An introduction to the dynamical diffraction theory is given and its results are discussed in relation to double crystal diffractometry in the various arrangements. A review of the work using this technique is also given. The micro-computer controlled diffractometers, the EGG and the COFFIN together with the interface system are described. The software written for the automatic control of the diffractometer is given in detail. The micro computer controlled diffractometer has proved a great advantage in that it reduces tremendously the time of the experiment and made possible the experiment using γ-rays which otherwise is impossible to carry out due to its low intensity and high background. Results are presented of a study of the damage introduced into silicon when cut with a diamond tool on a lathe. The depth of damage introduced is investigated by measuring rocking curves full width at half height maximum as the crystal was etched. The result obtained shows that the bulk of the surface damage introduced is confined to the first 5µm of the crystal which is completely removed after a further 100µm is removed and is independent of the tool type. Therefore diamond turning can replace the time consuming hand lapping process with a reduction in cost and would therefore be advantageous in the production of mono- chromators and mirrors of non-standard shapes and sizes. Previous work using γ-ray energy is reviewed. The double crystal technique using gamma rays is potentially a powerful tool for the measurement of lattice tilts in thick perfect single crystals. The narrow rocking curve (less than 0.5 arc seconds) and the long counting time (up to 6 minutes per point) necessitates the use of micro-computer. Results are presented of experiments to establish the feasibility of the method. The perfection of the triangular monochromator crystal used at the Protein Crystallography Station, Daresbury Laboratory was also investigated from rocking curve measurements. The effects of bending the triangular monochromator crystal on the FWHM and integrated reflecting power were studied and the measurement of curvature was made on the Lang camera. The 6-fold increase in the integrated intensity of an unpolished monochromator over a polished one could be a great advantage for protein crystallography experiments. This has yet to be tested at the Daresbury station. Results are presented on the effect of a magnetic field parallel to the two fold axis on the double crystal rocking curves of hematite crystal which indicate a complex behaviour where multiple splitting occurs and is extremely unstable. Double crystal topographs of Indium phosphide and gallium arsenide crystals indicate the usefulness of synchrotron radiation to crystal growers for a rapid and routine assessment of crystal perfection.


Human artificial chromosomes (HACs) have been generated mainly by either a 'top-down approach' (engineered creation) or a 'bottom-up approach' (de novo creation). HACs with acceptor sites exhibit several characteristics required by an ideal gene delivery vector, including stable episomal maintenance and capacity to carry large genomic loci plus their regulatory elements, thus allowing the physiological regulation of the introduced gene in a manner similar to that of native chromosomes. Mouse artificial chromosomes (MACs) with acceptor sites were also created from a native mouse chromosome. The microcell-mediated chromosome transfer (MMCT) technique for manipulating HACs and MACs in donor cells in order to deliver them to recipient cells is required for each approach. This review describes the lessons learned and prospects identified from studies on the construction of HACs and MACs and their ability to drive exogenous gene expression in cultured cells and transgenic animals via MMCT. The recent emergence of stem cell-based tissue engineering has opened up new avenues for gene and cell therapies, and possible applications for medical use of HACs and MACs are also proposed.

Key Concepts:

The microcell-mediated chromosome transfer method can transfer an intact chromosome or chromosome fragment from donor cell to recipient cell.

Human artificial chromosome (HAC), which is an episomal vector derived from a native chromosome, has several advantages: it can contain the entire genome sequences of interest including its regulatory regions with long-term stable maintenance and gene expression in human cells.

The de novo HAC (bottom-up approach) has been developed with alphoid DNA in HT1080 cells under the condition with lower H3K9me3 methylated alphoid DNA concerning cell-type-specific barrier for de novo CENP-A assembly.

The tet-O HAC is a kind of de novo HAC with a conditional centromere which is constructed with alphoid DNA, and tetracycline operator sequence can be inactivated by expression of tet-repressor fusion protein for loss of the tet-O HAC.

Mouse artificial chromosome (MAC) is a useful tool for the animal transgenesis because it can be maintained stably in mouse cells and transchromosomic mice through germline transmission.

HAC/MAC have a loxP site and/or five recombination platforms to insert circular vectors like bacterial artificial chromosome or make a translocation of the targeting region from other chromosomes.

HACs could be used for the complete correction of iPS cells from a patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

An HAC which contains Klf4, Sox2, Oct4, c-Myc and siRNA expression against p53 could reprogramme mouse embryonic fibroblast to pluripotent stem cells.

Humanised model mice using human artificial chromosomes, which contain the human CYP3A cluster and the human immunoglobulins including whole 700kb or 1Mb genomic region, have been produced.

HACs/MACs might be used for a wide variety of purposes including medical and pharmaceutical applications and even for synthetic biology in sophisticated control.

Keywords:

human artificial chromosome;
mouse artificial chromosome;
induced pluripotent stem cell;
embryonic stem cell;
microcell-mediated chromosome transfer;
gene therapy;
Duchenne muscular dystrophy;
humanised model mouse;
xenobiotic metabolism


Background and Purpose: Hemodialysis patients face several physical and mental tension factors including depression, anxiety and stress, which could decrease their quality of life. This study aimed to identify the relationship between quality of life (QOL), depression, anxiety and stress in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methods: This descriptive, analytical study was conducted on 160 hemodialysis patients (80 male and 80 female) using convenience sampling at three hemodialysis centers in Sari, Mazandaran, Iran. Data collection was performed during three months using three questionnaires of demographic characteristics, DASS-21 and quality of life (SF-36). Collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: In this study, the mean age of patients was 50.8±12.81 years, and 88.8%, 92.5% and 85.6% of the subjects had severe depression, anxiety and stress, respectively. Spearman's correlation coefficient showed a significant inverse correlation between the physical and mental domains of SF-36 questionnaire with depression (r=-0.38, r=-0.29), anxiety (r=-0.48, r=-0.45) and stress (r=-0.5, r=-0.57), respectively (P<0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, increased depression, anxiety and stress could reduce QOL in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, nurses and health care staff play a pivotal role in the identification and alleviation of these factors by using coping and support strategies to improve QOL in these patients.


This report provides an overview of the state of affairs (1) with regards to the deployment of wet renewables and (2) marine energy storage systems; (3) how they affect abiotic and biotic components of the marine ecosystem and (4) developments and concepts on cumulative impact assessments related to marine renewable energy devices and (5) future perspectives. This report provides the scientific basis to address the OSPAR request for advice on the current state and knowledge of studies into the deployment and environmental impacts of the following wet renewable energies and marine energy storage (floating, coastal infrastructure), tidal stream (screws, kites), tidal flow (barrage, lagoon) and others. Advice should cover the status of wet renewable developments in the OSPAR region, future prospects, potential environmental prob-lems (sea bed habitat loss/disturbance, fish, marine mammals, birds, seascape/ public perception, and cumulative impacts), potential benefits, next steps and conclusions". The request was directed towards the Working Group on Marine Benthal Energy Developments (WGMBRED) and the Working Group on Marine Renewable Energy (WGMRE). A pre-meeting chaired by Jan Vanaverbeke, Belgium (WKWET, 15–16 January 2019) at ICES Headquarters, was attended by 11 participants from 4 countries, including members of WGMBRED and WGMRE and additional experts. The group analysed the OSPAR request, agreed on a structure for the report, and certain experts volunteered to conduct a literature re-view and provide the necessary knowledge base for the report.WGMBRED met from 12–15 February 2019 in Brussels, Belgium. The input from WKWET participants was compiled, quality checked and adapted where needed; when relevant expertise was represented in the group. WKWET experts, not present at WGMBRED, reviewed text, where needed, and a first version of this report was delivered to WGMRE.WGMRE met in Oostende (Belgium) from 26–28 February 2019. Participants reviewed the WKWET report following input from WGMBRED, quality checked, and adapted where neces-sary. Relevant experts contributed additional text and data to tables on MRE developments in ICES areas, and provided text on public perceptions and future prospects of MRE. This report presents an overview of the currently known "wet renewables" (all marine renewable energy devices, excluding offshore wind devices) and how their deployment will likely change in the future. It further provides an overview of the concepts and techniques of related to marine energy storage devices. Given the conceptual and experimental stage of marine energy storage devices, and the absence of data on how these devices affect the marine environment, the report is limited to a description of these marine energy storage devices. This report provides a receptor-based summary of how the wet renewables can affect the marine environment. Receptors are either abiotic (hydrodynamics, physical seabed and sediment transport) or biotic (benthos, fish, marine mammals, birds, sea turtles, otters and polar bears). To avoid repetition, effects on these receptors were grouped according to pressure-inducing components (static component of the device, dynamic component of the device, cables) of wet renewables or consequences of their presence. The report further discusses the developments on cumulative impacts assessments associated with wet renewables deployment in addition to many other human activities, and the need to move away from "data rich – information poor" monitoring of structural aspects of the marine ecosystem to hypothesis-driven functional research at the relevant spatial and temporal scales. This will require cross-border coordination in data collection, data storage and exchange and the development of a joint research agenda.


