Objective. To determine the admission pattern and outcome of patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Method. A retrospective review of all patients admitted to the ICU at the UPTH from 1996 to 2005 was carried out. Data were obtained from the ICU admission and discharge registers and nurses' handover records. Results. A total of 1 447 patients were admitted from 15 departments. There were 658 males and 789 females (male/female ratio 1:1.2). Ages ranged from 4 months to 90 years, the median age was 30 years and the mean age was 31.7±5.6 years. The highest proportion of admissions (48.7%) was from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and the lowest from Ophthalmology and Anaesthesia (0.1%). Postoperative cases made up 62.1% of total admissions, with post-caesarean section (CS) contributing 65.7% of these. Non-availability of beds in the ward was the reason for the majority of the post-CS admissions. Up to 41.5% of the patients admitted to the ICU had no justifiable reason for admission. Average length of stay was 8.1±2.8 days, median 4.5 days. One patient was manually ventilated for 5 hours, none was mechanically ventilated, and none had invasive cardiac monitoring. Three children had peritoneal dialysis for acute renal failure. Unconscious patients were fed enterally through a nasogastric tube, while conscious patients ate orally. Analysis of outcomes showed that 597 patients (41.3%) were transferred to the wards, while 352 (24.3%) were discharged home. The outcome was not indicated in 128 cases (8.8%), 16 patients (1.1%) left the ICU against medical advice, 1 patient (0.1%) was referred to another tertiary institution and 1 (0.1%) absconded. Three hundred and fifty-two patients died, giving a mortality rate of 24.3%. Conclusion. The highest percentage of admissions to the ICU was from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The majority of the patients did not require intensive care but were admitted because there was no bed in the wards.


The disabilities market consists of 750,000,000 people worldwide and is growing rapidly. About 20% of the population of the Unites States is disabled; 25% of the population of the European Union is disabled. Moreover, every demographer is predicting that there will be huge labor shortages in many countries in the near future. It is crucial for firms to find ways to hire more disabled employees since, for one thing, they can be the engine for generating and developing new product ideas for this important group. The diversity we seek to achieve in the workplace includes not only gender and ethnic background, but disability as well. Computer and information technology has made it increasingly easy for disabled people to join the workforce. This paper describes how computer technology can play a role in accomplishing this goal. It examines new and existing technology that can be used to accommodate individuals with particular disabilities, specifically, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech impairment, learning disabilities, autism, mobility impairment, the elderly, and those with mental health problems. In many cases, promising examples of possible future assistive technology are presented.


This article proposes the Lexical Constructional Model (LCM) as an explanatorily adequate model for the investigation of meaning construction at all levels of linguistic description, including pragmatics and discourse. The LCM has an argument structure module or level 1 module consisting of elements of syntactically relevant semantic interpretation. Then it has three basically idiomatic modules dealing with cognitively entrenched meaning implications deriving from the application of low-level and high-level inferential schemas (levels 2 and 3 respectively) and with discourse aspects of meaning, especially cohesion and coherence phenomena (level 4). Each level is either subsumed into a higher-level constructional configuration or acts as a cue for the activation of a relevant conceptual structure that yields an implicit meaning derivation. Interaction between lexical and constructional configurations (at whatever description level) is regulated by a number of constraints that are either internal or external to the process.


An integrated biology and chemistry (iBC) course for freshmen college students was developed in University of Delaware. This course will prepare students to (1) become interdisciplinary thinkers in the field of biology and (2) collaboratively work with others from multiple disciplines in the future. This paper documents and describes the implementation of the course. The information gathered from reading literature, classroom observations, and interviews were used to carry out the purpose of this paper. The major goal of the iBC course is to align the concepts between Biology and Chemistry, so that students can draw science concepts from both disciplines which they can apply in their interdisciplinary researches. This course is offered every fall and spring semesters of each school year. Students enrolled in Biology are also enrolled in Chemistry during the same semester. The iBC is composed of lectures, laboratories, studio sessions, and workshops and is taught by the faculty from the biology and chemistry departments. In addition, the preceptors, graduate teaching assistants, and studio fellows facilitate the laboratory and studio sessions. These roles are interdependent with each other. The iBC can be used as a model for higher education institutions who wish to implement an integrated biology course. Keywords—Integrated biology and chemistry, integration, interdisciplinary research, new biology, undergraduate science education.


Teach the course YOU want in LESS TIME! The primary goal of the GO! Series, aside from teaching computer applications, is ease of implementation, with an approach that is based on clearly defined projects for students and a one-of-a-kind supplements package.**This is a one-chapter book supplement that is designed to be packaged with an Office 2010 or Computer Concepts textbook. **


Capgras syndrome (CS) describes a delusional misidentification syndrome whereby a person's loved one or property has been replaced by an imposter. It has commonly been reported in neurodegenerative diseases, but is less frequently reported in Parkinson's disease (PD). We report the case of a 77 year old male with PD, cognitive impairment and increasing visual hallucinations and symptoms of anxiety and depression. He developed CS reporting that his wife was intermittently replaced by an imposter. Whilst symptoms of anxiety and depression responded well to antidepressant treatment, and visual hallucinations responded to rivastigmine, the delusional belief still persists. We perform systematic literature review and identify 18 additional cases of CS in PD. The majority of cases identified describe concomitant cognitive impairment as well as visual hallucinations. Varied pharmacological strategies employed in treating the described patients make it difficult to distinguish the effect of any particular pharmacological intervention of underlying neurotransmitter disturbance underlying the delusion in PD. It is possible that a novel neurobiological mechanism is at play in these patients, and elucidating this further may increase our understanding of the neurobiological basis of the delusional misidentification syndrome.


Abstract The current state of the art in the analysis of a control rod ejection event in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) relies on homogenization methods in which the assembly-averaged power from a whole-core nodal neutronics simulator is used with some type of flux reconstruction to estimate the individual fuel rod power. Recently, there has been interest in taking advantage of methods that do not require homogenization, such as the DeCART code, to perform time-dependent neutron transport calculations. These calculations could provide not only more accurate pin power results but also intrapin power information during the transient. The work described in this paper is the analysis of a PWR control rod ejection transient using the nodal core simulator PARCS, which employs homogenization methods, and the method of characteristics (MOC) code DeCART, which treats the explicit geometry. Higher-fidelity methods such as those used by DeCART have the potential to quantify the homogenization and modeling errors inherent in the lower-order methods. The methods used in PARCS and DeCART are briefly described as well as the approach to generate the temperature feedback for the rod ejection event. The results are compared and discussed. For the considered transient scenario, PARCS and DeCART are in generally good agreement for the predicted global and local powers as well as for the temperature.


This study examines the effect of meteorological variables, such as temperature, precipitation, cloud cover, and relative humidity on average monthly crawfish (Procambarus spp.) harvests at 6 research ponds located at the Aquaculture Research Station in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, operated by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center. Eight years (2006-2013) of harvest data were collected spanning February, March, and April of each year. Using multiple regression and model selection processes, the effect of meteorological variables was assessed at 3 different monthly lags (lag 0, 1, and 2) to determine which combination of variables best explained variance in average monthly crawfish pounds per trap (AMPT). The final model selected for lag 0 (adj-rsq = 0.73, p < 0.01), lag 1 (adj-rsq = 0.71, p < 0.01), and lag 2 (adj-rsq = 0.69, p < 0.01) generally included the same variables: monthly average low temperature, precipitation, and the preceding October/November precipitation (ON). Both monthly average low temperature and ON exhibited a statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05) positive effect on AMPT while controlling for other variables in the model, revealing the importance of warm temperatures and precipitation during October/November for crawfish harvests. Precipitation during the harvest month was not significant, but increased precipitation 1 and 2 mo before harvest significantly decreased AMPT. The number of hours with temperatures ≤0°C was also a significant variable negatively associated with AMPT 1 and 2 mo before harvest and, along with precipitation, could potentially be an early indicator for AMPT before harvests begin in southern Louisiana.


We study the formation of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) by integrating both the promoting (moral obligation) and inhibiting (moral disengagement) PEB mechanisms. Results of a sample of 285 tourists at a National Nature Reserve in China affirm that moral obligation positively affects PEB intention, while moral disengagement has significant negative impact. There is little difference in the relative importance of moral obligation and moral disengagement in affecting PEB intention. Social influence plays an important role in regulating the impacts of moral variables on PEB intentions. This study also broadens knowledge of the structure of PEB, by unveiling low-effort PEB intention as a precursor to high-effort PEB intention, and a mediator between moral obligation / moral disengagement and high-effort PEB intention. This study provides insights and implications for tourism practitioners and policy makers, and opens up future research exploration of the paradox of the promoting and inhibiting PEB mechanisms.


