Lightly cross-linked, animated polymers that swell and shrink with changing pH were prepared and evaluated. At low pHs amine sites protonate causing charge to accumulate along the polymer backbone. The polymer then swells to maximize the charge separation. The swelling of the polymer causes a change in a magnetic or optical property that can be measured and related to pH. Animated hydrogel membranes were prepared by copolymerizing dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate(DMAEMA) with various comonomer hydrogels. Experiments were conducted to examine the effect of formulation on the ability of the hydrogel membrane to swell. Factors examined included cross-linker type, cross-linker concentration, DMAEMA concentration and comonomer hydrophilicity. Polymer microspheres were prepared using dispersion polymerization and seeded emulsion polymerization techniques. Poly-(vinyl benzyl chloride-co-2,4,5-trichloro phenyl acrylate)(VBC/TCPA) microspheres were prepared by dispersion polymerization. A factorial design experiment was carried out to examine the effect of monomer concentration, stabilizer concentration and water concentration on the size of VBC/TCPA particles stabilized with poly-acrylic acid. Microspheres were prepared using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) as the steric stabilizer. These particles were 0.6 mum in diameter and were used in optical sensing experiments. Seeded emulsion polymerization was used to produce porous particles of poly(VBC) with diameters of 1.3 mum. The pH sensitive hydrogel membranes were incorporated into two types of magnetochemical sensors; the magnetostatic coupled sensor and the magnetoelastic sensor. Both sensor designs responded to solution pH due to swelling or shrinking of the hydrogel. In addition, the magnetoelastic strip was evaluated for measuring viscosity and for monitoring polymerization processes. VBC/TCPA microspheres were used in several optical sensing methods. Poly(vinyl alcohol) membranes with VBC/TCPA microspheres were used to examine the feasibility of monitoring solution pH by surface plasmon resonance. A number of hydrogels of varying hydrophilicities with VBC/TCPA microspheres were examined by UV/Vis spectrophotometry, to examine the effect of membrane hydrophilicity on response for potential use in a remote fiber optic chemical sensor. The reproducibility of poly(VBC) microspheres in a HEMA membrane was examined. No change in response was observed after 100 swelling and shrinking cycles. Exposure to 80°C temperature or light for 40 days had only a small change on the magnitude of response.


Abstract Hermeneutics is the exploration of the process of textual interpretation. As such, it has long been recognised as an important component within the humanities and social sciences, whether one deals with actual texts or with other the products of meaningful human activity, including social actions and utterances. Here, we offer a brief overview of the contribution that hermeneutics might make to the philosophy of sport. If sports and sporting events are seen to be the results of meaningful human interactions, then they are meaningful phenomena that lend themselves to interpretation. It can thus be argued that a hermeneutics of sport is a valid and important discipline, worthy of consideration and development. We offer a review of the nature and history of hermeneutics in general, briefly exploring the place of key figures such as Schleiermacher, Heidegger, Gadamer and Riceour, as well as key concepts such as that of the hermeneutic circle. In addition, we suggest the importance of a hermeneutics of suspicion, grounded in the work of Marx, Freud and Nietzsche. In the second part of our introduction, we briefly comment on each of the papers that comprise the current volume, and that reflect the diversity of approaches that a hermeneutics of sport might embrace.


This study was conducted based on the evaluation of glyphosate levels present in rural workers in the region of Nova Mutum-MT. We analyzed 90 urine samples from farmers between 2017 and 2018. The samples were analyzed based on the development of the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-FL) method. The results showed that 12% of the farmers presented glyphosate levels, but that the highest concentration determined by the method used was not above the limits allowed by Brazilian regulators. The HPLC-FL method proved to be practical and accurate for the determination of glyphosate in urine samples with limits of detection and quantification of 0.34 and 1.15ng/mL, respectively.
These data show the importance of evaluating the occupational exposure of farmers to adopt strategies for the biomonitoring of this region, considering that casual exposures to pesticides can generate health risks, as well as cases of intoxication.


Parasites could differentially impact intraspecific host lineages due to genetic, phenotypic, ecological, or behavioural differences between the lineages, or the development of reproductive isolation between them. Batrachomyia (Diptera: Chloropidae) are flies that exclusively parasitize Australian frogs, and in the Wet Tropics rainforest of north-east Australia larvae are largely restricted to the green-eyed tree frog Litoria genimaculata (Anura: Hylidae). This frog species consists of two highly divergent genetic lineages that overlap in two nearby, but independent, contact zones. At one contact zone there has been extensive phenotypic divergence and speciation between the lineages whereas, at the other contact relatively lower levels of phenotypic divergence and reproductive isolation suggest that speciation has not occurred. In the present study we tested: (1) whether the deep phylogeographic divergence between northern and southern host populations is mirrored by congruent genetic structuring in the parasite populations and (2) whether the host lineages are differentially impacted by parasitism. We found that the two divergent frog lineages are parasitized by a single lineage of Batrachomyia, which exhibits strikingly little phylogeographic structuring. We found a significant difference in Batrachomyia prevalence between the host lineages at mixed lineage sites in both contact zones, with the magnitude and direction of this effect being consistent in both. The pattern did not differ between the two contacts even though recent phenotypic divergence and speciation has occurred between the lineages at one contact but not the other. Taken together, this suggests a fundamental difference in susceptibility between the genetically divergent host lineages. Using weight relative to body length as a measure of body condition, we found no differential impact of parasitism on the body condition of each host lineage, and no evidence that parasitism impacts the body condition of the host in general.


The tetra-peptide Acetyl-Ser-Asp-Lys-Pro (Ac-SDKP) generated by the cleavage of thymosine beta4 inhibits the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells and the proliferation and secretion of fibroblasts in the myocardium and the glomeruli. The clinical administration of Ac-SDKP has been proposed and partially investigated. The peptide could protect hematopoietic stem cells during anti-neoplastic treatments leaving cancerous cells unprotected. As it opposes the effects of TGFbeta it could prevent fibrosis after myocardial infarcts and glomeruli fibrosis during the natural course of diabetic nephropathy. However, until now the expected benefits of such a treatment are based on an indirect consideration. Indeed, the degradation of Ac-SDKP is due to the action of the angiotensin-converting enzyme. Interestingly, the blocking of this enzyme both improves the above-mentioned fibrosis and increases the plasma levels of Ac-SDKP. Should the therapeutic effects prove solid, and therapeutic levels be established assaying Ac-SDKP could be an interesting marker of therapeutic efficiency.


This research investigated the verbal and non-verbal components of assertive behavior in situations of dealing with criticism of 35 psychotics compared to 35 non-clinical subjects. Two trained judges observed them interacting with trained partners in four negative assertion role-play situations, regarding giving anda receiving criticism, which were videotaped. Types of situations and gender of partners were varied. Results showed a significant deficit of verbal and non-verbal components of assertive behavior in the clinical group. Verbal and non-verbal components correlated significantly. Both groups were more assertive in the situations they were required to criticize their partners compared to situations where they have been criticized. Both groups were more assertive when interacting with male partner, for most of the componentes. These results in general replicated data from others researchers and indicates that brasilian psychiatric patients need to receive assertive training for implementing their social integration.


Dr. Erianne Weight, Advisor Problematic behaviors such as alcohol abuse, illegal drugs and personal issues are prevalent among college students across the country. The rate of occurrence, particularly for alcohol consumption, is even higher among student-athletes at the Division I level compared to both non-athlete students and lower division athletes. After surveying 118 Division I Football Bowl Subdivision athletic directors, 52 (44 percent) responses from athletic directors and other high ranking athletic department personnel showed that alcohol abuse, illegal drugs – primarily marijuana – and personal problems (academics, time management, etc.) were thought to be the most severe issues plaguing student-athletes, far exceeding issues such as agents, gambling, hazing and performance enhancing drugs. A number of athletic departments responded with information on the programs in place to reduce the prevalence of said problems. The NCAA's CHAMPS/Life Skills program was referred to most often, while other, original programs were submitted from a number of institutions. Although research points to the idea that Division I studentathletes are exposed to the most preventative programming they remain the biggest offenders when it comes to alcohol and drug use. A number of programs highlighted within this study addressed personal problems, an issue that was in the same realm as alcohol abuse and drug use according to athletic department responses. Also, while programs combating agents, alcohol, gambling, hazing, illegal drugs and performance enhancing drugs may not be effective on their own, combined with others they may be found to be extremely effective.


Microchannels have many applications in the field of modern technologies. Today, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of these systems due to the increasing rate of thermal loads. Recent researches have shown that liquid flows in the microchannels depend on their size and surface properties. Consequently, there is no symmetric flow condition in a symmetric geometric channel necessarily. In this study, the effect of slip length on the amount of asymmetric heat transfer in a microchannel is investigated numerically. By calculating the parameters such as Nusselt number and local pressure drop coefficient, it is observed that the asymmetric slip flow affects the flow profile and could lead to a decrease or increase in the heat transfer in the microchannel. According to the results, asymmetric slip flow can lead to a 20–40% reduction or increase in the Nusselt number. The most important point in the design of micro-scale asymmetric cooling systems is the increase of slip length at high temperatures.


SIR: I must register most strongly my objections to your recent Supplement Progress in Antidepressant Therapy (Journal,September 1988,153).I was initially delighted that another supplement had arrived, especially with such a title —¿ suggesting a review of recent trends in psychopharmacology. It was thus with dismay that I found that it was merely a prolonged advertisement for fluoxitene —¿ presum ably manufactured by Eli Lilly & Co., as a quarter of the contributors worked for that company. While I do not doubt that this new drug will prove to be an effective (and expensive) antidepressant, it seems inappropriate that the launch of a new product should be given such official sanction as its own sup plement in the Journal—especially as it shares its properties with more established drugs already on the market, most notably fluvoxamine (but also do mipramine and trazodone). If the Journalcontinues to publish the proceedings of symposia, which I trust it will, I hope they will report those meetings that are not so actively involved in the marketing of a particular product, but rather the collection together of informed pro fessionals. Jam sure that Eli Lilly & Co. can afford to produce their own glossy advertising without the help of the Journaland thereby the tacit endorsement of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.


