The purpose of this study is to derive attenuation relationships of the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and peak ground velocity (PGV) in Ilan, Taiwan, including factors of fault type and site effect. A total of 2852 accelerograms recorded from 92 shallow earthquakes with Mw magnitude ranging from 4.0 to 7.7 are used to develop theregionalattenuationrelationships.Twomodelsareused:Model1usesrecordsfrom 65 strong-motion sites. The results will be especially useful for the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) early warning system to quickly assess and report the PGA and PGV maps for effective emergency-response operations. Model 2 uses records from the 46 strong-motion sites with available VS30 to incorporate a site-effect term, aiming to reduce the standard deviation of the predicted ground motion for engineering appli- cations. First, the results show that the fault-type amplification factor decreases faster with increasing magnitude for the strike-slip fault type than the reverse or normal fault types. In addition, from the intraevent residuals as function of distance of horizontal PGA for reverse earthquakes, we found clusters of higher PGAvalues at a distance of 110-130 km from events in southwestern areas. This was probably due to Moho re- flection along paths crossing the Central Mountain Range. Second, the PGVintraevent residual is more closely correlated with VS30 than that of the PGA because the latter is nota simple function ofVS30.Finally, bycomparing thestandard deviations ofthetotal residuals between the observed and predicted values before and after incorporating the fault-type and site-effect (VS30) terms, the change of standard deviation for PGA is 2.3%. In contrast, the PGV standard deviation is significantly decreased by about 11.6%. Evidently, the Model 2 attenuation relationships, especially for PGV, would be better suited for engineering applications.


This bulletin is the first in a series of bulletins addressing financial performance of farms. Two measures of financial performance are highlighted: the current return on assets and the return on equity based on the annual return from day-to-day business of farming for various farm types. Both measures are calculated on the historical cost of the assets as opposed to market value. The returns to assets and equity are provided over a ten year period, 1997-2006, for beef, hog, poultry, dairy, grains and oilseeds, potato, greenhouse, and fruit and vegetable farms.


Abstract For the purpose of geological carbon storage, it is necessary to understand the long-term effects of introducing CO2 and sulfur-species into saline aquifers. CO2 stripped from the flue gas during the carbon capture process may contain trace SO2 and H2S and it may be economically beneficial to inject S-bearing CO2 rather than costly purified CO2. Furthermore, reactions between the S-CO2-bearing formation brines and formation minerals will increase pH and promote further dissolution and precipitation reactions. To investigate this we model reactions in a natural analog where CO2- and SO4-H2S bearing fluids have reacted with clay-rich siltstones. In the Mid-Jurassic Carmel formation in a cap rock to a natural CO2-bearing reservoir at Green River, Utah, a 3.1 mm wide bleached alteration zone is observed at the uppermost contact between a primary gypsum bed and red siltstone. Gypsum at the contact is ~1 mm thick and shows elongate fibers perpendicular to the siltstone surface, suggesting fluid flow along the contact. Mineralogical concentrations, analyzed by Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by SCANning electron microscopy (QEMSCAN), show the altered siltstone region comprises two main zones: a 0.8 mm wide, hematite-poor, dolomite-poor, and illite-rich region adjacent to the gypsum bed; and a 2.3 mm wide, hematite-poor, dolomite-poor, and illite-poor region adjacent to the hematite alteration front. A one-component analytical solution to reactive-diffusive transport for the bleached zone implies it took less than 20 yr to form before the fluid self-sealed, and that literature hematite dissolution rates between 10–8 and 10–7 mol/m2/s are valid for likely diffusivities. Multi-component reactive-diffusive transport equilibrium modeling for the full phase assemblage, conducted with PHREEQC, suggests dissolution of hematite and dolomite and precipitation of illite over similar short timescales. Reaction progress with CO2-bearing, SO4-rich, and minor H2S-bearing fluids is shown to be much faster than with CO2-poor, SO4-rich with minor H2S-bearing fluids. The substantial buffering capacity of mineral reactions demonstrated by the S- and CO2-related alteration of hematite-bearing siltstones at the Green River CO2 accumulation implies that corrosion of such a cap rock are, at worst, comparable to the 10 000 yr timescales needed for carbon storage.


Recent advances in high-throughput technologies for biological data acquisition have spurred a broad interest in the development of mathematical models for biological phenomena. S-systems, which offer a good compromise between accuracy and mathematical flexibility, are a promising framework for modeling the dynamical behavior of genetic regulatory networks (GRNs), as well as that of biochemical pathways. In the S-system modeling framework, the number of unknown parameters is much more than the number of metabolites and this makes the parameter estimation task a challenging one. In this paper, a new parameter estimation algorithm is developed based on the Extended Kalman filter (EKF) approach. It is first shown that the conventional EKF approach is not capable of estimating the unknown parameters of S-systems. To remedy this problem, a new iterative extended Kalman Filtering algorithm is developed in which the EKF algorithm is applied iteratively to the available noisy time profiles of the metabolites. The proposed estimation algorithm is applied to a generic branched pathway and the Cad system of E.coli. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.


: The influence of the azacrown ether derivative benzylaza-15-crown-5 on myocardial tolerance to ischemia and on the functional state of the zone of myocardial ischemia during coronary artery occlusion was investigated in experiments on anaesthetized open-chest cats. The compound tested produced a dose-dependent antiischemic effect and prevented the development of myocardial ischemia. In experiments on isolated guinea-pig papillary muscle benzylaza-15-crown-5 inhibited the first and second components of the isoproterenol-induced muscle contraction. The compound decreased the maximal contraction force and had no effect on the cardiac cycle duration and on the time necessary for reaching maximal tension. It is suggested that the protective effect of benzylaza-15-crown-5 during myocardial ischemia is mediated through the inhibition of calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum.


For centuries, physicians have taken special pains to dash the hopes of people who have suffered spinal cord injury. Over 2000 years ago, an anonymous Egyptian physician recommended that water be withheld from spinal-injured warriors.[*][1] Until recently, clinical pessimism was so rampant that medical personnel often did not treat spinal cord injuries as true medical emergencies. Many clinicians felt compelled to tell patients and their families that they should not expect recovery from spinal cord injury, even though clinical and laboratory data suggest that some recovery is not only possible but likely. For example, the National Acute Spinal Cord Injury Study[†][2] showed that patients who arrive at hospitals with the slightest motor or sensory function below the injury site will typically recover 59% of lost motor function within a year. Even severely injured patients admitted with no voluntary motor or sensory function below the injury site typically recover 8% of their pre-injury abilities.

On page [2000][3] of this issue, Li et al. report an exciting finding that adds to a growing body of evidence indicating that regeneration and functional recovery can occur after spinal cord injury. The authors report that adult rat epithelial cells taken from the lining of the nose and transplanted into injured rat spinal cords significantly improve the ability of the animals to retrieve food pellets with their forepaws, presumably by encouraging regrowth of the severed axons. These results join and reinforce evidence from other groups, all reporting corticospinal regeneration and behavioral recovery in adult rats with injured spinal cords. Injured rats can be treated with antibodies that accelerate regeneration.[‡][4],[§][5] Or wounded spinal cords can be treated with genetically engineered cells or fetal cells or tissue to stimulate regeneration.[|][6],[¶][7],[#][8] These encouraging results have been well publicized and some have criticized such studies for giving premature hope to the spinal injury community.

What is the harm of hope? Undue optimism may mislead some people to develop unrealistic expectations and suffer depression when these expectations are not met. Anticipation of impending cures may encourage many to postpone therapies that would benefit them today. A few may even find enthusiastic clinicians who are willing to apply unproven experimental therapies on them. Fortunately, effective checks and balances exist at many levels to stem false hope. Concern that journalists and the public may misinterpret scientific results often leads researchers to present clinically relevant results with greater circumspection. Scientific journal reviewers usually require a higher level of proof for clinically relevant claims. Responsible journalists usually check their sources carefully and provide balanced commentary from experts when reporting therapeutic safety and efficacy. Finally, people with disabilities are not so naive. Balancing hope and reality is a daily struggle for them. All people with disabilities have lived through surges of hope resulting from media reports of "cures." Many have adopted the philosophy of planning for the worst but hoping for the best.

Spinal cord injury research is now poised at a crucial stage. Expectations of effective therapies for spinal cord injury have been raised. Although many neuroscientists are confident that such therapies will be developed, a wide gulf separates laboratory demonstrations of rats walking and effective human therapy. Migration of therapy from laboratory to clinic may take many years. Pessimists should not be telling people with spinal cord injury that they have no hope for recovery, nor should optimists predict availability of effective therapies within a short time frame. Future reports of spinal cord injury therapies must strike a careful balance between hope and reality. This balance should err on the conservative side but at the same time not deprive people of hope.

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Due to the pressure of rising costs and an increase in customer orientation, IT-service providers are forced to professionalize their operations (IT-Production). Using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems common in real goods production allows to take advantage of planning functions and integrated data management. Since the production planning of IT-Production cannot be addressed by standard ERP functions, an extended concept for an MRP II based production planning and control approach for IT-service providers is developed. For this purpose, the production of a Swiss service provider is analysed and requirements are derived.


