Thank you for your insightful comments on our recent diffusion tractography study of partial agenesis of the corpus callosum and for bringing to our attention your prior work on MR imaging of partial callosal agenesis. Our own structural MR imaging analysis showing significant variation in the size and location of callosal fragments in individuals with partial agenesis is in good agreement with your previous results. Taken together, they provide strong evidence that callosal fragments in individuals with partial callosal agenesis do not represent the incomplete growth of a normal callosum. Our study supported and extended this hypothesis by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and high angular resolution diffusion imaging to perform 3D tractography, a technique unavailable at the time of your study. We determined the connectivity of axons passing through each callosal fragment and compared the pattern of connectivity with what would be expected based on the location of the fragment alone. We thus demonstrated not only that the positions of callosal fragments are variable (as can be shown with conventional MR imaging) but that the connectivity through a callosal fragment is also variable and cannot be determined on the basis of its anatomic location. These results confirm, in human subjects, what was found in the mouse studies you cite using horseradish peroxidase track tracing. In reading your article, we found the breakdown of your results based on associated brain abnormalities, such as Chiari II or DandyWalker malformations, particularly interesting. Although 10 of all 25 subjects in your study demonstrated a callosal fragment corresponding to the position of a normal callosum, only 2 of 10 subjects without associated abnormalities had a fragment at a normal position. Our cohort was restricted to individuals with either no or minor associated abnormalities, and all 6 of our subjects had connectivity patterns different from what would be expected based on incomplete callosal growth. These results together suggest that subjects with partial agenesis without associated abnormalities are more likely to develop callosal fragments unexplainable by incomplete callosal growth. Because individuals with associated brain abnormalities likely have different underlying causes of callosal dysgenesis, this result is perhaps not surprising. However, a more comprehensive classification of callosal morphology and connectivity based on etiology could yield significant insight into the developmental mechanisms of callosal dysgenesis. This awaits further investigation in larger cohorts.


A graph $G$ is distinguished if its vertices are labelled by a map $\phi: V(G) \longrightarrow \{1,2,\ldots, k\}$ so that no non-trivial graph automorphism preserves $\phi$. The distinguishing number of $G$ is the minimum number $k$ necessary for $\phi$ to distinguish the graph. It measures the symmetry of the graph. We extend these definitions to an arbitrary group action of $\Gamma$ on a set $X$. A labelling $\phi: X \longrightarrow \{1,2,\ldots,k\}$ is distinguishing if no element of $\Gamma$ preserves $\phi$ except those which fix each element of $X$. The distinguishing number of the group action on $X$ is the minimum $k$ needed for $\phi$ to distinguish the group action. We show that distinguishing group actions is a more general problem than distinguishing graphs. We completely characterize actions of $S_n$ on a set with distinguishing number $n$, answering an open question of Albertson and Collins.


Abstract Investigations of designs with a flowing free-surface molten salt as a first wall in the Advanced Power Extraction (APEX) Program led to questions concerning the liquidus temperature and solidification processes for the [1:1:1] composition in the LiF, BeF2 and NaF system. Sandia experiments, reported in this conference, showed a liquidus temperature near 425°C for the [1:1:1] composition. We also identified other compositions that showed congruent (eutectic) solidification and had sufficiently low melting temperatures (~305-320°C) to be useful in this application. Further characterization of these materials is necessary to evaluate their potential. This paper summarizes a 3-D finite element analysis of the experiment that evaluates thermal gradients in the salt pool and crucible, reproduces the "thermal plateau" associated with the isothermal freezing of a eutectic, and compares the calculated temperatures with readings from the three thermocouples in the experiment.


In the Maghreb region, the unemployment rate of young university graduates is greater than 30% in Morocco , 30.5% in Tunisia and 22% in Algeria (the official figures for 2014 give us 10%), which is to say that the issue of unemployment is at the heart of social movements. This phenomenon, which was already at the heart of the Tunisian revolution, has only worsened since then. We can still recall without difficulty the story of Mohamed Bouazizi, a young graduate selling fruits and vegetables as a street vendor, who set himself on fire in late 2010, preferring death to the social degradation and the disdain with which public authorities looked upon an entire generation of youth whose only expectation was decent work. Unemployed graduates have therefore begun organizing, notably by creating associations to inform public opinion and public authorities about the precarious nature of the current situation and about the continued risk to social cohesion. This article will touch upon three essential points, which are the following: first, an overview of the Algerian labor market will bring to light the characteristics of the working population and the problem of unemployment among young graduates; second, I will take up the issue of how unemployment is experienced and what work means for youth having invested in university study; in the third and final part, I will take up the issue of collective action and forms of mobilization among the unemployed in a country where oil income is used to buy social harmony, and where authorities go to great lengths to defuse the collective struggle of unemployed graduates throughout the country, on some occasions resorting to the use of force, and on others resorting instead to the instrumentalization and discrediting of advocacy organizations for the unemployed.


The purpose of this thesis is to explore the diverging concept on business model innovation and understand why Norwegian firms fail to innovate their business models. In doing so, the differences and relationship between BMI and service innovation, process innovation, and product innovation is developed into a conceptual representation of a business model perspective towards innovation. Based on the survey data from 284 firms across industries in Norway and interviews from 11 interviewees, the author analyzes the barriers and challenges associated with attempting business model innovation, grouping them at an individual, firm and industry level. Ultimately, this contributes a conceptualization of a business model perspective towards innovation for managing firm activities. Moreover, this thesis finds that because service innovation, process innovation, and product innovation are located within the business model itself, business model innovation faces additional barriers.


Prescribed fire can potentially reduce carbon emissions from unplanned fires. This potential will differ among ecosystems owing to inherent differences in the efficacy of prescribed burning in reducing unplanned fire activity (or 'leverage', i.e. the reduction in area of unplanned fire per unit area of prescribed fire). In temperate eucalypt forests, prescribed burning leverage is relatively low and potential for mitigation of carbon emissions from unplanned fires via prescribed fire is potentially limited. Simulations of fire regimes accounting for non-linear patterns of fuel dynamics for three fuel types characteristic of eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia supported this prediction. Estimated mean annual fuel consumption increased with diminishing leverage and increasing rate of prescribed burning, even though average fire intensity (prescribed and unplanned fires combined) decreased. The results indicated that use of prescribed burning in these temperate forests is unlikely to yield a net reduction in carbon emissions. Future increases in burning rates under climate change may increase emissions and reduce carbon sequestration. A more detailed understanding of the efficacy of prescribed burning and dynamics of combustible biomass pools is required to clarify the potential for mitigation of carbon emissions in temperate eucalypt forests and other ecosystems.


The present investigation was carried out to understand the role of different genotypes with its surrounding environments interaction in the expression of various characters and stability over successive seasons. The phenotypic stability of genotypes were estimated by mean performance over seasons, the regression coefficient (bi) and deviation from regression. Based on stability parameters the genotypes DGGV-25 and DGGV-40 exhibited moderate mean performance for seeds yield per plant with regression value closer to unity and non-significant deviation from regression, indicating high stability and wider adaptability across three environments. These genotypes also confer Moderate Resistance to MYMV and their performance could be checked under Multi location trials, which may also serve as better source for MYMV resistance..


The advancement of science and medicinal technology both facilitate and necessitate an increase in the understanding of the human body, its subsystems, and their reliabilities. One of the most prominent examples of this is in the possible creation of synthetic organs, which will need benchmarks for their dependability before approval for implantation. While lower-level biological processes have been simulated using traditional reliability modeling approaches, this research extends the body of knowledge by instead taking a top-down approach. In this work, a model of the human body was derived using a Generalized Stochastic Petri Net (GSPN) by exploiting the similarities between the human body and traditional fault-tolerant systems. Although the simulation results proved that more detailed medical statistics are needed prior to implementation, the research does provide a foundational model for future work in this area.


Calcium sulphate is rich in natural resources and by-product of many industrial processes. However, most calcium sulphate product was only used with low added value or treated as waste, harmful to environment. If the calcium sulphate can be used as papermaking filler, very high added value can be gained and also the environment problem can be solved. In this paper calcium sulphate from by product of industry was characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron micrograph (SEM), and then used as papermaking filler. The influence of calcium sulphate filler on pulp suspension and paper properties was studies. The results showed that the calcium sulphate fillers were composed of three crystal forms, dihydrate, hemihydrate, anhydrite, and it was needle or fiber shape, hollow in the middle; calcium sulphate showed high brightness and high conductivity in water, compared with talc or ground calcium carbonate(GCC) filler. When calcium sulphate filler was used in papermaking process the filler retention was very small because of its high solubility in water. Calcination at high temperature can lower the solubility of calcium sulphate and slightly increase the retention, but the retention was still quite small. The future work should focus on controlling the solubility of calcium sulphate.


