River delta's, like the Mekong Delta (Vietnam), Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta (Bangladesh), Irrawady (Myanmar) and Ciliwung Delta (Indonesia) are developing rapidly and characterized by large-scale urbanization and industrialization processes. They are facing serious planning challenges related to issues like economic development, population growth, vulnerability to flooding, and food security. These challenges occur in a context of regional and global changes including upstream developments and climate change. The Mekong Delta, Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, Irrawady (Myanmar) and the Ciliwung Delta are for instance the largest areas to suffer the severe impacts of climate change due to their low elevation, high population density and high dependency of local settlers on agriculture and aquaculture. There is much to learn from people in these deltas who always have lived with floods, droughts, typhoons, and have developed many adaptation strategies to deal with such risks over the centuries. Addressing and resolving the complex planning issues require planning approaches and methods which are process oriented, oversee the problems and solutions from an integral perspective, and involve stakeholders to make use of current practice and experience. An 'integral perspective' is required to address multi-level interests (local, delta, (inter-)national) and interests of different sectors and key stakeholders being part of the delta system. Such a planning approach is often seen as preferred, but in many countries challenging as the planning history is often sectoral orientated with limited stakeholder participation, information is often fragmentized, and capacities to undertake and absorb such a planning process often not well developed yet. There is an emerging need to exchange experiences between professionals involved in various aspects of delta planning and discuss different planning approaches and methods and their feasibility in different contexts.


The objective of this thesis is to examine the pauper lunatic
asylums of later Victorian England and assess the value of the
psychological medicine which was carried on there. Broadly, it
asks psychiatric, rather than strictly historical, questions in
that it considers the benefits accruing to individual patients as
being of central importance, whilst also evaluating the advantages
gained by the medical profession and by outside society.
After an introductory chapter there follows an analysis of
medical theory on insanity. This considers the function of theory
and assesses its usefulness in handling the problems posed by those
labelled "insane". The third chapter analyses theories of treatment. It looks first at somatic therapies - electricity, showers
and drugs - then considers what "moral treatment" had by then become,
concluding with an overall interpretation of therapy in this period.
In the section examining psychological medicine in practice,
the first chapter is a reconstruction of asylum function using
asylum admission registers. It shows mortality, lengths-of-stay,
proportions of cures and so on according to various factors. Some
analysis of patients' problems is also attempted. The following
chapter pursues this theme with a study of asylum life as it affected
the patient and, by implication, his or her course of treatment.
The last section sets psychological medicine in its social contexts, first of professionalisation, with the advantages accruing to
doctors and attendants and the conditions under which this branch of
medicine operated, then of social provision. Asylums were supported
by county rates and their patients by the Poor Law authorities and
their influence on the enterprise is considered.
It concludes that psychological medicine was self-defeating in
its own terms because of the dominative nature of the relationship
between the asylum and the patients. The perception of the patient
as individual sufferer was occluded by a perception of him or her as
social deviant. Thus the essential ingredient of the restoration of
"
normal" self-control - that the "self" be known and its needs recognised - was absent. The alternative to restoration, continued
incarceration, was nevertheless socially acceptable and so persisted.


Motivated by the recent experimental realization of a super-Tonks–Girardeau (STG) gas (Haller et al 2009 Science 325 1224), we study in detail the existence and stability of gap solitons of the STG gas in a one-dimensional optical lattice. In particular, we explore the composition relationship of various gap solitons and nonlinear Bloch waves, taking into account the interplay between the periodic potential and the nonlinear interaction. The analysis of the linear stability indicates that unstable gap solitons can become stable by increasing the amplitude of the periodic potential or decreasing the nonlinear interaction. Moreover, it is found that due to the weak contribution of the interaction, gap solitons in a higher band gap (higher family) can easily form near the bottom of the linear Bloch band gaps in comparison with their counterparts in a lower band gap (lower family). Numerical calculations verify the validity of the composition relationship between various gap solitons and nonlinear Bloch waves in the STG phase. The results predicted for an STG gas confined by an optical lattice should be experimentally observable.


The structure and mechanical properties of pipeline steel X80 through HTP rolled into 16mm thick slab were tested. The results show that the yield strength of tested has reached above 600Mpa, and the ratio of tensile strength to yield strength is 0.86, and duetile brittle transition temperature is lower than -60°C , and good strength and toughness are obtained. Low content of P, S, high content of Mn and fine microstructure have good effect on reducing the ductile-brittle transitiop temperature. Two different precipitations are observed in pipeline steel X80, a class of TiN precipitations is mainly and a small number of (Nb, V)(C, N) complex precipitations in the TiN around, and the other for large number of NbC precipitations and a small amount of TiC、VC and simultaneous deposition of the complex formed precipitations. Remarkable strengthening and grain refinement can ne caused by these precipitations.


Commonly, an upstream member in a supply chain provides productions or resources for many downstream members. When the sum of retailers order quantities is beyond suppliers' inventories, suppliers might apply order allocation mechanism to solve the difficulty. The allocation mechanism is not considered in most of previous studies on the bullwhip effect. This paper develops the supply chain simulation software based browser/server technology, which can build tree-shape supply chain structure considering allocation mechanism. Two experiments are designed and implemented in order to isolate the effect of different order allocation mechanisms on bullwhip effect. The studies show that BWV differs from allocation mechanisms. For three types of supply chain members, the change tendencies of BWV with two allocation mechanism are similar. The paper also demonstrates that distributors have effect more obviously on bullwhip effect than other two roles with different allocation mechanism.


A randomized controlled trial was performed to evaluate patch angioplasty for patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. There were 213 patient episodes affecting 148 men and 65 women, with 109 allocated to patch angioplasty. Following surgery six patients suffered transient ischaemic attacks but these did not delay discharge from hospital. Six individuals (four patched operations, two not patched) required re-exploration for postoperative haemorrhage and eight (two patched procedures, six not) had potentially serious neurological problems after operation. Of these eight patients, four (none receiving patch angioplasty) underwent re-exploration and in each case a clot was removed and a patch inserted; three of the four made a good long-term recovery. The other four patients suffered completed strokes from which one died. Two further patients (one patched procedure, one not) died after operation from myocardial events, giving an overall 30-day stroke or mortality rate of 2.8 per cent. Objective follow-up assessment with duplex scanning at 1 year was completed by 94.8 per cent of patients; significantly more vessel restenoses and occlusions were observed in those not receiving patches (P < 0.01). Patch angioplasty reduces the number of immediate postoperative complications, and significantly lowers vessel restenosis and occlusion rates at 1 year after operation.


There is a huge demand for food-derived polysaccharides in the field of materials research due to the increasing concerns posed by synthetic biopolymers. The scientific community is extensively searching for other natural, food-derived or bio-inspired polymers that possess promising potentials and advantageous properties that can be promptly utilized for multifarious applications. Kefiran, a food-derived microbial exopolysaccharide extracted from kefir grains has exhibited evidence of non-toxicity, anti-microbial activity, nutritional value, and other favourable characteristics. This review aims to shed light on the properties of kefiran and provide an overview of its applications in the agri-food and biomedical sectors. The present work also discusses the challenges and prospects that lie ahead for kefiran in finding its place amongst the existing spectrum of natural and biodegradable polymers.


During the course of hospitalization for comprehensive rehabilitation, an 11-year-old boy with a C4-C5 spinal cord injury developed hypercalcemia which persisted for 131 days. The total serum calcium was closely monitored during six treatment periods during which calcitonin was administered. The response to calcitonin was variable and limited by the occurrence of the escape phenomenon. Glucocorticoids were also partly effective but other antihypercalcemic therapies including low calcium diet, diuretics, IV saline, wheelchair sitting, and oral phosphates were not. A review of the pathophysiology of immobilization hypercalcemia indicates that increased bone resorption is primarily responsible for the disorder. Both calcitonin and glucocorticoids are potent inhibitors of bone resorption, and glucocorticoids can prevent escape from calcitonin's calcium-lowering effect. We suggest that combination therapy with calcitonin and glucocorticoids be utilized in severe hypercalcemia in order to take advantage of the rapid effect of calcitonin and the more sustained effect of glucocorticoids.


The aim of this study was to examine differences in nutrition knowledge, eating habits during pregnancy, and neonatal health status between primipara for pregnant women of advanced maternal age in comparison to those under the age of 35. Methods: This study used a comparative survey design. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires and patients medical records. A total of 127 participants, mothers after delivery were recruited from metropolitan city B. Results: Primipara in advanced maternal age (n=32) reported significantly higher scores of eating habits (Z=-2.96, p=.003) than younger ages (n=95). There were no significant differences in scores of pregnancy nutrition knowledge (Z=-0.44, p=.660), duration of gestation (Z=-0.28, p=.778), neonatal birth height (Z=-0.10, p=.924), neonatal birth weight (Z=-0.28, p=.777), Apgar score 1 minute (Z=-0.53, p=.599) and 5 minutes (Z=-0.23, p=.816) between two groups. Conclusion: It concludes that age is not the obstacle to the best nutritional status of women and their newborns.


The Family Health Program (Programa de Saúde da Familia, PSF) was conceived with the aim of fully assisting families in their social space, which requires a new professional posture. This work had the purpose of investigating the practices with families of the nurses that work in the PSF in the city of Maringá, in the State of Parana. An exploratory descriptive study with qualitative approach was carried out using for data collecting interviews, observation and documental analysis. Data were analyzed according to Bardin theoretical referential. The results revealed three categories in the Nursing practice with families: activities with individuals, activities in the community and activities at family homes. It was concluded that in spite of the fact that nurses consider families in a home context through home visits, data collecting and health education, they still focus on the disease and on the individual. Such approach has not stimulated the participation and autonomy of the families regarding care and the service.


