Relationships are a fundamental part of being human; they enable communication, a shared sense of belonging, and a means of building identity and social capital. However, the hallmarks of late modernity can be encapsulated by the themes of detraditionalisation, individualisation and globalisation, which have essentially challenged the mode and means of engaging in relationships. This thesis uses the theology of Martin Buber to demonstrate how his dialogical claims about relationships, namely the "I-It" and "I-Thou" model, can provide a new ethical dimension to communication in the technological era. This thesis argues that through co-creation in cyberspace there is a realisation of the need for a new theological understanding of interconnection. Theology can utilise the platform of technology to facilitate a re-connection in all spheres of relationality and, ultimately, to the Divine.
This thesis will first outline the predicament for theology in late modernity. It will discuss how detraditionalisation has led to an emphasis on individual spirituality, as opposed to collective doctrinal beliefs. The global nature of cyberspace has facilitated the means to experiment with these alternative forms of spirituality, which has allowed theology to be commodified and has introduced a challenge to the dimension of relationships. Cyberspace presents a paradox for relationship: the medium transforms modes of relating because the self is re-configured through its contact with technology. This facilitates communication as the individual merges with the machine, resulting in models such as the cyborg. However, this can also be seen to erode the essence of humanity, as humans find themselves on the fringes of relationships. Their hybrid status means that they are no longer fully human or fully machine but become dominated by the latter. They exist on the boundary of both domains and cannot cultivate genuine relationships of the "Thou" variety. This leads to alienation from surroundings, community and the Divine.
Second, the thesis will discuss how Buber's theology can be used to re-position relationships by providing a means to reflect on different aspects of dialogue and communication. By applying Buber's dialectic to cyberspace it will be demonstrated how interconnectivity causes individuals to re-think the notion of self-in-relation. The three spheres of relationship which Buber identified: "man with nature, man with man, man with forms of the spirit" will be re-contextualised in cyberspace to show how the medium manifests both aspects of the dialectic but allows for a greater awareness of interconnection. Buber's insistence on the centrality of creative dialogue provides a solution to overcome this dilemma by bringing awareness of the interconnectivity of the self to all aspects of creation. It is through informed use of the medium of cyberspace that humans can re-envisage relationships characterised by a more genuine ethical dimension. These "Thou" moments begin the process of redemption; each one is part of the relationship with the "eternal Thou" and has the potential to draw the Divine down into the encounter, to re-connect with creation. This thesis is arguing for a new theology of interconnectivity that is able to redeem the potentiality of cyberspace as a medium for genuine "Thou" relationality.


The Sabiriyah Tuba Reservoir has significant hydrocarbon resources in place with a high degree of reservoir rock and fluid heterogeneity. Until recently, it received marginal development attention, and was considered one of the 'Minor Reservoirs' of North Kuwait with limited opportunity for production enhancement. Improved reservoir Characterization and the development of a 3D Static model, together with Horizontal Completion technology have now opened up new opportunities for an accelerated development strategy. The Tuba formation represents a carbonate ramp with different lithofacies association from more proximal depositional setting to more distal environments. Even though the northern area of the field is represented by deeper facies, the reservoir quality shows comparable porosity and permeability trends. The porous and permeable aggradational and progradational carbonate of Upper & Lower Tuba respectively, constitute the main oil accumulations where reservoir quality is strongly controlled by structure, primary depositional fabrics, as well as extensive dissolution process. It has a significant vertical and horizontal variation in oil quality ranging from low 11-18 API oils to better quality 23 API oils. Current performance of the producer wells indicates that Tuba has the potential to enhance dry oil production. Tuba reservoir is divided into 3 main stratigraphic units, Upper, Middle & Lower and each unit is further subdivided into sub-layers. The geological layering based on sequence stratigraphy combined with 3D seismic data provided the framework for structural model. The high resolution model was achieved by generating 3D faulted grids and integrating all the components such as all the deterministic structure maps and petrophysical results in to one geocellular model applying different approaches and techniques. The model and visualization proved valuable in the interpretation of the primary depositional and secondary digenetic processes that left their imprints on Tuba rocks The study helped accelerate the development of the Tuba reservoir, and led to new Drilling & Workover opportunities that converted to >500% increase in Oil production. Additionally, from this study, an estimated increase in recoverable reserves of >60% would now support a long term development plan and reserves growth for North Kuwait.


UNLABELLED
The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy (CCMP), features of its recognition and clinical manifestations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study included 102 patients with alcoholic and viral liver cirrhosis (LC) without cardiovascular history, without viremia and signs of acute alcoholic hepatitis. Echocardiography, electrocardiography (ECG) and brain natriuretic hormone (proBNP) level were investigated in all patients.

RESULTS
CCMP signs were detected in 65 (63.7%) of the 102 patients examined. All patients showed signs of electrophysiological myocardial abnormalities in ECG, signs of myocardial injury and the presence of heart failure in echocardiography, increase in proBNP. Interval QT length (0.4689 ± 0.012 s.) was significantly (p = 0.0461) higher than that of the control group. Violation of diastolic relaxation of the left ventricle was detected in 36 (55.6%) patients. The average level of proBNP was 540.85 ± 236.43 pg/ml, significantly different from the level of proBNP in healthy individuals--89.45 ± 26.43 pg/ml. The incidence of CCMP increased progressively with the severity of the Child-Pugh class and was 42.4% in patients of A class, 84.6% (p = 0.0132) in patients of B Class and 100% in patients of C class (p = 0.0219). The length of the QT interval, the proBNP level and frequency of diastolic dysfunction increased with increasing of liver cirrhosis severity.

CONCLUSION
The frequency of detection of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy was 63.7%. More pronounced CCMP signs were observed in alcoholic liver cirrhosis than in viral. The frequency of detection and severity of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy progres sively increased with the severity of liver cirrhosis. Brain natriuretic peptide was the most sensitive indicator of myocardial damage in liver cirrhosis irrespective of its etiology.


One of the founding principles of the Zionist ethos is cultivation of the soil. This article examines the ways in which this ethos was "translated" into educational values in Israeli State (secular) primary schools during the 1950s and 1960s. The translation took place at three levels. First, agriculture was presented as a paragon and the rural way of life as idyllic in the written curriculum. Reading textbooks included collections of stories about farmers who had fulfilled the myth of "making the wilderness bloom"; history textbooks emphasized the importance of Hebrew agriculture in the Zionist narrative. The second level was the physical cultivation of the soil in agriculture lessons: children learned how to grow radishes and onions, maintain an irrigation grid, and put together a sprinkler. The third level was the creation of an agricultural timeframe by teaching in accordance with the timeline of agrarian seasons. Schools celebrated "agrarianized" versions of Jewish festivals in order to emphasize the renewal of the Jewish people's connection with its land through agricultural work.


To the Editor.— I believe that we owe Dr Kligman and his colleagues a debt for reemphasizing the multifactoral etiologic panorama that the clinician calls acne. 1,2 His team has stressed the comedogenicity of chemicals and cosmetics. 2 They noted the aggravating but noncomedogenic quality of shearing stress based on laboratory observations, disputing earlier clinical observations. 3,4 They prefer the "comedogenic potential" of soap to the pathogenetic shearing stress of traumatic friction. 5 There is another rarer variety that I have termed "acne traumatica allergica," although I will concede that the commonest variety may not be "allergic." In this entity, lesions of acne minor are aggravated by rubbing the skin in response to both immunologic and nonimmunologic stimuli. After consuming tomatoes for example, some patients itch and rub. Their skin may pinken or even urticate. Certain atopics blanch. After this integumentary massage, papulopustular and even cystic lesions occur in


This paper describes a low cost, easy-to-implement circuit for triggering ignitrons in plasma physics experiments and other pulsed power applications. Using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) for rapid switching, the circuit delivers >2 peak current from a 0.1-μF capacitor to the ignitron trigger pin with a rise time of ~ 0.6 μs. The trigger circuit is isolated from the ignitron by a pulse transformer. Details of the circuit design and practical considerations for working with IGBTs are discussed. Sources of inductance in the system are identified, and leakage inductance associated with the pulse transformer is shown to be the primary factor limiting the pulse rise time.


In China, as in other nations, reading skills depend mainly on the level of education attained. But reading skills in China depend on other factors as well: the quality of schooling; the cultural capital of the family of origin–parental education, of course, but also such measures of cultural capital as the number of books in the household and the reading behavior of parents; gender; and the extent to which literacy is used over the life course. I exploit data from a 1996 national probability sample of Chinese Adults (N=6,090) that includes information on literacy (the number of characters identified from a list of 10 characters), measures of family cultural capital, and the usual socioeconomic data on both respondents and their families of origin, to study the determinants of the number of characters recognized. My analysis includes three components: (1) An overall assessment of the determinants of literacy in the adult population of China In addition to years of schooling, a number of factors positively affect literacy: father's years of schooling; the "cultural capital" of parents, manifest in their reading behavior; urban residence at age 14; and male gender. Further, the effect of father's education is entirely mediated by the effect of family cultural capital. (2) The effect of occupational experience on literacy. Net of education, those with non-manual jobs gain in literacy over the life course whereas the literacy of those with manual jobs declines. The fact that the two trends go in opposite directions suggests an age as opposed to period interpretation of the results. (3) An assessment of the effect of the Cultural Revolution on literacy. Net of years of schooling, those educated during the Cultural Revolution (especially the first years) are less literate than those educated before or after the Cultural Revolution, and the effect of the Cultural Revolution is larger in magnitude than the effect of an additional year of schooling.


