Nodules of anhydrite in Holocene sabkhas of the Arabian Gulf and Baja California have been used as analogues to interpret calcium sulfate nodules in ancient rocks to be of sabkha origin. Nodules and incipient enterolithic veins of gypsum occur in a modern sabkha in Eqypt about halfway between Alexandria and El Alamein, in a depression between a modern and a Pleistocene beach ridge. The displacive gypsum is apparently being precipitated from hypersaline calcium sulfate-saturated interstitial water that increases in salinity as it rises by capillarity from the water table to the surface. Calcium and sulfate ions seem to be derived mainly from dissolution of pre-existing lagoonal gypsum beneath the water table. The nodules occur within a supratidal sand unit of a sabkha sequence capped by a gray, saline soil on which grow clumps of halophytes, separated by salt-encrusted flats. This discovery shows that calcium sulfate nodules can develop (1) within sediments of a region where the climate is almost semiarid rather than very arid, (2) as primary gypsum rather than as anhydrite, and (3) as a consequence of redistribution of calcium sulfate.


The elemental  contents of  two new meteorites,  Baszkowka (Poland, 1994) and Mt.Tazerzait (Niger, 1991), were studied  by instrumental and radiochemical neutron activation analysis (NAA),  supplemented  in the case of some elements by gravimetric, titrimetric,  spectrophotometric and atomic absorption spectrometric  measurements.  In total 28 elements were determined for each meteorite.  A striking similarity in the bulk chemical composition of the two meteorites was observed.  In the case of Baszkowka  some study  of the elemental contents of the  magnetic fraction  and  the distribution of elements  between kamacite and taenite phases was also made. This  study  confirms  that  Baszkowka and Mt. Tazerzait are generally more similar  to L chondrites  than to any other  class of chondrites. However both meteorites  show also some distinctive features (e.g very low  Hg content), distinguishing them from all other  L chondrites  known.   Both meteorites may derive from a common parent body,  which may be different  from that typical for other chondrites.


This paper investigates whether foreign institutional investors in emerging markets can enhance shareholder value. We pay special attention to two dimensions of investor heterogeneity: whether an investor declares itself as an activist, and whether an investor comes from a country with a strong tradition of investor activism. First, we apply an event study approach to the announcements of block purchases by foreign institutional investors in Korea. We find that stock prices rise on average, but only when foreign institutional investors declare themselves as activists. Source country identities also matter: The positive stock price reactions are more pronounced when the activist investors come from source countries with a strong tradition of investor activism. Second, we examine corporate financial policies and governance practices of target firms one to three years following block purchases by foreign activist investors. We find that target firms are more likely to reduce cash holdings, raise leverage ratios, and peg dividend payouts and stock repurchases more closely to changes in earnings, but only if foreign activists are from countries with a strong tradition of activism. We conclude that openness to foreign activist investors, especially those from countries with a strong tradition of activism, can indeed put pressures on firms in emerging markets to adopt corporate governance practices that enhance shareholder values.


We present quantum transport measurements of gates controlled parallel-coupled double quantum dot (PDQD) device on both bilayer and single layer graphenes. The interdot coupling strength can be effectively tuned from weak to strong by in-plane plunger gates. All the relevant energy scales and parameters can be extracted from the honeycomb charge stability diagrams. The present method of designing and fabricating graphene PDQD is demonstrated to be general and reliable and will enhance the realization of graphene nanodevice and desirable study of rich PDQD physical phenomena in graphene.


ABSTRACT In generally, the robot control system based on the bottom of the water to be divided into two types, namely Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) and Remoted Operated Vehicles (ROV). AUV is under water vehicle capable of moving in the water automatically without direct human control. ROV while the vehicle is under water moving which is controlled directly by the people through the remote control from the top surface of the water. The most important on the robot system is under the control of water and water-resistant material that will be used. Thus the end of the project entitled "Navigation System On The Underwater Robot Without Crew" are used with the navigation control system using a cable to provide instruction in the robot under water. To drive a robot, used rotor DC motor as a tool for maneuver. While the compiler framework of a robot pitch pipe paralon to manipulate the robot weight. In the test, the composer for the election body is also good, this is visible when the robot is located at a depth of approximately one meter turns robot body can still maneuver although some what slow due to electronics components and laying ballast less balanced. Percentage of success with water-resistant material 100% successful. The use of magnetic compass as a position sensor robot succeed between 88.15% to 98%. With the use of media as the cable input navigation instructions also quite successful, because the instructions sent more quickly respons by robots.. Keyword : Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV), remote control,Navigation, DC Motor


The aim of this study was to determine the socioeconomic predictors of nutritional knowledge (NK) based on total household income, educational level and employment status. A secondary aim was to determine the relationship between NK and the body mass indexes (BMI) of children. Using a cross-sectional study, 39 participants enrolled in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study were purposively sampled for data on their children's age, gender, height and weight. A semi-structured researcher-generated questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic information and assess NK. Pearson correlation assessed the relationship between the parent's NK and their child's BMI. Linear regression analysis was used to test predictive relationships. The Alpha level was set at p < 0.05. Regression analysis showed that 2.5% of the variance (R2 = 0.25) was based on NK and was significant (p < 0.05). Employment status was a significant predictor (p = -0.038) of NK, when controlling for total household income and education level. Parents of underweight children had the lowest NK. In conclusion, there was a positive correlation between the children's BMI and their parents NK, but this was not significant. Employment status was a significant predictor of NK. Public health practitioners should develop interventions based on NK, which might benefit black parents, especially those of low socioeconomic status.


This book grows out of a longstanding fascination with the uncanny status of the mother in literature, philosophy, psychoanalysis, film, and photography. The mother haunts Freud's writings on art and literature, emerges as an obscure stumbling block in his metapsychological accounts of the psyche, and ultimately undermines his patriarchal accounts of the Oedipal complex as a foundation for human culture. The figure of the mother becomes associated with some of psychoanalysis's most unruly and enigmatic concepts (the uncanny, anxiety, the primal scene, the crypt, and magical thinking). Read in relation to deconstructive approaches to the work of mourning, this book shows how the maternal function challenges traditional psychoanalytic models of the subject, troubles existing systems of representation, and provides a fertile source for nonmimetic, nonlinear conceptions of time and space. The readings in this book examine the uncanny properties of the maternal function in psychoanalysis, technology, and literature in order to show that the event of birth is radically unthinkable and often becomes expressed through uncontrollable repetitions that exceed the bounds of any subject. The maternal body often serves as an unacknowledged reference point for modern media technologies such as photography and the telephone, which attempt to mimic its reproductive properties. To the extent that these technologies aim to usurp the maternal function, they are often deployed as a means of regulating or warding off anxieties that are provoked by the experience of loss that real separation from the mother invariably demands. As the incarnation of our first relation to the strange exile of language, the mother is inherently a literary figure, whose primal presence in literary texts opens us up to the unspeakable relation to our own birth and, in so doing, helps us give birth to new and fantasmatic images of futures that might otherwise have remained unimaginable.


Flooding is becoming an increasing problem. As a result there is a need to deploy more sophisticated sensor networks to detect and react to flooding. This paper outlines a demonstration that illustrates our proposed solution to this problem involving embedded wireless hardware, component based middleware and overlay networks.


Land cover maps are indispensable for decision making, monitoring, and management in agricultural areas, but they are often only available after harvesting. To obtain a timely crop map of a small-scale arable landscape in the Swiss Plateau, we acquired uncalibrated, very high-resolution data, with a spatial resolution of 0.05 m and four spectral bands, using a consumer-grade camera on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in June 2015. We resampled the data to different spatial and spectral resolutions, and evaluated the method using textural features (first order statistics and mathematical morphology), a random forest classifier for best performance, as well as number and size of the structuring elements. Our main findings suggest the overall best performing data consisting of a spatial resolution of 0.5 m, three spectral bands (RGB—red, green, and blue), and five different sizes of the structuring elements. The overall accuracy (OA) for the full set of crop classes based on a pixel-based classification is 66.7%. In case of a merged set of crops, the OA increases by ~7% (74.0%). For an object-based classification based on individual field parcels, the OA increases by ~20% (OA of 86.3% for the full set of crop classes, and 94.6% for the merged set, respectively). We conclude the use of UAV to be most relevant at 0.5 m spatial resolution in heterogeneous arable landscapes when used for crop classification.


This paper describes the MIT-LL/AFRL statistical MT system and the improvements that were developed during the IWSLT 2009 evaluation campaign. As part of these efforts, we experimented with a number of extensions to the standard phrase-based model that improve performance on the Arabic and Turkish to English translation tasks. We discuss the architecture of the MIT-LL/AFRL MT system, improvements over our 2008 system, and experiments we ran during the IWSLT-2009 evaluation. Specifically, we focus on 1) Cross-domain translation using MAP adaptation and unsupervised training, 2) Turkish morphological processing and translation, 3) improved Arabic morphology for MT preprocessing, and 4) system combination methods for machine translation.


A slice-and-dice splatter novel in which time-travelling streetwalkers hump their way from the trendy east London of today back to the skid row mutilations of the Jack The Ripper era. As gentrification forces the hookers from their age-old beat along Commercial and Wentworth Street, they don Victorian widows' weeds and ply their trade in local graveyards. Amid these psychogeographical dislocations, warm blood isn't the only thing that gets sucked by the night creatures who haunt Home's anti-narrative. This is without doubt the weirdest book ever written, the illegitimate offspring of the Marquis De Sade balling a post-modern literary extremist at a ladies of gangster rap convention.


