Background and objectives Diabetes mellitus is considered one of the most common chronic diseases affecting adult population worldwide, particularly the Middle East. According to recent statistics, Saudi Arabia is ranked as the seventh highest prevalence of diabetes in the world and the first highest prevalence in the MENA region with 3.8 million cases. In parallel, more than 60% of Saudi population is using the Internet and WhatsApp, which is considered the most popular mobile application in Saudi. The hypothesis in this study is that social network can play a significant role on managing the diabetes by promoting healthy-life behavior, providing education to increase the knowledge of diabetic patients, change bad habits, reduce the complications and improve life quality and the level of physical activity. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of using mobile technology (Whatsapp) for health care to improve the level of knowledge of diabetic patients and to control the level of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) along with enhancing their self-efficacy level. Methodology A randomized controlled trial on Type 2 diabetes patients was conducted. Ninety-two patients (Saudi, female, not pregnant) were selected at a Teaching Hospital in Al-Khobar, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Diabetes knowledge test (DKT) and Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale (DMSES) were recorded from all participants at the baseline and after the intervention by face-to-face interview. The Diabetic Knowledge Test (DKT) is a questionnaire of 24 items represents a test of general knowledge of diabetes. While the Dutch/US Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale (DMSES) is a tool used to measure the patient's efficacy expectation for engaging in 20 self-management activities of Type 2 diabetes. HbA1C was also collected only at the enrollment for some participants from their medical records. The period of intervention was 8 weeks. During this period, free messages via Whatsapp were sent to the intervention group weekly, a message per week. While the control group followed their usual diabetes care. The messages were written in Arabic and have been reviewed by a specialist in diabetes. Its content was about general diabetes care knowledge; included diabetes signs and symptoms, pathophysiology, etiology, diet therapy, exercising, etc. The main educational goal was to improve the level of knowledge of diabetic patients. Results Chi-square test showed there were no significant differences between study groups in demographic or clinical characteristics. The results showed significant improvement in patients' knowledge and self-efficacy level (p < 0.001) when comparing the intervention group with the control group. The mean knowledge increased from 14.45 ± 2.38 to 21.28 ± 1.59 (mean ± SD), and mean self-efficacy also increased from 6.65 ± 1.47 to 7.34 ± 1.26 (mean ± SD). Conclusion There are very few studies in Saudi Arabia investigating the effectiveness of mobile technology in managing patients with diabetes. However, this study considered the first of its kind applied in Saudi Arabia demonstrates that mobile technology, specifically WhatsApp, can be an acceptable approach to improve the knowledge and disease-management in patients with Type 2 diabetes in Dammam region. In addition to provision of ongoing healthcare support to patients considering the progressively widespread use of Internet and mobile applications in Saudi Arabia.


The insertion loss of fiber-optic components is one of the most important parameters that determine the performance of fiber-optic transmission systems. Some of the most widely used components in fiber optics systems are fiber optic connectors. To achieve a low loss connection between two optical fibers, precise and accurate alignment of their cores is essential. To achieve good quality alignment in a typical connector, high accuracy and precision must be maintained with respect to all connector ferrule geometrical parameters such as concentricity error, outside diameter, micro-hole diameter and end radius. Having an accurate measurement method for these parameters is a fundamental need for the connectormanufacturing industry to asses and control their manufacturing processes. Up to now, the industry was unable to directly measure ferrule concentricity because all current standard testmethods measure a combination of ferrule outside diameter roundness error and concentricity error. However, it is important to distinguish between concentricity error and roundness error because the ferrules are inserted into a ceramic sleeve that mostly accommodates the roundness error of the ferrule. At the same time, ferrule roundness error is an important parameter of the ferrule and it should not be ignored. A clear separation between the measurement of ferrule concentricity and roundness error would improve the concentricity measurement accuracy, resulting in better process controls and a subsequent reduction of connector insertion loss in the field. The new method proposed in this thesis, allows the concentricity error to be separated from the roundness error. The mechanical configuration of the method is identical to the standard surface reference method butmore sophisticated analysis is employed. In the proposed method, the concentricity and roundness errors are calculated using a discrete Fourier transform (DFT). Because the frequency components generated by the DFT are orthogonal, the roundness and concentricity


This paper describes the inhibitory activities of diacylglyceride phospholipids, such as phosphatidylcholine (lecithin), phosphatidylethanolamine (cephalin), phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylglycerol, bisphosphatidylglycerol (cardiolipin), phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidic acid (phosphatidate) (compounds 1 - 7, respectively) against DNA polymerase (pol), DNA topoisomerase (topo), and human cancer cell growth. Among the compounds tested, compounds 3 - 7 were revealed to be potent inhibitors of animal pols: compound 4 was the strongest inhibitor, with IC(50) values for different pols of 1.7 - 15 mM. Compounds 4 - 7 also inhibited the activity of human topo II: compound 7 was the strongest inhibitor, with an IC50 value of 20 mM. The glycerophospholipids had no effect on the activities of plant (cauliflower) pol a, prokaryotic pols, or other DNA metabolic enzymes, such as calf primase of pol a, T7 RNA polymerase, T4 polynucleotide kinase, and bovine deoxyribonuclease I. These results suggest that compounds 3 - 7 are selective inhibitors of animal pols and human topos. Compounds 4 and 7 also suppressed the growth of a human colon carcinoma cell line that lacked p53 (HCT116 p53(-/-)); their LD(50) values were 63.6 and 51.1 mM, respectively, suggesting that cell growth inhibition by these compounds leads to the inhibition of pols and/or topos. From these findings, diacylglyceride phospholipids, which are present in various foods, might be effective nutrients for promoting human anti-cancer health promotion.


When teaching a performer to be professional and play in concertos, the success is determined not only by his talent and continuous work but largely by the teacher's ability to know and reveal the student's personality and guide him towards comprehensive professional development. In the education of a contemporary performer it is essential to develop all the elements of performance expression such as technique, musicality, emotionality, awareness and artistry. Awareness is the most essential feature for a performer; however, the dominance of the rational origins may hinder the way to emotional expression. Conveying emotions in music is one of the most important aspirations for a performer. Organists face specific conditions while performing on stage where particular elements of expression come into force: the performer is invisible to the listener, the success of his performance partly depends on the assistants, acoustics and the performance capabilities of the instrument.
 Research object: the development of the organist's performance expression in the process of education; aim: to analyse educational means of the organist's expression and the application of such means in individual cases; objectives: (1) to examine the performer's main elements of expression in the education process, (2) to distinguish the means of expression that are essential in educating organists, (3) to define specific elements of performance expression in organ music; research methods: the study of methodological and psychological literature, interview.


Visceral leishmaniasis is the most severe type of leishmaniasis, and its zoonotic form, caused by Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi, accounts for 20% of the reported cases of human leishmaniasis in the world. Its incidence rates are increasing in urban and peri-urban tropical areas. One of the monitoring policies adopted in Brazil is the identification and elimination of infected dogs, which are considered the main reservoir hosts of the disease in cities. Consequently, reliable analyses and diagnoses of these animals are very important for the control of the disease. However, there is not a fast and safe diagnostic method with optimal sensitivity and specificity rates for canine visceral leishmaniasis. This study discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the most common methods available for the evaluation of dogs and the expectations raised by new methods and new antigens for the diagnosis of canine visceral leishmaniasis. Finally, we reviewed the difficulties in the practical applications of these new methodologies.


Everywhere, products are being commoditized, services are being imitated, and traditional barriers to market entry are collapsing. To sustain competitive advantage in today's Copycat Economy, companies must break from the pack. This book will show how.i? Oren Harari starts by touring "Commodity Hell," and identifying 10 common mistakes that keep companies trapped in the pack. Next, Harari introduces six strategies for propelling your organization where competitors can't follow.i? Learn how to dominate markets (and when to leave them); how to create a "higher cause" that will mobilize stakeholders; and how to build a pipeline of cool, compelling products, in any industry.i? Harari reveals new ways to takei? customers far beyond mere "satisfaction," and shows how to innovate in even the most prosaic areas ofi? a business. Learn how to avoid destructive mergers, and buy what really matters: talent, imagination, foresight, speed, rebelliousness, and inspiration. Finally, Harari offers a candid "12 Step" program for transformingi? leadership behavior to lead the charge -- and leave competitors in the dust.


It is almost a truism in contemporary legal theory and legal history that the 1870s through the 1920s was the age of formalism. Judges in this period applied logical methods, relied upon conceptual analysis, and rendered decisions in a rule-bound fashion that paid little heed to social consequences. The common law was characterized as comprehensive, gapless, and logically consistent, with a right answer for every case; law was understood to be a science. A more realistic view of law was ushered in by the Legal Realists, who built upon the writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes and Roscoe Pound to destroy formalistic thought. The Realists argued that the law is substantially indeterminate: there are gaps and inconsistencies in the law, exceptions can be found for most rules or principles, precedent often can be enlisted to support opposite outcomes. They argued that judicial decisions should not be based upon abstract conceptual analysis; rather, law is a means to social ends. A number of Realists argued that judicial decisions are the product of subjective predilections of judges, or that judges come to the result first, then structure their legal analysis to rationalize the result. This article argues that the standard account of the formalist period is fundamentally incorrect. Quoting and citing many speeches and publications, it demonstrates that a consummately realistic view of law and judicial decision making was expressed throughout the so-called formalist period. Many of these realistic statements - mentioning the uncertainty of law, the availability of precedents on all sides, and the understanding that judges' subjective views influence their legal decisions - were uttered by judges, professors, and leaders of the bar. The article shows how the image of formalism was constructed by Roscoe Pound, Karl Llewellyn, and Grant Gilmore in a manner that systematically excluded this large body of realistic discourse, thereby creating a distorted portrayal of the period. Moreover, the article argues that our perception of the Legal Realists (and Holmes) as bold mavericks is erroneous. The Realists were merely the latest episode in a constant stream of skeptical observations about law and judging that extends back many decades. The objective of this article, beyond correcting our misimpression of these important periods in our legal history, is to break the hold of the formalist-realist antithesis that structures and constrains contemporary views of judicial decision making.


