Many rivers and streams throughout the world in the past century were severely affected by human activities including water extraction, watershed land use changes, power generation, dam and levee construction. In highly urbanized cities, engineering practices advocate straightening, enlarging, and converting the natural rivers and streams into concrete channels to minimize flooding and erosion problems. These engineering design approaches destroy the natural equilibrium of the fluvial systems and eliminate the aquatic and riparian species in the watercourse. The objective of this research is to develop a general stream restoration design approach for flood control concrete channels in highly urbanized areas. The restoration goals are: 1) to create a natural and self-sustainable river system in order to re-establish the aquatic species on the flood control channel; 2) to provide appropriate in-stream covers, pools and riffles features for fish spawning and rearing; and 3) to maintain the flood control function after stream restoration.

There are four phrases involved in the design methodology of flood channels restoration: 1) identification of restoration goals, 2) stream assessment on the existing condition; 3) modification and verification of the low-flow channel design based on stream assessment findings; and 4) confirmation of the original flood control function. Yuen Long Nullah in Hong Kong will be used as a pilot site study to demonstrate the design framework. Meanders and deflectors will be applied to the low-flow channel modification design. A physical model representing an actual 2-metre wide meander channel section of the low-flow channel was constructed and experimented at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Hydraulics Laboratory. A numerical sediment transport model using the CCHE2D program was used to adjust the modification design and verify the flood control function. The pilot site has been tentatively demonstrated the restoration design approach developed in this research where deflectors are a major factor on pools creation. Moreover, a single deflector located along the inner curvature of the meander section with 1/3 contraction ratio is proved to be the best design using the physical model. The numerical model using the CCHE2D program showed that the 7-block system can be used to model a deflector with porosity of 40%. Numerical results also demonstrated that the bed material will not be totally flushed out after a severe thunder storm.


Background : Commonly consumed vegetables from local markets are considered at a higher risk for organophosphate insecticides (OPs) contamination. This study aimed to investigate the contamination of OP residues in commonly consumed vegetable samples from local markets in 5 provinces, i.e., Nan, Chiang Rai, Lamphun, Lampang, and Chiang Mai provinces located in Northern Thailand. A risk assessment of OPs among adult Thai population was also evaluated by calculating the estimated daily intake (EDI) and the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Method : The multi cross-sectional studies were conducted in 5 provinces. Twelve vegetables were sampled from main local markets in every district of sampling sides. All samples have analyzed the level of 19 OP residues using GC-FPD. The estimated daily intake and health risk of OP residues were estimated by using hazard index. Results : Twelve OP residues were detected in 42.8% of the samples, and 16.0% had residue levels that exceeded EU maximum residue levels. The most frequently detected OP residue in the vegetable samples was chlorpyrifos. The percentage of OP contaminated samples slightly increased throughout sampling time, 40.6%, 43.4%, and 47.9%, respectively. Hazard indices (HIs) were calculated based on data from National Health Examination Survey Of fi ce and the result showed that HIs of diazinon residue in Pakchoi and dimethoate residue in cucumber were over 1, hence posing a serious threat to human health. Conclusion : The unacceptable levels of OP residues were observed in all types of vegetables collected from local markets, leading to hazardous exposure among consumers.


In this paper we propose a method to estimate the system performance before constructing the tree connection of a Web server system, which means all nodes have exactly zero or two childes and haven't loops; we aim at a serialparallel connection by carrying on simulation, analysis equation and measurement. We analyze the arrival rate with respect to the service rates where there are three kinds of relation greater than, equal to and less than which requires 27 cases or regions to represent the complex model of a complicated system using equivalence. For the physical verification we install a Web server system represented by a serial-parallel queue. We use measurement software to measure the system response time of the Web page access, and we find that the equivalent service rate of the actual measurement by linear regression estimate. The equivalent service rate is 54 requests/sec by the specific experimental measurement, and at 48.21 requests/sec we compute the difference between the two service rates as 10.85%. In the actual measurement, if we use a Web page data size of 25Kbytes, measure the system response time and compute the equivalent system response time, the difference between them is 46.12%


Over the past two decades, the literature has shown a clear gradient between child health and wealth. The same health–wealth gradient is also observed among children in China, with a large gap in health between rural and urban children. However, there are still unanswered questions about the main causes of China's rural–urban child health inequality. This paper aims to review the major factors that have led to the relatively poor levels of health among China's rural children. In addition to the direct income effect on children's health, children in rural areas face disadvantages compared with their urban counterparts from the beginning of life: Prenatal care and infant health outcomes are worse in rural areas; rural caregivers have poor health outcomes and lack knowledge and support to provide adequate nurturing care to young children; there are large disparities in access to quality health care between rural and urban areas; and rural families are more likely to lack access to clean water and sanitation. In order to inform policies that improve health outcomes for the poor, there is a critical need for research that identifies the causal drivers of health outcomes among children. Strengthening the pediatric training and workforce in rural areas is essential to delivering quality health care for rural children. Other potential interventions include addressing the health needs of mothers and grandparent caregivers, improving parenting knowledge and nurturing care, improving access to clean water and sanitation for remote families, and most importantly, targeting poverty itself.


The RAD1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for the incision step of excision repair of damaged DNA. In this paper, we report our observations on the effect of the RAD1 gene on genetic recombination. Mitotic intrachromosomal and interchromosomal recombination in RAD+, rad1, rad52, and other rad mutant strains was examined. The rad1 deletion mutation and some rad1 point mutations reduced the frequency of intrachromosomal recombination of a his3 duplication, in which one his3 allele is deleted at the 3' end while the other his3 allele is deleted at the 5' end. Mutations in the other excision repair genes, RAD2, RAD3, and RAD4, did not lower recombination frequencies in the his3 duplication. As expected, recombination between the his3 deletion alleles in the duplication was reduced in the rad52 mutant. The frequency of HIS3+ recombinants fell synergistically in the rad1 rad52 double mutant, indicating that the RAD1 and RAD52 genes affect this recombination via different pathways. In contrast to the effect of mutations in the RAD52 gene, mutations in the RAD1 gene did not lower intrachromosomal and interchromosomal recombination between heteroalleles that carry point mutations rather than partial deletions; however, the rad1 delta mutation did lower the frequency of integration of linear plasmids and DNA fragments into homologous genomic sequences. We suggest that RAD1 plays a role in recombination after the formation of the recombinogenic substrate.


The members of any functioning modern society live their lives amid complex networks of overlapping institutions. Apart from the major political institutions of law and government, however, much normative political theory seems to regard this institutional fabric as largely a pragmatic convenience. This paper contests this assumption by reflecting on how institutions both constrain and enable spheres of effective action and responsibility. In this way a society�s institutional fabric constitutes, in Samuel Scheffler�s phrase, an infrastructure of responsibility. The paper discusses three key normative aspects of this infrastructure. First, institutions define roles and rules, alongside forms of sanction and encouragement, so as to realise limited forms of practical, normative agreement. Second, institutions allocate and adjudicate distinct responsibilities. This creates separate spheres of initiative, ensuring responsibilities are fulfilled and providing for structured disagreement and change. Third, because we move through a plurality of institutions and associations, we experience varying responsibilities and forms of recognition. Individual identities thus depend on several different forms of recognition, and are well placed to resist totalising or fundamentalist temptations. In sum, the paper argues that a liberal institutional fabric provides essential moral stability, though not an undesirable fixity. By containing the fragility and dangers of individual moral judgment, our institutional fabric allows such judgment to play a valuable role in human affairs.


Theory and research on causal attribution have primarily focused on Western population samples. Given the important cultural differences that have been noted between Western (individualistic) and Eastern (collectivistic) cultures, l undertook a cross-cultural comparative analysis of causality attributions related to serious accidents between Ghanaian and Finnish industrial workers. The data comprised 529 participants: 73 victims, 65 witnesses, and 71 supervisors from Finland, and 121 victims, 117 witnesses, and 82 supervisors from Ghana. Consistent with my predictions, l found the Ghanaian participants to be more contextual in their causality attributions. Compared to their Finnish counterparts, they externalised their faults and work failures and were rather defensive in their explanations. The discussion is focused on the cultural, cognitive and motivational factors for the divergence causality assignment.


X-ray flares are the most common phenomena in the afterglow phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the Swift era, and are known as a canonical component in X-ray afterglows. In this work, we constrain the Lorentz factor of X-ray flares with an updated sample. We extensively search for X-ray light curves showing flare and jet break simultaneously. A smooth broken power law function is used to fit the jet breaks in 11 GRBs. We also use a smooth broken power law function to fit the profile of X-ray flares, and the total number of the flares is 20. We obtain the lower and upper limits of Lorentz factor ( Γ X ) with the timescale, half-opening angle and mean luminosity of the X-ray flares for interstellar medium (ISM) and wind cases. The lower limits on Γ X range from tens to a few hundred, and the upper limits are mainly about a few hundred. We also apply the limited Lorentz factor to test correlations of Γ 0 − E γ , iso and Γ 0 − L γ , iso for GRBs, and find X-ray flares in the ISM case are much more consistent with those of prompt emission than the wind case in a statistical sense for both correlations. X-ray flares are almost consistent with the trend in the correlations of Γ 0 − E γ , iso ( L γ , iso ) for prompt GRBs, indicating X-ray flares and prompt bursts may have the same physical origin.


