Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is now the preferred treatment strategy for patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis who are either high-risk, in-operable or intermediate-risk patients (1-3). The role of TAVR in low-risk patients is still not well established, and current evidence is limited to retrospective studies (4). However, several trials are underway which will hopefully address this knowledge gap (5-8). Undoubtedly, TAVR has transformed the landscape of management in AS patients, and its role is expected to expand in the years ahead. As matter of fact, some believe that the risk stratification should be altered to "high-risk TAVR patients" especially if low-risk trial shows positive outcomes.


A growing number of studies have shown that when compared to younger adults, older adults are better at recalling positive information than negative information. However, it is not yet clear whether this age-related positivity effect relies on a greater ability to recall positive information or on a decreased ability to recall negative information. We therefore aimed to study the specific mechanisms underlying the age-related positivity effect using different memory tasks. We used an emotional word memory paradigm including immediate free recall, recognition, and delayed free recall tasks. Forty-five young adults (m = 20.0 years) and 45 older adults (m = 69.2 years) participated, all of whom were native French speakers. Thirty-six French low-arousal words (12 positve, 12, negative, 12 neutral) were selected from an emotional lexical database (Gobin et al. 2017) and divided into three equal groups of positive, neutral and negative terms. For the recognition task, 36 new words were selected. The results show that the age-related positivity effect specifically depended on a decrease in negativity preference (i.e., the comparison between negative and neutral words) in older adults, in comparison with younger adults, both in the immediate and delayed free recall tasks. In these tasks, younger adults recalled more negative than neutral words, whereas there was no difference in older adults. During the recognition task, no age-related positivity effect was observed. The results also show that, for the immediate recall task, the greater the memory ability of older adults, the lower their negativity preference. This correlation was not significant in the delayed recall task. These results suggest that, when compared with younger adults, older adults disengage from processing negative words that require costly cognitive processes. A low negativity preference indicates that memory abilities are well-maintained. The results are discussed within the framework of socio-emotional selectivity theory.


Background In Europe, men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately affected by STI/HIV. Sex between men is the predominant mode of HIV and syphilis transmission and contributes to a third of gonorrhoea cases in 2011. The main goal of this evidence-based review was to gather and critically appraise the scientific evidence for and to inform European guidance on a comprehensive approach for HIV, STI and hepatitis prevention among MSM. Methods Relevant data bases were searched for publications related to disease prevention and health promotion among MSM. All kinds of reviews were included but gave presence to systematic reviews, when no reviews were found individual studies were included. A critical appraisal of the quality of each study was performed before inclusion in the targeted review. The Highest Attainable Standard of Evidence (HASTE) was used for grading as the basis for recommendations as HASTE was specifically developed to evaluate evidence regarding HIV/STI interventions among key populations. HASTE takes into account three categories with equal weight: efficacy data; implementation science data; biological and public health plausibility. Results Seven interventions were identified to be strongly recommended for prevention of HIV, STI and/or hepatitis, and 15 interventions for probable or possible recommendation. Consistent condom use, HIV treatment as prevention, peer outreach and support groups for men testing HIV negative as well as for HIV positive men, together with HSV-2 suppression therapy with acyclovir to prevent genital ulcer disease and hepatitis B vaccination, were all strongly recommended according to the HASTE grading. Conclusions In general, studies of acceptable quality from the European context were few and made the assessment of context-specific effectiveness difficult. Additionally, effectiveness studies looking into real-life effectiveness of biomedical interventions were very few. Future research would be able to contribute with more information from the specific European settings including (cost-) effectiveness studies.


BACKGROUND
Water transport in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients occurs through the small pores and water channels, the latter allowing free water transport (FWT). The osmotic gradient is known to be one of the major determinants of water transport. The objective of the study was to analyse the relation between each transport route and the osmotic gradient.

METHODS
The 4-h standard peritoneal permeability analyses of 80 stable PD patients were studied. Small pore transport (SPT) was calculated based on the transported amount of sodium. FWT was calculated by subtracting SPT from transcapillary ultrafiltration (TCUF). Water transport rates were determined. The osmotic gradient was calculated. The slope of the relation between FWT rate and osmotic gradient (slope(FWT)), and the elimination constant (K(e)) of the exponential relation between SPT rate and osmotic gradient (K(SPT)) were calculated for every patient.

RESULTS
The FWT rate was related to the osmotic gradient (P = 0.001). A similar correlation was also found between the SPT rate and osmotic gradient when fitted exponentially (P = 0.005). The rates of FWT decreased significantly between each time point during the whole dwell. The SPT rates decreased significantly within the first half of the dwell and levelled off thereafter. No correlations were found between the slope(FWT), K(SPT) and PD duration. The slope(FWT) of the relationship between the FWT and the osmotic gradient is an indirect measurement of the amount of functioning water channels. Similarly, the K(SPT) value represents the number of functioning small pores. The absence of a relationship of these parameters with the duration of PD suggests opposing mechanisms, for instance a lower number of functioning pores in combination with an increased vascular surface area. Conclusion. The curves of the relationship between FWR, SPT and OG support the assumption that FWR is much more dependent on the OG than SPT. Non-osmotic determinants are likely to be important in small pore fluid transport.


The Biosemantics group (Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam) participated in the text categorization task of the Genomics Track. We followed a thesaurus-based approach, using the Collexis indexing system, in combination with a simple classification algorithm to assign a document to one of the four categories. Our thesaurus consisted of a combination of MeSH, Gene Ontology, and a thesaurus with gene and protein symbols and names extracted from the Mouse Genome Database, Swiss-Prot and Entrez Gene. To increase the coverage of the gene thesaurus, several rewrite rules were applied to take possible spelling variations into account. Each document in the training set was indexed and the found concepts were ranked on term frequency, resulting in one concept vector per document. No particular care was taken to resolve ambiguous terms. For each of the four categories, two average concept vectors were computed, one by averaging the concept vectors of the documents in that category and the other by averaging all remaining concept vectors. The latter vector was then subtracted from the first, yielding a final category concept vector. The subtraction served to emphasize distinguishing concepts: high-ranked concepts in the final concept vector should, on average, occur relatively frequently in documents belonging to the category, while occurring infrequently or not at all in documents not belonging to the category. For all documents in the training set, a matching score between the concept vector of a document and each of the category concept vectors was computed. A score threshold to discriminate between category and non-category documents was then determined per category by optimizing the performance measure (normalized utility). Different matching algorithms and different cutoffs for the number of concepts in the category vectors were evaluated. A standard cosine similarity score and a category vector with the 40 highestranking concepts proved to perform best on the training set. These settings and the score thresholds were subsequently used to categorize all documents in the test set. Two runs were submitted: one based on the full text without any special treatment of particular sections, and one based on the Medline abstract, including the title and the MeSH headings. In addition two runs were submitted by TNO for the ad-hoc search task. The ad-hoc system was based on the TREC 2004 system, with a small experiment trying to leverage information about the authority level of specific journals.


Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is common, and the outcomes of primary laparoscopic antireflux surgery are excellent. A minority of individuals will present with recurrent symptoms, typically of GERD or dysphagia, and seek revisional surgery. Herein is a discussion of the most common presentations and etiologies of failed antireflux surgery. In addition, the preoperative assessment and diagnostic tests utilized in the workup of this population are reviewed. Finally, the operative approach and outcomes related to performing revision laparoscopic antireflux surgery are examined including the use of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in this patient population.


Neuropsychiatric disorders in which reduced social interest is a common symptom, such as autism, depression, and anxiety, are frequently associated with genetic mutations affecting γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic transmission. Benzodiazepine treatment, acting via GABA type‐A receptors, improves social interaction in male mouse models with autism‐like features. The protein diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) can act as an endogenous benzodiazepine, but a role for DBI in social behavior has not been described. Here, we investigated the role of DBI in the social interest and recognition behavior of mice. The responses of DBI wild‐type and knockout male and female mice to ovariectomized female wild‐type mice (a neutral social stimulus) were evaluated in a habituation/dishabituation task. Both male and female knockout mice exhibited reduced social interest, and DBI knockout mice lacked the sex difference in social interest levels observed in wild‐type mice, in which males showed higher social interest levels than females. The ability to discriminate between familiar and novel stimulus mice (social recognition) was not impaired in DBI‐deficient mice of either sex. DBI knockouts could learn a rotarod motor task, and could discriminate between social and nonsocial odors. Both sexes of DBI knockout mice showed increased repetitive grooming behavior, but not in a manner that would account for the decrease in social investigation time. Genetic loss of DBI did not alter seminal vesicle weight, indicating that the social interest phenotype of males lacking DBI is not due to reduced circulating testosterone. Together, these studies show a novel role of DBI in driving social interest and motivation.


