Self-reported health, happiness, attitudes, and other statuses or perceptions are often the subject of biases that may come from different sources. For example, the evaluation of an individual's own health may depend on previous medical diagnoses, functional status, and symptoms and signs of illness; as on well as life-style behaviors, including contextual social, gender, agespecific, linguistic and other cultural factors (Jylha 2009; Oksuzyan et al. 2019). The hopit package offers versatile functions for analyzing different self-reported ordinal variables, and for helping to estimate their biases. Specifically, the package provides the function to fit a generalized ordered probit model that regresses original self-reported status measures on two sets of independent variables (King et al. 2004; Jürges 2007; Oksuzyan et al. 2019). The first set of variables (e.g., health variables) included in the regression are individual statuses and characteristics that are directly related to the self-reported variable. In the case of self-reported health, these could be chronic conditions, mobility level, difficulties with daily activities, performance on grip strength tests, anthropometric measures, and lifestyle behaviors. The second set of independent variables (threshold variables) is used to model cut-points between adjacent self-reported response categories as functions of individual characteristics, such as gender, age group, education, and country (Oksuzyan et al. 2019). The model helps to adjust for specific socio-demographic and cultural differences in how the continuous latent health is projected onto the ordinal self-rated measure. The fitted model can be used to calculate an individual predicted latent status variable, a latent index, and standardized latent coefficients; and makes it possible to reclassify a categorical status measure that has been adjusted for inter-individual differences in reporting behavior.


Erkina Elena, Kiens Kristel, 2013. Enhancing Coaches' Professional Development Through a Goal Setting Program: An Action Research Cross-Case Study. Master's Thesis in Sport and Exercise Psychology. Department of Sport Sciences, University of Jyväskylä. 115 p. Lack of knowledge and practical training are some of the main barriers for coaches not to use mental training in their everyday practice. Educational programs for coaches should include relevant topics and hands-on experiences to increase motivation in further education. Goal setting as a mental training technique is associated with positive outcomes, e.g., enhanced performance and mood, increased team cohesion and selfconfidence. Thus, goal setting as a mental training technique is relevant and should be included in coaches' education. In spite of extensive theoretical knowledge on goal setting in sport there is a gap in disseminating this knowledge to sport practitioners. Therefore, the study served two purposes. Firstly, to develop a goal setting program and evaluate its applicability from the coaches' perspective. Secondly, to evaluate the process of educational workshops in order to make improvements to the goal setting program as well as providing information on coaches' education. Action research approach was adopted and crosscase analysis on interventions with two coaches of team sports was conducted. Results of the study confirmed the applicability of the developed goal setting program in a team setting in basketball and football. During the educational process, action research method was adopted. According to this approach, continuous cycles of reflection, planning and action allowed to consider coaches' needs and adapt to their learning styles. Dynamic learning environment that combined introducing the theory with discussions and practical exercises was evaluated positively by the coaches. Therefore, the results of the study support the practical approach in coaches' education that takes into account coaches experiences and their needs. The goal setting program was applied only in two sports, hence, future studies could be aimed at validating the program in different sports.


ABSTRACT Background: A characteristic feature of multiple myeloma (MM) is bone destruction mediated by osteoclasts. This breakdown of bone releases factors that mediate myeloma cell growth, creating a cycle of skeletal damage and tumor cell growth. Patients with MM and bone lesions can experience debilitating pain and skeletal complications including pathologic fractures, need for radiotherapy or surgery to bone, and spinal cord compression, collectively termed skeletal-related events (SREs). RANKL is the key mediator of osteoclast activity. Denosumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody specific to RANKL, inhibits the formation, function, and survival of osteoclasts, thus decreasing cancer-mediated bone destruction. The primary endpoint of this trial is to determine whether denosumab is noninferior to zoledronic acid (ZA) in delaying the time to 1st on-study SRE in patients with MM. Secondary endpoints include superiority of denosumab vs ZA in delaying the time to 1st on-study SRE and time to 1st-and-subsequent SRE and overall survival. Safety endpoints will be assessed. This trial is registered (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01345019) and sponsored by Amgen Inc. Trial design: We are targeting enrollment of ∼1520 adults with newly diagnosed MM and ≥1 bone lesion. Patients with ≤30 days of anti-myeloma therapy, ≤1 prior dose of IV bisphosphonate, an ECOG status ≤2, and adequate organ function are eligible. Use of any approved treatment regimen is permitted as anti-myeloma treatment in this trial. Enrolled patients are stratified by whether they intend to undergo autologous stem cell transplant; use of novel vs non-novel anti-myeloma agents as 1st-line therapy; stage at diagnosis per the International Staging System; SRE at time of presentation; and geographic region. Randomized (1:1) patients receive either SC denosumab 120 mg+IV placebo or IV ZA 4 mg (adjusted for CrCl)+SC placebo once every 4 weeks. Daily calcium (≥500 mg) and vitamin D (≥400 IU) supplements are strongly recommended. The primary analysis is planned when ∼800 patients experience an on-study SRE. Enrollment is currently ongoing and enrollment rates are as planned. Reused with permission from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This abstract was accepted and previously presented at the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting (TPS8628). All rights reserved. Disclosure: E. Terpos: Consultant for Amgen, Janssen-Cilag, and Morphosys; Honoraria from Celgene and Novartis; N. Raje: Consultant for Amgen; R. Garcia-Sanz: Honoraria from Amgen; Research funding from Novartis; K. Shimizu: Consultant for and honoraria and research funding from Daiichi Sankyo; Expert testimony on behalf of Amgen; W. Willenbacher: Consultant for and honoraria and research funding from Amgen; L. Zhu: Employee of Amgen; Own stock or stock options in Amgen; A. Braun: Previous employee of Amgen; Own stock or stock options in Amgen; R. Jain: Employee of Amgen; Own stock or stock options in Amgen; A. Palumbo: Consultant for and honoraria from Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Janssen, Millenium, and Onyx. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


The ability to categorize is a cornerstone of visual intelligence, and a key functionality for artificial, autonomous visual machines. This problem will never be solved without algorithms able to adapt and generalize across visual domains. Within the context of domain adaptation and generalization, this paper focuses on the predictive domain adaptation scenario, namely the case where no target data are available and the system has to learn to generalize from annotated source images plus unlabeled samples with associated metadata from auxiliary domains. Our contribution is the first deep architecture that tackles predictive domain adaptation, able to leverage over the information brought by the auxiliary domains through a graph. Moreover, we present a simple yet effective strategy that allows us to take advantage of the incoming target data at test time, in a continuous domain adaptation scenario. Experiments on three benchmark databases support the value of our approach.


—In ambient and mobile learning contexts, 3D renderings create higher states of immersion compared to still images or video. To cope with the considerable effort to create 3D objects from images, with the NEMO Converter 3D we present a technical approach to automatically reconstruct 3D objects from semantically annotated media, such as photos and more importantly video footage, in an automated background process. Although the 3D objects are rendered in a quality acceptable for the scenario presented in this article, they still contain unwanted surroundings or artifacts and will not be positioned well for, e.g., augmented reality applications. To address this matter, with 3DEdit we present a web-based solution allowing users to enhance these 3D objects. We present a technical overview and reference pedagogical background of our research project Ambient Learning Spaces, in which both the NEMO Converter 3D and 3DEdit have been developed. We also describe a real usage scenario, starting by creating and collecting media using the Mobile Learning Exploration System, a mobile application from the application family of Ambient Learning Spaces. With InfoGrid, a mobile augmented reality application, users can experience the previously generated 3D objects placed and aligned into real world scenes. All systems and applications of Ambient Learning Spaces interconnect through the NEMO-Framework (Network Environment for Multimedia Objects). This technical platform features contextualized access and retrieval of media.


Spatially varying depth and the characteristics of observing conditions, such as seeing, airmass, or sky background, are major sources of systematic uncertainties in modern galaxy survey analyses, particularly in deep multi-epoch surveys. We present a framework to extract and project these sources of systematics onto the sky, and apply it to the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to map the observing conditions of the Science Verification (SV) data. The resulting distributions and maps of sources of systematics are used in several analyses of DES–SV to perform detailed null tests with the data, and also to incorporate systematics in survey simulations. We illustrate the complementary nature of these two approaches by comparing the SV data with BCC-UFig, a synthetic sky catalog generated by forward-modeling of the DES–SV images. We analyze the BCC-UFig simulation to construct galaxy samples mimicking those used in SV galaxy clustering studies. We show that the spatially varying survey depth imprinted in the observed galaxy densities and the redshift distributions of the SV data are successfully reproduced by the simulation and are well-captured by the maps of observing conditions. The combined use of the maps, the SV data, and the BCC-UFig simulation allows us to quantify the impact of spatial systematics on N(z), the redshift distributions inferred using photometric redshifts. We conclude that spatial systematics in the SV data are mainly due to seeing fluctuations and are under control in current clustering and weak-lensing analyses. However, they will need to be carefully characterized in upcoming phases of DES in order to avoid biasing the inferred cosmological results. The framework presented here is relevant to all multi-epoch surveys and will be essential for exploiting future surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will require detailed null tests and realistic end-to-end image simulations to correctly interpret the deep, high-cadence observations of the sky.


