Experimental releases of Atlantic salmon smolts treated with emamectin benzoate (EB) against salmon lice have previously been used to estimate the significance of salmon lice on the survival of migrating smolts. In recent years, the salmon louse has developed reduced sensitivity to EB, which may influence the results of such release experiments. We therefore tested the use of 2 anti-lice drugs: EB was administered to salmon smolts in high doses by intra-peritoneal injection and the prophylactic substance EX (SubEX) was administered by bathing. A third, untreated control group was also established. Salmon were challenged with copepodids of 2 strains of salmon lice (1 EB-sensitive strain and 1 with reduced EB-sensitivity) in mixed-group experimental tanks. At 31 d post-challenge, the numbers of pre-adult lice on treated fish were around 20% compared with the control fish, with minor or no differences between the 2 treatments and lice strains. Both treatments therefore appeared to give the smolts a high degree of protection against infestation of copepodids of salmon lice. However, significantly lower growth of the EB-treatment group indicates that bathing the fish in SubEX is less stressful for smolts than intra-peritoneal injection of EB.


Many real world graphs contain time domain information. Temporal Graph Neural Networks capture temporal information as well as structural and contextual information in the generated dynamic node embeddings. Researchers have shown that these embeddings achieve state-of-the-art performance in many different tasks. In this work, we propose TGL, a unified framework for large-scale offline Temporal Graph Neural Network training where users can compose various Temporal Graph Neural Networks with simple configuration files. TGL comprises five main components, a temporal sampler, a mailbox, a node memory module, a memory updater, and a message passing engine. We design a Temporal-CSR data structure and a parallel sampler to efficiently sample temporal neighbors to form training mini-batches. We propose a novel random chunk scheduling technique that mitigates the problem of obsolete node memory when training with a large batch size. To address the limitations of current TGNNs only being evaluated on small-scale datasets, we introduce two large-scale real-world datasets with 0.2 and 1.3 billion temporal edges. We evaluate the performance of TGL on four small-scale datasets with a single GPU and the two large datasets with multiple GPUs for both link prediction and node classification tasks. We compare TGL with the open-sourced code of five methods and show that TGL achieves similar or better accuracy with an average of 13X speedup. Our temporal parallel sampler achieves an average of 173X speedup on a multi-core CPU compared with the baselines. On a 4-GPU machine, TGL can train one epoch of more than one billion temporal edges within 1-10 hours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that proposes a general framework for large-scale Temporal Graph Neural Networks training on multiple GPUs.


Ground-based microwave radiometers (MWRs) offer the capability to provide continuous, high-temporal resolution observations of the atmospheric thermodynamic state in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) with low maintenance. This makes MWR an ideal instrument to supplement radiosonde and satellite observations when initializing numerical weather prediction (NWP) models through data assimilation. State-of-the-art data assimilation systems (e.g., variational schemes) require an accurate representation of the differences between model (background) and observations, which are then weighted by their respective errors to provide the best analysis of the true atmospheric state. In this perspective, one source of information is contained in the statistics of the differences between observations and their background counterparts (O-B). Monitoring of O-B statistics is crucial to detect and remove systematic errors coming from the measurements, the observation operator, and/or the NWP model. This work illustrates a 1-year O-B analysis for MWR observations in clear sky conditions for an European-wide network of six MWRs. Observations include MWR brightness temperatures (TB) measured by the two most common types of MWR instruments. Background profiles are extracted from the French convective scale model AROME-France before being converted into TB. The observation operator used to map atmospheric profiles into TB is the fast radiative transfer model RTTOV-gb. It is shown that O-B monitoring can effectively detect instrument malfunctions. O-B statistics (bias, standard deviation and root-mean-square) for water vapor channels (22.24–30.0 GHz) are quite consistent for all the instrumental sites, decreasing from the 22.24 GHz line center (~ 2–2.5 K) towards the high-frequency wing (~ 0.8–1.3 K). Statistics for zenith and lower elevation observations show a similar trend, though values increase with increasing air mass. O-B statistics for temperature channels show different behaviour for relatively transparent (51–53 GHz) and opaque channels (54-58 GHz). Opaque channels show lower uncertainties (< 0.8–0.9 K) and little variation with elevation angle. Transparent channels show larger biases (~ 2–3 K) with relatively low standard deviations (~ 1–1.5 K). The Observations minus Analysis TB statistics are similar to the O-B statistics, suggesting a possible improvement to be expected by assimilating MWR TB into NWP models. Lastly, the O-B TB differences have been evaluated to verify the normal-distribution hypothesis underlying variational and ensemble Kalman filter-based DA systems. Absolute values of excess kurtosis and skewness are generally within 1 and 0.5 respectively for all instrumental sites, demonstrating O-B normal distribution for most of the channels and elevations angles.


The objective of this research is to compare the driving performance of young drivers in normal and simulation driving conditions. For this purpose, 31 young drivers aged 20-30 participated in an experimental process including driving both in a driving simulator as well in real traffic condition at an interurban road. A central component of the experimental design was the driving simulator scenario which was programmed in order to simulate with high precision the interurban road task. Proceeding to the statistical analysis, lognormal regression models were developed for the identification of the impact of driving environment (simulated and real road conditions), driver characteristics (mileage, age, gender), as well as driving performance variables (average acceleration, deceleration and standard deviations of them) to average vehicle speed change. Model results reveal that absolute values of drivers' traffic performance vary between simulated and real driving conditions. On the contrary, relative differences of driver behaviour at the two driving environments remain mostly the same. More precisely, speed difference between fast and slow drivers is the same at both driving environments, as the speed difference is also the same at the two driving environments between drivers conversing or not conversing to the passenger. Research results allow a clear view of the extent and manner in which driving conditions in conjunction with driver's characteristics affect driving performance. Thus, they provide with a substantiated explanation for the reliability of the particular simulator measurements.


This study was about pupils" perceptions on corporal punishment in enhancing discipline in primary schools in Tanzania. The study aimed at: determining pupils" perceptions on the usefulness of CP in enhancing their learning discipline in primary schools: finding out pupils" perceptions on CP in shaping their behaviours in primary schools, and identifying pupils" perceptions on CP in enhancing pupil"s self-control in the society. The study used 120 respondents from five primary schools based at Kawe ward in Kinondoni district in Dar es Salaam. Primary data was collected through questionnaire and interview. The data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The study found that CP was common in primary schools. It was used as mean of controlling pupils. It was further found that most pupils accepted that CP helped them to reach their goals academically. Again, CP was perceived as essential to safeguard innocent pupils against cruel ones. Furthermore, it was found that CP could control pupils" behaviour although there was no significant evidence that CP build confidence among pupils. Again it was found that the application of CP had positive impact to pupils in order to make them behave well in their society. The study recommended that the government should make sure that the implementation of CP in primary schools adheres to the laws stipulated. Again, teachers should not use CP excessively and as a way of terrifying pupils. Furthermore, the society must work very closely between their children and teachers so that wherever CP is applied brings positive impact to the pupil concerned.


That public administration education must play a key role to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Philippines is the central argument of this article. It argues that since the general program of action articulated in MDGs is grounded on the successful implementation of administration and governance reforms, it is only necessary for the MDGs to be formally introduced to the teaching and learning processes of schools of public administration in the country. Consequently, the article seeks to suggest what Philippine public administration schools can and should do to support actions related to MDGs. It also aims to examine how the academic curricula for teaching public administration may be strengthened to develop competencies for institutional and organizational development towards the achievement of MDGs.


Abstract A new space-angle multigrid technique has been developed to accelerate the free inner transport iterations based upon the method of characteristics (MOC). We present a two-level scheme that consists of a fine level on which the MOC transport calculation is performed and a more coarsely discretized phase-space in which a low-order problem is solved as an acceleration step. A flux-volume homogenization technique is employed to define the coarse-level cross sections. This entails the nonlinearity of the scheme. Restriction and prolongation operators are defined between the two levels. After each fine transport iteration, a low-order transport problem is iteratively solved on the homogenized grid. A coarser angular representation is used within an MOC-like framework. Discontinuity factors are employed to reconstruct the scalar incoming and outgoing currents on each region of the coarse discretization. The solution of the aforementioned low-order problem is used to correct the angular moments of the flux resulting from the previous free transport sweep. A complete description of the low-order operator and of the grid-to-grid transfer operators is given. A further application of the method to the acceleration of outer transport iterations is also presented. In order to test the effectiveness of this method, numerical tests for given benchmark geometries have been performed. Results are discussed.


Hedges are expressions used to communicate the speaker's weak commitment to
information conveyed; i.e. by hedging, speakers may moderate the assertive force of
their utterances. They include sentence adverbials such as probably and technically,
adjectives such as regular and typical, particles such as ne and kedo in Japanese etc.
Hedges crosscut parts of speech and therefore do not form a natural syntactic class.
This thesis argues that existing analyses of hedging devices fall short of full
adequacy and presents a Relevance-theoretic account.
In Chapter 1, I argue that hedging is a pragmatic phenomenon as the effect may be
derived via features of the ostensive stimulus other than encoded linguistic content;
e.g. the speaker can communicate her weak commitment by using certain prosodic
features, facial expressions, shoulder shrugging etc. Discussions of hedging often
arise in sociolinguistic contexts. However, I argue that the moderation of social
relations such as the consideration of politeness is not its intrinsic function. The
inadequacy of existing analyses I point out in Chapter 1 is due to the lack of a
sufficiently articulated pragmatic framework, and for this reason, I turn to Relevance
theory.
In Chapter 2, I outline Relevance theory which provides a cognitively based
explanation of communication. The theory makes rigorous distinctions between
encoded meaning and inferred meaning, between the explicit and implicit content of
an utterance, between descriptive and interpretive representations, etc. which provide
the concepts necessary to isolate the semantics of the hedging devices as I explain in
Chapters 3 and 4.
In Chapter 3 and 4, I propose Relevance-theoretic analyses of particular English and
Japanese expressions, which appear regularly in the literature on hedging. I try to
capture the intrinsic semantic content of these elements and show how the familiar
hedging effects arise as a result of the interaction between this encoded content, the
particularities of context and considerations of relevance.