Wilson MacDonald is one of Canada's best-known poets. He is also a socialist of long standing. Albert Einstein, after a trip to Canada, once wrote: "The greatest thing I discovered in Canada was Wilson MacDonald. Canada must be proud of this great genius writing in her midst." A Song of Color was inspired by the news of the exclusion of Autherine Lucy from the University of Alabama. It was originally published in the Toronto Star on Mr. MacDonald's stipulation that he be allowed to give it free distribution thereafter throughout the world. He sent the poem to MR through his close friend Scott Nearing, and we are proud to be the first to publish it in the United States. -Eo.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


Background: Telehealth and interprofessional case management are newer strategies of care within chronic disease management. We investigated whether an interprofessional team using telehealth was a feasible care delivery strategy and whether this strategy could affect health outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Study Design: Randomized clinical trial. Setting & Participants: Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VAHCS), St. Cloud VAHCS, and affiliated clinics March 2012 to November 2013 in patients with CKD (estimated glomerular filtration rate , 60 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ). Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to receive an intervention (n 5 451) consisting of care by an interprofessional team (nephrologist, nurse practitioner, nurses, clinical pharmacy specialist, psychologist, social worker, and dietician) using a telehealth device (touch screen computer with peripherals) or to usual care (n 5 150). Outcomes: The primary end point was a composite of death, hospitalization, emergency department visits, or admission to skilled nursing facilities, compared to usual care. Results: Baseline characteristics of the overall study group: mean age, 75.1 6 8.1 (SD) years; men, 98.5%; white, 97.3%; and mean estimated glomerular filtration rate, 37 6 9 mL/min/1.73 m 2 . Telehealth and interprofessional care were successfully implemented with meaningful engagement with the care system. One year after randomization, 208 (46.2%) patients in the intervention group versus 70 (46.7%) in the usual-care group had the primary composite outcome (HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.75-1.29; P 5 0.9). There was no difference between groups for any component of the primary outcome: all-cause mortality (HR, 1.46; 95% CI, 0.42-5.11), hospitalization (HR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.80-1.63), emergency department visits (HR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.68-1.24), or nursing home admission (HR, 3.07; 95% CI, 0.71-13.24). Limitations: Older population, mostly men, potentially underpowered/wide CIs. Conclusions: Telehealth by an interprofessional team is a feasible care delivery strategy in patients with CKD. There was no statistically significant evidence of superiority of this intervention on health outcomes compared to usual care.


Job stress is an iceberg phenomen. A great number of unreported cases and there is no aplicative program in Indonesia cause increase of job stress risk and its negative impact to productivity and company image. More complex job demand without appropriate work capacity and inharmonic relationship in the work place could be the main sources of job stress. This paper is focused on job stress management program guidance that applicable at company and physiologic stress response and also in depth theoretical point of job stress management within psycho-physiology aspect. The aim of this written paper is to increase awareness and understanding of the application of stress management programs among occupational physician, industrial community and industrial practices. Stress management programs in company not only post about the improvement of working conditions also focuses on an individual orientation. On aspects of working conditions, the improvement should be referring to standard of occupational health and safety (OHS) - management program, while aspect of individual coping skills can be done with the training of problem focus technique. Several studies have shown that the program creates respond to the limbic system of brain which is integrated with the function of cortex frontals. In addition, it could create respond to changes body's homeostasis due to changes in the response of the limbic system to the HPA (hypothalamic - pituitary - adrenal) axis and SAM (symphato - Adreno - medullary) - axis. The effectiveness of the program can be measured by the subjective and objective parameters.


This paper explores environmental education research in primary school. The longitudinal study started in 2003, with 29 children nine years of age, in a city in southern Sweden. The teacher works with projects in science and technology to stimulate the pupils' interest and participation in environmental education. Semi-structured interviews with the young pupils have been carried out. In order to analyse the classroom communication between the teacher and the children and also among the children, videotaped sequences from the lessons are collected, in which the Socratic dialogue is practiced. Stimulated recall as a method is also used to find out the teacher's reactions during the lessons. In order to catch environmental details as well as a holistic perspective, the Earth's system model is used in the analysis, e.g. the lithosphere, the atmosphere and the hydrosphere as well as the biosphere and the technosphere. It was observed that the children are able to argue about possibilities to change different daily routines in different ways, which reduce disturbances to the environment. Some pupils can see the connection between the increasing greenhouse effect and pollution from the cars. Others can see relations between increasing temperature and melting polar caps. In stimulated recall the teacher points out possible connections in the Earth system and in environmental learning. This material is one part of an ongoing longitudinal doctoral study and the videotaped sequences have been caught from year 2003 to 2006. The interviews with the children have been taped every spring from year 2003 to 2006.


In an effort to enhance therapeutic tumor cell killing in luminal breast cancers, we investigated the inhibition of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins Bcl-2, Bcl-xL and Mcl-1. Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins are inhibitors of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway that sequester and inhibit pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members. Sustained overexpression of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members frequently occurs in cancers and supports tumor initiation, tumor progression, therapeutic resistance and poor patient survival. While only 2/324 and 1/324 luminal breast cancers curated by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) had gene amplification of BCL2 and BCL2L1 (encoding Bcl-xL) respectively, 21/324 ( MCL1 amplification. Wap-Myc transgenic mouse mammary tumors, which are highly enriched for the luminal A transcription signature, displayed profoundly increased Mcl-1 levels as compared to normal mammary tissue, suggesting a role for Mcl-1 in luminal breast cancer biology. Using a panel of four MCL1 -amplified breast cancer cell lines, we found that two were marginally sensitive to treatment with ABT-263, a BH3-mimetic that targets Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. Conversely, ectopic overexpression of Mcl-1 decreased sensitivity to ABT-263. ABT-263 induced minimal cell killing in MCF7 xenografts and had no effect on tumor growth. Similarly, ABT-263 did not affect tumor growth in luminal-like Wap-Myc mouse mammary tumors. Thus, luminal breast cancer cells expressing increased Mcl-1 are poorly responsive to Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibition. Upregulation of Mcl-1 expression and activity, an established ABT-263-resistance mechanism in leukemias and lymphomas, was observed in MCL1 -amplified luminal breast cancer cell lines treated with ABT-263 in culture and in vivo. ABT-263 also increased the anti-apoptotic activity of Mcl-1 towards the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member BIM, suggesting that Mcl-1 upregulation compensates for inhibition of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL by ABT-263. There are currently no Mcl-1 specific inhibitors. However, Mcl-1 undergoes cap-dependent translation, and thus inhibition of cap-dependent translation has been proposed as a method to inhibit the protein expression of Mcl-1. Importantly, the mTOR pathway is required for efficient cap-dependent translation in many cancer cells. We found that the rapalogue RAD001/everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, decreased Mcl-1 protein levels in MCL1 -amplified luminal breast cancer cell lines. Furthermore, RAD001 blocked Mcl-1 protein upregulation in response to ABT-263, producing increased cell killing and decreased cell growth in all MCL1 -amplified luminal breast cancer cell lines. Treatment of luminal Wap-Myc mammary tumors with RAD001 decreased tumor volume by 40%, while treatment with ABT-263 had no effect on tumor volume. These data suggest that Mcl-1 targeting may be superior to Bcl-2/Bcl-xL targeting in luminal breast cancers, particularly in luminal breast cancers with MCL1 -amplification. Furthermore, we have identified the mTOR pathway as a potential therapeutic target for blocking Mcl-1 expression in luminal breast cancers. Citation Format: Michelle M. Williams, Linus Lee, Meghan M. Morrison, Andrew J. Williams, Violeta Sanchez, Donna Hicks, Rebecca Cook. Targeting the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 with the mTOR inhibitor RAD001 sensitizes luminal breast cancers to the Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor ABT-263. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Targeting the PI3K-mTOR Network in Cancer; Sep 14-17, 2014; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(7 Suppl):Abstract nr B09.


Audio quality is of concern up and down the production chain from content creation to distribution. The technologies employed at each step - equipment, processors like codecs, downmix algorithms and loudspeakers - all are scrutinized for their impact. The now well-established field of audio quality research has developed robust methods for assessments. To form a basis for this work, research has investigated how perceptual dimensions are formed and expressed. The literature includes numerous sonic attributes that may be used to evaluate audio quality. All together, these findings have provided benchmarks and guidelines for improving audio technology, setting standards in the manufacture of sound and recording equipment, and furthering the design of reproduction systems and spaces. They are, however, by comparison rarely used to inform recording and mixing practice. In this paper quality evaluation and mixing practice are compared on selected counts and observations are made on what points these fields may mutually inform one another


Why do individuals have an imperfect immune system? Most studies suggest trade‐offs associated with immunity and metabolism, and neglect ecological factors, such as predation. We provide one of the first experimental studies demonstrating a context‐dependent survival cost to immune activation. In the presence of a predator, immune‐challenged male field crickets showed significantly lower survival than controls, whilst there was no difference in a predator‐free environment. Immune‐challenged males spent more time outside their burrows and reacted slower to a simulated predator attack. We conclude that some costs of immunity are expressed via increased susceptibility to predation, indicating the importance of integrating the ecological context when investigating optimal investment in immunity.


Nearly 80% of people with diabetes live in low- and middle-income countries. It increases healthcare expenditure and imposes a huge economic burden on the healthcare systems. The International Diabetes Federation estimated more than 7 million people with diabetes in Bangladesh and almost an equal number with unexplored diabetes. This number is estimated to double by 2025. It is a costly condition and may cause stroke, heart attack, chronic kidney diseases, neuropathy, visual impairment and amputations. Bangladesh is a developing country where 75% of total population lives in rural area. Subsequently they have poor healthcare access as 26% of rural professionals remain vacant and nearly 40%, absent. Nearly 45% rural people take medical assessment from unqualified health workers including medical assistants, mid-wives, village doctors, community health workers in comparison to that by qualified medical graduates (only 10%-20%). More than 75% women having complications taken treatment from an unqualified provider. These are mostly because concern over medical costs, and pronounced socioeconomic disparities found for care-seeking behavior in both urban and rural Bangladesh.


