Background: Equitable distribution of healthcare resources is one of the main factors in improving the community's health level. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of development in the cities of Kerman province with a focus on health indicators. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population was all 23 cities of Kerman province in 2013. All indicators of accessibility to health care were obtained from the Statistical Centre of Iran (SCI). Taxonomy techniques were used to determine the degree of development in the cities, Shannon entropy techniques were used to determine the weights of indicators, and TOPSIS techniques were used to rank cities. Data was analysed by EXCEL. Results: According to taxonomy techniques, based on accessibility to health services among 23 cities, 9 were developed, 7 were semi-developed, and 7 were underdeveloped. According to Shannon entropy, the ratio of the number of pharmacists to the population of cities was the main indicator for determining the weight of development in the cities. According to TOPSIS, Ravar was ranked as the first and Arzoiyeh as the last one in terms of development. Conclusion: There is inequitable distribution of resources, especially human resources with higher education. This is probabily due to the tendency of highly educated individuals to live in developed cities with high facilities. In addition, due to lack of proper medical facilities in disadvantaged areas, higher educated human resources refuse to live in such areas. Therefore, policy makers should allocate budjet and make political decisions based on development priorities.


OBJECTIVE
To determine which child-rearing practices are associated with nursing caries.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Hospital-based general pediatric clinic.

PARTICIPANTS
Sequential sample of 110 healthy children aged 18 to 36 months.

OUTCOME MEASURES
Feeding practices of children, limit-setting issues, and familial dental health were determined by maternal interview. Nursing caries were diagnosed by dental examination.

RESULTS
Nursing caries were found in 22 (20%) of the children. Ninety percent of children with and without caries were bottle-feeding at 12 and 18 months of age. Ninety-one percent of children with caries and 84% without were still drinking a nighttime bottle at 18 months (P = .33). The mothers of children with caries were found to have fewer years of education, 8.9 vs 10.8 years (P = .02), and were more likely to have eight or more cavities, 55% vs 19% (P = .002). More infants in the caries group had been breast-fed, 72% vs 46% (P = .02), although length of breast-feeding was similar, 5.4 vs 6.7 months. Fewer children with caries drank fluoridated tap water, 27% vs 54% (P = .05), but there were no differences in topical fluoride use, dental hygiene practices, or visits to the dentist.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings fail to substantiate a straightforward relationship between child-rearing practices and nursing caries and suggest that well-designed prospective studies are needed to clarify the etiology of early caries.


Abstract : Physician's virtual presence in support of the first responding caregivers at the scene of the incident will create the opportunity for achieving an accurate initial evaluation of the victim's clinical condition and a timely initiation of appropriate interventions. Any condition that interferes with adequate blood flow will cause an impairment of tissue oxygenation, the results of which &are cell injury and, if sufficiently prolonged, cell death The interval of time between the acute catastrophic events that initiate the decrease in blood flow and the establishment of therapies to reverse this cascade of cell injury is critical. Any measure that shortens the interval between the injury and the institution of appropriate therapy will afford the greatest potential for minimizing cell injury and preventing cell death, The DREAMSTM: Digital EMS project is designed specifically to address these issues.


The Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS) is a new type of global spatial data model and is the extension of the plane grid on a sphere. The hexagon is usually used in the construction of DGGS for its advantageous geometric structure. The paper principally focuses on the issue of modeling and expression of vector data in the hexagon DGGS. The precision of vector data is the basis of data recording and data expression, and data with different precision fall into the grid cells of corresponding sizes, making the gridding data themselves contain the precision and scale information. The present method of data recording is reserved, as far as possible, in the data recording process, and only the geometric information of vectors is substituted by the one-dimension coding of grids. This approach is more simple and effective than the digital coordinate recording method. The gridding expression of vector data differs from the traditional technique, mainly due to the subdivision of the durative space by grids as well as the obedience of the subdivision special rules, among which the point expression should activate the corresponding grid cells in the light of the point coordinates. Linear expression should activate the corresponding grid cells of every coordinate as well as the connected grids between every two node cells, and area expression should express both the boundary and internal regions by virtue of grid cells. For spherical expression, vector data have to solve the cell filling problem, but also the extension from planum to sphere. This paper puts forward a reasonable sphere extension approach, in which the vector data expression on the spherical grids was accomplished by the dismantling of vector data on different extended areas and the multi-times transformation. Besides, the algorithm in connection with the vector data was verified through experiments for its effect and efficiency. Moreover, the distance and direction of vector data on the grids would change in the mapping process from planum to sphere girds, leading to an inaccurate spherical gridding expression. So, the effects on the rectilinear direction in grids of the hexagon from the planum-sphere mapping process was investigated, and accuracy control of the spherical expression was processed to make sure that the drawing error of the spherical grids for vector data should be limited within one cell.


Statistical downscaling of a suite of three global climate models for two emission scenarios are used to produce precipitation scenarios for Ireland to 2090. One of these was used to drive a rainfall-runoff model for the River Boyne. The model was calibrated over the 1961-90 base period, validated using 1991-2000 data and run for three future time periods using downscaled GCM output. Significant changes in monthly flow regimes, soil moisture storage and groundwater storage were noted, with summer flows typically reduced by 20%. Negative changes in soil moisture storage also resulted, with soil moisture deficits increasingly extending into the Autumn as the century proceeds. Such a situation is seen to potentially compromise groundwater recharge in individual years and an increasing lag in groundwater recharge was detected. By the 2080s the groundwater recharge lag has developed to the extent that spring and early summer surface flows appear to be still benefiting from winter groundwater recharge while by late autumn groundwater is seriously depleted due to drier summer conditions. Serious implications for water yield from groundwater-fed sources would thus arise in the event of a dry winter being experienced. Greater conservatism in estimating water yields from groundwater sources would seem appropriate and may require to be formally incorporated into planning procedures.


In the 12 th century, most of southern France, as well as parts of Spain and Italy, belonged to Occitania, a region that had a common culture and language. As a result of centuries of political conflicts, that territory has long since been parceled and relabeled. The official status of Occitan, a Romance language, has vacillated wildly since then. This paper discusses the results of a study conducted over three months in the Languedoc region of France, assessing the vitality of the Occitan language and exploring the social attitudes towards the culture as a direct consequence of the tensions between France and Occitania. The paper presents interviews from people from the region, observations of festivals and other cultural events, and remarks on the visible elements of the culture. The study includes the perspectives of people working to promote and support the culture as well as those who were simply inhabitants of the region. While practical use of the language is in rapid decline, and those who do speak or study it are viewed as "has-beens", interest and sentiments of support have remained stable in the general population. Citizens of Languedoc feel that Occitania is a culture that is part of the region instead of something completely separate, and wish to support it as such for themselves as well as for future generations. This is largely due to the French government's refusal to officially recognize Occitan and actively encouraging discrimination against those who spoke it, making them second-class citizens and thereby removing all motives to use the language in everyday life. This paper also includes a brief comparison of Languedoc to Catalonia, where Catalan has had official status and autonomy for decades and is still widely supported, both officially and socially. This study chronicles a quintessential case of the effects of globalization on language, language revitalization, and culture, a domain of study that is rapidly becoming more vital.


Glycosylation is an essential form of post-translational modification that regulates intracellular and extracellular processes. Regrettably, conventional biochemical and genetic methods often fall short for the study of glycans, because their structures are often not precisely defined at the genetic level. To address this deficiency, chemists have developed technologies to perturb glycan biosynthesis, profile their presentation at the systems level, and perceive their spatial distribution. These tools have identified potential disease biomarkers and ways to monitor dynamic changes to the glycome in living organisms. Still, glycosylation remains the underexplored frontier of many biological systems. In this Account, we focus on research in our laboratory that seeks to transform the study of glycan function from a challenge to routine practice. In studies of proteins and nucleic acids, functional studies have often relied on genetic manipulations to perturb structure. Though not directly subject to mutation, we can determine glycan structure−function relationships by synthesizing defined glycoconjugates or by altering natural glycosylation pathways. Chemical syntheses of uniform glycoproteins and polymeric glycoprotein mimics have facilitated the study of individual glycoconjugates in the absence of glycan microheterogeneity. Alternatively, selective inhibition or activation of glycosyltransferases or glycosidases can define the biological roles of the corresponding glycans. Investigators have developed tools including small molecule inhibitors, decoy substrates, and engineered proteins to modify cellular glycans. Current approaches offer a precision approaching that of genetic control. Genomic and proteomic profiling form a basis for biological discovery. Glycans also present a rich matrix of information that adapts rapidly to changing environs. Glycomic and glycoproteomic analyses via microarrays and mass spectrometry are beginning to characterize alterations in glycans that correlate with disease. These approaches have already identified several cancer biomarkers. Metabolic labeling can identify recently synthesized glycans and thus directly track glycan dynamics. This approach can highlight changes in physiology or environment and may be more informative than steady-state analyses. Together, glycomic and metabolic labeling techniques provide a comprehensive description of glycosylation as a foundation for hypothesis generation. Direct visualization of proteins via the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its congeners has revolutionized the field of protein dynamics. Similarly, the ability to perceive the spatial organization of glycans could transform our understanding of their role in development, infection, and disease progression. Fluorescent tagging in cultured cells and developing organisms has revealed important insights into the dynamics of these structures during growth and development. These results have highlighted the need for additional imaging probes.


