Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a management concept based on the creation of a balance between economic, social and environmental goals is more and more accepted as an indicator of the success of the company as a whole and as a possibility for the achievement of sustainable development. In one of the most important developments in this area, in 2001 when the Commission of the European Communities brought the Green Paper for Promoting a European framework for Corporate Social Responsibility, the main definitions about CSR and external and internal dimension have been explained. Inside the internal dimension human resource management (HRM) was emphasized as an area which is primarily included in the CSR practices. Since employees and managers are usually seen as very important factors of successful CSR implantation, in this paper the relations between these two concepts are analyzed. Based on the above mentioned, the aim of this study was to explore the existence of CSR in organizations from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region and the relationship between CSR and HRM. The analysis was done trough the exploration of the differences between organizations that have or not CSR statements in relation to the level of environmental matters and existence of the HRM action plans. Subjects of the research are the concepts of CSR and HRM, as well as the empirical analysis of data from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Serbia related to the implementation of CSR in organizations. Based on data obtained in the Cranet research project from 2008 to 2010, it has been explored whether companies from CEE and Serbia have statements on social responsibility, or doing business based on some unwritten standards, and if there is a connection between these statements, the level of environmental matters and HRM practices in the organizations. Statistical techniques as descriptive statistics, crosstabs, chi-square tests and ANOVA test were used in SPSS Version 17.0. Based on the literature review on CSR and HRM, as well as on data analysis the authors attempted to explain the connection between these management concepts. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.25.3.4222


Author(s): Moshiri, Alexander Niema | Advisor(s): Mirarab, Siavash; Pevzner, Pavel A | Abstract: Phylogenetic trees can be used to study the evolution of any sequence that evolves, including viruses. In a viral epidemic, the history of transmission events defines constraints on the evolutionary history of the viral population. The spread of many viruses is driven by social and sexual networks, and because of the relationship between their evolutionary and transmission histories, phylogenetic inference from viral sequences can be used to improve the inference of patterns of the epidemic, which in turn may be able to enhance epidemiological intervention. The simultaneous simulation of viral transmission networks, phylogenetic trees, and sequences can provide a method to observe the effects of virus model parameters on the epidemic as well as to study the accuracies and errors of transmission inference tools, but the success of such simulations relies on the existence of appropriate models. Further, the development of massively-scalable tools to analyze ultra-large datasets of viral sequences can aid epidemiologists in the real-time surveillance of the spread of disease. To enable viral epidemic simulation analyses, I developed FAVITES: a novel framework to simulate viral transmission networks, phylogenetic trees, and sequences, and I used FAVITES to study the effects of model parameters on epidemic outcomes. In an effort to better capture the unbalanced topologies commonly observed in retroviral phylogenies, I developed a novel evolutionary model (dual-birth), derived probabilistic distributions and theoretical expectations of trees sampled under the model, developed an approach to estimate model parameters given real data, and used the model to analyze Alu retrotransposons in the human genome. In order to potentially aid public health officials, I developed a scalable and non-parametric phylogenetic method of viral transmission risk prioritization, which I evaluated against current best-practice methods via simulation and real data. Lastly, I contributed to Bioinformatics education by developing multiple publicly-accessible adaptive online interactive texts.


We find that between 20 and 25 percent of the negative covariance between excess returns and inflation is explained by shocks to monetary policy variables. The finding is robust to changes in the monetary policy rule that have occured during the 1966-1998 period. The result contradicts the theory that money supply shocks induce a positive correlation between inflation and returns. Our findings also cast doubt on models that explain the negative correlation in a money-neutral environment (Boudoukh, Richardson, and Whitelaw (1994)), and on models that account for this correlation as being due solely to money demand shocks (Fama (1981), Marshall (1992)). We argue that contractionary monetary policy lowers excess stock market returns through various channels. Furthermore, if the Fed has some private information about future inflation, then a contractionary monetary shock will be followed by an increase in inflation, in the short run. The combined effect is a negative inflation/excess returns correlation. The results lend support to the argument that if asset pricing models are to capture the observed negative correlation, they must incorprate monetary policy effects. JEL: G10, G12, E44, E51, E61, C32


The aim of the study reported in this thesis was to obtain information on a group of people with a mental handicap living in the community. The study included 86 cases living in a variety of homes. The main distinction was between staffed and unstaffed homes, with 24 people living in staffed homes and 62 people living in unstaffed homes. Data were obtained on their general characteristics, on their occupational activities and on their leisure activities outside the home. The first chapter is a review of the relevant literature. The second chapter reports the methodology. Data were obtained in an interview with a main carer, or when the case lived alone, with him/herself. A questionnaire was designed for use during the interview and was partly based on the Wessex Schedule (Kushlick, Blunden and Cox, 1973). The third chapter provides the results of the study. The overall picture of the characteristics of the sample showed that only a minority had additional physical handicaps and only a minority required full assistance in all their personal needs. The results on the occupational activities was less positive. Only 6 cases were in paid employment; 50 cases attended an ATC. The cases from staffed homes were more likely to attend an occupational activity than those living in unstaffed homes. The results on the leisure activities revealed that although some led fairly active lives others did not. Few cases had friends for companions. The fourth chapter discusses the results in relation to previous research and suggests areas for further research. The implications of the study are also considered.


Purpose: There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that dose escalation will be beneficial in the treatment of prostate cancer. Specifically, dose escalation to areas of the prostate demonstrating high clonogenic cell density through MR spectroscopy or direct biopsy may improve treatment outcome. However, the surrounding normal structures and the movement of the prostate during treatment limit the dose that can be delivered safely. The purpose of this work is to describe a method to limit the dose to critical structures, namely, the rectum, during routine IMRT delivery to the prostate allowing for a dose escalated boost to be delivered to the areas in need. Methods & Materials: Patients are being accrued to an in‐house protocol in which 76 Gy is delivered to the entire prostate PTV via IMRT. An IMRT boost to the high disease density region(s) is then delivered in a single fraction that brings the dose to a biological equivalent of 94 Gy. Active tracking is employed throughout using implanted Calypso Beacons. This allows for a decrease in the PTV margins for the initial IMRT regime and subsequent increased rectal sparing. To evaluate the effects on the rectum a series of 8 prostate CT data sets were chosen for varying CTV volume (38–214 cc). The original, clinically used plans were compared to those generated by decreasing the PTV margins from our standard 8mm (5mm posteriorly) to uniform 3mm expansions. The number of beam directions as well as input constraints for the rectum was kept constant. Our routine clinical acceptance criteria were applied to all. Isoeffective dose calculations (EQD2) were employed to determine the appropriate boost dose. Appropriate composite plans were generated assuming 2 Gy fractions for the entire treatment. Additionally, EQD2 calculations were performed and composite plans generated for cumulative rectal dose. Results: For the initial IMRT plans the average volume of rectum receiving 65 Gy and 40 Gy decreased from 14.9 to 6.3% and 33.1 to 23%, respectively, by decreasing the PTV margins to 3mm. A review of our initial data for patients implanted with Calypso transponders indicates that the prostate drifts during treatment by >3 mm for 103 seconds per average treatment (8–17 minutes). Assuming an α/β of 2.0 for the prostate, a single fraction boost dose of 7.5 Gy results in an equivalent of 94 Gy. This boost will also effect the rectum in a similar manner, assuming appropriate α/β corrections. Conclusions: It is possible to deliver a high dose, single fraction boost to high tumor density regions of the prostate by using active tracking and PTV reduction. However, the effects on critical structures such as the rectum need to be evaluated with respect to our routine acceptance criteria and known side effect rates. It is hoped that this technique will result in improved outcome for patients with unfavorable disease characteristics. Educational Objectives: 1. To understand issues related to combining "boost" plans to conventional IMRT plans. 2. To be exposed to active organ tracking and the implications for normal tissue sparing.


This paper describes the approach that DHL used to respond to aggressive revenue and profit targets set by its Asia-Pacific regional management board. DHL's reaction to these targets was to redefine its strategic service vision by systematically aligning its internal support functions with distinct buyer behavior structures. Specifically, we developed a model based on the tangible and intangible factors that directly influence a customer's choice of a third-party logistics provider. Next, we reverse engineered the service provider's delivery system to align with each customer's preferred buying behavior. DHL's share of wallet and profitability immediately improved, enabling the company to maintain its leading position in the market. Quantitative and qualitative results show an improvement in DHL's market share, customer satisfaction scores, and employee opinion survey results.


Bonding characteristics and interfacial microstructures in explosively welded Ti/stainless steel clad of the as-welded and annealed states were investigated. In case of Ti/SUS430 ferritic stainless steel combination, the average shear strength of an as-welded clad was 555 MPa, and metastable phases such as amorphous and fine crystalline phases were observed at the interface. These were considered to be the trace of melting and subsequently rapid solidification at the contact surface of both the parent materials. By annealing below 1173 K, the strength gradually decreased with increasing holding time. The average shear strength of the clad annealed at 1073 K for 360 ks was 242 MPa, while that of the clad annealed at 1273 K abruptly decreased down to 107 MPa with increasing holding time up to 360 ks. The reaction layer formed at the interface consisted only of TiC in the former. On the other hand, the coexistence of TiC, TiFe, TiFe 2 and χ was observed at the interface in the latter. The TiC in the former was considered to serve as a barrier for diffusion of Ti, Fe and Cr across the interface and to suppress the formation of intermetallic compounds. As a result, the growth of reaction layer was inhibited and high bonding strength was preserved even after prolonged annealing. The results of the Combination of Ti and SUS304 austenitic stainless steel were also discussed.


