OBJECTIVE
Previous reports of rod fracture (RF) in adult spinal deformity are limited by heterogeneous cohorts, low follow-up rates, and relatively short follow-up durations. Since the majority of RFs present > 2 years after surgery, true occurrence and revision rates remain unclear. The objectives of this study were to better understand the risk factors for RF and assess its occurrence and revision rates following primary thoracolumbar fusions to the sacrum/pelvis for adult symptomatic lumbar scoliosis (ASLS) in a prospective series with long-term follow-up.

METHODS
Patient records were obtained from the Adult Symptomatic Lumbar Scoliosis-1 (ASLS-1) database, an NIH-sponsored multicenter, prospective study. Inclusion criteria were as follows: patients aged 40-80 years undergoing primary surgeries for ASLS (Cobb angle ≥ 30° and Oswestry Disability Index ≥ 20 or Scoliosis Research Society-22r ≤ 4.0 in pain, function, and/or self-image) with instrumented fusion of ≥ 7 levels that included the sacrum/pelvis. Patients with and without RF were compared to assess risk factors for RF and revision surgery.

RESULTS
Inclusion criteria were met by 160 patients (median age 62 years, IQR 55.7-67.9 years). At a median follow-up of 5.1 years (IQR 3.8-6.6 years), there were 92 RFs in 62 patients (38.8%). The median time to RF was 3.0 years (IQR 1.9-4.54 years), and 73% occurred > 2 years following surgery. Based on Kaplan-Meier analyses, estimated RF rates at 2, 4, 5, and 8 years after surgery were 11%, 24%, 35%, and 49%, respectively. Baseline radiographic, clinical, and demographic characteristics were similar between patients with and without RF. In Cox regression models, greater postoperative pelvic tilt (HR 1.895, 95% CI 1.196-3.002, p = 0.0065) and greater estimated blood loss (HR 1.02, 95% CI 1.005-1.036, p = 0.0088) were associated with increased risk of RF. Thirty-eight patients (61% of all RFs) underwent revision surgery. Bilateral RF was predictive of revision surgery (HR 3.52, 95% CI 1.8-6.9, p = 0.0002), while patients with unilateral nondisplaced RFs were less likely to require revision (HR 0.39, 95% CI 0.18-0.84, p = 0.016).

CONCLUSIONS
This study provides what is to the authors' knowledge the highest-quality data to date on RF rates following ASLS surgery. At a median follow-up of 5.1 years, 38.8% of patients had at least one RF. Estimated RF rates at 2, 4, 5, and 8 years after surgery were 11%, 24%, 35%, and 49%, respectively. Greater estimated blood loss and postoperative pelvic tilt were significant risk factors for RF. These findings emphasize the importance of long-term follow-up to realize the true prevalence and cumulative incidence of RF.


New cinema technology has always been dictated by Hollywood studios and theater exhibitions. With emergence of video streaming technology and smart display availability to the mass population, cinema technology no longer needs to overcome the approval made by studios and exhibitors.
High frame rate is an emerging technology that has the ability to enhance realism and temporal resolution in the production process. This technology is supported by various social video streaming platforms and allows users to experience high frame video. Though this technology is available and accessible, this project assesses the value and adoption of 60 frames per second video content versus the standard 24 frames per second.


To assess the efficacy of low dose praziquantel regimens in comparison with standard 40 mg/kg dosing in the treatment of urinary schistosomiasis, a random allocation dose-finding trial was performed in children and adults from a Schistosoma haematobium endemic region in Coast Province, Kenya. Following an initial screening, 280 individuals with greater than or equal to 50 eggs/10 ml urine were randomly assigned to receive either 10, 20, 30, or 40 mg/kg of the drug in a single oral dose. Two to three months later, cure rates of 26%, 68%, 78%, and 84% were found for the 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/kg doses, respectively. The results of 10 mg/kg oral dosing were significantly worse than for all other doses in terms of cure rate and of post-treatment prevalence of morbidity. The 40 mg/kg dosing resulted in a significantly higher cure rate than the 20 mg/kg doses; nevertheless, there was no significant difference between 20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg doses in terms of mean post-treatment intensity of infection or post-treatment prevalence of hematuria or proteinuria. For large-scale control programs, oral 20 mg/kg praziquantel therapy for urinary schistosomiasis may prove as effective as the standard oral 40 mg/kg dosing for control of infection-associated morbidity and reduction of parasite transmission.


Chapter 1. Introduction to Thermal and Fluids Engineering. Chapter 2. The First Law. Chapter 3. Thermal Resistances. Chapter 4. Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics. Chapter 5. Thermodynamic Properties. Chapter 6. Appications of the Energy Equation to Open Systems. Chapter 7. Thermodynamic Cycles and the Second Law. Chapter 8. Refrigeration, Heat Pump, and Power Cycles. Chapter 9. Internal Flows. Chapter 10. External Flows. Chapter 11. Conduction Heat Transfer. Chapter 12. Convection Heat Transfer. Chapter 13. Heat Exchangers. Chapter 14. Radiation Heat Transfer. Chapter 15. Ideal Gas Mixtures and Combustion (Web). Appendix A: Tables in SI Units. Appendix B: Tables in British Units. Appendix C: Answers to Selected Problems. Index.


The pseudostress approximation of the Stokes equations rewrites the stationary Stokes equations with pure (but possibly inhomogeneous) Dirichlet boundary conditions as another (equivalent) mixed scheme based on a stress in Hpdivq and the velocity in L2. Any standard mixed finite element function space can be utilized for this mixed formulation, e.g. the Raviart-Thomas discretization which is related to the Crouzeix-Raviart nonconforming finite element scheme in the lowest-order case. The effective and guaranteed a posteriori error control for this nonconforming velocity-oriented discretization can be generalized to the error control of some piecewise quadratic velocity approximation that is related to the discrete pseudostress. The analysis allows for local inf-sup constants which can be chosen in a global partition to improve the estimation. Numerical examples provide strong evidence for an effective and guaranteed error control with very small overestimation factors even for domains with large anisotropy.


The H_3 system is the simplest triatomic neutral molecular species. It possesses only three electrons and three protons. As a result of its simplicity, the H_3 system has received a great deal of attention in ab initio quantum mechanical as well as experimental studies. This dissertation consists of two parts. The first part is a theoretical investigation of the H_3 molecular system. Results of the ab initio quantum mechanical calculations for the lowest three electronic potential energy surfaces are given, as well as electronically nonadiabatic coupling elements between these states. The calculated nonadiabatic coupling elements compare well in some regions of configuration space with previous calculations performed on this system. Discrepancies in other regions can be attributed to the method of calculation. In our study these coupling elements were calculated by an ab initio method whereas analytic continuation was used in previous work. Calculation of the nonadiabatic coupling surfaces represents notable progress and will improve the fidelity of dynamics calculations of the H_3 system. All 3-D quantum mechanical theoretical investigations to date invoke the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and neglect nonadiabatic coupling of the nearby states. Although this is justified in many cases, the H_3 system exhibits a conical intersection near which this approximation breaks down. To obtain theoretical estimates of predissociative lifetimes of excited states of the H_3 system, accurate bound state wavefunctions and energies of the excited states of H_3 and accurate differential and integral cross sections in quantum mechanical scattering studies of the H + H_2 system above 2.75 eV, these nonadiabatic terms must be included. The second part of this dissertation involves the development and characterization of an intense source of trihydrogen molecules. The ultimate goal of this work is to fully characterize the metastable H_3 molecules formed in this beam and to create a source of monoenergetic trihydrogen molecules whose translational energy would be continuously tunable from ~1-12 eV. Once developed, it could be utilized in crossed beam experiments and would enable many reactions to be studied that might not otherwise take place due to low reaction probability. The H_3 molecule in its 2p^2_zA^˝_2 electronic state is 5.85 eV higher and the 2p^2_x,_yE' repulsive ground state is 2.65 eV higher in energy than H + H_2 .^(17-20) Therefore, upon a vertical transition to the ground state, the 2p^2_zA^˝_2 state of H_3 will liberate about 3 eV of electronic energy with the remaining energy being channeled into vibration and rotation of the H + H_2 dissociated system. In a collision with another molecule, this energy could become available for reaction along with some fraction of the translational energy of these molecules (1-12 eV). This species can be expected to exhibit unusual dynamics, in that it may undergo novel chemical reactions as well as unique partitioning of the available energy into electronic, vibrational, rotational and translational energy of the products.


Increasingly, states are including environmental rights as human rights either in their Constitutions or in other human rights legislation. South Africa, a relatively young democracy, entrenched the right to a healthy environment in section 24 of its Constitution. This section states that everyone has the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being. Moreover everyone has the right to the protection of the environment to ensure inter-generational justice, balanced with the aim of justifiable economic and social development. Little more than a decade later, and with several Acts of Parliament further, the question needs to be asked whether and to what extent this right has been given practical content. It is found that the South African legislature and judiciary have been robust in their enforcement and interpretation of both the constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, as well as the legislation enacted to give effect to this right. From this developing nation perspective, the paper then examines the Netherlands as an example a developed country where such a right is also recognised as a human right. Despite a longstanding reputation of judicial activism on, and popular ease of access to, environmental justice in this country, it is found that this tradition is facing a serious political and governmental threat which is only obviated by the Netherlands' accession to European legislation. The paper concludes that, from these examples, it is clear that the enforceability of constitutionally protected environmental rights depend to a large extent on the way in which the right itself is constituted and classified, and that in both instances the support of both the judicial and the executive branches of the trias politica are crucial in order for the constitutionalisation itself to be of practical significance.