Music therapists who work in schools often collaborate with other professionals, including educational assistants. Overall, the literature identifies that the educational assistant's role in music therapy contexts is to assist students in achieving the goals that have been established in their individualized education plans and/or in their music therapy treatment plans. However, literature and my experiences indicate that the complexities of the educational assistant's role are not well understood, and that this confusion can have an adverse effect on therapeutic outcomes. Although one study has examined educational assistants' perspectives on this topic, very little literature exists to help guide music therapists and educational assistants in their professional collaborations. The purpose of this study was to investigate music therapists' perspectives on their experiences of working with educational assistants in school settings. Three Canadian music therapists participated in individual qualitative interviews that examined their perspectives on collaborations that they had with educational assistants in school music therapy contexts. These interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. Results revealed information about collaborations that happened before, during and after music therapy sessions as well as information pertaining to aspects of collaboration that music therapists found helpful and aspects that they found challenging. My interpretations as well as potential implications for practice and research are discussed.


We consider the problem of assigning software processes (or tasks) to hardware processors in distributed robotics environments. We introduce the notion of a task variant, which supports the adaptation of software to specific hardware configurations. Task variants facilitate the trade-off of functional quality versus the requisite capacity and type of target execution processors. We formalise the problem of assigning task variants to processors as a mathematical model that incorporates typical constraints found in robotics applications; the model is a constrained form of a multi-objective, multi-dimensional, multiple-choice knapsack problem. We propose and evaluate three different solution methods to the problem: constraint programming, a constructive greedy heuristic and a local search metaheuristic. Furthermore, we demonstrate the use of task variants in a real instance of a distributed interactive multi-agent navigation system, showing that our best solution method (constraint programming) improves the system's quality of service, as compared to the local search metaheuristic, the greedy heuristic and a randomised solution, by an average of 16%, 41% and 56% respectively.


Abstract. During the Continuous Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Campaign 2017 (CONT17), carried out from 28 November through 12 December 2017, an extensive data set of atmospheric observations was acquired at the Geodetic Observatory Wettzell. In addition to in situ measurements of temperature, humidity, pressure or wind speed at the surface, radiosonde ascents yielded meteorological parameters continually up to 25 km height, and integrated water vapor (IWV) was obtained at several elevations and azimuths from a water vapor radiometer. Troposphere delays estimated from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) observations plus comparative values from two different Numerical Weather Models (NWMs) complete the abundance of data. In this presentation, we compare these data sets to parameters of the Vienna Mapping Functions 1 and 3 (VMF1 & VMF3), which are based on NWM data by the ECMWF, and to estimates of VLBI analysis using the Vienna VLBI and Satellite Software (VieVS). On the one hand, we contrast the variety of troposphere delays in zenith direction with each other, while on the other hand we utilize radiosonde data and meteorological observations at the site to create local mapping functions which can then be compared to VMF3 and VMF1 at Wettzell. In general, we thus received very good accordance between the different solutions. Also in terms of the mapping functions, the local radiosonde mapping function is in consistence with VMF1 and VMF3 with differences less than 5 mm at 5∘ elevation.


: The implementation of PPS is an attempt to create an economic incentive that will reward efficiency and penalize inefficiency. As a result, the healthcare industry is in the middle of a major transition. To determine the effect PPS has had upon the role and behavior of financial managers, a survey was conducted. One of its conclusions was financial managers in the healthcare industry will experience an increase in job tension and will feel less satisfaction in their jobs.


We present an experiment aimed at improving interpretation robustness of a tutorial dialogue system that relies on detailed semantic interpretation and dynamic natural language feedback generation. We show that we can improve overall interpretation quality by combining the output of a semantic interpreter with that of a statistical classifier trained on the subset of student utterances where semantic interpretation fails. This improves on a previous result which used a similar approach but trained the classifier on a substantially larger data set containing all student utterances. Fi-nally, we discuss how the labels from the statistical classifier can be integrated effectively with the dialogue system's existing error recovery policies.


Tracing the development of progressive Catholic approaches to political and economic modernization, Catholic Intellectuals and the Challenge of Democracy disputes standard interpretations of the Catholic response to democracy and modernity in the English-speaking world - particularly the conventional view that the Church was the servant of right-wing reaction-aries and authoritarian, patriarchal structures. Starting with the writings of Bishop Wilhelm von Ketteler of Germany, the Frenchman Frederic Ozanam, and England's Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, whose pioneering work laid the foundation of the Catholic "third way," Corrin reveals a long tradition within Roman Catholicism that championed social activism. These visionary writers were the forerunners of Pope John XXIII's aggiornamento, a call for Catholics to broaden their historical perspectives and move beyond a static theology fixed to the past. By examining this often overlooked tradition, Corrin attempts to confront the perception that Catholicism in the modern age has invariably been an institution of reaction that is highly suspicious of liberalism and progressive social reform. Catholic Intellectuals and the Challenge of Democracy charts the efforts of key Catholic intellectuals, primarily in Britain and the United States, who embraced the modern world and endeavored to use the legacies of their faith to form an alternative, pluralistic path that avoided both socialist collectivism and capitalism. In this sweeping volume, Corrin discusses the influences of Cecil and G. K. Chesterton, H. A. Reinhold, Hilaire Belloc, and many others on the development of Catholic social, economic, and political thought, with a special focus on Belloc and Reinhold as representatives of reactionary and progressive positions, respectively. He also provides an in-depth analysis of Catholic Distributists' responses to the labor unrest in Britain prior to World War I and later, in the 1930s, to the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War and the forces of fascism and communism.


The purpose of this study was to identify the current practice and problems of school based supervision in government primary schools of Jile Timuga Woreda of Oromia Zone. A descriptive survey design of research methodology was employed. Regarding sampling, there were 39 primary schools grouped in 10 cluster centres. From these cluster centres all were selected using comprehensive sampling techniques. 13 primary schools were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Having these schools 112 (32.36%) teachers was selected out of 342 teachers using proportional stratified sampling followed by systematic random sampling to select each teacher from the strata i.e. schools were considered as strata. This constitutes 56 % the respondents. All teacher respondents were used in the analysis. On the other hand 65 school based supervisors, 13 principals and 10 cluster supervisors were selected using comprehensive sampling techniques as they are highly responsible for supervisory practices and their number was also manageable. The main instruments used to collect data were questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The questionaire was made to be closed ended followed by some open ended questions and designed as five point Likert scaled type. The reliability of the questionnaire was checked using cronbach alpha method after pilot test was conducted. The face and content validity of the tools were also checked by experienced experts in the study area. Frequency count and percentage were used for the analysis of general characteristics of respondents. Mean and one sample t-test method of analysis were used to analyse the data collected through questionnaire and also narration for interview items. The results of the study reveal that the school based supervisory practice were ineffective. School based supervisors were involved in the difficult task of supervision without having sufficient training. School supervisors were also inefficient in promoting professional competence of teachers. Furthermore, the study revealed that SBS was affected by many problems that are related to the school itself, the supervisor and the clients themselves.


This paper implements the reconstruction of 3D object from real scene input images using voxel coloring. We proposed new color consistency checking formula in voxel coloring by using mean charts. Using this color consistency checking, the system do not require to be given parameters as constant threshold input and the system can reconstruct more detail than using original color consistency checking formula using threshold on standard deviation of image pixels value.

Photorealistic 3D object reconstruction is an active area in computer graphics. Input of this system is multiple photographs which are taken from multiple view points of scene. And then the object in the photographs will be projected back to the 3D coordinate and applied voxel coloring method to reconstruct and view the object in 3D. Voxel coloring works by discretizing scene space into voxels, the smallest unit in 3D, then traversed and colored in specific order. The output of voxel coloring is a collection of voxels that represent the object. Those voxels can be rendered to get a new view of that object. To determine whether voxel has to be colored or be emptied, some color consistency checking formula must be used. The original color consistency checking formula is standard deviation calculation of all image pixels which voxel has been projected and compare it with constant threshold which is defined by user. This constant threshold must be chosen carefully because wrong value can cause defect reconstruction. We propose new color consistency checking using mean charts which do not require user to choose constant threshold input.


In this article I write about the split of London described in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll, decent and belonging to the middle class, fail s to resist the transformation into Mr. Hyde, gross and belonging to the lower class. It represents the fear of the West Enders, who thought that the East Enders were uncivilized and threatening. In order to rationalize their fear, the West Enders imagined the East Enders as criminals, which corresponds to Edward Said's discussion of Orientalism. In Orientalism, Said discusses how the West represents the Orient as the Other, and produces the category of the Orient grounded on a geographical framework of thinking. In much the same way, the story of Jekyll and Hyde demonstrates a narrative construction of the lower class living in the East End London as criminals. The influence of Cesare Lombroso's theory of criminology present in the story serves as important evidence of the West Enders' imagination. In Criminal Man (1876), Lombroso investigates the atavistic criminal, which illustrates the middle-class imagination of the body of the East Enders. Establishing the notion of atavism, Lombroso belittles the lower class by criticizing them as the demonstration of "regression to an earlier stage of evolution." Examining the details of the geographical demarcation portrayed in the story, this paper hopes to elucidate the cultural imagination of criminals in Victorian London.


