ABSTRACT Active immunization is an important concern for health care workers (HCWs) susceptible subjects and potential sources of infection for patients. However, the vaccine coverage for vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) is below recommended standards. The aims of the study were to estimate the hospitals' HCWs' susceptibility and vaccination coverage rates for VPDs and to analyze the role of HCWs' attitudes and knowledge as determinants of the immunization practices. A cross-sectional study enrolled 334 HCWs (physicians, nurses, others) at local hospital in L'Aquila (Italy). By means of an anonymous questionnaire, self-report data about history of disease and active vaccination for seasonal influenza, chickenpox, measles-mumps-rubella and hepatitis B were collected, as well as attitudes and knowledge about vaccination in HCWs. The employees showed high levels of susceptibility and insufficient vaccination coverage rates, particularly for influenza. Specific trends were detected for different VPDs across age strata and professional categories, not always consistent with literature. Overall, the level of knowledge about recommended vaccination for HCWs was low, in all categories. The active immunization status against influenza was found the most clearly associated with difference levels in 3 psychometric variables: personal responsibility, beliefs on usefulness and beliefs on risk of vaccination. A mediation mechanism was analyzed between these constructs, and an interesting indirect effect was highlighted for beliefs that could enhance the advantage of increased responsibility for HCWs. Further effort in research is needed to evaluate the black-box of longitudinal intervention studies (education, environmental changes, policies), to improve HCWs immunization.


This paper deals with an experimental investigation comparing the contamination performance and surface degradation of outdoor insulators made from different polymeric materials. The tested insulators included silicone rubber (SR), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and high-density polyethylene (HPDE), which were used for reference. To replicate typical harsh marine pollution environments, a modified solid layer contamination deposition method was used. In this method, conditions similar to those existing near shorelines exposed to saline and acid spray during winter and early spring were reproduced. The tests were carried out in acidic and normal cold fog. The physico-chemical changes and electrical parameters were measured during the tests to characterize the performance of each insulator. The analysis showed that the electrical performance of the insulators was significantly affected by the combined application of saline contamination and acidic cold fog. However, during clean cold fog application, the insulator material showed localized surface degradation while there was no evidence of serious dents and cracks. Saline contamination with normal cold fog generated a reduction of flashover voltage equal to 40%. This reduction was more pronounced in acidic fog conditions − 85%. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and hydrophobicity results showed that surface degradation is more strongly correlated with acidic cold fog contents than that of normal cold fog. It was found that SR insulators perform better than EPDM and HPDE in harsh environments.


A simple technique for preparative isolation of chromatographically homogenous fractions of mono-, di- and triphosphoinositides from ox brain tissue is described. Podyphosphoinositides fractions were obtained after chromatography of lipid extract on DEAE cellulose, phosphomonoinositides fraction--after chromatography of polyphosphoinositide-free material on aluminium hydroxide column. Bivalent metal ions were eliminated from lipid extract using chromatography on Dowex-50 H+. Ammonium acetate was removed after precipitation of lipids in water: methanol (1:1) in the presence of 4 M this salt. The average yield of mono-, di- and triphosphates was 40, 22 and 58 mg respectively per 1 kg of brain tissue as callulated for lipid phosphorus.


Eleven companies cofounded the 100,000 Jobs Mission in 2011 to promote veteran employment. The coalition has grown to more than 175 member companies, representing almost every U.S. industry. These companies have hired more than 190,000 veterans as of September 2014, already far exceeding the original goal. RAND interviewed member companies to capture lessons and experiences and to identify further improvements to veteran employment opportunities.


Indonesia, as one of the biggest countries which supplies citronella oil, has a high potential to produce natural rhodinol. Recent studies on rhodinol purification using fractional and mollecular distillation showed the difficulty of obtaining high purity and yield. The objective of this study was to determine the method of spinning band distillation to purify rhodinol regarding reflux ratio and vaporization temperature. Citronella oil was divided into three fractions according to its boiling points. The volume of each fraction was estimated by its ratio (according to GC analysis) to the feed volume: F1 (components before rhodinol) 21.73%, F2 (rhodinol) 61.7%, and residue 15.82%. Initial research established the best conditioning before the purification process was 3 mmHg of pressure, equilibration started at 160oC in 30 minutes, and 18–17% of heat rate, as these created the stability of the vapor temperature. The levels of reflux ratio were 3:1 and 5:1, while the evaporation temperatures of rhodinol were 230oC and 235 oC. Reflux ratio of 5:1 at 230oC obtained the highest purity (81.30%) and the highest yield (72.94%). Equilibration and reflux ratio allowed rectification inside the column because the spinning band homogenized the vapour molecules by its downwards flow and wiped the reflux on the inner surface, which in turn caused the molecules with a lower boiling point to evaporate gradually. Meanwhile the other yields were 79.81% (3:1 at 230 oC), 80.53% (3:1 at 235 oC), and 80.21% (5:1 at 23oC) with yields of  71.82%, 70.31%, and 68.23%.
Keywords: citronella oil, purification, rhodinol, spinning band distillation


Field experiments were conducted at Universiti Putra Malaysia during 1998
under annual and permanent orchard cropping systems to evaluate oil palm empty
fruit bunch (OPEFB) and rice straw (RS) mats, with and without metolachlor as
preemergence herbicide, for weed control efficacy, metolachlor activity and soil
nutrient status.
Under the annual cropping system, three RS mat types (1.5, 1.0, and 0.5 cm
thick) and one OPEFB mat type (1.5 cm thick), with and without incorporated
metolachlor (1.8 kg/ha) were compared for annual weed control. In the permanent
orchard system, two RS mat types (1.5 and 1.0, cm thick) and one OPEFB mat type
(1.5 cm thick) with and without incorporated metolachlor (1.8 and 3.6 kg/ha) were
compared for perennial weed control.
OPEFB mats effectively suppressed annual weed growth. Incorporation of 1.8
kglha metolachlor increased weed control efficacy. Increasing metolachlor to 3.6
kg/ha increased the efficacy of the mats for perennial weed control. However,
incorporation of metolachlor 1.8 kg/ha into OPEFB mats had no beneficial effect in
controlling perennial grass weed growth compared to mats without herbicide.
RS mats without herbicide did not effectively suppress growth of most weeds.
Incorporation of 1.8 kg/ha metolachlor enhanced suppression of annual weed growth
up to 12 weeks after treatment. At 3.6 kglha metolachlor effectively suppressed
perennial weed growth up to 16 weeks after treatment.
Root length reduction in rice seedling bioassay was used to evaluate residual
phytotoxic activity of field exposed metolachlor treated OPEFB and RS mats. At both metolachlor rates no inhibitory activity was evident in mats sampled after 8 weeks of
exposure in the field.
OPEFB mats markedly increased soil organic matter (10.6%), organic carbon
(10.6%), phosphorous (15.3%) and potassium (49.<)010) with negligible increase in
nitrogen (5.6%). Contribution by triple layered RS mats to soil organic matter (9.3%),
organic carbon (9.3%) potassium (73.8%) and phosphorous (18.7%) was greater than
contributions from single or double layered RS mats.
The results of this study showed that OPEFB mats incorporated with 3.6 kg/ha
metolachlor have excellent potential for weed control around newly transplanted trees
and shrubs. Triple layered RS mats in combination with 3.6 kg/ha metolachlor can
also be used to effectively control weeds under young perennial crops.


Learning accurate Bayesian networks (BNs) is a key challenge in real-world applications, especially when training data are hard to acquire. Two approaches have been used to address this challenge: 1) introducing expert judgements and 2) transferring knowledge from related domains. This is the first paper to present a generic framework that combines both approaches to improve BN parameter learning. This framework is built upon an extended multinomial parameter learning model, that itself is an auxiliary BN. It serves to integrate both knowledge transfer and expert constraints. Experimental results demonstrate improved accuracy of the new method on a variety of benchmark BNs, showing its potential to benefit many real-world problems.


Ant colony optimization (ACO) is a probabilistic technique used for solving complex computational problems, such as finding optimal routes in networks. It has been proved to perform better than simulated annealing and genetic algorithm approaches for solving dynamic problems. ACO algorithms can quickly adapt to real-time changes in the system. In this paper, we propose an ACO-based algorithm to solve the dynamic anycast routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) problem in wavelength-routed WDM networks. Using extensive simulations, we show that ACO-based anycast RWA significantly reduces blocking probability compared to the fixed shortest-path first (SPF) and other dynamic algorithms.


Objective: To determine overall and age-specific incidence rates of AD in a rural, population-based cohort in Ballabgarh, India, and to compare them with those of a reference US population in the Monongahela Valley of Pennsylvania. Methods: A 2-year, prospective, epidemiologic study of subjects aged ≥55 years utilizing repeated cognitive and functional ability screening, followed by standardized clinical evaluation using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, and the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke–Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria for the diagnosis, and the Clinical Dementia Rating scale for the staging, of dementia and AD. Results: Incidence rates per 1000 person–years for AD with CDR ≥0.5 were 3.24 (95% CI: 1.48–6.14) for those aged ≥65 years and 1.74 (95% CI: 0.84–3.20) for those aged ≥55 years. Standardized against the age distribution of the 1990 US Census, the overall incidence rate in those aged ≥65 years was 4.7 per 1000 person–years, substantially lower than the corresponding rate of 17.5 per 1000 person–years in the Monongahela Valley. Conclusion: These are the first AD incidence rates to be reported from the Indian subcontinent, and they appear to be among the lowest ever reported. However, the relatively short duration of follow-up, cultural factors, and other potential confounders suggest caution in interpreting this finding.