ABSTRACT The incipient use of Internet in rural areas and there was the assumption that the low educational level, older producers, the lack of infrastructure and computer hardware, affect the interest of producers to know and use the medium of communication. Diagnosis was performed to identify factors that determine the use of these electronic media in rural areas of the state of Aguascalientes. In April 2008; 81 producers were interviewed by sampling method in "bola de nieve". Sociodemographic characteristics were identified: gender, age, education, occupation and aspects of computer use, email and Internet. Negative correlation was found between the age of producers and computer use (r 2 = -0.43920) and high positive correlation with educational level (r 2 = 0.74248), and the need for training in the Internet use (r 2 = 0.89646). Notwithstanding the alleged cultural barriers and lack of infrastructure and computer equipment in rural areas, it was possible in three workshops to train 37 farmers in the management of a computer, email and Internet. Under the light of the results, contrary to the assumption that the Internet has no rural penetration, it was found in the area of study, that there is interest in using electronic means of communication as well as the availability of infrastructure (10 000 digital community centers nationwide) so there is a great opportunity for Internet use in the transfer of information on Web pages, email, video conferencing, distance learning, discussion forums, among other tools and applications like a cost-effective to enhance personal communication, group and institutional development and strengthening rural families.


This study examined how natural resources policies and action plans in Uganda may shape gendered climate change adaptation. It demonstrated that although majority of the reviewed natural resources policies and action plans fail to identify climate change as a policy issue, they propose strategies relevant to climate change adaptation. It also revealed that while gender is largely considered as an issue that is relevant to climate change adaptation, seldom do the policy documents mainstream gender within the proposed policy interventions identified to achieve the aspirations of the policies. Proposed climate change interventions seldom link to particular gender tenets and hence undermine gendered adaptation. Most of the policy interventions were found to adopt a gender-neutral approach, ignoring the differential characteristics of women and men. The study concluded that with this narrow approach to gender vulnerability, targeted climate change interventions that take into consideration these differences will likely not be developed and instead simplistic, short-term non-gender equality interventions will be designed.


The limitations imposed by a turbulent atmosphere on photography of a planetary surface from a vehicle at high altitudes are considered. The atmosphere initially considered is that of the earth, since data are available on its characteristics. The correlation between modulation transfer function, minimum detectable element, and experimentally measured stellar scintillation indicates that the limiting resolution should be on the order of a few centimeters on earth. This is considerably lower than resolutions previously predicted from assumed atmospheric characteristics. The difference may arise from the fact that experimentally measured wind shears over thin atmospheric layers are greater than the values previously assumed. The standard deviation of length of the minimum detectable element is about 13 of its mean value, and does not appear to be a strong function of the time of year or location. The minimum detectable length on Mars is so small that it will probably never limit photographic reconnaissance of that planet.


This paper explores the issue of the true and fair view (TFV) and the overriding principle within the European Union (EU), via a legally based analysis of the relationship between EU and national laws. We apply the supremacy of European law to methods of incorporating the TFV into national legislation, using Austria as a detailed case study, showing that all countries – maybe against their original intention – either have an override (as does Austria, contrary to the prevailing local opinion) or have failed to honour their EU commitments. As part of our argument, we explain the importance of the Roman law teleological principle in legal application and interpretation, as is well known in Continental countries. We show that the effect of the UK TFV override is in principle exactly analogous, only arguably even more powerful, which is not at all well known in Anglo-Saxon countries. We suggest reasons why the status quo ante in particular countries may be adhered to, and generalise the implications of our arguments.


We examined 11 non-linear regression models to determine which of them best fitted curvilinear species accumulation curves based on pit-trapping data for reptiles in a range of heterogeneous and homogenous sites in mesic, semi-arid and arid regions of Western Australia. A well-defined plateau in a species accumulation curve is required for any of the models accurately to estimate species richness. Two different measures of effort (pit-trapping days and number of individuals caught) were used to determine if the measure of effort influenced the choice of the best model(s). We used species accumulation curves to predict species richness, determined the trapping effort required to catch a nominated percentage (e.g. 95%) of the predicted number of species in an area, and examined the relationship between species accumulation curves with diversity and rarity. Species richness, diversity and the proportion of rare species in a community influenced the shape of species accumulation curves. The Beta-P model provided the best overall fit (highest r 2 ) for heterogeneous and homogeneous sites. For heterogeneous sites, Hill, Rational, Clench, Exponential and Weibull models were the next best. For homogeneous habitats, Hill, Weibull and Chapman-Richards were the next best models. There was very little difference between Beta-P and Hill models in fitting the data to accumulation curves, although the Hill model generally over-estimated species richness. Most models worked equally well for both measures of trapping effort. Because the number of individuals caught was influenced by both pit-trapping effort and the abundance of individuals, both measures of effort must be considered if species accumulation curves are to be used as a planning tool. Trapping effort to catch a nominated percentage of the total predicted species in homogeneous and heterogeneous habitats varied among sites, but even for only 75% of the predicted number of species it was generally much higher than the typical effort currently being used for terrestrial vertebrate fauna surveys in Australia. It was not possible to provide a general indication of the effort required to predict species richness for a site, or to capture a nominated proportion of species at a site, because species accumulation curves are heavily influenced by the characteristics of particular sites.


Aim: To ascertain the frequency of significant anogenital signs, at medical examination, following an allegation of sexual abuse, in relation to the timing of the examination. Method: A case series of 331 children, who were referred by the police or social services for examination, following an allegation of child sexual abuse or suspicion of this, over a 3½-year period in a defined geographical area. Results: Two hundred and fifty-seven children alleged penetrative abuse, of whom 114 were seen within 7 days of the abuse. Twenty-three children alleged penetrative anal abuse within the previous 7 days; 13 of these had abnormal findings (56.5%) compared with 9 (18%) of the 50 children seen more than 7 days after anal abuse. Ninety-two girls alleged penetrative vaginal abuse within the previous 7 days and of these 46 (50%) had abnormal findings, compared with 31 (30.7%) of the 101 girls seen more than 7 days after the alleged abuse. In addition 33 girls seen within 7 days had other signs associated with probable assault. Abnormal findings were more common in post-pubertal girls. Conclusion: Pubertal and post-pubertal girls are more likely to have significant genital signs if they are examined within 7 days of the last episode of sexual abuse. Our findings suggest that abnormal anal signs are more likely to be present in the acute phase. This study indicates that children should be examined as soon as possible following a referral. This will have implications for clinical practice. Regardless of the lack of accurate history it will always be important to examine the child as soon as possible after disclosure.


Allergic skin conditions are very common, and their presence in athletes may pose particular challenges in management. Some of these conditions may be worsened by factors accompanying exercise, such as increased body heat and sweating, whereas others may only be triggered in the performance of exercise. Physical urticaria is an example of the latter category. Physical urticarias share the common feature of being induced by environmental factors, such as change in temperature, or by direct stimulation of the skin, through pressure, vibration, light and stroking. Atopic dermatitis is a common condition, increasing in prevalence and typically affecting children and adolescents. For the athlete with atopic dermatitis there are special considerations. The disease itself, when moderate to severe, can have a significant impact on performance because of its impact on psychological well-being and the frequency of sleep deprivation caused by pronounced itching and scratching at night. By the nature of many sporting activities there is the increased likelihood of sweating, water loss and raised skin temperature, all of which can lead to the exacerbation of the underlying condition.
Allergic contact dermatitis is a common skin problem caused by a delayed type, hypersensitivity response to a relevant substance, usually a chemical that acts as a hapten. The individual with allergic contact dermatitis will present with a dermatitis localised to the site of contact. Common contactants of particular relevance to the athlete include nickel and rubber accelerators.
Management of the athlete with chronic allergic skin disease requires a sound approach to diagnosis, clear education regarding the problem, sensible advice regarding simple avoidance strategies, maintenance of optimal control of the underlying condition, and the judicious use of non-sedating antihistamines.


Existing user interfaces for the configuration of large shared displays with multiple inputs and outputs usually do not allow users easy and direct configuration of the display's properties such as window arrangement or scaling. To address this problem, we are exploring a gesture-based technique for manipulating display windows on shared display systems. To aid target selection under noisy tracking conditions, we propose VoroPoint, a modified Voronoi tessellation approach that increases the selectable target area of the display windows. By maximizing the available target area, users can select and interact with display windows with greater ease and precision.


The essence of the information technology revolution and, in particular, the World Wide Web is the opportunity afforded companies to choose how they interact with their customers. The Web allows companies to build better relationships with customers than has been previously possible in the offline world. This revolution in customer relationship management (CRM) has been referred to as the new "mantra" of marketing. However, a problem is that CRM means different things to different people. This article develops a comprehensive CRM model incorporating seven phases: database creation, analysis of the database, customer selection, customer targeting, relationship marketing, privacy issues, and new metrics necessary for evaluating the CRM effort. The article also discusses the implications of CRM for future marketing organizations.


Camera traps that capture photos of animals are a valuable tool for monitoring biodiversity. The use of camera traps is rapidly increasing and there is an urgent need for standardization to facilitate data management, reporting and data sharing. Here we offer the Camera Trap Metadata Standard as an open data standard for storing and sharing camera trap data, developed by experts from a variety of organizations. The standard captures information necessary to share data between projects and offers a foundation for collecting the more detailed data needed for advanced analysis. The data standard captures information about study design, the type of camera used, and the location and species names for all detections in a standardized way. This information is critical for accurately assessing results from individual camera trapping projects and for combining data from multiple studies for meta-analysis. This data standard is an important step in aligning camera trapping surveys with best practices in data-intensive science. Ecology is moving rapidly into the realm of big data, and central data repositories are becoming a critical tool and are emerging for camera trap data. This data standard will help researchers standardize data terms, align past data to new repositories, and provide a framework for utilizing data across repositories and research projects to advance animal ecology and conservation.