The aim was at improving health status of painters chronically exposed to organic solvents.This is ex-post design was conducted in a paint manufacturing factory in Ismailia among 40 exposed painters;20 painters regularly used all protective equipment,20 workers were infrequent incomplete users and 20 workers as non-exposed workers.Non-exposed workers matched with exposed workers in age and duration of employment. Ethical considerations were considered All workers were subjected to structured interview questionnaire,occupational,medical assessment and bilateral nerve conduction for motor and sensory functions of median and ulnar nerves. Paint workers were 16 rag bucket,10 sprayers, 8 mixers and 6 assistants while 6 service workers,6 administration employees and 8 security workers as controls. Eleven painters had symptoms of polyneuropathy.One painters had numbness,tingling,distal weakness in the upper limb.Nerve Conduction Velocity NCVs measurement showed statistically significant lowering mean NCVs of sensory,motor radial and median nerves velocities among the exposed workers Vs non- exposed. Median Nerve Sensory conduction velocity was: terminal C.V. was 41.4 ± 6.1 m/s Vs 52.3 ± 6.1, distal latency was 3.7 ± 0.5 Vs 3.5 ± 0.5 and amplitude was 37.1 ± 13.6 Vs 52.9 ± 21.3. The findings of Ulnar Nerve Sensory conduction velocity are: terminal C.V. was 37.5 ± 6.2 m/s Vs 55.4 ± 7.6(p < 0.01), distal latency was 4.2 ± 1.7 Vs 3.7 ± 0.4(p > 0.05) and amplitude was 26.2 ± 13.1 Vs 45.9 ± 20.2(p < 0.05). The motor median and ulnar nerve conduction velocities were: for median nerve: 50.6 ± 10.1 Vs 59.0 ± 4.2 (p < 0.01) and for ulnar nerve: 48.4 ± 10.5 Vs 60.5 ± 3.9 (p < 0.01). There were statistically significant difference regarding NCVs between workers used complete PPE, incomplete uses and the control group except sensory latency of ulnar sensory nerve and motor amplitudes of median nerve. Exposure to paints, age and smoking were found to have significant effects on NC measurements of the studied population. Among the exposed group, using of PPE, type of job and duration of exposure in years had significant effects on certain NC parameters.


Herein, the Mn 1.95- x Co 0.21 Ni 0.84 Sr x O 4 (MCNS) (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.15) based negative temperature coefficient (NTC) materials are prepared by co-precipitation method. The replacement of Mn by Sr plays a critical role in controlling the lattice parameter, relative density, microstructure and electrical properties. The lattice parameter and relative density increase with the increase of Sr content. A small amount of Sr restrains the grain growth and increases the bulk density. Moreover, the ρ 25 , B 25/50 , E a and α values of MCNS ceramics are influenced by the Sr content and ranged from 1535.0-2053.6 Ω·cm, 3654-3709 K, 0.3149-0.3197 eV and -4.111--4.173%, respectively. The XPS results explain the transformation of MCNS ceramics from n- to p-type semiconductors. The conduction could arise from the hopping polaron between Mn 3+ /Mn 4+ and Co 2+ /Co 3+ in the octahedral sites. Furthermore, the aging coefficient ( △ R / R ) of MCNS ceramics is found to be < 0.2%, which indicates the stable distribution of cations in the spinel. Finally, the MCNS ceramics demonstrate excellent thermal durability with <1.3% of resistance shift after 100 thermal shock cycles.


If you know all of the concepts in this book, you should do much better than pass USMLET Step 2: You should CRUSH STEP 2! Bestselling author Adam Brochert, MD, who scored in the 99th percentile in Steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE, offers you high-yield coverage of all of the specialty and subspecialty knowledge tested on the most recent administrations of the USMLET Step 2 exam. This title includes a well-written, easily accessible approach, with plenty of helpful lists and tables that makes studying easy. You'll also find numerous tips, insights, and guidance on maximizing your score and on getting the most benefit from computer-based simulations.


In Anarchy of the Body, art historian KuroDalaiJee (a.k.a. Kuroda Raiji) sheds light on vital pieces of postwar Japanese avant-garde history by contextualizing the social, cultural, and political trajectories of artists across Japan in the 1960s. A culmination of years of research, Anarchy of the Body draws on an extensive breadth of source material to reveal how the practice of performance by individual artists and art groups during this period formed a legacy of resistance against institutionalization, both within the art world and more broadly in Japanese society. This book contains 256 high-quality reproductions, including rare performance photographs not readily accessible elsewhere, as well as a comprehensive chronology. KuroDalaiJee was awarded the 2010 Ministry of Education Award for Fine Arts (criticism category) for his work on this volume.


K* mesons and in particular the K*(892) were frequently addressed in lattice simulations, but always while ignoring that the K*(892) decays strongly. We present an exploratory extraction of the masses and widths for the K* resonances by simulating K pi scattering in p-wave with I = 1/2 on the lattice. The K pi system with total momenta P = 2*pi/L e_z, 2*pi/L (e_x + e_y) and 0, that allows the extraction of phase shifts at several values of K pi relative momenta, is studied. A Breit-Wigner fit of the phase renders a K*(892) resonance mass m^{lat} = 891 +/- 14 MeV and the K*(892) -> K pi coupling g^{lat} = 5.7 +/- 1.6 compared to the experimental values m^{exp} = 892 MeV and g^{exp} = 5.72 +/- 0.06, where g parametrizes the K* -> K pi width. When extracting the phase shift around the K*(1410) and K2*(1430) resonances we take into account the mixing of p-wave with d-wave and assume that the scattering is elastic in our simulation. This gives us an estimate of the K*(1410) resonance mass m^{lat} = 1.33 +/- 0.02 GeV compared to m^{exp} = 1.414 +/- 0.0015 GeV assuming the experimental K*(1410) -> K pi coupling. We contrast the resonant I = 1/2 channel with the repulsive non-resonant I = 3/2 channel, where the phase is found to be negative and small, in agreement with experiment.


The given paper is aimed at tackling the on-going aspects of the culture of communication as an indicator of the individual's general knowledge. This type of culture should be taught and generated during foreign language classes through verbal stereotypes typical of bearers of other cultures.
The ability to identify and to appropriately react to the verbal stereotypes of the dialog partners allows the expert on intercultural communication to approach the communication act in its entire linguistic and content structure, and this will be in line with the cultural idiosyncrasies of the native speaker and will lead to a significant increase of the interactive power of the communication.
 Within the online learning of the intercultural communication, learners have started showing a growing interest in acquiring the culture elements of the country whose language are learning, and in contrasting and comparing such elements with the cultural elements of their own country. Taking into account the given context, the language teacher should be ready to creatively integrate the most productive learning technologies into the online language courses, thus gaining future quality experts in intercultural communication within foreign language study programs run in universities. This is one of the most important current trends in learning foreign languages and intercultural communication.
The Internet, as the global information net, requires, besides communication skills, self control skills in alternating activities, in attention, in task fulfilling so as not to get lost in the great pool of information and data. While learning foreign languages online, getting a solution to the above mentioned issues is in the hands of the teacher (tutor), who should carefully organize the steps the learner has to follow in their tasks.


Background/Objectives: At present HPAV lacks an efficient mechanism for the optimization of resources. The objective of this paper is to propose the use of the Nucleolus as a strategy to provide a solution to the problem. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The paper raises two separate scenarios, formed by twelve nodes each, in conditions of channel and traffic clearly established. It proceeded to implement a solution to the problem through two methods: Nucleolus and Linear Programming, in order to make a comparison of treatments, through an analysis of means, under the use the test called paired-t and with this evaluate the behavior of the Nucleolus as a strategy for the optimization of resources. Findings: The use of Nucleolus is a novel strategy for optimizing resources within the PLC technology, considering the importance that game theory has been gaining as a tool to analyze complex optimization situations in various fields of knowledge and also that no found similar work in the various bibliographic sources consulted. Based on the results obtained it showed that the Nucleolus made a better allocation of BW in comparison with the optimization method of Linear Programming, to minimize the difference between BW requested and the BW allocated for each node, with a 95% confidence. However, although the method is efficient, the computational complexity of the algorithm increases dramatically as increase the number of nodes. Application/Improvements: It is recommended to investigate on alternative methods to calculate the Nucleolus that offer a computational complexity and temporary reduced, in order to facilitate its implementation in low-cost embedded systems.


TiO2 is one kind of semiconductor-based photocatalyst. TiO2 shows relatively high reactivity and chemical stability under ultraviolet (UV) light. However TiO2 is a poor absorber of photons in visible light. In order to improve the absorption efficiency, the coatings of TiO2/WO3, WO3 and TiO2 on ITO were prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD) and dip coating method, their microstructure, surface properties, photoelectrochemical properties are investigated in this paper. XRD results showed that the phases on the composite coatings are mainly anatase, rutile and WO3 respectively, the SEM results showed that the coatings of TiO2 and TiO2/WO3 are distributed evenly on the materials surface. The electrochemical experiment results showed that open circuit potential of TiO2 and TiO2/WO3 with presence of the UV light illumination were about -343 mV and –650 mV respectively, comparatively the rest potential of 304 stainless steel is about 48 mV, which means that the TiO2 or TiO2/WO3 coatings can protect 304 stainless steel from corrosion, and TiO2/WO3 coatings retained for a while anticorrosion even absence of UV light.


