It is now accepted that human error in healthcare is inevitable and that a punitive response does not facilitate patient safety. Reason's (2000) system approach acknowledges that adverse events, such as medication errors, rarely have a single explanation and advocates the review of systemic factors, such as organizational culture, management and strategy. Rational choice theory has much in common with the system approach but the emphasis is on understanding the decision-making process of those who make errors. It could therefore be used in conjunction with the system approach to enhance the ability of healthcare providers to learn from medication errors and other adverse events. The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between rational choice theory and the system approach to error management in nursing.


This working paper describes international and domestic efforts to enact legal protections for environmental migrants, with attention to Latin America, and examines why efforts to craft a comprehensive international instrument to address this phenomenon have yet to succeed. It details factors contributing to this impasse, including: the lack of an existing framework; the inherent complexity and variability of environmental migration; the trend towards restrictive migration policies; and the lack of a clear institutional leader at the international level. Citing the limits of an exclusive focus on the creation of a new international instrument, the paper also points to the need to recalibrate normative success as it relates to environmental migration. It advocates, instead, for a broader range of responses underwritten by a series of analytical shifts, including: the embrace of principles of responsiveness, flexibility, creativity, and ongoing information-gathering; simultaneous interventions at the local, national, regional, and international levels; and informed participation by affected migrants that reflects their goals and agentic capacity and transcends a pattern of reductionist victimhood.


Technologies called infrastructures are often considered to be inherently and opaquely political, but how they exert their politics has been both empirically and conceptually debated. Infrastructure studies have largely focused on (in)visibility or 'infra' qualities as central criteria for assessing who and what is included and excluded, and when. In this paper we argue that this binary is unproductive and propose the concept of interstructure to highlight the connective and aesthetic qualities of technologies as well as their political features. These features may be quite transparent but also ambivalent, which we demonstrate by analysing an elevator for cyclists in Belgrade, Serbia. We draw on material semiotics to unpack the practices, the sense-making and the political work of this elevator in relation to its design and use. The analysis is based on interviews and an observation study. It shows that the elevator elicited substantial articulation work among most users as well as the operators who ran it. The elevator's politics were produced through continuous negotiations among actors with partial views. Unpredictable connections captured a clearly ambivalent politics. We conclude by arguing that similar political dynamics may be present in transport and urban technologies more generally and that the concept of interstructure offers a fruitful avenue to study them and their politics.


: Heart transplantation has become an established therapeutic option for some patients with end stage heart failure. The technique of heart transplantation involves excision of the diseased heart leaving behind cuffs of the right and left atria, pulmonary artery and aorta, which are subsequently attached to their counterparts in the procured donor heart. In most cases donor and recipient operations are carried out in two different hospitals which can be hundreds of miles apart. Careful coordination and timing of the donor and recipient operations is fundamental to keep the ischemic time (ie, the time taken to remove the donor heart, transport to the transplant center and implant in the recipient) to a minimum. Ischemic time longer than 4 hours carries a significantly higher operative mortality. Preservation of the donor heart during the period of ischemia is achieved using a potassium based cardioplegic solution which arrests the heart in diastole, and is supplemented with topical cooling to keep the myocardial temperature at 4 degrees C. Due to cardiac denervation and impaired ability to respond to high filling pressures, maintaining a fast heart rate is essential to maximize cardiac output during the early postoperative period. High pulmonary vascular resistance can occur postoperatively and can result in failure of the donor heart. This may require the use of vasodilators and mechanical right heart assistance. In addition to the use of immunosuppressive agents to prevent rejection of the donor heart, careful attention should be given to renal function and to prophylaxis against infection. The overall 30-day survival (ie, operative survival) currently exceeds 95%.


The structure of a genome can be described at its simplest by the number of chromosomes and the sex chromosome system it contains. Despite over a century of study, the evolution of genome structure on this scale remains recalcitrant to broad generalizations that can be applied across clades. To address this issue, we have assembled a dataset of 823 karyotypes from the insect group Polyneoptera. This group contains orders with a range of variations in chromosome number, and offer the opportunity to explore the possible causes of these differences. We have analysed these data using both phylogenetic and taxonomic approaches. Our analysis allows us to assess the importance of rates of evolution, phylogenetic history, sex chromosome systems, parthenogenesis and genome size on variation in chromosome number within clades. We find that fusions play a key role in the origin of new sex chromosomes, and that orders exhibit striking differences in rates of fusions, fissions and polyploidy. Our results suggest that the difficulty in finding consistent rules that govern evolution at this scale may be due to the presence of many interacting forces that can lead to variation among groups.


The hybrid biocatalysts comprising of living microbial cells encapsulated in inorganic or organic- inorganic matrices can be utilized in synthesis of pharmaceuticals, remediation technologies and biosensor construction. Silica, due to its biocompatibility, is a promising host for the purpose. The topic is reviewed starting from first experiments in 1981 to the current state of the art of encapsulation of living microorganisms in inorganic matrices, focusing on the physiology of encapsulated microorganisms. In the Czech Republic, the research in this field, on the borderline of materials science, inorganic chemistry and microbiology, has been performed since 1994.


We focus on the energy conversion improvement of dye-sensitized solar cells by using poly(ethylene oxide)-multi-walled carbon nanotube (PEO-MWCNT) electrolyte. Compared with the MWCNT-free solar cells, the addition of 0.05 wt.% MWCNTs in the polymer electrolyte results in a dramatic increase of the short-circuit current (Jsc), consequently raising the device performance by approximately 9% under a direct light of the Air Mass 1.5 irradiation at 100 mW cm-2. The role of the conductive carbon materials in the polymer electrolyte have been investigated by means of ionic conductometry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy. This work demonstrates that MWCNT additives in polymer electrolytes is a convenient yet effective strategy for improving the performance of photovoltaic devices.


A survey of 1206 participants investigated determinants of positive environmental behaviors (PEBs) in Switzerland. Based on a principle component analysis on data for 23 different PEBs, three behavior types were distinguished: (i) public sphere PEBs with politically mediated impacts; (ii) socially salient private "lighthouse" PEBs that convey a pro-environmental message; and (iii) less socially salient private PEBs. An environmental behavior model identified general environmental knowledge and attitudes as the strongest predictors of PEBs, followed by green self-identity, justifications, assumed consequences, prescriptive social norms, gender, age, and perceived behavioral control (PBC), respectively. To promote sustainability-oriented behaviors and achieve corresponding societal and economic changes, the identified psychological factors need to be promoted by education and communication strategies as well as complementary measures ranging from policy changes to technology development and systems design. Green self-identity turned out to be significantly more influential for private PEBs than for public sphere PEBs, whereas prescriptive social norms and environmental knowledge were more important for public sphere PEBs. These findings indicate that promoting different types of sustainability-oriented behaviors may require distinct strategies. Public sphere PEBs may be enhanced well by conveying social practices and norms, whereas the promotion of a pro-environmental green self-identity may increase private sphere PEBs effectively.


Objectives The methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (MTHFD1) gene, as one of the key genes involved in the folate pathway, has been reported to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of neural tube defects (NTDs). However, the results of published studies are contradictory and inconclusive. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of the common polymorphism in the MTHFD1 gene, the G1958A (R653Q, dbSNP ID: rs2236225) variant, on the risk of NTDs in all eligible studies. Methods Relevant literature published before January 3, 2014 was retrieved from the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and CBM databases. Pooled crude odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between the MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism and NTDs risk. Results We performed a meta-analysis of nine studies with a total of 4,302 NTDs patients and 4,238 healthy controls. Our results demonstrated a significant correlation between the MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism and NTDs in an overall meta-analysis. For family-based studies, the study subjects were classified as NTD cases, mothers with NTDs offspring, and fathers with NTDs offspring. We found no association between any of the fathers' genotypes and NTDs, whereas there was a clear excess of the 1958A allele in the mothers of children with NTDs compared with controls individuals. Conclusions In summary, our meta-analysis strongly suggests that the MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism might be associated with maternal risk for NTDs in Caucasian populations. However, the evidence of this association should be interpreted with caution due to the selective nature of publication of genetic association studies.


Simple and exact expressions are given for the efficiency of single and dual rotating propellers with ideal circulation distribution as given by the Goldstein functions for single-rotating propellers and by the new functions for dual-rotating propellers from part I of the present series. The efficiency is shown to depend primarily on a defined load factor and, to a very small extent, on an axial loss factor. Tables and charts are included for practical use of the results.


The early economists, long in the past, saw land as the chief source of the wealth of a nation, but with time it was discovered that countries with rich gifts of nature like fertile land and abundant mineral deposits were not doing better in development. Emphasis then shifted to manpower development, level of technology and capacity utilization. Nigeria today, among other third world countries, is facing serious developmental problem of capacity underutilization as a result of serious unemployment, despite the fact that a reasonable proportion of the national income is spent to expand educational institutions in Nigeria – a striking economic paradox. This paper therefore examined the manpower need and capacity building in Nigeria, the role of education in manpower development, the curricular problem of the Nigerian education system and how to adjust the curriculum to boost capacity building in Nigeria. It however recommended the measures that can improve the situation in Nigeria.