The purpose of the study was to construct an adolescent resiliency model. The determinants in
the relationship of resilience to coping skills, acculturation and protective factors were also
identified. A sample of 510 adolescent students from government-aided schools (premier, elite,
religious) in east coast state in the Peninsular Malaysia participated in the study. The students
were from low socio-economic background, living in challenging conditions deficient in
modern facilities, and exposed to adversity and risks. In spite of that, these students have shown
academic excellence. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to identify resiliency among
students in government-aided schools, (ii) to determine the role of protective factors (religion,
core convictions, and spirituality) as moderators between resiliency and coping skills as well as
protection against stress and difficulty, (iii) to determine the relationship between resiliency and
coping skills, acculturation, and protective factors. A model was constructed through Structure
Equation Modeling (SEM) based on empirical data to show and clarify the relationships among
the factors under study. The model was later tested to determine if there was a fit with the data.
Data were collected using questionnaires through survey methodology. SPSS programme was
used to analyze the data, AMOS for model construction, and SmartPLS to generate moderation.
The findings of the study indicate that there was a positive and significant relationship between
resiliency and coping skills as well as protective factors. On the other hand, there was a
negative relationship between resiliency and acculturation. The resulting analysis of SEM indicates that the model has a fit with all the four sets of independent variables ( χ² = 110.671, N= 510, P < 0.05, GFI= 0.965, AGFI= 0.939, TLI= 0.943, CFI= 0.961, RMSEA= 0.054, CMIN/DF= 2.459). The findings of the study also indicate that the protective factors were moderating coping skills and resiliency. The model which was also tested on gender and school types and locations shows that these differences were not significant. The findings of this study suggest that an intervention programme can be incorporated in the teaching and learning activities based on coping skills and resiliency. The outcome of the study also indicates that there are some important issues to be considered such as protective factors based on religion, core beliefs and spirituality which could enhance resiliency amongst adolescent students. Finally, the results of this study suggest that there should be a revision of items in the Adolescent Resiliency Attitude Scale (ARAS), and focus should be directed on psychometric analysis and other scales in research on resiliency. The findings from this study benefit students, parents, schools, the Ministry of Education, and society at large with regards to the importance of focusing on development and revival of children who have been exposed physically and emotionally to adversity and stressful situations. Adolescent students who possess high resiliency and coping skills are able to become knowledgeable generation with conviction, sincerity, and self-confident. Consequently, the nation will be able to generate first class human capital who will be the driving forces and leaders of the future in various disciplines.


An alternative approach to the heap leaching of copper sulfide minerals involves the use of chloride ions as the lixiviant. The facile oxidation of copper(I) ions in a chloride system by atmospheric oxygen offers an alternative to bio-oxidation of iron(II) in the sulfate system. In the chloride system, it is well-known that both copper(II) and iron(III) ions can act as the oxidants for these minerals. However, regeneration of these species by oxidation with dissolved oxygen is required and this is possible in a sulfate system by the use of bacterially catalysed oxidation of iron(II). However, in the chloride system, re-oxidation of copper(I) and iron(II) ions can only economically be achieved by chemical reaction with dissolved oxygen. The kinetics of the reduction of dissolved oxygen by iron(II) and copper(I) in acidic chloride solutions have been previously studied with the former being considerably slower than the latter. This paper will focus on the kinetics of the copper-catalysed reaction of iron(II) with dissolved oxygen. It will be shown that this reaction can be described in terms of the rapid equilibrium Fe(II) + Cu(II) ⇆ Fe(III) + Cu(I) followed by relatively rapid auto-oxidation of copper(I). The inhibiting effect of iron(III) ions in terms of the above equilibrium is demonstrated and the effects of acidity and chloride ion concentration on the rate described. An overall kinetic model has been developed which is consistent with the published data on the individual reactions involved in this mechanism. The application of this model to the prediction of maximum possible leach rates for copper sulfide minerals in aerated systems under ambient conditions is discussed.


This paper presents the study on Wavelet transform based Multicarrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) system for a downlink wireless channel. The performance of the system is studied for Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel (A WGN) and slowly varying multipath channels. The bit error rate (BER) versus Signal to Noise ratio (SNR) is used as a performance measure using simulation done on computer. Comparison of the simulated results with the theoretical limit of a BPSKmoduiated signal shows that this system performs near the theoretical limit for both A WGN and slowly varYing Flat fading channel. Also, a comparison with the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) based system was made for A WGN channel and the result shows that even in the absence of a guard interval, the wavelet based system performs equally with the DFT.


The primary purpose of this paper is to update and extend past promotion benchmarking studies. We update prior benchmarking studies by providing publication benchmarking data for faculty promoted between 2013 and 2019, inclusive. We extend prior benchmarking studies by evaluating a larger number of institutions (the top 200 worldwide accounting institutions), using a more global journal list, and providing sensitivity analyses between journal lists. We group institutions based on rankings and report a possible minimum publication hurdle for each group in each journal category. In addition, we provide data on the mix, or percentage, of publications in each journal category for each institution ranking group.


This paper examines conflicting assessments of whether people will have adequate retirement income to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living. The studies that it examines use data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), and the HRS supplement Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS). Critical components of the analysis are behavioral assumptions about household consumption patterns when children leave home and when households retire. A key limitation is that the behavioral assumptions in the different studies are based on incomplete knowledge of actual household behavior. The paper found that: A simple – assumption-free – calculation of wealth to income by age clearly indicates that households retiring in the future will be less prepared than those in the past. Studies showing that households are saving optimally hinge crucially on assumptions that people are willing to accept declining consumption as they age and that they sharply reduce their consumption when the children leave home. While other studies have found consumption does not decline early in retirement, new analysis suggests that many will be unable to maintain this pace over their full retirement. The policy implications of the findings are: Households are more likely than not to be falling short in their retirement preparedness. Such shortfalls should be taken into consideration as policymakers discuss options for reforming Social Security. To bolster retirement preparedness, policymakers may want to consider ways to encourage more private saving, such as requiring 401(k)s to adopt auto-enrollment and auto-escalation policies and to apply these policies to current workers as well as new hires.


A new method for post-detection compensation of atmospheric distortions of images of faint scenes has been outlined and initially tested. A sequence of short exposure (0.01 to 0.1 sec) visible light images is processed in terms of the statistics of the Fourier transform amplitudes. A "master image" is derived that is iteratively compared with each image (in Fourier space) so as to align the set of images on the basis of features in the scene. Aperture synthesis can be used to decrease aperture redundancy since the alignment uses only Fourier amplitudes that are prominent in the joint set of master image and the raw image sequence. The master image has an effective point spread function (PSF) comparable to the best PSF in the sequence but the phases are strongly quieted by the statistics of large numbers if 30 or more images are spread over a time interval of 15 or more sec. Thus spatial frequencies in excess of 1 cycle per arcsec may yield reliable photometry after correction for contrast loss and telescope aberrations. The degree of enhancement may be optimized, based on a separation of signal and noise in the data so that noise may be estimated. At faint levels quantum noise is severe. Since that noise is correlated with signal, the noise spectrum is not white but falls with increasing spatial frequency.


Introduction: Work-related asthma (WRA) is thought to be the most common occupational lung disease in the U.S., but there is no standard case definition of WRA. Most states, including Virginia, do not require WRA diagnoses to be reported to health departments. At present, there is too little epidemiological data on WRA in Virginia to direct public health planning efforts. Objectives: The first objective of this study was to estimate potential exposure to workplace asthma triggers in each of Virginia's 35 health districts. The second objective was to examine associations at the health district level between workplace asthma triggers, other asthma risk factors, and asthma prevalence in Virginia. The third objective was to identify the specific health districts in which workers face the highest risk of WRA. Methods: This ecological study required merging three datasets. Information on weight, age, racelethnicity, income, gender, and histories of asthma diagnosis and smoking was obtained from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and aggregated at the health district level. Information from the Virginia Employment Commission on the location, industry, and number of employees of each business in the state was combined with data on the asthma triggers found nationwide in specific industries to calculate estimates of potential exposure to WRA triggers in each health district. Descriptive, correlational and multiple regression analyses were conducted, and health districts were sorted by asthma prevalence, or number of workplace triggers, or trigger-based multivariate models of WRA risk. Results: On average, there are 50,104 employees potentially exposed to five or more asthma triggers in workplaces per health district. The number of ever-diagnosed adult asthmatics was highly correlated with the number of workplace asthma triggers in a health district, as well as with all demographic and behavioral risk factors. A linear regression model including number of workplace triggers, number of obese adults, and number of adults with incomes below 200% of poverty accounted for 84% of the variance in health district asthma prevalence. There was little overlap (2 health districts) between the set of highest-risk health districts identified by this model and the set identified by a sort on asthma prevalence alone. Conclusion: The findings of this exploratory ecological analysis suggest that the number of asthma cases in a health district may be an insufficient indicator of health district risk of WRA. Additional WRA surveillance and epidemiological research on WRA may be warranted in the health districts shown in this study to be at highest risk of the disease.