Baa, the mother of Jiten Trivedy and Nitin Trivedy and the unnamed mother of Praful and the two sisters Dolly and Alka represent the first generation. The husband of Baa was a drunkard and he frequently used to beat up Baa . Now, Baa becomes old and her husband is dead but his remembrance is still affecting her seriously. The mother of Praful and the two sisters marries for the second time without proper divorce from her first husband and therefore, she is taken as a whore. She (Baa) incited her son to beat up his wife. As a result, the baby, Daksha is born deformed prematurely at seventh month, she represents the third generation of women's victimisation and stands as the symbol of Jiten's torture on Dolly. For Alka also the suffering is indeed extreme. Her brother, Praful arranges for her marriage to Nitin. In fact, Nitin and Praful are homosexuals who keep a close sexual relationship.For the sake of maintaining their relationship he (Praful) lets her sister to suffer throughout her life.Then, we have Lalitha with her obsessive love for bonsai. Symbolically, bonsai represents these Indian women of India whom the patriarchal society has never given the chance to grow freely. Her creations of bonsais show that she is also a victim of the society with many unfulfilled wishes and suppressed feelings and longings because the society does not allow her to have them for her being a woman.


We consider the problem of network coding across three unicast sessions over a directed acyclic graph, where the sender and receiver of each unicast session are both connected to the network via a single edge of unit capacity. We consider a network model in which the middle of the network can only perform random linear network coding, and restrict our approaches to precoding-based linear schemes, where the senders use precoding matrices to encode source symbols. We adapt a precoding-based interference alignment technique, originally developed for the wireless interference channel, to construct a precoding-based linear scheme, which we refer to as precoding-based network alignment scheme (PBNA). A primary difference between this setting and the wireless interference channel is that the network topology can introduce dependencies among the elements of the transfer matrix, which we refer to as coupling relations, and can potentially affect the achievable rate of PBNA. We identify all these coupling relations and interpret them in terms of network topology. We then present polynomial-time algorithms to check the presence of these coupling relations in a particular network. Finally, we show that, depending on the coupling relations present in the network, the optimal symmetric rate achieved by precoding-based linear scheme can take only three possible values, all of which can be achieved by PBNA.


For several decades, map libraries and our users have appreciated the value of graphical search methods, and the integrating power of geographical coordinates for spatial searching (Van de Waal, 1974; Larsgaard, 1978). More recently there have been developments in software and data availability to allow the more widespread practical implementation of web-based graphical search tools, using dynamic maps and geo-referenced records. This year, the National Library of Scotland (NLS) has implemented pilot web-based applications using ESRI's ArcIMS software, to provide an online spatial search method for NLS collections. This paper describes the background to these applications, the software and hardware used, interfaces developed, and I will end with an examination of the problems and prospects of this web-mapping technology.


Dr M. D. Max & Dr J. C. Roddick write: Dallmeyer and Gibbons (1987) have provided evidence on the timing of blueschist metamorphism in eastern Anglesey. We present a further 40Ar/39Ar amphibole mineral analysis that supports this timing and examine the wider implications of the data. Figure D1 is an age spectrum for amphibole from a massive crossite-epidote rock (Geological Survey of Ireland specimen 77–1745) taken from a quarry along the northern side of the old Bangor-Holyhead road about 250m to the ESE of the Marquess of Anglesey's Monument (537 715 on 1 : 50 000 sheet 114, Anglesey). This is about 1 km from the localities sampled by Dallmeyer and Gibbons. The rock was composed of about 70% felted, schistose, light blue to light violet crossite, up to (rarely) 1 mm in length, with about 22% epidote group minerals and about 8% chlorite. There was neither apparent retrogression nor intergrowth with other amphibole species. The analysed separate consisted of 74 mg of 100-250 pm grains of essentially pure crossite. The age spectrum is broadly similar to that of sample 1 of Dallmeyer and Gibbons, giving a maximum age of 550 Ma. For the final 20% gas the ages decrease to 517 Ma, a phenomenon seen in other amphibole analyses (Harrison & McDougall 1981) and possibly related to the degassing of a high Ca region within the crossite, as reflected in this case by the low K/Ca ratio (Fig. Dl). The peak age of 550 Ma is considered to provide


Learned region sparsity has achieved state-of-the-art performance in classification tasks by exploiting and integrating a sparse set of local information into global decisions. The underlying mechanism resembles how people sample information from an image with their eye movements when making similar decisions. In this paper we incorporate the biologically plausible mechanism of Inhibition of Return into the learned region sparsity model, thereby imposing diversity on the selected regions. We investigate how these mechanisms of sparsity and diversity relate to visual attention by testing our model on three different types of visual search tasks. We report state-of-the-art results in predicting the locations of human gaze fixations, even though our model is trained only on image-level labels without object location annotations. Notably, the classification performance of the extended model remains the same as the original. This work suggests a new computational perspective on visual attention mechanisms and shows how the inclusion of attention-based mechanisms can improve computer vision techniques.


Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great promise in the fields of drug development and regenerative medicine. If iPSCs reprogrammed from patient cells replicate what is seen in vivo they may be used as a model of disease. A process that is disrupted in many neurodegenerative diseases is mitochondrial biogenesis. One of these diseases is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which is characterized by loss of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Differentiation of hPSCs into motor neurons offers a way to study a previous unavailable cell type and may further our understanding of human motor neuron biology. The aims of the present study were to differentiate motor neurons from hESCs and iPSCs in low oxygen conditions and to explore mitochondrial biogenesis and electrical maturation during this process. After three weeks of treatment with retinoic acid and purmorphamine, a sonic hedgehog agonist, cells increased expression of post mitotic spinal motor neuron markers. One week later electrophysiological analysis revealed voltage-gated currents and action potential generation. Mitochondrial biogenesis signaling and expression of respiratory chain proteins increased with motor neuron differentiation. Respiration analysis revealed a decrease in glycolysis in motor neurons compared to neural stem cells. Interestingly, this was not accompanied by an increase in basal respiration or mitochondrial mass. These findings enhance our understanding of motor neuron mitochondrial biogenesis, a process impaired in ALS.


The present study describes rapid screening of Penicillium verruculosum strain BS3 (novel strain previously reported from this laboratory) for the production of secondary metabolites in potatodextrose agar and broth media. Metabolites were extracted from both mycelia (intracellular) and supernatant (extracellular). For intracellular secondary metabolites, the 5 days old mycelia were extracted in the solvent system containing methanol, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate (1:2:3 ratio, respectively) with 1% volume of formic acid; while the extracellular metabolites in the supernatant were extracted in ethyl acetate. The concentrated intraand extra-cellular extracts were pooled in methanol for analysis using liquid chromatograph/quardapole -time of flight/mass spectrometry (LC/Q-TOF/MS). Alkaloids such as aurantioclavine and rugulosuvine B were identified from the extract of P. verruculosum BS3, upon the database search of 465 secondary metabolites produced by various fungi. It indicates that P. verruculosum BS3 is a potent fungus capable of producing valuable leads for drugs such as aurantioclavine, an intermediate for the synthesis of fungal communesin and rugulosuvine B, an antitumor and antimicrobial agent.


1. A comparison has been made of the handling of radioactive copper by patients with Wilson's disease, patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and a small control group. The object of this study has been to assess the influence of an expanded hepatic pool of copper on the incorporation of radioactive copper into caeruloplasmin.

2. Studies with 67Cu have shown that radioactivity disappears steadily from the plasma of patients with Wilson's disease for periods up to 296 h. Both in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and in controls, a well-marked secondary rise occurs as radioactive copper is incorporated into caeruloplasmin.

3. Caeruloplasmin has been isolated from the serum of one control subject, one patient with primary biliary cirrhosis and one with Wilson's disease. Of the plasma radioactivity 90% was present in the caeruloplasmin of the control subject and the patient with primary biliary cirrhosis; only 27% was found in the caeruloplasmin of the patient with Wilson's disease.

4. Turnover time for liver copper has been determined; in the control subjects it was of the order of 20–30 days, in the patients with primary biliary cirrhosis it was between 600 and 700 days, in Wilson's disease the time exceeded 1800 days. In all cases the turnover time for radioactive copper was significantly less.

5. We conclude (a) that newly arrived radioactive copper is preferentially handled in the presence of copper overload and (b) dilution of radioactive copper in an expanded hepatic pool of the metal cannot alone account for the delayed incorporation found in patients with Wilson's disease.


