Diabetic retinal disease is envisioned to become the plague of the coming decades with a steep increase of worldwide diabetes incidence followed by a substantial rise in retinal disease. Improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic care have to cope with this dilemma in a clinically and socioeconomically efficient manner. Laser treatment has found a less destructive competitor in pharmacological treatments. As a consequence of recent rigorous clinical trials, laser photocoagulation is no longer recommended for the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME), and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy has emerged as first-line therapy. Steroids have maintained a role in the management of chronically persistent DME. The paradigm shifts in therapy are accompanied by a substantial break-through in diagnostics. The following guidance for the management of DME has been composed from the best updated knowledge of leading experts in Europe and represents another volume in the series of EURETINA recommendations for the management of retinal disease.


The objective of this research was to investigate the effect of extrusion and drying conditions on the corn noodle and processing using calendaring method. Corn flour (70%) was steamed, mixed with raw corn flour (30%), added with water (50%), salt (1%) and guar gum (1%). Treatment applied before sheeting were control (without extrusion), extrusion using 0.60 cm die diameter and using 0.30 cm die diameter. Noodle strands from the best extrusion treatment were dried in the tray dryer at 60, 70 and 80oC. Extrusion of dough using grinder increased its degree of gelatinization. Without extrusion before sheeting, the dough was too hard to form a smooth sheet and the resulting noodle strand was fragile. Smaller die diameter (0.30 cm) resulted in lower cooking loss, stickiness and elasticity of corn noodle produced (p 0.05).


Fires within the built environment are a fact of life and through design and the application of the building regulations and design codes, the risk of fire to the building occupants can be minimised.
However, the building regulations within the UK do not deal with property protection and focus solely on the safety of the building occupants. This research details the statistical analysis of the UK Fire and Rescue Service and the Fire Protection Association s fire incident databases to create a loss model framework, allowing the designers of a buildings fire safety systems to conduct a cost benefit analysis on installing additional fire protection solely for property protection.

It finds that statistical analysis of the FDR 1 incident database highlights the data collection methods of the Fire and Rescue Service ideally need to be changed to allow further risk analysis on the UK building stock, that the statistics highlight that the incidents affecting the size of a fire are the time from ignition to discovery and the presence of dangerous materials, that sprinkler activations may not be as high as made out by sprinkler groups and that the activation of an alarm system gives a smaller size fire.

The original contribution to knowledge that this PhD makes is to analyse the FDR 1 database to try and create a loss model, using data from both the Fire Protection Association and the Fire and Rescue Service.


As a surfer, I experience and participate with countless rituals, myths, legends, laws, body modifications, feelings and ideas. Riding a wave is more than an act. To 'become-surfer' is to undergo a complex lived experience of surging relations. My analysis of surfing in this article shows how male bodies surf with tidal flows of relations. That is, how they reckon with varying, confusing, and moving experiences. I want to provide a mapping of male surfing bodies whereby fibreglass meshes with flesh, wax, fear, excitement, economics, sweat, politics, erotica and representations. I map masculinity fuelled by feelings of moving, relational and paddling bodies.


The study elucidated the wound healing and hair regeneration properties of a conditioned medium prepared from the culture of human hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells (HFMSCs). The wound-healing effects of mesenchymal stem cell-conditioned medium (MSC-CM) were tested in vitro using scratch assays co-cultured with HaCaT keratinocyte and monitored through optical microscopy. The cell proliferation of HFMSCs and the HaCaT keratinocyte were observed in the presence of different kinds of drugs including UK5099, sodium L-lactate, lactate dehydrogenase-A, MSC-CM, caffeine, and caffeic acid. The hair regeneration properties were investigated in vivo by administrating the MSC-CM solutions to adult B6 mouse models. For quantification, hematoxylin and eosin staining were performed following euthanasia. In vitro results revealed that MSC-CM promotes dermal cell migrations and enhances proliferation of HFMSCs and HaCaT keratinocytes, demonstrating wound-healing properties. Moreover, when the MSC-CM solutions were applied to the shaved mouse skin, a dark area that expanded overtime was seen. Although no hair growth was found, histological analysis proved that a fat layer thickness increment was found under the mouse's skin, ultimately projecting the formation of new hair growth. MSC-CM promotes the migration and proliferation of dermal keratinocytes that are beneficial for wound healing and hair growth. It is believed that MSC-CM can potentially serve as the basis of alternative therapeutic applications for wound closure and skin regeneration as well as hair growth stimulation and hair loss prevention in alopecia.


Abstract. Notch flexure hinges are commonly used in compliant mechanisms for precision engineering applications and yet important rotational properties of a hinge like the bending stiffness, maximum angular deflection and rotational precision are difficult to predict accurately and simultaneously. There exist some closed-form equations and a few design tool approaches for calculating flexure hinges with particular geometries, but apart from that no comprehensive calculation program for the contour-specific analysis is known to the authors. Developed in MATLAB, this paper presents a novel computational design tool using a non-linear analytical approach for large deflections of rod-like structures to calculate the elasto-kinematic flexure hinge properties by numerically solving a system of differential equations. Building on previous investigations, four certain hinge contours are implemented, the circular, the corner-filleted, the elliptical, and the power function-based contour with different exponents. In addition to the theoretical approach and the implementation it is exemplarily shown, that finite elements method (FEM) results correlate well with the analytical design tool results. For a given deflection angle of 10° and a corner-filleted contour as an example, the deviations of the bending stiffness are between 0.1 % and 9.4 % for typical parameter values. The presented design tool can be beneficial for the accelerated and systematic synthesis of compliant mechanisms with optimized flexure hinges.


At its inception, the Indian Constitution was envisioned as a transformative document, in two senses: anti-colonial and cosmopolitan. It gave birth to a radically new constitutional order, that conferred citizenship and political power on the previously disenfranchised living under the yoke of British imperial rule, created democratically elected legislatures and accountable executives, and conferred fundamental rights on citizens that reconfigured their relationship with public power, under which they had been hitherto treated as colonial subjects. But the Indian Constitution was also a cosmopolitan constitution in its fidelity to the universal principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. These universal values mandated and framed a vast project of social, economic and political transformation.

The Supreme Court of India has yet to articulate an overarching theory of transformative constitutionalism, in either its anti-colonial or cosmopolitan senses. In this essay, I take up this task, by wrestling with the landmark decision in Johar, where the Supreme Court unanimously struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized same sex relations. The idea of transformative constitutionalism figured centrally in the various opinions, and the closely related concept of constitutional morality, given real legal teeth for the first time by the Supreme Court. So did another piece of the global template of rights-protection – proportionality, which is relatively new to Indian constitutional jurisprudence.

The unifying thread between transformative constitutionalism and proportionality in Johar is that the purposes underlying Section 377 were constitutionally impermissible. The dual mission of the transformative constitutional project defined the scope of admissible reasons for proportionality analysis. Section 377 was unconstitutional on the cosmopolitan ground that mere social morality was an insufficient reason to limit the right to engage in harmless, constitutionally protected activity, the basis on which courts around the world have struck down parallel provisions. The colonial-era origins of Section 377 also figured prominently in the submissions and various opinions, as an additional reason why it was unconstitutional. I argue that Section 377 was also unconstitutional for the anti-colonial reason that it was an element of the Imperial constitutional order in British India in the period after the Indian Mutiny in 1857 of indirect colonial rule.


This thesis investigates the problem of robust adaptive sliding mode control for : .. onlinear rigid robotic manipulators. A number of robustness and convergence results are presented for sliding mode control of robotic manipulators with bounded unknown disturbances, nonlinearities, dynamical couplings and parameter uncertainties. The highlights of the research work are summarized below: • A robust adaptive tracking control for rigid robotic manipulators is proposed. In this scheme, the parameters of the upper bound of system uncertainty are adaptively estimated. The controller estimates are then used as controller parameters to eliminate the effects of system uncertainty and guarantee >~' asymptotic error convergence. • A decentralised adaptive sliding mode control scheme for rigid robotic manipulators is proposed. The known dynamics of the partially known robotic manipulator are separated out to perform linearization. A local feedback controller is then designed to stabilize each subsystem and an adaptive sliding mode compensator is used to handle the effects of uncertain system dynamics. The developed scheme guarantees that the effects of system dynamics are eliminated and that asymptotic error convergence is obtained with respect to the overall robotic control system. • A model reference adaptive control using the terminal sliding mode technique is proposed. A multivariable terminal sliding mode is defined for a model following control system for rigid robotic manipulators. A terminal sliding mode controller is then designed based on only a few uncertain system matrix bounds. The result is a simple and robust controller design that guarante.es convergence of the output tracking error in a finite time on the terminal sliding mode.


This article draws on a research project called "Genres in Transition" which took place between 2003 and 2007 and involved about 1,500 pupils in two Swedish upper secondary schools (ages 16-18). The project aimed to investigate pupils' writing practices in Swedish (the mother tongue). It drew on theory and research in the teaching of literature, pedagogy of writing and media studies as have been developed in Scandinavia under the influence of international research on reader response criticism, cultural studies, media studies, and genre theory. School texts in different formats and settings the pupils produced were collected and analysed. Interviews with both the pupils and teachers were also carried out. This article presents and discusses one of the 113 essays collected for the project. That essay was written by a boy in a vocational programme and, like the other collected essays, was written by hand on paper with a pencil. Drawing on this example, we want to discuss how writing competencies that pupils develop as cultural practices and values change when the media ecology changes. It is suggested that, when writing essays at school, pupils use experiences and strategies from a range of media. In so doing, we suggest the abandoning of the old dominant and Romantic conception based on a distinction between fact and fiction in favour of the experience from everything being mediated, i.e. a transformed epistemology as a result of media reflexivity.


