Researchers often rely on household survey data to investigate health disparities and the incidence and prevalence of illness. These self-reported health measures are often biased due to information asymmetry or differences in reference groups. Using the World Health Organization study on global ageing and adult health, I find that the poor use a different reporting scale from the more affluent, leading to overestimation of their health status. This is tested by using the relatively novel anchoring vignettes approach and applying the hierarchical ordered probit model. Underestimation by the poor of their ill health could mean that South Africa.s high levels of socioeconomic health inequalities are greater than realized.


Ernesto De Martino's theorization and the considerations on the 'crisis of presence' represent a milestone in the field of Religious Studies. The crisis reveals itself in the daily events of the human being, such as death. Starting from the methodological frames provided by de Martino's studies on the lament in ancient world, and the recent attention dedicated to the bodies, this article will analyse one of the most famous episode of kāvya literature as translated by nineteenth-century Italian Indologist Giuseppe Turrini: King Aja's lament (vilāpa) upon his wife Indumatī, and particularly the stanza of Raghuvaṃa 8.43. The Italian translation reveals some element related to the Western opposition between body and soul, which challenge the original attention paid by Kālidāsa and the ancient Greek literature to the physiological effects produced by suffering.


Melatonin as an omnipresent molecule is secreted by the pineal gland. It is a strong free radical scavenger, which reduces nitric oxide (NO) generation within mitochondria. Exercise has great impacts on many body's homeostatic systems. Most human's organ- isms display rhythms and have 24 hours environmental cycles, which are called circadian rhythm. Melatonin is one of the circadian rhythm generator in various physiological vari- ables. Exercises could regulate plasma melatonin levels. Melatonin scavenges reactive oxygen spices (ROS) and reactive nitrogen spices (RNS) and acts as the antioxidant cascade. It not only decreases the exercise induced-oxidative stress in the muscles but also enhances muscle antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase. Body lipids and unsaturated fatty acids are prone to oxidation, while the free radicals penetrate into bilayer membrane structure lipid peroxidation is going to happen. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is created by free radicals, and it is one of the most frequent marker of lipid peroxidation. Exercise, its duration, and time of the day have immediate and or delayed effects on melatonin secre - tion. The combination of aerobic exercise and melatonin reduces the exercise induced-free radicals agents. Melatonin supplementation, especially while it combined with aerobic training, could decrease the lipid peroxidation and malondialdehyde. Melatonin could impede exercise-induced ROS, increase body health, and exercise-related adaptation.


Canada Geese overflying the runways at London's Heathrow Airport have been struck on eleven occasions by aircraft during the last ten years. Four of these occurred during the pre-breeding season and seven during the post moult period. A monitoring study was initiated in 1999 to evaluate the movements of geese around the airport and determine appropriate mitigation strategies to reduce the risk of birdstrike. Moult sites within 13km of the airport were identified. 4,900 moulting geese were caught and fitted with colour rings and radio-transmitters between 1999 and 2004. 2,500 visits were made to over 300 sites resulting in over 10,000 sightings of known individuals. Birds that crossed the airport approaches whilst moving between roost sites and feeding areas in newly harvested cereal crops were identified. Throughout the monitoring period efforts were made to control the risk, but by 2003 it was estimated that 10,000 bird transits of the approaches involving almost 700 individuals occurred during a 50 day period. The knowledge of the movements of ringed and tagged birds was used to inform a revised habitat management, daily roost dispersal and on-airfield bird deterrence programme in 2004. By adopting a flexible approach to management, an estimated 70% reduction in bird transits was achieved. This paper discusses the techniques used to achieve this reduction.


We present a robot learning and planning framework that produces an effective tool-use strategy with the least joint efforts, capable of handling objects different from training. Leveraging a Finite Element Method (FEM)-based simulator that reproduces fine-grained, continuous visual and physical effects given observed tool-use events, the essential physical properties contributing to the effects are identified through the proposed Iterative Deepening Symbolic Regression (IDSR) algorithm. We further devise an optimal control-based motion planning scheme to integrate robot- and tool-specific kinematics and dynamics to produce an effective trajectory that enacts the learned properties. In simulation, we demonstrate that the proposed framework can produce more effective tool-use strategies, drastically different from the observed ones in two exemplar tasks.


We give a new description of the data needed to specify a morphism from a scheme to a toric Deligne-Mumford stack. The description is given in terms of a collection of line bundles and sections which satisfy certain conditions. As applications, we characterize any toric Deligne-Mumford stack as a product of roots of line bundles over the rigidified stack, describe the torus action, describe morphisms between toric Deligne-Mumford stacks with complete coarse moduli spaces in terms of homogeneous polynomials, and compare two different definitions of toric stacks.


OF DISSERTATION MEASURING LEARNING, NOT TIME: COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION AND VISIONS OF A MORE EFFICIENT CREDENTIALING MODEL Competency-based education is intended to benefit working non-traditional students who have knowledge and skills from prior work experiences, but it also enables selfmotivated students to accelerate their time to degree, thereby increasing affordability and efficiency. Competency-based education clarifies what a credentialed student will be able to do and makes assessment more transparent and relevant to those outside of higher education. Competency-based education has arisen in response to the problem defined by the national reform discourses of accountability and affordability. In the first manuscript, History & Objections Repeated: Re-Innovating CompetencyBased Education, I review the history of social efficiency reform efforts in American education in order to re-contextualize the "innovation" of competency-based education as a repackage of older ideas to fit the public's current view of what needs to be fixed in higher education. I discuss the concept of "efficiency" and how it has been interpreted in the past and today with regard to competency-based education and its rejection of an earlier attempt at increasing efficiency in education: the Carnegie credit hour. For the second manuscript, Framing Competency-Based Education in the Discourse of Reform, I analyzed four years of news articles and white papers on competency-based education to reveal the national discourses around competency-based education. I used thematic discourse analysis to identify diagnostic and prognostic narrative frames (Snow & Benford, 1988) that argue for and against competency-based education. These frames were put in the context of the politicized conversation around the current main issues in higher education: access, attainment, accountability, and affordability. Each of these issues provided a foundation of coding the discourse which was then shaped by the context of competencybased education, particularly its positioning as a solution to the Iron Triangle dilemma of decreasing cost while increasing access and quality. The third manuscript, Idea and Implementation: A Case Study of KCTCS's CBE Learn on Demand, involves an institutional case study of a competency-based education program, Learn on Demand (LOD), within the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with student success coaches, faculty, and staff who are directly involved with the program across seven different colleges, and documents such as marketing materials, presentations, and administrator-written articles were also analyzed as a representation of the official discourse of the program. As institutions start to explore and develop competency-based education programs, the faculty and administrators at those institutions are likely influenced by the intersection of pre-existing organizational and subgroup culture, societal beliefs about the definition and purpose of education, and how innovations may shape the experiences of individuals. Through interviewing individuals, I was able to parse out the impacts of both institutional politics and innovation-related concerns on the success of implementation.


We introduce the notion of restricted sensitivity as an alternative to global and smooth sensitivity to improve accuracy in differentially private data analysis. The definition of restricted sensitivity is similar to that of global sensitivity except that instead of quantifying over all possible datasets, we take advantage of any beliefs about the dataset that a querier may have, to quantify over a restricted class of datasets. Specifically, given a query f and a hypothesis HH about the structure of a dataset D, we show generically how to transform f into a new query fHH whose global sensitivity (over all datasets including those that do not satisfy HH) matches the restricted sensitivity of the query f. Moreover, if the belief of the querier is correct (i.e., D ∈ HH) then fHH(D) = f(D). If the belief is incorrect, then fHH(D) may be inaccurate.
 We demonstrate the usefulness of this notion by considering the task of answering queries regarding social-networks, which we model as a combination of a graph and a labeling of its vertices. In particular, while our generic procedure is computationally inefficient, for the specific definition of H as graphs of bounded degree, we exhibit efficient ways of constructing fH using different projection-based techniques. We then analyze two important query classes: subgraph counting queries (e.g., number of triangles) and local profile queries (e.g., number of people who know a spy and a computer-scientist who know each other). We demonstrate that the restricted sensitivity of such queries can be significantly lower than their smooth sensitivity. Thus, using restricted sensitivity we can maintain privacy whether or not D ∈ HH, while providing more accurate results in the event that HH holds true.


The continued endemic circulation of avian influenza (AI) virus across many parts of the world, as well as the presence of a wild bird reservoir, maintains the threat of incursion of this virus into currently unaffected countries. Major concerns for human health, particularly with respect to the highly pathogenic (HP) H5N1 subtype, as well as the impact on governments' and poultry industries, makes the control of AI an important goal for countries worldwide. Chapter 1 reviews the past, present and future epidemiology of AI in Great Britain (GB), where to date recorded outbreaks have been controlled by stamping out control measures. The potential for large outbreaks under certain conditions is recognised and therefore contingency plans are necessary to limit the potential impact of future incursions. Knowledge of heterogeneity in AI transmission dynamics could be particularly helpful in designing more targeted control measures. In the absence of data to inform the likely mechanisms of between-farm spread, modelling can be a valuable tool to achieve this. This thesis aims to critically assess the appropriate use of existing data for developing epidemiological tools. In contrast to previous studies, this work focuses on epidemiological risks, as well as the dynamics of transmission, at different scales of the British poultry industry.

