The mudskipper (Boleophthalmus pectinirostris), which inhabits intertidal zones, is an economically important species of marine fish cultured along the coastal areas in southeastern China. However, the supply of fry was completely dependent on capture from intertidal zones, and the number of wild fry has been gradually declining. Therefore, the establishment of a method of artificial propagation for the mudskipper was needed to stabilize the supply. Maturation of the 4th phase oocytes of mudskipper was induced in vitro by pheromones in the extract of the seminal vesicles. The present study attempted to describe the morphological and structural characteristics of the seminal vesicles in male mudskipper by means of histology and transmission electron microscope. Live specimens of male mudskipper,8.2-11.9 cm in body lengths and 9.0-29.6 g in body weigths, were collected from the intertidal zones of Jiulong River and Quanzhou Bay, Fujian Province. The animals were dissected to remove the testes and seminal vesicles together with the sperm duct. The lengths and weigths of these organs were measured and taken photos by a SONY-digital camera. Some of the seminal vesicles were fixed in Bouins solution for light microscopy. For electron microscopy, other seminal vesicles were fixed in 2.5% phosphate buffered glutaraldehyde, followed by post-fixation in osmium tetroxide and embedding in Epon. Light microscopic sections were observed under an Olympus DX51 microscope and photographed by an Olympus DP11 digital camera, whereas the transmission electron micrographs were obtained with a JEM-100CXⅡ. The results showed that the seminal vesicles were a paired structure which is situated posterior to the testis along the whole length of the nontesticular part of the sperm ducts. Both sperm ducts join to form an unpaired portion which opened on the genital papilla with bladder. Each vesicle was wing-like in shape, opaque and with melanins on exterior. The maximal widths of the left part and the right part were 2-3 mm and 2.5-4 mm, respectively. The lengths of the left part and the right part were 9-11 mm and 8.5-11.5 mm, respectively. Histological sections of the seminal vesicles revealed that the organ was enclosed by connective tissue capsula, and connective tissue partitions were prolonged inside. Both capsula and partition were consisted of smooth muscle fibers, blood capillaries, fibroblasts, fibrocytes and interstitial cells. The thickness of the connective tissue partitions and connective tissue capsula was 3.5-20.9 μm and 6.9-10.4 μm, respectively. The seminal vesicle was divided into many locule lumina, which were 66.1-426 μm in diameter, by the connective tissue partitions. Single epithelial cells, which were columnar and cuboidal in shape, arranged along the partition. Bubble-like secretion, which connected to slice-secretion, were at top of the epithelial cells. The columnar cells were 22.6-37.2 μm in heights and 4.5-5.3 μm in widths. The cuboidal cells were 13.3-16.9 μm in heights and 3.9-4.3 μm in widths. Slice-like secretion of the seminal vesicles showed PAS positive reaction in dark purple-red colour, suggesting that the secretion should be mucopolysaccharide-mucin. Electron microscopic observation showed that there were microvilli at top of the epithelial cells. The microvilli were 1.37-1.85 μm in lengths and 33-41 nm in diameters. Many secretory granules without membranes accumulated to the apical portion of the epithelial cell. During the spawning season, rough endoplasmic reticulum, tubular cristae mitochondria and Golgi complex were well developed in the epithelial cells. The cell organelles degenerated and large vacuoles appeared after the seretory granules were released. During the breeding season the seminal vesicles were turgid, more or less conical in shape and the connective tissue partitions and connective tissue capsula were thinner than those in the post-breeding season. At the peak period of spawning, a large number of spermatozoa, which were mixed with the secretion, appeared in proximal, middle and