Although previous research have reported strong and positive intercorrelations between group task conflict and group relationship conflict, several different theoretical rationales exist for the positive link and the empirical literature remains equivocal. To clarify the causal linkage between the two types of conflict, we derived seven models specifying how group task and relationship conflict can be related to each other, including some rival explanations. We tested the competing models using a longitudinal panel design, with data collected from 74 project teams comprising a total of 388 students. The results indicated that relationship conflict led to an increased subsequent task conflict through negative group affect. Task conflict, however, predicted a subsequent relationship conflict under a specific context, that is, groups that had lower levels of trust among the members. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A Q-switched Brillouin fibre laser (BFL) is successfully demonstrated using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) embedded in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film as a passive saturable absorber (SA) for the first time. The SA is obtained by sandwiching the developed MWCNTs–PVA film between two FC/PC fibre connectors after depositing index-matching gel onto the fibre ends. The proposed Q-switched BFL incorporates a 5 km long dispersion shifted fibre in a ring cavity structure to generate Stokes shifted by 0.08 nm from the Brillouin pump wavelength. The BFL starts to generate a Q-switching pulse train at threshold pump power of 5 dBm. As the BP power is varied from 5.0 to 6.0 dBm, the repetition rate of the Q-switched BFL exhibits an increasing trend from 27.75 to 30.21 kHz, whereas the pulse width exhibits a decreasing trend from 3.25 μs to 1.11 μs. The maximum pulse energy of 0.13 nJ is obtained at maximum BP power of 6.0 dBm.


The optimization methodology of the steel-concrete composite beam was proposed in this paper. The objective function is the cost of the composite beams, and the design variables are the geometry parameters, including height and width of the concrete deck, as well as thickness of the steel flange and web. The constraint conditions are main requirements stated in Chinese code for the design of composite beam, reasonable calculating theories and indispensable constructions, as well as some mature and consistent conclusions confirmed by experimental studies. Stiffness reduction coefficient is used to consider the effect of bond-slip effect between concrete and steel when calculating the beam deformation. The optimization for composite beam under uniform loads is given as a demonstration example finally. The methodology proposed in this paper should be useful for obtaining the solution of this kind of optimization problem.


At present very little is known about the energy metabolism of Toxoplasma gondii except that Fulton and Spooner showed that a suspension of organisms utilizes glucose and oxygen. The organism is difficult to study because it is an obligate intracellular parasite. Not only does multiplication require an intracellular locus, but gradual death of organisms occurs when they are extracellular for any appreciable period of time. Since Toxoplasma can thrive in almost any mammalian cell or any cell in tissue culture, the factors which are provided by the cell must be simple and nearly universal. It is the purpose of this study to employ enzyme histochemistry to ascertain the presence, activity and location within the organisms of enzymes associated with respiration, and to compare the apparent enzyme activities of proliferative and encysted parasites.
Tetrazolium stains permit selective demonstration of the various enzymes of glycolysis, the Kreb's cycle, and the electron transport chain in encysted as well as proliferative forms of Toxoplasma and permit localization of these enzymes within the organism.


Destination marketing websites provide the user with information about the areas'tourist activities and the various attractions. During the past six years more and more travelers around the world have used the Internet to learn more about a destination or to plan their vacation trips (TIA, 2006). In year 2004, Udzungwa Mountains National Park launched its official Destination Marketing Website system. The system failed to satisfy the needs of its users that led to frequent complaints of dissatisfaction from using the system. Among the basic quality elements a website should have are good navigation, useful content and accessibility (small downloading time of the website pages). In order to learn what elements were being valued the most by travelers in a destination marketing website, a study was undertaken to investigate the importance and performance ofUdzungwa Mountains National Park website features. This study was conducted using the Internet based survey. The results revealed that travelers valued most the content elements, such as pictures, maps and detailed information about the destination most. The interactive features were also acquired inside the system to create a user-friendlier environment. Keywords: Udzungwa, destination website, navigation, content, accessibility


In this work, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) has been used to determine the size and morphology of bone mineral crystals obtained from hydrazine-deproteinated parietal bone and femur of Wistar rats aged 15 days, 1 month and 1 year. Apart from the Scanning Electron Microscopy study, crystal size was also determined by X-ray diffractometry, using the Debye- Scherrer equation. Analyzing the results obtained and those reported in the literature for isolated crystals, it is possible to evaluate the influence of age and type of bone on the nanostructure of bone mineral and also propose the existence of a fundamental morphological unit that repeats itself in bone mineral formation.


Two peptides which are potent stimulants of gastric acid secretion are isolated from Zollinger-Ellison tumour tissue. They have aminoacid constitutions identical with those of human gastrin types I and II as isolated from human antral mucosa, and they are present in similar proportions. Their electrophoretic and chromatographic behaviour corresponds to that of human gastrins. Evidence is presented in respect of the one isolated in greater amount that its aminoacid sequence is probably identical with that of human gastrin type I.


In sheet metal forming and stamping operations, modeling the behavior of sheet metal alloys for springback prediction is known to be very challenging, not only because of the complex models needed to account for kinematic hardening (such as the Yoshida-Uemori Model) but more importantly because of the experimental limitations of our ability to perform the complex tests needed to calibrate such models. For instance, reliable monotonic uniaxial compression tests and then cyclic tension-followed-by-compression tests are essential for characterizing the response of the material under those loading conditions, providing quantitative evaluation of the Bauschinger effect and tension-compression asymmetry in the material, and ultimately generating the right data to calibrate the constitutive model. This work tries to shed some light on this topic by introducing a new antibuckling device that is particularly designed to enable accurate and repeatable compression and cyclic testing. The device exerts side loading on the sheet test sample to prevent it from buckling during testing under compression loading conditions. The device is designed to address the limitations of other approaches and devices presented in the literature, and it features control and monitoring of side forces, self-centering, and the ability to achieve large plastic compressive strains. More importantly, digital image correlation (DIC) is integrated with the antibuckling device and testing load frame to provide accurate strain measurements. In this study, DIC was used in a real-time mode (unlike the typical postdeformation mode) to facilitate accurate load reversal during cyclic testing. For validation, the presented setup was used for testing two selected materials with practical applications in the automotive body sector: AA6016-T4 and DP980 steel sheets. The results demonstrate how the developed setup and the integration with real-time DIC provide a robust and reliable means for generating high-quality curves for the different tests needed for the calibration of springback models.


Cheeses made with unpasteurized milk are a safety concern due to possible contamination with foodborne pathogens. Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 have been implicated in several outbreaks and recalls linked to Gouda cheese made with unpasteurized milk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Code of Federal Regulations requires cheeses made with unpasteurized milk to be aged at a minimum of 1.7°C for at least 60 days before entering interstate commerce. The goal of this study was (i) to assess the population dynamics of L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 during aging of Gouda cheese when the pathogens were inoculated into the unpasteurized milk used for manufacture and (ii) to compare the native microbial populations throughout manufacture and aging. Unpasteurized milk was inoculated with L. monocytogenes at 1 or 3 log CFU/mL or with E. coli O157:H7 at 1 log CFU/mL, and Gouda cheese was manufactured in laboratory-scale or pilot plant-scale settings. Cheeses were stored at 10°C for at least 90 days, and some cheeses were stored up to 163 days. Initial native microflora populations in unpasteurized milk did not differ significantly for laboratory-scale or pilot plant-scale trials, and population dynamics trended similarly throughout cheese manufacture and aging. During manufacture, approximately 81% of the total L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 populations was found in the curd samples. At an inoculation level of 1 log CFU/mL, L. monocytogenes survived in the cheese beyond 60 days in four of five trials. In contrast, E. coli O157:H7 was detected beyond 60 days in only one trial. At the higher 3-log inoculation level, the population of L. monocytogenes increased significantly from 3.96 ± 0.07 log CFU/g at the beginning of aging to 6.00 ± 0.73 log CFU/g after 150 days, corresponding to a growth rate of 0.04 ± 0.02 log CFU/g/day. The types of native microflora assessed included Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, mesophilic bacteria, and yeasts and molds. Generally, lactic acid and mesophilic bacterial populations remained consistent at approximately 8 to 9 log CFU/g during aging, whereas yeast and mold populations steadily increased. The data from this study will contribute to knowledge about survival of these pathogens during Gouda cheese production and will help researchers assess the risks of illness from consumption of Gouda cheese made with unpasteurized milk.


We at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have a very active Flywheel program, one component of which is the development of new resin systems to serve as matrix materials for fiber-reinforced composites. A resin matrix for filament-wound flywheels must have a combination of characteristics that is normally difficult to achieve and, at times, may be almost mutually exclusive. The needs most prominent are low viscosity for fiber penetration, a long pot life for handling ease, low toxicity, and low cost. Very few resin systems satisfactorily meet each of these necessary criteria. An additional constraint lies within the service temperatures where the flywheel must operate. Three distinct temperature regimes have been defined. The first is where the flywheel reaches a maximum temperature of 65°C. In the second region, a maximum temperature of 100°C has been defined. In the third region, the temperature may reach 120°C or higher. For the low temperature use, a room temperature curable resin system with a glass transition temperature (Tg) of approximately 65°C seems satisfactory. For intermediate temperature uses, a rubberized epoxy resin cured with an aromatic amine (Tg = 104°C) looks promising.


This paper examines whether parental marriage confers educational advantages to children relative to cohabitation. We exploit a dramatic marriage boom in Sweden in late 1989 created by a reform of the Widow's Pension System that raised the attractiveness of marriage compared to cohabitation to identify the effect of marriage. Sweden's rich administrative data sources enable us to identify the children who were affected by parental marriage due to this marriage boom. Our analysis addresses the policy relevant question whether marginal marriages created by a policy initiative have an impact on children. Using grade point average at age 16 as the outcome variable, we first confirm the expected pattern that children with married parents do better than children with cohabiting parents. However, once we control for observable family background, or use instrumental-variables estimation to compare the outcomes for those children whose parents married due to the reform with those children whose parents remained unmarried, the differences disappeared. A supplementary sibling difference analysis also supports the conclusion that the differentials among children of married and cohabiting parents reflect selection rather than causation.