Both airborne and fomite transmission are considered possible mechanisms of between-farm spread of AI within GB, although their relative importance is not well understood. In Chapter 2, epidemiologically-relevant between-farm associations were used to inform an individual-based stochastic network model to explore the geographical variation in airborne versus fomite-mediated transmission predominance. In Chapter 3, the limitation of these findings, by the likely over-estimation of contact frequency, as well as the biased picture of network properties resulting from targeted sampling, were assessed. Nevertheless, these data provide an insight into the complexity of connectivity within the GB poultry network, with implications for resource distribution during outbreak control. Chapter 4 considers the reduction in transmission risk due to company integration and the implications of this in relation to compartmentalisation. Using a deterministic metapopulation framework specific to GB, outbreak conditions posing a risk for HPAI transmission under compartmentalisation were identified. In Chapter 5, cross-population scale interactions were considered through incorporating temporally explicit movement data from one catching company with a within-flock model of HPAI transmission. Important insight into the impact of within-group dynamics on the opportunity for spread at the population-level was gained; in particular, transmission mode assumptions were found to complicate predictions that can otherwise be based on knowledge of flock size.

Chapter 6 describes, more generally, how these findings imply that the different sources of information that describe the GB poultry industry can be used to inform different aspects of risk heterogeneity and the targeting of disease control. However, the more informative these data were of population dynamics at the resolution of an individual farm, the less representative they became at a national-level. Further work on the relative importance of farm-level transmission dynamics and network structure could help to establish how vital knowledge at the scale of the individual farm is for informing predictive mathematical models of AI outbreaks. As the opportunity for AI propagation hinges on the rapid detection and notification of an outbreak, further work focusing on the transmission potential of low pathogenic strains in particular is warranted.


2-Oxoglutarate- and Fe(ii)-dependent oxygenases are a major class of N(epsilon)-methyl lysine demethylases that are involved in epigenetic regulation. Assays suitable for implementation in a high-throughput manner have been lacking for these enzymes. Here, we describe the design and implementation of a robust and miniaturized high-throughput kinetic assay for inhibitors of JMJD2E using a formaldehyde dehydrogenase-coupled reaction with real-time fluorescence detection. Reactant compatibility studies resulted in simplification of the assay scheme to the mixing of two reagent solutions, both of which were stable overnight. The assay was miniaturized to a 4 microL volume in 1536-well format and was used to screen the library of pharmacologically active compounds (LOPAC(1280)). Inhibitors identified by the screen were further characterized in secondary assays including FDH counterscreen and demethylation assays that monitored demethylation by MALDI-TOF MS. The assay developed here will enable the screening of large compound libraries against the Jumonji demethylases in a robust and automated fashion.


The surficial geology of the Cane Creek basin, in Lauderdale County, West Tennessee, was studied from 1985-88. Peoria Loess is the parent material from which soils in the Cane Creek drainage basin were derived. In general, a brown silt grades into a gray silt from 5 to I7 feet below ground surface. This color change probably represents depth to water table prior to the channelization of Cane Creek. Only at river mile 1 I .9 does rock outcrop near the main channel. Lower reaches of major tributaries have sur@ial geology similar to the main channel. In upper reaches of Hyde Creek and Fain Spring Creek, the sequence from the St&ace is sand and gravels, red-brown sandstone, sand and clay layers, and then, an orange sand layer. Coarse-grained deposits are found most often along the northern boundary of the basin and only occasionally in areas to the west and south of the main channel. Depth to sand or gravel ranges from about 0 to 158 feet in the uplands, and generally deeper than 40 feet near the main channel.


BACKGROUND
Delivery of powder formulations to the nose is an attractive alternative for many drugs and vaccines. This study compared the regional nasal deposition and clearance patterns of lactose powder delivered by the OptiNose powder device (Opt-Powder; OptiNose US Inc., Yardley, PA, USA) to that of liquid aerosol administered via a traditional hand-actuated liquid spray pump (Rexam SP270, Rexam Pharma, France).

METHODS
The study was an open-label, crossover design in seven healthy subjects (five females, two males). The regional nasal deposition and clearance patterns of the Opt-Powder device were compared to a traditional liquid spray pump by dynamic gamma camera imaging after administration of either (99m)Tc-labeled lactose powder or liquid (99m)Tc- diethelyne triamine pentaacetic acid-aerosol. The gamma camera images were scaled and aligned with sagittal magnetic resonance images to identify nasal regions. Possible deposition of radiolabeled material in the lungs following both methods of delivery was also evaluated.

RESULTS
Both powder and spray were distributed to all of the nasal regions. The Opt-Powder device, however, achieved significantly larger initial deposition in the upper and middle posterior regions of the nose than spray (upper posterior region; Opt-Powder 18.3% ± 11.5 vs. Spray 2.4% ± 1.8, p<0.02; sum of upper and middle posterior regions; Opt-Powder 53.5% ± 18.5 vs. Spray 15.7% ± 13.8, p<0.02). The summed initial deposition to the lower anterior and posterior regions for spray was three times higher compared to Opt-Powder (Opt-Powder 17.4% ± 24.5 vs. Spray 59.4% ± 18.2, p<0.04). OptiNose powder delivery resulted in more rapid overall nasal clearance. No lung deposition was observed.

CONCLUSIONS
The initial deposition following powder delivery was significantly larger in the ciliated mucosa of the upper and posterior nasal regions, whereas less was deposited in the lower regions. Overall nasal clearance of powder was slower initially, but due to retention in anterior nonciliated regions the overall nasal clearance after spray was slower.


Cloud storage auditing schemes for shared data refer to checking the integrity of cloud data shared by a group of users. User revocation is commonly supported in such schemes, as users may be subject to group membership changes for various reasons. Previously, the computational overhead for user revocation in such schemes is linear with the total number of file blocks possessed by a revoked user. The overhead, however, may become a heavy burden because of the sheer amount of the shared cloud data. Thus, how to reduce the computational overhead caused by user revocations becomes a key research challenge for achieving practical cloud data auditing. In this paper, we propose a novel storage auditing scheme that achieves highly-efficient user revocation independent of the total number of file blocks possessed by the revoked user in the cloud. This is achieved by exploring a novel strategy for key generation and a new private key update technique. Using this strategy and the technique, we realize user revocation by just updating the non-revoked group users' private keys rather than authenticators of the revoked user. The integrity auditing of the revoked user's data can still be correctly performed when the authenticators are not updated. Meanwhile, the proposed scheme is based on identity-base cryptography, which eliminates the complicated certificate management in traditional Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) systems. The security and efficiency of the proposed scheme are validated via both analysis and experimental results.


Cholera is a well-known and feared disease in developing countries, and is linked to high rates of morbidity and mortality. Contaminated drinking water and the lack of sufficient treatment are two of the key causes of high transmission rates. This article presents a representative health survey performed in Chad to inform future intervention strategies in the prevention and control of cholera. To identify critical psychological factors for behavior change, structured household interviews were administered to N = 1,017 primary caregivers, assessing their thoughts and attitudes toward household water treatment according to the Risk, Attitude, Norm, Ability, and Self-regulation model. The intervention potential for each factor was estimated by analyzing differences in means between groups of current performers and nonperformers of water treatment. Personal risk evaluation for diarrheal diseases and particularly for cholera was very low among the study population. Likewise, the perception of social norms was found to be rather unfavorable for water treatment behaviors. In addition, self-reported ability estimates (self-efficacy) revealed some potential for intervention. A mass radio campaign is proposed, using information and normative behavior change techniques, in combination with community meetings focused on targeting abilities and personal commitment to water treatment.


This paper follows on from work by Tremain (2011) and Meadows (2004) on examiner satisfaction and looks at the difference in intentions to continue examining between examiners with experiences of different marking media and modes of delivery of standardisation. A postal questionnaire was distributed and a r esponse rate of 40.32% was achieved (n = 1210). The questionnaire consisted of three sections: section 1 contained 14 demographic items, section 2 contained 35 items concerning experiences of examining, and section 3 consisted of 25 items related to examiner personality. Analyses suggested that there was no significant difference in intentions to continue between examiners with different experiences of standardising (online, face-to-face, or both). For marking media, too few respondents had marked online only for this group to be included in the analysis, but a significant difference in intentions to continue was found between examiners who had marked using both media and those who had only marked on paper only, with those who had marked on paper only having lower intentions to continue. However, the effect size was small and the difference in the medians was only 0.33, suggesting the difference has limited practical utility. Moreover, the results of this study must be interpreted with caution due to methodological limitations, such as the potential confounds of subject and length of experience, which make it difficult to understand the cause of such a difference, and difficulties accurately classifying standardisation experiences.


This paper investigates the effect of changes in payroll taxes on wages and employment in Argentina. The analysis, based on administrative data, focuses on the impact of a series of major changes in payroll taxes which varied across geographical areas. This setup offers two main advantages over previous studies. First, using longitudinal data, the variation in tax rates across space and time provides a plausible source of identification of their effects on employment and wages. Second, the use of legal tax rates for each area at each point in time provides a remedy for the measurement error bias raised by the use of empirical rates constructed from observed tax and wage bills. Once this bias is accounted for, the results indicate that changes in payroll tax rates are only partially shifted onto wages, and they point to the absence of any significant effect on employment.