While scholars have noted the influence of the medieval mystery cycles on the plays of Christopher Marlowe for some time, few have explored Edward II's fictional assassin Lightborne in relation to the Chester Mystery Cycle. This essay analyzes the depiction of the Cycle's demon Lightborne to suggest connections between the fallen angel's role as divine punisher and the depiction of Marlowe's fictitious murderer. A close comparison of the Chester Cycle's Lightborne to the Marlovian murderer suggests not only the demonic characteristics of Marlowe's Lightborne, but also reveals how the playwright subverts his audience's understanding of divine providence.


World Duty Free v. Kenya, in which the panel dismissed an investor's claim against the Republic of Kenya for expropriating its investment, set a precedent with dangerous implications for the global anti-corruption movement. Despite its proffered intent to help the poor and advance global anti-corruption policy, the award does neither. Indeed, in practice it will tend to do the opposite. In creating an absolute defense for state officials who solicit and accept bribes, Duty Free exacerbates existing imbalances and distortions in anti-bribery enforcement and ultimately undermines global anti-corruption policy. Though Duty Free has become part of the anti-bribery enforcement problem, investor-state arbitration could actually be part of the solution. This paper describes global anti-corruption policy and the problems that inhere in this, a nascent stage of worldwide enforcement. It then makes the case for private anti-bribery enforcement. It locates the original international anti-bribery law, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"), in the broader context of U.S. white-collar enforcement, and shows how the use of concurrent public and private enforcement in white-collar law generally has produced benefits that could partially mitigate the problems of anti-bribery enforcement. It further shows how companies have thus far searched in vain for an effective venue for private anti-bribery enforcement, and how investor-state arbitration might become that venue. The paper then picks apart each of the three legs on which the Duty Free holding rests, one at a time. In conclusion, I allude to some of the issues that must be resolved if investor-state arbitration is to become a venue for the private enforcement of anti-bribery norms, and show how permitting foreign companies to pursue corruption claims would actually serve to defend investor-state arbitration from some of its fiercest critics.


PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction effects of a transverse magnetic field and slip effects of Casson fluid with suspended nanoparticles over a nonlinear stretching surface. Mathematical modeling for the law of conservation of mass, momentum, heat and concentration of nanoparticles is executed.Design/methodology/approachGoverning nonlinear partial differential equations are reduced into nonlinear ordinary differential equations and then shooting method is employed for its solution. The slope of the linear regression line of the data points is calculated to measure the rate of increase/decrease in the reduced Nusselt number.FindingsThe effects of magnetic parameter (0=M=4), Casson parameter (0.1=β<8), nonlinear stretching parameter (0=n=3) and porosity parameter (0=P=6) on axial velocity are shown graphically. Numerical results were compared with another numerical approach and an excellent agreement was observed. This study reveals the fact that the Brownian motion parameter and boundary layer thickness have a direct relationship with temperature. Also, Brownian motion and thermophoresis contribute to an increase in the thermal boundary layer thickness.Originality/valueDespite the immense significance and repeated employment of non-Newtonian fluids in industry and science, no attempt has been made up till now to inspect the Casson nanofluid flow with a permeable nonlinear stretching surface.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic disorder that requires thorough patient education and a therapeutic management strategy designed to control flares, decrease recurrences, and reduce pruritus. In cases that cannot be controlled by proper skin care and barrier repair, topical therapy, and avoidance of triggers, systemic therapy is often required to control flares and maintain remission. It is important for clinicians to avoid becoming overly dependent on the intermittent use of systemic corticosteroid therapy to control flares, without incorporating other treatment options that might more optimally control AD over time. This article provides an overview of systemic therapies, including conventional oral therapy options and injectable biologic agents, that modulate the immune dysregulation in AD. Major emphasis is placed on the monoclonal antibodies currently available (e.g., dupilumab) for the treatment of AD, as well as those in latter stages of development, with a focus on agents targeting IL-4and/or IL-13.


Purpose: To determine the stem cell properties of human corneal stromal keratocytes when
challenged in the chick embryonic environment.
Methods: Stromal keratocytes isolated from human corneas were injected along cranial neural
crest migratory pathways and in the periocular mesenchyme in chick embryos. Localization
Migration of the injected cells stromal keratocytes was determined at various stages of
development by immunohistochemistry using human cell-specific markers. Differentiation of the
human keratocytes into other neural crest-derived tissues was determined by
immunohistochemistry with tissue cell-specific markers.
Results: Human keratocytes injected along cranial neural crest pathways proliferated and migrated
ventrally adjacent to host neural crest cells. They contributed to numerous neural crest-derived
tissues including cranial blood vessels, ocular tissues, and cardiac cushion tissue mesenchyme.
Keratocytes injected into the periocular mesenchyme region contributed to the corneal stroma and
endothelial layers.
Conclusions: Adult human corneal stromal keratocytes exhibit stem cell characteristics. They can
be induced to form cranial neural crest derivatives, including other anterior ocular structures, when
grafted into an embryonic environment.


This article investigates the way the notion of constraint could be extended to theater studies and theater history, focusing on the case of French clas - sical tragedy in the seventeenth century. Can classical poetics be regarded as a set of constraints? Rather than viewing the constraint as a literary technique, the authors argue that it is also relevant to other, nonliterary phenomena, for example, to the theater. There the idea of constraint can be put to use as a tool for theoretical reflec- tion on and critical or historical analysis of performance practice. The article pays special attention to (1) the way Aristotelian poetics developed throughout the seven - teenth century from a flexible set of tips to a hegemonic theoretical practice; (2) the increasing use of textual and performative constraints to resolve the disorder and friction typical of French (early) modern theater practice; (3) the divergence between theory and practice, between the intended and the actual performance; and (4) the relationship between the notion of constraint, on the one hand, and that of disci - pline, on the other.


The climate-sensitive butterfly Euphydryas editha exhibited interpopulation variation in both phenology and egg placement, exposing individuals to diverse thermal environments. We measured 'eggspace' temperatures adjacent to natural egg clutches in populations distributed across a range of latitudes (36°8′–44°6′) and altitudes (213–3171 m). Eggs laid > 50 cm above the ground averaged 3.1°C cooler than ambient air at 1 m height, while eggs at < 1 cm height averaged 15.5°C hotter than ambient, ranging up to 47°C. Because of differences in egg height, eggs at 3171 m elevation and 20.6°C ambient air experienced mean eggspace temperatures 7°C hotter than those at 213 m elevation and ambient 33.3°C. Experimental eggs survived for one hour at 45°C but were killed by 48°C. Eggs laid low, by positively geotactic butterflies, risked thermal stress. However, at populations where eggs were laid lowest, higher oviposition would have incurred incidental predation from grazers.

Interpopulation variation in phenology influenced thermal environment and buffered exposure to thermal stress. At sites with hotter July temperatures, the single annual flight/oviposition period was advanced such that eggs were laid on earlier dates, with cooler ambient temperatures. The insects possessed two mechanisms for advancing egg phenology; they could advance timing of larval diapause-breaking and/or shorten the life cycle by becoming smaller adults. Mean weight of newly-eclosed females varied among populations from 92 to 285 mg, suggesting that variable adult size did influence phenology.

Possible options for in situ mitigation of thermal stress include further advancing phenology and raising egg height. We argue that these options exist, as evidenced by current variation in these traits and by failure of E. editha to conform to restrictive biogeographic constraints, such as the expectation that populations at equatorial and poleward range limits be confined to higher and lower elevations, respectively. This optimistic example shows how complex local adaptation can generate resilience to climate warming.


The title compound, C9H12N2OS4·0.5C6H5Cl, which contains two 1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione rings, is a by-product of the synthesis of 3-acryloyl-1,3-thiazolidine-2-thione. The dihedral angle between these rings is 79.95 (9)°, with both rings displaying a twisted conformation. The twist angle of the amide group is 5.6 (1)°. In the crystal, the molecules are linked into [001] chains by C—H⋯O interactions. The chlorobenzene solvent molecule was found to show unresolvable disorder about a centre of inversion and its contribution to the scattering was removed with the SQUEEZE option in PLATON [Spek (2009 ▶). Acta Cryst. D65, 148–155].


Improving levels of trade facilitation is one of the remaining challenges to enhancing connectivity and trade growth in South Asia, but border and internal security concerns are often perceived as a barrier to implementing key reforms. Security is a legitimate issue for South Asian nations. But there needs to be a balance to achieve the optimum level of security without restricting trade and damaging a nation's 'economic' security. Even border management agencies employing a '100 percent' intervention policy does not have the resources to examine every package. The challenge is to focus security resources to target transactions of highest risk, using sophisticated analysis of transaction data and maintaining visibility and integrity of supply chains. After the 9/11 attacks, several governments had to address the challenge of securing their national borders and protecting their international supply chains against terrorist threats. There is concern that poor border security risks the trafficking of weapons or drugs, entry of terrorists or their means of support, or other threats. Following the attacks, many jurisdictions emphasized more intervention and an increased regulatory burden on international trade. However, added emphasis on security need not become a barrier to international trade or render trade uncompetitive. Based on several case studies, this note synthesizes some principles that can be adopted to govern the balance between managing security risks and facilitating trade.