Few Spanish language tools are available for assessing important social-emotional learning (SEL) skills. The present study presents evidence of the psychometric properties of a Spanish-language version of SELweb (SELweb-S), a web-based system for assessing children's ability to recognize others' emotions and perspectives, solve social problems, and engage in self-control. With a sample of 524 students in Grades K to 3, we examined the reliability and validity of SELweb-S. This study provided evidence that (a) individual assessment modules exhibited moderate to high internal consistency and moderate 6-month temporal stability, (b) composite assessment scores exhibited high reliability, (c) assessment module scores fit a theoretically coherent factor structure, and (d) performance on SELweb-S assessment modules was positively related to teacher-reported SEL skills. Findings are discussed in terms of the importance of direct assessments of SEL skills in languages other than English. In addition, we highlight the importance of abiding by rigorous recommendations in the literature for the translation and cultural adaptation of assessments.


The future of a wood-based biofuel/bioenergy sector could hold important implications for the use, structure and function of forested landscapes in the South. This paper examines a set of questions regarding the potential effects of biofuel developments both on markets for traditional timber products and on the provision of various non-timber ecosystem services. In addition, we examine the key factors that would determine the development of such a sector, especially state and federal policies. A variety of factors will likely affect raw material supply in the region, but landowners have long demonstrated responsiveness to expanded demands for timber. The potential for competition with existing industry appears high. New policies could have the most immediate impact on the structure and size of this new set of demands and there appears to be strong potential for market growth and price increases for raw materials. Potential effects on ecosystem service values are highly uncertain, suggesting that monitoring be emphasized as these developments progress.


Leptospira are unique among bacteria based on their helical cell morphology with hook‐shaped ends and the presence of periplasmic flagella (PF) with pronounced spontaneous supercoiling. The factors that provoke such supercoiling, as well as the role that PF coiling plays in generating the characteristic hook‐end cell morphology and motility, have not been elucidated. We have now identified an abundant protein from the pathogen L. interrogans, exposed on the PF surface, and named it Flagellar‐coiling protein A (FcpA). The gene encoding FcpA is highly conserved among Leptospira and was not found in other bacteria. fcpA‐ mutants, obtained from clinical isolates or by allelic exchange, had relatively straight, smaller‐diameter PF, and were not able to produce translational motility. These mutants lost their ability to cause disease in the standard hamster model of leptospirosis. Complementation of fcpA restored the wild‐type morphology, motility and virulence phenotypes. In summary, we identified a novel Leptospira 36‐kDa protein, the main component of the spirochete's PF sheath, and a key determinant of the flagella's coiled structure. FcpA is essential for bacterial translational motility and to enable the spirochete to penetrate the host, traverse tissue barriers, disseminate to cause systemic infection and reach target organs.


The structural characterization of complex crystalline materials such as metal organic frameworks can prove a very difficult challenge both for experimentalists as for theoreticians. From theory, the flat potential energy surface of these highly flexible structures often leads to different geometries that are energetically very close to each other. In this work a distinction between various computationally determined structures is made by comparing experimental and theoretically derived X-ray diffractograms which are produced from the materials geometry. The presented approach allows to choose the most appropriate geometry of a MIL-47(V) MOF and even distinguish between different electronic configurations that induce small structural changes. Moreover the techniques presented here are used to verify the applicability of a newly developed force field for this material. The discussed methodology is of significant importance for modelling studies where accurate geometries are crucial, such as mechanical properties and adsorption of guest molecules.


Follicular regulatory T cells suppress B cell activation by expression of decoy IL-1R2 and IL-1Ra. Immune regulation in the germinal center Unregulated production of antibodies may contribute to the development of autoimmunity. Follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells are thought to limit the germinal center (GC) reaction and to reduce antibody production within B cell follicles in both humans and mice, yet how Tfr cells control the GC reaction remains unclear. Ritvo et al. closely characterize Tfr cells and identify these cells as a rare population of CD4+CXCR5+PD-1+Foxp3+ cells that do not express CD25 and do not respond to interleukin-2. When compared with follicular helper T (Tfh) cells and regulatory T cells, Tfr cells clustered with Tfh cells. Moreover, they expressed decoy molecules for the interleukin-1 signaling pathway, suggesting a mechanism for the suppression of Tfh cells. Follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells from lymph node germinal centers control follicular helper T (Tfh) cell–dependent B cell activation. These scarce cells, often described and purified as CD25+ cells, are thought to be derived from thymic regulatory T (Treg) cells. However, we observed that mouse Tfr cells do not respond to interleukin-2 (IL-2), unlike Treg cells. Stringent immunophenotyping based on B cell lymphoma 6 (Bcl6), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), and CXCR5 expression revealed that Tfr cells are actually CD25−, in mice and humans. Moreover, Tfr cell characterization based only on CXCR5 and PD-1 high expression without excluding CD25+ cells resulted in contamination with Treg cells. Transcriptome studies of CD4+CXCR5+PD-1+Bcl6+Foxp3+CD25− Tfr cells revealed that they express the IL-1 decoy receptor IL-1R2 and the IL-1 receptor antagonist IL-1Ra, whereas Tfh cells express the IL-1R1 agonist receptor. IL-1 treatment expanded Tfh cells in vivo and activated their production of IL-4 and IL-21 in vitro. Tfr cells suppressed the IL-1–induced activation of Tfh cells as efficiently as the IL-1 receptor antagonist Anakinra. Altogether, these results reveal an IL-1 axis in the Tfh cell control of B cell responses and an IL-2/IL-1 dichotomy for Treg cell control of effector T cells versus Tfr cell control of Tfh cells.


Objective: Recently developed agent carriers, transfersomes, which are sufficiently deformable to penetrate into or across the skin barrier. Protransfersome is the lyophilization of transfersome by removing the water system with freeze-drying method to improve the protransfersome characterizations, especially entrapment efficiency. The aim of this study was to comparethe characteristics ofazelaic acid transfersomes and protransfersomes. Method: Transfersome was prepared by thin layer hidration method. Protransfersome was prepared by freeze-drying method and trehalose as lyoprotectant. The characterizations that measured were entrapment efficiency, morphological structure, particle size, and zeta potential. Result: The result of Transfersome particel size characterization, pointed out measurement with 89,06 nm. Whereas, after freeze- drying process, Protransfersome A has 735 nm, Protransfersome B has 1218 nm, and Protransfersome C has723,1 nm. There are excalations from 40,98% of entrapment efficiency after freeze-drying process, Protransfersome A with percentage 45,20%, Protransfersome B with percentage 45,65%, and Protransfersome C with percentage 52,90%. The spheric vesicle morphology of transfersome and protransfersomes is determined by transmission electron microscope. Conclusion: Protransfersomes have a better stability in entrapment efficiency by using trehalose or no trehalose with indirect cooling rate within 4 weeks of storage period. Key words: Azelaic acid, Entrapment afficiency, Freeze-drying, Protransfersome, Transfersome.


This study in second language acquisition (SLA) investigates the influence of selfportrayal of language learners in an interactive online L2 learning environment from a socialinteractionist research perspective. This thesis has a mainly theoretical focus and will integrate concepts of online communication with SLA methodology. This work reviews some classical perspectives on chats and message boards as environment for online communication in chapter two and develops a list of features to classify them from a second language acquisition perspective. In order to assist the main argument of the thesis that an integrated view of learners within a learning context is necessary to fully use the advantages of an interactive online learning environment, the second language acquisition model of Marysia Johnson (2004) is discussed in chapter three. Using the premises of the model, which result from the application of Lev Vygotskys sociocultural theory and Mikhail Bakhtins dialogized heteroglossia, key features for the later data analysis are pointed out. Those are the dismissal of the separation of language competence and language performance, a view of language that exceeds mere morphosyntactical concerns and the overcoming of the mainstream mentalist SLA approach in favor of a socioculturally oriented dialogical language learning model. The approach of Bonny Norton (2000) to identity is used as an analytical framework to complete Johnsons model developing a methodology for chapter four. The data analysis in chapter five is used to prove the validity of the model in showing that the developed model is applicable for the analysis of an online context. After a description of the course environment and a preliminary analysis, an in depth qualitative approach is used to point out the links between sociocultural theory and identity theory. Afterwards, I will give a short summary of my most important results and finish my thesis with some suggestions for further research.


In wireless channels, the signal quality degrades mainly due to the additive noise and the random variation of attenuation of the signal, known as fading. The additive noise can be compensated to some extent using forward error correction (FEC) coding and automatic repeat request (ARQ). The fading can be compensated not only with FEC codes and ARQ schemes but also using spatial diversity and multiplexing achieved by employing multiple antenna systems, known as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. MIMO schemes fall into different categories based on system requirements, e.g., space-time block codes (STBCs) and limited feedback schemes.
FEC codes, as a method of substantial performance improvement, are employed in most modern communication systems. However, the optimal design of the concatenation of FEC codes and modulation schemes for different applications is an open problem. Polar codes are a new class of FEC codes that benefit from simple rate matching and a variety of low-complexity decoders which facilitate the design of efficient systems. Multilevel coding with multistage decoding (MLC/MSD) is a low-complexity capacity achieving coded-modulation technique that can be designed efficiently for polar codes due to the conceptual similarity.
In this thesis, in order to achieve low-arithmetic-complexity/high-performance coded-modulation schemes for wireless channels, multilevel polar coded-modulation (MLPCM) schemes are designed and analyzed. To this end, new methods are proposed to decrease the MSD log-likelihood ratio estimation complexity and to improve the set-partitioning based bit-to-symbol mapping (SPM) design. Furthermore, some novel methods are proposed for the low-memory-space/low-arithmetic-complexity design of polar codes in additive white Gaussian noise and slow fading channels. In addition, a set of algorithms are proposed to design MLPCM based on the throughput for hybrid ARQ and channel-adaptive schemes. Moreover, to design the signal for MLC/MSD, a variety of multidimensional constellations are optimized using union bounds on the error rate of uncoded MIMO schemes, and their performance in the presence of polar codes is evaluated. Finally, MLPCM is designed in slow fading channels by optimizing STBCs based on the outage probability, generating SPM based on a bound on the outage, and the joint optimization of polar codes and STBCs.