Attitudes to animals have been extensively studied for people in developed countries, but not for those in developing countries. The attitudes of prospective stakeholders in the livestock sectors in south-east and east Asia toward transport and slaughter were examined by surveying university students studying veterinary medicine and animal science in Malaysia, Thailand, China and Vietnam, with a total of 739 students taking part. Students had greater acceptability of transport than slaughter issues for livestock, and female students found most transport and slaughter issues of greater concern than male students. Veterinary students were more accepting of several issues than animal science students, in particular killing animals that were injured or ill. Religion had a major effect on attitudes. Muslim students found using animals that died naturally for products least acceptable. Compared to them, Hindu students were less accepting of killing injured or ill animals and Buddhist students less accepting of euthanasing healthy pets. Students with more experience of pets were less accepting of both transport and slaughter issues. It is concluded that concern was exhibited by future stakeholders in the SE and E Asian livestock industries for slaughter and, to a lesser extent, transport issues, although attitudes were influenced by their religion, gender and experience of pet-keeping.


The Paediatric Pain Profile (PPP) is a 20–item behaviour rating scale designed to assess pain in children with severe neurological disability. We assessed the validity and reliability of the scale in 140 children (76 females, mean age 9 years 11 months, SD 4 years 7 months; range 1 to 18 years), unable to communicate through speech or augmentative communication. Parents used the PPP to rate retrospectively their child's behaviour when'at their best'and when in pain. To assess interrater reliability, two raters concurrently observed and individually rated each child's behaviour. To assess construct validity and responsiveness of the scale, behaviour of 41 children was rated before and for four hours after administration of an'as required'analgesic. Behaviour of 30 children was rated before surgery and for five days after. Children had significantly higher scores when reported to have pain than'at their best'and scores increased in line with global evaluations of pain. Internal consistency ranged from 0.75 to 0.89 (Cronbach's alpha) and interrater reliability from 0.74 to 0.89 (intraclass correlation). Sensitivity (1.00) and specificity (0.91) were optimized at a cut-off of 14/60. PPP score was significantly greater before administration of the analgesic than after (paired-sample t-tests, p < 0.001). Though there was no significant difference in mean pre- and postoperative scores, highest PPP score occurred in the first 24 hours after surgery in 14 (47%) children. Results suggest that the PPP is reliable and valid and has potential for use both clinically and in intervention research.


The solar 11-year activity cycle is a famous manifestation of magnetic activity of celestial bodies. The physical nature of the solar cycle is believed to be large-scale magnetic field excitation in the form of a wave of a quasi-stationary magnetic field propagating from middle solar latitudes to the solar equator. The power spectrum of solar magnetic activity recorded in sunspot data and underlying solar dynamo action contains quite a stable oscillation known as the 11-year cycle as well as the continuous component and some additional weak peaks. We consider a low-order model for the solar dynamo. We show that in some range of governing parameters this model can reproduce spectra with pronounced dominating frequency and wide spectral peaks in the low-frequency region. The spectra obtained are qualitatively similar to the observed solar activity spectrum.


Support for beginning teachers in North Carolina is mandated by the State Board of Education and supported through legislative mandates and. Teacher induction programs have been developed to help support and guide new teachers toward a successful career; however each Local Educational Agency (LEA) has the flexibility to establish the induction program in their district, creating a variety of models of induction across the state supporting beginning teachers (BTs). The goal of this research was to better understand the impact of induction programs in North Carolina on beginning teachers' retention. This mixed-methods study examined the current state of induction in 11 of North Carolina's LEAs in order to better understand how varying models of induction impact beginning teachers and to gather the LEAs' and BTs' perspectives about induction. The research questions investigate how the components of induction programs are implemented in North Carolina's LEAs and the perceptions of both the LEAs and BTs about the importance of these components in influencing teacher retention. This study focused on several components of LEA's induction programs (e.g., orientation, mentoring, professional development, and other resources) and explored the impact of these programs by examining the relationships between the components of induction and beginning teacher retention. The study used quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis to document, describe and compare approaches to induction and BT perception about them. The results indicated that a wide variety of induction components are used across the 11 participating North Carolina LEAs, including various types of orientation, mentoring, and professional development. All 11 participating LEAs reported that their induction programs were beneficial in supporting their beginning teachers. However, the 378 participating BTs provided varying reports about their perceptions of the induction components offered in their districts. Overwhelmingly, BTs acknowledged that their mentor and/or resources were the most induction beneficial component.


We investigated the aberrant promoter methylation profile of bladder cancers and correlated the data with clinicopathological findings. The methylation status of 10 genes was determined in 98 surgically resected bladder cancers, and we calculated the median methylation index (MI), a reflection of the methylated fraction of the genes tested. Methylation frequencies of the genes tested in bladder cancers were 36% for CDH1, 35% for RASSF1A and APC, 29% for CDH13, 16% for FHIT, 15% for RAR , 11% for GSTP1, 7% for p16, 4% for DAPK, and 2% for MGMT. Methylation of four of the individual genes (CDH1, RASSF1A, APC, and CDH13) and the MI were significantly correlated with several parameters of poor prognosis (tumor grade, growth pattern, muscle invasion, tumor stage, and ploidy pattern). Methylation of CDH1, FHIT, and a high MI were associated with shortened survival. CDH1 methylation positive status was independently associated with poor survival in multivariate analyses. Our results suggest that the methylation profile may be a potential new biomarker of risk prediction in bladder cancer.


Sustaining agriculture and civilizations requires protecting topsoil from erosion. Residue on the soil surface dissipates energy in raindrops, runoff, and wind, reducing detachment and transport of soil particles. Our objective was to contrast transect residue estimates based on (1) in-field evaluation of 100 evenly spaced points along a 15 m tape; (2) evaluation of imagery of the same tapes obtained at two ground sampling distances: 0.014 and 0.06 cm pixel–1; and (3) a 100 point grid analysis of 50 contiguous 0.3 × 0.2 m images (0.014 cm pixel–1) adjacent to the tape. Data were collected from May through early July of 2018 in row-crop fields in four Missouri counties: Audrain, Boone, Callaway, and Cooper. We used data from 60 15.2 m transects in 20 fields. Residue estimates based on field readings of the transect tape ranged from 6% to 99%. Reading images of tapes resulted in a mean decrease of 2.5 percentage points of residue. The bullseye grid point method documented tremendous variability along the transect (mean transect sd = 12.4) and a substantially lower estimate of residue cover compared to field tape readings (mean difference –10.3 percentage points). Consistent with a systematic bias to overestimate residue with the tape transect method, the difference increased with increasing residue for residue <50%, was more pronounced with soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) than corn (Zea mays L.), and the difference could be eliminated by rereading tapes with scrupulous attention to the details of transect methodology. Image-based methods have the potential to improve the accuracy of residue estimates by facilitating methods less prone to reader bias such as the bullseye grid approach. Additionally, to improve accuracy, image-based protocols should be integrated into training and quality control assurance protocols of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) assessments of residue using transect methods.


The hazard function describes the unobserved rate at which failures occur. In this paper, we present a new inverted U-shape hazard function, developed for risk-events related to human activities. This hazard shape has received less attention in the literature relative to monotone hazard functions, likely due to the mathematical complexity of their regression models. We present a new survivor function, based on a logarithm transformation, and time displacement of Weibull's survivor function, that has an inverted U-shape hazard function similar to the log-logistic one. The advantage of this hazard function relative to the Weibull, and log-logistic hazard functions is in its unique curvature, which may fit better in some cases. We use simulation studies to present the new distribution characteristics in comparison to the Weibull, and the log-logistic distributions.


Further studies of the spectral data obtained in the February 1960 rocket experiment [ Ann. Geophys.17, 109 ( 1961)] have confirmed much of the preliminary analysis. New bands of the Lyman–Birge–Hopfield system in the 1700–2200 A region have been identified. More precise wavelength determinations have been made, and previously indicated bands of N2 have been more positively identified. The Lyman α line of hydrogen is just detectable. The intensity distribution among the various bands during weak auroral conditions is shown to differ markedly from more intense displays. Laboratory data obtained from a microwave discharge in very pure N2 show good correlation with some features of the rocket spectra.


Abstract. Survivorship following major mass extinctions may be associated with a decrease in body size—a phenomenon called the Lilliput Effect. Body size is a strong predictor of many life history traits (LHTs), and is known to influence demography and intrinsic biological processes. Pronounced changes in organismal size throughout Earth history are therefore likely to be associated with concomitant genome‐wide changes in evolutionary rates. Here, we report pronounced heterogeneity in rates of molecular evolution (varying up to ∼20‐fold) across a large‐scale avian phylogenomic data set and show that nucleotide substitution rates are strongly correlated with body size and metabolic rate. We also identify potential body size reductions associated with the Cretaceous‐Paleogene (K‐Pg) transition, consistent with a Lilliput Effect in the wake of that mass extinction event. We posit that selection for reduced body size across the K‐Pg extinction horizon may have resulted in transient increases in substitution rate along the deepest branches of the extant avian tree of life. This "hidden" rate acceleration may result in both strict and relaxed molecular clocks over‐estimating the age of the avian crown group through the relationship between life history and demographic parameters that scale with molecular substitution rate. If reductions in body size (and/or selection for related demographic parameters like short generation times) are a common property of lineages surviving mass extinctions, this phenomenon may help resolve persistent divergence time debates across the tree of life. Furthermore, our results suggest that selection for certain LHTs may be associated with deterministic molecular evolutionary outcomes.