In this chapter, four European regulatory frameworks are compared concerning how they cope with identifying and risk assessing endocrine-disrupting chemicals. This comparison is performed by using four example chemicals, bisphenol A, dioxins, ethinyl estradiol and vinclozolin, representing four different regulatory categories. It is concluded that within these regulations, there are no general test requirements that specifically enable identification of endocrine disruptors, and there seem to be little conformity in the risk assessment processes even though the route of exposure and the mode of toxicity are similar. Further development of risk assessment guidance for endocrine disruptors requires continued cooperation between experimental scientists, risk assessors, regulators and industry.


The 'Hamlin' sweet orange [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osb.] was evaluated in Isabela, Adjuntas and Corozal, Puerto Rico. This cultivar Is an early producer and Is used mainly by the Industry for juice. The cultivar was grafted to the rootstocks 'Swingle Citrumelo', 'Carrizo', Cleopatra' and 'Sun Chu Sha'. For six years, production, growth and fruit quality data [pH, total soluble solids (TSS), titrable acidity and TSS/acid ratio] were recorded to evaluate horticultural traits. Significant differences were detected In mean fruit number per tree between Corozal and the other sites. The highest yields were obtained at Corozal for the rootstock Sun Chu Sha. Yields at Isabela and Adjuntas were similar. In terms of growth, Swingle Citrumelo and Carrizo showed significantly smaller height and canopy volume. No significant differences were detected for fruit quality among the rootstocks at the three sites. At Isabela we observed the best maturity Index (TSS/acid ratio) for all the rootstocks (17.3). This cultivar could be recommended for planting in coastal areas such as Isabela for availability of ripe fruit In the months when there are none in the higher altitudes, from September to November. With regard to locality and yield, the best performance for this cultivar among all the rootstocks was observed at Corozal.


A passive sampler (the polar organic chemical integrative sampler; POCIS) was assessed for its ability to sample natural estrogens (17β-estradiol, E2; estrone, E1 and estriol, E3) and the synthetic estrogen (17α-ethynylestradiol, EE2) in the outlet of a sewage treatment works over several weeks. The performance of the POCIS was investigated and optimised in the laboratory before field deployment with high recoveries (66-99%) were achieved for all estrogens. Moreover, it was shown that POCIS does not exhibit any preferential selectivity towards any of the target compounds. The sampling rates of E1, E2 and E3 were 0.018 ± 0.009, 0.025 ± 0.014 and 0.033 ± 0.019 L d(-1), respectively. Following field deployments of 28 days in the discharge of a sewage works, POCIS was shown to enhance the sensitivity of estrogen detection, especially for E3, and provide time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations of E1, E2 and E3, ranging from undetectable to 12 ng L(-1) upstream of the outflow of a sewage treatment works, 13 to 91 ng L(-1) at the outflow and 8 to 39 ng L(-1) downstream of the outflow. This revealed that E1, E2 and E3 are not completely removed during sewage treatment, with concentrations most likely being maintained by contributions from conjugated estrogen analogues. Grab water samples showed considerable variation in the concentrations of estrogens over a longer period (6 months). The results confirm that POCIS is an effective and non-discriminatory method for the detection of low concentrations of estrogens in the aquatic environment.


The Gammacoronavirus infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) causes a highly contagious and economically important respiratory disease in poultry. In the laboratory, most IBV strains are restricted to replication in ex vivo organ cultures or in ovo and do not replicate in cell culture, making the study of their basic virology difficult. Entry of IBV into cells is facilitated by the large glycoprotein on the surface of the virion, the spike (S) protein, comprised of S1 and S2 subunits. Previous research showed that the S2′ cleavage site is responsible for the extended tropism of the IBV Beaudette strain. This study aims to investigate whether protease treatment can extend the tropism of other IBV strains. Here we demonstrate that the addition of exogenous trypsin during IBV propagation in cell culture results in significantly increased viral titres. Using a panel of IBV strains, exhibiting varied tropisms, the effects of spike cleavage on entry and replication were assessed by serial passage cell culture in the presence of trypsin. Replication could be maintained over serial passages, indicating that the addition of exogenous protease is sufficient to overcome the barrier to infection. Mutations were identified in both S1 and S2 subunits following serial passage in cell culture. This work provides a proof of concept that exogenous proteases can remove the barrier to IBV replication in otherwise non-permissive cells, providing a platform for further study of elusive field strains and enabling sustainable vaccine production in vitro.


The number of parties in government is usually considered to increase spending. We show that this is not necessarily the case. Using a new method to detect close election outcomes in multi-party systems, we isolate truly exogenous variation in the type of government. With data from municipalities in the German state of Bavaria, we show in regression discontinuity-type estimations that absolute majorities spend more, not less, and increase the property tax rate. We also find weakly significant results for increases in debt. Politically, our results show that the mayor that heads an absolute majority of his own party gains the most, but the party itself does not.


We examine and offer causal evidence on the link between trade exposure and social cohesion using rich micro tax data and a natural experiment of exchange rate liberalization in Uganda. Our results show that exposure to exogenous exchange rate shocks has significant albeit economically small effects on social cohesion: it reduces trust, enhances participation, and has ambiguous effects on identity. These effects operate largely through the expenditure channel (or household exposure) and to a lesser extent through the earnings channel (captured by worker and firm exposure)


While the audit reporting debate has a long history, a number of recent regulatory initiatives and policy reviews increase the likelihood of change in this area. The purpose of this study is to use this momentum and examine whether there is consensus between audit report users and auditors with regard to the form and content of the audit report. This seems necessary because past audit reporting reforms have failed due to a lack of common ground. Based on interviews with users and auditors, we conclude that reaching a level of consensus seems feasible. Using these insights, we propose an alternative audit reporting model that may significantly reduce the information gap between users and auditors and improve transparency on the quality of audit practice.


Purpose: To determine the clinical, pathologic, and molecular effects of neoadjuvant docetaxel chemotherapy in high-risk localized prostate cancer. Experimental Design: Patients with biopsy Gleason scores of 8 to 10, serum prostate-specific antigen levels >20 ng/mL, and/or clinical stage T3 disease received weekly docetaxel (36 mg/m2) for 6 months, followed by radical prostatectomy, and were monitored with weekly visits, serum prostate-specific antigen measurements, and endorectal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Frozen tumor specimens were collected for microarray analysis. Results: The 19 patients enrolled received 82% of the planned chemotherapy. Toxicity was mild to moderate; fatigue and taste disturbance were common. Prostate-specific antigen declines of >50% were seen in 11 of 19 patients (58%; 95% confidence interval, 33-80%) and endorectal MRI showed maximum tumor volume reduction of at least 25% in 13 of 19 patients (68%; 95% confidence interval, 47-85%) and at least 50% in 4 patients (21%; 95% confidence interval, 6-46%). Sixteen patients completed chemotherapy and had radical prostatectomy; none achieved pathologic complete response. Microarray analysis identified coordinate up-regulation of genes involved in androgen metabolism associated with docetaxel therapy. Specifically, RNA expression for genes that decrease cellular levels of bioactive androgens was coordinately increased in response to chemotherapy. Conclusions: Neoadjuvant docetaxel administered for 6 months before radical prostatectomy is feasible, well tolerated, and often results in prostate-specific antigen declines of >50% and decreased tumor volume on endorectal MRI. No pathologic complete responses were observed. Altered androgen metabolism may partially account for the noted declines in prostate-specific antigen and be a mechanism for chemotherapy resistance.


Motivated by the problems associated with soft errors in digital circuits and fault-related attacks in cryptographic hardware, a systematic method for designing single error correcting multiplier circuits is presented for finite fields or Galois fields over GF(2 m ). Multiple parity predictions to correct single errors based on the Hamming principles are used. The expressions for the parity prediction are derived from the input operands, and are based on the primitive polynomials of the fields. This technique, when compared with existing ones, gives better performance. It is shown that single error correction (SEC) multipliers over GF(2 m ) require slightly over 100% extra hardware, whereas with the traditional SEC techniques, this figure is more than 200%. Since single bit internal faults can cause multiple faults in the outputs, this has also been addressed here by using multiple Hamming codes with optimised hardware.


Opacities of molecules in exoplanet atmospheres rely on increasingly detailed line-lists for these molecules. The line lists available today contain for many species up to several billions of lines. Computation of the spectral line profile created by pressure and temperature broadening, the Voigt profile, of all of these lines is becoming a computational challenge. We aim to create a method to compute the Voigt profile in a way that automatically focusses the computation time into the strongest lines, while still maintaining the continuum contribution of the high number of weaker lines. Here, we outline a statistical line sampling technique that samples the Voigt profile quickly and with high accuracy. The number of samples is adjusted to the strength of the line and the local spectral line density. This automatically provides high accuracy line shapes for strong lines or lines that are spectrally isolated. The line sampling technique automatically preserves the integrated line opacity for all lines, thereby also providing the continuum opacity created by the large number of weak lines at very low computational cost. The line sampling technique is tested for accuracy when computing line spectra and correlated-k tables. Extremely fast computations (~3.5e5 lines per second per core on a standard current day desktop computer) with high accuracy (< 1 % almost everywhere) are obtained. A detailed recipe on how to perform the computations is given.


In this paper we introduce a paradigm of experiment which, we believe, is of interest both in psychology and philosophy. There the subject wears an HMD (head-mount display), and a camera is set up at the upper corner of the room, in which the subject is. As a result, the subject observes his own body through the HMD. We will mainly focus on the philosophical relevance of this experiment, especially to the thesis of so-called 'immunity to error through mis- identification relative to the first-person pronoun'. We will argue that one exper- iment conducted in this setting, which we call the bodily illusion experiment, provides a counterexample to that thesis.


