A New and alternate syntheses of Linezolid, an antibacterial agent are reported from by employing two different approaches and finalized the meritorious one. The key step in both the approaches involves N-alkylation of 3-fluoro-4-morpholinobenzenamine 3 with respective compounds by changing the leaving functionalities on other end and followed by functional group transformations yielded an antibacterial agent Linezolid. Among the both, later is more efficient one with respect to improved overall yield, easy process and less number of steps.


A three-dimensional computer-aided design reconstruction of the monastery saint Jeremiah Saqqara is presented. This monastery is the one of the largest Cistercian monastery in seventh century in Egypt. However, the majority of the monastery has disappeared after building collapse with almost no existing documentation. In order to allow visitors to better understand the monument and to assist the current conservation works, a reconstruction of the monastery is presented. The adopted approach for reconstruction includes the identification of an ideal plan of the Cistercian Order, comparison with similar buildings of the same period and architectonic styles, and the available documentation is used to create a virtual reconstruction of the monastery.


Performing detailed work on objects requires precise localization. Currently humans aid machines in localization either by direct operation, or implicitly by designing a sequence of actions a robot follows. Our approach to automate localization is to reason over many potential actions, perform the best information gathering action, and then use the measurement obtained to update a non-Gaussian belief. We propose a method for autonomous localization of objects with initial 6DOF uncertainty capable of reasoning about and performing measurements with low uncertainty and arbitrary error models. Surprisingly, common methods capable of modeling arbitrary belief distributions perform poorly as measurement uncertainty decreases, so we modify a particle filter to handle these accurate measurements produced by tactile or laser sensors. We then show how the expected information gain of the proposed measurement can be calculated efficiently from these particles. We present experiments, both in simulation and on hardware, that show our method is both fast and accurate.


This paper explores the significance of the concept of power/knowledge in educational theory. The argument proceeds in two main parts. In the first, I consider aspects of Stephen J. Ball's highly influential work in educational theory. I examine his reception of Foucault's concept of power/knowledge and suggest that there are problems in his adoption of Foucault's thought. These problems arise from the way that he settles interpretations into received ideas. Foucault's thought, I try to show, is not to be seen in a confined way. In the second part, I seek a different reading of Foucault's notion of power/knowledge in order to break with this tendency to confine, referring to the work of Gilles Deleuze. I draw particularly on Deleuze's thought of the outside as a means of manifesting the significance of power/knowledge in relation to processes of subjectification. At the end of the paper, I suggest how educational theory might be reconceived in the light of potencies of power/knowledge that the paper has demonstrated.


Kiwiberry is a relatively unknown fruit on the Flemish market, due to its rather recent and small-scale introduction. Nevertheless, production and sales volumes have been substantially increasing over the years. To uncover how to position kiwiberry best to the end user, consumer research was conducted in different steps: 1) a pre-survey queried 164 supermarket customers for product awareness, consumer pre-taste expectations and post-taste experience; and 2) focus group interviews were conducted to obtain the necessary input for the subsequent web-based questionnaire (n=443). Results revealed that kiwiberry was unknown to about half of the participants. The product was perceived remarkably more positively when presented sliced in half (90% positive) versus as a whole fruit (50% positive). After tasting, the majority (85%) favorably rated the flavor, a factor that determines satisfaction and repeat purchases. Additionally, the general appreciation of kiwiberry was associated with statements such as '… is something else' and '… is convenient', rather than with the notion '… is healthy'. The limited predicted value of health could be related to the fact that all fruits are considered healthy, and no differentiation is made between fruits. This indicates that the product's distinctiveness and convenience should be promoted as unique selling points, rather than the current strategy that emphasizes health benefits. Furthermore, kiwiberry was more popular among younger people and those that seek pleasure when buying and consuming food. Finally, the current market price of the product is an issue of concern, given that only a minority (18%) of the participants indicated that they were willing to pay more than 2.50 euro per portion of 125 g. Collectively, this survey provides useful information for producers, distributors and sellers for marketing to consumers of kiwiberries and its derived products.


Globally, cervical cancer continues to be a major cause of mortality and morbidity among women with developing countries accounting for more than 86% of the deaths from the disease. In Kenya, cervical cancer ranks as the second most frequent cancer among women: regrettably, with 80% of the cases presented during the late stages of the disease when the scope of successful treatment is limited. An opportunity to prevent occurrence of cervical cancer exists through cervical cancer screening for early detection and treatment of precancerous lesions before these develop to cancer. However, only a negligible proportion of women benefit from cervical cancer screening services in developing countries, including Kenya. The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to determine the factors influencing utilization of cervical cancer screening services; and focused on the women seeking maternal and family planning services at Central Provincial General Hospital, Kenya. The study established that, as in most developing countries, utilization of cervical cancer screening services was low, regardless of the women's education level, autonomy in decision making and even good family support. The low level of awareness on the need for screening services and the long waiting time at the clinic for those seeking the services were identified as the two key issues that negatively influenced the utilization of the screening services, It is therefore recommended that the Ministry of Health and other agencies, including individuals of good will, collaborate in designing and implementing awareness campaigns through the media and other appropriate avenues, including one-to-one encounters, targeting both men and women in the communities. It is also recommended that the male partners support their women in accessing this vital life-saving service.


In the Publish-Subscribe model, subscribers express their interest in
an event, or a pattern of events, and are subsequently notified of any
event generated by a publisher that matches their registered interest.
The model is well suited for communication in large-scale and loosely
coupled distributed systems. This document describes how the model
fits into Interface to the Routing System (I2RS) and Software Defined
Networking (SDN) architectures, and analyzes its advantages, its
security requirements, and its use in providing security within I2RS.


Social isolation is a risk factor for many diseases and overall increased mortality. Alternatively human connection has been noted to lead to healthier lives and longevity. Medical clinicians need to be more aware of this condition and consider how to prescribe friendship. This is not just an issue for the elderly; many Americans are being ravaged by being alone. There are many organizations that we can refer our patients to in order to make connections. This lesson is one we as physicians need to embrace ourselves as loneliness during our busy days is affecting us too.


This paper discusses the evolution of housing conditions in urban areas of Latin America and the Caribbean from 1995 to 2006 based on data from household surveys done in 18 countries that comprise 95 percent of the urban population of the region. The results indicate that, on average, the proportion of urban households facing housing shortages is declining. This decline holds for households of all income levels, particularly those in the lower quintiles of the income distribution structure. The estimates made in this study indicate that in 2006 lack of infrastructure affected almost 19 million households. Further, about seven million households needed a new shelter and nine million needed significant improvements to their houses due to poor construction materials or overcrowding. Cross-country analysis shows that each country was facing a different combination of problems and was improving its housing conditions at a different pace, which indicates that it is highly unlikely that a ?one-size-fits-all? solution exists.


As the stock market is volatile and often short-term, there is a high demand for safe investments outside the stock market and institutional investors like pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers are increasingly searching for low-risk investments that can deliver safe returns. Alternative investments, like real estate, are a popular way to invest institutional capital. However, debates whether pension savers should have the right to transfer their pension capital without restrictions and discussions about the suitability of institutional investors to own real estate directly has made liquidity a more important aspect when investing institutional capital. Forecasts and expectations suggest that a large part of Sweden's public real estate portfolio, such as schools, hospitals and nursing homes, will be sold or produced privately as new builds in the future. Earlier studies have also shown that this type of real estate, with long leases and reliable tenants, is suitable for securitization, that is to say for issuing tradable securities such as bonds based on the cash flows from such assets. The high demand for institutional capital to find safe and liquid investments and the large future divestment of public properties create opportunities for financial innovation. This thesis aims to research if there are arbitrage opportunities to exploit due to differences between the real estate market and the capital market in the pricing of public real estate. The thesis will also examine the possibility of setting up a fund structure to profit in practice from these opportunities and study what the business model of such a firm would look like.