"This comparative research was triggered by the assessment of property registration law published in the World Bank Doing Business reports (DB). The international and interdisciplinary team aimed to assess how legal certainty was imagined and put into practice in French and English law, using commercial real estate as a case study. Not only does this study identify the economic impact of the law in both jurisdictions, it also looks at the practitioners' functions in dealing with commercial real estate transactions. In other words, it analyzes the topical position of practitioners, such as the French notaires and the role of solicitors in England. Nowadays, the profession of notaires is confronted by numerous challenges. For instance, nationality requirement for its access has been ruled by the ECJ as contrary to the freedom of establishment and article 49 TFEU, and not justified by 'the exercise of public authority.' In this study, the authors argue that the actual nature and the quality of the work done by the practitioners should be considered, as well as financial cost and delays. They also argue that a liberalization of professions, such as civil law notaires, would have very little impact on the cost associated with doing business. As a matter of fact, both the English and the French mechanisms are very similar in their objectives and outcome even though they handle the same transaction differently because of the culturally different relevant angles."―


In the course of the last 20 years, our view on rotaxanes and catenanes has completely changed. Copper(I)-templated strategies, in particular, have allowed us to prepare catenanes on a real preparative scale, in a few chemical steps from commercially available compounds. A particularly significant improvement was the introduction of the recently developed ring-closing metathesis reaction, using Grubbs catalyst. The dynamic properties of rotaxanes and catenanes has been exploited to construct molecular systems for which one component can be set in motion under the action of an external signal, while the other components can be considered as motionless (artificial molecular "machines "and "motors "). A particularly representative example is that of a rotaxane dimer, whose overall length can be controlled chemically: A metal exchange reaction (CuI/ZnII) triggers a reversible contraction/stretching process of the same molecular assembly, in a way reminiscent of the functioning of biological muscles.


Chevrons, which are also known as serrations, are initially developed to suppress jet noise radiating from aero-engine nozzles. The associated fluid mechanics are already well known. Compared with jet noise, turbomachinery fan noise has become relatively more important along with the ever-increasing bypass ratio. However, it is still unclear whether the trailing-edge chevrons on the bypass duct would attenuate fan noise and, if the answer is yes, what is the associated mechanism. In this work, we first use a theoretical model based on the Wiener–Hopf method to rapidly conduct parametric studies across a number of different setups. The results from such a theoretical model suggest that the chevrons are also effective in the reduction of fan noise scattering. Next, we perform high-fidelity computational fluid and acoustic simulations for a realistic aero-engine with some representative setups, and the results further confirm the effectiveness of chevrons. Both analytical and numerical results show the associated noise control mechanism, that is, chevrons would induce acoustic mode conversion (especially from low modes to high modes), which shall further result in evanescent waves in the radial direction and the final noise reduction at various radiation angles. The findings may find applications in the next-generation low-noise aero-engine design.


Smart cameras are among the emerging new fields of electronics. The points of interest are in the application areas, software and IC development. In order to reduce cost, it is worthwhile to invest in a single architecture that can be scaled for the various application areas in performance (and resulting power consumption). In this paper, we show that the combination of an SIMD (single-instruction multiple-data) processor and a general-purpose DSP is very advantageous for the image processing tasks encountered in smart cameras. While the SIMD processor gives the very high performance necessary by exploiting the inherent data parallelism found in the pixel crunching part of the algorithms, the DSP offers a friendly approach to the more complex tasks. The paper continues to motivate that SIMD processors have very convenient scaling properties in silicon, making the complete, SIMD-DSP architecture suitable for different application areas without changing the software suite. Analysis of the changes in power consumption due to scaling shows that for typical image processing tasks, it is beneficial to scale the SIMD processor to use the maximum level of parallelism available in the algorithm if the IC supply voltage can be lowered. If silicon cost is of importance, the parallelism of the processor should be scaled to just reach the desired performance given the speed of the silicon.


A rendezvous problem for a team of autonomous vehicles that is communicating through quantized channels is considered. Communication topologies and feedback control law are presented that solves the rendezvous problem in the sense that a meeting point for the vehicles is practically stabilized. In particular, it is shown that uniform quantizers can sometimes be replaced by logarithmic quantizers and thus reduce the need for communication bandwidth.


Aging is commonly described as being a continuous process affecting progressively organisms as time passes. This process results in a progressive decrease in individuals fitness through a wide range of both organismal – decreased motor activity, fertility, resistance to stress – and molecular phenotypes – decreased protein and energy homeostasis, impairment of insulin signaling. In the past 20 years, numerous genes have been identified as playing a major role in the aging process, yet little is known about the events leading to that loss of fitness. We recently described an event characterized by a dramatic increase of intestinal permeability to a blue food dye in aging flies committed to die within a few days. Importantly, flies showing this so called 'Smurf' phenotype are the only ones, among a population, to show various age-related changes and exhibit a high-risk of impending death whatever their chronological age. Thus, these observations suggest that instead of being one continuous phenomenon, aging may be a discontinuous process well described by at least two distinguishable phases. In this paper we addressed this hypothesis by implementing a new 2-Phases of Aging mathematiCal model (2PAC model) to simulate longevity curves based on the simple hypothesis of two consecutive phases of lifetime presenting different properties. We first present a unique equation for each phase and discuss the biological significance of the 3 associated parameters. Then we evaluate the influence of each parameter on the shape of survival curves. Overall, this new mathematical model, based on simple biological observations, is able to reproduce many experimental longevity curves, supporting the existence of 2-phases of aging exhibiting specific properties and separated by a dramatic transition that remains to be characterized. Moreover, it indicates that Smurf survival can be approximated by one single constant parameter for a broad range of genotypes that we have tested under our environmental conditions. Author Summary The perception we can have of a process directly affects the way we study it. In the literature, aging is generally described as being a continuous process, progressively affecting organisms through a broad range of molecular and physiological changes ultimately leading to a dramatic decrease of individuals' life expectancy. As such, aging studies focus on changes occurring in groups of individuals through time, considering individuals taken at a given time as being all equivalent. Instead, the recently described Smurf phenotype [1] suggested that any given time, a population could be divided in two subpopulations each characterized by a significantly different risk of impending death. By formalizing here the concept of a discontinuous aging process using a mathematical model based on simple experimental observations, we propose a theoretical framework in which aging is actually separated in two consecutive phases characterized by three parameters easily quantifiable in vivo. Thus, the model we present here brings new tools to assess the events occurring during aging using a novel angle that we hope will open a better understanding of the very processes driving aging.


Abstract In this study, behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) beams retrofitted using carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips and anchorages is investigated by performing nonlinear finite-element (FE) analyses. The main aim of the study is testing the applicability of current FE techniques in the field of CFRP-retrofitted concrete elements. In the study, effect of CFRP strip width, presence of fan-type anchorages and CFRP patches were considered as main variables. In the study, eight RC beams with varying cross sectional properties along beam length are simulated. The simulated beams were tested in a former experimental study. The nonlinear FE analyses are conducted using the ANSYS FE software. The results obtained from the former experimental study are compared with the FE analyses results. From the results, it is observed that when properly modeled, FE simulations are efficient tools to estimate the nonlinear behavior of CFRP-retrofitted RC beams and similar structural elements.


A 4.8-GHz LC voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) optimized for maximum tuning range was designed and fabricated using 0.25-/spl mu/m 1P5M CMOS process. The optimized design used an inverse proportionality between the two parasitic capacitances of the inductor and the MOS transistors for minimizing the parasitic capacitance at the oscillation node. The fabricated LC VCO has a wide tuning range of 20.3% from 4.32 GHz to 5.3 GHz with a power dissipation of 7.3 mW. This tuning range performance is comparable to, or better than, those of the reported CMOS LC VCOs in 5-GHz band. The measured phase noise is -82 dBc/Hz and -114.6 dBc/Hz at 100 KHz and 1-MHz offset, respectively.


The crystal structure of the chaparonin GroES, which together with GroEL assists in the folding of many proteins in Escherichia coli, is reported in this issue of Science by Mande et al. (p. 203). In this Perspective, M. Mayhew and F. U. Hartl discuss the implications of the new structure for the function of the GroEL:GroES complex.


Aim: Tumors of upper gastrointestinal tract are among the cancers that have a quite lethal course. Cytotoxic chemotherapy is the most efficient therapeutic modality for metastatic gastric cancer. In patients who do not respond to first-line treatment, the response rate to second-line therapies is generally low and the toxicity rates high. This study concerned the efficacy and the side effect profile of second-line therapy with irinotecan in the patients who were being followed-up with the diagnosis of metastatic gastric cancer in İzmir, Turkey. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and toxicity in 31 patients with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma who presented to the polyclinic of Medical Oncology of Izmir Ataturk Education and Research Hospital between May 2008 and July 2011. All received chemotherapy regimens containing cisplatin, fluoropyrimidine (5-FU) and docetaxel as the first-line therapy for late stage disease. Irinotecan as a single agent was given at a dose of 210 mg/m 2 on each 21 days. Irinotecan (180 mg/m 2 on day 1), 5-FU (500 mg/m 2 on days 1-2) and leucovorin (LV; 60 mg/m 2 on days 1-2) as a combined regimen were given over a 14 day period. Results: Median age was 54 (range, 31-70). Irinotecan was given as a combined regimen for median 6 cycles (range, 3-12) and as a single agent for median 3 cycles (range, 1-10). Metastases were detected in one site in six patients (19%), in two different sites in 17 patients (55%) and in three or more sites in eight patients (26%). Four patients (12.9%) showed partial response and six patients (19.3%) showed stable disease. Progression-free survival (PFS) was found to be 3.26 months (95% CI, 2.3-4.2). Median overall survival (OS) was found to be 8.76 months (95% CI, 4.5-12.9). The most commonly seen grade 3/4 side effect was neutropenia but the the therapy was generally well-tolerated. Conclusions: In this study, it was demonstrated that second-line therapy with irinotecan given following the first-line therapy with cisplatin, fluoropyrimidine (5-FU) and docetaxel was efficient and safe. Further studies are needed for confirmation.