We address the question of whether and how boosting and bagging can be used for speech recognition. In order to do this, we compare two different boosting schemes, one at the phoneme level and one at the utterance level, with a phoneme-level bagging scheme. We control for many parameters and other choices, such as the state inference scheme used. In an unbiased experiment, we clearly show that the gain of boosting methods compared to a single hidden Markov model is in all cases only marginal, while bagging significantly outperforms all other methods. We thus conclude that bagging methods, which have so far been overlooked in favour of boosting, should be examined more closely as a potentially useful ensemble learning technique for speech recognition.


Purpose of reviewOsteoporosis results from a loss of bone mass and structure such that bones break with very little trauma. To reduce bone loss and improve strength, antiresorptive agents have been instituted. Just more than a year ago, a 34-amino acid fragment of parathyroid hormone (recombinant human parathyroid hormone 1-34) was approved for the treatment of osteoporosis. The parathyroid hormone treatment works by stimulating bone formation on all bone surfaces and is referred to as an osteoanabolic agent. The purpose of this article is to review initial phase 2 and phase 3 studies that establish the effectiveness of this agent to treat osteoporosis. Recent findingsIn addition, studies that use parathyroid hormone in combination with antiresorptive agents and sequentially are reviewed. Last, unresolved issues related to the duration of use of parathyroid hormone are discussed. SummaryIn summary, parathyroid hormone compounds are a major advance in the treatment of osteoporosis. Additional research will enlighten clinicians on the most efficacious way to use them.


This paper illustrates how Digital Human Modeling (DHM) tool functionality can be increased through the development of industry specific features. The features are based on a design tool, the Mobility Gallery, established by the cooperating health care company. Each resident in the Mobility Gallery has different levels of functional mobility and is described with different personal characteristics as well as background details. The integration of the resident descriptions in a commercial DHM tool is presented and discussed. The rationale for this approach is that the synthesis of DHM tool functionality and the Mobility Gallery descriptions will render a DHM tool with features offering augmented applicability for product design in a health care setting.


We present a new approach to deformable image registration suitable for articulated images such as hand-drawn cartoon characters and human postures. For such type of data state-of-the-art techniques typically yield undesirable results. We propose a novel geometrically motivated iterative scheme where point movements are decoupled from shape consistency. By combining locally optimal block matching with as-rigid-as-possible shape regularization, our algorithm allows us to register images undergoing large free-form deformations and appearance variations. We demonstrate its practical usability in various challenging tasks performed in the cartoon animation production pipeline including unsupervised inbetweening, example-based shape deformation, auto-painting, editing, and motion retargeting.


The objective of Paper [I] is to analyze potential effects on the Swedish forest sector of a continuing rise in the use of forest resources as fuel in energy generation. An increasing use of forest resources as an energy input may have effects outside the energy sector. In this paper we consider this by estimating a system of demand and supply equations for the four main actors on the Swedish roundwood market. In Paper [II], we estimate a dynamic factor demand model for the Swedish pulp industry. We find weak evidence of adjustment costs for capital. The results suggest that the user cost of capital is a significant determinant of pulp industry investments. We also find that pulp industry investments are insensitive to variations in the price of electricity. Paper [III] proposes a flexible form of adjustment cost function. An empirical illustration shows that the flexible form can detect both convex and non-convex adjustment costs. Furthermore, the flexible form permits testing for the experience effect on adjustment cost. The objective of paper [IV] is to analyze the price formation for wood fuel used by the Swedish district heating sector. According to previous research there is a significant potential for increasing the use of wood fuel in Sweden. The question raised in this paper is why this potential is not realized. According to our results we cannot reject the efficient market hypothesis for all years. The objective of Paper [V] is to test for market power on the market for biofuels. To achieve our objective we make use of the idea of Granger causality. If past values of quantity contribute significantly to the determination of price, quantity is said to Granger cause price, which we will treat as a sign of market power. According to our findings this effect is present.


Atotalofeight72MHz =0.077superconductingquarterwave cavities have recently been completed at Argonne National Laboratory. Seven of these will installed into the ATLAS superconducting heavy-ion linac as part of a beam intensity upgrade, with one remaining for the purposes of continuing to push the performance limits in these structures. Cavities were fabricated using techniques adapted the worldwide effort push niobium cavities close to the material limits. Key developments include the use of electropolishing on the complete helium-jacketed cavity. Wire EDM has been used instead of traditional niobium machining in order to minimize performance limiting defects near the weld seams. Hydrogen degassing at 600C after electropolishing has also been performed. Initial test results show practical acceleration at 4 Kelvin with cavity voltages, Vacc>3 MV/cavity and at 2 Kelvin with Bpeak>120 mT and Vacc>5 MV/cavity.


Years ago, nobody would have imagined the incredible benefits attributable to the use of electricity. Nowadays it is an essential good that none of us can do without: we are all more or less consumers of electricity. The most interesting point is that in an increasingly competitive market from consumers we are becoming customers. Electricity from an essential commodity is evolving in a product/service. These profound changes require traditional electric utilities to review their strategic positioning in order to successfully face new challenges and to seize the right opportunities. With the aim of analyzing the previous issue, the following thesis is mainly structured in the following sections: -??Chapters 1,2,3 offer an interesting overview of the increasingly dynamic energy world, focusing on the last phase of the value chain: the sale of electricity to the final customer. Starting from the analysis of the major macro trends taking place such as a progressive market liberalization, a continuous digitalization, a new kind of energy consumer and the entrance of new players, the main strategies that can be pursued by the electricity utilities in a constantly evolving market are outlined on a theoretical basis. In particular some new potential business models and basic core competences to be developed are explained. -??Chapters 4,5,6,7 expand in a more practical way the theme of the previous section. The focus on the actual strategy of four electric utilities (Enel, Edison, Engie, Sorgenia) in the Italian market is important to reflect on some potential concrete methods to react to a changing market and to remain competitive. These particular companies have been chosen because, with their diversity, well represent the possible different kind of organization: o??Enel is an historical multinational company symbol of the nationalization of the Italian market; o??Edison is another historical company acquired by the French incumbent EDF; o??Engie in Italy belongs to a business unit of the Big French multinational company, whose brand is relatively young and represents the world largest independent utility company; o??Sorgenia is the first not incumbent company in the Italian free market. -??Chapter 8 provides an interesting comparison of the four electric utilities (Enel, Edison, Engie, Sorgenia) in terms of economic performance, operations and strategy. -??Chapters 9 takes into consideration the English and French market. In particular, an analysis of the most innovative and far ahead players in the energy sector is provided as proof of the international changes and reactions in the electricity market.


A post-processing method, which maps the punctiform atoms in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of boundary lubrication onto smoothed particles, is used to estimate the asperity contact area defined by the minimum cross-section of the formed solid bridges. It is then shown that this asperity contact area excellently agrees with the projected area resulting from a Voronoi tessellation of the corresponding contact zone, and that it can be applied to compute the constitutive system parameters of a three-term friction law, which is found to hold for any boundary-lubricated nanotribological system. Finally, an attempt is made to relate the load-independent friction offset observed in boundary-lubricated nanotribological systems without solid-solid contact to the structural order as measured by the entropy, which is estimated within the single macromolecule approach based on covariance (super)matrices of the carbon backbone atoms in the lubricant.


Three foreign policy initiatives under President Xi Jinping over the past three years have considerably enhanced China's global influence: partnership diplomacy, the Silk Road economic diplomacy, and the new financial diplomacy. Partnership diplomacy seeks to forge a global network of partnership countries for China. The Silk Road economic diplomacy is the signature foreign policy proposal of Xi, and in some sense can be seen as the economic pillar of Xi's grand strategy for rejuvenating China on the world stage. Its stated objective is to promote common development between China and Eurasian countries, particularly in the field of infrastructure development. China has also been trying with very skillful and proactive diplomacy to create a new financial order to support the Silk Road project and China's economic diplomacy in general, including, but not limited to, the establishment of the much vaunted Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.


In response to highly controversial statements issued by President George W. Bush upon signing various bills into law, an American Bar Association Task Force and Senator Arlen Specter both recently called for the creation of a cause of action to obtain a federal judicial declaration concerning the legal validity of future presidential signing statements. This essay argues that such legislation would be ill-advised and counterproductive. It would exacerbate existing underlying institutional infirmities. More fundamentally, the inclination to facilitate immediate resort to the judiciary for resolution of a dispute between the political branches about the President's constitutional obligations is premised on an unidentified, unjustified (and in my view unjustifiable) assumption about the relative roles of Congress and the Court. Specifically, the proposed law assumes that the Court, rather than Congress, is primarily responsible for ensuring that the President remains subject to the rule of law. This premise has matters backwards. Under our constitutional text, structure, and traditions, properly understood, Congress has far greater competence and legitimacy than do the courts to undertake the awesome task of compelling presidential compliance with the Constitution and laws of the United States. It is the judicial role in so doing that can be best understood as incidental and sharply circumscribed by concerns about competence and legitimacy. Indeed, absent longstanding congressional neglect of its many, powerful tools for disciplining the executive branch, routine and open presidential assertions of the intent to disregard statutory provisions just signed into law would be all but inconceivable. Were Congress to act on Senator Specter's pending bill, the resulting legislation would further entrench this congressional neglect and atrophy the congressional muscles alone capable of resisting a truly lawless President. Ironically, the bill's unintended but most significant long-term consequence would be to make all the more likely the kind of presidential usurpation of the law-making function that the ABA Task Force report and Senator Specter warn against.