The ecology and function of many Australian predators has likely been disrupted following major changes in prey base due to declines in distribution and abundance of small mammals following European settlement. This study investigated various aspects of the dietary ecology of sooty owls (Tyto tenebricosa tenebricosa), including sexual variation as they potentially exhibit the greatest degree of reversed sexual dimorphism of any owl species worldwide. Sooty owls are highly opportunistic predators of non-volant small mammals, consuming most species known to exist in the region, so their diet fluctuates seasonally and spatially due to varying prey availability, and is particularly influenced by the breeding cycles of prey. Significant intersexual dietary differences existed with female sooty owls predominantly consuming much larger prey items than males, with dietary overlap at 0.62. The current reliance on relatively few native mammalian species is of conservation concern, especially when mammal declines are unlikely to have ceased as many threatening processes still persist in the landscape. Sooty owl conservation appears inextricably linked with small mammal conservation. Conservation efforts should be focussed towards improving prey densities and prey habitat, primarily by implementing control programs for feral predators and preventing the loss of hollow-bearing trees throughout the landscape.


AbstractEvery profession considers the development and application of a Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct (PCEC) as a means of maintaining acceptable professional standards. As for the teaching profession, teachers are supposed to exhibit a high level of professionalism, responsibility, integrity, competence, character, respect and honesty. Such moral virtues are imperative for Physical Education (PE) teachers since their work involves close interactions with students in and outside the classroom and school contexts. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of PE teachers on PCEC in Tanzania. The study explored whether PE teachers were knowledgeable on PCEC and whether their knowledge differed according to their demographic and institutional characteristics. The study was significant in that knowledge on PCEC could help teachers to understand the nature of their work, the values they transmit and the implication of those values for those with whom they are engaged. The study could also help PE teachers to improve and sustain the standards and reputation of the teaching profession by upholding the best practices and conduct. The study utilized descriptive survey design and was conducted in secondary schools and teachers' colleges that had PE and sport programs. Purposive sampling was adopted to select PE teachers and data were collected through questionnaire. Results revealed that PE teachers had high knowledge on PCEC (M =4.41, SD = .317). However, knowledge on PCEC differed significantly across educational levels (p = .001), institutional ownership (p =. 011) and institutional level (p = .019). There were no significant differences across age categories (p = .056), gender (p = .926), marital status (p = .153), teaching experience (p =.258) and location (p = .252). It was concluded that PE teachers possess adequate knowledge on PCEC; and the level of education and religiosity are determinant factors for the knowledge on PCEC. It was recommended that there is a need to strengthen professional development courses for teachers and emphasize the teaching of moral and professional ethics in the teacher education programs. Teachers should also be encouraged to obtain copies of professional code of ethics and conduct, and they should be emphasized to implement the professional code of ethics and conduct. Moreover, studies should be conducted to understand the level of compliance with PCEC among teachers in other specialized subjects.Keywords: knowledge, PE teachers, professional code of ethics, code of conduct, perception, demographic characteristics, institutional characteristics.INTRODUCTIONEvery profession considers the development and application of a code of ethics as a means of maintaining acceptable professional standards among its members (Hinds, 2005). According to Banks (2003), a code of ethics guides the practitioners who are members, protects service users and safeguards the reputation of the profession. Supporting Banks' assertions, Anangisye and Barrett (2005) maintain that approaches to advance ethical stands must be adhered on an understanding of the positive professional models to which educators aspire. As for teachers, their professional behaviours inside and outside the classroom have far reaching impacts on their behaviour and their overall performance and thus the learning outcomes (Bennell & Akyeampong, 2007). Due to the importance of education and the responsibilities of teachers in the education and development of students, teachers are accountable to students and their parents/guardians and care takers, colleagues, the profession, their employer and the community. Consequently, teachers need to be aware of their responsibilities and vulnerabilities in their interactions and relationships with each educational stakeholder.In recognition of the multiple responsibilities of teachers, numerous investigators and educators have stressed for the need to abide to Professional Code of Ethics and Conduct (PCEC) (Anangisye, 2010; Hinds, 2005; Ishumi, 2011). …


This book showcases new research by emerging and established scholars on white workers and the white poor in Southern Africa. Rethinking White Societies in Southern Africa challenges the geographical and chronological limitations of existing scholarship by presenting case studies from Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe that track the fortunes of nonhegemonic whites during the era of white minority rule. Arguing against prevalent understandings of white society as uniformly wealthy or culturally homogeneous during this period, it demonstrates that social class remained a salient element throughout the twentieth century, how Southern Africa's white societies were often divided and riven with tension and how the resulting social, political and economic complexities animated white minority regimes in the region. Addressing themes such as the class-based disruption of racial norms and practices, state surveillance and interventions – and their failures – towards nonhegemonic whites, and the opportunities and limitations of physical and social mobility, the book mounts a forceful argument for the regional consideration of white societies in this historical context. Centrally, it extends the path-breaking insights emanating from scholarship on racialized class identities from North America to the African context to argue that race and class cannot be considered independently in Southern Africa.


This paper describes a computer-based learning project developed under the auspices of the Educational Technology Unit of the Victoria Institute of Colleges (Australia). Specifically, the project has developed a computer-based learning system for an introductory electrical engineering network theory course, making use of a standard, commercially available disk-based minicomputer system with graphics display terminals. The software developed for the system consists of 1) a course comprising frames of learning material with which the student interacts; 2) general student response evaluation facilities; 3) a semiautomatic means of authoring specific learning frames incorporating textual and graphical display; and 4) a supervisory system which interfaces the student with the learning material and student-aid facilities, monitors his progress, and guides him through the course.


We present a general framework of exploratory data analysis defining a set of concepts and prototypes developed within the Lisp-Stat programming environment for a M-to-M links multidimensional approach. We overview the main domains and fundamentals on which we lay the developed interactive GIS. In a second stage, we detail the different prototypes we implemented in a software called ARPEGE' and how they collaborate in providing an interactive spatial data exploration. Then we show four examples of concrete geographical applications and their underlaying data models. We end on a discussion about the contribution and the limitations of our conceptual framework and its associated software, and open to future research.


Experience had shown that the fidelity of the yaw control characteristics of the computer simulation models used at DRA Bedford and elsewhere was not up to the standard required for ACT control law development. It was therefore decided that the DRA model, Helistab, should be improved in this respect and a research activity initiated. In the absence of suitable published information or detailed data on the performance of the tail rotor, two experimental flight test programmes were conducted, the first with a Puma, the second with a Lynx AH Mk5. This dissertation describes the planning and conduct of the second experiment and the analysis of the data collected in both. Building on the DRA's considerable experience in main rotor research, the instrumented tail rotor blade for the Lynx was designed to make use of the Pressure Indicator Sensor technique which, provided that the local in-plane velocity is known, permits the local blade loading to be estimated from the pressures read at two points on the upper surface leading and trailing edges of the blade. The lack of this velocity information for the tail rotor presents problems, solutions to which are discussed. With the aircraft experimental installation completed, it was flown for fifteen hours, during which time data on over 1200 flight conditions were collected from within the Lynx low speed flight envelope. New techniques had to be developed to allow efficient analysis of this large database so that the information contained therein could be extracted. From the initial analysis of the data it was determined that the Lynx AH Mk5 low speed flight envelope can be sub-divided into six regions. In each of these regions, the mechanism of main rotor/tail rotor interaction is different. One or more flight conditions in each region were selected for in-depth analysis so that the detail of the mechanisms could be determined. Each interaction is covered in turn. Once the predominant mechanisms of the main rotor/tail rotor interaction were isolated, their respective effects on the yaw performance of the helicopter could be assessed and a decision taken as to whether or not they should be included in the model. The dominant interaction, that taking place in quartering flight, should be included in all tail rotor models. This effect has been modelled and, when included in Helistab, the trim results obtained show a marked improvement over those previously available. The remaining interactions are not so significant and their inclusion would depend on the detail required in the model and the purpose for which it was intended. The Lynx AH Mk5 experiment is seen as the first part of a comparative study: an additional trial with a Lynx AH Mk7, in which the tail rotor rotates in the opposite direction, is proposed as the second. The instrumented tail rotor blade designed for that aircraft includes an extra sensor that should enable the in-plane velocity to be determined. In addition to the model improvements, this research has suggested the use of cyclic control of tail rotor pitch to improve tail rotor efficiency. The use of this control technique has the potential to expand the low speed flight envelope, though it could only be incorporated as part of a helicopter ACT system. It is recommended that tail rotor cyclic control, and some other aspects of tail rotor performance highlighted by this present research programme, be more fully investigated in the future.


Recently several Italian Industrial Districts (IDs) have been characterized by a profound change. The affirmation of leader firms and the restructuring of inter-firm networks can be considered as the principal phenomena of the process of change in IDs. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the change in the IDs, focusing on the networking process among firms, which has been stressed as one of the most important distinctive characteristics of this production model. With this aim, a theoretical interpretative model is proposed to explain the formation of new models of inter-firm network within IDs. The model, based on the analysis of several empirical studies on Italian IDs presented in the literature, suggests a correlation between the formation of a more structured network and the leader firm's strategies of growth. Furthermore, the proposed model has been supported by the results of an empirical investigation. The empirical investigation, adopting a multiple-case approach, involves eight in-depth case studies on the leader firms operating in four Italian IDs. Through the analysis of the leader firms, a contribution to the identification of the main trajectories of change in inter-firm relationships within IDs has been given. In particular, it has been verified that the strategies of growth adopted by the leader firms have as a main dominant result the formation of 'structured inter-firm networks'.