Summary
1.
The epidemiological studies reported here were undertaken to ascertain the prevalence of T. vaginalis in different groups of women, the association with other parasitic infections and clinical symptoms as well as methods of transmission.
2.
T. vaginalis was nearly eight times as frequent in Negro women as in white employees who participated in a cancer-detection survey at the National Institutes of Health, but there was no significant difference between Negro and white women attending a Gyn clinic.
3.
The prevalence of vaginal trichomoniasis was greatest in women of both races 30 to 49 years of age.
4.
No significant alteration in the prevalence of T. vaginalis could be attributed to marital status or history of pregnancy except that Negro women attending the Gyn clinic for postpartum examinations had a prevalence of vaginal trichomoniasis which was much lower than could be expected by chance.
5.
White Protestant women at NIH had a significantly higher prevalence of vaginal trichomoniasis than the nonProtestant white women (P < .01).
6.
Women with a history of vaginal discharge or pruritis who had had no symptoms during the preceding year had a much lower prevalence of T. vaginalis than did those with a persistant discharge. No such difference was noted regarding the prevalence of vaginal fungi.
7.
T. tenax and T. vaginalis occurred in the same individuals much more frequently than could be attributed to chance. (P. < .001)
8.
Vaginal smears showing cytological atypias, Papanicolaou class II and above, were much more prevalent in women with vaginal trichomoniasis than in uninfected women. This was especially marked in white women. A similar association was observed between trichomoniasis and cytological atypias, Papanicolaou class III and IV, as well as between trichomoniasis and cases of proven malignancy. However, the number of cases observed was small and no conclusion concerning them is warranted at this time.
9.
The importance of the sexual partner in the epidemiology of trichomoniasis was emphasized by culturing T. vaginalis from nearly half of the spouses of infected women who submitted to examination, and by the fact that three times as many single, divorced or widowed women in our series were cured of their trichomoniasis as were women living with their husbands.
10.
Transmission by means of communal use of fomites, such as wash cloths, was shown to be possible by culturing T. vaginalis from pieces of wash cloth after standing at room temperature for up to 23 hours after being used to cleanse the external genitalia of infected women.


The banking sector, the predominant component of the Romanian financial system, had a relatively stable structure in the period 2005-2009 and has experienced significant consolidation, particularly in the years 2005-2006, this being sustained mainly by the restructuring and privatization process, but also by Romania's EU accession perspective and the competitive environment in this area. Given the new status of Romania as EU member country, the competition in the banking system has increased significantly, leading to both structural changes, but also to changes in levels of analysis indicators of banking structure and performance. Following this analysis, it appears that, recently, our country's banking system saw a dynamic and unprecedented diversification resulting from the economic development of the society and adaptation to EU requirements, and we can say that in Romania there is, now, a modern and competitive banking system, which provides circulation of the domestic economy and provides banking products and services in accordance with trends in the European banking sector.


BACKGROUND
Culture of S. Typhi is necessary for the definitive diagnosis of typhoid fever and provides isolates for antibiotic susceptibility testing and epidemiological studies. However, current methods are not fully optimised and sourcing culture media and bottles for culture media may be problematic.

METHODOLOGY
In two hospital laboratories in Viet Nam, comparisons of media for blood and stool culture were conducted. The effect of the volume of blood or stool on culture positivity rate was examined and direct plating of the blood buffy coat was trialed.

RESULTS
For 148 suspected typhoid fever cases, ox bile broth (58 positive) and brain-heart infusion broth containing saponin (63 positive), performed equally well. For 69 confirmed adult typhoid fever cases, large-volume (15 ml) blood culture gave the same sensitivity as 1 ml of bone marrow culture. For 44 confirmed typhoid fever cases, the direct plating of the buffy coat was positive in 28 cases. For 263 positive stool cultures, selenite F and selenite mannitol performed equally well and culturing 2 g rather than 1g increased the isolation rate by 10.5%.

CONCLUSIONS
For the diagnosis of typhoid fever by blood culture the medium should be a rich nutrient broth containing a lysing agent. In adults 1 ml bone marrow or 15 ml blood culture gave similar results. Where isolates are needed for susceptibility testing or epidemiological studies, but resources for culture are scarce, direct plating of the blood buffy coat can be used with a 50% fall in sensitivity compared to standard blood culture.


This paper examines current agricultural trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization, with particular attention to the relationship between liberalization and developing countries' economic growth and food security. Agriculture remains one of the most highly protected arenas of international trade. The cost of such protection falls particularly hard on developing countries, where agriculture typically accounts for a much higher share of economic output, exports, and employment than in developed countries. Although the 1994 Uruguay Round of trade talks succeeded in bringing agriculture into the rules-based trading system, it did little to actually reduce agricultural trade protection. This paper describes how three important actors in the agricultural trading system—the United States, the European Union, and developing countries—are positioning themselves in the current talks to deal with the unfinished business from the Uruguay Round.


We derive a second-order ordinary differential equation (ODE), which is the limit of Nesterov's accelerated gradient method. This ODE exhibits approximate equivalence to Nesterov's scheme and thus can serve as a tool for analysis. We show that the continuous time ODE allows for a better understanding of Nesterov's scheme. As a byproduct, we obtain a family of schemes with similar convergence rates. The ODE interpretation also suggests restarting Nesterov's scheme leading to an algorithm, which can be rigorously proven to converge at a linear rate whenever the objective is strongly convex.


Background: In rural India, only a few studies have been undertaken to investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Most of the studies carried out on the urban population. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of CVD risk factors in a rural community in West Bengal, India. Materials and Methods: A total of 1007 (645 males and 362 females) participants aged 20 years and above took part in the present study. Various anthropometric measures were undertaken using standard techniques. Metabolic profiles were measured using an auto-analyzer. Blood pressure (BP) was recorded according to standard protocol. Insulin was also measured, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance was calculated accordingly. Results: The anthropometric measures are almost equal in male and female except SF4 and percentage of body fat, which are more in the female. It is observed that 52.53% population have high BP, 45.58% have high triglyceride (TG), 23.14% have high fasting blood glucose (FBG), 11.22% have high total cholesterol (TC), and 11.62% have low high-density lipoprotein (HDL). High TC is found more in female, but high TG, high FBG, and high BP are more in male, and low HDL is found almost equal in male and female. The prevalence of three CVD risk factors clustering is also significant in male and female. Conclusion: The present study showed that prevalence of CVD risk factors is considerably high in the study population and warranted early intervention to check progressive increase of CVD risk factors in the rural folk.


Baron's work has not been extensively studied nor is it known in full. Critical writings and scholarly attention have focused on the work as representative of Holocaust suffering. This thesis intervenes in that assumption by arguing that it is possible to understand Baron's processes of making collage as a significant case study in the problematic of signification and a complex of differences none of which are reducible to or deducible from each other. Drawing together a range of biographical information, primary source material and close readings of many of Baron's collages (including two hitherto unseen series) traces are revealed of both a maker: an artistic subject finding itself in its own practice, and a making, in the sense of a process that cannot be bound into the singularity of the subject who made it. A framework is established using psychoanalytic theory and second generation Holocaust theory that allows for the possibility of reading into Baron's life story both the symptoms of unresolved conflicts and a particular set of strategies that enabled her to sustain a creative subjectivity. Kristeva's formulation of art as an imaginaire du pardon permits a reading, however tentative, of Baron's art in terms of a poetics of imaginary restoration and reparation in which archaic and traumatic-affects are given the structure of symbolic representation. This is especially pertinent to Baron's fourteen year experience of cancer. Finally, a consideration of Baron's collage making as a process of inscription that is in relation to the body as a coalition of history, memory, corporeaJity'and the psyche is not only significant to contemporary understandings of identity and subjectivity, but also makes it possible to propose an ethical dimension concerned with a feminine understanding of difference.


Abstract Hydrogenosomes are H2-producing mitochondrial homologs found in some anaerobic microbial eukaryotes that provide a rare intracellular niche for H2-utilizing endosymbiotic archaea. Among ciliates, anaerobic and aerobic lineages are interspersed, demonstrating that the switch to an anaerobic lifestyle with hydrogenosomes has occurred repeatedly and independently. To investigate the molecular details of this transition, we generated genomic and transcriptomic data sets from anaerobic ciliates representing three distinct lineages. Our data demonstrate that hydrogenosomes have evolved from ancestral mitochondria in each case and reveal different degrees of independent mitochondrial genome and proteome reductive evolution, including the first example of complete mitochondrial genome loss in ciliates. Intriguingly, the FeFe-hydrogenase used for generating H2 has a unique domain structure among eukaryotes and appears to have been present, potentially through a single lateral gene transfer from an unknown donor, in the common aerobic ancestor of all three lineages. The early acquisition and retention of FeFe-hydrogenase helps to explain the facility whereby mitochondrial function can be so radically modified within this diverse and ecologically important group of microbial eukaryotes.


In late 2003, the young eruptive variable star V1647 Orionis optically brightened by over 5 mag, stayed bright for around 26 months, and then declined to its pre-outburst level. In 2008 August, the star was reported to have unexpectedly brightened yet again and we herein present the first detailed observations of this new outburst. Photometrically, the star is now as bright as it ever was following the 2003 eruption. Spectroscopically, a pronounced P Cygni profile is again seen in Hα with an absorption trough extending to −700 km s−1. In the near-infrared, the spectrum now possesses very weak CO overtone bandhead absorption in contrast to the strong bandhead emission seen soon after the 2003 event. Water vapor absorption is also much stronger than previously seen. We discuss the current outburst below and relate it to the earlier event.


