Inefficient performance of irrigation systems not only leads to a waste of water resources, but may also affect agriculture production, especially in regions facing a water stress problem. In rural China, only 40% of the water allocated to irrigation is effectively used, a figure much lower than many developed countries (Wang, 2000). Although traditional irrigation technology such as flood irrigation accounts for part of the inefficient use of water, the lack of effort in managing surface irrigation systems are also thought to affect the performance of China's water systems (Wang et al., 2003). In confronting problems with China's irrigation systems, leaders have begun experimenting with changing the institutions that manage water in rural communities. Since as early as the 1980s, but even more so since the late 1990s, China policy makers have promoted water management reform. In pursuing this policy, however, villages have responded differently. Some have chosen to stay with the traditional for of village leader-run irrigation management. In these villages, the village leader has been totally responsible for delivering water to farmers, collecting fees, and maintaining the system. They either manage the system themselves as part of their own duties or hire a manager for a fixed fee to perform water management tasks. In other villages, the leader has transferred all control and income rights of canals to private individuals, and the individual has effectively become the manager of a private water management company. Finally, in other villages, the village leader and the hired manager share responsibilities and share the profits from the irrigation tasks. While the importance of such reforms has been shown by others (Wang et al., 2003), no one has yet tried to explain why certain management forms have appeared in some villages and others in other villages. Observations in the field have provided hints, although there has yet been an attempt to formally model these. One thought is that while policy makers have encouraged reforms in general, they have left the details of designing the management forms to villagers and that villagers will choose a form of management that best fits the characteristics of their villages. It is possible that irrigation management in some villages requires a great deal of collective action while others require a great deal of careful management that could only be provided by individuals that spent considerable time and effort in orchestrating water deliveries and collecting fees from farmers. If village leaders are better at collective management, including tasks such as coordinating investment projects and mobilizing the village's labor to maintain canals, villages may decide to manage their canal system with a leader-run management system. Although leaders may not have much time or incentive to management water deliveries very carefully, if the main need of the system is the input of collective investment and collective labor (e.g., if the canal network silts up annually), leaders may still want to stay in complete control of the system. In contrast, if land is highly fragmented, households are spread out and cropping patterns are diverse and require careful timing, it may be that the best management strategy is to move to an individual contracting system, especially if the canal system requires little maintenance. Finally, if both maintenance and careful water allocation is needed, village leaders may share responsibilities with individual contractors in a share contracting system. Curiously, despite the importance of understanding contractual choice (both as a topic in itself and as part of the effort to measure the impact of water management reform), no work has been done on it. To address this topic, the overall goal of this paper is to provide a general framework for explaining the choice of canal managerial forms and to predict how the form of this contract will vary depending on characteristics of irrigation infrastructure, water resources and economic environment of different villages. To meet this overall goal, we have three specific objectives. Our first objective is to describe in detail the various managerial forms found in rural China: leader-run management system (or canals managed only by leaders who at most hire canal managers on a fixed-salary basis), share contracting system (or a form of managerial organization in which leaders and managers form a partnership), and individual contracting system, (or lease arrangements in which the manager manages canals alone after making a lump-sum, lease-type payment to the leader). Our second objective is to outline a theoretical framework explaining the leader's choice of the form of managerial organization (The word "outline" is used since the author's borrow heavily from Eswaren and Kotwal's (1985) model of contractual choice in tenancy contracting. The authors take credit, not for producing a new analytical framework, but rather for applying an existing theory in a convincing way to a very different question.). Finally, the predictive power of the model is tested by investigating how well data on the form of the contractual agreements struck between village leaders and canals managers can be explained by the factors suggested by the model. Our paper utilizes a unique set of data collected in Ningxia province in north China that we collected ourselves in 2001. Detailed interviews and formal surveys with village leaders, canal managers and workers helped the authors develop measures of the control and income rights enjoyed by those who manage the canals. We also collected additional data on other aspects of the form of the management contract, and on various measures of the nature of the village's irrigation infrastructure, characteristics of village leaders and canal managers, and variables that characterized the village economy. With these data, we first lay out the empirical facts. We show the correlations that exist between contractual choices and the characteristics of canal systems, the human capital characteristics of leaders and canal mangers and other economic factors. We build on these observations to build a theoretical model of contractual choice. Following the sharecropping literature (e.g., Eswaren and Kotwal, 1985), our model envisages village leader and canal manager as both contributing unmarketed resources in a managerial arrangement in which both agents have incentives to self-monitor. The optimal managerial form is ultimately determined by village leader, the guardian of the locality's assets, who calculates which form will return to him/her the highest level of profits. Our theoretical model helps us formulate several hypotheses that describe how villages might choose to organize village canal systems in different settings. In the final section of the paper, we test our theory econometrically. Taking advantage of the nature of the data to identify the determinants of contractual choices of village leaders in Ningxia province, we use multinomial regressions with fixed effects at county level to control for all variables that are unobservable at the county level and above. Our analysis shows that in villages with canals that require a lot of maintenance, village leader manage canals themselves. However, in villages in which the land is fragmented, leaders contract out irrigation services to individuals. Finally, when the leader is busy managing other activities in the village (e.g., a village-owned enterprise), leaders delegate responsibility for canal management to individuals. In general, our econometric results support the hypotheses generated by our model.


A feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) essential oil (OEO) on broiler performance, cecal microflora and serum antioxidant activity. One hundred and eighty (180) 1-day old broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups. Group I was kept as normal control and received basal diet. Birds of groups II, III and IV were treated with basal diet supplemented with 300, 600 and 1200 mg/kg of OEO. Inclusion of 600 mg/kg of OEO in grower diet significantly increased body weight gain when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Supplementation of 600 and 1200 mg/kg of OEO significantly improved feed conversion ratio compared with the control group in grower and overall experimental periods (P < 0.05). Although, populations of lactic acid bacteria remained unaffected (P > 0.05), populations of cecal Escherichia coli were significantly lower in 300 and 600 mg/kg OEO supplemented groups in comparison with the control and 1200 mg/kg OEO supplemented groups (P < 0.05). Although, serum antioxidant activity was not significantly affected by the treatments (P > 0.05), antioxidant activity of serum was higher in OEO supplemented groups. In conclusion, OEO exerted growth promoting effects and also displayed potent antibacterial effects against cecal E. coli.


As Information Technology (IT) has become increasingly important to the competitive position of firms, managers have grown more sensitive to their organization's overall IT risk management. Recent publicity concerning losses incurred by companies because of problems with their sophisticated information systems has focused attention on the importance of these systems to the organization. In an attempt to minimize or avoid such losses, managers are employing various qualitative and quantitative risk analysis methodologies. The risk analysis literature, however, suggests that these managers typically utilize a single methodology, not a combination of methodologies. This paper proposes a risk analysis process that employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This process should provide managers with a better approximation of their organization's overall information technology risk posture. Practicing managers can use this proposed process as a guideline in formulating new risk analysis procedures and/or evaluating their current risk analysis procedures.


In July 2010 two patients were admitted for bilateral Birmingham Mid Head Resurface (BMHR) two patients for unilateral procedure and were followed for two years. The preoperative work up, intra-operative complications, early systemic complications, the operating time, positioning of the patient in the bilateral case, positioning of components, the functional score, restoration of limb length and survival rates at two years were discussed in the two groups. All patients had clinical and radiological evaluation at one, three, six and 12 months and annually thereafter in both the groups. No significant difference was found between the two groups with respect to the operating time, 207.42 minutes in the one-stage group and 120 minutes in the single procedure group. The total estimated blood loss was slightly higher in patients undergoing a bilateral procedure than in the one who had single procedure. The postoperative hematocrit at eight hours was significantly lower in the onestage group, 0.287 as compared with 0.321 but did not change transfusion rate in this unique group of patients. This study demonstrates safety of One-stage bilateral hip mid head resection resurfacing arthroplasty in sickle cell anemia patients with advanced avascular necrosis of femoral head when compliance with sickle cell perioperative care guidelines is exercised.


The purpose of the study is to examine empirically the relationship between national competitiveness and national culture. The study applied exploratory research design with national culture and national competitiveness treated as two independent variables. Hofstede's national culture categorization namely masculinity, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and long-term orientation was adopted. Cultural Index by GLOBE study and Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) by the World Economic Forum were used for the measurement. Descriptive statistic along with bivariate correlation analysis was used in this study. A number of samples involved in this study was 58 countries. The study concludes that national competitiveness is positively and significantly associated with national culture namely long-term orientation, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism. National competitiveness has a negative association with power distance national culture. However, national competitiveness was indicated no association with masculine national culture. The findings conclude that in general, national culture is a factor that explains why there are differences in national competitiveness among countries around the world. A suggestion for future similar research is that control variable such national income as well as the application of more sophisticated statistical analysis method should be included. Keywords: exploratory study, global competitiveness index, national culture; national competitiveness; national culture index


Abstract
 Aligning multiple nucleotide sequences is a prerequisite for many if not most comparative sequence analyses in evolutionary biology. These alignments are often recognized as representing the homology relations of the aligned nucleotides, but this is a necessary requirement only for phylogenetic analyses. Unfortunately, existing computer programs for sequence alignment are not based explicitly on detecting the homology of nucleotides, and so there is a notable gap in the existing bioinformatics repertoire. If homology is the goal, then current alignment procedures may be more art than science. To resolve this issue, I present a simple conceptual scheme relating the traditional criteria for homology to the features of nucleotide sequences. These relations can then be used as optimization criteria for nucleotide sequence alignments. I point out the way in which current computer programs for multiple sequence alignment relate to these criteria, noting that each of them usually implements only one criterion. This explains the apparent dissatisfaction with computerized sequence alignment in phylogenetics, as any program that truly tried to produce alignments based on homology would need to simultaneously optimize all of the criteria.