Recent evidence suggests that exercise stimulates the degradation of cellular components in skeletal muscle through activation of autophagy, but the time course of the autophagy response during recovery from exercise has not been determined. Furthermore, the regulatory mechanisms behind exercise-induced autophagy remain unclear, although the muscle oxidative phenotype has been linked with basal autophagy levels. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of the key regulator of muscle oxidative capacity, PGC-1 a , in exercise-induced autophagy at several time points during recovery. Mice with transgenic muscle-specific overexpression (TG) or knockout (MKO) of PGC-1 a and their respective littermate controls were subjected to a single 1 h bout of treadmill running and euthanized immediately (0 h), 2, 6, and 10 h after exercise. In the PGC-1 a MKO strain, quadriceps protein content of the autophagy marker LC3II was increased from 2 h into recovery in lox/lox con-trol, but not in MKO mice. In the PGC-1 a TG strain, quadriceps protein content of LC3II was increased from 2 h after exercise in TG, but not in WT. Although AMPK and ACC phosphorylation was increased immediately following exercise, the observed exercise-induced autophagy response was not associated with phosphorylation of the AMPK-target ULK1. However, lower protein carbonyl content was observed in lox/lox and TG mice after exercise coinciding with the increased LC3 lipidation. In conclusion, the present results suggest a role of skeletal muscle PGC-1 a in coordinating several exercise-induced adaptive responses including autophagic removal of damaged cellular components.


A micro Electrochemical Machining (ECM) system has been developed, and macro/micro complex feed mechanism has been presented in order to achieve high-resolution. A nanosecond pulse power supply for micro-ECM has been developed, and the minimum pulse width can reach 50 ns. Complementary chopper circuit has been designed to avoid waveform distortion, which can achieve higher pulse frequency. A series of ECM experiments using the machining system have been carried out, and results of tests have proved that high-resolution spindle, and high frequency, short pulse width power supply help to achieve better quality surface, higher machining accuracy.


A dynamical model for a 5 kW class solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) combined heat and power (CHP) test station has been composed using the APROS® environment. The model is based on a real test station being constructed and operated at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and it comprises the following main components of the real test system: the autothermal reforming unit, SOFC stack situated inside a furnace, catalytic afterburner, and three heat exchangers. The constructed model has been verified against experimental results obtained from the autothermal reforming unit, catalytic afterburner, and the two cathode side heat exchangers. The model has been used for the phenomenological studies of the system during current transient simulations using a simplified and fast zero-dimensional model including internal reforming reactions for the SOFC stack. The test station model was capable of operating at a speed of 18 times the real time using a standard personal computer.


This article studies the gender gap in job satisfaction and argues that the observed gender difference is a consequence of the heterogeneity in work orientations between men and women. Using data from the 2006 Skills Survey, the analysis yields three major findings. The first shows that women, either in full-time or part-time employment, report significantly higher levels of job satisfaction than men. Secondly, work orientations are closely associated with one's job satisfaction and their relationships vary significantly across men, women full-time and part-time workers. Finally and most importantly, the observed gender satisfaction differential is eliminated once work orientations are taken into consideration.


Data covers strategic health authorities, former health authorities; primary care trusts; London boroughs; GOR; England; and, England and Wales. (Age standardised rates per 100,000).
Source: Compendium of clinical and health indicators 2002, National Statistics.


There has been growing enthusiasm amongst those who undertake research with children, for the development of participatory and visual research methods. The greater availability and affordability of digital technology (such as digital cameras, tablets and smart phones) has meant that there has been greater scope for digital technology to support participatory research methods, or augment more traditional qualitative research methods. While digital technology provides new opportunities for qualitative researchers, they also come with a series of challenges – some of which have been grappled with by those using more traditional research methods but also some which are new. Our study was undertaken in Victoria, Australia, and used a combination of interviews, focus groups and digital storytelling to bring together two strands of work which have historically occurred separately: work with children experiencing domestic violence and programs for men who use domestic violence. While digital storytelling proved to be an effective method of engaging children and young people in the research, a range of challenging ethical issues emerged. Some of these issues were considered as part of the formal 'procedural ethics' process, but additional and more challenging issues relating to anonymity and the complex safety considerations of using of the children's digital stories within programs for men who use violence and dissemination emerged in practice. It is hoped that sharing our experiences and decision-making will contribute to the knowledge base for others considering engaging in sensitive research using digital technology.


Learning to rank is an emerging learning task that opens up a diverse set of applications. However, most existing work focuses on learning a single ranking function whilst in many real world applications, there can be many ranking functions to fulfill various retrieval tasks on the same data set. How to train many ranking functions is challenging due to the limited availability of training data which is further compounded when plentiful training data is available for a small subset of the ranking functions. This is particularly true in settings, such as personalized ranking/retrieval, where each person requires a unique ranking function according to their preference, but only the functions of the persons who provide sufficient ratings (of objects, such as movies and music) can be well trained. To address this, we propose to construct a graph where each node corresponds to a retrieval task, and then propagate ranking functions on the graph. We illustrate the usefulness of the idea of propagating ranking functions and our method by exploring two real world applications.


Microelectrode material and cell culture medium have significant roles in the signal-to-noise ratio and cell well-being in in vitro electrophysiological studies. Here, we report an ion beam assisted e-beam deposition (IBAD) based process as an alternative titanium nitride (TiN) deposition method for sputtering in the fabrication of state-of-the-art TiN microelectrode arrays (MEAs). The effects of evaporation and nitrogen flow rates were evaluated while developing the IBAD TiN deposition process. Moreover, the produced IBAD TiN microelectrodes were characterized by impedance, charge transfer capacity (CTC) and noise measurements for electrical properties, AFM and SEM for topological imaging, and EDS for material composition. The impedance (at 1 kHz) of brand new 30 μm IBAD TiN microelectrodes was found to be double but still below 100 kΩ compared with commercial reference MEAs with sputtered TiN microelectrodes of the same size. On the contrary, the noise level of IBAD TiN MEAs was lower compared with that of commercial sputtered TiN MEAs in equal conditions. In CTC IBAD TiN electrodes (3.3 mC/cm2) also outperformed the sputtered counterparts (2.0 mC/cm2). To verify the suitability of IBAD TiN microelectrodes for cell measurements, human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived neuronal networks were cultured on IBAD TiN MEAs and commercial sputtered TiN MEAs in two different media: neural differentiation medium (NDM) and BrainPhys (BPH). The effect of cell culture media to hPSC derived neuronal networks was evaluated to gain more stable and more active networks. Higher spontaneous activity levels were measured from the neuronal networks cultured in BPH compared with those in NDM in both MEA types. However, BPH caused more problems in cell survival in long-term cultures by inducing neuronal network retraction and clump formation after 1–2 weeks. In addition, BPH was found to corrode the Si3N4 insulator layer more than NDM medium. The developed IBAD TiN process gives MEA manufacturers more choices to choose which method to use to deposit TiN electrodes and the medium evaluation results remind that not only electrode material but also insulator layer and cell culturing medium have crucial role in successful long term MEA measurements.


Twitter is now a key platform for public communication between a diverse range of participants, but the overall shape of the communication network it provides remains largely unknown. This article provides a detailed overview of the network structure of the Australian Twittersphere and identifies the thematic drivers of the key clusters within the network. We identify some 3.72 million Australian Twitter accounts and map the follower/followee connections between the 255,000 most connected accounts; we utilize community detection algorithms to identify the major clusters within this network and examine their account populations to identify their constitutive themes; we examine account creation dates and reconstruct a timeline for the Twitter adoption process among different communities; and we examine lifetime and recent tweeting patterns to determine the historically and currently most active clusters in the network. In combination, this offers the first rigorous and comprehensive study of the network structure of an entire national Twittersphere.


According to a given performance criteria, perfect tracking is defined as the performance of zero tracking error in finite time. It is evident that robotic systems, in particular those that carry out compliant task, can benefit from this performance since perfect tracking of contact forces endows one or many constrained robot manipulators to interact dexterously with the environment. In this article, a dynamical terminal sliding mode controller that guarantees tracking in finite-time of position and force errors is proposed. The controller renders a dynamic sliding mode for all time and since the equilibrium of the dynamic sliding surface is driven by terminal attractors in the position and force controlled subspaces, robust finite-time convergence for both tracking errors arises. The controller is continuous; thus chattering is not an issue and the sliding mode condition as well the invariance property are explicitly verified. Surprisingly, the structure of the controller is similar with respect to the infinite-time tracking case, i.e., the asymptotic stability case, and the advantage becomes more evident because terminal stability properties are obtained with the same Lyapunov function of the asymptotic stability case by using more elaborate error manifolds instead of a more complicated control structure. A simulation study shows the expected perfect tracking and a discussion is presented.


