High Fidelity Simulation (HFS) has been recently deemed an effective approach to resemble the real clinical situation so that the improvement of knowledge and skill of student are much more significant. However, there has been much debate in recent times whether this method is much more effective than conventional simulation. This literature review aimed to present the evidence supporting of the effectiveness of HFS especially in enhancing knowledge and skill of health care student. Search terms including "high fidelity simulation", "knowledge" and "skill" were processed into CINAHL, PubMed and Bristish Nursing Index. All papers that published after 2005 and primary research were included. There were totally 9 papers included in this review, as a result of back chaining method involved in searching strategy. This review suggests that HFS is able to improve skill and knowledge of student effectively.


In superconducting qubit measurements, stray infrared photons lead to damping processes that degrade quantum coherence. In this Letter, we show that a thermal blocking filter made of multiwalled carbon nanotubes diluted in stainless steel powder can significantly improve the energy relaxation time, T1, and the pure dephasing time, T φ, of a qubit. By using two independent measurement lines, with and without the filter, and switching between them in situ, we observe that with the filter there is an increase of more than 61% in T1 and 291% in T φ. We characterize the filter, demonstrating that the scattering parameters remain stable down to 8 mK over a wide range of frequencies, spanning from 10 MHz to 50 GHz. We also show that the cutoff frequency of the filter is easily controlled by selecting the concentration of nanotubes.In superconducting qubit measurements, stray infrared photons lead to damping processes that degrade quantum coherence. In this Letter, we show that a thermal blocking filter made of multiwalled carbon nanotubes diluted in stainless steel powder can significantly improve the energy relaxation time, T1, and the pure dephasing time, T φ, of a qubit. By using two independent measurement lines, with and without the filter, and switching between them in situ, we observe that with the filter there is an increase of more than 61% in T1 and 291% in T φ. We characterize the filter, demonstrating that the scattering parameters remain stable down to 8 mK over a wide range of frequencies, spanning from 10 MHz to 50 GHz. We also show that the cutoff frequency of the filter is easily controlled by selecting the concentration of nanotubes.


An update on febrile seizures is mandatory for the Romanian family doctor. Febrile seizures are the most common form of convulsion and represent a frightful event for caregivers, also leading to significant costs in the Romanian healthcare system. The key messages are described as follows: febrile seizures (simple or complex) are almost always benign and usually not associated with neurological side effects; the investigations' and treatment's primordial aim is to exclude any bacterial infections. There are only few investigations (blood tests, neuroimaging techniques, electroencephalography); clear explanations about the most effective treatment given to the caregivers represent a key element in the management. Hospitalization is required for the following categories: complex or recurrent febrile seizures, presence of preexisting neurological disorders, non-differentiated infections, treatment of specific infections, the anxiety of caregivers regarding their ability to cope with recurrent crises at home. Regarding the treatment, until now, there is no high level evidence to support any therapeutic agent in infants with febrile seizures.


Fast N-body PM simulations with a small number of time steps such as FastPM or COLA have been remarkably successful in modeling the galaxy statistics, but their lack of small scale force resolution and long time steps cannot give accurate halo matter profiles or matter power spectrum. High resolution N-body simulations can improve on this, but lack baryonic effects, which can only be properly included in hydro simulations. Here we present a scheme to calibrate the fast simulations to mimic the precision of the hydrodynamic simulations or high resolution N-body simulations. The scheme is based on a gradient descent of either effective gravitational potential, which mimics the short range force, or of effective enthalpy, which mimics gas hydrodynamics and feedback. The scheme is fast and differentiable, and can be incorporated as a post-processing step into any simulation. It gives very good results for the matter power spectrum for several of the baryonic feedback and dark matter simulations, and also gives improved dark matter halo profiles. The scheme is even able to find the large subhalos, and increase the correlation coefficient between the fast simulations and the high resolution N-body or hydro simulations. It can also be used to add baryonic effects to the high resolution N-body simulations. While the method has free parameters that can be calibrated on various simulations, they can also be viewed as astrophysical nuisance parameters describing baryonic effects that can be marginalized over during the data analysis. In this view these parameters can be viewed as an efficient parametrization of baryonic effects.


We present a method to increase the feasibility in model predictive control (MPC) algorithms that use ellipsoidal terminal state constraints and performance bounds from nominal controllers. The method is based on estimating a bound on the achievable performance with a saturated nominal controller and using this bound in the MPC algorithm. The resulting MPC controller can be implemented efficiently with second order cone programming.


Objective. Rates of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) remain high for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), who are at risk of flaring after surgery. We aimed to describe rates, characteristics, and risk factors of RA flare within 6 weeks of THA and TKA. Methods. Patients with RA were recruited prior to elective THA and TKA surgery and prospectively followed. Clinicians evaluated RA clinical characteristics 0–2 weeks before and 6 weeks after surgery. Patients answered questions regarding disease activity including self-reported joint counts and flare status weekly for 6 weeks. Per standard of care, biologics were stopped before surgery, while glucocorticoids and methotrexate (MTX) were typically continued. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify baseline characteristics associated with postsurgical RA flares. Results. Of 120 patients, the mean age was 62 years and the median RA duration 14.8 years. Ninety-eight (82%) met 2010/1987 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism criteria, 53 (44%) underwent THA (and the rest TKA), and 61 (51%) were taking biologics. By 6 weeks, 75 (63%) had flared. At baseline, flarers had significantly higher disease activity (as measured by the 28-joint Disease Activity Score), erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and pain. Numerically more flarers used biologics, but stopping biologics did not predict flares, and continuing MTX was not protective. A higher baseline disease activity predicted flaring by 6 weeks (OR 2.12, p = 0.02). Conclusion. Flares are frequent in patients with RA undergoing arthroplasty. Higher baseline disease activity significantly increases the risk. Although more patients stopping biologics flared, this did not independently predict flaring. The effect of early postsurgery flares requires further study.


Rangers play an indispensable role in maintaining balance between people and the natural world by protecting and managing protected and conserved areas. Despite occupying this key role, rangers are facing many challenges across organisational, occupational and personal fronts that hinder the delivery of their duties. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges and made the fight against the illegal killing of wildlife, illegal logging, illegal harvesting of non-timber forest products, encroachment, and other environmental crimes in protected and conserved areas even more difficult. 915 survey responses were generated from individual rangers from 60 countries in order to understand how they perceived the impact of COVID-19 on rangers and their work in protecting and conserving protected areas around the world. The findings indicate that different aspects of ranger work have been negatively impacted due to the pandemic and the associated actions of authorities and illegal actors. The study also reveals differing regional perceptions of the impact of the pandemic on protected and conserved areas and ranger work. The results of the survey, which provide useful insights into the challenges facing rangers during the current global crisis and indicate where actions may be required to mitigate an impending loss of biodiversity, are used to support four recommendations in the paper.


Practical Applications Summary In ESG Controversies and Their Impact on Performance, in the December 2019 issue of The Journal of Investing, Carmine de Franco of Ossiam analyzes how controversies over environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues affect stock performance. De Franco derives an aggregated controversy indicator from a subset of ESG markers, then uses it to categorize stocks as no, low, moderate, or high controversy. He constructs stock portfolios with equivalent controversy levels for Western Europe, the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region. His research reveals that in Europe and the United States, stocks of highly controversial companies significantly underperform both selected benchmarks and stocks of companies with little or no ESG-related controversy. In Asia-Pacific, however, stock markets appear to be less sensitive to such controversy. To probe this geographical divergence, De Franco plots performance along a "controversy effect curve" (CEC) to estimate average excess return of those stocks whose controversy levels change. Some pronounced patterns emerge. In Western Europe, unexpected deterioration in controversy levels is associated with negative returns. In the United States, regular downgrades of a company's ESG profile degrade stock performance. Asia-Pacific is again an outlier, with no clear pattern between changes in ESG controversy levels and stock performance. TOPICS: Portfolio theory, portfolio construction, ESG investing


Supplements or conserved forage are often used to overcome forage quantity deficits for beef cattle, but stockpiled forage can be more economical. Limpograss [Hemarthria altissima (Poir.) Stapf & C.E. Hubb.] is the best available species for stockpiling in Florida because it is productive in autumn and maintains greater digestibility than other grasses at advanced stages of maturity. New limpograss hybrid breeding lines have been developed, but they have not been tested under stockpiling. Three limpograss breeding lines (1, 4F, and 10) and the most-used cultivar, Floralta, received 50 or 100 kg N ha?1 at initiation of stockpiling and herbage accumulated for 8, 12, or 16 wk. Entry 4F had greater herbage accumulation (7.3 Mg ha?1) than Entries 10, 1, and Floralta (6.1, 6.0, and 5.4 Mg ha?1, respectively). Entry 4F also had greater in vitro digestible organic matter (IVDOM) concentration (530?594 g kg?1) than Entries 1 and Floralta, but 4F was not different from Entry 10 (519?531 g kg?1) after 12 and 16 wk of accumulation. As stockpiling period increased from 8 to 16 wk, herbage accumulation increased from 5.3 to 7.4 Mg ha?1, dead material proportion increased from 1 to 10%, and herbage crude protein (CP) decreased from 44 to 32 g kg?1. Limpograss hybrids 4F and 10 are superior to Floralta for stockpiling, stockpiling period should not be longer than 12 wk, and protein supplement will be required to achieve satisfactory animal performance on stockpiled limpograss.


