Nonlinear estimation problems, such as range-only and bearing-only target tracking, are often addressed using linearized estimators, e.g., the extended Kalman filter (EKF). These estimators generally suffer from linearization errors as well as the inability to track multimodal probability density functions. In this paper, we propose a bank of batch maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimators as a general estimation framework that provides relinearization of the entire state trajectory, multihypothesis tracking, and an efficient hypothesis generation scheme. Each estimator in the bank is initialized using a locally optimal state estimate for the current time step. Every time a new measurement becomes available, we relax the original batch-MAP problem and solve it incrementally. More specifically, we convert the relaxed one-step-ahead cost function into polynomial or rational form and compute all the local minima analytically. These local minima generate highly probable hypotheses for the target's trajectory and hence greatly improve the quality of the overall MAP estimate. Additionally, pruning of least probable hypotheses and marginalization of old states are employed to control the computational cost. Monte Carlo simulation and real-world experimental results show that the proposed approach significantly outperforms the standard EKF, the batch-MAP estimator, and the particle filter.


In recent years, visual culture has emerged as a growing and important interdisciplinary field of study. Visual culture regards images as central to the representation of meaning in the world. It encompasses "high" art without an assumption of its higher status. But despite the current proliferation of studies and programs in visual culture, there seems to be no consensus within the field itself as to its scope and objectives, definitions, and methods. In Visual Culture, Margaret Dikovitskaya offers an overview of this new area of study in order to reconcile its diverse theoretical positions and understand its potential for further research. Her aim is to show how visual culture can avoid what she defines as the Scylla and Charybdis that threaten it: the lack of a specific object of study (given its departure from the traditional hierarchies of art history) and the expansion of the field to the point of incoherence as it seems to subsume everything related to the cultural and the visual. Dikovitskaya gives us an archaeology of visual culture, examining the "cultural turn" away from art history and the emergence of visual studies. Drawing on responses to questionnaires, oral histories, and interviews with the field's leading scholars, she discusses first the field's history, theoretical frameworks, and methods, and then examines four programs and courses in visual culture -- those at the University of Rochester, the University of Chicago, the University of California at Irvine, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Bringing together considerations of theory and practice, Dikovitskaya charts the future of visual culture programs in the twenty-first century.


Allowing calcium to leak across a membrane Cells maintain a balance between calcium in the cytosol and calcium stored in organelles—too much stored calcium kills cells. Transmembrane Bax inhibitor motif (TMBIM) proteins form channels in organelle membranes that allow calcium to leak out. Chang et al. show that this calcium leak is pH-dependent. A bacterial homolog of TMBIM proteins converts between an open channel at low pH and a closed channel at high pH. Although the channel is open at low pH, calcium leakage is low because the inside of the channel remains at a neutral pH. Thus, at physiological pH, these channels will be in equilibrium between the open and closed states, so that excess calcium can leak through. Science, this issue p. 1131 pH sensing regulates calcium flow through a bacterial membrane channel that is a homolog of a human antiapoptotic protein. Calcium homeostasis balances passive calcium leak and active calcium uptake. Human Bax inhibitor–1 (hBI-1) is an antiapoptotic protein that mediates a calcium leak and is representative of a highly conserved and widely distributed family, the transmembrane Bax inhibitor motif (TMBIM) proteins. Here, we present crystal structures of a bacterial homolog and characterize its calcium leak activity. The structure has a seven-transmembrane-helix fold that features two triple-helix sandwiches wrapped around a central C-terminal helix. Structures obtained in closed and open conformations are reversibly interconvertible by change of pH. A hydrogen-bonded, pKa (where Ka is the acid dissociation constant)–perturbed pair of conserved aspartate residues explains the pH dependence of this transition, and biochemical studies show that pH regulates calcium influx in proteoliposomes. Homology models for hBI-1 provide insights into TMBIM-mediated calcium leak and cytoprotective activity.


This paper reports on a study involving 74 third and 17 fourth year student teachers enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (Primary) course at an Australian regional, multi-campus university. These pre-service primary teachers completed the single semester, compulsory subject Managing the Learning Environment, which involves the application of behaviour management theory and research into the primary school classroom. The aim of the study was to investigate the experiences of student teachers using blogs whilst on professional placement and more specifically, the effectiveness of blogs to facilitate reflection on behaviour management. Data were drawn from focus group interviews and blog postings. There were mixed responses to the use of blogs as a learning tool; those who found it useful saw its utility in developing behaviour management strategies, venting emotions and supporting each other, while others considered blogs a time imposition and questioned the usefulness of peer advice. While blog postings demonstrated some evidence of reflection and aligning theory and practice, they were overwhelmingly used for the sharing of behaviour management 'tips'.


[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology on Jun 3 2019 (see record 2019-34417-001). In the original article the number of participants available for robustness checks should have been 1,054, not 1,043; this applies to the third sentence in the abstract, the first sentence of the second paragraph in the Participants section, the first sentence of the second paragraph in the Robustness Checks section, and the subsample size of women in Table 3. The correct number of naturally cycling usable data should have been 429, not 421. The correct number of diary days should have been 26,680, not 25,948. The correct percentage of diary days in the fourth sentence in the Exclusion Criteria section should have been 5%. Figure 1 should have included guessing hypotheses (n 40) and long diary interruptions (n 41) as further reasons for exclusion, and an error in the effsize R package led to the reporting of inflated effect sizes for the differences between hormonal contraceptive users and non-users in Table 1. Figure 1, Table 1, and Table 3 have been corrected. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Previous research reported ovulatory changes in women's appearance, mate preferences, extra- and in-pair sexual desire, and behavior, but has been criticized for small sample sizes, inappropriate designs, and undisclosed flexibility in analyses. In the present study, we sought to address these criticisms by preregistering our hypotheses and analysis plan and by collecting a large diary sample. We gathered more than 26,000 usable online self-reports in a diary format from 1,054 women, of which 429 were naturally cycling. We inferred the fertile period from menstrual onset reports. We used hormonal contraceptive users as a quasi-control group, as they experience menstruation, but not ovulation. We probed our results for robustness to different approaches (including different fertility estimates, different exclusion criteria, adjusting for potential confounds, moderation by methodological factors). We found robust evidence supporting previously reported ovulatory increases in extra-pair desire and behavior, in-pair desire, and self-perceived desirability, as well as no unexpected associations. Yet, we did not find predicted effects on partner mate retention behavior, clothing choices, or narcissism. Contrary to some of the earlier literature, partners' sexual attractiveness did not moderate the cycle shifts. Taken together, the replicability of the existing literature on ovulatory changes was mixed. We conclude with simulation-based recommendations for reading the past literature and for designing future large-scale preregistered within-subject studies to understand ovulatory cycle changes and the effects of hormonal contraception. Interindividual differences in the size of ovulatory changes emerge as an important area for further study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).


We introduce a way of characterizing an ensemble of interacting oscillators in terms of their mean-field variability index κ, a dimensionless parameter defined as the variance of the oscillators' mean field r divided by the mean square of r. Based on the assumption that the overall mean field is the sum of a very large number of oscillators, each giving a small contribution to the total signal, we show that κ depends on the mutual interactions between the oscillators, independently of their number or spectral properties. For purely random phasors, or a noninteracting ensemble of oscillators, κ converges on 0.215. Interactions push κ in different directions: lower where there is interoscillator phase coherence, tending to zero for complete phase synchronization, or higher for amplitude synchronization or intermittent synchronization. We calculate κ for several different cases to illustrate its utility, using both numerically simulated data and electroencephalograph signals from the brains of human subjects while awake, while anesthetized, and while undergoing an epileptic fit.


Engaging in strategic planning may help leaders of community sport organizations (CSOs) to develop strategic thinking as well as build capacity to sustain and expand their programs despite environmental uncertainty. This study proposes a framework for understanding how the membership growth strategies of CSOs are shaped based on their environment. Semi-structured interviews with presidents of CSOs, alongside analysis of strategic plan documents, were used to identify strategic imperatives that CSO leaders considered when formulating their organizational strategies. These imperatives were grouped into two dimensions: organizational readiness for growth and environmental dynamism. These dimensions were then juxtaposed to create a matrix of four strategic approaches: Trailblazers, Enhancers, Maintainers, and Carers. Each approach is described in detail and implications for strategic management in community sport are discussed.