Musculoskeletal injuries in school children could be reduced improving trunk strength and hamstring flexibility. Low levels of trunk muscle strength and hamstring flexibility may result in acute and musculoskeletal chronic diseases. The Pilates Method can be appropriate to improve these physical condition attributes and has been rarely employed by this social group. On the other hand, it has been shown that trunk strength and flexibility are different between genders, but there is no evidence about the effect of exercise programs designed to improve both items in school children. Therefore the objective of this study was to measure the effect of a six-week Pilates-based exercise program in 14 year old school children trunk strength and hamstring flexibility, establishing differences in gender. The sample was composed of 57 students divided into experimental group (EG; n=30) and control group (CG; n=27). Bench Trunk Curl test (BTC), Sörensen test and Toe-touch test (TT) were used to measure dynamic muscular resistance in trunk flexion, isometric strength in trunk extension and hamstring flexibility, respectively. EG utilized the Pilates exercise program during six-weeks (2 days/week, 55minutes/session). After this period of training, EG improved trunk strength and hamstring flexibility significantly but there were no significant differences within CG. Although boys were better in BTC test and girls were better in TT test, there were no significant differences between them. Keywords—Teens, school, trunk muscular resistance, intervention, physical performance, abdominal, back.


We evaluated the genotype and maturity effects on antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of whole, skin and pulp fruits from three highbush blueberry cultivare (cv. Brigitta, cv. Bluegold and cv. Legacy) grown in southern Chile. Total antioxidant activity (TAA) in ripe fruits varied among the cultivare in the order Legacy > Brigitta > Bluegold. We found that TAA in unripe green and fully ripe fruits was high and similar between them, whereas the lowest levels were found in intermediate ripe fruits. The same trend was observed for fruit total phenolic content. This could be attributed to the higher concentrations of phenolic acids (mainly chlorogenic acid) and flavonols (mainly rutin) at immature fruit stages; whereas the high TAA in mature fruits could be explained by the elevated amounts of anthocyanin. All antioxidant compounds were mostly located in the skin. High amounts of delphinidin aglycone were found. HPLC-DAD/MS revealed that the main contents of skin anthocyanins are petunidin-3-glucoside and petunidin-3-arabinnoside followed by malvidin-3-galactoside. It is noticeable that highbush blueberry fruits grown in southern Chile have exceptionally higher antioxidant activity and anthocyanins contents compared with those cultivated in the northern hemisphere.


How Influential Are They? The Role of Parents, Social Support and Autonomy in College Students' Likelihood to Experience Social Anxiety Andrea M. Jones Previous research has found that parental control predicts social anxiety and is moderated by parental proximity, as measured by the amount of contact one has with their parent; however there have been no studies examining how levels of parental proximity may change over the course of a young adult's life. The purpose of the current study was to examine how variables previously associated with social anxiety change across a semester of college. The current study examined parental proximity, autonomy, social support and social anxiety at three points across the semester. Thirty-nine undergraduate students at West Virginia University participated in the study. It was hypothesized that as the semester progressed, reported levels of parental proximity would decrease, while autonomy and social support would increase as students assimilated more into the college community. To evaluate these hypotheses, a repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted. While results were in the predicted direction, there were no significant findings. As past research has found that levels of social anxiety were higher for those who maintained close proximity to their parents and whose parents were more controlling, it was hypothesized that the same would hold true for the current study. To test this hypothesis, a univariate analysis of variance was conducted; however, the results were not significant nor in the predicted direction. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.


Modern empirical psychology has discovered a number of surprising things about the way human beings work, some of which may have startling implications for individual moral responsibility. For example, a well-known series of experiments show that prosaic situational variables influence human conduct to a far greater extent than we generally realize. The smell of coffee makes us more likely to help a person in need, while the sound of a lawn mower suppresses our helping behavior. Finding a dime in a phone booth makes us more likely to lend a stranger a hand, but a calm, non-coercive order from a laboratory researcher can induce most of us to inflict torturous shocks on the same stranger. According to "situationist" psychology, these findings (and numerous others in the same vein) show that seemingly inconsequential situational variations have a dramatic impact on morally significant behavior.
On one reading, these findings make us puppets to circumstance and thus cast doubt on individual moral responsibility. For criminal theorists who take moral responsibility to be a prerequisite of criminal responsibility, this line of reasoning calls criminal responsibility itself into question. At first glance, then, the situationist tradition in empirical psychology has potentially radical implications for criminal responsibility.
This Article asks whether situationist psychology can deliver on this radical promise. To set the stage, Part II reviews several of the situationist findings most relevant to responsibility, and shows how these findings suggest that we are more puppets to circumstance than we realize. Parts III and IV ask whether these findings pose a significant threat to criminal responsibility. Part III begins by evaluating the "current" situationist challenge to responsibility, rooted in a diverse array of claims made in recent moral and legal theory. Because the current challenge proceeds primarily by using situationist psychology to raise questions about particular accounts of responsibility, Part III will identify the problems situationist psychology poses for several important approaches to responsibility, starting with the originationist (or "free will") view of moral responsibility that many lay people (and some theorists) embrace, moving to the character and choice theories of criminal responsibility that are prominent in contemporary criminal theory, and finishing with the identification and reasons-responsiveness theories of moral responsibility common in the philosophical literature. Not surprisingly, since situationism entails significant revisions to conventional moral psychology, it raises hard questions for each of these approaches to responsibility. Nevertheless, this Part concludes, the current situationist challenge to responsibility has so far failed to generate a genuine threat to criminal responsibility.
Although the current situationist challenge falls short of its radical promise, Part IV shows that it may still be possible to salvage something genuinely radical in the situationist challenge to criminal responsibility. Part IV starts by arguing that the current situationist challenge has lost track of situationism's most incendiary insight: because human actors are so vulnerable to and dependent on the world around them, conventional reactions to bad actors might more appropriately be directed at the situations in which bad acts occur. This insight can support a deep challenge to conventional accounts of responsibility, defusing and redirecting the reactive attitudes that sustain our responsibility attributions. The current challenge fails to develop this insight because the challenge is unreflectively invested in an individualist account of the human actor. Torn between the situationist vision of the human actor constructed by his situation and the individualist ideal of an actor standing apart from and above his circumstances, the situationist challenge to responsibility gets bogged down before it can make significant headway against responsibility. If this is so, the key to mobilizing situationism's radical insights is to disentangle situationism from individualism. In doing so, we may discover that situationism really does have radical implications for criminal responsibility.


The development of parenteral nutrition (PN) was an important, life-saving advance in the care of patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS). Nevertheless, its long-term use is often associated with complications. Therefore, it is desirable, when possible, to wean SBS patients to an oral diet. Given the complexity of PN weaning and the lack of published guidelines, the purpose of this article is to describe strategies of PN weaning and illustrate important clinical considerations during the weaning process. Patient education and motivation are key factors in successful PN weaning. The patient should have clearly defined care protocols and understand the importance of each aspect of the weaning program. Other factors likely to influence weaning success include the length and health of the remnant bowel, the presence of a colon, and the degree to which bowel adaptation has occurred. It is imperative that daily oral fluid and caloric intake goals are met prior to initiating PN weaning and that the patient receives an optimized dietary and medication plan. During weaning, the most practical measures for assessing adequate hydration and nutritional status are oral intake, stool and urine output, serum electrolytes and visceral proteins, and body weight. PN reductions can be made by either decreasing the days of PN infusion per week or decreasing the PN infusion volume equally across all days of the week. Use of recombinant human growth hormone, with or without glutamine, may play a role in facilitating the PN weaning process.


Although the capacity of multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) broadcast channels (BCs) can be achieved by dirty paper coding (DPC), it is difficult to implement in practical systems. This paper investigates if, for a large number of users, simpler schemes can achieve the same performance. Specifically, we show that a zero-forcing beamforming (ZFBF) strategy, while generally suboptimal, can achieve the same asymptotic sum capacity as that of DPC, as the number of users goes to infinity. In proving this asymptotic result, we provide an algorithm for determining which users should be active under ZFBF. These users are semiorthogonal to one another and can be grouped for simultaneous transmission to enhance the throughput of scheduling algorithms. Based on the user grouping, we propose and compare two fair scheduling schemes in round-robin ZFBF and proportional-fair ZFBF. We provide numerical results to confirm the optimality of ZFBF and to compare the performance of ZFBF and proposed fair scheduling schemes with that of various MIMO BC strategies.


Renewable energy sources are gaining popularity and have become the most preferred topic for research. Among the renewable energy sources available, sunlight is free and abundant and the solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can be installed anywhere as per the need. The PV systems convert light into electricity by using semiconductor technology. But the conventional solar cells suffers from two main problems. It can only achieve efficiencies around ten percent and their manufacturing cost is high. The first drawback, inefficiency, is almost unavoidable with silicon cells. This is because the incoming photons, or light, must have the right energy, called the band gap energy, to knock out an electron. If the photon has less energy than the band gap energy, then it will pass through. If it has more energy than the band gap, then that extra energy will be wasted as heat. To increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of a PV system, an introduction of combination of polymer and nanoparticles in cell design is fast replacing the silicon PV modules. An overview of this new technology confined to CdSe and TiO2 is presented in this paper. The properties and the advantages of the hybrid solar cell employing CdSe and TiO2 have been discussed in detail.