Background The Spectrum projection package uses estimates of national HIV incidence, demographic data and other assumptions to describe the consequences of the HIV epidemic in low and middle-income countries. The default parameters used in Spectrum are updated every 2 years as new evidence becomes available to inform the model. This paper reviews the default parameters that define the course of HIV progression among adults and children in Spectrum. Methods For adults, data available from published and grey literature and data from the ART-LINC International epidemiologic Database to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA) collaboration were combined to estimate survival among those who started antiretroviral therapy (ART). For children, a review of published material on survival on ART and survival on ART and cotrimoxazole was used to derive survival probabilities. Historical data on the distribution of CD4 cell counts and CD4 cell percentages by age among children who were not treated (before treatment was available) were used to progress children from seroconversion to different CD4 cell levels. Results Based on the updated evidence estimated survival among adults aged over 15 years in the first year on ART was 86%, while in subsequent years survival was estimated at 90%. Survival among children during the first year on ART was estimated to be 85% and for subsequent years 93%. Discussion The revised default parameters based on additional data will make Spectrum estimates more accurate than previous rounds of estimates.


STUDY DESIGN
A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and characteristics of DISH using whole spine CT scans and to evaluate the association of DISH with co-morbidities and other ossified lesions.

METHOD
A retrospective study of whole-spine CT scans of polytrauma patients from 2018-2021 above the age of 20 years. The screening was done using modified Resnick criteria. Overall and age-specific prevalence, characteristics, and associations with obesity, diabetes mellitus (DM), ischemic heart disease (IHD), aortic calcification (AC), ossified posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL), and ossified ligamentum flavum (OLF) were evaluated.

RESULTS
Out of 1815 patients, 347 had DISH, with a prevalence rate of 19.1% and a mean age of 61.7 years. The highest prevalence of DISH was seen in individuals over 80 years of age (45.5%). The prevalence among males (20.2%) was higher than for females (14.9%). The most commonly involved level was T8-T9 (95.4%), followed by T9-T10 (91.9%), and the most common vertebra involved was T9 (96%). All the cases involving T9 had ossification on the right anterior aspect of the vertebral body. The presence of DM, high BMI, and IHD was found to be significantly higher in patients with DISH (P value < .001). The incidence of aortic calcification was 22.5%, OPLL was 13.3%, and OLF was 4.9% in patients with DISH.

CONCLUSION
This study reports a prevalence rate of 19.1% for DISH, with the highest prevalence among individuals above 80 years of age (45.5%). DISH has a higher propensity to affect the right anterior aspect of the vertebral body in the thoracic spine and is strongly associated with obesity, DM, IHD, and AC.


Despite being central to the dynamics of surveillance, the concept of resistance remains underdeveloped within the surveillance studies corpus. We review theoretical work on surveillance before summarising the main treatments of resistance from within surveillance studies. We find that the majority of resistance literature in surveillance studies is focussed on resistance relations between the surveyor and the surveilled, and neglects other relevant actors. To expand the list of relevant actors, we look to what other disciplines have to say about the who and the how of resistance. Using these lessons, we then elaborate a multi-actor framework to better understand complex resistance relationships. Beyond the surveyor and the surveilled, surveillance authorities, commercial enterprises, international governmental and non-governmental agencies, and the surveillance technologies themselves form a complex resistance nexus, capable of resisting and being resisted in a diversity of ways. Further, we conclude that these distinctive roles produce unique methods, directions and opportunities for resistance. The roles of these additional actors will be demonstrated through a discussion of the United Kingdom National Identity Scheme, where we believe they are presently engaged in a series of multi-level, multi-actor resistance relationships at various stages of the scheme's development.


Continuously grown cells from a glucose limited chemostat were flocculated with four different cationic polymers. The polymer was added to the cells either dropwise or as a slug at the start of the flocculation period. Dose curves for each polymer type and using each method of polymer addition were constructed. It was evident that classical overdose was possible with all four polymers if slug addition was used. Continuous addition produced dose curves overdose was possible with all four polymers if slug addition was used. Continuous addition produced dose curves with no overdosing except when low molecular weight, low charge density polymer was used. The dose curves could be combined if they were based on amount of charge added. The dose curve was not linear, but fitted a logarithmic model well. Charge density was much more important than MW of the polymer.


The Life Cycle Management System (LMS) aims at supporting decision-makers and engineers in their efforts to achieve a more optimised proactive life cycle design and maintenance management strategy. LMS is an open and integrative system, which has to be adapted and developed in order to meet the needs and requirements of users. This process should be geared to and governed by the clients. The Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) sector includes all varieties of clients and stakeholders, all of them having different qualifications, possibilities and requirements for implementing, or increasing the feature of predictive maintenance management and optimised proactive strategies. The possibilities of adopting predictive maintenance management are dependent on the availability of performance-over-time and service life forecasting models and methods. The relevance of these models and methods depends on the required level of detailing. Furthermore, the use of the models and methods depends on the availability of reliable input data, such as material data and environmental exposure/in-use condition data. The thesis aims at analysing the possibilities of implementing predictivity in different fields of applications and at evaluating relevant tools facilitating management of information associated with predictive maintenance management systems. The thesis includes studies of three different clients and fields of application; Swedish Road Administration – management of bridges, Locum AB – management of hospital buildings, and Gavle Energi AB – management of district heating distribution systems. While the Swedish Road Administration is responsible to ensure an economically efficient, sustainable transport system for the society throughout the country, Locum AB and Gavle Energi AB compete on an "open" market. The Swedish Road Administration have gathered information about their bridges since 1944, for what reason their bridge management system includes a large amount of valuable data for performance-over- time analyses and service life forecasting. Locum AB has recently begun to systematically gather condition data, why the amount of data is limited. However, since the performance of buildings generally is well known, it is assumed that possibilities of implementing predictive maintenance management tools are rather good. Since district heating pipes are buried into the ground, it is difficult to assess the condition. Therefore, data for service life estimation rely mainly on damage reports. Environmental exposure data on macro or meso level can be obtained from meteorological and environmental institutes, thus making it possible to apply available dose-response and damage functions. Environmental exposure data on a micro level are lacking. Guidelines, methods and tools for environmental measuring and modelling on a micro level are therefore strongly needed. Efficient management of information plays an important role in predictive life cycle management systems. The ongoing development and implementation of open Building Information Model (BIM) tools in the AEC/FM sector is a promising progress of making the information management more cost effective and valuable, especially when open BIM solutions being fully integrated into the AEC/FM business. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are tools for efficient handling of spatial positioned information. GIS provide possibilities of processing and presenting, e.g., environmental exposure data and environmental risk factors.


Seismic-refraction measurements were made in the Gulf of Maine in 1948 and 1951 as a continuation of the program of geophysical exploration of the continental margins. Sections from Portland, Maine, to the northwest edge of Georges Bank, from Matinicus Rock, Maine, to Cultivator Shoal, and from Cape Ann, Mass., to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, were observed. Sediments (with velocities of 5030 to 6780 ft/sec) varied in thickness from 0 to 1020 feet. North and east of Cashes Ledge consolidated sediments (with velocities of 12,000 to 13,000 ft/sec) were detected up to 1620 feet thick. These are tentatively identified as Triassic and possibly represent an extension of the Fundy Basin. Basement rocks (with velocities of 15,000 to 18,000 ft/sec) thicken under New England and form a troughlike feature off Nova Scotia. Remarkably uniform subbasement rocks (with velocities of 19,000 to 20,000 ft/sec) underlie the Gulf of Maine.


Nanomedicine is an emerging field with great potential in disease theranostics. We generated sterically stabilized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (s-SPIONs) with average core diameters of 10 and 25 nm and determined the in vivo biodistribution and clearance profiles. Healthy nude mice underwent an intraperitoneal injection of these s-SPIONs at a dose of 90 mg Fe/kg body weight. Tissue iron biodistribution was monitored by atomic absorption spectroscopy and Prussian blue staining. Histopathological examination was performed to assess tissue toxicity. The 10 nm s-SPIONs resulted in higher tissue-iron levels, whereas the 25 nm s-SPIONs peaked earlier and cleared faster. Increased iron levels were detected in all organs and body fluids tested except for the brain, with notable increases in the liver, spleen, and the omentum. The tissue-iron returned to control or near control levels within 7 days post-injection, except in the omentum, which had the largest and most variable accumulation of s-SPIONs. No obvious tissue changes were noted although an influx of macrophages was observed in several tissues suggesting their involvement in s-SPION sequestration and clearance. These results demonstrate that the s-SPIONs do not degrade or aggregate in vivo and intraperitoneal administration is well tolerated, with a broad and transient biodistribution. In an ovarian tumor model, s-SPIONs were shown to accumulate in the tumors, highlighting their potential use as a chemotherapy delivery agent.


As previously found for the baroreceptor reflex, microinjection of kynurenic acid (KYN, 2 nmol), a glutamate receptor antagonist, into the caudal ventrolateral medulla (CVL) blocked the hypotension and bradycardia elicited by microinjections of a 5-HT 2 receptor agonist, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI, 0.5 pmol) into the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). In addition, as previously observed with the sympathetic chemoreflex response, microinjections of KYN into the RVL blocked the increase in blood pressure elicited by microinjections of 1-m-(chlorophenyl)-biguanide (1200 pmol), a 5-HT 3 receptor agonist, into the NTS. These results suggest that medullary pathways involved in the responses to 5-HT 2 and 5-HT 3 receptor stimulation in the NTS are similar to those that mediate the baroceptor and chemoreceptor reflex responses, respectively.