The hot-wire anemometer suggests itself as a promising method for measuring the fluctuating air velocities found in turbulent flow. The only obstacle is the presence of a lag due to the limited energy input which makes even a fairly small wire incapable of following rapid fluctuations with accuracy. This paper gives the theory of the lag and describes an experimental arrangement for compensating for the lag for frequencies up to 100 or more per second when the amplitude of the fluctuation is not too great. An experimental test of the accuracy of compensation and some results obtained with the apparatus in a wind-tunnel air stream are described. While the apparatus is very bulky in its present form, it is believed possible to develop a more portable arrangement. (author).


We present a form of acoustic microscopy, called Structured Ultrasound Microscopy (SUM). It creates a volumetric image by recording reflected echoes of ultrasound waves with a structured phase front using a moving single-element transducer and computational reconstruction. A priori knowledge of the acoustic field produced by the single element allows us to relate the received echoes to a 3D scatter map within the acoustic beam itself, leading to an isotropic resolution at all depths. An aberration mask in front of the acoustic element imposes the phase structure, broadening the beam and breaking the spatial coherence between different voxels at equal acoustic propagation delay, increasing the uniqueness of the reconstruction. By translating the transducer across the 3D volume, we synthetically enlarge the imaging aperture by using multiple overlapping and spatially sparsely sampled measurements to solve for the entire image. In this paper, we explain the SUM technique and demonstrate microscopic imaging at 20 MHz of a 2.3 × 2.3 × 1.2 mm object in water, with an isotropic resolution below 100 μm. The proposed approach allows for wide-field 3D imaging at isotropic microscopic resolution using a small unfocused ultrasound sensor and multiple spatially sparsely sampled measurements. This technique may find applications in many other fields where space is constrained, device simplicity is desired, and wide-field isotropic high-resolution imaging is required.


CLASS is voluntary, optional, self-sufficient, and could save Medicaid-so let's try it. Long-term care is an issue most families will face, yet conversations with loved ones about access to it-and paying for it-are all too rare. The affordability of this type of care can be one of the most significant financial hurdles of family life, and a growing body of research shows that increasing numbers of Americans are unprepared should they require long-term care. For years long-term care was a political anathema that was largely ignored, that is unless elected officials were forced to access the system for themselves or on behalf of family members. Then politicians on both sides of the aisle would often admit that there were growing problems, but they rarely ventured beyond hand-wringing to explore solutions. The cause did, however, have its champions who fought long and hard to include long-termcare reform in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)-most notably in the form of the Community Living Assistance and Supportive Services program, or CLASS. Today, as legislators wrestle over the implementation of the new law, long-term care is at the forefront of the debate. The CLASS program represents a landmark piece of legislation, yet it is filled with paradoxes that make its story quite remarkable. CLASS: A Brief History Political veterans of health policy will remember how the 1990 Pepper Commission concluded that long-term care was an insurable set of circumstances, and that addressing it should be a priority. But the issue too often remained on the back burner because the assumption was that national health policy should address healthcare reform first, and then tackle long-term care. So, long-term care was left to the private long-term-care insurance market and Medicaid. Those who could afford private long-term-care insurance and survive the underwriting process had a measure of comfort. Those at poverty level, and those willing to transfer assets or spend down to poverty status had Medicaid. Most middle-class Americans have had to turn to their families to patch together services and pay for them out-of-pocket. This expense often costs thousands of dollars annually for 10-plus million people in any given year, and that number is growing. Medicaid demand is growing exponentially-the devil known all too well. In addition, Medicaid long-term care is biased toward nursing homes. Though important and necessary, most people do not want or need a nursing home: the vast majority of long-term care is provided in family homes. Enter CLASS, now at the center of controversy in healthcare reform because of these four questions: Who needs CLASS? What is the potential long-term impact of CLASS? Why do some people want to kill it? What are its unknowns? Who needs CLASS? The matter-of-fact answer to this first question is: Every American family. Disabling conditions are indiscriminate of age, socioeconomic status, living venue, background, or genetics. There is the 21-year-old who took that dangerous dive during beach week and is now a paraplegic, or the returning war veteran who is a double amputee. There is the successful lawyer, born with muscular dystrophy and working full time but who could face problems in bathing and dressing in the future. There is the 80-year-old with Alzheimer's Disease who lives with her daughter and family. We know these people. They are us. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, through a speech delivered February 7, 2011, at the Kaiser Family Foundation, tells the following story of Michael: Fourteen months ago, when he was 42, Michael was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Since then, he has lost movement in his legs and left arm. His neck muscles have weakened . . . he has lost ability to control his bladder. Michael can live independently, as he strongly prefers to do, because he has part-time personal care assistance to help with daily tasks . …


The generation of narrow Bessel beams by diffractive axicons for applications such as high-precision alignment requires resonance-domain circular-grating structures. We apply rigorous grating theory locally to determine the amplitudes and phases of all scalar components of the electromagnetic field immediately behind the diffractive element. We then employ the angular spectrum representation to compute far-zone patterns of the diffracted field and the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld formula to determine the field at finite distances in the neighborhood of the optical axis. It is shown that linearly polarized illumination causes considerable circular asymmetry in the diffraction pattern in both cases. This can be avoided by the use of either circularly polarized or unpolarized illumination.


China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) exposes its state-owned maritime, aviation and telecommunications operators to unprecedented competition. This development raises a series of critical issues about China's transition from a state-planned regime towards a real market economy. How will China's leading state-owned firms in deep-sea container shipping, air passenger transport and telecommunications respond to the dilemma posed by the World Trade Organisation and to what extent has Hong Kong been involved in China's transport and communications restructuring process? These broad issues are addressed by examining progress on the Chinese Government's post-1993 plans to restructure each of the key state enterprises in sea-land transport, air transport and telecommunications. Specifically we are concerned with the degree to which China's national champions in these transport and communications arenas have been remade into global players. Particular attention is paid to the role of Hong Kong in this transformation since its return to China in 1997. Our studies show that China has transformed its national champions into a global players in container shipping. The process may be beginning to happen in air transport but has yet to get underway in telecommunications.


This volume constitutes the first ever attempt to establish a basis for comparative research on defence procurement regulation. For decades there has been repeated emphasis on the extent to which barriers to trade in Europe and the US prevent a more competitive defence market. Transatlantic Defence Procurement offers the first analysis of the potential impact of defence procurement regulation itself as a barrier to trade between the US and the EU. Part I examines the external dimension of a new EU Defence Procurement Directive, focusing on its implications for third countries, in particular the US. Part II examines foreign access and treatment under US law. Part III maps a future research agenda that is essential for a more systematic understanding of legal barriers to transatlantic defence trade. The book provides context for future initiatives, ranging from reformed market access arrangements to a Defence Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and beyond.


Theological training in the AFM church : Investigative and developing (perspectives) for the new millennium
This article will focus on the findings of two Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) pastors in their research concerning theological training. It may help role players in the AFM, as well as in the broader church context, to evaluate current theological training material, and indicates the importance of a continuous theological training programme for pastors. The need to equip pastors to be more effective in their different roles, poses an enormous challenge in these times. At the AFM's General Business Meeting in May 2008, constitutional amendments were approved that pave the way for having a single institution for theological training in the AFM. This new theological institution faces a major challenge, namely that of establishing relevant theological training for the South African context, in order to avert the danger of being identified as an elitist, irrelevant work group with its own pastor's language that is understood by a small group of insiders only.


Being good-looking seems to generate substantial benefits in many social interactions, making the "beauty premium" a not to be underrated economic factor. This paper investigates how physical attractiveness enables people to generate these benefits in the case of cooperation, using field data from a modified one-shot prisoner's dilemma played in a high-stakes television game show. While attractive contestants are not more or less cooperative than less attractive ones, facial attractiveness produces more cooperative behavior by counterparts, but only in mixed-gender interactions. Effects of attractiveness are therefore not exclusively due to "beauty-is-good" stereotyping, but rather operate through a preference-based mechanism.


Massospondylus carinatus is a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. It is one of the best-represented fossil dinosaur taxa, known from hundreds of specimens including at least 13 complete or nearly complete skulls. Surprisingly, the internal cranial anatomy of M. carinatus has never been described using computed tomography (CT) methods. Using CT scans and 3D digital representations, we digitally reconstruct the bones of the facial skeleton, braincase, and palate of a complete, undistorted cranium of M. carinatus (BP/1/5241). We describe the anatomical features of the cranial bones, and compare them to other closely related sauropodomorph taxa such as Plateosaurus erlenbergiensis, Lufengosaurus huenei, Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis and Efraasia minor. We identify a suite of character states of the skull and braincase for M. carinatus that sets it apart from other taxa, but these remain tentative due to the lack of comparative sauropodomorph braincase descriptions in the literature. Furthermore, we hypothesize 27 new cranial characters useful for determining relationships in non-sauropodan Sauropodomorpha, delete five pre-existing characters and revise the scores of several existing cranial characters to make more explicit homology statements. All the characters that we hypothesized or revised are illustrated. Using parsimony as an optimality criterion, we then test the relationships of M. carinatus (using BP/1/5241 as a specimen-level exemplar) in our revised phylogenetic data matrix.


