either hydroxymethylcytosine (HMC) or unmodified cystosines (C). These tests confirmed that glc-HMC and HMC in high concentrations can block CRISPR-Cas9. 3) To explore interactions between bacteria and phage further, we used covalent DNA modification data to link bacteria and phage pairs from the human gut microbiome, based on the idea that phage and bacterial DNAs in the same cell have been exposed to the same DNA modifying enzymes and thus share modification patterns. Overall, 443 modified motifs were shared between phage and bacteria, suggesting many possible phage-host pairs. In our data, 73% of phage genomes and 56% of bacterial genomes contained motifs that were completely modified, highlighting how ubiquitous and important the roll of DNA modifications are. These data allowed us to begin to specify the extent and types of interactions between phage and bacteria in longitudinal data. This work explores the complex interactions between bacteria and phage, a crucial step in understanding how these organisms contribute to human health and disease. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Frederic D. Bushman


Modern businesses are continuously confronted by unrelenting change which is accommodated by precipitous competition. In South Africa's volatile economic and business landscape, competent managers and their subordinates are often the difference between business success and failure. These businesses are increasingly becoming more diverse. It is the managers' task to not only harvest the potential for innovation that emerges from diversity, but also to minimise the potential strife that it may bring. Diversity can be in terms of a variety of races, genders, ages, nationalities, cultures, sexual orientations, social classes, educational levels, generations and many more factors such as business sizes, industries and sectors. Effective task execution is dependent on an extensive number of managerial competencies, including but not limited to communication, creative problem solving, teamwork, interpersonal relations, self-management, decision-making, networking, global awareness and strategic action. Communication is one of the most important managerial competencies for effective management. Active listening is the single most important skill for effective communication. Additionally, other essential skills include feedback, message sending skills and the ability to deal with (general as well as listening and feedback phase related) interference. Managers' attainment of an effective and efficient communication process is conducive to their understanding of the various contributing aspects/skills of effective communication. Moreover, they are required to comprehend the various perceptions, perspectives, preferences and pre-dispositions of various groups of subordinates. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate how subordinates from various industries, educational backgrounds and generations perceive their managers' communication skills in South Africa. The researcher used a quantitative descriptive design to achieve the study's objectives. Further, a non-probability, convenience sample was implemented and 931 useable responses were obtained via a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire began with a short preamble which was followed by two sections. The first section gathered data regarding the subordinates' demographic information and the second section, which comprised a five-point Likert scale with only the end points labelled as strongly agree and strongly disagree, measured the subordinates' perception of their managers' various selected communication skills – which culminated in their overall communication competencies. Furthermore, the questionnaire was found to be both reliable and valid. This dissertation is presented in the article format and its primary objective was reached by achieving various secondary objectives which were spread through the three articles that make up this study. The first article determined managers' message sending skills and their ability to ii iii deal with general interference in the communication process as perceived by their subordinates in the manufacturing, retail and services industries. In the second article, the effectiveness of managers' listening and feedback skills as well as their ability to deal with interference during the listening and feedback phases of the communication process as perceived by subordinates with varying educational backgrounds was determined. The third article determined managers' overall communication competencies (which comprised the five selected aspects of effective communication) as perceived by subordinates from various generations. The findings of the first article revealed that subordinates perceived their managers' message sending skills and ability to deal with general interference as slightly above average. Furthermore, subordinates from manufacturing businesses perceived their managers' message sending skills and ability to deal with interference to be slightly better than those from retail, whereas there were no statistical differences between these industries and the services industry. The results presented in the second article showed that subordinates perceived their managers' listening skills, feedback skills and ability to deal with interference during the listening and feedback phases of the communication process as marginally above mediocre. Additionally, managers' listening and feedback skills were perceived to be better by graduate level subordinates than by those with only a grade 12 qualification. Subordinates with a post-graduate degree also had better perceptions of these skills than those with a grade 12 qualification did, although not statistically significant. Finally, in the third article it was found that subordinates perceived their managers' overall communication competencies to be barely above average. Further, where the differences between generations were statistically significant, Baby Boomers and Generation Xers constantly had better perceptions of their managers' communication skills than Generation Yers did. Though not always statistically significant, it seemed that the two older generations consistently had better perceptions of their managers' skills and overall communication competence than the younger ones did. The findings of the abovementioned articles led to numerous recommendations. Regarding messages sending, managers are advised to promote trust in their interactions with subordinates by using nonverbal communication; especially within the retail industry. Pertaining to their ability to deal with general interference, it is recommended that retail industry managers specifically focus on refraining from being preoccupied with other matters during their conversations with subordinates. Recommendations of this study also included that managers pay particularly close attention to subordinates' emotions by considering their non-verbal cues such as speech tempo and body language when listening to conversations; especially while communicating with grade 12 level subordinates. With regards to managers' feedback skills, it is recommended that they show interest in the outcome of the feedback process, specifically by setting mutually accepted objectives with grade 12 level subordinates prior to commencing the process. Regarding iv managers' ability to deal with interference during the listening and feedback phases of the communication process, it is recommended that managers avoid information overload by determining the core issues that need to be discussed during the feedback phase and then only focusing on them. Lastly it is recommended that managers that function in generationally diverse businesses actively seek out subordinates from younger generation during the communication process. The key to this lies in communicating with them in manners which they prefer. Thus, managers are advised to consciously engage Generation Y subordinates by integrating information and communication technologies into their interactions. This will ultimately improve managers' overall communication competencies. This study's contribution is to make managers aware of possible difficulties they may experience during the communication process regarding the five selected aspects of effective communication. In conclusion, effective communication is the key to promoting and sustaining business success in a constantly changing business environment. If managers of all businesses where they communicate with subordinates implement the findings of this study, they will stand a better chance to achieve their managerial goals and gain a competitive business advantage.