HPCG and Graph500 can be regarded as the two most relevant benchmarks for high-performance computing systems. Existing supercomputer designs, however, tend to focus on floating-point peak performance, a metric less relevant for these two benchmarks, leaving resources underutilized, and resulting in little performance improvements, for these benchmarks, over time. In this work, we analyze the implementation of both benchmarks on a novel shared-memory near-data processing architecture. We study a number of aspects: 1. a system parameter design exploration, 2. software optimizations, and 3. the exploitation of unique architectural features like user-enhanced coherence as well as the exploitation of data-locality for inter near-data processor traffic.For the HPCG benchmark, we show a factor 2.5x application level speedup with respect to a CPU, and a factor 2.5x power-efficiency improvement with respect to a GPU. For the Graph500 benchmark, we show up to a factor 3.5x speedup with respect to a CPU. Furthermore, we show that, with many of the existing data-locality optimizations for this specific graph workload applied, local memory bandwidth is not the crucial parameter, and a high-bandwidth as well as low-latency interconnect are arguably more important, shining a new light on the near-data processing characteristics most relevant for this type of heavily optimized graph processing.


Vehicle detection based on image analysis has attracted increasing attention in recent years due to its low cost, flexibility, and potential toward collision avoidance. In particular, vehicle verification is especially challenging on account of the heterogeneity of vehicles in color, size, pose, etc. Image-based vehicle verification is usually addressed as a supervised classification problem. Specifically, descriptors using Gabor filters have been reported to show good performance in this task. However, Gabor functions have a number of drawbacks relating to their frequency response. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal and evaluation of a new descriptor based on the alternative family of log-Gabor functions for vehicle verification, as opposed to existing Gabor filter-based descriptors. These filters are theoretically superior to Gabor filters as they can better represent the frequency properties of natural images. As a second contribution, and in contrast to existing approaches, which transfer the standard configuration of filters used for other applications to the vehicle classification task, an in-depth analysis of the required filter configuration by both Gabor and log-Gabor descriptors for this particular application is performed for fair comparison. The extensive experiments conducted in this paper confirm that the proposed log-Gabor descriptor significantly outperforms the standard Gabor filter for image-based vehicle verification.


The purpose of the investigation was to identify pre-service elementary teachers' (PST) misconceptions at the culmination of their methods semester, prior to entering student teaching. Participants, n=134 (116 female) were pre-service elementary teachers from two universities in the intermountain region. The Statistical Reasoning Assessment (SRA) developed by Garfield (2003) was used to investigate student misconceptions in statistics and probability. Of the eight misconceptions, the Representativeness misconception and the Outcome orientation misconception were the least common (12.3 and 28.2% respectively) and the Comparing groups of the same size, Equi-probability bias, and Correlation implies causation misconceptions were the most common (70.2, 64.3, and 50.0% respectively). The confidence interval for the results was within a window of .389 to .427. Implications from the study are several, including a standalone statistics and probability course would likely improve PST's understanding of concepts in the domains, misconceptions should be used to promote true understanding, and preparers of PST should carefully analyze their students to gain legitimate understanding of their knowledge and misconceptions in statistics and probability.


We review experimental studies on left‐handed metamaterials operating at microwave frequencies. Left‐handed transmission is obtained from a composite metamaterial consisting of periodic split ring resonator and wire arrays. Phase measurements reveal that the left‐handed metamaterial has a negative phase velocity and negative refraction. The negative index metamaterial is capable of imaging subwavelength features with a resolution of λ/8.


Background Styrene is an organic solvent and a well-documented neurotoxin with effects on reaction time, colour vision, and hearing thresholds. Mixed solvent exposure has been associated with encephalopathy. We investigated the long-term risk of encephalopathy and other non-vascular dementia in styrene exposed reinforced plastics workers. Methods We followed 77,271 workers of 456 Danish reinforced plastics companies 1968–2011 and investigated the exposure response relation between cumulated styrene exposure and hospitalisation-defined cases of encephalopathy (n = 258), unspecified dementia (n = 689) and Alzheimer's disease (n = 236) as defined by ICD-8 and ICD-10 codes. Individual styrene exposure levels were modelled from information on occupation, measurements of work place styrene levels, product, work tasks, and year of employment. Data were analysed with a discrete survival function. Adjusted models included age, sex, calendar year, and level of education. Results We observed positive exposure response relations for Alzheimer's disease and unspecified dementia in the crude but not in the adjusted analyses. For encephalopathy, however, a statistically significant exposure response relation (p < 0.01) was observed in the crude as well as the adjusted analyses, the latter showing an adjusted rate ratio of 2.18 (95% CI: 1.38–3.46) for the highest exposure quintile (>170 mg/m3-years). A combined analysis of encephalopathy and unspecified dementia showed no exposure response relation. Conclusion The strong association observed for encephalopathy is supportive of a causal association as indicated for other solvents. However, patients with cognitive deficits may be more likely to have a diagnosis of toxic encephalopathy – instead of unspecified dementia that they qualify for - if they have a longer and thus higher cumulated styrene exposure. The findings may thus reflect the physicians' diagnostic practices as well as causal effects. The no effect seen in the combined analysis of encephalopathy and unspecified dementia support the former interpretation.


This essay explores the sense of dual tonicity evident in a set of interrelated Spanish and Latin American music genres. These genres include seventeenth-century Spanish keyboard and vihuela fandangos, and diverse folk genres of the Hispanic Caribbean Basin, including the Venezuelan galeron and the Cuban punto, zapateo, and guajira. Songs in these genres oscillate between apparent "tonic" and "dominant" chords, yet conclude on the latter chord and bear internal features that render such terminology inapplicable. Rather, such ostinatos should be understood as oscillating in a pendular fashion between two tonal centers of relatively equal stability. The ambiguous tonicity is related to the Moorish-influenced modal harmony of flamenco and Andalusian folk music; it can also be seen to have informed the modern Cuban son and the music of twentieth-century Cuban composer Amadeo Roldan.


OSCS is a new concept signifying the process by which the firm incorporates open source principles into its business model, as an effective diversification strategy to gain and sustain competitive advantage, in the context of a globally interconnected society. This process entails firms willingly giving up control of a core asset, making it available to the public at large, and encouraging them to build upon that asset collaboratively. The shared asset acts as the subject of interaction between the firm and globally distributed non-employees. These wide-spectrum and large-scale interactions give the firm a global knowledge-bridging competitive advantage.


New paradigms has evolved in the field of library and information science in last two decades due to ICT impact and digitalization of library resources and totally change the earlier meaning of library from document preservation to knowledge management. The library professionals are facing new challenges because of unprecedented explosion of information and its availability in different forms which are created by globalization, privatization and liberalization of every aspect of human life in one way and emergence of ICT and its application in generation, communication and access of information in another way. To cope with these problems, the modern librarianship needs to be change in their philosophy and practices from custodian of document to information provider. There has been a paradigm shift in the way libraries used to manage as traditional store house to access providers. Therefore, the present digital environment has brought a lot of changes not only on the library and information services but also on the roles and expectations of the library professionals to satisfy their user's information demand.


Background Low back pain is a condition present during both adulthood and adolescence. Adolescents with low back pain may benefit from treatment focused on improving abdominal muscle performance and motor control. The supine double leg lowering test (SDLLT) may be a reliable measure to assess core stability in adults, but adolescent performance on the SDLLT has not yet been established in the literature. Purpose To examine performance on the SDLLT in healthy adolescents ages 13 to 18 years and describe influences of gender, age, body mass index, and participation in sport. Study Design Cross-Sectional Study Methods Four licensed physical therapists administered the SDLLT with a Stabilizer pressure biofeedback cuff and inclinometer in 90 adolescents without low back pain (females = 41, males = 49) from three schools in a mid-western metropolitan area. Descriptive statistics, independent sample t-tests, two-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients were utilized to analyze the data. Results Average SDLLT score was 72.36 +/- 12.54 degrees. A significant difference between SDLLT score was present between genders with males performing better than females. No interactions between performance and involvement in sport were demonstrated. Conclusions Female and male adolescents appear to perform differently on the SDLLT with a stabilizer and appear to perform worse than scores recorded for adults. The SDLLT may be used to measure motor control in adolescents, but clinicians should utilize age-appropriate data for clinical decision making. Levels of Evidence Level 2c


In Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, the Breedloves' storefront apartment is graced overhead by the home of three magnificent whores, each a tribute to Morrison's confidence in the efficacy of the obvious. The novel's unhappy convergence of history, naming and bodies--delineated so subtly and variously elsewhere--is, in these three, signified most simply and most crudely by their bodies and their names: Poland, China, the Maginot Line. With these characters, Morrison literalizes the novel's overall conflation of black female bodies as the sites of fascist invasions of one kind or another, as the terrain on which is mapped the encroachment and colonization of African-American experiences, particularly those of its women, by a seemingly hegemonic white culture. The Bluest Eye as a whole documents this invasion--and its concomitant erasure of specific local bodies, histories, and cultural productions--in terms of sexuality as it intersects with commodity culture. Furthermore, this mass culture and, more generally, the commodity capitalism that gave rise to it, is in large part responsible--through its capacity to efface history--for the "disinterestedness" that Morrison condemns throughout the novel. Beyond exempting this, Morrison's project is to rewrite the specific bodies and histories of the black Americans whose positive images and stories have been eradicated by commodity culture. She does this formally by shifting the novel's perspective and point of view, a narrative tactic that enables her, in the process, to represent black female subjectivity as a layered, shifting and complex reality. The disallowance of the specific cultures and histories of African-Americans and black women especially is figured in The Bluest Eye primarily as a consequence of or sideline to the more general annihilation of popular forms and images by an ever more all-pervasive and insidious mass culture industry. This industry increasingly disallows the representation of any image not premised on consumption or the production of normative values conducive to it. These values are often rigidly tied to gender and are race-specific to the extent that racial and ethnic differences are not allowed to be represented. One lesson from history, as Susan Willis reiterates, is that "in mass culture many of the social contradictions of capitalism appear to us as if those very contradictions had been resolved" ("I Shop" 183). Among these contradictions we might include those antagonisms continuing in spite of capitalism's benevolent influence, along the axes of economic privilege and racial difference. According to Willis, it is because "all the models [in mass cultural representation] are white"--either in fact or by virtue of their status as "replicants ... devoid of cultural integrity"--that the differences in race or ethnicity (and class, we might add) and the continued problems for which these differences are a convenient excuse appear to be erased or made equal "at the level of consumption" ("I Shop" 184). In other words, economic, racial and ethnic difference is erased and replaced by a purportedly equal ability to consume, even though what is consumed are more or less competing versions of the same white image. There is evidence of the presence and influence of this process of erasure and replacement throughout The Bluest Eye. For example, the grade school reader that prefaces the text was (and in many places still is) a ubiquitous, mass-produced presence in schools across the country. Its widespread use made learning the pleasures of Dick and Jane's commodified life dangerously synonymous with learning itself. Its placement first in the novel makes it the pretext for what is presented after: As the seeming given of contemporary life, it stands as the only visible model for happiness and thus implicitly accuses those whose lives do not match up. In 1941, and no less so today, this would include a lot of people. Even so, white lower-class children can at least more easily imagine themselves posited within the story's realm of possibility. …


Objectives This study seeks to review some of the approaches employed to address health and well-being issues in the elderly population. Methods This article reviews and analyses a range of projects and approaches designed for the elderly population and aimed at preserving and/or enhancing physical and cognitive capabilities in later life. Results Various intervention measures have been developed across the globe to preserve and/or enhance physical and cognitive capabilities of the elderly population. A selection of these measures is described in this article. Conclusions Approaches which combine games psychology and mechanics with enabling technologies designed to engage, influence and motivate elderly people can encourage healthy active aging lifestyles. Healthy active aging helps to realise a double dividend of reduced healthcare costs and an improved quality of life for the elder citizen.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the current evidence regarding the effectiveness of non-opioid interventions for the therapeutic management of pain in head and neck cancer patients with oral mucositis resulting from radiotherapy only or chemoradiotherapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A literature search was conducted which included randomised controlled trials that assessed patient-related outcome of pain in patients with oral mucositis associated with radiation therapy only or chemoradiotherapy. Literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE via Pubmed, Embase, Scopus and CINAHL.

RESULTS
The electronic searches identified 846 articles. Screening revealed that six articles met all eligibility inclusion criteria. Interventions showing statistically significant benefits to reduce oral mucositis associated pain compared to placebo included doxepin (p < 0.001, 95% CI -6.7 to -2.1), amitriptyline (p = 0.04), diclofenac (p < 0.01) and benzydamine (p = 0.014).

CONCLUSIONS
Non-opioid interventions, including topical doxepin, amitriptyline, diclofenac and benzydamine, were found to provide relief of pain due to mucositis, and when effective may allow for reduction in the use of opioids in pain management.


Abstract.
 Clusters of associated colony fragments discovered weathering out of bedding planes in the Upper Ordovician of the Cincinnati, Ohio, region provide a rare opportunity to quantify intracolony variation in ramose stenolaemate bryozoans. Sixteen colonies were reassembled as completely as possible from 198 fragments, and the following colony-level characters were measured: colony dimensions, branch link length and diameter, and branch order. Results indicate that branch link length and diameter systematically decrease as colonies grow via branch bifurcation. Branching ratio (i.e., the number of distal first-order branches divided by the number of immediately proximal second-order branches) appears to be more genetically than environmentally controlled and to be consistent among orders of stenolaemates and perhaps across the phylum. Colonies with endozones mined out by endoskeletozoans result in broken branches as opposed to pristine growing tips. This varies stratigraphically, perhaps in response to the distribution of the boring animals. The rarity of borers and the systematic proximal increase in branch diameter in these colonies suggest the zooids in the proximal portions of the colonies were alive at the time of colony death. If the time and effort can be invested in reassembling colonies, these morphometric data can then be applied to taxonomic, phylogenetic, and paleoenvironmental studies.


This paper describes two approaches to modelling lung disease: one based on a multi-compartment statistical model with a log normal distribution of ventilation perfusion ratio ([image omitted]) values; and the other on a bifurcating tree which emulates the anatomical structure of the lung. In the statistical model, the distribution becomes bimodal, when the [image omitted] values of a randomly selected number of compartments are reduced by 85% to simulate lung disease. For the bifurcating tree model a difference in flow to the left and right branches coupled with a small random variation in flow ratio between generations results in a log normal distribution of flows in the terminal branches. Restricting flow through branches within the tree to simulate lung disease transforms this log normal distribution to a bi-modal one. These results are compatible with those obtained from experiments using the multiple inert gas elimination technique, where log normal distributions of [image omitted] ratio become bimodal in the presence of lung disease.


Developing countries show a higher incidence of H. pylori infection than developed countries. Also, an earlier age of acquisition of such infection is reported. This study was conducted on Sera from 89 persons who were either admitted for surgical conditions or seen on an outpatient basis and having no G.I. symptoms or signs; all aged below 30 years. Sera were tested by EIA technique for the presence of H. pylori antibodies. The sera of 78 (87.6%) were positive for H. pylori antibodies while only 11(12.4%) were negative. In those below 10 years, 10 (53%) were positive, while 29 (100%) in those between 11 - 20 years were positive and 39 (95%) of those between 21 - 30 years were positive. Ninety one percent of females but only 79% of males were positive. This study clearly illustrates that infection with H. pylori occurs in Egypt very early during childhood below the age of 10. It also shows that the detection of H. pylori antibodies, in Egypt, is of epidemiological and not clinical utility.


Digital microprocessor based relays are currently being utilized for safe, reliable and efficient operation of power systems. The overcurrent protection relay is the most extensively used component to safeguard power systems from the detrimental effects of faults. Wrong settings in overcurrent relay parameters can lead to false tripping or even bypassing fault conditions which can lead to a catastrophe. Therefore it is important to validate the settings of power protection equipment and to confirm its performance when subject to different fault conditions. This paper presents the modeling of an overcurrent relay in SimPowerSystems (MATLAB/Simulink). The overcurrent relay has the features of instantaneous, time definite and inverse definite minimum time (IDMT) characteristics. A power system is modeled in SimPowerSystems and this overcurrent relay model is incorporated in the test case. The overall model is then simulated in real-time using Opal-RT's eMEGAsim real-time simulator to analyze the relay's performance when subjected to faults and with different characteristic settings in the relay model. Finally Hardware-in-the-Loop validation of the model is done by using the overcurrent protection feature in Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Relay SEL-487E. The event reports generated by the SEL relays during Hardware-in-the-Loop testing are compared with the results obtained from the standalone testing and software model to validate the model.


Linear accelerator (linac) radiosurgery utilizes non-coplanar arc therapy delivered through circular collimators. Generally, spherically symmetric arc sets are used, resulting in nominally spherical dose distributions. Various treatment planning parameters may be manipulated to provide dose conformation to irregular lesions. Iterative manipulation of these variables can be a difficult and time-consuming task, because (a) understanding the effect of these parameters is complicated and (b) three-dimensional (3D) dose calculations are computationally expensive. This manipulation can be simplified, however, because the prescription isodose surface for all single isocentre distributions can be approximated by conic sections. In this study, the effects of treatment planning parameter manipulation on the dimensions of the treatment isodose surface were determined empirically. These dimensions were then fitted to analytic functions, assuming that the dose distributions were characterized as conic sections. These analytic functions allowed real-time approximation of the 3D isodose surface. Iterative plan optimization, either manual or automated, is achieved more efficiently using this real time approximation of the dose matrix. Subsequent to iterative plan optimization, the analytic function is related back to the appropriate plan parameters, and the dose distribution is determined using conventional dosimetry calculations. This provides a pseudo-inverse approach to radiosurgery optimization, based solely on geometric considerations.