This article emphasizes the importance of educational practices directed to the activities of searching and using information in the context of the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Sao Paulo (IFSP). The research problem addresses the contribution of libraries to stimulating student informational behavior aimed at building knowledge from the perspective of polytechnic. The stages of construction and evaluation of an educational product are presented. It is a whiteboard animation (or drawing on a white board) that chooses, as its central theme, the Law on Access to Information (LAI) - Law 12.527 / 2011. It is defined as a descriptive and applied research, using mixed methodology. Knowledge Diagnostic Test and Questionnaires (both online) are used to collect quantitative and qualitative data, through simple random sampling. Data are analyzed using descriptive statistics and textual discursive analysis (ATD). The results obtained show that the students evaluate the educational material in a positive way. After contacting the video, most of the group realized that the denial of the right to information prevents the generation of new knowledge. Students intend to use LAI to search for future information. It is concluded that,, the library, seen as a non-formal teaching space, is capable of providing educational information and materials capable of directly contributing to the expansion of the quality of the search and informational processes among students.


Tourism satellite accounts (TSAs) have been widely recognized as standard tools to measure the contribution of tourism to destination economies. However, issues such as high costs of data collection and delayed release of TSAs have limited their regular compilation and practical application in some countries/regions. This study, therefore, introduces an innovative Web-based TSA information system that integrates all functions of the entire TSA compilation process chain, covering data input, data storage and management, TSA table compilation, statistical analysis and other extended applications. The system not only improves the efficiency of tourism data management and TSA compilation but also enhances and extends the usefulness of TSAs for assessing the economic contribution of tourism to destinations. This Web-based TSA information system is established and discussed for a case study in Guangdong Province, China. Overall, the methodology and results reported herein provide academics and practitioners with new perspectives on regional TSA development and applications.


Some wildlife species are agricultural pests but these populations are often valued by other than agriculturalists. For non-farmers, the population levels of such wildlife are frequently pure public goods. This is one source of market failure in the economically optimal social control of an agricultural pest of this type. Secondly, if the species is geographically mobile, externalities occur between farmers in the control of the species, and this reduces the incentives of farmers as individuals to control the pest species. It is shown that depending on the relative strength of these opposing types of market failure, farmers may excessively reduce or insufficiently decrease the population of a species from a social economic point of view.


This study sheds light on the informal mechanisms that contribute to inequality by examining the relationship between gender, race/ethnicity, and networks. Drawing on network theory and status construction theory, the author examines the routes through which employees' sex and race/ethnicity affect the status of their network members. The analyses indicate that women and people of color had network members with lower status than men and Whites because they occupied positions that limited their access to and ability to attract powerful employees. The author concludes that structural rather than personal exclusion explains race/ethnic and sex differences in the status of network members.


Colour television receivers produced for the New Zealand market have been tested to ensure that any x-radiation emmissions result in dose rates less than the 0.5mrem/h (500murem/h) limit allowed under the Radiation Protection Regulations, 1973. Five receivers representing the five different models available on the New Zealand market were surveyed and the maximum dose rate measured from any screen was 0.05murem/h. The estimated maximum annual radiation dose to an average viewer from the receivers surveyed will be less than 5murem or less than 5 x 10-minus 3 percent of the dose from natural background radiation. This level of x-radiation is well below that which could constitute a health hazard.


Background. It was important to develop South African guidelines in view of the extent of local and worldwide religious affiliation, rapid growth of academic investigation, guidelines provided by other associations (e.g. Royal College of Psychiatrists), the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP)'s own position statements on culture, mental health and psychiatry, the appropriate definition of spirituality, the need for an evolutionary and anthropological approach, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , 5th edition (DSM-V)'s cultural formulation, local legislation, ongoing research, and teaching requirements.  Objective. To report on the outcome of the peer-reviewed process that was followed to draft local guidelines for psychiatric training and practice.  Methods. During 2013, comments by members of the SASOP on a framework for guidelines on the role of spirituality in psychiatry practice and training were collated and subsequently submitted to the SASOP board for approval.  Results. Guidelines were compiled in terms of: ( i ) integrating spirituality in clinical care and service provision; ( ii ) integrating spirituality in psychiatric training; ( iii ) ethically integrating spirituality within the professional scope of practice; and ( iv ) appropriate referral between psychiatrists and spiritual advisors.  Conclusions. Integrating spirituality in the approach to practice and training cannot be ignored by local psychiatrists in the multicultural, multireligious and spiritually diverse South African context.


Stress among employees is a significant issue in each organization and society because of its costs on individual, organizational, and society levels. Addressing and reducing stress is thus an important goal, which leads humans to well-being. The main role of managing stress at work belongs to leaders. Their leadership can have effects on the level of stress of employees as well as for themselves. They also decide about their systemic approaches for overcoming stress within organizations. We therefore conducted a stress (qualitative and quantitative) research of employees and leaders within organizations with the main goal to find out the differences between their stresses. The main purpose of this article was to research stress among leaders and employees and to compare their perceived physical and psychical well-being (and stress). For this purpose, we used descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U -test. We confirmed that (1) leaders report a higher frequency of some kinds of the daily work stress than employees, (2) on average, leaders were more frequently under pressure than employees, (3) on average, leaders had more frequently satisfying sleep than employees, and (4) on average, employees could use their strong points at work less frequently than leaders. quantitative survey with the final sample. The on-line study started on 9 July and was finished on 19 July 2013. The workers having a job with at least 10 working hours per week and having colleagues at work fulfilled the criteria to participate in the study. The workers categorized themselves with respect to their position in the company as leaders or employees.


Applied time series research often faces the challenge that (a) potentially relevant variables are unobservable, (b) it is fundamentally uncertain which covariates are relevant. Thus cointegration is often analyzed in partial systems, ignoring potential (stationary) covariates. By simulating hypothesized larger systems Benati (2015) found that a nominally significant cointegration outcome using a bootstrapped rank test (Cavaliere, Rahbek, and Taylor, 2012) in the bivariate sub-system might be due to test size distortions. In this note we review this issue systematically. Apart from revisiting the partial-system results we also investigate alternative bootstrap test approaches in the larger system. Throughout we follow the given application of a long-run Phillips curve (euro-area inflation and unemployment). The methods that include the covariates do not reject the null of no cointegration, but by simulation we find that they display very low power, such that the (bivariate) partial-system approach is still preferred. The size distortions of all approaches are only mild when a standard HP-filtered output gap measure is used among the covariates. The bivariate trace test p-value of 0.027 (heteroskedasticity-consistent wild bootstrap) therefore still suggests rejection of non-cointegration at the 5% but not at the 1% significance level. The earlier findings of considerable test size distortions can be replicated when instead an output gap measure with different longer-run developments is used. This detrimental effect of large borderline-stationary roots reflects an earlier insight from the literature (Cavaliere, Rahbek, and Taylor, 2015).


This research is motivated by a phenomenon that the impact of globalization is happening at this time that Indonesian people forget about religious character education. Student delinquency also sometimes occurs in schools that reflect students not having good character, such as students lacking discipline, there are still those who lie, do not follow the rules or students still cheat on exams. All that requires awareness from the students themselves and guidance from the teacher, so that students can change towards a better and religious character. Based on the background above, the main issues to be discussed here are: 1). What is the strategy of Islamic religious education teachers in improving the religious character of students at SMAN 10 Kota Bogor 2). What are the obstacles in improving the religious character of students at SMAN 10 Kota Bogor 3). What opportunities will be made in the future in improving the religious character of students at SMAN 10 Kota Bogor. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method, the research location at SMAN 10 Kota Bogor, the data in this study were obtained through direct observation, documentation, and in-depth interviews. The results of the study are: PAI teacher strategies in improving religious character by habituation, exemplary, advice, punishment and appreciation, collaboration with Rohis, development of the PAI syllabus, and religious programs. the obstacles faced were students who were difficult to regulate, lack of funding, limited facilities and infrastructure, and opportunities to be made, namely making Al-Quran laboratories, holding KMGP forums and improving the quality of existing programs.


An extensive amount of literature examines the impact of expectations on economic behavior at both the micro and macro level. In the area of individual financial security, research taking into account the difference between rational expectations and actual behavioral expectations regarding asset returns, inflation, savings, and spending has contributed to better understanding and improved program design. In contrast, relatively little attention has been paid to workers' expectations of their future Social Security benefits. Because Social Security benefits are an important source of retirement income for most workers in many countries, future Social Security benefit expectations presumably play an important role in their consumption, saving, labor supply, and portfolio investment decisions. This article surveys the literature relating to these expectations and presents evidence of workers' expectations of future Social Security benefits in Canada, Ireland, and the United States. In all three countries, with differing systems of financing and differing politics concerning the programs, surveys find a surprising degree of pessimism and lack of trust in Social Security programs. Although rhetoric in the United States about Social Security being "broken" may be part of the explanation there, such rhetoric is not present in Canada and Ireland.


Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) have made driving safer over the last decade. They prepare vehicles for unsafe road conditions and alert drivers if they perform a dangerous maneuver. However, many accidents are unavoidable because by the time drivers are alerted, it is already too late. Anticipating maneuvers beforehand can alert drivers before they perform the maneuver and also give ADAS more time to avoid or prepare for the danger. In this work we anticipate driving maneuvers a few seconds before they occur. For this purpose we equip a car with cameras and a computing device to capture the driving context from both inside and outside of the car. We propose an Autoregressive Input-Output HMM to model the contextual information alongwith the maneuvers. We evaluate our approach on a diverse data set with 1180 miles of natural freeway and city driving and show that we can anticipate maneuvers 3.5 seconds before they occur with over 80% F1-score in real-time.