CRIME scene investigators could one day help solve murders without leaving the office. A pair of augmented reality glasses could allow local police to virtually tag objects in a crime scene, and build a clean record of the scene in 3D video before evidence is removed for processing.
The system, being developed by Oytun Akman and colleagues at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, consists of a head-mounted display receiving 3D video from a pair of attached cameras controlled by a laptop carried in a backpack. This arrangement lets the wearer see their surroundings as normal while also allowing them to overlay virtual objects, which are placed using hand gestures.
A menu appears to float over the left hand when the wearer holds it in front of them. Moving the left hand back and forth selects from a variety of tools, while the right hand serves as a pointer to tag objects in the scene, like blood spatter or bullet holes. The system stores the markers as part of a 3D model of the scene, which investigators can use to help their investigation. It may also be admissible in court as evidence.
"The glasses allow the wearer to tag objects seen in a scene, like blood splatter or bullet holes"
If the person wearing the glasses requires assistance, they can contact someone back in the lab who can watch their video stream, speak to the wearer through a headset and place markers in the scene using a mouse and keyboard. This would also allow a police officer to take the first look around a crime scene.
Akman says that testers in a mock crime scene did not initially like being watched. "They felt intimidated or disturbed by having someone else behind their head," he says. "But then they got used to it and liked the idea."
Akman and his colleagues now plan to test the system in a real-world crime scene with the help of the Dutch police and will also investigate the possibility of using the glasses as a tool for training new crime scene investigators. They will present their work at the Computer Supported Cooperative Work conference in Bellevue, Washington, next month.
Dean Northfield, an imaging officer at the UK's West Yorkshire police, says the glasses could help police forces make the best use of their limited resources, but adds that investigators might resist changes to their current work methods. "It would need testing against what is being done now to actually see what the benefits are," he says


