Competition assures improved products and services to meet customers' needs. The soundness of a firm's financial health is crucial for the country's economic well-being. Distressed companies cause investor panic, which has a knock-on effect on the economy and leads to a deterioration in the image and value of the companies. This paper aims to empirically investigate the influence of competition on financial distress (FD) in the healthcare industry using the Altman Zscore values as the proxy for FD. This study uses secondary data from ten healthcare companies operating in India between 2016 and 2020. The study's findings indicate a significant negative relation with the exogenous variables of the study, implying that a higher level of competition enhances a firm's FD or adversely affects financial health. The main implication of the study is two-pronged. Firstly, the firms' managers and decision-makers need not worry about competition as a deterrent to stability. Secondly, the policymakers need not be concerned that high competition may lead to financial stress for the firms. Therefore, this paper concludes that competition is good for firms operating in India.


With the rapid socio-economic development and the growth of population in cities, the pressure of urban water supply becomes higher. In order to ensure the safety of urban water supply, more water sources connection projects are designed and constructed to maintain more water sources for more water treatment plants. That makes obviously two layers for the water supply system. One is from water sources to plants, the other is from plants to terminal users. Based on the characteristics of urban water supply structure, a two-layer optimization model of urban water supply system is constructed, which consists of top layer from water sources to plants and bottom layer from water treatment plants to water users. The top layer is designed to solve the problem of water allocation from water sources (usually regulated by reservoirs) to plants with optimization model. The adaptive algorithm for water allocation is used to solve the problem of water allocation of bottom layer between different regions and several plants. Through the effective connection and feedback between top model and bottom model,the two layers optimal allocation model of urban water supply system can be realized. The two-layer model is applied in Sanya City of China and the scheme of different water sources distribution from water sources to plants are figured out with sensitivity analysis. It is proved that two-layer optimal allocation model of urban water supply system can improve effectiveness for the complex decision-making of urban water source distribution and the operation of water supply network.


The intention of this discussion is to review recent data on prostaglandins and to speculate on their use in clinical obstetrics and gynecology. The uses of prostaglandins are the induction of term labor, therapeutic abortion, and termination of normal and abnormal pregnancies. Prostaglandins E2 and F2alpha have been used successfully to induce labor at or near term. The oral administration of prostaglandins for the induction of labor has been reported by several investigators. Elias concluded that prostaglandins are efficient and safe for the induction of labor in both intravenous and oral forms. Continuous intravenous infusion of either prostaglandins E2 or F2alpha, when administered by the intravenous route, is capable of inducing abortion. Intravenous doses of prostaglandins that will induce abortion are frequently associated with undesirable side effects such as vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. Due to the severity of the side effects, intravenous therapy is less clinically acceptable and attention has been directed to the vaginal route of administration. The vaginal route of administration can be used to induce abortion in the 2nd trimester with either prostaglandin E2 or F2alpha. The extra-amniotic intrauterine approach has been found to be highly effective, and the rate of abortion has been about 90% within a 36-hour period. The intra-amniotic administration of prostaglandins in 2nd trimester pregnancy compares most favorably with the extra-amniotic intrauterine method and is the only method found to be acceptable in the United States.


The purpose of this research was to investigate the use of drilled slanted holes filled with different substrates in the revegetation of rock slopes. Slanted holes were drilled on rock slopes using pneumatic drillers in an abandoned limestone quarry area. These holes were filled with twelve different substrates, treated with Trichoderma harzianum. One climbing plant of Ivy (Hedera rhombea), a native woody plant (Lespedeza cyrtobotrya), three native herbaceous plants (Dianthus barbatus, Siberian chrysanthemum and Aster koraiensis) and one exotic grass plant (Festuca arundinacea) were planted in each of the soils. Six months after planting, only Ivy, Festuca arundinacea, Lespedeza cyrtobotrya and Dianthus barbatus were still observed growing on the soils, while the other plant species had already died in all the 12 soil treatments. Leaf mold soil + 50% Trichoderma harzianum provide the best conditions for revegetation of Festuca arundinacea, as this plant had its highest mean height, high survival rate, with impressive growth rate on this soil. Lespedeza cyrtobotrya also had its most favorable growth on Leaf mold soil + 50% T. harzianum. Mixed soil + 100% T. harzianum provide the best conditions for revegetation of Ivy. Leaf mold soil + 100% T. harzianum provide the best condition for revegetation of Dianthus barbatus as it had its highest mean height, highest growth rate and high survival rate on this soil. Siberian chrysanthemum and Aster koraiensis had the worse results as all of the plants died within a short period of time after planting. Ivy had the highest mean height, followed by Festuca arundinacea. The planted Ivy and Festuca arundinacea now form the vegetation of the research site which together with the substrate is now providing habitat to some wildlife like some species of centipedes, earthworms, insects and wild plants. Less than one year after planting, F. arundinacea already produced flowers and seeds which would further increase the plant population after dispersal and germination. Drilling slanted holes on rock slopes is therefore a feasible method to be used for revegetation and restoration of degraded quarries.The revegetation of steep rock slopes of quarries is a very challenging activity. However, the method of drilling slanted holes on rock slopes is a feasible method to be used for restoration of degraded quarries. These holes could serve in soil deposition and water retention that will further enhance plant growth.Methods of improving seed germination as well as enhancing growth of plants are also imperative in revegetation success of such degraded landscapes. Different percentage mixtures of T. harzianum in different soils could enhance plant growth depending on the target plant species. Different substrates could thus be used in such revegetation process depending on the target plant species.Revegetation would provide habitat and improve landscape beauty and stability, thus it is important for successful restoration of rock slopes


The benefits of blending Indigenous pedagogical approaches with Western ways of teaching and learning are well documented (Yunkaporta, 2009; Aldridge, 2016). Yunkaporta's 'Eight Ways of Knowing' framework demonstrates the common ground between Indigenous and western pedagogies, and provides educators with practical tools for integration.

At the University of Newcastle, the Faculty of Science is driving a long-term project, which will see Tyson Yunkaporta's '8 Ways of Knowing' framework embedded into the pedagogy across the faculty. The aim is to increase the use of high impact teaching strategies, have consistency in practice across disciplines, and create common pedagogical language that allows for cross-disciplinary conversations to occur. The embedding of inclusive pedagogy into the heart of our scientific education will foster more open and respectful practice, and through transparent and open dialogue with students, allow for more empathetic and respectful graduates.

To support the project, a series of professional development workshops, and resources have been created to support the transition. Currently in the first year of the project, initial feedback from both staff and students has been positive. This presentation will discuss how the Faculty of Science intend on navigating this project, initial feedback, and challenges, successes and visions for the future.


The electron beam emitted from the back of Plasma Focus devices is being studied as a radiation source for intraoperative radiation therapy applications. A Plasma Focus device is being developed to this aim, to be utilized as an x-ray source. The electron beam is driven to impinge on 50 μm brass foil, where conversion x-rays are generated. Measurements with gafchromic film are performed to analyse the attenuation of the x-rays beam and to predict the dose given to the culture cell in radiobiological experiments to follow.


The present study investigated whether regular and moderate aerobic exercise might prevent airway remodeling in experimental chronic allergic asthma. For this purpose, 48 BALB/c mice were assigned into 2 groups: sedentary (S) and trained (Tr). Tr group ran on a motorized treadmill, at moderate intensity (8-12 m.min -1 ), 5% grade, 30 min/day, 3 times a week for 8 wks. At 8 wks, animals were further randomized into 2 subgroups to be immunized and challenged with ovalbumin (OVA) or to receive saline using the same protocol (C). Aerobic exercise continued until the end of the protocol. Echocardiographic analysis was done before, at 4 and 8 weeks of training, and after asthma induction. Twenty-four hours after the last challenge, trained, compared to sedentary mice, presented: 1) an increase in systolic output, left ventricular mass, and end-diastolic volume; 2) a reduction in airway resistance, viscoelastic pressure, static elastance, eosinophil infiltration, smooth-muscle actin expression, and collagen fiber content in airways and lung parenchyma; 3) a decrease of transforming growth factor-β levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and blood; 4) an increase in interferon-γ in BALF and blood; 5) an augment of interleukin (IL)-10 in blood but a reduction in BALF; and 6) a decrease in IL-5 and IL-13 only in BALF. In conclusion, regular and moderate aerobic exercise was effective in preventing airway and lung parenchyma remodeling in the present murine model of chronic allergic asthma, improving lung function. Supported by: INCT-INOFAR, CNPq, PRONEX, FAPERJ, CAPES


The resuscitation experience of a large teaching hospital during 1973-77 was reviewed. Resuscitation was attempted on 2091 victims of cardiac arrest; 261 patients (12.5%) survived to be discharged from hospital.Coronary heart disease caused about one half of all the cardiac arrests, but was associated with a better survival rate (14.4%) than the other causes. Cardiac arrest following multiple trauma had the worst prognosis; only 3% of the patients survived to be discharged from hospital. However, the main factor influencing outcome was the site of arrest. The survival rates of patients on whom resuscitation was initiated in the emergency room or an intensive care area were triple and double the rate for patients in hospital wards, although one third of all the cardiac arrests induced by a coronary event and occurring in hospital were on the wards. Patients whose arrest occurred outside hospital, where only basic life support was available, had a survival rate of just 6.3%, whereas those whose arrest occurred in the emergency room had a survival rate of 31.9%. Since these two patient groups were similar in terms of age and diagnosis, we believe that the potential survival rate for victims of cardiac arrest outside of hospital that are optimally treated is close to 30%.These data suggest that increased survival from cardiac arrest can be expected with extension of the resuscitation services both inside and outside of hospital, but particularly with increased emphasis on emergency cardiac care outside of hospital.