VIP expressing interneurons are an essential component of cortical circuitry. This
distinct subgroup of inhibitory interneurons was always described as the most
heterogeneous subgroup of inhibitory interneurons. However, little is known about
the precise structure of this heterogeneity and whether these neurons nevertheless
form distinct subgroups on the basis of their characteristic properties. This question
was addressed in this work by targeting genetically-labeled VIP neurons in acute
thalamo-cortical section of the barrel cortex in mice. Based on whole cell patch-clamp
experiments, the electrophysiological profile of VIP neurons was characterized. Their
morphology was reconstructed and quantified subsequently if neurons were labeled
sufficiently. Additionally, responses to NA, ACh, and 5HT were recorded to access
information about the sensitivity of VIP neurons to neuromodulation. Receptors
mediating the responses to ACh and 5HT were identified in pressure application
experiments in conjunction with antagonists for certain receptor subtypes. The
analysis of the electrophysiological profile of VIP neurons confirmed the previously
observed heterogeneity. To describe this heterogeneity in detail, firing patterns were
quantified using a novel method that included not only their adaptation rates but also
the current dependency and frequency spectrum. These important features allowed
an observer-independent description of the firing behavior of VIP neurons and also
generated insight into AP waveforms and passive properties of these neurons. Based
on these data, VIP neurons could be subdivided into 5 electrophysiological types. The
distribution profile of these types throughout the barrel cortex unveiled that bursting
VIP neurons were exclusively found in layer II/III with a tendency towards upper layer
II/III. In contrast, CA VIP neurons of low frequency (one of the 5 electrophysiological
types) were found predominantly in lower layer II/III and layers IV-VI. The three
remaining types were found intermingled throughout all layers of the barrel cortex. The
location preference of bursting VIP neurons was partially reflected in the morphology
of VIP neurons. Although a clear definition of subtypes was ambiguous due to the low
number of recovered neurons, differences in the organization of dendritic trees became
apparent in lower layer II/III. Here, VIP neurons spread their dendrites towards layer
Va, whereas in upper layer II/III VIP neurons restricted their dendrites to layers I and
II/III. In conjunction with the distribution profile of electrophysiological types, bursting
VIP neurons seem to have a different laminar input domain than low frequency CA VIP
neurons. Furthermore, the morphology of the few reconstructed neurons from layers
81
IV-VI indicates that their domains of input and output greatly differ in comparison to VIP
neurons from layer II/III: in deeper layers of the cortex, the dendrites of VIP neurons
are found in all layers, whereas their axon is virtually restricted to layers V and VI.
In contrast, VIP neurons from layer II/III restrict their dendrites to superficial layers
I-IV and spread their axon into all layers of the barrel cortex. These morphological
differences suggest a differential involvement into cortical circuitry. In layer II/III,
VIP neurons are depolarized by NA, ACh, and 5HT confirming earlier studies. The
depolarization induced by ACh is mediated by nicotinic non-α7 ACh receptors in all
tested VIP neurons. Interestingly, responses to 5HT are mediated by 5HT2R in all VIP
neurons but 5HT3aR mediated currents were only observed in 46% of all tested VIP
neurons identifiable by a biphasic response pattern. The depolarization induced by
ACh and 5HT was sufficient to trigger a switch in the firing behavior of 20% of all VIP
neurons: bursting VIP neurons. Their firing pattern switches from bursting to a more
tonic CA-like when their membrane potential is depolarized. This firing behavior was
never described for VIP neurons before and suggests an additional specialization to
integrate brain states. In conclusion, VIP neurons eluded a precise classification which
integrates all aspects of their electrophysiology, morphology, and neuromodulation.
However, the description of VIP neurons provided in this work serves as a foundation
to integrate observations from past and future studies.


BACKGROUND: Approximately 50% of participants complete a paediatric weight management programme, yet the predictors of attendance and dropout are inconsistent. This study investigates subject and intervention-design characteristics associated with attendance at a group based, family weight management programme.
SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Secondary data analysis of 2948 subjects (Age 10.4±2.8 years, BMI 26.0±5.7kg/m2, Standardised BMI (BMI SDS) 2.48±0.87, White 70.3%) from 244 MoreLife (UK) programmes. Subjects attend weekly for 10-12 weeks, sessions last 2-3 hours. Sessions include lifestyle guidance and physical activity.
METHOD: Subject characteristics (demographics, psychological (body satisfaction & self-esteem) and sedentary behaviour) were gathered at first contact and BMI SDS was noted weekly. Intervention-design characteristics were recorded (year, length (weeks), group size, age segregation and day of session). Attendance was calculated as total number of sessions attended (%). Multivariate linear regression examined predictors of attendance and multiple imputation countered missing data. RESULTS: Average attendance was 59.4%±29.3%. Baseline subject characteristics were 'poor' predictors of attendance. Intervention year, group size and day of session significantly predicted attendance (Tables 1 & 2). Yet, the most predictive marker of attendance was a change in BMI SDS during the programme (B = -0.38, 95% CI = -0.43 - -0.33).
CONCLUSION: A reduction in BMI was seen to predict greater attendance. However, baseline subject characteristics were weakly associated with attendance, refuting past findings. Dominant intervention characteristics (large groups, weekend sessions and recent delivery) predicted lower attendance. Future programmes may be better informed.


While oral self-narratives are often presumed to be deictically anchored as 'past' by default, speakers routinely create more complex and varied temporalization effects, including tropic effects that are this article's focus. One of the most well-known tropic temporalization effects is the so-called 'historical present', where speakers use non-past deixis to frame 'past' events. This juxtaposition of temporalization effects can be used to align the spatio-temporal universe of the story (the denotational text) and the here-and-now storytelling event (the interactional text) as 'coeval', as if they were part of the same spatio-temporal or 'chronotopic' frame. This article examines a Senegalese oral narrative practice that tends to co-occur with the historical present, but which is even more striking in the way it aligns interactional and denotational texts as coeval. In this practice the narrator discursively recruits audience members to serve as denoted characters in the story, a process referred to as 'participant transposition'. Drawing on Bakhtin and on Agha's notion of 'cross-chronotope alignment', this article shows how participant transposition functions together with deictic transposition to align the story and storytelling event as coeval, and it examines how these forms of alignment are used to revise interactional history. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Analysis of the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) on the Mars Atmosphere Volatiles and EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft closed source data from all orbits with good pointing revealed an enhanced Helium [He] density on the nightside orbits and a depressed He density on the dayside by about a factor of 10–20. He was also found to be larger in the polar regions than in the equatorial regions. The northern polar winter nightside He bulge was approximately twice that of the northern polar summer nightside bulge. The first 6 weeks of the MAVEN prime mission had periapsis at high latitudes on the nightside during northern winter, followed by the midlatitudes on the dayside moving to low latitudes on the nightside returning to the high latitudes during northern summer. In this study we examined the NGIMS data not only in the different latitudes but sorted by solar longitude (Ls) in order to separate the diurnal or local solar time (LST) effects from the seasonal effects. The Mars Global Ionosphere‐Thermosphere Model (M‐GITM) has predicted the formation of a He bulge in the upper atmosphere of Mars on the nightside early morning hours (Ls = 2–5 h) with more He collecting around the poles. Taking a slice at constant altitude across all orbits indicates corresponding variations in He and CO2 with respect to LST and Ls and a diurnal and seasonal dependence.


Abstract Terra Nova Oil Field is formed by a complex, structural, stratigraphic and diagenetic combination trap. About 1 billion barrels Stock-Tank Oil-In-Place (STOOIP) are trapped in a faulted plunging anticline, reservoired in stacked, braided fluvial sandstones which are of varying quality and extent due to onlap, cementation and facies transitions. Terra Nova Field is unusual when compared to the other three major hydrocarbon fields in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin in that it lacks a gas leg, and hydrocarbons are confined to the deepest of four major reservoir intervals, the Jeanne d'Arc sandstones. In this reservoir interval, the highest part of the plunging anticline is wet while the lowest part has the deepest fluid contact and longest oil column. Aquifer pressures vary between hydrostatic and significantly overpressured, but are far below leak-off. This apparently unusual distribution of fluids, pressures and contacts can be understood by systematically describing the many compartments within the overall structure, defining the connections between compartments, and building a 'connectivity diagram' which ensures a disciplined analysis of the fluid system. This type of approach, used historically by the Operator, Petro-Canada, and formalized as 'Reservoir Connectivity Analysis' (RCA) at ExxonMobil, is effective and necessary at multiple scales: basin, field, producing fault block and individual sandstone, and continues to be important at Terra Nova eight years into development and production.


In order to optimize static performance of a new orifices compensated externally pressurized gas spherical bearing, the paper presents a theoretical study using finite element method (FEM). Galerkin weighted residual method is applied to reduce the order of derivatives of the transformed Reynolds equation. On the basis of theoretical analysis, the influence of supplying pressure and geometrical parameters to radial load carrying capacity and stiffness was analyzed. As a result, the reasonable range of the bearing's parameters was proposed.