The Asian financial crisis in 1997 98 left a severe impact on Malaysia s economy and banking system. This has forced the Malaysian government to undertake financial restructuring initiatives to restore market and public confidence, and to meet the ongoing challenges associated with market structure, financial innovation and globalisation. Therefore, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) introduced a ten-year Financial Sector Master Plan (FSMP) to strengthen domestic banks and the regulatory structure, and to promote the banks efficiency by stimulating a competitive banking industry through financial liberalisation. The crisis for banks in Malaysia and the region has been extensively studied in the past (Sufian, 2010). However, empirical studies of the post-crisis period, and the implementation of the FSMP, remain limited. Hence, a data set of all banks in Malaysia, which covers the period 2000 2011, was employed to examine the effect of the FSMP s initiatives on Malaysian banks efficiency between 2000 and 2011. To measure this efficiency, this study employs both parametric and nonparametric models: namely, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Economic functions such as, cost-, standard profit- and alternative profit-efficiency were used in a 1-stage SFA model, which includes control variables (e.g. capital adequacy, asset quality and liquidity) and environmental variables (e.g. ownership, size, specialisation, deregulation periods and market structure) in the model specifications. In addition, this study employs SFA as the main measurement method, while the DEA model was used to cross-check consistency (Resti, 1997; Bauer et al., 1998). Both SFA and DEA demonstrated that, in most cases, the consistency was moderate.
The level of cost efficiency of Malaysian banks worsened over the years 2000 2011, with average cost efficiency during this period was at 76.5%. Despite the various liberalisation measures introduced to the banking industry particularly during the three phases of the FSMP; 2000 2003; 2004 2007; 2008 2011 cost efficiency trended downward, due to the effects of consolidation by domestic banks, deregulation of interest rates, the introduction of foreign Islamic banks, and the global credit crisis. Banks in Malaysia were forced to adjust their inputs and outputs to the rapid changes in the banking industry, which might have made a negative impact on cost efficiency. On the other hand, the banks demonstrated a steadily increasing profit efficiency trend, which fluctuated with the introduction of interest rate liberalisation (early second phase of the FSMP (i.e. 2004)) and during the global credit crisis (early third phase of the FSMP (i.e. 2008)). The average profit efficiency for 2000 2011 was 93.3%. The profit efficiency exhibited an increasing trend in the first (2000-2003) and second (2004-2007) phases of the FSMP, suggesting that the effect of consolidation by domestic banks had resulted in higher market concentration and greater market power among the remaining banks. However, the profit efficiency average scores fell in 2004, 2008 and 2011. This is attributed to the deregulation of interest rates, the deleveraging of the inflow of foreign funds, and the rapid increase in policy interest rates. At a more granular level, domestic banks were found to be more cost efficient, but marginally less profit efficient, when compared to foreign banks. In terms of bank specialisation, conventional banks were more cost- and profit-efficient than Islamic banks. With regard to economies of scale, the majority of Malaysian banks revealed scale economies, illustrated by a U-shape, with medium-sized banks being more scale efficient than small and large banks.
These results suggest that, to enhance Malaysian banks efficiency, the government must maintain competitive pressure on the large domestic banks that were consolidated during the first phase of the FSMP (2000-2003). Policymakers may want to further open up banking markets, improve risk management and governance, encourage financial innovation, and support expansion of smaller banks. The implementation of deregulation initiatives during periods of uncertainty (e.g. the global credit crisis) have also resulted in decreasing trend of cost and profit efficiency. Hence, monitoring initiatives, using tools such as frontier measurement is important for regulator s macro- and micro-prudential surveillance.


As visual extraction, detection, and recovery of Co2+ ions from spent lithium-ion batteries (SLIBs) via a one-step process becomes a new attractive, simple route for the management of urban electronic waste (e-waste), it will in turn lead ideally to the exploitation of accumulated e-waste and protection of the green environment. The Co2+ ion-capture system was achieved by selectively binding with synthesized chelating agents, namely, (E)-4-[(2-mercaptophenyl)diazenyl]-2-nitrosonaphthalen-1-ol (MPDN) and (E)-5-[(1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)diazenyl]benzene-1,3-diol (TDDB), at controlled pH. The dense arrangement of MPDN and TDDB into microscopic, mesospongy γ-Al2O3 monoliths enabled the design of a solid/sponge Co2+ ion extractor (IE) from the SLIB leach liquor. Our recycling process of Co2+ ions from SLIBs showed evidence of (i) Co2+ ion waste management, (ii) low-cost collection/recovery of Co2+ ions, (iii) sensitive and selective extraction of ultra-trace Co2+ ion, and (iv) reduction of e-waste volume through multiple reusability or recyclability. Furthermore, our sponge IE design with large surface area-to-volume ratios, macro/mesopores, and grooves along the micrometric, hierarchical monolith structures results in a facile, naked eye monitoring of ultra-trace Co2+ ion collection/binding to a detection limit of approximately 3.05 × 10−8 M during multifunction extraction steps from SLIBs. Our results also showed evidence of the extraction of Co2+ ions (196 mg g−1) from SLIBs by a one-step process. This finding provides a basis for the control of multifunction processes (i.e., extraction, detection, and recovery) and the high performance needed for selective extraction and recovery of Co2+ ions from SLIBs in a one-step process.


The OLAM's outgrower scheme in Nasarawa State was established in 2012 among rice farmers in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State and represents one of three strategies adopted by the company to generate paddy supplies for its rice milling factory located in Rukubi, Nasarawa State. Other strategies are rice cultivation in a nucleus farm located near the factory and purchase of paddies in the open market. Over the last three years, the company has been able to process 18,000–30,000 metric tons of polished rice annually, compared to the mill's capacity of 60,000 metric tons, yielding average capacity utilization rate of below 50%.


For many years now commentators have been predicting the UK?s first ?Internet Election?. This thesis seeks to cut through the hype by measuring the precise extent of online campaigning by electoral candidates during the 2010 general election campaign. It does so by using an original and extensive dataset that captured personal website adoption and the use and content of social media and email. Data was collected directly from the websites and Web 2.0 tools used by candidates during the campaign and from a quasi-experimental email study involving contacting candidates. By assessing online campaigning from an elite perspective the thesis can engage with key debates prominent in the literature on online campaigning.The thesis poses three questions. The first question asks whether the Internet has become a mainstream campaigning tool for electoral candidates in the UK. The second question focuses on whether the Internet is allowing minor parties to compete on a more equal footing campaign-wise with their major counterparts, which feeds into the debates concerning normalisation or equalisation between competing political parties and candidates. The third question relates to the content of the online campaigns of candidates, and whether the Internet may be changing campaign styles in terms of moving them from a top-down ?broadcast? mass mobilisation model towards a more interactive and engaged form of campaign communication.The findings suggest that although social media was not used widely, personal websites and email use were relatively common. In assessing inter-party competition in online campaigns the thesis finds that although candidates standing for larger parties were more likely to have personal campaign websites, the other online campaign tools assessed here, social media and email, were found to be more equalised on some measures between candidates from major and minor parties. Finally, when assessing the content of social media and email use by candidates, the evidence suggests that online tools may be facilitating a move towards more open and engaged campaign communication. Broadcast mode social media campaigning, where candidates did not accept or respond to comments, was relatively rare. Moreover, candidates who did reply to the hypothetical voters email tended to provide personalised and engaged content rather than solely electioneering. Overall, the findings suggest that although online campaign tools have not thus far led to a huge change in campaign communications, it is leading to a small shift towards more equalised and engaged campaigning.


Background and purpose Patients who require sacrifice of the internal carotid artery (ICA) have a substantial risk of stroke, despite preoperative testing with temporary balloon occlusion (TBO). The purpose of this study is to examine the incidence and mechanisms of stroke after permanent carotid artery occlusion in this population. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing TBO testing from March 2002 to December 2011 were identified. The protocol included 30 min of balloon occlusion, continuous intraprocedural neurological assessment, angiographic imaging of collateral flow during the occlusion, and perfusion imaging. Clinical records were reviewed for procedure results, procedural complications, and the incidence and causes of stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA) and death over 6 months. Strokes were categorized as thromboembolic or hypoperfusion based on available clinical and imaging data. Results One hundred and fifty carotid occlusion tests were performed during the study period, including 84 women and 66 men. No procedural strokes were recorded. Thirty-seven patients (25%) had permanent occlusion of the tested ICA. Six of the 37 patients had ipsilateral stroke (16.2%) and three experienced TIA (8.1%). Two strokes occurred in the immediate postoperative period (thromboembolic), two strokes occurred within days of ICA occlusion (hypoperfusion), and two strokes occurred at least 30 days from the time of ICA occlusion (thromboembolic). Conclusions The rate of ischemic stroke following carotid sacrifice remains high and most strokes are thromboembolic in nature. Our testing protocol did not eliminate the risk of hypoperfusion-related stroke. Delayed venous phase by angiography may be a better indicator of hemodynamic tolerance than perfusion imaging.


Fall risk is nearly 2.5 times greater in people with osteoarthritis (OA) compared to those without OA. However, the underlying mechanisms explaining this increased risk are unknown. This dissertation, which focused on trip-related falls, identified biomechanical risk factors that contribute to the increased fall risk of people with OA. The focus of the first experiment was to explain this increased fall risk by relating gait biomechanics to fall history in women with and without knee OA. Twice the number of women with knee OA reported having at least one trip-related fall in the previous year. This clinically meaningful difference was not related to between-group differences in minimum toe clearance, suggesting that the higher incidence of falls may not reflect an increased likelihood of unexpectedly contacting an obstacle during gait. The focus of the second experiment was to determine if the increase in trip-related fall risk of the OA group following large disturbances to dynamic stability was due to impaired recovery stepping responses. Women with and without knee OA were subjected to two types of large perturbations mimicking trips. Following both perturbations, women with knee OA displayed impaired control of the trunk evidenced by trunk kinematics previously shown to statistically discriminate fallers from non-fallers for healthy older adults. Furthermore, these kinematics have been shown to be modifiable using task-specific perturbation training. The third study evaluated if task-specific perturbation training could improve kinematics related to the recovery stepping response following large, treadmill-delivered postural perturbations requiring a step(s) to avoid falling. Recovery step kinematics of women with OA improved to the same extent as women in the control group. Collectively, the results of these experiments indicate that, in part, the increased risk of falls associated with OA is attributable to the same biomechanical variables that have been previously shown to explain falls by middle aged and older community-dwelling women without knee OA. Furthermore, the results strongly suggest that task-specific perturbation training has the potential to be an effective and efficient fall-prevention intervention for many people with knee OA.


Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of mid line diastema between the group of Iraqi students of Dentistry College in Baghdad University, and to determine the etiological factors of this diastema whether it is due to height frenal attachment or due to the discrepancy in the width of the anterior teeth as etiological factors or/and another cause and to determine the gender difference. Materials and methods: Out of 600 students aged between 18-23 years were clinically examined; only 41 students (30 females and 11 males) fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were having diastema. Maxillary median diastema and mesiodistal width of the sex upper anterior teeth was measured directly (intra orally) with stainless steel vernier calipers. Results: Results showed that about 30 females and 11 males were only having maxillary midline diastema from the total sample. There was no significant difference between males and females concerning the width of maxillary middiastem. In both sexes, the mesiodistal width of all anterior teeth was nearly equal except the maxillary left lateral incisors which were significantly wider in females than in males. Conclusion: In dentally aware societies the presence of diastema was un-aesthetic so many students improved such appearance by orthodontic treatment or restorative veneer, therefore Iraqi students had less prevalence of maxillary diastema than other studies. Females express more prevalence of maxillary midline diastema than male. Mesiodistal width of upper anterior teeth is nearly within the normal range of Iraqi norms. Another etiological factor such as hereditary, genetic or oral habit can be considered as a cause of diastema in our sample who have diastema without high frenal attachment or tooth width discrepancy.


Abstract Coastal plain stratigraphy is often over looked in paleo–sea-level reconstructions because carbonate sediments do not precisely constrain former sea level. Pacific Island sedimentology provides an invaluable record of geomorphic and environmental consequences of coastal evolution in response to changes in sea level and local tectonics. A series of coastal auger cores obtained from eastern ʻUpolu reveal a subsurface carbonate sand envelope predominately composed of coral and coralline algae derived from the reef framework. Coupling the sedimentological record with geophysical models of Holocene sea level, we identify a critical value (0.3–1.0 m) during the falling phase of the sea-level high stand (1899–2103 cal yr BP) that represents the transition from a transgressive to a regressive environment and initiates coastal progradation. Correlating the critical value with time, we observe nearly a millennium of coastal plain development is required before a small human population is established. Our findings support previous studies arguing that Sāmoa was colonized by small and isolated groups, as post–mid-Holocene drawdown in regional sea level produced coastal settings that were morphologically attractive for human settlement. As future sea level approaches mid-Holocene high stand values, lessons learned from Pacific Island sedimentological records may be useful in guiding future decisions related to coastal processes and habitat suitability.


Most universities in America include in their mission statements the functions of teaching, scholarly activity, and service. Taking my own university system as an example, its Board of Regents in 1989 stated the core mission of the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Campuses to "meet the educational and personal needs of students through effective teaching, " and to "expect scholarly activity, including research, scholarship, and creative endeavor that supports its programs," and "encourage faculty and staff participation in outreach activity." This tripartite mission for institutions of higher education is replicated in the definition of the role of the faculty. Personnel documents in these universities typically define the faculty role in terms of these same three categories: teaching, scholarly activity, and service.


One of the defining properties of the conventional three-dimensional ("$\mathbb{Z}_2$-", or "spin-orbit"-) topological insulator is its characteristic magnetoelectric effect, as described by axion electrodynamics. In this paper, we discuss an analogue of such a magnetoelectric effect in the thermal (or gravitational) and the magnetic dipole responses in all symmetry classes which admit topologically non-trivial insulators or superconductors to exist in three dimensions. In particular, for topological superconductors (or superfluids) with time-reversal symmetry which lack SU(2) spin rotation symmetry (e.g. due to spin-orbit interactions), such as the B phase of $^3$He, the thermal response is the only probe which can detect the non-trivial topological character through transport. We show that, for such topological superconductors, applying a temperature gradient produces a thermal- (or mass-) surface current perpendicular to the thermal gradient. Such charge, thermal, or magnetic dipole responses provide a definition of topological insulators and superconductors beyond the single-particle picture. Moreover we find, for a significant part of the 'ten-fold' list of topological insulators found in previous work in the absence of interactions, that in general dimensions the effective field theory describing the space-time responses is governed by a field theory anomaly. Since anomalies are known to be insensitive to whether the underlying fermions are interacting or not, this shows that the classification of these topological insulators is robust to adiabatic deformations by interparticle interactions in general dimensionality. In particular, this applies to symmetry classes DIII, CI, and AIII in three spatial dimensions, and to symmetry classes D and C in two spatial dimensions.


Research on real time dynamic water surface is a hotspot in the study of virtual reality with very broad application prospect. With the rapid development of calculating ability of GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and the development of HLSL (High-Level Shader Language), the tasks such as vertex shader ,pixel shader, calculation of normal vector, dynamic texture mapping and calculation of water reflections and refractions can be done by GPU. In our research we studied the key factors affecting the effect of dynamic water surface and indicated that the writer presents some opinions which can generate more accurate reflections and refractions of water through adjusting light intensity and colorimchy by lighting and perturbing 2D texture mapping with normal mapping. A shader program in Virtools has been written and applied in virtual reality project. In the actual operation the effect is real and the rendering speed has greatly increased.


The present study identifies the causes of wars and armed conflicts in Yemen together with their accompanying coping strategies. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven researchers and academicians, specialised in humanitarian and security sciences to further understand the underlying causes of the phenomenon and gain deeper insights on coping mechanisms. The study revealed that the economic causes of wars in Yemen, comprising poverty, lack of equitable distribution of wealth among community groups and individuals, as well as man's improper exploitation by man are among the top central causes of wars. It also indicated that the political causes of wars in Yemen centre on the power struggle due to the State's structural vulnerability and tribal dominance over it either through direct or indirect channels. Further, it is proved that the social causes of wars are made up of poverty, homelessness, illiteracy, school dropouts, instability, and insecurity. Meanwhile, the cohesion of the Yemeni society is still playing a vital role in mitigating the consequences. The legal causes of wars in Yemen can be summarised in the weakness of judicial bodies, negligence of the constitution and its subsidiary laws, as well as hindering their implementation by the tribal component. It becomes evident that the multiplicity of sects has never been among the causes of war in Yemen until the ethnic, denominational and sectarian groups started utilising sectarianism as a cover to attain political objectives to secure power.


Along with the deepening and reform of piano teaching, piano teaching resources have been optimized and integrated. The application of Internet technology provides a new opportunity for piano teaching mode and talents training in colleges and universities. Mooc teaching breaks the traditional teaching mode of group class and collective class, and flipped classroom can expand the piano subject practice. Based on the network technology, this study explores the application of the teaching mode of Mooc-based flipped classroom in the teaching reform of piano course. The results show that the teaching method of Mooc improves the ability of resources sharing, liberalization and teaching according to students' aptitude of piano teaching. The production of Mooc-based flipped classroom makes Internet knowledge and the dissemination of teaching break spacetime limit. Mooc platform is easier for students to apply their abilities to practical application. This study provides idea and platform for the combination of piano teaching and Internet in colleges and universities.


The growth of self-employed enterprise and the supposed ascendancy of the `enterprising self' are commonly associated with the forces of flexibilization and individualization in contemporary work arrangements. What is driving these forces and their effects can be understood, in part, by examining what psychoanalytic theory would name desire. The focus here is upon the dynamics of desire among individuals who leave jobs to enter the growing ranks of the self-employed. Drawing from findings of a qualitative study of such new women entrepreneurs across Canada, changing concepts of the enterprising self are explored with specific attention to the relations between their desires and their conception of work. This article addresses three questions in particular: How is desire enmeshed in the development of enterprising selves? How do women come to desire work through self-employed enterprise, often entailing personal and economic pain? Do these desires configure possibilities for new alternatives in enterprise? The study findings suggest not only that contradictory desires are closely integrated with identity in the transition to enterprise, but also that some women's desires appear to form resistance to aspects of conventional models of business development. Through analysis informed by psychoanalytic theories of desire, these impulses are named `transgressive desires' and their importance is demonstrated in their links to the new models of entrepreneurism that seem to be appearing among these women's enterprises.