Topographical features in the northeastern USA result in temperature and soil water differences between locations of close proximity. Dairy producers frequently inquire how these differences affect forage quality of maize (Zea mays L.). Field experiments were established in 1990 and 1991 at two locations and two planting dates to evaluate temperature and soil water effects on neutral-detergent fiber (NDF), lignin, and in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD). Whole-plant IVDMD at harvest (R5 stage) had correlation coefficients (r) of -0.61 with NDF and -0.63 with lignin concentration at silking. Also, IVDMD had r = -0.90, - 0.72, and 0.75 with NDF, lignin, and grain content, respectively, at the R5 stage. Stover lignin concentration and grain content explained 83% of the variability in whole-plant IVDMD at the R5 stage. In the dry 1991 growing season, IVDMD was higher and fiber components were lower than in the wetter 1990 season. Locations, which had average temperature differences of 3.5°C from the eighth-leaf (V8) to R5 stage, did not affect forage quality in 1990, but the cool location in 1991 had somewhat higher IVDMD and lower fiber components than the warm location. Nevertheless, regression analysis indicated that temperature did not contribute significantly to IVDMD variability and contributed only a small portion to NDF variability at harvest. In contrast, a calculated water deficit index value explained 74% of the variability in IVDMD at early grain-fill and 61% at harvest. Clearly, maize forage quality in this study was associated more with soil water differences than with temperature differences.


The Environment and Safeguards Group (ESG) of the IDB has examined how potential environmental and social risks of major road improvement investments in natural resource rich and socio-culturally diverse "frontier" regions have been identified and addressed in various parts of South and Central America. This was done through a set of specific case studies for completed and ongoing Bank-supported projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Peru. In doing so, experience and lessons learned with respect to various parts of the project cycle -- design/preparation, up-front environmental assessment, implementation/supervision, and monitoring and evaluation -- are considered, as are the analysis and management of direct, indirect and cumulative environmental and social impacts. The present paper summarizes the main findings and recommendations from this series of county case studies.


Introduction to Organic Chemistry, 5th Edition provides an introduction to organic chemistry for students who require the fundamentals of organic chemistry as a requirement for their major. It is most suited for a one semester organic chemistry course. In an attempt to highlight the relevance of the material to students, the authors place a strong emphasis on showing the interrelationship between organic chemistry and other areas of science, particularly the biological and health sciences. The text illustrates the use of organic chemistry as a tool in these sciences; it also stresses the organic compounds, both natural and synthetic, that surround us in everyday life: in pharmaceuticals, plastics, fibers, agrochemicals, surface coatings, toiletry preparations and cosmetics, food additives, adhesives, and elastomers.


The popular approach to estimating the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption (EMUC) (Chetty 2006, "A New Method of Estimating Risk Aversion." American Economic Review 96 (5):1821–1834. doi:10.1257/aer.96.5.1821. http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.96.5.1821) is here extended by including household production. It is shown that this generalization of the model is important as omission of household production may lead to bias, as demonstrated in a numerical sensitivity analysis. An extended model with household production is used to derive new EMUC formulas. Empirical estimates based on current evidence of the included parameters suggest a lower bound for EMUC of about 0.9.


This thesis examines clinical characteristics, molecular genetic aspects and electrophysiological features of two muscle channelopathies - myotonia congenita (MC) and Andersen-Tawil syndrome (ATS).
MC is a muscle stiffness disorder caused by mutations in the skeletal muscle chloride channel gene CLCN1. A detailed genotype-phenotype analysis was undertaken in an initial MC cohort (22 families). A screening strategy for genetic testing was developed and applied to a larger cohort (303 cases). Twenty-three novel mutations and a high proportion of dominant MC predominantly due to four novel mutations clustered in exon 8 were observed.

These four mutations were studied in vitro using two-electrode voltage-clamp methods in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Loss of function and clear dominant-negative effect in CO-expression experiments were demonstrated.
The Xenopus oocyte expression system was also used to study the non-genomic effect of sex hormones on CLC-1 channels. It is shown that both testosterone and progesterone rapidly and reversibly inhibit wild-type CIC-1 channels by causing a prominent rightward shift in the voltage dependence of their open probability. In contrast, 17 β-estradiol causes only a small shift. These results suggest a possible mechanism to explain how the severity of myotonia congenita may be modulated by sex hormones.
The potential modifying effect of the myotonic dystrophy genes DMPK and ZNF9 on the phenotype of MC was investigated. Allele sizes for these genes were measured in more than 400 patients with suspected non-dystrophic myotonia.
Four individuals were identified with an intermediate size allele of DMPK and ten individuals tested positive for myotonic dystrophy type 2.

ATS is characterised by the triad of periodic paralysis, cardiac arrhythmias and dysmorphic features. A UK cohort with ATS is presented with detailed phenotype-genotype correlation. Novel mutations were found and unusual clinical features including
renal tubular defect, CNS involvement, dental and phonation abnormalities were observed.


The three component condensation of an aldehyde, Substituted urea and 3-oxobutanamide in presence of catalytic amount of AlCl3 is disclosed for the synthesis of pyrimidine under solvent free microwave irradiation conditions. High yields are achieved even 1 g scale, while reaction times are considerably shortened compare to conventional method The antimicrobial activities of the pyrimidines (1a-t) are compared with those of known chosen standard drugs, viz. ampicillin, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and griseofulvin.


Received 10 May 2007; revised 19 September 2007; accepted 25 October 2007; published 26 January 2008. [1] Space-borne formaldehyde (HCHO) column measurements from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), with 13 � 24 km 2 nadir footprint and daily global coverage, provide new constraints on the spatial distribution of biogenic isoprene emission from North America. OMI HCHO columns for June-August 2006 are consistent with measurements from the earlier GOME satellite sensor (1996–2001) but OMI is 2–14% lower. The spatial distribution of OMI HCHO columns follows that of isoprene emission; anthropogenic hydrocarbon emissions are undetectable except in Houston. We develop updated relationships between HCHO columns and isoprene emission from a chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), and use these to infer top-down constraints on isoprene emissions from the OMI data. We compare the OMI-derived emissions to a state-of-science bottom-up isoprene emission inventory (MEGAN) driven by two land cover databases, and use the results to optimize the MEGAN emission factors (EFs) for broadleaf trees (the main isoprene source). The OMI-derived isoprene emissions in North America (June–August 2006) with 1 � 1 resolution are spatially consistent with MEGAN (R 2 = 0.48–0.68) but are lower (by 4–25% on average). MEGAN overestimates emissions in the Ozarks and the Upper South. A better fit to OMI (R 2 = 0.73) is obtained in MEGAN by using a uniform isoprene EF from broadleaf trees rather than variable EFs. Thus MEGAN may overestimate emissions in areas where it specifies particularly high EFs. Within-canopy isoprene oxidation may also lead to significant differences between the effective isoprene emission to the atmosphere seen by OMI and the actual isoprene emission determined by MEGAN.


This document clarifies the procedures for the control of the label
used on an output/downstream interface of the egress node of a Label
Switched Path (LSP). This control is also known as "Egress Control".
Support for Egress Control is implicit in Generalized Multi-Protocol
Label Switching (GMPLS) Signaling. This document clarifies the
specification of GMPLS Signaling and does not modify GMPLS signaling
mechanisms and procedures. [STANDARDS-TRACK]


Since the publication of A Vision for Change (Department of Health and Children 2006), which sets out the direction for mental health services in Ireland, new approaches to interacting with people who have lived experience of mental ill health have emerged. Co-production is one such approach. Co-production is a word used to describe the creation of a dialogical space where the service user, family members, carers and service providers enter a collaborative medical partnership to improve their own care and also service provision. Co-production is a cornerstone in the delivery of a recovery-oriented service and when implemented correctly it has the power to achieve positive change. The aim of this article is to provide background information and guidance on how to implement co-production in traditional mental health services. It is in line with the publication and implementation of the Irish recovery guidance document, A National Framework for Recovery in Mental Health (Health Service Executive 2017a).


Attitudes toward, Opinions about, and Knowledge of Libraries and Research among Incoming College Students This article uses information gathered from a short quiz and questionnaire administered to 521 incoming students in order to examine their attitudes toward, opinions about, and knowledge of libraries and research. The data analysis uncovered meaningful correlations between students' performance and high school class size, gender, grade point average, and previous experience with library research. No significant correlation was discovered between students' test scores and their levels of self-confidence, comfort in libraries, or self-assessment of library skills. The findings both reinforce and contradict stereotypical assumptions about incoming students and provide information that can be used when modeling programs of bibliographic instruction. What do incoming college students know bout libraries? What do they believe, and hat prejudices do they carry? How confident are they in their research skills? What experiences do they have, and what bearing do these experiences have on capabilities and confidence levels? These questions rarely have been posed in the library literature. Although several studies chart the development of library research skills during students' four years of college, there is scant literature examining incoming attitudes, opinions, and beliefs.[1] For bibliographic instruction and reference services to be truly effective, it is essential to know more about the attitudes and skills that incoming students bring with them as they first encounter our libraries. In an attempt to ascertain student attitudes toward, opinions about, and knowledge of libraries and research, St. Olaf College librarians administered a survey to incoming students during orientation week in September 1996 (see the appendix). The survey included a short knowledge test as well as questions about students' previous experience with libraries, including the amount of time spent in libraries, number of research papers written, and types of reference materials used. It also asked students to rate their competencies and confidence levels with various types of research tools. In order to examine correlations between competencies (both tested and self-assessed) and various other factors, the questionnaire also asked students about reading habits, television viewing, previous experience with library instruction, and planned majors. Methodology All incoming St. Olaf students participate in a week of orientation before first-semester classes begin.(2) During this orientation week junior counselors from each dormitory are expected to bring first-year students to the library for an hour of orientation. In the fall of 1996, 67 percent of the freshman class, or 521 of 769 students, participated in library tours. Surveys were administered as the first item of business, before students received walking tours of the libraries, heard talks by librarians, or received any introduction to the online system. This sequence, we hoped, would provide a clear sense of incoming attitudes and knowledge, before students had received any instruction or advice. The Test The first component of the survey was a short "test" that measured students' basic skills and general knowledge of library materials and functions, i.e., bibliographies, Boolean operators, the scope of subject headings, citation formats, distinctions between primary and secondary sources, and differences between academic journals and popular magazines. In addition to the test, the students were also questioned about their previous library experience, academic background, reading habits, and general attitudes toward libraries. Questions and corresponding tables are listed below. Results of the survey can be found in the appendix. Miscellaneous Characteristics What student characteristics may (or may not) be relevant to library attitudes and competencies? …


