While working from home is not a new concept, the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic has, for many in the workforce, rendered it the 'new normal', concomitant with enhanced use of workplace surveillance technologies to monitor and track staff working from home. Even prior to the global pandemic, organisations were increasingly using a variety of electronic surveillance methods to monitor their employees and the places where they work, whether it be in an office building or remotely. This technology traverses various facets of the work environment, including email communications, web browsing, the use of active badges for locating and tracking employees, and the gathering of personal information by employers. The application of these technologies, nevertheless, raises privacy concerns, which are exacerbated when work is undertaken in employees' own homes, a phenomenon that has become more prevalent due to Covid-19. This article addresses the issue of electronic workplace monitoring, its implications for employees' privacy and the role of collective bargaining in addressing this emergent practice, which has also been given new impetus during the pandemic.


Although several multi-operator and multi-method approaches for solving optimization problems have been proposed, their performances are not consistent for a wide range of optimization problems. Also, the task of ensuring the appropriate selection of algorithms and operators may be inefficient since their designs are undertaken mainly through trial and error. This research proposes an improved optimization framework that uses the benefits of multiple algorithms, namely, a multi-operator differential evolution algorithm and a co-variance matrix adaptation evolution strategy. In the former, reinforcement learning is used to automatically choose the best differential evolution operator. To judge the performance of the proposed framework, three benchmark sets of bound-constrained optimization problems (73 problems) with 10, 30 and 50 dimensions are solved. Further, the proposed algorithm has been tested by solving optimization problems with 100 dimensions taken from CEC2014 and CEC2017 benchmark problems. A real-world application data set has also been solved. Several experiments are designed to analyze the effects of different components of the proposed framework, with the best variant compared with a number of state-of-the-art algorithms. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is able to outperform all the others considered.


For a long time, services were considered non-tradable in the literature of international economics. However, the sector has emerged with profound importance on the basis of strong underpinnings. Technological advancement, financial constraints and limited options, and regulatory changes have greatly expanded the range and scope of trade in services especially in the context of increasing share of knowledge intensive products at the world market. Services now account for a substantial and rising share of output and employment in the economy of Pakistan and its trading partners. However, it is argued that the growing share of services in the economy of Pakistan and its trading partners has not translated into a significant increased share in their over-all trade. Pakistan is heading towards liberalisation of trade in services through unilateral, bilateral, multi-lateral agreements under the broad framework of WTO. Recently, in the wake of trade liberalisation in EBOPS services among Pakistan's trading partners; Pakistan has received request lists from its trading partners in the context of national treatment and market access under four modes of cross-border supply of WTO framework. In this regard, the opportunities as well as risks associated with trade liberalisation depend primarily on the relative competitiveness among the trading partners. It is, therefore, essential for the policy makers to design such a trade policy which not only helps in promoting domestic services industries but also open up new opportunities of employment generation and economic growth and development with a guarantee of peace and stability within and across its neighbouring countries. In this connection, this research paper develops a strategic framework of liberalising trade in services in 12 categories of services with 26 partner countries of Pakistan using various economics tools (RCAI, TII, TCI, TBI) and econometric models and techniques (OLS, PLS, 2SLS) by using panel data on annual and quarterly frequencies.


Reinforcement learning algorithms can train an agent to operate successfully in a stationary environment. Most real-world environments, however, are subject to change over time. Research in the areas of transfer learning and lifelong learning addresses this problem by developing new algorithms that allow agents to adapt to environment change. Current trends in this area include model-free learning and data-driven adaptation methods. This paper explores in the opposite direction of those trends. Arguing that model-based algorithms may be better suited to the problem, it looks at adaptation in the context of model-based learning. Noting that standard algorithms themselves have some built-in capability for adaptation, it analyzes when and why a standard algorithm struggles to adapt to environment change. Then it experiments with lightweight and straightforward methods for adapting effectively.


Strategic energy risk management may be defined as the development of a systematic method to analyze exposure to various components of risk and managing it in the context of a company's predetermined financial objectives and risk tolerances. A strategic energy risk management (SRM) program is essential for industries with significant energy exposure and limited market pricing power. A successful SRM must consider gross margin at risk within tolerance levels by product line, cash flow at risk within tolerance levels by business unit, energy cost at risk within tolerance levels by location, and earnings at risk within tolerance limits at the corporate level. Such a program is contingent on determining stochastic optimal hedge strategies based on risk tolerance, detailed price and usage patterns across locations, current energy market conditions, and some input regarding the company's market pricing power. Even when market conditions handicap a company's ability to implement such a program fully, a layering strategy can be effective.


We consider two business models for a two-sided economy under uncertainty: dealership and marketplace. Although both business models can bridge the gap between demand and supply, it is not clear which model is better for the firm or for the consumers. We show that while the two models differ substantially in pricing power, inventory risk, fee structure, and fulfillment time, both models share several important features, with the revenues to the firm from the two models converging when the markets are thick. We also show that for thick markets there is a one-to-one mapping between their corresponding optimal policies. We provide guidelines and insights as to which business model is preferable under different conditions when the markets are not thick.


An integral part of the Rights and Rewards in Blended Institutional Repositories Project is the design of a reward and support scheme that provides suitable recognition for the contribution of items to a repository of teaching and learning materials. A repository is a managed environment having the benefits of: providing a central store for the sharing of resources, enhancing access to items, and helping to preserve the outputs of a university for the long-term.
The project will pilot a reward and award scheme as part of the demonstrator repository service at Loughborough University. This repository will hold some examples of good quality teaching materials produced at this institution, resources for use in teaching, and case studies of innovative practice. The repository service will include provision for support channels to encourage and assist content creators and depositors.
Rewarding staff for their efforts in creating good quality teaching and learning resources is seen as a way of recognising their work and encouraging innovation. A number of National and Local initiatives for rewarding staff are already in place. This report introduces some of these schemes and outlines the context within which such reward schemes operate. The project's reward and support scheme will be designed to meet the needs of contributors to a repository of materials to support teaching and learning. The need for suitable awards, support and recognition were identified by a national survey (Bates et al., 2005), and in interviews with teachers and support staff at Loughborough University carried out by the project team.


Social entrepreneurship (SE) factors are said to lead to higher sales, profits and increased productive employment of private sector enterprises in Kenya, Africa and the world in general. Despite these successes, little is known whether these factors have a relationship with the performance of commercially oriented parastatals. This study sought to determine how organizational resources and environmental factors affect the performance of enterprise based parastatals in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The study population consisted of 55 enterprise based parastatals with a population of 495 top managers. Using stratified and simple random sampling techniques, 432 respondents were selected from amongst the 55 commercially oriented parastatals in Kenya. A questionnaire and key informant interviews were used to collect data. Secondary data was collected from financial and audited statements. Coefficients between independent variables (firm resources and environmental factors) and (firm performance) elements obtained from factor analysis were computed to explore possible strengths and direction of relationships. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted and this was used to make interpretations and conclusions. The study established a significant relationship between organizational and environmental factors respectively with performance of enterprises based parastatals in Kenya. The study recommended that policies that integrate social entrepreneurship in enterprise based parastatals in Kenya should be formulated for the enterprises to achieve their intended objectives and for improved performance. The policies should ensure among others that prudent use of organizational resources and exploitation of environmental factors are integrated as core aspects of the management of the organizations.


We consider immigrants living in Norway and their behavior with respect to mobility. Using cross-sectional data, we employ a trinomial logit model. An immigrant may (i) move to another centrality level, (ii) emigrate, or (iii) stay at the same centrality level as in the previous period. We carry out separate estimations for eight different groups, brought about combining four centrality levels with two genders. To assess the effect of different explanatory variables related to (i) duration of residence in Norway, (ii) labor market status, (iii) reason for immigration, (iv) the extent of education and (v) family size and composition, we calculate marginal effects. In line with earlier results, we obtain that longer duration of residence tends to decrease the probability of emigration and that immigrants who have stated escape as the reason for immigration to Norway tends to have lower probabilities for emigration than those who have stated work as the reason.


As the energy demand increases and with the conventional fossil fuels depleting, the energy crisis in the near future is
bound to worsen. Moreover fossil fuels have adverse effects on the environment so it is required to switch on to
renewable sources of energy to meet the energy requirements. Especially solar energy is abundantly available but it is
intermittent, unpredictable, and available only during the day. An efficient thermal energy storage system is required
for storing the surplus energy available during light hours so that it can be used during nights. This paper is focused
on the charging and discharge analysis of Paraffin wax (melting temperature of 58-600C) which is used as phase
change material in thermal energy storage system. To analyse the performance of Paraffin wax, a simple and
economical experimental setup has been constructed that consists of solar parabolic concentrator, hot water bath,
water pump, test section, insulation boxes, T type thermocouple and Data acquisition system. In the experiment
conducted, the water which gets heated due to the solar parabolic concentrator charges the Paraffin wax in the test
section. Once the Paraffin wax gets fully charged, it is taken out and kept in the insulation box .The temperature
variation with time while charging and discharging is recorded. It is found that Paraffin wax took 3 hours and 7
minutes for getting completely charged and it took 15 hours 28 minutes for discharging i.e. there was a temperature
drop of 20.86 0C from the initial temperature of 69.9 0C


The day-to-day management of the hospital forms business can be time-consuming, frustrating, and expensive. In many cases, the official inventory represents only a fraction of the total number of forms used throughout an institution. Since the responsibility for inventory and quality control becomes diffuse, forms users experience frequent stockouts and poorly designed forms. Without a centralized program, it is difficult to determine the costs associated with forms. An effective forms management program can be designed to fulfill most everyone's needs. The program described in this article incorporates the concept of stockless purchasing to gain better quality forms at significant cost savings.