Background: Morinda citrifolia (Noni) has been used widely as a comple mentary and alternative therapy in many countries owing to its potent anti oxidant activity and proven health benefits. Traditionally, it finds used as a therapeutic remedy to various diseases as an antibacterial, antitumor, anthelminthic, analgesic, antiinflammatory, immunostimulant. Also it has proved beneficial in conditions like gastritis, skin diseases, respiratory infections, menstrual and urinary tract disorders, fever, diabetes and venereal diseases. Objective: This review emphasizes on the phytochemical and mineral profile of the different parts of Noni plant. In addition, this review corroborates the pharmacological basis for the various health benefits, traditional and medicinal applications of Noni. Materials and Methods: All the available information of Noni were collected from electronic databases such as Academic Journals, Ethnobotany, Ethnopharmacology, Springer, PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct and other primary and secondary sources. Results: According to our search results pertaining to scientific literature, Morinda citrifolia is used for more than 40 types of ailments worldwide. Crude extract of various parts of plant and fruit juice are reported to contain amino acids, anthraquinones, fatty acids, flavonoids, iridoids, lignans, polysaccharides, sterols, sugars, terpenoids etc. which are thera peutically useful for a broad range of pathological conditions. Fourteen human clinical trials have validated the remarkable health benefits of Noni. Conclusion: Literatures prove that Noni is pharmacologically active and is used in different forms of cancer, viz. colon, esophageal, breast, colorectal cancers; cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, hypertension. These properties are substantiated by the preclinical or/and clinical investigations.


PURPOSE
To predict prostate Gleason score (Gleason score >6) using neural network and multi-parametric MRI.

METHODS
This study included 17 radical prostatectomy patients who underwent in-vivo multi-parametric MRI: Diffusion weighted images (DWI), T2-Mapping, dynamic-contrast enhanced (DCE) images, and MR spectroscopy (MRS) prior to surgery. The prostate gland was transversely sectioned and each tissue slice was radially divided into 8 sections. Two hundred thirty one of these sections were examined by a pathologist and a Gleason score was graded individually. For each section, distributions of corresponding parameters extracted from MRI images were used in our analysis. These parameters included the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) from DWI, T2-map, forward volume transfer constant (Ktrans) from DCE, and MRS. The mean and standard deviation of the ADC, T2-map, Ktrans, and their 95th, 90th, 10th, and 5th percentile values were derived from their distributions. A feed-forward neural network was constructed using a growth algorithm. In this method, among the above variables, only the variables which increased the model performance were selected as input features of network. The network model was validated using a five-fold cross-validation Method: data were randomly divided into 5 groups of approximately equal size; four groups of data were used to train network and the remaining one was used to test the network, in turn. The model performance was evaluated with area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve.

RESULTS
MRS, mean value of 90th percentage of Ktrans, mean and standard deviation of 10th percentage of ADC, and mean of 10th percentage of T2-map were five predictors selected by the neural network model. The area under the ROC curve was 0.77 for cross-validation data (sensitivity=72%, specificity=71%).

CONCLUSION
Prostate Gleason score can be accurately predicted using multi-parametric MRI and a neural network model. This provides a non-invasive way to identify the prostate cancer aggressiveness.


The purpose of this study was to examine mothers' experiences of the care provided to their child with a life-limiting illness. This study explored mothers' experiences in finding, accessing, and providing care for their children and their perceptions of gaps, barriers, and strengths in care for their children. As a secondary focus, this study looked at how these mothers understand pediatric palliative care. A qualitative descriptive design was used to explore the experiences of six mothers caring for children with life-limiting illnesses in urban areas of Ontario and Quebec. Mothers shared their experiences through in-person interviews. Findings revealed that the experience of caring for a child with a life-limiting illness was overwhelming in nature for mothers in terms of finding, accessing, and providing care. Mothers expressed the overwhelming nature of the experience around three themes: (1) realizing the strengths and barriers of the health care system, (2) long-term caregiving and coping, and (3) advocacy. Experiencing the gaps and barriers and having to advocate for their own children led mothers to want to make change and give back so that other families would not have to face the same gaps and barriers as they had. Findings also revealed that mothers had diverse understandings of pediatric palliative care that had developed through their understanding of their own child's illness and lifespan; adult palliative care; professionals' communication about pediatric palliative care; and other experiences with pediatric palliative care, such as interacting with other families with a child with a life-limiting illnesses. Recommendations for change are made and areas for future research are identified.


Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked, relentlessly progressive muscle wasting disorder, caused by mutations in the DMD gene that compromise function of dystrophin, a sub sarcolemmal protein. DMD has a predictable course and limited treatment options, with the majority of cases being caused by frame-shifting deletions of one or more of the 79 exons of DMD. Deletions that do not disrupt the dystrophin open reading frame generally cause the milder allelic disorder, Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Antisense oligomer (AO)-mediated splicing manipulation can remove specific exons during transcript processing to reframe the transcript and overcome DMD-causing dystrophin gene lesions to generate shorter, partially functional dystrophin isoforms, and is showing promise as a therapy for DMD. Dystrophin gene structure in patients with mild phenotypes can provide templates for potentially functional dystrophin isoforms. However, such mutations downstream of exon 55 are rare, and the probable consequences of AO-induced exon removal in this region are not known. We report that systemic administration of antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer-cell penetrating peptide conjugates to wild-type C57BL/10ScSn mice can remove dystrophin exons to generate in vivo dystrophic models for molecular, physiological and pathology evaluation. Exclusion of selected exons within the beta dystroglycan and syntrophin binding domains is elucidating the relative importance of these regions to dystrophin function, and may provide guidelines for the development of therapeutic exon skipping strategies.


The present study attempted to probe into the effects of four planning time conditions (pre-task, extended task, free writing, and control) over the frequency of employing metacognitive strategies in argumentative and expository writings of 108 participants. Employing an experimental writing task design under four planning time conditions and implementing a retrospective questionnaire, both qualitative and quantitative approaches were adopted. Through implementing the retrospective questionnaire, an 8-point Likert-type scale was used and the associated statistical procedures were employed. The results showed that the frequency of the use of Generation of Ideas strategy was significantly higher in the argumentative writings than in the expository writings. The use of Elaboration of Ideas strategy was significantly different from Thinking about Language Aspects strategy and Thinking about the Essay Structure strategy and it was the lowest. The highest strategy use belonged to 'Thinking about Language Aspects strategy', followed by Thinking about the Essay Structure, Generation of Ideas, Organization of Ideas and Elaboration of Ideas strategies respectively. The use of 'Thinking about Language Aspects strategy' in the extended task condition was different from the other groups, and it was the lowest. In 'Thinking about Language Aspects strategy' use no significant differences were observed among argumentative and expository writings. The study can help broaden the understanding of EFL writers' metacognitive writing processes involving planning and, the results may have pedagogical implications for EFL writing instructors and theoretical implications for EFL writing researchers.


The management of violence-related risks on the street invariably relates to individual perceptions of violence amongst street-based sex workers. This paper explores perceptions and experiences of violence amongst street-based sex workers in Wellington and Christchurch. This paper begins with an overview of how risks of violence have been conceptualised and how the diversity of these risks is reflected in the perceptions and experiences of the women interviewed. Some complexities in how these risks were constructed and managed by the women are then explored, including perceptions of the street as a work environment. To conclude, I discuss the significance of these findings in the context of debates on sex worker safety.