Introduction: In spite of the enormous progress made over the last decades, acute coronary syndromes remain the leading cause of death globally. Inflammation plays an important role in coronary artery disease development. Although the role of inflammatory biomarkers in acute obstructive myocardial infarction is well established, there is no data regarding the potential differences between acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with ST segment elevation, AMI without ST segment elevation (NON-STEMI) and non-obstructive acute myocardial infarction (MINOCA), respectively. Also, it is well known that cardiac rehabilitation of acute myocardial infarction survivors significantly improves their long-term prognosis.
Aim of the study: To asses the possible existing differences between patients with STEMI, NON-STEMI and MINOCA in terms of clinical and paraclinical parameters, especially inflammatory biomarkers. A second objective of our study was to describe the relationship between inflammatory, cardiac necrosis enzymes and left ventricle systolic function.
Material and methods: The study included 35 adult patients admitted in the Cardiology service of the Niculae Stăncioiu Heart Institute, Cluj-Napoca with acute myocardial infarction. Demographic, clinical, echocardiographic and laboratory data were analyzed. Patients were divided into 3 groups, 19 patients (54.2%) were diagnosed with STEMI- group 1, 9 patients (25.7%) with NON-STEMI- group 2 and 7 patients (20%) with MINOCA- group 3, respectively. Dosage of serum inflammatory markers was performed on the day of admission.
Results and conclusion: The most common associated cardiovascular risk factor was arterial hypertension (65.7% of patients). Markers of myocardial necrosis (CK, CK-MB, hs Troponin) were significantly higher in patients with STEMI (p <0.05) in comparison with NON-STEMI and MINOCA patients. Congestive heart failure was most frequently encountered in STEMI patients. hsCRP value was higher among patients with STEMI. The value of ESR was significantly higher among patients with NON-STEMI. Serial dosage of inflammation biomarkers in patients with recent acute myocardial infarction may serve as valuable risk stratification instruments and also for functional capacity and recovery status assessment in patients included in cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Keywords: acute coronary syndrome; inflammatory biomarkers; non-obstructive acute myocardial infarction,


This paper constructs a data set on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) adjusted skilled and unskilled wages in 139 countries for the period 1968-1998, based on the International Labor Organization's (ILO) annual October Inquiry and the Freeman and Oostendorp (2000) Occupational Wages Around the World (OWW) file. It finds strong evidence for the existence of well-integrated markets for skilled and unskilled labor, justifying the approach of constructing a skilled wage series and an unskilled wage series. Several significant results emerged from an analysis of a representative subset of 67 countries which provided unbroken coverage for 1970-1994: (i) there is striking evidence of unconditional convergence in the skilled-unskilled wage ratio worldwide; (ii) this relative wage convergence was especially strong within a "club" of open economies, suggesting that Heckscher-Ohlin-Sameulson mechanisms might be at work; and (iii) there is a relatively weak pattern of convergence in unskilled real wages, implying that the claim of "Divergence, Big Time" (Pritchett 1997) has to be qualified when factor markets are studied instead of aggregate incomes.


In contrast to fully connected networks, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) achieve efficiency by learning weights associated with local filters with a finite spatial extent. An implication of this is that a filter may know what it is looking at, but not where it is positioned in the image. In this paper, we first test this hypothesis and reveal that a surprising degree of absolute position information is encoded in commonly used CNNs. We show that zero padding drives CNNs to encode position information in their internal representations, while a lack of padding precludes position encoding. This gives rise to deeper questions about the role of position information in CNNs: (i) What boundary heuristics enable optimal position encoding for downstream tasks?; (ii) Does position encoding affect the learning of semantic representations?; (iii) Does position encoding always improve performance? To provide answers, we perform the largest case study to date on the role that padding and border heuristics play in CNNs. We design novel tasks which allow us to quantify boundary effects as a function of the distance to the border. Numerous semantic objectives reveal the effect of the border on semantic representations. Finally, we demonstrate the implications of these findings on multiple real-world tasks to show that position information can both help or hurt performance.


Aim: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of the consumption of BioEcolians, a commercial α-gluco-oligosaccharide, on IBS-c symptoms and various strains of the gut microbiome.

Methods: 50 subjects participated in a double blind placebo control study. Subjects consumed 2 gr/day of BioEcolians or placebo capsules for 28 days and were evaluated for IBS-C symptoms (abdominal pain, bloating, discomfort and stool consistency). Fecal exams were performed in order to evaluate changes in the gut microbiom.

Results: BioEcolians treatment resulted in a progressive amelioration of IBS-C symptoms with a statistically significant improvement from day 14 to day 28. Stool frequency showed a progressive and statistically significant improvement with a mean increment of 1.6 complete spontaneous bowel movements (CSBM) in the BioEcolians group. Stool consistency significantly improved in both groups but BioEcolians treatment resulted in higher scores and showed a progressive increment (100% improvement versus 50% in the placebo group). BioEcolians intake resulted in a significant increase in the fecal counts of Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium animalis and all evaluated Lactobacilli strains. The change was statistically significant compared to baseline. No significant modification of calprotectin and lactoferrin was recorded following BioEcolians or placebo intake. The level of fecal Human Beta-Defensin 2 (HBD-2) increased in both treatment groups but and statistically significant only in the BioEcolians group.

Conclusions: The progressive amelioration of symptoms in IBS-C subjects recorded throughout the 28 days of the study with the modification of the content of fecal Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli suggests that BioEcolians could serve as a beneficial dietary agent against IBS-C symptoms. Further investigations are required in order to evaluate the improvement of symptoms in healthy population.


Synthetic biology is an emerging field uniting scientists from all disciplines with the aim of designing or re-designing biological processes. Initially, synthetic biology breakthroughs came from microbiology, chemistry, physics, computer science, materials science, mathematics, and engineering disciplines. A transition to multicellular systems is the next logical step for synthetic biologists and plants will provide an ideal platform for this new phase of research. This meeting report highlights some of the exciting plant synthetic biology projects, and tools and resources, presented and discussed at the 2013 GARNet workshop on plant synthetic biology.


We theoretically analyze dissociation of a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate of molecular dimers and examine how the spatial inhomogeneity of the molecular condensate affects the conversion dynamics and the atom-atom pair correlations in the short-time limit. Both fermionic and bosonic statistics of the constituent atoms are considered. Using the undepleted molecular-field approximation, we obtain explicit analytic results for the asymptotic behavior of the second-order correlation functions and for the relative number squeezing between the dissociated atoms in one, two, and three spatial dimensions. Comparison with the numerical results shows that the analytic approach employed here captures the main underlying physics and provides useful insights into the dynamics of dissociation for conversion efficiencies up to 10%. The results show explicitly how the strength of atom-atom correlations and relative number squeezing degrade with the reduction of the size of the molecular condensate. © 2010 The American Physical Society.


Professor Treat has provided a muchneeded textbook for students of the political and domestic history of the Far East. The introductory chapters upon the physical and cultural background of China are of fundamental importance because so few of our American readers are at all informed thereupon. The work is divided into three parts, the first and second being concerned with developments in China and in Japan up to and including the time of the SinoJapanese War. The third part deals with the last thirty years (to 1927). The book is replete with outline maps conveniently placed for purposes of references. Two chapters are devoted to the part being played by the United States in the Philippines and to the significance of the Oriental immigration question. Professor Treat is less critical of Japan's policies than circumstances seem to warrant, and he directs attention to the policy of France in IndoChina as some justification for Japan's policy in Korea. The author applauds President Roosevelt's handling of the Oriental immigration problem and suggests that the legislative treatment thereof will be revised in favor of a mutual arrangement between the United States and the countries of the Far East which will supplant the objectionable features of our legislative blundering. A good general bibliography is appended and supplementary references are cited at the end of each chapter. W. LEON GODSHALL.


Author(s): Harlan, Tyler | Advisor(s): Fan, Cindy | Abstract: The question of how to achieve 'green' development – to maintain economic growth without the trade-offs of ecological degradation or carbon emissions – has long perplexed theorists of development and environmental change. Yet most studies analyze green development as applied to industrialized economies or international aid projects; fewer examine how it is interpreted and implemented in the Global South, especially in resource-rich areas, even as many countries chart their own development path distinct from that of the Global North. This dissertation addresses this issue by examining the political economy and socio-environmental impacts of small hydropower (SHP) in China, the country's most widespread renewable energy technology. At its core, it seeks to explain a seeming paradox: that while the government promotes SHP abroad as a Chinese model of green development, it is actively restricting further SHP expansion at home. Using conceptual and methodological tools from economic geography, political ecology, and development studies, I 'follow the technology' from policy design in Beijing, to implementation in China's southwest Yunnan province, to export abroad through international training workshops in Hangzhou. In doing so, I unearth the logics and politics that shape when, where, and how green development policies and technologies are designed and used, and the economic and environmental consequences that they entail.Based on fourteen months of fieldwork across six research sites, this dissertation finds that the function of SHP has changed constantly in different times and places, from rural electrification and industrialization, to conservation and national carbon mitigation. I argue that these changes reflect shifting state logics of green development, which have evolved from a focus on rural poverty alleviation to national low-carbon growth. Through new policies and energy subsidies, the state has re-framed rural southwest China as a 'low-carbon frontier', generating rapid and uncoordinated growth in SHP construction since the early 2000s. Yet I also found local conflicts between electricity generation and other natural resource uses, such as irrigation, forest conservation, and water storage, which have negatively affected rural livelihoods and agricultural yields. Moreover, while SHP is promoted as a substitute for dirty fuels, I found that it propelled an increase in mineral extraction and deforestation for charcoal production. For these reasons, and because of overcapacity, the state no longer favors SHP as a source of low-carbon value, ceding its position to solar and wind. This has driven SHP firms to new markets abroad, buoyed by state officials eager to tout China as a 'green' aid and investment partner. These findings thus contrast with typical accounts of low-carbon transition to highlight the spatial and environmental inequalities that shape renewable energy expansion and green development.