Abstract: Despite Sweden's family policy existing at the national level, usage of these policies can vary substantially across regions and by gender suggesting a need for closer examination of local variance in these usages. The concept of 'gender contract', describes the systematic organization of a gender system that is constructed, controlled and reinforced by relations between men and women and articulated into daily activities such as childcare. This study demonstrates the importance of spatial variation in gender contracts and identifies gender contracts from the gendered use of parental leave in Sweden. Using register data, we create individualized neighbourhoods with fixed population size, based on the location of the residence of individuals. By using a multiscalar approach, we show that local gender contracts vary substantially, and that no dominant regional gender contracts appear instead highlighting local variance of gender contracts. The spatial analyses show the ways in which individuals engage with both structure and society in their daily life. Uncovering gender contracts highlights the ways in which national policies are interpreted locally by users and test the operationalisation of a so far mainly theoretical concept.


SmB6 is a mixed valence Kondo system resulting from the hybridization between localized f electrons and delocalized d electrons. We have investigated its out-of-equilibrium electron dynamics by means of time- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The transient electronic population above the Fermi level can be described by a time-dependent Fermi-Dirac distribution. By solving a two-temperature model that well reproduces the relaxation dynamics of the effective electronic temperature, we estimate the electron-phonon coupling constant lambda to range from 0.13 +/- 0.03 to 0.04 +/- 0.01. These extremes are obtained assuming a coupling of the electrons with either a phonon mode at 10 or 19 meV. A realistic value of the average phonon energy will give an actual value of lambda within this range. Our results provide an experimental report on the material electron-phonon coupling, contributing to both the electronic transport and the macroscopic thermodynamic properties of SmB6.


In 1992, the old Finnish mission station Olukonda in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia was declared a national heritage site. This was the first such heritage declaration after Namibia gained its independence in 1990. In this article, I examine the Olukonda station from a historical and cultural memory perspective. The legendary missionary Martti Rautanen – or Nakambale – resided at the site between 1880 and his death in 1926, and he is buried at Olukonda together with most of his family members. Olukonda is the site where the relationship between the king(s) and the missionaries was tested, shaped, and consolidated. At Olukonda Finnish-missionary Lutheranism was gradually adopted by Ondonga society, and eventually Olukonda would become a site which the Ovambo would view as a part of their own heritage. In the article, I discuss remembrance and forgetting, time demarcations, and the different understandings of decisive events of the past. I argue that Olukonda is the main site which nurtures the memory of the Lutheran past in northern Namibia, but also that, at Olukonda, various mission and church related memories intermingle with nationalism and Ovambo culture.


A series of waterflood simulations were performed to investigate the effect of basinal position and facies permeability within a turbidite sheet system on oil recovery efficiency. Simulations used three-dimensional outcrop models of the Peïra Cava system, comprising gravel, sandstone, thin-bedded heterolithic and mudstone facies. Recovery efficiency declines with increasing permeability heterogeneity and is influenced by the interaction of vertical bed-permeability trends and flood-front gravity slumping. The occurrence of gravels with permeabilities lower than overlying sandstones produces optimum recoveries. High permeability gravels act as thief zones, enhanced by downward gravity slumping, reducing normalized recovery by up to 34 %. The effect of thief zones on recovery is related to their permeability contrast, abundance, thickness, lateral continuity, vertical position within permeable units and the permeability of underlying facies. Proximal to distal stratigraphic variations produce relatively small differences in normalized recovery of up to 13 % in models with the highest permeability heterogeneity. Differences in recovery are interpreted to reflect spatial trends in facies architecture, which determine the effectiveness of high permeability gravel thief zones. The poorest recovery is recorded from the medial model where recovery is lower than distal areas because of higher gravel abundance and thicknesses and lower compared to proximal areas because of the higher lateral continuity of gravels and underlying low-permeability mudstones.


ABSTRACT Debate about the TRC has become necessary in South Africa today, 20 years since the final Report was handed over to government on 29 October 1998. Assessment of its efficacy and longer-term value is being undertaken, unfortunately, within an environment of intense disillusionment about the promise of constitutional democracy. This paper sets out the environment in which the TRC was established in 1996, its legal and constitutional frameworks, its achievements for creating a climate of reconciliation, for granting amnesty to perpetrators of human rights violations, and for setting a reparations framework. South Africans are conscious of grinding poverty and inequality, pervasive racism, and unfulfilled aspirations of the democratic settlement of 1994. What value, then was the TRC? This paper attempts a fair assessment, seeks to be honest about its grandiose claims, and undertakes a philosophical, political and ethical analysis of its achievements. Drawing on many studies on the TRC it seeks to chart a more rational course than some, noting that circumstances in Africa are such that the TRC is being revisited, The Gambia, for example, being the latest country that has introduced the TRC. Others may follow suit: Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, to name a few.


Inhibitors of mPges-1 are in the early phase of clinical development. Deletion of mPges-1 in mice confers analgesia, restrains atherogenesis and fails to accelerate thrombogenesis, while suppressing PGE2, but increasing biosynthesis of PGI2. In Ldlr-/- mice, this last effect represents the dominant mechanism by which mPges-1 deletion restrains thrombogenesis, while suppression of PGE2 accounts for its anti-atherogenic effect. However, the impact of mPges-1 depletion on BP in this setting remains unknown. Here, mPges-1 depletion significantly increased the BP response to salt loading in male Ldlr-/- mice, whereas, despite the direct vasodilator properties of PGI2, Ipr deletion suppressed it. Furthermore, combined deletion of the Ipr abrogated the exaggerated BP response in male mPges-1-/- mice. Interestingly, these unexpected BP phenotypes were not observed in female mice fed a high salt diet. This is attributable to the protective effect of estrogen in Ldlr-/- mice and in Ipr-/- /Ldlr-/- mice. Thus, estrogen compensates for a deficiency in PGI2 to maintain BP homeostasis in response to high salt in hyperlipidemic female mice. In males, by contrast, augmented formation of ANP plays a similar compensatory role, restraining hypertension and oxidant stress in the setting of Ipr depletion. Hyperlipidemic males on a high salt diet might be at risk of a hypertensive response to mPGES-1 inhibitors.


Low cycle fatigue (LCF) endurance data have a valuable part to play in the lifetime assessment of components and structures. These data comprise the initiation and growth stages, but the growth relations themselves and their practical use are not as familiar as those employed for deeper cracks. Early work modelled continuous-cycling fatigue crack growth by assuming a succession of miniature LCF specimens at the crack tip, the field then being extended by investigators examining behaviour at high temperatures. Models were developed allowing for the concomitant contribution of creep damage for comparison with continuous-cycling properties where striation spacings recorded cyclic crack progress. Alongside such modelling, empirical laws were deduced describing the progress of short cracks. Expressions may be derived linking LCF with linear-elastic fracture-mechanics (LEFM) crack growth, using the parameter ΔJ (equivalent stress-intensity parameter). However, the purpose of this review is to compare and contrast those models which employ an easily measured surface parameter (such as total or plastic strain range) as the governing variable. Crack growth normally adopts an exponential form so that the rate of growth per cycle accelerates as the crack deepens. The distinguishing feature is that the process zone at the crack tip is itself surrounded by cyclically yielding material, in contrast with LEFM. Energy methods may also be employed, where the process zone at the crack tip fails when the accumulated energy density reaches a critical value. An upper bound relation is provided, accounting for the deleterious effects of creep-fatigue-oxidation interaction, if empirical data are not to hand. A conservative assessment may thus be made of cyclic crack growth rate at a specified depth. This review examines the capability of each model to allow for such creep-fatigue effects.


Inference of surface CO2 fluxes from atmospheric CO2 observations requires information about large‐scale transport and turbulent mixing in the atmosphere, so transport errors and the statistics of the transport errors have significant impact on surface CO2 flux estimation. In this paper, we assimilate raw meteorological observations every 6 hours into a general circulation model with a prognostic carbon cycle (CAM3.5) using the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) to produce an ensemble of meteorological analyses that represent the best approximation to the atmospheric circulation and its uncertainty. We quantify CO2 transport uncertainties resulting from the uncertainties in meteorological fields by running CO2 ensemble forecasts within the LETKF‐CAM3.5 system forced by prescribed surface fluxes. We show that CO2 transport uncertainties are largest over the tropical land and the areas with large fossil fuel emissions, and are between 1.2 and 3.5 ppm at the surface and between 0.8 and 1.8 ppm in the column‐integrated CO2 (with OCO‐2‐like averaging kernel) over these regions. We further show that the current practice of using a single meteorological field to transport CO2 has weaker vertical mixing and stronger CO2 vertical gradient when compared to the mean of the ensemble CO2 forecasts initialized by the ensemble meteorological fields, especially over land areas. The magnitude of the difference at the surface can be up to 1.5 ppm.


Regulators in international trade are facing a seemingly impossible challenge of increasing control and security while at the same time lowering the administrative burden for traders. The European Commission has introduced the concept of "trusted trader", referring to a trader that is certified as being in control of his/her business. Trusted traders are supposed to obtain trade facilitations such as periodical reporting of import/export data instead of declaration of every shipment, fever physical inspections, and faster border crossing. To enable the use of trusted traders in practice, changes are required to the information infrastructure of international trade. Following the principles of IS design research, this research-in-progress paper presents a design proposition for the information infrastructure of international trade. Using theories of information infrastructure development and change as kernel theory, our proposition contains redesign suggestion in IT, Organization, Human, as well as Change and Collaboration elements. The design proposition was evaluated and verified with proof of concept installations and a stakeholder value assessment, but lacks real world testing and evaluation. Theoretical contribution is made towards the domain of information infrastructures and how they may be enhanced to meet new requirements.