The effects of non-covalent interactions between gallic acid (GA) and starch on starch digestibility and supramolecular structural changes (short-range ordered molecular structure, crystalline structure, lamellar structure and fractal structure) were investigated. The results indicated that the digestibility of both starches was substantially reduced in the rapidly digestible starch (RDS) content, but resistant starch (RS) was increased after interacting with GA. The RS content of starch-GA complexes ranged from 17.70 to 50.02%, which is much higher than that of high amylose starch (G50) (11.11%) and normal maize starch (NMS) (4.46%). Compared with native starches, starch-GA complexes possess more ordered and compact structures; furthermore, G50-GA complexes possessed more compact scattering objects, thicker crystalline lamellae and thinner amorphous lamellae than those of NMS-GA complexes. This revealed that more ordered multi-scale structures promote the RS formation. Docking studies were conducted to reveal the mechanism of digestibility variations. It showed that GA would non-covalently interact with starch molecules and contribute to ordered structure formation to somewhat extent; meanwhile, GA had higher binding affinities to α-amylase than to starch chains; during the hydrolytic process, GA could be released from the complex and was more likely to occupy the active sites of Asp197, Asp300, His299 and Glu233 by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces, which kept starch out of the active site pocket and reduced starch digestibility. These results demonstrate that the non-covalent interactions between GA and starch could be a promising method of controlling starch structures and starch digestion behaviors.


Abstract Since the 1990s, some urban universities have served as neighborhood anchors with an interest in revitalization. Current theory suggests anchors adopt 'shared value' approaches, leveraging resources for mutually beneficial improvement in the community. This study explores assumptions in contemporary anchor frameworks and uses a survey to examine how 22 U.S. universities approach their roles as anchor institutions. The study finds that the universities tend to prioritize place-based initiatives, while contemporary frameworks are more normative and highlight socioeconomic practices. Based on reported strategies, the author proposes an alternate typology that accounts for the ways universities most commonly describe anchor approaches, complementing contemporary theory.


The last major turnover in deep-sea benthic foraminifera (the Stilostomella extinction) is documented in detail in six DSDP and ODP sites around New Zealand, South-west Pacific. This was the final phase in the progressive decline of elongate, cylindrical taxa (mostly stilostomellids, pleurostomellids and uniserial nodosariids), which reached their greatest relative abundance in the late Eocene, and exhibited major declines during periods of global cooling around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, in late middle Miocene, and through the late Pliocene to middle Pleistocene. The Stilostomella extinction includes the extinction of all elongate species with cribrate ( Chrysalogonium, Cribronodosaria ), slit lunate, hooded with two teeth (Pleurostomellidae), or secondarily toothed, necked (Stilostomellidae) apertures.

Elongate and uniserial benthic foraminifera are separated into: an Extinction Group (53 taxa, including several elongate agglutinated and uvigerine forms, that became extinct in the South-west Pacific during the late Pliocene-middle Pleistocene); a Die-back Group (8 species that dramatically declined in abundance but survived to the Recent); and a Survivor Group (88 mostly rare species of uniserial nodosariids with little recognised decline).

In the South-west Pacific, the absolute abundance of the Extinction and Die-back groups began to decline in the late Pliocene. The decline became more dramatic during the late early and middle Pleistocene (1.2–0.7 Ma). The rate of decline was pulsed, with major declines usually associated with the onset of cold intervals, and partial recoveries in intervening warm intervals. The pulses varied in timing between sites. The highest occurrences (HOs or local disappearances) of individual Extinction Group species are variable and mostly diachronous between sites. There was a progressively increasing overall rate of local disappearances per time through the late Pliocene (onset of northern hemisphere glaciation) to the middle Pleistocene climatic revolution, with the peak period of local disappearances (mostly 0.9–0.7 Ma) up to 0.5 Ma earlier at deeper and cooler water locations. The youngest occurrence of any member of the Extinction Group ( Stilostomella extinction datum) is remarkably consistent in all sites (0.65–0.57 Ma). The timing of these abundance declines, highest occurrences (or withdrawals) and extinctions was essentially the same as in the Atlantic Ocean. The precise mechanistic cause of the Stilostomella extinction (cooling, increased oxygenation of bottom waters, food supply changes) is yet to be resolved.

This study reveals a much larger extinction of taxa than previously recorded (middle Pleistocene extinction rate of 23% of the bathyal-upper abyssal fauna/myr). Becoming extinct, or virtually so, during this period were at least two families (Stilostomellidae, Pleurostomellidae), one subfamily (Plectofrondiculariinae), at least 17 genera ( Awhea, Chrysalogonium, Cribronodosaria, Ellipsoglandulina, Ellipsopleurostomella, Ellipsopolymorphina, Haeuslerella, Mucronina, Myllostomella, Nodosarella, Orthomorphina, Parafrondicularia, Pleurostomella, ? Rectuvigerina, Siphonodosaria, Stilostomella, Strictocostella ) and 53 species. Their taxonomy is reviewed, revealing many synonymies, often going back to Schwager's (1866) pioneering study of Pliocene deep-sea foraminifera of Car Nicobar, Indian Ocean. A revised generic subdivision of the Stilostomellidae is proposed based primarily on apertural features, and Myllostomella n.gen. described.


Austrian designer Rudolf Steiner intended his first Goetheanum building in Dornach, Switzerland (1913-1922), among other purposes, to be a dramatic illustration of the principles of a new style of architecture, simultaneously organic and functional. Its unusual forms in carved wood and reinforced concrete, its watercolor murals, and its engraved colored-glass windows were also to be a visual introduction to the metaphysical ideas of Steiner's anthroposophy. The central dynamic of the building was the intersection of its two domes of different sizes, intended by Steiner to express the union of spirit and matter through his treatment of the functions of stage and auditorium. The contrast between the two domed spaces was supported in great detail throughout the interior. Steiner applied formative principles of the natural world to building designs, attempting to achieve an organism-like relation between part and whole, a harmonious adaptation of building to site, and an organic formal quality sympathetic to the human observer. In particular, he employed the principle of metamorphosis in the abstract forms of the building's ornamentation and ground plan, relating this principle to Goethe's studies of biological morphology. He created forms and spaces that not only fulfilled but also directly imaged their functions, including their relationship to their human users. He set forth his new architectural approach within the context of an extensively enunciated architectural theory, whose primary thrust was the encouragement of a clear adaptation of the designs of buildings to a holistically conceived human nature. He pioneered new techniques and styles, which, along with his lectures and writings, have influenced a number of significant artists and architects of the twentieth century.


Cocoa mirid, Sahlbergella singularis, is one of the major pests of cocoa in West Africa. It is responsible of several damages in plots. In this paper, we study the dynamics of this pest. Based on biological and ecological partial knowledge, we develop 2 cooperative mathematical models that aim to describe the time dynamics of the cocoa mirids. We first develop a cooperative stage‐structured model, derived some qualitative results, and a sensitivity analysis study in order to determine the most important parameters. Assuming that all parameters are or not periodic, we obtain conditions that allow the persistence or not of the population. We highlight the influence of cocoa pods variation along the year on the time evolution of the population. Then, we derive a 2‐stage cooperative time‐delay model, with 2 delays, that takes into account the eggs' development time and the females' maturation time. We illustrate our theoretical results with some simulations and show that the delayed system provides the best results compared with real observations. Finally, we focus on chemical control that is commonly used in Cameroon and compare it to a new biological control, mixing mating disrupting and trapping. We discuss the results and provide future perspectives based on this work.


Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed psychological distress and fear across the globe; however, factors associated with those issues or the ways people cope may vary by country or context. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies for people living in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in August-September 2020 using online platforms in Bangladesh. People residing in Bangladesh, aged ≥18 years, who were proficient in English and able to respond to online questionnaire. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale was used to assess the psychological stress. Level of fear was assessed using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and strategies to cope were assessed using the Brief Resilient Coping Scale. Results: Of the 962 participants, half of them were aged between 30 and 59 years. Being born in Bangladesh, having graduate education, perceived distress due to employment change, effect of COVID-19 on financial situation, having multiple comorbidities, and visiting a healthcare provider in the last 4 weeks were associated with higher levels of both psychological distress and fear of COVID-19. Furthermore, higher psychological distress was associated with being a female (AOR 1.81, 95% CI 1.33–2.47, p < 0.001), being a frontline worker (AOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.04–2.15, p < 0.05), having pre-existing psychiatric problems (AOR 4.03, 95% CI 1.19–13.7, p < 0.05), being a smoker (AOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.32–3.09, p < 0.01), providing care to a known/suspected COVID-19 patient (AOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.40–2.72, p < 0.001), having a recent overseas travel history and being in self-quarantine (AOR 4.59, 95% CI 1.23–17.2, p < 0.05), self-isolation without COVID-19 (AOR 2.63, 95% CI 1.68–4.13, p < 0.001) or being COVID-19 positive (AOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.19–5.34, p < 0.05), and having high levels of fear of COVID-19 (AOR 3.27, 95% CI 2.29–4.66, p < 0.001). A higher level of fear was associated with moderate to high levels of psychological distress (AOR 3.29, 95% CI 2.31–4.69, p < 0.001). People with pre-existing mental health problems were less likely to be resilient (AOR 0.25, 95% CI 0.11–0.54, p < 0.01), whereas those with having an income were more likely to be resilient (AOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02–2.11, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Effective interventions to support the vulnerable groups including improved access to mental health services are of utmost importance during the pandemic.