Product value and life are usually expected to follow the product life cycle (PLC), wherein products are expected to move from an investment toward a profitable mature peak that ends when the product is phased out. This study illustrates the sales volume of Arne Jacobsen's Egg chair over a 50-year period, shifting from low to high volume to extremely low to high again. This study introduces a theoretical perspective in which value creation is described as a process of valuing, in which an assumption is made that the value of a product is relational and that relationships between products and consumers are created, broken, and recreated. This makes it possible to understand how timeless products can be achieved. Based on a coconstructivistic view of value creation, the life of the Egg chair demonstrates how value is cocreated as different associations, relationships, and conflicts are attached, detached, and reattached to the product through processes of qualifications and requalifications. Value is context dependent, emerging, and performative. By providing vital clues about what makes some products timeless, the study of the Egg provides implications for companies and managers. The strength of the Egg is its ability to be simultaneously flexible and stable. At its core is the design of a mastermind, yet it can adapt to today's changes and tastes. Through its ability to transform and connect in new ways, keeping its core, it becomes strong. The implications for product development are, among other things, that the PLC curve should not guide actions or reactions. Instead, it is necessary to understand, identify, or define the core design and values of products and the way products of the past can be adapted, negotiated, and transformed to stay attractive and to involve modern customers. It is essential to understand how product framing and framing devices work as management technologies in processes that involve the creation of long-lasting product icons.


The Oxford Handbook of Humanism aims to cover the history, the philosophical development, and the influence humanist thought and culture. As a system of thought that values human needs and experiences over supernatural concerns, humanism has gained greater attention amid the rapidly shifting demographics of religious communities, especially in Europe and North America. This outlook on the world has taken on global dimensions as well, with activists, artists, and thinkers forming a humanistic response not only to traditional religion, but to the pressing social and political issues of the 21st century. To address these areas, the chapters in this volume discuss humanism as a global phenomenon—an approach that has often been neglected in more Western-focused works. The Handbook will also approach humanism as both an opponent to traditional religion as well as a philosophy that some religions have explicitly adopted. Sections are divided into regional studies, intellectual histories, humanist organizations and movements, the impact on culture, humanism in the public arena, and influence of humanism on social issues.


Despite the success of many countries in increasing energy saving and energy efficiency, the global energy consumption is expected to continue its growth. The main reasons are economic development and population growth happening primarily in developing and emerging economies, especially in India and China. In such circumstances fossil fuels will remain the dominant energy source in the medium and even long run. The present research paper aims at analyzing the current global trends in the energy sector identified through literature review and expert tools, and their influence on Russia. Considering a broad range of factors, the paper determined the following main challenges for the Russian energy sector: tightening competition at international energy markets, the need for comprehensive modernization and stronger energy efficiency measures, the need for technological catch-up in a number of energy sector segments, the need to increase recovery factor at traditional oilfields, and the need to diversify energy mix by increasing the share of renewables. The paper also considers the main rationale for the last challenge that include strengthened security, reliability and sustainability of the Russian energy sector. Among the key preconditions for advancements in renewable energy are improvements in investment climate, modernisation of the central grid and changes in energy policy. The paper is based on the outcomes of the first stage of the Foresight project devoted to renewable energy technologies


The research in this thesis describes the way in which various properties of the KcsA tetramer can be influenced by intrinsic protein properties as well as by specific lipids. Different types of mutations within KcsA were made and in chapters 2, 3 and 4 their effects on tetramer stability were tested in a variety of different lipid systems. In chapter 2 it was found that replacing the inner or outer helix of KcsA by an alanine/leucine stretch or deleting significant parts of the selectivity filter does not prohibit the protein from forming tetramers. This suggested that the C-terminus is a key player in tetramer assembly, whereas the presence of the selectivity filter in combination with interactions between intramembrane segments of the protein, possibly mediated by lipids, are likely to add to the process of maintaining tetramer stability. In chapter 3 the role of lipids was further investigated and it was established that the anionic phospholipid PA has a specific, charge dependent interaction with KcsA, thereby stabilizing the tetramer. The results suggested that the specific charge properties of PA are the key to enhancing stabilization and it was proposed that the positively charged residues R64 and R89 which are thought to be involved in lipid binding, represent the binding partners of PA in tetramer stabilization. This stabilizing effect by PA was not observed in the chimeric channel KcsA-Kv1.3, indicating that the altered loop in this chimera plays a role in the loss of interaction with PA. Since the basic residue R64 in KcsA is mutated into an aspartic acid in KcsA-Kv1.3 and since additionally R64 had been modeled to be part of a specific lipid binding site via electrostatic interactions, it was speculated that possibly this mutation alone could be responsible for the loss of stabilization by PA in KcsA-Kv1.3. To test this, we introduced the R64D mutation in KcsA-WT in chapter 4. Surprisingly, we found that this mutation leads to a significant increase in tetramer stability compared to KcsA-WT. This enhancement of stability is most likely due to a salt bridge that is formed between D64 and R89 of the adjacent monomer, thereby mimicking the electrostatic interactions that otherwise most likely occur through lipid binding. In chapter 5 we compared the functional properties of the different KcsA-R64 mutants and we found that KcsA-R64D has similar functional properties as KcsA-WT, but with one important difference. The KcsA-R64D mutant is functionally less stable compared to KcsA-WT and most channels close within a few minutes after activation without reopening. Together this implies that lipid binding is involved in structural stabilization of the tetramer as well as in allowing opening and closing of the channel, thereby making it likely that these processes are coupled. Based on these findings we propose in chapter 5 that lipids are part of the mechanism that enables KcsA to transform from the open to closed conformation and vice versa.


Background End of life is a topic which may be included in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) education sessions. Patient expectations from such a session, its optimal content, and who should deliver it is unknown. Method The community PR programme in Hammersmith and Fulham has included a session entitled "Managing the Final Stages of COPD" since April 2010. Apprehensions and training needs around this subject were identified in respiratory staff running PR and therefore a community matron with an interest in palliative and end of life care led the sessions. Twelve–sixty min end of life discussion sessions were delivered from April 2010 to June 2011. The content was based around the eponymous British Lung Foundation (BLF) leaflet. Discussions focused principally on making a will, arranging a funeral and considering a Power of Attorney or Advance Decision. Participants were given advance notice and an opportunity to "opt out". Results 72 patients attended these sessions (average number 6). None opted out. One patient asked for more information afterwards. Two partcipants became upset during the session; one opted to attend in spite of a recent bereavement and the other reported "feeling relieved". Evaluation responses are shown in Abstract P223 table 1. Conclusion Advanced care planning is well received and can be delivered as part of community PR education. Respiratory staff leading PR are now confident about delivering this themselves. However this setting is not able to address the advanced care planning needs of specific patients with adverse prognostic indicators and this needs separate planning.


Recognizing visual unseen classes, i.e. for which no training data is available, is known as Zero Shot Learning (ZSL). Some of the best performing methods apply the triplet loss to seen classes to learn a mapping between visual representations of images and attribute vectors that constitute class prototypes. They nevertheless make several implicit assumptions that limit their performance on real use cases, particularly with fine-grained datasets comprising a large number of classes. We identify three of these assumptions and put forward corresponding novel contributions to address them. Our approach consists in taking into account both inter-class and intra-class relations, respectively by being more permissive with confusions between similar classes, and by penalizing visual samples which are atypical to their class. The approach is tested on four datasets, including the large-scale ImageNet, and exhibits performances significantly above recent methods, even generative methods based on more restrictive hypotheses.


Few conditions are as discouraging to the clinician and as unpleasant and dangerous to the patient as postoperative or postpuerperal thrombosis. There is nothing more tragic in medicine than the occurrence of a fatal pulmonary embolism in a patient who has convalesced satisfactorily after an operation and is ready to be discharged. Although less dramatic than such an outcome, persistent thrombophlebitic sequelae, such as postphlebitic edema, varicosities and ulceration, frequently cause the patient to regret having survived the original infection. All these conditions are similar in that an intravascular venous occlusion occurs, but we believe, as has been perviously emphasized, 1 that it is necessary from prognostic and therapeutic points of view to differentiate between thrombophlebitis and phlebothrombosis. In the former the intravascular clotting is associated with and dependent on inflammation of the wall of the vein, whereas in the latter there is no associated inflammatory process and because of


ABSTRACT The characteristics of ion beam (IB) irradiated polyethylene glycol (PEG) films were analyzed to determine their potential use as a liquid crystal (LC) alignment layer. The transmittance of the PEG films at various IB intensities was measured to verify the possibility of using it as an alignment layer. Anti-parallel cells with the PEG film were fabricated to examine the LC alignment characteristics. Perfectly dark cross-polarized microscopy images were obtained at an intensity of 700 eV, which indicates uniform LC alignment, and pre-tilt angle measurements supported this finding. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses were conducted to determine the effect of the IB irradiation on the PEG film on the surface modification. After exposure at an IB intensity of 700 eV where uniform LC alignment was achieved, remarkable chemical composition modification of the PEG film, including the reduction of C-O bonds that affected the uniform LC alignment, was observed via the XPS analysis. Furthermore, the AFM analysis revealed that low kurtosis value was obtained at this IB intensity. Therefore, we are convinced that the PEG films irradiated at this low IB intensity show potential as alternative alignment layer in LC applications.


