Abstract. The EU strives to export its normative acquis to other parts of the world, promoting extraterritorial 'Europeanization'. Such attempts are particularly evident in the Middle East and North Africa. In order to serve there as a civilian, normative power, the EU should rely on its economic forte and equip itself with legitimacy. However, such legitimacy is lacking, from an Israeli perspective, thereby making it difficult for the EU to position itself as a normative power in this part of the world. The article identifies and analyses concrete measures that can reduce the legitimacy deficit of the EU in the eyes of Israelis, thereby paving the way for its more constructive, normative contribution to the Middle East. Although the analysis is conducted through the prism of EU–Israel relations, some of its findings may be found to be applicable mutatis mutandis to other countries that face normative pressures from the EU.


We study the properties of a leave-node-out jackknife procedure for network data. Under the sparse graphon model, we prove an Efron-Stein-type inequality, showing that the network jackknife leads to conservative estimates of the variance (in expectation) for any network functional that is invariant to node permutation. For a general class of count functionals, we also establish consistency of the network jackknife. We complement our theoretical analysis with a range of simulated and real-data examples and show that the network jackknife offers competitive performance in cases where other resampling methods are known to be valid. In fact, for several network statistics, we see that the jackknife provides more accurate inferences compared to related methods such as subsampling.


In this study a method based on taking the average of the probabilities is presented to obtain flow duration curve. In this method the exceedance probability for each flow value is computed repeatedly for all time periods within a year. The final representing exceedance is just simply the average of all these probabilities. The applicability of the method to daily mean flows is tested assuming various marginal probability distributions like normal, Pearson type III, log-Pearson type III, 2-parameter lognormal and 3-parameter lognormal distributions. It is seen that the observed flow duration curves were quite well approximated by the 2-parameter lognormal average of probabilities curves. In that case the method requires the computation of the daily mean and standard deviation values of the observed flow data. The method curve enables extrapolation of the available data providing the exceedance probabilities for the flows higher than the observed maximum flow. The method is applied to the missing data and ungauged site problems and the results are quite satisfactory.


Objective: Apes provide a valuable counterpoint for comparison with the earliest hominins in dental and skeletal growth, two components of life history.   This study examines the relationship between dental and skeletal growth in wild and captive chimpanzees, and compares with other apes, to identify patterns of what constitutes an "ape-like" growth, development and life history. Material and Methods: Wild skeletal sample includes Pan troglodytes (33 immature, 15 adult), 10 of known age, and 10 known age captives. Immatures were categorized into 4 age classes by molar eruption sequences, and assessed for bone fusions in relation to dental development.  Adult (5th class) was determined by proximal humeral fusion. Results: By age class 4 (M3 newly erupted) sub-adult P. troglodytes have all permanent teeth but incomplete body maturity.  For example, sub-adults have completed fusion at elbow and hip joints and partial fusion of the ankle, but are unfused at knee and shoulder epiphyses.  Similarly-aged captives display an accelerated maturity in eruptions and fusions, and earlier adulthood. Conclusion: Teeth fully erupt before skeletal elements fuse in chimpanzees, and both are influenced by environmental conditions. Additional body system data on Pan paniscus , Gorilla , Pongo and Hylobates suggest a sexually dimorphic pattern in that male apes reach adult muscle mass and body weight after all teeth are erupted and long bones fused, later than the pattern found in female conspecifics.  These "ape-like" timings and patterns of body system maturity provide an additional perspective beyond Homo sapiens when reconstructing life stages in early fossil hominins.


This paper aims to shed light on the role of the 'ideology' of political parties in shaping the evolution of the welfare state in 18 developed democracies, by providing empirical findings on the determinants of social programs entitlements and social spending over the period 1981-1999. The paper shows that structural change is a major determinant of the extent of social protection. Our results suggest that overall spending is driven up by structural change. On the other hand, strong structural change has a negative influence on welfare entitlements measured by net replacement rates of sickness insurance or unemployment benefits. Partisan influence plays an important role in the dynamics of the welfare state. Left-wing governments strengthen the positive effect of shocks on aggregate social expenditure while right-wing governments undertake even stronger cutbacks in replacement rates as a reaction to structural change.


This paper presents the numerical study of double-lap bolted joint behavior. This type of joint is mainly used in aeronautical structures to transfer the given loads (by both adhesion and by deformation-shearing). Recent articles, based on experimental fatigue tests conducted by AIRBUS, have shown the beneficial effects of preloading on the fatigue life of these joints.Finite element analyses were performed using ABAQUS® to study the behavior of a double-lap single-bolted joint with different plate thicknesses (joint thickness = 0.5d, 1d, 1.5d, 2d 2.5d, 3d, 3.5d and 4d, where d is the bolt diameter).The numerical model provides several important results. In the case of static loads, elasto-plastic constitutive laws of the bolt and the plate materials allowed the process to be simulated on the basis of tension tests.Mechanical aspects of this type of assembly are numerically identified; from the initial state of adhesion to the state of plastic deformation of parts in contact including the stage of generalized slippage. We note that the fracture load increases slightly when the bolted joint is preloaded while the failure area remains the same. In the case of large plate thickness, the connection is subjected to significant bending stresses and this involves strong local plasticization associated with the loss of preload.In the case of cyclic loading, we consider a numerical model based on the simulation of one loading/unloading cycle. A noticeable decrease in initial preload is observed for certain configurations, in particular those with the largest plate thickness. This phenomenon is related to the effect of strain hardening of the bolt during the first loading cycles. Some experimental work by AIRBUS has shown that the fatigue life of assemblies is dependent on the material plate thicknesses.An extension to the case of a multiple-bolted joint (three rows of three bolts) is finally discussed and highlights the evolution of the rate of load transmission with respect to the applied load.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


In recent years computer applications have increased in their computational complexity. The industry-wide usage of performance benchmarks, such as SPECmarks, forces processor designers to pay particular attention to implementation of the floating point unit, or FPU. Special purpose applications, such as high performance graphics rendering systems, have placed further demands on processors. High speed floating point hardware is a requirement to meet these increasing demands. This work examines the state-of-the-art in FPU design and proposes techniques for improving the performance and the performance/area ratio of future FPUs.
In recent FPUs, emphasis has been placed on designing ever-faster adders and multipliers, with division receiving less attention. The design space of FP dividers is large, comprising five different classes of division algorithms: digit recurrence, functional iteration, very high radix, table look-up, and variable latency. While division is an infrequent operation even in floating point intensive applications, it is shown that ignoring its implementation can result in system performance degradation. A high performance FPU requires a fast and efficient adder, multiplier, and divider.
The design question becomes how to best implement the FPU in order to maximize performance given the constraints of silicon die area. The system performance and area impact of functional unit latency is examined for varying instruction issue rates in the context of the SPECfp92 application suite. Performance implications are investigated for shared multiplication hardware, shared square root, on-the-fly rounding and conversion and fused functional units. Due to the importance of low latency FP addition, a variable latency FP addition algorithm has been developed which improves average addition latency by 33% while maintaining single-cycle throughput. To improve the performance and area of linear converging division algorithms, an automated process is proposed for minimizing the complexity of SRT tables. To reduce the average latency of quadratically-converging division algorithms, the technique of reciprocal caching is proposed, along with a method to reduce the latency penalty for exact rounding. A combination of the proposed techniques provides a basis for future high performance floating point units.


A comprehensive review of the giant Hall effect (GHE) is presented, with emphasis on novel experimental data obtained in Ni–SiO2 and Co–SiO2 films prepared by co-sputtering. GHE is observed close to and on both sides of the metal–insulator transition. From the point of view of microscopic conduction mechanisms, this means a crossover from metallic conductivity with weak localization to tunneling, or hopping, between separate granules across insulating barriers. Magnetic percolation is also interrupted at this concentration of metal, leading to superparamagnetic behavior of the composite and blocking phenomena. Temperature dependencies of magnetization and extraordinary Hall coefficient in the composites near the critical concentration are compared. In single phase magnetic metals and alloys, the extraordinary Hall is believed to be directly proportional to the total magnetization, due to side jumps or skew scattering. In a metal–insulator composite, only those electrons traveling in conduction critical paths can contribute to the Hall signal, thus only magnetization of the material belonging to these paths is important in the Hall measurements. Comparison with the magnetic results leads to new possibilities in understanding both the electronic and magnetic properties of granular nanocomposites. r 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.


We analyze a dataset providing the complete information on the effective plays of thousands of music listeners during several months. Our analysis confirms a number of properties previously highlighted by research based on interviews and questionnaires, but also uncover new statistical patterns, both at the individual and collective levels. In particular, we show that individuals follow common listening rhythms characterized by the same fluctuations, alternating heavy and light listening periods, and can be classified in four groups of similar sizes according to their temporal habits --- 'early birds', 'working hours listeners', 'evening listeners' and 'night owls'. We provide a detailed radioscopy of the listeners' interplay between repeated listening and discovery of new content. We show that different genres encourage different listening habits, from Classical or Jazz music with a more balanced listening among different songs, to Hip Hop and Dance with a more heterogeneous distribution of plays. Finally, we provide measures of how distant people are from each other in terms of common songs. In particular, we show that the number of songs $S$ a DJ should play to a random audience of size $N$ such that everyone hears at least one song he/she currently listens to, is of the form $S\sim N^\alpha$ where the exponent depends on the music genre and is in the range $[0.5,0.8]$. More generally, our results show that the recent access to virtually infinite catalogs of songs does not promote exploration for novelty, but that most users favor repetition of the same songs.