Metalinguistic negation (MN) is interesting for at least the following two reasons: (a) it is one instance of the much broader, very widespread and various phenomenon of metarepresentational use in linguistic communication, whose semantic and pragmatic properties are currently being extensively explored by both linguists and philosophers of language; (b) it plays a central role in recent accounts of presupposition-denial cases, such as 'The king of France is not bald; there is no king of France'. It is this latter employment that discussion of metalinguistic negation has focused on since Horn (1985)'s key article on the subject. While Burton-Roberts (1989a, 1989b) saw the MN account of presupposition-denials as providing strong support for his semantic theory of presupposition, I have offered a multi-layered pragmatic account of these cases, which also involves MN, but maintains the view that the phenomenon of presupposition is pragmatic (Carston 1994, 1996, 1998a).


Components made of wood plastic composites are used in exterior application, where in comparison with nature wood composite do not require further maintenance (predetermine to long-term usage for its physical and mechanical properties). Adding wood to plastic significantly increases mechanical properties (utmost stiffness), reduces thermal expansion of the plastic and decreases of cost. Design of product is not limited by material and technology and is possible to product different types of profile and shapes. Nowadays demand on wood plastic composites is with increasing character. For this reason, a better understanding of this composite material in regards to machining and texture of surface is necessary. The paper deals with a comparison of the surface roughness of Wood Plastic Composite with traditional wood (oak) after turning. Presented paper is focused on observation changes of average maximum height Rz with change of speed of feeds f and speed of rotations nc (simultaneously compare predicted and real values of surface roughness parameter Rz). Experiment was realized with monolithic cutting tool made of high speed steel (EN ISO HS6-5-2) with positive geometry. Machining of WPC was in direction parallel to extruding axe, and verification sample in parallel fiber direction. Graphical evaluation of experimental values was realized using software OriginLab. Detecting surface quality was made using microscopic camera DigiMicro 2.0


Synchronization of nutrient release from organic material and nutrient uptake requires a better understanding of plant residue decomposition kinetics. A field experiment was consequently conducted, at field 7 research station of Egerton University, to determine chickpea residue decomposition and N mineralization rates. Fresh chickpea residue, weighing 50 g, was placed in each of the fifteen 7 mm-mesh litterbags measuring 25 × 25 cm. The litter bags were arranged in a randomized complete block design and buried horizontally in the plough layer with five bags per replicate. One bag was randomly retrieved from each replicate after 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90 days. Dry weight of the residue was recorded after oven drying at 70◦C for 48 hours. The decomposition (KD) and N release (KN) rate constants were estimated using a single exponential model Yt = Y0× e-kt; where: Y0 is the original amount of material applied and Yt the proportion of the initial dry matter or N remaining after a period of time t, in years. The K value was the slope of the linear regression of lηY verses t. The chickpea residue initially decomposed rapidly with 67% of the original weight being lost within the first 30 days and 80, 94 % by 50 and 90 days, respectively. On a logarithmic scale, the calculated KD was -11.05 year-1 and 20 days were required for 50 % loss in dry weight. Nitrogen released from the residue followed the same trend as dry weight loss. The calculated KN of the chickpea residue was -3.11 year-1. The cumulative N mineralized, in 30 days, was 18.9 g kg-1 (58%) out of the 32.4 g kg-1 contained in the residue before incorporation in soil. To synchronize nutrient release and nutrient demand, the chickpea residue incorporation should therefore be done closer to planting to benefit the subsequent crop.


This editorial refers to 'Relationship of interleukin-6 with regional and global left-ventricular function in asymptomatic individuals without clinical cardiovascular disease: insights from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis'[†][1], by A.T. Yan et al. on page 875

The pathogenesis of left ventricular (LV) failure and cardiomyopathy, especially in the absence of ischaemic injury, remains incompletely understood. Among the key pathways implicated in the evolution of myocardial failure are neurohormonal activation,1 oxidative stress/nitroso–redox imbalance,2 and immune activation.3 Support for immune activation in heart failure comes from studies showing increased levels of inflammatory cytokines in patients with heart failure and increased expression of immunological antigens within the heart.1 With regard to the former, levels of inflammatory cytokines correlate with both severity of heart failure and the development of heart failure in asymptomatic patients, and as such these mediators may have both pathophysiological importance and utility as clinically predictive biomarkers.

A key issue arising from these associations is whether the cytokines are causally or non-causally correlated with disease pathophysiology. This is addressed by studies in which a cytokine is experimentally overexpressed.3 Indeed, in the case of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), classically shown to be associated with heart failure severity, it is shown that direct animal injections mimicked endotoxin-induced septic shock.4 Furthermore, injections of antibodies against TNF-α attenuated the haemodynamic collapse seen in those animals.5 Other studies in rats have shown that circulating concentrations of TNF-α similar to those seen in patients with heart failure are sufficient to produce persistent negative inotropic effects that are detectable at the level of the cardiac myocyte and are completely reversible after TNF-α is stopped.6 Similar findings have been reported in cardiac restricted transgenic overexpression of TNF-α; however, recent experimental data suggest that only ablation of the gene for TNF receptor 1 …

*Corresponding author. Tel: +1 305 243 5579, Fax: +1 305 243 5584, Email: jhare{at}med.miami.edu

 [1]: #fn-2


Jaundice with evidence of hepatocellular damage of moderate severity was observed in a patient who received methyldopa. The diffuse mononuclear infiltration of the liver tissue was found to consist of 90% E-rosette-forming cells. Peripheral lymphocytes gave a markedly positive macrophage migration inhibition (MIF) test against methyldopa. The number of T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood was at the lower limit of normal but they proved to be functionally inactive, as demonstrated by the results of a local xenogeneic graft-vs-host reaction test. The liver disease was associated with hyperglobulinemia, a decrease of the third and fourth components of complement and the presence of incomplete erythrocytic antibodies, leukoagglutinins, antinuclear factor, and smooth muscle antibody. Follow-up after discontinuation of the drug revealed a gradual return to normal of liver function and MIF tests, normalization of cellular immunity, and disappearance of the humoral antibodies. It is assumed that sensitization by methyldopa triggered the autoaggressive phenomena and their ultimate manifestation in the liver.


We consider the design of turbo receiver structures for space-frequency block coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (SFBC-OFDM) systems in the presence of unknown frequency and time selective fading channels. The turbo receiver structures for SFBC-OFDM systems under consideration consists of an iterative MAP expectation/maximization (EM) channel estimation algorithm, soft MMSE-SFBC decoder and a soft MAP outer-channel-code decoder. MAP-EM employs iterative channel estimation and it improves receiver performance by re-estimating the channel after each decoder iteration. Moreover, the MAP-EM approach considers the channel variations as random processes and applies the Karhunen-Loeve (KL) orthogonal series expansion. The optimal truncation property of the KL expansion can reduce computational load on the iterative estimation approach. The performance of the proposed approaches are studied in terms of mean square error and bit-error rate. Through computer simulations, the effect of a pilot spacing on the channel estimator performance and sensitivity of turbo receiver structures on channel estimation error are studied. Simulation results illustrate that receivers with turbo coding are very sensitive to channel estimation errors compared to receivers with convolutional codes. Moreover, superiority of the turbo coded SFBC-OFDM systems over the turbo coded STBC-OFDM systems is observed especially for high Doppler frequencies.


The question as to whether the national innovation system (NIS) plays a significant positive role in influencing economic growth has been intensely debated by academics as well as policy analysts. The main controversy, however, is the fact that the ongoing empirical evidences on the relationship between innovation and economic growth are still mixed. The aim of this paper is to provide further evidence on the relationship between the NIS and economic growth using consistent and reliable data from a sample of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa [BRICS]). The research has a BRICS focus and constructs NIS using historical panel data set for the main variables, that is, university enrolment rate for science and engineering students, government research and development expenditure, high-tech export and the enclosure of control variables covering the period 2000Q1–2013Q4. The study employed a dynamic panel estimation technique with a view of evaluating the relative impact of the NIS on economic growth in BRICS. The results revealed that the NIS as a whole has a positive effect on economic growth in BRICS economies. An important policy implication emerging from this study is that extra efforts are needed by emerging economies to promote the development of a NIS so as to explore the potential growth-inducing effects of a well-functioning NIS. Consequently, findings from this study have offered some persuading indicators for BRICS economies to explore the development of a NIS as a potential opportunity to speed up their economic growth.