Summary: A 38-year-old man with Marfan syndrome presented with headache and neck pain. MR imaging revealed a large enhancing mass in the cervical anterior epidural space. Cervical laminectomy with biopsy of the lesion revealed a large engorged anterior epidural venous plexus (AEVP). Marfan syndrome may predispose the patient to enlargement of AEVP secondary to a vessel wall abnormality.


The positive inotropic responses to catecholamines are potentiated by cooling, whereas the positive chronotropic responses are inhibited. The possible site of this temperature-dependence was examined by determining the cAMP production in paced left and spontaneous right guinea-pig atria during orciprenaline-induced tension and rate responses. The time course of cAMP production preceded that of the respective responses at both 38 and 25°C. cAMP production in the left and right atria 15 seconds after addition of a concentration of orciprenaline (1.4 x 10-4 M) above that needed for maximum mechanical responses was determined at different temperatures in the presence of theophylline (10-3 M). These changes were compared with the effects of temperature upon complete tension and rate responses to a submaximal concentration of orciprenaline (9.5 x 10-8). The increases in cAMP levels in the left and right atria and their respective mechanical responses were affected in parallel by temperature. The optimum temperatures for left (30°C) and right (38°C) atria were the same for cAMP and mechanical response. This close association is further evidence that cAMP plays an important role in these β-adrenoceptor mediated responses. Furthermore, the hypothermia-induced supersensitivity of the positive inotropic responses appears to be related to cAMP production.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to Dr. J. D. M. Albano, University of Bristol, for guidance with the cAMP assay and for helpful discussions. We also thank Boehringer Ingelheim for the gift of orciprenaline.


This paper discusses the development and use of an approximate analysis model for predicting the temperature distribution on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) containing imbedded heat dissipating electronic components which are being cooled by laminar air flow induced by a fan. The direction of the air flow is parallel to the PCB. Temperature results obtained from the model are presented in dimensionless curves as a function of the PCB design parameters including the board dimensions, air velocity (or flowrate), and number, position and heat dissipation of the components. These curves enable the engineer to quickly select the optimal values of the design parameters which meet the design specification imposed on the maximum allowable board wall temperature. Information gained from these curves is employed to establish a set of guidelines (steps) for the preliminary thermal design and layout of the PCB and components.


Soft-core programmable processors mapped onto fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGA) can be considered as equivalents to a microcontroller. They combine central processing units (CPUs), caches, memories, and peripherals on a single chip. Soft-cores processors represent an increasingly common embedded software implementation option. Modern FPGA soft-cores are parameterized to support application-specific customization. However, these softcore processors are designed to be used in uniprocessor system, not for multiprocessor system. This project describes an implementation to solve the cache coherency problem in an ALTERA Nios II soft-core multiprocessor system.


The literature offers two foundations for competitive search equilibrium, a Nash approach and a market-maker approach. When each buyer visits only one seller (or each worker makes only one job application), the two approaches are equivalent. However, when each buyer visits multiple sellers, this equivalence can break down. Our paper analyzes competitive search equilibrium with simultaneous search using the two approaches. We consider four cases defined by (i) the surplus structure (are the goods substitutes or complements?) and (ii) the mechanism space (do sellers post fees or prices?). With fees, the two approaches yield the same constrained efficient equilibrium. With prices, the equilibrium allocation is the same using both approaches if the goods are complements, but is not constrained efficient. In the case in which only prices are posted and the goods are substitutes, the equilibrium allocations from the two approaches are different.<br>


BACKGROUND
Warts are a common pediatric skin infection caused by human papillomavirus (HPV). Spontaneous clearance of warts involves anti-HPV immunity, which may be enhanced by contact sensitizers. Squaric acid dibutylester (SADBE) is a nonmutagenic sensitizing agent useful for immunotherapy of alopecia areata.

OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that SADBE home application might be effective therapy for warts.

METHODS
An open-label, retrospective study of 61 children with warts was performed. Sensitization with 2% SADBE on the forearm was followed with home application of 0.2% SADBE to warts 3 to 7 nights per week for at least 3 months.

RESULTS
Complete clearing occurred in 34 patients (58%), with a mean duration of therapy of 7 weeks. Partial clearing occurred in 11 (18%), and no response in 14 (24%). Clearance correlated with plantar distribution, wart duration under 2 years (P <.05), and first-line therapy with SADBE. Mild side effects occurred in one third of patients, were limited most commonly to mild erythema at the site of sensitization, and necessitated discontinuation of therapy in only 2 patients.

CONCLUSION
SADBE topical immunotherapy is a safe, effective option for home therapy of warts in children.


Neurofilaments assemble from three intermediate-filament proteins, contribute to the radial growth of axons, and are exceptionally stable. Microtubules are dynamic structures that assemble from tubulin dimers to support intracellular transport of molecules and organelles. We show here that neurofilaments, and other intermediate-filament proteins, contain motifs in their N-terminal domains that bind unassembled tubulin. Peptides containing such motifs inhibit the in vitro polymerization of microtubules and can be taken up by cultured cells in which they disrupt microtubules leading to altered cell shapes and an arrest of division. In transgenic mice in which neurofilaments are withheld from the axonal compartment, axonal tubulin accumulation is normal but microtubules assemble in excessive numbers. These observations suggest a model in which axonal neurofilaments modulate local microtubule assembly. This capacity also suggests novel mechanisms through which inherited or acquired disruptions in intermediate filaments might contribute to pathogenesis in multiple conditions.


Abstract Initially portrayed as the "great equalizer," the COVID-19 pandemic has proved anything but. This essay recounts the sobering social disparities and vulnerabilities that the pandemic has exposed, especially when it comes to the inequalities that are baked into existing membership regimes, before turning to narratives of hope and democratic renewal. My discussion shines a spotlight on the relationship between borders, (im)mobility, and struggles for recognition and inclusion that have long been central to the practice of citizenship. Focusing on pathways to the acquisition of full membership status for those who are currently denied it, I will deploy logics and policies that have already begun to take shape in different parts of the world, with the goal of amplifying their effects and multiplying their scale. I identify three possible trajectories for postpandemic recovery, two of which offer ways to enhance equality of status and public standing by enlarging the circle of membership: first, through contribution (or what I will term "jus contribuere"), and second, by highlighting what we might call "solidarity in place." The third reaction, which we might call the "stratification of membership," pulls in the opposite direction by sharply redrawing the lines—legal, economic, social—that have distinguished insiders from outsiders, and exacerbated patterns of stratification and inequality of status and opportunity that predate the pandemic.


p21-Activated kinase-1 (Pak1) is frequently upregulated in human breast cancer and is required for transformation of mammary epithelial cells by ErbB2. Here, we show that loss of Pak1, but not the closely related Pak2, leads to diminished expression of β-catenin and its target genes. In MMTV-ErbB2 transgenic mice, loss of Pak1 prolonged survival, and mammary tissues of such mice showed loss of β-catenin. Expression of a β-catenin mutant bearing a phospho-mimetic mutation at Ser 675, a specific Pak1 phosphorylation site, restored transformation to ErbB2-positive, Pak1-deficient mammary epithelial cells. Mice bearing xenografts of ErbB2-positive breast cancer cells showed tumor regression when treated with small-molecule inhibitors of Pak or β-catenin, and combined inhibition by both agents was synergistic. These data delineate a signaling pathway from ErbB2 to Pak to β-catenin that is required for efficient transformation of mammary epithelial cells, and suggest new therapeutic strategies in ErbB2-positive breast cancer.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate health care professionals' (HCPs) and service-users' (SUs) attitudes towards different treatment options in an Early Intervention for Psychosis (EIP) service as well as the topical issue of offering choice over treatment.

Design/methodology/approach

Seven SUs accessing an EIP service and nine HCPs completed qualitative surveys about treatment for psychosis. Data were analysed thematically.

Findings

Both HCPs and SUs appeared to have a generally positive attitude to the range of interventions offered by the EIP service and SUs talked about the importance of all treatment options being explored. There was variation in attitudes towards SUs having choice over their treatment and a number of factors were identified as crucial in influencing attitudes including mental capacity, risk and level of engagement.

Research limitations/implications

Small sample size, recruitment from only one EIP service and using a survey design limit generalisability and depth of analysis.

Practical implications

HCPs working in EIP services should explore different treatment options fully with SUs but be aware that they may feel unable to make the decision themselves. Such discussions should be revisited throughout an individual's care as their ability and desire to make informed choices may change over time. Continuing Professional Development and clinical supervision should be used to help HCPs reflect on the choice agenda and the implications of this for clinical practice.

Originality/value

Few studies have examined attitudes towards treatments for psychosis. This is an evolving and important clinical area that remains under researched. Recommendations for service-development, future research and clinical practice are made.


Recent privacy scandals such as Cambridge Analytica and the Nightingale Project show that data sharing must be carefully managed and regulated to prevent data misuse. Data protection law, legal frameworks, and technological solutions tend to focus on controller responsibilities as opposed to protecting data subjects from the beginning of the data collection process. Using a case study of how data subjects can be better protected during data curation, we propose that a co-created data commons can protect individual autonomy over personal data through collective curation and rebalance power between data subjects and controllers.