Tanzania enrolls with savings and credit cooperative societies for decades now, but this sector has not been able to impact positively on the lives of people. Access to finance has been cited as one of the obstacle factors for economic growth and poverty alleviations. In addition, savings and credit cooperative societies have lagged behind other financial institutions by performing below the members' expectations thus causing dissatisfaction among the members. The objective of this study was to establish the factors affecting the financial sustainability of savings and credit cooperative society in Shinyanga Municipality. The study was justified based on the fact that dividend policy, awards from saving and capital growth accelerates the financial sustainability of savings and credit cooperative societies. A descriptive as well as multiple linear regression methods was used in the study. The study involved a sample of 60 beneficiaries of SACCOS services. SACCOS Sustainability was a dependant variable while capital growth, dividend payment, and award from saving were the independent variables. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed that dividend payment and award from super saving contributed to SACCOS financial sustainability.
Key words: Cooperative societies, financial sustainability, capital growth, saving award and dividend policy


The world is facing an imminent energy supply crisis. In order to sustain and increase our energy supply in an environmentally-conscious manner, it is necessary to advance renewable technologies. Despite this urgency, however, it is paramount to consider the larger environmental effects associated with using renewable energy resources. This research is meant to better understand linear concentrating photovoltaics (LCPVs) from an engineering and environmental standpoint. In order to analyze the LCPV system, a simulation and life cycle assessment (LCA) were developed. The LCPV system serves two major purposes: it produces electricity, and waste heat is collected for heating use. There are three parts to the LCPV simulation. The first part simulates the multijunction cell output so as to calculate the temperature-dependent electricity generation. The second part simulates the cell cooling and waste heat recovery system using a model consisting of heat transfer and fluid flow equations. The waste heat recovery in the LCPV system was linked to a hot water storage system, which was also modeled. Coupling the waste heat recovery simulation and the hot water storage system gives an overall integrated system that is useful for system design, optimization, and acts as a stepping stone for future multijunction cell Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) systems. Finally, all of the LCPV system components were coded in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) and were used in an energy analysis under actual weather and solar conditions for the Phoenix, AZ, region.The life cycle assessment (LCA) for the LCPV system allowed for an environmental analysis of the system where areas of the highest environmental impact were pinpointed. While conducting the LCA research, each component of the system was analyzed from a resource extraction, production, and use standpoint. The collective production processes of each LCPV system component were gathered into a single inventory of materials and energy flows. From these parameters, an analysis was conducted to identify areas of high environmental impact. This area identification can lead to the optimizing of the corresponding processes or materials so as to reduce the overall impact of the system.


Water and gas coning in oil rim reservoirs poses serious hindrance to optimizing oil production in the thin oil beds as unwanted fluids tend to replace oil in the production stream. This invariably limits the ultimate oil recovery. In this study, semi-analytical models of estimating critical rate and optimum horizontal well placement were developed to control coning tendencies in oil rim reservoirs. The models were developed through semi-analytical analysis of applying the principle of Nodal analysis to graphically combine gas-oil reservoir system and oil-water reservoir system respectively with a view to controlling gas and water coning phenomena in gas-oil-water reservoir system. The result was compared with an existing correlation with field data obtained from the Niger-Delta oil field. The models are simple for fast calculations for reservoirs with thin oil zones sandwiched between gas cap and bottom water. It is concluded that the developed models can be used as a tool to make a first pass assessment in the development of oil rim reservoirs anticipated to experience water and/or gas coning during production. Keywords:  Oil rim reservoirs, coning, critical rate, horizontal well placement


We investigated the invasion of the non-native polychaete Marenzelleria viridis in a shallow Danish estuary, Odense Fjord. Three datasets with different spatial and temporal resolution were examined to describe the invasion of M. viridis and to investigate its effect on the native benthic community with focus on the 2 common polychaetes, Nereis (Hediste) diversicolor and Arenicola marina. Marenzelleria viridis colonized Odense Fjord rapidly, and within 3 yr it had spread to ~50% of the estuary. The population development of M. viridis in Odense Fjord followed the 'boom-bust' pattern that is typical for many invaders. M. viridis is now firmly established and has reached an overall abundance of 100 to 200 individuals (ind.) m−2 with local maxima of up to 1200 ind. m−2. Its distribution is apparently regulated by abiotic parameters that prevent its establishment in the oligohaline and more silty parts of Odense Fjord. There was a positive interaction between M. viridis and the native A. marina. Otherwise the introduction of M. viridis was synchronous with a decrease of several macroinvertebrates species, especially N. diversicolor. The latter is still the dominant species in Odense Fjord, but its density has decreased by >60% in areas colonised by M. viridis. We do not expect that N. diversicolor disappears completely in this estuary, but it will probably be displaced to refuge areas where M. viridis cannot survive. Decrease in the population size of a key native species such as N. diversicolor might have significant ecological implications at the eco system level with respect to biodiversity and nutrient cycling.