The parameters of a species life history and performance do not vary independently. Co-varying traits provide the basis for hypotheses as to how individuals allocate energy, as populations genetically adapt to or phenotypically adjust to different environments. In coral reef fishes, the extent and underlying causes of such patterns across large geographic scales are poorly understood. Intraspecific phenotypic variation may be evident on a broad geographic scale, for example when comparing populations that are geographically isolated or those along a latitudinal cline. Such variation may be the consequence of local genetic variation due to natural selection, and/or it may reflect phenotypic and behavioural plasticity that is largely environmentally determined. Discriminating between these potential causes of local population differentiation is an important goal of evolutionary ecology. This study provides a comprehensive description of geographic life history variation (reproduction, growth, mortality) and performance (swimming ability) in a long-lived group of coral reef fishes (subfamily Amphiprioninae). It presents a unique evaluation of the degree to which life history and performance traits may be coupled, and determines whether these traits are environmentally induced vs. genetically determined by employing an integrated set of common-garden experiments.
Chapter two of this thesis describes a comparative field study that examined latitudinal differences in the life history characteristics of three species of anemonefishes (Amphiprion melanopus, A. akindynos and Premnas biaculeatus) among three locations, including Kimbe Bay in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea (5o30'S/150o05'E), and Lizard Island (14o40'S/145o28'E) and One Tree Island (23o30'S/152o05'E) on the Great Barrier Reef, encompassing 18o of latitude. Life history theory predicts that populations from higher latitudes should exhibit larger adult body sizes, but smaller size at age (i.e. slower growth). Concomitant with slow growth, a delay in sexual maturation is expected, which should be compensated through the fecundity advantage of a larger size and longer lifespan. As predicted, maximum age increased with increasing latitude in all three species. A. melanopus always had a higher maximum age than either A. akindynos or P. biaculeatus at each location, reaching 38 years at the highest latitude location. At this location, A. melanopus also had a larger adult body size, slower growth, lower mortality, greater proportional age and size at maturity and sex change, larger egg size and higher batch fecundity than at either of the lower latitude locations, and thus conformed well to life history theory. For the other two species, maximum body size was smaller at the higher latitude location, there were no differences among locations in growth and mortality rates, and no consistent trends in the timing of maturation or sex change. Thus, while longevity varied with latitude as expected in all three species, some of the other life history traits examined did not. The divergence in magnitude and direction of life history patterns among these species suggests that there are processes beyond simple trade-offs that determine life history strategies. I discuss the hypothesis that in anemonefishes, selection for flexibility in life histories imposed by a highly specialised habitat and rigid social structure may oppose selection over latitudinal environmental gradients.
Geographic variation in life history phenotypes between populations of a species is often assumed to reflect genetic divergence caused by natural selection. The relative contribution of genetic and environmental sources of phenotypic variation has never been determined in coral reef fishes. Yet, distinguishing between these sources of variation is fundamental to understanding the ecological and evolutionary significance of geographic life history variation. A conventional way of demonstrating the genetic basis of adaptive variation in the wild is to perform a common-garden experiment, in which individuals from different local populations are compared under identical environmental conditions established in a laboratory. This approach formed the basis of the following three chapters.
In chapter three I determined whether the latitudinal variation in maternal reproductive traits observed in the wild has a genetic basis or whether it represents a phenotypic response to the environment. Adult fishes of the three species were collected from three latitudes along the Great Barrier Reef (Lizard Island, Britomart Reef at 18o23'S/146o63'E and One Tree Island) and their reproductive performance was monitored in a common-environment for up to 3 years. Based on life history theory and previous field observations I predicted larger egg sizes, but lower egg numbers in populations from higher latitudes. However, size-specific egg size, fecundity and reproductive output did not differ among populations in any of the three species held under identical environmental conditions. Thus, any divergence in these traits observed among natural populations most likely results from environmentally induced plasticity, rather than genetic divergence.
The next chapter describes another common-garden experiment with a full-sib design to examine differences in early growth rates and growth plasticity and among the latitudinal populations described above. Temperature and food availability were manipulated under controlled laboratory conditions to determine whether there is intraspecific variation in growth plasticity in response to these two environmental factors. Given that environmental variability generally increases with latitude I expected that offspring from high-latitude populations should display greater levels of plasticity compared to their low-latitude counterparts. In all three species, mean growth rates differed significantly among populations and were consistent with the co-gradient variation hypothesis (i.e. offspring from low latitudes grew faster than offspring from high latitudes). Demonstrated under common-garden conditions, this implies that population-level variation in the growth capacity of juvenile anemonefishes has a genetic basis and should therefore respond to natural selection. Furthermore, significant genotype x environment interactions suggest the evolution of different growth reaction norms in response to temperature and food availability at different latitudes, although the variation did not always follow the predicted pattern. Overall, these results provide evidence for adaptive genetic differentiation for growth rate and growth plasticity in the early juvenile stages of these latitudinal populations.
Swimming abilities of larval fishes are important to their survival, potentially affecting their ability to avoid predators, obtain food and control dispersal and recruitment patterns. To date, no attempt has been made to quantify geographic and population-level differences in swimming performance of coral reef fishes. The aim of chapter five was to determine if, and to what extent, there is heritable variation for swimming performance among populations of the three anemonefish species across a latitudinal gradient. Flume-based trials were conducted to measure maximum sustainable swimming speeds (or U-crit) as an estimate of aerobic capacity of laboratory-reared pre-settlement larvae. My results confirmed that these fishes have different intrinsic swimming capabilities, such that offspring from high-latitude populations out-performed those from lower latitudes in all three species. These consistent behavioural differences between populations in the laboratory may reflect adaptive specialisation in response to latitudinal changes in coral reef environments. Mean swimming speeds were inversely related to mean body sizes among populations, suggesting that observed patterns may arise from a trade-off with growth rate. This demonstrates that developmental attributes and performance are interrelated in a complex fashion, with multiple selection pressures acting on multiple aspects of the phenotype, and that adaptation involves trade-offs among competing functions.
This study has shown that both phenotypic plasticity and genetic differentiation across environmental gradients may exist for important fitness-related traits in coral reef fishes. The high potential for gene flow and lack of obvious barriers to dispersal in these species does not appear to preclude local adaptation in life history and larval swimming capacity along a latitudinal gradient. These results are significant steps forward in resolving the evolutionary and ecological processes that explain the substantial variation in the life histories and behavioural abilities of coral reef fishes.


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The aim of this study was assessed behavioral responses of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) exposed to some of the environmental factors (temperature and dissolved ammonia). For this purpose, 16 fish in a group control, treating ammonia (treatment 1) and temperature (treatment 2) with four replications was placed in tanks cylindrical volume of 5 l (height 10 cm, diameter section 29 cm) that each tank has a water inlet and outlet, respectively. For all treatments tested to two periods of time (Went and Back) 42 min and a 10-min period (Fixed) were divided. Pattern of fish swimming movements simultaneously from the digital camera (Canon, SX230 Hs, 5.0-70 mm) was recorded. Swimming pattern includes six characteristic average swimming speed, total distance traveled, acceleration level (leap), percentage movements, mean shift displacement and the average distance from the center. Went step includes increasing temperature values of 17°C to 32°C for temperature treatment and ammonia increasing from 0.05 mg/L to 10 mg/L for treatment of ammonia. In contrast, the back step includes reducing values listed to initial amount was. Between swimming patterns of treatment compared with control there was a significant difference (p<0.05). Between swimming patterns of treatment there was significant difference in comparison with each other (pE'0.05). The results of this study suggest that behavioral responses that can be used as early signs of environmental changes.


The South African President delivers a State of the Nation Address every year. In this speech he conveys his opinion on the current state of affairs in the country. Since it is impossible for the President to accommodate all 11 official languages of the country, most of his speech is given in English. A few weeks after the Address, the speech is translated into all 11 languages and can be viewed on the Government's official website. Unfortunately, by that time the Address is considered old news. The country's different media channels report extensively on this speech. These reports can, however, be regarded as much more than simple commentaries on the speech – they are in fact reframed and rewritten versions of the speech that affect, shape and sustain the opinions and ideologies of their readers. These media channels also provide the vehicles through which common links can be established between supporters of the same media to reinforce their belief that they form part of an established community (Bielsa and Bassnett 2009:33). In situations where communication is present or necessary, it is impossible to escape the process or effect of framing, as framing implies "'how speakers mean what they say'" (Tannen and Wallat 1993:60, in Baker 2006:105). Therefore, the presence and effects of framing should never be ignored. In the case at hand, it is through rewriting the President's speech to fit the framework of the particular media channel that framing takes place. Baker (2006:3) supports the integral role framing plays in (intra- or interlingual) translation by introducing the idea that the translated and reformulated narratives that we are exposed to on a daily basis constitute the everyday stories that shape the way we perceive reality. Therefore, it is vital to investigate this process and how it affects both the target text and the target readership. In this exploration of rewritings of the State of the Nation Address, the researchers focus on three different South African publications, and how each uses the same source text to create vastly differing target texts. By catering for their target markets, these publications maintain or shape a specific point of view; by focusing on specific parts of the source text that would interest their readership, they, at the same time, only expose the readers to these sections of the speech, and subsequently frame the readers' perception of the Address, the President, and ultimately, their country.


The jet formation of gas inhomogeneities under the impact of a planar shock wave is an interesting phenomenon that is closely related to shock convergence. In this study, a series of heavy gas inhomogeneities with very simple geometries (square, rectangle, circle, and triangle) are numerically reproduced to trace the source of the jet formation. Special attention is given to the wave patterns that lead to the formation of specific jet forms. The shock-accelerated multicomponent flow is simulated by solving inviscid compressible Euler equations. An up-wind characteristic space-time conservation element and solution element scheme is adopted, and a five-equation model is used to treat the gas interface. The jet types that emerge in the experimental images are explained based on the numerical results, and a typical shock pattern that ensures the jet formation is uncovered. It is found that, physically, the jet is initiated by the impact of the internal Mach stem, and the jet growth is nourished by the high speed gas flow induced by this Mach stem. The width of the jet is determined by the height of the internal Mach stem. Geometrically, a focal wedge enveloped by slip lines emerges in the gas inhomogeneity, in which the gas is accelerated. It is found that the existence of the focal wedge and the coordinates of the wedge tip can be used as qualitative criteria to illustrate the mechanism of the jet formation. These criteria provide a more intuitive basis for understanding the direction, scale, and process of jet formation.The jet formation of gas inhomogeneities under the impact of a planar shock wave is an interesting phenomenon that is closely related to shock convergence. In this study, a series of heavy gas inhomogeneities with very simple geometries (square, rectangle, circle, and triangle) are numerically reproduced to trace the source of the jet formation. Special attention is given to the wave patterns that lead to the formation of specific jet forms. The shock-accelerated multicomponent flow is simulated by solving inviscid compressible Euler equations. An up-wind characteristic space-time conservation element and solution element scheme is adopted, and a five-equation model is used to treat the gas interface. The jet types that emerge in the experimental images are explained based on the numerical results, and a typical shock pattern that ensures the jet formation is uncovered. It is found that, physically, the jet is initiated by the impact of the internal Mach stem, and the jet growth is nourished by the high s...


