Double duty for mammary stem cell niche The stem cell niche is a complex local signaling microenvironment that regulates stem cell activity for tissue and organ maintenance and regeneration. As well as responding locally, during puberty, the mammary gland stem cell niche also responds to systemic hormonal signals. Zhao et al. have found that Gli2, a transcriptional effector of Hedgehog signaling, coordinates the niche-signaling program and activates expression of receptors for the mammatrophic hormones estrogen and growth hormone throughout the mammary gland (see the Perspective by Robertson). Disease may result not only from stem cell defects, but also from dysregulation of the microenvironment. Science, this issue p. eaal3485; see also p. 250 The GLI2 transcription factor regulates stromal cell expression of signals controlling breast epithelial stem cell activity. INTRODUCTION The stem cell niche is a complex signaling microenvironment that acts locally to sustain stem cell activity in tissue maintenance and regeneration. Although the cellular constitution and signaling activity of the stem cell niche is coming into focus in a variety of tissues, genetic regulatory factors that specify the niche are less clear. The activity of such factors is particularly intriguing in organs such as the breast, where the niche provides local signals for tissue homeostasis but also must be entrained by circulating hormones that induce the dramatic changes of puberty. RATIONALE The epithelial stem cells of a variety of organs respond to secreted signals generated in subjacent stromal cells, in a manner often dependent on activity of the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. Gli2, which encodes the major transcriptional effector of Hh signaling, is expressed in a subset of stromal cells adjacent to the ductal epithelium of the mouse mammary gland and is highly expressed at terminal end buds and end structures of the pubertal and adult mammary gland, respectively, which represent the sites of mammary epithelial stem cells. RESULTS Stromal ablation of a conditional Gli2fl allele with Fsp1Cre, a stromally expressed recombinase allele (producing Gli2∆S mice), caused a delay in mammary ductal development, reduced the number of mammary gland stromal cells and volume of extracellular matrix, and caused abnormal mammary duct distension. Stromal Gli2 ablation did not alter development of the ovary or pituitary, nor their production of mammatrophic hormones such as estrogen or growth hormone, but did affect ductal regeneration, as indicated by a fivefold decrease in outgrowth efficiency of mammary stem cells (MaSCs) transplanted into Gli2∆S mammary glands. These findings suggest that Gli2 specifies a stromal niche signaling program that critically regulates MaSC activity. FACS-isolated mammary stromal cells showed Gli2-dependent expression of factors that stimulate epithelial stem cell renewal, ductal outgrowth, and morphogenesis, including specific members of the IGF, WNT, FGF, and HGF families of secreted peptides. Single-cell analysis showed expression of these factors in a subset of stromal cells in a manner dependent on Gli2 function. Receptors for the mammatrophic hormones estrogen and growth hormone were also expressed in a Gli2-dependent manner, and estrogen and growth hormone treatment of cultured stromal cells induced these secreted peptide factors, suggesting that a critical role of Gli2 in mammary stromal niche cells is to render these cells responsive to systemic mammatrophic hormones. Supporting this conclusion, mammary gland implants of polymer fragments releasing IGF1 and WNT2 rescued Gli2∆S ductal growth phenotypes, whereas growth hormone–releasing polymer did not. CONCLUSION We find that the Hedgehog pathway transcriptional effector GLI2 specifies a stromal cell niche signaling program that supports mammary epithelial stem cells in pubertal and virgin adult mice. This program includes expression of factors such as IGF and WNT, and GLI2 acts in part by causing expression of receptors for hormones such as estrogen and growth hormone, thus entraining local stem cell niche activity to systemic mammatrophic hormones. Our work illustrates the central role of the stromal niche in controlling epithelial stem cell activity and suggests that niche failure may underlie pathogenesis of certain diseases, including the deficient breast development and hormonal insensitivity associated with the human disorder, combined pituitary hormone deficiency. Stromal GLI2 coordinates mammary stem cell niche signaling program. Transcriptional regulation by Hedgehog pathway effector GLI2 in stromal cells of the mammary gland coordinates a hormone-responsive niche signaling program that directs epithelial stem cell activity during the changes of puberty (schematic, left). Gli2-deficient stromal cells in mouse mammary are unable to support normal ductal outgrowth and morphogenesis of transplanted, green fluorescent protein–labeled stem cells (right). The stem cell niche is a complex local signaling microenvironment that sustains stem cell activity during organ maintenanceorgan maintenance and regeneration. The mammary gland niche must support its associated stem cells while also responding to systemic hormonal regulation that triggers pubertal changes. We find that Gli2, the major Hedgehog pathway transcriptional effector, acts within mouse mammary stromal cells to direct a hormone-responsive niche signaling program by activating expression of factors that regulate epithelial stem cells as well as receptors for the mammatrophic hormones estrogen and growth hormone. Whereas prior studies implicate stem cell defects in human disease, this work shows that niche dysfunction may also cause disease, with possible relevance for human disorders and in particular the breast growth pathogenesis associated with combined pituitary hormone deficiency.


Most libraries, archives and museums around the globe are now confronting the challenges of providing digital access to their collections. As digitization becomes more widespread, there is huge demand for detailed guidance on best practice. While much has been written on the theory, these practical aspects have often been neglected, but they are significant not only in safeguarding the collection during image capture but also in ensuring that projects run smoothly and the resulting digital collection is of high quality. This practical guide fills that gap, offering guidance covering the end-to-end process of digitizing collections, from selecting records for digitization to choosing suppliers and equipment and dealing with documents that present individual problems. As such, it can be used as a 'how-to' reference manual for collection managers who are embarking on a digitization project or who are managing an existing project. It also covers some of the wider issues such as the use of surrogates for preservation, and the long term sustainability of digital access. Key areas covered are: digitization in the context of collection management before you digitize: resources, suppliers and surrogates the digital image the process of selection surveying collections equipment for image capture preparation of document formats and fastenings preparation of damaged documents setting up the imaging operation. Readership: A clearly-written guide to a complex process, this book is an essential resource for all collection and project managers who have responsibility for the preservation of archival collections, as well as all industry professionals whose role touches on the digitization of collections.... Download ebook, read file pdf Preparing Collections for Digitization


ABSTRACT Adopting a multitiered design-based research perspective, this study examines pre-service secondary mathematics teachers' developing conceptions about (a) the nature of mathematical modeling in simulations of "real life" problem solving, and (b) pedagogical principles and strategies needed to teach mathematics through modeling. Unlike other studies that have focused on single-topic and lesson-sized research sites, a course-sized research site was used in this study. Having been through several iterations over three teaching semesters, the 15-week long course was implemented with 25 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Findings revealed that pre-service teachers developed ideas about the nature of mathematical modeling involving what mathematical modeling is, the relationship between mathematical modeling and meaningful understanding, and the nature of mathematical modeling tasks. They also realized the changing roles of teachers during modeling implementations and diversity in students' ways of thinking. The researchers' conceptual development, on the other hand, involved realizing the critical aspect of the "teacher role" played by the instructor during modeling implementations, and the need for more experience of modeling implementations for pre-service teachers.


This paper emanates from the European Research Project MarNIS. The possibility of monitoring traffic has improved considerably since the introduction of AIS (Automatic Identification System). A much better view of what is going on at sea offers new possibilities to enhance shipping safety. The risk of each ship delivers the basis for taking measures according to UNCLOS and the precautionary principle, to ships that have a far more than average risk. The application of this principle requires a scientific approach for the determination of the risk and new operational tools. The three main aspects necessary to implement risk analysis into the maritime traffic to enhance safety at sea are described. Firstly, the legal basis – the need for legal instruments, the definition of a high risk ship and new public competences. Secondly, a mathematical model to determine the so-called risk index for individual ships calculated dynamically, depending on the geographical position, the ship characteristics, the environmental conditions, other ships, shallows and other obstacles, such as offshore platforms and wind farms. Thirdly, there is the operational application.


We present and evaluate an implemented system with which to rapidly and easily build intelligent software agents for Web-based tasks. Our design is centered around two basic functions: ScoreThisLink and ScoreThisPage .I f given highly accurate such functions, standard heuristic search would lead to ecient retrieval of useful information. Our approach allows users to tailor our system's behavior by providing approximate advice about the above functions. This advice is mapped into neural network implementations of the two functions. Subsequent reinforcements from the Web (e.g., dead links) and any ratings of retrieved pages that the user wishes to provide are, respectively, used to rene the link- and pagescoring functions. Hence, our architecture provides an appealing middle ground between nonadaptive agent programming languages and systems that solely learn user preferences from the user's ratings of pages. We describe our internal representation of Web pages, the major predicates in our advice language, how advice is mapped into neural networks, and the mechanisms for rening advice based on subsequent feedback. We also present a case study where we provide some simple advice and specialize our general-purpose system into a \home-page nder". An empirical study demonstrates that our approach leads to a more eective home-page nder than that of a leading commercial Web search site.


This paper examines how risk preferences di↵er over goods and in-kind monetary rewards. I study incentivized experiments in which subjects allocate bundles of either Amazon.com goods or Amazon.com gift credit (which must be spent immediately) across uncertain states. Under a standard model of perfect information of prices and goods available, I demonstrate risk preferences across these treatments would be identical. In practice, I uncover substantial di↵erences in risk preferences across goods and in-kind monetary rewards. I examine whether these di↵erences are driven by price or product uncertainty as in a search model, but find no evidence that this explains the di↵erences. I further show that this is not being driven by fungibility, functional form, or good discreteness.