We present an innovative flexible computation support service for financial risk management. Commercial bank faces a higher requirement on quantitative risk management from Basel II accord. In practice, quantitative risk computation needs both the internal and external data, and the risk calculation models and corresponding parameters should be updated for a periods of time. To deal with these challenges, we propose a service oriented architecture based system, where flexible computation support services are provided for financial risk management. We present three main services in details. First, risk calculation service provides mathematical risk models and parameter learning functions. Second, business logic service adopts rule engine technology to integrate expert knowledge and mathematical model. Third, data management service provides the function for collection and management of internal and external data. These services collaborate to provide flexible quantitative risk management functions for commercial banks with a lower cost compared with the effort to develop their own risk management methodologies and systems.


Abstract A single photon can be coupled to collective charge oscillations at the interfaces between metals and dielectrics forming a single surface plasmon. The electromagnetic near-fields induced by single surface plasmons offer new degrees of freedom to perform an exquisite control of complex quantum dynamics. Remarkably, the control of quantum systems represents one of the most significant challenges in the field of quantum photonics. Recently, there has been an enormous interest in using plasmonic systems to control multiphoton dynamics in complex photonic circuits. In this review, we discuss recent advances that unveil novel routes to control multiparticle quantum systems composed of multiple photons and plasmons. We describe important properties that characterize optical multiparticle systems such as their statistical quantum fluctuations and correlations. In this regard, we discuss the role that photon-plasmon interactions play in the manipulation of these fundamental properties for multiparticle systems. We also review recent works that show novel platforms to manipulate many-body light-matter interactions. In this spirit, the foundations that will allow nonexperts to understand new perspectives in multiparticle quantum plasmonics are described. First, we discuss the quantum statistical fluctuations of the electromagnetic field as well as the fundamentals of plasmonics and its quantum properties. This discussion is followed by a brief treatment of the dynamics that characterize complex multiparticle interactions. We apply these ideas to describe quantum interactions in photonic-plasmonic multiparticle quantum systems. We summarize the state-of-the-art in quantum devices that rely on plasmonic interactions. The review is concluded with our perspective on the future applications and challenges in this burgeoning field.


Acid-fast bacteria, also known as acid-fast bacilli or simply AFB, is a group of bacteria sharing the characteristic of acid fastness. Acid fastness is a physical property that gives a bacterium the ability to resist decolorization by acids during staining procedures. This means that once the bacterium is stained, it cannot be decolorized using acids routinely used in the process. This important and unique feature of certain bacteria gives us the ability to classify and detect them using relatively easy laboratory procedures such as microscopy. Bacteria displaying acid fastness include:Acid fastness can also be attributed to other structures not classified as bacteria. These include:Even though acid fastness can be attributed to many different bacteria, in clinical practice, correlation with history makes it a fairly unique characteristic of M. tuberculosis. This makes acid-fast staining sensitive and specific, provided clinical correlation is part of the equation. This writing will focus on the acid-fast bacteria M. Tuberculosis. The diagnosis of M. Tuberculosis using this characteristic is referred to as TB microscopy, acid-fast smear microscopy, and direct sputum near microscopy. Even though the use of highly advanced molecular diagnostic tests have come into play, the value of this staining technique cannot be overstated, especially, for low and middle-income countries.


Background and Aims Micro-vascular disease affects the majority of T1DM patients and is directly related to both duration and glycemic control of diabetes. The aim of this study is to identify the association of micro-vascular disease at booking and subsequent risk of developing pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. Methods Retrospective cohort study of women with T1DM (n = 37) on continuous subcutaneous insulin infusions booked at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital between November 2010 and April 2012. Micro-vascular disease at booking was, defined as nephropathy or/and retinopathy at booking. Results The prevalence of micro-vascular disease at booking was 54.1% (n = 20). No significant difference were seen in age (33.5 years vs 35.0 years; p = 0.28), HbA1c (7.5 vs 6.9; p = 0.11), length of diabetes (16.0 years versus 23.0 years; p = 0.14) compared to women without micro-vascular disease. Presence of micro-vascular disease was significantly associated with the pre-eclampsia (55.0% vs 17.6%; p = 0.02; unadjusted OR 5.70; CI 1.24–26.26). This association was not explained by maternal age, duration or control of diabetes, parity, BMI and maternal hypertension (adjusted OR 4.92; CI 0.7–32.3). The rate of LGA and SGA was 51.3% and 5.4% respectively. Women with micro-vascular disease had higher rates of SGA (10.0% vs 0.0%; p < 0.05) and LGA (65.0% vs 35.0%; p < 0.05).


Describes the how open educational resources are crucial to student success and how faculty members at UMBC can adopt, reuse, and create OER content for their courses.


The salt of the salt domes of some areas is known to be sedimentary. Geological observation of those domes and laboratory experimentation show that salt flows plastically under differential pressure. The German salt domes are known to have been formed by the plastic flowage of the Zechstein salt series. Any type of differential pressure should tend to produce plastic flowage of sedimentary salt whenever certain critical conditions such as those of pressure, temperature, and time have been exceeded. The plausible sources of pressure are two: (1) the static pressure of the overlying sediments; and (2) the dynamic pressure of tangential compression or thrust. Under (1), growth of the dome by upthrust can take place only if the available energy is sufficient both to overcome riction and to uplift the salt core and some sediments against gravity; growth of the dome by downbuilding can take place if the mother salt bed is sinking in earth space; the position of maximum uplift is below that of isostatic equilibrium of the salt core; and the form of the salt dome should evolve progressively through a characteristic series of forms. Under (2), the horizontal dynamic pressure will act indirectly upward through anticlines and downward through synclines in competent beds; and directly through horizontal squeezing of the salt in relatively upthrust cores. The static thrust of (1) will be active and may be more important than the dynamic thrust of (2); the position of maximum upthrust of the salt core may be far above its position of isostatic equilibrium; the form of the domes should be varied. The Gulf Coast domes have been formed by the plastic flowage of sedimentary salt intrusively into the overlying sediments. The evidence for that origin of the domes comes from the structure which is revealed by oil-field drilling, from algal remains in the salt, and from the close similarity of the American salt domes to the German salt domes. The age of the salt is greater than most of the Lower Cretaceous. The motive force of the formation of the domes has been the static weight of the sediments. Growth of the domes has taken place throughout the Tertiary and has taken place on a few domes in the most recent past. There was no dynamic tangential compression in the Gulf Coastal Plain area during the Tertiary and Quaternary; therefore, the motive End_Page 1025------------------------------ force presumably must have been the static thrust of the sediments. Subsidence of the mother salt bed took place almost continuously through the Tertiary and into the Quaternary. The difference between the specific gravity of the salt and of the sediments is small; and the calculated force of upthrust is small, rather too small to overcome friction and to uplift the salt core and some sediments against gravity. Growth of the domes, therefore, must have been largely by downbuilding. Partially corroboratory evidence is given by the concomitant cessation of growth of the Clay Creek dome and cessation of the regional subsidence of the general surrounding area. But some actual upthrust has taken place on the Gulf Coast domes; and, as theoretically expectable, it tends to be greater on the omes of larger diameter. Growth has not continued into recent time on all the domes and has ceased finally at different times on different domes. The law holds crudely that the deeper the dome, the older the time of cessation of growth. The final cessation of growth in general may have been caused by exhaustion of the salt in the mother salt bed, attainment of isostatic equilibrium, frictional freezing of the salt core to the sediments, and, in the case of downbuilding, by cessation of the subsidence. The succession of retrograde movement of the salt core after the cessation of growth is suggested, inconclusively, by the Clay Creek dome. The presence of rim synclines has been suggested by the results of torsion-balance surveys, but has not been identified from geologic data. Rim syncline could be formed: (1) by solution of the flank of the salt, and (2) by the pushing-in of the deep flank of a flaring salt core in the growth of the dome. Overhang of the salt and cap is present in two types: (1) tilting of the vertical axis of the dome, and (2) mushrooming (Barbers Hill). Type (1) is produced perhaps by the seaward flowage of the deeper sediments. The explanations of type (2) are not satisfactory.


This paper studies the extent to which decoupled income support measures in agriculture can have production implications both at the extensive and intensive margins. We develop a theoretical framework that analyzes production responses of agricultural producers to apparently decoupled payments, by explicitly considering risk attitudes and uncertainty. We use farm-level data collected in Kansas to estimate the model. Technology and risk preference parameters are jointly estimated. Results show that though lump sum payments are not fully decoupled in the presence of risk and uncertainty, their effects on agricultural production are likely to be of a very small magnitude.


