The project shows the Korean shamans of the North Korean Hwanghaedo tradition in liminal moments. These are periods in which they experience ecstasy and trance because they seek contact with spiritual entities or are possessed by gods, spirits, or ancestors. They are in an intermediate position "betwixt and between" that is very difficult to describe and is in fact experienced in a manifold of ways. The shamans that came as refugees after the Korea war imported the Hwanghaedo tradition from North Korea to South Korea. The ecstatic and wild ritual practice survived in South Korea because many refugees perceived this tradition as part of their culture and identity. Among the several regional shamanism traditions practiced in South Korea today, Hwanghaedo shamanism is widely acknowledged as the one that retains the magio-religious traits that are the spiritual essence of Korean shamanism's belief and practice.


Abstract After de novo synthesis of lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMPs), they are sorted in the trans-Golgi network (TGN) for delivery to lysosomes. Opposing views prevail on whether LAMPs are targeted to lysosomes directly, or indirectly via prelysosomal stages of the endocytic pathway, in particular early endosomes. Conflicting evidence is based on kinetic measurements with too limited quantitative data for sufficient temporal and organellar resolution. Using cells of the mouse macrophage cell line, P338D1, this study presents detailed kinetic data that describe the extent of, and time course for, the appearance of newly-synthesized LAMP-1 in organelles of the endocytic pathway, which had been loaded selectively with horse-radish peroxidase (HRP) by appropriate periods of endocytosis. After a 5-min pulse of metabolic labelling, LAMP-1 was trapped in the respective organelles by HRP-catalyzed crosslinking with membrane-permeable diaminobenzidine (DAB). These kinetic observations provide sufficient quantitative evidence that in P338D1 cells the bulk of newly-synthesized endogenous LAMP-1 first appeared in early endosomes, before it was delivered to late endosomes and lysosomes about 25 min later.


Apart from plain X-rays of the orbit, the principal radiological methods of examination of exophthalmos are: orbital phlebography, carotid arteriography and, recently, computer tomography. The value of each of these methods is discussed with reference to four patients suffering from exophthalmos of varying aetiology. Computer tomography supplies the most comprehensive information on localization and extent of retro-orbital processes as causes of exophthalmos. Phlebography would seem to be the method of choice in demonstrating processes close to the osseous boundaries of the orbit. Information on the aetiology of retro-orbital processes is rarely obtained by radiological methods. In this respect carotid arteriography would seem to make the most important contribution.


Given a linear continuous-time infinite-dimensional plant on a Hilbert space and persistent disturbances of known waveform but unknown amplitude and phase, we show that there exists a stabilizing direct model reference adaptive control law with disturbance rejection and robustness properties. The plant is described by a closed, densely defined linear operator that generates a continuous semigroup of bounded operators on the Hilbert space of states. There is no state or disturbance estimation used in this adaptive approach. Our results are illustrated by adaptive control of general linear diffusion systems.


Background Gastroprotective agents are widely used in both hospital and community settings, and they are generally perceived as safe drugs. Purpose To find out whether the prescription of anti-ulcer drugs in the Emergency Room (ER) accords with their approved indications, and the financial impact of their inappropriate use. Materials and Methods Indications for use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and H2 antagonists (via the Spanish Medicines Agency): gastro-duodenal ulcers (including NSAIDs and steroid-related ulcers), reflux oesophagitis, Zollinger-Ellison's syndrome, and Helicobacter pylori eradication. Inclusion criteria: patients >65 years old on at least four home medicines and an anti-ulcer prescription in the ER. Pharmaceutical interventions were recorded and their degree of acceptance calculated. The cost resulting from drug misuse was calculated considering a mean stay in the unit of one day. Results 111 patients, 70.2% male, median age 78.9 years-old [65–94]. 94.6% of patients (92.9% PPI, 1.7% H2 antagonists) received one of these agents upon presentation (95.5% of them were prescribed de novo), with intravenous pantoprazole the agent mainly involved (82% of cases). 29.7% of prescriptions did not meet the indications, while this percentage decreased to 12.5% upon ward admission. The pharmaceutical interventions were accepted in 16.2% of cases. Monthly, the estimated cost of the off-label use was €1850. Conclusions Gastro-protection in the ER did not meet the criteria in nearly 1/3 of patients. This contrasted with the poor acceptance of the pharmaceutical recommendations of discontinuation. The rationale might be the so-perceived harmless profile of these drugs with the short-term use. The rate of off-label prescriptions dropped to half upon ward admission, likely due to thorough revision by the prescriber. Since only patients at a higher risk of suffering from a medicines-related problem were included, the cost resulting from the misuse of anti-ulcer drugs was probably underestimated. In conclusion, forthcoming pharmacy policies should focus on improving the adherence to the indications of both widely-used and expensive drugs, given their financial and health-care impact. No conflict of interest.


Introduction: Dietary calcium intake is important in body system regulation. Inadequate intake among elderly may lead to various health issues such as osteoporosis and hip fracture. In order to encounter the problem, this study was done to identify dietary calcium intake among elderly in Kuantan, Pahang. Methods: A face to face session was done individually with seventy-nine elderly people aged ≥60 years to collect data on sociodemographic background, health status and dietary intake. Diet history method was used to obtain information related to dietary intake and analyzed using Nutritionist Pro Software. P-value was set at p<0.05 as statistically significant. Results: Almost all elderly subjects had dietary calcium intake lower than recommendation, which was 92.4%, and only 7.6% of total elderly met the recommended intake. This study found that the mean dietary calcium intake was 421.65 + 344.32 mg/day which is lower than Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNI) for Malaysian. Mean calcium intake was significantly lower than RNI in both gender (p<0.001). The difference of calcium intake between male and female elderly was not significant; with mean dietary calcium intake for male and female were 414.16 + 344.31 mg/day and 426.00 + 347.75 mg/day, respectively. From the analysis, dietary calcium intake in elderly from non-dairy sources (228.36 + 149.30 mg) is higher than dairy sources (187.94 + 323.49 mg). Conclusions: In conclusion, inadequate dietary calcium is an issue among elderly people in Kuantan which may lead to several health problems. Hence, appropriate strategies need to be taken in order to ensure optimum nutritional status among this at risk population.
KEYWORDS:   Elderly, Calcium intake, Nutrient, Dietary intake


The finding by scientists at Hoffmann-La Roche that cis-imidazolines could disrupt the protein–protein interaction between p53 and MDM2, thereby inducing apoptosis in cancer cells, raised considerable interest in this scaffold over the past decade. Initial routes to these small molecules (i.e., Nutlin-3) provided only the racemic form, with enantiomers being enriched by chromatographic separation using high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) and a chiral stationary phase. Reported here is the first application of an enantioselective aza-Henry approach to nonsymmetric cis-stilbene diamines and cis-imidazolines. Two novel mono(amidine) organocatalysts (MAM) were discovered to provide high levels of enantioselection (>95% ee) across a broad range of substrate combinations. Furthermore, the versatility of the aza-Henry strategy for preparing nonsymmetric cis-imidazolines is illustrated by a comparison of the roles of aryl nitromethane and aryl aldimine in the key step, which revealed unique substrate electronic effects providing direction for aza-Henry substrate–catalyst matching. This method was used to prepare highly substituted cis-4,5-diaryl imidazolines that project unique aromatic rings, and these were evaluated for MDM2-p53 inhibition in a fluorescence polarization assay. The diversification of access to cis-stilbene diamine-derived imidazolines provided by this platform should streamline their further development as chemical tools for disrupting protein–protein interactions.


Objective: To provide the collected evidence from all literature reports. Background: Vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is a rare connective tissue disorder with serious hemorrhagic consequences. Most experience on treatment is based on case reports and small case series. Method: A systematic literature review was performed. PubMed and reference lists were scrutinized. Results: A total of 231 patients were identified with no gender preponderance. Aneurysms were present in 40%, often multiple. In 33%, there was an arterial rupture without an underlying aneurysm. Carotidocavernous fistula was seen in 18%. After open surgery the mortality was 30%; after endovascular procedures, it was 24%; in a group of miscellaneous cases, it was 60%; and the overall mortality was 39%. The median age of patients at death was 31 years. The median follow-up time was 12 months (5 days–7 years), but in 20% cases, it was not reported. In only 29 of the 119 recent patients (24%) the mutation was verified with molecular genetic testing. Conclusions: Vascular EDS is a serious disorder with high mortality, which does not seem to have been influenced by new treatment methods. Invasive methods should be used only when necessary, primarily to save the patients' life. Whenever possible, the genetic molecular defect should be identified. The results of this review may be affected by publications bias. Ideally, a prospective registry should be created.


By means of the Pettersson scoring system, the degree of severity of haemophilic arthropathy in 128 knee, elbow and ankle joints was estimated by 5 radiologists. Their scores varied on average by approximately 3 points. Minimal and maximal joint involvement were scored consistently; exclusion of haemophilic arthropathy was possible with the highest degree of certainty. With regard to changes of a moderate degree agreement was seldom reached. With precisely defined characteristics, a high degree of consistency between observers was evident. Interobserver variation in the scoring was more marked in the ankle joint than in the other joints. Scoring was more consistent with the more experienced observers.


User interfaces which adapt to user tasks, behavior and preferences are expected to be better than non-adaptive interfaces. However, so far few data is available to quantify the effect adaptivity has on usability and user experience. In this paper, we analyze this effect for a professional geographic information system. In a closed-group between-subject experimental design with expert users, we compared an adaptive and a non-adaptive version of the system with respect to effectiveness, efficiency, and attractiveness. The results show that a smart adaptation of the information presentation can increase effectiveness and efficiency as measures of usability, but did not significantly affect user experience.