The low numbers of nurses attracted to work in mental health is a concern particularly with the increased demand for mental health services. Strategies are required to increase recruitment to this less popular area of nursing to ensure that a high quality of care is provided for people suffering from mental illness. The World Health Organisation (2004) is aware that this area of health has been neglected and that it is time to promote mental health. This study aimed to examine the influences involved in nurses choosing to work in this area.
 A descriptive survey using a questionnaire was given to seven groups of new graduates enrolled in the New Graduate Mental Health Nursing programme through five educational institutes within New Zealand. At the time of writing there were no published studies around this topic in New Zealand. This study will attempt to inform nurses, the Nursing Council of New Zealand, tertiary institutions and the government of New Zealand that there is evidence that we need to develop and change practices to address the predicted workforce decline.


BACKGROUND
Insufficiency fracture of the sacrum has been recognized as a major cause of lower back pain, especially in elderly osteoporotic patients with or without underlying malignancy and/or prior pelvic radiotherapy. Its diagnosis cannot be readily made from its nonspecific clinical features. Consequently some cases may be mistaken for bone metastases, causing patients to receive inappropriate diagnostic measures and management. Recognition of the spectrum of imaging features is the basis of correct diagnosis and treatment.

METHODS
The imaging studies of 14 cases (12 women and 2 men; age range, 60-84 years; mean age, 70 years) of sacral insufficiency fracture were reviewed retrospectively. These included 14 radiographs, six bone scintigraphs, eight computerized tomography (CT) scans and 12 magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies. Six patients had a history of malignancy. Diagnosis was made by characteristic imaging findings, and clinical and radiographic follow-up for one to 3.5 years.

RESULTS
Five cases of sacral insufficiency fracture were suspected based on radiographic findings of fracture lines (2 cases) and focal sclerosis (3 cases). Seven cases were diagnosed by CT findings of linear fractures (7 cases) and focal sclerosis (2 cases). Nine MR examinations demonstrated characteristic vertical bands of marrow edema. A hypointense fracture line was identified in eight cases. The remaining two MR imaging studies disclosed nonspecific focal marrow edema. An early case, which appeared normal on CT scan, showed marrow edema on MR imaging. The positive and diagnostic rates were both 36% for plain radiographs, 88% for CT scans, and 100% and 83%, respectively, for MR images.

CONCLUSIONS
Plain radiographs are often unrewarding. Although MR imaging is the most sensitive tool, fracture lines are best demonstrated and diagnosed using CT. Due to the better diagnostic rate, popularity and cost effectiveness, CT is recommended as the definitive modality for confirming diagnosis of insufficiency fracture of the sacrum.


OBJECTIVES
Management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) includes interventions such as improving skills in coping with the disease. We aimed to examine the effect of self-management training on the quality of life and functional parameters in patients with moderate to severe COPD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Sixty-one consecutive patients with COPD were recruited in the study prospectively. The patients were randomized into two groups: self-management training (n=31) and standard care (n=30). Each patient was evaluated by spirometry, COPD assessment test (CAT), St George's respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ), hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), modified British Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale, and short form-36 (SF-36). A team of physiotherapists, psychologists, pulmonary disease specialists, and dietitians provided self-management training and biweekly counseling via phone. At the end of three months, both the groups were re-evaluated using the same assessment parameters.