ABSTRACT Both content area teachers and reading teachers often see oral reading in epic proportions, as a hero in the struggle for the best way to motivate students to read. This article briefly reviews the reasons that are commonly given for supporting the use of oral reading in the classroom. The author then provides a rationale for opposing traditional student oral reading practices as well as teacher read alouds in secondary school classrooms. Dickens' Scrooge is a generous philanthropist compared to me. Rowlings' Lord Voldemort is an examplar of social conscience compared to me. Darth Vader is a humble, loving patriarch compared to me. Why am I such a villain in the eyes of students, colleagues, and school administrators? I oppose oral reading in secondary schools. There is something about oral reading that makes heroes of those who are its champions and villains of its opponents. So be it, but in books and movies, when he has the hero is in his grasp, the villain has his say. Here is mine: oral reading in a secondary school classroom is a practice that makes many promises, but few if any, are ever kept. REASONS FOR ORAL READING The professional literature is replete with reasons and methods for both teachers and students to use oral reading in secondary school classrooms. Advocates of teachers reading aloud begin with Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook (2006), whose enthusiasm for parent and teacher oral reading has influenced millions to see the powerful effect that proficient oral reading of interesting books has on children's motivation to read. Another argument for teachers to read orally is based on the belief that orality creates in the classroom a sense of fairness, since all learners are "exposed" to the same information (Optiz and Rasinski, 1998). Proponents of student oral reading might begin with Jane Stall ings (1984) whose study of instruction in 43 secondary classrooms found that the use of oral reading with effective teacher guidance was related to higher achievement. Next, are the cognitive scientists who claim that oral reading is advantageous because it provides auditory feedback to the reader (Rummer & Engelkamp, 2003), and on their shoulders stand the advocates of using oral reading activities with those readers who are described as auditory learners (Kelly, 2010). Some proponents advocate using oral interpretation techniques (Muzzillo, 2007) and Reader's Theater (Harmon et al., 1999). They point out that the audience aspect raises the efficacy in these methods over the usual classroom reading aloud activities. The National Reading Panel report (2000) endorsed the frequent practice of student reading aloud with guidance and feedback, a recommendation that elementary and secondary teachers could hardly ignore in the recent political climate. RATIONALE OF A VILLAIN The immense power of tradition contributes to oral reading as a practice that is still prevalent today as it has been since colonial times (Rasinski and Hoffman, 2003). In opposing this practice, I will start with the Muzillo's (2007) definition of oral reading: "Oral reading typically takes this form: a student volunteers or is called upon to pronounce the words of text for an audience, not having prepared or planned his interpretation. Usually, one student reads to the entire class; each audience is as varied as there are class sizes. ... Not all listeners are enthusiastic about the practice" (p. 11). Muzillo described "typical" practice, but I will also argue that even in the best cases, including interpretive uses of oral reading, it is less valuable than its promise suggests. READING IS MAKING MEANING Secondary teachers often view teaching as transmitting "content" (i.e information) from teachers to students, a perspective that "has changed little over the years" (Readance, Bean and Baldwin, 2004). Using the oral channel for content transmission, either by playing professionally recorded books or by having students do the oral reading, promises both efficiency and wide dissemination of information, but it is an empty promise because it frequently leads to passivity. …


Invention of the water screw is traditionally credited to the third-century B.C. Greek scientist-engineer Archimedes, on the basis of numerous Greek and Latin texts and the technological context of Hellenistic Alexandria. An Assyrian text from the seventh century B.C. may be interpreted to show that king Sennacherib cast such a device in bronze at Nineveh, for use in his palace garden. Such an argument may be strengthened by comparison with details of Assyrian technical capabilities in large-scale casting and in making bearings, and with later Greek texts referring to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The method for casting a bronze screw implied in the Assyrian text and instructions for building a wooden water screw provided by Vitruvius were reproduced for a television program. Arguments are presented for and against the invention of the device centuries before Archimedes, together with a discussion of the social context in which such inventions took place in antiquity.


In 1919, against a backdrop of a long history of anti-Asian nativism, a handful of Japanese families established Cortez Colony in a bleak pocket of the San Joachin Valley. Valerie Matsumoto chronicles conflicts within the community as well as obstacles from without as the colonists responded to the challenges of settlement, the setbacks of the Great Depression, the hardships of World War II internment, and the opportunities of postwar reconstruction. Tracing the evolution of gender and family roles of members of Cortez as well as their cultural, religious, and educational institutions, she documents the persistence and flexibility of ethnic community and demonstrates its range of meaning from geographic location and web of social relations to state of mind.


For a non-pathological bimaterial in which an interface crack displays no oscillatory behaviour, it is observed that, apart possibly from the stress intensity factors, the structure of the near-tip field in each of the two blocks is independent of the elastic moduli of the other block. Collinear interface cracks are analysed under this non-oscillatory condition, and a simple rule is formulated that allows one to construct the complete solutions from mode III solutions in an isotropic, homogeneous medium. The general interfacial crack-tip field is found to consist of a two-dimensional oscillatory singularity and a one-dimensional square root singularity. A complex and a real stress intensity factors are proposed to scale the two singularities respectively. Owing to anisotropy, a peculiar fact is that the complex stress intensity factor scaling the oscillatory fields, however defined, does not recover the classical stress intensity factors as the bimaterial degenerates to be non-pathological. Collinear crack problems are also formulated in this context, and a strikingly simple mathematical structure is identified. Interactive solutions for singularity-interface and singularity interface-crack are obtained. The general results are specialized to decoupled antiplane and in-plane deformations. For this important case, it is found that if a material pair is non-pathological for one set of relative orientations of the interface and the two solids, it is non-pathological for any set of orientations. For bonded orthotropic materials, an intuitive choice of the principal measures of elastic anisotropy and dissimilarity is rationalized. A complex-variable representation is presented for a class of degenerate orthotropic materials. Throughout the paper, the equivalence of the Lekhnitskii and Stroh formalisms is emphasized. The article concludes with a formal statement of interfacial fracture mechanics for anisotropic solids.


Threats to water distribution systems include release of contaminants and Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. A better understanding, and validated computational models, of the flow in water distribution systems would enable determination of sensor placement in real water distribution networks, allow source identification, and guide mitigation/minimization efforts. Validation data are needed to evaluate numerical models of network operations. Some data can be acquired in real-world tests, but these are limited by 1) unknown demand, 2) lack of repeatability, 3) too many sources of uncertainty (demand, friction factors, etc.), and 4) expense. In addition, real-world tests have limited numbers of network access points. A scale-model water distribution system was fabricated, and validation data were acquired over a range of flow (demand) conditions. Standard operating variables included system layout, demand at various nodes in the system, and pressure drop across various pipe sections. In addition, the location of contaminant (salt or dye) introduction was varied. Measurements of pressure, flowrate, and concentration at a large number of points, and overall visualization of dye transport through the flow network were completed. Scale-up issues that that were incorporated in the experiment design include Reynolds number, pressure drop across nodes, and pipe friction and roughness. Themore » scale was chosen to be 20:1, so the 10 inch main was modeled with a 0.5 inch pipe in the physical model. Controlled validation tracer tests were run to provide validation to flow and transport models, especially of the degree of mixing at pipe junctions. Results of the pipe mixing experiments showed large deviations from predicted behavior and these have a large impact on standard network operations models.3« less


Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy has become a focus of attention in recent years, owing to its relatively high prevalence, its impact on maternal and fetal health, and its cumulative effects over time. This study aims to determine the magnitude and characteristics of IPV among pregnant Saudi Arabian women, to identify the factors that increase the risk, and to assess the willingness of abused women to report IPV. This is a cross-sectional, community-based survey of pregnant women in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. A modified Abuse Assessment Score (AAS) questionnaire was used. Sociodemographic data were collected. Data related to willingness to report IPV, including reasons for declining to report IPV, were also collected. A total of 1,330 women completed the three parts of the survey. In total, 345 (25.9%) women reported emotional abuse during pregnancy, whereas 72 (5.4%)reported physical abuse and 180 (13.5%) reported sexual abuse. In emotional abuse, a significant association was found between having more children (p = .001), having a lower education (p = .05), having a lower income (p = .04), and being abused. In physical abuse during pregnancy, no significant associations were found between all variables and being abused. However, in reporting sexual abuse among women during pregnancy, a significant increase in the risk was found in those with four or more children (p = .01) and those who are employed (p = .01). More than two-thirds (71.2%) of abused pregnant women were unwilling to report the abusive acts to a medical authority. IPV is common among pregnant Saudi women. Emotional abuse is the commonest form of IPV, affecting one in four women. More than two-thirds of abused women were unwilling to report their partner's abusive acts. Screening for IPV may encourage women to seek help and improve both maternal and fetal health.


Touch screen technology's first public appearance was in the early 2000s. Touch screens became a part of the daily life with the invention of smartphones and tablets. Now, this technology has the potential to be the next big change in flight deck design. To date, mobile devices are deployed by several air carriers to perform a host of non-safety critical pre-flight and in-flight tasks. Due to high safety requirements requested by authorities, new technologies cannot be adopted as fast as in other settings. Flight deck evolution, which is briefly presented in this paper, is reflecting this natural time delay. Avionics manufacturers are exploring and working on future concepts with touch screen displays. This paper investigates the potential benefits and challenges of touch screen technology on flight decks by means of a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods (mixed method approach). On the basis of this, a framework was constructed showing the relation between various aspects that could impact the usability of touch screens on the flight deck. This paper concludes with a preliminary questionnaire that can help avionic designers to evaluate whether a touch screen is an appropriate user interface for their system.