CONTEXT: Successful care transitions between emergency departments (EDs) and outpatient settings have implications for quality, safety, and cost of care. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of ED-based care transition interventions in achieving outpatient follow-up among pediatric patients. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, trial registers, and reference lists of relevant articles. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials of ED-based care transition interventions involving pediatric patients (aged ≤18 years). Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were performed in duplicate and independent manner. Study results were pooled for meta-analysis by using a random effects model. RESULTS: Sixteen randomized controlled trials, comprising 3760 patients, were included in the study. Most interventions were single-site (n = 14), multicomponent (n = 12), and focused on patients with asthma (n = 8). Pooling data from 10 studies (n = 1965 patients) found moderate-quality evidence for a relative increase of 29% in outpatient follow-up with interventions compared with routine care (odds ratio, 1.58 [95% confidence interval, 1.08–2.31]). Successful interventions included structured telephone reminders, educational counseling on follow-up, and appointment scheduling assistance. There was low-quality evidence when pooling data from 5 studies (n = 1609 participants) that exhibited little or no beneficial effect of interventions on ED readmissions (risk ratio, 1.02 [95% confidence interval, 0.91–1.15]). LIMITATIONS: All studies were conducted in urban US hospitals which makes generalization of the results to rural settings and other countries difficult. CONCLUSIONS: ED-based care transition interventions are effective in increasing follow-up but do not seem to reduce ED readmissions. Further research is required to investigate the mechanisms that affect the success of these interventions.


Info 2022 Reading is a pivotal skill for non-English department students as a vehicle to update their knowledge. One of reading activity which is beneficial is extensive reading. Several studies have proved the advantage of extensive reading, but study regarding what reading material is read by students is under explored. To fill this gap, this research aimed to uncover what non-English department students read during extensive reading program and why they chose that theme. The participants were Agroecotechnology students (n=52). The data was collected from the reading log sheet and participant interview. The reading log sheet was analyzed by the researcher to find the theme of the text that students read. The interview was conducted in Indonesian to make students at ease. After the interview, the transcript was written and translated into English. The result shows that there are 32 types of themes with various frequency distributions. Theme that students read is mainly caused by their hobby, favorite idol, and a senior student who influence them to read certain


This paper faces the challenge of building hypotheses that contain referents about social subjectivity and the effects of mental inscription of traumatic social events. The authors' starting point is the hypothesis that every link involves a subjectivizing potential. Also the 'unconscious principle of uncertainty' holds that every encounter exposes the individual to unforeseeable effects that cause emotional states bound to the uncertainty that underlies the construction of every link. This principle remains unconscious because the individual defensively implements the 'illusion of predictability', but a violent and unexpected attack may activate it, causing a state of disorganization whose clinical indicator is the feeling of perplexity. The paper discusses thinking disorders within the context of violent actions. Finally, clinical material about a patient being assaulted and held as hostage is discussed. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd


The concentrations of H⁺, NO⁻₃, SO²⁻₄, soluble Al, and undissociated acidity were measured in throughfall, soil solution, and streamflow during five rainfall events on two steeply sloping forested sites in the Great Smoky Mountains. The sources and sinks of these chemical species on a spruce-birch (Picea rubens Sarg.-Betula lenta L.) site were compared to those on a hardwood site. The chemistry of water collected in zero-tension lateral flow collectors during storm events was contrasted with water collected at corresponding depths in tension lysimeters. Tension lysimeter samples from the spruce site had much higher concentrations than those from the hardwood site of H⁺ (3–7 ×), SO²⁻₄ (1.5–2 ×), Al (2–5 ×), and undissociated acidity (1.5–2 ×). Baseflow from a first-order stream draining the spruce site was significantly higher in Al and H⁺ than hardwood site baseflow. On both sites the largest sources of H⁺ and undissociated acidity were throughfall (incident precipitation + canopy sources) and the O horizon; on the spruce site the O horizon was the predominant source of each. Aluminum and SO²⁻₄ also increased dramatically with passage through the O horizons, especially on the spruce site. Only the spruce site generated appreciable lateral flow. Nitrate, undissociated acidity, and Al concentrations in spruce site lateral flow were not significantly (p <0.05) different from those in corresponding tension lysimeter samples. Electrical conductivity and concentrations of H⁺ and SO²⁻₄, however, were higher in lateral flow from spruce site B horizons than in corresponding tension lysimeter water. Reduced soil contact time and contact surface area were hypothesized reasons for the ineffectiveness of these B horizon sinks with regard to rapid lateral flow. Lateral flow pathways on the spruce site may have also bypassed sinks for Al and undissociated acidity that exist in the lower mineral horizons and bedrock zone. Stream pH depressions during stormflow may be related to rapid subsurface flow and interflow emanating from these acidic spruce-birch sites.


Most studies on the genetic determinants of blood pressure and vascular complications of type 2 diabetes have focused on the effects of single genes. These studies often have yielded conflicting results. Therefore, we examined the combined effects of three renin-angiotensin system (RAS) genes and three salt sensitivity genes in relation to blood pressure and atherosclerosis in the total population and type 2 diabetic patients. The study was a part of the Rotterdam Study, a population-based cohort study. We have genotyped three RAS gene polymorphisms and three salt sensitivity gene polymorphisms. Diabetic patients with three risk genotypes of the RAS genes had a 6.9 mmHg higher systolic blood pressure (P for trend = 0.04) and a 6.0 mmHg higher pulse pressure (P for trend = 0.03) than those who did not carry any risk genotypes. Diabetic patients with three risk genotypes of the salt sensitivity genes had a 9.0 mmHg higher systolic blood pressure (P = 0.19) and a 13.1 mmHg higher pulse pressure (P = 0.02). Diabetic patients who carried three risk genotypes for the RAS genes had a higher mean intima-media thickness than those with two risk genotypes (mean difference 0.04 mm, P = 0.02). We found that among type 2 diabetic patients, mean systolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, and risk of hypertension increased with the number of risk genotypes for the RAS genes and the salt sensitivity genes.


OBJECTIVE
To study the BMD of patients with SLE according to the age of disease onset.

METHODS
Consecutive SLE patients were screened for BMD at the hip, lumbar spine and whole body by the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Comparison was made between patients who had disease onset in childhood (<18 years) and adulthood (≥18 years). Factors associated with low BMD were studied by linear regression.

RESULTS
A total of 395 SLE patients were studied (94% women; 11% childhood-onset disease). Osteoporosis of the lumbar spine and the hip/femoral neck was present in 20 and 10% of the patients, respectively. Childhood-onset SLE patients were less likely to be post-menopausal, but had significantly lower BMI, longer SLE duration and a higher frequency of ever use of high-dose CSs, CYC and AZA. Despite a significantly younger age, the BMD of the hip, femoral neck and lumbar spine was significantly lower in childhood- than adult-onset SLE patients. In linear regression models, childhood-onset disease was an independent factor for lower BMD at the lumbar spine (β = -0.18; P = 0.002), hip (β = -0.20; P = 0.001) and femoral neck (β = -0.16; P = 0.01) after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, smoking, menopause, SLE duration and damage index, duration and current dose of prednisolone treatment and the ever use of high-dose glucocorticoids, other immunosuppressive agents, calcium, vitamin D and the bisphosphonates.

CONCLUSIONS
In adult SLE patients, childhood-onset disease carries a higher risk of osteoporosis, which may possibly be related to a higher cumulative dose of glucocorticoids used for more active disease and failure to achieve a normal peak bone mass during puberty.


Accumulation and removal of UVBR (ultraviolet-B radiation: 280 to 315 nm)-induced DNA damage (cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers; CPDs) were studied in 2 size fractions (0.2 to 0.8 and 0.8 to 10 µm) of natural populations of tropical marine bacterio- and phytoplankton off Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Plankton was either directly sampled from the surface layer (mixed situation), or incubated in UVR-transparent bags at 2 water depths (simulated non-mixed situation). A DNA dosimeter was used to measure biologically effective UVBR doses as well as attenuation of biologi- cally effective radiation in the surface layer. A significant difference in CPD level between the 2 plankton size fractions could not be measured. In the mixed as well as in the non-mixed situation, DNA damage was accumulated between 09:00 and 14:00 h irrespective of the variability in incident UVBR. Surface layer samplings on consecutive days showed a clear diel pattern of increase and decrease, indicating that, in the field, DNA damage is repaired or diluted during the afternoon or at night. No significant repair of DNA damage could be measured in samples that were incubated dur- ing the afternoon at 0.2 or 10 m depth. The UVBR sensitivity of surface-incubated plankton was expressed as the ratio between damage induced in the cells to damage induced in (unshielded and unrepaired) bare DNA. In both plankton size classes this ratio fluctuated around 0.32. In conclusion, the results show that plankton cells present in the clear waters off Curacao undergo UVBR stress despite the fact that they are subjected to vertical mixing. No significant difference in CPD levels between 2 size fractions of plankton could be measured, suggesting that in this plankton population other aspects, e.g. repair capacities or cell morphology, were more important than cell size.


The First Degree and Post-Graduate IIUM Tracer Study 2015 Report is the sixteenth Tracer Study project conducted by the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) under the purview of the Alumni and Global Network Division (AGND). This project is a substantial initiative and effort by AGND that receives a strong support from the University to publish a well comprehensive quantitative data report about IIUM's graduates – both the First Degree and Post-Graduate – in collaboration with the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). Given that the Tracer Study series have yielded important employment related findings and facts that provide useful information to the University in particular and the nation in general, it is hoped that this particular Report will continue to provide useful, comprehensive and exhaustive information to all, particularly to IIUM and MOHE.
A total of 4,894 graduates participated in the study, involving 3,599 first-degree graduates and 666 postgraduates. The respondents for the study were the graduates of the 31st IIUM Convocation. They comprised both undergraduates and postgraduates from all Kulliyyah. They include the Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL), Human Science (HS), IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIIBF), Islamic Revealed Knowledge (IRK), International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation (ISTAC), Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design (KAED), Kulliyyah of Allied Health Science (KAHS), Kulliyyah of Economics and Management (KENMS), Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology (KICT), Kulliyyah of Dentistry (KOD), Kulliyyah of Engineering (KOE), Kulliyyah of Education (KOED), Kulliyyah of Medicine (KOM), Kulliyyah of Nursing (KON), Kulliyyah of Pharmacy (KOP) and Kulliyyah of Science (KOS).
An online survey method was adopted in this study. The instrument used was an online questionnaire prepared by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), a standard format used by all participating universities. The MOHE Tracer Study questionnaire comprised seven (7) different sections, which captured information related to the graduates' (a) background information, (b) evaluation of programmes and services offered by the university/institution, (c) evaluation of effectiveness of study programme and self-readiness, (d) further studies, (e) current status, (f) employment, and (g) unemployment and others. The questionnaire was posted online a month prior to the 31st convocation ceremony which was held from 7th November to 9th November 2015. The respondents submitted their online questionnaire latest by 15th November 2015. The data were analysed using SPSS. For descriptive statistics, frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and cross tabulation were used for the study.