RESULTS
We found no significant difference between the baseline demographic characteristics of the self-management training and standard care groups. We observed a reduction in CAT (p<0.001), SGRQ impact (p=0.013), activity subscales (p<0.001) and the total scores (p=0.020), and HADS anxiety (p=0.012) and depression (p=0.014) scores in the self-management training group after the education session. A significant increase in SF-36 physical function score was also observed (p=0.008). No significant improvement in the functional parameters was observed in either group; however, the change in FEV1 was more pronounced in the self-management training group than in the control group (p=0.017). The hospital readmissions and 1-year survival rates were similar for both the groups after receiving education (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION
Our results suggest that the self-management training of the patients with COPD improves the quality of life and reduces the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Therefore, at the least, self-management training should be done as the first step of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD who cannot access pulmonary rehabilitation facilities.


We study the difficult problem of deciding if parts of a freeform surface can be generated, or approximately generated, by the motion of a planar profile through space. While this task is basic for understanding the geometry of shapes as well as highly relevant for manufacturing and building construction, previous approaches were confined to special cases like kinematic surfaces or "moulding" surfaces. The general case remained unsolved so far. We approach this problem by a combination of local and global methods: curve analysis with regard to "movability", curve comparison by common substring search in curvature plots, an exhaustive search through all planar cuts enhanced by quick rejection procedures, the ordering of candidate profiles and finally, global optimization. The main applications of our method are digital reconstruction of CAD models exhibiting sweep patches, and aiding in manufacturing freeform surfaces by pointing out those parts which can be approximated by sweeps.


This paper investigates the effectiveness of reducing errors in management accounting systems with respect to organizational performance. In particular, different basic design options of management accounting systems of how to improve the information base by measurements of actual values are analyzed in different organizational contexts. The paper applies an agent-based simulation based on the idea of NK fitness landscapes. The results provide broad, but no universal support for conventional wisdom that lower inaccuracies of accounting information lead to more effective adaptation processes. Furthermore, results indicate that the effectiveness of improving the management accounting system subtly interferes with the complexity of the interactions within the organization and the coordination mode applied.


Evidence has been presented for the possible transport function of conjugated roach plasma proteins during molting. Extensive changes in these proteins are evident during the premolt stage. The remainder of the instar appears to be devoted to a gradual return to the intermolt stage. This recovery process is characterized principally by a transformation of less mobile lipoproteins to lipoproteins of higher electrophoretic mobilities and may be indicative of a lipoprotein-lipase reaction in insects. This transformation also appears to give rise to a second sex-specific lipoprotein. Significant changes in the glycoproteins at the premolt and ecdysial stages may indicate transport of carbohydrate for storage or utilization. A total of six fractions has been shown to occur in roach plasma in the period from one molt to the next. The process of clotting appeared to be concerned primarily with the blood lipoproteins. These protein fractions reacted to form two new lipoproteins, one of which was the relatively insoluble coagulum network. The second major protein fraction appearing as a result of the coagulation process also was a lipoprotein which contained a lower concentration of carbohydrate than the clot. A possible method of assaying or screening new anticoagulants for insect blood is proposed.


Part of a larger book-length project on globalization and international law (forthcoming in 2008), this article challenges the claims made by those who argue that traditional nation-States are becoming increasingly irrelevant as international legal actors. This has become a major theme of discussion about plural governance in a decentralized world and the changing role of the nation-State system as the defining characteristic of a traditional global order. The article fully surveys the diverse set of actors in transnational governance. It concludes that while new, non-State actors have emerged in importance on the international legal scene over the past few decades - giving rise to the emergence of disciplined market-State institutions or liberal cosmopolitan transnational networks - the continued influence of nation-States on the levers of international law-making and transnational governance seems to be undoubted. The article's second focus of analysis is the permeability of governance mechanisms in the global legal order. Many aspects of the porosity of contemporary transnational governance are attributable to the manifest influences of globalizing trends. Among these are the re-emergence of private-ordering mechanisms and customs among international economic actors (a new lex mercatoria), as well as the extraterritorial application of domestic laws, and the availability of legal recourse from national to international regulatory and dispute-settlement mechanisms. Perhaps most significant of all is the structuring of a new global regulatory order, and the relevant considerations which are being marshaled in the fashioning of novel solutions to problems of transnational governance. The overall picture is that the processes of globalization interact and influence trends in transnational governance in surprising, and sometimes counter-intuitive, ways.


