Numerical algorithms are considered for three distinct areas of
numerical linear algebra: hyperbolic matrix computations, condition numbers
of structured matrices, and trigonometric matrix functions.

We first consider hyperbolic rotations and show how to construct them
accurately. A new accurate representation is devised which also avoids
overflow. We show how to apply hyperbolic rotations directly, in
mixed form, and by the OD procedure, with a rounding error analysis
that shows the latter two methods are stable. A rounding
error analysis for combining a sequence of nonoverlapping hyperbolic
rotations applied in mixed form or by the OD procedure is then given.
Applying a hyperbolic rotation directly is generally thought to be
unstable but no proof has previously been given. However, using
numerical experiments we prove that it is unstable. We describe several
methods of applying fast
hyperbolic rotations and unified rotations, giving a rounding error
analysis and numerical experiments to show which are stable and which
are not. Hyperbolic Householder transformations are briefly
discussed.

We then consider the hyperbolic QR factorization for which
we present new results for the existence of the closely related HR
factorization, and then use these to prove new theorems for the
existence of the hyperbolic QR factorization. We describe how
nonoverlapping hyperbolic rotations can be used to compute the
hyperbolic QR factorization, with a rounding error analysis to show
that this method is stable. Two applications of the hyperbolic QR
factorization are also discussed.

For an $n \times n$ tridiagonal matrix we exploit the structure of its
QR factorization to devise two new algorithms for computing the 1-norm
condition number in $O(n)$ operations. The algorithms avoid
underflow and overflow, and are simpler than existing algorithms since
tests are not required for degenerate cases. An error analysis of the
first algorithm is given, while the second algorithm is shown to be
competitive in speed with existing algorithms. We then turn our
attention to an $n \times n$ diagonal-plus-semiseparable matrix, $A$,
for which several algorithms have recently been developed to solve
$Ax=b$ in $O(n)$ operations. We again exploit the QR factorization of
the matrix to present an algorithm that computes the 1-norm condition
number in $O(n)$ operations.

We also consider algorithms for computing the matrix cosine. The
algorithms scale a matrix by a power of two to make the norm of the
scaled matrix small, use a Pad\'e approximation to compute the cosine
of the scaled matrix, and recover the cosine of the original matrix
using the double angle formula $\cos(2A) = 2\cos^2(A)-I$. We make
several improvements to an algorithm of Higham and Smith to derive
new algorithms, which are shown by theory and numerical experiments to
bring increased efficiency and accuracy. We also consider an
algorithm for simultaneously computing $\cos(A)$ and $\sin(A)$ that
extends the ideas for the cosine and intertwines the cosine and sine
double angle recurrences.


While the Model Penal Code was certainly one the most influential developments in criminal law in the past century, the American Law Institute (ALI) took a seriously wrong turn by recognizing a defense of "renunciation" to the crime of conspiracy. Under the Model Penal Code formulation, a member of a conspiracy who later disavows the agreement and thwarts its objective (for example, by notifying authorities of the planned crime in order to prevent its completion) is afforded a complete defense to conspiracy liability. This defense has enormous implications for crimes involving national security and terrorism, which are typically planned covertly and involve extensive coordination among multiple actors. Many states follow the Model Penal Code approach and recognize the renunciation defense, without defining its precise contours or limits. Other states are still struggling with the issue, and have yet to accept or reject the renunciation doctrine. After surveying state and federal law across the United States, the authors unpack proposed policy arguments for and against the renunciation defense. The authors conclude that none of the pragmatic justifications advanced by the ALI in support of the doctrine survive close scrutiny. Moreover, renunciation is theoretically inconsistent with the social harm caused by an actor's participation in a conspiracy, in contrast to the absence of harm present with other inchoate offenses such as incomplete attempts. In the authors' view, renunciation is best understood historically as a special form of legislative grace designed to counteract some of the harsher aspects of conspiracy law. The authors argue that states grappling with this issue should decline to recognize a renunciation defense, and instead focus their attention on eliminating some of the more notable inequities of conspiracy liability.


Emotion is a critical but relatively unexplored dimension of sensemaking in organizations. Existing models of sensemaking tend to ignore the role of emotion or portray it as an impediment. To address this problem, we explore the role that felt emotion plays in three stages of individual sensemaking in organizations. First, we examine emotion's role in mediating the relationship between unexpected events and the onset of sensemaking processes. We argue that emotion signals the need for and provides the energy that fuels sensemaking, and that different kinds of emotions are more and less likely to play these roles. Second, we explore the role of emotion in shaping sensemaking processes, focusing on how emotions make sensemaking a more solitary or more interpersonal process, and a more generative or more integrative process. Third, we argue that sensemakers' felt emotion plays an important role in concluding sensemaking, particularly through its effect on the plausibility of sensemaking accounts.


SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. Riservatezza psichica, profilazione e neurotecnologie - 3. Il valore della riservatezza psichica - 4. Privacy e liberta di pensiero.
Psychoprivacy: Some Remarks on the Relation between Protection of Personal Data and Freedom of Thought
ABSTRACT: This essay maintains that the same normative reasons that lead to ascribe to individuals a fundamental right to privacy imply a fortiori a certain degree of legal protection against the unwanted detection and disclosure of their ideas, beliefs, opinions, preferences, tastes, feelings, moods, dispositions, memories, aspirations, action plans and other conscious or unconscious products of their mind. This aspect of the right to privacy referred to the mental (cognitive, doxastic, intentional, mnemonic and emotional) dimension of individuals will be called psychoprivacy and examined in its relationship with freedom of thought. It will be concluded that the psychoprivacy of individuals conflicts with freedom of thought only if the latter is considered from the perspective of the speaking subject, that is, the one who claims the freedom to express their thoughts without any legal restrictions whatsoever. If, on the other hand, freedom of thought is centered on the thinking subject, and understood as the right to cultivate one's thoughts and purposes regardless of any expression or translation in practice, then there is no conflict with psychoprivacy, but rather harmony.


This major work brings together authors with experience of both academic and operational project work to focus on issues such as the shadow exchange rate, the shadow wage, the discount rate and assessment of poverty impact and risk, as well as problems relating to specific sectors covering environmental projects, transport, education and health. There are also general chapters on the experience of semi-input–output-based estimation of shadow prices and the relevance of shadow pricing techniques to the context of developed economies in the EU. An overview by the editors sets out the evolution of the literature and highlights current issues. The general conclusion is that project analysis techniques remain relevant, albeit within a very different development context to that in which they were originally envisaged to be applied.


Arsenic is present in the environment and human all over the world are exposed to small amounts, mostly through food, water, and air. In the developing countries like Bangladesh and India, the high prevalence of contamination, the isolation and poverty of the rural population and the high cost and complexity of arsenic removal systems have imposed a programmatic and policy challenge on an unprecedented scale. Although in India, Arsenic poisoning in ground water in Gangetic basin especially the districts adjoining the river Ganges right from Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar to West Bengal is the major problem of concern. Due to which, major health related problems are arising in the population.To combat the present problem, a pre-clinical study was done on Charles foster rats and sodium arsenite at the dose of 8 mg Kg-1 body weight per day was administered to these rats for 60 days and upon these arsenic pretreated rats, novel plant extracts of Withania somnifera and Pteris longifolia were administered for 45 days to study the antidote effects of these plant extracts. These plants not only eliminated the toxic effects of arsenic but also reversed the normal physiological activity in the animal. Thus, the present study concludes that these novel plants possesses the best bioremedial impact against arsenic induced toxicity.


Ethnic differences are often considered to be powerful sources of diverse economic behavior. In this paper, we investigate whether and how ethnicity affects Ukrainian labor market outcomes. Using micro data from the Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (ULMS) and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of earnings, we find a persistent and rising labor market divide between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians throughout Ukraine's transition era. We establish that language rather than nationality is the key factor behind this ethnic premium favoring Russians. Our findings further document that this premium is larger among males than among females.


Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between appendiceal size measured by contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen and pelvis and the size of surgically removed appendixes on gross pathological examination. Materials and methods: The initial database consisted of the cases of 301 children, collected over 2 years, of which 56 met inclusion criteria. Both the radiology and surgical pathology reports of these patients were reviewed. Results: The mean size of appendixes meeting the CT size criteria of appendicitis was 10.3 mm, and that of the surgical pathology specimens was 10.4 mm. The pathological diagnosis of acute appendicitis was confirmed in 54 of 56 cases, yielding a positive predictive value of 96.4%. The Pearson product–moment correlation coefficient was calculated to be 0.5443 (95% CI 0.329 to 0.706). The slope of the linear correlation was 0.5788. The mean absolute difference in CT size versus pathological size was 2.2 mm. Conclusion: The data reveal a strong correlation in ability of CT to predict the presence of acute appendicitis, with moderate correlation in the size estimate of acutely inflamed appendixes, as imaged on CT, and the pathological specimen status after appendectomy.