Process validation is used to confirm that the resulting product from a specified process consistently conforms to product requirements. A risk-based approach to process validation provides a rational framework for developing an appropriate scope for validation activities, focusing on processes that have the greatest potential risk to product quality. This article presents a case study in which a risk-based approach was used to evaluate a typical mammalian cell culture and purification process. This risk assessment used a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to evaluate the impact of potential failures and the likelihood of their occurrence for each unit operation. Unit operations included in the process validation required a risk priority number greater than or equal to a specified threshold value. Unit operations that fell below the threshold were evaluated for secondary criteria such as regulatory expectations or historical commitments. The risk assessment covered the entire process and a portion of the assessment is reviewed here.


The effects of a high magnetic field on phase transformation behaviors and microstructures in Fe-based alloys have been extensively studied. It was found that a magnetic field accelerates ferritic and martensitic transformation, changes the morphology of the transformed microstructures and increases the A3 and A1 temperature. In a magnetic field of 10 Tesla, the A1 temperature increases by about 15°C for Fe-0.8C, the A3 temperature for pure Fe increases by about 8°C and the martensitic transformation temperature Ms in 18Ni maraging steel increases by 20°C. Ferrite grains are elongated and aligned along the direction of magnetic field in Fe-0.4C and Fe-0.6C alloys by ferritic transformation, but elongation was not found in pure Fe, Fe-0.05C alloy and Fe-1.5Mn-0.11C-0.1V alloy. Aligned structure was not found either by pearlitic transformation in Fe-0.8C alloy or by cementite precipitation from martensite.


Lexical chains between two concepts are sequences of semantically related words interconnected via semantic relations. This paper presents a new approach for the automatic construction of lexical chains on knowledge bases. Experiments were performed building lexical chains on WordNet, Extended WordNet, and Extended WordNet Knowledge Base. The research addresses the problems of lexical chains ranking and labeling them with appropriate semantic names.


This thesis proposes that, following their assumption of those roles and responsibilities they believe will constitute them as independent adults, individuals during adulthood optimally find themselves summoned to recognize their relative lack of self-sufficiency. More specifically, the view articulated here suggests that the psychic work at the heart of adulthood concerns the progressive acknowledgment of temporality and interdependence as fundamental dimensions of human life. The perspective formulated in this study attempts to amplify Erik Erikson's contributions concerning the centrality of intergenerational relations in adult development and his psychodynamic emphasis on the experience and resolution of conflict in personal transformation. In this regard, Erikson's conception of the vital virtue of adulthood---generativity---is considered in relation to the ideas of gift and gratitude and it is posited that the generative capacity to give is dialectically related to the capacity to feel grateful for the gifts one has received. The capacity to gratefully acknowledge that one is and has been the recipient of benefits bestowed by others is taken to be a complex developmental achievement. It requires the recognition that one is situated temporally in a web of interpersonal relations and the simultaneous renunciation of the pursuit of self-sufficiency and invulnerability. In this connection, gratitude, and in turn the capacity to give, are viewed as the fruit of an ongoing labor by way of which persons sustain an awareness of their indebtedness, overcome their sense of inequality in reference to their benefactors, and come to experience themselves as having something of value to transmit to others.


OBJECTIVES
We aimed to describe the pattern of central nervous system (CNS) infections and accuracy of diagnosis in a Sri Lankan tertiary care hospital.

METHODS
We prospectively studied all adult patients with suspected CNS infection admitted over a two-year period. Data were collected on demographic and clinical features, laboratory findings, treatment and immediate outcome. Diagnosis of CNS infection was categorized as definite, probable, possible and uncertain.

RESULTS
We studied 215 patients [59.1% males; mean age (SD) 44 (20) years]. Blood cultures were done in 65 (30.2%) and only one was positive. Lumbar puncture was done in 146 (67.9%), and cerebrospinal fluid Gram stains, culture and acid-fast bacilli stains were all negative. Diagnosis of CNS infection was considered 'definite' in only one patient, 'probable' in 57.2%, 'possible' in 5.6%, and 'uncertain' in 26%. An alternative diagnosis was found in 23 patients (10.7%). Intravenous antibiotics and aciclovir were given on emperical grounds, largely without microbiological confirmation.

CONCLUSIONS
Diagnosis of CNS infections is highly unsatisfactory with available facilities, even in a tertiary care setting.


This paper illuminates the limits of a cosmopolitan deliberative governance via an analysis of
EU practices and theories of 'governance'. Analysing the point at which the term 'governance' became prominent in the institutions, via a consideration of the European
Commission's 2001 White Paper and the various proposals for 'new governance' produced by its in-house think-tank, the Forward Studies Unit (FSU), in the late 1990s, it detects in this turn a Habermasian discourse ethic, which has informed much contemporary social, legal and political theorising on governance and deliberative democracy. In these reports an open, pluralist and procedural rationality and practice of governance is advocated as thirdway between state and market. However, the implicit conditions required for consensus or learning are constitutive of important closures. Turning to recent practice, the EU's 'Open Method of Co-ordination' (OMC) – much vaunted by certain deliberative scholars - while ostensibly embodying an inclusive procedural rationality, is significantly circumscribed by an extant market constitution which excludes certain forms of welfare or social policy. More generally, it is suggested that advocates of a deliberative post-national governance fail to scrutinise the ways in which their key agent, civil society, has been intimately connected with dominant governing rationalities such as those which privilege the market, both historically and contemporaneously.


The duration–luminosity phase space (DLPS) of optical transients is used, mostly heuristically, to compare various classes of transient events, to explore the origin of new transients, and to influence optical survey observing strategies. For example, several observational searches have been guided by intriguing voids and gaps in this phase space. However, we should ask, do we expect to find transients in these voids given our understanding of the various heating sources operating in astrophysical transients? In this work, we explore a broad range of theoretical models and empirical relations to generate optical light curves and to populate the DLPS. We explore transients powered by adiabatic expansion, radioactive decay, magnetar spin-down, and circumstellar interaction. For each heating source, we provide a concise summary of the basic physical processes, a physically motivated choice of model parameter ranges, an overall summary of the resulting light curves and their occupied range in the DLPS, and how the various model input parameters affect the light curves. We specifically explore the key voids discussed in the literature: the intermediate-luminosity gap between classical novae and supernovae, and short-duration transients ( days). We find that few physical models lead to transients that occupy these voids. Moreover, we find that only relativistic expansion can produce fast and luminous transients, while for all other heating sources events with durations days are dim ( mag). Finally, we explore the detection potential of optical surveys (e.g., Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) in the DLPS and quantify the notion that short-duration and dim transients are exponentially more difficult to discover in untargeted surveys.


Risk Management is defined as the process whereby an organization anticipates the potential for injuries or losses and acts to avoid
those injuries before and/ or to ameliorate them after they occur. There are many evidences that Health Care should adopt the
principle of Risk Management.
Objectives of Risk Management:
• Minimize risk to quality of service and patient outcomes
• Ensure provision of a safe and ef fective service
• Manage risks in partnership with patients, staf f, the community and other healthcare providers
• Seek to learn from mistakes and not to blame
The Risk Management Process:
• Risk identification
• Risk Analysis
• Risk Treatment
• Risk Register
• The National Context
Most errors go unnoticed or unreported.
No doctor or nurse comes to work to harm a patient, that is the very last thing they would want to do.
Conclusion: To err is human. To cover up is unforgivable. To fail to learn is inexcusable.


Spectrum Access System (SAS) allows incumbent military systems to share spectrum in a hierarchical manner with tier-2 Priority Access License (PAL) users and tier-3 General Authorized Access (GAA) users. FCC has recently allowed PAL owners to sublicense their channels. Therefore, when GAA channels are congested they can request a sublicense to access the PAL channel on a coordinated basis, which provides interference protection from other GAA users. In this paper, we propose a grid map to measure and monitor the secondary spectrum market for the purpose of spectrum trading with QoS guarantee. This work provides the subsequent spectrum trading models with a reasonable and dedicated interference graph for further optimization of spectrum allocation. Compared with traditional longterm spectrum licensing policy, short-term licensing makes the spectrum allocated effectively. We find the optimal resolution of the discrete grid map that maximizes the profit from sublicensing. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate how fine to grid the region and let the PAL owner achieve monetary benefit, in a given number of sensors.


We report a number of new results in generalized caching. This problem arises in modern computer networks in which data objects of various sizes are transmitted frequently. First it is shown that its optimal solution is NP-complete. Then we explore two methods of obtaining nearly optimal answers based on the dynamic programming algorithm that we provided in [5]. These methods enable a trade-off between optimality and speed. It is also shown that LFD (the longest forward distance algorithm which is the optimal policy in the classical case), is no longer optimal but is competitive. We also prove that LRU remains competitive in the generalized case. This is an extension of a famous results by Sleator and Tarjan [12] on LRU. Finally, it is confirmed in the general case that prefetch does not reduce the total cost if "cost" reflects only the number of bytes transmitted. ... Read complete abstract on page 2.


How to provide the sensor nodes with the locations of mobile sinks with minimum energy consumption is a key issue to the performance of the geographic location based routing protocols. In this paper, we investigate three location update methods: Neighbour update (NUPD), Flooding update (FUPD) and Unicast update (UUPD). We get the analytical expression of energy consumption of each method. Based on the comparison results of the performance of these methods under various network conditions, we propose an adaptive location service for mobile sinks in WSN, which enables the mobile sinks to send their current location to the sensor nodes efficiently according to various data traffic characteristics, network size and node density. We evaluate the performance of our location service by comprehensive simulations and compared it with the TTDD protocol. The results show that while keeping the packet delay below an upper bound, our location update algorithm can effectively decrease the energy consumption thus prolong the network lifetime.


