Title of dissertation: MODELING CRUTCH COMPENSATION OF HIP ABDUCTOR WEAKNESS AND PARALYSIS James Rocco Borrelli, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Dissertation directed by: Henry W. Haslach Jr. Department of Mechanical Engineering Hip abductor weakness or paralysis is prevalent in the half a million cases of low level spinal injuries in the United States alone. Crutches are often used as an ambulatory aid by individuals with this type of permanent disability. This study investigates whether using a crutch with a wide stance, as opposed to a conventional vertical stance, returns the hip rotation and pelvic obliquity to a more normal range of motion for individuals with weak or paralyzed hip abductors. An inverse dynamics six link model of the body with ten degrees of freedom and a forward dynamics six link model with six degrees of freedom were used to simulate the swing and stance phases of gait with hip abductor weakness/paralysis while using either compensatory motions (hip hiking or lateral displacement of the torso) or crutches. The forward dynamics model characterizes the effect of hip abductor weakness on the gait kinematics hip rotation and pelvic obliquity. The model also characterizes the effect of compensatory motions and crutch use on gait with paralyzed hip abductors. The inverse dynamics model calculates the time varying body weight that must be supported on a contralateral crutch to achieve normal gait kinematics even with paralyzed hip abductors. The forward dynamics model predicts that hip abductor paralysis reduces the range of pelvic obliquity and increases the range of hip rotation. The model also predicts that compensatory motions and crutch use restore the range of motion of hip rotation and pelvic obliquity in gait with paralyzed hip abductors to more normal. The inverse dynamics model predicts that the portion of body weight that must be supported on a crutch for normal gait kinematics with paralyzed hip abductors is lowered by using a wide crutch stance. This study suggests that contralateral crutch use replaces the need for the compensatory motions hip hiking and lateral displacement of the torso while restoring the range of hip rotation and pelvic obliquity to more normal ranges in an individual with weak or paralyzed hip abductors. Furthermore, angling the crutch side-to-side restores the range while supporting less body weight on a contralateral crutch. MODELING CRUTCH COMPENSATION OF HIP ABDUCTOR WEAKNESS AND PARALYSIS


Once a protoplanet becomes larger than about lunar size, it accumulates a significant atmosphere that surrounds the solid core. When a planetesimal approaches the protoplanet, it interacts with the atmosphere. If enough energy of the planetesimal is lost by gas drag of the atmosphere, it is captured in the atmosphere even if its original trajectory would not lead to a direct collision with the solid core of the protoplanet. This increases the collision rate, resulting in faster growth of the protoplanet. We have derived the analytical calculations for the collision rate, and calculated the structure of the atmosphere and the trajectories of the planetesimals in the atmosphere. As a result of their large gas drag, small planetesimals are easily captured, resulting in a large rate of collision with the protoplanet. A collision rate of a protoplanet of Earth size with a planetesimal of 100 m radius is, for example, enhanced by a factor of ∼10. These effects play an essential role in the study of formation of solid cores of gas giant planets by the core accretion model.


Laura C. Garofalo. A correlation study of learning preferences and attitudes towards computers in fourth grade students. 1999. Dr. Randall Robinson, Thesis Advisor, Master of Science in Teaching, Rowan University. The purpose of this study was to determine if specific learning style preferences were related to fourth grade elementary students' attitudes towards computers in the classroom. Subjects were twenty-six students in a fourth grade class in an affluent suburban district. Subjects were given two self-report instruments to measure their learning style preferences and attitudes towards computers. The Learning Combination Inventory (LCI), developed by Dr. Christine Johnston of Rowan University, was used to determine learning style preferences. The Technology Attitude Assessment Survey (TAAS), developed for the University of the State of New York, measured attitudes towards computer usage in the classroom. A Pearson r analysis of the correlation between scores for each learning style and scores on the computer attitude survey was performed. The results supported the null hypothesis and suggested there was no significant relationship between learning style and computer attitudes. The study was limited by the characteristics of the sample. First, the convenience sample was small (n=26). Secondly, the sample was drawn from an affluent suburban school district that did not accurately reflect the larger target population of fourth grade students in United States public schools. Thirdly, the district promoted extensive computer use, so there was little computer anxiety.


The aim of this volume of thirty selected essays with an introduction was to demonstrate a model of interdisciplinary critical writing on contemporary art based in hermeneutics rather than in art history or aesthetics, offering some insights into the relationship between the practices of visual art and theory, and testing the model's application to the socio-political relationship between 'marginalised' artists and the Western art institution.

The essays, particularly those in the section 'Art In Context', were among the first attempts to explore how art practice contributes to acquiring political and aesthetic agency by subordinated subjects emerging from traumatic colonial histories, and were supported by research into the histories of Ireland and indigenous America with emergent postcolonial discourse. The book was both a retrospective assessment of research to date and a clarification of the ground from which further research was subsequently developed; therefore it comprised previously unpublished essays alongside others that had appeared mostly in foreign publications. The book was commissioned by the Institute of International Visual Arts as part of their series on writers in the field of art and postcolonial studies; the Preface was written by the international Mexican curator and critic Cuauhtemoc Medina.

The research led to invitations to contribute original essays to publications on individual artists, most recently Francis Alys, Phaidon, 2007 [ISBN 9780714843216], and Willie Doherty, A and R Mexico, 2006 [ISBN 109689056034]; on indigenous America, including Vision, Space, Desire, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 2006 [ISBN 9781933565071] and The American West, Compton Verney, 2005 [ISBN 0954654579]; and conference papers on globalization, including Venice Biennale, 2005; Sharjah Biennial, 2005; Shanghai Biennial, 2004.

Reviews appeared in Exitbook: Revista de libros de arte y cultura visual, Madrid, 2004; Third Text, 2004; Art Monthly, 2004; and Journal of Visual Culture, 2005.

Portfolio available.


To study the potential involvement of IL-6 in the development of plasmacytomas, a number of plasmacytoma lines were analyzed for alterations in the IL-6 locus. A DNA rearrangement due to the insertion of an intracisternal A particle retrotransposon 18 bp 5' of the transcriptional start site was detected in the cell line MPC11. The IL- 6 gene is constitutively expressed in MPC11, suggesting the involvement of IL-6 in the development of certain myeloma/plasmacytomas according to the "autocrine growth hypothesis".


Given a cryptographic protocol, it is possible to extract an inference system modelling exactly the set of messages an active intruder can learn by manipulating this protocol. Unfortunately, there is no general proof-search procedure to test whether or not a term belongs to the theory of an inference system. This paper presents the preliminary results obtained during an attempt to circumvent this problem. First, it explains a transformation process over inference systems; then presents a decision procedure (using the transformation process) for the security of a class of cryptographic protocols, called structured protocols; and finally argues that some basic security properties are decidable for such cryptographic protocols. The security properties include secrecy and chaoticity; the results can possibly be extended to cover authentication as well.


This thesis has investigated the provision of the Elementary Core French Program in small rural schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. The implementation of the communicatively based program Aventures in our province in the 1980s required a shift in teaching methodology and a teacher who was comfortable in the language and who fully understood the philosophy of communicative language teaching. I was interested in examining how effective this implementation has been in the small rural schools in the province. Frequently, teaching in a multi-graded setting, the teacher in a small school is responsible for all subjects, including French, at different grade levels. My study sought to develop a profile of the Elementary Core French Program in these small schools. -- The review of the literature was done in two domains: (1) second-language teaching and learning, and (2) rural education. A survey questionnaire was developed from the themes and concerns prevalent throughout the literature and administered to the total accessible population (schools with student populations of 100 or less which offered elementary core French) in May of the 1994-95 school year. Data gathered via the completed questionnaires was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics used mainly frequency distributions and means, served to establish an overall picture of the Elementary Core French Program in small rural schools with respect to qualifications of teachers, resources available, support for the program, and use of communicative strategies. The inferential statistics consisting of chi-squares provided several significant relationships between teacher preparation in French and variables such as use of communicative strategies and proficiency levels. -- The results suggest that teachers in small rural schools are not adequately prepared to provide an effective Elementary Core French Program. Thus, the program objectives cannot be achieved. In addition, the findings of this research provide the basis for several recommendations which address the problems with elementary core French in small rural schools.


In this chapter the authors, one an experienced narrative inquirer and one a novice narrative inquirer, engage in a dialogue about learning and teaching narrative inquiry across languages, cultures and geographic contexts. The focus is on the advisor and advisee collaborative learning that occurs as they discuss the advisee's project. The primary purpose of the chapter is to explore the learning and teaching of narrative inquiry within research conducted with marginalized student populations in international, multicultural contexts. A form of narrative inquiry that builds on current work in narrative inquiry, termed "multicultural and cross-cultural narrative inquiry" (Phillion 2008; Phillion & M. He 2009), is discussed within the dialogue and reflection on the dialogue. This form of narrative inquiry uses critical perspectives and has an explicit social justice orientation. Key issues that narrative inquirers engaged in this form of inquiry need to consider are discussed: role of researcher, context, theory, and representation. One narrative inquiry on Hui (Muslim) minority students in P.R. China is presented to demonstrate the particular qualities of this form of inquiry. Dilemmas and concerns associated with this form of inquiry are addressed within the context of learning and teaching narrative inquiry.