This work explores the probabilistic assessment of CO2 generation rate and CO2 source location by occurrence of Carbonate/Clay Reactions (CCRs) in three-dimensional realistic sedimentary basins. We ground our assessment on the methodology proposed for a mono-dimensional case study and a single CCR formulation by Ceriotti et al. (2017) which includes a framework to account for thermodynamic parameter uncertainties. This methodology is here extended to a realistic three-dimensional sedimentary basin case study and transferred to encompass different types of CCRs, including two newly 5 formulated CCRs which accounts for minerals typically observed in sedimentary environments. While testing the ability of the chosen procedure to model diverse CCRs in three-dimensional realistic subsurface sedimentary systems, we quantitatively compare the impact of CCR formulation on the spatial distribution of CO2 source location, temperature and pressure compatible to CO2 gaseous generation, and CO2 generation rate in three-dimensional environments characterized by complex and non-uniform stratigraphy. Application of the procedure to different types of CCRs enables us to provide an insight on the im10 pact of mineralogical composition on the mechanism of activation temperature and pressure and the amount of CO2 released by the different CCR mechanisms. Finally, we show the implementation of the proposed probabilistic framework to define scenarios associated with different levels of probability to be used as the input and boundary conditions for CO2 migration and transport models in the subsurface.


For every communicable disease, the construction of a database is fundamental to prioritizing related measures (educational, prevention and control), as well as to the development of public health policies. Although various countries possess reliable systems of epidemiological surveillance, Brazil still lacks an adequate structure for the collection, processing and dissemination of data. We consider it imperative that the health professionals working in this area make a unified effort, as soon as possible, to compile a database that suitably addresses the epidemiology of occupational respiratory diseases.


Given the importance of green entrepreneurs in the transition towards a sustainable society, the authors propose a framework for investigating the influences on, and motives of, green entrepreneurs. The literature on entrepreneurs generally, and approaches to classifying entrepreneurs, are reviewed with the aim of gaining useful insights for the green context. The scope for investigation encompasses all possible forms of green business, including not only those founded on the principle of sustainability but also those that are opportunistically or accidentally green. Assessing both the research on typologies of entrepreneurs generally and recent perspectives on green entrepreneurs in particular, the authors propose that green entrepreneurs are best characterised by a combination of internal motivations and external (hard and soft) structural influences. The resulting typology presented in this paper produces four 'ideal types' of green entrepreneurs: innovative opportunists, visionary champions, ethical mavericks and ad hoc enviropreneurs. Their characteristics are explored and examples provided. Recommendations are made on how the typology can contribute to further research into ways to foster green entrepreneurship and the change agent role that green entrepreneurs play in the two-way iterative relationship between firms and society.(Publication abstract)


Abstract. The role and potential management of short-lived atmospheric pollutants such as aerosols are currently a topic of scientific and public debates. Our limited knowledge of atmospheric aerosol and its influence on the Earth's radiation balance has a significant impact on the accuracy and error of current predictions of future climate change. In the last few years, there have been several accounts of the changes in atmospheric aerosol derived from satellite observations, but no study considering the uncertainty caused by different/limited temporal sampling of polar-orbiting satellites and cloud disturbance in the trend estimates of cloud-free aerosol optical thickness (AOT). This study presents an approach to minimize the uncertainties by use of weighted least-squares regression and multiple satellite-derived AOTs from the space-born instruments, MODIS (onboard Terra from 2000 to 2009 and Aqua form 2003 to 2008), MISR (Terra from 2000 to 2010), and SeaWiFS (OrbView-2 from 1998 to 2007) and thereby provides more convincing trend estimates for atmospheric aerosols during the past decade. The AOT decreases over western Europe (i.e., by up to about −40% from 2003 to 2008). In contrast, a statistically significant increase (about +34% in the same period) over eastern China is observed and can be attributed to the increase in both industrial output and Asian desert dust.


In this paper we study the phonological manifestation of various intonational focus domains in Castilian Spanish. We propose that downstep is one of the intonational signallers of focus in this language. The phonological problems of accounting for this phenomenon in Pierrehumbertian models are explored. Alternative solutions are offered following the single-tone model put forward by Cabrera Abreu (2000) within the Government Phonology framework, taking into account other proposals by the author and her co-workers. Typically, the prefocal and focal items participate in licensing relations which integrate them in a well-formed phonological structure in terms of onsets and nuclei respectively as the only two possible constituents within another major constituent, the intonation group. Pitch movements in the prefocal and focal items in the various focus domains are accounted for by the presence / absence of T(one) associated to different constituent boundaries. In addition, the constituent licensing the focal item is preceded by an intonation group whose nuclear constituent is empty, thus showing toneless boundaries which are responsible for the observed downstep effect.


Cu-Sn-Ti brazing alloys are gaining importance as active brazing alloys for brazing diamond tools. The microstructure at the interface between diamond or Ti-coated diamond grits and Cu-Sn-Ti brazing alloy and bonding strength have been investigated in this paper. The results show that TiC layer forms between diamond and alloy matrix during the brazing process and Sn- and Ti-based intermetallic phase forms between TiC and the bonding matrix. And compound SnTi3 forms between the Ti-coated diamond grits and Cu-Sn-Ti brazing alloy. Furthermore, the bonding strength between Ti-coated diamond grits and brazing alloy is higher than that between diamond grits and brazing alloy.


Background Public health microbiology laboratories (PHL) are at the cusp of unprecedented improvements in pathogen identification, antibiotic resistance detection, and outbreak investigation by using whole genome sequencing (WGS). However, considerable challenges remain due to the lack of common standards. Objectives 1) Establish the performance specifications of WGS applications used in PHL to conform with CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvements Act) guidelines for laboratory developed tests (LDT), 2) Develop quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) measures, 3) Establish reporting language for end users with or without WGS expertise, 4) Create a validation set of microorganisms to be used for future validations of WGS platforms and multi-laboratory comparisons and, 5) Create modular templates for the validation of different sequencing platforms. Methods MiSeq Sequencer and Illumina chemistry (Illumina, Inc.) were used to generate genomes for 34 bacterial isolates with genome sizes from 1.8 to 4.7 Mb and wide range of GC content (32.1%-66.1%). A customized CLCbio Genomics Workbench - shell script bioinformatics pipeline was used for the data analysis. Results We developed a validation panel comprising ten Enterobacteriaceae isolates, five gram-positive cocci, five gram-negative non-fermenting species, nine Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and five miscellaneous bacteria; the set represented typical workflow in the PHL. The accuracy of MiSeq platform for individual base calling was >99.9% with similar results shown for reproducibility/repeatability of genome-wide base calling. The accuracy of phylogenetic analysis was 100%. The specificity and sensitivity inferred from MLST and genotyping tests were 100%. A test report format was developed for the end users with and without WGS knowledge. Conclusion WGS was validated for routine use in PHL according to CLIA guidelines for LDTs. The validation panel, sequencing analytics, and raw sequences will be available for future multi-laboratory comparisons of WGS in PHL. Additionally, the WGS performance specifications and modular validation template are likely to be adaptable for the validation of other platforms and reagents kits.


Common grounding systems (global earthing systems) are not very clearly defined in standards. One definition of a common grounding system is that no dangerous touch voltages caused by ground fault currents occur. This means that a common grounding system does not depend only on the grounding system itself but also on the type and operation of the electrical grid and the protection schemes. In a resonant grounded network only low ground fault currents appear because of the compensation, therefore it is difficult to detect and clear single ground faults if desired or necessary. To provide a reliable localization of a ground fault a higher current can be injected intentionally but it must be proved that no dangerous touch and step voltages occur. To prove this in a typical urban grid, different measurements were carried out. Measurements at low and high current levels and an additional simulation are compared and discussed.


BACKGROUND
Team collaboration is an important factor that affects the performance of the operating room (OR). Therefore, the ability of OR nurses to adapt to and manage interpersonal conflict incidents properly is very important.

PURPOSE
The aims of this study were to investigate the interpersonal conflict management capabilities of OR nursing staffs and to find the relationships among the demographics of OR nurses and the following: work-related variables, interpersonal conflict management style, and target of interpersonal conflict.

METHODS
This study investigated 201 OR nurses who had worked for more than 6 months at the target hospitals, which were located in the three counties of Changhua, Yunlin, and Chiayi. The questionnaire that was used to collect data included three components: a demographic and work-related variables survey, interpersonal conflict management factor analysis scale, and interpersonal conflict parties and frequency scale. Data were analyzed using independent t test, analysis of variance, Scheffe's test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient.

RESULTS
The main findings were as follows: (a) Integration and arbitration were the major interpersonal conflict management strategies adopted by the participants; (b) medical doctor, OR nurses, and anesthetists were the primary targets of conflict for the participants; (c) the factors of educational background, job position, experience in other departments, seniority, attending courses in conflict management, and level of hospital significantly affected the strategies that participants used to manage interpersonal conflict; and (d) license level, experience in other departments, seniority, and inclination toward serving in the OR were each found to relate significantly to the target of interpersonal conflict and the frequency of interpersonal conflict incidents.

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
The main implications of this study are as follows: (a) The environment for communication in the OR should be made more friendly to encourage junior OR nurses to adopt constructive interpersonal conflict management strategies; (b) prior experience in other departments should be one of the most important factors of consideration when recruiting new nurses for the OR; and


ABSTRACT Joyce and Beckett aimed to create a language which, unlike world English, is no one's mother tongue, Joyce by exploiting the phonological and morphological principles for the production of new words, the lexicon's open-class ""dictionary."" Beckett, after imitating but ultimately resisting Joyce's lexical inventiveness, extracted the late minimalist style from the lexicon's nonproductive grammatical function words.