INTRODUCTION
The objective was to identify comorbidities related to HIV-positive patients in Blumenau, State of Santa Catarina.

METHODS
A retrospective, descriptive observational design study which analyzed data from 424 patients assisted by the sexually transmitted disease/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (STD/AIDS) Specialized Care Service (SCS).

RESULTS
Of 424 medical records analyzed, 388 patients presented CD4+/CD8+ ratios lower than 1. The most prevalent comorbidities were smoking, depression, alcoholism, and herpes zoster infection, in males and females.

CONCLUSIONS
The most relevant comorbidity in both genders was herpes zoster, an important marker of immunity in patients. The lowest mean was observed among patients with neurotoxoplasmosis.


Small RNA phages belonging to the family Leviviridae are among the simplest known viruses. They have been used extensively as models for studies of various problems in molecular biology, including protein-RNA interactions, repression of translation, virus assembly and virus evolution.The small RNA phage particle contains a single-stranded RNA genome, surrounded by a T=3 protein shell, which is composed of 180 chemically identical monomers. There are very strong dimer interactions between the monomers, and the capsid can be regarded as built up from 90 dimersBesides their structural role, the dimers are acting also as translation repressors of the replicase subunit gene of the phage. The complex formed by the coat protein dimer and the viral RNA is alsothought to be the initiation of capsid assembly.The current work presents the crystal structure of two phages: Enterobacteria phage GA and Pseudomonas phage PP7. The structure of a deletion mutant of Enterobacteria phage fr capsid has also been solved. Comparison of the solved structures with earlier solved ones (including the phages MS2, fr and Qs) has revealed several aspects of virus assembly and structural evolution.When comparing the protein shells of Leviviridae phages, a high degree of similarity is found in the RNA binding sites, whereas larger structural differences are located in the loop regions of the coat protein, especially in the FG loop, connecting strands sF and sG. These loops are forming contacts around the 5-fold and quasi-6-fold axes. In many cases, mutations in the FG loop preventcapsid formation suggesting that this region is of major importance during the particle assembly.However, in the phage fr deletion mutant, apart of the FG loop was deleted, but particles stillformed. The crystal structure of the mutant showed that the FG loops do not make any contacts andare therefore unlikely to be important during the assembly.Based on analysis of the conserved inter-dimer interactions, we now suggest that the capsidassembly in the small RNA phages is guided by the relatively rigid interacting surfaces of thesubunits. It seems that the RNA phages lack any obvious switching mechanisms between pentamericand hexameric units, in contrast to several plant and insect viruses.


187. [J. 5.] The Continuum. Headers of the Gazette may be interested to know that Professor E. V. Huntington has concluded his series of articles in the Annah, " Mathematics on the Continuum " and the " Transfinite Numbers." They form an elementary introduction to some of the problems so actively debated at the present time in the field of Cantor's Mengenlehre. W. J. G. 188. [C. 1. e.] Proof of Taylor's Theorem.


Objective To investigate the association between tea drinking habits in Golestan province, northern Iran, and risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Design Population based case-control study. In addition, patterns of tea drinking and temperature at which tea was drunk were measured among healthy participants in a cohort study. Setting Golestan province, northern Iran, an area with a high incidence of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Participants 300 histologically proved cases of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 571 matched neighbourhood controls in the case-control study and 48 582 participants in the cohort study. Main outcome measure Odds ratio of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma associated with drinking hot tea. Results Nearly all (98%) of the cohort participants drank black tea regularly, with a mean volume consumed of over one litre a day. 39.0% of participants drank their tea at temperatures less than 60°C, 38.9% at 60-64°C, and 22.0% at 65°C or higher. A moderate agreement was found between reported tea drinking temperature and actual temperature measurements (weighted κ 0.49). The results of the case-control study showed that compared with drinking lukewarm or warm tea, drinking hot tea (odds ratio 2.07, 95% confidence interval 1.28 to 3.35) or very hot tea (8.16, 3.93 to 16.9) was associated with an increased risk of oesophageal cancer. Likewise, compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured, drinking tea 2-3 minutes after pouring (2.49, 1.62 to 3.83) or less than two minutes after pouring (5.41, 2.63 to 11.1) was associated with a significantly increased risk. A strong agreement was found between responses to the questions on temperature at which tea was drunk and interval from tea being poured to being drunk (weighted κ 0.68). Conclusion Drinking hot tea, a habit common in Golestan province, was strongly associated with a higher risk of oesophageal cancer. Reza Malekzadeh and other authors of this population based case-control study talk about the effect of tea drinking and oesophageal cancer in Golestan province, northern Iran 10.1136/bmj.b929V1


Dehydration negatively impacts geriatric hospitalization outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the hydration status of psychogeriatric inpatients and explore possible factors for dehydration. A descriptive, retrospective chart review of patients discharged from a psychogeriatric unit was completed. Clinical and biochemical information was collected at three time points (admission, mid-point, and discharge). Results were consistent with clinical observations that less hydrated patients seem to do worse clinically. It is important to closely monitor hydration status in psychogeriatric inpatients to reduce morbidity. Further studies are needed to develop strategies to prevent dehydration and its complications in this population.


Laboratory in-vitro studies and animal experiments showing the potential health benefits from apples raises the question to what extent the regular consumption of apples in humans may have a beneficial effect on colorectal cancer risk. A total of 592 incident cases of colorectal cancer have been enrolled in a hospital-based case–control study. The comparison group included 765 controls chosen from the patients of the same hospital without history of cancer and admitted for treatment of nonneoplastic conditions. Interviews of both cases and controls were conducted in the hospital setting by trained interviewers. The median intake of fruits among cases was lower than in controls (9.5 vs. 11 servings/week) and the difference was statistically significant. Apples were the most frequent fruit consumed by the study participants and about 80% of variability in the total fruit consumption resulted from the intake of apples. We did not observe any significant statistical differences in consumption of berries, citrus, or stone fruits and other kinds of fruits across cases and controls. The adjusted estimates of colorectal cancer risk related to the daily consumption of apples (in quintiles) were based on the unconditional multivariate logistic model, which considered the set of potential confounding variables such as demographic characteristics of participants (age, gender, place of residency, marital status, tobacco smoking), total energy intake, intake of vegetables and fruits without apples. The results of the logistic analysis showed that the adjusted risk of colorectal cancer inversely correlated with daily number of apple servings. The reduced risk of colorectal cancer of border significance level was already observed at the consumption of at least one apple a day (odds ratio=0.65, 95% CI: 0.39–1.09), but at the intake of more than one apple a day the risk was reduced by about 50% (odds ratio=0.53, 95% CI: 0.35–0.79). Neither the consumption of vegetables nor other fruits have shown beneficial effects on the risk of colorectal cancer. The observed protective effect of apple consumption on colorectal risk may result from their rich content of flavonoid and other polyphenols, which can inhibit cancer onset and cell proliferation.


The first essay studies the effects of exogenous and endogenous shocks on output sustainability in Central Eastern Europe and Russia during the 2000s. It expands traditional vector autoregressive model to a multi-country model that relates bank real lending, the cyclical component of output and spreads and accounts for cross-sectional dependence across the countries. Impulse response functions show that exogenous positive shock lead to a drop in output sustainability for nine over twelve Central Eastern European countries, when the endogenous shock is mild and ambiguous. Moreover the effect of the exogenous shock is more significant in the aftermath the crises.
The second essay investigates variation in entrepreneurial activity, as proxied by the rate of self-employment, across 374 European cities during the period of 1989-2010. While controlling for various spillover effects across cities we find that the rate of self-employment is largely explained by the level of education, urbanisation economies, institutional environment and industrial structure of a city. Self-employment rates are higher in agriculture and fishing industry; trade, hotels and restaurants industry; meanwhile mining, manufacturing and energy sector with higher positive effect of scale abandon self-employment. At the same time a U-shaped relationship per resident income determines existence of both necessity driven and genuine self-employment.
The third essay explains variation in entrepreneurship across cities of Commonwealth of Independent States during 1995-2008, utilizing a unique database and employing dynamic panel data analysis. The findings suggest that banking reform facilitates entrepreneurship, whereas the size of the state discourages it. A U-shaped relationship between per capita income and entrepreneurship is confirmed. It's established that a city with a higher concentration of universities is likely to have higher entrepreneurial entry that provides some evidence for the importance of agglomeration economies in terms of knowledge concentration which leads to intensified exchange of ideas and drive knowledge-based entrepreneurship.