Non-adherence to medication is a problem of great magnitude as it leads to reduced health outcomes and increased health care costs. The impact of the doctor-patient relationship on non-adherence has attracted the interest of researchers yet relevant evidence is limited. The aim of this thesis is twofold. It empirically investigates the relationship between the doctor-patient interaction and non-adherence to medication in Greece, on a population and a patient level. It also develops a theoretical model of the doctor-patient relationship using non-cooperative game theory to explain how supply of information under conflict conditions affects non-adherence. Two empirical studies and a game theoretical model are used. The first study draws on data from the European Social Survey to examine beliefs about doctors and attitudes towards medication in the general population. The second study analyses a questionnaire survey of hypertensive patients in Greece, conducted for this thesis. The game theoretical approach investigates how conflicts between patients' preferences for information and doctors' effort to supply it may lead to non-adherence. It employs concepts from Behavioural Economics, which combines elements of both Economics and Psychology. The findings demonstrate a strong association between what individuals think of doctors and their attitudes towards medication. Beliefs about doctors are the strongest predictors of non-adherence in both studies. At a population and patient level, Greeks attach a lot of weight to their doctors' opinions and adhere to their recommendations. Finally, the game-theoretical framework shows that doctors' failure to understand patients' need for information may result in patients not adhering. The findings suggest that interventions to improve adherence rates should be built on the basis of a good doctor-patient relationship, where the doctors understand patients' needs, discuss about the treatment and pass on adequate information. The thesis is part of the cumulative knowledge in the area and could lead to further empirical and theoretical investigations.


In contemporary society, work and home represent the two most significant domains in the life of a working individual. Work-Home Interference (WHI) and Home-Work Interference (HWI) is experienced when pressures from both domains is incompatible. This thesis explored the phenomenon of WHI/HWI from multiple methodologies and contributed to the field by the introduction of a more systematic approach to the measurement of the antecedents of both.
Chapter 1 provided a political, social, empirical and theoretical overview of the area. This introductory chapter provided the following conclusions; (1) WHI and HWI is a problem for both men and women, (2) the antecedents of WHI and HWI needed to be studied in a more systematic fashion, (3) a more comprehensive view of the phenomena can be ascertained by also examining positive spillover. This chapter introduced the main research questions to be examined.
Chapter 2 tested a job and home demands model of WHI/HWI using a sample recruited from the Internet. More specifically, the study evaluated the mediational role of both WHI and HWI between demands and job burnout. Overall, this research made the following contributions: (1) It expanded upon our knowledge of the nature of the mediational effect of WHI and HWI on the demands-burnout relationship, (2) It offered a more precise specification of job and home demands likely to affect burnout, (3) explored possible gender differences in the network of demands, WHI/HWI, and burnout.
In Chapter 3, the previous model was extended and a more complete model of demands and resources among newspaper managers was tested. The central idea underlying the theoretical model of this study was that work and home demands lead to work strain and decreased feelings of engagement, while work and home resources lead to increased feelings of engagement and reduced burnout. Results indicated that negative interference mediated between demands and outcomes, and positive interference mediated between resources and outcomes.
In Chapter 4, the phenomenon of crossover was examined. Crossover was examined in a sample of information technology (IT) professionals and their working spouses. Results indicated the following: (1) For IT professionals, work-home interference (WHI) was directly linked to work-related outcomes (i.e., burnout, turnover intention); (2) Crossover effects were found between the home-work interference (HWI) of the IT professional and the exhaustion and turnover intentions of their spouse.
In Chapter 5, longitudinal data concerning WHI were examined. A two-wave panel study was carried out to examine reciprocal relationships of job demands/resources and WHI with job burnout and job engagement. The results primarily showed that Time 1 job demands were causally related to WHI-negative and burnout at Time 2. Furthermore, reversed causal effects were found for engagement at Time 1, which was causally related to WHI-positive at Time 2. The reversed effects found for our resources model suggests that positive spillover is antecedent (or triggered) by feelings of engagement at work.
In conclusion, work, home and the interaction between the two has been recognized as a major problem for employees, employers, families, organizations and society at large.


The methodological approaches of Ronald Coase and Richard Posner are compared and contrasted with regard to microeconomic theory and its application to law and economics. The central divide is whether positive transaction cost requires a major reworking of the core of neoclassical price theory (Coase: yes; Posner: no). Evidence is provided by examining the basic price theory tools (demand curve, demand/supply model) that Posner uses in Chapter 1 of his treatise Economic Analysis of Law and their application in Chapter 11 to labor and employment law. It is demonstrated that these tools and derivative conclusions about labor law are not robust with respect to variation in transaction cost and the institutional structure of production. Hence, standard price theory is subject to irreducible indeterminacy and the welfare effects of labor and employment law can only be decided on empirical grounds, thus supporting the position of Coase and original institutionalists over Posner.


This paper identifies the influence of demographic, local transportation environment, and individual preferences for transportation attributes on multimodal transportation behavior in an urban environment with emergent transportation mode availability. Multimodality is the use of more than one mode of transportation during a given timeframe. Multimodality has been considered a key component of sustainable and efficient transportation systems, as this travel behavior can represent a shift away from personal vehicle use to more sustainable transportation modes, especially in urban environments with diverse transportation systems and emergent shared transportation alternatives (e.g., carsharing, ridehailing, bike sharing). However, it is unclear what factors contribute towards people being more likely to exhibit multimodal transportation behavior in modern urban environments. We assessed commuting behavior based on a survey administered in the San Francisco Bay Area according to whether residents commuted (i) exclusively by vehicle, (ii) by a mix of vehicle and non-vehicle modes, or (iii) exclusively by non-vehicle modes. A classification tree approach identified correlations between commuting classes and demographic variables, preferences for transportation attributes, and location-based information. The characterization of commuting styles could inform regional transportation policy and design that aims to reduce vehicle use by identifying the demographic, preference, and location-based considerations correlated with each commuting style.


As the trend of interest in DevOps continues to rise significantly among industry practitioners, so does the need for software development organisations to understand how to successfully implement DevOps as they are faced with a wide range of choices, and very few guidelines on how to navigate through a plethora of valuable information.An important question is the skillset required, and its role in the determination of suitable DevOps implementation strategy for organisations.This study contributes to the above and provides insight by critically investigating the DevOps implementation of 14 organisations through interviews with practitioners who lead the transformation in these organisations. Interviews were transcribed, coded and analysed by a method informed by Grounded Theory.We identified six strategies used by organisations to implement DevOps, which we named Platform, Greenfield Application, Monolith Decomposition, Process Improvement, Cultural Improvement, and Advocacy. Based on our analysis, we conclude the following: 1. A striking correlation exists between the skillset and the strategy adopted by organisations to implement DevOps. 2. The inclination of an organisation towards upskilling is relevant for the determination of appropriate DevOps implementation strategy.From our research, we have come to believe that the choice of organisational DevOps implementation strategy should generally be based on a consideration of technologies, processes, culture, and skillsets as top-level concerns.


Root exudates alter the rhizosphere's physical properties, but the impact that these changes have on solute transport is unknown. In this study, we tested the effects of chia mucilage and wheat root exudates (WREs) on the transport of iodide and potassium in saturated or unsaturated soil. Saturated solute breakthrough experiments, conducted in loamy sand soil or coarser textured quartz sand, revealed that increasing the exudate concentration in soil resulted in non‐equilibrium solute transport. This behavior was demonstrated by an initial solute breakthrough after fewer pore volumes (PVs) and the arrival of the peak solute concentration after greater PVs in soil mixed with exudates compared to soil without exudates. These patterns were more pronounced for the coarser textured quartz sand than for the loamy sand soil, and in soil mixed with mucilage than in soil mixed WREs. Parameter fits to these breakthrough curves with a mobile‐immobile transport model indicated the fraction of immobile water increased as the concentration of exudates increased. For example, in quartz sand the estimated immobile fraction increased from 0 without exudates to 0.75 at a mucilage concentration of 0.2%. The solutes' breakthrough under unsaturated conditions was also altered by the exudates, demonstrated by a smaller volume of water extracted from soil mixed with exudates, compared to soil without exudates, before the arrival of the peak solute concentration. The results indicate that exudates alter the rhizosphere's transport properties; we hypothesize that this is due to exudates creating low‐conducting flow paths that result in a physical non‐equilibrium solute transport.


OBJECTIVES
To compare the biomechanical failure properties of the fibular intramedullary nail with locking plate and lag screw fixation in the management of unstable elderly distal fibular fractures.

METHODS
Twelve fresh-frozen cadaveric lower limbs (6 matched-pairs) were studied. A simulated OTA/AO 44-B fracture was created, then randomly allocated within each pair to intramedullary nail or locking plate fixation supplemented with an interfragmentary lag screw. The limbs were secured with the foot rigidly held in 20 degrees of supination, loaded to 700N and subjected to progressive external rotation until failure.

RESULTS
The mean specimen age was 86.5 years (61-97). Mean torque to failure was greater in the intramedullary nail group, but did not reach statistical significance (23.5 N·m vs. 21.6 N·m; P = 0.463). The nail failed at a significantly greater angle of rotation compared with plate fixation (66.5 degrees vs. 53.3 degrees; P = 0.046). There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to construct stiffness (P = 0.673) or energy absorbed (P = 0.075). The locking plate specimens failed through plate and screw construct pull off at the implant-bone interface. In contrast, the intramedullary nail specimens failed at the lateral ligament complex, whereas the fracture-implant construct remained intact.

CONCLUSION
Intramedullary nailing and locking plate fixation have similar biomechanical characteristics when tested to failure. The benefits of the minimally invasive surgery offered by the intramedullary nail make it an attractive implant in the management of these patients.