Reducing the power consumption while maintaining the response time constraint has been an important goal in server system design. One of the techniques widely explored in the literature to achieve this goal is Dynamic Voltage Scaling (DVS). However, DVS is not efficient in modern systems where the overall power consumption includes a large portion of static power consumption. In this paper, we aim to reduce the static power consumption by Dynamic Power Management (DPM) with sleep model in addition to DVS. We propose a smart PowerSleep power-saving scheme, where a procrastination technique is adopted to carefully aggregate jobs to reduce the overhead of transitions in and out of the sleep mode. We also observe that PowerSleep might not always be a good choice due to the mode transition overhead when the server utilization is high, where instead we use PowerIdle power-saving scheme with DVS only. By modeling the system with M/G/1/PS queuing model and further extensions, we present how to minimize the mean power consumption of the server under the given mean response time constraint for both power-saving schemes. Simulation results show that our smart PowerSleep scheme significantly outperforms the simple power saving scheme which adopts sleep mode.


OBJECTIVE
To present nationally representative estimates of health-related limitations, needs, and service use among US children with and without developmental disabilities (DDs).

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis of data from a sample of US households from the 1997-2005 National Health Interview Surveys.

PARTICIPANTS
Children aged 3 to 17 years (n = 95 132).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Parents or other knowledgeable adults reported on their children's DDs, health needs, and use of health and education services. Developmental disabilities included attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, blindness, cerebral palsy, deaf/a lot of trouble hearing, learning disability, mental retardation, seizures, stuttering/stammering, and other developmental delay.

RESULTS
Among children with 1 or more DDs, prevalence estimates for limitations in movement (6.1%), needed help with personal care (3.2%), needed special equipment (3.5%), received home health care (1.4%), and regularly took prescription medication(s) (37.5%) were 4 to 32 times higher than for children without DDs. Children with DDs were 2 to 8 times as likely to have had more than 9 health care visits (14.9%), received special education (38.8%), had a surgical or medical procedure (7.5%), and recently visited a medical specialist (23.9%), mental health professional (26.6%), therapist/allied health professional (19.6%), and/or emergency department (10.3%). Effects were generally stable during the study interval and independent of age, race, sex, and family income. Cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation, blindness, and deafness/a lot of trouble hearing were associated with the highest levels of health and functional impact indicators.

CONCLUSIONS
Developmental disabilities profoundly affect children's health and functioning. These data can inform evidence-based targeted prevention strategies for minimizing functional limitations and lifetime disability. Additional study of unmet needs and access to care is needed.


Abstract Identifying young people at risk of developing serious mental illness and identifying predictors of onset of illness has been a focus of psychiatric prediction research, particularly in the field of psychosis. Work in this area has facilitated the adoption of the clinical staging model of early clinical phenotypes, ranging from at-risk mental states to chronic and severe mental illness. It has been a topic of debate if these staging models should be conceptualised as disorder-specific or transdiagnostic. In order to inform this debate and facilitate cross-diagnostic discourse, the present scoping review provides a broad overview of the body of literature of (a) longitudinal at-risk approaches and (b) identified antecedents of (homotypic) illness progression across three major mental disorders [psychosis, bipolar disorder (BD) and depression], and places these in the context of clinical staging. Stage 0 at-risk conceptualisations (i.e. familial high-risk approaches) were identified in all three disorders. However, formalised stage 1b conceptualisations (i.e. ultra-high-risk approaches) were only present in psychosis and marginally in BD. The presence of non-specific and overlapping antecedents in the three disorders may support a general staging model, at least in the early stages of severe psychotic or mood disorders.


A recent U.S. study presents estimates of the effects of banning all pesticides and inorganic nitrogen in U.S. farm production. The research methodology used in the study has serious flaws. In addition, the sponsorship of the study by vested Interests gives the appearance that commercial interests are promoted under the guise of land-grant university research. Consequently, the study should not be used as a basis for policy decision making. The study also demonstrates that researchers must be diligent in protecting the independence, objectivity and credibility of their work. Unless this is done the public 's support for land-grant policy research will diminish and appropriately so.


Chronic hepatitis B remains a global problem, affecting more than 250 million individuals worldwide. Around one‐fifth of infected individuals develop advanced fibrosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines as well as the 2016 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) guidelines are based on robust data and relied on multiple external systematic reviews to answer identified questions. In contrast, the latest guidelines from the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), Asia Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) and AASLD (2018 version) were developed by consensus of expert panels. Treatment is generally recommended for individuals at a high risk of disease progression, namely those with high alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, active viral replication and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. Although guidelines generally agree on treatment indications for special populations, current guidelines do not factor in clinically relevant factors such as age, gender and genotype into the treatment decision process. There is an unmet need for a better predictive model to select high‐risk individuals, thus, more high‐quality studies are needed.


We report here a method to enhance light extraction from the top face of a TiO2 waveguide doped with a molecular emitter. Sol-gel TiO2 surface is patterned by a 2D photonic crystal with a 400-nm period and a 40-nm depth, as verified by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy. We evidence that light emitted in the TiO2 layer is efficiently extracted by the surface patterning and quantify the extraction enhancement by measuring the emission spectra as a function of the emission angle. We measured an enhancement factor of 3 within 50° off normal.


After Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, claiming a never documented "military necessity," ordered the removal and incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II solely because of their ancestry. As Roger Daniels movingly describes, almost all reluctantly obeyed their government and went peacefully to the desolate camps provided for them. Daniels, however, focuses on four Nisei, second-generation Japanese Americans, who, aided by a handful of lawyers, defied the government and their own community leaders by challenging the constitutionality of the government's orders. The 1942 convictions of three men--Min Yasui, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Fred Korematsu--who refused to go willingly were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1943 and 1944. But a woman, Mitsuye Endo, who obediently went to camp and then filed for a writ of habeas corpus, won her case. The Supreme Court subsequently ordered her release in 1944, following her two and a half years behind barbed wire. Neither the cases nor the fate of law-abiding Japanese attracted much attention during the turmoil of global warfare; in the postwar decades they were all but forgotten. Daniels traces how, four decades after the war, in an America whose attitudes about race and justice were changing, the surviving Japanese Americans achieved a measure of political and legal justice. Congress created a commission to investigate the legitimacy of the wartime incarceration. It found no military necessity, but rather that the causes were "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." In 1982 it asked Congress to apologise and award $20,000 to each survivor. A bill providing that compensation was finally passed and signed into law in 1988. There is no way to undo a Supreme Court decision, but teams of volunteer lawyers, overwhelmingly Sansei--third-generation Japanese Americans--used revelations in 1983 about the suppression of evidence by federal attorneys to persuade lower courts to overturn the convictions of Hirabayashi and Korematsu. Daniels traces the continuing changes in attitudes since the 1980s about the wartime cases and offers a sobering account that resonates with present-day issues of national security and individual freedom.


Low latency is a critical requirement in some switching applications, specifically in parallel computer interconnection networks. The minimum latency in switches with centralized scheduling comprises two components, namely, the control-path latency and the data-path latency, which in a practical high-capacity, distributed switch implementation can be far greater than the cell duration. We introduce a speculative transmission scheme to significantly reduce the average control-path latency by allowing cells to proceed without waiting for a grant, under certain conditions. It operates in conjunction with any centralized matching algorithm to achieve a high maximum utilization and incorporates a reliable delivery mechanism to deal with failed speculations. An analytical model is presented to investigate the efficiency of the speculative transmission scheme employed in a non-blocking N times NR input-queued crossbar switch with R receivers per output. Using this model, performance measures such as the mean delay and the rate of successful speculative transmissions are derived. The results demonstrate that the control-path latency can be almost entirely eliminated for loads up to 50%. Our simulations confirm the analytical results.


In the coming decades, American cities will increasingly rely on computational systems to improve many aspects of urban life. Distributed networks of sensors and networked computation will be fundamental technologies for achieving important civic goals, such as increasing the efficiency of using and maintaining city infrastructure, streamlining city operations and decision-making, improving public health and safety, and monitoring the environmental and social conditions of urban life. The term "Smart City" has emerged to describe these systems.In August of 2014, the City of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that outlined a City/CMU partnership (Metro21) for research, development and deployment of new technologies using Pittsburgh as an urban laboratory.A significant challenge of the study was to demonstrate how to communicate design scenarios and abstract data to elected officials, private developers, academic institutes, and citizens using 3D visualization tools.