KUSCHE, U., Die Unterlegen Religion: Das Judentum im Urteil deutscher Alttestamentler (Studien zu Kirche und Israel, 12; Berlin: Institut Kirche und Judentum, 1991), pp. 209. Cloth, DM 24.80. ISBN 3-923095-63-5. This study in academic Unverstdndnis (as the author puts it) of Judaism by German OT scholarship between 1850 and 1950 includes Reuss, Marti, Wellhausen, Smend, Bertholet, Kittel, Gunkel, Gressmann and Sellin. Kusche's theme is that the tradition of pre-war scholarship remained unaffected by what happened to the Jews under the Nazis, since the OT had been disconnected from the Jewish people. Worse, in 1936 ZAW, for example, stopped publishing or referring to Jewish scholarship. Exceptions to this attitude (Kahle, Vischer) are noted, but academic study of Judaism in Germany still remains dominated by Christian theology. Thesis overstated? Not much-and the story could have begun with Martin Luther and might be extended beyond Germany. PRD


The rapid availability of new services means that network operators cannot exhaustively test their impact on the network or anticipate any capacity exhaustion. This situation will be worse with the imminent introduction of 5G technology and the kind of totally new services that it will support. In addition, the increasing complexity of the network makes analyzing its behavior challenging against the specific traffic that needs to be supported; this prevents from training human operators and, much less, machine learning algorithms that might automatize network operation. In this paper, we present CURSA-SQ, a methodology to analyze network behavior when specific traffic that would be generated by groups of service consumers is injected. CURSA-SQ includes input traffic flow modeling with second and sub-second granularity based on specific service and consumer behavior, as well as a continuous G/G/1/k queue model based on the logistic function. The methodology allows for accurately studying the traffic flows at the input and outputs of complex scenarios with multiples queue systems, as well as other metrics such as delays, while showing noticeable scalability. Application use cases include packet and optical network planning, service introduction assessment, and autonomic networking, just to mention a few.


This paper deals with the theoretical development, analysis, and simulation of the new topology of three-phase NPC (Neural Point Clamped) converter. The proposed 6-kW threephase converter is connected to a three-phase electrical network and due to its bidirectional characteristics can either send energy to the grid or receive it from the grid. The classic strategy of vectorial control at the DQ synchronous reference frame, along with a simple algorithm for Unit Vector Generation (UVG), have been employed to control the line currents in the grid and the DC-bus voltage, thus substituting the PLL (Phase Locked Loop). A PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) strategy is presented in the form of an analog circuit and used for switching the semiconductors in the converter. The obtained results were verified using Matlab/Simulink software. The proposed converter has five voltage levels at the output for each phase and proven more advantageous than the conventional NPC. In addition, it was obtained a better harmonic content in the grid currents because there is very low Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) both when acting as a rectifier and as an inverter.


We present a new photonic micro-optical device based on an array of electrodes made from vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes used to address a liquid crystal cell. The electrodes create a Gaussian electric field profile which is used to reorient a planar aligned nematic liquid crystal. The variation in refractive index within the liquid crystal layer acts like a graded index optical element which can be varied by changing the applied electric field to the carbon nanotube. Results are presented from a device fabricated with a 10um pitch between the micro-optical elements.


The casting Fe3Al intermetallics were solidified in sodium silicate sand mould and permanent mould respectively to get different cooling rates. After heat treatment (1000°С/15 h homogenizing annealing + furnace cooling followed by 600°С/1 h tempering + oil quenching), the microstructure and properties of Fe3Al intermetallics were investigated. The results show that the heat-treated Fe3Al intermetallics at higher cooling rate has finer grained microstructure than lower cooling rate, and the lattice distortion increases due to the higher solid solubility of the elements Cr and B at higher cooling rate. The tensile strength and hardness of the Fe3Al intermetallics at higher cooling rate are slightly higher also. However, the impact power of intermetallics at higher cooling rate is 67.5% higher than that at lower cooling rate, and the impact fracture mode is also transformed from intercrystalline fracture at lower cooling rate to intercrystallin+transcrystalline mixed fracture at higher cooling rate.


Feudal wars and wars of conquest were characteristic conflicts in Catalonia in the 12 century and led to a consolidation of the aristocratic military and political leaders. Among these, the highest power was the count or the king, who extended his domination and led the process of expansion through such novel formulae as pacification, the formation of armies and pacts with foreign leaders. The counts and the king used military agents from outside the regional aristocratic interests, implemented new military policies and found ideological or legislative resources to support their pre-eminence in military deployment. The rise of the cities, the towns and the defence or occupation of the conquered frontiers contributed to the reformulation of the military system, which broke the almost exclusive hold of the noble families on military activity. However, the members of the latter ruled and fought in regional settings, focussing their military activity on the defending and acquiring patrimony, as well as on establishing their jurisdiction. The concepts of heritagisation, dominating and fighting were assimilated into a single reality, and even became interchangeable. Meanwhile, conquests guided by providence placed the "inevitability" of the conquest, acquisition or "liberation" of al-Andalus on another plane.


This study examines teachers' beliefs and practices of feedback in their writing classrooms, focusing particularly on the factors that shape these beliefs and practices. It also investigates junior and senior students' preferences for feedback and their problems and strategies for handling feedback. It explores students' reasons for their preferences. Further, it diagnoses the impact of students' experience on their preferences, problems and strategies. It identifies the matches and mismatches between preferences of students and teachers' practices. To achieve these objectives, junior and senior students' data from questionnaire and interview were integrated, and teachers' data from questionnaire, interview and analysis of teachers' written feedback were triangulated. The findings suggest that not all teachers' beliefs about feedback are translated into their practices. The factors shape teachers' beliefs and practices are contextual factors (time allocated to writing classes, classroom size and availability of resources), teacher factors (teachers' experiences with feedback as teachers and as student, teachers' knowledge and their training) and student factors (students' level of proficiency and students' needs and preferences). The teachers' ways of providing feedback are also guided by several pedagogical reasons (e.g. securing students' understanding of feedback, prompting students' engagement with feedback, meeting students' needs). The results also reveal that the students seem to value feedback on their writing. However, there are some differences between junior and senior students' preferences for the different aspects of feedback and differences between their difficulties and strategies for handling feedback. These results indicate that students' experience has an impact on their preferences and ability to deal with feedback. Junior students seem to be more dependent on their teachers and classmates than senior students are. The findings also identify some differences between teachers' practices and students' views. This suggests that teachers' practices may not always influence students' preferences. These findings imply that feedback might be more effective if teachers consider their context of teaching, students' experience, students' proficiency level and needs. They also need to work cooperatively for extending their knowledge about feedback and developing their ways of providing feedback. The educational authorities need to offer information resources and training opportunities to enhance teachers' professional development in responding to students' writing effectively.


Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the leading cause of death in diabetic patients. Folic acid has a protective effect on diabetes-induced cardiomyocyte damage. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of folic acid on cardiomyocytes cultured under high glucose and fat (HGF) conditions and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) mice, and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. Bioinformatics analysis was used to identify the potential drugs through the Drug-Gene Interaction database. H9C2 cardiomyocytes were cultured with 30 mM glucose and 500 nM palmitic acid in the presence or absence of folic acid or YAP1 inhibitor (verteporfin) or YAP1 siRNA. The cell viability and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were measured using specific assay kits. Pyroptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The concentrations of IL-1β and IL-18 in the supernatants were measured by ELISA. The NLRP3, ASC and caspase-1 mRNA levels were detected by qRT-PCR and that the proteins expression of NLRP3, ASC, cleaved caspase-1 (p10), caspase-1, YAP1, p-YAP1, LATS1 and P-LATS1 were detected by Western blotting. C57BL/6 mice were fed with high fat diet (HFD) combined with streptozotocin (STZ) intraperitoneally to establish a T2DM model, folic acid or PBS treatment for 8 weeks by oral gavage, blood glucose and body weight were measured every 4 weeks, mouse heart tissue was used to detect pyroptosis and hippo signaling pathway related protein expression. We identified 427 differentially expressed genes in the cardiac tissues of high fat diet + streptozotocin mice, among the 30 most significantly DEGs, folic acid was predicted to be the most likely therapeutic drug. Folic acid alleviated HGF-induced cell damage in vitro and in vivo by decreasing activation of the Hippo pathway, as indicated by lower LDH release and increased cell viability, and decreased expression of NLRP3, ASC, cleaved caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, p-YAP and p-LATS. Verteporfin or YAP1 siRNA neutralized the protective effect of folic acid by reversing YAP1-induced pyroptosis. Folic acid reduced NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis by down-regulating the Hippo signaling pathway, thereby effectively reducing T2DM-induced damage in H9C2 cells and animals.


This article describes a class project designed to develop students' abilities to use their sociological imagination to better understand the structural sources of racial inequality. The event consisted of a memorial reading of the names of more than 4,000 documented lynch victims in the United States. Authors conducted a pretest and posttest on racial attitudes in large Introduction to Sociology courses. Posttest responses evidenced less support for "colorblind" ideologies and greater support for structural sources of inequality.


OBJECT
Programmable shunts have a valuable role in the treatment of patients with hydrocephalus, but because a magnet is used to change valve settings, interactions with external magnets may reprogram these shunts. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of magnetic toys and iPads to erroneously reprogram shunts. Headphones are even more ubiquitous, and they contain an electromagnet for sound projection that sits on the head very close to the shunt valve. This study is the first to look at the magnetic field emissions of headphones and their effect on reprogrammable shunt valves to ascertain whether headphones are safe for patients with these shunts to wear.

METHODS
In this in vitro study of the magnetic properties of headphones and their interactions with 3 different programmable shunts, the authors evaluated Apple earbuds, Beats by Dr. Dre, and Bose QuietComfort Acoustic Noise Cancelling headphones. Each headphone was tested for electromagnetic field emissions using a direct current gaussmeter. The following valves were evaluated: Codman Hakim programmable valve, Medtronic Strata II valve, and Aesculap proGAV. Each valve was tested at distances of 0 to 50 mm (in 5-mm increments) from each headphone. The exposure time at each distance was 1 minute, and 3 trials were performed to confirm results at each valve setting and distance.