The Whittard submarine canyon (Celtic Sea, North East Atlantic) is one of the largest (~100km across, down to 4500m depth) and most complex underwater features in the North-Western European Margin having several branches all converging to the main channel. It is located >200km from the nearest coast, affected by complex hydrodynamics and is home to an array of diverse benthic ecosystems. Little is known about how submarine canyons differ from typical open-ocean environments. This study aims to improve the understanding of the canyon's underlying role in biogeochemical cycling and carbon storage in relation to the sedimentological regime and specific geomorphic features. This study hypothesizes that the highly heterogeneous nature of the canyon's physical landscapes may influence organic matter spatial patterns and the potential for carbon burial. This project attempted to assess this gap in knowledge by examining morphological (slope analysis, ruggedness), grain size characteristics, and biogeochemical properties (organic carbon, nitrogen, δ13C and δ15N isotopes) of 46 short cores (0-10cm) from a variety of depths, across nine main locations (Western, Western Middle, Acesta, Eastern Middle, Eastern Middle 2, Intersection, Eastern, Explorer and the Main channel branches). Grain sizes often appear multimodal, with a sandy/silty/clay predominance, with coarse material present at depths exceeding 1000m, indicating that diverse processes are at play within the system. Surficial mean molar C/N ratios are variable but often higher than typical marine ranges; 22 ± 15.62, given the distance from land, this is likely a consequence of reworking. Organic carbon contents generally exceeded the typical range expected from the deep-sea (>~0.5% of dry sediment) but are similar to other canyon systems that are closer to land, this may indicate an increased potential for carbon storage within the Whittard Canyon (Tyler et al., 2009b; Masson et al., 2010a). All samples within the central channel (Main Channel) at depths >3700m were organically enriched (>1.25%), this is likely an accumulation of organic material, funnelled from the upper canyon reaches. However, at one site of the Eastern branch (CE14009-005-450m), the lowest TOC content of 0.33% was recorded, indicating reduced input or the efficient recycling of organic matter. The majority of δ13C‰ values fell within the lighter isotopic range of ~-24‰ and ~-22‰, indicating phytoplankton and zooplankton derived organic matter. However, a heavier value was recorded at the connecting shelf of the Acesta and Eastern Middle branch CE16006-030-PSH12-511.37m (-12.76), indicating sulfide-oxidized carbon which is associated with the form II Rubisco pathway (Fry and Sherr, 1984; Levin and Michener, 2002; Hunter et al., 2013a). A mean δ15N signature of 3.32‰ ± 0.84 falls just below the deep-water average of ~5‰ value associated with internal cycling and assimilation by marine primary producers (Sigman and Casciotti, 2001). This is in line with previous research within the Whittard Canyon, where values of 4.09‰ ± 2.42 and 3.94‰ ± 0.67 for West and Eastern branches were recorded (Hunter et al., 2013a). Statistical analyses were carried out to decipher influences of morphology, location (i.e. branch), depth and potential anthropogenic activity. Previous research has indicated that the Eastern branch displays high biodiversity and faunal abundance, results from all disciplines explored in this study confirmed that the Eastern branch was the most heterogeneous, which may explain this phenomenon (Amaro et al., 2015; Gunton et al., 2015). Recent work suggests that anthropogenic (i.e. fishing) activities may impact natural processes, possibly affecting material transport, deposition and ecological functions within the Acesta and Eastern Middle branches, that would take many years to recover (Wilson et al., 2015). Because of this, this study proves useful as it provides one of the highest resolution accounts of recent conditions across this environmentally and biologically diverse canyon system.


Part of the "Everyman" series which has been re-set with wide margins for notes and easy-to-read type. Each title includes a themed introduction by leading authorities on the subject, life-and-times chronology of the author, text summaries, annotated reading lists and selected criticism and notes.


Anomalies during geomagnetic storms have potential psychophysical effects on human populations, as well as our technologies. Energetic events and ejections of plasma from the Sun cause dramatic changes in the radiation belts and magnetic field of Earth, as well as fluctuations in Schumann Resonance. Ben Lonetree has conducted numerous experiments correlating local geophysical anomalies in earth's magnetic field with EEG brainwaves of many subjects, and anecdotal reports of changes in consciousness. This article covers some basics of geophysics, electromagnetic effects on human psychophysiology, with some theories of psi and anomalous experience related to geomagnetics. Part I of this two-part article contains: Introduction; & I. Geophysics.


This book develops an IT strategy for cloud computing that helps businesses evaluate their readiness for cloud services and calculate the ROI. The framework provided helps reduce risks involved in transitioning from traditional on site IT strategy to virtual cloud computing. Since the advent of cloud computing, many organizations have made substantial gains implementing this innovation. Cloud computing allows companies to focus more on their core competencies, as IT enablement is taken care of through cloud services. Cloud Computing and ROI includes case studies covering retail, automobile and food processing industries. Each of these case studies have successfully implemented the cloud computing framework and their strategies are explained. As cloud computing may not be ideal for all businesses, criteriaare also offered to help determine if this strategy should be adopted.


This paper takes another look at the recommendation of Blitz [2012] to allocate strategically to the value, momentum, and low-volatility factor premiums in the equity market. Five years of fresh data show that such a factor investing strategy continued to deliver out-of-sample. The potential added value of the two new factors in the Fama–French five-factor model, operating profitability and investment, is investigated and found to depend critically on the performance metric that is considered most important. The paper also reviews the role of small-cap stocks, factor timing, longonly versus long-short portfolio construction, international evidence, and factor investing beyond equities.


We present a survey over current methods for improving software testability. It is a well-known fact that the cost for testing of software takes 50\% or more of the development costs. Hence, methods to improve testability, i.e. reduce the effort required for testing, have a potential to decrease the development costs. The test effort needed to reach a level of sufficient confidence for the system is dependent on the number of possible test cases, i.e., the number of possible combinations of system state and event sequences. Each such combination results in an execution order. Properties of the execution environment that affect the number of possible execution orders can therefore also affect testability. Which execution orders that are possible and not are dependent of processor scheduling and concurrency control policies. Current methods for improving testability are investigated and their properties with respect to processor scheduling and concurrency control analyzed. Especially, their impact on the number of possible test cases is discussed. The survey revealed that (i) there are few methods which explicitly address testability, and (ii) methods that concern the execution environment suggest a time-triggered design. It is previously shown that the effort to test an event-triggered real-time system is inherently higher than testing a time-triggered real-time system. Due to the dynamic nature of the event-triggered system the number of possible execution orders is high. A time-triggered design is, however, not always suitable. The survey reveals an open research area for methods concerning improvement of testability in event-triggered systems. Moreover, a survey and analysis of processor scheduling and concurrency control properties and their effect on testability is presented. Methods are classified into different categories that are shown to separate software into different levels of testability. These categories can form a basis of taxonomy for testability. Such taxonomy has a potential to be used by system designers and enable them to perform informed trade-off decisions.


We use 292 household surveys from 18 Latin American countries to document patterns in secondary school graduation rates over the period 1990-2010. We find that enrollment and graduation rates increased during that period while dropout rates decreased. We provide two types of explanations for these patterns. Countries implemented changes on the supply side to increase access, by increasing the resources allocated to education and designing policies to help students staying in school. Despite this progress, graduation rates are still generally low, there still persist remarkable gaps in educational outcomes in terms of gender, income quintiles, and regions within countries, and the quality of education is generally low.


The case describes operations of one of the early entrants in the Online Grocery Delivery industry in India, AtMyDoorsteps.com (AMD). After having run the company for three years, the founder, Sushant Junnarkar, is looking for big ticket funding. As he prepares his pitch, he wonders whether his business is lucrative enough for investors. What changes could be possibly made to the existing model to improve profitability for the company? He intends to revisit some of the strategic and tactical decisions that he had made at the time of inception of AMD. Junnarkar's final decision would determine the fate of his pitch to investors and subsequently the future sustainability of his venture.


John C. Calhoun may be best known for his stature in the U.S. Senate and his controversial defense of slavery, but he is also a key figure in American political thought. The staunchest advocate of the consensus model of government as an alternative to majority rule, he proposed government not by one, by few, or by many, but by all: each key group enjoying veto rights over collective decisions. Some consider consensus preferable to majority rule in deeply divided societies, and consensus theory has been advocated in such contemporary works as Lani Guinier's "The Tyranny of the Majority". James Read's book, the first historically informed, theoretically sophisticated critique of Calhoun's political thought, goes beyond other studies to ask key questions about the feasibility of consensus. Read critically examines Calhoun's arguments, considering both their antebellum context - including Calhoun's spirited defense of slavery - and modern-day attempts to apply consensus models in Northern Ireland, the former Yugoslavia, and South Africa. Read sheds new light on the crisis leading up to the Civil War by exploring Calhoun's conviction that his uncompromising defense of slavery would help preserve the Union. He also juxtaposes Calhoun's thought with that of Jefferson and Madison, whose legacies Calhoun invoked to support his claim that states had the right to nullify federal law, and he contrasts Madison's ultimate faith in majority rule with Calhoun's ultimate rejection of it. Read argues that, although Calhoun's critique of majority rule deserves careful attention, his remedy is unworkable and in the end unjust. Read demonstrates that governments ruled by consensus tend to be ineffective, that they are better at preventing common action than achieving common goods, and that they privilege strategically placed minorities rather than producing genuine consensus. "Majority Rule versus Consensus" is a provocative work that sheds new light on the promise and limitations of democracy, showing that, despite the failure of Calhoun's remedy, his diagnosis of the potential injustice of majority rule must be taken seriously. It discourages uncritical celebrations of democracy in favor of reflection on how committed democrats can better address the problems that Calhoun attempted to solve.