The retrograde efforts in the field of silicon carbide (SiC) technology led to outstanding device parameters of high voltage unipolar devices. Overcoming silicon (Si) unipolar limits in SiC, currently the vertical JFET is the most serious active switch which seems to outperform all the established technology. With exemplaryly 48 Wan'3 the matrix converter is predicted to reach highest power densities in future using SiC devices [1][2]. But on the silicon side, 1200 V field-stop IGBTs with planar gate structure enabling operating frequencies in hard switching applications up to 100 kHz, too [3]. In this paper the conduction and switching behaviour of both transistor types is analyzed with respect to the matrix converter demands. The combination of measured data and a particular simulation gives results in terms of power losses and efficiency.


Concrete pavement has shown great performance in urban area and interstate highway settings for many years because of its low maintenance requirements and capability for long service life. However, rapidly increasing heavy traffic accelerates pavement deterioration and increases the need for more maintenance than in the past. If proper maintenance is not employed at low levels of deterioration, in a timely manner, acute degradation of pavement serviceability will occur and major repair costs may be needed. This report discusses the visual identification of various distress types and introduces evaluation techniques using nondestructive testing (NDT), which are key to determining proper routine maintenance activities. According to the areas selected from the simplified checklist of visual distress types, falling weight deflectometer (FWD) for structural condition evaluation, ground penetration radar (GPR) for detecting voids below the slab and the presence of trapped water, and dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) for estimating the in situ strength of base and subgrade soils are used to provide current information on pavement condition for selection of needed repair methods using a simple, systematic decision process. Key routine maintenances activities are categorized into five levels: performance monitoring, preservative, functional concrete pavement repair (CPR), structural CPR, and remove and replace. During field investigations, poorly performing areas were identified and possible fixes determined as a means of guideline development.


In this volume of Endoscopy International Open, Ooi and Thomson [1] present a series of over 33,000 endoscopic procedures over a 9-year period that were performed with endoscopist directed, nurse-administered propofol sedation at a tertiary referral center. To be more specific, most patients received a combination of fentanyl, midazolam, and propofol, more commonly known as balanced propofol sedation. The primary outcome was the response of an institutional emergency medical response team as a surrogate for a severe cardiopulmonary unplanned event. The authors found that the incidence of emergency response team events was quite uncommon (23/33,539 procedures, 0.07 %). Of these 23 instances, 18 were in patients receiving an upper endoscopy. Seventeen patients exhibited advanced American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification scores (ASA III: 15; ASA IV: 2), and 12 were being evaluated for upper gastrointestinal bleeding. All seven instances of urgent intubation occurred in the esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) group and two of these eventually died. In both deaths, the indication for the upper endoscopy was for upper gastrointestinal bleeding with advanced ASA physical status classification. Interestingly, in both cases, there did not appear to be evidence of aspiration.

Given the rarity of the events, it is impossible to perform any meaningful statistical analysis, yet the descriptive pattern of patients at risk for significant cardiopulmonary unplanned events is quite similar to the study of Rex et al. [2]: the incidence of airway intervention was higher in subjects receiving an EGD and mortality was seen in those with advanced malignancy or other serious medication conditions. One could make the argument that, in the majority of the cases with upper gastrointestinal bleeding who required the emergency response team, the reason for the urgent intervention was not as a result of the propofol sedation per se, but due to the tempo of bleeding which required airway intervention. The mortality rate in the Rex study was much lower however (4/646,080, 0.0006 %). The reasons for this are unknown, but patient selection, heterogeneity in the administration algorithms of propofol, and the use of additional agents may have played a role.

