While most forms of malnutrition are easy to identify at an early age, micronutrient deficiency also manifests in form of "Hidden Hunger", where children could seem to be well fed, but still suffer from deficiencies due to lack of key micronutrients in their diets whose absence is hard to detect. While the symptoms of micronutrient deficiency may not be obvious in the short-term, they translate into cognitive deficiencies in the long-term that negatively affect the economic productivity of these infants when they become adults, perpetuating the malnutrition cycle. The Micronutrient Deficiency Awareness Forum was held in April 2017 in Nairobi Kenya, comprising seven specialties from across sub-Saharan Africa. The forum was convened to discuss how to increase awareness of conditions associated with micronutrient deficiencies developing from early childhood, especially those impacting brain development, identify sections of the population that were at high risk of micronutrient deficiencies, outline available guidelines on diagnostic tools, assessment and management of deficiencies, and develop a consensus on best practices in diagnosing, managing, and preventing micronutrient deficiency and malnutrition. It is estimated that 40% of the children in sub-Saharan Africa are affected by stunting, which is the most prevalent form of malnutrition, and an estimated 69-82% of malnutrition cases are not properly treated. This phenomenon is not without a cost, as malnutrition greatly undermines cognitive development, and ultimately economic productivity. A 2014 study revealed that Ethiopia lost the equivalent of 12% of its GDP to malnutrition in 2009. Studies in different countries across the world have shown that focused interventions work. For instance, early childhood macronutrient intervention led to a 46% higher wage in adult years in Guatemala. The Micronutrient Deficiency Awareness Forum 2017 Consensus Report provides suggestions on policy design and implementation strategies that may lead to early detection, treatment, and ultimately prevalence reduction of malnutrition across the region.


Coastal inundation due to wave overtopping coastal structures and storm surges often causes serious damage and danger to the population of Taiwan. Ascertaining the areas that are prone to coastal inundation is essential to provide countermeasures for mitigating the problem. Simulations without precipitation are examined in this study since overtopping has been determined to be a controlling factor in coastal flooding. We present scenarios for the simulation of coastal flooding with a unified wind wave and hydrological watershed model. The eastern coastal areas in Taiwan are selected as the study area. Simulations show that the resulting waves and tidal levels, generated by the Rankin-Vortex model and wind wave calculations, can be successfully obtained from the input data during wave overtopping simulations. A watershed model, WASH123D, was then employed for surface routing. The simulations indicate that the low-lying Yilan River and Dezikou Stream drainage systems were among the primary areas subject to inundation. Extensive inundation along both sides of the river banks was obtained in the case of extreme overtopping events. Coastal inundation could occur between the estuary of the Meilun Stream and most of the Nan-Bai-Bin areas in Hualien City. Calculations showed that more croplands flooded than did residential regions. No further damage to the upland of Hualien City was identified. The remaining study sites, Sinchen Township, Taitung City and Taimali Township, would only be slightly affected by seawater run-ups. Inundations caused by overtopping under extreme circumstances only affected the coast with almost trifling influence inland.


Background Fetal facial development is essential not only for postnatal bonding between parents and child, but also theoretically for the study of the origins of affect. However, how such movements become coordinated is poorly understood. 4-D ultrasound visualisation allows an objective coding of fetal facial movements. Methodology/Findings Based on research using facial muscle movements to code recognisable facial expressions in adults and adapted for infants, we defined two distinct fetal facial movements, namely "cry-face-gestalt" and "laughter- gestalt," both made up of up to 7 distinct facial movements. In this conceptual study, two healthy fetuses were then scanned at different gestational ages in the second and third trimester. We observed that the number and complexity of simultaneous movements increased with gestational age. Thus, between 24 and 35 weeks the mean number of co-occurrences of 3 or more facial movements increased from 7% to 69%. Recognisable facial expressions were also observed to develop. Between 24 and 35 weeks the number of co-occurrences of 3 or more movements making up a "cry-face gestalt" facial movement increased from 0% to 42%. Similarly the number of co-occurrences of 3 or more facial movements combining to a "laughter-face gestalt" increased from 0% to 35%. These changes over age were all highly significant. Significance This research provides the first evidence of developmental progression from individual unrelated facial movements toward fetal facial gestalts. We propose that there is considerable potential of this method for assessing fetal development: Subsequent discrimination of normal and abnormal fetal facial development might identify health problems in utero.


Abstract The intermittent nature of match performance in youth soccer supports relevance of ability to repeatedly produce high-intensity actions with short recovery periods. This study was aimed to examine the reproducibility of a repeated dribbling ability protocol and, additionally, to estimate the contribution of concurrent tests to explain inter-individual variability in repeated dribbling output. The total sample comprised 98 players who were assessed as two independent samples: 31 players were assessed twice to examine reliability of the protocol; and 67 juveniles aged 16.1 ± 0.6 years were compared by the competitive level (local, n = 34; national, n = 33) to examine construct validity. All single measurements appeared to be reasonably reliable: total (ICC = 0.924; 95%CI: 0.841 to 0.963); ideal (ICC = 0.913; 95%CI: 0.820 to 0.958); worst (ICC = 0.813; 95%CI: 0.611 to 0.910). In addition, the percentage of the coefficient of variation was below the critical value of 5% for total (%CV = 3.84; TEM = 2.51 s); ideal (%CV = 3.90, TEM = 2.48 s). Comparisons between local and national players suggested magnitude effects as follows: moderate (d-value ranged from 0.63 to 0.89) for all repeated sprint ability scores; large for total (d = 1.87), ideal (d = 1.72), worst (d = 1.28) and moderate for composite scores: the fatigue index (d = 0.69) and the decrement score (d = 0.67). In summary, the dribbling protocol presented reasonable reproducibility properties and output extracted from the protocol seemed to be independent from biological maturation.


The technological revolution that has transformed industry and commerce worldwide is based on advances in mathematics and science. However, technological education has institutionally been kept distinct from its constituent subjects. The reason is historical. Technological education has grown out of the vocational sector, which addresses the needs of students preparing to enter the workplace directly, while mathematics and science are part of the academic sector, traditionally concerned with preparing students for advanced education in academia. However, these traditional distinctions are rapidly changing. Academic educators are recognizing that few of their students are heading specifically toward careers in science and mathematics but they are heading toward being productive members of society, regardless of career. Reform efforts in science and math academics are emphasizing habits of mind, critical thinking, relations to societal and technological issues, etc., as more appropriate goals for students. Thus, science and mathematics educators are increasingly thinking in terms of vocational objectives. At the same time, the vocational education sector is recognizing the changed nature of the workplace. Many 19th century industrial skills are irrelevant to the current workplace. Moreover, with the rapid advance of technology, specific current skills will become irrelevant by the start of the 21st century. Technological education must meet the needs of business and industry for workers who are flexible, adaptable problem-solvers.[1] In short, the objectives of technological education and of science and mathematics education are merging rapidly. * An Overview of the IPT Project The Image Processing for Teaching project was developed at the University of Arizona in response to the NSF's call for projects to introduce high technology into classrooms. Begun six years ago, the project's original objectives were to explore how state-of-the-art digital image processing might be used to give students an attractive entree into the study of science and mathematics, and in particular, used to reach those students not traditionally motivated in these subjects. So the Image Processing for Teaching (IPT) project began as an experiment. It seemed plausible that image processing would serve as an effective and exciting way to attract students to science and technology, and to offer open-ended opportunities for exploration, discovery and quantitative analysis. On the other hand, we recognized that not all good ideas come to fruition in practice. Thus, it has been gratifying that evidence points to the remarkable effectiveness of image processing in education. Exciting things are happening with IPT in the classroom. While image manipulation is attractive and fun, it also inevitably leads to meaningful exploration of the image's content, and appreciation of the mathematics built into thy process on many levels. IPT nurtures the processes of investigation and problem-solving. We find great success and interest among students who might not have been expected to do well in conventional academic classes. One result of the project's success has been a considerable demand for IPT support from the technological-education community. Educators and program administrators tell us that IPT is a unique way to engage their students, to provide intimate familiarity with a wide range of current technology, and (most importantly) to develop problem-solving abilities that will apply in the workplace even as technology continues its rapid advances. IPT is also addressing the technology education needs at community colleges and secondary schools. This is being done by developing appropriate curricular applications for their students as well as sufficient training for their faculty to feel confident in using image processing as a technical and educational tool. The project continues to reflect a broad interdisciplinary perspective, collaboration among educators and technical practitioners, and an emphasis on open-ended problem-solving that have always characterized it. …


Helicosporous hyphomycetes are a morphologically fascinating group of Tubeufiales. Ten dematiaceous helicosporous asexual morphs and two sexual morphs collected from aquatic habitats are characterized in this study using morphological features and phylogenetic analyses. Four new species of Neoacanthostigma, viz. N. aquaticum, N. brunneisporum, N. guangxiense and N. latisporum, are described and illustrated. The phylogenetic analyses of combined ITS, LSU and TEF1α sequence data place all taxa in the genus Neoacanthostigma (Tubeufiaceae, Tubeufiales) and provide evidence to support the establishment of the new taxa. The differentiating morphological characters of Neoacanthostigma with other helicosporous species are compared and discussed. A key to all Neoacanthostigma species is also provided.