The study aim was to determine the value of fondaparinux at the once-daily 1.5 mg dose in patients with moderate renal impairment (creatinine clearance between 20 and 50 ml/min). Pharmacokinetic simulations were performed using a population pharmacokinetic model based on data obtained in 756 patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery. The efficacy (venous thromboembolism) and safety (major bleeding) of 1.5 mg fondaparinux were determined by analyzing the available data obtained in all thromboprophylaxis trials using this dosage. The predicted steady-state exposure [area under the plasma concentration–time curve from 0 to 24 h (AUC0–24)] to fondaparinux between patients with moderate renal impairment receiving 1.5 mg and patients with normal renal function receiving 2.5 mg was similar. In four phase II trials (two trials versus placebo, one versus enoxaparin and one without comparator), 353 patients undergoing total hip or knee replacement (10.8% with moderate renal impairment) received fondaparinux 1.5 mg. The overall rate of venous thromboembolism and major bleeding was 10.4 and 0.3%. Fondaparinux 1.5 mg was significantly more effective than placebo (P < 0.01) and was as effective as, and tended to be safer (P = 0.05) than, twice-daily 30 mg enoxaparin. The effect was maintained in patients with moderate renal impairment. The once-daily administration of 1.5 mg fondaparinux in patients with moderate renal impairment resulted in a predicted exposure to the drug similar to that achieved with 2.5 mg in patients with normal renal function. This dosage regimen showed a favorable efficacy/safety clinical profile and should be appropriate in preventing venous thromboembolism in patients with moderate renal impairment.


Serpins are the largest family of protease inhibitors and are fundamental for the control of proteolysis in multicellular eukaryotes. Most eukaryote serpins inhibit serine or cysteine proteases, however, noninhibitory members have been identified that perform diverse functions in processes such as hormone delivery and tumour metastasis. More recently inhibitory serpins have been identified in prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes, nevertheless, the precise molecular targets of these molecules remains to be identified. The serpin mechanism of protease inhibition is unusual and involves a major conformational rearrangement of the molecule concomitant with a distortion of the target protease. As a result of this requirement, serpins are susceptible to mutations that result in polymerization and conformational diseases such as the human serpinopathies. This review reports on recent major discoveries in the serpin field, based upon presentations made at the 4th International Symposium on Serpin Structure, Function and Biology (Cairns, Australia).


A boundary-element scheme for analyzing initial boundary-value problems of 3-D porelasticity is considered. The scheme is based on a time-step method of numerically inverting Laplace transform. According to the method, a solution in time is calculated using quadrature formulas, based on complex values of the function in specific points. The choice of the points is determined by Lobatto method being one of Runge-Kutta methods. A possibility of using twoand three-stage Lobatto methods is considered. Using as an example the problem about a force, acting upon end of a prismatic poroelastic body, the effect of timestep on the dynamic responses of the forces is studied. The present results are compared with the results obtained on the nodes of Radau method.


Thank you for giving us the opportunity to submit a revised version of our work, together with the improved figures. We appreciate the time and effort that you have dedicated to providing your valuable feedback on our manuscript. We have been able to incorporate the changes suggested, and we are writing you to explain all these changes in detail. We have also taken into account the additional comments from the PDF file. You will find your comments reported here, for your convenience, followed by our replies detailing how we addressed the issues.


Background Women who participate in high-risk sports suffer anterior cruciate ligament injury at a 4- to 6-fold greater rate than men. Purpose To prospectively determine if female athletes with decreased passive knee joint restraint (greater joint laxity) and greater side-to-side differences in knee laxity would be at increased risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury. Study Design Case control study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods From 1558 female soccer and basketball players who were prospectively screened, 19 went on to tear their anterior cruciate ligaments. Four height- and mass-matched control subjects were selected from the uninjured screened athletes for comparison with each of the 19 injured subjects, making a total of 95 subjects (19 injured; 76 uninjured). Generalized joint-laxity tests and anterior-posterior tibiofemoral translation were quantified using the CompuKT knee arthrometer. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to determine predictors of anterior cruciate ligament injury status from recorded laxity measures. Results A multivariable logistic regression model (chi-square = 18.6; P = .002) used the independent variables laxity measures of knee hyperextension (P = .02), wrist and thumb to forearm opposition (P = .80), fifth-finger hyperextension > 90° (P = .71), side-to-side differences in anterior-posterior tibiofemoral translation (P = .002), and prior knee injury (P = .22) to predict anterior cruciate ligament-injury status. The validated C statistic, or validated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, was 0.72. For every 1.3-mm increase in side-to-side differences in anterior-posterior knee displacement, the odds of anterior cruciate ligament–injured status increased 4-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.68–9.69). A positive measure of knee hyperextension increased the odds of anterior cruciate ligament-injured status 5-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.24–18.44). Conclusion The current results indicate that increased knee-laxity measures may contribute to increased risk of anterior cruciate ligament injury. The methods to quantify knee joint laxity in this report may be used in conjunction with measures of neuromuscular control of the knee joint to identify high-risk female athletes with high accuracy. Once high-risk female athletes are identified, they may be targeted to the appropriate interventions to reduce injury risk.


Background Partner Notification (PN) has long been considered essential for sexually transmissible infection (STI) control, but both policies and methods of implementation vary between countries. Although the provision of sexual health services has improved in Chile, syphilis is one of the most commonly reported STIs. This is the first study to explore the role of PN in syphilis control in public health services in Chile. Methods A qualitative multiple case study was designed, using two regional Health Services as cases. Different data collection methods were used: a qualitative document analysis, a syphilis management clinic review in 20 health services, and semi-structured interviews with 48 healthcare providers (HCPs) and 10 key informants. The data was analysed using an inductive approach, with both within-case and cross-case thematic analysis. Selected quotes were translated from Spanish-English. Results Findings revealed that syphilis management has a well-organised approach in public health services, but little knowledge or understanding of the infection among patients leads to a lack of recognition of the importance of informing sexual partners. The management of partner(s) was acknowledged as critical for syphilis control in the guidelines and by HCPs, but no document provides comprehensive information about delivering PN. Patient referral was used most commonly; however, interviewees commented that index cases do not discuss their partners easily and PN delivery is further impacted by gender and the socio-cultural context. PN was perceived by HCPs as an exhausting, difficult and challenging process due to poor public understanding of syphilis, absence of practical recommendations and health system limitations. Conclusion Understanding the state of current policies and practices are important for improving PN in Chile and Latin America. Lack of clear guidelines and resources, as well as the impact that gender and socio-cultural aspects have on STI risk perceptions, should be considered to strengthen STI control at the population level. Disclosure No significant relationships.


The music industry has widely viewed digital rights management (DRM) as an effective strategy for reducing digital piracy. Digital rights management systems aim to prevent unauthorized copying and to reduce the overall rate of piracy. Therefore, the recent move toward offering DRM-free music by some major online music sellers appears paradoxical. In this article, the authors propose a model that conceptualizes and estimates the concept of hardcore piracy in an attempt to resolve this apparent paradox. Based on two large empirical studies and a validation exercise with a large sample of more 2000 college students, the model results indicate that the music industry can benefit from removing DRM because such a strategy has the potential to convert some pirates into paying consumers. In addition, a DRM-free environment enhances both consumer and producer welfare by increasing the demand for legitimate products as well as consumers' willingness to pay for these products. The authors find that producers could benefit by lowering prices from currently observed levels. The article concludes with a discussion of the practical implications of the findings for managers within the music industry.


Debris flow has a very strong destructive power which can cause a great loss of human lives and belongings, so for the purpose of a better disaster prevention and reduction, it is necessary to strengthen the knowledge about the characteristics and regulations of the motion process of debris flow. In order to analyze debris flow entrainment of path material and the influence of the distribution of entrainment zone on the dynamic process of debris flow, the numerical simulation of debris flow dynamic process of different entrainment zones is achieved by combining the theory of SH granular flow and the method of finite volume discretization. The calculation results show that due to energy loss and momentum transfer, the overall speed of debris flow is decreased and the part flow depth increased, but when the entrainment zone is at high position, the entrainment happens early, and the after-entrainment acceleration is more significant, so the mass increased by the entrainment will cause a larger disaster zone and a stronger destruction.


Mycotoxins produced by Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp. and Fusarium spp. with small molecular weight and thermal stability, are highly toxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites. Mycotoxins have caused widespread concern regarding food safety internationally because of their adverse effects on the health of humans and animals, and the major economic losses they cause. There is an urgent need to find ways to reduce or eliminate the impact of mycotoxins in food and feed without introducing new safety issues, or reducing nutritional quality. Non-thermal physical technology is the basis for new techniques to degrade mycotoxins, with great potential for practical detoxification applications in the food industry. Compared with conventional thermal treatments, non-thermal physical detoxification technologies are easier to apply and effective, with less adverse impact on the nutritional value of agricultural products. The advantages, limitations and development prospects of these new detoxification technologies are discussed. Further studies are recommended to standardize the treatment conditions for each detoxification technology, evaluate the safety of the degradation products, and to combine different detoxification technologies to achieve synergistic effects. This will facilitate realization of the great potential of the new technologies and the development of practical applications.