Given a graph G, let Q(G) denote the collection of all independent (edge-free) sets of vertices in G. We consider the problem of determining the size of a largest antichain in Q(G). When G is the edgeless graph, this problem is resolved by Sperner's theorem. In this paper, we focus on the case where G is the path of length n − 1, proving that the size of a maximal antichain is of the same order as the size of a largest layer of Q(G).


Why would anyone want to use antitrust law as a wealth distribution device when far more explicit statutory tools are available for that purpose? One feature of antitrust is its open-textured, nonspecific statutes that are interpreted by judges. As a result, using antitrust to redistribute wealth may be a way of invoking the judicial process without having to go to Congress or a state legislature that is likely to be unsympathetic. Of course, a corollary is that someone attempting to use antitrust law to redistribute wealth will have to rely on the existing antitrust statutes rather than obtaining a new antitrust provision that is more explicitly distributive.
One possible lever for redistributive antitrust is a link between market competitiveness and wealth equality. Some literature suggests that competitive markets are conducive to the more even distribution of wealth. Of course, the antitrust laws already have an agreed upon goal of making markets more competitive. The most defensible goal for the antitrust laws is prohibition of practices that serve to reduce output anticompetitively, which is simply a statement of the consumer welfare principle. The same thing applies to the call to use the antitrust laws to protect jobs. Increases in employment can come from increases in output or decreases in efficiency. Antitrust protects the first source of job creation but not the second, and with good reason.
The arguments for an antitrust consumer welfare approach are of three general kinds – those derived from legislative history, those derived from principle, and those derived from administrative concerns. The legislative history makes a weak case for consumer welfare, but as between consumer welfare and general welfare the former is a clear winner. Second, arguments from principle do not get us anywhere because they are very sensitive to assumptions. Third, the arguments from administrability strongly favor a consumer welfare approach.
That then leaves one question pertaining to wealth inequality. Suppose we start out with the premise that antitrust harm consists in a market-power-driven output reduction. Accepting that competitive markets are conducive to greater wealth equality, hasn't antitrust already done all it can do? To ask that question differently, are there any circumstances in which antitrust should favor practices that reduce output simply because these practices also yield a more appealing distribution of wealth?


The article considers the people with muscle-skeleton disorders (hereinafter "MSDs") who suffer from the effects cerebral palsy, myopathy and spinal diseases. The article aims to determine, theoretically justify and experimentally verify the pedagogical conditions for the socialization of people with MSDs in rehabilitation centres. All the respondents had MSDs, namely: 76 respondents – pediatric cerebral palsy; 19 respondents – myopathy; 10 respondents – spinal diseases. It must be noted that 11 respondents, apart from MSDs, had intellectual disabilities (F 71). The experiment involved 59 males and 46 females. The age requirement was the following: 56 respondents aged between 14 and 17; 49 respondents aged between 18 and 19. The socialization programme, verified during the formative experiment, involved working with people with MSDs based on all socialization components; methodological work with the teaching staff of rehabilitation centres; parents. The programme included such specialized courses as Human Rights, Gardenotherapy; dance therapy; photography classes; a support group for parents of children with MSDs. Before the beginning of the experiment, only 11.55% of persons with MSDs had a high level of socialization. After the formative experiment, the number increased to 30.45%. Besides, 44.1% of people have a sufficient level of social skills. The implementation of the designed programme as a condition for the socialization of people with MSDs has made it possible to significantly increase the level of social skills in people with MSDs in the experimental group.


[1] An aerosol component of a new multiangle implementation of atmospheric correction (MAIAC) algorithm is presented. MAIAC is a generic algorithm developed for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), which performs aerosol retrievals and atmospheric correction over both dark vegetated surfaces and bright deserts based on a time series analysis and image-based processing. The MAIAC look-up tables explicitly include surface bidirectional reflectance. The aerosol algorithm derives the spectral regression coefficient (SRC) relating surface bidirectional reflectance in the blue (0.47 μm) and shortwave infrared (2.1 μm) bands; this quantity is prescribed in the MODIS operational Dark Target algorithm based on a parameterized formula. The MAIAC aerosol products include aerosol optical thickness and a fine-mode fraction at resolution of 1 km. This high resolution, required in many applications such as air quality, brings new information about aerosol sources and, potentially, their strength. AERONET validation shows that the MAIAC and MOD04 algorithms have similar accuracy over dark and vegetated surfaces and that MAIAC generally improves accuracy over brighter surfaces due to the SRC retrieval and explicit bidirectional reflectance factor characterization, as demonstrated for several U.S. West Coast AERONET sites. Due to its generic nature and developed angular correction, MAIAC performs aerosol retrievals over bright deserts, as demonstrated for the Solar Village Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) site in Saudi Arabia.


This paper deals with the reasons why algorithms cannot and should not replace human decision-makers. Some statutory remedies against algorithmic decisions are presented.
In August 2013, Eric Loomis was sentenced to a six-year imprisonment for attempting to flee a traffic officer and operating a vehicle without its owner's consent. This sentence is one that seems disproportionate to the alleged actions. What makes this decision even more illogical is that this sentence was decided on the basis of a COMPAS report. COMPAS is a proprietary algorithmic system which is used in law enforcement. This system claims to augment human intuition and predict an individual's risk of recidivism and it suggested that Loomis had a high risk of violence, high risk of recidivism and a high pretrial risk. The judge at Loomis' hearing agreed with the COMPAS report, stating that through the COMPAS assessment, Loomis was identified as an individual who was a high risk to the community and therefore a six-year sentence was 'just'. Loomis' lawyers tried to challenge this algorithmic decision but could not as the algorithm was covered by a trade secret and therefore the rationale of the decision was not accessible. In 2016, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin upheld the circuit court's denial of the defendant's motion for post-conviction relief requesting a new sentencing hearing. Loomis had unsuccessfully argued that the circuit court's consideration of a COMPAS risk assessment at sentencing violated his right to due process. The Supreme Court held that, if used properly, a court's consideration of a COMPAS risk assessment at sentencing does not violate a defendant's right to due process.
In Milan, Marica Ricutti, a 39-year-old single mother of two children, was dismissed from her job at Ikea after 17 years of working there. Once again, the consequence of another algorithmic decision. Ms Ricutti had to swap her working shifts around from time to time with her colleagues as she had to take her children to school and to the hospital as one of her children was disabled. Although her colleagues and employers agreed to her swapping shifts, Ikea's algorithmic workload system did not take note of these changes as they were not 'authorised' or 'programmed' and had come up with an account of Ms Ricutti working less than seven days per month for a period of eight months. This led to Ms Ricutti getting dismissed. Ikea's reliance on the algorithmic system had resulted in heavy criticism, among them being a statement from Marco Beretta, a representative from Filcams Cgil (the Italian retail workers' union), who stated that modern innovations including algorithms have made it harder to accommodate workers' individual circumstances.
From these examples, it is evident that the replacement of human decision-makers with algorithms is problematic. An algorithm may be able to come up with more consistent decisions, but not necessarily more appropriate. In order to make appropriate decisions, several factors need to be taken into account – individual circumstances, personal characteristics, context and nature, among many other things. There is no doubt that an algorithm can make decisions based on statistical analysis, but this is not always sufficient. In most situations, there is a need for a holistic understanding of a number of factors including context and human intention – something that algorithms are not capable of. In the next part of this paper, some arguments against algorithmic decisions will be presented.


The Cape Lookout cold-water coral area off the coast of North Carolina forms the shallowest and northernmost cold-water coral mound area on the Blake Plateau in the NW Atlantic. Cold-water coral habitats near Cape Lookout are occasionally bathed in the Gulf Stream, which is characterised by oligotrophic warm water and strong surface currents. Here, we present the first insights into the mound distribution and morphology, sedimentary environment and coral cover and near-bed environmental conditions as recorded by bottom landers from this coral area. The mounds occur between 320 and 550 m water depth and are characterised by high acoustic backscatter indicating the presence of hard structure. Three distinct mound morphologies were observed: (1) a mound with a flattened top at 320 m, (2) multi-summited mounds with a teardrop shape in the middle part of the area and (3) a single mound at 540 m water depth. Echosounder profiles show the presence of a strong reflector underneath all mound structures that forms the base of the mounds. This reflector cropped out at the downstream side of the single mound and consists of carbonate slabs. Video analysis revealed that all mounds are covered by Lophelia pertusa and that living colonies only occur close to the summits of the SSW side of the mounds, which is the side that faces the strongest currents. Off-mound areas were characterised by low backscatter and sediment ripples, indicating the presence of relatively strong bottom currents. Two bottom landers were deployed amidst the coral mounds between December 2009 and May 2010. Both landers recorded prominent events, characterised by large fluctuations in environmental conditions near the seabed as well as in the overlying water column. The period between December and April was characterised by several events of increasing temperature and salinity, coinciding with increased flow and near-bed acoustic backscatter. During these events temperature fluctuated by up to 9 °C within a day, which is the largest temperature variability as measured so far in a cold-water coral habitat. Warm events, related to Gulf Stream meanders, had the duration of roughly 1 week and the current during these events was directed to the NNE. The consequences of such events must be significant given the strong effects of temperature on the metabolism of cold-water corals. Furthermore, elevated acoustic backscatter values and high mass fluxes were also recorded during these events, indicating a second stressor that may affect the corals. The abrasive nature of sand in combination with strong currents might sand blast the corals. We conclude that cold-water corals near Cape Lookout live under extreme conditions that limit mound growth at present.