A particular strength of the study is the fact that the nurse sedationist training and competency requirement were standardized and quite comprehensive. This involved a yearly practical and written assessment, demonstration of airway management competency, and a minimum threshold volume of at least 250 annual procedures in order to remain qualified.

There are several shortfalls with this study. Patient selection did not include a formal ASA physical status classification, urgency of the procedure, Mallampati score, or the exclusion of patients with gastroparesis. The actual targeted depth of sedation appears to have been variable (moderate or deep sedation) as response to repeated tactile or noxious stimuli was required. An emergency response team call was also made for decreased levels of consciousness which was not further defined. A standardized dosing algorithm for the opioid and benzodiazepine did not appear to be utilized. There is also no data as to whether reversal agents or other airway measures such as nasopharyngeal tube placement were employed which may have averted an emergency response team call. Also, there was not another instance of endotracheal intubation after 2008. This may reflect a systematic change in training, management, and/or patient selection.

In conclusion, this study emphasizes that with proper training and prudent patient selection, endoscopist-directed propofol sedation is safe and effective. Hopefully, we can look forward to the day when this evidence-based practice will be universally adopted.


The two aims of the project involved: 1. Devising a system for prediction o f areas of bathymetric change within the Fal estuary 2. Formulating and evaluating a method for interpolating single beam acoustic bathymetry to avoid artefacts o f interpolation. In order to address these aims, sources of bathymetric data for the Fal estuary were identified as Truro Harbour Office, Comwall County Council and the Environment Agency. The data collected from these sources included red wavelength Lidar, aerial photography and single beam acoustic bathymetry from a number o f different years. These data were input into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and assessed for suitability for the purposes o f data comparison and hence assessment o f temporal trends in bathymetry within the estuary Problems encountered during mterpolation o f the acoustic bathymetry resulted in the later aim of the project, to formulate an interpolation system suitable for interpolation of the single beam, bathymetric data in a realistic way, avoiding serious artefacts of interpolation. This aim was met, successfully, through the following processes: 1. An interpolation system was developed, using polygonal zones, bounded by channels and coastlines, to prevent interpolation across these boundaries. This system, based on Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation, was referred to as Zoned Inverse Distance Weighting (ZIDW). 2. ZIDW was found, by visual inspection, to eliminate the interpolation artefacts described above. 3. The processes of identification o f sounding lines and charmels, and the allocation of soundings and output grid cells to polygons, were successfully automated to allow ZIDW to be applied to large and multiple data sets. Manual intervention was maintained for processes performed most successfully by the human brain to optimise the results o f ZIDW. 4. To formalise the theory of ZIDW it was applied to a range o f idealised, mathematically defined chaimels. For simple straight and regular curved, mathematical channels interpolation by the standard TIN method was found to perform as well as ZIDW. 5. Investigation of sinusoidal channels within a rectangular estuary, however, revealed that the TIN method begins to produce serious interpolation artefacts where sounding lines are not parallel to the centre lines o f channels and ridges. Hence, overall ZIDW was determined mathematically to represent the optimum method o f interpolation for single beam, bathymelric data. 6. Finally, ZIDW was refined, using data from the Humber and Gironde estuaries, to achieve universal applicability for interpolation of single beam, echo soimding data from any estuary. 7. The refinements involved allowance for non-continuous, flood and ebb type charmels; consideration of the effects o f the scale o f the estuary; smoothing o f the channels using cubic splines; interpolation using a 'smart' ellipse and the option to reconstruct sounding lines from data that had previously been re-ordered.