This study evaluates the benefits that rural households in India derive from dedicated solar microgrid service systems. A case study was conducted in Lakshmipura-Jharla, Rajasthan, a village in western India with significant potential for producing solar energy. In 2013, a private investor set up a solar microgrid in the village and distributed energy-efficient appliances. Its goal was to give poor households access to modern energy services. The study data were collected through a survey conducted among randomly selected households in the village. The survey found that such an electricity provision service had multidimensional benefits: flexible use of the energy service, more effective time allocation among women, more study time for students, improved indoor air quality, and safer public places. Given the initial unmet demand for modern energy in the village, technological interventions supported by policy has helped to expand consumption possibilities and new demand for services has emerged. The household-level frontier rebound effect is estimated to be more than 100%, reflecting a one-and-a-half times increase in the demand for illumination services among rural households. Frontier rebound effect estimates help quantify the benefits of solar microgrids and energy-efficient appliances for households in rural areas...


PURPOSE
In the literature several articles have appeared which describe the accuracy and repeatability of direct-comparison aniseikonia tests, such as the New Aniseikonia Test and the aniseikonia test of the Aniseikonia Inspector. In these articles a discussion on the clinical relevance of the results is often missing. Therefore, this article discusses the clinical usefulness of direct-comparison aniseikonia tests, in particular that of the Aniseikonia Inspector.

METHOD
Review of the literature shows that an aniseikonia test is usually evaluated by inducing aniseikonia in normal subjects using size lenses. The range of induced aniseikonia differs. Some investigations evaluated from appr. -8% to +8%, while other investigations evaluate a (too) small range from appr. -3% to +3%.

RESULTS
In general direct-comparison aniseikonia tests have a repeated measurement accuracy of approximately 0.5% standard deviation (this also includes actual aniseikonia fluctuations). A direct-comparison aniseikonia test with free eye rotation seems to underestimate the amount of aniseikonia. However, converting these underestimations into clinically applicable values shows that vertically the 'error' is on average smaller than only 0.5% and horizontally the 'error' is smaller than 1%. This may be statistically significant but clinically less relevant underestimation seems to disappear in tests without free eye rotation (as in the newer versions of the Aniseikonia Inspector).

CONCLUSION
Because aniseikonia does not seem to give any clinical symptoms until the aniseikonia has a value of 3-5%, the accuracy and repeatability of direction-comparison tests, such as that of the Aniseikonia Inspector, is sufficient for effective aniseikonia management.


DNA Decipher Journal (ISSN: 2159-046X) is published by QuantumDream, Inc. and devoted to the decipherment of the Secrets of DNA. It is a journal in which biologists, physicists, mathematicians and other learned scholars publish their research results and express their views on the origin, nature and mechanism of DNA as a biological system and entity and its possible connection to a deeper reality. This Inaugural Issue contains six (6) articles exploring the principle of linguistic-wave genetics, DNA as quantum biocomputer, holography associated with DNA, genetic pathways during evolution and DNA as topological quantum computers. It also contain one (1) Commentary on the recent experiemental findings of Montagnier's group on DNA waves and water. Further, in this editorial the herein authors also discuss their preliminary thoughts on the coding of DNA and the hexagrams of I Ching based on the principle of existence.


The planar extended shape of the phthalocyanine macrocycle results in a strong tendency of its derivatives to form densely packed co-facial aggregates. The strategy to avoid co-facial self-association that forms the basis of this thesis involves the use of substituents that can introduce severe steric crowding adjacent to the phthalocyanine core. Previous work showed that the introduction of 2,6-di-/jo-propylphenoxy groups on the peripheral positions of the phthalocyanine seems to be perfect for this purpose. Of particular interest is zinc octa(2,6-di-/$o-propylphenoxy) phthalocyanine (PclZn), which forms a remarkable cubic crystal structure, containing interconnected solvent-filled voids 2 nm across. The aim of the research programme was to investigate the crystal forming properties of related phthalocyanine derivatives containing different metal cations and bulky phenoxyl substituents. A range of metal cations were introduced into 2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octa(2',6'-di-/s0-propylphenoxy) phthalocyanine (Pel) to establish which, if any, were compatible with the formation of the nanoporous cubic crystal observed for the zinc derivative. It was found that any metal capable of binding to a ligand at its axial site formed the cubic crystal including metals of primary catalytic relevance such as cobalt, iron, manganese and ruthenium. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies demonstrated the exchange of axial ligands to confirm the interconnectivity of the nanovoids, which is essential for the potential exploitation of these molecules in heterogeneous catalysis. Of particular interest is the introduction of bidentate ligands, which act as structural wall ties that bind metals between cubic subunits. Since loss of crystallinity occurs after removal of the guest solvent from the cubic clathrates, the introduction of substituents at the 4-position of the phenoxy groups was also investigated in order to induce stronger dipole-dipole (e.g., R = Br, CI, CN, OMe) or hydrogen bond interactions (e.g., R = OH), which might stabilise the crystal structure. Unfortunately, these derivatives formed non-cubic crystals, although in each case solvent was included within the structure to form novel clathrates.


Glass fibres with multi-functional properties were developed by using i) Polymer-based nanocomposites containing epoxy, carbon nanotubes and graphene, and ii) Titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The mechanical, electrical, barrier and photocatalytic performance of fibres were studied. Raman and electrical responses of fibres under mechanical load were coupled for in situ sensing of deformation in composite structure. The low cost and excellent flexibility of glass fibres make them ideal materials as supporter to deposit photocatalytic nanoparticles for the removal of organic pollutants in water.


We previously showed that inflammation, and not hyperlipidemia alone, was necessary for CD36 dependent atherogenesis. Chronic periodontal disease is characterized by a persistent inflammatory state and is epidemiologically associated with cardiovascular disease. We hypothesize that CD36 is an essential link between periodontal disease and atherosclerosis. Low density lipoprotein receptor knock out (LDLR KO) mice and CD36/LDLR double KO mice were infected with the periodontal disease associated bacteria, Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), by oral lavage and fed a Western diet for 12 weeks (n = 7-14/group). We assessed periodontal disease, risk factors associated with atherosclerosis, and lesion burden. We conducted studies in isolated macrophages to understand mechanistic differences between the groups. Wild type and CD36 KO macrophages equally phagocytosed bacteria. We measured the cemento-enamel junction of each molar to assess periodontal disease and found that it was significantly increased in infected mice compared with uninfected controls. Histological analysis showed neutrophil, osteoclast and macrophage infiltrates in the alveolar bone of infected mice. Differences in plasma cholesterol, triacylglycerol, insulin resistance and weight gain did not necessarily track with atherosclerosis burden, however blood neutrophils and cytokines were increased in infected LDLR KO mice compared with all other groups. Infected LDLR KO mice had significantly increased atherosclerotic lesion burden compared with uninfected LDLR KO mice, and all of the increased lesion was CD36 dependent. PCR analysis found no evidence for direct infection of atherosclerotic lesions by Pg. In vitro macrophage studies showed that heat killed Pg, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from Pg, oxidatively modified LDL or plasma from infected mice, could not activate the NALP3 inflammasome. Combining heat killed Pg or Pg LPS with oxidatively modified LDL or plasma from infected mice, however, led to significant IL-1 beta secretion that was CD36 and NFkB dependent. Our data suggest that atherosclerosis associated with periodontal disease is mediated by cellular inflammatory responses involving both CD36 and Toll-like receptor.


The article is devoted to the insufficiently studied aspect of the activities of the Armory chamber in the second half of 17th beginning of 18th centuries supplying the needs of the Russian armed forces. Political and military realities of the first half of the seventeenth century revealed the n eed for the modernization and transformation of the armed forces of Russia. Military reform required a massive amount of combat weapons and equipment made by Western European standard. The middle of the 17th century was the times of a search for an optimal algorithm which would provide the armed forces with weapons and equipment. The integration in this process of the court gunsmith and Armory was an effective solution. The cont ent of the Inventory of the Armory Chamber in 1647 can be divided into two parts: 1) parade and ceremonial weapons and armor, designed for the sovereign and court 2) a huge number of combat weapons deposed in a different storages. The research is based on the complex of archival documents showing the role of the Armory chamber officials in organizing the purchase of combat weapons, its testing, preserving, repairing and transfer to the troops. The author also observed the changes in the activities of the institution in the last quarter of the century when craftspeople of the court Armory workshop participated in the manufacturing of some special types of combat arms and service as a military gunsmith directly in troops and provincial armories.


This article proposes a predictive traffic regulation model for metro loop lines on the basis of the optimization of a cost function along a time horizon. The regulation strategies typically compensate timetable and headway deviations modifying the train run times. The existing optimization methods are based on simplified traffic models with analytical solutions or based on more realistic models (usually non-linear) that have real-time computational limitations. A quadratic programming model is proposed here, suitable to include in an efficient way the main operation constraints: minimum interval, limits in the control actions, and the typical operation criterion of preventing the actuation of signalling systems between platforms. Efficiency is measured by the computing time required to solve long-term predictive models with standard optimization tools. Long-term prediction improves regulation performance and stability and simplifies the tuning of regulation parameters according to the operation requirements. The use of standard optimization tools improves the implementation of the proposed regulator and its maintainability. Although the proposed method is valid for both timetable and headway operation, the analysis in the article is focused on headway operation. In this case, it is possible to observe the offered commercial speed and to adjust the quality criteria that will measure the performance of the headway operation.