The performance of a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical network can be severely degraded due to fiber nonlinear effects. In the case where nonzero dispersion (NZD) fibers are employed, the four-wave mixing (FWM) effect sets an upper limit on the input power, especially in the case of narrow channel spacing. In order to reduce FWM-induced distortion two new techniques, the hybrid amplitude-/frequency-shift keying (ASK/FSK) modulation and the use of prechirped pulses are investigated. It is shown that both techniques can greatly improve the Q-factor in a 10 Gb/s WDM system. This happens even for very high input powers (/spl sim/10 dBm), where the degradation of the conventional WDM system is prohibitively high. The proposed methods are also applied and tested in higher bit rates (40 Gb/s). It is deduced that although the hybrid ASK/FSK modulation technique marginally improves the system performance, the optical prechirp technique can still be used to greatly increase the maximum allowable input power of the system.


Bond cleavage and formation are key steps in chemistry and biochemistry. The present work investigates the generation of diphenylmethyl cations (Ph2CH+) via photoinduced bond cleavage of diphenylmethyl derivatives with a cationic or neutral leaving group. The resulting Ph2CH+ cations and its numerous derivatives serve as reference electrophiles for one of the most extensive reactivity scales covering 40 orders of magnitude. In chapter 1, the focus is on the initial bond cleavage of diphenylmethyltriphenylphosphonium ions (Ph2CH−PPh3+) exhibiting a cationic leaving group. With the help of state-of-the-art quantum chemical and quantum dynamical methods, the reaction mechanism of the bond cleavage is revealed. Using a reduced model system, the potential energy surfaces can be calculated at the ONIOM level of theory along specially designed reactive coordinates. Two competing reaction channels emerge: a homolytic one in the S1 state and a heterolytic one in the ground state. They are connected via an energetically accessible conical intersection which makes an efficient generation of the observed Ph2CH+ cations feasible. In contradiction with the experiment in polar or moderately polar solvents, quantum dynamical calculations for the isolated molecule reveal the formation of Ph2CH• radicals. While electrostatic solvent effects are negligible in this system, dynamic solvent effects emerge as being essential to explain the molecular mechanism.
Two methods with increasing complexity to describe the dynamic impact of the solvent environment are developed. The first approach, the dynamic continuum ansatz, treats the environment implicitly. It uses Stokes' law and the dynamic viscosity of the solvent in combination with quantum chemically and dynamically evaluated quantities to obtain the decelerating force exerted on the dissociating fragments. The ansatz does not require any fitting of parameters. The second method, the QD/MD approach, is based on an explicit treatment of the solvent surrounding. It combines molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the reactant in a box of solvent molecules with quantum dynamics (QD) calculations of the reactant's dynamics. In this way, a more detailed microscopic picture of the molecular process can be derived taking into account individual arrangements of the solvent. Both methods unveil the crucial impact of the solvent cage on the bond cleavage mechanism. It hinders the free dissociation in the S1 state and guides the molecular system to the conical intersection. QD simulations including the non-adiabatic coupling around the conical intersection show the formation of Ph2CH+ within ∼400 fs which compares well with the initial rise of the cation absorption in the experiment.
Chapter 2 deals with the position of the counterion X– in the ion pairs Ph2CH−PPh3+ X–,
PhCH2−PPh3+ X–, and (p-CF3-C6H4)CH2−PPh3+ X– in solution with X– being Cl–, Br–, BF4–, and SbF6–. These structures are essential to clarify the role of oxidizable counterions like e.g. Cl– during the initial bond cleavage in dichloromethane. The structures determined quantum chemically in dichloromethane show a similar counterion position than in the crystal. They are confirmed by the good accordance of the calculated and measured 1H NMR shifts. The C(α)–H···X– hydrogen bonds account for the pronounced counterion-dependent 1H NMR shifts of the C(α)–H in CD2Cl2. The strong downfield shift of the signals increases according to SbF6– < BF4– << Br– < Cl–.
The last part (chapter 3) focuses on the secondary processes within a few picoseconds to several nanoseconds after the C-Cl bond cleavage in diphenylmethylchloride in solution. Initially, the neutral leaving group Cl leads mainly to the formation of radical pairs; only a minor fraction of ion pairs is generated in the beginning. A combined Marcus-Smoluchowski model is used to simulate the interplay between geminate recombination, diffusional separation, and electron transfer of the radical and ion pair populations. The distance-dependent rates of the three processes together with broad distance-dependent population distributions faithfully reproduce the spectroscopically observed dynamics. The majority of Ph2CH+ cations is generated via electron transfer from the radical pairs. The detailed understanding of the secondary processes shows that a high Ph2CH+ cation yield can be expected if the radicals within a pair stay nearby for a long time to achieve an efficient electron transfer and if the resulting ions are separated fast to prevent geminate recombination.


Abstract This article reports research from an innovative university-secondary school partnership, the Web Pen Pals Project, which pairs preservice English teachers in online chat rooms with local middle school students to talk about young adult literature. The analyses reported here center on the type of dialogue that results during such online conversations. Findings suggest preservice teachers bring traditional classroom discourse expectations to CMC, and strategies that help CMC facilitators synthesize and focus discourse into co-created "group texts" are needed. Based on these findings, implications for educators who use CMC in teacher preparation to facilitate collaborative learning are suggested.


The adsorption kinetics and intraparticulate diffusivity of aniline blue dye onto activated
plantain peel carbon has been studied. Two kinetic models, the pseudo first- and second-order
equations were selected to follow the adsorption process. Kinetic parameters; rate constants,
equilibrium adsorption capacities and correlation coefficients, for each kinetic equation were
calculated and discussed. Experimental results show that the amount of aniline blue dye adsorbed
increased with increasing contact time and the adsorption rate constant (kad) follows the second order
kinetics. Results obtained also shows that the adsorption of aniline blue dye onto activated plantain
peels carbon is particle-diffusion controlled.
Keywords: Plantain peels, Carbon, Adsorption kinetics, Intraparticulate diffusivities, Pseudo first
order, Pseudo second order


Offering a comprehensive cross-disciplinary perspective, the chapters discuss the economic, political and social factors that shaped HRM in each country, including the role of national labor movements and labor law regimes. The authors also provide an examination of HR practices and systems within firms, starting with rudimentary hiring and compensation a century ago, progressing to personnel and industrial relations programs in the last century, and culminating in modern human resource management practices today, including strategic high-performance systems. This book is the first to identify the commonalities and differences in HRM both across nations and over time.


Background
Giardiasis is the commonest intestinal protozoal infection worldwide. The current first-choice therapy is metronidazole. Recently, other drugs with potentially higher efficacy or with fewer and milder side effects have increased in popularity, but evidence is limited by a scarcity of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the many treatment options available. Network meta-analysis (NMA) is a useful tool to compare multiple treatments when there is limited or no direct evidence available.

Objectives
To compare the efficacy and side effects of all available drugs for the treatment of giardiasis.

Methods
We selected all RCTs included in systematic reviews and expert reviews of all treatments for giardiasis published until 2014, extended the systematic literature search until 2016, and identified new studies by scanning reference lists for relevant studies. We then conducted an NMA of all available treatments for giardiasis by comparing parasitological cure (efficacy) and side effects.

Results
We identified 60 RCTs from 58 reports (46 from published systematic reviews, 8 from reference lists and 4 from the updated systematic search). Data from 6714 patients, 18 treatments and 42 treatment comparisons were available. Tinidazole was associated with higher parasitological cure than metronidazole [relative risk (RR) 1.23, 95% CI 1.12-1.35] and albendazole (RR 1.35, 95% CI 1.21-1.50). Taking into consideration clinical efficacy, side effects and amount of the evidence, tinidazole was found to be the most effective drug.

Conclusions
We provide additional evidence that single-dose tinidazole is the best available treatment for giardiasis in symptomatic and asymptomatic children and adults.


A recent investigation showed the existence of correlations between the architectural features of mammalian interphase chromosomes and the compositional properties of isochores. This result prompted us to compare maps of the Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) and of the Lamina Associated Domains (LADs) with the corresponding isochore maps of mouse and human chromosomes. This approach revealed that: 1) TADs and LADs correspond to isochores, i.e., isochores are the genomic units that underlie chromatin domains; 2) the conservation of TADs and LADs in mammalian genomes is explained by the evolutionary conservation of isochores; 3) chromatin domains corresponding to GC-poor isochores (e.g., LADs) interact with other domains also corresponding to GC-poor isochores even if located far away on the chromosomes; in contrast, chromatin domains corresponding to GC-rich isochores (e.g., TADs) show more localized chromosomal interactions, many of which are inter-chromosomal. In conclusion, this investigation establishes a link between DNA sequences and chromatin architecture, explains the evolutionary conservation of TADs and LADs and provides new information on the spatial distribution of GC-poor/gene-poor and GC-rich/gene-rich chromosomal regions in the interphase nucleus.