Range uncertainty is one of the most critical obstacles in proton therapy. Proton computed tomography (pCT) can potentially directly reconstruct relative stopping power (RSP) within 1%. We report the very first proton imaging technique based on spot decomposition within each spot for increasing efficiency of pCT using pencil beam scanning (PBS) technique. A 14cm-diameter cylinder water phantom was used in our simulation, embedded with three groups of cylinders (bone, muscle, and adipose, respectively). Each group of cylinders contains three different sizes (2cm, 1cm, and 3mm in diameter). A TOPAS Monte-Carlo model was developed simulating the on-board pCT image acquisition on a PBS gantry. A phase scorer was used to simulate a multi-layer pixelated proton residual energy detector. Each proton spot was divided into 19 overlapping sub-spots, and residual energy statistics were calculated for each sub-spot and were assigned to the nearest detector pixel. One hundred eighty projections were generated with 882 spots on each 10x10cm projection, using 200 MeV protons. Spot spacing and size (1-sigma) were 5.4mm and 6-8mm, respectively, on the detector. A direct path of proton transport route was assumed in an FDK-based reconstruction. pCT imaging dose was calculated, and the accuracy of RSP reconstruction was analyzed. Total dose to the phantom was 0.4mGy. The reconstructed mean RSP were 0.999(-0.1%), 0.969(-0.03%), 1.028(-0.2%), and 1.703(-0.9%) for the water, adipose, muscle, and bone, respectively. The STDs of the reconstructed RSP were <1.0%. This study has provided a new framework and offered an efficient approach for pCT acquisition and reconstruction.


The pace of business and technological progress becomes faster nowadays. This happens on the background of increased competition. Because of these trends, enterprises and organizations increasingly rely on project management methods and processes to achieve commercial goals. As a result, higher education organizations offer curricula and programs aimed at improving the education. The purpose of this research is to determine the relevance of knowledge of modern methodologies in the labor market and to analyze the organization-related features of the process of learning innovative project management methods in the leading universities of Kazan and Elabuga cities, Russian Federation. The study used statistical analysis, a survey and testing. The survey involved 630 students from 8 universities of Kazan and Elabuga. The employers that took part in the survey were found to be interested in those employees, who knew the Agile methodology (28%). The "Project Management" course program gives a general idea of the modern technology of project management and offers insights into the general principles of using knowledge and skills to solve problems at work. The efficiency analysis of education, carried out to evaluate the teaching of modern methodologies, showed that more than 60% of students were aware of the importance of learning project management methods for successful employment. The correlation analysis showed (Pearson coefficient r=0.67) that students understood which innovative project management methods are in demand in the labor market. The survey, however, revealed that only 30% of respondents had a sufficient level of knowledge. This reflects the need to teach modern methodologies, such as PRINCE2, Scrum, and Agile, as separate disciplines in higher education establishments. These steps can significantly affect the quality of teaching and learning modern project management methodologies. If so, universities will strengthen their position in the educational services market by rapidly adapting to changes in the external environment. This will lead to the production of more competitive graduates.


The issue of spatial data quality is of concern to researchers and practitioners in the field of Spatial Information Systems (SIS). The results of any spatial analysis depend heavily on the data on which the analysis is based. Despite this, the users of most spatial data sets have no idea of the accuracy of the data contained within them. They base their subsequent analysis using the datasets on the assumption that the data is error free or that errors are kept to an 'acceptable' level. In order to ensure the results of analysis it is imperative that a facility for reporting data quality of the dataset is provided so that error levels can be monitored. To this end it is now becoming common for data providers to furnish their clients with metadata that is data about data, on quality, lineage and age. Data quality research issues in SIS include topological consistency; consistency between spatial and attribute data; and consistency between spatial objects representation and their true representation on the ground. The last category is subdivided into spatial accuracy and attribute accuracy. To some extent these errors can be reduced by adopting a more rigorous approach to integrity constraint management including the imposition of constraints upon data entered into the database. This paper describes an integrated development environment for SIS. At the core of this environment is an active repository that stores and maintains integrity constraints defined by the SIS developer. The result of such an approach is the control of quality in data captured by resulting systems and the facility to report on the quality of the data stored within their databases.


