This paper presents the findings from an analysis of 56 significant case reviews (SCRs) in Scotland. In contrast to England and Wales where national analyses have been undertaken for many years, until this study was undertaken, the findings from SCRs had not previously been collated nationally. The paper discusses child, parent, environmental and agency factors that were identified in the SCRs and, whilst noting that the pathways to death or harm will be unique in individual cases, tries to further our understanding of the ways in which these different factors may interact to result in death or harm. A significant finding was the high number of SCRs that relate to the care and protection of children living in families whose lives are dominated by drug use and the associated issues this brings, including criminality and neighbourhood problems. Another challenging finding was the lack of suitable resources for the placement and support of troubled teenagers. Finally, a number of SCRs involved long-term neglect and/or sexual abuse of school or nursery age children who had been known to statutory services for many years.


Objective It has been reported that early fetal growth retardation may be a useful marker for congenital malformations in diabetic pregnancies. To test this hypothesis, diabetic and nondiabetic women were sonographically evaluated during the first trimester. Research Desihn and Methods Fetal crown-rump lengths were measured sonographically at least once during the first 15 wk of pregnancy in 329 nondiabetic and 312 diabetic women. Of these, 289 nondiabetic and 269 diabetic women had sonograms before 10 wk of gestation and 283 nondiabetic and 269 diabetic women had sonograms between 10 and 15 wk of gestation. Early fetal growth delay was defined as a sonographic gestational age of ≥6 days less than menstrual gestational age. Results The mean crown-rump lengths at 8 wk were 17.9 ± 4.6 mm in the diabetic and 18.7 ± 4.9 mm in the nondiabetic groups (P = 0.13). At 12 wk, the mean fetal crown-rump length was 58.5 ± 8.8 mm for diabetic subjects and 60.6 ± 8.7 mm for nondiabetic subjects (P = 0.04). Between 5 and 9 wk, 28 of 289 (9.7%) fetuses of nondiabetic subjects, 34 of 259 (13.1%) normal fetuses of diabetic subjects, and 2 of 10 (20%) malformed fetuses of diabetic subjects demonstrated growth delay (P = 0.31, normal vs. malformed diabetic). Between 10 and 15 wk of gestation, 28 of 283 (9.9%) fetuses of nondiabetic subjects, 32 of 256 (12.5%) normal fetuses of diabetic subjects, and 4 of 13 (30.8%) malformed fetuses of diabetic subjects demonstrated growth delay (P = 0.06, normal vs. malformed diabetic). Early fetal growth delay did not predict a reduced birth weight at term. Conclusions Among insulin-dependent diabetic subjects who were moderately well controlled at conception, statistically significant but mild early fetal growth delay was present but did not appear to be useful clinically in predicting congenital malformations. Recommendations that growth delay demonstrated on early ultrasound be used as a predictor of congenital malformation require careful reexamination.


An inclusive search is presented for new heavy particle pairs produced in √s=7 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC using 4.7±0.1 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity. The selected events are analyzed in the 2D razor space of M(R), an event-by-event indicator of the heavy particle mass scale, and R, a dimensionless variable related to the missing transverse energy. The third-generation sector is probed using the event heavy-flavor content. The search is sensitive to generic supersymmetry models with minimal assumptions about the superpartner decay chains. No excess is observed in the number of events beyond that predicted by the standard model. Exclusion limits are derived in the CMSSM framework as well as for simplified models. Within the CMSSM parameter space considered, gluino masses up to 800 GeV and squark masses up to 1.35 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level depending on the model parameters. The direct production of pairs of top or bottom squarks is excluded for masses as high as 400 GeV.


For Internet based video broadcasting applications such as IPTV, the peer-to-peer (P2P) streaming scheme has been found to be an effective solution. An important issue in live broadcasting is to avoid playback buffer underflow. How to utilize the playback buffer and upload bandwidth of peers to minimize the freeze-ups in playback, is the problem we try to solve. In this work, we propose a successive water-filling (SWaF) algorithm for the video transmission scheduling in P2P live streaming system, to minimize the playback freeze-ups among peers. SWaF algorithm only needs each peer to optimally transmit (within its uploading bandwidth) part of its available video segments in the buffer to other peers requiring the content and pass small amount message to some other peers. Moreover, SWaF has low complexity and provable optimality. Numerical results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.


In this paper, we conduct an analysis of variance (ANOVA) on opinion scores for MPEG-4 scalable video coding (SVC) and advanced video coding (AVC) standards. This work resorts on a publicly available database providing opinion scores from subjective experiments for several scenarios such as different bit rates and resolutions. In particular, ANOVA is used for statistical hypothesis testing to compare two or more sets of opinion scores instead of being constrained to pairs of sets of opinion scores as would be the case for t-tests. As the ANOVA tests of the different scenarios are performed for mean opinion scores (MOS), box plots are also provided in order to assess the distribution of the opinion scores around the median. It is shown that the opinion scores given to the reference videos in SVC and AV C for different resolutions are statistically significantly similar regardless of the content. Further, for the opinion scores of the considered database, the ANOVA tests support the hypothesis that AVC generally outperforms SVC although the performance difference may be less pronounced for higher bit rates. This work also shows that additional insights on the results of subjective experiments can be obtained by extending the analysis of opinion scores beyond MOS to ANOVA tests and box plots.


Abstract. Several weather forecasting agencies have developed advanced land data assimilation systems that, in principle, can analyse any model land variable. Such systems can make use of a wide variety of observation types, such as screen level (2 m above the surface) observations and satellite based measurements of surface soil moisture and skin temperature. Indirect measurements can be used and information propagated from the surface into the deeper soil layers. A key component of the system is the calculation of the linearised observation operator matrix (Jacobian matrix) which describes the link between the observations and the land surface model variables. The elements of the Jacobian matrix (Jacobians) are estimated using finite difference by performing short model forecasts with perturbed initial conditions. The calculated Jacobians show that there can be strong coupling between the screen level and the soil. The coupling between the screen level and surface soil moisture is found to be due to a number of processes including bare soil evaporation, soil thermal conductivity as well as transpiration by plants. Therefore, there is significant coupling both during the day and at night. The coupling between the screen level and root-zone soil moisture is primarily through transpiration by plants. Therefore the coupling is only significant during the day and the vertical variation of the coupling is modulated by the vegetation root depths. The calculated Jacobians that link screen level temperature to model soil temperature are found to be largest for the topmost model soil layer and become very small for the lower soil layers. These values are largest during the night and generally positive in value. It is found that the Jacobians that link observations of surface soil moisture to model soil moisture are strongly affected by the soil hydraulic conductivity. Generally, for the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model, the coupling between the surface and root zone soil moisture is weak. Finally, the Jacobians linking observations of skin temperature to model soil temperature and moisture are calculated. These Jacobians are found to have a similar spatial pattern to the Jacobians for observations of screen level temperature. Analysis is also performed of the sensitivity of the calculated Jacobians to the magnitude of the perturbations used.


In this thesis the sensorless control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is studied. The study has two main purposes. The first is to find a simple and effective method to estimate the rotor position and angular speed of the PMSM. The second is to test the applicability of a matrix converter in sensorless PMSM drives. A matrix converter (MC) enables a direct frequency conversion without DC-link with energy storage. In this thesis two matrix converter topologies, direct and indirect, are studied. The vector modulation and the current commutation strategies of a matrix converter are described. Non-ideal properties of frequency converters such as dead times, overlapping times and voltage losses over semiconductors are disturbances for a control system and position estimator. These non-idealities are studied and the properties of a conventional voltage source inverter are compared to direct and indirect MC topologies. The rotor position and angular speed of the PMSM can be estimated by various methods. Estimators can be divided into model based estimators and signal injection estimators. Model based estimators calculate mechanical quantities using the mathematical representation of the motor. Injection methods usually exploit the saliency of the PMSM. Injected voltage creates currents which are modulated by the rotor position. The position information can be extracted from measured currents. In this thesis the best features of model based and injection estimators are combined. In the proposed hybrid method signal injection is used at low speeds and the transition to model based estimator is performed when the speed increases. The estimator methods used in the hybrid estimator are selected by a comparative analysis and simulations. The most important criteria in the selection of the estimator method in this thesis are: simple algorithm and no need for modification of the modulator software or frequency converter. The suitability of the proposed hybrid estimator is tested by simulations and experimental tests in various operating conditions. To test the performance of the matrix converter the experiments are carried out using both MC topologies and a conventional voltage source converter. The results obtained show that a matrix converter can be used in PMSM drives where the speed and position of the PMSM are not measured. The proposed estimator method is stable over the nominal speed range including the zero speed region with full load torque.


A key debate over the nature of professional power centers on the maintenance of physician dominance within the system of professions in health care. The changes in health care delivery and financing brought by managed care present a new context for evaluating the physician dominance thesis. I propose that increases in the supply of certified nurse-midwives, a "contending" health care professional group, are related to the expansion of managed care and may signal a decline in physician dominance. I analyze state-level data compiled from governmental, health professional, and industry sources to determine the influence of managed care market penetration, physician supply, state policy context, and demographic factors on the state-level supply of nurse-midwives. Results indicate that, despite high physician supply, nurse-midwife supply is higher in states with higher managed care penetration, as well as in those with more favorable state policy environments and a more educated demographic base. Outcomes from a series of hypothesis tests support my assertion that the expansion of managed care is altering the jurisdictional boundaries in the system of professions in health care, eroding the dominance of physicians while creating new openings for nurse-midwives.