In this study, sixteen Aeromonas (A.) hydrophila and A. caviae isolates obtained from fish in Ankara, Turkey were described and compared with two American type strains (A. hydrophila ATCC 7966 and A. caviae ATCC 15468) and characterised by various methods including biochemical, physiological tests and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Whole cell protein (WCP) profiles of these isolates were analyzed using SDS-PAGE. We concluded that the study showed that there was a similar clonal group origin of the A. hydrophila isolates and the reference strain (ATCC 7966). Likewise, there was also a similarity between the A. caviae isolates and the reference strain (ATCC 15468). The results show that SDS-PAGE may be an efficient method to differentiate Aeromonas isolates.


Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy was performed on a number of multi-peryleneimide substituted polyphenylene dendrimers for the purpose of investigating the parameters which influence the efficiency of the dendrimers as single-photon sources at room temperature. Analysis of fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and interphoton arrival time distribution revealed that all measured first-generation dendrimers behave as single-photon emitters when more than one chromophore is excited by a single excitation pulse regardless of the number of constituent chromophores. This is a result of efficient singlet-singlet annihilation, which becomes less efficient in higher-generation dendrimers when the interchromophoric distance increases. The efficiency of the investigated dendrimers as single-photon sources depends on several other parameters, such as the nature of the surrounding polymer matrix, the number of chromophores, and the extent of interchromophoric interactions. These parameters mainly affect the frequency of singlet-triplet annihilation, which in turn dominates the quality of these multichromophoric dendrimers as single-photon sources. The results reported here are important not only for the design of single-photon sources based on single organic molecules but also for a fundamental understanding of natural and artificial multichromophoric systems.


We have previously reported the technology for embedding a 1500-pin microprocessor chip in a thin LSI package using a rigid Cu plate. The reliabilities of this seamless package with the direct interconnection between the LSI chip and substrate wiring have now been evaluated at the package and board levels. The package passed all the LSI function tests at the package level even after 2000 thermal cycles. The microstructure of the interconnect, evaluated using electron backscatter diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, showed a high interconnect reliability. The reliability at the board level was evaluated using the thermal cycles testing, the shadow-moiré method and strain gauge measurement with the package mounted on a system board. Thanks to the Cu plate, the warpage and strain characteristics are excellent, resulting in uniform stress distribution. Therefore, this seamless packaging technology is promising for the fabrication of thin, highly reliable LSI packages for replacing flip chip ball grid array packages.


The genomic region containing the mouse immunoglobulin gamma 3 heavy chain membrane (M) exons has been located and sequenced. The exon structure is highly similar to that of the other mouse gamma chains, with strong sequence conservation in the coding regions and the intron 5' to the M1 exon. The intron between M1 and M2 shows moderate sequence homology but very strong conservation of size. RNA blots suggest that gamma 3 membrane exon usage is similar to that seen in other immunoglobulin membrane heavy chain mRNAs. The transmembrane region contains the invariant residues which have been noted in all other heavy chain sequences and which were previously proposed to be interactive in a two-chain model for insertion through the lymphocyte membrane. Conserved residues with similar spacing have been seen in class II histocompatibility antigens, which are also two-chain transmembrane molecules, but not in class I antigens, which span cell membranes with a single chain.


The objective of this work is make tissue adhesives agent from Thai rice starch, then test the final products for scientific and medical properties following the laws of Thai health ministry, to demonstrate that this product can be used safely, as same as the standard product. The principal raw material is pharmaceutical grade, Thai rice starch powder. The additives are hydroxyapatite (HA) nanopowder, carboxymethylcellulose, lactic acid, gelatin, polyvinylalcohol and glycerol. All materials will be mixed in distilled water under high temperature, and dried into starch tissue adhesives plate hydrogel. The final product will be kept in medical package and sent for sterilization by gamma radiation. These products will be characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), stability in water, and adhesive bond strength test in wet environment.


The business sector has a substantial role in addressing current environmental issues and concerns. Consequently, there is a growing adoption of corporate sustainability principles and practices across all market sectors. This study examined four developed and four emerging stock markets and the sustainability reporting practices of the top 20 and bottom 20 companies in each. The results illustrate that the developed market sector was more advanced in its corporate sustainability reporting, both in the proportion of companies issuing a sustainability report (approximately 60 per cent) and the proportion of company webpages dedicated to sustainability reporting. This difference was largely due to the effect of the top 20 companies. There was little difference between developed and developing markets when only the bottom 20 companies were considered, of which less than one-third provided sustainability reports. These results show that sustainability reporting is prevalent in both developed and developing markets, especially among market leading companies, but that overall, most developing markets have some catching up to do.


Health systems are stewards of patient electronic health record (EHR) data with extraordinarily rich depth and breadth, reflecting thousands of diagnoses and exposures. Measures of genomic variation integrated with EHRs offer a potential strategy to accurately stratify patients for risk profiling and discover new relationships between diagnoses and genomes. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS) for common cancers are associated with multiple phenotypes in a Phenome-wide Association Study (PheWAS) conducted in 28,260 unrelated, genotyped patients of recent European ancestry who consented to participate in the Michigan Genomics Initiative, a longitudinal biorepository effort within Michigan Medicine. PRS for 12 cancer traits were calculated using summary statistics from the NHGRI-EBI GWAS catalog. A total of 1,711 synthetic case-control studies was used for PheWAS analyses. Patients with at least one cancer diagnosis constituted 13,490 patients. PRSs exhibited strong association for several cancer traits they were designed for including female breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanomas of skin. Phenome-wide significant associations were observed between PRS and many non-cancer diagnoses. To differentiate primary trait-mediated PRS associations from associations that arise through shared genetic risk profiles, the idea of "exclusion PRS PheWAS" was introduced and uncovered phenome-wide significant associations between a lower risk for hypothyroidism in patients with high thyroid cancer PRS and a higher risk for actinic keratosis in patients with high squamous cell carcinoma PRS after removing all cases of the primary cancer trait. This is the first PheWAS study using PRS instead of single variant.


Aims. We focus on the resolved stellar populations of one early-type and four transition-type dwarf galaxies in the Sculptor group, with the aim to examine the potential presence of population gradients and place constraints on their mean metallicities. Methods. We use deep Hubble Space Telescope images to construct color–magnitude diagrams, from which we select stellar populations that trace different evolutionary phases in order to constrain their range of ages and metallicities, as well as to examine their spatial distribution. In addition, we use the resolved stars in the red giant branch in order to derive photometric metallicities. Results. All studied dwarfs contain intermediate-age stars with ages of ~1 Gyr and older as traced by the luminous asymptotic giant branch and red clump stars, while the transition-type dwarfs contain also stars younger than ~1 Gyr as traced by a young main sequence and vertical red clump stars. Moreover, the spatial distribution of the stars that trace different evolutionary phases shows a population gradient in all transition-type dwarfs. The derived error-weighted mean metallicities, assuming purely old stellar populations, range from −1.5 dex for ESO294-G010 to −1.9 dex for Scl-dE1, and should be considered as lower limits to their true metallicities. Assuming intermediate-age stellar populations to dominate the dwarfs, we derive upper limits for the metallicities that are 0.3 to 0.2 dex higher than the metallicities derived assuming purely old populations. We discuss how photometric metallicity gradients are affected by the age-metallicity degeneracy, which prevents strong conclusions regarding their actual presence. Finally, the transition-type dwarfs lie beyond the virial radius of their closest bright galaxy, as also observed for the Local Group transition-type dwarfs. Scl-dE1 is the only dwarf spheroidal in our sample and is an outlier in a potential morphology-distance relation, similar as the two isolated dwarf spheroidals of the Local Group, Tucana, and Cetus.


The choice of heat transfer fluids has significant effects on the performance, cost and reliability of solar thermal systems. In this chapter, we evaluate existing heat transfer fluids such as oils and molten salts based on a new figure of merit capturing the combined effects of thermal storage capacity, convective heat transfer characteristics and hydraulic performance of the fluids. Thermal stability, freezing point and safety issues are also discussed. Through a comparative analysis, we examine alternative options for solar thermal heat transfer fluids including watersteam mixtures (direct steam), ionic liquids/melts and suspensions of nanoparticles (nanofluids), focusing on the benefits and technical challenges. DOI: 10.1615/AnnualRevHeatTransfer.2012004122 SOURCE: Lenert, Andrej, Youngsuk Nam, and Evelyn N. Wang. "Heat Transfer Fluids." Annual Review of Heat Transfer 15, 2012.


A simple and highly reproducible culture method of aortic endothelial cells from cadaver is herein reported. Major bacterial contamination could be prevented by administration of an antibiotic cocktail consisting of gentatnicin, ampicillin, and amphotericin B. Endothelial cells from the thoracic aorta were viable up to 17 hours postmortem and successfully culturable from the aorta by dispase desquamation from the subendothelial substrate. The cultured cells varied in size and shape depending on the degree of individual atherosclerotic severity and could be divided into two major subtypes. The first type is a small and polygonal uniform cell (typical endothelial cell) and the second type is a mixture of spindle and giant bizarre cells often associated with multinuclei (variant endothelial cell). Both types of endothelial cells have characteristics specific for endothelium, such as factor VIII related surface antigen, Weibel‐Palade body, and high productivity of prostacyclin.