This short paper analyzes American history from the modern "wars" on poverty, drugs, and terror from the perspective of American Indians and Indian tribes. These domestic "wars" are aptly named (it turns out), as the United States often blindly pursues broad policy goals without input from tribal interests, and without consideration to the impacts on Indians and tribes. With the possible exception of the "war on poverty," these domestic wars sweep aside tribal rights, rights that are frequently in conflict with the overarching federal policy goals.This essay explores three declared domestic wars, and their impacts on American Indian tribes and individual Indians, in loose chronological order, starting with the war on poverty. As Part 1 demonstrates, the Johnson Administration's Great Society programs helped to bring American Indian policy out of the dark ages of the era of termination, in which Congress had declared that national policy would be to terminate the trust relationship. Part 2 describes the war on drugs, declared by the Reagan Administration, which had unusually stark impacts on reservation communities both in terms of law enforcement, but also on American Indian religious freedom. Part 3 examines the ongoing war on terror, which Bush Administration officials opined has its legal justification grounded in part on the Indian wars of the 19th century. The war on terror marks America's return to fighting a new Indian war, where the adversary is illusive and motivated, and where the rule of law is literally obliterated.


The present study was performed to test the effect of single and repeated Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A (PaExoA) instillations in the middle ear of the rat. The hearing level was examined by the ABR technique, round window membrane (RWM) thickness was measured and morphology was studied by light microscopy. The results showed both reversible and permanent hearing loss (HL). In animals that received a single dose of PaExoA, the RWM thickness doubled initially and remained thickened during the observation period. When PaExoA was instilled on several occasions, RWM thickness doubled, before decreasing to near-control levels. This study confirms the toxicity of PaExoA and the partially reversible HL occurring after a single application of the toxin. The diminished effect of repeated toxin instillations – despite the decreasing thickness of the RWM – is discussed.


Subjective expectation data on education has been increasingly used by social scientists to better understand current investments in human capital. Despite its recognised value by scholars, there is little evidence about how the elicitation of such data might be sensitive to questionnaire design. Using a 2x2 between-subjects experimental design, we analyse how sensitive the elicitation of subjective expectation data on educational outcome is to question order. Our design allows us to explore whether collecting data on parental education before the elicitation of parental beliefs on their children's educational outcomes anchors the elicitation of the latter; and whether parental expectations on their older offsprings anchors their expectations on their younger children. We find that mothers (main respondents) who have been exposed to the non-anchored treatment results in more optimistic parental expectations. When splitting our sample into households with low and high educated mothers, we observe that low educated mothers are more susceptible to anchoring effects. Using a conservative projection of observed years of schooling of young adults on young cohorts, we find that the double-anchored beliefs better predicts this projection than the rest of the treatments. Our findings inform to what extent the collection of subjective expectations data is subject to anchoring and which type of populations might be more sensitive to such phenomenon.


Abstract. In 2014 the Institut Cartografic i Geologic de Catalunya (ICGC) decided to incorporate digital oblique imagery in its portfolio in response to the growing demand for this product. The reason can be attributed to its useful applications in a wide variety of fields and, most recently, to an increasing interest in 3d modeling. The selection phase for a digital oblique camera led to the purchase of the Leica RCD30 Oblique system, an 80MPixel multispectral medium-format camera which consists of one Nadir camera and four oblique viewing cameras acquiring images at an off-Nadir angle of 35o. The system also has a multi-directional motion compensation on-board system to deliver the highest image quality. The emergence of airborne oblique cameras has run in parallel to the inclusion of computer vision algorithms into the traditional photogrammetric workflows. Such algorithms rely on having multiple views of the same area of interest and take advantage of the image redundancy for automatic feature extraction. The multiview capability is highly fostered by the use of oblique systems which capture simultaneously different points of view for each camera shot. Different companies and NMAs have started pilot projects to assess the capabilities of the 3D mesh that can be obtained using correlation techniques. Beyond a software prototyping phase, and taking into account the currently immature state of several components of the oblique imagery workflow, the ICGC has focused on deploying a real production environment with special interest on matching the performance and quality of the existing production lines based on classical Nadir images. This paper introduces different test scenarios and layouts to analyze the impact of different variables on the geometric and radiometric performance. Different variables such as flight altitude, side and forward overlap and ground control point measurements and location have been considered for the evaluation of aerial triangulation and stereo plotting. Furthermore, two different flight configurations have been designed to measure the quality of the absolute radiometric calibration and the resolving power of the system. To quantify the effective resolution power of RCD30 Oblique images, a tool based on the computation of the Line Spread Function has been developed. The tool processes a region of interest that contains a single contour in order to extract a numerical measure of edge smoothness for a same flight session. The ICGC is highly devoted to derive information from satellite and airborne multispectral remote sensing imagery. A seamless Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) retrieved from Digital Metric Camera (DMC) reflectance imagery is one of the products of ICGC's portfolio. As an evolution of this well-defined product, this paper presents an evaluation of the absolute radiometric calibration of the RCD30 Oblique sensor. To assess the quality of the measure, the ICGC has developed a procedure based on simultaneous acquisition of RCD30 Oblique imagery and radiometric calibrated AISA (Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging System) imagery.


A new curing method, chemical vapour curing (CVC) for polycarbosilane (PCS) fibers using unsaturated hydrocarbon (cyclohexene) vapour was studied. The low oxygen content SiC fibers were prepared and when the oxygen content in fibers was lower than 4.0%, the maximum tensile strength reached to 3.8GPa. The relationship between the tensile strength and the oxygen content of the fibers was investigated. The structure and composition of SiC fibers were also characterized by element analysis, FT-IR, XRD and XPS. Compared with that by air curing method, SiC fibers with less oxygen and better mechanical properties were prepared by CVC method.


This article presents a new lossless compression algorithm based on a finite Radon transform. The baseline of this work consist in encoding the difference between several similar finite Radon projections. Two differential encoding techniques are needed to efficiently encode the Radon transformed data. An intra-projection encoding technique is first performed, this differential encoding process takes benefit of the redundancy present in such projections. The second step consists in encoding the similarities between Radon projections, this is the inter-projection encoding procedure. The used finite Radon transform (called Mojette transform), allows to ensure both compression and data redundancy. The main novelty of this work is the use of a secure distributed storage or transmission tool in a lossless compression context


Using a weighed decomposition of the stiffness matrix and the weighed generalized inverse theory, a reanalysis method is presented for the topological modification of plane structures, and a set of formulae of elementary topology change are obtained. These formulae are explicit one and using them one can reanalyze the modified structures in topological optimal design. Finally an example is given to verify the valid of this method.


In order to support the study of recent advances in recommender systems, this paper presents an extended recommendation library consisting of eight packages for up-to-date topics and architectures. First of all, from a data perspective, we consider three important topics related to data issues (ie sparsity, bias and distribution shift ), and develop five packages accordingly, including meta-learning, data augmentation, debiasing, fairness and cross-domain recommendation. Furthermore, from a model perspective, we develop two benchmarking packages for Transformer-based and graph neural network~(GNN)-based models, respectively. All the packages (consisting of 65 new models) are developed based on a popular recommendation framework RecBole, ensuring that both the implementation and interface are unified. For each package, we provide complete implementations from data loading, experimental setup, evaluation and algorithm implementation. This library provides a valuable resource to facilitate the up-to-date research in recommender systems. The project is released at the link: \urlhttps://github.com/RUCAIBox/RecBole2.0.


Management of rangelands requires knowledge of forage species that are preferred or avoided by wildlife and livestock. The recent and rapid transformation of habitat by humans has led to increased concerns about the proper management of rangelands. In East African savanna ecosystems, the expansion of woody vegetation into previously open grasslands has led some rangeland managers to advocate for the active removal of native bushes to maintain grazing lawns in African savanna ecosystems. However, little is known about how browsing herbivores might benefit from the ingrowth of woody vegetation. Diet selection by the Masai giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis tippelskirchi) was quantified in the Tarangire Manyara Ecosystem of Tanzania. Instantaneous scan sampling was used to quantify foraged woody plant species and compare those data with proportions of available woody plant species at two different spatial scales during a wet and dry season and between areas of different protection statuses. Study results showed that giraffes demonstrated strong selection towards some woody plant species while avoiding others, both at the local and the landscape scale. Giraffes preferentially used more forage species in less protected areas (8 forage species) than in a fully protected area (only 1 species). At both spatial scales, giraffes significantly preferred the shrub Dichrostachys cinerea, a species that livestock managers have classified as encroacher species needing removal. This preference was visible in the wet and dry seasons. The results of this study suggest that browsing wildlife species such as giraffes may be adversely affected by the removal of D. cinerea from rangelands and that managing for grazing livestock only could negatively impact browsing wildlife on mixed-use lands.