Georg Brandes is mostly known as a literary critic, while there has been much less focus on his comprehensive political writing. Thus, more work needs to be done here, not least because Brandes presents himself in these texts as an intellectual who thinks internationally and unites an ability to defend enlightenment values with a critique of modernity. The analytical focus of the contribution is Brandes' two late monographs Verdenskrigen (1916) (The Great War) and Tragediens anden Del. Fredsslutningen (1919) (Part Two of the Tragedy. The Peace Treaty). In these two books, Brandes reports and reflects on militarism, imperialism, nationalism, free trade and communication across borders. While the young Brandes optimistically regarded the Enlightenment as having advanced humanity, he became much more sceptical in his later years. The First World War and its aftermath proved to him that there was a general lack of interest in rationality, internationalism and freedom. On the one hand, Brandes argued in favour of modernity but, on the other, he was also a sharp critic of modernity's double standards and hypocrisy, which he found on both the winning and the losing sides. Objectively, Brandes observed that the war changed society after 1918. Western societies were deeply internally divided, which manifested not least in the class struggle. Brandes cannot be accused of sympathizing with either Lenin or the Danish labour movement; however, he happily accepted invitations to give educational speeches to the workers. As a citizen, and a liberal regarding financial policy, Brandes was frightened at the thought of Communism spreading to Europe, but defended Russia against international sanctions, which he thought was the incorrect way to respond to Lenin. The contribution considers that Georg Brandes' writings are not devoid of self-contradiction. However, it is argued that he actually manages to speak with two voices without betraying his fundamental belief in the ideal of enlightenment. In his time, he was criticized for his persistent defence of neutrality. However, what is exemplary in Brandes' work as an intellectual is that he managed to criticize all parties who, in different ways, betrayed the ideal of progress. Thus, le citoyen and the free intellectual defeat le bourgeois in Brandes.


This article examines the 1989 case Trans World Airlines Inc. v. Independent Federation of Flight Attendants, under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The United States Supreme Court allowed Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA) to encourage junior strikers to immediately return to work by promising them that they would not be displaced at the end of the strike by more senior striking employees. By allowing an employer to guarantee that returning junior employees will not lose their jobs, the Supreme Court is permitting employers to deliver a fundamental blow to collective bargaining. The author argues that the problem with the Supreme Court decision is that what may appear to be in an employee's best short-term interest may actually be contrary to his or her long-term interests. This article gives a factual background, Supreme Court rulings, dissents overview, and discussion.


Abstract: This paper contrasts current and proposed higher-education financial reporting models with financial reporting models developed earlier in this century. The historical review in this paper has current value since the FASB and the GASB are considering major changes in the way that private and public colleges and universities report financial information. The results of the historical review reveal that, through the years, report modelers varied in their concern for user needs and report uniformity. Interestingly, the first higher-education reporting model developed in 1910 and the proposed model developed in 1992 by the FASB both focused on user needs while the primary objective for the reporting model currently in use and most other intervening models was only uniformity.This paper provides a historical review of financial reporting models suggested for use by colleges and universities. Illustrations are included of the prescribed financial report forms suggested by major higher-education accounting publications published between 1910 and the present. To provide a context for he historical review, descriptions are provided of the present model published by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the future model published by the Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB). Next, reviews are provided of the reporting models published by (1) the Carnegie Foundation in 1910, (2) the General Education Board in 1922, (3) Lloyd Morey in 1930, (4) the American Council on Education (ACE) in the periods 1930-35 and 1952-68, and (5) NACUBO in 1974. During this period, post-secondary education assumed a more important role in American society, and in higher-education financial reporting accordingly.Although the earliest suggested uniform reports date back to the beginning of this century, the generally accepted format of college and university financial statements has changed very little from the format published by the American Council on Education nearly 60 years ago. This current reporting format (hereafter called the College Model) is unique to higher education since it differs significantly from the generally accepted formats for all other types of government and nonprofit organizations.The currently used College Model prescribes that highly detailed fund accounting information be provided in external financial reports. This reporting approach, however, could soon be discarded by private institutions as a result of a new uniform reporting model being proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for all nonprofit organizations [FASB, 1992]. Also, the fate of the College Model for public institutions is uncertain pending the completion of a study by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) [GASB, 1993].During this period of significant change, it is worthwhile to reflect on the history of American higher-education financial reporting and to determine the foundation on which the current format is based. Through a better knowledge of the historical background for today's higher-education reporting techniques, one is better able to evaluate the FASB's new proposal and to envision its subsequent effect on the higher-education industry.The paper is organized in the following manner. First, to provide a context for the historical review of suggested financial reporting formats, a description of the College Model currently in use is provided, followed by a comparison of the Nonprofit Model proposed by the FASB. Second, descriptions are provided of each higher-education reporting model suggested by major works published in this century. Last, the unique aspects of all reporting models (past, present, and future) are summarized and discussed, and the study's findings are related to today's issue of appropriate reporting detail levels.HIGHER-EDUCATION REPORTING--PRESENT AND FUTUREToday, American higher education is a major industry which serves over 13 million students each year. …


The main idea of this contribution is computer aid for Structural Health Monitoring activities. The increasing age of infrastructure makes actions necessary to predict lifetime and to guaranty safety, especially for critical structures like bridges for example. Thereby, acceleration sensors are widelyused to measure (ambient) vibrations of structures, which are stored by a connected computer system for later processing. These records are a basis for following procedures and make an assessment of a building's condition possible. Due to several reasons, the process of analysing a signal is very complex in particular because of the individuality of each structure. This means that the measurement results (characteristics of a building) strongly depend on structure-design and a marginally different design (from layman's point of view) can cause completely different measurement results. Consequently, only an experienced expert can interpret a measurement correctly and still, this analysis process is difficult and timeconsuming, what necessitates computer aid for the interpretation to speed it up and to improve the quality of results. This is the point where decision support in terms of Case-based Reasoning can be introduced. The idea is to transfer the expert's experience (description of the structures' designs and measurements incl. interpretation) into a so-called case base which is continuously growing and enhanced by future experience. The Decision Support System can, relying on these cases, compare new measurements of possibly unknown structures with measurements of known buildings (from the case base) and suggest an interpretation by means of adapting past interpretations, which were taken under similar conditions (similar structure design) using certain similarity


The article stands for comprehensive system approach in increasing the effect and performance of budget costs, providing the stability and long-term sustainability of state finance. In recent times Russia has gone to considerable lengths in introduction of result-oriented budgeting both on federal and regional level. In a similar vein, we could highlight the fact that insufficient conditions are created to increase the efficiency of budget costs management. The research paid much attention to the issues connected with evaluation of budget costs' performance in conditions of implementing the concept of budget consolidation and budget constraints. Authors set number of objectives: studying economic essence of "efficiency†and "performance†of budget expenditures; studying the framework of budget stabilization financial support measures; revealing the methodological approaches in budget cost effect evaluation in the framework of program-target budgeting including the regional level. The article concludes with the necessity of improving the evaluation system of criterion-based budget costs' management as well as highlighting the condition when the positive effect of program-target budgeting is reached: firstly, solving of methodological problem of measuring the planned (target) and actual results of budget funding; secondly, taking measures of strengthening the real responsibility of state authorities for accomplishment of target indicators


Applying torque to a fastener creates friction as well as clamp-load. Friction and clamp-load are inversely proportional: as friction increases, the amount of clamp-load generated decreases. The speed at which a fastener is tightened has a pronounced affect on the magnitude of friction, and thereby clamp-load generated in a metal joint. This paper examines the relationship between the tightening speed with friction and clamp-load. The applied torque, clamp-load, and under-head torque were measured as the fastener was tightened within a torque/tension load cell. The corresponding thread torque, under-head and thread coefficients of friction values were calculated from equations given in both the DIN946 and ISO16047 standards. One bolt, one washer, and one nut (all of similar hardness) were used for all trials of this study. Two different anti-seize lubricants were used (one composed of molybdenum-disulfide and graphite and the other of mineral oil, nickel, and graphite). Lubricant was applied to both the thread and under-head regions of the bolt prior to torquing. Further trials were executed with the bolt, washer, and nut in the dry, or plain, condition (all of similar hardness). The results of this investigation indicated that the thread and under-head coefficients of friction decreased as speed increased. The programmed speeds ranged from 25 to 700 r/min, with a torque target of 28 N·m. Since the friction coefficients decreased, the amount of clamp-load generated at target torque increased with increasing speed. The average difference in clamp-load from minimum to maximum speed was determined to be 6.3 kN for both lubricants and 1.2 kN for the unlubricated condition.