The authors describe the development and implementation of a University of California (UC) system of oversight, education, tracking, and accountability for human anatomical specimen use in education and research activities. This program was created and initially implemented at UC Davis in 2005. Several incidents arising out of the handling of human anatomical specimens at UC campuses revealed significant challenges in the system for maintaining control of human anatomical specimens used in education and research. These events combined to undermine the public perception for research and educational endeavors involving anatomical materials at public institutions. Risks associated with the acquisition, maintenance, and disposal of these specimens were not fully understood by the faculty, staff, and students who used them. Laws governing sources of specimens are grouped with those that govern organ procurement and tissue banking, and sometimes are found in cemetery and funeral regulations. These variables complicate interpretations and may hinder compliance. To regain confidence in the system, the need to set appropriate and realistic guidelines that mitigate risk and facilitate an institution's research and educational mission was identified. This article chronicles a multiyear process in which diverse stakeholders developed (1) a regulatory policy for oversight, (2) a policy education program, (3) procedures for tracking and accountability, and (4) a reporting and enforcement mechanism for appropriate and ethical use of human anatomical specimens in university education and research.


OBJECTIVE
The aim was to investigate the efficacy of cortexin and methylprednisolone on recovery in cases of traumatic facial nerve paralysis occurring after facial nerve trauma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was performed on 21 healthy rabbits. The buccal branches of the left facial nerves of all the rabbits were pressed, and facial nerve paralysis occurred. The rabbits were randomly divided into three equal groups: 3 mg/day cortexin intramuscularly, 1 mg/kg/day methylprednisolone intramuscularly, and 3 mg/day saline intramuscularly were administered for 10 days in Group I (cortexin group), Group II (methylprednisolone group), and Group III (control group), respectively. Electromyography was performed on the 7th, 14th, and 21st days to evaluate their improvement. Following this, the traumatic buccal branches of the facial nerves of rabbits were extracted and subjected to histopathological examination.

RESULTS
There was a significant difference between the cortexin and methylprednisolone groups and the control group in terms of neural fibrotic degeneration, myelin degeneration, axonal degeneration, normal myelin production, and edema. When the cortexin and methylprednisolone groups were compared with each other, there was no significant difference between them, except for an increase in collagen fibers. Cortexin significantly reduced the collagen fiber increase to a greater extent than methylprednisolone. The electromyography findings did not show any significant difference between the groups or within the groups.

CONCLUSION
Our study suggests that cortexin and methylprednisolone are effective for healing traumatic facial nerve paralysis with intact nerve integrity; however, cortexin is unable to cause significant improvement, which is superior to that caused by methylprednisolone.


The archetype of the New Deal agency, exercising neutral, technocratic expertise, is no longer tenable. As Richard Stewart (1975) noted thirty-five years ago, administrative law "is undergoing a fundamental transformation." Following Stewart, the modern explanation in legal scholarship of the transformation is that federal judges came to the rescue of the administrative state, actively intervening in the regulatory process in order to preserve key values which had been threatened by an admixture of internal pathologies and external (read: "political") threats. We argue that the traditional explanation neglects a central aspect of the major transformations in American regulatory politics during the past half century – the critical role of Congress and the President in the reformation of both the American regulatory state and administrative law. The traditional explanation in legal scholarship, that courts implemented values and agendas separate from legislative aims, and hence separate from politics, is flawed because it neglects the larger transformations, beginning in the 1960s and continuing over the next two decades, in American national politics. During this period, a wide range of new constituencies arose, including the environmentalists, consumerists. The courts' role in the reformation must be seen in this broader political transformation of the 1960s and 70s rather than in a court-centric perspective in isolation from the rest of the political system. We illustrate our thesis with nuclear power regulation, which demonstrates the critical, joint roles of entrepreneurs in Congress and the courts.


We describe the generation of plasmonic modes that propagate in a curved trajectory inducing magnetic properties. This is performed by masking a metal surface with two screens containing a randomly distributed set of holes that follow a Gaussian statistic. The diameter of the holes is less than the wavelength of the illuminating plane wave. By implementing scaling and rotations on each screen, we control the correlation trajectory and generate long-range curved plasmonic modes. Using the evanescent character of the electric field, the study is implemented for the transmission of a plasmonic mode propagating in a tandem array of thin metal films offering the possibility to generate localization effects.


We formulate a simple quantitative three-species charge-carrier transport model, consisting of two distinct positive ions and a single negative ion, to describe the dynamics during thermal poling of a germanosilicate optical fiber. We numerically solved the equations and report one-dimensional space-time solutions for the electrooptic (EO) coefficient. In the two-cation model, our findings show the EO coefficient initially dips near the anode and then monotonically rises to a steady-state value, higher than that produced by the initial applied poling field. However, at the cathode, the electric field quickly dropped to zero where it remained zero for the poling duration. The introduction of a moving negative ion clearly shows the existence of a dead time characteristic appearing at the cathode, resulting in a gain in the initial EO coefficient. This model also reveals that the resulting EO evolution in a thermally poled germanium-boron codoped fiber can he attributed to the movement of just two ions of opposite polarity. To explain the increase in the EO coefficient in boron codoped germanosilicate fiber, we found it necessary to allow for an increase in the third-order susceptibility by a factor of /spl sim/3.4.


This bouquet of romantic paintings brings together two important aspects of Victorian life - the Pre-Raphaelite movement and the language of flowers. Few artistic movements capture classic notions of beauty as romantically as the Pre-Raphaelites - a group of 19th-century painters and poets who aimed to revive the purer art of the late mediaeval period. Brilliantly coloured and carefully composed, Pre-Raphaelite paintings are revered for their idealistic portrayal of women, their emphasis on nature and morality, and their use of literature and mythology. Flowers figure prominently in many of these paintings, the blooms as physically lush as they are laden with symbolism. For this was the Victorian era, when the language of flowers was spoken by everyone. In this volume, Debra N. Mancoff presents 40 examples which illuminate the meaning of flowers in all aspects of Victorian culture. She offers brief commentaries on individual paintings as well as biographies of the period's leading artists and their models. An introduction to an artistic movement, this work is also a romantic keepsake of an artistic sensibility.


During Pliensbachian–Bajocian times northern Europe, including Britain, was covered by an epeiric sea. Sediments formed include clays, sandstones, limestones and ironstones, usually cyclically arranged; different facies were developed synchronously in different areas. There is very little evidence, by way of slumps or turbidites, that redeposition processes were active. The sequence clay, sandstone, limestone/ ironstone is here interpreted as representative of a shallowing. Thus, at any one time, despite differing bathymetric zones, bottom slopes were apparently subdued enough to ensure that sediment displacement did not generally take place. To reconcile the concept of Jurassic 'basins' and 'swells' with the subdued bottom slopes of the north European epeiric sea, we suggest that these structural elements were characterized by great and negligible subsidence respectively, but that sedimentation was always rapid enough to maintain a roughly level sea floor. We relate the Mendip, London Platform and Dorset coast 'swells' to early Jurassic positive fault motions in the basement. The Market Weighton 'swell' is ascribed to relative buoyant rise of a salt pillow or granitic body whose movement was probably triggered by the same motions. These, presumably extensional, tectonics were probably the driving force behind the formation of the whole north European epeiric sea and must be related, in turn, to the opening of the oceanic central Atlantic and Alpine–Mediterranean Tethys.


The vast and remote distributions and large body size of most cetaceans make it difficult to obtain and maintain morphological collections adequate for advancing sound taxonomic arguments. Consequently, genetic data are playing an increasingly important role in cetacean species and subspecies delimitation. We review seven categories of analytical methods useful in delimiting subspecies based on genetic data. For each category, we summarize its utility in evaluating putative subspecies, the types of markers to which it can be applied, and potential challenges in interpreting results in a taxonomic context. We focus on the utility of each type of method to evaluate the critical features distinguishing subspecies from populations and species: the degree of diagnosability between putative taxa and the extent to which the putative taxa have diverged along separate evolutionary pathways. We conclude that diagnosability is best estimated with either assignment tests or multivariate methods, while evaluating the degree of divergence requires a synthesis of multiple lines of evidence derived from different analytical methods and different data types, including nongenetic data.


An agreement between Norway and the European Commission specifies an increase in the export tax on Norwegian salmon entering EU markets from 0.75% to 3.00% effective 1 July 1997. Further, Norway's exports are subject to a price floor and quantity ceiling, neither of which were binding over the evaluation period. Since the tax's proceeds are to be used by Norway to fund generic marketing of Atlantic salmon, it is possible that the agreement is winwin, i.e., benefits United Kingdom and Norwegian producers alike. To test this, we use an equilibrium displacement model to estimate the agreement's effects on prices, trade flows, and producer welfare. Results based on data through 1999 suggest the agreement is indeed win-win, but that currency realignments and feed quota policy can easily neutralize or obscure the effects.