Abstract Crude and dangerous ideas about the genetic heritability of intelligence, and a supposed biological basis for the Black/White achievement gap, are alive and well inside the education policy process but taking new and more subtle forms. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, the paper analyses recent hereditarian writing, in the UK and the USA, and highlight a strategy that I term racial inexplicitness; this allows hereditarian advocates to adopt a colorblind façade that presents their work as new, exciting and full of promise for all of society. The paper is in two parts: the first exposes the racism that lies hidden in the small print of the new geneism, where wildly misleading assertions about genetic influences on education are proclaimed as scientific fact while race-conscious critics are dismissed as ignorant ideologues. The second part of the paper sets out critical facts about the relevant science, including the difference between the mythic and real meaning of heritability; fundamental problems with the methodology of twin studies; the little-known history of IQ test score manipulation; and the continuing use of a stylistic approach that Howard Gardner characterized as 'scholarly brinkmanship'.


The diamondback moth (DBM) (Plutella xylostella) (L.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae) is one of the most widespread and harmful insect pests almost exclusively targeting plants belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Understanding of DBM's behaviour and ecology is therefore crucial to develop novel, economically and environmentally friendly methods of control. One of the main objectives of this study was to determine whether the amount of time (# of generations) spent on a particular host plant by the DBM 4 instar larvae influences their preference, when exposed to and reared on alternative host plants. Experiments included rearing three lineages of DBM on three different plant species for three generations and exposing 4 instar larvae from each generation to the test plant species in a choice experiment. Results indicated that the amount of time spent on a particular host plant had no effect on food selection. The 4 instar larvae prefer turnip (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa) the most and kale (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) is the least preferred plant. Another major objective of this is to examine the response of DBM to intercropping as an integrated pest management strategy and whether intercropping changes the sinigrin concentration in kale leaves. Two DBM males and females were exposed to either kale or kale grown with onions (Allium cepa) in controlled conditions to assess their performance and kale damage. Results indicated that fewer 4 instars and pupae were present in the intercropping. There was no change in the sinigrin content between the two treatments. Results suggested that the physical presence of onions may be necessary for the decreased larval numbers observed in the intercropping system. It is hypothesized that onions may release repellent volatiles rendering the environment less suitable for DBM. Our study shows the complexity of DBM's interaction with its host plants and adds to the mounting amount of evidence towards the effectiveness of an intercropping system in controlling pest infestation.


Studies show that COTS-based (Commercial off the shelf) systems that are being built recently are exceeding 40% of the total developed software systems. Therefore, a model that ensures quality characteristics of such systems becomes a necessity. Among the most critical processes in COTS-based systems are the evaluation and selection of the COTS components. There are several existing quality models used to evaluate software systems in general; however, none of them is dedicated to COTS-based systems. In this contribution, an analysis study has been carried out on several existing software quality models, namely: McCall's, Boehm, ISO 9126, FURPS, Dromey, ISO/IEC TR 15504-2 1998(E), Triangle and Quality Cube, for the purpose of evaluating them and defining a ground to build a new model specializing in evaluating and selecting COTS components. The study also outlines limitations found in the existing models, such as the tendency to ignore a certain quality feature like Functionality or the failure to describe how the quality measurement in these models has been carried out. As a result of this analysis, a new model has been built that supports a standard set of quality characteristics suitable for evaluating COTS components, along with newly defined sets of sub-characteristics associated with them. The new model avoids some of the limitations found in the existing models. The new model ignores quality characteristics that are not applicable to COTS components and is empowered with new ones that are. In addition, it matches the appropriate type of stakeholders with corresponding quality characteristics; such a feature is missing in all existing models. The objective of the new model is to guide organizations that are in the process of building COTS-based systems to evaluate and choose the appropriate products, and that is essential to the success of the entire system.


This paper exploits a unique longitudinal data set from Tanzania to examine the consequences of child labor on education, employment choices, and marital status over a 10-year horizon. Shocks to crop production and rainfall are used as instrumental variables for child labor. For boys, the findings show that a one-standard-deviation (5.7 hour) increase in child labor leads 10 years later to a loss of approximately one year of schooling and to a substantial increase in the likelihood of farming and of marrying at a younger age. Strikingly, there are no significant effects on education for girls, but there is a significant increase in the likelihood of marrying young. The findings also show that crop shocks lead to an increase in agricultural work for boys and instead lead to an increase in chore hours for girls. The results are consistent with education being a lower priority for girls and/or with chores causing less disruption for education than agricultural work. The increased chore hours could also account for the results on marriage for girls.


This paper proposes a new micro-founded measure to quantify the aggregate capitalisation of banking sectors taking into account both market discipline and regulatory constraints. It allows studying the connection between micro capital shortfalls from an implicit bank specific capital target and macro impacts of capital shortages on aggregate lending. (i) Our quantitative country-wide index of bank capitalisation is consistent with the qualitative reports of the ECB Bank Lending Survey. (ii) This index correlates with future fluctuations in aggregate lending, especially when a banking system is under-capitalised. (iii) The adjustment of capital constrained banks mostly impact loans to domestic non-financial agents. Thus our measure suggests that (a) countercyclical capital requirements may be less effective if market constraints are more important, and (b) slow moving balance sheet variables can help detect vulnerabilities and reversals in the lending cycle.


MOTIVATION ON AWARD (translated from Swedish): "With Tim Foster as a teacher you feel as a student no boundaries for what is possible to accomplish; instead you see only opportunites and fulfillment. Tim Foster shows his extremely strong pedagogical skills in both teaching and organizing a course. He has realistic and inspiring discussions connected to the area of study. As a person, Tim has a lot of respect for his students, even though he has high expectations and requires discipline. At the same time, he demonstrates a genuine interest for every individual. He has succeeded, in a creative way, with how to conduct a lecture with dialouge, even in larger lectures. We therefore want give this award to a teacher who dares to go his own way and use his own way of teaching, and in this way manages to win both the students' interest and confidence."


ABSTRACT The distinction between gambling and gaming activities has become increasingly blurred. One of the principal causes of this is technological convergence, a term which refers to the growing co-location and inter-relationship between different classes of activities. Some argue that convergence may increase the appeal and accessibility of gambling to susceptible or vulnerable individuals. Studies into the nature and effects of convergence have expanded considerably over the last decade. However, researchers and policymakers have often struggled to keep abreast of the pace of technological development and of the breadth of topics that now emerge within this research area. To address these issues, we present this special issue, which highlights new developments in gambling-gaming convergence research. Important topics include: social casino games, simulated Internet gambling, skill-based gaming machines, gambling mechanisms on Twitch.tv, substance use across gambling and gaming activities, and, the extent to which gaming might act as a potential 'gateway' to gambling. A common theme was that new technologies are constantly enabling innovations and changes to gambling opportunities, which can affect some vulnerable users involved in these activities. We outline further research avenues to better understand the impacts of digital gambling technologies and to support appropriate regulatory and public health responses.


Most of Turkey's land area is covered by one of three biodiversity hotspots (Caucasus, Irano-Anatolian, and Mediterranean). Anatolia is one of the main corridors for postglacial colonization of Europe. Uncovering how populations of a species differ genetically and ecologically is important for understanding evolutionary processes. Here, I examined ecological information to define ecological divergence between two lineages of Hyla savignyi. Using ecological niche modeling, I determined whether the two genetically divergent lineages of H. savignyi are geographically isolated and addressed the effect of the geographical distribution in the Anatolian Diagonal on the lineages. Separate analysis of the lineages showed no overlap of their predicted ranges based on climatic data of their respective habitats. This suggests that the lineages were formed as a result of range fragmentation during the Ice Age, and were consequently adapted to different climatic conditions.


Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) procedures have been developed to assess mathematics computation (M-CBM). Recent research has demonstrated that the psychometric characteristics of measurement outcomes vary as a function of administration procedures. This study examined the effect of an alternate set of procedures to construct more consistent multiple-skill M-CBM computation probes. Researchers compared two probe construction techniques: randomized stimulus-set arrangement and stratified stimulus-set arrangement. The results of repeated multiple-skill M-CBMs that were administered to students within five primary grades (N = 219) suggest that stratified construction of multiple-skill M-CBM computation probes is likely to yield more generalizable and dependable measurement outcomes. This result was especially robust within the upper primary grades. The convergence of these findings with previous research is discussed along with implications for practice and future research.


History matching is one of the key challenges of efficient reservoir management. In history matching, evolutionary algorithms are used to explore the global parameter search space for multiple good fitting models. General critiques of these algorithms include high computational demands, as well as low diversity of multiple models. Estimation of distribution algorithms are a class of evolutionary algorithms in which new candidate solutions are obtained by sampling a probability distribution created from the population. In previous works, we studied estimation of distribution algorithms for history matching and showed that good results can been obtained by using a single misfit function. Multiobjective optimisation algorithms use the concepts of dominance and the Pareto front to find a set of optimal trade-offs between the competing objectives of minimising misfit. In this paper, we apply a multiobjective estimation of distribution algorithm to history matching of firstly a well-known synthetic reservoir simulation model and secondly a real North Sea reservoir. We will show that one can achieve higher solution diversity and in some cases better quality solutions by taking multiple objectives. In addition, multiobjective optimisation algorithms are less sensitive to parameter tuning and provide trade-offs between objectives that give more insights into history matching problem.


