Rabbinic literature contains several examples of a manner of silencing impious arguments that is usually identified only with later forms of piety, namely, ascribing the arguments to the evil inclination ( yetzerhara ). Arguments attributed to the yetzer represent serious discursive threats against rabbinic doctrine, marking fundamental problems in both its legal and nonlegal (aggadic) parts. Identifying a question or refutation as belonging to the yetzer automatically invalidates it. By ascribing arguments to the yetzer , the rabbis prevent their audience from actually engaging them, thus marking the limits of rabbinic dialogism.


The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was used to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae. A specific DNA sequence for M. pneumoniae was selected from a genomic library, and two oligonucleotides were chosen in this sequence to give an amplified fragment of 144 base pairs. We show that DNA from different M. pneumoniae strains can be detected by PCR, with DNA from other Mycoplasma species giving negative results. Analysis of biological samples (throat swabs) obtained from hamsters that were experimentally infected with M. pneumoniae showed that PCR was more sensitive and reliable than conventional culture techniques for the detection of M. pneumoniae. Initial experiments on artificially seeded human bronchoalveolar lavages showed that PCR can be used to detect 10(2) to 10(3) organisms.


We introduce amethod for extracting regional and habitat features of various fish species based on chemical and microbial correlations that incorporate integrated analysis and a variable selection approach. We characterized 24 fish species from two marine regions in Japan, in terms of the metabolic and inorganic profiles of muscle and gut contents, as well as gut microbes. Using machine learning, the integrated analysis based on the metabolic, inorganic, and microbial profiles of muscle and gut contents allows the characterization of both the fish species and habitat regions. The results revealed that the fish muscle tissue profile provides high-value data for evaluating ecosystems and discriminating fish populations based on species and regions. To visualize the regionality and habitat, we developed a method to efficiently extract the most important variables using the machine learning approach, followed by correlation analysis of variations in muscle and gut content profiles. The correlation networks enabled efficient visualization of marine ecosystems in the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan. This method should be useful for evaluating fish habitats and elucidating associated environmental chemical networks.


This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between the quality of work life and teachers performance of Junior High School in Pulogadung District Area, East Jakarta. This research is a quantitative study with 2 variables in it, namely: (X) Quality of Work Life as independent variables and (Y) Performance as the dependent variable. Quality of work life is a set of real work situations in organizations which refers to the creation of performance improvement, employee involvement, as well as the satisfaction of the people involved in the organization in order to meet the expectations of the members of the organization. Performance is the attitude of the person which gift a contribution to reach the goal of work and the purpose of organization. The method used is survey method with the results of correlational studies. The population in this study is a Junior High School teacher in Pulogadung District Area, East Jakarta. Samples were taken by using a simple random sampling technique. The technique is based on the sample size used in this study were 65 teachers. Data collection for the variable Quality Of Work Life (X) and Performance (Y) using a questionnaire. Product Moment Correlation coefficients obtained, the coefficient r equal to 0.61079, and the results of testing the hypothesis with t test obtained t count equal to 6.123 is greater than t table of 1.669, then the alternative hypothesis (Ha) is expressed in a significant correlation coefficient received. The coefficient of determination of 0.3731 this means that the contribution of the quality of work life in schools to performance of Junior High School teacher in Pulogadung District Area, East Jakarta, amounting to 37.31%.


Caves are stable environments with characteristics favoring the development of microorganisms. The allocthonous input of organic matter and microbes into the warm Neotropical caves may favor the development of filamentous fungi, including pathogenic species. Histoplasma capsulatum is a pathogenic species commonly found in caves and associated with bat and bird guano. Many Brazilian caves have been historically visited due to scenic and religious tourism. The objective of this study was to perform a microbiology study for a management plan of a show cave in Brazil, focusing on the presence and distribution of pathogenic and opportunistic fungi in the cave. Statistic analysis was used to verify the influence of touristic activity on airborne fungi spore load. Fungi were isolated from air and guano in Lapa Nova Cave. Samples were obtained through serial dilution, direct and settle plate techniques. For H. capsulatum, samples were incubated in specific media and conditions. Airborne fungal spore load was compared prior and during visitation and statistically analyzed. A total of 2,575 isolates from the genera Aspergillus, Calcarisporium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Emericella, Eurotium, Fusarium, Geotrichum, Gliocladium, Mucor, Purpureocillium, Paecilomyces, Penicillium, Rhizopus and Trichoderma were identified. Histoplasma capsulatum was not isolated from the cave. Eleven opportunistic species were identified. Significant (p<0.05) variations on fungal richness in the air occurred due to cave visitation. Areas of potential microbiologic risks were indicated and management actions suggested. The results suggest a diverse community inhabiting the cave. Possible opportunistic species should be monitored in show caves and microbiota should always be included in the elaboration of cave management plans. This is the first detailed microbiologic study for a management plan of a show cave in the country. It provides relevant information for future management plans. cave; pathogenic fungi; microbiology; management plan; cave tourism


This research is based on research interests of solidarity, loyalty and social lives of children owned by the punk community to members of the community. In this case there is certainly a communications network that is formed in the punk community in the town of Blitar, is what makes relationships in this community can be established. What makes the communication network that occurred in this community gave birth to the activities that are often held by this punk community. Activities are usually done in this community usually like about the procurement of musical events, social events and the events on the environment. These activities are done jointly with one capital and one aim embroidery. Thus, in this study, researchers are interested to know how the communications network in the punk community in the town of Blitar this happen? Then found the problem is how the communication network within the punk community in the town of Blitar in the treat-tight relationship between fellow members of the punk community.
To answer that in the formulation of the problem put forward regarding the communication network, the research method used was qualitative research methods, researchers in this research using network analysis as a method of research, namely the method of research which is based on the convergence of communication models that melandas on cybernetic theory. Data collected by observation, interview and documentation directly to the informants using snowball sampling technique. Then presented with the data obtained and sociogram sosiometri. To maintain credibility of research results, researchers using the technique of
'triangulation of sources "as keabsahaan engineering data.
From the results of research on communication networks in the communities in the treat-tight punk hubungn among communities in the town of Blitar punk there are three problems, namely: (1) punk community communication network in the town of Blitar, is formed from the activities which they often interact, ask questions and exchange information about the punk community in the town of Blitar. So, with these activities rise to a sense of solidarity and loyalty are stronger in this community. (2) there are three clicks in the punk community communication network, click the first form of communication network pattern wheel, click
the second communication network patterning "Y" and click on the third or click on a majority of the communication network that formed the pattern is the pattern of star
communication network or a star pattern or pattern of all channels. (3) then the roles of the members of this punk community informants indicated that the brother of Supreme no.2 / her role sebaga mbah Opinion Leader, to the role of informants Gate Keepers is no. 8 lek pokek the brother, the role of Bridge in the Play by the two informants informant no. Four brothers, and informants cetol no. 15 ie brother Yayat / Pepeng. Then for the role, and Liaison
Cosmopolities not find the pictures of this punk community communication network, and the informant no. Six brothers Fengki / mouse deer and the informant no. Seven brothers range of mountains / bengkring role as Isolate.
From these results we can conclude that the theory of cybernetic accordance with these results, it is mentioned that, the communication network is formed from the existence of communication between individuals and among groups where communication networks within the punk community was also formed because of the activities that make individuals in the member These communities often interact, ask questions and exchange information about
the punk community itself. In addition cybernetic theory shows that the behavior of an individual or individuals are determined by social relations, rather than on individual
characteristics, so in this case there are the roles each member of the punk community communication network group formed from what was done by members of the community
groups .


Multiple discrete
(non-spatial) and continuous (spatial) structures can be fitted to a proximity
matrix to increase the information extracted about the relations among the row
and column objects vis-a-vis a representation featuring only a single
structure. However, using multiple discrete and continuous structures often
leads to ambiguous results that make it difficult to determine the most
faithful representation of the proximity matrix in question. We propose to
resolve this dilemma by using a nonmetric analogue of spectral matrix
decomposition, namely, the decomposition of the proximity matrix into a sum
of equally-sized matrices, restricted only to display an order-constrained
patterning, the anti-Robinson (AR) form. Each AR matrix captures a unique
amount of the total variability of the original data. As our ultimate goal, we
seek to extract a small number of matrices in AR form such that their sum
allows for a parsimonious, but faithful reconstruction of the total
variability among the original proximity entries. Subsequently, the AR matrices
are treated as separate proximity matrices. Their specific patterning lends
them immediately to the representation by a single (discrete non-spatial)
ultrametric cluster dendrogram and a single (continuous spatial) unidimensional
scale. Because both models refer to the same data base and involve the same
number of parameters, estimated through least-squares, a direct comparison of
their differential fit is legitimate. Thus, one can readily
determine whether the amount of variability associated which each AR matrix is
most faithfully represented by a discrete or a continuous structure, and which
model provides in sum the most appropriate representation of the original
proximity matrix. We propose an extension of the order-constrained
anti-Robinson decomposition of square-symmetric proximity matrices to the
analysis of individual differences of three-way data, with the third way
representing individual data sources. An application to judgments of
schematic face stimuli illustrates the method.