The dissertation deals with the questions surrounding the legal, ethical and strategic aspects of armed drones in warfare. This is a vast and complex field, however, one where there remains more conflict and debate than actual consensus.One of the many themes addressed during the course of this research was an examination of the evolution of modern asymmetric transnational armed conflict. It is the opinion of the author that this  phenomenon represents a "grey-zone"; an entirely new paradigm of warfare. International terrorism has not been dealt with in a cohesive fashion. Any international prosecution of terrorism which has been conducted has been either "sectoral" adopting a piecemeal typological approach or has been carried out at the domestic level.A novel approach to the problem, of subnational actors with transnational reach, was proposed, by attributing certain groups with a new legal personality, that of "Stateless International Entities", or "SIEs". Those groups who possess, for all intents and purposes, the same attributes as those of States, could then be judged for their behavior before an international tribunal. Other important topics addressed in this research include an examination of important case law, targeted killing, autonomy, preemption versus prevention, imminence versus intent, the find, fix and finish paradigm, the impact of the media, and the role of the CIA, and finally, the flawed reasoning which adopts technology as a form of strategy.


In this paper, we discuss the realization of wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) transmission at high spectral efficiency. For this experiment, coherent polarization-division multiplexing--orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (PDM-OFDM) is used as a modulation format. PDM-OFDM uses training symbols for channel estimation. This makes OFDM easily scalable to higher level modulation formats as channel estimation is realized with training symbols that are independent of the constellation size. Furthermore, because of its well-defined spectrum OFDM requires only a small guard band between WDM channels. The dependence of the number of OFDM subcarriers is investigated with respect to the interchannel linear crosstalk. At a constant data rate the number of OFDM subcarriers is estimated to achieve lower linear crosstalk in order to achieve higher spectral efficiency. We then experimentally demonstrate dense WDM (DWDM) transmission with 7.0-b/s/Hz net spectral efficiency using 8 × 65.1-Gb/s coherent PDM-OFDM signals with 8-GHz WDM channel spacing utilizing 32-quadrature-amplitude-modulation subcarrier modulation. Successful transmission is achieved over 240 km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) spans with hybrid erbium-doped fiber amplifiers/Raman amplification.


Phylogeographic analysis can be described as the study of the geological and climatological processes that have produced contemporary geographic distributions of populations and species. Here, we attempt to understand how the dynamic process of landscape change on Madagascar has shaped the distribution of a targeted clade of mouse lemurs (genus Microcebus) and, conversely, how phylogenetic and population genetic patterns in these small primates can reciprocally advance our understanding of Madagascar's prehuman environment. The degree to which human activity has impacted the natural plant communities of Madagascar is of critical and enduring interest. Today, the eastern rainforests are separated from the dry deciduous forests of the west by a large expanse of presumed anthropogenic grassland savanna, dominated by the Family Poaceae, that blankets most of the Central Highlands. Although there is firm consensus that anthropogenic activities have transformed the original vegetation through agricultural and pastoral practices, the degree to which closed-canopy forest extended from the east to the west remains debated. Phylogenetic and population genetic patterns in a five-species clade of mouse lemurs suggest that longitudinal dispersal across the island was readily achieved throughout the Pleistocene, apparently ending at ∼55 ka. By examining patterns of both inter- and intraspecific genetic diversity in mouse lemur species found in the eastern, western, and Central Highland zones, we conclude that the natural environment of the Central Highlands would have been mosaic, consisting of a matrix of wooded savanna that formed a transitional zone between the extremes of humid eastern and dry western forest types.


When comparing different methods for face detection or localization, one realizes that just simply comparing the reported results is misleading as, even if the results are reported on the same dataset, different authors have different views of what a correct detection/localization means. This paper addresses exactly this problem, proposing an objective measure for the goodness of a detection/localization for the case of frontal faces. The usage of the proposed technique insures a fair and unbiased way of reporting the results, making the experiment repeatable, measurable, and comparable by anybody else.


History and Symptoms: This young mother came for routine ultrasound examination at 30 weeks gestational age with a history of normal menstrual cycles before the pregnancy. She had a history of acute rhinitis prior to this sonography. This was her first pregnancy. Family History: The patient (the mother) was one of 4 children. Present Pregnancy: The patient had a history of 30 weeks amenorrhea which corresponded with the age of the fetus on ultrasound scan. She had a history of mild vaginal spotting during the first month of this pregnancy. Clinical Examination: Her blood pressure was normal (BP: 122/ 84 mm. of Hg); her other vital signs were normal. On examination of the chest there were no abnormalities. On abdominal examination, there were no major clinical findings. The fundal height of the patient corresponded to the age of the fetus (30 weeks). Imaging Studies: This patient underwent routine transabdominal ultrasound imaging to study the biophysical profile of the fetus and also to rule out any fetal anomalies. She had not undergone sonography prior to this scan. Image 1: Transabdominal color Doppler scan image (Images courtesy of Dr. Gidda Ramaiah, MD, India).


This thesis depicts aspects of maritime life along the coast of central Vietnam, Cochinchina, between the 16th and the 19th centuries. The aim of the thesis is to provide a general understanding of the traditional use of boats, and in doing so, the thesis examines from several vantage points maritime routes, the characteristics of the South China Sea and its navigation, various maritime activities, Cochinchinese seafaring and seamanship, and finally, the boats themselves.

Between the 16th and the 19th centuries, maritime activity along the coast of Cochinchina was bustling. Boats were central to the development of the region under the reign of the Nguyễn Lords (1558-1776) up to the early years of the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945), for defence and expansion, for trade, and for sustaining daily life. Concurrently, Europeans in the age of sail followed the traditional maritime route to China that hugged the coast of Cochinchina, and often sailed into its harbours.

In this thesis, the maritime aspect is the component that links these various topics together. As such, it uses a framework initiated by the Annales School, and deepened by the New Thalassology. Within that framework, the sea is considered as a fundamental force that shaped life along the coast, and the South China Sea is thus central to this thesis. At the same time, the methodology relies on a multi-disciplinary approach that draws upon a range of sources, in order to address a particular region of Vietnam over the longue duree. The thesis therefore draws upon archival documents, including travellers' accounts, missionaries' letters, and embassies' reports from the French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English, to reconstruct a sense of the navigation conditions on the South China Sea, along the coast of central Vietnam, and to shed light on the boats and mariners that sailed there. It also draws upon ethnography, from the 19th century to the present, to address the continuity of navigation, boat use, and Cochinchinese specific boatbuilding features over time.

As such, this thesis illuminates the maritime past of Cochinchina from a maritime perspective, and by making the multi-disciplinary study of boat use its centrepiece, it stands at the cross-roads of maritime archaeology, nautical technology and maritime history.


Fully developed channel flow with a passive scalar rotating about the spanwise axis is studied by direct numerical simulations. The Reynolds number based on the bulk mean velocity Reb is up to 30000, substantially higher than in previous studies, and the rotation rates cover a broad range. Turbulence on the stable channel side is less strongly damped at moderate rotation rates than in channel flow at lower Reb. At high rotation rates and sufficiently high Reb, intermittent strong instabilities occur on the stable side caused by rapidly growing modes resembling two-dimensional Tollmien-Schlichting waves which at some instant become unstable and break down into intense turbulence. The turbulence decays and after some time the waves form again and the process is repeated in a cyclic manner. Rotation also strongly affects the mean passive scalar profiles and turbulent scalar fluxes. Large scalar fluctuations are observed on the border between the stable and unstable channel sides. While in non-rotating channel flow the turbulent Prandtl number of the passive scalar is about one like in other shear flows, it is much smaller in the rotating cases.


This paper documents and shares our experience of navigating the journal-review process. By providing a personal account we aim to provide a piece that will resonate with those who have had similar experiences. We adopted a case-study approach using the reviews of the manuscript by two anonymous reviewers and the authors' responses. The paper confirms the emotive nature of the manuscript-review process and details some of the vagaries associated with the review process, highlighting our frustrations with it. An extensive literature critiquing the manuscript peer-review process exists. This is understandable given the requirement for academics to publish their research findings in peer-reviewed journals. In view of this extensive literature, what is surprising is the dearth of studies detailing how authors have managed to navigate their way through the process.


This paper investigates whether the greater accuracy of emotion identification for dynamic versus static expressions, as noted in previous research, can be explained through heightened levels of either component or configural processing. Using a paradigm by Young, Hellawell, and Hay (1987), we tested recognition performance of aligned and misaligned composite faces with six basic emotions (happiness, fear, disgust, surprise, anger, sadness). Stimuli were created using 3D computer graphics and were shown as static peak expressions (static condition) and 7 s video sequences (dynamic condition). The results revealed that, overall, moving stimuli were better recognized than static faces, although no interaction between motion and other factors was found. For happiness, sadness, and surprise, misaligned composites were better recognized than aligned composites, suggesting that aligned composites fuse to form a single expres- sion, while the two halves of misaligned composites are perceived as two separate emotions. For anger, disgust, and fear, this was not the case. These results indicate that emotions are perceived on the basis of both configural and component-based information, with specific activation patterns for separate emotions, and that motion has a quality of its own and does not increase configural or component-based recognition separately.