The motor imagery (MI) based brain-computer interface systems (BCIs) can help with new communication ways. A typical electroencephalography (EEG)-based BCI system consists of several components including signal acquisition, signal pre-processing, feature extraction and feature classification. This paper focuses on the feature extraction step and proposes to use a combination of different feature extraction and feature reduction methods. The research presented in the paper explores the methods of band power, time domain parameters, fast Fourier transform and channel variance for feature extraction. These methods are investigated by combining them in pairs. The application of two feature extraction methods increases the number of selected features that can be redundant or irrelevant. The utilization of too many features can lead to wrong classification results. Therefore, the methods of feature reduction have to be applied. The following feature reduction methods are investigated: principal component analysis, sequential forward selection, sequential backward selection, locality preserving projections and local Fisher discriminant analysis. The combination of the methods of fast Fourier transform, channel variance and principal component analysis performed the best among the combinations of methods. The obtained classification accuracy of the above-mentioned combination of the methods is much higher than that of the individual feature extraction method. The novelty of the approach is based on consolidated sequence of methods for feature extraction and feature reduction.


This article aims to analyze the relationships between water and land. It posits that there is a disconnect between land and water management that needs to be rectified. To address the major challenges the world is facing in terms of feeding itself and securing adequate access to water there is a need to revisit the integrated water resources management (IWRM) paradigm. While IWRM incorporates the link between land and water in theory, it is often ignored in practice. The authors argue that greater visibility of the land–water linkage is needed and would be encouraged by adding an L for land use, making ILWRM: integrated land and water resources management. The natural systems at play are juxtaposed with a discussion of the (water) governance challenges that they pose. Challenges stemming from increased land (and thereby water) acquisitions, as well as the transboundary perspectives of the ILWRM challenge, highlight the need to revisit and evolve our approach to providing water and food security.


The Limits of Transition: The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission 20 Years on is an interdisciplinary collection that celebrates and critiques the work of the TRC after 20 years. The authors consider whether the TRC has continued relevance for South Africa. The book further explores the legacy of the 'unfinished business' of the TRC.


In this paper, novel channel estimation schemes using uncorrelated periodic complementary sets of unitary sequences are proposed for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) frequency-selective fading channels. When the additive noise is Gaussian, the proposed best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE) achieves the minimum possible classical Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB), if the channel coefficients are regarded as unknown deterministics. On the other hand, the proposed linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) estimator attains the minimum possible Bayesian CRLB, when the underlying channel coefficients are Gaussian and independent of the additive Gaussian noise. The proposed channel estimators can be implemented with very low complexity via FFT, which makes them very suitable for practical systems such as, but not limited to, MIMO orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems.


A fission decay of highly excited periodically driven compound nuclei is considered in the framework of Langevin approach. We have used residual-time distribution (RTD) as the tool for studying of dynamic features in a presence of periodic perturbation. The structure of RTD essentially depends on the relation between Kramers decay rate and the frequency of the periodic perturbation. In particular, intensity of the first peak in RTD has a sharp maximum at certain nuclear temperature depending on the frequency of the periodic perturbation. This maximum should be considered as first-hand manifestation of stochastic resonance in nuclear dynamics.


Based on the periodically forced dynamic qualities of the blood circulation system, this paper considered from network and hemodynamics, establishes plane structure diagram of the cerebral circulation. According to the electric circuit graph theory and blood dynamics equation, applies the averaging method to find an approximate solution of this equation. We apply this method in the cerebrovascular network that may help to explain the development processes of venous diseases. Simulation shows that computing result is consistent with blood flow change phenomenon of the clinical observation cerebral infarction.


This article examines the impact of parties, domestic institutions, and the international economy on the conduct of monetary and fiscal policies using time-series cross-section data from nineteen oecd countries for the years between 1960 and the mid-1990s. The results are as follows. Partisan governments have affected, alone and in interaction with the organization of labor markets, the pattern of macroeconomic management. Still, their impact has varied over time, partly as a function of economic conditions but fundamentally as a function of the degree of financial liberalization and the exchange-rate system in place. After following broadly similar macroeconomic policies in the 1960s, oecd governments pursued divergent monetary and fiscal policies in response to the economic slowdown of the 1970s. Even when they initially adopted countercyclical measures, conservative governments quickly favored tight monetary policies and strove to achieve fiscal discipline. By contrast, taking advantage of generalized capital controls and floating exchange rates, socialist cabinets embraced demand management policies in a systematic fashion--mostly through budget deficits in corporatist countries and through both loose monetary and loose fiscal measures in noncorporatist settings. As financial liberalization progressed in the early 1980s, partisan- and institution-led differences in macroeconomic policies waned across countries.


Mandatory vitamin B12 fortification of enriched grain products is long overdue in the United States and Canada. Fortification would help provide the 2.4 mug of synthetic vitamin B12 that the US Institute of Medicine recommends for all persons 50 years and older. The findings of Ray and colleagues in this issue suggest that B12 may also help to prevent neural tube defects. If recommendations for B12 fortification were followed, it is possible that cases of spina bifida and anencephaly would be prevented. Two hundred twenty thousand children each year acquire folic acid-preventable spina bifida because many governments, including all in Europe, have yet to implement mandatory folic acid fortification. Fortification with folic acid and vitamin B12 is safe and should be implemented in all countries.


Purpose: This study examines practitioner participation over 12 years in the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) studies and practitioner meetings, average length of participation, and association of practitioner- and practice-level characteristics with participation. Little information exists about practitioners' long-term participation in PBRNs. Methods: The network conducted a retrospective analysis of practitioner participation in 3 main network activities during 2005 to 2017. Practitioners who completed an enrollment questionnaire, practiced in the United States, and either attended a network meeting or received an invitation to complete a questionnaire or clinical study were included in the analysis. Practitioners (n = 3669) met inclusion criteria. The network implemented 38 studies (28 clinical and 10 questionnaire), 23 of which (15 clinical and 8 questionnaire) met the criteria for the current analysis. Results: Overall, 86% (N = 3148) participated in at least 1 network activity during 2005 to 2017. Questionnaire studies had the highest rate with 81% (N = 2963) completing at least 1, 21% (N = 762) completed at least 1 clinical study and 19% (N = 700) attended at least 1 network meeting. Among 1578 practitioners enrolled in the first 5 years of the Network launch, 20% (N = 320) participated in multiple network activities over 5 to 9 years, and 14% (N = 238) for 10 to 12 years. Practitioner characteristics associated with participation varied depending on the activity assessed. Conclusion: The network engaged practitioners in its research activities with relatively high participation rates over a 12-year period. Strategies employed by the network to engage practitioners may serve as a model for PBRN networks for other allied health professions.


Summary As the number of tagged data on the Web is increased, there are many needs on the folksonomy-based systems to provide some proper functionalities, such as identifying user interests, recommending relevant resources or constructing ontologies for sharing and reusing tag data, etc. However, some proper data mining approaches to folksonomies are necessary to better understand their characteristics and extract valuable information from folksonomies. In this paper, we propose a triadic approach for mining folksonomies based on hierarchical classes analysis, and demonstrate how triadic elements of folksonomies can be analyzed and mined by applying the proposed approach. We also discuss how the results can be used for better understanding of the characteristics of folksonomies.


BACKGROUND
This randomized clinical trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tavipec® (Spicae aetheroleum), a phytomedicine obtained by steam distillation of the flowering tops of Lavandula latifolia, as compared to placebo in adult patients suffering from acute viral rhinosinusitis.

METHODOLOGY
Patients with acute viral rhinosinusitis were randomly assigned to treatment with 2 capsules Tavipec® 150 mg or placebo thrice daily over a period of 7 days in a double-blind, parallel-group design. No additional treatment was admitted. The efficacy endpoints comprised the improvement of the main rhinosinusitis symptoms as per Major Symptom Score (MSS) and Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) as well as of quality of life (QoL) by global assessment scale, evaluated at baseline, day 5 and day 8, respectively.

RESULTS
288 patients were enrolled and randomized to treatment. At day 8 the patients in the Tavipec® group had a significantly lower MSS compared to placebo and the impact of rhinosinusitis symptoms on QoL was significantly reduced. A significantly higher proportion of Tavipec® treated patients experienced a change in SNOT-22 score greater than or equal to 10 points at day 5 or day 8. No new safety signals were identified.

CONCLUSIONS
The treatment with Tavipec® effectively reduced the symptoms of acute rhinosinusitis in adult patients.