I. INTRODUCTION Employee benefits in the United States are, in large part, dominated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a federal statute.1 This Note analyzes how to interpret the terms of a plan governed by ERISA that provides benefits to employees' spouses where employees have legally married same-sex spouses in Massachusetts.2 This Note first discusses the background to both ERISA and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Part III examines possible interpretations courts could use when deciding whether an employer-created ERISA plan that references legal marriage3 includes same-sex marriage. Two views are possible, a broad view and a narrow view. Under the broad view, no same-sex marriage could be considered a legal marriage under an employer-created ERISA plan that references legal marriage. This is because the ERISA plan, under this view, falls within the category of federal provisions under DOMA. DOMA's provisions state a definition of marriage that excludes same-sex marriage when interpreting congressional acts and federal agency and bureau decisions.4 Under the narrow view, the determination of whether a same-sex marriage qualifies as a legal marriage for the purposes of an employer-created ERISA plan depends on the underlying state law. In states that have a statute or constitutional amendment that limits marriage to a union between a woman and a man, a court determining whether a samesex marriage qualified as a legal marriage under the ERISA plan would likely exclude the same-sex couple from receiving benefits. In states that do not have a statute or constitutional amendment that limits marriage, a court determining whether a same-sex marriage qualified as a legal marriage under the ERISA plan would look to three things. The court would look at the state's public policy, the full faith and credit provision of the Constitution, and DOMA to determine whether that state would recognize the marriage. In states that have mini-DOMA provisions, a court determining whether a same-sex marriage qualified as a legal marriage under the ERISA plan will not recognize the samesex marriage because of the mini-DOMA provision. This Note recommends that courts looking at this issue adopt the narrow view of ERISA for purposes of DOMA and perform a state-by-state analysis to determine whether a same-sex marriage is a legal marriage. This Note recommends this view for three main reasons. First, this view allows each state to determine for itself whether a same-sex marriage should be recognized as a legal marriage, an area that has traditionally been under state control.5 second, this view is consistent with the purpose of DOMA because the drafters intended to allow each state to make a determination on the issue of same-sex marriage.6 Finally, this narrow view also correctly interprets the federal DOMA provision not to cover an employer-created ERISA plan.7 This Note also recommends what employers should do in the interim, before a court decides this issue. This Note recommends that employers should review their policies and think about how they want to handle this sensitive issue. Employers should assume courts will adopt the narrow view of DOMA and should therefore look to underlying state law for guidance. II. BACKGROUND A. Same-Sex Marriage in the United States Same-sex marriage is a current topic of discussion in the United States. Both political candidates in the 2004 presidential election took a stand on the issue.8 Additionally, the Massachusetts judicial system recently dealt with the issue of same-sex marriage. The decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Court is the first and only court decision that recognized same-sex marriage as legal under a state constitution. On November 18, 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Court in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health9 looked at the issue of "whether, consistent with the Massachusetts Constitution, the Commonwealth may deny the protections, benefits, and obligations conferred by civil marriage to two individuals of the same sex who wish to marry. …


In the 1980s and 1990s, market reforms swept the world. It is widely believed that the reformist wave can be partly explained in terms of the lessons learned from policy failures of the past. Whereas this interpretation of events is well established, it has never been empirically proved. Learning, Policy Making, and Market Reforms is the first study that tests the impact of policy learning on economic policy choices across time and space. The study supports the popular explanation that, on average, governments around the world adopted privatization and trade liberalization, and sustained open capital accounts, as a result of learning from the experience of others.


This research develops a conceptual framework for a critical analysis of an area of theological practice that since the coming of Christianity to Uganda has been taking
place at the `folk level' in the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Independent Churches, in the West Nile and Kampala areas of Uganda. It is a theology of culture that is
informed by insights from cultural and anthropological studies. The primary purpose of this thesis is meaning-making. It uses Clifford Geertz's idea of interpreting
religious phenomena and Celia Lury's idea of cultural production in conjuction with Robertsons' global/local encounter in order to do a cultural hermeneutic of
Lugbara/Madi traditions and the received Christian traditions as practised in the Lugbara language. It is interpretative and therefore theological, because theology is meaning-making. It further uses a `community and critical consciousness' approach of Gerald West, to help communities to describe and analyse their cultural practices.

The research investigates the ways in which worship, as a cultural product, is used as a medium of social change and exchange and how its variability reflects socio-cultural identity. The cycle of production, distribution and reception of cultural works in the forms of societal structures, leadership styles, religious rituals, prayers
and music are described with the purpose of making meaning. The role of technology in making it possible for the Lugbara/Madi to separate cultural works from their context of production for distribution and reception is also assessed. The result is a new mobility for their cultural goods and a transformation of their mode of cultural
reproduction from repetition to one of replication. The research settles the point that Lugbara/Madi are in varying degrees using the modem technologies to provide unlimited copying of their cultural works to others and to copy from other cultural groups. The rural/urban interface provides them with this opportunity and they give it
a social shape through the network of Lugbara community churches and cultural organizations that exercise a form of copyright for these cultural goods for wider use and circulation.

The process began when the Lugbara/Madi began to associate socio-cultural reproduction with their socio-cultural progress. It consisted in the implicit and explicit reception of the translated scriptures, which contributed directly to the development and affirmation of local cultural forms that in turn contributed to the formation of local Christian identities. The interplay and partnership between Lugbara/Madi religious traditions, the received Christian traditions and the local experiences of the gospel, in conjunction with the global processes that are marketed through urbanization and information technology, have led to the construction of these new identities. In short, the rural/urban interface is generating autochthonous
Christian practices that are beginning to render the old denominational identities - of Anglican and Roman Catholic - immaterial. The LugbaralMadi concept of ori'ba -
'people of God' for kinship, orijo - `house of God' for Church and orindi - `God present' for the Spirit generates new theological, ecclesiological and missiological insights that are stimulating.


BACKGROUND
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality, complicating the medical course of approximately 10% of mechanically-ventilated patients, with an estimated attributable mortality of 13%. To treat VAP empirically, the American Thoracic Society currently recommends antibiotic therapy based on the patients' risk of colonisation by an organism with multidrug resistance. The selection of initial antibiotic therapy in VAP is important, as inappropriate initial antimicrobial treatment is associated with higher mortality and longer hospital stay in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.While guidelines exist for the antibiotic treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) from the American Thoracic Society and the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, there are many limitations in the quality of available evidence. This systematic review aimed to summarise the results of all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compare empirical antibiotic regimens for VAP.

OBJECTIVES
The primary objective of this review was to assess the effect of different empirical antimicrobial therapies on the survival and clinical cure of adult patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Secondary objectives included reporting the incidence of adverse events, new superinfections, length of hospital stay, and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay associated with these therapies.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, LILACS, CINAHL and Web of Science to December 2015; we searched ClinicalTrials.gov to September 2016.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Two review authors independently assessed RCTs comparing empirical antibiotic treatments of VAP in adult patients, where VAP was defined as new-onset pneumonia that developed more than 48 hours after endotracheal intubation. Physicians and researchers were not required to be blinded for inclusion in this review.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently extracted study data. We pooled studies and analysed them in two ways. We examined monotherapy, or a single experimental antimicrobial drug, versus combination therapy, or multiple experimental antimicrobial drugs. We also examined carbapenem therapy versus non-carbapenem therapy.

MAIN RESULTS
We included 12 studies with 3571 participants. All included studies examined the empiric use of one antimicrobial regimen versus another for the treatment of adults with VAP, but the particular drug regimens examined by each study varied. There was potential for bias because some studies did not report outcomes for all participants. All but one study reported sources of funding or author affiliations with pharmaceutical companies.We found no statistical difference in all-cause mortality between monotherapy and combination therapy (N = 4; odds ratio (OR) monotherapy versus combination 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73 to 1.30), clinical cure (N = 2; OR monotherapy versus combination 0.88, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.36), length of stay in ICU (mean difference (MD) 0.65, 95% CI 0.07 to 1.23) or adverse events (N = 2; OR monotherapy versus combination 0.93, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.26). We downgraded the quality of evidence for all-cause mortality, adverse events, and length of ICU stay to moderate for this comparison. We determined clinical cure for this comparison to be of very low-quality evidence.For our second comparison of combination therapy with optional adjunctives only one meta-analysis could be performed due to a lack of trials comparing the same antibiotic regimens. Two studies compared tigecycline versus imipenem-cilastatin for clinical cure in the clinically evaluable population and there was a statistically significant increase in clinical cure for imipenem-cilastatin (N = 2; OR tigecycline versus imipenem-cilastatin 0.44, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.84). Of importance, this effect was due to a single study.We found no statistical difference in all-cause mortality between carbapenem and non-carbapenem therapies (N = 1; OR carbapenem versus non-carbapenem 0.59, 95% CI 0.30 to 1.19) or adverse events (N = 3; OR carbapenem versus non-carbapenem 0.78, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.09), but we found that carbapenems are associated with a statistically significant increase in the clinical cure (N = 3; OR carbapenem versus non-carbapenem 1.53, 95% CI 1.11 to 2.12 for intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis and N = 2; OR carbapenem versus non-carbapenem 2.29, 95% CI 1.19 to 4.43 for clinically evaluable patients analysis). For this comparison we downgraded the quality of evidence for mortality, and clinical cure (ITT and clinically evaluable populations) to moderate. We determined the quality of evidence for adverse events to be low.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We did not find a difference between monotherapy and combination therapy for the treatment of people with VAP. Since studies did not identify patients with increased risk for multidrug-resistant bacteria, these data may not be generalisable to all patient groups. However, this is the largest meta-analysis comparing monotherapy to multiple antibiotic therapies for VAP and contributes further evidence to the safety of using effective monotherapy for the empiric treatment of VAP.Due to lack of studies, we could not evaluate the best antibiotic choice for VAP, but carbapenems as a class may result in better clinical cure than other tested antibiotics.


