provision of microworlds can not be haphazzard, hut must include readily available computation (every child should have his own computer), sophisticated peripherals (high resolution animated graphics~ robots)~ a~d a language simple enough for the youngest child yet powerful enough to solve complex problems (LOGO and S}~LLTALK are good; BASIC is definitely out). Papert addresses the problem of having his ideas adopted, and concludes that it won't happen in traditional schools. It will occur in the home and in communities of persons with the same sorts of visions as he has about how computers ought to be used. Mindstorms will surely please readers who have been waiting for a comprehensive treatment of Papert's ideas° At the same time, it is an excellent introduction to his work for people who are unfamiliar with it. Here is a listing of the chapter headings: We have not seen a copy, but from the flier we received it looks like a fine collection of essays by some leading thinkers in the field of computer uses in education, including


Abstract Consider an event definable in terms of two subevents as, for example, the occurrence of precipitation within a 24-h period is definable in terms of the occurrence of precipitation within each of the 12-h subperiods. A complete forecast must specify three probabilities; these may be marginal probabilities, one for the period and two for subperiods. Theoretical relations between these probabilities are investigated and solutions are presented to three problems encountered in operational forecasting: (i) guaranteeing that the marginal probabilities jointly obey the laws of probability, (ii) structuring admissible procedures for adjusting the initial (guidance) probabilities by forecasters, and (iii) formulating optimal estimators of the probability for period in terms of the probabilities for subperiods.


Background: Tibial tubercle–trochlear groove (TT-TG) distance is often used as a measure of lateralization of the TT and is important for surgical planning. Purpose: To investigate if increased TT-TG distance measured on axial magnetic resonance images is due to lateralization of the TT or medialization of the TG. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: A total of 84 knees (28 normal [NK], 28 with trochlear dysplasia [TD], and 28 with patellar dislocation without TD [PD]) were examined. The medial border of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) was chosen as the central anatomic landmark. The distance from the TT to PCL (TT-PCL) was measured to examine the lateralization of the TT. The distance from the TG to the PCL (TG-PCL) was measured to examine the medialization of the TG. Between-group differences were investigated by use of 1-way analysis of variance. Results: The mean values for TT-TG distance were 8.7 ± 3.6 mm for NK, 12.1 ± 6.0 mm for PD, and 16.7 ± 4.3 mm in the TD group (P < .01). The mean values for TT-PCL distance were 18.5 ± 3.6 mm for NK, 18.5 ± 4.5 mm for PD, and 21.2 ± 4.2 mm in the TD group (P = .03). The mean values for TG-PCL distance were 9.6 ± 3.0 mm for NK, 7.1 ± 3.4 mm for PD, and 5.1 ± 3.3 mm in the dysplastic group (P < .01). Conclusion: The present results indicate that increased TT-TG distance is due to medialization of the TG and not lateralization of the TT. Knees with TD had increased TT-TG distance compared with the knees of the control group and the knees with PD. The TT-PCL distance did not differ significantly between groups, whereas the TG-PCL distance declined with increased TT-TG.


In January, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich unveiled "Thomas," the new Internet access point to congressional information (http://thomas.loc.gov). The plan is for Thomas to give citizens access to the full text of legislative bills and to the congressional record, among other things. There are nits to pick, of course: While Thomas shows how easily people can electronically access legislative information, the Web page also exemplifies the enormous gulf that separates the government as provider, from citizens as consumers, of information. Few people have the motivation, time, or expertise to read full-text bills or the congressional record. (Congressional information output quickly fills thousands of pages per day with results of House and Senate deliberations; countless hearings; legislative and investigative committee reports; and agency studies and reports.) The essential question is, to what extent should-and can-government try to bridge the gap between its ability to provide information and people's ability to consume it? Even for those individuals who stand four-square in favour of openness and access, the answer is neither easy nor obvious. >


We describe a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 characterized by the simultaneous occurrence of parathyroid cancer, parathyroid adenomas, and pancreatic gastrinoma, who presented with an episode of acute hypercalcemia. The rapid parathyroid hormone assay provided a basis for the diagnosis of parathyroid hyperfunction. Mediastinal metastasis of the parathyroid carcinoma was found at autopsy. However, the staining of pancreatic and gastric tissue for parathyroid hormone-related protein does not make it possible to exclude completely the contribution of this peptide in mediating the hypercalcemia. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of parathyroid carcinoma as part of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 syndrome.


Objectives To assess (i) the public health benefit of provider-led partner notification (PN) and (ii) the importance of taking into account the number and types of partners when assessing the cost-benefit of provider-led PN. Method We used data on 346 partners reported by 220 chlamydia index patients (n=127 men) seen by a PN professional at one GUM clinic, April–June 2011. We used a published, evidence-based algorithm to quantify PN impact, including the measure the "Number Needed to Treat to Interrupt Transmission" (NNTIT), defined as the number of partners who need to be treated to interrupt 1 onward (secondary) transmission. A lower NNTIT indicates less PN effort is required to prevent onward transmission. Results Men reported 216/346 partners and women 130/346. Men more often described partners as casual (56% vs 28%), while women more often reported regular (40% vs 30%) and ex-partners (23% vs 12%). For traceable partners (73% of men's; 88% of women's), 9/157 men's partners and 16/114 women's partners required provider-led PN. Almost all were casual or ex-partners (8/9 men's; 13/16 women's). NNTITs were lowest for ex-partners: 0.6 and 0.45 for men and women, respectively, followed by casual partners: 0.8 and 0.6, then regular partners: 1.80 and 0.9. Discussion Provider-led PN is required more often with casual and ex-partners than with regular partners. This may have greater cost implications for services, but, as casual and ex-partners are likely to have greater numbers of partners themselves, the potential for preventing onward transmission is greater, yielding greater public health benefit. Services should collect data from their index patients on the number and type(s) of partners, as well as the PN method(s) required (patient vs provider referral). Together with cost data, these data were key for demonstrating the cost-benefit of provider-led PN.


ABSTRACT The draft genome sequence of Arcobacter cibarius strain LMG21996T, isolated from chicken carcasses, is reported here. The draft genome consists of 2.2 Mbp, with a 27.12% G+C content. A total of 2,179 protein-coding genes, 46 tRNA genes, and 15 rRNAs have been identified and annotated.


This paper examines the impact of consumption emotions on consumers' satisfaction and how it affects what they tell other consumers. The conceptual model is based on the premise that pleasure and arousal influence satisfaction, word-of-mouth (WOM) communications, and the likelihood of generating WOM. A study of 470 moviegoers in a French Canadian city supports most of these relationships. The results indicate that even when the effects of satisfaction are accounted for, pleasure and arousal have significant effects on WOM. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have been applied extensively in many areas of genetics and genomics research. A fundamental problem when comes to analyzing NGS data is mapping short sequencing reads back to the reference genome. Most of existing software packages rely on a single uniform reference genome and do not automatically take into the consideration of genetic variants. On the other hand, large proportions of incorrectly mapped reads affect the correct interpretation of the NGS experimental results. As an example, Degner et al. showed that detecting allele-specific expression from RNA sequencing data was biased toward the reference allele. In this study, we developed a method that utilize DirectX 11 enabled graphics processing unit (GPU)'s parallel computing power to produces a personalized diploid reference genome based on all known genetic variants of that particular individual. We show that using such a personalized diploid reference genome can improve mapping accuracy and significantly reduce the bias toward reference allele in allele-specific expression analysis. Our method can be applied to any individual that has genotype information obtained either from array-based genotyping or resequencing. Besides the reference genome, no additional changes to alignment algorithm are needed for performing read mapping therefore one can utilize any of the existing read mapping tools and achieve the improved read mapping result. C++ and GPU compute shader source code of the software program is available at: http://code.google.eom/p/diploid-mapping/downloads/list.


ABSTRACT In recent years the need to teach primary care providers to better care for transgender and non-binary (trans) patients has garnered significant scholarly and public attention. The alarming why motivating this surge in trans health primary care education has already been firmly established and needs no further comment. Instead, we offer new perspectives on how to do trans health primary care education. From treasured 'trans 101ʹ educational interventions to trans health 'clinical pearls', the prevailing model used to teach primary care learners represents time-limited cultural competency-based education, which we argue creates an isolated education 'island'. In rethinking this approach, we present an introduction to the concepts of knowledge integration and the transfer of learning and apply them to show how trans health knowledge and skills should be structured within existing curricula to support effective learning and application. These instructional design considerations have yet to be extensively explored when teaching primary care learners trans health content and may be critical to building pedagogy that ultimately improves healthcare delivery. We conclude that trans health – and trans patients themselves – must not be treated as an isolated education island of knowledge and practice. Rather, it is the responsibility of educators to design instruction that encourages learners to integrate this knowledge with foundational principles of primary care; building bridges across a continent of primary care practice landscapes in turn.


This article declares that violence of religions because of sacred text, dogma and the interpretation of text. Absolutely versus relatively, and humanism versus god. Violenceof religions departs from ulama, pastor, religious leader, missionaries and religious teacher, religions ambivalence between peace and violence, because in the religion on text and context are very rigid. The holy war was justified by religious text. Among problems of religious dialogue are collective identity, minority and majority issues, Christianization and islamization issues, and the conversion of religion. Continued dialogue with cutting crucial issues, collective identity, minority-majority, Christinization and Islamization and conversion.