Libertarians often invoke the principle of self-ownership to discredit distributive interventions authorized by the more-than-minimal state. But if one takes a democratic approach to the justification of ownership claims, including claims of ownership over oneself, the validity of the self-ownership principle is theoretically inseparable from the normative justification of the state. Since the idea of the state is essential to the very assertion (not just the positive enforcement) of the principle of self-ownership, invoking the principle to discredit a distribution of ownership authorized by the state commits libertarians also to weakening that principle's validity. Put differently, appealing to the self-ownership principle to circumscribe the state's power to distribute property is problematic when the state is necessary to assert the validity of that principle. This is because anytime the self-ownership principle is used to undermine a state-based distribution of property it is also implicitly eroding the ground for asserting its own validity.1


Scaffolds of a biodegradable poly(ester amide)constituted of L-alanine, sebacic acid, and 1,12-dodecanediol units (abbreviated as PADAS) were prepared by the
compression-molding/particulate-leaching method. The influence of the type, size, and percentage of salt on the scaffold porosity and morphology was evaluated. The thermal
behavior and crystallinity were also studied for samples obtained under different processing conditions.
PADAS scaffolds were not cytotoxic because they showed good cell viability and supported cell growth at a similar ratio to that observed for the biocompatible materials used as a reference. The use of PADAS scaffolds as a drug-delivery system was also evaluated by the employment of ibuprofen, a drug with well known anti-inflammatory effects. Different drug-loading methods were considered, and their influence on the release in a so¨rensen's medium was evaluated as well as the influence of the scaffold morphology.
A sustained release of ibuprofen could be attained without the production of a negative effect on the cell viability. The
release kinetics of samples loaded before melt processing was well described by the combined Higuchi/first-order model. This allowed the estimation of the diffusion coefficients, which ranged between 3x10‾14 and 5x10‾13 m2/ s. Samples loaded by immersion in ibuprofen solutions showed a rapid release that could be delayed by the addition of polycaprolactone to the immersion medium (i.e., the release rate decreased from 0.027 to 0.015 h‾1).


Pluripotent stem cells (PSC) such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent a potential source for cell therapy, as they are known to differentiate into multiple cell lineages. Since mature cardiomyocytes are known to have extremely limited proliferative capacity, PSC derived adult cardiomyocytes may provide a reliable source of cells for transplantations if large-scale production can be achieved in bioreactors. However, generation of mature cardiomyocytes from PSCs remain a major challenge due to the heterogeneous population of cells obtained following differentiation, therefore limiting their utility. Another challenge that needs attention is obtaining a clinically significant number of cardiomyocytes that could be used for cardiac transplantations.

We need to remember that the differentiation process in vitro is never 100% pure, and the heterogeneous pool of cells obtained post differentiation poses a major hurdle to obtain specific cell types relevant for transplantation studies. In order to address this issue, chapter 3 is dedicated to target the endogenous progenitor cardiac gene Nkx2.5 with a selection cassette comprising of IRES-mCherry-IRES-CMV-IRES-hyg3 using the newly developed TALEN approach. The chapter concludes with successful generation of the left, right TALEN along with the Obligate Ligation-Gated Recombination (ObLiGaRe) donor plasmid that can be used to transfect the ESCs/iPSCs eventually generating cardiac reporter cell lines. The generation of the reporter knock-in cell lines would allow easy identification of the generated cardiomyocytes at their progenitor and mature stages and provide a very simplified method of their purification and enrichment.

Furthermore, the ability of a novel micro bioreactor "Liquid Marble" (LM) to generate cardiomyocytes in vitro was studied intensively in chapter 4. The marble strategy is based on the principle that the culture media suspension drop (comprising ESCs) rolled over a powder bed can prove to be an efficient system to generate embryoid bodies (EBs). Here, in the LM, murine ESCs were allowed to aggregate in suspension for 5 days. Beating cardiac bodies were generated from the EBs obtained from the LM system. Furthermore, the differentiation process was progressively monitored for the expression of cardiac lineage markers by immunocytochemistry and real-time PCR. Cells obtained were analysed for the expression of Gata4, Flk1 and Mef2C (mesendoderm), followed by the expression of Nkx2.5, Mlc-2a, Mlc-2v, cTnT and α-actinin; indicating progression to the progenitor and mature cardiac cells. Immunocytochemistry analysis for Nkx2.5 and cTNT confirmed the generation of cardiac progenitors and mature cardiomyocytes. This study has the potential to set paradigm for future studies by investigating the conditions for developing cardiomyocytes as a starting population for transplantation and also for research and drug discovery. This study was published in a peer review journal Advanced Healthcare Materials, under the title "Cardiogenesis of Embryonic Stem Cells with Liquid Marble Micro-Bioreactor."

Further, I envisaged using murine iPSCs in the similar LM micro-bioreactor to generate cardiomyocytes. Being derived from adult cells, e.g. skin fibroblasts; iPSCs bypass the ethical issues regarding the use of embryonic tissue to cure disease because the starting material can be obtained from the patients themselves. The cardiomyocytes obtained from this system holds a greater promise for transplantation studies as they overcome the major issue of immune-histocompatibility. The results obtained in chapter 5 clearly indicate that LM is not only supporting the culture of iPSCs but it also allows the formation of functional EBs. This was supported by the reverse transcrption (RT-PCR) analysis, where the EBs expressed markers of all the three germ layers, ectoderm (Nestin), mesoderm (Brachyury, Nkx2.5) and endoderm (Gata4, FoxA2). Upon further differentiation, these EBs expressed proteins of cardiac progenitor (Nkx2.5) and mature (cTnT) genes as well as neural progenitor (Nestin) genes as was revealed by the immunocytochemical analysis. Thus, this study holds immense therapeutic potential as it can be used to differentiate patient specific iPSCs that can generate either cardiomyocytes/neurons and these cells once introduced into the patients will help to overcome the immune rejection issues.

Keeping in mind that the differentiated mature cells will be used for clinical applications, it becomes imperative to develop defined and efficient in vitro protocols, which would then provide the stringent levels of safety and quality control making stem cell transplantation therapy realizable. My research outcomes will provide a step up the ladder in the area of cardiac therapy.


The study of the aetiology of periodontal diseases has continued for decades with much progress shown in the last two decades. Having moved through periods of "whole" plaque (with emphasis on mass) being attributed to the disease process, to "specific" species being implicated, we have finally returned to examining the oral microbiota as an ecological niche involving not only a selected few species but looking at plaque as a whole where all the players are invited to participate with their roles no longer individually defined but viewed as a team effort with recognition of their individual strengths and contributions. Recent findings using advanced technology, are confirming findings viewed by electron microscopy nearly half a century ago, but we now have the knowledge and expertise to interpret those findings with deeper understanding. This chapter will attempt to examine the microbial succession within the plaque biofilm from health to disease, bearing in mind the susceptibility of the host, the microbial heterogeneity and the expression of virulence by the putative pathogens.


The manner in which nation states and regions address cybersecurity capacity is essential for effective, efficient, and sustainable cybersecurity. The 2016 Cybersecurity Report is the result of the collaboration between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) at the University of Oxford. The report presents a complete picture and update on the status of cybersecurity (risks, challenges, and opportunities) of Latin America and the Caribbean countries. The first section consists of a series of essays on cybersecurity trends in the region contributed by internationally recognized experts in the field. The second examines the "cyber maturity" of each country through the Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (CMM), which approaches cybersecurity considerations through five dimensions of capacity and evaluates them along five maturity stages for each of its 49 indicators. The CMM is the first of its kind in terms of the breadth and depth in each aspect of cybersecurity capacity. It is built on a foundation of multi-stakeholder consultation and respect for human rights, carefully balancing the need for security to enable economic growth and sustainability while respecting the right of freedom of expression and the right to privacy.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether education and training affect pro-social behavior. Economics students are often accused of being less pro-social. The explanations given are that less pro-social people choose to study economics or that economics studies indoctrinate students to selfish behavior. The paper experimentally tests these postulations. Design/methodology/approach - The paper uses the prisoner's dilemma game and stag hunt game to study cooperation across different groups of students. Findings - The experiment supports neither of the postulations: economics students would be indoctrinated or less pro-social people choose to study economics. However, the study shows that police cadets, who go through an education where teamwork and cooperation is promoted, become more cooperative and pro-social after their completed education. Originality/value - In contrast to earlier studies, this paper does not simply study economics students, but also examines if students in educational programs that promote loyalty and cooperation and encourage teamwork are more pro-social than other students.