This thesis investigated ion dyshomeostasis within Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC), a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease. Chapter 3 characterizes newly discovered lysosomal Zn2+ storage in NPC, and identifies a novel function for the NPC1 protein as a lysosomal Zn2+ transporter. Zn2+ accumulation appears responsible for some lipid storage within NPC, and treating cells with the Zn2+ chelator phytic acid corrects downstream NPC phenotypes. Chapter 4 investigates Ca2+-modulating therapies for treating NPC. These include tanganil, demonstrated in a recent case study to ameliorate ataxia within NPC patients, and which works by increasing cytosolic Ca2+ to overcome the NPC lysosomal Ca2+ signaling defect. The importance of this Ca2+ signaling defect in NPC can be seen both in the aforementioned beneficial effects of Ca2+ modulating therapies and when looking at NPC-like lipid storage and reduced neuronal Ca2+ spikes observed following treatment of zebrafish with an inhibitor of lysosomal Ca2+ signaling, Ned-19 (Chapter 5). In addition, Chapter 5 describes the generation and characterization of NPC zebrafish treated with inhibitors of npc1 (U18666A, 1NMP) and microinjected with npc1-morpholino. These models accurately recapitulate human NPC phenotypes (characteristic lipid storage, behavioural defects) and can be used to test emerging NPC therapies in vivo (e.g. phytic acid, tanganil). Finally, Chapter 6 explores how different formulations of curcumin, which correct NPC phenotypes both in vitro and in vivo via Ca2+ modulation, have reduced effect and can exacerbate storage in cells when combined with lipid vectors. Having described studies into both Ca2+ and Zn2+ dyshomeostasis in NPC, a new 2-armed pathogenic cascade was hypothesized whereby early dyshomeostasis of lysosomal Ca2+ and Zn2+ generates all downstream NPC phenotypes. Combination therapies with Ca2+ modulators (e.g. tanganil) and Zn2+ chelators (e.g. phytic acid) may provide the best option to treat this complex disease, and require testing both in vitro and in vivo.


Digital contact tracing has been proposed to support the health authorities in fighting the current Covid-19 pandemic. In this paper we propose two centralised protocols for digital contact tracing that, contrary to the common hypothesis that this is an inherent risk, do not allow (retroactive) tracking of the location of a device over time. The first protocol does not rely on synchronised clocks. The second protocol does not require a handshake between two devices, at the expense of relying on real-time communication with a central server. We stress that digital contact tracing is a form of technological solutionism that should be used with care, especially given the inherent mass surveillance nature of such systems.


There are several applications of combined phenological time series; e.g., trend analysis with long continuous time series, obtaining a compound and representative time series around weather stations for model fitting, data gap filling and outlier detection. Various methods to combine phenological time series have been proposed. We show that all of these methods can be analyzed within the theory of linear models. This has the advantage that the underlying assumptions for each model become transparent providing a theoretical basis for selecting a model for a particular situation. Moreover, the common theoretical background provides a means of comparing methods by Monte-Carlo simulation and with real data. Additionally, we explored the influences of two outlier detection methods. We show that the error called the month-mistake, whose origin is known and which is one of the few mistakes that can be detected in phenological data because of its large deviation, is best detected by the distribution-free 30-day residual rule in combination with a robust estimation procedure based on the minimization of the sum of absolute residuals (L1-norm).


Differential diagnosis of prostatic adenocarcinomas is based on histopathologic analysis of tumor tissue obtained by transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsies. However, such invasive biopsies are associated with pain, procedural expenses, sequelae, and risk of complications. Though immunocytochemistry (ICC) profiling of circulating tumor cells (CTCs, defined as EpCAM+, panCK+, CD45-) has been previously attempted for diagnosis in some cancers, it has been unviable due to limited yields of CTCs. For the first time we used enrichment of CTCs that permit meaningful ICC profiling for diagnosis of prostate cancers in suspected cases as contradistinguished from cases of benign enlargement of prostate (BEP). We obtained 15 mL of venous blood draw from 650 individuals, of whom 65 had a confirmed diagnosis of either prostate adenocarcinoma and 585 were diagnosed with benign prostate hyperplasia. CTCs were enriched from PBMCs fraction using an epigenetically acting enrichment process that is lethal towards normal (nonmalignant) cells but confers survival privilege on apoptosis-resistant CTCs. Harvested CTCs were confirmed by immunostaining for EpCAM and pan-CK. ICC profiling of these CTCs was also performed with organ-specific markers PSMA and AMACR. Viable CTCs could be obtained from 58 samples (89.2%) out of 65 confirmed prostate cancer cases. Among the 40 samples that were characterized by deep ICC profiling, all samples (100%) were positive for PSMA and AMACR. Among the benign cases, CTCs were observed in 10 samples (1.7%), of which all 10 were positive for PSMA but negative for AMACR. These patients are being followed up. Possibility of other cancers is not ruled out in these patients. Our results show that ICC-based characterization of CTCs can provide necessary diagnostic information noninvasively to substitute for conventional procedures dependent on tissue extraction. Citation Format: Darshana A. Patil, Dadasaheb Akolkar, Revati Patil, Pooja Fulmali, Pradip Fulmali, Akshay Ainwale, Navin Srivastava, Vineet Datta, Cynthe Sims, Ajay Srinivasan, Rajan Datar. Encyclopedic noninvasive liquid biopsies for differential diagnosis in prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Liquid Biopsies; Jan 13-16, 2020; Miami, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(11_Suppl):Abstract nr B61.


INTRODUCTION
Infantile massive spasms (IMS) is an age dependent epileptic syndrome that appears before the first year, and is characterised by delayed psychomotor development, massive spasms and hypsarrhythmia. There are classifications that only take the electroencephalogram (EEG) into account, without linking it with the IMS associated crisis pattern which can establish a treatment to improve the recurrence of the crises in this population, according to EEG discoveries and patterns of epileptic fits.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We include 100 EEGs of patients diagnosed with IMS, between 2 and 12 months old, selected by using the classification of Hrachovy to identify classic and modified hypsarrhythmia, and to correlate it with the pattern of epileptic seizures associated with IMS.

RESULTS
The hypsarrhythmia found was mainly of the modified variety, and classic hypsarrhythmia only accounted for 9% of cases. The first case presented flexion IMS with generalised tonic seizures, and in the second, generalised tonic seizures and mixed IMS. Start age was between 2 and 4 months old.

CONCLUSIONS
In comparison with results in other publications, in the EEG it was found that modified hypsarrhythmia with IMS associated partial and generalised tonic seizures with was the most common, while in the classic variety mixed IMS predominated. It must be taken into account that the absence of this variety does not rule out a diagnosis of IMS, but its presence makes the prognosis worse.


This working paper focuses both on theoretical analysis of altruism and its links with the promotion of active civil society. The main goal is to separate the different forms of altruism and to examine the factors contributing to the changing degrees of altruism. This paper also aims to specify the definition of altruism and the conceptual and empirical dilemmas related to it. The article will, first, look at how altruism has been understood within economic and sociological studies. The text will then – before focusing on the civil society links in the last section – concentrate on the main lines of empirical research on altruism, their main findings, and preferable future research developments. The overall goal of this text is to develop and focus the discussion and research on altruism by offering specifications, problems, and links with the empirical world – the search for a good communal life and a good society.


Insulation effect and mechanical performance of foam glass depend, to a large extent, on foam structure. Hence understanding foam formation is not only a problem of significant fundamental interest but also of tremendous practical impact. In this paper, foam growth was modeled comparing to grain growth theory in sintering. TG-DTG analysis of carbon black indicated that pre-oxidation took place prior to foaming temperature. Furthermore effects of heating rate and particle size of carbon black on foam structure have been taken into account. Several borosilicate foam glasses were fabricated by powder sintering process at different heating rates using carbon black of different particle sizes as foaming agent, respectively. It was found that increasing the heating rate tended to decrease the pre-oxidation of carbon black resulting in inhomogeneous foam distribution. Foam structure of sample heated at a rate of 8°C/min using carbon black with particle size of 0.15mm was optimal.


Muehlbauer, T, Panzer, S, and Schindler, C. Pacing pattern and speed skating performance in competitive long-distance events. J Strength Cond Res 24(1): 114-119, 2010-The present study was aimed to compare the pacing pattern adopted by women and men in races performed during a complete World Cup series. Elite skaters competed in long-distance races of different length (3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 m) and location (low/high altitude) where distribution of lap times were analyzed. Regardless of athletes' performance level, gender, or rinks' location, similar pacing patterns were observed in each event, which were characterized by an initial acceleration followed by a progressive delay in lap times-"positive pacing strategy". Differences in lap times were significant in each instance for women's 3,000 m (p < 0.001). For the 5,000 m races, laps 5-12 in women and laps 8-12 in men were slower compared with previous laps (p < 0.001, for both sexes). For men's 10,000 m, skaters performed only the first lap faster than the remaining laps (p < 0.001) with laps 2-7 not different from each other but faster than laps 19-24 (p < 0.05), which also did not differ from each other. Top-ranked compared with bottom-ranked skaters (p < 0.001) and male compared with female skaters (p < 0.001) were significantly faster at each lap, suggesting that technical or physiological or both aspects need to be developed in those. The significantly shorter lap times at high- compared with low-altitude races (p < 0.001) suggest that rinks' location appears to be important for performance outcome, at elite level.


Recently, increasing the quality of experience (QoE) is an important issue. Since performance degradation at cell edge extremely reduces the QoE, several techniques are defined at LTE/LTE-A standard to remove inter-cell interference (ICI). However, the conventional techniques have disadvantage because there is a trade-off between resource allocation and reliable communication. The proposed scheme reduces the ICI more efficiently by using channel state information (CSI) smartly. It is shown that the proposed scheme can reduce the ICI with fewer resources. Keywords—Adaptive beam forming, CoMP, LTE-A, ICI reduction.


The applications accessing multimedia systems and content over the Web have grown immensely in the past five years. Furthermore, many end users can easily use tools to synthesize and edit multimedia information. Thus, security has become one of the most significant problems for distributing new information technology. It is necessary to prevent illegal copying, misappropriation, and misrepresentation of digital audio, images, and video because they can be so easily copied and multiplied without information loss. It's also important to determine where and how much a multimedia file differs from its original. Thus, a need exists for developing technology that will help protect the integrity of digital content and secure the intellectualproperty rights of owners.