Oil and Gas production from HTHP reservoirs involves significant heat exchange between the wellbore fluid and its surroundings. During production, the hot fluid loses heat to the cold surroundings, continuously as it moves up the borehole. The heat transfer process impacts well-integrity and, in turn, the ability of the well to perform its required function effectively and efficiently with regard to safety and environmental factors. One often overlooked heat transfer effect is the increase in annulus pressure resulting from annular fluid thermal expansion, which can result in tubing collapse or casing burst. Damage due to high annular pressure can also dramatically affect well-integrity. During the design phase of a HPHT well, it is necessary to avoid risks and uncertainties and accurately plan the life cycle. The present work aims to investigate the nature, and predict the natural convection heat transfer coefficient in the annulus. The approach to model the natural convection heat transfer in this work is by analytical and numerical techniques. The annular space between the tubing and the casing was treated as a finite space bounded by walls and filled with fluid media (enclosures). Correlations for vertical enclosures were employed in the study. The flow field was modeled and simulated for numerical analysis, using ANSYS-FLUENT - 12 software package. Some boundary parameters have been defined by the user and fed to the software. The predicted values of Nusselt numbers from both analytical and numerical approaches were compared with those of previous experimental investigations. The results of the present work can be used for preliminary design calculations of HPHT wells to estimate rate of heat transfer from HPHT wells. This work provides a novel baseline assessment for temperature related well-integrity problems in HPHT wells. Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers.


BACKGROUND: Incidence of epilepsy in elderly patients is higher than in any other group. The diagnosis of epilepsy in old age is particularly challenging and is often overlooked or missed. Selection of appropriate antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for this group of patient also requires more attention than younger patients. OBJECTIVE: To summarise the clinical presentation, aetiology, diagnosis, treatment, and neuropsychiatric complications of epilepsy in old age. METHODS: Systematic review of existing literature on epilepsy in the elderly was carried out using original articles, review articles, meta-analysis, case reports, standard neurology text and the Cochrane library data. RESULTS: Stroke and neurodegenerative disorders account for most causes of epilepsy in older patients. Simple partial and complex seizures are common modes of clinical manifestation. Post-ictal confusion and memory lapses are particularly prolonged in the elderly. The presence of other co-morbidities, age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and possible risk of drug-drug interaction needs to be considered before commencement of medication. Older AEDs like phenobarbitone and phenytoin should be avoided in the elderly because of their pharmacological profiles. Although newer AEDs have better tolerability, there is no evidence that they are advantageous over the older ones in terms of seizure control and should be used as add-on pills. The older AEDs have the advantages of being cheaper and being readily available in developing countries. CONCLUSION: The goal of epilepsy management in the elderly goes beyond attainment of seizure control but should include improvement in quality of life. AEDs should be introduced cautiously based on patient's frailty and starting with lower dosage. WAJM 2010; 29(6): 365–372.


Abstract Objective: To determine hospital-related risk factors for surgical-site infection (SSI) following hip arthroplasty. Design: Prospective, multicenter cohort study based on surveillance data and data collected through a structured telephone interview. With the use of multilevel logistic regression, the independent effect of hospital-related characteristics on SSI was assessed. Setting: Thirty-six acute care hospitals in the Dutch surveillance network for nosocomial infections (PREZIES), from 1996 to 2000. Patients: Thirteen thousand six hundred eighty patients who underwent total or partial hip arthroplasty. Results: A high annual volume of operations was associated with a reduced risk of SSI (risk-adjusted risk ratio [RR] per 50 extra operations, 0.85; 95% confidence interval [CI95], 0.74–0.97). With each extra full-time–equivalent infection control staff member per 250 beds available for prevention of SSI, the risk for SSI was decreased (RR, 0.48; CI95, 0.16–1.44), although the decrease was not statistically significant. Hospital size, teaching status, university affiliation, and number of surgeons and their years of experience showed no important association with the risk of SSI. Conclusion: Undergoing surgery in a hospital with a low volume of operations increases a patient's risk of SSI.


A comprehensive recommendation algorithm adjusted by double factor based on improved Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and K-means was proposed to further improve algorithm performance in the high throughput omics data filtering. It uses User Behavior Factor (UBF) to adjust similarity. Meanwhile, it also introduces Global Supplement Factor (GSF) to adjust parameters in the adjacent phase selection and supplement items. The experiment shows that the improved algorithm can achieve good efficiency and recommendation accuracy. The application of this algorithm in biomarker feature set filtering has also been evaluated in this study.


Three-temperatures model (3T model) was a recently proposed algorithm, which could be used to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ET) and evaluate environmental quality. The key parameters included are air temperature, land surface temperature and reference land temperature. Compared with other conventional ET estimation algorithms, site-specific parameters, such as surface resistance and aerodynamic resistance are not required. Although previous ground based experiments showed that the 3T model had reasonable precision for ET estimation, its application for satellite based remote sensing was not yet carried out. This study aims to evaluate its applicability at large catchment scale based on satellite remote sensing. First, the derivative processes to extend the 3T model for remote sensing were developed and by using TM image, a case study was presented. Thereafter, Penman-Monteith equation was chosen to validate the accuracy of the 3T model. Results showed that the absolute error of daily ET estimated by the two algorithms varied from 0.09 to 0.53 mm d, with an average of 0.05 mm d. Further analysis indicated that the 3T model had a reasonable accuracy. Meanwhile, the simplicity of the 3T model shows a good potential for remotely sensed actual evapotranspiration at large catchment scale. First author, Tel.: +86 10 58801294. Email address: email@example.com * Corresponding author, Tel./Fax: +86 10 58802716. Email address: email@example.com


Optimality Theory (OT) developed by Prince and Smolensky (1993) assumes that cross linguistic phonological variations solely derive from different rankings of universal constraints. A question naturally arises as to the adequate formulations of constraints for types of phonological entities which appear to be parametrized, and constraints which appear to apply in different domains. There are at least two possible ways of formulating them. One is to simply assume that UG contains a single constraint with a parameter for types or domains, and the other is to assume that UG contains distinct constraints for different types and different domains, and that all of them are present in every language. In this paper, based on stress assignment and its interaction with epenthetic vowels in Mohawk, a northern Iroquoian language studied by Michelson (1988, 1989) and Piggott (1 992), and Selayarese, an Oceanic language studied by Mithun and Basri (1 986), Goldsmith (1 990), and Piggott (1992), I will argue for the latter. In particular, I will claim that UG contains distinct FT -FORM constraints for different foot types, and distinct FILL constraints and distinct NONFINALITY constraints for different domains. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 will introduce the basic facts in Mohawk. Section 3 will provide accounts for the relevant facts under OT, employing distinct FT -FORM constraints for different foot types, and distinct FILL constraints for different domains. Section 4 will refine the proposed accounts based on the facts in Selayarese. Section 5 will introduce two species of NONFINALITY for two different domains. Section 6 will discuss important implications of the accounts proposed in this paper for other aspects of the theory. Section 7 will conclude the paper.


As competition increases, the finance and marketing departments must work together to increase market share and improve the bottom line. If financial managers understand the functions of the marketing department, they can create a mutually beneficial and profitable relationship.


This study investigates how full-time students on the Foundation degree (FdA) in Early Years develop a professional identity as early years practitioners, including how they conceptualise and judge good practice and how they evaluate and reflect on their own performance. The overall purpose of this study is to examine how students use the reflective processes they have been taught when on work placement, and how the teaching of reflection supports the development of their individual professional vision, values and ethics.

Data were gathered from Year 1 and Year 2 students undertaking the full-time FdA Early Years, using semi-structured questions in interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions. Good practice is conceptualised as a combination of academic knowledge, interpersonal skills and intuitive responses to individual situations. The students feel they understand the processes of reflection and are growing in confidence in their use of some of the models they have been taught. However, the data also indicate that students continue to rely on other people to confirm that their practice is competent or good, and are reluctant to use or trust their own judgements about their performance.

The results of this investigation indicate that a new pedagogic approach is required to instil in students greater acceptance of their placement experiences as vehicles for learning, and more confidence in their own abilities and authority to judge professional practice. Such an approach will support the development of the more mindful and reflective lead practitioner the early years sector and individual employers need.


CUP, Center for Underground Physics, is one of the research centers belonging to Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Korea. CUP is conducting several experiments in the field of neutrino-less double beta decay, direct WIMP search, and neutrino oscillation, such as COSINE-100, AMoRE, and NEOS experiment. CUP has developed the DAQ system for these experiments including hardware and software. In this proceeding, DAQ system for CUP experiments is introduced focusing on electronics, online DAQ software, and monitoring system.


The timing of the onset of coastal upwelling in spring and its intensity over the upwelling season are critical factors in the productivity and structure of the California Current ecosystem (CCE). We use an index of coastal upwelling to characterize physical forcing over the latitudinal extent of the CCE, and compare the evolution of the upwelling season in 2005 with previous years. The onset of coastal upwelling in 2005 in the northern California Current was delayed by 2–3 months. Upwelling was stronger than normal in the latter part of the upwelling season, allowing the cumulative upwelling to reach the climatological mean by fall. Although physical conditions were unusual in 2005, they were not unprecedented in the historical record. However, the timing and strength of coastal upwelling is a critical ecological factor, particularly for species whose life histories are closely tuned to the annual cycle. The unusual physical and biological conditions observed in spring 2005 illustrate the sensitivity of the CCE to possible future climate extremes.