This column lists websites and books on topics related to environmental science. Web Sites are listed in the following categories: Educational Websites International Websites Nonprofit & Research Organizations U.S. Federal Agencies' and State Government Websites Books Educational Websites Academic Earth: Lectures in Environmental Studies http://academicearth.org/subjects/environmental-studies Academic Earth provides videos of lectures by top scholars in subjects that range from anthropology to astronomy to chemistry to entrepreneurship to media studies to religion. The lecturers hail from universities including Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, and Yale. Visitors must register to view the lectures, but registration is free. Five lectures are categorized in environmental studies, and many of those listed under biology are relevant, covering ecology, oceanography, population growth, and the future of human health. There are more than 1500 video lectures available on the site, and the collection is growing. Visitors can even keep a playlist or download their favorite lectures. * AgrowKnowledge: The National Center for Agriscience and Technology Education http://www.agrowknow.org/ The purpose of AgrowKnowledge is to "improve the math, science, and technical competencies of agriculture technology graduates across the nation who are preparing for careers that support the most efficient and sustainable food and fiber production in the world." Housed at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the program aims to develop partnerships among secondary schools, colleges, and universities to standardize select agriculture technology education programs with guidance from industry. Major areas of activity are curriculum development, faculty development and capacity building. A link to "career clusters" offers descriptions of jobs in seven fields within agriculture, such as plant and animal systems, food processing, agribusiness, and environmental service. Each cluster provides an overview of the subfield, listings of active job openings, required credentials, and an employment outlook.* American Experience: Civilian Conservation Corps http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/ccc/ A film about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) is presented in its entirety on this website. "Heal the man, heal the land," was the philosophy of the CCC, and they engaged in some of the first environmental conservation work in the country. Since many academics, politicians, and lay people compare the current troubled times with experiences in the 1930s, this film is particularly timely and viewers may form their own opinion if the comparison is realistic. The film tells the stories of the three million young men who benefited from the regular meals, healthcare, clothing, diversity and hard work as they participated in the CCC. * Beaked Whale Identification Guide http://vertebrates.si.edu/mammals/beaked_whales/pages/main_menu.htm This informative and well-executed online Beaked Whale Identification Guide is maintained by staff at the National Museum of Natural History's Marine Mammal Program. The website contains detailed identification guides and separate pages for each beaked whale species. In the "Species Identification" guide, readers can choose the link to skull morphology or external morphology to view photos and descriptions useful in identifying species accurately. The "Species" pages contain information about each species, including their basic morphology, habits, and geographic distribution. The site provides also a cetacean stranding database and a links to other information sources on beaked whales. * The Big Energy Gamble http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/energy/ This is a companion website to a documentary that aired on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) NOVA series that "explores the pros and cons of California's bold approach [to fighting global warming], which could be adopted nationwide during the Obama administration. …


While consumers and flavor and fragrance professionals know and use many of nature's ingredients, very few truly grasp the magical stories that hide behind naturals— from a bottle of vanilla extract, to a drum of ylang-ylang oil. For too many of our industry colleagues, naturals are little more than a code number, a price or a bad crop report. Yet, it all starts with a farmer putting a seed in the ground and passionate teams dedicated to bringing nature's bounty to the world. Their stories are indeed nothing short of magical, the scents they deliver striking the very core of our emotions. Through years of experience selling botanical ingredients, I have witnessed countless perfumers, flavorists, chefs and buyers craving to further connect with the "Gardens of Eden" where the botanicals we formulate with and consume every day are grown. Quenching their thirst with stories of nature and its craftsmen hardly ever fails to trigger this unmistakable spark in their eyes: the satisfaction of novel knowledge, the thrill of discovery and adventure, the inspiration of unleashed creativity. Is it not time to make it real? Is it not time to bring nature back in naturals? Ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) is one of the great classics. Yet, a victim of collapsing quality, its future in our industry is endangered. This pale yellow essential oil, with an intensely sensual-sweet, soft floral, balsamic and slightly spicy scent, is a deep and rich material—a fragrance in itself. Ylang-ylang is a star ingredient of perfumers' natural palettes, immortalized in such timeless fragrances as Chanel No. 5 and Guerlain's Samsara. A recent trend for white flower scents has drawn perfumers to reinterpret tuberose, neroli and jasmine, thereby shedding new light on ylang-ylang's uncanny ability to reveal the true beauty of floral notes. Charabot perfumer Dorothee Piot bears witness to perfumers' fascination for ylang-ylang: "I cherish its spicy, sunny edge, its exhilarating charm. Ylang-ylang makes me travel. I use it to impart volume, wealth, subtleness, texture, character and mystery. It is a rich raw material that is lively; it perfectly complements floral notes. I love to marry it with woody notes, or formulate it to tame aldehydes." But, she adds, quality is essential to ylang-ylang's effectiveness.


Originally published between 1920-70, "The History of Civilization" was a landmark in early twentieth century publishing. It was published at a formative time within the social sciences, and during a period of decisive historical discovery. The aim of the general editor, C.K. Ogden, was to summarize the most up to date findings and theories of historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and sociologists. This reprinted material is available as a set or in the following groupings: "Prehistory and Historical Ethnography" Set of 12: 0-415-15611-4: GBP800.00; "Greek Civilization" Set of 7: 0-415-15612-2: GBP450.00; "Roman Civilization" Set of 6: 0-415-15613-0: GBP400.00; "Eastern Civilizations" Set of 10: 0-415-15614-9: GBP650.00; "Judaeo-Christian Civilization" Set of 4: 0-415-15615-7: GBP250.00; and, "European Civilization" Set of 11: 0-415-15616-5: GBP700.00.


An isolated bone from the late Campanian-aged Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah is tentatively identified as the terminal wing phalanx (manual phalanx IV-4) from a pterosaur, representing the first report of this clade from the formation. The specimen is 60 mm long and hollow, with thin and delicate walls and expanded ?proximal and ?distal ends. This is consistent with anatomy reported for equivalent elements in pterodactyloid pterosaurs. Although the specimen cannot be more precisely identified, it is consistent with occurrences of pterosaurs in penecontemporaneous terrestrial depositional environments throughout western North America.


The four-day school week is a concept that has been utilized in rural schools for decades to respond to budgetary shortfalls. There has been little peer-reviewed research on the four-day school week that has focused on the perception of parents who live in school districts that have recently switched to the four-day model. This study collects data from 584 parents in three rural Missouri school districts that have transitioned to the four-day school week within the last year. Quantitative statistical analysis identifies significant differences in the perceptions of parents classified by the age of children, special education identification, and free and reduced lunch status. Strong parental support for the four-day school week was identified in all demographic areas investigated; however, families with only elementary aged children and families with students receiving special education services were less supportive than other groups.


Pushkin on Literature approaches Pushkin's literary accomplishment from a unique perspective: it focuses on Pushkin the critic and on his passion-are enthusiasm, volatile judgments, joy, frustration and fascination with the literary world that surrounded him. This is the only English-language edition of the complete set of Pushkin's critical writing, both on his own work and on the wide range of European literature - Byron, Shakespeare, Voltaire, Milton - which he read and studied, and which so profoundly influenced his own writing, is organized into sections, each featuring a biographical survey of Pushkin's activities during the period covered. These extracts from Pushkin's letters, articles, and working notes provide a complete chronological record of the artist's literary evolution and provide a fascinating glimpse into the poet's intellectual passions.