Across the globe, local governments and their brethren regional and national governments, are facing the growing prospect of performance measurement and management (Hatry, 1999, 2006; De Bruijn, 2002; Poister, 2003), performance based budgeting (for example Berman and Wang, 2000), and the general rubric of new public management (OECD, 1990; Hood, 1991, 1995; Osborne and Gaebler, 1992; Pollitt, 1993; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2000; Guthrie et al. 2005). In essence, these approaches demand greater accountability, in many cases greater data collection and compilation and reporting in order to create a more transparent and more responsive government. Importantly, these new management systems are also critical in facilitating the comparison of governments within and across countries. Extensive research has been conducted over the last two decades on understanding the evolution of performance measurement systems (PMSs), their adoption and, in some cases, their effectiveness, both subjective and objective (see for example Poister, 2003). While some attempt has been made to address cross-national trends in PMSs, very few systemic efforts have been attempted to uncover similarities and differences. This type of analysis may illuminate the importance of different aspects of the adoption and use of performance measurements in local governments across country borders. Progress has been made in understanding challenges in measuring and comparing bureaucracies across countries at the national level (see for example, Van de Walle, 2005, 2006). The next stage or evolution in this area of interest is the comparison of local government performance and bureaucracy. This is particularly important given the continuing push by many international agencies for devolution or decentralization of government functions (for example OECD, 2001). This paper will proceed to address two basic questions. One, an analysis will be undertaken on the methodological challenges of comparing local government bureaucracy across countries. Starting from the existing literature, a methodological framework will be constructed to identify the key variables and options in comparing the local government bureaucracies of countries. Second, the paper will build on this methodological framework and compare the local governments of the United States and Italy. This comparison, that will be carried out being aware of the possible pitfalls which can undermine such cross-national research (Eglene and Dawes, 2006), will be facilitated by the joint surveying of local governments in these countries in the spring of 2007. One of the challenges in comparing local governments are the different set of functional responsibilities encompassed by different levels of government. One must find a way to standardize service delivery responsibilities across different countries and systems. A second challenge is the availability of data, even within a single country, to compare or benchmark performance across countries. A third challenge is the differences in expectations among the population and elected officials as to the role of government and bureaucracy in society. As a matter of facts, one major criticism has been the subjective nature of the comparative indicators (Van de Walle, 2005). Our analysis proceeds by addressing the challenge of compiling comparable data and assessing how even nearly identical survey instruments can lead to challenges in assessing the adoption and use of performance measures across two countries. Using a quantitative analysis, the aim is to contribute to Study Group on Productivity and Quality's theme of comparisons of public sectors across countries. Questions that will be directly addressed include: What are the challenges in comparing local government bureaucracies across countries? Can instruments be designed to facilitate this comparison? What are the conditions under which PMS is established and succeed? What are the enablers of successful PMS? Does PMS bring to deliver all the desired effects claimed by theory?


Calf (lower leg) strains have a variety of treatment regimens with variable outcomes and return to activity (RTA) time frames. These injuries involve disruption of portions or the entire gastrocnemius-soleus myo-tendinous complex. Conservative treatment initially consists of rest, ice, compression, elevation (RICE). Immediately following calf injury, patients can utilize cryotherapy, massage, passive range of motion, and progressive exercise. In general, Grade I through Grade III calf strains can take up to 6 weeks before the athlete can return to training. It can also involve the loss of more than 50% of muscle integrity. Recently, vibration therapy and radial pressure waves have been utilized to treat muscular strains and other myo-tendinous injuries that involve trigger points. Studies have suggested vibration therapy with rehabilitation can increase muscle strength and flexibility in patients. Segmental vibration therapy (SVT) is treatment to a more focal area. Vibration therapy (VT) is applied directly to the area of injury. VT is a mechanical stimulus that is thought to stimulate the sensory receptors, as well as decrease inflammatory cells and receptors. Therefore, VT could be a valuable tool in treating athlete effectively and decreasing their recovery time. The purpose of this paper is to give the reader baseline knowledge of VT and propose a treatment protocol for calf strains using this technology along with radial pressure waves.


Microzooplankton have received increased attention as an important trophic link between the microbial loop and calanoid copepods. On the basis of food size spectra overlap in some microzooplankton groups and calanoid copepods, however, such microzooplankton could function as competitors rather than as food for calanoid copepods (intraguild prey). Mixotrophic flagellates presumably represent a link between the microbial loop and the micro and mesozooplankton. We investigated the effects of microzooplankton and mixotrophy by altering the presence of a heterotrophic dinoflagellate and of a mixotrophic nanoflagellate in artificial food webs with calanoid copepods as terminal consumers. Overall system productivity was manipulated by two levels of nutrient enrichment. The heterotrophic dinoflagellate drastically reduced the nanophytoplankton and enhanced the reproduction of the copepods, suggesting that its role as a competitor is negligible compared to its function as a trophic link. In spite of the presence of heterotrophic nanoflagellates, the mixotroph had a strong negative effect on the picophytoplankton and (presumably) on bacterial biomass. At the same time, the mixotroph enhanced the atomic C:N ratio of the seston biomass, indicating a higher efficiency in overall primary production. Copepod reproduction was enhanced in the presence of the mixotrophic nanoflagellate. Results did not support predictions of the intraguild predation theory: The ratios of the intraguild predators and their preys were not affected by overall system productivity.


In this work, we present an overview on how density functional theory calculations can be used to design novel electrocatalytic materials for fuel cells. In particular, we focus the attention on non-metal doped graphene systems, which were reported to present excellent performances as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathodic electrode of fuel cells and are, thus, considered promising substitutes of platinum or platinum alloys electrodes. The methodology, originally proposed by Norskov et al. (J. Phys. Chem. B 2004, 108, 17886) for electrochemical processes at metal electrodes, is revisited and applied specifically to doped graphene. Finite molecular models of graphene are found to perform as well as periodic models for localized properties or reactions. Therefore, the sophisticated molecular quantum mechanics methodologies can be safely used to compute reliable Gibbs free energies of reaction in an aqueous environment for the various steps of reduction (at the cathode) or of oxidation (at the anode). Details of the reaction mechanisms and accurate cell onset- or over-potentials can be derived from the Gibbs free energy diagrams. The latter are computational quantities which can be directly compared to experimentally obtained cell overpotentials. Modeling electrocatalysis at fuel cells is, thus, an extremely powerful and convenient tool to improve our understanding of how fuel cells work and to design novel potentially active electrocatalytic materials. In this work, we present two specific applications of B-doped graphene, as electrocatalysts for the ORR at a half-cell cathode and for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) at a half-cell anode.


The growing number of development stakeholders and initiatives in developing countries has added complexity to international development cooperation (IDC). Recipient countries have witnessed the increasing presence of emerging countries such as the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), offering South–South cooperation as an alternative model for development. We call the impact of the new practices of South–South cooperation providers on the prevailing IDC structure the 'BRICS effect' – an effect that ultimately destabilises established positions and interaction patterns between agents, and even between traditional donors and recipients. Combining the Bourdieusian notion of social fields with international relations (IR) perspectives on the changing geopolitics of international aid, this article discusses how the BRICS effect challenges established principles and practices from the field of IDC, indicating at least three dimensions: (1) new positions beyond the donor vs recipient dyad; (2) new modes of development cooperation; and (3) transformation of institutional architecture and governance mechanisms.


Traditionally, offline modeling and simulation has been the tool of choice for improving wind energy system control strategies and their utility system integration. This paper exploits how a newly established real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test facility, which is designed for testing all-electric ship propulsion systems, can be utilized for wind energy research. The test site uses two 2.5-MW/220-rpm dynamometers and a 5-MW variable voltage and frequency converter to emulate a realistic dynamic environment, both mechanically and electrically. The facility is controlled by a digital real-time electric power system simulator that is capable of simulating electrical networks and control systems of substantial complexity, typically with a 50-mus time step. Substantial input/output allows the feedback of measured quantities into the simulation. A 15-kW mock-up motor-generator set is used to demonstrate some critical aspects of the concept including the implementation of a proposed neural-network-based sensorless maximum wind energy capture control. From the dynamic test results presented, it is concluded that the proposed system shows great potential for the development of a unified wind energy design, test, and research platform


ABSTRACT
Alcohol consumption was people behavior which broke norms, whether from religion or existing law. The behavior also has influence to the existence of several criminals which was done by individual, but, since it hard to be erased and common phenomena in society. That's why the writer was interesting to reveal the phenomena of criminals exist caused by alcohol and law aspect. The research tried to reveal what kinds of criminal action could be happened
caused by alcoholic drink and factors caused the people consume alcoholic drink In this research, the writer used juridical criminology approach. The writer chose
location at Taman Ayu Village Pronojiwo Sub-District Lumajang Residence, considering that the phenomena happened often in the region. In collecting data, the writer used interview, observation, and documentation method. To reveal the research, the writer used descriptive analysis method.
From the research, there could be found that criminal action which caused by subject who consumed alcoholic drink were: inhibiting course-line (violating section 492 Criminal Law), threating others (violating section 492 Criminal Law), shouting (disturbing public needs) (violating section 503 Criminal Law), entering places for
public work (violating section 168 Criminal Law) and using violence to person or thing (violating section 170 Criminal Law). All were criminals since they fulfilled the
substances in the section. Criminal violation by drunken individual and un-conscious because of alcoholic drink consumption has their own sanctions as stated in Criminal
Law sections along the violations. Factors caused the subject consumne alcohol were: permissive social condition, life-pressure, difficult to reject, and social event which
served alcoholic drinks. The way people solve the problem were: (1) limiting the alcoholic consumption in village event; (2) monitoring people who consume alcholic drink; (3) decreasing the seller in Taman Ayu village Area; (4) coordination with village security and police officer
In relation with the research, the writer suggest to the police officer to use persuasive method. For the next researcher, it would be better to do research with the
same theme and different perspective with the writer since existing criminal in the village was an interesting phenomena.


