Rapid and accurate prediction of reactivity descriptors of transition metal (TM) complexes is a major challenge for contemporary quantum chemistry. The recently-developed GFN2-xTB method based on the density functional tight-binding theory (DFT-B) is suitable for high-throughput calculation of geometries and thermochemistry for TM complexes albeit with moderate accuracy. Herein we present a data-augmented approach to improve substantially the accuracy of the GFN2-xTB method for the prediction of thermochemical properties using pKa values of TM hydrides as a representative model example. We constructed a comprehensive database for ca. 200 TM hydride complexes featuring the experimentally measured pKa values as well as the GFN2-xTB-optimized geometries and various computed electronic and energetic descriptors. The GFN2-xTB results were further refined and validated by DFT calculations with the hybrid PBE0 functional. Our results show that although the GFN2-xTB performs well in most cases, it fails to adequately describe TM complexes featuring multicarbonyl and multihydride ligand environments. The dataset was analyzed with the ordinary least squares (OLS) fitting and was used to construct an automated machine learning (AutoML) approach for the rapid estimation of pKa of TM hydride complexes. The results obtained show a high predictive power of the very fast AutoML model (RMSE ∼ 2.7) comparable to that of the much slower DFT calculations (RMSE ∼ 3). The presented data-augmented quantum chemistry-based approach is promising for high-throughput computational screening workflows of homogeneous TM-based catalysts.


Background Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a distressing and disabling condition that affects significant numbers of children and adolescents. Youth exposed to multiple traumas (eg, abuse, domestic violence) are at particular risk of developing PTSD. Cognitive therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD), derived from adult work, is a theoretically informed, disorder-specific form of trauma-focused cognitive–behavioural therapy. While efficacious for child and adolescent single-event trauma samples, its effectiveness in routine settings with more complex, multiple trauma-exposed youth has not been established. The Delivery of Cognitive Therapy for Young People after Trauma randomised controlled trial (RCT) examines the effectiveness of CT-PTSD for treating PTSD following multiple trauma exposure in children and young people in comparison with treatment as usual (TAU). Methods/design This protocol describes a two-arm, patient-level, single blind, superiority RCT comparing CT-PTSD (n=60) with TAU (n=60) in children and young people aged 8–17 years with a diagnosis of PTSD following multiple trauma exposure. The primary outcome is PTSD severity assessed using the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (8-item version) at post-treatment (ie, approximately 5 months post-randomisation). Secondary outcomes include structured interview assessment for PTSD, complex PTSD symptoms, depression and anxiety, overall functioning and parent-rated mental health. Mid-treatment and 11-month and 29-month post-randomisation assessments will also be completed. Process–outcome evaluation will consider which mechanisms underpin or moderate recovery. Qualitative interviews with the young people, their families and their therapists will be undertaken. Cost-effectiveness of CT-PTSD relative to TAU will be also be assessed. Ethics and dissemination This trial protocol has been approved by a UK Health Research Authority Research Ethics Committee (East of England–Cambridge South, 16/EE/0233). Findings will be disseminated broadly via peer-reviewed empirical journal articles, conference presentations and clinical workshops. Trial registration ISRCTN12077707. Registered 24 October 2016 (http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN12077707). Trial recruitment commenced on 1 February 2017. It is anticipated that recruitment will continue until June 2021, with 11-month assessments being concluded in May 2022.


ABSTRACT The Seine River is strongly affected by the effluents from the Achères wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) downstream of the city of Paris. We have shown that the effluents introduce large amounts of ammonia and inoculate the receiving medium with nitrifying bacteria. The aim of the present study was to investigate the diversity of the ammonia-oxidizing bacterial population by identifying autochthonous bacteria from upstream and/or allochthonous ammonia-oxidizing bacteria from the WWTP effluents. Measurements of potential nitrifying activity, competitive PCR, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S ribosomal DNA fragments specific to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were used to explore the succession and shifts of the ammonia-oxidizing community in the lower Seine River and to analyze the temporal and spatial functioning of the system at several different sampling dates. A major revelation was the stability of the patterns. The CTO primers used in this study (G. A. Kowalchuk, J. R. Stephen, W. D. Boer, J. I. Prosser, T. M. Embley, and J. W. Woldendorp, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:1489-1497, 1997) were shown not to be completely specific to AOB of the β subclass of Proteobacteria. We further demonstrated that when DGGE patterns are interpreted, all the different bands must be sequenced, as one major DGGE band proved to be affiliated with a group of non-AOB in the β subclass of Proteobacteria. The majority of AOB (75 to 90%) present in the lower Seine river downstream of the effluent output belong to lineage 6a, represented by Nitrosomonas oligotropha- and Nitrosomonas ureae-like bacteria. This dominant lineage was represented by three bands on the DGGE gel. The major lineage-6a AOB species, introduced by the WWTP effluents, survived and might have grown in the receiving medium far downstream, in the estuary; it represented about 40% of the whole AOB population. The other two species belonging to lineage 6a seem to be autochthonous bacteria. One of them developed a few kilometers downstream of the WWTP effluent input in an ammonia-enriched environment, and the other appeared in the freshwater part of the estuary and was apparently more adapted to estuarine conditions, i.e., an increase in the amount of suspended matter, a low ammonia concentration, and high turnover of organic matter. The rest of the AOB population was represented in equal proportions by Nitrosospira- and Nitrosococcus mobilis-like species.


The following report provides a review of Big hART's work in the Northcott Estate since 2002. From this time, Big hART in association with project partners carried out a series of community cultural development projects that culminated in the production of photographic portrait work, music, geo-spatial maps, performance theatre, filmmaking, narrative and writing pieces, and a series of other performance and arts-based activities. The intention of Big hART was to help 'empower' and assist tenants of Northcott to tell their stories, help build people's sense of community, and encourage conditions that decrease violence and isolation. The Northcott Narratives Project is the title used to encompass all the separate but related projects undertaken by Big hART at the Northcott Estate from the period 2002- 2007.

This report does two things. Section one describes the purposes of the evaluation and considers the aims and aspirations of Big hART and its two major funding partners against the evidence. This section involves an 'audit review' of the work1. The second section draws on recent scholarship within the field to make a series of observations about how this was achieved and the approaches used by Big hART and its partners. This section involves an 'open inquiry' into the personal, social and organisational changes and benefits brought about by Big hART's. It is the combination of both of these approaches that not only describes the social impacts of the arts in relation to the Northcott Narratives Project, but how they can be better understood and built on (Belfiore & Bennett, 2007).


The field of modelling and processing of 'images' has fairly recently become important, even crucial, to areas of science, medicine, and engineering. The inevitable explosion of imaging modalities and approaches stemming from this fact has become a rich source of mathematical applications. 'Imaging' is quite broad, and suffers somewhat from this broadness. The general question of 'what is an image?' or perhaps 'what is a natural image?' turns out to be difficult to address. To make real headway one may need to strongly constrain the class of images being considered, as will be done in part of this thesis. On the other hand there are general principles that can guide research in many areas. One such principle considered is the assertion that (classes of) images have multiscale relationships, whether at a pixel level, between features, or other variants. There are both practical (in terms of computational complexity) and more philosophical reasons (mimicking the human visual system, for example) that suggest looking at such methods. Looking at scaling relationships may also have the advantage of opening a problem up to many mathematical tools. This thesis will detail two investigations into multiscale relationships, in quite different areas. One will involve Iterated Function Systems (IFS), and the other a stochastic approach to reconstruction of binary images (binary phase descriptions of porous media). The use of IFS in this context, which has often been called 'fractal image coding', has been primarily viewed as an image compression technique. We will re-visit this approach, proposing it as a more general tool. Some study of the implications of that idea will be presented, along with applications inferred by the results. In the area of reconstruction of binary porous media, a novel, multiscale, hierarchical annealing approach is proposed and investigated.


The riveting story of Conor Grennan's year in Nepal reads like a cross between Into Thin Air and Three Cups of Tea. While volunteering at an orphanage, Conor discovers that the children are not orphans: they are trafficked. Despite the danger, Conor treks up dirt paths with photographs of the children, miraculously reuniting dozens of families. It's 2006 and Nepal is a country torn apart by war, greed and corruption. Caught in the middle are the Nepalese children, snatched and sold into slavery, the kidnappers promising their families that they will be taken to a safe haven from where they will eventually return. Some of the luckier ones are finally dumped in an orphanage, only to be found by Conor, an unlikely philanthropist. Conor's search for intrepid adventure on the cusp of 30 soon becomes a dangerous and haphazard mission, buoyed by the energy and adoration of the children. Conor nevertheless vows to do everything he can, including risk his own life, to bring these lost children back to their families. The process is painstaking and chaotic, involving weeks of trekking across inhospitable peaks and surmounting the infinite cultural and language barriers, but the children's raucous happiness on seeing photos of their parents after years of separation, abandonment and fear make the wounds, the danger, the freezing cold and the food poisoning pale into insignificance. An epic thriller and also a love story, Little Princes is as full of life and hope as the children Conor's organisation, Next Generation Nepal, continues to save every day.