Introduction: Patients' rights are one of the major components of human rights. As health professionals, nurses are bound to care for patients while safeguarding their rights. This study aimed to describe the knowledge and attitudes towards patients' rights among nurses in two selected teaching hospitals in Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among nurses from two selected teaching hospitals in Sri Lanka, using a pre-tested and self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 26.0. Results: The response rate was 71.0% and 300 nurses participated in the study. The majority of the participants were from surgical wards (71.0%) and had less than six years of service (44.3%). Their mean overall knowledge regarding patients' rights was 81.90±12.48. When considering the levels of knowledge, 67.7% had good (>75%), 31.7% had moderate (50-75%), and 1.0% had poor (<50%) levels. A good level of knowledge was evident by the responses received on the right to have respectful care (89.3%), right to maintain privacy (91.7%), and right to receive good quality health services (91.0%). However, 19.9% showed a poor level of knowledge regarding the right to obtain prior consent. The mean attitude score on patients' rights was 31.21±0.25, and only 48.3% showed positive attitudes towards patients' rights. Nurses' overall knowledge levels were significantly associated with the current working unit in the hospital (p=0.015). Conclusion: A majority of the nurses had a good level of knowledge but showed negative attitudes towards patients' rights. Therefore, continuing education programs for nurses should focus on improving their knowledge and attitudes towards patients' rights to enhance the quality of care for patients.
Keywords: Attitudes, Knowledge, Nurses, Patients' rights, Sri Lanka


Model Predictive Control and Stabilisation of Interconnected Systems by Tri Tran-Cao The attraction of having higher efficiency and quality, as well as increasing reliability and flexibility for industrial plants and network systems has created opportunities for new research in the control and optimisation fields. Among various design methods, model predictive control (MPC) strategies have proved to be effective in industrial applications. Whilst found widespread used with stand-alone controllers in the refining and many other industries, the field of orchestrating non-centralised MPCs and distributed MPCs is evaluated as still in its infancy. The work in this thesis is concerned with stabilising methods for the control of complex interconnected systems with mixed connection configurations employing distributed and decentralised model predictive control schemes. Inheriting the advantage of the MPC strategy, the control and state constraints are naturally dealt with by the employed methods. As a result, the novel concept of asymptotically positive realness constraint (APRC) and the segregation and integration constructive methods for the constrained stabilisation of interconnected systems are introduced and developed. The MPC is formulated with state space models and stabilising constraints within the open-loop paradigm in this thesis. By having the control inputs entirely decoupled between subsystems and no additional constraints imposed on the interactive variables rather than the coupling constraint itself, the proposed approaches outreach various types of systems and applications. For parallel connections that emulate parallel redundant structures and have unknown splitting ratios, a fully decentralised control strategy is developed as an alternative to the hybrid approaches. For the semi-automatic control systems, which is involved with both closed-loop and humanin-the-loop regulatory controls, the stability-guaranteed method of decentralised stabilising agents which are interoperable with different control algorithms is germinated and implemented for each single subsystem.


This study aims to describe prenatal care provided to pregnant users of the public or private health services in Brazil using survey data from Birth in Brazil research conducted from 2011 to 2012. Data was obtained through interviews with postpartum women during hospitalization and information from hand-held prenatal notes. The results show high coverage of prenatal care (98.7%) with 75.8% of women initiating prenatal care before 16 weeks of gestation and 73.1% having six or more number of appointments. Prenatal care was conducted mainly in primary health care units (89.6%) public (74.6%) by the same professional (88.4%) mostly physicians (75.6%) and 96% received their hand-held prenatal notes. A quarter of women were considered at risk of complications. Of the total respondents only 58.7% were advised about which maternity care service to give birth and 16.2% reported searching more than one health service for admission in labour and birth. Challenges remain for improving the quality of prenatal care with the provision of effective procedures for reducing unfavourable outcomes.


To model the seismic performance of building components, they must first be defined. A categorization system (or taxonomy) of components is developed here, including both structural and nonstructural elements but focusing on the latter. Structural elements are those that are part of the structure's vertical-or lateral-force-resisting system. Nonstructural components are generally those that are attached to a structure but are not considered part of either system. Taxonomic groups are defined to meet ten objectives to ensure that meaningful fragility functions can be created for a group. The study focuses on those nonstructural components and some contents that contribute significantly to earthquake-induced repair costs, casualties, or loss of use (dollars, deaths, or downtime). Standard or important proposed taxonomic systems are reviewed in light of how well they meet the ten objectives. Important publications on component seismic fragility are reviewed, including post-earthquake reconnaissance reports. The existing system that comes closest to meeting the design objectives is then selected; modifications are proposed to meet the remaining objectives and to reflect earthquake experience; and the resulting taxonomic system detailed. An important feature of this taxonomic system is that it attempts to distinguish common design or retrofit alternatives that make a difference in seismic performance, such as between braced versus unbraced piping and between anchored versus unanchored electrical equipment. A taxonomic system that makes these distinctions can be used to assess the benefit of design or retrofit alternatives. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


It is important to systematically assess the vaccine information needs of parents in order to maintain or improve childhood immunization coverage. Our objectives were to obtain suggestions for the optimal presentation of vaccine-related information and to determine if an educational intervention affected mothers' vaccine safety attitudes. Focus groups were used to develop messages that then were tested through a randomized, pre- and post-test mail survey of non-Hispanic White mothers who reported vaccine safety concerns (n = 927). Focus groups were analyzed using text analysis software. Increases in attitude scores between the pre- and post-test surveys were calculated, and logistic regression was used to compare intervention groups with a control group. Of survey participants who recalled the test messages, 50% (85/171) who received a "consequences of reduced coverage" message reported an improved opinion of vaccines. A greater proportion of participants receiving one or more intervention messages reported an improved attitude score from pre-to post-test compared with the control group for four of the five variables measured; however, differences were small and none were statistically significant. A mixed method approach was used to develop and test vaccine messages. The message describing potential consequences of reduced vaccination coverage had the greatest impact on improving concerned mothers' opinions of childhood vaccines.


Infection of susceptible cells with foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) results in multiplication of the RNA genome and assembly of mature virions. The entire process of genome replication is completed in a few hours and encompasses many intracellular events. Like other picornaviruses, FMDV uses a peptide primed RNA replication mechanism. The factors that are required to uridylylate each of the three FMDV VPg peptides and the role of the FMDV cis-acting replication element (cre) or 3B Uridylylation Site (bus) in VPg uridylylation have been determined. The native N-terminus of the FMDV 3Dpol enzyme is a pre-requisite for VPg uridylylation in vitro and the effects of mutations in the RNA template are consistent with a slide-back mechanism. The role of the poly(A) tail in uridylylating VPg was insignificant using full-length FMDV RNA transcripts suggesting the possibility of an alternative mechanism of VPg incorporation into negative strand RNA. The optimal RNA sequences required for VPg uridylylation were found to be within the 5' non-coding region (NCR). Furthermore, the results also showed evidence for RNA-RNA interactions between distinct structures from within the 5' NCR that influence VPg uridylylation. The polymerase precursor 3CDpro is also a prerequisite for uridylylation of each of the FMDV VPg peptides. However BCpro alone can substitute for 3 CD, but is much less efficient. It also appeared that the overall charge of the VPg peptides determines their recognition by the FMDV 3Dpol. The RNA binding activity of the 3C was found to be required for its stimulatory effects on VPg uridylylation. Unlike the poliovirus cloverleaf, the FMDV S-fragment (at the 5' end of the genome) does not interact with the FMDV 3CD precursor protein; however it binds specifically to a cellular factor p48. The crude replication complexes (CRCs) isolated from FMDV-infected cells were found to synthesize viral RNA very efficiently and an in vitro RNA replication system developed using these CRCs can be used to study the complete RNA replication events of FMDV.


The rising occurrence of infections generated by Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae that produce extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) is reason for concern. Due to the recent emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms that develop ESBL. The purpose of this work was to detect the ESBLs in clinical isolates of E. coli and K. pneumoniae. 118 samples of E. coli and 63 isolates of K. pneumoniae were collected from clinical samples. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect β-lactamase genes (i.e., blaTEM, blaSHV, and blaCTX-M). Phenotypic detection revealed that 48.31% and 85.19% of E. coli and K. pneumoniae produced ESBLs, respectively. Whereas screening of ESBL genes in both bacteria employing a multiplex PCR test revealed that 24.58% of the ESBL-producing E. coli strains contained blaTEM, 50.85% contained blaSHV, and 32.2% contained blaCTX-M. Nevertheless, in K. pneumoniae, 40.74% blaTEM, 35.19% blaSHV, and 64.81% blaCTX-M genes were present. Antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates to twenty antibiotics were observed to vary significantly. Additionally, it was determined that the majority of E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR). Additionally, 80.51% of E. coli isolates were resistant to the AMC antibiotic, while 0.00% were resistant to IPM and MEM. From the other hand, the resistant proportion of K. pneumoniae isolates was heterogeneous, ranging from 69.84% against CAZ to 0.00% against CIP and G antibiotics. The blaSHV gene was the most widespread among different forms of ESBLs in E. coli, but the most common gene in K. pneumoniae isolates was blaCTX-M (64.81%).