ABSTRACT Silencing and musicalization, as defined by Douglas Kahn, are valuable means to call attention to the sonically liminal. They create a frame within which acoustic silence can be attended to, either as a conceptual phenomenon or as the dead silence of sounds and soundmakers subjected to ecological silencing. Through critical discussion of silence in Kahn's writing on John Cage, as well as in acoustic ecology and soundscape composition, an outline of ecological silencing is developed and applied through the examination of environmentally engaged sound works by Sally Ann McIntyre of New Zealand and Katie Paterson of Great Britain.


The molecular and biochemical mechanisms contributing to the development and progression of both prostate and ovarian carcinogenesis are currently unknown. A better understanding of the cross-talk between endocrine, signal transduction and regulatory pathways in normal and neoplastic prostatic and ovarian tissues is necessary to elucidate malignant progression in these tissues. This review compares these two malignancies with reference to androgens and the androgen receptor. In particular, the expression and relevance of androgen-regulated genes are discussed. Cytokines, co-activators and co-regulators that interact or effect the androgen receptor are also considered. With increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms of prostate and ovarian carcinogenesis, the identification and development of novel and existing biomarkers may become more achievable.


Energy efficiency represents one of the key planned actions aiming at reducing green-house emissions and the consumption of fossil fuel to mitigate the impact of climate change. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between energy efficiency and the borrower's solvency risk in the Italian market. Specifically, we analyze a residential mortgage portfolio of four financial institutions which includes about 70,000 loans matched with the energy performance certificate of the associated buildings. Our findings show that there is a negative relationship between a building's energy efficiency and the owner's probability of default. Findings survive after we account for dwelling, household, mortgage, market control variables, and regional and year fixed effect. Ad-ditionally, a ROC analysis shows that there is an improvement in the estimation of the mortgage default probability when the energy efficiency characteristic is included as a risk predictor in the model.


This thesis examines the voluntary transfer of housing stock by Scottsh local authorities between 1986 and 1997, under a Conservative Government. The study sought to identify who had transferred what, why and how, employing a multi-theoretical approach and a range of concepts from policy studies to investigate rationaliy and opportunity in policymaking. The study used quantitative methods to define and establish the incidence of transfer, which was found in two forms: as partial transactions, with and without subsidy; and as privately financed disposals of whole stocks. Similar volumes of transactions were found in Scotland as in England, though on different terms and affecting fewer houses. Qualitative methods were used to explore the decisions, actions and capacity of people involved in voluntary sales of tenanted housing to other landlords. Key actors included tenants and community activists, politicians and officials in councils, government departments and agencies. The thesis argues that transfer in Scotland was the product of local responses to two key developments. One was accumulated financial constraints; the other, particularly affecting partial transfer, was the use of financial and organisational incentives, secured with ministerial acquiescence. Although government was ultimately responsible for both developments, it neither planned nor anticipated their consequences; it was often iiprepared to respond to local initiatives, partial and whole; and it failed to understand or monitor the consequences. Most Scottsh councils ignored whole stock transfer in 1996, when it came to be actively promoted by Conservative poliicians. Paradoxically, while organisations representing institutional interests in council housing vocalised opposition to stock disposals, their constituent members took action to transfer ownership, with the conflcting values of local incumbents accommodated by stealth. Transfer was later legally structured, when an afterthought from English legislation accidentally turned power relations upside down, making ministerial consent conditional on demonstrating lack of tenant opposition. Senior officials played a consistently critical role in initiating, brokering, frustrating and nourishing local negotiations. This study demonstrates the particular significance of local action in policy-making, allowing transfer to emerge in response to wider constraints determined at the centre.


Abstract. Using fluorescence spectrometry to map autofluorescence of chlorophyll (Chl) and tryptophan (Trp) versus depth in polar ice cores in the US National Ice Core Laboratory, we found that the Chl and Trp concentrations often showed an annual modulation of up to 25%, with peaks at depths corresponding to local summers. Using epifluorescence microscopy (EFM) and flow cytometry (FCM) triggered on red fluorescence at 670 nm to study microbes from unstained melts of the polar ice, we inferred that picocyanobacteria may have been responsible for the red fluorescence in the cores. Micron-size bacteria in all ice melts from Arctic and Antarctic sites showed FCM patterns of scattering and of red vs. orange fluorescence (interpreted as due to Chl vs. phycoerythrin (PE)) that bore similarities to patterns of cultures of unstained picocyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus. Concentrations in ice from all sites were low, but measurable at ~ 1 to ~ 103 cells cm−3. Calibrations showed that FCM patterns of mineral grains and volcanic ash could be distinguished from microbes with high efficiency by triggering on scattering instead of by red fluorescence. Average Chl and PE autofluorescence intensities showed no decrease per cell with time during up to 150 000 yr of storage in glacial ice. Taking into account the annual modulation of ~ 25% and seasonal changes of ocean temperatures and winds, we suggest that picocyanobacteria are wind-transported year-round from warmer ocean waters onto polar ice. Ice cores offer the opportunity to study evolution of marine microbes over ~ 300 million generations by analysing their genomes vs. depth in glacial ice over the last 700 000 yr as frozen proxies for changes in their genomes in oceans.


The paper focuses on review investigations of electrodeposition processes of metallic coatings containing dispersed nanosized particles. The nanosized particles, suspended in the electrolyte by agitation and/or use of surfactants, can be electroco-deposited with the metal. The inclusion of nanosized particles can give (i) increased microhardness and corrosion resistance, (ii) modified growth to form a nanocrystalline metal deposit and (iii) a shift in the reduction potential of a metal ion. Many operating parameters influence the quantity of incorporated particles, including current density, bath agitation (or movement of work piece) and electrolyte composition. High incorporation rates of the dispersed particles have been achieved using (i) a high nanoparticle concentration in the electrolyte solution, (ii) smaller sized nanoparticles; (iii) a low concentration of electroactive species, (iv) ultrasonication during deposition and (v) pulsed current techniques. Compositional gradient coatings are possible having a controlled distribution of particles in the metal deposit and the theoretical models used to describe the phenomenon of particle co-deposition within a metal deposit are critically considered.


Non-negative tensor factorization has been shown effective for discovering phenotypes from the EHR data with minimal human supervision. In most cases, an interaction tensor of the elements in the EHR (e.g., diagnoses and medications) has to be first established before the factorization can be applied. Such correspondence information however is often missing. While different heuristics can be used to estimate the missing correspondence, any errors introduced will in turn cause inaccuracy for the subsequent phenotype discovery task. This is especially true for patients with multiple diseases diagnosed (e.g., under critical care). To alleviate this limitation, we propose the hidden interaction tensor factorization (HITF) where the diagnosis-medication correspondence and the underlying phenotypes are inferred simultaneously. We formulate it under a Poisson non-negative tensor factorization framework and learn the HITF model via maximum likelihood estimation. For performance evaluation, we applied HITF to the MIMIC III dataset. Our empirical results show that both the phenotypes and the correspondence inferred are clinically meaningful. In addition, the inferred HITF model outperforms a number of state-of-the-art methods for mortality prediction.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the clinical and bacteriological efficacy and the safety and tolerability profile of linezolid when used as the primary component of a combined surgical and antimicrobial treatment strategy for orthopedic infections.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed medical records to obtain clinical, bacteriological, and safety outcomes of 20 consecutive patients who took linezolid for the treatment of orthopedic infections between April 1, 2000, and November 30, 2002.

RESULTS
Twenty patients received linezolid therapy for microbiologically confirmed orthopedic infections due to gram-positive cocci during the 32-month study period. Fifteen patients (75%) had infections involving orthopedic hardware; in 10 of these patients, the hardware was removed. All 20 patients underwent surgical débridement. At a mean follow-up of 276 days, 11 patients (55%) achieved clinical cure, 7 (35%) had clinical improvement but received long-term antimicrobial suppressive therapy, 1 (5%) had clinical relapse after discontinuing linezolid treatment, and 1 (5%) died of a cause unrelated to linezolid treatment. Bacterial persistence was documented in 3 patients (15%), all of whom were Infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Eight patients (40%) developed reversible myelosuppression, 1 (5%) had irreversible peripheral neuropathy, and 2 (10%) discontinued linezolid treatment because of pancytopenia or urticaria.

CONCLUSION
Oral linezolid may be an effective alternative therapy for orthopedic infections due to linezolid-susceptible gram-positive bacteria in patients who are unable to take other antimicrobial drugs because of drug allergy or Intolerance or antimicrobial resistance.


The aim of this paper is to explore and review current understanding of the potential of computer play to enhance young children's cognitive development, as compared to the developmental value of traditional make-believe play in which children spontaneously engage during their early childhood years. Theories of play have identified many ways in which traditional play may advance children's cognitive, social and emotional development. Recently, much traditional childhood play is being replaced by time spent on computer play, and often from a very early age. To produce software that is appealing to young children, designers aim to present content in a play-oriented manner to attract and sustain children's attention. However, computer programs are often produced atheoretically for cosmetic appeal, using animations, colour, sound, and surprise as the basis of their design, rather than pedagogical principles or developmental theories of play. This research attempts to analyse the ways that knowledge of the developmental value of spontaneous play established in conventional play settings can be applied to the theoretical basis of computer play design for young children. Moreover, it is argued that computer play, if designed appropriately, might comprise some developmental potential which can go beyond that of traditional spontaneous play. In particular, it is hypothesized that the foundation for further development of higher order thinking skills such as complex systems of abstract, logic and sign-mediated operations and symbolic representation, can be established and reinforced by purposefully designed computer play.


Metadata plays a very important role in searching and discovering learning resources across the Web. To help users convert legacy Web-based courses into the equivalent ones that are conformant to popular metadata and content packaging standards, we designed and implemented a course normalization and assembly tool called CANOE. By offering the ability to perform course normalization and providing a high-level user view, CANOE enables the user to build standardized courses easily and quickly.