Evidence from paleoclimatic archives suggests that Earth's climate experienced rapid temperature changes associated with pronounced interhemispheric asymmetry during the last glacial period. Explanations for these climate excursions have converged on nonlinear interactions between ice sheets and the ocean's thermohaline circulation, but the driving mechanism remains to be identified. Here we use multidecadal marine records of faunal, oxygen isotope, and sediment proxies from the northeast Atlantic proximal to the western margins of the last glacial British Ice Sheet (BIS) to document the coupling between ice sheet dynamics, ocean circulation, and insolation changes. The core data reveal successions of short-lived (80–100 years), high-amplitude ice-rafted debris (IRD) events that were initiated up to 2000 years before the deposition of detrital carbonate during Heinrich events (HE) 1 and 2. Progressive disintegration of the BIS 19–16 kyr before present (B.P.) occurred in response to abrupt ocean-climate warmings that impinged on the northeast Atlantic during the early deglaciation. Peak IRD deposition recurs at 180–220 year intervals plausibly involving repeated breakup of glacial tidewater margins and fringing marine ice shelves. The early deglaciation culminated in a major meltwater pulse at ∼16.3 kyr B.P. followed by another discharge associated with HE1 some 300 years after. We conclude that temperature changes related to external forcing and marine heat transport caused a rapid response of the BIS and possibly other margins of the Eurasian Ice Sheet. Massive but short-lived meltwater surges influenced the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation thereby contributing to North Atlantic climate variability and bipolar climatic asymmetry.


Convective turbulence generates localized and intermittent surface shear stress and can effectively entrain dust into the atmosphere. This mechanism is referred to as "Convective Turbulent Dust Emission" (CTDE) and is considered as the most important form of direct aerodynamic dust entrainment. CTDE occurs predominantly at weak mean wind conditions, when the buoyancy production of atmospheric turbulence is most pronounced. CTDE is a stochastic process and does not need to involve the saltation of sand-sized grains. This process is so far not included in dust emission schemes and therefore the significance of CTDE for the global dust budget and its impacts on the Earth system remain largely unknown. Here we develop a new parameterization scheme of CTDE. We couple the scheme to the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model in LES (Large-Eddy Simulation) and regional mode with chemistry (WRF/Chem) and investigate the process and its significance for local and regional scale dust emissions. In the parameterization scheme for regional application, the stochastic nature of the process is considered by describing the aerodynamic lifting forces and inter-particle cohesive forces as probability density functions (pdfs). The lifting force was first described as joint pdf of turbulent horizontal and vertical wind velocities. We then determined the lifting force using a new similarity theory for instantaneous momentum flux, obtained from the LES results. The inter-particle cohesive force was described as lognormal distribution with semi-empirical distribution moments. Correction methods for roughness element and moisture effects were suggested. The CTDE scheme was calibrated and validated against field observations recorded in the Horqin Sandy Land area in China and during the Japan-Australia Dust Experiment (JADE) in Australia. The roughness correction is preliminary and could not be tested due to a lack of data for evaluation. Only fractional cover was therefore accounted for in the model simulations. Coupled to the regional model WRF/Chem, the calibrated dust emission scheme was used to assess the long-term regional contribution of CTDE to the overall dust budget for Australia. We showed that a persistent background dust concentration can be generated by CTDE. By comparison with model estimates of global dust emissions, we found that during the study year, the Australian CTDE comprised about 6-17% relative to the yearly global dust emissions. It even exceeded the global model estimates for annual Australian dust emissions, arguably due to favorable conditions in the study year compared to the climatological mean, underrepresentation of regional characteristics, and corresponding underestimation of Australian dust emissions in the global models. Additionally, the disuse of a comprehensive drag partition scheme in our model potentially led to CTDE overestimation. On the local scale, CTDE was observed as being about twice as frequent as saltation bombardment and aggregates disintegration (SADE) and produced more than 80% of dust emissions compared to that of SADE. Our results suggest that CTDE may be a significant driver of soil nutrient redistribution and air quality at the local scale while contributing to the global impacts of dust on radiation interactions and biogeochemical cycles.


Changing climate conditions on Greenland influence the snow accumulation rate and surface mass balance (SMB) on the ice sheet and, ultimately, its shape. This can in turn affect local climate via orography and albedo variations and, potentially, remote areas via changes in ocean circulation triggered by melt water or calving from the ice sheet. Examining these interactions in the IPSL global model requires improving the representation of snow at the ice sheet surface. In this paper, we present a new snow scheme implemented in LMDZ, the atmospheric component of the IPSL coupled model. We analyse surface climate and SMB on the Greenland ice sheet under insolation and oceanic boundary conditions for modern, but also for two different past climates, the last glacial inception (115 kyr BP) and the Eemian (126 kyr BP). While being limited by the low resolution of the general circulation model (GCM), present-day SMB is on the same order of magnitude as recent regional model findings. It is affected by a moist bias of the GCM in Western Greenland and a dry bias in the north-east. Under Eemian conditions, the SMB decreases largely, and melting affects areas in which the ice sheet surface is today at high altitude, including recent ice core drilling sites as NEEM. In contrast, glacial inception conditions lead to a higher mass balance overall due to the reduced melting in the colder summer climate. Compared to the widely applied positive degree-day (PDD) parameterization of SMB, our direct modelling results suggest a weaker sensitivity of SMB to changing climatic forcing. For the Eemian climate, our model simulations using interannually varying monthly mean forcings for the ocean surface temperature and sea ice cover lead to significantly higher SMB in southern Greenland compared to simulations forced with climatological monthly means.


During the 1980s and 1990s, Hans J Eysenck conducted a programme of research into the causes, prevention and treatment of fatal diseases in collaboration with one of his protégés, Ronald Grossarth-Maticek. This led to what must be the most astonishing series of findings ever published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature with effect sizes that have never otherwise been encounterered in biomedical research. This article outlines just some of these reported findings and signposts readers to extremely serious scientific and ethical criticisms that were published almost three decades ago. Confidential internal documents that have become available as a result of litigation against tobacco companies provide additional insights into this work. It is suggested that this research programme has led to one of the worst scientific scandals of all time. A call is made for a long overdue formal inquiry.


Lightly damped non-linear systems such as vehicular drivelines undergo a plethora of Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) problems. The clonk phenomenon is one concern which occurs as the result of impulsive torque input in the form of sudden clutch actuation or throttle tip-in and back-out. The resulting impact of meshing gear pairs propagate structural waves down the driveline. With lightly damped thin-walled tubes having high modal density, elasto-acoustic coupling occurs. High frequency noise emission is of metallic nature and quite disconcerting to vehicle occupants as well as passers-by. It is perceived as structural failure and/or poor-quality build. Therefore, the occurrence of the phenomenon is a concern to vehicle manufacturers and progressively constitutes a warranty concern. This paper investigates the clonk phenomenon through use of a long-wheel base rear drive light truck test rig. The investigation uses psychoacoustic metrics to establish the severity of clonk noise in different maneuvers. This is an attempt to quantify the effect of transient clonk event which is usually ascertained through subjective evaluation ratings in a customer/jury clinic in industry. Alternatively, detailed numerical analysis is carried out with parametric studies to quantify different clonk events, a very time consuming approach which is not usually correlated with occupants' perception of the event. Therefore, the experimental NVH monitoring-psycho-acoustic approach is new for the case of clonk and not hitherto reported in literature. The study corroborates the results and conclusions of previous work, pointing to the loudness and sharpness of high frequency short-lived "metallic" response, which is attuned to human aural perception. The psychoacoustic analysis has shown this to be as the result of short duration hard impact (accelerative period). This hard impact duration accounts for the bulk loudness and sharpness of the overall event. Therefore, effective palliation should focus on the attenuation of particular frequency bands, which carry the main contribution to loudness and sharpness.


It has been proposed that growing crop varieties with higher canopy albedo would lower summer-time temperatures over North America and Eurasia and provide a partial mitigation of global warming ('bio-geoengineering') (Ridgwell et al 2009 Curr. Biol. 19 1–5). Here, we use a coupled ocean–atmosphere–vegetation model (HadCM3) with prescribed agricultural regions, to investigate to what extent the regional effectiveness of crop albedo bio-geoengineering might be influenced by a progressively warming climate as well as assessing the impacts on regional hydrological cycling and primary productivity. Consistent with previous analysis, we find that the averted warming due to increasing crop canopy albedo by 0.04 is regionally and seasonally specific, with the largest cooling of ∼1 °C for Europe in summer whereas in the low latitude monsoonal SE Asian regions of high density cropland, the greatest cooling is experienced in winter. In this study we identify potentially important positive impacts of increasing crop canopy albedo on soil moisture and primary productivity in European cropland regions, due to seasonal increases in precipitation. We also find that the background climate state has an important influence on the predicted regional effectiveness of bio-geoengineering on societally-relevant timescales (ca 100 years). The degree of natural climate variability and its dependence on greenhouse forcing that are evident in our simulations highlights the difficulties faced in the detection and verification of climate mitigation in geoengineering schemes. However, despite the small global impact, regionally focused schemes such as crop albedo bio-geoengineering have detection advantages.