Numerous academic studies have shown that asset allocation is the single most important determinant of portfolio returns. We accept this premise but note that an optimal asset allocation strategy must still be determined based on dynamic conditions. Using the principles of intermarket analysis and the relationship between the total return of the 10-year Treasury and the 30-year Treasury, we develop one such strategy. We find that an active strategy that uses the signaling power of these Treasury bonds to position into either the stock market or Treasuries can be used to outperform a buy and hold stock portfolio on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis. We also find that the signaling power of Treasuries can be used to enhance asset allocation decisions and traditional rebalancing. The predictive behavior of Treasuries on equities is a market anomaly that has persisted over time, and has served as an anticipatory gauge of expansionary or contractionary conditions which favor stocks or bonds. Contrary to the Efficient Market Hypothesis, the information provided by relative total return Treasury movement does not appear to be priced in immediately by broad stock market averages, and therefore may be exploitable for active traders and tactical asset allocators.


Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) represents a risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is characterized by quantitative and qualitative changes in hepatic lipids. Since elongation of fatty acids from C16 to C18 has recently been reported to promote both hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation we aimed to investigate whether a frequently used mouse NASH model reflects this clinically relevant feature and whether C16 to C18 elongation can be observed in HCC development. Feeding mice a methionine and choline deficient diet to model NASH not only increased total hepatic fatty acids and cholesterol, but also distinctly elevated the C18/C16 ratio, which was not changed in a model of simple steatosis (ob/ob mice). Depletion of Kupffer cells abrogated both quantitative and qualitative methionine-and-choline deficient (MCD)-induced alterations in hepatic lipids. Interestingly, mimicking inflammatory events in early hepatocarcinogenesis by diethylnitrosamine-induced carcinogenesis (48 h) increased hepatic lipids and the C18/C16 ratio. Analyses of human liver samples from patients with NASH or NASH-related HCC showed an elevated expression of the elongase ELOVL6, which is responsible for the elongation of C16 fatty acids. Taken together, our findings suggest a detrimental role of an altered fatty acid pattern in the progression of NASH-related liver disease.


I THERE HAS BEEN A LONGSTANDING DEBATE about the relation of virtue and happiness in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Aristotle seems to have two contradictory positions. One position is found in book 1, chapter 7, where happiness is the highest good, an activity of soul in conformity with virtue. In context, this seems to indicate human virtue as a whole, involving both moral and intellectual virtues. The other position occurs much later in book 10, chapters 6-8, where happiness is identified with wisdom alone. This later context seems to posit an opposition between a supreme happiness related to wisdom and contemplation and a secondary happiness associated with justice and the moral virtues. The debate centers on how to reconcile these two positions. One group of commentators takes book 10 as determinative and thus tortures the text in book i to say the same thing. This position is described as intellectualist or exclusivist and produces certain puzzles in reading Aristotle's ethical theory. These puzzles are not benign since the privileged position given wisdom in book 10 seems at odds with the discussion of virtue in book I and its development in the Nicomachean Ethics as a whole. Indeed, Aristotle appears inconsistent or even contradictory, recommending in these two brief chapters of book 10 a life devoted to contemplation that only grudgingly allows for the necessity of the practical life discussed in such detail in the rest of his ethical works. If this is the case, under what conditions are we expected to forgo contemplation to engage in the various activities of the moral virtues? Since no conditions are spelled out in the text, the range of speculation is confused and ways around the apparent inconsistencies complex. The other group takes 1.7 as determinative for the definition of human virtue, and its task is to explain whether 10.7-8 fits into Aristotle's general ethical position. In this view, virtue is understood inclusively, with both ethical and intellectual components. So far no satisfactory account of 10.6-8 has been able to integrate it into Aristotle's account of virtue and happiness, with the result that it is either ignored as an aberration or left as an anomaly. The goal of this paper is to provide a reading of 10.1-8 that can show how Aristotle's account of contemplation and the moral virtues is part of a single vision of happiness. (1) I will endeavor to argue that the discussion of pleasure in 10.1-5 is continuous with that of happiness in 10.6-8. One aspect of this continuity is that pleasure and happiness are both defined as the same kind of activity, one that accompanies certain other activities under specific conditions. Another aspect of this continuity is that Aristotle distinguishes different kinds of pleasure, those related to bodily conditions and those related to activities desirable in themselves. He ends this account of pleasure by mentioning that each animal has its own specific pleasure. This last topic leads directly into the discussion of happiness, where Aristotle distinguishes different kinds of activities associated with happiness and seeks to determine which activity is the happiness specific to the human soul. The continuity of the discussion as a whole also provides the context in which Aristotle distinguishes between pleasure and happiness. Their structure as activities makes them similar, which leads some to hold the opinion that pleasure is in fact happiness. Aristotle, however, holds that they are different. First, pleasure has its origin in the basic need of an organism to preserve itself. No matter how much pleasure can be associated with activities done for their own sake, this root meaning keeps Aristotle from identifying pleasure with happiness. Second, the definition of happiness becomes increasingly refined until it is identified with contemplation of the divine. The first element of this discussion of contemplation has long been recognized, evaluating the opinions that a life of pleasure, a practical life, or a contemplative life constitutes happiness. …


Background Substitute decision makers are important for people with advanced dementia, particularly at the end of life. Substitute decision makers report issues in providing support, and physical and psychological consequences from the role. However, there is no synthesised evidence about how substitute decision makers are affected by and experience making decisions for older persons diagnosed with dementia at end of life. Methodology: A protocol for a qualitative systematic review was developed. Seven articles met both inclusion and research quality criteria following a comprehensive search for published and unpublished studies (January 2007–2017, English language). Meta-synthesis was achieved through meta-aggregation of the results from included studies. Results Meta-aggregation of 20 themes into eight categories resulted in five synthesised findings. The findings were: 'trust'; 'guilt, mistrust and confusion'; 'translating quality of life'; 'negotiating families'; and 'uncertainty and reactivity'. Trust in healthcare personnel positively affected substitute decision makers and supported their adaptability. Substitute decision makers experienced guilt, mistrust, and confusion as they encountered increased complexity in care and health interventions as social needs changed. Substitute decision makers experienced complexities and struggles as they interpreted quality of life and negotiated end of life treatment decisions. Substitute decision makers experienced practical needs to negotiate family as they fulfilled their support roles. Ambiguity in advance care plans, limited knowledge of dementia, end of life uncertainties, and communication issues reduced substitute decision makers' proactivity. Implications: Being a substitute decision maker for people with advanced dementia at end of life is stressful. Health professionals need to be cognizant of substitute decision makers experiences and needs, and identify mechanisms to achieve support and education. The findings generate need for further investigation of interventions to meet the needs of substitute decision makers.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the hierarchical phenotypic expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) genotypes in the respiratory system as has been documented in the pancreas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study was institutional review board approved; informed consent was not required. HIPAA guidelines were followed. Genotype effects were assessed by using chest radiographic and pulmonary function test (PFT) results in 93 patients. Serial chest radiographic and PFT (percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV(1)], percentage of predicted forced vital capacity [FVC]) results were compared by using analysis of variance with repeated measures. By using CFTR class of mutations, two groups were created: group S (severe disease) and group M (mild disease). Within group S, three subgroups were created: A consisted of patients with two class I alleles; B, class I allele and class II or III allele; C, class II allele and class II or III allele. Group M consisted of patients with at least one allele from class IV-VI.

RESULTS
Within group S, subgroup A had a faster deterioration than B or C according to radiographic data (A vs B, P = .014; A vs C, P = .009), with only a borderline difference in FEV(1) for subgroups A versus C (P = .031). Otherwise, PFTs were not sensitive for distinguishing subgroups. Only radiographic results identified that subgroup B had faster progression than C (P = .003); all parameters had trends of decline in the same direction. Group S had a faster decline than group M (radiography, P = .005; FVC, P = .011; FEV(1), P = .529).

CONCLUSION
Disease progressed more rapidly with gene class hierarchical correlations seen in pancreatic disease. Radiography was more sensitive for identifying differences.


This study compared the effects of a 4-week supervised (SUP) and unsupervised (UNSUP) resistance training programme followed by 12 weeks of detraining (DET). Thirty-six healthy aging adults (age: 53.6 ± 3.6 years; body mass index: 28.3 ± 5.1 kg/m) were randomly allocated to a SUP group (n = 17) or an UNSUP group (n = 19). Participants completed three training sessions per week using resistance bands and body weight movements. Measures of physical performance were administered at baseline, at the end of the training programme, and after the DET period. Function was assessed with the six minute walk test (6MWT), timed up-and-go (TUG), 30 s chair sit-to-stand (STS), stair-climb test (SCT), 40 m fast-paced walk test (FPWT) and sit-and-reach test (SRT), whereas the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP) and hand grip test were used to measure muscle strength. Following training, improvements in performance were found in the 6MWT, TUG, 30 s chair STS, SCT, FPWT, SRT, and IMTP (p < 0.05), with no significant differences between groups (p > 0.05). In addition, the majority of training-induced improvements remained significantly above baseline values after the DET period (p < 0.05). No significant between-group differences were observed following training or DET (p > 0.05). Four weeks of either SUP or UNSUP resistance training is sufficient to substantially improve muscle strength and function in aging adults, and these gains are largely preserved following prescribed exercise cessation. Home-based resistance training appears to be a practical and effective alternative to traditional SUP programmes that may help circumvent many barriers to physical activity in aging adults.