Modern high-quality medicine would be inconceivable without computer and communication technology. A physician can manage an enormous stream of data (especially images) only by using computerized information systems. That's why telemedicine applications are widely accepted in radiology. High standards for patient health care cannot be maintained without the introduction of modern radiological information systems (RISs) and PACS. This paper introduces a new intranet/Internet-oriented RIS for the transmission, visualization and processing of medical images, which can be used in hospitals and in doctor's offices.


Biodegradation of natural and anthropogenic chelating agents directly and indirectly affects the speciation, and, hence, the mobility of actinides in subsurface environments. We combined mathematical modeling with laboratory experimentation to investigate the effects of aerobic and anaerobic chelate biodegradation on actinide [Np(IV/V), Pu(IV)] speciation. Under aerobic conditions, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) biodegradation rates were strongly influenced by the actinide concentration. Actinide-chelate complexation reduced the relative abundance of available growth substrate in solution and actinide species present or released during chelate degradation were toxic to the organisms. Aerobic bio-utilization of the chelates as electron-donor substrates directly affected actinide speciation by releasing the radionuclides from complexed form into solution, where their fate was controlled by inorganic ligands in the system. Actinide speciation was also indirectly affected by pH changes caused by organic biodegradation. The two concurrent processes of organic biodegradation and actinide aqueous chemistry were accurately linked and described using CCBATCH, a computer model developed at Northwestern University to investigate the dynamics of coupled biological and chemical reactions in mixed waste subsurface environments. CCBATCH was then used to simulate the fate of Np during anaerobic citrate biodegradation. The modeling studies suggested that, under some conditions, chelate degradation can increase Np(IV) solubility due to carbonate complexation in closed aqueous systems.


In Regional and International factors that Prolong the Syrian Crisis , Eduardo W. Aboultaif provides an analytical survey of the various regional and international players who are directly or indirectly involved in the Syrian crisis. Aboultaif elucidates the subtle differences between political and economic concerns and explains, for example, how states often are willing to ignore their immediate economic interest when faced with political factors that are seen as national security threats. Aboultaif further describes the inter-consecutiveness of events in Syria and events in Russia, China and Iran, thereby revealing the logic underlying support to the Asad regime. Perhaps most important, and up to the time in which Aboultaif completed this article, the unwillingness of Arab states, and to a lesser extent Turkey, to act directly in the region without American support has served to define the nature of the regional conflict and, explains, to a large extent, the continuity of the crisis.


Congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM) is a rare bronchopulmonary malformation characterized by loss of the normal pulmonary tissue. CCAM may be frequently associated with cardiac and renal anomalies. Rarely, CCAM may be seen with chromosome abnormalities. This is the first reported neonatal case of prenatally detected CCAM and postnatally diagnosed trisomy 13.


The importance of Green Marketing can well be emphasized by stating the fact that majority of consumers in all the countries want to buy from environmentally responsible companies. Consumers say environmental consciousness is an important corporate priority – ranking behind good value, trustworthy, and cares about customers. No product on this planet has a zilch impact on the business and environment one is surrounded by and therefore, 'green products/brands and environmentalfriendly products/brands' is the word used to express those products/brands that work to shield and care for atmosphere/environment by preserving the free energy and/or resources, in order to effectively manage to reduce the wastes from the environment as much as possible. By the topic, it is apparent that the study is all about green marketing and especially to assess the consumer's perception about the products and brands, which are environmental-friendly i.e. whether green marketing really impresses an individual to buy the products/brands than a product/brand, which doesn't promote environmentalfriendly positioning. This study focuses the Asian market, which is challenged by economic development and opportunity due to gain in energy prices, terrorism, environmental and climatic changes and consequences. A sufficient sample of 200 users of green products were selected via judgmental sampling and inquired via online structured questionnaire. It was revealed by Multiple Regression test that the associate variables of Consumer's Environmental Consciousness, which are Social Influence, Environmental Concern, and Perceived Seriousness of Environmental Problems, indeed affect an individual's Brand Perception/Preference. While, Environmental Attitude, which is the associate variable of Environmental Attitude and Brand's Environmental Friendly Perception does not affect Brand Preference. However, when the data was split according to gender, Environmental Concern and Brand's Environmentally Friendly Perception affect Male, while Social Influence and Environmental Concern affect Female in their choice of green-marketed product/brand.


A 49 year old previously healthy woman presented to her general practitioner with a two week history of progressive headaches, forgetfulness, and decreased visual acuity. She had no other symptoms or findings of note. On examination, she was oriented to person, location, and time. Her heart rate was 78 beats/min, respiratory rate was 18 breaths/min, and blood pressure was 116/78 mm Hg. She was afebrile and had no meningeal signs. Physical examination identified a right homonymous hemianopsia but no other neurological or cognitive deficits. There was no evidence of papilloedema. Her electrolytes, complete blood count, and C reactive protein concentration were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a single ring enhancing lesion with irregular borders.

### 1. On the basis of the clinical picture, where is the lesion and what is it likely to be?

#### Short answer

The lesion is probably in the left temporal lobe of the brain. The clinical picture suggests a primary central nervous system (CNS) tumor or brain abscess.

#### Discussion

Given that the physical examination found no relevant findings except for a right homonymous hemianopsia, it is reasonable to suspect a lesion in the left optic tract. The two week history of forgetfulness and headaches, although not specific, suggests that the lesion affects the temporal lobe of the brain and not the eye itself. The lesion is probably small because the patient has no symptoms of raised intracranial pressure (such as Cushing's triad of hypertension, bradycardia, and bradypnea) and she is alert and oriented to person, location, and time. The symptoms suggest that the lesion is rapidly growing, but ischemic or hemorrhagic small vessel …


This research aims to discover the number of clergy deaths in the United States that resulted from complications associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The FaithX Project, in association with researchers from the Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR), conducted a survey of sixteen major Christian denominations in the United States. The methodology for this study was to contact leaders in these denominations (via email and phone) who oversaw specific church judicatories. The research took place from January to June of 2021. There was an average response rate of 23.12% across the sixteen Christian denominations contacted. 169 judicatories responded to the survey and a total of 118 clergy deaths were reported, with the Catholic Church recording the most: 43 deaths. The average overall death rate for these denominations was 0.23%, with the highest rate being the Catholic Church at 0.73%. Utilizing this information, it can be estimated that somewhere between 1,008 and 1,099 total clergy in the United States died from Covid-19.


Intramucosal Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been described in biopsy tissues and culture systems. However, the association of intramucosal H. pylori with histopathologic features has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between intramucosal H. pylori and inflammatory reactions in H. pylori infection. In 113 randomly selected human gastric biopsies and 20 murine stomachs, which were inoculated with SSI every day for a week, immunohistochemical analysis for intramucosal H. pylori was done and correlated with histologic parameters. Electron microscopic examination was done on murine stomachs. H. pylori infection was present in 104 gastric biopsies and 17 murine stomachs. Intraepithelial immunopositivity for H. pylori was detected in 27 of 104 (26%) biopsies and in 11 of 17 (65%) murine stomachs. Lamina proprial immunopositivity for H. pylori was present in 51 of 104 (48%) biopsies. Neutrophil-associated immunopositivity for H. pylori was observed in 22 of 90 (24%) biopsies with H. pylori chronic active gastritis. Lamina proprial and neutrophil-associated immunopositivity for H. pylori correlated significantly with the density of H. pylori and the grade of acute inflammatory reaction in H. pylori gastritis. Intramucosal location of H. pylori itself or its antigen is closely associated with acute inflammatory reactions and may play an important role in establishing a persistent infection in chronic H. pylori gastritis. Furthermore, lamina proprial and/or neutrophil-associated H. pylori appears to be more important than intraepithelial H. pylori in acute inflammatory reactions of H. pylori gastritis.


The dynamics of two superconducting flux qubits coupled to each other and to a common bath is discussed. We focus on the case in which the qubit-qubit coupling strength dominates over the respective qubit transition frequencies. We derive the master equation including collective effect by modeling the bath as 1D open space in this ultra-strong coupling regime, and find that the coupling greatly modifies both the coherent and the incoherent dynamics of the system, giving rise to qualitatively different properties. By analyzing the steady-state and the dynamics governed by the master equation, we show that ground state entanglement and maximum coherence between the two qubits can be induced by the environment alone. By employing in addition a single external driving field, both the entangled anti-symmetric and symmetric collective states can be populated and preserved with high fidelity. Similarly, entangled states can be prepared using adiabatic passage techniques using two external fields. Our results could find applications in entangling quantum gates and quantum memories free from the decoherence.


. The research covered Lord cultivar of potatoes, which was cultivated in three technologies used for an early crop, i.e. cultivation under perforated plastic (A), agrotextile (B) and in the traditional technology (field cultivation without covers), the so called control (C). The objective of the paper was to analyse the height and quality of potato tuber yield, development of plants and economic efficiency. The obtained results prove that cultivation of potatoes under covers positively influences the increase of weight of tubers referred to a single plant, participation in the yield of roundly shaped tubers, growth of the assimilation surface of plants (number of shoots, their length and the number of leaves level) which translates into the growth of the total yield out of a hectare. Efficiency of early potato cultivation under covers proves that one-year use of covers does not bring satisfactory economic effects in comparison to traditional cultivation, while a 5-year use considerably increases economic efficiency of using covers. From among two investigated methods of cultivation under covers, higher economic efficiency in the annual use of a cover was reported for agrotextile whereas in the 5-year use for perforated plastic.