In general company founded to obtain; get its profit utilize to pass off its life, despitefully on a long term company have to try to improve and apply its effort position in the centre of emulation of business which progressively komplek and tighten. An company to perform ekspansi that is addition of machine, in taking decision need matured considerations, considering karateristik cultivation of this capital which do not easy to to be altered if have been released is (unrevocable). On that account before addition of plant asset executed to need an invesment evaluation with a[n measuring instrument to assess do addition of the plant asset competent or do not, in order not to happened terlanjur cultivation of capital at activity which actually do not profit. To assess competent do not it him addition of plant asset, specially loom one of them hence can be applied by technique of Study Elegibility. Target of research in this research is to know elegibility of invesment addition of loom conducted by company. And to know profit improvement of company caused by addition of loom. Analysis method which used in this research is: method of Payback Period, method of Net Present Value, Internal method Rate Of Return, method of Protability Index and of ARR. Pursuant to calculation by using method of payback period. Duration required to return invesment 10 months 7 day. In comparison with period of invesment time determined by economic value or company of plant asset namely 8 year. hence invesment proposal accepted or competent be achieved. Pursuant to calculation by using method of IRR known that level of return of rate 62,87%. Its meaning of IRR Invesment bigger than expense of mean capital that is equal to 33,54% hence invesment proposal accepted or competent be achieved. By using method of NPV which searching difference between PV Outlays of with PV Proceeds of after disagio on the basis of expense of capital giving positive result that is equal to Rp 872.138.574 so that as according to criterion assessment of invesment expressing that if / when NPV is equal to or bigger than zero. hence invesment proposal accepted. By using method of profitability index show 1,66 meaning comparison between PV Proceeds of with PV Outlays of more than 1. hence plant asset invesment proposal earn calculation. Using method of ARR show 97,77% coming comparison between EAT with profit after Iease. Keyword : Payback Period, metode Net Present Value, metode Internal Rate of Return, metode Protability Index dan ARR Link Terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/284/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2008-novaldyans-14168-PENDAHUL-N.pdf


This paper identifies which information about tourists serves as the best predictor of their pro-environmental behavior at home and on vacation. If a small set of predictors can be identified, the tourism industry would be able to use them to focus attention on attracting tourists with smaller environmental footprints. Results from a survey asking respondents about pro-environmental behavior in their role as residents and tourists indicate that environmental concern, altruism, feeling morally obliged to behave in an environmentally friendly manner, age and regional identity are the best predictors of the segment of people who behave in an environmentally friendly way at home. Income levels and moral obligation best predict membership of the segment of environmentally friendly tourists. The two segments overlap; differences between them are due to the fact that, at home, people can create the infrastructure they require to behave in an environmentally friendly way. On vacation they need to adjust to the infrastructure provided, which can act as a barrier to pro-environmental behavior. Results have direct practical implications, highlighting the value of demand-side approaches to environmentally sustainable tourism for protected areas, both urban and rural, such as focusing on those market segments that have the highest intrinsic inclination to protect the environment.


Bicontinous microemulsions (BμE) generally consist of nanodomains formed by surfactant in a mixture of water and oil at nearly equal proportions and are potential candidates for the solubilization and purification of membrane proteins. Here we present the first time report of nanoscopic dynamics of surfactant monolayers within BμEs formed by the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) measured on the nanosecond to picosecond time scale using quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS). BμEs investigated herein consisted of middle phases isolated from Winsor-III microemulsion systems that were formed by mixing aqueous and oil solutions under optimal conditions. QENS data indicates that surfactants undergo two distinct motions, namely (i) lateral motion along the surface of the oil nanodomains and (ii) localized internal motion. Lateral motion can be described using a continuous diffusion model, from which the lateral diffusion coefficient is obtained. Internal motion of surfactant is described using a model which assumes that a fraction of the surfactants' hydrogens undergoes localized translational diffusion that could be considered confined within a spherical volume. The effect of cytochrome c, an archetypal membrane-associated protein known to strongly partition near the surfactant head groups in BμEs (a trend supported by small-angle X-ray scattering [SAXS] analysis), on the dynamics of BμE has also been investigated. QENS results demonstrated that cytochrome c significantly hindered both the lateral and the internal motions of surfactant. The lateral motion was more strongly affected: a reduction of the lateral diffusion coefficient by 33% was measured. This change is mainly attributable to the strong association of cytochrome c with oppositely charged SDS. In contrast, analysis of SAXS data suggested that thermal fluctuations (for a longer length and slower time scale compared to QENS) were increased upon incorporation of cytochrome c. This study demonstrates the utility of QENS for evaluating dynamics of BμEs in nanoscopic region, and that proteins directly affect the microscopic dynamics, which is of relevance for evaluating release kinetics of encapsulated drugs from BμE delivery systems and the use of BμEs as biomembrane mimetic systems for investigating membrane protein-biomembrane interactions.


Intraspecific Variation in Metacommunities: Linking Regional Heterogeneity to Local Population Dynamics by Christopher Joseph Dibble Variation within species drives differences in population dynamics, interactions between species, and the functioning of complex ecosystems. Fittingly, understanding the factors that govern this intraspecific variation remains a central goal of ecology and evolutionary biology. Local processes such as adaptation tend to increase divergence among distinct populations, while regional processes such as dispersal and gene flow tend to homogenize those differences. My research addresses how heterogeneity is maintained despite the movement of individuals around a landscape. Specifically, I use an experimental host-parasite system to propose and test mechanisms contributing to ecological differentiation. Initially, I found that variation in colonizer traits makes the order in which they arrive to a new habitat important. Intraspecific priority effects (IPEs) occur when early arrivers limit the growth of late arrivers, and drive context-dependent differences in growth among populations (Chapter 1). These effects of variation in individual traits and arrival order extended to alter interspecific competition and host/parasite interactions. My research indicates, then, that the process of community assembly depends not only on the traits of a dominant species in the environment, but also which individuals of that species get there first (Chapter 2). The relatively short-term importance of IPEs, however, may wane over time as individuals continue to disperse among populations. I tested the consequences of repeated dispersal, and found that they depend heavily on the expected fitness of migrants in their new habitat. That is, dispersal from a common source can increase ecological heterogeneity among populations if migrants have different effects in different environments (Chapter 3). The contextdependent effects of dispersal suggested an underlying trait-based mechanism. Specifically, I hypothesized that the effects of increasing trait variance in a population (e.g. via immigration) depend on the relationship between a population's trait mean and the local environmental optimum. I found that increasing trait variance helps populations with suboptimal trait means, but harms populations already well-suited to the local environment, doubling their disease burden (Chapter 4). Overall, my research identifies novel ways in which intraspecific variation contributes to its own maintenance, limiting the ability of individual movement among populations to homogenize ecological and evolutionary differentiation.


Background:
Most patients with orthopaedic pathology in low to middle-income countries are treated by nonspecialists. A curriculum to prepare undergraduate medical students for this duty should reflect the local pathology and skills that are required to manage patients in a resource-restricted environment. The aim of this study was to establish and prioritize a list of core orthopaedic-related knowledge topics, clinical cases, and skills that are relevant to medical students in southern Africa and areas with a similar clinical context.
Methods:
A modified Delphi consensus study was conducted with 3 interactive iterative rounds of communication and prioritization of items by experts from Africa, Europe, and North America. Preferred priorities were selected but were limited to 50% of all of the possible items. Percent agreement of ≥75% was defined as consensus on each of these items.
Results:
Most of the 43 experts who participated were orthopaedic surgeons from 7 different countries in southern Africa, but 28% were general practitioners or doctors working in primary or secondary-level facilities. Experts prioritized cases such as patients with multiple injuries, a limping child, and orthopaedic emergencies. Prioritized skills were manipulation and immobilization of dislocations and fractures. The most important knowledge topics included orthopaedic infections, the treatment of common fractures and dislocations, any red flags alerting to specialist referral, and back pain. Surgical skills for the treatment of urgent care conditions were included by some experts who saw a specific need in their clinical practice, but these were ranked lower.
Conclusions:
A wide geographic, academic, and expertise-specific footprint of experts informed this international consensus through their various clinical and academic circumstances. Knowledge topics, skills, and cases concerning orthopaedic trauma and infection were prioritized by the highest percent agreement. Acute primary care for fractures and dislocations ranked high. Furthermore, the diagnosis and the treatment of conditions not requiring specialist referral were prioritized. This study can inform national curricula in southern Africa and assist in the allocation of student clinical rotations.


The semiparametric local Whittle or Gaussian estimate of the long memory parameter is known to have especially nice limiting distributional properties, being asymptotically normal with a limiting variance that is completely known. However in moderate samples the normal approximation may not be very good, so we consider a refined, Edgeworth, approximation, for both a tapered estimate, and the original untapered one. For the tapered estimate, our higher-order correction involves two terms, one of order 1/√m (where m is the bandwidth number in the estimation), the other a bias term, which increases in m; depending on the relative magnitude of the terms, one or the other may dominate, or they may balance. For the untapered estimate we obtain an expansion in which, for m increasing fast enough, the correction consists only of a bias term. We discuss applications of our expansions to improved statistical inference and bandwidth choice. We assume Gaussianity, but in other respects our assumptions seem mild.