Key management is a core mechanism to ensure the security of applications and network services in wireless sensor networks. Key management includes two aspects: key distribution and key revocation. The goal of the key distribution is to establish the required keys between sensor nodes which must exchange data. Key revocation is used to remove compromised sensor nodes from the network. Although many key distribution schemes and key revocation schemes have been proposed in the literature, there is a lack of a framework which can integrate the schemes. In this paper, we propose a key management framework, uKeying, for wireless sensor networks using a globally distributed session key. uKeying includes three parts: a security mechanism to provide secrecy for the communication in the sensor network, an efficient session key distribution scheme, and a centralized key revocation scheme. The proposed framework does not depend on a specific key distribution scheme and can support many key distribution schemes. We further demonstrate how to use the framework to support secure group communication protocols in wireless sensor networks. Our analysis shows that the framework is secure, efficient, and extensible. The simulation and results reveal for the first time that a centralized key revocation scheme can also attain a high efficiency.


The structure, biodegradability, and morphological properties of composite materials composed of poly(butylene succinate adipate) (PBSA) and bamboo fiber (BF) were evaluated. Composites containing acrylic acid-grafted PBSA (PBSA-g-AA/BF) exhibited noticeably enhanced compatibility between the two components. The dispersion of BF in the PBSA-g-AA matrix was highly homogeneous as a result of ester formation and the consequent creation of branched and crosslinked macromolecules between the carboxyl groups of PBSA-g-AA and hydroxyl groups in BF. In addition, the PBSA-g-AA/BF composite was more easily processed due to a lower melt viscosity. Each composite was subjected to biodegradation tests in an Acinetobacterbaumannii compost. Morphological observations indicated severe disruption of film structure after 10–20 days of incubation, and both the PBSA and the PBSA-g-AA/BF composite films were eventually completely degraded. The PBSA-g-AA/BF films were more biodegradable than those made of PBSA and exhibited a lower molecular weight and intrinsic viscosity, implying a strong connection between these characteristics and biodegradability. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011


Increases in aryl hydrocarbon (benzo[a]pyrene) hydroxylase activity are found in fetal rat liver primary cultures and in cell lines derived from rat Reuber Hepatoma H-35 or mouse Hepatoma BW 7756, when the cells are treated with any one of a large number of hydrophobic compounds in the growth medium. Compounds which are effective inducers include 3-methylcholanthrene, sodium phenobarbital, isoproterenol, α-naphthoflavone, β-naphthoflavone, 2,5-diphenyloxazole, 2-(49-chlorophenyl)benzothiazole, 2-(49-formylphenyl)benzothiazole, metyrapone, 1-(2-isopropylphenyl)imidazole, 2-diethylaminoethyl-2,2-diphenyl valerate HCl (SKF 525-A), piperonyl butoxide, diethylstilbestrol, sodium laurate, allylisopropylacetamide, aniline, and aminopyrine. Regardless of which inducer is used, the hydroxylase activity found in liver- or hepatoma-derived cell cultures seems to be (a) particularly sensitive to such inhibitors in vitro as α-naphthoflavone or 2,5-diphenyloxazole, (b) less inhibited in vitro by such drugs as metyrapone or SKF 525-A, and (c) associated with a blue spectral shift in the Soret peak of the reduced hemoprotein-CO complex. The hydroxylase activity in control cultures and the hydroxylase activity induced by phenobarbital in liver- or hepatoma-derived cell cultures thus differ from the hepatic enzyme activities in the control and phenobarbital-treated intact animal; our findings presumably indicate that cytochrome P1450 is induced by some factor in the control medium or by phenobarbital in culture, whereas other P450 species predominate in the control or phenobarbital-treated adult intact animal. Certain compounds are known to be metabolized differently by P1450 than by P450. For studies with liver- or hepatoma-derived cultures and concerning evaluation of cytotoxicity, drug metabolism, or chemical carcinogenesis by certain compounds known to be metabolized via the monooxygenase metabolic pathways, we therefore suggest caution in the extrapolation of certain results found in cultured cells to the actual situation existing in the intact animal.


Mean and maximal micturition volumes following a standardized water intake were determined before and up to three days after unilateral pelvic ganglionectomy or sham operation in adult male rats. Sham operation did not change the volumes. Unilateral ganglionectomy on the other hand decreased significantly both mean and maximal micturition volumes (and thus increased micturition frequency). The effect was most pronounced 1 day after ganglionectomy, but was still significant after 3 days. Cystometrograms were recorded without and with atropine (1 mg/kg) before operation and 1, 2 or 3 days after sham-operation or ganglionectomy. Micturition pressure decreased to about 50% 1 day after ganglionectomy and remained at this level. Atropine decreased micturition pressure in the controls to about 55% of the initial. The atropine resistant pressure response in the ganglionectomized rats amounted to 90% after 1 day, and was still above 70% after 3 days. The sham-operated controls had no residual urine without or with atropine. The unilaterally ganglionectomized animals had no residual urine in the absence of atropine, but after administration of the drug the animals rapidly developed a significant residual urine.


A B S T R A C T. The article is devoted to the analysis of "The Letter of Partition of Assets…" (peasant juristic document of the 17 th century) in the context of modern common law practices. The materials are field research records, made in the villages of the Mezen' and Leshukonsky districts of the Arkhangelsk Oblast. The document fixes an agreement on the division of the father's inheritance between three brothers. The practice of written documental division of property among peasants was finished by the middle of the 21 st century, in particular, due to the confiscation of private property and dispossession of "kulaks" in the Soviet period. However, the partici pant observation of modern day-to-day village life and field data shows complex skills of evaluation of shares, social responsibility, limiting self-interest and striving for a harmless division of resources (a division of inherit -ance, production, land, and places for construction). The principles of modern partition skills echo the principles of distribution of benefits, recorded in the old separate literacy. The first principle is that only male siblings are involved in the distribution of goods. A fter years of socialist's women rights program, it has been preserved only in the practice of division of fishing grounds and tool's inheritance. The second principle of equal division of goods takes into account not only the size of the share but also its quality, as well as potential future risks and their compensation, the ratio of the effort invested into good's production process and the tools used together. If it is impossible for objective reasons to observe the principle of equality, the decision is made by drawing lots. An additional protection of all participant interests is an appeal to the village non-official authorities who are not materially interested in a result of the agreements.


Understanding the molecular basis of substrate specificity of an enzyme is very crucial to its functional importance in any biological system. Previously, we had experimentally validated a novel phenomenon using an enzyme engineering approach, to alter the substrate specificity via modification of the electrostatic properties of the gatekeeper residues in succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS) of Blastocystis. The multiple sequence alignment (MSA) of SCSβ subunits from phylogenetically diverse organisms, depicted P. falciparum SCS to club with ADP-forming human, bovine and murine SCS enzymes. In the present study, we have explored the gatekeeper residues of P. falciparum SCS (PfSCS), an enzyme crucial for the generation of a metabolic intermediate- succinyl-CoA, required during the mosquito stages of the Plasmodium. With the construction of various gatekeeper mutants, structural modeling and enzyme kinetics experiments, our study concluded that PfSCS is an ADP-forming enzyme (KmATP=48 µM). Introduction of the exclusively charged- positive (Lys & Lys) & negative gatekeeper residues (Glu & Asp), demonstrated significant reductions in the ATP affinity, while no significant GDP-forming potential was recorded. Interestingly, simultaneous refolding of the nucleotide-binding site containing PfSCSβ subunit with the Blastocystis SCSα produced the active enzyme conformation. Therefore, the present study concluded that only electrostatic interactions at the gatekeeper region are not sufficient enough to alter the substrate specificity in PfSCS, as in case of Blastocystis SCS and further structural analysis is warranted with particular focus on the binding site architecture of PfSCS.


Sheet piles are used as an excavation support for soil retention. They are interlocked systems to form a wall for earth support along with anchors to provide an extra lateral support in excavations. The earth pressure against a sheet pile structure is not unique for each soil, but rather a function of soil-structure system. Movements of the structure with respect to the soil are primary factor in developing the pressure and thus the problem becomes indeterminate. In order to model a sheet pile wall for the analysis, structural element/interface can be used for the sheet pile. However, the use of the structural element with soil model alone is insufficient to simulate this soil-structure system as it fails to capture the slip condition between the sheet pile and the retained soil. In order to capture this slip condition, an interactive element can be used between sheet pile and soil to allow slip to occur. There have been many case studies where this method was used to analyze the response of the retained soil. Numerical studies have shown a good agreement with experimental results, but this stiffness is often not a well-known parameter, due to its complexity in nature of interactive behavior between soil and sheet pile walls. Also, many case studies are carried out with twodimensional analysis of the foundation, where three-dimensional analysis may be more suitable in some practical applications. In this paper, the interactive behavior of the element between sheet pile and soil is investigated with case studies for staged excavation using sheet piles and anchors. Then, investigation of a three-dimensional model is carried out by comparing with two-dimensional analysis.


ABSTRACT The accumulation of compatible solutes was studied in the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex pyrophilus as a function of the temperature and the NaCl concentration of the growth medium. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of cell extracts revealed the presence of α- and β-glutamate, di-mannosyl-di-myo-inositol phosphate, di-myo-inositol phosphate, and an additional compound here identified as 1-glyceryl-1-myo-inosityl phosphate. All solutes accumulated by A. pyrophilus are negatively charged at physiological pH. The intracellular levels of di-myo-inositol phosphate increased in response to supraoptimal growth temperature, while α- and β-glutamate accumulated in response to osmotic stress, especially at growth temperatures below the optimum. The newly discovered compound, 1-glyceryl-1-myo-inosityl phosphate, appears to play a double role in osmo- and thermoprotection, since its intracellular pool increased primarily in response to a combination of osmotic and heat stresses. This work also uncovered the nature of the unknown compound, previously detected in Archaeoglobus fulgidus (L. O. Martins et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:896-902, 1997). The curious structural relationship between diglycerol phosphate (found only in Archaeoglobus species), di-myo-inositol phosphate (a canonical solute of hyperthermophiles), and the newly identified solute is highlighted. This is the first report on the occurrence of 1-glyceryl-1-myo-inosityl phosphate in living systems.