OBJECT
The severity of cerebral hemodynamic disturbance caused by retrograde leptomeningeal venous drainage (RLVD) of a dural arteriovenous fistula (dAVF) is related to neurological morbidity and unfavorable outcome. However, the cerebral hemodynamics of this disorder have not been elucidated well. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the cerebral venous congestive encephalopathy represented as a high-intensity area (HIA) on T2-weighted MR images and the cerebral hemodynamics examined by (123)I-iodoamphetamine (IMP) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), as well as the predictive value of (123)I-IMP SPECT for the development and reversibility of venous congestion encephalopathy.

METHODS
Based on the pre- and posttreatment T2 HIAs associated with venous congestion encephalopathy, patients were divided into 3 groups: a normal group, an edema group, and an infarction group. The regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) at the region with RLVD was analyzed by (123)I-IMP SPECT, and the results were compared among the groups.

RESULTS
There were 11, 6, and 3 patients in the normal, edema, and infarction groups, respectively. No patients in the normal group showed any symptoms related to venous congestion. In contrast, all patients in the edema and infarction groups developed neurological symptoms. The rCBF in the edema group was significantly lower than that in the normal group, and significantly higher than that in the infarction group. The cerebral vascular reactivity (CVR) of the infarction group was significantly lower than that of the normal and edema groups. After treatment, the neurological signs disappeared in the edema group, but only partial improvement was seen in the infarction group. The rCBF also significantly increased in the normal and edema groups, but not in the infarction group.

CONCLUSIONS
Quantitative rCBF measurement is useful for evaluating hemodynamic disturbance in dAVF with RLVD. The reduction of rCBF was strongly correlated with the severity of venous congestive encephalopathy, and loss of CVR is a reliable indicator of irreversible venous infarction caused by RLVD.


The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has led to far-reaching health, social, and economic consequences. In order to secure the safety of students and staff, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has established general guidelines for University campuses including canteens, based on prevention and protective measures. Food wastage is a major global issue impairing food security. The objective of the present study was to evaluate these COVID-19 measures on food wastage in a Tunisian University canteen. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the university canteen has changed their practices by setting up a meal bag service for lunch and dinner. Face to face interviews based on a structured questionnaire, were conducted during one month on 154 on 143 student respondents (mean age 23 years old, 76% women) in June 2020, after COVID-19 lockdown lifting. Interestingly the COVID-19 crisis has positively impacted the students' awareness about food wastage since 28% of respondents declared not throwing away food and 55% claimed to have reduced their food waste levels. Most of respondents (72.4%) have highly appreciated the new concept based on take-away. About 63.1% declared eating at least every other day at the canteen, and 67.8% going more often. Interestingly 93.1% claimed to have noticed improvements in the quality of food items. These changes were related to better food presentation (72% of respondents), better food safety (64%), better overall sensory quality (36%), whereas only 1% claimed not having observed any changes. Food quality service has been evaluated as very good by 45% of respondents, and quality of prepared foods as good by 43%. However, although the COVID-19 measures allowed a reduction by 21% of self reported food wastage in the canteen, most of respondents (71.3%) affirmed not finishing their plates. The most discarded dishes were soups (62% of respondents), stews (52%), vegetables (48%) and salad (45%) whereas dairy products (65.4% of respondents), fruits (64.4%), rice (51.9%), Tunisian dish tajin (51.9%) and chicken (50%) were not wasted. In conclusion, our study has shown that providing good take-out meals has potential for reducing food wastage among students, strengthening the importance of food safety and convenience as effective tools for food waste prevention.


Public administration faces expressive daily challenges in its attempt to assist every citizen who relies on public services. Precise and updated data that allows the identification of people's expectations and needs, may be valuable on the elaboration and management of successful public policies. To make data collection a more practical and extensive process, this paper introduces a Mobile Public Participation Geographic Information System for the Android platform. The application uses geospatial technologies to plot points on a base map, with each point representing a real public establishment that users can interact with by leaving comments or answering to available surveys.


The combination of non-thermal plasma (NTP) and transition metal catalysts is an alternative method for reducing tar derived from biomass gasification, converting it to a mix of mainly H2 and CO (syngas). In this study, Ni- and Fe-based steam reforming catalysts supported on CaO, SiO2, γ-Al2O3 and ZSM-5 were combined with a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor for converting toluene, selected as a simple tar model compound. The catalysts supported by ZSM-5 showed the best potential for increasing toluene conversion, promoting the formation of syngas, reducing the production of undesirable liquid by-products (such as benzene and ethylbenzene) and corroborating the resistance to catalyst deactivation caused by sintering and carbon deposition. Toluene cracking has been investigated in a plasma-alone (PA), a post-plasma catalysis (PPC) and an in-plasma catalysis (IPC) system. The IPC system exhibited the highest toluene conversion efficiency and selectivity for syngas formation, compared with the PA and PPC systems. A maximum toluene conversion of 86.5% was achieved in the IPC system over Ni/ZSM-5, together with a maximum gas selectivity (63.3% for H2, 18.2% for CO, and 4.6% for CH4), and a minimum selectivity to the undesirable liquid by-products (2.5% for benzene and 0.66% for ethylbenzene and a low carbon selectivity of 6.7%). In addition, the reaction mechanism was significantly different in the IPC system from those in the PA and PPC system, since the catalyst in the IPC system might influence the discharge properties and the reaction between excited and short lifetime reactive plasma species (OH˙, O˙, …) and toluene and its intermediates. Finally, a mechanism of toluene cracking has been proposed, after analysis of the gas and liquid products and characterization of the fresh and used catalysts.


In this work, the photocatalytic activity of the biosynthesized cobalt oxide (Co3O4) nanoparticle (NP) is investigated using a textile dye Reactive Blue 220 (RB220) and decolorization % was monitored using UV–Vis spectrophotometer. The photocatalytic activity has been observed maximum at alkaline pH of 9, NP dosage of 250 mg/L, and reaction time of 270 min. In the presence of UV light irradiation, a maximum dye concentration of 10 mg/L was treated effectively using 150 mg/L NP, and 67% decolorization was achieved. Reaction kinetics has been analyzed, and the reaction followed the pseudo kinetics model with an activation energy of −484 kJ mol−1.


Deformation behavior and structural changes were studied in a 304-type austenitic stainless steel subjected to large strain multiple forging at an ambient temperature. The number of forging passes was 10, leading to the total cumulative strain of 4.0. The yield stress rapidly increased to about 1000 MPa after the first forging pass and then gradually approached a saturation level of about 2000 MPa in large strains. The grain/subgrain size decreased to about 50 nm at total strain of about 2. This grain/subgrain size reduced a little upon further processing; and comprised 35 nm after a total strain of 4.0. The fast kinetics for grain refinement was associated with deformation twinning and strain-induced martensitic transformation. The both of them resulted in fast grain subdivision at relatively small strains.


Master-planned residential development has proliferated as a new residential phenomenon in metropolitan areas globally. The trend, the new governance mechanisms it entails and resultant forms of urban development have been critically theorised as products and vectors of neoliberalisation and iconic spaces of the neoliberal city. However, tracing the emergence and enactment of master-planned residential estate (MPRE) development in Sydney, Australia, this paper suggests that more contingent and contextualised theorisations of such spaces can reveal possibilities for animating a different politics of MPREs. Deploying theorisation sensitive to the multiple drivers, logics and political projects played out through MPRE development in situated contexts, the paper traces the political genesis of these developments in Sydney, outlines the multiple drivers and logics accounting for their growing popularity and points to the salience of the complex performance of land and housing markets in their production. The post-structural political economy approach used here to investigate MPRE development can overcome the politically constraining effects of the dominant neoliberal critique. It does so, first, by opening analysis up to the importance of logics, actions and contexts that are irreducible to neoliberalism and, second, by gesturing towards the potential for an alternative politics to be animated through mechanisms, techniques and processes of MPRE development habitually associated with neoliberalism.


Author(s): Villegas, Mark | Advisor(s): Mimura, Glen | Abstract: By observing and analyzing live performances, music, visual art, interviews, television shows, and online discourse, this dissertation traces the ways in which Filipino American hip hop performance remembers the racialized histories of the Filipino body. Through both quotidian and spectacular performances in hip hop, Filipino Americans have been contributing to crucial forms of knowledge that help unpack the terms of Filipino and American culture. Hip hop culture, I argue, operates as a productive and popular site for Filipino Americans to investigate their racial position in history and the world, expanding the opportunities for practitioners to author their own terms of popular representation. I refer to these sets of cultural practices as a Filipino American hip hop vernacular. I define vernacular as a language operating within a field of power located at the interstices of dominant and subordinate groups, thus mediating a friction between the legibility and officialdom of multicultural politics and the invisibility of subaltern groups. As such, a Filipino American hip hop vernacular articulates a cultural grammar emanating from the material conditions inherited from Philippine history. My title "Savage Vernacular" references hip hop's linkages between contemporary popular cultural practices and a long history of colonial and racial violence applied to "uncivilized" people. I give examples of how these cultural practices operate within the following arenas: the cultures of militarization that form the spatial and cultural apparatus of hip hop among Filipino Americans, the alternative modernities with which practitioners find spiritual, cosmic, and political redemption, and the queered belongings among dancers seeking a sense of affiliation while pursuing wider racial legibility.


Abstract The metamorphic evolution of the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis (EHS) is of primary importance in understanding the tectonic framework of the India–Asia collision. However, the age of formation and exhumation of the high-pressure granulites from the EHS remains controversial. In this paper, we report the age of metamorphism of high-pressure (HP) granulite-facies paragneisses from the Namche Barwa Complex (NBC). These paragneisses consist of variable proportions of garnet, biotite, plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, rutile and ilmenite. Using phase equilibrium modelling of garnet growth combined with partitioning of rare earth elements (REEs) between zircon and garnet, we link multistage zircon growth to garnet growth to date the prograde stage to the interval 32.6–25.2 Ma, the pressure peak to c. 25–24 Ma and the retrograde stage to the interval 23.5–13.1 Ma. Taking into account published ages from the literature, for the NBC we propose that the prograde to peak metamorphism persisted until c. 25–24 Ma. This was followed by exhumation and melt crystallization during the interval 24–8 Ma, and cooling through the amphibolite facies after c. 8 Ma.