Kailath, Ali H. Sayed, and Babak Hassibi, Prentice Hall, 2000, 454 pp., $105.00, ISBN 0-13-022464-2. Reviewed by Pavlos Giannakopoulos. This book is concerned with linear least-squares estimation problems for signals with known finite-dimensional linear state-space models. It presents the trends and the most recent research results in the field, as well as an overview of the most important pioneer contributions in linear estimation, primarily focused on the works of Wiener and Kalman. The material consists of 17 chapters, together with an appendix, bibliography, and an author and subject index. The first five chapters are introductory. The first chapter briefly reviews the concept of the asymptotic observer and describes the major issues and results to be presented in the book. Chapter 2 deals with the deterministic leastsquares problem, emphasizing the geometric formulation. The recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm and some variants of it are given next. The linear least-mean-squares estimation problem is presented in chapter 3, which also focuses on the geometric approach. The equivalence between the stochastic and deterministic frameworks is presented at the end of the chapter. In chapter 4, the concept of the innovations process is introduced, which is applied in stochastic and deterministic least-squares problems. In chapter 5, state-space models are presented and the reasons for their success explained. The chapter ends with a discussion of the backward Markovian models. The next three chapters address the estimation of stationary processes. Chapter 6 introduces the computation of the innovations for scalar-valued stationary processes via spectral factorization, ending with a presentation of the difficulties encountered for vector-valued processes. Chapter 7 discusses Wiener theory for the estimation of scalar processes. The continuous and discrete-t ime Wiener smoothing problem is addressed first, and the discrete-time Wiener-Hopf equations are given. The chapter ends with a discussion of the innovations approach to the Wiener filter. Chapter 8 examines the recursive Wiener filtering problem for vector stationary processes, where spectral factorization is computed in state-space form. Equivalent factorization results are obtained using covariance data. Chapters 9 and 10 describe nonstationary processes. Chapter 9 presents the Kalman filter, again emphasizing the geometric approach and extending the results to nonlinear discrete-time state-space systems. Approximate nonlinear filters are given, as well as Kalman recursions for backward Markovian models. Chapter 10 explores the smoothing problem using the innovations approach, and well-known smoothing algorithms are derived. The Hamiltonian equations for the smoothing problem are also presented. The next three chapters focus on fast algorithms and square-root forms of the algorithms described in the previous chapters. Chapter 11 presents fast algorithms for solution of the discrete-time Riccati equation. Chapter 12 discusses array algorithms for alleviating the problems arising from the round-off errors in computation of the covariance matrices. Array algorithms for the information filter and for smoothing are given in the last sections of the chapter. Chapter 13 presents array forms of the fast algorithms of chapter 11. The final chapters of the book are concerned with more advanced concepts. More specifically, chapter 14 focuses on the steady-state behavior of the Kalman filter, and the approach adopted in the chapter can be extended to more general Riccati recursions (i.e., those encountered in H∞). Chapter 15 describes the concepts of duality, dual bases, and orthogonal complements. Equivalence relationships between stochastic and deterministic least-squares problems are given, and the concept of duality is extended to the frequency domain. The estimation problem on complementary state-space models is also studied. Chapter 16 covers the fundamentals of state-space filtering and smoothing for continuous-time statespace models, and the continuous-time Kalman filter equations are derived, along with the continuoustime smoothed estimators. The asymptotic behavior of the Riccati differential equation is examined, and the steadystate filter is given. The last chapter examines a different approach to statespace estimation theory using the scattering theory framework. The authors present numerous estimation algorithms, which arise smoothly using the scattering framework but would otherwise require considerable algebraic manipulation. The book contains numerous endof-chapter problems, making it attractive as a class text. The problems are carefully chosen to present additional results and promote a better understanding of the material in each chapter. Also at the end of the chapters are sections that offer interesting historical notes. The reader is expected to be


Abstract We present a cut elimination argument that witnesses the conservativity of the compositional axioms for truth (without the extended induction axiom) over any theory interpreting a weak subsystem of arithmetic. In doing so we also fix a critical error in Halbach's original presentation. Our methods show that the admission of these axioms determines a hyper-exponential reduction in the size of derivations of truth-free statements.


Human C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH) is a unique anti-inflammatory multifunctional plasma protein best known for its key role in regulation of the classical complement pathway, contact activation system and intrinsic pathway of coagulation. By sequence homology and mechanism of protease inhibition it belongs to the serine proteinase inhibitor (serpin) superfamily. However, in addition to its inhibitory capacities for several proteases, it also exhibits a broad spectrum of non-inhibitory biological activities. C1-INH plays a key role in the regulation of vascular permeability, best demonstrated in Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) which is triggered by the deficiency of functional C1-INH in plasma? Since 1963, when the link between HAE and C1-INH was first identified, considerable progress has been made in the investigation of C1-INH structure and biological activities, understanding its therapeutic potential, and in the research and development of C1-INH-based therapies for the treatment of HAE and several other clinical conditions. However, augmentation therapy with C1-INH concentrates for patients with HAE is currently the only approved therapeutic application of C1-INH. This manuscript provides an overview of the structure and functions of human C1-INH, its role in HAE, summarizes published data available for recently approved C1-INH therapeutic products, and considers possible use of C1-INH for other applications.


In the current study, it was aimed to determine the opinions of primary school class teachers about their question asking skill, questioning strategies and the question types they use. The study employed the survey model, one of the qualitative research methods. In line with the purpose of the study, interviews were conducted with 52 primary school class teachers working in state and private schools in the Buyukcekmece district of the city of Istanbul. The data collected with a semi-structured interview form were analyzed by using the descriptive and content analysis methods. According to the results of the study, it was concluded that while determining the purposes of the questions they ask, the primary school class teachers mostly focus on evaluation, that the types of questions they use do not go beyond measuring the information possessed by students, that they think that the main advantage of asking questions is receiving feedbacks, that they think that knowing question asking strategies enables the teacher to improve the quality in education and that they think that the questions asked should be in compliance with the subjects and objectives. In light of these findings, it can be suggested that seminars and in-service training about question asking strategies should be given to teachers.

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The musk deer possesses an exceptional value for producing high-quality musk, which warrants the development of appropriate veterinary strategies for its captive breeding. The main profile of musk deer health monitoring is assessed: the presence of infectious and protozoan diseases, helminthiases and gastrointestinal disorders. We present a strategy for non-invasive health monitoring and criteria for phytotherapeutic and drug prophylaxis and treatment in open-cage captivity of musk deer for further research into their impact on musk quality.


BACKGROUND
Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) is associated with high mortality. In Central Europe, there is a dearth of information on the prevalence and treatment of HAP. This project was aimed at collecting multicenter epidemiological data on patients with HAP in the Czech Republic and comparing them with supraregional data.

METHODS
This prospective, multicenter, observational study processed data from a database supported by a Czech Ministry of Health grant project. Included were all consecutive patients aged 18 and over who were admitted to participating intensive care units (ICUs) between 1 May 2013 and 31 December 2014 and met the inclusion criterion of having HAP. The primary endpoint was to analyze the relationships between 30-day mortality (during the stay in or after discharge from ICUs) and the microbiological etiological agent and adequacy of initial empirical antibiotic therapy in HAP patients.

RESULTS
The group dataset contained data on 330 enrolled patients. The final validated dataset involved 214 patients, 168 males (78.5%) and 46 females (21.5%), from whom 278 valid lower airway samples were obtained. The mean patient age was 59.9 years. The mean APACHE II score at admission was 21. Community-acquired pneumonia was identified in 13 patients and HAP in 201 patients, of whom 26 (12.1%) had early-onset and 175 (81.8%) had late-onset HAP. Twenty-two bacterial species were identified as etiologic agents but only six of them exceeded a frequency of detection of 5% (Klebsiella pneumoniae 20.4%, Pseudomonas aeruginosa 20.0%, Escherichia coli 10.8%, Enterobacter spp. 8.1%, Staphylococcus aureus 6.2% and Burkholderia cepacia complex 5.8%). Patients infected with Staphylococcus aureus had significantly higher rates of early-onset HAP than those with other etiologic agents. The overall 30-day mortality rate for HAP was 29.9%, with 19.2% mortality for early-onset HAP and 31.4% mortality for late-onset HAP. Patients with late-onset HAP receiving adequate initial empirical antibiotic therapy had statistically significantly lower 30-day mortality than those receiving inadequate initial antibiotic therapy (23.8% vs 42.9%). Patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) had significantly higher mortality than those who developed HAP with no association with mechanical ventilation (34.6% vs 12.7%). Patients having VAP treated with adequate initial antibiotic therapy had lower 30-day mortality than those receiving inadequate therapy (27.2% vs 44.8%).

CONCLUSIONS
The present study was the first to collect multicenter data on the epidemiology of HAP in the Central European Region, with respect to the incidence of etiologic agents causing HAP. It was concerned with relationships between 30-day patient mortality and the type of HAP, etiologic agent and adequacy of initial empirical antibiotic therapy.