Construction work zones (CWZs) are a major cause of concern for highway and safety engineers. At any given time CWZs constitute only a small fraction of the total roadway miles. However, they are the site of an increasing number of roadway accidents each year. The traffic safety industry has attempted to respond to this problem by providing brighter retroreflective signing materials to increase the nighttime visibility of the CWZ. The equally important need for increased daytime visibility has prompted traffic engineers to experiment with fluorescent colors in the CWZ. Fluorescent colors have outstanding visibility under all daylight driving conditions. Even so, fluorescent colors have never achieved widespread acceptance in outdoor signing applications. The primary obstacle has been the very poor color stability of fluorescent signing materials. A typical fluorescent roadway sign has lost most, if not all, of its color within 1 year. Often it is only a matter of months or weeks. Recent developments have resulted in a redefinition of the contribution that fluorescent colors can make toward improving traffic safety. A fluorescent retroreflective sheeting with color durability similar to existing CWZ sheetings is now available. A field study was run to compare the visibility performance of this fluorescent retroreflective sheeting with that of conventional fluorescent films and ordinary retroreflective materials. The results of the study indicate that fluorescent retroreflective sheeting provides better daytime and nighttime visibility than do ordinary signing materials.


Early corporate law scholarship argued both that anti-takeover devices are inefficient (they reduce the value of the firm) and that firms adopt efficient governance terms before they make their initial public offering. However, subsequent research revealed that most firms adopt anti-takeover devices before their initial public offering. Prior scholars offer explanations for this puzzle, but they fail to consider incentives created by the tax code. If the government taxes the pecuniary benefits of ownership (income, capital appreciation, etc.) more effectively than the non-pecuniary benefits of control (psychic pleasure from control, etc.), the tax code will cause the manager to retain too much control. This essay discusses corrective measures that the government could adopt including the taxation of anti-takeover devices. Unfortunately, these corrective measures would create their own distortions, and the current system may be second best. If we do not take corrective action, we should recognize the distortion of corporate control as an additional cost of taxation.


Cadmium is an important toxic environmental heavy metal. Several studies have demonstrated that a major site of cadmium toxicity in humans and in other animals is the proximal tubule of the kidney. A well established model for nefrotoxicity is the use of in vitro technique with proximal tubule epithelial cell lines, as LLC-PK1. Herein, we have the intention to study the possible protective effect of highdiluted CdCl2 solutions. In a blinding way, LLC-PK1 cells were pre-treated with highdiluted cadmium chloride in the potencies 10 cH, 15 cH and 20cH. After 4 days, these cells have received CdCl2 in a pre-determined toxic concentration. The cell viability was assessed by MTT assay. We have identified a protective effect of two CdCl2 highdiluted solutions, 10 cH and 20 cH, when cells were intoxicated by sublethal CdCl2 concentration. The results indicate that probably the highdilutions have an expressive action on cells in sublethal intoxication.


The current trend in Service Oriented Computing (SOC) is to enable support for new delivery models of software and applications. These endeavours impose requirements on the resources and services used, on the way applications are created and on the QoS characteristics of the applications and the supporting infrastructure. Scientific applications on the other hand require improved robustness and reliability of the supporting Grid infrastructures where resources appear and disappear constantly. Enabling business model like Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and guaranteeing reliability of Grid infrastructures are requirements that both business and scientific application nowadays impose. The convergence of existing approaches from SOC and Grid Computing is therefore an obvious need. In this work we give an overview of the state-of-the-art of the overlapping research done in the area of SOC and Grid computing with respect to meeting the requirements of the applications in these two areas. We show that the requirements of business applications that already exploit service-oriented architectures (SOA) and the scientific application utilizing Grid infrastructures overlap. Due to the limited extent of cooperation between the two research communities the research results are either overlapping or diverging in spite of the similarities in requirements. Notably, some of the techniques developed in each area are needed but still missing in the other area and vice versa. We argue therefore that in order to enable an enterprisestrength service-oriented infrastructure one needs to combine and leverage the existing Grid and Service middleware in terms of architectures and implementations. We call such an infrastructure the Business Grid. Based on the Business Grid vision we focus in this work on presenting how reliability and robustness of the Business Grid can be improved by employing approaches for flexibility of service compositions. An overview and assessment of these approaches are presented together with recommendations for use. Based on the assumption that Grid services are Web services, these approaches can be utilized to improve the reliability of the scientific applications thus drawing on the advantages flexible workflows provide. This way we improve the robustness of scientific applications by making them flexible and hence improve the features of business applications that employ Grid resources and Grid service compositions to realize the SaaS, IaaS etc. delivery models.


This paper investigates experimentally the edge chipping of a rock to assess the cutting performance of a conical and a pyramidal tip. It was found that the conical tip generates many radiated cracks and results in a larger amount of fine rock grains due to crashing. The size of chips produced by the pyramidal tip is bigger. It was concluded that the critical chipping energy has approximately a linear relation with h9/4 of which h is the depth of cut of the tip.


In heart transplants, the significance of very late rejection (after 7 years post‐transplant, VLR) detected by routine endomyocardial biopsies (EMB) remains uncertain. Here, we assessed the prevalence, histopathological and immunological phenotype, and outcome of VLR in clinically stable patients. Between 1985 and 2009, 10 662 protocol EMB were performed at our institution in 398 consecutive heart transplants recipients. Among the 196 patients with >7‐year follow‐up, 20 (10.2%) presented subclinical ≥3A/2R‐ISHLT rejection. The VLR group was compared to a matched control group of patients without rejection. All biopsies were stained for C4d/C3d/CD68 with sera screened for the presence of donor‐specific antibodies (DSAs). In addition to cellular infiltrates with myocyte damage, 60% of VLR patients had evidence of intravascular macrophages. C4d and/or C3d‐capillary deposition was found in 55% VLR EMB. All cases of VLR associated with microcirculation injury had DSAs (mean DSAmax−MFI = 1751 ± 583). This entity was absent from the control group (p < 0.0001). Finally, after a similar follow‐up postreference EMB of 6.4 ± 1 years, the mean of CAV grade was 0.76 ± 0.18 in the control group compared to 2.06 ± 0.26 in the VLR group respectively, p = 0.001). There was no difference in patient survival between study and control groups. In conclusion, VLR is frequently associated with complement‐cascade activation, microvascular injury and DSA, suggesting an antibody‐mediated process. VLR is associated with a dramatic progression to severe CAV in long‐term follow‐up.


In this study, a general overview of the current trend wireless network has been presented the explosive parallel growth of both the Internet and cellular telephone services are becoming the two most important phenomena that impact the required modern feasible and secure telecommunications. A wireless service technology has become well-known in technology markets. WLAN implemented the development of the wired LAN. Industries produce the required components, which lead to the fast developments in designing and implementing of such networks. The merging of wireless network deemed to be a solution to some of the problems of the wired networks. In this survey study, we will try to discuss the advantages of wireless devices and indicate the challenges involved in this technology from the point of view of its foundation, architecture, requirements, its components, and protocols.


The Varkari Sampradya, a 700-hundred-year-old philosophical movement in India's west-central state of Maharashtra, has been increasingly lauded by conservative forces in the state as a standard bearer of Hindu and ethnic Marathi tradition. More appropriately, the movement should be understood as a key site of identity contestation and widely ranging social criticism. In this essay, the author recounts his field experiences of the Varkari Sampradya and his observations of its massive annual pilgrimage in light of current and historical struggles to control signification of the movement's public meaning.


Disease relapse is the most common cause of treatment failure after allogeneic stem cell transplantation for acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, yet treatment options for such patients remain extremely limited. Azacitidine is an important new therapy in high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and acute myeloid leukemia but its role in patients who relapse post allograft has not been defined. We studied the tolerability and activity of azacitidine in 181 patients who relapsed after an allograft for acute myeloid leukemia (n=116) or myelodysplastic syndromes (n=65). Sixty-nine patients received additional donor lymphocyte infusions. Forty-six of 157 (25%) assessable patients responded to azacitidine therapy: 24 (15%) achieved a complete remission and 22 a partial remission. Response rates were higher in patients transplanted in complete remission (P=0.04) and those transplanted for myelodysplastic syndromes (P=0.023). In patients who achieved a complete remission, the 2-year overall survival was 48% versus 12% for the whole population. Overall survival was determined by time to relapse post transplant more than six months (P=0.001) and percentage of blasts in the bone marrow at time of relapse (P=0.01). The concurrent administration of donor lymphocyte infusion did not improve either response rates or overall survival in patients treated with azacitidine. An azacitidine relapse prognostic score was developed which predicted 2-year overall survival ranging from 3%–37% (P=0.00001). We conclude that azacitidine represents an important new therapy in selected patients with acute myeloid leukemia/myelodysplastic syndromes who relapse after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Prospective studies to confirm optimal treatment options in this challenging patient population are required.


This edited book focuses on the organization and meaning of craft work in contemporary society. It considers the relationship between craft and place and how this enables the construction of a meaningful relationship with objects of production and consumption. The book explores the significance of raw materials, the relationship between the body, the crafted object and the mind, and the importance of skill, knowledge and learning in the making process. Through this, it raises important questions about the role of craft in facing future challenges by challenging the logic of globalized production and consumption.

The Organization of Craft Work encompasses international analyses from the United States, France, Italy, Australia, Canada, the UK and Japan involving a diverse range of sectors, including brewing, food and wine production, clothing and shoe making, and perfumery. The book will be of interest to students and academic researchers in organization studies, marketing and consumer behaviour, business ethics, entrepreneurship, sociology of work, human resource management, cultural studies, geography, and fashion and design. In addition, the book will be of interest to practitioners and organizations with an interest in the development and promotion of craft work.