Background In the European Union (EU), the use of diniconazole-M is no longer authorized. However, residues of diniconazole-M occur in various plant commodities. Methodology/Principal Findings A selective and simple analytical method for the trace level determination of diniconazole in soil, fruit, vegetables and water samples was developed based on immunoaffinity extraction followed by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The ELISA was based on monoclonal antibodies highly specific to diniconazole and was a fast, cost-effective, and selective screening method for the detection of diniconazole. The results of the ELISA correlated well with gas chromatography (GC) results, with the correlation coefficient of 0.9879 (n = 19). A simple gel permeation chromato- graphy clean-up method was developed to purify extracts from matrices containing high amounts of fat and natural pigments, without the need for a large dilution of the sample. The immunoaffinity column (IAC) capacity was 0.180 mg g−1. The columns could be re-used approximately 20 times with no significant alteration in capacity. The recoveries from complex samples were in the range of 89.2% to 96.1% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.770%–6.11% by ELISA. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by HPLC method. Conclusion/Significance The IAC extraction procedure coupled with HPLC and ELISA analysis could be also used as alternative effective analytical methods for the determination of diniconazole concentrations in complex samples.


The typical computer application follows a set pattern: it is executed by a user, it provides responses to commands issued by the user, and it is terminated by the user when it is no longer needed. However, the advent of networked computers and the World-Wide Web has changed the way many applications work. Agents and similar programs constantly access online information databases and identify items that may be of interest to their users. The problem lies in communicating the collected information. Most existing widgets cannot take full advantage of the constant information ux generated by these programs. They work best as part of a full-screen display, they do not react well to changes in information, or they cannot attract the attention of users when new information arrives. This paper explores these problems and describes a number of interactors that may help alleviate them.


Since the recognition of British Sign Language in 2003 and the denunciation in 2010 of the 1880 decision to ban sign language in deaf education, the Deaf community has taken a positive move forward as a linguistic minority. This study explores the sense relations of the word deaf through a consideration of (a) quantitative data from a questionnaire study, (b) interviews and correspondence with academics in the field of deaf studies. The paper aims to demonstrate how the concept of the term deaf has changed and proposes that the cultural definition of deafness, Deaf (with capital 'D'), representing a culture and linguistic minority rather than a disability (in essence Deafhood), needs to be included in the dictionary. This addition would serve to ameliorate the word deaf and provide a permanent, mainstream reminder of the positive sense relations of the word d/Deaf. For the purpose of this article, d/Deaf refers to both audiologically and culturally deaf people. Pejorisation is the process in which over time a word acquires negative meaning and amelioration is a process in which a word regains a positive meaning. Keywords: Pejoration, Amelioration, d/Deaf, H/hearing, Deafhood, Social Model, Medical Model, Cultro-linguistic model.


The representer theorem assures that kernel methods retain optimality under penalized empirical risk minimization. While a sufficient condition on the form of the regularizer guaranteeing the representer theorem has been known since the initial development of kernel methods, necessary conditions have only been investigated recently. In this paper we completely characterize the necessary and sufficient conditions on the regularizer that ensure the representer theorem holds. The results are surprisingly simple yet broaden the conditions where the representer theorem is known to hold. Extension to the matrix domain is also addressed.


Djinga is a monotypic genus restricted to the Cameroon Ridge ('Dorsale Camerounaise') of NW Cameroon. Besides the type locality Mount Djinga (Adamawa Province, near Tignere), it also grows in waterfalls near Mount Oku (NW Province). This paper describes the structure and development of Djinga felicis using scanning electron microscopy and microtome sections. Cusset's protologue is enriched considerably. Roots are green, dorsiventrally flattened and adherent to submerged rocks. They are broad ribbons or crusts (up to 1 cm broad) which branch exogenously. Root-borne shoots (up to 17 cm) have filamentous leaves with sheaths and (occasionally) attached stipules. Flowers are borne as part of reproductive short shoots which arise exogenously along the stems and endogenously along the roots. Djinga shows non-axillary stem branching. Reproductive shoots along the main stem usually stay short. They arise from the abaxial side of double-sheathed leaves, a key innovation of Podostemoideae. These short shoots shift into pocket-like stem positions clearly below their associated leaves. Each flower bud inside a spathella is erect, but with an inclined ovary. The flowers are unistaminate with a broad connective. Unlike many other Podostemoideae, the tricolpate pollen grains are arranged in both dyads and monads. The ovary is globular and unilocular. The mature 8-ribbed capsule dehisces by two slightly unequal valves, releasing 40–50 seeds. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 160, 64–81.


Thanks to the power of representation learning, neural contextual bandit algorithms demonstrate remarkable performance improvement against their classical counterparts. But because their exploration has to be performed in the entire neural network parameter space to obtain nearly optimal regret, the resulting computational cost is prohibitively high. We perturb the rewards when updating the neural network to eliminate the need of explicit exploration and the corresponding computational overhead. We prove that a Õ(d̃ √ T ) regret upper bound is still achievable under standard regularity conditions, where T is the number of rounds of interactions and d̃ is the effective dimension of a neural tangent kernel matrix. Extensive comparisons with several benchmark contextual bandit algorithms, including two recent neural contextual bandit models, demonstrate the effectiveness and computational efficiency of our proposed neural bandit algorithm.


With the numerous advances that have been made in treatment of heart disease over the past 20 years, physicians are now emphasizing more than ever the prevention of heart disease. This issue provides cardiologists with practical state-of-the-art information on prevention that can be easily applied to their patients. Topics covered include diabetes, lipid-lowering therapy, RAAS blockade, emerging therapies for atherosclerosis prevention, and heart disease in women.


This paper introduces the application of fibre-optic distributed temperature sensing (DTS) in combined sewer systems. The DTS-technique uses a fibre-optic cable that is inserted into a combined sewer system in combination with a laser instrument that performs measurements and logs the data. The DTS-technique allows monitoring in-sewer temperatures with dense spatial and temporal resolutions. The installation of a fibre-optic cable in a combined sewer system has proven feasible. The use of a single instrument in an easy accessible and safe location that can simultaneously monitor up to several hundreds of monitoring locations makes the DTS set-up easy in use and nearly free of maintenance. Temperature data from a one-week monitoring campaign in an 1,850 m combined sewer system shows the level of detail with which in-sewer processes that affect wastewater temperatures can be studied. Individual discharges from house-connections can be tracked in time and space. With a dedicated cable configuration the confluence of wastewater flows can be observed with a potential to derive the relative contributions of contributary flows to a total flow. Also, the inflow and in-sewer propagation of stormwater can be monitored.


Commercial grade AA8090 Al–Li alloy sheet contained three layers of distinct microstructural features along thickness direction. The surface layer contained well recrystallized equiaxed grains with higher fraction of T {4 4 11}, Cu {1 1 2}, H {0 0 1} and CH {0 0 1} texture components whereas middle layer contained unrecrystallized elongated grains with higher fraction of brass {0 1 1}, CG {0 2 1} and goss{0 1 1} texture components. Superplastic forming of the separated surface and middle layers was carried out at constant pressure. Microstructure and texture evolution was studied at different location of the formed bulge. The extent of texturing or anisotropy was calculated from standard deviation of texture estimated normal anisotropy (R) values, Rstdev. At all conditions, in both the surface and middle layers, the texture randomization was found to be more at the apex than that at the edge of the bulge. The overall reduction in texturing was predominantly accompanied by weakening in strong texture components and strengthening in the weaker ones.


Atherosclerosis is an important pathology affecting the coronary artery system which leads to the creation of stenoses that cause the narrowing or to the obstruction of the coronary arteries. Since coronary obstruction deprives the myocardium of oxygen-rich blood provoking a possible total heart failure, and because of the diffusion of this kind of pathology, in literature different methods of assessment of coronary stenosis have been proposed. The evaluation of the degree of stenosis is essential in order to find the proper treatment for the patient, therefore the physiological assessment of coronary artery disease has become progressively important in both clinical and research application. Until today, coronary angiography constitutes the basis of coronary artery disease diagnosis, but it can't completely characterise the clinical significance of stenosis. For this reason, measurements of coronary pressure and flow have been developed to provide information complementary to the anatomic characterization obtained by angiographic examination. In this thesis, after a first overview of the main physiological measurements like Coronary Flow Reserve (CFR), Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR), Virtual Fractional Flow Reserve (vFFR) and Instantaneous Wave-free Ratio (iFR), much attention has been focused on the relationship between the assessment obtained by FFR and iFR measurements and the wall shear stress (WSS) distribution. In order to analyse the relationship between iFR and FFR measures and WSS, 80 cases of right coronary artery (RCA) affected by the presence of stenosis were examined. The angiographic images have been properly selected and segmented to reconstruct a 3D model of the coronary arteries, successively a volume mesh has been generated and, finally, the CFD simulations have been implemented using the frame count method to determine the inlet velocity as boundary condition. From the results which have been obtained, it emerges that in correspondence of low values of iFR and FFR, WSS values in the stenosis region are high indicating the presence of a disturbed flow induced by the narrowing of the vessel. Since WSS distribution can provide a general overview of the hemodynamic of the vessel, the analysis has been focused on the stenotic region and both on the first proximal and distal regions. WSS values result higher in the stenotic vessel with a peak in correspondence of the stenosis and lower before and after the stenosis. Therefore, a more uniform WSS distribution can be indicative of a healthy vessel; on the contrary, an uneven WSS distribution confirms inferior hemodynamic performance and, consequently, a possible critical hemodynamic situation. In conclusion, WSS can be a useful measure which could provide supplementary details improving the sensitivity of the physiological assessment given by iFR and FFR measurements.