Of twenty-three agricultural economics conjoint analyses conducted between 1990 and 2001, seventeen used interval-rating scales, with estimation procedures varying widely. This study tests cardinality assumptions in conjoint analysis when interval-rating scales are used, and tests whether the ordered probit or two-limit tobit model is the most valid. Results indicate that cardinality assumptions are invalid, but estimates of the underlying utility scale for the two models do not differ. Thus, while the ordered probit model is theoretically more appealing, the two-limit tobit model may be more useful in practice, especially in cases with limited degrees of freedom, such as with individual-level conjoint models.


Cold-water coral reefs (CWC) are known to be biodiversity hotspots, however, the sponge assemblages found to dwell within these habitats haven not been studied in depth to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The present article provides the first insight on the associated sponge fauna of the recently discovered CWC communities on the Catalan Margin and, to a lesser extent, the Cabliers Coral Mound Province, while also reviewing the current knowledge of the sponge fauna dwelling in all the Mediterranean CWC provinces. In regards to the studied areas, some rare species are cited for the first time in the Mediterranean or redescribed, while two of them, Hamacantha (Hamacantha) hortae sp. nov. and Spongosorites cabliersi sp. nov. are new to science. At a basin scale, Mediterranean CWC appear as poriferan biodiversity hotspots, yet current diversity values on each site rather represent a small fraction of its actual fauna. Additionally, the existence of an endemic sponge fauna exclusively dwelling on CWC is refuted. Nonetheless, the sponge fauna thriving in Mediterranean CWC appears to be unique, and different from that of other Atlantic regions. Finally, with the current knowledge, the sponge fauna from the Mediterranean CWC is grouped in three distinguishable clusters (Alboran Sea, Western and Eastern Mediterranean), which appears to be determined by the basins water circulation, specially the Levantine Intermediate Water and the Atlantic Water following a western-eastern pattern from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Adriatic Sea. Overall, sponge living in Mediterranean CWC are still poorly explored in most areas, yet they appear to be good candidates for biogeographical studies. Zoobank Registration: LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E58A3DFF-EDC5-44FC-A274-1C9508BF8D15.


Phosphorus removal from municipal wastewater is primarily accomplished through a combination of biological uptake and chemical precipitation. This study examines the capital and operating costs of four strategies for phosphorus removal: conventional activated sludge (CAS), CAS followed by sand filtration, CAS followed by membrane filtration, and membrane bioreactors (MBR).

The cost-effectiveness of these four strategies to achieve three target levels of effluent total phosphorus is contrasted: 2.0, 0.3, and 0.1 mg/L. The impact of simultaneously achieving biological nitrogen removal in the system to achieve 10 mg/L total nitrogen is also considered. This study, which is balanced carefully to try to ensure a 'level playing field', reveals that MBR facilities are cost-competitive with CAS facilities when tertiary media filtration or tertiary membrane filtration is required for achieving moderate to high levels of phosphorus removal, particularly when simultaneous nitrogen removal is required.


We address the problem of learning a symmetric positive definite matrix. The central issue is to design parameter updates that preserve positive definiteness. Our updates are motivated with the von Neumann divergence. Rather than treating the most general case, we focus on two key applications that exemplify our methods: on-line learning with a simple square loss, and finding a symmetric positive definite matrix subject to linear constraints. The updates generalize the exponentiated gradient (EG) update and AdaBoost, respectively: the parameter is now a symmetric positive definite matrix of trace one instead of a probability vector (which in this context is a diagonal positive definite matrix with trace one). The generalized updates use matrix logarithms and exponentials to preserve positive definiteness. Most importantly, we show how the derivation and the analyses of the original EG update and AdaBoost generalize to the non-diagonal case. We apply the resulting matrix exponentiated gradient (MEG) update and DefiniteBoost to the problem of learning a kernel matrix from distance measurements.


The study deals with administration of education in
KwaZulu where the concern is for efficient and
effective use of limited financial, human and material
resources. The purpose of this evaluative analysis of
educational administration is to determine the degrees
of efficiency and effectiveness with which the system
of education functions. Therefore, the aims of the
study were the following:
* To describe the KwaZulu educational system: its
origin, character, socio-political context and
constraints;
* To identify the generic functions of educational
administration on the basis of which criteria were
formulated for evaluation;
* To analyse educational administration in KwaZulu
and to evaluate it by means of formulated
criteria, and
* To formulate recommendations regarding the
improvement of educational administration in the
area.
The conceptual framework of the study derived from the
development of administrative theories through time and
their implication for, and impact on educational
administration. This analysis enabled the investigator
to extract criteria for evaluating administration of
education in KwaZulu. The evaluative analysis had to
be carried out in terms of the organisation of
education from the school level to the head office. To
deal adequately with the problem being examined,
detailed discussion was given of the KwaZulu system of
education and the broader context in which it
functions.
The population of the study comprised three categories
of education officers, namely, school principals,
circuit inspectors and selected administrators from the
head office. The instruments for data collection were
questionnaires for school principals and circuit
inspectors and interviews for the head office
administrators. The study identified the following
problem areas: preparation for administrative roles,
perceptions of work-related skills, work performance in
terms of tasks, the process of administration and
related problems, and collaboration among education
officers as well as with interested parties. The
analysis of data was both quantitative and qualitative.
In the light of the findings of the study the
investigator offered several recommendations.


The Indian business environment has altered radically since 1991 with the changes in the economic policies and introduction of new institutional mechanisms. It has been observed that such changes have its own impact on the performance both financially and operationally in the business environment through various measures including the process of merger and acquisitions. It has contributed a fuel to dynamism in the Indian economy (It is expected that in the new atmosphere M&As will play a more significant role in business). This paper discusses financial efficiency of merged banks in India after globalization period. It is based on a sample of nine merged banks and banks drawn from PROWESS database developed by CMIE. In this paper factor analysis tool is used. The study indicated that the performance of the banks is facilitated with the help of ratios grouped into seven factors — both in case of pre and post merger period of banks. So, the banks can concentrate their attention by grouping the ratios to improve their performance further. It is also a fact that the component of ratios in each group is different between pre and post merger. Therefore the banks can concentrate their attention on the variable that helps the growth and act accordingly based on their nature of performance; and it could be used as a basis for framing policies relating to M&As in service sector and to identify the areas of improvement for better profitability and performance for the banks.


The methodological approach used in the Skilling Up project needed to be appropriate for the investigation of complex problems in real settings. Because of its adaptable and strongly consultative focus, design-based research (DBR) was considered to be an ideal research approach, in particular because of its capacity to align with overall Indigenous research theories and protocols. The project focuses on digital tasks and activities using new technologies (iPads), where Aboriginal Education Workers (AEWs) create stories and products appropriate to their own learning contexts in classroom, school and community. In so doing, their technology skills are enhanced so that they are enabled within their teaching, guiding, and administrative roles. DBR aligns with these goals because its emphasis focuses on broad-based, complex problems critical to education, and on intensive collaboration among researchers and people in the schools and communities. The DBR approach typically involves four iterative phases (such as those proposed by Reeves in 2006): 1) Analysis of practical problems by researchers and practitioners in collaboration; 2) Development of solutions informed by existing design principles and technological innovation; 3) Iterative cycles of testing and refinement of solutions in practice; and 4) Reflection to produce design principles and solution implementation. In the first phase in the Skilling Up project, the problem area was explored with AEWs, principals and Indigenous communities. In the second phase a solution was designed to address the problem in the form of a professional development program. In the third (current) phase the solution is being implemented in iterative cycles in the form of an ongoing series of workshops and on-site visits. The key task implicit in this phase is not so much to assess whether the proposed program solution works, but to make it work. In this way, the project research goes beyond simply observing the effects of the technology implementations, but includes seeking to actively cause the effects required. In this way, the workshops and consultations are adaptive to both the circumstances and the learning opportunities available to the participants. The last phase enables reflection to create design principles for others wishing to use the approach. In this presentation the research design, together with the DBR model used, will be explained in detail.


Prefrontal cortex plays an important role in working memory, attention regulation and behavioral inhibition. Its functions are associated with NMDA receptors. However, there is little information regarding the roles of NMDA receptor NR2B subunit in prefrontal cortical synaptic plasticity and prefrontal cortex-related working memory. Whether the up-regulation of NR2B subunit influences prefrontal cortical synaptic plasticity and working memory is not yet clear. In the present study, we measured prefrontal cortical synaptic plasticity and working memory function in NR2B overexpressing transgenic mice. In vitro electrophysiological data showed that overexpression of NR2B specifically in the forebrain region resulted in enhancement of prefrontal cortical long-term potentiation (LTP) but did not alter long-term depression (LTD). The enhanced LTP was completely abolished by a NR2B subunit selective antagonist, Ro25-6981, indicating that overexpression of NR2B subunit is responsible for enhanced LTP. In addition, NR2B transgenic mice exhibited better performance in a set of working memory paradigms including delay no-match-to-place T-maze, working memory version of water maze and odor span task. Our study provides evidence that NR2B subunit of NMDA receptor in prefrontal cortex is critical for prefrontal cortex LTP and prefrontal cortex-related working memory.