In order to study the development of Newcastle Disease (ND) in Japanese quail subjected to high ambient temperature with or without supplementation with ascorbic acid (AA), eighty 3 week-old Japanese quails were randomly allotted to four equal groups. Two of the groups were kept at room temperature (26±0.5 C) with one supplemented with AA (R ) and the other receiving no AA (R ). The other two groups o A O were kept at a continuous temperature of 41.8±0.6 C with one of them supplemented with AA (H ) and other o A receiving no AA (H ). The group R served as the control. Ascorbic acid was supplemented at the rate of O O 1000mg/kg feed. Twelve birds in each of four groups were challenged oculonsally with a pigeon isolate of velogenic ND virus and the rest left as in contact. Morbidity rate was 100% in all challenged and in contact birds except in the incontact of the group supplemented with AA which recorded 50%. One hundred percent mortality was recorded in heat stressed groups irrespective of AA supplementation while 0% and 50% mortality was recorded in those kept at room temperature with or without AA supplementation respectively. None of the unchallenged in contact birds died in any of the groups. Lesions of ND in the experimentally infected quails were characterized by pathological lesions. The results of haemagglutination inhibition test performed on blood samples of all birds on days 0, 7, 14 and 21 post inoculations indicated no effect of heat treatment or AA supplementation on the humoral immune response of the Japanese quail. It was concluded that prolonged high ambient temperature has detrimental effects on the survival of Japanese quail with AA supplementation having some ameliorating effects. High ambient temperature may not adversely affect the humoral immune response of Japanese quail to Newcastle disease and AA may not be an important factor in the resistance of quails exposed to prolonged high ambient temperature to ND virus infection.


Something of a consensus has emerged within the international community and among commentators that war crimes tribunals have been too slow to investigate, charge, and prosecute war crimes. While acknowledging the importance of expediency in international criminal prosecution, particularly for victims, this Article challenges the feasibility, and even the desirability, of quick investigations and prosecutions of war crimes. Relying on examples from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and other tribunals, as well as literature about the processes by which societies and individuals descend into mass atrocity, this Article contends that time is often essential to the attainment of justice in this area. War crimes cases pose particular challenges in both the investigation and prosecution phases that distinguish them from even the most complex domestic cases. In addition, war crimes cases are born of significant societal disruption that can impede, on both the societal and the individual level, the emergence of evidence in the short-term. Often, a true picture of crimes will be available only after time has passed and distance has increased from the conflict. If prosecutors rush or excessively narrow the scope of cases, they risk undermining the goals of the prosecutions. In developing expectations for future war crimes tribunals, therefore, the international community must balance the desire for expediency against stubborn but necessary processes that may cause delay


A high-resolution probe commonly used in animals can be modified to simultaneously record the activity of hundreds of individual neurons across the human brain. The tool could be used to study neuronal activity underlying seizures, which sometimes accompany autism , its makers say. Devices traditionally used in people can record the electrical activity of only a few dozen individual brain cells at a time. A popular, ultra-thin probe called Neuropixels — containing close to 1,000 electrodes spaced 20 micrometers apart — can detect signals from more than 200 individual neurons across large sections of the brain in mice and other small animals. Originally designed for rodents, though, the probe has proved too fragile for use in larger brains, says Angelique Paulk , instructor in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. So she and her colleagues attached a thicker shank to the device. The team used the modified, sterilized Neuropixels probes to take simultaneous measurements at 384 of the device's 960 recording sites in three people — all of whom were already due to undergo craniotomy, which exposes the brain, to treat a movement disorder or severe epilepsy. The researchers had just 15 minutes during each surgery to make the recordings, and they used a robotic arm to guide the probe into the cerebral cortex with precision. The modified probe detected electrical activity from hundreds of neurons across different layers of the cerebral cortex in the three participants. An algorithm processed the data to account for brain movement due to blood flow and breathing. Unlike the isolation of research labs, the hospital setting creates additional 'noise,' such as the sounds of hospital equipment and patients in adjacent rooms, which also needs to be factored into this processing step, Paulk says. Open-source software that sorts patterns of neuronal activity into clusters enabled the team to track


A typical model merging session: requires a great deal of knowledgeable input; does not provide rapid feedback; quickly overwhelms the user with details; fails to properly match elements; performs minimal conflict detection; offers conflict resolution choices that are inadequate and without semantics; and exhibits counter-intuitive behavior.

Viewing model merging as a process, this research defines a hybrid merge workflow that blends the best of the main approaches to merging, expressing its phases as algebraic operators for performing transformations on model and relationship data types. Normalization and denormalization phases decouple models from their originating tool and metamodel. State-based phases capture model differences in the model itself, establish element correspondence using multiply matching strategies, and extract change operations. Operation-based phases then partition and order the changes prior to the detection and automatic resolution of conflicts.

The work has culminated in a prototype that validates the workflow, while realizing several novel model merging ideas, which are evaluated with simple and involved test cases. Combining the hybrid merge approach with the semantic expressiveness of decision tables---open to user modification---and an interactive and batch mode of operation allows the tool, named Mirador, to successfully address, to varying degrees, all of the previously cited shortcomings.


Abstract Ethics, as a discipline, asks "is this decision, situation, program or policy good? Under what circumstances is it good? Why?". This paper applies these questions to screening: "Is screening good? Under what circumstances is it good? Why is it good?". Of course, the answer to these questions depends on how one defines "good". A consequentialist, for instance, will suggest that a screening program is good when it prevents or, at least, reduces harm and suffering1 whereas non-consequentialists are likely to take a rather different approach. In this short paper, I have room only to skate across the surface of these arguments. I will suggest that there are at least two, rather different, sets of responses to the questions above and I will investigate the detail of two of these. The first response states that screening programs are good when they prevent harm and suffering; the second suggests that screening programs are worthwhile because they enhance autonomous decision making.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
Management of patients with cirrhosis includes endoscopic screening and surveillance to detect esophageal varices (EV) and prevent bleeding. However, the Baveno VI guidelines recommend avoiding endoscopies for patients with liver stiffness measurements below 20 kPa and platelet counts above 150,000 (favorable Baveno VI status) and endoscopic assessment of patients with higher levels of liver stiffness and platelet counts (unfavorable Baveno VI status). We aimed to validate the Baveno VI guidelines, evaluating outcomes of patients in the ANRS-CO12 CirVir cohort with compensated cirrhosis associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, with or without a sustained response to antiviral therapy.

METHODS
We performed an ancillary study using data from 891 patients in the ANRS CO12 CirVir cohort, treated at 35 centers in France, with HCV or HBV infection and biopsy-proven cirrhosis, Child-Pugh A scores, no previous complications, and no hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent an endoscopic procedure and had interpretable liver stiffness measurements and platelet counts. Progression of portal hypertension (PHT) was defined as the onset of varices needing treatment (VNT) or PHT-related bleeding. An sustained response to antiviral therapy was defined as undetectable level of HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction assay (<50 IU/mL) 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR) or an undetectable level of HBV DNA. The primary aims were to validate the Baveno VI guidelines for screening and surveillance of EV in patients with compensated cirrhosis and to study the effects of an SVR on the progression of PHT.

RESULTS
A total of 200 patients achieved an SVR (22.4%) (94 patients with HCV infection, 98 patients with HBV infection, and 8 patients with both); 80 of these patients had favorable Baveno VI status and none had VNT. Progression of PHT was studied in 548 patients; during a follow-up period of 61.2 months (interquartile range, 39.5-80.6 months), 105 of these patients (19.1%) had progression of PHT. Lack of an SVR and grade 1 EV were independently associated with progression of PHT. At the time of PHT progression, all patients had unfavorable Baveno VI status. Achieving favorable Baveno VI status after an SVR was associated with the absence of PHT progression. Favorable Baveno VI status and SVR were independently associated with survival.

CONCLUSIONS
In an analysis of data from a large cohort of patients with HBV- or HCV-associated cirrhosis in France, we validated the Baveno VI guidelines on screening and surveillance of PHT, even for patients who achieved a sustained response to antiviral therapy.


The objective of the thesis is to identify what constrains development assistance agencies giving a higher priority to ensuring that basic needs are met. Support for basic needs is taken to include all spending to address unmet needs in terms of water supply and sanitation, primary health care, primary or basic education and literacy. It also includes all development agency funding for housing, social employment and 'community development' projects targeted at low income groups. A statistical analysis of all project commitments for a range of development assistance agencies over a number of years showed that most allocate less than 20 percent of their funding to basic needs while some allocate less than 10 percent. This analysis also showed some evidence of increased priority to basic needs in recent years, especially for the concessional loan programme of the World Bank. Interviews with a range of staff from the World Bank, UNICEF and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and a review of these agencies' internal documents sought to establish the main constraints on an increased priority to basic needs. The constraints can be divided into four sets: the institutional constraints linked to an agency's internal workings; conscious policy choices made within the agency to limit funding for basic needs; external influences, including commercial pressures, consultants and influences from the governments that fund the agencies; and the political and institutional constraints within recipient countries - for instance recipient governments not prioritizing basic needs projects or their limited capacity to support basic needs provision. The thesis shows that development assistance agencies' own internal structures often constrain funding for successful basic needs projects. For instance, many basic needs projects are relatively cheap and staff intensive to develop but within most agencies, staff are under pressure to spend relatively large sums and to minimize staff time when doing so. Many agencies also have the institutional legacy of structures set up to fund large capital projects and difficulties in changing these structures to reflect new priorities, including a higher priority to basic needs. The incapacity of recipient governments to implement basic needs projects and, in most nations, the lack of alternative implementors is also a major constraint. The thesis emphasizes how research to date has given too little attention to these constraints. It also discusses the ways in which agencies are seeking to overcome these constraints and the need to do so if a renewed emphasis on poverty reduction is to be effective.


Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are increasingly being used in commercial products, and may accumulate in soils when the products are disposed. I examined the effects of two common ENPs, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and silver quantum dots (Ag-QDs), on plant gas exchange. To do this, I grew Arabidopsis thaliana in soil (n=36) for 6 weeks and added a CNT suspension at increasing concentrations (10, 30, 90, 150, 190, 250 μg/ ml) each week. I also grew A. thaliana in petri dishes (n=83) containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, with a concentration of 4μg/ ml Ag-QDs or 4μg/ml CNTs. I measured carbon assimilation rates, stomata conductance, and transpiration rates, using a LI-6400XT Portable Photosynthesis System. I found that gas exchange in soil-grown A. thaliana was unaffected by CNTs. There were no effects on rates of photosynthesis, transpiration or stomata conductance. There was also no apparent effect on light or carbon fixation reactions. I found that gas exchange in petri dish-grown A. thaliana was negatively affected by Ag-QDs, and marginally affected by CNTs. There was a reduction in photosynthesis rates, but no apparent effects on stomatal conductance and transpiration rates in A. thalian grown with either Ag-QDs or CNTs. The negative effects of the ENPs were directly related to light and Calvin cycle reactions. My research illustrates a model system for examining ENP effects on plants, and demonstrated that if Ag-QDs are disposed of in soils, they can negatively affect plant growth.


In recent years, there has been great interest in the use of adaptive features in clinical trials (i.e., changes in design or analyses guided by examination of the accumulated data at an interim point in the trial) that may make the studies more efficient (e.g., shorter duration, fewer patients). Many statistical methods have been developed to maintain the validity of study results when adaptive designs are used (e.g., control of the Type I error rate). Group sequential designs, which allow early stopping for efficacy in light of compelling evidence of benefit or early stopping for futility when the likelihood of success is low at interim analyses, have been widely used for many years. In this dissertation, we study several aspects of statistical issues in group sequential/ adaptive designs. Sample size re-estimation has drawn a great deal of interest due to its permitting revision of the target treatment difference based on the unblinded interim analysis results from an ongoing trial. A possible risk of ublinded sample size re-estimation is that the exact treatment effect being observed at interim analysis might be back-calculated from the modified sample size, which might jeopardize the integrity of the trial. In the first project, we propose a pre-specified stepwise two-stage sample size adaptation to lessen the information on treatment effect that would be revealed. We minimize expected sample size among a class of these designs and compare efficiency with the fully optimized two-stage design, optimal two-stage group sequential design and designs based on promising conditional power. In the second project, we define the complete ordering of a group sequential sample space and show that a Wang-Tsiatis boundary family or an exponential spending function family can completely order the sample space. We also propose a simple method to transform a spending function to a completely ordered sample space when using the sequential pvalue ordering. This method is also extended to β-spending functions for p-values to reject the alternative hypothesis. In the third project, we propose a simple approach for controlling the familywise error rate in a group sequential design with multiple testing. We apply sequential p-values at the interim analysis from a group sequential design to the sequentially rejective graphical procedure which is based on the closure principle. We also use simulations to study the operating characteristics of multiple testing in group sequential designs. We show that in terms of expected sample size, using a group sequential design in multiple hypothesis testing is more efficient than fixed sample size designs in many scenarios. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Epidemiology & Biostatistics First Advisor Susan S. Ellenberg Subject Categories Biostatistics This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/815 ISSUES IN GROUP SEQUENTIAL/ADAPTIVE DESIGNS Hong Wan A DISSERTATION in Epidemiology and Biostatistics Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy


The IETF policies about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), such as patent rights, relative to technologies developed in the IETF are designed to ensure that IETF working groups and participants have as much information about any IPR constraints on a technical proposal as possible. The policies are also intended to benefit the Internet community and the public at large, while respecting the legitimate rights of IPR holders. This memo details the IETF policies concerning IPR related to technology worked on within the IETF. It also describes the objectives that the policies are designed to meet. This memo updates RFC 2026 and, with RFC 3667, replaces Section 10 of RFC 2026. This memo also updates paragraph 4 of Section 3.2 of RFC 2028, for all purposes, including reference [2] in RFC 2418.


A two-dimensional, longitudinal-vertical model for partially-mixed estuaries has been developed. The model provides intratidal predictions of surface level, velocity, and salinity through a semi-implicit finite-difference solution to the continuity and momentum equations and an explicit finite-difference solution to the salinity equation. The model was verified through comparison with analytical solutions, laboratory data, and prototype data. Following verification, the model was used to simulate the destratification-stratification cycle which occurs in the James River Estuary, Virginia, coincident with the spring-neap tidal cycle. In a second application to the James, a simulation of the movement of the salinity intrusion following a storm-generated freshwater flow pulse was conducted. Investigations were conducted into the reaction of a hypothetical estuary to step-like and pulse-like alterations in wind stress, tide range, boundary conditions and flow. It was noted that the reaction time-scale of the estuary was much longer than the time-scale of alterations in the forcing functions. Thus, in prototype estuaries in which forcing functions are periodic and/or randomly superimposed, truly steady-state conditions are never attained.


Using data on marijuana and cocaine use from the 1984 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors examine the hypothesis that drug use reduces labor market productivity, as measured by wages. From an analysis that controls for the probability of employment and the endogeneity of drug use, they find that although long-term and on-the-job use of marijuana negatively affected wages, the net productivity effect for all marijuana users (both those who engaged in long-term or on-the-job use and those who did not) was positive. No statistically significant association was found between cocaine use and productivity.


Nonlinear Fokker-Planck equations play a major role in modeling large systems of interacting particles with a proved effectiveness in describing real world phenomena ranging from classical fields such as fluids and plasma to social and biological dynamics. Their mathematical formulation has often to face with physical forces having a significant random component or with particles living in a random environment which characterization may be deduced through experimental data and leading consequently to uncertainty-dependent equilibrium states. In this work, to address the problem of effectively solving stochastic Fokker-Planck systems, we will construct a new equilibrium preserving scheme through a micro-macro approach based on stochastic Galerkin methods. The resulting numerical method, contrarily to the direct application of a stochastic Galerkin projection in the parameter space of the unknowns of the underlying Fokker-Planck model, leads to highly accurate description of the uncertainty dependent large time behavior. Several numerical tests in the context of collective behavior for social and life sciences are presented to assess the validity of the present methodology against standard ones.


As computer programs become more complex, the ability of non-specialists to understand how a given output has been reached diminishes. Opaqueness may also be built into programs to protect proprietary interests. Both types of systems are capable of being explained, either through recourse to experts or an order to produce information. Another class of system may be naturally opaque, however, using deep learning methods that are impossible to explain in a manner that humans can comprehend. An emerging literature describes these phenomena or specific problems to which they give rise, notably the potential for bias against specific groups. Drawing on examples from the United States, the European Union, and China, this Article develops a novel typology of three discrete regulatory challenges posed by opacity. First, it may encourage—or fail to discourage—inferior decisions by removing the potential for oversight and accountability. Second, it may allow impermissible decisions, notably those that explicitly or implicitly rely on protected categories such as gender or race in making a determination. Third, it may render illegitimate decisions in which the process by which an answer is reached is as important as the answer itself. The means of addressing some or all of these concerns is routinely said to be through transparency. Yet, while proprietary opacity can be dealt with by court order and complex opacity through recourse to experts, naturally opaque systems may require novel forms of "explanation" or an acceptance that some machine-made decisions cannot be explained—or, in the alternative, that some decisions should not be made by machine at all.


Abstract Business people and professionals come together regularly at trade fairs, exhibitions, conventions, congresses, and conferences. Here, their latest and most advanced findings, inventions and products are on display to be evaluated by customers and suppliers, as well as by peers and competitors. Participation in events like these helps firms to identify the current market frontier, take stock of relative competitive positions and form future plans. Such events exhibit many of the characteristics ascribed to permanent spatial clusters, albeit in a temporary and intensified form. These short-lived hotspots of intense knowledge exchange, network building and idea generation can thus be seen as temporary clusters. This paper compares temporary clusters with permanent clusters and other types of inter-firm interactions. If regular participation in temporary clusters can satisfy a firm's need to learn through interaction with suppliers, customers, peers and rivals, why is the phenomenon of permanent spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity so pervasive? The answer, it is claimed, lies in the restrictions imposed upon economic activity when knowledge and ideas are transformed into valuable products and services. The paper sheds new light on how interaction among firms in current clusters coincides with knowledge-intensive pipelines between firms in different regions or clusters. In doing so, it offers a novel way of understanding how inter-firm knowledge relationships are organized spatially and temporally.


A research project report submitted in partial fulfillment of
The requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts
In project planning and management of the university of Nairobi.