Photovoltaic technology in the field of renewable energy has reached a high commercial interest over the past decade.
The traditional silicon photovoltaic systems that is currently the most widespread, mainly due to government subsidies, have a low energy production. The wide use of material and the low efficiency of the silicon modules required the research and development of photovoltaic systems more efficient. The most promising technology is the photovoltaic concentration that increases the efficiency of the modules by reducing the area of the PV cell.
The concentration photovoltaic has had considerable technological progress related to the development of multi-junction PV cells with high efficiency. Another approach is the technology of photovoltaic concentration with the spectral separation, so using the interference filters the solar spectrum is splitted into different optical bands.
In this research was designed and built a CPV prototype system with spectral separation. The interference filters such as anti-reflection and dichroic mirror are made up of silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide. These oxides have been realized by means of physical vapor deposition reactive magnetron sputtering technique. The PVD technique allows to deposit thin films with a homogeneous process reproducible and reliable. In the first part of the work, the characterization of individual layers of oxide materials have allowed to extrapolate the optical constants. This is necessary for the design of the optical multilayer.
The characterization has nvolved various analyzes such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) to determine the thickness and the roughness, compositional analysis Rutherforf backscattering spectrometry (RBS), and optical analysis UV-Vis-NIR. These analyzes were necesary to calibrate the deposition system in order to subsequently to realize the multilayer optics. The as deposited optical multilayers not confirm the optical design, and it was necessary to carry out an annealing at 350°C. In the second part of the work, there were also micro structural characterizations for evaluating the phase variation of the titanium dioxide with the annealing treatment. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis has checked the absorption peak of the Ti-O-Ti of the crystalline phase. In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis verified the phase variation of titanium dioxide from purely amorphous phase with a slight presence of rutile to the anatase phase. Through the optical analysis it was possible to extrapolate the new optical constants corresponding to the phase of anatase. In the third part of the work, the ray tracing design of optical splitting of the CPV prototype was carry out. The CPV system is designed by coupling a concentration Fresnel a dichroic mirror. The focus of the radiation on the PV cell, is simulated by two ideal detector. The optical optimization as function of the f-number of the lens has allowed to define the layout for the prototyping phase. A further optimization is to insert a secondary optics element (SOE) of homogenization. The secondary optics will also limits the optical losses due to a misalignment of the CPV prototype. In the last part of this thesis is devoted to the preparation and the characterization of the CPV prototype. Were performed measures of solar radiation, which combined with the characteristic I-V-P curves of the solar cells have enable to evaluate the efficiency of the prototype system. The efficiency of the spectral separation system was compared with concentration multi-junction PV cells. Daily measurement were performed to compare the spectral separation technology than to the multi-junction technology. The results show that the separation system maintains a more constant performance during the day. Finally, thermal measurements were conducted on the component of the CPV prototype separation system. The experimental results allows to guarantee that the spectral separation is also a selective filter of temperature. This allows the solar cells to maximize the photovoltaic conversion and to reduce the overheating.


Bursts were the determining cue for perception of stops in VC syllables in Russian material under conditions of partial exclusion of information and in conflict combinations; the transitional part of vowels also contained certain information. If the information was reduced, /p/--answers predominated, but in conflict combination /p/ was suppressed by competing cues. The distribution of answers for a conflict combination cannot be described as a sum of distributions of answers for its parts.


In recent years, the pace of the dissemination of scientific information has increased. In this context, the possibility and value of sharing open access (OA) online manuscripts in their preprint form seem to be growing in many scientific fields. More and more platforms are especially dedicated to free preprint publishing. They are published, non-peer-reviewed scholarly papers that typically precede publication in a peer-reviewed journal. They have been a part of science since at least the 1960s. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web to help researchers share knowledge easily. A few months later, in August 1991, as a centralized web-based network, arXiv was created. arXiv is arguably the most influential preprint platform and has supported the fields of physics, mathematics and computer science for over 30 years. Since, preprint platforms have become popular in many disciplines (e.g., bioRxiv for biological sciences) due to the increasing drive towards OA publishing, and can be publisher- or community-driven, profit or not for profit, and based on proprietary or free and open source software. A range of discipline-specific or cross-domain platforms now exist, with exponential growth these last five years. While preprints as a whole still represent only a small proportion of scholarly publishing, a strong community of early adopters is already beginning to experiment with such value-enhancing tools in many more disciplines than before. The two main options for geochemists are EarthArXiv and ESSOAr. A "one size fits all" model for preprints would never work across the entire scientific community. The geochemistry community needs to develop and sustain their own model.


Thermal energy is an important input of furniture components production. A thermal energy production system includes complex, non-linear, and changing combustion processes. The main focus of this article is the maximization of thermal energy production considering the inbuilt complexity of the thermal energy production system in a factory producing furniture components. To achieve this target, a data-driven prediction and optimization model to analyze and improve the performance of a thermal energy production system is implemented. The prediction models are constructed with daily data by using supervised machine learning algorithms. Importance analysis is also applied to select a subset of variables for the prediction models. The modeling accuracy of prediction algorithms is measured with statistical indicators. The most accurate prediction result was obtained using an artificial neural network model for thermal energy production. The integrated prediction and optimization model is designed with artificial neural network and particle swarm optimization models. Both controllable and uncontrollable variables were used as the inputs of the maximization model of thermal energy production. Thermal energy production is increased by 4.24% with respect to the optimal values of controllable variables determined by the integrated optimization model.


In this project, optical waveguides are analyzed with the intention of explain the principles of confine and guide light by using materials with a specific refractive index. The waveguide fabrication process in a silicon wafer is review as for the different type of devices or waveguides. Optical measurements within a double slot grating couplers are performed achieving a waveguide loss of 0.01dBm/μm and a total efficiency of 25.5% per grating coupler. And an attempt to explain the different phenomena that causes a detrimental effect in the results as cleanliness conditions, equipment or the Gaussian beam effect is done.


PURPOSE
To test the hypotheses that the metabolic profile of table tennis is dominantly aerobic, anaerobic energy is related to the accumulated duration and intensity of rallies, and activity and metabolic profile are interrelated with the individual fitness profile determined via table tennis-specific tests.

METHODS
Eleven male experienced table tennis players (22 ± 3 y, 77.6 ± 18.9 kg, 177.1 ± 8.1 cm) underwent 2 simulated table tennis matches to analyze aerobic (WOXID) energy, anaerobic glycolytic (WBLC) energy, and phosphocreatine breakdown (WPCr); a table tennis-specific graded exercise test to measure ventilatory threshold and peak oxygen uptake; and an exhaustive supramaximal table tennis effort to determine maximal accumulated deficit of oxygen.

RESULTS
WOXID, WBLC, and WPCr corresponded to 96.5% ± 1.7%, 1.0% ± 0.7%, and 2.5% ± 1.4%, respectively. WOXID was interrelated with rally duration (r = .81) and number of shots per rally (r = .77), whereas match intensity was correlated with WPCr (r = .62) and maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (r = .58).

CONCLUSIONS
The metabolic profile of table tennis is predominantly aerobic and interrelated with the individual fitness profile determined via table tennis-specific tests. Table tennis-specific ventilatory threshold determines the average oxygen uptake and overall WOXID, whereas table tennis-specific maximal accumulated oxygen deficit indicates the ability to use and sustain slightly higher blood lactate concentration and WBLC during the match.


In the wake of the withdrawal of commercial journalism from local communities at the beginning of the 21st century, Hyperlocal Journalism critically explores the development of citizen-led community news operations.

The book draws together a wide range of original research by way of case studies, interviews, and industry and policy analysis, to give a complete view of what is happening to communities as their local newspapers close or go into decline to be replaced by emerging forms of digital news provision. This study takes the United Kingdom as its focus but its findings speak to common issues found in local media systems in other Western democracies. The authors investigate who is producing hyperlocal news and why, as well as production practices, models of community and participatory journalism, and the economics of hyperlocal operations.

Looking holistically at hyperlocal news, Hyperlocal Journalism paints a vivid picture of citizens creating their own news services via social media and on free blogging platforms to hold power to account, redress negative reputational geographies, and to tell everyday stories of community life. The book also raises key questions about the sustainability of such endeavours in the face of optimism from commentators and policy-makers.