Pearl's do calculus is a complete axiomatic approach to learn the identifiable causal effects from observational data. When such an effect is not identifiable, it is necessary to perform a collection of often costly interventions in the system to learn the causal effect. In this work, we consider the problem of designing the collection of interventions with the minimum cost to identify the desired effect. First, we prove that this problem is NP-hard and subsequently propose an algorithm that can either find the optimal solution or a logarithmic-factor approximation of it. This is done by establishing a connection between our problem and the minimum hitting set problem. Additionally, we propose several polynomial time heuristic algorithms to tackle the computational complexity of the problem. Although these algorithms could potentially stumble on sub-optimal solutions, our simulations show that they achieve small regrets on random graphs.


The wireless mesh network is an emerging technology that provides high quality service to end users as the "last milerdquo of the Internet. Furthermore, multicast communication is a key technology for wireless mesh networks. Multicast provides efficient data distribution among a group of nodes. However, unlike other wireless networks, such as sensor networks and MANETs, where multicast algorithms are designed to be energy efficient and to achieve optimal route discovery among mobile nodes, wireless mesh networks need to maximize throughput. This paper proposes two multicast algorithms: the level channel assignment (LCA) algorithm and the multichannel multicast (MCM) to improve the throughput for multichannel and multi-interface mesh networks. The algorithms build efficient multicast trees by minimizing the number of relay nodes and total hop count distances of the trees. The algorithms use dedicated channel assignment strategies to reduce the interference to improve the network capacity. We also demonstrate that using partially overlapping channels can further diminish the interference. Furthermore, additional interfaces help to increase the bandwidth, and multiple gateways can further shorten the total hop count distance. Simulations show that those algorithms greatly outperform the single-channel multicast algorithm. We also observe that MCM achieves better throughput and shorter delay while LCA can be realized in distributed manner.


Anurans are of particular importance in monitoring the ecosystems of tropical environments. Existing literature reveals little standardization in methodology, and many of the techniques that have been shown to be effective in deciduous environments, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) refuges and pitfall traps, are either inadequate or too difficult to implement in tropical environments. This study evaluated three anuran trapping and monitoring techniques for use in a tropical environment: PVC pipe refuges, pitfall traps, and anuran census. Prior research validated the use of PVC refuges and pitfall traps in deciduous forests, but their use outside of the Americas has not been thoroughly examined. PVC refuges failed to attract anurans in this study, likely due to the abundance of natural refugia characteristic of tropical environments with dense foliage. Pitfall traps utilizing 19-liter buckets are difficult to implement in rocky soil and were shown to be ineffective utilizing buckets small enough to implement in this research. The modifications to the pitfall traps made in this research allowed for effective use with smaller, easier to install buckets. The anuran census described in this study utilizes established trails or paths for a continuous census. This study shows evidence for the effective utilization of both modified pitfall trapping and anuran census in monitoring population densities, assessing species richness, and detecting the presence of rare or cryptic species.


From Medieval to Tudor times, the doctrine of the King's Two Bodies was fundamental in government and the reproduction of social order. The doctrine held that the body of the Monarch is simultaneously mortal and immortal. In terms of the hegemony of the power regime, this was given by God. It has long been assumed that the rise of Liberal Plebiscitary Parliamentary Democracy put an end to Royal absolutism. This paper uses the political thought of Carl Schmitt and Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz to examine if this assumption is valid. The paper argues that the doctrine of the King's Two Bodies survives in greatly translated form. The highest achieved celebrities today have two bodies, the one (biological and incorrigible), the other (mediated and incorrigible). The paper uses data from the posthumous existence of the highest achieved celebrities to substantiate this proposition. In turn, this leads to the beginnings of an enquiry into what the role of achieved celebrity in Liberal, Plebiscitary Parliamentary Democracy i.e. a society based on the principle if homogeneous equality, might be.


We introduced a two-dimensional radiative transfer model for aerosols in the thermal infrared [Appl. Opt.45, 6860-6875 (2006)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.45.006860]. In that paper we superimposed two orthogonal plane-parallel layers to compute the radiance due to a two-dimensional (2D) rectangular aerosol cloud. In this paper we revisit the model and correct an error in the interaction of the two layers. We derive new expressions relating to the signal content of the radiance from an aerosol cloud based on the concept of five directional thermal contrasts: four for the 2D diffuse radiance and one for direct radiance along the line of sight. The new expressions give additional insight on the radiative transfer processes within the cloud. Simulations for Bacillus subtilis var. niger (BG) bioaerosol and dustlike kaolin aerosol clouds are compared and contrasted for two geometries: an airborne sensor looking down and a ground-based sensor looking up. Simulation results suggest that aerosol cloud detection from an airborne platform may be more challenging than for a ground-based sensor and that the detection of an aerosol cloud in emission mode (negative direct thermal contrast) is not the same as the detection of an aerosol cloud in absorption mode (positive direct thermal contrast).


In the operation of power systems, the knowledge of the system state is required by several fundamental functions, such as security assessment, voltage control and stability analysis. By making reference to the static state of the system represented by the voltage phasors at all the network buses, it is possible to infer the system operating conditions. Until the late 1970s, conventional load flow calculations provided the system state by directly using the raw measurements of voltage magnitudes and power injections. The loss of one measurement made the calculation impossible and the presence of measurement errors affected dramatically the computed state.To overcome these limitations, load flowtheory has been combined with statistical estimation constituting the so-called state estimation (SE). The latter consists in the solution of an optimization problem that processes the measurements together with the network model to determine the optimal estimate of the system state. The outputs of load flow and SE are composed of the same quantities, typically the voltage magnitude and phase at all the network buses, but SE uses all the types of measurements (e.g., voltage and current magnitudes, nodal power injections and flows, synchrophasors) and evaluates their consistency using the network model. The measurement redundancy is key to tolerate measurement losses, identify measurement and network parameter errors, and filter out the measurement noise. The foregoing properties of SE allow the system operator to obtain an accurate and reliable estimate of the system state that consequently improves the performance of the functions relying on it. Traditionally, SE has been performed at a relatively low refresh rate of a few minutes, dictated by the time requirements of the related functions together with the low measurement acquisition rate of remote terminal units (RTUs). Nowadays, the emerging availability of phasor measurement units (PMUs) allows to acquire accurate and time-aligned phasors, called synchrophasors, with typical streaming rates in the order of some tens of measurements per second. This technology is experiencing a fast evolution, which is triggered by an increasing number of power system applications that can benefit from the use of synchrophasors. SE processes can exploit the availability of synchrophasor measurements to achieve better accuracy performance and higher refresh rate (sub-second). PMUs already compose the backbone of wide area monitoring systems in the context of transmission networks to which several real-time functionalities are connected, such as inter-area oscillations, relaying, fault location and real-time SE. However, PMUs might represent fundamental monitoring tools even in the context of distribution networks for applications such as: SE [5, 6], loss of main [7], fault event monitoring, synchronous islanded operation [9] and power quality monitoring. The recent literature has discussed the use of PMUs for SE in distribution networks both from the methodological point of view and also via dedicated real-scale experimental setups. Since the pioneering works of Schweppe on power system SE in 1970, most of the research on the subject has investigated static SE methods based on weighted least squares (WLS). Static SE computes the system state performing a "best fit" of the measurements belonging only to the current time-step. Another category of state estimators are the recursive methods, such as the Kalman filter (KF). In addition to the use of the measurements and their statistical properties, they also predict the system state by modelling its time evolution. In general, recursive estimators are characterized by higher complexity and the prediction introduces an additional source of uncertainty that, if not properly quantified, might worsen the accuracy of the estimated state. Besides, their ability to filter out measurement noise could not be exploited due to the low SE refresh rate: even in quasi-steady state conditions, the measurement noise was smaller than the state variations between two consecutive time-steps. However, the effectiveness of power system SE based on KF has been recently reconsidered thanks to the possibility to largely increase the SE refresh rate by using synchrophasor measurements. The chapter starts by providing the measurement and process model of WLS and KF SE algorithms and continues with the analytical formulation of the two families of state estimators, including their linear and non-linear versions as a function of the type of available measurements. Finally, two case studies targeting IEEE transmission and distribution reference networks are given.


This paper aimed to determine whether there was a connection between patient's perception of communication with their doctors in the visit and their use of online health information exchange using a nationally representative survey. We used the data from the Health Information National Trends survey pooled HINTS4 Cycle 4 data and assessed outcomes using logistic regression modeling composite communication scores as a continuous variable. We weighted participants to create population-level estimates. We adjusted for age, gender, race, and census region. The 3677 patients were included in the analysis who had an outpatient visit within the previous 12 months. In unadjusted analysis and analysis adjusted for demographic factors, patients who experienced higher communication scores were more likely to use online health information exchange with their providers. In unadjusted analysis, patients had 0.04 higher odds of interest in receiving appointment reminders from health care providers electronically (OR = 1.04 and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p=0.01$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) and 0.03 higher odds of interest in receiving general health tips (OR = 1.03 and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p=0.04$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) for every score increase in the communication summary score. In adjusted model, for each score increment in the communication score, patients were 7% more inclined to receive appointment reminders (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p< 0.05$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), 4% more inclined to receive general health tips (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p=0.02$ </tex-math></inline-formula>), and 4% more likely to exchange information about lifestyle behaviors (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$p=0.02$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). Findings suggest that the quality of the communication in the visit might increase use of informatics tool to exchange health information.