Alterations in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) have been implicated in a variety of psychiatric disorders including cocaine dependence. A polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) appears to influence the expression of 5-HTT in human cell lines. We investigated whether 5-HTTLPR variants were related to differences in measures of platelet 5-HTT sites in cocaine-dependent patients and healthy volunteers (controls). Polymerase chain reaction-based genotyping of a 44 base pair insertion/deletion polymorphism in 5-HTTLPR was performed in 138 cocaine-dependent African-American subjects and 60 African-American controls. This yielded a short (S) and a long (L) allele. Platelet 5-HTT sites were measured using the tritiated paroxetine binding assay. Relationships of 5-HTTLPR genotypes with Bmax (density of serotonin transporter) and Kd (affinity constant) were examined. Bmax values were significantly lower in cocaine-dependent patients (640±233) than controls (906±225) (P<0.001); however, 5-HTTLPR genotype distributions or allele frequencies did not differ between the two groups. There were no significant differences in Bmax between the three genotypes among cocaine-dependent patients (LL=690±246, LS=620±235, SS=587±183; P=0.14) or controls (LL=909±233, LS=938±279, SS=866±143; P=0.65). All three genotypes in cocaine-dependent patients showed comparable reductions in Bmax from the corresponding genotypes in controls. Demographic variables, severity of substance use or depression were unrelated to Bmax or 5-HTTLPR genotypes. Although platelet 5-HTT densities are reduced in patients with cocaine dependence compared with healthy volunteers, these genotypic variations in the serotonin transporter do not seem to influence levels of platelet 5-HTT in cocaine-dependent patients or healthy volunteers.


Load structure, the maximum permissible load is usually determined by the strength calculation (bearing data. Yield stress or strength of the material), or the parameters of fracture mechanics. The paper analyzes the calculations lamellar cracks formed in the lower crane girders steel belts. These cracks are formed in rolled sheets of non–metallic inclusions. The determination of the cracks in the existing designs are extremely difficult. It requires testing metallographic, ultrasonic or acoustic methods. Based on typical images of metallographic steel plates specified place of occurrence of cracks lamellar and sampling, and has subsequently been adopted for the calculation of numerical models of material structure and distribution of artificial joints. In order to analyze the propagation of cracks and formation of lamellar phase slots and destruction was carried out modeling studies and numerical methods cracking process.


The review characterizes the currently used cold-adapted donor strains of influenza virus attenuation to prepare cold-adapted reassortants with actual epidemic influenza virus strains. It considers new procedures for preparing attenuated influenza virus strains for live influenza vaccines, as well as analytical methods and the genome composition of reassortants. Recent data on the safety of live cold-adapted influenza vaccines (LCAIVs), including those on the genetic stability of vaccine reassortants and the immunogenicity and efficacy of these vaccines for different age groups, are discussed. There is evidence for the design of live human vaccines against avian influenza. It is concluded that LCAIVs are highly effective for immunization of children.


Abstract In this paper, the competition between, on the one hand, regional and super-regional shopping centers and, on the other hand, "category killers" and "big boxes" is analyzed using discrete choice modeling (logistic regression). An extensive Origin-Destination phone survey in the Quebec Metropolitan Area in 2001 provides detailed information on both households' socioeconomic and demographic profiles and daily trip patterns, making it is possible to identify and model customers' shopping destination choices. The findings suggest that several trip and household attributes impact customers' choice for either big boxes or traditional shopping centers: trip purpose, transportation mode and car ownership, day of the week, departure time and place as well as trip length and, finally, respondent's gender, age and type of household. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) This paper looks at the competition between traditional shopping centers and newly emerging shopping facilities which, since the early 1990s, have spread all over North America. Commonly referred to as "big boxes" and "category killers" (Grantz and Mintz, 1998), often grouped into "power centers,"1 the latter are threatening the long established equilibrium prevailing in the retail sector in much the same way as downtown commercial streets were outmatched by suburban regional and superregional shopping centers in the late 1950s, early 1960s. Behind this phenomenon lies the changing structure of consumers' professional, household and mobility profiles which, in turn, affects their shopping patterns. The originality of this study rests on the availability of a transportation-oriented methodology currently used for planning purposes in Canadian metropolitan areas, the Origin-Destination (O-D) survey. In contrast with typical marketing surveys that emphasize consumption patterns, O-D surveys focus on daily trip patterns and provide unique and detailed information on trip purpose, mode and timing, as well as on individual and household characteristics. Moreover, the sample size used for O-D surveys, which ranges from 5% to 10% of regional populations, makes it possible to breakdown shopping trip patterns to an extent that ordinary surveys cannot match. Context and Problematics of the Study Since the middle of twentieth century, the retail trade sector has experienced a growing degree of concentration resulting in fewer and larger stores. The design of retail structure in urban areas has changed significantly, expanding from individual stores located on traditional commercial streets to very large and car-oriented shopping centers and, later on, isolated mega-stores, or big boxes. According to authors, several internal and external factors affecting retail facilities may be brought forward as possible explanations for this concentration. Many of the changes have been linked to metropolitan growth patterns, changes in urban transportation systems including the rising dominance of the automobile, as well as evolving retail marketing techniques (Beyard and O'Mara, 1999). Similarly, changing shopping behavior choices of households would affect the shaping of the retail sector. These are expressed through household mobility, as well as through their purchasing power and preferences for retail trade forms that offer a large diversity of products and services (Baker, 2000; and Gobillon, Selod and Zenou, 2003). The expansion of shopping centers and, more recently of big box outlets and power centers in North American and West European urban areas is a major feature of the retail trade sector development. After the first shopping malls appeared in the 1950s, enclosed, regional and super-regional malls experienced their largest growth during the 1970s and 1980s. Their success stemmed from putting together a large number of diversified stores. By addressing the strong competition in the retail trade sector, such a marketing strategy, referred to as retail mix, significantly reduced the risk of mall operators while also leading to a growing homogeneity among shopping centers. …


Bacterial cellulose has high strength and crystallinity, and as such has been suggested as a strategically-useful material that could form the reinforcement phase in composites. In addition to any property improvement, if a biodegradable matrix is reinforced with bacterial cellulose, the entire system should be biodegradable. However, bacterial cellulose is not easily dispersed and thus has not been widely used in such composites. Investigations into the production of bacterial cellulose composites where the cellulose reinforcement component is evenly dispersed is therefore of benefit. Bacterial cellulose can be produced in high quantities by the bacterium Gluconacetobacter xylinus in various media and under various reaction conditions, however altering the growth conditions has been shown to change the yield and properties of the resulting cellulose. Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a bioplastic that has been hypothesised as a material that could replace traditional plastics, however it is very stiff and brittle. It is possible that its use in a composite with an effective reinforcing phase could improve these properties. Therefore this material was selected as a matrix material to be blended with bacterial cellulose. The examination of growth conditions in this work led to a methodology by which high amounts of cellulose with high crystallinity could be obtained. In addition, methods were determined by which to achieve modified cellulose fibrils. These modifications included cellulose fibrils produced with PHB physically attached to the surface. Solution blending and melt blending techniques were investigated as ways of producing PHB/bacterial cellulose composites. Solution blending was found to produce composites with well dispersed bacterial cellulose, however melt blending was found to degrade samples. It was found that solution blends using cellulose in a ground powder form did not achieve improved properties; however a composite with cellulose in its fibrillar form achieved improved tensile strength and modulus. PHB/bacterial cellulose composites with cellulose in its fibrillar form were produced by dispersing the cellulose fibrils by sonication. Sonication was investigated as a method of harvesting and dispersing bacterial cellulose fibrils in various solvents, including chloroform which could directly dissolve PHB, however only small weights of individual fibrils were obtained in this way. The composite with improved mechanical properties contained 2 wt% cellulose; however it was found that these improvements were observed only if the cellulose was retained in a hydrated never-dried state. Investigations into the biodegradability of PHB and a PHB/bacterial cellulose composite revealed that the composite degraded at a greater rate than neat PHB. This indicates that a bacterial cellulose reinforcement phase is able to assist a PHB matrix to degrade at a faster rate when submerged in compost. It is apparent that techniques can be developed to use bacterial cellulose successfully to confer strength to composites when used as a reinforcing material, as well as increasing the rate of biodegradation of a PHB matrix. Composites of these materials should therefore be considered in the design of biodegradable materials.


Bellyache bush (Jatropha gossypiifolia L.) is an invasive weed that has the potential to greatly reduce biodiversity and pasture productivity in northern Australia's rangelands. This paper reports an approach to develop best practice options for controlling medium to dense infestations of bellyache bush using combinations of control methods. The efficacy of five single treatments including foliar spraying, slashing, stick raking, burning and do nothing (control) were compared against 15 combinations of these treatments over 4 successive years. Treatments were evaluated using several attributes, including plant mortality, changes in population demographics, seedling recruitment, pasture yield and cost of treatment.

Foliar spraying once each year for 4 years proved the most cost-effective control strategy, with no bellyache bush plants recorded at the end of the study. Single applications of slashing, stick raking and to a lesser extent burning, when followed up with foliar spraying also led to significantly reduced densities of bellyache bush and changed the population from a growing one to a declining one. Total experimental cost estimates over 4 successive years for treatments where burning, stick raking, foliar spraying, and slashing were followed with foliar spraying were AU$408, AU$584, AU$802 and AU$789 ha–1, respectively. Maximum pasture yield of 5.4 t ha–1 occurred with repeated foliar spraying. This study recommends that treatment combinations using either foliar spraying alone or as a follow up with slashing, stick raking or burning are best practice options following consideration of the level of control, changes in pasture yield and cost effectiveness.