RESULTS
All 3 headphones generated magnetic fields greater than the respective shunt manufacturer's recommended strength of exposure, but these fields did not persist beyond 5 mm. By 2 cm, the fields levels were below 20 G, well below the Medtronic recommendation of 90 G and the Codman recommendation of 80 G. Because the mechanism for the proGAV is different, there is no recommended gauss level. There was no change in gauss-level emissions by the headphones with changes in frequency and amplitude. Both the Strata and Codman-Hakim valves were reprogrammed by direct contact (distance 0 mm) with the Bose headphones. When a rotation component was added, all 3 headphones reprogrammed the Strata and Codman-Hakim valves at 0 mm. At all distances above 0 mm, the headphones did not affect the shunts. The proGAV valve was not affected by headphones at any distance.

CONCLUSIONS
Although all the headphones studied generated significant gauss fields at distances less than 5 mm, the programmable valve settings only changed at a distance of 0 mm (i.e., with direct contact). Given the subcutaneous location of the valve, the authors conclude that is highly unlikely that commercially available or customary headphones can contribute to the reprogramming of shunts.


Graph Transformation (GraTra) provides a formal, declarative means of specifying model transformation. In practice, GraTra rule applications are often programmed via an additional language with which the order of rule applications can be suitably controlled. Story-Driven Modelling (SDM) is a dialect of programmed GraTra, originally developed as part of the Fujaba CASE tool suite. Using an intuitive, UML-inspired visual syntax, SDM provides usual imperative control flow constructs such as sequences, conditionals and loops that are fairly simple, but whose interaction with individual GraTra rules is nonetheless non-trivial. In this paper, we present the first results of our ongoing work towards providing a formal step semantics for SDM, which focuses on the execution of an SDM specification.


Bioremediation of hydrocarbon pollutants is advantageous owing to the costeffectiveness of the technology and the ubiquity of hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms in the soil. Soil microbial diversity is affected by hydrocarbon perturbation thus selective enrichment of hydrocarbon utilizers occurs. Hydrocarbons interact with the soil matrix and soil microorganisms determining the fate of the contaminants relative to their chemical nature and microbial degradative capabilities respectively. Bacterial dynamics in crude oil-polluted soil microcosms undergoing bioremediation were investigated over a 42-day period. Four out of the five microcosms containing 4kg of pristine soil each were contaminated with 4% Arabian light crude oil. Three microcosms were amended with either 25g of NPK fertilizer, calcium ammonium nitrate or poultry droppings respectively while the fourth designated oilcontaminated control was unamended. The fifth microcosm had only pristine soil and was set up to ascertain indigenous bacterial community structure pre-contamination. Biostimulated soils were periodically tilled and watered. Hydrocarbon degradation was measured throughout the experimental period by gas chromatography. Gas chromatographic tracing of residual hydrocarbons in biostimulated soils showed marked attenuation of contaminants starting from the second (day 14) till the sixth (day 42) week after contamination whereas no significant reduction in hydrocarbon peaks was seen in the oil contaminated control soil throughout the 6-week experimental period. Molecular fingerprints of bacterial communities involved in aerobic biodegradation of crude oil hydrocarbons in biostimulated soils and controls were generated with DGGE using PCR-amplification of 16S rRNA gene obtained from extracted total soil community DNA. DGGE fingerprints demonstrated that NPK, calcium ammonium nitrate and poultry droppings selected different bacterial populations during the active phase of oil degradation. Cluster analysis of DGGE bands using simple matching group average setting revealed that poultry droppings-amended soils and calcium ammonium nitrateamended soils formed distinct clades meaning that the treatment selected similar bacterial populations for each of the treatments whereas NPK soils showed less association. Excision, reamplification and sequencing of dominant DGGE bands in biostimulated soils revealed the presence of distinct hydrocarbon degraders like Corynebacterium spp., Dietzia spp., low G+C Gram positive bacteria and some uncultured bacterial clones. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of these dominant bacterial communities was conducted using the neighbour joining method of PHYLIP. Two distinct clades appeared in the tree clustered members of the Actinobacteria and Firmicutes separately. The overall data suggested that Gram positive bacteria especially members of the Actinobacteria may have a key role in bioremediation of crude oil-polluted soil.


Protein microarray technology has recently emerged as a powerful tool for biomedical research. Before automatic analysis the protein microarray images, protein spots in the images must be determined appropriately by spot segmentation algorithm. In this paper, an improved seeded region growing (ISRG) algorithm for protein microarray segmentation is presented, the seeds are obtained by finding the positions of the printed spots, and the protein spot regions are grown through these seeds. The experiment results show that the presented algorithm is accurate for adaptive shape segmentation and robust for proteinmicroarray images contaminated by noise.


Mastitis is an often occurring disease in dairy cattle with an enormous economic impact for milk producers worldwide. Despite intensive research, which is historically based on the detection of bacterial udder pathogens, still around 20-35% of clinical cases of bovine mastitis have an unknown aetiology. Due to the high number of unknown causes of clinical mastitis, studies were undertaken to gain more insight into the role of viruses in this important disease. For the first time, we found that BHV4 may be involved in the aetiology of bovine mastitis, because it was isolated from milk of 3 (5%) out of 58 cows with clinical mastitis and not from the 58 matched control cows. Concomitant with the isolation of BHV4, an increase in antibody titre against BHV4 was noted in two of these three mastitis cows from which BHV4 was isolated. The use of the bovine umbilical cord endothelial cells, a cell type seldom used in bovine virology, proved to be a good choice. Susceptibility studies showed that BHV4 grew to much higher titres in bovine umbilical cord endothelial cells than in the routinely used Madin Darby bovine kidney cells. The bovine umbilical cord endothelial cell type was not only highly susceptible to BHV4, but it also proved to be susceptible to other bovine herpesviruses, such as BHV2 and BHV5.
For the detection of BHV4 antibodies only one commercial indirect-ELISA was available. We developed and evaluated an immunoperoxidase monolayer assay (IPMA) for the detection of antibodies directed against BHV4. After validation, the IPMA proved to be a reliable test, and it was found more sensitive for the early detection of BHV4 antibodies than the indirect-ELISA. In addition, a serological survey showed that the estimated seroprevalence of BHV4 in Dutch cattle was 16-18% and that the percentage of BHV4 seropositive cattle varied by age category between 6 and 43%.
A polymerase chain reaction for the detection of BHV4-glycoprotein-B (gB) DNA was developed and validated, and a nested-PCR was modified to detect BHV4-thymidine kinase (TK) DNA in bovine milk samples. Both methods proved to be rapid and reliable tests for the screening of BHV4 DNA in milk. In a second case-control study, using these newly developed diagnostic tools, BHV4 and BHV4-gB DNA was detected in milk from 2 (4%) out of 54 cows with clinical mastitis, whereas no BHV4 was detected by virus isolation and PCR in 54 matched controls. An experimental study was performed to examine whether a simultaneous intramammary and intranasal inoculation of lactating cows with BHV4 induced clinical mastitis. No clinical mastitis was noted in the four inoculated lactating cows, but the somatic cell counts increased significantly in milk of 50% of the BHV4 inoculated quarters, compared to the non-inoculated quarters of the same cows and quarters of mock-inoculated cows (control group) on days 8, 9, and 11 post-inoculation. Another interesting finding was that a bacterial infection, Streptococcus uberis infection, triggered BHV4 replication.
Based on the studies performed, we conclude that BHV4 may play a role in the aetiology of bovine mastitis, albeit likely a minor one in clinical mastitis. Studies suggest rather a role in subclinical mastitis and an indirect role for BHV4 in the aetiology of bovine mastitis. More research is warranted to investigate its indirect role as a result of e.g. immunosuppression.

In a review study, the role of viruses in the aetiology of bovine mastitis has been noted. Bovine herpesvirus 1, bovine herpesvirus 4, foot-and-mouth disease virus, and parainfluenza 3 virus have been isolated from milk from cows with clinical mastitis. Intramammary inoculations of bovine herpesvirus 1 or parainfluenza 3 virus induced clinical mastitis, while an intramammary inoculation of foot-and-mouth disease virus resulted in necrosis of the mammary gland. Subclinical mastitis has been induced after a simultaneous intramammary and intranasal inoculation of lactating cows with bovine herpesvirus 4. Bovine leukaemia virus has been detected in mammary tissue of cows with subclinical mastitis, but whether this virus was able to induce bovine mastitis has not been reported.
Bovine herpesvirus 2, vaccinia, cowpox, pseudocowpox, vesicular stomatitis, foot-and-mouth disease viruses, and bovine papillomaviruses can play an indirect role in the aetiology of bovine mastitis. These viruses can induce teat lesions, for instance in the ductus papillaris, which result in a reduction of the natural defence mechanisms of the udder and indirectly in bovine mastitis due to bacterial pathogens. Bovine herpesvirus 1, bovine viral diarrhoea virus, bovine immunodeficiency virus, and bovine leukaemia virus infections may play an indirect role in bovine mastitis, due to their immunosuppressive properties.

Finally, based on the studies performed during this thesis and the review study on viral infections and bovine mastitis, we may conclude that viruses can play a direct or indirect role in the aetiology of bovine mastitis.


We discuss the propagation of wave packets through interacting environments. Such environments generally modify the dispersion relation or shape of the wave function. To study such effects in detail, we define the distribution function ${P}_{X}(T),$ which describes the arrival time T of a packet at a detector located at point X. We calculate ${P}_{X}(T)$ for wave packets traveling through a tunneling barrier and find that our results actually explain recent experiments. We compare our results with Nelson's stochastic interpretation of quantum mechanics and resolve a paradox previously apparent in Nelson's viewpoint about the tunneling time.