The objectives of this study are 1) to analyze the effect of marketing mix, brand awareness, brand image and region of origin on lapis talas purchasing decision for tourists in Bogor city, 2) to create effective marketing strategies for business development. Using SEM-Partial Least Square method,this research was conducted in the city of Bogor with the sample of 160 respondents. The selected respondents were tourists who came to the city of Bogor and had purchased lapis talas cakes. From the results of the study, it is known that the brand awareness variable, brand image, product, promotion and region of origin have a significant influence while the place variable has no significant influence. Strategy recommendations suggested in this study are 1) Increase brand awareness by increasing the intensity of advertising on social media, building outlets in tourism areas and train stations; 2) Improve product quality by providing packaging machines, making plastic bags, enlarging product sizes and adding fruit mixes; 3) Improve regional characteristics by adding taro ingredients and making a brand that is identical with the city of Bogor; 4) Build brand image through tagline; 5) Increase promotion using online media (facebook, instagram and twitter), billboards and discounted prices. Keywords: marketing mix, marketing strategy, region of origin, SEM-PLS, purchase decision


Our global food system is undergoing rapid change. Since the global food crisis of 2007-2008, a range of new issues have come to public attention, such as land grabbing, food prices volatility, agrofuels and climate change. Peasant social movements are trying to respond to these challenges by organizing from the local to the global to demand food sovereignty. As the transnational agrarian movement La Via Campesina celebrates its 20th anniversary, this book takes stock of the movement's achievements and reflects on challenges for the future. It provides an in-depth analysis of the movement's vision and strategies, and shows how it has contributed not only to the emergence of an alternative development paradigm but also of an alternative conception of human rights. The book explores why La Via Campesina was successful in mobilizing a human rights discourse in its struggle against neoliberalism, and assesses efforts by the movement to achieve the international recognition of new human rights for peasants at the international level, namely the «right to food sovereignty» and «peasants' rights». It also explores the limitations and potential pitfalls of using the human rights framework. The book shows that, to inject subversive potential in their rights-based claims, La Via Campesina activists a) developed an alternative conception of rights, that is more plural, less statist, less individualistic, and more multi-cultural than dominant conceptions of human rights; b) deployed a combination of institutional (from above) and extrainstitutional (from below) strategies to demand new rights and reinforce grassroots mobilization through rights.


The inactivation of Cryptosporidium species oocysts during sewage sludge treatment is important to protect human health when the residual biosolids are applied to agricultural land. Quantifying the decay of Cryptosporidium species during sludge treatment for microbiological assurance purposes is difficult if low numbers are present in wastewater. The rate of decay of Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts during solar/air drying treatment and in sludge stockpiles in temperate environment conditions was simulated in laboratory inoculation experiments using sludge sampled from a mesophilic anaerobic digester. Oocyst numbers were also determined in settled lagoon sludge samples collected from three operational rural wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). C. parvum oocysts were enumerated by immunomagnetic separation followed by staining with vital dyes and examination by confocal laser scanning microscopy. An air-drying/storage period equivalent to 11 weeks was required for a 1 log10 reduction of viable oocysts inoculated into digested sludge. Oocyst viability in air-dried and stored digested sludge decreased with time, but was independent of sludge desiccation and dry solids (DS) content. No oocysts were detected in sludge samples collected from the anaerobic digester, and the average concentration of oocysts found in settled lagoon sludge from the rural WWTP was 4.6 × 102 oocysts/g DS.


The existence of stem cells in the adult nervous system is well recognized; however, the potential of these cells is still widely debated. We demonstrate that neural stem cells exist within the embryonic and adult cerebellum. Comparing the potential of neural stem cells derived from the forebrain and cerebellum, we find that progeny derived from each of these brain regions retain regional character in vitro as well as after homotopic transplantation. However, when ectopically transplanted, neurosphere-derived cells from either region are largely unable to generate neurons. With regard specifically to embryonic and adult cerebellar stem cells, we observe that they are able to give rise to neurons that resemble different select classes of cerebellar subclasses when grafted into the perinatal host cerebellum. Most notably, upon transplantation to the perinatal cerebellum, cerebellar stem cells from all ages are able to acquire the position and mature electrophysiological properties of cerebellar granule cells.


In this study, we attempt to prove some previously held ideas of machinery investment decisions using farm level data from Illinois. Investment decisions are analyzed taking into consideration past investment decisions in the county and on the individual farm. The results show there is a correlation between county level purchases and individual farm purchases and investment levels decrease the following year after an initial investment. These results display how non-traditional drivers for investment also play an important role in the investment decision.


This paper presents a study on the importance of copper production in the State of Sonora, Mexico. Important data will be presented with total relevance to the current economic framework in which it will be possible to determine through a thorough investigation the reason why Sonora as a state is a great potential producer, as copper exporter in comparison to the other producing states of Mexico. The main producing states of the country will be presented using statistics that show the production of each of them in the time-frame of 2011-2016.


Additive Manufacturing (AM) has a great potential of disrupting product design and supply chains in many industries by means of its unique capabilities when compared to traditional manufacturing. A wide range of designers would like to take advantage of AM to improve their designs, but they need assistance in learning and breaking out of their conventional manufacturing mindset in the early phases of the design process. Therefore, this study explores the use of Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance the learning experience of the existing Design Heuristics for Additive Manufacturing using Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) cards. In this study, we propose a modification of DfAM cards to include AR markers into the existing card design and hence provide a comprehensive visualization along with the information about heuristics and examples on the DfAM cards. This helps the user to understand the real-world structure of the final printed product before it is printed. The cross-platform game engine Unity is used for developing the AR models for this research. We also investigate the advantages that AR can provide as a visual interface. An expert review is conducted to obtain development feedback and a trial training session with students is carried out. The student evaluated positively the use of the AR app in their DfAM lecture and exercise.


The forthcoming fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) will be designed to satisfy the demands of 2020 and beyond. 5G does not just promise a huge increase in terms of data rates and capacity but it also targets new kind of use cases like Internet of Things or vehicular communications. The currently deployed 4G technology does not provide enough network capabilities to support this wide diversity of applications which has motivated the research on alternative waveforms. In this article, a new promising modulation scheme is introduced: Block-Filtered OFDM (BF-OFDM). The proposed waveform demonstrates an excellent frequency localization and can straightforwardly be integrated with the OFDM know-how and LTE principles. Besides, the proposed waveform relies on a receiver similar to the one used in CP-OFDM. BF-OFDM systems are also scalable, which is an interesting feature in order to steer the network capabilities on demand.


GPGPU (General purpose computing on graphics processing unit) is quite common in today's modern computer games when doing heavy simulation calculations like game physics or particle systems. GPU programming is not only used in games but also in scientific research when doing heavy calculations on molecular structures and protein folding etc. The reason why you use the GPU for these kinds of tasks is that you can gain an incredible speedup in performance to your application. Previous research shows that particle systems scale very well to the GPU architecture. When simulating very large particle-system on the GPU it can run up to 79 times faster than the CPU. But for some very small particle systems the CPU proved to be faster. This research aims to compare the difference between the GPU and CPU when it comes to simulating many smaller particle-systems and to see what happen to the performance when the particle-systems become smaller and smaller.


The retention rate of a company has an impact on its earnings and dividend growth. Corporate management has control over this. However, lease structures in some real estate markets reduce the control of investment managers and force them to adopt full distribution policies and a passive management style. This is likely to impact the rental performance of the real estate by permitting depreciation to go uncorrected. This paper examines several European office markets across which lease structures and retention rates vary. It then compares depreciation rates across these markets. It is concluded that there is evidence of a relationship between retention and depreciation. Markets with particularly inflexible lease structures clearly exhibit low retention rates, and we can tentatively suggest higher levels of rental value depreciation. This poses interesting questions concerning the relationships between lease structures in different markets and their impact on expenditure by owners, and also concerning the impact on building depreciation and property performance. While longer and deeper datasets are necessary to establish direct linkages between lease structures and performance, this paper raises important issues for global investors.


The essays in this book engage in a broad range of topics, stretching from Anacreon and Horace to Kafka and Samuel Beckett, and they concern themselves with the notion of Art and Life as "para-worlds," or fields of being that elucidate and complete each other, answer and imply each other, confront and contradict each other: in short, with the "entanglements of Art and History." Pearce finds centrally that there is at present a crisis in literary criticism. On the one hand, there is a bustling and exciting crop of competing critical schools, each with its special mind-set, each tending to regard itself as the final hierophantic mode. On the other, it seems clear that criticism has recently become a part of higher pathology diagnosing and (if possible) eradicating, as Giles Gunn says, "the disease called literature." The result is that scholars and critics have become more and more self-conscious and obsessive about the purpose and methods of their work. The critical approaches that Pearce himself has employed in these essays are those of no one school or dogma but are almost as varied as the texts themselves, ranging from essays in classical scholarship, through new critical close readings, to postmodernist semiotic analysis. But whether traditional or innovative in method, each of these essays aims in the first instance to be what Anatole France once said all true criticism should be: "the adventure of the soul among masterpieces."