As one of the techniques in foreign language teaching, translation is almost forgotten since this technique cannot be able to make the learner use language actively in terms of speaking and listening. Actually, if translation is used properly, it can be applied in teaching foreign language in the classroom. This study is aimed at giving an idea of using translation as the technique through content-based instruction in university or college. Content-based instruction is the teaching which combines the teaching of foreign language skills and teaching a specific content in the specific field. In this study, the use of translation technique is as one of the activities through content-based instruction. It is assumed that learning a foreign language while studying a specific content related to the learner 's field of s tudy will be more useful and interesting. There are two techniques suggested in this paper: translation activities during the teaching learning process in the classroom and translation activities after the classroom teaching. Then, the specific language skills will be the target in this kind of teaching such as: skimming and scanning, reviewing materials being taught, making question as well as answering, summarizing, presenting, and some other skills related to skills needed while studying. It is hoped that students at university level will be more interesting and creative since the teaching of foreign language is related to their field.


Aim:to study the prognostic significance of N-status,pTNM stage,EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor), mTOR(phosphorilated on Ser2442)(mamalian Target Of Rapamycin) protein expression and p70S6 kinase(phosphorilated on Ser411)expression in operated for pulmonary carcinoid tumor patients. Material and methods:Surgically resected specimen (men n=35;women n=42, mean age 48.5±13) from 64typical carcinoid(TC) and 13atypical carcinoid(AtC) patients were studied. The N-status(N0 n=68;N1/2 n=9),pTNM stage(I n=57; II n=13;III n=7) and immunohistochemical expression of EGFR (positive n=16/negative n=61), mTOR(positive n=34/negative n=43) and p70S6(>90% n=61/≤90% n=16)were evaluated.Statistical methods used:Kaplan-Meier,Wilcoxon,Cox regression analyses. Results:The 5 year survival for TCs was 88% and for AtCs–74%.The difference in mean survival time between TCs (125 months) and AtCs (72 months) was not significant(p=0.24).11% of the TCs were in N1/2 status and 15% of the AtCs were in N1/2 status. The 5 year survival for N0 was 89% and for N1/2–63% (p=0.085).The mean survival time was significantly longer in N0 status(N0-129 months,N1/2-87,p=0.005),in I and II pTNM status(I/II-125 months,III-38,p=0.005),in cases negative forEGFR (negative-128 months,positive-84,p=0.030), and in cases positive for mTOR (p=0.035). The Cox analysis confirmed the prognostic significance of N status(Hazard ratio[HR]5.25;p=0.012),pTNM stage(HR 14.14;p=0.019)and EGFR expression(HR 3.78;p=0.047). Conclusions:N0-status,pTNM I/II stage, lack of EGFRexpression and positive mTOR expression may represent favorable prognostic factors in pulmonary carcinoid tumors.


Asymptotic wave quantities such as ray velocity and ray attenuation are calculated in anisotropic viscoelastic media by using a stationary slowness vector. This vector generally is complex valued and inhomogeneous, and it predicts the complex energy velocity parallel to a ray. To compute the stationary slowness vector, one must find two independent, real-valued unit vectors that specify the directions of its real and imaginary parts. The slowness-vector inhomogeneity affects asymptotic wave quantities and complicates their computation. The critical quantities are attenuation and quality factor Q-factor ; these can vary significantly with the slownessvector inhomogeneity. If the inhomogeneity is neglected, the attenuation and the Q-factor can be distorted distinctly by errors commensurate to the strength of the velocity anisotropy — as much as tens of percent for sedimentary rocks. The distortion applies to strongly as well as to weakly attenuative media. On the contrary, the ray velocity, which defines the wavefronts and physically corresponds to the energy velocity of a high-frequency signal propagating along a ray, is almost insensitive to the slowness-vector inhomogeneity. Hence, wavefronts can be calculated in a simplified way except for media with extremely strong anisotropy and attenuation.


Title of Document: DYNAMICS OF THE NONPROFIT SECTOR AND URBAN DELIVERY OF SERVICES:A GEOGRAPHY OF SERVICES IN EAST BALTIMORE, MARYLAND Evelyn E. Cooper, Ph.D., 2007 Directed By: Professor Charles Christian, Department of Geography This research examines the relationship between nonprofit human service activities and the characteristics of client service areas by race, gender, income, age, level of poverty and education. The data used for this neighborhood level study were obtained from the Internal Revenue Service the 2002 Statistics of Income (SOI) Business Masterfile (BMF). Neighborhood data, obtained from the 2000 U.S. Census are used as surrogates for potential client areas and service needs. The response of nonprofit entities is determined by examining the quantity and distribution of human services available within the neighborhood to identify disparities in services distribution. Services are analyzed within the social and economic context of the abject poverty and homelessness that pervades East Baltimore neighborhoods that can produce underserved areas. Services are not equally distributed across the study area. The primary results of the research show that services for the homeless, services for youth, and housing services are the most prominent service activities in East Baltimore. Services are generally matched to the population according to population needs. However, there appears to be a spatial mismatch between residents' needs and services provided for substance abuse an ex-offender services. Substance abuse rehabilitation services and ex-offender rehabilitation services are least prominent of all the nonprofit service activities. The initial analysis reveals that some neighborhoods are service rich areas while others are service poor. Despite a spatial mismatch in some service activities, the distribution of services is consistent with the view that nonprofit services are located in or near concentrations of potential clients and at-risk populations. A second analysis using factor analytical techniques reveals a number of complex and intriguing relationships between neighborhood characteristics and service activities. The findings underscore the importance of the relationship between service activities and community characteristics and that some variables, race, income, gender and education level have a positive influence on human services delivery. The research findings support the argument that service distribution of nonprofits is influenced by socioeconomic characteristics, and the scope of poverty in a community. DYNAMICS OF THE NONPROFIT SECTOR AND URBAN DELIVERY OF SERVICES: A GEOGRAPHY OF SERVICES IN EAST BALTIMORE, MARYLAND


Abstract Primary objective: Excessive accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau have been observed in older individuals with chronic neurological symptoms related to a traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet little is known about the possible role of Aβ in younger active duty service members following a TBI. The purpose of the study was to determine if Aβ 40 or 42 related to sustaining a TBI or to chronic neurological symptoms in a young cohort of military personnel. Research design: This was a cross-sectional study of active duty service members who reported sustaining a TBI and provided self-report of neurological and psychological symptoms and provided blood. Methods and procedures: An ultrasensitive single-molecule enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to compare concentrations of Aβ in active duty service members with (TBI+; n = 53) and without (TBI–; n = 18) a history of TBI. Self-report and medical history were used to measure TBI occurrence and approximate the number of total TBIs and the severity of TBIs sustained during deployment. Main outcomes and results: This study reports that TBI is associated with higher concentrations of Aβ40 (F1,68 = 6.948, p = 0.009) and a lower ratio of Aβ42/Aβ40 (F1,62 = 5.671, p = 0.020). These differences remained significant after controlling for co-morbid symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Conclusions: These findings suggest that alterations in Aβ relate to TBIs and may contribute to chronic neurological symptoms.


This paper is concerned with crucial issues which need to be addressed in attempting to define literacy. Several persistent myths or common misreadings of the nature of literacy are critiqued, namely the myths of literacy as: an absolute, word perfect standard; a collection of functional skills; an autonomous, context-free and unified competence; and a means of economic benefit. Alternative definitions, differing radically from the myths in their reading of reality, are proposed. These argue for a broad, inclusive definition which takes into account two broad perspectives – (i) the essentially creative meaning-centred and relative nature of language learning or use, and (ii) the patterns of social and cultural contexts in which literate behaviours are learnt, developed, constrained by or act to constrain the literacy of others. A dual focus is argued for. First, a focus on individual learning and experience serves to highlight the essentially constructive, selective, purposeful nature of the literacy process and the organic relation between literacy, experience, personal growth and autonomy. Thus, literacy is seen as transcending exclusively linguistic considerations and empowering its possessors to make sense of, to read and reread their experience, both to "take meanings" from the world and to act to transform that world. The second essential focus entails the recognition that socio-cultural contexts, including the nature, availability or distribution of information and printed materials in a society, are a vital part of the literacy process itself, shaping the meaning, values status and conceptions of literacy practices or competences. Hence discussion moves to the wider definitional framework for the analysis of literacies as social practices embedded in socio-cultural contexts of parent-child relationships, socialization patterns and ideologies.


Litigation funding, over the years, has run reverse from champerty and maintenance and been established as an integral part of mainstream civil justice system with a view to facilitating access to justice. Admittedly, its present standard in the United Kingdom has been impacting considerably on the objective of ensuring access to justice. But how far are the funding options serving the interests of the society is still a matter of debate. In this study, some hypotheses have been drawn to assess how far the options of litigation funding are facilitating the litigants' satisfaction as to access to justice.


New Hampshire's Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) pilot received a waiver from federal statutory requirements related to state annual achievement testing starting in the 2014-15 school year. PACE is considered an "innovative" assessment and accountability system because performance assessments are used to help determine student proficiency in most federally required grades and subjects instead of the state achievement test. One key criterion for success in the early years of the PACE innovative assessment system is "no harm" on the statewide accountability test. This descriptive study examines the effect of PACE on Grades 8 and 11 mathematics and English language arts student achievement during the first three years of implementation (2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17 school years) and the extent to which those effects vary for certain student subgroups using results from the state's accountability tests (Smarter Balanced and SATs). Findings suggest that students in PACE schools tend to exhibit small positive effects on the Grades 8 and 11 state achievement tests in both subjects in comparison to students attending non-PACE comparison schools. Lower achieving students tended to exhibit small positive differential effects, whereas male students tended to exhibit small negative differential effects. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.