In a previous study (B. P. Lockhart, H. Tsiang, P. E. Ceccaldi, and S. Guillemer, Antiviral Chem. Chemother. 2:9-15, 1991), we demonstrated an antiviral effect of the general anesthetic ketamine for rabies virus in neuronal cultures and in rat brain. This report describes an attempt to determine at what level ketamine acts on the rabies virus cycle in rat cortical neuron cultures. Immunofluorescence and [35S]methionine labelling of infected neurons showed that ketamine (1 to 1.5 mM) inhibited viral nucleoprotein and glycoprotein syntheses. Northern (RNA) blots of total RNA from drug-treated neurons, hybridized with 32P-labelled oligonucleotide probes for rabies virus nucleoprotein, matrix protein, and glycoprotein genes, showed a marked reduction (5- to 11-fold) in the levels of rabies virus mRNAs, relative to those in untreated neurons. No significant change in the levels of cellular beta-actin mRNA were detected in ketamine-treated cells. A similar antiviral effect was observed with MK-801; however, no inhibition of rabies virus synthesis was observed with the general anesthetic chloral hydrate. The antiviral effect was not complete; a time-dependent recovery of viral transcription and rabies virus protein synthesis was observed, but no infectious virus was released into the culture supernatant. The lack of any modification of cellular protein or mRNA synthesis by ketamine suggests an antiviral mechanism acting at the level of rabies virus genome transcription.


Abstract:Lecumberri prison in Mexico City housed inmates from 1900 until 1976. Among the incarcerated were over 460 political prisoners held after the 1968 massacre of student protesters and bystanders by government officials, transforming the site into a potent symbol of the repressions of the era. In 1982, Lecumberri reopened as the Archivo General de la Nación (National Archive), the most important repository in Mexico. I argue that the preservation and renovation of the structure provided an opportunity for the PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) to reclaim the narrative of Lecumberri from the activists who used it as a symbol of state excesses and a node of resistance during and after the 1968 student movement. Through the preservation of Lecumberri as a cultural institution, the Mexican government claimed progress by rhetorically "opening" and "inverting" the site, yet the fundamental power structures of the institution, and their related architectures, remained unchanged. I then show how interventions by artists Gina Arizpe and Ángela Bonadies escaped, exceeded, or confounded these official narratives, staging what Cristina Moreiras-Menor calls "alternative notions of temporality." Their artworks underscore the fact that the repressive, carceral functions of Lecumberri also serve the Archive, questioning the moral narratives implicit in historical preservation.


A user-friendly Ni-catalyzed reductive carboxylation of benzylic C-N bonds with CO2 is described. This procedure outperforms state-of-the-art techniques for the carboxylation of benzyl electrophiles by avoiding commonly observed parasitic pathways, such as homodimerization or β-hydride elimination, thus leading to new knowledge in cross-electrophile reactions.


Increased human activity is causing a build-up of greenhouse gases (GHGs)
which are thought to contribute to global warming. Climate change is an
international environmental concern because the effects of GHG emissions
will be felt throughout the world irrespective of their origin.Similarly,mitigation
activities undertaken anywhere in the world have the same impact on the
global environment.
The Framework Convention on Climate Change, opened for signature in
June 1992 during the Rio conference, seeks to address the problem of global
warming at the international level. It has received widespread acceptance and
has been ratified by 171 states.While the convention does not set out specific
emission reduction targets,the recently adopted Kyoto Protocol sets out quantified
emission limitation and reduction commitments for OECD countries
and countries undergoing the process of economic transition to a market economy
(Annex B parties).Annex B parties commit themselves to reduce their
overall GHG emissions by at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels between 2008
and 2012.1 Developing countries do not take on emission limitation or reduction
commitments.
In the first part of this article,we analyse the mechanism of joint implementation
(JI) generally and in the Climate Change Convention specifically.The
second part concentrates on JI projects in the forestry sector.We argue that the
carbon sequestration potential of trees on which JI forestry projects are predicated
has not been proven.Indeed,in the long term,these projects have a very
limited effect on carbon sequestration considering that woody biomass
eventually decays or burns.We also argue that JI forestry projects often conflict
with local and international environmental priorities.The third part addresses
concerns with JI at the international level.It focuses on reordering JI priorities
and fitting development concerns in JI.


This chapter examines the ideological background of the sexual rites of early medieval Taoism. These rituals, which aimed to conceive perfect embryos through the supervised intercourse of initiated adepts, were linked to the notion of chosen or "seed-people." Woven into a pervasive soteriological and eschatological complex of ideas, this notion of ritually produced electi remained fundamental to the formation and identity of early Taoist religious communities and sectarian organizations. The moral dualism of these groups placed sexuality and procreation in the service of eugenic ends.


Gamification described as the use of game elements for purposes beyond games. As an extension of that, gamified assessment is defined as the use of gamification for assessment purposes. However, the traditional method of assessment remains the standard for student performance assessment, and this raises two assumptions. First, the current gamification implementation is still in its infancy. Thus, it is still unappealing enough for practical use. Second, there is a lack of study that brings forward the desire to have gamification implemented in the assessment. Hence, this study intends to explore the student's perception of gamified assessment followed by their verdict, acquire the strength and weakness points of the existing implementation. In total, 86 students across several universities in Malaysia involved in this study. The present study implemented standard descriptive statistical methods for analyzing the data. The findings showed that there are needs for gamified assessment for an engaging learning experience. Besides, the results showed one of the earlier presumptions, which is the lack of study that points toward the student's desire to have a gamified assessment. Keenly, the results of the study will emphasize the need for developing a rigorous gamified assessment model as a guideline to develop an application that engaging learning experience.


This paper describes a stochastic "Random Chemistry" (RC) algorithm to identify large collections of multiple (n-k) contingencies that initiate large cascading failures in a simulated power system. The method requires only O(log (n)) simulations per contingency identified, which is orders of magnitude faster than random search of this combinatorial space. We applied the method to a model of cascading failure in a power network with n=2896 branches and identify 148243 unique, minimal n-k branch contingencies (2 ≤ k ≤ 5) that cause large cascades, many of which would be missed by using pre-contingency flows, linearized line outage distribution factors, or performance indices as screening factors. Within each n-k collection, the frequency with which individual branches appear follows a power-law (or nearly so) distribution, indicating that a relatively small number of components contribute disproportionately to system vulnerability. The paper discusses various ways that RC generated collections of dangerous contingencies could be used in power systems planning and operations.


Postponing retirement will become increasingly important as a means to increase the labor force, its output and old age security, as populations age. Recent research has focused on incentives stemming from the social security system that influence the worker's decision to retire. Defined benefit systems (both public and private) often contain penalties for postponing access to pensions or continuing to work while receiving a pension. In contrast, the tight link between contributions and accumulations and the actuarial conversion of accumulations into pensions in privately managed defined contribution systems may lead workers to postpone pensions or to continue working after withdrawals begin. The experience of Chile, which implemented its new system in 1982, offers an opportunity to test if the change in incentives has indeed produced the expected change in retirement behavior. Using probit analysis of household survey data from 1960 to 2002, we estimate the impact of the pension reform on the probability of 1) becoming a pensioner and 2) dropping out of the labor force, for older workers. We find strong effects of the new system on both propensities, in the aggregate and at the individual level after controlling for individual and macro-economic variables. In particular, restricted access to early pensions and the exemption of pensioners from the pension payroll tax appear to exert a powerful effect on labor force participation rates.


From a perusal of the proceedings of the SPIE Advanced Lithography Symposium, the progression of new concepts in lithographic technology can be seen. A new idea first appears in a few papers, and over time, there is an increase in the number of papers on the same topic. Eventually the method becomes commonplace, and the number of papers on the topic declines, as the idea becomes part of our industry's working knowledge. For example, one or two papers on resolution enhancement techniques (RETs) appeared in the proceedings of the Optical Microlithography Conference in 1989 and 1990. By 1994, the total number of papers had increased to 35. Early lithographers focused on practical issues, such as adhesion promotion and resist edge bead. The introduction of simulation software brought on the next era of lithography. This was followed by a period of time in which RETs were developed and brought to maturity. The introduction of optical proximity corrections (OPC) initiated the next major era of lithography. The traditional path for scaling by using shorter wavelengths, decreasing k1 and increasing numerical aperture has given way to the current era of optical multiple patterning and lithography-design co-optimization. There has been sufficient activity in EUV lithography R and D to justify a separate EUV Lithography Conference as part of the annual Advanced Lithography Symposium. Each era builds on the cumulative knowledge gained previously. Over time, there have been parallel developments in optics, exposure tools, resist, metrology and mask technology, many of which were associated with changes in the wavelength of light used for leading-edge lithography.


F-spondin, an extracellular matrix protein, is an important player in embryonic morphogenesis and CNS development, but its presence and role later in life remains largely unknown. We generated a transgenic zebrafish in which GFP is expressed under the control of the F-spondin (spon1b) promoter, and used it in combination with complementary techniques to undertake a detailed characterization of the expression patterns of F-spondin in developing and adult brain and periphery. We found that F-spondin is often associated with structures forming long neuronal tracts, including retinal ganglion cells, the olfactory bulb, the habenula, and the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (nMLF). F-spondin expression coincides with zones of adult neurogenesis and is abundant in CSF-contacting secretory neurons, especially those in the hypothalamus. Use of this new transgenic model also revealed F-spondin expression patterns in the peripheral CNS, notably in enteric neurons, and in peripheral tissues involved in active patterning or proliferation in adults, including the endoskeleton of zebrafish fins and the continuously regenerating pharyngeal teeth. Moreover, patterning of the regenerating caudal fin following fin amputation in adult zebrafish was associated with F-spondin expression in the blastema, a proliferative region critical for tissue reconstitution. Together, these findings suggest major roles for F-spondin in the CNS and periphery of the developing and adult vertebrate.