Colostomy is a commom operative procedure. It is widely used in the treatment of colonic diseases, traumatic injuries and cancer. The main goal of this work was to demonstrate the progressive and adaptive changes in the proximal and distal colon after diverting terminal colostomy (Hartmann's colostomy). These alterations were studied through histologycal examination and the measuring of hydroxyproline content. Forty adult male Wistar rats, weighing 200 g were divided into two groups of 20 rats each (group I and II ). Each group was divided in another two sub-groups (A,B,C and D) with ten animals each. The rats of A and B sub-groups (group I) were submitted to a median laparotomy to perform Hartmann's colostomy in the distal colon. The animals of the control group were only submitted to a laparotomy. All animals were sacrified on the 30th and 60th postoperative days. Hystological examination demonstrated substantial atrophy of mucosal layer, deteriorations in both crypt size and number, and atrophy of all colonic layers. Other changes included acute and chronic inflammatory infiltrate in the lamina propria .These changes were more intense in distal segments of the animals submitted to Hartmann's colostomy (subgroups A and B) . Analysis of the colonic hydroxyproline content were normal in all groups. These findings demonstrated morphologic inflammatory and hypotrophic changes in distal colon after Hartmann's colostomy in rats.


Victims of child pornography are now successfully seeking restitution from defendants convicted of watching and trading their images. Restitution in child pornography cases, however, represents a dramatic departure from traditional concepts of restitution. This Article offers the first critique of this restitution revolution. Traditional restitution is grounded in notions of unjust enrichment, and seeks to restore the economic status quo between parties by requiring disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The restitution being ordered in increasing numbers of child pornography cases does not serve this purpose. Instead, child pornography victims are receiving restitution simply for having their images viewed. This royalty-type approach to restitution amounts to a criminal version of damages for pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. To justify this transformation of restitution, courts have come to rely on several commonly accepted, but flawed, theories about the impact of child pornography. Because these theories are unsupported by social science or law, they divert attention from remedies that could better alleviate the harms of child pornography. Rather than restoring victims and encouraging them to move forward with their lives, restitution roots victims in their abuse experience, potentially causing additional psychological harm. Restitution in its new form also allows the criminal justice system to be a state-sponsored vehicle for personal vengeance. This Article calls for an end to the restitution revolution, and proposes several alternative approaches that better identify and address the consequences of child pornography.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Research suggests that physicians should pursue spiritual issues and that patients desire to discuss religion/spirituality (R/S) in medical encounters. This study explored the differences in physician communication in response to patient inquiry or disclosure of R/S and hypothesizes that physician communication will differ when patients disclose R/S as contrasted to inquire about R/S.

METHODS
Family physicians and family medicine resident physicians were recruited from a family medicine department at a community hospital (n=27). An objective structured clinical examination, with a standardized patient encounter, was used to expose the participants to a conversation regarding R/S. Participants were assigned, by alternating clustered assignment, to two conditions: patient disclosure of R/S or patient inquiry about physician R/S. The primary outcome measure was physician response, specifically physician-control, partnership-building, and supportive-talk messages.

RESULTS
When the patient asks questions about R/S, physicians communicate more control messages and less supportive talk messages than when the patient discloses information about R/S.

CONCLUSIONS
Training physicians to anticipate and respond to patient disclosure and inquiry will increase the likelihood they can enact patient-centered strategies. These methods should focus on teaching residents how to be sensitive to the R/S context of their patients and to recognize their own intuitive reactions to patient communication in that context.


Introduction Nearly 20 years ago, Howard Gardner mounted a challenge to conventional thinking on the nature of human intelligence with the presentation of a provocative new conception, which was neatly encapsulated in the title of his 1983 book, Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. In this work, Gardner mapped out an alternative to the prevailing orthodoxy that intelligence in humans is a general intellectual ability or global factor, which permeates all aspects of cognition, and most effectively predicts an individual's performance in school or work contexts, and in many other aspects of well-being in life. As such, this general factor, known as g, which is extracted statistically by means of a technique called factor analysis, is for those involved in mainstream intelligence research and psychometric testing, the working definition of intelligence, and is interchangeable with the more common expression of IQ (Gottfredson, 1998, pp. 24-25). Although not disputing the existence of g, Gardner nevertheless argues that the conventional view of a single general intelligence is far too narrow to be a useful measure of human potential and capability, for it fails to come to grips with higher capacities such as creativity, and is insensitive to a range of socio-cultural roles (Gardner, 1993a, pp. 24, 39). In particular, he charges that the IQ view of intelligence is consistent with the concerns of traditional psychology, and is a `one-dimensional' view of mental ability that focuses principally on logical-mathematical and linguistic reasoning, both of which have corresponded with a conventional view of schooling and mental assessment (see Gardner, 1993b, pp. 5-6, 20-21). In contrast to this view, and as a result of his own work in developmental psychology, Gardner concluded that human intelligence encompasses a much broader, and more universal set of competencies which, as relatively independent faculties of mind, constitute a collection of discrete and more or less autonomous intelligences. These include the traditional logical-mathematical and linguistic forms of intelligence, and some less conventional forms such as musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligences (Gardner, 1993a, pp. 73-78, 1993b, pp. 17-26, 1998). In all, Gardner originally identified seven distinct intelligences, but later added an eighth `naturalist' form of intelligence in 1995, and more recently has been considering a ninth form of `existential' intelligence (Gardner, 1998, p. 21). Gardner's alternative therefore incorporates a pluralistic view of mind and intellect, which recognises many different and discrete facets of cognition, and possible profiles of mental capability and competence. Instead of there being a single dimension of intellect along which individuals can be rank-ordered, there are instead considerable differences in the intellectual strengths and weaknesses of various individuals, and in the ways in which they approach cognitive tasks (Gardner, 1993a, pp. 6, 169-170, 1994, p. 740). In what follows, consideration will be given to some of the central features of Gardner's conception, where attention will focus in particular on a methodological evaluation of the theory's content and structure from within a naturalistic-coherentist framework for the justification of knowledge, in an attempt to discern how well this alternative to the mainstream stands or falls in terms of the explanatory tasks that it sets for itself. Methodological considerations Although the theory of multiple intelligences (MI theory) has generated controversy in psychological quarters, it has nevertheless been more generously received in educational circles, as it has accorded well with educator intuitions that children are intelligent in different ways, and that different educational approaches may reach students more effectively, if favoured ways of learning and knowing are accounted for in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment (Gardner, 1998, p. …


This first volume of Computational Modelling of Aircraft and the Environment provides a comprehensive guide to the derivation of computational models from basic physical & mathematical principles, giving the reader sufficient information to be able to represent the basic architecture of the synthetic environment. Highly relevant to practitioners, it takes into account the multi-disciplinary nature of the aerospace environment and the integrated nature of the models needed to represent it. Coupled with the forthcoming Volume 2: Aircraft Models and Flight Dynamics it represents a complete reference to the modelling and simulation of aircraft and the environment. All major principles with this book are demonstrated using MATLAB and the detailed mathematics is developed progressively and fully within the context of each individual topic area, thereby rendering the comprehensive body of material digestible as an introductory level text. The author has drawn from his experience as a modelling and simulation specialist with BAE SYSTEMS along with his more recent academic career to create a resource that will appeal to and benefit senior/graduate students and industry practitioners alike.


A novel structural analog of ceramide was synthesized by N-acylation of serinol (2-amino-1,3-propanediol) and studied for its effects on glycolipid biosynthesis and cell differentiation of neuroblastoma cells. Incubation with N-palmitoylated serinol (C16-serinol) increased the concentration of endogenous ceramide by 50–80% and caused apoptosis in rapidly dividing low density cells but not in confluent cells. Cell death was not suppressed by simultaneous incubation with phorbol ester, known to antagonize ceramide-induced apoptosis by activation of protein kinase C (PKC). Purification of potential target proteins of C16-serinol was achieved by affinity chromatography of a protein preparation from rat brain on immobilized C16-serinol. A gel activity assay revealed that the eluate from C16-serinol-Sepharose contained three serine/threonine-specific protein kinases with molecular masses of 50, 70, and 95 kDa. The 70-kDa protein was immunostained on a Western blot using a PKCζ-specific antibody. The purified PKCζ could be activated directly by C16-serinol in anin vitro phosphorylation assay. Induction of apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells was suppressed by inhibition of PKCζ with Gö 6983. Our overall results indicate that apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells induced by C16-serinol was at least partially mediated by activation of PKCζ on condition of ongoing cell division.N-Acylated serinols may thus be useful for induction of apoptosis in mitotic cells and may be of therapeutic potential for treatment of cancer in the nervous system.