Abstract The validity of the scheme of Smith and associates for the partition analysis of the salicylate fractions in urine has been confirmed. The equations obtained differed only slightly from those of these workers. This analytical method has been utilized to study the effect of sodium bicarbonate administration on the excretion of salicylate during aspirin therapy for acute rheumatic fever. The apparent clearance of free salicylate during regimens of aspirin without added sodium bicarbonate ranged from 0.5 to 9.66 per cent of the corresponding creatinine clearances, but most of the values were below 2 per cent. The true clearances, based on the unbound plasma salicylate concentration, were probably four to five times as high. Even such clearances were of the order of those of chloride, and this implied that the free salicylate filtered through the glomeruli was for the most part reabsorbed by the tubules. The free salicylate constituted about 20 per cent of the total salicylate in the acid urines, the remaining 80 per cent being almost equally divided between salicyluric acid and salicyl glycuronide. When sodium bicarbonate was administered along with the aspirin in quantities sufficient to alkalinize the urine, the free salicylate clearances were increased to three to thirteen times the original values. The clearances were found to be proportional to the urinary pH. This increased excretion of free salicylate made it comprise as much as 70 per cent of the urinary total salicylate, the average being 52 per cent. The total salicylate clearance was thereby also increased as much as 200 per cent. These clearances were also found to be proportional to the urinary pH. The enhanced clearances of total salicylate accounted for the significant drop in plasma salicylate levels, which occurred in all instances. The true clearance of free salicylate in alkaline urines approached that of creatinine. Thus, excess of base prevented almost completely the reabsorption of free salicylate from the glomerular filtrate. Since at the most only traces of conjugated salicylates were present in the plasma, the clearance of these conjugates was either infinitely high or at least as high as p -aminohippurate. Such findings indicated that conjugated salicylates either were produced in the renal tubules or excreted through them, or both. Conjugation of salicylate has for its function a special type of detoxication which converts the ordinarily poorly excretable free salicylate into compounds which are easily excretable.


The total of all non-migratory wildlife species in the Masai Mara ecosystem has declined by 58% in the last 20 years. This decline ranges from 49% in small brown antelopes to 72% in medium brown antelopes. In individual wildlife species, the decline ranges from 52% in Grant's gazelle to 88% in the warthog. Declines of over 70% have been recorded in buffalo, giraffe, eland and waterbuck. Only elephant, impala and ostrich have not shown any significant decline or increase. Overall, there has not been any significant difference in decline of all wildlife population sizes inside and outside the reserve, except for Thomson's gazelle and warthog. Livestock have not significantly declined over the entire analysis period. However, livestock and cattle populations significantly declined during the 198388 period. Donkey declined by 67%, while shoats (goats and sheep) remained stable. In the case of wildlife, land use and vegetation changes, drought effects and poaching are considered to be among the potential factors that may have been responsible for the decline; the decline in livestock during the 198384 period was probably due to drought effects.


Abstract. A new ice core paleothermometer is introduced based on the temperature dependent diffusion of the stable water isotopes in the firn. A new parameter called differential diffusion length is defined as the difference between the diffusion length of the two stable water isotopologues 2H1H16O and 1H218O. A model treatment of the diffusion process of the firn and the ice is presented along with a method of retrieving the diffusion signal from the ice core record of water isotopes using spectral methods. The model shows how the diffusion process is highly dependent on the inter-annual variations in the surface temperatures. It results in a diffusion length longer than if the firn was isothermal. The longer diffusion length can be explained by the strong nonlinearly behaviour of the saturation pressure over ice in the range of the surface temperature fluctuations. The method has been tested on δ18O and δD measurements, spanning the transition from the last glacial to the holocene, from the NorthGRIP ice core. The surface temperature reconstruction based on the differential diffusion resembles other temperature reconstructions for the NorthGRIP ice core. However, the Allerod warming is seen to be significantly warmer than observed in other ice core based temperature reconstructions. The mechanisms behind this behaviour are not fully understood. The method shows the need of an expansion of high resolution stable water isotope datasets from ice cores. However, the new ice core paleothermometer presented here will give valuable insight into past climate, through the physical process of isotope diffusion in the firn column of ice sheets.


In this study, a comparison of methane (CH4) generation rates for two test cells, one operated with (enhanced) and another without leachate recirculation at Odayeri Sanitary Landfill were compared using their bio-chemical methane potentials (BMP). Initial methane potential is approximately 34.5 m³ CH4/wet ton of solid waste. The remaining methane potential for the control (C1) and the enhanced (C2) cells are 32.6 m³ CH4/wet ton and 31.1 m³ CH4/wet ton of refuse after eight months of operation, respectively. The produced CH4 quantities for C1 and C2 after eight months of operation are 1.9 m³ CH4/wet ton and 3.4 m³ CH4/wet ton, respectively. On the other hand, 5.5% and 9.9% of the total potential are generated in eight months. However, the CH4 generation rates for the first year are determined as 2.85 and 5.10 m³/ton/year for C1 and C2 test cells, respectively. Due to the appropriate conditions such as moisture content, solid waste decomposition rate is enhanced at a rate of 79% at C2 test cell relative to C1 test cell. Hence, C2 test cell shows more decomposition relative to the C1 test cell.


This paper discusses the use of nonlinear PCA (K PCA) and regularized least squares classification (RLSC) algorithm to differentiate malignant(cancerous) from benign (noncancerous) soft tissues tumors in MRI images. In this study, we address the effect of bias fields on the PCA analysis and propose to carry out PCA in the Fourier domain so that the principal components are extracted form certain frequency coefficients of the MRI image which enable us to select certain frequency components to be used for extracting the PCA principal components. Thus, the PCA analysis in the Fourier space serves two purposes. First, it transforms the tumor subimages into a principal component space to achieve a dimensionality reduction. Second, it maximizes the separation between the malignant and the benign tumors in the feature space by removing the low frequency components of the tumor subimages that mostly contain the field inhomogeneity signal. The subimages that are projected into the principal component space are used as a training set for a regularized least squares classifier (RLSC). The RLSC classifier is evaluated by an independent tumor subimages.


Yule marble has been deformed at 400° and 500° C and a confining pressure of 5000 atmospheres. Its strength, relative to that at room temperature, is 47 per cent at 400° C and 41 per cent at 500° C, measured in all cases at 3 per cent strain. Textures of the deformed rock are similar to those of marble comparably deformed at 300° C.

Sander's method of "axial-distribution analysis" has been used to test homogeneity of fabric in the original marble and in a specimen shortened 19 per cent at 300° C. In both cases aggregates of a few tens of grains show local very strong preferred orientation of the lattice. In this respect there is no effect that can be correlated with deformation.

Petrofabric analysis of specimens shortened 40 per cent or elongated 90–120 per cent demonstrates strong preferred orientation of the c axis at 10°–30° to the axis of compression or at 60°–80° to the axis of extension. The symmetry of the deformed fabrics corresponds with the symmetry of strain, which is determined by the orientation of the axis of extension or compression in relation to the preferred orientation pattern of the original fabric.

Behavior of grains is predicted on the basis of a hypothesis of approximately homogeneous deformation, involving twin gliding on ![Graphic][1] and translation gliding on ![Graphic][2] . Behavior of individual grains is also reconstructed from evidence of observed internal rotation of early e lamellae, interpreted in the light of previous observations on single crystals of calcite. The same data are used to compute shortening or elongation of individual grains parallel to the axis of applied force. The behavior and strain so deduced and the details of observed preferred-orientation patterns agree with prediction. It should prove possible to compute strain in geologically deformed rocks on the basis of petrographically measured effects of internal rotation. However, at present this can be attempted only for those few minerals, such as calcite and dolomite, whose glide systems have been ascertained experimentally. Possible analogy between a natural marble fabric and a fabric resulting from experimental compression is noted.

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This paper describes the successful deployment of integrated underreamer technology with real-time communication through mud-pulse telemetry system, to drill and eliminate rathole in 17 1/2-in × 20-in successfully in one run and helped set casing as close as possible to the depth of suspected pressure ramp on an exploratory well offshore Nigeria. This technology uses the same communication system (actuator bypass) as Measurement While Drilling tools (MWD),Logging While Drilling tools (LWD) and Rotary Steerable System (RSS).
 Integrated underreamers broadly used in the drilling operations support optimized casing and completion programs and helps reduce operational risks such as wellbore instability. The ball drop and hydraulically activated reamer technologies available today comes with limitations and HSE risks. The distinctive functionalities of the integrated underreamer technology described here, such as unlimited and fast activation and deactivation via downlinking and real time downhole feedback,reduce uncertainties and operational costs in the complex and challenging deep offshore drilling operations.
 The real-time communication through mud-pulse telemetry system enabled the placement of integrated underreamer 6 meters from the bit thereby reducing rathole length to approximately 9 meters compared to 80 meters for conventional underreamer application. The integrated underreamer is compatible with existing RSS and provide unlimited activation cycles. The integrated underreamer offers flexibility in placement in the bottom hole assembly (BHA) and it can be used as a near bit reamer, or as main reamer or as both.In this case,the integrated near bit underreamer eliminated the need for a dedicated rathole removal run.It also offered a feedback confirmation of the cutter blades activation status and provided hole opening log thereby reducing the operational uncertainties for the under reaming, saving rig time up to 16 hours for shoulder test.
 The underreamer was successfully deployed to drill and ream the challenging 14 ¾'' × 17 ½'' and ream 17 ½'' × 20'' section offshore Nigeria. Both sections were drilled and reamed to section Total Depth (TD) in one run with all directional requirements and Measurement While Drilling (MWD)/Logging While Drilling (LWD) met,saving client approximately 4 days of rig spread cost. The reamer appeared to provide an in-gauge borehole allowing for successful running and cementing of liners without any issues, demonstrating superior borehole quality.The new Technology proved to be a reliable and flexible hole enlargement while drilling solution that help to improve drilling performance, reduce operational risks and save cost.