Recent policy debate in Scotland has focused on the vexed question of fiscal autonomy (Heald and McLeod, 2002). One important, though under-researched, dimension of the debate concerns the expenditure and policy design relationships between devolved policy responsibilities in areas such as housing and non-devolved but related policy areas such as social security and Housing Benefit (HB). This paper adds to the debate on fiscal autonomy by looking at the place of housing policy and raises a series of specific questions relating to proposals to increase fiscal autonomy in terms of both the financing and design of low-income housing subsidies operating within Scotland. This is timely as the Department of Work and Pensions proposes to introduce a pilot cashbased allowance for the private rented sector. One of the IpathfindersI will be in Scotland. After the introduction, Section 2 sets out the social housing policy framework in terms of Scottish and UK competencies. Section 3 describes the present Housing Benefit system. Section 4 outlines the proposed reforms of using Benefit, restructure rents and widen choice-based allocation of social housing. The specifics of the imminent reforms to Housing Benefits in the private sector, the IPathfinderI proposals, are also discussed. This leads on, in Section 5, to an examination of the scope for developing a Scottish alternative to either Housing Benefit as it is currently configured or in terms of the proposed cash allowance that is at the heart of current reforms. Section 6 concludes the discussion.


This thesis explores how people who have experienced cancer construct themselves in talk of their experience of the illness. Semi structured interviews with six adults who had completed cancer treatment and were considered to be cancer free or in remission were analysed using a discursive psychological approach. Cancer has been characterised as being both an acute and chronic illness. The sequelae of treatment and uncertainty over possible recurrence of the disease mean that there is not a discrete point at which one ceases to be a cancer patient. As such the challenges to identities that may arise following a cancer diagnosis can be considered different to those that may arise following other serious illnesses. Cancer also carries with it cultural associations about the culpability of the patient for their illness, as well as a number of culturally legitimate narratives that are centred around metaphors of heroic battles or journeys of self discovery. Previous research has suggested that disparity between the identity challenges being faced by the individual with cancer and the identities into which others may altercast them into can result in cancer patients and survivors not receiving the support that they need. The analysis revealed that a consistent feature of the accounts was maintaining continuity between pre- and postcancer identities. Where post cancer changes were acknowledged these were assimilated into pre-cancer identities. Contrary to some previous research none of the participants oriented to the identity of being a cancer survivor. This finding is discussed in relation to methodological differences between the current and previous research and in relation the identity concerns present the participants' talk. I also discuss the constraints that discourses of austerity politics place on the identities available to cancer survivors who find themselves unable to work following treatment.


Motivated by the inherent correlation between the speech features and their lexical words, we propose in this paper a new framework for learning the parameters of the corresponding acoustic and language models jointly. The proposed framework is based on discriminative training of the models' parameters using minimum classification error criterion. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed framework, a set of four large decoding graphs is constructed using weighted finite-state transducers as a composition of two sets of context-dependent acoustic models and two sets of n-gram-based language models. The experimental results conducted on this set of decoding graphs validated the effectiveness of the proposed framework when compared with four baseline systems based on maximum likelihood estimation and separate discriminative training of acoustic and language models in benchmark testing of two speech corpora, namely TIMIT and RM1.


The goal of this study was to determine the best system level modeling tool for the design of a long endurance Mars airplane mission, and to use this tool to determine the best configuration for the aircraft. The mission model was built in the design framework ModelCenter. User-driven fixed point iteration (FPI), optimizer based decomposition (OBD) and a hybrid method were implemented. Convergence difficulties were discovered in the OBD and hybrid methods. The user-driven FPI method produced the most reliable results, but required the most time. A combination of the hybrid and user-driven FPI methods were used to perform a technology study in which five different propulsion systems were examined: a bipropellant rocket, a battery powered propeller, a direct methanol fuel cell powered propeller, and beamed solar and microwave powered propeller systems. The direct methanol fuel cell proved to be the best onboard power system for a long endurance airplane and the solar beamed power system showed potential for indefinite flight.


Background Rupture of the fetal membranes is a common harbinger of imminent labor and delivery. Telomere shortening is a surrogate for oxidative stress (OS) and senescence. Fetal leukocyte and placental membrane DNA telomere lengths were evaluated to determine their association with preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes (pPROM) or spontaneous preterm births with intact membranes (PTB), compared to term birth. Methods Telomere lengths were quantified in cord blood leukocytes (n = 133) from three major groups: 1) pPROM (n = 28), 2) PTB (n = 69) and 3) uncomplicated full term births (controls, n = 35), using real-time quantitative PCR. Placental membrane specimens (n = 18) were used to correlate fetal leukocyte and placental telomere lengths. Telomere length differences among the groups were analyzed by ANOVA. Pearson correlation coefficients determined relationships between leukocyte and placental membrane telomere lengths. Results In pregnancies with intact membranes, fetal leukocyte telomere length was inversely proportional to gestational age. The mean telomere length decreased as gestation progressed, with the shortest at term. pPROM had telomere lengths (9962±3124 bp) that were significantly shorter than gestational age-matched PTB (11546±4348 bp, p = 0.04), but comparable to term births (9011±2497 bp, p = 0.31). Secondary analyses revealed no effects of race (African American vs. Caucasian) or intraamniotic infection on telomere length. A strong Pearson's correlation was noted between fetal leukocyte and placental membrane telomere lengths (ρ = 0.77; p<0.01). Conclusions Fetal leukocyte telomere length is reduced in pPROM compared to PTB but is similar to term births. pPROM represents a placental membrane disease likely mediated by OS-induced senescence.


The online delivery of higher education courses and programs continues to expand across academic disciplines at colleges and universities. This expansion of online education has been precipitated by, among other things, (a) the rise in personal computer ownership, (b) the ease of access to the Internet, (c) the availability and continuous improvement in technology for the delivery of online courses, and (d) the increase in demand for online courses by both traditional and nontraditional students. However, the proliferation of online education has not been enthusiastically supported by all constituents of higher education. Specifically, some faculty members remain resistant to the shift to online course delivery. This article applies the Transtheoretical Model of Change to the process of gaining faculty support for, and involvement in, online learning. After briefly reviewing current issues in online education and making a case for its adoption, we describe sources of faculty resistance and offer recommendations for interventions that may be applied to transforming faculty resistance to support and eventually to active participation.


Library Technology Reports vol.46 no.8 This issue of Library Technology Reports, conceived and coordinated by the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom, focuses on current topics and concerns around the intersections of technology, security, and intellectual freedom in libraries. As libaries incresingly move beyond the provision of print material and into their expanding roles as providers of digital resources and services, intellectual freedom concerns have been magnified as they apply to a range of complex new issues. A number of prominent library professionals contributed their expertise for this issue. Authors and topics include Barbara M. Jones on Libraries, Technology and the Culture of Privacy; Eli Neiburger on User-Generated Content; Sarah Houghton-Jan on Internet Filtering; Jason Griffey on Social Networking and the Library; and Deborah Caldwell-Stone on RFID in Libraries.


Mistakenly, computer scientists are still often considered the magicians of modern times. Computers have slowly crept into our businesses, our homes and our machines, and have become important enablers in the functioning of our world. However, there are many that use these devices without really mastering them, and hence, they do not fully enjoy their benefits. Knowing how to program provides the ability to fully exploit their potential to solve problems in an efficient manner. Algorithms and programming techniques have become a necessary background for many professions. Their mastery allows the development of creative and efficient computer-based solutions to problems encountered every day. This text presents a variety of algorithmic techniques to solve a number of classic problems. It describes practical situations where these problems arise, and presents simple implementations written in the programming language Python. Correctly implementing an algorithm is not always easy: there are numerous traps to avoid and techniques to apply to guarantee the announced running times. The examples in the text are embellished with explanations of important implementation details which must be respected. For the last several decades, programming competitions have sprung up at every level all over the world, in order to promote a broad culture of algorithms. The problems proposed in these contests are often variants of classic algorithmic problems, presented as frustrating enigmas that will never let you give up until you solve them!


For a roughly a century, from the 1870s to the 1970s, most Australian newspapers ran a section directed towards a woman reader written from a woman's perspective and edited by a female journalist. The rise and fall of the women's editor's 'empire within an empire' provides insight into female journalists' industrial situation, as well as a window on to gender relations in colonial and post-Federation Australia. This history matches wider struggles over the notion of separate spheres and resulting claims for equality, as well as debates over mainstream news values. This article investigates the appearance and disappearance of women's sections from Australian newspapers, and argues that this story has greater impact on contemporary digital formats than we perhaps realise.


Malaysia is one of the seventeen megadiverse countries in the world. Its flora is home to an estimated 15,000 higher plant species and it is widely known that plants are efficient manufacturers of compounds with highly diversed molecular structures and an unending array of biological activities. Therefore, it is logical to assume that a multitude of molecules and their activities are yet to be discovered from this beautiful and immense flora. In fact, our experience with plants from various families; Annonaceae, Apocynaceae, Lauraceae, Meliaceae and Rubiaceae, have evidenced that many types of interesting and unique compounds were synthesized by these plants; alkaloids, triterpenes, limonoids, lignans, coumarins and many others. In this presentation, recent findings on some novel and bioactive compounds from some higher plants shall be communicated which includes some mechanisms in their mode of action for example the novel malayanine A and B from Chisocheton erythrocarpus and the neuroprotective and acetylcholinesterase inhibiting mesuagenins isolated from Mesua species. In addition, as Natural Products and Drug Discovery is an important research area in Malaysia, the challenges and possible directions in this field shall be discussed briefly. For instance, how can we, the natural products scientists relate our findings and knowledge to the society and then further contribute to the enhancement of its well-being?