ABSTRACT Computers and the Internet have become a pervasive element in modern life. This technology is also used by those who engage in crime and other misconduct. Effective investigation of these offenses requires evidence derived from computers, telecommunications and the Internet. The need for digital evidence has led to a new area of criminal investigation: Computer Forensics. Forensic investigators identify, extract, preserve and document computer and other digital evidence. This new field is less than fifteen years old, and is rapidly evolving. Education in this field has focused largely on its technical aspects. However, there are significant legal issues and ethical problems that investigators must deal with. Failure to follow proper legal procedure will result in evidence being ruled inadmissible in court. As a result, a guilty criminal might go free. Failure to behave in an ethical manner will erode public confidence in law enforcement, making its job more difficult and less effective. This paper will provide an introduction to the most significant legal issue in computer forensics: admissibility of evidence in criminal cases. The law of search and seizure, as it relates to digital equipment, will be reviewed. Interception of electronic communications and accessing stored digital information will be examined. Public policy in the form of federal legislation will be discussed. Finally, ethical concerns will be considered. INTRODUCTION On December 17, 2003 CSO (Chief Security Officer) Magazine predicted that "cybercrime will only get worse" (CSO 2003). On January 22, 2004 the Federal Trade Commission reported that in 2003 complaints of identity theft alone exceeded half a million (FTC 2004), up 40% from 2002. The Computer Security Institute's 2003 CSI/FBI Computer Crime & Security Survey reported that losses continued to climb and that "90% of respondents (primarily large corporations and government agencies) detected computer security breaches within the last 12 months" (CSI/FBI 2003). The antidote to this problem is effective investigation and prosecution. Critical evidence needed to convict cyber-criminals is located on computers, networks and the Internet. However, this evidence is often difficult to obtain. It may have been deleted, overwritten, encrypted or hidden in a vast database (Schultz 2001). Nevertheless, cyber-detectives have developed techniques to salvage such information. A new investigative specialty has thus emerged: "Computer Forensics". This term, first used in 1991, refers to the identification, extraction, preservation and documentation of computer based evidence (Armstrong 2000). An important legal challenge faces cyber- investigators: not only must they discover incriminating evidence they must also do it in a lawful manner. Otherwise, the evidence will not be admissible in court. As Marcella and Greenfield point out, an investigator "should always conduct the investigation as if you are going to trial, just in case you have to" (Marcella and Greenfield 2002). Investigators must have a working knowledge of legal issues involved in computer forensics. They must know what constitutes a legal search of a stand-alone computer as opposed to a network; what laws govern obtaining evidence and securing it so that the chain of evidence is not compromised; what telecommunications may lawfully be intercepted or examined after they have been received; what legally protected privacy rights employees and other individuals possess. This paper will address all these concerns. Because computer forensics is such a new field, investigative and legal norms are just now emerging. Little has been written about the legal requirements for admissibility of computer forensic evidence, or about the ethical and regulatory issues related to this new field. First we will examine the admissibility of evidence in a criminal prosecution, both with and without a search warrant. …


Research in the fields of biomimetic and biohybrid systems is developing at an accelerating rate. Biomimetics can be understood as the development of new technologies using principles abstracted from the study of biological systems, however, biomimetics can also be viewed from an alternate perspective as an important methodology for improving our understanding of the world we live in and of ourselves as biological organisms. A biohybrid entity comprises at least one artificial (engineered) component combined with a biological one. With technologies such as microscale mobile computing, prosthetics and implants, humankind is moving towards a more biohybrid future in which biomimetics helps us to engineer biocompatible technologies. This paper reviews recent progress in the development of biomimetic and biohybrid systems focusing particularly on technologies that emulate living organisms—living machines. Based on our recent bibliographic analysis [1] we examine how biomimetics is already creating life-like robots and identify some key unresolved challenges that constitute bottlenecks for the field. Drawing on our recent research in biomimetic mammalian robots, including humanoids, we review the future prospects for such machines and consider some of their likely impacts on society, including the existential risk of creating artifacts with significant autonomy that could come to match or exceed humankind in intelligence. We conclude that living machines are more likely to be a benefit than a threat but that we should also ensure that progress in biomimetics and biohybrid systems is made with broad societal consent.


Both preclinical considerations and results of phase I safety and pharmacokinetic studies provided support for the argument that intraperitoneal antineoplastic drug delivery should be a rational approach to the management of ovarian cancer. Subsequently conducted phase II trials exploring regional treatment revealed surgically documented objective responses when the approach was employed as a second-line therapy. Recently, the results of three randomized phase III trials have shown that the use of primary cisplatin-based intraperitoneal therapy leads to superior survival compared with intravenous cisplatin-based treatment in patients with small-volume residual advanced ovarian cancer after initial surgical cytoreduction. Further exploration of this unique management strategy is indicated to develop an optimal approach that maintains the demonstrated enhanced efficacy while reducing the toxicity (principally because of cisplatin) of treatment.


Active queue management (AQM) algorithms preemptively drop packets to prevent unnecessary delays through a network while keeping utilization high. Many AQM ideas have been proposed, but none have been widely adopted because these rely on pre-specification or pre-tuning of parameters and thresholds that do not necessarily adapt to dynamic network conditions. We develop an AQM algorithm that relies only on network runtime measurements and a natural threshold, the knee on the delay-utilization curve. We call our AQM algorithm Delay Utilization Knee (DUK) based on its key characteristic of keeping the system operating at the knee of the delay-utilization curve. We implement and evaluate DUK in the Linux kernel in a testbed, that we build, and in the ns-3 network simulator. We find that DUK can attain reduced queuing delay and reduced flow completion times compared to other algorithms with virtually no reduction in link utilization under varying network conditions.


The exocyst, an evolutionarily conserved octameric protein complex, plays a crucial role in the tethering of post-Golgi secretory vesicles to the plasma membrane for exocytosis and cell migration. How the exocyst is targeted to sites of exocytosis and how this complex regulates cell migration are poorly understood. I have carried out experiments to characterize Exo70, a component of the exocyst complex. Firstly, I found that Exo70 directly interacts with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate through positively charged residues at its C-terminus, and this interaction is critical for the plasma membrane targeting of Exo70. Using the ts045 vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein trafficking assay, I found that the Exo70-lipid interaction is critical for the docking and fusion of post-Golgi secretory vesicles with the plasma membrane. Secondly, I demonstrate that the exocyst plays a pivotal role in tumor cell invasion. Invadopodia are actin-rich membrane protrusions formed by tumor cells that degrade the extracellular matrix for invasion. Depletion of the exocyst component Exo70 or Sec8 led to failure in invadopodia formation in MDA-MB-231 cells expressing constitutively active c-Src, whereas the overexpression of Exo70 promoted invadopodia formation. Disrupting the exocyst function by RNA interference of EXO70 or SEC8, or by expression of a dominant negative fragment of Exo70 blocked the secretion of matrix metalloproteinases. I further found that the exocyst interacts with the Arp2/3 complex in cells with high invasion potential; blocking the exocyst-Arp2/3 interaction inhibited Arp2/ 3-mediated actin polymerization and invadopodia formation. Finally, the exocyst also functions in directly regulating Arp2/3-mediated actin polymerization. Using pyrene actin assay and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, I found that Exo70 synergizes with WAVE2 to promote Arp2/3-mediated actin polymerization and branching. In addition, I have examined how the Exo70-Arp2/3 interaction is regulated in the cell downstream of growth factor signaling. Overall, these studies provide mechanistic insights to the function of the exocyst in exocytosis and cell migration. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Biology First Advisor Wei Guo


Diode lasers are a convenient and economical source of near-infrared radiation, which may usefully be applied to a host of different sensitive detection methods; this thesis presents novel extensions of these methods, making use of the favourable characteristics of this type of light source. The first part of this thesis details the development of an optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) apparatus, including the development of the optical system, the sample handling, and the electronics for feedback phase control. A preliminary demonstration of the system is reported, presenting the detection of atmospheric water absorptions close to 1596 nm. Optimisation and application of the OF-CEAS spectrometer are then demonstrated, after which the spectrometer is applied to the sensitive detection of carbon dioxide absorptions suitable as a diagnostic aid in identifying Heliobacter pylori infection. A time-normalised α-min value of 5.8 × 10−9 cm−1s1/2 was measured for these spectra. Further optimisation of the system leads to an ultimate detection sensitivity of 1.42 × 10−9 cm−1s1/2, measured on absorption transitions in acetylene close to 1532 nm. In order further to characterise the performance of the OF-CEAS system, analogous experiments are presented using the OF-CEAS setup and a standard diode-laser cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) apparatus. Detection is carried out on the P(6) line of the ν1 + ν3 vibrational band of the mixed isotopologue of acetylene, 12-C13-CH2. Direct comparison is made between the sensitivities of the two methods, and in light of this the suitability of each technique for detection in different environments is considered. The well-characterised and consistent frequency scale which is inherent to the OF-CEAS technique is then applied to a line shape analysis for the presented absorption spectra. Pressure-broadening coefficients are determined for selected absorptions in the ν1 + ν3 band of acetylene. In spite of the low resolution associated with this technique, this accurate frequency scaling allows observation of subtle line shape effects such as Dicke collisional narrowing using the data presented in Chapter 3 for the R(60) line in the 3ν1 + ν3 vibrational band of CO2. These effects are quantified through use of a Galatry fit to each absorption spectrum. The statistical significance associated with the use of such a model, and the physical meaning of the results, are examined and discussed. An alternative strategy for increasing the sensitivity of a diode-laser-based gas monitoring technique lies in moving detection to the mid-infrared region, where the absorption cross-sections are generally larger. With this motivation, difference frequency generation is presented, to produce radiation close to 3.5 µm which is then applied to a series of different enhanced spectroscopy techniques. The optimal sensitivity, of 32 ppb NO2 at 45 Torr total sample pressure, was achieved using wavelength modulation spectroscopy. The different techniques are compared and possible improvements to them are put forward. Finally, proof-of-principle work is presented seeking to combine the enhanced circulating power associated with the optical-feedback-locked techniques and non-linear optical techniques to move detection to a more favourable spectral region. Light close to 429 nm is generated by second harmonic generation in a crystal of potassium niobate, with resonance-enhancement afforded by a feedback V-cavity of the sort employed in OF-CEAS. The potential of such a system for diode-laser-based generation of blue and ultraviolet light is demonstrated and discussed, along with improvements that might be implemented to increase the efficiency of the system.