In the postwar period, the West German tobacco industry faced several challenges, not least competition from smuggled Virginia cigarettes. This reflected the Americanization of smoking tastes and threatened domestic tax revenue. The popular preference for 'American blend' cigarettes also hindered trade with Greece and Turkey, suppliers of Oriental tobacco to German manufacturers. The proposed solution was tax cuts to stimulate demand for domestically produced cigarettes. These proposals antagonized welfare groups, who saw tax cuts as a threat to the health of the population. The ensuing debates and settlement shed new light on the liberal smoking policies of postwar West Germany.


: We report a 1-year-old girl with acute abdominal pain. Clinical examination revealed distended abdomen with increased intestinal peristalsis without other pathologic signs. Ultrasound of the abdomen showed a small bowel intussusception. Seven days later, after a new episode of sudden acute abdominal pain, ultrasound revealed a new bowel intussusception. Ig A and Ig G antigliadin-antibodies were elevated and intestinal biopsy revealed total villous atrophy. After being placed on a gluten-free diet the girl was free of colicky complaints and on repeated ultrasound there was no sign of intussusception. With recurrent intussusception, celiac disease should be considered as a cause.


Thermal management in electronics become more challenging as the size of electronics decreases, yet, the heat generated from electronics still increases. To enhance cooling efficiency of conventional cooling schemes such as heat pipes, we experimentally present a use of electrowetting on dielectric (EWOD) digital microfluidic technique to force the cooling liquid medium to move to hot spot area. In this paper, firstly, two different EWOD devices were compared in their cooling performance. One is a system using one plane device and sessile droplet of cooling medium and the other is a system using two parallel planes and liquid is sandwiched in between. Secondly, two types of liquids were used and compared as the cooling medium. De-ionized (DI) water and room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) have been investigated. RTILs are thermally stable thanks to their low vapor pressure. In addition to thermal stability, RTIL can be tailored task specifically by altering cations and anions. Different experiments were conducted to study the capacity of IL's to change the surface temperature of the hotspot generated and this was compared with that of DI water. The latter showed higher capacity to remove heat, while evaporation problem was predominant in the sandwiched setup. Three different ionic liquids, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride or [BMIM]Cl, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-imide or [BMIM]Ntf2, and [CMIM]FeCl4 showed less effect on changing the surface temperature compared to water. It is due to generally lower heat conductivity and higher viscosity of ILs than water. However, RTILs showed high thermal stability by resulting in no evaporation during cooling process while water had vigorous evaporation. Nanofluid of RTIL and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) mixture has been tested as the first step toward enhancing thermal conductivity of RTIL.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


This article combines information from fathers' rights Web sites with demographic, historical, and other information to provide an empirically based analysis of fathers' rights advocacy in the United States. Content analysis discerns three factors that are central to the groups' rhetoric: representing domestic violence allegations as false, promoting presumptive joint custody and decreasing child support, and portraying women as perpetrators of domestic abuse. Fathers' rights organizations and themes are examined in relation to state-level demographics and custody policy. The implications of fathers' rights activism for battered women and their children are explored.


The electrophoretic deposition (EPD) is a very promising process for shaping compacts, especially for nanopowders. Up till now EPD is not used on a large-scale production of ceramic products. Additionally, the higher cost of nanopowders was also a barrier for the development of new products. As the deposition rate at EPD is independent of particle size, it is an ideal process for shaping compacts of powder mixtures with nanopowders. Silica and zirconia powders were used as model systems to demonstrate the advantages of EPD. Applications might be the preparation of high-purity silica glass for processing of semiconductors and zirconia ceramics for near net-shaped dental crowns. In both cases the optimum green density was achieved for approx. 10 % addition of nanopowders to a coarser matrix powder. The compacts were homogenous. Alternatively, compacts of different powders can be prepared in a two-step process. Examples are shown for the electrophoretic impregnation (EPI) and a reactive forming of nanoparticles inside the pore volume of a compact consisting of coarser particles.


MIM/MTSS1 is a tissue-specific regulator of plasma membrane dynamics, whose altered expression levels have been linked to cancer metastasis. MIM deforms phosphoinositide-rich membranes through its I-BAR domain and interacts with actin monomers through its WH2 domain. Recent work proposed that MIM also potentiates Sonic hedgehog (Shh)-induced gene expression. Here, we generated MIM mutant mice and found that full-length MIM protein is dispensable for embryonic development. However, MIM-deficient mice displayed a severe urinary concentration defect caused by compromised integrity of kidney epithelia intercellular junctions, which led to bone abnormalities and end-stage renal failure. In cultured kidney epithelial (MDCK) cells, MIM displayed dynamic localization to adherens junctions, where it promoted Arp2/3-mediated actin filament assembly. This activity was dependent on the ability of MIM to interact with both membranes and actin monomers. Furthermore, results from the mouse model and cell culture experiments suggest that full-length MIM is not crucial for Shh signaling, at least during embryogenesis. Collectively, these data demonstrate that MIM modulates interplay between the actin cytoskeleton and plasma membrane to promote the maintenance of intercellular contacts in kidney epithelia.


The current management of severe strictures of the esophagus resulting from reflux esophagitis is unsatisfactory. A new operation comprising esophagoplasty and intrathoracic fundoplication is described. This preliminary report records the results of this operation in 10 patients. There was one operative death. Of the nine survivors, followed for six months to three years, seven are completely free of symptoms. The remaining two have mild residual symptoms, but no dysphagia.


In this article, we present Quevedo, a software tool we have developed for the task of automatic processing of graphical languages. These are languages which use images to convey meaning, relying not only on the shape of symbols but also on their spatial arrangement in the page, and relative to each other. When presented in image form, these languages require specialized computational processing which is not the same as usually done either for natural language processing or for artificial vision. Quevedo enables this specialized processing, focusing on a data-based approach. As a command line application and library, it provides features for the collection and management of image datasets, and their machine learning recognition using neural networks and recognizer pipelines. This processing requires careful annotation of the source data, for which Quevedo offers an extensive and visual web-based annotation interface. In this article, we also briefly present a case study centered on the task of SignWriting recognition, the original motivation for writing the software. Quevedo is written in Python, and distributed freely under the Open Software License version 3.0.


The formation of documents for strategic planning of socio-economic development is the most important task of regional and municipal governments. It can be stated that strategic planning processes have been launched throughout the country and the process of forming these documents is active at both the regional and municipal levels. However, the issues of determining, studying, and taking into account the views of interested parties when forming the goals and priorities of socio-economic development of administrative-territorial entities require methodological support and recommendations for practical implementation. In this article, an attempt is made to reveal methodological approaches and solve issues of practical implementation of identifying the interests of stakeholders on the example of a specific municipality. The proposed material is an example of determining and scientifically substantiating the strategic priorities of a municipality on identifying the interests of stakeholders. The study of the processes of formation and determination of strategic priorities for the development of a municipality based on the identification of the interests of all interested parties should become the task of further research.


An exceptionally rich rodent assemblage of Lujanian age (latest Pleistocene) at La Angostura (26° 55' 30" S, 65° 41' 50" W, Tafi valley, Tucuman province; 1900 m above sea level) provides the first evidence of sigmodontine rodents in the fossil record of northwestern Argentina. Identified taxa are: Abrothrix illuteus Thomas, Akodon sp., Necromys d. N. lactens (Thomas), Oxymycterus d. O. paramensis Thornas, Oligoryzomys d. O. flavescens (Waterhouse), Oligoryzomys d. O. "longicaudatus" (Bennett), Andinomys edax Thornas, Calomys d. C. laucha- C. musculinus, Neotomys ebriosus Thornas, Phyllotis sp., Reithrodon auritus (Fischer), and †Tafimys powelli Ortiz et al. These include the first fossils of the genera Neotomys Thomas and Andinomys Thomas in Argentina. Taphonomic analysis indicates that the assemblage is a fossil owl pellet accumulation. Consequently, it can be assumed to be a biased representation of the small mammal fauna of a relatively small area over a relatively brief time span. This association has no modern analogue because today these species live at different altitudinal vegetation belts. The fauna indicates a community from the high-altitude grassland ecotone, with elements of the Yungas, Puna and High Andeans. Temperatures may have been lower than today. Although the species composition is similar to the modern sigmodontine community in the area, quantitative variations in proportional representation can be attributed to Holocene climatic conditions and, probably, to the impact of human populations in historical times.