The major foci of this PhD were to examine factors that influence neophyte applied sport and exercise psychologists' development as service providers. The specific aim of Study 1 was to explore the educational experiences perceived to contribute to service delivery competence from the viewpoints of educators and recent graduates of Australian applied sport and exercise psychology programmes. Graduates (8 females, 8 males, ranging in age from 24 to 46 years) and 11 academics (5 males, 6 females, varying in age from 33 to 52 years) of Australian masters programmes in applied psychology (sport and exercise) were interviewed. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically content analysed. Research credibility was enhanced by data source, analyst, and theoretical triangulation. Participants believed (a) practicing service delivery; (b) interactions among fellow students, teachers, and supervisors; and (d) specific events prior to and outside of training contributed to service delivery competence. Although research and theory was perceived to assist athlete collaboration, they were not as valued as practicing service delivery. The aim of Study 2 was to investigate the intricacies of how athletes and neophyte consultants experienced their working relationships. Trainee consultants (4 females, 3 males, ranging in age from 22 to 32 years) met with an athlete (4 males, 3 females, varying from 19 to 29 years of age) on 3 occasions. After Sessions 1 and 3, I interviewed participants about their relationships with each other. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically content analysed. Research credibility was enhanced via data source, analyst, and theoretical triangulation. Generally, participants formed positive interpersonal bonds with each other during the three sessions. There were variations among the dyads to the extent that clear service ii delivery goals and tasks were negotiated. Across the dyads, some working alliance strains arose but did not prevent the neophyte practitioners and athletes from collaborating. Incidences of transference and countertransference also occurred. The specific aim of Study 3 was to describe and compare novice applied sport and exercise psychologists' and athlete clients' reported in-session self-talk. The individuals from Study 2 also participated in Study 3. Sessions 1 and 3 were videotaped and later watched by participants, who also completed thought listing exercises to reproduce their self-talk. The data were categorized according to six dimensions: time, place, focus, locus, orientation, and mode. Retrospective accounts provided evidence that trainees' in-session self-talk statements were (a) typically present focused, (b) mostly about in-session material, (c) generally about the athletes or themselves, (d) about both internal and external events, (e) almost always related to the sessions, and (f) either neutral or planning statements. The athlete's retrospective accounts provided evidence that their self-talk statements were (a) typically present focused; (b) mostly about in-session material; (c) generally about themselves, and to a lesser extent, the consultants; (d) about both internal and external events; (e) almost always related to the sessions; and (f) largely neutral. The inter-rater reliabilities across the 6 dimensions were above 80%. The specific aim of Study 4 was to gain narrative accounts of applied sport and exercise psychology students' development as service providers during the first two years of their postgraduate studies. The neophyte practitioners (6 females and 3 males, ranging in age from 22 to 32 years) were interviewed three times across years 1 and 2 of their postgraduate studies. Again, interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically content analysed. Research credibility was again enhanced via data source, analyst, and theoretical triangulation. Three illustrative iii case examples were developed to represent three clusters that emerged among the nine students. The findings had parallels with therapist development models proposed by counselling psychology researchers, such as the trainees' anxieties regarding their professional competence, the ways they conceptualised service delivery, and the types of supervision relationships they preferred. The current PhD has extended knowledge about trainee applied sport and exercise psychologists' development and client interactions. The results have similarities with counselling psychology research findings. The findings in this PhD provide some evidence that counselling psychology knowledge can be readily adapted to similar aspects of applied sport and exercise psychology practice. The findings have implications for the training of practitioners, such as the types of working alliances athletes prefer, and the ways that trainees might experience anxiety. The results might also assist educators and supervisors in tailoring their efforts to match trainees' needs.


Tissue Transglutaminase (TG2) is a cross-linking enzyme that links proteins by the formation of covalent bonds and confers resistance to proteolytic degradation. TG2 acts as a cell adhesion protein by binding to matrix fibronectin, cell surface heparan sulphates and integrins. TG2 has been implicated in a variety of diseases such as neurodegenerative disease, fibrosis and cancer. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved in its secretion, intracellular or extracellular activation or how these are regulated. The activity of TG2 is tightly controlled by GTP binding and calcium is required for its activation. TG2 assumes two strikingly different conformations, a catalytically inactive compact one in the presence of GTP and an active extended one in the presence of Ca2+. This conformation change affects the functions of TG2 including its transamidating activity, its affinities and juxtaposition of binding sites for fibronectin, heparan sulphates and integrins. To study this, a FRET (Forster Resonance energy Transfer) sensor was constructed using the fluorescent proteins CFP and YFP fused to the N and C terminus of TG2, respectively. The FRET sensor has demonstrated different fluorescent characteristics depending on the conformation of TG2 and was used to monitor the conformational change that is induced by calcium or GTP binding.


We present 56 new heat flow values from the intracratonic Parana Basin in southern Brazil. This large basin is filled with up to 5 km of Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. In the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous a great igneous event capped most of the basin surface with flood basalts up to 1700 m thick. Geothermal gradients computed from 79 deep exploration boreholes range from 20 K km -1 to 30 K km -1 with the lower gradients generally located in the central part of the basin. Thermal conductivities were determined on 247 core samples. The harmonic mean thermal conductivity of the section encountered by the boreholes decreases from 3.0 W m -1 K -1 at the eastern basin margin to 2.0 W m -1 K -1 in the basin center ; this variation is related to the thickening of the basalt cap toward the basin center. Surface heat flow values for the 56 sites range from 40 mW m -2 to 75 mW m -2 , with larger and more variable values (50-70 mW m -2 ) occurring along the eastern margin of the basin in the region without basalt cover. The heat flow in the central part of the basin (40-50 mW m -2 ) is less than that on the basin margin by about 15 mW m -2 and is more uniform. We discount advective effects as an explanation of the heat flow pattern because if a topographically driven flow system existed, it would diminish heat flow in the elevated recharge area along the basin margin and augment heat flow in the discharge area along the basin axis, opposite to what is observed. Wholly conductive models show that larger-scale thermal conductivity contrasts produced by the flood basalts do not refract significant heat into the surrounding higher-conductivity sedimentary section on the periphery of the basalts. Other model calculations show that the heat flow at the surface reflects the heat input from the basement with only minor, if any, redistribution within the basin. We conclude that the thermal data indicate a dominantly conductive thermal regime within the basin and that the observed heat flow pattern is not likely to result from intrabasinal causes. The observed pattern likely reflects the larger-scale thermal structure of the lithosphere of this region, developed at the time the flood basalts were generated and extruded.


Basic aspects of fast ion transport in ideal interchange-mode unstable plasmas are investigated in the simple toroidal plasma device TORPEX. Fast ions are generated by a miniaturized lithium 6+ ion source with energies up to 1 keV, and are detected using a double-gridded energy analyser mounted on a two-dimensional movable system in the poloidal cross-section. The signal-to-noise ratio is enhanced by applying a modulated biasing voltage to the fast ion source and using a synchronous detection scheme. An analogue lock-in amplifier has been developed, which allows removing the capacitive noise associated with the voltage modulation. We characterize vertical and radial transport of the fast ions, which is associated with the plasma turbulence. Initial experimental results show good agreement with numerical simulations of the fast ion transport in a global fluid simulation of the TORPEX plasma.


Spring 2008 witnessed the first positive signs of a thaw in relations between the two sides of the divided island of Cyprus since the dramatic failure of the Annan Plan in 2004. The historic meeting of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders and the symbolic opening of the Ledra Street border crossing in the heart of Nicosia may herald a bright new future for this Mediterranean island. Yet Cyprus has been in this situation before. What makes this new initiative different and why should it succeed where so many others have failed? Reunifying Cyprus is the first book to analyse fully the reasons for the continuing failure to re-unite the two states of Cyprus after over forty years of division. It focuses especially on the Annan Plan - the popular name for the UN initiative to find a a??Comprehensive Solution to the Cyprus Problema?? in anticipation of Cyprusa?? accession to the EU - and the reasons for its ultimate failure. How did Cypriots receive the Annan Plan? What were the real or imagined flaws? Was this a missed opportunity? And what place does the Annan Plan have in future blueprints to reunify the island? Reunifying Cyprus will be invaluable for anyone interested in conflict resolution and international politics as well as students of the Eastern Mediterranean.


How did the Romans build and maintain one of the most powerful and stable empires in the history of the world? This book draws on the literature, especially the historiography, composed by the members of the elite who conducted Roman foreign affairs. From this evidence, Susan P. Mattern reevaluates the roots, motivations, and goals of Roman imperial foreign policy especially as that policy related to warfare. In a major reinterpretation of the sources, Rome and the Enemy shows that concepts of national honor, fierce competition for status, and revenge drove Roman foreign policy, and though different from the highly rationalizing strategies often attributed to the Romans, dictated patterns of response that remained consistent over centuries. Mattern reconstructs the world view of the Roman decision-makers, the emperors, and the elite from which they drew their advisers. She discusses Roman conceptions of geography, strategy, economics, and the influence of traditional Roman values on the conduct of military campaigns. She shows that these leaders were more strongly influenced by a traditional, stereotyped perception of the enemy and a drive to avenge insults to their national honour than by concepts of defensible borders. In fact, the desire to enforce an image of Roman power was a major policy goal behind many of their most brutal and aggressive campaigns. "Rome and the Enemy" provides a look into the Roman mind in addition to a re-examination of Roman conceptions of warfare and national honour. The resulting picture creates a fresh understanding of Rome's long mastery of the Mediterranean world.