Abstract. Measurements of trace gaseous pollutants were taken at the Shangdianzi site, a WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) background station in Northern China. The results are presented for the period from September 2003 to December 2006. Seasonal and diurnal variations of the O3, NOx, SO2, and CO concentration are characterized and possible causes for them are discussed. The observed levels of the trace gases are comparable to those at some other background sites in polluted regions inside and outside of China. It was shown that the seasonal variation of O3 can change slightly from year to year due to the year-to-year alternation in the meteorological conditions. Higher CO concentrations were observed in some warmer months, particularly in June and July, 2006. Intensive biomass burning in the North China Plain region, in combination with the transport of regional pollution by more frequent southwesterly winds, is believed to be responsible for the elevated CO concentrations. The diurnal variation of O3, with delayed peaking times, suggests that the transport of photochemical aged plume is an important source for O3 at Shangdianzi. The diurnal variations of SO2 in all seasons show higher values during daytime, contradicting the common view. An explanation for this unusual phenomenon is hypothesized. To gain an insight into the impact of transport on the trace gases levels at Shangdianzi, air mass backward trajectories were calculated and analyzed in combination with corresponding pollutant concentrations. The results indicate that the transport of air masses from the North China Plain region and from the major coal mining regions west of Shangdianzi is responsible for the high concentrations of the gaseous pollutants.


A bespoke structural glass storefront is designed for the P.C. Hooftstraat 138. Developer Warenar Real Estate assembled a design team with UNStudio, Arup and Octatube. The facade features twisted geometries with precisely detailed glass connections and custom non-orthogonal steel and glass doors. At ground floor level the facade starts flush with adjacent buildings but rising up it also leans and cantilevers outwards to become more visible from a distance. For optimal quality and minimalistic detailing, a scheme was designed in which most elements could be pre-assembled in the factory into three large 2m x 8,5m high units. Connections between curved glass elements are all glued in combination with stainless steel elements for edge protection and emphasis on the curved geometry. Risk of thermal breakage of annealed curved elements that are partially inside and partially outside is minimized by gluing stainless steel plates to the glass elements that act as cooling ribs. Frequent collaboration throughout the whole project between all parties resulted in successful delivery with no glass breakage during the construction phase. It took years to design, months to assemble in factory, but only 2 days to construct on site.


We propose a method of parallel full-range Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FDOCT) that is capable of acquiring an artifacts-free B-scan image by a single shot of a two-dimensional (2D) CCD camera. This method is based on a spatial carrier technique in which a spatial carrier-frequency is instantaneously introduced into the 2D spectral interferogram registered in parallel FDOCT by using a grating-generated line-reference beam. The spatial-carrier-contained 2D spectral interferogram is processed through Fourier transformation to obtain a complex 2D spectral interferogram, from which a full-range B-scan tomogram is reconstructed. The principle of our method is confirmed by imaging a tropical fish eye's anterior chamber and a shrimp telson in vivo. The suppression ratio of the complex conjugate artifact can reach 36 dB.


The relationship of personality type at age 6 years to interpersonal violence at age 12 years was investigated. Participants from the Child Sample of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth with complete data measures for the three time periods were categorized into one of the three personality types at age 6: under-controlled, resilient, and over-controlled. At age 12, participants assigned to the under-controlled personality type 6 years earlier were more likely than those assigned to the resilient or over-controlled personality types to report that they had hurt someone seriously at least once in the past year. The association of childhood personality to interpersonal violence 6 years later was not mediated by peer rejection or associations with deviant peers.


The one step synthesis of short aspect ratio gold nanorods using gamma radiation method by incorporating cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a directing agent is reported in this communication. In present method of synthesis, isopropyl radical is selectively generated in the system by carrying out radiolysis of aqueous solution containing 2.75 × 10−2 mol dm−3 of acetone, 0.2 mol dm−3 isopropanol, 4 × 10−4 mol dm−2 Au1+ and 6 × 10−5 mol dm−3 Ag+. The isopropyl radical brings about the reduction of Au1+ to Au0, which undergoes coalescence with other Au0 resulting in formation of Au nanorods. The formation of nanorods is attributed to slower reaction of isopropyl radical with Au1+. The TEM of as-prepared nanoparticles confirmed the formation of uniform sized nanorods having aspect ratio 3.