Polygenic adaptation in response to selection on quantitative traits is thought to be ubiquitous in humans and other species, yet this mode of adaptation remains poorly understood. We investigate the dynamics of this process, assuming that a sudden change in environment shifts the optimal value of a highly polygenic quantitative trait. We find that when the shift is not too large relative to the genetic variance in the trait and this variance arises from segregating loci with small to moderate effect sizes (defined in terms of the selection acting on them before the shift), the mean phenotype's approach to the new optimum is well approximated by a rapid exponential process first described by Lande (1976). In contrast, when the shift is larger or large effect loci contribute substantially to genetic variance, the initially rapid approach is succeeded by a much slower one. In either case, the underlying changes to allele frequencies exhibit different behaviors short and long-term. Over the short term, strong directional selection on the trait introduces small differences between the frequencies of minor alleles whose effects are aligned with the shift in optimum versus those with effects in the opposite direction. The phenotypic effects of these differences are dominated by contributions from alleles with moderate and large effects, and cumulatively, these effects push the mean phenotype close to the new optimum. Over the longer term, weak directional selection on the trait can amplify the expected frequency differences between opposite alleles; however, since the mean phenotype is close to the new optimum, alleles are mainly affected by stabilizing selection on the trait. Consequently, the frequency differences between opposite alleles translate into small differences in their probabilities of fixation, and the short-term phenotypic contributions of large effect alleles are largely supplanted by contributions of fixed, moderate ones. This process takes on the order of ~4Ne generations (where Ne is the effective population size), after which the steady state architecture of genetic variation around the new optimum is restored.


Nature-based solutions (NbS) provide direct benefits to people who live in areas where these approaches are present. The degree of direct benefits (thermal comfort, reduced flood risk, and mental health) varies across temporal and spatial scales, and it can be modelled and quantified. Less clear are the indirect benefits related to opportunities to learn about the environment and its influence on personal behaviour and action. The present study, based on survey data from 1955 participants across 17 cities worldwide, addressed whether participation in NbS through two types of interactions (a passive learning experience about NbS and a more active experience based on Citizen Science) stimulates motivation and willingness to be more environmentally sustainable. Over 75% of participants improved their understanding of environmental sustainability and were highly motivated and more confident in their ability to improve sustainability in their local environment/nature. Similar percentage improvements arose from both types of activity across all cities. Those NbS that had elements of both blue and green infrastructure rated higher than those that had predominantly green NbS. Interestingly, a large percentage of the participants did not live near the NbS that were the focus of these activities. This indicated that expected spatial limitations between benefit and recipient may be overcome when dedicated programmes involve people in learning or monitoring NbS. Therefore, opportunities have arisen to expand inclusion from the immediately local to the larger community through participation and Citizen Science, with potential benefits to social cohesion and urban sustainability.


: The paper presents experimental data on different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in water, bottom sediments and algae as well as evidence available in literature on their content in exhausts of automobiles, oil shale industry and power station. Attempts are made to reveal differences in sources of the environment pollution with allowance for different PAH/benzo(a)pyrene percentage ratio, but as the PAH ratios are relatively similar in different pollution sources this attempt was a failure.


A recurrent neural network modeling approach for software reliability prediction with respect to cumulative failure time is proposed. Our proposed network structure has the capability of learning and recognizing the inherent internal temporal property of cumulative failure time sequence. Further, by adding a penalty term of sum of network connection weights, Bayesian regularization is applied to our network training scheme to improve the generalization capability and lower the susceptibility of overfitting. The performance of our proposed approach has been tested using four real-time control and flight dynamic application data sets. Numerical results show that our proposed approach is robust across different software projects, and has a better performance with respect to both goodness-of-fit and next-step-predictability compared to existing neural network models for failure time prediction.


OBJECTIVE
To show how clinicians can become the leaders of 'quality' in a mental health services, using the example of developments within Northern Sydney Health (NSH) Area Mental Health Services (AMHS).

METHOD
In the absence of an existing integrated area quality programme, NSH AMHS implemented a quality improvement programme whereby staff at the coalface would become the leaders in 'quality' guided and supported by the newly established Quality Unit. This innovative approach is consistent with evidence that suggests that clinicians need to 'own' quality improvement initiatives and embed them into everyday practice, rather than see them as the role of a designated 'quality' person/s.

RESULTS
Within 12 months the service trained over 100 clinicians in Clinical Practice Improvement (CPI) methodology and currently has over 20 CPI projects with an identified measurable outcome. As well, it has provided over 200 staff with in-services on quality improvement approaches and trained 45 staff in root cause analysis. Training of eight clinicians in the use of the Minitab statistical package has allowed data analysis and charting to identify opportunities for improvement.

CONCLUSION
The handing of 'quality' back to clinicians of the AMHS has provided a framework for improved outcomes for patients and carers. This approach to service improvement is transferable to other mental health services.


Acute decompensated heart failure represents a heterogeneous group of disorders that typically present as dyspnea, edema and fatigue. Despite the high prevalence of this condition and its associated major morbidity and mortality, diagnosis can be difficult, and optimal treatment remains poorly defined. Identification of the acute triggers for the decompensation as well as noninvasive characterization of cardiac filling pressures and output is central to management. Diuretics, vasodilators, continuous positive airway pressure and inotropes can be used to alleviate symptoms. However, few agents currently available for the treatment of acute decompensated heart failure have been definitively shown in large prospective randomized clinical trials to provide meaningful improvements in intermediate-term clinical outcomes. Multiple novel therapies are being developed, but previous treatment failures indicate that progress in the management of acute decompensated heart failure is likely to be slow.


Accurate and trouble-free blood collection reduces the physical and mental risk of patients. Visualization of expert venipuncture techniques is important when conducting blood collection training. Fine motions such as needle insertion for venipuncture should be evaluated by measuring both finger motion and haptic sense. This paper proposes a method for evaluating the needle insertion process in blood collection. Blood collection technique of expert medical staff was measured and analyzed experimentally. A winged blood collection needle was inserted into a forearm model used for venipuncture training. A motion capture system was used to detect finger motions during needle insertion. Furthermore, haptic measurements were made by applying a thin and flexible sensor at the contact interface of the grip to measure both contact pressure and shear stress. The haptic sensor measured contact pressure at the fingers while holding a winged needle, and detected changes in stress components along the directions of needle insertion and skin compression during the venipuncture process. During needle insertion, characteristic changes in stress profiles were observed along with the process of puncturing the component layers of the forearm model. The blood collection procedure could be visualized using haptic sensing throughout the experiment. The proposed haptic sensing system may be useful in enhancing blood collection technique and developing automation of the process.


Fumonisin B1 (FB1) is a water-soluble mycotoxin produced by Fusarium verticillioides. Research objectives were to determine the leaching of FB1 through soil and FB1 binding in soil. Leachate and microcosm columns were used to determine the movement of FB1 through soil. FB1-contaminated corn screenings or water extracts containing FB1 were placed on the surface of soil columns. In 100% sand columns FB1 leaching was only slightly retarded, whereas, at 50%, 75% and 100% Cecil sandy loam, approximately 60%, 50% and 20% of the FB1 was recovered in the column leachate, respectively. The FB1 retained on the 100% Cecil sandy loam column was tightly bound. However, approximately 75% of the bound FB1 was released with 5% formic acid and 5% formic acid:acetonitrile (1:1) suggesting that binding was ionic. The results suggest that FB1 is quite stable in soils and, while tightly bound, under certain environmental conditions could be released.


Mathematics problems are shared rapidly across all social media platforms, and the relative anonymity granted to users can lead to unfiltered discourse. This study examined 1,046 comments from a mathematics problem posted twice to YouTube in February 2016 to determine the underlying narratives that indicate the commenters' mathematical mindsets and their mathematical identities. These two factors contribute to mathematics success in general. Qualitative themes emerged regarding attributions, motivational goals, response to failure, defensive processing, normative comparisons, and positional acts. A fixed mathematical mindset was the dominant mindset and corresponded to positional acts of superiority, inferiority, or authority. This finding suggests that intellectual capacity or ranking was a core component of the mathematical identities for these users. The growth mathematical mindset was linked to spectator and instructor or solidarity positions, suggesting that these users had more robust mathematical identities that were unthreatened by performance indicators. Further examination of social media discourse andits relation to mathematical mindsets and mathematical identities can lead to a better understanding of the interactions outside the classroom that either encourage or inhibit mathematics success.


Tagging has emerged as a popular means to annotate on-line objects such as bookmarks, photos and videos. Tags vary in semantic meaning and can describe different aspects of a media object. Tags describe the content of the media as well as locations, dates, people and other associated meta-data. Being able to automatically classify tags into semantic categories allows us to understand better the way users annotate media objects and to build tools for viewing and browsing the media objects. In this paper we present a generic method for classifying tags using third party open content resources, such as Wikipedia and the Open Directory. Our method uses structural patterns that can be extracted from resource meta-data. We describe the implementation of our method on Wikipedia using WordNet categories as our classification schema and ground truth. Two structural patterns found in Wikipedia are used for training and classification: categories and templates. We apply our system to classifying Flickr tags. Compared to a WordNet baseline our method increases the coverage of the Flickr vocabulary by 115%. We can classify many important entities that are not covered by WordNet, such as, London Eye, Big Island, Ronaldinho, geocaching and wii.