Introduction Culture recognition starts from a very early stage of life. Some studies have confirmed that different children hold perceptions about culture differently (Nixon & Comber, 2006). These cultural perceptions not only shape and determine a person's way of perceiving and reasoning (Hofmann, 2006), but also influence one's learning (Nixon & Comber, 2006). Moreover, these cultural identities contribute to group dynamics and the growth of institutes or communities (Ledoux, 2005). Thus, many efforts from a local level, such as a community (Brooklyn Historical Society, 1990), or from national level (Laitin, 1997; Van Gorp & Renes, 2007), have been made to increase the knowledge and understanding of the culture around individuals. In many educational systems, e.g., California State in US and Taiwan, explicitly or implicitly use cultural recognition and respecting different culture as the core of cultural learning (California State Department of Education, 2000; Ministry of Education, 2006). However, national or state formal curriculums have been doubted for their function on cultural learning. Many studies have maintained that the incorporation of informal approaches into formal learning is a necessity (Kopong, 1995; Ninnes, 1995). It is reasonable to assume that teaching cultural identity may not be successful, if the formal curriculum is the only approach. A value system needs to be built up holistically. Value learning and/or cultural learning need some additional and perhaps more innovative approaches. We believe that giving students opportunities with active involvement and spontaneously emotional attachment, such as those in video games, have more potential to make cultural learning more meaningful than traditional schooling. Purpose of the study This study adopted an innovative approach by using a culturally enriched educational game, FORmosaHope (FH), to ascertain the relative effectiveness of gameplay as a form of cultural learning. The research questions of this study are the followings: 1. How effective is the educational game, FH, on Taiwanese student learning of cultural identity? 2. Do students' gender or their family's societal status influence the growth of cultural identities in an educational game environment? 3. How do students feel about the educational game, FH, after they have experienced it? Theoretical Framework An important declaration on cultural policies has been made in an UNESCO-based (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) conference held in Mexico City (World Conference on Cultural Policies, 1982). It asserted that "the cultural identity is a treasure that vitalizes mankind's possibilities of self-fulfillment by moving every people and every group to seek nurture in its past, to welcome contributions from outside that are compatible with its own characteristics, and so to continue the process of its own creation". This declaration also appealed that "the equality and dignity of all cultures must be recognized" and "the international community considers it its duty to ensure that the cultural identity of each people is preserved and protected (World Conference on Cultural Policies, 1982). Nowadays, developing one's cultural identity has well recognized as human nature right and protecting this right has also become universal value. To preserve and to protect this important dimension of culture, an instrument to measure individual's culture identities was needed. However, after reviewing related literatures, this study found that there is no instrument has been developed. Tracing back to the definition of culture, the Mexico declaration stated culture as, "the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features, that characterize a society or social group (World Conference on Cultural Policies, 1982)." This highlighted rough components of "culture. …


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To examine the daily maternal caregiving demands for adolescent and young adult survivors of pediatric brain tumors who live with their families.

DESIGN
A secondary analysis was conducted on interview data gathered during a large mixed-methods study that focused on perceived maternal caregiver competency and survivor health-related quality of life.

SETTING
Home interviews.

SAMPLE
A purposive sample of 46 maternal caregivers was selected from participants in the larger study.

METHODS
Semistructured interviews were conducted with mothers. A directed content analysis was informed by Sullivan-Bolyai's framework describing the components of primary caregiving.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Caregiving demands.

FINDINGS
Data regarding four main categories of maternal daily caregiving demands were identified from 25 of the 46 interviews.

CONCLUSIONS
Potential day-to-day management tasks or demands of mothers of adolescent and young adult survivors of pediatric brain tumors were identified.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
The major demands of caregiving are similar to those for children with other chronic conditions, with the addition of assisting with everyday responsibilities and fostering psychosocial health.


As alternatives to conventional metals, new plasmonic materials offer many advantages in the rapidly growing fields of plasmonics and metamaterials. These advantages include low intrinsic loss, semiconductor-based design, compatibility with standard nanofabrication processes, tunability, and others. Transparent conducting oxides such as Al:ZnO, Ga:ZnO and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) enable many high-performance metamaterial devices operating in the near-IR. Transition-metal nitrides such as TiN or ZrN can be substitutes for conventional metals in the visible frequencies. In this paper we provide the details of fabrication and characterization of these new materials and discuss their suitability for a number of metamaterial and plasmonic applications.


The Ethiopian genetic center is considered to be one of the secondary centers of diversity for the common bean. This study was conducted to characterize the distribution of genetic diversity between and within ecological/geographical regions of Ethiopia. A germplasm sample of 116 landrace accessions was developed, which represented different common bean production ecologies and seed types common in the country. This sample was then analyzed with 24 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to assess the genetic diversity within and between common bean landraces, classifying them based on SSR clustering, and determining relationships between genetic and agroecological diversity. Representatives of both Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools were identified by STRUCTURE software analysis, as well as a high proportion of hybrid accessions as evidenced by a STRUCTURE K = 2 preset. At the optimum K = 5 preset value, mixed membership of Andean and Mesoamerican genotypes in some of the clusters was also seen, which supported previous findings. Cluster analyses, principal coordinate analysis, and analysis of molecular variance all indicated clustering of accessions from different collection sites, accompanied by high gene flow levels, highlighting the significant exchange of planting materials among farmers in different growing regions in the country. Values of allelic diversity were comparable to those reported in previous similar studies, showcasing the high genetic diversity in the landrace germplasm studied. Moreover, the distribution of genetic diversity across various bean-growing population groups in contrasting geographical/ecological population groups suggests elevated but underutilized potential of Ethiopian germplasm in common bean breeding. In summary, this study demonstrated the geographical, as well as gene pool diversity in common bean germplasm of Ethiopia. This substantial diversity, in turn, should be utilized in future common bean breeding and conservation endeavors in the nation.

 Key words: Hybridity, simple sequence repeat, microsatellite, structure, seed exchange, gene flow.


The prevalence of low income for children, especially for children in lone-parent families, varies considerably across countries. This paper considers five sets of hypotheses that may explain this cross-national variability of child poverty. The tentative conclusion from this analysis in 20 countries is that reducing child poverty, and in lone-parent families in particular, requires several approaches. Provisions that would discourage teenage childbearing would have their importance, as would opportunities for lone mothers to work. More important is the generosity of social expenditure applying to individuals and especially to families. The present analysis also shows the advantages of encouraging joint custody, along with special provisions for lone parents, and child support through advance maintenance payments.


This article defines the exclusive role of the state as a labor market regulator. The modern position of the state is substantiated, consisting in the fact that the state acts as a full partner. Labor market is regulated by means of the development and implementation of a labor market policy. Its effectiveness is largely determined by the peculiarities of the methodical approach to the development of such a policy. A universal complex methodology is proposed, which assumes a simultaneous assessment of the state and potential of the labor market development. It is proved that the main direction of increasing the effectiveness of labor market policy in the region is the improvement of organizational conditions, which consists in coordinating the interests of all stakeholders.


As of 2015, the vast majority of the American public had some form of health insurance, mostly provided by private companies. While some customers might, at some point, contemplate suing their insurance provider—for breach of contract, consumer protection statute violation, or some other cause—these potential plaintiffs are not likely to get far in many cases. The reason is the little-known "filed rate doctrine," a court-created rule that bars lawsuits against many agency-regulated entities. The filed rate doctrine is based on the fact that many states, including Washington, require health insurers to file their rates with a regulatory agency—and have those rates approved—before they can start charging customers. Because companies get their rates approved by these regulatory agencies, courts invoke the filed rate doctrine to prevent plaintiffs from bringing actions that seek to "challenge" these agency-approved rates. Some courts, however, have stretched the filed rate doctrine too far, relying on the doctrine to dismiss breach of contract and state consumer protection act claims that do not challenge the actual rate paid. In a recent Washington case, the Washington State Supreme Court left open the question of whether it would broadly construe the filed rate doctrine and adopt a rule that applies the doctrine to cases that are only tangentially related to agency-approved rates. This Comment seeks to address this gap in the Washington case law and argues that Washington courts should not apply the filed rate doctrine to cases involving health insurers where the plaintiffs do not allege that their rates are too high. First, this Comment describes the current health insurance regulatory framework in Washington, Oregon, and California and the application of the filed rate doctrine in those states. It then argues why, in Washington in particular, courts should use—as the Washington Court of Appeals recently described it—a "nuanced approach" in their application of the filed rate doctrine, not using it to bar breach of contract or Washington Consumer Protection Act claims, but keeping it to its original purpose: to prevent lawsuits that seek to challenge the actual rate paid.


Sewage sludge is an important resource for the generation of electricity and heat within a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Taking a holistic approach to such use involves considering the greenhouse gas emissions. In particular, for anaerobic sludge treatment, methane emissions are a matter of concern. Therefore, the utilization of a carbon balance, based on the chemical oxygen demand (COD), will be a focus for evaluating the magnitude of methane losses within the sludge treatment. In addition to biogas production and use in combined heat and power plants (CHPs), dissolved methane in digested sludge, as well as the methane slip, have to be considered. Measurements of dissolved methane concentrations in sewage sludge from digesters of various WWTPs show a concentration of about 17–37 mg CH4/L. The COD balance indicates a ratio of the methane emissions (methane slip, dissolved methane and residual gas) of < 4% of the total methane production during digestion. Considering the electricity generation by CHPs and the higher global warming potential of methane, compared to carbon dioxide, emissions of approximately 300 g CO2-equ./kWhel result, which is in a similar range to greenhouse gas emissions caused by electricity generation by fossil fuels.