This research endeavor aims at systematically examining the newspapers" coverage of crimes incidents in Pakistan. A retrospective quantitative content analysis of Pakistani print media was conducted for a period of one year i.e. 1 st January 2017 to 31 st December 2017. Two reputed national level newspapers; Daily Dawn English-language and Daily Jang Urdu-language, were selected based on newspaper circulation ratings and readership. Descriptive analysis of the study highlights those discrepancies in crime reports exist between Daily Dawn and Daily Jang. Urdu-language newspaper gives more coverage and published articles on many types of crimes as compared to English-language daily. Similarly, English daily newspaper reported urban areas" crimes more frequently in comparison to Urdu daily, however, articles on violation against women and child abuse are equally reported in both dailies.


ATLAS is a global Chemical Transport Model (CTM) with stratospheric chemistry and Lagrangian transport and mixing. ATLAS features a stratospheric chemistry module including 170 reactions, 46 species, a detailed treatment of heterogeneous chemistry and Lagrangian denitrification.

Uncertainties in theory and observations of polar ozone depletion and limitations in the implementation of Chemistry and Transport Models (CTMs) are an issue that is often neglected. Here, stratospheric chemistry and denitrification are simulated for the Arctic winter 2009/2010. Several sensitivity runs are used to explore the impact of uncertainties in chlorine activation and denitrification on the model results. In particular, the efficiency of chlorine activation on liquid aerosol versus activation on nitric acid trihydrate clouds is examined. Additionally, the impact of changes in reaction rate coefficients, in the particle number density of Polar Stratospheric Clouds, in supersaturation or the extent of denitrification are investigated. Results are compared to satellite measurements of MLS and ACE-FTS and to in-situ measurements onboard the Geophysica airplane during the RECONCILE measurement campaign. It is shown that even large changes in the underlying assumptions have only a relatively small impact on the modeled ozone loss, even though they can cause considerable differences in chemical evolution and denitrification.

Additionally, we show first results from the winter 2010/2011, an exceptionally cold winter, which showed unprecendented ozone loss for the Arctic.


After decades of delay, the U.S. legal profession is finally embracing digital technology in the delivery of civil justice. Much more rapidly, design methods are being embraced by legal institutions as a means reforming everything from commercial legal product lines to civil court forms. What explains the rapid embrace of legal design when digital legal technology took decades to break through? We think that a deliberately human-centered approach to law helps explain the sudden advantageousness of legal design. But what must be done about the bias and inequity that is embedded within the legal systems we seek to redesign, and within the legal design movement itself? We propose that a radical iterative and collaborative effort that is deliberately structured to address systemic bias has the strongest potential to deliver on the promise of both design and justice.


CONTEXT
Familial glucocorticoid deficiency (FGD) is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from resistance to the action of ACTH on the adrenal cortex. Affected individuals are deficient in cortisol and, if untreated, are likely to succumb to hypoglycemia and/or overwhelming infection. Mutations of the ACTH receptor (MC2R) and the melanocortin 2 receptor accessory protein (MRAP), FGD types 1 and 2 respectively, account for approximately 45% of cases.

OBJECTIVE
A locus on chromosome 8 has previously been linked to the disease in three families, but no underlying gene defect has to date been identified.

DESIGN
The study design comprised single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping and mutation detection.

SETTING
The study was conducted at secondary and tertiary referral centers.

PATIENTS
Eighty probands from families referred for investigation of the genetic cause of FGD participated in the study.

INTERVENTIONS
There were no interventions.

RESULTS
Analysis by single-nucleotide polymorphism array of the genotype of one individual with FGD previously linked to chromosome 8 revealed a large region of homozygosity encompassing the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein gene, STAR. We identified homozygous STAR mutations in this patient and his affected siblings. Screening of our total FGD patient cohort revealed homozygous STAR mutations in a further nine individuals from four other families.

CONCLUSIONS
Mutations in STAR usually cause lipoid congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a disorder characterized by both gonadal and adrenal steroid deficiency. Our results demonstrate that certain mutations in STAR (R192C and the previously reported R188C) can present with a phenotype indistinguishable from that seen in FGD.


Scholarship on education and social reform has studied how communities with a history of literacy and employment in pre-colonial state administrations adjusted to the new socio-political order brought about by the British Empire in India. My work shifts the attention to the Indian aristocracy and mercantile communities and examines why they promoted modern education. I argue that rulers of Indian states adapted to the colonial environment quite effectively. Instead of a break from the past, traditional ideas of rajadharma (duties of a king) evolved and made room for reformist social and economic policies. This dissertation examines why many Indian princes (kings and queens) adopted liberal policies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I argue that English-educated rulers of Indian states became reformers and modernizers to enhance their monarchical authority. The main audience for princes was their own state population, neighboring princes, imperial officials, and Indian journalists and politicians. I have carried out research at government archives and public and private libraries in India and the United Kingdom. Sources used include official records and correspondence, annual administrative reports, newspaper accounts, social reform journals, and weeklies and monthlies dedicated to educational topics. I have also consulted memoirs and biographies of kings, queens, diwans (prime ministers) and merchants. My source material is in English and Gujarati. I draw evidence from princely states across India with a focus on Hindu Rajput and Pathan Muslim states in the Gujarat (specifically Saurashtra) region of western India, neighboring the former Bombay Presidency. Due to Gujarat's strong mercantilist tradition, commercial groups played an influential role in society. I examine how and why merchants in princely states supported their ruler's educational policies. I also discuss how mercantile philanthropy crossed political and religious boundaries with the Gujarati (Hindu, Muslim and Jain) diaspora across India, Africa and Burma supporting educational institutions in Gujarat. My dissertation examines the interactions between the English-educated upper caste Hindus, the Anglicized Rajput rulers and the Gujarati merchants to understand how they all contributed to the shaping of modern Gujarati society.


Tests of a wing-fuselage combinations incorporating NACA 65-series airfoil sections were conducted in the NACA 19-foot pressure tunnel. The investigation included the tests with flaps neutral and with partial- and full-span double slotted flaps deflected to determine the effects of (1) variations of wing sweep between -4 degrees and 8 degrees on stalling and lateral stability and control characteristics and (2) variations of dihedral between 0 degree and 6.75 degrees on lateral stability characteristics.


In response to both global and local challenges, the University of Dayton is committed to building a net-zero energy student residence, called the Eco-house. A unique aspect of the Eco-house is the degree of student involvement; in accordance with UD's mission, interdisciplinary student teams from mechanical engineering, civil engineering and the humanities are leading the design effort. This paper discusses the conceptual design of a net-zero energy use campus residence, and the analysis completed thus far. Energy use of current student houses is analyzed to provide a baseline and to identify energy saving opportunities. The use of the whole-system inside-out approach to guide the overall design is described. Using the inside-out method as a guide, the energy impacts of occupant behavior, appliances and lights, building envelope, energy distribution systems and primary energy conversion equipment are discussed. The design of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic systems to meet the hot water and electricity requirements of the house is described. Eco-house energy use is simulated and compared to the energy use of the existing houses. The analysis shows the total source energy requirements of the Eco-house could be reduced by about 340 mmBtu per year over older baseline houses, resulting in CO2 emission reductions of about 54,000 lb per year and utility cost savings of about $3,000 per year. Detailed cost analysis and cost optimization have not been performed but are critical aspects of the UD Eco-house project, which will be performed in the future.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


The effects of various glycolipids on the activity of immunoaffinity-purified calf thymus DNA polymerase alpha were studied in vitro. Preincubation with sialic acid-containing glycolipids, such as sialosylparagloboside (SPG), GM3, GM1, and GD1a, and sulfatide (cerebroside sulfate ester, CSE) dose-dependently inhibited the activity of DNA polymerase alpha, while other glycolipids, as well as free sphingosine and ceramide did not. About 50% inhibition was achieved by preincubating the enzyme with 2.5 microM of CSE, 50 microM of SPG or GM3, and 80 microM of GM1. Inhibition was noncompetitive with both the DNA template and the substrate dTTP, as well as with the other dNTPs. Since the inhibition was largely reversed by the addition of 0.05% Nonidet P40, these glycolipids may interact with the hydrophobic region of the enzyme protein. Apparently, the sulfate moiety in CSE and the sialic acid moiety in gangliosides were essential for the inhibition since neither neutral glycolipids (i.e., glucosylceramide, galactosylceramide, lactosylceramide) nor asialo-gangliosides (GA1 and GA2) showed any inhibitory effect. Furthermore, the ceramide backbone was also found to be necessary for maximal inhibition since the inhibition was largely abolished by substituting the lipid backbone with cholesterol. Increasing the number of sialic acid moieties per molecule further enhanced the inhibition, while elongating the sugar chain diminished it. It was clearly shown that the N-acetyl residue of the sialic acid moiety is particularly essential for inhibition by both SPG and GM3 because the loss of this residue or substitution with a glycolyl residue completely negated their inhibitory effect on DNA polymerase alpha activity.