This work addresses the study of the effect of residual uncompensated motion errors due to positioning measurement instrument and digital elevation model inaccuracies on the accuracy of airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. It is shown that these not only introduce phase errors following pure geometric considerations, but they also cause additional aberrations related to their interaction with the SAR processing procedure. Extension to the repeat pass airborne interferometry is also included to show their impact on the resulting interferograms.


The fluorescence characteristics of adducts derived from the covalent binding of the highly tumorigenic (+) and the non‐tumorigenic (‐) enantiomers of trans‐7,8‐dihydroxy‐anti‐9,10‐epoxy‐7,8,9,10‐tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE) to native calf thymus DNA are significantly different from one another both at room temperature and at 77 K. The ratio R of fluorescence intensities of the (0,0) band I (situated near 380 nm) and vibronic band V (near 400 nm) of the pyrene ring system in the BPDE‐DNA adducts and of the tetraol (BPT) hydrolysis product of BPDE is very sensitive to the polarity of the solvent, thus mimicking the well known behavior of pyrene itself (A. Nakajima, 1971, Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 44, 3272). The fluorescence excitation and emission spectra of the(+)‐BPDE‐DNA adducts are relatively sharp and only slightly red‐shifted (2–3 nm) with respect to those of BPT in aqueous buffer solution, and R= 1.07 when the fluorescence is excited at the maximum of the absorption spectrum; this compares with R= 1.17 for BPT in water, R= 0.75 in ether, and R= 0.84 for noncovalently intercalated BPT. These results suggest that the pyrene ring system in the covalent (+)‐BPDE‐DNA adducts is located in an environment which is relatively exposed to the aqueous environment, while physically intercalated BPT molecules are located at hydrophobic binding sites. The fluorescence characteristics of the (‐)‐BPDE‐DNA adducts are more heterogeneous and thus more complex than those of the (+)‐adducts. The R ratio depends rather strongly on the wavelength of excitation; a minor, more highly fluorescent and relatively solvent‐accessible form of adducts exhibits an R ratio of 1.01. The major, less solvent accessible form is characterized by a larger red shift in the absorption spectrum (10 nm) and emission spectrum (6 nm for the (0,0) band) relative to BPT, and an R ratio of 1.07. These characteristics suggest that the local environments of the pyrenyl residues in the (‐)‐BPDE‐DNA adducts are significantly different from those of BPT bound noncovalently to DNA by the intercalation mechanism. Fluorescence methods, particularly at low temperatures where the bands are better resolved and the fluorescence yields are significantly greater than at room temperature, can also be used to distinguish covalent DNA adducts derived from the binding of (+)‐BPDE and (‐)‐BPDE to native double‐stranded DNA.


This paper describes the design of the switching element of the multistage interconnection network used within Multiplus, a distributed shared memory multiprocessor. The switching element consists of a 2/spl times/2 crossbar switch, FIFO buffers at each input, arbitration and some additional control logic. Its first implementation has been carried out using Altera EPLDs and the Max+PlusII system. The implementation described in this paper is targeted to AMS 0.8 /spl mu//5 V double-metal CMOS technology and uses Synopsys tools to perform the logic synthesis step. This implementation is expected to provide better performance since a faster technology and larger FIFO input buffers are used. In fact, the critical path analysis within the designed circuit indicates that the new switching element implementation will be able to operate with a clock frequency 2.4 times higher than the previous EPLD implementation. In addition, the new switching element provides hardware support to message broadcasting which is expected to enhance Multiplus performance.


Objective: Graphite components in a Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) may fracture under the actions of external and internal (irradiation-induced) stresses. Measurement of the fracture properties of graphite is therefore essential in the design and structural integrity assessment of VHTR cores. This study aimed to evaluate the fracture toughness and its associated statistical characteristics of nuclear graphite NBG-18, for which there had been very little data. The effect of specimen size on its fracture toughness was also studied.Materials and methods: Three-point-bending tests were conducted with a MTS machine (858 Mini Bionix II, MTS, US) on single-edge-notched beams (SENB) of NBG-18 to measure its fracture toughness. Three different specimen sizes were considered: (I) 200mm (Support Span S) × 50mm (Width W) × 25mm (Thickness T), (II) 100mm (S) × 20mm (W) × 10mm (T), and (III) 40mm (S) × 10mm (W) × 5mm (T). A notch was machined into each specimen to give a crack length-to-width (a/w) ratio of 0.4 using a 0.3mm-thick diamond blade. The acoustic emission (AE) technique was applied to monitor the damage evolution process during loading.Results: The mean and standard deviation (in brackets) of the critical stress intensity factor KIC (MPa·m1/2) for each group were: (I) 1.69 (0.04), (II) 1.36 (0.05), and (III) 1.33 (0.06). Specimen size was found to significantly influence the fracture toughness results: the smaller the specimen, the lower the mean fracture toughness and the larger the variation.Conclusions: The fracture toughness of NBG-18 appears to reduce with the specimen size. The lower fracture toughness of the smaller specimens could be attributed to a finite process zone ahead of the crack tip.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


This report maps current patterns of workplace sexual harassment and their impact in New York State. It also provides a broader frame for understanding how efforts to confront sexual and gender-based harassment and assault have evolved over time, and charts possible directions for future organizing, policy, and research in New York and beyond. The findings presented here are drawn from the 2018 Empire State Poll, an annual statewide survey of 800 New Yorkers conducted by the Cornell Survey Research Institute. Questions added to the survey reflecting existing legal definitions of workplace sexual harassment reveal the following: • 10.9 percent of New York residents have experienced quid pro quo workplace sexual harassment, and 21.9 percent have experienced workplace sexual harassment that created a hostile work environment; 31.1 percent of women and 18.9 percent of men have experienced at least one of these forms of harassment. • 13.9 percent of people of color and people of Hispanic origin have experienced quid pro quo workplace sexual harassment, as opposed to 8.5 percent of non-Hispanic whites. • 38.9 percent of those experiencing at least one form of workplace sexual harassment say it impacted their work or careers; 48.9 percent who experienced quid pro quo harassment reported such an impact. • 83.4 percent of New York residents think their leaders should do more to address workplace sexual harassment. There is notable variation by politics and ideology, but regardless of worldview, strong majorities think leaders should do more. In addition to sharing the survey findings, the report discusses experiences and responses of survivors and how they are shaped by different identities and relations of power. It highlights black women's leadership in propelling wide-reaching shifts in law and culture; efforts initiated by diverse survivors to effect change in specific industries; and culture change work engaging men and women as allies.


The increase of elderly population in Indonesia leads to the drug misuse. The physiological change in geriatric become the major reason. It affects the change of drug's pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetics and the harmful drug interaction among overly prescribed medication. Cardiovascular drugs produce the most common side effect in elderly patient. This study aims to observe the accuracy of cardiovascular drugs used based on its dose and drug interaction. The subject of this study are the 60 years old-or more- inpatients in Rumah Sakit Umum Zainoel Abidin's (RSUDZA) Internal medicine ward who received cardiovascular drugs prescription. The data were collected from medical record and nurse's drugs record. The analysis were performed descriptively by evaluate the drug interaction theoritically based on literature study and available concensuses. The result shows that the Potential interaction occurred in 75 ( 68.18 % ) of cardiovascular drug used, and 22 (20 %) of whom are important potential interactions. The most frequent drugs that have the potential interaction in this study are furosemide , spironolactone, captopril, digoxin and aspirin


This paper documents the spatiotemporal evolution of wet‐day and dry‐day frequency (WDF and DDF) in the western Amazon, its relationships with oceanic and atmospheric variability and possible impact on vegetation. WDF and DDF changed significantly during the 1980–2009 period (p < 0.05). An increase in WDF is observed after 1995 over the northern part of the western Amazon (Marañón basin). The average annual value of WDF changed from 22 days/yr before 1995 to 34 days after that date (+55% after 1995). In contrast, DDF increased significantly over the central and southern part of this region (Ucayali basin) after 1986. Average annual DDF was 16.2 days before 1986 and 23.8 days afterward (+47% after 1986). Interannual variability in WDF appears to be modulated by changes in Pacific SST and the Walker cell during the November–March season. This mechanism enhances convective activity over the northern part of the western Amazon. The increase in DDF is related to warming of the North Tropical Atlantic SST, which produces changes in the Hadley cell and subsidence over the central and the southern western Amazon. More intense seasonal hydrological extremes in the western Amazon therefore appear to be related to changes in WDF and DDF that occurred in 1995 and 1986, respectively. During the 2001–2009 period, an index of vegetation condition (NDVI) appears negatively correlated with DDF (r = −0.95; p < 0.0001). This suggests that vegetation in the western Amazon is mainly water limited, rather than light limited and indicates that the vegetation is highly sensitive to concentration of rainfall.