We introduce and demonstrate a new approach to inference in expressive probabilistic programming languages based on particle Markov chain Monte Carlo. Our approach is simple to implement and easy to parallelize. It applies to Turing-complete probabilistic programming languages and supports accurate inference in models that make use of complex control ow, including stochastic recursion. It also includes primitives from Bayesian nonparametric statistics. Our experiments show that this approach can be more ecient than previously introduced single-site Metropolis-Hastings methods.


Considerable public attention has recently focused on agrosecurity, especially from the perspective of national security and aggregate production. This article reviews a series of biosecurity breaches stemming from criminal activity affecting a Minnesota dairy. Present and future economic losses sustained by the dairy operation exceed $272,598 and will last until operation ceases.


Most globular proteins are waxy inside and soapy outside. Their compact structures are stabilised by the hydrophobic effect which is mainly entropic, and by hydrogen bonds and dispersion forces which are mainly enthalpic. Structurally homologous proteins tend to share a common set of internal sites from which polar residues are excluded, even if they share little sequence homology. Electrostatic effects are dominant in enzyme catalysis. The active sites of enzymes are generally buried in clefts or cavities where dipoles tend to be oriented so as to optimise the pKas of ionizable amino acid side chains for catalysis; substrates are clamped close by to maximise electrostatic interactions. The activities of many enzymes have long been known to be controlled by allosteric effects or by induced fit. Some serine proteinase inhibitors have evolved yet another control mechanism: this is a spring-loaded safety catch that makes them revert to their latent, stable, inactive form unless the catch is kept in the 'loaded' position by another molecule.


Introduction This study investigated the influence of maternal perceptions about the quality of antenatal counselling on the choice of birth attendant. Methods A case control study was conducted between June and August 2010 in West Bandung district, Indonesia. Cases are mothers who had antenatal visits to midwife but choose paraji—a traditional birth attendant—at delivery between February and July 2010 and lived in the study area. Controls are mothers who had antenatal visits to midwife and choose midwife at delivery between February and July 2010 and lived in the study area. Results Samples were consisted of 122 cases and 156 controls. Multivariate analyses showed that mothers who had poor perception of antenatal counselling were 1.88 times more likely to choose Paraji as birth attendant (95% CI 1.10 to 3.23). This was after controlling for other variables including maternal age, maternal education, number of deliveries, number of antenatal, decision maker and health insurance. Mothers who visited midwives who often used foreign or medical terminology during counselling were 1.7 times (95% CI 1.01 to 3) more likely to use Paraji as birth attendant. Not using visual aids also led to a preference for Paraji birth attendants (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.31 to 4.51). Conclusions The study suggested that poor perception about antenatal counselling steered mothers to using traditional birth attendant rather than midwives and other types of birthing care. Recommendations included providing midwives' skills in interpersonal communication and counselling, and to provide multiple choices of visual aids to support the counselling process.


Purpose of review This article serves to describe the Can-SOLVE CKD network, a program of research projects and infrastructure that has excited patients and given them hope that we can truly transform the care they receive. Issue Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a complex disorder that affects more than 4 million Canadians and costs the Canadian health care system more than $40 billion per year. The evidence base for guiding care in CKD is small, and even in areas where evidence exists, uptake of evidence into clinical practice has been slow. Compounding these complexities are the variations in outcomes for patients with CKD and difficulties predicting who is most likely to develop complications over time. Clearly these gaps in our knowledge and understanding of CKD need to be filled, but the current state of CKD research is not where it needs to be. A culture of clinical trials and inquiry into the disease is lacking, and much of the existing evidence base addresses the concerns of the researchers but not necessarily those of the patients. Program overview The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has launched the national Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR), a coalition of federal, provincial, and territorial partners dedicated to integrating research into care. Canadians Seeking Solutions and Innovations to Overcome Chronic Kidney Disease (Can-SOLVE CKD) is one of five pan-Canadian chronic kidney disease networks supported through the SPOR. The vision of Can-SOLVE CKD is that by 2020 every Canadian with or at high risk for CKD will receive the best recommended care, experience optimal outcomes, and have the opportunity to participate in studies with novel therapies, regardless of age, sex, gender, location, or ethnicity. Program objective The overarching objective of Can-SOLVE CKD is to accelerate the translation of knowledge about CKD into clinical research and practice. By focusing on the patient's voice and implementing relevant findings in real time, Can-SOLVE CKD will transform the care that CKD patients receive, and will improve kidney health for future generations.


This paper proposes a two-stage global motion estimation method using a novel quadtree block-based motion estimation technique and an active mesh model. In the first stage, motion parameters are estimated by fitting block-based motion vectors computed using a new efficient quadtree technique, that divides a frame into equilateral triangle blocks using the quad-tree structure. Arbitrary partition shapes are achieved by allowing 4-to-1, 3-to-1 and 2-1 merge/combine of sibling blocks having the same motion vector. In the second stage, the mesh is constructed using an adaptive triangulation procedure that places more triangles over areas with high motion content; these areas are estimated during the first stage. Finally the motion compensation is achieved by using a novel algorithm that is carried by both the encoder and the decoder to determine the optimal triangulation of the resultant partitions followed by affine mapping at the encoder. Computer simulation results show that the proposed method gives better performance that the conventional ones in terms of the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the compression ratio (CR).


In full disclosure, I must confess a bias in favor of this book. Levine is singing my song when he calls the opposition between planning and the market "an imaginary dichotomy" (p. 107). I said this in 1992 ("A Transaction Cost Theory of Planning," Journal of the American Planning Association 58, 2: 190–200), and explained "Why planning vs. markets is an oxymoron" (Planning & Markets 4 [2001]: 1-6 www-pam.usc.edu/volume4/). Still, the Book Review Editors thought I would be an objective reviewer because the author did not cite these in support of his case, which concludes that "the debate . . . hinges . . . on the design of institutions . . . that guide development . . . entail(ing) 'planning' and 'market' in various contexts" (p. 174). Levine's conclusion is an important contribution to the ongoing discussion of interdependent land-use and transportation policies. These link current issues of land-use regulation ("smart growth" and controlling sprawl) with ideas in urban design and neighborhood development (such as Transit Oriented Development and the New Urbanism) that promote more compact and alternative transportation-friendly development. This book makes a convincing case for a fundamental paradigm change in this discourse, which has been based on supposedly scientific research analyzing the association between spontaneous travel behavior and land-use and neighborhood characteristics. The opening chapters spell out the essential argument. Chapter 1 exposes the problem of research that identifies the status quo (low-density sprawl and automobile-dependent suburban development) as the market-led default base for evaluating land-use and transportation policies. Such policy analysis puts the burden of proof on alternative policies to demonstrate their effectiveness. If this is difficult, artificial methodological constraints (e.g., claiming "self-selection" of alternative neighborhood residents) make it almost impossible. Chapter 2 argues that this research model rests on several flawed assumptions, which later chapters dissect in detail. The first regards predict-and-supply transportation planning as a technical response to market-led demand. But apparently spontaneous travel behavior is just as much a product of its institutional environment as its supposedly plan-induced alternatives: all observed travel is "travel by design." The second assumption equates prevailing municipal regulation with the market. This subsumes two premises, both of which are shown to be false. One is that low-density suburban development is the response to "free market" demand. Rigorous studies (presented later in the book) refute this, showing that location and housing choices and related travel behavior are always limited to available options. In spite of traditional zoning that has always limited these options, Levine found significant actual and potential demand for more compact development. The other premise applies legal and economic doctrine to deny that municipal regulation is an intervention in the market, suggesting that zoning is an integral part of the market as a collective expression of local landowners' property rights. While giving this claim some legitimacy, the book


Particle island models [31] provide a means of parallelization of sequential Monte Carlo methods, and in this paper we present novel convergence results for algorithms of this sort. In particular we establish a central limit theorem—as the number of islands and the common size of the islands tend jointly to infinity—of the double bootstrap algorithm with possibly adaptive selection on the island level. For this purpose we introduce a notion of archipelagos of weighted islands and find conditions under which a set of convergence properties are preserved by different operations on such archipelagos. This theory allows arbitrary compositions of these operations to be straightforwardly analyzed, providing a very flexible framework covering the double bootstrap algorithm as a special case. Finally, we establish the long-term numerical stability of the double bootstrap algorithm by bounding its asymptotic variance under weak and easily checked assumptions satisfied typically for models with non-compact state space.


Trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a potent inhibitor of milk fat synthesis in the cow and similarly reduces milk fat in rodents. The objective of this study was to determine whether dietary fat can overcome CLA inhibition of milk fat concentration in lactating mice. Wild type C57Bl/6J mice (n = 31) were fed semipurified diets containing either low fat (LF; 4% fat) or high fat (HF; 23.6% fat) starting 4-6 days postpartum. Dietary fat was increased by inclusion of high oleic sunflower oil. After 2 days on the experimental diets, lactating dams were orally dosed with either water (control) or trans-10, cis-12 CLA (20 mg/day) for 5 days. CLA treatment decreased pup growth similarly in both HF and LF diets. Milk fat percent was increased over 16% by the HF diet and decreased over 12% by CLA, but there was no interaction of dietary fat and CLA. Both CLA and the HF diet reduced the proportion of short- and medium-chain fatty acids that originate from de novo synthesis, and there was no interaction of diet and CLA. CLA had no effect on the percent of preformed fatty acids, but the HF diet increased their abundance. Dietary fat and CLA both modified mammary expression of lipogenic enzymes and regulators, but no interactions were observed. In conclusion, CLA reduced milk fat concentration and litter growth, but these effects were not overcome by increased dietary fat from high oleic sunflower oil. CLA inhibition of milk fat in the mammary gland is not substrate dependent, and the mechanism is independent from dietary supply of oleic acid.


Standard approaches to estimating the cost of capital are vulnerable to two errors when applied to sunk assets subject to economic regulation. First, investors in sunk assets usually have a valuable ability to delay commitment which is therefore an opportunity cost of investment. Second, economic regulation alters the distribution of returns to capital, and may do so in a way that eliminates profit potential but leaves some risk of losses. This paper studies the impact of, and the interaction between, these effects. A fundamental connection is established between the value of the real option to delay investment, the risk of losses under regulation and the rate of economic depreciation. A practical benefit of this analysis is that existing empirical methods for estimating real options can now be used to estimate the size of the "investment incentive margin" that regulated firms should be allowed.


The aim of this research was to investigate the extent of using Facebook in self- directed learning (SDL) among university students. The sample consisted of 415 students (205 males, 210 females); representing all colleges and all students from 1 st to 4 th college year's. They represent 8.3 % from the total study population. The researchers built a questionnaire to measure the extent of using Facebook in self- directed learning among university students. The results indicated a low use of Facebook in self- directed learning (average=2.03/5, while the standard deviation =0.60). They also indicated that there is no statistically significant differences (P = 0.05) attributed to gender and college and the interactions between them in using Facebook by university students in SDL. The study concluded that: Facebook is considered as the most popular social communication media among students. The results of the study indicated that a few number of students in TTU use it in SDL. The efficacy of using it could be through increasing the number of faculties who employ it in teaching different academic subjects. In addition to that; faculties should encourage students to invest their use of Facebook in areas that support their academic performance.


Magical realism is often regarded as a regional trend, restricted to the Latin American writers who popularized it as a literary form. In this critical anthology, the first of its kind, editors Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris show magical realism to be an international movement with a wide-ranging history and a significant influence among the literatures of the world. In essays on texts by writers as diverse as Toni Morrison, Gunter Grass, Salman Rushdie, Derek Walcott, Abe Kobo, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and many others, magical realism is examined as a worldwide phenomenon.

Presenting the first English translation of Franz Roh's 1925 essay in which the term magical realism was coined, as well as Alejo Carpentier's classic 1949 essay that introduced the concept of lo real maravilloso to the Americas, this anthology begins by tracing the foundations of magical realism from its origins in the art world to its current literary contexts. It offers a broad range of critical perspectives and theoretical approaches to this movement, as well as intensive analyses of various cultural traditions and individual texts from Eastern Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, the Caribbean, and Australia, in addition to those from Latin America. In situating magical realism within the expanse of literary and cultural history, this collection describes a mode of writing that has been a catalyst in the development of new regional literatures and a revitalizing force for more established narrative traditions—writing particularly alive in postcolonial contexts and a major component of postmodernist fiction.


As one of the renewable energy resources, wave energy has the potential to be one of the major electricity generation resources in the long term. However, the industrial-scale implementation of wave energy is still at an early stage and requires deeper research and development.  Currently, only several different wave energy conversion techniques such as oscillating bodies, oscillating water columns, and over-topping modules, are available. Among these energy converters, the 6-float, multi-mode, moored wave energy converter (WEC) M4 has been developed by the University of Manchester.  M4 consists of a bow float, three mid floats and two stern floats with beams hinged above the outer mid floats. The mooring to the bow float includes an elastic cable from the bed to a spherical buoy and an inelastic cable linking the buoy to the bow float. The M4 converter has been modelled numerically. However, these numerical methods often require large computational resources and therefore they can only be used offline and they cannot be implemented in real-time applications. It is highly desirable to develop a computationally efficient model for the M4 system.

In this paper, system identification methods are used to model the M4 WEC system with the experimental data. First, two linear models including autoregressive with exogenous inputs (ARX) and the Box-Jenkins (BJ) model are used to build three different types of models for 6 float M4 WEC system using three different input and output variables: wave surface wave surface elevation, the mooring forces (top and bed forces) and the bow float motions (pitch, surge and heave). Further, when constructing the model of the M4 system, the impacts of both sampling rate and model orders are considered. The modelling results are compared and analysed using three selected criteria including fitting percentage, mean squared error and final prediction error. Finally, the performance of identified models are validated by wave basin experiments which covers seven major wave conditions including different wave heights and mean wave periods. Results show that both ARX and BJ models are feasible to model the M4 WEC system, with low orders and sampling rates for high short-term prediction accuracy. These models could be potentially used for real-time applications.


Objective to identify relationships between moral distress and Burnout in the professional performance from the perceptions of the experiences of nursing workers. Methods this is a survey type study with 375 nursing workers working in three different hospitals of southern Rio Grande do Sul, with the application of adaptations of the Moral Distress Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, validated and standardized for use in Brazil. Data validation occurred through factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha. For the data analysis bivariate analysis using Pearson's correlation and multivariate analysis using multiple regression were performed. Results the existence of a weak correlation between moral distress and Burnout was verified. A possible positive correlation between Burnout and therapeutic obstinacy, and a negative correlation between professional fulfillment and moral distress were identified. Conclusion the need was identified for further studies that include mediating and moderating variables that may explain more clearly the models studied.


Vehicle emissions constitute the main source of atmospheric pollution in modern cities. The increasing number of passenger cars, especially during the last decade, resulted in composite traffic problems with serious consequences on emissions and fuel consumption. This project was carried out in the Laboratory of Fuel Technology and Lubricants at NTUA in order to examine the effects of the driving patterns on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions from cars in the Athens basin. The typical driving profile consists of a complicated series of accelerations, decelerations and frequent stops and it is simulated by driving cycles on a laboratory chassis dynamometer. The New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) is applied in laboratory test approvals in the EU and is based on traffic data from European capitals (Paris and Rome). Traffic data from Athens was not included in the development of NEDC. The FTP 75 driving cycle and the Japan 10-15 modal cycle are currently used in the United States and Japan respectively. The different than other European cities and rapidly changing traffic conditions in Athens as well as the expanding transportation network and the atmospheric pollution problems impose the need to develop the Athens Driving Cycle (ADC). In this paper, onboard electronic equipment (GPS, OBD II reader, accelerometer, etc) was used and "real world" traffic data was collected, covering almost all the Athens road network for a two year period. Dedicated software was developed for the statistical analysis of the recorded parameters and therefore the first ADC was modeled with the following characteristics: ADC duration is 1160 seconds, the overall distance is 6512 meters, the mean velocity is 20.21 km h -1 and the maximum velocity is 70.86 km h -1 . For comparison purposes, three passenger cars of different classification (Citroen Xsara 1.6L, a Mitsubishi Space Runner 2.0L Turbo and a Chrysler PT Cruiser 2.4L Turbo) were tested on a laboratory chassis dynamometer, applying three distinctive Driving Cycles: the Urban Driving Cycle (ECE-15), the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) and the newly designed Athens Driving Cycle (ADC). Results show that NOX emissions are higher in ADC than ECE and EDC, up to 2.5 times. Higher CO emissions are recorded during ADC for 1.6L and 2.0L cars while ECE-15 gave the higher CO emissions for the 2.4L vehicle. Overall HC emissions do not show any significant variation. Fuel consumption is higher for ADC mode in all cases.


We report the synthesis of the ZnO nanowires (NWs) with different indium concentrations by using the thermal evaporation method. The gold nanoparticles were used as the catalyst and were dispersed on the silicon wafer to facilitate the growth of the ZnO NWs. High resolution transmission electron microscopy confirms that the ZnO NWs growth relied on vapor-liquid-solid mechanism and energy dispersion spectrum detects the atomic percentages of indium in ZnO NWs. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the diameters of pure ZnO NWs range from 20 to 30 nm and the diameters of ZnO:In were increased to 50–80 nm with increasing indium doping level. X-ray diffraction results point out that the crystal quality of the ZnO NWs was worse with doping higher indium concentration. Photoluminescence (PL) study of the ZnO NWs exhibited main photoemission at 380 nm due to the recombination of excitons in near-band-edge (NBE). In addition, PL results also indicate the slightly blue shift and PL intensity decreasing of NBE emission from the ZnO NWs with higher indium concentrations could be attributed to more donor-induced trap center generations.


Current science education reform efforts emphasize teaching K-12 science using hands-on, inquiry activities. For maximum learning and probability of implementation among inservice teachers, these strategies must be modeled in college science courses for preservice teachers. About a decade ago, Morehead State University revised their science content courses to follow an inquiry approach. As part of the courses' assessment, a locally-made, diagnostic pre- and post-test was prepared. The main purpose of this "ex post facto" study was to demonstrate how concepts from Item Response Theory can be used to detect and remove psychometrically faulty items, and how the remaining items can be used by teachers to determine science learning gains in an inquiry-based physical science course that implemented two different curricula, "Physics and Everyday Thinking" and "Interactions in Physical Science".