Media can play a useful role in propagation of information about domestic violence. It can be used to create awareness, convey education and act as deterrence to various abuses. Mass media has saturated the industrialized world. The television in the living room, the newspaper on the doorstep, the radio in the car, the computer at work and the fliers in the mailbox are just a few of the media channels daily delivering news, opinion, music and other forms of mass communication. These days, abuse messages are preoccupied with grabbling attention and sustaining interest, rather than transferring persuasion messages. This has largely been due to a perception to build women's self-confidence, discourage men from gender-based violence, and to make society take notice and speak up instead of look away. This article therefore shows the portrayals of women in different messages in the media. Against these backdrops of emerging trends globally and in Nigeria, this article provides an insightful ethnography of mass media messages directed at eradicating domestic violence and as a tool for advocating for violence against women and more specifically, to promote awareness of and to prevent domestic violence in Nigeria.


This paper investigates the forward-lookingness of monetary policy related to stabilising inflation over time under different degrees of central bank credibility in the four largest Latin American economies, which experienced a different transition path to the full-fledged inflation targeting regime. The analysis is based on an interest rate-based hybrid monetary policy rule with time-varying coefficients, which captures possible shifts from a backward-looking to a forward-looking monetary policy rule related to inflation stabilisation. The main results show that monetary policy is fully forward-looking and exclusively reacts to expected inflation under nearly perfect central bank credibility. Under a partially credible central bank, monetary policy is both backward-looking and forward-looking in terms of stabilising inflation. Moreover, monetary authorities put increasingly more priority on stabilising expected inflation relative to actual inflation if central bank credibility tends to improve over time.


The paper descriptionbes the design and construction of an 18storey steel-framed building in Johannesburg. The factors influencing the design choice are discussed. Comparative costs and construction times between a steel and concrete building are given. The building was completed to a construction cycle of one week per floor for each sub-trade, and a saving of five months compared with a concrete building was achieved. Emphasis is placed on the management necessary to obtain maximum benefit from the speed of erection of the steel frame.


Family and home are one word - jia - in the Chinese language. Family can be separated and home may be relocated, but jia remains intact. In signifies a system of mutual obligation, lasting responsibility, and cultural values. This strong yet flexible sense of kinship has enabled many Chinese immigrant families to endure long physical separation and accommodate continuities and discontinuities in the process of social mobility. Based on an analysis of over three thousand family letters and other primary sources, including recently released immigration files from the National Archives and Records Administration, Haiming Liu presents a remarkable transnational history of a Chinese family from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s. For three generations, the family lived between the two worlds. While the immigrant generation worked hard in an herbalist business and asparagus farming, the younger generation crossed back and forth between China and America, pursuing proper education, good careers, and a meaningful life during a difficult period of time for Chinese Americans. When social instability in China and hostile racial environment in America prevented the family from being rooted in either side of the Pacific, transnational family life became a focal point of their social existence. This well-documented and illustrated family history makes it clear that, for many Chinese immigrant families, migration does not mean a break from the past but the beginning of a new life that incorporates and transcends dual national boundaries. It convincingly shows how transnationalism has become a way of life for Chinese American families.


Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be more prevalent and burdensome in developing countries. Aims: The goals of this study were to (1) determine the prevalence of PTSD, (2) identify types and number of traumas related to screening positive for PTSD and (3) determine other sociodemographic risk factors and health/medical conditions that may be correlated to PTSD among garment-factory workers and a comparable working population in Bangladesh. Method: A survey was administered to a convenient sample of 607 lower socio-economic status (SES) working women in Bangladesh, 310 of who were garment workers. The primary outcome PTSD was measured by the PTSD Checklist. The Life Events Checklist determined the number and type of traumatic events. Results: The prevalence of PTSD was found to be 17.79% – 7.25% in garment workers and 21.55% in the comparison worker group. In multivariate analysis, PTSD was found to be significantly associated with age, income, chronic pain and number of stressful events. Participants between 45–50 years of age had the greatest odds of reporting PTSD – 15.68 fold (95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.08, 60.29) compared with those younger than 24 years. PTSD was more common in those with lower income (2,000–4,000 taka) (odds ratio (OR) = 1.60; 95% CI = 0.79, 3.26), who had chronic pain (OR = 2.48; 95% CI = 1.51, 4.07) and who experienced over three traumatic life events (OR = 11.25; 95% CI = 4.59, 27.59). The mean number of traumatic events experienced by this entire population was 4.9 with PTSD being more likely in those who experienced physical assault (OR = 6.35; 95% CI = 4.07, 9.90), who caused serious harm or death to someone else (OR = 4.80; 95% CI = 1.36, 16.87) and who had exposure to combat or war (OR = 4.76; 95% CI = 1.17, 19.34). Conclusion: Undiagnosed and untreated PTSD impacts the quality of life and decrease worker productivity among working-age women in this developing country.


The main purpose of the present study was to find out the major difference in child rearing techniques, used by Pakistani and Kenyan mothers and to explore their effects on personality development. For this purpose, a total of 161 families were randomly drawn from a population of Peshawar (Pakistan) and Nairobi (Kenya). From each family, a mother and one child were included in the sample. The study was carried in two parts. In part A, the main difference in child rearing techniques were studied and an unstructured questionnaire on mothers, was administered. Part B explored the effects of child rearing techniques on personality dimensions. Here CAT was administered on their children.
The results revealed that Kenyan mothers preferred breast feeding more as compared to Pakistani mothers (P<.01). Bottle feeding, on the other hand, was less preferred by Kenyan mothers as compared to Pakistani mothers (P<.01). In both the cultural groups, a higher percentage of mothers belonging to joint family system preferred bottle feeding in contrast to the nucleus family system (P<0.1). The data further revealed that a high percentage of Pakistani mothers wean and toilet train their children earlier (P<.01), as compared to Kenyan mothers. Moreover, mothers belonging to the higher income groups in Pakistan as well as Kenya, toilet train their children earlier as compared to lower income group (P<.01). In the case of punishment, as a mode of discipline, a higher percentage of Pakistani mothers punish their children for misbehaviour, as compared to Kenyan mothers (P<.05). In joint family system, mothers of both the cultural groups, reward their children for good behaviour more, in contrast to nucleus family system (P<.05). The results also revealed that mothers from both the cultures, belonging to higher income groups, reward good school work more as compared to lower to lower income groups (P<.05).
The results of Part B revealed that independence was highly related to bottle feeding (P<.01) whereas, breast feeding shows no such relationship. Furthermore, the sex of the child shows a significant relationship with aggressive behaviour (P<.05). Thus, a high percentage of boys, of both the cultural, groups exhibit aggressive behaviour more frequently as compared to girls.


Using the 2007 Mannheim innovation survey, we investigate whether family firms are more financially constrained than other firms and how this affects both innovation input as well as innovation outcomes such as market and firm novelties or process innovations. Based on the CDM framework, estimation of the recursive system of equations shows that family businesses are more likely to be constrained and have, on average, lower innovation input. Surprisingly, however, this does not reduce their innovation outcomes as, on average, family firms have the same level of innovation outcomes as nonfamily firms.


In this thesis, we develop a real options framework to value options to expand a commercial property. We consider the investment in a development project under uncertainty in future rental rates and in the presence of regulatory uncertainty. We have consulted with industry experts to model the framework as realistic as possible without losing analytical tractability. Our framework contributes to the accurate valuation of real estate as well as the real options literature related to real estate, by adjusting and combining existing frameworks and applying them to the real estate industry. First, we consider a simple investment in the expansion of a property under uncertainty in future rental rates, but in the absence of regulatory uncertainty. We proceed to introduce the presence of a regulatory process in the form of a mandatory fixed approval lag, prior to the firm receiving the investment opportunity. Finally, we introduce uncertainty in the length of the regulatory process. For each model, we are able to obtain optimal investment thresholds and option values, and in most cases these results are closed form analytical solutions. We find that an option to expand an existing property has significant value under the right conditions, even when the immediate expansion is not profitable. We also show that the presence of a regulatory process alters the option value, and that a stochastic regulatory process implies a higher cost to the firm than a fixed regulatory process.