Glioblastoma (GBM), a highly lethal form of adult malignant gliomas with little clinical advancement, raises the need for alternative therapeutic approaches. Lipid-soluble vitamins have gained attention in malignant brain tumors owing to their pleiotropic properties and their anti-cancer potential have been reported in a number of human GBM cell lines. The aim of this paper is to systematically review and describe the roles of various biomarkers regulated by lipid-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, in the pathophysiology of GBM. Briefly, research articles published between 2005 and 2021 were systematically searched and selected from five databases (Scopus, PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE via Ovid, and Web of Science) based on the study's inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, a number of hand-searched research articles identified from Google Scholar were also included for the analysis. A total of 40 differentially expressed biomarkers were identified from the 19 eligible studies. The results from the analysis suggest that retinoids activate cell differentiation and suppress the biomarkers responsible for stemness in human GBM cells. Vitamin D appears to preferentially modulate several cell cycle biomarkers, while vitamin E derivatives seem to predominantly modulate biomarkers related to apoptosis. However, vitamin K1 did not appear to induce any significant changes to the Raf/MEK/ERK signaling or apoptotic pathways in human GBM cell lines. From the systematic analysis, 12 biomarkers were identified that may be of interest for further studies, as these were modulated by one or two of these lipid-soluble vitamins.


A novel visual psychophysical technique has been developed and validated. The technique allowed the development of the 'EMAIL' (Eye Movement and Integrated Latency) test which has been optimised and used extensively in this thesis. This technique allows the measurement of eye movement response latencies and visual processing times, without the use of eye-tracking. The computed value produced by the test - labelled as ISL (Integrated Saccade Latency) - captures the overall time the subject requires to compute and generate an appropriate eye movement response and to process a specific stimulus attribute at the end of each saccade. In addition, the EMAIL test also measures the subject's decision response time (DRT). The latter is largely a measure of the motor response and indicates the time the subject needs to press the appropriate response button. To account for all the parameters that make up the ISL and to validate the EMAIL test as an effective visual psychophysical technique, three studies have been designed and carried out to answer the following questions: 1. Can a psychophysical test designed to measure the overall time subjects need to execute the eye movement and to perform a visual task at the end of each saccade be used as a viable testing procedure to assess saccadic response latencies and visual processing times?

2. Can the EMAIL test capture the known asymmetries that exist between the horizontal and vertical saccadic eye movements through ISLs?

3. Can the EMAIL test capture reliably the effects of aging associated with saccadic eye movements?
 In the first study, the eye tracking equipment in conjugation with the EMAIL test, was used to determine the value of each component that makes up the ISL time. The latter also includes the post saccadic visual processing time (VPT). This set up makes it possible to test the hypothesis that VPT, when saccades are involved, are longer than those measured with identical stimuli in the absence of eye movements. The experiments carried out confirm this to be the case. I therefore proposed a second hypothesis to account for the extended VPTs. I hypothesise that the extended VPTs measured in this study can be attributed to instabilities of the eyeball or / and fixation errors. The experimental results confirm my hypothesis by demonstrating clearly that instabilities of the eyeball cause increased VPTs for small saccades as well as fixation errors which also contribute to the increased VPTs, particularly for large saccade amplitudes.
 The second study aimed to test the hypothesis that the known vertical versus horizontal directional asymmetries in eye movement responses affect the measured ISL responses. By presenting the visual target along different meridians at specific locations in the visual field, the directional asymmetries in eye movement responses were investigated to test this hypothesis. The results demonstrate clearly that ISL responses reveal the expected directional asymmetries with saccades along the horizontal meridian being faster than those measured along the vertical meridian.
The last study investigates the effects of age on oculomotor and decision response times. Since brain structures change significantly during both developmental and degenerative stages and such changes have been shown to translate into behavioural responses, it is reasonable to test the hypothesis that both ISL and in particular DRT, are also affected by age. The experimental findings show that the EMAIL test captures reliably the expected changes in both oculomotor and decision response times. The results of the last study show that both ISL and DRT times increase non-linearly with age, a finding consistent with earlier reports from eye-movement and reaction time studies.


In the film "Bridge of Spies," Tom Hanks plays James Donovan, a 1950s New York City lawyer who represented insurance companies.In 1957, Donovan also began to represent Rudolf Abel, whom the United States had arrested and charged with being a Soviet spy. Donovan represented Abel at trial and on appeal, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, all without success, except for persuading the trial judge not to sentence Abel to death.In 1962, Donovan, working closely with senior U.S. government officials, exchanged Abel on an East Berlin bridge for Francis Gary Powers, a U.S. spy plane pilot who had been shot down, captured, tried and convicted by the U.S.S.R. This essay sets forth some of Jim Donovan's life and very relevant qualifications for his roles in these Cold War events. During World War II, Donovan was general counsel of the U.S. wartime intelligence agency, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Later in 1945, he was a senior, very significant member of Justice Robert H. Jackson's U.S. team prosecuting Nazi war criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg. Donovan headed the prosecution team that prepared photographic evidence for the trial. Before the IMT, he introduced film evidence of Nazi concentration camps, the Nazi rise to government power in Germany and then aggressive war making, and Gestapo extermination of a Jewish ghetto.This essay originally was an email to The Jackson List. It now is one of many dozens of essays on The Jackson List archive site.


This study aimed to investigate the effects of supportive leadership and psychosocial safety climate on personal hope and resilience among nurses during the pandemic. Conservation of resource theory was employed to explain the effects of psychosocial safety climate and supportive leadership on nurses' hope and resilience. A cross-sectional design was employed to collect data. 623 nurses across 68 hospitals who were in direct contact with COVID-19 patients during the fifth wave of the pandemic in Iran were recruited. Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) and Structural Equation Modelling using Amos were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that both psychosocial safety climate and supportive leadership improved personal resilience through personal hope. Findings showed that the positive relationship between supportive leadership and personal hope was stronger when the hospital-level psychosocial safety climate was high. To improve personal hope and resilience among nurses during critical times, hospital management must ensure consistent supportive leadership and establish policies, practices and procedures that support nurses' psychosocial health and safety at the hospital level. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


PURPOSE
The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf width on treatment adaptation and delivery accuracy for concurrent treatment of the prostate and pelvic lymph nodes with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

METHODS
Seventy-five kilovoltage cone beam CTs (KV-CBCT) from six patients were included for this retrospective study. For each patient, three different IMRT plans were created based on a planning CT using three different MLC leaf widths of 2.5, 5, and 10 mm, respectively. For each CBCT, the prostate displacement was determined by a dual image registration. Adaptive plans were created by shifting selected MLC leaf pairs to compensate for daily prostate movements. To evaluate the impact of MLC leaf width on the adaptive plan for each daily CBCT, three MLC shifted plans were created using three different leaf widths of MLCs (a total of 225 adaptive treatment plans). Selective dosimetric endpoints for the tumor volumes and organs at risk (OARs) were evaluated for these adaptive plans. Using the planning CT from a selected patient, MLC shifted plans for three hypothetical longitudinal shifts of 2, 4, and 8 mm were delivered on the three linear accelerators to test the deliverability of the shifted plans and to compare the dose accuracy of the shifted plans with the original IMRT plans.

RESULTS
Adaptive plans from 2.5 and 5 mm MLCs had inadequate dose coverage to the prostate (D99 < 97%, or D(mean) < 99% of the planned dose) in 6%-8% of the fractions, while adaptive plans from 10 mm MLC led to inadequate dose coverage to the prostate in 25.3% of the fractions. The average V56Gy of the prostate over the six patients was improved by 6.4% (1.6%-32.7%) and 5.8% (1.5%-35.7%) with adaptive plans from 2.5 and 5 mm MLCs, respectively, when compared with adaptive plans from 10 mm MLC. Pelvic lymph nodes were well covered for all MLC adaptive plans, as small differences were observed for D99, D(mean), and V(50.4Gy). Similar OAR sparing could be achieved for the bladder and rectum with all three MLCs for treatment adaptation. The MLC shifted plans can be accurately delivered on all three linear accelerators with accuracy similar to their original IMRT plans, where gamma (3%∕3 mm) passing rates were 99.6%, 93.0%, and 92.1% for 2.5, 5, and 10 mm MLCs, respectively. The percentages of pixels with dose differences between the measurement and calculation being less than 3% of the maximum dose were 85.9%, 82.5%, and 70.5% for the original IMRT plans from the three MLCs, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Dosimetric advantages associated with smaller MLC leaves were observed in terms of the coverage to the prostate, when the treatment was adapted to account for daily prostate movement for concurrent irradiation of the prostate and pelvic lymph nodes. The benefit of switching the MLC from 10 to 5 mm was significant (p ≪ 0.01); however, switching the MLC from 5 to 2.5 mm would not gain significant (p = 0.15) improvement. IMRT plans with smaller MLC leaf widths achieved more accurate dose delivery.


Health inequalities persist despite decades of effort to reduce them. Faced with a reduction in public spending, contraction of the welfare state, and rising inequality it is likely that health inequalities will increase for years to come. A better understanding of health resilience, which areas and individuals are resilient, and what factors might 'protect' their health outcomes might help develop policies to break down the link between disadvantage and health.

This research contributes to the understanding of health resilience in the case study area of Doncaster, South Yorkshire. As a former mining town, Doncaster is exposed to significant economic disadvantage reflected in many settlements across the North East, North West, Midlands, and South Wales. Previous geographical research into health resilience has been limited either to small–area information with basic health outcomes, or more sophisticated measures of health outcomes but geographically aggregated to large regions. Using spatial microsimulation, I present the
first estimate of health resilience at the small–area level using measures of health previously inaccessible to researchers.

This is complemented by a systematic scoping literature review of measures hypothesised to affect health resilience. I simulate a broad range of these alongside clinical depression and income to explore a more comprehensive range of factors than have previously been possible. This includes small–area and individual–level factors, which are difficult to separate.

I conclude by comparing geographical proximity of a number of health amenities to resilient and non–resilient areas in Doncaster, and by evaluating local and national policies such as Universal Credit and their likely effect on the residents of Doncaster and their resilience.


Measures to improve the cycling performance and stability of bulk-type all-solid-state batteries (SSBs) are currently being developed with the goal of substituting conventional Li-ion battery (LIB) technology. As known from liquid electrolyte based LIBs, layered oxide cathode materials undergo volume changes upon (de)lithiation, causing mechanical degradation due to particle fracture, among others. Unlike solid electrolytes, liquid electrolytes are somewhat capable of accommodating morphological changes. In SSBs, the rigidity of the materials used typically leads to adverse contact loss at the interfaces of cathode material and solid electrolyte during cycling. Hence, designing zero- or low-strain electrode materials for application in next-generation SSBs is desirable. In the present work, we report on novel Co-rich NCMs, NCM361 (60% Co) and NCM271 (70% Co), showing minor volume changes up to 4.5 V vs Li+/Li, as determined by operando X-ray diffraction and pressure measurements of LIB pouch and pelletized SSB cells, respectively. Both cathode materials exhibit good cycling performance when incorporated into SSB cells using argyrodite Li6PS5Cl solid electrolyte, albeit their morphology and secondary particle size have not yet been optimized.


Background: The vertebral column in general is made up of 33 vertebrae of different shape and size, although all of which share typical features. There are 7 cervical,        12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral  vertebrae that fuse into one at the age of about 20 years, and 4 coccygeal vertebrae that become one piece at middle age. The study of human skeletons in the Gross Anatomy Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University from 1975 to 2004 totalled 480 skeletons which we found a case with 6 lumbar vertebrae. The first and the sixth presented anatomical variations from the typical and normal lumbar vertebrae. We are interested in reporting the case that has never been reported in Thai. Objectives : To study anatomy of the six lumbar vertebrae in Thai skeletons. To study the articulation between the sixth lumbar vertebra and sacrum. Results : The skeleton of a 57 year old male presents anatomical variations of  lumbar vertebrae. He has six, in contrast to normal five lumbar vertebrae whereas the other levels are normally, 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 1 sacral and 1 coccygeal vertebrae. The first lumbar vertebra is obviously differently from others in that its transverse processes are short and articulated with the malformed ribs. The pair of this malformed ribs is the 13 th , an extra pair additional to the normal 12 pairs. The right one is 4 centimeters long while the left is 3.5 centimeters. Additional malformed of pair of ribs in this case made 3 pairs of floating ribs. Anatomy of the second to fifth lumbar vertebrae are similar to the typical lumbar vertebrae. The sixth lumbar vertebra situated below the fifth and articulated to the first sacral vertebra. Although in general the body of the sixth lumbar vertebra configuration is similar to the other lumbar vertebrae but its spinous process projected posterior, is short with a shape of plump ridge. The left transverse process is slender and longer than the right transverse process. The upper border of the body that is articulated to the intervertebral disc below the fifth lumbar vertebra is rough and extended around its rim. The lower border that articulated to the sacrum has a smoother surface than the upper. The inferior surface of the both transverse processes are the extended tubercles that projected downward anteriorly and articulate to the upper surface of ala of sacrum completely. The inferior articular process on inferior surface of both transverse processes were seen but the processes looked very small and short with tubercles that articulated to the small and short superior articular processes of the sacrum. Conclusion : The sixth lumbar vertebra is the anomaly of the skeletal system that found in our study. This abnormality can be ascribed to the over-splitting of the embryonic somite and the subsequently complicated development process starting from the cellular level up to the naked eye observation. This is the first report on sixth lumbar vertebra in 480 skeletons. The incidence of this anomaly in Thai should be further researched.


In the past few years, tomography has emerged as an indispensable tool to characterize and quantify the microstructural parameters of porous media, including lithium ion battery electrodes and separators, fuel cell parts, and supercapacitor electrodes, as well as electrolysis diaphragms. However, tomographic data often suffer from low image contrast between the pore space and the solid phase. As a result, data binarization is error-prone, which translates into uncertainties in the calculated parameters, such as porosity, tortuosity, or specific surface area. We systematically investigate this error propagation on a set of seven commercial negative lithium ion battery electrodes imaged with X-ray tomographic microscopy, and find that, for low porosity electrodes, the selection of binarization criteria can lead to uncertainties in the calculated tortuosity exceeding a factor of two. Our analysis shows that Otsu's interclass variance, which can be determined from a simple and computationally cheap analysis of the histogram of gray values, is a good predictive indicator of the expected uncertainty in the microstructural characteristics.


Intermedial interaction among various media or sign systems has always existed in most cultures, but since performance art is a relatively new phenomenon,this chapter focuses on the relationship between intermediality and performance art. With the increasingly frequent use of sophisticated digital technologies in multimedia performance, the question regarding what happens when several media interact in performance art has become a pressing one. What is the relationship between intermediality, performance and performativity in multimedia art forms? How does the sense of openness and of unravelling of the source or pre-text translate into the intermedial adaptation that a performance involves? This chapter discusses issues of semiotics, performativity and self-reference in relation to intermediality. For its application of these theoretical concerns, it will use Laurie Anderson, the American performance artist, whose large and complex multimedia productions have not only revolutionised the art form, but also offer interesting insights into the adaptation of the intersection of narrative, visual, musical and gestural source texts mediated by new technologies and the performing arts. In particular, Anderson's performance "O Superman" from her groundbreaking performance United States (1980) will allow us to discuss the close relationship between intermediality and performance art. Key Terms: Intermediality, performance art, performativity, self-reference, self-reflexivity,multimedia, Laurie Anderson


YOUTH WORK as a distinctive process-led, young person-centred educational practice has been on the wane for at least two decades (Davies, 2008; Jeffs and Smith, 2008; IDYW, 2009). Its open, improvisatory and unpredictable character has not fitted well with an increasingly instrumental and behavioural neo-liberal agenda. As youth work has declined, other forms of work with young people have risen in prominence, particularly those favouring structured and targeted approaches based on prescribed outcomes. By and large these behavioural modification schemes have hesitated to give themselves an identity, preferring the pretence of still defining themselves as youth work. In the emergence of this array of interventions intent on regulating young people's lives (Taylor and Taylor, 2010), relatively few writers have drawn attention to the significance of the technocratic 'youth development' model.

Given this silence we welcomed the appearance earlier this year of an article, 'Non-formal youth development and its impact on young people's lives: Case study – Brathay Trust, UK', written by Karen Stuart and Lucy Maynard (2015) and published in the Italian Journal of Sociology of Education. However, we found ourselves so perplexed by its argument that we have produced a trio of critical articles as a collective response. These are prompted by their account of 'how the [Brathay] Trust has developed a robust theoretical framework to underpin a non-formal youth development approach' (Stuart and Maynard, 2015: 231) which reignites what are, for us, important debates on three contested areas of practice with young people: informal education; youth work; and youth development.

Obviously, we would urge you to read Stuart and Maynard's piece in full, but our interpretations of its main assertions are as follows:
• Rooted in non-formal learning and education, youth development is a structured and planned intervention into young people's lives with identified and intended measurable outcomes. It can be shown to be robust and rigorous in both theory and practice.
• Rooted in informal learning and education, youth work is no more than unintentional learning, having little need for an educator or for preparation. Given a failure to evidence achievement, youth work is less than robust and less than rigorous.
• Against this backdrop, it is clear that in the present climate youth development richly deserves further research and development as the way forward for work with young people.

In the following articles we take up these assertions critically, but with a desire to open up dialogue rather than shut it down. Firstly, Tony Taylor offers some overall context on the youth development versus youth work debate and questions Stuart and Maynard's claim that youth development is robust and rigorous, suggesting it is as much riddled with contradiction as the youth work it seeks to surpass. Secondly, from a theoretical perspective, Naomi Thompson explores Stuart and Maynard's misunderstanding of what constitutes informal learning, informal education and youth work. Finally, through a detailed interrogation of an example from practice, Bernard Davies offers evidence on the centrality and impact of the purposeful, reflective youth worker – in direct contrast to Stuart and Maynard's dismissal of the youth work role and process.


Background: The maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Indonesia is still high with 90% occured during labor and after delivery. In 2007–2009 MMR in the District of North Gorontalo is higher than the national. Efforts in order to decrease maternal mortality, especially in the antenatal phase had been formally conducted by health professionals in the form of promotion. There is effort that can be done traditionally by local cultural approach particularly in Gorontalo Province known as the ceremomial Molontalo. Molontalo is a statement from the husband's family that first pregnancy is fulfilled expectations will be a continuation derived from legal marriage. The purpose of the research was to increase the hulango (village shaman) and hatibi's (village priest) knowledge of MCH as community and religious leaders through traditional ceremonies Molontalo so the pregnant women can visit the health care workers and facilities. Methods: Operational research, which begins with the intervention, data collection, analyzed the objects, the situation that described descriptively. Results: Pre-test of the hatibi and hulango knowledge on MCH programs were low, but there was improvement in post-test. Furthermore, the hulango and hatibi, in terms of delivery MCH messages to the pregnant women could be maintained by the health workers, so they could involved in the health sector, especially for MCH program. The performanced of the hulango for delivering MCH message was good and the hatibi as well. However, there were need to be regularly improved the MCH program related to any Molontalo ceremonial activities. Conclusion: This ceremony may facilitate the delivery of MCH program especially in promotion stage. This activity was expected to decrease the maternal mortality rate. Recommendation: Evaluation needs to be done for the communities' understanding of Molontalo ceremony in order to recognize the level of understanding of the MCH program. Each ceremony is expected to be conducted continuously and consistently in order to deliver the MCH program messages.


College Teachers are the most important group of professionals for our nation's future. Therefore, it is astonishing to know that even today many of the college teachers are dissatisfied with their jobs. Job satisfaction among college teachers is good not only for themselves but society as a whole. It increases productivity and classroom performance in the college. Wellbeing of any society depends upon the role played by the teacher. Teachers are the source of guidance in all the crucial steps in the academic life of the students. When teachers are satisfied with their job they can perform their responsibilities with more concentration and devotion. For the same reason a study was undertaken to identify the factors which impact the level of satisfaction of college teachers in Jammu & Kashmir. The data used in this paper is primary in nature and collected through personal interviews in the form of questionnaire from a sample of 98 college teachers selected from the five Government Colleges of Jammu. Two types of statistical tools are used in the present study for analysis 1) percentage analysis 2) chi-square analysis. Research shows that female college teachers are more satisfied with their job than male teachers and income per annum is an important factor impacting the level of job satisfaction.


The Fort of Borj El Loutani is part of an architectural complex of three Ottoman fortresses and an old harbour with arsenal dating back to the 17th century. It is located in Ghar El Melh (60 km from Tunis), on the north-western side of the Gulf of Tunis, on the shore of the lagoon with the same name. The conformation of this coastal land has historically resulted in its use as a strategic site for many civilisations that found in this place a safe refuge—one that is very defensible and away from immediate attacks by sea. The Fort was built by the Ottomans in 1659 and was used as a military base by an artillery division and as a prison. Over time, the Fort has undergone significant transformations and in 1922 was finally listed as a Tunisian Historic Monument. In 1964, the prison was closed, and, in 1990, the Tunisian government launched a restoration and enhancement project for this site. An interpretation centre was the first modern initiative implemented in 2013. This centre is devoted to Tunisian Wetlands. This work intends to demonstrate the importance of using these relevant monuments to allocate educational facilities in order to guarantee their maintenance and, thus, to highlight the social dimension of the heritage.


Introduction: Induction of Community Health Workers (CHWs) into various health programs is considered as an integral strategy to achieve universal health coverage. Thus, it is prudent to explore and understand the CHWs individual and the system level interactions and their further translation into performance and actionable domains. Objective: To quantify the relationship structure between envisioned competencies and CHW performance with factors operating at individual and the immediate system level as effect modifiers. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done in primary rural health care settings of Madhya Pradesh state in Central India. CHWs were stratified as relatively low performing (RLP) and relatively high performing (RHP) based on their annual performance-based incentives for the year (April 2017- March 2018). CHWs were administered a self-reported questionnaire that included socio demographic details, knowledge, skills assessment and availability of logistics. Results: Among the 90 eligible CHWs, 31 RLP and 30 RHP CHWs were interviewed. The CHWs performance was found to be significantly associated with age, education, caste, presence of under 5 children, knowledge and competency scores. However, while adjusting for the confounders only age and educational status were found to be significant. Further cluster analysis revealed two clusters based on individual and system characteristics which was found to influence the CHWs performance. Conclusion: The relationship between the CHWs truest competencies and performance based incentivisation tends to have been influenced by age and education which could help in developing a more focused supportive supervision catering to their needs. Keywords: community health worker, performance, health system, competency.


The Extended Web Assessment Method (EWAM) is an evaluation tool specifically created for the assessment of electronic commerce applications. One of the oldest evaluation methods of its kind, EWAM has been revised and improved over the years. The method is based on an evaluation grid that includes a set of criteria with which to appraise the quality and success of e-commerce applications. The focus is on consumer perspectives and the specific features of the Internet as a medium. In this paper, we used the EWAM tool for the comparative analysis of Australian and Swiss Web sites in the retail sector, more specifically for the evaluation of e-shops whose main business is selling books. The findings show that most of the Web sites assessed do not fully meet the expectations of consumers. Uwe Leimstoll, Sherah Kurnia, Petra Schubert


The Adaatsag ophiolite in eastern Mongolia is situated in the Mongol–Okhotsk suture zone, which extends from central Mongolia through Transbaikalia to the Sea of Okhotsk and separates the Siberian and Amurian (Mongolian) plates. The ophiolite sequence passes upwards from serpentinite mélange and serpentinized dunite and harzburgite, through layered gabbro (with leucogabbro pegmatite dykes), wehrlite and clinopyroxenite, to isotropic gabbro and leucogabbro, sheeted mafic dykes, and olivine-rich basaltic lavas, overlain by red chert and meta-clastic sediments. A single-zircon mean 207Pb/206Pb evaporation age of 325.4 ± 1.1 Ma for a leucogabbro pegmatite dyke records the time of igneous crystallization of the plutonic suite, and thus the time of formation of oceanic crust in the Mongol–Okhotsk ocean that gave rise to the ophiolite. A U–Pb secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) and evaporation zircon age of 172 Ma for a mylonitized granite provides a maximum age for the left-lateral Muron shear zone, which occurs close to the left-lateral Mongol–Okhotsk suture, and indicates that the suture in eastern Mongolia formed at least by the mid-Jurassic. We review the evidence and models for subduction tectonics that gave rise to major calc-alkaline batholiths along active continental margins of the bordering plates and to extensive, post-collisional, alkaline to peralkaline magmatism. Whereas the magmatic history of the orogen is better known, the age of the ocean, and the time of formation and deformation of the suture zone are not. Our new data on the Adaatsag ophiolite and Muron shear zone provide key constraints on the early and late stages of development of the Mongol–Okhotsk ocean and orogen.


This paper presents the design and evaluation of GreenDrive, a smartphone-based system that helps drivers save fuel by judiciously advising on driving speed to match the signal phase and timing (SPAT) of upcoming signalized traffic intersections. In the absence of such advice, the default driver behavior is usually to accelerate to (near) the maximum legally allowable speed, traffic conditions permitting. This behavior is suboptimal if the traffic light ahead will turn red just before the vehicle arrives at the intersection. GreenDrive uses collected real-time vehicle mobility data to predict exact signal timing a few tens of seconds ahead, which allows it to offer advice on speed that saves fuel by avoiding unnecessary acceleration that leads to arriving too soon and stopping at red lights. Our work differs from previous work in three respects. First and most importantly, we tackle the more challenging scenario, where some phases (such as left-turn arrows) are added or skipped dynamically, in accordance with real-time traffic demand. Second, our approach can accommodate a low system penetration rate and low vehicle density. Third, GreenDrive treats user-specified travel time requirements as soft deadlines and chooses appropriate speed adaptation strategies according to the user time budget. Using SUMO traffic simulator with real and large-scale road network, we show that GreenDrive learns phase durations with an average error below 2s, and reduces fuel consumption by up to 23.9%. Real-world experiments confirm 31.2% fuel saving and the ability to meet end-to-end travel time requirements.


This study explored the meaning of men's anger, using the methodology of eidetic (descriptive) phenomenology. A community sample of 19 middle-class American men, ranging in age from 20 to 50 years, participated in audiotaped interviews. Two prominent themes, right versus wrong and being controlled versus having control, were contextualized by the world in which masculinity has been socially constructed and emotion is regulated accordingly. Interwoven throughout anger narratives were descriptors of the intense physical arousal felt within the body. Time was an important contextual ground for men's anger experience, with sharp contrasts drawn between anger then and now. Findings suggest that men's anger is often misunderstood. Both substantive and stylistic gender differences were noted when findings of this study were compared with previous studies of women.


In the era of personalized medicine, pharmaceutical companies are actively seeking partners to develop Com- panion diagnostics. Common choices of partners include large diagnostic manufacturers and traditional Contract Research Organizations (CROs), neither of which provides an entire solution. Diagnostics companies have an intrinsic bias toward internal product lines, and are therefore incentivized to direct diagnostics development toward an existing technology plat- form. The expertise of a CRO lies in the monitoring of pharmaceutical programs, not in diagnostics. In addition, few tradi- tional partners have significant clinical laboratory experience or offer accredited clinical laboratories to ensure that the di- agnostic clinical trials are designed for, and conducted in, laboratories that meet regulatory standards. Lastly, these or- ganizations are inexperienced in managing and coordinating the multiple partners required in the development process. The Contract Diagnostics Organization (CDO) is a new concept designed to aid pharmaceutical companies in addressing challenges in companion diagnostics development. This business model provides pharmaceutical companies a complete outsourcing partner to initiate and manage the parallel development of companion diagnostic tests in synergy with drug development. The CDO combines all of the necessary services, including diagnostics research, an accredited clinical labo- ratory, project management and regulatory, manufacturing, and consulting in an integrated, technology-independent man- ner. Thus, the CDO focuses on its pharmaceutical partner's business objectives and ensures the speediest path to market a valuable, personalized drug for patients.


The Millennium Drought in Southeast Australia forced greater Melbourne, a city of 4.3 million people, to find innovative ways of increasing water supply and decreasing water demand. This article explores how water managers in Melbourne reacted to the crisis and evaluates the short‐ and long‐term impacts of their decisions. Reduced water demand occurred primarily through residential and industrial water conservation programs, restrictions, together with emergency reductions in the environmental release of water to streams. The city also experimented with using recycled water, in place of surface water, to support agriculture in the Werribee Irrigation District. Water pricing was not strengthened during the drought, and thus not regarded as a drought demand management tool, primarily because Melbourne water companies lacked independent price‐setting powers. Today, five years after the end of the Millennium Drought, gains in water conservation appear to be holding steady, but recycled water for irrigation has declined for various reasons. We contend that the Millennium Drought provided Melbourne with the opportunity to develop and implement a more integrated approach to water management. Many of the innovations it forged (e.g., distributed harvesting and use of stormwater) will continue to enhance the city's resilience to drought and reduce its vulnerability to climate variability for years to come. Nevertheless, a challenge going forward is how to sustain these achievements in light of anticipated population growth and continued climatic change. This challenge—coupled with Melbourne's successes—hold important lessons for water‐stressed cities around the world. WIREs Water 2015, 2:315–328. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1087


We give safe screening rules to eliminate variables from regression with $\ell_0$ regularization or cardinality constraint. These rules are based on guarantees that a feature may or may not be selected in an optimal solution. The screening rules can be computed from a convex relaxation solution in linear time, without solving the $\ell_0$ optimization problem. Thus, they can be used in a preprocessing step to safely remove variables from consideration apriori. Numerical experiments on real and synthetic data indicate that, on average, 76\% of the variables can be fixed to their optimal values, hence, reducing the computational burden for optimization substantially. Therefore, the proposed fast and effective screening rules extend the scope of algorithms for $\ell_0$-regression to larger data sets.


Objectives: To evaluate inter-observer agreement for microscopic measurement of inflammation in synovial tissue using manual quantitative, semiquantitative and computerised digital image analysis. Methods: Paired serial sections of synovial tissue, obtained at arthroscopic biopsy of the knee from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), were stained immunohistochemically for T lymphocyte (CD3) and macrophage (CD68) markers. Manual quantitative and semiquantitative scores for sub-lining layer CD3+ and CD68+ cell infiltration were independently derived in 6 international centres. Three centres derived scores using computerised digital image analysis. Inter-observer agreement was evaluated using Spearman's Rho and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Results: Paired tissue sections from 12 patients were selected for evaluation. Satisfactory inter-observer agreement was demonstrated for all 3 methods of analysis. Using manual methods, ICCs for measurement of CD3+ and CD68+ cell infiltration were 0.73 and 0.73 for quantitative analysis and 0.83 and 0.78 for semiquantitative analysis, respectively. Corresponding ICCs of 0.79 and 0.58 were observed for the use of digital image analysis. All ICCs were significant at levels of p<0.0001. At each participating centre, use of computerised image analysis produced results that correlated strongly and significantly with those obtained using manual measurement. Conclusion: Strong inter-observer agreement was demonstrated for microscopic measurement of synovial inflammation in RA using manual quantitative, semiquantitative and computerised digital methods of analysis. This further supports the development of these methods as outcome measures in RA.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a categorization of sharing practices from a structured interdisciplinary literature review on the Sharing Economy. Instead of striving for a new definition, the authors distinguish nine types of sharing practices and provide an overview of prior investigations on sharing practices across three levels of analysis and 15 research areas. The structured analysis is translated into opportunities for future research on the Sharing Economy.

Design/methodology/approach
The study follows a structured literature review approach to uncover practices related to the Sharing Economy and similar phenomena. The authors analyze 210 articles from a broad number of disciplines, and develop a categorizing framework for Sharing Economy practices.

Findings
The paper identifies nine different types of sharing practices and provides a structured way for analyzing, comparing and positioning research on the Sharing Economy and related phenomena.

Research limitations/implications
The categorization of sharing practices and the embedded interdisciplinary overview of studies on the Sharing Economy help to explain potentially contradictory research results and uncovers opportunities for future research in the topic area.

Originality/value
Given the variety of disciplines dealing with the Sharing Economy and the plenitude of definitions and related concepts, the categorization and research overview provides a consolidated view of the knowledge in the topic area and an effective tool for identifying paths for future research.


Vallès's anarchism has often been seen in terms of his sensibility, his biography, and particularly his relationship with Proudhon. His writing and his theory of literature, however, have very little to do with Proudhonian aesthetics. Instead, Vallès's writing is best understood in the context of Bakunin's theories on literature and politics, as well as a current of literature in the second half of the nineteenth century that Jacques Dubois termed instantanéisme. Anarchist aesthetics and instantanéisme both reject politics; they are not based on the political commitment of the writer or the work, but rather on rupture and singularity. Vallès's work thus has to be distinguished from the various strands of realism and naturalism in the nineteenth century – from the mimetic tradition in general – and viewed within the much more tenuous current of the anarchist novel in the nineteenth century.


Current Topics in Management is an annual scholarly journal and this volume is divided into four major sections: Managing Conflict and Justice; Leadership, Social Capital, and Personality; Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management; and Ethics, Learning, and Change. These contributions seek an integration of theory, research, and practice, which is the essential goal of Current Topics in Management. The first section contains two empirical studies on organizational conflict and a theoretical work that addresses the application of organizational justice theory to consumer behavior. The second section contains three empirical studies relating to the leadership language used by senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama during the last presidential election, building social capital through leader-member exchanges, and the big-five personality and financial performance of fund managers. Section three contains an essay on revising Phelan's model on entrepreneurship and a case study on a small business organization. The fourth section contains three contributions, two theoretical papers and an empirical study of the administration of state governments. The contributions included are "The Moderating Role of Social Attitudes on the Relationship between Diversity and Conflict"; "The Effects of Geographic Dispersion and Team Tenure"; "Fairness and Consumer Behavior"; "Obama vs. Clinton: Exploring the Impact of Leadership Language"; "Social Capital Via Leader"; "Financial Performance of Fund Managers"; "A Conceptual Framework Linking Entrepreneurs to International New Venture Competitiveness"; and "BSL Printing Company: A Case Study."


The identification of lymphocyte subsets with non-overlapping effector functions has been pivotal to the development of targeted therapies in immune mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). However it remains unclear whether fibroblast subclasses with non-overlapping functions also exist and are responsible for the wide variety of tissue driven processes observed in IMIDs such as inflammation and damage. Here we identify and describe the biology of distinct subsets of fibroblasts responsible for mediating either inflammation or tissue damage in arthritis. We show that deletion of FAPα+ synovial cells suppressed both inflammation and bone erosions in murine models of resolving and persistent arthritis. Single cell transcriptional analysis identified two distinct fibroblast subsets: FAPα+ THY1+ immune effector fibroblasts located in the synovial sub-lining, and FAPα+ THY1- destructive fibroblasts restricted to the synovial lining. When adoptively transferred into the joint, FAP α+ THY1- fibroblasts selectively mediate bone and cartilage damage with little effect on inflammation whereas transfer of FAP α+ THY1+ fibroblasts resulted in a more severe and persistent inflammatory arthritis, with minimal effect on bone and cartilage. Our findings describing anatomically discrete, functionally distinct fibroblast subsets with non-overlapping functions have important implications for cell based therapies aimed at modulating inflammation and tissue damage.


Background It is well established that prolonged decision to delivery intervals (DDI) can result in poor outcomes for both mother and infant in emergency caesarean section.1 As such, national guidance is provided on DDI targets which is 30 and 75 minutes for category 1 and 2 caesarean sections respectively. Adherence to DDI targets is integral to optimal maternity service and failure to do so can give grounds for litigation when outcomes are poor. Method Data was retrospectively collected from emergency caesarean sections where the DDI target was breached from January to June 2011. Information gathered included category of caesarean section, whether the procedure was performed "out of hours", time from decision to theatre, time taken to commence anaesthetic, knife to skin to delivery, neonatal and maternal outcome and reason for delay in meeting target. Trends were then compared with previous audits Results 276 caesarean sections were performed (125 grade 1, 151 grade 2). DDI targets were breached 28% of grade 1 and 23% of grade 2. Reasons given included delay getting into theatre, anaesthetic delays and patient factor and apparent communication errors. Discussion These findings re-iterate the importance of transferring the patient into theatre within 10 minutes in emergency situation to enable meeting DDI targets. Communication between team members is paramount to ensure all members of the time are aware of the timescale to work to. As our unit expands due to local reconfiguration of maternity services the need for a second theatre is likely to increase.


Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology has been widely used in various applications. The registration of SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) images is the first step in interferometric processing therefore accurate registration is essential for the successful creation and interpretation of interferometric products. However, with the growing number of SAR satellite launch and the amount of data acquisition, the degree of automation of image registration have become increasingly demanding. In this paper, we propose an automatic registration approach based on multi-step matching strategy. In the first step, key points are detected and matched using modified scale invariant feature transform (SIFT) operator which modified by us reducing the influence of speckles. In this step, owing to the existing of speckle and the defect of matching strategy of SIFT operator, the expected level of matching accuracy is about 2 to 3 pixels. In the second step, correlation matching (CM) is used to exclude the matched points with low correlation. In the third step, the probability relaxation (PR) algorithm based on global matching is used to induce consistency constraint and ensure reliability of the matching result. Finally, corresponding transformation function is determined through the relationship established by matched point pairs. In order to verify the applicability of proposed methodology, two SAR images acquired over mountainous regions are used in our experiment. The experiment results show that subpixel registration accuracy and good efficiency have been achieved, which demonstrates the correctness and feasibility of proposed method.


Public health emergencies and disasters have a disproportionate impact on pregnant and postpartum women and infants. Improving maternal emergency preparedness is a public health priority, and more research is needed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various intervention approaches. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the types of emergency preparedness education available to pregnant and postpartum women. Two types of educational intervention were identified: guided learning and self-directed learning. Guided learning was defined as educator-led interventions; self-directed learning was defined as an approach that relies on the initiative of the audience to learn without the aid of a teacher. A search of the peer-reviewed published journal literature was conducted to find guided learning interventions. A sample of self-directed learning resources was assessed for readability and suitability using the Suitability Assessment of Materials. The guided learning intervention literature search found that there is a considerable lack of emergency preparedness interventions for pregnant and postpartum women in the peer-reviewed published journal literature. The assessment of a sample of self-directed learning resources found factors in need of revision for each web page, including unsuitable literacy demand and a lack of informative graphics in these materials. Better graphics, more helpful layout, and appropriate literacy demand would improve the suitability of these materials. These findings about the state of emergency preparedness education for pregnant and postpartum women guide suggestions for future research and intervention.


This paper describes the potential benefits, pitfalls and barriers to adopting e-learning in emergency medicine. While the benefits relating to access, engagement and quality assurance are clear, caution is urged in embracing e-learning for e-learning's sake. It is argued that, if educational strategies are to change, this must be to the benefit of learners and not just for the convenience of access or record keeping. A variety of e-learning approaches are available, but those that promote group discussion or provide feedback from an educator are more likely to lead to successful learning than stand-alone feedback-free modules. A blended approach to learning is advocated where e-learning opportunities form an important but limited part of the overall educational experience. Shop floor and workshop-based teaching should be enhanced with e-learning, not replaced by it.


The guided electromagnetic defense interceptor (GEDI) railgun launcher system is powered by six Balcones homopolar generators (BHPG), each of which stores 10 MJ in kinetic energy. Each BHPG is connected to a coaxial inductor which stores about half of the BHPG's energy when charged to 1.2 MA. Six two-stage opening switches open in sequence or simultaneously after current peak, directing the current to the railgun armature. As much as 7.2 MA can be delivered to the railgun. A computer simulation code is developed to perform design parameter studies, sensitivity studies, and to predict GEDI system behaviors. The code is general enough for analyzing any railgun driven by multi-HPG inductors coupled with two-stage opening switches. A Gear type, multistep algorithm is used to overcome stiffness of the differential system caused by the way the switches are modeled. GEDI system performances are predicted with the code based on most updated component parameters.


In order to face and win the competitive manufacturing environment, which is particularly relevant in automotive industry, companies need to improve and update their machining lines and continuously evaluate their performance. This is usually done by analyzing the impact of the flow of material on the performances of the line. However, machining system parameters also have a great influence on the performance of a machining line. Therefore, it is extremely important to settle machining system conditions that take into account their effect on the system performance. This is particularly crucial in the case of the selection of new machine tools, new lines and, in general, when relevant decisions have to be taken. Nevertheless, there is no methodology or decision support system for the improvement of performance based on the analysis of machining system and related parameters. This thesis aims to provide a framework for the evaluation of machining strategies in the context of a machine tool selection for a face milling process of a cylinder-block. The work will be based on a case study performed at Scania CV AB.


The agricultural sector in Serbia has been institutionally, organizationally and in domain of resources highly neglected, which is the fact making an extensive influence on both weakening and detriment of comparative advantage Serbia used to have as compared to the other countries of the Region. The thorough re-modeling of an agrarian company ownership, institutional, organizational and technical structure is the way of revitalization of the sector. Research for any solutions beyond this scenario, as well as reduction of these to a bare and extemporaneous privatization, would be un-appropriate solution without any prospects for both agrarian companies and their employees. In regard to that, the new European initiatives make a valuable experience.


We study gyration frequencies of magnetic vortices in double point contact spin valve stacks by combining Thiele's equation and micromagnetics. We apply numerical integration and error control techniques to find stable, in-plane orbits in the rigid vortex model as a function of applied current densities and point contact geometry. The results show that the velocity of the vortex depends strongly on the restoring potential. The angular velocity (i.e., frequency) increases as the radius of one of the point contacts is decreased, due to a narrower current density profile. In addition we observe that multiple oscillation trajectories are possible depending on the current distribution between the point contacts.


Transportation and distribution systems are improving with an increasing pace with the help of current technological facilities and additionally, the complexity of those systems are increasing. Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs) are difficult to solve with conventional techniques. Improving routes used in distribution systems provides significant savings in terms of time and costs. In this paper, current routes in school buses, which is a sub-branch of vehic le routing problems, are optimized using the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), which is a heuristic artificial intelligence algorithm. Developed software is used for recommending the most suitable and the shortest route illustrated on a map by taking the instantaneous student wait locations online. Results of this study suggest that the current routes can be improved by using the ACO.


Closed-form mathematical expressions of network performances, such as the mean packet delay, are useful for evaluating a communication network during the design process. This paper provides derivations of closed-form expressions of the mean packet delay for the gated service and the limited service of dynamic bandwidth allocation in Ethernet passive optical networks (EPONs). Based on the M/G/1 queueing analysis framework of a multiuser cyclic polling system, we derive the mean packet delay expressions by modifying the expressions for the reservation time component of the total delay. Results from simulation experiments confirm that our analysis can accurately predict the mean packet delay. Finally, we extend the analysis to demonstrate how the limited service can protect packets transmitted by a light-load user from having excessive delays due to high traffic loads from other users in the same EPON. The analytical results indicate that, in selecting the maximum length of a scheduling cycle for the limited service, there is a tradeoff between the mean packet delay under uniform traffic and the guaranteed upper bound on the mean packet delay under nonuniform traffic.


Bounty payments on fertilizers have rapidly emerged as a major form of assistance to Australian agriculture. They have been justified as a way of reducing costs and increasing productivity, though economic theory and experience from agricultural production studies suggest that they achieve these objectives inefficiently. The bounties are directed towards making acres more productive, which should in turn make farmers more productive. It is suggested that greater economic welfare would result from tackling the problem the other way round.


»Segmentierte Vermittlung. Beratungskonzepte im deutschen Finanzdienstleistungsbereich«. This article focuses on classification as an ordering component in the intermediation between production and consumption in markets. Classifications and corresponding categories build the cognitive infrastructure for engagements in production, distribution, and employment and consumption. In this article I emphasize the discriminating aspects of segmentation resulting from social grouping along categories. Segmentation structures the allocation of resources by means of access restrictions and distribution mechanisms among other things. Empirically, I explore the access to the clientorientated advice of private clients in the context of financial services. Interview data suggests that advisers of "high net worth" clients are able to maintain their client-orientation against organizational constraints. As remarkable as this finding is, it also shows that segmentation leads to adverse consequences regarding access to client-oriented advice. Opening up financial advice to lower income groups is far away from implementing consumer pre-eminence. The theoretical contribution of this article is to confirm the potential of market classifications for the study of market intermediation, which will be elaborated in a prospective research agenda.


In this study an attempt has been made to understand and summarize the current state of understandings of plagiarism and functions of plagiarism prevention tools. In this view publications related to plagiarism were analyzed to know the opinions and views of library professionals and others experts who are expertise in the same field. Opinions of such authorities are the primary information for the study and they were categorized as the following concepts such as definition, causes and impact of plagiarism. Besides explaining these concepts repercussions for plagiarism and misconception about Turnitin were also explained.


INTRODUCTION: Primary melanocytic tumours of the leptomeninges are rare diseases. The WHO classification of 2007 described four entities: diffuse melanocytosis, melanocytoma, malignant melanoma and meningeal melanomatosis. Meningeal melanocytosis is a benign proliferation of melanocytes with a risk of malignant transformation and is often associated with neurocutaneos melanosis. CASE REPORT: A 65-year-old male patient presented with low back pain and disturbed micturition. Neurological examination revealed left sided S1- sensory radiculopathy. His medical history was unremarkable. MRI of the lumbar spine showed a contrast-enhancing intrathecal tumour of the conus medullaris and MRI of the brain was suspicious of neoplastic meningitis. Spinal surgery exhibited a brown tumour mass with diffuse spreading of pigmented lesions along the arachnoidea. Histological, immunohistochemical, and molecular analyses showed an intrathecal melanoma with a wild-type BRAF genotype. Dermatological examination was unremarkable. Lumbar stereotactic radiotherapy was applied. Subsequently, 3 cycles of temozolomide (150mg/m2 on 5 days out of 28) and bi-weekly intrathecal liposomal cytarabine were administered. Despite the poor prognosis of neoplastic meningitis in melanoma, the patient survived without clinical for more than one year. 15 months after the initial diagnosis spinal MRI showed a local relapse and a second surgery was performed. This time molecular analysis of the tumor revealed the presence of the BRAF V600E mutation. Due to the initially slow tumor progression treatment with B-Raf inhibitors was withheld and immunotherapy with the anti-CTLA-4 antibody ipilimumab was initiated together with stereotactic radiotherapy of the conus medullaris. Three months later, the patient complained about diplopia and dizziness. Neurological examination revealed oculomotor nerve palsy. MRI of the brain showed a meningeal contrast-enhancement in the brainstem area. The B-Raf inhibitor vemurafenib was initiated in combination with intrathecally administered liposomal cytarabine and whole brain radiotherapy. Despite this the patient's condition deteriorated and he died two weeks later. Considering the long progression-free interval and the diffuse intrathecal melanocytic spread, the initial diagnosis of neoplastic meningitis was re-evaluated. Differential diagnoses include neoplastic meningitis from an unknown primary melanoma and malignant transformation of leptomeningeal melanocytosis. Retrospectively, we speculate that the patient had a leptomeningeal melanocytosis and consecutive malignant transformation. Treatment options are palliative and include intrathecal and systemic chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, as well as kinase inhibitors. Since evidence based guidelines are lacking therapy has to be selected on an individual basis.


Dengue infection is a global health problem with an increasing incidence every year and now endemic in more than 100 WHO countries. Dengue infection is caused by dengue virus (DENV) which is an RNA virus with positive single strand, with ±11kb genome size encoding 3 structural proteins, 7 non-structural proteins, and two Untranslated Region (UTR). NS1 protein is known to have a very important role in the development of severe DENV infection, by the direct effect causing host cells damage and indirect effect by activating immune response to induce the secretion of excess cytokines. This study aims to evaluate whether recombinant pcNS1 plasmids which have been proven to be able to express recombinant NS1 proteins in previous studies is able to induce cytokine secretion from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC). Transfected Chinese Hamster Ovary-K1 (CHO-K1) cells with recombinant pcNS1 plasmid was co-cultured with PBMC from healthy donor. After 48 hours post co-cultured, cell supernatant was collected and TNF-α levels and NS1 recombinant were measured by ELISA. The results showed that recombinant NS1 protein was expressed in CHO-K1 mammalian cell line and able to induce TNF-α with higher levels compared to control.


After decades of strict pollution control and municipal sewage treatment, the water quality of the Tanshui River increased significantly after pollution mitigation as indicated by the River Pollution Index (RPI). The pollution level of the estuarine region decreased from severe pollution to mostly moderately impaired. The most polluted waters are presently restricted to a flow track length between 15–35 km relative to the river mouth. From July 2011 to September 2012, four surveys of fish and benthic macroinvertebrates were conducted at 45 sampling sites around the Tanshui River basin. The pollution level of all the study area indicated by the RPI could also be explained by the Family Biotic Index (FBI) and Biotic Index (BI) from the benthic macroinvertebrate community, and the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) of the fish community. The result of canonical correlation analysis between aquatic environmental factors and community structure indicated that the community structure was closely related to the level of water pollution. Fish species richness in the estuarine area has increased significantly in recent years. Some catadromous fish and crustaceans could cross the moderate polluted water into the upstream freshwater, and have re-colonized their populations. The benthic macroinvertebrate community relying on the benthic substrate of the estuarine region is still very poor, and the water layer was still moderately polluted.


In this paper we demonstrate the recovery of Ohmic contacts formed on C-face 4H-SiC following high temperature post-processing. After a typical high-κ dielectric anneal in O2 for 3 minutes at 650 °C, replacing the metallization stack is revealed to significantly reduce the damage produced in the I-V characteristics. Using C-AFM we have also studied the mechanisms responsible for Ohmic contact formation, presenting a possible relationship between changes in the SiC crystal orientation and the establishment of Ohmic behaviour.


In this paper, Software is presented for teaching through interactive demonstrations about lenses. At first we explore lenses constructed by two spherical surfaces. We explore the ray diagrams and wave fronts. Then there is a page for understanding the thick lens model. We introduce a step by step procedure to find the focal length and find the principal planes and finally the use of the focal length and principal points to construct the image. There is a page for finding the position of the image not by the formula but by the method we use on an actual experiment: We move the screen back and forth until we can get the sharpest possible image. This is done by finding the minimum of a standard deviation of the position of the rays for a given position of the screen. Then there is a simulation of an experiment for finding the focal length. This uses a macro to simulate the finding of several image points b for several object points a. These values are used first in the graphical representation of the image point as a function of b and the image points as a function of a. With suitable least square fits we get two lines with parameters that give values for the focal length and principal plane. Then there is a simulation of two experiments of finding the focal length of a lens. The spreadsheet calculates the distance b vs a, the image y, and there ar graphs of y as a function of a and y as a function of b from which we find 1) a hyperbolic fit for y vs a and a linear fit for y vs b from which we calculate the focal distance, 2) it calculates 1/a and 1/b and then finds a linear fit and a parabolic fit for the data. Also we get the same parameters by finding the cuts of lines uniting the point (a,0) and (0,b).. 3) there is a plot of a+b vs a and then the points are fitted with a hyperbola whose asymptotes give the sum of focal length and principal planes. Then there is a page where we can see two lenses for which the shape can change to have a perfect focusing at a given distance. These two lenses are based on Huygens' ideas, Spherical and Huygen Lenses.


The purpose of this study is to explore the leadership styles of middle level managers working in the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The middle level managers in this research are restricted to those from the Administrative and Diplomatic Officers Scheme of service (PTD: Skim Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik) and Education Officers Scheme of service (DG: Skim Pegawai Perkhidmatan Pendidikan Siswazah/Bukan Siswazah). Leadership style, in this study, is defined as the extent to which a leader exhibits transformational, transactional and/or laissez-faire styles of leadership. This study adopts a mixed methods approach in helping to elicit information pertaining to the leadership styles of the PTD and DG middle level managers. A Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) 5x rater form is used in the quantitative strand while the qualitative part of this study utilises a standardised open-ended interview approach. A total of 122 respondents working in ten departments in the Ministry of Education answered the questionnaire while eight middle level managers (four PTD and four DG middle level managers) were interviewed. The results of both of the quantitative and qualitative strands indicate that the PTD and DG middle level managers showed more transformational leadership styles as compared to transactional leadership styles. In addition, the t-test reveals that the two groups of middle level managers do not show any significant differences in terms of their leadership styles. The findings also indicate that there were no significant differences in the perceptions of the overall transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles of the PTD middle level managers as perceived by their subordinates from different schemes of service. However, the same could not be said of DG middle level managers as their overall transformational as well as laissez-faire leadership styles indicate significant differences as perceived by subordinates from different schemes of service. This study will benefit the Malaysian public sector in understanding the different styles of leadership among middle level managers working in government organization. More specifically, this study is useful for understanding the similarities and differences of leadership styles of the DG and PTD middle level managers working in the Ministry of Education Malaysia.


Social media data such as Twitter messages ("tweets") pose a particular challenge to NLP systems because of their short, noisy, and colloquial nature. Tasks such as Named Entity Recognition (NER) and syntactic parsing require highly domain-matched training data for good performance. To date, there is no complete training corpus for both NER and syntactic analysis (e.g., part of speech tagging, dependency parsing) of tweets. While there are some publicly available annotated NLP datasets of tweets, they are only designed for individual tasks. In this study, we aim to create Tweebank-NER, an English NER corpus based on Tweebank V2 (TB2), train state-of-the-art (SOTA) Tweet NLP models on TB2, and release an NLP pipeline called Twitter-Stanza. We annotate named entities in TB2 using Amazon Mechanical Turk and measure the quality of our annotations. We train the Stanza pipeline on TB2 and compare with alternative NLP frameworks (e.g., FLAIR, spaCy) and transformer-based models. The Stanza tokenizer and lemmatizer achieve SOTA performance on TB2, while the Stanza NER tagger, part-of-speech (POS) tagger, and dependency parser achieve competitive performance against non-transformer models. The transformer-based models establish a strong baseline in Tweebank-NER and achieve the new SOTA performance in POS tagging and dependency parsing on TB2. We release the dataset and make both the Stanza pipeline and BERTweet-based models available "off-the-shelf" for use in future Tweet NLP research. Our source code, data, and pre-trained models are available at: https://github.com/social-machines/TweebankNLP.


We investigate the performance limits and the impact on the system margin of 10-Gb/s duobinary modulations due to reducing the bandwidths of single-arm Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulators in a 10-Gb/s duobinary transmitter through numerical simulation. In addition to that, the individual and combined effects of dc-bias offset ratio to switching voltage and residual chirp due to the asymmetry of modulators on the system performance have been studied using reduced bandwidth single-arm MZ modulators. Our results suggest that with a single-arm MZ modulator of bandwidth reduced to 5 GHz and a duobinary filter of 2.6-GHz bandwidth, the sensitivity penalty can be maintained within 2 dB over a 200-km span of uncompensated single-mode fiber referred to that at 0 km of ideal duobinary transmitters. In this case, the allowable range of the residual-chirp parameter is to be from -0.1 to +0.1 with dc-bias offset ratio of less than /spl plusmn/2.5%.


Guava is a small, tropical fruit tree grown in various tropical and subtropical regions. Salicylic acid (SA) is a phenolic compound that enhances disease resistance and delays the fruit ripening process. Calcium is an essential cell component that delays ripening, particularly softening of the fruit. The effect of foliar spray of CaCl2, and SA, on the physical and biochemical traits of guava was investigated in the present investigation. The application of CaCl2 2% + SA 2mM was more effective as compared with both when applied alone. The data were recorded on fruit set (%), fruit weight (g), fruit length (cm), fruit diameter (cm), fruit yield (kg), ripening period (days), TSS, acidity, total sugar, ascorbic acid, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. CaCl2 2% + SA 2mM was showed better performance in all cases, followed by SA 2mM and CaCl2 2%. Overall, this work determines the influence on guava's essential traits by pre-harvest calcium chloride and salicylic acid.


Three types of composite materials, Al-10Ni-6Ce (at%)/pure Al (Vf=0.3), Al-10Ni- 6Ce/Al-3.6Mn (Vf=0.3) and Al-10Ni-6Ce/Al-5.5Mg (Vf=0.3), and monolithic Al-10Ni-6Ce alloy were successfully fabricated to a fully dense rod-shaped bulk form having a diameter of about 10mm by adopting a powder forging or extrusion process using amorphous Al-Ni-Ce powder together with crystalline pure Al, Al-Mn and Al-Mg powders. The monolithic Al-Ni-Ce specimen forged at 648K showed a very high compressive strength of 1.3GPa without exhibiting any compressive plastic strain. All of the composite specimens forged at 648K gained a compressive plastic strain with the considerable sacrifice of strength. In contrast, Al-Ni-Ce/Al-Mg composite specimen extruded at 648K showed a noticeably high compressive strength of 1.2GPa with the compressive plastic strain of 0.5%. The extruded Al-Ni-Ce/Al-Mn composite specimen also exhibited a considerably high compressive strength (1.1GPa) accompanied with plastic strain (0.2%).


In the third national prevalence survey of infection in hospitals, pneumonia was the third most common (13.9 per cent) acquired infection in acute hospitals (Hospital Infection Society/Infection Control Nurses Association, 2007). Hospital acquired pneumonia is associated with crude mortality rates up to 70% and attributable mortality rates as high as 33% to 50%. Pneumonia is one of the top ten causes of deaths in the Philippines. Inhalation therapy equipment such as nebulizer may potentially act as a vector of hospital acquired pneumonia. The major mechanism by which bacteria are disseminated is aerosolization of organisms in particle sizes that are sufficiently small to be deposited in terminal lung units. Nebulizers create aerosols of minute droplets that penetrate deeply into the narrowest airways and thus present a significant problem. This is especially so for small – volume medication nebulizers (Botman and de Krieger, 1987). The main purpose of this study is to conduct a bacteriologic assessment of the different parts of the nebulizers in selected wards of Iligan City Hospitals. Acquisitions of samples were obtained through swabbing at different parts of the nebulizers specifically the air filter and compressor port from different wards of Iligan City Hospitals. Swab samples were subjected to the conventional method of identification of bacterial species. Bacillus sp., Streptococcus sp., and Staphylococcus sp. (pathogenic and nonpathogenic) were among the identified bacterial species. Between the air filter and compressor port, the latter yielded the highest number of bacterial species. Moreover, the parts of the nebulizer are not dependent on each other with respect to the total number or types of bacteria present. Bacteria are the most common causes of pneumonia. The most common organisms that cause pneumonia include Streptococcus (S.) pneumoniae (also called pneumococcus, Staphylococcus (S.) aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes or Group A streptococcus and to a lesser degree, Bacillus anthracis may also cause Typical pneumonia. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that proper care and maintenance should be observed to reduce if not, eliminate potential source of nosocomial pneumonia that may pose a threat to patient's health condition.


The present book addresses a number of specific topics in computational number theory whereby the author is not attempting to be exhaustive in the choice of subjects. The book is organized as follows. Chapters 1 and 2 contain the theory and algorithms concerning Dedekind domains and relative extensions of number fields, and in particular the generalization to the relative case of the round 2 and related algorithms. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 contain the theory and complete algorithms concerning class field theory over number fields. The highlights are the algorithms for computing the structure of (Z_K/m)^*, of ray class groups, and relative equations for Abelian extensions of number fields using Kummer theory. Chapters 1 to 5 form a homogeneous subject matter which can be used for a 6 months to 1 year graduate course in computational number theory. The subsequent chapters deal with more miscellaneous subjects. Written by an authority with great practical and teaching experience in the field, this book together with the author's earlier book will become the standard and indispensable reference on the subject.


Studies accompanied over the past few decades on the generalization of quantum mechanics, initiated in 1978 by Ruggero Maria Santilli for antimatter. An inspection of the contemporary physics literature reveals that, while a matter is treated at all levels of study, from Newtonian mechanics to quantum field theory, antimatter is solely treated at the level of second quantization. For the purpose of initiating the restoration of full equivalence in the treatment of matter and antimatter in due time, and as the classical foundations of an axiomatically consistent inclusion of gravitation in unified gauge theories recently appeared elsewhere. A classical representation of antimatter which begins at the primitive Newtonian level with corresponding formulations at all subsequent levels is presented in this paper. By recalling that charge conjugation of particles into antiparticles is antiautomorphic, the theory of antimatter is based on a new map, called isoduality, yet it is applicable beginning at the classical level and then persists at the quantum level where it becomes equivalent to charge conjugation. Santilli showed the compatibility of the theory with all available classical experimental data on antimatter. The antimatter light has negative energy with the negative unit, experiences a negative curvature tensor when in a matter gravitational field and negative refractive index when propagating within a transparent matter medium. Recently Santilli constructed an antimatter telescope and detected antimatter galaxies, antimatter asteroids, annihilation of antimatter cosmic rays and Invisible Terrestrial Entities etc. Santilli isodual theory is applicable for the antimatter with the consideration of negative values of energy, time, gravity, refractive index, momenta etc. with a negative unit.

Keywords: antimatter, isodual light, antigravity, isodual theory.


Overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is correlated with loss of estrogen receptor and poor prognosis in breast cancer. To investigate this phenomenon, we transfected a cytomegalovirus expression vector directing the expression of EGFR into estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 breast cancer cells and into a clone of MCF-7 cells previously transfected with transforming growth factor alpha. Cells arising from single clones or pooled polyclonal populations maintained in charcoal-stripped calf serum, a medium devoid of estrogen, overexpressed EGFR. Switching these cells to a medium containing fetal calf serum or charcoal-stripped calf serum plus 17 beta-estradiol resulted in the emergence of a population expressing low EGFR levels. Loss of expression was not a consequence of nonspecific repression of the cytomegalovirus promoter, because expression of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-4 complementary DNA in a similar vector was not lost in fetal calf serum. While loss of EGFR overexpression in fetal calf serum was seen at both the protein and mRNA levels, Southern blotting shows that this was not due to loss of the transfected gene. Subclones of a cell population with low EGFR expression were capable of increasing expression upon estrogen withdrawal, demonstrating that the changes in EGFR expression were reversible and suggesting a growth advantage conferred by EGFR overexpression under these restrictive growth conditions. Overexpression of EGFR did not result in loss of ER expression. These results suggest a role for overexpression of EGFR in the growth of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells in the absence of estrogen.


Within the innovation ecosystem literature, scholars have considered governance mechanisms as an important instrument for focal entities to mitigate the risks of opportunistic behaviour. Scholars have not focused yet on how these mechanisms work. In the alliance literature, governance mechanisms have been extensively researched and described. As innovation ecosystems are a subset of alliances, constructs from the alliance literature are used to understand how governance mechanisms are employed by the focal entity within innovation ecosystems. Scholars have also considered the importance of partner alignment for successful innovations. To mitigate the risks of opportunistic behaviour and to align partners, this research has focused on understanding how the focal entity uses governance mechanisms to influence partner alignment. Based on an exploratory multiple case study research, this research has found a list of partner stimulators, like for example leadership and expectation management, that influence the effectiveness of governance mechanisms used by focal entities in aligning partners. When partner alignment stimulators are present, the effectiveness of governance mechanisms is enhanced and partners feel more aligned. We have also developed a model that explains the relation between partner alignment stimulators, governance mechanisms, and partner alignment. In addition, we have found that constructs from the alliance literature can be applied to an innovation ecosystem setting when partner alignment stimulators are considered in addition to governance mechanisms.  We contribute to the innovation ecosystem literature by explicitly considering partner alignment stimulators that influence the relation between governance mechanisms and partner alignment. Future research could focus on using quantitative methods to strengthen the findings of this research.


Almost every business in the world relies in some way on the shipping industry, whether it is to ship goods or natural resources, the shipping industry is undeniably the global industry, However, these very ships that drive the economy also produce close to 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. In this project, we explore the use of machine learning to improve the performance of cargo ships in the ocean by implementing a genetic algorithm AI and a virtual simulation environment. An app was made based on using the training developed by the AI to be able to be deployed on cargo ships as part of their navigation system. Once sufficient data regarding a vessel's environment was collected, the algorithm could then produce an optimal path for the vessel. Experiments show that the AI system could sufficiently adjust to varying conditions and produce optimal paths for vessels.


Following Tom Gunning's assertion that each change in film history implies a change in its address to the spectator, this article closely analyses The Polar Express (Robert Zemeckis, 2004) in order to interrogate what kinds of changes are at stake for the contemporary spectator of the wholly computer-generated blockbuster. The article also considers the extent to which the immersive, video game-like visual aesthetic and mode of address present in The Polar Express strive to naturalize viewer relations with digital spaces and characters such as those inherent to both computer-generated films and the 'invisible' virtual realm of cyberspace. Finally, the article argues that The Polar Express functions as a compelling historical document of an era when cinema and video games have never been more intertwined in terms of aesthetics, character construction, and narrative, and raises compelling questions about whether video games have begun to exert the type of formative influence upon cinema that cinema previously exerted on video games.


One of the most important secrets of succesful companies is the fact that cooperation with NGOs will create a good reputation for them so that they can be immunized to economic crisis. The performance of the most admired companies in the world based on the ratings of Forbes and Fortune show us that most of these firms also have close relationships with their NGOs. Today, if companies do something wrong this information spreads very quickly to do the society. If people do not like the activities of a company, it can find itself in public relations nightmare that can threaten its repuation. Since the cost of communication has dropped dramatically due to the vast use of internet, the increase in communication among stakeholders via internet makes companies more visible. These multiple and interdependent interactions among the network of stakeholders is called as the network relationships. NGOs play the role of catalyst among the stakeholders of a firm to enhance the awareness. Succesful firms are aware of this fact that NGOs have a central role in today's business world. Firms are also aware of the fact that they can enhance their corporate reputation via cooperation with the NGOs. This fact will be illustrated in this paper by examining some of the actions of the most succesful companies in terms of their cooperations with the NGOs. Keywords—Network relationships, cooperative behaviors, corporate reputation, immunization to crisis.