The design of a low reaction turbine blade profiles was carried out to improve the steam flow efficiency. The blade profiles geometry design for both the stationary and moving blades and reprofiling of them are done using Vista ATBlade, according to the aerodynamic analysis results from the cascade analysis code MISES.The original stator profile is aft-loaded, and the new one present in this paper is highly-aft-loaded (HAL) to depress the development of secondary flow further, while maintaining even lower profile loss and wider incidence angle tolerance. The newly designed moving blade is more robust compared with the original one, thus it has larger aspect ratio under the same blade section average stress level, and with better incidence tolerant capability as well.The planar cascade air tests were first carried out to verify the stator profile loss improvement, with a decrease of energy loss coefficient of almost 0.8% obtained under the Reynolds number of about 1e6. Then the annular cascade air tests with fully 360 degrees stator blades installed were conducted to validate the reduction of endwall loss and the profile loss as well, and to measure the mass flow capability (real mass flow/ideal mass flow).Finally, two three-stage tests for the original blades and the new one were developed to verify the improvement under real multi-stages flow conditions. All the stages for both tests are designed with the hub reaction of about 15%, without interstage swirl, in the design condition. The flow probes at upstream of first stage stator and downstream of last stage moving blade, the hydraulic dynamometer and the flowmeter are used to test the overall efficiency. Three traverse planes are located at the upstream, middle and downstream of the second stage to measure the flow properties using five hole pneumatic probes. The test results showed a increase of overall efficiency of about 1.5%.The CFD simulations showed very good agreement of mass flow capability with the tests, for both the stator annular and multi-stage tests.The application of the newly designed blade profiles in SanHe subcritical reheat 300MW steam turbine (16.7MPa/537°C/537°C) retrofit gives the final proof of the efficiency improvement. The measured efficiency showed remarkable performance, with an increase of efficiency of 1.5%–2.2% for both the HP and IP cylinder.© 2016 ASME


Diagnostic and therapeutic choice in neurology can fortunately be made without formal
decision support in the majority of cases. in many patients a diagnosis and treatment choice
are relatively easy to establish. This study however, concerns the application of a decision
support methodology - clinical decision analysis - to several problems in the clinical neurosdences
where diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic choice are not obvious.
Sometimes decision making in clinical medicine can be extremely difficult There may be
large interests atstake,and theamount of information that has to beprocessed can be enormous.
Data from the patient's history, physical examination, diagnostic procedures, clinical knowledge
and the scientific information have to be combined in order to arrive at a prognosis and
to develop a diagnostic and therapeutic strategy. Add to this that most diagnostic tests are not
completely accurate, that therapy is not always and entirely effective, that diagnostic and
therapeutic procedures may be risky, unpleasant, expensive and time-consuming, and that
prognosis is most of the times uncertain.
The decision process itself is limited by time and by budgetary constraints. The clinician
has to recognize situations where the patient's preferences are important, and he has to know
when the clinical situation needs a doctor - patient relationship characterized by activity -
passivity, guidance - cooperation or mutual participation. Moreover, physicians and their
patients (as any human being) find it difficult to handle uncertainty.'" Oinicians often discuss
the pro' s and con' sof altemativemanagementstrategies with their senior and junior colleagues,
but a language that effectively and explicitly addresses uncertainty and preferences for health
outcomes is not part of the physician's standard equipment. Several other factors influence the
decision process as welL It has been demonstrated that patient characteristics, (such as social
class), physician's personal characteristics (such as age, type of specialty), and the physician's
interaction with his profession (for example whether he is in a solo- of group-practice) all may
be of influence.


Abstract. Ultrasound can provide real-time image guidance of radiation therapy, but the probe-induced tissue deformations cause local deviations from the treatment plan. If placed during treatment planning, the probe causes streak artifacts in required computed tomography (CT) images. To overcome these challenges, we propose robot-assisted placement of an ultrasound probe, followed by replacement with a geometrically identical, CT-compatible model probe. In vivo reproducibility was investigated by implanting a canine prostate, liver, and pancreas with three 2.38-mm spherical markers in each organ. The real probe was placed to visualize the markers and subsequently replaced with the model probe. Each probe was automatically removed and returned to the same position or force. Under position control, the median three-dimensional reproducibility of marker positions was 0.6 to 0.7 mm, 0.3 to 0.6 mm, and 1.1 to 1.6 mm in the prostate, liver, and pancreas, respectively. Reproducibility was worse under force control. Probe substitution errors were smallest for the prostate (0.2 to 0.6 mm) and larger for the liver and pancreas (4.1 to 6.3 mm), where force control generally produced larger errors than position control. Results indicate that position control is better than force control for this application, and the robotic approach has potential, particularly for relatively constrained organs and reproducibility errors that are smaller than established treatment margins.


The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of participants from German and Turkish population in relation to creative drama by using a metaphor method to investigate whether these perceptions reflect the objectives and general characteristics of creative drama. The participants' perceptions of creative drama have been determined through compositions written as a response to an open-ended question. The metaphors to which the participants responded were classified separately for each country and all the metaphors were grouped around common themes. Following this was an examination of the findings in relation to the objectives and characteristics of creative drama. The data obtained in the study was analyzed by using qualitative techniques. In line with the findings, differences and similarities between the two countries have been determined.


Objectives: To develop a thematic framework for the range of consequences arising from a diagnostic label from an individual, family/caregiver, healthcare professional, and community perspective. Design: Systematic scoping review of qualitative studies. Search Strategy: We searched PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane, and CINAHL for primary studies and syntheses of primary studies that explore the consequences of labelling non-cancer diagnoses. Reference lists of included studies were screened, and forward citation searches undertaken. Study Selection: We included peer reviewed publications describing the perceived consequences for individuals labelled with a non-cancer diagnostic label from four perspectives: that of the individual, their family/caregiver, healthcare professional and/or community members. We excluded studies using hypothetical scenarios. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Data extraction used a three-staged process: one third was used to develop a preliminary framework, the next third for framework validation, and the final third coded if thematic saturation was not achieved. Author themes and supporting quotes were extracted, and analysed from the perspective of individual, family/caregiver, healthcare professional, or community member. Results: After deduplication, searches identified 7,379 unique articles. Following screening, 146 articles, consisting of 128 primary studies and 18 reviews, were included. The developed framework consisted of five overarching themes relevant to the four perspectives: psychosocial impact (e.g., positive/negative psychological impact, social- and self-identity, stigma), support (e.g., increased, decreased, relationship changes, professional interactions), future planning (e.g., action and uncertainty), behaviour (e.g., beneficial or detrimental modifications), and treatment expectations (e.g., positive/negative experiences). Perspectives of individuals were most frequently reported. Conclusions: This review developed and validated a framework of five domains of consequences following diagnostic labelling. Further research is required to test the external validity and acceptability of the framework for individuals and their family/caregiver, healthcare professionals, and community.


Four new algorithms (RFTA1, RFTA2, GFGF2A, and RFTA2GE) handling the event in wireless sensor and robot networks based on the greedy-face-greedy (GFG) routing extended with auctions are proposed in this paper. In this paper, we assume that all robots are mobile, and after the event is found (reported by sensors), the goal is to allocate the task to the most suitable robot to act upon the event, using either distance or the robots' remaining energy as metrics. The proposed algorithms consist of two phases. The first phase of algorithms is based on face routing, and we introduced the parameter called search radius (SR) at the end of this first phase. Routing is considered successful if the found robot is inside SR. After that, the second phase, based on auctions, is initiated by the robot found in SR trying to find a more suitable one. In the simulations, network lifetime and communication costs are measured and used for comparison. We compare our algorithms with similar algorithms from the literature (k-SAAP and BFS) used for the task assignment. RFTA2 and RFTA2GE feature up to a seven-times-longer network lifetime with significant communication overhead reduction compared to k-SAAP and BFS. Among our algorithms, RFTA2GE features the best robot energy utilization.


Abstract Roma communities in Eastern Europe have long experienced socio-political and religious marginalization, a current phenomenon resulting from complex factors spanning over centuries. The rise of evangelical and Pentecostal movements among the Roma over the last decades have contributed to social uplift and more integration in certain contexts. However, societies in crisis are often an unexpected gauge to assess realities and tensions–in this case, the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 revealed the deep suspicion and prejudice still existing toward the Roma. Nonetheless, a number of Roma Pentecostals and Baptists became actively involved in responding to both crises. First placing the relationship between religion, society, and the Roma in historical context, this paper will explore how Christian Roma reacted to the dual crises and the implications for their relationship to the wider church and society,


This paper details the development (and implementation) of a novel, low-cost electrokinetic soil clean-up method for treatment of Pu-labelled soil wastes at the AWE Aldermaston site, Berkshire, U.K. Nuclear weapons manufacture and maintenance, and related research and development activities, have been carried out at the Aldermaston site for over 50 years, and these historical operations have generated a number of contaminated land legacy issues, including soils which contain above background (although radiologically insignificant) specific activities of Pu. Much of the Pu-labelled soil has been removed (via soil excavation), and is held in containment units on site, prior to remediation / decommissioning. Based on initial small-scale laboratory trials examining the potential for Pu removal and directed migration under a low intensity electrical field, a two year project (funded by the former UK Department of Trade and Industry and AWE PLC) has been implemented, and is reported here, involving a focussed programme of laboratory trials followed by a full-scale field trial to examine the potential of low-cost electrokinetic techniques to reduce the activity of Pu in clay-rich site soils, and reduce site waste disposal costs. Pu (and U) exhibited relatively complex behaviour in the laboratory trials, with Pu forming mobile soluble oxy-anionic species under the high pHs generated by the electrokinetic treatment technique. Clear mobilisation of Pu and U (along with a range of other elements) was however observed, in a range of soil types. The relative efficiency of remobilization was element-dependant, and, in terms of heavy metal contaminants, radionuclides, and the stable analogues of radionuclides known to be problematic at other nuclear sites, was (from most to least mobile) Cl > Zn > Sr > U > Pu > Pb. Both Pu and U showed enhanced mobility when the low-cost soil conditioning agent citric acid was added prior to electrokinetic treatment. Full-scale field trials of the treatment method during summer 2008 involved ex-situ, but on-site, treatment of soil wastes in a lined steel cell, using low-cost materials (e.g. portable 12 V batteries, cast iron electrodes), over a 2 month period. The development and field-scale implementation of the remediation technique on a working nuclear site involved the development of a detailed safe system of work, with standard operating and Quality Assurance procedures, and the involvement and cooperation of a range of on-site and off-site organisations. The implications of: - the laboratory and field trial data; and - the site and regulatory requirements for the implementation of the clean-up process for the application of similar remediation or waste management methods on other nuclear sites are described and evaluated here.