Gazania is a small genus of the subtribe Gorteriinae, tribe Arctoteae, that is endemic to southern Africa. The genus was last revised in 1959 by Roessler, who noted that delimitation of the species of Gazania can be "extraordinarily difficult". Morphometric data was collected to test the reality of the 16 species as delimited by Roessler, who based species boundaries on morphological characters. Only six taxa were found to be morphologically distinct, while the remaining samples showed no species cohesion. DNA sequence data from two nuclear spacer regions (ITS and ETS) and four chloroplast noncoding regions (the trnL and rpS16 introns, and the psbA-trnH and trnL-F spacers) of 43 samples were utilised to create a species level phylogeny and to investigate correlations between genetically delimited units and morphologically defined taxa. DNA sequence data reveal that seven species (as delimited by Roessler) are morphologically and genetically distinct. The remaining nine of Roessler's species fall into a morphologically and genetically overlapping continuum that forms an ochlospecies. Phylogeographic methods (based on an expanded ITS and ETS DNA sequence data set from 169 samples) were employed to further resolve the limits of species, with special focus on the clades within the ochlospecies. These genetically defined clades were correlated with their geographical distributions, and in combination with molecular dating techniques, used to elucidate the recent climatic or environmental factors that may have shaped the phylogeographic structure of the genus. Phylogeographic patterns and molecular dating reveals that the genus Gazania is an example of a South African endemic clade that has undergone episodic cladogenesis in response to fluctuating climatic conditions over the last seven million years. The ochlospecies within Gazania is a result of repeated cycles of climate driven isolation in refugia and subsequent expansion and hybridization events during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Comparisons with phylogeographic studies on other organisms reveal a common pattern indicative of the presence and evolutionary importance of an ancestral refugium in the arid Richtersveld / Namib region of southern Africa.


Abstract Using data from three years (1994–1996), I tested whether differential migration occurs from demes of high mean fitness in the shining fungus beetle, Phalacrus substriatus. The results show evidence for differential migration, thus providing evidence from a natural population for a critical demographic assumption of many interdemic selection models. To predict the evolutionary response to interdemic selection through differential migration, the genetic basis of the variation among demes in mean fitness must be known because the observed patterns could also be explained by some demes having an intrinsically favorable habitat. Thus, the importance of differential migration through interdemic selection in natural populations cannot be unequivocally answered without experiments specifically addressing the question of what causes differences in mean fitness among demes. Corresponding Editor: C. Boggs


Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is characterized by the accumulation of surfactant phospholipids and proteins within the lung alveoli. Important advances have been made over the past 8 years in our understanding of this disease, offering new directions for research and patient care. First, genetically altered mice that are homozygous for a disrupted granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) gene developed a lung lesion with histologic resemblance to PAP. The surfactant is thought to be catabolized or cleared mostly by alveolar macrophages, this process being dependent on GM-CSF. Second, a neutralizing autoantibody against GM-CSF was found in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with idiopathic PAP but not in healthy controls, thereby raising the suspicion that human PAP may be an autoimmune disease. The relationship between the antibody and disease pathogenesis remains unclear but data suggest that the GM-CSF antibody may have a potential role as a diagnostic test.No specific therapy exists for PAP. Sequential whole lung lavage is the standard of care. Exogenous therapy with GM-CSF may improve the lung disease in some patients with PAP but this therapy is still experimental. Interventions directed at treating a relative GM-CSF deficiency by administration of GM-CSF or lowering the antibody level (i.e. by plasmapheresis or immunosuppression) may hold promise as future therapy for this rare disease.


Taiwan has a population of 23 million, of
which some 500,000 are Aborigines. Recent conflicts
over a national biobank as part of Taiwan's
biotechnological industrial development, genetic research
on Aboriginal origins, and commercialization
of research findings involving Aborigines have
raised a number of important ethical conflicts.
These ethical conflicts involve on one hand, the importance
of researchers' duties, and on the other
hand, Aboriginal rights. This paper will go in three
steps. First, this paper describes the three cases of
ethical violations of Aboriginal rights committed by
Taiwanese researchers in the course of their scientific
duties. After having given an account of ethical
conflicts between research duties and Aboriginal
rights, the paper addresses larger ethical issues underlying
this Taiwanese research context. Finally, the
paper considers if stronger ethical regulation could
reconcile Aboriginal rights and research duties.


SUMMARY: Seventeen representative strains of pleuropneumonia-like organisms were investigated to determine whether they could be identified by cultural methods.
The L1 organism was readily identified by its morphology and by its cultural appearances on solid and in fluid and semi-solid media. Differences, depending on whether growth occurred anaerobically, whether growth was smooth or granular and whether a precipitate was formed in horse serum media, served to distinguish most of the other strains.
The requirements of serum and yeast extract for promoting growth and the effect of pH were studied with each strain.
Several strains fermented carbohydrates. Young cultures of some strains reduced methylene blue. Haemolysis around colonies in horse blood agar was noted with some strains; young broth cultures of these strains discoloured suspensions of horse erythrocytes. The factor discolouring erythrocytes was found in filtrates of old cultures of Asterococcus bovis.
Two strains were pathogenic for mice; when recovered after passage they showed no alteration in their nutritional requirements.
The organisms were resistant to penicillin; one strain grew in a medium containing 3000 units/ml.


ABSTRACT In two studies (total N = 829), we assessed civilian implicit associations with police using four modified Implicit Association Tests (IAT). Across studies and IATs, individuals harbored stronger negative implicit associations (associating police with fear/bad) than positive implicit associations (associating police with safety/good). The predictive validity of the implicit associations and magnitude of D scores varied across IAT. In Study 1, the IATs involving categorization of police-related (vs. everyday) symbols were most sensitive, but the versions involving categorization of police (vs. civilian) models provided more evidence for predictive validity. In Study 2, the IAT involving categorization of emotional words (safety/fear) was most sensitive, but the version involving categorization of evaluative words (good/bad) provided more evidence for predictive validity. In both studies, we also assessed individual differences (race, political affiliation) in implicit associations. The findings prompt the need to further examine the underlying cognitive components of civilian attitudes toward police and emphasize the importance of developing several IATs when assessing implicit attitudes.


This paper by Baxter and Kouparitsas is an ambitious attempt to explore which variables are robust in explaining the correlations of bilateral GDP between countries at business cycle frequencies. Most of the variables turned out to be fragile. The main contribution is to show that countries with large amounts of bilateral trade tend to have robustly higher business cycle correlations. Another interesting finding is that neither currency unions nor industrial structure are robustly related to business cycle correlations.


In order to research the influence of basalt fiber on the crack and deflection of the reinforced concrete beams, four basalt fiber reinforced concrete beams with the key parameters of length which were 12mm and 30mm and volume ratio which were 0.1% and 0.2% were designed and made. The test data was obtained through the bending experiment and the comparison with the common reinforced concrete beam. The result shows that it is obvious to control the crack and deflection of the test beams with the increasing of basalt fiber characteristic parameters. The calculation method of the maximum crack width of the basalt fiber reinforced concrete beams were presented based on the method of common concrete beam, which can provide the theoretical basis for the engineering practice.


A novel application of the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm is proposed for modeling right-censored multiple regression. Parameter estimates, variability assessment, and model selection are summarized in a multiple regression settings assuming a normal model. The performance of this method is assessed through a simulation study. New formulas for measuring model utility and diagnostics are derived based on the EM algorithm. They include reconstructed coefficient of determination and influence diagnostics based on a one-step deletion method. A real data set, provided by North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, is modeled using the proposed methodology. Empirical findings should be of benefit to government policy-makers.


In this article, we investigate the influence of the Arctic mid-ocean ridge system (AMORS), including the Gakkel and Mohns ridges, and the Knipovich ridge–Lena trough (KL) segment, on seismicity of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago area (NZ) and the northernmost margin of the East-European Platform (EEP) for 1980–2019. For each individual area, the annual seismic energy was obtained by adding the energies of all earthquakes. To do this, we have converted various types of magnitude by different seismic networks into moment magnitude Mw. We compiled the updated catalog for the NZ, the northern EEP, and the northern part of the Ural fold belt (UFB). As a result, we constructed time distributions of annual seismic energy releases for each composing ridges of AMORS, NZ, and EEP combined with UFB. A model based on the Elsasser's one describing the transfer of lithospheric stress disturbances in the horizontal direction was built, and quantitative calculations of the disturbance propagations from AMORS were performed. Results are in good agreement with the annual seismic energy time lags between rifts and NZ and EEP together with the UFB. We calculated correlation coefficients between the seismic energy releases over the time for the structures, enabling identification of the characteristic excitation cycles and estimation of the interval of disturbance transfer from AMORS. As a result, disturbances from the Gakkel ridge appear 3 yr later in NZ, from the KL segment in 4 yr, and from the Mona ridge in 8 yr. For the EEP + UBF combined area, we found the following disturbances spreading lags as 7 yr for the Mona ridge, 4 yr for the KL segment, and 5 yr for the Gakkel ridge. The obtained damping amplitudes of the disturbance spreading from the arctic ridges are sufficient to affect the intraplate seismic activity.