Prions are highly aggregated infectious proteins that have been identified in mammals and in some fungal species. The discovery that prions exist in the yeast species S. cerevisiae has enabled researchers to explore the characteristics of these unusual proteins and how they propagate within the cell. Heat shock proteins are implicated as having a major role in the propagation of prions. The work presented in this thesis focuses on the heat shock protein Hsp110. Recent reports have demonstrated how the Hsp110 proteins Sse1 and Sse2 are necessary for promoting the propagation of the yeast prions [PSI+] and [URE3]. A group of Sse1 mutants with impaired ability to propagate [PSI+] were created. These mutants were characterised according to the degree in which they affect [PSI+]. Molecular modeling of the mutants onto the Sse1 structure allowed us to assess the potential structural affects the mutants are having on Sse1. These changes could affect normal Sse1 functions necessary for [PSI+] propagation such as nucleotide exchange factor function and interaction with the molecular chaperone Hsp70. SSE1 and SSE2 are an essential gene pair and have been implicated in yeast cellular homeostasis. The Sse1 mutants disrupted cellular thermostability at 37oC and 39oC. Mutant G616D displayed osmoremedial temperature sensitivity at 37oC. Disruption to cell wall integrity signaling was explored as a possible reason for this phenotype but evidence from this study suggests that G616D may disrupt PKA signaling. Comparative analysis of Sse1 and Sse2 reveals that Sse1 is more thermostable than Sse2 and Sse1 propagates [PSI+] efficiently whereas Sse2 fails to promote [PSI+] propagation. Small structural differences between the proteins may be responsible for this. However, differentially phosphorylating Sse2 may impact its ability to act as a [PSI+] promoting factor.
Overall, this work further highlights the important role Sse1 plays in yeast prion propagation and in cellular homeostasis.


Clinicians predict disease and related complications based on prior knowledge and each individual patient's clinical history. The prediction process is complex due to the existence of unmeasured risk factors, the unexpected development of complications and varying responses of patients to disease over time. Exploiting these unmeasured risk factors (hidden variables) can improve the modeling of disease progression and thus enables clinicians to focus on early diagnosis and treatment of unexpected conditions. However, the overuse of hidden variables can lead to complex models that can overfit and are not well understood (being 'black box' in nature). Identifying and understanding groups of patients with similar disease profiles (based on discovered hidden variables) makes it possible to better understand disease progression in different patients while improving prediction. We explore the use of a stepwise method for incrementally identifying hidden variables based on the Induction Causation (IC*) algorithm. We exploit Dynamic Time Warping and hierarchical clustering to cluster patients based upon these hidden variables to uncover their meaning with respect to the complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients. Our results reveal that inferring a small number of targeted hidden variables and using them to cluster patients not only leads to an improvement in the prediction accuracy but also assists the explanation of different discovered sub-groups.


Techno-optimists advocate the application of information technology to the rulemaking process as a means of advancing strong democracy - that is, direct, broad-based citizen involvement in regulatory policy making. In this paper, I show that such optimism is unfounded given the obstacles to meaningful citizen deliberation posed by the impenetrability of current e-rulemaking developments, the prevailing level of citizen disengagement from politics and policy making more generally, and most citizens' lack of the requisite technical information about and understanding of the issues at stake in regulatory decision making. As such, a more realistic goal for the application of new technology to the regulatory process is to expand the information base available to regulatory decision makers through increased interest group pluralism. Instead of creating conditions of strong democracy, information technology can expand the involvement and access of informed, knowledgeable, and affected parties to the rulemaking process, a weaker form of democracy that nevertheless can provide better information for government officials.


Introduction--Rethinking Masculinity Black and Latino men in the United States face the triple burden of racism, gender discrimination--and many, such as the men in this study, disproportionately experience incarceration. Throughout this text, I will use the term Black to refer to people of African Diaspora, and to such populations that reside within the United States. To some, African Americans are a subgroup within the larger Black community. Since our discussion purposely includes those who may be first-generation immigrants or who, for whatever reason, do not identify as African American, we employ the term "Black." Furthermore, we capitalize it to distinguish the racial category and related identity from the color. Similarly, we capitalize the word White when referring to race. "Latino" refers to the ethnicity for men of Central American, South American, or Caribbean descent. We use this term because it is considered by some as more of a self-descriptor, compared to "Hispanic," which is widely regarded as a US government imposed identity. "Latino" refers to a region and a particular history of Latin-American and US relations, potentially giving more meaning as an ethnic category to the people it describes. Given the intersection of race, gender, and criminal justice involvement, this study explores whether young Black and Latino men with criminal histories can break away from pop culture and media stereotypes to have a more progressive experience of masculinity. A theory of "progressive Black masculinities" (Mutua, 2006) offers such a framework for rethinking masculinity among men of color in the United States. The starting point for this study is bell hooks' (2004) call for understanding a more complex view of masculinity among men of color, particularly Black men. She argues against "the more mainstream writing about Black masculinity that continues to push the notion that all Black men need to do to survive is to become better patriarchs." Athena Mutua (2006) points out that "masculinity as domination" (or patriarchy) is indeed reinforced by several larger social structures--the economy, the government, the family, and the criminal justice system--that have oppressed men of color in America. Patricia Hill Collins (2006) charges that men of color should be able to reject social norms that celebrate traditional gender roles for men (i.e., playing the provider), given the difficulty achieving such an ideal in this economy and society. So what makes masculinity progressive? Mutua, the editor of a recent book on progressive Black masculinities (2006), offers the following definition: "Progressive Black masculinities are unique and innovative practices of the masculine self actively engaged in struggles to transform social structures of domination." Hill Collins also argues for a distinction between dominance and strength in defining more progressive masculinities. To paraphrase Hill Collins (2006): How can men of color create a progressive masculinity that isn't based on dominance and exploitation of others? How can a progressive masculinity that isn't grounded in dominance help men develop fulfilling relationships with children, partners, family, and peers? What strategies can help men of color redefine conceptions of strength within progressive masculinities? This study seeks to address some of these questions by exploring a more complex view of manhood among young men involved in the criminal justice system in New York City through discussions about masculinity learned from women, changing (i.e. less patriarchal) attitudes about child rearing, and their discourse around love. Though the young Black and Latino men in this study don't endorse ideas about masculinity that fit exactly with theory on progressive masculinities outlined above, their narratives do potentially offer a more progressive path that could have implications for intervention development and in turn, improved outcomes for young people involved in the criminal justice system. …


Summary Silent myocardial ischaemia (SMI), defined as objective evidence of myocardial ischaemia in the absence of symptoms, has important clinical implications for the patient with coronary artery disease. We present a dramatic case of SMI in a diabetes patient who attended annual review clinic with ST elevation myocardial infarction. His troponin was normal on admission but raised to 10.7 ng/ml (normal <0.5) when repeated the next day. His angiogram showed diffused coronary artery disease. We here discuss the implications of silent ischaemia for the patient and for the physician caring for patients with diabetes. Learning points Silent myocardial ischaemia (SMI) is an important clinical entity. SMI is common and occurs with increased frequency in patients with diabetes. SMI is an independent predictor of mortality. Recognition may lead to early intervention.


Abstract. The recent development of automated UAV imaging applications for geomatics is leading to an unprecedented rapid growth in mosaic and DEM images. Newer, more advanced algorithms are being extensively studied to fulfill constantly increasing requirements. Sequences of georeferenced images that cannot be shot at once are merged with ideally no geometrical distortion to allow for 3D reconstruction and orthophotography generation. If newer robust mosaicing algorithms are being developed to withstand UAV tighter real-time constraints, very little attention has been given to objectively assess their capacity to coherently combine different image geometries. Changes in FOV and illumination, oblique scenes and dynamic sequences featuring movement and object occlusion are not yet fully handled by state-of-the-art algorithms. Despite the large panel of existing applications featuring different quality constraints, our work focuses on the geomatics context, where the main requirement is the respect of geometrical proportions among images. Geometrically coherent mosaics and 3D reconstructions can only result from fully static, high-altitude orthogonal views. GCPs or well known geographical landmarks are employed with RTK-GPS for scene georeferencing. The overall fidelity is computed as the global variance of the distances between SGPs. However, very few ways seem to exist to measure the content coherence of large geographical scenes, interiors or unreferenced scenes. Distances are mostly expressed in a local coordinate system and GCPs are often unavailable. The main contribution of this paper consists in the definition of a formal metric for measuring local coordinate geometrical fidelity of mosaics issued of UAV image sequences, in real operating conditions. A Mosaicing Fidelity Assessment (MSF) index is therefore computed for every couple of consecutive images of a sequence. The metric generates an index based on the distances of SURF feature points extracted in the images and compares them to estimate geometrical changes transferred to the mosaic. The solution can detect perspective inaccuracies caused by residual registration errors. It can fulfill the requirements of most of imaging and geomatics applications and can be executed as nearly real-time due to its low computational complexity.