X chromosome inactivation (XCI) in female mammalian cells is an ideal model system to study the relationship of epigenetic regulation and higher-order chromatin structure. However, light microscopic studies of chromosomal organization have long been limited by the diffraction barrier of optical resolution. Super-resolution 3D-structured illumination microscopy (3D-SIM) – one of several recent techniques that circumvent this limitation – enables multicolor optical sectioning of entire cells with eightfold-improved volumetric resolution compared to conventional fluorescence imaging methods. In the present work, 3D-SIM has been applied to analyze higher-order chromatin structure of the Barr body in mammalian nuclei, a characteristic hallmark of XCI, with yet unprecedented detail.
First, the increased resolution prompted to reappraise the potential detrimental effect of the DNA-FISH procedure on chromatin structure. Comparative analyses revealed slight deteriorations at the resolution level of 3D-SIM, especially within more decondensed euchromatin sites within the nuclear interior. In contrast, overall nuclear morphology and the nuclear envelope as well as heterochromatic sites in general maintained well preserved. The results suggest that DNA-FISH studies can benefit from a combination with super-resolution microscopy. In particular, when keeping in mind the current developments of the FISH technique with increasingly small and higher-complexity probes.
The compact shape of the Barr body led to the assumption of a contribution of this special higher-order chromatin structure to the establishment and maintenance of the silenced state in the inactive X chromosome (Xi). However, a confirmation of this view has always been hampered by the restrictions of conventional light microscopy. In this work, the 3D chromosomal organization of the Xi and autosomes has been investigated with 3D-SIM in various human and mouse somatic cells and in mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) lines. The precise subchromosomal localization of a variety of factors involved in XCI in different developmental states was qualitatively and quantitatively assessed utilizing combined immunofluorescence, EdU- pulse and RNA-/DNA-FISH labeling protocols and novel data analysis tools customized for the special requirements of 3D-SIM. The results demonstrate that all autosomes are made of a three-dimensional interconnected network of chromatin domains (CDs, or topology associated domains, TADs) of highly-variable shape and dynamics. CDs/TADs are comprised of a compacted chromatin core enriched with repressive marks, which is collectively proposed to be the functionally passive chromatin compartment (PNC). This PNC is surrounded by a 50 – 150 nm locally defined, less compacted perichromatin region (PR) that is enriched with active histone modifications and pervaded by a three-dimensional interchromatin (IC) network. The PR and the IC are collectively referred to as being the functionally relevant active nuclear compartment (ANC) that harbors all major nuclear processes, including transcription and replication. 3D-SIM data revealed that the Barr body maintains this principle compartmentalization and that it is still pervaded by a narrow ANC network, which is able to fulfill its functional role as a hub for replication or rarely occurring expression of XCI-escape genes. Live-cell super-resolution imaging on HeLa H2B-GFP cells confirmed that the observed chromatin features do not reflect fixation artifacts.
Xist RNA, the key factor of XCI, has been found to be preferentially located as distinct discernible foci within the ANC throughout the entire volume of the Barr body. Here, it is tightly associated with a Xi-specific form of the nuclear matrix protein SAF-A, which confirms a previously suggested role for this Xi-enriched protein in Xist RNA spreading. In contrast, Xist RNA shows no spatial correlation with repressive Xi-enriched histone marks that are found within compacted chromatin sites. This specific localization of Xist RNA reflects an intrinsic feature as it is already present during early spreading in differentiating female ESCs, where it precedes chromatin compaction concomitant with RNA Polymerase II exclusion. Its localization is further confirmed in a male ESC line carrying an inducible Xist transgene on an autosome, but where Xist RNA fails to form a true autosomal Barr body, which is less compacted and maintains transcriptional activity. Last, Xist RNA shows no direct association with PRC2, the mediator of H3K27me3, which is in contrast to the generally believed direct recruitment model of PRC2 to the Xi by Xist RNA.
The data collected in this work reflects further support and a refinement of the not unequivocally accepted CT-IC (chromosome territory - interchromatin compartment) model of higher-order chromosome architecture. In addition, a first attempt has been made to integrate these findings with a recently growing number of studies using chromosome conformation capturing (3C)-based techniques and to complement them on the single-cell level.
Finally, a novel model for Xist RNA function in XCI is presented, which proposes a sequence-independent structural role for gene silencing and the formation of a repressive chromatin compartment.


This article investigates the distinction between breach of license and infringement of property rights, and how damages ought to be measured for each. It identifies two remedial puzzles. First, under current law the line between breach of a license contract and infringement of a property right is murky, and thus minor differences between violations could lead to major differences in damage measures. Second, damages for infringement are augmented in a subtle but distortive way, by giving owners an option to choose between the greater of two computation measures, each based on different information. The article argues that these existing remedial patterns are not justified. If provides an alternative framework for determining whether a violation is breach or infringement. In a nutshell, violations involving activities that an owner would want to license in a separate transaction, or not to license at all, should be regarded as infringements and sanctioned more severely.


This report presents comprehensive information on family and nonfamily farms and important trends in farming, operator household income, farm performance, and contracting. Most farms are family farms. Even the largest farms tend to be family farms. Small family farms account for most of the farms in the U.S. but produce a modest share of farm output. Average farm household income has been at or above the average for all U.S. households in recent years, with farm households receiving most of their income from off-farm sources.


Abstract. Program and policy planners are eager for population health data at subnational levels in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) is a major source of data for tracking population health in low- and middle-income countries, with over 300 surveys in 90 countries since the 1980s. The DHS is usually nationally representative and commonly sampled to be representative at one administrative level below the national level, often the region. However, regional estimates are still too broad and general to meet the needs of decision-makers, who desire to make data-driven decisions at more local levels. In addition to data on health the DHS collects and publishes the coordinates of all sampled clusters. This analysis proposes and demonstrates a spatial approach to generating subnational estimates of health using the publicly available spatial data. By pairing kriging for interpolation with raster analysis for weighting by population size and aggregation, estimates of antenatal care coverage are generated at the district level in Malawi, using data from the 2015–16 DHS. Preliminary results show that estimates generated with this geospatial approach are well-aligned with estimates published by the DHS. The resulting maps with a continuous surface of estimates is also able to demonstrate subnational heterogeneity in health status in a way standard choropleth maps are unable. While the approach requires refinement and further validation, it is a creative way to use spatial analysis tools to address the demand for health indicators at local levels.


This study assessed emerging adults' attachment relationships with parents, peers, and God to explore the sufficiency of the correspondence and compensation models of attachment. We analyzed narratives of 119 (60 male) Christian college graduates describing their relational experiences with God. Narratives were coded for five relational patterns in attachment relationships (Granqvist & Kirkpatrick, 2008). Participants also completed the IPPA scale and were categorized into high or low secure parental and peer attachment groups. No significant differences were found between peer and parental attachment so peer attachment was dropped from further analysis. All of the relational attachment patterns appeared in participant narratives. Perceiving God as Stronger and Wiser appeared most often in both high and low secure parental narratives; Safe Haven and Secure Base also appeared in both attachment groups' narratives. Importantly, emerging adults with low parental security nevertheless articulated reciprocal experiences of secure, intimate attachment with God, suggesting refinement in the correspondence and compensation models to include the potential for a spiritual relationship with God that serves a corrective or reparative role.


According to the literature pertaining to human resource development (HRD), a supervisor's role in training programs has two major characteristics: support and communication. The ability of supervisors to play effective roles in training programs may increase employees' job performance. More importantly, extant research in this field reveals that the effect of the supervisor's role in training programs on job performance is indirectly affected by the motivation to learn. The nature of this relationship is less emphasized in training management literature. Therefore, this study was conducted to measure the effect of the supervisor's role in training programs and the motivation to learn on job performance using 91 usable questionnaires gathered from employees who have worked in a state library in East Malaysia, Malaysia. The outcomes of stepwise regression analysis displayed that the inclusion of motivation to learn in the analysis had increased the effects of the two supervisor's role elements of support and communication on job performance. This result demonstrates that the motivation to learn acts as a mediating variable in the training model of the organizational sample. The implications of this study to the theory and practice of training programs, methodological and conceptual limitations as well as future directions are elaborated.


This article examines the phenomenon of values-based firms being sold to larger mainstream firms. Its focus is on the sensemaking rationale offered by a New Zealand ecopreneur who sold an organic beverage company after 20 years at the helm. The company case study is presented through two enterprise development narratives based on alternative sensemaking modes. Key values-related challenges arising in ecopreneurial business are identified, including (1) adhering to the founder's values, (2) growing the business sustainably, (3) deciding whether and when to expand ownership to cope with undercapitalization, (4) deciding who to bring in as new owners to ensure values alignment, (5) determining how and when the founder might leave and (6) ensuring the attractiveness of the sustainability values so that they might be retained. Other factors implicated in the sale of values-based firms are also postulated. It is argued that, although ecopreneurs might be accused of selling out their principles by selling up, there is some evidence that eco-brands are being maintained and that growth prospects could be improved after acquisition. Serial ecopreneurship may even extend social benefits. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.