With the growing deployment of microgrids, it has become urgent to investigate the microgrid behavior during transient faults and subsequent islanding conditions. The load type and the manner in which distributed generations (DGs) are controlled can have substantial impacts on the dynamic performance of microgrids. In this paper, impacts of different control schemes of the inverter-based DG and microgrid load types on the microgrid stability subsequent to fault-forced islanding are investigated. A microgrid model, simulated on Matlab/Simulink software, is analyzed including a mix of synchronous and inverter-based DG and a combination of passive RLC and induction motor (IM) loads. Simulation results show that in the presence of IM loads, the microgrid may lose its stable operation even if the fault is isolated within a typical clearing time. The critical clearing time of a microgrid is highly dependent on the microgrid control strategy, DG interface control, and load type. Induction motor loads can prove problematical to microgrid transient stability, particularly in situations in which the voltage dip can cause the induction motor to "pull out".


OBJECTIVES
Neighborhood environments have been linked to the prevalence and incidence rates of a variety of diseases and injuries. This study assessed the relations between neighborhood demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and emergency department (ED) utilization.

METHODS
Billing data for the calendar year 2000 for adult patients residing within a one-mile radius of the study ED were geo-coded based on home addresses and merged with neighborhood data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Annual ED visit rates per 100 population were computed for each census block within the study area and analyzed in relation to neighborhood characteristics.

RESULTS
The study area consisted of 714 census blocks and 42,278 adult residents, with a total of 16,427 visits to the study ED. Annual ED visit rates increased from 17 visits per 100 population for neighborhoods where less than 50% of the population were African American to 51 visits per 100 population for neighborhoods where all residents were African American (p < 0.001). Annual ED visit rates decreased from 53% for neighborhoods where <20% of housing units were owner-occupied to 27% for neighborhoods with >45% owner-occupied housing units (p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression modeling revealed that proportions of African American residents and owner-occupied housing units were significantly associated with ED utilization, independent of age and gender compositions and the distance between residence and the study ED.

CONCLUSIONS
Even within a small geographic area, ED utilization may vary greatly by neighborhood characteristics. Neighborhood racial composition and housing tenure are independent predictors of ED visit rates in this urban community.


BACKGROUND
Positron emission tomography (PET) is an expensive diagnostic imaging technology. Despite the long history of PET development, the costs and effectiveness of its use in routine clinical practice remain unknown. Against this background of uncertainty regarding the clinical role of PET, the UK Standing Group on Health Technology requested a review of its current and potential role which would enable research priorities in this area to be established.

OBJECTIVES
This 3-month project had two explicit objectives: (1) to review the state of knowledge regarding the clinical applications of PET; (2) to determine the key health technology assessment (HTA) research questions relating to the use of PET in the UK.

METHODS
A literature review to ascertain the state of knowledge regarding the clinical applications of PET and a three-round Delphi study to inform the key HTA research questions relating to the use of PET in the UK were undertaken. The results of an earlier systematic review, published by the Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) in the USA in 1996, were used as the starting point for the literature review. The VHA review was updated and extended by means of MEDLINE and Cochrane Library database searches. Participants in the Delphi study were selected by discussion with five individuals in the UK with an interest in, and awareness of, developments in PET. As a result of their suggestions, 43 individuals were initially invited to participate, of whom two did not feel appropriately qualified. Questionnaires were sent by facsimile to all invited participants, who were asked to return the completed forms by facsimile within a week. The content and structure of the Delphi study was informed by the results of the literature review. The responses and comments of the participants were a major source of information for this report.

RESULTS
Clinical applications for PET have been advocated in three broad disease groups: oncology, cardiology and neuropsychiatric disorders. There are currently four PET modalities that need to be considered when assessing its potential clinical role in the UK: full ring PET scanners operating in two or three dimensions (available at five sites); partial ring rotating PET scanners (one currently operating in the UK); coincidence imaging with modified gamma camera technology; and high-energy collimator imaging of 511 keV photons with modified gamma camera technology. There is a paucity of available evidence relating to the cost-effectiveness of the various PET modalities in all of the clinical indications for which the technology is currently being advocated. In addition, many existing reports on the diagnostic accuracy of PET are limited because they are liable to bias and often relate only to very small patient numbers. The results of the Delphi study indicated that the four most important research priorities for the NHS, in descending order of their importance, are: (1) the relative cost-effectiveness of (a) full ring PET, (b) gamma camera PET using coincidence imaging and (c) existing diagnostic strategies to determine staging prior to operative intervention for lung cancer; (2) partial ring PET compared with full ring PET in oncology (3) the relative cost-effectiveness of (a) full ring PET, (b) gamma camera PET using coincidence imaging and (c) existing diagnostic strategies to stage and monitor treatment response in breast cancer; (4) the relative cost-effectiveness of (a) gamma camera PET using coincidence imaging and (b) 511 keV collimated positron imaging for assessing myocardial viability when selecting patients for revascularisation surgery. Vignettes describing each of the research priorities are provided in the main report.

CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this project, which was undertaken rapidly in order to inform HTA research prioritization in the UK, provide a contemporary overview of the potential clinical role for PET in the NHS. Evidence is needed that using PET as a diagnostic


Abstract Moraines deposited by the outermost ice advance across Judge Daly Promontory, northeastern Ellesmere Island, reflect thin, topographically controlled ice lobes extending to sea-level. The termini of two ice lobes were investigated and both produced ice shelves where they flowed into isostatically depressed embayments along western Kennedy Channel. Morphological evidence for these ice shelves occurs at the entrance to these valleys where steeply descending lateral moraines become abruptly horizontal for 2 km. In addition, both the horizontal moraines and associated pro-glacial terraces are fossiliferous down-valley from the apparent grounding line. Based on the differences in elevation between the horizontal moraines and the valley bottoms, the two ice shelves had estimated thicknesses of c. 110 and 150 m. A proglacial outwash terrace at 175 m a.s.l. is considered to represent the approximate relative sea-level during the formation and break-up of the ice shelves. This relative sea-level is consistent with the water depths required to float the calculated ice thicknesses in both valleys. Associated with these ice margins are finite 14C dates of 28 000-30 000 B.P. and amino-acid age estimates of >35 000 B.P. The importance and likelihood of additional past ice shelves in the Canadian High Arctic is discussed.


INTRODUCTION: The International Society for Clinical Densitometry recommended that the lumbar spine and total body less head (TBLH) are the most accurate and reproducible skeletal sites for performing areal bone mineral density (BMD) measurements. Our objective is to evaluate the role of measurement of femoral neck BMD in avoiding the under-diagnosis of low BMD being a risk for fractures in subjects with chronic medical conditions that might affect bone health. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Subjects with chronic medical conditions that might affect bone health were studied (n = 468) and 36 healthy children were recruited as control subjects. Physical examinations, height, weight measurements and BMI were calculated. Dual-energy radiographic absorptiometry of the lumbar spine and femoral neck were measured. RESULTS: Bone mineral density z scores in both sites were significantly reduced in chronic patients, compared with control subjects. Prevalence of very low BMD z scores (-2 or more) using lumbar DXA, femoral DXA, and either of the sites were 1.38%, 3.37%, and 3.96%, respectively, while low BMD Z scores (-1 to less than -2) were 9.52%, 18.05% and 21.14% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a significant decrease in both lumbar and femoral BMDs in studied children. Sometimes femoral BMD is decreased while lumbar BMD is still within the normal range. For this reason we recommend that, when technically feasible and there is no facility to measure TBLH, all those patients should have lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density measurements to avoid under-diagnosis of low BMD being a risk for fractures.


Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the profiles of patients who live in the city center of Şanlıurfa and were diagnosed with hypertension. Study Design: The sample of this descriptive study consisted of 320 hypertensive patients who visited the internal medicine and cardiology clinics in Şanlıurfa Central Hospital. The data were collected using the patient data collection form. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test with SPSS 16.0 package program. Findings: The mean age of the patients diagnosed with hypertension was 61,48±2,19 and %51,9 (166) were males. %93,1 of the patients were married and %45,9 were illiterate. %41,6 (133) of the patients were found to have a body mass index (BMI), 25-29,99 (mass-fat). The mean systolic blood pressure of the patients was 153,42±24,15 and the diastolic blood pressure was 96,12±19,37. The median systolic blood pressure was 157,77 in females and 163,04 in males (p>0,05). The median systolic blood pressure was 199,94 in those younger than 45 years, while it was 132,59 (p<0,05) in those older than 75 . As the education status and the income status increased, the median blood pressure values also increased (p<0,05). 44,7% of literate patients had knowledge about hypertension, this rate was 45,9% for primary school graduates and above (p>0,05). Hypertension status was found to be higher (p>0,05) and higher (p>0,05). Conclusions and Recommendations: This study is important because it shows that hypertension is a common problem in Şanlıurfa, blood pressure values are very high among the population, and it is important to remember that this problem is not well understood and is not adequately treated. For this reason, importance should be attached to the implementation of prevention and prevention programs for all age groups.


The compliance of IoT platforms to quality is paramount to achieve users' satisfaction. Currently, we do not have a comprehensive set of guidelines to appraise and select the most suitable IoT platform architectures that meet relevant criteria. This paper is a tentative response to this critical knowledge gap where we adopted the design science research approach to develop a novel evaluation framework. Our research, on the one hand, stimulates an unbiased competition among IoT platform providers and, on the other hand, establishes a solid foundation for IoT platform consumers to make informed decisions in this multiplicity. The application of the framework is illustrated in example scenarios. Moreover, lessons learned from applying design science research are shared.