Book synopsis: The book is a collection of fifteen academic essays on medieval English cathedrals. Many facets of medieval life may be explored within the context of England's pre-Reformation cathedrals, and the dedicated communities, some monastic and some secular, responsible for their regular daily programme of worship. The cathedral buildings themselves, described and studied here in varying degrees of detail from as far back as the twelfth century, offer seemingly endless new aspects for investigation. Apparently routine matters relating to the fabric, such as arrangements for internal security, often shed unexpected light on the practicalities of a daily life centred on the performance of the liturgy. The massive loss of medieval service books at the Reformation and thereafter has presented scholars with the challenge of reconstructing a detailed and accurate picture of the liturgical exercises themselves. On a wider scale, legal and administrative records reveal the relationships of individual cathedral chapters, not only with their own - often distant - bishops, but also with society as a whole, while the identifiable activities of patrons and craftsmen offer a more detailed reflection of the interplay between the cathedral and its local congregation. The papers in this volume are dedicated to Pamela Tudor-Craig, also known as Lady Wedgwood, the scholar who initiated the Harlaxton Symposium in 1984 and who has ever since supported and encouraged it with imagination and enthusiasm.


OF DISSERTATION TUMOR-DERIVED PROTEINS AND MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION IN LUNG CANCER-INDUCED CACHEXIA Lung tumors secrete multiple factors that contribute to cachexia, a severe wasting syndrome that includes loss of muscle mass, weakness, and fatigue. 80% of advanced lung cancer patients experience cachexia, which cannot be reversed by nutritional interventions, diminishes response to and tolerance of cancer treatments, and increases morbidity and mortality. Despite a multitude of clinical trials, there are currently no approved treatments. This deficiency suggests that not all of the factors that contribute to cachexia have been identified. Cancer is frequently accompanied by an increase in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a hallmark of inflammation. Clinical trials for COX-2 inhibitors have resulted in restoration of muscle mass and decreased fatigue. Along with loss of myofibrillar proteins, cachexia also induces mitochondrial dysfunction, which contributes to fatigue. The amelioration of fatigue by COX-2 inhibition suggests possible alterations to mitochondrial function. We hypothesized that there were unidentified tumor-derived factors that contribute to cachectic wasting and fatigue. Treatment of C2C12 myotubes with Lewis lung cancer-conditioned media (LCM) resulted in increased COX-2 content, myosin loss, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mass spectrometry revealed 158 confirmed proteins in LCM. We focused on extracellular 14-3-3 proteins because they bind and regulate over 200 known partners. We found that depletion of extracellular 14-3-3 proteins diminished myosin content. CD13, an aminopeptidase, is the proposed receptor for 14-3-3 proteins. Inhibiting aminopeptidases with Bestatin also reduced myosin content. LCM treatment decreased basal and ATP-related mitochondrial respiration, caused a transient rise in reactive oxygen species (ROS), and increased 4-Hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) in both cytosolic and mitochondrial fractions of cell lysates. COX-2 inhibition did not spare myosin content in LCM-treated myotubes, but did alter mitochondrial respiration and cytosolic oxidant levels. Our novel findings show that extracellular 14-3-3 proteins may act as previously unidentified myokines, signaling via aminopeptidases to help maintain muscle mass. We elucidated how LCM alters mitochondrial electron flow, and increases oxidative damage by ROS and 4HNE. Although successful in clinical trials, COX-2 inhibitors do not appear to spare muscle mass by directly working on skeletal muscle, but did alter mitochondrial function.


Abstract Swedish makes use of tonal accents (Accents 1 and 2) to contrast words, but the functional load is very low, with some regional dialects not even exhibiting the contrast. In particular given the low number of minimal pairs, the question is whether tonal word accent is used in lexical access. Here we present two cross-modal fragment semantic priming studies in order to address this question. Both experiments use first syllable fragments in order to prime semantically related targets. Experiment 1 utilises words whose first syllable occurs with both accent patterns, creating a situation in which there is lexical competition between words that differ solely in terms of accent. Experiment 2 removes this competition by using words that have no such accent competitors. Our results show that native speakers of Swedish use tonal word accent in lexical access: Accent mispronunciations failed to prime semantically related targets, regardless of whether primes had accent competitors or not. Results for a group of early bilingual speakers (who grew up with one Swedish-speaking parent and one other non-tonal language) showed no differences in processing compared to the monolinguals. This indicates that the extraction of accent features during acquisition and their use in lexical access is robust, even in a scenario where multiple input languages lead to tonal word accent being a useful feature for only some of the lexical items that are being acquired. There is no doubt that the accent system is well entrenched into the bilinguals' phonological system.


We present new P and S teleseismic tomography models of the upper mantle beneath California and Nevada. Improved tomographic methods and the incorporation of new data increase image resolution and seismic structure definition. Technical advancements include the use of 3‐D ray tracing, ray weighting and finite‐frequency sensitivity kernels. Together with the incorporation of modern crustal velocity models to account for crustal delay time, these tomographic advancements reveal slightly higher amplitudes and narrower structures beneath prominent tectonic features in California and Nevada. The addition of new data from the southern California Borderland and northwestern California are particularly useful. Based on our imaging results, we discuss the effects of temperature and partial melt on upper mantle seismic velocity beneath California and Nevada. We interpret the major seismically fast structures in our study area to be Juan de Fuca slab and its downward continuation beneath central Nevada and foundered Farallon lithosphere beneath the southern Sierra Nevada and Transverse Ranges. The seismically slow structures beneath the slab‐free window of northern California Coast Range, the Salton Trough extensional basin, and the Cascadia back arc, are all consistent with the presence of partial melting of decompressing mantle. The imaged seismically fast and slow anomalies imply buoyancy variations and melt productivity that ultimately act on the overlying crust.


The highlight of the German ecovillage Sieben Linden is a comfortable house of 100m2 which cost €6000 (sic!) to build. Builders used no electrical devices and only used local and recycled materials. What would be the face of architecture and economy, if such an approach was adopted globally? What if everyone minimized their demands, gave up their hated jobs and built their dream-houses themselves? How would this affect taxes, pensions and employment? Is this a vision of paradise or a cataclysm? These are some of the questions that arise from studying low-tech architecture – a movement born together with high-tech and global economy, but rebelling against all their paradigms.

Low-tech (also called adhocism, vernacular or neo vernacular architecture) questions the meaning of comfort and the separation of economy from social issues. Hassan Fathy, the 'grand-father' of low-tech, promoted mud architecture not merely because of the material itself, but because of its potential to decrease unemployment. Low tech practitioners have employed various strategies in trying to be faithful to their ideals in the capitalist world: some decided to escape the western world altogether, others set up educational centres or building enterprises. Not all of the experiments have been successful. Ironically, a significant drawback of low-tech is not the technology itself, but the fact that it is too cheap and too accessible to make big business on. Despite difficulties, some low tech techniques like earth and straw-bale construction keep moving into the mainstream.

Today's economical and ecological problems make the 'low-tech economy' particularly interesting as a case study. Margaritt Kennedy came to the conclusion that 'in the present monetary system, we have a choice between ecological and economic collapse' , which means that it is impossible to solve ecological issues in architecture without considering the financial relationships between all the players involved. Her concepts of Interest and Inflation-Free Money correspond to low-tech ideas as much as to the recently established Slow-Money Movement or the 'Democratic Bank Project' , due to be
launched in 2012. Whether or not these ideas might reshape the future of architecture and economy is the subject of this paper.


The use of cutting-edge technologies such as the smartphones, smart bracelets, cloud computing, internet of things (IoT), e-Learning, and m-Health, as well as mobile applications has begun to increase in healthcare sectors, due to factors such as low cost, ease of use, mobility, multiple uses, and being reliable. This encouraged the international institutions, particularly health institutions, to increase their investment in healthcare technologies. We aim to develop a new specialized platform, an easy-to-use learning management system called Medical social media system, in order to improve the healthcare services in the Iraqi environment. It would be a social media system which can be used by users from their personal computer or Android devices in order to provide knowledge regarding users such as patients, medical students, new doctors and medical experts in the Iraqi health sector, where infrastructure needs to significantly develop, and medical information needs to be shared among medical workers as well as people in general.
In this paper, we present a quantitative research by data collected from survey questionnaires, which are related to e-Learning and Medical social media system, in order to identify the main factors that influence the interest and the interaction of the medical specialists, new doctors, laboratory analysts, pharmacist, students of medical and biologic groups and patients interested in the health e-Learning and the cutting-edge health technologies through interactive Medical social media systems. Their interest and recommendations are taken into account while building an interactive specialized platform for medical social media system in the Iraqi environment.