: The methodology and results of a concurrent review of prescribing practices in a family practice residency are discussed. A clinical pharmacist reviewed copies of prescriptions returned to him during a six-month period, and he tabulated information to allow comparisons of clinic prescribing patterns with national patterns. Additionally, peer group comparisons within the residency were made. It was found that tricyclic antidepressants were prescribed more frequently than anxiolytic drugs, a distinct difference when compared to national prescribing reports. Peer group comparisons showed apparent autonomy in prescribing habits among residents and faculty, and the drug "repertoire" and number of prescriptions written increased as the number of years in the residency progressed.


Product market regulation and employment protection are highly correlated across OECD countries. Using an augmented model of monopolistic competition we show why in countries with more regulated product markets, incumbent workers prefer to protect jobs relatively more. Product market regulation increases the scope for employment protection because firms can bear the cost of employment protection more easily and still break even. Moreover, product market regulation decreases employment so that the workers' outside option becomes relatively worse. This increases the incentive to protect the job.


In this paper, a novel automatic approach for the concurrent topology and routing optimization that achieves a high quality network layout is proposed. This optimization is based on a specialized binary Integer Linear Program (ILP) in combination with a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA). The ILP is formulated such that each solution represents a topology and routing that fulfills all requirements and demands of the network. Thus, in an iterative process, this ILP is solved to obtain feasible networks whereas the MOEA is used for the optimization of multiple even non-linear objectives and ensures a fast convergence towards the optimal solutions. Additionally, a domain specific preprocessing algorithm for the ILP is presented that decreases the problem complexity and, thus, allows to optimize large and complex networks efficiently. The experimental results validate the performance of this methodology on two state-of-the-art prototype automotive networks.


The authors extracted geological differences between the two blocks aside of the Yarlung Zangbo River, and some information about tectonic evolution of Yarlung Zangbo suture zone, which based on interpretation of remote sensing and statistical analysis. According to the research, the authors discussed the tectonic evolution of Yarlung Zanbo suture zone, which it can be divided into four stages. The first, the two blocks had each different evolution in geological history before they were matched. The second, the blocks were matched by orogenic movement of collision, which the dynamic direction was from south to north and formed some conjugate joints in NE and NW directions. The third, the monolithic region was ulteriorly forced, but the dynamic direction had a bit of change. At last, the tectonic movement became elevator tectonics in this region, which controlled modern model of river to be developed in E-W direction and topography.


Although numerous papers have reported that graphene is a superior anticorrosion nanofiller, it has also been demonstrated that graphene cannot be used as a long-term anticorrosion barrier due to its essential high conductivity. Herein, an anticorrosive nanofiller (BNQDs@hBN) combining the nanomaterial boron nitride quantum dots (BNQDs) with insulating hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is put forward. The homogeneous dispersion of BNQDs@hBN in an epoxy matrix was achieved with the assistance of BNQDs, and was based on strong π–π interactions between h-BN and BNQDs, as confirmed via UV-vis spectra. Embedding a small percentage of BNQDs@hBN in a waterborne epoxy (WEP) coating effectively improves the barrier properties of the coating by inhibiting the penetration of corrosive ions. Polarization tests revealed that the protection efficiency and corrosion rate of an epoxy coating with 0.5 wt% BNQDs@hBN were 99.99% and 6.482 × 10−5 mm year−1, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results demonstrated that the 0.5 wt% BNQDs@hBN coating system showed a higher impedance modulus (>107) than that of a blank specimen after immersion for 60 days in 3.5 wt% NaCl(aq).


Hong Kong Observatory currently uses a series of meteorological instruments, including long-range LIDAR (light detection and ranging) systems, to provide alerting services of low-level windshear and turbulence for Hong Kong International Airport. For some events that are smaller in spatial dimensions and are rapidly changing, such as low altitude windshear and turbulence associated with buildings or man-made structures, it would be necessary to involve meteorological instruments that offer greater spatial resolution. Therefore, the Observatory has set up a short-range LIDAR on the roof of the AsiaWorld-Expo during the summers over the past several years, conducting field research on the feasibility of strengthening early alerting for windshear and turbulence over the north runway's eastern arrival runway (Runway 25RA) and developing an automated early alerting algorithm. This paper takes the pilot reports for Runway 25RA during the 2013 field research as verification samples, using different thresholds for radial wind velocity spatial and temporal changes detected by the short-range LIDAR to calculate the relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and analyzes its early alerting performance.


Abstract. Given the importance of DOM in the carbon cycling of aquatic ecosystems, information on its seasonal variability is crucial. This study assesses the use of available absorption optical indices based on in situ data to both characterize the seasonal variability of the DOM dynamics in a highly complex environment and their viability of being used for satellite remote sensing on large scale studies. The study area comprises four lakes located at the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (MSDR). Samples for the determination of coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) were acquired in situ. The Rrs was applied to simulate MSI visible bands and used in the proposed models. Differences between lakes were tested regarding CDOM indices. Significant difference in the average of aCDOM (440), aCDOM spectra and S275–295 were found between lakes located inside the flood forest and those near the river bank. The proposed model showed that aCDOM can be used as proxy of S275–295 during rising water with good validation results, demonstrating the potential of Sentinel/MSI imagery data in large scale studies on the dynamics of DOM.


Abstract There is no scientific evidence in the literature indicating that maximal isometric strength measures can be assessed within 3 trials. We questioned whether the results of isometric squat-related studies in which maximal isometric squat strength (MISS) testing was performed using limited numbers of trials without pre-familiarization might have included systematic errors, especially those resulting from acute learning effects. Forty resistance-trained male participants performed 8 isometric squat trials without pre-familiarization. The highest measures in the first "n" trials (3 ≤ n ≤ 8) of these 8 squats were regarded as MISS obtained using 6 different MISS test methods featuring different numbers of trials (The Best of n Trials Method [BnT]). When B3T and B8T were paired with other methods, high reliability was found between the paired methods in terms of intraclass correlation coefficients (0.93-0.98) and coefficients of variation (3.4-7.0%). The Wilcoxon's signed rank test indicated that MISS obtained using B3T and B8T were lower (p < 0.001) and higher (p < 0.001), respectively, than those obtained using other methods. The Bland- Altman method revealed a lack of agreement between any of the paired methods. Simulation studies illustrated that increasing the number of trials to 9-10 using a relatively large sample size (i.e., ≥ 24) could be an effective means of obtaining the actual MISS values of the participants. The common use of a limited number of trials in MISS tests without pre-familiarization appears to have no solid scientific base. Our findings suggest that the number of trials should be increased in commonly used MISS tests to avoid learning effect-related systematic errors


We report a nickel oxide (NiOx) thin film, from a cost-effective sol–gel process, coated n-type silicon (n-Si) as a photoanode for efficient photo-oxidation of water under neutral pH condition. The NiOx thin film has three functions: (i) serves as a protection layer to improve the chemical stability of the Si photoelectrode, (ii) acts as an oxygen evolution catalyst, and (iii) provides junction photovoltage to further reduce overpotential. The oxygen evolution onset potential is reduced to below the thermodynamic water oxidation level and oxygen evolution was observed at low overpotentials. Our results demonstrate the fabrication of robust photoelectrodes from low-cost NiOx and Si, which enable a practical solar water oxidation with high efficiency.


At age thirteen, Jhette Diamond moved out of her mother's home. Jhette described the environment in the house as one of substance abuse, domestic violence, and neglect. A motivated and responsible girl, Jhette had worked since the age of eleven and was a dedicated student. Dominique Moceanu had a markedly different childhood. Under pressure from her parents, Dominique intensively trained to become a world-class gymnast. After winning the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, Dominique and her teammates became national celebrities and earned millions of dollars in endorsements. What unites Jhette and Dominique is what both girls did in their later teen years: sue their parents for legal emancipation. Jhette argued that she needed independence to obtain her own report cards and health insurance; Dominique contended that her parents had failed to give her a normal childhood and had squandered her fortune. Courts granted both requests. While Dominique sought emancipation to protect her income from her parents, Jhette asked the court for the opposite. She petitioned to collect, after emancipation, both retroactive and prospective child support from her mother. The Supreme Court of New Mexico ultimately ruled in Jhette's favor, holding that a minor could be emancipated for certain purposes while reserving the right to seek support from her parent.1


The design process has a significant impact on the performance and profitability of a housing project. Therefore, decisions made during the design process should take into consideration knowledge and experience from other processes in previously accomplished projects, specifically from the production phase. How to capture and use production experience in housing has not gained enough interest, possibly leading to sub-optimal improvements during the construction process. This motivates research on how onsite production experience from similar previous projects can be captured and used to improve constructability without risking customer values. Based on the concept of constructability, 'design for manufacturing and assembly' and the theory of waste, the method 'design for construction' (DFC) has been developed. The four-step model complements the conventional construction process, and consists of the following steps: (1) specify customer values and similar previous projects; (2) identify onsite waste and cost drivers in previous projects; (3) develop criteria to evaluate constructability; and (4) evaluate constructability of the design. The DFC method is exemplified and tested through a case study, in which it was shown that the method facilitated identification of all problems that were considered in the investigated project. The method also highlighted other project obstacles that potentially could have been solved to improve constructability.


We construct a model where risk shifting can be moderated by capital requirements. Imperfect information about the level of capital per unit of risk, however, introduces uncertainty about the risk exposure of intermediaries. Over-estimation of the capital held by financial intermediaries, or the extent of regulatory arbitrage, may induce households to wrongly infer from higher asset prices that the fundamentals of risky assets have improved. This mechanism can notably explain the low risk premia paid by U.S. financial intermediaries between 2000 and 2007 in spite of their increased exposure to risk through higher leverage. Moreover, the lower the level of the risk-free interest rate, the more risk is under-estimated.