Paleomagnetic directions have been obtained from 190 early to middle Miocene (12–20 Ma) mafic volcanic flows in 16 mountain ranges in the Mojave-Sonora desert region of western Arizona and southeastern California. These flows generally postdate early Miocene tectonic deformation accommodated by low-angle normal faults but predate high-angle normal faulting in the region. After detailed demagnetization experiments, 179 flows yielded characteristic directions interpreted as original thermal remanent magnetizations (TRM). Because of the episodic nature of basaltic volcanism in this region, the 179 flows yielded only 65 time-distinct virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs). The angular dispersion of the 65 VGPs is consistent with the angular dispersion expected for a data set that has adequately averaged geomagnetic secular variation. The paleomagnetic pole calculated from the 65 cooling unit VGPs is located at 85.5°N, 108.9° within a 4.4° circle of 95% confidence. This pole is statistically indistinguishable (at 95% confidence) from reference poles calculated from rocks of similar age in stable North America and from a paleomagnetic pole calculated from rocks of similar age in Baja California. The coincidence of paleomagnetic poles from the Mojave-Sonora desert region with reference poles from the stable continental interior indicates that (1) significant vertical axis net tectonic rotations have not accompanied post-middle Miocene high-angle normal faulting in this region; (2) there has been no detectable post-middle Miocene latitudinal transport of the region; and (3) long-term nondipole components of the middle Miocene geomagnetic field probably were no larger than those of the recent (0–5 Ma) geomagnetic field. In contrast, paleomagnetic data indicate vertical axis rotations of similar age rocks in the Transverse Ranges, the Eastern Transverse Ranges, and the Mojave Block. We speculate that a major structural discontinuity in the vicinity of the southeastward projection of the Death Valley fault zone separates western areas affected by vertical axis rotations from eastern areas that have not experienced such rotations.


Introduction: Social Trust is considered as a social phenomenon that plays a vital role in human interactions and its relationships. Researches have shown that religion can be an important factor in the production of social trust. The purpose of the present paper is to do a sociological analysis of the relationship between religiosity and social trust. Method: This study is a survey. The statistical population is students of Behbahan Islamic Azad University in the period of 1392-1393. Among them, 346 were randomly selected by using Cochran formula and then the questionnaires were distributed among them. Results: The results showed that a significant positive correlation between the ideological, religious and ritual implications and interpersonal trust is fundamental. There is also a significant positive correlation between religiosity and trust in the basic experiment. Discussion: About the paradox in the relationship among religious dimensions, generalized and institutionalized trust maybe this interpretation is correct to say that whether religiosity is superficial or regarding trust issues, the living environment is so badly damaged and traumatized that even religiosity of the people cannot persuade them to act with good will.


BACKGROUND
Low- and middle-income countries continue to experience a large burden of stunting; 148 million children were estimated to be stunted, around 30-40% of all children in 2011. In many of these countries, foetal growth restriction (FGR) is common, as is subsequent growth faltering in the first 2 years. Although there is agreement that stunting involves both prenatal and postnatal growth failure, the extent to which FGR contributes to stunting and other indicators of nutritional status is uncertain.

METHODS
Using extant longitudinal birth cohorts (n=19) with data on birthweight, gestational age and child anthropometry (12-60 months), we estimated study-specific and pooled risk estimates of stunting, wasting and underweight by small-for-gestational age (SGA) and preterm birth.

RESULTS
We grouped children according to four combinations of SGA and gestational age: adequate size-for-gestational age (AGA) and preterm; SGA and term; SGA and preterm; and AGA and term (the reference group). Relative to AGA and term, the OR (95% confidence interval) for stunting associated with AGA and preterm, SGA and term, and SGA and preterm was 1.93 (1.71, 2.18), 2.43 (2.22, 2.66) and 4.51 (3.42, 5.93), respectively. A similar magnitude of risk was also observed for wasting and underweight. Low birthweight was associated with 2.5-3.5-fold higher odds of wasting, stunting and underweight. The population attributable risk for overall SGA for outcomes of childhood stunting and wasting was 20% and 30%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
This analysis estimates that childhood undernutrition may have its origins in the foetal period, suggesting a need to intervene early, ideally during pregnancy, with interventions known to reduce FGR and preterm birth.


In Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems (AEHS), we expect that the learning content presentation should be appropriately retrieved from learning object repositories, and dynamically tailored to each learnerâ??s needs. Each learner has a profile, subject to continuous change. The basic components of the learnerâ??s profile include his/her cognitive characteristics, background of knowledge, previous experience, and current emotional situation. This paper proposes the architecture of a Petri net-based workflow engine â?? scheduled to be implemented in a AEHS - aiming to provide a reliable and efficient platform for the execution of learning course flows in a grid environment. Dealing with the question of adaptive management of learning content, the proposed p-timed Petri net is capable of presenting learning content adapted to the learnerâ??s Learning Style and knowledge background. The proposed schema is accurately tested using a p-timed Petri net simulator. The schema may now be extended to include other components of the learnerâ??s profile.


The combination of the computerized Digalo (Schwarz & de Groot, 2007) as a graphical tool for representing argumentative moves in on-going e-discussions and the Thinking Journey (TJ) mode of instruction (Schur and Galili, 2009, Schur et al. 2009) were used. TJ enables students to get various perspectives on considered scientific concept. The teaching provides cognitive scaffolding for the learner in discussion on the presented visualized situations (pictures, video-clips, models etc). Students' curiosity is encouraged by pondering questions, guiding students' exploration and construction of the target knowledge which emerges from generalization of various perspectives. The Digalo application was used to provide an electronic medium for sustaining collective argumentation. Thirty-two Grade 8 students from two junior-high schools participated in the study, which was conducted as a part of regular lessons in science. All students were requested to participate in small groups synchronous e-discussions on the concept of day/night along the TJ scenario. Results showed conceptual learning of the scientific concept. One could see that TJ interactions in the computerized version allowed students to mediate efficiently to their peers. The visibility of evidence in the TJ interactions used for the discussions lessened the egocentricity level since evidence and collective discussion was made part of the individual's cognitive space. By doing so, students could elaborate superior mental models. And indeed, we found a correlation of r=6.06 between egocentricity and mental model. One can consider that this result can be explained from the specific way in which TJ mediated interactions are constructed to enable students to observe phenomena from a variety of perspectives and to connect scientific concepts with observation of specific environments. Integrating between the argumentation idea and the Thinking Journey mode of instruction, enabled to establish focused mediation situations that enabled students to experience meaningful conceptual learning.


This paper presents an epoch analysis of global ionosphere responses to recurrent geomagnetic activity during 79 corotating interaction region (CIR) events from 2004 to 2009. The data used were GPS total electron content (TEC) data from the Madrigal Database at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory and the electron density (Ne) data obtained from CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) observations. The results show that global ionosphere responses to CIR events have some common features. In high and middle latitudes, the total electron content (TEC) showed a significant positive response (increased electron densities) in the first epoch day. A negative TEC response occurred at high latitudes of the American sector following the positive response. The CHAMP Ne showed a daytime positive response in all latitudes and a nighttime negative response in the subauroral region. These negative TEC and Ne responses were found to be related to thermospheric composition (O/N2) changes during the storms. At all latitudes, the maximum of the TEC positive effect always occurred at 2–6 h after the CIR starting during local daytime and 10–18 h later for the CIR onset during local nighttime. Case studies indicate that the TEC and Ne positive response had a strong dependence on the southward component (Bz) of the interplanetary magnetic field and solar wind speed. This suggests that penetration electric fields that were associated with changes in solar winds might play a significant role in the positive ionospheric response to storms. During the recovery time of the CIR‐produced geomagnetic activity, the TEC positive disturbance at low latitudes sometimes could last for 2–4 days, whereas at middle to high latitudes the disturbance lasted only for 1 day in most cases. A comparison of the ionospheric responses between the American, European and Asian sectors shows that the ionosphere response in the North American sector was stronger than that in the other two regions. The response of foF2 to the CIR events in middle to high latitudes showed a negative response for 2–3 days after the first epoch day. This is different from the response of TEC, which was mostly positive during the same period of time.


Upper- and lower-body fat depots exhibit opposing associations with obesity-related metabolic disease. We defined the relationship between DEXA-quantified fat depots and diabetes/cardiovascular risk factors in a healthy population-based cohort (n = 3,399). Gynoid fat mass correlated negatively with insulin resistance after total fat mass adjustment, whereas the opposite was seen for abdominal fat. Paired transcriptomic analysis of gluteal subcutaneous adipose tissue (GSAT) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) was performed across the BMI spectrum (n = 49; 21.4–45.5 kg/m2). In both depots, energy-generating metabolic genes were negatively associated and inflammatory genes were positively associated with obesity. However, associations were significantly weaker in GSAT. At the systemic level, arteriovenous release of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (n = 34) was lower from GSAT than ASAT. Isolated preadipocytes retained a depot-specific transcriptional "memory" of embryonic developmental genes and exhibited differential promoter DNA methylation of selected genes (HOTAIR, TBX5) between GSAT and ASAT. Short hairpin RNA–mediated silencing identified TBX5 as a regulator of preadipocyte proliferation and adipogenic differentiation in ASAT. In conclusion, intrinsic differences in the expression of developmental genes in regional adipocytes provide a mechanistic basis for diversity in adipose tissue (AT) function. The less inflammatory nature of lower-body AT offers insight into the opposing metabolic disease risk associations between upper- and lower-body obesity.


Waste papers such as old newspaper, waste paper chunks or any other paper products can be used for the production of fuel Ethyl Levulinate which can be used as an additive to the biodiesel. The utilization of the ethanol as an additive to the diesel leads to some specific problems due to the difference in their chemical properties. The Ethyl Levulinate is an ester of levulinic acid derived from the cellulose may be served as an oxygenative diesel additive. The local newspapers were used as the source of the cellulose. They were treated with the dilute sodium hydroxide (18%) at 100 °C to extract the pure cellulose and remove the lignin present in it. The paper pulp was further treated with 10 ml of hydrogen peroxide, which helps in the deinking of the newspaper. The paper pulp extracted undergoes acid catalyzed cellulose hydrolysis at 200 °C for 30 min using sulfuric acid and ethanol to produce the ester, ethyl levulinate. At the end of the reaction the extract was treated with diethyl ether which results in the formation of two layers; the upper layer is light yellow in color which is ethyl levulinate and bottom layer is dark yellow in color which is resin. The production of the levulinic acid was confirmed by spectrophotometer at 340 nm wavelength.