The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of board monitoring mechanisms in Government Linked Companies (GLCs) in Malaysia. Mainly it focuses on how the introduction of the transformation policy, which emphasizes strengthening the board effectiveness, would lead to an improvement in the performance of GLCs. Our study goes further to explain the impact of earnings management on performance as it is opined that the performance of the firm could be affected by the earnings management (EM) practices, and, hence, looking at the performance after stripping away the managed portion of performance could provide more accurate results concerning the impact of corporate governance on performance. Using regression analysis, the findings of the study showed that the adjusted R2 increased from 14.8% to 26.8% (between the pre-transformation and post-transformation models). In addition, more corporate governance variables were found to be significant in the post-transformation model (i.e. board independence and board meetings). More importantly, the significance of the variables are as predicted in the hypotheses, thus lending support for the argument of the agency theory. This study has recognized a few limitations. First, the main limitation of the study is that the data were collected through publicly available data which include annual reports and other databases such as Bloomberg. Other data such as qualitative information could be helpful to gain more insight concerning the issue of the effectiveness of the transformation policy. Second, although we are using all available data for the Malaysian GLCs, the sample size of 35 companies could still be considered as a small sample size for generalization purpose. The government, in its role of regulating the corporate governance for GLCs, could gain an insight from the results of the study, thereby providing empirical support for the development of new regulations and recommendations, and takes the necessary corrective decisions regarding the effectiveness of the transformation policy. The paper provides further evidence concerning the relationship between performance and corporate governance mechanisms. Specifically, it looks into such a relationship within the Malaysian GLCs after the introduction of the transformation programme. The results of the study are more accurate for interpretation as the measure of performance has deducted the portion of managed earnings.


To evaluate novel eligibility criteria and outreach methods to identify and recruit women at high risk of HIV-1 infection in the Caribbean. The Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted in 2009–2012 among 799 female commercial sex workers in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico. Minimum eligibility criteria included exchange of sex for goods, services, or money in the previous 6 months and unprotected vaginal or anal sex with a man in the previous 6 months. Sites used local epidemiology to develop more stringent eligibility criteria and recruitment strategies. Participants were asked questions about HIV/AIDS and their level of concern about participating in an HIV vaccine trial. Logistic regression modeling was used to assess predictors of prevalent HIV infection and willingness to participate in a future HIV vaccine study. The Results for HIV prevalence at screening was 4.6%. Crack cocaine use [odds ratio (OR) = 4.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.8–9.0)] was associated with and having sex with clients in a hotel or motel [OR = 0.5, CI (0.3–1.0)] was inversely associated with HIV infection. A total of 88.9% of enrolled women were definitely or probably willing to participate in a future HIV vaccine trial. The Conclusions for this study indicated that local eligibility criteria and recruitment methods can be developed to identify and recruit commercial sex workers with higher HIV prevalence than the general population who express willingness to join an HIV vaccine trial.


Acinetobacter baumannii is a highly antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogen for which novel therapeutic approaches are needed. Unfortunately, the drivers of virulence in A. baumannii remain uncertain. By comparing genomes among a panel of A. baumannii strains we identified a specific gene variation in the capsule locus that correlated with altered virulence. While less virulent strains possessed the intact gene gtr6, a hypervirulent clinical isolate contained a spontaneous transposon insertion in the same gene, resulting in the loss of a branchpoint in capsular carbohydrate structure. By constructing isogenic gtr6 mutants, we confirmed that gtr6-disrupted strains were protected from phagocytosis in vitro and displayed higher bacterial burden and lethality in vivo. Gtr6+ strains were phagocytized more readily and caused lower bacterial burden and no clinical illness in vivo. We found that the CR3 receptor mediated phagocytosis of gtr6+, but not gtr6-, strains in a complement-dependent manner. Furthermore, hypovirulent gtr6+ strains demonstrated increased virulence in vivo when CR3 function was abrogated. In summary, loss-of-function in a single capsule assembly gene dramatically altered virulence by inhibiting complement deposition and recognition by phagocytes across multiple A. baumannii strains. Thus, capsular structure can determine virulence among A. baumannii strains by altering bacterial interactions with host complement-mediated opsonophagocytosis.


To become biologically active, a protein must fold into a distinct three-dimensional structure. Many non-native proteins require molecular chaperones to support folding and
assembly. These molecular chaperones are important for de novo protein folding as well as refolding of denatured proteins under stress conditions. A certain subset of chaperones, the chaperonins, are required for the folding of the enzyme ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco); furthermore, correct folding of Rubisco is also aided by the Hsp70 chaperone system.
Rubisco catalyzes the initial step of CO2 assimilation in the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle. Unfortunately, this enzyme is extremely inefficient, not only does it exhibit a
slow catalytic rate (three CO2 molecules fixed per second per Rubisco) but it also discriminates poorly between the assimilation of CO2 and O2 to its sugar-phosphate substrate
ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP), the latter resulting in loss of photosynthetic efficiency. Due to these inefficiencies, carbon fixation by Rubisco is the rate limiting step of the CBB cycle. Photosynthetic organisms must produce tremendous amounts of Rubisco to alleviate
these shortcomings; therefore significant quantities of nitrogen stores are invested in the production of Rubisco making Rubisco the most abundant protein on earth. These drawbacks of Rubisco have important implications in increasing CO2 concentrations and temperatures in
the context of global warming. The ability to engineer a more efficient Rubisco could potentially reduce photosynthetic water usage, increase plant growth yield, and reduce nitrogen usage is plants. However, eukaryotic Rubisco cannot fold and assemble outside of the chloroplast, hindering advancements in creating a more efficient Rubisco.
Form I Rubisco, found in higher plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, is a hexadecameric complex consisting of a core of eight ~50 kDa large subunits (RbcL), which is capped by four ~15 kDa small subunits (RbcS) on each end. The discovery of a Rubisco-specific assembly
chaperone, RbcX, has lead to a better understanding of the components necessary for the form
I Rubisco assembly process. RbcX is a homodimer of ~15 kDa subunits consisting of four α- helices aligned in an anti-parallel fashion along the α4 helix. RbcX2 functions as a stabilizer of folded RbcL by recognizing a highly conserved C-terminal sequence of RbcL: EIKFEFD, termed the C-terminal recognition motif. As has been demonstrated by studies of cyanobacterial Rubisco, de novo synthesized RbcL is folded by the chaperonins, whereupon RbcX2 stabilizes the folded RbcL monomer upon release from the folding cavity and then assists in the formation of the RbcL8 core. RbcX2 forms a dynamic complex with RbcL8 and
as a result, RbcX2 is readily displaced by RbcS docking in an ATP-independent manner, thereby creating the functional holoenzyme. However, the exact mechanism by which RbcS
binding displaces RbcX2 from the RbcL8 core is still unknown. Furthermore, though much advancement has been made in the understanding of form I Rubisco folding and assembly, an exact and detailed mechanism of form I Rubisco assembly is still lacking. The highly dynamic complex of RbcL/RbcX is critical for the formation of the holoenzyme; however it has hindered attempts to characterize critical regions of RbcL that interact with the peripheral
regions of RbcX2. An important observation arose when heterologous RbcL and RbcX2 components interacted; a stable complex could form enabling in depth characterization of the
RbcL/RbcX2 interaction.
In the present study, the detailed structural mechanism of RbcX2-mediated cyanobacterial form I Rubisco assembly is elucidated. To obtain molecular insight into the RbcX2-mediated assembly process of cyanobacterial form I Rubisco, cryo-EM and crystallographic studies in concert with mutational analysis were employed by taking advantage of the high affinity interaction between RbcL and RbcX2 in the heterologous system (Synechococcus sp. PCC6301 RbcL and Anabaena sp. CA RbcX2). Structure guided mutational analysis based on the 3.2 A crystal structure of the RbcL8/(RbcX2)8 assembly intermediate were utilized to
determine the precise interaction site between the body of RbcL and the peripheral region of RbcX2. From these studies a critical salt bridge could be identified that functions as a guidepoint for correct dimer formation, and it was observed that RbcX2 exclusively mediates Rubisco dimer assembly. Furthermore, the mechanism of RbcX2 displacement from the RbcL8 core by RbcS binding was elucidated as well as indications of how RbcS docking on the RbcL8 core is imperative for full form I Rubisco catalytic function by stabilizing the enzymatically competent conformation of an N-terminal loop of Rubisco termed the '60ies loop'. Finally, initial attempts in in vitro reconstitution of eukaryotic Rubisco are reported along with the characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana RbcX2 binding to the C-terminal recognition motif of the Rubisco large subunit from various species.


The UK open access (OA) policy landscape simultaneously preferences Gold publishing models (Finch Report, RCUK, COAF) and Green OA through repository usage (HEFCE), creating the possibility of confusion and duplication of effort for academics and support staff. Alongside these policy developments, there has been an increase in open science services that aim to provide global data on OA. These services often exist separately to locally managed institutional systems for recording OA engagement and policy compliance. The aim of this study is to enhance Brunel University London's local publication data using software which retrieves and processes information from the global open science services of Sherpa REF, CORE, and Unpaywall. The study draws on two classification schemes; a 'best location' hierarchy, which enables us to measure publishing trends and whether open access dissemination has taken place, and a relational 'all locations' dataset to examine whether individual publications appear across multiple OA dissemination models. Sherpa REF data is also used to indicate possible OA locations from serial policies. Our results find that there is an average of 4.767 permissible open access options available to the authors in our sample each time they publish and that Gold OA publications are replicated, on average, in 3 separate locations. A total of 40% of OA works in the sample are available in both Gold and Green locations. The study considers whether this tendency for duplication is a result of localised manual workflows which are necessarily focused on institutional compliance to meet the Research Excellence Framework 2021 requirements, and suggests that greater interoperability between OA systems and services would facilitate a more efficient transformation to open scholarship.