ABSTRACT

Cooking effluents are one of the most important sources of pollution in the indoor and outdoor environment. Exposure to cooking oil fumes (COFs) can increase the risk of many diseases. A healthy indoor environment and an energy-efficient ventilation system in kitchens are urgently demanded. This review is concerned with the current knowledge of the physical and chemical compositions of aerosols generated from typical cooking processes as reported in the literature. It is focused on the effects of cooking fuel, cooking oil, cooking temperature, cooking method, cooking style and other factors on the characteristics of cooking particles. The improvement measures in kitchen ventilation, supply air strategy and evaluation index for the kitchen environmental protection are also reviewed. It was found that the cooking process emits high concentrations of particulate matter (PM), and inhalable particles account for a high proportion, which may cause serious harm to human body. Coupled with various factors affecting the particle concentrations and particle size distribution, as well as the main chemical components groups used to characterize the cooking particles, include PAHs, fatty acids, dicarboxylic acids, n-alkanes, sterols, monosaccharide anhydrides, metals and ions. Using an appropriate ventilation system and some auxiliary measures can effectively reduce cooking oil fumes pollution.


The rapid expansion of innovative smart technologies is creating exciting new opportunities and causing disruptions in many different sectors, including manufacturing, finance, insurance, and healthcare. Given its broad impacts across a variety of areas, smart technologies currently represent one of the hottest topics in both academia and industry. This special issue seeks to identify the latest trends and research directions on this topic by presenting research on the development, evaluation, management, and organization of smart technologies in the age of smart services. We identify three trending categories of smart services: (1) the Internet of Things and wearable technologies, (2) the sharing economy and platforms, and (3) intelligent agents. These innovative technologies and their corresponding production possibilities are of great interest to both researchers and practitioners, particularly in terms of their impacts under different application scenarios. This special issue offers a comprehensive review of IT-enabled smart services and we hope that it motivates further IS research on the theoretical and practical implications of this topic.


High brilliance and high spectral resolution of synchrotron sources and associated optics enable a large number of soft-X-ray spectroscopic studies such as inelastic X-ray scattering, which is becoming a technique of choice for the investigation of the electronic properties of complex materials. The resolution of the detection system in such experiments has to match the accuracy of the probe beam in order to take the full advantage of the performance of modern synchrotron sources. In this paper we describe our advanced photon counting detection system capable of simultaneously registering both position and time of individual photons with 2-dimensional spatial accuracy of < 50 mum and timing accuracy of < 130 ps FWHM. The open face, 25 mm active area detector consists of a Z-stack of microchannel plates and a cross delay line readout and has a dark count rate of only a few counts per second. The associated electronics allows event counting rates up to ~400 KHz with 10% dead time for randomly events. We present the results of our first measurements of delayed fluorescence from different materials performed at the Advanced Light Source. Time and angular resolved fluorescence measurements allowed us to separate images for the prompt elastically scattered and the delayed photons. The detector can also distinguish registration of electrons, ions or photons by variation of the potential on its input mesh. These results demonstrate the capabilities of our detection system, which is currently being integrated into an advanced time resolved X-ray emission spectroscopy system.


Abstract Five new species of angiosperm pollen described from three localities in south-central Minnesota support a Cenomanian age for the Dakota Formation in this area. The new taxa, Cupliferoidaepollenites microscabratus, Dryadopollis minnesotensis, Nyssapollenites microfoveolata, Phimopollenites striolata, and Tricolpites labeonis, are described using both light and scanning electron microscopy, are easily recognizable, and are useful age indicator species. Because of the extent and transgressive nature of the Dakota Formation, age determination has been difficult. The new angiosperm pollen species described here may help to support age determination for the Dakota Formation over a broader geographic area.


Active ventricular arrhythmias were provoked in damaged dog myocardium to study their response to some antiarrhythmic agents of Vaughan-Williams' class I. Dogs anesthetized with intravenous sodium pentobarbital (30 mg/Kg) were intubated and submitted to artificial ventilation using a Palmer pump. An infarction was produced near the apex of the left ventricle by intramural injection of 1-1.5 ml of phenol, and 30 to 60 min later, minute crystals of aconitine were introduced into the periphery of the infarcted area. Once ventricular tachycardia appeared and became stable, corresponding records were obtained and the antiarrhythmic agent to be studied was administered through the superior vena cava over a period of 5 to 15 min. Electrocardiographic tracings were registered at constant intervals in order to detect the recovery and duration of sinus rhythm. The reappearance of arrhythmia was always required in order to consider the action of the medication administered positive. High doses of lidocaine (6 mg/Kg) reestablished transient sinus rhythm in 23% of 35 treated dogs. Fifteen mg/Kg of mexiletine reestablished it in 45% of 22 animals and 2.5 mg/Kg of propafenone restored it in 39% of 18 animals receiving this drug. The positive effect of these antiarrhythmic agents of groups I B and I C consisted essentially in controlling no-rapid tachycardias with the "wave jumping" phenomenon and fusion beats, which may be due to activity of ectopic foci. Very rapid ventricular tachycardia with "wave jumping" generally did not respond to the antiarrhythmic agents tested. These tachycardias may be maintained by reentry or by the intervention of calcium-dependent potentials. Rapid ventricular tachycardias without extensive "wave jumping" also occurred. These were never controlled by the group I B antiarrhythmic agents, although they were sometimes suppressed with propafenone. These tachycardias probably originated near the intraseptal barrier. In few animals, amiodarone of class III was employed with a marked hypotensive effect.


Peer assessment can provide a convenient solution to the problem of marking individual students fairly in group assignments. The developing methodology has numerous benefits for enhanced student learning and transferable skill development. Peer Assessment is not, however, universally embraced: critics cite potential drawbacks including collusion and vindictive marking and this paper briefly reviews the state of the art; it goes on to describe a new web-based peer mark moderation tool and outline the results of a quantitative research project based upon its use. Whilst much of the received data confirms and updates previous literature, important new insights are gained into the thoughts of students, who appear to recognise and value the fairness they believe peer mark moderation can offer. Statistical analysis verifies the lack of collusion associated with the web-based system and students comment positively on the system's anonymity and its ability to recognise different levels of achievement within teams.


We propose an agent model capable of actively and selectively communicating with other agents to predict its environmental state efficiently. Selecting whom to communicate with is a challenge when the internal model of other agents is unobservable. Our agent learns a communication policy as a mapping from its belief state to with whom to communicate in an online and unsupervised manner, without any reinforcement. Human activity recognition from multimodal, multisource and heterogeneous sensor data is used as a testbed to evaluate the proposed model where each sensor is assumed to be monitored by an agent. The recognition accuracy on benchmark datasets is comparable to the state-of-the-art even though our model uses significantly fewer parameters and infers the state in a localized manner. The learned policy reduces number of communications. The agent is tolerant to communication failures and can recognize unreliable agents through their communication messages. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on learning communication policies by an agent for predicting its environmental state.


Website fingerprinting (WFP) attacks on the anonymity network Tor have become ever more effective. Furthermore, research discovered that proposed defenses are insufficient or cause high overhead. In previous work, we presented a new WFP defense for Tor that incorporates multipath transmissions to repel malicious Tor nodes from conducting WFP attacks. In this demo, we showcase the operation of our traffic splitting defense by visually illustrating the underlying Tor multipath transmission using LED-equipped Raspberry Pis.


In many cases developers must use a portion of their land for temporary detention of storm runoff in order to comply with local ordinances. A simple method is outlined which yields the minimum volume of temporary storage needed to meet local requirements at minimum cost. The types of outlet structures that can be used and the costs to be included are discussed and are dependent on site conditions, land uses, wishes of the developer, and whether or not water quality is included as a purpose.


Background: Cushing's syndrome (CS) is characterized by excessive exposure to cortisol, and is associated with both metabolic and behavioral abnormalities. Symptoms improve substantially after biochemical cure, but may persist during long-term remission. The causes for persistent morbidity are probably multi-factorial, including a profound effect of cortisol excess on the brain, a major target area for glucocorticoids. Objective: To review publications evaluating brain characteristics in patients with CS using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Systematic review of literature published in PubMed, Embase, Web of Knowledge, and Cochrane databases. Results: Nineteen studies using MRI in patients with CS were selected, including studies in patients with active disease, patients in long-term remission, and longitudinal studies, covering a total of 339 unique patients. Patients with active disease showed smaller hippocampal volumes, enlarged ventricles, and cerebral atrophy as well as alterations in neurochemical concentrations and functional activity. After abrogation of cortisol excess, the reversibility of structural and neurochemical alterations was incomplete after long-term remission. MRI findings were related to clinical characteristics (i.e., cortisol levels, duration of exposure to hypercortisolism, current age, age at diagnosis, and triglyceride levels) and behavioral outcome (i.e., cognitive and emotional functioning, mood, and quality of life). Conclusion: Patients with active CS demonstrate brain abnormalities, which only partly recover after biochemical cure, because these still occur even after long-term remission. CS might be considered as a human model of nature that provides a keyhole perspective of the neurotoxic effects of exogenous glucocorticoids on the brain.