In this study, Friction Stir Processing (FSP) a recent grain refinement technique was employed to disperse micron-sized (2 μm) SiCp particles into aluminum alloy AA6063. The feasibility to fabricate bulk composites through FSP was analyzed and experiments were conducted at different traverse speeds and wider volumes of the specimens. Micro structural observation were carried out by employing optical microscopy test of the cross sections in both parallel and perpendicular to the tool traverse direction. Mechanical property including micro hardness was evaluated in detail at various regions on the specimen. The composites had an excellent bonding with aluminum alloy substrate and a significant increase of 30% in the micro hardness value of metal matrix composite (MMC) as to that of the base metal has observed. The observations clearly indicate that SiC particles were uniformly distributed within the aluminum matrix. Keywords—Friction Stir Processing; Metal matrix composite; Bulk composite


Zinc oxide/carbon composite was synthesized on stainless steel and glass via spray pyrolysis for the ZnO layer and thermolysis for the C layer. Two sets of samples were made, one as the control and the other annealed at 700oC. Raman spectroscopy confirms the deposition of ZnO and carbon, albeit disordered; SEM allowed the estimation of the thickness of the films, which is 1.06 µm; and UV-Vis indicated that the annealed samples have higher transmission and a bandgap closer to the theoretical value; which is reflective on the quality of the deposited films.


PURPOSE
ZD1839 or Iressa (AstraZeneca, Macclesfield, United Kingdom) is an orally active, selective epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor. We evaluated the antitumor activity of ZD1839 in human renal cell carcinomas (RCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Six established human RCC lines and surgical specimens from 10 patients with RCC were used. Protein expression was detected by Western blotting and/or immunohistochemistry. The concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-8 in the supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell cycle progression and the apoptotic ratio were evaluated by flow cytometry. In vitro angiogenesis was measured using human umbilical vascular endothelial cells by capillary-like network formation analysis. In vivo SKRC-49 cells injected subcutaneously into athymic nude mice were treated with various doses of ZD1839 orally. The effect of ZD1839 on tumor xenografts angiogenesis was evaluated by immunohistochemistry using CD34 Ab.

RESULTS
Epidermal growth factor receptor was activated in all RCC lines and over expressed in 7 of 10 RCC specimens (70%) compared with adjacent normal renal tissues. Treatment of SKRC-49 cells with ZD1839 (0.1 to 10 microM) for 48 hours resulted in the accumulation of cells in the G1 phase and a 30% to 50% decrease in cellular proliferation compared with untreated controls (p <0.01). The tumor xenograft study confirmed that ZD1839 (50 to 100 mg/kg daily) significantly inhibited SKRC-49 tumor growth compared with controls within 3 weeks after treatment (p <0.01). Vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-8 production was significantly decreased in ZD1839 treated SKRC-49 cells compared with untreated controls (p <0.01). Treatment of human umbilical vascular endothelial cells with SKRC-49 supernatants treated with ZD1839 for 11 days resulted in an approximate 80% decrease in tubule formation compared with untreated controls (p <0.01). Immunohistochemical assays showed that ZD1839 treatment resulted in a significant decrease in CD34 positive neovessels compared with controls in SKRC-49 xenografts.

CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that the antitumor activity of ZD1839 appears to derive not only from direct inhibition of cell proliferation, but also from the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis in RCC.


[1] In the classic model for oriented thaw lakes, sublittoral shelves form by wind-driven circulation near shorelines oriented perpendicular to the wind, protecting the adjacent banks from thaw and wave cut erosion. Here I propose an alternative model based on thaw slumping and test the model predictions against observations in northern Alaska. Thermal modeling illustrates that bank height controls the rate of thaw slumping because summertime thaw penetrates only decimeters into a tall bank but as much as tens of meters into a short bank. This effect also leads to oriented lakes because of a nonlinear relationship between bank height and bank retreat rate. Bank material texture also controls the rate of thaw slumping because fine-grained sediments drain slowly and maintain higher pore pressures than coarse-grained sediments, resulting in lower critical angles for slumping. To test the thaw slumping model quantitatively, I constructed a process-based numerical model that includes thaw slumping, lacustrine sediment dispersal, and thaw-driven lake floor subsidence. The model predicts that lake orientations and aspect ratios are controlled by topographic aspect and slope, not by wind direction and intensity. The thaw slumping model further predicts inverse correlations between lake area and bank height and between lake area and bank material texture. An analysis of oriented thaw lakes in northern Alaska shows that systematically smaller, deeper lakes form in coarse-grained eolian sediments compared with those formed in fine-grained fluvial marine sediments. This pattern strongly supports the thaw slumping model.


Despite the position of farmer cooperatives in markets and their social capital based characteristics, neither the definition nor the role of social capital in farmer cooperatives has been broadly investigated. Thus, this study seeks to develop a framework for defining and clarifying various aspects of social capital and examines the effects of social capital on members' participation in collective activities and on the economic performance of farmer cooperatives. Social capital is indicated in terms of three dimensions, i.e., the external, relational, and cognitive dimensions. A statistical model is applied to a database consisting of 147 farmer cooperatives in China's Zhejiang province. The results demonstrate a positive relationship between certain dimensions of social capital and members' participation in training and general meetings. In addition, each dimension of social capital has a significant and positive impact on the economic performance of cooperatives.


The auroral electrojet is traditionally measured remotely with magnetometers on ground or in low Earth orbit (LEO). The sparse distribution of measurements, combined with a vertical distance of some 100 km to ground and typically >300 km to LEO satellites, means that smaller scale sizes can't be detected. Because of this, our understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of the electrojet is incomplete. Recent advances in measurement technology give hope of overcoming these limitations by multi‐point remote detections of the magnetic field in the mesosphere, very close to the electrojet. We present a prediction of the magnitude of these disturbances, inferred from the spatiotemporal characteristics of magnetic field‐aligned currents. We also discuss how Zeeman magnetic field sensors (Yee et al., 2021) onboard the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer satellites will be used to essentially image the equivalent current at unprecedented spatial resolution. The electrojet imaging is demonstrated by combining carefully simulated measurements with a spherical elementary current representation using a novel inversion scheme.


Despite the great advances made in the field of image super-resolution (ISR) during the last years, the performance has merely been evaluated perceptually. Thus, it is still unclear whether ISR is helpful for other vision tasks. In this paper, we present the first comprehensive study and analysis of the usefulness of ISR for other vision applications. In particular, six ISR methods are evaluated on four popular vision tasks, namely edge detection, semantic image segmentation, digit recognition, and scene recognition. We show that applying ISR to input images of other vision systems does improve their performance when the input images are of low-resolution. We also study the correlation between four standard perceptual evaluation criteria (namely PSNR, SSIM, IFC, and NQM) and the usefulness of ISR to the vision tasks. Experiments show that they correlate well with each other in general, but perceptual criteria are still not accurate enough to be used as full proxies for the usefulness. We hope this work will inspire the community to evaluate ISR methods also in real vision applications, and to adopt ISR as a pre-processing step of other vision tasks if the resolution of their input images is low.


This paper presents a wideband power amplifier (PA) for the application of intelligent cognitive radios. Resistive feedback and transformer matching network are proposed in this PA design to enhance the broadband frequency response. The broadband load impedance match is realized using series stack topology. The limitation of stack PA in both GaAs and CMOS processes are discussed. A high-efficiency broadband PA in commercial 0.18 μm CMOS process with the best P1dB of 20 dBm and PAE of 30% are demonstrated to verify the design concepts. This PA also shows the widest fractional bandwidth performance among CMOS PAs below 10 GHz.


Oxfam's Influencing for Impact Guide is designed for civil society organizations, Oxfam teams and partners, activists and campaigners. It aims to support them to develop and deliver effective influencing, advocacy and campaigning strategies that tackle the structural causes of poverty, inequality and environmental crisis:  strategies with impact to help shift unequal and unjust power relations, and to lead to changes in policies, practices, attitudes, behaviours and social norms.  The guide covers steps in designing effective influencing strategies, whether for programmes or stand-alone campaigns.  It has tools, examples and guidance on topics such as understanding context, power analysis, setting objectives, developing strong narratives and deciding the best tactics to use. It describes the various tactics you can use to make change happen through your programme and advocacy activities. There are sections on research, lobbying, digital and social media, mobilization and influencing behaviours and norms.    The guide is informed by the learning, experiences and courageous influencing and campaigning undertaken by social movements, civil society networks, Oxfam partners, allies and staff over many years, as well as from evaluations and academic research.


For the first time, a single country now accounts for more than half of the global certified organic agriculture hectares. The latest world map of organic agriculture reveals that Australia has overtaken the rest of the world). The latest global figures report that the world total of certified organic agriculture is 69.8 million hectares from a total of 181 countries. Of that total, Australia accounts for 35.6 million hectares, which is 51% of the world total. Organics data reveal that organic agriculture has been on a steady upward trend for the past two decades. Global organics has grown at 12% pa over the past twenty years, while Australian organics has grown at 16% pa in the same period. For the past five years the growth of organics in Australia has accelerated to 22% pa. It is this growth spurt of Australian organics that has propelled Australia from the number one position in global certified organic agriculture hectares to now accounting for the majority of the total global organic hectares. The global runners up, are Argentina, in second position, with 3.4 million certified organic hectares, followed by China with 3.0 million hectares, Spain with 2.1 million hectares, and USA with 2.0 million hectares. These are followed by Italy (1.9m ha), Uruguay (1.9m ha), India (1.8m ha), France (1.7m ha), Germany (1.4m ha), Canada (1.2m ha), and Brazil (1.1m ha). All other countries each report less than a million hectares of certified organic agriculture hectares.