In the view of Computational Biology, Computational Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Genetics Engineering, investigating proteins networks of separate species in a significant way is definitely one of the most important problems in ongoing evolutionary and systems biology research and experiments. PPIs networks enable to check the sequence of proteins in a unique fashion. Dynamic PPIs Alignment System (DPPIsAS) is an algorithm based system that enables to find out the proteins associated in a certain network. DPPIsAS used Protein Road Discovery (PRD) to determine the similar proteins that shares the interactions. After PRD, Protein Road Maintenance (PRM) is assured under several steps. How the proteins interact is checked by Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). Finally, the results are depicted based on the closeness, betweenness, average distance, and degree and edge betweenness.


Base on geological history evaluation using
regional stratigraphy, sedimentary environments, magmatic activities, metamorphism
and structural trend in Iran, physiographic-tectonic zoning map of Iran's
sedimentary basins has prepared. This map has prepared to point out the
basement tectonics role in Iran. It contains twenty-four different
provinces. Iran has composed from different plates: Arabian plate in
south and west, Cimmerian manipulated in north and east, Eurasian plate in
northeast margin. Cimmerian manipulated at least can be divided to the
smaller part, East-Central Iran and North-Central Iran microcontinents. There
are evidences for thick-skinned tectonics in the border zones of these plates and
microcontinents, especially in Sanandaj-Sirjan overthrust
belts that it formed by crustal stacking wedges. Also, Neoproterozoic-Phanerozoic
Tectonic column in the Arabian, Cimmerian and Eurasian plates under Iran
Country area have introduced.


The present study summarizes lessons from implementing an evidence-based parent-child interaction intervention, Promoting First Relationships, within an Early Head Start (EHS) home visiting program. The study documented seven home visitors' early experiences and feedback with intervention implementation examining overall experiences in using the intervention, challenges and issues identified during implementation, and recommendations and suggestions for sustainability of the intervention within the EHS program. Findings indicate that overall, home visitors reported positive experiences with the implementation process. Some negative experiences were identified in relation to the lengthy training process and changes in home visiting practice. Challenges included learning about intervention content and managing household issues. Recommendations for sustaining the intervention included providing ongoing support and having flexibility with the training process.


There are certain inherent problems with land because of its peculiar characteristics, which impede the natural emergence of a well-functioning market. The legal and regulatory framework can potentially overcome these problems. In India, despite some reform efforts, the land market continues to be highly distorted and inefficient. Land records are inaccurate, outdated, and incomprehensive. There are widespread uncertainties relating to land titles, which have hurt the market. Transaction costs are significantly high by international standards, which have discouraged formal land transactions. Initiatives which could have made the market function better have not been taken; while some regulations have been introduced which have introduced or magnified the distortions in the market. A major negative consequence of this underdeveloped and distorted market is that promoters of industrial and infrastructure projects have eschewed market negotiations for land acquisition and have favored the use of eminent domain powers. While reforms have begun in many areas, an area that has been left untouched relates to regulatory restraints on land use. The most notable has been the requirement of NAC. Because the clearance is typically given after land is transferred from one party to another, there is a significant transfer of wealth from farmers to project proponents, which has been the source of a great deal of social discontent. The elimination of this restriction on land use would go a long way towards making the land market a great deal more efficient than it is now.


ABSTRACT A model is presented for placer formation at the grain, bar (10-100 m) and reach scales (> 1000 m) in gravel-bed streams. The model is based on the processes of erosion and re-deposition of the bed during annual flood events and uses Einstein's bedload function to estimate changes in equilibrium transport rates. Heavy mineral enrichment in a gravel bed is postulated to occur in the voids between framework clasts. It is demonstrated that increases in bed roughness (represented by the D65 diameter of material in the bed) result in preferential accumulation of heavy minerals, with enrichment increasing as their density increases. At the reach scale, decreasing channel slope from 0.04 to 0.02 also results in enrichment of heavy minerals. Distribution of gold and magnetite predicted by the model is in good agreement with field data for a gravel-bed stream in British Columbia. Samples were collected from counter-current eddies and other low velocity areas containing sands, at gravel bar mils, and from typical bar-gravel deposits. For the purpose of comparison with the model, the sands were assumed to represent the bulk composition of sediment transported by the stream under conditions of falling discharge after the seasonal snowmelt flood. Trends in magnetite and gold distribution along a 5-km reach can be directly related to the model: gravels are sites of heavy mineral accumulation with gold being enriched to a much greater extent than magnetite. As predicted by the model, density sorting is most obvious for the coars r sand fractions. Changes in channel slope along the reach also result in predicted changes in heavy-mineral distribution.


Our study provides a general methodology for testing the performance of technical analysis on any market. This methodology is very useful to evaluate whether or not a market is efficient (EMH) in its weak form. The main difficulties of this area of research are encountered when one wants to provide a general result on different tools of technical analysis taken separately or as a trading system. Performance of trading systems is complicated to evaluate. They need to be programmed in the same exact way, with a general methodology. Its objective is to be able to compare the results and estimate if they issued a significant performance which can cause a bias in efficient market hypothesis.


Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is etiologically associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). EBV-positive BL tumors display two latent forms of infection. One is referred to as latency I infection, in which EBV expresses the virus genome maintenance protein EBNA1 as the only viral protein. The other is referred to as Wp-restricted latency and was recently identified in a subset of BL tumors. In these tumors, EBV expresses EBNA1, EBNA3A, EBNA3B, EBNA3C, a truncated form of EBNA-LP, and the viral Bcl-2 homologue BHRF1, all of which are driven by the BamHI W promoter (Wp). To investigate the role of EBV in Wp-restricted BL, we conditionally expressed a dominant-negative EBNA1 (dnEBNA1) mutant which interrupts the virus genome maintenance function of EBNA1 in the P3HR-1 BL cell line. Induction of dnEBNA1 expression caused loss of the EBV genome and resulted in apoptosis of P3HR-1 cells in the absence of exogenous apoptosis inducers, indicating that P3HR-1 cells cannot survive without EBV. Stable transfection of the BHRF1 gene into P3HR-1 cells rescued the cells from the apoptosis induced by dnEBNA1 expression, whereas stable transfection of truncated EBNA-LP, EBNA3A, or EBNA3C did not. Moreover, knockdown of BHRF1 expression in P3HR-1 cells resulted in increased cell death. These results indicate that EBV is essential for the survival of P3HR-1 cells and that BHRF1 functions as a survival factor. Our finding implies a critical contribution of BHRF1 to the pathogenesis of Wp-restricted BLs.


My contribution, "Seeking a More Popular Audience for Shakespeare in Italy", starts by pinpointing the differences between Italy and the UK in the history of the staging of Shakespeare's plays and goes on to provide a brief account of the evolution of Shakespeare productions in Italy from the 1950s until the present. In the aftermath of World War Two, the so-called critical direction (regia critica) introduced a very different approach to the staging of Shakespeare. Directors, such a Giorgio Strehler and Luigi Squarzina, by commissioning new Italian translations that were philologically close to the originals, put the complete plays onstage, often for the first time. In a long career at Milan's Piccolo Teatro, spanning from the late 1940s until his death in 1997, Strehler succeeded in attracting a more mixed audience for Shakespeare than ever before. In the new millennium, his aims have been taken further by more recent practitioners. The final part of the contribution focuses on three contemporary Italian directors, Marco Ghelardi, Riccardo Mallus and Massimo Navone, who seek to bring Shakespeare to more popular audiences. In a bid to energise the Bard's work, they deploy strategies, such as reducing and rewriting the play, interactive staging techniques and tend to choose site specific venues rather than regular theatres.


Rapidly spreading SARS-CoV-2 variants present not only an increased threat to human health due to the confirmed greater transmissibility of several of these new strains but, due to conformational changes induced by the mutations, may render first-wave SARS-CoV-2 convalescent sera, vaccine-induced antibodies, or recombinant neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) ineffective. To be able to assess the risk of viral escape from neutralization by first-wave antibodies, we leveraged our capability for Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation of the spike receptor binding domain (S RBD) and its binding to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) to predict alterations in molecular interactions resulting from the presence of the E484K, K417N, and N501Y variants found in the South African 501Y.V2 strain – alone and in combination. We report here the combination of E484K, K417N and N501Y results in the highest degree of conformational alterations of S RBD when bound to hACE2, compared to either E484K or N501Y alone. Both E484K and N501Y increase affinity of S RBD for hACE2 and E484K in particular switches the charge on the flexible loop region of RBD which leads to the formation of novel favorable contacts. Enhanced affinity of S RBD for hACE2 very likely underpins the greater transmissibility conferred by the presence of either E484K or N501Y; while the induction of conformational changes may provide an explanation for evidence that the 501Y.V2 variant, distinguished from the B.1.1.7 UK variant by the presence of E484K, is able to escape neutralization by existing first-wave anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and re-infect COVID-19 convalescent individuals.


This paper presents algebraic methods for constructing high performance quasi-cyclic LDPC codes over non-binary fields. Experimental results show that codes constructed based on these methods perform well over the AWGN channel with iterative decoding using a fast Fourier transform based sum-product algorithm. They achieve significantly large coding gains over Reed-Solomon codes of the same lengths and rates decoded with the hard-decision Berlekamp-Massey algorithm, the algebraic soft-decision Kotter-Vardy algorithm, and the Jiang-Narayananpsilas adaptive belief propagation algorithm. Due to their quasi-cyclic structure, these LDPC codes can be efficiently encoded using simple shift-registers with linear complexity. They have a great potential to replace Reed-Solomon codes for some applications in communication or storage systems for combating mixed types of noise and interferences.