City population size is a crucial measure when trying to understand urban life. Many socio-economic indicators scale superlinearly with city size, whilst some infrastructure indicators scale sublinearly with city size. However, the impact of size also extends beyond the city's limits. Here, we analyse the scaling behaviour of cities beyond their boundaries by considering the emergence and growth of nearby cities. Based on an urban network from African continental cities, we construct an algorithm to create the region of influence of cities. The number of cities and the population within a region of influence are then analysed in the context of urban scaling. Our results are compared against a random permutation of the network, showing that the observed scaling power of cities to enhance the emergence and growth of cities is not the result of randomness. By altering the radius of influence of cities, we observe three regimes. Large cities tend to be surrounded by many small towns for small distances. For medium distances (above 114 km), large cities are surrounded by many other cities containing large populations. Large cities boost urban emergence and growth (even more than 190 km away), but their scaling power decays with distance.


This paper reviews research and theory relating to aspirations for higher education as a cultural capacity. Understanding the social and cultural dimensions of aspirations for higher education is important as they are increasingly becoming part of social commentary and more recently educational policy, research and practice. This paper synthesises the empirical literature, conceptual understandings and theory relating to aspirations as a capacity in a way that will be useful to others who are engaged in practical initiatives and research targeting educational equity. We focus on recent and current developments regarding the capacity to aspire as a conceptual framework, analyse studies that evaluate programs based on the capacity to aspire, and consider what evidence and lessons can be used in current and future equity initiatives. This paper draws on the authors' current research about the educational and career aspirations of students from under-represented backgrounds in higher education.


Designing well-Constructiond websites to facilitate Operative user Steering has long been a challenge. A primary reason is that the web developers' understanding of how a website should be Constructiond can be considerably different from that of the users. While various methods have been proposed to relink webpages to improve navigability using user Steering data, the completely reorganized new Construction can be highly unpredictable, and the cost of disorienting users after the changes remains unanalyzed. This paper addresses how to improve a website without introducing substantial changes. Specifically, we propose a mathematical programming model to improve the user Steering on a website while minimizing alterations to its current Construction. Results from extensive tests conducted on a publicly available real data set indicate that our model not only significantly improves the user Steering with very few changes, but also can be Operatively solved. We have also tested the model on large synthetic data sets to demonstrate that it scales up very well. In addition, we define two evaluation metrics and use them to assess the performance of the improved website using the real data set. Evaluation results confirm that the user Steering on the improved Construction is indeed greatly enhanced. More interestingly, we find that heavily disoriented users are more likely to benefit from the improved Construction than the less disoriented users.


Surgical site infections (SSIs) are a worldwide problem that has far reaching implications on patient morbidity and mortality as well as significant financial implications. Worldwide it has an incidence of between 2-5%, with an incidence as high as 20% in colorectal surgery. 1 It is the third most common nosocomial infection, and the most common nosocomial infection amongst surgical patients with up to 38% of nosocomial infections being due to surgical site infections. 6 On average, it increases length of hospital stay by 7-10 days and in America in 2002, it was estimated to cost between $3 000 - $30 000 per incident of a surgical site infection. This cost estimate excluded cost to the patient after discharge from hospital. 1 Patients whose surgery was complicated by a SSI had a 2-11% higher risk of death. In those patients who died, 75% was directly attributable to the SSI. 1


Advances in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and information communication technology (ICT) have facilitated the development of integrated electrical power systems for the future. A recent major issue is the need for a healthy and sustainable power transmission and distribution system that is smart, reliable and climate-friendly. Therefore, at the start of the 21st Century, Government, utilities and research communities are working jointly to develop an intelligent grid system, which is now known as a smart grid. Smart grid will provide highly consistent and reliable services, efficient energy management practices, smart metering integration, automation and precision decision support systems and self healing facilities. Smart grid will also bring benefits of seamless integration of renewable energy sources to the power networks. This paper focuses on the benefits and probable deployment issues of smart grid technology for a sustainable future both nationally and internationally. This paper also investigates the ongoing major research programs in Europe, America and Australia for smart grid and the associated enabling technologies. Finally, this study explores the prospects and characteristics of renewable energy sources with possible deployment integration issues to develop a clean energy smart grid technology for an intelligent power system.


The aim of this research is to investigate body image, subjective happiness and eating attitudes of women of different ages. The research group consists of 161 women. The age range of the research group is 19-63. In the study, Body Image Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale and Eating Attitude Test were used in order to collect data. ANOVA, Scheffe, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient method and multiple regression analysis method were adopted to analyze the data. According to the findings, a significant difference was identified between age groups of the participants and their subjective happiness. The results also indicated that there are considerable positive relationship between age and subjective happiness and, subjective happiness and body image. In addition, the findings indicate that age, body image and eating attitude are significant predictors of women"s subjective happiness.


Background: Bleeding from an enlarged prostate gland is a major complication of benign prostatic enlargement (BPH). This review details our management over a 10-year period. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of patients who presented with bleeding BPH between January 2001 and December 2010 was carried out to determine the outcome of management. Results: Forty-two patients with bleeding prostates treated by open prostatectomy were analyzed. The peak incidence was in the age group of 60-69 years. The main associated co-morbidities were hypertension in 17 (40.48%) and diabetes in seven (16.67) patients. Urine culture was positive in 24 (57.14%) patients, with E. coli in 13 (54.17%) and Pseudomonas in four (16.67%) patients as the main isolates. Most patients (37; 88.08%) received blood transfusions ranging from two to four units. Operative techniques were transvesical in 30 (76.92%) and retropubic in nine (23.08%) patients. Isolated median lobe enlargement of the prostate was seen in 18 (46.15%) and whole organ enlargement in 21 (53.85%) patients. The weight of the prostates ranged from 47 to 403 g (mean, 127 g). Incidental carcinoma was seen in one patient (2.56%). The mean hospital stay was 11 days (range 9-21), and the mean follow-up was 21 months (range 3-26). There was one (2.38%) mortality. Conclusion: BPH with massive hematuria invariably has an enlarged median lobe and is managed by open prostatectomy, without risk of re-bleeding.


Objectives Studies have demonstrated an association between congenital heart disease (CHD) and neurodevelopmental delay, partly attributed to the risk of brain injury during cardiac surgery. However, neuroimaging studies have demonstrated a high incidence of preoperative brain abnormalities. The aim of this study was to perform a systematic review in order to quantify the non-surgical risk of brain abnormalities and neurodevelopmental delay in fetuses/newborns with CHD. Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library, without language restrictions were searched electronically, utilising combinations of the terms congenital heart, cardiac, neurologic, neurodevelopment, MRI, ultrasound, neuroimaging, autopsy, preoperative and outcome. Reference lists of relevant articles and reviews were hand searched for additional reports. Cohort and case-control studies were included. Case reports and editorials were excluded. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. Results The search yielded 9,129 citations. Full manuscripts were retrieved for 119, and 30 were included in the review and meta-analysis. 21 studies (n = 953) have reported brain abnormalities in fetuses, newborn or infants with CHD, either preoperatively or in those who did not undergo congenital cardiac surgery. The remaining 9 studies (n = 512) have reported preoperative data on neurodevelopmental assessment in newborn or infants with CHD. The prevalence of brain abnormalities was 36% (95% CI, 26%, 47%; I² = 90.5%) and of the neurodevelopmental delay 42% (95% CI, 34%, 51%; I² = 68.9%), though with heterogeneity between studies. Conclusions In the absence of chromosomal or genetic abnormalities, fetuses with CHD are at increased risk of brain abnormalities and neurodevelopmental delay, which are independent of the surgical risk.


The individual differences approach focuses on the variation of behavioral and neural signatures across subjects. In this context, we searched for intracranial neural markers of performance in three individuals with distinct behavioral patterns (efficient, borderline, and inefficient) in a dual-valence task assessing facial and lexical emotion recognition. First, we performed a preliminary study to replicate well-established evoked responses in relevant brain regions. Then, we examined time series data and network connectivity, combined with multivariate pattern analyses and machine learning, to explore electrophysiological differences in resting-state versus task-related activity across subjects. Next, using the same methodological approach, we assessed the neural decoding of performance for different dimensions of the task. The classification of time series data mirrored the behavioral gradient across subjects for stimulus type but not for valence. However, network-based measures reflected the subjects' hierarchical profiles for both stimulus types and valence. Therefore, this measure serves as a sensitive marker for capturing distributed processes such as emotional valence discrimination, which relies on an extended set of regions. Network measures combined with classification methods may offer useful insights to study single subjects and understand inter-individual performance variability. Promisingly, this approach could eventually be extrapolated to other neuroscientific techniques.


An important role of computer graphics is the visualization of real world objects. Simulation of clouds is indispensable for creating realistic images of natural scenes, creating realistic images of outdoor scenes, visualization of weather information, weather forecasts, flight simulators, air-to-air combat, simulation of intelligent weapon systems which seek and identify aerial targets in cluttered background, and so on. Rendering of clouds is a challenging, complicated, tedious and computational intensive task, especially for real time applications. The properties of clouds make their simulation a challenging and difficult task. This paper intends to give a general overview of modelling and visualizing clouds.


Conductive organic materials have attracted great interest due to their excellent electronic and biochemical properties, which make them suitable for promising applications in chemical and biological sensing. With many advantages like labelfree and easy fabrication, DNA biosensors based on conductive organic materials have shown significant benefit for the rapid and highly sensitive genetic detection. Organic DNA sensors can be mainly divided into two types, which are based on electrochemical detection and organic thin-film transistors, respectively. This chapter gives a comprehensive description to these two types of DNA sensors, while the principles of sensors, relative organic materials, detection methods, transduction mechanisms, and their pros and cons are well addressed in detail. Moreover, some new developments and future perspectives in this field are also discussed.