In this note, a method is presented for the order reduction of continuous approach for order reduction of complex discrete uncertain systems is proposed. Using Interval arithmetic Routh Stability arrays are formed to obtained numerator and denominator of reduced order model. The developed approach preserves the stability aspect of reduced system if higher order uncertain system is stable. A numerical example is included to illustrate the proposed algorithm along with the comparison with existing techniques


Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a new type of technology that embraces high flexibility and adaptability. The applications in SDN have the ability to manage and control networks while ensuring load balancing, access control, and routing. These are considered the most significant benefits of SDN. However, SDN can be influenced by several types of conflicting flows which may lead to deterioration in network performance in terms of efficiency and optimisation. Besides, SDN conflicts occur due to the impact and adjustment of certain features such as priority and action. Moreover, applying machine learning algorithms in the identification and classification of conflicting flows has limitations. As a result, this paper presents several machine learning algorithms that include Decision Tree (DT), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Extremely Fast Decision Tree (EFDT) and Hybrid (DT-SVM) for detecting and classifying conflicting flows in SDNs. The EFDT and hybrid DT-SVM algorithms were designed and deployed based on DT and SVM algorithms to achieve improved performance. Using a range flows from 1000 to 100000 with an increment of 10000 flows per step in two network topologies namely, Fat Tree and Simple Tree Topologies, that were created using the Mininet simulator and connected to the Ryu controller, the performance of the proposed algorithms was evaluated for efficiency and effectiveness across a variety of evaluation metrics. The experimental results of the detection of conflict flows show that the DT and SVM algorithms achieve accuracies of 99.27% and 98.53% respectively while the EFDT and hybrid DT-SVM algorithms achieve respective accuracies of 99.49% and 99.27%. In addition, the proposed EFDT algorithm achieves 95.73% accuracy on the task of classification between conflict flow types. The proposed EFDT and hybrid DT-SVM algorithms show a high capability of SDN applications to offer fast detection and classification of conflict flows.


Imaginary Text Scores for Peckham is a small exhibition of sound-related texts that evolved after listening walks were undertaken in the environs of the M2 gallery.

If the term 'audiate' is to hearing what 'visualise' is to seeing, can we perhaps train ourselves to be more aware of the aural aspects of our surroundings and memories, by listening and giving priority to our ears?

The audiator/viewer of this exhibition is invited to read and imagine a series of Peckham related sounds that were 'collected' by the group on a sound walk led by Tansy Spinks earlier in the year. A series of rubbings taken from shoe soles fills another volume. In addition, aural and oral related excerpts from Muriel Spark's novel The Ballad of Peckham Rye, 1960 are interspersed to give a sense of the sounds of a site-specific past.

Bound as sets of text scores, every open page may prompt a unique aural moment in the mind, a site-specific sound, the experience of which will have a different resonance for each reader who silently 'performs' the sounds for themselves.


Since the ruling of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States to open up the spectrum from 3.1–10.6 GHz for ultra wideband (UWB) applications in 2002, interest in the use of UWB for localization outside of military applications has skyrocketed. The multi-purpose nature of UWB for localization and also high or low data rate communication make it robust and attractive in many indoor applications including wireless sensor networks, medical body area networks (BANs), surgical navigation, etc. A push towards integrating UWB with global positioning systems (GPS), wireless local area networks (WLANs), Wi-Fi, and inertial measurement units (IMUs) help to mitigate localization errors with redundancy and increase interoperability with existing technologies. A look at the current trends both in the research community and industry highlight future applications of UWB positioning and the technologies which will serve as the building blocks in these systems.


The Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park was established in south central Mongolia in 1993 and is used by over 1100 families with pastoralism as their main means of livelihood. Research conducted in 1998–2000 to analyse grazing management problems identified a number of issues and concerns, including a significant increase in the number of herders and the size of the herd; variations in herd size reflecting differences in wealth; problems with marketing of livestock or livestock products; declining stock movements because of transportation costs and loss of water sources; and significant competition and conflicts for grazing areas. The socio-economic problems associated with Mongolia's transition to a market system, coupled with the expansion of protected areas, mean that herders have to adapt to both the current economic system and changes in land use. Although some aspects of the development of the park can be seen as a positive influence on maintaining pastoral livelihoods in this area, the national goal of protecting 30 per cent of the country, doubling the area of Mongolia currently under protected area status, could have negative effects on pastoral livelihoods, unless ministry officials, protected area administrators and pastoralists can work effectively to solve resource problems.


In contrast to initiatives elsewhere, the emergence of the green infrastructure agenda within the
UK has been firmly aligned with mainstream economic development goals, driven to a large
extent by the combined concerns of increasing urban development/compaction and climate
change impacts. Whilst embedding green infrastructure provision within spatial planning and
housing policy remains largely limited in UK planning practice, there are a few notable
exceptions, signalling the potential for a market-based delivery model of green infrastructure
implementation, particularly through new residential development. In this chapter, we examine
the potential role of market delivery in green infrastructure implementation by exploring the
attitudes and behaviours of speculative housebuilders towards integrating green infrastructure
within mainstream residential development. In doing so, we reflect on the alignment of green
infrastructure with mainstream economic development goals in the UK and consider whether
there is market capacity to deliver state-led policy initiatives seeking to enhance green
infrastructure provision.


Recently, the field of urban development has witnessed a renewed attention for the core-housing concept. The rationale is to re-establish incremental housing as a proactive strategy for satisfying housing demand in rapidly urbanising cities and as an alternative to slum upgrading. As the concept has swung back into the attention of practitioners, it is crucial to integrate "what was learnt last time around". To avoid a strong sense of `deja-vu' about the way the concept was understood in the 1970s, it would help to engage in a quest for more effective implementation and to link the concept to contemporary debates on urban development. An interesting way to refine the thinking may come from the field of architecture, where open building approaches are gaining importance and leading to designs with the potential to change over time. Currently, the field is still divided in two largely disconnected disciplines, architecture and urban development (comprising housing related studies). Evaluations and conclusions are consequently also fragmented. In this thesis I explore the potential of a crosspollination of disciplines: could an open building approach lead to more effective core-housing implementation for low-income households living in rapidly urbanising contexts? To answer this question, in this thesis three key elements of `effective core housing' - sustainable, adequate and legitimate are identified and then simplified into a workable tool which allows for assessing the trade-offs made in the implementation process. Thereby the assessment of effectiveness intentionally takes a longer term perspective. Particularly promising as a starting point for this exploration are several common denominators in the paradigms of the "people's housing process" and of "open building approaches" - respectively in Turner (1979) and Habraken (1998). These common denominators centre around a discourse of `users', `building control', `autonomy' and seeing `the act of building' in the light of the temporal dimension. The analysis starts with a discussion on the application of (modern) open building systems to the residential sector, though the outcome is rather disenchanting. Perceived pragmatic advantages along with ideological motivations suit the context of origin Europe, North America and Japan - best, while not answering to the specific opportunities and limitations of rapidly urbanizing contexts and the stringent affordability criteria of low-income households. Since no core house is implemented in a vacuum, the case study method is used to get an understanding of the consolidation process over time and "on the ground". The core-housing implemented in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, in 1983 a settlement occupied in 1985 - offers a unique opportunity to analyse consolidate on over more than 25 years as well as understanding a project from its embedding in a tight land- and housing system. For the fieldwork, 25 plots are intentionally selected, primarily on the basis of the level of physical consolidation of the plot. Several visits to the plot, including semi-structured interviews and open conversations, as well as photography, are used to identify trends in the consolidation process over time. Triangulation with 1996 aerial photography and expert validation is used to verify findings and interpretations, as well as a focus group discussion with key informants and close cooperation with a local CBO. Five trends are identified through the case study analysis, followed by a discussion of considerations for future core-housing implementation. Possibly the most sobering finding is that, from a time perspective, the plot potential not so much the superstructure - has been the most flexible element of the `core-housing concept'; and it's size allowed for a variety of forms of densification. If indeed the plot is the prime enabler, the inevitable implication is that core-housing concept requires considerable rethinking. Practitioners must engage in thoughtful consideration of the concepts' sustainability aspect in relation to plot sizes, balancing negative consequences of low-density (commonly referred to as "inefficient land-use") and their direct impact on low-income households with the need to prepare room for future densification. During the analysis of extension "trails" (e.g. the timing and material use of subsequent extensions), another interesting trend was found. There has been a steady shift away from the use of impermanent material towards the use of conventional material - mainly brick or block, based on a strong intrinsic motivation of low-income households to "achieve" these "higher level" extensions. In the light of progressive realisation of adequate housing, inherent to the core-housing concept, there is a need for a sensitive pro-active approach by municipalities that moves away from perceiving impermanent extensions as "slummification" but instead guides towards a more safe and resilient "product". A key challenge to the initial core house is the attempt to least constrain conventional material extensions through reducing the costs and time involved in achieving such safer and more resilient extensions. This pragmatic approach is grounded firstly in the realisation that the temporal dimension had rendered many of the intentionally enabling aspects of the initially provided superstructure unrecognisable and possibly irrelevant, whilst the main constraint of extending amongst households themselves was found in their very stringent affordability criteria. The open building approach is brought back into the scene, not as a building concept, but through the principle of zeggenschap - or distributed decision making in building control. It is argued that Zeggenschap may serve as a fruitful principle (or "way of seeing" the built environment) to articulate thinking on core housing towards more effective implementation, whereby different stakeholders play different roles at different levels of the building through time. This exploratory and qualitative research provides several indicators and considerations that may give direction for further studies and implementations towards more effective core-housing to its targeted beneficiaries. The conceptual framework of the thesis offers a useful tool to help assess the inevitable trade-offs between sustainability, legitimacy and adequacy made during the implementation process. If anything, this research leads to the conclusion that a longer-term study on the effectiveness of core-housing must jointly focus on the plot and the household(s) that lives or lived on it. A serious challenge for future implementations is to give targeted beneficiaries a level playing field in decision making as early as possible in the housing process so that they take ownership of the core-housing concept. Keywords: core-housing, low-cost housing implementation, open building approach, pre-fabrication / building systems, incremental housing.