Traditionally, non-functional requirements (NFRs) are specified as measurable entities to permit evaluation satisfaction; however, NFR specifications quickly become obsolete because (1) NFRs are expressed in numbers, (2) architects specify them using the correct values at design time, and/or (3) providers are constantly improving their offer, in terms of functionality and quality of service (QoS). The computingwith-words approach has already been proposed to replace numerical NFR specifications, where natural language words denote fuzzy quality levels; unfortunately, current proposals provide only for design-time, stakeholder-defined translation of words as numerical ranges. We propose a mechanism to automatically and dynamically determine current numerical ranges of the fuzzy quality levels from the available data, without human intervention, whenever changes to component QoS specifications. Our main contribution is allowing architects to specify their requirements using words only once (at design time), and whenever providers change components QoS characteristics, automatically update those requirements to the new market view, enabling market-aware requirements. The approach was validated by measuring the number of times that necessarily a requirement had to be rewritten at runtime in order to get new operationalizations which replace the now older ones. We use a set of ten complex requirements, a dataset of 1500 actual Web services with precise measurements for nine QoS aspects, and a simulated offering variability. A Web-based prototype is also made available.


A Computer Perspective is an illustrated essay on the origins and first lines of development of the computer. The complex network of creative forces and social pressures that have produced the computer is personified here in the creators of instruments of computation, and their machines or tables; the inventors of mathematical or logical concepts and their applications; and the fabricators of practical devices to serve the immediate needs of government, commerce, engineering, and science. The book is based on an exhibition conceived and assembled for International Business Machines Corporation. Like the exhibition, it is not a history in the narrow sense of a chronology of concepts and devices. Yet these pages actually display more true history (in relation to the computer) than many more conventional presentations of the development of science and technology.


The tremendous growth in the development of wireless networking techniques attracts growing attention to this research area. The ease of development, low installation and maintenance costs and self healing abilities are some of the qualities that make the multi-hop wireless mesh network a promising solution for both rural and urban environments. Examining the performance of such a network, depending on the external conditions and the applied routing protocol, is the main aim of this research. It is addressed in an empirical way, by performing repetitive multistage network simulations followed by a systematic analysis and a discussion. This research work resulted in the implementation of the experiment and analysis tools, a comprehensive assessment of the simulated routing protocols DSDV, AODV, OLSR and HWMP, and numerous observations concerning the simulation tool. Among the major findings are: the suitability of protocols for wireless mesh networks, the comparison of rural and urban environments and the large impact of conditions such as propagation, density and scale of topology on the network performance. An unexpected but valuable outcome is the critical review of the ns network simulator.


Computational models of drug metabolism prediction have focused mainly on cytochrome P450 enzymes, because drug–drug interactions, reactive metabolite formation, hepatotoxicity, idiosyncratic adverse drug interactions, and/or loss of efficacy of many drugs were the results of interactions with CYP450s. Metabolic regioselectivity and isoform specificity prediction models for CYP450‐catalyzed reactions have reached approximately 95% accuracy. Thus, a new drug candidate is less likely to show unexpected metabolic profile due to metabolism via CYP450 pathways. For such candidates, secondary metabolic Phase I and II enzymes are likely to play an expected (or unexpected) role in drug metabolism. The importance of flavin monooxygenases (FMOs), aldehyde and alcohol dehydrogenase, monoamine oxidase from the Phase I and UDP‐glucuronosyltransferase (UGT), sulfotransferase, glutathione S‐transferase, and methyltransferase from Phase II has increased and United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines on NDA have specific recommendations for in vitro and in vivo testing against these enzymes. Thus, there is an urgent requirement of reliable predictive models for drug metabolism catalyzed by these enzymes. In this review, we have classified drug metabolism prediction models (site of metabolism, isoform specificity, and kinetic parameter) for these enzymes into Phase I and II. When such models are unavailable, we discuss the Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR), pharmacophore, docking, dynamics, and reactivity studies performed for the prediction of substrates and inhibitors. Recently published models for FMO and UGT are discussed. The need for comprehensive, widely applicable, sequential primary and secondary metabolite prediction is highlighted. Potential difficulties and future prospectives in the development of such models are discussed. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2017, 7:e1323. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1323


Clay mineralogy in the vadose zone at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), situated on the Pajarito Plateau of northern New Mexico, differs significantly beneath wet and dry canyons. Drainage across LANL is generally from west to east and feeds into the Rio Grande along the eastern margin of the plateau. Canyons with headwaters in the Sierra de los Valles west of the plateau support more flow and are wetter than canyons with headwaters on the plateau. Los Alamos Canyon, one of the wetter canyons, has extensive clay alteration to depths >30 m in the subcanyon vadose zone. Mortandad Canyon, one of the drier canyons, has less clay alteration. Hydraulic property data for the Otowi Member of the Bandelier Tuff, one of the most widespread lithologies of the plateau, indicate that zones of high clay abundance have hydraulic transmissivities (Ksat) one to two orders of magnitude lower than less altered tuff (∼10−4 vs. 10−2 to 10−3 cm/s). Occurrences of halloysite, and perhaps kaolinite, indicate zones where the water/rock ratio is or has been high within the vadose zone. Gravimetric water content data collected at 110°C from vadose zone rocks with low to moderate clay content provide water abundance data for matrix flow calculations. These data may be in error by up to ∼5 to 16% because some of the water measured is actually held in clay interlayers rather than in pore spaces; such errors are minor but should be considered in the use of gravimetric moisture data. The use of electrical methods to explore for vadose wet zones is valid on the Pajarito Plateau as long as the results are treated broadly, with the understanding that some intervals of high conductivity are not entirely related to either movable water content or clay abundance.


Subjective judgments regarding information are important for the design of information systems. This study examines the endowment effect in the context of evaluating information. Theoretically, value judgments that affect the demand for information are influenced by ownership rights, a phenomenon known as the endowment effect in trading situations. In a simple computer simulated business game, 31 participants conducted a management task in which they were provided opportunities to buy or sell information. The bidding mechanism was incentive compatible. Results show that, in agreement with endowment effect theory, people value information they own much more than information they do not own. This portends undertrading in information. Therefore, the subjective value of information should be considered in the design of systems. Our findings indicate a place for the subjective value of information on the WTA/WTP ratio continuum that emerges from pertinent literature. The ratio for information is similar to that of market goods. Participants had a strong inclination to purchase but not to sell information even though the profit data suggests that the use of information had no objective benefit. This preference is attributed to risk aversion rather than to loss aversion, which is the most widely accepted explanation of the endowment effect. The subjective value of information can, therefore, be affected by system design.


With data drawn from the juvenile court records of 257 adjudicated male African American youth offenders aged 12 to 17, the present study examines this adolescent population's involvement in assaultive interpersonal violence within the context of a descriptive evaluation of co-occurring alcohol use disorder, other drug use disorder, and other mental disorders. Comorbidity was assessed by calculating the prevalence rates for co-occurring interpersonal violence and the three disorders. The results of this investigation failed to support the notion that interpersonal violence and substance use or other mental disorders arise from the same source; rather, they offer cautious optimism about the outcome of mental health, substance abuse, and educational interventions targeting these youth. Considerable attention has been paid to the concepts of risk and vulnerability in discussions of societal problems, and both are essential to understanding of the etiology of mental disorders. For example, childhood disadvantages such as adverse familial and parental circumstances serve as markers for development of emotional problems, and factors such as poverty or low socioeconomic status are typically mentioned as risk factors for drug and alcohol use (Brunswick, Messeri, & Titus, 1992; Clayton, 1992; Hawkins, Lishner, Jenson, & Catalano, 1987; Newcomb, 1992; Romano, Bloom, & Syme, 1991). Concurrently, conduct disorder and early childhood violence are often cited as precursors of antisocial personality disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 1994; Hammond & Yung, 1993; Rodney, Mupier, & Crafter, 1996). Epidemiology studies are the hallmark of risk and vulnerability research (Johnston, 1992; Regier & Burke,1985). They are particularly useful in identifying groups with special intervention needs. One such investigation, the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) Epidemiological Catchment Area (ECA) study, noted substantial comorbidity between substance-related and mental disorders among incarcerated populations, within whose ranks African Americans number prominently (Regier et al., 1990). Another major study, supported by the National Center for Health Statistics, indicated that the rate of death due to interpersonal violence for African American youth was seven times higher than that of their White counterparts (Fingerhut & Makuc, 1992). Epidemiologic findings were also used to generate the federal "Healthy People 2000" guidelines which, among other things, acknowledge racial differences in negative health outcomes and emphasize the special health needs of African Americans (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1990). The assumption behind these recommendations is that African Americans experience higher levels of risk as a result of their traditionally disadvantaged status and thus are more vulnerable to health problems and mental disorders. However, this focus on risk has also helped perpetuate a dim view of some African American families and the behaviors of their children (Collier, 1992; Harper, 1991; Rhodes, Singleton, & Miller, 1995; Singleton, 1989). Clearly, epidemiological and other scientific research has value implications because the American public relies heavily on the judgments of science for many of its value determinations. This same public, however, often fails to truly understand the extremely negative influence scientific findings can have upon public perceptions. Consider, for example, the purportedly "scientific" comments of Frederick Goodwin, former director of NIMH and one of the co-authors of the ECA study. When Goodwin suggested in 1992 that inner-city ghetto males were similar to jungle monkeys with regard to violent and sexual behaviors, he was offering far more than a mere report of his research team's data analysis (Jackson & George, 1996). He was, as Jackson and George maintain, contributing to the "perceptual, comprehensive and systematic process of destruction" of the image of Black men and youth "who are much more vulnerable to research abuse than most [Black people] realize" (p. …


?When I saw Lee cook up the paregoric, strap the tourniquet around her arm and put the needle into her vein, I was instantly captivated by a ritual that would eventually come to dominate my existence. But of course I didn?t know that then. I just wanted to try it.? - Paul Bateman

?I will never forget that little teaspoon. It was the only remaining item left in Paul?s flat in Durban when I went there with my wife to see what Paul had done. The only thing left. Not even a fork, or a knife or a cup to go with it. A teaspoon. Other than the clothes on his back, it was the only material thing that Paul had left in the world.? - Mark Bateman

?When we visited, we could hear him screaming even before we got out of the car. He was going through withdrawal, even in his comatose state, and that is when we first knew for certain that he could never have got clean if this hadn?t happened. He could never have got through that fully awake and aware and in control of himself. He wouldn?t have been able to.? - Val Bateman

This is the true story of Paul Bateman?s journey from experimentation to drug addiction and beyond. It is also an account of the experiences of the people around him, in their attempts to cope with him, before and after the overdose that almost killed him.
The events are told from multiple points of view, with different chapters narrated by Paul, his girlfriend, his mother and other members of his family. The Million-Rand Teaspoon gives a complete, insightful, honest picture of the effect of drugs on the addict and his loved ones.