Murat Akpinar, corresponding author, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, School of Business, Rajakatu 35, 40200, Jyväskylä, Finland, murat.akpinar (at) jamk.fi Salman Saleem, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, School of Business, Rajakatu 35, 40200, Jyväskylä, Finland, salman.saleem (at) jamk.fi __________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract The objectives of this conceptual perspective article are to explore the extent to which the umbrella concept of creating shared value (CSV) is embraced and utilized by the international business (IB) literature, and to suggest avenues in order to leverage the potential of this concept in future IB research. Our literature review suggests that although corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a growing research topic in IB literature, there is not yet any research by IB scholars on CSV. Aiming to create a research agenda in this direction, this study suggests ten avenues for future IB research to embrace the CSV concept. Pursuing these avenues will contribute not only to the IB literature but also to the CSV literature, which suffers a number of criticisms. Managers as well as policy makers can find tips from this study to stimulate CSV.


Nowadays, the sustainability of a product, a process or a system is assessed according to three dimensions: environmental, social and economic. Sustainability challenges occur at all stages in the food system from production through processing, distribu‐ tion and retailing to consumption and waste disposal. The promotion of organic and local food is not the only way to reach the sustainability. There is other possibility that implies to continue the production hegemony. Increasing research is being focused on the development of healthy, quality and safety food products adapted to consumer's needs and more environment-friendly processes, that is, processes consuming energy more efficiently, generating less waste and emitting less greenhouse effect gases. Drying technology is applied in the food industry not only for preservation but also to manufacture foods with certain characteristics. Drying technology operations need to be precisely controlled and optimized in order to produce a good-quality product with the highest level of nutrient retention and flavor together with microbial safety. This chapter contains detailed information about some measurements taken by the food industry to ensure the supply of bioactive nutrients to as many individuals as possible, assuring the global sustainability. More specifically, the contribution of some drying techniques employed in the development of functional foods to increase the sustaina‐ bility of the feeding process is discussed.


BACKGROUND
COVID-19 infection poses a serious risk to patients and - due to its contagious nature - to those healthcare workers (HCWs) treating them. The risks of transmission of infection are greater when a patient is undergoing an aerosol-generating procedure (AGP). Not all those with COVID-19 infection are symptomatic, or suspected of harbouring the infection. If a patient who is not known to have or suspected of having COVID-19 infection is to undergo an AGP, it would nonetheless be sensible to minimise the risk to those HCWs treating them. If the mouth and nose of an individual undergoing an AGP are irrigated with antimicrobial solutions, this may be a simple and safe method of reducing the risk of any covert infection being passed to HCWs through droplet transmission or direct contact. Alternatively, the use of antimicrobial solutions by the HCW may decrease the chance of them acquiring COVID-19 infection. However, the use of such antimicrobial solutions may be associated with harms related to the toxicity of the solutions themselves or alterations in the natural microbial flora of the mouth or nose.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the benefits and harms of antimicrobial mouthwashes and nasal sprays administered to HCWs and/or patients when undertaking AGPs on patients without suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection.

SEARCH METHODS
Information Specialists from Cochrane ENT and Cochrane Oral Health searched the Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL 2020, Issue 6); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid Embase and additional sources for published and unpublished trials. The date of the search was 1 June 2020.  SELECTION CRITERIA: This is a question that urgently requires evidence, however at the present time we did not anticipate finding many completed RCTs. We therefore planned to include the following types of studies: randomised controlled trials (RCTs); quasi-RCTs; non-randomised controlled trials; prospective cohort studies; retrospective cohort studies; cross-sectional studies; controlled before-and-after studies. We set no minimum duration for the studies.   We sought studies comparing any antimicrobial mouthwash and/or nasal spray (alone or in combination) at any concentration, delivered to the patient or HCW before and/or after an AGP.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We used standard Cochrane methodological procedures. Our primary outcomes were: 1) incidence of symptomatic or test-positive COVID-19 infection in HCWs or patients; 2) significant adverse event: anosmia (or disturbance in sense of smell). Our secondary outcomes were: 3) COVID-19 viral content of aerosol (when present); 4) change in COVID-19 viral load at site(s) of irrigation; 5) other adverse events: changes in microbiome in oral cavity, nasal cavity, oro- or nasopharynx; 6) other adverse events: allergy, irritation/burning of nasal, oral or oropharyngeal mucosa (e.g. erosions, ulcers, bleeding), long-term staining of mucous membranes or teeth, accidental ingestion. We planned to use GRADE to assess the certainty of the evidence for each outcome.

MAIN RESULTS
We found no completed studies to include in this review.   AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: We identified no studies for inclusion in this review, nor any ongoing studies. The absence of completed studies is not surprising given the relatively recent emergence of COVID-19 infection. However, we are disappointed that this important clinical question is not being addressed by ongoing studies.


Motivation: Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is a dominant approach for large-scale high-throughput post-translational modification (PTM) profiling. Although current state-of-the-art blind PTM spectral analysis algorithms can predict thousands of modified peptides (PTM predictions) in an MS/MS experiment, a significant percentage of these predictions have inaccurate modification mass estimates and false modification site assignments. This problem can be addressed by post-processing the PTM predictions with a PTM refinement algorithm. We developed a novel PTM refinement algorithm, iPTMClust, which extends a recently introduced PTM refinement algorithm PTMClust and uses a non-parametric Bayesian model to better account for uncertainties in the quantity and identity of PTMs in the input data. The use of this new modeling approach enables iPTMClust to provide a confidence score per modification site that allows fine-tuning and interpreting resulting PTM predictions. Results: The primary goal behindiPTMClust is to improve the quality of the PTM predictions. First, to demonstrate that iPTMClust produces sensible and accurate cluster assignments, we compare it with k-means clustering, mixtures of Gaussians (MOG) and PTMClust on a synthetically generated PTM dataset. Second, in two separate benchmark experiments using PTM data taken from a phosphopeptide and a yeast proteome study, we show that iPTMClust outperforms state-of-the-art PTM prediction and refinement algorithms, including PTMClust. Finally, we illustrate the general applicability of our new approach on a set of human chromatin protein complex data, where we are able to identify putative novel modified peptides and modification sites that may be involved in the formation and regulation of protein complexes. Our method facilitates accurate PTM profiling, which is an important step in understanding the mechanisms behind many biological processes and should be an integral part of any proteomic study. Availability: Our algorithm is implemented in Java and is freely avail


23 May 1973 Volcanic Studies Group Meeting The geochemistry of volcanic rocks relative to their tectonic setting Trace elenlent geochemistry related to the tectonic environment of basalt eruption J. R. Cann & J. A. Pearce, University of East Anglia. Recent investigations have shown that there is a good correspondence between the trace element geochemistry of basic and intermediate volcanic rocks and the tectonic environment of their eruption. Major elements, with the possible exception of Mg, show less discrimination between tectonic settings (Ti and K are counted here as trace elements). The following tectonic-cure-chemical classes of basalts and basaltic andesites can be distinguished from one another: ocean-floor basalts (characteristic of relatively fast-spreading plate boundaries); low-potassium tholeiites, calc-alkaline volcanics and shoshonites of island arcs; and within-plate basalts, of which alkalic and tholeiitic varieties may be distinguished. There is some overlap for almost all elements yet investigated between some ocean-floor basalts and some low-potassium tholeiites of island arcs, but the other classes are reasonably distinct except where transitional varieties of volcanic rock are found. The tectonic classification of environment of eruption cannot be considered final, especially as within-plate basalts also appear too to be associated with slowly-spreading plate boundaries, and because of the possible tectonic importance of plumes rising from the lower mantle. The petrogenetic processes leading to these geochemical differences are far from clear but it seems that the variation observed can be explained by a model involving migration of a hydrous, incompatible-rich fluid in the mantle, with consequent changes in phases on the basalt liquidus.


The virtual organisation concept emerged when companies initiated to outsourcing production process using this characteristic to define their virtualisation. Thereafter, this concept has changed and obtained new dimensions. The introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) brought more changes for this organisation concept, mainly after the internet advent. As these transformations took place in a short period of time, knowledge although comprehensive, remains diffuse. This theoretical study aims to consolidate virtual organisation concepts, analysing their development since the industrial model to one in which service companies predominate. Thus, it proposes a framework of how these virtual enterprises could organise themselves.


The First Amendment prohibits the government from compelling speech. But numerous scholars have recently identified a fundamental problem with the compelled speech doctrine: it is unclear exactly why the First Amendment should protect against compelled speech at all. This article argues, first, that traditional explanations of the compelled speech doctrine fail because they focus on the speaker's "freedom of mind," even though much compelled speech neither affects what the speaker believes nor misleads listeners about that speaker's actual beliefs. Second, this article proposes a solution: that we should abandon any consideration of the speaker's freedom of mind. Instead the Court should simply apply the traditional justifications for free speech to compelled speech cases and analyze them from a listener point of view. A focus on the listener point of view not only helps explain an otherwise puzzling doctrine but also should provide helpful guidance in deciding future compelled speech cases. In fact, the relative frequency of compelled speech cases in the last three years makes the need to ground the compelled speech doctrine more firmly in traditional First Amendment principles timely as well.