A first-hand look into the back rooms of the conservative movement in Canada, 14 Days provides insights into how the recent history of the Canadian right has influenced the Conservative government over the past two decades. Bruce Carson, having worked in close proximity to many Conservative leaders, describes a series of important moments in the disintegration, re-integration, and eventual repeated electoral success of the modern Conservative Party, formed from its Progressive Conservative forebears. Carson recounts how decisions are made and communicated, how issues are managed, and policies are developed under Harper's leadership. Crucial moments in the Conservatives' rise to power - from the devastating results of the 1993 election to the growth of the Reform Party and its election as Official Opposition, through the parties' merger, leadership decisions, conventions, and elections as minority and majority governments and most recently, the Conservative Party as majority government holder in Canada - are presented from the point of view of an outspoken witness and active participant. Carson candidly shares information on the government's approaches to Afghan detainees, the Cadman and Schreiber affairs, the 2008 constitutional crisis and worldwide recession, the development of their first budget, and the determination of the tenets of Harper's approach to federalism. A rare, behind-the-scenes account of the Harper Conservatives from opposition to government, 14 Days provides a vivid portrayal of all participants and will be eagerly read by anyone interested in the government's inner circle.


To describe the high-rate behaviour of metals, a revised form of the classic Johnson-Cook strength model with unknown material constants has been used. The 1D stress-strain relations as well as the effects of strain, strain rate and temperature are examined by Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) test. The undetermined material constants are solved using a variable-dissociation method. The element failure criterion based on maximum equivalent strain is also introduced to estimate the material failure behavior under high strain rate. A corresponding user-defined material subroutine (UMAT) has been developed for revised Johnson-Cook model, which is implemented into ABAQUS. Using this implicit scheme, several groups of finite element simulations under different strain rates are completed in ABAQUS/Standard. The results agree well with the test data and other results by explicit code.


A field investigation of residential house damage in 83 localities of the Occidental part of Mexico allowed construction of a macroseismic map of the mo- ment magnitude 7.5 2003 Colima earthquake. The 12-grade modified Mercalli (MM) scale and the 7-grade damage scale of Whitman (1988) were used for estimating the earthquake intensities. The macroseismic effects of this earthquake were unexpected for the Occidental part of Mexico. The earthquake occurred within the across-trench structure of the El Gordo Graben and was characterized by the down-dip across- trench directivity of its rupture, as reconstructed from seismic-waveform modeling. It was a reason for the severe damage to buildings in the localities situated at distances where usual along-trench rupturing subduction earthquakes of the same magnitude do not produce any significant damage. The macroseismic map of the 2003 earth- quake shows that the narrow (30 km wide) MM VII zone was elongated (up to 60 km) in the northeast direction toward the continental part of Colima state. As a result, the intensity in Colima city was 1.5 grades larger than would be expected for this mag- nitude according to the proposed attenuation of intensity with distance relationship for earthquakes from the Mexican subduction zone.


Abstract. High resolution satellite images started with IKONOS imagery. After the launch of the very high resolution IKONOS in the 1990s, a new generation of commercial Earth-imaging satellites have pioneered a new era of space imaging for observations of Earth. The IKONOS satellite image has an important place sampling range with 1 m GSD. In the subsequent Quickbird satellite image, the GSD is down to 62 cm and the sensitivity is even higher. Advancements in the geometric resolution of space images have improved the conditions for generations of large-scale topographic maps. With using WorldView-1, WorldView-2, and GeoEye-1, images can now be captured from space with a 0.5 m ground sampling distance (GSD). The Worldview-4 display with the highest technology and resolution is being used in various application areas. WorldView-4 (formerly GeoEye-2), launched in November 2017, provides a second sensor which is capable of delivering imagery at 30 cm resolution, the highest level of detail commercially available from satellite. WorldView-4 greatly expands the 30 cm collection capabilities and archive growth in today's imagery environment. Geometric accuracy and information content are the most significant components of mapping from space images. By using economical, rapid and periodic acquisition, and corresponding ground resolution, these satellites have established an alternative to aerial photos and have been widely used for various applications such as object extraction, change detection, topographic map production, and development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The utility of VHR images is dependent on their geometric accuracy and information content. Related with the study, the generally required production scale of 0.05 to 0.1 mm GSD in the map scale has been confirmed. This corresponds to a topographic map scale of 1 : 10,000 respectively 1 : 5000 for 1 m and 0.5 m GSD images. In this study, images from IKONOS, QuickBird, WorldView-1, Worldview-2 and WorldView-4 have been used for topographic mapping. For this reason, İstanbul and Zonguldak test fields are an important area for applications of the high resolution imageries. The details which can be identified in the space images dominantly depends upon the ground resolution, available as ground sampling distance (GSD). In this study, high resolution imageries have been tested depending on the GSD and corresponding to the map scales for updating GIS database.


Computer-based learning environments offer the potential for innovative assessments of student knowledge and personalized instruction for learners. However, there are a number of challenges to realizing this potential. Many psychological models are not specific enough to directly deploy in instructional systems, and computational challenges can arise when considering the implications of a particular theory of learning. While learners' interactions with virtual environments encode significant information about their understanding, existing statistical tools are insufficient for interpreting these interactions. This research develops computational models of teaching and learning and combines these models with machine learning algorithms to interpret learners' actions and customize instruction based on these interpretations. This approach results in frameworks that can be adapted to a variety of educational domains, with the frameworks clearly separating components that can be shared across tasks and components that are customized based on the educational content. Using this approach, this dissertation addresses three major questions: (1) How can one diagnose learners' knowledge from their behavior in games and virtual laboratories? (2) How can one predict whether a game will be diagnostic of learners' knowledge? and (3) How can one customize instruction in a computer-based tutor based on a model of learning in a domain?The first question involves automatically assessing student knowledge via observed behavior in complex interactive environments, such as virtual laboratories and games. These environments require students to plan their behavior and take multiple actions to achieve their goals. Unlike in many traditional assessments, students' actions in these environments are not independent given their knowledge and each individual action cannot be classified as correct or incorrect. To address this issue, I develop a Bayesian inverse planning framework for inferring learners' knowledge from observing their actions. The framework is a variation of inverse reinforcement learning and uses Markov decision processes to model how people choose actions given their knowledge. Through behavioral experiments, I show that this framework can infer learners' stated beliefs, with accuracy similar to human observers, and that feedback based on the framework improves learning efficiency. To extend this framework to educational applications outside of the laboratory, I extended the inverse planning framework to diagnose students' algebra skills from worked solutions to linear equations, separating different sources of mathematical errors. I tested the framework by developing an online algebra tutor that provides students with the opportunity to practice solving equations and automatically diagnoses their understanding after they have solved sufficient equations. Preliminary experiments demonstrate that Bayesian inverse planning provides a good fit for the majority of participants' behaviors, and that its diagnoses are consistent with results of a more conventional assessment.The results of the previous studies showed that not all tasks result in learner behavior that can be used to perfectly diagnose knowledge. In many cases, actions may be ambiguous, resulting in a diagnosis that places some probability on one possible knowledge state and some probability on another. I developed an optimal game design framework to predict how much information will be gained by observing a player or players' actions if they were to play a particular game: gaining more information from a game means that the diagnosis is less ambiguous. This framework extends optimal experiment design methods in statistics. It can limit the trial and error necessary to create games for education and behavioral research by suggesting game design choices while still leveraging the skills of a human designer to create the initial design. Behavioral results from a concept learning game demonstrate that the predicted information gain is correlated with the actual information gain and that the best designs can result in twice as much information as an uninformed design.The final part of this dissertation considers how to personalize instruction in a computer tutor, relying on knowledge about the domain and an estimate of the students' knowledge. This builds on the idea of assessing learners' knowledge from their actions and considers more broadly how to sequence assessment and personalized instruction. In a computer-based tutor, there may be a cost to time spent on assessment, as the time could alternatively have been spent allowing the learner to work through new material; however, this time spent on assessment may also be beneficial by providing information to allow the computer to choose material more effectively. I show that partially observable Markov decision processes can be used to model the tutoring process and decide what pedagogical action to choose based on a model of the domain and the learner. The resulting automated instructional policies result in faster learning of numeric concepts than baseline policies.My research demonstrates that applying a computational modeling approach to a diverse set of problems in computer-assisted learning results in new machine learning algorithms for interpreting and responding to complex behavioral data. The frameworks developed in this research provide a systematic and scalable way to create personalized responses to learners. These frameworks show the potential of interactive educational technologies to not only provide content to learners but to infer their understanding from innovative assessments and provide personalized guidance and instruction.


A previous meta-analysis examining the relationship between cohesion and performance (Carron, Colman, Wheeler, & Stevens, 2002) revealed that this relationship was significantly stronger for female teams as compared with male teams. The purpose of the current study was to explore perceptions of the cohesion-performance relationship by coaches who have led teams of both genders. Semistructured interviews were employed with Canadian and German coaches with previous experience leading both male and female sport teams. The information obtained through the interviews yielded a number of categories pertaining to potential similarities and differences within female and male sport teams including: (a) the nature of cohesion (e.g., direction of the cohesion-performance relationship), (b) antecedents of cohesion (e.g., approaches to conflict), and (c) the management of cohesion (e.g., developing social cohesion). Overall, the results offer testable propositions regarding gender differences and group involvement in ...