This new edition is the only work solely dedicated to the law of company meetings of solvent public and private companies. The new edition is written by an author team of great authority who have specialized in Company Law throughout their careers. The second edition brings the analysis of the law on company meetings and resolutions up to date following the coming into force of all provisions under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 06). This includes in particular the amendments made to existing legislation by the Companies (Shareholders Rights) Regulations 2009 concerning the expanded rights of shareholders in relation to meetings of traded companies. Since the publication of the first edition there have been seventeen new legislative provisions inserted into CA 06, Pt 13 which are now analysed in the text. In addition, a new chapter has been included to provide analysis and interpretation on the final version of the 2006 Model Articles. Although the work is mainly organized by topic (e.g. written resolutions of private companies, notice of meetings, circulas, quorum, proxies, and corporate representatives, the role of the chairman, minutes), a section-by-section commentary is included together with the text of CA 06, Pt 13, the part of the CA 06 which relates specifically to the law of company meetings and resolutions. The inclusion of this section provides readers with very detailed interpretation of the meaning of the legislation making the book a comprehensive and invaluable reference source. This book is the leading authority on the law of company meetings and resolutions and all practitioners advising on this topic will find this an invaluable tool for desk research as well as a handy companion at company meetings.


Abstract This study provides 39 new thermochronometric analyses from the western part of the Greater Caucasus, a region in which existing data are extremely limited and of questionable quality. The new results are consistent with field studies that identify Triassic to Middle Jurassic (Cimmerian) and Oligo-Miocene (Alpine) orogenic erosional events. An inverse relationship between the fission track and depositional ages of Oligo-Miocene sedimentary samples also implies some degree of Eocene erosion of the Greater Caucasus and intermediate sediment storage. Cooling ages and field relationships within the core of the range, west of Mt Elbrus, require ~5 km of Permo-Triassic exhumation and restrict the overall amount of Cenozoic exhumation to ~2.5 km. Current exhumation rates are typically low, and do not support a Plio-Pleistocene increase in climate-driven denudation. High (~1 km Ma−1) rates of exhumation are restricted to the southern flank of the range in northwest Georgia. Despite a general lack of significant seismicity within the study region, this exhumation peak is close to the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the Caucasus (Ms = 7.0). This may suggest that exhumation is associated with the decoupling of the sedimentary succession from its crystalline basement in the southern part of the range and the inversion of the largely Jurassic fill of the Greater Caucasus basin. Rates of exhumation are compatible with this being driven by active shortening. Further sampling and analysis are required to provide a higher-resolution, low-temperature thermochronology of Alpine exhumation, to isolate the drivers for Palaeogene Dziruli Massif cooling and uplift, and to constrain better the extent of the current, localized phase of rapid exhumation.


Controversy still remains regarding appropriate surgical management and prognostic implications of micrometastases and isolated tumor cells (ITCs) in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) of breast cancer patients. There are two issues: First, is the follow-up completion axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) necessary after a diagnosis of ITCs or micrometastases in sentinel lymph node? Second, does sentinel lymph node micrometastases or ITCs carry any prognostic significance?