Industrial automation tasks typically require a 3D model of the object for robotic manipulation. The ability to reconstruct the 3D model using a sample object is useful when CAD models are not available. For textureless objects, visual hull of the object obtained using silhouette-based reconstruction can avoid expensive 3D scanners for 3D modeling. We propose convex brick (CB), a new 3D primitive for modeling and reconstructing a visual hull from silhouettes. CB's are powerful in modeling arbitrary non-convex 3D shapes. Using CB, we describe an algorithm to generate a polyhedral visual hull from polygonal silhouettes; the visual hull is reconstructed as a combination of 3D convex bricks. Our approach uses well-studied geometric operations such as 2D convex decomposition and intersection of 3D convex cones using linear programming. The shape of CB can adapt to the given silhouettes, thereby significantly reducing the number of primitives required for a volumetric representation. Our framework allows easy control of reconstruction parameters such as accuracy and the number of required primitives. We present an extensive analysis of our algorithm and show visual hull reconstruction on challenging real datasets consisting of highly non-convex shapes. We also show real results on pose estimation of an industrial part in a bin-picking system using the reconstructed visual hull.


Borrowing its title from renowned scholar Alexander Leggatt's landmark 1974 study, Shakespeare's Comedies of Love is a tribute to a critic who has shaped the way the world understands Shakespeare and his comedies. To help celebrate his distinguished career as a teacher and scholar, this collection of essays presents a wide range of new work on the Bard's comedies. The contributors cover diverse areas of inquiry, including the use of the comedies as a source of women's empowerment in nineteenth-century America; civic drama in Elizabethan London; male anxiety about women in the comedies; anti-Semitism in The Merchant of Venice; as well as some key productions of Shakespeare's comedies. Rich in detail and broad in scope, Shakespeare's Comedies of Love is a celebration of Leggatt's distinguished career, and an enduring collection of work on the world's most famous writer.


Kakam achi ( Solanum nigrum Linn ) belongs to family Solanaceae and is being used in Ayurveda in skin diseases and diabetes . It is being sold in the market under the common name Makoy . In order to ensure correct botanical standardization to remove the controversy, a detailed pharmacognostic study on whole plant of Solanum nigrum Linn has been carried out . The review on this drug shows that the drug is known since Vedic period. This is the plant amongst the few plants, which are used widely for purposes like Shaka D ravya (Vegetable drug). This study confirms that Solanum nigrum Linn fulfill the standard parameters, decided by the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeial committee of India. The Physiochemical standards like ash value, alcohol soluble extracts, water soluble extracts etc, were also with the limits of the values mentioned in Pharmacopoeia. The heavy metals analysis of Kakamachi was carried out for Cadmium, Lead, Arsenic, etc., shows that the drug, is free from the abnormal levels of heavy metals. The qualitative study s hows the presence of Saponins, Tannins and Alkaloids in Kakamachi . The standard monogram prepared concludes that these parameters could be useful for future standard.


The paper argues that China's capital controls remain substantially binding. This has allowed the Chinese authorities to retain some degree of short-term monetary autonomy, despite the fixed exchange rate to July 2005. Although the Chinese capital controls have not been watertight, we find sustained and significant gaps between onshore and offshore renminbi interest rates and persistent dollar/renminbi interest rate differentials during the period of a de facto dollar peg. While some cross-border flows do respond to market expectations and relative yields, they have not been large enough to equalise onshore and offshore renminbi yields. Copyright 2008 The Authors Journal compilation 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd


Background and objectives: High mortality and healthcare costs area associated with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) due to Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). The data concerning the link between multidrug-resistance of A. baumannii strains and outcomes remains controversial. Therefore, we aimed to identify the relation of risk factors for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and mortality with the drug resistance profiles of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) and independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Methods: A retrospective ongoing cohort study of 60 patients that were treated for VAP due to drug-resistant A. baumannii in medical-surgical intensive care units (ICU) over a two-year period was conducted. Results: The proportions of multidrug-resistant (MDR), extensively drug-resistant (XDR), and potentially pandrug-resistant (pPDR) A. baumannii were 13.3%, 68.3%, and 18.3%, respectively. The SAPS II scores on ICU admission were 42.6, 48.7, and 49 (p = 0.048); hospital length of stay (LOS) prior to ICU was 0, one, and two days (p = 0.036), prior to mechanical ventilation (MV)—0, 0, and three days (p = 0.013), and carbapenem use prior to VAP—50%, 29.3%, and 18.2% (p = 0.036), respectively. The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 63.3%. In MDR, XDR, and pPDR A. baumannii VAP groups, it was 62.5%, 61.3%, and 72.7% (p = 0.772), respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that female gender (95% OR 5.26; CI: 1.21–22.83), SOFA score on ICU admission (95% OR 1.28; CI: 1.06–1.53), and RBC transfusion (95% OR 5.98; CI: 1.41–25.27) were all independent predictors of in-hospital mortality. Conclusions: The VAP risk factors: higher SAPS II score, increased hospital LOS prior to ICU, and MV were related to the higher resistance profile of A. baumannii. Carbapenem use was found to be associated with the risk of MDR A. baumannii VAP. Mortality due to drug-resistant A. baumannii VAP was high, but it was not associated with the A. baumannii resistance profile. Female gender, SOFA score, and RBC transfusion were found to be independent predictors of in-hospital mortality.


A natural bentonite obtained from Khorasan, Iran, was submitted to acid activation with sulphuric acid. Sample aliquots (5gr) were leached with 100 ml H2SO4 solutions of various concentrations (2–7N) at 80±2 oC for 2 hours. X–ray diffraction, chemical analysis, infrared spectroscopy and specific surface area measurements were performed in order to evaluate important structural modifications occurring as a result of acid attack. Octahedral sheet was affected by acid activation resulting into the dissolution of cations (Mg2+, Fe2+, Al3+) and consequent decomposition of montmorillonite structure. Bentonite samples were then tested in order to verify their capacity to bleach colza–soybean oil, and their performances were compared to that of a commercial bleaching clay. The bleaching ability of the natural clay was poor when compared with that of the industrial adsorbent. Acid activation of the bentonite sample with 7N sulphuric acid yielded an adsorbent material which was highly efficient in the bleaching of the oil functioned better than the commercial clay product under the same conditions.


As highly mobile predators with extensive home ranges, some shark species often utilize a continuum of habitats across the continental shelf ranging from the surf zone to the open ocean. For many species, these cross-shelf distributions can change depending on ontogeny or seasonal conditions. Recent research has confirmed a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) summer nursery off Long Island, New York; however, habitat characterization of this nursery has not yet been conducted nor has fine-scale analysis of vertical behavior. Between 2016 and 2019, 21 young-of-the-year and juvenile white sharks were fitted with satellite and acoustic tags to examine distribution and selection for a suite of oceanographic variables during their late summertime (i.e., August to October) residence in the New York Bight. Horizontal position estimates were used to extract a suite of environmental measurements via remote sensing platforms and were linked with vertical profiles to produce three-dimensional movements for a subset of individuals also fitted with pop-up satellite archival tags (n = 7). Sharks exhibited horizontal movements parallel to Long Island's southern shoreline and coastal New Jersey, with distances from 0.1 to 131.5 km from shore. Log-likelihood chi-square analyses determined selection for waters with underlying bathymetry of 20–30 m, sea surface temperatures between 20.0 and 22.0°C, sea surface salinities between 31.0 and 32.0 ppt, and chlorophyll-a concentrations between 2.0 and 8.0 mg⋅m–3. Multiple individuals also traversed the mid- to outer shelf region after leaving the Montauk tagging area. Vertical depth profiles illustrated oscillations between the surface and 199 m of water, with an average swimming depth of 9.2 ± 8.9 m. Water column temperatures during these oscillations ranged between 7.9 and 26.2°C (mean = 19.5 ± 2.0°C) with several individuals traversing highly stratified regions presumably associated with a mid-shelf cold pool adjacent to the Hudson Shelf Valley. These results suggest young white sharks exhibit connectivity between the immediate shoreline and mid-continental shelf region, where they play important ecological roles as predators on a variety of species. Our study improves characterization of essential fish habitat for young white sharks and provides new insights into their reliance on this productive continental shelf ecosystem.


The effects of ground calcium carbonate (GCC) modification through the polyelectrolyte multilayering technique on deposition kinetics were investigated. The surface charge of GCC particles was changed from negative to positive through Layer-by-Layer (LbL) multilayering with polyelectrolytes on GCC particles. The LbL multilayered GCC particles could deposit onto negatively charged cellulose fibers due to electrostatic attraction. Deposition kinetics followed modified Langmuir kinetics, which describe the dynamic equilibrium of deposition and detachment of the particles. The multilayer that had more affinity to the fibers had the higher deposition rate constant. The multilayer with a branched polyelectrolyte showed a low detachment rate constant compared to the linear polyelectrolyte, which led to a high equilibrium deposition amount for the particle. Application of high shear had adverse effects on deposition. However, LbL multilayered GCC particles showed reversible deposition characteristics after lowering the stirring speed.


Demographic factors (e.g., gender or age) shape our language. Previous work showed that incorporating demographic factors can consistently improve performance for various NLP tasks with traditional NLP models. In this work, we investigate whether these previous findings still hold with state-of-the-art pretrained Transformer-based language models (PLMs). We use three common specialization methods proven effective for incorporating external knowledge into pretrained Transformers (e.g., domain-specific or geographic knowledge). We adapt the language representations for the demographic dimensions of gender and age, using continuous language modeling and dynamic multi-task learning for adaptation, where we couple language modeling objectives with the prediction of demographic classes. Our results, when employing a multilingual PLM, show substantial gains in task performance across four languages (English, German, French, and Danish), which is consistent with the results of previous work. However, controlling for confounding factors – primarily domain and language proficiency of Transformer-based PLMs – shows that downstream performance gains from our demographic adaptation do not actually stem from demographic knowledge. Our results indicate that demographic specialization of PLMs, while holding promise for positive societal impact, still represents an unsolved problem for (modern) NLP.