Limb-type-specific expression of Tbx5/Tbx4 plays a key role in drawing distinction between a forelimb and a hindlimb. Here, we show insights into specification and determination during commitment of limb-type identity, in particular that median tissues regulate Tbx expressions. By using the RT-PCR technique on chick embryos, the onset of specific Tbx5/Tbx4 expression in the wing/leg region was estimated to be stage 13. Specification of the limb-type identity is thought to occur before stage 9, since all explants from stage 9 through 14 expressed the intrinsic Tbx gene autonomously in a simple culture medium. The results of transplantation experiments revealed that axial structures medial to the lateral plate mesoderm at the level of the wing region are capable of transforming leg identity to wing identity, suggesting that a factor(s) from the median tissues is involved in the limb-type determination. Nevertheless, the transplanted wing region was not converted to leg identity. The results of the transplantation experiments also suggested that wing-type identity is determined much earlier than is leg-type identity. Finally, we also found that inhibitory effects of median tissues mediate the specific expression of Tbx5/Tbx4 in the presumptive wing/leg region. We propose a model for limb-type identification in which inhibitory regulation is involved in restricting one Tbx gene expression by masking the other Tbx expression there.


The implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU recast puts increasing pressure to achieve better building and ductwork airtightness. In this context, Eurovent Certita Certification decided to establish a new certification programme for Ventilation Ductwork Systems, opening a new chapter in the history of the Eurovent Certified Performance (ECP) certification mark, which concerned only products, not systems, until then. To meet this challenge, Eurovent Certita Certification worked for one year with a dedicated committee gathering six major European manufacturers of ventilation ducts and fittings. The development of the programme also involved consultation of European testing laboratories. The resulting requirements and rules defined for the DUCT programme rely on Ventilation ductwork system (typical setup) testing and production sites auditing. The scope of the programme covers rigid and semi-rigid ventilation ductwork systems divided into the following sub-programmes:  Rigid metallic ductwork systems with circular cross-section (DUCT-MC);  Rigid metallic ductwork systems with rectangular cross-section (DUCT-MR);  Semi-rigid non-metallic ductwork systems predominantly made of plastics (DUCT-P); Among other verifications, the performance testing on typical set-ups enables to validate the airtightness class declared by the manufacturer. The production site auditing enables to verify the manufacturing process steadiness. These two verifications combined ensure that the air tightness class claimed by the manufacturer can indeed be reached in practice. The first certification of ventilation ductwork systems was granted by Eurovent Certita Certification in December 2017 as a new step towards good airtightness levels in buildings, contributing to the pursuit of nearly zero-energy buildings and improving indoor air quality.


The speed of linear waves in shallow water approaches a constant value as the wavelength becomes large relative to the water depth. For ships travelling in shallow water, this speed is known as the `critical speed' and acts as a barrier, similar to the speed of sound for aeroplanes. The possibility of travelling at transcritical and supercritical speeds is discussed for existing monohull and catamaran ships. We explore the predicted linearised flow around a ship as it approaches the critical speed, and the singularities that result. Experimental results show the actual flow patterns that occur at ship speeds close to the critical speed, for monohulls or catamarans, in open water or confined channels.

 References Ang, W. T. 1993 Nonlinear sinkage and trim for a slender ship in shallow water of finite width . Internal report, University of Adelaide. Chen, X. N. 1999 Hydrodynamics of wave-making in shallow water . Ph.D. thesis, University of Stuttgart. Chen, X. N., Sharma, S. D. and Stuntz, N. 2003 Wave reduction by S-Catamaran at supercritical speeds. Journal of Ship Research 47 , No. 1, pp. 1--10. Constantine, T. 1960 On the movement of ships in restricted waterways. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 9 , pp. 247--256. doi:10.1017/S0022112060001080 Dand, I. W., Dinham-Peren, T. A. and King, L. 1999 Hydrodynamic aspects of a fast catamaran operating in shallow water. Proceedings, Hydrodynamics of High Speed Craft , London, November 1999. Gourlay, T. P. 2000 Mathematical and Computational Techniques for Predicting the Squat of Ships . Ph.D. thesis, University of Adelaide. Gourlay, T. P. 2001 The supercritical bore produced by a high-speed ship in a channel. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 434 , pp. 399--409. doi:10.1017/S002211200100372X Gourlay, T. P. and Tuck, E. O. 2001 The maximum sinkage of a ship. Journal of Ship Research 45 , No. 1, pp. 50--58. Gourlay, T. P., Duffy, J. T. and Forbes, A. 2005 The bore produced between the hulls of a high-speed catamaran in shallow water. International Journal of Maritime Engineering 147 , Part A3, pp. 1--8. Gourlay, T. P. 2006 A simple method for predicting the maximum squat of a high-speed displacement ship. Marine Technology 43 , No. 3, pp. 146--151. Gourlay, T. P. 2008 Sinkage and trim of a fast displacement catamaran in shallow water. Journal of Ship Research 52 , No. 3, pp. 175--183. Graff, W., Kracht, A. and Weinblum, G. 1964 Some extensions of D. W. Taylor's standard series. Trans. SNAME 72 , 374--401. Huang, D. B., Sibul, O. J., Webster, W. C., Wehausen, J. V., Wu, D. M. and Wu, T. Y. 1982 Ships moving in the transcritical speed range. Proceedings, Conference on Behaviour of Ships in Restricted Waters, Varna , Vol. II, pp. 1--10. Insel, M. 1990 An investigation into the resistance components of high speed catamarans. Ph.D. thesis, Department of Ship Science, University of Southampton. Lea, G. K. and Feldman, J. P. 1972 Transcritical flow past slender ships. Proceedings, 9th Symposium on Naval Hydrodynamics , ONR, Washington D.C., p1527. Mei, C. C. 1976 Flow around a thin body moving in shallow water. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 77 , pp. 737--751. doi:10.1017/S0022112076002863 Michell, J. H. 1898 The wave resistance of a ship. Philosophical Magazine 45 , pp. 106--123. Mueller-Graf, B. 1995 General resistance aspects of advanced fast marine vehicles. Proceedings, Design of Advanced Fast Marine Vehicles , September, Glasgow. Newman, J. N. 1977 Marine Hydrodynamics , MIT Press. Stoker, J. J. 1957 Water Waves . Interscience. Tuck, E. O. Shallow water flows past slender bodies. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 26 , pp. 81--95. doi:10.1017/S0022112066001101 Tuck, E. O. 1974 One-dimensional flows as slender-body problems, with applications to ships moving in channels. Proceedings, Workshop on Slender Body Theory , Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Report NAME 164, pp. 27--35.


Richard Florida is one of the world's leading urbanists. He is a researcher and professor, serving as University Professor and Director of Cities at the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto, a Distinguished Fellow at New York University's Schack Institute of Real Estate, and a Visiting Fellow at Florida International University. He is a writer and journalist, having penned several global best sellers, including the award winning The Rise of the Creative Class and his most recent book, The New Urban Crisis published in April 2017. He serves as senior editor for The Atlantic, where he co-founded and serves as Editor-at-Large for CityLab. He is an entrepreneur, as founder of the Creative Class Group which works closely with companies and governments worldwide. A 2013 MIT study named him the world's most influential thought leader. And TIME magazine recognized his Twitter feed as one of the 140 most influential in the world. He previously taught at Carnegie Mellon, Ohio State University, and George Mason University, and has been a visiting professor at Harvard and MIT and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. For more information about Richard Florida and his work: http://www. creativeclass.com/


In this article the main features and development trends of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method are analyzed in the legal environment of the Republic of Lithuania. Mediation is analyzed as one of the primary informal alternative dispute resolution processes during which the third neutral, which is not authorized to take a decision during negotiations, helps the parties solve their dispute and the main aim of this process is the peaceful resolution of the dispute and the renewal of social peace between parties. In order to create favourable legal environment for the implementation of mediation process, it is necessary to consolidate the main requirements for the mediation process: requirements for confidentiality, responsibility of mediators, legal power of conciliatory agreements, etc. In this article the legal regulation of mediation in the Republic of Lithuania is described as well.


Our systematic examination of 329 of the world's largest social media providers reveals that 29 percent of these providers require users to submit to predispute mandatory arbitration as a condition of using their services. Forced consumer arbitration clauses are principally a U.S. phenomenon. Forty-two percent of the 188 U.S.-based social media providers contain forced arbitration clauses -- in sharp contrast to only 13 percent of the 141 providers headquartered in foreign nations. Forty of the social networking websites (SNS) specify the American Arbitration Association (AAA) as the provider and nineteen specify JAMS, the two largest arbitration companies. We compare the fifty-nine social media terms of use (TOU) against the due process fairness tests that have been adopted by these two providers to mitigate the inevitable power imbalance in consumer arbitration proceedings. Our central finding is that the arbitration clauses of providers that specify the AAA and JAMS clearly fail the majority of the provisions of these two arbitral providers' consumer due process fairness tests. Arbitration clauses employed by social media have numerous "gotcha" provisions such as hard damage caps that place an absolute dollar limit on recovery that is significantly below the cost of filing an arbitral claim with either the AAA or JAMS. Our secondary analysis of AAA and JAMS arbitration reports establishes that consumer arbitration agreements have a deterrent effect, blocking all but a handful of social media users from filing claims. In effect, social media providers, encouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court's endorsement of mandatory consumer arbitration, have constructed a liability-free zone where social media users have rights without remedies if social media providers breach their TOU, invade their privacy, or infringe their intellectual property rights. These aggressive arbitration clauses are unlikely to be enforced in the European Union, or even accepted by the most commonly specified arbitral providers, so social networking sites need to draft more balanced TOU that pass due process fundamental fairness rules.