Abstract. Comprehensive model evaluation and comparison of two 3-D air quality modeling systems (i.e., the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF)/Polyphemus and WRF with chemistry and the Model of Aerosol Dynamics, Reaction, Ionization, and Dissolution (MADRID) (WRF/Chem-MADRID)) are conducted over Western Europe. Part 1 describes the background information for the model comparison and simulation design, the application of WRF for January and July 2001 over triple-nested domains in Western Europe at three horizontal grid resolutions: 0.5°, 0.125°, and 0.025°, and the effect of aerosol/meteorology interactions on meteorological predictions. Nine simulated meteorological variables (i.e., downward shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes (SWDOWN and LWDOWN), outgoing longwave radiation flux (OLR), temperature at 2 m (T2), specific humidity at 2 m (Q2), relative humidity at 2 m (RH2), wind speed at 10 m (WS10), wind direction at 10 m (WD10), and precipitation (Precip)) are evaluated using available observations in terms of spatial distribution, domainwide daily and site-specific hourly variations, and domainwide performance statistics. The vertical profiles of temperature, dew points, and wind speed/direction are also evaluated using sounding data. WRF demonstrates its capability in capturing diurnal/seasonal variations and spatial gradients and vertical profiles of major meteorological variables. While the domainwide performance of LWDOWN, OLR, T2, Q2, and RH2 at all three grid resolutions is satisfactory overall, large positive or negative biases occur in SWDOWN, WS10, and Precip even at 0.125° or 0.025° in both months and in WD10 in January. In addition, discrepancies between simulations and observations exist in T2, Q2, WS10, and Precip at mountain/high altitude sites and large urban center sites in both months, in particular, during snow events or thunderstorms. These results indicate the model's difficulty in capturing meteorological variables in complex terrain and subgrid-scale meteorological phenomena, due to inaccuracies in model initialization parameterization (e.g., lack of soil temperature and moisture nudging), limitations in the physical parameterizations (e.g., shortwave radiation, cloud microphysics, cumulus parameterizations, and ice nucleation treatments) as well as limitations in surface heat and moisture budget parameterizations (e.g., snow-related processes, subgrid-scale surface roughness elements, and urban canopy/heat island treatments and CO 2 domes). While the use of finer grid resolutions of 0.125° and 0.025° shows some improvements for WS10, WD10, Precip, and some mesoscale events (e.g., strong forced convection and heavy precipitation), it does not significantly improve the overall statistical performance for all meteorological variables except for Precip. The WRF/Chem simulations with and without aerosols show that aerosols lead to reduced net shortwave radiation fluxes, 2 m temperature, 10 m wind speed, planetary boundary layer (PBL) height, and precipitation and increase aerosol optical depth, cloud condensation nuclei, cloud optical depth, and cloud droplet number concentrations over most of the domain. These results indicate a need to further improve the model representations of the above parameterizations as well as aerosol–meteorology interactions at all scales.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between choriocapillaris (CC) and retinal pigment epithelial changes in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Morphologic changes in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)/choriocapillaris complex were quantified in dry and wet forms of AMD, and the results were compared with those in aged control eyes without maculopathy.

METHODS
Postmortem choroids from three aged control subjects, five subjects with geographic atrophy (GA), and three subjects with wet AMD were analyzed using a semiquantitative computer-assisted morphometric technique developed to measure the percentages of retinal pigment epithelial and CC areas in choroidal wholemounts incubated for alkaline phosphatase activity. The tissues were subsequently embedded in methacrylate and were sectioned so that structural changes could be examined.

RESULTS
There was a linear relationship between the loss of RPE and CC in GA. A 50% reduction in vascular area was found in regions of complete retinal pigment epithelial atrophy. Extreme constriction of remaining viable capillaries was found in areas devoid of RPE. Adjacent to active choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in wet AMD, CC dropout was evident in the absence of retinal pigment epithelial atrophy, resulting in a 50% decrease in vascular area. Lumenal diameters of the remaining capillaries in wet AMD eyes were similar to those in control eyes.

CONCLUSIONS
The primary insult in GA appears to be at the level of the RPE, and there is an intimate relationship between retinal pigment epithelial atrophy and secondary CC degeneration. CC degeneration occurs in the presence of viable RPE in wet AMD. The RPE in regions of vascular dropout are presumably hypoxic, which may result in an increase in VEGF production by the RPE and stimulation of CNV.