Dielectronic recombination (DR) has been studied in highly charged He-like Ti ions using an electron beam ion trap. X-rays emitted from radiative recombination (RR) and DR were observed as the electron beam energy was scanned through the resonances. Differential DR resonant strengths were determined by normalizing the DR x-ray intensity to the RR intensity using theoretical RR cross sections. KLn(2 ⩽ n ⩽ 5) resonant strengths were determined for He-like Ti ions. The differential resonant strengths were calibrated without reference to any theoretical DR calculations while the electron energy scale was derived with reference to the well-known energy for ionization of the He-like and H-like ions from the ground state. Calibration in this way facilitates a more exacting comparison between theory and experiment than has been reported previously. To facilitate this comparison, total and differential theoretical resonance strengths were calculated. These calculations were found to be in good agreement with the measured results.


The EP3 subtype of prostaglandin E2 receptor transduces diverse physiological responses in mammalian tissues through signaling pathways coupled to heterotrimeric G proteins. Distinct cDNA clones encoding five isoforms of the EP3 receptor were isolated from a human uterus cDNA library. The human EP3 receptor isoforms designated hEP3-I, I', II, III, and IV are derived from alternative RNA splicing and differ only in the distal sequences of their carboxyl-terminal cytoplasmic tails. The unique cytoplasmic tails consist of 31 amino acids for isoforms I and I', 29 for II, 6 for III, and 15 for IV. When stably expressed in CHO cell transfectants, all isoforms exhibited similar EP3-specific binding of [3H]-PGE2 and PGE2 analogs. The EP3-selective agonist M&B 28767 both decreased the intracellular cAMP concentration ([cAMP]i) and increased the intracellular concentration of calcium ([Ca2+]i) with quantitative differences among different isoforms, but none mediated an increase in [cAMP]i. Pertussis toxin treatment completely blocked the decrease in [cAMP]i, but not the increase in [Ca2+]i evoked by M&B 28767. PGE2-induced desensitization of [3H]PGE2 binding by isoforms III and IV was rapid and transient, whereas that by isoform II was slow and persistent. Reverse transcription-PCR amplification of EP3 receptor messages in human kidney and uterine tissue RNA detected expression of all isoforms with different abundancies. The dual signal transduction pathways and distinctive tissue distribution of isoforms of the EP3 receptor are consistent with its mediation of diverse functions of PGE2.


In this paper, hydrodynamic load models applicable to rhombic net structures are discussed and compared to experimental results with net panels in steady currents. Net panels with mesh sizes and mesh opening angles as is commonly used in fishing gear, were tested in the SINTEF operated flume tank in Hirtshals, Denmark. Drag and lift forces acting on the net panels were measured in two different water currents with attack angles ranging from 0 to 90 degrees.These measurement data were used as a benchmark to compare the performance of several established mathematical models of hydrodynamic loads on panels. Subsequently, an element-based approach with summation of lift and drag forces acting on all the individual twines of the element was performed, and the output from the simulations was compared with experimental data. The correspondence between results from the numerical simulations and experiments were in general quite acceptable for higher angles of attack, while the lack of a wake model overestimated the drag at lower angles. Lift was predicted with high accuracy for all panels.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


The authors of this chapter share a research interest in teachers' continuing professional development (CPD). They are both active as teachers in university courses and they participate in various collaborative research projects within schools. The chapter draws on such a collaboration with a Swedish secondary school, involving a teacher team encouraged by the principal to participate in peer group mentoring (PGM), which can been seen as a specific kind of continuing professional development. In this CPD the teachers used a constrained and well-structured nine-step model of PGM. The purpose of the mentoring project was to share teaching experiences so as to enhance professional and pedagogical development, with the aim of improving the teaching of a "new multicultural student group" that recently had started at the school. One of the authors, Lill Langelotz, followed this mentoring process over two years. In this chapter this process will be examined in relation to the Nordic tradition of folk enlightment (folkbildning), with a point of departure in the Swedish tradition of adult education through study circles.


The mechanism for the chirogenesis in the photocyclodimerization of 2-anthracenecarboxylate (AC) bound to human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated using time-resolved fluorescence measurements in the presence of HSA inhibitors and/or an AC singlet excited state quencher. The photophysical studies were correlated with product studies to explain the high enantiomeric excess (ee) observed for the chiral photoproducts. AC binds to HSA in five different binding sites with decreasing affinities. AC bound to the sites with the highest affinity (sites 1 and 2) is unreactive, and the AC can be displaced from these sites by the use of known inhibitors. Time-resolved fluorescence studies isolated a singlet excited state AC bound to a site which exhibited moderate protection from interactions with species in the aqueous phase. This site was assigned to binding site 3, where the chiral photoproducts are formed with a high ee based on the correlation of the photophysical studies with product studies in the presence of a quencher. These results show that the use of inhibitors for multiple binding site proteins is useful to uncover the properties of binding sites for which guest binding has only moderate affinity and where the photophysical characterization of these binding sites is not possible in the absence of inhibitors.


Fracture of an ossified Achilles tendon is a rare clinical entity. Reossification after removal of the bony fragment was reported in only one case previously. In this study, we present a 49-year-old man with a reossified Achilles tendon after the removal of a fractured and ossified Achilles tendon. Treatment of an ossified or fractured Achilles tendon should be selected on a patient-by-patient basis. Surgical treatment can be used when conservative treatment has failed. The possibility of reossification after surgical treatment, especially in patients with risk factors, should be kept in mind, and the patient should be informed about this possibility.


The Second language acquisition (SLA) of Spanish pronominal object clitics (POCs) has been a topic of research with regards to clitic placement (Houston, 1997; Lee, 1987; LoCoco, 1987; VanPatten, 1984; and VanPatten & Houston 1998), acquiring specific dialectal norms (Geeslin, Garcia-Amaya, Hasler-Barker, Henriksen, & Killam, 2010), and functional usage with datives (Zyzik, 2006). A thorough investigation of how second language (L2) learners acquire Spanish POCs in university-level Spanish classes in the United States including accusative POCs has not yet been carried out. This dissertation extends our knowledge of how these learners acquire Spanish POCs and how instruction impacts the acquisition process.

Zyzik (2006) suggested that L2 learners create a dative POC prototype based on Animacy instead of Case as native speakers do. The first study of this dissertation extends Zyzik's work by investigating L2 learners' processing and use of Spanish pronominal object clitics, including the accusative POCs. A total of 121 L2 learners completed sentence-completion and cloze tasks to investigate how Animacy and Case influenced the way they distinguished Spanish POCs. Results from mixed ANOVAs show that lower proficiency L2 learners base POC distinctions on Animacy. However, more advanced learners show indications of shifting toward a Case-based system.

A second study was conducted in order to test whether instruction was effective in preempting (Rutherford, 1989) an Animacy-based system. A second group of 115 L2 learners from different proficiency levels were divided into two groups (instructed and control). These participants completed similar tasks to the first study at three different times (pre-test, post-test, delayed post-test). Between the pre-test and post-test, learners in the instructed group received instruction on Spanish POCs. Results from mixed ANOVAs indicate that instruction was not more effective than exposure to Spanish POCs through the tasks performed. The finding that both participant groups showed evidence of the preemption of an Animacy-based system is taken as evidence that the tasks themselves effectively led learners to change their POC systems. An explanation of this phenomenon is that the tasks provided a type of computer-mediated processing instruction, forcing learners to process the POCs and notice additional possible contexts, effectuating the change.


n the last decade we've seen an enormous increase in interest in the science of haptics. The quest for better understanding and use of haptic abilities (both human and nonhuman) has manifested itself in heightened activity in disciplines ranging from robotics and telerobotics; to computational geometry and computer graphics; to psychophysics, cognitive science , and the neurosciences. This issue of IEEE CG&A focuses on haptic rendering. Haptics broadly refers to touch interactions (physical contact) that occur for the purpose of perception or manipulation of objects. These interactions can be between a human hand and a real object; a robot end-effector and a real object; a human hand and a simulated object (via haptic interface devices); or a variety of combinations of human and machine interactions with real, remote, or virtual objects. Rendering refers to the process by which desired sensory stimuli are imposed on the user to convey information about a virtual haptic object. At the simplest level, this information is contained in the representation of the object's physical attributes—shape, elasticity, texture, mass, and so on. Just as a sphere visually rendered with simple shading techniques will look different from the same sphere rendered with ray-tracing techniques, a sphere haptically rendered with a simple penalty function will feel different from the same sphere rendered with techniques that also convey mechanical textures and surface friction. As in the days when people were astonished to see their first wire-frame computer-generated images, people are now astonished to feel their first virtual object. Yet the rendering techniques we use today will someday seem like yesterday's wire-frame displays—the first steps into a vast field. To help readers understand the issues discussed in this issue's theme articles, we briefly overview haptic systems and the techniques needed for rendering the way objects feel. We also discuss basic haptic-rendering algorithms that help us decide what force should be exerted and how we will deliver these forces to users. A sidebar discusses key points in the history of haptics. Virtual reality (VR) applications strive to simulate real or imaginary scenes with which users can interact and perceive the effects of their actions in real time. Ideally the user interacts with the simulation via all five senses ; however, today's typical VR applications rely on a smaller subset, typically vision, hearing, and more recently, touch. Figure 1 shows the structure of a VR application incorporating visual, auditory, and haptic feedback. …