The building enclosure plays a relevant role in the management of the energy flows in buildings and in the exploitation of the solar energy at building scale. An optimized configuration of the facade can contribute to reduce the total energy demand of the building. Traditionally, the search for the optimal facade configuration is obtained by analyzing the heating demand and/or the cooling demand only, while the implication of the facade configuration on the energy demand for artificial lighting is often not considered, especially during the first stage of the design process. A global approach (i.e. including heating, cooling and artificial lighting energy demand) is instead necessary to reduce the total energy need of the building. When considering the total energy use in building, the optimization of a facade configuration becomes not straightforward, because non-linear relationships often occur. The paper presents a methodology and the results of the search of the optimal transparent percentage of a facade module for office buildings. The investigation is carried out for the four main orientations, on three "average" office buildings (with different surface-area-to-volume ratio), and with different HVAC system's efficiency, located in Frankfurt. The results show that the optimal configuration, regardless of the orientations and the surface-area-to-volume ratio, is achieved in an "average" office building when the transparent component of the facade module is between 35% and 45% of the total facade module surface. The north-exposed facade is the one that presents the highest difference between the "optimal configuration" and the worst one, while the south-exposed facade is the one which suffers less in case of the "worst" configuration


'Conservation is about people, not just animals' argued Prince William in a letter to The Financial Times , written to gather support for ending ivory poaching and trading. This truism is often repeated by conservationists; we are frequently reminded that what we do - as humans - influences nature 'out there'.
Nevertheless, conservation science often hesitates to interrogate what we do as organised human societies. Time and again, that leads to somewhat simplifying analyses of humanity's enormous power in shaping the whole Earth System -currently argued to surpass the power of geological forces. A case in point could be the isolation of corruption in Africa as the main driver for ivory market explosion in the last decade. Without considering the political-economy not just of ivory, but of the global-to-local societal organisation that allows for thousands of elephants and rhinos to be killed - for something of so low use-value such as ivory - little understanding can be shed on this alarming trend. I argue, and hope I have shown in this thesis, that we should aim towards enriching what conservation understands as its field of vision and allow the latter to encompass not just human and nonhuman nature and societies, as Prince William rightfully argues, but also the political and societal. I would be satisfied if by going through this thesis the reader would be convinced of just this argument.
I am not claiming to be the first to identify this contradiction within conservation, but contra a sizeable number of scientists who work on similar subjects, I am normatively for conservation. A wealth of research has been published on conservation-society relationships that interrogates wider political, societal and economic constrains and opportunities as they relate to conservation. Usually though, research on what could be called critical conservation studies is (a) published in journals that conservationists do not read, and (b) is conducted by non-conservationists, often critical of conservation as a science and praxis per se. Thus all this wealth has little import to wider discussions about the future of conservation science and practice, and is even considered by conservationists as hostile to their agenda. I hope it is obvious from the above that I place this piece of research within the wide field of conservation science - despite drawing from a variety of disciplines.
In essence, this piece of work looks at the relation between political-economic transformations and the way societies think about, manage and regulate nature. Geographically, my focus is on England, but with a sideways glance to developments at the EU level. Historically, the scope is circumscribed by two years: 1981, the year of the Toxteth riots in Liverpool, and 2015, the year I submitted. Naturally, in this country-wide, 24 year study I have not even attempted to include 'everything'. I focused on what after examination of empirical data I considered to be key moments and places in the evolution of English conservation.
I begin with a section that introduces the reader into the area of study , followed and a brief literature-based summary of conservation in England from the beginning of the 20th century. The next three chapters should be read as a small trilogy that discusses the general trends in conservation policy and governance in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis (Chapter 3), followed by two smaller chapters (vignettes) that study post-financial crisis landscape scale conservation from: (a) a policy and governance perspective (Chapter 4); a use of science and scientific metaphors perspective (Chapter 5). The following two chapters try to reconstruct the where and when (geography and history are important) specific conservation policies and practices emerge, always in relation to economic and political changes. Chapter 6 is a genealogy of green infrastructure, from its emergence in the post-riot Liverpool landscape of 1981, to its current amalgamation with ecosystem services and monetary-valuation-of-nature milieu. Chapter 7 looks at biodiversity offsetting and argues that changing economic and transport geographies are crucial in understanding why biodiversity offsetting emerged as a solution to wildlife-development conflict in this instance and in the South East of England in particular. I conclude with a proposal for a new conservation that places utopia at the centre of its methodology (Chapter 8).


The success of graph neural networks (GNNs) largely relies on the process of aggregating information from neighbors defined by the input graph structures. Notably, message passing based GNNs, e.g., graph convolutional networks, leverage the immediate neighbors of each node during the aggregation process, and recently, graph diffusion convolution (GDC) is proposed to expand the propagation neighborhood by leveraging generalized graph diffusion. However, the neighborhood size in GDC is manually tuned for each graph by conducting grid search over the validation set, making its generalization practically limited. To address this issue, we propose the adaptive diffusion convolution (ADC) * strategy to automatically learn the optimal neighborhood size from the data. Furthermore, we break the conventional assumption that all GNN layers and feature channels (dimensions) should use the same neighborhood size for propagation. We design strategies to enable ADC to learn a dedicated propagation neighborhood for each GNN layer and each feature channel, making the GNN architecture fully coupled with graph structures—the unique property that differs GNNs from traditional neural networks. By directly plugging ADC into existing GNNs, we observe consistent and significant outperformance over both GDC and their vanilla versions across various datasets, demonstrating the improved model capacity brought by automatically learning unique neighborhood size per layer and per channel in GNNs.


Public key encryption with keyword search (PEKS) is
a promising cryptographic mechanism to enable secure search over
encrypted data in cloud. The mechanism allows a semi-trusted cloud
server to return related encrypted contents without knowing what the
query is and what the corresponding contents are. It has been combined
with attribute based encryption (ABE) to support more expressiveness
in search. Most of the existing searchable ABE schemes, however, are
restricted to heavy complexity. In particular, the size of ciphertext and
pairing cost in the test phase are both linear in the size of the keyword
set, say O(n), where n is the number of keyword. This limitation
hinders the scalability of searchable ABE in practice. To address
this long-lasting open problem, this paper proposes a new key-policy
attribute-based search encryption (KP-ABSE) scheme. Our construction
can be regarded as a novel combination of fast decryption, anonymouslike
encryption, and KP-ABE technologies. As of independent interest,
the scheme is built in asymmetric bilinear groups. The scheme is further
proved secure under the asymmetric decisional DBDH, decisional
q-BDHE and decisional linear assumptions in the standard model. Compared
with existing KP-ABSE schemes, our new scheme achieves the following
properties: (1) flexible access structure for search - any monotonic
access structure, (2) constant ciphertext size, (3) constant pairing operations
in the test phase.


Relapsing level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) after initial curative-intent local therapy for organ-confined prostate cancer is often the first sign of recurrence. However, PSA level recurrence does not enable accurate differentiation of locally recurrent tumor from metastatic disease or a combination of both. Metastatic prostate cancer most frequently involves bones and lymph nodes, followed by other organs such as the liver, lung, pleura, adrenal gland, ureter, peritoneum, penis, testis, and meninges. Conventional imaging including CT and bone scintigraphy has long been the standard of care but has limited sensitivity in depicting early local recurrence or metastatic disease. Multiparametric MRI has been shown to be more sensitive in detecting locally recurrent tumor in the prostatectomy bed as well as in situ recurrence in a prostate gland that has been treated with radiation therapy or thermal ablation. In addition, lesions detected with multiparametric MRI may be amenable to targeted biopsy for definitive diagnosis of recurrence. PET/CT or PET/MRI using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved tracers carbon 11 choline or fluorine 18 fluciclovine has demonstrated markedly increased sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of early metastatic disease such as small-volume lymph node metastasis, as have a range of investigational gallium 68 prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) radioactive PET tracers. With recent advances in imaging modalities and techniques, more accurate early detection, localization, and characterization of recurrent prostate cancer have become possible. The authors present a contemporary review of the strengths and limitations of conventional and advanced imaging modalities in evaluation of patients with recurrent prostate cancer and a systematic review of the clinical and imaging features of locally recurrent and metastatic disease.©RSNA, 2020.


Delivering social security payments by means of cashless welfare cards has had a protracted trial in Australia, with various income management schemes in operation, the latest of which is the Forrest Review inspired Cashless Debit Card (CDC) issued by Indue Ltd. The government emphasises that the CDC has been co-designed with Indigenous leaders in trial areas via a consultation process, however the nature of what was agreed and the extent to which there was co-design of the CDC has been contested. Some Indigenous elders and community members indicate that the broadly applied mandatory CDC was not the targeted scheme they had supported in consultations, and assert that they do not want the card in their community because it fosters shame and causes suffering. Numerous welfare recipients subject to the scheme report that it has created additional difficulties for them in meeting their everyday needs. Despite this, advocates of cashless welfare are keen to declare income management a success, rationalising further expansion and possibly smoothing the path to increased privatisation of social security payments in the process. When assessed against the objectives for which income management was introduced compulsory cashless welfare cards look suspiciously like a boondoggle that society can ill afford. It is crucial to ask who benefits most from the CDC regime. Cashless welfare cards will increase the wealth of entities like Indue and the overall cost of social security provision in Australia, but without providing advantages for numerous people subject to these measures and delivering detrimental outcomes to many. The dominant political rhetoric has presented cash payments to welfare recipients as a high-risk activity due to their presumed preference for poor purchases. Such stigmatising supposition makes for poor policy and income management legislation is an area ripe for reform—not for intensification via an 80 per cent CDC restriction—but abandoning altogether the coercion coupled with surveillance upon which this system is based.