Fat maldigestion with steatorrhoea is the main problem in the management of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI).1 When uncoated pancreatic enzyme extracts are used for therapy, inhibition of gastric acid secretion is frequently needed to avoid acid mediated lipase inactivation.2–4 Modern pancreatic enzyme preparations in the form of enteric coated mini-microspheres were developed to avoid this problem but fat maldigestion still persists in a relevant proportion of patients with this therapy. Patients with EPI frequently have low pancreatic bicarbonate secretion which may become insufficient to neutralise the acidity of the chyme emptied from the stomach.5 Bile acids precipitate at acidic pH, and lipase is only released from coated spheres once the pH is higher than 5.0, which occurs in distal segments of the gut in some EPI patients.6,7

We hypothesise that potent inhibition of gastric acid secretion, by avoiding bile acid precipitation and allowing lipase release within the proximal gut, may improve the therapeutic efficacy of enteric coated pancreatic enzymes for EPI. To test this hypothesis, a prospective, …


The botanical compound rotenone is extensively used to eradicate populations and reduce the negative impacts of freshwater invasive animals. The method is controversial as non-target organisms often are negatively affected, but these effects are highly variable among taxa and may be difficult to monitor on species-level as many invertebrates are challenging or costly to identify using morphology. We investigated the effect of rotenone treatment on freshwater invertebrates in two Nordic lakes using both traditional morphological identification and DNA metabarcoding of the preservative ethanol DNA (peDNA). We used a before-after-control-impact design in assessing the effect of the rotenone treatment, with two treated and two control lakes, all sampled immediately before the rotenone treatment, immediately after and 1 year after the treatment. The two methods of identification gave different results: The peDNA based method detected 333 taxa, while 90 taxa were recorded by morphological identification. Twenty-eight taxa were in common for both methods. Both traditional morphological identification and identification using metabarcoding of peDNA showed a significant effect of the rotenone treatment on invertebrate community composition expressed as Bray-Curtis dissimilarities. Using the results from peDNA, the number of taxa decreased just after the treatment and increased again 1 year after the treatment in the treated lakes, indicating a short-term effect of the treatment and a subsequent recovery of the invertebrate community. We conclude that DNA metabarcoding of preservative ethanol has a promising potential to record effects of anthropogenic stressors such as rotenone treatment. However, as peDNA based metabarcoding missed several taxa, and detected DNA from species not living in the actual sampling sites, the method needs further improvement and should perhaps be used in combination with morphological-based identification until sufficiently refined.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the factors associated with appendicular bone mass in older women.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data collected for a multicenter, prospective study of osteoporotic fractures.

SETTING
Four clinical centers in Baltimore, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Portland, Oregon; and the Monongahela valley, Pennsylvania.

PATIENTS
A total of 9704 ambulatory, nonblack women, ages 65 years or older, recruited from population-based listings.

MEASUREMENTS
Demographic and historical information and anthropometric measurements were obtained from a baseline questionnaire, interview, and examination. Single-photon absorptiometry scans were obtained at three sites: the distal radius, midradius, and calcaneus. Multivariate associations with bone mass were first examined in a randomly selected half of the cohort (training group) and were then tested on the other half of the cohort (validation group).

RESULTS
In order of decreasing strength of association, estrogen use, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, thiazide use, increased weight, greater muscle strength, later age at menopause, and greater height were independently associated with higher bone mass. Gastric surgery, age, history of maternal fracture, smoking, and caffeine intake were associated with lower bone mass (all P < 0.05). For example, we found that 2 or more years of estrogen use was associated with a 7.2% increase in distal radius bone mass, whereas gastrectomy was associated with an 8.2% decrease in bone mass. The associations between bone mass and dietary calcium intake and rheumatoid arthritis were inconsistent. Alcohol use, physical activity, use of calcium supplements, pregnancy, breast-feeding, parental nationality, and hair color were among the many variables not associated with bone mass. Multivariate models accounted for 20% to 35% of the total variance of bone mass.

CONCLUSIONS
A large number of factors influence the bone mass of elderly women; however, age, weight, muscle strength, and estrogen use are the most important factors.


Operating under rapidly changing conditions, organizations face various challenges that can damage core competencies and collaborative partnerships that have been developed for normal operations. To address these challenges, organizations need to learn from previous events, develop relevant strategies, and seek to evolve in resilient ways. The critical task in designing adaptive systems is to determine the bases for the effective organizational adaptation. This study seeks to explore evidence of organizational learning, identify the most critical factors that facilitate organizational adaptation, develop strategies for change, and assess the effects of these strategies on the performance and evolution of the system. To achieve these purposes, this study applies a mixed approach of qualitative and quantitative methods including content analysis of newspaper articles and situation reports, social network analysis, and agent-based computational simulation. To explore processes of organizational learning, I conducted a comparative analysis of two hurricane response systems; Hurricane Katrina, 2005 and Hurricane Gustav, 2008. This analysis documented gaps in the performance of the two systems. The organizations in the Hurricane Katrina response systems suffered from a lack of personnel, plans, and equipment for the effective communication. Accordingly, they were unable to create a common knowledge base of operations and failed to allocate resources as requested. Evidence from organizational analysis documents that organizations in the Hurricane Gustav response system learned from the experiences of Hurricane Katrina and upgraded their performance in response operations in various ways. They invested significant resources and effort to improve organizational capacity in communication and strengthened their collaboration links with expected and spontaneous partners from public, private, and non-profit sectors. Based on findings from this analysis, I offer a set of policy implications for guiding effective organizational adaptation to changing conditions. First, organizations need to collaborate under strong leadership to develop trust that is critical to effective coordination and collaboration. To make effective use of established mutual trust, adaptive systems need to address the problem of turnover in major positions of organizations. Second, while organizations in the system work on the institutionalization of joint operations for the development of mutual trust among agencies, they also need to develop policies to retain experienced core personnel for effective collaboration with partners. Third, operations need to integrate advanced information technologies into their operations to support effective communication, knowledge management, and diffusion of organizational learning. Combined with the cultivation of experienced personnel, the integration of advanced information technology into disaster mitigation and response represents the construction of a socio-technical system. To build a socio-technical system for organizational adaptation, organizations need to focus on the technical design of advanced communication equipment and data management tools that facilitate the processing, transmitting, storing, and extracting of critical information both for enhanced performance and organizational learning. Further, they need to focus on the organizational training and education of strategic learning to develop more experienced and collaborative personnel. Based on accumulated experience and memory of collaboration, enhanced capacities, and reinforced partnerships, organizations in an adaptive system can achieve a creative mental leap to a new practice of action. Findings from this study document that organizations can successfully address challenges from rapidly changing conditions and eventually, evolve in a resilient form of adaptation.


The selection of materials has a considerable role on long-term stability of implants. The materials having high resistance to fatigue are required for dental implant applications since these implants are subjected to cyclic loads during chewing. This study evaluates the performance of different types of materials (AISI 316L stainless steel, alumina and its porous state, CoCr alloys, yttrium-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA), and cp Ti with the nanotubular TiO2 surface) by finite element analysis (FEA) under real cyclic biting loads and researches the optimum material for implant applications. For the analysis, the implant design generated by our group was utilized. The mechanical behavior and the life of the implant under biting loads were estimated based on the material and surface properties. According to the condition based on ISO 14801, the FEA results showed that the equivalent von Mises stress values were in the range of 226.95 MPa and 239.05 MPa. The penetration analysis was also performed, and the calculated penetration of the models onto the bone structure ranged between 0.0037389 mm and 0.013626 mm. L-605 CoCr alloy-assigned implant model showed the least penetration, while cp Ti with the nanotubular TiO2 surface led to the most one. However, the difference was about 0.01 mm, and it may not be evaluated as a distinct difference. As the final numerical evaluation item, the fatigue life was executed, and the results were achieved in the range of 4 × 105 and 1 × 109 cycles. These results indicated that different materials showed good performance for each evaluation component, but considering the overall mechanical performance and the treatment process (implant adsorption) by means of surface properties, cp Ti with the nanotubular TiO2 surface material was evaluated as the suitable one, and it may also be implied that it displayed enough performance in the designed dental implant model.


There has been no direct examination of stereoscopic depth perception at very large observation distances and depths. We measured perceptions of depth magnitude at distances where it is frequently reported without evidence that stereopsis is non-functional. We adapted methods pioneered at distances up to 9 m by R. S. Allison, B. J. Gillam, and E. Vecellio (2009) for use in a 381-m-long railway tunnel. Pairs of Light Emitting Diode (LED) targets were presented either in complete darkness or with the environment lit as far as the nearest LED (the observation distance). We found that binocular, but not monocular, estimates of the depth between pairs of LEDs increased with their physical depths up to the maximum depth separation tested (248 m). Binocular estimates of depth were much larger with a lit foreground than in darkness and increased as the observation distance increased from 20 to 40 m, indicating that binocular disparity can be scaled for much larger distances than previously realized. Since these observation distances were well beyond the range of vertical disparity and oculomotor cues, this scaling must rely on perspective cues. We also ran control experiments at smaller distances, which showed that estimates of depth and distance correlate poorly and that our metric estimation method gives similar results to a comparison method under the same conditions.


Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) is the most commonplace remedy for kidney stone. Shock waves from outside the body frame are centered at a kidney stone inflicting the stone to fragment. The success of the (ESWL) treatment is based on some variables such as age, sex, stone quantity stone period and so on. Thus, the prediction the success of remedy by this method is so important for professionals to make a decision to continue using (ESWL) or to using another remedy technique. In this study, a prediction system for (ESWL) treatment by used three techniques of mixing classifiers, which is Product Rule (PR), Neural Network (NN) and the proposed classifier called Nested Combined Classifier (NCC). The samples had been taken from 2850 actual sufferers cases that had been treated at Urology and Nephrology center of Iraq. The results from three cases have been compared to actual treatment results of (ESWL) for trained and non-trained cases and compared the results of three models. The results show that (NCC) approach is the most accurate method in prediction the efficient of uses (ESWL) remedy in treatment the kidney stone.


In this paper, we propose to analyze stable and unstable modes of generic image denoisers through nonlinear eigenvalue analysis. We attempt to find input images for which the output of a black-box denoiser is proportional to the input. We treat this as a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. This has potentially wide implications, since most image processing algorithms can be viewed as generic nonlinear operators. We introduce a generalized nonlinear power-method to solve eigenproblems for such black-box operators. Using this method we reveal stable modes of nonlinear denoisers. These modes are optimal inputs for the denoiser, achieving superior PSNR in noise removal. Analogously to the linear case (low-pass-filter), such stable modes are eigenfunctions corresponding to large eigenvalues, characterized by large piece-wise-smooth structures. We also provide a method to generate the complementary, most unstable modes, which the denoiser suppresses strongly. These modes are textures with small eigenvalues. We validate the method using total-variation (TV) and demonstrate it on the EPLL denoiser (Zoran-Weiss). Finally, we suggest an encryption-decryption application.