ABSTRACT Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour's Learning from Las Vegas (1972) - a collection of the architects' studies of the Las Vegas Strip, a segment of U.S. Route 91 -is packed with information graphics. The designer Muriel Cooper conveys the vividness of the Strip to the reader by aerial photographs, snapshots, signage, diagrams, all manner of maps, plans, elevations, sections, heraldry, graphs, sketches, charts and lists. Viewed randomly or in succession, these elements visually reconstruct Las Vegas as the epitome of the commercial roadside environment rich with signs. Considered from this perspective, Learning from Las Vegas exemplifies what the statistician and information designer Edward Tufte refers to as "escaping the flatland [of two-dimensions] and enriching the density of data displays" so that those displays are compatible, to whatever extent possible, with our lived experiences. __ In 1972 Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour published Learning from Las Vegas, a collection of studies, designed by Scott Brown, and drawn from the architects' Yale studio seminar on the Las Vegas Strip in the fall of 1968.1 The book is packed with informational graphics: aerial photographs, snapshots, signage, diagrams, all manner of maps, plans, elevations, sections, heraldry, graphs, sketches, charts and lists. These graphic images-mostly influenced by media studies, sociology, urban studies and pop art-visually reconstruct Las Vegas as the epitome of the commercial roadside environment. According to the authors, the Las Vegas Strip spontaneously disclosed its own patterns of use and value. How to transfer the vivid disorderliness of the Strip -its semantic dimensionality-to, or transform into, the two dimensional format of a book was, however, a central problem for the authors. Venturi, Scott Brown and Izenour's initial intention was, in Scott Brown's words, to "do it deadpan," to allow Las Vegas to reveal itself and not to be upstaged by the design of the book.2 Nevertheless, the art director for MIT Press, Muriel Cooper, had a different idea of what form Learning from Las Vegas should take. And, as it turned out, Cooper's design sensibility was not to the authors' liking. The disagreement surrounding the first edition's design prompted the publication, in 1977; of Scott Brown's redesigned and revised edition of Learning from Las Vegas. The reformatted 1977 edition-its miniaturization, its random placement of images, its conventional typographic layout thoroughly dismantled Cooper's original design of Learning from Las Vegas and thus, I hope to demonstrate, rendered its visual form at odds with its textual content. The potential visual potency of Learning from Las Vegas the manner in which either the 1972 edition or the revised and redesigned 1977 edition mobilize all kinds of informational devices to inculcate its audience-was nicely summed up in Venturi, Scott Brown and Izenour's query: "How do you represent the strip as perceived by Mr. A rather than as a piece of geometry?"3 Cooper's response, made manifest in her lively design, envisions the intensity of the Las Vegas strip. Unlike Cooper, Scott Brown's response articulated in her redesign for the revised edition, which according to her is more in keeping with the authors' original intention of "doing it deadpan," attempts to maintain an aura of objectivity and a tone of scholarly dispassion. Scott Brown's design strategy of letting Las Vegas reveal itself through the uncolored presentation of data is in keeping with what the historians of science Lorainne Daston and Peter Galison have identified, in their "The Image of Objectivity" (1992), as the ideology of the nineteenth-century scientific atlas, a paradigm for scientific representation and mechanical documentation of nature.4 The nineteenth-century faith in objectivity, according to Galison, in his follow-up article "Judgment Against Objectivity" (1998), was contested by the advent of twentieth-century subjective judgment or "subjective evaluation. …


The start of sedentary farming and herding in the Middle East transformed social and economic organisation and reshaped ideological structures and artistic representations. Tepe Baluch is a Neolithic settlement on the Neyshabur Plain in north-east Iran. Amongst the ceramic material excavated at the site, one particular sherd is of great interest. It is decorated with two (possibly three) motifs in the form of human figures. For this date and region, such Neolithic iconography is rare, and this short article develops a comparative analysis to explore its significance.


The study examines effects of some factors on the child labor force in Turkey such as the level of education of household heads determining the child labor, the features of geographical region where the household live and sex of working children. It is a motivation tool of opting for this subject in a developing country having a young population that there are few empirical studies concerning the fact of child labor. The empirical results obtained from non-conditional probability and probit analyses show that the employment rates of boys are higher than that of girls in both urban and rural regions. The education level of decision-makers of household in rural areas is lower than that of in urban regions and accordingly child labor employment rates in rural regions is higher than the same rates in urban regions. These facts mean that the lower the level of education of household heads is, the higher the child labor becomes. That is, when the education level of decision-makers decreases in rural areas, the child labor becomes more common.


Nowadays, innovation is no longer limited to the individual firm but involves increasingly the chain network in which the firm is embedded. The chain network is considered as the place where the internal and external resources of a firm are combined and transformed, leading to innovation capacity. In the increasingly globalizing market, innovation is an important strategic tool for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to achieve competitive advantage. However, SMEs are often confronted with barriers for developing and introducing innovations, such as the lack of economies of scale. Our paper investigates how the chain network is contributing to the enhancement of the innovation capacity and which chain network characteristics are crucial in this process. In contrast to previous studies at chain network level, in our research specific chain networks are investigated and compared to each other. Hence, data collection took place at different chain network levels, being the supplier, the food manufacturer and the customer, working together and consequently belonging to one specific and unique chain network. The analysis of innovation capacity at the chain network level is realized by means of cluster analysis. This results in a three-cluster solution dividing the sample into Non-innovator chain networks, Customer-driven innovator chain networks and food manufacturer-supplier-driven innovator chain networks. Next, the influence of the chain network on the innovation capacity is examined. Thereby, the three achieved clusters differ significantly related to certain chain network characteristics. The following characteristics form an important leverage for the innovation capacity: firm size, profitability and business growth of the chain network members, as well as higher dependency, and lower levels of integration, rewarding power, social satisfaction and collaboration. The distinction of Customer-driven and food manufacturer-supplier-driven innovator chain networks reveals that the involvement of the chain network partners for the enhancement of the innovation capacity is a very important aspect. In future research, the degree of complexity of the studied system should gradually be increased, namely from a chain network of three members to more complex chain networks.


Objectives
Metastasis is the main cause of most breast cancer related deaths. Throughout the process of metastasis, cancer cells strive to survive in conditions where they are detached from the extracellular matrix (ECM). Vitamin D may play a role in preventing breast cancer metastasis by modulating metabolism in breast cancer cells detached from ECM. Here we hypothesize that the active metabolite of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3(1,25D), regulates the metabolism of breast cancer cells, and decreases their viability in ECM detached conditions.

Methods
The Harvey-ras transformed MCF10A human breast epithelial cell line (MCF10A-ras) were utilized for these studies. Poly-HEMA coated plates were used to model ECM detachment paired with MTT assays to measure cell viability. Viability is measured in cells treated with vehicle (ethanol) or 10 nM 1,25D and maintained in varying nutrient concentrations. mRNA expression of metabolic genes is quantified using qPCR and, triacylglycerol (TAG) is quantified using a Wako Diagnostics colorimetric assay.

Results
Results show that 1,25D treatment decreases viability in detached conditions by 23%. Glutamine deprivation also decreases viability in detached conditions by 40%. In addition, in combination 1,25D treatment and glutamine deprivation results in a 71% decrease in viability. These results imply that while glutamine is required for ECM survival, 1,25D's modulation of metabolism is targeted elsewhere. Further, when compared to vehicle, 1,25D treated cells have a 45% increased TAG accumulation prior to plating in detached conditions. A 50% decrease was observed in mRNA expression of the enzyme pyruvate carboxylase (PC), and replenishing the product of PC and tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediate oxaloacetate rescues detached cell viability in glutamine deprived conditions by 84%.

Conclusions
These results demonstrate the important role energy metabolism plays in cell survival during ECM detachment. Furthermore, our results suggest that 1,25D regulation of metabolism may sensitize breast cancer cells to ECM detachment death. We conclude that cells detached from ECM require flux into the TCA cycle in order to survive, and 1,25D's downregulation of PC contributes to the observed decrease in viability following 1,25D treatment.

Funding Sources
National Institute of Health and USDA.