This is a background paper to the World Development Report 2013 (report no. 73068). It attempts to quantify the degree of inequality of opportunity in labor market outcomes for a selection of countries in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region. The authors adapt the Human Opportunity Index (HOI) methodology that has been widely used to study opportunities of children to measures of inequality in the labor market for working age adults, using data from the Life in Transition Surveys (LiTS) conducted in 2006. The authors decompose the observed inequalities into components that are attributable to circumstances an individual was born into (e.g., gender, parents' education, minority status, etc) and other characteristics (education and age). The authors conduct additional exercises with this measure, which examine: (i) comparisons with an expenditure-based measure of inequality of opportunity; (ii) the extent to which the measures of inequality resonate with individual perceptions of life satisfaction and fairness; and (iii) how the results for ECA countries compare with similar measures in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The authors findings show substantial inequality of opportunity (attributable to circumstances that an individual was born into) in employment status in the ECA region and a high degree of heterogeneity across countries in the circumstances that matter the most for inequality. The correlations between measures and perceptions of inequality among citizens across ECA countries suggest that inequality between groups, including measures of inequality of opportunity, matter more than overall measures of inequality for citizen perceptions of fairness. The results are robust to different definitions of jobs as opportunities.


This paper presents a new information systems design method conceived to accommodate emerging design trends and face the increasing complexity of information systems. It takes into account the growing business pressures that are put upon IS designers, the rising appeal of ready-made software (such as ERP and CRM systems), the growing weight of intranets and extranets, the need to account for legacy, and the call for effective management of the evolving portfolio of heterogeneous solutions that the "information systems" of the present day have become. It follows an approach that is quite different from those found in traditional information systems planning, in that it does without detailed information systems architectures and uses instead an identification of organizational entities whose responsibilities towards their environment may be supported by a variety of systems alternatives. The results thus produced enable a clear view of the present and future direction of the information system, while retaining a close relationship to the original business needs and the actual deployment options. A quick reference is made to a tool developed to support the method.


A key aspect of realizing the future smart grid communication solution is a balanced approach between the network performance and the network security during the network deployment. A high security communication flow path is not useful when the network path cannot support capacity and reachability requirements. The deployment phase in communication network can facilitate an optimal network path by focusing on both the network performance and the network security at the same time. In this paper, we describe a use case of smart grid application where security, network capacity and reachability needs to be optimal for successful network operation. We explain our proposed balancing approach of the network performance and the network security which can be useful for the optimal smart grid secure system design.


The licentiate thesis explored the relationship between working conditions and wage income, and the relationship between working conditions and sense of coherence in relation to ill health, focusing on cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal pain, and psychological distress among the working population in Sweden. The studies were based on cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data (ULF and LNU), and on the Swedish census (FoB90) linked to the national cause of death registry. The samples included employed men and women residing in Sweden, aged 18-64.The main results show that working conditions contributed to income differences in CVD prevalence as well as CVD mortality irrespective of study design or way of assessing working conditions. Further, sense of coherence moderated, yet not consistently, the impact of working conditions on musculoskeletal pain and psychological distress. The moderating role seemed to vary by work exposure, gender and health outcome. Hence, the results do not support the hypothesis that sense of coherence is a global health-protective factor.The findings stress that future research into working conditions and employees' health would benefit from including income in the analyses since wages are closely related to working conditions and to people's position on the labour market. In addition, focusing on individual resources such as sense of coherence increases our undertanding of how individual differences in coping with adverse working conditions may affect health. Since the results also revealed considerable gender differences, suggesting that the factors that determine future work-related health are different for men and women, it is important to study men and women separately.


Soil acidity is one of the main constraints to crop production worldwide. In Ethiopia, the problem of soil acidity has been increasing. Currently, more than 40% of cultivated land in the country has a soil pH < 5.5. Recently, bacterial wilt (caused by Ralstonia solanacearum) has become a serious problem, reaching epidemic levels in some of the major potato growing districts in the country. However, it is currently unknown if the current outbreak of bacterial wilt in potato production is associated with soil acidification or not. To examine the association between bacterial wilt and soil acidification, we conducted a field survey and field experiments and detected and characterised R. solanacearum strains. The study showed that 50% of potato fields were very strongly acidic (pH 4.5–5.0) and bacterial wilt incidence was higher in potato fields with low soil pH. The field experiments indicated that lime application significantly increased soil pH (p < 0.001) and reduced bacterial wilt incidence (p < 0.001). The more lime was applied, the stronger the positive effect on soil pH and the stronger the reduction in bacterial wilt incidence. Bacterial wilt incidence was on average 10.8% under 12 t/ha lime application, while it was about 40% in control plots (without lime) after 90 days. All R. solanacearum strains isolated from the symptomatic potato plants were Phylotype II. Our findings show that the current outbreak of bacterial wilt in Ethiopia is associated with soil acidification. They add to the understanding of the risk factors for bacterial wilt in potato. Aside from farm hygiene, sanitation and cultural practices, addressing soil acidification using lime needs to be considered as an additional component of an integrated package to deal with bacterial wilt in potato under acidic soil conditions.


A good report should satisfy the expectations of the users based on their need of information. The present study views the users as a wide range of stakeholder groups as the concerned under the banner of public accountability, in which it explicates the right of the public to information about public sector organisations in discharging their accountability. Due to this, public managers are accountable to provide satisfactory information to the public for their actions and inactions to prevent any sanctions. SIRCs are not exempt. This study aims to identify the stakeholders' expectations of information disclosure from the SIRCs annual reports by conducting an online questionnaire survey. Such annual reports consist of financial and non-financial information, the fact that the annual report is the only single document that can provide information comprehensively about the reporting entity as that commonly practiced among the companies. The findings reveal that both financial and non-financial information disclosure are important. External stakeholders expected more information from the SIRCs' annual reports than SIRCs themselves. However, on average there is no significant difference in the responses of the disclosure items between internal and external stakeholders. But, there is significant difference across the six sub-stakeholder groups. Strategic information is the only information category significantly different. Nevertheless, comparing means for each of the disclosure item in every category of information, it infers several significant differences in their information expectations. As such, this study can be an avenue for future development of reporting framework to fairly satisfy the expectations of multiple stakeholders specifically for SIRCs in Malaysia yet it might be useful also for other not-for-profit (NPO), charities, religious bodies and public sectors in other countries.


Purpose: Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) is considered the gold standard for Intraocular Pressure (IOP) measurement. It has the disadvantages of being a contact device, need for a slit-lamp, non-portability and need of a skilled examiner. Many hospitals are using a Non Contact Tonometry (NCT) as a screening device to save clinician time, however the usefulness is not proved in terms of reliability. This study was aimed to determine the usefulness of the Air-puff tonometer (TONOREF NIDEK II, NIDEK CO., LTD., JAPAN) over a GAT in a tertiary care center. Design: Cross-sectional Study Methods: This was a cross-sectional, non interventional observational study conducted on 224 eyes (right eye) from 224 patients. All patients underwent the IOP measurement with both methods and a central corneal thickness (CCT) measured. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 software. Results: The mean age of the patients was 40.3±11.29 years. There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001) between the mean NCT and GAT readings which persisted even after correction for central corneal thickness. The correlation between NCT and GAT using Pearson's correlation coefficient was strong irrespective of the corrections for their corneal thickness (r = 0.751 and 0.718 for uncorrected and corrected values respectively). The correlation of the individual clinicians for the readings varied from moderate to strong. The ROC curve showed the best sensitivity and specificity to occur at around 13 to 14 mmHg. Conclusion: NCT seems to overestimate the IOP at low ranges as compared to the GAT and underestimate at higher ranges. The crossover of the values is seen between 12 to 13 mmHg.  The clinician should do an individualized analysis of his/her GAT measurements to the readings of the NCT machine at the clinic to obtain clinician specific nomogram.


Of all areas of law, it is property, particularly as it relates to housing and home, which affects people most consistently and directly. Yet, while people are intensely interested in property, the laws, doctrines, and policies that govern the acquisition, accumulation, management, and transfer of resources variously operate to conceal their effects on (some types of) property subjects. This article explores how the traditional methodologies of property law scholarship, centred on the status quo of established rights, obligations, and duties, and invoking the 'property values' of certainty, autonomy, and efficiency, have been applied in English law to prioritize the claims of 'more propertied' parties and marginalize the claims of 'less-propertied' parties. The article raises questions concerning the role of both property law and property scholarship: is it to understand and make the best out of the available material, to achieve or support change in a progressive (or progressive but incremental) way, or to contribute to, or at least not prevent, progress towards greater substantive equality between property's 'insiders' and 'outsiders'? In exploring these questions, I reflect on the hidden politics of English property discourse and its effect on the (in)visibility of the property outsider within legal analyses, arguments, and decision-making. Finally, this analysis is related to a series of 'property problems' in which more and less-propertied parties compete for ownership or access to resources, with the aims of considering an approach to problem-based property scholarship that spotlights the 'property outsider' and reflecting on the implications of this approach for normative arguments invoking 'property's values'.