Background: Depression is associated with stressful condition which may cause kidney damage. Oyster mushroom (plurotus florida) may have free radical scavenging activity thereby can be used for the prevention and treatment for kidney damage. Objective: to observe the effect of oyster mushroom (plurotus florida) on kidney in restraint stress induced depressed rats. Methods: This experimental study was conducted from July 2012 to June 2013 in the Department of Physiology, Sir Salimullah Medical College( SSMC), Mitford, Dhaka. Thirty Wister albino male rats, aged 90 to 100 days, weighing 150 to 180g (initial body weight) were used in the present study. Then they were divided into Group I (Control group, without mushroom n=20) and Group II (Experimental group, depressed rats supplemented with mushroom n=10). Control group without mushroom again subdivided into Group Ia,( baseline control n=10) and Group Ib (depressed control n=10) . All groups of animals were received basal diet for 28 consecutive days started from the 1 st day of the study period. Group Ib (depressed control) and group II (depressed mushroom supplemented) were housed under controlled condition in rat immobilizer (made up of steel wire, measuring 9´´x2.75´´ of light weight) for 6 hour/day for 28 days for the development of stress induced depression. In addition, only group II received oyster mushroom extract (200 mg/kg body weight, orally) for the same period. One rat of Group Ib (depressed control) was expired after 10 days for unknown cause. All 29 rats were sacrificed on day 30. Then blood sample and kidneys specimen were collected. Initial (initial bw ) and final body weights (final bw) were measured. Then estimation of blood glucose and serum urea levels were done by standard laboratory technique. Histology of kidney was done by standard laboratory procedure. Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS windows Version -16. One way ANOVA and Bonferroni tests were done as applicable. Results: In this study blood glucose level and serum urea level was significantly higher and abnormal histological structure was found in stress induced depressed rats. After taking mushroom extract for 28 days all the parameters were improved. Conclusion: From this study it can be concluded that oyster mushroom(Pleurotus florida) which is excellent edible and nutritious, may have renoprotective effect. Bangladesh Soc Physiol. 2017, June; 12(1): 33-40


In this paper, we propose a novel neural network architecture for clinical text mining. We formulate this hybrid neural network model (HNN), composed of recurrent neural network and deep residual network, to jointly predict the presence and period assertion values associated with medical events in clinical texts. We evaluate the effectiveness of our model on a corpus of expert-annotated longitudinal Electronic Health Records (EHR) notes from Cancer patients. Our experiments show that HNN improves the joint assertion classification accuracy as compared to conventional baselines.


Bio fuels have been considered to be the viable alternatives and the supportive sources for the depleting fossil fuels under the objective of satisfying the energy demand. The work explored the possibility of biogas production in various operational scales. The present work can be categorized into two parts. In the first part, the work has surveyed various digester designs under operation and focused on the mixing and intermittent aeration that are not under light in the regular practice. The digester gas collector configuration that could promote the mixing and intermittent aeration was designed. The setup was run on 20 L scale with an objective of observing the gas production phenomenon. The recommended operational solutions were modified and implemented in the form of a 50 L digester setup to observe the performance improvements in attaining self-buffering capacity and sensitivity to the acidic feed stocks. Further suggested modifications lead to the final design that could promote intermittent aeration and mix the digester constituents without the use of impeller and with minimal or no power consumption depending on the amount of gas produced. An advanced design called compartmental digester design was next presented for the medium to large scale applications which was run on 200 L scale in a semi continuous mode using cow dung as substrate and was tested for the feasibility. The second part of our work focused on simulation of a two stage anaerobic digester configuration for studying the kinetics of hydrolysis, acidogenesis and acetogenesis and methanogenesis in three different reactors. In this study, kitchen waste stream were analysed for biogas production which was compared with the results of NISARGRUNA biogas plant (BARC) for the validation of the model and the model with same kinetics was then used to analyse the gas production from poultry manure


Individual tree mortality model was developed for crimean pine (Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana) plantations in Turkey. Data came from 5 year remeasurements of the permanent sample plots. The data comprises of 115 sample plots with 5029 individual trees. Parameters of the logistic equation were estimated using weighted nonlinear regression analysis. Approximately 80% of the observations were used for model development and 20% for validation. The explicatory variables in the model were ratio of diameter of the subject tree and basal area mean diameter of the sample plot as measure of competition index for individual trees, basal area and site index. All parameter estimates were found highly significant (p < 0.001) in predicting mortality model. Chi-square statistics indicate that the most important variable is d / d(q), the second most important is site index, and the third most important predictor is stand basal area. Examination of graphs of observed vs. predicted mortality rates reveals that the mortality model is well behaved and match the observed mortality rates quite well. Although the phenomenon of mortality is a stochastic, rare and irregular event, the model fit was fairly good. The logistic mortality model passed a validation test on independent data not used in parameter estimation. The key ingredient for obtaining a good mortality model is a data set that is both large and representative of the population under study and the data satisfy both requirements. The mortality model presented in this paper is considered to have an appropriate level of reliability.


From July 1984 to September 1986, 105 cases of American cutaneous leishmaniasis were studied in a locality closely situated to an urbanized area of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Settlement in this area was established at least 20 years ago but the first cases were noted six months prior to the beginning of this study. Cases were almost exclusively cutaneous and ulcerated, with one to six months of evolution. Montenegro's skin tests were positive in all cases and anti-Leishmania antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence test in 74.3% of the patients. Parasites were demonstrated in 69.5% of cases. Domestic animals were easily found infected: 32% of the examined dogs and 30.8% of the examined equines were positive to the presence of Leishmania in cutaneous ulcerated lesions. Parasite isolates from human, dog and equines were immunologically characterized and identified as L. b. braziliensis. 73.0% of the sandfly population were Lutzomyia intermedia mainly caught on human baits and on domestic animals. Our observations suggest that this is an area of recent established L. b. braziliensis infection and that transmission probably occurs indoors or outdoors close to the houses.


Autonomous driving in off-road environments requires an exceptionally capable sensor system, especially given that the unstructured environment does not provide many of the cues available in on-road environments. This paper presents a variable-width-baseline (up to 1.5 meters) single-frame stereo vision system for obstacle detection that can meet the needs of autonomous navigation in extreme environments. Efforts to maximize computational speed oth in the attention given to accurate and stable calibration and the exploitation of the processors MMX and SSE instruction sets - allow a guaranteed 15 fps rate. Along with the assured speed, the system proves very robust against false positives. The system has been field tested on the TerraMax vehicle, one of only five vehicles to complete the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge course and the only one to do so using a vision system for obstacle detection


In the near future, intelligent vehicles will be part of the Internet of Things (IoT) and will offer valuable services and opportunities that could revolutionise human life in smart cities. The Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) is the core structure of intelligent vehicles. It ensures the accuracy and security of communication in vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) modes to enhance road safety and decrease traffic congestion. However, VANET is subject to security vulnerabilities such as denial-of-service (DoS), replay attacks and Sybil attacks that may undermine the security and privacy of the network. Such issues may lead to the transmission of incorrect information from a malicious node to other nodes in the network. In this paper, we present a biometrics blockchain (BBC) framework to secure data sharing among vehicles in VANET and to retain statuary data in a conventional and trusted system. In the proposed framework, we take advantage of biometric information to keep a record of the genuine identity of the message sender, thus preserving privacy. Therefore, the proposed BBC scheme establishes security and trust between vehicles in VANET alongside the capacity to trace identities whenever required. Simulations in OMNeT++, veins and SUMO were carried out to demonstrate the viability of the proposed framework using the urban mobility model. The performance of the framework is evaluated in terms of packet delivery rate, packet loss rate and computational cost. The results show that our novel model is superior to existing approaches.


Mobile network communication system offers the users with seamless communication and this has caused wireless communication to increasingly become the preferred method of carrying multimedia traffic or messages such as voice, video, images, and data files. Time division multiple access (TDMA) is the multiple access scheme used in global system for mobile communication (GSM), while third generation (3G) system uses wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA). The former is designed majorly for voice and a little of data. Due to the increase in number of phone users and the services enjoyed by the users, there is higher demand for non-voice services, mobile extensions to fixed-line services and richer mobile content. This has caused the network operators to develop 3G system with the goal of providing a network infrastructure that can support a much broader range of services than existing systems in which its penetration level has reached market saturation. This paper presents a comparison of the two wireless systems performance based on their modulation techniques. From the constellation gotten, the two systems were analyzed and the analysis shows that W-CDMA (that is, 3G) provides a network infrastructure that can support a much broader range of services than existing systems (GSM) because the main forces behind development of the 3G have been driven by the second generation systems' low performance data services, incompatible service in different parts of the world, and lack of capacity.

 Key words: Time division multiple access (TDMA), wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA), call drop rate, call set-up success rate (CSSR), handover rate, constellation.


The loop-level flavor-changing neutral currents transitions of the Σb → nl+l− and Σc → pl+l− are investigated in full QCD and heavy quark effective theory in the light cone QCD sum rules approach. Using the most general form of the interpolating current for ΣQ, Q = b or c, as members of the recently discovered sextet heavy baryons with spin 1/2 and containing one heavy quark, the transition form factors are calculated using two sets of input parameters entering the nucleon distribution amplitudes. The obtained results are used to estimate the decay rates of the corresponding transitions. Since such a type of transitions occurrs at the loop level in the standard model (SM), they can be considered as good candidates to search for the new physics effects beyond the SM.