This paper offers a new framework to understand institutional change in human societies. An 'institutional fork' occurs when a society splits into two divergent paths with shared histories. The idea of forking comes from the open-source software community where developers are free to copy of a piece of software, alter it, and release a new version of that software. The parallel between institutional choice and software forking is made clear by the function and politics of forking in blockchain implementations. Blockchains are institutional technologies for the creation of digital economies. When blockchains fork they create two divergent communities with shared transaction ledgers (histories). The paper examines two instances of institutional forks. Australia can be seen as a successful fork of the United Kingdom. The New Australia settlement in Paraguay can be seen as an unsuccessful fork of Australia.


Agricultural policy analysis can be visualised as a multiple objective hierarchical optimisation problem whereby sequential non-cooperative interactions between the policy makers and the farmers take place. The objectives and choices of policy makers will almost always diverge from the objectives and choices of farmers. Policy makers exercise authority over some, but not all, of the variables in the total system whereas other variables affecting their multiple goals are under the direct control of myriad farmers who operate according to their own utility maximising motives. In order to advance their own objectives, the policy makers unilaterally and preemptively set the policy measures to influence the farmers. The farmers execute their decisions after, and in view of, the policies and make their production decisions that observe their goals best. Ultimately, the payoffs to both the policy makers and the farmers depend not only on the actions of the former, but also on the reactions of the latter. Such problems are difficult to solve due to their intrinsic nonconvexity and multiple objectives. This thesis shows how multi-objective genetic algorithms (MOGA) in conjunction with mathematical programming (MP) can be used for solving this type of problems. A MP model is developed to capture the production choices of farmers. The model is based on positive mathematical programming and its objective function parameters are estimated using the method of generalised maximum entropy. The model is nested in and controlled by a MOGA which captures the process of multi-objective optimisation of policy decisions. The approach is illustrated using a case study taken from the Scottish agricultural systems, where several socio-economic and environmental objectives for policy making are considered. Four types of policy instruments are examined: the current single payment scheme, a multi-payment scheme based on land use, an input taxation and a regulatory scheme. For a selection of scenarios alternative Pareto-optimal solutions are discovered and tradeoffs between the policy objectives are presented along with their associated production patterns. The performance of the modelling tool developed suggests that it is well suited to dealing with real-world policy issues. It offers considerable possibilities for exploring tradeoffs between noncommensurable and conflicting objectives relevant to sustainable development of Scottish agriculture.


We consider prominence ranking in graphs involving actors, their artifacts and the artifact groups. When multiple actors contributing to an artifact constitutes a social tie, associations between the artifacts can be used to infer prominence among actors. This is because prominent actors will tend to collaborate on prominent artifacts, and prominent artifacts will be associated with other prominent artifacts. Our testbed example is the DBLP co-authorship graph: multiple authors (the actors) collaborate to publish research papers (the artifacts); collaboration is the social tie. Papers have prominence themselves (eg. quality and impact of the work) and the prominence of the venues are tied to the prominence of the papers in them. We use our methods to infer prominence based on the venue-based associations of papers, and compare our rankings with external citation based measures of prominence. We compare with numerous other ranking algorithms, and show that the ranking performance gain from using the venues is statistically significant. What if there are no natural artifact groups like venues? We develop a new algorithm which uses discovered artifact groups. Our approach consists of two steps. First, we find artifact groups by linking artifacts with common contributors. Note that instead of finding communities of actors, we consider communities of artifacts. We then use these grouped artifacts in the prominence ranking algorithm. We consider different methods for obtaining the artifact groups, in particular a very efficient embedding based algorithm for graph clustering and show the effectiveness of our method in improving the ranking of actors. The inferred groups are as good as or better than the natural conference venues for DBLP.


The purpose of the article is to make the analysis of the ombudsman's institution, to describe the essential features of the ombudsman's body in general and the role of ombudsman explaining his main activity. The article consists of four parts. The first part explains what an ombudsman is, analysis the concept of the ombudsman and the essential features of the ombudsman. The second part describes the evolution of the Ombudsman Office and the preconditions of the creation of ombudsman. The characteristic of the specialized ombudsman's institutions is presented in the third part. The future perspectives of the development of ombudsman are outlined next. The institute of the Ombudsman originated in Sweden at the turn of the 19th century. After a certain period of time the establishment of that institute spread throughout many countries not only in Europe but all over the world. The establishment of the Ombudsman institute gave a chance for citizens to choose the way of protecting their rights, as citizens were granted to make free decision on whether to make appeal to the court, or submit a complaint to the Ombudsman. However, there is a difference between the court and the ombudsman. The former provides binding decisions, while the latter just make recommendational proposals. "Ombudsman" is an international legal term of the officer who investigates complains concerning maladministration, which occurs, when a public body fails to act in accordance with a rule or principle which is binding upon it. It is of a great importance that public institutions would apply the laws properly, therefore the performance of the administrative authorities should be under certain control. The ombudsman has contributed to making the public administration better. The ombudsman plays an important role and will play in the future defending rights of the citizens and developing judicial system of the State.


The huge technological leap in recent years brought extensive possibilities of hypotheses testing in immersive virtual environments (VE) and geovisualizations. Traditional research standards require well controlled experiments with strict setting to bring valid data about human behaviour. Unfortunately, such experiments testify in a limited way about complex processes of human behavior and cognition and it is not usually possible to transfer their conclusions into real life. For various reasons, experiments are often strictly narrowed to reveal particular point, however for the price of external and ecological validity losses. With the use of VE, people can relive authentic simulation in controlled environment, providing ecological validity as well as huge deal of data, infinite options of experimental stimuli and simple customization and administration. In this paper we discuss the value added to virtual reality (VR) in the matter of ecological validity. We suggest procedures for behavioral analysis of interaction with 3D geovisualizations and outline possible applications.


Multiple crop protection pesticides are frequently applied as a tank-mixture for control of a variety of pests in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Although chemicals generally act independently, an interaction may occur that can be either beneficial or detrimental to the target crop. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of malathion on the absorption and translocation of foliar-applied 14 C-trifloxysulfuron (Envoke; Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc.; Greensboro, NC) over a period of 0.25 to 96 h after treatment (HAT) in cotton. Laboratory studies were conducted using 14 C-labeled trifloxysulfuron applied alone and in combination with malathion. Greater absorption of radiolabeled trifloxysulfuron occurred in leaves 4 HAT treated with trifloxysulfuron tank-mixed with malathion compared to those treated with trifloxysulfuron alone at the 3-to 4-leaf stage. Translocation of trifloxysulfuron to plant tissue above and below the treated leaf was greater with the tank-mixture. However, increased foliar phytotoxicity (leaf burning) was observed 24 and 96 HAT with trifloxysulfuron tank-mixed with malathion compared to trifloxysulfuron applied alone. These studies suggest malathion could potentially reduce the rate of trifloxysulfuron metabolism in cotton.


The history of totalitarian states bears witness to the fact that literature and print media can be manipulated and made into vehicles of mass deception. Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy is the first comprehensive account of how the Fascists attempted to control Italy's literary production.Guido Bonsaver looks at how the country's major publishing houses and individual authors responded to the new cultural directives imposed by the Fascists. Throughout his study, Bonsaver uses rare and previously unexamined materials to shed light on important episodes in Italy's literary history, such as relationships between the regime and particular publishers, as well as individual cases involving renowned writers like Moravia, Da Verona, and Vittorini. Censorship and Literature in Fascist Italy charts the development of Fascist censorship laws and practices, including the creation of the Ministry of Popular Culture and the anti-Semitic crack-down of the late 1930s.Examining the breadth and scope of censorship in Fascist Italy, from Mussolini's role as 'prime censor' to the specific experiences of female writers, this is a fascinating look at the vulnerability of culture under a dictatorship.


Despite the remarkable success of pre-trained language models (PLMs), they still face two challenges: First, large-scale PLMs are inefficient in terms of memory footprint and computation. Second, on the downstream tasks, PLMs tend to rely on the dataset bias and struggle to generalize to out-of-distribution (OOD) data. In response to the efficiency problem, recent studies show that dense PLMs can be replaced with sparse subnetworks without hurting the performance. Such subnetworks can be found in three scenarios: 1) the fine-tuned PLMs, 2) the raw PLMs and then fine-tuned in isolation, and even inside 3) PLMs without any parameter fine-tuning. However, these results are only obtained in the in-distribution (ID) setting. In this paper, we extend the study on PLMs subnetworks to the OOD setting, investigating whether sparsity and robustness to dataset bias can be achieved simultaneously. To this end, we conduct extensive experiments with the pre-trained BERT model on three natural language understanding (NLU) tasks. Our results demonstrate that \textbf{sparse and robust subnetworks (SRNets) can consistently be found in BERT}, across the aforementioned three scenarios, using different training and compression methods. Furthermore, we explore the upper bound of SRNets using the OOD information and show that \textbf{there exist sparse and almost unbiased BERT subnetworks}. Finally, we present 1) an analytical study that provides insights on how to promote the efficiency of SRNets searching process and 2) a solution to improve subnetworks' performance at high sparsity. The code is available at https://github.com/llyx97/sparse-and-robust-PLM.