In the context of the globalization process, the enterprise of political risk analysis and the role of political forecasters are critically examined. Although this enterprise has been around for decades, the sophistication of its tools of analysis was due in large measure to the influence of economists. Furthermore, it was geared more towards the study of inter-state actors, emphasizing prediction of events that would impact on foreign policy. In the last two decades or so, we have seen a proliferation of private, for profit political risk management organizations often with the participation of academicians on the side at the service of international business corporations. This shift signified more than the growth of the mother discipline of political science; it reflected the heightened importance of political information in an age when national borders are no longer as significant in determining the extent and nature of global economic relations. Being that political risk analysts are at the vanguard of a business operation o much like an advance party sent to scout an unfamiliar terrain o gathering valuable information in behalf of their corporate clients, this essay assigns to them at least some responsibility for what their clients ultimately decide to do with the information they provide. The essay also examines critically the broader question concerning the relationship between social scientists and society, between social knowledge and its consequences, and what objectivity means to the political risk practitioners in the era of neo-liberalism.


Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), a standardized lossy compression scheme for digital audio, which was designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates. While AAC is also the default or standard audio format for many devices and AAC audio files may be presented as important digital evidences, the authentication of the audio files is highly needed but relatively missing. In this paper, we propose a scheme to expose tampered AAC audio streams that are encoded at the same encoding bit-rate. Specifically, we design a shift-recompression based method to retrieve the differential features between the re-encoded audio stream at each shifting and original audio stream, learning classifier is employed to recognize different patterns of differential features of the doctored forgery files and original (untouched) audio files. Experimental results show that our approach is very promising and effective to detect the forgery of the same encoding bit-rate on AAC audio streams. Our study also shows that shift recompression-based differential analysis is very effective for detection of the MP3 forgery at the same bit rate.


First-order operator splitting methods are ubiquitous among many fields through science and engineering, such as inverse problems, signal/image processing, statistics, data science and machine learning, to name a few. In this paper, we study a geometric property of first-order methods when applying to solve non-smooth optimization problems. With the tool of "partial smoothness", we design a framework to analyze the trajectory of the fixed-point sequence generated by first-order methods and show that locally, the fixed-point sequence settles onto a regular trajectory such as a straight line or a spiral. Based on this finding, we discuss the limitation of current widely used "inertial acceleration" technique, and propose a trajectory following adaptive acceleration algorithm. Global convergence is established for the proposed acceleration scheme based on the perturbation of fixed-point iteration. Locally, we first build connections between the acceleration scheme and the well-studied "vector extrapolation technique" in the field of numerical analysis, and then discuss local acceleration guarantees of the proposed acceleration scheme. Moreover, our result provides a geometric interpretation of these vector extrapolation techniques. Numerical experiments on various first-order methods are provided to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed adaptive acceleration scheme.


One of the most important discussions in psycophysics is related to the measurement and quantifying of the variations in sensory reactions. In a sensory system which physical stimuli are entries and sensations are the outcomes, the measurement functions will be achievable while both the stimuli and sensory reactions are measurable. In color sience, the mentioned functions could be applied to investigate the color difference formulae, the color emotion of observers, the way of representing an index to evaluate the objects' color and so on. The application of these fuctions in textile area is related to investigate the fabric structural properties based on sensory parameters, i.e., fabric handle attribute, softness and fineness. It is noticible that the final result is based on quantifying of perceived sensory attributes. Clearly, it is difficult to perceive and quantify these psycophysical phenomena. On the other hand, in order to avoid serious errors, unsuitable computation and incorrect results, it is necessary for a researcher to know the measurement methods and the corresponded scales to analyze the achieved data. In this way, the paper tries to review the measurement methods as well as the manner of allocation of scales to sensory attributes.


This paper introduces the research methodology duoethnography as a viable tool or strategy to get at the underlying biases and assumptions that both a Black and White teacher/researcher hold. How we teach for diversity was the central topic of our duoethnography, however, this evolved into a series of dialogues where we came to question our own practice. Through the mutual creation of a respectful space we were able to speak about race from a critical position. Through a poetic analysis of the data, the shared themes of unleashing our own silenced stories, wrestling through our different interpretations of empathy versus sympathy while continually moving toward a place of vulnerability where we both felt welcomed and validated, emerged. Our work came to a turning point at the White Privilege Symposium at Brock University where Hilary Brown came face to face with what it means to be a recovering racist, and where Dolana Mogadime found a home where she was unafraid to talk openly about race and racism. The duoethnographic dialogues created the foundation where both authors are ready to change.


OBJECTIVE
To examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between weight perception and weight management behaviors among overweight and obese adults.

PARTICIPANTS
The study examined a nationally representative sample of 11,319 non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American overweight and obese adults aged > or = 20 years from the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

DESIGN
Body mass index (BMI, defined as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) was used to categorize overweight (25 < or = BMI < 30) and obesity (BMI > or = 30). Measured height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Subjects reported self-perception of weight status (correct perception and misperception) and weight management behaviors over the previous 12 months (trying to lose weight, trying not to gain weight, and having a desired weight goal). Weight perception stratified logistic regression was used to model odds of weight management behavior by race/ethnicity.

RESULTS
Among overweight and obese non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Mexican American adults, correct weight perception was positively associated with weight management behavior. In multiple logistic regression models, overweight non-Hispanic Blacks with a weight misperception were less likely to have tried to lose weight (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = .7; 95% confidence interval [Cl] = .5,1.0) or to have tried not to gain weight (aOR = .7; 95% CI = .5,1.0) compared to overweight non-Hispanic Whites with a weight misperception. Among the obese with a misperception, non-Hispanic Blacks were less likely to desire to weigh less compared to non-Hispanic Whites (aOR = .5; 95% CI = .3,.9).

CONCLUSIONS
Weight perception was associated with weight management behaviors, and this relationship varied by race/ethnicity. Weight perception may need to be addressed among overweight and obese individuals to increase appropriate weight management behaviors, particularly among minority communities.


A Li–Mg–N–H system is a highly promising source of hydrogen storage materials due to its favorable thermodynamics and potential reversibility. Its application has been greatly hindered, however, by its rather high activation energy barriers. Herein, we report a novel multi-reaction methodology for the synthesis of nanosized Li2Mg(NH)2 space-confined into thin-film hollow carbon spheres (THCSs) with a uniform dispersion. It shows that a completely depressed release of ammonia and reversible hydrogen sorption at a temperature of 105 °C, the lowest temperature reported so far, were achieved for the nano-confined Li2Mg(NH)2. Furthermore, a stable cycling capacity close to the theoretical value was also successfully realized, even through up to 20 cycles of de-/re-hydrogenation.


We explore whether children's strategies on a causal learning task show a bias observed in adults towards "exploitative" hypothesis revision. Adults and children (ages 4–6) were presented with evidence which initially seemed to conform to a simple, salient rule (e.g. blue blocks activate a machine), but then encountered evidence that violated this rule. The true rule in the "near" condition was more complex, but could be reached through iterative revision of the salient rule, while in the "distant" condition, the true rule was comparatively simple, but incremental revision could not yield the true rule. Participants then predicted the behaviour of a set of new blocks. Adults performed better in the near condition, while in the distant condition adults did not appear to revise their initial hypothesis significantly. Unlike adults, children's overall performance in both conditions was similar, while condition differences may reflect a broader search for alternative solutions.


Magnetic susceptibility is a bulk measure that reveals variation in ferromagnetic mineral content. Highresolution measurement of magnetic susceptibility in ocean drilling records reveals variability that can be attributed to primary depositional processes and/or secondary diagenetic processes that occur after deposition. Each chapter of my dissertation investigates magnetic susceptibility records along with geochemical, mineralogical, and rock magnetic techniques in methane-bearing marine sediments along the Indian, Cascadia, and Japanese margins. The overall goal of this work is to improve the understanding of the effects of detrital and biogeochemical processes on magnetic mineralogy, and thus magnetic susceptibility, in these continental margin marine environments. In the first study (Chapter 1; Phillips et al., 2014), using a multi-proxy approach, I investigated variation in productivity and weathering over the last 110,000 years in the northern Indian Ocean within the core Indian monsoon rainfall zone. These results reveal an increase in productivity due to reduced stratification and a decrease in weathering during the last glacial period due to a weakened summer monsoon. This work reveals a relationship between Zr/Rb and magnetic susceptibility that can be utilized to predict primary detrital magnetic susceptibility. In the second study, I used an elemental analysis and rock magnetic approach to decouple detrital and diagenetic patterns in magnetic susceptibility at three sites along the Cascadia accretionary wedge. Each site reveals intervals of diagenetic loss in magnetic susceptibility that is balanced by an increase in sulfur due to dissolution of magnetite and precipitation of pyrite. The diagenetic loss of magnetic susceptibility is influenced by organic matter availability as well as upward methane flux. In the third study, I used a rock magnetic approach to investigate the magnetic mineralogy in a deep sediment record down to ~2.5 km below the seafloor offshore northern Honshu, Japan. The magnetic susceptibility record reveals cm-scale increases that are likely the result of density sorting causing concentration of heavy minerals. The magnetic mineral assemblage is dominated by titanomagnetite with an increase in Ti-rich titanomagnetite associated with deeply buried (~2 km) coal beds. This change along the titanomagnetite solid solution series, may represent selective dissolution of Ti-poor, iron(III)-rich magnetite during microbial iron reduction since burial.