Background & aim: Breastfeeding self-efficacy is an important factor affecting the success and duration of breastfeeding. Self-efficacy of people is influenced by four sources including performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and the physiological responses which seem to be modified by breastfeeding intervention.  This study was conducted to compare the effect of providing peer support versus training women by health care providers on breastfeeding self-efficacy. Methods:This controlled clinical trial was conducted on 93 primiparous women in Mashhad health-care centres. Three centres were selected as clusters and subjects who attended each cluster were randomly allocated to three groups of peer support, training by health care providers and control. The peer support group received support from their peers four times. Subjects who were trained by health care providers participated in four training sessions by health care providers and the control group only received the routine care. At the end of the eighth postpartum week, data were collected using the breastfeeding self-efficacy scale. The data were analysed using ANOVA and paired t-test with SPSS, version 14. Results: The mean score of self-efficacy at the end of the eighth postpartum week, in the peer support, training by healthcare providers and control groups, were 54.4±9.75, 50.8±13.05 and 56.4±9.49, respectively. The three groups showed no significant differences in terms of breastfeeding self-efficacy score at the end of the eighth postpartum week (P-value=0.125). Breastfeeding self-efficacy score at baseline and at the end of the eighth postpartum week were significantly different in peer support and training by health care providers groups (P=0.05). Conclusion: Peer support and training by healthcare providers have similar impact on breastfeeding self-efficacy in primiparous women. So they could be used interchangeably to promote breastfeeding behavior.


The old and useful paradigm used by water resource engineers, that hydrology in a given place is stationary, and hence it is sufficient to look into the past to plan for the future, does not hold anymore, according to climate change projections. This becomes especially true in snow‐dominated regions like California, where not only the magnitude but also the timing of streamflow could be affected by changes in precipitation and temperature. To plan and operate water resources systems at the basin scale, it is necessary to develop new tools that are suited for this nonstationary world. In this paper we develop an optimization algorithm that can be used for different studies related to climate change and water resources management. Three applications of this algorithm are developed for the Merced River basin. The first of these gives an assessment of the climate change effects on the operations of this basin considering an adaptive management strategy embedded in the optimization algorithm. In a second application we explore different long‐term adaptation strategies intended to mitigate the effects of climate change. A final application is developed to determine how beneficial it is to build a new reservoir considering explicitly the uncertainty about future climate projections.


This paper discusses the changing profile of rural livelihoods in South Africa using the National Income Dynamics Study Waves 1 – 3 data (Southern Africa Labour & Development Research Unit (SALDRU), 2013a, 2013b, 2013c). The rural sector is undergoing a form of compositional change, with the literature suggesting that a phenomenon of de-agrarianisation is taking place as households become more dependent on government grants while moving away from agricultural-based activities. Furthermore, Tribal Authority Areas (TAAs) retain a communal form of land tenure that implies very different social and behavioural norms in these areas compared to formal rural areas. We find that there are indeed very different labour market, migration and subsistence agricultural trends between TAAs and formal rural areas. For the rural sector in general, selected findings include that rural migrants who have moved to urban areas between 2008-2012 have a higher probability of being employed than rural stayers; that among the employed population, the major transition out of agriculture was to the transport, storage and communication sector while the major transition into agricultural employment was from the wholesale & retail sector; and finally that there is indeed evidence that de-agrarianisation is taking place in the NIDS rural sample, with individuals much more likely to transition out of either commercial or subsistence agricultural activities than to start doing these activities.


This body of sculpture is an exploration of the human figure through personal public and commercial works. The following thesis report will explore these various categories and how they play a role in the sculpture's aesthetic appearance contextual meaning and societal role. With each category comes an array of technical and conceptual challenges that must be solved in order for the sculpture to be a successful figure. My thesis will cover these various technical and conceptual approaches to modeling the figure while also explaining how the intended overall purpose of the piece directly influences my choice in materials scale and sculptural style.


Transgenes have become essential to modern biology, being an important tool in functional genomic studies and also in the development of biotechnological products. One of the major challenges in the generation of transgenic lines concerns the expression of transgenes, which, compared to endogenes, are particularly susceptible to silencing mediated by small RNAs (sRNAs). Several reasons have been put forward to explain why transgenes often trigger production of sRNAs, such as the high level of expression induced by commonly-used strong constitutive promoters, the lack of introns and features resembling virus and other exogenous sequences. However, the relative contributions of the different genomic elements in protecting genes from the silencing machinery and their molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we present the results of a mutagenesis screening conceived to identify features involved in the protection of endogenes against becoming template for the production of sRNAs. Interestingly, all of the recovered mutants had alterations in genes with proposed function in transcription termination, suggesting a central role of terminators in this process. Indeed, using a GFP reporter system, we show that among different genetic elements tested, the terminator sequence had the greatest effect on transgene-derived sRNA accumulation and that a well-defined poly(A) site might be especially important. Finally, we describe an unexpected mechanism, where transgenes containing certain intron/terminator combinations lead to an increase in the production of sRNAs, which seems to interfere with splicing.


Abstract The formation of a Peoples' Assembly and occupation of the city of Oaxaca (Mexico) in 2006 has been widely considered a rebirth of the Commune and was also one of the first widely video-recorded uprisings of the 21st century. As media practice, activist videos approximate an identity of creative art/work and socio-political change but also warrant consideration of their formal aspects. How do stylistic choices help or hinder reflecting on the not-quite-here-yet of prefigurative politics? In contrast with video art, graffiti, and performance protest, activist videos overwhelmingly adhere to evidentiary forms. Carefully edited, they invite viewers to view crowdsourced footage as indexical traces of what "really" occurred in front of the lens but draw little attention to contingency or to the artifice of cinema. Activist videos' politics of truth and reliance on interviews underscore lingering, more hierarchical visions of revolution and risk inscribing what is there to the detriment of equality and potentiality. Even so, some activist videos playfully invoke a future already arrived.


This study compares the effect of ecological factors on phenotype plasticity in the natural populations of Acinos graveolens in Iran. In total, twenty six quantitative and qualitative morphological traits were examined in the sixteen populations at two sections: inter- and intrapopulation. In the interpopulation section, averages amounts of morphological characteristics of populations were examined, while in the intrapopulation, morphological features of the seventy six plant samples of the populations were investigated. The obtained data showed that these characteristics differed between and within the populations and the analysis of variance test and one-sample test have shown significant differences of all quantitative characteristics. The biplot Principal Correspondence Analysis (PCA-biplot) of traits showed some populations had indicator morphological characteristic(s) which were useful in detecting of these populations. Significant correlations were found between some quantitative characteristics with ecological factors. The studied populations were separated from each other in the PCA and Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCO) plots and the Unweighted Paired Group using Average method (UPGMA) tree. The PCA plot of morphological features showed that some characteristics separated from others and the rest ones were together and had overlapping. The individuals of the studied populations were separated from others in the PCA and PCO plots and the UPGMA tree of the morphological characteristics.  Individuals of some populations arranged separately and placed far from others, but this condition was reverse in the rest populations and most of individuals placed near each other. The obtained data confirmed high variations within some populations.


The author uses the concept of the ""divine sabotage"" as a starting point for an exegetical and theological study of Ecclesiastes 3. He notes that on the one hand, God has ""set eternity in the human heart"" (v. 11). Yet, on the other hand, ""no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end"". The author explains that God has imposed limitations on the human race that undermine their efforts to look beyond the present-especially to understand the past and probe into the future. Expressed differently, because people are creatures of time, their heavenly-imposed finitude subverts their ability to fathom the eternal plan of God. An objective, balanced, and affirming examination of Solomon's treatise indicates that the fundamental quality of life is defined by revering God and heeding His commandments (cf. 12:13).


Many human activities are affected by the weather, and there is a long history of rituals and ceremonial efforts aimed at controlling it. In modem societies, such efforts are largely vestigial and amount to informal hoping or wishing for good weather for special occasions. Reunion and commencement activities at Princeton University, involving thousands of alumni, graduates, family and others, are held outdoors, and it is often remarked that they are almost always blessed with good weather. A comparison of the recorded rainfall in Princeton vs. nearby communities shows that there is significantly less rain, less often, in Princeton on those days with major outdoor activities.


Abstract. Transit Oriented Development is the approach of urban development which maximizes the land use of residential, business and leisure around the public transit stops. A good TOD system can not only alleviate the contradiction between traffic congestion and insufficient land use for urban development but also significantly improve the convenience of urban residents' work and life. Moreover, while limiting the disorderly spread of the city, a good TOD system can solve the environmental and traffic problems caused by automobiles and promote synergy and integration between the industries. Traditionally, TOD is designed for facilitating the pedestrians to a convenient access to the public transportation systems so as to increase the usage rate of public transports. Despite pedestrians as the target, there are a lot of passengers move to the station via other means such as bus and bicycle. In the previous research, these two kinds of mobility are not included in the evaluation of TOD system as they have a lot of limitation on interacting with the facilities around railway station. In recent years, sharing bicycle becomes popular for solving the problem of the last one kilometer. Comparing to other means of mobility, sharing bicycle is more flexible than bus and has a higher usage rate than private bicycles. In addition, the sharing bike users have a wider access area than the pedestrians. Thus, sharing bicycle is able to play an important role in TOD system. In Tokyo metropolis, there are over 1000 railway stations and more than 50% of residents commute by railway. Nevertheless, the bike sharing system is available only in some specific area, which indicates a lot of room for the development of bike sharing service. In this research, we follow the previous studies of walkability measurement and apply two indicators include road network connectivity and facility accessibility for illustrating how could bike sharing outperforms walking in a TOD system with the case study of Tokyo 23 wards. The result of this research can instruct the government on improving the current TOD system as well as help build a sustainable society.