Emotions have been confirmed to be a critical component of the process of learning. In the online Community of Inquiry theoretical framework, and the recently suggested online Relationship of Inquiry framework, emotions are considered a subsection of social presence. In this study, the concept of emotional presence is examined. This examination occurs within the Relationship of Inquiry framework, developed to analyze one-to-one online coaching. A survey of online coaches and a transcript coding procedure from the online coaching service Math Coach provide the data for the study. The results indicate that a Relationship of Inquiry framework consisting of cognitive, social, teaching, and emotional presence enhances the exploration of one-to-one online coaching settings. The interpretation of these results identifies emotional presence as an essential and distinct part of one-to-one online math coaching.


The Brief Index of Sleep Control (BRISC) is a 4-item assessment of the degree to which an individual perceives that they are in control of their sleep. Previous work shows that this measure may be useful for sleep health promotion efforts. The present study describes an attempt to develop a version of this measure in Spanish, particularly for individuals of Mexican descent.

 Data were collected from a sample of N=100 individuals of Mexican Descent in Nogales, Arizona, located at the US-Mexico border. The BRISC is a 4-item scale that quantifies the degree to which an individual perceives that their sleep is under their control, assessing perceived control over time to bed, time out of bed, total sleep time, and sleep quality. To translate the measure into Spanish, the following procedure was followed: (1) a bilingual study team member performed an initial translation; (2) a bilingual community member edited the translation; (3) a certified medical translator edited the revision; (4) a focus group of N=5 bilingual community members made contextual edits; (5) a back-translation was performed; (6) an additional bilingual focus group examined the final version for compatibility; and (7) the medical translator certified the accuracy of the final version. T-tests examined differences between those who completed the measure in Mexican Spanish vs English.

 Of the N=100 survey respondents, N=42 completed the BRISC in Spanish. No significant differences were seen in overall scores between those who completed the measure in English or Spanish (p=0.69). In addition, no differences were seen for individual items regarding time to bed (p=0.30), wake time (p=0.77), total sleep time (p=0.58), or sleep quality (p=0.98).

 Data collection instruments be linguistically and culturally appropriate to the study population. This version of the BRISC was adapted to Mexican Spanish for use in future studies.


A hospice first response Introduction The project focused on introducing a clinical nurse specialist as the triage lead for a hospice service offering day care, inpatient and community care. Referrals had previously been managed by an administrator with clinical support. Aims To ensure timely responses to patient and family needs and ensure the organisation's response to referrals was appropriate Provide meaningful support to professional and lay referrers with a consistent response. Methods The triage specialist led a rigorous evaluation of the referral process while supportively challenging local referral culture; funding for the triage post was secured from a Big Lottery Fund grant. ▶ Clinical Nurse Specialist and administrative support developed robust systems and processes ▶ Education strategies were employed with local referrers using team and one to one approaches ▶ Professional and lay carer opinion was actively sought through the use of questionnaires. Results ▶ The triage approach became a catalyst for a new organisational strategy 2011, because of the identified unmet need ▶ Local regional professionals reported a consistency and transparency in clinical decision-making by the hospice ▶ Hospice staff expressed an increased confidence in first assessment allocation which has indirectly upheld the distinct contributions of each discipline ▶ Average response time to referral reduced to from 1 to 2 days to under 1 day. Discussion and conclusion An experienced practitioner as triage lead has enabled further exploration of allocation of first assessment to skill mix within disciplines including healthcare assistants. Examination of triage identified that it was more of a first response with a telephone assessment. The processes established has quickly become embedded in the Hospice's practice culture and remains a source of pride and comfort during periods of rising public and professional expectation of hospice services.


The Dynamics Concept Inventory (DCI) is a validated assessment tool commonly used to evaluate student growth within core, gateway-level mechanics courses. This research explored the evaluative use of this tool within the context of Freeform – an emergent course system that buttresses active class meetings with blended and collaborative virtual learning environments, themselves founded upon extensive multimedia content and interactive forums – at Purdue University. The paper specifically considers a number of related issues including: (i) the thoughtful development (via expert content validation) and statistical reliability of an abbreviated DCI instrument, which is more amenable to in-class implementation than the much longer full DCI; (ii) the correlation of abbreviated-DCI performance with exam scores and final course grades for a dynamics course using the Freeform framework with an emphasis on both conceptual understanding and traditional problem-solving skills; and (iii) various inter-section performance metrics in a preliminary study on how an implementation of the abbreviated-DCI may help elucidate the impact of the instructor within the Freeform framework. The results of these analyses supported the validity and reliability of the abbreviated DCI tool, and demonstrated its usefulness in a formal research setting. The preliminary study suggested that the Freeform framework might normalize differences in instructor pedagogical choices and student performance across class sections. These findings indicate that the abbreviated DCI holds promise as a research instrument and lay the groundwork for future inquiry into the impact of the Freeform instructional framework on students and instructors alike.


Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of job satisfaction of hospital nurses. The focus was on work rewards. A causal model of job satisfaction of hospital nurses was constructed based on situational perspectives. Methods: The sample for this study consisted of 505 nurses from 2 general hospitals located in Seoul and Kyeonggi Province, Korea. Data were collected with self-administrated questionnaires and analyzed by hierarchical multiple regression. Results: All variables except workload were positively correlated with job satisfaction. It was found that three task reward variables (workload, meaning, and participation), two organizational reward variables (security and promotional chances) and one social reward variable (family support) had significant influence on nurses' job satisfaction. The explained variance for job satisfaction was 41.4%. The data further indicate that task rewards were the most significant determinants of nurse job satisfaction. Conclusion: Theses findings provide strong empirical evidence for importance of task, organizational and social reward variables in explaining job satisfaction of nurses. The model used for this study will be useful for predicting nurse job satisfaction.


To fully exploit the capabilities of complex technologies, businesses must deliberately foster technology acceptance by end users. This deliberate activity must recognize the complexity of factors that influence individuals' perceptions, intentions, and usage of information technology. This study surveyed 66 professionally autonomous end users and gathered information on their perceptions related to several technology acceptance factors for a newly installed enterprise resource planning (ERP) system component. Study analyses focused on end user perceptions of ERP component usefulness, their intention to use the system, and self-reported usage of a system component. Valuable insights into the perceptions of professional end users toward a component of a complex technology were gained. Recommendations based upon the results of this study include: (a) clearly describe, early in the implementation process, an overall picture of the ERP system flow and visually show end users how the components they use " fit " into the whole system; (b) convert ERP-related " tech talk " to common end user language by either clear explanation of unique terms or associations of new terms to ones commonly understood by end users, and (c) provide adequate resources (financial, physical, human, etc.) to ensure that end users have access to timely support. Published by Elsevier Ltd.


ABSTRACT Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors such as valproic acid (VPA) induce the expression of quiescent proviral human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and may deplete proviral infection in vivo. To uncover novel molecular mechanisms that maintain HIV latency, we sought cellular mRNAs whose expression was diminished in resting CD4+ T cells of HIV-1-infected patients exposed to VPA. c-Myc was prominent among genes markedly downregulated upon exposure to VPA. c-Myc expression repressed HIV-1 expression in chronically infected cell lines. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays revealed that c-Myc and HDAC1 are coordinately resident at the HIV-1 long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter and absent from the promoter after VPA treatment in concert with histone acetylation, RNA polymerase II recruitment, and LTR expression. Sequential ChIP assays demonstrated that c-Myc, Sp1, and HDAC1 coexist in the same DNA-protein complex at the HIV promoter. Short hairpin RNA inhibition of c-Myc reduces both c-Myc and HDAC1 occupancy, blocks c-Myc repression of Tat activation, and increases LTR expression. These results expand the understanding of mechanisms that recruit HDAC and maintain the latency of HIV-1, suggesting novel therapeutic approaches against latent proviral HIV infection.


Cerebral toxoplasmosis is a rare late complication in allogeneic bone marrow transplanted patients. Neuroradiological findings may suggest the correct diagnosis. We report a patient in whom cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a lesion characteristic of toxoplasmosis. Anti-toxoplasma treatment led to clinical and radiological improvement. MRI seems to be a valid tool for detection and follow-up of cerebral toxoplasmosis.


Direct writing electron-beam lithography has been utilized to  fabricate  GaAs  FET  inverters.  The  fabrication  process used t o realize 0.5-pm FET integrated circuits on ion implanted channels is described. The bandwidth of the small-signal gi:in, the large-signal switching  characteristics,  and  ring  oscillator results are presented and compared with a computer simulation of the inverter.


A genome scan was conducted using 196 microsatellite DNA markers spanning 29 autosomal bovine chromosomes and Warner-Bratzler shear force collected at d 2 and 14 postmortem on steaks from the longissimus muscle of 294 progeny from one Brahman x Hereford bull mated to Bos taurus cows to identify QTL for beef tenderness. One QTL was identified and located 28 cM (95% confidence interval is 17 to 40 cM) from the most centromeric marker on BTA15. The QTL interacted significantly with slaughter group. The difference in shear force of steaks aged 14 d postmortem between progeny with the Brahman paternally inherited allele vs those with Hereford was 1.19 phenotypic standard deviations (explained 26% of phenotypic variance) for one slaughter group and was not significant for three other slaughter groups. Apparently, unknown environmental factors present for three of the four slaughter groups were capable of masking the effect of this QTL. The sensitivity of the QTL effect to environmental factors may complicate utilization of markers for genetic improvement. Future research to elucidate the cause of the QTL x slaughter group interaction may lead to improved strategies for controlling variation in meat tenderness via marker-assisted selection, postmortem processing, or live animal management.