A survey was conducted in July 2004 to 160 families rearing Guinea pigs in the district of Santa Cruz, Cajamarca, with the aim of characterizing the production system of these animals. Men were more than 50 years of age (44.6%) and wives were mainly between 31 to 50 years old (42%). Primary school was the main grade of instruction. The main labour activity of the head of the family was agriculture (95.4%) and housekeeping for women (97.2%). Raising guinea pigs was mainly driven by the housewife under a family or traditional system. There were 20.4 guinea pigs on average per family, reared regardless of class, sex and age, preferably in the kitchen (88.8%), free (73.8%) or in pools (21.9%). Feeding was based on forages, weeds and kitchen waste. The main diseases reported were ectoparasites (90.1%) and the «plague» (76%). Guinea pigs were used for consumption and sale (71.2%) or only for home consumption (28.2%). Most of producers (96.2%) indicated that they do not have services such as technical assistance, credit, inputs, etc, and 67.5% considered that they would improve their productivity if technical assistance was available.


For the agri-biotechnology sector, the European Union has developed a precautionary framework to provide a more rigorous and transparent basis for regulatory decisions. In parallel, the European Commission has established the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to provide the Commission with objective, independent advice. Despite such institutional reforms in the EU, regulatory procedures for GM products are still held up by disagreements among experts, whereby claims about a product's safety often correspond to a more narrow account of precaution than broader counter-claims from objectors. In the EU, we argue, it is these conflicts over safety claims that have given practical meaning to the concept of precaution, rather than any explicit interpretation or application of an a priori principle. Through dynamic tensions between those various claims and accounts of precaution, EU regulatory-expert procedures have identified and addressed more scientific uncertainties than before. But EU decisions about GM products still encounter legitimacy problems, because they arise fundamentally from the great burden placed on science as the basis for societal choices about agri-biotechnology.


Thyroid disorder is a well-recognized side effect of amiodarone therapy. Thyrotoxicosis is less common than hypothyroidism. Hypokalemic periodic paralysis is one manifestation of thyrotoxicosis, and is more often seen in Oriental and Latin American men than in other demographic groups. This phenomenon, however, has not been previously described in thyrotoxicosis due to amiodarone usage. We describe a case of amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis in a 34-year-old man who presented with sudden lower extremity weakness, heat intolerance, and weight loss. Physical examination demonstrated fine tremors. Serum potassium level was 2.2 mEq/L on admission. Gastrointestinal and renal causes of potassium loss were excluded by history and physical examination. Further biochemical testing demonstrated abnormal thyroid function. The urinary potassium and serum bicarbonate, magnesium, and calcium levels were within normal limits. Lower extremity weakness resolved immediately after potassium replacement therapy. Methimazole therapy was initiated, and the patient was clinically euthyroid on discharge.


Introduction Molecular diagnostics have revolutionized the diagnosis of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Yet in Tanzania we found delay in diagnosis with more than 70% of MDR-TB patients having history of several previous treatment courses for TB signaling complications of prior missed diagnosis. We aimed to explore patients' viewpoints and experiences with personal and socio-behavioral obstacles from MDR-TB diagnosis to treatment in an attempt to understand these prior findings. Methods The study was conducted in December 2016 with MDR-TB patients admitted at Kibong'oto Infectious Diseases Hospital. We used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion to examine patients' views and experiences during MDR-TB diagnosis. Groups were sex aggregated to allow free interaction and to gauge gender specific issues in the social and behavioral contexts. The discussion – explored patients' delivery factors that were impacting delay from MDR-TB diagnosis to treatment. Iterative data collection and analysis was applied with data, codes and categories being compared and refined. Results Forty-five MDR-TB patients participated in 6 focus group discussions. Challenges and barriers contributing to the delay from MDR-TB diagnosis to treatment were as follows: 1) The general population had differing understanding of MDR-TB that led to seeking services from traditional healers; 2) Also socio-economic adversity made health-seeking behavior difficult and often unproductive; 3) In the health system, challenges included inadequacy of MDR-TB diagnostic centers, lack of knowledge on behalf of health care providers to consider MDR-TB and order appropriate diagnostics; 4) Insufficiency in the specimen referral system for early diagnosis of MDR-TB. Non-adherence of TB patients to first-line anti-TB drugs prior to MDR-TB diagnosis given the multitude of barriers discussed was coupled with both intentional and unintentional non-adherence of health care providers to international standards of TB care. Conclusion Patient-centered strategies bridging communities and the health system are urgently required for optimum MDR-TB control in Tanzania.


Computer based Learning Environments are mainly shaped by emerging environments such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), SPOCS (Small Private Online Courses) and Mobile learning. This variety challenges the quality of the content delivered in these various environments. In Moroccan higher education, SPOCS is a trending topic widely used in its context of blended learning. The present work focuses on an SPOC delivered as a hybrid mobile app and on factors that define its technical quality. The objective is to propose a set of technical quality factors which are defined following a study of literature, focusing on frameworks, labels, practices that are used to assess the quality of e-learning environments, MOOCs, SPOCs and mobile applications. ISO standards for the quality software and the guidelines for the most dominant Mobile Operating Systems (Android/IOS/Windows phone) are also considered when defining these criteria. The proposed criteria can be twofold used: 1) to assess the technical quality of an existing mobile SPOC; 2) constitutes guidelines to increase the technical quality of a new mobile SPOC


Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a new paradigm in network architecture that improves scalability, flexibility, control, and network management by separating the control plane from the data plane. SDN controllers have a global view of the entire network and provide the ability to dynamically change traffic forwarding rules. However, Introducing SDN brings some new DDoS attack vulnerabilities, such as limited flow table capacity and single point failure of a controller.This paper proposes an approach that combines linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and a supervised self-organizing map (SOM) called LSSOM that enables to detecting suspicious packets to defend against DDoS attacks in real-time. Our experimental results show that using LSSOM achieves 98.2% accuracy and reduces the classification time by 73.5% compared to using supervised SOM only.


The science publication Nature Climate Change this year published a study demonstrating Earth this century warmed substantially less than computer-generated climate models predict. Unfortunately for public knowledge, such findings don't appear in the news. Sea levels too have not been obeying the 'grand transnational narrative' of catastrophic global warming. Sea levels around Australia 2011–2012 were measured with the most significant drops in sea levels since measurements began. This phenomenon was due to rainfall over Central Australia, which filled vast inland lakes. It was not predicted in the models, nor was it reported in the news. The 2015–2016 El-Niño, a natural phenomenon, drove sea levels around Indonesia to low levels such that coral reefs were bleaching. The echo chamber of news repeatedly fails to report such phenomena and yet many studies continue to contradict mainstream news discourse. Whistle-blower Dr. John Bates exposed the U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) when it manipulated data to meet politically predetermined conclusions for the 2015 Paris (Climate) Agreement. This was not reported. Observational scientific analyses and their data sets continue to disagree with much of climate science modelling, and are beginning to suggest that some natural phenomena, which cause variability, may never be identified.


Corporate dividend policy has long been a source of concern in both tax and corporate law. From a tax law perspective, retained earnings potentially escape the high marginal rates imposed on shareholders. From a corporate law perspective, retained earnings increase agency costs for shareholders. With the steady drop in dividends in the last decade, concern over dividend policy has arisen once again. Many commentators attribute the disappearance of the dividend to our corporate income tax system, which "traps" retained earnings in the corporation by subjecting dividends to two layers of tax. The assumption is that integrating the corporate and shareholders income taxes - either through a dividend exemption or some other technique - will lead corporations to pay out more money as dividends. Missing from this analysis is any historical perspective on the relationship between taxation and corporate dividend policies. The double taxation of corporate income actually emerged between World War I and II in response to a shift in corporate dividend policies, rather than vice versa. Over that period, managers agreed to a higher rate of tax at the corporate level, and, eventually, to the repeal of the dividend exemption at the shareholder level in exchange for Congress' tacit agreement not to interfere with managerial discretion over undistributed profits. This history not only belies the claim that double taxation is responsible for the disappearance of the dividend, but also suggests that integration of the corporate and shareholder income taxes may not have the effect on corporate dividend policies that its proponents claim.


In this discussion, we mention the following topics concerning electric networks in graph theoretic terms: Kirch. hoff's Laws, mesh and node equations, and matrix tree theorem; flow problems and Menger's theorem; boolean functions and enumeration and synthesis problems; information theory and Markov chains; cut sets and incidence matrices; the "crummy relay" results of Moore and Shannon; and the treatment using electrical concepts of the dissections of rectangles into squares by Brooks, Smith, Stone, and Tuttle. The treatment is expository, but introduces the unifying framework of graph theory for these various considerations.


In this article, we introduce Brownian motion on stable looptrees using resistance techniques. We prove an invariance principle characterising it as the scaling limit of random walks on discrete looptrees, and prove precise local and global bounds on its heat kernel. We also conduct a detailed investigation of the volume growth properties of stable looptrees, and show that the random volume and heat kernel fluctuations are locally log-logarithmic, and globally logarithmic around leading terms of $r^{\alpha}$ and $t^{\frac{-\alpha}{\alpha + 1}}$ respectively. These volume fluctuations are the same order as for the Brownian continuum random tree, but the upper volume fluctuations (and corresponding lower heat kernel fluctuations) are different to those of stable trees.