Petawatt solid-state lasers require meter-sized gratings to reach multiple-kilojoule energy levels without laser-induced damage. As an alternative to large single gratings, we demonstrate that smaller, coherently added (tiled) gratings can be used for subpicosecond-pulse compression. A Fourier-transform-limited, 650-fs chirped-pulse-amplified laser pulse is maintained by replacing a single compression grating with a tiled-grating assembly. Grating tiling provides a means to scale the energy and irradiance of short-pulse lasers.


Background: Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD) is a clinically significant condition which can be a source of acute or chronic orofacial pain and dysfunction including limitation of mandibular movement, pain with mandibular function and joint sounds. Arthrocentesis is joint lavage which washes out these inflammatory mediators, thereby, relieving pain. Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of arthrocentesis of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) followed by intra-articular injection of piroxicam in patients with TMJD. Materials and Methods: Forty TMJ's from thirty patients, aged 18-48 years (mean age 27.33 years) with clinical and radiological diagnosis of TMJD, based on clinical diagnostic criteria (CDC/TMD) were included in the study and underwent arthrocentesis followed by injection of piroxicam. Patient evaluation was done preoperatively and post operatively immediately following the procedure and on 7 th day, 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th week, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 months. Pain on mouth opening on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scale (score 0-10), clicking or popping sounds and maximum mouth opening were recorded at each interval. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed before treatment and 6 months after treatment in both groups. Results: Evaluation of assisted and unassisted mouth opening showed increase at all time intervals. There was significant improvement in pain, range of motion, joint effusion and joint sounds. Conclusion: Arthrocentesis followed by intra-articular injection of piroxicam is a safe, simple, minimally invasive and effective treatment of temporomandibular joint dysfunction.


Four species of Telanepsia Turner (Lepidoptera : Oecophoridae : Oecophorinae), T. stockeri, T: scatophila, T. tidbinbilla and T. coprobora, are described as new. The first three have been reared from larvae feeding and pupating within the scats of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus Goldfuss). Two of these (T. stockeri and T. scatophila) were discovered during a study of koala distribution in the Tantawangalo State Forest, south-eastern New South Wales, and larvae of T. tidbinbilla were collected in koala scats in the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, Australian Capital Territory. Larvae of the fourth species (T. coprobora) were found in western Victoria entering from the soil and feeding in the scats of possums (probably the brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula Kerr), finally pupating in the soil. Adults of this species have also been collected in southern Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Goniobela Turner is established as a new synonym of Telanepsia, and tornospila (Turner) as a new synonym of eucentra (Turner). Six lectotypes are designated and 12 new combinations established.


In 1990, Smith changed the landscape of free exercise jurisprudence and introduced what this Article describes as the "centrality concern": the principle that judges are in no place to determine the centrality of various activities to a particular religion. However, no legal scholar has recognized the extent to which the centrality concern has been undermined. This Article explains how Lukumi, Locke and most Circuits have undermined the centrality concern. Implications of this doctrinal anomaly will be illustrated with the example of the less often discussed religion of conservative Christianity, and the Article concludes with some initial recommendations.


The volume of documents available electronically is growing fast, so it becomes difficult to access and select desired information in a fast and efficient way. In this context the automatic summarization task assumes a very imperative role; therefore one seeks to reduce the size of a document, preserving to the maximum its informative content. In this paper, it's applied a model which uses sentence clusters from an ART2 neural network to generate extractive summaries. Different models can be developed from distinct area documents. Hence, the aim of this work is to evaluate the performance of those models when they summarize documents from correlated or non


Introduction The prevalence of food insecurity (FI) and insulin rationing among patients with diabetes who present to the emergency department (ED) is unclear. We examined the prevalence of food insecurity and subtherapeutic insulin use among patients who presented to the ED with a blood glucose level of greater than 250 milligrams per deciliter. Methods This was a single-center, cross-sectional survey of clinically stable, hyperglycemic adults in the ED for food insecurity using the Hunger Vital Sign screening tool. Patients who were insulin dependent were asked about insulin usage and rationing. Results Of the 85 eligible patients, 76 (89.4%) were enrolled; 35 (46%) screened positive for food insecurity. Food insecure patients were 1.9 times more likely to be hospitalized than non-food insecure patients (relative risk = 1.90 [1.21–2.99], p<.01). Food insecure patients were younger than non-food insecure patients (50.4 vs 57.5 p<.02), and had significantly higher hemoglobin A1c (HgbA1c) levels (11.2% vs 9.9% p = 0.04). Of the 49 patients prescribed insulin, 17 (34.6%) stated they had used less insulin during the prior week than had been prescribed, and 21 (42.9%) stated they had used less insulin during the prior year than had been prescribed. Food insecure patients were more likely to have used less insulin than prescribed in the prior year (odds ratio = 3.60 [1.09–11.9], p = 0.04). Conclusion Our exploratory findings suggest almost half of clinically stable adults presenting to our inner-city ED with hyperglycemia experience food insecurity. More than one-third of those prescribed insulin used less than their prescribed amount in the prior year.


Prescriptivists have long proscribed sentence-initial And (SIA), and sentence-initial But (SIB). However, SIA and SIB are increasingly used in newspapers and style guides have softened strictures against their use. Moreover, SIA and SIB are amongst the most frequently occurring sentence-initial connectives within their respective semantic groups of additives and contrastives. Given their use despite prohibitions, this paper examines the patterns of occurrence and function of SIA and SIB in academic writing. The data come from 1 million words of academic prose: 11 journals representing science, social science, and humanities. The data confirm the findings of Biber et al. (1999) that while coordinator and is more frequent in academic prose than but, SIA is much less frequent than SIB. The data also reveal a marked difference between low SIA and SIB occurrences in scientific writing and much higher occurrences in social science and humanities. Plus, SIA is the preferred additive connective compared with moreover, furthermore, and in addition, etc., and SIB is the second most preferred contrastive connective after however. SIA and SIB in academic writing function in three very similar ways: (i) to mark off a discourse unit by indicating the last item on a list, (ii) to indicate the development of an argument, and (iii) to indicate a discontinuity or shift with a previous discourse unit. Whereas the most common function of SIA is that of indicating the last item on a list, the most common use of SIB is in the development of arguments. SIA and SIB perform special functions that the alternatives of asyndetic or "zero" coordination, the use of similar discourse markers: moreover, furthermore, in addition, and however, respectively, or intrasentential coordination cannot perform. These special functions are derived from their particular semantic meanings, their role as coordinating conjunctions, and their reduced phonological prominence. These features allow SIA and SIB to preface a wider range of lexico-grammatical units such as interrogatives, stance adverbs and other discourse connectives and to create a tighter form of cohesion. It is these special features of cohesion rather than a move to colloquiality which are held to explain the occurrence of SIA and SIB in academic writing.


Background: Surfing is a high skill sport that requires a considerable amount of time in a variety of ocean conditions to help develop the fundamental techniques. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of four weeks of detraining on strength, power, and sensorimotor ability in adolescent surfers. Methods: Nineteen adolescent surfers (13.8 A 1.7 y, 53.6 A 10.8 kg and 165.1 A 8.9 cm) participated in four weeks of detraining (surfing participation maintained but resistance training ceased) following seven weeks of periodized resistance training. Maximal isometric strength, power, and sensorimotor ability pre-test results were determined from the conclusion (post-test) of the first seven-week training block while post-test results were measured at the start (pre-test) of a second seven-week training block. Results: Four weeks of detraining significantly decreased the following variables: Vertical jump height by -5.26%, (p=0.037, d= 0.40), vertical jump peak velocity by -3.73% (p=0.001, d= 0.51), isometric strength by -5.5%, (p=0.012, d= 0.22), and relative isometric strength by -7.27% (p=0.003, d= 0.47). Furthermore, sensorimotor ability worsened, with a significant increase of 61.36% (p=0.004, d= 1.01), indicating that athletes took longer to stabilize from a dynamic landing task. Conclusions: This demonstrates that surfing, in the absence of resistance training, is not a sufficient training stimulus to maintain physical characteristics. Adolescent surfers with a relatively low training age should avoid cessation of resistance training and strive to maintain consistent resistance training in conjunction with surf training in order to avoid negative decrements in physical characteristics that are associated with surfing performance.