Of the malignant tumors occurring in the male, chorionepithelioma is considered to be rare. Some 200 cases have been recorded thus far in the entire literature. Its mode of origin is still uncertain, and many theories have been advanced to explain its presence in the male. These theories have recently been reviewed in a critical survey by Mathieu and Robertson. 1 Most authors accept the hypothesis advanced by Schlagenhaufer, 2 that chorionepithelioma arises in a teratoma in which some structure having the morphologic value of an included ovum had differentiated into trophoblastic epithelium. Theoretically, teratomas may occur anywhere in the body, and they have been described in such areas as the mediastinum, the abdomen, the jaw and the sacrum. If chorionepitheliomas are to be considered as developing from teratomas, they need not always arise in the testes, although the tumors usually are found in these organs. The existence in the


The importance of networking as a way to enhance innovation has been pointed out in many scientific papers, in particular for SMEs. A great number of scientific studies clearly establish the significant role of SMEs in economic growth, promoting flexibility and innovation in an economy. The process of successfully engage in a network represents a key for enhancing competitiveness. In order to improve effectiveness of network is pivotal the achievement of a better understanding of SME behavior. The presented work aims to identify factors that characterize food SMEs entering in innovation networks by integrating findings from the literature review with a survey of food SMEs.


The prevalence of obesity and diabetes mellitus has increased significantly in recent years and the knowledge that adipose tissue has endocrine activity and plays important roles in regulating inflammation and energy metabolism by molecular mechanisms among others is a source of new studies. This study is aimed at assessing the molecular mechanisms involved in obesity and diabetes mainly in peripheral tissues as well as the relationship of exercise in this context in the form of a literature review. The methodology used was a bibliographic survey in the main databases SciELO and PubMed of articles published between 1998 and 2012. Studies have demonstrated an interrelation between molecular mechanisms involved in the development of obesity and diabetes in central and peripheral tissues. Several studies have shown that physical exercise greatly contributes to the reduction of prevalence, control and even in the treatment of obesity and diabetes. However, there is need for further studies relating various types of exercise at different intensities and volumes and preferably with humans, as well as the study model, that when using animals, exercise programs should be developed concurrently with fat-rich diets in order to assess physical exercise and its role in the prevention of these diseases.


ABSTRACT Malnutrition and a lack of sufficient psychosocial support from caregivers both have a tremendous effect on children's development. Initiatives to support healthy child development in a context of poverty include caregiver interventions. There is growing evidence to support interventions that integrate psychosocial and nutritional support. The current study explores a psychosocial support intervention based on the International Child Development Programme integrated with a health and nutritional supplement to child center staff in the Maputo area in Mozambique. A wait list comparison group of staff from other child centers received the same training after the current study. The study draws on both quantitative and qualitative approaches in order to investigate children's physical health measured through weight and height scores, children's self-report to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire before and after the intervention, and caregivers' perceived changes following the intervention provided through open-ended questions. Measures of weight and height scores (N = 334) from children belonging to the intervention centers showed that 52.4 percent (N = 175) were at risk or at high risk from malnutrition at pre-test of whom 139 were measured again after the intervention. Results suggest improvement among 93.5 percent of the children categorized as malnourished before the intervention. Children's self-reported data on strengths and difficulties (N = 79) suggest significant increases in prosocial behavior in the intervention group. Caregivers (N = 40) reported strengthened relationships, improved communication, and improved nutritional menus within the intervention centers. Despite limitations due to lack of randomization, adequate comparison data, and longer-term follow-up, this study shows the suitability of implementing integrated psychosocial and nutritional training among professional caregivers responsible for the care of orphaned and vulnerable children.


The world is becoming increasingly more globalized, and different organizational practices are being exported and adopted by companies around the world. This creates challenges for companies operating across boarders. And for the Norwegian model, it is a threat to Norwegian working hours. This thesis will examine what happens to the Norwegian model when it is being exported to a country with a different institutional context, i.e. a different welfare state regime than the Norwegian. Can the Norwegian model be exported, and how does it translate into an American context? The answer to the question is yes. The Norwegian model can be exported, but what we see is an adaptation to the institutional context in the host country. Using time practices and time norms as a point of focus, we see that in the process of adapting the model in the architecture company Snohetta's New York office, negotiations are taking place among the employees and the management. It is not only the different welfare state regimes and institutional context of the United States and Norway that challenge the Norwegian model in general and working hours in particular, the knowledge work in itself also constitutes a threat. Having a strong emphasis on time disciplining regulations becomes an important factor when dealing with this threat.


There seems little reported research about rehearsing popular music and the learning opportunities that might arise from this activity. Indeed, popular music arguably, is typically learned in the broader community as a self-directed activity, including interactions with peers, rather than under the direction of a mentor or tutor. As such, a tutor, involved in facilitating undergraduate bands in popular music, can be somewhat different to other rehearsing contexts. Not only, for example, can band members learn from each other, and about themselves during their group rehearsal, but the tutor may similarly learn from engaging in this participatory experience. Students may also invite their tutors to join them as a 'band member' attending their rehearsals, and sharing their rehearsal life-world. Being a tutor might, in this way, be likened to an ethnographic experience.

It is in this context that my practice as a performance tutor is situated. Being a performance tutor for popular music band rehearsals involves engagement in various activities, including facilitating, mentoring, providing feedback, encouraging a positive rehearsal vibe and promoting teamwork. it is from this engagement that my research interests have developed. As such, and given the apparent lack of literature on, and pedagogical resources for, band rehearsing of popular music, I embarked on research in order to help provide a contribution towards filling that gap. From its genesis as an informal study conducted during 2001–2003, with its aim being to inform annual module evaluation, it developed into an action research project exploring personal attributes and peer assessment in band rehearsals. Continuing from 2008, the action research investigated wider aspects of the band rehearsing process and tutor interaction. The module itself has incorporated various pedagogical refinements and techniques that have arisen from the eight year study. The impact of the research on myself as a tutor, and my practice involving the life world of the band rehearsal, has been significant. It is hoped that practitioners, performance tutors, and those interested in researching their practice will find this paper helpful and consider how using an action research apporoach might have relevance to their own work.


Abstract. Large sinking particles transport organic and inorganic matter into the deeper layers of the oceans. Between 70 and 90% of the aggregates exported from the surface mixed layer are disaggregated within the upper 1000 m. This decrease with depth indicates that fragmentation and remineralization processes are intense during sedimentation. Generally, the estimates of vertical flux rely on sediment trap data but difficulties inherent in their design limit the reliability of this information. During the BIOSOPE study in the south-eastern Pacific, 76 vertical casts using the Underwater Video Profiler (UVP) and deployments of drifting sediment traps provided an opportunity to fit the UVP data to sediment trap flux measurements. We applied the calculated UVP flux in the upper 1000 m to the whole 8000 km BIOSOPE transect. Comparison between the large particulate material (LPM) abundance and the estimated fluxes from both UVP and sediment traps showed different patterns in different regions. On the western end of the BIOSOPE section the standing stock of particles in the surface layer was high but the export between 150 and 250 m was low. Below this layer the flux values increased. High values of about 30% of the calculated UVP maximum surface zone flux were observed below 900 m at the HNLC station. The South Pacific Gyre exported about 2 mg m−2 d−1. While off Chilean coast 95% of the surface mixed layer matter was disaggregated, remineralized or advected in the upper kilometer, 20% of the surface zone flux was observed below 900 m near the Chilean coast. These results suggest that the export to deep waters is spatially heterogeneous and related to the different biotic and abiotic factors.


Class III HD-Zip (HD-Zip III) family genes play key roles in a number of fundamental developmental programs in Arabidopsis thaliana, such as embryo patterning, meristem initiation and homeostasis, lateral organ polarity and vascular development. Semidominant gain-of-function alleles of the HD-Zip III genes PHABULOSA (PHB), PHAVOLUTA (PHV) and REVOLUTA (REV) disrupt the negative regulation of these genes by a mechanism of microRNA interference. We provide evidence that the gain-of-function icu4-1 allele of INCURVATA4, a gene encoding the HD-Zip III transcription factor ATHB15/CORONA (CNA), stimulates the production of vascular tissues, supporting a role for ICU4 in promoting vascular development. Occasionally, homozygous mutants for this allele show a reduced number of thick shoot vascular bundles, although normal collateral polarity remains unchanged. Genetic analysis of icu4-1 and phb-1D, a gain-of-function allele of the related PHB gene, revealed antagonism in lateral organ polarity between both mutations and a synergistic interaction in shoots, with transformation of the polarized collateral bundles into a radialized amphivasal pattern. These results indicate that the precise regulation of HD-Zip III genes confers positional information which is required to establish the number and pattern of vascular bundles in the stem. In addition, we present results that suggest an interaction between ICU4 function and auxin signaling.


This paper reviews the background that has led to the now almost-universally held opinion in the scientific community that global climate change is occurring and is inescapably linked with anthropogenic activity. The potential implications to human health are considerable and very diverse. These include, for example, the increased direct impacts of heat and of rises in sea level, exacerbated air and water-borne harmful agents, and--associated with all the preceding--the emergence of environmental refugees. Vector-borne diseases, in particular those associated with blood-sucking arthropods such as mosquitoes, may be significantly impacted, including redistribution of some of those diseases to areas not previously affected. Responses to possible impending environmental and public health crises must involve political and socio-economic considerations, adding even greater complexity to what is already a difficult challenge. In some areas, adjustments to national and international public health practices and policies may be effective, at least in the short and medium terms. But in others, more drastic measures will be required. Environmental monitoring, in its widest sense, will play a significant role in the future management of the problem.