From the Publisher:
This laboratory manual is designed for the purpose of enhancing the understanding of concepts discussed in a variety of networks and data communications books. Reinforces fundamental concepts and theories associated with the network physical layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, and application layer. Includes labs devoted to Comnet III simulations, INTERNET activities, NOVELL NetWare, and PC hardware.


In this work we report the successful assembly and characterization of a TiO2/In2S3-Sb2S3/CuSCN extremely thin absorber solar cell. Nanostructured TiO2 deposited by screen printing on an ITO substrate was used as an n-type electrode. An ∼80 nm extremely thin layer of the system In2S3-Sb2S3 deposited by successive ionic layer adsorption and a reaction (silar) method was used as an absorber. The voids were filled with p-type CuSCN and the entire assembly was completed with a gold contact. The solar cell fabricated with this heterostructure showed an energy conversion efficiency of 4.9%, which is a promising result in the development of low cost and simple fabrication of solar cells.


The Commission for Economic Development in Orem (CEDO) has completed its pilot project: setting up an inventor organization, providing knowledgeable speakers for monthly meetings, and trying to assess and meet the needs of that group. Utah Valley Community College provided space for monthly inventor meetings. It was decided that the monthly meetings would be held as two-hour mini seminar sessions with qualified speakers. The college provided continuing education units free for attendance at the meetings. Results of two surveys of the group were analyzed. A meeting was held between CEDO and the college's Dean of the School of Business where it was decided that the group should be continued. The college will continue providing space for the monthly meetings and assisting with the attraction of additional qualified speakers. CEDO will continue to locate speakers, put on the monthly meetings publish the monthly newsletter and provide information and assistance for the group. It has been determined by CEDO that having a group'' with monthly speakers is only a pacification of the needs of inventors and innovators. This group is in dire need of specialized inventor ASSISTANCE on a no-cost or low-cost basis.


The present research explored the mechanisms of judgmental and memory correction for communication influence. Participants described a target person to an addressee who either liked or disliked the target. Participants' descriptions were more positive when the addressee liked the target than when the addressee disliked the target. Mediation analyses showed that the effect of the addressee's attitude on judgment and memory was mediated by its effect on participants' descriptions. Participants' evaluative judgments of the target were influenced by the addressee's attitude only when the attitude was presented subtly. When the presentation of the attitude was blatant, participants used the attitude as a situational inducement of their communication behavior and corrected their judgments. Both participants' recall and false recognition of personality traits were evaluatively consistent with the addressee's attitude regardless of its presentation. However, mediational analyses suggested that participants in the blatant presentation condition engaged in an insufficient memory correction by discounting the evaluative implications of their descriptions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In preterm infants, both hypo- and hyperglycemia are a frequent problem. Intravenous lipids can affect glucose metabolism by stimulation of gluconeogenesis by providing glycerol, which is a gluconeogenic precursor, and/or free fatty acids (FFA), which are stimulants of the rate of gluconeogenesis. In 25 preterm infants, glucose production and gluconeogenesis were measured using stable isotope techniques during a 6-h infusion of glucose only, glucose plus glycerol, or glucose plus an intravenous lipid emulsion. Two lipid emulsions differing in FFA composition were used: Intralipid ( approximately 60% polyunsaturated FFA) and Clinoleic (approximately 60% monounsaturated FFA). The rate of glucose infusion was 22 micromol x kg(-1) x min(-1) in all groups. During the study infusion, the FFA concentrations were higher in both lipid groups vs. the glycerol group (P < 0.001). Compared with baseline, the glucose production rate increased in the Intralipid group, whereas it decreased in the other groups (P = 0.002) due to a significant increase in gluconeogenesis in the Intralipid group (P = 0.016). The plasma glucose concentration was significantly higher during Intralipid infusion vs. the other groups (P = 0.046). Our conclusion was that Intralipid enhanced glucose production by increasing gluconeogenesis in preterm infants. This can be ascribed to the stimulatory effect of FFA in addition to any effect of glycerol alone. The lack of stimulation of gluconeogenesis in the Clinoleic vs. the Intralipid group suggests that different classes of fatty acids exert different effects on glucose kinetics in preterm infants.


This study aims to examine and analyze the effect of stock liquidity on stock returns on manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. This study uses two control variables namely size and age and the study period from 2013 to 2017. The type of research used is quantitative, while the sample of this study are all manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2017. The method of determining the sample used is used is purposive sampling. The procedure of data collection in this research is the documentation method. The intended documentation method is collecting secondary data from the company's financial statements. Data analysis techniques used in this study were multiple linear regression, t test, and the coefficient of determination. The results showed that stock liquidity had a positive and significant effect on stock returns. While growth opportunity have a significant positive effect on stock returns.


Spontaneous kanamycin-sensitive derivatives were obtained from Bradyrhizobium japonicum (strain 110) carrying Tn5 insertions in symbiotic gene cluster I; the derivatives were shown to have deletions of cluster I plus flanking DNA which was indicated by the absence of different copies of the repeated sequences RSα and RSβ. The deletion endpoints were mapped using cloned wild-type DNA fragments containing RSα copies which also served as origins for overlapped cosmid cloning. The majority of the deletions resulted from recombinational fusion of two remote RSα copies. Novel types of repeated sequences (RSγ, RSδ, and RSε) occurring in 12, 10, and 4 copies per genome were detected. Seven, nine, and three copies of RSγ, RSδ, and RSε, respectively, were located near cluster I. It is concluded that the B. japonicum genome has an unusual DNA segment of >230 kilobase pairs characterized by the presence of repeated sequences and genes for symbiotic N2 fixation.


Contamination of water bodies by heavy metals due to discharge of metal containing effluents into the water bodies is one of the environmental issues. Long term exposure of Cr (VI) levels of over 0.1ppm causes respiratory problems, kidney and liver damage. Sorption has proved to be the most efficient method of removal of toxic heavy metals from waste water because of easy operation and availability of cheap adsorbents. This study aimed at removing Cr (VI) ion from contaminated water. Impact of pH was studied in the removal of Cr (VI) ions. The study involved assembling chitosan impregnated with saponin and zeolite. In addition, the oxides and hydroxides of Iron and Aluminum were cross linked in the matrix. Chitosan was the only biopolymer in the matrix. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the impact of pH.  The adsorption of Cr (VI) ions as a function of pH was in the initial pH range of 1 to 8. The results indicated that acidic pH strongly favored the adsorption. The Langmuir model was used as experimental data. The data obeyed the Langmuir model (R 2 =0.99) which shows a multilayer adsorption of Cr (VI) onto the heterogeneous surface. FTIR spectroscopy, XRD analysis were done on the adsorbent before Cr (VI) attachment. This study concluded that adsorption of Cr (VI) was pH depended, removal efficiency of the nanocomposite increased with decreasing pH. Maximum removal was at pH 2 where about 1.1ppm was the residual chromium concentration from an initial of 10ppm.


The medical records from 95 cases of coxofemoral luxation in dogs and cats were reviewed. Unilateral craniodorsal luxation was most common, (78.1% of dogs, 72.7% of cats). Trauma from being struck by an automobile was the most frequent cause (59.0%). Treatment was closed (manual) or open (surgical) reduction. The failure rate following single closed reduction was 64.8%. The surgical reduction procedure included capsular repair (capsulorrhaphy) via a craniolateral approach to the hip or via trochanteric osteotomy or gluteal tenotomy. The success rate following reduction via the craniolateral approach was 82%; no failure was recorded with trochanteric transposition, but reluxa-tion followed the single gluteal tenotomy. The Ehmer sling was the most common external fixation and was kept in place an average of 12.5 days. Thirty-three animals were available for follow-up, and no difference was recorded in limb function between the two groups of animals treated by closed vs surgical reduction. Patients with degenerative joint disease at the time of luxation were less likely to be successfully reduced; 64.3% of these animals were eventually treated by femoral head and neck excision. Thirty-eight patients had associated major injuries. Long-term follow-up results were better in those patients with concomitant orthopedic injuries than in those without other injuries.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior on nurses' performance of nursing. Methods: This study was done over a 6 month period, with 395 nurses participants from 5 different general hospitals with 400 beds in 4 regions of Korea. Data were gathered using self-reported questionnaires from July 23 to August 21, 2015. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one way ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analyses with IBM SPSS 21.0 program. Results: Nursing performance showed positive correlations with workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior. The significant predictors of the nursing performance by nurses were a master's degree or higher (β=.26), civic virtue (β=.19), courtesy (β=.12), 40 years of age or older (β=.09), a sense of empathy (β=.07), and a bachelor's degree in nursing (β=.06). These variables explained 39.2% of the variance in nursing performance by nurses. Conclusion: Based on the outcomes of this study, there is a need to develop intervention programs that can inspire nurse to show spontaneous organizational citizenship behavior, and enhance their workplace spirituality. Related variables including academic credentials should also be taken into account.


Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 45, 2004

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Infections of human cervix with human papillomaviruses types 16 and 18 (HPV 16/18) and exposure to tobacco smoking are important factors in development of cervical cancer. However, it is unclear which cellular events are required for the normal cervical cell to become malignant. Therefore, several cervical cell lines immortalized with HPV (Z173, Z183, and SK-ECTO) were exposed to B[a]P for 24, 48 hours, 3 days and 1 week at concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 3.0 μM. The following analysis utilizing immunofluoresecent and laser scanning and flow cytometry were performed: DNA damage (N2-deoxyguanosine adduct derived from B[a]P-diol epoxide and the 8-OhdG), DNA repair; glycosylase expression (fpg, OGG1, and NTH1); additional markers of cell proliferation and apoptosis were also assessed. Increased responses with varied degrees were observed in cells exposed to B[a]P at levels ranging from 0.01 1.0 μM. Cells exposed to B[a]P for 24 h showed increased DNA damage and decreased DNA repair. Cells exposed for 1 week manifested increased DNA damage but contrary to 24 h exposure, the extent of repair has also increased. Exposure to B[a]P for 24 h resulted in decrease of population of cells in S phase, however, after 1 week the number of cells in S phase has increased. Finally, exposure of cervical cells for 24 h produced an insignificant number of aneuploid cells, whereas, a significant increase in aneuploidy was evident after 1 week. Following 24 h exposure the levels of markers related to apoptosis increased, but decreased after 1 week. Taken together the results of this study indicate that exposure of immortalized cervical cells to physiological doses of B[a]P resulted in a series of events that are associated with malignant transformation.


Reinforced concrete structures have found wide usage in land and maritime applications. However, the corrosion of reinforced concrete has been recognized as a serious problem from economic and safety standpoints. In previous studies, the corrosion behavior of the inner steel bar embedded in mortar (W/C: 0.4, 0.5) was investigated using electrochemical methods. In this study, multiple mortar test specimens (W/C: 0.6) with six different cover thicknesses were prepared and immersed in flowing seawater for five years. Subsequently, equations related to the cover thickness, period of immersion, and corrosion characteristics of the embedded steel bar were evaluated using electrochemical methods. Prior to immersion, the corrosion potentials indicated an increase with increasing cover thickness, and after five years, all corrosion potentials demonstrated a trend in the positive direction irrespective of the cover thickness. However, the relationships between the corrosion potential and cover thickness were not in complete agreement. Furthermore, after five years, all of the corrosion potentials indicated values that were nobler compared to those obtained prior to immersion, and their corrosion current densities also decreased compared to their values obtained prior to immersion. It was considered that the embedded steel bar was easily corroded because of the aggression of water, dissolved oxygen, and chloride ions; a higher W/C ratio also assisted the corrosion process. The corrosive products deposited on the surface of the steel bar for five years cast a resistance polarizing effect shifting the corrosion potential in the nobler direction. Consequently, it was considered that the W/C ratio of 0.6 showed nearly same results as those of W/C of 0.4 and 0.5. Therefore, the corrosion potential as well as various parameters such as the cover thickness, period of immersion, and W/C ratio must be considered at once for a more accurate evaluation of the corrosion property of reinforced steel exposed to marine environment for a long period. Received 12 February 2016, revised 28 July 2016, accepted 18 August 2016 Corresponding author Kyung-Man Moon: +82-51-410-4352, email@example.com ◯c 2016, The Korean Society of Ocean Engineers


BACKGROUND
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with a reduction in birth size. Very few studies have collated changes in fetal biometry, neonatal anthropometry, biochemical factors involved in fetal growth, and measures of uterine and umbilical blood flow.

METHODS
We related smoking status in 1650 low-risk, singleton Caucasian pregnancies delivering at term to measures of fetal growth, uterine and umbilical artery blood flow, placental appearance, birth size, and cord concentrations of IGF-I and -II and IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-3.

RESULTS
Mothers who smoked in pregnancy were younger (P < 0.001) and shorter (P = 0.03) and from lower socioeconomic groups (P < 0.001). Mean umbilical artery blood flow at 20 wk gestation was not associated with smoking status but was significantly higher in smokers at 30 wk (P = 0.006). Uterine artery blood flow was unaffected. Smoking was associated with an increase in the percentage of abnormal placentas in a dose-dependent manner and with a 3.1-fold increased risk (odds ratio 3.1, 95% confidence interval 1.3-7.6) of abnormal umbilical artery blood flow (P = 0.009). Smoking was associated with a reduction in fetal femur length (P = 0.005) and abdominal circumference as well as birth weight, length, and head circumference but not skinfold thickness. Cord plasma concentrations of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were lower in the babies of mothers who had smoked (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01, respectively).

CONCLUSION
We concluded that maternal smoking is associated with an altered placental appearance on ultrasonography, increased umbilical artery blood flow resistance, and a reduction in longitudinal and intraabdominal organ growth. Circulating concentrations of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 along with measures of birth size but not markers of body fat are reduced, suggesting smoking results in a reduction in organ size and function.


Gossypium barbadense is an important source of natural textile fibers, as is Gossypium hirsutum. Cotton fiber development is often affected by various environmental factors, such as abnormal temperature. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of temperature regulating the fuzz fiber initiation. In this study, we reveal that high temperatures (HT) accelerate fiber development, improve fiber quality, and induced fuzz initiation of a thermo-sensitive G. barbadense variety L7009. It was proved that fuzz initiation was inhibited by low temperature (LT), and 4 dpa was the stage most susceptible to temperature stress during the fuzz initiation period. A total of 43,826 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified through comparative transcriptome analysis. Of these, 9667 were involved in fiber development and temperature response with 901 transcription factor genes and 189 genes related to plant hormone signal transduction. Further analysis of gene expression patterns revealed that 240 genes were potentially involved in fuzz initiation induced by high temperature. Functional annotation revealed that the candidate genes related to fuzz initiation were significantly involved in the asparagine biosynthetic process, cell wall biosynthesis, and stress response. The expression trends of sixteen genes randomly selected from the RNA-seq data were almost consistent with the results of qRT-PCR. Our study revealed several potential candidate genes and pathways related to fuzz initiation induced by high temperature. This provides a new view of temperature-induced tissue and organ development in Gossypium barbadense.


Congenital bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is one of the most common congenital heart diseases, with a high incidence of associated valvular lesions and aortic abnormalities including aortic stenosis( AS), aortic regurgitation, aortic dilatation, and aortic dissection. Patients with BAV and AS often have a small aortic annulus. We encountered a case of BAV in which a 51-year-old woman with severe AS having a small aortic annulus and a dilated ascending aorta required surgical intervention. We performed the surgery using new technique that involved concomitant replacement of the aortic valve and the ascending aorta with enlargement of the aortic annulus using a single uniquely-shaped graft to avoid prosthesis patient mismatch. We trimmed the proximal end of the straight graft in shape of 2 teardrops hanging on it to fit the cut annulus. It requires only a single suture line to replace the ascending aorta and enlarge the aortic annulus, which entails a decreased risk of bleeding during surgery. We believe that it could be applicable to many cases requiring concomitant surgery.


Almost all measures of loneliness have been developed without discussing how to best conceptualize and assess the severity of loneliness. In the current study, we adapted the four-item UCLA, so that it continued to measure frequency of loneliness, but also assessed intensity and duration, providing a measure of other aspects of loneliness severity. Using data from participants resident in the UK who completed the BBC Loneliness Experiment (N = 36,767; F = 69.6%) and Latent Class Profile Analyses, we identified four groups of people who scored high on loneliness on at least one of the three severity measures. Duration of loneliness often over months or years seemed to be particularly important in distinguishing groups. Further, group membership was predicted by important demographic and psychological variables. We discuss the findings in terms of implications for research and practice. We highlight the need to explore these profiles longitudinally to investigate how membership predicts later mental and physical health, and well-being.


Society is increasingly dependent on widespread access to publications of the past and present. Libraries have proven to be the most practical means for collecting and preserving publications to provide this wide and continuing access. Society has become dependent primarily on university libraries for the collection and long-term preservation of most essential publications. But university libraries cannot continue their growth in size much longer, and even at their past exponential rate of growth none has been able to acquire and keep all the publications its patrons need. If society is to have adequate access to information, now and in the future, librarians must change to recognize that the library's real purpose is to provide access to information and that the collection of an ever-larger number of publications by each library was but a means to accomplish that purpose-a means which is no longer possible. Librarians must now find effective means to assure the collection and preservation of publications they cannot acquire or keep in their own individual collections and to provide every library with fast and reliable access to these publications in conveniently readable form. New technologies do not seem likely to decrease the need for this action but to increase it.


In manufacturing industry the automated visual inspection system (AVIS) is a method to inspect, classify and detect defects of various products. In the past, the tasks of inspection are carrying out by humans, machines or both. In this paper, we account for an AVIS model to classify mechanical parts in production line. It comprises two parts: hardware and software. The model uses a web-camera attached to an adjustable stand to capture various group of metal part images. The main objective is to develop an intelligent inspection tool based on image processing and production rules. It computes both the area and circularity of mechanical shapes as the features and hence classifies them according to ten categories such as screws, nuts, and bolts at different sizes. The result shows that the accuracy is 91.5% for group and 98.25% for individual classification of mechanical parts subsequently.