The cholinergic amacrine cells of the rabbit retina branch within a narrow stratum of the retina's inner synaptic layer, and their dendritic fields overlap as much as 70-fold. Because each cell's dendrites have many branches, the overlap must create a dense meshwork of cholinergic dendrites. To learn how the overlapping dendrites are positioned with respect to each other, we filled the dendrites of groups of neighboring cells with Lucifer Yellow CH. The cholinergic amacrine cells were selectively stained by intraocular injection of the fluorescent molecule 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. The retinas were then fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde and 0.01% glutaraldehyde. The stained cells were penetrated under visual control by Lucifer Yellow- filled micropipettes. A systematic arrangement of the dendrites was observed. When a pair of cells was injected, their dendrites were often seen to lie alongside each other. In the terminal dendritic region, there are virtually no dendrites that do not end in apposition to a dendrite of a neighboring cholinergic amacrine cell. When small clusters of nearby cells were injected, an ordered microstructure appeared. The dendrites of the cells join together to form curving bundles, which enclose spaces that rarely contain any cholinergic dendrites: the appearance of the dendritic mosaic is that of a lattice with a repeating unit roughly 10 microns in diameter. The significance of this ordering is not certain, but it is possible that the repeating structural unit participates in a modular functional arrangement.


Bacteria monitoring is a critical part of wastewater management. At tropical wastewater stabilization ponds (WSPs) in north Australia, sanitation is assessed using the standard fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) Escherichia coli and Enterococci. However, these bacteria are poor surrogates for enteric pathogens. A focus on FIB misses the majority of pond-bacteria and how they respond to the tropical environment. Therefore, we aimed to identify the unknown pond bacteria and indicators that can complement E. coli to improve monitoring. Over two years, we measured the bacterial community in 288 wastewater samples during the wet and dry seasons. The WSP community was spatially and temporally dynamic. Standard pond-water physicochemical measures like conductivity poorly explained these community shifts. Cyanobacteria represented >6% of the WSP bacterial population, regardless of sample timing and location. Fecal bacteria were abundant in the first pond. However, in downstream ponds, these bacteria were less abundant, and instead, environmental taxa were common. For each pond, we identified a bacterial fingerprint that included new candidate bacterial indicators of fecal waste and processes like nitrogen removal. Combining the new indicators with standard FIB monitoring represents a locally relevant approach to wastewater monitoring that facilitates new tests for human fecal pollution within tropical climates.


Different techniques of positioning users in cellular networks have been studied widely in recent years but there is no proper comparison of them, maybe that is because of their first step of geo-location, i.e., extracting location information parameters, is different and there is no unique simulation environment yet has been applied to them. In this study it is tried to have a new look to these positioning methods and to classify them differently regardless of estimated parameters type. Their classification is based on mathematical algorithms used to find user location in the both area of deterministic and stochastic approaches, these algorithms can then use with the same parameter so comparison between them is rational and possible. Such algorithms divided into three main subclasses, estimation theory based (MUSIC, ESPIRIT), Meta-heuristic (Genetic, PSO, ...) and filtering approaches (Kalman, Particle, Grid, MH ). To do the comparison, these methods should be developed according to the network assumptions and the proper simulation in the same environment is applied. The proofs and details of how to apply techniques are presented.


Abstract The goal of the present study is to identify a novel paradigm of epistemic modal operator derived from disjunction. Our main data involves an inquisitive disjunction marker nka in Korean, the presence of which enhances a speaker's epistemic uncertainty and forms a modalized question. We show how nka contributes the modal effects in question within a theory of nonveridicality. In particular, we propose that the prerequisite of nka are non-homogenous nonveridical states that are partitioned in equipoised epistemic spaces because of the absence in ranking between them. The distinct notions of disjunction, question, and possibility modals can thus be systematically captured under the framework of nonveridical equilibrium. The current analysis offers important insights into the relationship between the classes of nonveridical and modal ingredients involved in inquisitive disjunction: First, Korean facts importantly reveal that modalized questions do not form a uniform class with regular questions, since interrogative semantics alone cannot predict the epistemic uncertainty. Second, languages parameterize as to how they lexicalize the function of manipulating modal base. The implication of our findings is that disjunction needs to be recognized as a novel device for encoding a speaker's weakest perspective on epistemic modality.


We report on the emission properties of GaN/AlN superlattices (SLs) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on a thick GaN layer. Nominally undoped and Si-doped SL structures with the well/barrier thickness ratio 3:1 and different SL periods are investigated. It is found that in these SLs without capping layer the energy position, intensity and linewidth of the emission are determined by the interplay of the built-in polarization field, the depletion field arising from the pinning of the Fermi level at the surface, and the screening of the electric field in the quantum well due to the both the polarization-induced two-dimension electron gas (2DEG) and the photo-generated carriers. A non-uniform equilibrium electron distribution and an electron accumulation at the bottom AlN/GaN interface are evidenced by the observed recombination of the 2DEG with the photo-excited holes occurring below the GaN bandgap.


Inviting students to work with "live" cases provides a powerful tool for linking academic learning with real-world experience. However, live cases rarely provide students with the data they need to apply many of the analytical tools they need to master as part of their academic curriculum. This paper addresses this problem in the specific context of a live-case exercise in which students are asked to use survey and financial data to create a budget for a change program related to employee motivation. Because each case is unique, the instructor requires a method for quickly establishing a realistic budget. Our proposed method assumes that every case will share two common characteristics: diminishing increases in performance in response to increasing levels of change effort; and diminishing increases in financial gain in response to increasing levels of performance. These phenomena can be represented in the form of two general response curves, or, as shown here, in data tables relating performance to financial outcomes. The paper shows how these can be used to link programs directed at "soft" phenomena (e.g., attitudes, values, motivation-related beliefs) to financial outcomes. We demonstrate this approach with an exercise requiring students to apply the expectancy theory of motivation in a realistic organizational setting, and use data tables to decide on the type and intensity of change efforts directed at employees' cognitions. This exercise is aimed at getting students to relate motivation to financial outcomes, and, more generally, to develop the habit of "systems thinking"—integrating different functional areas of business (management, finance, operations) that are typically taught in separate courses and housed in different business school departments.


This empirical research paper investigates the role a website plays in combating asymmetries of information when consumers assess the quality of a service offering. Specifically, this paper reports on an empirical study that examines the effects of website quality signal as well as signal expectancy-disconfirmation on assessments of service quality. The signaling theory and expectancy-disconfirmation theory literature is reviewed to provide a theoretical framing for this study. In turn, a research model with associated hypotheses is justified and presented. The results from the study provide strong evidence that when faced with high asymmetries of information in an eCommerce domain, website quality is an effective lever for evaluating the quality of a service. This extends the signaling theory body of literature to an ecommerce domain, particularly with respect to the evaluation of services via a website. Future research is also discussed.


The latest cuts in the government budget for the arts and culture have forced Dutch museums to reconsider their finances and revenue strategies. Museums in the Netherlands are considered to be too reliant on public support and the government wishes to stimulate more independence and entrepreneurship in the sector. Museums, on the other hand, appear reluctant to adopt such an approach and feel that commercialization will lead the mission-drift and distraction from their core cultural and social values. In academic literature, however, it has been suggested that revenue diversification, i.e. an equal balance between multiple income sources in the revenue portfolio of nonprofit organizations, will lead to increased financial stability. In this thesis the revenue diversification strategy, which stems from the financial Modern Portfolio Theory, is tested as a potential revenue strategy for museums in the Netherlands. The question is whether a more diversified, well-balanced revenue portfolio for museums will increase their financial stability in terms of reduced revenue volatility. Moreover, the implications of a more market-oriented revenue strategy are investigated. The research focuses on the annual reports from the years 2002-2011 of two museums in Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, which both receive subsidies from the state via the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (MinOCW). Given the limited amount of data no significant conclusions could be drawn with respect to the impact of revenue diversification on revenue volatility. By comparing the financial positions of the two museums, however, evidence was found pointing at the positive effect of a more commercial, market-oriented revenue strategy on museum finances. In general, this thesis was aimed at exploring new opportunities in revenue strategies for museums and some first steps have been made in this respect. However, further research is required, using larger data sets, to gain more information about the topic.