Freeway travel time data is used as an important input for measuring travel reliability and accessibility. The goal of this project was to generate reliable travel time data using loop detector data from the Twin Cities' freeway network collected over the past 14 years for the Access to Destinations projects. Several difficulties exist: one year of loop data can be missing up to 31.7%, loop data does not include vehicle lengths or classification to use in speed calculations, and link travel time must be computed without knowing speed variability within the link. The three basic approaches used in this project for imputing speed data are linear regression, spatial imputation, and week-to-week temporal imputation. A new method was developed to estimate average vehicle length using volume, occupancy, free-flow speed, and speed limit data. Link travel times were calculated by dividing the distance between stations into thirds and using speed data from both stations. Overall (for the last fourteen years), the imputation increased the average amount of valid data from 81.7% to 98.6%. Travel time for a selected route was verified by comparing the resulting calculated travel times to manual travel times measurement information.


The present paper deals with the interpretation of the photoelectron spectrum of the Li(3)O(-). After several failed attempts to attribute all of the observed peaks in the experimental spectrum to anionic species, neutral species were considered assuming a sequential two-photon absorption mechanism. We find that only two of the six observed peaks can be attributed to photodetachments and that all other observed features can be assigned to ionizations from the ground and excited states of the neutral. Nuclear distributions other than three lithium atoms surrounding the oxygen are not likely to be stable. The interpretation of the experimental peak located at about 1.2 eV remains challenging. It can either be attributed to the second electron detachment (involving the HOMO -1 orbital) energy from the anion's triplet C(2v) state or to higher excited states (involving HOMO +10, 11, 12... orbitals) of the neutral species. Furthermore, we have examined the influence of vibrational displacements on the location of the observed peaks. We find that this effect is smaller than 0.05 eV and, therefore, must be considered as negligible.


Bee products include honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly and bee bread consists mainly of carbohydrates (CHO), minerals, and vitamins which are properties that are believed able to improve performance and general human health. Especially, bee pollen can be an effective nutrient source for human body to increase immune functions and antioxidant activity, which is essential for a wide variety of metabolic and physiologic processes. Thus, it is believed that bee pollen can be the best supplement for human nutrition and health, but there is limited information on the ergogenic effects of bee pollen on body performance. The main target of this study was to analyse some energy components together with physicochemical and antioxidant properties of bee pollen to determine its potential as a performance-enhancing energy source for humans. For this aim, some physicochemical and biological values together with antioxidant capacity of bee pollen collected from different regions of Central Asia were investigated. The findings have revealed that bee pollens have an abundance of fenolic substances and antioxidants, which are all important in achieving optimal health and performance. However, it has also been concluded that physicochemical and antioxidant properties of pollen samples were varied depending on the varied geographical locations having different floral sources.


(No paper) The State of Arizona is currently in the process of determining the ownership of the streambeds of watercourses within the state boundaries. Claims of ownership turn on whether or not the watercourses were navigable or susceptible to being navigable at the time of Statehood on February 14, 1912. The legal background and legislative chronology is outlined to set the context of why the State is currently involved in this process. The definition of navigability and the criteria evaluated in determining the navigability or non-navigability of watercourses are described to establish what characteristics are considered in such determinations. The methodology and approach employed in compiling the archaeological, historical, hydrologic, hydraulic, geomorphologic, boating, and land use information and data summaries for the Arizona stream navigability studies are presented. Useful historical data and information are highlighted and the sources of those materials are described. The combination of the historical and hydrologic records are used to integrate and assess the temporal variation of the climatic, hydrologic, geomorphologic, and land use characteristics with the historical chronology of events. The current status of the assessment of watercourses in the state by the Arizona Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission is presented. In conclusion, the immediate short-term direction of the watercourse evaluation process is discussed, and the long-term impacts of the navigability determinations are outlined.


Low wages are a persistent feature of child care jobs and affect the quality of children's care in the U.S. In this article, we examine how implementation of Seattle's minimum wage law affected the local child care sector using three datasets: (1) state administrative records on approximately 200 Seattle-based child care businesses; (2) a longitudinal employer survey of 41 child care centers; and (3) in-depth interviews of 15 Seattle child care center directors. Findings suggest that initial increases in the local minimum wage affected the majority of child care businesses. Providers' most commonly responded to higher labor costs by raising tuition and reducing staff hours or headcount—strategies that may negatively impact low-income families and staff. While raising wages may help some child care employees, considering the full range of effects of this policy underscores the need for a systems approach to supporting the child care sector as a whole.


We describe the operation of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system operating on a synthetic wastewater (acetic acid), under conditions of increasing nitrogen limitation. Two MFCs were operated under feed conditions which spanned a range of TKN/COD values of 1.6-28 mg/g. Stable operation was observed in all cases, even when no ammoniacal nitrogen was added to the cell. Improved electrochemical performance (measured as power density, W/m2) was observed as nitrogen limitation was imposed on the cells. Even with no ammonium addition, continuous function of the cell was maintained, at levels consistent with operation at balanced nutrient supplementation. The work has implicated biological nitrogen fixation as a potential source of nitrogen within the MFC. Whilst this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed, the work highlights the opportunity for continuous operation of microbial fuel cells utilising wastewaters with extremely low nitrogen levels, present in pulp and paper, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. Further, the described increases in some of the electrochemical indices (e.g. power density) under application of nitrogen limitation may provide a new approach to increasing fuel cell performance. Finally, the lack of any need to add supplemental nitrogen to a MFC-based wastewater treatment technology holds potential for significant financial and environmental savings.


"As the world becomes increasingly digitalized, we are confronted with new, often disruptive, business models also leading to new forms of labour. One feature of this development is the dual phenomenon of crowdsourcing and crowdworking, which spans the whole value-chain of the economy and represents a global labour market. The working conditions in this sector cannot be ignored, because they have a great impact on the situation of established employees, on the competition between crowdworkers, and on the sustainability of the systems of social security. Although it is too soon to give a final assessment of this emerging workplace, we can be sure it will have a significant influence on the labour market, including (labour) law institutions. Against this background the HSI decided to have a closer look at the factual and legal developments crowdsourcing has brought about in three major legal landscapes. We are very happy and grateful to have found three high-ranking legal experts to fulfill this task. The findings in this study can be seen as a preliminary evaluation of the dynamic and erratic developments in the "platform economy". Crowdworkers work under very different arrangements, and each case presents a slightly different employment picture, some crowdworkers perhaps amounting to employees, others more like selfemployed contractors (and others somewhere in between). But because few crowdworkers currently enjoy social protections, this study also offers a broad variety of legislative options that could work to address such shortcomings within several legal systems."


In today's society, women - having entered the workplace in growing numbers worldwide - are increasingly expected to earn wages whilst still being primarily responsible for raising children. While all parents confront the tensions of this double burden, for lone mothers, the situation can be especially acute as there is no other adult to share responsibilities and no access to a male wage.
The revealing essays in this volume address a range of the dilemmas lone mothers routinely face, whilst also distinguishing important situational differences, and considering other social perspectives. It asks:
* How can governments help without undermining their ability to enter the workforce?
* Should the state indefinitely support lone mothers?
* How should we measure the success of a policy?
* What roles do ethnicity, race, religion, class and sexual orientation play?
The impressive range of contributors to this volume speak from numerous contrasting perspectives. Here they study a variety of international settings such as Sri Lanka, the US, Germany, England and Norway, and in so doing, they allow the reader to draw powerful conclusions by comparing such issues and potential resolutions in varying countries and contexts.
This book was previously published as a special issue of Feminist Economics.


Generic masculines – masculine forms used for women – are employed in many languages, for example English (Mills 2008), French (Coady 2018), Spanish (Bengoechea 2011) and German (Motschenbacher 2016), providing accounts of how gender is made visible in the language through morphological, lexical and syntactic units. These accounts are also linked with how gender is seen in societies and culture, reproducing an imbalance between women and men. Specifically, language discrimination against women is based on the idea that speakers orient themselves towards androcentric language, recognising 'men' as a metonym for the group 'human being' (Alvanoudi 2014), causing a linguistic invisibility of women. Similarly, studies in Italian have also discussed the use of masculine forms to refer to, talk about and describe women (Cavagnoli 2013), or have shown how these are used in specialised (Nardone 2016, 2018) or media corpora (Formato 2014, 2016, 2019). This article investigates the use of a specific (and underexamined) generic masculine in Italian – namely, the indefinite pronoun uno.m.sg (in comparison with una.f.sg) labelled 'impersonal masculine' (Formato 2019:69) – in three subcorpora of the Perugia Corpus (TV, Web and Spoken; Spina 2014). Uno.m.sg is seen as constructing 'extended intersubjectivity', that is, the awareness of a general third party (3rdP) acting as the social bearer of the utterance (Tantucci 2013, 2016, 2017a). The results show that the masculine impersonal uno.m.sg is widely used in the three subcorpora and in several functions, confirming that grammatically gendered language is still employed within a 'masculine as a norm' order.