There is a dearth of reliable literature that appropriately coined and conveyed the conceptual framework of federalism, scarcity of reliable information that analytically x-rayed the structural arrangement of Nigerian federalism, and challenges militating against the expected gains of federalism and the prospects thereof. The paper relied on qualitative methods like document analyses, personal experiences, key informant interviews, and discussions in generating relevant data that were thematically presented and resultantly analyzed using content analysis. The results show that there are works of literature that wrongly conceptualized federalism. Police brutality, political godfatherism, corruption, secession, revenue allocation problem, sectionalism, and conflicts were among the predominant challenges facing Nigerian federalism. Furthermore, the results show that sustainable development and efficient service delivery are part of the prospects. The paper concluded that many Nigerians do not have an adequate understanding of the nitty-gritty of federalism. As a corollary to this, destructive tendencies have troubled Nigerian federalism, making the center epileptic. The study for policy and practice implies that Nigeria, the largest populated country of Africa, has continued its federalist operations on the side of very low cohesion and unification of existing ethnic groups.


There are several approaches to document requirements, from totally informal and document-oriented to formal languages/methods that may represent requirements graphically. The SysML Requirements Diagram has the advantage of being created specifically to document requirements and their relationships in a graphical manner, without being tied to a specific methodology. But the diagram still lacks some important characteristics that are fundamental to requirements engineering, such as requirements priorities and classification. In this paper, an extension to the SysML Requirements Diagram is proposed, in which new stereotypes and properties that may improve the requirements engineering process are created. The extension is part of a profile that is being created to improve the application of SysML to complex systems.


As the technology advance, more and more data is available in digital form day by day. Among which, most of the data is in unstructured textual form. So it has become essential to develop better techniques and algorithms to extract useful and interesting information from this huge amount of textual data. Hence, the area of text mining and information extraction has become popular areas of research, to extract interesting and useful information. This paper focuses on the concept, process, techniques, tools and applications of Text Mining.


Background Infant mortality is a major problem in Nepal, particularly in the mountainous region of the country. Objective To identify factors that contributes to the high rate of infant mortality in the mountain zone in Nepal. Method Data were derived from the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Infant mortality was analyzed across three ecological zones in a sample of 5,306 live births in the five years preceding the survey. The contribution of risk factors to the excess infant mortality was assessed using multiple logistic regression. Result Infant mortality rate (deaths per 1000 live births) in the ecological zones were 59 (95% CI: 36, 81), 44 (35, 53), and 40 (33, 47) for the mountain, hill and terai zones, respectively. Women living in the mountain zone were more likely to report that distance to care was a "big problem" and had a greater risk of infant mortality compared to the terai zone (OR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.02, p=0.04). This increased risk was observed only among births to mothers who perceived distance to the nearest health facility as a "big problem" (aOR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.40, p=0.04) controlling for other risk factors. Conclusion These findings suggest that the higher Infant mortality rate (IMR) in the mountain zone was among the women who perceived distance to health facilities as a big problem. Improved accessibility to health services, particularly in this zone, is an essential strategy for reducing infant mortality in Nepal.


Lignins and pyrolytic lignins are considered to be interesting renewable sources for the production of important aromatic chemicals like benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX), and phenolic compounds. Catalytic hydrotreatment using supported metal catalysts has proven to be an interesting technology for this conversion. However, as lignins are highly cross-linked polymers with a large number of linkages between the aromatic nuclei, it is very challenging to obtain information about the reaction pathways occurring during the catalytic hydrotreatment process. The use of model components instead of real lignins provides valuable insights into the reactivity of the different bonds in the lignin structure. With this knowledge, the selectivity towards the target aromatics or phenolics can be optimised through proper catalyst design and selection. This review gives an overview of the use of bimetallic noble metal based supported catalysts for the catalytic hydrotreatment of lignin-derived model components. Such bimetallic catalysts are of high interest as the interaction between the two metals modifies the geometric and electronic properties, and this can lead to improved catalytic activity, selectivity and stability.


The role of political discourse in the communication of security issues is fundamental to the Copenhagen School's framework of securitization. In their work, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (1998), the Copenhagen School set out to challenge traditional International Relations theory by questioning the primacy of state-centric approaches that narrowly focus on military aspects of security. Whilst broadening the areas of security to include economic, societal, political and environmental threats, they also proposed that threats are articulated through the "speech acts" of mainly political elites. By signaling threats discursively via "securitizing moves", political elites inform the audience of the existence of security threats. However, the Copenhagen School fails to address the political partiality of such pronouncements. The focus of this analysis is to examine the persuasive discursive practices employed by political elites to encourage audience consent with a specific focus on political elite portrayals of inward migration in relation to security.
In their work, "Identity, Migration and the New Security Agenda in Europe" (1993), the Copenhagen School outlined a nexus between security and transnational migration within a Western context. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis methods, this analysis will provide a comparative cross-national study of how migration is constituted as a security threat. By analysing political elite discourse as presented in speeches and as recontextualised in media portrayals in two major South East Asian receiving countries, Malaysia and Singapore, this thesis assesses the applicability of the Copenhagen School approach in alternative locations. Adopting a thematic approach, it examines how migrants are depicted via political discourse as threats to societal, economic and political security and how the feminization of migration in recent years has been depicted as a security challenge.
A cross-national comparison of political discourse relating to the migrant/security nexus reveals not only how discursive formulations of security by political elites are constructed in order to legitimise policy and practices, but how similar issues may be addressed differently. Both Malaysia and Singapore have a long history of immigration, which is reflected in their diverse multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-cultural societies. Geographically co-located and with a shared historical legacy, both have become increasingly dependent on migrant labour to support economic growth and receive relatively large intakes of migrants from neighbouring countries. Yet, there are significant differences in how migrants are depicted in relation to security. Challenges are proposed to the framework that the Copenhagen School propounds. Moreover, I contend that the constructed nature of political discourse allows the potential for a more nuanced and normative discourse that could desecuritize migration and focus more positively on its benefits and upon alternative non-elite perspectives of security.


The transition from modern to postmodern society leads to changing expectations about the purpose and responsibility of leadership. Habermas's social theory provides a useful analytical tool for understanding current societal transition processes and exploring their implications for the responsibility of business vis-a-vis society. We argue that integrative responsible leadership, in particular, can contribute to the reconciliation of business with societal goals. Integrative responsible leadership understood in a Habermasian way is not only a strategic endeavor but also a communicative endeavor. An essential part of integrative responsible leadership in light of the current societal transformation processes is the facilitation of discourses about a shared base of norms and values. This is exemplified alongside current societal developments like the European migration crisis or the emerging nationalist and fundamentalist movements in some countries. We specify how and when leadership should resort to communicative action and discuss the implications for leadership.


Abstract Background: Patient and public involvement and engagement and consumer feedback are encouraged by community leaders, policymakers, and funders to address health problems. Patient and consumer feedback is a critical step in scaling research applications among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). This is important as there are physical activity guidelines for exercise in MS that have important translational utility for research, yet participation in exercise research is low among persons with MS. This may be explained by minimal engagement of persons with MS in research design. It is important to understand experiences in exercise research participation, as this will improve the translation of preliminary research into a larger phase II efficacy study. Objectives: We aimed to understand experiences of persons with MS who participated in a feasibility research study of a home-based exercise intervention grounded in current physical activity guidelines and supplemented with behavioural change modules. Methods: This study was a qualitative extension of our main feasibility study and included a basic qualitative research design based on feedback questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Participants were recruited from those who completed our feasibility study of a 4-month home-based, exercise-training programme supplemented by behavioural strategies for promoting compliance among persons living with MS. Eighteen participants with mild to moderate disability provided study feedback. Coding and thematic analyses were performed, and questionnaire feedback and interview data were triangulated to provide meaningful data from participants. Results: Our analysis identified two main themes for improving a future phase II efficacy study. The themes were 1. Enrolment and assessments and 2. Improvements in the design and delivery of the exercise programme components. Conclusions: Exercise participation is important to improve and manage the symptoms and general health of persons with MS. Including persons with MS in the development and assessment of research will provide vital information to improve the design of future exercise studies. Capitalising on feedback from research participants and opinions from consumers of research will help researchers and clinicians deliver meaningful exercise interventions that are directly relevant to persons with MS. Implications for Rehabilitation The current physical activity guidelines for persons with MS are acceptable to persons with MS and rehabilitation professionals should prescribe these guidelines as appropriate. Consideration should be made to the use of individualised recruitment methods to optimise participation of persons with MS in exercise interventions. Rehabilitation professionals should combine behaviour change approaches with exercise interventions to optimise exercise participation in persons with MS.


Natural disasters are increasing alarmingly worldwide in recent years. They have killed millions of people, and adversely affected the life of at least one billion people. Given this, natural disasters present a great challenge to society today concerning how they are to be mitigated so as to produce an acceptable risk is a question which has come to the fore in dramatic ways recently. The paper addresses the following question: what could be learnt from natural disasters? The paper presents some preliminary results of the analysis of Tabasco's flooding in Mexico, by the application of the MORT technique. In November 2007 the State of Tabasco was flooded by 80% and it is believed that al least one million people were left homeless. On the other hand, the MORT technique may be regarded as a structured checklist in the form of a complex 'fault-tree' model that is intended to ensure that all aspects of an organization's management are looked into when assessing the possible causes of an incident. Moreover, the MORT has been applied extensively to the analysis of past failure of sociotechnical systems; this is the first time that it has been applied to the case of natural disasters. A number of organizational failures have been highlighted by the model. It is hoped that by conducting such analysis lessons can be learnt so that the impact of natural disasters such as Tabasco's flooding can be mitigated in the future.