Coal and coal seam gas (CSG) development can potentially affect water-dependent assets (either negatively or positively) through a direct impact on surface water hydrology. This product provides modelled estimates of potential surface water changes due to likely coal resource development in the Galilee subregion. First, the methods are summarised, followed by details regarding the development of the model. The product concludes with predictions of the hydrological response variables, the hydrological characteristics of the system that may change due to coal resource development. The uncertainty and limitations of the models are also reported. The difference in results between baseline and the CRDP is the change that is primarily reported in a BA. This change is due to the additional coal resource development (ACRD) – all coal mines and CSG fields, including expansions of baseline operations that are expected to begin commercial production after December 2012. There are no coal or CSG developments in operation as of the last quarter of 2012 for the Galilee subregion for the baseline coal resource development. There are 17 proposed new developments in the Galilee subregion for ACRD. There is enough available information to include seven of these developments in the numerical modelling for the Galilee subregion.The seven development projects being modelled are the open-cut coal mines Alpha Coal Project and Hyde Park Coal Project, and the combined open-cut and underground coal mines Carmichael Coal Mine, China First Coal Project, China Stone Coal Project, Kevin's Corner Mine and South Galilee Coal Project. A generic methodology for surface water numerical modelling in the Bioregional Assessment Programme is presented in companion submethodology M06 (as listed in Table 1). This product describes how the methodology has been applied in the Galilee subregion. Numerical simulation of the likely changes in surface water due to coal resource development requires a model or model sequence that can simulate change in the regional groundwater system, the alluvial groundwater system and the stream network. In the Assessment for the Galilee subregion an indirectly coupled model sequence of two models – consisting of a regional groundwater analytical element model (referred to as GW AEM) and a rainfall-runoff model (the Australia Water Resource Assessment Landscape model, referred to as AWRA-L) – is used to simulate the hydrological changes on the surface water systems of the subregion. Development of a single coupled and integrated surface and groundwater model is beyond the resources and data available for the Galilee subregion bioregional assessment. The surface water modelling domain comprises the Belyando, Cape and Suttor river basins and includes 61 model nodes at which daily streamflow is predicted. The model simulation period is from 2013 to 2102. The prediction results show that the ACRD in the Galilee subregion can have substantial impact on the hydrological response variables. The comparison among the 61 receptors shows that for the hydrological response variables that characterise high flow conditions, the relative hydrological changes are larger for the receptors where the maximum ACRD percentage is larger. In general, the biggest impacts (flow reductions of up to 20%) occur immediately downstream of ACRD developments and are particularly evident in receptors where the footprint forms a large proportion of the receptor catchment. For every high flow hydrological response variable, the biggest impacts are predicted to occur at a modelling node with a small upstream catchment on Sandy Creek. This node is located downstream of the South Galilee Coal Project. The ACRD impacts on the low streamflow hydrological response variables appear to be more substantial than those on the high streamflow hydrological response variables. However, they also appear to be associated with greater uncertainty in both the predicted change and the timing of the maximum change. For the low flow variables the biggest impacts occur in the middle reaches of the Belyando River and reflect an accumulation of impacts from multiple developments. These results also suggest that changes to low flow characteristics are caused by a combination of the instantaneous impact of interception from the additional mine footprints and the cumulative impact on baseflow over time caused by groundwater table drawdown, while the changes to high flow characteristics are dominated by direct interception of runoff. The change in baseflow due to changes in surface water – groundwater interactions under the CRDP is small compared to other components of the water balance and the effect of rainfall interception by mine sites. In the Galilee subregion, the accuracy with which mine footprints are represented depends fully on the resolution of the planned mine footprints provided by the mine proponents. This therefore is one of the crucial aspects of the surface water model as it potentially has a high impact on predictions and it is driven by data availability rather than availability of resources or technical issues. Outputs from the surface water modelling are used for the receptor impact modelling (see companion product 2.7 for the Galilee subregion) and in the impact and risk analysis (see companion product 3-4 for the Galilee subregion).


This paper proposes an extension of the applicability of phase-vocoder-based frequency estimators for generalized sinusoidal models, which include phase and amplitude modulations. A first approach, called phase corrected vocoder (PCV), takes into account the modification of the Fourier phases resulting from these modulations. Another approach is based on an adaptation of the principles of the time-frequency reassignment and is referred to as the reassigned vocoder (RV). The robustness of the estimation against noise is studied, both theoretically and experimentally, and the performance is assessed in comparison with two state-of-the-art algorithms: an unmodified version of the reassignment method and a quadratically interpolated fast Fourier transform method (QIFFT).


Julian Schwinger provided to physics a mathematical reconstruction of quantum mechanics on the basis of the characteristics of sequences of measurements occurring at the atomic level of physical structure. The central component of this reconstruction is an algebra of symbols corresponding to quantum measurements, conceived of as discrete processes, which serve to relate experience to theory; collections of outcomes of identically circumscribed such measurements are attributed expectation values, which constitute the predictive content of the theory. The outcomes correspond to certain phase parameters appearing in the corresponding symbols, which are complex numbers, the algebra of which he finds by a process he refers to as 'induction'. Schwinger assumed these (individually unpredictable) phase parameters to take random, uniformly distributed definite values within a natural range. I have previously suggested that the 'principle of plenitude' may serve as a basis in principle for the occurrence of the definite measured values that are those members of the collections of measurement outcomes from which the corresponding observed statistics derive (Jaeger 2015 Found. Phys. 45, 806–819. (doi:10.1007/s10701-015-9893-6)). Here, I evaluate Schwinger's assumption in the context of recent critiques of the notion of randomness and explicitly relate the randomness of these phases with the principle of plenitude and, in this way, provide a fundamental grounding for the objective, physically irreducible probabilities, conceived of as graded possibilities, that are attributed to measurement outcomes by quantum mechanics.


This book is an overview of replication technology for micro- and nanostructures, focusing on the techniques and technology of hot embossing, a scaleable and multi-purpose technology for the manufacture of devices such as BioMEMS and microfluidic devices which are expected to revolutionize a wide range of medical and industrial processes over the coming decade. The hot embossing process for replicating microstructures was developed by the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) where the author is head of the Nanoreplication Group. Worgull fills a gap in existing information by fully detailing the technology and techniques of hot embossing. He also covers nanoimprinting, a process related to hot embossing, with examples of actual research topics and new applications in nanoreplication. Features include: a practical and theoretical guide to selecting the materials, machinery and processes involved in microreplication using hot embossing techniques; compares different replication processes such as: micro injection molding, micro thermoforming, micro hot embossing, and nanoimprinting; and, details commercially available hot embossing machinery and components like tools and mold inserts.


M. Night Shyalaman's Unbreakable may have departed too far from superhero film conventions to be successful in the box office, but the film nonetheless foregrounds why the superhero narrative itself carries such profound psychological appeal. Rather than relying on special effects and high action to merely replicate traditional comic book stories, Shyamalan juxtaposes self-reflexive discussions about the superhero mythos against a much more subtle diegesis that ultimately bears out that same fantastic narrative. In doing so, the film not only complicates the genre of the superhero film but offers a necessary reflection on the psychological significance of the superhero mythos and its promise of ideological stability for fractured, post-Oedipal subjects.


PURPOSE
To compare quality of single and multiple isocenter stereotactic IMRT treatment plans for multiple intracranial targets.

METHODS
Five patients (two with three and three with two brain metastatic tumors) treated with multiple isocenters using 9 to 12 non-coplanar beams per lesion were replanned for single isocenter 10 to 12 non-coplanar beams. Identical contour sets and dose-volume constraints were applied. Plans were developed using BrainLab iPlan system for delivery with Varian TrueBeam STx machine. The prescribed dose to each target was 25 Gy in five fractions and minimum 95% dose was required to cover > 95% of target volume.

RESULTS
All plans satisfied the dose-volume constraints, with no significant differences in dose conformity between single and multiple isocenter plans. The mean Paddick conformity index (CI) for two target single and multiple isocenter plans was 0.76 and 0.75 (p = 0.93), and for three target single and multiple isocenter plans was 0.73 and 0.70 (p = 0.37), respectively. Normal brain tissue doses were higher for single isocenter plans compared to multiple isocenter plans. The average normal brain volumes receiving 15 and 10 Gy for two target plans (single vs. multiple isocenter) were: (4.8% vs. 2.1%) and (8.9% vs. 4.5%), respectively. For three target plans these volumes were: (2.0% vs. 1.5%) and (4.6% vs. 3.4%). The estimated total treatment time (patient set-up, imaging-verification, beam-on time at 600 MU/min, etc.) were approximately 1.75 and 2.5 times lower with two and three target single isocenter delivery, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Single isocenter plans were capable of producing quality treatment plans similar to multiple isocenter plans. Treatment delivery times were much higher and the normal brain tissue doses were only slightly lower at 10 and 15 Gy dose levels for multiple isocenter plans compared to single isocenter plans. Clinical consequences of these normal tissue doses are however unknown.


In 2015, the National Ambulance Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Network was founded to help improve the experiences of LGBT people who contact the ambulance service; expand the support offered to ambulance staff; and create a visible presence in the community. Since its formation, committee members, regional representatives and ambulance staff from across the country have worked tirelessly towards these core objectives, and to share best practice between regional ambulance LGBT networks. In August of 2017, the Network held its second annual conference to emphasise some of the health inequalities that LGBT people are known to experience when accessing health care. Over the course of the day, delegates were able to learn about interventions and support measures that are available through a series of workshops on issues such as dementia care and post-traumatic stress disorder. This conference report documents the success of the National Ambulance LGBT Network Conference 2017 and provides an overv...


Mobile money services (MMS) USAge through mobile phones and other ICT tools has increased with time and dramatically pave the way in business communication among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Tanzania. Some of SME operators in Karagwe District are escaping from MMS USAge due to perceived risk associated with financial communication and hence pulls down its USAge. The growth of MMS and perceived risk embodied in it is taking a crucial part in business communication. A study sought to analyse the influences of perceived risk on MMS USAge to support SME business undertaking. Perceived risk theory was reviewed and become a corners stone for this study. It can be recalled that, risk is the stake in use and individual feeling which is subjected in certainty. Variables in mobile MMS USAge including financial risk, performance risk and SME business operation were identified and measured using quantitative techniques. Questionnaires were designed to collect data from all respondent. Data were collected from 154 runners of micro, small and medium enterprises using simple random sampling method. Data were analysed by sing SPSS version 22 in which descriptive analysis were used to analyses demographic data while factor analysis were used to test the study hypothesis. The study found that financial and operational risks are negatively and significantly influences MMS USAge in business operation. This study highlights remedial action for players of MMS in business operation which will facilitate to mitigate perceived risk and enhance smooth running SME business orientation. Furthermore, the study recommends that the Government should institute the developed ICT policies and other legislation to enforce MMS USAge security and regulate its uptakes.