A sustainable continuous improvement process was desired for use in the ABET-ETAC accreditation process for an EET program. From the educational research field, it is known that programs must consider both an evidence-based continuous improvement process for internal purposes, as well as meeting the needs of external accountability. Programs need to assess and implement improvements in how well students are learning, which must be carried out in conjunction with improvements in their own program assessment process. There are also many considerations from a study of the field of quality, gathered from the program's foundation in the electronics manufacturing industry, which can be applied. Some of Deming's fourteen points on Total Quality Management, concepts and quality principles from the American Society for Quality, and principles from the ISO 9001-2015 quality management system standards can be applied to a student outcome continuous improvement process. For programs desiring ABET accreditation, there are specific requirements which must be documented, for how and when external and internal stakeholders are consulted. Another consideration growing in importance is the use of rubrics to help standardize evaluation of student work over time and audiences. With all of these factors under consideration, our EET program has developed, and continues to use, a process that can be illustrated by a graphic that features three intersecting continuous improvement loops. This graphic helped the program to clarify the assessment, evaluation, and student learning improvement procedures. The EET program faculty have fully accepted and are implementing the process described. A table illustrates the assessment data reporting process used by the program, showing some of the assessment data gathered and improvement decisions made as this process was used over a five-year period in a capstone course.


From the bestselling author of Lo"sing Ground" and "The Bell Curve," this startling long-lens view shows how America is coming apart at the seams that historically have joined our classes. In "Coming Apart," Charles Murray explores the formation of American classes that are different in kind from anything we have ever known, focusing on whites as a way of driving home the fact that the trends he describes do not break along lines of race or ethnicity. Drawing on five decades of statistics and research, "Coming Apart" demonstrates that a new upper class and a new lower class have diverged so far in core behaviors and values that they barely recognize their underlying American kinship--divergence that has nothing to do with income inequality and that has grown during good economic times and bad. The top and bottom of white America increasingly live in different cultures, Murray argues, with the powerful upper class living in enclaves surrounded by their own kind, ignorant about life in mainstream America, and the lower class suffering from erosions of family and community life that strike at the heart of the pursuit of happiness. That divergence puts the success of the American project at risk. The evidence in "Coming Apart" is about white America. Its message is about all of America.


The use of composite materials is increasing in many fields of production. Composite manufacturing, as well as other fields of production, suffers from uncertainties resulting in products that deviate from the specification. Geometry assurance is a common procedure used to keep the variations in product assemblies under control. However, the methods used to simulate the variation are not developed for composites. In this thesis, two methods are presented that address typical uncertainties within composite production.

The method presented in Paper I focuses on the variation of fiber orientation and ply thickness within fibrous laminae. Variation simulation for the fiber orientation and ply thickness parameters is combined with a traditional such method. The combined variation simulation is carried out so that it is possible to study the effects of including perturbations in these composite parameters.

In Paper II, a method that captures a special type of deviation common for composites, called spring-in, is presented. These deviations are seen especially in T-beam structures and occur during the curing step of production, i.e., hardening in an oven. A FEM thermal expansion simulation is performed on the anisotropic composite laminate as a part of the traditional variation simulation method. The curing temperature is one parameter, along with the standard geometric parameters, within the proposed method.

The two methods proposed are tested on subassemblies originating from automotive and aviation industry, respectively. Applying the method presented in Paper I to the test case gives a resulting variation where the variance is increased by a factor of 10%. No structural differences are seen. Hence, these results indicate that traditional variation simulation is sufficient with the inclusion of a correction factor for composites. The method presented in Paper II is a new contribution to the field of geometry assurance. In addition, the results show an increase by a factor 4 in the resulting variation for the test case between keeping the curing temperature fixed at nominal value and letting it vary.


This paper leverages STATS' SportVU Optical Tracking data to deconstruct several previously hidden aspects of rebounding. We are able to move beyond the outcome of who got the rebound to discover the non-linear relationship between shot location and its impact on offensive rebound rates, implications of the height of where rebounds are obtained, and estimates of where players should move in order to improve rebounding rates. We also leverage machine-learning methods to estimate the predictability of rebounding.


Recently new types of differential power analysis attacks (DPA) against elliptic curve cryptosystems (ECC) and RSA systems have been introduced. Most existing countermeasures against classical DPA attacks are vulnerable to these new DPA attacks which include refined power analysis attacks (RPA), zero-value point attacks (ZPA), and doubling attacks. The new attacks are different from classical DPA in that RPA uses a special point with a zero-value coordinate, while ZPA uses auxiliary registers to locate a zero value. So, Mamiya et al proposed a new countermeasure against RPA, ZPA, classical DPA and SPA attacks using a basic random initial point. His countermeasure works well when applied to ECC, but it has some disadvantages when applied to general exponentiation algorithms (such as RSA and ElGamal) due to an inverse computation. This paper presents an efficient and improved countermeasure against the above new DPA attacks by using a random blinding concept on the message different from Mamiya's countermeasure and show that our proposed countermeasure is secure against SPA based Yen's power analysis which can break Coron's simple SPA countermeasure as well as Mamiya's one. The computational cost of the proposed scheme is very low when compared to the previous methods which rely on Coron's simple SPA countermeasure. Moreover this scheme is a generalized countermeasure which can be applied to ECC as well as RSA system.


The elusive search for the truth: A review of Pezdek, K. and Banks, W.P. (1996). The recovered memory/false memory debate. San Diego: Academic Press. (394 pages). Over the last decade, there has been a virtual explosion in the number of adults coming forward claiming to have been sexually abused as children. The prototypical claimant is an educated women in her late 20s who initially sought therapy for help in dealing with any of a variety of symptoms, including depression, low self-esteem, substance abuse, eating disorders, and sleeping disorders. Importantly, it is often the case that prior to beginning therapy there were no memories of childhood sexual abuse. The debate addressed by this book is whether memories of sexual abuse which are recalled during the course of therapy are real - i.e., recovered memories - or the result of suggestions made by the therapist - i.e., false memories. The debate is primarily between clinicians and cognitive psychologists, and has at its root their different views of how memory operates. The model of memory held by many therapists is that memory is like a video-recorder, keeping a permanent record of all experiences. Failure to remember an event results either from a lack of the appropriate retrieval cues, or from the active repression of an event due to its traumatic nature. The general belief is that the symptoms which the patient is manifesting result from these unconscious, repressed memories. The goal of therapy, then, is to help the subject remember the childhood sexual abuse. By this model, there is no mechanism whereby a memory can be false; it may not be available, but once it becomes available, it is a veridical representation of a real event. There is no reason to expect memory distortion or fabrication. In contrast, the model of memory adhered to by most cognitive psychologists is very different. Memory is not a passive recording of information, but an active, re-constructive process. Most importantly, memory is seen as being susceptible to suggestion. Since the groundbreaking work of Elizabeth Loftus, cognitive psychologists have demonstrated how suggestions can not only change memory, but actually produce new memories. In light of the susceptibility of memory to suggestions -- particularly if they are made repeatedly, and if the person making the suggestions is an authority figure -- cognitive psychologists have raised the possibility that some of the memories of childhood sexual abuse recovered during therapy may not be accurate. The edited book by Pezdek and Banks is addressed to this issue. Despite the title, it is not really a debate in the strict sense of the word, in which a given position is taken by one person, attacked by someone on the other side, and followed by a rebuttal. Rather, the book presents a series of articles, some of which are sympathetic to the "recovered" memory approach and others to the "false" memory approach. In the preface, the authors write: "We tried to hew a middle course, looking for value in all sides." Many of the articles in the book originally appeared in a special issue of Consciousness & Cognition, Volume 3, 1994, the journal which is edited by William Banks, one of the editors of this volume. A major strength of the book is that all the included articles argue their respective positions based on actual experimental data rather than on philosophical biases. The book is divided into four sections, each devoted to a different aspect of the controversy. The comprehensive overview provided by Pezdek and Banks at the beginning of each section provides both a useful guide for the reader and a convenient summary. I will consider each of the sections separately. I. Childhood Trauma and Memory As noted by Pezdek and Banks in the introduction to this section, it is very difficult to do controlled studies of sexual abuse, which by its very nature is secretive, private, often repetitive, and often occurs at the hand of a caregiver with whom the child must remain attached. …


When all others fail in their obligations to give practical expression to the rule of law, human rights and the constitutional aspirations of all the people in any democracy, that constitutional democracy would be safe - provided a truly independent body of judges, loyal to the oath of office or solemn affirmation, is in place and ready to administer blind justice to the aggrieved.
Government by its very nature is divided into three branches. The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. As you know, the three tiers of the Executive government are led by the President. Each tier enjoys real autonomy beginning with the national and provincial governments to the smallest municipality you can imagine. Their success or failure is entirely or largely in their hands. Similarly, the Legislative branch of government is led by the Speaker and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces at national levels, by Speakers at provincial levels, again by Speakers at local government level. They are also institutionally independent.
These two branches of government have their own vote accounts, they are vested with the power to determine the administrative support they need, to work out job descriptions and salary levels for their personnel and to decide which projects to embark on according to their own order of priority. But the same cannot be said of the South African Judiciary.