Abstract. Title of the paper: Supplementation of grain to suckling beef calves during the grazing period A study on 65 beef cow-calf pairs was conducted to investigate the intake of a feed supplementation with grain and its interrelations to performance and behaviourial characteristics of suckling calves, as well as the development of body condition and milk yield of the dam. The intake of grain in the group receiving the supplementation (group B) was on average 2.7 kg/ calf/day during the grazing period. A substantial individual variation of feed intake from 1.8 kg to 7.7 kg grain/calf/day was determined. In this period, the daily gains and the weaning weights of the calves in group B were higher (15.4% resp. 7.4%). The advantage of the calves of the group B could be proven only in the second half of the grazing period. The supplementation of grain caused significantly lower suckling activities and grazing periods per day. Effects of a grain supplementation in the feeding of suckling calves on pasture could not be determined on both the body condition and the milk yield of the cows.


Cytotoxicity and cytofunctionality of the in-house prepared novel bioactive glass coated hydroxyapatite (BGHA) is described here as a first step in characterizing the biocompatibility of the material for orthopaedic application. Sintered hydroxyapatite was coated with bioactive glass by a sol-gel method. The BGHA granule was 2 - 4 mm in size with a pore size in the range of 50 – 150 µm. FT-IR spectrum depicted the functional groups and XRD spectrum defined the crystallinity of the material. MTT assay proved high cellular activity and morphologically the cells showed normal proliferation with the expression of actin and vimentin network in the cytoplasm. In the resin sections, cells were found located on the walls of the pores while in osteoblast-cultured granules, cellular matrix was also observed along the pore interconnections. Recrystallization on the surface of the cultured granules did not support the adhesion of cells. The electron diffraction pattern displayed the high crystallinity of the raw granule while a diffused pattern of amorphous apatite like crystallites was observed for the cultured granules. High calcium and low phosphorous concentration was observed in the medium of the cells simultaneously with ALP and osteocalcin production. This pre-clinical evaluation proved BGHA, as a promising material for bone scaffolds.


This paper deals with peculiarities of Italian Industrial Revolution on machinery by looking at aspects on enterprise developments and university frames. The outline showed a historical evolution that started in South Italy and after national reunification strong development was experienced mainly in North Italy with the still today character of few big enterprises and several small-medium companies. Examples are discussed with emblematic figures from University frames and cases of study on typical enterprises of the time. The Italian peculiarities are due both to political situations connected to Italy reunification and Italian attitudes to Science and Technology as combined with a strong individualism and creativity.


Abstract Cichlids inhabiting the Great Lakes of Africa have radiated extremely rapidly, with Lake Malaŵi harboring some 850 species. This rapid radiation may be linked to the diversity in behaviors, sexual selection, and phenotypic plasticity. To determine the relationships between morphology and behaviors, microcomputed tomography (microCT) was used to observe internal morphological structures. Observed morphological adaptations were linked with observed behavior of cichlids in Lake Malaŵi with respect to the various available food resources. Many of these adaptations have parallels, sometimes into the finest details, in other drainage systems and can thus be considered as variations of how cichlids in general respond to environmental opportunities and challenges. Variations in the structure and teeth of the pharyngeal jaws and the oral jaws allowed for fine tuning of specializations, so that various species can utilize the same source without direct competition. We suggested that high‐resolution X‐ray computed tomography will permit scientists to infer life history and behavior characters of rare or extinct taxa from a detailed examination of morphology and linkages between morphology and behavior found in extant species.


BACKGROUND: In recent years, comparative effectiveness tools and methods have evolved to assist health care decision makers in identifying optimal therapies. In-person training programs on comparative effectiveness research may be helpful in understanding and applying this information. OBJECTIVE: To provide a follow-up assessment of the use of comparative effectiveness research (CER) in the pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T) committee decision-making process, using information collected from participants 1 year after attending a live continuing education program, in which participants were taught about CER designs and how to access available CER resources through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Health Care (EHC) Program. METHODS: A retrospective, cross-sectional questionnaire was developed and mailed to 2 groups of individuals: CER workshop attendees and interested nonattendees (expressing an interest in attending a workshop but did not attend for unknown reasons). The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate personal and organizational use of CER in the decision-making process. Participants were asked to indicate whether their knowledge, ability, and use of CER studies increased since participating in the program. Data were analyzed using nonparametric tests to compare the responses of attendees and nonattendees, as well as overall reliability of the instrument. RESULTS: A total of 164 respondents completed the questionnaire (63 attendees and 101 nonattendees; overall response rate = 44%). The majority of respondents were pharmacists (n = 157, 95.7%) and were affiliated with a hospital (n = 106, 64.6%). Proportions of attendees and nonattendees differed significantly in the use of EHC research reviews/reports (45% and 28%, respectively; P = 0.02) and EHC executive summaries of research reviews/reports (48% and 29%, respectively; P = 0.01). At 1-year follow-up, the majority of attendees reported an increase ("somewhat" or "very much") in knowledge of CER (91.5%), ability to use CER (83.0%), and use of CER studies (58.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Health professionals attending a continuing education CER program reported higher use of EHC CER materials compared with nonattendees. Additionally, attendees reported increased use of CER in clinical decision making. A continuing education program such as this may provide an effective avenue for introducing CER methods and resources to the P&T committee and clinical decision-making processes.


In this work, a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) is proposed to develop a sense and avoid technique for conflict-free Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight operations in the national airspace. The proposed method is implemented alongside the flight control software guiding the UAV towards a predefined goal. The fuzzy system makes decisions for sense and avoid with respect to the state of other intruder aircraft in the airspace. The fuzzy rules are selected under consideration of the heading and position data of the intruder aircraft obtained using ADS-B sensor relative to the controlled UAV. The avoidance controller is implemented alongside a traditional PID-based flight controller to test the effectiveness of the sense-and-avoid technique. The PID controller drives the controlled UAV towards the goal and the fuzzy controller is for conflict avoidance based on an event trigger logic if the controlled UAV is in the intrusion zone of another aircraft. The integration of the dynamic model of the controlled UAV and fuzzy inference system is described. The numerical simulations are shown to evaluate the performance of the proposed method in the presence of moving as well as stationary intruder aircraft.


A review of light soaking of solar cells by the use of commercial IV-characterization instruments is presented. The paper addresses the challenges of studying light induced degradation (LID) using a high intensity light source. Issues related to heating of the cell, temporal intensity instability and the impact of the irradiance spectrum are discussed. The main focus of the paper is devoted to the degradation of boron-doped Czochralski silicon (Cz-Si) where boron-oxygen related complexes are responsible for a metastable defect formation. Some advantages and limitations concerning the use of IV characteristics to reveal the degradation properties of boron-doped Cz-Si compared to applying minority carrier lifetime techniques are also presented.


Reflection is an essential part of learning and teaching practice, yet it is not often formally included in assessments of students of education. Evidence shows that education students are generally not aware of this deficit and do not attempt it themselves, (Schön, 1987), (Biggs & Tang, 2011), (Canning, 1991). This paper describes the motivation for and results of including a direct reflection activity in an assessment for a group of students undertaking a third year Science subject in a Bachelor of Primary Education degree. The activity was designed by the students, which gave the unexpected added benefit of bonding the tutorial group together, giving them much greater engagement with the activity and a deep sense of the purpose of the activity, to the point where they would suggest augmentations to the assessment. This was a valuable result in itself, along with the success of the reflective component.


Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, available in more than 100 languages and comprising over 1 million articles in its English version. If we consider each Wikipedia article as a node and each hyperlink between articles as an arc we have a "Wikigraph", a graph that represents the link structure of Wikipedia. The Wikigraph differs from other Web graphs studied in the literature by the fact that there are explicit timestamps associated with each node's events. This allows us to do a detailed analysis of the Wikipedia evolution over time. In the first part of this study we characterize this evolution in terms of users, editions and articles; in the second part, we depict the temporal evolution of several topological properties of the Wikigraph. The insights obtained from the Wikigraphs can be applied to large Web graphs from which the temporal data is usually not available


BACKGROUND
Casein phosphopeptides (CPPs) are phosphorylated casein-derived peptides produced synthetically by proteolytic digestion of alpha(s1)-, alpha(s2)- and beta-casein. The anticariogenic activity of CPPs is due to their ability to stabilize high levels of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) on tooth surface, preventing demineralization and enhancing remineralization of enamel caries. The aim of this study was to test the in vitro ability of natural CPPs (contained in yogurt) to prevent demineralization and promote remineralization of dental enamel.

METHODS
Eighty human molars were used. After standardizing an in vitro demineralization procedure for producing artificial caries (Group 1: pH 4.8; Group 2: pH 3.97), this procedure was used on teeth, but with the addition of natural CPPs (Group 3: pH 4.8; Group 4: pH 3.97). The effects of these procedures were evaluated by quantitative analysis (change in weight and calcium titration) and qualitative analysis (SEM). Statistical analysis of the results was performed using ANOVA.

RESULTS
Statistical analysis showed significant differences in weight changes between the groups with and without natural CPPs. The SEM observation showed the protective effects of natural CPPs.