A beta-glucosidase (EC 126.96.36.199) was purified to homogeneity from cell-free extracts of an extremely thermophilic anaerobic bacterium. The enzyme has an Mr of 43,000 as determined by molecular-exclusion chromatography, has a pI of 4.55 and shows optimum activity at pH 6.2. The enzyme is active against a wide range of aryl beta-glycosides and beta-linked disaccharides, with beta-galactosidase activity only slightly less than beta-glucosidase activity, and significant beta-xylosidase activity. Lineweaver-Burk plots for p-nitrophenyl beta-glucoside, o-nitrophenyl beta-glucoside and cellobiose substrates are biphasic concave-downwards. Inhibition of the beta-glucosidase by substrates and glucose is negligible. Thermal inactivation follows first-order kinetics, with t1/2 (65 degrees C) 45 h, t1/2 (75 degrees C) 47 min and t1/2 (85 degrees C) 1.4 min and a deactivation energy of 380 kJ/mol at pH 6.2. At pH 7.0, which is the optimum pH for thermostability, t1/2 (75 degrees C) is 130 min. At 75 degrees C, at pH 6.2, the thermostability is enhanced about 8-fold by 10% (w/v) glycerol, about 6-fold by 0.2 M-cellobiose and about 3-fold by 5 mM-dithiothreitol and 5 mM-2-mercaptoethanol.


This is a definitive guide to all major food drying techniques and equipment. It features latest technologies for meats, fruits, vegetables, and seafood. It covers microbial issues and safety. It also includes newest designs for drying systems and manufacturing lines. Here, in one source, is the scientific information needed for high-quality and high-throughput removal of water from many different foods. All major food drying manufacturing operations are illustrated, with key design information for each stage. This book makes clear the principles of food drying and the mathematical techniques for analyzing drying processes. At the same time it provides details on how drying is now done within the global food industry, e.g., how drying lines are designed and set up. Using the most current numerical and empirical data, the authors show how various types of drying affect the chemistry and sensory properties of foods. Key information is also furnished on microbial safety, preservation, and packaging.


When exploring hospitality in Classical Antiquity discovered that it was essentially organic and a great deal about the cultural values and beliefs of the societies that existed. Developments within these societies led to the formal stratification of hospitality and three different typologies of hospitality have already clearly emerged: Private or personal hospitality based around the entire household; civic or public hospitality connected with the state; and an emergent, but important, commercial industry. Through practising hospitality the household increased in strength and status; hospitality itself could be hereditary and reciprocal in nature. Civic hospitality had been connected to the state since Aristotle wrote his Athenian Constitution and Plato stratified guests into four categories; this typology of hospitality, initially between individuals, also led to obligations between the states. The formal linking of states by ties of hospitality led to civic receptions and the exchange of ambassadors. Civic and business hospitality developed from private hospitality but retained the key foundation: treat others as to make them feel at home even though they are not at home. There was also considerable evidence of a distinct and rapidly developing commercial hospitality sector. The literature shows that commercial hospitality was already recognisable by 400 BC as a key source of income for a city and as a necessary attraction to bring tourists or traders to the city. The concepts of guest, stranger, and host are closely related only when hospitality was based around the household, all guests/strangers were to be treated the same. Plato's differentiation of hospitality provision into the four categories of merchant on trade or business; cultural visitor to view artistic achievements; civic dignitary on public business; and occasional high-status cultural visitor, demonstrated a significant change in the ideology and thinking that underpinned civic and commercial hospitality provision. In Homeric and biblical literature, hospitality was shown as a way of giving respect and showing honour - it was non-judgmental of social status. However, as hospitality moved from being centred in and on the home into the civic domain guests were no longer treated equally. Hospitality was still welcoming, but it was also stratified. This highlights the fact that as society became more sophisticated and hospitality was no longer homogeneous and the codification of hospitality provided reference points as to how to treat a range of guests/strangers according to a variety of criteria.


While coaching is establishing itself as an effective human development approach, there is limited understanding of the dynamics of coaching in the context of oppression. This paper summarises a study that examined the use of coaching as an emancipatory approach, and explored how oppression affects coachees, coaches and the coaching process. Building on a crossdisciplinary review of emancipatory approaches, an initial coaching model was developed. Then, a cooperative inquiry was conducted with twelve coaches from Egypt, who used the model with 22 coachees, leading to the development of a theoretical and practical framework for the use of coaching to support the emancipation and development of individuals. This study is possibly the first to research coaching as an emancipatory approach. It provides insights into how oppression affects individuals and describes the individual's journey to emancipation. It proposes a detailed framework of the processes that support individuals through that journey, and discusses the implications of the social context on the coaches' development.


Background: Hospital emergency departments (EDs) play a vital role in the health-care system, providing care for patients with acute illness and injury, and access to the health system in Nigeria. Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the sociodemographic profile of medical presentation seen EDs of a teaching hospital. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of patients presenting at the medical accident and emergency (A/E) at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital over a period of 12 months. Ethical approval was obtained from the Hospital Ethical Review Committee to carry out the study. Information obtained includes demographic data, clinical presentation, duration of stay in emergency, and outcome in the EDs within 48 h of arrival. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 computer software, and results were presented in tables and figures. Results: A total of 796 were seen over the study period. About 54.1% (431) were male and 45.9% (365) were female giving a male: female ratio of 1.2:1. Most of the patients (650, 81.7%) were from Ilorin township or its immediate environs, and about 32.4% were unemployed. About 58% (462) of our patients presented to the ED without a referral either from a primary or secondary health care. Stroke accounted for 75 (9.4%) of diagnosis, diabetes mellitus and its complications in 59 (7.4%), systemic hypertension and its complications in 52 (6.5%), malaria in 49 (6.2%), sickle cell anemia in 37 (4.6%), and chronic heart failure in 21 (2.6%). About 29% (231) stayed beyond 24 h on the ED before being moved to the ward, 26% (207) stayed longer than 48 h due to nonavailability of bed space on the ward and financial constraints, while 32.2% were either transferred or discharged within and mortality was recorded in 12.8% (102). Conclusion: Male utilizes the medical ED more than the females, most of the patients were in the younger age group, and majority of whom are self-employed. Most patients were walk-in patients. The most common reason for presentation at the medical ED for admission was stroke which was also the leading cause of death.


Global grasslands are typically under management practices (such as fire and grazing) that alter nutrient cycling, ecosystem composition, and distribution of organic matter from the unmanaged condition. We evaluated landscape-level response to fire and grazing treatments in the Konza Tallgrass Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas, using spectral mixture analysis of Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data acquired 31 August 1990. Spectral mixture analysis derives the fractional abundances of spectrally unique components in the landscape. The reflectance spectra of these components are called endmembers. Endmember fractions values were compared against ground values of live biomass, current standing dead biomass, and litter for 12 watersheds. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on 37 watersheds with known burning and grazing histories for each of the remote sensing variables. Seven endmembers were selected from the AVIRIS data using a manual endmember selection method: nonphotosynthetic vege- tation (NPV), soil, rock, shade, and three green vegetation endmembers (GV1, GV2, and GV3). Each vegetation endmember correlated differently to biomass measurements and revealed unique relationships to management treatments. From regressions, ANOVAs, and image analysis, these three endmembers were inferred to represent canopy vertical structure or leaf area index (LAI), greenness, and fractional cover of grass, respectively. There was a stronger relationship between the sum of GV1 and GV3 fractions and live grass biomass values than there was with the (unsummed) individual fractions. In an ANOVA, the sum separated both burn and grazing treatments as well as the treatment interaction. The NPV fraction was strongly correlated with ground measurements of litter and standing dead biomass, and significantly separated burn treatments. The soil fraction differentiated grazing treatments, and analysis of the soil fraction image revealed a spatial coherence of grazing patterns along drainages. Similar analyses were perfomed on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a commonly used two-band index computed from red and near- infrared reflectance. NDVI, shown in previous studies to estimate the fraction of photo- synthetically active radiation absorbed by green vegetation (FPAR), was a poor indicator of canopy biomass, but it successfully separated fire treatments. Broad-scale assessment of the state and structure of managed grassland systems requires the identification of several indicator variables. Spectral mixture analysis, unlike NDVI, not only separated treatments but also allowed for the identification of five remotely sensible factors affected by the management treatments, namely, vertical structure, percentage cover or patchiness, greenness, and distribution of soil and litter.