The application of Augmented Reality (AR), a technology that complements and enriches the live view of a place with virtual elements, is a relatively new approach that has been demonstrated to be useful as an educational tool for the interpretation of geological and geographic features. In addition, it is a technology consistent with challenges related to enhancing the geotourism experience in geologically diverse terrains, and consistent with the sustainable use of resources in rural and natural areas. The focus of AR in this contribution is primarily for academic use. Here, we developed a pioneering AR project, at the San Isidro Pass, located in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula, more specifically, in the central-eastern sector of the Cantabrian Mountain range (the Asturian Massif) and the northern slope of the Sierra de Sentiles. This is a high mountain area where the low incidence of Pliocene and Quaternary fluvial erosion has favored the preservation of a great geodiversity. In this case study, the approaches of geology and physical geography as subjects in official university studies have been used as a reference framework. Fieldwork was carried out to design an itinerary, or geotrail, of Points of Interest (POIs), that highlight the geological values of this montane region by visualising and interpreting nine glacial and periglacial landscapes using dynamic graphic resources (animated videos, panoramic and spherical tours and rotating and expandable 3D models combining conventional terrestrial photography and 360° photography, aerial photography, thematic cartography, etc.) composed by graphic processing software. The result is the design of AR tools which could be used by public and private entities as a product suitable for university teaching but also a work that could guide other geoeducational actions or institutional action for official heritage recognition. In isolation, these POIs function as 'geosites'; when combined in sequence (POI 1 to POI 9), these POIs function as a 'geotrail' to highlight the diversity of glacial and periglacial landscapes and their sedimentary deposits; when viewed as an ensemble, POIs combine to be similar to a 'geopark' that emphasises glacial and periglacial landscapes and sedimentary deposits.


Thirty-nine genotypes of Hordeum spontaneum were selected from three geographically separated areas (southwestern, northern, and southeastern) of the Fertile Crescent. The lines were subject to AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) analysis from which a similarity matrix was produced. A dendrogram of the data showed, with two exceptions, that the genotypes grouped together according to area of origin. This was confirmed by principal coordinate analysis in which the first principal coordinate separated the genotypes of the southwestern area from the other two areas, which in turn could be separated by the second principal coordinate. While genotypes from the same site of origin can exhibit very similar AFLP profiles, sharp genetic differences were detected between genotypes separated by relatively short distances. Thirty of the 39 genotypes were subjected to hydroculture salt tolerance tests. These were analysed for shoot Na+ content and carbon isotope composition (δ13C) after 4 weeks of treatment (100 mol∙m−3 NaCl). Shoot Na+ content and δ13C were highly correlated. Twelve AFLP markers were found to be associated with both shoot Na+ content and shoot δ13C and were also associated with site of origin ecogeographic data, particularly longitude. The most salt tolerant genotype came from Ilam in the southeastern area and the most salt sensitive genotype originated in the southwestern area. The 12 markers were partitioned into groups that showed significant associations within groups but no significant association between groups. In a multiple regression analysis, three AFLP markers, from separate groups, accounted for more than 60% of the variation for shoot Na+ content and δ13C. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of AFLP fingerprinting in genetic studies of complex traits at the wild species and (or) population level.


A rapid and accurate method has been developed for the direct determination of ethanol in all types of alcoholic beverages. The method, which does not require any sample treatment (except for simple de-gassing for beer samples or dilution with distilled water for spirits), is based on the use of the first derivative of the near-infrared absorbance spectrum. Measurements, carried out between the 1680 nm peak and the 1703 nm valley, provide a typical calibration graph [dA/dλ= 0.00002+ 0.0127 c(where c is the concentration of ethanol in % v/v)] for a concentration range up to 25% v/v with a regression coefficient of 0.999992 and a limit of detection (for k= 3) of 0.1% v/v. The interference of sugars in the determination of ethanol can be seen by the presence of bands in the derivative spectrum in the range between 1300 and 1800 nm and can be corrected. Results comparable to those found by a reference pycnometric procedure or by gas chromatography were obtained when the proposed method was applied to the determination of ethanol in beer, white and red wines, whisky, gin and rum samples and also in sweet wines and fruit liqueurs.


Abstract Reported herein is a visible‐light‐mediated radical approach to the α‐alkylation of ketones. This method exploits the ability of a nucleophilic organocatalyst to generate radicals upon SN2‐based activation of alkyl halides and blue light irradiation. The resulting open‐shell intermediates are then intercepted by weakly nucleophilic silyl enol ethers, which would be unable to directly attack the alkyl halides through a traditional two‐electron path. The mild reaction conditions allowed functionalization of the α position of ketones with functional groups that are not compatible with classical anionic strategies. In addition, the redox‐neutral nature of this process makes it compatible with a cinchona‐based primary amine catalyst, which was used to develop a rare example of enantioselective organocatalytic radical α‐alkylation of ketones.


Background Malaria caused by zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi is an emerging threat in Eastern Malaysia. Despite demonstrated vector competency, it is unknown whether human-to-human (H-H) transmission is occurring naturally. We sought evidence of drug selection pressure from the antimalarial sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) as a potential marker of H-H transmission. Methods The P. knowlesi dihdyrofolate-reductase (pkdhfr) gene was sequenced from 449 P. knowlesi malaria cases from Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) and genotypes evaluated for association with clinical and epidemiological factors. Homology modelling using the pvdhfr template was used to assess the effect of pkdhfr mutations on the pyrimethamine binding pocket. Results Fourteen non-synonymous mutations were detected, with the most common being at codon T91P (10.2%) and R34L (10.0%), resulting in 21 different genotypes, including the wild-type, 14 single mutants, and six double mutants. One third of the P. knowlesi infections were with pkdhfr mutants; 145 (32%) patients had single mutants and 14 (3%) had double-mutants. In contrast, among the 47 P. falciparum isolates sequenced, three pfdhfr genotypes were found, with the double mutant 108N+59R being fixed and the triple mutants 108N+59R+51I and 108N+59R+164L occurring with frequencies of 4% and 8%, respectively. Two non-random spatio-temporal clusters were identified with pkdhfr genotypes. There was no association between pkdhfr mutations and hyperparasitaemia or malaria severity, both hypothesized to be indicators of H-H transmission. The orthologous loci associated with resistance in P. falciparum were not mutated in pkdhfr. Subsequent homology modelling of pkdhfr revealed gene loci 13, 53, 120, and 173 as being critical for pyrimethamine binding, however, there were no mutations at these sites among the 449 P. knowlesi isolates. Conclusion Although moderate diversity was observed in pkdhfr in Sabah, there was no evidence this reflected selective antifolate drug pressure in humans.


We show that, in contrast to general relativity, in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI), a violation of the null convergence condition does not necessarily lead to a violation of the null energy condition, by establishing a relationship between them. This serves as a motivation for finding wormhole solutions which can be supported by nonexotic matter in this gravity theory. We then obtain exact solutions of the field equations in EiBI gravity coupled to arbitrary nonlinear electrodynamics and anisotropic fluids. Depending on the signs and values of different parameters, the general solutions can represent both black holes and wormholes. In this work, we analyze the wormhole solutions. These wormholes are supported by nonexotic matter, i.e., matter satisfying all the energy conditions. As special cases of our general solutions, we work out several specific examples by considering Maxwell, power-law, Born-Infeld electrodynamics models and a particular form of an anisotropic fluid.


A decade since the seminal paper on knowledge hiding in organizations (Connelly et al., 2012) emerged, this research area has witnessed rapid evolution, resulting in a fragmentation of the field and conceptual proliferation. Given the increasing interest in knowledge hiding, this study complements a set of recently published (systematic) literature reviews and proposes an organizing framework (nomological network) for antecedents and consequences of knowledge hiding, and tests it using meta-analytic procedures. Based on an effect analysis drawn from 131 studies and 147 samples, comprising 47,348 participants, the relationships between knowledge hiding and different antecedent and consequence categories are examined. The results generally support expected relationships across the vast majority of categories of knowledge-hiding antecedents, including job characteristics, leadership, attitudes and motivations, working context, personality, and individual differences. Knowledge hiding is related to outcomes, including creativity, task performance, incivility, deviance, and deterioration of workplace behavior. We also provide comprehensive empirical evidence to support the conceptual claim that knowledge hiding is not correlated with knowledge sharing. We have also tested mediations of the most salient antecedents of knowledge hiding. Through our meta-analytic review, we hope to solidify and redirect the trajectory of the growing and maturing knowledge-hiding domain after its first decade of existence.


The calendar system is the important thing for human's life to know the time and this calculation. Nowadays, calendar in the world based on movement from the Sun (solar system) or Moon (lunar system). Especially in Islamic ( Hijriyah ) and Javanese calendar, altought both of them based on lunar system, in application they have different rules. We can't say that 1 Ramadhan is always same with 1 Poso or 1 Dhulhijjah is certainly 1 Besar . To know beginning of the month in Islamic calendar need the astronomical data, that is position of Moon and Sun when conjunction, the height of two object and others. Its mean, need calculation (hisab) or observe (ru'yah) to know that. But in Javanese, the date is always same. 29 days in even months and 30 days in odd months. So that, it can be important cause Hijriyah need to worship for Islamic people and Javanese close to culture and social calendar in Java community in Indonesia. Keywords: Lunar system, Islamic calendar, Javanis calendar


E-commerce catalogs include a continuously growing number of products that are constantly updated. Each item in a catalog is characterized by several attributes and identified by a taxonomy label. Categorizing products with their taxonomy labels is fundamental to effectively search and organize listings in a catalog. However, manual and/or rule based approaches to categorization are not scalable. In this paper, we compare several classifiers to product taxonomy categorization of top-level categories. We first investigate a number of feature sets and observe that a combination of word unigrams from product names and navigational breadcrumbs work best for categorization. Secondly, we apply correspondence topic models to detect noisy data and introduce a lightweight manual process to improve dataset quality. Finally, we evaluate linear models, gradient boosted trees (GBTs) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) with pre-trained word embeddings demonstrating that, compared to other baselines, GBTs and CNNs yield the highest gains in error reduction.