In One Thousand Eyes, a ragged troop of abandoned children fights to survive on a devastated Caribbean island. Eleven-year-old Myche marshals them out of the small sanctuary that is no longer safe, on a treacherous journey through destroyed cities and ravaged landscapes. In mountains and grottos, and in brackish wastelands of mangrove and floating grasses, the children face danger from the harsh environment and its inhabitants, as well as from intruders who hunt them ruthlessly. But a well-ordered and comfortable landing may pose the greatest threat of all. A coming-of-age tale for readers of Caribbean fiction and world literature, speculative writing and eco-fiction, One Thousand Eyes, set amid the dark forces of a chillingly possible world, is ultimately about resilience, love, courage and the power of storytelling. "An electrifying story." —Nicholas Laughlin, Programme Director, NGC Bocas Lit Fest


Brecht used the term "gest" to describe the generic components of human social behavior. He schooled actors in "decomposing" real conduct into distinct gestic images, which were criticized, compared, and altered by other actor-spectators. In his pedagogic theater, Brecht's young players engaged in a reciprocal process of acting and observing, which prepared them to act critically outside the theater. This gestic reciprocality echoes the master-slave dialectic in Hegel's Phenomenology and Lacan's description of the mirror phase. In Hegel, a subject achieves mastery (or self-consciousness) through the recognition of another subject. In Lacan, the infant recognizes itself in an (alienated) mirror-image and in its dramatic interactions with other infants. In each of these inter-subjective dialectics, the subject achieves sovereignty through the recognition of others and through a dramatic exchange with others. For Brecht, however, the structural roles of actor and spectator, teacher and student, were reversible, thus yielding a utopian notion of shared or collective sovereignty that is absent from Lacan. Furthermore, Brecht hoped that the sovereignty gained in the gestic theater would be transferred to actions outside the theater, on the stage of history.


Abstract In order to examine the co‐occurrence of nightmares with dissociative experiences in the adolescent population and to demonstrate the impact of childhood traumatic events in this association, 292 undergraduate students were interviewed for childhood traumatic events. The Van Dream Anxiety Scale (VDAS) and Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) were also administered to the subjects. For nightmares a 7.5% prevalence of 'often' and a 58.2% prevalence of 'sometimes' was found for college students. Nightmare prevalence was higher in women than in men. The rate of childhood traumatic experiences was higher in nightmare sufferers than in those who did not have nightmares. The subjects who had undergone physical and sexual abuse had higher VDAS global scores and item scores. When the DES scores of the subjects with nightmares were compared with that of those who had never reported nightmares, the subjects with nightmares had significantly higher scores on DES. The DES scores were also negatively correlated with duration of nightmares in subjects who had childhood traumatic experiences. These findings suggest that the subjects with childhood traumatic events failed to psychologically integrate their traumatic experiences and used dissociation as a coping strategy.


A 1,3,5,7,9-pentaazanona-1,3,6,8-tetraenate (PANT) chloride platinum(II) complex (1) was obtained via the metal-mediated double coupling of 2,3-diphenylmaleimidine with both nitrile ligands in trans-[PtCl2(NCtBu)2]. Compound 1 was then co-crystallized with diiodomethane forming solvate 1·½CH2I2. The XRD experiment reveals that this solvate displays the halogen bonds H2C(I)–I⋯Cl–Pt and hydrogen bonds I2C(H)–H⋯Cl–Pt, which join two complex and one CH2I2 molecules in a heterotrimeric supramolecular cluster. Inspection of the CCDC database reveals only one example of the halogen bond H2C(I)–I⋯I–Pt between the CH2I2 molecule and metal-coordinated halide in the structure of VEMWOA. In VEMWOA, CH2I2 serves solely as a halogen bond donor with no hydrogen bond contribution. Results of the Hirshfeld surface analysis and DFT calculations (M06/DZP-DKH level of theory) followed by topological analysis of the electron density distribution within the formalism of Bader's theory (QTAIM method) for both 1·½CH2I2 and VEMWOA confirmed the formation of these weak interactions. The evaluated energies of halogen bonds involving CH2I2 are in the 2.2–2.8 kcal mol−1 range.


In semi-supervised learning for classification, i t is assumed that every ground truth class of data is present in the small labelled dataset. In many real-world sparsely-labelled datasets, it is possible that not all ground-truth classes are captured in the labelled dataset: a biased data collection process could result in some classes of data to be found only in the unlabelled dataset. We call this regime 'semi-unsupervised learning', an extreme case of semi-supervised learning, where some classes have no labelled exemplars. First, we outline the pitfalls associated with trying to apply deep generative model (DGM)-based semi-supervised learning algorithms to datasets of this type. We then show how a combination of clustering and semi-supervised learning, using DGMs, can be brought to bear on this problem. We study several different datasets, showing how one can still learn effectively when half of the ground truth classes are entirely unlabelled and the other half are sparsely labelled.


Over the past four decades, more than 2,300 people have been the victims of mass shootings involving a firearm in the United States. Research shows that mass shootings have significant detrimental effects on the direct victims and their families. However, relatively little is known about the extent to which the impacts of these tragedies are transmitted into communities where they occur, and how they influence people beyond those directly affected. This study uses nationally representative data from the Gallup-Healthways survey to assess the spillover effects of mass shootings on community wellbeing and emotional health outcomes that capture community satisfaction, sense of safety, and levels of stress and worry. We leverage differences in the timing of mass shooting events across counties between 2008 and 2017. We find that mass shootings reduce both community wellbeing and emotional health. According to our results, a mass shooting is associated with a 27 percentage point decline in the likelihood of having excellent community wellbeing and a 13 percentage point decline in the likelihood of having excellent emotional health four weeks following the incident. The effects are stronger and longer lasting among individuals exposed to deadlier mass shootings. Furthermore, the reductions in wellbeing are greater for parents with children below age 18. Our findings suggest that mass shootings have significant societal costs and create negative spillover effects that extend beyond those immediately exposed.


Background Bacterial superantigens (SAGs) are potent T cell stimulatory molecules and comprise a large family of disease-associated proteins. Superantigens bind to APCs on the outside of the MHC class II molecule and to T cells via the external face of the T cell receptor (TCR). This enables them to activate up to 20% of resting T cells, whilst conventional antigen presentation results in the activation of 0.001- 0.0001% of the T cell population. These biological properties of superantigens make them very attractive for use in immunotherapy. Objectives 1.Codon optimization, for maximum expression in E. coli and synthesis of four superantigens genes 2.Cloning, Overexpression, purification and molecular characterization of four superantigens Methods The four superantigens codon-optimized genes were produced by Geneart GmbH Company (Regensburg, Germany). Additionally, we introduced several new restriction enzyme sites into the gene, e.g. NdeI and HindIII sites were placed at the 5' and 3' ends of the gene, respectively to facilitate the cloning. Each gene was excised from pGA/sAg by digestion with NdeI and HindIII and inserted into similarly digested pET28a DNA using T4 DNA ligase. The newly formed construct of each gene was transformed into competent cells of E. coli BL21 (DE3) RIL. The expression of each superantigen was done by induction using IPTG. The induced cells were harvested by centrifugation and the total proteins were produced by sonication. The expression analysis was performed using SDS-PAGE. Novel SAGs (TSST, SPE, SEA and SEB) were tested in vitro for their superantigenicity and anticancer activity using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from healthy volunteers and prepared by Ficoll-Paque gradient centrifugation.Superantigenicity was assessed by monitoring the SAG-induced release of PBMCs cytokines. PBMC were treated in the presence or absence of SAGs for 24 h and the release of IL-1β, IL-8, IL-10, TNFα and IFNγ measured by Luminex assay. Furthermore, 3 different colon cancer cell lines were treated with SAGs in the presence or absence of PBMC for 48 h. Inhibition of cancer cell proliferation was measured by MTT assay. Results In this study, four synthetic genes coding for four different superantigens, SEA, SEB, TSST-1 and SPEA were codon-optimised and synthesized for maximum expression in E. coli using the vector pET28a. Our work showed that in all cases the recombinant superantigens were expressed to 40% of the total host protein. We managed to optimize the condition to obtain 20% of the recombinant superantigens in a soluble form. The purification of the soluble His-tagged recombinant superantigens have been achieved in a single step by Ni2+ charged column chromatography. Superantigenicity assay by measuring the released interferon gama showed that the four recombinant superantigens are active with superantigenicity functions. Conclusion The successful cloning and expression of four codon optimised synthetic superantigens genes will provide the recombinant protein which will be modified for production of safer superantigen for cancer immunotherapy.


We present a physical model that explains several sequential stages of the conversion of optical to acoustical energy when irradiating diluted suspensions of metal nanoparticles with laser pulses. Optical absorption and scattering of a single particle driven by plasmon resonance interactions in an aqueous medium are considered. Thermal effects produced by laser-irradiated nanoparticles, dynamics of vapor bubble formation, and acoustic signals from expanding bubbles formed around heated nanoparticles are calculated. Stochastic features of the pressure magnitude emitted as a result of low-fluence irradiation of suspensions are also discussed. The probabilistic distribution of pressure magnitude from individual bubbles was found to obey Zipf's law for low concentrations of nanoparticles, while increasing their concentration brings the pressure magnitude distribution into conformance with the Gaussian law.