1. Blood pressure was measured in the dorsal aorta of restrained, unanaesthetized tiger snakes (Notechis scutatus) at different body temperatures during graded, passive tilt. Aortic blood pressure in horizontal snakes showed no significant change over a range of body temperatures between 18 and 33 degrees C (mean of measurements on 16 snakes = 42.2 +/- I.98 mmHg), while heart rate increased logarithmically (Q10 approximately 2.5). Blood pressure was stable during heating and cooling between body temperatures of 15 and 30 degrees C, but the pressure was 10--50% higher during heating than during cooling. 2. Head-up tilt usually caused a brief fall in pressure at heart level followed by partial or complete recovery and tachycardia. At the cessation of tilt, there was a characteristic overshoot of the blood pressure followed by readjustment to control (pretilt) levels. Head-down tilt typically increased pressure which then either stabilized or returned toward pretilt levels. Heart rate changes during head-down tilt were not consistent in direction or magnitude. Stabilized pressures at mid-body usually increased following head-up tilt and decreased following head-down tilt, indicating physiological adjustment to posture change. Blood pressure control was evident at body temperatures ranging from 10 to 38 degrees C, but was most effective at the higher and behaviourally preferred temperatures. 3. Propranolol lowered heart rate but did not influence pressure in horizontal snakes. During head-up tilt propranolol eliminated or reduced tachycardia and sometimes reduced the efficacy of pressure compensation for tilt. Phentolamine increased heart rate, lowered blood pressure, and eliminated pressure regulation during tilt. The results suggest that sympathetically mediated reflexes assist central blood pressure regulation in the tiger snake, with vasomotor adjustments having greater importance than changes in heart rate.


The Kanmantoo Group is a thick and largely metamorphosed sedimentary succession that filled an isolated arcuate Cambrian basin (Kanmantoo Trough) which formed within continental Gondwana, and now lies on the southern margin of the present Australian continent. Kanmantoo Group sediments unconformably overlie Neoproterozoic and older Cambrian rocks. We consider that the geometry of the southern part of this trough was influenced by strike-slip movement along an intra-continental tear fault. To the north, the basin changes to a style dominated by orthogonal extension and eventually tapers and dies out normal to the tear fault. Balanced sections show that the kinematic style and strain distribution developed during early Palaeozoic inversion was controlled by the specific architecture of the Kanmantoo Trough. Early Palaeozoic tear faulting could have linked contrasting subduction polarities along the then contiguous palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana. The Kanmantoo Trough is considered to have formed at a passive margin related to east-directed subduction in what is now the Australian continent. In contrast, west-directed subduction formed an active margin at contiguous parts of current Antarctica. Kanmantoo Group sediments were derived from the south by erosion of a Grenvillean province mixed with sediments eroded from the emergent active margin of Gondwana. The inception, localization and sedimentation in the Kanmantoo Trough reflects a complex interaction of tectonic processes along the encroaching Ross–Delamerian Orogen.


In this thesis we address the problem of safe substitutability in mobile component-oriented formalisms. We try to give a solution for different definitions of "safe" through a new notion of subtyping based on flexibility and observation. The aim is to have a definition which is applicable to a large numbers of existing formalisms, and which itself may be seen as an abstraction of many existing definitions of subtyping. In a similar way, we also try to see the verification of such relations in a way that may be applicable to many formalisms, and which may be seen as "containing" many existing techniques. Our hope is that our work may link these subtype definitions or verification techniques to formalisms they were not originally designed for. The contribution of this thesis can be divided in several points. First of all, the full formal definition of a "descriptive" component-oriented formalism based on concurrency, non determinism, complex composition and mobility. Also, the definition of a general flexible notion of subtyping, as well as a more particular example. Verification techniques for these subtyping relations are also grouped under the concept of component transformation, which is shown to include many other works. Finally, to illustrate the main concepts of our work, we provide a case study with a model of a "mobile" drinks dispenser.


The Soft-plumaged Petrel is a gadfly petrel that occurs widely across the southern oceans and exhibits plumage polymorphism. Palebellied individuals make up the vast majority of the species, while dark individuals are relatively rare. Intermediate forms are rarer still and, according to some authors, known only from museum specimens. We describe a number of at-sea records of intermediate-plumaged individuals seen off southwest Western Australia, including a previously undocumented streaked variant. Our observations indicate that plumage polymorphism within the species covers a continuous spectrum of variation between typical pale and wholly dark individuals.


This paper analyzes the role of establishments in the upward trend in dispersion of earnings that has become a central topic in economic analysis and policy debate. It decomposes changes in the variance of log earnings among individuals into the part due to changes in earnings among establishments and the part due to changes in earnings within establishments. The main finding is that much of the 1970s–2010s increase in earnings inequality results from increased dispersion of the earnings among the establishments where individuals work. Our results direct attention to the role of establishment-level pay setting and economic adjustments in earnings inequality.


Finding suitable biological systems to emulate is one of the key initial steps in biologically inspired design. Designers often turn to online information environments such as the World Wide Web to seek biological sources of inspiration, which poses its own set of challenges. The focus of our research is to understand and address those challenges. In this paper, we first present an information-processing model of the task of seeking bio-inspiration in online information environments based on our observations of designers engaged in biologically inspired design. Then, we analyze the information foraging behavior of designers that is encapsulated in this model to understand the costs associated with this task. Next, we propose an approach for enhancing information environments to better support the task of seeking bio-inspiration. Our approach augments individual information resources within an information environment with conceptual models to make the task of finding relevant information resources more efficient. Finally, we describe an interactive online information environment called Biologue that realizes this approach.Copyright © 2011 by ASME


This article examines articulations of the role of passion in accounts of the life and work of the songwriter. It draws upon a range of interviews with successful artists captured in the Sodajerker On Songwriting podcast. It is suggested that these interviews capture the 'voicing' of the conventions of creativity in popular music, exploring a context in which passionate motivation, expression and understanding of the (potentially) affective responses to songs are paramount to the labour of the songwriter. The article explores how the core of this labour deals in emotion, attempting to articulate feelings in recognisable, tradable form. This is a process that is both instrumentally rationalised but often felt to be a deeply authentic process, understood (and believed) to spring from the individual's emotional experience, so conferring identity in a generic field. In light of current debates about the nature of creative work and emotional labour, the accounts drawn upon here can be seen to epitomise many of the qualities of what constitutes 'good work' through a mode of self-actualisation.


BACKGROUND
Violent behavior among adolescents is a significant problem worldwide, and a cross-national comparison of adolescent violent behaviors can provide information about the development and pattern of physical violence in young adolescents.

OBJECTIVES
To determine and compare frequencies of adolescent violence-related behaviors in 5 countries and to examine associations between violence-related behaviors and potential explanatory characteristics.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Cross-sectional, school-based nationally representative survey at ages 11.5, 13.5, and 15.5 years in 5 countries (Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, and the United States).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Frequency of physical fighting, bullying, weapon carrying, and fighting injuries in relation to other risk behaviors and characteristics in home and school settings.

RESULTS
Fighting frequency among US youth was similar to that of all 5 countries (nonfighters: US, 60.2%; mean frequency of 5 countries, 60.2%), as were the frequencies of weapon carrying (noncarriers: US, 89.6%; mean frequency of 5 countries, 89.6%) and fighting injury (noninjured: US, 84.5%; mean frequency of 5 countries, 84.6%). Bullying frequency varied widely cross-nationally (nonbullies: from 57.0% for Israel to 85.2% for Sweden). Fighting was most highly associated with smoking, drinking, feeling irritable or bad tempered, and having been bullied.

CONCLUSIONS
Adolescents in 5 countries behaved similarly in their expression of violence-related behaviors. Occasional fighting and bullying were common, whereas frequent fighting, frequent bullying, any weapon carrying, or any fighting injury were infrequent behaviors. These findings were consistent across countries, with little cross-national variation except for bullying rates. Traditional risk-taking behaviors (smoking and drinking) and being bullied were highly associated with the expression of violence-related behavior.


The involvement of the patients inside the forensic institutions can have an added value for enhancing the efficacy of the treatments, improving the Quality of Life for patients and make lesser their length avoiding the long stayer. The Cost Action IS1302 has developed a special goal for Patient Involvement and at the end of the 4 year Action it was held a Training School on this issue. The main techniques and methodology for patient Involvement (Rehabilitation, Advocacy, Recovery) are described and analyzed and collected the paper of the experiences in forensic Institution in Europe. The component of the Training School elaborated a paper with recommendations for achieving the target of Patient Involvement in Forensic treatment


We developed silicon epitaxial wafers with high gettering capability by using hydrocarbon–molecular–ion implantation. These wafers also have the effect of hydrogen passivation on process-induced defects and a barrier to out-diffusion of oxygen of the Czochralski silicon (CZ) substrate bulk during Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) device fabrication processes. We evaluated the electrical device performance of CMOS image sensor fabricated on this type of wafer by using dark current spectroscopy. We found fewer white spot defects compared with those of intrinsic gettering (IG) silicon wafers. We believe that these hydrocarbon–molecular–ion–implanted silicon epitaxial wafers will improve the device performance of CMOS image sensors.