Experimental recovery from retrograde amnesia When memory researchers induce amnesia, they normally assume that the manipulations prevent the memory engram from effective encoding at consolidation. In accordance with this, Ryan et al. found that after the injection of protein synthesis inhibitors, animals could not retrieve a memory. However, to their surprise, the memory could nevertheless be reactivated by light-induced activation of the neurons tagged during conditioning. Increased synaptic strength that is the result of cellular consolidation is thus not a critical requisite for storing a memory. Science, this issue p. 1007 Memory can be retrieved by optogenetic activation of the neurons involved in memory formation when memories would not normally have been stored. Memory consolidation is the process by which a newly formed and unstable memory transforms into a stable long-term memory. It is unknown whether the process of memory consolidation occurs exclusively through the stabilization of memory engrams. By using learning-dependent cell labeling, we identified an increase of synaptic strength and dendritic spine density specifically in consolidated memory engram cells. Although these properties are lacking in engram cells under protein synthesis inhibitor–induced amnesia, direct optogenetic activation of these cells results in memory retrieval, and this correlates with retained engram cell–specific connectivity. We propose that a specific pattern of connectivity of engram cells may be crucial for memory information storage and that strengthened synapses in these cells critically contribute to the memory retrieval process.


In the search for bioactive metabolites from Ethiopian medicinal plants, two tetracyclic triterpenes; spinasterol (1) and shionone (2) along with cetyl alcohol (3) were isolated from the acetone extract of the stem bark of Vernonia biafrae, a medicinal plants widely used for the treatment of infectious diseases. Column chromatographic separations and Sephadex LH-20 gel filtration were employed for the isolation of the pure compounds. The compounds were characterized by spectrometric (NMR and mass) analyses and comparison with literature data. This is the first report of compound 2 and 3 from the genus Vernonia. The extracts and the isolated compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities against both bacterial and fungal test strains and exhibited comparable activities with the standard antibiotics. The highest activity was observed for acetone extract (23.73 0.10 mm) and compound 2 (23.72 0.30 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus. Whereas, the rest showed moderate to low inhibitory activities against the test strains. The finding could be used for comprehensive evaluations of the phytochemicals for their microbial activities and also support the claim that the plant V. biafrae is used for the treatment of microbial diseases.


The agricultural sector has great importance in the socio-economic development. Its development throughout history has enabled the emergence of other activities and therefore new jobs. Furthermore, the importance of the agribusiness can be evidence for its share of about 30% in the total Brazilian GDP and its importance in generating jobs. To study this sector in more detail, the agricultural sector was broken down into two sectors: Familiar and Non-Familiar Agriculture Agribusiness. The goal of this paper is to study how the productive structure and the income distribution in the Brazilian economy have had an impact over employment generation and income sectors in the Familiar and Non-Familiar Agriculture Agribusiness in 2002. This paper uses as a theoretical basis the Leontief-Miyazawa approach considering the differences between sectors and the 27 Brazilian states.


A Companion to Science Fiction assembles essays by an international range of scholars which discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers. * This Companion conveys the scale and variety of science fiction. * Shows how science fiction has been used as a means of debating cultural issues. * Essays by an international range of scholars discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers. * Addresses general topics, such as the history and origins of the genre, its engagement with science and gender, and national variations of science fiction around the English-speaking world. * Maps out connections between science fiction, television, the cinema, virtual reality technology, and other aspects of the culture. * Includes a section focusing on major figures, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Guin. * Offers close readings of particular novels, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.


The article first describes how the principle of non-discrimination of homosexuals is anchored in EU legislation and influences concrete policies of the European Union. The second section gives an analysis of the extent to which citizens of 26 EU Member States and Turkey support the idea of nondiscrimination of homosexuals. The descriptive findings show that the idea of non-discrimination is not supported by the majority of the European citizens, and that there are substantial differences be-tween the countries. A sense that homosexuality is justifiable is particularly low in recently-acceded country groups, and is almost nonexistent in Turkey. In the third section, we explain these differences by referring, among other factors, to the level of modernization of a country, the value orientation of the respondent, the level of education and the religious orientation of the respondent. The results show, that a high level of modernization, the interviewee's level of education, and post-materialist values have the strongest impact on non-discrimination attitudes. One may therefore conclude that support for non-discrimination toward homosexuals will increase if new member states go through a period of modernization similar to that of the old member states.


Automatic detection of objects is critical to video tracking systems. One of the simplest techniques for detection is background subtraction (BS). BS refers to the process of segmenting moving regions from image sequences. The BS process involves building a model of the background and extracting regions of the foreground (moving objects). In this paper, we propose an extended cluster BS (CBS) technique based on symmetric alpha stable (SAS) distributions. The developed method functions at cluster-level as against the traditional pixel-level BS methods. An iterative self-adaptive mechanism is presented that allows automated learning of the distribution of the model parameters. The results for the CBS S®S algorithm on real video sequences show improvement compared with a CBS using a Gaussian mixture model.


The building stock consumes large amounts of resources for maintenance and expansion which is only exacerbated by disaster events where large‐scale reconstruction must occur quickly. Recent research has shown the potential for application of material stock (MS) accounts for informing disaster risk planning. In this research, we present a methodological approach to analyze the vulnerability of the material stock in buildings to extreme weather events and sea‐level rise (SLR) due to climate change. The main island of Grenada, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the Caribbean region, was used as a case study. A bottom‐up approach based on a geographic information system (GIS) is used to calculate the total MS of aggregate, timber, concrete, and steel in buildings. The total MS in buildings in 2014 was calculated to be 11.9 million tonnes (Mt), which is equivalent to 112 tonnes per capita. Material gross addition to stock (GAS) between 1993 to 2009 was 6.8 Mt and the average value over the time period was 4.0 tonnes per capita per year. In the year following Hurricane Ivan (2004), the per capita GAS for timber increased by 172%, while for other metals, GAS spiked by 103% (compared to average growth rates of 11% and 8%, respectively, between 1993 and 2009). We also ran a future "Ivan‐II" scenario and estimated a hypothetical loss of between 135 and 216 kilotonnes (kt) of timber from the building stock. The potential impact of SLR is also assessed, with an estimated 1.6 Mt of building material stock exposed under a 2‐m scenario. We argue that spatial material stock accounts have an important application in planning for resilience and provide indication of the link between natural disaster recovery and resource use patterns.


Due to the absence of a reliable and valid measure of criminal social identity to be used with juvenile offenders in Pakistan, the focus of the first empirical chapter was to translate the self-report Measure of Criminal Social Identity (MCSI) into Urdu with the aim of testing the construct validity, dimensionality, incremental validity, and composite reliability of the measure in a sample of juvenile delinquents incarcerated in Pakistan (N = 415). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the best fitting model was a three-factor model (cognitive centrality, in-group affect, and in-group ties). The Urdu version of MCSI was then used in the subsequent chapters to examine criminal social identity as a risk factor for delinquency and a protector factor for suicide thinking. The second empirical chapter investigated the number and nature of latent classes of juvenile delinquency and their relationship with the criminal social identity by using latent class analysis and regression analysis. Results indicated a three class solution: 'minor delinquents' 'moderate delinquents' and 'major delinquents'. Juvenile offenders who reported having an increased number of criminal friends were more likely to belong to the 'major delinquency class' whilst those reporting higher in-group ties and lower in-group affect were more likely to belong to the 'moderate delinquency' class compared to 'minor delinquency class'. Previous empirical research has focused only on how criminal social identity predicts and helps us to understand criminal behaviour. The aim of the third empirical chapter was to investigate criminal social identity (CS) as protective factor against suicide ideation. Therefore, a structural model was estimated to investigate the relationship between the three factors of CSI and suicide ideation, while controlling for age, offender type, period of confinement, and drug addiction. Results indicated that of the variables included in the model, the only significant (negative) predictor of suicide ideation was in-group ties. Thus, in-group ties may act as a protective factor against the development of suicide ideation in incarcerated offender.


Geological carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in the United Kingdom (UK) will likely be entirely offshore, which may lead to the production and disposal into the sea of reservoir waters to increase storage capacity, or through CO2-Enhanced Oil Recovery (CO2-EOR). These produced waters have the potential to contain significant concentrations of trace metals that could be of harm to the environment. Batch experiments with CO2, warm brines, and reservoir sandstones were undertaken for this thesis to determine concentrations of 8 trace metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, zinc) which could be leached during CO2 storage in 4 UK North Sea hydrocarbon reservoirs. A sequential extraction procedure (SEP) was also used to determine the potential mobility of these metals under CO2 storage from mineral phases making up the reservoir samples. The results broadly showed that mobilised trace metal concentrations were low (parts per billion, ppb) in the batch experiments, with the exceptions of nickel and zinc. These metals were associated with carbonate and some feldspar dissolution, with other metals apparently desorbed from mineral surfaces, probably clays. The results of the SEP, however, were a poor predictor of actual mobility with respect to the batch experiments, although useful in determining the distribution of trace metals within the defined mineral phases (water soluble, ion exchangeable, carbonate, oxide, sulphide, silicate). In addition, fieldwork was carried out at Green River, Utah, to collect 10 CO2-driven spring water samples and 5 local aquifer rock samples. This area was used as a natural analogue for CO2-mobilised trace metals from sandstone aquifers. Trace metal concentrations in spring waters were very low (ppb) and batch experiments using Utah rock samples, spring water collected from Crystal Geyser, and CO2 confirmed very low mobility of these metals. The SEP was repeated for the Utah reservoir rocks, but again was not a reliable predictor for actual mobility, other than to confirm that overall bulk concentrations of trace metals was low. Comparison of trace metal concentrations from the batch experiments with data from UK North Sea oil and gas produced waters shows that overall, concentrations mobilised in batch experiments are within the range of concentrations across all North Sea fields reporting their data. However, on a field-by-field basis, some CO2 mobilised concentrations exceeded those currently produced by oil and gas activities. Furthermore, average batch experiment trace metal loads are higher than average oil and gas produced waters, and in some cases exceed international guidelines. Therefore, while the majority of trace metals have low mobility and therefore low environmental impact, this should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Regular monitoring of dissolved constituents in produced waters carried should also be carried out, particularly in the initial stages of CO2 storage operations, with remedial action taken as required to reduce the environmental impact of offshore carbon capture and storage.