Extraordinary interest currently exists in the treatment of men over 45 who are referred with the label "prostatism." This has been generated partly by commercial interest and patients' increased awareness and expectations and partly by the advent of new treatments. Several new drugs to relieve bladder outflow obstruction, including (alpha) adrenergic blockers and 5-(alpha) reductase inhibitors, have been or are about to be licensed. Drug companies have expended huge efforts in increasing patients' and doctors' awareness of prostatic disease.

New techniques to destroy part or all of the prostate have been developed, including thermotherapy, thermal ablation, high intensity focused ultrasonography, transurethral needle ablation, and laser prostatectomy. Added to this are the techniques of intraurethral prostatic stenting and balloon dilatation of the prostate.1

Surveys have shown that urinary symptoms are very common in older men, with prevalences varying from 11% for straining up to 78% for nocturia.2 Interestingly, British and American research has suggested that symptoms are also very common in elderly women.3,4 Historically, we have used the terms "prostatism" and "symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia" to describe lower urinary tract symptoms in men. Yet because these …


Communication signal modulation recognition technology is one of the key technologies in the field of modern information warfare. At present, communication signal automatic modulation recognition methods are mainly divided into two major categories. One is the maximum likelihood hypothesis testing method based on decision theory, the other is a statistical pattern recognition method based on feature extraction. Now, the most commonly used is a statistical pattern recognition method, which includes feature extraction and classifier design. With the increasingly complex electromagnetic environment of communications, how to effectively extract the features of various signals at low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is a hot topic for scholars in various countries. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a feature extraction algorithm for the communication signal based on the improved Holder cloud feature. And the extreme learning machine (ELM) is used which aims at the problem of the real-time in the modern warfare to classify the extracted features. The algorithm extracts the digital features of the improved cloud model without deterministic information in a low SNR environment, and uses the improved cloud model to obtain more stable Holder cloud features and the performance of the algorithm is improved. This algorithm addresses the problem that a simple feature extraction algorithm based on Holder coefficient feature is difficult to recognize at low SNR, and it also has a better recognition accuracy. The results of simulations show that the approach in this paper still has a good classification result at low SNR, even when the SNR is -15dB, the recognition accuracy still reaches 76%. Keywords—Communication signal, feature extraction, holder coefficient, improved cloud model.


The usefulness of previous Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) exercises has been hampered by a lack of radiative forcing information. This has made it difficult to understand reasons for differences between model responses. Effective radiative forcing (ERF) is easier to diagnose than traditional radiative forcing in global climate models (GCMs) and is more representative of the eventual temperature response. Here we examine the different methods of computing ERF in two GCMs. We find that ERF computed from a fixed sea surface temperature (SST) method (ERF_fSST) has much more certainty than regression based methods. Thirty year integrations are sufficient to reduce the 5–95% confidence interval in global ERF_fSST to 0.1 W m−2. For 2xCO2 ERF, 30 year integrations are needed to ensure that the signal is larger than the local confidence interval over more than 90% of the globe. Within the ERF_fSST method there are various options for prescribing SSTs and sea ice. We explore these and find that ERF is only weakly dependent on the methodological choices. Prescribing the monthly averaged seasonally varying model's preindustrial climatology is recommended for its smaller random error and easier implementation. As part of CMIP6, the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project (RFMIP) asks models to conduct 30 year ERF_fSST experiments using the model's own preindustrial climatology of SST and sea ice. The Aerosol and Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) will also mainly use this approach. We propose this as a standard method for diagnosing ERF and recommend that it be used across the climate modeling community to aid future comparisons.


Introduction In many Arab countries, including Qatar, the family is an important institution and the corner stone of society. The family is particularly important for all individuals including working parents who find challenges in balancing between their work and the family. Work-family balance is an issue, which remains a central for all employed parents and employers alike. With the global economic downturn, work-family balance continues to be of great importance to societies because in more countries women's' labor force participation has increased. It is a key challenge to sustain a balance between the family and the work and to retain time to properly care for the young, old and vulnerable members of the family groups (O'Brien 2012). The potential effects of work-family balance on families and on working parents in particular may be numerous. Previous research has found that parents with more work-family conflict felt less competent in their role as parents. Therefore, those parents with high work-family conflict may suffer from a reduction in parental, marital, and life satisfaction related to their inability to carry out the nurturing role associated with being a "good" parent (Erdwin et al 2001). However, none of this research is conducted in Qatar and only few studies has been in the Arab region on the issue of work –family balance. This research gap is problematic since reports suggest that employed parents, single parents, widows, divorcees, single women face challenges in balancing between their work and their families (Greenhaus et al 2003). Thus, how can we meet the needs of working employees between their work and their families? Purpose: This study addresses this aforementioned gap in social scientific inquiry by investigating the experiences of Qatari families working and having families. More specifically, we focus on exploring how working parents balance between work and family and the challenges they face. As such, this research focuses on the lived experiences of the working parents and the consequences for working parents to have a satisfactory balance between work and family and the conflict that arises, coping strategies and resources available for working parents. This study will add to the literature on work and family balance by providing knowledge about the unique cultural context of working and performing tasks within the family in Qatar. This study will address this research gap by investigating the experiences of Qatari working parents working and taking care of their family members whether children, old people, parents etc. More specifically, the research will focus on the stresses, burden and coping of work and family care. Theoretical framework and Method There are two clusters of approaches in the literature which examined work-family balance. One cluster focused on how family demands affect work and much of the writing in the management literature followed this approach. The other cluster examines the different ways work impact the family. They belief that the structure, stresses, and demands of work can make it more difficult for individuals to fulfill their family responsibility as well as experiencing job stress at home. Some refer this to as the spill over approach. The most popular view of relationship between work and family was put forth by Spillover theory (Walia 2012). Several researchers suggested that workers carry the emotions, attitudes, skills and behaviors that they establish at work into their family life (Belsky et al., 1985; Kelly and Voydanoff,1985) and vice-versa (Belsky et al.,1985; Crouter, 1984). In addition, Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) gave a model of the sources of work family conflict. They suggested three major sources of work family conflict (a) time based conflict (b) strain based conflict and (c) behavior based conflict. The model proposed that any role characteristic that affects person's time involvement, strain or behavior within a role, can produce conflict between that role and another role. According to the model, work domain pressures include the number of hours worked, inflexibility of the work schedule, role conflict, role ambiguity, expectations for secretiveness and objectivity and family domain pressures include the number of children, spouse employment, family conflict, low spouse support and expectations for warmth and openness (Greenhaus et al 2003). Because this study aimed to explore the challenges and experiences of working parents in balancing between work and family, this research employed a qualitative and quantitiative research design in order to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon under study; it relied mainly on participants' views of the situation being studied and draws attention to its complexity (Creswell, 2003). In this paper, we will present the qualitative data. Aligned with qualitative research, this study therefore used an inductive approach to generating knowledge by beginning with interviews and moving towards identifying patterns based on the experiences of participants (Rudestam & Newton, 2001). Utilizing qualitative, semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions based on the methodological approach of transcendental phenomenology can assist in gaining a better understanding of the themes that arise in peoples' descriptions of work family and balance, the stressors, benefits, and coping strategies and resources for this sample of working parents. Findings: In total, we interviewed 20 Qatari (10 males and 10 females) aging in range from 30-60 years. The findings reported in this presentation/poster focus on the different stressors and challenges of working and taking care of family members. Among them are conflict in balancing between work and family life, long working hours, stressful duties, parental responsibilities, vacations, family obligations, child caring, commitment to work, gender equality, maternity and paternity leaves, coping strategies and resources available. We will discuss the implications from these findings and recommendations for policy changes.


Global emergence of Pseudomonas fluorescens (P. fluorescens) displays a mechanism of resistance to all existing antimicrobials. Due to its strong ability to acquire resistance, there is a need of some alternative treatment strategy. Objective of this study was to investigate the effect of biofield treatment on antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of P. fluorescens. P. fluorescens cells were procured from MicroBioLogics in sealed packs bearing the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 49838) number. Two sets of ATCC samples were taken in this experiment and denoted as A and B. ATCC-A sample was revived and divided into two groups (Gr) i.e. Gr.I (control) and Gr.II (revived); likewise, ATCC-B was labeled as Gr.III (lyophilized). Gr.II and III were given biofield treatment and were measured by MicroScan Walk-Away® system before and after treatment. Parameters studied in experiment were antimicrobial sensitivity, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), biochemical reactions, and biotype number of both control and treatment groups using MicroScan Walk-Away® system. Experimental results showed antimicrobials such as cefepime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, piperacillin, tetracycline, and tobramycin showed altered sensitivity and MIC values in treated group as compared to control. Biochemical reactions showed positive reaction in malonate, melibiose, nitrate, galactosidase, ornithine, raffinose, sorbitol, sucrose, tobramycin and Voges-Proskauer in Gr.II. Arabinose, colistin, glucose, and rhaminose also showed positive reactions in Gr.II on day 10 while arginine and cetrimide showed negative reaction in Gr.III as compared to control. Biochemical tests results revealed a change in biotype number in Gr.II (34101173, day 5), (77103177, a very rare biotype on day 10) and Gr.III (40000043) as compared to control (02041722). Organism was identified as Enterobacter cloacae (GrII, day 10) and Vibrio fluvialis (Gr.III, day 10) with respect to control. These findings suggest that biofield treatment made significant alteration in sensitivity pattern, MIC values, and biotype number of P. fluorescens.