A central tenet of the High Court of Australia's account of statutory interpretation is that the aim when interpreting a statutory provision is to ascertain the meaning of the words contained in that provision. The goal of this article is to challenge that tenet, which I call "the meaning thesis". I argue that the High Court's acceptance of the meaning thesis leaves it unable to account for important features of the practice of statutory interpretation. In particular, it struggles to account for the ways in which statutory provisions interact with other legal norms (including other statutory provisions), especially when those other norms are introduced into the law after the statutory provisions with which they interact. This, I argue, provides a powerful reason to abandon the meaning thesis. I conclude by briefly suggesting how we might begin to develop a more satisfactory account of statutory interpretation.


This paper provides evidence on the net effect of country-level adoption and implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We use firm-years from 18 IFRS-adopting jurisdictions to examine the association between the country-level adoption of IFRS and the overall probability of delisting in the post-adoption period. We further examine how mandatory IFRS adoption relates to the probability of voluntary delistings (including delistings caused by mergers and acquisitions, privatizations, and company requests) and involuntary delistings (including delistings due to reorganization and bankruptcy filings and delistings by the exchange). We also test the association between regulatory quality and delisting in IFRS-adopting jurisdictions. Our findings indicate that the probability of delisting is higher for IFRS-adopting jurisdictions in the post-adoption period for companies delisting both voluntarily and involuntarily. We also find that the probability of delisting increases only in strong-enforcement jurisdictions, which we attribute to higher IFRS compliance costs in these jurisdictions. Our findings extend the literature on the association of accounting regulation with firms' delisting decisions and shed light on the possible effects of IFRS adoption on stock exchange competitiveness.


Client self-instruction during counselling is proposed as an appropriate focus for ethogenic research. Such research would take the intentional actions of counsellors and clients as its primary subject matter, and would employ criteria of participant self-prediction and selfcontrol, and the validity criteria of researcher prediction and control. Philosophical and historical background of these ideas is summarized, and research questions, methods, and designs are proposed and illustrated. It is suggested that adoption of the theoretical and methodoligical perspectives presented might lead to a closer dialogue between scientists and practitioners in counselling psychology.


This paper reviews two decades of bridging the gap between laboratory measurements and predicting the performance of commercial maritime vessels and presents a rational approach, which is based on the combination of an experimental and a computational procedure, to predict the effects of modernday fouling control systems on "in-service" ship performance. Here the word "rational" reflects ship hull (and propeller) conditions as well as the approach to predicting the effect of the hull coating systems under such conditions. The proposed approach arguably provides a full solution to the complex ship performance problem. It is "rational" in terms of tackling the main features of modernday hull coating systems with the aid of bespoke experimental testing facilities and state-of-the-art computational methods. The proposed approach is generic and can be applied to any ship type and hull coating system in the presence of biofouling and it may even be combined with passive drag reduction systems. This approach involves both the combination of experimental data from flat test panels treated with representative surface finishes and extrapolation of this data to full-scale. However, for more accurate and direct estimation of performance prediction at full-scale, the extrapolation procedure needs to be replaced with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods, especially for deteriorated hull surfaces due to fouling; at present, such experimental data are still required. The rational nature and hence strength of the proposed approach is to represent the effect of the actual hull surfaces "in-service" by using state-of-the art experimental methods and data. This provides the option of an extrapolation procedure for practical performance estimations and also enables the use of CFD methods by avoiding the most difficult barrier of describing the actual hull surface numerically in CFD. Validation of the proposed approach requires full-scale data to be collected using a bespoke ship performance monitoring and analysis system which is dedicated to assessing the effect of coating systems in the presence of fouling. Such a system is under development as detailed in an accompanying presentation.


The stem cell factor (SCF) binds to c-Kit in endothelial cells, thus activating downstream signaling and angiogenesis. Herein, we examined the role of G protein subunit alpha inhibitory (Gαi) proteins in this process. In MEFs and HUVECs, Gαi1/3 was associated with SCF-activated c-Kit, promoting c-Kit endocytosis, and binding of key adaptor proteins, subsequently transducing downstream signaling. SCF-induced Akt-mTOR and Erk activation was robustly attenuated by Gαi1/3 silencing or knockout (KO), or due to dominant negative mutations but was strengthened substantially following ectopic overexpression of Gαi1/3. SCF-induced HUVEC proliferation, migration, and capillary tube formation were suppressed after Gαi1/3 silencing or KO, or due to dominant negative mutations. In vivo, endothelial knockdown of Gαi1/3 by intravitreous injection of endothelial-specific shRNA adeno-associated virus (AAV) potently reduced SCF-induced signaling and retinal angiogenesis in mice. Moreover, mRNA and protein expressions of SCF increased significantly in the retinal tissues of streptozotocin-induced diabetic retinopathy (DR) mice. SCF silencing, through intravitreous injection of SCF shRNA AAV, inhibited pathological retinal angiogenesis and degeneration of retinal ganglion cells in DR mice. Finally, the expression of SCF and c-Kit increased in proliferative retinal tissues of human patients with proliferative DR. Taken together, Gαi1/3 mediate SCF/c-Kit-activated signaling and angiogenesis.


Characterization of the porosity evolution across the sedimentary section entering subduction zones and accreted sediments provide valuable information for understanding the deformation history at accretionary margins and the physico‐chemical processes in and around fault zones. International Ocean Discovery Program Expeditions 372 and 375 drilled, logged, and cored the reference section on the incoming plate (Site U1520) and across the active Pāpaku thrust (Site U1518), which is a <30° westward‐dipping splay fault in the frontal accretionary wedge at the north Hikurangi margin in a region where tsunami earthquakes and recurrent slow slip events are documented. We observe strong variations of physical properties across the thrust fault. In particular, interstitial porosity increases by ∼10% through the fault zone while it exponentially decreases with depth, showing lower values in the hanging‐wall (HW; on average, ∼36%) than in the footwall (∼42%). Based on comparisons of porosity with the compaction curve at Site U1518 with that of reference Site U1520, we infer an overcompaction in the HW and a nearly normal compaction in the footwall of the Pāpaku thrust. We suggest that the porosity pattern across the thrust infers differences in the maximum burial depth of sediments, characterized by an overcompacted HW that has been uplifted, thrusted, and concomitantly tectonically eroded above the footwall. Porosity data indicate hydrostatic conditions around the thrust fault contrasting with commonly assumed excess pore pressure at the plate interface.


Do people migrate toward parks, and if so, why? These long-standing questions in conservation are especially important in tropical regions. It is there that rural human populations intersect with some of the world's greatest biodiversity, and protected areas are often the last line of defense in the fight to slow species extinctions. Detailed case studies have been the predominant source of insight into these issues, yet there has been a recent push for larger-scale analyses. Here we address the insufficiency of global datasets for answering global people-park questions. More than ever, it is of utmost importance that scientists get the correct answers when working at the intersection of human welfare and biodiversity conservation. Successful conservation of tropical biodiversity depends upon it.


A resist (ma-N 2403 and ZEP 520A7)-based convenient technology to fabricate air bridges on arbitrary substrate is proposed. It involves only two steps of electron-beam lithography. By changing the exposure dose during lithography, the resist can be cross-linked to different extent, and the permanently cross-linked polymer is used for piers. An evaporated 205-nm-thick Ti/Au thin film is used to construct the bridges. Typically, the air bridge is more than 18 μm long, 2 μm high, and 5 μm wide. Due to the accumulated strain in the metal, it naturally forms an arch bridge, rendering no need for critical point drying. The adhesion between the metal and the polymer is considerably strong, even surviving mild sonication. This letter should contribute to a facile technology for manufacturing air bridges for various applications in microelectromechanical systems.


Introduction: Neonates with indwelling central venous catheters are at risk of developing the infection. Serum zinc plays a major role in mounting an immune response.
Aim: To analyse the risk factors for development of sepsis in hitherto aseptic neonates with a centrally inserted venous catheter and to study their association with the serum zinc levels.
Materials and Methods: After Institutional Ethics Committee Approval, 132 neonates were included who required Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) admission and had an indwelling central venous catheter and their serum zinc levels were measured. Only neonates who were proven aseptic at admission were included and were followed up for development of signs of sepsis using the Clinical Sepsis (CSEP) criteria, baseline septic screen parameters and blood culture, at admission and on the Day 5 along with catheter site culture. This was then
correlated with their serum zinc levels and analysed by MannWhitney's test using SPSS 17.0.
Results: Out of 132 neonates, 19 had low and 113 neonates
had normal zinc levels respectively (Zn 55µg/dL). A total of 25% neonates developed clinical sepsis by day 5 and 23.5% of neonates had positive catheter site culture. Neonates without clinical sepsis had slightly higher levels of zinc as compared to neonates who had clinical sepsis (147µg/dL and 141 µg/dL respectively). Neonates born to mothers without risk factors and neonates without perinatal asphyxia had higher zinc levels. Neonates with perinatal asphyxia showed statistically significant association with serum zinc levels (94.2 mcg/dL in asphyxiated newborns as compared to 131 mcg/dL in nonasphyxiated newborns). Neonates with significant bandneutrophil ratio on Day 5 had lower zinc levels than those with normal band-neutrophil ratio (107 µg/dL and 111 µg/dL).
Conclusion: The risk factor for sepsis in neonates with
indwelling catheters associated with zinc deficiency was
perinatal asphyxia. Prematurity, low birth weight, maternal risk factors and clinically septic newborns had lower zinc levels,though statistically not significant.