Water is one of the major environmental factors limiting plant growth and survival in the Mediterranean region. Quercus suber L. woodlands occupy vast areas in the Iberian Peninsula, frequently under shallow water table conditions. The relative magnitude of soil and groundwater uptake to supply transpiration is not easy to evaluate under these circumstances. We recently developed a conceptual framework for the functioning of the root system in Q. suber that simulates well tree transpiration, based on two types of root behaviour: shallow connected and deep connected. Although this significantly improved knowledge on the functional traits of Mediterranean Q. suber, the approach has the limitation of requiring root sap flow data, which are seldom available. In this work, we present alternative methodologies to assess if trees are connected to groundwater and to estimate the soil and groundwater contributions to tree transpiration. We provide evidence on the tree unrestricted access to groundwater solely based on meteorological, stem sap flow and leaf water potential data. Using a soil mass balance approach, we estimated the yearly soil and groundwater contributions to tree transpiration: 69.7% and 30.3%, respectively. Groundwater uptake became dominant in the dry summer: 73.2% of tree transpiration. Results reproduce extremely well those derived from root modelling. Because of its simplicity both in formulation and data requirements, our approach is potentially liable to be adapted to other groundwater‐dependent Mediterranean oak sites, where interactions between land use and water resources may be relevant. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The writing of an internal diffraction grating in optical glass plate is demonstrated using low-density plasma formation excited by a high-intensity femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. The same diffraction efficiency at +-1, +-2, and 0 order isachieved by multiple layers writing. The dependences of diffractive efficiency on the irradiated energy, the speed of writing, the numerical aperture (NA) of the focusing objective, and materials are investigated in detail. The grating isbirefringent. It is attributed to residual stress interaction between glass and femtosecond laser pulse.


Observed seasonal cycles in atmospheric potential oxygen (APO ~ O2 + 1.1 CO2) were used to evaluate eight ocean biogeochemistry models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Model APO seasonal cycles were computed from the CMIP5 air‐sea O2 and CO2 fluxes and compared to observations at three Southern Hemisphere monitoring sites. Four of the models captured either the observed APO seasonal amplitude or phasing relatively well, while the other four did not. Many models had an unrealistic seasonal phasing or amplitude of the CO2 flux, which in turn influenced APO. By 2100 under RCP8.5, the models projected little change in the O2 component of APO but large changes in the seasonality of the CO2 component associated with ocean acidification. The models with poorer performance on present‐day APO tended to project larger net carbon uptake in the Southern Ocean, both today and in 2100.


Granulomas represent a spectrum of inflammatory sequestration responses that may be initiated by a variety of agents, including non-infectious environmental factors and infectious microbial pathogens. Although this reaction is designed to be protective, the associated tissue injury is often responsible for a profound degree of pathology. While many of the mechanisms that sustain the development of the granuloma are enigmatic, it is accepted that the maintenance of this inflammatory process is dependent upon dynamic interactions between an inciting agent, inflammatory mediators, various immune and inflammatory cells, and structural cells of the involved tissue. The best studied of the host-dependent processes during granuloma development is the innate and adaptive immune response. The innate immune response by antigen-presenting cells [APCs; dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages] is initiated quickly to protect from overwhelming pathogens, but with time, can also activate the adaptive immune response. APCs, essential regulators of the innate immune response, can respond to microbial ligands through Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which function in the recognition of microbial components and play an important role to link the innate and adaptive immune responses. CD4+ T helper (Th) cells are essential regulators of adaptive immune responses and inflammatory diseases. Recently, the Notch system has been shown to be an important bridge between APCs and T cell communication circuits. In the present review, we discuss recent findings that explore the mechanisms in the linkage of innate and adaptive immunity, including granulomatous formation though TLRs and Notch activation.


This paper was authored with a Japanese audience in mind to explain recent developments in universal service policy and State aid rules for Next Generation Networks in the European Union. Universal service policy is intended to ensure that all members of society should be able to obtain a minimum level access to communications networks at fair and reasonable prices without regard to their where they live, their income level, or other disadvantages. Countries typically pursue universal service policies for communications networks because their benefit in terms stimulating broader economic growth outweighs the possible economic inefficiencies these policies can introduce.The on-going migration of communication networks to multi-service NGNs holds challenges for universal service policy. Heretofore, these universal service policies have been applied to traditional voice telecommunications networks. Given the decreasing importance of traditional voice telecommunications networks and growing adoption NGNs, industrialized nations are considering whether and how to apply universal service policies to broadband networks. Within the European Union, efforts are under way to address these questions such as the necessary and appropriate role for governments in funding universal service for NGNs. The rules governing State aid prohibits any form of aid which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favoring certain firms or certain goods. State aid includes, under certain circumstances, the public ownership of firms. The European Union recognizes that State aid can advance common interests and can remedy market failures. However, this approach also limits the way in which State aid can be used so as to not crowd out private investment. In September 2009, the European Commission published guidelines which established distinction between what it calls white, black and grey NGA areas to guide the granting of State aid for NGA deployment. In so-called 'white NGA' areas, aid supporting broadband network is generally permissible. In so-called 'NGA grey' and 'NGA black' areas, State aid is permissible only where the deployment where unsatisfactory or if there is market failure.These efforts may hold valuable lessons for regulators in other countries, particularly those where the incumbent carrier is partly publicly owned. The European Union approach is intended to present the least intrusive means, and as such it embodies the principle that desired outcome should be achieved with the least amount of effort possible and at the least possible economic cost.


Scatter plots are the most commonly employed technique for the visualization of bivariate data. Despite their versatility and expressiveness in showing data aspects, such as clusters, correlations, and outliers, scatter plots face a main problem. For large and dense data, the representation suffers from clutter due to overplotting. This is often partially solved with the use of density plots. Yet, data overlap may occur in certain regions of a scatter or density plot, while other regions may be partially, or even completely empty. Adequate pixel-based techniques can be employed for effectively filling the plotting space, giving an additional notion of the numerosity of data motifs or clusters. We propose the Pixel-Relaxed Scatter Plots, a new and simple variant, to improve the display of dense scatter plots, using pixel-based, space-filling mappings. Our Pixel-Relaxed Scatter Plots make better use of the plotting canvas, while avoiding data overplotting, and optimizing space coverage and insight in the presence and size of data motifs. We have employed different methods to map scatter plot points to pixels and to visually present this mapping. We demonstrate our approach on several synthetic and realistic datasets, and we discuss the suitability of our technique for different tasks. Our conducted user evaluation shows that our Pixel-Relaxed Scatter Plots can be a useful enhancement to traditional scatter plots.


Using second-generation Israeli migrants in the United States as a case study, this article explores one unusual site in which the politics of diasporic citizenship unfolds. It examines the North American chapter of the Israeli Scouts (Tzofim Tzabar) as an arena of negotiation between representatives of the sending state apparatus and migrants over the meaning (and practices) of citizenship outside national territory. This quotidian space is important to migrants' contestation with the state concerning their claims for a form of membership that is neither territorial nor contingent upon the fulfillment of traditional civic duties (e.g., military service). Challenging the state-supported model of republicanism, in which presence in territory and the fulfillment of a predetermined set of civic duties are preconditions for citizenship, Israeli migrants advocate instead an arrangement based on a strong cultural identity and a revised set of diaspora-based material practices of support.


Given the low accuracy of the traditional remote sensing image processing software when orthorectifying satellite images that cover mountainous areas, and in order to make a full use of mutually compatible and complementary characteristics of the remote sensing image processing software PCI-RPC (Rational Polynomial Coefficients) and ArcGIS-Spline, this study puts forward a new operational and effective image processing procedure to improve the accuracy of image orthorectification. The new procedure first processes raw image data into an orthorectified image using PCI with RPC model (PCI-RPC), and then the orthorectified image is further processed using ArcGIS with the Spline tool (ArcGIS-Spline). We used the high-resolution CBERS-02C satellite images (HR1 and HR2 scenes with a pixel size of 2 m) acquired from Yangyuan County in Hebei Province of China to test the procedure. In this study, when separately using PCI-RPC and ArcGIS-Spline tools directly to process the HR1/HR2 raw images, the orthorectification accuracies (root mean square errors, RMSEs) for HR1/HR2 images were 2.94 m/2.81 m and 4.65 m/4.41 m, respectively. However, when using our newly proposed procedure, the corresponding RMSEs could be reduced to 1.10 m/1.07 m. The experimental results demonstrated that the new image processing procedure which integrates PCI-RPC and ArcGIS-Spline tools could significantly improve image orthorectification accuracy. Therefore, in terms of practice, the new procedure has the potential to use existing software products to easily improve image orthorectification accuracy.