Recently, new opportunities have emerged for the synthesis of functional polymers and materials by light-induced controlled radical polymerization techniques. Light-induced polymerization reactions implemented in batch reactors require chromophores as initiators or activators, and with increasing optical pathlength light is successively absorbed, lowering the overall efficiency of the reactions. This typically leads to long reaction times, making the process both inconvenient and costly to upscale. Implementing a continuous flow reactor is hereby advantageous. In here, we describe the visible light induced polymerization of several methacrylates via trithiocarbonate photoiniferter polymerization. In all cases, the method affords polymers with comparatively narrow molecular weight distribution (Đ = 1.20–1.30) even for moderate molar mass values above 10 kg mol−1, whereby full monomer conversions are reached already after 60 min for a variety of monomers. Several diblock and triblock copolymers were synthesized, demonstrating the versatility and good control of the technique. Further, the intensified synthesis of block copolymers is shown by coupling two photoflow reactors into a single continuous process, allowing for block copolymer synthesis without intermediate purification or sample collection.


Silicon-rich and rare-earth-doped nitride materials are promising candidates for silicon-compatible photonic sources. This work investigates the thermal conductivity and photoluminescence (PL) of light emitting samples fabricated with a range of excess silicon concentrations and annealing temperatures using time-domain picosecond thermoreflectance and time-resolved photoluminescence. A direct correlation between the thermal conductivity and photoluminescence dynamics is demonstrated, as well as a significant reduction of thermal conductivity upon incorporation of erbium ions. These findings highlight the role of annealing and stoichiometry control in the optimization of light emitting microstructures suitable for the demonstration of efficient Si-compatible light sources based on the silicon nitride platform.


Research on supply chain network design has mainly pursued efficiency oriented objectives for boosting service level and profit. However, the priority of an enterprise facing bankruptcy pressure shifts to fulfill debt obligation with limited financial resources and survive downsizing. In this paper, we define a supply chain downsizing problem (SCDP) under bankruptcy as streamlining a supply chain network in order to balance a business survival and its long term profitability. We formulate a mixed integer programming (MIP) model with specific downsizing features, which maximizes the utilization of investment resources through a combined operation of demand selection and production assets reallocation. The corresponding robust counterparts of the MIP model are further developed based on robust optimization techniques for dealing with uncertainties of demands and exchange rates. We analyze and validate the proposed downsizing MIP model with a series of systematically generated test cases while its robust counterparts are studied extensively using a large generated case. The findings demonstrate the value of our approach in discovering detailed downsizing plans in magnitude and direction and provide valuable insight into how financial debt payback could be arranged, and in a unique way show managers how the reconfigured downsized network would mitigate and lead to a sustainable and higher economic value supply chain.


Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), a conducting polymer, has been used since the 1990s for the cathode of tantalum capacitors, which have a tantalum anode, and a layer of tantalum pentoxide as the dielectric. Such capacitors are referred to as Polymer Ta capacitors. The first method, an in situ polymerization technique, used to deposit the polymer resulted in capacitors with a significant leakage current and breakdown voltages near 50 V. The second method, a pre-polymerization (pre-poly) technique, resulted in capacitors that have a much lower leakage current and a higher breakdown voltage than the in situ capacitors. In this thesis, an accurate measurement technique for dielectric leakage current, also referred to as the pre-breakdown current, was established for capacitors. Current versus time measurements at constant voltage were performed at several voltages and the results were compiled to obtain the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of both in situ and pre-poly types of capacitors. These characteristics were then modeled and analyzed, which led to the conclusion that the pre-breakdown current is controlled by the Poole-Frenkel mechanism in the in situ capacitors and by both the Poole-Frenkel and Schottky mechanisms in the pre-poly capacitors. Current versus time measurements were also performed at various temperatures to obtain the activation energy for the current in the capacitors and to verify the leakage mechanisms. Results suggest the presence of shallow 0.15 eV traps in the dielectric of the in situ capacitor and deeper 0.75 eV traps in that of the pre-poly capacitor. Additionally, pre-poly capacitors also have a 0.54 eV Schottky barrier that limits the electrons from being emitted into the dielectric from the electrode. Both the deep trap levels and the Schottky barrier explain the lower leakage current and higher breakdown voltage observed in the pre-poly capacitors as compared to the in situ capacitors.


Nanoand microparticle tracers are expected to be used for evaluating structures in geological developments, however their transport behavior is not well characterized. This study investigated nanoparticle transport in a fractured medium through a microscope. A single fracture and rock matrix (grain and pore space) were fabricated on a silicon wafer, which is called a micromodel. Water and nanoparticles were injected into the micromodel, and the temporal change of particle concentration was measured by analyzing the scanning electronic mirror (SEM) images of the dried droplet. The response curve showed a peak at early time followed by a long tail, which suggests that some particles flowed through the fracture in the micromodel and others migrated through the matrix space. Tunable Resistive Pulse Sensing (TRPS) was also used to obtain temporal changes of the particle concentration. The larger particles were observed only at early time, while the smaller particles were detected over a wider range of time. This indicates that particles with different sizes transport through fractured media differently depending on the fracture structures and that the tracer response may be useful to evaluate the flow properties for each flow path.


Abstract B-Prolog is a high-performance implementation of the standard Prolog language with several extensions including matching clauses, action rules for event handling, finite-domain constraint solving, arrays and hash tables, declarative loop constructs, and tabling. The B-Prolog system is based on the Tree-Oriented Abstract Machine (TOAM) architecture which differs from the Warren Abstract Machine (WAM) mainly in that (1) arguments are passed old fashionedly through the stack, (2) only one frame is used for each predicate call, and (3) instructions are provided for encoding matching trees. The most recent architecture, called TOAM Jr., departs further from the WAM in that it employs no registers for arguments or temporary variables, and provides variable-size instructions for encoding predicate calls. This paper gives an overview of the language features and a detailed description of the TOAM Jr. architecture, including architectural support for action rules and tabling.


As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And how are they to proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your Lord reigns'". It was in 1981 that a movement of the Spirit stirred and moved our hearts, opening up a new perspective in interpreting the gospel of Jesus Christ and a new option. Like clay in the potter's hands, and in order to hear this message of love and solidarity, I had to let the Maker of life break the vessel and with the same clay - but perhaps with a softer heart - reshape the vessel to be sent out to proclaim Good News to the poor and broken-hearted. In the same year, the government of the time allowed the poor and homeless to take over land belonging to the state in zones where there was no profit to be made. This led to an invasion of the land by people with scant economic resources. Everyone took a small square and made their huts out of sheets of cardboard and tin. As God does not send out servants unprepared, the work of preparing the way had already begun. We started the process of getting to know the people and being alongside them, and as we did so we realized that besides the lack of decent housing, these families also had problems related to drugs, alcoholism, prostitution, incest, homosexuality and many other such situations. Many are families of single mothers with a very low level of education. The Good News The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. What does the church do? True to its tradition, it holds services of worship week by week, organizes Sunday schools, campaigns, and the like. Our members come together to join in praise and prayer, hear the word and - in some cases - feel themselves anointed by it; then they go back to their homes and that's it. This cycle repeats itself again and again without the members' ever realizing that they are part of a body which, like all bodies, lives and moves, builds, is happy and sad and many other things. If we ask ourselves, "What is my body for?" we would no doubt produce a long list of activities for which we use our bodies. Similarly the church, as the living body of Christ, must show that it is alive. A lifeless body does nothing, but a living body is dynamic. To answer the question "What should the church do?" without entering into complicated theological considerations, we need only take the mandate of the great commission in Matthew 28:19: "Go and preach the gospel to all creatures". The church is sent to proclaim the good news to the poor, heal the wounded, open their eyes and proclaim the year of the Lord's favour (Luke 4:18-19). Turning to God in our times means renewing our minds and not being conformed to the world, changing our way of thinking so that we may know God's will (Romans 12:2). It means sowing hope in people's hearts, continuing the good works which God has prepared, receiving the promptings of the Spirit to discern the signs of the times. The church as the body of Christ has been redeemed to continue the mission of the one who paid the price for it: Jesus Christ. In fair weather or in the midst of storms it must stand firm, ready to confront the reality around it and to incarnate Jesus Christ. To her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure which are the deeds of the just who have been made saints through his grace (cf. Revelation 18-19). The church is a whole body made up of men and women, children, old and young, who are the leaven, the salt that gives savour to a world that has lost its savour through sin. Through the power of the Spirit they transform a world of death into a world of life - life in abundance, full of love and justice, as a foretaste of the kingdom of God among us (Luke 17-21). …


A fully unexpurgated collection that restores the sexual vitality and subversive flair suppressed by Whitman himself in later editions of" Leaves of Grass." A century after his death, Whitman is still celebrated as America's greatest poet. In this startling new edition of his work, Whitman biographer Gary Schmidgall presents over 200 poems in their original pristine form, in the chronological order in which they were written, with Whitman's original line breaks and punctuation. Included in this volume are facsimiles of Whitman's original manuscripts, contemporary - and generally blistering - reviews of Whitman's poetry (not surprisingly Henry James hated it), and early pre-"Leaves of Grass" poems that return us to the physical Whitman, rejoicing - sometimes graphically - in homoerotic love. Unlike the many other available editions, all drawn from the final authorized or "deathbed" "Leaves of Grass," this collection focuses on the exuberant poems Whitman wrote during the creative and sexual prime of his life, roughly between l853 and l860. These poems are faithfully presented as Whitman first gave them to the world - fearless, explicit and uncompromised - before he transformed himself into America's respectable, mainstream Good Gray Poet through 30 years of revision, self-censorship and suppression. Whitman admitted that his later poetry lacked the "ecstasy of statement" of his early verse. Revealing that ecstasy for the first time, this edition makes possible a major reappraisal of our nation first great poet.