The Ninth Amendment - our resident anarchic and sarcastic "constitutional jester" - mocks the effort of scholars and judges alike to tame and normalize constitutional law. It is not as if the stern disciplinarians haven't tried. We now have two generations worth of painstaking, erudite, and occasionally brilliant scholarship that attempts to rein it in. Yet the amendment stubbornly resists control. It stands as a paradoxical, textual monument to the impossibility of textualism, an entrenched, settled instantiation of the inevitability of unsettlement. If it did not exist, constitutional skeptics would have had to invent it.This essay has two parts. In Part I, I present a new and, I hope, persuasive, originalist account of the Ninth Amendment. My claim is that the Amendment deliberately leaves unsettled the status of unenumerated rights. Because of the Ninth Amendment, the Constitution does not "deny" or "disparage" these rights, but neither does it embrace or imply them. The amendment puts off to another day a final reckoning of the extent to which we are bound by constitutional text.Although I use originalist methodology in Part I, I do not want to be understood as embracing originalism. Instead, this Part is an exercise in internal critique. As Part II explains, the Ninth Amendment states a truth that we would have to deal with whether or not it was part of the original text: No matter how comprehensive, no text can control the force of ideas and commitments that lie outside the text. This simple truth leaves the status of liberal constitutionalism permanently and inevitably unsettled. The day of final reckoning will never arrive.


: Ultrasonically guided, percutaneous fine-needle aspiration biopsy allows final histological and/or cytological diagnosis in patients with benign or malignant space-occupying growths even of small size. Therapeutic puncture and drainage of postoperative abdominal or retroperitoneal growths (haematoma, seroma, lymph cyst, abscess) however, requires 1.) dilatation of the percutaneously established puncture channel and 2.) continuous vacuum aspiration over a period of several days or weeks. We report on three therapeutic punctures in two patients with retroperitoneal lymph cysts following abdominal radical hysterectomy with lymphonodectomy and one patient with abscess formation following nephrectomy. The technique employed was as used in percutaneous nephrostomy. Under local anaesthesia and permanent ultrasound guidance the lesion is punctured with a 1.3 mm hollow puncture needle of three parts (Angiomed) and after aspiration of fluid a 0.9 mm wire guide with a curved, soft tap was inserted through the puncture needle in the lesion. The puncture channel is then dilated under x-ray visualisation with a Teflon-coated fasciadilatator (Cook) to Charr. 16 (20). Finally either a polyvinyl catheter with two lateral apertures (Cook) or a double-barrelled Shirley Drain is inserted and fixed to the skin with a stitch. For diversion a closed system is used. Over a period of one to two weeks 50 to 200 millilitres of secretion are drained off per day in decreasing quantity. The patients returned to normal temperature and recovered entirely. The advantage of our method is the avoidance of dangerous and difficult secondary surgery.


This paper examines the generalization characteristic of Gaussian ARTMAP (GAM) neural network in classification tasks. GAM performance for classification during training and testing is evaluated using the k-folds cross validation technique. A comparison is also done between GAM and Fuzzy ARTMAP (FAM) neural network. It is found that GAM performs better (98-99%) when compared to FAM (79-82%) using two different types of dataset. The difference between GAM and FAM is that input data to be to classified using FAM must be normalized in prior. Hence, three different normalization techniques are examined namely; unit range (UR), improved unit range (IUR) and improve linear scaling (ILS). This paper also proposes an alternative technique to search the best value for gamma γ parameter of GAM neural network, known as gamma threshold. A small number of training required for GAM also shows that its fundamental architecture retain the attractive parallel computing and fast learning properties of FAM.


Currently most of the remotely monitored equipment at Royal Perth Hospital is hardwired, but is gradually being replaced with wireless systems with the development of cheaper and more reliable solutions.

This thesis tests and compares two wireless systems and analyses which one best fits Royal Perth Hospital's requirements. Thorough testing and comparison was required because once installed, the selected solution was required to be the main monitoring system used in the future.

From there the selected system was installed and commissioned within the Pre-Treatment Plant of Haemodialysis. Commissioning of the chosen software entailed configuring the manufacturers Web Server with required sensor settings, alarm limits and email addresses. In addition to the installation, this thesis briefly investigates the possibility of a fully automated chlorine analyser for the Pre-Treatment Plant. This would create an excellent long term logging solution with the nurses no longer needing to hand test chlorine levels each day.

Although the Web Server satisfied the hospitals needs in the short term, a longer term solution needed to be found. Perl script was created to communicate from the Web Servers data tables to Royal Perth Hospitals' server. This script was able to transfer all required data and pass it through to the new server, Fully Automated Nagios. This new script allows for improved data viewing, emailing capabilities, and longer term data storage.

This thesis summarises the work required to install, commission and configure a system that monitors pressures, temperature and contact switches, as well as educate the reader on the development, implementation and testing of such a system.

Since the Technical Services Division has an ISO 9001 accredited QA system, as required a large part of this thesis focused on the development of the project details, such as the development of wiring diagrams, server templates, comment logs, bill of materials and most importantly, the complete service and operator manuals.

Through the research and development of this thesis it was found that the project could be used to monitor other wards and so could be repeated in the future within Royal Perth Hospital and possibly Western Australian Health.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Major depressive disorder causes more human suffering than any other disease affecting humankind. It has a high prevalence and it is predicted that it will be among the three leading causes of disease burden by 2030. The prevalence of depression, all of its social and personal costs, and its recurrent characteristics, put heavy constraints on the ability of the public healthcare system to provide sufficient support for patients with depression. In this research, a model for continuous monitoring and tracking of depression in both short-term and long-term periods is presented. This model is based on a new qualitative reasoning approach.

METHOD
This paper describes the patient assessment unit of a major depression monitoring system that has three modules: a patient progress module, based on a qualitative reasoning model; an analysis module, based on expert knowledge and a rules-based system; and the communication module. These modules base their reasoning mainly on data of the patient's mood and life events that are obtained from the patient's responses to specific questionnaires (PHQ-9, M.I.N.I. and Brugha). The patient assessment unit provides synthetic and useful information for both patients and physicians, keeps them informed of the progress of patients, and alerts them in the case of necessity.

RESULTS
A set of hypothetical patients has been defined based on clinically possible cases in order to perform a complete scenario evaluation. The results that have been verified by psychiatrists suggest the utility of the platform.

CONCLUSION
The proposed major depression monitoring system takes advantage of current technologies and facilitates more frequent follow-up of the progress of patients during their home stay after being diagnosed with depression by a psychiatrist.


Fluidized beds are used in a wide range of applications in gasification, combustion, and process engineering. Multiphase flow in such applications involves numerous uncertain parameters. Uncertainty quantification provides uncertainty in syngas yield and efficiency of coal/biomass gasification in a power plant. Techniques such as sensitivity analysis are useful in identifying parameters that have the most influence on the quantities of interest. Also, it helps to decrease the computational cost of the uncertainty quantification and optimize the reactor. We carried out a nondeterministic analysis of flow in a biomass reactor. The flow in the reactor is simulated with National Energy Technology Laboratory's open source multiphase fluid dynamics suite MFiX. It does not possess tools for uncertainty quantification. Therefore, we developed a C++ wrapper to integrate an uncertainty quantification toolkit developed at Sandia National Laboratory with MFiX. The wrapper exchanges uncertain input parameters and critical output parameters among Dakota and MFiX. We quantify uncertainty in key output parameters via a sampling method. In addition, sensitivity analysis is carried out for all eight uncertain input parameters namely particle-particle restitution coefficient, angle of internal friction, coefficient of friction between two-phases, velocity of the fluidizing agent at the inlet, velocity of the biomass particles at the inlet, diameter of the biomass particles, viscosity of the fluidizing agent, and the percentage of nitrogen/oxygen in the fluidizing agent.


We randomly offer to workers in Chile personalized versus generalized information about their pension savings and forecasted pension income. Personalized information increased the probability and amounts of voluntary contributions after one year without crowding-out other forms of savings. Personalization appears to be very important: individuals who overestimated their pension at the time of the intervention saved more. Thus, a person's inability to understand how the pension system affects them may partially explain low pension savings. Despite the significant response to the intervention, its temporary nature and size suggest that information should be combined with other elements to increase its efficiency.


Objectives: The present study has tried to analyze the individual and combined expression of the three markers—p53, Ki-67 and bel-2-in HPV associated pre-malignant lesions of the cervix. Methods: Thirty-four cases of high-grade lesions, 21 low-grade cases and 18 normal cases were histologically assessed. HPV-DNA presence and the viral types were determined through PCR and RFLP, respectively. Marker expression was performed by immuno-histochemistry. Results: With regards to viral types, HPV with high oncogenic potential represented the majority, with just one case reporting the low oncogenic potential for viral infection (HPV 6). HPV was the most frequent and could be associated with the high-grade lesion group, however, no significant associations were found between the viral ones and the marker expression. When the expression location, beyond the basal layer, was taken into account, the three markers proved to be good indicators of the lesion grade. The markers' combined expression: p53(−), Ki-67(+), bcl-2(−) and p53(−), Ki-67(−), bcl-2(−) was statistically significant when associated with the lesion grade. Conclusions: The results suggest that the p53, Ki-67 and bel-2 markers can contribute to differentiate the lesion grades, whether in its isolate form or in combined form.


There has been much confusion in the literature over the definition, diagnosis and treatment of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). This article discusses definitions of PMS, incidence, etiology and symptomatology. Diagnosis depends on the timing of symptoms rather than the type. Symptoms commonly occur during the late premenstruum; at ovulation and during the premenstruum; or at ovulation, gradually increasing in severity throughout the luteal phase. To diagnose PMS, three consecutive menstrual cycles must be charted, the symptoms must be limited to the luteal phase, and there must be a complete absence of symptoms for at least one week in the postmenstruum. Rational treatment programs for mild, moderate and severe PMS are proposed. The role of progesterone in treatment is discussed.