1. The influence of divalent cations and pH on the polymorphic phase behaviour of aqueous dispersions of phosphatidylethanolamine-phosphatidylserine systems have been investigated employing 31P-NMR techniques. 2. Phosphatidylserines, derived from both egg and soya phosphatidylcholines, stabilize a bilayer organization at 30 degrees C in mixtures with soya phosphatidylethanolamine (which assumes the hexagonal (HII) phase on hydration) when the phosphatidylserine constitutes 15 mol% or more of the phospholipid. 3. The addition of Ca2+ to equimolar soya phosphatidylserine/soya phosphatidylethanolamine mixtures triggers complete HII phase formation as detected by 31P-NMR at Ca2+:phosphatidylserine ratios, R, of 1.0 or larger. In contrast, Mg2+ is ineffective even at Mg2+:phosphatidylserine ratios of 10.0. In mixtures containing 15 mol% phosphatidylserine, Ca2+ triggers HII phase formation at R = 0.25. The Ca2+-induced polymorphic phase transitions appear to occur as a result of a structural segregation of phosphatidylserine by Ca2+ into crystalline domains, leaving the phosphatidylethanolamine free to adopt the HII phase it prefers in isolation. 4. The polymorphism of soya phosphatidylserine/soya phosphatidylethanolamine systems is markedly sensitive to the pH of the aqueous medium. At 30 degrees C equimolar mixtures exhibit a bilayer-HII transition as the pH is decreased below 4.0, whereas mixtures containing 15 mol% phosphatidylserine exhibit detectable HII phase structure at pH values below 5.5. 5. 31P-NMR studies suggest that the binding of Ca2+ to phosphatidylserine to produce crystalline structures is sensitive to the unsaturation of the acyl chains, with more unsaturated species requiring higher Ca2+:phosphatidylserine ratios for formation of crystalline Ca2+-phospholipid complexes. Studies of the binding of Ca2+ with soya phosphatidylserine indicate half maximal binding at 0.3 mM in the absence of salt, which is increased to approx. 0.8 mM in the presence of 100 mM NaCl. 6. These results suggest that the effectiveness of phosphatidylserine as a bilayer-stabilizing agent can be modulated by local changes in such biologically relevant parameters as pH, ionic strength and/or cation concentrations, and are discussed in relation to membrane fusion processes.


The combustion mechanism of bio-oil derived from wood fast pyrolysis was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG–FTIR) in flowing air. The results show that the combustion process of bio-oil consists of two main consecutive stages at a low heating rate. The combustion reaction becomes more and more intense from the first to the second stage. The release of volatiles occurs mainly at 80~200 °C and 350~500°C, and the gaseous products in each stage are different. The main products in the first stage are H2O with a few low molecule weight compounds, such as methanol, formic acid, etc. In the second stage, some new volatiles such as CO2, CO and CH4, etc. are present. Among the above volatiles, CO2 is the dominant gaseous product in the whole combustion process. The concentrations of CO2 and CO keep increasing, and reach the maximum at about 450 °C. Over 570°C, there are few products released at the end of the combustion process.


Carbon nanotubes have important applications in gas adsorption. Therefore the study of their properties for this application is very important. In this study the Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Hartree-Fock (HF) methods were used to investigate the adsorption of oxygen molecules on the surface of (5, 0) and (4, 4) carbon nanotubes. The electronic structure, and dipole moment of both oxygen and carbon nuclei are thoroughly studied. The computational results indicate that rich adsorption patterns may result from the interaction of oxygen with the carbon nano-tubes.; sometimes C-O bounds are formed via breaking C-C bounds and sometimes a carbon atom in the nano-tube is replaced with a oxygen atom. Sometimes oxygen atoms are attracted to a C-C bound. In summary, the optimized adsorption rates are calculated. Gaussian 98 software has been used to carry out quantum chemistry calculations.


New relations for catalytic-activity analysis are proposed for simple association/dissociation equilibria between the mono- and oligo-meric forms of enzymes in the case where these equilibria evolve very slowly in comparison with the binding of the substrates. This analysis of activity versus total enzyme concentration leads rapidly to information, complementary to that given by physico-chemical methods, on specific activities, the degree of polymerization of the enzyme forms and on their dissociation constants.


This paper analyses the implementation of renewable off-grid technologies in rural areas, especially where an extension to the national electricity grid was not considered economically feasible. Implementation of remote, stand-alone, electricity technologies as alternatives to a grid connection to provide sustainable electricity access have often failed with many planned projects not realised or abandoned. Our initial assumption was that stand-alone electricity project exhibiting higher scores on sustainability indicators would benefit communities more and make their endurance more likely. However, the impact of the stand-alone technology was often overruled or its quality weakened by government preferences wishing to realise a connection to the central electricity grid. Empirically, the study compares three cases of stand-alone micro-hydropower projects and three cases of stand-alone solar photovoltaic projects in Bogor Regency, Indonesia. It is based on qualitative document analysis, complemented by multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews and observations. The paper assesses the extent to which each project met indicators of technical, economic, social, environmental, and institutional sustainability. The paper tries to explain the endurance of the project from these sustainability scores and uses additional explanations from Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The findings show that, for the studied local communities, the attractiveness of a grid connection overrules the virtues of a stand-alone electricity project, despite its quality, successful operation and impact. Our research also shows that government policy priorities changed in the rural electrification programme for some communities. In these situations, the off-grid rural electrification programme predominantly provided only temporary access to sustainable electricity for remote local communities that remained waiting and hoping for a grid connection to connect them to fossil fuel-dominated electricity.


Z2Z4-additive codes, as a special class of abelian codes, have found a very welcoming place in the recent studies of algebraic coding theory. This family in one hand is similar to binary codes on the other hand is similar to quaternary codes. The structure of Z2Z4- additive codes and their duals has been determined lately. In this study we investigate the algebraic structure of Z2Z2s -additive codes which are a natural generalization of Z2Z4-additive codes. We present the standard form of the generator and parity-check matrices of the Z2Z2s -additive codes. Also, we give two bounds on the minimum distance of Z2Z2s -additive codes and compare them.


The subcontracting culture in New Zealand is such that the same retention regime imposed on contractors is imposed on subcontractors by and large. This paradoxically fair contractual practice of back-to-back terms results in high retention rates (10%) and long defects liability periods set from contractor's practical completion which has caused concerns for subcontractors with no rational basis for resolving such concerns. This study investigates this phenomenon from a risk based perspective to understand the link between risk and retentions particularly in relation to current practice. Accordingly, it is found that current retention rates do not show an association with overall risk computed as a product of likelihood and consequence based on contractors' perceptions. However, when risk is viewed through these two components, it is seen that trades with high default risks for either likelihood or consequence results in high retention rates. Additionally, it is also seen that high risk is associated with subcontractor-harsh retention regimes with some exceptions lowering the strength of this association suggesting the need to investigate such trades to understand whether there are other overwhelming reasons for such exceptions. Thus, it is concluded that risk and retention regimes are linked to this extent although for a given level of risk, subcontractor friendly or unfriendly regimes could be achieved by a mix of different retention rates and release mechanisms. In this regard, it is seen that contractors seem to prefer high retention rates than longer defects liability periods for trades which have high risk levels. A further understanding about this relationship could be developed by undertaking a study on perceived overall risk levels and perceived retention regimes.


In the past 5 years Electric Car use has grown rapidly, almost doubling each year. To provide adequate charging infrastructure it is necessary to model the demand. In this paper we model the distribution of charging demand in the city of Amsterdam using a Cross-Nested Logit Model and sociodemographic statistics of neighborhoods.


Injuries from fall accident on icy or snowy surfaces are frequently occurring in Sweden, 25-30 000 per year. This means 2-3 injuries/1000 inhabitants needing medical care are expected to occur in Sweden every year. Similar proportions exist in other northerly located countries such as Finland, Norway, Japan, Canada and so on. Outdoor activities are essential for a healthy life, therefore the prevention of slip and fall accidents are important. An intervention study has been performed during Feb-April 2008 among healthy subjects in northern Sweden. The subjects have been divided into three groups: an Intervention Group (N=25), a Control Group (N=25) and a Comparison Group (N=17) with similar distribution of gender and age. The intervention group were equipped with one of three different types of anti-slip devices for their shoes: a Heel-device, a Foot-blade device or a Whole-foot device. Four questionnaires were used: (1) Background, health, and earlier experiences of falling accidents during the winter 2007/2008. (2) Daily diary of walked distance, walking conditions, occurrence of incidences or falls reported weekly. (3) Detailed accident or fall report used after each occurrence. (4) Experiences of using anti-slip devices. The results show that the subjects had experienced 24 falls during the winter before the trial period. 64 incidents/accidents took place, without any injuries needing medical care, during the 10 week trial period with more than 2600 reported days. The anti-slip users walked longer compared to non users. An incident or fall among subjects wearing anti-slip devices reduced the walking distance that day. Anti-slip devices prevents from falling. The risk of slipping and falling is reduced for anti-slip users. The users of anti-slip devices will continue to use them and they will also recommend others to do so. The risk of falling as pedestrian during wintertime can thus be reduced by using anti-slip devices.


This diploma paper analyses parents' attitudes to early language learning in schools in Istria, a bilingual county in Croatia. The aim of this paper was to observe whether parents demonstrated positive or negative attitudes to the acquisition of three languages from Grade 1 of primary school, since their attitudes and opinions could greatly influence children's success during the language learning process.
The paper presents the theoretical background to the study, focusing on the concepts such as early learning of multiple languages, interrelationships between each language, the role and influence of parents' attitudes and the linguistic context of Croatia and Istria. The second part of the paper involves the description of the study, its aim, participants and form, which is followed by the results and discussion. The results generally showed positive attitudes towards early language learning, language teaching, the choice of foreign languages, simultaneous acquisition of three languages and the interrelationship between the languages. Lastly, the conclusion brings a summary of the main concepts and findings presented in this paper.