As we strive to find new technologies to dispose of our municipal solid waste, compost-like outputs (CLOs) are becoming more widely created. As a product of both aerobic and anaerobic digestion, they provide a potentially important carbon store and some have proven to enhance existing carbon stores when added to brownfield sites and agricultural land. However, the CO2 flux from this artificial soil is relatively high when compared to natural soils. The aerobic digestion process under which it is produced lasts only 9 days, producing a material which is still comparatively unstable and yet to mature. The CLO is laid in windrows where it is hoped that it will stabilise and mature; if the humification process at this stage can be optimised, would an even greater carbon store be achieved?
This thesis seeks to answer this question, through the research into humification in both natural and artificial systems; through the measurement of CO2 flux to assess the stability of CLO over time; using adapted methodologies to gauge the maturity of this artificial soil by analysing the amount of humic acids present; by adding proposed catalysts to the material in fully factorial lysimeter studies; and by examining the affects of different physical environmental conditions under which CLO product humifies.
The results of a series of experimental trials, undertaken over a three year period, are presented. Manganese-coated sand and char, both currently 'waste' products were both used as potential catalysts for the humification process of CLO. Temporal trends were seen in most samples using infra-red gas analysis, an alkali extraction technique, UV photospectrometry, fluorescence and a novel pseudo-thermogravimetric analysis. The waterlogging of the samples appeared to have an effect on the humification process and a great deal of concurrent data was seen upon the addition of Mn-coated sand and char to the CLO. Both appeared to have a stabilising effect on the CLO, reducing flux rate and increasing humification as compared to a control.
An overriding theme present throughout this thesis is the heterogeneous and contaminated nature of the non-source-segregated CLO tested. It is therefore recommended that similar studies be undertaken on a purer, more homogenous CLO in order to assess whether promising results seen could be elucidated in order to gauge the efficacy of biochar and Mn in encouraging the production of humic substances. A field trial would allow the unified soil system to be considered, rather than the CLO alone.


In mammals, Robertsonian (Rb) translocation (the joining of two telo/acrocentric chromosomes at their centromere to form a metacentric) is the most effective process in chromosomal evolution leading to speciation; its occurrence also affects human health (through the induction of trisomies) and the fertility of farm animals. To understand the mechanism of Rb translocation, we used the house mouse as a model system and studied the organization of pericentromeric satellite DNAs (satDNA) of telocentrics and Rb chromosomes, both minor and major satDNA. The chromosome-orientation fluorescence in situ hybridization (CO-FISH) technique was used to analyze the major satDNA. To detect the very small amount of minor satDNA, a procedure was developed that combines CO-FISH with primed in situ labeling and conventional FISH and is five times more sensitive than the CO-FISH procedure alone. It was found that both the major and the minor satDNA tandem repeats are oriented head-to-tail in telocentric and Rb chromosomes, and their polarity is always the same relative to the centromere. We suggest that all tandemly repetitive satDNAs in a species probably are locked into such a symmetry constraint as a universal consequence of chromosomal evolution. Rb translocation breakpoints were found localized within the minor satDNA of telocentrics, and these sequences contributed symmetrically to the formation of the centromeric region of the Rb chromosomes. These results are important for an understanding of the geometry of Rb translocations and suggest the study of DNA orientation as a new tool for investigating these rearrangements.


Author(s): Zymet, Jesse | Advisor(s): Hayes, Bruce P; Zuraw, Kie | Abstract: Traditional theories of phonological variation propose that morphemes be encoded with descriptors such as [+/- Rule X], to capture which of them participate in a variable process. More recent theories predict that morphemes can have LEXICAL PROPENSITIES: idiosyncratic, gradient rates at which they participate in a process—e.g., [0.7 Rule X]. This dissertation argues that such propensities exist, and that a binary distinction is not rich enough to characterize participation in variable processes. Corpus investigations into Slovenian palatalization and French liaison reveal that individual morphemes pattern across an entire propensity spectrum, and that encoding individual morphemes with gradient status improves model performance. Furthermore, an experimental investigation into French speakers' intuitions suggests that they internalize word- specific propensities to undergo liaison. The dissertation turns to modeling language learners' ability to acquire the idiosyncratic behavior of individual attested morphemes while frequency matching to statistical generalizations across the lexicon. A recent model based in Maximum Entropy Harmonic Grammar (MaxEnt) makes use of general constraints that putatively capture statistical generalizations across the lexicon, as well as lexical constraints governing the behavior of individual words. A series of learning simulations reveals that the approach fails to learn statistical generalizations across the lexicon: lexical constraints are so powerful that the learner comes to acquire the behavior of each attested form using only these constraints, at which point the general constraint is rendered ineffective. A GENERALITY BIAS is therefore attributed to learners, whereby they privilege general constraints over lexical ones. It is argued that MaxEnt fails to represent this property in its current formulation, and that it be replaced with the hierarchical MIXED-EFFECTS LOGISTIC REGRESSION MODEL (MIXED-EFFECTS MAXENT), which is shown to succeed in learning both a frequency-matching grammar and lexical propensities, by encoding general constraints as fixed effects and lexical constraints as a random effect. The learner treats the grammar and lexicon differently, in that vocabulary effects are subordinated to broad, grammatical effects in the learning process.


Existing research highlights that families face geographic, social, and psychological constraints that may limit the extent to which competition can take hold in school choice programs. In this paper, we address the implications of such findings by creating a network of student flows from 11 cohorts of eighth‐grade students in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). We applied a custom algorithm to group together schools with similar sending and receiving patterns, and calculated the difference in mean achievement between a student's attended and assigned high schools. For all identified school groupings, we found that the students were on average moving to higher achieving schools. We also found that the movement toward higher achieving schools of the top achievement quartile of students was over twice as large as that of the bottom quartile, but that the flows of both the highest and lowest achieving student quartiles were toward higher achieving destinations. Our results suggest that student movements in CPS between the years of 2001 to 2005 were consistent with creating market pressure for improvement as well as increasing segregation by achievement. However, further research into how schools responded to those movements is required to make inferences about the level or consequences of competition generated by choice‐related reforms during that time.


Network coding has recently emerged as an alternative to traditional routing algorithms in communication systems. In network coding, the network nodes can combine the packets they receive before forwarding them to the neighbouring nodes. Intensive research efforts have demonstrated that such a processing in the network nodes can provide advantages in terms of throughput or robustness. These potentials, combined with the advent of ad hoc and wireless delivery architectures have triggered the interest of research community about the application of the network coding principles to streaming applications. This paper describes the potentials of network coding in emerging delivery architectures such as overlay or peer-to-peer networks. It overviews the principles of practical network coding algorithms and outlines the challenges posed by multimedia streaming applications. Finally, it provides a survey of the recent work on the application of network coding to media streaming applications, both in wireless or wired communication scenarios. Promising results have been demonstrated where network coding is able to bring benefits in media streaming applications. However, delay and complexity constraints are often posed as the main challenging issues that still prevent the wide-scale deployment of network coding algorithms in multimedia communication.


Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, there has been a great deal of criticism of the colonial heritage of early ethnographic research. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, scholars have also raised concerns also about the colonial heritage of comparative education. Erwin Epstein defined comparative education as "the application of the intellectual tools of history and social sciences to understand international issues of education." Hence it is important for comparative education as a global field of study to engage with the recent debates in social sciences to generate deeper understanding about educational problems embedded within specific international contexts. The dominance of Northern theory in analyzing research data from the Global South has been increasingly critiqued by scholars in a number of scholarly publications since Raewyn Connell published her book Southern Theory in 2008. They have argued that Northern theory arising out of the colonial metropole is provincial in nature and, therefore, provides incomplete interpretation of data and generates misunderstanding or limited understanding of social phenomenon occurring in the hybrid contexts of the Global South. Therefore, lately scholars have been debating about postcolonial comparative education to argue for the relevance of Southern theory in conducting postcolonial comparative education research for both analytic (ideological), as well as hermeneutic (affective historical) engagement with research data. Drawing on the methodological insights from an empirical case study, this article demonstrates why Southern theory drawing on Tagore's philosophy of education was found more suitable to analyze research data arising out of a case study designed to conduct an institutional ethnography in a particular international context. It demonstrates how contextually relevant Southern theory helped to provide deeper comparative understanding (verstehen) of a social phenomenon, i.e. inclusive pedagogic work of an old colonial school within a particular historical, geopolitical and cultural context in postcolonial India.


This Article explains that elected officials are not politically accountable for their specific policy decisions in the manner that is typically envisioned by modern public law. It claims, however, that public officials in a democracy can be held deliberatively accountable by a requirement or expectation that they give reasoned explanations for their decisions that could be accepted by free and equal citizens with fundamentally competing perspectives. The Article contends that the political accountability paradigm that currently dominates American public law should be discarded as a basis for legitimizing specific policy decisions in favor of an enhanced focus on deliberative accountability. It explains that a paradigm shift in our understanding of democratic accountability would have significant implications for the proper conception of the structure of American democracy, which would help to resolve some of the most contested issues in the fields of constitutional theory, administrative law, and legislation. Finally, it points out that a paradigm shift of this nature would also have tangible implications for certain individual rights, which are illustrated by the controversy over the appropriate legal treatment of same-sex marriage.