Despite massive funding from the Australian government, the literacy achievement of Australian Indigenous children remains significantly lower than for non-Indigenous. With the aim of identifying innovative ways to improve Indigenous children's literacy achievement, this study explored the social practices surrounding everyday mobile phone use by Indigenous people in a remote Australian community. Informed by the notion of 'placed resources', which highlights the understanding that digital literacies are best considered as resources situated by social practices that have local effect, the study surveyed 95 people living in a remote Indigenous community about their mobile phone practices. The study also examined a video of a literacy event between a mother and her child around the use of a mobile phone. The findings revealed the strong relational aspects of phone use in remote communities. Integral to the concept of placed resources is a respect for the practices communities find important as they adopt artefacts for their everyday communication.


Binding modalities of doxorubicin (DOX), a widely used antineoplastic anthracyline antibiotic with hemoglobin (Hb) have been studied. The protein and the ligand were prepared using CORINA and protonated with insight II. The best conformation was sought by employing GOLDV. Molecular modeling calculations showed that DOX binds Hb to a non-classical drug binding site. The alpha subunit of Hb has been assigned to posses the binding site for DOX with a binding affinity (Ka) = 16.98 ×103 mol-1. The interaction was found to be thermodynamically favorable (ΔG° = −66.23 KJmol-1). The analysis of DOX binding site to Hb suggested that the types of interactions that contribute in this binding are hydrophobic contacts, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions.


We have recently developed a novel impedance spectroscopy for high throughput analysis on single biological particles in microfluidic cytometers using Maximum Length Sequences (MLS) 1-3. This technique uses MLS as the excitation signal to the micro-impedance system (figure 1) and allows multi-frequency impedance data to be obtained in one measurement, due to the white noise-like properties of MLS. The data flow diagram of MLS measurement system is shown in figure 2. The digital MLS signal, generated in MATLABTM (Mathworks, Inc., USA) is converted into the analog MLS by D/A converter and applied to the cytometer. After low pass filtering (LPF), the response of the system is sampled into digital form. A Fast M-sequence Transform (FMT) converts the sampled response into the Impulse Response (IR), which is equivalent to the transfer-function of the system. Finally Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is applied to the IR, characterizing the transfer-function in the frequency domain, from which the impedance of the cell is extracted. The impedance spectra of polystyrene beads and human red blood cells have been measured using this new technology. We have derived 512 frequency data evenly distributed between 976.56 Hz and 500 kHz within approximately 1 ms and the data have been verified by the conventional AC single frequency measurement and the circuit simulations in PSpice (Cadence Inc. USA)2, 3. However, the original measured data using MLS technology exhibits inferior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), compared to the AC single frequency measurement, in which the energy of the excitation signal is purely concentrated on one specific frequency and the lock-in amplifier for demodulation has a strong ability to reject the noise at other frequencies. In order to improve the SNR of the MLS measurement system without adding any hardware, we use adaptive filters to perform the noise cancellation4, which is based on the least mean square (LMS) principle. A fixed delay is inserted in the original data as a reference input to the adaptive filter for cancelling the noise interference from the background, as shown in figure 3. The SNR of the system can be improved approximately 20 dB at each measured frequency by attenuating the noise level.


Future Wireless Networks (FWNs) will be a convergence of many fixed and mobile networking technologies including cellular, wireless LANs, and traditional wired networks. This united ubiquitous network will consist of billions of networkable devices with different networking interfaces. A common networking protocol is required to communicate among these devices and interfaces; System Architecture Evolution (SAE) documents state that Internet Protocol (IP), world-widely used in the current Internet, is likely to become that common protocol. However, traditional IP architecture has faced several known challenges, such as mobility, multihoming, privacy, path preference selection, etc., which should be resolved in FWNs. One of the difficulties in the current IP architecture is the overloading of IP addresses used both as the identity and the location of IP devices. In this paper, we propose a virtualization concept for network-able components, or (virtual) objects, which generalizes all abstract components to potentially be used in FWNs. In addition, we have explicitly separated the functions of the virtual object identity from the virtual object location (using the ID/locator split concept). The end-to-end communication is a concatenation of the involved components, called a channel. To help support the ownership and policy enforcement for trusted vs. untrusted networks, a set of (virtual) network-able components with the same interest, called a realm, is formed in a multi-tier structure. The individual policy can be enforced for each individual group of (virtual) objects and/or channels. This virtualization architecture concept, characterized by the ID/locator split concept, is well-suited for FWNs and helps eliminate problems in the current Internet.