There has been extensive research in the low power Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) community with 802.15.4 based platforms. A major factor for this is the support for 802.15.4 based platforms in lightweight Operating Systems (OS) for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) with its standardized protocol and wide adoption in mobile devices is well suited to all applications requiring direct interaction with a mobile device. BLE does not have support in any of these software platforms for IoT development. With this as motivation this thesis creates a port of Contiki OS to a BLE platform, specifically a platform based on nrf51822 System on Chip (SoC). This will enable direct communication of Contiki nodes with smart-phones and ease development of BLE based projects with Contiki.This thesis extends the research on BLE by comparing its link layer with 802.15.4's Contiki- MAC and Null-RDC on four metrics, namely data rate, latency, reliability and energy consumption. Their behavior with and without external WiFi interference also has been looked into. The tests conducted showcases the performance of simple point to point communication 802.15.4, which is rarely benchmarked in research community that prefers testing complex topologies.The effect of the limits of the number of packets communicated per connection interval in different BLE stacks can be seen on the data rate achievable with BLE. The influence of frequency hopping on the reliability of BLE communication with the presence of external interference is assessed. Adaptive Frequency Hopping (AFH) has been emulated by manually choosing interference free channel map and its effect on mitigating interference has been evaluated. Tests also assesses the impact of BLE link layer configuration, especially creating an asymmetric connection by using non zero slave latency value on latency and energy consumption. With this asymmetric connection, the slave devices have been recorded to a latency of 16 ms with Radio Duty Cycle (RDC) of 0.6%.


A 13-year-old boy presented with a diagnosis of intra-articular myxoinflammatory fibroblastic sarcoma of the ankle. There had been no previous description of a sarcoma arising directly from the synovium of the ankle and limb salvage for malignant tumours of the ankle has rarely been reported. We treated him by peritalar extra-articular resection, and draw attention to this rare tumour and to a technique of limb-sparing resection of the ankle joint.


Background Human knowledge and innovation are recorded in two media: scholarly publication and patents. These records not only document a new scientific insight or new method developed, but they also carefully cite prior work upon which the innovation is built. Methodology We quantify the impact of information flow across fields using two large citation dataset: one spanning over a century of scholarly work in the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and second spanning a quarter century of United States patents. Conclusions We find that a publication's citing across disciplines is tied to its subsequent impact. In the case of patents and natural science publications, those that are cited at least once are cited slightly more when they draw on research outside of their area. In contrast, in the social sciences, citing within one's own field tends to be positively correlated with impact.


In the effort to provide simulation support to the future Network Based Defence (NBD)1 that are currently being applied by the Swedish Armed Forces (SwAF), the authors opinion is that simulation should be treated as any other services and use the same architectural requirements addressed in the SwAF Enterprise Architecture (FMA)2 and in subsidiary documents.The choice so far for simulation is the High Level Architecture (HLA). During the author's participation in ongoing work supporting NBD, questions have gradually been raised if HLA is the simulation path to walk. In the Core Enterprise Services (CES) and FMA Services IT-Kernel, core services are specified and HLA do address a lot of non-simulation specific services giving unwanted redundancy. However, the services already defined may with some enhancements deliver the same services addressed within CES and FMA Services IT-Kernel. Furthermore, HLA also comes with the Federation Development and Execution Process (FEDEP) that introduce process methodology to build HLA federations. Basically FEDEP is a software development process for distributed systems. The Next Generation HLA could be more than just a simulation standard if it utilizes the FMA ideas and avoids the green HLA elephant3.In this paper the authors present the ongoing work, as it stands today, with Service Oriented Simulations, that is an outlook for simulation using the architectural structuring, services, components and infrastructures concepts evolving in FMA and with the Global Information Grid (GIG) Enterprise Services (GES) in mind. The focus is to identify simulation services that encapsulate the core features of simulation. Thereby reducing redundancy in methodology and service as well as enabling interoperable simulation support for the whole system lifecycle – Acquisition, Development, Training, Planning, In-the-Field decision support, System removal – within NBD, entailing that the architecture for simulation is uniform regardless of its application and giving end-users the capability to focus on what to simulate instead of how to simulate.


This article investigates identical parallel machines scheduling with family setups. The objective function is the sum of the weighted completion times. We propose an efficient constructive heuristic and three complementary lower bounding methods that we incorporate in a branch-and-bound algorithm. The results obtained by the above algorithm are satisfactory and encouraging


Inappropriate treatments of frontal sinus fractures may lead to serious complications, such as mucopyocele, meningitis, and brain abscess. Assessment of nasofrontal duct injury is crucial, and nasofrontal duct injury requires sinus obliteration, which is often accomplished by autologous grafts such as fat, muscle, or bone. These avascular grafts have an increased risk of resorption and infection, as well as donor site morbidity. For these reasons, pericranial flap, which is vascular, should be used for frontal sinus obliteration. The pericranial flap presented with less morbidity procedure and has decreased infection rates, which justifies its use in frontal sinus obliteration. This paper aims to report a case of a comminuted frontal sinus fracture in a 29-year-old man who was successfully treated by frontal sinus obliteration, using pericranial local flap. The patient was followed up postoperatively for 16 months without infection.


In this study, the role of electrostatic fields on aerosol recovery from a system with a large collapsible reservoir (30 L) was investigated. In addition, the efficacy of the reservoir method for bronchial challenge procedures was assessed in vivo. Aerosol recovery was determined by measuring the fraction of aerosol (0.05% 99mTc-tagged human albumin solution) retrieved from the reservoir. Before aerosol recovery experiments, electrostatic fields in the reservoir were measured. Aerosol recovery varied significantly with wall thickness of the reservoir and presence of an antistatic coating (range 6.0-70.3%). A close inverse relationship was found between the mean electrostatic field in the reservoir and aerosol recovery. The nebulized provocative concentration of histamine causing a 20% fall in forced expiratory volume in one second in asthmatics was found to be approximately half that of a standard method when compared with the reservoir system (mean ratio 2.24 (95% confidence interval, 1.60-3.12)). Recovery from an aerosol delivery system with a relatively large collapsible aerosol reservoir was highly dependent on the electrostatic field in the reservoir. In these systems the use of electrostatic field dissipative material for the reservoir is therefore recommended.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify and synthesize approaches to studying Lean transformation to further develop a comprehensive approach that integrates organizational culture analysis and performance measurement systems from a systems perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is conceptual in nature and based on a review of the literature in the areas of measuring Lean transformation and studying organizational culture. Three questions guide this conceptual analysis: "What approaches have been used to examine Lean transformation in business and public sector organizations?"; "Is there evidence of a focus on organizational culture in the measurement practices in Lean transformation and, if so, how?"; and "What can we learn from organizational cultural theorists about developing a more comprehensive framework to study Lean transformation?". The analysis was conducted in two phases: In Phase 1, a database search was conducted using the key words Lean transformation, studying Lean, studying Lean transformation, studying organizational culture in Lean and measuring Lean, from which eight papers were selected. In Phase 2, the authors reviewed two models for studying organizational culture.

Findings

Findings indicated that the dominant approach to study and measure Lean transformation is based on the performance measurement model. Based on this approach, there was little evidence of a focus on organizational culture, and few integrated the human dimensions with the tools and practices. The authors also found evidence of a greater awareness of the need to develop a balanced performance measurement system that reflects both the subjective soft measures and the objective hard measures. Among the approaches studied, two models did reflect integration between hard and soft measures: Dahlgaard et al.'s (2011) 4Ps and Najem et al. 's (2012) assessment model for studying organizational culture in Lean. Both of these methods provide a strong framework from which to further enhance the study of Lean transformation by incorporating elements from Bantz's (1993) organizational communication culture method and Martin's (1992) Matrix concept.

Originality/value

This paper furthers the academic dialogue on measuring Lean transformation through its unique analysis of studying organizational culture.


— Two Amphiphilic catalysts, iron (III) dodecylbenzene sulfonate and nickel (II) dodecylbenzene sulfonate, were synthesized and used in the catalytic aquathermolysis of heavy crude oil to reduce its viscosity. The prepared catalysts exhibited good performance in the aquathermolysis and the viscosity is reduced by ~78.9% for Egyptian heavy crude oil. The chemical and physical properties of heavy oil both before and after reaction were investigated by FT-IR, dynamic viscosity, molecular weight and SARA analysis. The results indicated that the content of resin, asphaltene, average molecular weight and sulfur content of heavy oil is reduced after the catalytic aquathermolysis.


The Eagle Document forms the second stage of an ongoing project by artist Monika Oechsler.

Oeschler visited Farnham last September with a radical live performance combining modern dance, performance art, experimental music and a falconry display.

Stage two of the The Eagle Document is the culmination of filmed performance rehearsals, and bird flights presented on five screens. The installation examines notions of performance and 'live' art using projections onto multiple screens. The theme of the bird, the Eagle, is carried through into the new installation and used as an object/prop within the projections.

The viewer experiences multiple views from different camera angles and their non-synchronised timelines and sound creates overlaps and repeats; this repetition playing on notions of time and duration. The screen configuration also echoes the mechanism of film production, its rhythms of flow and interruption, to be experienced as a physical and spatial phenomena.