Denoising has proven to be useful to efficiently generate high-quality Monte Carlo renderings. Traditional pixel-based denoisers exploit summary statistics of a pixel's sample distributions, which discards much of the samples' information and limits their denoising power. On the other hand, sample-based techniques tend to be slow and have difficulties handling general transport scenarios. We present the first convolutional network that can learn to denoise Monte Carlo renderings directly from the samples. Learning the mapping between samples and images creates new challenges for the network architecture design: the order of the samples is arbitrary, and they should be treated in a permutation invariant manner. To address these challenges, we develop a novel kernel-predicting architecture that splats individual samples onto nearby pixels. Splatting is a natural solution to situations such as motion blur, depth-of-field and many light transport paths, where it is easier to predict which pixels a sample contributes to, rather than a gather approach that needs to figure out, for each pixel, which samples (or nearby pixels) are relevant. Compared to previous state-of-the-art methods, ours is robust to the severe noise of low-sample count images (e.g. 8 samples per pixel) and yields higher-quality results both visually and numerically. Our approach retains the generality and efficiency of pixel-space methods while enjoying the expressiveness and accuracy of the more complex sample-based approaches.


Title of Dissertation: MICROBRIDGE FORMATION FOR LOW RESISTANCE INTERLINE CONNECTION USING PULSED LASER TECHNIQUES Kuan-Jung Chung, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Directed By: Associate Professor Joseph B. Bernstein Department of Mechanical Engineering Department of Electric and Computer Engineering MakeLink® technology has been applied in many semiconductor devices to achieve high performance. Sometimes one-type-link design doesn't make desirous links for all IC manufacturing processes. In this work, four new structures, called microbridge, were designed to form all types of link. Laser processing experiments were performed to verify the designs. The results show that two-lower-level-metal-line design has higher performance (low link resistance), higher productivity (broad energy window), and higher yield than the three-lower-level-metal-line design. Therefore, it can be considered as the optimal design from the processing point of view. Two-lower-level-metal-line with lateral gap structure provides better scalability and it can be used in next generation ICs. If high-speed is the primary concern, an advanced-lateral structure is best, corresponding to its much lower resistance. The reliability tests indicate that the median-times-to-failure of all test structures are greater than nine years in operating condition, presenting reasonable lifetimes for integrated circuits used in the market. A two-dimensional finite element plane models for microbridge formation is developed. Results are compared to the experiments with process windows to present their consistence. The model allowed for using different geometric parameters and metal-dielectric combinations optimizing the design. An optimal design diagram for the Al/SiO2 system is created to provide the designer with criteria to avoid the failure of structure. Trade-off requirements, such as process window and structure size, are also provided. Guidelines are obtained for the Cu/Low-K dielectric system. MICROBRIDGE FORMATION FOR LOW RESISTANCE INTERLINE CONNECTION USING PULSED LASER TECNIQUES


Somalia has been in a state of political and socio-economic crises since the demise of the central government in 1991. What followed after the collapse of the state was intensification of violent civil war among various political players supported by external powers. The civil war has invited the intervention of regional and international actors seeking to restore peace and order in the country. In this regard, IGAD and AU have played an important role in maintaining peace and security in the Horn of Africa in general and in Somalia in particular. By and large, it can be argued that they have been successful in mediating various competing political groups operating in Somalia to end the crises. In fact, their conflict resolution efforts failed at the implementation and consolidation stages of conflict resolution. This paper, therefore, attempts to describe and analyze the conflict resolution responses of IGAD and AU in their effort to mitigate the Somalia crises. It concludes that IGAD and AU have played a key role to maintain peace and security in the Horn region generally and in Somalia particularly. Therefore, their conflict resolution response should be taken as a commendable achievement in building peace in Africa.


Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the center of all physical, chemical and biological properties of soils, its maintenance and buildup in soils is necessary to sustain the intensive cereal-based cropping system of Indo Gangetic plains. Intensive tillage, residue removal and indiscriminate use of fertilizers led to a continuous deterioration of soil health in Indo Gangetic parts of the country. Under this context, a field experiment on conservation agriculture (CA) was conducted at Taroari, Karnal, comprising four combinations of tillage and residue management [i.e. conventional tillage (CT) with complete residue removal (CT-RR), CT with 20% residue incorporation of wheat, 50% residue incorporation of maize and incorporation of green gram residue (CT+RI+GI), permanent beds (PB) with 20% residue retention of wheat and 50% residue retention of maize (PB+RR), and PB with 20% residue retention of wheat, 50% residue retention of maize and retention of green gram residue (PB+RR+GR)] and three nutrient management options [viz. farmers fertilization practice (FFP), recommended fertilizer dose (RDF) and site-specific nutrient management (SSNM)]. The results showed that, there was an increase in SOC mainly the active SOC pools, permanganate oxidizable-C (1.70 g/kg), hot water extractable-C (0.32 g/kg) and soil microbial biomass C (310 mg/kg) under CA-based treatment (PB+RR+GR) compared to CT (0.58, 0.23 g/kg, 183 mg/kg, respectively). Also, the mineral N was invariably greater under residue treatments. Therefore, crops residue retention as well as balanced fertilization (RDF and SSNM) under CA helped in improving SOC; mineral N and soil aggregation stability which can lead to increased sustainability under cereal-based intensive cropping systems.


This master thesis examines the performance of listed and unlisted real estate investments in Norway over the past eleven years, and tests whether real estate stocks in Norway are predominantly driven by the progress of the underlying real estate market or by the general stock market. Deviating from the conventional procedure of only focusing on unlisted real estate, real estate stocks and the general stock market, we take into account the macroeconomic environment in Norway as well. Following this approach allow us to consider if listed and unlisted real estate respond differently to macroeconomic factors and whether this can explain the disparity in returns. Evaluations using Sharpe ratio and CAGR suggests that unlisted real estate investments outperform listed on a risk-adjusted basis, but when considering the arithmetic mean of expected return listed investments outperforms. Furthermore, our results imply that listed real estate investments tends to follow the general stock market, both shortand long-term, based on correlation analysis and the CAPM. Here we also find that investments in unlisted real estate yields the highest abnormal return. Lastly, with the use of the multifactor-model we find that the Indirect Index and OSEAX share the same significant macroeconomic factors, whereas IPD appears sheltered from them.


Considering the example of the translation of Njegos's The Mountain Wreath into the German language, the paper analyses the translational solutions that are dictated by the principles of the subject. The translator Alois Schmaus chose to take this step in order to bring home to the modern reader a world which appears to be archaic. He made this decision for two reasons. First, the German reader is unfamiliar with the historical context that is the subject of this poem; secondly the rules of prosody in Serbian and German do not match. By choosing to carry over the Serbian epic decasyllable, Schmaus favours the Serbian poetic tradition. From the historical point of view German verse, constructed as an Alexandrine, is burdened with the context of courtly poetics. The hexameter, meanwhile, which was introduced into German literature by Klopstock and later popularised by Voss and Goethe, appears in the context of the rise of the bourgeoisie. Both verses require changes while being translated, which affect the poem's characteristics. In order to maintain authenticity, Schmaus pleads for the "Serbian trochee": iamb and dactyl, metrical feet that are closer to the German language, would have impeded the setting the diaeresis and affected the syntax. Because of this, Schmaus places a spondee at the end of every verse and sets the historical context in the tradition of martyrdom.


Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate novice police officers' witness interview practices immediately post investigative interview training (known as PEACE) with reference to the eight Cognitive Interview (CI) components taught. Forty-eight UK police officers took part as interviewers. Forty-eight undergraduates participated as mock witness; they viewed a non-violent crime video and 2 days later were individually interviewed by a police officer. Interviews were recorded and rated for officers' application of the CI procedure. Despite having recently completed the only training available to them no officer applied or attempted to apply the CI procedure in its entirety. However, some of the individual CI components were applied more frequently than others. This study provides a unique insight into the interviewing practices of some of the least researched, least experienced, and least trained investigative interviewers who, nonetheless, conduct witness interviews on a daily basis. The emergent picture suggests that either the CI procedure currently taught to novice police officers is too complex at so early a stage in their police career and/or that the current training may be insufficient to equip them with the skills necessary to effectively apply the procedure.


The life expectancy of people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has dramatically improved with the much-increased access to antiretroviral therapy. Consequently, a larger number of people living with HIV are living longer and facing the increased burden of non-communicable diseases. This study assessed the effect of chronic non-communicable disease(s) and co-morbidities on the immunologic restoration of HIV infected patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy.

 A nested case-control study was conducted among people living with HIV at Jimma University Medical Center from February 20 to August 20, 2016. Cases were HIV infected patients living with chronic non-communicable diseases and controls were people living with HIV only. Patient-specific data were collected using a structured data collection tool to identify relevant information. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0. Logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with outcome. Statistical significance was considered at p-value <0.05. A patient's written informed consent was obtained after explaining the purpose of the study.

 A total of 240 participants (120 cases and 120 controls) were included in the analysis. Prevalence of hypertension was 12.50%, and diabetes was 10.84%. About 10.42% of study participants were living with multi-morbidity. At baseline, the mean (±SD) age of cases was 42.32±10.69 years, whereas it was 38.41±8.23 years among controls. The median baseline CD4+ cell count was 184.50 cells/µL (IQR: 98.50 - 284.00 cells/µL) for cases and 177.0 cells/µL (IQR: 103.75 - 257.25 cells/µL) for controls. Post-6-months of highly active antiretroviral therapy initiation, about 29.17% of cases and 16.67% of controls had poor immunologic restoration. An average increase of CD4+ cell count was 6.4cells/µL per month among cases and 7.6 cells/µL per month among controls. Male sex [AOR, 3.51; 95% CI, 1.496 to 8.24; p=0.004], smoking history [AOR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.072, to 7.342; p=0.036] and co-morbidity with chronic non-communicable disease(s) [AOR, 3.99; 95% CI, 1.604 to 9.916; p=0.003)] were independent predictors of poor immunologic restoration.