The 500 m.y. cycle whereby continents assemble in a single supercontinent and then fragment and disperse again involves the rupturing of a continent and the birth of a new ocean, with the formation of passive plate margins. This process is well displayed today in the Red Sea, where Arabia is separating from Africa. We carried out geophysical surveys and bottom rock sampling in the two Red Sea northernmost axial segments of initial oceanic crust accretion, Thetis and Nereus. Areal variations of crustal thickness, magnetic intensity, and degree of melting of the subaxial upwelling mantle reveal an initial burst of active oceanic crust generation and rapid seafloor spreading below each cell, occurring as soon as the lid of continental lithosphere breaks. This initial pulse may be caused by edge-driven subrift mantle convection, triggered by a strong horizontal thermal gradient between the cold continental lithosphere and the hot ascending asthenosphere. The thermal gradient weakens as the oceanic rift widens; therefore the initial active pulse fades into steady, more passive crustal accretion, with slower spreading and along axis rift propagation.


Abstract Inflammation is closely related to renal diseases. This is particularly true for renal diseases caused by infections as in viral diseases. In this review, we highlight the inflammatory mechanisms that underlie kidney dysfunction in SARS-CoV-2, human immunodeficiency (HIV), hepatitis C (HCV), and hepatitis B (HBV) infections. The pathophysiology of renal involvement in COVID-19 is complex, but kidney damage is frequent, and the prognosis is worse when it happens. Virus-like particles were demonstrated mostly in renal tubular epithelial cells and podocytes, which suggest that SARS-CoV-2 directly affects the kidneys. SARS-CoV-2 uses the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, which is found in endothelial cells, to infect the human host cells. Critical patients with SARS-CoV-2-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) show an increase in inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-8, IFN-γ, TNF-α), known as cytokine storm that favors renal dysfunction by causing intrarenal inflammation, increased vascular permeability, volume depletion, thromboembolic events in microvasculature and persistent local inflammation. Besides AKI, SARS-CoV-2 can also cause glomerular disease, as other viral infections such as in HIV, HBV and HCV. HIV-infected patients present chronic inflammation that can lead to a number of renal diseases. Proinflammatory cytokines and TNF-induced apoptosis are some of the underlying mechanisms that may explain the virus-induced renal diseases that are here reviewed.


Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a progressive tauopathy that occurs as a consequence of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury. We analysed post-mortem brains obtained from a cohort of 85 subjects with histories of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 68 subjects: all males, ranging in age from 17 to 98 years (mean 59.5 years), including 64 athletes, 21 military veterans (86% of whom were also athletes) and one individual who engaged in self-injurious head banging behaviour. Eighteen age- and gender-matched individuals without a history of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury served as control subjects. In chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the spectrum of hyperphosphorylated tau pathology ranged in severity from focal perivascular epicentres of neurofibrillary tangles in the frontal neocortex to severe tauopathy affecting widespread brain regions, including the medial temporal lobe, thereby allowing a progressive staging of pathology from stages I-IV. Multifocal axonal varicosities and axonal loss were found in deep cortex and subcortical white matter at all stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. TAR DNA-binding protein 43 immunoreactive inclusions and neurites were also found in 85% of cases, ranging from focal pathology in stages I-III to widespread inclusions and neurites in stage IV. Symptoms in stage I chronic traumatic encephalopathy included headache and loss of attention and concentration. Additional symptoms in stage II included depression, explosivity and short-term memory loss. In stage III, executive dysfunction and cognitive impairment were found, and in stage IV, dementia, word-finding difficulty and aggression were characteristic. Data on athletic exposure were available for 34 American football players; the stage of chronic traumatic encephalopathy correlated with increased duration of football play, survival after football and age at death. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy was the sole diagnosis in 43 cases (63%); eight were also diagnosed with motor neuron disease (12%), seven with Alzheimer's disease (11%), 11 with Lewy body disease (16%) and four with frontotemporal lobar degeneration (6%). There is an ordered and predictable progression of hyperphosphorylated tau abnormalities through the nervous system in chronic traumatic encephalopathy that occurs in conjunction with widespread axonal disruption and loss. The frequent association of chronic traumatic encephalopathy with other neurodegenerative disorders suggests that repetitive brain trauma and hyperphosphorylated tau protein deposition promote the accumulation of other abnormally aggregated proteins including TAR DNA-binding protein 43, amyloid beta protein and alpha-synuclein.


The main focus of this work is an optimization-based framework for control of multi-agent systems that synthesizes actions steering a given system towards a specified state. The primary motivation for the research presented is a fascination with birds, which save energy on long-distance flights via forming a V-shape. We ask the following question: Are V-formations a result of solving an optimization problem and can this concept be utilized in multi-agent systems, particularly in drones swarms, to increase their safety and resilience? We demonstrate that our framework can be applied to any system modeled as a controllable Markov decision process with a cost (reward) function. A key feature of the procedure we propose is its automatic adaptation to the performance of optimization towards a given global objective. Combining model-predictive control and ideas from sequential Monte-Carlo methods, we introduce a performance-based adaptive horizon and implicitly build a Lyapunov function that guarantees convergence. We use statistical model-checking to verify the algorithm and assess its reliability.


In this paper, we address the problem of lacking consistency and comparability in the dissemination of research information. We seek to solve this problem using research portals, which are community-based research information systems on the Internet. The idea of our solution is to customize research portals to better fit to individual application scenarios. To this end, we propose a conceptual specification of a generic portal structure allowing for semantic standardization. For a given application scenario, this basis has to be customized regarding portal structure and semantics of textual descriptions. We demonstrate such a customization for an exemplary research portal addressing design science research. Furthermore, we describe an exemplary research process using the customized portal definition. We conclude that our approach has the potential to increase the consistency and comparability of research dissemination with research portals. This goal is achieved with a) an individually customizable portal structure, which is able to reflect the nature of a specific application scenario better than generic structures and b) a semantic standardization of textual descriptions, which enforces them to be precise, compact, and apply the vocabulary of the domain.


A brief history and overview of treatment mechanics. Appliance specifications the variations and versatility. Bracket positioning and case set-up. Archform. Anchorage control during tooth leveling and aligning. Arch leveling and overbite control. An overview of Class II treatment. An overview of Class III treatment. Space closure. Finishing the case. Appliance removal and retention protocols.


Scientists for the Regime Deutsche Orientalistik zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus 1933-1945 [German Oriental Studies during the Time of National Socialism 19331945], by Ekkehard Ellinger, Deux Mondes, 2006, 595 pp. [German] Reviewed by Rolf Behrens To readers familiar with the nature of political discourse currently prevalent in Germany, many of the positions cited in Ekkehard Ellinger 's study will sound strangely familiar: the United States' efforts in the Middle East are primarily motivated by oil interests (396), whereas Germany's activities are of a purely idealistic nature (405), Zionism is the root cause of the conflict in Palestine and across the Middle East as a whole (369), whereas the Palestinians are the victims of imperialist powers that deny them even the basic necessities of food and clothing (416). These were some of the more moderate analyses presented by German professors of Oriental studies during the time of National Socialism. That these opinions are widespread among German thinkers and lay people today may at least in part be attributed to the fact that most of these scientists kept their jobs after the war and went on to educate countless German students. No wonder that there has not been a serious attempt at Vergangenheitsbewaltigung or "coming to terms with the past" in this field. Ekkehard Ellinger set out to fill that gap with his doctoral thesis and he does a remarkable job at exposing the personal, structural, institutional and ideological interaction between the school of Oriental studies and the National Socialism regime. In his extremely wellresearched and original study he shows how German Orientalists lined up to become enthusiastic service providers for the Nazis' ideology and war efforts. In the first part of his comprehensive work, Ellinger describes the network of people, organizations and institutions in German Oriental studies. In the second, even more revealing part of the book, he analyzes and deconstructs the actual publications of German scholars, frequently juxtaposing their statements with facts, thus exposing often cynical distortions made by German scientists. The author also gives a fascinating glimpse into scholars' careers after the war. The book is accompanied by a very helpful 80-page lexicon presenting short biographies of the scholars dealt with in the book. According to Ellinger, German professors of Oriental studies showed remarkable alacrity to cooperate with the new ruling powers from the beginning. Only two Orientalists dared to question decisions by the National Socialism regime, but their opposition was overrun as early as May 1933. Most scientists manifested an "inconceivable readiness to denounce" their Jewish colleagues, thus helping to remove them from universities in accordance with the anti-Jewish Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service). Seven Jewish professors of Oriental studies lost their positions due to this law. As Ellinger shows in his analysis, German researchers were not at odds with the new ideology: they had strong contempt for democratic ideas even before National Socialism's rise to power, and racism and anti-Semitic views were rampant among German academics at the time. Orientalists - including the academic elite - were thus anxious to participate in the new system and serve the Nazi regime. The regime in turn recognized the huge potential of these scholars for their ideological and military efforts. Oriental studies were officially defined as a kriegswichtig (strategically important) field of science. Accordingly, the state not only financed and expanded institutes for Oriental studies, but also enlisted scholars in military and intelligence organizations: a large number of German Orientalists subsequently served in the Wehrmacht and in the German secret services. Re-Making the History of the Middle East The German Orientalists' task was twofold. …