We present Peax, a novel feature-based technique for interactive visual pattern search in sequential data, like time series or data mapped to a genome sequence. Visually searching for patterns by similarity is often challenging because of the large search space, the visual complexity of patterns, and the user's perception of similarity. For example, in genomics, researchers try to link patterns in multivariate sequential data to fundamental cellular or pathogenic processes, but a lack of ground truth and high variance makes automatic pattern detection unreliable. We have developed a convolutional autoencoder for unsupervised representation learning of regions in sequential data that can capture more visual details of complex patterns compared to existing similarity measures. Using this learned representation as features of the sequential data, our accompanying visual query system enables interactive feedback-driven adjustments of the pattern search to adapt to the users' perceived similarity. While users label regions as either matching their search target or not, a random forest classifier learns to weigh the importance of different dimensions of the learned representation. We employ an active learning sampling strategy to focus the labeling process on regions that will improve the classifier in subsequent training. Peax is open-source, customizable, and we demonstrate its features through an extensive case study in genomics. Moreover, we report on the ability of our autoencoder models to capture visual features and evaluate the effectiveness of the learned representation for similarity search in two user studies. We show that our models retrieve significantly more similar patterns than other commonly used techniques.


Despite intense scrutiny, estimates of the government spending multiplier remain highly uncertain, with values ranging from 0.5 to 2. While an increase in government spending is generally assumed to have the same (mirror-image) effect as a decrease in government spending, we show that relaxing this assumption is important to understand the effects of fiscal policy. Regardless of whether we identify government spending shocks from (i) a narrative approach, or (ii) a timing restriction, we find that the contractionary multiplier --the multiplier associated with a negative shock to government spending-- is above 1, while the expansionary multiplier --the multiplier associated with a positive shock-- is substantially below 1. The multiplier is largest in recessions, as found in previous studies, but only because the contractionary multiplier is largest in recessions. The expansionary multiplier is always below 1 and not larger in recessions. We argue that our results help understand the wide range of multiplier estimates found in the literature.


The influence of dielectric and structural parameters of photonic crystals on conditions of (hkl) stop band switching and splitting effects is considered. Splitting effects play a key role in selective control of photonic stop bands, i.e., the possibility to control light fluxes propagating at different wavelengths. Detailed studies of splitting effects in three-component photonic crystals with the face-centered-cubic lattice formed from coated spheres are reported. The calculations performed in the framework of the analytical model based on analysis of the scattering form factor are given. It is shown that in contrast to traditional numerical methods used in calculations of photonic properties of a periodic structure, the analytical approach allows one to solve the inverse design problem, i.e., to infer structural photonic crystal parameters from desired photonic properties.


Radicalization, Terrorism, and Conflict is a collection of scholarly works, authored by international researchers and thought leaders, addressing contemporary, history making issues in international security and terrorism from an interdisciplinary perspective. Contributors to this edited volume represent global perspectives, ideas, analysis, and research from England, Spain, Greece, Iran, Australia, the USA, Northern Ireland, China, and Hong Kong. As an interdisciplinary collection of manuscripts, this book integrates and synthesizes theory, research, and public policy analysis in an effort to solve the complex questions and problems presented by this topic. Radicalization, Terrorism, and Conflict transmits relevant findings, theory, and policy ideas for scholars of security and terrorism studies, for policy makers, and to the general public who are interested in keeping up with this global area of concern. It provides a jumping off point for conversation and collaboration that can lead to new knowledge and broader understanding.


Projects are distinctive, time-constrained, undertakings meant to generate benefits for their stakeholders. They are delivered by Project-based organisations (PBOs) whose various actors separately consider achievement in relation to a project's outputs, outcomes, and impact. For example, contracting organisations typically consider projects that fail to meet their principal cost and time targets as having been unsuccessful, whereas the various sponsors, customers, collaborators, and end-users may instead base their evaluation upon the ultimate operational results of these same projects. The aim was to examine the knowledge base for contrasting perspectives around project-based failure in the construction sector. This required scrutiny and analysis of the extant literature, using a systematic-type literature review approach within and across construction management (CM) and project management (PM) literature. This revealed that in PM literature, considerations of failure are often more introspective and discussed in more general terms; with its main causes being associated with the PM function itself. Whereas the CM literature instead focuses on more specific and external failures; with causes more likely attributed to the wider supply chain and contextual factors. Results can help inform the design of dedicated research instruments to help better understand the impact of failure on PBOs.


Aim/Purpose This study investigates the public perception towards Facebook usage in the 2015 political campaigns in Nigeria. Background The utilization of online networking in political issues has kept on developing in late time, even though it was not at first recognized as a political apparatus, political aspirants and politicians at large have now understood its capability. Hence, it has turned into one of the fundamental platforms for political aspirants to propagate diverse campaign messages to their constituents who have an interest in their political career and aspirations. Methodology The study made use of descriptive survey design with a questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Data were analyzed using the 2016 Microsoft Excel statistical package with frequency counts and simple percentages presented in tables and graphs. The hypotheses generated in this study were tested via inferential statistical chi-square analysis at 0.05 level of significant. Contribution Studies that investigate the public perception of the usage of Facebook in electioneering campaign in Northern Nigeria, notably Taraba State is in its embryonic stage. Therefore, this paper is an extension to such body of knowledge. Findings The study demonstrated that Facebook was used in the 2015 senatorial electioneering campaigns in southern Taraba, and this influenced electorate to vote a particular candidate. However, it is the perception of the respondents that there were dysfunctions such as deliberate distortions in the information about opponents, abusive speech, distortion of the facts about personal performance, and misinformation as a strategy for influencing on the Facebook pages of the electorates and candidates. Recommendations for Practitioners Reliability (e.g. message must be clear, focused, well conveyed, believable, credible, free from abusive speech and attacking of opponents) should be an essential concept in the posted political messages or promises of politicians so as to draw Facebook role on political campaign 86 more fans to themselves. Recommendation for Researchers It should be noted that this study centres on southern Taraba alone, therefore, in order to get a more generalized results, it is pertinent for further research to include other parts of Nigeria. Additionally, a combination of content analysis and interview will be helpful in examining the nature of the abusive words/speeches used on Facebook in the 2015 southern Taraba senatorial electioneering campaign. Future Research Some of the limitations have to do with the nature of the questionnaires themselves and the kind of variables and measurement models required. The measurements are perceptions rather than quantitative interval or ratio scale measures taken on the variable. Therefore, future research should adopt quantitative interval or ratio scale measures on the variable in order to obtain scientific results.


Summary
Numerous studies have demonstrated biodiversity–productivity relationships in plant communities, and analogous genetic diversity–productivity studies using genotype mixtures of single species may show similar patterns. Alternatively, competing individuals among genotypes within a species are less likely to exhibit resource-use complementarity, even when they exhibit large differences in their effects on ecosystem function.
In this study, we test the impact of genotype diversity and genetic identity on ecosystem function using an ecosystem-scale common garden experiment. Distinct tree genotypes were collected across the entire natural range of the riparian tree Populus fremontii in the USA, and grown in 1–16 genotype combination forest stands. Due to the warm climate and irrigation of the planting location along the Colorado River (AZ, USA), mature forest physiognomy with trees up to 19 m tall was achieved in just five years.
Several key patterns emerged: (i) genotype richness did not predict forest productivity, suggesting a lack of net biodiversity effects; (ii) we found differences among genotype monoculture stands comparable to differences in average productivity across all forest biomes on Earth; (iii) productivity was predicted based on genetic marker similarity in trees; (iv) genetic-based differences in leaf phenology (early leaf-on and late leaf-fall timing) were correlated with >80% of the variation in tree and forest productivity irrespective of home-site conditions.
Large differences in productivity among genotypes can result in dramatic differences in forest productivity without resulting in diversity–productivity relationships that are present in species-scale biodiversity studies.