: Review of vesicointestinal fistulae cases treated in the Urology Unit at our hospital over the last few years. Most frequently seen cause was colorectal cancer (66%) and most frequent location was vesicosigmoideal (50%). Clinical signs and symptoms were varied, mainly urinary infection in 100% cases, pneumaturia in 66% and fecaluria in 50%. Opaque enema and cystography were great diagnostic aids as complementary methods. Also U.I.V., cystoscopy, rectoscopy and C.A.T. were used. Treatment was surgical in all cases where the patient's general health status allowed it.


Economy system transition, process of privatization, and tendency of EU participation, indicate needs for the changing of present concept and contain in agro-manager education. Education is an important factor for economy development. Manager education in agro-business should be an important factor for the competitiveness increasing, at the local, and international market. Important question in education is a changing of concept, by using the modern theories, and solving the concrete (practical) problems. In the domain of concept of agro-manager education, it is necessary to extend their knowledge in the fields of multi-functional agriculture (agro-tourism, ecology, management of S.M.E., quality management, etc.). Three years study of agro-management should be adopted with needs of Farm management, or S.M.E. management, and four years study for the needs of corporative management, and Macro agro-management.


It is widely recognized that simulation is pivotal to vehicle development, whether manned or unmanned. There are few dedicated choices, however, for those wishing to perform realistic, end-to-end simulations of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The Virtual Autonomous Navigation Environment (VANE), under development by US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), provides such capabilities but utilizes a High Performance Computing (HPC) Computational Testbed (CTB) and is not intended for on-line, real-time performance. A product of the VANE HPC research is a real-time desktop simulation application under development by the authors that provides a portal into the HPC environment as well as interaction with wider-scope semi-automated force simulations (e.g. OneSAF). This VANE desktop application, dubbed the Autonomous Navigation Virtual Environment Laboratory (ANVEL), enables analysis and testing of autonomous vehicle dynamics and terrain/obstacle interaction in real-time with the capability to interact within the HPC constructive geo-environmental CTB for high fidelity sensor evaluations. ANVEL leverages rigorous physics-based vehicle and vehicle-terrain interaction models in conjunction with high-quality, multimedia visualization techniques to form an intuitive, accurate engineering tool. The system provides an adaptable and customizable simulation platform that allows developers a controlled, repeatable testbed for advanced simulations. ANVEL leverages several key technologies not common to traditional engineering simulators, including techniques from the commercial video-game industry. These enable ANVEL to run on inexpensive commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. In this paper, the authors describe key aspects of ANVEL and its development, as well as several initial applications of the system.


Cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabichromene (CBC) are non-psychoactive cannabinoids that have raised increasing interest in recent years. These compounds exhibit good tolerability and low toxicity, representing promising candidates for drug repositioning. To identify novel potential therapeutic targets for CBG and CBC, an integrated ligand-based and structure-based study was performed. The results of the analysis led to the identification of CBG as a low micromolar inhibitor of the Enoyl acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase (InhA) enzyme.


Several studies suggest that production of high-quality output is a precondition for firms in less developed countries to participate in the export market. Institutional deficiencies that raise the costs of entry into high-quality production therefore limit the positive impact that trade liberalization can have on income or growth. Institutional reform that reduces the costs of entry into high-quality production and trade reform therefore have synergistic effects on income and, possibly, growth. In contrast, institutional reform that reduces the costs of entry into low-quality production (e.g., reforms targeted at small businesses) interferes with the impact of trade reform. The model that yields these results is also used to analyze impacts of foreign direct investment and of subsidies to entrepreneurship in the presence of unemployment.


It has recently been argued that the elongate necks of sauropod dinosaurs evolved primarily through selection for their use as sexual and dominance signals, and not as an adaptation for accessing a large 'feeding envelope' as traditionally thought. Here we explore this idea and show that all six arguments that have been advanced in support of the sexual selection hypothesis are flawed: there is no evidence for sexual dimorphism in the necks of sauropods; neither is there any evidence that they were used in dominance displays; long necks provided significant survival benefits in allowing high browsing and energetically efficient grazing; their fitness cost was likely less than has been assumed; their positive allometry through ontogeny is uninformative given that ontogenetic allometry is common in animals; apparent lack of correlation between neck and leg length across phylogeny is illusory due to over-representation of mamenchisaurids in a previously analysed dataset, and in any case is not informative as the unique morphology of sauropod necks suggests they, rather than legs, may have been cheaper to elongate when evolving increased vertical reach. In no speciose, morphologically varied, longlived tetrapod clade has sexual selection consistently acted on a single part of the body, and it is unlikely that Sauropoda is the exception to this. In summary, there is no convincing evidence that sexual selection was the primary force driving the evolution of sauropod necks. While a subsidiary role for sexual selection cannot be discounted, the traditional hypothesis that sauropod necks evolved primarily due to the feeding benefits that they conferred is, by comparison, far better supported.


Under its Constitution, the World Health Organization (WHO) works with its members towards the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. The context in which WHO and its Members pursue this goal has radically changed since 1946. The interdependence produced by globalization has broken down traditional ways of conceptualizing and organizing the medical, economic, political and technological means to improve health. Nowhere is this transformation more apparent than in the rise of health as a foreign policy concern.

As the papers in this issue of the Bulletin demonstrate, the relationship between health and foreign policy is vital, complex and contested. To craft health policy today, governments, international institutions and nongovernmental organizations must find mechanisms to manage health risks that spill into and out of every country. These endeavours create the new world of global health diplomacy.

Critical to global health diplomacy is the relationship between health and foreign policy. Even though much of what affects health today is transnational in nature, countries remain core actors that must reorient their health and foreign policies in ways that align their national interests with the diplomatic, epidemiological and ethical realities of a globalized world. This alignment involves governments adjusting to globalization by overcoming fragmented policy competencies in national governance systems.

The trade and health relationship unfolds on the cutting edge of global health diplomacy and offers lessons for the health and foreign policy nexus. The World Heath Assembly recognized this significance in a May 2006 resolution on International Trade and Health, in which the Assembly called for foreign, trade and health ministries to move towards coherency in formulating national policies on trade and health. The Assembly tasked WHO to collaborate with other international organizations to generate and share evidence on ways to align trade and health.

This trade and health linkage highlights the new prominence of health within foreign policy; however, the linkage itself is not new. These enquiries allow us to see how countries historically dealt with health in their trade and foreign policies, particularly with respect to ensuring that health measures did not unnecessarily restrict international commerce. The trade and health relationship is also at the centre of international lawmaking, particularly in the World Trade Organization. International trade law allows us to analyse how countries calibrate their national interests regarding economic growth and protection of health. The trade and health arena has also seen involvement by nongovernmental entities promoting trade and health interests; these actions provide avenues for understanding how countries adjust their foreign policy strategies when non-state actors intervene.

The window into global health diplomacy provided by the trade and health relationship reveals controversy, but also increasing efforts between those in trade and health ministries towards coherent policies within and among countries. WHO's work on trade and health policy coherence reveals increasing country-level commitment to, and sophistication about, strategies to promote trade and protect health in ways that are politically feasible, economically attractive, epidemiologically informed and ethically sound. Through these efforts, health ministries are identifying how they can best inform pre-negotiation trade positions, provide input during negotiations, analyse the health costs and benefits of proposed compromises and monitor the health impacts of trade agreements.

WHO is collaborating with its members and other international organizations to advance this integrated approach to foreign policy by developing a new trade and health diagnostic tool. This tool is being designed to help health and trade ministries more systematically assess trade and health issues, to empower health ministries to give better advice to their trade counterparts and to enhance health policy input into the trade community's pursuit of integrated frameworks, trade policy reviews and aid initiatives to bolster trade capacities in developing countries.

The cutting edge of global health diplomacy raises certain cautions regarding health's role in trade and foreign policies. Competition among countries' national interests sometimes impedes policy coherence, which makes attainment of health goals more difficult. As the trade and health relationship makes clear, health ministries, experts and advocates can affect this competition constructively by combining their epidemiological skills and ethical principles with sharpened political and economic sensibilities about global politics. Securing health's fullest participation in foreign policy does not ensure health for all, but it supports the principle that foreign policy achievements by any country in promoting and protecting health will be of value to all. ■


BACKGROUND
Nonspecific bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) is under discussion as a possible risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

METHOD
Within the framework of a prospective study, we investigated the course of the disease in 50 inpatients with BHR, and the clinical symptoms of airways disease (coughing, dyspnea and expectoration) with no manifest airways obstruction at rest (Rt < 3.5 cm H2O/l/s) on admission to the hospital. The unspecific inhalative provocation challenge was carried out with metacholine. The presence of BHR was assumed when the resting respiratory resistance (Rt) of < 3.5 cm H2O/l/s increased to more than 6 cm H2O/l/s. On admission to hospital, all the patients were treated with inhalative bronchodilators and glucocorticosteroids.

RESULTS
After an average period of 2.8 years, BHR was no longer measurable in only 7 of the patients (14%), while 28 patients (56%) continued to have a BHR with clinical symptomatology presenting. In 15 patients (30%), manifest airways obstruction at rest, with an average Rt of 6.4 cm H2O/l/s developed. In patients with an uncharacteristic cough, dyspnea and unremarkable lung function parameters at rest, a provocation test should be done to identify BHR. A prognosis can, however, not be established on the basis of a single demonstration of BHR, but only after observation over a longer period.