The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the ISSEP CBK, Second Edition provides an inclusive analysis of all of the topics covered on the newly created CISSP-ISSEP Common Body of Knowledge. The first fully comprehensive guide to the CISSP-ISSEP CBK, this book promotes understanding of the four ISSEP domains: Information Systems Security Engineering (ISSE); Certification and Accreditation; Technical Management; and an Introduction to United States Government Information Assurance Regulations. This volume explains ISSE by comparing it to a traditional Systems Engineering model, enabling you to see the correlation of how security fits into the design and development process for information systems. It also details key points of more than 50 U.S. government policies and procedures that need to be understood in order to understand the CBK and protect U.S. government information.About the AuthorSusan Hansche, CISSP-ISSEP is the training director for information assurance at Nortel PEC Solutions in Fairfax, Virginia. She has more than 15 years of experience in the field and since 1998 has served as the contractor program manager of the information assurance training program for the U.S. Department of State.


A new representative survey of a total of 4,500 recently arrived refugees to Germany conducted by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ), and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) has generated an entirely new database for analyzing forced migration and the integration of refugees into German society. The findings we present here are based on the first part of the survey, in which over 2,300 people were interviewed. In addition to the causes of forced migration, the survey captures data on escape routes and educational and vocational biographies. Respondents also answered questions about their values, attitudes, and personality traits, as well as their integration into the German job market and education system. The results show that the threats of war, violence, and persecution were their primary reasons for migration, and that the costs and risks of migration are high. The refugees show extreme heterogeneity in educational backgrounds. The share of respondents who arrived in Germany with vocational or university degrees is low. However, these refugees have high aspirations when it comes to education. And in terms of values, they have more in common with the German population than with the populations of their respective countries of origin. The integration of refugees into the job market and education system has just begun, but Germany's integration policy measures are starting to have a perceptible impact.


The following list of significant titles in narrative theory is intended to cover work published during the last dozen years or so. Omissions, though inevitable, are regretted. The items below can be further divided by approach or emphasis into the following groups: 1) Structuralist and Linguistic Approaches: Bal, Bonheim, Chatman, Cohn, Coste, Dallenbach, Fleischman, Fludernik, Genette, Herman, de Jong, Margolin, Nelles, Nelson, Nunning, Riffaterre, Rimmon-Kenan, Shen, Sternberg, Toker, Wolf 2) Rhetorical, Bakhtinian, and Phenomenological Accounts: Aczel, Bauer, Boardman, Calinescu, Cave, Hale, Messent, Morson, Phelan, Ricoeur 3) New Interdisciplinary Approaches: Artificial Intelligence: Cook, Hayles, Ryan Possible Worlds Theory: G. Currie, Do1eze1, Ronen, Ryan Cognitive Science: Herman, Jahn, Spolsky, Turner Hypertext Studies: Hayles 4) Postmodern Narratology: Brooke-Rose, Fludernik, Heise, Kafalenos, McHale, Moraru, O'Neill, Richardson, Ronen, Yacobi 5) Ideological Approaches: Feminism and Gender Theory: Barwell, Bauer, Boone, Booth, Case, Cave, Casey, Doherty, Felski, Frye, Friedman, Henke, Hirsch, Hite, Homans, Lanser, Mezei, Robinson, Singley and Sweeney, Walker, Winnett. Gay, Lesbian and Queer Theory: Bersani, Boone, Farwell, Lanser 1995, Roof Race and Ethnicity: Beavers, Doyle, Duncan, Gates, Jablon, Stepto, Warhol 1995 Marxism, Historical Approaches, and New Historicism: Armstrong and Tennenhouse, Bender, Casey, Chambers, Ginsburg, D. A. Miller, Quint Postcolonial: Bhabha, Fletcher, Spurr 6) Psychological Approaches: Bronfen, Hirsch, Henke, Kahane, Kofman, Mellard, Mellard and Mortimer, Tilley, van Boheemen 7) Poststructuralist Approaches: Amman, Clayton, Cornis-Pope, M. Curnie, Fried, Gelley, Gibson, Mellard, J. H. Miller, Rabinowitz, Roof, van Boheemen, J. Williams 8) Popular Culture: Beissinger et al; Smith and Watson; Warhol 2001 9) Asian Poetics: Beissinger et al; Miner, Mori 10) Important Anthologies: Fehn et al; Grunzweig and Solbach; Herman 1999; Mihailescu and Hamarneh; Phelan 1989a, 1994 Journal special issues: Poetics Today 11.1 and 11.4 (1990); Style 22.1 (1988) and 26.3 (1992); Studies in the Literary Imagination 25.1 (1992); Narrative 9.2 (2001) forthcoming; New Literary History 32.2 (2001) forthcoming. Works Aczel, Richard. "Hearing Voices in Narrative Texts." New Literary History 29 (1998): 467-500. Amiran, Eyal. "Against Narratology: Postmodern Narrative Returns." SubStance 81 (1996): 90-109. Armstrong, Nancy and Leonard Tennenhouse. "History, Poststructuralism, and the Question of Narrative." Narrative 1 (1993): 45-58. Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. 2nd ed. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1997. Barwell, Ismay. "Feminine Perspectives and Narrative Points of View." Aesthetics in Feminist Perspectives. Eds. Hilda Hein and Carolyn Korsmeyer. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1993. 93-104 Bauer, Dale. Feminist Dialogics: A Theory of Failed Community. Albany: State U of New York P, 1988. Beavers, Herman. Wrestling the Angels into Song: The Fictions of Ernest J. Gaines and James Alan McPherson. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1995. ___. ed. "Multiculturalism and Narrative." Special issue. Narrative 7.2 (1999). Beissinger, Margaret, Jane Tylus, and Susanne Wofford, eds. Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World: The Poetics of Community. Berkeley: U of California P, 1999. Bender, John. Imagining the Penitentiary. Fiction and the Architecture of Mind in Eighteenth-Century England. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1987. ___. "Impersonal Violence: The Penetrating Gaze and the Field of Narration in Caleb Williams." Vision and Textuality. Ed. Stephen Melville and Bill Readings. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1995. …


The problem with most orthopedic surgery books is that they don't accurately portray what you see in a surgical setting. This outstanding atlas, featuring nearly 400 beautifully executed color photographs, provides the first visual guide to surgical anatomy as you see it.Special features of the atlas include: Over 400 high-quality color photographs that vividly depict surgical anatomy Fresh cadaver specimens portray the true colors of the anatomy involved Step-by-step coverage of more than 60 approaches to the foot, hand, thigh, knee, spine, and more! Clear identification of all structures revealed during each step of the exposure Each approach is accompanied by practical advice on its uses, advantages, disadvantages, structures at risk, technique, helpful tricks, and what will become visible if you get off track Ideal for residents, Atlas of Orthopaedic Surgical Exposures offers a practical and vivid introduction to surgical anatomy, providing them with the essential orientation they need. Seasoned orthopedic surgeons will turn to this book to refresh their knowledge of the surgical anatomy and ensure a smooth operation.


This paper critically reflects on the registers and affects of memory in relation to place, cinematic space, and the materiality of digital film-making technologies, using our recent moving image artwork, On Location (2017), as a case study: this practice-as-research film captures the location over a twelve month period in an unnamed sunken lane at a remote area of rural mid-Devon. On Location is a form of landscape cinema that observes a year's seasonal cycle, capturing meteorological phenomena and the natural world using a range of experimental filming techniques, and accompanied by field recordings made at the site that capture the sonic architecture of the space. We made regular field trips to the location with cameras and sound equipment – these visits afforded us the opportunity to experience the place during a varied range of weather conditions through winter, spring, summer, and autumn, to respond intuitively using our camera and sound equipment, and then to review and reflect on the recordings we had made. Our memories became an integral part of this film-making methodology and were an important influence on the form of the completed film, which premiered in the cinema at Plymouth Arts Centre UK in January 2017. We explore the dynamic interrelationship between memory, the process of capturing moving image sequences and the affective interplay between the recordings and our memories through repeated presence and absence at a location that seems both unchanging and in constant flux; and we reflect on the audience's embodied experience of moving image and sound.