At PNPI NRC KI (Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute of National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"), a high current cyclotron C-80 has been put into operation recently. External proton beam of the energy of 70 MeV and intensity of 100 μA has been obtained. Presently, the work is being carried out to obtain the planned beam parameters: the energy up to 80 MeV and the current up to 200 μA. The main goal of the C-80 is the production of medical radionuclides for diagnostics and therapy. One of the cyclotron beams is intended for the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases by irradiation of malignant eye formation. The radioisotope complex RIC-80 (Radioactive Isotopes at cyclotron C-80) which is constructed at the beam of C-80 will allow us to obtain sources of high activity practically for the whole list of radionuclides produced at accelerators. An essential peculiarity of the RIC-80 is the use of an on-line mass-separator connected to one of the target stations that will allow the production of separated radionuclides of high purity. The target prototypes intended for the production of different radionuclides at the RIC80 target stations are being studied and developed. The results of different target material tests for the production of 67Cu, 82Sr and other radioisotopes are presented. A new method of a high-temperature separation of the target materials and produced radioactive isotopes has been discussed.


Two cases of elastofibroma dorsi are added to the 125 non-Asian cases reported in the last 31 years. Rapid growth followed by spontaneous total regression is reported for the first time. Confirmation of these observations by others and tissue confirmation are encouraged. Physician awareness of elastofibromas may reveal a higher incidence of occurrence and help avoid unnecessarily radical surgery. A comprehensive review of the literature discloses several current misconceptions.


From the moment Governor Thomas Jefferson handpicked a young soldier named James Monroe to serve as an aide during the Revolutionary War, a vital friendship and political alliance was born. Beginning as sponsor and protege but soon becoming equals, Jefferson and Monroe forged a rich relationship that shaped our history in the early days of the republic. During this critical period, both men served as governor of Virginia, minister to France, secretary of state, and president for two terms. Their lives overlapped even more clearly through shared friendships with individuals such as James Madison; shared interests, such as the creation of the University of Virginia; and shared missions, including the completion of the Louisiana Purchase. In time, the two even became neighbors, creating a "society to our taste" near Charlottesville, Virginia. Rather than offering a dual biography, renowned Jefferson scholar Noble E. Cunningham traces the story of Jefferson and Monroe's relationship and dealings with one another, the intersection of two powerful and intriguing forces in American history.


Magnetite (Fe3O4) particles were prepared for biomedical application through three different routes. Each route had the difference in the selection of pH controlling agents. Ammonia, Urea and combined use of ammonia and urea were tested in the synthesis through co-precipitation. With the combined use of urea and ammonia, the size of particles could be reduced as small as 10 nm while effectively suppressing the agglomeration among particles. The surface charge measured at physiological condition explained the good dispersion behavior of nano-magnetite particles. The superparamagnetism observed in nano magnetite particles was expected to be useful for biomedical application in the respect of magnetic localization and dispersion.


Patterns of dispersion and site fidelity were investigated in a tent-roosting population of the short-nosed fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx (Megachiroptera), in southern India. A local population of C. sphinx occupied diurnal roosts in a variable subset of 45 stem tents constructed within the dense foliage of mast trees (Polyalthia longifolia). Individually marked tent-roosting bats were visually censused over the course of a 38-d interval spanning the postpartum oestrus period. On any given day, 33.3–85.7% (mean = 60.8%, SD = 14.2) of adult males roosted singly, with the remainder holding harems of 1–10 breeding females (mean = 3.01, SD = 0.79). Average harem sex ratio was 2.8-fold higher than the adult sex ratio of the total tent-roosting population within the study area, indicating the potential for a high variance in male mating success within a single breeding season. Bats of both sexes typically occupied one primary tent, interspersed with shorter periods of residency in alternate tents. Males exhibited a significantly higher degree of roost fidelity than females. Some females roosted sequentially with different males and with different combinations of females, whereas others remained continuously associated with a single male and/or particular female roostmates over the duration of the census period. There were no statistically significant relationships between physical characteristics of tents and rates of occupancy by males or females. Intermittent transfers by females between groups suggest that the defence of diurnal roosts by males represents a more profitable mating strategy than the direct defence of compositionally labile female groups.


Interactions between pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides, agouti-related protein (AGRP) and the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4-R) are central to energy homeostasis. In this study we have undertaken comprehensive pharmacological analysis of these interactions using a CHOK1 cell line stably transfected with human MC4-R. Our main objectives were (1) to compare the relative affinities and potencies of POMC-derived peptides endogenously secreted within the hypothalamus, (2) to investigate the potency of AGRP(83-132) antagonism with respect to each POMC-derived peptide and (3) to determine whether AGRP(83-132) and POMC-derived peptides act allosterically or orthosterically. We have found that beta melanocyte-stimulating hormone (betaMSH), desacetyl alpha MSH (da-alphaMSH) and adrenocorticotrophic hormone all have very similar affinities and potencies at the MC4-R compared with the presumed natural ligand, alphaMSH. Moreover, even MSH precursors, such as beta lipotrophic hormone, showed significant binding and functional activity. Therefore, many POMC-derived peptides could have important roles in appetite regulation and it seems unlikely that alphaMSH is the sole physiological ligand. We have shown that AGRP(83-132) acts as a competitive antagonist. There was no significant difference in the potency of inhibition by AGRP(83-132) or agouti(87-132) at the MC4-R, regardless of which POMC peptide was used as an agonist. Furthermore, we have found that AGRP(83-132) has no effect on the dissociation kinetics of radiolabelled Nle4,D-Phe7 MSH from the MC4-R, indicating an absence of allosteric effects. This provides strong pharmacological evidence that AGRP(83-132) acts orthosterically at the MC4-R to inhibit Gs-coupled accumulation of intracellular cAMP.


In this work, the conformal mapping technique is applied to obtain an analytical closed form solution of the 2D Poisson's equation for a double-gate Tunnel FET. The generated band profiles are accurate in all regions of device operation. Furthermore, the current levels are estimated by implementing the non-local band-to-band tunneling model from Synopsys Sentaurus TCAD. A good agreement with simulations for varying device parameters is demonstrated and the advantages and limitations of the new modeling approach are investigated and discussed.


The European Union is moving toward adoption of its new Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) policy, an innovative system of chemicals regulation that will provide crucial information on the safety profile of chemicals used in industry. Chemicals produced elsewhere, such as in the United States, and exported to Europe will have to meet the same standards as chemicals produced within the European Union. What is at stake for the U.S. is substantial: we estimate that chemical exports to Europe that are subject to REACH amount to about $14 billion per year, and are directly and indirectly responsible for 54,000 jobs. Revenues and employment of this magnitude dwarf the costs of compliance with REACH, which will amount to no more than $14 million per year. Even if, as the U.S. chemicals industry has argued, REACH is a needless mistake, it will be far more profitable to pay the modest compliance costs than to lose access to the enormous European market.


Core-shell Ge/GeSn nanowires provide a route to dislocation-free single crystal germanium-tin alloys with desirable light emission properties because the Ge core acts as an elastically compliant substrate during misfitting GeSn shell growth. However, the uniformity of tin incorporation during reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition may be limited by the kinetics of mass transfer to the shell during GeSn growth. The balance between Sn precursor flux and available surfaces for GeSn nucleation and growth determines whether defects are formed and their type. On the one hand, when the Sn precursor delivery is insufficient, local variations in Sn arrival rate at the nanowire surfaces during GeSn growth produce asymmetries in shell growth that induce wire bending. This inhomogeneous elastic dilatation due to the varying composition occurs via deposition of Sn-poor regions on some of the {112} sidewall facets of the nanowires. On the other hand, when the available nanowire surface area is insufficient to accommodate the arriving Sn precursor flux, Sn-rich precipitate formation results. Between these two extremes, there exists a regime of growth conditions and nanowire densities that permits defect-free GeSn shell growth.


We describe configuration space visualization methods for mechanical design. The research challenge is to relate the configuration space geometry to the mechanical function of the parts. Our research addresses the fundamental design task of contact analysis. Contacts are the physical primitives that make mechanical systems out of collections of parts. Systems perform functions by transforming motions via part contacts. The shapes of the interacting parts impose constraints on their motions that largely determine the system function. Contact analysis involves deriving and analyzing these constraints. Designers use contact analysis to ensure correct function and to optimize performance. We illustrate contact analysis on the film advance of a movie camera.


Social media analytics is insightful but can also be difficult to use within organizations. To address this, we present Automatic Persona Generation (APG), a system and methodology for quantitatively generating personas using large amounts of online social media data. The APG system is operational, deployed in a pilot version with several organizations in multiple industry verticals. APG uses a robust web and stable back-end database framework to process tens of millions of user interactions with thousands of online digital products on multiple social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. APG identifies both distinct and impactful audience segments for an organization to create persona profiles by enhancing the social media analytics data with pertinent features, such as names, photos, interests, etc. We demonstrate the architecture development, and main system features. APG provides value for organizations distributing content via online platforms and is unique in its approach to leveraging social media data for audience understanding. APG is online at https://persona.qcri.org.