The relationship between global warming and hurricane activity is the focus of considerable interest and intensive research. The available instrumental record, however, is still too short to document and understand the long term climatic controls on hurricane generation. Only by extending the records of past hurricane activity using paleo-data, can we capture the full range of natural variability in hurricane generation and investigate the climatic context in which such variability occurs. Hurricane activity is partly related to sea surface temperatures (SST's) due to the temperature dependence of evaporation rates at the sea surface. When SST's lie below a critical threshold, insufficient moisture is generated to 'feed' a potential hurricane and it remains as a lower energy tropical storm. The reconstruction of SST's, precipitation and runoff over the past 300 years from the same core, will allow for a comparison between marine SST records and reconstructed hurricane activity. The core was recovered from Rookery Bay, a shallow, non-stratified, subtropical estuary on the western shelf of Florida and has already been studied using micropaleontological proxies for relative changes in runoff, habitat change and human impact [1]. The frequent hurricane impacts over the past 150 years are well documented, which makes Florida a suitable location for this research. Due to their large convective cells, hurricanes fractionate water molecules several times more strongly than tropical storms, resulting in the depletion of deuterium (2H) in hurricane precipitation. This deuterium-depleted precipitation is then incorporated in the leaf waxes of plants. Compound specific hydrogen analyses on derivatives of leaf waxes, like long chain n-alkanes with a strong odd-over-even predominance, can therefore be used to reconstruct past changes in the isotopic composition of precipitation. Consequently, stable hydrogen isotope analyses can be used as a direct proxy for past hurricane precipitation intensity. Preliminary results indicate δD values ranging between -130 and -150‰ vs. VSMOW indicating small changes in precipitation. Hurricanes are associated with excessive rainfall and storm surges, both resulting in massive displacements of soil organic matter to the coastal environment. Another way to recognize past hurricane landfalls is thus by reconstructing periods with increased runoff. Since both terrestrial and marine GDGT's are present in high concentrations, the variable concentration of the terrestrial GDGT's (measured by the Branched and Isoprenoid Tetraether index (BIT)) [2] will be used as a proxy for runoff to reconstruct the frequency of storm surges in the bay. Preliminary results show a BIT-index with overall high values of (~0.7-0.8), indicating that soil derived organic matter is a major component of the sediment. This will be supported by comparison with the micropaleontological results, and by investigating the concentration of long chain n-alkanes, whose transport to the coring site is also sensitive to the magnitude of runoff. Concentrations of these n-alkanes are generally around 0.1-0.2μg/g sediment. High alkenone concentrations in Rookery Bay allow for the parallel reconstruction of past sea surface temperatures using the UK'37 paleo-thermometer [3], indicating temperatures of ~27-28°C, with little fluctuations for the past 300 kyr. However, at high sea surface temperatures (>28°C), UK'37 is at its upper limit for reliable SST reconstructions. At these temperatures the TEX86 paleo-thermometer [4] is better suited. However, the high concentration of terrestrial GDGT's in this core renders the TEX86 paleo-thermometer unusable. [1] Donders, T.H., et al. (2008) G-cubed, 9(7), Q07V06 [2] Hopmans, E.C., et al. (2004) Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 224, 107- 116 [3] Prahl, F. G., Wakeham, S. G. (1987) Nature 330, 367 - 369 [4] Schouten, S., et al. (2002) Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 204, 265-274


Context: Male and female nurses face violence in their workplace because of daily exposure to challenging situations as a result of dealing with different types of patients, visitors, and their families.
Aim: The study aimed to assess nurses' perceptions toward workplace violence at Dammam Medical Tower, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample size consisted of 300 nurses working at Dammam Medical Tower using a convenient sampling technique from January to March 2019 and using a modified tool obtained from 'Survey on Workplace Violence' by Massachusetts Nurse's Association.
Results: The most common workplace violence for the last two years was verbal abuse and threatening. Additionally, sexual assault was less violent in the workplace. Around one-third of nurses reported all incidents to management, and less than half of them stated that the management was supportive and tried to find a solution. However, only 10% of them underwent related training regarding workplace violence prevention. Also, more than a quarter of nurses reported that a clear policy and procedures addressing violence are needed to combat violence in the workplace. There is a significant difference between nurses who work in outpatients or emergency department and total violence incidents.
Conclusion: Verbal abuse and threatening are deemed to be the most common violence being occurred in the workplace, while patients and relatives are the commonest offenders. The administration of the workplace should develop a clear policy to address the violent act in work and enhance the violence concept in the orientation courses.


The Nystrom method is an efficient technique to generate low-rank matrix approximations and is used in several large-scale learning applications. A key aspect of this method is the procedure according to which columns are sampled from the original matrix. In this work, we explore the efficacy of a variety of fixed and adaptive sampling schemes. We also propose a family of ensemble-based sampling algorithms for the Nystrom method. We report results of extensive experiments that provide a detailed comparison of various fixed and adaptive sampling techniques, and demonstrate the performance improvement associated with the ensemble Nystrom method when used in conjunction with either fixed or adaptive sampling schemes. Corroborating these empirical findings, we present a theoretical analysis of the Nystrom method, providing novel error bounds guaranteeing a better convergence rate of the ensemble Nystrom method in comparison to the standard Nystrom method.


We propose a new approach to solving the point-to-point inverse kinematics problem for highly redundant manipulators. It is inspired by recent motion planning research and explicitly takes into account constraints due to joint limits and self-collisions. Central to our approach is the novel notion of kinematic roadmap for a manipulator. The kinematic roadmap captures the connectivity of the configuration space of a manipulator in a finite graph like structure. The standard formulation of inverse kinematics problem is then solved using this roadmap. Our current implementation, based on Ariadne's clew algorithm, is composed of two sub-algorithms: EXPLORE, a simple algorithm that builds the kinematic roadmap by placing landmarks in the configuration space; and SEARCH, a local planner that uses this roadmap to reach the desired end-effector configuration. Our implementation of SEARCH is an extremely efficient closed form solution, albeit local, to inverse kinematics that exploits the serial kinematic structure of serial manipulator arms. Initial experiments with a 7-DOF manipulator have been extremely successful.


Wearable devices, such as smartwatches and head-mounted devices (HMD), demand new input devices for a natural, subtle, and easy-to-use way to input commands and text. In this paper, we propose and investigate ViFin, a new technique for input commands and text entry, which harness finger movement induced vibration to track continuous micro finger-level writing with a commodity smartwatch. Inspired by the recurrent neural aligner and transfer learning, ViFin recognizes continuous finger writing, works across different users, and achieves an accuracy of 90% and 91% for recognizing numbers and letters, respectively. We quantify our approach's accuracy through real-time system experiments in different arm positions, writing speeds, and smartwatch position displacements. Finally, a real-time writing system and two user studies on real-world tasks are implemented and assessed.


This book reports on the endeavour, undertaken by EGPA, to make the discipline of public administration fruitful for the management of parliaments. The theme was deemed appropriate, not only because Scotland, the host country, once again after almost 300 years has its own legislative assembly, but also because of the importance of revisiting the role of legislative institutions as we move into the 21st century. If parliaments are to re-assert themselves vis-a-vis the ever growing dominance of 'executive government', their work has to be managed and organised in a systematic way. It also has to be supported and administered appropriately by human and instrumental capacities and facilities. In this respect there are tasks to be fulfilled by managers, albeit though they are not elected. Tasks that are usually the remit of managers, such as, priority setting and allocating time, money and effort are typically the domain of political representatives in parliamentary settings. Whilst politicians are keen to introduce managerial practices into public services they are less enthusiastic about the idea of introducing managers and management styles into parliamentary work. Perhaps this is because they reject the view that legitimate representatives of the public should be managed. So, if public administration has a role to play in supporting parliamentary work it will have to reflect critically on its foundations of efficiency, effectiveness and user (client) friendliness - key features of managing in the public sector but not necessarily political values. The discipline of public administration will therefore have to identify a clear demarcation between political and technical aspects of parliamentary activity. There are two further ways in which parliaments have a stake in a public administration discipline which focuses on parliaments: First, parliaments need an 'insight for oversight'. As the invitation brochure to the EGPA conference indicates: 'the legislative function does not cease with the passage of a bill. Only by monitoring the implementation process, can members of the legislative uncover any statutory defects and act to correct agency misinterpretation or maladministration. In this sense, oversight exists as an essential corollary to the law making function'. For this to be achieved effective parliamentary oversight requires the effective implementation of the techniques and mechanisms of public administration. Second, the contexts in which parliaments are fulfilling their legislative function are changing dramatically. The once hierarchical approach of governments towards society is being replaced by new so-called 'governance' relationships in which networks of not-for-profit organisations and private enterprises are playing a major role. By stimulating outsourcing, autonomization, the creation of agencies, and privatisation, parliaments are increasing the complexity of the environment in which they have to operate. The discipline of public administration has a role to play in orientating parliamentarians in this new environment. It is not only parliamentarians who hesitate in involving public administrators and managers in organising their work. The public administration discipline itself has tended to neglect the administration, organisation and management of parliaments as a valid area of study. This book is an attempt to redress this imbalance. Hopefully it will attract the attention of parliamentarians as well as public administration practitioners and academics.


Introduction: Social networks influence the personal and social life of individuals by preparing the ground in order to exchange a large amount of information. Social maturity would lead to the development of age-appropriate behaviors in line with society's standards and expectations. The purpose of this study is to determining the relationship between the addiction to social networks and social maturity of students.

Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive, analytical study using random sampling on 181 students of Shoushtar Faculty of Medical Sciences in 2016. A researcher-designed questionnaire of addiction to social networks and Rao's Social Maturity Scale (RSMS) were employed to collect the data. The data was analysed by SPSS-16.

Results: According to the findings, highly addicted students to social networks had lower overall social maturity (p=0.028) and interpersonal adequacy (p=0.023), however no significant relationship was found between the personal adequacy and social adequacy (p>0.05). Males had higher overall social maturity, personal adequacy, interpersonal adequacy, and social adequacy (p=0.000) than females. No significant difference was found between males and females in terms of the social network addiction scores (p=0.707).

Conclusion: High addiction to social networks is related to individual's social maturity. This relationship can be used in preventing and treating the addiction to social networks.


Abstract. Understanding and quantifying ocean carbon sinks of the planet is of paramount relevance in the current scenario of global change. Particulate organic carbon (POC) is a key biogeochemical parameter that helps us characterize export processes of the ocean. Ocean color observations enable the estimation of bio-optical proxies of POC (i.e. particulate backscattering coefficient, bbp) in the surface layer of the ocean quasi-synoptically. In parallel, the Argo program distributes vertical profiles of the physical properties with a global coverage and a high spatio-temporal resolution. Merging satellite ocean color and Argo data using a neural networkbased method has already shown strong potential to infer the vertical distribution of bio-optical properties at global scale with high space-time resolution. This method is trained and validated using a database of concurrent vertical profiles of temperature, salinity, and bio-optical properties, i.e. bbp, collected by Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats, matched up with satellite ocean color products. The present study aims at improving this method by 1) using a larger dataset from BGC-Argo network since 2016 for training, 2) using additional inputs such as altimetry data, which provide significant information on mesoscale processes impacting the vertical distribution of bbp, 3) improving the vertical resolution of estimation, and 4) examining the potential of alternative machine learning-based techniques. As a first attempt with the new data, we used some feature-specific preprocessing routines followed by a Multi-Output Random Forest algorithm on two regions with different ocean dynamics: North Atlantic and Subtropical Gyres. The statistics and the bbp profiles obtained from the validation floats show promising results and suggest this direction is worth investigating even further at global scale.


The realization rule — which defers tax on asset gains and losses until a disposition — is a well-known flaw in the income tax. Tax scholars have long recognized that the rule causes inequity, inefficiency, complexity, and revenue loss; allows wealthy taxpayers to avoid the income tax; and distorts the taxation of corporations and capital gains. The realization rule was a problem in the past, and a greater problem now, as financial innovations increase the opportunities for abuse and the need for reform. Prior proposals have generally favored replacing the realization rule with an accrual method accounting for the timing of gains and losses, through mark-to-market taxation, which taxes observed changes in asset value, formulaic taxation, which taxes deemed changes in asset value, or a combination thereof in a mixed regime. While these proposals have attracted much academic interest, they have not gained political traction, due to concerns of administrative feasibility, taxpayer liquidity, behavioral distortions, and public acceptance. This Article first introduces a framework for evaluating realization rule reform proposals, based on the rule's harms and justifications, and demonstrates that none of the prior proposals adequately satisfies the framework's criteria. It then introduces a new approach to taxing capital appreciation, "Deferred Tax Accounting," which integrates accrual principles within the current realization system. Deferred Tax Accounting has two components, a flexible payment rule for traded or regularly valued assets, and a retrospective rule for nontraded assets that are not regularly valued. Deferred Tax Accounting allows taxpayer choice in timing tax payments, and — as under current law — never requires payment of tax prior to a realization event. Unlike prior proposals, Deferred Tax Accounting addresses all the key considerations for effective realization rule reform, and thereby eliminates the biggest obstacle to a more fair and consistently progressive income tax.


Aims: the objective of the study was to assess the wear of primary teeth against three types of crown coverage, both quantitavely and qualitatively. Methods: specimens of 30 extracted primary molars, were mounted against 10 specimens of zirconia crowns (group A), 10 specimens of preveneered stainless steel crowns (group B), and 10 extracted primary molars and 10 specimens of stainless steel crowns (group C) and were undergone in vitro wear testing using an abrasive machine. Measurement of the amount of weight loss was performed, in addition to a scanning electron microscopic examination of the worn enamel surfaces. Results: the greatest wear was recorded in zirconium specimens, and the lowest was in preveneered stainless steel crowns with a significant difference noted between the three groups (p<0.001).The micro-morphological wear characteristics revealed the most aggressive wear with complete loss of enamel structure in zirconium specimens. Conclusions: the zirconium crowns induced the most severe wear in primary molars, followed by stainless steel crowns, and the least wear was induced by preveneered stainless steel crowns.


These experiments evaluated norepinephrine (NE) release evoked by histamine (HA) in the paraventricular nucleus/anterior hypothalamic (PV/AH) region of conscious rats. In vivo microdialysis techniques were used to estimate extracellular NE concentrations in the PV/AH before, during and after perfusing the microdialysis probes with artificial cerebrospinal fluid containing HA (0, 1, 3 or 10 mg of HA per ml of artificial cerebrospinal fluid). Administration of HA through the microdialysis probe resulted in a significant, dose-related increase in dialysate NE concentration, which returned to control values after HA perfusion. Blood pressure and heart rate were not altered during perfusion with these concentrations of HA. The increase in NE was attenuated by administration of a specific H1 receptor antagonist, chlorpheniramine, but was not altered consistently by treatment with the H2 receptor antagonist, cimetidine. Furthermore, extracellular NE increased when perfusate contained the specific H1 receptor agonist, 2-thiazolyethylamine, but was not increased by similar administration of the H2 receptor agonist, dimaprit. These data demonstrate that HA releases NE in the PV/AH brain region of the conscious rat primarily by activation of H1 receptors. This finding supports an interaction between HA and NE neurons in the hypothalamus.


: This paper reviews the international developments with respect to the classification of medical procedures in light of recent work by CEN/TC251 and the situation in the Netherlands. The historical background is outlined, some advantages and disadvantages of ICPM are discussed, and some new initiatives are reported. Recent initiatives all tend towards the same sort of structure for the classification of medical procedures. So far, no international body is taking responsibility for the standardization of the contents of these structures. A questionnaire was sent out in order to investigate the existence or emergence of national coding centers, their wishes with respect to procedure classification, and their willingness to collaborate in the development and use of one international classification. The response to the questionnaire is briefly discussed and some further steps are proposed.


This report was prepared to inform the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights. The proliferation [of Export Processing Zones (EPZs)] has been of some concern to many within the human rights movement, primarily because of some evidence of low and deteriorating labor standards within these zones. The human rights impacts of EPZs include more than labor issues…This paper draws on this existing work in exploring the relationship between trade agreements, business and human rights based on the Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework for dealing with business and human rights, first set forth by the Special Representative in 2008. This paper focuses on the implementation and operationalization of the Framework's first pillar, the State 'duty to protect' in the context of EPZs.


Using cellular floating vehicle data is a crucial technique for measuring and forecasting real-time traffic information based on anonymously sampling mobile phone positions for intelligent transportation systems (ITSs). However, a high sampling frequency generates a substantial load for ITS servers, and traffic information cannot be provided instantly when the sampling period is long. In this paper, two analytical models are proposed to analyze the optimal sampling period based on communication behaviors, traffic conditions, and two consecutive fingerprint positioning locations from the same call and estimate vehicle speed. The experimental results show that the optimal sampling period is 41.589 seconds when the average call holding time was 60 s, and the average speed error rate was only 2.87%. ITSs can provide accurate and real-time speed information under lighter loads and within the optimal sampling period. Therefore, the optimal sampling period of a fingerprint positioning algorithm is suitable for estimating speed information immediately for ITSs.


In this paper, we consider the communications involved by the execution of a complex application, deployed on a heterogeneous «grid» platform. Such applications extensively use macro-communication schemes, for example to broadcast data items. Rather than aiming at minimizing the execution time of a single broadcast, we focus on the steady-state operation. We assume that there is a large number of messages to be broadcast in pipeline fashion, and we aim at maximizing the throughput, i.e. the (rational) number of messages which can be broadcast every time-step. We target heterogeneous platforms, modeled by a graph where resources have different communication and computation speeds. Achieving the best throughput may well require that the target platform is used in totality: we show that neither spanning trees nor DAGs are as powerful as general graphs. We show how to compute the best throughput using linear programming, and how to exhibit a periodic schedule, first when restricting to a DAG, and then when using a general graph. The polynomial compactness of the description comes from the decomposition of the schedule into several broadcast trees that are used concurrently to reach the best throughput. It is important to point out that a concrete scheduling algorithm based upon the steady-state operation is asymptotically optimal, in the class of all possible schedules (not only periodic solutions).


The USA Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) adopted recently a new set of criteria for evaluating engineering programmes. One of these (criterion 3) refers to programme outcomes and assessment. In this article, the author describes the design and implementation of a sustainable, systematic process for defining and assessing programme outcomes. This process involves analysing each outcome into elements, defining a set of attributes for each element, selecting outcome indicators and performance targets, and developing special rubrics for an accurate assessment of student skills. The author also describes a systematic way of addressing specific programme outcomes through course and curriculum design. Each outcome is assessed in a group of selected courses in an effort coordinated by several faculty members. Course changes are implemented as necessary to increase students' achievements in critical areas. The focus of this effort is to create a process that facilitates the continuous improvement of a programme.