Background and objectives After antigenic stimulation, T helper lymphocytes have to expand clonally in order to generate a large pool of specific effector cells. This process is positively regulated by the interleukin-2 induced microRNA-182 (miR-182), which inhibits the expression of the forkhead transcription factor Foxo1, a suppressor of T helper cell proliferation. Specific inhibition of miR-182 in T helper cells limits their expansion in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, the authors examined whether specific inhibition of miR-182 by antagomirs affects the ability of T helper cells to induce inflammation in a mouse model of OVA-induced arthritis. Material and methods The authors treated OVA-specific T helper lymphocytes from DO11.10 mice with antagomir-182 ex vivo and transferred them adoptively into Balb/c mice. One day after transfer the authors immunised with OVA. On day 14 after transfer, the authors injected OVA into the left knee joint and assessed knee swelling as a sign of inflammation. Knee joints were processed for histological examination. Results Knee swelling was about 40% less after transfer of antagomir-182-treated T helper cells. Knockdown of miR-182 with antagomirs resulted in significantly lower histological scores for inflammation and tissue destruction. Infiltration of granulocytes and mononuclear cells into the inflamed tissue of the knee joint, as well as bone and cartilage destruction and the formation of pannus tissues, were lower in the mice given antagomir-182-treated cells than in the control group. Conclusions The results showing less disease severity in a transfer model of OVA-induced arthritis open a new therapeutic avenue for the control of unwanted T helper cell expansion in immune-mediated diseases by antagomirs.


Background Wrist circumference (WrC) is an easily obtained measure in estimating the body frame and regional fat distribution, and has increasingly used as an obesity index. The aim of our study is to estimate the association of WrC with elevated blood pressure (BP) among northeastern Chinese community-dwelling residents, and compare the strength of this association to other anthropometric obesity indices. Methods A total of 2,331 adult participants (761 male participants, and 1,570 female participants) were included. WrC and other five generally used obesity indices, including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and neck circumference (NC) were measured. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP)/diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ≥140/90 mmHg or anti-hypertensive medication use. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were performed to identify associations of BP and hypertension with per standard deviation (SD) increase of obesity indices. Areas under receiver operative characteristic curves (AUC) were calculated to compare the predicting capacity of WrC and other obesity indices on hypertension. Results All of the six obesity indices were positively associated with both SBP and DBP after adjustment for age and gender (P-values of associations of SBP with obesity indices were 0.043 for WrC, and <0.001 for other five indices; P-values of associations of DBP with obesity indices were 0.011 for WrC, 0.031 for WHR, and <0.001 for other four indices), while the association between SBP and WrC showed no statistically significant after further adjusted for life-style and metabolic risk factors (P-value was 0.062). The increases of both SBP and DBP per SD increase of BMI were the largest. The positive associations of five obesity indices but WHR with hypertension were observed after adjustment for all risk factors (P-values were 0.024 for WrC, 0.064 for WHR and <0.001 for other four indices). However, the odd ratios (OR) of WrC was the smallest, while BMI was the largest. Consistently, the AUC of BMI was the largest and statistically larger than that observed for WrC (P-value <0.001). Conclusions WrC was associated with hypertension among northeastern Chinese populations. However, the association was not stronger than the other generally used indices, particularly BMI.


What is the problem and what is known about it so far? Excess weight is a major public health problem in the United States. Overweight and obese people are more likely than normal-weight people to have health problems, such as some forms of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and knee arthritis. They also die at younger ages. Although Americans of all ages are increasingly overweight, many find that middle age is a particularly high-risk period for gaining weight. Why did the researchers do this particular study? To learn the short- and long-term risks for normal-weight, middle-aged adults becoming overweight or obese. Who was studied? 4117 white men and women 30 to 59 years of age. How was the study done? Starting in 1971, the researchers regularly measured weights of adults living in Framingham, Massachusetts. They calculated each person's body mass index (BMI) as his or her weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters. They classified weight as normal (BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2), or obese (BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater). They then described how often the adults with normal weights at baseline eventually became overweight or obese within short (4 years) and long (10 to 30 years) time periods. What did the researchers find? Within 4 years, 14% to 19% of the women and 26% to 30% of the men became overweight, while 5% to 7% of the women and 7% to 9% of the men became obese. Within 30 years, more than half of the women and men became overweight, while about one third of the women and one quarter of the men became obese. Adults older than 50 years of age became overweight or obese less often than the younger adults. What were the limitations of the study? Only white men and women were studied. Black and Hispanic people may gain excess weight earlier and more often than white people. People born more recently tend to become overweight or obese at earlier ages than those who were born in less recent years. Whether the rates of becoming overweight or obese that were observed in this study will apply to people who are middle-aged in 2005 is difficult to determine. What are the implications of the study? For middle-aged white Americans, the long-term risks for becoming overweight or obese seem very high.


This article summarizes the results of a meeting convened by the Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (IMMPACT) on key considerations and best practices governing the design of acute pain clinical trials. We discuss the role of early phase clinical trials, including pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) trials, and the value of including both placebo and active standards of comparison in acute pain trials. This article focuses on single-dose and short-duration trials with emphasis on the perioperative and study design factors that influence assay sensitivity. Recommendations are presented on assessment measures, study designs, and operational factors. Although most of the methodological advances have come from studies of postoperative pain after dental impaction, bunionectomy, and other surgeries, the design considerations discussed are applicable to many other acute pain studies conducted in different settings.


Dwight J. Davis In the Summer 1998 issue of Franchise Law Journal, Peter Lagarias broadly asserts that the goal of certainty in contract interpretation has led to the wide? spread misuse of integration, no representation, and no reliance clauses in franchise agreements.1 Lagarias concludes that the use of these clauses is "an artifice to countenance fraud or deception" against franchisees, that seldom scrutinize such clauses, and that the clauses are generally unen? forceable and illegal.2 Lagarias' assertions are factual? ly incorrect, unsupported by the law of most jurisdictions, and bad policy. His argument rests on the assumption that franchisees do not read the agreements they sign. He further asserts that franchisees


Reconstruction-based anomaly detection models achieve their purpose by suppressing the generalization ability for anomaly. However, diverse normal patterns are consequently not well reconstructed as well. Although some efforts have been made to alleviate this problem by modeling sample diversity, they suffer from shortcut learning due to undesired transmission of abnormal information. In this paper, to better handle the tradeoff problem, we propose Diversity-Measurable Anomaly Detection (DMAD) framework to enhance reconstruction diversity while avoid the undesired generalization on anomalies. To this end, we design Pyramid Deformation Module (PDM), which models diverse normals and measures the severity of anomaly by estimating multi-scale deformation fields from reconstructed reference to original input. Integrated with an information compression module, PDM essentially decouples deformation from prototypical embedding and makes the final anomaly score more reliable. Experimental results on both surveillance videos and industrial images demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. In addition, DMAD works equally well in front of contaminated data and anomaly-like normal samples.


The reconstruction of large soft tissue defects of the upper extremity is a challenging problem. Although free tissue transfer in a single stage is preferred, the recipient blood vessels usually determine the outcome. Due to venous occlusion from repeated intravenous drug abuse, the use of a thoracoepigastric flap to cover a complex wound of the elbow is reported.


Lake Urmia is an area with dimensions of 130 by 40 km and is one of the salt lakes in the world. This basin is a prominent example of a closed inland basin. Unfortunately, the water level of Lake Urmia has dropped significantly in recent years and has been widely increased in saline lands around. In this research, the study of changes in the area of Lake Urmia based on Landsat image has been studied. The time series of changing the area of Lake Urmia from 1984 to 2016 has a downward trend with a reduction rate of 727 km2. Of course, after 2014, it has increased by several tens of kilometers.


In this paper, we study upper and lower bounds on the achievable sum-rate of an uncorrelated multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) multiple access channel (MAC) for Gaussian input signals and with channel estimation error at the receiver. We prove that the gap between the mutual information bounds does not exceed a certain value for arbitrary input covariance matrices and at any input transmit power. We also prove that in a MIMO MAC with uniform input power utilization over the transmit antennas, the gap between the mutual information bounds increases monotonically as the input power of each user increases. Furthermore, we show that the gap between the bounds is maximum when beamforming is applied at the transmitters of all users. We also derive the transmit directions that maximize the mutual information lower and upper bounds when delayed feedback is available from the receiver to the transmitters, and characterize the power allocation of this system in terms of its beamforming range. Numerical simulations are conducted to corroborate our theoretical results and quantify the effect of imperfect channel estimation.


Prosopis farcta is a very common weed in the Near East and its an invasive plant of south western parts of the USA. Despite being sufficiently studied in the past, some its activities were not published. In this research, we studied the antifungal and anti-termite activities of four extracts of the plant aerial parts: aqueous, ethanolic, ethyl acetate and hexane. In addition, since the published reports of total phenolic content (TPC) are not consistent, we tested this as well. We also tested the potential of the aqueous extract of Carya illinoinensis as possible weed biocontrol against P. farcta . Results : n -hexane extract had highest antifungal and anti-terimite activities. TPC was found around 13.9 mg of gallic acid equivalent for 1 g of dry ethanolic extract (highest). The attempts to use aqueous extract of C. illinoinensis for weed biocontrol of P. farcta achieved very limited success Keywords : Prosopis farcta , antifungal, anti-termite, total phenolic content, flavonoids, biocontrol


ABSTRACT With the aim of quantitatively evaluating the usefulness of phyllostomid bats as ecological indicators, we compared intra-family levels and feeding guilds between tropical old-growth forest and patches of secondary vegetation growing where the land had been used for shifting agriculture. There were significant differences between vegetation types in bat species composition, with the frugivore guild most abundant in secondary vegetation and the animalivore guild most abundant in the old-growth forest. These results are congruent with the findings for other Neotropical zones and appear to be associated with the type of soil management that allows secondary vegetation to grow. Using the Indicator Value method, two subfamilies, five genera and five species were found to have a significant indicator value. However, these numbers only represent a small proportion of the five subfamilies, 20 genera and 28 species recorded, indicating that under the disturbance conditions that characterize the study area, phyllostomid bats were poor ecological indicators. Even so, some species and subfamilies are useful as disturbance detectors.