Therapeutic efforts for human glial tumors have over the past years been redirected towards a compartmental treatment concept. The diffusely infiltrative nature of the disease calls for therapeutic agents to reach single cells far beyond the focus of attention which present therapies like surgery and radiation are able to treat. Specific drug discovery approaches which seek to define targets which are specific for gliomas have generated therapeutic options which allow for a highly selective development of new reagents. Combined with new modalities for compartmental drug delivery, systemic complications might be reduced and advantage taken of a compartmental specificity of a target which otherwise in the context of systemic application would not be as specific or burdened with side effects. From the present status of therapeutic developments in neuro-oncology it can be expected that a sufficient number of drug targets emerge which can be exploited by means of interstitial or intracavitary delivery, which are not neurotoxic and which may even be imaged in their action with the new metabolic imaging modalities. Convection enhanced delivery, conditionally replicating oncolytic viruses and motile, genetically engineered neural stem cells all seem to fulfill the distribution requirements which an effective therapeutic for gliomas will need to overcome the very limited efficacy which surgery, conventional chemotherapy and radiation have to offer. Whereas the genomics based discovery approaches are not specific for neuro-oncology, the development of delivery strategies is highly specific for the central nervous system, thus creating a unique set of organ and disease specific therapies.


Researchers at UCSD are investigating, in collaboration with Caltrans, the combination of ultrasonic guided waves and embedded sensors as an approach to provide both prestress level monitoring and defect detection capabilities in concrete-embedded PS tendons. This paper will focus on the prestress level monitoring by first discussing the behavior of ultrasonic guided waves propagating in seven-wire, 15.2-mm diameter twisted strands typically used in post-tensioned concrete structures. A semianalytical finite element analysis is used to predict forced wave solutions as a function of the applied prestress level. A feature shown sensitive to load levels is the inter-wire energy leakage. In order to monitor such feature, piezoelectric sensors were experimentally employed to probe the individual, 5-mm wires comprising the strand. Results of load monitoring in embedded strands during laboratory tests will be presented and a statistical approach will be used to enhance the evaluation of prestress loss in the strands.


US Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District (CENWP) operates the Bonneville Lock and Dam Project on the Columbia River. High spill flows that occurred during 2011 moved a large volume of rock from downstream of the spillway apron to the stilling basin and apron. Although 400 cubic yards of rocks were removed from the stilling basin, there are still large volumes of rock downstream of the apron that could, under certain flow conditions, move upstream into the stilling basin. CENWP is investigating operational changes that could be implemented to minimize future movement of rock into the stilling basin. A key analysis tool to develop these operational changes is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the spillway. A free-surface CFD model of the Bonneville spillway tailrace was developed and applied for four flow scenarios. These scenarios looked at the impact of flow volume and flow distribution on tailrace hydraulics. The simulation results showed that areas of upstream flow existed near the river bed downstream of the apron, on the apron, and within the stilling basin for all flows. For spill flows of 300 kcfs, the cross-stream and downstream extent of the recirculation zones along Cascade and Bradford Island was verymore » dependent on the spill pattern. The center-loaded pattern had much larger recirculation zones than the flat or bi-modal pattern. The lower flow (200 kcfs) with a flat pattern had a very large recirculation zone that extended half way across the channel near the river bed. A single flow scenario (300 kcfs of flow in a relatively flat spill pattern) was further interrogated using Lagrangian particle tracking. The tracked particles (with size and mass) showed the upstream movement of sediments onto the concrete apron and against the vertical wall between the apron and the stilling basin from seed locations downstream of the apron and on the apron.« less


The term 'recursive' has had different meanings during the past two centuries among various communities of scholars. Its historical epistemology has already been described by Soare (1996) with respect to the mathematicians, logicians, and recursive-function theorists. The computer practitioners, on the other hand, are discussed in this paper by focusing on the definition and implementation of the ALGOL60 programming language. Recursion entered ALGOL60 in two novel ways: (i) syntactically with what we now call BNF notation, and (ii) dynamically by means of the recursive procedure. As is shown, both (i) and (ii) were introduced by linguistically-inclined programmers who were not versed in logic and who, rather unconventionally, abstracted away from the downto-earth practicalities of their computing machines. By the end of the 1960s, some computer practitioners had become aware of the theoretical insignificance of the recursive procedure in terms of computability, though without relying on recursive-function theory. The presented results help us to better understand the technological ancestry of modernday computer science, in the hope that contemporary researchers can more easily build upon its past.


Journal bearings are widely used to support the rotor of industrial machinery with high loads, such as steam turbines, centrifugal pump and compressors. The problem of journal bearings can cause catastrophic failures, results in huge economic loss and create high safety risks. It is necessary to develop effective condition monitoring technologies to detect and diagnose the failures at early stage. Many researchers have studied the low frequency vibration characteristics as well as the high frequency vibration and acoustics emission in the detection of journal bearing failure. However, these studies have shown relatively little information regarding to the vibro-acoustic characteristics of the self aligning journal bearings. This research focuses on understanding the full feature of vibroacoustics in association with the influence of radial, torsion load, radial load, shaft speed and lubricant viscosity properties in order to develop an more reliable way to monitoring journal bearings.


: When larvae of Drosophila algonquin parasitized by the hymenopterous parasite (parasitoid) Pseudeucoila bochei are ligatured early after infection so as to exclude the anterior endocrine center from the hemocytes and parasites located posterior to the ligature there is a decrease in the immune reaction rate. The data suggest that host endocrines are involved in the encapsulation and melanization reactions of the larvae, but the nature of the involvement is not known. The relationship between parasite encapsulation and melanotic tumor formation in Drosophila is discussed in terms of a possible common mechanism of activation.


Marine data are needed for many purposes: for acquiring a better scientific understanding of the marine environment, but also, increasingly, as marine knowledge for decision making as well as developing products and services supporting economic growth. Data must be of sufficient quality to meet the specific users' needs. It must also be accessible in a timely manner. And yet, despite being critical, this timely access to known-quality data proves challenging. Europe's marine data have traditionally been collected by a myriad of entities with the result that much of our data are scattered throughout unconnected databases and repositories. Even when data are available, they are often not compatible, making the sharing of the information and data aggregation particularly challenging. In this paper, we present how the European Marine Observation and Data network (EMODnet) has developed over the last decade to tackle these issues. Today, EMODnet is comprised of more than 150 organizations which gather marine data, metadata, and data products and make them more easily accessible for a wider range of users. EMODnet currently consists of seven sub-portals: bathymetry, geology, physics, chemistry, biology, seabed habitats, and human activities. In addition, Sea-basin Checkpoints have been established to assess the observation capacity in the North Sea, Mediterranean, Atlantic, Baltic, Artic, and Black Sea. The Checkpoints identify whether the observation infrastructure in Europe meets the needs of users by undertaking a number of challenges. To complement this, a Data Ingestion Service has been set up to tackle the problem of the wealth of marine data that remain unavailable, by reaching out to data holders, explaining the benefits of sharing their data and offering a support service to assist them in releasing their data and making them available through EMODnet. The EMODnet Central Portal (www.emodnet.eu) provides a single point of access to these services, which are free to access and use. The strategic vision of EMODnet in the next decade is also presented, together with key focal areas toward a more user-oriented service, including EMODnet for business, internationalization for global users, and stakeholder engagement to connect the diverse communities across the marine knowledge value chain.


The holothurian sclerites are here described for the first time from the Upper Devonian the world over and also for the first time from the Devonian of Poland. The sclerites found are assigned to the genus Eocaudina Martin. Several so far known species have been analyzed critically and three new ones, viz. Eocaudina gornensis sp. n., E. ovalis sp. n. and E. quinqueordinata sp. n. erected. The stratigraphic occurrences of particular species from the Upper Devonian are compared with the ·conodont zonation.


Male weanling mice (Biobreeding Laboratories) exposed to the drug Cuprizone (biscyclohexanone, oxaldihydrazone) in the diet for periods of 6 weeks and longer, consistently showed almost complete demyelination of the superior cerebellar peduncle. The demyelination was primary and followed degeneration of oligodendrocytes and their processes, whereas axons remained intact. After formation of myelinic vacuoles and removal of myelin by macrophages and astrocytes, the axons became invested with astroglial processes. As part of the glial response to demyelination, numerous reactive or immature cells appeared, some of which were identified as being either astrocytic or oligodendrocytic in nature. Some mature oligodendrocytes survived. When allowed to recover on a normal diet, remyelination began within a week, and progressed until all axons were myelinated. The mechanism of remyelination appeared similar to the spiral wrapping mechanism seen in normal development. The myelinating cell in all cases was the mature oligodendrocyte. Sources for these oligodendrocytes include residual surviving oligodendrocytes, differentiation of immature forms, and possibly the perineuronal satellite cell. The sheaths eventually reached a thickness approximately half that of normal development, with a disturbed relationship between myelin thickness and axon diameter. A visual impression of shortened internodal length was obtained. It is concluded that the Cuprizone model is an excellent situation in which to study the cellular mechanisms of demyelination and remyelination.