As hardware systems are becoming bigger and more complex, it is becoming increasingly harder to design and reason about these systems in a monolithic fashion. While hardware is often designed in a modular manner, its verification is rarely performed modularly. Moreover, any modular refinement to an existing system requires a full system verification to guarantee correctness, even if only a few components of the system have been refined. In this thesis, we present a new framework for modular verification of hardware designs written in the Bluespec language. That is, we formalize the idea of components in a hardware design, with well-defined input and output channels; and we show how to specify and verify components individually. For verifying a full system, we show how the proofs of its components can be composed, treating the components as black-boxes and not looking beyond their specifications. As a demonstration of this methodology, we verify a fairly realistic implementation of a multicore shared-memory system with two types of components: memory system and processor, with machine-checked proofs in the Coq proof assistant. Both components include nontrivial optimizations, with the memory system employing an arbitrary hierarchy of cache nodes that communicate with each other concurrently, and with the processor doing speculative execution of many concurrent read operations. Nonetheless, we prove that the combined system implements sequential consistency. To our knowledge, our memory-system proof is the first machine verification of a cache-coherence protocol parameterized over an arbitrary cache hierarchy, and our full-system proof is the first machine verification of sequential consistency for a multicore hardware design that includes caches and speculative processors. We also embed the Bluespec language in the Coq proof assistant and formalize its modular semantics, enabling a verification engineer to obtain machine-checked proofs for Bluespec designs using our framework. Thesis Supervisor: Arvind Title: Professor Thesis Supervisor: Adam Chlipala Title: Associate Professor


It is experimentally shown that the diffuse illumination in holographic interferometry influences the visibility function of the fringes and, as a result, the fringe contrast depends on the fringe order. This property can be applied to identification of the local minima of fringe order in double-exposure holographic interferometry. The method has been used in identifying the nodal pattern of a singer's skin vibrations in double-pulse holographic interferometry.


A new steel mold gravity casting magnesium alloy of low-cost, high strength, and high ductility has been developed and studied. This new magnesium alloy, which is designated as IMR-41, exhibits high strength (Yield Tensile Strength≈145 MPa, Ultimate Tensile Strength≈280 MPa) and high ductility (Elongation≈8%) at room temperature. The alloying elements are inexpensive ones and the cost of IMR-41 is similar to AZ91 series. The influence of small X element addition and heat treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties are discussed. The IMR-41 combines the virtues of AZ91 series and AM60 series to some extend and shows great potential application on wheels of lightweight vehicles or motorcycles, etc. which require high strength and high ductility simultaneously.


This paper studies a large offshore wind farm interconnected to the grid using a multiterminal HVDC link. The 200 W wind farm consists of 100 individual 2 MW turbines connected using 25 CSI (current source inverters) to a common DC link. Since The CSI converters are in series connection, no generator transformers are needed to elevate the voltage. The transmission system converters enable regulation of the generator speed. The converters are not needed with individual generators, implying that simple permanent magnet generators can be used. The paper presents PSCAD simulation for various changes in wind speeds. The results confirm the ability to operate at optimum coefficient of performance and that there are no synchronization problems even for severe wind speed changes. The proposed concept may enable integration of large offshore wind farms at considerable distances, and using optimal number of converters.


The highway departments of all fifty states were contacted to find the extent of application of integral abutment bridges, to survey the different guidelines used for analysis and design of integral abutment bridges, and to assess the performance of such bridges through the years. The variation in design assumptions and length limitations among the various states in their approach to the use of integral abutments is discussed. The problems associated with lateral displacements at the abutment, and the solutions developed by the different states for most of the ill effects of abutment movements are summarized in the report. An algorithm based on a state-of-the-art nonlinear finite element procedure was developed and used to study piling stresses and pile-soil interaction in integral abutment bridges. The finite element idealization consists of beam-column elements with geometric and material nonlinearities for the pile and nonlinear springs for the soil. An idealized soil model (modified Ramberg-Osgood model) was introduced in this investigation to obtain the tangent stiffness of the nonlinear spring elements. Several numerical examples are presented in order to establish the reliability of the finite element model and the computer software developed. Three problems with analytical solutions were first solved and compared with theoretical solutions. A 40 ft H pile (HP 10 X 42) in six typical Iowa soils was then analyzed by first applying a horizontal displacement (to simulate bridge motion) and no rotation at the top and then applying a vertical load V incrementally until failure occurred. Based on the numerical results, the failure mechanisms were generalized to be of two types: (a) lateral type failure and (b) vertical type failure. It appears that most piles in Iowa soils (sand, soft clay and stiff clay) failed when the applied vertical load reached the ultimate soil frictional resistance (vertical type failure). In very stiff clays, however, the lateral type failure occurs before vertical type failure because the soil is sufficiently stiff to force a plastic hinge to form in the pile as the specified lateral displacement is applied. Preliminary results from this investigation showed that the vertical load-carrying capacity of H piles is not significantly affected by lateral displacements of 2 inches in soft clay, stiff clay, loose sand, medium sand and dense sand. However, in very stiff clay (average blow count of 50 from standard penetration tests), it was found that the vertical load carrying capacity of the H pile is reduced by about 50 percent for 2 inches of lateral displacement and by about 20 percent for lateral displacement of 1 inch. On the basis of the preliminary results of this investigation, the 265-feet length limitation in Iowa for integral abutment concrete bridges appears to be very conservative.


This paper discusses what teachers of English do to test their learners with specific test samples used to assess students' language skills, and suggests practical solutions on this issue. It also proposes a distance learning course in 'testing and assessment' for teachers' professional development on the Internet, which will enable them to exchange ideas and find solutions to problems.


Problem. Caribbean Canadians are often susceptible to negative stereotyping because of issues of social class and length of residence in Canada. This study describes how three Caribbean Canadian young women avoided stereotype vulnerability and journeyed to their definition of success. This narrative study focuses on themes which acted as catalysts for success in their lives. The data collection began with interviews conducted during their high school years and concluded with another set of interviews in the post-college years. The study records their stories as they strive to develop and achieve their idea of success in the non-school world. Method. Through the in-depth collaborative interview, the researcher and the participants examined--chiefly through the channel of emerging metaphors--how these three women perceived, recalled, and explained critical incidents as they journeyed toward success. Participants share their accounts of the dynamic interrelationship of their religious experience, education and maternal influence as they seek to find the answers to the question, "What is behind your story of success?" Arts-based forms of representation--poetry, a playlet and graphic syntheses--are used to expand the method of interpreting the knowledge uncovered. Results. As the women portrayed their journey, three themes emerged as salient contributors to their success--strong female support networks; the education experience, and God-reliance. The study also confirms four points of Bandura's social learning theory--self-regulation, self-evaluation, a history of past successes,experience with role models. Embedded in their stories are acts of will which shape their lives and allow them to define success as being self-actualized. Many of the growth descriptors of Maslow's model of the self-actualized person are storied by the women in this study. This study also unveiled a corner of the world that is not yet fully revealed to North American educators. As the path these women have trod is illuminated, we hear the women's voices urging other women to follow in their footsteps. Conclusion. Undergirding the resilience stories that these women recount are motifs of self-efficacy and agency. Departing from the notion that success is achievement, these women argue that success is being self-sufficient and comfortable with themselves. The findings of this exploratory study highlight the value of agency, community at institutions of learning, maternal role modeling, and religious beliefs to women of Caribbean descent.


The early 1990's saw the rapid increase in interest in quality initiatives as operational costs increased together with the stronger lobbying power of interest groups and environmentalists. Moreover, the stronger presence of the Japanese and other Asian economies in the world market, which is generally attributed to improved quality and lower costs, has threatened the traditional stronghold of Western countries. These developments, coupled with advances in technology and product development, has encouraged many organisations to adopt Total Quality Management (TQM), as they search for approaches to improve their competitive positions in the world market, and more importantly, their own survival in these highly competitive conditions. However, attempts to implement TQM have not uniformly generated its promised benefits of improved quality, lower costs, customer satisfaction, and higher market shares. These mixed results have been attributed to a variety of reasons using theoretical and conceptual arguments, or empirical approaches such as surveys or case studies. Some of these attempts to explain the inconsistent performance of TQM have been criticised for failing to follow more rigorous methodologies, but more importantly, for pursuing objectives that do not necessarily lead to the better understanding of the TQM implementation process. Moreover, from the TQM perspective, some researchers have highlighted the weakness of this literature to address issues on definitions of quality, TQM and its related concepts; its underlying assumptions and conceptions; and, the contexts and contingencies that affect the implementation process. Furthermore, the generally prescriptive nature of TQM 1 literature has overlooked the inherent complexity of the entire TQM implementation system as its variables are intricately linked to each other to form feedback loops and as a result continuously adjust to each other. These weaknesses are addressed in this research through an extensive literature review, in-depth interviews and a computer simulation model with the goal of understanding the reasons for successes and failures of quality improvement efforts. The empirical findings of the study identified financial and temporal resource- factors that affected the quality initiatives. These resources provide for top management visibility, middle management involvement and support, budget availability, training, facilitation, an incentive system, opportunities to participate and contribute, and acquisition and development of new skills and ability. Moreover, the interviews and case studies generally supported the initial proposal that the TQM process is indeed a dynamic process with complex interdependencies and contextual factors. The theoretical findings fi-om the computer simulation revealed the multiple mode behaviour patterns of the TQM implementation process. The tests showed that the same factors can lead to both improving or declining trends for levels of participation and total project generated, depending on the conditions prior to the launch of the TQM programme and to the level of resources that are made available throughout the implementation process. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that some dormant feedback loops that involved the complexity of the problems and improvement areas addressed by quality circles were activated in the long run, causing the outcomes of the programme to slide down and collapse. As more efforts to identify further improvement increases, the next set of problems become more difficult to identify and complex to solve. This leads to frustration, de-motivation and decreased interest to continue idea generation and solution activities. This apparently inevitable collapse of a TQM programme in the long run was not resolved by the more traditional approaches of extending the life of the quality initiatives. Additional top management support and attention, more TQM staff and increased incentives were found to be largely ineffective in arresting the collapse of the programme. Indeed, these solutions only hastened the decline of participation and projects. More integrated solutions such as the control of frustration and difficulty through better training methods or TQM staff support also failed to prevent the eventual fall of the TQM programme. However, the approaches that were adopted by the Japanese, as they expanded the areas of operations of quality circles and the constantly improved products, equipment and processes, were found to be successful in sustaining participation efforts and improvement ideas generation. The results of the study suggest that the traditional conception of top management commitment needs to be expanded to include more active tasks such as the search for new ways to sustain employee efforts to become involved in quality improvement. As the complexity of potential improvement areas increases, the time left for top management to act on this impending collapse decreases. Thus, inattention to this concern at the beginning of the programme can only let the reinforcing loops operate and aggravate the situation as to lead to a condition where it is difficult, if not impossible, to correct the situation.