As alternatives to transurethral resection of the prostate for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, various types of laser prostatectomy-most notably, neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) and potassium titanyl phosphate laser procedures-have proved to be associated with considerably less morbidity (for example, bleeding, need for transfusion, intraoperative fluid absorption, and postoperative incontinence). Despite these advantages, certain disadvantages (need for prolonged postoperative catheterization and delayed symptomatic improvement) prompted investigation of the holmium:YAG laser for performance of prostatectomy. The holmium:YAG laser is highly absorbed by tissue water and causes rapid vaporization of exposed soft tissue. After initial studies in canine prostates and human prostatectomy specimens, clinical studies with the holmium:YAG laser showed no fluid absorption, appreciable blood loss, or complications, and voiding outcomes were improved immediately, similar to the result with transurethral resection of the prostate. In addition, the holmium:YAG laser has been used to perform transurethral incision of the prostate rapidly and hemostatically. Holmium laser resection of the prostate is a safe and efficacious procedure for relief of symptomatic bladder outlet obstruction due to benign prostatic hyperplasia.


The influence of conditional medium (CM) on cell characteristics of BTI-Tn5B1-4 and its cell clones was investigated. A concentration of 20% CM was tested at a density of 2. 0 × 105cells/ml and compared to reference cultures (fresh medium,FM). The results showed that the maximum cell densities in CM cultures were more than in FM and the cell population doubling time in CM was shorter than in FM for 3 to 5 hours. When infected with wild Virus AcMNPV,the susceptibility of all cells was approximately the same with an infection of over 93% of the cells in both cultures of CM or FM. The production of occlusion bodies (OB) in both CM and FM cultures was not significantly different. Production of β-galactosidase and secreted SEAP as two recombinant proteins in CM or FM cultures was compared,both β-gal and SEAP activities in CM cultures were about tenth higher than in FM cultures.


A research about "Reproductive Status of Hampala Fish ( Hampala macrolepidota C.V. 1823) in Soedirman Resevoir, Banjarnegara, Central Java" had been done. This study aimed to investigate reproductive status of Hampala fish concerning sex ratio, gonado-somatic index, fecundity, egg diameter and habitat characteristics or water quality. The study was conducted during June-July 2013 using throwing and gill nets. Nine stations were pointed to catch 49 individuals. Male fishwere caughtat five stations, while femalesintwostations. Male fishwere 46individuals, and3 others were females. Sex ratio was unbalanced since male:female ratio was 94:6%. Male fish were immatures measuring 12-30.7 cm in length and weighing 17-359 g. Female fish were matures measuring 40 cm in length and weighing 917 g. Fecunditywas verylow ranging 1.040-2.517 eggs. Hampala was included in partial spawner. WaterqualityinSoedirman reservoirwas stillsuitablefor aquaticorganisms. Keywords : reproductive, hampalafish, soedirman resevoir.


In "Pandora's Seed: Why the Hunter-Gatherer Holds the Key to Our Survival" Spencer Wells takes us on a globe-trotting journey through human history, showing how we can learn from our ancestors in order to survive and thrive in the future. We have better and more comfortable lives in the Western world than we did a few generations ago. So why aren't we happier, or healthier? The problem is that humans were designed to hunt in the wild, not for crowded, urbanized living. The latest research reveals that when we settled and developed agriculture 10,000 years ago we may have created modern civilization, but we also opened a Pandora's box of problems - becoming sedentary, overpopulated, disease-prone and selfish. In this provocative and fascinating book, Spencer Wells reveals how everything from our sweet tooth and stress disorders to environmental damage and even terrorism can be traced back to this mismatch between our genes and lifestyle - and how the solution to these problems lies in our hunter-gatherer roots. "Civilization is the problem, not the solution...Wells combines a cogent account of human evolution with an urgent call for global cultural reform". ("The Times"). "Spencer Wells - exporer, geneticist, geographer and author - takes us on an exciting tour of the last 10,000 years of our history in order to forewarn us of what we shall have to deal with in the next 50 years". (Jared Diamond, author of "Guns, Germs and Steel" and "Collapse"). "Stimulating and enjoyable". ("Financial Times"). Spencer Wells is a leading population geneticist, documentary filmmaker and author of "The Journey of Man" and "Deep Ancestry". He was previously director of the Population Genetics Research Group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford and was recently appointed Frank H.T. Rhodes Visiting Professor at Cornell University. Wells is currently National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and spearheads the Genographic Project.


We combine concepts from multilevel solvers for partial differential equations (PDEs) with neural network based deep learning and propose a new methodology for the efficient numerical solution of high-dimensional parametric PDEs. An in-depth theoretical analysis shows that the proposed architecture is able to approximate multigrid V-cycles to arbitrary precision with the number of weights only depending logarithmically on the resolution of the finest mesh. As a consequence, approximation bounds for the solution of parametric PDEs by neural networks that are independent on the (stochastic) parameter dimension can be derived. The performance of the proposed method is illustrated on high-dimensional parametric linear elliptic PDEs that are common benchmark problems in uncertainty quantification. We find substantial improvements over state-of-the-art deep learning-based solvers. As particularly challenging examples, random conductivity with high-dimensional non-affine Gaussian fields in 100 parameter dimensions and a random cookie problem are examined. Due to the multilevel structure of our method, the amount of training samples can be reduced on finer levels, hence significantly lowering the generation time for training data and the training time of our method.


Background With increasing numbers of crystal structures of protein∶DNA and protein∶protein∶DNA complexes publically available, it is now possible to extract sufficient structural, physical-chemical and thermodynamic parameters to make general observations and predictions about their interactions. In particular, the properties of macromolecular assemblies of multiple proteins bound to DNA have not previously been investigated in detail. Methodology/Principal Findings We have performed computational structural analyses on macromolecular assemblies of multiple proteins bound to DNA using a variety of different computational tools: PISA; PROMOTIF; X3DNA; ReadOut; DDNA and DCOMPLEX. Additionally, we have developed and employed an algorithm for approximate collision detection and overlapping volume estimation of two macromolecules. An implementation of this algorithm is available at http://promoterplot.fmi.ch/Collision1/. The results obtained are compared with structural, physical-chemical and thermodynamic parameters from protein∶protein and single protein∶DNA complexes. Many of interface properties of multiple protein∶DNA complexes were found to be very similar to those observed in binary protein∶DNA and protein∶protein complexes. However, the conformational change of the DNA upon protein binding is significantly higher when multiple proteins bind to it than is observed when single proteins bind. The water mediated contacts are less important (found in less quantity) between the interfaces of components in ternary (protein∶protein∶DNA) complexes than in those of binary complexes (protein∶protein and protein∶DNA).The thermodynamic stability of ternary complexes is also higher than in the binary interactions. Greater specificity and affinity of multiple proteins binding to DNA in comparison with binary protein-DNA interactions were observed. However, protein-protein binding affinities are stronger in complexes without the presence of DNA. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicate that the interface properties: interface area; number of interface residues/atoms and hydrogen bonds; and the distribution of interface residues, hydrogen bonds, van der Walls contacts and secondary structure motifs are independent of whether or not a protein is in a binary or ternary complex with DNA. However, changes in the shape of the DNA reduce the off-rate of the proteins which greatly enhances the stability and specificity of ternary complexes compared to binary ones.


The laboratory diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) requires the measurement of solid-phase antibodies to cardiolipin or β2-Glycoprotein-I and the search for lupus anticoagulant (LA). The diagnosis of patients whilst on anticoagulation is impaired by the difficult interpretation of results, at least for LA, owing to the fact that prolongations of clotting times induced by LA superimpose those induced by anticoagulants. This is a matter of concern as treating physicians very often need to know the APS status of their patients to make a decision on secondary antithrombotic prophylaxis. This article aims to review the effect brought about by anticoagulants on APS diagnosis and discuss the options that can be used to overcome such an effect.


Global business today requires leaders to be like explorers, guiding their organizations through unfamiliar and turbulent environments. With markets, suppliers, competitors, technology, and customers around the world constantly shifting, traditional leadership models no longer work. The authors' three-year study across Europe, North America, and Asia indicates that companies seek more global leaders and desire future global leaders of higher caliber and quality.

To achieve these goals, organizations must understand the characteristics of global leaders and what they can do to develop these leaders. The research results reveal that every global leader needs certain core qualities: exhibiting character, or the capacity to build relationships with people from different backgrounds and to act with high ethical standards; embracing duality, or knowing when and whether to act and initiate change, depending on country or region; and demonstrating savvy, or recognizing worldwide market opportunities and understanding firm capabilities. Underlying each of these characteristics must be inquisitiveness ? a sense of adventure and a desire to experience new things.

The authors' research further shows that global leaders are born and then made. Four strategies are particularly effective in developing global leaders: foreign travel, with immersion in the country's way of life; the formation of teams in which individuals with diverse backgrounds and perspectives work together closely; training that involves classroom and action learning projects; and overseas assignments, which serve to broaden the outlook of future global leaders.


In this paper, based on a simple genetic algorithm and combine the base ideology of orthogonal design method then applied it to the population initialization, using the intergenerational elite mechanism, as well as the introduction of adaptive local search operator to prevent trapped into the local minimum and improve the convergence speed to form a new genetic algorithm. Through the series of numerical experiments, the new algorithm has been proved to be efficiency. we also use this new algorithm in data classification, select 5 benchmark datasets and the experiment results shown the new algorithm can get higher accuracy than knearest neighbor method.