Background: Active case-finding is provider-initiated and implies systematic searching for TB in individuals who would not spontaneously present to a health service, and bringing them into care for diagnosis and treatment. Aim: The present study was carried out with the objective to assess the yield and feasibility of active case finding strategy among household contacts of newly diagnosed pulmonary TB cases and to determine risk factors in household contact. Methods: This community-based study with cross-sectional design was conducted among the household contacts of all newly diagnosed microbiologically confirmed pulmonary TB patients registered at Tuberculosis Unit (TU), Nuh. Investigator conducted house to house visit and met respective index case and his/her household contacts to build the rapport. Results: In the present study, there were 55 sputum smear-positive index cases and 356 household contacts of index cases. The most common symptom among screening positive household contacts was cough followed by weight loss. A substantial proportion (83.8%) of symptom positive household contacts were investigated for tuberculosis and among them, 18.9% were found to be positive for tuberculosis. The overall prevalence of TB cases among household contacts was found to be 1.97%. Conclusion: The present study concludes that household contact screening for active case finding for TB is a feasible and efficient tool that can potentially result in earlier diagnosis and treatment of active TB, thus minimizing the severity and decreasing transmission. It can also contribute toward improving treatment outcomes, health sequelae, and the social and economic consequences of TB.


Future developments of smart materials for domains such as self-sustainable wireless sensor networks, self-tuned vibration energy harvesting devices, seismic applications etc. is the need of an hour. Such smart materials have the potential to build smart structures and materials. Smart materials are stimuli-responsive which constituted a broad range of materials to exploit vibration control such as piezoelectric, shape memory alloys, electro-rheological fluid and magneto-rheological fluid. Smart materials show a certain amount of analogy with respect to biological systems. For instance, piezoelectric hydrophones that show similarity as that of ears with which fish senses vibrations, piezoelectric with an amalgamation of electromechanical coupling, shape-memory materials with a potential to recollect the original shape and electro-rheological fluids with manipulative viscosity strength etc. Such potential grabbed the attention of research and allow them to think and integrate varied advanced technologies into compact, diverse functional packages with an ultimate aim to develop advanced smart materials and revolutionize the research field of smart materials. This review initially discusses a brief summary of the aforementioned stimuli-responsive smart materials following a complete description of some of the smart materials


The Albian clastic Tuenza Formation of the Benguela basin (south Angola) is described and its geographic distribution analysed in detail. From these observations, the existence of an Albian "PalaeoBenguela current" is proposed. This would imply that a marine longshore current reworked the sand transported by palaeorivers and settled it northward along the coast of the young Atlantic Ocean (during the Albian). A parallel between Albian clastic deposits and the modern sediments deposited by the Benguela current is drawn, focusing on the striking resemblance between the two currents, i.e. the actual Benguela current and the Albian marine current, and the associated sedimentary bodies.


In normal human peripheral blood, there is a population of large lymphocytes with slightly eccentric nuclei and abundant pale-blue cytoplasm containing many azurophilic granules. These lymphocytes have been termed large granular lymphocytes (LGLs). It is now clear that almost all natural-killer and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxic activity resides in this population of cells. 1,2 Despite their morphologic similarity, immunologic analysis has shown striking heterogeneity in their surface antigens. 3,4 Almost all of these cells bear surface receptors for the Fc fragment of IgG, but some express antigens generally found on T-lymphocytes. Others show surface antigens carried by myelomonocytic cells. This may indicate the presence of multiple distinct subpopulations of cells or a single population of cells expressing different surface antigens at different stages of maturation or functional activity. 5 Whether LGLs are derived from the T cell or the myelomonocytic lineage is still not clear. There have been an increasing number


Teaching developmental biology to undergraduates can be complicated because it is a discipline most undergraduate students have never experienced before their first in-depth developmental biology course. This case study presents a set of online scenarios created to aid our students in learning developmental biology concepts, in which the student assumes the role of a postgraduate research student. These scenarios complement the course unit Principles of Developmental Biology taught to second-year undergraduate students. In each scenario students must work through experimental simulations and predict their results, answering a series of questions related to concepts taught in accompanying lectures or interpretations of data presented in the scenario. The scenarios focus on concepts common to developmental processes in animals. Additionally, one scenario is solely based on plant development. Student evaluations of these scenarios are very positive. Additionally, students report that working through the scenarios improves their knowledge of experimental techniques. Extending student knowledge of experimental protocols and data interpretation through eLearning approaches is an important addition to the course unit, as the unit is not supplemented by any specific laboratory work.


Presented are the syntheses, characterizations and properties of a series of selenidostannate compounds directed by metal-amine complex (MAC) cations and/or [Bmmim](+) (Bmmim = 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium). Mixtures of the ionic liquid (IL) (Bmmim)Cl and amines, such as ethylenediamine (en) and diethylenetriamine (dien), in various ratios were used to ionothermally/solvothermally prepare four selenidostannates, namely, [Mn(en)3]Sn3Se7 (1), [Mn(dien)2]Sn3Se7·H2O (2), (Bmmim)3[Mn(en)3]2[Sn9Se21]Cl (3) and (Bmmim)6[Mn(dien)2]2Sn15Se35 (4). Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses revealed that these compounds exhibit lamellar anionic [Sn3Se7]n(2n-) structures. [Sn3Se7]n(2n-) layers in all 1-4 possess a {6(3)} net, considering [Sn3Se10] semi-cube unit as a 3-connected node; however, diverse multi-membered rings exist there. In compounds 1 and 2, all the [Sn3Se10] units are 3-connected nodes interlinking with each other via edge-sharing two Se atoms to produce six-membered rings. However, in compound 3, the insertion of two [Sn3Se9] units into a six-membered ring results in a novel eight-membered heart-shaped ring, which has never been observed before in the family of chalcogenidostannates. More interestingly, the [Sn3Se7]n(2n-) layer in compound 4 consists of mixed six- and eight-membered rings. The phase composition is strongly dependent on the ratio of IL to MAC in the syntheses, e.g., 1 and 2 were obtained with IL:MAC ratios less than 3:1 and 4:1, while 3 and 4 were obtained when the ratios were increased to 4:1 and 5:1, respectively. The structural variation from 1 to 4 clearly indicates the competitive and synergistic effects between MAC and IL cation on the formation of lamellar selenidostannates. A synthetic approach via varying the ratio of IL to MAC cation as solvent and structure-directing agent will be attractive in the synthesis of novel chalcogenidometallates.


The reliability model of the main beam of a loading platform was established when the beam strength failure occurs through introducing the improved first order and second moment (AFOSM) technique into reliability analysis and combining the loading characteristics of the loading platform of the rotating stereo garage. Then the limit state carrying capability equations of the beam key sections were built using this new model. The principle which the reliability sensitivity of the main beam changes with the force was obtained through calculating with this model. The influences of the structure parameters on reliability were analyzed finally. These results of the study provide a theoretical basis for the structural reliability design of the main beam.


Abstract Objectives: A wide range of compounds are utilized in dentistry such as dental composites, resins, and implants. The successful clinical use of dental materials relies on theirm physiochemical properties as well as biological and toxicological reliability. Different local and systemic toxicities of dental materials have been reported. Placement of these materials in oral cavity for a long time period might yield unwanted reactions. An extensive variety of materials is used in dentistry including filling materials, restorative materials, intracanal medicines, prosthetic materials, different types of implants, liners, and irrigants. The increasing rate in development of the novel materials with applications in the dental field has led to an increased consciousness of the biological risks and tempting restrictions of these materials. The biocompatibility of a biomaterial used for the replacement or filling of biological tissue such as teeth always had a high concern within the health care disciplines for patients. Materials and methods: Any material used in humans should be tested before clinical application. There are many tests evaluating biocompatibility of these materials at the point of in vitro, in vivo, and clinical investigations. Results: The current review discusses the potential toxicity of dental material and screening of their biocompatibility. Clinical relevance: It is essential to use healthy and safe materials medical approaches. In dentistry, application of different materials in long-term oral usage demands low or nontoxic agents gains importance for both patients and the staff. Furthermore, screening tests should evaluate any potential toxicity before clinical application.


Open compound domain adaptation (OCDA) has emerged as a practical adaptation setting which considers a single labeled source domain against a compound of multi-modal unlabeled target data in order to generalize better on novel unseen domains. We hypothesize that an improved disentanglement of domain-related and task-related factors of dense intermediate layer features can greatly aid OCDA. Prior-arts attempt this indirectly by employing adversarial domain discriminators on the spatial CNN output. However, we find that latent features derived from the Fourier-based amplitude spectrum of deep CNN features hold a more tractable mapping with domain discrimination. Motivated by this, we propose a novel feature space Amplitude Spectrum Transformation (AST). During adaptation, we employ the AST auto-encoder for two purposes. First, carefully mined source-target instance pairs undergo a simulation of cross-domain feature stylization (AST-Sim) at a particular layer by altering the AST-latent. Second, AST operating at a later layer is tasked to normalize (AST-Norm) the domain content by fixing its latent to a mean prototype. Our simplified adaptation technique is not only clustering-free but also free from complex adversarial alignment. We achieve leading performance against the prior arts on the OCDA scene segmentation benchmarks.