In this paper, the theoretical model of recombination was presented and the effect of temperature and applied voltage on the recombination efficiency was investigated in double layer organic light-emitting diodes: ITO/PPV/PBD/Ca. At lower applied voltage, two peaks have been observed in the curve of recombination efficiency vs. temperature. With increasing voltage, the two peaks shifted toward each other, and at voltage around 9 V the two peaks converged. These phenomena were attributed to the excited deep and shallow trap levels and the change of recombination zone. In the Frenkel exciton model,the temperature dependence of the quantum efficiency depended on the carriers mobilities and carriers densities.The carriers mobilities increased with decreasing temperature, while the carriers densities decreased with decreasing temperature. Therefore, a peak in the curve of quantum efficiency vs. temperature was expected in the model. The high-temperature peak originated due to radiative recombination of the deep trap levels, but the low-temperature peak due to shallow ones. On the other hand, as the voltage increased, the recombination zone would be changed, which had some effects on the recombination efficiency. Some experiments proved our theoretical prediction.


Aims Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis plays an important role in plant adaptation to phosphorus (P) deficiency. The mycorrhizal fungi can directly regulate P stress response of the host plants, and can also indirectly influence neighbor plants via AM exudates. This study aimed to reveal the regulation mechanisms of plant response to P deficiency by AM associations. In a compartmentation cultivation experiment with Zea mays 'B73' and AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis 'DAOM197198', we investigated mycorrhizal effects on plant P nutrition and the expression of plant and fungal genes related to P and carbon (C) metabolisms under both low P (10 mg  kg –1 ) and high P (100 mg  kg –1 ) conditions. The cultivation system consisted of three compartments, namely donor compartment, buffer compartment and receiver compartment divided by two pieces of microporous filters with pore size of 0.45 μ m. Maize plant in donor compartment inoculated with AM fungus served as a source of AM exudates. The microporous filters could restrict the development of extraradical mycelium of AM fungi, but allow diffusion of AM exudates. Real-time PCR was performed to quantify the gene expression levels both in maize plants and Important findings The experimental results indicated that under low P conditions mycorrhizal colonization increased plant dry weight and P concentration in donor plants, and up-regulated plant genes transporters Pht1;2, Pht1;6, phosphoenolpiruvate carboxylase ( PEPC ), inorganic pyrophosphatase ( TC289 ), glycerol-3-phosphate transporter ( G3PT ) and malate synthase ( MAS1 ). The expression of AM fungal genes encoding P transporter ( GiPT ), GlcNAc transporter ( NGT1 ), GlcNAc kinase ( HXK1b ), GlcNAc phosphomutase ( AGM1 ), UDP GlcNAc pyrophosphorylase ( UAP1 ), chitin synthase ( CHS1 ), GlcNAc-6-phosphate deacetylase ( DAC1 ) and glucosamine-6-phosphate isomerase ( NAG1 ) was significantly higher under low P conditions compared with high P conditions. However, for the receiver plants, plant dry mass and P concentration were only significantly increased by higher P addition, while inoculation treatment significantly up-regulated the expression of P transporter genes Pht1;2 and Pht1;6, C metabolism related genes G3PT, PEPC, TC289 and MAS1 . The study proved that AM exudates could potentially stimulate plant response to P deficiency by regulating functional genes relevant to P and C metabolisms in the mycorrhizal associations.


Data-intensive software systems are generally made of a database and a collection of application programs in strong interaction with the former. They constitute critical assets in most enterprises, since they support business activities in all production and management domains. Data-intensive systems form most of the so-called legacy systems: they typically are one or more decades old, they are very large, heterogeneous and highly complex. Many of them significantly resist modifications and change due to the lack of documentation, to the use of aging technologies and to inflexible architectures. Therefore, the evolution of data-intensive systems clearly calls for automated support. This thesis explores the use of automated program analysis and transformation techniques in support to the evolution of the database component of the system. The program analysis techniques aim to ease the database evolution process, by helping the developers to understand the data structures that are to be changed, despite the lack of precise and up-to-date documentation. The objective of the program transformation techniques is to support the adaptation of the application programs to the new database. This adaptation process is studied in the context of two realistic database evolution scenarios, namely database database schema refactoring and database platform migration.


ABSTRACT This article weaves together several unique circumstances that inadvertently created spaces for women to emerge away from the traditional roles of womanhood ascribed to them in Pakistan. It begins by tracing the emergence of the Pakistan International Airlines as a national carrier that provided an essential glue to the two wings of Pakistan. Operating in the backdrop of nascent nationhood, the airline opens an opportunity for the new working women in Pakistan. Based on first-hand accounts provided by former female employees,1 and supplementing it with official documents, newspaper reports and the advertising used for marketing at the time, it seeks to provide an illuminating insight into the early history of women in Pakistan. While the use of women as markers of modernity and propaganda is not new,2 here within the context of Cold War and American cultural diplomacy, the 'modernist' vision of the Ayub-era in Pakistan (1958–1969), and its accompanying jet-age provide a unique lens through which to explore the changing role of women. The article showcases a different approach to understanding the so-called 'golden age' of Pakistani history: a neglected area of the international history on Pakistan, which is far too often one-dimensional.3


The More Electric Aircraft is one of the main drivers in current aircraft systems' research and development. Indeed, higher electrification of aircrafts can reduce complexity as well as the weight of power supply systems. In this respect, one of the principal aims of MEA is to replace the hydraulic supply with electric technologies in the primary flight control surfaces. In order to do that, it is possible to employ an Electro-Mechanical Actuator (EMA) which mainly consists of a Brushless DC motor, a reducer and a ball screw. However, although this replacing seems feasible in theory, there are several issues that have to be overcome. One of these is represented by the wear mechanisms that affect the ball screw due to disadvantageous motion profiles of primary flight controls. In the light of this assessment, the principal goal of this thesis is the development of a suitable Health-and-Usage-Monitoring-System for ball screws embedded in EMAs. In attempt to do that, firstly an extensive literature research was carried out, in order to understand the state-of-the-art of primary and secondary flight controls, ball screw's structure, wear mechanisms as well as principal HUMS's concepts. After that, a high fidelity ball screw model was developed in Matlab/Simulink environement, in order to simulate the degradation in ball screws. In this respect several simulations was carried out to highlight the model's behavior when subjected to different parameters such as external force, preload and backlash. In the last part of the thesis a second model capable to simulate the EMA's nominal condition was derived from the high fidelity model. By comparing the parameters of the monitoring model with the high fidelity model, a health assessment of the actuator can be carried out. In particular, in this thesis two methodologies are proposed: one uses the frequency spectrum of the motor current and another utilizes the variations of several indexes capable to detect the deviations of e.g. motor current and nut position due to degradation. Finally, by using the motor current index, a methodology to identify the actuator's Remaining Useful Life (RUL) is proposed. On the basis of the obtained results, it is possible to conclude that the proposed methodologies should be capable to detect degradation in ball screws. Indeed, the deviations caused by degradation are high enough to detect decreasing in EMA's performances. For this reason, the results obtained in this thesis represent promising concepts for further analyses and experimental validation.


Gas tungsten arcs are used as heat sources in production processes such as welding and metal deposition.However, the most advanced of the existing gas tungsten arc models still lack predicting the arc temperature observed experimentally, unless imposing a priori the extent of the cathode arc attachment.Possible causes of this problem were investigated. It was concluded that the physical state of the arcing gas tungsten cathode was too simplified by the existing models. This oversimplification results in an overestimation of the cathode arc attachment area and an underestimation of the arc temperature field.An improved model was developed based only on physical criteria. It was tested by comparison with experimental measurements available in the literature. Good agreement with the temperature measured on the cathode surface and within the arc were obtained.


Background Due to the large concentration of children frequently exposed to vehicles and the risks vehicles pose to children around schools, in 2015, Safe Kids Thailand (SKT) is led by Child Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Centre (CSIP) have carried out the PHOTOVOICE project at Jumpeewanidaporn School in Nan province to focus on pedestrian safety around school. PHOTOVOICE is to encourage student participation, 12 students aged 10–12 years took photos showing pedestrian risks surrounding their school, that had an impact toward child pedestrians. The photos were presented to the public and relevant authorities so that they can be solved and modified to make the school zone safer for child pedestrians. Methods Educated students about pedestrian safety and how to take a photo for the PHOTOVOICE project. Conducted pre- and post-assessment. Carried out a map relevant to the safety round. Presented all the photos taken by students in PHOTOVOICE exhibition and established working groups from relevant agencies to collaborate with students to solve the risk. Results From the pre- and post-assessment, it found that students' knowledge increased from 72% to 96%. From the 12 photo selection by students, it showed that they had better understanding about pedestrian risks and could select the photos that showed greatest risks for exhibition, for public voting, and for modification. The working group has examined any additional risks and found that there were 13 risk areas to be modified (including the risks from PHOTOVOICE). The sample pedestrian risks are that shops on walkways in front of school caused the students walk on street, no student drop-off area causing the parking get messy, no pedestrian crossing and no traffic light near school zone, etc. All the risks have been modified completely with the collaboration from every sector. Conclusions Child participation in PHOTOVOICE project does not only educate students and change their behaviour about pedestrian safety, it also inspires adults and relevant agencies to modify all the risk environment to make safer pedestrian. This project will serve as an example to other schools, governments and organisations working to improve safety.