Modern Byzantine fault-tolerant state machine replication (BFT) protocols involve about 20,000 lines of challenging C++ code encompassing synchronization, networking and cryptography. They are notoriously difficult to develop, test and prove. We present a new abstraction to simplify these tasks. We treat a BFT protocol as a composition of instances of our abstraction. Each instance is developed and analyzed independently.
 To illustrate our approach, we first show how our abstraction can be used to obtain the benefits of a state-of-the-art BFT protocol with much less pain. Namely, we develop AZyzzyva, a new protocol that mimics the behavior of Zyzzyva in best-case situations (for which Zyzzyva was optimized) using less than 24% of the actual code of Zyzzyva. To cover worst-case situations, our abstraction enables to use in AZyzzyva any existing BFT protocol, typically, a classical one like PBFT which has been tested and proved correct.
 We then present Aliph, a new BFT protocol that outperforms previous BFT protocols both in terms of latency (by up to 30%) and throughput (by up to 360%). The development of Aliph required two new instances of our abstraction. Each instance contains less than 25% of the code needed to develop state-of-the-art BFT protocols.


The authors present two elderly patients with chronic subdural haematomas following minor trauma. The difficulty associated with making the diagnosis is discussed. A high index of suspicion and routine follow-up of such patients is recommended in order to promote early diagnosis and prompt treatment of this reversible cause of dementia.


Stem cells have been shown to have the potential to provide a source of cells for applications to tissue engineering and organ repair. The mechanisms that regulate stem cell fate, however, mostly remain unclear. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent progenitor cells that are isolated from bone marrow and other adult tissues, and can be differentiated into multiple cell lineages, such as bone, cartilage, fat, muscles and neurons. Although previous studies have focused intensively on the effects of chemical signals that regulate MSC commitment, the effects of physical/mechanical cues of the microenvironment on MSC fate determination have long been neglected. However, several studies provided evidence that mechanical signals, both direct and indirect, played important roles in regulating a stem cell fate. In this review, we summarize a number of recent studies on how cell adhesion and mechanical cues influence the differentiation of MSCs into specific lineages. Understanding how chemical and mechanical cues in the microenvironment orchestrate stem cell differentiation may provide new insights into ways to improve our techniques in cell therapy and organ repair.


Reading skills (word reading and reading comprehension), phonologicalshort-term memory (STM), listening comprehension and oral expression wereexamined in two clinical groups (one with Specific Language Impairment[SLI] and one with Developmental Dyslexia [DD]) in both a group study anda multiple-case study. In comparison to chronological age controls, significantand highly prevalent deficits were found in word reading and reading comprehensionfor children with DD. By contrast, deficits in listening comprehension,oral expression and phonological STM were found to be more significant andmore prevalent in children with SLI. These results are in line with models thatconceive SLI and DD as distinct developmental disorders rather than differingonly in the degree of phonological impairment involved.


This article presents and discusses the findings of a research project, the main objective of which is to identify curriculum components that promote personal development as a nuclear part of teacher professional identity formation through pre-service teacher education. Curriculum is viewed as an ecological scenario with different subsystems and both as formal and informal. Identity formation is conceived as an ever-provisional result of a double transaction: the biographical one and the relational one. The curricula of four different historical periods of pre-service teacher education in Portugal and the professional identity of teachers trained within them were characterised through collection and analysis of documents and biographical narratives. Crossing results from the four periods, the quality of school climate emerges as an important variable to the quality of the teachers' identity. The lifelong learning ethos seems to emerge when the training curriculum connects everyday learning with everyday life, namely by urging the students' involvement in school life, peer learning activities and peer and teacher educators' informal learning activities.


We study a stochastic model of influence where agents have "yes" or "no" inclinations on some issue, and opinions may change due to mutual influence among the agents. Each agent independently aggregates the opinions of the other agents and possibly herself. We study influence processes modeled by ordered weighted averaging operators, which are anonymous: they only depend on how many agents share an opinion. For instance, this allows to study situations where the influence process is based on majorities, which are not covered by the classical approach of weighted averaging aggregation. We find a necessary and sufficient condition for convergence to consensus and characterize outcomes where the society ends up polarized. Our results can also be used to understand more general situations, where ordered weighted averages are only used to some extent. Furthermore, we apply our results to fuzzy linguistic quantifiers, i.e., expressions like "most" or "at least a few".


Insertion of central venous catheter is an accepted method for hemodynamic monitor-ring, drug and fluid administration, intravenous access, hemodialysis and applying cardiac pace-maker in hospitalized patients. This procedure can be associated with severe complications. The aim of this article is to provide a practical approach to prevent catheter malposition in states that the guide wire will not pass freely. During central venous insertion in internal jugular vein using modified seldinger technique, when after venous insertion, the passage of the guide wire shows difficulties and don't pass freely, insertion of an intravenous cannula over the wire and re-insertion of the wire can help to prevent malposition of the wire and the catheter. Use of an intravenous cannula over the guide, in situations that the guide wire cannot pass freely among the needle inserted in internal jugular vein, and re-insertion of the guide can probably prevent or reduce the tissue or vascular trauma and the associated complica-tions. This simple maneuver can be helpful in difficult cases especially in cardiac surgery patients who receive high dose heparin and it is necessary to avoid traumatize-tion of carotid artery.


The structure of chromatin controls the accessibility to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) information. Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of histones modify the architecture of chromatin and provide docking platforms for proteins that control many DNA-templated processes. The plant homeodomain (PHD) fingers are small protein domains found in nuclear factors that interact with chromatin. Recent studies have characterised two classes among the PHD fingers, which specifically bind to either unmodified or trimethylated K4 histone H3. A number of PHD finger structures in complex with histone peptides reveal the recognition mechanisms. The combination of multiple histone PTMs, the cooperation between different PHD fingers or between PHD fingers and other histone recognition proteins illustrate the plurality and versatility of this protein module. Mutations or translocations in PHD fingers that affect their interaction with histones have been related to immunological diseases, cancer or mental retardation.

Key Concepts:

Histone modifications form part of the chromatin control of DNA-templated processes.

PHD fingers are small nuclear protein domains that bind two zinc ions in an interlaced topology.

Several PHD fingers specifically recognise the di- and trimethylated K4 histone H3 tail, and others bind specifically to unmethylated K4 histone H3.

Aromatic cages are cavities formed by the side chains of 2–4 aromatic residues used by PHD fingers and by other protein modules for binding to methylated lysines.

Alterations of the histone recognition by PHD fingers are related to immunological diseases, cancer and mental retardation.

Keywords:

PHD finger;
chromatin;
nucleosome;
epigenetics;
histone;
posttranslational modification;
methylation;
protein structure


One of the most interesting recent additions to the literature on Canadian politics is a volume edited by Michael Atkinson entitled Governing Canada: Institutions and Public Policy. This collection is organized around the framework of institutional analysis and its impact upon public policy. In the words of the book's editor, "In Canada, the struggle to shape and reshape institutions is a familiar feature of political life. We study institutions to see what they promise and to reveal the interests and ideas that lie behind the alternatives we are offered" (5). The resulting commentary offered by seasoned scholars like Herman Bakvis, Paul Thomas, Sharon Sutherland, and William Coleman offers useful insights suitable to both undergraduate students and senior researchers. Chapters are devoted both to institutions (the cabinet, the public service, courts, etc.) as well as to major policy fields (macroeconomic, social, etc.).Atkinson notes that his inquiries are guided by the spirit of a "new institutionalism" which draws on both rational choice and structural schools of thought. The synthesis of these schools enables one to understand institutions as both contractual arrangements as well as state structures through which political transformations occur. Discussion of the prevailing institutional corpus and the constraints and opportunities for creativity in the making of policy is the lifeblood of the book. It is animated by an underlying concern that Canadians have been too willing to conceive plans for reforming governing structures and "rejigging" constitutional clauses, and too little prepared to reflect upon public policy impacts or the full implications of particular reforms. "Canadians have experimented with new institutional designs without either theorizing or actually examining the role that existing institutions play in the policy process" (v).The Governing Canada collection has received numerous strongly favourable reviews; however, one commentary that appeared in The American Review of Canadian Studies concluded with the question "How new is the 'new institutionalism'?"(f.1) As the Atkinson collection is simply one of a number of recent works which take institutional rules and arrangements seriously as determinants of policy choices and debates, the question is an important one, and revisiting it in terms of an assortment of recent volumes may help elucidate the significant contours of modern institutional analyses. Dealing with this inquiry by examining at least some of what makes the modern studies of institutions distinct from their predecessors will help to clear away conceptual underbrush and serve to emphasize some of the merits of taking institutions seriously in the study of public policy.Addressing what marks the new Canadian institutionalism means acknowledging an historical debt to past scholars while pointing to newer preoccupations and understandings. Thus a brief nod to the impressive Canadian tradition of studying formal governing institutions in terms of their legal and constitutional evolution prefaces this overview of several recent works on Canadian public policy which stress institutional factors in their analysis. In the process, it is suggested that the new institutionalism stands apart from its predecessors due to heightened awareness of a) a context for public sector action more complex than traditional command/control/ministerial responsibility models, b) the range of government outputs, c) heightened attention to alternative service delivery models, and d) the range of bargaining that surrounds policy decisions including the shaping of interest group communities. Institutions exist within an environment influenced by external stimuli and thus interest group relations, output analysis and public perceptions become important.Canadian public policy studies have been well served by the giants of an earlier age who worked with the framework of legal institutionalism. …


Political rationality as a theory is important in its own right. Government leaders must calculate political costs such as the resources needed to generate support for a policy, the implications of a policy decision for re-election, and the possibility of provoking hostility for decisions not well received. Bounded rationality approach has yielded an enhanced understanding of how government organizations may produce unexpected or even unpredicted policy or program results. With public organizations not operating under full rationality conditions, administrators aspiring toward rationality may nonetheless find their goals undermined by a variety of forces, such as informational uncertainties and non-rational elements of organisational decision-making...