BACKGROUND: literature points that body posture is an important aspect in the treatment of children with sensorimotor deficits. Considering individuals with cerebral palsy, reflexes are often more intense than reactions of rectification and equilibrium, causing, therefore, a delay or obstacle in cervical, torso and hip control. This delay has as a consequence an impact on the Stomatognathic System. AIM: to verify the relation between body posture and the Stomatognathic System in this population, regarding posture and function, and its effectiveness in the process of speech-language intervention. METHOD: 17 children with sensorimotor deficits, aged between 1 and 6:3 years, were submitted to an initial assessment, followed by speech-language intervention and re-assessment. Speech-language intervention occurred for a period of 10 months, with weekly individual sessions, always in the presence of the caretaker. All sessions were transcribed in a specific protocol and the assessment and re-assessment sessions were videotaped. RESULTS: a statistically significant improvement of stomatognathic system in 100% of the children was observed, not only of the isolated structures, but also of the whole system. The same was observed for the assessed functions. CONCLUSION: the improvement of body posture of the studied children favored significantly the development and improvement of the stomatognathic system regarding the aspects of posture and function.


Priniciples of Ethics- This course provides knowledge of ethics students need to make moral decisions in both their professional and personal lives.


A survey was conducted of 1,313 Western Australian drivers to determine the extent of driving by persons who had had their driver's licence disqualified or suspended. It was found that 35.8% of these drivers chose to drive at least once while under disqualification and that people who drove while disqualified did so as little as possible and in a safe, law abiding way to prevent detection. Persons with one or more previous disqualifications were especially likely to drive while disqualified and to take steps to avoid police catching them. Preference was shown for Community Service Orders over licence suspension. Drivers who had or would be obtaining a photographic driver's licence had more favourable attitudes towards traffic safety and were less likely to drive while under suspension. (Author/TRRL)


Scallops: Biology, Ecology, Aquaculture and Fisheries, Third Edition, continues its history as the definitive resource on scallops, covering all facets of scallop biology, including anatomy, taxonomy, physiology, ecology, larval biology, and neurobiology. More than thirty extensive chapters explore both fisheries and aquaculture for all species of scallops in all countries where they are fished or cultured. This treatise has been updated to include the most recent advances in research and the newest developments within the industry. As aquaculture remains one of the fastest-growing animal food-producing sectors, this reference becomes even more vital. It has all the available information on scallops needed to equip researchers to deal with the unique global issues in the field.Offers 30 detailed chapters on the development and ecology of scallopsProvides chapters on various cultures of scallops in China, Japan, Scandinavia, Europe, Eastern North America, and Western North AmericaIncludes details of scallop reproduction, nervous system, and behavior, genetics, diseases, parasites, and much moreCompletely updated edition with valuable information on one of the most widely distributed shellfish in the world


Managing patients with myelofibrosis (MF) (both those with primary myelofibrosis or having evolved from an antecedent polycythemia vera or essential thrombocythemia) present many challenges to the hematologist. MF patients suffer from a variable, but severe range of disease manifestations including massive splenomegaly, cytopenias, significant constitutional symptoms, possible transformation to blast phase and premature death. Cure is achievable through allogeneic stem cell transplantation; yet, this therapy is either inappropriate or not an option for most patients. Current available therapies are palliative, but can sometimes be of significant value to MF patients. The discovery of the JAK2-V617F mutation, and other pathogenetic insights into the pathophysiology of myeloproliferative neoplasms, has ushered in an era of potential new therapies for MF. Over a dozen JAK2 inhibitors are in development, with the leading compounds such as INCB018424, TG101348 and others showing promising early results particularly for control of disease associated splenomegaly and symptoms. Parallel trials with immunomodulatory therapy for MF associated anemia and stromal manifestations of the disease are continuing. The future may well see the approval of a range of agents for MF patients, with differing mechanisms of action, efficacy and toxicity profiles.


Absorption process using aqueous amine solvents is a suitable methode for carbon capture in power plants, because this technology can easily be retrofitted to existing power stations. Absorption process has a high selectivity, very high capacity, low cost and less harmful to the environment. Finding solvents with better properties is one approach to improving this technology.
 Amino acids have a high reaction rate in general, particularly when it reacts with carbon dioxide, resulting in high carbon dioxide loading capacity to the absorption column. The reaction's product carbamate requires a low heat of decomposition in the desorption section.
 The main focus of this thesis is to investigate proline loading capacity. Proline seems to be the best amino acid solvent for the carbon capture process; as it has a higher solubility in water than other amino acids. This means proline do have a highest carbon dioxide loading per unit volume.
 Work undertaken a part of this thesis analysed proline loading capacity in a stirred cell reactor at two different operating temperatures. The definition of proline loading capacity is the moles of carbon dioxide absorbed per moles of proline in the solution.
 Our experimental results indicated that proline loading capacity is 0.51 [mol carbon dioxide /mol proline] at 50°C and 0.63 [mol carbon dioxide /mol proline] at 25°C without precipitation.
 Experimental investigation of the effect of precipitation on carbon dioxide absorption systems has shown a higher loading capacity. The precipitation was observed at high proline solution concentration
 ≥7 Molal and at temperature 25°C. The precipitation was identified using X-ray diffraction. The chemical composition of the precipitates formed is mainly potassium bicarbonate. Proline loading capacity with the precipitation strongly depends on the concentration of proline solution and can be expressed as follows:
 Proline loading capacity with the precipitation = 0.0265 X + 0.495, where x is the molality of proline solution
 The examination of temperature effect shows lower solvent loading capacity at higher temperatures. It is also observed that the critical point between the precipitating and non-precipitating is strongly dependent on temperature. This system behavior can be explained by the influence of the temperature on the solubility of carbon dioxide in water.


UML sequence diagrams have been widely used during requirements analysis and design for specifying the expected message exchanges among a set of objects in various scenarios for the program to perform a certain task. In this paper, we present the behavior view diagrams, a type of extended sequence diagrams, to facilitate execution monitoring during debugging. Using a behavior view diagram, the software developers can precisely specify the runtime objects whose behaviors will be monitored during debugging. The software developers can also specify the important message exchanges that are expected to be observed among these objects in various scenarios, and may further define the monitoring actions to be performed for inspecting the program state when a message exchange is observed. We also present a debugger that can automatically monitor the program execution using the information specified in a behavior view diagram. Through this monitoring, the debugger can not only check whether the scenarios are progressed as intended, but also check whether the actions performed by the program have the the desired effects on the program states. Therefore, it can be useful for detecting and localizing bugs.


The long term dynamic system behavior under severe frequency and voltage changes, and the logics of automatic control actions (e.g., underfrequency load shedding and underfrequency generator separation) are discussed. The long term power system dynamic simulation is devised as a tool for studying the coordination of emergency control techniques in order to prevent significant deviations in power systems variables. A modification of the fast, decoupled power flow technique is considered for the quasi-stationary power flow solution. This approach is enhanced by the trapezoidal rule integration algorithm and the Runge-Kutta fourth order method for the solution of power system dynamic equations. Typical scenarios for the system recovery after power outages are discussed, and recommendations for the implementation of these techniques in large-scale power systems are provided. These topics are illustrated by two practical-examples for modern power systems. >


This paper discusses the simple open student models used in two of our constraint-based tutors, SQL-Tutor and KERMIT, and their effects on self-assessment. The systems present a high-level abstraction of the detailed information contained in the student model, in terms of skill meters representing the student's progress on domain concepts. SQL-Tutor presents the open student model when the student requires it, or when selecting new problems. KERMIT, on the other hand, continuously displays a high-level summary of the student's progress, while more detailed information is available on request. Our results show that even simple open student models can have important positive effects on learning and students' meta-cognitive skills. Students appreciated having access to their models, and they felt this feature contributed to their understanding of the domain. Performance of less able students becomes significantly better than that of their peers of similar abilities without access to their models. We have also seen that open student models can help students learn to select better problems.


Existing approaches to ensuring the validity of inferences drawn from data assume a fixed procedure to be performed, selected before the data are examined. Yet the practice of data analysis is an intrinsically interactive and adaptive process: new analyses and hypotheses are proposed after seeing the results of previous ones, parameters are tuned on the basis of obtained results, and datasets are shared and reused. In this work, we initiate a principled study of how to guarantee the validity of statistical inference in adaptive data analysis. We demonstrate new approaches for addressing the challenges of adaptivity that are based on techniques developed in privacy-preserving data analysis. As an application of our techniques we give a simple and practical method for reusing a holdout (or testing) set to validate the accuracy of hypotheses produced adaptively by a learning algorithm operating on a training set.


This study examined sediments and foraminiferal assemblages on the inner continental shelf adjacent to Ponta Negra Beach, an important tourist destination in northeast Brazil. Eighteen sediment samples were collected in October 2013, nine each at depths of 5 m and 10 m. The predominance of sandy textures (64–99%), the very limited amounts of organic matter ( 2 concentrations, indicate that hydrodynamics, including waves and currents, are major influences on the sedimentary environment. Foraminiferal species richness was very low; only 11 species were identified in the most species-rich sample and the median for the 18 samples was 5 species. The dominant species were Ammonia tepida, Quinqueloculina angulata , Q. atlantica, Textularia gramen, Bolivina translucens and Pseudononion atlanticum , which are common nearshore shelf taxa. At the 5 m stations, A. tepida and Q. angulata dominated, while at the 10 m stations, T. gramen dominated. Principal Components Analysis revealed four major factors: sand, depth, % gravel and % silt and clay; % gravel correlated positively with % carbonate and % total organic matter in the sediments. Cluster analysis of the foraminiferal data produced two distinct groups corresponding to the 5 m and 10 m stations. In a multidimensional-scaling plot, each group spread along a linear trend from low to higher % carbonate, with slightly higher organic matter in the 10 m samples. Ammonia tepida , an opportunistic and hypoxia-tolerant species, was most dominant near the outlet of the heavily urbanized Potengi River.