Objective
To investigate the relationship between high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and retinal vascular diameter.

Methods
This study was a cross-sectional study, the population was from the Kailuan study (clinical trial research registration NO.: ChiCTR-TNC-1100 1489) in 2012—2013 (age≥40 years). All the people was checked by cardiovascular and epidemiological examination, of which 3 447 people had an analytical results of fundus color photography.The retinal vascular diameter was analyzed by software.Take the value of hsCRP 1% to 99% points and 3 363 people were finally included in the statistical analysis.The mean age of 3 363 people (male 1 880, female 1 483) was 56.69±10.10 years old.The correlation between hsCRP and central retinal artery equivalent(CRAE), central retinal vein equivalent (CRVE), arteriovenous ratio(AVR) were evaluated by Spearman correlation coefficient.Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to futher analyze the association between hsCRP and retinal fundus diameter parameters.

Results
The median value of hsCRP was 1.10(0.50, 2.21)mmo/L, CRAE was (174.16±24.36)μm, CRVE was (282.70±26.32)μm, AVR was 0.62±0.09.Spearman correlation analysis showed that hsCRP was positively correlated with CRVE (r=0.052, P=0.003) and negatively correlated with AVR (r=-0.052, P=0.002). The non-normal variables hsCRP were transformed into continuous variables lghsCRP, and CRAE, CRVE and AVR were used for multivariate linear regression analysis.After a number of factors were gradually corrected, the results showed that association between lghsCRP and CRVE (β=3.428) or AVR (β=-0.006) was statistically significant (P<0.05). LghsCRP was a risk factor for CRVE both in men and women after the calculation of gender stratification.

Conclusions
CRVE increased and AVR decreased with the increase of hsCRP.The changes of retinal vascular diameter may be associated with hsCRP as a marker to predict cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease.

Key words:
Central retinal artery equivalent; Central retinal vein equivalent; High-sensitivity C-reactive protein


Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social communication deficits and repetitive behaviors/limited interests. There have been accumulated reports of significant sleep problems in ASD. The most common sleep problems include difficulties in sleep initiation and maintenance, irregular sleep- awakening rhythm, and disordered sleep pattern. Some investigators have suggested that sleep problems in children with ASD may be due to abnormal circadian rhythm. Neuroendocrine markers provided another perspective to study biological clock, these biomarkers are nearly not affected by social domains, such as cortisol and melatonin levels in ASD. Many sleep related genes are associated with ASD, especially single nucleotide polymorphisms in core circadian clock genes have been convinced the linkage. The abnormal expression of key genes causes alteration of protein synthesis in some critical pathways associated with ASD. Effective sleep therapy is critical to the improvement of the core symptoms of ASD. [N A J Med Sci. 2017;10(4):164-170.   DOI: 10.7156/najms.2017.1004164]


Messenger RNAs (mRNAs) convey genetic information from the DNA genome to proteins and thus lie at the heart of gene expression and regulation of all cellular activities. Live cell single molecule tracking tools enable the investigation of mRNA trafficking, translation and degradation within the complex environment of the cell and in real time. Over the last 5 years, nearly all tools within the mRNA tracking toolbox have been improved to achieve high‐quality multi‐color tracking in live cells. For example, the bacteriophage‐derived MS2‐MCP system has been improved to facilitate cloning and achieve better signal‐to‐noise ratio, while the newer PP7‐PCP system now allows for orthogonal tracking of a second mRNA or mRNA region. The coming of age of epitope‐tagging technologies, such as the SunTag, MoonTag and Frankenbody, enables monitoring the translation of single mRNA molecules. Furthermore, the portfolio of fluorogenic RNA aptamers has been expanded to improve cellular stability and achieve a higher fluorescence "turn‐on" signal upon fluorogen binding. Finally, microinjection‐based tools have been shown to be able to track multiple RNAs with only small fluorescent appendages and to track mRNAs together with their interacting partners. We systematically review and compare the advantages, disadvantages and demonstrated applications in discovering new RNA biology of this refined, expanding toolbox. Finally, we discuss developments expected in the near future based on the limitations of the current methods.


Radiological imaging plays an important role in diagnosis of the child abuse syndrome. The radiologist must identify specific foci of injury and document that such injuries are the result of abuse. The capacity to identify abuse-related injuries (sensitivity) has been greatly enhanced by technological advances in radiological imaging including radionuclide scintigraphy (skeletal injury); cranial computed tomography (craniocerebral injuries); and body computed tomography/ultrasonography (abdominal injury). This increased sensitivity has resulted in a greater appreciation of the magnitude of abuse related injuries. Specificity, differentiation between accidental and non-accidental injuries, depends on knowledge of the radiologic characteristics and pattern of abuse-related trauma. Specific injuries must be viewed in light of known pathologic response of anatomic structures to mechanical forces, and determination of the chronology of trauma.


French (or English) native listeners hear /kl/ when presented with the illegal consonant sequence */tl/. This robust case of perceptual repair is usually viewed as operating at a prelexical level of speech processing but the evidence against lexical feedback is somewhat weak. In this study, we report new data supporting the prelexical hypothesis, obtained with a paradigm that avoids most of the possible confounds in previous studies. In a cross-modal auditory–visual priming paradigm, lexical decisions to the same visual target "clavier" are facilitated by the auditory prime *tlavier, not by *dlavier. Likewise, the recognition of "glacier" is facilitated by *dlacier, not by *tlacier. To summarize, velar stop + /l/ words are exclusively facilitated by the dental-initial derived forms with the same voicing. Derived forms with the opposite voicing tend to induce inhibition rather than facilitation. Hence, the observed facilitation effects are not graded from */tl/ to */dl/ or vice versa. We argue that these rather surprising all-or-none priming effects exclude the possibility that the */tl/→/kl/ and */dl/→/gl/ repairs are due, even partly, to lexical feedback. Index Terms: phonotactic, perceptual repair, lexical feedback


Macrolide antibiotics are widely used antibacterial agents that are associated with autophagy inhibition. This study aimed to investigate the association between macrolide antibiotics and malignant tumors, as well as the effect on autophagy, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and integrated stress response (ISR). The meta-analysis indicated a modestly higher risk of cancer in macrolide antibiotic ever-users compared to non-users. Further experiments showed that macrolides block autophagic flux by inhibiting lysosomal acidification. Additionally, azithromycin, a representative macrolide antibiotic, induced the accumulation of ROS, and stimulated the ISR and the activation of transcription factor EB (TFEB) and TFE3 in a ROS-dependent manner. Finally, animal experiments confirmed that azithromycin promoted tumor progression in vivo, which could be receded by N-acetylcysteine, an inhibitor of ROS and ISR. Overall, this study reveals the potential role of macrolide antibiotics in malignant progression and highlights the need for further investigation into their effects.


This article sets out to demonstrate the hugger-muggers that oiled the existence of an unholy alliance between European settler-farmers and missionaries—the Anglicans and Presbyterians and/or the Protestant wing in particular—in 20th century Kenya and East Africa, and especially on land policies. With land for settlement being the key factor to both missionaries and settler-farmers, the land question undoubtedly became one of the major factors that glued them together in colonial Kenya (1895–1963). Was the settler-missionary alliance meant to hurt the same people whom the missionaries had come to convert to the God of Christendom? Most importantly, how did the missionaries relate with the African chiefs regarding the land question, especially with reference to Kirinyaga County of central Kenya? This further drives us to wonder: Was the Devonshire White Paper of 1923 and/or the Indian Question related to the land question? The article sets out on the premise that while land remained the most prized commodity in colonial Kenya (1895–1963) and the entire 20th century, the 21st century has seen the church—and especially the afro-Pentecostal wing of the church—focusing on money and wealth without necessarily focusing on land. In its methodology, the article has heavily relied on archival resources, unpublished works, and field work materials, especially with regard to Kirinyaga County of central Kenya where oral sources on missionaries and land acquisition were sought. It also reviewed existing literature regarding settler-missionary alliances, especially on land-related matters.


In a double marginalization model which is played between a domestic monopolistic
manufacturer of pharmaceuticals and a foreign exclusive distributor,
I examine the impact of parallel trade freedom on the manufacturer's profit. I
also analyze its impact on global welfare for low, intermediate, and high trade
costs and different levels of heterogeneity of the two countries where the manufacturer
and the distributor are located.
The model suggests that parallel trade – provided that it is a credible threat –
reduces the profit of the manufacturer and thus reduces his incentives to invest
in R&D. If, however, trade costs are high, parallel trade is a non-credible threat
as it is not a worthwhile business activity for the foreign distributor and thus
does not have any impact on the profit of the manufacturer.
The model shows that parallel trade has positive welfare properties if the two
countries are sufficiently heterogeneous in terms of market size and if trade costs
are intermediate and low, respectively. If, however, the countries are virtually
homogenous in terms of market size, parallel trade may be detrimental to global
welfare for specific levels of trade costs.