CONCLUSIONS
The results demonstrated that CPPs contained in yogurt have an inhibitory effect on demineralization and promote the remineralization of dental enamel.


Some of the most important strategic decisions of our times can be traced to compelling official fictions such as Kennedy's "missile gap" and Reagan's "window of vulnerability". Exploring links between nuclear arms policy and the visibility of oppositional groups in the media, Andrew Rojecki assesses the extent to which antinuclear movements have succeeded in debunking official fictions, raising public consciousness, and reorienting government policy. "Silencing the Opposition" examines how two cycles of political protest - the test ban movement of the first Eisenhower and the Kennedy administrations and the nuclear freeze movement of Reagan's first term - were represented by the media. He finds that the space devoted to the opposition as well as the quality of the coverage varied widely from the first to the second period, reflecting vastly different climates of public opinion and foreign policy. Rojecki determines that a subtle shift in political culture has reduced the grounds of legitimacy for citizen protest. This shift finds its roots in the rationalization of policy making that characterizes large government agencies, think tanks, and university departments. As public debate over nuclear politics has become increasingly restricted, the potential for ordinary citizens to influence policy has become more and more circumscribed while nuclear weapons have continued to proliferate.


The purpose of the current study was to determine the incidence of distal biceps tendon ruptures within a defined population, to describe the demographics of affected individuals, and to identify potential risk factors. The healthcare system in this study provides care to a known number of members in an area defined by zip codes and proximity to the medical center. Medical records for all members who presented with injuries about the elbow during a 5-year period were reviewed. Thirteen men and one woman with an average age of 47 years comprised the study population. The dominant extremity was involved in 86% of patients. All patients described a mechanism involving excessive eccentric tension as the arm was forced from a flexed position. The incidence of injury in the membership population averaged 1.2 ruptures per 100,000 patients per year. Forty-three percent reported regular tobacco use, whereas only 9% of all members were smokers. A Poisson regression analysis revealed a 7.5 times greater risk of distal biceps tendon rupture in patients who smoke. The incidence of distal biceps tendon ruptures is 1.2 per 100,000 patients, with the majority in the dominant elbow of men who smoke and who are in their fourth decade of life.


Continuous-time Markov Chains (CTMCs) are an important class of stochastic models that have been used to model and analyze a variety of practical systems. In this paper we present an algorithm to learn and synthesize a CTMC model from sample executions of a system. Apart from its theoretical interest, we expect our algorithm to be useful in verifying black-box probabilistic systems and in compositionally verifying stochastic components interacting with unknown environments. We have implemented the algorithm and found it to be effective in learning CTMCs underlying practical systems from sample runs.


OBJECTIVE : To determine the etiologic factors that play a role in shaping the female pelvis. STUDY DESIGN : The backgrounds of 611 pregnant women at term who underwent x-ray pelvimetry between 1962 and 1980 at term were extensively investigated. RESULTS : Several facts were statistically significant. First, 24.1% of the patients had an android pelvis, although only 5.7% presented any sign of hyperandrogenism. Signs of hyperandrogenism were similarly encountered in patients with a gynecoid and any other type of pelvis. Second, the android pelvis was encountered mostly in patients exposed to strenuous physical activity during adolescence. Third, the anthropoid pelvis was encountered more often when the acquisition of erect posture was delayed beyond the usual age of 14 months, while a platypelloid pelvis was more frequent when erect posture was acquired before 14 months. CONCLUSION : The final shape of the female pelvis seems to be determined by culture and environment as well as by genetics.


The study investigated whether farm practical training (FPT) is significantly associated with job aspiration of undergraduate students comparing results of empirical evidence between two Universities in Kwara State, Nigeria. Specifically, students preferred courses of study were identified, and their attitude towards FPT and job aspiration were determined. One hundred and twenty final year students who recently completed the FPT were selected from the two universities through multistage sampling. The average age of students was 23.5 years with standard deviation of 2.4. Less than half (40%) preferred agriculture as course of study, while 38% preferred science and 5% medicine. About 32% decided to remain in agriculture after admission because it is deemed prestigious, while 13% considered it last available opportunity to gain admission and 17% due to its entrepreneurial potentials. Many (69.8%) aspired for agriculture/farming related job, while 12% aspired to work in agro-allied industries. Many (45.8%) had favorable attitude towards the FPT, comprising 35.0% UNILORIN and 10.8% KWASU students. However, more (23.3%) of KWASU students had unfavorable attitude towards FPT compared to 5% UNILORIN students in this category. There was no significant association between students' attitude towards FPT and their job aspiration in both UNILORIN (χ 2 =8.07, p =0.62) and KWASU (χ 2 =8.60 p =0.38). Although, most of the  students aspired to work in agriculture/agro-allied industry, it was however concluded, from the empirical findings, that FPT did not significantly influence their job aspiration. Keywords: Attitude towards agriculture, job aspiration, occupational prestige


Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and dissemination of carbapenem-resistant and metallo-β-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from blood-stream samples (2000-2005) that were collected from patients admitted to the Institute of Pediatric Oncology, UNIFESP (IOP-GRAACC). Methods and Results: Fifty-six P. aeruginosa samples were isolated from 49 patients. Thirty-two of these samples were classified as carbapenem-resistant using the disc diffusion method and were subjected to the PCR reaction in order to detect MBL genes. Eighteen of these 32 isolates showed the bla SPM-1 gene. Eight samples selected in different years over the study period presented the same genetic profile according to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The antimicrobial therapy was considered adequate for only 23.5% of the patients with bacteremia due to P. aeruginosa carrying the bla SPM-1 gene, and a high lethality rate of 70.6% was observed during the 30-day period after bacteremia and an inadequate initial antibiotic regimen. Conclusions: We detected the presence of a clone of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa carrying bla SPM-1 that persisted in blood culture samples over a six-year period at the institution, with high lethality, thus justifying rigorous epidemiological surveillance and a rearrangement of the antimicrobial therapy regimens at the institution.


Many indicators of business and growth cycles have been constructed by both private and public agencies and are now in use as monitoring devices of economic conditions and for forecasting purposes. As these indicators are largely composite constructs using other economic data, their frequency composition is likely different to that of the variables they are used as indicators for. In this paper we use the Hilbert-Huang transform, which comprises the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and the Hilbert spectrum, in order to analyse the frequency content of comparable OECD confidence indicators and national sentiment indicators for industrial production and consumption. We then compare these with the frequency content of both industrial production and real consumption growth data. The Hilbert-Huang methodology first uses a sifting process (EMD) to identify the embedded frequencies within a time series, and the changing nature of these embedded frequencies (IMFs) can then be analysed by estimating the instantaneous frequency (using the Hilbert spectrum). This methodology has several advantages over conventional spectral analysis: it handles non-stationary and non-linear processes, and it can cope with short data series. The aim of this paper is to decompose both indicator and actual economic variables to evaluate i) whether the number of IMFs are equivalent in both indicators and actual variables and ii) to see which frequencies are accounted for in indicators and which frequencies are not.


The industrial cluster of dairy products Cipageran Cimahi is a joint organization of several groups engaged in animal husbandry, including dairy farmer groups and dairy processing groups that in carrying out its objectives the organization has not been able to run the business model effectively, so new strategies are needed to improve its business model . The objectives of the research are: (1) to mapping the initial condition of industrial cluster business model of Cipageran dairy products; (2) identifying internal and external factors; (3) to formulate development and improvement strategy in industrial clusters of Cipageran dairy products. The method of analysis in this study used a combination of Business Model Canvas (BMC) approach and the matrix of Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) in formulating the improvement strategy and business development of industrial cluster of Cipageran dairy products. The results of this study indicate that there should be improvement on each element in Cipageran dairy industry cluster business model. The improvement strategy includes: (1) Developing infrastructure and information technology network; (2) developing the human resources of the cow processing and breeder groups; (3) developing innovation culture by utilizing strong partnership, soul and mentality of high entrepreneurship and good quality according to applicable SOP; 4) to increase the economic value of the dairy cattle industry clusters in terms of leadership capability and legalization of contracts between processors, breeders and consumers.


Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), the metabolizing enzyme of acetylcholine is evolving as the most important therapeutic target for development of cognitive enhancers. However, AChE activity in brain has not been properly evaluated on the basis of sex. In the present study, AChE expression was investigated in different brain areas of cerebrum and cerebellum in male and female of five different vertebrate species. On comparing male and female genders, increased AChE activity was seen in cerebrum and cerebellum of female of five different vertebrate species. However, no significant change in AChE activity was found between cerebrum and cerebellum within the same male and female. Thus it appears that sex alters AChE activity in different brain regions (G4 isoform) that may vary in male and female. Sequence analysis revealed that highest divergence was found in between male cerebrum and female cerebrum and least divergence was found in between male cerebellum and female cerebellum with control AChE of five different vertebrate species


The intelligent tutoring system (ITS) is an educational software system that provides personalized and adaptive tutoring to students based on their needs, profiles and preferences. The tutor model and student model are two dependent components of any ITS system. The goal of any ITS system is to help the students to achieve maximum learning gain and improve their engagements to the systems by capturing the student's interests through the system's adaptive behavior. In other words an ITS system is always developed with the aim of providing an immediate and efficient solution to student's learning problems. In recent years a lot of work has been devoted to improving student and tutor models in order enhance the teaching and learning activities within the ITS systems. The aim of this paper is to investigate the most recent state of art in the development of these two vital components of the intelligent tutoring systems.