I. INTRODUCTION This Note examines the ability of corporations to be socially responsible in light of the traditional notion of shareholder primacy and the way courts interpret shareholder primacy today. The business judgment rule protects directors who decide to take actions that benefit constituents other than shareholders, but the rule has its limits. Newly developing forms of business entities hope to find middle ground between shareholder primacy and social responsibility. Even if these new entities find success, their ability to balance shareholder interests and societal goals, without violating fiduciary duties or losing competitive positioning in the marketplace, is still uncertain. In Part II, this Note traces the history of the shareholder primacy norm and the business judgment rule. Part II also introduces the new business entities that aspire to make social responsibility more common in the business world. Part III analyzes the state of corporate responsibility in the traditional corporation and synthesizes scholarly scrutiny of each of the new forms. Part IV recommends changes to the new forms to increase their likelihood for success and suggests that while the future is uncertain for all of them, the L3C may be more likely to succeed than the others. II. BACKGROUND Profit-maximization has been a cornerstone of American corporate law and legal education for many years.1 As the Michigan Supreme Court stated, "A business corporation is organized and carried on primarily for the profit of the stockholders. . . . The discretion of directors . . . does not extend . . . to the reduction of profits, or to the nondistribution of profits among stockholders in order to devote them to other purposes."2 Over the years, however, scholars and business people began to challenge this fundamental principle as incomplete because it ignores the interests of other corporate stakeholders.3 To determine where the balance between shareholder primacy and corporate social responsibility4 lies, it is important to understand the history of each concept. A. Dodge v. Ford: Foundation of Shareholder Primacy Almost every law student who takes a basic course in corporations encounters Dodge v. Ford.5 In the case, the Dodge brothers,6 minority shareholders of Ford Motor Company, sued for an injunction to stop Ford from expanding operations and asked the court for a decree commanding Ford to pay dividends.7 The court found that Henry Ford had philanthropic and altruistic sentiments regarding Ford Motor Company's profits.8 From Henry Ford's testimony, the court concluded his attitude toward shareholders was that they had already received great profits from Ford, and moving forward, they should be happy to receive whatever he decided to give them.9 The court further concluded that Henry Ford believed Ford Motor Company made too much profit and that he desired to share any further profits with the public in the form of more jobs, higher wages, and lower-priced cars.10 The court declined to file an injunction prohibiting Ford from expanding its operations, but it commanded the company to pay dividends.11 The court first penned the famous shareholder primacy quote cited above in this opinion.12 Since that day, the primacy of profit maximization for the benefit of shareholders has rested at the foundation of corporate law.13 B. The Business Judgment Rule: A Balance Between Shareholder and Stakeholder Primacy? The business judgment rule "is a presumption that in making a business decision the directors of a corporation acted on an informed basis, in good faith and in the honest belief that the action taken was in the best interests of the company."14 Unless the challenging shareholders prove that directors abused their discretion in pursuing a particular course of action, the court rarely disturbs the board's decision.15 This Part explores the applications and limitations of the business judgment rule. …


Why are some battles remembered more than others? Surprisingly, it is not just size that matters, nor the number of dead, the 'decisiveness' of battles or their effects on communities and civilisations. It is their political afterlife-the multiple meanings and political uses attributed to them-that determines their fame. This ground-breaking series goes well beyond military history by exploring the transformation of battles into sites of memory and meaning. Cast into epic myths of the fight of Good against Evil, of punishment for decadence or reward for virtue, of the birth of a nation or the collective assertion against a tyrant, the defence of Civilisation against the Barbarians, Christendom against the Infidel, particular battles have acquired fame beyond their immediate contemporaneous relevance. The epic battles of European history examined in this first volume range from the siege of Troy and the encounters of Marathon and Thermopylai, to the wars of the Israelites which inspired the way many later battles would be narrated; and from the triumphs and defeats of the Roman Empire, to Hastings, the massacre of B ziers and the battle of Courtrai. In each chapter, the historical events surrounding a battle form the backdrop for multi-layer interpretations, which, consciously or unconsciously, carry political agendas.


This paper is an exploration of celebrity justice. Many different definitions of the term celebrity exist, as do many different views on what exactly constitutes celebrity status and the role those of this status plays in society. Additionally, the advantages and disadvantages of publicity regarding celebrities are disputed. Having celebrity status can both be beneficial and detrimental to the welfare of the celebrity. Studies show that when involved in a trial, publicity can actually harm the celebrity because of the bias the media can create in the mind of the public. This pretrial publicity leads to more convictions for celebrity defendants. Also, celebrities tend to receive harsher punishments from judges who want to uphold the image of the judicial system and avoid appearing to give celebrities preferential treatment. This paper analyzes the reasons behind the perception of preferential treatment for celebrities and the outcomes of court cases involving these celebrities. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Communication, Media and Theatre Arts First Advisor Dr. Bruce Carroll Second Advisor Dr. Doris Fields Third Advisor Dr. Edward Sidlow


Both in scientific literature and popular mind the Romans are considered e the symbol of aggression, militarism and conquest, but the more thorough analysis shows that many of Roman wars were really defensive or at least began as a war of defence and Th. Mommsen's idea of "defensive imperialism" has a good deal of sense. The fetial law with its concept of "bellum iustum" stands at the foundation of Roman idea of international relations and was (despite all possible speculations) an important step in the world of undeclared warfare of "civilized (Greeks, Carthaginians) or "uncivilized" (Gauls, Germans and others) nations. Most wars (about 60 of 100) of 5th-3rd centuries BC are depicted in Roman tradition as self-defence, while the period from the Samnite Wars till the time of Julius Caesar becomes the time of the defence of numerous Roman amici and socii. On these principles grows the global doctrine of the defence of "human civilization" against the "barbarian world" and the establishment of world order, based on law and justice. One may consider this picture as an instrument of propaganda, but many of these ideas and declarations were real truth.


The Latemar massif represents a good analogue of a carbonate fractured reservoir. Fractures are widely exposed all over the mountain and the stratigraphic relationships among carbonate platform units, such as the platform margin and slope, are very well preserved. Having escaped pervasive dolomitization, the Latemar is renowned for the study of Triassic stratigraphy and of the evolution of Triassic carbonate build-ups of Western Tethys.

In this paper we present the results of fracture modelling performed at Latemar, by the construction of a discrete fracture network in the lower part of the stratigraphic sequence. The modelling methodology consists in using field data for generating fracture network models that can be used to represent the fracture density variability and to estimate permeability distribution on at a regional scale. These models can also be useful in the study of other petrophysical parameters, for instance generating synthetic seismic datasets for comparison with reservoirs in the subsurface.


Objective

Recent evidence suggests that additional psychiatric disorders in patients with eating disorders (ED) may contribute to suicide risk. The aim of our study was to investigate the association between eating disorders, its comorbidity and suicidal deaths by the analyzing the data from National Health Insurance Research Databases (NHIRD) and statistical reports on the causes of death.

Methods

We identified 19,648 patients with ED diagnoses from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database between 2001 and 2012. The patients who had been diagnosed eating disorders ≥4 times at outpatient visits, or had ≥1 time of hospitalization were recruited as the group of ED (N=9974). The outcome of measurements was defined as the death of the group of eating disorders either by suicide (N=113), accidental death (N=35) or others (N=97). Cox regression was applied to investigate the relationship between psychiatry comorbidities and the suicidal death of the patients with ED.

Results

Age of onset with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) was significantly younger than Bulimia Nervosa (BN) or Eating disorders, NOS (EDNOS) in patients with ED. The risk of suicide had 2.4-fold higher of preexisting (aHR=2.4; 95% CI=1.6-3.7) but not concurrent (aHR=1.0; 95% CI=0.7-1.5) or subsequent (aHR=0.8; 95% CI=0.4-1.3) any psychiatric comorbidity with ED patients than without psychiatric comorbidity. The risk of suicide was 1.8-fold higher in patients with previous major depressive disorder (aHR=1.8; 95% CI=1.2-2.7), and 2.6-fold higher in patients with prior substance use disorder (aHR=2.6; 95% CI=1.5-4.5). Patients with four or more psychiatric comorbidities had a 6.3- fold increased risk of suicide (aHR=6.3; 95% CI=3.1–12.8; p<0.05).

Conclusion

The previous psychiatric comorbidities including major depressive disorder and substance use disorder were associated with the suicidal death in patients with ED. The patients with more psychiatric comorbidities had a higher risk of suicide.


Efficient representation of visual information lies at the foundation of many image processing tasks, including compression, filtering, and feature extraction. Efficiency of a representation refers to the ability to capture significant information of an object of interest in a small description. For practical applications, this representation has to be realized by structured transforms and fast algorithms. Recently, it has become evident that commonly used separable transforms (such as wavelets) are not necessarily best suited for images. Thus, there is a strong motivation to search for more powerful schemes that can capture the intrinsic geometrical structure of pictorial information. This thesis focuses on the development of new "true" two-dimensional representations for images. The emphasis is on the discrete framework that can lead to algorithmic implementations. The first method constructs multiresolution, local and directional image expansions by using non-separable filter banks. This discrete transform is developed in connection with the continuous-space curvelet construction in harmonic analysis. As a result, the proposed transform provides an efficient representation for two-dimensional piecewise smooth signals that resemble images. The link between the developed filter banks and the continuous-space constructions is set up in a newly defined directional multiresolution analysis. The second method constructs a new family of block directional and orthonormal transforms based on the ridgelet idea, and thus offers an efficient representation for images that are smooth away from straight edges. Finally, directional multiresolution image representations are employed together with statistical modeling, leading to powerful texture models and successful image retrieval systems.


Reverse osmosis membranes made by interfacial polymerization of a monomer in a nonpolar (e.g. organic) phase together with a monomer in a polar (e.g. aqueous) phase on a porous support membrane. Interfacial polymerization process is disclosed for preparing a highly permeable RO membrane, comprising: contacting on a porous support membrane, a) a first solution containing 1,3-diaminobenzene, and b) a second solution containing trimesoyl chloride, wherein at least one of solutions a) and b) contains nanoparticles when said solutions are first contacted, and recovering a highly permeable RO membrane.


For users of the Ethereum network, the gas price is a crucial parameter that determines how swiftly the decentralized consensus protocol confirms a transaction. This paper studies the statistics of the Ethereum gas price. We start with some conceptual discussion of the gas price notion in view of the actual transaction-selection strategies used by Ethereum miners. Subsequently, we provide the descriptive statistics of what we call the threshold gas price. Finally, we identify and estimate a seasonal ARIMA (SARIMA) model for predicting the hourly median of the threshold gas price.