The BiDirectional Field-Effect Transistor (BiDFET) can enable circuit topologies requiring four-quadrant switches, that were earlier designed using discrete combinations of MOSFETs, IGBTs, GaN HEMTs, and PiN diodes. The monolithic nature of the BiDFET allows lower device count, smaller switch volume, lower inductance, and simpler packaging, and hence more reliable and commercially viable implementation in power electronics converters. The matrix converter topologies, now feasible using BiDFETs, can eliminate the bulky and unreliable dc link capacitors or inductors required for conventional voltage-source or current-source converters in ac–ac and ac–dc applications. The 1.2 kV BiDFET has the potential to disrupt all the applications utilizing 1.2 kV switches, including electric vehicle (EV) drivetrain, bidirectional EV chargers, industrial motor drives, solid-state transformers, datacenter power supplies, elevator drives, dc microgrids, energy storage grid integration, solid-state breakers, etc.


Objective: Clopidogrel therapy is the standard of care in patients with unstable angina. However, a percentage of subjects are nonresponders to clopidogrel and this leads to increased adverse outcome. On the other way round, some responsive patients are exposed to bleeding complications. Detection of both in daily practice is important in order to tailor the treatment protocol. In this study we aimed to estimate the cutoff value of mean platelet volume (MPV) for both platelet responsiveness and bleeding risks. Methods: The study was planned as a prospective cohort study. A total number of 230 patients admitted to our CCU with unstable angina over a period of one year (from June 2013 to May 2014) were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were: severe anemia, throm-bocytopenia, myelodysplastic syndrome, coagulopathy and recent blood transfusion. In all patients clopidogrel was initially started and maintained during the hospital stay. Blood (2 ml) was collected in dipotassium EDTA tubes from all patients on the first day of admission by a clean puncture. Samples for MPV analysis were drawn on admission, and analyzed within 1 hour of admission after sampling by Beckman Caulter LH 780 Analyzer. Grouping was then done according to MPV of the patients into group (I) who had a low MPV less than or equal to 7.00 fl, and group (II) with MPV equal to or higher than 9.00 fl. Demographical and clinical variables of the patients were recorded. Routine laboratory parameters were also recorded. Clinical manifestations during the admission period were meticulously reported. Major complications as bleeding or, urgent need for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were also studied. Results: Among the 230 patients analyzed, 175 patients (76%) were found to have MPV ≤7.00 fl (group (I)) and 55 patients (24%) had MPV ≥9.00 fl (group (II)) with mean ± SD MPV (8.4 ± 1.5 fl, vs 11.7 ± 1.2 fl respectively) (p < 0.001). Observation of clinical course during admission period revealed a statistically more significant clinical deterioration in group (II) than group (I) and the presence of more frequent AMI cases in group (II) having a high MPV. A high cutoff value of 9.7 fl for MPV was detected in prediction of clopidogrel nonresponsiveness (group (II)) with a sensitivity of 78.2% and specificity of 66.8%, and a low cutoff value for bleeding tendency lower than 6.3 fl was detected in group (I) with a sensitivity of 71.4% and specificity of 62.5%. Conclusion: This study showed that MPV can be used as a simple bedside predictor for detection of clopidogrel response in patients with unstable angina. And a cutoff value for both platelet responsiveness and risk of bleeding is now reached. This may lead to enhancement in our decision for early intervention and attention for bleeding risk during clopidogrel therapy.


Despite increasing interest in the role of reward in motor learning, the underlying mechanisms remain ill-defined. In particular, the relevance of explicit strategies to reward-based motor learning is unclear. To address this, we examined subject's (n=30) ability to learn to compensate for a gradually introduced 25° visuomotor rotation with only reward-based feedback (binary success/failure). Only two-thirds of subjects (n=20) were successful at the maximum angle. The remaining subjects initially follow the rotation but after a variable number of trials begin to reach at an insufficiently large angle and subsequently return to near baseline performance (n=10). Furthermore, those that were successful accomplished this largely via the use of strategies, evidenced by a large reduction in reach angle when asked to remove any strategy they employed. However, both groups display a small degree of remaining retention even after the removal of strategies. All subjects made greater and more variable changes in reach angle following incorrect (unrewarded) trials. However, subjects who failed to learn showed decreased sensitivity to errors, even in the initial period in which they followed the rotation, a pattern previously found in Parkinsonian patients. In a second experiment, the addition of a secondary mental rotation task completely abolished learning (n=10), whilst a control group replicated the results of the first experiment (n=10). These results emphasize a pivotal role of strategy-use during reinforcement-based motor learning and the susceptibility of this form of learning to disruption has important implications for its potential therapeutic benefits.


Program planning and evaluation activities play a critical role in the quality of Extension programs. The literature consistently identifies program planning and evaluation as core Extension competencies. With an increased focus on accountability in Extension, there is a need to ensure Extension professionals are equipped with the most relevant competencies to show program impact. Guided by a competency model, this study sought to assess priority competencies for inclusion in an Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) program at Utah State University (USU) Extension. Data were gathered from a sample of Extension professionals at USU Extension (n = 87) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, paired t-tests, and Cohen's d. While results indicated a need for professional development in most competency items of program planning and evaluation, the principal component analysis revealed two professional development themes for program planning, and three for program evaluation. Extracted professional development themes were Program Ideas and Schedules, Program Design, Evaluation Plans, Evaluation Data and Results, and Monitoring and Impact. This study recommends the development of professional development themes to organize and prioritize efforts for ECB in Extension. It also highlighted a need to continuously assess professional capacity for accountability in Extension.


Phospholipases A2 were purified from the venoms of Asian monotypic crotalinae snakes including Callosellasma, Hypnale, Deinagkistrodon, and Tropidolaemus by a combination of gel filtration and reversed-phase chromatographic methods. One to four isoforms of the enzyme were found in each of the venoms. The venom enzymes were subjected to N-terminal sequencing up to the 30th amino acids, and their molecular weights were analyzed by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry. Homologous antiplatelet phospholipase with a conserved Glu 6 residue was found in each of the venoms. Basic phospholipases with Trp 6 (W6) but without detectable enzyme activities were also isolated from the venom of C. rhodostoma, H. hypnale, and T. wagleri. These W6 enzymes showed strong heparin-binding affinity and capable of inducing edema in rat paws. The fact that the venoms of Callosellasma and Hypnale contain similar types of phospholipases is in accord with recent reports that these two taxa formed a clade. Deinagkistrodon venom does not contain phospholipase variants other than the Glu-6 subtype as Trimeresurus, Agkistrodon, and Protobothrops venoms do. Interestingly, the Glu-6 enzyme from T. wagleri venom has a molecular weight of 15,319 Daltons, higher than those of most other venom phospholipases. Our results show that new types of the enzyme are more likely to be found in the venom of monotypic species; the amino acid sequence data or the subtypes of venom-phospholipases are potentially useful as markers or a character system for studying higher-order systematics of venomous snakes.


Despite the seemingly universal introduction of social science methods of instruction, the staples of legal education today differ little from those of many decades ago. Even the most sophisticated modern lawyer continues to remember and understand the basic principles of civil law in terms of rules propounded to resolve discrete disputes between two single parties. If asked to name the foundations of our civil law, the lawyer today, like the lawyer of the 1920s, would almost certainly list Pennoyer v. Neff, Hadley v. Baxendale, Brown v. Kendall, and, perhaps, Palsgraf v. Long Island R.R. Company. These cases are recognized today as possessing a certain quaintness, but they remain the building blocks from which our conceptions of civil liability derive. Regrettably, this conception of civil law is becoming increasingly anachronistic. The caseload of the modern civil judge is less likely to be dominated by an action involving an attempt to collect on a note against land (Pennoyer), or damages for delay in delivery (Hadley), or for suffering a hit from a stick (Brown) or a scale (Palsgraf), than by an action involving thejoinder of multiple parties with complex third-party liability claims asserting a causative link that requires complicated scientific understanding. However deeply they are revered, our ancient cases provide no more than a starting point for the unravelling of the difficult issues that are progressively overwhelming modern civil litigation. There should be no surprise, of course, that modern litigation is becoming increasingly complex. Though surely our modern life and standard of living have become more sophisticated, the increased complexity of modern litigation is not solely the result of the advance of technology; it is also the result of our expanding conceptions of civil responsibility and of the broader liability standards that directly derive from those conceptions. Our civil


Portions of pancreases from 19.5-day fetal rats were grown in organ culture on two types of liquid media: low glucose, containing 162 to 170 mg. glucose/100 ml.; high glucose, containing 1,031 to 1,073 mg. glucose/100 ml. Following four days of organ culture, the tissues were extracted and assayed for insulin content (immunoassay). Other cultures were transplanted to maternal hosts at two sites: beneath the capsule of the kidney and into the anterior chamber of the eye. Ten days later, the transplants were removed and assayed for insulin content. Large quantities of immunologically active insulin were present in the culture media following forty-eight and ninety-six hours of incubation. Expiants exhibited a four- to sixfold increase in insulin content following four days in vitro. Pancreatic expiants cultured on the high glucose medium contained less extractable insulin than similar ex-plants cultured on the low glucose medium. When cultured expiants were transplanted to hosts with normal blood glucose levels, the total extractable insulin content of the grafts was 55 per cent to 130 per cent greater than that at the time of transplantation. When cultures were transplanted to alloxan diabetic hosts, the total extractable insulin content of the grafts was less than that found in grafts to normal hosts. A small but statistically significant drop in blood glucose level was observed in hyperglycemie diabetic maternal hosts receiving transplants of organ cultured pancreas. These results indicate the continued growth and functional responsiveness of the islet beta cells during organ culture and following subsequent transplantation.