Abstract A comprehensive, high resolution stratigraphic database of fusulinoidean foraminifers reveals that this group of protists suffered extreme losses during the Guadalupian extinction. Most species (88%) were eliminated gradually over the course of 9 myr during the Wordian and Capitanian ages. A pulse of greatly elevated per capita extinction frequency occurred during the last million years of the Capitanian (260–259 Ma). Contrary to prevailing opinion, the end-Capitanian event did not preferentially eliminate large, morphologically complex species in the families Schwagerinidae and Neoschwagerinidae, because most species in those families were already extinct. Rather, 69 percent of the species eliminated at the end of the Capitanian were small, morphologically conservative representatives of the Ozawainellidae, Schubertellidae and Staffellidae. Survivors from these families comprised the low-diversity association of Wuchiapingian fusulinoideans. Schubertellids, and to a lesser extent ozawainellids, diversified in the late Wuchiapingian and Changhsingian ages before the final demise of fusulinoideans during the end-Permian mass extinction. The Wordian–Capitanian fusulinoidean attrition might have been caused by photosymbiont loss and habitat reduction stemming from an interval of global cooling termed the Kamura event (∼265–259.5 Ma), although the onset of fusulinoidean diversity decline predates geochemical evidence for the beginning of the Kamura event by ∼3 myr. The end-Capitanian extinction pulse might reflect environmental deterioration from the combined effects of global cooling, Emeishan effusive volcanism and sea-level lowstand.


There are many ways of approaching research on AIDS, and sometimes different philosophies clash. Robin Weiss (Chester Beatty Laboratories, Institute of Cancer Research, UK) wryly portrays the differences between the experimentalists and the theorists as they try to understand how the interactions of HIV and its human host result in disease. He also presents his view that recent discoveries of cofactors for HIV entry highlight the improtance of a cell biology—centered approach to understanding pathogenesis.


Identifies, compares, and contrasts various types of demand data streams that flow through in different stages of supply chains ... demand planning systems driven by forecasts based on point-of sale data are best suited for synchronizing supply chain plans with consumer demand...where POS information is not available, other customersupplied data can be used asa proxy. For many years, monthly factory shipment data was the only type of non-syndicated demand information available to vendors for forecasting product consumption. Although factory shipment data does not provide the best consumption forecasts, vendors were left with few alternatives. Other demand data, better suited for forecasting consumption, was either difficult or expensive to acquire. However, since the late 1980s, developments in systems technology and improvements in supply chain management have enabled retail customers to provide their vendors with better data. Two key technological developments that have enabled customers to transfer and vendors to process consumption data are Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and high-speed, batch-processing forecasting software. Coincident with the advent of these innovations was the evolution of cooperative customer-vendor business programs including Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), Continuous Replenishment Planning (CRP), and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFAR) which became the hallmarks of 1990s supply chain management. The combination of new information technology and cooperative supply chain partnerships has made possible the sharing of consumption-based forecasting information in near real time. The results of these developments have been dramatic: improvements in product-forecast accuracy, reductions in supply chain inventories, and efficiencies in product distribution. This article reviews demand data streams that are transmitted by customers to their vendors. Throughout, a customer is defined as a retailer that sells finished goods to the end-users, consumers. A vendor is defined as a manufacturer that produces, distributes and sells a finished good to a customer. Figure 1 illustrates the vendor's forecasting objective, as the author sees it, to synchronize production, distribution and inventory levels with consumer purchasing activities for the purpose of optimizing supply chain efficiency. DIFFERENT CUSTOMER DEMAND DATA STREAMS Figure 2 shows that, instead of monthly factory shipment information, vendors have begun to use four other types of demand data to drive demand planning systems. These alternative data streams are (1) customer forecasts, (2) consumer purchases, (3) customer warehouse withdrawals, and (4) customer orders. Collectively, these customer-supplied data can be used to form the basis for bottom-up product forecasts which, when aggregated and rolled back up the supply chain, more accurately predict independent demand than do factory shipment-based forecasts. Figure 3 shows that independent demand is the requirement for items that is influenced by factors that are external to the firms that comprise the supply chain. These external factors bring about random variation in demand for such items. Consequently, independent demand forecasts are typically projections of historical demand patterns. As such, it is assumed here that independent demand is derived from point-of-sale (POS) based consumption data, since consumption is outside of the control of suppliers, vendors, and retail customers. The primary reason for using customer-supplied POS information, as opposed to factory shipment data, is to drive the demand planning system with independent demand. Demand planning systems driven by POS-based forecasts are best suited for synchronizing supply chain plans with consumer demand. Dependent demand, on the other hand, is directly related to, or derived from the bill of material structure of other items (e.g., raw materials, component parts and manufacturing inventories) or distribution requirements (e. …


Income inequality is often attributed to declines in income mobility following the Great Gatsby curve, but this relationship is of secondary importance in determining the factors of income mobility if one considers that changing rules is more important than changing outcomes under defined rules. Rather, improvements in institutional quality are hypothesized to increase income mobility by allowing entrepreneurs the freedom to pursue their dreams. This paper is the first to empirically analyze the institutional determinants behind entrepreneurship, and their effect on income mobility. The findings from a cross-country analysis suggest that secure property rights and less corruption are associated with less income persistence, leading to higher income mobility, independent of the Great Gatsby effect. This suggests that reducing corruption and protection of property rights increase income mobility through the channels of entrepreneurship.


PURPOSE
To verify dose distribution of proton beam using CCD camera scintillation screen system.

METHODS
CCD camera scintillation screen system was developed to verify dose distribution at National Cancer Center in Korea. In this study, we used a high sensitivity scintillation plate to measure visible light acquired by CCD camera. The light output on scintillation plate was measured while changing the irradiation time and beam current in proton beam. Then, the results were analyzed to obtain the depth dose distribution and dose profile. The measured dose distributions in double scattering delivery mode were compared with those in ionization chamber.

RESULTS
The relationship between the light output and beam current showed good linearity. Also, the light output increased linearly with the increase of irradiation time. For the proton beam for double scattering mode, light output response on scintillation plate was compared with the dose distribution from ionization chamber and showed the good agreement.

CONCLUSION
We evaluated the dosimetry characteristic of proton beam using CCD camera scintillation screen system. Also, we verified the dos - e distribution of proton beam for double scattering delivery mode. This work was supported by a research grant from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in Korea (No. 2010-0026071) and a fund from research project of the Korea National Cancer Center (No. NCC-0910110).


Pregnancy outcomes in HIV positive women remain a concern especially in sub-Saharan Africa which bears the highest burden of the disease. To evaluate pregnancy outcomes in booked preg-nant women on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) at the University of Ilorin Teach-ing Hospital (UITH), Ilorin, Nigeria; a case control study (with women initiating HAART in preg-nancy as subjects and those who initiated it before pregnancy as control) of 268 HIV-positive wom-en managed between March 2009 and February 2013 was undertaken at the hospital. Inclusion cri-teria comprised HIV-positivity, booking, antenatal care and delivery at the study site. From the total of 8,958 women who had antenatal care during the period, 502 had HIV infection (prevalence 5.6%) out of which 268 satisfied the inclusion criteria and were enrolled into the study. Subjects were 54(20.2%) while 214(79.8%) were controls; the mean age of participants was 31.0±4.5 years while mean parity was 2.0±1.5. Pregnancy outcomes were worse in subjects with statistical signifi-cance in miscarriage (11.1% vs. 0.9%; OR 11.78, 95% CI 2.07-87.03, p <0.01), preterm delivery (31.5% vs. 1.9%; OR 24.35, 95% CI 7.15-91.26, p<0.01), term pregnancy (42.6% vs. 96.3%; OR 0.03, 95% CI 0.01-0.08, p<0.01), birth asphyxia (OR 8.31, 95% CI 3.25-21.45 p<0.01), low birth weight babies (OR 260.0, 95% CI 66.51-1142.77, p<0.01) and maternal puerperal complications (anaemia 35.2% vs. 0.9%; OR 68.79, 95% CI 14.28-452.19, p <0.01). Mother to child transmission of HIV was recorded in only 3(1.1%) babies among the subjects. Commencement of HAART before pregnancy appears to improve pregnancy outcomes in HIV positive women. Keywords : Preterm, Miscarriage, birth weight, asphyxia, puerperal


According to the 2018 Global Nutrition Report, the burden of malnutrition across the world remains unacceptably high, and progress unacceptably slow. Malnutrition is a universal issue holding back development with undesirable human consequences. Globally, 151 million children are stunted, and 1.9 billion adults are overweight. The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016–2025 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide global and national impetus to address malnutrition and expedite progress. Twelve out of the 17 SDGs require good nutrition in order to be met. The impact of nutrition on each of these SDGs will be discussed in detail to show that nutrition should be at the centre of achieving these SDGs and improve global health. Despite dramatic improvements in survival, nutrition, and education over recent decades, today's children face an uncertain future. Climate change, ecological degradation, migrating populations, conflict, pervasive inequalities, and predatory commercial practices threaten the health and future of children in every country. Governments must harness coalitions across sectors to overcome ecological and commercial pressures to ensure children receive their rights and entitlements now and a liveable planet in the years to come. We have never been better equipped to end malnutrition, we know more than ever about what policies work, there is a strong political will in many countries and we have new and better data regarding tackling malnutrition, we will therefore explore this "untravelled avenue" to highlight the important role of nutrition in improving multiple aspects of health globally. Nutrition can and should be placed at the centre of the SDGs: at the heart of the concept of sustainability and our shared human endeavour in order to see improvement and change.