This paper explores the discourse of whole class teaching in Kenyan and Nigerian primary school English lessons. Twenty lessons were analysed using a system of discourse analysis focusing on the teacher-led three-part exchange sequence of Initiation – Response – Feedback (IRF). The focus of the analysis was on the first and third part of the IRF sequence as it is here that research suggests teachers can enhance pupil learning through questions and follow-up which asks pupils to expand on their thinking, justify or clarify their opinions, or make connections to their own experiences. The findings suggest that teacher questions were mainly closed requiring recall of information and teacher follow-up, where it occurred, often consisting of a low level evaluation of a pupil response, thereby severely constraining opportunities for pupil participation in the classroom discourse and higher order thinking. The implications of the findings are considered in the light of their impact on classroom pedagogy and the professional development of Kenyan and Nigerian primary teachers.


This paper describes selected aspects of the Festival Multisyn entry to the Blizzard Challenge 2007. We provide an overview of the process of building the three required voices from the speech data provided. This paper focuses on new features of Multisyn which are currently under development and which have been employed in the system used for this Blizzard Challenge. These differences are the application of a more flexible phonetic lattice representation during forced alignment labelling and the use of a pitch accent target cost component. Finally, we also examine aspects of the speech data provided for this year's Blizzard Challenge and raise certain issues for discussion concerning the aim of comparing voices made with differing subsets of the data provided.


It has been observed that most American TV media has taken on a format that seems to concern itself primarily with White, middle to high-income family situations. Even though the United States of America has a Latino population that reaches 17% (approximately 55 million Latinos—with Mexican Americans making up 63% of that number) and growing (Krogstad 2016), we still see a tremendous lack of Latino characters in American television. This leaves millions of Americans with no substantial representations that they can relate to, or form an identity off of. Instead, Latinos are forced into believing they are not important enough to merit TV roles and perhaps not really be American at all. This research was a content analysis of 79 scripted shows that aired through 2011-2015 to determine how often Latinos came out and how they were portrayed. Results showed that they appeared an average of six minutes on screen and they were generally depicted as criminals. Additionally, four focus group interviews were conducted, and participants also responded that shows tend to stereotype minorities while they showed White characters as authority figures. Both content analysis and focus group interviews found that Latinos lack strong representation in American television.


This paper utilizes a new data set from AllianceBernstein that, unlike other corporate governance data, has country-level and monthly-updated firm-level governance ratings for 22 emerging markets countries for almost a five year period. With these data we examine the relationship of firm-level and country-level corporate governance on firm valuation, dividend payout, internal firm performance and other issues. We find a number of interesting results that have implications for corporations, investors and policymakers. First, we find there is a positive and significant relation between firm-level and country-level corporate governance ratings and market valuation. Second, we find this relation between governance and market valuation is non-linear. Specifically, top-rated firms and firms in toprated countries have significantly better market valuations than other firms, but there is little significant difference in the market valuation between intermediate rated and low rated firms. Third, we find firmlevel governance impacts market valuation differently depending on the degree of country governance where the firm is located. Indeed, in countries with weak country-level governance, we find that improvements in firm-level governance can actually lead to significantly lower market valuations. Fourth, since we have firm-level corporate governance ratings on a monthly basis, we examine the effects of changes in corporate governance at the firm level over the specific window of time when the corporate governance ratings have changed. This type of test allows us to overcome the issue of whether better governance causes better valuations, or whether firms with better valuations endogenously choose better governance. Using this test we find some evidence that improvements in corporate governance do cause higher valuations, higher returns on equity, and more efficient usage of capital. Fifth, in an examination of what country-level governance issues influence firm-level governance, we find that the governance stance on corporate governance and equity culture and the political, social, and environmental climate of the country are both positively and significantly related to firm-level governance. Although causation is difficult to determine, this result suggests that a country that is concerned with human rights and environmental issues creates a positive example that corporations seem follow in their firm-level governance. Sixth, in an out-sample analysis of the predictive ability of the governance ratings, we find that firms located in countries with high countrylevel governance ratings did in fact predict significantly better future risk-adjusted stock return performance. On the other hand, we find that firm-level corporate governance ratings themselves are weaker predictors of future risk-adjusted stock return performance. Correspondence regarding the paper should be directed to: Matthew Morey, Department of Finance, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, New York, NY 10038, firstname.lastname@example.com Corporate Governance Ratings in Emerging Markets: Implications for Market Valuation, Internal Firm-Performance, Dividend Payouts and Policy


Aquaculture production has very significantly increased in tonnage and value over the last decades. It is seen as a potential solution to replace the declining wild fishery stocks. This publication is a first attempt to examine aquaculture systems within the recent framework of the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions (NbS). It reviews the critical contextual situation, highlighting major issues related to climate change, biodiversity losses and endangered marine ecosystems. It stresses the need for new approaches, such as the concept of NbS, to improve human ability to implement sustainable development and to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).


An evaluation is made of ozone profiles retrieved from measurements of the nadir-viewing Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) instrument. Currently, four different approaches are used to retrieve ozone profile information from GOME measurements, which differ in the use of external information and a priori constraints. In total nine different algorithms will be evaluated exploiting the optimal estimation (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, University of Bremen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), Phillips-Tikhonov regularization (Space Research Organization Netherlands), neural network (Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, Tor Vergata University), and data assimilation (German Aerospace Center) approaches. Analysis tools are used to interpret data sets that provide averaging kernels. In the interpretation of these data, the focus is on the vertical resolution, the indicative altitude of the retrieved value, and the fraction of a priori information. The evaluation is completed with a comparison of the results to lidar data from the Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change stations in Andoya (Norway), Observatoire Haute Provence (France), Mauna Loa (Hawaii), Lauder (New Zealand), and Dumont d'Urville (Antarctic) for the years 1997–1999. In total, the comparison involves nearly 1000 ozone profiles and allows the analysis of GOME data measured in different global regions and hence observational circumstances. The main conclusion of this paper is that unambiguous information on the ozone profile can at best be retrieved in the altitude range 15–48 km with a vertical resolution of 10 to 15 km, precision of 5–10%, and a bias up to 5% or 20% depending on the success of recalibration of the input spectra. The sensitivity of retrievals to ozone at lower altitudes varies from scheme to scheme and includes significant influence from a priori assumptions.


ABSTRACT The antibiotic tolerances of bacterial persisters have been attributed to transient dormancy. While persisters have been observed to be growth inhibited prior to antibiotic exposure, we sought to determine whether such a trait was essential to the phenotype. Furthermore, we sought to provide direct experimental evidence of the persister metabolic state so as to determine whether the common assumption of metabolic inactivity was valid. Using fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), a fluorescent indicator of cell division, a fluorescent measure of metabolic activity, and persistence assays, we found that bacteria that are rapidly growing prior to antibiotic exposure can give rise to persisters and that a lack of replication or low metabolic activity prior to antibiotic treatment simply increases the likelihood that a cell is a persister. Interestingly, a lack of significant growth or metabolic activity does not guarantee persistence, as the majority of even "dormant" subpopulations (>99%) were not persisters. These data suggest that persistence is far more complex than dormancy and point to additional characteristics needed to define the persister phenotype.


Advanced microelectronic interconnection structures will need dielectrics of low permittivity to reduce capacitive delays and crosstalk, but this reduction in permittivity typically necessitates an increase in the porosity of the material, which is frequently accompanied by reduced mechanical reliability. Failure by brittle fracture remains a typical manufacturing and reliability hurdle for this class of materials. Part I of this two-part work explores the instrumented indentation and indentation fracture responses of a variety of organosilicate low-dielectric constant (low-κ) films. Three different chemical varieties of low-κ material were tested. The influence of film thickness on the fracture response is also explored systematically. Correlations are made between instrumented indentation responses and differing modes of fracture. It is demonstrated that the elastic response of the composite film + substrate systems can be simply tied to the fraction of the total indentation strain energy in the film. These results are then used in the companion paper, Part II [D.J. Morris and R.F. Cook, J. Mater. Res. 23, 2443 (2008)], to derive and use a fracture mechanics model to measure fracture properties of low-κ films.


Abstract Treatment of chronic skin wound such as diabetic ulcers, burns, pressure wounds are challenging problems in the medical area. The aim of this study was to design a bilayer skin equivalent mimicking the natural one to be used as a tissue engineered skin graft for use in the treatments of problematic wounds, and also as a model to be used in research related to skin, such as determination of the efficacy of transdermal bioactive agents on skin cells and treatment of acute skin damages that require immediate response. In this study, the top two layers of the skin were mimicked by producing a multilayer construct combining two different porous polymeric scaffolds: as the dermis layer a sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) hydrogel on which fibroblasts were added, and as the epidermis layer collagen (Coll) or chondroitin sulfate-incorporated collagen (CollCS) on which keratinocytes were added. The bilayer construct was designed to allow cross-talk between the two cell populations in the subsequent layers and achieves paracrine signalling. It had interconnected porosity, high water content, appropriate stability and elastic moduli. Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic-fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and Interleukin 8 (IL-8), and the production of collagen I, collagen III, laminin and transglutaminase supported the attachment and proliferation of cells on both layers of the construct. Attachment and proliferation of fibroblasts on NaCMC were lower compared to performance of keratinocyte on collagen where keratinocytes created a dense and a stratified layer similar to epidermis. The resulting constructs succesfully mimicked in vitro the natural skin tissue. They are promising as grafts for use in the treatment of deep wounds and also as models for the study of the efficacy of bioactive agents on the skin.