This thesis investigates stereo vision based techniques for supporting work with teleoperated mobile robots. In particular, the tasks of navigation and control of the robot in unknown environments as well as control of the manipulator are considered. Support is required with map overviews and images from novel viewpoints. Challenges are to create maps and novel images in real time, exclusively from image sequences of a calibrated stereo camera that is allowed to move arbitrarily in three dimensions. Furthermore, no assumptions are made about the environment. These requirements have led to research in the areas of stereo vision, camera motion estimation, mapping and novel view synthesis. Several contributions have been made in these areas. Firstly, the behaviour of stereo correlation is analysed and a new real time stereo algorithm derived, which has reduced matching errors compared to traditional algorithms. Secondly, a new robust real time camera motion estimation method is described, which exclusively uses stereo images and permits arbitrary camera motion. Thirdly, a new method for creating two-dimensional maps from images of a stereo camera under arbitrary three-dimensional motion is presented. Finally, novel view synthesis is performed in disparity space of source stereo images using a new method. All the proposed techniques have been integrated into the Immediate Reality Scanner (IRIS) system. The system performs incremental mapping, immediate virtual walkthroughs and dynamic novel views exclusively from a stereo camera under arbitrary three-dimensional motion. Mapping and immediate virtual walkthroughs can be performed in real time, concurrently to scanning the environment. The thesis describes camera calibration, stereo processing, camera motion estimation, map building, novel view synthesis and the integration into IRIS, including evaluations in all areas. It is concluded that IRIS does not only fulfil the requirements of the anticipated application on teleoperated mobile robots, but could also be used in a wide range of robotics and non-robotics applications. It is believed that IRIS is the first system that allows incremental mapping and immediate virtual walkthroughs in real time concurrently to scanning an unconstrained environment with an arbitrarily moving stereo camera.


Trimethylamine dehydrogenase, which contains one covalently bound 6-S-cysteinyl-FMN and one Fe4S4 cluster per subunit of molecular mass 83,000 Da, was purified to homogeneity from the methylotrophic bacterium W3A1. Microcoulometry at pH 7 in 50 mM-Mops buffer containing 0.1 mM-EDTA and 0.1 M-KCl revealed that the native enzyme required the addition of 3 reducing equivalents per subunit for complete reduction. In contrast, under identical conditions the phenylhydrazine-inhibited enzyme required the addition of 0.9 reducing equivalent per subunit with a midpoint potential of +110 mV. Least-squares analysis of the microcoulometric data obtained for the native enzyme, assuming uptake of 1 electron by Fe4S4 and 2 electrons by FMN, indicated midpoint potentials of +44 mV and +36 mV for the FMN/FMN.- and FMN.-/FMNH2 couples respectively and +102 mV for reduction of the Fe4S4 cluster.


British Telecom's intranet hosts an array of information products that are an integral part of the way its employees do business. The article presents a glimpse of how BT uses concepts like media engineering to develop usable and maintainable information products-information by design. The BT intranet supports several information products that are now an everyday part of business within BT: the desktop directory not only supplies contact information, but also shows where people fit into the organization; a validated software site contains packages that have been tested and approved for use within the company; administrative services, such as expense claims, can be filled out and validated automatically as they flow through the organization, removing much of the manual work; internal news and guidance documents are posted on the intranet; and proposals for research and development projects, including their subsequent approval and delivery record, are recorded and tracked by an online system. Other documents provide details of the company's systems architecture, training programs, internal job vacancies, standards activities, and business strategy. We describe two applications of particular interest-a company-sponsored degree program and an engineering project data exchange site.


Of 507 patients with renal tumours 36 (7.1%) presented with primary epithelial neoplasms of the renal pelvis. Histological investigation revealed benign papillomas in 3 (8.3%) cases. These patients underwent resection of the renal pelvis along with the tumour. Nephro-ureterectomy was performed in 33 patients, of whom 27 (75%) had it for transitional cell carcinoma, 5 (14%) for squamous cell carcinoma and 1 (2.7%) patient for solid carcinoma of the pelvis. Results of surgical treatment vary with the process stage so that the more advanced the stage, the poorer is the prognosis. High efficiency was shown of nephro-ureterectomy. At 5 years 9 of 13 operated on are alive without signs of metastatic disease.


This theoretical essay proposes that underlying the concept of libido is a primitive set of brain mechanisms responsible for the generalized arousal of the central nervous system (CNS) and the activation of all behavioural responses. Having given the concept of 'generalized CNS arousal' an operational definition, we write an equation that describes how specific motivational needs are integrated with generalized arousal to produce an overall state of the CNS sufficient for potentiating behavioural responses. Factor analysis of behavioural data with mice suggest that among all CNS arousal-related influences, generalized arousal contributes about a third of the variance. Many neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and genomic mechanisms for arousal are reviewed here. Highlighted are large reticular formation neurons in the medulla whose axons bifurcating rostrally and caudally equip them to contribute, respectively, both to cerebral cortical arousal and to autonomic arousal. Their rapid responses would cause sudden changes in CNS state associated with, for example, states of panic or rapid sexual attraction. Consequences of the actions of generalized arousal networks include increased alertness and attention that serve all cognitive functions and all emotional expression. Specifically with respect to psychoanalytic concepts these networks provide the psychic energy necessary for the expression of libido.


Isothermal oxidation behavior of the AISI430 stainless steel was investigated at 900°C and 950°C in air. Isothermal themogravimettric analyses were performed at high-temperature for 360ks (kilo-seconds). The microstructures of the oxide films on the stainless steel were characterized by SEM and chemical analyses were performed by EDS and X-ray diffraction. The oxide film included outer layer and inner one. The outer layer was magnetite and hematite oxides with no significant amounts of chromium and the inner one was formed by iron and chromium spinel. Significantly accelerated and anomalous oxidation was observed with the stainless steel AISI430 in air at 900°C.


Among the known species of Burkholderia only two are obligate pathogens, i.e., B. mallei and B. pseudomallei, causative agents of glanders and melioidosis respectively. The other species are saprophytes as natural inhabitants of water reservoirs and soil, still capable of causing opportunistic infections in humans and animals under definite conditions. All the species of Burkholderia are characterized by high resistance to antibacterials, including antibiotics. By the MICs, the most efficient chemotherapeutics against pathogenic burkholderias are tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, penems and combined sulfanilamides. In the treatment of experimental glanders and melioidosis the set of the effective drugs had the inverse variation dependence on the infection severity and the desease process rate. Co-trimoxasole showed the best results, then followed doxicycline, ciprofioxacin and ceftazidime in the diminishing succession. The modification of the method for determination of antibiotic susceptibility with addition of native blood to the medium and the subculture under the atmosphere of 5% CO2 was shown useful in estimation of the prospects of the use of chemotherapeutics for the treatment of Burkholderia infections.


: This manuscript represents an alternative method of fixation for the Austin bunionectomy using the Herbert bone screw. A description of the modified Austin bunionectomy and fixation utilizing this system is presented. A discussion of potential and encountered complications is included. Two hundred and four osteotomies were fixated with the Herbert bone screw in 182 patients, with follow-up ranging from 6 months to 3 years. Early range of motion, rigid internal fixation with compression, and the elimination of pin tracks are the advantages of this method.


: Postoperative wound infection rates after biliary tract surgery vary tremendously from 2% after uncomplicated cholecystectomy to 20% in series including many jaundiced patients. Almost all such infections arise from organisms growing in the diseased biliary tract, since infection rate of 1% are achieved when the bile is sterile. A history of cholangitis identifies only one third of the patients with infected bile, but four easily recognized clinical factors point to positive bile cultures in 60% to 75% of patients: (1) age over 70, (2) obstructive jaundice, (3) common duct stones without jaundice, and (4) emergent acute cholecystitis. These selected high-risk patients have postoperative infection rates of 20% to 27%. Preoperative administration of cephaloridine reduced this high rate of infection to 5% in a prospective randomized but not blinded trial. The initially reported experience of 84 patients has been extended to 140 and continues to confirm the efficacy of prophylactic antibiotics in selected high-risk patients. In contrast, there is no present evidence supporting the use of antibiotic prophylaxis in low-risk patients under 70 years of age undergoing uncomplicated cholecystectomy.


Shaping organization is essential and required task for any management to produce a qualitative and reliable product for their customers. So, today we can easily see a concept of Human Resource Management (HRM) in every organization for internal management and efficient utilization of resource to produce a better and new technological product for their customers. HRM is an art of managing people at work in such a manner that they give best to the organization. Now, here we are offering you a concept of Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) as an Implementation Support System (ISS) for HRM. For understanding the better skills, creative abilities and talents of human resources at a very quick time there must be a concept of e-HRM. Generally e-HRM is an interface through which we can directly communicate or know about the right talent through traverse some list or records in our personal database without creating any issue. e-HRM (Electronic Human Resource Management) is an advance business solution which provides a complete on-line support in the management of all processes, activities, data and information required to manage human resources in a modern company. It is an efficient, reliable, easy-to-use tool, accessible to a broad group of different users. Index Terms—Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM), Human Resource Management (HRM), Implementation Support System (ISS)


Diabetes mellitus is one of the chronic diseases that leads to great concerns worldwide. This study uses a model of lifestyle change to enhance serious gaming in healthcare. Seven healthcare providers were interviewed in a pre-study, Six patients tested the prototype in a focus group and nine patients co-operated in an evaluation. The theoretical contributions show that it is difficult to design a single game that meets all users needs. One solution is to design a modular application were adaptations can be made in order to meet the patient specific needs, in the presence of the play, meaning and reality components, but also in functionality. Different functionality is needed for non-intenders (play), intenders (meaning) and actors (reality). Practical contributions of this study give the health care providers more insight in the daily activities and personal measurements of the patients and it improves the possibilities for self-management for the patients themselves.