The classification of speech genre is not yet an established task in language technologies. However we believe that it is a task that will become fairly important as large amounts of audio (and video) data become widely available. The technological cability to easily transmit and store all human interactions in audio and video could have a radical impact on our social structure. The major open question is how this information can be used in practical and beneficial ways. As a first approach to this question we are looking at issues involving information access to databases of human-human interactions. Classification by genre is a first step in the process of retrieving a document out of a large collection. In this paper we introduce a local notion of speech activities that are exist side-by-side in conversations that belong to speech-genre: While the genre of CallHome Spanish is personal telephone calls between family members the actual instances of these calls contain activities such as storytelling, advising, interrogation and so forth. We are presenting experimental work on the detection of those activities using a variety of features. We have also observed that a limited number of distinguised activities can be defined that describes most of the activities in this database in a precise way. Proceedings of the Second International Conference On Language Ressources And Evaluation, LREC 2000, Athens, Greece, 31st May-2nd June 2000


The synthesis of air-stable, high-performance single-molecule magnets (SMMs) is of great significance for their practical applications. Indeed, Ln complexes with high coordination numbers are satisfactorily air stable. However, such geometries easily produce spherical ligand fields that minimize magnetic anisotropy. Herein, we report the preparation of three air-stable eight-coordinate mononuclear Dy(iii) complexes with triangular dodecahedral geometries, namely, [Dy(BPA-TPA)Cl](BPh4)2 (1) and [Dy(BPA-TPA)(X)](BPh4)2·nCH2Cl2 (X = CH3O− and n = 1 for 2; L = PhO− and n = 2 for 3), using a novel design concept in which the bulky heptadentate [2,6-bis[bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino]methyl]-pyridine (BPA-TPA) ligand enwraps the Dy(iii) ion through weak coordinate bonds leaving only a small vacancy for a negatively charged (Cl−), methoxy (CH3O−) or phenoxy (PhO−) moiety to occupy. Magnetic measurements reveal that the single-molecule magnet (SMM) property of complex 1 is actually poor, as there is almost no energy barrier. However, complexes 2 and 3 exhibit fascinating SMM behavior with high energy barriers (Ueff = 686 K for 2; 469 K for 3) and magnetic hysteresis temperatures up to 8 K, which is attributed to the pseudolinear ligand field generated by one strong, highly electrostatic Dy–O bond. Ab initio calculations were used to show the apparent difference in the magnetic dynamics of the three complexes, confirming that the pseudo-mono-axial ligand field has an important effect on high-performance SMMs compared with the local symmetry. This study not only presents the highest energy barrier for a triangular dodecahedral SMM but also highlights the enormous potential of the pseudolinear Dy–L ligand field for constructing promising SMMs.


Problems with ontology-dependent approaches for dynamic web services composition occur when ontologies are poorly maintained or unavailable in a domain, or the costs of maintenance exceed their benefits. To resolve such problems, this paper proposes the use of Google Distance as an ontology-independent method for the semantic similarity matching stage of web services discovery. Further, it provides an improved method for matching QoS parameters in the operational similarity matching stage of web services selection. The methods are embedded within a simple architecture for dynamic web services composition. We provide comparisons between our and existing QoS-enabled service discovery approaches in two major categories of web composition methods: workflow-based and AI-based. Our implementation exercise clearly shows the performance tradeoffs that help implementers to better assess an overall QoS-enabled dynamic composition method for its suitability to application-level services workload characteristics.


Abstract Agent communication languages (ACLs) are fundamental mechanisms that enable agents in multi-agent systems to talk, communicate with each other in order to satisfy their individual and social goals in a cooperative and competitive manner. Social approaches are advocated to overcome the shortcomings of ACL semantics delineated by using mental approaches in the figure of agents' mental notions. Over the last two decades, social commitments have been the subject of considerable research in some of those social approaches as they provide a powerful representation for modeling and reasoning upon multi-agent interactions in the form of mutual contractual obligations. They particularly provide a declarative, flexible, verifiable, and social semantics for ACL messages while respecting agents' autonomy, heterogeneity, and openness. In this manuscript, we go through prominent and predominate proposals in the literature to explore the state of the art on how temporal logics can be devoted to define a formal semantics for ACL messages in terms of social commitments and associated actions. We explain each proposal and point out if and how it meets seven crucial criteria, four of them introduced by Munindar P. Singh to have a well-defined semantics for ACL messages. Far from deciding the best proposal, our aim is to present the advantages (strengths) and limitations of those proposals to designers and developers using a concrete running example and to compare between them, so that they can make the best choice with regard to their needs. We explore and evaluate current specification languages and different verification techniques that have been discussed within those proposals to, respectively, specify and verify commitment-based protocols. We also investigate logical languages of actions advocated to specify, model, and execute commitment-based protocols in other contributed proposals. Finally, we suggest some solutions that can contribute to address the identified limitations.


An underlying cause of histamine intolerance is diamine oxidase (DAO) deficiency, which leads to defective homeostasis and a higher systemic absorption of histamine. Impaired DAO activity may have a genetic, pharmacological or pathological origin. A recent proposal also suggests it can arise from an alteration in the gut microbiota, although only one study has explored this hypothesis to date. A greater abundance of histamine-secreting bacteria in the gut could lead to the development of histamine intolerance. Thus, the aim of this study was to characterize the composition of the intestinal microbiota of patients with histamine intolerance symptoms and compare it with that of healthy individuals. The study was performed by sequencing bacterial 16S rRNA genes (V3-V4 region) and analyzing the data using the EzBioCloud Database. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota was observed in the histamine intolerance group who, in comparison with the healthy individuals, had a significantly lower proportion of Prevotellaceae, Ruminococcus, Faecalibacterium and Faecablibacterium prausnitzii, which are bacteria related to gut health. They also had a significantly higher abundance of histamine-secreting bacteria, including the genera Staphylococcus and Proteus, several unidentified genera belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae and the species Clostridium perfringens and Enterococcus faecalis. A greater abundance of histaminogenic bacteria would favor the accumulation of high levels of histamine in the gut, its subsequent absorption in plasma and the appearance of adverse effects, even in individuals without DAO deficiency.


The ampicillin levels in sputum, serum, and saliva from 40 patients receiving a dose of 250 mg., 26 patients receiving a dose of 500 mg., and 11 patients receiving a dose of 1 g. were estimated. The ampicillin was given orally four times daily. The 1-2 hour and 2-3 hour sputum levels were similar in individual patients. There was no difference in the range or mean sputum or saliva levels between specimens from patients receiving 250 mg. and 500 mg., but the levels were significantly higher after the 1 g. dose. The mean serum level showed a small increase after 500 mg. ampicillin as compared with the 250 mg. dose and a big increase after the 1 g. dose: only the latter difference was significant. The sputum levels were approximately 30 to 40 times lower than the corresponding serum levels. There was considerable scatter in the sputum level for any level of ampicillin in the serum: in only two of the 1-2 hour sputum specimens was there no detectable ampicillin. There was no correlation between the sputum levels and either the body weight or the dose in milligrams per kilogram. There was no evidence that corticosteroids or diuretics affected the sputum level. It was not possible to demonstrate any relationship between the purulence of the sputum and the level of ampicillin after doses of 250 mg. or 500 mg., but higher levels were found in the more purulent specimens after 1 g. doses.


A case of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome that originated in Malaysia is reported. The patient presented with clinical symptoms which were not typical of the disease as seen in endemic regions. Renal involvement, which is characteristic of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, was mild, and the predominant symptom was a persistently marked elevation of serum transaminase levels that was suggestive of hepatitis. Liver involvement has not been described in the Asian form of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. The patient developed a petechial skin rash and had severe thrombocytopenia. Serological confirmation of the diagnosis of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome was obtained by the demonstration of significant antibody rises to hantaviruses in the patient's acute‐ and convalescent‐phase sera.


This paper reviews current knowledge about improving chairside dental health education for adults. It places this knowledge within a general context of change in clinical ideas about appropriate treatment and of evidence about the current practice of oral health education for adults. The acronym SPERMAID is proposed as a summary of the principles to be followed in the motivation of the adult patient.


A novel dead-time elimination method is presented in this paper for voltage source inverters. This method is based on decomposing of a generic phase-leg into two basic switching cells, which are configured with a controllable switch in series with an uncontrollable diode. Therefore, dead-time is not needed. In comparison to using expensive current sensors, this method precisely determines the load current direction by detecting which anti-parallel diode conducts in a phase-leg. A low-cost diode-conduction detector is developed to measure the operating state of the anti-parallel diode. In comparison with complicated compensators, this method features simple logic and flexible implementation. This method significantly reduces the output distortion and regains the output RMS value. The principle of the proposed dead-time elimination method is described in detail. Simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the validity and features of this new method.


Previous studies have shown that the corneal epithelium will close a limbus to limbus scrape wound in four to five days, but requires 10 days to become firmly attached to the stroma. In order to determine if the restoration of the corneal epithelial barrier follows a similar sequence, we have used freeze-fracture to study tight junction reformation in a rabbit epithelial wound model. Dutch-belted rabbit corneal epithelium was removed with a limbus to limbus scrape wound and sampled from 0 to 30 days post-wounding. A minimum of 3 animals from each time point were processed for electron microscopy and freeze-fracture. Freeze-fracture showed that the cells at the wound margin had a reduction in the number of intramembrane particles on their apical surface. In areas adjacent to the wound edge, fragments of tight junctions were first observed on two days post-wounding specimens. The junctions became progressively more complex in the area behind the wound edge until wound closure at four days when the junctions were also present in the central region of the cornea. The maturation of the junctions continued and at five days after surgery they resembled control junctions. This sequence suggests that the the establishment of morphologically mature tight junctions may be necessary before the corneal epithelium can firmly reattach to the stroma.


– Relational Analysis of Susceptibility to Landslides of Settlements Situated in the Eastern and Central Part of Alba Iulia Hinterland, Using GIS Technology and MaxEnt Software. Relational analysis is an important method to analyze, generate and to predict relevant data about natural or men‐made hazards. In this study, we have chosen to investigate different relations between landslides and landslide causing factors, interpolating the results and their impact on settlements. Urban and rural settlements are highly prone to landsliding because of the increased population which lives in the affected territories. Therefore, an assessment of landslide susceptibility becomes an important phase to predict the most vulnerable settlements of a certain territory in order to implement different disaster mitigation plans/works and land planning strategies. Our study area has a high tendency to landslide due to its lithological and morphological structure. Thus, our purpose is to generate a reliable and accurate analysis of the settlements using the susceptibility map generated by the MaxEnt software, based on 8 identified landslide causing factors: slope angle, slope aspect, profile and plan curvature, terrain roughness, depth of fragmentation, precipitation and temperature. The resulted map indicates a high value of accuracy, the area under the curve (AUC) showing a high performance (0.925) of our analysis.