In Mediterranean European countries, 85% of the assessed stocks are currently overfished compared to a maximum sustainable yield reference value (MSY) while populations of many commercial species are characterized by truncated size- and age-structures. Rebuilding the size- and age-structure of exploited populations is a management objective that combines single species targets such as MSY with specific goals of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAF), preserving community size-structure and the ecological role of different species. Here, we show that under the current fishing regime, stock productivity and fleet profitability are generally impaired by a combination of high fishing mortality and inadequate selectivity patterns. For most of the stocks analysed, a simple reduction in the current fishing mortality (Fcur) towards an MSY reference value (FMSY), without any change in the fishing selectivity, will allow neither stock biomass nor fisheries yield and revenue to be maximized. On the contrary, management targets can be achieved only through a radical change in fisheries selectivity. Shifting the size of first capture towards the size at which fish cohorts achieve their maximum biomass, the so-called optimal length, would produce on average between two and three times higher economic yields and much higher biomass at sea for the exploited stocks. Moreover, it would contribute to restore marine ecosystem structure and resilience to enhance ecosystem services such as reservoirs of biodiversity and functioning food webs.


In this work we present a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) system designed for the on-board determination of human gait entropy. The usage of nonlinear entropy-based metrics has proven to be a useful tool for analyzing the complexity of biological systems. The final goal of entropy calculation in this type of biological system is to identify possible causes of future injuries (in order to improve aging) and the early injury detection (ideal for elite athletes). Existing systems for human gait analysis are limited to traditional data gathering, e.g. continuous measurement and wireless transmission to a Data Fusion Center (DFC), due to the computational burden of entropy calculation. In addition, actual systems are likely to interfere the natural movement due to their cumbersome nature. The WSN presented here uses four sensor nodes, located in both ankles and hip sides, and are equipped with triaxial accelerometers. We propose the use of low-complexity algorithms in order to perform onboard entropy determination prior to wireless transmission. The proposed system can be used to reliably determine long-term human gait entropy.


To meet the growing demand for teacher learning opportunities, the educational community must create scalable professional development models and study their effectiveness. In this chapter, we argue that design-based implementation research (DBIR) is ideally suited to these efforts, and we use two research projects in which we are currently involved as illustrative cases: CSR Colorado and Implementing the Problem-Solving Cycle (iPSC). The core of CSR Colorado is Collaborative Strategic Reading, an instructional approach designed to enhance reading comprehension in content classes. The focus of iPSC is the Problem-Solving Cycle, a mathematics professional development (PD) program designed to help teachers improve their instruction through closely examining mathematics problems, student thinking, and pedagogical practices. Each project works with a school district to bring a PD model to scale, and both projects are studying the structures and resources needed to build the district's capacity to sustain the model beyond the duration of the research. The chapter describes each project and discusses the successes and challenges we experienced as we collaborated with the districts and schools to carry them out. By highlighting two very different projects we show how, through different means, it is possible to achieve the same ultimate end of a scaled-up program for improving instructional practices.


Jo Baker's 2013 novel Longbourn explicitly engages with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, published two centuries earlier. Longbourn's plot neatly intersects with Austen's original, offering us a glimpse into a world which adaptations of Austen's novels, and even Austen herself, have long been criticised for ignoring. Baker takes advantage of the freedoms of twenty-first century fiction to bring into the light aspects of Austen's writing that Regency discretion elided, and Victorian prudery all but annihilated. Longbourn explores with sensitivity and due regard to historicity matters to which Austen could only allude; the horrors of war and military justice, complexities of sexuality that cannot be wholly contained within the sanction of marriage, the effects of the industrial revolution on the countryside and poor alike. If Pride and Prejudice, as Austen ironically opined, was "too light & bright & sparkling", Longbourn offers us the shading that throws that sparkle into relief, thereby allowing us to view it afresh.


This study examines the impact of the non-farm sector on farm value-added and production efficiency in the Vietnamese agricultural sector by using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2012. Production function and stochastic frontier production analysis is used to determine the impact, and the instrumental variables method is applied to address endogeneity. We find that the Vietnamese non-farm sector has a positive effect on both farm value-added and efficiency. This result indicates that income from non-farm activities relaxes liquidity constraints and farmers can reinvest this capital in agricultural production. Our result provides evidence of the important role played by the non-farm sector in relaxing credit constraints and enhancing agricultural production efficiency for developing countries.


Co-culture models have been increasingly used in tissue engineering applications to understand cell–cell interactions and consequently improve regenerative medicine strategies. Aiming at further elucidating cartilage tissue formation, we co-cultured bovine primary chondrocytes (BPCs) with human expanded chondrocytes (HECs), human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs), mouse embryonic stem cells (MESCs), or mouse-3T3 feeder cells (M3T3s) in micromasses. BPCs were either co-cultured (1:5 ratio) with all cell types allowing direct cell–cell contacts or as separate micromasses in the same well with HECs. In co-culture groups with direct cell–cell contacts cartilaginous tissue was formed in all experimental groups. In situ hybridization showed that only 16–27% of the cells expressed type II collagen mRNA. Corresponding with the fact that micromasses consisted for approximately 20% only of BPCs, the amount of GAG was similar between 100% BPC micromass and the co-culture groups with HECs and HDFs. Therefore, co-culture micromasses support cartilage tissue formation predominantly originating from primary chondrocytes in direct contact with a variety of cell types. These findings potentially could be applied to optimize cell-therapy treatments for cartilage regeneration.


The economic and social development has been facing with serious challenge brought by global climate change due to carbon emissions. As a responsible developing country, China pledged to reduce its carbon emission intensity by 40%- 45% below 2005levels by 2020. The realization of this target depends on not only the substantive transition of society, economy and industrial structure in national scale, but also the specific action and share of energy saving and emissions reduction in provincial scale. Based on the method provided by the IPCC, this paper examines the spatio-temporal dynamic patterns and domain factors of China's carbon emission intensity from energy consumption in 1997- 2010 using spatial autocorrelation analysis and spatial panel econometric model. The aim is to provide scientific basis for making different policies on energy conservation and carbon emission reduction in China. The results are shown as follows. Firstly, China's carbon emissions increased from 4.16 Gt to 11.29 Gt in 1997-2010, with an annual rate of 7.15%, which was much slower than that of annual growth rate of GDP(11.72%); therefore, China's carbon emission intensity tended to decline. Secondly, the changing curve of Moran's I indicated that China's carbon emission intensity from energy consumption has a continued strengthening tendency of spatial agglomeration at provincial scale. The provinces with higher and lower values appeared to be path-dependent or space-locked to some extent. Third, according to the analysis of spatial panel econometric model, it can be found that energy intensity, energy structure, industrial structure and urbanization rate were the domain factors that have impact on the spatio- temporal patterns of China's carbon emission intensity from energy consumption. Therefore, in order to realize the targets of energy conservation and emission reduction, we should improve the utilizing efficiency of energy, and optimize energy and industrial structure, and choose the low- carbon urbanization way and implement regional cooperation strategy of energy conservation and emissions reduction.


: The threefold evolutions of human work in the technological, social and cybernetic dimensions all contribute to the same two major epistemological and methodological consequences: 1) First Order problems result fro the increasing dificulty of interpreting any historical remains and data (artifacts, texts, figures, pictures, videos, software programs and everything else) because ever more contextual information has to be added in order to understand what such data effectively mean. This demands a shift from "atomistic" to "holistic-systemic" perspectives insofar as the knowledge about very encompassing technological and social systems is decisive whether and to what extent the meaning and function of lower-order objects or processes can be identified. 2) Second Order order epistemological problems arise from the fact that are themselves confronted with the same cognitive complexities as any outside observers who do social research. Future researchers will have extreme difficulties to reconstruct the cognitive mind set of past actors, because no adequate and consensual subjective perceptions and interpretations can be assumed. Abstract The threefold evolutions of human work in the technological, social and cybernetic dimensions all contribute to the same two major epistemological and methodological consequences: 1) First Order problems result fro the increasing dificulty of interpreting any historical remains and data (artifacts, texts, figures, pictures, videos, software programs and everything else) because ever more contextual information has to be added in order to understand what such data effectively mean. This demands a shift from "atomistic" to "holistic-systemic" perspectives insofar as the knowledge about very encompassing technological and social systems is decisive whether and to what extent the meaning and function of lower-order objects or processes can be identified. 2) Second Order order epistemological problems arise from the fact that are themselves confronted with the same cognitive complexities as any outside observers who do social research. Future researchers will have extreme difficulties to reconstruct the cognitive mind set of past actors, because no adequate and consensual subjective perceptions and interpretations can be assumed. _________________________________________________________________________________________________


David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars contains all the elements for a good story – unfulfilled desire, a dead body that has met its end mysteriously, a quest for "the truth", a trial, unrequited love and finally, a solution to an elegantly constructed puzzle. Overlay these elements with the most seductive siren song for late twentieth-century audiences, ethnicity and race relations, and the story looks irresistible. And irresistible it was for Universal Studios who bought the publishing rights for the book and hired Australian Scott Hicks of Shine fame to direct the film, released in 1999.