This study was conducted to isolate and identify killer yeast Hanseniaspora uvarum from dates vinegar and measurement the ability of this yeast to produce killer toxin. The antimicrobial activity of the concentrated supernatant containing partially purified concentrated killer toxin was also detected against several pathogenic bacteria and yeast species, which includes two types of yeast Rhodotorula mucilaginosa and Candida tropicalis and four human pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeurginosa. In addition, the antagonistic activity of examined yeast have been studied toward four types of fungi, where two are pathogenic for human Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum and two are plant pathogens Fusarium solani and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results of killer toxin production experiments revealed the ability of yeast to produce killer toxin with molecular weight at 18 kDa by 12 % SDS electrophoresis. The optimal conditions for killer toxin production were studied, and their antimicrobial activity was determined. The results revealed that killer toxin production was increased at 4 % NaCl, the highest inhibtion zone was 20 mm for S. aureus, while the lowest inhibition zone was 7 mm for E. coli. Killer activity was increased at pH 4 and the best inhibtion zone obtained was about 16 mm for K. pneumoniae, while 8 mm for E. coli and C. tropicalis. The temperature was also affect the production of killer toxin, where 25 °C is the best temperature for toxin production of examined yeast, The best killer activity was 21 mm for C. tropicalis. The antagonistic activity of killer yeast H. uvarum toward pathogenic fungal growth was determined and showed killer activity about 61.11, 44.44, 33.33 and 24.44 % against T. mentagrophytes, T.  rubrum, F. solani and S. sclerotiorum in comparison to the control.


We develop a methodology to construct nonparametric counterfactual predictions, free of functional-form restrictions on preferences and technology, in neoclassical models of international trade. First, we establish the equivalence between such models and reduced exchange models in which countries directly exchange factor services. This equivalence implies that, for an arbitrary change in trade costs, counterfactual changes in the factor content of trade, factor prices, and welfare only depend on the shape of a reduced factor demand system. Second, we provide sufficient conditions under which estimates of this system can be recovered nonparametrically. Together, these results offer a strict generalization of the parametric approach used in so-called gravity models. Finally, we use China's recent integration into the world economy to illustrate the feasibility and potential benefits of our approach.


East Pass, a tidal inlet located in the Florida Panhandle between Pensacola and Panama City, connects Choctawhatchee Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. A three-phase model has been developed which describes the behavior of East Pass inlet during the last 120 years, based on wave, current, tide, bathymetric and shoreline data, and on historical records. The first phase (pre-1928) is of spit development and breaching. This phase covers the period when the pass was oriented in a northwest-southeast direction between Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf. From 1928 to 1968, the second phase was characterized by a stable throat position but with a main ebb channel that migrated over a developing ebb-tidal delta. This phase covers the time after the inlet breached Santa Rosa Island in a north-south direction and began to migrate east. The third phase, spanning 1968, when rubblemound jetties were built, to the present, is characterized by a stable inlet throat and ebb channel, and ebb-tidal shoal growth. Despite the jetties, East Pass has attempted to continue moving eastward, resulting in contin ued maintenance problems and erosion. The eastward migration is caused by: 1. Wave forces. The predominant local wave direction is from the southwest, while the shoreline trends east-west. 2. Backbay tidal channel and flood-tidal shoal geometry direct ebb cur rents towards the eastern shore of the inlet. Tide and meteorological data reveal that water levels in Choctawhatchee Bay fluctuate rapidly during the winter months in response to the passage of winter cold fronts. North west winds that follow fronts cause a setdown of offshore water, leaving Choctawhatchee Bay perched. The resulting outflow can account for as much as a 50 percent increase in the water that flows through East Pass over that due to astronomical tides alone. It is likely that the greatest erosion and sediment transport in the inlet occur during these episodes when current velocities are higher. The large number and regularity of fronts (261 between 1979 and 1991) suggest that they may be a more important factor causing long-term geological changes than are the infrequent hurricanes that pass through the area.


Fethullah Gulen is a Turkish intellectual, scholar, and activist whose influence over a new Islamic intellectual, social, and spiritual revival is revealed in this insightful book. Readers will gain a fuller understanding of where Gulen stands on issues of inherent human value and dignity, freedom of thought, education and taking responsibility for creating society and the world. In addition, readers will also see how different perspectives across time, geography, and worldview can still find points on which to engage in dialogue and find a deep resonance.


Feng Xiaogang, the 'Chinese Spielberg', produces huge blockbusters and hilarious comedies directed at a broad audience. Although his work does not strictly deal with environmental issues, it provides us with a privileged perspective through which to analyse the discourses around the theme of nature. Feng Xiaogang's works are not explicitly environmental, they do address the contradictions and differing anxieties linked to China's economic and environmental development. For example, A World Without Thieves (Feng Xiaogang, 2004) employs the natural image of Tibetan mountains as a symbol of search for oneself and introspection, while it symbolically links Tibet to China, setting aside the political troubles that regularly hit the region. Likewise the stunning landscapes in If You are the One 1&2 (Feng Xiaogang, 2008 and 2010) sorry don't understand; I mean: If You are the One (2008) and If You are the One 2 (2010) remind us of the importance of nature, rural surroundings, and the absence of human intervention within the changing of seasons, hinting at the same time at the dangers of losing such natural richness. Simultaneously these built-up, symbolic images refer to dreams of capitalist possession where nature turns into nothing but a marketing tool, a status symbol, a showcase of wealth and vanity parade. As forms of symbolic power imposed on the collective imagination and symptoms of the ever-growing need to be aware of the fragility of nature and the dangers of uncontrolled development, these films bring into play several contradictory discourses that cannot be ignored in the future development of China and Chinese cinema. Like every great producer of popular cinema, Feng Xiaogang produces narratives governed by the public and consumerist doxa, from which potentially subversive apprehensions emerge.


Electrochemotherapy is becoming a promising technique for the management of malignancies of skin and non-skin origin. The current review aims to clarify current knowledge on administration of electrochemotherapy for the treatment of various skin tumours. A systematic literature search was performed, up to the end of 2016, on studies in which the application of electrochemotherapy for management of primary and metastatic cutaneous malignant tumours was assessed. Having selected appropriate studies, pooled estimates of mean objective (complete) responses, with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were calculated to assess treatment efficacy. Finally, the main emerging themes from the papers were discussed in more detail. From 465 records identified through database searching, a total of 128 studies were screened, of which 70 were included for review. After a pooled analysis, the estimate for mean objective response following electrochemotherapy was 84.02% (95% CI: 80.08-87.61). Furthermore, the pooled estimate of objective treatment response of evaluated studies was 83.91% (95% CI: 79.15-88.17%) for bleomycin and 80.82% (95% CI: 66.00-92.36%) for cisplatin. Electrochemotherapy is a feasible, inexpensive, fast and easy technique to perform local treatment, regardless of tumour type, with a low level of adverse effects and patient discomfort. This method can be applied alone for patients with primary cutaneous lesions, or local or locoregional metastases, or as an additional treatment modality in patients with distant metastases.


The general goal of Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) is to provide a space within which people may interact. CVEs are increasingly being used to support collaborative work between geographically separated participants. User embodiment is concerned with the provision of users with a representation of their choice so as to make others (and themselves) aware of their presence in a virtual space. The taxonomy presented in this paper details many of the existing networked virtual environments and examines the fundamental interaction interfaces which these systems provide. By initially discussing the features of communication which should be supported regardless of the medium available, the following investigation reveals an incomplete support for non-verbal communication cues over the range of the environments examined.


Abstract. Deep Learning (DL) ingrained into Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR) enables a new information-delivery paradigm. In the context of 6 DoF pose estimation, powerful DL networks could provide a direct solution for AR systems. However, their concurrent operation requires a significant number of computations per frame and yields to both misclassifications and localization errors. In this paper, a hybrid and lightweight solution on 3D tracking of arbitrary geometry for outdoor MAR scenarios is presented. The camera pose information obtained by ARCore SDK and vSLAM algorithm is combined with the semantic and geometric output of a CNN-object detector to validate and improve tracking performance in large-scale and uncontrolled outdoor environments. The methodology involves three main steps: i) training of the Mask-R CNN model to extract the class, bounding box and mask predictions, ii) real-time detection, segmentation and localization of the region of interest (ROI) in camera frames, and iii) computation of 2D-3D correspondences to enhance pose estimation of a 3D overlay. The dataset holds 30 images of the rock of St. Modestos – Modi in Meteora, Greece in which the ROI is an area with characteristic geological features. The comparative evaluation between the prototype system and the original one, as well as with R-CNN and FAST-R CNN detectors demonstrates higher precision accuracy and stable visualization at half a kilometre distance, while tracking time has decreased at 42% during far-field AR session.