This research article explores the role of subjectivity in innovation management, by discussing the important impact that group symbolic interpretation has on their interpretative systems, and the relationship this has on group collective actions. This article presents initial research findings that support the positive contribution that cognitively mapping groups' sensemaking and understanding of relationships between their symbolic interpretation of organisational events, and innovative outcomes, and their subsequent collective actions, can have. The article concludes by discussing the implications for future innovation management in uncertain and ambiguous environments, and particularly the role that the development and mapping of this innovation and learning process framework can have on groups' cognitive and affective commitment to cross-functional product innovation activities. This has significant implications for senior management, and the nature, and role, of project-based innovators for future New Product Developments (NPDs).


"Venture philanthropy" burst loudly onto the scene in the mid- to late 1990s, promoted as a way to revolutionize grantmaking. Today the field has been refined, and its proponents are more modest. The case of venture philanthropy provides insights into the construction and evolution of a "new" organizational field and "new" professional culture, topics that require further scholarly exploration. Qualitative research examining venture philanthropy organizations and their leaders is reported here. Findings suggest that although the dot-com boom was an important prompt, the construction and diffusion of the field depended on opinion leaders who strategically defined, legitimated, and advocated the new model. The fit with existing culture and institutionalization via networks were also important. Implementation difficulties and the business—nonprofit culture clash are among factors forcing evolution of the field. Several avenues for further research on this understudied field, and on other new fields and hybrid professional cultures, are suggested by these findings.


This analytic brief presents the results of a quantitative analysis of the socioeconomic characteristics of the beneficiaries of international remittances in El Salvador. The analysis is based on household survey data from the 2013 Encuesta de Hogares de Propositos Multiples (EHPM, for its Spanish acronym), which was carried out by the General Directorate for Statistics and Censuses (DIGESTYC, for its Spanish acronym) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of El Salvador. The dataset is made up of 21,086 households (81,865 individuals) and is representative at the national, departmental, urban, and rural levels, as well as for the San Salvador Metropolitan Area and the country's 50 largest municipalities1. The high standards for quality applied to the design and implementation of the EHPM allow for disaggregated analyses of the characteristics of remittance beneficiaries and reliable comparisons between the remittance beneficiary segment and the population at large. The statistical analysis for this brief was performed using the standardized version of the EHPM dataset contained in the Inter-American Development Bank?s Harmonized Household Survey Databases for Latin America and the Caribbean (also known as Sociometro-BID).


SOC 1241 Globalization and Social Change: 3 semester hours Introduces sociological approaches to globalization. Covers sociological concepts such as modernization, Westernization, global capitalism, and the information society. Themes include global governance and transnational society, the global diffusion of American popular culture and consumer culture, and the role of new media. Also discusses the antiglobalization movement and forms of social resistance.


One hundred and twelve women with endometrial carcinoma were studied with serum sampling to determine preoperative and postoperative levels of CEA, CA 15-3, CA 19-9, TPA and CA 125. After surgical treatment 88 patients had stage I, 8 stage II, 14 stage III and 2 stage IV disease. Before treatment the sensitivity of CEA, CA 15-3, CA 19-9, TPA and CA 125 was 22.3% (25/112), 32.1% (36/112), 22.3% (25/112), 45.5% (51/112), 33.9% (38/112), respectively. According to pathological stage a statistically significant difference between intrauterine (96 cases) and extrauterine disease (16 cases) was noted only for CA 125 (28.1% vs. 68.7%) and CA 15.3 (28.1% vs. 56.2%). In relation to histological grading CA 125 rises progressively from well-differentiated cases to poorly-differentiated tumors. During the follow-up the most reliable marker was CA 125: values more than 35 U/ml of this marker resulted positive in 50% of relapsed cases and only in 5.1% of disease-free cases, thus demonstrating a high specificity. The association of various markers during the follow-up allowed us to reveal interesting results only for the CA 125/CA 19-9 combination. In fact the combined use of these markers permitted a high sensitivity (83.3%), with only 12.8% false positive cases, so with a high specificity.


This thesis examines the fiction and screenwriting of Ray Bradbury (1920-2012), the American author best known for novels and short stories in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. Bradbury's screenwriting has previously received little critical attention, but is examined here in an archival study of four of his extended film-making projects, two of which came to fruition in completed films, and two of which remain unproduced. Moby Dick (John Huston, 1956) is a strong work of structural adaptation from Herman Melville's novel, and the experience of adapting it is shown to have had a significant impact on Bradbury's own work in prose fiction and radio drama. The development of Something Wicked This Way Comes (Jack Clayton, 1983), a film based on Bradbury's own novel, is traced through multiple pathways of adaptation, revealing Bradbury as an effective story analyst and self-adapter. The conflict of authority between screenwriter and film director is shown to be a manifestation of Ian W. Macdonald's concept of 'the screen idea' as the controlling force in film production. Bradbury's un-filmed screenplays for The Martian Chronicles (1961, 1963-5, 1978, 1997) are found to have developed a grand narrative displaying Bradbury's philosophy of humankind's place in the cosmos. His novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) is shown to be a fundamentally cinematic fiction, and the film adaptation by Francois Truffaut (1966) is revealed to have stimulated Bradbury's own re-vision of the work for stage and screen. The serial re-composition of prose works as cross-media re-visions is proven to be central to Bradbury's working method. Self-adaptation is considered as a challenge to established theories of adaptation, such as Linda Hutcheon's A Theory of Adaptation (2006).


The Crofoot-Lewis deposit is an adularia-sericite-type (low-sulfidation) epithermal Au-Ag deposit, whose well-preserved paleosurface includes abundant opaline sinters, widespread and intense silicification, bedded hydrothermal eruption breccias, and a large zone of acid sulfate alteration. Radiogenic isotope ages indicate that the system was relatively long-lived, with hydrothermal activity starting around 4 Ma and extending, at least intermittently, for the next 3 m.y.Field evidence indicates that the surficial zone of acid sulfate alteration formed in a steam-heated environment within an active geothermal system. A drop in the water table enabled descending acid sulfate waters to leach Au and Ag from zones of low-grade disseminated mineralization, resulting in the redistribution and concentration of Au and Ag into ore-grade concentrations. These zones of secondary Au-Ag enrichment are associated with opal + alunite + kaolinite + montmorillonite + or - hematite and were deposited in open space fractures at, and within a few tens of meters below, the paleowater table.The stable isotope systematics of alunite and kaolinite in the steam-heated environment are relatively complex, due to variations in the residence time of aqueous SO 4 that formed from the oxidation of H 2 S prior to precipitation of alunite, and the susceptibility of fine-grained kaolinites to hydrogen isotope exchange with later waters. Most of the alunites are enriched in 34 S relative to early sulfide minerals, reflecting partial S isotope exchange between aqueous SO 4 and H 2 S. About half of the alunites give reasonable calculated delta 18 O (sub SO 4 -OH) temperatures for a steam-heated environment indicating O isotope equilibrium between aqueous SO 4 and water. The delta D (sub H 2 O) values of the hydrothermal fluids varied by almost 60 per rail over the life of the meteoric water-dominated system, suggesting significant climate changes.Mineralization is believed to have resulted from large-scale convection of meteoric water controlled largely by basin and range fractures and a high geothermal gradient with H 2 S for Au complexing derived from organic matter in basin sediments. A wet climate resulted in the formation of a large inland lake which provided abundant recharge water for the hydrothermal system. A fluctuating water table controlled by changing climatic conditions enabled steam-heated acid sulfate fluids to overprint lower grade mineralization resulting in ore-grade precious metal enrichment.


Strengthening safety climate is recognized as a necessary strategy for improving patient safety. Yet there is little empirical evidence linking hospitals' safety climate with safety outcomes.The authors explored the potential relationship between safety climate and Veterans Health Administration hospital safety performance using the Patient Safety Indicator (PSI) rates. Safety climate survey data were merged with hospital discharge data to calculate PSIs. Linear regressions examined the relationship between hospitals' safety climate and dimensions of safety climate with individual PSIs and a PSI composite measure, controlling for organizational-level variables. Safety climate overall was not related to the PSIs or to the PSI composite, although a few individual dimensions of safety climate were associated with specific PSIs. Perceptions of frontline staff were more closely aligned with PSIs than those of senior managers.


This paper presents a simulation and investigation about the nonlinear interplay between an optical pulse and GaAs waveguide. The results obtained show that the nonlinear processes including self-phase modulation, 2-photon absorption, and free carrier related effects will have significant influences on the temporal shape and frequency spectrum of a propagating pulse in the GaAs waveguide with the result that 2-photon absorption can extend the pulse duration that can be again compressed by the free carrier absorption. The outcome spectrum is also asymmetrical due to the free carrier related effects, which takes on a complicated oscillation structure resulting from the interference. In addition, an interesting phenomenon is that the input pulse will eventually evolve into a double pulse along the GaAs waveguide by means of judiciously adjusting the intensity, waveform, and time duration of the input pulse, i.e. when the time duration of the input pulse is larger than the carrier lifetime, the input pulse with high enough intensity can develop into a double pulse at the end of the waveguide.