The failure of a national critical infrastructure may seriously impact the health and well-being of citizens, the economy, the environment, and the functioning of the government. Moreover, critical infrastructures increasingly depend on information and communication technologies (ICT) or, in short, cyber. Cyber security and resilience are therefore seen as increasingly important governance topics and major challenges for today's societies, as the threat landscape is continuously changing. Sharing cyber security related information between organisations – in a critical sector, cross-sector, nationally and internationally – is widely perceived as an effective measure in support of managing the cyber security challenges of organisations. Information sharing, however, is not an easy topic. It comes with many facets. For example, information sharing spans strategic, tactical, operational and technical levels; spans all phases of the cyber incident response cycle (proactive, pre-emption, prevention, preparation, incident response, recovery, aftercare/ follow up); is highly dynamic; crosses the boundary of public and private domains; and concerns sensitive information which can be potentially harmful for one organisation on the one hand, while being very useful to others. This Good Practice on information sharing discusses many of these facets. Its aim is to assist you as public and private policy-makers, middle management, researchers, and cyber security practitioners, and to steer you away from pitfalls. Reflect on the earlier lessons identified to find your own effective and efficient arrangements for information sharing which fit your specific situation.


Within a complex global marketplace, achieving cultural diversity within organisations, and managing it effectively, is a challenge. Despite high capital expenditure on diversity management initiatives, research shows programmes have been ineffective in yielding significant positive outcomes. This raises two questions. The first is: 'Why do organisations continue to invest in diversity management if it is not effective?' The second is: 'Why are diversity management practices not effective?' Answers to both questions are sought, and improvements which can be made and sustained are explored. It is written for professionals with responsibility for diversity management. They include board members, human resource professionals, equality, diversity and inclusion practitioners, and corporate responsibility professionals. They have been charged with overseeing diversity management, and require greater knowledge and strategic savvy in order to meet their objectives. The main question of this thesis is: 'How can diversity management effectiveness be improved within a complex global marketplace?' Three studies critically explore the relationship between the quality of institutional management culture and the effectiveness of the diversity management practices. The first, a questionnaire study, explores the causal relationship between a variety of independent variables and their effect on diversity management. The second and third are exploratory and descriptive action research case studies, examining the effects of a democratic and participative system of institutional governance on the effectiveness of diversity management. This thesis contributes to diversity management literature by highlighting, and suggesting how to overcome institutional ethoi which run counter to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion, thus creating barriers reducing the effectiveness of diversity management initiatives. This knowledge will enable researchers and practitioners to understand more fully institutional root causes impeding development, and how to challenge them effectively. It will also assist in developing effective diversity strategies outside of the Anglo-American context within which this HRM practice began.


Electron microscopic methods were used to study the antero-parietal area of the cortex of newborn rats from intact mothers (I group) and rats born after intramuscular injection of desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) to pregnant rats during the III trimester (II group) in dose 10 mkg/100 g of the body mass or during the II-III trimester of gestation (III group) in dose of 2 mkg/100 g. By the moment of delivery the hormone dose in the both experimental groups was gradually decreased up to 0.8 mkg/100 g of the body mass. Prenatal treatment by DOCA resulted in the following changes in the structure of hematoencephalic barrier: ultrastructural changes of endotheliocytes and pericytes showing accelerated synthetic and metabolic processes; lengthening of interendotheliocytic dense junctions, increase of the amount of astroblast peduncles; accelerated development of the basement membrane (lengthening and thickening) and differentiation of astroblasts. Signs of accelerated differentiation of glioblasts and vascular wall were much more pronounced in the neocortex of the III group of animals. However, part of the vessels were surrounded by edema. The perivascular edema was accompanied by loosening of the basement membrane, flattening of endotheliocytes, pericytes and increase of their electron density.


AIM
To evaluate the cytokine, chemokine, and growth factor levels in peri-implant sulcular fluid (PISF) during healing and osseointegration at osteotomy sites prepared either with piezosurgery (PS) or drills.

METHODS
Fourteen patients having contralateral partial edentulism in the posterior maxilla were enrolled and 38 osteotomies were prepared. Implants were placed with one-stage surgery. Insertion torque, early healing index, probing depth and modified gingival and plaque indices and crestal bone loss (CBL) were measured. PISF was collected from each implant at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 and were analyzed by a 30-Plex immunoassay. Data analysis employed Brunner-Langer method.

RESULTS
CBL values did not depend on osteotomy modality (P > 0.05). Eighteen molecules (interleukine (IL)-1β, granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G.CSF), IL-13, IL-6, IL-12, interferon (IFN)-γ, IFN-α, IL-2, IL-2 R, IL-8, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-1β, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, interferon gamma-induced protein (IP)-10, monokine induced by IFN-γ (MIG), epidermal growth factor (EGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) showed time-dependent decrease (P < 0.05), but they were not treatment-dependent (P > 0.05). When values of weeks 4, 8, 12, and 24 were compared to week 2, it was found that all were highest at week 2 and decreased thereafter (P < 0.05). The decrease was significant at weeks 4 or 8 for multitude of molecules and was mostly sustained throughout the follow-up. Week 8 regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) values in PS group were lower in PS group compared to drill group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Implants placed into osteotomies created with PS and drills are similar in terms of PISF biomarker changes during the osseointegration and wound healing period. When clinical and CBL parameters were taken into account together with the PISF molecular data it can be speculated that PS and conventional drill osteotomy have similar effects on peri-implant tissues on the biochemical, clinical and radiological levels.


Background Despite widespread roll-out of free HIV care and treatment (C&T), large numbers of HIV-positive Zambians are disengaged from care. Nested within a 4-province study of HIV C&T outcomes, we explored how interactions between system hardware (tangible components) and system software (normative & behavioural components) at the service-delivery level influenced patients' decision to transfer or disengage from care. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with a stratified random sample of 75 HIV-infected adults from 4 provinces and five patient categories: currently in-care, pregnant in-care, disengaged, transferred (to another facility), friend/ family of deceased patient. Sixteen focus group discussions were convened with lay and professional healthcare workers (HCW) providers serving the same catchment areas. Audio transcripts were translated, transcribed and subject to deductive and inductive analysis guided by a modified social-ecological framework. Results Health system 'hardware' factors influencing patient decisions included distance and chronic understaffing that resulted in long wait-times and administrative mistakes (e.g. loss of patient records). Health system 'software' factors included various aspects of clinic organisational culture. Examples are limited consideration of HCWs of the way employment or family circumstances affected patients' ability to adhere to protocol-driven treatment schedules and a harmful power dynamic that compelled patients to 'humble' themselves and 'obey' HCWs to avoid being 'punished'. Described by many as a problem of HCWs 'lacking heart' or 'having a bad attitude', these phenomena were often linked to experiences of disrespect and/or abuse that influenced decisions to transfer or leave C&T. Conclusions Findings demonstrate a dynamic and compounding effect of health system 'hardware' and 'software' factors on decisions to transfer/disengage. Data suggest a need for: i) improvements in physical resourcing and structuring of HIV services; ii) a move away from exclusively static clinic-based service models and iii) revisions to policy enabling a re-orientation of pre-service training, clinic leadership and workplace incentives to encourage health-promoting, person-centred care.


In a world where graduate incomes are uncertain and higher education is financed through governmental loans, we build a theoretical model to show whether an income contingent loan (ICL) or a mortgage loan (ML) is preferred for higher levels of uncertainty. Assuming a single lifetime shock on graduate incomes, we compare the individual expected utilities under the two loan schemes, for both risk neutral and risk averse individuals. The theoretical model is calibrated using real data on wage uncertainty and considering the features of the UK Higher Education Reform to observe the implications of the switch from a ML to an ICL and the effect of the top-up fees. Different scenarios are simulated according to individual characteristics and family background. We finally extend the initial model to incorporate stochastic changes of income over time. JEL Classification: D81, I22, H80.


Immunohistochemistry is a widely used technique for research and diagnostic purposes that relies on the recognition by antibodies of antigens expressed in tissues. However, tissue processing and particularly formalin fixation affect the conformation of these antigens through the formation of methylene bridges. Although antigen retrieval techniques can partially restore antigen immunoreactivity, it is difficult to identify antibodies that can recognize their target especially in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. Most of the antibodies currently used in immunohistochemistry have been obtained by animal immunization; however, in vitro display techniques represent alternative strategies that have not been fully explored yet. This review provides an overview of phage display-based antibody selections using naïve antibody libraries on various supports (fixed cells, dissociated tissues, tissue fragments, and tissue sections) that have led to the identification of antibodies suitable for immunohistochemistry.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the oral health of adults in Scotland in 1998 and the trends underlying it.

DESIGN
Epidemiological survey including attitudinal/behavioural interview.

SUBJECTS AND SETTING
Across the UK as a whole a total of 5,540 addresses were selected of which 89% were found to be eligible for inclusion; 3,666 of these (74%) yielded at least one adult who was prepared to be interviewed. Overall 92% of adults in the responding households agreed to be interviewed. In Scotland, this amounted to 1,204 adults; of these 953 had some natural teeth and were asked if they would be dentally examined; 668 (70%) of them agreed. Weighting procedures were used to reduce bias.

RESULTS
The proportion of Scots who have retained none of their natural teeth in 1998 (18%) has more than halved since 1972 (44%). More of the teeth which are retained are sound and untreated or restored but otherwise sound, fewer are decayed. The proportion of older adults who report going to a dentist for regular check-ups in 1998 (60%) has doubled since 1972 (29%). However, there is an indication that fewer of those aged 16-24 years in 1998 went for dental check-ups (46%) in comparison to ten years previously (51%). The overall oral health status among those living in the most deprived areas were roughly equivalent to the average seen in Scotland at the time of the previous survey in 1988.