The present work reports the existence of parasitic castration induced by the bopyrid isopod Argeiopsis inhacae parasitizing the branchial chamber of female Stenopus hispidus. Parasitized and unparasitized females of S. hispidus displayed similar intermoult periods (14 ± 2 d) and exhibited similar mating behaviours. However, despite exhibiting typical mating behaviour, parasitized females were never able to produce any egg clutch when paired with unparasitized males; neither displayed the typical 'dorsal bright green spot' evidencing the presence of large vitellogenic oocytes. The idea that bopyrid infections generally lead to the 'reproductive death' of the decapod host is reinforced and the apparent existence of a heavily sex-biased infection towards females in S. hispidus may just be a consequence of the still limited number of surveyed specimens.


We study the problem of Reinforcement Learning (RL) with linear function approximation, i.e. assuming the optimal action-value function is linear in a known $d$-dimensional feature mapping. Unfortunately, however, based on only this assumption, the worst case sample complexity has been shown to be exponential, even under a generative model. Instead of making further assumptions on the MDP or value functions, we assume that our action space is such that there always exist playable actions to explore any direction of the feature space. We formalize this assumption as a ``ball structure'' action space, and show that being able to freely explore the feature space allows for efficient RL. In particular, we propose a sample-efficient RL algorithm (BallRL) that learns an $\epsilon$-optimal policy using only $\tilde{O}\left(\frac{H^5d^3}{\epsilon^3}\right)$ number of trajectories.


The problem of configuring model variability is widespread in many different domains. Renault, a leading french automobile manufacturer, has developed its technology internally to model vehicle diversity. This technology relies on the approach known as knowledge compilation. Since its inception, continuous progress has been made in the tool while monitoring the latest developments from the software field and academia. However, the growing number of vehicle models brings potential risks and higher requirements for the tool. This paper presents a short reminder of Renault's technology principles and the improvements we intend to achieve by analyzing and leveraging notable data features of Renault problem instances. In particular, the aim is to exploit symmetry properties.


This research gives information about the practice of concreting work in Reinforced Concrete (RC) building project in Indonesia. The study area is Padang City, which has suffered severe damages due to September 2009 Earthquake. The target interviewee is 100 builders who are constructing RC buildings. This interview together with observation was conducted by directly visiting the construction sites. While collecting information about the main factors which contribute to RC building quality, e.g., concrete mixing, compaction, concrete placing and curing, the information about the profile of the builders have been collected.  The results show that the workers dominate the profile of builders in productive age with 30 years experiences on average. However, 90% of the builders yet experience any construction workshop. The concreting work, which is conducted by the builders, yet reaches the required standard. More than 50% of the builders produced concrete with the higher water-cement ratio, and almost 65% admitted that they add more water after concrete`s setting time is finished. There are 3common methods of concrete compaction which is used.  6% of the builders use a vibrator, 43% use the rodding method, 28% use hummer, and 8% choose to add more water to placed concrete to increase concrete workability. Meanwhile, more than 60% of the builders do not cure the placed concrete. The results show that construction practice that is conducted by the local builders is needed to be improved. The mistakes seem to be repeated over a generation since the source of learning of the builders is mainly from their senior builder (77.25%) and self-learning (2.5%). Only 7.5% that admitted they had experienced on construction workshop.


On the Internet today, big amounts of multimedia content is available from many different sources, and metadata descriptions are essential when one want to find the media items that are related to each other. Different media items (being image, video, audio, web page etc.) may all contain different supplementing pieces of information for a common topic. Potentially, when watching a video annotated with temporal metadata, the experience can be enriched when other relevant media are continuously being presented. What if you also can have a simultaneous experience of this multimedia presentation together with a friend located in another city, or even country? The result will be an enriched and shared common interactive experience, in addition to the ordinary multimedia experience. This master thesis presents a proof-of-concept system to create such an experience. The first part of the project investigates the current status of e-learning and multimedia systems, and an evaluation of relevant technology to be used. The second part includes the requirement specification, design and implementation of the system. Focus of the work has been on the following four areas: presentation of a video stream and additional related media to the user, making it possible for the users to interact with the computer and each other, synchronizing the multimedia experience to create a shared common experience, and finally use metadata to find relations between pieces of content to create the enriched experience. Our contribution is first and foremost the design and implementation of the integration and interaction between the four concepts; presentation, interaction, synchronization and metadata -- with emphasis on metadata as the ubiquitous drive force used to bind it all together. The aim is a system that can be used as foundation for further research within several areas, such as automatic enrichment and shared common experience.


Abstract Although theatrical representations of the past have been examined by theatre and performance studies scholars, public historians have preferred to focus on historical re-enactments in living history sites, museums, or on film and television. This article argues that theatre is a compelling site for representing and understanding the past through a case study of one of the most performed plays in recent Canadian repertoire, Vern Theissen9s Vimy. Drawing on a survey of audience members and the author9s experiences as an academic historian working with a national theatre company, it proposes ways in which further study and practice can illuminate our understanding of the public and its pasts.


Psychological resilience is regarded as a critical protective factor for preventing the development of mental illness from experienced adverse events. Personal strength is one key element of resilience that reflects an individual's reactions to negative life events and is crucial for successful adaptation. Previous studies have linked unimodal imaging measures with resilience. However, applying multimodal imaging measures could provide comprehensive organization information at the system level to examine whether an individual's resilience strength is reflected in the brain's structural and functional network. In this study, MRI was used to acquire multimodal imaging properties and subscales of personal strength in terms of resilience from 109 participants (48 females and 61 males). We employed a method of fusion independent component analysis to link the association between multimodal imaging components and personal strength of psychological resilience. The results reveal that a fusion component involving multimodal frontal networks in connecting with the parietal, occipital, and temporal regions is associated with the resilience score for personal strength. A multiple regression model further explains the predictive role of frontal-associated regions that cover a visual-related network regulating cognition and emotion to discern the perceived adverse experience. Overall, this study suggests that frontal-associated regions are related to individual resilience strength.


Are bigness and unions influencing the professional engineer? The civil engineering profession is changing due to firms going public, purchasing of smaller companies, merger or joint ventures, and the desire by some professional engineers for unions. The young engineer has a desire of working closely with his employer and achieving self-satisfaction - difficult in big business. The giants of big business, in order to maintain efficiency and organization, must create standardization. By specializing, the professional engineer in a large company may one day become obsolete. Unionization is attractive for many unorganized professional engineers because it offers the opportunity for discourse between management and labor over terms and conditions of employment. The Professional Engineer should support the participation of ASCE in studying union problems and also support legislation such as the anti-trust laws.


Respiratory viruses such as influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are a constant threat to public health given their ability to cause global pandemics. Infection with either virus may lead to aberrant host responses, such as excessive immune cell recruitment and activation, dysregulated inflammation, and coagulopathy. These may contribute to the development of lung edema and respiratory failure. An increasing amount of evidence suggests that lung endothelial cells play a critical role in the pathogenesis of both viruses. In this review, we discuss how infection with influenza or SARS-CoV-2 may induce endothelial dysfunction. We compare the effects of infection of these two viruses, how they may contribute to pathogenesis, and discuss the implications for potential treatment. Understanding the differences between the effects of these two viruses on lung endothelial cells will provide important insight to guide the development of therapeutics.


Discursive Equality and Everyday Talk Online: the impact of " super-participants " Abstract Empirical studies of online debate almost universally observe a " dominant " minority of posters. Informed by theories of deliberative democracy, these are typically framed negatively – yet research into their impact on debate is scant. To address this, a typology of what we call super-participation (super-posters, agenda-setters and facilitators) is developed and applied to the http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ forum. Focusing on the first of these, we found 2052 super-posters (0.4%) contributing 47% of 25m+ posts. While super-posters were quantitatively dominant, qualitative content analysis of the discursive behaviour of 25 super-posters (n=40,044) found that most did not attempt to stop other users from posting (curbing) or attack them (flaming). In fact, in contradiction to the received wisdom, super-posters discursively performed a range of positive roles.


Sarcoidosis lives! On the basis of an extensive personal experience with more than 600 cases of sarcoidosis in New York, London, and Los Angeles, Dr Sharma has succeeded in producing a concise and lucid monograph that serves to "introduce sarcoidosis to the student of medicine, general physicians, and practitioners of other disciplines." A wide variety of clinical features and differential diagnostic points are summarized in 12 succinct tables. Roentgenograms (32 of the chest, 13 skeletal, 3 miscellaneous) are reproduced with detail and clarity. Both color plates (15) and black-and-white photographs illustrate cutaneous (28), ocular (four), joint (three), and other extrathoracic manifestations. Histopathologic sections demonstrate the spectrum of granulomas in addition to Schaumann bodies and asteroids. The book is organized in the traditional manner of system review, interspersed with 11 personal case reports. The subject index is easy to follow, except for the minor annoyance of an unnecessary subheading entitled "sarcoidosis."