Background: Elite athlete's heart is characterized by a greater left ventricular mass indexed by body surface area (LVMI) and diastolic function; however previous studies are mainly conducted in non-Asian athletes compared to sedentary controls. Methods: This study included 1,388 male adults, aged 18–34 years, enrolled in the same unified 6-month physical training program in Taiwan. During the midterm exams of 2020, all trainees completed a 3-km run (endurance) test, and 577 were randomly selected to attend a 2-min push-up (muscular strength) test. Elite athletes were defined as the performance of each exercise falling one standard deviation above the mean (16%). Cardiac structure and function were measured by echocardiography and compared between elite and non-elite athletes. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent predictors of elite athlete status at each exercise modality. Results: As compared to non-elite controls, elite endurance athletes had greater LVMI (84.4 ± 13.6 vs. 80.5 ± 12.9 g/m2, p < 0.001) and lateral mitral E'/A' ratio (2.37 ± 0.73 vs. 2.22 ± 0.76, p < 0.01) with lower late diastolic A' (7.77 ± 2.16 vs. 8.30 ± 3.69 cm/s, p = 0.03). Elite strength athletes had greater LVMI (81.8 ± 11.4 vs. 77.5 ± 12.1, p = 0.004) and lateral mitral E'/A' ratio (2.36 ± 0.70 vs. 2.11 ± 0.71, p < 0.01) with a greater early diastolic E' (19.30 ± 4.06 vs. 18.18 ± 4.05 cm/s, p = 0.02). Greater LVMI and lower heart rate were independent predictors of elite endurance athletes [odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals: 1.03 (1.02, 1.04) and 0.96 (0.95, 0.98), respectively]. Greater LVMI, lateral mitral E'/A' ratio and right ventricular systolic pressure were independent predictors of elite strength athletes [OR: 1.03 (1.01, 1.05), 1.50 (1.06, 2.12), and 1.12 (1.05, 1.19), respectively]. Conclusions: Cardiac structural and functional characteristics differ between endurance and strength elite athletes. While greater LVMI predicts elite status in both groups of Asian athletes, consistent with findings from Western elite athletes, greater diastolic function, and right ventricular systolic pressure characterize strength elite athletes, while lower heart rate at rest predicts endurance elite athletic status.


2 Acknowledgements 3 1 Towards a Sociology of Smell 1.1 The (Underestimated) Sense of Smell 5 1.2 A Sociology of Smell? 6 1.3 Situating Smell in Singapore 8 1.4 Locating Gender 9 1.5 The Present Study: Males and Smells in Singapore 10 2 Exploring the Sense of Smell 2.1 Theoretical Framework 11 2.2 Methodological Approach 12 2.3 Methods and Sample 13 3 Embodying Smell 3.1 Experiencing Bodies through Smell 16 3.2 Gendered Smells, Gendered Bodies 18 4 The 'Sense-itive' Man 4.1 (Re-) Constructing Masculinities 20 4.2 Smelling 'Powerful' 22 5 The 'All-Natural', 100% Man 5.1 Smelling 'Natural' 26 5.2 Framing the 'Natural' 28 6 Conclusion 6.1 'Smelling Manly': Concluding Remarks 30 6.2 Limitations and Further Research 31 Table 1: Respondents Profile 32 Bibliography 34 Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire 37 Smelling like a Man: A Socio-Olfactory Analysis of Masculinity in Singapore 5 | P a g e 1 Towards a Sociology of Smell If everything were smoke, all perception would be by smell. Heraclitus (quoted in Drobnick 2006) 1.1 The (Underestimated) Sense of Smell The way we understand the world is never devoid of our senses. If one were trapped in a quiet place, engulfed by smoke, perhaps the only sense that one rely on the most is smell 1 . Moreover, food will be absolutely tasteless if not for the capacity to smell. Physiologically, Aftel explains: The olfactory membrane is the only place in the human body where the central nervous system comes into direct contact with the environment. The sense of smell... is first processed in the limbic lobe, one of the oldest parts of the brain and the seat of sexual and emotional impulses. [Therefore]... before we know we are in contact with a smell, we already received and reacted to it (2001:13-14). The physiological experiences derived from the senses, inform our experiences, allowing us to reflect on other occasions. It enables us to distinguish chemicals in the air for example, a gas leak in the home. It also enables us to interact with people in different ways. Imagine yourself approaching someone who smells pleasant like a bed of roses, as compared to approaching someone who works as a fishmonger. What are the forces influencing our actions here? Synnott explains that: "odours define the individual and the group, as do sight, sound, and the other senses; and smell, like them, mediates social interaction" (1993:183). The sense of smell is a socio-cultural phenomenon, infused with meanings and values by various societies and cultures (Classen et. al. 1994), enabling individuals to perceive and understand everyday 1 The sense of smell is the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents, is also known as 'olfaction'. Smelling like a Man: A Socio-Olfactory Analysis of Masculinity in Singapore 6 | P a g e reality. In short, smell is not an entirely physiological experience. To smell is to sense, and to sense is to, make sense 2 . 1.2 A Sociology of Smell? In European traditions, the sense of smell is often accorded with a lower cultural status as compared to the other senses such as (the superiority) of sight. For instance, Aristotle and Plato placed sight and hearing at the top of their hierarchy of senses with the sense of smell at the bottom 3 . Even philosopher Immanuel Kant postulated that smell is the most unimportant sense as it was observed as hedonistic function, undeserving of cultivation (Aftel 2001:149; Kohl and Francoeur 2002:27). Howes (2003:4-5) discussed how notions of civility were attributed towards sight and hearing in European culture, whereas taste, touch and smell, were juxtaposed with animalistic features; the hallmark of civility rests upon the marginalization of smell. Etymologically, there are no available scientific classifications for the sense of smell as compared to the other senses (Synnott 1991:438-439). Scholars also explain how the present ordering of smells are often described in terms of other senses as there is a limited lexicon (1991:438; Miller 1998:67) and a lack of an agreement about olfactory codes (Low 2009:4). Confronted with a plethora of 'ocular-centric 4 ' discussions portraying visuality's predominance within the sensory literature, there appears to be an emergence of scholarship problematizing discussions of visuality since the 1980s (Drobnick 2006:3 Scholarly research on the senses have developed over the past few decades (E.g. Low 2009; Classen, Howes and Synnott 1994), being touched upon briefly within various fields of study such as anthropology (Classen 1997a), and history (Smith 2003). Sociological discussions on the senses stemmed from Georg Simmel, George Herbert Mead, William James and John Dewey. Dewey (2005) highlighted how the act of sensing is an active and interpretive process rather than the consequence of a simple stimulus-reaction hypothesis. Laying the foundation for a sociological analysis of smells, Simmel emphasized the importance of the senses within the dynamics of social interactions; pointing how smells influences social interactions (Frisby 2002:116). However, he stopped short of an elaboration of such olfactive impacts. 2 Waskul and Vannini 2008; Pink 2009; Classen 1997a; Synnott 1993; Classen, Howes, and Synnott 1994; Low 2009. 3 Howes (2009:109); Polansky (2007:302); Synnott (1993:185); Miller (1998:75). 4 A term used by Drobnick (2006) to denote the sense of 'sight' as the topic of choice in the sensory scholarship. Smelling like a Man: A Socio-Olfactory Analysis of Masculinity in Singapore 7 | P a g e Classen (1993) provides an elaboration by discussing how smells are employed within various societies in categorizing different groups of people according to respective cultural values. She provided an example of how smells not only categorize groups of people into varying social orders, but also into sacred and natural orders: ...among the Bororo 5 , the odors that are employed to classify human, animal, and plant life are ultimately derived from the two fundamental classes of spirits: the bope, the foul-smelling, negatively perceived spirits of transformation; and the aroe, the sweet-smelling, positively perceived spirits of structure" (1993:102). Waskul and Vannini (2008), following Classen, argued that people are able to differentiate, categorize, and classify things 'odoriferous indexes'. Such indexical notions of smells denote 'fixity' and 'rigidity', which is contradicted by Classen's relativistic stance in noting that, "such categorizations are not always absolute" (1993:102) as negative smells could be perceived as positive and vice-versa by various cultures. Largey and Watson (1972) extended the discussion on smells by Simmel towards 'odour management', which parallel Goffman's analytical framework of impression management (although the authors did not specify nor utilize Goffman's texts or ideas). Waskul and Vannini elaborated Largey and Watson's discussion (2008:1027-1028), by formally involving Goffman's dramaturgical framework in explaining how people avoid moral stigmatization by removing socially discreditable odours through perfuming practices 6 (backstage), and present themselves with socially acceptable odours (frontstage). This act of managing the way one smells is also a social practice that is grounded in various socio-historical contingents such as during the reign of the Romans where their olfactory ideal extended the usage of perfumes as a basic part of everyday life, even onto domestic animals (Classen 1993:18). Perfuming is also considered an olfactory rite in some cultures, where olfactory management is pertinent to religious beliefs. Classen et. al. referred to the Arabic culture in Morocco, which compels Muslim inhabitants to maintain an acceptable olfactory condition within mosques, as failure to do so is seen as disrupting the sacred (1994:130). 5 The Bororo refers to the people who live in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil. 6 Herein, the term 'perfuming practices' or any other practices involving the management of one's bodily smells through appropriating fragrances, having a bath etc. are subsumed under the notion of 'olfactory management' in this paper. Smelling like a Man: A Socio-Olfactory Analysis of Masculinity in Singapore 8 | P a g e The impact of smell upon reality is significant in influencing the way people understand the world through classifying things and informing the perceptions of others, which sometime goes unnoticed. Locating the study on smells in Singapore, Kelvin Low's pioneering work discussed such dynamics in great depth. 1.3 Situating Smell in Singapore Low's socio-olfactory research in Singapore elucidated the impact of smell as a social intermediary which influences perceptions on 'race', ethnicity, class, and gender (See Low 2006, 2009). His empirically-grounded works was carried out with 'breaching experiments' inspired by Garfinkel, and he also employed a place-based ethnography, ascertaining olfactive experiences from respondents in various fieldsites. In general, his study was grounded within the 'sociology of everyday life 7 ' framework, where he argued as questioning the taken-forgranted, and seeing the routine as new (Low 2009:31). Low's research also uncovered instances where his respondents disagreed with the static 'gender-smell' categorization as "gendered scents are merely the outcome of marketing strategies, pointing... [t]o the availability of unisex fragrances... which upsets gender normativity" (2009:120). This is a unique finding as the public rhetoric of Singapore and its institutional structures maintain a bifurcation of gender roles (Teo 2009:533-534). Others have even contended how a Confucian paternal essence is engraved into the institutional structure (Heng and Devan 1995), where policies shore up towards the basic unit of the heterosexual family. While his study was insightfully discussed with various examples, his notions on gender were not explored in detail. This study thus aims to expand the scholarly discussion of gend