Issues like lack of trust and commitment, unresolved conflicts, and the inability of individuals to understand how their actions impact others often stop the most promising teams from delivering great results. This simple, easy-to-use book gives busy managers activities they can use to help their employees improve their levels of emotional intelligence and become more effective. The exercises included will help employees deal with anger and emotional triggers, pick up on cues from teammates, encourage communication, and much more.


Proteomic technology has been increasingly incorporated into agricultural research, as characterization of proteomes can provide valuable information for potential biomarkers of health and physiological status of an animal. As dairy cattle are a dominant production animal in the USA, their biofluids such as milk, blood, urine, and rumen fluid have been examined by proteomic analysis. The research outlined herein was performed to further characterize the dynamics of specific proteomes and relate them to dairy cattle physiology. The first experiment evaluated the diurnal dynamicity of the rumen metaproteome in Holstein dairy cattle. Rumen fluid was collected from three mid to late lactation multiparous dairy cattle (207 ± 53.5 days in milk) at three time points relative to their first morning offering of a total mixed ration (TMR) (0 h, 4 h, and 6 h after feeding). Samples were processed and labeled using Tandem Mass tagging before being further fractionated with a high pH reversed-phase peptide fractionation kit. Samples were analyzed by LC-MS/MS and statistically analyzed for variations across hour of sampling using the MIXED procedure of SAS with orthogonal contrasts. A total of 242 proteins were characterized across 12 microbial species, with 35 proteins identified from a variety of 9 species affected by time of collection. Translation-related proteins were correlated positively with increasing hour of sampling while more specific metabolic proteins were negatively correlated with increasing hour of sampling. Results suggest that as nutrients become more readily available, microbes shift from conversion-focused biosynthetic routes to more encompassing DNA-driven pathways. The second experiment aimed to characterize the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) proteomes of colostrum and transition milk for comparison from multi(n = 10) and primiparous (n = 10) Holstein dairy cattle. Samples were collected at four timepoints post-partum (milkings 1, 2, 4, and 14). After isolation of the protein lysates from the MFGM, proteins were labeled using Tandem Mass tagging and analyzed using LCMS/MS techniques. Protein identification was completed using MASCOT and Sequest in Proteome Discoverer 2.2. Protein abundance values were scaled and analyzed using the MIXED procedure in SAS to determine the effect of parity, milking number, and parity x milking number, and the adaptive false-discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted P values were determined using the MULTTEST procedure of SAS. There were 104 proteins identified within the MFGM. Statistical analysis revealed that 44.2% of proteins were affected by parity, 70.2% by milking number, and 32.7% by the variable of parity x milking number. There was a two-fold difference in calcium sensing S100 proteins in cows differing in parity possibly due to the multiparous mammary gland being more adapted to the physiological demand of lactation or the lesser requirement of calcium in primiparous cows because of a lower production rate.


Nowadays the amount of distributed generation (DG) units is increasing rapidly. Most of these units are connected to the distribution grid. With the increasing penetration level the impact of these units on for instance power flows, fault levels and protective systems cannot be neglected anymore. To allow an increasing penetration level of DG without causing protection problems or unacceptable power flows and fault levels the impact of DG has to be studied thoroughly. Therefore in cooperation with Dutch grid operators and two technical universities a research project has started which focuses on protection issues, fault ride-through behaviour and autonomous operation of distribution grids including DG. In this paper an outline of the project is given and some results are presented.


Earlier studies stress that teachers are at the center of the educational change process. Based on Fullan's (1982) multidimensional framework for educational change, 40 schoolteachers were selected and randomly distributed (Penuel, Fishman, Yamaguchi, and Gallagher, 2007) according to four conditions of professional support, specifically, the control group (CO), Teaching Materials and Teacher Development (TMTD); Teaching Materials and Student Assessment (TMSA), and Teaching Materials, Teacher Development, and Student Assessment (TMTDSA). Subsequently, pre- and post-stage studies to the 10-month intervention were conducted to compare the various effects of educational change on teacher receptivity (Ha, Lee, Chan, and Sum, 2004; Waugh and Godfrey, 1993). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were likewise used to identify the teachers' views on education reform. Results show that teachers of TMTD and TMTDSA obtained a significantly higher post-test score (p < .05) on 'Behavioral Intentions toward Promoting Physical Education as a Key Learning Area (PE-KLA)' and 'Other Perceived Support for Teaching PE-KLA,' respectively. Meanwhile, the control group obtained a significantly higher post-test score (p < .05) in 'Issues of Concern Associated with Implementing PE-KLA,' indicating that teachers who do not receive support from schools or outside agencies showed more concern on the implementation of the initiative compared to the other groups.


The assessment of the cardiac function of the fetus and hemodynamic stabilization of the newborn in the postnatal period is one of the most important tasks of modern perinatology. Understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms, the basis of the myocardial dysfunction in both the fetus and the newborn, can help to develop preventive measures and change the therapeutic approach to this category of children. This review highlights the problems of the disruption of the mechanisms of interregulation in the fetal heart and placenta, as well as the diagnostic possibilities of modern biomarkers of cardiovascular dysfunction – troponins, N-terminal precursor of brain natriuretic peptide and soluble type 2 tumor suppressor – in fetal and newborn.


Electrical design and withstand test of mini-model coils for high temperature superconducting fault current limiter (HTSFCL) have been studied. Electrical insulating factors of the HTS coil for HTSFCL are turn-to-turn and layer-to-layer. The electrical insulation of turn-to-turn depends on surface length, and the electrical insulation of layer-to-layer depends on surface length and breakdown strength of LN/sub 2/. Therefore, two basic characteristics of breakdown and flashover voltage were experimentally investigated to design electrical insulation for 6.6 kV Class HTSFCL. We used Weibull distribution to get electric field strength for insulation design. And mini-model coils for HTSFCL were designed by using Weibull distribution and were manufactured to investigate breakdown characteristics. The mini-model coils were passed in impulse withstand test as well as AC withstand test.


Interferon (IFN)‐γ was subcutaneously administered to four patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) in order to evaluate its effects in controlling infection. Patients 1 to 3 were all males, while patient 4 was female. In patients 2 and 4, the length of infection‐associated hospitalization during the year of IFN therapy was significantly shorter than that during the whole observed period prior to IFN therapy. In patients 1 and 2, the length of hospitalization during a year of IFN therapy was shorter than that during 1 year prior to the therapy. Patient 3 exhibited no reduction in terms of the length of infectious disease during IFN therapy, because he suffered from a liver abscess before and during the therapy. As soon as the IFN therapy was stopped, patient 2 developed pneumonia and lymphadenitis, which were promptly relieved by readministering the agent. During 1 year of IFN therapy, patients 1, 2 and 4 showed no significant changes in either the nitroblue tetrazolium test, O2‐ production or the expression of NADPH oxidase components in neutrophils. On the other hand, the O2‐ generating ability of neutrophils from patient 3 slightly increased. Our limited observations suggest that IFN‐γ may be variably beneficial for infection control in CGD‐patients, irrespective of the in vitro phagocyte functions. A longer follow‐up time is needed to confirm the IFN response in CGD‐patients.


This paper presents some design issues and experimental results regarding the use of the input current shaper (ICS) technique to implement high power factor electronic ballasts. The ICS is placed between main rectifier and bulk capacitor to increase the conduction angle of the main rectifier diodes up to a minimum value to obtain low current harmonics injected to the mains. Two possibilities to implement ICS-based ballast are considered in this paper: the forward-based ICS and the flyback-based ICS. Experimental results obtained from two 40 W fluorescent lamp ballasts are also presented.


In the aftermath of Anders Breivik's shooting spree and bombing in Norway, many people asked where did the anger and the violence come from?  The article examines the contemporary trends in political and social discourses to conflate opponents with enemies.  Popular discourses, television and on-line media, radio talk shows and even newspaper spread the language of threat and insecurity, and the idea that the biggest threats may be the people in our own neighbourhoods, in our own cities, on our own streets.  These threatening individuals are those that do not quite fit in; they are familiar foreigners.  Similarly it explores the discourses of who should be afforded trust and protection within multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural political and social environments, who exhibits social membership and who should be excluded.  The language of austerity and shortage suggests that security is not a human right that all people are entitled to equally.  Rather if states can only afford to protect certain people, then by default the state chooses to actively not protect others.  This article explores the social and physical consequences these decisions have, particularly when certain individuals decide that they will do what others only talk about: eliminate enemies.


Abstract : This historical publication demonstrates the utility and flexibility of flight test as illustrated by the developmental test and evaluation (DT&E) project conducted in 2005 and 2006 in support of U.S. Central Command and the Iraqi Air Force. The Comp Air 7SLX (CA-7) aircraft was an experimental aircraft, also known as a homebuilt or kitplane, built from a kit manufactured by Aero Comp Inc. While deployed to Kirkuk Air Base (AB), Iraq to conduct developmental test and evaluation (DT&E), personnel from the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) and 412th Test Wing (412 TW) at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), California, and other units assigned to Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) faced hardships and dangers not usually encountered in DT&E, as well as fundamental problems in accomplishing the project in a combat zone. The project illustrated the types of tasks a flight test program entailed. These included securing funding, determining the appropriate aims and scope of the flight test program, ensuring the safe conduct of flight test at Edwards AFB, California and Kirkuk AB, Iraq, and collecting data to support a final recommendation. The CA-7 project demonstrated that the personnel of AFFTC and 412 TW could conduct flight test wherever and whenever needed, using whatever tools and resources were available. Despite the hazards of the deployed environment and the lack of proper equipment, the flight test professionals accomplished their mission in accordance with the test plan and on schedule. Ultimately, the CA-7 project illustrated the importance in flight test and in the acquisition process of applying sound engineering judgments as the basis for decision-making.