Self-supporting masonry is one of the most ancient and elegant techniques for building curved shapes. Because of the very geometric nature of their failure, analyzing and modeling such strutures is more a geometry processing problem than one of classical continuum mechanics. This paper uses the thrust network method of analysis and presents an iterative nonlinear optimization algorithm for efficiently approximating freeform shapes by self-supporting ones. The rich geometry of thrust networks leads us to close connections between diverse topics in discrete differential geometry, such as a finite-element discretization of the Airy stress potential, perfect graph Laplacians, and computing admissible loads via curvatures of polyhedral surfaces. This geometric viewpoint allows us, in particular, to remesh self-supporting shapes by self-supporting quad meshes with planar faces, and leads to another application of the theory: steel/glass constructions with low moments in nodes.


In this article, we present a method for predicting the view count of a YouTube video using a small feature set collected from a synchronous sharing tool. We hypothesize that videos which have a high YouTube view count will exhibit a unique sharing pattern when shared in synchronous environments. Using a one-day sample of 2,188 dyadic sessions from the Yahoo! Zync synchronous sharing tool, we demonstrate how to predict the video's view count on YouTube, specifically if a video has over 10 million views. The prediction model is 95.8% accurate and done with a relatively small training set; only 15% of the videos had more than one session viewing; in effect, the classifier had a precision of 76.4% and a recall of 81%. We describe a prediction model that relies on using implicit social shared viewing behavior such as how many times a video was paused, rewound, or fast-forwarded as well as the duration of the session. Finally, we present some new directions for future virality research and for the design of future social media tools.


As part of the 2007 Wrigley-Fairchild award session during the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, former Geographical Review Editor Paul Starrs dramatically unveiled the ten most influential articles to have appeared in the journal (Starrs 2007) (Table I). Among them are true landmarks; and what caught my attention was the number that touched on the concepts of place and landscape. These topics have been a mainstay of twentieth-century geography and likewise prominent among the titles in the Geographical Review. I want to use Starrs's "top ten" list to frame a brief discussion about the evolving approaches to the study of landscape and place in the Geographical Review. My comments touch on only a pair of research themes and a highly selective set of contributions to this journal; the larger body of articles that address landscape and place exemplifies much of what is good about the Geographical Review--namely, continuity and the journal's role as a forum for ongoing discussions about enduring geographical subjects. TABLE I--TOP TEN ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW AUTHOR TITLE YEAR OF VOLUME, PUBLICATION ISSUE, AND PAGE NUMBERS Yi-Fu Tuan Place: An 1975 65 (2): 151-165 Experiential Perspective Carl O. Sauer The Personality of 1941 31 (3): 353-364 Mexico Mark Jefferson The Law of the 1939 29 (2): 226-232 Primate City David Lowenthal Past Time, Present 1975 65 (1): 1-36 Place: Landscape and Memory Isaiah Bowman Scientific Study of 1926 16 (3): 647-653 Settlement Edward L. Ullman Amenities 1954 44 (1): 119-132 as a Factor in Regional Growth Larry R. Ford Continuity 1995 85 (3): 552-568 and Change in the American City Dan Stanislawski Early Spanish Town 1947 37 (1): 94-105 Planning in the New World Wilbur Zelinsky The Hypothesis 1971 61 (2): 219-149 of the Mobility Transition Fred B. Kniffen Building in Wood in 1966 56 (1): 40-66 and Henry Glassie the Eastern United States: A Time-Place Perspective Jean Gottmann Why the Skyscraper? 1966 56(2): 190-212 James J. Parsons A Geographer Looks 1986 76 (4): 371-389 at the San J oaquin Valley Source: Starrs 2007. Starrs's ranking of articles drew on a two-stage survey of selected journal readers: The first stage solicited personal lists of the most influential articles; the second allowed respondents to rank the top titles from the larger preliminary inventory. Methodology and specific rankings aside, Starrs captured an unquestionably prominent set. I touch on several articles from the list to showcase their position and influence in the ongoing discussions of landscape and place. Dan Stanislawski and Edward Price's inclusion in the Geographical Review "hit parade" denotes a powerful influence on the traditional approaches to landscape. Stanislawski's 1947 "Early Spanish Town Planning" is a prime example of work that influenced subsequent scholars and indeed provided a touchstone for numerous articles appearing here. It focused on the material etching of a street grid into the colonial soil of Latin America, using a diffusionist model. Another classic on town planning was Price's 1968 examination of the American courthouse square. …


The functions and powers of local self-governance are broadly discussed at all levels of government institutions, non-governmental organizations and communities. There is an expressed position that local communities and their local self-governing institutions should be given the power of subsidiary decision making in locally specific issues. However, year after year, the unanimous attitude is suppressed by financial and fiscal dependence upon the central government, unreasonably large territorial units with high population density. These circumstances limit down the decision-making and, moreover, the implementation of the decisions. From this point of view, the financial and fiscal powers of local self-governing institutions and, consequently, the decision-making strata are significantly different from those in other Baltic and Central European countries, as well as Scandinavian states. This article deals with the analysis of local self-governing administration in terms of its fiscal and financial empowerment, the size of the local communities and its impact on decision-making. A comparison is drawn with Scandinavian, central European and Baltic countries.


Margaret and Patrick, married just a few months, set off on a great adventure - a year living in Kenya. While Patrick practices medicine, Margaret works as a photojournalist, capturing a dizzying and sometimes dangerous city on film. When a British couple invites the newlyweds on a climbing expedition to the summit of Mount Kenya, they eagerly agree. But during their arduous ascent a horrific accident occurs. In its aftermath, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how it has transformed her and her marriage, perhaps for ever. With stunning language and striking emotional intensity, A Change in Altitude illuminates the irrevocable impact of tragedy and the elusive nature of forgiveness.


Accelerated thrombin generation is central to the development of hemostatic abnormalities during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) that are associated with both thromboembolic complications and serious, abnormal bleeding. Thrombin not only converts fibrinogen to fibrin, but also activates platelets and coagulation factors V, VIII, and XI and causes release of von Willebrand factor from vascular endothelium. Thrombin can also downregulate the hemostatic system by inducing formation of platelet inhibitory agents, such as nitric oxide and prostacyclin, and release of tissue plasminogen activator, facilitating activation of protein C, and releasing tissue factor pathway inhibitor. Excessive thrombin activity may also result in substantial consumption of platelets, fibrinogen, and labile coagulation factors and abnormal bleeding. Elevated tissue plasminogen activator levels secondary to activation of the contact system and surgery catalyze the formation of plasmin, which also consumes or internalizes platelet glycoprotein receptors and coagulation factors V, VIII, and fibrinogen. Heparin can reduce the generation of and mediate neutralization of excessive and CPB-associated thrombin activity. Heparin anticoagulation is commonly monitored with the activated clotting time (ACT). However, the ACT may be prolonged by factors other than heparin during CPB, such as hemodilution and hypothermia, and therefore may not accurately reflect the extent of anticoagulation by heparin. Aprotinin, a nonspecific serine protease inhibitor used with CPB, can also prolong celite-based ACT values, rendering it less reliable for monitoring heparin anticoagulation. Therefore, several alternative anticoagulation strategies have been recommended when aprotinin is used, such as a higher celite ACT trigger (>750 seconds), monitoring of whole blood heparin concentrations (eg, >2.7 U/mL), or administration of heparin based on a CPB duration-dependent, fixed-dose regimen. Administration of heparin doses higher than those generally recommended, as guided by predetermined, patient-specific whole blood heparin concentration measurements during bypass, can reduce excessive thrombin-mediated consumption of platelets and coagulation factors as well as post-CPB blood loss and blood component transfusions. New modalities of improving suppression of excess thrombin generation during CPB include use of heparin-bonded CPB circuits, heparin cofactor II or related analogs, supplemental antithrombin III, direct thrombin inhibitors (eg, hirudin, argatroban), and inhibitors of the contact and tissue factor pathways. The safety and efficacy of these approaches remains to be established by additional, appropriately powered, prospective studies.


Abstract South Africa still has some way to go towards ensuring that children's rights to legal representation and to be heard are fully implemented in relation to judicial proceedings affecting them. Nonetheless, some emerging practices point to an ongoing expansion of the realisation of these rights. This article charts some key developments in law, policy and implementation that constitute such practices. The article also argues that apart from merely serving as the child's voice in the courtroom setting, effective child lawyering is additionally contingent on a commitment to seeking out children in need of services, on an emphasis more broadly on stakeholder relationships in the sector, and a willingness to adjust to changing circumstances.


The Agulhas Plain is a remarkable recreational site which combines the attraction of a pristine marine environment with exceptional plant biodiversity, rural tranquillity and the novelty of being at the southernmost tip of Africa. The resource is a public good to which the market cannot assign a full value. This paper presents an estimated recreational value based on individual travel cost models and a sample of 370 visitors surveyed in 2010. Trip demands were estimated with zero truncated negative binomial models to account for over-dispersion. The study established a recreational value of R2.167 billion in 2010 prices for the site as a whole. By partitioning the sample into visitors who indicated having been attracted or not to the area by its nature and biodiversity, a net biodiversity value of R2 866 per trip was calculated. Allocated between marine and terrestrial resources based on the proportion of activities related to each type of resource, the value of plant biodiversity was estimated to be R2 268 per hectare in 2010to 2010 prices.