The objective of this study is twofold, to demonstrate (1) the effects of fodder shrubs on milk production and their value at the household and regional level and (2) the contribution of research by the World Agroforestry Centre toward strengthening the impact of fodder shrubs. The study is a synthesis of previous studies related to dissemination, adoption and impact combined with two new analyses, one quantitatively measuring the impact of the shrubs through econometric analysis and the other a qualitative analysis to better understand constraints on adoption and gender issues related to participation and control of benefits from fodder shrubs. Among the study findings are that fodder shrubs have been widely adopted in East Africa, by an estimated 205,000 smallholder dairy farmers by 2005. Women were active in planting shrubs, as monitoring found almost half of planters to be women. Several studies have confirmed that shrubs do have an impact on milk production. While feeding trials have found that 1 kilogram of calliandra increases milk production by 0.6–0.8 kilograms, a new survey of farmers' perceptions in Kenya found the effect to be about half as large after controlling for the effects of breeds, season and other feeds. Whether the effect is the lower or higher estimate, the overall impact of the shrubs in terms of additional net income from milk is high, at US$19.7 million to $29.6 million in Kenya alone over the past 15 years.


The effort to correct the national accounts in order to calculate NNP or related 'Green GDP' concepts, known as natural resource accounting, has been a lively research area recently. Natural resource accounting aims to provide indicators for the sustainability of current economic activity. The objective of the paper is an integrated economic and natural resource by compiling forest resources and integrating into the national accounts in the state of Karnataka, India. Results from the forest asset account for volume of standing timber indicate an increase of 5.056 million tones in biomass in accounting period. When the omitted contribution of natural forests were included in the official GDP for 2010, they include an increase in value add from the forest of 0.93 million of NSDP and the value depletion is 1.5 million of the estimated value added. The result of the study has justified the need for development and indicators for sustainable forest management in Karnataka.


This paper presents on in-depth case study of Malaysian public utility undergoing reform to transform itself into a self-financing, and profitable organization during corporatisation. As profitability were made through imposing new budgeting rules and recruiting new accounting graduates. An explanatory case study method, using mainly semi-structured interviews was adopted. The theoretical framework for understanding the process of implementing accounting change, the context in which change unfolded and the emerging consequences of change is based on insights of new institutional sociology (Meyer and Rowan, 1977). The findings reveal that accounting changes were enacted, but over time became separated from, or loosely coupled with, other intra-organisational concerns. The top-down manner in which the budget targets was imposed by the accountants created tensions and constraints, changes in power relations and a climate of lack of trust. The explanations on the emergence of loosely coupled budget enrich our understanding of why budgeting changes are enacted but the budget is used as rituals for requesting funds rather than for planning and guiding operational decisions.Keywords: Corporatisation, case study, new institutional sociology, loosely coupled, budget.


The 7-valent anti-pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), anti-meningococcal C-conjugate vaccine (MenC) and varicella vaccine have been recently introduced in EU. In Italy, these vaccines have so far been recommended for use in specific groups. Since the health system is decentralised, the Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) can decide to recommend vaccination for other target populations.
We conducted a survey to describe the recommendations on these vaccines currently in place in the 21 Italian regions.
In November 2005, a standardised questionnaire was sent to RHAs, including information on the existence of regional recommendations, vaccination target population, and whether vaccines were provided free of charge, or at a reduced cost compared to pharmacies. Information reported in the questionnaires were followed up in May 2006.
All 21 regions completed and returned the questionnaire and were contacted for follow-up.
Recommendations about at least one of the three vaccines were present in 20 out of 21 regions. All included free of charge PCV offering to specific groups, while MenC and varicella immunisations were recommended in 17 and 19 regions, respectively. Recommendations for other individuals varied greatly by area: free of charge PCV and MenC vaccinations targeting all infants have been recommended in nine regions, and varicella vaccination targeting children in the second year of life in three regions. These different recommendations can lead to marked variation in vaccination coverage rates observed through the country, with a consequent different level of disease control. It is thus crucial to properly monitor vaccination coverage rates for PCV, MenC and varicella, as these are not routinely collected at the national level.


Aim: To establish the most frequent pathological findings encountered at postmortem examination during the investigation of a fatality with a history of cocaine abuse. Methods: Autopsied deaths investigated by the coroner for the Eastern district of London, between 2004 and 2007, in which the decedent had positive toxicology for cocaine were identified (n = 28). The autopsy records and histology of tissue taken at autopsy were retrieved and reviewed. Pathological findings (gross and microscopic, including cardiac, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, renal and neurological) were collated. Results: The main pathological findings at autopsy occurring in this cohort (comprising predominantly men, mean age 31 years), were cardiovascular: left ventricular hypertrophy (46%), multifocal myocardial fibrosis (21%), coronary artery disease (29%), cerebrovascular disease (36%) and pulmonary oedema (71%). Hepatic steatosis (29%) and gastrointestinal haemorrhage (18%), due mostly to gastric erosions/ulceration, were also frequent findings. Conclusions: During a coroner's autopsy of a cocaine user, a thorough cardiac examination combined with cardiac tissue sampling for histology, are valuable investigations, which are most likely to help show pathology relevant to the cause of death.


Abstract Parasitism of the leafhopper Sophonia rufofascia (Kuoh and Kuoh), a recent immigrant that has become a widespread pest in Hawaii, was examined in a 1-year survey in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Samples of young leaves of four plant species infested with eggs of S. rufofascia were collected at five sites ranging from 880 to 1190 m in elevation. Leafhopper eggs were parasitized principally by three species of Mymaridae (Hymenoptera): Polynema sp., Schizophragma sp. probably bicolor (Dozier), and Chaetomymar sp. Although parasitism by each species fluctuated at levels usually below 10%, all three were detected consistently across most host plants, sites, and sample periods. Total parasitism differed at a marginally significant level among host plants and sites, but not among sample periods. Total parasitism averaged 14.3% (maximum: 26.3%) on Dodonaea viscosa Jacquin, 10.6% (maximum: 17.5%) on Myrica faya Aiton, 8.7% (maximum: 29.5%) on Metrosideros polymorpha Gaudich-Beaupre, and 1.6% (maximum: 4.3%) on Vaccinium reticulatum Smith. Parasitism was generally higher at sites lower in elevation. Further monitoring is recommended to determine whether parasitism will increase to levels that can effectively suppress S. rufofascia populations. The efficacy of natural enemies already present in Hawaii is important because concern over nontarget impacts on endemic leafhoppers makes introduction of new biological control agents difficult.


Approximately 10% of copper resources in the Central African Copperbelt, the world's largest, sediment-hosted stratiform copper province, occur in the Domes region of northwestern Zambia. The copper deposits and prospects are commonly hosted by amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks and lie within or adjacent to several basement inliers. Minor molybdenite accompanies the copper-iron sulfide minerals in two deposits and four prospects within the Mwombezhi dome as well as in deposits elsewhere in the Domes region. The results of Re-Os dating of 11 molybdenite samples reveal the existence of two discrete copper-mineralizing epochs, separated by >500 m.y. Most of the mineralization, including that in the Chimiwungu orebody at Lumwana, the largest deposit in the Mwombezhi dome, formed within a maximum interval of ~42 m.y. (538.9–497.1 Ma), which spans the peak of the Lufilian collisional orogeny. In contrast, three samples (four determinations) from the Nyungu prospect returned Mesoproterozoic ages of 1084 to 1059 ± 5 Ma, coincident with the Irumide collisional orogeny. Although several investigators have speculated that the copper in the Central African Copperbelt deposits was extracted from the basement, this is the first unambiguous evidence for an appreciable copper concentration of pre-Katangan (pre-Neoproterozoic) age. Based on this evidence, additional Mesoproterozoic and possibly even older copper concentrations seem likely to exist elsewhere beneath and/or alongside the Copperbelt in both Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such preenrichment of the basement in copper may have contributed to the enormous metal endowment of the Central African Copperbelt.


Understanding organic fouling on ultrafiltration (UF) membranes during water filtration and cleaning episodes has become one of the major factors driving UF technology forward. The aim of this study was to quantify and characterise the organic foulants on an UF membrane at a full-scale drinking water treatment plant when it is fed with surface water and groundwater with different dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contents. DOC characterisation was performed by high-performance size-exclusion chromatography and fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (FEEM). The masses of DOC (and its fractions) retained by the membrane over a whole filtration period (and detached during cleaning episodes) were calculated through mass balances. Under river water feeding conditions, DOC was retained by 22%, being biopolymers the most retained DOC fraction (59%), followed by humic substances (17%) and other minor organic fractions. Routine backwashing resulted in the detachment of only 8% of the total mass of DOC retained, with biopolymers as the most detached fraction (27%). Within biopolymers, proteins appeared to contribute more to hydraulically irreversible fouling than polysaccharides. Under groundwater feeding conditions, no apparent retention of DOC was observed. FEEM analyses showed neither significant removal of fluorescent components during filtration nor detachment from the UF membrane during routine backwashing.