Abstract We use a 2013 Norwegian policy reform to study how banks react to higher capital requirements and how these adjustments transmit to the real economy. Using bank balance sheet data, we document that banks raise capital ratios by reducing risk-weighted assets. Most of the reduction in risk-weighted assets is accounted for by a reduction in average risk weights. Consistent with this reduction in risk, we document a substantial decline in credit supply to the corporate sector relative to the household sector. We also show that banks react to higher requirements by increasing interest rates, consistent with the reduction in corporate credit growth being supply driven. Using administrative loan level tax data, we document a reduction in lending on the firm level. This is robust to controlling for firm fixed effects, thereby accounting for potential firm-bank matching. Finally, we find that the reduction in bank lending has a negative impact on firm employment growth and that this effect is driven by small firms.


Many studies point to the problem of poor mathematics content knowledge of mathematics teachers in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' knowledge of the mathematics they are themselves teaching. Data was generated from the teachers (n = 253) written responses to test that was a shortened form of a previous Grade 12 Mathematics Paper One examination. The sample of teachers were studying towards an Advanced Certificate in Education (an upgrading high school mathematics qualification) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The findings revealed that the teachers in this sample obtained an average of 57% in the test. Using an APOS theory analysis it was found that many teachers who were working at an action level of a concept would require help and scaffolding to move to process or object levels of understanding of that concept. Furthermore it was found that on average teachers obtained 29% on questions which were at the problem solving level, raising concerns about how these teachers would mediate tasks that are set at high cognitive levels, with their Grade 12 learners.


The EU argues in its Central Asia policy that it wants to take greater account of Afghanistan. But what does this mean in practice? There is a case for engaging the Central Asian states beyond agreements over supply and material transport routes to Afghanistan. Central Asian states themselves have the most to gain from a stabilised Afghanistan. Cultural ties and the increasing economic linkages between Central Asia and Afghanistan need to be taken into consideration so that Central Asian states can be assisted in playing a positive role in Afghanistan together with Western actors.


Aim/Purpose: At a public, higher education program in information technology, faculty are frequently asked to evaluate their curricula concerning: course content, the matriculation experience, where and in what capacity graduates are employed, and future academic initiatives developed to keep pace with changes in technology. The problem is determining the best process or mechanism to accumulate the responses.

Background: The increased importance of STEM programs (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), reduced state support, and the need for greater accountability are driving academic technology programs to justify their existence. This paper explores one process for evaluating a Computer Information Systems (CIS) program in a state-supported university in the Midwest USA, through an email survey designed for graduates to capture their unique perspective as 'customers'.

Methodology: An email survey was developed, field tested, and sent to 550 email addresses obtained from university alumni affairs. Results were accumulated in a Qualtrics program and analyzed for research purposes.

Contribution: The contribution of this research is outlining one program's experience gleaning information on the employment of graduates, assessing the CIS and business core curriculum, and collecting suggestions for future academic courses and experiences through the utilization of an email survey. This is a valuable source of curriculum feedback that is often overlooked by programs that want to enhance their academic offerings.

Findings: Among the findings are the following: the CIS program is and has been a viable and relevant information technology program that prepares graduates for meaningful careers in this field; the business core curriculum of accounting, finance and business communication is essential to the career success of CIS graduates; graduates of the CIS program are prepared to assume managerial roles throughout their careers; and Cooperative (Co-op) education is an extremely valuable experience and should be required in the CIS curriculum.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Graduates of an academic program are an excellent source of evaluation material. A well-constructed email survey can gather relevant data on employment and employability, the curriculum, the college experience, and other academic program information. This type of survey is an easy, inexpensive, and expedient means for gathering this information.

Recommendation for Researchers: The current study surveyed CIS graduates to assess the appropriateness of the curriculum. Future researchers should seek input from IT managers and HR managers who will be hiring CIS graduates in the near future to find their perspectives on the CIS curriculum.

Future Research: Further research needs to investigate the link between alumni surveys and accreditation. There is also a need to improve and refine survey instruments, increase survey response rates, incorporate survey responses into program marketing initiatives, and define a process for incorporating these results into the development/creation of academic courses.


After the European Council announced that it wanted to suppress intermediate measures in the enforcement of foreign judgments within the European Union, the European Commission has proposed to abolish the procedure whereby courts of the Member states may verify whether foreign judgments meet some basic requirements of the forum (exequatur). The project of abolishing exequatur has attracted strong criticism among European scholars. It has been pointed out that the most important function of exequatur is to verify whether the foreign court did not violate human rights, and that suppressing it would entail dramatically reducing human rights protection in the European Union. Most of these scholars have dismissed the economic argument made by the European lawmaker to justify its project that the existing procedure, which delays and increases the costs of cross-border debt recovery, is simply too costly. This short paper offers some preliminary thoughts on the efficiency of the exequatur procedure. It argues that as human rights violations are, in practice, almost exclusively violations of procedural rights, the impact of human rights violations is essentially to decrease the chances to win on the merits in cases where the symbolic dimension of the right to a fair trial is negligible. The paper thus distinguishes between two categories of cases and argues that, in commercial and consumer cases, exequatur is clearly too costly and should be abolished, while the situation might be different in tort and labor cases.


Maintaining Mutual Ignorance Our gut is colonized by trillions of bacteria that do not activate the immune system because of careful compartmentalization. Such compartmentalization means that our immune system is "ignorant" of these microbes and thus it has been proposed that loss of compartmentalization might result in an immune response to the colonizing bacteria. Microorganisms are sensed by cells that express pattern recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors, which recognize patterns specific to those microbes. Slack et al. (p. 617) show that Toll-like receptor–dependent signaling is required to maintain compartmentalization of bacteria to the gut of mice. In the absence of Toll-dependent signaling, intestinal bacteria disseminated throughout the body and the mice mounted a high-titer antibody response against them. This antibody response was of great functional importance because, despite the loss of systemic ignorance to intestinal microbes, the mice were tolerant of the bacteria. Thus, in the absence of innate immunity, the adaptive immune system can compensate so that host and bacterial mutualism can be maintained. Mouse immune systems interact to ensure tolerance to nonpathogenic bacteria in the gut. Commensal bacteria in the lower intestine of mammals are 10 times as numerous as the body's cells. We investigated the relative importance of different immune mechanisms in limiting the spread of the intestinal microbiota. Here, we reveal a flexible continuum between innate and adaptive immune function in containing commensal microbes. Mice deficient in critical innate immune functions such as Toll-like receptor signaling or oxidative burst production spontaneously produce high-titer serum antibodies against their commensal microbiota. These antibody responses are functionally essential to maintain host-commensal mutualism in vivo in the face of innate immune deficiency. Spontaneous hyper-activation of adaptive immunity against the intestinal microbiota, secondary to innate immune deficiency, may clarify the underlying mechanisms of inflammatory diseases where immune dysfunction is implicated.


One of the most important characteristics of a Web-based educational system is its ability to assess the knowledge of the student and to adapt to his needs. Two main purposes of an online test are to evaluate students' progress and to help students to learn. Recently, the tests are used to accomplish an adaptive presentation or adaptive navigation support in educational adaptive hypermedia systems. This paper presents the two approaches to online Web-based testing. The first deals with the use of automated student testing and grading system with the main purpose to evaluate students' progress. The second approach is about the testing in an adaptive Web-based hypermedia educational system where the tests are primary used to update the student model. Our methods of creating, delivering and evaluating the test in both systems are described in this paper.


The applicability of bremsstrahlung counting to in-situ measurements of high level tritiated water has been examined. A specially designed metallic vial fitted with a gold-coated beryllium window was prepared for the present examinations. Only tritiated water of a given amount was put into the vial. The volume dependence of the X-ray intensity showed that 5 cm3 of tritiated water is sufficient for measurements. It was found that the spectrum of X-rays induced by β-rays consisted of only bremsstrahlung. The bremsstrahlung spectrum could be reproduced quite well by computational simulation. A good linear relation between the X-ray intensity and tritium concentration was obtained in the concentration range of 4 × 10-3-40 MBq cm-3. Furthermore, effect of nickel added as a model impurity to tritiated water was examined, and it was found that the tritium concentration can be evaluated from the X-ray intensity without any correction in the presence of impurity below 200 ppm.


This thesis consists of a series of papers relating to the nature, purpose and measurement of social impact. Paper 1 makes an empirical contribution to the understanding of firm incentives to be perceived as social, and finds that even quite distinct variants of social enterprises can nevertheless benefit form a strategic use of social responsibility. Paper 2 relates to the theoretical prediction that non-profits will deliver higher standards of quality in markets where this quality is hard to observe, and tests this, possibly for the first time in the literature, in the case of unemployment support services. In contrast to existing literature, we do not find strong evidence of for-profit vs. non-profit differentials in product quality, be it observed or unobserved. The immediate focus of Paper 3 and Paper 4 is on the role of access to light in the socio-economic transformation and growth of rural communities in the developing world, which partly constitutes a second strand of this thesis. Using a randomised controlled trial, Paper 3 identifies strong evidence of a causal link between access to light and educational attainment. Through a further randomised controlled trial, Paper 4 finds that access to light contributes to a diversification in household livelihoods from agricultural to non-farm economic activities. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first robust evidence that small-scale lighting sources can help stimulate the very first steps in the direction of economic transformation. Importantly, Paper 3 and Paper 4 also speak to the questions of measurement of social impact evoked in Papers 1 and 2 and some of the practical challenges typically faced in this pursuit. Bringing these various threads together, these papers contribute to our understanding of contemporary social enterprise, with a particular focus on the role of information and its measurement in tightly linking social enterprise with genuine social impact.