This document describes a header field, SIO-Label, for use in Internet
email to convey the sensitivity of the message. This header field may
carry a textual representation (a display marking) and/or a structural
representation (a security label) of the sensitivity of the message.
This document also describes a header field, SIO-Label-History, for
recording changes in the message's label.


This document contains the testimony of Linda Blumberg before the Joint Economic Committee in September 2004. She provides her views on adverse selection in health insurance and its implications when expanding consumer choice. She emphasizes that further segmentation of risk will not improve social welfare in the US. Addressing the health care needs of all Americans and protecting access to needed services for the most vulnerable populations?those with serious health problems and those with modest incomes?requires broad-based subsidization of both those with high medical costs and income-related protection for those unable to afford an average priced insurance policy.


Virtual reality (VR) has made its way into mainstream psychological research in the last two decades. This technology, with its unique ability to simulate complex, real situations and contexts, offers researchers unprecedented opportunities to investigate human behavior in well controlled designs in the laboratory. One application of VR is the investigation of pathological processes in mental disorders. Research on the processes underlying threat perception, fear, and exposure therapy has shed light on more general aspects of the relation between perception and emotion. Being by its nature virtual, i.e., simulation of reality, VR strongly relies on the adequate selection of specific perceptual cues to activate emotions. Emotional experiences in turn are related to presence, another important concept in VR, which describes the user's sense of being in a VR environment. We summarizes current research into perception of fear cues, emotion, and presence, aiming at the identification of the most relevant aspects of emotional experience in VR and their mutual relations. A special focus lies on a series of recent experiments designed to test the relative contribution of perception and conceptual information on fear in VR. This strand of research capitalizes on the dissociation between perception (bottom–up input) and conceptual information (top-down input) that is possible in VR. Recent research has highlighted the mutual influence of presence and fear in VR, but has also traced the limits of our current understanding of this relationship. An interoceptive attribution model of presence is suggested as a first step toward an integrative framework for emotion research in VR.


Is there consensus on what students should learn in CS2? Should they learn to use data structures, understand their specific implementation details, or both? Finally, has the computing education community's answer to the second question changed over time? In this paper, we begin to explore these questions based on an analysis of a key artifact instructors use to assess their students' performance: their final exams. Specifically, we look at two CS2 concepts as covered in those exams: stacks and hashtables.
 Our dataset includes 76 exams from 14 institutions around the world spanning 1973-2009 that were gathered as part of the DCER project, which is investigating the feasibility of a repository for computing education research data; to our knowledge this is a novel dataset in computing education. We begin by giving a general feel for this extensive dataset by describing the formats and difficulty level of the stack and hashtable questions and the computing skill students must possess to answer them. Next, we look at the questions' assessment of implementation knowledge versus interface or application knowledge. Despite a number of calls for modern CS2 to focus more on application than implementation, we found no evidence of such a trend. We note, however, that there are institutional differences in the data, and that there are alternative ways in which application may be assessed in a course.


Gender imbalance is a common phenomenon in many educational institutions especially in developing countries. To overcome this imbalance, The University of Dar Es Salaam (UDSM) through its Gender Dimension Programme Committee (GDPC) has introduced gender-biased programmes with the aim of increasing female students' enrolment at UDSM'. These programmes include Pre-entry Programme (PEP), Female Undergraduate Sponsorship Programme (FUSP) and Lower cut-off points.
A cross section study was conducted in secondary schools in Dar Es Salaam region between August 2004 and July 2005 to investigate student awareness of these programmes. A total of276 students from 13 randomly selected secondary schools participated in the study. Self-administered questionnaires and checklists were used and the data were analysed by statistical software Epi Info 2002. The study showed that the majority of the students were familiar with the concept of 'gender' but could not specifically define what it was. They were not even aware that the University of Dar- Es-Salaam (UDSM) had gender intervention educational programmes in place.
It is recommended that University gender programmes and general information on gender issues should be disseminated to society as a way of improving gender relations.


Background Group A streptococcal severe soft tissue infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis, are rapidly progressive infections associated with high mortality. Group A streptococcus is typically considered an extracellular pathogen, but has been shown to reside intracellularly in host cells. Methods and Findings We characterized in vivo interactions between group A streptococci (GAS) and cells involved in innate immune responses, using human biopsies (n = 70) collected from 17 patients with soft tissue infections. Immunostaining and in situ image analysis revealed high amounts of bacteria in the biopsies, even in those collected after prolonged antibiotic therapy. Viability of the streptococci was assessed by use of a bacterial viability stain, which demonstrated viable bacteria in 74% of the biopsies. GAS were present both extracellularly and intracellularly within phagocytic cells, primarily within macrophages. Intracellular GAS were predominantly noted in biopsies from newly involved tissue characterized by lower inflammation and bacterial load, whereas purely extracellular GAS or a combination of intra- and extracellular GAS dominated in severely inflamed tissue. The latter tissue was also associated with a significantly increased amount of the cysteine protease streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin SpeB. In vitro studies confirmed that macrophages serve as reservoirs for viable GAS, and infection with a speB-deletion mutant produced significantly lower frequencies of cells with viable GAS following infection as compared to the wild-type bacteria. Conclusions This is the first study to demonstrate that GAS survive intracellularly in macrophages during acute invasive infections. This intracellular presence may have evolved as a mechanism to avoid antibiotic eradication, which may explain our finding that high bacterial load is present even in tissue collected after prolonged intravenous antibiotic therapy. This new insight into the pathogenesis of streptococcal soft tissue infections highlights a need for alternative therapeutic strategies.


The metabolism of the anti-tubercular drug, thiacetazone (TAZ) by human FMOs in vitro and
the disposition of TAZ in vivo in mice were studied. Reverse phase chromatography
confirmed TAZ to be a substrate for human FMO1, FMO2.1 and FMO3 with the formation
of TAZ-sulphinic acid and TAZ-carbodiimide via a TAZ- sulphenic acid intermediate. The
products are the same as those formed by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis enzyme EtaA, the
enzyme responsible for TAZ activation. Kinetic studies found FMO2.1 to be significantly
more efficient at TAZ oxygenation than EtaA, FMO1 and FMO3. Asians and Europeans do
not express functional FMO2 in their lungs as a result of a premature stop codon. However
about 28% of African individuals lack this mutation. The products of FMO2 are expected to
be toxic to mammalian cells; therefore individuals expressing FMO2 in their lungs may be at
higher risk of FMO-dependent TAZ bioactivation.
Protein variants of FMO3 were analysed for their ability to catalyse TAZ
oxygenation. Kinetic studies showed that the L360P variant displayed a significantly higher
catalytic activity towards TAZ than the wild type protein. The K158/G308 protein was
inactive towards TAZ, whereas K158 or G308 variants oxygenated TAZ. These findings
may reflect the underlying mechanism of TAZ-dependent liver toxicity reported in patients
taking TAZ as part of treatment for TB.
Mouse liver and lung microsome experiments indicated that both FMOs and
cytochromes P450 (CYPs) metabolise TAZ in vitro. FMO contribution was higher in the lung
than the liver. Kinetic studies using microsomes from Fmo1 knockout mice show FMO1 to
be the predominant contributor to TAZ oxygenation in vitro.
Metabolism of TAZ in liver and lungs of mice in vivo was not observed, however
TAZ, TAZ-sulphenic acid, TAZ-sulphinic acid and TAZ-carbodiimide were identified in
kidney.


Written with clarity and a down-to-earth approach, Sams Teach Yourself SQL Server 2005 Express in 24 Hours covers the basics of Microsoft's latest version of SQL Server. Expert author Alison Balter takes you from basic concepts to an intermediate level in 24 one-hour lessons. You will learn all of the basic tasks necessary for the administration of SQL Server 2005. You will also learn how to write and fully utilize: SQL Server stored procedures Functions Triggers using T-SQL, VB.NET, and C#You will also learn how to output SQL Server data to reports and the Internet. Sams Teach Yourself SQL Server 2005 Express in 24 Hours is a well-organized, authoritative introduction that will quickly have you up and running with SQL Server 2005.


Abstract. A simplified parameterization for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation in polluted air and biomass burning smoke is tested and optimized in this work, towards the goal of a computationally inexpensive method to calculate pollution and biomass burning SOA mass and hygroscopicity in global and climate models. A regional chemistry-transport model is used as the testbed for the parameterization, which is compared against observations from the Mexico City metropolitan area during the MILAGRO 2006 field experiment. The empirical parameterization is based on the observed proportionality of SOA concentrations to excess CO and photochemical age of the airmass. The approach consists in emitting an organic gas as lumped SOA precursor surrogate proportional to anthropogenic or biomass burning CO emissions according to the observed ratio between SOA and CO in aged air, and reacting this surrogate with OH into a single non-volatile species that condenses to form SOA. An emission factor of 0.08 g of the lumped SOA precursor per g of CO and a rate constant with OH of 1.25 × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 reproduce the observed average SOA mass within 30 % in the urban area and downwind. When a 2.5 times slower rate is used (5 × 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1) the predicted SOA amount and temporal evolution is nearly identical to the results obtained with SOA formation from semi-volatile and intermediate volatility primary organic vapors according to the Robinson et al. (2007) formulation. Our simplified method has the advantage of being much less computationally expensive than Robinson-type methods, and can be used in regions where the emissions of SOA precursors are not yet available. As the aged SOA/ΔCO ratios are rather consistent globally for anthropogenic pollution, this parameterization could be reasonably tested in and applied to other regions. The evolution of oxygen-to-carbon ratio was also empirically modeled and the predicted levels were found to be in reasonable agreement with observations. The potential enhancement of biogenic SOA by anthropogenic pollution, which has been suggested to play a major role in global SOA formation, is also tested using two simple parameterizations. Our results suggest that the pollution enhancement of biogenic SOA could provide additional SOA, but does not however explain the concentrations or the spatial and temporal variations of measured SOA mass in the vicinity of Mexico City, which appears to be controlled by anthropogenic sources. The contribution of the biomass burning to the predicted SOA is less than 10% during the studied period.