Previous research (Laeng et al., 2007) conducted on Norwegian samples showed that blue-eyed men rate blue-eyed women as more attractive, while brown-eyed men and all the women show no differences in attractiveness assessments with respect to eye colour. Correspondingly, positive assortative mating was found for blue, but not brown eyes, and it most often occurred in blue-eyed men. We aimed to replicate this blue-like-blue effect in the Croatian population, which differs in the ratio of eye colour phenotypes (blue eye colour is the most prevalent in Norway while brown is the most prevalent in Croatia). Additionally, we examined whether this effect is moderated by life history strategies and sociosexuality. Our hypothesis was that the effect would be larger in those blue-eyed men who exert a slower life history strategy and who are sociosexually restrictive. One hundred and twenty-eight participants assessed the attractiveness of blue-eyed and brown-eyed models, whose eye colours were experimentally manipulated in such a way that participants were shown models with natural or artificially changed eye colours. The blue-like-blue effect was replicated in the context of preferences, although it was smaller than in the original study. However, unlike the original study, in a sample of 138 participants no assortative pairing by eye colour was found between participants and their romantic partners. Finally, the hypothesis about the moderation was supported for life history strategies, but not for sociosexuality. In addition to the rationale for the blue-like-blue effect based on the paternity uncertainty account, which was offered by the authors of the original study, we discussed other accounts of this phenomenon.


This paper is aimed at giving an overview of possible cooling technologies for electrical machines and their assessment for aviation applications, e.g., fan or propeller drives. The most important demand for aircraft is the minimization of the drive system weight comprising electrical machine, power electronics, and the cooling system. The potential of aluminum winding an overview about several cooling technologies with the Rankine or Brayton cycle or utilizing the phase change of the cooling fluid is given. As an alternative approach, the cooling structure inside the machine is studied. A very interesting potential was discovered with direct slot cooling (DSC) removing the heat where it is produced and, thus, simplifying the cooling system effort and its weight. Since it is one of the most promising approaches, this cooling method is studied in depth. Furthermore, it can also be combined with one of the cooling technologies discussed above.


We consider the array signal processing problem of choosing the weight vector to minimize noise power, subject to a unit array gain for the desired wave, and subject to rejection constraints on interferences. We model the variations in the array response with ellipsoidal uncertainty, and take the worst-case robust optimization approach, i.e., we require the constraints to hold for all possible data in the uncertainty ellipsoid. We show that this robust array signal processing problem can be formulated as a second-order cone program, which interior-point algorithms can solve efficiently. The robust solution is demonstrated with an example.


This guide has been created for Dr. Kwak's Spring 2015 Historiography course. This guide has been created by Christina Connor (any questions pertaining to the guide, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com).


It is currently estimated that over 370 million individuals have diabetes, making diabetes a major public health issue contributing significantly to global morbidity and mortality. The steep rise in diabetes prevalence over the past decades is attributable, in a large part, to lifestyle changes, with dietary habits and behaviour as significant contributors. Despite the relatively wide availability of antidiabetic medicine, it is lifestyle approaches that still remain the cornerstone of diabetes prevention and treatment. Glycemic index (GI) is a nutritional tool which represents the glycemic response to carbohydrate ingestion. In light of the major impact of nutrition on diabetes pathophysiology, with the rising need to combat the escalating diabetes epidemic, this review will focus on the role of GI in glycemic control, the primary target of diabetic treatment and beyond. The review will present the evidence relating GI and diabetes treatment and prevention, as well as weight loss, weight maintenance and cardiovascular disease risk factors.


ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate older adults' daily activities (e.g., learning activities and companionship) and the relations of these activities with the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). We propose a multilevel model to delineate the effects of daily experiences on the satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. The current research was conducted by sending reminder messages and collecting daily responses via the Line@ application on mobile phones. A total of 838 valid records were collected (the average number of records per person was 24.65). In total, 838 daily experiences nested 34 older adults' completed diary records for the study. The average age was 63.44 years (SD age = 5.90, range from 52 to 75), and 82.4% were female (i.e., 28 women and 6 men). Each participant needed to complete their record each day throughout the 10-day period. The results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) revealed that learning for the elderly, as compared with doing all other activities, is positively related with the satisfaction of the autonomy need but negatively associated with the satisfaction of the competence need. Furthermore, eating as compared with learning for older adults is more likely to satisfy the competence and relatedness needs; however, learning as compared with watching TV may foster satisfaction of the autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. In addition, as long as they are accompanied, regardless of who their companions are, compared with being alone, the older adults perceived greater satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs.


Anthropology's long and complex relationship to magic has been strongly influenced by western science and notions of rationality. This book takes a refreshing new look at modern magic as practised by contemporary Pagans in Britain. It focuses on what Pagans see as the essence of magic - a communication with an otherworldly reality. Examining issues of identity, gender and morality, the author argues that the otherworld forms a central defining characteristic of magical practice.Integrating an experiential ethnographic approach with an analysis of magic, this book asks penetrating questions about the nature of otherworldly knowledge and argues that our scientific frameworks need re-envisioning. It is unique in providing an insider's view of how magic is practised in contemporary western culture.


This paper describes a conceptual framework for the empirical analysis of farmers' labour allocation decisions. The paper presents a brief overview of previous farm household labour allocation studies. Following this, the agricultural household model, developed by Singh, Squire and Strauss (1986), which has been frequently applied to the study of labour allocation, is described in more depth. The agricultural household model, the theoretical model to be used in this analysis, is based on the premise that farmers behave to maximise utility, which is a function of consumption and leisure. It follows that consumption is bound by a budget constraint and leisure by a time constraint. The theoretical model can then be used to explain how farmers decide to allocate their time between leisure, farm work and off-farm work within the constraints of a finite time endowment and a budget constraint. Work, both farm and off-farm, provides a return to labour which in turn relaxes the budget constraint allowing the farm household to consume more. The theoretical model can also be used to explore the impact on government policies on labour allocation. It follows that subsidies that decrease commodity prices, such as reductions in intervention prices, mean that farmers have to work more (either on or off the farm) to maintain income and consumption levels. On the other hand, income support subsidies that are not linked to output or labour, such as decoupled subsidies, are a source of non-labour income and as such allow farmers to work less while maintaining consumption levels, known as the wealth effect.


Objective To quantify the cost effectiveness of a government policy combining targeted industry agreements and public education to reduce sodium intake in 183 countries worldwide. Design Global modeling study. Setting 183 countries. Population Full adult population in each country. Intervention A "soft regulation" national policy that combines targeted industry agreements, government monitoring, and public education to reduce population sodium intake, modeled on the recent successful UK program. To account for heterogeneity in efficacy across countries, a range of scenarios were evaluated, including 10%, 30%, 0.5 g/day, and 1.5 g/day sodium reductions achieved over 10 years. We characterized global sodium intakes, blood pressure levels, effects of sodium on blood pressure and of blood pressure on cardiovascular disease, and cardiovascular disease rates in 2010, each by age and sex, in 183 countries. Country specific costs of a sodium reduction policy were estimated using the World Health Organization Noncommunicable Disease Costing Tool. Country specific impacts on mortality and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) were modeled using comparative risk assessment. We only evaluated program costs, without incorporating potential healthcare savings from prevented events, to provide conservative estimates of cost effectiveness Main outcome measure Cost effectiveness ratio, evaluated as purchasing power parity adjusted international dollars (equivalent to the country specific purchasing power of US$) per DALY saved over 10 years. Results Worldwide, a 10% reduction in sodium consumption over 10 years within each country was projected to avert approximately 5.8 million DALYs/year related to cardiovascular diseases, at a population weighted mean cost of I$1.13 per capita over the 10 year intervention. The population weighted mean cost effectiveness ratio was approximately I$204/DALY. Across nine world regions, estimated cost effectiveness of sodium reduction was best in South Asia (I$116/DALY); across the world's 30 most populous countries, best in Uzbekistan (I$26.08/DALY) and Myanmar (I$33.30/DALY). Cost effectiveness was lowest in Australia/New Zealand (I$880/DALY, or 0.02×gross domestic product (GDP) per capita), although still substantially better than standard thresholds for cost effective (<3.0×GDP per capita) or highly cost effective (<1.0×GDP per capita) interventions. Most (96.0%) of the world's adult population lived in countries in which this intervention had a cost effectiveness ratio <0.1×GDP per capita, and 99.6% in countries with a cost effectiveness ratio <1.0×GDP per capita. Conclusion A government "soft regulation" strategy combining targeted industry agreements and public education to reduce dietary sodium is projected to be highly cost effective worldwide, even without accounting for potential healthcare savings.