Development of the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands (NMDSN): identification of categories and items Rationale Currently, there is no systematic collection of nursing care data in the Netherlands, while pressure is growing from the profession, policy-makers and society to justify the contribution of nursing and its costs. A nursing minimum data set can provide data to demonstrate nursing's contribution to health care as it can be used to describe the diversity of different patient populations and the variability of nursing activities, and to calculate the associated nursing workload. Objective To identify categories and items for inclusion in the Nursing Minimum Data Set for the Netherlands. Design A multimethod, exploratory approach was used. This included interviews, document analysis, consensus rounds, seeking validation in the literature, and drawing up lists of most frequently occurring patient problems, interventions and outcomes of care. Eight hospitals, with a total of 16 wards, participated in the study. Results Relevant categories and items emerged after analysis and grouping of the material and included: five hospital-related items, six patient demographics items, seven medical condition items, 10 nursing process items, 24 patient problems, 32 nursing interventions, four outcomes of nursing care, and three complexity of care items. Almost every item could be located in the existing documentation systems, the lists of patient problems, outcomes and interventions, or in the literature. Conclusion A set of categories and items of nursing data has been identified. The content validity of this set is partly supported by its consistency with the literature, findings from practice and the judgement of potential users. Nursing outcomes need further development. The data set will be tested in practice to find out whether the categories and items are useful, and whether they can be minimized.


Gender bias in natural language processing (NLP) applications, particularly machine translation, has been receiving increasing attention. Much of the research on this issue has focused on mitigating gender bias in English NLP models and systems. Addressing the problem in poorly resourced, and/or morphologically rich languages has lagged behind, largely due to the lack of datasets and resources. In this paper, we introduce a new corpus for gender identification and rewriting in contexts involving one or two target users (I and/or You) – first and second grammatical persons with independent grammatical gender preferences. We focus on Arabic, a gender-marking morphologically rich language. The corpus has multiple parallel components: four combinations of 1st and 2nd person in feminine and masculine grammatical genders, as well as English, and English to Arabic machine translation output. This corpus expands on Habash et al. (2019)'s Arabic Parallel Gender Corpus (APGC v1.0) by adding second person targets as well as increasing the total number of sentences over 6.5 times, reaching over 590K words. Our new dataset will aid the research and development of gender identification, controlled text generation, and post-editing rewrite systems that could be used to personalize NLP applications and provide users with the correct outputs based on their grammatical gender preferences. We make the Arabic Parallel Gender Corpus (APGC v2.0) publicly available


An analysis has been performed of endoscopic management of chronic bronchitis with making use of substitution surfactant therapy with a home-produced drug preparation of the exogenous surfactant sucrim. Positive results obtained in the studies conducted permit the substantiation of a 2-fold use of the above drug in a combined treatment. Visual normalization of bronchial mucosa in purulent diffuse endobronchitis, degree III intensity of inflammation, was seen by day 8 to 12 from the commencement of therapy.


Fourteen patients in whom open reduction and internal fixation could not be achieved satisfactorily had a total elbow arthroplasty for non-union of a supracondylar humeral fracture. All patients had an established non-union, and ten had had from one to four previous attempts at internal fixation. The average age at the time of operation was sixty-five years. The average duration of follow-up was five years, with a minimum of two years. The average preoperative elbow score was 17 points, with both pain and functional disability present. The average postoperative score was 84 points; there were eight good or excellent results and three failures. The latter three patients had an additional operation: one each for dislocation, loosening of the humeral component, and deep infection. Salvage of supracondylar non-union by means of a total elbow arthroplasty is a technically demanding procedure. Strict indications for selection of patients must be followed. A semiconstrained implant is recommended, with preservation of the epicondyles and their muscular attachments in order to achieve balance of the soft tissues.


In this paper, a new data structure, called the classified multisuffix trie (CMST), is proposed for designing dynamic router-tables. CMST achieves a better performance than existing data structures because each node can store more than one prefix and the longest matching prefix may be found in an internal node rather than on a leaf. Furthermore, with the classification in each node, the dynamic router-table operations can be performed efficiently. To reduce the memory requirement, we store each prefix's corresponding suffix in a CMST node, instead of storing a full binary string. Based on the CMST, we also propose another data structure, called the Partitioning Classified Multisuffix Trie (PCMST) to reduce the height of the trie and expedite router-table operations. Experiments using real IPv4 routing databases demonstrate that the proposed data structures are efficient in terms of memory usage and it performs well in terms of the average times of the lookup, insert, and delete operations. We report the results of experiments conducted to compare the performance of the proposed data structure with that of other structures using the benchmark IPv4 prefix databases AS4637, AS6447, and AS65000 with 219,581, 296,552, and 226,847 prefixes, respectively.


The natural rocks used today as well as in the history for a variety of purposes were a subject of different alteration, weathering and deterioration conditions. These conditions are strictly controlled by environment and nature of rock varieties (marble and stone). This study is a first approach to understand the relation between some geological features and behavior against salt (Na 2SO4) decay of Moroccan marbles and stones. For this purpose, widely used four dolomitic limestones, two crystalline limestones, one limestone and one basalt sample (total 8) were chosen from Morocco. Extra attention paid to choose locations being a representative of all Moroccan country. The carbonate samples (limestone and dolomite) consist of mainly dolomite and calcite with micritic and sparitic cement. The sole, non-carbonaceous sample is basalt of Khenifra containing mainly plagioclase and pyroxene. In general, both bulk-dry and powder density values of the studied rock samples are homogeneous. The limestone of Bir Jdid has the highest (10.81 %) effective porosity and dry weight loss value (4.61 %). The loss on ignition value of the Khenifra basalt has the lowest value with 1.26 %. The loss on ignition values are also relatively uniform. The obtained data indicate that outdoor uses (especially in coastal areas) of limestones of Bir Jdid and dolomitic limestones of Taza are more risky than the others.


After extirpation of the field 9 and 47 disturbances of a chain instrumental reflex appear in monkeys as a fragmentation of successive acts and simplification of the forms of manipulation with experimental instruments. Disturbances of movement forms are stable. This fact to some extent is modelling human frontal pathology which is manifested in inability to perform a series of successive movements with switching over to different forms. Extirpation of the field 10 elicits disturbances of successive act only in the initial period and further the chain reflex is fully restored. Locomotor hyperactivity dominates in the behaviour. Author's initial conclusion is confirmed that the field 10 does not participate in formation and manifestation of temporal connections and has regulating influence on the organization of complex animals' behaviour.


Endodontically treated teeth can be restored with a wide range of techniques of varying complexity. Selecting the optimum restorative modality to compensate for the loss of coronal tooth structure is considered the key to restorative success. Multiple factors must be considered in choosing a nal restoration. Essential considerations include the amount of remaining sound tooth structure, occlusal function, opposing dentition, and position of tooth in the arch, as well as length, width and curvature of the root. The main indication of a post is to retain the core that can be used to support the nal restoration. The decision regarding post placement should be made based on the amount of coronal remaining tooth structure. Thus in this study we use Three Dimensional Finite Element Analysis to evaluate the stress distribution in endodontically treated single rooted premolars that were restored with different post systems- cast post, stainless steel screw post, parallel sided steel post, fibre posts.


A ruthenium polypyridyl dye containing a hexasulfanyl-styryl modified bipyridyl group as ancillary ligand, coded TG6, is investigated as a sensitizer for ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The advantages of this dye are a broad wavelength absorption spectrum, a large loading in ZnO photoelectrodes, a significantly larger extinction coefficient compared to more classical Ru-polypyridyl dyes, and the formation of less agglomerate in the pores of the ZnO layers. TG6 has been used to sensitize ZnO nanorod particle layers of high structural quality and ZnO layers made of submicrometer spheres composed of aggregated nanocrystallites and that develop an internal surface area. The latter are highly light-scattering in the visible wavelength region but more difficult to sensitize correctly. The TG6 dye has been compared with the metal-free D149 dye and has been shown more efficient for photoconversion. The best performances have been obtained by combining TG6 with the nanorod layer, the optimal power conversion efficiency being measured at 5.30% in that case. The cells have been investigated by impedance spectroscopy over a large applied voltage range. We especially show that the submicrometer sphere layers exhibit lower conductivity and lower charge collection efficiency as compared to the nanorod particle ones.


Among recent high profile scientific debates was the proposal that life could exist with arsenic in place of phosphorous in its nucleic acids and other biomolecules. Soon after its initial publication, scientists across diverse disciplines began to question this extraordinary claim. Using the original article, its claims, its scientific support, and the ensuing counterarguments, a two-day, active learning classroom exercise was developed focusing on the presentation, evaluation, and discussion of scientific argumentation and discourse. In this culminating assignment of a first semester biochemistry course, undergraduate students analyze the scientific support from the original research articles and then present and discuss multiple scientific rebuttals in a lively, civil classroom debate. Through this assignment, students develop a sense of skepticism, especially for the original arsenic-based life claims, and learn to clearly articulate their counterarguments with scientific support and critical reasoning. With its direct integration into firstsemester biochemistry curriculum and the excitement surrounding arsenic based life, this assignment provides a robust, simple, and stimulating framework for introducing scientific discourse and active learning into the undergraduate molecular science curriculum. VC 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 00:000–000, 2016.


Current non-invasive Brain Machine interfaces commonly rely on the decoding of sustained motor imagery activity. This approach enables a user to control brain-actuated devices by triggering predetermined motor actions. However, despite of its broad range of applications, this paradigm has failed so far to allow a natural and reliable control. As an alternative approach, we investigated the decoding of states transitions of an imagined movement, i.e. rest-to-movement (onset) and movement-to-rest (offset). We show that both transitions can be reliably decoded with accuracies of 71.47% for the onset and 73.31% for the offset (N = 9 subjects). Importantly, these transitions exhibit different neural patterns and need to be decoded independently. Our results indicate that both decoders are able to capture the brain dynamics during imagined movements and that their combined use could provide benefits in terms of accuracy and time precision.