The Eagle Document was originally inspired by Marcel Broodthaers' Musee d'Art Moderne, a critical commentary on art production at the end of the modernist period. Broodthaers challenged the notion of the permanent art collection, the museum and the status of the art object by creating a series of nomadic, non-permanent and fictitious museum collections. One of these fictitious collections The Departement d'Aigles (a collection of diverse eagle paraphernalia) cancelled the status of the eagle as a symbol of power and reappropriated the art objects as a method of display.

The installation borrows Broodthaers device 'the object as method' and investigates the 'object' within expanded art concepts. Both choreography and action are reminiscent of the early video performances of Marina Abramovic and Rebecca Horn.

The work also looks at 'body and space' a familiar theme in performance art. The installation contrasts the closed space of performance with the open space of the installation. Thus viewing and experiencing the work involves the onlooker navigating the space and assembling images and sounds.


Blood biochemical parameters of lipid, protein, carbohydrate and energy metabolism were measured in a 135-day chamber experiment. Also, dynamics of the intensity of lipid peroxidation and status of the antioxidant defence system were evaluated. Results of the investigation showed that extended chamber isolation led to modifications of several biochemical parameters including hemoglobin, bilirubin, cholesterol and its fractions, elevated transaminase activity which are typical for long-term space mission. However, these were not accompanied by substantive changes in protein, energy and carbohydrate metabolisms, or intensity of free radical processes. Effects of prolonged stay in chamber was successfully counterbalanced by organism.


Concepts of the distribution of the greater broad-nose bat (Scoteanax rueppellii) have changed significantly as occurrence records have accumulated over the years. Early accounts of the species' distribution suggested that it was restricted to the heavily timbered areas of eastern Australia, and occurred over a wide range of altitudes. However, recent summaries of the distribution of the species differ significantly from these early accounts. To reconcile these discrepancies, I collated records from museum collections and wildlife databases. These data clearly indicate that stated altitudinal limits for the species are not correct. The currently known southern limit of the species is near Eden, New South Wales (NSW). The distribution of the species was modelled using the DOMAIN climate matching algorithm. The model indicates that S. rueppellii may occur in East Gippsland, Victoria, suggests its likely occurrence in inland Queensland and northern NSW, but a low likelihood of occurrence in inland southern NSW. However, the data show strong spatial and temporal biases that restrict the confidence that may be placed in the model. It is argued that species distributions must be regarded as open and evolving hypotheses.


Stability and reconnection of magnetic fields play a fundamental role in natural and manmade plasma. In these applications the field's topology determines the stability of the magnetic field. Here I will describe the importance of one topology quantifier, the magnetic helicity, which impedes any free decay of the magnetic energy. Further constraints come from the fixed point index which hinders the field to relax into the Taylor state.


Reliable estimates of the speed or, equivalently, the perceived channel Doppler spread, are of great importance in mobile cellular systems for optimization of wireless receiver algorithms such as channel estimation, handoff algorithms etc. In this paper we propose a novel speed estimation algorithm based on the derivative of the received channel envelope. We characterize the effects of additive white noise analytically and verify against simulation results. Simulations illustrate high reliability, low complexity, and good robustness of the approach for various propagation conditions. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated for WCDMA in the speed range from 0 to 250 km/h.


This paper presents analysis of simulation results for Direction of arrival estimation for smart antenna system using eigenvalue decomposition and non Eigen value decomposition based algorithm. Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation in smart antenna for identifying the directions of the desired signals and the null steering beamformer to adapts the antenna pattern to steer the main beam towards the desired user and nullify all other interference. Once DOA estimation is over using beamforming algorithm beam form in desired direction using any one beamforming algorithm. This system can be used to reduce multipath and co-channel interference. This paper simulation results showing how performance of power spectra for DOA estimation using Music and PM appear for smart antenna system. These benefits include the enhancement of coverage and the channel capacity , lower transmitted power, better signal quality, higher data rate and providing value-added services such as user's position location (PL) and at the same time to minimize interference arising from other user by introducing nulls in their direction.


Objective : To explore attitudes and experiences of doctors and nurses regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation for patients with end stage illness in an acute hospital. Design : Qualitative study; thematic analysis of two audio-taped focus groups and four semi-structured interviews. Setting : Acute district hospital, Northern Ireland. Participants : Seven nurses and nine doctors; varying nationality, gender and years of professional experience; involved in cardiopulmonary resuscitation decision-making. Results : Participants reported different interpretations of resuscitation policy and of what do not attempt to resuscitate (DNAR) decisions meant in relation to practical care for patients. This confusion in translating policy into practice contributed to communication difficulties in initiating, documenting and implementing cardiopulmonary resuscitation decisions. Participants were aware of how clinical conditions could change and reported uncertainty in determining end stage illness; they expressed fears of potential consequences of DNAR decisions for patients' care. The more disease-centred approach of doctors to patients' management, compared to nurses' more patient-centred approach, contributed to inter-professional conflict within teams. Doctors identified training needs in applying resuscitation policy and ethical principles in `real life' and nurses identified a need for ongoing professional support, which was perceived as being less available to junior doctors. Personal relationships between staff and patients, cultural reluctance to address sensitive issues and local community expectations of relatives being involved in decisions added to policy implementation difficulties. Conclusions : The findings indicate a need for ongoing staff support and training in applying resuscitation policy to decisions for patients with end stage illness in an acute hospital. They support suggestions that reviews of local resuscitation policy and of national guidelines should be undertaken with openness and honesty regarding the goals, opportunities and difficulties involved in trying to deliver good end of life care in local settings. Palliative Medicine 2007; 21 : 305—312


Purpose: We set out to identify Stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) as a novel molecular target in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and examine its role in tumor cell growth and viability in vitro and in vivo independently as well as in combination with current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved regimens. Experimental Design: Patient normal and ccRCC tissue samples and cell lines were examined for SCD1 expression. Genetic knockdown models and targeted inhibition of SCD1 through use of a small molecule inhibitor, A939572, were analyzed for growth, apoptosis, and alterations in gene expression using gene array analysis. Therapeutic models of synergy were evaluated utilizing pharmacologic inhibition of SCD1 with the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) sunitinib and pazopanib, and the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus. Results: Our studies identify increased SCD1 expression in all stages of ccRCC. Both genetic knockdown and pharmacologic inhibition of SCD1 decreased tumor cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Upon gene array, quantitative real-time PCR, and protein analysis of A939572-treated or SCD1 lentiviral knockdown samples, induction of endoplasmic reticulum stress response signaling was observed, providing mechanistic insight for SCD1 activity in ccRCC. Furthermore, combinatorial application of A939572 with temsirolimus synergistically inhibited tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: Increased SCD1 expression supports ccRCC viability and therefore we propose it as a novel molecular target for therapy either independently or in combination with an mTOR inhibitor for patients whose disease cannot be remedied with surgical intervention, such as in cases of advanced or metastatic disease. Clin Cancer Res; 19(9); 2368–80. ©2013 AACR.


Summary.  Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is tightly controlled by a number of noncytotoxic mechanisms. This control occurs within the host hepatocyte at different steps of the HBV replication cycle. HBV persists by establishing a nuclear minichromosome, HBV cccDNA, serving as a transcription template for the viral pregenome and viral mRNAs. Nucleoside/nucleotide analogues widely used for antiviral therapy as well as most antiviral cytokines act at steps after transcription of HBV RNAs and thus can control virus replication but do not directly affect its gene expression. Control of HBV at the level of transcription in contrast is able to restrict both, HBV replication and gene expression. In the review, we focus on how HBV is controlled at the level of transcription. We discuss how the composition of transcription factors determines HBV gene expression and replication and how this may be influenced by antivirally active substances, e.g. the cytokine IL‐6 or helioxanthin analogues, or by the differentiation state of the hepatocyte.


Alternating purine-pyrimidine (APP) sequences which might assume left handed DNA helical structures (Z-DNA) could influence the expression of genes in which they were located. There are two such repeat elements in the HSD11B2 (11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase) gene. First, a CA repeat is located in the first intron. Deletion of this element in a minigene construct leads to a significant decrease (40%) in the expression of the HSD11B2 message in human cortical collecting duct cells. The second APP tract is located approximately 0.9 kb from the last exon or 4.8 kb from the intronic CA repeat element. Deleting this APP tract in a minigene decreases gene expression by 30%. The CA repeat along with its flanking sequences increases luciferase reporter gene expression if placed 5′ of the HSD11B2 promoter but not when placed downstream of the reporter gene. Similarly the second APP tract increases luciferase reporter gene expression when placed 5′ of the HSD11B2 promoter in an antisense orientation but not in a sense orientation. These results suggests that these dinucleotide repeats influence expression of the HSD11B2 gene in a manner dependent on position and orientation.


Cannabis legalization has been welcomed by many U.S. states but its role in escalation from tobacco e-cigarette use to cannabis vaping is unclear. Meanwhile, cannabis vaping has been associated with new lung diseases and rising adolescent use. To understand the impact of cannabis legalization on escalation, we design an observational study to estimate the causal effect of recreational cannabis legalization on the development of pro-cannabis attitude for e-cigarette users. We collect and analyze Twitter data which contains opinions about cannabis and JUUL, a very popular e-cigarette brand. We use weakly supervised learning for personal tweet filtering and classification for stance detection. We discover that recreational cannabis legalization policy has an effect on increased development of pro-cannabis attitudes for users already in favor of e-cigarettes.