Field mapping of a region in the central southeastern portion of the Bushveld Complex in an area underlain by granites of the Lebowa Granite Suite, granophyres of the Rashoop Granophyre Suite, the Rooiberg Group and Transvaal Supergroup has identified at least four types of polymetallic mineralisation developed in the granites and surrounding country rocks, and of similar affinities to those previously identified in the granites. These are: (1) a cassiterite – tourmaline – sulphide association, (2) a molybdenite –fluorite – REE – sulphide association, (3) a sulphide – carbonate base and precious metal rich association and (4) a late-stage oxidized hematite – fluorite – pitchblende association superimposed on the previous assemblages. Type I occurrences are predominantly endogranitic and syngenetic in nature. Occurrences of this type that are exogranitic have a large component of types III and IV developed. Type II in the area mainly occurs in fine-grained aplitic microgranite, termed the Klipkloof Granite, and is of a syngenetic nature. Types III and IV are preferentially developed in roof rocks and are of an epigenetic nature. Mineralisation is typically developed in red highly fractionated granites, denoted by mineralogical, compositional and geochemical properties and is associated with localized chloritic and sericitic, and in certain areas, hematitic alteration zones. Mineralisation may be either endogranitic or exogranitic but all mineralisation present is derived from the granites. Major lineaments and crustal warps have influenced granite emplacement, structure and subsequent tectonism and the related mineralisation. The work of previous authors suggests that types I and II are derived from high temperature, highly saline fluids whereas type III is derived from low temperature, low salinity fluids derived from mixing between the evolving and cooling magmatic fluids and an externally derived meteoric/connate fluid. Type IV mineralisation developed when the fluids were dominantly of meteoric/connate nature. The present study can offer no intensive substantiation of these findings, but overprinting of earlier assemblages by type IV mineralisation, the mineralogy and associated alteration of the various types of mineralisation and their development in differing rock types with different natures gives some support to these theories.


This PhD thesis presents a thorough investigation of the relevance and importance of cardiorespiratory fitness in contemporary dance training and performance. Through an initial introduction and literature review, gaps in the current understanding of, and challenges presented by, dance training and performance practices are highlighted, as are five commonly presented conclusions of previous research. Firstly, it is often stated that dance activity predominantly consists of intermittent work periods of varying intensities, secondly that significant differences exist in the cardiorespiratory demands of class, rehearsal, and performance, thirdly that class and rehearsal intensity is insufficient to elicit an aerobic training response, fourth that the aerobic capacity of dancers is relatively low, and, lastly that high injury rates in dancers are often attributed to fatigue and overwork. However methodological limitations of previous research put into question the accuracy and validity of these statements. In order to develop understanding and overcome some of these limitations, five research studies were designed as extensions and enhancements of previous studies in this area. Three aims of the PhD were stated: 1) to investigate cardiorespiratory demands of contemporary dance performance repertoire, 2) to investigate cardiorespiratory adaptation to contemporary dance training and performance, and 3) to critically appraise methods commonly used in physiological investigation into dance and propose recommendations for future research. The main findings are that cardiorespiratory adaptation in relation to dance training and performance is highly specific and only detected through relative change in the demand of dance activity itself. Findings suggest that measures of cardiorespiratory fitness related to aerobic capacity (VO2peak) and anaerobic threshold do not change over time and are not correlated to dance performance competence. It is emphasised throughout that current methodological limitations restrict our ability to accurately document the relative cardiorespiratory demands of dance performance and change in these across a period of extended training and/or performance. The highly varied nature of contemporary dance performance is discussed throughout, including fluctuations in demand experienced by individuals, and it is emphasised that this needs to be taken into consideration in future research. Potential implications of findings from the perspective of both the researcher and the dance educator are postulated as are the contributions made to the knowledge base.


Aims: This retrospective analysis was done to describe the difference in the prevalence of osteoporosis/low bone mass between women referring themselves to bone mineral density (BMD) testing with dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and women referred by their family practitioner. Methods: Women were recruited by a health promotion action in a Swiss weekly periodical and compared with female patients sent by their physician for DXA testing for various medical indications during the same period. Patients under steroid treatment, known previous fracture and undergoing follow-up for low bone mass were excluded. Self referred women were compared to female patients aged 40 years and older and the same evaluation was repeated for women aged 65 and older. Results: No differences were found in the prevalence of osteoporosis /low bone mass in women referred by their physician vs those who were self referred. However, a significant difference was found with age: the self referred women were 63.1 ± 8.6 years of age whereas the patient group's mean age was 59.7 ± 9.4 (p=0.0001, 95% CI of the difference: 21 - 61 years). Conclusion: We suggest that health promotion actions might be able to recruit the correct candidates for BMD testing, since we found no significant difference in the prevalence of osteoporosis/ low bone mass between self referred and physician referred women. Our data further suggest that physicians may react earlier on their patient's risk profiles than the time frame of action by the self-referred women.


textabstractWith the rise of e-commerce, online consumer reviews have become crucial for consumers' purchasing decisions. Most of the existing research focuses on the detection of explicit features and sentiments in such reviews, thereby ignoring all that is reviewed implicitly. This study builds, in extension of an existing implicit feature algorithm that can only assign one implicit feature to each sentence, a classifier that predicts the presence of multiple implicit features in sentences. The classifier makes its prediction based on a custom score function and a trained threshold. Only if this score exceeds the threshold, we allow for the detection of multiple implicit feature. In this way, we increase the recall while limiting the decrease in precision. In the more realistic scenario, the classifier-based approach improves the F1-score from 62.9% to 64.5% on a restaurant review data set. The precision of the computed sentiment associated with the detected features is 63.9%.


Title of Dissertation: AGE RELATED CHANGES IN SOCIAL REASONING REGARDING PARENTAL DOMESTIC ROLES Stefanie Marie Sinno, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007 Directed By: Professor Melanie Killen Department of Human Development The present study investigated age related changes in individuals' understanding of the parental role of caretaker from a social reasoning perspective. The methodology involved administering surveys to children, adolescents, and young adults (N = 300). Four hypothetical scenarios were described, in which the amount of caretaking tasks completed and time spent at work varied by gender of the parent, and individuals' evaluations and reasoning about the situations were assessed. Three additional factors that influence social reasoning about the caretaker were investigated, including, participants' gender attitudes, their perceptions of their parents' working status and division of caretaking, and their expectations for their own future family life. Results showed that individuals' judgments and reasoning about the caretaker role vary based on both the family arrangement and the gender of the parent in the caretaker role. Overall, participants' judged that the better arrangement is for one parent to spend less time at work in order to be the primary caretaker. However, it was also found that regardless of work arrangement, it would be better if the mother was the primary caretaker. There were age related changes in social reasoning about the caretaker role, with an overall increase in recognizing the complexity of family situations and reasoning from a moral perspective. In addition, gender attitudes, perception of parental work status and division of caretaking and expectations for future balance of work and family influenced social reasoning. Those individuals with more egalitarian attitudes, perceptions, and expectations were aware of societal expectations of parents' roles, but were accepting of arrangements that did not match with expectations. Thus, the present study addressed issues about the developmental origins of individuals' understanding of gender equity, gender development, and developmental social cognition. Understanding developmental changes in social reasoning about gender roles is important because it affects choice of future career and educational goals and opportunities. AGE RELATED CHANGES IN SOCIAL REASONING REGARDING PARENTAL DOMESTIC ROLES


Given the growing prominence of nudge economics both within and beyond the academy, it is a timely moment to reassess the philosophical and political arguments that sit at its core, and in particular what Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein call libertarian paternalism. The first half of this paper provides a detailed account of the main features of this form of paternalism, before moving, in the second half, to a critical evaluation of the nudge agenda that questions, among other things, the gendered basis of paternalistic governance; the idea of 'nudging for good'; and the political values that underpin nudge. The final section of this paper builds on the existing work of John McMahon by asking whether libertarian paternalism should be understood as a new, hybrid form of neoliberalism, or, rather, as a post-neoliberal form of governance that has emerged out of, and flourished in, the post-crisis situation.


Social insects (ants, bees, wasps and termites) as a group are species rich and ecologically dominant. Many are outstanding "ecological engineers", or providers of "ecosystem services", or potential bioindicator species. Few social insects are currently formally classified as Threatened, but this is almost certainly due to a lack of information on population sizes and trends in scarce species. The main influence that sociality has on threats faced by social insects is in reducing effective population sizes, increasing population genetic subdivision and possibly reducing levels of genetic variation relative to solitary species. The main influence that sociality has on threats from social insects is via its role in the ecological success of invasive species, which frequently pose a major hazard to native biotas. In some cases, social features underpinning ecological success in the original range almost certainly contribute to the success of invasive social insects. However, recent studies show or strongly suggest that, in some of the most notoriously invasive populations of ants, bees and wasps, novel social traits have arisen that greatly enhance the rate of spread and ecological competitiveness of these populations. Sociality can therefore represent either a liability or an asset in its contribution to the persistence of social insect populations.