The aim of the study is to clarify the concept "care for carers," and enhance our understanding of caring for carers of ill relatives. Healthcare professionals often refer to "care for carers" when discussing methods to support the carers of ill family relatives. These carers do not always receive the support they need. A literature search of electronic databases and search engines, using the keywords carer, caregiver, caring for the carer, caring for the caregiver was done. Peer-reviewed research articles published between 2014 and 2019 and written in the English language were analyzed. Following retrieval, research articles were analyzed to describe the uses, attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of the concept "care for carers." Research articles describing borderline, related, contrary, and illegitimate examples were included. "Care for carers" addresses the unique support needs of those taking care of ill family members. Carers may derive a sense of empowerment from receiving individualized and proactively rendered support. Carers should be supported to develop control over their circumstances, to find meaning in their caring, to become resilient when experiencing challenges, and to confirm their identity as carers of their ill relatives.


In order for an asynchronous design paradigm such as Multi-Threshold NULL Convention Logic (MTNCL) to be adopted by industry, it is important for circuit designers to be aware of its advantages and drawbacks especially with respect to power usage. The power tradeoff between MTNCL and synchronous designs depends on many different factors including design type, circuit size, process node, and pipeline granularity. Each of these design dimensions influences the active power and the leakage power comparisons. This dissertation analyzes the effects of different design dimensions on power consumption and the associated rational for these effects. Results show that while MTNCL typically uses more active power and less leakage power than an equivalent synchronous design, the magnitude of this difference can vary greatly and trends can be observed across each of these different design dimensions. Using the results and analysis found in this work, circuit designers will be able to choose between MTNCL and synchronous architectures for a given target application based on anticipated power consumption differences.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the experiences, practices, and challenges associated with nonprescription syringe sales (NPSS) among pharmacists whose pharmacies were enrolled in the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project in San Francisco, CA.

METHODS
Self-administered survey mailed to 69 pharmacies and interviews with pharmacists and technicians.

RESULTS
A total of 55 of 69 pharmacies (80%) returned the survey, and eight pharmacy managers and three pharmacy technicians were interviewed in person. Of pharmacists, 72% reported none or very few problems with NPSS in the previous year, although surveys and interviews illustrated challenges associated with NPSS in terms of time management, educating patients about syringe disposal, and understanding patient preferences for syringes. Of pharmacists, 62% reported NPSS to no more than 10 to 20 patients per week and 67% collected more than 400 syringes in the previous year. One-third of pharmacists perceived that their pharmacies were located in areas where drug activity was high and that the majority of NPSS patients injected illegal drugs.

CONCLUSION
Access to sterile syringes is a prominent public health issue, and pharmacists can play an important role in injection drug user (IDU) education and disease prevention. This evaluation suggests that pharmacies are selling nonprescription syringes to individuals perceived to be IDUs with no major problems. Additional evaluations from health department programs are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of NPSS in California.


Although Australian indigenous poetry is often overtly polemical and politically committed, any reading which analyzes it as mere propaganda is too narrow to do it justice. By presenting the verse of Alf Taylor collected in Singer Songwriter (1992) and Winds (1994) and discussing it in the context of the wider social and cultural milieu of the author, my essay aims to show the thematic richness of indigenous poetic expression. Indigenous poets have, on the one hand, undertaken the responsibility to strive for social and political equality and foster within their communities the very important concept that indigenous peoples can survive only as a community and a nation (McGuiness). On the other hand, they have produced powerful self-revelatory accounts of their own mental and emotional interior, which urges us to see their careers in a perspective much wider than that of social chroniclers and rebels.


We present a way to realize selective, robust, and efficient population transfer in a ladder-type four-level system with an equally populated doublet in the initial state. By merging stimulated Raman adiabatic passage and chirped adiabatic passage techniques, we show that selective and complete population transfer from either of the initial doublet levels to the final state can be achieved with chirped pump and Stokes pulse pairs when the spectral resolution constraint of a frequency swept pulse holds (the energy separation of doublet levels should be much larger than the pulse bandwidth). We further demonstrate that the spectral resolution of selective population transfer can be enhanced significantly by using pump pulse pair and Stokes pulse due to temporal quantum interference between the sequential transitions in the time domain, which can also be well followed as a result of the frequency-domain formation of a comblike structure of the pulse pair spectrum. The proposals take into account the case of population transfer in realistic atomic and molecular systems, and may have applications in quantum coherent control of systems with equally populated initial manifolds.


Periodic sampling from April 1997 to December 1998 of a population of the deposit‐feeding protobranch Yoldia hyperborea from the deep depositional zone (250 m) of Conception Bay, Newfoundland, indicated that this species was exposed to subzero temperatures (−/0.63°C) throughout the year. However, the standing stock of phytoplankton in the photic zone showed strong seasonal fluctuations with primary peaks always occurring in April (4.26 and 5.09 µg L−1 chlorophyll a in 1997 and 1998, respectively). In addition, sediment chlorophyll a started to increase (from a low of ~6 ng mg−1 dry weight of sediment) as the sinking of a smaller, secondary bloom, reached the bottom in the first 2 months of 1997 and 1998, although higher concentrations were reached by mid‐April and May 1997 (21.32 ng mg−1 sediment) and remained relatively high until February 1998. An increase of digestive cell height and protein content occurred as soon as sinking organic material from the spring bloom reached the benthic zone, suggesting storage of metabolic energy during spring and summer. Sharp increases in digestive enzyme activity occurred primarily in early spring of each year, coinciding with the timing of the primary spring bloom fallout, suggesting activation of the formerly depressed digestive system after a prolonged period of low food availability (i.e., late summer to autumn). Results suggest that Y. hyperborea strongly depends on the input of fresh algal material despite the high availability of organic matter in the sediment.


The thermal boundary condition to a fire exposed surface was quantified with a hybrid heat flux gage. Methods were developed to determine the net heat flux through the gage, incident heat flux, cold surface heat flux, convective heat transfer coefficient, adiabatic surface temperature, and the separated components of radiative and convective heat flux. Experiments were performed in a cone calorimeter with the hybrid gage flush mounted into UNIFRAX Duraboard LD ceramic board. The results were then compared to results obtained with a Schmidt-Boelter gage and a plate thermometer. The hybrid heat flux gage predicted a cold surface heat flux within 5% of cold surface heat fluxes measured with a Schmidt-Boelter gage. Adiabatic surface temperature measurements compared well with the plate thermometer measurements at steady state. Hybrid gage measurements were performed on flat plate samples of Aluminum 5083, Marinite P, and UNIFRAX Duraboard LD ceramic board. The gage and sample assemblies were exposed to mixed-mode heat transfer conditions in a cone calorimeter. Temperature measurements were performed at the top, center, bottom surfaces of the marinite and ceramic board samples. A single midpoint temperature was performed on the aluminum. Boundary condition details obtained with the hybrid gage were then input to the commercial finite element analysis package Abaqus. Abaqus was used to create the flat plate geometries of the sample and variable temperature dependent material properties were used for each material. Measured temperatures were then compared to the model predicted temperatures with good results. Hybrid gage measurements were verified using a new experimental apparatus. The apparatus consisted of an impinging jet assembly, a tungsten lamp, and a gage holster assembly. The impinging jet was used to expose the gage to isolated convection and the lamp was used to expose the gage to isolated radiation. The gage holster assembly was used to water cool the gage when desired. Measurements performed with the gage water cooled in isolated convection allowed for the convective heat transfer coefficient to be determined. Two methods were developed to determine the convective heat transfer coefficient in mixed-mode heat transfer conditions. These methods were then verified by comparison to the isolated heat transfer coefficient. Similarly, the incident radiation was isolated by water cooling the gage while only the lamp was on. The components of heat flux were then separated for mixed-mode comparisons and were verified against this isolated radiation. The hybrid gage predicted convective heat transfer coefficients within 10% of the isolated heat transfer coefficient and incident heat fluxes within 11% of the isolated radiation.


Abstract. 'World Heritage Sites' are places or buildings of outstanding universal value recognized as constituting a world heritage 'for whose protection it is the duty of the international community as a whole to co-operate'. The concept of World Heritage is at the core of the World Heritage Convention, adopted by Heritage List as a means of identifying, protecting, conserving and presenting those parts of the world's natural and cultural heritage that are of sufficient 'outstanding universal value' to be the responsibility of the international community as a whole. By joining the Convention, nation states are pledged to safeguard the WH S by protecting their national heritage. UNESCO in 1972, to which 160 nations have now been adhered. The Convention came into force in 1975 and established a Site in their territory as part of a universally agreed policy for World. Moenjodaro site covering an area of 555 Acres out of which only 10 % of it has been excavated by exposing 50 Kilometer standing walls. The wall of the main street of DK G Area, Mohen jo Daro partially deformed, due to the torque effects this is studied here on a lateral cross wall in the chief house. Furthermore, the resulting behaviour of the bucking wall demonstrates the significant loadbearing capacity of the structure under service conditions and its high sensitivity to imposed changes of the geometry. Although the tensile stresses exceeded the flexural strength at the vertices and the length of the wall, hence both the geometry and condition of this area are critical for the safety of the wall. The results of this study can improve the assessment and thus help in the preservation of many important structures of the metropolitan city. Here the hydrous characteristic of the brick is studied as a general phenomenon, it is observed that the remains of the sites located in Sindh suffered a lot mostly due to age, human neglect variations of atmospheric condition, severe temperature and natural disasters. The main causes of decay are summarised as: Salt Action and moisture in filtration from ground and atmosphere direct rains. Has also resulted in structural distress including extreme thermal stress, poor site drainage, material decay and visitors behaviour. Hence the brick material is "tired" to performance and its durability decreases under different influences for varying reasons, the causes of decay are material properties or structure properties or by environmental influences thus repair1 is required. The aim of this paper is to study the main deformation affecting Moenjodaro structures, an archaeological site that prospered from 2350 to 1800 BC, thermal stress causing walls to lean and decay structurally.