The amount of data stored and shared as well as the active number of users is continuously increasing on the Web. When that large number of people meet with that large amount of information on the Web, finding the right information in such a quite large scale is definitely a difficult task. Remarkable progress has been made over the last decade with the help of search technologies applied on the Web that are able to collect, maintain and filter the information according to users' needs. Search relevance is a core topic in Web search and directly affects the search performance. Several proposals are made in this regard employing different techniques to represent, model and measure relevance of a particular search result to the users. In this thesis, we explore the challenge of search relevance in the context of semantic search. We firstly introduce a general framework for relevance as it is understood in the context of Web search which allows us to compare different notions of relevance that exist in literature. Specifically, the notion of semantic relevance can be distinguished from the other types of relevance in Information Retrieval (IR) in terms of employing an underlying semantic model. We propose the emerging Semantic Web data on the Web which is represented in RDF graph structures as an important candidate to become such a semantic model in a search process. However, the semantic gap between the structured representation of this type of data and the textual content is a major challenge for its applicability to Web search. For this purpose, we propose a probabilistic generative model to be trained from existing datasets of the Semantic Web data in order to bridge this semantic gap. Based on this model, we introduce novel ranking models by extending long-studied IR-based models that have been widely applied to the Web search. Specifically we present a semantic relevance model that can model and determine relevance based on the semantic data by exploiting existing datasets to improve retrieval performance. In fact using Semantic Web data as a relevance source is orthogonal to existing search paradigms and can be used in a variety of contexts. We also show how semantic relevance can be utilized to extend different types of IR-based models (i.e. generative or discriminative) to search different types of data (i.e. unstructured and structured).


This paper presents a two-dimensional procedure for minimizing dynamic loading and maximizing time-averaged isentropic efficiency in multi-stage compressors. The procedure arises from the combination of an evolutionary algorithm and a CFD code in which a sliding mesh technique and a time-dependent approach are implemented enabling the study of unsteady rotor stator interaction. The method is then applied to a two-stage compressor cascade (rotor-stator-rotor-stator). The results concerning the optimal set of geometrical parameters considered for optimization (axial distances between successive cascades, circumferential clocking between stators and between rotors) are finally presented and discussed.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


Today's complex policy problems cannot be understood by the social, medical, and policy sciences, alone. History is also required to interpret the present and to inform attempts to mould the future. The essays in this volume seek to bring an historical perspective to bear on today's national and international policy concerns and to present original historical research, which challenges conventional assumptions and viewpoints. In "Health and Wealth" the essays in Part I offer an historian's reappraisal of several of the most influential ideas dealing with the relationships between health and economic development in the post-war international policy sciences, such as demographic transition theory; the McKeown thesis; and the population health approach. Part II presents a distinctive interpretation of the course and causes of mortality change in Britain during the 'long century' of industrialisation, c.1780-1914. British history shows that rapid economic growth is a highly disruptive process, unleashing potentially deadly challenges. The key to life and death in Britain lay less in medical science or rising living standards than in the changing electoral politics of the nation's industrial cities. Class relations, political economy, ideology, religion and the public health movement were all significant elements in this story. A late-Victorian flowering of vigorous municipal government was the precursor to central state activism in the twentieth-century. Part III reflects on history to make direct contributions to contentious current policy issues. The persistence of social and health inequalities today in developed nations and debates over the new concept of social capital are addressed, along with the economic and health problems of today's less developed countries. The lessons of history are awkward and heterodox, indicating the importance of establishing state-sanctioned institutions to ensure social security, legal identity and civic freedoms in advance of measures.


Questions

(i) What role does the type of managed disturbance play in structuring sagebrush steppe plant communities? (ii) How does the composition of post-disturbance plant communities change with time since disturbance? (iii) Does plant community diversity change over time following managed disturbance?

Location

Field study within the sagebrush steppe ecosystem. Rich County, Utah, USA.

Methods

We developed a chronosequence spanning up to 50 yrs post-treatment to study sagebrush steppe vegetation dynamics. Direct ordination was used to examine plant community composition by managed disturbance type and time since disturbance, and factorial analysis of covariance was used to examine diversity dynamics following disturbance. Indicator species values were calculated in order to identify characteristic species for each disturbance type.

Results

Plant communities experienced a shift toward distinct community composition for each of the three managed disturbance types, and gave no indication of returning to untreated community composition or diversity. Small post-disturbance increases in the number of non-native grass species were observed in the treatments relative to reference, with native forb species making the largest contribution to altered composition. On fire- and chemically-treated sites the proportional native forb species richness increased over time since disturbance, while the proportional contribution of non-native forbs to total species richness decreased. For all three treatment types, native grasses contributed less on average to total richness than on reference sites, while non-native grasses made up a higher proportion of total richness.

Conclusions

Common shrubland management techniques have legacy effects on the composition and diversity of sagebrush steppe plant communities, and no-analogue disturbances, such as chemical or mechanical treatments, have more pronounced legacy effects than treatments similar to natural disturbance regimes (fire). This study informs a broader understanding of how management actions affect natural systems by highlighting the importance of long-term management legacies as drivers of plant community structure and function.


This thesis studies the problem of periodic. waveform distortion in electric power systems. A
general framework is formulated in the Hilbert domain to account for any given orthogonal
basis such as complex Fourier. real Fourier. Hartley and Walsh.· Particular applications of
this generalised framework result in unified frames of reference. These domains are unified
frameworks in the sense that they accommodate all the nodes. phases and the full spectrum
of coefficients of the orthogonal basis. Linear and linearised, non-linear elements can be
combined in the same frame of reference for a unified solution.
In rigorous waveform distortion analysis. accurate representation of non-linear characteristics
for all power plant components is essential. In this thesis several analytical forms
are studied which provide accurate representations of non-linearities and which are suitable
for efficient. repetitive waveform distortion studies.
Several harmonic domain approaches are also presented. To date most frequency domain
techniques in power systems have used the Complex Fourier expansion but more efficient
solutions can be obtained when using formulations which do not require complex algebra.
With this in mind. two real harmonic domain frames of references are presented: the real
Fourier harmonic domain and the Hartley domain. The solutions exhibit quadratic rate of
convergence. Also, discrete convolutions are proposed as a means for free-aliasing harmonic
domain evaluations; a fact which aids convergence greatly.
Two new models in the harmonic domain are presented: the Three Phase Thyristor
Controlled Reactor model and the Multi-limb Three Phase Transformer model. The former
uses switching functions and discrete convolutions. It yields efficient solutions with strong
characteristics of convergence. The latter is based on the principle of duality and takes
account of the non-linear electromagnetic effects involving iron core, transformer tank and
return air paths. The algorithm exhibits quadratic convergence. Real data is used to
validate both models.
Harmonic distortion can be evaluated by using true Newton-Raphson techniques which
exhibit quadratic convergence. However, these methods can be made to produce faster solutions
by using relaxation techniques. Several alternative relaxation techniques are presented.
An algorithm which uses diagonal relaxation has shown good characteristics of convergence
plus the possibility of parallelisation.
The Walsh series are a set of orthogonal functions with rectangular waveforms. They
are used in this thesis to study switching circuits which are quite common in modern power
systems. They have switching functions which resemble Walsh functions substantially.
Accordingly, switching functions may be represented exactly by a finite number of Walsh
functions, whilst a large number of Fourier coefficients may be required to achieve the same result. Evaluation of waveform distortion of power networks is a non-linear problem
which is solved by linearisation about an operation point. In this thesis the Walsh domain
is used to study this phenomenon. It has deep theoretical strengths which helps greatly in
understanding waveform distortion and which allows its qualitative assessment.
Traditionally, the problem of finding waveform distortion levels in power networks has
been solved by the use of repetitive linearisation of the problem about an operation point.
In this thesis a step towards a true non-linear solution is made. A new approach, which uses
bi-linearisations as opposed to linearisations, is presented. Bi-linear systems are a class of
simple, non-linear systems which are amenable to analytical solutions. Also, a new method,
based on Taylor series expansions, is used to approximate generic, non-linear systems using
a bi-linear system. It is shown that when using repetitive bi-linearisations, as opposed to
linearisations, solutions show super-quadratic rate of convergence.
Finally, several power system applications using the Walsh approach are presented. A
model of a single phase TCR, a model of three phase bank of transformers and a model of
frequency dependent transmission lines are developed.


Abstract Communication dysfunction that results from dementia can be exacerbated by environmental barriers such as inadequate lighting, noisy conditions, poor or absent environmental cues, and visual clutter. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) should address these environmental barriers as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for clients with dementia. The Environment and Communication Assessment Toolkit for Dementia Care (ECAT) was evaluated by SLPs to determine: (1) changes in awareness of environmental factors prior to and after training; (2) impact of the ECAT on practice as measured by changes in the number of environmental modifications recommended and made prior to and after training; (3) utility of the information as measured by the helpfulness, amount of new information, and usefulness of the ECAT; and (4) usability of the ECAT materials based on ease of use. The SLPs used the ECAT with clients with dementia who had functional limitations and required substantial assistance with daily activities. Results indicate that the ECAT is an effective tool for SLPs, providing information about the impact of the environment on communication and supplying sufficient resources to make recommendations and implement effective interventions. The ECAT successfully increased awareness of environmental modifications, influenced the practice of recommending environmental modifications, and had utility in diverse aspects of clinical practice.