Background and Objective: Effect of some compounds such as Plant extracts (Techno oil and Berna Star), natural origin compounds (Top-nine, Repcar and Chitosan 5%) and classical chemical pesticides (methomyl and lambda-cyhalothrin) were studied against the terrestrial snail Massylaea vertmiculata using the bait technique. Material and Methods: LC50 of the each tested compound of natural compounds were estimated after 14 days of treatment, while LC50 of pesticide were evaluated after 72 hrs of treatment. The impact of LC50 of each tested compound on some biochemical parameters, total protein content, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) activity were determined 48 hrs post treatment. Results: The results revealed that the methomyl and lambda-cyhalothrin were the most effective compounds against test land snails, followed by Repcar, Top-nine and Techno oil, while Berna Star and Nema Ultra Chem come in the last rank. The pesticide compound methomyl was the most toxic one against the tested terrestrial snail species, while the Chitosan 5% was the least toxic one. The results showed that all tested compounds caused fluctuated effect whether increasing or decreasing on all the studies parameters such as total protein content, ALP and ACP activity as well. However, the Techno oil and the Berna Star caused sever decreasing on total protein content and ACP, followed by Top-nine, Repcar, Chitosan 5% (Nema Ultra Chem) and plant extracts. Conclusion: The both tested natural compounds and plant extracts recorded satisfying results compared with methomyl and lambda-cyhalothrin effect and that can be used in the pest controlling programs against terrestrial snails to reduce the environmental pollution.


Viewing the subsistence farm as primarily a 'demographic enterprise' to create and support a family, this book offers an integrated view of the demography and ecology of preindustrial farming. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, it examines how traditional farming practices interact with demographic processes such as childbearing, death, and family formation. It includes topics such as household nutrition, physiological work capacity, health and resistance to infectious diseases, as well as reproductive performance and mortality. The book argues that the farming household is the most informative scale at which to study the biodemography and physiological ecology of preindustrial, non-commercial agriculture. It offers a balanced appraisal of the farming system, considering its strengths and limitations, as well as the implications of viewing it as a 'demographic enterprise' rather than an economic one. A valuable resource for graduate students and researchers in biological and physical anthropology, cultural anthropology, natural resource management, agriculture and ecology.


The purpose of this thesis is to identify principles that could guide the planning of 3D upper-limb movements for different individuals. To this aim, the chosen approach combines novel experiments (namely, a "free reach-endpoint" motor task) with advanced computational techniques (here numerical inverse optimal control). Arm pointing movements without a prescribed final hand position are examined under different conditions of speed or load in order to let emerge various motor control strategies and assess the possible underlying motor planning principles. A core idea is to depart from classical point-to-point reaching paradigms (where the target is generally a dot, e.g. a spotlight target) to study a task in which the endpoint is left free to theparticipants in order to emphasize inter-individual differences as well as the selection process and motor decision that led to the observed strategies. This paradigm thus allows to better decipher the characteristics of the human motor controller. Empirical results are then modeled and interpreted in the inverse optimal control framework, hypothesizing that empirical arm trajectories derive from the minimization of a certain, possibly composite, cost function. This combined approach aims at revealing which principle or rule conceivably drives the planning process of these unrestrained upper-limb movements and to stablish a link between relevant motion parameters, cost functions and inter-individual peculiarities.The results show that subjects produced different motor strategies at both kinematic and dynamic levels depending on how they adapted to speed and/or load variations. Overall, significant motor adaptation of hand trajectories (e.g. location of reach endpoints) and motor commands (e.g. use of interaction torque) were found. Yet, some subjects exhibited stronger dependences than others who varied only little their reach strategies with respect to task-induced speed or load changes. When investigated from the optimal control viewpoint, these results could be accounted for by a composite cost essentially weighting kinematic and dynamic variables differentially at the motor planning stage. Such a composite model outperformed separate kinematic and dynamic ones in predicting the evolution of many important motion features and in explaining inter individual differences. Moreover, it allowed reconciling controversial findings of previous studies by showing that divergent adaptive behaviors can emerge depending on the weights of the elementary cost that may compose the total cost function. In sum, the present results suggest that motor planningof unrestrained3D arm movements necessarily mixes kinematic and kinetic variables and that this trade-off may be idiosyncratic and lead to subtle inter individual differences.


In most ELT classes, the importance of grammar, how it should be taught or how much it should be integrated into language teaching are still matters of discussion. Considering this fact, learning teachers' attitudes towards teaching grammar is significantly valuable for researchers. This study thus aimed to design a scale that identifies teachers' attitudes towards the role of grammar in the process of teaching English, to pilot it, and to find out the psychometric qualities like reliability and validity of the scale designed. The scale was developed in two phases; it was first aimed to explore the factor structure of the scale, then to confirm the structure gained from the exploration of the items. The study was carried out in 2015 and 247 volunteer language teachers from 3 state universities in Eskişehir and Kütahya were included. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the scale developed in this study was a considerably valid and reliable data collection tool including three factors. Finally, the analyses indicated that gender and graduate faculties did not create significant differences whereas age and the degrees obtained by the teachers created a considerable difference on language teachers' attitudes towards grammar teaching (p<.05).


This thesis details experimental work and finite element simulations of reinforced concrete beams retrofitted with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP). The objectives of this study were to investigate the behaviour of retrofitted beams experimentally, develop a finite element model describing the beams, verifying the finite element model against the experimental results and finally investigating the influence of different parameters on the behaviour of the retrofitted beams. The experimental tests were performed to investigate the behaviour of beams designed in such a way that either flexural or shear failure will be expected. The beams were loaded in four-point bending until cracks developed. The beams were then unloaded and retrofitted with CFRP. Finally the beams were loaded until failure. The ABAQUS program was used to develop finite element models for simulation of the behaviour of beams. The concrete was modelled using a plastic damage model and two models, a perfect bond model and a cohesive model, were evaluated for the concrete-CFRP interface. From the analyses the loaddeflection relationships until failure, failure modes and crack patterns were obtained and compared to the experimental results. The FEM results agreed well with the experiments when using the cohesive model regarding failure mode and load capacity while the perfect bond model was not able to represent the debonding failure mode. The results showed that when the length of CFRP increases the load capacity of the beam increases both for shear and flexural retrofitting. FEM results also showed that the width and stiffness of CFRP affect the failure mode of retrofitted beams. The maximum load increases with increased width. Increased CFRP stiffness increases the maximum load only up to a certain value of the stiffness, and thereafter it decreases the maximum load. (Less)


In this paper, we are concerned with robust H.264/AVC video transmission over lossy packet networks and present a hierarchical unequal packet loss protection (HULP) scheme in a transmission system that efficiently combines erasure coding, H.264/AVC error resilience techniques and importance measures in video coding schemes. The importance of the video stream packets is distinguished by three criteria: the frame sequence number in a group of pictures (GOP), the per-frame bitrate and the H.264/AVC data partition type. Using a fixed amount of redundancy, more important packets of a video stream are protected with a more powerful erasure code than the less important packets. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach by system implementation and performance evaluation. In the presence of packet loss, we show that the received video quality, as measured by PSNR, is significantly improved when the HULP scheme is used. More importantly, in our experiments, HULP can achieve higher PSNR values and better user perceived quality, but requiring less redundancy, than equal loss protection (ELP) schemes.


Abstract In present day European landscapes many forest plant species are restricted to isolated remnants of a formerly more or less continuous forest cover. The two major objectives of this study were (1) to determine the relative importance of habitat quality (mainly in terms of soil parameters), habitat configuration (patch size and isolation) and habitat continuity for the distribution of herbaceous forest plant species in a highly fragmented landscape and (2) to examine if groups of species with different habitat requirements are affected differently. Deciduous forest patches in northwestern Germany were surveyed for the presence of a large set of forest species. For each patch, habitat quality, configuration and continuity were determined. Data were analysed by Redundancy Analysis with variation partitioning for effects on total species composition and multivariate logistic regression for effects on individual species, for two different data sets (base-rich and base-poor forest patches). Overall, we found strong effects of habitat quality (particularly of soil pH, water content and topographic heterogeneity in the base-rich forest patches; and of calcium content and disturbance in the base-poor patches), but only relatively weak effects of habitat configuration and habitat continuity. However, a number of species were positively affected by patch area and negatively affected by patch isolation. Furthermore, the relative importance of habitat configuration tended to be higher for species predominantly growing in closed forests compared to species occurring both in the forest and in the open landscape. Abbreviations: GIS = Geographic information system; RDA = Redundancy analysis. Nomenclature: Wisskirchen & Haeupler (1998).