Breast carcinoma, one of the most frequent malignancies in women, is a complex disease in which a
number of different factors combine to drive pathogenesis.
The biopathological characterization of these tumors is essential to determine their aggressiveness
and to find the most appropriate therapy.
As in others neoplasms, the deregulation of signal transduction pathways is frequently responsible
for conferring selective biological advantages to the tumor.
Phosphoinositides play an essential role in diverse cellular functions, their metabolism is highly
active, and is tightly controlled. Among the enzymes implicated in this pathway, phospholipase C
beta 1 (PLCβ1) is one of the key regulators, both at the cytoplasmic and the nuclear level.
The PLCβ1 gene maps onto the short arm of chromosome 20, a region that has been shown to be
altered in several solid tumors, including breast cancer.
In the present study a FISH approach was used to investigate the genetic alterations of the PLCβ1
gene in various classes of breast cancer which differ in their invasiveness and proliferation status,
according to their mitotic index. The overall aim was to find out whether this enzyme could be a
suitable prognostic marker for this neoplasm.
Our results show that 83% of cases had aneusomies at the 20p12 level, and the most frequent
alteration is a gain in this specific locus. Indeed, we found that this amplification is not related to
the invasion status since there were no differences in amplified tumor frequencies between in situ
and invasive breast cancer. On the contrary, the gain of PLCβ1 was significantly related to the
mitotic index (p = 0.001).
To verify if the change in genetic dosage influences the expression of PLCβ1 we performed Real
Time PCR and Immunohystochemical analysis. Our results confirmed that amplified tumors have
higher levels of PLCβ1 mRNA, which is the sum of the two splicing isoforms 1a and 1b.
On the other hand, even if protein levels were higher in the majority of cases compared to the nontumoral
specimens, there were no significant associations between gain and overexpression.
Finally, the significant association between the amplification of PLCβ1 and others important
clinicopathological parameters, such as grading and hormonal receptors status, confirmed a
correlation of this enzyme with the aggressiveness of breast cancer. This suggests that PLCβ1 has
the potential to be a prognostic marker in these tumors. However, further work needs to be carried
out to validate these preliminary findings.


In this study, the pharmacological activity of HCT-3012 [(S)-6-methoxy-α-methyl-2-naphtaleneacetic acid 4-(nitrooxy)butyl ester], a nitric oxide (NO)-releasing derivative of naproxen, was compared with that of naproxen in a model of acute ischemia (40 min) and reperfusion (20 min) of the rabbit heart. HTC-3012 (3–100 μM), in spite of inhibition of 6-keto-prostaglandin F1α generation by the cardiac tissues, brought about a dose-dependent normalization of coronary perfusion pressure, associated with a reduction of ventricular contracture during ischemia with remarkable improvement of left ventricular developed pressure at reperfusion. These beneficial effects were accompanied by a substantial release of nitrite/nitrate in the heart perfusates, indicating that NO has been released by HCT-3012 and donated to the cardiac tissue. These events were paralleled by a significant reduction of creatine kinase activity in heart perfusates during reperfusion. Naproxen (10–100 μM) aggravated the myocardial damage in ischemic reperfused hearts, severely depressing the postischemic ventricular dysfunction. Perfusion of the heart with NG-monomethyl-l-arginine (10 μM) caused a marked aggravation of myocardial damage of the reperfused hearts, and this effect was dose dependently prevented by HCT-3012 but not by naproxen. The results of the present experiments clearly indicate that HCT-3012, by donating NO, displays a noticeable anti-ischemic effect in reperfused ischemic rabbit hearts. The safer gastrointestinal profile of HCT-3012 and its ability to control experimental hypertension, suggest that this compound may have therapeutical potential in cardiovascular disease, namely in the prevention of myocardial ischemic events, and may represent a better alternative to conventional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.


Provides more information for Wichita State University teaching faculty and instructors about critical thinking, information and digital literacies, and library instruction.


As crystals are classified by space groups, nematic liquid crystals should be in principle classified by point groups. Conventionally, the study of nematic liquid crystals has mainly been focused on a very small subset of the whole nematic family, partly because of limitations of traditional methods. In this thesis, we introduce a non-Abelian gauge theory that can treat nematic phases with arbitrary point group symmetries in a unified framework in an efficient way.

The proposed gauge theory allows us to compare nematic phases against a common reference. We are therefore able to quantify the orientational fluctuations of nematic orders with different symmetries and identify a novel chiral liquid phase. Moreover, this gauge theory can act as an order-parameter generator, and we thus achieve a full classification of nematic-order-parameter tensors, which has never been done before. Finally, we show that the gauge theory provides a convenient way to access the anisotropy of axial orders, by which we generalize the extensively studied biaxial-uniaxial transition of D2h nematics to a much broader class.


The purpose of this study was to examine the special education referral and decisionmaking process for English language learners (ELLs), with a focus on Child Study Team (CST) meetings and placement conferences/multidisciplinary team meetings. We wished to learn how school personnel determined if ELLs who were struggling had disabilities, to what extent those involved in the process understood second language acquisition, and whether language issues were considered when determining special education eligibility. We observed CST meetings and placement conferences for 19 students who were considered ELLs when they were referred. Findings revealed that in practice, only cursory attention was given to prereferral strategies. Most students were pushed toward testing, based on an assumption that poor academic performance or behavioral difficulties had their origin within the child and indicated a need for special education. Although some school personnel were quite knowledgeable about language issues, many were not. There was tremendous variation in the quality of what transpired during meetings. These differences were influenced by the intentions, knowledge, skills, and commitment of CST or multidisciplinary team members. All the factors we describe point to aspects of the process that should be improved.


This paper examines the ability of linear and nonlinear models to replicate features of real Canadian GDP. We evaluate the models using various business-cycle metrics. From the 9 data generating processes designed, none can completely accommodate every business-cycle metric under consideration. Richness and complexity do not guarantee a close match with Canadian data. Our findings for Canada are consistent with Piger and Morley's (2005) study of the United States data and confirms the contradiction of their results with those reported by Engel, Haugh, and Pagan (2005): nonlinear models do provide an improvement in matching business-cycle features. Lastly, the empirical results suggest that investigating the merits of forecast combination would be worthwhile.


Background: Previous studies have shown that ICU patients receive only a fraction of their calculated nutritional goals, and that cumulative caloric deficit in the ICU has been correlated with poor outcome. One reason for this underfeeding is the frequent interruption of enteral nutrition. Many ICU patients receive enteral feeding formula via a nasogastric (NG) tube. Feeding is typically held for several hours prior to procedures due to the theoretical risk of aspiration. An alternative is to continue feeding up until the procedure begins, then stop the feeding and place the NG to suction. This evacuates the contents of the stomach and minimizes the risk of aspiration, while reducing the interruption of feeding that can result in malnutrition. Methods: This study is a review of prospectively gathered data including 55 sequential patients who underwent bedside percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) placement in a mixed ICU under a reduced fasting protocol. This was compared with a historical cohort of 33 critically ill trauma patients who fasted for at least 8 hours prior to the procedure. Under the reduced fasting protocol, enteral feeding via NG was continued up until the time of the procedure. The NG was then placed to suction, and sedation was given. The NG was left in place until the esophagus was cannulated, then it was removed. The PEG was placed in standard fashion, and feeding was resumed via the PEG immediately following the procedure. Results: We have documented no peri-procedural vomiting or aspiration. New diagnosis of pneumonia within 3 days occurred in 2/55 of the feeding group and 4/33 of the fasting group. Overall mortality was higher for the feeding group: 13/55 vs. 1/33, however when adjusted for baseline characteristics, the difference was no longer significant. Under our protocol, the interruption of feeding averaged approximately one hour, rather than the 8 or 9 hour interruption required by standard protocols. This saved an average of approximately 700 kilocalories per patient. Conclusion: We believe that continuing feeding via NG up until the time of bedside PEG is safe and advantageous for intubated patients in the ICU. Since there was minimal gastric content, it may also be safe for other procedures.


The aim of this Thesis is to to provide empirical explanations for the perceptions of
external auditors and clients (professionals and Operational Managers in the UK Public
Sector organisations), in regard to the Value for Money (VfM) audit's ability to improve
performance in the UK Public Sector organisations. The main source of the data was
face-to-face semi-structured interviews with auditors from the National Audit Office,
The Audit Commission and other accounting firms from the UK Private Sector. Senior
professionals and Operational Managers from the National Health Service, Local
Government Authorities, the Police Service and Housing Associations were also
interviewed.
The evidence is organised with the following aims; (1) to investigate the audit
expectations and perception gaps between the external VfM auditors and their clients,
i.e. professionals and Operational Managers in the UK Public Sector organisations, while
identifying the nature of potential role conflicts in the VfM audit environment along with
the causes and consequences of such potential conflicts; (2) to examine, both from the
auditor and client perspectives, the impact of the VfM audit on the audited bodies'
performance and to determine whether the VfM audit has effected any changes in the
way these organisations manage public resources, and (3), to examine, from the external
VfM auditors' and clients' perspectives, the impact of the VfM audit on the UK Public
Sector audited bodies, while investigating the ways in which the interplay of personal,
interpersonal and external factors can enhance or hinder its effective performance.
The results show that, among other tools, the VfM audit has been perceived as an
important means with which to improve institutional performances in the Public Sector,
but the VfM audit has not yet been internalised in the audited bodies as previously
assumed. The results indicate the existence of clear audit expectationss and perception
gaps within the VfM audit environment. Clients expect the external VfM auditors,
firstly, to identify areas where their performance needs to be improved and then to
suggest solutions in order to remedy the problems and improve performance in the
audited bodies. According to official documentary evidence, these expectationss have
been regarded as unreasonable, with the assumption being that the auditors should not be
involved in working with the audited bodies to find out solutions to remedy problems, as
this might impair their independence.
The findings of this study also show that, while the majority of the auditors interviewed
took an extremely positive view of their own achievements in terms of improving public
institutions' performances and delivering VfM services, the majority of the clients, and
some of the auditors interviewed, were not convinced of the external auditors'
competence to carry out a VfM audit effectively, and to provide their clients with value
added recommendations. The major concern seems to be in regard to the auditors'
relevant experience and knowledge of the audited body's activities, the materiality of
their findings and the truth and fairness of their reports
In addition, the results show that audit expectationss and perception gaps between the
external VfM auditors and their clients give rise to significant role conflicts. Three types
of role conflicts have been identified; (a) conflict between the external VfM auditors'
roles and their own professional values and standards (person-role conflict); (b) conflict
between the external VfM auditors' actual capabilities and their role requirements (role
overload), and (c) conflict between the external VfM auditors and their clients (intersender
conflict).
Moreover, this study has revealed that social factors at the personal (the VfM auditors'
competence based on their relevant skills, experience and knowledge of the Public
bodies' activities), interpersonal (task interdependence between the external VfM
auditors and the clients) and external levels (the ambiguity of the VfM audit process), all
have negative effects on the influence of the external VfM auditors over the audited
bodies, hindering the effective performance of the VfM audit.
Finally, the findings reported in this study suggest that there is a necessity for more
studies to examine both the VfM audit's effective performance and impact on the
audited bodies, especially in view of the constant change which characterises both Public
Sector organisations, as well as the remits of the VfM audit as a tool to improve
performance.