Monomethylation of histone H3 on Lys 4 (H3K4me1) and acetylation of histone H3 on Lys 27 (H3K27ac) are histone modifications that are highly enriched over the body of actively transcribed genes and on enhancers. Although in yeast all H3K4 methylation patterns, including H3K4me1, are implemented by Set1/COMPASS (complex of proteins associated with Set1), there are three classes of COMPASS-like complexes in Drosophila that could carry out H3K4me1 on enhancers: dSet1, Trithorax, and Trithorax-related (Trr). Here, we report that Trr, the Drosophila homolog of the mammalian Mll3/4 COMPASS-like complexes, can function as a major H3K4 monomethyltransferase on enhancers in vivo. Loss of Trr results in a global decrease of H3K4me1 and H3K27ac levels in various tissues. Assays with the cut wing margin enhancer implied a functional role for Trr in enhancer-mediated processes. A genome-wide analysis demonstrated that Trr is required to maintain the H3K4me1 and H3K27ac chromatin signature that resembles the histone modification patterns described for enhancers. Furthermore, studies in the mammalian system suggested a role for the Trr homolog Mll3 in similar processes. Since Trr and mammalian Mll3/4 complexes are distinguished by bearing a unique subunit, the H3K27 demethylase UTX, we propose a model in which the H3K4 monomethyltransferases Trr/Mll3/Mll4 and the H3K27 demethylase UTX cooperate to regulate the transition from inactive/poised to active enhancers.


We propose a system for detecting bids for eye contact directed from a child to an adult who is wearing a point-of-view camera. The camera captures an egocentric view of the child-adult interaction from the adult's perspective. We detect and analyze the child's face in the egocentric video in order to automatically identify moments in which the child is trying to make eye contact with the adult. We present a learning-based method that couples a pose-dependent appearance model with a temporal Conditional Random Field (CRF). We present encouraging findings from an experimental evaluation using a newly collected dataset of 12 children. Our method outperforms state-of-the-art approaches and enables measuring gaze behavior in naturalistic social interactions.


Two ultrasensitive laser techniques, laser photoacoustic spectroscopy (LPAS) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), are being developed for the detection and speciation of trace levels of actinides in solutions typical of those expected in a high-level waste repository. An LPAS system was set up for these studies. Experiments were carried out to determine the detection limits of plutonium and americium in solution. Concurrently with the LPAS work, LIF studies were carried out on uranyl ion and curium in solution.


*Save planning time with schemes of work and lesson plans which tutors can use as they stand, or edit to suit their needs. *Inspirational lesson ideas: A variety of activities for use with assignments - or as a starter stimulus for group discussion - to support and stretch learners to achieve. And tutors can photocopy them as many times as needed! *Engage-Stimulate-Motivate with @t work: Tutors can make every lesson engaging with a rich bank of @t work resources, including videos, podcast, interactive activities and PowerPoints that help keep lessons up-to-date with the latest news and views from the industry, motivating learners to succeed. *It's easy to update your VLE with BTEC resources: VLE disk in the Teaching Resource Pack, allows tutors to transfer key resources onto their VLE in just a couple of easy steps. * BTEC have teamed up with the Premier League: Providing video footage featuring the Tottenham Hotspur academy players, coach, and director, as well as Premier League and international player Jon Goodman, so teachers have inspirational and engaging materials with which to motivate their students to achieve.


The resolution of intelligence tests and in particular the numerical sequences have been analyzed through differentcognitive models and other approaches. In this article we present a new artificial intelligence computational model called KitBit, whichaims to mimic some of the reasoning process that humans use to solve problems. KitBit uses a reduced set of actions and theircombinations to build a predictive model that finds the underlying pattern of different numerical sequences, such as those included inintelligence tests and other much more complex. The system is capable of solving those problems in less than a second with standardcomputational power. The KitBit algorithms have been applied in the OEIS numerical sequence database, reaching the highest numberof series solved to date. Likewise, it is capable of solving the intelligence tests reported by previous models, according to the literature.In this article we expose the fundamentals of the system and its application in finding the patterns of numerical series in general, andmore specifically in cases where these series are part of intelligent tests, even though KitBit has demonstrated its ability to solve othertypes of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) problems, which will be addressed in later publications.


The depositional styles of sediment gravity currents depend, in part, on the relationship of flow magnitude to the scale of topographically controlled containment and range from unconfined lobes to fully contained deposits. Determining the degree of containment is important for understanding depositional processes, land to ocean sediment transfer and subsurface reservoir characterization/prediction. Depositional models of the fully contained (commonly referred to as "ponded") end member have been developed (e.g. fill-and-spill model). However, fully contained deposits represent only a portion of deepwater deposits and little work has been done identifying and examining the degree of containment of the more complex, partially contained deposits in outcrop. Here, I document the sedimentological facies and stratigraphic architecture of the Zorrillo Unit, a partially contained system exposed at Cerro Solitario within the Upper Cretaceous Tres Pasos Formation of the Magallanes Basin. The evolution of partial containment at this outcrop is expressed as: 1) bypass in the proximal zone and flow stripping in the distal zone, 2) backstepping and blanketing of the outcrop, followed by 3) renewed bypass. The partially contained system at Cerro Solitario deviates from the widely used fill-and-spill model due to subtle relief. This record of infilling provides insight into the overall evolution of the depositional system. Within the Magallanes Basin, the partially contained and linked depocenters along the Chingue Clinoform represent the dying breaths of the Cerro Toro axial conglomerate channel system as the canyon-fed point source collapsed and choked off the sediment routing system out to the distal basin. Sedimentology and Architecture of a Partially Contained Deposit, Cerro Solitario, Magallanes Basin, Chilean Patagonia


Africa is the worst performing continent in road safety. In order to improve road safety
performance in African countries, many barriers need to be overcome. Among them stands the substantial lack of detailed knowledge on road casualties in terms of their number as well as associated factors leading to road accidents or affecting their consequences. There is a serious lack of road safety data in African countries, and even when data are available (e.g. through the reports of WHO, International Road Federation ‐ IRF, etc.), little is known about data collection systems, data definitions, etc. The objective of the present report is to outline the results of relevant surveys undertaken within the
SaferAfrica project as well as existing road safety analysis documents in order to assess the current situation of Africa in terms of road safety data, data collection systems and definitions. In order to assess the needs of stakeholders involved in road safety in terms of knowledge and
information tools and convey a clear view of current road safety practices followed in Africa, two‐fold surveys as well as existing road safety analysis documents were exploited. The surveys consisted of a brief questionnaire in order to point out the current status in each country in terms
of basic road safety aspects and definitions, followed by an extensive one where, besides other concerns, detailed demands and views of road safety stakeholders, not necessarily directly
involved in decision‐making, in each examined African country were recorded. Furthermore, existing road safety analysis documents were exploited; namely the Global Status Report on Road Safety (WHO, 2015) and the IRF World Road Statistics 2016 (IRF, 2016) reports. Finally, aiming to assess the effects of current data definitions and collection procedures a pilot study was delivered on certain countries which were selected based on specific criteria described in the relevant chapter.
This first survey addressed an initial approach to identify per country the current status in terms of basic road safety management and data collection practices. Representatives from 20 African countries, mainly from the West, East and South regions of the African continent took part in this
survey. Most of the respondents had a significant experience in the field of road safety (over 10 years), thus the information they provided is considered accurate and reliable. Experts from all countries stated emphatically the high importance of data and knowledge to support road safety activities. This is a clear indication of the urgent need for the improvement of data and information availability with regard to the improvement of road safety in African
countries. The second survey included questions on road safety management and data collection practices, road safety resources and basic road safety data developed appropriately to reflect the conditions
in Africa. This survey was filled‐in by 29 stakeholders from 21 African countries. The majority of the replies were received by governmental representatives. ......