Problem. The Ontario Conference is growing rapidly, from 10, 970 in 1980 to its current membership of 29,174 in September 2010. The exponential growth has placed increased demands and challenges on the conference leaders. From a constituency of primarily black West Indians and white Canadians this conference is now multi-cultural and multiethnic in its composition. Membership growth and diversity has added to the complexity of the decision-making process. Consequently, it may be expedient for the executive officers of the conference to tap into the expertise of selected departmental directors to access additional support for conference administration. Methodology. This study explores use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument to determine the personality types, personal preferences and skills of current departmental directors of the Ontario Conference. It also investigates how the personal attributes revealed by the MBTI could be invested to help conference administrators meet the challenging and diverse administrative needs of the rapidly expanding conference. The MBTI instrument is used to identify basic preferences in each of four areas of opposing and preferred methods for receiving information and making decisions. The opposing pairs of preferences studied are: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perceiving. Study results are used to determine each director's capacity to support administrators to minimize disruption of services to the established church body, while meeting the additional demands of rapid church growth. Results. The MBTI instrument highlights the directors' personality strengths and preferences in different areas of responsibility, and their preferred style of dealing with leadership issues. Some directors are shown to be action-oriented individuals who have a special capacity for dealing with crisis. Others demonstrate the ability to critically analyze complex problems, generate creative solutions, and think globally and strategically. Still others demonstrate personality types suited to building relationships; they enjoy interpersonal interaction and excel at problem solving assignments. Although, the MBTI instrument identifies natural leadership strengths, problem solving capabilities, project management skills, and natural mentorship skills among the participating directors, their elected positions do not consistently provide opportunity to use or further develop these skills. Conclusion. The directors' personality types, personal preferences and skills, demonstrated by the MBTI instrument, could be effectively employed in leadership positions within the Ontario Conference. Although the directors' performance in their respective elected positions meet expectations, study results show that each has additional valuable skills, commensurate with the needs of the rapidly growing Conference. Administrators could tap into the directors' personality types, personal preferences, additional skills, knowledge and experience as a source of complementary resources to support the effective running of the conference. The MBTI assessment tool could be incorporated into the continuing human resources needs assessment process. By encouraging employees to participate in MBTI personality type assessments, administrators can identify areas for staff professional development that would be beneficial both to individual staff members and to the organization. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument is a valuable tool for making more strategic staff placements to optimize efficiency and job satisfaction.


Automatic facial expression analysis is one of the an interesting and challenging problem and also impacts important applications in many areas such as human-computer interaction and data-driven animation. An important step for successful facial expression recognition is to deriving an effective facial representation from original face images. For this, empirically evaluate facial representation majorly based on statistical local features, Local Binary Patterns for person-independent facial expression recognition. Several machine learning methods are systematically examined on several databases. Local Binary Pattern features are effective and much more efficient for facial expression recognition. And formulating Boosted-LBP further to extract the most discriminant LBP features and the best recognition performance is obtained by using Support Vector Machine classifiers with Boosted LBP features. An investigation on LBP features for low-resolution facial expression recognition which is a critical problem but seldom addressed in the existing work. According to observation of experiments that LBP features perform not only stably but also robustly over a useful range of low resolutions of face images and yield promising performance in compressed low-resolution video sequences captured in real-world environments. Facial expressions are one of the most critical sources of variation in face recognition, especially in the frequent case where only a single sample per person is available for enrollment. Some methods that improve the accuracy in the presence of such variations are still required for a reliable authentication system. Because of this, we address the problem with an analysis by- synthesis-based scheme in which a number of synthetic face images with different expressions are produced. For this an animatable 3D model is generated for each user based on 17 automatically located landmark points and the contribution of these additional images in terms of the recognition performance is evaluated with three different techniques such as principal component analysis(PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis(LDA) and local binary patterns(LBP) on face recognition. Significant improvements are achieved in face recognition accuracies for each algorithm.


Physical isolation, so called air-gapping, is an effective method for protecting security-critical computers and networks. While it might be possible to introduce malicious code through the supply chain, insider attacks, or social engineering, communicating with the outside world is prevented. Different approaches to breach this essential line of defense have been developed based on electromagnetic, acoustic, and optical communication channels. However, all of these approaches are limited in either data rate or distance, and frequently offer only exfiltration of data. We present a novel approach to infiltrate data to air-gapped systems without any additional hardware on-site. By aiming lasers at already built-in LEDs and recording their response, we are the first to enable a long-distance (25 m), bidirectional, and fast (18.2 kbps in & 100 kbps out) covert communication channel. The approach can be used against any office device that operates LEDs at the CPU's GPIO interface.


IMPORTANCE
Up-front treatment of older men with low-risk prostate cancer can cause morbidity without clear survival benefit; however, most such patients receive treatment instead of observation. The impact of physicians on the management approach is uncertain.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the impact of physicians on the management of low-risk prostate cancer with up-front treatment vs observation.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Retrospective cohort of men 66 years and older with low-risk prostate cancer diagnosed from 2006 through 2009. Patient and tumor characteristics were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registries. The diagnosing urologist, consulting radiation oncologist, cancer-directed therapy, and comorbid medical conditions were determined from linked Medicare claims. Physician characteristics were obtained from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate management variation and factors associated with observation.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
No cancer-directed therapy within 12 months of diagnosis (observation).

RESULTS
A total of 2145 urologists diagnosed low-risk prostate cancer in 12,068 men, of whom 80.1% received treatment and 19.9% were observed. The case-adjusted rate of observation varied widely across urologists, ranging from 4.5% to 64.2% of patients. The diagnosing urologist accounted for 16.1% of the variation in up-front treatment vs observation, whereas patient and tumor characteristics accounted for 7.9% of this variation. After adjustment for patient and tumor characteristics, urologists who treat non-low-risk prostate cancer (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.71 [95% CI, 0.55-0.92]; P = .01) and graduated in earlier decades (P = .004) were less likely to manage low-risk disease with observation. Treated patients were more likely to undergo prostatectomy (aOR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.45-2.01]; P < .001), cryotherapy (aOR, 28.2 [95% CI, 19.5-40.9]; P < .001), brachytherapy (aOR, 3.41 [95% CI, 2.96-3.93]; P < .001), or external-beam radiotherapy (aOR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.08-1.58]; P = .005) if their urologist billed for that treatment. Case-adjusted rates of observation also varied across consulting radiation oncologists, ranging from 2.2% to 46.8% of patients.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Rates of management of low-risk prostate cancer with observation varied widely across urologists and radiation oncologists. Patients whose diagnosis was made by urologists who treated prostate cancer were more likely to receive up-front treatment and, when treated, more likely to receive a treatment that their urologist performed. Public reporting of physicians' cancer management profiles would enable informed selection of physicians to diagnose and manage prostate cancer.


Financial crimes are a huge problem in today's business world, and electronic financial crimes are becoming increasingly prevalent. This study, conducted in collaboration with the Victorian Police Computer Crime Squad, focuses on the reactions and responses of a large financial organisation to both electronic and nonelectronic financial crimes, in order to understand the issues that lead to under-reporting of electronic financial crimes. We found that despite the organisations strict and well defined approach to reporting and prosecuting financial crimes generally, electronic financial crimes are treated differently to non-electronic financial crimes and do not seem to be subjected to the same standards. Electronic financial crimes are often only reported when successful prosecution seems likely, and consequently almost all go unreported.