This study examined audit committee attributes and audit quality with emphasis on the specific requirements of the 2011 SEC code. The study applied the deductive approach via the expost facto research design and the Binary probit regression model in analyzing the various hypotheses put forward in study. Data used for the study were gathered for 150 firm-year observations from the annual reports of quoted companies on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Findings from the study revealed that audit committee size, frequency of meetings, number of expertise and overall effectiveness all have a positive relationship with audit quality. However, only size and overall effectiveness was significant in their relationship. The study recommends that since the significant positive nature of audit committee effectiveness show that four attributes jointly account for effectiveness, firms are encouraged to establish audit committees that have all these attributes. Furthermore, the requirement of having a 6-member audit committee is sound and empirically proven to aid audit quality. Therefore, firms yet to subscribe to these should hasten up, while sanctions should be made for firms that do not.


OBJECTIVES
We evaluated total hip arthroplasty in patients with high-riding developmental dysplasia of the hip with regard to surgical method and modifications, problems encountered during surgery, and follow-up results.

METHODS
A total of 42 hips (22 Crowe type III, 20 type IV) of 31 patients (29 women, 2 men; mean age 45.7 years; range 26-70 years) who underwent total hip arthroplasty were clinically and radiologically evaluated. In all cases, cementless acetabular components were placed in the true acetabulum. Fifteen acetabula required structural autografts. Cementless stems were used on the femoral side. Proximal metaphyseal step-cut osteotomy was performed in patients with high-riding hips of more than 4 cm. The mean follow-up period was 54.7 months (range 11 to 127 months).

RESULTS
The mean Harris hip score increased from 37.6 preoperatively to 91.02 at the end of follow-up. No acetabular autograft resorption or non-union were observed. Non-union and delayed union in the femoral osteotomy site were encountered in two patients, respectively. Two components (1 acetabular, 1 femoral) were revised during the follow-up period. Two sciatic and two femoral temporary nerve palsies occurred. One patient developed superficial infection and was treated by debridement and antibiotics. Brooker type I heterotopic ossification was observed in seven patients.

CONCLUSION
Total hip arthroplasty proved successful in high-riding developmental dysplasia of the hip.


This study was initiated in response to concerns expressed by the membership of the Boston Chapter of the Society for Information Management (Boston SIM) to investigate anticipated changes in the information systems (IS) profession, to study the impact of these changes on the skills and knowledge requirements, and to relate these requirements to the academic preparation of future IS professionals. To provide as broad a perspective as possible, the study was conducted by a joint industry/academic group of investigators. A series of focus group meetings was conducted first with representatives of the profession's different stakeholder groups (i.e., IS managers, user managers, and IS consultants) for issue generation. A survey instrument was then designed for data collection on computing trends and changing knowledge and skills requirements.Overall, our study suggests that industry will demand a cadre of IS professionals with knowledge and skills in technology, business operations, management, and interpersonal skills to effectively lead organizational integration and process reengineering activities. The lower-level IS jobs are rapidly disappearing, and the requirements for IS professionals are becoming more demanding in multiple dimensions, particularly in the areas of business functional knowledge and interpersonal/management skills. Our results also found some clear patterns in IS staffing and activity trends that point to the shift in emphasis from a traditional, central IS organization toward a more decentralized, end-user-focused business orientation. Aligning IS solutions with business goals and needs, as well as building the infrastructure for technological integration are becoming the top priorities for IS activities. Our results indicate these changes will likely lead to different career tracks with differing emphasis on the multi-dimensional knowledge/skills for IS professionals.The realignment of IS activities in organizations will require corresponding re-structuring of IS curricula at universities. Our findings suggest that current IS curricula are often ill-matched with business needs. Many subjects emphasized in the typical IS curricula are assigned low priorities by practitioners, while there is pressing need to add both breadth and depth to the education of IS professionals. We argue further that the concept of a generic curriculum to meet the educational needs of all future IS professionals is obsolete, and different IS curricula must be tailored to meet the needs of different IS careers. These career-driven IS programs will require the adoption of multi-disciplinary approaches and educational innovations for adding breadth, depth, and relevance to the curriculum in accordance with the focused mission of each specific program.


To better understand jury decision-making, this paper explores the extent to which jurors' political beliefs impact real world trial outcomes. The key finding of this study is a strong empirical link between a jury pool's political leanings and tort awards, robust across two distinct data sets, namely pooled panels from the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts and Jury Verdict Research data. I find that a one standard deviation (12%) increase in a jury pool's Democratic vote (in presidential elections) increases tort awards by approximately $157,600 (or 30%) on average. This general relationship remains consistent through county and time fixed effects estimations, and controlling for a number of socioeconomic demographics. While the empirics presented here do not establish a definitive causal link, the data lends evidence to the case for what I call a "rationally political juror," suggesting further examination into juror incentives and decision-making.


In this paper, we empirically assess how economic sanctions imposed by the UN and the US affect the target states' GDP growth. Our sample includes 68 countries and covers the period 1976–2012. We find, first, that sanctions imposed by the UN have a statistically and economically significant influence on economic growth. On average, the imposition of UN sanctions decreases the target state's real per capita GDP growth rate by 2.3–3.5 percentage points (pp). These adverse effects last for a period of 10 years. Comprehensive UN economic sanctions, that is, embargoes affecting nearly all economic activity, trigger a reduction in GDP growth by more than 5 pp. Second, the effect of US sanctions is much smaller and less distinct. The imposition of US sanctions decreases GDP growth in the target state over a period of 7 years and, on average, by 0.5–0.9 pp.


The government-corporate surveillance complex is consolidating. What has been a confidential but informal collaboration now seeks to legalize its special status.… July 9, 2012, was a scorcher in Washington, DC, with afternoon temperatures over 100 degrees, when an audience of about fifty think-tankers convened in a third-floor briefing room of the Senate's Russell Office Building on Capitol Hill. Then-Senator John Kyl sponsored the show, although he did not appear in person. He had invited the American Center for Democracy (ACD) and the Economic Warfare Institute (EWI) to explore the topic of "Economic Warfare Subversions: Anticipating the Threat."This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


OBJECTIVE
Antithyroid drug treatment (ATD) is used world-wide in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis in patients with Graves' disease (GD). The main problem is a relapse rate of 30 to 50% within 2 years after the treatment has stopped. The measurement of thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb) in serum has been used to confirm the diagnosis of GD in selected patients with a diagnostic specificity of 70 to 90%. However, in predicting the recurrence of thyrotoxicosis after discontinuing ATD it has been of little value. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of TRAb measured by the more sensitive recombinant human TSH receptor method to predict risk of recurrence of GD after discontinuing ATD. MATERIALS, PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred and twenty nine patients with newly diagnosed GD were included. Of these, 58 had relapse of hyperthyroidism in a follow-up of at least 11 months (median 18 months, range 11-49) after discontinuing ATD. In 122 Graves' patients TRAb were measured at the time of diagnosis and in all patients when discontinuing ATD by a competitive radioreceptor assay using recombinant human TSH receptors (TRAK human assay).

RESULTS
We found an increased diagnostic specificity (99%) compared with the old TRAK porcine assay. The predictive values of a positive and negative test in relation to the prediction of a relapse of GD were found to be only 55% and 62% respectively when using a cut-off level of 1.5 IU/l, and the predictive value of a positive test decreased to 49% and of a negative test to 60% at a lower cut-off limit (1 IU/l).

CONCLUSION
Our study confirms that the new TRAK human assay had a superior diagnostic sensitivity in comparison with the old TRAK porcine assay. Despite the higher diagnostic sensitivity of the TRAK human method, we could not find any improvement of predictive values for relapse of hyperthyroidism in the measurement of TRAb at the end of ATD.


during treatment (T1, T2). We characterized change patterns that differentiate between responsive and non-responsive groups. Results: The overall response rate for 45 patients was 67%. Before chemotherapy, FI was significantly higher in responders than non-responders (P < 0.05). Receiver-operating characteristics curve analysis suggested that a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 73% can be achieved with an optimum FI threshold of 35.8. During treatment, we observed a dramatic change (increment or decrement) of VI at T1 stage in the responsive group, but not the non-responsive group. When the VI change was more than 42%, we could predict the final response to chemotherapy with a sensitivity of 84% and a specificity of 79%. Patients with VI change more than 42% had a response rate of 96% (26/27), in contrast, the remaining patients has a response rate of 22% (4/18) only (P < 0.001). Conclusions: By using 3D power Doppler, the initial FI and the VI change can be used as early predictors of patient response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.


Correctly identifying and expressing dependability requirements for software systems has wide-ranging consequences for planning and conducting software development as well as for the final system success. Yet crucial difficulties exist, many stemming from the fact that definitions of "dependable" will vary not only from system to system, but will be perceived differently by different stakeholders of the same system. UMD is a requirements engineering framework for eliciting and modeling dependability requirements that has been devised, to mitigate such difficulties. In this report, we introduce UMD and describe an empirical study designed to shed some light on the feasibility of the ideas behind UMD and to identify which aspects of the framework could be improved, in the perspective that software technology transfer from research to industrial use should proceed iteratively and empirically. Subjects in the study consisted of 7 students in a graduate-level class. Empirical qualitative and quantitative results show that the UMD approach is feasible but also allowed us to identify important missing aspects, confirming our assumption that it was not yet mature enough for a rigorous industrial study. The contributions of this study have been twofold: Demonstrating the usefulness of the tech transfer approach which we have followed as well as the feasibility of the UMD approach.