The present thesis addresses the influence of aquatic interventions on motor performance of children with neuro-motor deficiencies in a functional context. The theoretical framework is based on a functional approach in compliance to the International Classification of Function and Disability (ICF). Chapter 2 addresses the relationship between motor performance in the aquatic environment setting as measured by the Aquatic Independence Measure (AIM) to motor performance on land as measured by the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) and the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) in a sample of 49 children with neuro-motor impairments. Significant relations were found between the total AIM and GMFM scores and PEDI self-care domains. Chapter 3 reviews aquatic intervention research in children with neuro-motor deficiencies aiming to evaluate research reported in relation to the ICF terminology (changes in body function, activity level and participation). Eleven of the 173 articles retrieved met the inclusion criteria. According to this review, there is a substantial lack of evidence - based research evaluating the specific effects of aquatic interventions in this population. Chapter 4 compares the effects of a four-month aquatic to land based intervention on energy expenditure and gross motor function in 17 children with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy (CP). Nine children (5.3 yr + 1.02) received aquatic and eight children (4.7 yr + .95) exercise intervention. Energy expenditure was measured by expired gas by means of Cosmed K4b2 metabolic system and the energy expenditure index based on heart rate measures. Self- paced and fast walking velocity were measured by the 10 meter walk. Gross motor performance was measured by the GMFM and PEDI. No differences were found between groups in energy expenditure measures. However, group effect sizes and mean trends suggested a more favorable decrease in energy expenditure in the aquatic intervention group in comparison to the exercise intervention group. Effect sizes of the ten meter walk were larger in the exercise group in comparison to the aquatic intervention group. Significant differences were found in the PEDI self care domain in favor of the aquatic intervention group. Based on this study it is recommended to combine both means of interventions to increase functional levels of motor performance in this population. Chapter 5 addresses the effects of a four-months aquatic compared to an exercise land based intervention on perceived competence and social acceptance in 22 children with spastic diplegia CP. Twelve children (5.4 yr + .95) received aquatic and ten children (5.4 yr + .95) exercise intervention. Perceived competence was measured by means of the physical and social sub-scales of the Pictorial scale for Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance (PSPCSA-CP). Social function was measured by means of the PEDI social function domain. Differences in social acceptance were found in favor of the aquatic intervention group and no differences were found in perceived physical competence. Significant differences between pre to post scores in the PEDI social function domain of the care givers were found in the aquatic intervention group. Aquatic intervention appears to have a positive effect on perceived social acceptance and social function as reported by caregivers.


ABSTRACT A 4-aminoazobenzene (4-AAB) molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) film was synthesised on the surface of a pencil graphite electrode (PGE) through electropolymerisation technique. After removing the template molecular 4-AAB with ultrasonic clean, 4-AAB-MIP-PGE was obtained. Under interfacial potentiometry with double poles (IPDP), the factors influencing the performance of this electrode were studied and optimised. Based on the rebinding of MIP to template molecular, which resulted in the changing of the interfacial potential at the corresponding interface, an IPDP sensor for the selective determination of 4-AAB was prepared. By recording the zero current potential EZCP, where circuit current I was equal to zero in the I–E curve, the changing of interfacial potential of this sensor was monitored. With the concentrations of 4-AAB increasing, the I–E curve shifted positively. And, the zero current potential was linearly related with the logarithm of the 4-AAB concentration in the range from 0.197 to 197 µg L−1 with a detection limit of 0.135 µg L−1 (S/N = 3). The sensor was used to determine the concentration of 4-AAB in waste water samples with the recoveries from 98.8% to103.0%.


Introduces an approach to optimization problems based on a previous theoretical work on extinction patterns in macroevolution. We name them macroevolutionary algorithms (MA). Unlike population-level evolution, which is employed in standard evolutionary algorithms, evolution at the level of higher taxa is used as the underlying metaphor. The model exploits the presence of links between "species" that represent candidate solutions to the optimization problem. To test its effectiveness, we compare the performance of MAs versus genetic algorithms (GA) with tournament selection. The method is shown to be a good alternative to standard GAs, showing a fast monotonous search over the solution space even for very small population sizes. A mean field theoretical approach is presented showing that the basic dynamics of MAs are close to an ecological model of multispecies competition.


A bacterial strain, designated CMJ-5(T), was isolated from a freshwater shrimp culture pond in Taiwan and characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Cells of strain CMJ-5(T) were Gram-stain-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile, yellow-pigmented rods surrounded by a thick capsule. Growth occurred at 20-35 °C (optimum, 30 °C), at pH 6.5-8.0 (optimum, pH 7.0) and with 0-0.5% NaCl (optimum, 0%). Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain CMJ-5(T) belonged to the genus Flavobacterium and was related most closely to Flavobacterium haoranii LQY-7(T) with sequence similarity of 94.4%. Strain CMJ-5(T) contained iso-C15:0 (37.5%), iso-C17:0 3-OH (13.4%), iso-C15:0 3-OH (13.1%) and iso-C15:1 G (11.2%) as the predominant fatty acids. The major isoprenoid quinone was MK-6. The polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine and several uncharacterized aminophospholipids and phospholipids. The major polyamine was homospermidine. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 42.4 mol%. On the basis of phylogenetic inference and phenotypic data, strain CMJ-5(T) should be classified as a representative of a novel species, for which the name Flavobacterium squillarum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CMJ-5(T) (=BCRC 80405(T)=LMG 26890(T)=KCTC 23915(T)). Emended descriptions of Flavobacterium haoranii, Flavobacterium cauense, Flavobacterium terrae and Flavobacterium aquatile are also proposed.


Rapid cooling of TiAl-based alloy from α phase (disordered hexagonal, A3) generates  phase (ordered tetragonal, L1o) grains through massive transformation nucleating mostly over the α/α grain boundaries. This current work deals with the identification and the validation of different nucleation mechanisms during  massive transformation in TiAl-based alloys. Special attention has been given to the variant selection criteria for the nucleation of the massive structures along different types of α/α grain boundaries. The  massive domains formed along the grain boundaries were analysed using high resolution electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). Statistical studies were made on different nucleation sites and different mechanisms are proposed. Two–dimensional studies of the nucleation mechanism suggest that the minimization of the interfacial energy could be the predominant criteria during the grain boundary nucleation. In order to verify this nucleation criterion in three-dimensions, serial sections were made and EBSD maps were taken and analysed in each section. The variant selection observed during the nucleation and the growth of the  massive grains is further discussed after getting a broader view under three-dimensional investigations.


BACKGROUND
Growth retardation persists in renal allograft recipients despite successful transplantation. The etiology is multi-factorial including the adverse effects of corticosteroids, suboptimal allograft function, and perturbations of the GH/GF axis. Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) has been effective in improving growth velocity; however, allograft dysfunction has been reported. Therefore, a randomized controlled study was undertaken.

METHODS
Sixty-eight growth retarded pediatric renal allograft recipients were enrolled in a one-year randomized controlled study to determine the efficacy and safety of rhGH. A protocol biopsy was performed prior to enrollment.

RESULTS
After one year, the delta SDS (standardized height) was +0.49 +/- 0.10 in the treatment group (N = 30) compared to -0.10 +/- 0.08 in the control group (N = 22; P < 0.001). During the first year, there were no rejection episodes in the treatment group and three in the control group. After the first year, when all recipients were receiving rhGH, there were three patients in the treatment group and two patients in the control group who experienced an acute rejection episode. Prior to enrollment, more than one acute rejection episode was predictive of a subsequent rejection following enrollment. There was no difference in adverse events between the two groups.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, rhGH is effective in improving the growth velocity of pediatric renal allograft recipients and is not associated with an increase in adverse events.


Since 1968, absolute ages have been assigned to the Late Cretaceous–Cenozoic geomagnetic reversal time scale by fixing the ages of two or more calibration points in a composite marine magnetic-anomaly profile and interpolating between or extrapolating beyond these points, assuming constant spreading rates in each interval. Previously, no more than 4 calibration points were used, but it is now possible to specify 11 calibration points, in addition to the 0 m.y. datum. This improvement is based on magnetostratigraphic studies in Italian pelagic limestones; these studies closely tie the geomagnetic reversal sequence to the foraminiferal and coccolith zonations. Absolute ages of calibration points are provided by the best available dates on stage boundaries, which are located from the biostratigraphic zonation. The greatest changes from previous scales come in the late Paleocene–early Eocene, where the new ages are as much as 3 m.y. younger than in the 1977 scale of LaBrecque and others, and as much as 1.8 m.y. younger than in the 1980 scale of Ness and others.


Neuropathy is one of the most frequent complications of diabetes and pain, one of its more common and incapacitating symptoms. Recently there are reports of the use of opioids as an alternative of analgesic treatment. Objective: this work's objective has been to carry out a systematic review for determining the opioids power for managing pain in patients suffering from painful diabetic neuropathy. Methodology: a search and systematic selection was carried out of all clinical assays concerning the analgesic treatment of diabetic neuropathy using opioids published from January 1998 to June 2009. Randomized clinical trials compared with placebo were included which studied the analgesic effect of opioids in adults suffering from painful diabetic neuropathy; they were evaluated so that improvement of pain could be objectively classified. Results: there were nine randomized clinical trials identified. Only five were finally included: two with tramadol and three with oxycodone. The data provided by these studies did not allow to perform a meta-analysis. Conclusions: the improvement of pain in patients treated with tramadol or oxicodone was statistically significant superior when compared to placebo. It is necessary to make future clinical randomized studies to evaluate the analgesic effectiveness of opioids in painful diabetic neuropathy, including the magnitude of individual improvement, the previous definition of the percentage of improvement that is considered clinically significant and a longer time of follow-up.


Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) constitute a heterogeneous mixture of polyelectrolytes that mediate biomineralization and bacterial adhesion and stabilize biofilm matrixes in natural and artificial environments. Although nucleic acids are exuded extracellularly and are purported to be required for biofilm formation, direct evidence of the active mechanism is lacking. EPS were extracted from both Bacillus subtilis (a gram-positive bacterium) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (a gram-negative bacterium) and their interaction with the goethite (α-FeOOH) surface was studied using attenuated total internal reflection infrared spectroscopy. Correspondence between spectral data and quantum chemical calculations demonstrate that phosphodiester groups of nucleic acids mediate the binding of EPS to mineral surfaces. Our data indicate that these groups emerge from the EPS mixture to form monodentate complexes with Fe centers on the goethite (α-FeOOH) surface, providing an energetically stable bond for further EPS ...