This work studies the gas phase oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of n-octane to produce octenes, catalysed by metal molybdates of the formula AMoO4, where A equals iron, cobalt or nickel in the +2 oxidation state. An in-situ reduction study from previous work had shown that iron molybdate where iron is in the +2 oxidation state is
a superior catalyst to an iron molybdate catalyst with iron in the +3 state. This was tested and found to be the case. Subsequently all iron molybdate catalyst testing was
performed with iron molybdate where iron is in the +2 oxidation state. This was achieved through a pre-reduction step in catalyst preparation.
The pre-reduced iron molybdate catalyst with a 2.7:1 molar excess of molybdenum to iron was found to be composed of the species FeMoO4 + Mo4O11. This catalyst exhibited high selectivity to octenes from an n-octane feedstock at 400 °C in a plug flow reactor. Changes in gas hourly velocity (GHSV) and temperature (ranging from 350-550 °C) affected catalyst activity and selectivity, as did varying the ratio of carbon to oxygen in the gas feed.
Optimum conditions for the production of octene were found to be; 400 °C reactor bed temperature, 4000 h-1 GHSV and an 8:1 carbon to oxygen ratio, no carbon oxides were observed at these conditions. Increasing temperature results in higher conversion of n-octane but lower selectivity to octenes. Aromatic species become the major products at higher temperatures. Carbon oxide selectivity also rises with temperature.
Increasing partial pressure of oxygen in the gas feed leads to higher conversion but the major products formed are carbon oxides. Lowering the level of oxygen from an 8:1
carbon to oxygen ratio saw lower conversions with similar selectivity. This suggested oxidative dehydrogenation was occurring.
Lowering the GHSV from 4000 h-1 to 1000 h-1 resulted in product selectivity to aromatic species, ethyl benzene, xylene and styrene. Higher conversion as a result of greater
contact time between catalyst and product was observed. Styrene and xylene selectivity increased in line with temperature, while selectivity to ethyl benzene fell,
suggesting a competing pathway between aromatic formation, or that ethyl benzene underwent further dehydrogenation to styrene.
Increasing GHSV to 6000 h-1 resulted in an even greater selectivity to octenes than 4000 h-1. However conversion was lower, likely due to contact time effects. These
findings suggested that the product selectivity from n-octane over an iron molybdate catalyst has a strongly kinetic element.
Increasing the concentration of n-octane in the gas feed showed a shift in the optimal conditions for the production of octene. A higher GHSV was required to yield octenes
as the dominant product, this had the unfortunate effect of lowering conversion percentage. While this was off-set in some way by the increased concertation of noctane it does suggest future difficulties on scaling up the process.
Time on line studies showed the catalyst was stable at temperatures of 550 °C for 20 hours or more.
In addition anaerobic studies were carried out on the catalyst were tested to elucidate the mechanism of the catalyst. The change in selectivity and activity showed the
catalyst most likely operates by a Mars and van-Krevelen type system. After oxygen deprivation for 25 hours catalyst deactivation occurred. Analysis showed both carbon
laydown and reduction of the molybdenum lattice from Mo4O11 had occurred.
Product selectivity analysis indicated that lattice oxygen from the iron molybdate or the bulk Mo4O11 phase was responsible for the ODH of n-octane to octene. Carbon
oxides were formed via oxygen in the gas feed.
Stoichiometric nickel molybdates and cobalt molybdates were prepared and compared against nickel and cobalt molybdates with a molybdenum molar excess of 1.5:1 for the
catalytic conversion of n-octane to octene. These catalysts were then compared against stoichiometric iron molybdate (FeMoO4) to compare catalytic effectiveness.
Iron molybdate outperformed nickel molybdate and cobalt molybdate which have been more heralded ODH catalysts in the literature. Cobalt molybdate was found to exhibit high selectivity to aromatic species while nickel molybdate produced carbon oxides and cracked hydrocarbon products. Nickel molybdate and cobalt molybdate with an excess of molybdenum performed better as catalysts than stoichiometric
nickel and cobalt molybdates.


Although New Keynesian models with labor market frictions found an increase in unemployment and a decrease in labor market tightness in response to a positive technology shock (which appears to be in line with recent empirical findings), the volatilities of unemployment and labor market tightness are not as high as their empirical counterparts. This calls for the introduction of new tools that will amplify the volatilities of these variables. This paper contributes to the theoretical literature by studying the effect of employment-to-employment flows in a New Keynesian model with labor market frictions. In that regard, the authors assume two types of firms which offer different wage levels, thereby incentivizing low-paid agents to search on-the-job. Differently from the literature, the main source of wage dispersion is the assumption of different bargaining powers of firms motivated by the strength of labor unions. The authors show that the proposed model generates a higher volatility of unemployment and labor market tightness in response to a positive technology shock compared to the model without on-the-job search without causing a change in the responses of the other variables.


Background/Objectives: Serum cotinine (SCOT) and urinary 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) are often used as biomarkers of tobacco smoke. The objective of this study was to investigate factors associated with the variability in the levels of SCOT and NNAL among daily cigarette smokers aged ≥ 20 years and to evaluate co-rrelational patterns between their observed levels. Methods: Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for years 2007 2012 were used. Statistical methodologies including regression models that incorporated sampling weights and sampling design characteristics were used to assess factors associated with the variability in the observed levels of SCOT and NNAL among daily cigarette smokers aged ≥ 20 years as well as to study co-rrelational patterns between the observed levels of SCOT and NNAL. Results: Levels of both SCOT and NNAL increased with increase in age (p < 0.01) but, as estimated by the fitted regression parameters, starting at the age of about 55 years for SCOT and at the age of about 60 years for NNAL, increase in observed levels of both of these of chemicals slowed down. Relationship of both SCOT and NNAL with number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD) was mediated by the self-reported values of CPD. Conclusion: While both SCOT and NNAL are useful biomarkers of tobacco smoke, variability in their observed levels with change in such factors as age as well as co-rrelational patterns between them should be kept in mind before any decision is made to estimate "true" level of smoking associated with their observed levels. *Corresponding author: Ram B. Jain, Private Consultant, 2959 Estate View Ct, Dacula, GA, 30019, Tel: 001-910-729-1049; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Citation: Jain, R.B. Distributions of Serum Cotinine and Urinary NNAL among Daily Cigarette Smokers and Inter-Correlations. (2016) J Environ Health Sci 2(2): 113. Distributions of Serum Cotinine and Urinary NNAL among daily Cigarette Smokers and Inter-Correlations


An important aspect of native speakers' communicative competence is collocational competence which involves knowing which words usually come together and which do not. This paper investigates the possible relationship between knowledge of collocations and the use of verb noun collocation in writing stories because collocational knowledge distinguishes native speakers and foreign language learners and is a significant factor in productive skills especially writing. This study examined the correlation between knowledge of verb noun collocations and their use in written essays. The participants in the study were 27 PhD Iranian students in a Malaysian university. A specially constructed C-test measured the subjects' collocational knowledge and the use of collocations was measured by the number of collocations used in essays written by the subjects. For this purpose, participants wrote six different stories in six weeks based on a writing task designed to illicit verb noun collations. The statistical results demonstrate that there exists a strong positive relationship between knowledge of collocations and the use of verb noun collocation in the writing stories


This paper analyzes periods of economic stagnation in a panel of countries. We test whether stagnation can be predicted by institutional characteristics and political shocks and compare the impacts of such variables with those of traditional macroeconomic variables. We examine the determinants of stagnation episodes using dynamic linear and nonlinear models. In addition, we analyze whether the effects of the included variables on the onset of stagnation differ from their effects on the continuation of stagnation. We find that inflation, negative regime changes, real exchange rate undervaluation, financial openness, and trade openness have significant effects on both the onset and the continuation of stagnation. Only for trade openness is there robust evidence of a differential impact. Open economies have a significantly lower probability of falling into stagnation, but once in stagnation they do not recover faster.


Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between 2-hour insulin concentration and fasting plasma glucose concentration (FPG) in a population-based sample of Indigenous Australians. Methods: Data collected from 2930 adults with unknown diabetic status were analyzed using three non-linear modeling methods: locally weighted regression (LOESS), generalized additive models (GAM), and fractional polynomial (fracpoly) regression procedures. Results: Log fasting insulin and log 2-hour insulin had nonlinear relationships with FPG. All models indicated a consistent fit for 2-hour insulin response across FPG values of 3.5–5.8 mmol/l. GAM and fracpoly regressions overlapped across FPG values of 3.5–13 mmol/l. The LOESS model had a slightly different pattern from FPG of 5.8-17 mmol/l. For all models, log 2-hour insulin concentration increased across FPG values from 3.5–7.0 mmol/l and decreased for FPG >7.0 mmol/l. Conclusions: The 7.0 mmol/l FPG diagnostic cut-off represents the start of a diminishing second-phase insulin response to glucose, indicating that pancreatic output begins to decline at this FPG level. These results provide strong physiological rationale, beyond rising rates of clinical complications, for the revised fasting glucose diagnostic criterion of 7.0 mmol/l. Further research is needed to evaluate whether similar relationships exist for other highand low-risk populations.


While state environmental and natural resource spending is designed to address actual environmental problems, the budget process is also inherently political. Thus, in the following article we ask a simple question: to what extent does state environmental and natural resource spending respond to the scope of environmental problems in a state, versus the demands of the political process? Unlike the bulk of previous research, we consider both aggregate spending and program-specific spending. We also consider how the severity of environmental problems and the political environment may interact to determine spending. The findings show that politics, specifically the strength of the environmental movement, is a more important determinant of state environmental spending than pollution severity. However, for some program areas, it appears that strong environmental groups make state budgets more responsive to the severity of environmental problems.


Here we report on the interaction between the narrow bandgap polymer [2,6-(4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-cyclopenta-[2,1-b;3,4-b]dithiophene)-alt-4,7-(2,1,3-benzothiadiazole)] (PCPDTBT) and lead sulphide (PbS) colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) upon photoexcitation. We show that the presence of both materials in a blend leads to a significant reduction of photoluminescence (PL) lifetime of the polymer. This observation is attributed, supported by transient absorption (TA) data, to an efficient electron transfer towards the QDs for excitons generated on the polymer. Furthermore, the ligand capping the QD surface exhibits a great impact on the dynamics of the PL, with the long-chain oleic acid (OA) largely suppressing any kind of interaction. By means of external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurements we find evidence that both components give rise to a contribution to the photocurrent, making this an interesting blend for future applications in hybrid organic–inorganic solar cells.