Sandwiched between the heart of ancient Greece and the lands of Persia, the Greek cities of Western Anatolia were the spark that ignited some of the most iconic conflicts of the ancient world. Fought over repeatedly in the 5th century BC, their conquest by the Persians provided a casus belli for Alexander the Great to cross the Hellespont in 334 BC and launch the battle of Granicus and the sieges of Miletus and Halicarnassus. A blend of Greek and Asian styles of military architecture, these fortified cities were revolutionary in their multi-linear construction - successive defensive walls - with loopholes and mural arches. Konstantin Nossov illustrates the evolution of Greek fortifications and the influences of the region they bordered in this fascinating study.


At the height of the McCarthy era, when Congressional committees were exposing "communist infiltration" in many areas of American life, the Supreme Court was upholding loyalty oath requirements, and the executive branch was ferreting out alleged communists in government, the U.S. Attorney General filed a pro-civil rights brief in what would become one of the most celebrated civil rights cases in American history: Brown v. Board of Education. Although seemingly at odds with the restrictive approach to individual rights in other contexts, the U.S. government's participation in the desegregation cases during the McCarthy era was no anomaly. Rather, by the early 1950s, American leaders had come to believe that civil rights reform was crucial to the more central U.S. mission of fighting world communism. Based in part on diplomatic research in State Department archives, this article demonstrates that Cold War motives influenced the U.S. government's involvement in Brown and other cases.
Originally published in 1988 in the Stanford Law Review, this article was the first publication to use State Department records to examine the relationship between Cold War foreign relations and civil rights in the United States. Diplomatic records illustrate the growing concern among American diplomats and political leaders after World War II about the impact of race discrimination on the U.S. image around the world, and the global critique that the United States could not be an effective "leader of the free world" as long as the nation blatantly denied rights to its own peoples. This research confirmed the suspicions of Derrick Bell and others who argued before these records were opened that foreign affairs affected U.S. government civil rights policies, and it helped illuminate the world-wide impact of the civil rights movement. This research was expanded upon in Mary L. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2000), and in books and articles by other scholars. The larger body of work on race and foreign relations is an important aspect of efforts by historians to "internationalize" the study of American history.
Thanks to the Stanford Law Review, the article is now available on SSRN so that it will be easily accessible on-line.


The environment has been perceived as an international issue, and ways of attaining sustainability are becoming important for countries seeking sustainable development. The international community has been active in developing policy frameworks towards achieving the sustainability, such as an ecological modernization approach and environment assessment. Developing countries deserve special attention in the effort to make sustainability an operative criterion in their development activities. Given the difficulties that developing countries are facing, their perceptions of the concept and principles of sustainability differ in various contexts from those of developed countries, and the attainment of sustainability is much more difficult. Therefore, the establishment of a global partnership is important for the vision of sustainability to be realized and operationalized in the world. The current stage of economic development in China provides an opportunity to incorporate environmental provisions into the national development strategies from a relatively early stage, rather than attempt retrofit to strategies. However, at present China's policy initiatives expressed in its Agenda 21 remains only a visionary concept. A comprehensive policy framework and realistic implementation measures are needed. The environmental impacts of the construction industry are extensive, particularly in developing countries. However, as in many developing countries, China's sustainable construction is still at its primary stage and current practice is unsatisfactory.


We report here the use of methylaluminoxane (MAO) modified aqueous miscible organic solvent treated (AMOST) layered double hydroxide, Mg6Al2(OH)16CO3·4H2O (AMO-Mg3Al-CO3) as a catalyst support system for the slurry phase polymerisation of ethylene using immobilised metallocene and non-metallocene metal complexes. The polymerisation data demonstrates that the catalyst productivity is dependent on the thermal treatment of the LDH and the temperature, pressure and time of the polymerisation. The solid catalyst system, AMO-Mg3Al-CO3/MAO/(MesPDI)FeCl2 has been shown to have the highest overall activity for a non-metallocene system (14166 kgPE mol−1complex h−1 bar−1), and AMO-Mg3Al-CO3/MAO/(2-Me,4-PhSBI)ZrCl2 was the most productive for a metallocene-based system (∼3300 kgPE mol−1complex h−1 bar−1). The molecular weights and polydispersities vary with the complex on the AMO-LDH surface. Scanning electron microscopy images show that the morphology of the as produced polyethylene mimics that of the LDH support.


This special issue of Parallel and Distributed Computing Practices on  Parallel Numerical Linear Algebra  collects together a number of papers that address a range of important problems in the use of parallel computing in linear algebra. As parallel computing becomes the method of choice for solving our most changing problems it become more important to understand the interaction of various methods, architectures, and approaches to parallel computing. The papers contained in this issue are summarized below: Arbenz, Cleary, Dongarra and Hegland in  A comparison of parallel solvers for diagonally dominant and for general narrow banded linear systems  investigate stable parallel algorithms for solving banded systems of equations. The performance of the algorithms are compared with those of the ScaLAPACK parallel software. The results presented in the paper will be of interest to those who use parallel banded systems. In  Mapping strategies in data parallel programming models; the projection methods  Emad considers the projection methods to solve large scale linear systems and eigenproblems. The paper first considers the data mapping of some projection methods. It then presents theoretical performance measures of data parallel algorithms and results obtained from experiments on the Connection Machine 5. Parallel algorithms for multiplying a vector by a Kronecker tensor product of elementary matrices are discussed by Tadonki and Philippe in  Parallel multiplication of a vector by a Kronecker tensor product of matrices . The derivation, complexity analyses and performances of the parallel algorithms are presented. Zlatev and Georgiev in  Parallel sparse matrix algorithms for air pollution models  consider a parallel algorithm used in a large-scale air pollution model. The development, analysis and implementation of the algorithm is discussed in detail. Besson in  Band preconditioners: application to preconditioned conjugate gradient methods on parallel computers  presents a divide and conquer method to solve band linear systems on parallel computers. The implementation and performance of the algorithm is discussed. The application of the method to the solution of Navier-Stokes equations in shallow domains is also presented. Jack Dongarra, Tennessee, USA Erricos John Kontoghiorghes, Neuchâ, Switzerland


This quantitative study examines the relative impact of domestic and international determinants on the success of EU constitution-building conferences and on the distribution of benefits to the negotiating governments. How do governmental organization and the distribution of within-cabinet preferences of EU member states translate into EU constitution-building? In a seminal article on the relation between domestic and international politics, Robert Putnam conjectured that the chance of a successful agreement of international negotiations is the higher, the larger the win sets of the participating negotiating actors, and the benefits as achieved by each of the negotiators are expected to be the higher, the smaller the respective governmental win sets. Using quantitative data for the complex multi-lateral, multi-level, multi-issue negotiation system resulting into the Amsterdam treaty, we take into account organizational structures as well as constitutional preferences of the involved members of the cabinets at that time. Contrary to Putnam's conjecture 1, statistical analyses indicate that 'joint international unanimity win set size' was neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for successful negotiations. It was the exercise of power and intranational conflicts that have been conducive to a transition of the international status quo. Contrary to Putnam's conjecture 2, small governmental win set size did not constitute a negotiation advantage at the international level. Rather, the collective decision to go beyond the status quo and the declared win set sizes combined to affect the utility income of the cabinet pivot.


In this work, adsorption and diffusion of trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in ZSM-5-type zeolites were studied using molecular simulation methods. Grand canonical Monte Carlo technique was to calculate adsorption isotherms and heats of vaporization of TCE and PCE in zeolite. The results demonstrated that the Pnma-P2(1)2(1)2(1) symmetry transition of the zeolite framework has no significant effect on the TCE adsorption capacity of the silicalite, but it causes an increase of the PCE adsorption capacity. Simulations using a silicalite framework with Pnma symmetry showed that the adsorption capacity of the silicalite was limited to five molecules per unit cell. However, when a framework with P2(1)2(1)2(1) symmetry was used in the simulations, the capacity reached to eight molecules per unit cell, which is the actual adsorption capacity. To calculate intracrystalline diffusion coefficients of these compounds, molecular dynamics simulations were performed at different temperatures and loadings. The results show that the zeolite symmetry has a significant impact on diffusion coefficients of the sorbate molecules.


When L-systems are applied to large and detailed 3D objects, the inherent serial geometric interpretation limits the speed of image generation. To accelerate the interpreting procedure, a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) based method utilizing Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) is proposed in this paper. The focused approach involves two phases: first is a sequential scan on the state string generated from the derivation of L-system running on CPU; the second is the parallel computing on GPU with CUDA. The symbols in the state string are interpreted as turtle commands and graphic primitives whose turtle states depend on the matrix multiplication operation in sequential scan. Then with positions and directions covered in turtle states, the lines (cylinders) are generated and graphic primitives are transformed into turtle coordinate system using thousands of parallel threads in computing phase. Compared with other methods, the proposed method is more efficient.


Coastal wetlands, such as marshes, mangroves and forested swamps, are in decline globally. Although considerable progress has been made in quantifying and valuing some of the key ecosystem goods and services provided by these habitats, fundamental challenges remain. The biggest challenge is inadequate knowledge to link changes in ecosystem structure and function to the production of valuable goods and services. Another problem is that very few ecosystem services are marketed. This review discusses recent advances in overcoming these challenges. To illustrate key valuation issues, the paper introduces three case studies from the US Gulf Coast state of Louisiana: quantifying ecosystem services and the 2012 Master Plan for coastal Louisiana; valuing storm protection by marsh in southeast Louisiana; and oil spills and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment approach to wetland compensation in lieu of restoration. The paper concludes with some final remarks on the state of coastal wetland valuation for protection and restoration.