This paper reports the experience of activity based learning conducted in Chemistry Carnival 2011 in Sarawak. The active learning oriented activities include hands-on experiments, quiz, poster and mini lectures were used to educate the school students some basics chemistry relating to daily life. Approximately 300 students attended the activities. Observations and questionnaires were used as the instruments to describe and measure the learning experience whether various activities have contributed to effective learning. Among these, hands-on experiments were found to be the most effective approach; more than 86% of the participants agree that they have learnt well from this peer mentoring and collaborative learning strategy. Posters, mini lectures and quiz however were relatively less favoured as they suffered some inherited shortcomings for example lecture is lacking in interactivity, poster and quiz similarly fall short in proactive involvement of participants. Activity based learning is an effective approach however it needs to be carefully constructed to achieve the learning outcomes.


Once classified as an emission line source, the planetary neb ula (PN) nature of the source Kn 26 has been only recently recognized in digital sky surveys. To investigate the spectral pr operties and spatio-kinematical structure of Kn 26, we have obtained high spatial-resolution optical and near-IR narrow-band images, high-dispersion long-slit echelle spectra, and interme diate-resolution spectroscopic observations. The new data reveal an hourglass morphology typical of bipolar PNe. A detailed analysis of its morphology and kinematics discloses the presence of a second pair of bipolar lobes, making Kn 26 a new member of the subclass of quadrupolar PNe. The time-lap between the ejection of the two pairs of bipolar lobes is much smaller than their dynamical ages, implying a rapid change of the preferential direction of the central engine. The chemical composition of Kn 26 is particularly unusual among PNe, with a low N/O ratio (as of type II PNe) and a high helium abundance (as of type I PNe), although not atypical among symbiotic stars. Such an anomalous chemical composition may have resulted from the curtail of the time in the Asymptotic Giant Branch by the evolution of the progenitor star through a common envelope phase.


This paper presents an original multi-sensor system for 3D orientation determination based on only 4 MEMS sensors. MEMS sensors are manufactured on a cheap standard technology from NXP Semiconductors using TMAH front side wet etching with no additional masking step. This very low cost manufacturing process makes the system suitable for various consumer applications. Electronic architecture for signal conditioning is detailed covering issues regarding the design of piezoresistor based systems (offsets, flicker noise…). Finally, the complete system has been prototyped proving the interest and the feasibility of such devices.


The Western Balkan region (WB) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) lag behind the EU-28 counterparts in their export activities. The positive influence of the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) on local business support organisations and the local businesses is identified as a contributing factor to that improvement. To investigate the EEN's role in the export of the WB SMEs in the period 2014-2017, the authors used available statistical data on export from the WB countries. The survey was conducted in three phases, with the samples of 1,463, 222, and 12 companies. Analysed results of the EEN activities in the WB show that EEN had a positive influence on the firms' performance and their international activities;67% of supported firms increased their turnover, 62% increased their market share, and the EEN services had a positive impact on the jobs in 52% of the examined firms. The survey results about the expected and actual impact of the EEN services proved a positive impact of the Network on the five indicators: market improvement, cost savings, job creation or maintenance, quality improvement, and innovation. The paper contains important practical implications for the policymakers and the SME managers alike, and the implications mentioned above are generalisable.


Built-in self test techniques for local oscillator phase noise, RF front-end circuits, baseband building blocks and transceiver loop-back are described. CMOS implementation of integrated RF test components, including RF detectors and phase discriminators are introduced. These devices eliminate the need for expensive external test equipment. The presented test strategies can also be used at wafer-level for fault diagnosis, localization and yield estimation. Silicon characterization results verifying most of these techniques are provided.


For more than twenty years I have been acutely sensible of the fact that certain globular cancers of the breast present a particularly bad prognosis. In addition to their external form, they present a varied histologic structure which requires the assumption of a wide latitude of cell metaplasia to keep them within the group of epithelial tumors. Recently I encountered a patient whose tumor seemed to be a connecting link between the aforementioned group and the intracanalicular fibro-adenomas. As the cells of this tumor seemed to spring from its subepithelial cells, I am calling growths of this type chromatophore tumors, realizing that this is little more than a symbol. Since they do not produce pigment, one cannot call them melanomas, though they duplicate the histologic structure of the pigmented tumors in a striking manner. Amelanotic melanomas would be a more accurate though cumbersome designation. The use of a term suggesting


Phasic firing of dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra (SN) is likely to be crucial for reward processing that guides learning. One of the key structures implicated in the regulation of this DA burst firing is the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg), which projects to both the VTA and SN. Different literatures suggest that the PPTg serves as a sensory‐gating area for DA cells or it regulates voluntary movement. This study recorded PPTg single‐unit activity as rats perform a spatial navigation task to examine the potential for both reward and movement contributions. PPTg cells showed significant changes in firing relative to reward acquisition, the velocity of movement across the maze and turning behaviors of the rats. Reward, but not movement, correlates were impacted by changes in context, and neither correlate type was affected by reward manipulations (e.g. changing the expected location of a reward). This suggests that the PPTg conjunctively codes both reward and behavioral information, and that the reward information is processed in a context‐dependent manner. The distinct anatomical distribution of reward and movement cells emphasizes different models of synaptic control by PPTg of DA burst firing in the VTA and SN. Relevant to both VTA and SN learning systems, however, PPTg appears to serve as a sensory gating mechanism to facilitate reinforcement learning, while at the same time provides reinforcement‐based guidance of ongoing goal‐directed behaviors.


Do voters in Africa use elections to hold governments accountable for their performance in office? In contexts of limited information and weak state capacity, it can be difficult for citizens to attribute the provision of public goods and services to political action. As a result, voters often have little information about government performance on which to condition their electoral support. Such contexts are frequently characterized by clientelism or ethnic politics, and there is a widespread impression that African elections are little more than contests in corruption or ethnic mobilization. Using an original panel data set containing electoral returns and detailed information on road conditions throughout Ghana, the author provides robust evidence that when a public good can be attributed to political action, as is the case with roads in Ghana, electoral support is affected by the provision of that good. The author also uses data on a variety of educational inputs to test the claim that votes are conditioned only on attributable outcomes.


Orientation: International researchers have increasingly recognised the interaction between work and nonwork roles as an interesting and important topic. Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of different work–nonwork conflict subscales and differences between demographic groups in work– nonwork conflict. Motivation for the study: Several studies have shown that demographic groups differ in their experiences of the interaction between work and family life. This may also be true of conflict between work and nonwork roles. The prevalence of work–nonwork conflict and nonwork– work conflict is also very important for organisations that may find the results very valuable for developing organisational and individual interventions and performance management in organisations. Research design, approach and method: The researchers chose a random sample of mining employees ( n = 245) from a platinum mine in Rustenburg. The researchers used self-developed items similar to items developed in the Work–nonwork Interference Scale of Koekemoer, Mostert and Rothmann (2010) to measure conflict between work and various nonwork roles. The researchers used descriptive statistics, paired-sample t -tests, multivariate analysis of variance and one-way analysis of variance to analyse the data. Main findings: Work–nonwork conflict was more prevalent than nonwork–work conflict. Work–family conflict was more prevalent than work–domestic conflict and work–religion/ spirituality conflict. The researchers found significant differences for marital status and language groups about work–nonwork conflict. Results showed that participants who spoke African languages experienced higher levels of private–work conflict. Practical/managerial implications: Organisations need to recognise the negative interference or conflict between work and nonwork roles for different demographic groups and address the prevalent work–nonwork conflicts in their organisations. Contribution/value-add: Organisations are able to focus interventions and programmes that specifically address the problem of work–nonwork conflict in specific roles and for different demographic groups.


The Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids (CEF Panel) of the European Food Safety Authority was requested to consider evaluations of flavouring substances assessed since 2000 by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), and to decide whether further evaluation is necessary, as laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1565/2000. The substances were evaluated through a stepwise approach that integrates information on structure-activity relationships, intake from current uses, toxicological threshold of concern, and available data on metabolism and toxicity. The present consideration concerns a group of 24 alicyclic ketones and secondary alcohols and related esters evaluated by JECFA (59th meeting in 2002 and 63rd meeting in 2004). This revision is made due to inclusion of four additional substances cleared for genotoxicity concern compared to the previous version [FL-no: 07.033, 07.094, 07.112 and 07.140]. The Panel concluded for 23 substances that these do not give rise to safety concerns at the levels of dietary intake, estimated on the basis of the MSDI approach [FL-no: 02.209, 07.034, 07.035, 07.045, 07.094, 07.095, 07.098, 07.112, 07.126, 07.129, 07.140, 07.148, 07.149, 07.172, 07.179, 07.180, 07.257, 09.027, 09.140, 09.160, 09.230, 09.464 and 09.930]. However, for all substances use levels are needed to calculate the mTAMDIs in order to identify those flavouring substances that need more refined exposure assessment and to finalise the evaluation. Besides the safety assessment of these flavouring substances, the specifications for the materials of commerce have been considered and are adequate for 21 substances. For [FL-no: 07.094 and 07.112], information on the solubility in water and ethanol is missing. The chemical identity could not be unambiguously confirmed for substance [FL-no: 07.033]. Therefore the Panel could not consider the JECFA evaluation of this substance and information as to its chemical identity should be submitted.