Current literature on urban planning explores how to use ICT to support citizen participation. Advances in open data and its possibility to easily represent data on maps, opens up new opportunities to support participation and decision making in urban projects. This article investigates how spatial planners today use data to inform the participatory process. Looking at the participation process as collaboration between planners and citizens allows us to see the participation process itself as generating data that informs future decisions and processes. Based on a case study of a participatory process of an urban renewal project, the article investigates the use of structured and unstructured data for participation. The fieldwork is conducted using ethnographically inspired methods, based on participatory observations, interviews and document analysis. As a result, the incremental decisions, the resulting process, and the data used in this process are mapped out. Besides the need to accommodate heterogeneous data and to allow for integrated analysis of data specific to the neighborhood under development, the important result is that the participatory process itself generates data that informs the further process and the decisions that are part of it. The paper concludes with design implications for decision support for urban planning. In future research, the intention is to explore these implications in a Participatory Design process.


As is well known, the three first corners of the square of opposition, i.e. A, E, and I, are expressed by single words, in English, French and other Indo-European languages, whether the square is quantified, modal, temporal, or deontic, while O is expressed by two words, and is not lexicalized. This has given rise to the following question: why is the O corner always expressed in a complex way in these languages? Why isn't it lexicalized? Some people such as Laurence Horn, for instance, provide solutions based on the meaning of O and its intimate link with I, which makes it more complex than E and justifies the asymmetry. However, in Arabic, there is no asymmetry, given that the two negatives are expressed by groups of words, while the affirmatives are expressed by single words. This feature gives rise to a different problem, related rather to the E corner, which can be raised as follows: Given that E is as complex as O, being negative and quantified, why is it expressed in the Indo-European languages by a single word rather than a group of words? In this paper, I answer this question by making use of Saussure's Course in General Linguistics, and by applying the concepts of agglutination and analogy, introduced by Saussure in this text, to the expressions corresponding to the corners of the quantified, modal, temporal and deontic squares of oppositions. This relativizes the singularity of O, and confirms the arbitrariness of the sign by showing the differences of functioning between these various languages.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between professional contractor (PC) wellbeing and organisational support as one of mutual benefit for both parties. Design/methodology/approach - Four hypotheses were tested via hierarchical regression techniques using survey data gathered from a sample of 375 PCs working in a range of Australian organisations. Content analysis techniques were used to examine PC responses to a related open-ended question. Findings - The results demonstrate a positive relationship between self-efficacy, organisational support, work engagement and knowledge sharing with wellbeing. Adding the PCs' individualised perspectives provides further insight into the value that PCs bring to an organisation. Research limitations/implications - The study is limited to PCs within Australia and examines PCs rather than professionals generally. The authors limit the analysis approach to regression techniques rather than structural equation modelling. Practical implications - First, demonstration of the importance of organisational support to PCs is an important finding for organisations in itself. Second, this finding allows us to suggest specific interventions and guidelines for organisations seeking to efficiently engender contractor engagement and knowledge sharing. Originality/value - The role of contractor management has become important as organisations increasingly rely on outsourced and contracted work arrangements. The authors consider how organisations and PCs can benefit from organisational practices perceived as being supportive. It is important for both organisations and PCs to be able to identify and develop the key factors which shape the contractual exchange prior to, and throughout, contracted work assignments.


Abstract This study focused on parents' relationships and involvement in their children's lives and the effects on the students' school engagement and school performance. The study used the Wave I data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The data on seventh and eighth grade students' school and family experiences were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The study examined the effect of parents' relationships and involvement on students' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in school and subsequently on school performance. The results confirmed the importance and significance of parents' involvement in middle school students' school engagement and performance. The study has implications for practice and provides empirical support for creating school structures that would foster parents' continued interest and engagement in their children's education.


The measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is a ubiquitous component of imaging studies used to evaluate patients with cardiac conditions and acts as an arbiter for many management decisions. This follows early trials investigating heart failure therapies which used a binary LVEF cut-off to select patients with the worst prognosis, who may gain the most benefit. Forty years on, the cardiac disease landscape has changed. Left ventricular ejection fraction is now a poor indicator of prognosis for many heart failure patients; specifically, for the half of patients with heart failure and truly preserved ejection fraction (HF-PEF). It is also recognized that LVEF may remain normal amongst patients with valvular heart disease who have significant myocardial dysfunction. This emphasizes the importance of the interaction between LVEF and left ventricular geometry. Guidelines based on LVEF may therefore miss a proportion of patients who would benefit from early intervention to prevent further myocardial decompensation and future adverse outcomes. The assessment of myocardial strain, or intrinsic deformation, holds promise to improve these issues. The measurement of global longitudinal strain (GLS) has consistently been shown to improve the risk stratification of patients with heart failure and identify patients with valvular heart disease who have myocardial decompensation despite preserved LVEF and an increased risk of adverse outcomes. To complete the integration of GLS into routine clinical practice, further studies are required to confirm that such approaches improve therapy selection and accordingly, the outcome for patients.


Dimension reduction for large-scale text data is attracting much attention nowadays due to the rapid growth of the World Wide Web. We can categorize those popular dimension reduction algorithms into two groups: feature extraction and feature selection algorithms. In the former, new features are combined from their original features through algebraic transformation. Though many of them have been validated to be effective, these algorithms are typically associated with high computational overhead, making them difficult to be applied on real-world text data. In the latter, subsets of features are selected directly. These algorithms are widely used in real-world tasks owing to their efficiency, but are often based on greedy strategies rather than optimal solutions. An important problem remains: it has been troublesome to integrate these two types of algorithms into a single framework, making it difficult to reap the benefits from both. In this paper, we formulate the two algorithm categories through a unified optimization framework, under which we develop a novel feature selection algorithm called Trace-Oriented Feature Analysis (TOFA). In detail, we integrate the objective functions of several state-of-the-art feature extraction algorithms into a unified one under the optimization framework, and then we propose to optimize this objective function in the solution space of feature selection algorithms for dimensionality reduction. Since the proposed objective function of TOFA integrates many prominent feature extraction algorithms' objective functions, such as unsupervised Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and supervised Maximum Margin Criterion (MMC), TOFA can handle both supervised and unsupervised problems. In addition, by tuning a weight value, TOFA is also suitable to solve semisupervised learning problems. Experimental results on several real-world data sets validate the effectiveness and efficiency of TOFA in text data for dimensionality reduction purpose.


All procedures to measure auditory adaptation depend at least indirectly upon some subjective judgment of loudness, with the exception of the reaction-time (RT) study of Davis and Weiler (Brit. J. Audiol., 1976, 10, 102-106). We used a variant of the Davis-Weiler RT method to measure monaural adaptation at the end of tones of 7 min duration at .5, 1, and 3 kc/s at 60 db SPL, in 62 normal-hearing young adults. Adaptation was expressed as an increase in RT in msec post- vs pre-adaptation in response to a 1-sec probe tone at 10 kc/s at 70 db SPL presented simultaneously with the adapting tone, either (1) in the middle of a 2-sec burst of the adaptation tone prior to the beginning of the 7-min adaptation session (pre-adaptation measure), or (2) during the last seconds (S alerted) of the continuing adaptation tone (post-adaptation measure). Significant pre-post RT differences, collapsed over pre-post measures and over ears, were found at all 3 frequencies (p less than .0001), indicating that the Monaural Heterophonic RT (MHRT) procedure can indeed be used as an objective measure of auditory adaptation. The mean RTs across pre- and post-adaptation measures were 221.9, 217.6, and 228.0 msec in the usual frequency order, significantly different (p less than .0001). Adaptation (i.e., increased RT after 7 min of adaptation) at .5, 1, and 3 kc/s was 36.9, 28.5, and 21.6, respectively. This effect introduced a significant interaction between frequency and adaptation (p less than .001). To transfer from auditory adaptation in reduced RT in msec by the MHRT method to adaptation in reduced phons in db, it will be necessary to construct, perhaps for every S, a table of RTs for a sufficient selection of levels at the relevant frequencies.


Two research projects by the Water and Energy Team of the National Energy TechnologyLaboratory were carried out in collaboration between the US Department of Energy and theUniversity of Pittsburgh. Both projects are related to investigating current and potential impacts of abandoned coal mines on the adjacent populated regions.The first project was carried out in West Virginia over 14 active and abandoned coal slurryimpoundments (Appendix A) in order to remotely investigate their current condition and potential hazards related to the mine-waste pools. Three main scenarios of impoundment failure are overtopping of the impoundment, internal erosion (piping) and entry of unconsolidated material into adjacent mine voids due to subsidence. To characterize these potential hazards, helicopter-mounted electromagnetic (HEM) surveys were completed to identify fluid saturated zones within coal waste and to delineate the paths of filtrate fluid flow. Attempts were also madeto identify flooded mine workings underlying the impoundment areas. A total of 431 flight lineswere processed, each from 2 to over 4 km in length, in total more than 1300 line-kilometers ofHEM survey. Follow-up, ground-based resistivity surveys verified the results of the HEM investigations. The HEM and ground-based geophysical surveys proved to be effective indelineating the phreatic surface, determining seep locations, imaging areas of unconsolidatedslurry, locating areas where process water has invaded adjacent aquifers, potentially depictingthe possible location of flooded underground mine workings and locating infiltration zones.The second project took place in southwestern Pennsylvania. In order to image beneath the surface and identify zones of possible gas accumulation and migration routes, reflection seismic surveys were completed in this area. Seismic imaging was successful in identifying regions of subsurface gas accumulation. Because of the urban nature of the survey, it was very challenging to collect and process seismic reflection data.