During recent years, nonlinear power electronic equipments introduce harmonic pollution on electric power systems. It makes the traditional power factor meter can not act accurately when it monitors unbalanced and harmonic loads. In this paper, a new algorithm for detecting the power factor in presence of non-sinusoidal load current is proposed. The proposed algorithm detects the true power factor exactly. By uses only two successive sampled data points of the voltage and the current for each displacement power factor value calculation and two sampled data points for each distortion power factor value calculation, the total/true power factor becomes easy to measure using these values directly. The proposed detector implemented using microcontroller as a main part and has been tested for single phase power system. The test results show that it can measure the true power factor of the loads quickly and accurately.


The article explores the practice of "doing gender" by female police officers in the Vologda region. The study is based on the interviews with 22 female police officers working in the Vologda police; interviews were conducted in February 2017. The author examines whether the female police officers are involved in gender construction, and what practices they use for that. Findings show that the female police officers are "doing gender" by reproducing typically male or typically female behavior;  they consider it fair to divide the labor between men and women,  regard certain female and male traits important and accept the help of male police officers.


In a contest with positional dynamics between an incumbent and a challenger i) inequality of power may magnify conflicts, ii) more severe conflicts can go together with lower turnover of incumbents, and iii) power can be self defeating as cost advantages can reduce pay-offs. These three propositions of our paper are contrary to the implications of static conflict models. They follow from incorporating positional dynamics into the standard static approach. Such positional dynamics are relevant for competition in battlefields, politics, and market places.


Abstract A new sterol, langcosterol A (1), together with two known sterols 2 and 3, were isolated from the marine sponge Xestospongia testudinaria collected in Vietnam. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses and comparisons with published data. The new compound 1 and the known compound 3 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities against three human cancer cell lines (A549, lung cancer; MCF7, breast cancer; HeLa, cervical cancer) and a human normal cell line (WI-38 fibroblast), with IC50 values ranging from 29.0 to 68.0 μM.


This paper serves as an initial announcement of the availability of a corpus of articulatory data called mngu0. This corpus will ultimately consist of a collection of multiple sources of articulatory data acquired from a single speaker: electromagnetic articulography (EMA), audio, video, volumetric MRI scans, and 3D scans of dental impressions. This data will be provided free for research use. In this first stage of the release, we are making available one subset of EMA data, consisting of more than 1,300 phonetically diverse utterances recorded with a Carstens AG500 electromagnetic articulograph. Distribution of mngu0 will be managed by a dedicated "forum-style" web site. This paper both outlines the general goals motivating the distribution of the data and the creation of the mngu0 web forum, and also provides a description of the EMA data contained in this initial release.


In the wireless channel, cooperative communications allow one or many relays to assist the communication between the source and the destination. The aim of this thesis is the development of tools for the analysis of cooperative systems, when HARQ techniques are employed to provide cross-layer error protection. The first chapter of the thesis gives background information on network coding in cooperative relay networks, and introduces the motivation for this work. The second chapter is devoted to the analysis of the energetic-fair performance evaluations of FEC, ARQ-STBC and HARQ schemes at the MAC and IP layers. New analytical framework is derived and applied to a point-to-point network scenario. This framework allows to make energetic fair comparisons between the schemes with and without retransmissions. We determine under which channel conditions the cross-layer error protection is energetically more efficient than the simple channel coding. In the third chapter of this thesis we study the cooperative deterministic protocols. The protocols that we consider differ based on the behaviour of the relay(s), source(s), and destination. We consider two major types of cooperative protocols: decode-and forward (DCF), and demodulate-and-forward (DMF). Each of these protocols in its turn is analysed with and without combining mechanisms at the destination. We derive the soft decoders at the destination side for each respective case, and compare the performances of these protocols at the MAC layer. The following quality of service metrics are evaluated: frame error rate, delay, efficiency, goodput. The analysis is done evaluating the steady-state, using finite state Markov chains and a combinatorial approach. The analysis, however, becomes very complex as the number of transmissions and/or nodes in the network increases. The fourth chapter introduces a class of probabilistic communication protocols, where the devices retransmit with a given probability. We prove the existence of an equivalent class of protocols, with the same performances as the deterministic class. Using proofs of concept it is shown that the probabilistic protocol class allows for tractable steady-state analysis, even for many nodes in the network. Based on this, we then derive the QoS metrics and evalute them also by simulations. The derived performance evaluation metrics are then optimized by constraining the frame error rate, and trying to find the most optimal transmissions number and code rates which maximize the goodput. It is furthermore shown, that the equivalent protocol has larger optimal region than the deterministic one.


Defence industrial participation (DIP) is a form of countertrade and falls in the sub-category of (defence) offsets. The South African DIP programme played a developmental role in the country's defence industrial base (DIB), arresting its steady decline since the 1980s. This article discusses the perceived non-achievement of the 1997 DIP objectives and the reality of its manifestations over a 12-year period (2000–2012). It is argued that the DIP tripled the gross national product and improved the economy through the retention of some 58 000 jobs. However, the 2014 Defence Review paves the way for a new defence industrial dispensation. Notwithstanding, there is a need to explore the concomitant ambiguity that exists between perceptions of countertrade and offsets as trade-distorting practices and as value-adding prospects, and to ascertain how this reciprocal trade mechanism could be used better to promote the developmental aims and objectives of governments.


Purpose Retinal microglia can be activated and recruited by chemokines and play a protective role in early retinal degeneration. CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and its receptor, CC-chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), have been implicated as key mediators for the trafficking and accumulation of microglial cells in lesioned tissue. The current study investigates whether the overexpression of CCR2 allows microglia to migrate toward CCL2 more efficiently. Methods Primary microglial cells were transduced with lentivirus carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged CCR2 (CCR2-GFP). Overexpression of CCR2 was assessed by western blot analysis and fluorescence-assisted cell sorting. The chemotaxis of primary microglia transduced with lentivirus carrying CCR2-GFP was compared to either those transduced with GFP alone or those not transduced, using a chemotaxis chamber assay. Results Primary microglia showed a high transduction rate following lentivirus application and maintained normal microglial morphology and a significant overexpression of CCR2 protein. We found that CCL2-mediated chemotaxis is concentration and time dependent in microglia. The chemotactic response of microglia cells overexpressing CCR2-GFP was significantly increased compared to that of nontransduced and GFP-expressing microglia. Conclusions These findings suggest that microglia can be efficiently transduced with CCR2-GFP lentiviral vectors and that the overexpression of CCR2 in retinal microglia promotes their chemotaxis in response to chemokines, suggesting that these cells may be promising targets for cell-based therapeutic manipulation in retinal disease.


The achievement of past international treaties prohibiting anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions showed that unpropitious political situations for dealing with the effects of problematic weapons could be transformed into concrete, legally binding actions through humanitarian-inspired initiatives. Although there is now renewed concern about the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, some policy makers dispute the relevance of these past processes. This article examines how and why cluster munitions became widely reframed as unacceptable weapons, and the nature and significance of functional similarities with contemporary efforts of civil society activists to instigate humanitarian reframing of nuclear weapons and promote the logic of a ban treaty in view of its norm-setting value among states. In the case of cluster munitions, the weapon in question was signified as unacceptable in moral and humanitarian law terms because of its pattern of harm to civilians with reference to demonstrable evidence of the consequences of use. Ideational reframing was instigated by civil society actors, and introduced doubts into the minds of some policy-makers about weapons they had previously considered as unproblematic. This is relevant to the current discourse on managing and eliminating nuclear weapons in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, in which there is dissonance between the rhetoric of those states claiming to be responsible humanitarian powers and their continued dependence on nuclear weapons despite questions about the utility or acceptability of these arms.


A statistical tool has been developed to estimate the risk of batch failure in commercial production from the results of the development scale-up campaigns. This tool serves to indicate the robustness of the manufacturing procedure and its ability to meet the specifications set. Other uses include assistance in the resetting of specifications in the light of actual scale-up batch manufacturing experience and assessing the impact of changes in specifications proposed by the registration authorities. A template is given that simplifies the calculations required.


By exhaustive structural comparisons, we have found that about one-third of the alpha-helix-turn-beta-strand polypeptides in alpha-beta barrel domains share a common structural motif. The chief characteristics of this motif are that first, the geometry of the turn between the alpha-helix and the beta-strand is somewhat constrained, and second, the beta-strand contains a hydrophobic patch that fits into a hydrophobic pocket on the alpha-helix. The geometry of the turn does not seem to be a major determinant of the alpha-beta unit, because the turns vary in length from four to six residues. However, the motif does not occur when there are few constraints on the geometry of the turn-for instance, when the turns between the alpha-helix and the beta-strands are very long. It also occurs much less frequently in flat-sheet alpha-beta proteins, where the topology is much less regular and the amount of twist on the sheet varies considerably more than in the barrel proteins. The motif may be one of the basic building blocks from which alpha-beta barrels are constructed.