Auctions are widely used on the Web. Applications range from internet advertising to platforms such as eBay. In most of these applications the auctions in use are single/multi-item auctions with unit demand. The main drawback of standard mechanisms for this type of auctions, such as VCG and GSP, is the limited expressiveness that they offer to the bidders. The General Auction Mechanism (GAM) of [1] is taking a first step towards addressing the problem of limited expressiveness by computing a bidder optimal, envy free outcome for linear utility functions with identical slopes and a single discontinuity per bidder-item pair. We show that in many practical situations this does not suffice to adequately model the preferences of the bidders, and we overcome this problem by presenting the first mechanism for piece-wise linear utility functions with non-identical slopes and multiple discontinuities. Our mechanism runs in polynomial time. Like GAM it is incentive compatible for inputs that fulfill a certain non-degeneracy requirement, but our requirement is more general than the requirement of GAM. For discontinuous utility functions that are non-degenerate as well as for continuous utility functions the outcome of our mechanism is a competitive equilibrium. We also show how our mechanism can be used to compute approximately bidder optimal, envy free outcomes for a general class of continuous utility functions via piece-wise linear approximation. Finally, we prove hardness results for even more expressive settings.


The purpose of this thesis is to study aspects of the function of the primary sensory endings of muscle spindles using morphometric and immunohistochemical techniques. For morphometry the right tenuissimus muscles of three adult cats, whose right hind limbs were fixed with the hip and knee flexed at various acute angles, have been compareed with the corresponding muscles from the fully extended left hind limbs of the same animals. The aim of this project is a better understanding of morphometric changes in the muscle spindle including intrafusal fibre diameter, sarcomere length, and (in particular) changes in the primary nerve endings in response to passive stretch. Immunohistochemical studies of the calcium-binding protein, calretinin, and immunogold labelling for glutamate were also carried out on the primary nerve endings as detailed below. All the work reported in this thesis was carried out in the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Durham. This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter one is an introduction to the structure and innervation of the muscle spindle andtendon organ, discussing briefly the presence of calretinin and glutamate in muscle spindle nerve endings. This provides general introduction and background to the work. Chapter two describes the deformation of the nerve endings in the muscle spindle when the cat tenuissimus muscle is subjected to different degrees of flexion of the hip and knee on the experimental side, the control side being extended so that the angles between the hip and the knee were approximately equal in the each case. For rapid and optimum fixation, both sides were perfused with fixative solution. The results show morphometric changes in the experimental muscles compared with the controls in tem1s of diameter, sarcomere length, and sensory nerve terminal deformation. Muscle fibres in the experimental (flexed) side have a greater diameter, and shorter sarcomeres, with nerve endings more indented into the intrafusal fibres, compared with those on the extended, control side. Nuclei of the equatorial region in both the experimental and control muscles differed in arrangements of nuclei and their outline. Chapter three discusses the calcium-binding proteins, with the emphasis on calretinin and its distribution in the nerve endings of rat muscle spindles and tendon organs as shown by histochemical examination of rat soleus muscle. The calretinin distribution was evident in the primary endings of both bag 1 and bag2 fibres and also in the primary endings of the chain fibres, although no secondary endings or tendon organs were observed.Chapter four describes quantitative immunological study carried out on the muscle spindle of the cat tenuissimus muscle to assess the comparative level of glutamate -like immunoreactivity in the equatorial region of the primary nerve endings, and their associated intrafusal fibres, were all found to show less glutamate -LI compared with the secondary nerve endings and their associated intrafusal fibre, but not the intrafusal fibrenuclei. In chapter five the results are summarised, and possible further studies outlined.


Introduction: Previous investigations on factors associated with depression were highly focused on personal characteristics and health behaviors; however, few studies used an ecological perspective on the issue, much less on sex differences. This study examined the factors associated with depression, including any sex differences. Methods: A total of 1025 Taiwanese adults older than 65 years were recruited. Their personal demographics, lifestyle behaviors, and perceived environmental factors were obtained through a telephone-based survey. The multiple factors associated with depression in older adults were examined using logistic regression analyses. Results: Fully logistic regression analyses revealed that poor self-rated health (odds ratio =2.54) was correlated with a greater likelihood of depression. Aside from poor self-rated health, being older, suf fi cient leisure time spent in walking, and perceptions of a safe environment were associated with lower risks of depression in older men, whereas having hypertension and excessive TV viewing were associated with higher risks of depression in older women. Conclusion: Apart from self-rated health, sex differences in the associations of factors such as leisure-time walking, TV watching, and safe traf fi c environment with depression were observed among older adults. Strategies applied for geriatric depression prevention should take into consideration different sex group.


Abstract A transgenic line of the soybean 'Jack', Glycine max (L.) Merrill, expressing a synthetic cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis variety kurstaki (Jack-Bt), was evaluated for resistance to four lepidopteran pests in the field. Jack-Bt and genotypes serving as susceptible and resistant controls were planted in field cages and artificially infested with larvae of corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), and velvetbean caterpillar, Anticarsia gemmatalis (Hübner), in 1996, 1997, and 1998, and also with soybean looper, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker), in 1996. Susceptible controls included Jack (1996–1998), 'Cobb' (1996), and Jack-HPH (1996). GatIR 81–296 was used as the resistant control in all 3 yr. Compared with untransformed Jack, Jack-Bt showed three to five times less defoliation from corn earworm and eight to nine times less damage from velvetbean caterpillar. Defoliation of GatIR 81–296 was intermediate between that of Jack and Jack-Bt for corn earworm, and similar to that of Jack for velveltbean caterpillar. Jack-Bt exhibited significant, but lower resistance to soybean looper. Jack-Bt also showed four times greater resistance than Jack to natural infestations of lesser cornstalk borer, Elasmopalpus lignosellus (Zeller), in conventional field plots at two locations in 1998. Data from these experiments suggest that expression of this cry1Ac construct in soybean should provide adequate levels of resistance to several lepidopteran pests under field conditions.


OBJECTIVES
The pathogenesis of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) remains poorly understood, and may overlap with eosinophilic asthma and primary hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES). The aim of this study was to analyse a panel of serum cytokines and chemokines as markers of disease activity in patients with these conditions.

METHODS
The levels of 54 cytokines and chemokines were measured in the sera of 40 patients with active EGPA, 10 of these patients during inactive disease, 6 patients with HES, 8 with asthma, and 10 healthy controls. Serum cytokine/chemokines measured included interleukin (IL)-1α, 1β, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13, 15, 17A, 17E(25), 18, 23 and 33, soluble IL-2 receptor alpha, eotaxin-1 (CCL11), -2 (CCL24) and -3 (CCL26), macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC/CCL22), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1a and -1b, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Results were compared between disease and control groups using regression analysis, with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (significant p value ≤0.00093).

RESULTS
Significant differences were observed only in serum levels of MDC, IL-8, MIP-1a and -1b, TNF-α, each of which were lower in patients with active EGPA than in healthy controls (p<0.0001). Differences between patients with active disease and other disease groups did not reach significance. Paired comparisons between sera from patients with active or inactive EGPA showed no significant difference for any of the studied cytokines or chemokines.

CONCLUSIONS
No clear difference in the serum levels of measured cytokines and chemokines helped distinguish between active EGPA or inactive EGPA, or other disease or control groups.


AIM
To compare clinical performance and parental satisfaction with composite strip crown and prefabricated zirconia crown for primary anterior teeth.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study compares clinical evaluation and parental satisfaction of two different crowns for primary anterior teeth. A total of 102 teeth in each group selected between ages 3 and 6 years, who met the inclusion criteria, were randomly allocated into two groups for further evaluation. Group A for strip crowns (55 teeth) and group B for zirconia crowns (47 teeth). The crowns were evaluated clinically with various criteria like-color match, crown retention, gingival health, crown contour, opposing tooth wear, marginal integrity, and recurrent caries. The samples were also evaluated for parental satisfaction based on 5-point Likert scale and child liking was also recorded with Smiley face Likert scale at baseline, 3 and 9 months. Statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test (p <0.05).

RESULTS
Zirconia crowns showed better color match, crown retention, crown contour, and gingival health. Strip crowns showed more discoloration and chipping of material over a period of time. None of the samples showed opposing tooth wear, open margins, and recurrent caries in strip and zirconia crown group. Parents and children both were highly satisfied with zirconia crowns.

CONCLUSION
Clinically zirconia crowns showed higher success rate as compared to strip crowns and parental overall satisfaction was higher for zirconia crowns.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Zirconia crowns exhibited a higher clinical performance and parental satisfaction; hence, if affordability is out weighted, zirconia crown stands better with esthetics of the child.