The high-school chemistry curriculum is loaded with many important chemical concepts that are taught at the high-school level and it is therefore very difficult to add modern contents to the existing curriculum. However, many studies have underscored the importance of integrating modern chemistry contents such as nanotechnology into a high-school curriculum. When students are exposed to nanotechnology, they perceive chemistry as more relevant to their life, and more modern than the chemistry they usually study at school, and consequently, their continuous motivation to study chemistry and related subjects increases. In the current study we identified topics in the high-school chemistry curriculum in Israel into which the essential nano-scale science and technology (NST) concepts can be integrated. Insertion points for all 8 NST essential concepts were found. We discuss the importance of ways in which chemistry educators can implement the results for updating the chemistry curriculum, thus making it more modern and relevant to the actual chemistry research that is conducted.


Artistic gymnastics attracts a large number of children and offers a range of participation levels. Gymnastics starts for many with Kinder gym classes which are aimed at the development of fundamental motor skills in a game-like gymnastics environment. Most children will continue onto recreational (non competitive) gymnastics or to a nationally structured competitive program, with a select few then going onto high intensity elite training and competition from as early as 6 to 8 years of age. Considerable variability is evident in the ability of gymnasts to perform each of the apparatus during competition at all levels (interclub, state, national, international) often due to the individual variation in physical attributes. Gymnastics requires explosive sprinting, jumping, pushing and pulling skills, together with balance and artistry on four apparatus for women (beam, uneven bars, floor, vault) and five for men (high bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, floor, vault). In competition these apparatus routines are judged subjectively by a panel of judges to identify the content and difficulty (D score) and the perfection in execution (E score).


Abstract Extracellular vesicles play a crucial role in feto-maternal communication and provide an important paracrine signaling mechanism in pregnancy. We hypothesized that fetal cells-derived exosomes and microvesicles (MVs) under oxidative stress (OS) carry unique cargo and traffic through feto-maternal interface, which cause inflammation in uterine cells associated with parturition. Exosomes and MVs, from primary amnion epithelial cell (AEC) culture media under normal or OS-induced conditions, were isolated by optimized differential centrifugation method followed by characterization for size (nanoparticle tracking analyzer), shape (transmission electron microscopy), and protein markers (western blot and immunofluorescence). Cargo and canonical pathways were identified by mass spectroscopy and ingenuity pathway analysis. Myometrial, decidual, and cervical cells were treated with 1 × 107 control/OS-derived exosomes/MVs. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were measured using a Luminex assay. Statistical significance was determined by paired T-test (P < 0.05). AEC produced cup-shaped exosomes of 90–150 nm and circular MVs of 160–400 nm. CD9, heat shock protein 70, and Nanog were detected in exosomes, whereas OCT-4, human leukocyte antigen G, and calnexin were found in MVs. MVs, but not exosomes, were stained for phosphatidylserine. The protein profiles for control versus OS-derived exosomes and MVs were significantly different. Several inflammatory pathways related to OS were upregulated that were distinct between exosomes and MVs. Both OS-derived exosomes and MVs significantly increased pro-inflammatory cytokines (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and IL-8) in maternal cells compared with control (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that fetal-derived exosomes and MVs under OS exhibited distinct characteristics and a synergistic inflammatory role in uterine cells associated with the initiation of parturition. Summary sentence Oxidative stress-induced fetal membrane cells produce exosomes and MVs with distinct properties and cargo and may function as paracrine signalers at the feto-maternal interface during pregnancy and parturition. Graphical Abstract


A $k$-universal permutation, or $k$-superpermutation, is a permutation that contains all permutations of length $k$ as patterns.  The problem of finding the minimum length of a $k$-superpermutation has recently received significant attention in the field of permutation patterns.  One can ask analogous questions for other classes of objects.  In this paper, we study $k$-supertrees.  For each $d\geq 2$, we focus on two types of rooted plane trees called $d$-ary plane trees and $[d]$-trees.  Motivated by recent developments in the literature, we consider "contiguous" and "noncontiguous" notions of pattern containment for each type of tree.  We obtain both upper and lower bounds on the minimum possible size of a $k$-supertree in three cases; in the fourth, we determine the minimum size exactly.  One of our lower bounds makes use of a recent result of Albert, Engen, Pantone, and Vatter on $k$-universal layered permutations.


Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder caused by degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons. The disease process leads, because of lower motor neuron involvement, to progressive muscle atrophy, weakness, and fasciculations and for the upper motor neuron involvement leads to spasticity. Muscle atrophy in ALS is caused by a neural dysregulation in the molecular network controlling fast and slow muscle fibers. Denervation and reinnervation processes in skeletal muscle occur in the course of ALS and are modulated by rehabilitation. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that are involved in different biological functions under various pathophysiological conditions. MiRNAs can be secreted by various cell types and they are markedly stable in body fluids. MiR-1, miR-133 a miR-133b, and miR-206 are called "myomiRs" and are considered markers of myogenesis during muscle regeneration and contribute to neuromuscular junction stabilization or sprouting. We observed a positive effect of a standard aerobic exercise rehabilitative protocol conducted for six weeks in 18 ALS patients during hospitalization in our center. This is a preliminary study, in which we correlated clinical scales with molecular data on myomiRs. After six weeks of moderate aerobic exercise, we found lower levels in serum of myomiRNAs. Our data suggest that circulating miRNAs changed during skeletal muscle recovery in response to physical rehabilitation in ALS. However, no firm conclusions can be made on the ALS-specific effect of exercise on miRNA levels.


The goal of this work was to develop a foil activation method to measure high-energy (1–120 MeV) neutron flux spectra at the Spallation Neutron Source by researching the scientific literature, assembling an experimental apparatus, performing experiments, analyzing the results, and refining the technique based on experience. The primary motivation for this work is to provide a benchmark for the neutron source term used in target station and shielding simulations Two sets of foil irradiations were performed, one at the ARCS beamline and one at the POWGEN beamline. The gamma radiation of the foil activation products was measured with a high purity germanium gamma-ray spectrometer, and the product reaction rates during irradiation were quantified. Corrections, such as self-shielding factors, were applied to the measurements to account for particular effects. The corrected measurement data, along with calculated response functions and an initial guess spectrum, were input to the MAXED neutron spectrum unfolding computer code. MAXED uses the maximum entropy method to unfold an output spectrum that is the minimally modified guess spectrum consistent with the measurement data. The foil irradiation and subsequent analysis from the ARCS spectrum produced a reasonable neutron spectrum, which noticeably differed from the initial guess spectrum. This measurement is regarded as consistent, but yet unverified. The gamma-ray spectrum of the foil irradiation at the POWGEN beamline showed no high-energy activation. This is regarded as an experimental error, and no conclusions can be drawn about the high-energy neutron spectrum. Future foil irradiations are planned to verify and expand the neutron spectrum measurements.


Abstract Design of facilities network, allocation of customers to be served from the facilities and their operations have strong economic, environmental and social impacts. Although the decisions in the facility location problem may have varying effects on these impacts, simultaneous consideration of these effects in the early stages of decision-making for facility location selection and network plan has attracted limited attention in the facility location decision literature. Specifically, the social dimension and mathematical modelling are rarely used. In this paper, we present a decision support framework for the facility location problem that incorporates the triple bottom line accounting of sustainability. The framework is a valuable integration of mathematical modelling embedding the criteria with proper measurement indicators in a multi-objective model, perspectives of the related stakeholders, any thresholds and assumption, model analysis, and the decision-maker strategy to find the best-fit alternative. We demonstrate our methodological approach to establish a supply network for digital products in Turkey using real data. The results indicate that the method can balance the economic, environmental and social pillars, based on limitations of the three pillars and strategic perspective of the decision-maker. The decision-maker can interpret the interactions among the three pillars of sustainability and can make his decision by analysing the balance between them.


The local complications resulting from BCG vaccination in new-born babies and pre-school children in Taiwan are discussed. The author points out that severe local reactions at the site of vaccination are rare, but that the frequency of regional glandular enlargement and abscess formation is alarmingly high-particularly among new-born babies-and there is a danger of the prestige of BCG vaccination being lowered in consequence.


Limitations to chemical syntheses have always been present and prevented reactions from producing products effectively or even at all. The goal of this thesis is to tackle these limitations by the use of one thing; nano-reactors. These nano-reactors possess innate properties which provide viable options to improve the effectiveness of chemical reactions. The reaction that is going to be tackled is the synthesis of biodiesel fuels. Biodiesel fuels are fatty acid-based esters that can be synthesized from used or unused cooking oils through a simple transesterification reaction. The simplicity of the reaction, recyclable use of cooking oils, and environmental benefits of using biodiesel fuels provide a viable option to replace currently used petroleum based fuels. Experimental results of the one-pot reaction used to synthesize biodiesel fuels provided yields 99% plus consistently. The reaction success along with the aforementioned benefits indicate that biodiesel fuels could be a possible replacement for currently used petroleum based fuels.