Romanian currency market considering the episodic character of linear and/or nonlinear dependencies, between 1999 and 2008. The main conclusion is that profitability of moving average strategies is not constant over time and that is mainly due to linear and nonlinear episodic dependencies. The trading rule profits did not declined over time in the case of the Romanian currency market. Exploring the causes of profitability, it was found that it was closely related to the intensity of manifestation of episodic linear and nonlinear dependencies, the state of the market, and it was not the result of a time varying risk premium. The empirical results are consistent with the Adaptive Markets Hypothesis (Lo, 2004), but not with the Efficient Market Hypothesis.


The built environment consumes as much as 50% of many countries' primary energy resources. Building energy regulations aim to reduce building energy consumption. However, non-compliance risks efficacy of such regulations and monetary costs to the construction industry and consumers. This paper examines the profile, issues and implications of non-compliance internationally with a focus on the case of new-build dwellings in England and Wales. Non-compliance has been observed internationally in both developed and developing countries. The issues underlying the non-compliance include perceptions of triviality towards the energy efficiency regulations, piecemeal dissemination, and a lack of familiarisation and training. Such lack of compliance may paradoxically risk ever more stringent regulations being accompanied by persistent non-compliance. To address the underlying issues, significant attention of both policy and practice must be paid to the formation, implementation and enforcement of building energy regulations, as well as to the training and education in building practices.


What is masculinity? Drawing on psychoanalysis and an understanding of ideology, Easthope shows how the masculine myth forces men to try to be masculine and only masculine, denying their feminine side. In an original contribution to the understanding of gender, he analyzes masculinity as it is represented in a wide range of mass media --films, television, newspapers, pop music, and pop novels. Why are two men in a John Wayne western more concerned with each other than with the women in their lives? Is aggressive male banter a sign that men hate or love each other? Why does a jealous man always have to see his rival? Written in lively, witty, and accessible style, What a Man's Gotta Do is certain to become controversial but essential reading.


Despite facing threat of extirpation in the eastern Pacific, the critically endangered leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) appears to be thriving in the Atlantic. The purpose of my dissertation was to establish a baseline of biological data for the leatherback at the northern limit of its nesting range in the northwestern Atlantic (Florida) to inform management. From six years of empirical field data collected on nesting female leatherbacks, I addressed four major objectives of the Federal (US) Recovery Plan for the east coast of Florida. 1) I determined the rate of increase in observed nest numbers since standardized nest surveys began in 1979. From these data collected at 70 beaches and using a multilevel modeling approach, I found a dramatic increase of 11.3 ± 1.9% each year in the number of nests. 2) By tagging and recapturing individual females as well as marking nests for inventories at one high‐density nesting beach, I determined several critical population parameters. The annual survival rate was 95.6% for nesting females and the yearly nesting population size was 71 ± 23 turtles at my Juno Beach study site (19.4 km); statewide the estimate will be higher. The average remigration interval was 2.2 +/‐ 0.5 years, clutch frequency was 4.1 +/‐ 0.9 nests/season, and the average clutch size was 69.0 +/‐ 18.2 eggs/female. 3) I used novel GPS tags and conventional tag returns to discover the full nesting range and true clutch frequency of individual turtles. Leatherbacks in Florida exhibit weak nest site fidelity by nesting at v broad spatial scales, distributing at least five nests within a single season up to 139.8 km from first encounter. 4) Finally, I used microsatellites and mtDNA to determine the relatedness of leatherbacks in Florida and found few family groupings, indicating that this rookery has been established through immigration and not through a founding event, as there is no evidence of a genetic bottleneck. Although the Florida population is relatively small compared to other Caribbean mainland rookeries, it has the potential to contribute to further increases of leatherbacks in the Atlantic as well as contributing genetic variation, thereby achieving objectives of the US Recovery Plan. vi


The Sales Comparison Method (SCM) is the most widely used method of property valuation; particularly for residential properties. With transaction data becoming more and more accessible, the trend of using Comparison Method will continue; the valuation of commercial properties is expected to also use this method. However, SCM is
criticised for its subjectivity with inconsistent prediction; SCM procedure relies too much on the expert judgment of the valuer such that the value of property varies between valuers. This paper puts forward a proposal for an alternative technique using SCM that will minimise subjectivity in property value prediction with reduced
complexity.
 The aim of this research is to develop a formal automated procedure of the Sale Comparison Method for double storey terrace house. The conceptual procedure was developed by examining peer research, Malaysian Valuation Standard, a standard in use throughout the Valuation and Property Services Department in Malaysia. The research uses this conceptualisation to examine the extent to which a formal procedure can be developed for double storey terrace. Taman Daya and Bandar Mahkota Cheras were chosen due to substantive data in that locality. The conceptualisation translated into an alternative technique follows three steps of property valuation. For the comparable selection, Minkowski metric is used for selecting the best comparable, then Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression model is used for adjustment of the comparable and lastly weighting strategies for comparable reconciliation.
 Seven years data of double storey terrace houses is empirically tested using the alternative procedure and it is found that for 10% estimation range the accuracy of
valuation is between 51% and 93% while for 20% estimation range the accuracy of valuation is between 76% and 97%. The finding satisfied the 10% acceptable range specified by the technical circular of the Valuation Department therefore the result obtained proved that the proposed procedure can be accepted for single valuation purposes. The proposed technique closely resembles the existing procedure to gain the confidence of valuers; however, tasks that require judgments from valuers are substituted with statistical methods. This technique avoids the often criticised
complexities of the new SCM variants. Integration of this formal implementation with Geographic Information System (GIS) resulted of an automated valuation model (AVM). AVM is more accurate and less human bias also can reduce cost of operation and can realized quick valuation compared to valuation exercised manually.


Purpose Calls for doctors to enter management are louder as the benefits of medical leadership become clearer. However, supply is not meeting demand. This study asks doctors (physicians): what might encourage you to go into leadership, and what are the disincentives? The same was asked about leadership training. First, the paper tries to understand doctors' motivation to lead, specifically, to explore the job characteristics that act as incentives and disincentives. Second, the study points to organisational obstacles that further shrink the medical leadership pipeline. Method Doctors were surveyed through the Organization of Danish Medical Societies. Our key variables included: (1) the incentives and disincentives for doctors of going into leadership and management and (2) the motivation to participate in leadership training. Our sample of 3534 doctors (17% response) is representative of the population of doctors in Denmark. Findings The main reason why doctors are motivated towards leadership is to make a difference. They are put off by fears of extra administration, longer hours, burnout, lack of resources and by organisational cultures resistant to change. However, doctors are aware of their need for leadership development prior to entering management. Practical implications To improve succession planning, health systems should adapt to reflect the incentives of their potential medical leaders. Leadership training is also essential. These changes are especially important now; medical leaders are linked positively to organisational and patient outcomes and have been central in responding to COVID-19, stress and burnout among clinical staff continues to rise, and health systems face recruitment and retention challenges.


This article reviews the concept of an energy technology innovation system (ETIS). The ETIS is a systemic perspective on innovation comprising all aspects of energy transformations (supply and demand); all stages of the technology development cycle; and all the major innovation processes, feedbacks, actors, institutions, and networks. We use it as an analytical framework to describe key features and drivers of energy innovation. A global snapshot of the ETIS is provided using investments as the main indicator. Rationales for government policy in energy innovation are discussed, and policy design guidelines for an effectively functioning ETIS are presented. The proposed guidelines are based on a survey of the literature and empirical case studies; they diverge substantially from polices implied by partial perspectives on innovation. Key research, information, and data needs are also identified.


Auditory system functions, from peripheral sensitivity to central processing capacities, are all at risk from a blast event. Accurate encoding of auditory patterns in time, frequency, and space are required for a clear understanding of speech and accurate localization of sound sources in environments with background noise, multiple sound sources, and/or reverberation. Further work is needed to refine the battery of clinical tests sensitive to the sorts of central auditory dysfunction observed in individuals with blast exposure. Treatment options include low-gain hearing aids, remote-microphone technology, and auditory-training regimens, but clinical evidence does not yet exist for recommending one or more of these options. As this population ages, the natural aging process and other potential brain injuries (such as stroke and blunt trauma) may combine with blast-related brain changes to produce a population for which the current clinical diagnostic and treatment tools may prove inadequate. It is important to maintain an updated understanding of the scope of the issues present in this population and to continue to identify those solutions that can provide measurable improvements in the lives of Veterans who have been exposed to high-intensity blasts during the course of their military service.