The WRKY transcription factors play important roles in various physiological processes, especially in regulating plant resistance to environmental stresses. Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) plants suffer from various stressful climate conditions during their growth, especially cold stress. However, little information about the exact role of WRKYs in watermelon responses to cold was available. In this study, a total of 57 candidate ClWRKY genes from watermelon genome were identified and they were distributed unevenly on 11 chromosomes. After excluding five ClWRKY genes with incomplete WRKY domains, phylogenetic analysis showed that the remaining 52 ClWRKY genes could be divided into three groups with 11 members in Group 1, 34 in Group 2, and seven in Group 3. The ClWRKY genes in group 2 could be further classified into five subgroups with three members in 2a, five in 2b, 13 in 2c, six in 2d, and seven in 2e, respectively. The expression profiles of ClWRKY genes in response to cold stress could be classified into four types: four ClWRKY genes had little or no change in transcript levels, seven ClWRKY genes had irregular expression patters, 17 ClWRKY genes were upregulated, and 25 ClWRKY genes were downregulated. The different regulation patterns of ClWRKY genes in response to low-temperature treatment revealed that the WRKY gene family was crucial for cold stress tolerance and there were multiple regulatory pathways involved in cold resistance.


In order to further improve utilization efficiency of Bayan obo Fe-Nb-RE complex deposit, selective reduction of Nb-bearing iron concentrate was achieved by using a reduction processes in reaction cylinder which is heated in tunnel kiln. The experiments were focused on investigating effects of reduction temperature and time on the reduction dynamics of Nb-bearing iron concentrate. The results show that the temperature at the centre of reaction cylinder is lower than its peripheral temperature. The local metallization ratio of the produced sponge iron ring varies from high, to low and to high level along its radius direction. With reduction temperature increasing, the metallization ratio of produced sponge iron is proportionally increasing, and the outer diameter of the sponge iron ring is gradually decreasing. The metallization ratio of the produced sponge iron is gradually increasing with the increase of reduction time.


CONTEXT
The potential effects of increasing numbers of uninsured and underinsured persons on US emergency departments (EDs) is a concern for the health care safety net.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the changes in ED visits that occurred from 1997 through 2007 in the adult and pediatric US populations by sociodemographic group, designation of safety-net ED, and trends in ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Publicly available ED visit data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) from 1997 through 2007 were stratified by age, sex, race, ethnicity, insurance status, safety-net hospital classification, triage category, and disposition. Codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9), were used to extract visits related to ambulatory care-sensitive conditions. Visit rates were calculated using annual US Census estimates.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Total annual visits to US EDs and ED visit rates for population subgroups.

RESULTS
Between 1997 and 2007, ED visit rates increased from 352.8 to 390.5 per 1000 persons (rate difference, 37.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], -51.1 to 126.5; P = .001 for trend); the increase in total annual ED visits was almost double of what would be expected from population growth. Adults with Medicaid accounted for most of the increase in ED visits; the visit rate increased from 693.9 to 947.2 visits per 1000 enrollees between 1999 and 2007 (rate difference, 253.3; 95% CI, 41.1 to 465.5; P = .001 for trend). Although ED visit rates for adults with ambulatory care-sensitive conditions remained stable, ED visit rates among adults with Medicaid increased from 66.4 in 1999 to 83.9 in 2007 (rate difference, 17.5; 95% CI, -5.8 to 40.8; P = .007 for trend). The number of facilities qualifying as safety-net EDs increased from 1770 in 2000 to 2489 in 2007.

CONCLUSION
These findings indicate that ED visit rates have increased from 1997 to 2007 and that EDs are increasingly serving as the safety net for medically underserved patients, particularly adults with Medicaid.


Continental intraplate seismicity seems often episodic, clustered, and mi- grating. The observed seismicity shows both spatial clustering in seismic zones and scattering across large plate interiors, temporal clustering followed by long periods of quiescence, and migration of seismicity from one seismic zone to another. Here, we explore the complex spatiotemporal patterns of intraplate seismicity using a 3D visco- elasto-plastic finite-element model. The model simulates tectonic loading, crustal failure in earthquakes, and coseismic and postseismic stress evolution. For a later- ally homogeneous lithosphere with randomly prespecified perturbations of crustal strength, the model predicts various spatiotemporal patterns of seismicity at different timescales: spatial clustering in narrow belts and scattering across large regions over hundreds of years, connected seismic belts over thousands of years, and widely scat- tered seismicity over tens of thousands of years. The orientation of seismic belts coincides with the optimal failure directions associated with the assumed tectonic loading. Stress triggering and migration cause spatiotemporal clustering of earth- quakes. When weak zones are included in the model the predicted seismicity initiates within the weak zones but then extends far beyond them. If a fault zone is weakened following a large earthquake, repeated large earthquakes can occur on the same fault zone even in the absence of strong tectonic loading. These complex spatiotemporal patterns of intraplate seismicity predicted in this simple model suggest that assessment of earthquake hazard based on the limited historic record may be biased toward over- estimating the hazard in regions of recent large earthquakes and underestimating the hazard where seismicity has been low during the historic record.


In 2014, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon ("STL") examined evolving international standards of corporate accountability and held that legal entities can be found liable for criminal conduct as a general principle of international law. Prior to this decision, and in stark contrast to trends in domestic legal regimes, no legal entity had ever been prosecuted, convicted, or sentenced in an international court. Although this marked a watershed moment in global corporate accountability mechanisms, it has had little precedential effect; scholars have argued it is because the decision lacked a valid legal basis and is limited in scope. This Comment addresses these criticisms by examining the legal and historical record informing the decision and corporate accountability in general. Furthermore, it confirms the holding that corporate accountability is a general principle of international law and explores the use of this judgment as the basis for international corporate accountability.


The rapid establishment of Confucius Institutes all over the world has raised a question of doubt about the motivation of China. From the perspective of China, the institutes can help to promote Chinese language and culture, and project a positive image of China as a benign country. However, other countries may wonder how far China would like to exert its soft power and cultural influence on the rest of the world. This article aims to examine multiple reactions and interactions related to this issue. To understand views from different perspectives, a survey of academics, researchers and Confucius Institute administrators was conducted and diverse views were found. Accordingly, the development of mutual trust associated with the phenomenon appears to be at an early stage, and the impact of Confucius Institutes on their host countries is not yet fully apparent.


Corn (Zea mays L.) production in northeastern Colorado is constrained by a frost-free period averaging 11 May to 27 September. For optimization of yield, planting at the appropriate time to fit the hybrid maturity length and growing season is critical. Crop models could be used to determine optimum planting windows for a locality. We calibrated the plant parameters of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM) and genetic coefficients for the CERES-Maize model and validated their performance against experimental data of three corn hybrids varying in days to maturity, planted on three planting dates in 2 yr at Akron, CO, under irrigation. Both models could be calibrated to predict leaf area index, soil water content, crop water use, and yield with similar levels of accuracy. Both models simulated the observed decline in yield with delayed planting date, but CERES-Maize simulated the yield from the latest planting date much more accurately for all three hybrids than did RZWQM (13% underpredicted by CERES-Maize; 50% overpredicted by RZWQM). Using the long-term Akron weather record, the latest planting dates for the short-, mid-, and long-season hybrids to have a 50% chance of achieving a break-even yield under irrigation were 13 May, 20 May, and 6 May, respectively. Long-term simulations also revealed that the longer maturity length hybrids lose yield faster than short maturity length hybrids with planting delay. The information generated by either RZWQM or CERES-Maize can be useful for making both planting and replanting decisions for corn hybrids of varying maturity length in northeastern Colorado.


Perceptual categorization is a key problem for an agent to cope with its internal and external world. Following a functional and subjective approach of cognitive modeling, the primary purpose of perceptual categorization is modeled as the valuation of a stimulus regarding its potential to satisfy an agent's current needs. Additionally an integrated and holistic approach is used, where categorization considers the integration of subjective influences. Such an approach complies with the consideration of top-down perception and priming. Using an activation-based exemplar model, the objective criterion of perceptual similarity, which represents bottom-up aspects of perception, and the subjective expectation-based criterion of cathexis, which represents top-down aspects of perception, are integrated in a holistic multi-criteria model of perceptual categorization. An Artificial Life simulation demonstrates the model's ability to relate stimulus objects to an agent's internal needs. Additionally, the usage of multiple criteria provides a more confident valuation of stimulus objects.


The review dissects a monograph on the intellectual biography of Z. Brzezinski. The author of the monograph systematically and comparatively considered the conceptual and theoretical approaches of this American strategist against the backdrop of Cold War era and the unipolar world after the victory of the United States over the USSR. Z. Brzezinski was a great promoter and visionary of Ukraine, consistently advocated the rapprochement of the Ukrainian and Polish peoples in a united democratic Europe. In our opinion, an important place in the historiography of research on the influence of Z. Brzezinski on world history will be occupied by the study of Taras A. Hryshchenko. The author of the monograph advanced into methodological agenda seven groups of typologically different sources related to the stages of formation, development and public perception of international strategic concepts of Z. Brzezinski. Z. Brzezinski's world outlooks and anti-communist guidelines were optimal for the development and implementation of a course in the field of US national security during the administration of President J. Carter. Particularly relevant to current international relations is the author's rethinking the comparative aspect of the concepts of globalization and the role of the United States in this process, which belong to Z. Brzezinski and his colleagues S. Huntington and G. Kissinger. Z. Brzezinski's strategic concepts best meet the needs of preserving the global leadership role of the United States in the complex and contradictory world of the 21st century. The conclusions of the monograph brief why the hereditary generation of intellectual successors of the tradition of analysis of international relations, founded by Z. Brzezinski, was not formed clearly enough. These reasons include the declining interest in American society in grand strategy, the excessive social impact of the information technology sector and entertainment manufacturers, and the tendency toward self-destructive hostility among the American political establishment.