The purpose of these guides is to provide you with more information as to what to expect along the road to recovery, and what you can do to prevent any complications and maximize your outcomes. Although the healthcare team will assist you in your recovery, YOU AND YOUR FAMILY are the most important members of the team. We believe knowledge and preparation as to what to expect preand postoperatively will make your recovery easier. Hip Replacement Surgery Total Joint Replacement Video Education Series [4] Hip Replacement Surgery Maximizing Your New Hip [5] (PDF) Knee Replacement Surgery Total Joint Replacement Video Education Series


We propose a strong concept we name Somaesthetic Appreciation based on three different enquiries. First, our own autobiographical design enquiry, using Feldenkrais as a resource in our design process, bringing out the Soma Carpet and Breathing Light applications. Second, through bringing in others to experience our systems, engaging with and qualitatively analysing their experiences of our applications. In our third enquiry, we try to pin down what characterises and sets Somaesthetic Appreciation designs apart through comparing with and analysing others' design inquiries as well as grounding them in the somaesthetic theories. We propose that the Somaesthetic Appreciation designs share a subtleness in how they encourage and spur bodily inquiry in their choice of interaction modalities, they require an intimate correspondence -- feedback and interactions that follow the rhythm of the body, they entail a distinct manner of making space shutting out the outside world -- metaphorically and literally -- to allow users to turn their attention inwards, and they rely on articulation of bodily experiences to encourage learning and increased somatic awareness.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with hospitals that achieved the Medicare meaningful use incentive thresholds for payment under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009. We employed a cross‐sectional design using data from the 2011 American Hospital Association Annual Survey, including the Information Technology Supplement; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report of hospitals receiving meaningful use payments; and the Health Resources and Services Administration's Area Resource File. We used a lagged value from 2010 to determine electronic health record (EHR) adoption. Our methods were a descriptive analysis and logistic regression to examine how various hospital characteristics are associated with the achievement of Medicare meaningful use incentives. Overall, 1,769 (38%) of 4,683 potentially eligible hospitals achieved meaningful use incentive thresholds by the end of 2012. Characteristics associated with organizations that received incentive payments were having an EHR in place in 2010, having a larger bed size, having a single health information technology vendor, obtaining Joint Commission accreditation, operating under for‐profit status, having Medicare share of inpatient days in the middle two quartiles, being eligible for Medicaid incentives, and being located in the Middle Atlantic or South Atlantic census region. Characteristics associated with not receiving incentive payments were being a member of a hospital system and being located in the Mountain or Pacific census region. Thus far, little evidence suggests that the HITECH incentive program has enticed hospitals without an EHR system to adopt meaningful use criteria. Policy makers should consider modifying the incentive program to accelerate the adoption of and meaningful use in hospitals without EHRs.


Background— The aim of the current study was to investigate incidence and causes of surgical interventions in primarily nontreated aortic segments after previous aortic repair in patients with Marfan syndrome. Methods and Results— Retrospective analysis of 86 consecutive Marfan syndrome patients fulfilling Ghent criteria that underwent 136 aortic surgeries and were followed at this institution in the past 15 years. Mean follow-up was 8.8±6.8 y. Thirty-day, 6-month, 1-year, and overall mortality was 3.5%, 5.8%, 7.0%, and 12.8%, respectively. Ninety-two percent of patients initially presented with aortic root, ascending aortic or arch lesions, whereas 8% presented with descending aortic or thoraco-abdominal lesions. Primary presentation was acute aortic dissection (AAD) in 36% (77% type A, 23% type B) and aneurismal disease in 64%. Secondary complete arch replacement had to be performed in only 6% of patients without AAD, but in 36% with AAD (P=0.0005). In patients without AAD, 11% required surgery on primarily nontreated aortic segments (5 of 6 patients experienced type B dissection during follow-up), whereas in patients after AAD, 48% underwent surgery of initially nontreated aortic segments (42% of patients with type A and 86% of those with type B dissection; P=0.0002). Conclusions— The need for surgery in primarily nontreated aortic segments is precipitated by an initial presentation with AAD. Early elective surgery is associated with low mortality and reintervention rates. Type B dissection in patients with Marfan syndrome is associated with a high need for extensive aortic repair, even if the dissection is being considered uncomplicated by conventional criteria.


Parliamentary debates are highly structured transcripts of meetings of politicians in parliament. These debates are an important part of the cultural heritage of many countries; they are often free of copy-right; citizens often have a legal right to inspect them; and several countries make great effort to digitize their entire historical collection and make it available to the general public. This provides many opportunities for the Information Retrieval community. In this paper, we analyze the structure of parliamentary proceedings and sketch a widely applicable DTD. We show how proceedings in PDF format can be transformed into deeply nested XML. Having the proceedings in XML makes a wide range of applications possible. We elaborate on five applications: entry point retrieval, advanced content and structure search; automatic creation of tables of contents and hyperlinked navigation menus; graphical result aggregation; large savings on storage space and bandwidth for scanned documents.


Colour and lighting play important and unique roles in the way people enjoy environment or spaces.There is a constant interaction between people and the colours that surround them which not only affects the way they move around within the space but also determines how safe, secure and confident they feel when doing so. In addition, colour can help people determine which route to take, and what potential hazards or obstacles they may encounter. Lighting plays an important role in how different colours and combinations of colours are seen and experienced.Whilst this is true for all users, for people with sensory impairments, being able to navigate and to identify features is critical to their ability to use an environment or space without undue effort, in safely, with confidence and, wherever possible, independently. For partially sighted people, maximising the effectiveness of their residual vision through the use of environmental factors such as visual contrast and lighting can also have a major impact on their sense of well-being and on their ability to make decisions about how to use the environments they encounter. In considering the light reflected from a colour – known as its light reflectance value (LRV) – it is possible to specify levels of visual contrast that are appropriate to meet the needs of many partially sighted people. Linking this to an understanding of the search and navigation strategies they adopt when using buildings and space means it is also possible to create interesting and innovative designs and decoration schemes that assist partially sighted people without creating environments that are unacceptable to other users.


The volume is a collection of papers that deal with the issue of translation quality from a number of perspectives. It addresses the quality of human translation and machine translation, of pragmatic and literary translation, of translations done by students and by professional translators. Quality is not merely looked at from a linguistic point of view, but the wider context of QA in the translation workflow also gets ample attention. The authors take an inductive approach: the papers are based on the analysis of translation data and/or on hands-on experience. The book provides a bird's eye view of the crucial quality issues, the close collaboration between academics and industry professionals safeguarding attention for quality in the 'real world'. For this reason, the methodological stance is likely to inspire the applied researcher. The analyses and descriptions also include best practices for translation trainers, professional translators and project managers.


Inflation expectations have recently received increased interest because of the uncertainty created by the Federal Reserve's unprecedented reaction to the Great Recession. The effect of this reaction on the real economy is also an important topic. In this paper I use various surveys to produce a term structure of inflation expectations – inflation expectations at any horizon from 3 to 120 months – and an associated term structure of real interest rates. Inflation expectations extracted from this model track actual (ex-post) realizations of inflation quite well, and in terms of forecast accuracy they are at par with or superior to some popular alternatives obtained from financial variables. Looking at the period 2008–2013, I conclude that the unconventional policies of the Federal Reserve kept long-run inflation expectations anchored and provided a large level of monetary stimulus to the economy.


Summary 1. The hypothesis of site-dependent population regulation predicts that birds utilize available nesting sites in a pre-emptive (ideal despotic) manner, leading to density dependence in heterogeneous habitats as poorer sites are used at higher population densities. At small population sizes adaptive site choice protects populations against fluctuations (the buffer effect). 2. Common guillemots Uria aalge (Pontoppidan) breed at high density on sea-cliffs. The population breeding on the Isle of May, Scotland increased by 60% between 1981 and 2000. A good nest-site is a prerequisite for successful breeding and there is much competition for the best sites. Throughout this period, site use correlated with two measures of site quality, and photographs taken in 1936 show that this pattern has been extremely stable. 3. The data indicate declining quality of sites that remain available as the population has increased. Site-dependent regulation was evident in that average breeding success declined over the years, but no declining trend was detected in the best (and most preferred) sites. 4. An individual guillemot generally uses the same nest-site from year to year, but a minority move, usually less than 2 m, between breeding seasons. These movements can be involuntary or voluntary. Involuntarily moving birds that had occupied very good sites before moving often spent several years as non-breeders (floaters) close to their previous site before breeding again, and then occupied poorer sites. Voluntarily moving birds significantly improved their site quality by moving. 5. Birds responded both to the physical site characteristics and to their own experience (breeding failure) when abandoning a site. Their behaviour thus combined aspects of the 'win-stay, lose-switch' strategy with direct assessment of site quality. Our data set is inconclusive with respect to the public information hypothesis, i.e. whether birds use conspecific cues of breeding success when settling in a new site.


A new architectural framework for a metacognitive tutoring system is presented that is aimed to stimulate self-regulatory behavior in the learner.The new framework extends the cognitive architecture of TutorJ that has been already proposed by some of the authors. TutorJ relies mainly on dialogic interaction with the user, and makes use of a statistical dialogue planner implemented through a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP). A suitable two-level structure has been designed for the statistical reasoner to cope with measuring and stimulating metacognitive skills in the user. Suitable actions have been designed to this purpose starting from the analysis of the main questionnaires proposed in the literature. Our reasoner has been designed to model the relation between each item in a questionnaire and the related metacognitive skill, so the proper action can be selected by the tutoring agent. The complete framework is detailed, the reasoner structure is discussed, and a simple application scenario is presented.


Most modern small-molecule refinement programs are based on similar algorithms. Details of these methods are scattered through the literature, sometimes in books that are no longer in print and usually in mathematical detail that makes them unattractive to nonprogrammers. This paper aims to discuss these well established algorithms in nonmathematical language, with the intention of enabling crystallographers to use their favourite programs effectively.


With European governments cutting back on spending, many are asking whether this could make matters worse. In the UK for instance, recent OECD estimates suggest that 'austerity' will lead to another recession, which in turn may lead to a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than before. As the debate heats up, this new commentary by CEPS Director Daniel Gros provides some cool economic logic.