Before the diminished influence of classical psychoanalysis in the late twentieth century, several now-classic studies of sectarian religions contained Freudian psychoanalytic perspectives on religious sects or cults. These studies included Weston La Barre's analyses of both serpent handlers and the Native American Ghost Dance; Norman Cohn's panoramic examination of medieval European sectarian apocalyptic movements; and E. P. Thompson's groundbreaking examination of Methodism within the formation of English working-class consciousness. Regardless of the problems that are endemic to the application of Freudian psychoanalysis to history, the sheer (although sometimes flawed) erudition of these three authors suggests that classical psychoanalysis had an important interpretive role to play in the study of some sectarian and cultic groups.


The field of Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) has gained an important part of the interest of researchers and become very popular in last few years. MANETs can operate without fixed infrastructure and can survive rapid changes in the network topology. They can be studied formally as graphs in which the set of edges varies in time. The main method for evaluating the performance of MANETs is simulation. Our thesis presents a new adaptive and dynamic routing algorithm for MANETs inspired by the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithms in combination with network delay analysis. Ant colony optimization algorithms have all been inspired by a specific foraging behavior of ant colonies which are able to find, if not the shortest, at least a very good path connecting the colony's nest with a source of food. Our evaluation of MANETs is based on the evaluation of the mean End-to-End delay to send a packet from source to destination node through a MANET. We evaluated the mean End-to-End delay as one of the most important performance evaluation metrics in computer networks. Finally, we evaluate our proposed ant algorithm by a comparative study with respect to one of the famous On-Demand (reactive) routing protocols called Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol. The evaluation shows that, the ant algorithm provides a better performance by reducing the mean End-to-End delay than the AODV algorithm. We investigated various simulation scenarios with different node density and pause times. Our new algorithm gives good results under certain conditions such as, increasing the pause time and decreasing node density. The scenarios that are applied for evaluating our routing algorithm have the following assumptions: 2-D rectangular area, no obstacles, bi-directional links, fixed number of nodes operate for the whole simulation time and nodes movements are performed according to the Random Waypoint Mobility (RWM) or the Boundless Simulation Area Mobility (BSAM) model. KEYWORDS: Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET), Queuing Network Analysis, Routing Algorithms, Mobility Models, Hybrid Simulation.


This paper examines the capability of different SAR polarization combinations for agricultural monitoring. For this purpose, a time series dataset of five quad-polarized images acquired by RADARSAT-2 (C-Band) is used. The different SAR polarization combinations are generated by splitting each input dataset in two additional dual-polarization combinations synthetically. Polarimetric decomposition is realized by a new Kennaugh matrix like decomposition, while the mandatory speckle filtering is performed by a pyramidal multi-looking approach. Thus, the data is normalized in order to fulfill the requirement of a normal distribution for the subsequent maximum likelihood classification. Concluding, the accuracy assessment provides a measure for the questioned classification capability of dual-polarized images in comparison to the quad-polarized data.


The Delaware legislature recently surprised the sustainable business and social enterprise sector. On August 1, 2013, amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law became effective, allowing entities to incorporate as a public benefit corporation, a new hybrid corporate form that requires managers to balance shareholders' financial interests with the best interests of stakeholders materially affected by the corporation's conduct, and to produce a public benefit. For a state that has long ruled U.S. corporate law and whose judiciary has frequently invoked shareholder primacy, the adoption of the public benefit corporation form has been hailed as a victory by sustainable business and social enterprise proponents. And yet, the significance of this victory in Delaware is premature. Information about the number and types of companies opting into the public benefit corporation form has been cursory and speculative. This article fills that gap. In this article, I present new empirical research on the 55 public benefit corporations that incorporated or converted in Delaware within the first three months of the amended corporate statute's effective date. Based on publicly available documents and information, I analyze these first public benefit corporations with respect to the following characteristics: (1) year of incorporation as a proxy for corporate age, (2) industry, (3) charitable activities, (4) identified specific public benefit, and (5) adoption of model legislation options not required by the Delaware statute. My analysis returns the following results: 74% of public benefit corporations are new corporations in early stages of operation; 31% of public benefit corporations provide professional services (e.g., consulting, legal, financial, architectural design); the technology and education sectors each represent 11% of public benefit corporations; 10% of public benefit corporations produce consumer retail products; 9% are engaged in the healthcare sector; 35% of public benefit corporations could have alternatively incorporated as a charitable nonprofit exempt from federal income tax. This article discusses these and other findings to assist in understanding the public benefit corporation and how it has been employed within the first three months of its adoption.


Abstract This article studies the relation between territorial and functional planning by investigating the Swedish local comprehensive planning system and the forest management. The former is locally based and the latter is functionally based or sector-orientated. By interviewing planners from the County Administrative Boards responsible for monitoring the national interests in the Swedish municipalities and forest managers from the Regional Forest Agency Administration, we found out that forest- and municipality related issues that coincide or interact with each other is normally considered in the collaborative planning process based on consultations and cooperation between the involved stakeholders. Weaknesses in the collaborative planning system consists of lack of coordination between the involved legal frameworks as well as lack of local planning resources and in some cases competences.


We carried out an extensive survey on bonnet macaques in the south Indian state of Karnataka over a period of five years. We travelled 9697 km covering all districts and recorded the distribution, encounter rate and demographic features of bonnet macaque groups on roadsides and villages, temples and several different forest types, and walked 1736 km in selected Protected Areas and Reserve Forests. Bonnet macaque groups were encountered at a rate of 2.11 groups/100 km in a road survey. Encounter rates were high in the districts of Chamarajanagar, Shimoga, Bangalore, Kolar, Kodagu and Mysore. Encounter rates were higher in wet evergreen forests than in deciduous forests. Mean group size was highest in human habitations followed by deciduous forests, roadsides and evergreen forests. The groups in highly provisioned places had the highest size compared to medium or low degree of provisioning. Age-sex ratios were observed to be the same in all habitat types. We propose that large-scale surveys of the present type provide baseline data for long-term management and conservation of a species.


These fourteen essays analyze several major areas of American conventional defense: the new administration's defense policy the state of the NATO Warsaw Pact conventional balance, the effectiveness of NATO's conventional strategy and problems associated with projecting military power in the Third World. Over half of the chapters in this edition are new, and two others have been extensively revised and updated.Contributors include Barry R. Posen, John Mearsheimer, Malcolm Chalmers, Lutz Unterseher, Eliot A. Cohen, John W. R. Lepingwell, Joshua Epstein, Richard K. Betts, Samuel P. Huntington, Robert D. Blackwill, and Jack Snyder.


The feedlot performance of beef cull cows receiving diets without or with monensin (200mg animal -1 day -1 ), was evaluated. The diet, 48% of roughage and 52% of concentrated, contained 12.5% of crude protein and 2.99Mcal of digestible energy kg-1 of dry matter. The intake of dry matter and digestible energy was reduced 20.9% with the presence of monensin in the diet. The reduction in digestible energy intake by the animals fed with monensin affected negatively their performance, causing a decrease of 22.6% in their weight gain. With higher food intake and consequently superior performance, the control animals presented higher live weight at slaughter (527.49 vs 498.00kg), being 5.8% heavier in relation to the animals fed with monensin. The feed:gain ratio and energy efficiency, were not affected significantly by the presence of monensin in the diet (being the averages 7.78 and 23.24, respectively). The presence of monensin in diet resulted in reductions of dry matter intake and weight gain, however, it did not alter the feed:gain ratio.


Introduction: Although breastfeeding has been shown to have dual benefits for both infants and their mothers, the global rate of breastfeeding has been declining, especially in Middle Eastern countries. This decline necessitates an urgent exploration of the determinants of breastfeeding practices. Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the breastfeeding practices of Saudi mothers, compare them to the guidelines and recommendations of the World Health Organization and to examine the possible determinants of success in exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. Methods: A quantitative observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 322 selected mothers of children between 6 months and 24 months of age who attended the well-baby clinic at King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh (2015). Results: Although 94.4% of the 322 Saudi mothers were successful in initiating breastfeeding on the first day of delivery, only 13.7% of all infants were exclusively breastfed at the age of 6 months. Factors predicting exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life in the study sample were previous experience with exclusive breastfeeding and the intention to exclusively breastfeed. In addition, the frequency of breastfeeding on demand at day and night was found to be significant. Sources of breastfeeding support are of great concern. Conclusion: The majority of Saudi mothers have suboptimal breastfeeding practices. A cohort study enrolling a larger number of exclusively breastfed infants is needed to gain a full understanding, as are actions to bridge the gap between current breastfeeding practices and the World Health Organization recommendations.