Aluminium alloys for car body manufacturing often show a specific type of band-shaped surface roughening upon stretching, called "ridging" or "roping". Experimental research as well as modelling attempts have indicated that the evolving surface roughness profiles cannot be understood based on banding of individual surface texture components, like cube or Goss, only. Therefore, it is proposed to study banding on the "mesoscopic" level of texture banding rather than on the "microscopic" one of orientation banding. In mechanical terms, such patterning in the texture would lead to patterning in, for instance, the Lankford coefficient (r-value), so that the mechanical response can be calculated on an intermediate length scale. The present contribution presents a method for calculating r-value patterning from Electron Backscatter diffraction (EBSD) orientation maps. In a first test case of a strongly ridging AA6xxx sheet, indeed patterning in the r-value is found which corresponds to reported patterning of the surface roughness.


This project investigates phytoremediation at a disused fire training runoff lagoon at an ecologically sensitive area in Southern England called Horsea Island. The sediments in the semi-saline lagoon were highly contaminated with over 145,000 mg/kg Dry Weight (DW) Diesel Range Organics (DRO) and were classed as carcinogenic and unsafe for human exposure. Phytoremediation was attractive as an inexpensive and in situ remediation method. However there were limited field studies examining such extremely contaminated conditions.

Initial mesocosm studies indicated that both Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia were able to grow in this sediment without the need for additional nutrients and P. australis was subsequently used for test planting in the lagoon. Ex situ greenhouse microcosms as well as an in situ full scale trial was carried out and the response of DRO and microbial populations were investigated over a 15 month period. Using a novel colourmetric plate test developed during this study, planted sediments in both the microcosms and Horsea lagoon showed not only an increased diversity but also an increased number of hydrocarbon-degrading bacterial isolates when compared to unplanted sediments. However, although the overall DRO concentrations fell in both the in situ and ex situ systems in times of hot weather and low water levels, there were no significant differences between planted and unplanted sites. There was also no difference between microbial numbers in planted and unplanted sites in either the microcosms or Horsea lagoon however, the mesocosms that had been growing for three years showed significantly higher numbers of bacteria, hydrocarbon-tolerant bacteria and hydrocarbon-tolerant fungi as well as elevated numbers of fungi in the planted sites. This indicates that phytoremediation may require a longer period of time to enhance degradation in such conditions.


This article offers a novel analysis of the field of corporate governance by viewing it through the lens of behavioral ethics. It calls for both shifting the focus of corporate governance to a new set of loci of potential corporate wrongdoing and adding new tools to the corporate governance arsenal. The behavioral ethics scholarship emphasizes the large share of wrongdoing generated by "good people" whose intention is to act ethically. Their wrongdoing stems from "bounded ethicality" -- various cognitive and motivational processes that lead to biased decisions that seem legitimate. In the legal domain, corporate law provides the most fertile ground for the application of behavioral ethics since it encapsulates many of the features that the behavioral ethics literature found to confound the ethical judgment of good people, such as agency, group decisions, victim remoteness, vague directives and subtle conflict of interests.

Bounded ethicality suggests a view of corporate law that is dramatically different than that portrayed by traditional legal and economic theorists. Not only does it suggest that wrongdoing can be committed by well-intentioned people who wish to do right, but also that the biases they display call for a radically different set of legal interventions than those advocated by standard economic theory. If standard theorizing views corporate agents as self-interest maximizers, bounded rationality perceives them as actors with varied and nuanced motivations that could benefit from subtle legal reforms.

This Article's assessment of corporate governance through the behavioral ethical lens proceeds in three stages. First, it exposes potential wrongdoing by good people that conventional corporate governance does not address. Second, it suggests novel corporate governance interventions supported by behavioral ethics to address wrongdoing by good people. Third, it identifies existing interventions that according to behavioral ethics analysis may generate unintended adverse effects on the behavior of well-meaning corporate officers and exacerbate wrongdoing instead of mitigating it. As we will show bounded ethicality has important implications for a wide range of topics in corporate governance, such as board structure, independent directors, regulation of institutional investors and proxy advisory firms, the business judgment rule, and corporate and intra-board liability.


Over the last few years, second generation Internet-based services, or Web 2.0 technologies, have emerged as the new buzzwords in information communication technologies. The Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning investigates how those involved in education teachers, students, and administrators can respond to the opportunities offered by Web 2.0 technology, within existing institutional and pedagogical frameworks. Containing chapters by experts from across the globe, this defining body of research is the first of its kind to focus on second language learning in relation to the history of computer assisted language learning.


Although Italian — as well as international — historiography engaged with the fiftieth anniversary of 1968 in a very lively way, it was probably not groundbreaking in terms of its originality. From an editorial perspective, this liveliness has translated into the publication of a considerable amount of studies, which this article is able to examine only partially, given the variety of their approaches, analytical levels and interpretations. The article addresses a selection of these texts in order to discuss some of the most significant directions of research that emerge from them, in terms of methodological approaches, interpretations and arguments. These books are, in alphabetical order: Michele Battini, Un sessantotto, Università Bocconi Editore, Milano 2018; Guido Crainz (ed.), Il Sessantotto sequestrato. Cecoslovacchia, Polonia, Jugoslavia e dintorni, Donzelli, Roma 2018; Marcello Flores, Giovanni Gozzini, 1968. Un anno spartiacque, il Mulino, Bologna 2018; Monica Galfré, La scuola è il nostro Vietnam. Il '68 e l'istruzione secondaria italiana, Viella, Roma 2019; Paolo Pombeni, Che cosa resta del '68, il Mulino, Bologna 2018; Francesca Socrate, Sessantotto. Due generazioni, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2018.


As robotic systems are deployed into everyday situations, the need for abstract reasoning becomes more pronounced. The ideal robotic assistant should be able to understand verbal commands and work independently to fulfill human-prescribed goals, even if instructions are ambiguous or circumstances change. This paper presents a new algorithm for high-level reasoning based on Euclidean representations of words and their meanings. Rather than using ontologies or knowledge graphs, we model information about the world as a learned geometry of the contexts in which human beings tend to use each idea. Building on the analogy algorithms utilized by Mikolov et al. [1], we perform mathematical operations on the vector space to infer responses to previously unseen problems, and apply our method to a sequence of semantic reasoning tasks in order to answer questions such as 'Where can I find a dustpan?', 'Where do the crayons belong?', and 'What transportation method will bring me to the airport?'. Our Directional Scoring Method (DSM) returns a ranked list of possible responses, many of which are plausible answers to the query. Additionally, DSM's top-ranked response is significantly more likely to be correct than the top-ranked responses of naive analogy estimations.


ISO 10995 is the international standard for the reliability testing and archival lifetime prediction of optical media. The standard specifies the testing conditions in terms of the combinations of stress variables—temperature and relative humidity. The periodically collected data from tests are the error rate of the device, and failure is defined as the error rate exceeding a predetermined level. The standard assumes that the projected failure time is the actual failure time, and these projected failure times are then analyzed by using an Eyring or Arrhenius model. Since true failure times are often not directly observed, the uncertainties in the failure time must be taken into account. In this paper, we present a hierarchical model for degradation that can directly infer failure time at the use condition and compare this model with the International Standard Organization (ISO) standard through a simulation study. Not accounting for the uncertainty in the projected failure times leads to unjustified confidence in the estimation for the median lifetime at both the stress conditions used in the experiments and at the use condition.


: The fraction composition of XM-300 concentrates was studied. Cross-reacting and the proper parasite antigens of the Echinococcus fluid (thermolabile and thermostable ones) were identified in the fractions. The column gel filtration permitted one to remove some cross-reacting components. Thermolabile antigens were mostly found in the two first fractions discharged from the column filled with sepharose 4B. The stepwise fractionating technique was considered for the production of purified fractions of parasite antigens.


Ethnic conflicts remain the biggest setback to the development of many African nations today, Kenya included. This study analysed the emerging trends and reasons for the persistence of inter-ethnic conflicts in Kenya. It was undertaken in the context of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and was done in inter-ethnic prone Counties in Kenya including Nakuru, Eldoret, Laikipia and Mombasa. The study population was 1,624,345 PCEA members drawn from Nakuru west, Nakuru East, Njoro, Elburgon, Laikipia, Eldoret and Mombasa Presbyteries which are perceived as inter-ethnic conflicts dominant. A sample size of 384 respondents obtained through random sampling was selected from the presbyteries in the study locale. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design employing mixed methods of data collection. The instruments for data collection were questionnaires for the Church elders and members, structured interview guide for Church ministers and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) for victims. The study established that the major reasons for the persistence of inter-ethnic conflicts in Kenya are radicalization, economic imperialism, elite manipulation, deep-rooted cultural practices and language prejudices. These are the vices that must be eradicated if at all the inter-ethnic conflicts which have been the major hiccups to the socio-political and economic development of Kenya will be effectively addressed. Key Words : Kenya; inter-ethnic conflicts, Presbyterian Church of East Africa DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/9-16-05 Publication date : August 31 st 2019


This article describes the field of the detection and attribution of cli- mate change and highlights recent progress, major issues, and future directions. The attribution of global temperature variations over the past century to a combination of anthropogenic and natural influences is now well established, with the anthropogenic factors dominating. Other aspects of the climate system, including regional quantities, are increasingly being found to also show a detectable signal of human influence. Of particular interest, though, is the attribution of changes in nonmeteorological quantities, such as hydrological and ecological measures, and of changes in the risk of extreme weather events to an- thropogenic emissions. Methods are being developed for tackling these two problems but are still in the early stages. As the field gradually in- cludes a service focus, the biggest challenges will become the integration of various approaches into an overall framework and the communica- tion of the capabilities and limitations of that framework to the outside community.