The principal aim of Coast of Soap Ships was to examine issues of representation and self-representation of working-class communities and identities. The research examined how members of working-class communities would represent themselves if given the opportunity. It also explored what skills and infrastructures were needed in order to allow for this process. The film was made in response to an episode of Secret Millionaire (Channel 4), but actually engaged more widely with the current representation of working classes in Britain (Rowbotham, Beynon 2001, Tyler 2008). The episode of Secret Millionaire, however, was set in the community of Barrow-in-Furness which represented the community in a particular way without allowing self-representation. Considering the media context – Jenkins (2008) for example argues that we now live in an era of participation culture – this exclusion was notable. Heney drew on research of participation culture (see also Johnson 2007, Ross 2010) as well as research into vulnerable audiences, and in particular children (Buckingham 1993, 2000; Gauntlett 2005), to construct a project that would provide training to a teenage community group which would then make a film with the support of a small production team. Heney (with co-director Hunter) decided that in order to allow for well-crafted self-representation, the community should use a more established form of media, namely still photography. At the same time, using still photography would also create a sense of disruption and draw the audience's attention to the constructed-ness of the image, thus drawing attention to the dichotomy of real versus imagined or apparent. The film challenged the current representations of working-class communities as illiterate, unemployed, drug-dependent and chaotic in relation to family relationships, and instead presented them as intelligent, articulate and able. The film was shown at Keswick Film Festival where it won first prize. It was also put up on the Channel 4 website, where Paula Carter, Channel 4's viewers editor, commented: 'Complaints don't come more eloquent than this.'


& The Ultimate Players Guide to Minecraft Second Edition Minecraft: These worlds are YOURS! Minecraft is WAY more than a game: its an alternate universe of creation, exhilaration, survival, adventure, passion! Dont enter that universe alone. Take an experienced guide wholl help you constantly as you learn the secrets of Minecraft! Stephen OBrien has been obsessing over Minecraft since its earliest betas. Hes seen it all! Now, hell take you deep inside craft and mine, cave and menagerie, farm and village. Hell reveal combat traps and tricks you need to know teach you enchantments of unimaginable power help you survive where few dare to go help you OWN the infinite worlds of Minecraft! Quick-start guide for first-night survival Customize your experience: monstrous, peaceful, and more Harvest resources, craft tools and shelterslet there be light Grab your pickaxe: mine iron, gold, diamonds, and redstone Escape (or defeat!) 14 types of hostile mobs Get friendly mobs on your side and build automated farms Brew potions to cure ills, gain superpowers, and throw at enemies Transform your shelter into a palace (or a secret underwater base) Create new worlds and master the fine art of terraforming Learn the secrets of redstone devices, and build incredible rail systems Play safely through The Nether and The End Minecraft is a trademark of Mojang Synergies / Notch Development AB. This book is not affiliated with or sponsored by Mojang Synergies /Notch Development AB. Stephen OBrien is an Australian-born writer and entrepreneur now residing in Sydney after too many years in Silicon Valley. He has written 27 books, including several best-sellers. OBrien founded Typefi, the worlds leading automated publishing system, and in his spare time invented a new type of espresso machine called mypressi. Hes a perpetual innovator who remains astounded at the unparalleled creativity Minecraft can engender.


A Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of wireless mobile terminals that are able to dynamically form a temporary network without any aid from fixed infrastructure or centralized administration. In recent years, MANETs are continuing to attract the attention for their potential use in several fields such as military activities, rescue operations and time-critical applications. In this paper, we present the implementation and analysis of our implemented MANET testbed and simulation system considering Ad-hoc On demand Distance Vector (AODV) and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocols for wireless multi-hop networking. We investigate the effect of mobility and topology changing in MANET. We evaluate and compare the performance by simulations (using ns-2 simulator) and experiments. In this work, we consider two models: stationary and mobility models. We assess the performance of our testbed and simulation in terms of throughput, number of received packets and hop distance. From the results, we found that the AODV protocol has a good performance when the relay node is moving. Also, the AODV protocol provides a flexible and effective routing for indoor environment.


In 2007, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization, from the United Nations) initiated the Global plan of action for Farm Animal Genetic Resources (FAnGR) to reduce further loss of genetic diversity in farm animals. One of the key issues mentioned is to identify endangered breeds to support conservation prioritization programs. In this context, the Swiss Federal office for Agriculture attributed a mandate to explore the feasibility of the implementation of a monitoring concept. The report mentioned the relevance of including the geographic location of the populations monitored. Accordingly, we used open source software (PostgreSQL, PostGIS, OpenLayers, Geoserver), to develop a WebGIS platform prototype (GenMon-CH) designed to assess pedigree information, geographical concentration, socio-economic and environmental information. GenMon-CH includes PopRep developed by the Institute of Farm Animal Genetics (FLI, Germany) to run the pedigree analysis and to provide parameters such as inbreeding coefficient, effective population size. Additionally introgression will be considered. Current developments will soon make it possible to process these indices based on genetic information as well. In parallel, the combined socioeconomic/environmental index assesses the attractiveness and the risk of potential future agricultural practice abandonment in the regions where populations are bred. Finally, a multi-criteria decision support tool aggregates criteria using the MACBETH method, which is based on a weighted average using satisfaction thresholds. The system permits to upload basic information for each animal (parents, birth date, sex, location, introgression) and to choose relevant weighting parameters and thresholds. Based on these inputs, the system completes a pedigree analysis, and computes a final ranking of breeds based on an integrated prioritization score to be visualized on a map.


Abstract Objectives: To describe absolute and relative prevalence of 10 self-attributed substance-related and behavioural addiction problems among Canadian adults, to describe perceived prevalence of these problems in the general population, and to examine whether estimates varied by survey mode. Methods: Sample 1 included 4000 adults recruited from an online research panel; Sample 2 included 2000 randomly selected adults who completed a computer-assisted telephone interview. Respondents in both samples were asked (1) whether or not they had experienced a problem in the preceding year with each of four substances (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and cocaine) and six behaviours (gambling, eating, shopping, sex, video gaming, and work), (2) whether they had ever personally knew someone exhibiting a problem with each behaviour, and (3) perceived prevalence of problems in the general population. Results: About half of the respondents reported experiencing any past-year addiction problems. Tobacco and alcohol were the most common substance-related problems, while the most common behavioural problems were related to eating and work. Respondents consistently overestimated perceived population prevalence relative to self-attributed problems; however, the magnitude of overestimation was significantly greater among those who personally reported a problem with these behaviours. Online survey participants consistently reported higher self-attributed problem rates compared with CATI respondents, but rank-order correlations across self-, acquaintances-, and population-attributed prevalence estimates were very high in both samples. Conclusions: Both survey modes provided accurate relative prevalence estimates, but further research should explore determinants of higher prevalence rates among online participants and respondents' consistent tendency to overestimate perceived population prevalence.


In this research, we investigate the trajectory of attitudinal change towards computer science among students in an online CS1 class. We perform this investigation to address several trends in modern computer science education. First, as computer science increasingly becomes a required class for all majors, how do students' first experiences with the subject impact their attitudes? Second, as online education continues to expand, how does enrolling in CS1 online specifically affect audiences that may be marginalized in both CS classes and in online learning environments, such as women and underrepresented minorities? Third, can we intervene to improve attitudes towards computer science, especially among those marginalized audiences? In this research, we poll students in an online for-credit CS1 class four times to observe the change in their attitudes towards computer science over time and intervene with some students to try to improve their perception of computer science. We find that attitudes towards computer science improve with initial exposure, that women's attitudes towards CS begin less positive but follow the same trajectory, and that mid-semester regression in attitudes toward computer science may predict eventual struggles to perform well in the class.


A new approach to religion institutions is proposed. To adopt world society to era of highly developed science and technology we ought to put away social-Darwinistic social relations and organize humans/world society on three – by John Paul II proposed – universal values: common good/common interest, solidarity and subsidiarity. For life in such State of Change and Risk we have to activate big intellectual – cognitive and innovative – currently in most cases, passive creative potential and allow access to knowledge used up to-date usually for egoistic – business and/or political – purposes. For this end we have to change work force position from "tools like" into creative one. We have also to build world information system that especially will allow to get knowledge about future complex effects of human activity. Civilization of Life and Love, proposed by John Paul II, should be treated as draft of proper long-term socio-economy transformation that allow to adapt world society to life supported by high science and technology. To avoid global catastrophe and achieve sustainable development of the world society, it would be convenient to include strong religion institutions – for example in Poland, Catholic Church – into social homeostats that con-trol proper process of defense and development of local and global societies. Social teaching of John Paul II should be treated – as soon as possible – as important input into Polish, European and global sustainable development strategy building.


Varestraint testing together with DSC and SEM-EDX analyses have been performed as
means of investigating the hot cracking susceptibility of Allvac 718Plus, alloy 718 and Waspaloy. The
solidification sequences in Allvac 718Plus and alloy 718 were very similar to each other starting by an
initial solidification of the gamma phase, gamma/MC reaction at around 1260°C and then finally ending
the sequence by gamma/Laves eutectic reaction at around 1150°C. Waspaloy had the same solidification
sequence, except no Laves phase formation takes place, and solidification started at a somewhat higher
temperature as compared to alloy 718 and the solidification sequence ends by a gamma/MC reaction at
around 1245°C. The total amount of hot cracking in Waspaloy was shown to be much less than that in alloy
718 and in Allvac 718Plus which is believed to be related to the presence of the Laves eutectic in the latter
two alloys with corresponding larger solidification ranges. Hot cracking of 718Plus is slightly less than in
718.