Abstract A simple and sensitive analytical method for the determination of fluoxetine, estrone and selected pesticides and endocrine disruptors has been proposed for wastewater analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). A switchable solvent was produced with N,N-dimethylbenzylamine by changing its hydrophobic properties by the addition of CO2 for protonation. Sodium hydroxide was added to switch the solubility of the extraction solvent and to allow phase separation in the sample/standard medium. Analytical parameters affecting the extraction outputs such as volume of switchable solvent, concentration and volume of sodium hydroxide, mixing type and period were investigated to improve the extraction recovery of the selected analytes. Under the optimum conditions, limits of detection and limits of quantification for the analytes were calculated in the ranges of 0.16–8.6 ng mL−1 and 0.54–29 ng mL−1, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied to synthetic wastewater and two municipal wastewater samples. None of the selected analytes were detected in the samples. High recovery values demonstrated that the proposed method was reliable and applicable to complex matrices.


ABSTRACT The presumption that rules and institutional structures profoundly influence an organization's behavior is deeply rooted in the study of governance. Whereas social scientists have explored the link between institutional structure and political power at the national, state, and local level, there is virtually no quantitative research on how competing constitutional frameworks influence power in an academic setting. The researchers theorize that, given academics' relatively limited input into institutional decision making, faculty respondents will perceive they have greater influence when they exercise direct control over faculty representatives. Merging a database of academic constitutions with faculty survey responses from the North American Academic Survey (NAAS), the authors find that, even when controlling for institutional size, budget, and academic mission, some features of academic constitutions are strongly correlated with perceptions of faculty power. In general, more representative constitutions are strongly associated with faculty influence. However, contrary to the underlying theory, faculty employed at schools where an administrator is designated as the chair or president of the academic senate feel they are more influential than those that elect their own leader. The results suggest a new and potentially important line of inquiry for political researchers.


Abstract This article interrogates the politics of safety that underpin rehabilitative practices in a state-funded shelter run by an anti-trafficking NGO in Eastern India. It focuses on the experiences of a group of female adolescents, categorised as 'child marriage victims', residing at the shelter. The analysis of in-depth life history interviews collected over a two-week period in October 2014 reveals that the adolescents contest the legislative victimhood imposed on them. For them, their marriages and pre-marital relationships are an expression of romantic and sexual agency, in contravention of familial norms. In this context, the adolescents perceive the shelter as a punitive space and interpret their enforced stay for 'protection' and 'rehabilitation' as an extension of familial control and regulation of their lives. The protectionism-as-safety discourse rewrites their agency as victimhood and transforms the shelter into a site where everyday forms of gendered power inequalities within social relations in the household are authorised and reproduced by the state and NGO. The adolescents perceive themselves as 'bad girls' and adopt various strategies to insist on their rehabilitation into 'good girls' to secure release from the shelter often by enacting the 'victimhood' expected of them. This allows for unique expressions of agency in an otherwise constrained context but hinders relationships of solidarity with other residents. Overall, the article highlights the need to challenge the ways in which patriarchal norms continue to spatially govern and discipline the expression of female sexuality and agency through 'safe spaces' in India.


The 2008-11 economic crisis has dramatically increased the role of the (nation) state, which re-emerged as the inescapable mainstay of liberal capitalism and the rescuer of last resort for the weak global policy system, which crumbled into ineffectuality when the chips were down. But equally rapidly a strong aversive reaction to state dependency has emerged on both sides of the Atlantic. Patrick Dunleavy continues his exploration of how the pushback to 'hating the state' will affect future scenarios. The political and ideological right on both sides of the Atlantic is already opportunistically exploiting the increase in state borrowing and deficits to push through 'shock doctrine' privatizations and long-run reductions in the role of government.


BACKGROUND
The purpose of this paper is to present personal experience with sentinel node biopsy for the treatment of malignant melanoma. Technical details influencing the efficacy of the procedure are presented and the clinical, therapeutic and prognostic advantages of this technique discussed.

METHODS
A total of 390 consecutive patients with primary skin melanoma (T2-3,N0,M0) underwent sentinel node biopsy between March 1996 and May 2001. All patients underwent previous excisional biopsy of the primary lesion and clinical and radiographic examination to exclude lymphatic or systemic macroscopic spreading of the disease. Preoperative lymphoscintigraphy (99mTc nanocoll) was routinely performed in the last 315 patients. Intraoperative detection of the sentinel nodes was performed by perilesional, intradermical, injection of blue dye associated with a g probe (Neoprobe(R) 2000) in the last 315 patients. Sentinel nodes, serially sectioned, were all Haematoxylin-Eosin and immunohistochemically stained. All patients positive for micro-metastasis underwent radical lymphadenectomy. Comparative analysis between the incidence of metastasis in sentinel and non-sentinel nodes, according to the clinical stage of the disease, was done.

RESULTS
The overall detection rate of sentinel nodes was 97.4%. Relevant differences were found according to the site of dissection and the use of a g probe. The g-probe makes the procedure more effective, less invasive and less expensive. Timing and accuracy of the preoperative lymphoscintigraphy is a basic step of the procedure. The overall incidence of positive sentinel nodes was 14.7% with differences correlated with thickness of primary lesion (0.75-1.5 mm: 5,8%; 1.5-3 mm:18%; 3-4 mm: 24.6%). Metastasis in other non-sentinel nodes was found only with primary tumour thickness exceeding 2 mm.

CONCLUSIONS
Sentinel node biopsy is a procedure requiring a multidisciplinary approach (surgery, nuclear medicine and pathology). A specific learning phase (>30 patients) is recommended to obtain reliable results.


This study examined whether South Carolina's sex offender registration and notification (SORN) policy was associated with a general deterrent effect on juvenile sex crimes. Using juvenile justice data from 1991 through 2004, trend analyses modeled the intervention effects of 1995 (the year South Carolina's SORN policy was initially implemented) and 1999 (the year the policy was revised to include online registration). Initial results suggested a significant deterrent effect of SORN on first-time juvenile sex crimes. However, comparison analyses with nonsex offenses identified a similar effect on first-time robbery crimes. Follow-up analyses indicated that the apparent declines identified for first-time sex and robbery offenses were due to another legislative change, also enacted in 1995, that moved the prosecution of 16-year-old defendants from juvenile to adult court. When these cases were included in the database, follow-up analyses indicated no significant effect for the 1995 intervention year. Thus, South Carolina's SORN policy was not associated with a general deterrent effect on juvenile sex crimes. Specific policy changes are suggested regarding the application of registration and notification requirements to juveniles.


Fire suppression in grassland systems that are adapted to episodic fire has contributed to the recruitment of woody species in grasslands worldwide. Even though the ecology of restoring these fire prone systems back to grassland states is becoming clearer, a major hurdle to the reintroduction of historic fires at a landscape scale is its social acceptability. Despite the growing body of literature on the social aspects of fire, an understanding of the human dimensions of applying high-intensity prescribed burns in grassland and savanna systems is lacking. We used structural equation modeling to examine how landowners' attitudes toward high-intensity prescribed burns are affected by previous experience with burning, perceptions of brush encroachment, land condition, proximity constraints, risk orientation, fire management knowledge and skill, access to fire management equipment, and subjective norms. Our results suggest that experience, risk taking orientation, and especially social norms, i.e., perceived support from others, when implementing prescribed burns play an important role in determining the attitudes of landowners toward the use of high-intensity prescribed burns. Concern over lack of skill, knowledge, and insufficient resources have a moderately negative effect on these attitudes. Our results highlight the importance of targeted engagement strategies to address risk perceptions, subjective norms, and landowner's concerns. With these concerns allayed, it is possible to increase the adoption of high-intensity prescribed burns that lead to landscape-scale grassland restoration and conservation.


Besides their action on gut morphology and function, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), produced by bacterial fermentation of carbohydrates in the colon, influence gastrointestinal motility. As they are not present in the stomach and proximal small intestine, SCFAs do not directly affect motility of these segments. However, caecal infusion of SCFAs as well as colonic fermentation of lactulose induce a relaxation of the proximal stomach in humans, indicating that SCFAs can affect motility at a distance from their site of production. Moreover, this suggests that SCFAs may be involved in the so-called 'ileocolonic brake', i.e. the inhibition of gastric emptying by nutrients reaching the ileo-colonic junction. In the terminal ileum, where their concentration may increase following a colo-ileal reflux, SCFAs stimulate contractions and shorten ileal emptying, which may protect ileal mucosa against the potentially harmful effects of the reflux of colonic contents. Although SCFAs are produced and concentrated in the colon, their action on motility of this organ is not clearly understood and may depend on concentration, molecular structure of the acids, responsiveness of the colonic segments and animal species. The mechanisms of action of SCFAs on gastrointestinal motility are not completely elucidated. They may involve systemic humoral and neural pathways as well as local reflexes and myogenic responses.