The genebank at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India holds a collection of 542 accessions from the Caribbean and Central American (CCA) regions, of which 424 were evaluated for eight qualitative and 17 quantitative traits at ICRISAT farm. A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed using the scores of the first nine principal components that resulted in four clusters. The accessions of these four clusters exhibited the following good characteristics: cluster 1 had high pod-bearing length and high seed protein content; those of cluster 2 had high degree of branching, large number of pods per plant and high seed yield per plant; those of cluster 3 had long pods; and those of cluster 4 had larger seeds. In the whole collection of accessions, diversity was found to be maximum (H′ = 0.630+0.026) for plant height and minimum for tertiary branches per plant (H′ = 0.259+0.026). The highest correlation coefficient was observed between racemes per plant and pods per plant (r= 0.914) followed by between pods per plant and seed yield per plant (r= 0.744), and between shelling percentage and the harvest index (r= 0.703). In view of the poor representation of the world collection of pigeonpea (13,771 accessions) from the CCA regions, launching of collection missions in these countries has been suggested to fill gaps and increase the variability. Multi-location evaluation of the collections for agronomic traits at potential locations in the CCA regions and systematic evaluation for nutritional traits and resistance to biotic and abiotic stress could result in the identification of useful genotypes, particularly vegetable types, for use in breeding programmes to develop high-yielding cultivars as well as to release as varieties in these regions.


Increasing prevalence of portable electronic devices and growing concern over the consumption of fossil fuels have led to a growing demand for more efficient energy storage options. Lithium ion chemistry has grown to dominate the battery market, but still requires improvement to meet the increasing need for smaller, cheaper, better performing batteries. The use of nanomaterials has garnered much attention in recent years as a potential way of improving battery performance while decreasing the size. However, new problems are introduced with these materials such as low packing density and high reactivity with the electrolyte. This research focuses on the development of an electrode architecture using nanomaterials which will decrease lithium ion transport distance while enhancing electrical conductivity within the cell. The proposed architecture consists of a stacked, 2D structure composed of layers of carbon nanotubes and active material particles, and can be applied to both the anode and the cathode. The process also has the advantage of low cost because it can be performed under normal laboratory conditions (e.g. temperature and pressure) and easily adapted to a commercial scale.


In the context of globalization and neo-liberal urban restructuring, cities have been attempting to reposition themselves within the competitive global landscape through focusing on their images and their enhancement since the 1970's. Rebuilding the city became the goal of urban policy through the process of urban regeneration, and large-scale, emblematic urban development projects or 'mega-projects' began to play a major role in this endeavour. However, in the current landscape of uncontained economic growth, social decline and ecological destruction, sustainability has become a critical concept, and the pursuit of a 'sustainable city' is a desirable goal. Urban policy consequently focuses on urban regeneration and sustainability as parallel agendas. This study focuses on the South African city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, where regeneration has become particularly evident in recent years, with the focus intensifying when the country was awarded the bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, sparking the planning and construction of a number of mega-projects. Simultaneously sustainability has gained greater focus, as the need to develop within environmental limits has been recognized. Three particular mega-projects within the city are investigated: the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Warwick Junction Mall, and the Point Development; in order to explore the relationship between the two dominant agendas of contemporary urban policy. This is achieved through the exploration of the urban policy and regeneration landscape of the city, and the particular role which mega-projects play. Subsequently, the three mega-projects are assessed in terms of sixteen sustainable city principles to determine the extent to which they incorporate sustainability, and thereby the extent to which sustainability is considered in the city's urban regeneration. The research findings reveal that although sustainability is present in the policy and planning rhetoric of the city, the mega-projects and urban regeneration do not include these principles to any meaningful extent. It is therefore concluded that these two policy strands are currently conflicting agendas within the planning and development landscape of Durban. There is a consequent need for sustainability to be practically incorporated to a greater extent in order to ensure a sustainable future for the city.


A new approach for phosphor-based temperature determination is presented. This method is based on comparison between the spectrally resolved phosphorescent emission and a database of spectra collected at a series of temperatures. Applications of two phosphor materials, Gd2O2S: Tb and Mg4(F)GeO6: Mn, possessing different and complementary temperature sensitivities are illustrated. Efficient and accurate comparison is demonstrated between application and calibration spectra with the use of a custom program featuring a general regression neural net algorithm. With this approach, single laser-pulse, spatially resolved measurements are demonstrated. Applications of the technique reported here include measurements of the surface temperature of a thermophoretic sampling probe, the surface temperature of a porous burning solid, wick surface temperatures of supported diffusion flames of acetone, heptane, and decane, and the cellulose pyrolysis and char oxidation temperatures associated with flame spread across a thermally thin fuel at 300 and 700 Torr air pressure.


Phenolic acids (gallic, vanillic, syringic and ellagic acids), phenolic aldehydes (vanillin, syringaldehyde, coniferaldehyde and sinapaldehyde) and furanic derivatives (furfural, 5-methylfurfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural) were quantified in commercial American and French oak chips. Chips with different sizes and toast degrees were used. Compounds were extracted directly from the wood samples in order to determine possible differences among woods as well as toast degree. Likewise, the compounds were extracted from a synthetic wine solution to which the chip woods had been added. The results show that French wood chips are generally richer than the American ones. The total amount of phenolic compounds increases with toasting level, with the non-toasted chips being the poorest ones. The degree of extraction from the synthetic wine solution seems to be related to the shape of the chips, rather than to the wood type or toast degree.


This paper provides an overview of the incentives structure for higher education by focusing on the quality assurance and the institutional structure governing universities in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The institutional level analysis focuses on both the external and internal governance structures that regulate higher education institutions. Particular attention is paid to issues of accountability and quality assurance arrangements both at external and internal levels of universities. At the external level, the paper illustrates the role of the Higher Education Council and the Higher Education Accreditation Commission (HEAC). At the internal level, the paper looks at the role of boards of trustees and the different levels of councils. The analysis focuses on the scope of decision-making that each entity has. The paper specifically addresses the growing role of private higher education, presenting two are public and two are private. The two public universities are Jordan University (JU) and Mutah University (MU), and two private universities are Amman Al Ahllia University (AAU) and Jadara University (JU). The analysis in the case studies addresses issues of student size, specializations and quality assurance approaches.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate ESP textbook on "English for the students of computer engineering" taught at Payame Noor University in Astane (Guilan province, Iran). It was a mixed method research. The research instrument consisted of a researcher-made questionnaire which was designed on the basis of eight checklist references. Sample of this study consisted of 49 junior students majoring in computer engineering, who were selected through convenience sampling method. The textbook was evaluated in terms of six criteria of aims and approaches, design and organization, skills and strategies, topics, practical considerations and illustrations, language content and exercises. Data was collected through a five-point Likert scale questionnaire consisting of 22 items. Descriptive statistics including percentage, mean, and standard deviation were calculated for each item. Findings indicated that despite having pedagogical values, the textbook was not very good according to design and organization, language content and exercises, skills and strategies, practical considerations and illustrations. Finally, the pedagogical implication of findings for teaching grammatical items, listening materials, recycling and revision, writing activities and illustrations would be discussed.


This study investigates the effects of pavement interface conditions on hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlay response using the laboratory and field measurements accompanied by a numerical analysis. A laboratory and accelerated testing programme were conducted as part of a comprehensive study to determine the optimum tack coat application rate for HMA–Portland cement concrete (PCC) composite pavements by Leng et al. (2008, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2057, 46–53; 2009, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2127, 20–28). This study synthesises the accelerated and laboratory test results with a 3D finite element (FE) model to evaluate the effects of various bonding conditions on the overlay response as well as the interface behaviour. The model outcome was validated using the laboratory and field results. The FE model was utilised to extend the findings of this study to different temperatures, tyre configurations and loading conditions. Pavement interface was modelled using a hyperbolic Mohr–Coulomb friction model, whereas HMA overlay was modelled as a viscoelastic material. A moving load was applied and implicit dynamic analysis was carried out. Field and laboratory experiments along with the numerical analysis proved the importance of achieving good bonding at the pavement interface for HMA overlay. This study found that as pavement temperature increases, the interface bonding effects on the overlay response are amplified. This could be the main contributing factor to overlay rutting. The influence of interface condition on the HMA surface and bottom strains was evaluated using a numerical model supported by full-scale accelerated pavement testing results. The effects of varying interface properties such as stiffness and strength on the HMA overlay response were investigated. The numerical model provided a range of expected HMA critical strains under realistic interface conditions ranging from full bonded to debonded conditions. This study clearly shows the significance of tack coat type and application rate effects on pavement critical responses through laboratory, in-situ response and advanced modelling.


The Prognostic Center of Excellence at NASA Ames is currently researching actuator prognostics, specifically in the application of electro mechanical actuators (EMA's). Cal Poly ME students Michael Koopmans and Catlin Mattheis and EE student Austin Lawrence have chosen to undertake the task of building a test stand that will be flown in flight while testing EMA's specific faults. A stand was designed to fit inside a standard 19" rack, take power from the aircraft 3 EMA's, a computer, data acquisition, and electric magnets switches are powered. A MIL STD 1553 interface is present to allow fault injection. Vibration and temperature data can be recorded during experiments. However, due to time constraints, not all tests were completed and the control system needs optimization. The stand is 90% complete and with a little more work the test stand should generate interesting and valuable data to compliment the Health Systems Management algorithms relating actuator faults and numerical relationships.