Background : Ethiopia is amongst the African countries that have received significant food aid. Nonetheless, the common micronutrient deficiencies among food aid beneficiaries are not well documented. Objective : To find out the common micronutrient deficiencies among food aid beneficiaries in the country based on available data. Methods : Literature search was made from the Internet, peer-reviewed journals, various agency reports, national survey data, books, handouts and Masters in Public Health (MPH) theses since the year 2000.  Micronutrient status information for food aid beneficiaries came mainly from studies in refugee/emergency settings, with very few published studies found documenting the nutritional status of non-emergency situations. The information obtained from the above mentioned sources was grouped under the major common micronutrient deficiencies in tabular forms that included the site where the study was conducted, subjects included in the assessment, sample size used, indicators used (clinical, biochemical and dietary) and the findings. Results : Vitamin A and iron deficiencies were the most prevalent micronutrient deficiencies among food aid beneficiaries. Other probable deficiencies prevailing were zinc, vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, niacin folate, cyano-cobalamine, ascorbic acid vitamin D and calcium because of the low intake of dairy products and meat. In some cases, food aid rations provided insufficient quantity and quality of micronutrients, particularly when food aid was a major food source. Some logistic and budgetary constraints were reported as an impediment to assess the micronutrient status of the beneficiaries in field settings. Conclusion : Although the most important deficiencies are identified, the information cannot be generalized to all beneficiaries as their conditions and the types of food donated in emergencies could vary from place to place and therefore the findings should be interpreted contextually. The logistic problem documented underlines the need for seeking collaboration with research institutes and other government agencies whose interests fall in such undertakings. Furthermore, simple dietary assessment, anthropometric measurements and examination of clinical signs need to be considered in the future to assess the major micronutrient deficiencies. [Ethiop J Health Dev. 2011;25(3):222-229]


Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of energy modulated photon radiation therapy (EMXRT) using Monte Carlo simulations of photon beams of various energies. Methods: An EMXRT plan was generated for a prostate cancer patient treated with 10‐MV 5‐field intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) optimized using Eclipse treatment planning system. Based on beam characterization of a Varian Clinac with EGS4/BEAM Monte Carlo code, multiple source models were first generated to represent the photon beams with energy of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 and 15 MV, respectively. Optimal beam energy was then selected based on the effective path‐length in the patient via ray‐tracing for each beam angle. An inverse planning system based on gradient search algorithm was used to optimize photon beam intensity of various beam energies with pre‐simulated Monte Carlo pencil beam dose distributions in patient anatomy. Finally, both EMXRT and IMRT plans were simulated with EGS4/MCSIM for 3D dose distributions in patient and compared. Results: Based on different path‐lengths, 5, 6 and 10 MV photons were chosen in our EMXRT plan with lower energy photons used for shorter path‐lengths. DVH analysis indicated that the target coverage in EMXRT plan was less uniform with Dmax and Dmin at 111.6% and 92.6% of prescription dose, respectively, as compared to 106.2% and 97.8% in regular IMRT plan. On the other hand, critical structures were much more spared in EMXRT plan than in IMRT plan, with 32% dose reduction in rectum and 40% reduction in bladder, respectively. The integral dose to the surrounding normal tissues was significantly reduced by 56% in EMXRT plan. Conclusion: This work demonstrates the potential of this Monte Carlo based tool for investigating the feasibility and desirability of EMXRT. Further investigation on more complex tumor sites such as head and neck cancer are now in progress.


We believe that TMAP [The Texas Medication Algorithm Project] is the first large-scale use of medication algorithms, Rush said, "certainly in a community mental health setting. A project like this may help to lay the groundwork for improved public mental health treatment here and in other states as well." Medication algorithms, according to the project directors, consist of "a series of treatment steps, each of which is defined in turn by the clinical response of the patient to the preceding step."


The Jaccard index, also referred to as the intersection-over-union score, is commonly employed in the evaluation of image segmentation results given its perceptual qualities, scale invariance – which lends appropriate relevance to small objects, and appropriate counting of false negatives, in comparison to per-pixel losses. We present a method for direct optimization of the mean intersection-over-union loss in neural networks, in the context of semantic image segmentation, based on the convex Lov´asz extension of sub-modular losses. The loss is shown to perform better with respect to the Jaccard index measure than the traditionally used cross-entropy loss. We show quantitative and qualitative differences between optimizing the Jaccard index per image versus optimizing the Jaccard index taken over an entire dataset. We evaluate the impact of our method in a semantic segmentation pipeline and show substantially improved intersection-over-union segmentation scores on the Pascal VOC and Cityscapes datasets using state-of-the-art deep learning segmentation architectures.


Case Study About Role of Old fellow in child therapy which stres more expressed at feeling
affection for child, with existence of what a pitying child will be more feel to be protected and
have attention of itself old fellow. People only can give motivation and motivation to be child is
spirit to learning and protected from stres.
Most natural child of stres resulted by value of standart UAN which from year to year its value
excelsior. And make child have to pursue determined value. Without seeing the condition of
environmental condition and child of school of is existence of difference between a town and
countryside. But no matter to all important government is to reach value of standart determined
can be graduate from UAN.
This study is conducted to know role of old fellow in child therapy which a stres face UAN. Data
Research obtained to through three way of that is ( 1) Interview to conducted by researcher with
a few child old fellow which a stres.(2)Observasi of condition of and environmental atmosphere
about residence. (3) Documentations to look for student old fellow addresss of student in SMK
Muhammadiyah 2 Malang to conduct this research.
Role of old fellow in more child therapy use communications a street step or transaction to old
fellow with child. Making old fellow more is knowing of child behaviour and condition in
everyday life. And desire grow friendliness atmosphere in have family to very meaning to itself
family and child it is of course.
Result of study indicate that role of old fellow in child therapy which a stres face in UAN there
are some conducted by a matter is old fellow for example as follows : Process conducted by old
fellow to be its child protected from stres. That is day evenings child a) when a child wishing to
learn as a old ought to accompanies it in learning, although only limited to accompanying better
again, if old fellow can understand Iesson will studied by the the child and also can assist child if
indigent child master Iesson old fellow b) well as child require help, should be able to give
required help is child, though do not as a whole have earned to make child like of given by help
is old fellow. c) When shaking together with child as a is old of discussion do not be
concentrated on the problem of just old fellow but also concerning problem of which is facing
child and ought to also old fellow can make house become balmy and also child more forbear
staying play at at home. d) As a old if child at the time of its time learn, to be given by
congeniality of its moment learn and also old fellow so child wish to learn better always give
motivation to the spirit of learning and accompanying it learn. And Result of which is obtained
from therapy conducted by old fellow at its natural child of stress there is two kinds of result of
that is : Satisfied old fellow because therapy proes which is succeed and its child of diffraction
therapy having taken steps again have activity to or return normal like is ready while one who
dissatisfy to be caused by there is no obtained by efficacy him is old fellow in conducting its
therapy.


Test-retest stability of electrodermal (EDA) variables indexing both general autonomic arousal (e.g., skin conductance level, number of nonspecific skin conductance responses) and attention to external stimuli (e.g., number of skin conductance orienting responses, electrodermal responder/nonresponder status) was assessed in 71 young, recent-onset schizophrenia patients and 36 demographically matched normal subjects. Significant stability over a 1-year period was found for both patients and normal subjects for most EDA variables and for responder/nonresponder status, with test-retest correlations generally being higher for normal subjects. The lower reliability for patients was not attributable to symptomatic fluctuations during the follow-up period and may reflect poorer arousal regulation among the patients. Among measures of responding to nontask stimuli, a simple count of the number of orienting responses occurring was more stable than was a traditional trials-to-habituation measure.


We give an improved explicit construction of highly unbalanced bipartite expander graphs with expansion arbitrarily close to the degree (which is polylogarithmic in the number of vertices). Both the degree and the number of right-hand vertices are polynomially close to optimal, whereas the previous constructions of Ta-Shma, Umans, and Zuckerman (STOC "01) required at least one of these to be quasipolynomial in the optimal. Our expanders have a short and self-contained description and analysis, based on the ideas underlying the recent list-decodable error-correcting codes of Parvaresh and Vardy (FOCS "05). Our expanders can be interpreted as near-optimal "randomness condensers," that reduce the task of extracting randomness from sources of arbitrary min-entropy rate to extracting randomness from sources of min-entropy rate arbitrarily close to 1, which is a much easier task. Using this connection, we obtain a new construction of randomness extractors that is optimal up to constant factors, while being much simpler than the previous construction of Lu et al. (STOC "03) and improving upon it when the error parameter is small (e.g. 1/poly(n)).


Whereas some previous microeconometric evidence suggests that wage setters in South Africa are highly responsive to external local labour market circumstances, this is not corroborated by macroeconomic studies. This question is interrogated again, with particular attention to methodological issues in wage curve estimation. The latter is a robust negative relationship between individuals' wages and local unemployment rates, found in most countries, except where bargaining is highly centralized. Adding time variation to the micro data allows controls for spatial heterogeneity to be introduced, leading to the conclusion that wages are really inflexible in the short-run. Rather, the trade-off between wages and local unemployment that previous work has found represents a long-run spatial pattern. This finding is robust to instrumentation for reverse causality and the measurement error that is associated with choosing incorrect labour market demarcations. Additionally, this paper disputes the notion that very small geographic regions are appropriate to define "local" labour markets. Specifically, former magisterial districts appear to be smaller than the functional regions for which wage setters take labour market information into account. District councils tend to offer the most appropriate definitions. This concurs with the fact that collective bargaining councils "galvanise" smaller areas into larger wage setting regions, encompassing multiple magisterial districts. The role of bargaining councils is further investigated, with wage curve elasticities tending to be significantly negative for wage setters that work in the small firm, non-unionised sector. This points to the fact that the short-run inflexibility that is found overall is driven by sub-samples of larger firms with high concentrations of unionised workers. This section of the labour market appears to be insulated from the pressures of high unemployment in the short run.