The pharmaceu(cal industry is facing a lot of challenges recently, like demographic changes, the difficulty of introducing new
products to the market, new diseases complexity, the decreased R&D efficiency, the growth of the demands of the regulatory
authori(es, and of course, the loss of the blockbuster's patent during the coming years.
For all this reasons, this Master's Thesis will explain the common trends for all the pharmaceu(cal companies in the United
States, like the personalized medicine therapies, the focused expansion into emerging markets, the new growth models based in merges and acquisi(ons, the increasing cost of the health services over the country's GDP growth, some different ways to promote pharmaceu(cal products, new rela(onships between the pharmaceu(cal industry and pa(ents, providers and and
government, the pressure to carry out an efficient alloca(on of resources to reduce costs, and the diversifica(on of the porZolio.
To provide a comprehensive view of all the aspects involved in the defini(on of these trends, the project structure is as follows: I. Principal Facts of Health Care in the US II. The Health Care in the US III. The Pharmaceu)cal Industry in the US IV. Conclusions. Pharmaceu)cal Market Trends in the US


The design and testing of a structural system were implemented to hold the optics of the planned Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) at positions and orientations characterized by vibrational translation and rotation errors of no more than a few nanometers or a few milliarcseconds, respectively. Much of the effort was devoted to a test bed for verifying the predicted behavior of a vibration- isolation structural subsystem working together with an active control system for positioning and orienting the SIM optics. There was considerable emphasis on the vibration-isolation subsystem, which was passive and comprised two stages. The main sources of vibration were six reaction wheels in an assembly denoted the "backpack." The first vibration-isolation stage consisted of hexapod isolator mounts - one for each reaction wheel - characterized by a natural vibration frequency of 10 Hz. The second stage was a set of three beams, disposed between the backpack and the structure that held the SIM optics, that were flexured such that they transmitted only bending loads, with a natural vibrational frequency and damping of about 5 Hz and 4 percent, respectively. Preliminary test results were presented and characterized as demonstrating the effectiveness of the two-stage vibration-isolation design.


There is an increasing demand for gestational surrogacy in current reproductive medicine practice. Infertile couples often engage overseas surrogates, which increases the risk for legal and ethical complications. This book provides clinical guidance on the provision of gestational surrogacy on a worldwide basis, with brief summaries of the legal position within countries where it is offered. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of surrogacy for clinicians, counsellors, attorneys, legislators and anyone interested in reproductive health policy by filling an immediate niche as a resource for those interested in third-party reproductive treatments.


This paper uses a two-country, monetary general equilibrium model with imperfect competition to study the optimal rate of inflation in an open economy. In contrast with the closed economy literature, when policy is set non-cooperatively in the open economy, the optimality of the Friedman rule is not a general result. Monetary authorities face an incentive to use the inflation tax to gain a beggar-thy-neighbor advantage over the terms of trade. Strategic use of the inflation tax, however, results in coordination failure. International monetary cooperation helps to mitigate this coordination failure and, as a result, can lead to more efficient equilibria. Monetary union ensures the maximum gain from cooperation by restoring the optimality of the global Friedman rule, placing the world economy at the Pareto frontier.


Objectives: To determine a profile of soccer injuries prevalent in amateur Indoor and Outdoor soccer players in the greater Durban areas. Methods: This study used the Outdoor Supersport corporate league and the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) Indoor soccer league. A total of 103 out of a possible 147 players participated in the study which included 41 Outdoor and 62 Indoor players. The Indoor soccer players were contacted to complete the questionnaire at their match days at the Gale street Indoor soccer arena and the Outdoor players were contacted during their training sessions and/or match days. The researcher was present to answer any questions posed by the participants. In the case of participants having difficulty in understanding English, a bilingual Zulu translator accompanied the researcher in every interaction with the participants. Results: Out of a total of 103 participants, the foot/ankle (62.1%) was the most frequently injured site. This was followed closely by the knee (55.3%). The rest of the sites in descending order were wrist, back, head, elbow, shoulder, chest, genital and abdomen. All participants reported a first injury, 69 participants reported a second injury and 27 participants reported a third injury. Outdoor soccer players reported the knee as being the most affected area, while Indoor soccer players injured the foot/ankle frequently. Furthermore, age was stated as a significant positive correlation when compared with number of sessions missed, meaning the older the participants, the more sessions they missed. The findings suggest that the use of protective equipment can decrease injury rates due to the use of ankle guards decreasing missed sessions. Conclusion: The profile of soccer injuries in selected amateur league Indoor and Outdoor soccer players in the greater Durban area has been described in this study. In terms of number of injuries, there seems to be no significant differences iv between Indoor and Outdoor soccer players. With regard to site of injuries, the lower limb was affected more than any other body part. The Outdoor players showed more knee injuries than the Indoor players who showed higher incidences of foot/ankle injuries.


Abstract The impact of internal migration on regional income inequality of the receiving areas has hitherto gone largely unstudied. This dearth of literature is especially surprising because income inequality and in-migration into urban centres of growth are two issues that many developing economies are faced with and tackling these issues effectively involves understanding the interactions between these two related phenomena. This study is therefore a first attempt to analyse the impact of internal in-migration on receiving areas and is placed in the context of South Africa. Based on a conceptual analysis, the study argues that in-migration into the formal sector of the receiving areas will in general reduce inequality while in-migration into the informal or unemployed sector increases inequality. Using individual panel data the study further tests empirically at the district level the impact of in-migration and finds that rising urban inequality in urban areas can be attributed at least in part to rural-urban migration. This works through both the wage as well as employment channel. The employment channel can be said to have a stronger impact than the wage channel as indicated by the coefficients estimated through our system GMM regression analysis.


In the evolution of information literacy from a competency based set of standards to one that is more holistic and reflects current trends in higher education, it is critical to evaluate the role of information literacy in social change. One of the key purposes of a university is not only to help students gain critical thinking and applied skills for the workplace but also to instill a sense of responsibility and desire to make a difference in the world around them. More than just focusing on data collection, it is important for academic libraries to, "shift our thinking to include affective (emotional) learning outcomes that address self-efficacy, student confidence, attitudes, motivation, and valuing what is being learned." (ACRL Standard Review ACRL AC12 Doc 13.1). These key areas are all embodied within the learning outcomes of a service learning curriculum. The focus of this paper is two-fold: to examine how information literacy complements a service learning focused curriculum and how service learning projects can be embedded in any course regardless of the discipline.


In this paper, we develop a new typology of multiple wh-questions with coordinated wh-pronouns. We motivate the existence of three distinct structures for such questions: one mono-clausal and two bi-clausal. We use four kinds of diagnostics to determine which of the three structures is available in a particular language: the availability of both multiple wh-questions and wh-questions with coordinated wh-pronouns, coordination of two argument wh-phrases, transitivity restrictions and superiority effects.


Feed supplements are utilized in the poultry industry as a means for improving growth performance and reducing pathogens. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Diamond V Original XPCTM (XPC, a fermented product generated from yeast cultures) on Salmonella Typhimurium ST 97 along with its potential for modulation of the cecal microbiota by using an anaerobic in vitro mixed culture assay. Cecal slurries obtained from three broiler chickens at each of three sampling ages (14, 28, and 42 days) were generated and exposed to a 24 h pre-incubation period with the various treatments: XPC (1% XPC, ceca, and feeds), CO (ceca only), and NC (negative control) group consisting of ceca and feeds. The XPC, CO, and NC were each challenged with S. Typhimurium and subsequently plated on selective media at 0, 24, and 48 h. Plating results indicated that the XPC treatment significantly reduced the survival of S. Typhimurium at the 24 h plating time point for both the 28 and 42 days bird sampling ages, while S. Typhimurium reduction in the NC appeared to eventually reach the same population survival level at the 48 h plating time point. For microbiome analysis, Trial 1 revealed that XPC, CO, and NC groups exhibited a similar pattern of taxa summary. However, more Bacteroidetes were observed in the CO group at 24 and 48 h. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in alpha diversity among samples based on day, hour and treatment. For beta diversity analysis, a pattern shift was observed when samples clustered according to sampling hour. In Trial 2, both XPC and NC groups exhibited the highest Firmicutes level at 0 h but the Bacteroidetes group became dominant at 6 h. Complexity of alpha diversity was increased in the initial contents from older birds and became less complex after 6 h of incubation. Beta diversity analysis was clustered as a function of treatment NC and XPC groups and by individual hours including 6, 12, 24, and 48 h. Overall, addition of XPC influenced microbiome diversity in a similar fashion to the profile of the NC group.


Introduction: Sella turcica is a saddle-shaped concavity located in the middle cranial fossa of the skull. The exact dimensions of sella turcica are an important consideration in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of diseases related to the pituitary gland and brain. The sella turcica size and morphology is different from person to person. Thus, obtaining any data in this regard will be a great help in detecting abnormalities within this anatomic area. Aim: The objective of this study was to find out the correlation between the morphological variations of sella turcica with age and gender. Materials and Methods: Study sample consisted of 311 cephalograms of patients with age ranging 6–40 years. The contour of the sella turcica was traced and the linear measurements – length, depth, and diameter of sella turcica – were measured according to Silverman. Results: Morphology of sella turcica appeared to be normal shape in 27.3% of the study population followed by combination (26.7%), irregular (15.8%), pyramidal (10.6%), bridge (10%), oblique anterior wall (5.5%), and double contour (4.2%). Gender-wise comparison of the linear measurement was not statistically significant. Among the linear measurement, the parameter depth and diameter were statistically significant (P < 0.001) when correlated with age. On comparison of shape of sella turcica with linear measurements, the parameter length was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between the linear measurements and gender. There exists a significant relationship between the mean depth and mean diameter with age. That is, as age increases, the depth and diameter increase. There is a significant relationship between the length and the different shapes of sella turcica.