The Mozambique Channel circulation is dominated by a sequence of southward migrating cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies and previous studies have been done to investigate the flow, the variability and nature of the currents in the Mozambique Channel and the generation of the Mozambique Channel eddies. This master thesis studies the eddies structure and dynamics, based on data obtained from the 2008 ASCLME-Nansen cruise which includes salinity, temperature, currents, density and oxygen measurements. However, this study is restricted to the northern Mozambique Channel where study areas covering three cyclones and one anti-cyclone were considered. The results indicate the existence of upwelling and downwelling zones placing the thermocline near and far-off the surface, respectively. In addition, the eddies have wavelengths of 500 km, amplitudes of more than 100m and a frequency of occurrence of 4 eddies per year. Previous studies suggested that the frequency with which these eddies are formed may in turn be controlled by Rossby waves travelling zonally across the South Indian Ocean. The Rossby number found in this research, indicates that the flow in the Mozambique Channel can be considered geostrophic. Furthermore, the Rossby deformation radius is nearly 20km m for the cyclone and 25km for the anti-cyclones so that the eddies scale seems to be controlled by the Channel size.


This Note explores the role that nongovernmental organizations can and do play in the preservation of global biodiversity hotspots. The hotspot concept-developed in the late 1980s alongside the new field of conservation biology-identifies particular areas of the world that contain high levels of endemic species that are highly threatened or endangered. Some experts have argued that by focusing species conservation efforts on these areas, a maximum amount of species can be protected and preserved using a minimum amount of time, money, and effort, allowing the remaining, scarce funds and resources to be directed toward species conservation efforts elsewhere. Without commenting on the propriety or the effectiveness of utilizing the hotspot concept itself as a way to focus biodiversity conservation efforts, this Note examines several methods that nongovernmental organizations can use to assist in the protection of such hotspots. The first category of such methods includes direct funding efforts or the making of unencumbered contributions by nongovernmental organizations to other organizations in a position to affect preservation efforts in a particular hotspot. The second category includes all types of nongovernmental organization involvement in debt-for-nature swaps. The third category includes a broad array of opportunities for nongovernmental organization involvement in the international arena, including involvement with both public and private or semi-private international organizations. In an ever-more globalized and interconnected world, the actions of such organizations increasingly affect hotspot preservation. The effectiveness of each of these three categories of potential and current involvement will be analyzed and opportunities for future expansion of protection efforts will be presented.


Application developers, take note: databases aren't just for the IS group any more. You can build database-backed applications for the desktop, Web, embedded systems, or operating systems without linking to heavy-duty client-server databases such as Oracle and MySQL. This book shows you how to use SQLite, a small and lightweight relational database engine that you can build directly into your application. With SQLite, you'll discover how to develop a database-backed application that remains manageable in size and complexity. This book guides you every step of the way. You'll get a crash course in data modeling, become familiar with SQLite's dialect of the SQL database language, and much more. Learn how to maintain localized storage in a single file that requires no configuration Build your own SQLite library or use a precompiled distribution in your application Get a primer on SQL, and learn how to use several language functions and extensions Work with SQLite using a scripting language or a C-based language such as C# or Objective-C Understand the basics of database design, and learn how to transfer what you already know to SQLite Take advantage of virtual tables and modules "Complex SQL concepts explained clearly." --D. Richard Hipp, creator of SQLite


Inept leadership, inefficient campaigning, and enormous losses would seem to spell military disaster. Yet despite these factors, the Soviet Union won its war against Nazi Germany thanks to what Roger Reese calls its "military effectiveness": its ability to put troops in the field even after previous forces had been decimated. Reese probes the human dimension of the Red Army in World War II through a close analysis of soldiers' experiences and attitudes concerning mobilization, motivation, and morale. In doing so, he illuminates the Soviets' remarkable ability to recruit and retain soldiers, revealing why so many were willing to fight in the service of a repressive regime and how that service was crucial to the army's military effectiveness. He examines the various forms of voluntarism and motivations to serve-including the influences of patriotism and Soviet ideology-and shows that many fought simply out of loyalty to the idea of historic Russia and hatred for the invading Germans. He also considers the role of political officers within the ranks, the importance of commanders who could inspire their troops, the bonds of allegiance forged within small units, and persistent fears of Stalin's secret police. Brimming with fresh insights, Reese's study shows how the Red Army's effectiveness in the Great Patriotic War was foreshadowed by its performance in the Winter War against Finland and offers the first direct comparison between the two, delving into specific issues such as casualties, tactics, leadership, morale, and surrender. Reese also presents a new analysis of Soviet troops captured during the early war years and how those captures tapped into Stalin's paranoia over his troops' loyalties. He provides a distinctive look at the motivations and experiences of Soviet women soldiers and their impact on the Red Army's ability to wage war. Ultimately, Reese puts a human face on the often anonymous Soviet soldiers to show that their patriotism was real, even if not a direct endorsement of the Stalinist system, and had much to do with the Red Army's ability to defeat the most powerful army the world had ever seen."


Context-awareness is a key feature for ubiquitous computing scenarios applications. Currently, technologies and methodologies have been proposed for the integration of context-awareness concepts in intelligent information systems to adapt them to the execution of services, user interfaces and data retrieval. Recent research proposed conceptual modeling alternatives to the integration of the domain modeling in RDBMS and context-awareness modeling. The research described using highly expressiveness ontologies. The present work describes the UPCaD (Unified Process for Integration between Context-Awareness and Domain) methodology, which is composed of formalisms and processes to guide the data integration considering RDBMS and context modeling. The methodology was evaluated in a virtual learning environment application. The evaluation shows the possibility to use a highly expressive context ontology to filter the relational data query and discusses the main contributions of the methodology compared with recent approaches.


UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: LATINO/A IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MAKINGSENSE OF IMMIGRATION AND DEVELOPING AGENCY THROUGH CRITICAL MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE AND ONLINE DISCUSSIONS IN A THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM by Eliza G. Allen This multiple case study explores the ways in which Latina/a immigrant children make sense of immigration by reading critical multicultural texts and blogging. As U.S. immigration policy shifts have created more punitive policies for immigrant adults, these changes place both documented and undocumented children in difficult situations. With many children born in the U.S. as citizens, these families are identified as "mixed-status" families because of the rights and privileges that immigrant children and parents are afforded or denied (Capps & Fortuny, 2006). What appears to be missing from the research around immigration status and children of immigrants is how literacy, in particular digital literacy or blogging can play a role in the understanding of immigration. Studies have illustrated that critical literacy discussions often help facilitate Latina/a immigrant youth's understandings of the multiple communities and larger social spaces and their identities. Moreover, blogging also gives students an opportunity to express themselves in a way which will make them feel comfortable, which is not always possible in a classroom setting (Bloch, 2011, p. 159). The questions guiding this study are: (1) How does reading critical multicultural texts around immigration issues and discussions in computer-mediated discourse communities help children make meaning of a larger social issue like immigration? and (2) How do children use computer mediated discussions to deepen their understandings of literature? Three lines of inquiry guided the research: social constructivist learning theories (Gee, 2004; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978), critical literacy theory (Lewison, Flint, & Van Sluys, 2002: Luke, 2012; Luke & Freebody, 2012), and transactional theory (Rosenblatt, 1978, 2005; Smagorinsky, 2001). Participants in the study were third grade Latina/a students. Data sources included students' blog posts, audio recordings of classroom discussions, student writing samples, field notes, and interviews. Constant comparative approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1965) was used to analyze the data. Findings demonstrate that discussions and blogging afforded students a space to deconstruct the complexities surrounding immigration and immigration policies. Students' gained a greater sense of agency when disrupting the status quo and taking action on such issues. The broader implications from this study highlight the need to use varied modalities and formats when working with culturally diverse students and critical multicultural texts. UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: LATINO/A IMMIGRANT CHILDREN MAKING SENSE OF IMMIGRATION AND DEVELOPING AGENCY THROUGH CRITICAL MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE AND ONLINE DISCUSSIONS IN A THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM by Eliza G. Allen


Results are presented for nonblocking multistage broadcast networks wherein a request from an idle input port to be connected to some set of idle output ports can be satisfied without any disturbance of other broadcast connections already existing in the network. Furthermore, a linear network control algorithm for realizing such a broadcast connection request is given. These results represent the best known explicit constructions with limited numbers of stages relative to both crosspoint and control algorithm complexity. Thus, these networks are highly useful for practical applications involving the movement of and collaboration with voice/video/text/graphics information that require broadcast capability. These networks are also useful for the interconnection of processor and memory units in parallel processing systems. >


In this paper we propose a methodological framework for modeling Quality of Experience (QoE) for media services in a generic manner. We consider QoE as a multi-dimensional concept dependent on several factors related to the service itself, its resource requirements, its users, and its context of use. As a first step, we group these factors into four factor spaces and propose a mapping of them into a QoE space. We then focus on the application of this mapping in the context of networkedmedia services by adhering to a layered approach for modeling QoE dimensions in relation to the aforementioned QoE-affecting factors. Such an approach facilitates understanding a service's QoE as acomposite function of the performance of the underlying network, and the actual service implementation, under constraints imposed by some of the QoEaffecting factors. In order to illustrate the applicability of the proposed methodology, we present a case study for mobile video. DOI 10.1515/pik-2014-0028