RFID has become an important infrastructure technology. However, it does not solve information security problem. An adversary can eavesdrop on the messages exchanged between tag and backend database and track tag's holder. Many scholars have proposed some lightweight protocols in order to protect user's privacy and avoid various attacks. In this paper, we analyze some authentication protocols. Especially, we analyze a forward secure RFID privacy protection scheme proposed by Ohkubo et al. Afterwards, we propose an improved protection scheme with two-way authentication. It is lightweight and suitable for low-cost RFID system. Moreover, it not only provides indistinguishability and forward security but also provides two-way authentication.


Abstract: Urban stormwater runoff is a growing contributor to the impairment of surface waters. Nature-based technologies, including green roofs, vegetated swales, grassed filter strips, bioretention, and pervious pavements have been demonstrated to be effective in mitigating detrimental runoff characteristics. Lacking, however, has been a fundamental engineering analysis approach to these technologies. Current design guidance is based on empirical recommendations and most performance data are based on limited, localized observations. Flow balances, including infiltration, evapotranspiration and surface discharge, based on fundamental fluid dynamics principles can be employed through analysis to understand flow management. Water quality improvements will occur through a specific unit processes or mechanisms, including sedimentation, filtration, adsorption, biotransformation, bio-uptake, and heat transfer. The performance of a specific technology will depend on the facility configuration and makeup, climate, surrounding soil characteristics, topography, and the site hydrology. Applying fundamental flow and water quality processes to storm water management technologies will allow quantitative design and predictable performance characterization.


The Short Title Catalogue, Netherlands (STCN) is a retrospective bibliography containing descriptions of over 200.000 Dutch publications from the period 1540-1800. The STCN is compiled by the National Library of the Netherlands. In order to facilitate more complex querying capabilities than is possible via the Picarta search interface, we have converted the STCN dataset to Linked Open Data (LOD). Here we report on how we were able to enrich the STCN dataset by linking it to other datasets. Semantic Web techniques for Digital Humanities The Semantic Web (SW) approach and the Linked Open Data (LOD) paradigm provide a way for existing structured datasets to be interlinked. It has been argued that the SW approach has specific advantages in the Digital Humanities (DH) domain. Since existing datasets in the humanities are fragmented over a large number of institutions and are often stored in idiosyncratic ways, the combined DH datastore is very heterogeneous. Traditional database techniques require data to be regimented into a uniform format before data is to be meaningfully integrated. The LD paradigm, however, was designed for linking between heterogeneous sources, relating without integrating them. In converting the STCN to LOD we had the following goals: - Extend the STCN with relevant related information from other datasets. - Standardize the vocabulary that is used by the STCN in order to improve the quality and interoperability with other datasets. - Allow queries to be answered that could not be asked before. \end{itemize} We have linked the STCN to the lists of prohibited books by Knuttel and Weekhout, thereby allowing queries to be performed over these heterogeneous data sources. We have also used alignment tools to create fully automated links between authors and their pseudonyms. For the latter alignment tasks we have found 445 such pseudonyms by relating the STCN authors to DBpedia entries. Since LOD has an explicit schema and a formally defined, model-theoretic semantics, it is possible to perform more complex queries over the LOD-version of the STCN. For this we have written a query layer called humR in SWI-Prolog that uses R in order to perform statistics processing on the data in terms of the domain vocabulary. It is possible to use domain vocabulary terms in formulating the query. For example, one can ask how a certain genre's popularity changes over time. Complex query results can be visualized using standard data visualization tools. Our research shows that the use of LOD technologies has the potential to transform both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of querying a DH dataset.


A technique is described for the determination of bacterial numbers and the spectrum of actively metabolizing cells on the same microscopic preparation by a combined autoradiography/epifluorescence microscopy technique. Natural bacterial populations incubated with [3H]glucose were filtered onto 0.2-μm Nuclepore polycarbonate membranes. The filters were cut into quarters and fixed on the surface of glass slides, coated with NTB-2 nuclear track emulsion (Kodak), and exposed to the radiation. After processing, the autoradiographs were stained with acridine orange. A combination of overstaining on the slightly alkaline side and gradual destaining on the acid side of neutrality gave the best results. Epifluorescence microscopy revealed bright-orange fluorescent cells with dark-silver grains associated against a greenish-to-grayish background. Based on the standardization curves, detection of actually metabolizing cells was optimal when cells were incubated with 1 to 5 μCi of [3H]glucose per ml of sample for 4 h and the autoradiographs were exposed to NTB-2 emulsion at 7°C for 3 days. In water samples taken immediately above sandy sediments at beaches of the Kiel Fjord and the Kiel Bight (Baltic Sea, FRG), between 2.3 and 56.2% (average, 31.3%) of the total number of bacteria were actually metabolizing cells. Spearman rank correlation analysis revealed significant interrelationships between the number of active bacteria and the actual uptake rate of glucose.


Location-sharing services have a long history in research, but have only recently become available for consumers. Most popular commercial location-sharing services differ from previous research efforts in important ways: they use manual 'check-ins' to pair user location with semantically named venues rather than tracking; venues are visible to all users; location is shared with a potentially very large audience; and they employ incentives. By analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with foursquare users and 47 survey responses, we gained insight into emerging social practices surrounding location-sharing. We see a shift from privacy issues and data deluge, to more performative considerations in sharing one's location. We discuss performance aspects enabled by check-ins to public venues, and show emergent, but sometimes conflicting norms (not) to check-in.


Theobald Wolfe Tone continues to occupy a hugely significant place in Irish history as the widely recognised founder of the modern republican movement. Yet his political ideas have largely been dismissed as inconsistent and ill-formed, insofar as they have been properly assessed at all.

The aim of this thesis is to provide new insights into Tone's ideas through textual analysis of his written works, both in published and in manuscript form. It begins by contextualising Tone's early life, including his time studying in London, considering his early pamphlets and essays. Chapter Two argues that his understanding of Irish identity was based not on early romantic ideas about nations, but a more archetypal republican interpretation of citizen-state relations. Chapter Three offers the first full analysis of his engagement with Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republicanism during his spell in the new American republic, while also addressing similarities between his arguments and those of the American colonists against the British government. Chapter Four then addresses one of the most common historiographical arguments, that Tone was a child of the French Revolution and radical Enlightenment. It argues that many of the ideas he ostensibly took from his time in France in fact corresponded closely with wider republican ideas about political virtue. Finally, Chapter Five tackles his relationship with the 1798 rebellion against British rule, the main reason for his enduring legacy. It details which elements of the rebellion strayed from his original intentions, such as its descent into violence.

This thesis provides the most in-depth analysis to date of Tone's political thought and argues that classical republicanism was one of the most significant influences on his political philosophy.


In 2013, the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, UK led to an extensive public social media reaction. Given the extreme terrorist motive and public nature of the actions it was feasible that the public response could include written expressions of hateful and antagonistic sentiment towards a particular race, ethnicity and religion, which can be interpreted as 'hate speech'. This provided motivation to study the spread of hate speech on Twitter following such a widespread and emotive event. In this paper we present a supervised machine learning text classifier, trained and tested to distinguish between hateful and/or antagonistic responses with a focus on race, ethnicity or religion; and more general responses. We used human annotated data collected from Twitter in the immediate aftermath of Lee Rigby's murder to train and test the classifier. As "Big Data" is a growing topic of study, and its use is in policy and decision making is being constantly debated at present, we discuss the use of supervised machine learning tools to classify a sample of "Big Data", and how the results can be interpreted for use in policy and decision making. The results of the classifier are optimal using a combination of probabilistic, rule-based and spatial based classifiers with a voted ensemble meta-classifier. We achieve an overall F-measure of 0.95 using features derived from the content of each tweet, including syntactic dependencies between terms to recognise "othering" terms, incitement to respond with antagonistic action, and claims of well founded or justified discrimination against social groups. We then demonstrate how the results of the classifier can be robustly utilized in a statistical model used to forecast the likely spread of hate speech in a sample of Twitter data.


The aim of this study is to evaluate central composite design (CCD) and the Taguchi technique in the adsorption process. Contact time, initial concentration, and pH were selected as the variables, and the removal efficiency of Pb was chosen for the designated response. In addition, face-centered CCD and the L9 orthogonal array were used for the experimental design. The result indicated that, at optimum conditions, the removal efficiency of Pb was 80%. However, the value of R2 was greater than 0.95 for both the CCD and Taguchi techniques, which revealed that both techniques were suitable and in conformity with each other. Moreover, the results of analysis of variance and Prob > F < 0.05 showed the appropriate fit of the designated model with the experimental results. The probability of classifying the contributing variables by giving a percentage of the response quantity (Pb removal) made the Taguchi model an appropriate method for examining the effectiveness of different factors. pH was evaluated as the best input factor as it contributed 66.2% of Pb removal. The Taguchi technique was additionally confirmed by three-dimensional contour plots of CCD. Consequently, the Taguchi method with nine experimental runs and easy interaction plots is an appropriate substitute for CCD for several chemical engineering functions.