"Messa da Requiem" is the fourth work to be published in "The Works of Giuseppe Verdi." Following the strict requirements of the series, this edition is based on Verdi's autograph and other authentic sources, and has been reviewed by a distinguished editorial board Philip Gossett (general editor), Julian Budden, Martin Chusid, Francesco Degrada, Ursula Gunther, Giorgio Pestelli, and Pierluigi Petrobelli. It is available as a two-volume set: a full orchestral score and a critical commentary. The appendixes include two pieces from the compositional history of the "Requiem" an early version of the "Libera me," composed in 1869 as part of a collaborative work planned as a memorial to Rossini; and the "Liber scriptus," which in the original score of the Manzoni memorial "Requiem" was composed as a fugue in G minor. The score, which has been beautifully bound and autographed, is printed on high-grade paper in an oversized format. The introduction to the score discusses the work's genesis, instrumentation, and problems of notation. The critical commentary, printed in a smaller format, discusses the editorial decisions and traces the complex compositional history of the "Requiem.""


This article examines the aims and objectives of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the realization of free movement of goods and capital between states. Actually freedom of movement of goods and capital is still a myth and not a reality by ECOWAS member states and many of the indicia for actualizing the objectives have not been put in place. The idea of trade liberalization scheme was mooted in the first place to facilitate the dream of the community for free movement of goods across the borders. Thus regional integration was expected to lead to expansion of markets and the removal of trade barriers amongst member states as required by the Trade Liberation Scheme (TLS) with the sole aim of coordinating industrial planning for the purpose of enhancing the process of regional economic growth and development. Thus, this paper explores the fact that economic integration is a necessity amongst member states if the region is to achieve any meaningful sustainable economic growth. This paper further identifies the problems of implementation of the Trade Liberalization Scheme (TLS) and pointed out efforts made by the Authority of Heads of State and Government by ameliorating those teething problems. The paper examines the fact that capital is the vehicle that moves goods and goods are usually paid for in the local currency which is dogged by the problem of exchange rates and local financial regulations. The paper also attempted proffering solutions on how to surmount the bottlenecks associated with exchange rates by suggesting the use of local currencies by community citizens for payment of services rendered in connection with travel within the region. And finally, recommendations for more effective approach towards the realization of economic currency by members of ECOWAS states is strongly being advocated for and the need for Nigeria as the giant of Africa to occupy the vacant positions of an acclaimed integration leader in the region are issues strongly canvassed as palliative measures which if put in place will go a long way to achieve self-sufficiency for the member states especially by creating a single large trading area.


Researchers are using techniques that allow children to express their perspectives. In 2003, Kuhn developed the method of data collection and analysis which combined thematic drawing and focused, episodic interview. In this article the Kuhn's method is adjusted using the draw and write technique as a research methodology. Reflections on the technique are drawn from our experience of using it in study with primary school students aged 8 to 10 years. This was part of a larger study undertaken to investigate the relationship between the way younger school-age students perceive the museum and degree of didactic structuring of museum contents. The students are asked to draw a picture showing their museum visit to Museum of Ancient Glass in Zadar and to write a shot text about it. Free written expression of students and their drawings illustrate children's abilities to convey their opinions when there is an enabling climate created. Analysis of children's' drawings has provided insight into the structure of students' perceptions, its orientation and content. At the same time it provided us with the information about the process of perceiving museum exhibits and museum environment by the students who were involved in the pre-visiting curricular activities and those who were not involved in them, as well as the information on students' perception of social interaction and abstract values that can be seen in the drawings.


A recent debate on tax compliance asks whether enforcement mechanisms can be complemented, or even substituted by appeals to the taxpayer's tax morality: his or her intrinsic willingness to pay taxes, motivated by purely ethical reasons, or a feeling of reciprocity towards the government that provides public goods and services of varying quality. We evaluate this hypothesis by tracking the local business tax compliance of over 6,000 firms in a major municipality in Caracas, which we randomly assigned to a control of no stimulus, or to one of five treatment arms that received letters from the local tax administrator with different types of messages regarding tax compliance. We find that an enforcement message has the largest compliance effect, while moral suasion appears less effective. However, differences between letter types have impacts that cannot be statistically distinguished from each other, which we interpret as an effect of being contacted by the tax authority by written communication, regardless of the content. This is most likely to matter for firms unaccustomed to contact with the government –small firms– which are also those for which we find economically large effects.


This paper explains the evolution of Eugenics from Mendel's peas to Nazi Germany. It reveals startling information about the role that American scientists played in the Holocaust. It further discusses that the desire to create a perfect human race can be traced to the American ideal of Providence. This pursuit of human betterment was set into practice by influential and famous Americans through selective immigration, restrictive marriage laws, encouraged procreation of individuals identified as superior, and the sexual sterilization of those deemed unfit. Utah passed sterilization laws as early as 1925, modeled after sample laws drafted and constitutionally tested by American Eugenicists. There is evidence to support that Utah lawmakers and institutional leadership supported the sterilization of the feeble-minded for the benefit of society and to prevent future menaces to society or wards of the state. While this topic is both uncomfortable and provocative, it is imperative that we study history lest we be condemned to repeat it. Taking accountability for and gaining understanding of decisions made in the past, improves our national character and allows us to better take care of each other on a local level. The modifications to Utah's sterilization laws from 1925 to 1988 mirror the national trend of increasingly recognizing the rights and value that developmentally disabled citizens possess. Federal legislation has been enacted to improve accessibility to public buildings and education through the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. From historically segregating these individuals to de-institutionalization to modern campaigns encouraging the inclusion of disabled Americans in the workforce, tremendous gains have been made. Yet an examination of the history provides a perspective into where we can go from here.


When granting credit, banks depend on reliable information about the creditworthiness and risk structure of potential borrowers. This information is typically gathered by national credit bureaus. Nationally established banks depend on information from credit bureaus more than ever, particularly when entering a foreign market. This DIW study (which is partially based upon research by the same authors for the European Credit Research Institute and data collected by the institute) investigates whether the existence of credit bureaus influences European bank competition and concludes that they facilitate market entry for foreign banks. In turn, the absence of credit bureaus can create significant disadvantages in competition. In this case, a market entry is then primarily possible via the purchase of an incumbent bank, because the entering institution has essentially no other opportunity to access debtor data. This study also shows that provision of data within the EU is not harmonized overall.


There is increased risk of protein energy malnutrition in children with nephrotic syndrome. Children with nephrotic syndrome are prone to both macro and micronutrient deficiency and are at risk of poor growth, muscle mass depletion and cognitive impairment. There are few works on assessing the nutritional status of children with nephrotic syndrome in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
Objectives: To assess the nutritional status of children with Nephrotic syndrome attending the nephrology clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
Method: A prospective, case-control study carried out between October 2017 and April 2018.
Results: A total of 61 subjects with nephrotic syndrome were recruited and 27 children were enrolled as controls. The mean age of studied subjects was 80.7±42.2 months and for control 80±46.4 months. The mean weight of the studied subjects and control was 25.13±10.45kg and 26.06±11.25kg respectively. The mean body mass index in all subjects was 17.1±2.6kg/m2 while in control group 16.4±2.23kg/m2. Weight for age (WFA) Z score assessment was done in studied subjects not more than 10 years (120 months). 2 (4.08%) had low weight for age, in 42 (85.7%) the WFA was normal and 5(10.2%) were overweight. All controls had normal weight for age z-score except one overweight. Stunting was seen in 7(11.5%) in subjects and severe stunting in 2 subjects (3.27%). All control cases had normal height for age. There was a positive relationship between the use of steroid and stunting (p= 0.004). Waist to Hip ratio values between the two groups (Cases and controls) showed that the cases were more likely to have a high value compared with the controls (p=0.001).
Conclusion: Children with nephrotic syndrome are indeed prone to growth impairment with associated risk of cardiovascular morbidities. Careful attention to use of simple measurements can promptly identify the at risk and disease modifying treatments can be instituted early.
Keywords: Nephrotic syndrome, stunting, wasting


The increased design space offered by additive manufacturing can inspire unique ideas and different modeling approaches. One tool for generating complex yet effective designs is found in numerical optimization schemes, but until relatively recently, the capability to physically produce such a design had been limited by manufacturing constraints.In this study, a commercial adjoint optimization solver was used in conjunction with a conventional flow solver to optimize the design of wavy microchannels, the end use of which can be found in gas turbine airfoil skin cooling schemes. Three objective functions were chosen for two baseline wavy channel designs: minimize the pressure drop between channel inlet and outlet, maximize the heat transfer on the channel walls and maximize the ratio between heat transfer and pressure drop. The optimizer was successful in achieving each objective and generated significant geometric variations from the baseline study.The optimized channels were additively manufactured using Direct Metal Laser Sintering and printed reasonably true to the design intent. Experimental results showed that the high surface roughness in the channels prevented the objective to minimize pressure loss from being fulfilled. However, where heat transfer was to be maximized, the optimized channels showed a corresponding increase in Nusselt number.Copyright © 2017 by ASME


We have produced compelling evidence that women are subject to a higher relative increase in their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke following a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. Thus, in terms of vascular risk, diabetes confers a female disadvantage. This excess risk could be due to three main factors. First, it is conceivable that this is merely a mathematical artifact caused by the relatively low background rate for cardiovascular diseases among women, compared with men. Second, it could be due to women receiving poorer care following their diagnosis of diabetes than men; for instance, due to physician bias. Third, certain underlying biological differences in women and men, most likely related to the distribution of body fat, could explain this female disadvantage.