Standby-sparing is one of the common techniques in order to design fault-tolerant safety-critical systems where the high level of reliability is needed. Recently, the minimization of energy consumption in embedded systems has attracted a lot of concerns. Simultaneous considering of high reliability and low energy consumption by DVS is a challenging problem in designing such a system, since using DVS has been shown to reduce the reliability profoundly. In this article, we have studied different schemes of standby-sparing systems from the energy consumption and reliability point of view. Moreover, we propose a new standby-sparing scheme which addresses both reliability and energy consumption jointly together. This scheme uses a simple energy management coupled with an online task scheduler which tries to dispatch those ready tasks which are expected to lead to high reliability and low energy consumption in the system. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme has been shown on TGFF under stochastic workloads. The results show 52% improvement on energy saving compared to the conventional hot standby-sparing system. Moreover, two orders of magnitude higher reliability is obtained on average, while preserving the same level of energy saving as compared to the state-of-the-art low-energy standby-sparing system (LESS).


The Goss Farm was permanently protected in November of 2010 with assistance from the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP) and is located directly adjacent to the Awcomin Salt Marsh, in Rye, New Hampshire. The Town of Rye Conservation Commission owns the land, and the RCCD holds the conservation easement on the property. The Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) provided $9,930 in funding assistance to support the Rockingham County Conservation District in its partnership capacity with the Rye Conservation Commission and other natural resource agencies to complete outreach, to plan and complete integrated pest management control practices, and to establish a 100 foot shoreland buffer at the Goss Farm. All objectives originally proposed through the PREP funding request have been met and conservation practices and outreach efforts have exceeded initial expectations. This is in part due to the community commitment as well as supplemental funding sources that are supporting additional conservation practices. Through PREP's assistance a 100 foot wide shoreland buffer was established in which a 2 foot by 3 foot sign is now located. The sign communicates the importance of shoreland buffer functions, and serves as a mechanism to further promote natural resource outreach and educational efforts at the site. During 2011 eight workshops were offered and over 75 people attended, with a significant component occurring on-theground at the Goss Farm. Local school groups attended on-site workshops and similar efforts will be offered in the spring of 2012 that will include native shoreland buffer plantings. After receipt of proper permits, invasive species were controlled using a variety of IPM control methods within the established shoreland buffer as well as other areas on the site. An initial Goss Farm Management Plan, 2011 was prepared and included an invasive species management component, and is expected to be updated annually. Local farmers are currently being interviewed to farm a portion of the site, and community gardens and a school plot are being defined for Goss Farm for the spring of 2012.


Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder) is a condition in which a person appears to possess more than one personality, and sometimes very many. Some recent criminal cases involving defendants with DID have resulted in "not guilty" verdicts, though the defense is not always successful in this regard. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Stephen Behnke have argued that we should excuse DID sufferers from responsibility, only if at the time of the act the person was insane (typically delusional); otherwise the presumption should be that persons with DID are indeed responsible for their actions. We find their interpretation of DID and of the way in which the requirements for criminal insanity relate to this condition worrying and likely to result in injustice to DID sufferers. Our thesis is that persons with DID cannot be responsible for their actions if the usual features of the condition are present. A person with DID is a single person in the grip of a very serious mental disorder. By focusing on the features of DID which have, as we argue, the effect of deluding the patient, we try to show that such a person is unable to fulfill the ordinary conditions of responsible agency (namely, autonomy and self-control).


We present a new (to our knowledge) technique for introducing phase shifts between the laterally sheared emergent beam components of a cyclic path optical configuration (CPOC). The phase shifts are introduced by applying a small change in the angle of incidence of the incident beam due to the small angular rotation of the CPOC setup. Phase-shifting interferometry has been applied along with this phase-shifting technique for a CPOC with lateral shear to find the surface slope/profile of curved optical surfaces. Results for a spherical optical surface have been discussed. An optical setup for measurement of the surface profile of toroidal beam line mirrors of synchrotron radiation sources is proposed.


Disasters and the theory of emergency management are vibrant subjects for scholars. Researchers have focused on a variety of topics, including the definition of disasters, human behavior in extreme events, the nature of emergency management, ways to make the profession more effective, the pros and cons of various paradigms, and new areas of research. In studying these subjects, scholars have employed a variety of methods, including observation, field research, and comparison, among others.
 Findings from research reveals that humans are responsible for disasters and that vulnerability must be reduced. Studies reveal that antisocial behavior is less likely to occur than more common activities to support victims of disasters. The principles of emergency management have been elaborated, and scholars have argued that the phases of disasters are more complex that initially meets they eye. Research also reveals that bureaucratic approaches to emergency management are based on false assumptions and are too rigid. Scholarship also explores how to make emergency management functions more effective, and a number of articles have been written to explore paradigms to guide research and practice.
 Theoretical work on disasters and emergency management has examined planning, improvisation, and spontaneous planning. Research has also explored humanitarian logistics, the use of social media, the scholarship of teaching and learning, cultural competency and the culture of preparedness. Going forward, more research is needed on the complexity of disasters and the use or impact of technology in emergency management. A greater understanding of public health emergencies is warranted due to the challenges of Covid-19.


The terms related to rapid alternative routes for appraising species diversity (biodiversity assessment shortcuts), through the use of biodiversity target groups, indicator groups and other biodiversity surrogates are examined. Biodiversity target groups are selected for their methodological and taxonomical advantages, and the purpose of their use is the assessment of their own diversity patterns. The focus of biodiversity indicator groups is on assessing the health of the entire ecosystem or a part of it, with respect to a visible phenomenon. Biodiversity surrogates include taxa-for-taxa surrogates, higher taxa, morphospecies and environmental surrogates. These are faster, less expensive routes for assessing general biodiversity patterns as compared with taking complete biological inventories. These concepts are clarified, examples of their use are examined and the published studies that have implemented such shortcuts are also analysed. For the selection of biological groups according to biodiversity research goals we have also proposed general recommendations.


Objectives To study the effect of candesartan cilexetil on left ventricular mass index (LVMI), left ventricular systolic and diastolic function, arterial structure and function and blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients. Design and methods Patients (n=35), aged >20 years, with hypertension and average baseline LVMI of 89 g/m2 were treated for 24 weeks with candesartan, 16 mg o.d., following a four-week placebo run-in period. If diastolic BP remained above 95 mmHg, hydrochlorothiazide, 12.5 mg o.d., was added. Left ventricular structure and function were assessed using transthoracic echocardiography. Arterial function and structure were assessed using pulse wave analysis to calculate augmentation index (AIx) and forearm plethysmography to calculate minimum vascular resistance. BP was measured in the office and by 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM). Results The mean reduction in LVMI was 4.4 g/m2 (p=0.022). Left ventricular systolic function was not significantly altered from baseline, but diastolic function significantly improved: the mean change in diastolic time was 54 ms (p=0.037), in peak velocity filling 6.3 cm/s (p=0.023); E:A ratio improved by 0.08 (p=0.049). The mean reduction in forearm vascular resistance was 15 units at rest (p=0.001) and 1.3 units after limb ischaemia (p=0.006). AIx decreased significantly, with a mean reduction of 9% (p<0.001). Central BP also significantly reduced (systolic blood pressure/ diastolic blood pressure 31/20 mmHg; p<0.001). BP was significantly reduced, both in the office (22/16 mmHg; p<0.001) and by 24-hour ABPM (18/12 mmHg; p<0.001). Conclusions Treatment with candesartan, 16 mg o.d., with or without hydrochlorothiazide, for 24 weeks, significantly reduced left ventricular mass and arterial hypertrophy in patients with hypertension. In parallel, there were significant improvements in left ventricular diastolic function and arterial function.


Theory holds that dishonest signaling can be stable if it is rare. We report here that some peacocks perform specialized copulation calls (hoots) when females are not present and the peacocks are clearly not attempting to copulate. Because these solo hoots are almost always given out of view of females, they may be dishonest signals of male mating attempts. These dishonest calls are surprisingly common, making up about a third of all hoot calls in our study populations. Females are more likely to visit males after they give a solo hoot call, and we confirm using a playback experiment that females are attracted to the sound of the hoot. Our findings suggest that both sexes use the hoot call tactically: females to locate potential mates and males to attract female visitors. We suggest that the solo hoot may be a deceptive signal that is acquired and maintained through reward-based learning.