— Sand cast samples of the as-received 66/34Mg-Al alloy were first homogenized at 4900C and then divided into three groups on which annealing, normalising and artificial ageing were respectively carried out. Thermal ageing of the samples involved treatment at 5000C, soaked for 4 hours and quenched in water at ambient temperature followed by tempering at 2000C for 2 hours. Test specimens were subjected to microstructure and mechanical analyses and the results compared. Precipitation of significant volume of stable Mg17Al12 crystals in the aged specimen's matrix conferred superior mechanical characteristics compared with the annealed, normalized and as-cast specimens. The ultimate tensile strength was 93.4MPa with micro-hardness of 64.9HRC and impact energy (toughness) of 4.05J. In particular, its Young modulus was 10.4GPa which compared well with that of cortical (trabecule) bone's modulus that varies from 12-17GPa.


In this paper, we study the properties of information matrices of the difference operator or the so-called delta (/spl delta/) operator-based algorithms for adaptive signal processing. We show that the conditioning of a transformed information matrix in the /spl delta/ domain is always better than that of the original information matrix in the conventional q domain for ill-conditioned problems. The results obtained in this paper give an explanation of the advantages of using delta operator algorithms for adaptive signal processing that have been developed. The analysis in this paper also helps to clarify the problem about the effect of /spl Delta/ in the delta operator algorithms and justify the use of sampling interval as /spl Delta/ in most cases when the ill conditioning is caused by fast sampling of continuous time systems.


Background Self–reported physical activity has been inversely associated with mortality but the effect of objectively measured step activity on mortality has never been evaluated. The objective is to determine the prospective association of daily step activity on mortality among free-living adults. Methods and Findings Cohort study of free-living adults residing in Tasmania, Australia between 2000 and 2005 who participated in one of three cohort studies (n = 2 576 total participants). Daily step activity by pedometer at baseline at a mean of 58.8 years of age, and for a subset, repeated monitoring was available 3.7 (SD 1.3) years later (n = 1 679). All-cause mortality (n = 219 deaths) was ascertained by record-linkage to the Australian National Death Index; 90% of participants were followed-up over ten years, until June 2011. Higher daily step count at baseline was linearly associated with lower all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio AHR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90 to 0.98 per 1 000 steps; P = 0.004). Risk was altered little by removing deaths occurring in the first two years. Increasing baseline daily steps from sedentary to 10 000 steps a day was associated with a 46% (95% CI, 18% to 65%; P = 0.004) lower risk of mortality in the decade of follow-up. In addition, those who increased their daily steps over the monitoring period had a substantial reduction in mortality risk, after adjusting for baseline daily step count (AHR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.72; P = 0.002), or other factors (AHR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.21–0.70; P = 0.002). Conclusions Higher daily step count was linearly associated with subsequent long term mortality among free living adults. These data are the first to quantify mortality reductions using an objective measure of physical activity in a free living population. They strongly underscore the importance of physical inactivity as a major public health problem.


Counting solutions for a combinatorial problem has been identified as an important concern within the Artificial Intelligence field. It is indeed very helpful when exploring the structure of the solution space. In this context, this paper revisits the computation process to count solutions for the global cardinality constraint in the context of counting-based search. It first highlights an error and then presents a way to correct the upper bound on the number of solutions for this constraint.


Late Llandovery (Early Silurian) graptolites from several localities in the Merriangaah Siltstone, Quidong Basin, southern NSW, are described as Monograptus priodon (Bronn, 1835), Oktavites falx (Suess, 1851) and Oktavites bodentoeriensis Loydell, 2003. This is the first use of the generic name Oktavites in Australia. The firm age for this fauna to the spiralis graptolite Biozone and new age data from the Quidong Limestone place a maximum age for the unconformity between the Siltstone and the overlying Quidong Limestone, constraining the Quidongan Orogeny between the latest part of the Llandovery and the late or


We created virtual soft media by using a haptic device and performed a sensory test focusing on proprioceptive sensation in muscles and tendons. The depths of the virtual media were 30 mm and their spring rates changed according to the displacement. Subjects handled the end-effecter of the haptic device and pushed a pointer into virtual media in a display monitor to sense feedback force calculated by a personal computer. Two experiments were performed to elucidate a part of the sensory perception mechanism. In the experiment 1, subjects evaluated the hardness of the virtual media sensing the whole mechanical characteristics from the surface to the bottom. In the experiment 2, they evaluated the hardness in the range from the surface to the depth of just over 25 mm. The hardness evaluation scores in the exp. 2 were significantly higher than those in the exp. 1 on ANOVA. The changes of spring rates also affected the hardness evaluation scores significantly. We examined the optimal model, which explained the sensory perception mechanism, with covariance structure analysis. As a result, the optimal models of the exp. 1 and the exp. 2 were unified, and the hardness evaluation scores were explained with the mean values and the slopes of logarithmic spring rates. This optical model suggested that subjects could correctly acquire the hardness information of soft media by using the mean values and the slopes, even though they did not have the whole mechanical characteristics.


Abstract Signaling games are central to political science but often have multiple equilibria, leading to no definitive prediction. We demonstrate that these indeterminacies create substantial problems when fitting theory to data: they lead to ill-defined and discontinuous likelihoods even if the game generating the data has a unique equilibrium. In our experiments, currently used techniques frequently fail to uncover the parameters of the canonical crisis-signaling game, regardless of sample size and number of equilibria in the data generating process. We propose three estimators that remedy these problems, outperforming current best practices. We fit the signaling model to data on economic sanctions. Our solutions find a novel U-shaped relationship between audience costs and the propensity for leaders to threaten sanctions, which current best practices fail to uncover.


Specific changes of bioelectrical brain activity was found in 27 patients with different level of posttraumatic consciousness depression by the methods of crosscorrelation, coherence and factor analysis of EEG. The changes of activity of morphofunctional systems of intracerebral integrations were revealed partially by decreasing of unspecific activity from brainstem structures reflected with increasing of slow wave activity and decreasing of EEG coherence in alpha- and beta-range. Depression of system organization of interconnections of bioelectrical brain activity in frontal and occipital regions of both hemispheres was also detected, and testified about decreasing of intercortical and thalamocortical brain system action under brain dislocation. The changes of integrative brain system activity, provides interhemispheric interaction, had the specific characted. Our results propose a "facilitation" of activity of system, providing "direct" interhemispheric connections through corpus callosum and other commissural tracts of telencephalon as a sequel of mesodiencephalon structures depression with steady reciprocal, antiphase relations of slow weve activity in symmetrical areas of hemispheres in coma II patients. The data of our research had shown no complete disintegration of system brain activity in coma II patients in spite of consciousness and brainstem reflexes depression.


Educational technology adoption is more widespread than ever in the wake of COVID-19, as corporations have commodified student engagement in makeshift packages marketed as gamification. This book seeks to create a space for playful learning in higher education, asserting the need for a pedagogy of care and engagement as well as collaboration with students to help us reimagine education outside of prescriptive educational technology. Virtual learning has turned the course management system into the classroom, and business platforms for streaming video have become awkward substitutions for lecture and discussion. Gaming, once heralded as a potential tool for rethinking our relationship with educational technology, is now inextricably linked in our collective understanding to challenges of misogyny, white supremacy, and the circulation of misinformation. The initial promise of games-based learning seems to linger only as gamification, a form of structuring that creates mechanisms and incentives but limits opportunity for play. As higher education teeters on the brink of unprecedented crisis, this book proclaims the urgent need to find a space for playful learning and to find new inspiration in the platforms and interventions of personal gaming, and in turn restructure the corporatized, surveilling classroom of a gamified world. Through an in-depth analysis of the challenges and opportunities presented by pandemic pedagogy, this book reveals the conditions that led to the widespread failure of adoption of games-based learning and offers a model of hope for a future driven by new tools and platforms for personal, experimental game-making as intellectual inquiry. © 2023 Emily K. Johnson and Anastasia Salter.


Foot disorders may arise from different functional impairments. In all cases the resulting problem relates to a disturbance of the normal load bearing mechanisms of the foot, frequently with associated pain. Devices used to assist the patient are usually designed relying on the talent and expertise of well trained clinicians. The number of experienced clinicians in such field is few compared to the needs of the society. In this research, expert system techniques are used to design foot orthoses using intelligent methods which are based on fuzzy logic and Genetic Algorithms. The design is assessed using a specified design problem namely a diabetic foot with an ulcer risk. The proposed design can achieve better pressure distribution. Further, such a design can be applied to other comparable problems of a similar nature.