We present results from a detailed experimental investigation of LaFeAsO, the parent material in the series of ``FeAs'' based oxypnictide superconductors. Upon cooling, this material undergoes a tetragonal-orthorhombic crystallographic phase transition at $\ensuremath{\sim}160\text{ }\text{K}$ followed closely by an antiferromagnetic ordering near 145 K. Analysis of these phase transitions using temperature dependent powder x-ray and neutron-diffraction measurements is presented. A magnetic moment of $\ensuremath{\sim}0.35{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ per iron is derived from M\"ossbauer spectra in the low-temperature phase. Evidence of the structural transition is observed at temperatures well above the transition temperature (up to near 200 K) in the diffraction data as well as the polycrystalline elastic moduli probed by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy measurements. The effects of the two phase transitions on the transport properties (resistivity, thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and Hall coefficient), heat capacity, and magnetization of LaFeAsO are also reported, including a dramatic increase in the magnitude of the Hall coefficient below 160 K. The results suggest that the structural distortion leads to a localization of carriers on Fe, producing small local magnetic moments which subsequently order antiferromagnetically upon further cooling. Evidence of strong electron-phonon interactions in the high-temperature tetragonal phase is also observed.


When constructing a high-speed railroad, the reduction of the distance between track centers and the width of track bed will save the construction cost. However the shortening the distance between track centers may cause the stability problems due to higher wind pressure. Therefore the extensive technical review and aerodynamical study should be performed to determine the adequate distance between track centers. In this study, the impact that the increase in wind pressure due to the change of aerodynamic phenomena with the change of the distance between track centers may have on two trains passing by each other was predicted, and the stability of train operation was analyzed in order to review the distance between track centers suitable to Honam HSR trains. We conducted the parametric study of the effects of train wind on the running stability.


Changes in the structure of higher education in Saudi Arabia and through advanced scholarship programs abroad have resulted in an educational reformation within the country. Though the Saudi Monarchy desires to create a knowledge-based society through higher education (Al-Sultan & Alzaharnah, 2012; Romani, 2009), there is also the desire to use education as an instrument of political and social control (Moughrabi, 2009). As more Saudi students' participate in higher education abroad, a greater likelihood exist that they will gain a heightened awareness of the world around them, participate in political discourse and begin to scrutinize their ruling body (Khalaf & Luciani, 2006). Therefore the purpose of this research was to explore how, if at all, Saudi students talked about making meaning of their national identity since participating in a study abroad opportunity in higher education in the United States. This was accomplished through critical discourse analysis using the lens of a new collective identity model that was structured through a borderlands approach. The findings from the study revealed that Saudi students make meaning of their national identity by examining and reflecting on their perceptions of self in relation to their environments both in Saudi Arabia and the United States, as well as by recognizing and coming to terms with their preconceived perceptions, both real and non-existent, of others based on their commitment to their own individual constructs of identity and that of their collective. Recommendations for future research and program development are included.
 Keywords: identity development, collective identity, social constructs of identity, Saudi Arabia, higher education, women's rights, Saudi educational systems


The pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (L.) (Coleoptera: Scolytidae), is an exotic bark beetle in North America that was first found in the Great Lakes region in 1992. We evaluated T. piniperda reproduction and development in one Eurasian pine (Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L.) and three North American pines (jack pine, P. banksiana Lamb.; red pine, P. resinosa Ait.; and eastern white pine, P. strobus L.) under laboratory conditions. We introduced one pair of adults into individual pine bolts, allowed development, collected brood, and later debarked all bolts and measured galleries. Reproduction and development occurred in all pine species tested. Mean phloem thickness varied significantly among the bolts used to represent the four pine species; it was thickest in red pine (1.3 mm) and thinnest in jack pine (0.6 mm). Linear regression analysis indicated that initial brood production (larval galleries per cm of egg gallery) increased significantly with increasing phloem thickness (r2 = 0.36), using the pooled data set for all four pine species. Using phloem thickness as a covariate, mean initial brood density (larval galleries per cm of gallery) was significantly highest on red pine, intermediate on Scots pine and white pine, and lowest on jack pine. Overall brood survival was highest on Scots pine (86%) and lowest on jack (72%) and white pine (76%); phloem thickness was not a significant covariate in this analysis.


Maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars with improved N-use efficiency would be beneficial for low-input production systems. Our objective was to estimate quantitative genetic parameters to optimize breeding programs for improving productivity under low N levels. Results of 21 field experiments with European breeding materials belonging to the flint and dent gene pool are presented. The study was performed during 1989 and 1999 at several locations in typical maize growing regions of Germany and France. All experiments were conducted at high (HN) and low (LN, no N fertilizer applied) N levels. Average grain yield was reduced by 37% at LN compared with HN. Coefficients of genotypic correlation between HN and LN were variable with an average of r G = 0.74 for grain yield and generally high for grain dry matter content. For grain yield, analyses of variance were computed from relative data, where plot values were expressed as percentage of the trial mean. Variances caused by genotype (G), G x location (L) interaction, and error effects were higher at LN compared with HN, with similar heritabilities at both N levels. For the untransformed data, components of variance were higher at HN than at LN. Genotype x N as well as G x L x N level interaction variances were significant in most experiments. Efficiency of improvement of grain yield at LN through indirect selection at HN was 70% compared with direct selection at LN. A trend toward increased efficiency of direct selection under LN conditions was evident with decreasing grain yield at LN.


The thesis explores the relationship between the public sector trade unions and the government in South Africa from 1992-7. The research is located in debates concerning the ANC government's endorsement of the 'free-market 1 economy in the post apartheid period. The Marxist method of historical materialism is used to explain the changing relationship between the state and the trade unions.

To expound these issues, a single case study of the Cape Town branch of the municipal union - SAMWU - is examined. The case served several functions, it illustrated the nature of apartheid, it took account of the government's introduction of privatisation in the public sector, and simultaneously provided a vehicle for the development of the theory of the state and its inter-relationship with the trade unions. The questions that arose from the case were linked to whether SAMWU would engage in conflict or conciliation to stop privatisation in the public sector, and whether the state would be free to respond favourably to labour's actions and demands. A number of key findings were established relating to these areas.

With regard to the state, the materialist analysis developed by the 'state derivation' theorists provided a useful tool, but for reasons outlined in the dissertation, neglected the basic structural dependence on capitalism. The theoretical conclusion of the thesis: was the state was not independent of capitalism, that it - along with business and labour - was ultimately bound up with the relations of capital. However, as an integral part of capitalism, the state was also affected by the 'contradictions' or potential conflict found within the exploitative relations between capital and labour. Consequently, in order to control any serious challenge from labour to the system - arising as a result of the 'contradictions' within capitalism - the South African state had chosen to engage in conciliation with the trade unions, with the aim of minimising any overall threat or resistance to the existing system.

As to whether SAMWU would engage in this conciliation, or choose resistance to stop privatisation, the answer was viewed as related to the union members' levels of class consciousness, and the policies and organisation of their union. The class and collective consciousness of SAMWU members was seen as inherently tied up with issues of race - in particular their 'coloured' identity. The thesis conceptualised apartheid and race as a function of capitalism. It concluded that the continuing use made of the 'coloured' identity in the region, to disguise economic inequality, had the potential to negate against the members' collective ability to resist privatisation. With regard to the acceptance of conciliation, although no clear answers were immediately forthcoming by 1997, it was possible to deduce that formalisation and partnerships had, at this stage, done little to prevent free market practices from being introduced in the workplace. Finally, although the thesis was unable to conclude in 1997, that SAMWU would ultimately resort to industrial action to stop privatisation, the re-organisation of the union to remain rooted in rank-and-file activity, the campaigns and protests against privatisation, plus the declared intention of the leaders and membership during interviews to take strike action, all seemed to indicate this would be the case.