We study the plausibility of sub-optimal Nash equilibria of the direct revelation mechanism associated with a strategy-proof social choice function. By using the recently introduced empirical equilibrium analysis (Velez and Brown, 2019, arXiv:1804.07986) we determine that this behavior is plausible only when the social choice function violates a non-bossiness condition and information is not interior. Analysis of the accumulated experimental and empirical evidence on these games supports our findings.


This article offers the first systematic examination of Chapter 154, United States Code, which establishes new statutory arrangements for cases in which state prisoners under sentence of death file federal habeas corpus petitions challenging their convictions or sentences. Chapter 154 was enacted as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Yet its provisions were made applicable only in capital cases arising from states that established qualifying schemes for providing indigent death row prisoners with counsel in state postconviction proceedings. No state's system for supplying lawyers in state court won approval and, in consequence, Chapter 154's rules and procedures for death penalty cases have been on hold for nearly twenty years. Recently, the Department of Justice has revised the standards that state legal services programs must satisfy. This article proceeds from the premise that some states will secure certification that their schemes conform and focuses on the interpretation the provisions in Chapter 154 should receive in the cases to which they apply. At the time of enactment, the rules and procedures in Chapter 154 were commonly said to be favorable to states responding to prisoners' petitions. This article contends that when the provisions in Chapter 154 are interpreted sensibly and pragmatically, they do not establish especially state-friendly protocols for the conduct of capital habeas litigation. Other provisions in the 1996 Act and innovations adopted since have largely stolen the show inasmuch as they subject all habeas cases, capital and noncapital alike, to essentially the same arrangements.


The 'debate' section of the Review aims at contributing to the reflection on current ethical, legal, or practical controversies around humanitarian issues. The definition of occupation under international humanitarian law (IHL) is rather vague, and IHL instruments provide no clear standard for determining the beginning of occupation. Derived from the wording of Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, occupation may be defined as the effective control of a foreign territory by hostile armed forces. It is not always easy to determine when an invasion has become an occupation. This raises the question whether or not the law of occupation could already be applied during the invasion phase. In this regard, two main positions are usually put forward in legal literature. Generally it is held that the provisions of occupation law only apply once the elements underpinning the definition set out in Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations are met. However, the so-called 'Pictet theory', as formulated by Jean S. Pictet in the ICRC's Commentary on the Geneva Conventions, proposes that no intermediate phase between invasion and occupation exists and that certain provisions of occupation law already apply during an invasion. The collapse of essential public facilities such as hospitals and water-supply installations, partly due to the large-scale looting and violence that came along with the progress of the coalition forces, in Iraq in 2003 demonstrates that this discussion is not simply a theoretical one. Invading armed forces need clarity as to what rules they need to apply. Three experts in the field of occupation law – Marten Zwanenburg, Michael Bothe, and Marco Sassòli – have agreed to participate in this debate and to defend three approaches. Marten Zwanenburg maintains that for determining when an invasion turns into an occupation the only test is the one set out in Article 42 of the 1907 Hague Regulations, and therefore rejects the 'Pictet theory'. Michael Bothe, while also rejecting the 'Pictet theory', argues that a possible intermediate situation between invasion and occupation, if there is any at all, would be very short and that, once an invader has gained control over a part of an invaded territory, the law of occupation applies. Finally, Marco Sassòli defends the 'Pictet theory' and argues that, in order to avoid legal vacuums, there is no distinction between an invasion phase and an occupation phase for applying the rules of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The debaters have simplified their complex legal reasoning for the sake of clarity and brevity. Readers of the Review should bear in mind that the debaters' actual legal positions may be more nuanced than they may appear in this debate.


BACKGROUND
Treatment of cancer is increasingly more effective but is associated with short and long term side effects. Oral side effects remain a major source of illness despite the use of a variety of agents to prevent them. One of these side effects is oral mucositis (mouth ulcers).

OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effectiveness of prophylactic agents for oral mucositis in patients with cancer receiving treatment, compared with other potentially active interventions, placebo or no treatment.

SEARCH STRATEGY
Electronic searches of Cochrane Oral Health Group and PaPaS Trials Registers (to 1 June 2010), CENTRAL (The Cochrane Library 2010, Issue 2), MEDLINE via OVID (1950 to 1 June 2010), EMBASE via OVID (1980 to 1 June 2010), CINAHL via EBSCO (1980 to 1 June 2010), CANCERLIT via PubMed (1950 to 1 June 2010), OpenSIGLE (1980 to 2005) and LILACS via the Virtual Health Library (1980 to 1 June 2010) were undertaken. Reference lists from relevant articles were searched and the authors of eligible trials were contacted to identify trials and obtain additional information.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials of interventions to prevent oral mucositis in patients receiving treatment for cancer.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Information regarding methods, participants, interventions, outcome measures, results and risk of bias were independently extracted, in duplicate, by two review authors. Authors were contacted for further details where these were unclear. The Cochrane Collaboration statistical guidelines were followed and risk ratios calculated using random-effects models.

MAIN RESULTS
A total of 131 studies with 10,514 randomised participants are now included. Nine interventions, where there was more than one trial in the meta-analysis, showed some statistically significant evidence of a benefit (albeit sometimes weak) for either preventing or reducing the severity of mucositis, compared to either a placebo or no treatment. These nine interventions were: allopurinol, aloe vera, amifostine, cryotherapy, glutamine (intravenous), honey, keratinocyte growth factor, laser, and polymixin/tobramycin/amphotericin (PTA) antibiotic pastille/paste.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Nine interventions were found to have some benefit with regard to preventing or reducing the severity of mucositis associated with cancer treatment. The strength of the evidence was variable and implications for practice include consideration that benefits may be specific for certain cancer types and treatment. There is a need for further well designed, and conducted trials with sufficient numbers of participants to perform subgroup analyses by type of disease and chemotherapeutic agent.


RADAR AND MULTISPECTRAL IMAGE FUSION OPTIONS FOR IMPROVED LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION Erwin J. Villiger, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2008 Dissertation Director: Dr. Barry N. Haack Investigators engaged in research utilizing remotely-sensed data are increasingly faced with a plethora of data sources and platforms that exploit different portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Considerable efforts have focused on the application of these sources to the development of a better understanding of lithosphere, biosphere, and atmospheric systems. Many of these efforts have concentrated on the use of single sensors. More recently, some research efforts have turned to the fusion of sources in an effort to determine if different sensors and platforms can be combined to more effectively analyze or model the systems in question. This study evaluates multisensor integration of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) with Multispectral Imagery (MSI) data for land cover analysis and vegetation mapping. Three principle analytical issues are addressed in this investigation: the value of SAR collected at different incident angles, preclassification processing alternatives to improve fusion classification results, and the value of cross-season (dry and wet) data integration in a subtropical climate. The study site for this research is Andros Island, the largest island in The Bahamas archipelago. Andros has a number of distinct plant communities ranging from saltwater marsh and mangroves to pine stands and hardwood coppices. Despite the island's size and proximity to the United States, it is largely uninhabited and has large expanses of minimally disturbed landscapes. An empirical assessment of SAR filtering techniques, namely speckle suppression and texture analysis at various window sizes, is utilized to determine the most appropriate technique to apply when integrating SAR and MSI for land cover characterization. Multiple RADARSAT-1 SAR images were collected at various incident angles for wet and dry season conditions over the region of interest. Two Landsat Thematic Mapper-5 MSI datasets were also collected to coincide with the time periods of the SAR images. A land cover classification process applied to the dry season and wet season MSI data achieved a total classification accuracy of 80.6% and 80.7% respectively. When combined into a single multiseason dataset the MSI data resulted in a total classification accuracy of 87.3%. SAR proved to be a valuable source of information especially when processed as a time series and with a speckle suppression algorithm applied. A 21-scene multitemporal SAR dataset achieved a total classification accuracy of 65.8%. When a classification was applied to the multitemporal dataset following speckle suppression, the resulting total classification accuracy was as high as 83.8% depending on the speckle algorithm and kernel applied. While texture measures have been successfully utilized for integrating SAR and MSI data, in this study speckle suppression proved to be significantly more valuable. SAR collection parameters such as look direction (ascending or descending orbit) and incident angle did not prove to contain uniquely valuable characteristics. The highest total classification accuracy achieved involved a combination of two MSI datasets and a multitemporal SAR dataset processed to suppress speckle using a GammaMaximum A Posteriori (MAP) filter with a 9x9 kernel. This study sought to investigate processing alternatives when fusing SAR and MSI data. While not all of the results met with expectations, this study does determine that SAR and MSI are complementary data sources. A combination of SAR and MSI provide unique and valuable results that can not be achieved by each variable used independently.