The surface structure and composition of
functional materials are well known to be critically important factors
controlling the surface reactivity.
However, when doped the surface composition will change and the
challenge is to identify its impact on important surface processes and
nanoparticle morphologies. We have begun
to address this by using a combination of density functional theory and
potential-based methods to investigate the effect of surface dopants on water
adsorption and morphology of the technologically important material, CeO2,
which finds application as electrolyte in SOFCs, catalyst in soot combustion,
and enzyme mimetic agent in biomedicine.
We show that by mapping CeO2 surface phase diagrams we can
predict nanoparticle morphologies as a function of dopant, temperature and
water partial pressure. Our results
show that a low temperature, un-doped CeO2 nanocubes with active
{100} surface sites are thermodynamically stable. But at the typical high
temperature operating conditions favors polyhedra where {100} surfaces are
replaced by less active {111} surfaces by surface ion migration. However, on
doping with trivalent cations, such as Gd3+, will increase binding of water on
the {100} surfaces and hence act to preserve the cuboidal architecture, by
capping the active surfaces. As surfaces tend to be decorated by impurities and
dopants it is clear that their role should receive more attention and the approach
we describe can be routinely applied to nanomaterials, morphologies and
associated active/inactive surfaces.


A numerical study of magneto-hydrodynamic mixed convection in a cavity has been conducted to investigate the influence of magnetic field on integrated flux of thermal energy, linear momentum, and kinetic energy. Shear force through lid motion establishes the forced convection effect and buoyancy force due to differential heating of the moving lid and the stationary interface ensures the natural convection phenomenon. Additionally, conduction through the solid slab with prescribed temperature at the outer surface attached to the cavity induces conjugate heat transfer. Further, the top and bottom walls throughout the domain are kept insulated and a uniform horizontal magnetic field is applied on the interface toward left. Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are examined for a range of Hartmann number (Ha): 0, 10, 50, and 120 at fixed values of Reynolds number, Grashof number, and Prandtl number of 300, 9 × 104 and 0.71, respectively. The result shows that the transport of heat in the near wall regions of the fluid domain is primarily governed by diffusion, whereas advection appears stronger in the central region of the cavity. Increase in magnetic field strength from Ha = 0 to 120 gradually suppresses the recirculating structure of the flow signifying a reduction in advective strength as depicted by the decrease in the value of total integrated heat flux from 25.15×10-3 to 6.0×10-3. The reduction in heat flux, momentum fluxes, and kinetic energy fluxes with increase in magnetic field has been well correlated in the range of 0≤Ha≤120.


Free convection air cooling from a vertically placed heat sink is enhanced by upward concurrent pulsated air flow generated by mesoscale synthetic jets. The cooling enhancement is experimentally studied. An enhancement factor is introduced and defined as the ratio of convection heat transfer coefficients for jet-on (enhanced convection) to jet-off (natural convection) cooling conditions. To obtain the two coefficients, heat transfer by radiation is excluded. A high-resolution infrared (IR) camera is used to capture detailed local temperature distribution on the heat sink surface under both cooling conditions. Analysis is carried out to obtain local convection heat transfer coefficients based on measured local surface temperatures. The enhancement of convectional cooling by synthetic jets can be then quantified both locally and globally for the entire heat sink. Two categories of thermal tests are conducted. First, tests are conducted with a single jet to investigate the effects of jet placement and orifice size on cooling enhancement, while multiple jets are tested to understand how cooling performance changes with the number of jets. It is found that the cooling enhancement is considerably sensitive to jet placement. Jet flow directly blowing on fins provides more significant enhancement than blowing through the channel between fins. When using one jet, the enhancement ranges from 1.6 to 1.9 times. When multiple jets are used, the heat transfer enhancement increases from 3.3 times for using three jets to 4.8 times for using five jets. However, for practical thermal designs, increasing the number of jets increases the power consumption. Hence, a new parameter, "jet impact factor (JIF)," is defined to quantify the enhancement contribution per jet. JIF is found to change with the number of jets. For example, the four-jet configuration shows higher JIF due to higher contribution per jet than both three-jet and five-jet configurations.


English Language Learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing group in America's schools. The debate over how to best serve them is largely dominated by fights over English-only versus bilingual instruction. This controversy is once again taking center stage, as states like California and Massachusetts reassess their language programs after a decade of English-only laws on the books. But once again, lost in the battle over language pedagogy is the fact that ELLs face educational challenges beyond language. Like any other student population, the ELL cohort includes students with disabilities who need special education services. In theory, two different statutes protect the rights of ELLs with disabilities: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA), which guarantees assistance in overcoming language barriers. In reality, however, neither law adequately safeguards ELLs' equal access to education. Rather, when students have both language and disability challenges, they fall through a gap that exists between the implementation of these two statutes.To date, schools and courts have largely ignored the intersection of language and disability, operating as though the IDEA addresses one set of students and the EEOA an entirely different set. Many schools select and implement their English language acquisition programs without giving any thought to the unintended consequences on special education. This approach, sanctioned by courts, is both flawed and dangerous because a school's chosen language program can either impede or enhance the accurate identification of students with disabilities. Even more worrisome, some schools use language acquisition as a justification to delay identification of ELLs with disabilities. While this is inconsistent with the intent of the IDEA, provisions of the IDEA, as interpreted by courts, do not adequately prevent it. Even worse, EEOA precedent may actually encourage such delays. As a result, students with dual challenges of language and disability do not receive the necessary educational services these two statutes are designed to provide. The mixed messages from statutes and courts can be resolved, but such cohesion requires reading the IDEA and EEOA together, not separately. This Article provides the specific analysis by which to do so.


The Earth extends some 6400 km to the centre where the conditions of pressure (P) and temperature (T) reach over three million times atmospheric pressure and ca.6000°C. We stand on thin brittle crustal plates moving through geological time over a continuously deforming mantle of slowly convecting hot rock. The mantle extends about halfway through the Earth to a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. Although the mantle and core make up 99% of the Earth by volume and mass, we are only able to sample mantle material directly to a few hundred kilometres, from inclusions in diamonds that are brought up to the surface by volcanic intrusions; the remaining 90% of the Earth is effectively inaccessible. The most direct knowledge we have of the Earth's deep interior comes from the seismic waves generated from earthquakes. A knowledge of material properties coupled with these seismic waves tell us that the mantle is made up of complex silicates and that the core is predominantly made of solid and liquid iron with some alloying elements. However, the detailed structure of the Earth's deep interior is poorly constrained. Major advances toward the understanding of the composition, structure and dynamics of the Earth's deep interior are to be gained only by a combination of experimental and theoretical techniques. It is already clear that many of the large–scale geological processes responsible for the conditions at the surface are driven from the Earth's core. However, there are many questions yet to be answered about the exact nature of the core and mantle, and the interaction between them. For example, we have yet to fully define the major– and minor–element chemistry of the mantle, the convective regime of the mantle, the alloying elements in the core, the nature of the core–mantle boundary and the dynamical processes in the outer core governing the geodynamo. Advances in high–P/T experimental techniques over the last two decades allow laboratory simulation of the physical conditions from the surface of the Earth to the core, shedding light on the physics and chemistry of the Earth's deep interior. High P and T can be maintained for significant periods (minutes to days) in multi–anvil and diamond–anvil presses. Shock experiments produce high T and P in the megabar range for tiny durations (milliseconds), but, in doing so, they shed light on the physics of the solid inner core. The current development of in situ high–pressure research such as P– and S–wave interferometry, electrical conductivity and synchrotron–based X–ray techniques will, over the coming decades, allow significant improvements in our understanding of processes in the deep Earth. Even so, with increasing depth, it becomes increasingly difficult to mimic the extreme conditions of P and T precisely. An alternative to laboratory experiments is the use of computer simulations, which allow us to test which models best match the seismic evidence and experimental data. In particular, with increasingly powerful supercomputer resources, emphasis is now being placed on the use of ab initio quantum–mechanical calculations to simulate materials at the conditions of pressure and temperature to be found in the Earth's deep interior. This approach allows us to predict the properties of candidate mantle silicates with remarkable accuracy when compared with seismic data and the results of laboratory experiments. With these simulation techniques, we are also trying to solve many problems that are out of the reach of experimentation involving simultaneously high P and T, such as the nature of iron and iron alloys under the extreme conditions of the core where iron is squeezed to about half its normal volume, and we will soon be able provide constraints on the temperature profile of the Earth, which, at core depths, is known only to within a few thousand degrees! It is therefore the challenge of the next few years among deep–Earth scientists to develop accurate measurements and models of the properties of the high–pressure silicates and iron alloys at deep–Earth conditions. With an interdisciplinary approach involving theory, experiment and seismology we will be able to determine the nature, evolution and influence of the Earth's deep interior.


Bilinear maps, or pairings, initially proposed in a cryptologic context for cryptanalytic purposes, proved afterward to be an amazingly flexible and useful tool for the construction of cryptosystems with unique features. Yet, they are notoriously hard to implement efficiently, so that their effective deployment requires a careful choice of parameters and algorithms. In this paper we review the evolution of pairing-based cryptosystems, the development of efficient algorithms and the state of the art in pairing computation, and the challenges yet to be addressed on the subject, while also presenting some new algorithmic and implementation refinements in affine and projective coordinates.