Today, the aim of raising individuals equipped with democratic values and behaviors in democratic countries, as well as the definition of an education environment sensitive to human rights and democracy as a human right under international conventions, has increased the importance of democratic education and research in this area. This study aims at developing a scale for the evaluation of the democratic education environment at classroom level, including all in-class processes and structures, based on teacher perceptions. A mixed-method design was employed in this study. This scale was applied to two different samples of 417 and 1091 teachers working in primary, middle and high schools. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out to determine the construct validity of the scale, convergent validity was evaluated, while test-retest, Cronbach Alpha, and split half methods were used to evaluate its reliability. The results of these analyses indicate that the 3-factor, 75-item Democratic Education Environment Scale is valid and


The Minimum Description Length (MDL) is an information-theoretic principle that can be used for model selection and other statistical inference tasks. One way to implement this principle in practice is to compute the Normalized Maximum Likelihood (NML) distribution for a given parametric model class. Unfortunately this is a computationally infeasible task for many model classes of practical importance. In this paper we present a fast algorithm for computing the NML for the model class of Bayesian forests, which are graphical dependency models for multi-dimensional domains with the constraint that each node (variable) has at most one predecessor. The resulting algorithm has the time complexity of O(n2K+L-3), where n is the number of data vectors, and K and L are the maximal number of values (alphabet sizes) of different types of variables in the model.


Despite its history of several decades and impressive achievements, developing a VR application is still a complex task. Setting-up a virtual environment requires choosing a suitable combination of elements from a large amount of technologies, software frameworks, animation/modeling formats and many other components. In this paper we present an overview of the efforts focused on defining a commonly accepted set of specifications - standards - for the multiple "ingredients" of a VR application. Our analysis of current and previous initiatives provides elements to answer the question about whether or not we can talk about "standard VR"


The present research seeks to assess the relationship between the Individual value system and decision-making styles. The statistical population (190 people) consists of Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) Organization managers who were assessed using the Census Method. The Myers and Myers cognitive demographic and value systems questionnaire and Scott and Bruce's decision-making questionnaire were used with a response rate of 90%.. Data was analyzed with the SPSS and Smart Planning softwares. It was found that the dominant Individual value system is success-oriented, followed respectively by system-oriented, realistic, tribal, community-oriented, and autocentric.Also, the dominant decision-making style in the statistical population is rational, followed by intuitive, dependent, avoidant, and spontaneous decision-making styles respectively. It was also concluded that success-oriented and tribal value systems had the most significant relationship with decision-making styles and the community-oriented value system the least. Only the individual variables of race (ethnicity) and field of study had a significant relationship with the Individual value system. The other personal and organizational variables had no significant relationship with the Individual value system. Creating motivation and a sense of employee participation in the future of the organization is proposed as the most important way of improving the value system of the statistical population so that the tendency to make spontaneous decisions can lean more towards making rational decisions to the same extent. Investigating the relationship between decision-making styles is another effective topic in improving these in an organization and is thus recommended to other researchers in the field.


The United States currently has one of the highest levels of inequality among industrialized economies. In addition, numerous scholars have shown that social mobility in the United States is significantly lower than it was in the period between 1945 and 1970, when inequality was also declining. The combination of these trends is dangerous because it risks transforming the US into a society where small elites capture most of the gains, a pattern in which growth cannot be sustained over time (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012, Zingales 2012). The level of inequality in the US after taxes and transfers are taken into account is much lower, but it is still higher than in most OECD countries and the trend is still for inequality to increase. This paper explores how the US tax system can be used to counter these trends and concludes that the key is not to increase taxes on the rich (although some reforms in this direction can be adopted), but instead to adequately fund and even strengthen the social safety net. The only way to do this in the medium to longer term is to adopt a broad-based federal consumption tax.


Purpose – Several arrays of literature have studied flexibility at different levels of a supply chain in order to define and conceptualise supply chain flexibility (SCF). Purchasing function is the part of a firm that has a crucial contribution in achieving flexibility on the upstream of a supply chain. The purpose of this study is to explore purchasing flexibility and its sources (how flexibility is achieved) in manufacturing companies. In this regard, the study answers two questions: 1. How is purchasing flexibility defined?, 2. How can manufacturers achieve purchasing flexibility?Methodology – A systematic literature review was conducted and a total number of 40 academic papers were analysed to define purchasing flexibility and identify its sources in manufacturing companies. Following the systematic literature review, a case study was conducted to explore the purchasing flexibility and its sources in a manufacturing company.Findings – The results have described the different definitions used in the literatures to address the purchasing flexibility. Results have shown that different sources of purchasing flexibility are either attributes of the suppliers network or are the result of the purchasing decisions.Study delimitations – This study has focused on manufacturing firms. The systematic literature review was performed on English academic articles in major academic databases, which were accessible through Jonkoping University network.Contributions – The main contribution of this study is taking the systematic approach to identify sources of purchasing flexibility spread in the literature. The exploratory case study confirms that majority of sources are used by the case company to increase the purchasing flexibility. The study serves as a good tool for practitioners by gathering and compiling a list of sources for purchasing flexibility.Keywords – Purchasing, supply chain, flexibility, upstream, manufacturing


Margrit Eichler is one of Canada's eminent social analysts who seeks to understand the ways in which economic, legal and social policies affect the lives of Canadian women. Her latest book builds on her previous critiques of public policy by focussing specifically on family policies. Its most significant contribution lies in its challenge of traditional models underlying our thinking about family policy, thinking that ultimately translates into legislative and economic decisions that affect the day-to-day lives of women and children. Eichler urges her readers to question theoretical underpinnings of family policy as they work to develop more gender equitable approaches. Family policy here includes all state policies that affect families, such as social welfare legislation, policies concerning social services (day care), income tax regulations, provisions in civil and criminal codes, family law, regulations about social benefits and custody decisions. In 1993, the federal government had a list of 47 federal programs that support families in Canada, in addition to provincial and territorial programs. Eichler's main thesis argues that in the past century, from about 1900 to 1970, a patriarchal model underlay family policy-making. This model was gradually eroded to make place for an individual responsibility model of families that currently dominates policy decisions. The individual responsibility model, while premised on gender equality, fails to address substantive aspects of gender inequality, especially the need for public support for care of dependents as well as conflating spousal and parental roles, assuming a congruence that no longer exists. Eichler tell us that other policy critics, who agree the individual responsibility model no longer matches current family realities, have suggested three quite divergent solutions: a return to a patriarchal model of the family, thus resolving the "family crisis"; a vigorous advocacy of gender equality between spouses; and abolishment of legal marriage and the nuclear family as a norm. Drawing on all of these arguments, Eichler proposes a different solution: adoption of a new family model called the social responsibility model. The first six chapters of the book are devoted to examining the patriarchal and individual models as preparation for reader acceptance of the social responsibility model. Eichler outlines eight features of each family model as a way to describe and compare all three. The social responsibility model of the family contains the following: - an ideological commitment to minimizing stratification on the basis of sex - functioning relationships constitute a family unit so that legal marriage is present but not privileged over the other relationships - household and family memberships may be but are not assumed to be congruous - the individual becomes the unit of administration - social recognition of all dependency relations regardless of whether they are between kin or non-kin. Adults responsible for their own and each other's economic well-being. Fathers and mothers both responsible for children, whether they live with them or not - mothers and fathers are both responsible for providing care for children. Parents retain parental responsibilities even if they do not live with children - public shares responsibility with both parents for the care of dependent children. Society pays when a parent is absent or unable to provide. Society pays for dependent adults no distinction between same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples in terms of their treatment by the state. …


The effects of fufu sieviate meal based diets at 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% levels using Panicum maximum as the basal on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of West African dwarf (WAD) goats were studied for 87 days. Thirty six blood samples were collected from the WAD goats and their haematological and serum biochemical indices were determined using Beckman Coulter Ac-T10 Laboratory Haematology Blood Analyzer and Bayer DCA 2000+ HbA1c analyzer, respectively using a completely randomized design. Packed cell volume (PCV) was better (p<0.05) at T1 than the other treatments. Red Blood Cell (RBC) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) were numerically improved at T2, T3 and T4 than in the control group while lymphocyte increased significantly (P<0.05) with increasing levels of the test ingredient. Results on serum biochemical indices showed that serum urea, creatinine, glucose and ALP differed significantly (P<0.05) and tended to be higher in the treatment (T2, T3 and T4)groups than the control group. The study therefore revealed that inclusion of fufu sieviate in the diets of West African Dwarf goats had no deleterious effects on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of WAD goats and could be included up to 60% in goat diets.


HIS Essay proposes a new method of monitoring regulatory compliance by a firm that operates multiple sources of risk, such as air polluting smokestacks. The expense of individually monitoring such sources may consume a large share of the agency's enforcement budget, undermining deterrence objectives. Under our approach, regulators would instead randomly select one of the firm's sources of risk, determine the firm's liability at that source, and apply that outcome perforce as determinative of liability at all of the sources. This method, which we call single-outcome sampling ("SOS"), replicates or improves deterrence generated by the current source-by-source enforcement model, but at a fraction of the cost. To demonstrate these benefits, we apply SOS to the EPA's monitoring of compliance with Clean Air Act regulations. We also address potential risk-bearing and judgment-proof costs associated with our proposal and explain how both problems can be solved.