Resolving the geographic extent and timing of coastal shark migrations, as well as their environmental cues, is essential for refining shark management strategies in anticipation of increasing anthropogenic stressors to coastal ecosystems. We employed a regional-scale passive acoustic telemetry array encompassing 300 km of the east Florida coast to assess what factors influence site fidelity of juvenile lemon sharks (Negaprion brevirostris) to an exposed coastal nursery at Cape Canaveral, and to document the timing and rate of their seasonal migrations. Movements of 54 juvenile lemon sharks were monitored for three years with individuals tracked for up to 751 days. While most sharks demonstrated site fidelity to the Cape Canaveral region December through February under typical winter water temperatures, historically extreme declines in ocean temperature were accompanied by rapid and often temporary, southward displacements of up to 190 km along the Florida east coast. From late February through April each year, most sharks initiated a northward migration at speeds of up to 64 km day−1 with several individuals then detected in compatible estuarine telemetry arrays in Georgia and South Carolina up to 472 km from release locations. Nineteen sharks returned for a second or even third consecutive winter, thus demonstrating strong seasonal philopatry to the Cape Canaveral region. The long distance movements and habitat associations of immature lemon sharks along the US southeast coast contrast sharply with the natal site fidelity observed in this species at other sites in the western Atlantic Ocean. These findings validate the existing multi-state management strategies now in place. Results also affirm the value of collaborative passive arrays for resolving seasonal movements and habitat preferences of migratory coastal shark species not easily studied with other tagging techniques.


Despite a sharp decline in the prescription of benzodiazepines during the past decade, reservations about their use have continued to escalate. This article presents converging data from three diverse sources: national survey data from consumers, laboratory data on the drug preferences of normal subjects, and a controlled clinical study of long-term diazepam treatment and withdrawal. These data suggest that (1) the risks of overuse, dependence, and addiction with benzodiazepines are low in relation to the massive exposure in our society; (2) benzodiazepine addiction can occur when doses within the clinical range are taken regularly over about 6 months; (3) many patients continue to derive benefit from long-term treatment with benzodiazepines; and (4) attitudes strongly against the use of these drugs may be depriving many anxious patients of appropriate treatment. (J Clin Psychopharmacol 1988;8:161–167)


Endothelial injury plays a central role in the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV). Although the accelerated course of CAV and its localization to the allograft support an important role for the alloimmune response, there is considerable evidence implicating lipoprotein abnormalities, metabolic disturbances, viral infections, and systemic inflammation in the process. This multifactorial basis for CAV may be put into a pathophysiologic context in which endothelial cell injury is the triggering event that initiates and drives the proliferative and fibrotic processes characteristic of CAV. In the transplant setting, endothelial cell injury is induced by multiple factors, including brain death, ischemia-reperfusion, alloimmune responses, and viral infections. Once initiated, propagation of the proliferative processes that ultimately lead to vascular occlusion is enhanced by the abnormal metabolic environment of elevated lipoproteins and insulin resistance encountered in most patients. This review examines the evidence for the role of potential triggers of endothelial injury in the pathophysiology of CAV and discusses the central role of the nitric oxide pathway in the disease process.


We compiled information from the international literature to quantify the relationships between seed mass and survival through each of the hazards plants face between seed production and maturity. We found that small-seeded species were more abundant in the seed rain than large-seeded species. However, this numerical advantage was lost by seedling emergence. The disadvantage of small-seeded species probably results from size-selective post-dispersal seed predation, or the longer time small-seeded species spend in the soil before germination. Seedlings from large-seeded species have higher survival through a given amount of time as seedlings. However, this advantage seems to be countered by the greater time taken for large-seeded species to reach reproductive maturity: our data suggested no relationship, or perhaps a weak negative relationship, between seed size and survival from seedling emergence through to adulthood. A previous compilation showed that the inverse relationship between seed mass and the number of seeds produced per unit canopy area per year is countered by positive relationships between seed mass, plant size and plant longevity. Taken together, these data show that our old understanding of a species' seed mass as the result of a trade-off between producing a few large offspring, each with high survival probability, versus producing many small offspring each with a lower chance of successfully establishing was incomplete. It seems more likely that seed size evolves as part of a spectrum of life history traits, including plant size, plant longevity, juvenile survival rate and time to reproduction.


Andrea Zittel's multi-disciplinary art practice has consistently revolved around designing and building prototypes answering to her longstanding fascination with the social construction of human needs and personal liberties. Her aesthetic and functional investigations have resulted in the production and exhibition of portable homesteads, campers, clothing, modular home furniture, human waste disposal units, carpets, weavings, animal breeding units, paintings on paper and wooden panels and drawings. Zittel has established an ecologically sensitive and technologically innovative site responsive place to live and work. Like the actions of the back-to-the-land communards of the 1970s, she has chosen to inhabit the margins, in this instance, the area where the garden (high-desert wilderness) sits at the edge of the machine (the extremely large-scale suburban sprawl of Los Angeles). Despite her apparent longing for the romantic solitude of the desert, Zittel has set-up her desert outpost as a busy social configuration built around her internationally acclaimed artistic practice. Her unique conflation of art and life pulls other artists out of their urban environments inviting them to collaborate and learn about her experimental ways of living. This paper will discuss Zittel's unique new century artists' commune and examine why it might be perceived as neo-countercultural, and a social contract particularly attuned to contemporary times. The paper will illuminate how for contemporary artists across the globe Zittel represents a new breed of pioneer and the opportunity to spend time at her A-Z West property is a lived utopian art and architectural experiment for the world-weary arts worker.


The emerging business-driven case for green affordable housing reveals six drivers of profitability: 1) access to international green finance flows for better financing terms; 2) minimized incremental cost through early planning; 3) faster sales through market differentiation; 4) savings on utility bills for owners and renters; 5) lowered default rates and superior collateral value for green mortgages; and 6) fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from local or national governments. Additionally, fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from local or national governments can further catalyse the market. Case studies from several emerging markets show that the right combination of government incentives (including non-fiscal policies), education and technical assistance to developers (including a no-cost option), and green finance (including green bonds and green mortgages) can transform housing markets. In order to reflect the total life-time cost of ownership, the concept of affordability in housing should include the impact of resource-efficiency and resilience on the costs and risks of ownership.


We explore the correlation between the energy landscape and topology in the folding of a model protein (chicken villin headpiece HP-36) by using a force-field which incorporates the effects of water through a hydropathy scale and the role of helical propensity of amino acids through a nonlocal harmonic potential. Each amino acid is represented by one side chain atom which is attached to the backbone C\alpha atom. Sizes and interactions of all the side chain residues are different and depend on the hydrophobicity of a particular amino acid, whereas helical propensities are incorporated in the interaction of C\alpha atoms. Simulations have been carried out by quenching from a fixed high temperature to two different low temperatures for many initial random configurations. The simulated structures resemble the real native state rather closely, with the root mean square deviation of the best structure being 4.5 A. Moreover, the structure shows both the helices and bends at the appropriate positions of the model protein. The simplified model allows the study of energy landscape and also of the correlation between energy landscape with the dynamics of folding and topology. The initial part of folding is very fast, followed by two distinct slow stages, with the last stage being certainly the rate determining of the folding process. The initial fast dynamics is primarily due to hydrophobic collapse. The very slow last stage of folding is accompanied by a significant and sharp increase in the relative contact order parameter but relatively small decrease in energy. Analysis of the time dependence of the formation of the individual contact pairs show rich and complicated dynamics, where some contacts wait for a long time to form. This seems to suggest that the slow late stage folding is due to long range contact formation and also that the free energy barrier is entropic in origin. Results have been correlated with the theories of protein folding.


Capturing document images with hand-held devices in unstructured environments is a common practice nowadays. However, "casual" photos of documents are usually unsuitable for automatic information extraction, mainly due to physical distortion of the document paper, as well as various camera positions and illumination conditions. In this work, we propose DewarpNet, a deep-learning approach for document image unwarping from a single image. Our insight is that the 3D geometry of the document not only determines the warping of its texture but also causes the illumination effects. Therefore, our novelty resides on the explicit modeling of 3D shape for document paper in an end-to-end pipeline. Also, we contribute the largest and most comprehensive dataset for document image unwarping to date - Doc3D. This dataset features multiple ground-truth annotations, including 3D shape, surface normals, UV map, albedo image, etc. Training with Doc3D, we demonstrate state-of-the-art performance for DewarpNet with extensive qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Our network also significantly improves OCR performance on captured document images, decreasing character error rate by 42% on average. Both the code and the dataset are released.