Previous research found that the type of text being read affected reading fluency and recall, and students of varying reading skills take different approaches to the task. The current study explored the effect the reader's skill level and format of presentation had on fluency and comprehension assessment by comparing student behavior between conditions in which students read from a book or from a typed single page. No significant differences were found in mean fluency and comprehension scores between the Book and Typed conditions for the two highest reading skills groups. However, the difference between the Typed and Book conditions was significant for both fluency and comprehension among children in the lowest reading group. Students in the lowest reading group read more fluently and with better comprehension from the Book condition than from the Typed condition. Suggestions for further research are included. ********** Reading continues to be the academic area most frequently identified as deficient in special education eligibility referrals (Joseph, 2002) and a large majority of children identified as learning disabled have a deficit in reading (Lerner, 2003). Thus, many academic intervention models exist for reading and scholars frequently recommend using fluency measures such as curriculum-based measurement (CBM; Deno, 1985) for making instructional decisions or problem identification (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1998; Gresham, 2001; Kaminski & Good, 1998; Shinn, 2002). Moreover, reading fluency measures are also useful tools for large-scale screening of student skills (Berninger, 2002). Administration procedures for reading fluency probes, as outlined by Shinn (1989), involve having the student read orally for 1 minute from a typed passage written on a page that contains no additional markings, such as pictures. The number of words read correctly within the timed probe is counted to obtain a score that represents reading fluency. Adequate fluency in reading is important because reading fluency and comprehension have consistently been linked and comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading (Burns, Tucker, Hauser, Thelen, Holmes, & White, 2002; Fuchs, Fuchs, Hosp & Jenkins, 2001; McCormick & Samuels, 1979). Fluent reading consists of quick and effortless reading of words presented in text (Carmine, Silbert, Kame'enui, & Tarver, 2004) but how that is measured is a matter of some debate (Burns, 2003). Reading fluency could be assessed with speed of accurate contextual reading (Nathan & Stanovich, 1991) or by whole word reading without context (Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 1997). However, the format of the assessment could affect the results (Burns, 2003). Further, Jenkins, Fuchs, van den Broek, Espin and Deno (2003) compared contextual reading fluency and context-free fluency and found that fluency from contextual reading was more strongly correlated with comprehension (r = .83) than context-free fluency such as word lists (r = .54). Fluency of contextual reading predicted reading comprehension, but fluency of reading word lists did not (Jenkins et al., 2003). This finding makes some intuitive sense given that, in general, the instructional environment affects student performance (Ysseldyke & Christenson, 2002). An instructional environment consists of the situational variables that interact with the student to determine the resulting behavior (Ysseldyke & Christenson, 1987). Comparatively, a reading environment would then encompass those situational variables that are specific to the reading task and interact with the student to determine reading behavior. Thus it seems reasonable to infer that environmental variables such as assessment format (e.g., reading words within or without context) would affect reading outcomes. Although the nature of the reading task affected the outcome in the Jenkins et al. …


A miniaturized biotelemetric device for the amperometric detection of brain tissue oxygen is presented. The new system, derived from a previous design, has been coupled with a carbon microsensor for the real-time detection of dissolved O(2) in the striatum of freely moving rats. The implantable device consists of a single-supply sensor driver, a current-to-voltage converter, a microcontroller, and a miniaturized data transmitter. The oxygen current is converted to a digital value by means of an analog-to-digital converter integrated in a peripheral interface controller (PIC). The digital data is sent to a personal computer using a six-byte packet protocol by means of a miniaturized 434 MHz amplitude modulation (AM) transmitter. The receiver unit is connected to a personal computer (PC) via a universal serial bus. Custom developed software allows the PC to store and plot received data. The electronics were calibrated and tested in vitro under different experimental conditions and exhibited high stability, low power consumption, and good linear response in the nanoampere current range. The in vivo results confirmed previously published observations on oxygen dynamics in the striatum of freely moving rats. The system serves as a rapid and reliable model for studying the effects of different drugs on brain oxygen and brain blood flow and it is suited to work with direct-reduction sensors or O(2)-consuming biosensors.


Abstract Robert Alexy is one of the most prominent proponents of proportionality in international legal scholarship. His theory has two dimensions. On the one hand, it is a normative defense of balancing. On the other hand, it seeks to provide a reconstruction of the case law of the German Federal Constitutional Court. This Article focuses on the reconstructive part of his theory. It argues that his reconstruction of the jurisprudence of the German Constitutional Court is only partly accurate. In particular, it does not provide a suitable reconstruction of the decisions in which the Court finds a statute to be inconsistent with the constitution. For this reason, the normative critique of Alexy's theory does not necessarily translate into a critique of the jurisprudence of the German Constitutional Court's application of proportionality or even the proportionality doctrine itself. Instead, it targets only one specific interpretation of proportionality.


Primary synovial sarcoma of lung is an extremely rare tumor. The etiology and pathogenesis of sarcomas lung are not well understood. A definitive diagnosis requires detailed radiological imaging, immunohistochemical staining and molecular genetics techniques. Histologically it was classified in to monophasic and biphasic synovial sarcoma. We reported a case of primary synovial sarcoma of lung presenting with hoarseness of voice, left side chest pain, cough and fever. Contrast enhanced computer tomography revealed a large homogeneous mass, occupying most of the left hemi thorax. Ultrasound (US) guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of lung revealed synovial sarcoma-monophasic type. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis revealed positive for bcl-2 and CD-99. Hence it was a complete left lung obstruction with Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of 3. Eventhough Surgical management is the primary option, due to high risk and poor performance score we have planned for 3 cycles of chemotherapy (Ifosphamide plus Adriamycin). Treatment response shows no response and progressive disease and furtherely trearted with supportive care.


The Computer Aided Manufacturing using XML (CAMX) framework enables integrating electronics production systems using message-oriented middleware, offering standards-based communication among machines and control software applications. CAMX frameworks implement publish/subscribe of XML messages through an entity called the message broker (MSB), which provides the messaging service using a web-based interface. A challenge for MSB-based systems is that they must scale to handle large volumes of messaging traffic, which is a characteristic of modern information-intensive manufacturing systems. This paper first tackles this challenge by presenting an array of architecture patterns for creating distributed MSB frameworks, focusing mainly on globally distributed federations and locally distributed clusters. A unified architecture is subsequently presented that leverages the different patterns by combining federated frameworks with locally distributed clusters into a unified set of architecture elements and interactions. A service-oriented approach is followed to provide a uniform interface for distributed MSB elements, whether federated or locally distributed. The service-oriented approach is also used to dynamically discover resources and automatically invoke the (re)configuration and messaging services. The services are enriched with semantics in order to facilitate automatic discovery and selection of services using the semantic web services formal ontology. Semantic service advertisements are propagated using a peer-to-peer discovery protocol. The approach presented in this paper is not limited to the CAMX case and is generally applicable to distributed event-based manufacturing systems


This study aimed to explore, on one side, the differences between a group of athletes exercising outdoor (OG) and another group exercising indoor (IG) in stress and awareness, and, on the other side, between-group differences in the fMRI activations during the visualization of natural environment images versus urban images. In addition, we aimed to analyze the associations between the resulting task-related brain activations and stress and attention-awareness in each group separately. All the participants (N = 49; OG = 21, 11 females, mean age = 40, SD = 6.49; and IG = 25, 11 females, mean age = 40; 6.19) underwent an fMRI scan and completed the Perceived Stress Scale and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Besides, we collected a sample of hair cortisol. Participants viewed three types of images: water nature, green nature and urban images. Two-sample t-test with corrected p=0.001 values were carried out. Further correlational analyses were performed to estimate the associations between task-related brain activations and our pyscho-emotional measures in each group. Fisher tests were used to explore for potential between-group differences in the correlational indexes. In OG, compared to IG, we found a higher activation of the middle occipital cortex and a cluster comprising the supplementary motor area (SMA), the premotor cortex and the pre-SMA while viewing green nature images versus urban images. In OG, more than in IG, the higher activation of the left SMA cluster negatively correlated with perceived stress, while in the IG, more than in OG, the higher premotor cortex activation was positively related to the total score on MAAS. No significant association was found with the hair cortisol levels. Exercising outdoor would relate to better psycho-emotional outcomes, also for athletes. On the other side, the exposition to green nature led to higher activation of brain areas related to motor planning, but also to emotion regulation and emotional response.


Background Malaria is a major problem which is serious in pregnancy. Pregnant women are more often exposed to malaria infection compared to non-pregnant women. The prevalence of malaria in pregnant women around the world is 10%–65%. In pregnancy malaria on the pregnant women are that it can cause anaemia, death, infant miscarriage, infant death, and low birth weight. The aim of this research was to describe the proportion of pregnant women with malaria and describe the influence of factors on high incidence areas and medium incidence areas in Nias district, Indonesia. Methods This research used a cross-sectional design with primer data. A sample was taken from pregnant women who had not taken anti-malaria medication with the last month. 440 pregnant women were sampled, 220 pregnant women in a medium incidence area and 220 in high incidence area. The sample was taken by multistage random sampling. Analyses were conducted to describe the proportion and determinant factors in each area. Research variables were malaria, gravity, parity, stage of pregnancy age, mother's age, occupation, knowledge about malaria, usage of insect killers and closed outpits. Results The proportion of pregnant women with malaria in the High Incidence Area (HIA) was 36.36% and Medium Incidence Area (MIA) 31.36% and HIA+MIA 33.86%. The proportion of pregnant women that had suffered a clinical symptom in the last month in HIA was 10.90% and in MIA 35.45%. Conclusion Factors determining malaria prevalence in pregnant women in HIA and MIA are gravity, knowledge, usage of insect killer and closed outpits. The importance of treatment and how to protect from malaria can be achieved by having a standard book on malaria, blood examination during antenatal care and health promotion.


Due to the particularity of the lattice geometry, intriguing electronic characteristics of Dirac cone and flat band can coexist in the two‐dimensional (2D) kagome lattice. The 2D kagome materials, therefore, have attracted tremendous attention, as a platform for studying the topological non‐trivial band structures and strong correlated phenomena. In this paper, the recent experimental progress on binary kagome metals Fe3Sn2, FeSn, CoSn, and Mn3Sn, mainly by the methods of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), and angle‐resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), are reviewed. In those compounds, the kagome layers give rise to the electronic structure of flat bands and Dirac cones, which induce a wide range of novel electron behaviors. Their exposed surface structure, electronic band structure, and topological properties are therefore highlighted, aiming at illustrating the determining role of their 2D kagome layers. In addition, the interplay between frustrated kagome geometry, frustrated magnetism, and topological magnetism, which brings new opportunities and broad prospects to the research of strongly correlated topological kagome magnetic materials, is introduced through reviewing recent experimental works by electronic and magnetic transport measurements.


Abstract Background and aims Children with autism spectrum condition often have specific difficulties understanding that pictorial symbols refer to real-world objects in the environment. We investigated the influence of labelling on the symbolic understanding and dual representation of children with autism spectrum condition. Methods Children with autism spectrum condition and typically developing children were shown four coloured photographs of objects that had different functions across four separate trials. The participants were given either a novel label alongside a description of the object's function or a description of the object's function without a label. Children were then given 30 seconds to interact with an array of stimuli (pictures and objects) in a mapping test and in a generalisation test for each trial. This exploration phase allowed for spontaneous word–picture–referent mapping through free-play, providing an implicit measure of symbolic understanding. Results We found no significant difference in word–picture–referent mapping between groups and conditions. Both groups more often performed the described action on the target object in the exploration phase regardless of condition. Conclusions and implications Our results suggest that a spontaneous measure of symbolic understanding (such as free-play) may reveal competencies in word–picture–referent mapping in autism spectrum condition.


We present a method for learning an embedding that places images of humans in similar poses nearby. This embedding can be used as a direct method of comparing images based on human pose, avoiding potential challenges of estimating body joint positions. Pose embedding learning is formulated under a triplet-based distance criterion. A deep architecture is used to allow learning of a representation capable of making distinctions between different poses. Experiments on human pose matching and retrieval from video data demonstrate the potential of the method.


The study deals with financing state expenditures and war economy of the Third Reich during the Second World War. Based on macroeconomic analysis of economic development in relation to the concept of total war, the changes in the German economy allowing Nazis' war efforts to continue are analyzed. The effect of replacing private interests with government goals manifested in volume and structure of household consumption and firms' investments, distorted industrial production and labour market, etc. The study points out changes in the development of financial (and partially nonfinancial) coverage of abnormally growing budgetary expenditures of central government after 1939. Special attention is paid to the analysis of financing war expenditures in Germany, including revenue from occupied territories and the role of the financial system. Especially, for more intensive debt financing was underway since the non-debt ways were not sufficient enough from 1943. An important finding, inter alia, is that growing government debt was for the most part covered from domestic sources, such as retracting savings from the financial system and excessive money creation. Within domestic economy the German government preferred "hidden" sources of funding over public issues of state bonds. On average, about a half of government outlays during the war were covered by non-debt resources – taxes, customs, or payments of occupational costs.


A strong d-orbital dependence in the scanning tunneling microscopy image of metal phthalocyanines is demonstrated. Unlike copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) wherein the central metal appears as a hole in the molecular image, the cobalt atom in CoPc is the highest point (about 0.3 nm) in the molecular image. On the other hand, the benzene ring regions of CoPc and CuPc appear to have the same height. These data are consistent with theoretical calculations that predict a large contribution of cobalt d-orbitals near the Fermi energy. An intriguing aspect of this work is that it may be possible to chemically identify the different metal phthalocyanines simply by their appearance. This is demonstrated for the case of a mixed monolayer of CuPc and CoPc on Au(111).


Objective Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Its increasing prevalence calls for novel biomarkers to identify underlying pathophysiological mechanisms as well as patients at risk. Methods Plasma samples from 1694 individuals from the Swedish population-based Malmö Preventive Project (mean age 69.5 years; 29.3% female; mean follow-up time 9.7±3.1 years) were analysed with the Olink proximity extension assay CVD III panel consisting of 92 proteins to identify proteins associated with incident AF or atrial flutter, referred to as incident AF. Incident cases of AF (n=278) were retrieved by linkage to the registers. Participants were followed until the first episode of AF or until censoring by death or emigration. Bonferroni-corrected multivariable Cox regression models adjusted for known risk factors were used to explore possible associations of the 92 proteins and incidence of AF. Results Multivariable Cox regression analyses of 11 proteins associated with incident AF (mean follow-up time 9.7±3.1 years) after Bonferroni correction confirmed N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (HR per 1 SD increment (95% CI) 1.80 (1.58 to 2.04); p=1.2×10−19) as risk marker of incident AF. Further, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (1.22 (1.07 to 1.39); p=0.002) and osteopontin (1.27 (1.12 to 1.44); p=2.7×10−4) were associated with incident AF at follow-up independently of traditional risk markers and NT-proBNP. Conclusion In a general Swedish population, we confirmed the well-known association of NT-proBNP with incident AF and also identified matrix metalloproteinase-2 and osteopontin as novel risk markers for incident AF, independently of traditional risk factors and NT-proBNP.


There is an increasing interest in research on internal marketing in the marketing services literature. This has arisen largely from the suggestion that internal marketing
contributes to services companies' success through its role in developing customer orientation among employees, leading to a consistently high level of customer service quality. Most research on internal marketing has however been conducted in large firms and consequently research in this field in small firms is scarce. Specifically, research on internal marketing in small insurance brokers has been
limited despite the significance of the insurance sector to the UK economy as a source of both employment and income. The literature review concludes that small insurance brokers are being squeezed out of the market due to the challenging nature of the insurance market. This thesis investigates the understanding and use of internal marketing in small insurance brokers in the UK and its role in developing customer orientation among employees. A qualitative research approach was used to collect data from managers and employees within small insurance brokers in the UK. More specifically, a series of semi-structured interviews was conducted to find out how the terms internal marketing and customer orientation were understood and to
explore internal marketing activities and the extent to which it has been used to develop customer orientation among employees. This research contributes to knowledge on internal marketing by identifying: the impact of broker size on the formality of its application; the differences between employees and managers with respect to their understanding of the term; the differences between commercial and personal-insurance with regard to their
awareness of the role of internal marketing in developing customer orientation among employees; and the impact of an external factor (the FSA) on the manner of its adoption. The research findings indicated: that there is a lack of understanding of the concept of internal marketing within small insurance brokers; that it is used informally, except for employee training which has been introduced to satisfy the FSA regulations; that there are some linkages between the elements of internal marketing; and that small insurance brokers lack awareness of its role in developing
customer orientation among employees.


This thesis proposes five conceptual headings through which to perceive the
city. They are: City as History, Spectacle, A Work of Art, Corporate Image, and
Home. Each heading is a complete concept on one level and the part of a greater
concept on another. A number of celebrity cities (e.g. London, Paris, New York, Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, etc.) are considered at each of the headings in turn.
A city is the spatial embodiment of memory and modernity. Memory and
modernity are multi-facaded within a totality. Each of the five conceptions reflects
one facade and their juxtaposition provides meanings to each other. A good city can
embrace parts of the five conceptions; whereas an ideal city must achieve an
equilibrium of them all. The second part of the thesis, The Phenomenology of A
City, examines the urban experience and consciousness of citizens, through the gaze
of four representational figures of the modern city (the shopper, flaneur, stranger, and
transgressor). Finally, the theories were applied to an exceptional modern city, Hong
Kong, in which the identity and image of the city is evaluated and explored. It is
worth noting that this thesis, if not the first, will be one of the few to analyse the city
of Hong Kong from an aesthetic and historical dimension.
The modern city is too gigantic and erratic to grasp completely. This thesis,
however, approaches it from these several historical and aesthetic viewpoints. It
seeks to capture the urban experience of ordinary people with a poetic lens, and
through which one glimpses what is it to experience (a very problematic word in this
thesis) the modern city.