This memo provides application-specific requirements for the Path
Computation Element Communication Protocol (PCEP) for the support of
Wavelength Switched Optical Networks (WSONs). Lightpath provisioning
in WSONs requires a Routing and Wavelength Assignment (RWA) process.
From a path computation perspective, wavelength assignment is the
process of determining which wavelength can be used on each hop of a
path and forms an additional routing constraint to optical light path
computation. Requirements for PCEP extensions in support of optical
impairments will be addressed in a separate document.


In almost every epidemiological analysis so far performed a strong correlation always emerges between degree of hyperglycemia and risk of both micro- and macrovascular complications. However, whereas lowering plasma glucose levels by intensive treatment has proven to reduce the risk of development of retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy, the effect on macrovascular complications has remained quite doubtful. Multiple factors may have concurred to this negative findings including long duration of diabetes, poor pre-existing glycaemic control, potentially inadequate anti-diabetes drugs. Another potential explanation is that, given the high cardiovascular risk of the diabetic patients they were already aggressively treated as far as their cardiovascular risk factors are concerned. The annual mortality in these diabetic cohorts was, indeed, incredibly close to that of the non-diabetic population. These considerations along with the results of multiintervention studies, such as the Steno-2, supports the need for multifactorial intensive needs, definitely including glucose and lipid lowering.


The nineteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. 'A woman phoned to say she and her husband went to Paris for the weekend, leaving their children with a - well, teen-sitter, I suppose, got back last night to find the lot gone and naturally she assumes they've all drowned.' There hadn't been anything like this kind of rain in living memory. The River Brede had burst its banks, and not a single house in the valley had escaped flooding. Even where Wexford lives, higher up in Kingsmarkham, the waters had nearly reached the mulberry tree in his once immaculate garden. The Subaqua Task Force could find no trace of Giles and Sophie Dade, let alone the woman who was keeping them company, Joanna Troy. But Mrs Dade is convinced her children are dead. As he embarks upon this mysterious investigation, Wexford is forced to question many of his core assumptions about society, even about his own family...


Issues of global stabilization of a centrifugal compressor with spool dynamics are presented. Control schemes are designed for systems with and without system uncertainty. While actuating only the close-coupled valve or the throttle as the single control input, backstepping tools are first used to achieve global stability of the working equilibrium for systems without uncertainty. The uncertainties in the spool dynamics and the compressor characteristic are known to be likely to happen in practical applications. Under such circumstances, the compressor torque and the close-coupled valve are then employed to achieve robust global stability of the working equilibrium via the Lyapunov redesign method. Numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the main results.


The objectives for Expedition 352 were to drill through the entire volcanic sequence of the Bonin fore arc to 1. Obtain a high-fidelity record of magmatic evolution during subduction initiation and early arc development, 2. Test the hypothesis that fore-arc basalt lies beneath boninite and understand chemical gradients within these units and across the transition, 3. Use drilling results to understand how mantle melting processes evolve during and after subduction initiation, and 4. Test the hypothesis that the fore-arc lithosphere created during subduction initiation is the birthplace of suprasubduction zone (SSZ) ophiolites. Expedition 352 successfully cored 1.22 km of igneous basement and 0.46 km of over-lying sediment, providing diverse, stratigraphically controlled suites of fore-arc basalts (FAB) and boninite related to seafloor spreading and earliest arc development. FAB were recovered at the two deeper water sites (U1440 and U1441) and boninites at the two sites (U1439 and U1442) drilled upslope to the west. FAB lavas and dikes are depleted in high-field strength trace elements such as Ti and Zr relative to mid-ocean-ridge basalt but have relatively diverse concentrations of trace elements bezcause of variation in degrees of melting and amount of subducted fluids involved in their genesis. All FAB magmas underwent significant crystal fractionation in a persistent magma chamber system. Holes U1439C and U1442A yielded entirely boninitic lavas. We defined three boninite differentiation series based on variations in MgO, SiO2, and TiO2 concentrations of the parental magmas. Lavas in both pairs of holes have compositions that generally become more primitive and have lower TiO2 concentrations upward. The presence of dikes at the base of the sections at Sites U1439 and U1440 provides evidence that boninitic and FAB lavas are both underlain by their own conduit systems and that FAB and boninite group lavas are likely offset more horizontally than vertically. We thus propose that seafloor spreading related to subduction initiation migrated from east to west after subduction initiation and during early arc development. Initial spreading was likely rapid, and an axial magma chamber was present. Melting was largely decompressional during this period, but subducted fluids affected some melting. As subduction continued and spreading migrated to the west, the embryonic mantle wedge became more depleted, and the influence of subducted constituents dramatically increased, causing the oceanic crust to be built of boninitic rather than tholeiitic magma. The general decrease in fractionation upward reflects the eventual disappearance of persistent magma chambers, either because spreading rate was decreasing with distance from the trench or because spreading was succeeded by off-axis magmatism trenchward of the ridge. The extreme depletion of the sources for all boninitic lavas was likely related to the incorporation of mantle residues from FAB generation. This mantle depletion continued during generation of lower silica boninitic magmas, exhausting clinopyroxene from the mantle such that the capping high-Si, low-Ti boninites were generated from harzburgite. Additional results of the cruise include recovery of Eocene to recent deep-sea sediment that records variation in sedimentation rates with time resulting from variations in climate, the position of the carbonate compensation depth, and local structural control. Three phases of highly explosive volcanism (latest Pliocene to Pleistocene, late Miocene to earliest Pliocene, and Oligocene) were identified, represented by 132 graded air fall tephra layers. Structures found in the cores and reflected in seismic profiles show that this area had periods of normal, reverse, and strike-slip faulting. Finally, basement rock P-wave velocities were shown to be slower than those observed during logging of normal ocean crust sites.


Objective To assess injury-related mortality, disability and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in six European countries. Methods Epidemiological data (hospital discharge registers, emergency department registers, mortality databases) were obtained for Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom (England and Wales). For each country, the burden of injury was estimated in years lost due to premature mortality (YLL), years lived with disability (YLD), and DALYs (per 1000 persons). Findings We observed marked differences in the burden of injury between countries. Austria lost the largest number of DALYs (25 per 1000 persons), followed by Denmark, Norway and Ireland (17-20 per 1000 persons). In the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the total burden due to injuries was relatively low (12 per 1000 persons). The variation between countries was attributable to a high variation in premature mortality (YLL varied from 9 to 17 per 1000 persons) and disability (YLD varied from 2 to 8 per 1000 persons). In all countries, males aged 25-44 years represented one-third of the total injury burden, mainly due to traffic and intentional injuries. Spinal cord injury and skull-brain injury resulted in the highest burden due to permanent disability. Conclusion The burden of injury varies considerably among the six participating European countries, but males aged 15-24 years are responsible for a disproportionate share of the assessed burden of injury in all countries. Consistent injury control policy is supported by high-quality summary measures of population health. There is an urgent need for standardized data on the incidence and functional consequences of injury. Language: en


To analyze a collection of interconnected documents, relational topic models (RTMs) have been developed to describe both the link structure and document content, exploring their underlying relationships via a single-layer latent representation with limited expressive capability. To better utilize the document network, we first propose graph Poisson factor analysis (GPFA) that constructs a probabilistic model for interconnected documents and also provides closed-form Gibbs sampling update equations, moving beyond sophisticated approximate assumptions of existing RTMs. Extending GPFA, we develop a novel hierarchical RTM named graph Poisson gamma belief network (GPGBN), and further introduce two different Weibull distribution based variational graph auto-encoders for efficient model inference and effective network information aggregation. Experimental results demonstrate that our models extract high-quality hierarchical latent document representations, leading to improved performance over baselines on various graph analytic tasks.


We present research finding son problem drinking among transnational Mexican migrants employed in the mushroom industry of southeastern Pennsylvania. Our research explored the relationship between situational factors-living arrangements, social isolation, and peer pressure to drink-and problem drinking. Individual characteristics of the migrants, such as age, education level, migration history, and work experience in the mushroom industry are also considered. The premise of our study is that the migrants' judicial status in the country-as foreign solo men and, at times, undocumented or illegal migrants-places them at a high risk to binge drink. The men mainly live without their families in relatively isolated, grower-provided housing or overcrowded apartment units for months, if not years, away from traditional community and kin deterrents to heavy drinking. We employed the ethnographic method in two complementary field studies: a community ethnography, designed to identify the community context of problem drinking, and a series of case studies of migrant drinkers, designed to identify the relationships between situational factors and problem drinking. Focus groups were used to explore and verify the findings being generated in the two studies. Our findings reveal that there is an alcohol abuse problem among the migrants as a consequence of situational and other factors, such as festive occasions, bad news from home, and a long workweek. Their binge drinking does not always result in negative behavior because the migrants follow drinking norms, and violators of these norms are dealt with accordingly. Nonetheless, binge drinking does place them at a high risk for negative behavior, which results in problems in their housing units and in local communities.


The comparative international Human Resource Management (HRM) literature presents competing perspectives as to why HRM looks different in different countries. This paper takes a new approach to exploring relevant drivers behind HRM in European countries by looking simultaneously at three suggested sources of influence: national culture, national institutions, and a supranational institution. To date, national culture and institutions have frequently been used to explore HRM drivers, but rarely simultaneously, whilst the effect of the European Union (EU) Social Charter has received much less attention. Here, countries are clustered according to these three sources of influence, and survey evidence from 17 EU countries is used to explore the extent of difference and similarity in HRM practices within these clusters. Results indicate that all three variables show patterns in HRM practices; however, they only explain relatively small amounts of variance. National-level institutional factors appear to have the strongest influence.