The mammalian evolutionary tree has lost several major clades through recent human-caused extinctions. This process of historical biodiversity loss has particularly affected tropical island regions such as the Caribbean, an area of great evolutionary diversification but poor molecular preservation. The most enigmatic of the recently extinct endemic Caribbean mammals are the Nesophontidae, a family of morphologically plesiomorphic lipotyphlan insectivores with no consensus on their evolutionary affinities, and which constitute the only major recent mammal clade to lack any molecular information on their phylogenetic placement. Here, we use a palaeogenomic approach to place Nesophontidae within the phylogeny of recent Lipotyphla. We recovered the near-complete mitochondrial genome and sequences for 17 nuclear genes from a ∼750-year-old Hispaniolan Nesophontes specimen, and identify a divergence from their closest living relatives, the Solenodontidae, more than 40 million years ago. Nesophontidae is thus an older distinct lineage than many extant mammalian orders, highlighting not only the role of island systems as "museums" of diversity that preserve ancient lineages, but also the major human-caused loss of evolutionary history.


Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) excited on the surface of piezoelectric crystals form the basis of a family of microsensors that is sensitive, portable, cheap, and small. These microsensors can be used in a wide variety of applications to sense low levels of gases, physical quantities such as mass, temperature, pressure, flow and humidity, biological processes, corrosion, ions and particulate matter, and a variety of mechanical and electrical quantities. In contrast to other microsensor technologies, SAW microsensors can sensitively detect both electrical and mechanical phenomena. This is due to the fact that the SAW has both mechanical and electrical fields. In those applications requiring sensitivity, such as gas sensing and biosensing, the selectivity is provided by a receptor film applied to the piezoelectric substrate. In this paper different types of SAWs are described and prototype sensing geometries are presented. Particular attention is devoted to one of the most common SAW microsensor applications...


This article describes the development, implementation, and exploratory evaluation of a professional development series that addressed educators' knowledge and use of the terms research-based and evidence-based within Human Sciences Extension and Outreach at one university. Respondents to a follow-up survey were more likely to select correctly the commonly accepted standard for each term, and they reported asking more questions, talking with others, examining programs' evidence bases, and placing more value on fidelity and evaluation following participation in the professional development series. Educator reactions to the series were generally positive, although researchers interested in designing like programs might consider engaging educators within the context of their preexisting knowledge levels.


Effective retrieval of mathematical contents from vast corpus of scientific documents demands enhancement in the conventional indexing and searching mechanisms. Indexing mechanism and the choice of semantic similarity measures guide the results of Math Information Retrieval system (MathIRs) to perfection. Tokenization and formula unification are among the distinguishing i features of indexing mechanism, used in MathIRs, which facilitate sub-formula and similarity search. Besides, the scientific documents and the user queries in MathIRs will contain math as well as text contents and to match these contents we require three important modules: Text-Text Similarity (TS), Math-Math Similarity (MS) and Text-Math Similarity (TMS). In this paper we have proposed MathIRs comprising these important modules and a substitution tree based mechanism for indexing mathematical expressions. We have also presented experimental results for similarity search and argued that proposal of MathIRs will ease the task of scientific document retrieval.


In order to implement the ultraprecise measurement with large range and long working distance in confocal microscopy, confocal simultaneous phase-shifting interferometry (C-SPSI) has been presented. Four channel interference signals, with π/2 phase shift between each other, are detected simultaneously in C-SPSI. The actual surface height is then calculated by combining the optical sectioning with the phase unwrapping in the main cycle of the interference phase response, and the main cycle is determined using the bipolar property of differential confocal microscopy. Experimental results showed that 1 nm of axial depth resolution was achieved for either low- or high-NA objective lenses. The reflectivity disturbance resistibility of C-SPSI was demonstrated by imaging a typical microcircuit specimen. C-SPSI breaks through the restriction of low NA on the axial depth resolution of confocal microscopy effectively.


Abstract. We have analysed relative humidity statistics from measurements in cirrus clouds taken unintentionally during the Measurement of OZone by Airbus In-service airCraft project (MOZAIC). The shapes of the in-cloud humidity distributions change from nearly symmetric in relatively warm cirrus (warmer than −40°C) to considerably positively skew (i.e. towards high humidities) in colder clouds. These results are in agreement to findings obtained recently from the INterhemispheric differences in Cirrus properties from Anthropogenic emissions (INCA) campaign (Ovarlez et al., 2002). We interprete the temperature dependence of the shapes of the humidity distributions as an effect of the length of time a cirrus cloud needs from formation to a mature equilibrium stage, where the humidity is close to saturation. The duration of this transitional period increases with decreasing temperature. Hence cold cirrus clouds are more often met in the transitional stage than warm clouds.


Many factors, including nestling age, brood size, and mate quality, can influence the provisioning behaviour of adult birds. Mate quality may affect provisioning behaviour because high-quality individuals may be 'good parents' and provision at higher rates. Alternatively, individuals paired to high-quality mates may provision at higher rates because the benefits provided by such mates (e.g. good genes) increase the likelihood of reproductive success. We examined variation in the plumage colour of male and female Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe) and the possible relationship between such variation and provisioning behaviour. During the 2006–2007 breeding seasons, we captured, banded, and measured adult Eastern Phoebes and collected belly feathers for spectral analyses. We also videotaped nests to quantify provisioning behaviour. Male Eastern Phoebes were larger than females, but the plumage (belly feathers) of males and females did not differ in brightness, hue, and carotenoid chroma (all P ≥ 0.37). Females provisioned nestlings at higher rates than males (P = 0.009), but we found no significant relationship between provisioning rates of males and females and plumage colour. However, relationships between female provisioning rates and the brightness and carotenoid chroma of their mates' belly feathers approached significance (P ≤ 0.08). The larger size of male Eastern Phoebes suggests there is male–male competition for access to resources (e.g. nest sites and mates), with larger size conferring a selective advantage. However, the absence of intersexual differences in plumage colour suggests limited sexual selection driven by female choice for extra-pair partners. Differences in provisioning rates of males and females may be due to male uncertainty of paternity status or to intersexual differences in foraging behaviour. The relationship between female provisioning rates and male plumage quality suggests that females may invest more in reproduction if male Eastern Phoebes with brighter, carotenoid-rich belly plumage are better able to provide quality nest sites and territories or, perhaps, high-quality genes that can potentially enhance female fitness (differential-allocation hypothesis).


Pairwise stability (Jackson and Wolinsky, 1996) is the standard stability concept in network formation. It assumes myopic behavior of the agents in the sense that they do not forecast how others might react to their actions. Assuming that agents are farsighted, related stability concepts have been proposed. We design a simple network formation experiment to test these theories. Our results provide support for farsighted stability and strongly reject the idea of myopic behavior.


If a light axion is present during inflation and becomes part of dark matter afterwards, its quantum fluctuations contribute to dark matter isocurvature. In this article, we introduce a whole new suite of cosmological observables for axion isocurvature, which could help test the presence of axions, as well as its coupling to the inflaton and other heavy spectator fields during inflation such as the radial mode of the Peccei-Quinn field. They include correlated clock signals in the curvature and isocurvature spectra, and mixed cosmological-collider non-Gaussianities involving both curvature and isocurvature fluctuations with shapes and running unconstrained by the current data. Taking into account of the existing strong constraints on axion isocurvature fluctuations from the CMB, these novel signals could still be sizable and potentially observable. In some models, the signals, if observed, could even help us significantly narrow down the range of the inflationary Hubble scale, a crucial parameter difficult to be determined in general, independent of the tensor mode.


Teachers of languages, as well as educators in general and employers, increasingly recognise the importance of developing intercultural capability. This recognition, however, brings the question of how this is evidenced as an outcome of learning. The assessment of this capability poses a range of theoretical and practical challenges. I begin with a description of languages learning within an intercultural orientation and a model for understanding assessment. I then discuss issues of conceptualising and defining the construct, as integral to the process of assessment. Next, I consider issues in eliciting intercultural capability in a proposed framework that includes assessment as both communicative performance (elicited in 'critical moments') and meta-awareness (elicited in commentaries). To conclude, I discuss issues related to identifying and judging evidence of the development of the intercultural capability and warranting the inferences made about students' developing understanding. The discussion is based on the experience of ongoing studies investigating the assessment of the intercultural capability in learning languages and in international education.


This essay examines the central role of women in modelling Keats's posthumous reputation during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by focusing on the visual heritage of his narrative poems. While the Pre-Raphaelite's interest in and well-known renderings of Keats's poems have been the subject of previous critical attention, many comparable images by women artists have been neglected. This essay analyses a wide variety of paintings, drawings and illustrations based on Keats's "Isabella; or, the Pot of Basil" and "La Belle Dame sans Merci" by women artists at the turn-of-the-century. This examination of women artists, who were celebrated during their own lifetimes but are now virtually forgotten, culminates in a detailed discussion of Jessie Marion King. Her highly innovative illustrations for Keats's poetry are not only indicative of the final phase of Pre-Raphaelitism and the distinctive "Glasgow Style;" they also underline the significance of women's artistic responses to literature during this period.