Disturbances in bone and mineral metabolism in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) affect not only the bone diseases but also other organ disorders in the whole body and deteriorate the survival of these patients. The term CKD-Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD) has been established describing a broader clinical syndrome that develops as a systemic disorder of mineral and bone metabolism due to CKD. Vascular calcification and secondary hyperparathyroidism are major diseases in CKD-MBD.


We report on the electromagnetic interference shielding behavior of Graphene Nanoplatelet (GNP)/Ni/Wax nanocomposites fabricated by a molecular-level mixing process. Blended powders of GNP and Ni nanoparticles with an average size of 80 nm were fabricated by this simple process. Strong interfacial bonding and homogeneous attachment between the two components (graphene and nickel) was achieved by applying functional groups on the GNP. Nano-sized powders were also prepared by the ball-milling process to demonstrate the contribution of the process to shielding properties. After mixing two different GNP/Ni powders in paraffin wax, the electromagnetic interference shielding behavior of GNP/Ni was investigated. The GNP/Ni/Wax sample of 0.7 mm thickness prepared by the molecular-level mixing process showed a shielding effectiveness value of 40 dB in the X-band, while GNP/Ni/Wax samples prepared by the ball-milling process showed a value of 20 dB. The enhancement can be achieved by facilitating charge transfer and providing magnetic dipoles which interact with electromagnetic waves. Functional groups on the GNP not only provide nucleation sites for Ni nanoparticles of uniform size but help the GNP/Ni powders to be homogeneously dispersed in wax by enhancing interfacial interactions between GNP/Ni and wax.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate potential associations between cognitive function and/or impairment and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and visual impairment in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS).

METHODS
The AREDS is an 11-center natural history study of AMD and age-related cataract. The AREDS Cognitive Function Battery was administered to 2946 participants. The battery consists of 6 neuropsychological tests measuring performance in several cognitive domains. The Dunnett multiple comparison test was used to identify differences by AMD and visual acuity severity. The relationship with cognitive impairment was also assessed using logistic regression.

RESULTS
Mean scores of instruments in the AREDS Cognitive Function Battery declined with increased macular abnormalities and reduced visual acuity. After adjustment for age, sex, race, education, smoking status, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and depression, increased macular abnormalities (trend P value <.05) reduced mean cognitive function scores as measured by the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination and the Wechsler Logical Memory Scale. Reduced vision was found to be associated with reduced mean cognitive function scores as measured by the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination and letter and verbal fluency tasks. Persons with vision worse than 20/40 OU were more likely to be cognitively impaired (Modified Mini-Mental State Examination score <80) (odds ratio, 2.88 [95% confidence interval, 1.75-4.76]) compared with persons with visual acuity of 20/40 or better OU.

CONCLUSION
These data suggest a possible association of advanced AMD and visual acuity with cognitive impairment in older persons.


Empirical studies on the effects of governance structures on incentives have still received little attention in the wheat value chain research of developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of governance structures on actors' incentives in different functional nodes of the wheat value chain. This study used personal interviews to collect primary data from input suppliers, wheat producers, wholesalers, wheat processors and co-operatives. Mixed sampling techniques (i.e. random, census and purposive) were applied to select sampling units. Descriptive statistics and the ordered logit model were used to analyse the data. This paper found that governance structures, opportunistic behaviour, asymmetric information and trust influence actors' incentives in each functional node of the wheat value chain. Specifically, extension services, governance structures, power relations and price information have significant and positive effects on producers' price incentives. The study provides pioneering evidence of the effects of governance structures on incentives in each functional node of the value chain. The study adds new knowledge to the existing empirical knowledge. The results recommend government to use effective policy interventions to reduce opportunistic behaviours and asymmetric information, and to adopt incentive strategies to encourage investment, and increase productivity and profitability.


The performance of multiphase steels with high strength and improved toughness or ductility, such as intercritically annealed dual-phase (DP) and transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steels, is of key importance to the automotive industry. In this work we have considered the entire manufacturing process and the effects of this on the final product performance. These steels are formed to produce the required final shape and then the car is paint baked. In this work we also consider the effect of cold working and bake hardening on the fatigue life of the components.


This paper investigates the microeconomic determinants of leverage decisions by asset managers. Investment funds (the "buy side") have significantly increased their share of global capital flows in recent years. Unconventional monetary policies in advanced economies have squeezed returns while reducing borrowing costs, which in principle creates an incentive for asset managers to use more leverage. We start by studying the recent behaviour of fund leverage in different asset categories at an aggregate level. Leverage appears to have increased significantly in funds focused on the fixed income markets of emerging economies. Then we analyse the microeconomic factors that shape the leverage decision. In line with theory, we find that leverage rises with expected returns, and falls with market risk and borrowing costs. Transaction costs are also mentioned in the literature as another factor that should inhibit leverage. Lacking the requisite data, we introduce as proxies changes in capital controls and macroprudential policies, because they tend to affect expected returns in comparable ways. We find that tighter capital controls on inflows increase leverage rather than decrease it, but that macroprudential measures have no discernible effect. Finally, we discuss these results and their policy implications.


The focus of this thesis is on the study of decentralized wireless multi-hop networks. We are particularly interested in establishing bounds on the traffic-carrying capabilities of wireless ad hoc networks and conditions on the scalability of such networks with node mobility. This theoretical investigation brings forward challenges on the design of such networks. This leads to a second part of this thesis that considers the feasibility and the design of physical layer architectures and schemes for decentralized wireless multi-hop networks. In the first part of this thesis, bounds on the capacity of wireless ad hoc networks with two types of non-uniform traffic patterns are established. We focus on the impact of traffic patterns where local communications predominate and show the improvement in terms of per user-capacity over ad hoc networks with unbounded average communication distances. We then study the capacity of hybrid wireless networks, where long-distance relaying is performed by a fixed overlay network of base-stations. We investigate the scaling of capacity versus the number of nodes and the density of base-stations in the area of the network. It is shown that the gain in performance is mainly due to the reduction in the mean number of hops from source to destination. Then, we investigate the impact of mobility on the ad hoc network capacity. We propose a set of necessary and sufficient conditions under which the long-term averaged throughput in an ad hoc network can remain constant as the number of nodes increases. The main idea is to use a connectivity graph that does not represent the actual physical network, but rather the available communication resources. This graph also allows to translate the problem of maximizing the throughput in ad hoc networks to the multi-commodity flow problem and directly apply related results. In contrast to these macroscopic studies, in the second part we focus on a microscopic analysis of ad hoc wireless networks. We are interested in characterizing the performance of decentralized multiple-access and retransmission schemes for multi-hop wireless networks with the goal of drawing conclusions on cross-layer design. We investigate different transmission strategies in order to assess the tradeoff between spatial density of communications and the range of each transmission. We present tools for characterizing the spatial throughput as a function of topological parameters (e.g node population density) and system parameters (propagation, bandwith etc). The results of this work also show that coding and retransmissions provide means of reliable communication coupled with a completely decentralized multiple-access strategy. Finally, an efficient protocol for the delay-limited fading Automatic Retransmission reQuest (ARQ) single relay channel is considered for cooperative communications. The proposed protocol exploits two kinds of diversity: (i) space diversity available through the cooperative (relay) terminal, which retransmits the source's signals, (ii) ARQ diversity obtained by leveraging the retransmission delay to enhance the reliability. The performance characterization is in terms of the achievable diversity, multiplexing gain and delay tradeoff for a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. Then, by letting the source's power level vary over the retransmission rounds, we show the benefits of power control on the diversity.


Newly emerging location-based and event-based social network services provide us with a new platform to understand users' preferences based on their activity history. A user can only visit a limited number of venues/events and most of them are within a limited distance range, so the user-item matrix is very sparse, which creates a big challenge to the traditional collaborative filtering-based recommender systems. The problem becomes even more challenging when people travel to a new city where they have no activity information. In this article, we propose LCARS, a location-content-aware recommender system that offers a particular user a set of venues (e.g., restaurants and shopping malls) or events (e.g., concerts and exhibitions) by giving consideration to both personal interest and local preference. This recommender system can facilitate people's travel not only near the area in which they live, but also in a city that is new to them. Specifically, LCARS consists of two components: offline modeling and online recommendation. The offline modeling part, called LCA-LDA, is designed to learn the interest of each individual user and the local preference of each individual city by capturing item cooccurrence patterns and exploiting item contents. The online recommendation part takes a querying user along with a querying city as input, and automatically combines the learned interest of the querying user and the local preference of the querying city to produce the top-k recommendations. To speed up the online process, a scalable query processing technique is developed by extending both the Threshold Algorithm (TA) and TA-approximation algorithm. We evaluate the performance of our recommender system on two real datasets, that is, DoubanEvent and Foursquare, and one large-scale synthetic dataset. The results show the superiority of LCARS in recommending spatial items for users, especially when traveling to new cities, in terms of both effectiveness and efficiency. Besides, the experimental analysis results also demonstrate the excellent interpretability of LCARS.


We develop the notion of organizational readiness, a construct that describes the anticipatory expectations about future organizational life that children develop as they absorb the cultural influences to which they are exposed. We conduct our analyses through an exploration of the depictions of work in Disney's 56 "Classic" feature-length animations (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs [1937] to Moana [2016]). We can, of course, make no direct cause and effect claims about the effects of the animations. However, we argue that Disney animations are likely to significantly shape children's learning about organizations. This is because the Disney animated canon regularly provides children with consistent and vivid impressions of the nature of working life—impressions that will have important implications for them and the staff who teach them, when they eventually enter business schools as undergraduates.