Data-driven research on the automated discovery and repair of security vulnerabilities in source code requires comprehensive datasets of real-life vulnerable code and their fixes. To assist in such research, we propose a method to automatically collect and curate a comprehensive vulnerability dataset from Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) records in the National Vulnerability Database (NVD). We implement our approach in a fully automated dataset collection tool and share an initial release of the resulting vulnerability dataset named CVEfixes. The CVEfixes collection tool automatically fetches all available CVE records from the NVD, gathers the vulnerable code and corresponding fixes from associated open-source repositories, and organizes the collected information in a relational database. Moreover, the dataset is enriched with meta-data such as programming language, and detailed code and security metrics at five levels of abstraction. The collection can easily be repeated to keep up-to-date with newly discovered or patched vulnerabilities. The initial release of CVEfixes spans all published CVEs up to 9 June 2021, covering 5365 CVE records for 1754 open-source projects that were addressed in a total of 5495 vulnerability fixing commits. CVEfixes supports various types of data-driven software security research, such as vulnerability prediction, vulnerability classification, vulnerability severity prediction, analysis of vulnerability-related code changes, and automated vulnerability repair.


The world has become dependent on information, technology, and telecommunications, better known as information technology and telecommunications (IT&T), a term that encompasses the fields of electrical and computer engineering, and computer science. Increasingly, IT&T is an effective indicator of the difference between developed and developing nations. The competitiveness of a nation is directly related to its incorporation of IT&T which requires a substantial restructuring of the forms and procedures in attempting to generate a base for development of science and technology. To achieve this, it is important to revise the education of human technical and scientific resources. This paper summarizes the experience of the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education (ISTEC) consortium in IT education in Latin America.


Background: Social confidence is considered an important element in entrepreneurship. Objectives: Given the importance of employment and entrepreneurship of veterans, the present research aimed to determine the status of social confidence in veteran entrepreneurs of Zanjan Province. Methods: In this survey. the statistical sample included all veteran entrepreneurs of Zanjan Province with an entrepreneurship file in Zanjan Employment Department from November 2013 to January 2014. The required data were collected using a two part questionnaire including demographic charactristics and social confidence scale of Saffarnia. Social confidence scale of Saffarnia consists of 5 dimensions of trust-based behavior, cooperative tendencies, openness, honesty, and trust. Both questionnaires were filled out by the respondents in a self-reporting manner. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS-19. Results : The mean age of respondents was 38.7±8.5. The results showed that 95%, 65%, and 85% of respondents were male, had a high school diploma, and aged over 60, respectively. All respondents were living in urban areas, employed, and married. The mean score of total social confidence was 86.05±5.81 with a range of 74-99. Among the dimensions of social confidence, cooperative tendencies and honesty ranked first and last, respectively. Conclusion: Although the findings of the present study showed that the level of social confidence in veteran entrepreneurs of Zanjan Province is above the average, it seems that the development of entrepreneurial activities among this group of society needs more attention of officials to the provision of necessary conditions to promote social confidence.


Byzantine culture is one of the milestones of European cultural heritage. "BYZART - Byzantine Art and Archaeology on Europeana" project (https://byzart.eu/) addresses the general scope of organizing, digitizing, cataloguing and making available rich archival collections related to the Byzantine cultural heritage on Europeana. The project partners who collaborated to this catalogue (the Department of History and Cultures – University of Bologna, the Institute of Historical Research – Section of Byzantine Research at the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the Open University of Cyprus, the Ionian University – Department of Audio and Visual Arts, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Institute of Art Studies of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Istituzione Biblioteca Classense – Museo della Citta di Ravenna – International Centre for Documentation of Mosaics), have shared their cultural contents with the European community raising awareness about this impressive heritage. The book presents the proceedings of the final meeting of "Byzart - Byzantine Art and Archaeology on Europeana" project and the catalogue of the digital exhibition "The Silk and the Blood. Images of Authority in Byzantine Art and Archaeology".


The Global History of Fashion Reader is an innovative work that provides a broad introduction to the complex literature in the fields of fashion, and dress and fashion history. It is a comprehensive resource for those who wish to further their engagement with fashion as a contemporary phenomenon. The book connects a diverse range of approaches and incorporates non-Western literature within better-known studies on Europe and North America. It identifies the history of fashion as a meeting point between the long-standing historical investigation of 'dress' and 'costume' and the more recent development of those sociological and anthropological-inspired studies that have come to be called 'fashion theory'. Over thirty-five chapters cover a wide range of topics and approaches within the history of fashion, ranging from object-based studies to theory-driven analyses, mostly published by academics, curators and fashion specialists over the last two decades. The book is divided into nine parts, surveying some of the key themes in the history of fashion. Themes also move in and across time, providing a 'disguised' chronology to enable student learning: parts 1-4 cover the four centuries from the 15th to the 18th century; parts 5-7 cover the 19th century to the contemporary (with particular attention given to extra-European countries) and part 8 provides a survey of the global setting and current globalised nature of fashion. Winner: Best Book Edited or Anthology, AAANZ, Art History Association of Australia and NZ: Citation: See http://aaanz.info/prizes/


In this paper, we examine the effects of CEO bonus intensity and monitoring of companies on companies mandatory disclosure on acquisitions. We conduct our study in a low enforcement environment by using unique data on Swedish listed companies in the years 2011-2013. In the analysis, we use a self-constructed disclosure index and ordered logistic regressions. We find that only 23 percent of all companies that made acquisitions disclosed all mandatory information. We also find that there is a positive relationship between the amount of monitoring a company is subject to and their disclosure on acquisitions and a negative relationship between CEO bonus intensity and the disclosure on acquisitions. We contribute to the literature by examining goodwill accounting in a low enforcement environment and by examining effects on mandatory disclosure instead of voluntary disclosure.


The difficult and fascinating relationship between archaeometry and mineralogy continuously offers challenges and topics for research, though it is often troubled by the sectorial organization of academic structure, at present also severely limited by budgetary cuts. The existing competition between traditional academic disciplines in the field of cultural heritage is often pernicious and poorly effective as far as information and knowledge transmission are concerned. The continuity in the employment of highly trained researchers and the poor strategy in the data publication are issues of great concern. Centralised research facilities could have a leading role in the management of multi-disciplinary research, though they have a limited practical effect in a shrinking budget world. Within this frame, disciplines such as mineralogy and petrology, intrinsically used to deal with complex systems, found new natural areas of applications in cultural heritage materials. Archaeometry-oriented applications raised from the status of exotic studies to widely diffused areas of research within the last decades, partly because of the fascination of the involved problems, and partly because of the limited funding in the traditional fields of research. It is argued that mineralogy as a discipline at the crossroad between the core Earth sciences, crystallography, materials science and geochemistry might be a key area of innovation for cultural heritage studies. A few case studies are discussed to convey a personal view of mineralogical applications within the broader context of cultural heritage investigations. Key issues are: the use of combined and simultaneous techniques for the characterization of complex systems, the optimization of non-invasive techniques, and the appropriate use of databases in archaeometry.


Firms increasingly use innovation tournaments to crowdsource innovation ideas from customers. This article uncovers antecedents and consequences of customers' participation intensity over the course of a tournament. More specifically, the authors theorize on the effects that the type and timing of moderating feedback have on tournament participants' participation intensity, as well as the effect of the latter on idea quality. Through two longitudinal experiments using a commercial innovation tournament platform, the authors show that moderating feedback stimulates ideators' participation intensity. They find that negative feedback increases participation intensity, as compared to no feedback and positive feedback. Moreover, negative feedback, either provided in isolation or together with positive feedback, is more effective during the early stages than in the later stages of a tournament. Using a large-scale managerial survey, the authors show that higher participation intensity leads to higher idea quality and better business performance. The effect of participation intensity on idea quality is stronger than the effect of number of ideas and as strong as the effect of number of participants on idea quality.


Large risk shocks give rise to cost-push effects in the canonical New Keynesian model. At the same time, monetary policy becomes less effective. Therefore, stochastic volatility introduces occasional trade-offs for monetary policy between inflation and output gap stabilisation. The cost-push effects operate through expectational responses to the interaction between shock volatility and the zero lower bound (ZLB) on interest rates. Optimal monetary policy calls for potentially sharp reductions in the interest rate when risk is elevated, even if this risk never materialises. Close to the ZLB, small risk shocks become 'large' in this sense. If policy is initially constrained by the ZLB, lift-off is optimally delayed when risk increases.