CONCLUSION
Whilst many aspects of oral health have improved in Scotland since 1972 it is generally behind many of the levels found throughout England and falls behind the UK average.


Cosmologies that match in a volume averaged sense need not generally have the same light propagation behaviors. In particular a universe with inhomogeneity may not demonstrate the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker distance-redshift relation even after volume averaging to FRW spacetime. Even the Dyer-Roeder prescription for incorporating inhomo-geneity within a universe equivalent to FRW in an angle averaged sense does not guarantee FRW behavior in general. To legitimately use the FRW distance-redshift relation to interpret observations, the physical conditions must match in a line of sight sense (defined herein: most observations do), since light probes the mass distribution or geometry on all length scales.


An inert atmosphere opens the reflow process window. Reflow ovens that have a Nitrogen environment may have better yields because of the lack of oxidation during the process. The wetting properties are improved due to the absence of Oxygen. The drawback of a low Oxygen level is that there is a potential risk for tombstoning. Due to the surface tension this defect is more likely to happen in a Nitrogen oven than in air. To overcome this risk a controlled Oxygen level of 500 – 1000 PPM is preferred. It is not the objective of this paper to define the most efficient Oxygen level, but rather, the method to keep this level consistent during different process conditions. Two concepts are used in the market to keep the Oxygen level in the reflow process constant. One method purges Oxygen into a Nitrogen environment. Depending on the Oxygen PPM level, more or less Oxygen will be doped into the system. The second concept controls the Nitrogen supply to maintain the Oxygen level required. If the Oxygen level goes up, more Nitrogen will be purged into the oven. When there are no boards entering the oven the Nitrogen supply can be reduced and still maintain the Oxygen level. Pro and cons of both concepts are compared.


Methylamine (CH3NH2, MA) gas-induced fabrication of organometal CH3NH3PbI3 based perovskite thin films are promising photovoltaic materials that transform the energy from absorbed sunlight into electrical power. Unfortunately, the low stability of the perovskites poses a serious hindrance for further development, compared to conventional inorganic materials. The solid-state perovskites are liquefied and recrystallized from CH3NH2. However, the mechanism of this phase transformation is far from clear. Employing first principles calculations and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we investigated the formation energy of primary defects in perovskites and the liquefaction process in CH3NH2 vapor. The results indicated that defect-assisted surface dissolution leads to the liquefaction of perovskite thin films in CH3NH2 vapor. Two primary defects were studied: one is the Frenkel pair defect (including both negatively charged interstitial iodide ion (Ii−) and iodide vacancy (VI+) at the PbI2-termination surface, and the other is the Schottky defects (methylammonium vacancy, VMA) at the MAI-termination surface. Moreover, the defect-induced disorder in the microstructure reduces the degeneration of energy levels, which leads to a blue shift and broader absorption band gap, as compared to the clean perovskite surface. The mechanism of how defects impact the surface dissolution could be applied for the further design of high-stability perovskite solar cells.


. The study analyses the seed technology research publications during 2008-2017 based on the Scopus database. The objective of the study was to perform a scientometric analysis of all seed technology research publication. Data for a study is total of 8576 have been downloaded and analyzed according to objectives. The study reveals that the growth of literature follows the liner growth pattern, journal articles are the most published form of literature (73.83%), International Journal Of Food Science and Technology followed by Nongye Gongcheng Xuebao Transactions Of The Chinese Society Of Agricultural Engineering are top journals, China and Chinese Academy of Sciences are top research contributing country and institution. The highly productive subject areas are Agricultural and Biological Sciences .Collaborating authorship pattern analysis shows that degree of collaboration (92%) significantly high. Overall, the paper presents an informed account of seed technology research performance.


Cerebral Aneurysms (CAs) may occur in 5-10% of the population. They can be often missed because they require a very methodological diagnostic approach. We developed an algorithm using artificial intelligence to assist and supervise and detect CAs.

 Methods:
 We developed an automated algorithm to detect CAs. The algorithm is based on 3D convolutional neural network modeled as a U-net. We included all saccular CAs from 2014 to 2016 from a single center. Normal and pathological datasets were prepared and annotated in 3D using an in-house developed platform. To assess the accuracy and to optimize the model, we assessed preliminary results using a validation dataset. After the algorithm was trained, a dataset was used to evaluate final IA detection and aneurysm measurements. The accuracy of the algorithm was derived using ROC curves and Pearson correlation tests.

 Results:
 We used 528 CTAs with 674 aneurysms at the following locations: ACA (3%), ACA/ACOM (26.1%), ICA/MCA (26.3%), MCA (29.4%), PCA/PCOM (2.3%), Basilar (6.6%), Vertebral (2.3%) and other (3.7%). Training datasets consisted of 189 CA scans. We plotted ROC curves and achieved an AUC of 0.85 for unruptured and 0.88 for ruptured CAs. We improved the model performance by increasing the training dataset employing various methods of data augmentation to leverage the data to its fullest. The final model tested was performed in 528 CTAs using 5-fold cross-validation and an additional set of 2400 normal CTAs. There was a significant improvement compared to the initial assessment, with an AUC of 0.93 for unruptured and 0.94 for ruptured. The algorithm detected larger aneurysms more accurately, reaching an AUC of 0.97 and a 91.5% specificity at 90% sensitivity for aneurysms larger than 7mm. Also, the algorithm accurately detected CAs in the following locations: basilar(AUC of 0.97) and MCA/ACOM (AUC of 0.94). The volume measurement (mm3) by the model compared to the annotated one achieved a Pearson correlation of 99.36.

 Conclusion:
 The Viz.ai aneurysm algorithm was able to detect and measure ruptured and unruptured CAs in consecutive CTAs. The model has demonstrated that a deep learning AI algorithm can achieve clinically useful levels of accuracy for clinical decision support.


*These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Relapse is a major obstacle in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Refinement of risk stratification may aid the identification of patients who are likely to relapse. Abnormal cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2 (CSRP2) has been implicated in various cancers, but its function remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of CSRP2 in predicting adult AML recurrence. Methods: RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of CSRP2 in 193 newly diagnosed adult AML patients and 44 healthy controls. The competitive risk model was used to calculate the cumulative incidence of relapse rate (CIR), Kaplan–Meier to calculate the relapse-free survival rate (RFS), and the Cox regression model to perform multivariate analysis. Viral transfection was used to construct AML cell lines with stable knockdown of CSRP2, CCK8 to detect proliferation and drug resistance, flow cytometry to detect cell cycle and apoptosis, and Western blot to detect key molecules in signaling pathways. Results: CSRP2 transcript levels were higher in 193 adult AML compared with 44 healthy controls. In 149 patients who achieved complete remission, those with high CSRP2 transcript levels displayed a lower 2-year CIR and higher 2-year RFS, especially when receiving only chemotherapy. In multivariate analysis, a high CSRP2 transcript level was independently associated with a better RFS. Knockdown of CSRP2 promoted proliferation and cell cycle progression, and reduced chemosensitivity. Western blot analysis showed upregulation of p-AKT and p-CREB in CSRP2-knockdown AML cell lines. Inhibition assays suggested these two signaling pathways participated in the CSRP2-mediated proliferation effects in AML cell lines. Conclusion: In summary, CSRP2 correlates with relapse in adult AML. Down-regulation of CSRP2 could promote the proliferation of AML cell lines by regulating the AKT and CREB signaling pathways. Therefore, CSRP2 may provide prognostic significance and potential therapeutic targets in the management of AML.


Members of the PKC (protein kinase C) superfamily play key regulatory roles in glucose transport. How the different PKC isotypes are involved in the regulation of glucose transport is still poorly defined. PMA is a potent activator of conventional and novel PKCs and PMA increases the rate of glucose uptake in many different cell systems. In the present study, we show that PMA treatment increases glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by two mechanisms: a mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase-dependent increase in GLUT1 (glucose transporter 1) expression levels and a PKClambda-dependent translocation of GLUT1 towards the plasma membrane. Intriguingly, PKClambda co-immunoprecipitated with PKCbeta(II) and did not with PKCbeta(I). Previously, we have described that down-regulation of PKCbeta(II) protein levels or inhibiting PKCbeta(II) by means of the myristoylated PKCbetaC2-4 peptide inhibitor induced GLUT1 translocation towards the plasma membrane in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Combined with the present findings, these results suggest that the liberation of PKClambda from PKCbeta(II) is an important factor in the regulation of GLUT1 distribution in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.


report can be negative: first the search strategy may be flawed and secondly no research may have been published. In the latter case this may be because the research question is novel or because the question being asked has been considered not worth answering. We go to great lengths to ensure that the search strategies used are highly sensitive4 (particularly in the case of negative BETs), but recognise the limitations of Medline. We believe that by only seeking to answer questions that arise in clinical practice we avoid questions that are not worth answering. Thus negative BETs should identify novel research questions or highlight areas of clinical uncertainty. It is therefore disappointing to see these negative BETs labelled as unhelpful, potentially misleading, or as a cause for misunderstanding. Rather they offer an opportunity for re-examining our ideas about the treatment of these conditions, and allow us to decide whether well designed studies that really answer the questions posed are needed.