 Chronic non-communicable disease(s) have negative effects on the kinetics of CD4+ cell count among HIV-infected patients who initiated antiretroviral therapy. So the integration of chronic non-communicable disease-HIV collaborative activities will strengthen battle to control the double burden of chronic illnesses.


The aim of this study was to investigate the variation of intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 which occurs between individual airway epithelial cells of distinct phenotype. 16HBE14o- (16HBE) and BEAS-2B cell lines and human airway explants were cultured with medium alone or a mixture of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha (10 ng x mL(-1)) and interferon (IFN)-gamma (40 ng x mL(-1)) before being immunogold-labelled and examined quantitatively using sensitive high-resolution electron microscopic techniques. By enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay there was a 1.6-fold increase of ICAM-1 in the BEAS-2B cells following the cytokine mix which was not apparent in the 16HBE cells. However, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that an upregulation had occurred; median and ranges for gold particle number per 10 microm2 cell surface were: 7.9 (0-40) for nonstimulated and 19.1 (0-60 for stimulated) (p<0.01, Mann-Whitney U-test). The value for the nonstimulated BEAS-2B cells was 24.2 (0-60), 3-times higher that the constitutive expression in the 16HBE cells (p<0.01), whereas following stimulation, it was 68.5 (20-130) (p<0.01). Values for explant epithelial outgrowths were similar to the 16HBE cells. Immunohistochemistry of the explanted mucosa showed both constitutive and upregulated expression of epithelial ICAM-1 associated with basal and indeterminate cells rather than with ciliated or goblet cells. These results using high-resolution techniques indicate that there is marked cell-to-cell variation in cellular adhesion molecule expression and that it is the basal cells and less well differentiated (indeterminate) epithelial cells which are likely to play key roles in leukocyte retention via intercellular adhesion molecule-1.


Little business integration of power quality management (PQM) is forthcoming amongst electrical utilities all over Southern Africa. Restricted access to proper information is the main reason. A integration of tools, procedures and people is required before an electrical utility can be operational in management of the quality of electrical energy. The South African NRS 048 document describes the minimum standards on PQ at a point of delivery and compliancy is reported through a standardised assessment report. Empowering people with appropriate tools and procedures in Power Quality Management by the creative application of modern technology is presented in this paper. A Web-based PQ Management system was developed that continuously disseminate PQ information extracted from data recorded at more than 300 sites distributed all over an electrical network in near real time.


Bart-Pumphrey syndrome (BPS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss, palmoplantar keratoderma, knuckle pads, and leukonychia, which show considerable phenotypic variability. The clinical features partially overlap with Vohwinkel syndrome and Keratitis-Ichthyosis-Deafness syndrome, both disorders caused by dominant mutations in the GJB2 gene encoding the gap junction protein connexin-26, suggesting an etiological relationship. We report here a novel GJB2 mutation N54K segregating in a family with BPS, which was not detected in 110 control individuals of Northern European ancestry. This non-conservative missense mutation lies within a cluster of pathogenic GJB2 mutations affecting the evolutionary conserved first extracellular loop of Cx26 important for docking of connexin hemichannels and voltage gating. Immunostaining of Cx26 in lesional palmar and knuckle skin was weak or absent, although its adnexal expression appeared normal and the punctate membrane staining of Cx26 and other epidermal connexins was not altered. Nevertheless, the widespread immunostaining of Cx30 throughout the spinous cell layers suggested a compensatory overexpression. Our results emphasize that pleiotropic GJB2 mutations are responsible for at least 5 overlapping dermatological disorders associated with syndromic hearing loss and cover a wide range of severity and organ involvement.


URBAN RIFTS AND RELIGIOUS RECIPROCITY: CHICAGO AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 1965-1996 Dominic E. Faraone Marquette University, 2013 From the late 1960s onward, a sequence of unusually transformative, combustible, and sometimes alarming urban phenomena beset the city of Chicago and bred considerable turmoil and uncertainty: post-industrial transition; street gang activity and unprecedented levels of interpersonal violence; the political ascendancy in 1983 of African American reform candidate Harold Washington to the mayor's seat; gay liberation; and AIDS. Each accentuated a host of social and/or spatial rifts—between the deteriorating city and comparatively thriving suburbs; the economically impoverished, culturally alienated, and frequently isolated inner city and the rest of Chicago; machine and reform politicians; Black lawmakers and White "ethnics"; sexual majorities and minorities; and the physically sick and the healthy. These developments also challenged the historic liberalism, confidence, and institutional breadth of Chicago Catholicism during the tenures of Cardinal Archbishops John Cody (1965-1982) and Joseph Bernardin (1982-1996). Fueled by diverse material and theological interests—such as the Church's immense human and financial investments in neighborhoods, the Second Vatican Council's teachings to engage the secular world and root out poverty and injustice, religious order charisms, and a strong heritage of social activism—the archdiocese and religiously-motivated Catholics marshaled a distinctive brand of religious reciprocity, which encouraged Chicagoans to recognize that they were interdependent and embedded within an urban and metropolitan community. Reciprocity also signified that it was the responsibility of the Church to recognize Chicagoans' common grievances, bring them to the fore, initiate dialogue among people, and encourage the mutual exchange of talents and treasure. Although sometimes stifled or camouflaged by Cardinal Cody's desire to centralize control of the archdiocese in his own hands, this impulse to foster discourse, collaboration, and interdependency was pivotal to a city wracked by social polarization and spatial segregation. Finally, reciprocity encouraged Catholics to be receptive to secular enrichment. A notable segment of the faithful reasoned that the daily experiences of city residents should inform Catholic pastoral practices, while others touted that urban trauma was not uniformly negative; spiritual renewal could blossom from witnessing or participating in human suffering.


Reversible switching in 2D silicon-based photonic crystal structures is demonstrated using nematic liquid crystals. These tunable devices can be used as a platform for a number of ultracompact active optical elements, such as modulators and routers. The flexible and inexpensive fabrication processes allow for integration with existing microelectronic technology.


During the last fifteen years, soft computing methods have been successfully applied in building powerful and flexible credit scoring models and have been suggested to be a possible alternative to statistical methods. In this survey, the main soft computing methods applied in credit scoring models are presented and the advantages as well as the limitations of each method are outlined. The main modelling issues are discussed especially from the data mining point of view. The study concludes with a series of suggestions of other methods to be investigated for credit scoring modelling.


A project without memory is an amputated project: history must be considered both as a methodological basis and as a veritable tool for work. Underlying all intervention existent, extensive historical and material knowledge of what is built must guide the choices of the project makers for a creative approach, which, combining theoretical knowledge and technical knowhow, demonstrates the disciplinary coherence of the selected options. These intentions, synthesized in the idea of the material history of modern and contemporary building constitute a precious key to the reading of projects for existing national heritage, as much in terms of method as in their cultural implications. The engagement of the laboratory of Techniques et de la Sauvegarde de l'Architecture Moderne of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne (EPFL-TSAM) in the mission as observatory of practices of preservation of national heritage of the 20th century has, without doctrinarian leanings, led to discern major tendencies in the practice, situating them in the rich debate engaged since the end of the 18th century. With the notion of authenticity as a background, a veritable material history of the project of preservation deserves to be written today.


When right-of-way is acquired for highway projects, state departments of transportation (DOTs) must ensure property owners receive a fair market value for their land by delivering high-quality appraisals. Despite recent technological advances, the highly complicated appraisal process often results in similar properties being assessed differently. Several DOTs sponsored a study to develop an electronic appraisal method to improve the appraisal process and to reduce the likelihood of inconsistent appraisal values by capturing, transmitting, storing, managing, and analyzing the appraisal data. The proposed method's framework is discussed and a prototype of the system has been developed to demonstrate its features.


Face-centered orthorhombic (FCO) sampling can be implemented more easily on CMOS image sensors than on other video acquisition devices. The sampling efficiency of FCO is the highest among all three-dimensional (3D) sampling schemes. However, interpolation of FCO-sampled data is inevitable in bridging human perception and machine-vision algorithms. In this letter, the concept of motion compensation is borrowed from deinterlacing, which displays interlaced videos on progressively scanned devices. The combination of motion estimation based on intrafield interpolated frames and motion-compensated interfield interpolation is found to provide the best performance by evaluating different combinations of motion estimation and interpolation.


Thomas Meehan (1826-1901) was a regular contributor to the ever-expanding body of knowledge about plants in the midto late-nineteenth century. Born in London, but raised on an estate on the Isle of Wight where his father was Head Gardener, Meehan's interest in plants began at an early age. He studied at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. His fifty-three year career was launched in the United States by Robert Buist, a Philadelphia nurseryman. Meehan went on to start his own nursery, edit two successful gardening periodicals, write three books, and publish numerous articles on plants for both the scientific elite and the common man. This thesis documents Thomas Meehan's work as a horticulturist in the United States and evaluates the influence of his work. Areas of study include his early work as a gardener, his nursery, his career as an editor and writer, his involvement with the Centennial Exposition, and his efforts to create city parks. Due to the nature of his work, Meehan's sphere of influence extended well beyond the immediate Philadelphia area. While his publications garnered a national audience which spread across the country, his nursery supplied an international clientele. Through city parks and exhibits at the Centennial, Meehan again reached both national and international audiences.