We consider the problem of learning Bayesian networks optimally, when subject to background knowledge in the form of ancestral constraints. Our approach is based on a recently proposed framework for optimal structure learning based on non-decomposable scores, which is general enough to accommodate ancestral constraints. The proposed framework exploits oracles for learning structures using decomposable scores, which cannot accommodate ancestral constraints since they are non-decomposable. We show how to empower these oracles by passing them decomposable constraints that they can handle, which are inferred from ancestral constraints that they cannot handle. Empirically, we demonstrate that our approach can be orders-of-magnitude more efficient than alternative frameworks, such as those based on integer linear programming.


A numerical investigation was performed to study the flows in several PWR power plant feed-water pipeline configurations. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) models were developed with commercial CFD software. The models comprised sections of the pipeline networks including geometrical configurations like; elbows, expansions and contractions, valves, T and Y branches. The purpose of the study was to obtain insight into the flow redistribution, flow patterns and axial velocity profiles resulting from the interaction between various pipeline branches and position of the geometrical configurations. The results, streamlines, axial velocity contours, lateral velocity vectors and velocity profiles are presented and discussed in relation to the shape of the pipeline network. The CFD models results indicate that in some cases axial velocity profiles and flow patterns can differ from the developed turbulent flows in the straight pipes. The presented CFD models are one step towards developing advanced tools that can be used to evaluate the effects of the pipeline geometry on the flow structure and axial velocity distribution.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the functionality of the WebCorp Linguist's Search Engine (WebCorpLSE) by comparing it with two other freely-available online data resources: Google and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). In particular, the paper looks at how WebCorpLSE can fill gaps in these sources. It begins by contextualising the WebCorpLSE project in relation to its parent project, WebCorp, and other 'web as corpus' initiatives. It then outlines the advantages of WebCorpLSE over Google search, before turning to a comparison of WebCorpLSE with COCA. Comparisons are made by matching extracts of textual and graphical output generated by each system. It is shown that WebCorpLSE provides information not available via the other search mechanisms, and that it can thus, in accordance with Mair's (2007) argument for a combined approach to diachronic text study, usefully serve not only as a stand-alone tool, but as a complementary resource.


The cognitive approach appears to reign in most geography classrooms. The emotive and the psychic approaches receive only cursory attention. The result has been a lack of deeper understanding of the issues involved in a topic. This contributes to the partial or biased education of our students and we suspect it also contributes to poor results in the 'O' and 'A' level examinations.
This paper presents points in favor of the emotive approach and describes how controversial issues can be tackled in the 'O' and 'A' level geography classrooms.


Adhesion occurs by covalent bonding, as in reactive structural adhesives, or through noncovalent interactions, which are nearly ubiquitous in nature. A classic example of the latter is gecko feet, where hierarchical features enhance friction across the contact area. Biomimicry of such structured adhesion is regularly achieved by top‐down lithography, which allows for direction‐dependent detachment. However, bottom‐up approaches remain elusive given the scarcity of building blocks that yield strong, cohesive, self‐assembly across multiple length scales. Herein, an exception is introduced, namely, aqueous dispersions of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) that form superstructured, adherent layers between solid surfaces upon confined evaporation‐induced self‐assembly (C‐EISA). The inherently strong CNCs (EA > 140 GPa) align into rigid, nematically ordered lamellae across multiple length scales as a result of the stresses associated with confined evaporation. This long‐range order produces remarkable anisotropic adhesive strength when comparing in‐plane (≈7 MPa) and out‐of‐plane (≤0.08 MPa) directions. These adhesive attributes, resulting from self‐assembly, substantially outperform previous biomimetic adhesives obtained by top‐down microfabrication (dry adhesives, friction driven), and represent a unique fluid (aqueous)‐based system with significant anisotropy of adhesion. By using C‐EISA, new emergent properties will be closely tied with the nature of colloids and their hierarchical assemblies.


Motivation: 3D printing is of outstanding importance in medical engineering and has been continuously growing in recent years. From prostheses and soft implants to matrices for tissue engineering, additive manufacturing has decisive advantages for medicine and in our case for dentistry too. A big challenge is to produce tiny devices, as dental implants, using PEEK in an FDM printer, knowing the parameters, which have an influence on the result. Apart from the thermal control of the printing stage and the nozzle, the nozzle diameter and the material characteristics play a key role to reach that goal.
Materials and Methods: Using a printer from Orion AM the first tests were performed to check the possibility to produce tiny devices with diameter of up to 4 mm and a height of 8 mm with a dental implant shape and structure features. The first goal was to find the limits concerning structure homogeneity and mechanical strength using different diameters of nozzle 0.15 to 0.4 mm using pure PEEK (Apium filament from Victrex 450G). Surface structure assessment were performed using a video microscope VHX 5000 (Keyence). The surface quality was analysed by microhardness indentation measurements and mechanical tests were performed using a universal testing machine Z010 (Zwick-Roell).
Results and Discussion: Interesting was that even with nozzle diameter of 0.15 mm a dental implant like structure could be printed. The main problem was the clogging of the nozzle by impurities of the filament. Using a 0.2 mm nozzle diameter an acceptable result could be performed with a diameter of 5mm and a length of 12 mm.
Conclusion: These first results show that a 3D printing with FDM strategy of dental implants is possible when the quality of the filaments can be increased. Further testing on strength of inter-layer bonding is necessary.


Although the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is renowned to be a connectivity disorder and a condition characterized by cerebellar involvement, the connectivity between the cerebellum and other cortical brain regions is particularly underexamined. Indeed, converging evidence has recently suggested that the cerebellum could play a key role in the etiopathogenesis of ASD, since cerebellar anomalies have been consistently reported in ASD from the molecular to the behavioral level, and damage to the cerebellum early in development has been linked with signs of autistic features. In addition, current data have shown that the cerebellum is a key structure not only for sensory-motor control, but also for "higher functions," such as social cognition and emotion, through its extensive connections with cortical areas. The disruption of these circuits could be implicated in the wide range of autistic symptoms that the term "spectrum" connotes. In this review, we present and discuss the recent findings from imaging studies that investigated cortico-cerebellar connectivity in people with ASD. The literature is still too limited to allow for definitive conclusions; however, this brief review reveals substantial areas for future studies, underlining currently unmet research perspectives.


This quantitative research study uses survey data of women born between 1946 and 1951 in Australia. It follows earlier work that identified the importance of transitions from work for women of the baby boomer generation. We provide important insights into the lives of women who have partially or fully retired and the changing nature of women's work and retirement. For many women, retirement is characterized by newfound freedoms, opportunities, career change, and evolving identities, yet others view retirement as a continuation of previous occupational and gendered roles and commitments. This study has important implications for retirement policies for women.


This paper suggests a new approach to econometrically estimate parameters of multi-level Constant Elasticity of Transformation (CET) functional forms which are widely used in developing Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models. An illustrative CET functional form is estimated using the proposed method based on historical data taken from the U.S. economy for the time period of 1996-210 to evaluate the performance of the new method. The proposed estimation process may be used to improve the existing cropland frontier used in GTAP-BIO model. Currently, the cropland frontier in GTAP-BIO model supplies land to different crops using a simple one-level CET function due to the lack of empirically estimated more flexible functional forms. The proposed method provides an opportunity to estimate more flexible multi-level CET functional forms according to available historical data. This will help to change the land supply side of the GTAP-BIO model based on historical observations.


Beginning in 1999, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) added new questions about several categories of consumption expenditure. The PSID now covers items that constitute more than seventy percent of total expenditure measured in the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE). We show that expenditure for each of the broad categories in the PSID aligns closely with corresponding measures from the CE. Using the new PSID data, we impute total expenditure in the PSID and show that this is also very close to total measured CE expenditure. For several distinct categories and for total consumption, we show that cross-sectional life cycle estimates of household expenditure activity are very similar across the two surveys. Finally, we illustrate the unique research value of the PSID for studying consumption by exploiting the survey's longitudinal design and genealogical structure to estimate the intergenerational elasticity of consumption expenditure, which is found to be in the range of 0.32-0.34.


3D biomaterial models have potential to explore the influence of the tumor microenvironment on aberrant signaling pathways and compensatory signals using patient‐derived cells. Glioblastoma (GBM) tumors are highly heterogeneous, with both cell composition and extracellular matrix biophysical factors seen as key regulators of malignant phenotype and treatment outcomes. Amplification, overexpression, and mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase have been identified in 50% of GBM patients. Here, hyaluronic acid (HA) decorated methacrylamide‐functionalized gelatin (GelMA) hydrogels are used to examine the synergies between microenvironmental factors and a model EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) using patient‐derived xenograft cells. The in vitro behavior of 3 patient‐derived xenografts that reflect a clinically relevant range of EGFR variants is characterized: GBM10 (EGFR, wild type), GBM12 (EGFR+), and GBM6 (EGFRvIII). GelMA hydrogels support xenograft culture; cells remain viable, active, respond to matrix‐immobilized HA, and upregulate genes associated with matrix remodeling and tumor growth. Interestingly, matrix‐immobilized HA alters the response of GBM cells to a model tyrosine kinase inhibitor, erlotinib. While constitutively activated EGFRvIII cells are sensitive to TKI in gelatin hydrogels, hyaluronic acid mediated adhesive signaling interacts with EGFRvIII signaling to increase cell metabolic activity, increase soluble hyaluronic acid synthesis, and modify response to erlotinib exposure.