Anti-Black racism embedded in contemporary health systems harms Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPoC) in concert with various diseases. Seemingly unrelated at first, the COVID-19 pandemic is a recent example that reveals how the combined manifestations of anti-Black racism in disease governance, course, and burden exacerbate the historic and still present subjugation of Black people. Thus, such conditions highlight a biosocial network that intricately propagates and consolidates systems of oppression since the birth of the United States of America. In this article, we show how anti-Black racism in conjunction with past and ongoing epidemics exemplify intertwined conditions embodying and perpetuating racial inequities in the North American country. Through schematic visualizations and techniques of progressive disclosure, we situate disease governance, course, and burden as action spaces within a design model that alternates views of organizational strategies, operations, offerings, and people's experiences, supporting an action-oriented discussion in each of these spaces. We utilize insights from this analysis to recommend that public health moves forward, considering more holistic, solution-oriented questions that embrace systemic complexity and people-centered perspectives when seeking to improve health outcomes for all.


ABSTRACT Walking is one of the preferred exercises among elderly, but could a prolonged walking increase gait variability, a risk factor for a fall in the elderly? Here we determine whether 30 min of treadmill walking increases coefficient of variation of gait in elderly. Because gait responses to exercise depend on fitness level, we included 15 sedentary and 15 active elderly. Sedentary participants preferred a lower gait speed and made smaller steps than the actives. Step length coefficient of variation decreased ~16.9% by the end of the exercise in both the groups. Stride length coefficient of variation decreased ~9% after 10 minutes of walking, and sedentary elderly showed a slightly larger step width coefficient of variation (~2%) at 10 min than active elderly. Active elderly showed higher walk ratio (step length/cadence) than sedentary in all times of walking, but the times did not differ in both the groups. In conclusion, treadmill gait kinematics differ between sedentary and active elderly, but changes over time are similar in sedentary and active elderly. As a practical implication, 30 min of walking might be a good strategy of exercise for elderly, independently of the fitness level, because it did not increase variability in step and stride kinematics, which is considered a risk of fall in this population.


Background: Anemia is principle health problem in patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis treatment and erythropoietin is treatment of choice, some patients do not respond as expected. Various researches suggest that zinc may play a role in the etiology of erythropoietin resistant anemia. Objectives: To assess serum zinc level in erythropoietin resistant hemodialysis Sudanese patients and its relation to hemoglobin and comparison with apparently non erythropoietin resistant hemodialysis control patients. Materials and methods: Case control study was performed in Khartoum state at kidney disease clinic Khartoum Sudan, during the period from February to October 2018. 50 samples were collected from erythropoietin resistant Hemodialysis patients test group. In addition to other 50 from non-erythropoietin resistant hemodialysis patient's sex and age matched control group. The levels of serum zinc elements were determined in both groups by atomic absorption spectroscopy, and hemoglobin was measured by colorimetric method. Results: Serum zinc level was significantly lower in erythropoietin resistant hemodialysis patients when compared with non-erythropoietin resistant hemodialysis patients control group (0.26 ± 0.08 mg/L versus 0.67 ± 0.09 mg/L). Furthermore Hb was significantly decreased (8.56 ± 0.56 gm/L versus 11.34 ± 0.59 gm/dl, p=0.000). In addition the study observed no significant difference in zinc level and hemoglobin across gender (P>0.05) in the test group. Also the study recorded serum zinc level is significantly correlated with Hb (R=0.58, P=0.00) and inversely correlated with age (R=-43, P=0.01). Whereas Hb level is insignificantly correlated with patients age in the study group (R=0.24, p=0.16). Conclusion: Erythropoietin resistant anemia in hemodialysis patients is associated with reduced serum zinc level. Which provide evidence that serum zinc levels should be measure especially in hemodialysis patients resistant to erythropoietin therapy.


Studies investigating the role of species diversity in sustaining key ecosystem processes, such as primary production, have until now mainly focused on terrestrial plant and soil communities. Although the relationship remains controversial, most evidence suggests that decreases in species diversity adversely affect ecosystem functions. It is unclear, however, whether conclusions derived from terrestrial systems can be readily transferred to aquatic systems. In the present study, the rela- tionship between the diversity of intertidal benthic diatom biofilms and their estimated net primary production (Pn) in the macrotidal Westerschelde estuary was investigated. Diversity measures were calculated on the basis of relative cell counts down to species level. Biomass was estimated as chloro- phyll a, and Pn was modelled using a vertically resolved primary production model on the basis of measurements of photosynthetic activity, biomass and abiotic parameters. Species composition of benthic diatoms differed significantly between sites along the salinity gradient of the estuary. As epipelic species were strongly correlated with photosynthetically active surface biofilm biomass and, hence, also with primary productivity, we focused on the diversity of this functional group. The results indicate that (1) biomass appears to be inversely related to the diversity of the biofilms (Periods of low biomass did not show low diversity (as reported in phytoplankton), possibly because these events were driven by grazing pressure and not by nutrient stress) and (2) relationships between diversity (species richness and Shannon index) and Pn appeared to be site specific, with either a significant positive or a unimodal relationship between both parameters.


Unitary space-time modulation (USTM) is well-tailored for noncoherent space-time modulation. Trellis coded USTM (TC-USTM) can obtain significant coding gains over uncoded USTM for the noncoherent block fading channel. Conventional TC-USTM schemes expand the signal set of uncoded USTM by a factor of two. In this letter, we propose a new TC-USTM scheme in which the size of USTM set is not limited to be just double for uncoded USTM. However, in TC-USTM schemes, because signals of the same trellis branch are transmitted over the same fading coefficients, one trellis branch can only obtain one temporal diversity. In this letter, we also propose a new trellis coded noncoherent space-time modulation scheme by interleaving space-time signals. The proposed scheme can enlarge temporal diversity at the price of increased complexity and delay. Simulation results demonstrate the excellent error performances of codes found by computer searches for both schemes.


The 86-kDa immediate-early 2 protein (IE2 86) of human cytomegalovirus is a powerful transactivator of homologous and heterologous promoters, including the human cytomegalovirus 1.2-kb RNA early promoter. Two potential mechanisms for gene activation by IE2 86 include interaction with cellular proteins and direct DNA binding. In this report, we show that the 1.2-kb RNA promoter contains a cis-acting AP-1 site, critical for its activation by IE2 86 in vivo, and that IE2 86, purified as a glutathione S-transferase-IE86 fusion protein, can interact with c-Jun and JunB. Additionally, by coimmunoprecipitation, we document that JunB and IE2 86 do associate in vivo. Further in vitro analysis reveals that Fos proteins are able to associate with glutathione S-transferase-IE86 only when present as a Jun-Fos heterodimer. With a set of IE2 86 mutants, we demonstrate that three independent regions of the IE2 86 interact in vitro with c-Jun, two of which are essential for activation of the 1.2-kb RNA promoter in vivo. We also show that IE2 86 can bind directly to this promoter through a sequence located just upstream of the AP-1 site between nucleotides -125 and -97. This discrete domain shares sequence homology with the cis-repression signal on the IE gene.


Serbocroat is a language the accent of which is a combination of expiratory stress, length and. a rising or falling tone. There are certain differences of accent between the language of educated people in Belgrade and Zagreb; and this is a study of the Belgrade variety of the language. Although the accents of individual words have been studied for a long time, no thorough study has yet been made of the sentence intonations of the language. The present work first sets out to define, by the broadest criteria, the main, sentence intonations of the language, and then to find out whether the individual word tones are always realized! in. the same way under different circumstances in various kinds of statements and questions. Certain words are selected as test words or 'inserenda', and these are then alternately placed in a selected set of statements and questions ('frames') initially, medially and finally, both prominent in pronunciation and unstressed. These sentences were recorded from the reading of a representative speaker on a tape recorder, and later the oscillograms of these recordings and special new pitch recordings ('tonograms') were made concurrently on the oscillograph and photographed with a high speed camera. The full text of the frames and their translations is various possibilities of spoken Serbian, The photographs of the 'tono-oscillograms' are then given with the part marked which is of special significance to us. Below each is given the corresponding text in the (very accurate) Serbian orthography, the analysis of the example and a report of observations Graphic and comparative summaries of these observations follow. The conclusions show that while the accents are often realized in a form agreeing with their traditional description, certain factors, viz, the superimposition of question intonation, final and initial position of the inserendum in the sentence, and its relative prominence cause different or contrary realizations for the four separate accents. These are differently affected by the above four factors, the two falling accents having a markedly different set, of phonetic exponents from the two rising accents. But each member of these two pairs differs from the other, because of their inherent differences of length. Thus for each accent one arrives at a different scatter of results with a given, set of frames and therefore it is true to say that though sometimes a certain pair of accenets may be realized identically, they are nevertheless distinct because of the different scatter of the overall results. The appendices consist of the tape-recordings, the photographs of the tono-oscillograms, translations of two important passages on the accents by Vuk Karadzic, and recordings of continuous passages by way of illustration, and translations of the quotations given from works in the Slavonic languages. A bibliography concludes the work.