A series of ABC triblock copolypeptoids [i.e., poly(N-allyl glycine)-b-poly(N-methyl glycine)-b-poly(N-decyl glycine) (AMD)] with well-defined structure and varying composition have been synthesized by sequential primary amine-initiated ring-opening polymerization of the corresponding N-substituted N-carboxyanhydride monomers (Al-NCA, Me-NCA, and De-NCA). The ABC block copolypeptoids undergo sol-to-gel transitions with increasing temperature in water and biological media at low concentrations (2.5-10 wt %). The sol-gel transition is rapid and fully reversible with a narrow transition window, evidenced by the rheological measurements. The gelation temperature (Tgel) and mechanical stiffness of the hydrogels are highly tunable: Tgel in the 26.2-60.0 °C range, the storage modulus (G') and Young's modulus (E) in the 0.2-780 Pa and 0.5-2346 Pa range, respectively, at the physiological temperature (37 °C) can be readily accessed by controlling the block copolypeptoid composition and the polymer solution concentration. The hydrogel is injectable through a 24 gauge syringe needle and maintains their shape upon in contact with surfaces or water baths that are kept above the sol-gel transition temperature. The hydrogels exhibit minimal cytotoxicity toward human adipose derived stem cells (hASCs), evidenced from both alamarBlue and PicoGreen assays. Furthermore, quantitative PCR analysis revealed significant up-regulation of the Col2a1 gene and down-regulation of ANGPT1 gene, suggesting that the hydrogel exhibit biological activity in inducing chondrogenesis of hASCs. It was also demonstrated that the hydrogel can be used to quantitatively encapsulate water-soluble enzymes (e.g., horseradish peroxidase) by manipulating the sol-gel transition. The enzymatic activity of HRP remain unperturbed after encapsulation at 37 °C for up to 7 d, suggesting that the hydrogel does not adversely affect the enzyme structure and thereby the enzymatic activity. These results suggest that the polypeptoid hydrogel a promising synthetic platform for tissue engineering or protein storage applications.


In exploration for mineral deposits using stream sediment samples, a phenomenon known as dilution of metal content originating from mineralized sources should be taken into account. Dilution occurs when stream sediments originating from upstream mineralized and non-mineralized areas are mixed during transport and deposition. In the sample catchment basin approach, dilution correction is accomplished by employing Hawkes's equation (1976). Catchment area size is the correction factor used in the Hawkes's equation to correct geochemical residuals for dilution. However, the upstream area of each stream sediment sample is representative of the hydrological response and dilution capability of a drainage basin. In the present research, the Hawkes's equation was modified by incorporating drainage density of catchment basin to correct geochemical residuals for dilution. The existing and new equations were applied to stream sediment data from Iran. The results were compared using known occurrences of Au mineralization as validation points. This showed the superiority of the new technique using drainage density as a factor for correcting geochemical residuals against dilution.


Abstract. Natural disasters such as flood are regarded to be caused by extreme weather conditions as well as changes in global and regional climate. The prediction of flood incoming is a key factor to ensure civil protection in case of emergency and to provide effective early warning system. The risk of flood is affected by several factors such as land use, meteorological events, hydrology and the topology of the land. Predict such a risk implies the use of data coming from different sources such satellite images, water basin levels, meteorological and GIS data, that nowadays are easily produced by the availability new satellite portals as SENTINEL and distributed sensor networks on the field. In order to have a comprehensive and accurate prediction of flood risk is essential to perform a selective and multivariate analyses among the different types of inputs. Multivariate Analysis refers to all statistical techniques that simultaneously analyse multiple variables. Among multivariate analyses, Machine learning to provide increasing levels of accuracy precision and efficiency by discovering patterns in large and heterogeneous input datasets. Basically, machine learning algorithms automatically acquire experience information from data. This is done by the process of learning, by which the algorithm can generalize beyond the examples given by training data in input. Machine learning is interesting for predictions because it adapts the resolution strategies to the features of the data. This peculiarity can be used to predict extreme from high variable data, as in the case of floods. This work propose strategies and case studies on the application on machine learning algorithms on floods events prediction. Particullarly the study will focus on the application of Support Vector Machines and Artificial Neural Networks on a multivariate set of data related to river Seveso, in order to propose a more general framework from the case study.


This research study will examine how large scale data mining may negatively affect privacy as it helps solve national and international sex trafficking crimes. The data mining tool researched here is the Memex Project; created, implemented, and managed by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The Memex Project senses patterns in large amounts of data and makes connections. Memex was created to assist the federal government in cracking down on human trafficking. It may also be used by national governments in the fight against terrorism in the near future. While the Memex Project's purpose is admirable, it could be used as a tool to intrude on the privacy of law-abiding citizens. As part of this research study, a breakdown of how data mining is defined and regulated by United States law will also be


The article concerns the thematic of evaluation in public management. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the conception and the models of evaluation in public management. There is a study of different types of evaluation approaches and evaluation definitions in the paper, which indicates the idea that there is no common definition of evaluation in public management, because it is strong in the context. Moreover, the implication of evaluation depends on such criteria as evaluation needs, evaluation purpose, typically applied methods, the role of evaluator and others. The paper also provides a discussion on the evaluation in historical perspective and the classification of evaluation models. The article identifies and describes the main evaluation models such as politically controlled studies, objectives orientated evaluations, management information systems, decision orientated evaluations, etc.


Gustav Jonson's theory of the social heritage characterized social work in Sweden during the 1960s and onwards. The social policy issues debated then were about class society, labelling and alienation. After thirty years of professional work as a social worker, I find it interesting that the work still focuses on the theory of the social heritage and methods for breaking it. The aim of this study is to examine possible explanations to why this is so. The empirical material is taken from interviews with senior social workers. Issues examined are how they perceive social work and the theory of the social heritage. The results of the interviews have been processed based upon narrative analysis and reported in the form of meta-narratives. The stories provide a historical view of social work, encounters, situations and contexts. The final discussion is about how the social heritage is created, identified and carried forward. The conclusions show that the social heritage is a social construction created by the society and its inhabitants.The issue then, is to understand and to relate to this context, creating security control and balance in it. As a phenomenon, the social heritage can come to act as conservation and thus become a counterforce to change. Based on discussion and conclusions, it appears that efforts to break the social heritage are questionable. The study is a social psychological qualitative study worked with from a social constructionist perspective.


We present a novel algorithm for the markerless tracking of deforming surfaces such as faces. We acquire a sequence of 3D scans along with color images at 40Hz. The data is then represented by implicit surface and color functions, using a novel partition-of-unity type method of efficiently combining local regressors using nearest neighbor searches. Both these functions act on the 4D space of 3D plus time, and use temporal information to handle the noise in individual scans. After interactive registration of a template mesh to the first frame, it is then automatically deformed to track the scanned surface, using the variation of both shape and color as features in a dynamic energy minimization problem. Our prototype system yields high-quality animated 3D models in correspondence, at a rate of approximately twenty seconds per timestep. Tracking results for faces and other objects are presented.


Shrouded in legend, the mysterious cult of the ancient Druids continues to fascinate, inspiring latter-day imitators who often are only a poorly researched and romantic reflection of Druidic lore. In this compelling and readable history, respected Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis explores who the Druids really were and what role they played in the Celtic world. Ellis provides a fresh and convincing interpretation of the facts, based on both archaeological and etymological findings. "Remarkable ...offers much for the academician as well as the general reader. Fascinating reading!"Joseph A. King, author of Ireland to North America


Abstract. Land-surface models (LSMs) are crucial components of the Earth system models (ESMs) that are used to make coupled climate–carbon cycle projections for the 21st century. The Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) is the land-surface model used in the climate and weather forecast models of the UK Met Office. JULES is also extensively used offline as a land-surface impacts tool, forced with climatologies into the future. In this study, JULES is automatically differentiated with respect to JULES parameters using commercial software from FastOpt, resulting in an analytical gradient, or adjoint, of the model. Using this adjoint, the adJULES parameter estimation system has been developed to search for locally optimum parameters by calibrating against observations. This paper describes adJULES in a data assimilation framework and demonstrates its ability to improve the model–data fit using eddy-covariance measurements of gross primary production (GPP) and latent heat (LE) fluxes. adJULES also has the ability to calibrate over multiple sites simultaneously. This feature is used to define new optimised parameter values for the five plant functional types (PFTs) in JULES. The optimised PFT-specific parameters improve the performance of JULES at over 85 % of the sites used in the study, at both the calibration and evaluation stages. The new improved parameters for JULES are presented along with the associated uncertainties for each parameter.


The role of economic actors and transnational corporations in transforming the world's political and economic order has received increased attention. However, it is still controversial to what extent private governance regimes operate in an effective 'shadow of hierarchy'. In other words, it is debated the extent to which governments and international organizations are able to regulate and exert their powers over transnational social and economic actors. This paper uses the case of world football's governing body, FIFA, to investigate the extent to which sport international actors may condition the decisions of democratically elected national governments. The paper provides comparative case study evidence that FIFA as football's global regulator has been able to force national governments to abandon legislation and interference in football's matters even in case of blatant failures of football's governance. Research supports the claim that private regimes providing unique governance contributions represent an institutional equilibrium able to resist challenges. FIFA's 'victories' over national governments demonstrate the political leverage of football and its governing body, but they are highly problematic since they discourage national governments to fight misconduct in sport, while it can be doubted that sport organizations alone can deal with the regulatory problems at stake.