Comparing the gravitational acceleration induced on the Local Group of galaxies by different tracers of the underline density field we estimate, within the linear gravitational instability theory and the linear biasing ansatz, their relative bias factors. Using optical SSRS2 galaxies, IRAS (PSCz) galaxies and Abell/ACO clusters, we find bO,I � 1.21 ± 0.06 and bC,I � 4.3 ± 0.8, in agreement with other recent studies. Finally, there is an excellent one-to-one correspondence of the PSCz and Abell/ACO cluster dipole profiles, once the latter is rescaled by bC,I, out to at least � 150 h 1 Mpc.


Abstract This study aimed to compile existing evidence about the proposed relationships among variables at three stages of the model of therapeutic engagement (MTE): patient intention to engage in cardiac rehabilitation (CR), CR initiation, and sustained engagement. This model has not been tested in any rehabilitation setting. Therefore, this systematic literature review is key to future research and application of MTE to predict and enhance patient engagement in CR. Model-centric systematic literature reviews have been conducted for each stage of the MTE. A coherent approach to understanding and monitoring the process of patient engagement in CR is absent. Few relevant studies included in the model-centric reviews met the criteria: eight in stage 1, four in stage 2, and six in stage 3 of the MTE. In total, the tenets of the MTE were supported in patient intention to engage in CR. However, there was less evidence quantifying the proposed relationships among variables that impact on CR initiation and sustained engagement. There is a scarcity of research examining rehabilitation engagement in depth to better understand the complicated process contributing to behavioural outcomes. No decision-support models currently exist to alert patients and healthcare provider to the factors that influence non-engagement.


With revolutionary changes of the financial environment, due in particular to the progress of information and communication technology and the aftermath of the global financial crisis, central banks are facing new challenges in the pursuit of price, financial and exchange rate stability. This research paper looks at how central banks can enhance the effectiveness of monetary policy when in practice, the policy tools available to them are rather limited. In fact, many of them have no better option but short-term interest rates. This paper compares three alternative monetary policy operation frameworks viz. the Channel System, Interest-on-Reserves and Asset-based Reserve Requirements. All the three frameworks have one thing in common - they all allow central banks to preserve their leverage over short-term interest rates and effectively pursue financial stability by controlling the total volume of credit in the economy. However, their practical implementation varies to a large degree.


This paper builds on recent work on the embodied geopolitics of tourism to investigate the Titan Missile Museum (TMM), a Cold War-era underground nuclear missile silo and command bunker in the southwest USA. In examining how visitors are not only persuaded to adopt certain attitudes towards the weaponry, but are enrolled in an embodied experience that is active in the formation of subjectivity that emerges from such an encounter, the paper draws on the philosophy of Jean Baudrillard and other nonrepresentational theorists to argue that this tourism encounter is a negative simulation that can be informed by a better understanding of "hyperreal" spectacle. This spectacle, however, does not simply fall in the realm of representation but is one that engages affect and emotion as important for the emergence of geopolitical subjectivity. While the TMM works to produce what Baudrillard might call a "non-event" out of nuclear geopolitics, it also takes the risk of getting too close to the bomb by simulating its launch. These dynamics are encapsulated in the highlight of the standard one-hour tour: the simulation of a missile launch, something that never took place. Drawing on our experience at the TMM and visitor comments left online at Yelp.com, as well as the broader archive of journalism and scholarship on the site, we also sense the possibility of something else emerging out of the embodied and performative materialities that constitute this site of "dark tourism".


(ProQuest:. denotes formulae omitted.)IntroductionThis Article discusses the relationship between custom and law to highlight the phenomenon of endogeneity that arises when empirically evaluating the effects of laws. An important literature evaluates the roles of laws in motivating behaviors, including investigations of whether or how laws influence customs and social norms. Traditional economic analysis, for example, posits that codified laws influence behaviors by for- mally incentivizing a particular action, and social norm theories assert that the laws also communicate values.1 Enhancing this strand of thought, an increasing number of works employing historical or empirical analyses have linked laws to broader societal changes over time.2 Meanwhile, a valuable discourse examines how customs may deter- mine both de facto laws and formally enacted laws, including the court precedents that are rendered.3 Whether they are directly codified into a legal test or informally referenced, customs can influence formal laws that are adopted in a community and beyond. Indeed, some scholars have argued that evolving customs and norms have influenced the Supreme Court in its decisions.4The subsequent effects of these formal laws and court decisions are of tremendous interest to policymakers and judges. With policy concerns in mind, we argue that one must not ignore the endogenous feedback between aggregate behaviors, customs, and laws. That is, while customs may shape or influence laws, laws can also shape customs through their effects on behaviors or norms in the aggregate. The endogeneity that custom produces suggests that simply by observing a correlation between law and behavior is not enough to assert that a law in itself is effective or to assert that social trends and evolving customs are driving legal change.5Importantly, legal scholars from historical to international to political perspectives recognize that the interplay between custom and law involves feedback between both.6 Individuals endorse customs partly by learning from the apparent beliefs of others and partly by distorting their public responses in the interest of maintaining social acceptance. "Availability entrepreneurs" manipulate the content of public discourse and strive "to trigger availability cascades likely to advance their own agendas."7 Public discourse, in turn, influences law. Other scholars suggest that customary inter- national law, having no binding power on states, does not influence rational actors who only follow custom insofar as it suits their best interest.8 Theorists have formally modeled this relationship.9 Moreover, whether court decisions respond to the public's policy preferences is important in the larger context of understanding how courts may rely on dominant customs for public legitimacy.10 However, no empirical study ofcustom and law sufficiently addresses this endogeneity in its causal claims, and we are not aware of previous studies that empirically distinguish between law and custom. It remains an open empirical question whether appellate precedent in practice is moti- vated by customs that vary across time and space. To what extent are customs actually driving some laws in real life?We contribute original empirical evidence highlighting the role of custom within court-made law in the United States. To do so, we use a narrower conception of the relationship between custom and law.11 We focus on law as represented by court-made appellate precedent, and to illustrate our points, we use two distinct doctrinal examples in the United States. The first is obscenity law, where custom is directly referenced in the law through the Miller community standards test.12 The second example is takings law, where we argue that entrenched expectations about what constitutes just compen- sation and public use in the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment play significant roles in shaping the law though they are not explicitly codified. …


ABSTRACT Welfare state bureaucracies the world over have adopted far-reaching digitalisation reforms in recent years. From the deployment of AI in service management, to the 'opening up' of administrative datasets, digitalisation initiatives have uprooted established modes of public sector organisation and administration. And, as this paper suggests, they have also fundamentally transformed the political economy of the welfare state. Through a case study of Danish reforms between 2002 and 2019, the analysis finds that public sector digitalisation has entailed the transfer of responsibility for key infrastructure to private actors. Reforms in Denmark have not only been pursued in the name of public sector improvement and efficiency. A principal objective of public sector digitalisation has rather been the growth of Denmark's nascent digital technology industries as part of the state's wider export-led growth strategy, adopted in response to functional pressures on the welfare state model. The attempt to deliver fiscal stability in this way has, paradoxically, produced retrenchment of critical assets and capabilities. The paper's findings hold important implications for states embarking on public sector digitalisation reforms, as well as possibilities for future research on how states can harness technological progress in the interests of citizens – without hollowing out in the process.


In this paper, I take up de Certeau's invitation to attend to the spatial practices that "secretly structure the determining conditions of social life" (1984, 97). I do so conscious of Moran's reminder that "the corporeal is never far away from the spatial themes of law' (2003, 91), and Eisenstein's assertion that to become more specific "is actually to encompass more of humanity." (1994, 4). Practices of democracy (and practices of justice) presume and implicate very specific kinds of spaces and bodies. In attempting to re-imagine democracy, many feminist theorists have focused on the body of the pregnant woman, a body that has been the object of extensive analysis and regulation. I shift the lens of analysis to the woman's body after pregnancy, when birthing is done. Although a certain connection is severed when the umbilical chord is cut, where a woman breast feeds a child, a permeability of the bodily boundary between the mother and child remains. In this discussion of bodies and legal space, I begin with a body marked by interconnections, proximities, and instabilities of boundary. I focus on 'breasted experience' (Young 1998), where the breast in question is not the object of erotic desire, but that of 'alimentary obligation' (Kasirer 2005). I focus on this breasted body as a boundary site, using it as a location from which to explore the role of regulatory legal texts in constructing gendered legal space, and structuring the (exclusionary) determining conditions of social life (Smith 1987).


ABSTRACT Police integrity is a crucial steppingstone in police administrators' long-term goals of obtaining legitimacy and yielding citizens' evaluations of the police as a legitimate institution. This paper investigates the relationship between work-related experiences and police integrity, as well as the degree to which this relationship is mediated by well-known socio-political attitudes such as authoritarianism, ethnic prejudice, and social dominance orientation. Using structural equation modelling of the responses provided by 1,255 members of the Belgium police, the work-related characteristics, socio-political attitudes, and organisational dimensions of police integrity are related to three outcomes of police integrity. Results show that police officers in the field and those who had more frequent contacts with victims and perpetrators of crimes evaluate misconduct to be less serious, are less willing to say that they would report the behaviour, and advocate less severe disciplinary sanctions. Generalised socio-political attitudes related to prejudice mediate work-related experiences and perceptions of peer police integrity and are in turn negatively related to police integrity outcomes. These findings illustrate that police officers do not operate in a social vacuum as these general socio-political attitudes are non-occupation specific. This suggests that police integrity training programmes not only need to target work-related characteristics, such as an open culture to discuss problems, but also need to target general socio-political attitudes to foster police integrity.