This paper characterizes the manufacturer warranty policy and its effect on consumer behavior under the following conditions: consumers are heterogeneous in risk-preferences, consumer actions affecting the probability of warranty redemption are unobservable to the manufacturer, and the product reliability is known. We obtain the "menu" of warranty contracts, and then make connections with its institutional counterpart: the extended service contract. The model's implications for consumer behavior are examined using data obtained from a sample of recent buyers of new cars. The role of risk in consumer behavior with respect to choice of extended service contracts, and the allocation of effort for maintenance are found to be consistent with the model's predictions. The empirical analysis permits quantifying the demand for extended service contracts as a function of the extent of manufacturer warranty. The estimates show that for our sample of buyers a manufacturer warranty of three years is optimal in the sense of overcoming the role of riskaversion in the choice of extended service contracts. (Warranty; Extended Service Contract; Consumer Heterogeneity; Risk Aversion; Moral Hazard)


: In healthy subjects, in a state of relative rest, with different individual profiles of asymmetry (20 right-handed and 10 left-handed subjects), a greater conjunction of electrical brain processes (estimated by mean EEG coherence levels) has been found in the dominant hemisphere as compared to the subdominant one, more distinctly expressed in the right-handed subjects. The maximum degree of interhemispheric asymmetry of the EEG coherence is observed in the posterior associative cortical areas. Specific interhemispheric theta-range differences are revealed as compared with other EEG frequency bands. Greater values are obtained of the correlation of the EEG symmetrical hemispheres points in the whole frequency band and in alpha- and beta-ranges in the right-handed subjects than in the left-handed ones.


The relationship between successful transition to university and student retention is well established. Fundamental to this success is the university's ability to develop evidence-based interventions to support the initial phases of transition. Yet, gaining insight into the initial transitional processes is problematic. This is due to the university transition beginning when the student commences their information search for institutions and courses, rather than after they arrive for induction. Meaningful pre-arrival insights can, however, be acquired when the student begins to communicate their choices through their social media network. The aim of this study was to provide insight to inform proactive transition and retention interventions, by exploring pre-arrival social media communication exchanges. A twenty-one-month netnography of prospective student social media conversations, identified through a hashtag on Twitter and Instagram was undertaken. Thematic analysis of the netnographic data identified four consistent topics of conversation, revealing the expectations and tensions of a cohort from the initial transition stage until induction. This research makes the following contribution; employing proactive induction interventions that are informed by pre-arrival communication insights has the potential to positively impact retention and academic grades.


Forms part of a group of images recorded on August 17, documenting scenes at Sweet Potato Pie, Inc., 140 Auburn Street, Paterson.


The high installation cost is the major obstacle of the commercialization of the solid oxide fuel cell for distributed power generation. This paper presents a new low cost 10-kW converter system to overcome this obstacle. The proposed system consists of an isolated dc-dc converter to boost the fuel cell voltage to 400 V dc and a pulse-width modulated inverter with filter to convert the dc voltage to two split-phase 120-V ac. The dc-dc converter uses phase shifting to control power flow through a transformer with a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor full bridge on the low voltage side and a voltage doubler on the high voltage side. One IPM is used to realize the voltage doubler and the dc-ac inverter. Compared to the existing fuel cell converter systems, the proposed circuit has low cost, less component count, smaller size, and reduced dc-dc converter peak current. Simulation and experimental results are demonstrated.


Male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with 90 mg/kg of streptozotocin at 2 days of age. After weaning, they were put on a fat-free diet supplemented with safflower oil (S), a combination of S and linseed oil (L) or a combination of evening primrose oil (E) and L for 8 weeks. Plasma glucose levels and glycosuria were significantly elevated in all 3 groups of diabetic rats in comparison with the corresponding control rats. The percentage of arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) in plasma phospholipids of the S + L and E + L groups was similar to that of the S group and did not differ between control and diabetic rats while adrenic acid (22:4n-6) and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) changed in proportion to dietary n-3 and n-6 fats content. Arachidonic acid in aorta phospholipids significantly reduced in all 3 groups of diabetic rats as compared to the corresponding control groups. Dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (20:3n-6) and arachidonic acid in aorta phospholipids increased by the E + L treatment. These results suggest that arachidonic acid in plasma phospholipids is kept constant regardless of the presence of diabetes of non-insulin-dependent type or dietary n-3 and n-6 fats supplementation. In aorta phospholipids, arachidonic acid in diabetic animals reduced and this may be compensated by gamma-linolenic acid supplementation, which leads to increase of dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid levels.


SIR: I would like to point out a frequently quoted inaccuracy that appeared in both an article and comment in a recent issue of this journal (Journal, August 30) pertaining to the immune status of patients receiving anticancer therapy. Both articles stated that for immunotherapy to be successful in the mouse model, then a residual tumour mass ofless than lOs cells must be present, as greater than that number could not be dealt with by the host immune system. The obvious corollary of this, when transposed to the human situation, is that immunotherapy will only be effective in dealing with very small tumour volumes. It appears that the authors have drawn general conclusions regarding residual tumour volumes from the example of one tumour system in one strain of mouse, and this has the effect of being very misleading. Some of the best results of specific immunotherapy in mice has been obtained by Simmons et alii' 2 with the use of neuraminidase and concanavalin-A treated tumour cells. They have obtained complete regression of established tumour masses of much greater volumes than 10' cells. Tumour masses up to one centimeter in diameter and containing of the order of 5 x 10· cells have regressed following immunotherapy. A tumour of proportional size in man would contain in excess of 5 x 10" cells and would have a volume of 700 ml. Tumour masses containing far greater than 10' cells have regressed as a result of immunotherapy in other animal systems. J 4 s As the full potential of immunotherapy has certainly not been realized at this time, there is absolutely no way of predicting how effective a modality of treatment it will be in the future, and attempts to do so can be very misleading. By altering tumour antigenicity with the enzyme neuraminidase, in-vitro lymphoblastic responses to tumour cells have approached in magnitude those obtained with HL-A incompatible allogeneic cells," and it is well known that host immune mechanisms can readily reject an allogeneic graft the size of a kidney or liver. Spontaneous regressions of large tumour masses, although uncommon, do attest to the potential of host immunological defense mechanisms. Almost all authors relegate immunotherapy to the role of dealing with small residual tumour masses left behind after more conventional treatment. Such a role could well change as the complexities of the immune system become better understood. Lahey Clinic Foundation, BRUCE N. GRAY, 605 Commonwealth Avenue, Associate in Research. Boston, Massachusetts, 02215, U.S.A.


Making analogies is considered to depend on executive functions. We examined the role of the central executive in solving pictorial cross-mapping problems while generating random digits ranging 1-3 for one group of subjects, and 1-9 for another. We used three indices assessing different aspects of randomness and a self-report measure to evaluate the effect of the concurrent task. Subjects who had to generate digits between 1 and 9 perceived the task to be harder but still produced more random sequences than those in the smallerrange condition. Although the manipulation of cognitive load was successful, no difference was observed in the proportion of relational responses to the cross-mapping task, suggesting that analogies may not be as cognitively demanding as otherwise assumed. We also provide correlational support for the influence of individual differences in fluid intelligence on relational mapping abilities.


There are approximately three hundred million African Muslims in the world, which comprises roughly one-third of the African continent's population. But despite this fairly large Muslim population and Islam's historical presence in Africa, African Islam has remained largely neglected in the study of Muslim politics. This neglect was to a large extent the result of an academic division of labor based on the assumption that Africa was only superficially Islamized. However, the truth is that many parts of Africa have been incorporated into the world of Islam for a long time. African Muslims have adhered to and practiced the main pillars of Islam--including the arduous pilgrimage to Mecca required of every Muslim--for more than a millennium. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During the European colonial conquest of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, colonial troops faced fierce resistance from organized religious political Islamic movements, including the Tijaniyya in Senegal and Mali and the Libyan Sanusiyya in the Sahara and Niger. After the establishment of colonial domination and the creation of French, British, and Portuguese-controlled territories, the movement of Muslims across the Sahara was considerably restricted by colonial governments that wanted to prevent the rise of transnational Islamic solidarities. This isolation of African Muslims ended with the collapse of colonial rule after World War II, at which point they began to enjoy greater freedom of movement and agency. Political independence also ushered in an era of charismatic leaders, such as Sukarno in Indonesia, Nehru in India, Nasser in Egypt, and Nkrumah in Ghana, all of whom sought to promote solidarity within the "Southern" bloc by way of the Non-Aligned Movement and various other bilateral and multilateral treaties and agreements. Within the framework of such cooperation between southern countries, predominantly Muslim states in the Middle East and Africa were encouraged to develop closer relations based on a common Islamic heritage. These connections between African Muslims and the rest of the Islamic world laid the foundation for the strong revival of Islam that occurred in the 1970s. This revival, although originating in the Middle East, gained momentum in Africa and led to a new wave of Islamist groups that sought to enact a series of social changes in the region. But contrary to general consensus in the West, these groups have no real aspirations for political power and do not adopt methods of Islamic extremism or jihadism. Indeed, such extremist ideologies and movements have had very little success in gaining influence in sub-Saharan Africa. Afro-Arab Relations After Independence The attainment of political independence in Asia and Africa led to a rebuilding of ties that had been restricted or severed during colonial rule. Several North African and Middle Eastern Arab countries were keen to promote Islamic education in sub-Saharan Africa. From the early 1960s onwards, Egypt and Morocco strengthened their ties with many West African states. The Moroccan presence in West Africa, it must be noted, goes back to the sixteenth century when Morocco conquered the Songhai Empire and made it a province of the Moroccan kingdom. Another source of Moroccan influence in West Africa has been the spread of the Morocco-based Tijaniyya Sufi order, which millions of Black Africans have embraced. King Hassan of Morocco developed personal friendships with many West African politicians and religious leaders. Grants were provided to thousands of African graduates of the local Islamic scholarly tradition to pursue higher education in Moroccan institutions. These close ties continue to be cultivated by the current ruler of Morocco, Muhammad VI. Next to Morocco, Egypt has done the most to strengthen relations with African nations in the postcolonial period. A nationalist, socialist, and towering figure of Thirdworldism, Egypt's former president Gamal Abdel Nasser, also believed in pan-Islamic solidarity. …