This report describes the results of the Urban Institute's process evaluation of the Community Orientation and Reintegration (COR) program, a comprehensive reentry program designed and delivered by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. The findings herein were drawn from a literature review of research on reentry programs and related efforts; a review of the COR curriculum and other documents pertaining to the program; the development of a logic model of COR; a series of focus groups conducted with staff and inmates involved in COR; and a survey administered to Phase I and Phase II participants.


Pseudospin, an additional degree of freedom emerging in graphene as a direct consequence of its honeycomb atomic structure, is responsible for many of the exceptional electronic properties found in this material. This paper is devoted to providing a clear understanding of how graphene's pseudospin impacts the quasiparticle interferences of monolayer (ML) and bilayer (BL) graphene measured by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. We have used this technique to map, with very high energy and space resolution, the spatial modulations of the local density of states of ML and BL graphene epitaxially grown on SiC(0001), in presence of native disorder. We perform a Fourier transform analysis of such modulations including wave vectors up to unit vectors of the reciprocal lattice. Our data demonstrate that the quasiparticle interferences associated to some particular scattering processes are suppressed in ML graphene, but not in BL graphene. Most importantly, interferences with 2(qF) wave vector associated to intravalley backscattering are not measured in ML graphene, even on the images with highest resolution where the graphene honeycomb pattern is clearly resolved. In order to clarify the role of the pseudospin on the quasiparticle interferences, we use a simple model which nicely captures the main features observed in our data. The model unambiguously shows that graphene's pseudospin is responsible for such suppression of quasiparticle interference features in ML graphene, in particular for those with 2qF wave vector. It also confirms scanning tunneling microscopy as a unique technique to probe the pseudospin in graphene samples in real space with nanometer precision. Finally, we show that such observations are robust with energy and obtain with great accuracy the dispersion of the p bands for both ML and BL graphene in the vicinity of the Fermi level, extracting their main tight-binding parameters.


A pulmonary sequestration (also known as bronchopulmonary sequestration) is a cystic piece of abnormal lung tissue that does not work like normal lung tissue. They usually appear next to the lung (extrapulmonary, aka extralobar sequestration) or within one part of the lung (intrapulmonary, aka intralobar sequestration). We do not know what causes one part of the lung to develop abnormally. The cystic tissue involved will never function as normal lung tissue.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the etiology and outcome in patients with ventricular tachycardia in our patient population.

DESIGN
A descriptive study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY
The study was conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital from November 2002 to October 2003.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
We enrolled 58 patients who presented to the emergency room with clinical and electrocardiographic evidence of ventricular tachycardia (VT) and/or who developed it during the inpatient stay at the Aga Khan University Hospital. Medical records were retrieved through the computerized data retrieval system. Patients above 18 years of age were included. Those with a pacemaker or who developed VT during electrophysiological testing were excluded. A pre-designed proforma was filled for all patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All patients were worked up for etiological causes of ventricular tachycardia. Outcomes in the form of death or discharge were recorded.

RESULTS
There were 58 patients who suffered ventricular tachycardias during the study period. These included 70.7 %( 42) males and 29.3 %( 16) females. Mean age of the patients was 57.06+/-11.84 years. Emergency room admissions accounted for 55.2% and ventricular tachycardia was seen in 44.8% during the inpatient stay. Unresponsiveness was the presenting symptom in 25.9%, chest pain in 24.1%, palpitations in 13.8% and ghabrahat in 12.1% patients. Myocardial ischemia was seen in 43.5% of the patients while 23.2% had cardiomyopathy, followed by 33.3% miscellaneous. Out of the patients who had myocardial ischemia (43.5%), 76.6% had non-ST elevation myocardial infarction, 20 % patients had ST elevation myocardial infarction and 3.3% had unstable angina. Hemodynamic instability was noted in 50%, who subsequently required defibrillation. The mortality among these patients with VT was 13.7%.

CONCLUSION
Myocardial ischemia was most commonly seen in patients with ventricular tachycardia in our group of patients. Ventricular tachycardia is associated with a significant mortality of 13.7%.


This paper argues that social media metrics should be captured as customer investments in marketers' social media efforts and that applications considered in concert with performance objectives drive the choice of metrics. Motivating this approach are the "four c's" that drive consumer use of social media. These include the connections consumers make with each other, the user-generated content they create, their consumption of other users' content and their control of their own online experiences. Social media metrics that are linked to three broad social media performance objectives are identified for eight general categories of social media applications and the paths managers have for improving social media effectiveness that rely on using these metrics are discussed.


We present GEM-NI -- a graph-based generative-design tool that supports parallel exploration of alternative designs. Producing alternatives is a key feature of creative work, yet it is not strongly supported in most extant tools. GEM-NI enables various forms of exploration with alternatives such as parallel editing, recalling history, branching, merging, comparing, and Cartesian products of and for alternatives. Further, GEM-NI provides a modal graphical user interface and a design gallery, which both allow designers to control and manage their design exploration. We conducted an exploratory user study followed by in-depth one-on-one interviews with moderately and highly skills participants and obtained positive feedback for the system features, showing that GEM-NI supports creative design work well.


Analysts' forecasts are one of the most common and important estimators for firms' future earnings. However, they are challenging to fully utilize because of missing values. This study applies machine learning techniques to estimate missing values in individual analysts' forecasts and subsequently to predict firms' future earnings based on both estimated and observed forecasts. After estimating missing values, forecast error is reduced by 41% compared to the mean forecast, suggesting that missing values after estimating are indeed useful for earnings forecasts. We analyze multiple estimation methods and show that the out-performance of matrix factorization (MF) is consistent using different evaluation measures and across firms. Finally, we propose a stochastic gradient descent based coupled matrix factorization (CMF) to augment the estimation quality of missing values with multiple datasets. CMF further reduces the error of earnings forecasts by 19% compared to MF with a single dataset.


Supply disruptions are all too common in supply chains. To mitigate delivery risk, buyers may either source from multiple suppliers or offer incentives to their preferred supplier to improve its process reliability. These incentives can be either direct (investment subsidy) or indirect (inflated order quantity). In this study, we present a series of models to highlight buyers' and suppliers' optimal parameter choices. Our base-case model has deterministic buyer demand and two possibilities for the supplier yield outcomes: all-or-nothing supply or partial disruption. For the all-or-nothing model, we show that the buyer prefers to only use the subsidy option, which obviates the need to inflate order quantity. However, in the partial disruption model, both incentives—subsidy and order inflation—may be used at the same time. Although single sourcing provides greater indirect incentive to the selected supplier because that avoids order splitting, we show that the buyer may prefer the diversification strategy under certain circumstances. We also quantify the amount by which the wholesale price needs to be discounted (if at all) to ensure that dual sourcing strategy dominates sole sourcing. Finally, we extend the model to the case of stochastic demand. Structural properties of ordering/subsidy decisions are derived for the all-or-nothing model, and in contrast to the deterministic demand case, we establish that the buyer may increase use of subsidy and order quantity at the same time.


Faith and Resistance: The Politics of Love and War in Lebanon by Sarah Marusek is a brave, timely, and innovative investigation that not only introduces readers to the historical development of Lebanon and Shi'i Islam in the modern era but also challenges scholars to question how they study religious activism. The volume is based on over two years of intermittent fieldwork in Lebanon and Iran spread out from 2009 and 2017. The gist of Marusek's argument is that the religious activism of Lebanon's Hizbollah, and the wider Islamic resistance movement, can be examined through the lens of liberation theology. This analytical move is grounded in her desire to push the boundaries on how Shi'i activism is conceptualized and studied by Western scholars—to show us that there are multiple ways of making sense from fieldwork experience and archival research. This openness to experiment with new theoretical frameworks, research methods, and, perhaps most importantly, to engage in comparative studies of the Middle East makes the volume a significant contribution to different fields of study.
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To date, no study has systematically reviewed guidelines that aim to help workplaces prevent or detect work-related mental health problems early. The evidence underpining most of workplace guidelines is scarce. Greater transparency of the incentives driving guideline development and improvement of theoretical and scientific rigor of implementation frameworks can improve content and developmental quality of future workplace guideline development. Content and quality of workplace guidelines developed to prevent mental health problems. Results from a systematic review. Objectives A wide range of guidelines have been developed to prevent work-related mental health problems (MHP), but little is known about the quality of such guidelines. We systematically reviewed the content and quality of workplace guidelines aiming to prevent, detect, and/or manage work-related MHP. Methods We conducted systematic online and database searches (MEDLINE; Web of Science; PsychNET; occupational safety and health databases) to identify guidelines. Eligibility criteria included guidelines recommending primary, secondary, or tertiary preventive interventions to be implemented at the workplace by employers, employees or organizational staff. A minimum of minimum three independent reviewers assessed the quality of guidelines using the Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II). Guidelines rated ≥65% with regards to domain I, II, and III were considered to be of good developmental quality. Results Seventeen guidelines were quality assessed. Guidelines mainly targeted employers: eight guidelines recommended primary preventive interventions (eg, reduction of psychosocial hazards by risk management procedures), three recommended tertiary (eg, stay at work or return to work procedures for management), and six recommended a combination of primary, secondary and tertiary interventions (eg, facilitate return to work by increasing mental health literacy of all staff and coordination of sick-listed employees). Four guidelines had developed recommendations of good quality, but the evidence of two guidelines was outdated and studies docu-menting the effect of implementation were not yet available. Conclusions Few guidelines have been developed with sufficient rigor to help employers prevent or manage work-related MHP and evidence of their effectiveness remains scarce.