The electrical activity of stacking faults (SFs) in multicrystalline sheet silicon has been examined by correlating EBIC(electron beam induced current), preferential defect etching, and microwave photo-conductance decay (PCD) lifetime measurements. Following a three hour 1060 0C annealing the interstitial oxygen concentration decreased from 14 to 4.5 x 1017 cm-3, during which time a high density of SFs were generated in the center of individual large grains. Subsequent EBIC contrast variation within individual large grains was correlated with the local SF density revealed by preferential etching. In addition, a more quantitative intra-grain lifetime was obtained from high spatial resolution PCD measurements. It was found that an SF density of 1 to 2 x 106 cm-2 produces a lifetime limitation in sheet silicon which corresponds to a recombination lifetime of ~2 µs.


OBJECTIVE
To study portrayals of African Americans in family medicine recruiting literature on a quantitative basis.

DESIGN
Survey.

SETTING
Seventy six family medicine residency recruiting brochures, from programs responding to letters requesting "information and an application" for an unrelated study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Numbers of African Americans portrayed as physicians, other health care professionals, patients, and other in recruiting brochures.

RESULTS
Out 2433 individuals portrayed, African Americans accounted for 4.2% of physicians, 10.8% of other health care providers, and 17% of patients. Brochures from twenty three programs, containing photographs of 502 individuals portrayed no African Americans.

CONCLUSIONS
About one third of a sample of family practice program brochures sent to resident applicants in 1992 contained no photographs of African Americans. Implications for the recruitment of minorities to family medicine programs are discussed.


Typically, oil pollution cleanup procedures following first response actions include dispersion. Crude oil is biodegradable, and its bioavailability can be increased when dispersed into very fine droplets by means of chemical surfactants. Although their use is widely spread in many applications, the latter may prove toxic, depending on the extent of use. The use of biological means, such as bioremediation and biosurfactants, has emerged over the past years as a very promising 'green' alternative technology. Biosurfactants (BSs) are amphiphilic molecules produced by microorganisms during biodegradation, thus increasing the bioavailability of the organic pollutants. It is their biodegradability and low toxicity that render BSs as a very promising alternative to the synthetic ones. Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2 strain ability to produce BSs, without any impurities from the substrate, was investigated. The biosurfactant production was scaled up by means of a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) and a heavy oil residue substrate as the carbon source. The product is free from substrate impurities, and its efficiency is tested on oil bioremediation in the marine environment. The product's dispersion efficiency was determined by the baffled flask test. The production method proposed can have a significant impact to the market, given the ever-increasing demand for ecologically friendly, reliable, commercially viable and economically competitive environmental cleanup techniques.


Recently, we are witnessing an aspiration in the social sciences to collect and analyze the data about human behavior that is being produced with an unprecedented depth and scale. In this article, we discuss how this new data may impact sociology. Big Data has been defined in various ways in literature. Some of the latest works reveal that the key definitional boundary marker is not the volume of data produced, but the traits of velocity and exhaustivity. The differences of this new type of data are that it is not created for research purposes, that it covers the entire population, and that it is produced in real-time. There are two ways to answer the question of key changes in sociology in the era of Big Data. First, new online-data can greatly improve traditional sociological subfields which were prevented from being developed because of a lack of data. Now, there are new results based on online-data which shed light on the causal effect of social influence. Big data can also enable the development of new lines of research because of rapidly-developing computational techniques. This is especially important for those research areas which deal with large bodies of text, and most importantly, new techniques can greatly improve the sociology of culture where empirical research has been less developed when compared with theoretical ideas. Secondly, new data can have an impact on the disciplinary project of sociology. The article ends with the discussion of how Big Data can be used to support data-driven sociology, which differs from mainstream sociology where hypotheses are offered a priori, data is collected, and analyses are conducted to determine the degree to which the hypotheses are supported.