On page 2 of Landscapes of Struggle, the editors state: "El Salvador is Latin America's least researched nation-state." As a historian of Central America, I could not agree more. The editors lament the conditions that have led to this neglect: the invisibility of the nation's indigenous peoples, absence of a strong tradition of higher education, and the country's authoritarian and military legacy. Nevertheless, in the opening historiographical review and in introductions to the three sections, the editors succeed admirably in identifying and evaluating what studies-most of which concentrate on the national level-are available. The book looks beyond the existing corpus of literature dealing with national and international politics and focuses sharply on the local level. Instead of presidents and military figures, the dramatis personae of the thirteen chapters are workers, peasants, clerics, women, communities, and a variety of local and international development agencies. Among the contributors are three historians, five anthropologists, two political scientists, and one sociologist. The editors and contributors are to be congratulated for putting together some highly instructive, challenging studies of El Salvador and for suggesting new avenues of research. ' h o chapters provide rather surprisingly positive interpretations of the Salvadoran military. The first covers politics and patronage during the military dictatorship of Maximiliano Herniindez Martfnez, and the second explains how generals courted labor unions in the 1944-1972 period. Three studies treat land tenure and reform. One reviews the privatization of indigenous land in Izalco in the late nineteenth century, another covers the effects of land reform and cooperativism on a rural community from the 1940s to the 1990s, and the third documents agitation for land reform in the mid-1990s. One study evaluates a middle-class craftsmen's association. Personal interviews are successfully used in several chapters: to provide details of the successful politicization by priests of a rural community in Morazin province, depopulation and resettlement of Tenancingo, the unusual cooperation between the Fh4I.N and the government in the community of Segundo Montes, and the disenchantment of rural women with nongovernmental organizations. Personal experiences "in a small, primarily indigenous village" illuminate problems of ethnic identity in one chapter. Another study, using testimonial literature, exposes the high degree of post-civil war violence and police corruption. The last chapter is another expos6


Plants are currently experiencing increasing salinity problems due to irrigation with brackish water. Moreover, in fields, roots can grow in soils which show spatial variation in water content and salt concentration, also because of the type of irrigation. Salinity impairs crop growth and productivity by inhibiting many physiological and metabolic processes, in particular nitrate uptake, translocation, and assimilation. Salinity determines an increase of sap osmolality from about 305 mOsmol kg−1 in control roots to about 530 mOsmol kg−1 in roots under salinity. Root cells adapt to salinity by sequestering sodium in the vacuole, as a cheap osmoticum, and showing a rearrangement of few nitrogen-containing metabolites and sucrose in the cytosol, both for osmotic adjustment and oxidative stress protection, thus providing plant viability even at low nitrate levels. Mainly glycine betaine and sucrose at low nitrate concentration, and glycine betaine, asparagine and proline at high nitrate levels can be assumed responsible for the osmotic adjustment of the cytosol, the assimilation of the excess of ammonium and the scavenging of ROS under salinity. High nitrate plants with half of the root system under salinity accumulate proline and glutamine in both control and salt stressed split roots, revealing that osmotic adjustment is not a regional effect in plants. The expression level and enzymatic activities of asparagine synthetase and Δ1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase, as well as other enzymatic activities of nitrogen and carbon metabolism, are analyzed.


Substantial mid- and late-season topping of American Pima cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) plants occurs in field plantings. Lygus bug (Lygus hesperus Knight) feeding is the apparent cause of topping. The effects of mid to late.season topping on lint yield and several yield components of 'Pima S-4' cotton were examined. Topping of Pima S-4 cotton in mid-July, early.August, and mid-August reduced plant height, reduced the number of main stem nodes, increased boll set on top fruiting branches, and resulted in additional branch nodes on top fruiting branches. Plants topped 17 July produced 300%, 100%, and 60% more bolls on the first, second, and third branch, respectively, below the point of topping than did the check plants. The effect was less when topping was later in the season. The yield patterns in lower branches were not different from the checks. Topping did not affect: 1) lint yield (3 years), 2) number of bolls set, seed/boll, 4) lint/boll, 5) lint/seed, 6) seed weight, days to boll maturity, or 8) pink bollworm infestation. Fruit set was not delayed by topping. Fruiting points, which aborted on normal plants, produced bolls on topped plants up to the potential for the cultivar and environment. This has important implications for studies on insect damage to plants and for efforts to increase lint yield by reducing boll abscission.


In this paper, we address the problem of robust adaptive beamforming of signals received by a linear array. The challenge associated with the beamforming problem is twofold. Firstly, the process requires the inversion of the usually ill-conditioned covariance matrix of the received signals. Secondly, the steering vector pertaining to the direction of arrival of the signal of interest is not known precisely. To tackle these two challenges, the standard capon beamformer is manipulated to a form where the beamformer output is obtained as a scaled version of the inner product of two vectors. The two vectors are linearly related to the steering vector and the received signal snapshot, respectively. The linear operator, in both cases, is the square root of the covariance matrix. A regularized least-squares (RLS) approach is proposed to estimate these two vectors and to provide robustness without exploiting prior information. Simulation results show that the RLS beamformer using the proposed regularization algorithm outperforms state-of-the-art beamforming algorithms, as well as another RLS beamformers using a standard regularization approaches.


Nuclear spin registers in the vicinity of electron spins in solid state systems offer a powerful resource to address the challenge of scalability in quantum architectures. We investigate here the properties of 29Si nuclear spins surrounding donor atoms in silicon, and consider the use of such spins, combined with the donor nuclear spin, as a quantum register coupled to the donor electron spin. We find the coherence of the nearby 29Si nuclear spins is effectively protected by the presence of the donor electron spin, leading to coherence times in the second timescale—over two orders of magnitude greater than the coherence times in bulk silicon. We theoretically investigate the use of such a register for quantum error correction (QEC), including methods to protect nuclear spins from the ionisation/neutralisation of the donor, which is necessary for the re-initialisation of the ancillae qubits. This provides a route for multi-round QEC using donors in silicon.


Irradiation of polymer-based directional dry adhesives with gamma photons has been performed. This irradiation is commensurate with the radiation that an adhesive sample would be exposed to if deployed in a nuclear glove box or other high-radiation environment. Before and after irradiation, samples were tested using a three-axis adhesive testing stage and were analyzed via a scanning electron microscope and a water droplet contact angle analyzer. At doses in excess of 270 kGy, the adhesive performance began to deteriorate, continuing to an overall performance reduction of 55% at a dose of [approximately]500 kGy. Significant changes in the surface energy of the bulk polymer are also indicated by changes in water droplet contact angles, contributing to the adhesion performance loss. Such analyses allow for quantitative statements to be made about the expected performance of these adhesives when deployed in high-radiation environments.


Abstract Acyclic phase-type (PH) distributions have been a popular tool in survival analysis, thanks to their natural interpretation in terms of aging toward its inevitable absorption. In this article, we consider an extension to the bivariate setting for the modeling of joint lifetimes. In contrast to previous models in the literature that were based on a separate estimation of the marginal behavior and the dependence structure through a copula, we propose a new time-inhomogeneous version of a multivariate PH (mIPH) class that leads to a model for joint lifetimes without that separation. We study properties of mIPH class members and provide an adapted estimation procedure that allows for right-censoring and covariate information. We show that initial distribution vectors in our construction can be tailored to reflect the dependence of the random variables and use multinomial regression to determine the influence of covariates on starting probabilities. Moreover, we highlight the flexibility and parsimony, in terms of needed phases, introduced by the time inhomogeneity. Numerical illustrations are given for the data set of joint lifetimes of Frees et al., where 10 phases turn out to be sufficient for a reasonable fitting performance. As a by-product, the proposed approach enables a natural causal interpretation of the association in the aging mechanism of joint lifetimes that goes beyond a statistical fit.


As our capacity for communication with nations across the globe increases through the advances of technology, our interactions with others with different worldviews also become more frequent. This exposure to diversity on so many levels requires a better understanding of the multiple contexts in which people from different cultural backgrounds live and the strengths they possess that help them experience well-being. In order to define the characteristics that may be viewed as strengths in different groups, we must make efforts to remember that cultural rules and norms often dictate what can be called a strength versus a weakness. It is imperative that we are able to recognize that strengths may look very different in different contexts and that these diverse manifestations may come from a variety of worldviews. More work must be done in order to develop a better understanding of the way that cultural context plays a role In the operationalization, manifestation, and measurement of strengths in diverse groups. The following chapter provides a history ofthe connections between culture and positive psychology and discusses current issues regarding the link between cultural context anlvarious personal characteristics. Examples from culturally sensitive positive psychological theory and research are also given in order to illustrate how researchers are better exploring positive psychology within a cultural context.


Now the best-selling book on DVD Studio Pro is even better. Updated for DVD Studio Pro 4.2, this Apple-certified book uses striking, real-world footage (including the HD documentary One-Six-Right) to build four complete DVDs. This revised edition covers integration with Final Cut Pro 6, Motion 3, and Compressor 3, as well as the new SD-to-HD workflow. Each chapter presents a lesson in an aspect of DVD creation and finishing, with hands-on projects for you to complete as you go. After learning how to storyboard your DVD and plan its interactions, you'll set chapter markers, create stories, build still and motion menus, and add overlays and subtitles. You'll also learn to work with multiple audio tracks and camera angles, create smart buttons and custom transitions, professionally encode audio and video files, and create useful scripts.