Abstract. Sea level contributions from the Greenland Ice Sheet are influenced by the rapid changes in glacial terminus positions. The documentation of these evolving calving front positions, for which satellite imagery forms the basis, is therefore important. However, the manual delineation of these calving fronts is time consuming, which limits the availability of these data across a wide spatial and temporal range. Automated methods face challenges that include the handling of clouds, illumination differences, sea ice mélange, and Landsat 7 scan line corrector errors. To address these needs, we develop the Calving Front Machine (CALFIN), an automated method for extracting calving fronts from satellite images of marine-terminating glaciers, using neural networks. The results are often indistinguishable from manually curated fronts, deviating by on average 86.76 ± 1.43 m from the measured front. Landsat imagery from 1972 to 2019 is used to generate 22 678 calving front lines across 66 Greenlandic glaciers. This improves on the state of the art in terms of the spatiotemporal coverage and accuracy of its outputs and is validated through a comprehensive intercomparison with existing studies. The current implementation offers a new opportunity to explore subseasonal and regional trends on the extent of Greenland's margins and supplies new constraints for simulations of the evolution of the mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet and its contributions to future sea level rise.


We report a simple and scalable method for the separation of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) from metallic SWNTs using magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) functionalized with polycationic tri-aminated polysorbate 80 (TP80). MNPs–TP80 are selectively adsorbed on acid-treated semiconducting SWNTs, which makes the semiconducting SWNTs be highly concentrated to over 95% under a magnetic field. Almost all the field effect transistor network devices, which were fabricated using separated semiconducting SWNTs, exhibited a p-type semiconducting behavior with an on/off ratio of higher than 104.


Previously, we reported an in vitro evaluation regarding antibacterial effects against F. psychrophilum by a new Cu (I) complex, [Cu(NN1)2](ClO4). This study presents the results of an in vivo evaluation of [Cu(NN1)2](ClO4) added as a dietary supplement against F. psychrophilum in rainbow trout. The results showed that the administration of [Cu(NN1)2](ClO4) at 29 and 58 µg/g of fish for 15 days does not affect the growth of rainbow trout. On the other hand, the amount of copper present in the liver, intestine, and muscle of rainbow trout was determined. The results showed that the amount of copper in the liver, when compared between treated fish and control fish, does not change. While, in the intestine, an increase in the fish fed at 58 µg/g of fish was observed. In muscle, a slight decrease at 29 µg/g was obtained. Additionally, copper concentrations in the pond water after 15 days of feeding with the [Cu(NN1)2](ClO4) complex showed the highest levels of copper. Finally, the effect of the administration of [Cu(NN1)2](ClO4) for 15 days at 58 µg/g of fish was evaluated against F. psychrophilum, where a 75% survival was obtained during 20 days of challenge.


In monitoring the treatment ofmalaria with Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHP), microscopic cross check and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) performed to validate the results of laboratory examinations in the field. This study used finger prick samples from subjects with a diagnosis of malaria in monitoring the treatment of malaria with DHP in Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Samples taken at day 0, blood smears made on slidesfor microscopic and blood spot onfilter paperfor PCR examination. The PCR method used is a single-round multiplex polymerase chain reaction that has been modified, the examination of each species carried out in different tubes to distinguish the species P. falciparum or P. Vivax. Target of DNA amplification is a species-specific gene sequences in the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSUrRNA), 300 bp for P.falciparum and 276 bp for P.vivax. P.falciparum and P.vivax identified in 229 samples of blood smears and blood spots. Microscopic and PCR gave the same results, positive 93.4% and negative 6.6% with a sensitivity of 99% and specificity 93.3%. Pfalciparum sensitivity and specificity of 92% and 99%, P.vivax 97% and 94%, PCR as a gold standard. There are difJerences in the results of examination of 5 samples, ie with microscopic examination identified as P. vivax while the PCR as P. falciparum. In this study, identification of the microscopic parasite similar to the results of identification by PCR, but difJer in determining the types of parasites. In general, the ability to microscopic diagnosis of malaria is very good, but confirmation by PCR is sti!! needed.


ABSTRACT
NAME OF THE INSTITUTION : De La Salle University –
Dasmarinas
ADDRESS : Dasmarinas City, Cavite
TITLE : Emotional Exhaustion and its
Implication to Social Interaction
among Jollibee Service Crew
AUTHORS : Ayalin, Divina Corazon A.
 Barzaga, Donna Regina S.
 De Leon, Ramonchito N.
DEGREE : AB Psychology
FUNDING SOURCE : Parents
DATE STARTED : June 2012
DATE SUBMITTED : March 2013
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
A. General
The researchers aim to know if frontline service crews are
emotionally exhausted in their work and to identify their experience
why they become vulnerable to emotional exhaustion and its impact
to their social interaction towards their co-worker.
B. Specific
In this study, the researchers sought to find out the
experiences of the service crew and the level of their emotional
exhaustion.
The following queries were investigated:
1. What is the profile of Jollibee Service Crew in terms of:
A. Gender,
 B. Hours of work, and
 C. Length of service?
2. What is the level of emotional exhaustion in line with the
experiences of the service crew?
3. What is the implication of emotional exhaustion to social
interactions towards their co-workers?
SCOPE AND LIMITATION
The study covered the emotional exhaustion on the Service Crews
and their social interaction towards their co-workers in Jollibee. The variable
emotional exhaustion was measured using a standardized test by MBI-HS.
The demographic profile and concept of social interaction were taken
through interview with the use of interview guide. This study covered the
concept of service crew about emotional exhaustion and their social
interaction towards their co-worker.
METHODOLOGY
The study used the Case Study Research Design. The research
instruments used were Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Service (MBIHS)
as a qualifying test; survey forms for the demographic profile of the
service crew regarding their gender, hours of work and length of service;
and self – made questionnaire validated by selected professors.
MAJOR FINDINGS
The researchers used purposive sampling in selecting the
respondents who were working in selected Jollibee stores. A standardized
test was used on selecting the qualified service crew who had high level of
emotional exhaustion. Interview and observation were also used in this
study.
The researchers obtained the data based on the statement provided
by the service crew that had been interviewed. It's about their profile,
emotional exhaustion and their social interaction towards their co-workers.
On the basis on the data gathered, study revealed: Five out of
twenty-four service crew qualified on the Maslach test. Their score fell on a
high level of emotional exhaustion. The service crew who had a high level
of emotional exhaustion work for 6 hours and have been in Jollibee store for
six months to one year and six months. And from the five service crew who
qualified, four of them are females. Their levels of emotional exhaustion
range from forty to fifty four. The highest level of emotional exhaustion is
fifty four and the lowest is forty.
All service crew were identified that they interact with their co-worker
in a good way even though they feel they are emotionally exhausted
because their work is very important for them. They don't like conflict on
their work place because their co-workers are the person they see every
single day on their work and they have families who need them to provide
what they need in their everyday life. One service crew stated that the way
he interacts with her co-worker depends on the attitude given by her coworker.
Three respondents, namely: Cathy, Beatrice and Eunice have the
same idea of answer. They said that their attitude before and after their
work varies. They stated that if their co-workers talk to them on the start of
their work or duty, they respond in more energetic way rather than
responding in the end of their duty because they feel that their energy has
been drained throughout their work.
All five respondents said that even though they feel that they are
emotionally exhausted, they interact with their customer in a normal way
because for them customers are very important for their work. Jollibee
trains them to be good in front of the customer no matter what emotion they
feel on that situation. Four out of five respondents said that they don't share
their personal feeling and problems. They just keep it on themselves
because the people who are close to them are not with them. But one of the
respondents said that she shares his problems on his co-workers because
he consider some of his co-workers as close friends. The interaction of the
service crew with their co-worker when they feel emotionally exhausted is
they just act on a normal way because it's difficult for them to have conflict
on their co-worker and customers. But sometimes they said that they
cannot totally control themselves because sometimes they become very
irritated and cannot hold their feelings and temper anymore.
All five service crew said that they feel happy when they are with
their co-workers, especially if they are chatting with each other. They talk
about many things about the work, customers, etc. For the service crew,
they chat with their co-worker as time for their bonding. Conflict is always
present especially when they feel emotionally exhausted on their work. Four
of the service crew said that in all fields of work, conflict is present and most
of them already have experienced it.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on the careful analysis on the data gathered the following
conclusions were drawn:
1. Five out of twenty four frontliners qualified on Maslach Burnout
Inventory Human Service, their score fell on the high level of
emotional exhaustion.
2. They have been on their jobs from six months to one year and six
months. It seems that the service crew who have been working in
the store for a long time are already immune in having emotional
exhaustion.
3. Female service crews seem to be more prone on experiencing
emotional exhaustion compared to males.
4. The highest level of emotional exhaustion came from the service
crew who have been working for six months and the lowest score
came from those who have been working for only one year.
5. Emotional exhaustion has implication on the social interaction of
service crew towards their co-worker because according to the
data gathered in the interview, when they feel that they are
emotionally exhausted, they don't respond on their co-workers.
They feel that their energy has been drained throughout their
work.
6. Social Interaction has a positive effect on the service crew
because it decreases emotional exhaustion when they interact
with their co-worker. They feel that their level of emotional
exhaustion decreases.
RECOMMENDATIONS
From this study, the researchers formulated some recommendations for the
following:
1. Store Manager. They should give, learn and be sensitive
about the feeling of all the service crew they handle in the
store, because as they do this good treatment with their
employee, they can reduce the occurances of emotional
exhaustion and can help to build their potentials.
2. Customers. For the customer they should be aware on
how they should treat and approach all the service crew of
all fast food restaurants. The management should provide
posters that contain tag lines on how customers treat their
service crew.
3. For the future researchers. They should include all aspects
of MBI-HS for more information about emotional
exhaustion. The three aspects of the MBI-HS are
depersonalization, emotional exhaustion and diminishing
performance. They should also ask the participants things
they do in coping when they feel that they are emotionally
exhausted and the effects of being emotional exhausted
towards their family after they get home from duty.