In this monograph the Institute for Security Studies and the Pardee Center for International Futures provide an extensive analysis of the projected course of African development to 2050. Combining the deep and wide knowledge of Africa within the ISS with extensive use of the IFs modelling system, this discussion goes beyond past work in a number of ways. It looks across most major issue arenas: demographics, economics, sociopolitical change, the environment and human development itself, including health and education. It explores further into our future than perhaps any other extensive study of African futures has ever done. While not pushing forward specific policy initiatives, it provides a context within which those who pursue sustainable human development can consider policies.


The major American foundations constructed and sustained the rich texture of cooperative social, intellectual and political relations between key actors and institutions supportive of specific modes of thought that promoted US hegemony. Foundations also fostered and developed the attractive power-knowledge networks that not only radiated intellectual influence but also attracted some of the most creative minds. Finally, liberal internationalist foundations fostered globalism even when the American state was 'isolationist', and when US influence abroad unwelcome. Their significance in American hegemony building lay in their sustained, long-term cooperative relationship with the American state through which they helped build national, international and global institutions and networks. The latter process evidences the most significant impact of US foundations – the building of the domestic and international infrastructure for liberal internationalism which has transformed into a kind of "social neoliberalism". Theoretical conclusions follow from these claims: the sustained and deep cooperation between the state and foundations suggests that we must revise our views of "how power works" in the United States and therefore influences its foreign relations. Therefore, the article shows that elite networks, consisting of state officials and private citizens are powerful means by which foreign policy shifts may be prepared, elite and mass opinion primed and mobilised, new consensus built, 'old' forces marginalised, and US hegemony constructed.


Supercapacitor has been successfully fabricated using TiO2-Carbon with Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) activation on ceramics template. Synthesis of TiO2 sol was conducted by using Sol-gel method. Ceramic membrane as a growth template of TiO2-C which is activated with NaOH was prepared as a supercapacitor electrode materials. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is used as a separator and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) as an electrolyte. NaOH activation on the supercapacitor electrode had increased the capacitance value both at the combustion temperature of 250°C and 300°C. Based on EDX (Energy Dispersive X-Ray) reported that the greatest amount of carbon found in the activated electrode at a combustion temperature of 300°C is 60.67%, which provides the highest capacitance value that is 14 540 nF with H3PO4 electrolyte concentration of 0.5 M and the charging time for 30 minutes with a conductivity value of 45.4x10-5 S cm-1.


The Mw 7.1 47 km deep earthquake that occurred on 30 November 2018 had deep societal impacts across southcentral Alaska and exhibited phenomena of broad scientific interest. We document observations that point to future directions of research and hazard mitigation. The rupture mechanism, aftershocks, and deformation of the mainshock are consistent with extension inside the Pacific plate near the down‐dip limit of flat‐slab subduction. Peak ground motions >25%g were observed across more than 8000  km2, though the most violent near‐fault shaking was avoided because the hypocenter was nearly 50 km below the surface. The ground motions show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of regional geology and near‐surface soil conditions. Aftershock activity was vigorous with roughly 300 felt events in the first six months, including two dozen aftershocks exceeding M 4.5. Broad subsidence of up to 5 cm across the region is consistent with the rupture mechanism. The passage of seismic waves and possibly the coseismic subsidence mobilized ground waters, resulting in temporary increases in stream flow. Although there were many failures of natural slopes and soils, the shaking was insufficient to reactivate many of the failures observed during the 1964 M 9.2 earthquake. This is explained by the much shorter duration of shaking as well as the lower amplitude long‐period motions in 2018. The majority of observed soil failures were in anthropogenically placed fill soils. Structural damage is attributed to both the failure of these emplaced soils as well as to the ground motion, which shows some spatial correlation to damage. However, the paucity of instrumental ground‐motion recordings outside of downtown Anchorage makes these comparisons challenging. The earthquake demonstrated the challenge of issuing tsunami warnings in complex coastal geographies and highlights the need for a targeted tsunami hazard evaluation of the region. The event also demonstrates the challenge of estimating the probabilistic hazard posed by intraslab earthquakes.


Palm kernel oil (pko) was extracted from its kernel using Soxhlet extraction techniques with normal hexane as the solvent. The oil extracted was light brown in colour with no offensive odour. Proximate compositions of the palm kernel oil were determined and physicochemical analyses were also carried out on the oil extracted. The physicochemical analyses revealed moisture content of 0.89%; oil yield of 47.5%; specific gravity of 0.91; refractive index of 1.46; ash content of 5.30%; pH of 6.84; peroxide value of 10Meq/Kg; iodine value of 45.6mg/g; acid value of 3.53mg/g; free fatty acid of 1.775; saponification value of 187.93mgKOH/g; ester value of 184.4 mgKOH/g. The results of the investigation also showed that the oil was soluble in chloroform and ethanol, partially insoluble in both petroleum ether and carbon tetrachloride; and was insoluble in water.


In future years, modern farmers will be under greater pressure to care for a large number of animals in order to remain economically viable. There is a growing global awareness of welfare conditions in animal production and a tendency towards more intensive production, resulting in a need for better genetics and a more precise way to monitor them. The challenge and the success of intensive farming will lie in how precisely we can steer the animals towards their genetic potential. Sensors have the potential to replace the eyes, ears and nose of the farmer by continuously assessing different key indicators throughout the production process, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The continuous automated monitoring of varying needs of individual living farm animals at every moment and anywhere is called Precision Livestock Farming (PLF). The aim of this paper is to describe how PLF-systems are used within the EU-PLF project to work towards an automated assessment of sustainability on farm level, by continuous monitoring of animal behaviour. The roadmap towards a sustainable meat production, viewed from a technologist's point of view, is described hereafter in four steps. This phase comprises an implementation of PLF tools, where the basic inputs are measured and monitored in function of time. In a next step, a more complete control of the production process is pursued. In this step, the animal is used as a sensor to gather evidence on the animals' bio response to its environment and management by the farmer. The final step towards the management of the meat production is through the monitoring of emissions and resource efficiency. PLF-technology and continuous monitoring of animal bio responses will improve the understanding of the production process. This will allow the farmer to manage his process by exception. Production data collection and sharing will enhance the transparency throughout the production chain and help the consumer make educated decisions.


In order to explore the perceptual potential and limitations of Wave Field Synthesis (WFS) for artistic productions, a WFS array was built with loudspeakers placed as closely together as possible. Knowing from experience, that the high-frequency noisy components found in consonants of speech and transients of instrumental sounds are important for sound localization, the question arose if their coherent presentation through WFS with a higher spatial aliasing frequency affects the localization. The system was built with 5.8 cm between each loudspeaker resulting in an aliasing frequency of 2.9 kHz. Experimental configurations allow us to evaluate aliasing frequencies from below 700 Hz up to 5.8 kHz. Critical listening shows that increasing the number of speakers while decreasing their distance improves the perceived overall quality, including timbre. New modules with loudspeaker spaced 2.9 cm apart are under construction. The current system's 558 individually addressable loudspeakers are housed in 18 modules, each with 31 channels and an external subwoofer. The modular design allows for flexibility in deployment, including vertical and overhead configurations, enabling the simulation of complex acoustic environments and a diversity of artistic and research-driven projects. This paper is an invitation to use the system for research.


In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in the collection of digital information about individuals. Many organizations such as governmental agencies, hospitals, and financial companies collect and disseminate various person-specific data. Due to the rapid advance in the storing, processing, and networking capabilities of the computing devices, the collected data can now be easily analyzed to infer valuable information for research and business purposes. Data from different sources can be integrated and further analyzed to gain better insights. On one hand, the collected data offer tremendous opportunities for mining useful information. On the other hand, the mining process poses a threat to individual privacy since these data often contain sensitive information. In this thesis, we address the problem of developing anonymization algorithms to thwart potential privacy attacks in different real-life data sharing scenarios. In particular, we study two privacy models: LKC-privacy and differential privacy. For each of these models, we develop algorithms for anonymizing different types of data such as relational data, trajectory data, and heterogeneous data. We also develop algorithms for distributed data where multiple data publishers cooperate to integrate their private data without violating the given
privacy requirements. Experimental results on the real-life data demonstrate that the proposed anonymization algorithms can effectively retain the essential information for data analysis and are scalable for large data sets.


This thesis considers four broad areas:(i) ANALYSIS OF THE STRESS FIELD.(a) research studies, relevant to the British Social Services considering the cultural setting, and the rigor with which they were conducted; (b) models of stress, specifically examining the theoretical soundness and practical application of the Medical, Engineering and Transactional models;(c) organisational models of stress relating specifically to human service organisations.(ii) QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES.(a) the appropriate application of each respective methodology and the particular usefulness of qualitative research designs; (b) the relevance of understanding the language and terminology associated with the subject area prior to the implementation of survey methods; (iii) FIELDWORK.(a) Phase 1. By use of focus groups, in-depth interviews and diary keeping amongst a small range of teams and managers, the Researcher develops a basic conceptual framework of stress within a Social Services context. In addition a small scale personality inventory was administered to participants.(b) Phase 2. This consisted of three key elements: 6 case studies in which the Researcher implements and appraises the impact of a range of intervention strategies designed to assist teams and their managers in dealing more effectively with stress; the administration of a large scale survey to all the field social work teams within the Social Services Department; an analysis of the user role within the stress process by way of two focus groups.(iv) THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT.