The paper aims to understand, challenge and deconstruct what the local means for the development of indigenous education in Taiwan. More precisely, it will question the idea of the 'local' in this context, as indigenous people do not necessarily all hold similar views about local indigeneity and its place in educational development in Taiwan. As research shows, indigenous people's views are influenced by intersecting factors, such as class, gender, rural or urban location, education, and profession. While some indigenous people may identify 'local' as the identity and interests of their indigenous community, or as their family, others may seek allegiance, construction of identity, and learning with and from the transnational indigenous movement. The paper starts with a philosophical overview of what is local and what is indigenous. It then analyzes the Taiwan case, from the historical context of indigenous people to contemporary views and perspectives on indigeneity, indigenous development and education. Indigenous perspectives on development and education are presented based on primary research conducted with indigenous people in eastern and western parts of Taiwan, including data from in-depth interviews, informal discussions, and observations. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these understandings for Taiwan's development and education, and for what is meant by the local indigenous and its influence on education in this case.


This study sets out to explore the life histories of long-term, regular theatregoers and
their motivating factors over time. It follows an interpretive framework and innovates
by using reminiscence workshops as the research tool. It argues that reminiscence
workshops enable richer, deeper data to be obtained than alternative, interpretive
methods such as interviews or focus groups, or quantitative surveys found in previous
studies from Baumol & Bowen (1966) to Bunting et al (2008). Data are analysed using
a phenomenological approach influenced by Schutz (1967) and the four-part life course
model developed by Giele & Elder (1998).
The thesis examines key themes emerging from the life histories of thirty-one
participants. The findings indicate the importance of a 'theatrical epiphany' which is
effective in creating a turning point in an individual's life trajectory. The epiphany
occurs if factors such as play, magic, make-believe, religion, and the production's visual
impact and relevance, are present. Most individuals experience their theatrical
epiphany after encouragement to attend by a 'familiar', a person well-known to them
and trusted. The study indicates that many theatregoers are active participants in
theatre-making after their epiphany. Their profile suggests a high level of educational
achievement, and a career in education.
It is suggested that the theatregoer continues to be motivated to attend productions by
seeking secondary epiphanies containing similar elements to those found during their
original epiphany. In addition, many theatregoers look for intimacy of scale, the
'magic' created by the synthesis of make-believe and nature, and in particular,
Shakespeare productions.
As theatregoers gain in cultural capital, they themselves become 'familiars' and initiate
the young into theatregoing. This thesis suggests that Bourdieu's (1984) theory of
distinction can be expanded to include the concept of the 'familiar', and indicates that in
contemporary Britain, cultural capital results more from education and play than class
background.


Stereoisomers of lactic acid produced by lactic acid bacteria were determined by HPLC by using an enantiomeric resolution column. In general, the ratios of L -form to D -form (the type of stereoisomer) obtained were compared with those in references. Values of the type of stereoisomer of lactic acid were discussed from the viewpoint of identification of lactic acid bacteria.


The study aimed to assess the economic and quality of life burden of diabetic foot disorders and to identify disparities in the recommendations from guidelines and the current clinical practice across the EU5 (Spain, Italy, France, UK and Germany) countries. Literature search of electronic databases (MEDLINE®, Embase® and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews) was undertaken. English language studies investigating economic and resource burden, quality of life and management of diabetic foot disease in the EU5 countries were included. Additionally, websites were screened for guidelines and current management practices in diabetic foot complication in EU5. Diabetic foot complications accounted for a total annual cost of €509m in the UK and €430 per diabetic patient in Germany, during 2001. The cost of diabetic foot complications increased with disease severity, with hospitalizations (41%) and amputation (9%) incurring 50% of the cost. Medical devices (orthopaedic shoes, shoe lifts and walking aids) were the most frequently utilized resources. Patients with diabetic foot complications experienced worsened quality of life, especially in those undergoing amputations and with non‐healed ulcers or recurrent ulcers. Although guidelines advocate the use of multidisciplinary foot care teams, the utilization of multidisciplinary foot care teams was suboptimal. We conclude that diabetic foot disorders demonstrated substantial economic burden and have detrimental effect on quality of life, with more impairment in physical domain. Implementation of the guidelines and set‐up of multidisciplinary clinics for holistic management of the diabetic foot disorders varies across Europe and remains suboptimal. Hence, guidelines need to be reinforced to prevent diabetic foot complications and to achieve limb salvage if complications are unpreventable. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Somatic cell hybrids of Burkitt lymphoblastoid cells, from which Epstein-Barr virus can be recovered, were examined for the presence of virus DNA by DNA-RNA hybridization. Four clones of hybrid cells, each negative for virus antigens by immunofluorescence, contained virus DNA in varying genomic equivalents. The number of virus genome equivalents increased in the hybrid cells after induction of virus with iododeoxyuridine.


This paper is devoted to the analysis and experimental testing of the concept of laser polarization biotissue probing. The methods of increasing the signal-to-noise ratio in coherent images of the optically anisotropic architectonics of the morphological biotissue structure are considered. The possibilities of polarization selection and contrasting of such images screened by other biotissues are examined. The influence of the depolarization degree of the scattered background on the signal-to-noise ratio is investigated. The possibilities of polarization correction of the probing beam for contrasting biotissue images are analyzed.


Use this subject guide to help you get started with your research in Philosophy. It includes books, research databases, journals, and links to useful websites.


Pregnant farmworkers and their fetuses are at increased risk of negative health outcomes due to environmental and occupational factors at their workplaces. Health care providers who serve farm communities can positively affect workers' health through the informed care they deliver. Yet, interviews with rural health care providers reveal limited knowledge about agricultural work or occupational and environmental health risks during pregnancy. Professional associations, government organizations, academic institutions, and practice settings must renew their efforts to ensure that environmental and occupational health education, especially as it relates to women and their children, is incorporated into academic and practice environments.


Background: Specimen labeling errors have long plagued the laboratory industry, putting patients at risk of transfusion-related death, medication errors, misdiagnosis, and patient mismanagement. Many interventions have been implemented and deemed to be effective in reducing specimen error rates. The objective of this review was to identify and evaluate the effectiveness of laboratory practices and interventions to develop evidence-based recommendations for the best laboratory practices to reduce labeling errors. Content: The standardized Laboratory Medicine Best Practices Initiative™ A-6 methods were used to conduct this systematic review. Total evidence included 12 studies published from 1990 to September 2015. Combined data from 7 studies found that the interventions developed from improved communication and collaboration between the laboratory and clinical staff resulted in substantial decreases in specimen labeling errors [median relative percent change in labeling errors: −75.86; interquartile interval (IQI): −84.77, −58.00]. Further data from the subset of 4 studies showed a significant decrease in specimen labeling errors after the institution of the standardized specimen labeling protocols (median relative percent decrease in specimen labeling errors: −72.45; IQI: −83.25, −46.50). Summary: Based on the evidence included in this review, interventions that enhance communication and collaboration between laboratory and healthcare professionals can decrease the number of specimen identification errors in healthcare settings. However, more research is needed to make any conclusion on the effectiveness of other evaluated practices in this review, including training and education of the specimen collection staff, audit and feedback of labeling errors, and implementation of new technology (other than barcoding).


Namibia has the world's largest remaining population of free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) of which 90% are found on commercial livestock and game farms. During the 1980s, farmers killed large numbers of cheetahs and the cheetah population declined from 6,000 to less than 3,000 animals. We surveyed farmers to understand specific reasons for the population decline. We found that the primary problem was a perceived conflict with livestock farming. Game farmers reported more cheetah problems and removed higher numbers than livestock farmers. Our results suggest that new methods of livestock and wildlife management urgently need to be integrated with land management.


Many CAD for VLSI problems can be naturally encoded as Quantified Boolean Formulas (QBFs) and solved with QBF solvers. Furthermore, such problems often contain circuit-based information that is lost during the translation to Conjunctive Normal Form (CNF), the format accepted by most modern solvers. In this work, a novel preprocessing framework for circuit-based QBF problems is presented. It leverages structural circuit dominators to reduce the problem size and expedite the solving process. Our circuit-based QBF preprocessor PReDom recursively reduces dominated subcircuits to return a simpler but equisatisfiable QBF instance. A rigorous proof is given for eliminating subcircuits dominated by single outputs, irrespective of input quantifiers. Experimental results are presented for circuit diameter computation problems. With preprocessing times of at most five seconds using PReDom, three state-of-the-art QBF solvers can solve 27% to 45% of our problem instances, compared to none without preprocessing.


We survey the micro and macro literature on the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on productivity. The "Solow Paradox" of the absence of an impact of ICT on productivity no longer holds, if it ever did. Both growth accounting and econometric evidence suggest an important role for ICTs in accounting for productivity. In fact, the empirical estimates suggest a much larger impact of ICT on productivity than would be expected from the standard neoclassical model that we focus on. We discuss the various explanations for these results, including the popular notion of complementary organizational capital. Finally, we offer suggestions for where the literature needs to go.


OBJECTIVE
No studies have been performed to examine parent perceptions of caring for adolescents with type 2 diabetes. In this qualitative study, we examined parent perceptions of barriers and strategies to address barriers to self-care in adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Families of adolescents with type 2 diabetes were recruited from a pediatric diabetes clinic. Focus groups were used to elicit parent experiences and perceptions of diabetes management of their adolescents with type 2 diabetes. Questions concerning barriers to self-care behaviors were asked by trained group facilitators. Transcripts were coded into themes by three reviewers. Qualitative analyses were conducted using NVIVO software.

RESULTS
Between 2003 and 2005, six focus groups were conducted with a total of 27 parents or guardians. Parents identified many barriers to and practical strategies for positive adolescent self-management. Five domains that influence self-management were identified: the role of others with diabetes, parenting skills, perceived lack of normalcy, environment, and adolescent development. Parents identified many barriers to dietary and exercise habits that were unique to the circumstances of adolescents with type 2 diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS
Parents identified many barriers to self-management that may be unique to adolescents with type 2 diabetes. The importance of others and environmental influences in the self-management behavior of adolescents with type 2 was evident. Interventions that are designed to improve self-management should include components that address multiple influences such as peers, school professionals, parents, siblings, and/or family systems.


A printed meander line antenna is described with a shaped ground plane and a back coupled rectangular patch. The prototype is proposed for wireless local-area network (WLAN) applications in the 2.4-2.48GHz and 5.15-5.35 GHz frequency range. Dual-band operation, resonance impedance matching, and wide impedance bandwidth are the characteristics of the antenna. The antenna impedance matching for the first-resonance is provided by applying a shaped ground plane. The second even-mode resonance is generated by adding a rectangular patch at the back of the meander antenna. The impedance bandwidth for a return-loss less than -10 dB is 11% and 6% for the first- and the second-resonance, respectively. Furthermore, the second-resonance frequency can be tuned by the length of the rectangular patch and it meets the requirements for the IEEE 802.11a WLAN (5.15-5.35 GHz and 5.470-5.725 GHz or 5.725-5.825GHz). In fact, the second-resonance frequency can be continuously adjusted between 5.2 and 7 GHz with a little effect on the first-resonance


Recent experiments on switching antiferromagnetic domains by electric current pulses have attracted a lot of attention to spin-orbit torques in antiferromagnets. In this work, we employ the tight-binding model solver, kwant, to compute spin-orbit torques in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet on a honeycomb lattice with strong spin-orbit interaction of Rashba type. Our model combines spin-orbit interaction, local $s\ensuremath{-}d$-like exchange, and scattering of conduction electrons on on-site disorder potential to provide a microscopic mechanism for angular-momentum relaxation. We consider two versions of the model: One with preserved and one with broken sublattice symmetry. A nonequilibrium staggered polarization that is responsible for the so-called N\'eel spin-orbit torque is shown to vanish identically in the symmetric model but may become finite if sublattice symmetry is broken. Similarly, antidamping spin-orbit torques vanish in the symmetric model but become finite and anisotropic in a model with broken sublattice symmetry. As expected, antidamping torques also reveal a sizable dependence on impurity concentration. Our numerical analysis also confirms symmetry classification of spin-orbit torques and strong torque anisotropy due to in-plane confinement of electron momenta.


Token embeddings, a mapping from discrete lexical symbols to continuous vectors, are at the heart of any language model (LM). However, lexical symbol meanings can also be determined and even redefined by their structural role in a long context. In this paper, we ask: is it possible for a language model to be performant without \emph{any} fixed token embeddings? Such a language model would have to rely entirely on the co-occurence and repetition of tokens in the context rather than the \textit{a priori} identity of any token. To answer this, we study \textit{lexinvariant}language models that are invariant to lexical symbols and therefore do not need fixed token embeddings in practice. First, we prove that we can construct a lexinvariant LM to converge to the true language model at a uniform rate that is polynomial in terms of the context length, with a constant factor that is sublinear in the vocabulary size. Second, to build a lexinvariant LM, we simply encode tokens using random Gaussian vectors, such that each token maps to the same representation within each sequence but different representations across sequences. Empirically, we demonstrate that it can indeed attain perplexity comparable to that of a standard language model, given a sufficiently long context. We further explore two properties of the lexinvariant language models: First, given text generated from a substitution cipher of English, it implicitly implements Bayesian in-context deciphering and infers the mapping to the underlying real tokens with high accuracy. Second, it has on average 4X better accuracy over synthetic in-context reasoning tasks. Finally, we discuss regularizing standard language models towards lexinvariance and potential practical applications.


NF-κB acts as the master regulator of the transcriptional response to inflammatory signals by translocating into the nucleus upon stimuli, but we lack a single-cell characterization of the resulting transcription dynamics. Here we show that transcription of NF-κB target genes is strongly heterogeneous in individual cells but dynamically coordinated at the population level, since the average nascent transcription is prompt (i.e. occurs almost immediately) and sharp (i.e. increases and decreases rapidly) compared to NF-κB nuclear localization. Using an NF-κB-controlled MS2 reporter we confirm that the population-level transcriptional activity emerges from a strongly heterogeneous response in single cells as compared to NF-κB translocation dynamics, including the presence of a fraction of "first responders". Mathematical models show that a combination of NF-κB mediated gene activation and a gene activity module including a gene refractory state is enough to produce sharp and prompt transcriptional responses. Our data and models show how the expression of the target genes of a paradigmatic inducible transcription activator upon stimuli can be time-resolved at population level and yet heterogeneous across single cells.


This descriptive study was conducted in order to determine traditional practices used in infant care. In total, 2,786 mothers with 0–12-month-old babies living in central Kars, Turkey were enrolled in the study and 2,060 mothers participated. The data were collected between June 3, 2006 and August 28, 2007 via an open-ended questionnaire to determine the mothers' socio-demographic characteristics and what types of traditional approaches they used. It was found that 17.7% of the mothers were using traditional practices for jaundice, 33.2% for oral moniliasis, 28.3% for nasal obstruction, 27.3% for infantile colic, and 22.9% for napkin dermatitis. It was also that mothers with a higher level of education referred to traditional practices less often and the difference was significant. The present study found that mothers refer to various traditional methods for infant care and this was influenced by their education levels.


There are multiple forces structuring the genetic diversity of populations, and numerous studies have investigated the effects of the environment, space and stochastic processes. The effect of variation in interspecific interactions on genetic diversity and structure has rarely been assessed. Here, in a mescosm experiment, I studied clonal diversity and composition of the water-flea Daphnia magna in presence and absence of the sympatric interspecific competitors D. longispina and D. pulex. The results showed little effect of interspecific competition per se on clonal diversity of D. magna. Instead, the observed minimum population size was the most important factor for clonal diversity. But variation in interspecific competition had an effect on the clonal composition, and the presence of both interspecific competitors changed the clonal composition of D. magna. Thus, I conclude that interspecific competition had little effect on genetic diversity of D. magna but an evident effect on the genotypic composition, which may be important for the genetic diversity and structure on larger spatio-temporal scales.


This study was designed to investigate the read aloud practices of elementary school teachers. It also examined those practices in regards to the differences exhibited among the different grade levels. Seventy-six teachers responded to the questionnaire developed by the researcher. The responses of the returned questionnaires were tallied and recorded according to the frequency and similarity of responses. A descriptive analysis was then made of the responses according to the two questions posed by the researcher. The findings of this study revealed that many teachers are reading aloud to their students on a regular basis. Many purposes were mentioned, but the majority of teachers read aloud for enjoyment. Most of the teachers selected a wide variety of literature to read to their students. Many activities accompanied the read aloud sessions. The most popular were to hold book discussions and assign art and writing projects. Almost all of the teachers reported that their students enjoyed listening to stories and many of the children would select books that the teacher had previously read to the class. Implications for future research included examining the read aloud practices of middle and high school teachers and addressing the role of the parents in reading aloud in the home environment.


The transport and magnetic properties of the Eu1-xCaxB6 (0x0.4) single crystals were studied in the wide ranges of temperatures (1.8-300 K) and magnetic fields (up to 8 T). The experimental data allow to identify a metal-insulator transition (MIT) at the critical Ca concentration xMIT≈0.3, which agrees well with the predictions of double exchange model (V.M. Pereira et al. Phys. Rev. Lett., 93 (2004) 147202). A significant enhancement of magnetoresistive effect is observed below 100K for Eu1-xCaxB6 compounds corresponding to the metallic side of the MIT (xxMIT). The drastic decrease of paramagnetic Curie temperature evaluated from the magnetic and magnetotransport data is discussed in terms of quantum MIT scenario recently proposed for this low carrier density system.


Adolescents are the future of the country. It is this period that they face several problems as it is a stage of exposure and experimentation. They get exposed to several practices like consumption of alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco and unsafe Sexual practice. These behaviours are often triggered by faulty parenting and bad peer influence. Hence this study is an attempt to know the proneness among adolescents to follow such health risk behaviours and how these behaviours are influenced by parent and peers.
The study reveals that about 59% of the adolescents are into one or multiple health risk behaviours and it is parental monitoring and peer modelling which are significantly associated with the overall health risk behaviour.(p value <0.05). When it comes to specific health risk behaviour, we can see a significant association between peer modelling and health risk behaviour. Peer modelling is an influence proved to be there on all the health risk behaviours namely consumption of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and practice of unsafe sex. However it is evident from the study that it is boys who are significantly higher in number than girls with regard to the practice of health risk behaviours.
Key Words: Adolescents, Health Risk Behaviour, Parental Influence, Peer Influence


Graphical models have become common for representing probabilistic models in statistics and artificial intelligence. A Bayesian network is a graphical model which encodes a probability model as a directed graph in which nodes correspond to random variables, together with a set of conditional distributions of nodes given their parents. In most current applications of Bayesian networks, a fixed network is specified to apply to all problem instances. Inference consists of conditioning on certain random variables, called evidence variables, and inferring the distribution of others, called target variables. In more complex problems arising in artificial intelligence, it is useful to use the belief network formalism to represent uncertain relationships among variables in the domain, but it is not possible to use a single, fixed belief network to encompass all problem instances. This is because the number of entities to be reasoned about and their relationships to each other varies from problem instance to problem instance. This paper describes a framework for representing probabilistic knowledge as fragments of belief networks and a method for constructing situation-specific belief networks for particular problem instances.


The middle Niobrara River Valley of north-central Nebraska is of significant biogeographic importance due to the interaction of geologic and hydrologic features which provide habitat for species of eastern, western, and boreal affinities. Vegetation data collected from 10 herbaceous and 13 woody sites within the Niobrara Valley Preserve and adjacent areas were ordinated using BeORD. Results corroborate a previous literature review and TWINSPAN classification analysis which described seven major community types for this region: Sandhill, Mixed Prairie, Tallgrass Meadow, Upland Pine, Juniper, Hardwood, and Streambank Communities.


Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe a profile of students seeking counselling at a racially diverse university in post-apartheid South Africa as a means to demonstrate the importance of routinely collecting and analysing student counselling data at university-based centres across the country. Methods: Student data were extracted from the only two counselling centres based at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg that provided services to 831 students during 2008. The 26 243 students that did not seek counselling during this period formed the comparison group. These data were analysed using logistic regression. Results: Black, female and students within the 21–25 year age category were more likely to receive counselling, and presenting problems varied by population group. Conclusions: Given the country's past and continued levels of social asymmetry, we argue that the development of standardised university-based reporting systems able to describe the characteristics and presenting problems of students seeking counselling across South African universities should be prioritised by its higher education sector. Timely access to information of this kind is crucial to the generation of evidence-based mental health interventions in a population that is especially important to the country's development vision.


Fostering Accountability presents a model of child welfare decision making that holds public officials answerable for the integrity and validity of the actions they take on behalf of the children and families in their care. It operationalizes the concept of results-oriented accountability, which demands that administrators and practitioners show valid evidence of their success in improving child and family outcomes, not merely demonstrate mechanical procedural compliance. Drawing on the experiences of directors, staff, and evaluators, this timely and practical book describes the emergence of results-oriented accountability in child welfare with a special focus on the editors' role in establishing a university-agency research partnership under a federal consent decree. Chapters elaborate on the five successive stages of the results-oriented accountability framework-outcomes monitoring, data analysis, research review, evaluation, and quality improvement-and provide examples of applications of each stage for agency managers. By refocusing the emphasis on developing policies based on agency data, instead of purely reactive approaches that grasp at solutions and often fall short, Fostering Accountability guides administrators in monitoring outcomes, using evidence to select interventions to enhance results, and applying management strategies to evaluate and improve these efforts. The result is a pragmatic implementation guide for administrators seeking to bring safety, stability, continuity, permanence, and well-being to the lives of abused and neglected children in the United States.


We report the case of an 8-year-old boy with left ventricular noncompaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) and QT prolongation who experienced further prolongation of the QTc during general anesthesia for extraction of a maxillary mesiodens. Pronounced prolongation of the QTc was observed after induction of general anesthesia with thiamylal and during emergence. No notable fluctuations in blood pressure, heart rate, and estimated continuous cardiac output were observed. We considered it likely that the QT prolongation was triggered by thiamylal and increased sympathetic nervous system activity. During general anesthesia for children with LVNC and QT prolongation, it is necessary to monitor intraoperative hemodynamic fluctuations and prepare for the possible occurrence of arrhythmias.


This article is based on the emergence of a small research group and its journey to enhance scholarly activity within a new school of education. While exploring a research‐orientated learning project to determine what makes a beneficial school experience, the group comprising seven academics developed a way of working collaboratively. Narrative enquiry and hermeneutic analysis were used to develop descriptions and interpretations of the phenomenon from the perspective of the participants who in themselves were the researchers and also the researchers of the research process. Drawing on actor‐network theory to explore the network of relationships, the pattern that emerged closely followed that described by Michel Callon in his study of the scallops of St Brieuc Bay. The analysis is presented and discussed to help understand the processes that contribute favourably to research capacity building in an academic institution.


The fast-moving global banking sector has become highly competitive in order to survive. This includes Islamic banks in the GCC region, which strive to not only thrive, but to insulate themselves from possible regional and global meltdowns. In order to stay ahead of their competition, it is imperative that the services provided to customers are of the highest quality to ensure the optimum level of customer satisfaction, which ultimately results in improved customer loyalty and reduced attrition rate. This research aims to explore, measure and compare the perceived service quality levels of Kuwait and Qatar's Islamic and conventional banks, based on customers' perceptions and expectations of perceived service quality. The research presented in this thesis also aims to determine which service quality dimensions make the greatest contribution to overall customer satisfaction. In addition, this study attempts to determine consumers' awareness level of banking products and services. Utilising a modified version of the SERVQUAL model, this study measures and tests nine service quality dimensions through a questionnaire survey: tangibles, assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness, corporate social responsibility, technology, competitiveness and religious compliance. A questionnaire survey was distributed in order to gather data from which 1,082 responses were returned (581 from Qatar and 501 from Kuwait). The empirical findings reveal that customers in conventional banks have higher levels of awareness of banking products and services compared to Islamic banks in Kuwait and Qatar. Furthermore, the findings indicate that all of the banks in the study produced a negative service quality gap (perception minus expectation) for all service quality dimensions, which indicated the expectations of customers were not met. The findings revealed that respondents from Kuwait Islamic and conventional banks are satisfied with the overall service quality based on customers' perception. However, the opposite is the case for both types of Qatari banks, although it was 'close' to satisfaction. Overall, Kuwaiti conventional banks have better service quality scores compared to Islamic banks based on the modified SERVQUAL model dimension gap differences, while in regard to Qatar, Islamic banks have higher service quality than conventional banks. The findings also demonstrate that 'assurance', 'empathy' and 'responsiveness' dimensions scored the highest expectation mean for Qatari and Kuwaiti Islamic and conventional banks, while 'religious compliance' and 'assurance' dimensions scored a high perception mean for Qatari and Kuwaiti Islamic banks. In regard to Kuwaiti and Qatari conventional banks, 'assurance' and 'technology' scored the highest mean perception score. Regression analysis shows that 'assurance' was found to be the most important predictors of customer satisfaction based on respondents' perception and expectations for all types of banks in Kuwait. Customers in Qatar rated 'empathy' and 'assurance' as the most important predictors of customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the study also found that customer demographics have a significant effect on their perception and expectations of service quality in Kuwaiti and Qatari Islamic and conventional banks. The factor analysis revealed that the customers of Islamic and conventional banks reorganize the service quality dimensions into various components differently than the modified SERVQUAL dimensions. For Kuwaiti and Qatari Islamic banks, the customers revealed 'management, establishment and confidentiality' to be the highest-ranked service quality component, while for Kuwait conventional banks, 'customer service' was found to be the highest-ranked.


Every economic entity undertakes various complex activities that aim at achieving strategic goals. This complex plane of strategic activities certainly includes pro-innovative activity consisting in creating and implementing innovations that help to gain competitive advantage. Undoubtedly, enterprises need capital. Without capital they are not able to positively influence the economic growth of any country. The aim of this article is to present the relationship between capital and financing innovation projects in Poland.


The Rondani collection of Cecidomyiidae in Florence, Italy, is cataloged to account for existing specimens of Rondani species. A report is made on the status and identity of each of Rondani's 16 species of Cecidomyiidae. Types of l2 species are represented by specimens in good to poor condition, those of the remaining four species cannot be found. Alectotype is designated for Brachineura fuscogrisea and illustrations are given of its male genitalia and part of its antenna. Recommendations are made for future fixation of lectotypes or neotypes of some of Rondani's species


Abstract Antarctic lakes with perennial ice covers provide the opportunity to investigate in-lake processes without direct atmospheric interaction, and to study their ice-cover sensitivity to climate conditions. In this study, a numerical model – driven by radiative, atmospheric and turbulent heat fluxes from the water body beneath the ice cover – was implemented to investigate the impact of climate change on the ice covers from two Antarctic lakes: west lobe of Lake Bonney (WLB) and Crooked Lake. Model results agreed well with measured ice thicknesses of both lakes (WLB – RMSE= 0.11 m over 16 years of data; Crooked Lake – RMSE= 0.07 m over 1 year of data), and had acceptable results with measured ablation data at WLB (RMSE= 0.28 m over 6 years). The differences between measured and modeled ablation occurred because the model does not consider interannual variability of the ice optical properties and seasonal changes of the lake's thermal structure. Results indicate that projected summer air temperatures will increase the ice-cover annual melting in WLB by 2050, but that the ice cover will remain perennial through the end of this century. Contrarily, at Crooked Lake the ice cover becomes ephemeral most likely due to the increase in air temperatures.


This paper presents design, implementation, and evaluation of a miniature rectenna for energy harvesting applications. The rectenna produces DC power from a distant microwave energy transmitter. The generated DC power is then utilized to operate a head-mountable deep brain stimulation device. The rectenna consists of a miniature three-layer planar inverted-F antenna and a Schottky-diode-based bridge rectifier. The antenna has a volume of π × 6 × 1.584 mm3, a resonance frequency of 915 MHz with a simulated bandwidth of 18 MHz (907-925 MHz), and a measured bandwidth of 18 MHz (910-928 MHz) at the return loss of -10 dB. A dielectric substrate of FR-4 of εr = 4.5 and δ = 0.02 is used for simulation and fabrication of the antenna and the rectifier due to its low cost. An L-section impedance matching circuit is employed between the antenna and the rectifier to reduce the mismatch loss. The impedance matching circuit operates as a low-pass filter eliminating higher order harmonics. A deep brain stimulation device is successfully operated by the rectenna at a distance of 20 cm away from a microwave energy transmitter of power 26.77 dBm. The motivation of this paper includes creation of a deep brain stimulation device that operates indefinitely without a battery. From the application standpoint, the developed energy harvesting rectenna facilitates long-term deep brain stimulation of laboratory animals for preclinical research investigating neurological disorders.


This study aims to analyze the question of multiple choice of "UTS semester gasal" of Civic education, class IV elementary school year 2017/2018 in District Banjarnegara, a number of 35 questions. The problem was analyzed based on validity, reliability, difficulty level, distinguishing power, and distractor matter. The calculation was done by using Itemen version 3.0 program. Selection of the Itemen program because the program can analyze multiple choice questions. Based on the results of the analysis, the validity of the questions there were 1 invalid questions (2.86%), and 34 valid questions (97.14%). The result of reliability coefficient was 0.839, which means reliability. The result of difficulty level there were 3 questions in the category is too difficult (8,5%), 24 matter enough category / medium (68,5%), and 8 matter too easy category (23%). There was no questions in the category of very bad, there were 1 questions in bad category (3%), 4 questions enough category (11%), 30 questions in good category (86%), and no question in very good category. Furthermore, in distractor, there were 20 questions with distractor that works well (57%), the remaining number is 15 questions with distractor not working (43%).


This thesis investigates the morphological and technological characteristics of Byzantine-Greek metal threads used for the decoration of embroidered ecclesiastical textiles from the 13th to the 19th centuries AD. It examines the changes that have occurred in the materials and manufacturing techniques used in the production of metal threads after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 AD and throughout the Ottoman occupation until the late 19th century, when the independent Greek State was established. The research is based on the study and analytical examination of 290 metal thread samples obtained from 125 objects of Byzantine-Greek, Western European and Near Eastern origins. Optical microscopy, SEM/EDS surface and cross section analysis and EPMA/WDS cross section analysis have been used: to identify and record the morphological and technological characteristics of the threads to acquire quantitative information about the metal/alloys to identify and measure the surface coatings to measure the thickness of the strips and the diameter of wires and, finally, to identify the organic core threads. Two manufacturing techniques have been used throughout this period, strips cut from a metal sheet and drawn wires which were also rolled to produce strips. These techniques correspond to different elemental compositions silver-copper alloys were used for cut strips and pure or almost pure silver for wires and rolled strips. Furthermore, wires have been made of better refined silver than rolled strips. A clear connection was found between the materials and techniques used in Byzantine-Greek and Ottoman metal threads which are different from the European threads throughout the period examined. A complete photographic survey of all the objects and samples examined as well as the analytical results from the examination of these samples are also provided. Practically no systematic research existed on this subject prior to this study, and an art historic approach alone is not adequate to provide answers to technological questions related to the metal threads used in the decoration of the Greek-Orthodox ecclesiastical textiles. This thesis now provides the first comprehensive study of such textiles, identifying previously unknown significant patterns and changes in alloy used and composition over time. For this, an improved analytical methodology was developed, hopefully facilitating further research in this subject.


The present study was aimed to analyse the impact of biofield energy treatment on the physicochemical and spectral properties of 4-MBA. The compound was divided into two parts which are referred as the control and treated sample. The treated sample was subjected to Mr. Trivedi's biofield energy treatment and analysed with respect to the control sample. The various analytical techniques used were X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and UV-visible spectroscopy. The XRD data revealed the alteration in the relative intensities of the peaks as well as reduction in the average crystallite size (24.62%) of the treated sample as compared to the control. The surface area analysis revealed a slight reduction in the surface area of the treated sample. The differential scanning calorimetry analysis reported a slight increase in the melting point while significant reduction in the latent heat of fusion of the treated sample (39.96 J/g) as compared to the control (133.72 J/g). Moreover, the TGA thermogram of the treated sample revealed the reduction in the onset temperature and maximum thermal degradation temperature as compared to the control. However, the FT-IR and UV-Vis spectra of treated sample did not show any significant alteration as compared to their respective control spectra. The overall data indicated the improved physical and thermal properties of the biofield treated 4-MBA sample that might be helpful in increasing the reaction kinetics, where it will be used as a reaction intermediate.


Quantum computing promises to be the next disruptive technology, with numerous possible applications and implications for organizations and markets. Quantum computers exploit principles of quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, to represent data and perform operations on them. Both of these principles enable quantum computers to solve very specific, complex problems significantly faster than standard computers. Against this backdrop, this fundamental gives a brief overview of the three layers of a quantum computer: hardware, system software, and application layer. Furthermore, we introduce potential application areas of quantum computing and possible research directions for the field of information systems.


We propose and demonstrate a novel distributed sensor based on coherent interaction of the Brillouin gain and loss via optical differential parametric amplification (ODPA), which provides narrowed parametric Brillouin gain spectrum, strong Brillouin signal via differential gain, and short measurement time simultaneously. In experiment, a 0.5 m spatial resolution with a strain accuracy of 6 με is realized by using 20/15 ns Stokes and anti-Stokes pulse pair in a 15 m polarization-maintaining fiber. The spectrum narrowing phenomenon in ODPA Brillouin sensor is discussed.


A NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF THE SOUL KENNETH NICHOLAS FORTI Thesis under the direction of Professors Robert C. MacSwain and Robert D. Hughes, III The question of the soul in modern debates about anthropology betrays the determinative narrative of the age and its correlative metaphysics. The metaphysical commitments of much of modern science and philosophy have not only provided the foundation for the debates between physicalism and dualism, but they have set the discussion within the bounds of that debate. Theology, for its part, has largely allowed the resulting narrative to shape its own reflections on anthropology but with the addition of "God" as a character or "the spiritual" as a kind of plot device that the secular versions of the story have overlooked. For this reason, talk about the soul has become problematic for some Christian philosophers and theologians who think they recognize the-writing-on-the-wall as dualism seems to lose more and more ground to physicalism by way of advances in neuroscience. This thesis reveals the metaphysical commitments of modern science and reductionist philosophy by exploring the work of one its most prolific and well-known spokesmen, Daniel Dennett. After that, the thesis turns to the past, to see how theology has out-narrated past philosophical rivals by incorporating their best insights without abandoning Christian metaphysical claims. Accounts of the soul in Tertullian, the Cappadocians, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas provide the case study from Christian history that reveals this process. In light of this history, the thesis then turns a critical eye toward the modern Christian philosophical anthropologies of Lynne Rudder Baker and Nancey Murphy, which have intentionally rejected the soul as a result of the dialogue with science and modern philosophy of mind. This thesis argues that a truly nonreductive physicalism demands metaphysical commitments that become intelligible in a narrative such as that of the Christian tradition, a tradition that is not essentially dualistic in its anthropology but gives an account of creation that provides for the reality of such things as bodies, persons, words, and stories as gifts whose being is contingent on God given through the Incarnation, the narrative of which provides not only being but meaning. And such a realist account of these things is, therefore, necessary for any meaningful discussion of consciousness as an aspect of human physicality and the formative narrative of that physicality, its soul. Approved ______________________________ Date_______________ Adviser ______________________________ Date_______________ Second Adviser


ASK ANY group of adults ranging in age from their early twenties to late fifties what they remember about middle or high school reading, and you will no doubt hear an unenthusiastic and often bitter chorus of such titles as To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, and other classic novels long considered standard and acceptable fare in English classrooms. The younger set may chime in with Parrot in the Oven, Looking for Alaska, or some other young-adult novels that have become contemporary classics. Not many adults have great memories of assigned reading from English class, yet the one-size-fits-all class novel persists as the centerpiece of instruction in many middle and high school classrooms. As teacher educators and former English and reading teachers, we also know that getting students to read these selections continues to be difficult, even in the best of circumstances. A high school memory sums up this situation for us. Gay recalls a nighttime bus ride back from a National Honor Society field trip to an amusement park near the end of her junior year. Nearly a third of the students clustered at the back of the bus with the CliffsNotes for The Scarlet Letter, not because they needed to read it by the following morning but because they had to read it and write a critical analysis of it by the following morning! Even for these high-achieving high-schoolers, the goal was just to get the assignment finished. For struggling students, the choice is apt to be noncompliance. Often, the teacher notices that the students have not read the text and so reads it to them. We know that teacher read-alouds are a powerful tool for building vocabulary and background knowledge, but we worry that they are being used to supplant assigned readings. Read-alouds should extend students' thinking, not replace it. As an alternative, in the hope that students can be coerced into reading a novel that they have been assigned, teachers often resort to testing their knowledge about it. Some teachers give oral summaries of the contents so that students who have not completed their assigned readings can "keep up." Others show the film version so that students have a sense of the content. Regardless of which alternative is selected, students are not reading more or reading better as a result of the whole-class novel. Instead, students are reading less and are less motivated, less engaged, and less likely to read in the future. Meanwhile, teachers continue their endless--and often fruitless--search for better ways to persuade students to read their assigned novel. (1) Given this frustration and resistance, what is it about a "class set" of novels that captivates teachers so much that its use dominates English language arts instruction? We often hear that curriculum standards dictate the decision and require, for example, that all sixth-graders read The Giver or that all ninth-graders read Romeo and Juliet. (Of course, the latter is a play, not a novel, but it is typically assigned and taught in the same way.) But even a cursory review of content standards from several state departments of education reveals that specific texts and authors are not actually named. Rather, students are expected to learn how to read, write, and speak about a variety of texts, and the standards typically emphasize literary devices, reading comprehension skills, and writing strategies. We also hear quite frequently that class novels are selected because they are "good for students." But we know that classics--and even award-winning contemporary classics--do not make the list of what adolescents prefer to read. (2) In addition, we know that students still struggling to read do not get better at reading from tackling difficult books. (3) It would be hard to locate one book that addresses the needs of all students in any given classroom. Life experiences that enable a reader to make sense of a book vary too greatly, and every class has students who read above or below their grade level. …


Traditional strategies for highway projects during the 1950s and 1960s focused on three dimensions of project management: cost, schedule, and technical (scope). Recently, with the focus shifting towards reconstruction/rehabilitation projects, project management strategies have shifted to include other project management dimensions. The Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2) project R-10 examined the best practices for managing complex renewal projects. The primary outcome of the study was a recommendation to utilize a five-dimensional project management planning (5DPM) model that added context and financing as two new dimensions to the traditional dimensions of cost, schedule, and technical. Pilot testing of the 5DPM implementation suggested that the most complicated dimension to assess during the project management planning phase for a complex project is the context dimension. Currently there is no efficient, structured process for evaluating the context dimension on complex projects within the 5DPM framework. Given this, the objective of this study is to develop a decision support framework which can be used by different transportation agencies when assessing contextual factors and assigning complexity rating scores. The framework uses a structured analytical process as opposed to the more subjective scoring used during the 5DPM workshops. As a major part of its methodology, this research uses a multiple-criteria decision-making tool called analytical hierarchy process in developing the framework. The paper presents two implementation examples which demonstrate the feasibility of the developed framework for a rebuild project and an expansion project.


Wildlife: a hidden treasure of green places in urbanized societies In my thesis, I investigate how wildlife contributes to a bond with green places on different spatial scales among lay people in the Netherlands. The results show that wildlife matters in the bond with green places both near home, and further from home. Among nature lovers, wildlife experiences confirm, rather than create, their bond with protected areas visited during daytrips and holidays. Enjoying nature is part of a nature lover's lifestyle and thus, he or she takes the effort to seek wildlife encounters in green places further from home. Near home, the presence of wildlife contributes to a higher valuation of, and a stronger affective bond with, green places among a more general public. Familiarity with everyday wildlife, and the embeddedness of wildlife experiences in an individual's life course seem to be most important in shaping a bond with green places near home. Of all wildlife, birds seem to form a special, yet undervalued, dimension in affective bonds with green places. Multisensory experiences of wildlife, and especially birds, can signify natural rhythms, can make an individual feel part of Panta Rhei, and can promote feelings of being connected with the world, rather than escaping it. Therefore, wildlife near home, as well as further from home, can be regarded as a hidden treasure of green places in urbanized societies like the Netherlands.


The multiplicity of underlying genetic defects in childhood retinal dystrophies has become evident in the last two decades. A traditional clinical diagnostic label is easy to assign when the phenotype is clear-cut and matches the original delineation of the dystrophy; this continues to be feasible in most cases, but may be quite difficult in the absence of a molecular diagnosis, especially when the phenotype is on the atypical end of a spectrum. Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB), achromatopsia, and Stargardt disease are examples of conditions where these terminological conundrums arise.

Because of the limited signs and symptoms of retinal dystrophies, it is inevitable that some distinct genetically defined conditions will …


The possibility of digital interactivity requires us to reenvision the map reader as the map user, and to address the new perceptual, cognitive, cultural, and practical considerations that now influence the user's experience with interactive maps and visualizations. Here, we present an agenda for empirical research on these users and the interactive designs they employ. This is one of several research agendas resulting from a multi-stage discussion among international scholars facilitated by the International Cartographic Association, which included an early round of position papers and two subsequent workshops to narrow into pressing themes and important research opportunities. The focus of this agenda is epistemological and reflects the wide interdisciplinary influences on user studies in cartography. The opportunities are presented as imperatives that cross basic research and user-centered design studies, and include practical impediments to empirical research, emerging interdisciplinary recommendations to improve user studies, and key research needs regarding the specific study of interactive maps and visualizations. This presentation is based on the article available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23729333.2017.1288534.


Tyrosine nitration is a common post-translational modification affecting protein structure and function. It is based on the addition of a -NO2 group at the ortho position of the phenolic hydroxyl group of tyrosine to yield 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NTyr). Understanding how tyrosine nitration affects the structure and functionality of proteins is of considerable interest, as it is associated with pathogenesis in diseases related to oxidative stress in all living organisms. There are several methods to nitrate tyrosine residues in native proteins. Among them, nitration by the chemical agent peroxynitrite stands out for its biological relevance. Recently, a genetically evolved suppressor tRNA has been developed to provide in vivo incorporation of 3-NTyr into proteins. In this minireview, we discuss the advantages and limitations of these chemical and biological methods and propose a non-damaging method to analyze the configuration and dynamics of nitrotyrosine residues in native proteins by NMR spectroscopy.


In a survey of five villages in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Serpulina pilosicoli was isolated from rectal swabs from 113 of 496 individuals (22·8%). Colonization rates ranged from 22·6–30·1% in four of the villages but was only 8·6% in the other village. In comparison colonization was demonstrated in only 5 of 54 indigenous people (9·3%) and none of 76 non-indigenous people living in an urban environment in the same region. Colonization did not relate to reported occurrence of diarrhoea, age, sex, or length of time resident in a village. A second set of 94 faecal specimens was collected from 1 village 6 weeks after the first set. S. pilosicoli was isolated from 27 of 29 individuals (93·1%) who were positive on the first sampling and from 7 of 65 individuals (10·8%) who previously were negative. In this case, isolates were significantly more common in watery stools than in normal stools. The annual incidence of infection in the village was calculated as 93·6%, with an average duration of infection of 117 days. S. pilosicoli could not be isolated from any village pig (n=126) despite its confirmed presence in 17 of 50 commercial pigs (34·0%) sampled at a local piggery. Four of 76 village dogs (5·3%) and 1 of 2 village ducks were colonized with S. pilosicoli, suggesting the possibility of cross transmission between humans and animals.


The paper presents an effective method to reduce the iron losses of wound core distribution transformers based on a combined neural network/genetic algorithm approach. The originality of the work presented is that it tackles the iron loss reduction problem during the transformer production phase, while previous works concentrated on the design phase. More specifically, neural networks effectively use measurements taken at the first stages of core construction in order to predict the iron losses of the assembled transformers, while genetic algorithms are used to improve the grouping process of the individual cores by reducing iron losses of assembled transformers. The proposed method has been tested on a transformer manufacturing industry. The results demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of this approach. Significant reduction of transformer iron losses is observed in comparison to the current practice leading to important economic savings for the transformer manufacturer.


In party-approval multiwinner elections the goal is to allocate the seats of a fixed-size committee to parties based on the approval ballots of the voters over the parties. In particular, each voter can approve multiple parties and each party can be assigned multiple seats. Two central requirements in this setting are proportional representation and strategyproofness. Intuitively, proportional representation requires that every sufficiently large group of voters with similar preferences is represented in the committee. Strategyproofness demands that no voter can benefit by misreporting her true preferences. We show that these two axioms are incompatible for anonymous party-approval multiwinner voting rules, thus proving a far-reaching impossibility theorem. The proof of this result is obtained by formulating the problem in propositional logic and then letting a SAT solver show that the formula is unsatisfiable. Additionally, we demonstrate how to circumvent this impossibility by considering a weakening of strategyproofness which requires that only voters who do not approve any elected party cannot manipulate. While most common voting rules fail even this weak notion of strategyproofness, we characterize Chamberlin-Courant approval voting within the class of Thiele rules based on this strategyproofness notion.


Business process modelling initiatives frequently make use of semi-formal modelling languages for depicting the business processes and their control flows. While these representations are beneficial for the analysis, simulation and automatic execution of processes, they are not necessarily the best option to communicate process knowledge required by employees to execute the process. Hence, textual process representations and their transformation to semi-formal models gain importance. In this paper, a pattern-based modelling approach positioned in between the two extremes of informal text and semi-formal process models is derived. The patterns offer a basis for a seamless integration of natural language and business process models. In particular the business process modelling patterns, which have to rely on human interactions are focussed. For those patterns an integrated representation of information that support the manual execution is developed. The approach fosters the contribution by employees of the operative business, since it does not rely on classical modelling paradigms, but uses natural language for modelling business processes.


The C language has been covered in many books but none as dedicated to the embedded microcontroller beginner as the Beginner's Guide to Embedded C Programming. Through his down to earth style of writing Chuck Hellebuyck delivers a step by step introduction to learning how to program microcontrollers with the C language. In addition he uses a powerful C compiler that the reader can download for free in a series of hands on projects with sample code so you can learn right along with him. For the hardware he found the best low cost but effective development starter kit that includes a PIC16F690 microcontroller and everything else the beginner needs to program and develop embedded designs, even beyond the book's projects. There isn't a better entry level guide to learning embedded C programming than the Beginner's Guide to Embedded C Programming.


In this paper, we present an attention-guided deformable convolutional network for hand-held multi-frame high dynamic range (HDR) imaging, namely ADNet. This problem comprises two intractable challenges of how to handle saturation and noise properly and how to tackle misalignments caused by object motion or camera jittering. To address the former, we adopt a spatial attention module to adaptively select the most appropriate regions of various expo-sure low dynamic range (LDR) images for fusion. For the latter one, we propose to align the gamma-corrected images in the feature-level with a Pyramid, Cascading and Deformable (PCD) alignment module. The proposed AD-Net shows state-of-the-art performance compared with previous methods, achieving a PSNR-l of 39.4471 and a PSNR-μ of 37.6359 in NTIRE 2021 Multi-Frame HDR Challenge.


Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) includes a multimedia multicast/broadcast service (MBS), but delay-sensitive applications such as video and audio streaming require the combination of efficient handling of wireless-link bandwidth and reduced handover delays, which remains a challenge. To reduce the handover delay in the MBS, the IEEE 802.16e standard introduces an MBS zone, which is a group of base stations that are broadcasting the same multicast packets. However, this raises the MBS traffic load on Mobile WiMAX networks, particularly the wireless part. This paper presents an MBS architecture that is based on location-management areas (LMAs), which can increase the sizes of MBS zones to reduce the average handover delay without too much bandwidth waste. An analytical model is developed to quantify service-disruption time, bandwidth usage, and blocking probability for different sizes of MBS zones and LMAs while considering user mobility, user distribution, and MBS session popularity. Using this model, we also propose how to determine the best sizes of MBS zones and LMAs, along with performance guarantees. Analytical and simulation results demonstrate that our LMA-based MBS scheme can achieve a bandwidth-efficient multicast delivery while retaining an acceptable service-disruption time.


Previous investigations in this series have presented normal standards for the principal acid and base constituents of the blood serum during the neonatal period. The new-born infant was shown to have a lower carbon dioxide content and a higher chloride content in the serum than the normal adult.1 It was subsequently noted that this mild, compensated acidosis was of the metabolic type and dependent on an accumulation of chloride in the blood, possibly associated with inability of the kidneys to excrete chloride during the period of partial dehydration.2 More recent studies have shown that the addition of cow's milk to the diet of the new-born infant leads to a fall in the carbon dioxide content of the serum, accompanied by a decrease in serumph.3Other workers have studied the effect of changes in the electrolyte intake of similar magnitude in adults, older children, infants and


This is to explain how a modified case method is being used to teach concepts of school administration to educators entering public school administration. While traditional methods may be effective in covering many aspects of educational leadership, the case method offers an interesting alternative. The case method approach can be modified to include discussion-starters for limited use with graduate classes in educational administration. Complete narratives or scenarios are not given. The discussion-starters contain just the question or dilemma of the selected issues in educational leadership. This is to facilitate in-class use of the problem description without prior reading assignments and study. Strategies for implementation of this teaching technique are discussed in a later section of this paper. A distinction between case study and the case method is made by Kowalski (2001). He defines the former as a general description of a situation while the latter has specific reference to using the case study as a teaching paradigm. The term case study itself means different things to different people. Also, some confusion arises when terms such as case history (commonly a medical term) and case work (commonly a social work term) are used. Malouf (1995) defines a case study simply as a situation or event to be analyzed. But case studies are more than just the case material. Merseth points out that the "cases and the discussions of them are complementary and are both important" (Merseth, 1991a, p.5). The case study, unlike the lived experience, can be held still for repeated examination (Florio-Ruane and Clark, 1990.) It can approximate the immediacy of actual experience while providing a sample of the complexity of the subject in question or dilemma. When Sykes and Bird (1992) surveyed a variety of cases, descriptions of case teaching and arguments about cases in teacher education, five categories emerged that speak to the diversity of theory and practice surrounding the case idea: * textbook cases; * casebooks; * conversations and videotapes; * subject-specific cases; and * context-specific cases. They found a number of dimensions, in cases, including the medium, the genre, the length, and whether the case is actual or 'contrived. They see the task ahead for case method users as the "creation and use of rich and interesting case materials in a variety of settings for a variety of purposes" (Sykes and Bird, 1992, p. 509.) Doyle (1990) states that the use of case methods in teacher education depends on one's understanding of teaching and the learning to teach process. He stresses the importance of theoretical knowledge about teaching when defining, selecting, designing and classifying cases; "only with this theoretical knowledge can an instance be designated a case of something" (Doyle, 1990, p. 14.) Maloufs (1993) view of the case study yields the following advantages: 1. involvement and interaction by students; 2. material can be covered in depth and detail; 3. application of knowledge and skills is possible; and 4. most closely resembles reality. Two disadvantages that he found were: "stereotyped" answers might be produced; and the additional time required for reading of the case study itself. Merseth (1991 a) offers the following advantages of the case study method; cases: 1. help students develop skills of critical analysis and problem solving; 2. encourage reflective practice and deliberate action; 3. bring reality into the arena of theory; 4. involve students in their own learning; and 5. promote the creation of a community of learners. While this discussion seems to show the advantages of using the case method to outweigh the disadvantages, Welty (1989), cautions that the added burden of preparation for case study use should be a major factor in deciding to use this strategy. …


The normal impact between a golf ball and a rigid steel target was studied using a high-speed video camera. Video images recorded before and after impact were used to determine the inbound and rebound ball velocities, the contact time, and the coefficient of restitution. The images during impact were also employed to analyze the deformation of the ball. The normal and lateral compression ratios of the ball were measured as a function of the inbound velocity. The result showed that the contact time and the coefficient of restitution decreased with the inbound velocity, while the opposite relation was obtained for the normal compression ratio. Displacement at the center of the ball was measured during impact to determine the instantaneous ball velocity and acceleration. Reaction force was evaluated by the product between the mass and acceleration of the ball. It was found that the force increased linearly with the inbound velocity.


Inclusive multi-jet production is studied using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 2.43 pb^(-1), and uses a subset of the data collected by the ATLAS detector in 2010. Measurements of multi-jet production cross sections with up to six jets are presented and compared to both leading-order predictions enhanced by a parton shower and next-to-leading-order calculations. Generally, agreement is found between data and leading-order and next-to-leading-order predictions. Regions of phase space or observables in which pure parton-shower simulations differ from the measurements are well described by leading-order calculations that combine matrix-element calculations with several outgoing partons in the final state to parton-shower simulations. Measurements compared to next-to-leading-order calculations are shown to be sensitive to the value of the strong coupling constant.


Background. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is now a confirmed risk factor for kidney disease with an increased burden in persons of African descent. Method. We measured the serum cystatin C levels of 205 ART-naive, HIV-infected children by an ELISA technique and compared them with the levels of apparently healthy children. Result. The mean ± SD serum cystatin C level of children with HIV infection was 1.01 ± 0.44 mg/L, significantly higher than the mean value in the control group, that is, 0.72 ± 0.20 mg/L (P = 0.000). The mean ± SD cystatin C-based estimated GFR of children with HIV infection was 102.7 ± 31.0 mL/min/1.73 m2, significantly lower than 126.9 ± 28.5 mL/min/1.73 m2 in the control group, (P = 0.014). A significantly higher proportion of HIV-infected children compared to controls had eGFR < 90 mL/min/1.73 m2 (21.5% versus 5.4%; P = 0.00). The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among the HIV-infected children was 10.7%. The cystatin C-based eGFR of the HIV-infected children ≥5 years old correlated positively with their CD4 count (r = 0.23;  P = 0.022). Conclusion. There is a high prevalence of CKD among HIV-infected children, requiring regular monitoring of their kidney function using a cystatin C-based method.


Background: Malnutrition among refugee children is a critical public health concern due to the intensified vulnerability of this age group. Malnutrition is not only a condition that kills, but also has negative consequences in the long term for their overall health and developmental potential among survivors after an appropriate treatment. This exhibits that it is of paramount importance to capitalize not only in the treatment of acute malnutrition but also in its prevention. To prevent malnutrition and its consequences successfully, evidence on risk factors in refugee setting is crucial. However, little information is known about the determinant of acute malnutrition in refuge setting. Hence, this study aimed to identify the determinants of acute malnutrition among under five Children in Tierkidi South Sudanese Refugee Camp, Western Ethiopia.
Methods: A case-control study was conducted from February 28 to march 30, 2015 in Tierkidi refugee camp Western Ethiopia. Cases were wasted children under the age of five years while the controls were children free of wasting and neighbor of the cases. A total of 94 cases and 187 controls were studied. Data were collected by face to face interview. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariable analyses were done to compute summary statistics and identify determinants of acute malnutrition using SPSS version 20.0 software.
Results: Acute malnutrition was associated with diarrheal disease (AOR=3.77; 95% CI: 1.55, 9.17), non-exclusive breast feeding (AOR=3.70, 95% CI 1.64, 8.33), short birth interval (AOR=6.70; 95% CI: 2.89, 15.54), age group of 6-11 months (AOR=9.81; 95% CI: 2.69, 35.75), and prompt health seeking for sick child (AOR=5.89; 95% CI: 2.49, 13.94).
Conclusion: Short birth interval, younger child age, and inappropriate infant and young child caring practices were determinants of acute malnutrition in Tierkidi refugee camp. To reduce childhood malnutrition due emphasis should be given in improving the practice of parents on appropriate infant and young child caring practices and child birth spacing.


In time-independent quantum systems, entanglement entropy possesses an inherent scaling symmetry that the energy of the system does not have. The symmetry also assures that entropy divergence can be associated with the zero modes. We generalize this symmetry to time-dependent systems all the way from a coupled harmonic oscillator with a time-dependent frequency, to quantum scalar fields with time-dependent mass. We show that such systems have dynamical scaling symmetry that leaves the evolution of various measures of quantum correlations invariant -- entanglement entropy, GS fidelity, Loschmidt echo, and circuit complexity. Using this symmetry, we show that several quantum correlations are related at late-times when the system develops instabilities. We then quantify such instabilities in terms of scrambling time and Lyapunov exponents. The delayed onset of exponential decay of the Loschmidt echo is found to be determined by the largest inverted mode in the system. On the other hand, a zero-mode retains information about the system for a considerably longer time, finally resulting in a power-law decay of the Loschmidt echo. We extend the analysis to time-dependent massive scalar fields in $(1 + 1)-$dimensions and discuss the implications of zero-modes and inverted modes occurring in the system at late-times. We explicitly show the entropy scaling oscillates between the \emph{area-law} and \emph{volume-law} for a scalar field with stable modes or zero-modes. We then provide a qualitative discussion of the above effects for scalar fields in cosmological and black-hole space-times.


Title An exploration of the management of blood glucose in hospital patients with diabetes at the end-of-life. Objective Investigate current practice through retrospective medical notes review and focus group discussion with palliative care, diabetes and generalist specialties to explore their perspectives of end-of-life diabetes care. The aim is to inform service development guidelines to improve the quality of care for patients with diabetes. Design An evaluation research method using a mixed method approach was conducted within an acute care setting. Deceased patient's records (n=71) were reviewed and data were abstracted for Glycaemic variables, advocacy, diabetes and admission variables to determine the factors influencing admission and end-of-life diabetes management. Descriptive statistics were used to compare the management of cancer and non-cancer patients and referral patterns to palliative care and diabetes specialists. Four focus groups were convened from the individual specialities, and a final mixed specialty group was convened. The participants were predominantly senior medical, nursing, pharmacy and dietician professionals within the hospital. Results The focus group perception of care ideals was not reflected in the medical notes. Capillary Blood Glucose (CBG) is not routinely managed at the end-of-life due to rapid deterioration and death in the majority of patients. Diabetes is apparently treated generically without due consideration to its type or in those patients whose survival goes beyond 72 hours up to 16 days. Patients and relatives views are not routinely sought. The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) and limited knowledge for the management of diabetes was found to be a barrier to personalised diabetes care. Conclusion Guidelines have been suggested. Education for practice is required for optimal end-of-life care for patients hospitalised with diabetes.


The complete mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase II gene was sequenced from 17 black flies, representing 13 putative species, and used to infer phylogenetic relationships. A midge (Paratanytarsus sp.) and three mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, and Culex quinquefasciatus) were used as outgroup taxa. All outgroup taxa were highly divergent from black flies. Phylogenetic trees based on weighted parsimony (a priori and a posteriori), maximum likelihood, and neighbor-joining (log-determinant distances) differed topologically, with deeper nodes being the least well-supported. All analyses supported current classification into species groups but relationships among those groups were poorly resolved. The majority of phylogenetic signal came from closely related sister taxa. The CO-II gene may be useful for exploring relationships at or below the subgeneric level, but is of questionable value at higher taxonomic levels. The weighting method employed gave phylogenetic results similar to those reported by other authors for other insect CO-II data sets. A best estimate of phylogenetic relationships based on the CO-II gene is presented and discussed in relation to current black fly classification.


[1] The results of the environmental radiation (ER) monitoring obtained during the Tunguska expedition of July 1999 with a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector are reported. Some interesting meteorological effects related to the airborne radioactive components (radon and thoron decay products) have been observed. The main effects observed are (1) the doubling of the ER during two quite different rain-out episodes and (2) a fairly regular diurnal wave in the intensity of the total radiation. The rain-out phenomenon allows us to approximate the timescale for the removal by precipitation of radioactivity from the air, while the wave phenomenon gives us the opportunity to develop a simplified model for estimating the time-averaged, dry weather surface radon concentration.


I believe that the first time I actually met Ray Fielding in person was in 1978. He had just delivered a guest lecture on the March of Time newsreels to Howard Suber's famous Documentary Film course at UCLA and I was a Graduate Teaching Fellow in that class. Even before meeting Dr. Fielding, though, I had read his essential books on American newsreels, the March of Time series, and special effects cinematography, as well as some of his more than 30 scholarly articles. At that first acquaintance, Ray graciously and patiently answered all my many questions about newsreels; at the time, he seemed to me to embody the phrase "walking encyclopedia." Over the years since that initial encounter, nothing has led me to revise that first impression; Ray Fielding is indeed a veritable almanac of film history, production, screenwriting, special effects, and everything cinematic. (He even knows the name of Susan Alexander Kane's off-screen physician in Citizen Kane: Dr. Cory!) And while many individuals-inside and outside academe-may lay claim to encyclopedic knowledge, a vast majority are no doubt "nerds" who do not utilize their vast knowledge in practical ways to enhance their fellow cineastes, other than writing books and articles. Dr. Fielding not only published and lectured widely but he also made enormous contributions to the film industry and to cinema education. A quick precis of his vita will provide only a capsule summary of some of those accomplishments: For over 45 years (until his retirement in 2003), Ray Fielding served as professor and/or administrator at six of the top film schools in the United States: UCLA, USC, University of Iowa, Temple, University of Houston, and Florida State University. At the last three, he and his colleagues created brand new programs. Ray was also the president of several professional organizations, including the Industry Film Producers Association, the University Film and Video Association (UFVA), and the Society for Cinema Studies (SCS); in addition, he served as a Trustee of the American Film Institute (AFT) and the University Film and Video Foundation, and as Vice-President of the International Congress of Cinema and Television. Fielding also made his mark in the film and television business. At the age of sixteen, he was already an apprentice in the industry; in his early twenties, he worked as an editor and cameraman. At twentyfour, while still a student at UCLA, he headed up his own company, producing documentaries for early television and educational markets. He also provided technical services to NBC-TV and in the process got to work with Bob Hope, Milton Berle, George Gobel, Spike Jones, Donald O'Connor, Hoagy Carmichael, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and Jimmy Durante. As Fielding put it, "What a privilege it was for a young person my age to work with the most celebrated comedy and variety artists of my generation." During the 1950s, he worked in the Los Angeles film and TV industries as a writer, director, and editor. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in 1976 and a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1981 . He worked as writer or director for television films released by Walt Disney Studios, CBS Television, and the Public Broadcasting Corporation, and as a consultant to Universal Studios, United Artists, CBS Television, Trans America Corporation, Capitol Cities Broadcasting, ABC Television, BBC Television, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, and Hearst Corporation. His films have garnered top awards and screenings at the Chicago, Cleveland, American, Virgin Islands, and Florence International film festivals, and one was selected to open the Bicentennial film series at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., in 1976. Even during his tenure as a professor or dean, he continued to work in the movie industry as a writer, producer, consultant, visual effects supervisor, and on-camera commentator. …


Growing demand for use of the National Airspace System (NAS) has resulted in research and development programs to modernize the air traffic control system. The primary focus of the US FAA's Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) plan is to transform the air transportation system into a more flexible, adaptive, and highly automated system capable of handling two to three times the current traffic. According to the NextGen plan, Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) is designed to improve the safety, capacity, and efficiency of the NAS. ADS-B works by broadcasting flight information such as the flight number, position, speed and intent using satellite-based navigation systems, to other aircraft or air traffic control facilities. Our research interests focus on the interoperability of the ADS-B data link with existing surveillance systems and operational ability of ADS-B to assist the flight crew by meeting safety assurance. Because the NAS involves a multitude of inter-acting agents and technologies, the high complexity of integrated sensing and decision support for the air traffic control is the main challenge. We have developed a simulation environment which includes an air traffic model, existing surveillance systems, ADS-B systems, and wireless channel model. The critical issue of the interoperability and collaboration between existing systems and ADS-B is validated. Two parts of the interference issue are analysed: (1) interference from ADS-B to existing systems, and (2) interference from existing systems to the ADS-B. It is shown that ADS-B meets the performance requirements of both air-to-ground and air-to-air ranges. Furthermore, the effect of ground surveillance systems and aircraft density to the ADS-B performance along the flight path is analysed.


Questioned document examination has traditionally used on-the-job training as its primary instructional method. There are several deficiencies inherent in this method of training, however. Some of these deficiencies are the lack of a standardized course of instruction, the inability to evaluate the quality of the training received by an individual, the absence of any criteria establishing minimum levels of competency, and the length of time required which results in a reluctance to hire trainees. These and other shortcomings in on-the-job training are discussed in view of a survey that was conducted of 249 document examiners associated with federal, state, county, local, and private laboratories. Some possible remedies to correct the weaknesses in the current approach to training are offered.


The paper presents a case of uterine arteriovenous anomaly as mixed hamartoma with the signs of racemose and intramuscular angiomas, which was a morphological finding in an 18-year-old woman when the uterus removed for misdiagnosed postpartum septic endometritis was examined.


A proxy re-encryption (PRE) scheme allows a designated proxy, that has beforehand received a so-called re-encryption key, to translate a ciphertext intended to one user to a ciphertext intended to another one. Traditionally, the re-encryption key is generated at the initiative of the initial receiver and ideally, no secret keys should be known to the proxy. Such scheme is said unidirectional if the transformation from one user to another does not necessarily imply the possibility to make the inverse transformation. Regarding the literature on unidirectional proxy re-encryption, it seems hard to prove the strongest security level (namely indistinguishability under chosen ciphertext attacks IND-CCA) of such schemes. Most of the time, PRE either reaches a chosen-plaintext security or a replayable CCA security. At Africacrypt 2010, Chow, Weng, Yang and Deng proposed a scheme that satisfies CCA security in the random oracle model. However, their model can actually be strengthen. Indeed, we show in this paper how to modify this scheme so that its improved security achieves a full CCA security. In particular, we now allow the adversary of the CCA security for re-encryption to corrupt the user i′ who is the initial receiver of the challenged ciphertext and at the same time to obtain the re-encryption key from i′ to the targeted users. The resulting scheme is therefore a fully secure PRE which does not rely on pairings, and secure in the random oracle model. It can be implemented efficiently with any traditional modular arithmetic.


Science and reporting information needs for monitoring dynamics in land cover over time have prompted research, and made operational, a wide variety of change detection methods utilizing multiple dates of remotely sensed data. Change detection procedures based upon spectral values are common; however, landscape pattern analysis approaches which utilize spatial information inherent within imagery present opportunities for the generation of unique and ecologically important information. While the use of two images may provide the means to identify change, the use of more than two images for long-term monitoring affords the ability to identify a greater range of processes of landscape change, including rates and dynamics. The main objective of this review is to investigate and summarize the methods and applications of land cover spatial pattern analysis using three or more image dates. The potential and the limitations of landscape pattern indices are identified and discussed to inform application recommendations. The second objective of this review is to make recommendations, including appropriate landscape pattern indices, for the application of landscape pattern analysis of a long time series of remotely sensed data to a case study involving the mountain pine beetle in British Columbia, Canada. The review concludes with recommendations for future research.


These days communication devices smaller than palm size have appeared in the market. Antenna size is a major factor that limits device miniaturization. Planar inverted F antenna has been designed here which is very popular for handheld wireless devices which are working well for wi-fi and LTE application. it can be easily placed in small space present inside the mobile device. This work concentrates on design and development of compact antenna used for mobile devices. For low profile micro strip patch is popular but it is not good candidate for the portable devices as their designs are based on half wavelength of operation, and not meet the strict small space requirement of these devices. Whereas PIFA design invokes the quarter wavelength operation. Additionally the PIFA offers very high radiation efficiency and sufficient bandwidth in a compact antenna.


Dose-dense (DD) regimens of combination chemotherapy may produce superior clinical outcomes, but the basis for these effects are not completely clear. In this study, we assessed whether a DD combinatorial regimen of low-dose cisplatin and paclitaxel produces superior immune-mediated efficacy when compared with a maximum tolerated dose (MTD) regimen in treating platinum-resistant ovarian cancer as modeled in mice. Immune responses generated by the DD regimen were identified with regard to the immune cell subset responsible for the antitumor effects observed. The DD regimen was less toxic to the immune system, reduced immunosuppression by the tumor microenvironment, and triggered recruitment of macrophages and tumor-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses to tumors [as determined by interleukin (IL)-2 and IFN-γ secretion]. In this model, we found that the DD regimen exerted greater therapeutic effects than the MTD regimen, justifying its further clinical investigation. Fourteen patients with platinum-resistant relapse of ovarian cancer received DD chemotherapy consisting of weekly carboplatin (AUC2) and paclitaxel (60-80 mg/m(2)) as the third- or fourth-line treatment. Serum was collected over the course of treatment, and serial IFN-γ and IL-2 levels were used to determine CD8(+) T-cell activation. Of the four patients with disease control, three had serum levels of IL-2 and IFN-γ associated with cytotoxic CD8(+) T-cell activity. The therapeutic effect of the DD chemotherapy relied on the preservation of the immune system and the treatment-mediated promotion of tumor-specific immunity, especially the antitumor CD8(+) T-cell response. Because the DD regimen controlled drug-resistant disease through a novel immune mechanism, it may offer a fine strategy for salvage treatment.


Introduction: An early diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) is of utmost importance, so that patients can be isolated and treated in time, eventually preventing spread of the disease, improving the prognosis and reducing the mortality High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT) chest imaging and Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven analysis of HRCT chest images can play a vital role in management of COVID-19 patients Aim: To explore the various HRCT chest findings in different phases of COVID-19 pneumonia and to assess the potential role of AI in quantitative assessment of lung parenchymal involvement in COVID-19 pneumonia Materials and Methods: The present retrospective observational study which was conducted between 1st May 2020 to 13th August 2020 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) positive 2169 COVID-19 patients who underwent HRCT chest were included in the study Presence and distribution of lesions like: Ground Glass Opacity (GGO), consolidation and any specific patterns like septal thickening, reverse halo, sign, etc , were noted in the HRCT images HRCT chest findings in different phases of disease (Early: 10 days) were assessed CT Severity Score (CTSS) was calculated based on the extent of lung involvement on HRCT, which was then correlated with the clinical severity of the disease Artificial Intelligence powered "CT Pneumonia analysis" algorithm was used to quantify the extent of involvement of lungs by calculating Percentage of Opacity (PO) and Percentage of High Opacity (PHO) in lungs Tests of statistical significance, like Chi-square, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Post-hoc tests were applied depending on the type of variables, wherever applicable Results: Radiological findings were seen in HRCT chest of 1438 patients Typical pattern of COVID-19 pneumonia, i e , bilateral, peripherally located GGO with or without consolidation was seen in 846 patients About 294 asymptomatic patients were found to be radiologically positive HRCT chest in the early phase of disease mostly showed GGO Features like increased reticulation, predominance of consolidation, presence of fibrous stripes indicated late phase About 91 3% of cases having CTSS ≤7 were asymptomatic or clinically mild whereas, 81 2% cases having score ≥15 were clinically severe The mean PO and PHO (30 1±28 0 and 8 4±10 4, respectively) were remarkably higher in clinically severe category Conclusion: Progression of COVID-19 pneumonia is rapid, so radiologists and clinicians need to get familiarised with the typical CT chest findings, hence patients can be treated on time, eventually improving the prognosis and reducing the mortality Artificial Intelligence has the potential to be a valuable tool in management of COVID-19 patients


Mg55Y15Cu30 metallic glass powders were prepared by the mechanical alloying of pure Mg, Y, and Cu after 10 h of milling. The thermal stability of these Mg55Y15Cu30 amorphous powders was investigated using the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Tg ,Tx , and ΔTx are 442 K, 478 K, and 36 K, respectively. The as-milled Mg55Y15Cu30 powders were then consolidated by vacuum hot pressing into disk compacts with a diameter and thickness of 10 mm and 1 mm, respectively. This yielded bulk Mg55Y15Cu30 metallic glass with nanocrystalline precipitates homogeneously embedded in a highly dense glassy matrix. The pressure applied during consolidation can enhance thermal stability and prolong the existence of amorphous phase within Mg55Y15Cu30 powders.


The descaling operation on a Hot Strip Mill (HSM) uses high pressure water jets to remove the thick, hard and brittle oxide scale, in order to avoid oxide embedding into the metal which degrades surface finish. A thermal and mechanical analysis of the impact of the water jets has been performed by the Finite Element Method (FEM). The differential contraction of the oxide and metal under this brutal cooling are described, with the resulting network of cracks and the oxide flakes. The main process parameters are disclosed.