The dispersion equation for surface waves--with simple transverse exponential decay at the interface of identical biaxial crystals with a relative twist about the axis normal to the interface and propagating along a bisector of the angle between the crystallographic configurations on either side of the interface--has several solutions of which only one is physical. The selected type of surface wave is possible only for a restricted range of the twist angle, which depends on the ratio of the maximum and the minimum of the principal refractive indexes and the angle between the optic ray axes.


Abstract Three different lytic bacteriophages (BPs) were isolated from the sewage system of commercial chicken flocks and used to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) colonization from experimental chickens. Ten-day-old chickens were challenged with 9.6 × 105 colony-forming units (CFU)/ml of a SE strain and treated by coarse spray or drinking water with a cocktail of the three phages at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 103 plaque-forming units (PFU) 24 hr prior to SE challenge. Chickens were euthanatized at day 20 of age for individual SE detection, quantitative bacteriology, and phage isolation from the intestine and from a pool of organs. SE detection was performed by both bacteriologic culture and genome detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Qualitative bacteriology showed that aerosol-spray delivery of BPs significantly reduced the incidence of SE infection in the chicken group (P  =  0.0084) to 72.7% as compared with the control group (100%). In addition, SE counts showed that phage delivery both by coarse spray and drinking water reduced the intestinal SE colonization (P < 0.01; P < 0.05, respectively). BPs were isolated at 10 days postinfection from the intestine and from pools of organs from BP-treated chickens. We conclude that the phage treatment, either by aerosol spray or drinking water, may be a plausible alternative to antibiotics for the reduction of Salmonella infection in poultry.


An increased awareness of the environment and the growing energy needs of countries like China and India have accelerated the search for sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel energy sources. Generating electricity from ocean waves is a viable alternative. This is because energy densities are sufficient to supplement the grid and thus make it economically viable. The seasonal supply profile also matches the demand profile. There are currently many different devices operating on different principles, the most promising of these is the oscillating body device using a linear generator. Linear generators are able to convert linear motion into electrical energy without the need for intermediate gears, screws or crank shafts. This increases the overall efficiency and makes the device more reliable. Static force simulations were done on a novel linear generator design. The generator combines the duel air-gap of a double sided topology with the encapsulation of the magnetic field in a tubular topology. This results in an increased force density, but also large cogging forces. The cogging forces consist of end-effects cogging forces that are caused by the interaction of the Permanent Magnets (PMs) with the stator ends, as well as cogging forces which are due to the interaction of the PMs and stator slots. The topic of this thesis is to find suitable methods of reducing the cogging forces. The end-effect forces were reduced by changing the stator length and altering the stator ends shape. Creating a quadratic b'ezier curve end shape and optimising the stator length reduced the end-effect cogging force from 630 N to 7 N. The slot cogging forces were reduced by dividing the PMs into two sections and to shift the outer PMs by one slot pitch relative to the inner PMs. This resulted in a decrease from 663 N to 25 N. However, a compromise needs to be made between reducing the cogging forces and not reducing the machine performance. Increasing the stator length increases the machine volume and dividing the magnets reduces the thrust force. This needs to be taken into account when designing a new machine.


Today, we live in a world where every time we turn on our smartphones, we are inextricably tied by data, laws and flowing bytes to different countries. A world in which personal expressions are framed and mediated by digital platforms, and where new kinds of currencies, financial exchange and even labor bypass corporations and governments. Simultaneously, the same technologies increase governmental powers of surveillance, allow corporations to extract ever more complex working arrangements and do little to slow the construction of actual walls along actual borders. On the one hand, the agency of individuals and groups is starting to approach that of nation states; on the other, our mobility and hard-won rights are under threat. What tools do we need to understand this world, and how can art assist in envisioning and enacting other possible futures? This publication investigates the new relationships between states, citizens and the stateless made possible by emerging technologies. It is the result of a two-year EU-funded collaboration between Aksioma (SI), Drugo More (HR), Furtherfield (UK), Institute of Network Cultures (NL), NeMe (CY), and a diverse range of artists, curators, theorists and audiences. State Machines insists on the need for new forms of expression and new artistic practices to address the most urgent questions of our time, and seeks to educate and empower the digital subjects of today to become active, engaged, and effective digital citizens of tomorrow. Contributors: James Bridle, Max Dovey, Marc Garrett, Valeria Graziano, Max Haiven, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Francis Hunger, Helen Kaplinsky, Marcell Mars, Tomislav Medak, Rob Myers, Emily van der Nagel, Rachel O'Dwyer, Lidia Pereira, Rebecca L. Stein, Cassie Thornton, Paul Vanouse, Patricia de Vries, Krystian Woznicki.


We examine the password policies of 75 different websites. Our goal is understand the enormous diversity of requirements: some will accept simple six-character passwords, while others impose rules of great complexity on their users. We compare different features of the sites to find which characteristics are correlated with stronger policies. Our results are surprising: greater security demands do not appear to be a factor. The size of the site, the number of users, the value of the assets protected and the frequency of attacks show no correlation with strength. In fact we find the reverse: some of the largest, most attacked sites with greatest assets allow relatively weak passwords. Instead, we find that those sites that accept advertising, purchase sponsored links and where the user has a choice show strong inverse correlation with strength.
 We conclude that the sites with the most restrictive password policies do not have greater security concerns, they are simply better insulated from the consequences of poor usability. Online retailers and sites that sell advertising must compete vigorously for users and traffic. In contrast to government and university sites, poor usability is a luxury they cannot afford. This in turn suggests that much of the extra strength demanded by the more restrictive policies is superfluous: it causes considerable inconvenience for negligible security improvement.


Cryptographic hash functions have always played a major role in most cryptographic applications. Traditionally, hash functions were designed in the keyless setting, where a hash function accepts a variable-length message and returns a fixed-length fingerprint. Unfortunately, over the years, significant weaknesses were reported on instances of some popular ``keyless" hash functions. This has motivated the research community to start considering the dedicated-key setting, where a hash function is publicly keyed. In this approach, families of hash functions are constructed such that the individual members are indexed by different publicly-known keys. This has, evidently, also allowed for more rigorous security arguments. However, it turns out that converting an existing keyless hash function into a dedicated-key one is usually non-trivial since the underlying keyless compression function of the keyless hash function does not normally accommodate the extra key input. In this thesis we define and formalise a flexible approach to solve this problem. Hash functions adopting our approach are said to be constructed in the integrated-key setting, where keyless hash functions are seamlessly and transparently transformed into keyed variants by introducing an extra component accompanying the (still keyless) compression function to handle the key input separately outside the compression function. We also propose several integrated-key constructions and prove that they are collision resistant, pre-image resistant, 2nd pre-image resistant, indifferentiable from Random Oracle (RO), indistinguishable from Pseudorandom Functions (PRFs) and Unforgeable when instantiated as Message Authentication Codes (MACs) in the private key setting. We further prove that hash functions constructed in the integrated-key setting are indistinguishable from their variants in the conventional dedicated-key setting, which implies that proofs from the dedicated-key setting can be naturally reduced to the integrated-key setting.


Translated by J. Edward Crowley. This radical reconstruction of the origins of Judaism starts by observing that Josephus's sources on the early history of Israel do not agree with the Bible and that the oldest rabbinic traditions show no sign of a biblical foundation. Another interesting question is raised by the Samaritan claim, at the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, that they had only recently received the Sabbath from the Jews. From such details, Nodet creates a comprehensive line of argument that reveals two major sources of Judaism, as symbolized in the subtitle of his work: Joshua was the one who established locally in writing a statute and a law at the Shechem assembly, while the Mishnah was the ultimate metamorphosis of traditions brought from Babylon and combined with Judaean influences.


Background The sanitary quality of food is a global concern. Salmonella infections are a major health problem in developing countries. Each year, food poisoning is affecting thousands of consumers. The objective of this study was to isolate strains of nontyphoidal Salmonella in food and in human diarrhoeal stools in Ouagadougou. Methods Sixty-one samples of sandwiches bought in Ouagadougou and 177 diarrhoeic stools specimen collected at the University Hospital Yaldao Ouedraogo and the Medical Centre Schiphra from May to October 2015 to detect Salmonella. The antibiotic susceptibility testing of Salmonella strains was done by the disk diffusion method using 14 antibiotics. Statistical analysis of data was done with Epi Info 7.3. Results From the overall samples analysed, 23 strains of Salmonella were identified including14/177 (7.9%) clinical strains, 9/61 (14.75% ) food strains. After antigenic identification 15 isolates (6 from foods, 9 from stools) belonged to known serotypes including 9 typhoidal and 6 nontyphoidal stains. Eight strains (3 from foods, 5 from stools) could not be serotyped by the reagents available. All the serotypes identified were found in stools (2 S. typhi, 1 S. paratyphi B, 1 S. paratyphi C, 1 S. enteritidis, 3 S. typhimurium and 1 S. dublin) while S. paratyphi B (4), S. paratyphi C (1) and S. enteritidis (1) only were identified in foods. Eleven (47.83%) strains were resistant to cotrimoxazole (2/11), tetracycline (8/11), nalidixic acid (##) and ciprofloxacine (2/11). Conclusions The overall frequency of Salmonella is higher in the foods than in the diarrhoeic stools. However, the serotype diversity of the clinical strains is more important than that of the food strains. The street sandwiches would not be the main sources of contamination by Salmonella. The high rate of the Salmonella resistance to antibiotics requires a more steady surveillance of the use of these antimicrobials.