Following planning permission being granted to by Home North West to construct ten
dwellings at Harmony Hill, Milnthorpe, Cumbria (centred on NGR SD 5005 8163),
Cumbria County Council's Historic Environment Service (CCCHES) issued a formal
brief for a programme of archaeological work required as a condition. During a
previous evaluation at Dallam School, immediately to the north of the proposed
development site, in 2005 four human cremations were uncovered, three of which
were of Late Bronze Age date and grouped together, the fourth was Late Neolithic
and was located away from the other three (ASUD 2005a; ASUD 2005b). An undated
pit and ditch were associated with the late Bronze Age cremations. Therefore, this
area is considered to be of high archaeological potential and CCCHES advised that an
archaeological evaluation comprising a rapid desk-based assessment, visual inspection
and trial trenching of the site was necessary. Oxford Archaeology North (OA North)
were commissioned to undertake the work in July 2008.
Fifteen sites of archaeological significance were identified within the study area (a
0.5km radius surrounding the proposed development site) following consultation of
the Historic Environment Record (HER) in Kendal. The whole of the proposed
development site was identified in the HER as the site of a former weaver's shop and
paddock belonging to the Dallam Tower Estate (HER 42180), which dated to at least
the early nineteenth century. However, by the second half of the nineteenth century it
had been cleared, as shown on the Ordnance Survey first (1862) and second (1898)
edition maps. The site was then later partially occupied by sheep pens by 1914 and
became a Council Yard in the twentieth century (Greenlane Archaeology Ltd 2008,
8).


5-aminolevulinic-acid-(5-ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescence may be used to improve stereotactic brain tumor biopsies. In this study, the sensitivity of PpIX-based tumor detection has been investigated for two potential excitation wavelengths (405 nm, 633 nm). Using a 200 μm fiber in contact with semi-infinite optical phantoms containing ink and Lipovenös, PpIX detection limits of 4.0 nM and 200 nM (relating to 1 mW excitation power) were determined for 405 nm and 633 nm excitation, respectively. Hence, typical PpIX concentrations in glioblastomas of a few μM should be well detectable with both wavelengths. Additionally, blood layers of selected thicknesses were placed between fiber and phantom. Red excitation was shown to be considerably less affected by blood interference: A 50 μm blood layer, for instance, blocked the 405- nm-excited fluorescence completely, but reduced the 633-nm-excited signal by less than 50%. Ray tracing simulations demonstrated that – without blood layer – the sensitivity advantage of 405 nm rises for decreasing fluorescent volume from 50-fold to a maximum of 100-fold. However, at a tumor volume of 1 mm3, which is a typical biopsy sample size, the 633-nm-excited fluorescence signal is only reduced by about 10%. Further simulations revealed that with increasing fiber-tumor distance, the signal drops faster for 405 nm. This reduces the risk of detecting tumor tissue outside the needle's coverage, but diminishes the overlap between optically and mechanically sampled volumes. While 405 nm generally offers a higher sensitivity, 633 nm is more sensitive to distant tumors and considerably superior in case of blood-covered tumor tissue.


This study was carried out to evaluate performance of Biozyme 1070 used in the degradation of sewage organic wastes in septic tanks. The study is occasioned by the fact that most Niger Delta areas in Nigeria have waste management and disposal problems from sewage disposal systems due to high water table. In the same vein, there is also high probability of groundwater contamination with faecal wastes resulting in water borne diseases amongst our populations. Septic tanks close to public facilities such as motor parks, office complexes, student hostels and residential buildings were selected in Port Harcourt city for the exercise. Laboratory analysis of organic waste samples obtained from five (5) different septic tanks into a 20 litre sterile plastic buckets were employed using standard analytical methods before application of Biozyme powder in proportions stated by the manufactures and left for 48-72 hours. This involved the enumeration of total heterotrophic bacteria, total coliform bacteria and Salmonella-Shigella bacteria using the ten-fold serial dilution procedure. In the case of total or faecal coliform bacteria, the most probable number (MPN) technique using multiple tables' method was used. The range of results showed that the total heterotrophic bacteria increased from 3.1x106 to 14.4x106cfu/ml after application of Biozyme 1070, while Salmonella-Shigella bacteria decreased from12.0x104 to 1.52x104cfu/ml, total coliform bacteria also decreased from 29,000 to 18,000 coliform/100ml, while faecal coliform bacteria decreased from 16,000 to 12,000 coliform/100ml after 48 hours. Physical observation of the waste samples showed reasonable formulation of the waste which turned from semi liquid to completely liquid sample and became odourless. This paper recommends that to avoid contamination of drinking water sources and other problems, decongestion of onsite facilities in urban centres and construction of offsite network facilities (centralized treatment sewer system) in order to safeguard human health.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of diode laser (GaAlAs – 780 nm) on pain to palpation and electromyographic (EMG) activity of the masseter and anterior temporalis muscles. The laser was applied on the temporalis and masseter muscles twice a week (four weeks). Forty-eight (48) patients with myofascial pain were randomly assigned between actual and placebo treatments and between the energetic doses of 25 J/cm2 and 60 J/cm2, and were evaluated using VAS before, immediately after the final application, and 30 days after the laser treatment. Surface electromyography was performed with maximum dental clenching before and after laser therapy. The results show there were no significant statistical differences in the EMG activity between the groups before and after laser treatment. With regard to the pain at palpation, although both groups presented a significant difference in the symptoms before and after the treatment, only the active doses showed statistically significant reductions in pain level in all the regions of the palpated muscles. However, there was no significant statistical difference between groups (experimental and placebo). In conclusion, low level laser did not promote any changes in EMG activity. The treatment did, however, lessen the pain symptoms in the experimental groups.


Objective To assess the prevalence and determinants of haematinic deficiency (lack of B12 folate or iron) and macrocytosis in blood from a national population-based study of middle-aged and older adults. Methods A cross-sectional study involving 1,207 adults aged ≥45 years, recruited from a sub-study of the Irish National Survey of Lifestyle Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÁN 2007). Participants completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire and a standard food frequency questionnaire. Non-fasting blood samples were obtained for measurement of full blood count and expert morphological assessment, serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor assay (sTfR), B12, folate and coeliac antibodies. Blood samples were also assayed for thyroid function (T4, TSH), liver function, aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT). Results The overall prevalence (95% C.I.) of anaemia (Hb <13.5g/dl men and 11.3 g/dl women) was 4.6% (2.9%–6.4%) in men and 1.0% (0.2%–1.9%) in women. Iron deficiency (ferritin <17ng/ml men and <11ng/ml in women) was detected in 6.3% of participants (3.7% in males and 8.7% in females, p<0.001). Based on both low ferritin and raised sTfR (>21nmol/ml) only 2.3% were iron-deficient. 3.0% and 2.7% were found to have low levels of serum folate (<2.3ng/ml) and serum B12 (<120ng/l) respectively. Clinically significant macrocytosis (MCV>99fl) was detected in 8.4% of subjects. Strong, significant and independent associations with macrocytosis were observed for lower social status, current smoking status, moderate to heavy alcohol intake, elevated GGT levels, deficiency of folate and vitamin B12, hypothyroidism and coeliac disease. The population attributable fraction (PAF) for macrocytosis associated with elevated GGT (25.0%) and smoking (24.6%) was higher than for excess alcohol intake (6.3%), folate deficiency (10.5%) or vitamin B12 (3.4%). Conclusions Haematinic deficiency and macrocytosis are common in middle-aged/older adults in Ireland. Macrocytosis is more likely to be attributable to an elevated GGT and smoking than vitamin B12 or folate deficiency.


Background and aim: Traditional cheese has a special place in the diets of our community because of cultural, favorite taste, odor and its nutritional values as an important protein source. However, its pathogenic infection can endanger the human being health and cause serious economic losses. The aim of this study was measurement and determination of microbial infection in traditional cheese distributed in Markazi province in 2010. Material and methods: Markazi Province was divided into 10 districts; eight sample were chosen from each district at summer, 2011. Samples were transferred to the laboratory under sterile conditions and were analyzed by microbiological tests. The data were analyzed statistically by T-test using SAS software. Results: The results indicated that all of samples had coliform, staphylococcus aurous, mold, and yeast contamination greater than Iranian standards (P<0.001). It was found that 34 percent of the samples had E.coli contamination; moreover, 24 and 8 percent of samples had Coagulase-positive staphylococcal and salmonella contamination respectively. Conclusion: These results indicate a notable contamination of traditional cheese with microbial infection in Markazi province.


During the Pandemic, the access to online education was the best solution to continue teaching. The evolution of technology and its inclusion in the educational process has had its primary role in changing the way we learn, teach, and evaluate. Students are no longer tied to a specific space to be in contact with information, which they no longer necessarily take from books. Access to information paves the way for deciding individually what to learn, in what system, whether to join a learning community, or to download materials to study individually.
Interactive learning is based on the exchange of information and ideas, opinions, beliefs, and attitudes, on interpretations and resolutive suggestions and on the social interactions that are established within a group. Interactive learning can be defined as cooperative or collaborative learning based on the paradigm of group-centred learning, reinforced by the theory of social learning. The permanent interaction with the groups to which the learner belongs, the access to the common experience and knowledge of the group members contribute to an ascending learning process supported by a continuous feedback.
Learning is located in a social setting, in the middle of cultural influences, and technology-based collaborative learning can facilitate interaction between individuals and teamwork, and how collaboration and technology facilitate the transmission of knowledge and practices between members of a community. Collaboration can be considered a special form of interaction mediated by a computer.
The aim of the paper is to present best practices in interactive learning, challenges, and solutions emphasizing on the use of new online technologies. We focus on bachelor's degree programs students but the results can be replicated in different learning systems