ABILITY OF ADV MEASUREMENTS TO DETECT TURBULENCE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANGULAR AND ROUNDED GRAVEL BEDS OF INTERMEDIATE ROUGHNESS SCALE Benjamin B. Haws Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Master of Science A set of laboratory experiments was carried out to distinguish flow characteristics (bed origin, shear velocity, turbulence intensity, turbulent kinetic energy) between beds of differing gravel angularity. Ten vertical profiles of velocity measurements were taken from angular and rounded fixed gravel beds with a 16 MHz micro acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) sampling at 50 Hz. Both gravel beds had a bottom slope of 0.2% and were in the intermediate roughness scale. Shear velocities were calculated using three common methods: St Venant, Reynolds stress, and Clauser. The Reynolds stress method resulted in the closest visual match to turbulence distributions proposed by others. The bed origin was found to be on average 0.24D50 and 0.21D50 for the angular and rounded gravel beds respectively. These differences, however, were not statistically significant. Turbulence intensity within 20% of the bed showed considerable scatter. The difficult measuring conditions likely prevented the ADV to detect significant differences of turbulence intensity in the longitudinal and transverse directions between the two gravel beds. But the ADV measurements in the vertical direction may well resolve turbulence even in difficult flow conditions (determined by acoustic Doppler performance curve formulation). For the vertical direction, the angular gravel bed showed an increase in TImax that extended throughout the profile. The increased turbulence intensity had a concomitant effect of increasing the turbulent kinetic energy for the angular bed.


As part of a restoration project, multiple genotypes of two tree species, Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Goodding's willow (Salix gooddingii), and one shrub species, Coyote willow (S. exigua), were experimentally planted in different proportions at the Palo Verde Ecological Reserve near Blythe, California, U.S.A. These common woody plant species are important to the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, providing perch, nesting, and foraging habitat. We conducted this study to evaluate plant species proportion and plant genotype effects on the arthropod community, the prey base for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Three patterns emerged. First, plant species proportions were important; the arthropod community had the greatest richness and diversity (H′) when Goodding's willow proportion was high and Fremont cottonwood proportion was lower; that is, fewer Fremont cottonwoods are required to positively affect overall arthropod diversity. Second, we found significant genotypic effects, for all three plant species, on arthropod species accumulation. Third, while both planting proportion and genotype effects were significant, we found that the effect of planting proportion on arthropod richness was about twice as large as the effect of plant genotype. This shows that both plant species proportions and genotype should be utilized in restoration projects to maximize habitat heterogeneity and arthropod richness. Similar studies can determine which planting proportion and specific genotypes may result in a more favorable arthropod prey base for the southwestern willow flycatcher and other species of concern. Greater attention to planting design and genotype can result in significant gains in diversity at little or no additional project cost.


This thesis describes an SSVEP-based BCI implemented as a practical part of this work. One possible usage of a BCI that efficiently implements a communication channel between the brain and an external device would be to help severely disabled people to control devices that currently require pushing buttons, for example an electric wheelchair. The BCI implemented as a part of this thesis uses widely known PSDA and CCA feature extraction methods and introduces a new way to combine these methods. Combining different methods improves the performance of a BCI. The application was tested only superficially and the following results were obtained: 2.61± 0.28 s target detection time, 85.81 ± 6.39 % accuracy and 27.73 ± 5.11 bits/min ITR. The implemented BCI is opensource, written in Python 2.7, has graphical user interface and uses inexpensive EEG device called Emotiv EPOC. The BCI requires only a computer and Emotiv EPOC, no additional hardware is needed. Different EEG devices could be used after modifying the code.