Most people wouldn't think twice about occasional headaches, loss of appetite, or drowsiness. But at high altitudes they are not to be ignored. They are early symptoms of altitude sickness, a potentially deadly imbalance that can affect hikers, skiers, mountain climbers, and anyone traveling above 7,000 feet (2,000 meters). This book helps you to recognize and respond to altitude illness. In an easy-to-use format, it describes the acclimatization process and what can go wrong, and then presents simple methods of diagnosis and treatment. It also addresses those with pre-existing health conditions, and provides practical information on preparing for and adapting to altitude. With case studies and useful tables, Altitude Illness is required packing for anyone heading to high country.


The microbiological quality of a hard mountain unpasteurised sheep cheese from three randomly selected manufacturing locations in Kosovo was investigated. Forty-eight samples of row milk, coagulum, 8–10 days ripening cheese and of ready to eat cheese (45-days in brine) were tested. Seventy-five per cent of raw milk samples failed to comply with EU regulation 853/2004. All of coagulum and ripened cheese failed to comply with EU regulation 2073/2005 on process hygiene criteria. Despite the high incidence of coagulase-positive staphylococci even in the final product [>105 colony-forming units (cfu)/g], Staphylococcal enterotoxin was detected in none of the samples and no samples were positive for Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enteritidis.


We prove a new concentration inequality for U-statistics of order two for uniformly ergodic Markov chains. Working with bounded π-canonical kernels, we show that we can recover the convergence rate of Arcones and Gine (1993) who proved a concentration result for U-statistics of independent random variables and canonical kernels. Our proof relies on an inductive analysis where we use martingale techniques, uniform ergodicity, Nummelin splitting and Bernstein's type inequality where the spectral gap of the chain emerges. Our result allows us to conduct three applications. First, we establish a new exponential inequality for the estimation of spectra of trace class integral operators with MCMC methods. The novelty is that this result holds for kernels with positive and negative eigenvalues, which is new as far as we know. In addition, we investigate generalization performance of online algorithms working with pairwise loss functions and Markov chain samples. We provide an online-to-batch conversion result by showing how we can extract a low risk hypothesis from the sequence of hypotheses generated by any online learner. We finally give a non-asymptotic analysis of a goodness-of-fit test on the density of the invariant measure of a Markov chain. We identify the classes of alternatives over which our test based on the L2 distance has a prescribed power.


We describe in this paper a pilot experiment of optimization of a white-light source for a low-coherence interferometry. The white-light source combines the light beams generated with colour LEDs. By modelling the white-light spectra, the contrast of a white-light interference fringe could be changed and set to the maximal value. The second part of this paper is a description of a white-light fringe analysis ensured with a low-cost colour CCD camera. The used detection technique employs a phase-crossing algorithm which identifies a zero optical path difference as the point where the phase difference between the red, green and blue parts of the white-light interference fringe becomes equal to zero. The optimized white-light source is designed to be a crucial part of an experimental setup for the surface diagnostics and automatic calibration of gauge blocks.


BACKGROUND
The most common measure to compare potencies of volatile anesthetics is minimum alveolar concentration (MAC), although this value describes only a single point on a quantal concentration-response curve and most likely reflects more the effects on the spinal cord rather than on the brain. To obtain more complete concentration-response curves for the cerebral effects of isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane, the authors used the spectral edge frequency at the 95th percentile of the power spectrum (SEF95) as a measure of cerebral effect.

METHODS
Thirty-nine patients were randomized to isoflurane, sevoflurane, or desflurane groups. After induction with propofol, intubation, and a waiting period, end-tidal anesthetic concentrations were randomly varied between 0.6 and 1.3 MAC, and the EEG was recorded continuously. Population pharmacodynamic modeling was performed using the software package NONMEM.

RESULTS
The population mean EC50 values of the final model for SEF95 suppression were 0.66+/-0.08 (+/- SE of estimate) vol% for isoflurane, 1.18+/-0.10 vol% for sevoflurane, and 3.48+/-0.66 vol% for desflurane. The slopes of the concentration-response curves were not significantly different; the common value was lambda = 0.86+/-0.06. The Ke0 value was significantly higher for desflurane (0.61+/-0.11 min(-1)), whereas separate values for isoflurane and sevoflurane yielded no better fit than the common value of 0.29+/-0.04 min(-1). When concentration data were converted into fractions of the respective MAC values, no significant difference of the C50 values for the three anesthetic agents was found.

CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that (1) the concentration-response curves for spectral edge frequency slowing have the same slope, and (2) the ratio C50(SEF95)/MAC is the same for all three anesthetic agents. The authors conclude that MAC and MAC multiples, for the three volatile anesthetics studied, are valid representations of the concentration-response curve for anesthetic suppression of SEF95.


This paper explains humor through phenomenological concepts and methods. The three major theories of humor: Superiority, Relief, and Incongruity depend on the thwarting of intentional expectations. Since one experiences an incongruity between what is intended and what is actually experienced, the incongruity theory affords the best explanation, but intentionality remains fundamental for all theories. Theorists of humor rightly insist that the enjoyment of humorous incongruity completes the definition of humor, but such enjoyment also depends on a special epoche, usually elicited by the cues of an interlocutor who invites the listener to leap together into the humorous finite province of meaning. In this province, actions and statements, hurtful in everyday life, such as a pie thrown at someone who ducks as the pie hits another, produce laughter. This comic epoche resembles the phenomenological epoche in its distancing from everyday life, and, like the phenomenological epoche, it opens everyday experience to reflection. Although one often experiences and enjoys humor alone, humor is thoroughly intersubjective and more frequently occurs when two persons participate in the humorous epoche together. The opportunities for making humor together are enhanced to the extent the partners differ in their expectations and responses to situations. Those differences, including bodily differences, often result from the complex intersubjective networks, including culture. As in the case of a seemingly solitary activity like reflection, which one learns from others and exercises on one's own autonomously, one internalizes others' styles of humor and discovers such internalization through reflection on one's «because motives». On the basis of these features – intentionality, epoche, and intersubjectivity, the paper concludes by briefly examining an example of interracial humor. Despite the racist character of much interracial humor, the example shows that interracial humor can produce a respectful bonding between representatives of different races who make humor together.


This chapter has reviewed the evidence for obesity being characterized by distinct patterns of hormonal changes related to both the degree of obesity and the distribution of fat tissue. Many of these changes are also seen in subjects with Cushing's and polycystic ovary syndromes, in particular hyperinsulinaemia, alterations in adrenocortical activity and sex steroid secretion and binding. Animal models of obesity provide evidence to suggest the possibility of a primary abnormality of hypothalamic-pituitary function as a basis to corpulence and this cannot be excluded in the human situation. Nevertheless, abdominal distribution of adiposity plays a significant role in establishing a vicious cycle of metabolic events which may perpetuate both the obese state and PCOS. It is of interest that the additive genetic effect for total body fat is about 25% whereas the heritability of subcutaneous truncal-abdominal fat is about 30-35%, and may possibly be higher (Bouchard et al, 1993). Upper body obesity is characterized by large adipose cells with higher LPL activity, elevated basal and stimulated lipolysis but a low antilipolytic effect of insulin. The results from preliminary investigations of potential candidate genes suggest a possible genetic basis to hyperinsulinaemia/insulin resistance found in upper body obesity but further studies of greater numbers are required for confirmation. It is hoped that the findings from such molecular studies will shed additional light on both the genetic background to obesity and the complex hormonal alterations seen at the tissue level. This should provide the confirmation of a unifying theory for the causal factors associated with obesity and related conditions.


In this work, we describe a low cost magnetic field controller based on a commercial Hall sensor. The problem is addressed and a brief description of both hardware and software of the controller are given. Results for magnetic field stability are presented, including an evaluation of the precision of the magnetic field probe.


The heat diffusion equation for a water calorimeter under isothermal and adiabatic boundary conditions has been solved analytically for a general source function. Based upon this model an interactive computer program has been developed and employed to predict the temporal variation of the temperature distribution in a water calorimeter irradiated with 250 kV, 4-, 6-, and 25-MV x rays and 7-, 13-, and 32-MeV electrons. The model requires central-axis depth dose curves as inputs and allows for any number of alternate heating and cooling periods. It is found that the shape of the cooling curve following an irradiation period depends upon the location of the point of measurement, the choice of boundary conditions, and the thermal history of the calorimeter.


This study investigates, by way of a preliminary conceptual framework, determinants of successful firm performance of Middle Eastern immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia, using Social Identity Theory. In particular, drawing on the social identity theory and psychological capital, we develop a conceptual framework to examine the determinants of firm performance of these immigrant small business owneroperators. The influence of immigrants' acculturation, perceived discrimination, utilization of social capital and entrepreneurial orientation have significant implications for their entrepreneurial success. The paper concludes with implications for immigrant entrepreneurship and policy development as a platform for future research. Keywords: Acculturation, firm performance, immigrant entrepreneurship, perceived discrimination, psychological capital, social capital