Peptidomimetics can function as highly specific, targeted treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus without generalized immunosuppression. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a relatively common multisystem autoimmune disorder that is characterized by immune-mediated injury to a wide spectrum of organs, including the kidney, central nervous system, and joints. The prognosis can be quite variable, and patients may experience a relatively benign clinical course; however, in some situations patients develop substantial organ failure and rapidly progressive death. Although the exact cause of SLE is unknown, a large body of research has shown that organ damage occurs when pathogenic autoantibodies, particularly those targeting antinuclear proteins such as DNA, activate inflammation in target tissues. The titer of antibodies to DNA in a patient's serum directly corresponds to disease activity, and antinuclear antibodies have also been shown to directly cause kidney damage, which is a major predictor of mortality. Treatment of severe disease includes generalized immunosuppression and medicines that target immune cell subsets such as B cells, the source of pathogenic autoantibodies. Now, a recent study by Bloom et al. presents important, stepwise progress toward the design of a novel blocking peptide that seeks to specifically neutralize pathogenic antibodies to DNA found in lupus patients. In prior work, this group showed that antibodies to DNA from a lupus mouse model and in lupus patients bind not only DNA and kidney tissue, but also cross-react with the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) in neurons. They then use a mouse monoclonal antibody to DNA/NMDAR to establish that a specific target within NMDAR is the consensus peptide sequence DWEYS. Studies by this group and others have shown that the DWEYS peptide could be used as a blocking agent and a potential therapeutic, particularly when coupled with other compounds. This general approach was effective but limited by difficulties in manufacturing the compounds, some of which are immunogenic and have poor oral absorption. In the current study, the authors sought to address these issues by modifying a polyamine scaffold to generate a novel small molecule whose structure was predicted to mimic the properties of the DWEYS peptide. They name this peptidomimetic FISLE-412 and show in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that it can inhibit both a mouse monoclonal antibody to DNA as well as autoantibodies from lupus patients from binding to the DWEYS peptide and to double-stranded DNA. They demonstrate that the inhibition is specific because FISLE-412 was ineffective at preventing binding to histone proteins. They then show that FISLE-412 can prevent autoantibodies of some lupus patients from binding to human renal tissue. In a final demonstration of the in vivo effectiveness of their peptide mimic, they use FISLE-412 in their mouse model of lupus neurotoxicity to prevent antibodies to DNA/NMDAR from causing excitotoxic death of neurons. This study provides exciting preclinical data for the use of peptidomimetics as highly specific, targeted treatments for systemic lupus erythematosus that may have the added advantage of avoiding the generalized immunosuppression often observed with standard therapies. O. Bloom et al., Generation of a unique small molecule peptidomimetic that neutralizes lupus autoantibody activity. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 108, 10255–10259 (2011). [Abstract]


At the time of the Egyptian Revolution in 1952, the population of Egypt was around 22 million. At the end of 2002, it stood at 69 million, and was growing at a rate of 1.33 million a year. What happens to a society that grows so quickly, when the habitable and cultivable land of the country is strictly limited? After the success of Whatever Happened to the Egyptians?, Galal Amin now takes a further bemused look at the changes that have taken place in Egyptian society over the past half century, this time considering the disruptions brought about by the surge in population. Basing his arguments on both academic research and his own personal experiences and impressions, and employing the same light humor and keen sense of empathy as in his earlier work, the author discusses how runaway population growth has not only profound effects on many aspects of society from love and fashion to telephones, the supermarket, and religion but also predictable effects on the economy.


Objectives: There were three main objectives: to
respond to families highlighting a need for sibling
support; to establish need and response from the
siblings; and to reflect on the direct experience
and feelings of the siblings.
Design: The qualitative study ulitised an
individual interview approach.
Method: Seven siblings of disabled children took
part in the sibling support group, whose families
were registered with project within Barnados. The
age range was from eight to 12 years, with a
mixture of males and females. All of the children
had siblings with a learning disability. Openended semi-structured interview questions were
used to interview the participants on three
different occasions over a course of five months.
The questions varied on each occasion
applicable to the purpose of the interview.
Analysis: Thematic analysis was used to
highlight emergent themes and trends within the
participant's answers and was carried out through
open coding by breaking down, examining,
comparing, conceptualising and categorising data
in a line-by-line analysis. Analysis revealed
shifting emotions and perceptions of themselves,
their place in the family and their disabled sibling
throughout attending the support group.
Conclusions: The most significant outcome of
this project is the real establishment of need on
the part of the siblings, with the siblings
themselves directing the group to one of a more
therapeutic focus. Suggestions for further support
for siblings of disabled children are highlighted
including individual counselling opportunities.


9056 Background: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC, neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin) frequently stains strongly for c-KIT (CD-117) expression. We therefore evaluated imatinib mesylate as a treatment for MCC.

METHODS
Eligibility included patients with measurable metastatic or unresectable MCC with CD117 expression by immunostaining. A Zubrod performance status of 0-2, adequate hematologic, renal, and hepatic function was also required. Imatinib 400 mg daily was administered orally in 28-day cycles.

RESULTS
A total of 25 patients were accrued to this trial from 13 institutions, with 6 accrued through Intergroup participation by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Two patients were ineligible (one was found not to express CD117 on central pathology review, and one lacked measurable disease). These 23 patients were included in the analysis. Imatinib was well tolerated with Grade 1 or 2 nausea, diarrhea, and hematologic toxicity as the most frequent side effects. There were no complete responses (0%) and 1 confirmed partial response (4%) in the 23 evaluable patients (4% objective response rate, CI 0 -22%). In addition, stable disease was observed in 3 patients (9, 4 and 3 months). Median progression-free survival was 1 month (95% CI: 1-2 months). Estimated 6 month PFS was 4%. Median overall survival was 5 months (95% CI 2-8 months). The estimated one-year overall survival was 17% (95% CI: 0% - 33%). There were three on-study deaths. All were attributed to tumor progression. One patient achieved a partial response and another had prolonged disease stabilization while receiving treatment. DNA sequencing of c-KIT was performed on tumor tissue from on a non- responding patient and the one patient with long-term stable disease (9 months). Neither demonstrated an activating mutation in c-KIT. Unfortunately, the patient with partial response withdrew consent for the study and DNA sequencing could not be performed.

CONCLUSIONS
The majority of patients progressed rapidly within 1-2 cycles of treatment. The observed progression-free survival and overall survival were not adequate to conclude that this agent was active in advanced MCC. The planned second stage of patient accrual was not opened. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


This paper describes changes over the past 15-20 years in non-income measures of wellbeing?education and health?in Africa. We expected to find, as we did in Latin America, that progress in the provision of public services and the focus of public spending in the social sector would contribute to declining poverty and inequality in health and education, even in an environment of stagnant or worsening levels of income poverty. Unfortunately, our results indicate that in the area of health, little progress is being made in terms of reducing pre-school age stunting, a clear manifestation of poor overall health. Likewise, our health inequality measure showed that while there were a few instances of reduced inequality along this dimension, there was, on balance, little evidence of success in improving equality of outcomes. Similar results were found in our examination of underweight women as an indicator of general current health status of adults. With regard to education, the story is somewhat more positive. However, the overall picture gives little cause for complacency or optimism that Africa has reaped, or will soon reap the potential benefits of the process of globalization.


We present a few recent developments in the field of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). We highlight how open source algorithms and open data formats can be used to rapidly to develop microstructural insight of materials. We include use of AstroEBSD for single pixel based EBSD mapping and conventional orientation mapping; followed by an unsupervised machine learning approach using principal component analysis and multivariate statistics combined with a refined template matching method to rapidly index orientation data with high precision. Next, we compare a diffraction pattern captured using direct electron detector with a dynamical simulation and project this to create a high quality experimental "reference diffraction sphere". Finally, we classify phases using supervised machine learning with transfer learning and a convolutional neural network.


Livelihoods in the Niger River basin rely mainly on rainfed agriculture, except in the dry extreme north. Low yields and water productivity result from low inputs, short growing seasons, dry spells, and excessive water. The overlap of traditional and modern rules impedes secure access to water and investments in agriculture by generating uncertain land tenure. Improved agriculture and water management require technical, sociological, and regulatory changes to address the wider causes of poverty. Illiteracy and poor water quality, both correlated with high infant mortality, are pressing problems. Rapidly increasing population, climatic changes and dam construction contribute to rural vulnerability.


For increasing the quality of life and sustainable improvement, the importance of reaching for drinkable, usable and clean water sources in the 21st century has increased and started to become a significant potential problem to be solved in the World. With today's busy lifestyles, people are often unaware of the amount of water they consume. With the acceleration of modern life, individuals often choose the solution that best suits their time and convenience, rather than optimizing for efficiency and environmental outcomes, since they do not find water-related activities important. Water, which is naturally regarded as an inexhaustible source, is gradually decreasing over time and disappearing day by day. Therefore this research has been planned to determine individuals' water consumption behavior at homes regarding the effective and efficient use of water sources. The sample comprised 654 individuals who resided in Safranbolu, Turkey. Data were collected through a demographic information form, Attitudes Toward Water Use (AtWC), Water Saving Behavior at the Home (WSBQ) and Sustainable Consumption Behavior Scale (SCBs). To determine the factors affecting water saving behavior at the home, correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were employed. Pearson correlation analyses revealed significant positive relationship between sustainable consumption behavior (SCBs) and saving behavior at the home (WSBQ) (r=.43; p<0.01), attitudes toward water use (AtWC) and saving behavior at the home (WSBQ) (r=.24; p<0.01). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis displayed that water saving behavior at home is influences by sustainable consumption behavior and attitudes toward water conservation. The theoretical implication of this study helps to understand the basic concepts of water saving behavior. Keywords: Households, attitudes toward water use, water saving behavior, sustainable consumption behavior