Open access to satellite data has boosted the development of new approaches to quantify and understand Earth's changes. The large spatiotemporal availability of satellite imagery, for example, has improved our capability to map and monitor land use and land cover changes over vast areas. Given the open availability of large image data sets, the Earth Observation community would get much benefit from methods that are openly available, reproducible and comparable. This paper presents the R package dtwSat, which provides an implementation of the Time-Weighted Dynamic Time Warping (TWDTW) method for land cover mapping using sequences of multi-band satellite images. Methods based on Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) are suitable to handle irregularly sampled and out-of-phase time series, which is frequently the case of those from remote sensing. TWDTW algorithm has achieved significant results using MODIS, Landsat, and Sentinel-2 time series to classify natural vegetation and crop types in different regions. Using existing R packages as building blocks dtwSat supports the full cycle of land cover classification using satellite time series, ranging from selecting temporal patterns to visualizing and assessing the results. To handle the satellite images, dtwSat uses well-known data structures from the R package raster, which offers the option to work with large raster data sets stored on disk instead of loading into memory (RAM) at once. The current version of the dtwSat package provides pixel-based time series classification, i.e., each time series is processed independently from each other, and therefore, the code is easily parallelizable. dtwSat is open source and distributed under a GNU General Public License GPL (≥ 2). A binary version is available from the Comprehensive R Archive Network (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/dtwSat) and the development version from GitHub (https://github.com/vwmaus/dtwSat). Future versions of the package envisage new features to reduce border effects, increase spatial homogeneity (i.e., reduce the called 'salt and pepper effect') and improve the temporal consistency of land cover transitions. dtwSat makes it straightforward to apply and compare the TWDTW approach with other methods, contributing to rapid advance automated and semi-automated methods to analyze satellite time series.


Objective: To observe the effects of sufentanil and fentanyl on the recovery quality after general anaesthesia, which was conducted on patients with Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC).
Methods: 68 patients aged 45 or above, ASA grade I-II, patients underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly divided into sufentanil group (group S) and fentanyl group (R group). The postoperative pain, nausea, vomiting, recovery of daily activities and the satisfaction for the hospital were recorded. Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) was used to rate every index after surgery.
Results: Compared with group S. The VRS at 10 min, 20 min, 30 min were elevated in group R (P 0.05), postoperative recovery time daily activities there was no significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05), the patient to the hospital, the satisfaction survey in addition to the satisfaction of postoperative analgesia between the two groups have statistical difference (p 0.05).
Conclusion: Sufentanil and fentanyl could be safely used for the elderly, and as for postoperative analgesia effect of sufentanil is superior to fentanyl 1 hour after LC.


The origins of the game of rugby and the codification of the rules which defined the game have been glorified in numerous legends, some of which are little more than sporting hagiography. Following on from the success of The Rules of Association Football 1863 and in time for the Rugby World Cup in September - October 2007, this book investigates the origins of the game of rugby and reproduces for the first time in a single book both the first rules of the game, drawn up at Rugby School in 1845 and the first rules of the Rugby Football Union, published in 1871. The introduction by Jed Smith, the curator of the Rugby Football Museum in Twickenham, will provide the first systematic exploration of the origin of the rules of the game and their development. Includes images from the unique manuscript held at the Rugby Football Union as well as nineteenth-century illustrations of the game as it was first played, capturing its early spirit and enthusiasm.


This document specifies the data export format for version 9 of Cisco
Systems' NetFlow services, for use by implementations on the
network elements and/or matching collector programs. The version 9
export format uses templates to provide access to observations of IP
packet flows in a flexible and extensible manner. A template defines a
collection of fields, with corresponding descriptions of structure and
semantics. This memo provides information for the Internet community.