Novel experimental results on the hydrodynamic forces acting on a small heated particle at low Reynolds and Grashof numbers are presented. The temperature difference between the particle and the ambient causes free convection flow around the particle. As a result, the drag force exerted on the particle by forced flow deviates significantly from the Stokes law. This deviation is represented quantitatively for three basic directions of forced flow, namely assisting, opposing, and crossing with respect to free convection flow. Validity of the Stokes formula at mixed-convection creeping flow conditions is discussed.


Neurologic injury often accompanies traumatic dislocation and fracture-dislocation of the hip. A review of the literature reveals an incidence of approximately 10% in adults and 5% in children. The sciatic nerve, usually the peroneal branch, is most often injured, and this complication can be seen after all types of posterior fracture-dislocations and simple posterior dislocations. The sciatic nerve can be acutely lacerated, stretched, or compressed, or later encased in heterotopic ossification. Neurologic examination at the time of injury often is difficult but is extremely important. Once a nerve injury is discovered, prompt closed reduction must be attempted to relieve distortion of the nerve from a dislocated femoral head or displaced acetabular fracture. Considerable controversy surrounds the recommendations for additional treatment of nerve injury once the hip has been reduced. At least partial recovery of nerve function occurs in 60% to 70% of patients, with no clear correlation with injury or treatment type. Rehabilitation of patients with sciatic nerve injury must begin as early as possible and should focus on the prevention of an equinus foot deformity. Magnetic resonance neurography may become useful in the future for initial evaluation of patients with this injury.


'Critical Environments' names several senses. If the (Greek) 'krinein' is to sift and 'kritikos' is the ability to discern, then we are faced with the work of interpretation. Yet, if we turn to the Latin 'criticare', then those environments are diagnosed as gravely ill. We know that what we call the 'environment' is indeed in a state of crisis -- acidification renders the oceans increasingly inhospitable to life; deforestation threatens both local ecologies and global climate maintenance; the appetite for meat eats up land as well as nonhuman life. Many of us choose not to know this, or perhaps maintain the fetishistic logic of knowing that comes with simultaneous disavowal. Corporate interests ranging across agriculture, pharmaceuticals, fossil fuels, and the super-saturation of all forms of media hamper the work of interpretation and the possibility of agency and intervention.


Training provided by liaison psychiatry has been considerably developed over the last decades. This article describes how " communication skills" training in oncology evolved to now address interpersonal dimensions of the medical encounter, the clinician's "inner" world and the context. We further present a so-called clinician-centered supervision, which aims to address the intra psychic issues of the clinician; the opportunities and precautions with this specific type of supervision are discussed. Focusing on the clinician facilitates and enriches the clinical encounter and improves medical care.


This study discusses a review of the philosophical concept of Islamic education by analyzing the Islamic concept of educational factors as an effort to educate the Islamic education. Islam is very concerned with education because with the right education and quality, civilized individuals will be formed that eventually led to the social moral life in this age of accelerating globalization dynamics. This is where the educational challenges including Islamic education that is expected to show itself in educating and produce learners who are highly competitive (qualified). Education is an integral factor that must be considered for the success of an education. For it should in the education process of these factors need to be a discussion as well as the special attention which later educational goals that have been designed that can be implemented perfectly good personal realization that belandaskan on the fundamentals of religion, al quran and hadith the prophet. Factors Islamic Education, among others: the Islamic concept of education, children (students), environmental and educational tool according to the teachings of Islam.


The identification of cis-regulatory modules (CRM) is one of the most important problems towards the understanding of transcriptional regulation in higher eukaryotes. Computational methods for CRM detection are gaining importance due to the availability of genomic data on one side, and costs and difficulties of experimental methods on the other side. One of proposed approaches, called Billboard, predicts CRMs based on the location of transcription factor binding sites in an analyzed sequence and a related one in so-called informant species. In the present article, we show how to combine information obtained in two symmetric runs (on the sequence of interest and on the related one) of the Billboard tool. In a series of experiments on data from various organisms, we show that the predictive power of our symmetric approach is significantly higher than the power of the one-way approach of Billboard. Moreover, we show that the evolutionary distance between organisms considerably influences the quality of prediction and we provide guidelines on the choice of an informant species.


Purpose: Incidence of chronic osteomyelitis in femur is lower than that of tibia due to abundantsurrounding soft tissue like muscles and subcutaneous fat. However, if the femur is infected, surgical approach would be very difficult because of surrounding soft tissue and bony defects would be getting larger due to the late detection. Chronic osteomyelitis of femur is an intractable disease with frequent recurrence and remained bone instability in spite of multiple classical operations . Methods: From August 1998 to October 2005, we had 7 cases of fibular osteocutaneous free flap to reconstruct the femur. Those were followed-up for 23 months. All 7 cases were male. 4 cases were in midshaft and the others are distal part of femur.Results: The 7 cases that had not been healed in spite of average 9.1 times previous operations were reconstructed successfully without the recurrence of chronic osteomyelitis. Continuous rehabilitation therapy and brace were very helpful for the ambulation. It took 5.6 months for complete union of bone, and 9.8 months for the ambulation.Conclusion: After wide resection, reconstruction of the femur using fibular osteocutaneous free flap guaranteed bone stability and prevented recurrence of osteomyelitis through rich blood supplying fibula and muscle. Double barrel graft of fibula would be needed in case of the sufficient strength and thickness of femur. We report the successful results of reconstruction of femur with fibular osteocutaneous free flap for chronic osteomyelitis of femur.


approaches to improve health and tackle illness. The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine promises to help bridge this divide. This third edition considers the role of psychological processes in health and medicine. Less of a handbook and more of an encyclopaedia, this weighty tome provides a comprehensive overview of the topic. It is conveniently and logically divided into two parts, the first focusing on the psychology of health and illness, and the second on particular medical topics. Numerous updates since the previous edition include welcome additional chapters on assisted reproductive technology, e-health interventions, patient-reported outcome measures and the effects of war and conflict. This ensures that the book covers many relevant contemporary issues that readers may encounter in their modern practice. The earlier chapters provide a useful overview of the underlying processes informing our understanding of illness development. These range widely over diverse areas, such as the relationship of environment, occupation, immigration, gender, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status with health. The focus moves on to consider how the psychological aspects of disease can be assessed and what psychological interventions are available. An interesting section for any frontline healthcare professional considers healthcare practice, reflecting on the impact of our oftenchallenging working environments on practitioner behaviour. Hot topics such as burnout, information quality and communicating risk are covered in dedicated, informative chapters. The bulk of the second part deals with particular medical conditions and symptoms. This offers an invaluable reference point for any psychiatrist working with patients with the corresponding problem. As well as providing a ready primer on the condition of interest, it also helps to signpost what a psychiatrist could add to the holistic care of such patients. This book has a very broad scope, which would make it appealing to a variety of audiences. The sections devoted to psychological processes are of interest to candidates preparing for the MRCPsych examinations, while the medical topics chapters would support anyone training to become a liaison psychiatrist. Moreover, the book in its entirety would provide a useful compendium for any student or practitioner of healthcare, regardless of their particular professional background.


A 30-year-old man with discordant lymphoma, composing Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma occurring simultaneously in mediastinum, is described. The coexistence of these two diseases is very infrequent and difficult to be treated. It has classically been considered as coincidental. Nevertheless, recent researches have referred the relationship between these two disease and possibility of transformation with each other.


This article, using the second and third waves of the World Values Surveys study, investigates the development of social capital as understood in terms of civic engagement in Korea. The causal antecedents of social capital and its consequences on mass political attitudes and behaviors are also examined. For the purpose of the empirical studies in this article, however, we evaluate the influence of associational life on a single aspect of political participation, namely political protest. The findings indicate that there is a sharp rise in the percentage of civic engagement over a six-year period between 1990 and 1996 (roughly between the democratic transition and the period of consolidation) and that there is a consistent association between only one form of civil society participation, namely, membership in trade unions and elite-challenging action (protest potential). Consequently, contrary to the findings in prior studies, social capital plays a minor role in political participation in Korea.


This paper presents a study on the exploration of heterogeneous personal data that are collected from daily life. Most life log research has focused on the capture of personal logs and personal data archives. Although large amounts of personal data can be collected, it is not easy to find effective methods of reusing these data. Our research focuses on helping users recall and reminisce past events with an interactive system that enables them to explore personal data from several viewpoints. These viewpoints and corresponding views are described with a zooming user interface. We also illustrate a summary of personal data and landmarks that trigger memory recall. These concepts and user interfaces are implemented in a prototype system designed for exploring a variety of personal data including photographs, GPS histories, Tweets, and the number of steps people walk.


Three exciting adventure stories for children just beginning to read. The Knights of King Arthur were the bravest, strongest and most loyal knights of all, which these stories show as they battle dragons, slay giant ogres and rescue maidens in distress. Usborne Young Reading has been developed with reading experts from Roehampton University. The audio CD includes a dramatic listen-along recording with music and sound effects, followed by a read-along version with prompts for page turns.


We carry out an error analysis for the heterogeneous multi-scale method for the case when the macroscale process is that of gas dynamics or more generally nonlinear conservation laws and the microscale process is an atomistic model such as kinetic Monte Carlo methods or molecular dynamics (MD). We will consider problems of type B as defined in [4], i.e. the macroscale constitutive relations are unknown and are extracted from the microscopic model. In addition to the standard error in the macroscale solver, a new error term occurs in estimating the data, here the fluxes. This new error term consists of three parts: the relaxation error, the sampling error and the error due to the finite size of the atomistic simulation. Our results serve as guidelines for designing multiscale methods, as was done in [13, 16].